About three weeks ago I was musing in my weekly update about wanting to write a post on tats, but I realized very quickly that I knew next to nothing about them, other than liking them. As usual when I don’t know much about a topic I ask for volunteers. To my shock, immediately after the post uploaded I received two emails – one from Feliz Faber an author and also a guest reviewer on this site, and the other from none other than author Jaye Valentine, who with his partner Reno MacLeod has written many books that defy categorization. Of course I had the brilliant idea of Jaye and Feliz collaborating on the post, which is why you have this gem that they produced. :bravo:
******** *************
Jaye’s and Feliz’s musings about fun, pain and the Zen factor of inked skin
Feliz: Tattoos have been around forever, or so it seems. Even Oetzi, the ice mummy, had them, and so did the old Egyptians, the Russian Kossacks, Roman soldiers, not to speak of the awesome ancient Japanese tattoo culture or the South Sea Islanders. Over the centuries, tattoos served a lot of purposes. But what is it that people find so fascinating about tattoos today?
Jaye: The practice of applying permanent ink to the skin dates back as early as the fourth or fifth millennium BC, and the purposes for getting them now are just as varied now as they have been over the centuries. Some people adorn themselves with tattoos for purely decorative purposes, while some wear ink for spiritual reasons, as rites of passage, to express interest in a particular topic, to flaunt group membership, as symbols of status within a clan or tribe, or even as a result of a drunken, ill-thought-out mistake. My reasons for having tattoos span several of these categories, including the last one.
Jaye's Dark Rose
I received my first tattoo in the mid-1980s—a black rose on my leg. This tattoo has triple meaning for me, but primarily represents my Irish heritage (my father’s family is Irish). There’s a famous political song from Ireland called “Róisín Dubh” (pronounced Ro-sheen dove), written in the 16th century, which means “Dark Rose.” The song is a metaphor for Ireland itself, using a maiden instead of the land to circumvent an old English prohibition of referring to Ireland as a sovereign nation. In some circles, the black rose is one of several symbols representing the BDSM community, of which I was a part for a considerable number of years. In addition, I’ve had a morbid fascination with death ever since I was a very young child, and the black rose is a symbol of death and rebirth. A small, insignificant-looking tattoo, but heavily layered with meaning for me.
My other tattoo is unique, so in the interest of retaining some privacy, I’m going to pass on discussing that one. Suffice it to say that the tattoo is large, it was very painful to have applied, and was done entirely on the spur of a very drunken moment. If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t have gotten it. One of these days, Reno and I might get matching tattoos, but those will probably be something that only each other would ever get to see.
I never thought of myself as a tattoophile, but as it turned out, every guy I’ve ever been involved with has had a least two tattoos—all in places you can’t see the tattoos while the guys are dressed in business clothing. Maybe I’m a tattoo magnet like I’m also Libra magnet? Sure seems that way.
Feliz: I’m very much into tattoos, my own as well as those on others. I have one on my backside, a yin-yang symbol, which I got in my early twenties—that’s why there’s also a pair of dolphins in it. But the yin-yang is the most important thing. I had it done during a crucial time in my life. To me, it symbolizes the balance between my male and female nature, since I’d just discovered that I had—and needed—both. Anyway, someone asked me back then what I’d do with it once I’d be too old to wash my own back, and I said, “Oh, I hope the nurse is going to like it and if not, she’ll just have to deal…”
A friend of mine is a tattoo artist; he inks people for a living and he’s practically tattooed all over his own body. He sees his skill as an art equal to any painter’s only that his canvas is the living skin. One thing he always makes sure his customers know is that a tattoo is permanent. A well-drawn tattoo is lik e a piece of jewelry, either discreet and small or loud and garish, whatever fits the bearer’s taste, but it isn’t as easily removed as a necklace. So if someone thinks about getting a tattoo, they should make sure they’re still going to be okay with it in forty years. A past lover’s name on a young man’s pec won’t look as good crossed out. A bat on a young woman’s butt is likely to hang its wings one day. Which somehow stresses your point about the “drunken, ill-thought out mistake,” Jaye. 😉
There’s no doubt that, aside from the adornment part, tattoos have something seriously erotic about them. Tattoos are still dubiously reputed after being linked to the demimonde for decades; they seem to provide the attraction of the dangerous and forbidden. I wonder whether this is the reason that so many characters in m/m books are inked. Sure, in some cases the characters have their tattoos for a reason. Tats can effectively hide scars—and not only the outwardly ones—like they do for Talker from Amy Lane’s books Talker and Talker’s Redemption. They can hide a person in plain sight like they do for Gradyn from Cameron Dane’s book Devlin and Garrick. Danny’s snake tattoo in Brooke McKinley’s Shades of Gray first marks him as property of his drug lord boss until Danny and his lover Miller change its meaning into a symbol of Danny’s strength.
