#aftg tattoo hc

[detectivebambam]

omg i totally didn't forget about Renee tattoo artist whatttt

anyway here's Aaron's

not a lot, just a two headed calf on his arm, and a garden on his shoulder of all his kids' birth flowers

[codename-adler]

my niche take (not for canon tho): i quite dislike the wildly popular hc that andrew has tons of piercings… it just doesn’t seem… right? it would fit his style (?) and personality for sure but i just can’t help feeling like he would never? do that? i think the same of tattoos but that bothers me a little less…

ah, this is gonna get me sent to sleep with da fishes...

i am of the same opinion. (i would like to stress here, opinion)

my opinion stems both from personal experience and canon characterization, and it has nothing to with aesthetics. of course, of course, tiny emo beef boy would rock tattoos and piercings. he canonically wears all-black, smokes, wields knives and listens to soul asylum. of course.

however, so much of Andrew's traumas, trauma responses and PTSD are based in physicality.

first, Andrew did not own his body, it being abused and abused and abused, by people he trusted, and people he didn't. the 'trust' part didn't matter; his body was abused. he learned the lesson and kept guard of his body rigidly, tirelessly, violently (the lesson he thought there was; there is no lesson to get from child SA).

second, Andrew took back his body in ways his psyche could understand and accept. SH and hypersexuality. both instances have him in control of every inch of his body. nobody touches, only him. nobody inflicts, only him. before; during; after. Neil is the exception confirming the pattern, the rule.

third, Andrew defends his body against whoever he must. no matter family, friends, team, Neil. his body and subconscious always remember before his consciousness does. again, even if Neil helps start his journey towards healing, trust doesn't really have a say in his defense mechanism. violence it is. violence it must be.

now. say it is a professional tattoo artist or piercer: how long before Andrew trusts them enough? how long before trust doesn't matter and the itch of the past settles into his skin? what if the eyebrow piercing feels too similar to the bottle Drake broke onto his head? what if the forearm tattoos tickle his self-inflicted scars like Drake's kisses did? what if the person ticks off a no-no box of Andrew's mid-session? there are so many variables Andrew does not control, why put himself in the situation and risk his last pebble of sanity?

i think the only way Andrew would get either piercings or tattoos would be if Neil did them. hello fic writers go fucken wild with this one.

personally i'd say it would only happen quite a few years after TRK, when Andrew has matured, possibly when his pro career is over because ouch Exy brawls and piercings don't get along well, but that's just me. maybe just studs, maybe the tattoos are very minimalists and have nothing to do with Andrew's scars, idk.

i'd like to be clear on one thing though: my believing Andrew does not ever have piercings and/or tattoos has nothing to do with believing he does not heal enough to do that, or that survivors of abuse like him are broken to the point of never getting anything done to their body. to me it's like Andreil never saying 'i love you' and never getting married. Andrew, like Neil, like the Foxes, are unconventional, difficult characters whose healing journeys are not pretty nor normalized. but it doesn't mean they don't get to a healthy place, whatever that looks for them. it does not mean they are not okay, and valid in their choices. to me, it has everything to knowing yourself so thoroughly, forgiving yourself so wholly, accepting yourself so completely, that there is no need to hide your body or prove your limits, to your own self or to others. i think it would be much more significant if Andrew one day could simply remove his armbands, and never wear them again, than to cover his scars with tattoos. to allow himself softness rather than arm his presence with more piercings.

again, it's also not that serious. Andrew can have an ice cream cone tattooed on his ass for all i care. give him a dainty little nose ring he sniffs up one time and has to go to the ER to get in unstuck. it's all shits and giggles if you wanna.

[boydsjosten]

this close to making an aftg characters as things university freshmen have asked me because some of the things are just wild but I'm trying so hard to not judge

[agenderasshole]

Andrew & tattoos

Been working on my redraw of Neil and Andrew from Pride 2021, and I've been inundated with thoughts of Andrew and tattoos.

