Black and grey realism upper arm sleeve showing a bat signal over a moon, a city skyline, a Superman shield and a spider on a web.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Batman, Superman and Spider-Man upper arm sleeve

Realism · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

A black and grey tattoo covers the upper arm and shoulder cap of a man in a white sleeveless top. A bat symbol sits above a full moon with birds flying across it, above a city skyline. Below, a Superman shield and a spider on a web fill the lower part of the sleeve, with detailed shading and soft gradients throughout.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tamsin, the lamps on Harrow Bridge have failed again, so I am writing this by moonlight, which is the only thing up there that never sends a bill. Your uncle says the old city is pushing back up through the river a tooth of towers at a time, and the children in Lower Wapping have started painting the old signs on their doors: a black wing over a round white moon, a blue shield, a spider hung in its own silver net. Nobody remembers what they were for. They only know they keep the rain off.

Keep reading

I went up the grain silo last Thursday with Pim and a borrowed rope, because the relay on the water tower has been dark since spring and the traders won't cross without a signal. Halfway up the old ladder I found a steel box bolted to the brick, its shield still bright under the rust. Inside was a folded note in a child's careful capitals: IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU ARE THE ONE WHO KEEPS THE LIGHTS ON. Someone wrote that a long time ago and then waited for somebody to deserve it. I think it was meant for me, which is absurd, but I didn't sleep much.

So I have rewired the box and strung the web of lines from the clock tower to the silo the way the drawings showed, every knot tied twice. Pim will carry the spare relay down on Thursday's barge. Tell Mother I have not fallen off anything.

If you see the moon tonight and the wing over it is lit, somebody is still climbing. If it is dark, come and find me. Your loving aunt, Hester

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