Johnny Gossamer

[rinue]

I dreamed I had gotten a third tattoo. I don't remember what it was, just that in the dream I kept reminding myself not to forget that now I had three tattoos, not two tattoos. I think the third tattoo was on my back in the area between my neck and shoulder, a place I was not likely to see it.

I read in today's Globe that tattooing was illegal in Massachusetts when I got my first tattoo (in DC), an aspect of banned in Boston that had completely passed me by. I was legally a resident here in the late 90s, because of the way insurance and college financing work (because my parents moved here, I was counted as a resident for voting and car registration and tuition even though I was an adult who lived somewhere else), so I guess I was sticking it to the man even more than I initially thought. (I didn't actually live here until 2010.)

I've been watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and reading Ninth House, and my day job is US news, so I've been bouncing from one story of sinister elite cabals with terrifying dark rituals to another. The overlap didn't really hit me until this evening, but it's probably part of why I'm nervy and drained. It became the theme (or a theme) of the sci-horror novelette I just finished as well, because it was what was in front of me.

I do still have a bit of escapism - after a month of, you guessed it, sinister elite evil cabal with terrifying dark ritual storyline, Genshin Impact is in the middle of its fictional lunar new year festival, and it's a relief. Coins and silly jokes and paper lanterns.

Comments

[sovay]

I read in today's Globe that tattooing was illegal in Massachusetts when I got my first tattoo (in DC), an aspect of banned in Boston that had completely passed me by.

Congratulations! I had no idea. I knew people here with tattoos in the '90's.

[rinue]

Having a tattoo wasn't illegal, but creating tattoos was, so I'm pretty sure everyone went across the border to New Hampshire and RI. From what I understand, both Massachusetts and New York outlawed tattooing in the early 60s, supposedly to combat hepatitis but probably as a pretext. I'm not sure how many other states, if any, did the same.

Massachusetts is notable because NY (who banned first) un-banned in 1997, but Massachusetts never voted to stop; the ACLU took the case to the Supreme Court and won in 2000.

[sovay]

Having a tattoo wasn't illegal, but creating tattoos was, so I'm pretty sure everyone went across the border to New Hampshire and RI.

I am wondering if this conversation explains some of the popularity of DIY tattoos among high-schoolers I knew. The other part would have been parental permission, but the additional accessibility barrier was not known to me at the time. In all honesty, I'm not sure it was even factored in.

Massachusetts is notable because NY (who banned first)

Which is nuts, considering the city's history in that department. The Tattooed Stranger (1950) is not a great New York B-noir, but as a documentary tour of tattoo culture and parlors at the time, it's fantastic.

un-banned in 1997, but Massachusetts never voted to stop; the ACLU took the case to the Supreme Court and won in 2000.

Good for the ACLU; jeez, MA.

[sabotabby]

I had no idea there were places with tattoo bans that late. Like, our lifetimes? So weird.

I loved FMA. Wanted to love Ninth House more than I did; conceptually I really liked it, anyway.

[rinue]

To be clear, having a tattoo was not illegal. Giving someone a tattoo was, from 1962 until 2000. And the only reason it became legal in 2000 was that the ACLU took it to the Supreme Court. Similar laws on the books in New York at the time, although with some slightly different details. Not sure how widespread the bans were, or why the panic around tattoos took off in the early 60s specifically.

I'm about halfway through Ninth House and I'm enjoying it after a run of books that didn't work for me, but it remains to be seen if it will stick the ending. Gives me Buffy vibes, which isn't bad. As is increasingly the case, I wish it would tell the story in order, or more in order, instead of flashing back and forth all the time. (I did not like Lost and I do not like what Lost did to narrative structure.)

I delayed watching FMA:Brotherhood because of how much I loved the older series (from back when you had to pirate fan subs of these things); I knew it was going to be a bit of a slog to get through the early "recap" episodes. But yeah, I'm loving it.

[tommx]

I remember when you got that first tattoo. I'm amused by your dream self feeling the need to remind yourself that you have a third tattoo. It sort of evokes a Memento like vibe. "Remember the third tattoo!"