(Including wonderful thoughts and ideas from people on the aftg big bang discord server)

Some of these will be more specific than others

Andrew gets a whole bunch of tattoos over the years. It's a reclamation of his body, and he likes the look of them, but that doesn't mean he ever gets truly comfortable in the chair. He can't be because there's someone he doesn't trust touching him and stabbing him repeatedly with needles for at least half an hour, but up to six at a time when he sits for bigger pieces. So every time he gets one, someone goes with him. Usually, it's Neil, both because that's who he trusts most and also the convenience of them living together for so long.

The two of them have a few matching tattoos. They have the key to the Columbia house with each other's initials on them. Neil's is over his heart, I'm less certain where Andrew's is. They have matching continuous single-line tattoos of the cats, and they each have roman numeral tattoos of the other's fox number.

In his fifth year, Andrew mentions that he'll be getting a Medusa tattoo. Aaron, who has been quietly researching ways to support SA survivors (which only Katelyn knows about), knows what a Medusa tattoo symbolizes and immediately offers to go with him. Andrew doesn't object and lets him come along. Because Andrew doesn't object to Aaron going to the session with him, neither does Neil, despite assuming he would go with Andrew. He still doesn't get along with Aaron, but he thinks Aaron going with Andrew will be good for them both. Before the session, Neil stops by to tell Aaron what Andrew's favorite tattoo session snacks/treats are and his favorite place to go afterward.

At some point, after he graduates from Palmetto, Andrew gets a tattoo in honor of Betsy. He tells Bee before he gets it, on one of their weekly phone calls and she offers to come with him. At the appointment, Bee surprises him by getting a matching tattoo with him. He gets forget-me-nots surrounded by a bee on his shoulder. She gets hers over her heart, and he gets his on his shoulder so she's always looking out for him. He holds her hand through the entirety of her time in the chair, and she talks to him through the entirety of his. They both quietly laugh at Andrew's choice of the forget-me-nots considering his memory. But if Besty notices that when they are colored they are also the same color as Neil's eyes, she keeps that observation to herself.

Other small one-off thoughts

'Sunrise' and 'death' on his collarbones with a delicate 'A' at the base of his throat

A fox skull surrounded by orange and white gladiolus flowers (strength of character, faithfulness, and remembrance)

A floral bouquet for his family. Edelweiss for Nicky (nobility, devotion, and resilience, also I hc Andrew having a love of musicals.) Magnolias and Dandelions for Aaron (perserverance and resilience.) Thistles for Neil (resilience, strength, determination, protection and pride.) Lotuses for Kevin (Resilience and overcoming adversity)

Barbed wire above where his arm bands end

There's probably more that I'll think of when it's not 1:30 am but that's where I'm stopping for the night

[moonintheirworld]

Aftg hc : Kevin swears in high French,

Example:

[...] He clapped a protective hand over his own tattoo [...]

In his head : "Ciel, seigneur dieu tout puissant." (Heaven, lord God all mighty.)

Another one :

After losing a game

"Sacrebleu" (a high French version of "damn it")

Unrelated :

After watching a Trojans game

"C'��tait un jeu du feu de dieu." ( "It was a game of God’s fire.", a way to induce the greatness of something.)

[the-teenagehideout]

Coach Wymack and tattoos

Okay, so I just saw a post about Kevin and Coach’s tattoo artist and it got me thinking. Why would Coach even have a tattoo artist that he knows personally enough that he would take Kevin to him. Like I don’t think it’s really a friend because it’s Coach but what if Coach has like a bunch of hidden tattoos that nobody knows about. These could be tattoos that he’s gotten done over the years and that’s why he knows and trusts this tattoo person. Idk, I just started thinking about that out of nowhere.

[aftgscenes]

*neil finding a small stick’n poke on Andrew’s foot*

Neil: I didn’t know you had a tattoo

Andrew: there are only so many things to do in juvie and I already learned how to make a shank and suck dick.

[fanficideasblog]

I seen a fan art of Andrew minyard with tattoos and I need a hc about Andrew knowing how to tattoo and tattooing himself and possibly Neil????

[detectivebambam]

welcome to Tattoos pt 1

starting with Andrew because why wouldn't I

shark on the tummy

bee on his neck, below and slightly behind his right ear

two headed calf on left knee

N on the left wrist

Medusa on the right forearm under the armbands

[palmetto-state-foxies]

I like to imagine that Jean also got a coverup tattoo. I'm not sure what it would be but I think that when he got it his whole team went with him to cheer him on. He squeezed Alvarez's hand so hard she thought it was going to break.