When Wave mentioned this post, I became curious and started a list on Goodreads. It grew to 23 books over the course of only a few days and is still growing. I’m sure there are many other m/m books with tattooed characters; and I’m pretty sure there are also just as many reasons why these characters are tattooed, but the erotic factor can’t be denied, can’t it?
Jaye: It’s funny, but I hadn’t thought about fictional tattooed people that much until Wave mentioned this post, and it occurred to me that in all our currently published work, only one character is tattooed—Virgil in Damn Gorgeous. In that story, the tattoo plays a big role for the first-person protagonist, Spencer, in discovering Virgil’s deep, dark secret. We do have three characters in our current work-in-progress that have the same tattoos, but that was by historical necessity. There is also a heavily tattooed character in the forthcoming “StarCrossed” book (the fifth major installment, Panacea). I’m surprised that we don’t have more mentions of tattoos in our books, now that I think about it. Perhaps because we’ve had our personal tattoos for so long, we tend to forget about them. Or, do so many people have tattoos nowadays that skin art no longer stands out as such a novelty?
Now for the fun part: PAIN. My disclaimer here is that everyone perceives pain differently, so my experience is unique only to me. Not to be redundant, but put in the simplest terms, different people handle different types of pain differently. However, it’s pretty much a standard mantra that the more padding you have on the tattoo site the less the procedure will hurt. My rose tattoo only took about 25 minutes, but it’s on a body part near a bone, and boy, could I tell when the needle approached the bone area. The experience was over so quickly, though, that by the time I settled onto a stool at the pub next door to the tattoo parlor, I’d forgotten all about it. No big deal at all. My other tattoo took about three hours and was more fill-in than outlining, and I have the boniest spinal column on the planet. One hour of, “Ow, that kinda stings,” was followed by two hours of “HOLY &*@% THAT HURTS!” and much dramatic whimpering.
Now, back in the day, I was something of a masochist. I could stand to get whaled on by a 220-pound man wielding an Australian signal whip and fall into a warm, dreamy, endorphin-enhanced Zen-zone with no problem. I figured I could do the same with a long tattooing, but not so. I think I couldn’t relax because I was afraid if I moved I would screw up the artist, and it’s not like they can say, “Oopsie!” and take an eraser to the error. I’m sure part of the discomfort was due to my concentrated effort to remain perfectly still, which made my muscles super tense. In retrospect, it probably would’ve been a lot worse had I not pre-loaded with a 6-pack of Killian’s Red first.
Would I get another tattoo? Perhaps, but only if Reno and I decide to get something matching.
And small. 🙂
Feliz: So true what you said, about different people perceiving pain differently. I remember getting mine, and I can so relate to your experience—the Zen-zone one. To me, the pain was part of the deal, as well as the pride to have endured it. It was almost as rewarding as the picture itself.
Come to think of it… maybe I’m just better padded than you are. At least where my tat is…
Would I get another tattoo? Hell yes.
Jaye Valentine:
jayevalentine@macleodvalentine.com
http://www.macleodvalentine.com
Feliz Faber:
felfaber@googlemail.com
********
Since I’m always trying to increase my own knowledge (and yours too) 🙂 do you have a favourite M/M book (or books) with your own tattooed heroes?
When I opened this post, the first thing I saw was the black rose, and for a moment I was shocked by familiarity before realizing it wasn’t colored in. I have a very similar piece of my shoulder, about the length of my hand. It’s one of three works that I have, all are roses, all are symbolic, all were carefully planned. The shoulder rose had been dreamed of for eighteen years before I took the step that allowed others to see what I’d always envisioned.
