PodCastle 933: TALES FROM THE VAULTS – Ink
Show Notes
Rated R
Ink
by Xander M. Odell
A woman stood at the tattoo parlor’s door. Small, damp from the storm, hair disheveled and slightly askew. Comfortable in her clothes, not her skin. The sight of her made Tiger’s chest itch, and his tattoos tingle. He turned down the stereo. “Can I help you with something?”
The woman looked at the shelves stuffed with pattern books, the posters of half-naked men and women displaying their tattoos and piercings. “Is this Stars And Stripes Ink?”
Her voice had a touch of falsetto.
“That’s what the sign says in the window.”
She brushed aside her bangs, tugging her hair back into place in a way Tiger supposed he wasn’t meant to notice. “I would like a tattoo.”
Host Commentary
…aaaaand welcome back. That was Ink by Xander M Odell, and if you enjoyed that then check out their other stories with EA.
In The Necessity of Trans Joy in Uncanny magazine, Izzy Wasserstein says this:
It tells us that the work of trans liberation has been done by many who came before us, and will be done by those who come after us. Our task is not to finish the work, but to continue it.
It’s a great story, and everything else you can find from Xander, and Izzy, should be at the top of your reading list. Trans voices are essential. There’s no other slogan, nothing clever there. Just a straight red line of banal fascism, marching across every element of society. As I write this, the Kansas driving license ban has gone into effect. Countless other bills and legislations are on the way, and not just in America. I’ve lost count of the amount of trans folk and friends I’ve read or talked to who are looking at moving state and country and struggling with how daunting both of those are. We’ll drop links to organisations who can help in the show notes.
Odell writes with extraordinary wit, precision and compassion at the best of times, and this is one of their absolute finest hours. Wasserstein’s summation is a thematic prism, turn it one way you get one motif, turn it another you get something else. I was reminded of Annalee Newitz’s societal survival manual, Scatter, Adapt and Remember. I was reminded too of Jadzia Axelrod’s remarkable Galaxy, and how identity, found family and secret identity can link hands.
As I reread this story, that focus was pulled in other delightful ways. The Minnesota aunties handing out Samosas at the anti-ICE demonstrations. The ink I carry, the first by choice, the second to buttress a collapsed but not destroyed ego. The third a celebration of this work, and the joy it’s given me. A tattoo whose inspiration is carried, in part, by Odell themselves.
Ink dries. Ink stays. Ink remembers. In this time, make sure you’re writing your story in ink and make sure, if you can, to help other people write their stories too. Don’t finish the work. Continue it.
NOTES
Trans Gender Law Center
https://transgenderlawcenter.org/
The Trans-Continental Pipeline
https://bsky.app/profile/ecmclaughlin.bsky.social/post/3mfq4ssars22g
The Necessity of Trans Joy by Izzy Wasserstein
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-necessity-of-trans-joy/
Scatter, Adapt and Remember
https://scatteradaptandremember.com/
Galaxy, The Prettiest Star
About the Author
Xander M. Odell
Xander M. Odell lives in Washington state with their husband, sons, and an Albanian miniature moose disguised as a dog. Their has appeared in such venues as Crossed Genres, Daily Science Fiction, PseudoPod, Cast of Wonders, and PodCastle. They are a Clarion West 2010 graduate, and an active member of the SFWA.
Their collection of speculative fiction holiday stories, THE TWELVE WAYS OF CHRISTMAS, and debut short story collection GODFALL & OTHER STORIES are available from Hydra House Books.
Support them on Patreon at: http://patreon.com/writerodell
About the Narrator
Sean D. Sorrentino
Sean D. Sorrentino lives in the Raleigh, North Carolina area with his wife and his dogs. He has narrated stories for PodCastle and Pseudopod.