[thespineoftherighteous]

I'm an idiot, he's not the kid I need to be worrying about. Kevin is Cool and sophisticated there's no danger of him getting something corny.

Neil, though, Neil. he'd get the exy racquet. a fox paw. a whole fox. something worse.

thank god Kevin got not just a decent but also a hella badass tattoo when he decided to cover up his "II" because imagine if this mf came back with like. an exy stick tattoo on the side of his face. Andrew would have him out on the couch for weeks.

[high-queen-of-exy]

So I was explaining Exy, aftg, and fanfic to my cousin, while he was stoned, and here are some notes

would be cooler if they fought to the death (how??? what???? why???)

should be set in post apocalyptic world like hunger games

that I should write a hunger games au

Andrew seems like a dick, and he's concerned by how lovingly I talk about him

I mentioned how Matt punched Kevin, and he thought of Wii sports Matt punching The Office Kevin, and I hate him

he wanted to know what was wrong with Kevin (since I explained that all the foxes are a little fucked up) so I told him and he got very confused

he told me the name Nathaniel makes him think that he is autistic, and was pleased to discover that I HC Neil as autistic.

he now wants a #2 face tattoo, because he said that'd be horrible and he wants one

he told me that if someone says my writing is good than I shouldn't describe it as bad

and then we moved in to different topics like financial advice and emotional support

[heymrstargazer]

daily aftg hc: i would like you to actually, thoroughly imagine the foxes, a group of loud, grumpy, fucked up college athletes, all piling into two booths at sweeties. some of them are shoving each other, more of them are yelling at them to stop (scarily similar to a mother handling a group of toddlers), and the rest are looking on disdainfully. while everybody else orders actual food, the grumpiest one of the bunch orders a large sundae with extra chocolate sauce, strawberries, whipped cream, sprinkles, and gummy bears (seemingly just to bother his twin, and the one with a weird face tattoo). oh also the other one with a serious case of rbf (and an array of scars on his face) is sharing his fries with previously mentioned grumpy one (and watching fondly as everyone else expresses their disgust as he dips said fries into his sundae). and then, in the booth over, the tallest one is recreating the eiffel tower with a pile of fries and using ketchup to stick them together, all while being cheered on by the rest. now, imagine all the poor waiters and waitresses drawing straws in the back the second they see them walk in because they've all been hit one too many times with a projectile (whether it be a napkin, ketchup packet, straw, gummy bear, the list is endless, really)

[i-did]

Do you know when the racism and ableism accusations against Nora started? Because back when I was active in 2016/2017 and don't think they were a thing, or were very low-key. Was it something she said or are people just basing it off the things she wrote in the books?

From what I remember, the first time I heard the blanket statement of “Nora is racist/fetishizes gay men” blanket statement was early fall 2019 (which is so ironic for the fandom to say on so many levels lmao). There wasn’t a catalyst or anything, just she went offline 2016 and no new content was coming out and the aftg fandom is such an echo chamber that… an accidental smear campaign happened.

 Before then, I would see occasional “Nora used ableist slur” which… is funny (not that ableism isn’t serious) to me people care more about that than Seth saying the f-slur. IMO this is because with Seth, it clearly shows the character thinking it and not the author who is writing about what will be an end game mlm relationship. 

But anyways! Long story short, it's the fact that she’s an ace/aro woman who wrote a mlm book, and based off of the events in canon. There is no “Nora called me/someone else a slur” it’s “Nora wrote a book where slur(s) are used” and “the Moriyama’s are Japanese.”