I phase out during sessions at the tattoo parlor, a kind of self-induced trance in which I can still feel the pain, but am disconnected from it. There’s even a bit of pride at enduring it. Yes, there are more tats in my future, I just haven’t yet decided what they will be. I’ve never regretted getting them, though I have had one altered to remove a name. Thankfully my artist had written the name in such a way as to make that easy.
I find tasteful body art highly erotic.
Great post, ya’ll.
Hi Eden,
oh yes, name tattoos can be difficult…
Same here, I’d love to get another tattoo, but I simply can’t find a design. There are many beautiful designs out there, but so far, I haven’t found one that I like and that’d suit me at the same time.
I find this posting extremely timely, since my friend is getting her second tattoo (at the same parlor I got my first) today. It’s for her wedding 🙂
I like the tattoos in Duck! by Kim Dare because I’m obsessed with the meaning behind tattoos and that plays a minor (yet significant) role.
What a great post.
All of my tats have a reason behind them. The first one I got because, well, most people wouldn’t look at me and go hey…I bet she has a tattoo. lol And at the time it was illegal in the state of Indiana to get a tattoo. Something on the books about if you weren’t a doctor you couldn’t use a needle or some such nonsense. And the person who did my tattoo was the one who helped get the law changed. After that…well…I was hooked. Most of my tats you can’t see. Until I got older and wanted one on my wrist. Now…I can hide it and usually did at work, until recently. I’ll be 36 this year and am getting more comfortable with who I am…tats and all. 😀 And now I’m ready for a new one! Number 7.
As for tattooed characters…hm…The only one that really jumps out at me is Amy Lane’s Talker. But of course, that one was already mentioned.
Thank you Feliz & Jaye for this colourful and interesting post 😀
I had a look to the goodreads list and I would add The Coda series by Marie Sexton 😎
I´m sure there are more… :thinker:
I don’t get the whole pain zen-zone or turn-on issue. It just doesn’t work that way for me. I also have a pretty high pain threshold. It hurts at first but I find once any coloring starts it just kind of goes numb. When I had the one on my back (my avatar) redone (getting old) I think it took him about 90 min. and I read through most of it. Rather boring. The one my ankle hurt for the outline, but after that, not much. I’m always amused when women who’ve had babies say they can’t get a tattoo because it would hurt too much. HAHAHAHAHAHA Trust me, it doesn’t hurt as much as squeezing that baby out.
I love tattoos within reason. Some people seem to have them indiscriminately and totally randomly placed every which way. I also find there are trends. I follow Fuck Yeah Tattoos on Tumblr and there seem to be plethora of top of the foot tattoos and chest pieces. Neither of which I care for. I guess I think long term and not many of the more conservative jobs are going to hire a woman with a flaming skull from her throat to her boobs. But I guess if you’re a rock star go for it.
I would like to get a white tattoo around my wrist, like a filigree bracelet. It’s on my list of things to look into and I have an idea for a larger design on my back that includes my bird. Will they happen? Maybe, probably. Don’t tell my Mom. LOL And to the people who go “What are you going to do when you’re 85 in a nursing home?” Who the hell cares. I’ll be 85. I’m not worried that some nurse is going to think I was a biker chick because I have a tattoo. She’s likely going to have a flaming skull on her chest. 🙂 I know my daughter thinks it’s normal to have tattoos and plans on it someday (when she’s legally able to get one, not before). So in 40 years, I will not be an oddity in the nursing home.
Another one: Black Swan by Willa Okati 🙂
💡 Wave, since I´m always asking for lists 😯 would it be possibly to eventually post a list of mm books with tats including Feliz and Jaye choices as well as other titles people may point out in the comments?? :flirt:
Helena
Maybe I can prevail on Feliz to incorporate her GR list and add other books suggested by readers.
Feliz 😕 HELP!!!
Cavalry’s here
Helena, the word “list” in the post above is a link to the goodreads list. You can add as many books as you want – in fact, I’d love you and everybody else do it. Let’s see how many books we can come up with together!
