A story centred around a group of young students - many of whom are artists - attempting to navigate life while deciphering difficult pasts and uncertain futures.
The Tattoo Gang
Caterina ‘C.J’ Jane Lionel
Kealohi ‘Keye’ Daniel Akana
Flora Annabel Li
Leda Alice Lionel
Philippa ‘Pip’ Mae Westerby
Amari ‘Ri’ Jay Santons
Aadhya ‘Ada’ Rajashree Memon
Junho ‘Leo’ Kang
PREMISE
The Lionels are a family made of academics— head of the house Dr [name_m]Jack[/name] [name_m]Davis[/name] Lionel is a professor at Oxford and his wife Dr [name_f]Adaline[/name] [name_f]Marianne[/name] Lionel is a surgeon and author of multiple award-winning books. Both are extremely driven and raised their children to be just as ambitious.
Of course, children are not their parents, and they are shaped by their environment.
[name_u]Dani[/name], the heiress— the first born— holds the world on her shoulders and bleeds herself dry just to keep her parents happy.
[name_f]Leda[/name], the second child, sees her older sister take on the world and swallows her own pain down, preferring to love the world again through finding colour in London’s greyscale.
[name_f]Caterina[/name], a name that she refuses to go by, is more outright in her refusal to be defined by her parents— they glower down on her and she’s in trouble almost every day— but not all tasks are sisyphean and all that.
And sweet, sweet [name_f]Marnie[/name] knows her sisters aren’t happy, but she wants to make mum and dad happy. And so she will.
This is a snapshot into the lives of these girls— and everything else in between.
The greatest means of escapism for [name_f]Leda[/name_f] and CJ has become their friend network, stretching across [name_u]London[/name_u] and to [name_u]Brighton[/name_u], where the second daughter is studying fine art.
Here the stars seemed to align when [name_f]Leda[/name_f] - in her permenately chaotic fashion - lost her train ticket…only to be saved by a friendly fellow art student named [name_m]Keye[/name_m]. [name_m]Keye[/name_m] and [name_f]Leda[/name_f]'s attraction was instantaneous and from there, she introduced him to first her friends…and then her family.
Keye was everything the Lionel’s had feared about letting Leda depart for Brighton. He was the exact opposite of the upstanding, mild mannered, private school boy they had hoped would settle her down (especially after the tagging incident that led to her being bought home in a police car), and worse still? It was clear he wasn’t going to be going anywhere.
With [name_m]Keye[/name_m] came [name_f]Flora[/name_f], and with [name_f]Flora[/name_f] came [name_u]Pip[/name_u]. [name_u]Brighton[/name_u] brought [name_f]Leda[/name_f] something new that her parents could not give her— people who loved her unconditionally.
However, all the way in [name_u]London[/name_u], CJ made a little home in the few friends she made through tattooing them during class. The little medical knowledge her mother had instilled in her (mum always wanted one of them to be a doctor) paid off— she was soon giving small little designs for good money and with little risk of infection.
… word reached [name_f]Flora[/name_f] through a DM from CJ herself, where she asked [name_f]Flora[/name_f] if she could use one of her illustrations because someone wanted it as a tattoo.
The business offer intrigued [name_f]Flora[/name_f], who was eager to have her work displayed to more people, and upon learning this was in fact [name_f]Leda[/name_f]’s sister, she officially accepted the invitation.
Outside of this small circle, the only person aware of what was brewing was [name_u]Dani[/name_u]. [name_f]Leda[/name_f] had kept in close contact with her after she left to study, in part as she was worried about how being alone would impact on her sister.
Nadia [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] Turchin (23) is [name_u]Dani[/name_u]’s girlfriend, albeit [name_m]Jack[/name_m] and [name_f]Adaline[/name_f] are of the belief she’s merely a good friend. She’s from a Jewish family and understands the pressures her girlfriend experiences, as her own mother experienced a lot of expectations, resulting in her striking out on her own. A psychology student, [name_f]Nadia[/name_f] truly wants to help others and is on placement currently at a mental health facility, where she’s getting first hand experience in her chosen field of study. She cares deeply for [name_u]Dani[/name_u] - although she’s cautious with the ‘I love yous’ in case it seems like pressure - and wants nothing more than for her to be happy. When [name_f]Nadia[/name_f] isn’t studying or working, she enjoys gymnastics, running and practicing nail art, which she’s developed quite a talent for.
Back in [name_u]London[/name_u], C.J’s friend group was blossoming. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though her reputation as a stain on the [name_u]Lionel[/name_u] family name did sting (after all, private schools are all terrible), she made a tight group of friends that she adores. Including… [name_m]Leo[/name_m].
With this newfound support at such a turgid place, C.J was able to confide in them more, leading to her friend [name_f]Ada[/name_f] - horrified at [name_m]Keye[/name_m]’s lax attitude towards filing - making the offer to administrate their activities; something that surprised everyone, most of all [name_f]Ada[/name_f] herself.
Leda also succeeded in another fear of her parents: acquiring her own place. Thanks to the seemingly never ending friend network of her boyfriend, she and [name_u]Pip[/name_u] managed to find a third roommate, which made rent payments a whole lot easier than they would have been with just two of them.
Now away from the semi-watchful eye of campus, [name_f]Leda[/name_f] invited C.J to come and attend her housewarming party, with absolutely no qualms about how many plus one’s she bought with her.