Below I put my own opinion on these claims and go into more detail:

CW for discussions of: racism, ableism, mlm fetishization

Fetishization: (and mentions of sexism at the end)

To one question in the EC about her inspo for aftg she jokingly responded how she wanted to write about gay athletes. On other parts of your blog you could see she was a hockey fan and an overall sports fan (anime or otherwise) but I've seen this statement taken out of context and framed as “she's one of those BOYXBOY” shippers. Considering how… well-developed both Andrew and Neil’s relationship is, and it takes them until like the 3rd book and there is a whole complex ass plot going on around, you can see how that's just. Not really true. And considering the fandom is like… 85% women (queer women but still women) and I've gotten into a discussion with someone who is a woman and called Nora a fetishizer and was ignoring my opinions as a mlm, and I really just wanted to say “well what does that make you?” it's a very ironic high horse. She didn’t write 3 all 3 books to put Neil in lingerie pwp or crop-top fem-fatal fashion show, fandom did. 

Also, I talked to an ace/aro friend about this, and she talked to me about how AFTG spoke to her very much so as an ace/aro story. Neil is demisexual, Nora didn’t know of the word at the time of reading it, but she did get an anon asking if Neil was demi after, and she said “had to look it up, and yep, but he doesn't really think about it” (paraphrased). Obviously it would have been cool if andreil were canonly written as wlw by Nora instead, (which would have increased the amount of wlw rep and demi rep) but tbh I don’t think tumblr would have cared about it nearly as much and everyone would just call Neil a cold bitch–like people do with Nora’s other published book with a main character who's a woman. Plus they're her OC’s, not mine. 

The fact is that 50% of all LGBT+ rep in literature is mlm, mostly white mlm, and not written by mlm. I’m not going to hold her to a higher standard than everyone else, she already broke a shit ton of barriers in topics she discusses that otherwise get ignored. I’m grateful to these books for existing even if it's a mlm story written by a woman. I still will prioritize reading mlm written by mlm–and vice versa with wlw– in the way I prioritize reading stories about POC written by POC. But credit where credit is due, this is a very good story, and a very good demi story. 

Ableism:

To me, AFTG is a story about ableism and how we perceive some trauma survivors more worthy than others. Neil and the foxes using ableist language shows how people actually talk. Neil thinks shitty things about Andrew, like the others do too, and thinks he's “psycho”. The story ultimately deconstructs this idea and these perceptions of people. Wymack, someone who says the r-slur (which is still not known by the general population as a slur even in 2021 much less the early 2000s when the book was beginning to be written and what the timeline is based off of) is a character who understands Andrew better than most of the others do, and gives him the most sympathy and understanding despite using words like the m-slur and r-slur. Using these words isn't good, but it is how people talk, and this character talks. Wymack is a playful “name caller” especially when he’s mad, the foxes think Andrew is “crazy” and incapable of humanity and love because of it. They call his meds “antipsychotics” as an assumption and insult in a derogatory way, when really antipsychotics are a very helpful drug for some people who need them. Even Neil thinks these things about Andrew until he learns to care about him. All the foxes are hypocritical to am extent, as people in real life tend to be. Nora herself doesn’t use these or tweet them or something, her characters do to show aspects of their personality and opinions and how they change over time.

Racism:

As for the racism, I've seen people talk about how racial minorities being antagonists is inherently bad, which I think lacks nuance but overall isn't a harmful statement or belief. However, Nora herself said she wrote in the yakuza instead of another gang or mob because she was inspired for AFTG by sports anime, (which often queer-bait for a variety of reasons). I haven’t seen a textual analysis acknowledging the racist undertones surrounding the Moriyama’s as the few characters of color who are also major antagonists, but instead just “Nora is racist”. Wymack having shitty flame tribal tattoo’s is just… a huge 90’s thing and a part of his character design. Her having a character with bad taste in tattoo trends doesn’t mean she's racist. There is the whole how Nicky is handled thing, but that's a whole thing on it’s own. The fandom… really will write Nicky being all “ai ai muy spicy, jaja imma hit on my white–not annoying like me–boyfriend in Spanish. With my booty hole out and open for him ofc.” and as a Mexican mlm I’m like … damn alright. 