I hadn’t thought about Coda series, but now you mention it, of course – Angelo…
I´m not in goodreads but it´s totally fine with me to check there 😎
Marie actually posted in her site about Jared “mistery” tat :angel:
http://mariesexton.net/the-man-with-the-mystery-tattoo
Sedonia Guillone has also tat boys, and in one case they have matching yinyan ones 😉
I got my tattoos when I was being made redundant at age 56. It felt like a rebellion. Like Jambrea, I’m pretty sure that nobody looking at me would think I have one. I have a small piece on my ankle so I can show it off. It wasn’t very painful, but I found it difficult to control the involuntary twitches whilst it was being done! I also have a larger piece on my thigh (very well padded) which didn’t really hurt, just got a bit sore by the end of all the filling in. This is a unique piece designed for me and has three decorated books, with stars coming out of the open book signifying my passion for reading and how it can transport me to another world. I think tattoos can be extrememly sexy, but prefer them to be on private rather than public view.
My daughter got her 2nd tattoo last weekend. Both of her tattoos are in very discreet places on her body and have great meaning to her. She is now working on getting me to commit to a day and time for getting my first tattoo. I’m also of the, “I’m over 50 years old so I’ll get the darn thing if I want to” attitude. I also plan to get it where it can be seen. My rebellion stops there since I’m planning on a tattoo of a stack of books; not a very outrageous picture, but definitely meaningful to me. 😀
I’ve always wanted to get a tattoo but since I’m indecision personified I’m still tattoo free.
As far as books with tattooed characters go I loved Talker by Amy Lane.
Another favorite is In the Strangest Places by Willa Okati, and the sequel Stranger Things Have Happened.
I have two tats, one on the back of my neck and a larger one across my shoulder blades. They were both carefully planned for and I love them both. I’m planning to get another one on my upper left arm where I can actually see it without some contortion and a lot of mirrors. 😀
The one on the back of my neck hurt the worst because I had to look down the entire time (about 45 minutes), and when it was done, my neck was cramped.
I fell asleep during the one on my shoulders, which was kind of funny. I was drifting off pleasantly until the artist said, “…are you asleep?” And I mumbled, “Well, I *was*…”
As for tattooed m/m protagonists, the one that leaps to mind immediately is Not Knowing Jack by K.A. Mitchell. Tony is super-tattooed, including a male/male gender symbol on his neck. Very visible.
I probably have a list of several books with several tattooed characters. I know i have a series by Rob Knight. I’ll post them later when i have access to my books.
They say it’s a mile to the first tattoo and a minute to the next, and I can say that’s true. I got my first one — a jumping orca with an anklet of ocean waves — when I was twenty-five. I got my next four in fairly rapid succession over the next four years. (You can see four of the five online at a very, very outdated modified librarian website from the late 90s that I felt I needed to have a page on — you know, back when you put wayyyy too much true, personal info on sites? — and I’m not sure why it’s even still live, but there it is. Boy, they look fresh there! 🙂 ) For each, the design jumped at me for some reason — usually very quickly, like “wow, that would make a great tattoo!” — and they’ve all been personal in some way. Though I may know immediately I want it, my rule is to sit with the design in front of me for at least three months to think about it. It’s permanent and I want to make sure it’s right. I’ve not regretted any of them (as opposed to my friend who let her tattoo artist boyfriend at the time — the same who inked me — use her as a canvas; the tats are stunning, but now she’s married to someone else and has little kids and she has considered laser removal). As far as pain, Jaye is right — the less padding and muscle and tolerance for pain, the more it hurts (the ankles were a bitch!).
This post is timely as I have been sitting on a design for a new tattoo for about a month now, but after a conversation just this past Tuesday with a tat artist, I am choosing to not do it. I love the design, which is a whisk and stars, and know it will make a great tattoo, but I am committed to getting it on my right hand near the “v” where the thumb and forefinger meet, and that isn’t the best place for a number of reasons (faster fading and stretching in that spot being top cons). In my mind, the design and location are tied, so if I can’t get it there, I don’t want it.
Probably what will be next is a large piece on my left upper arm, but I don’t know what it will be yet. I’ve been thinking about it for years now with nothing jumping out at me.
As for fictional characters with tats, I can think of a couple (like Cooper in ZAM’s St. Nacho’s and both protags in her Crossing Borders as well), but I’d need to ponder harder for more.
wow those pictures are so beautiful, Lynn!
And I admire the way you can wait and consider before you get one done. I’ve never regretted mine, but to my now-much-older self it looks a little tacky now. Today, I’d choose a more timeless desing if I had to do it again.
