Author Topic: Pseudopod 039: Some Things Don’t Wash Off  (Read 7730 times)

Bdoomed

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on: May 25, 2007, 09:07:47 PM
Pseudopod 039: Some Things Don’t Wash Off

By Joel Arnold

Read by Ben Phillips

Finally I looked at him. Bald, thin, muscular and his body covered with tattoos. I mean everywhere. On his face. His ears. All up and down the front of his back. He wore jeans and suspenders. No shirt. Just suspenders.

I caught myself staring at his teeth.

“Scrimshaw,” he said, widening his smile to expose more detail. “An art practiced for centuries by sailors.”

Each tooth was etched with a picture of a man hanging from a tree. The etchings disappeared into his throat.



Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

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eytanz

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Reply #1 on: May 26, 2007, 03:38:35 PM
This story had me until about halfway, when the eye tattoos were being discussed - once it became clear that the tattooed man was at least partially supernatural, it stopped being effective psychological horror, and it never became effective supernatural horror either. Basically, the supernatural turn changes the stakes - what was first the story of the narrator facing an external and possiblity internal conflict, became something else - but it was never clear to me what. I felt I didn't know what the rules were, nor did I know what there was to lose or gain (sure, there was redemption, but redemption from what? Was the tattooed man a racist man, or was he racism personified, or something in between? Did the narrator actually have anything at stake, or was he just a minor character in someone else's story?). So it was impossible for me to feel empathy with the lead anymore, and I think it was the kind of story that really needs emapthy to work.

Shame, because I really enjoyed the first half, and the narration (as usual from Pseudopod and Escape Pod) was excellent.



Russell Nash

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Reply #2 on: June 02, 2007, 04:15:43 PM
I also started coming out of the story at the point it went supernatural. It just seems that there was a missing 15 minutes or so.  Also the tatooing of Love over and over just seemed like a Hallmark cop out.



wakela

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Reply #3 on: June 07, 2007, 12:52:24 AM
My download stopped after the first 5 minutes.  I guess no one else had this problem.



Russell Nash

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Reply #4 on: June 07, 2007, 08:19:27 PM
My download stopped after the first 5 minutes.  I guess no one else had this problem.

During high volume times the site can be slow.  Try it again at a different time.  It's never happened to me more than once for any particular episode.



mommakind

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Reply #5 on: June 07, 2007, 10:52:59 PM
I enjoyed the story.  Didn't quite get it.  Wasn't sure how a black tattoo artist "knew" what a oddly tattooed nazi freak "needed".  I was also a little let down at the end, although I'm not sure how else it could have ended.



Unblinking

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Reply #6 on: September 25, 2009, 06:58:31 PM
I also came out of the story for a bit when I realized the tattoos were supernatural.  I don't know what this guy is, and the rules were never clear.

That being said, the details of the man's more supernatural tattoos were very intriguing, such as the etchings on his ribs, and the ones on his eyes.  That alone was worth listening to the story for.



kibitzer

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Reply #7 on: September 29, 2009, 11:01:47 AM
Liked this one. It's one of those stories (for me) where you just go with it, and don't question the logistics too much.

Oh and also: one of those where I read it aloud in my own accents, especially Teh Cherman Mann.


Millenium_King

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Reply #8 on: August 19, 2010, 10:33:17 PM
I liked this one.  Horror stories about tattoos are nothing new and I usually roll my eyes when I see one, but this one felt original.  Nothing felt awkward or forced, the language was solid - althoug, I have to admit, not spectacular.  Great story, worth the listen. 

Visit my blog atop the black ziggurat of Ankor Sabat, including my list of Top 10 Pseudopod episodes.


MsBobbyJenkins

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Reply #9 on: May 19, 2014, 07:18:00 PM
To be fair, eyeball tattoos are very real. Who is to say he is supernatural?

In a world of scarification without anaesthesia, I think this story didn't necessarily mean to be supernatural, but perhaps going to the extremes of body modification.

This story reminded me of being 18 and hanging out with a whole bunch of tattoo and piercing artists. People would ask for weird stuff to be cut or inked.

I could tell some horror stories. Not quite getting your internal organs tattooed. But still stuff that could seem unbelievable.