I think there is merit to the fact that she writes white as the default* and unless otherwise stated a POC a character was written with the intent to be white is another valid criticism, as well as the fact that the cast is largely white, but everything Nora is accused of I've seen the fandom do worse. That goes to the debate of, is actively writing stereotypes for POC more harmful than no representation at all? And personally I prefer the lack of established race line that lets me ignore Nora’s canon intent of characters to be white and come up with my own HC’s over the fandoms depictions of “zen monk Renee with dark past” “black best friend Matt who got over drugs but is a puppy dog” “ex stripper black Dan who dates Matt” vague tokenism. I HC many of the upperclassmen as POC and do my best to actively give thought behind it and have their own arcs that also avoids the fandom colorism spectrum of “darkest characters we HC go to the back and fandom favorites are in the front and are the lightest.” 

*I however won't criticize her harsher or more than… everyone else who still largely does this in fanfiction regarding AFTG as well as literature in general. This isn't a Nora thing, it's a societal thing, and considering the books came out in like 2014 I'm not gonna hold her to a higher standard than the rest of the world. She's just someone who wrote her personal OC’s and self-published expecting no following. I don’t know her race and I’m not gonna hold her to a higher standard than everyone else just because. 

The criticisms I've seen have always been… ironic IMO, and clearly I have a lot of thoughts on it. I think most people say those things about Nora because they heard them, and it's the woke thing to say and do and don’t critically analyze their actions or anything, but just accept them. 

[soviet-whale]

Danielle Wilds

i’ve decided to emerge from the void and give some of my dan hcs bc i LOVE her

she ALWAYS has the best nails

she used to let one of her stage sisters practice on her hands all the time

that same stage sister now has a small salon in columbia and dan goes up there once every two weeks to get the FRESHEST sets

even allison is jealous

she gets short, long, muted colors, bright colors, patterns, you name it she’s had it, and they never get in the way of her playing

she’s got three tattoos-a small #1 on the inside of her left pinky, a tube of lipstick on her inner right elbow, and “Forever is composed of nows.

 -Emily Dickinson” on her upper right back

she’s a tea drinker for sure

her alcoholic beveridge of choice is a margarita

she sucks at any video game ever

but she’s really competitive

so she’s always talking mad trash while being in last place

“yeah i just dodged that blue shell bitch, what are you going to do about it? cry?”

“i’m two laps ahead of you”

her pep talks? insanely effective, both on and off the court

her endless self-esteem and confidence just ooze into the people around her

idk and idc what the extra content says about her major, that lady is pre-med

she wants to be a gynecologist for sure because she loves helping women and making them feel seen, validated, and listened to

she’s just so smart and great with people...major doctor vibes

i really don’t see her going on to play professional exy after college

i think she loves the sport but she wants to settle down and have a family, and she doesn’t love the idea of bouncing from team to team and city to city

the music she listens to is like exclusively grunge

she makes most of her own clothes

she loves finding eclectic fabrics, sewing things together, and making patchwork clothing that shouldn’t look good but somehow does when it’s on her

i know aftg is set in the 2000s but if it weren’t...bucket hat queen

also biker shorts

she owns more pairs of vans than aaron does (which is saying a LOT)

baking is her one true passion

she likes to experiment and give the first bite of whatever she makes to renee because she knows renee will be positive

she gives the second bite to allison because she wants to know if it’s actually tasty or not, and allison never sugar coats anything ever

most of the time it’s good, though

she’s a prankster!! 

once, she filled the boys’ dorm with rubber ducks for no reason except mischief

she covered every surface with them, stuck them in drawers, hid them in cracks and crevices

the boys were finding ducks in strange places until they moved out

her secret talent is that she’s insanely good at the harmonica

no one knows how or why she learned

and again, she doesn’t listen to anything other than grunge

but once when matt was playing the guitar she came in with a harmonica in the same key and just. nailed it. 

she’s such a fun person, but she’s also what her friends call “the intervener”

she’s not afraid to call anyone on their shit or have a serious discussion about self-destructive tendencies

she’s not very subtle about it, which can really piss people off, but in the end she only ever yells at people because she loves them and wants the best for them, so nobody ever stays mad

she usually pulls a harmless prank to speed up the forgiveness process

(which sometimes backfires horribly)

but she’s incredible

i love her with all my heart

[detectivebambam]

Kevi's turn

sun on his shoulder

celtic motherhood knot self explanatory. on his chest

slutty lil tramp stamp for no reason

and tattoo for his dad's culture too (pretty sure this is the familial/protection one?? could be wrong)