Lynn
Those are gorgeous. I’m too chicken to have a tattoo but I admire your coourage. 🙂
I don’t have any but I want one. I have a very long back so I wanted to get one on my lower back to break it up but hubby was like no way are you getting a tramp stamp.
I think tats are very sexy but sometimes can be overdone.
@Jules…Tony came to my mind right away, every-time his male/male gender symbol was mentioned in the book I swooned and thought it was sexy.
Great article Feliz and Jaye.
I love this post, my son is an artist and a friend wants him to design an individual tattoo.
Taste by Mickie B Ashling has good cover by Reese Dante of character Grier.
Can you get tattooed rings- as on fingers? It sounds like a romantic concept.
I’ve seen that, Raine. Isn’t there even some celebrity who has a tattooed ring?
Getting that would hurt given how little padding there is.
I think it’s Ellen and Portia who have tattoo rings. Johnny Depp too but not a wedding ring.
ML Rhodes has a few book with tattooed hotties and Chris Owen’s Gemini.
Great article, you two! And the guy in the bathtub is seriously hot. :pant:
Finally! :hurrah:
Finally someone noticed him.
He’s sort of camouflaged, though 😀
Thanks, Val
I forgot to mention AJ’s Angel by LA Witt which I have pre-ordered and can not wait to read.
One of the characters is a tattoo artist.
http://store.samhainpublishing.com/ajs-angel-p-6325.html
I know some people who donated their wedding & engagement rings to charity and got matching ring tattoos. I thought the tats looked cool.
That’s an awesome idea, the ring tattoos. Rings can be easily slid off, but tattoos take a bit more work (and pain) to discard. I love the implication of permanence.
Are we going to have an article on piercings – they’re pretty hot too!
I love piercings Rachel! Especially guys who have their nipples pierced. :hot:
Books with tats – Rules of Engagement by LA Witt. Also Jonah in A Fostered Love by Cameron Dane. He has three tats, all of which signify something special in his life.
I am a tattoo virgin….they always sound like a great idea after I’ve tossed back a few. Plus, I’ve never been enamoured of a design for any length of time so apparently it’s not meant to be. I’ve heard that the inks they use now don’t fade anymore and that everyhing won’t be the gray/green I’ve seen on so many people. Is that really true?
The bathtub picture….yow-zah! :pant: Pretty cool, but ouch! The picture I had seen online was of a guy who had the whole area completed covered in ink to look like a snake. There are some pics of where the snake is going to strike, i.e. he’s erect.
And that’s Nikki Sixx laying down, isn’t it?
Interesting article…..thanks, guys!
Yes indeed, it’s Nikki – he’s so gorgeous, isn’t he? And that look *cuinlove:
Yeah, that look, the one you jump on and ride ’til dawn.
*wistful sigh* Sometimes I really miss the 80s.
I think tattoos are nice – till you get old. When I was in my late teens, I worked at a hospital and the tattoos I saw on the old wrinkly men there (it was at a time when women didn’t have tattoos) made me swear I’d never get one of my own.
A co-worker came from a very religious family and she told me that after seeing all those old men, she went and bought to Playgirl in order to find out if all men were like that. Otherwise she never would’ve gotten married 😀
One of my long-term exes (I’m old, so there are several), said of his manifold tattoos when queried regarding how the ink will look when he’s elderly, “I doubt I’ll care much about what anyone says or thinks of me when I’m 90.”
Undeniably one of the few topics on which we agreed.
I don’t have a tattoo. Thought about it many times, but I get bored way too easily. What about Oracle by RJ Scott?
What about a combination of tattoos and a PA??
http://homographs.tumblr.com/post/2501549048
Tattoos are rather fashionable here “everyone” gets one. I think some are pretty and I have thought about one too but I haven’t found a design yet that I would still like in 20 years. It would have to mean something to me and be pretty.
Holy Cow ingrid,
if i came across THAT behind the zipper of a love interest, I’d run screaming to the hills. Not that it isn’t impressive, but those EYES are totally creepy, aren’t they? Looks a bit like Ganesha, the whole thing.
To everyone their own, I guess…
Holy shit Ingrid, where do you find this stuff. lol
That would put me off sex forever.
hehe, I reblogged it from tumblr. Don’t ask me where