YouTube star Etika's fans tattooed in his memory By Tom Gerken

BBC UGC & Social News Published duration 6 July 2019

image copyright Tito Salt/dri/jose image caption Some of the tattoos that have been shared on social media

When YouTuber Etika was found dead on 25 June 2019 it shocked thousands of fans and fellow video bloggers.

Etika, real name Desmond Amofah, 29, built a following of 130,000 YouTube subscribers by reacting to releases and products from gaming company Nintendo.

At one point he had a YouTube channel with more than 800,000 subscribers before it was removed from the platform.

Many fans reacted to his death by changing their online avatars to Etika's logo, but others have gone a step further to pay their respects.

These people have been permanently tattooed in Etika's memory.

image copyright @Burnt_Cheese69

Arturo, 20, is part of YouTube group im salt, which initially gained a following by making highlight videos of Etika's YouTube streams.

The channel now has around 60,000 subscribers and focuses on original content, but its creators have not forgotten how they began.

"We always loved and supported Etika," Arturo said. "When he died it struck all of us pretty hard.

"We decided to do one big charity stream, playing games Etika liked, and we had some milestones: If we raised $2,000 (£1,591) I would get an Etika tattoo.

image copyright Titosuck/WhiteSalt image caption Arturo (right) and fellow im salt member Allen (left) with their tattoos

Arturo's tattoo is of the Etika logo with the phrase "Joycon-Boyz" written above it - a term which Etika's fans often use to refer to themselves.

It was coined by the YouTuber, a massive Nintendo fan, in reference to the company's Switch Joy-Con controllers.

"We got all our viewers and our start from Etika," Arturo said. "This tattoo means a lot because he helped us become who we are now. I'm happy to get a tattoo for someone I care about."

Other people online have also shared their Etika tattoos.

Jose, 20, posted his tattoo using the #joyconboyzforever hashtag, which trended on Twitter.

image copyright Jose Rosado image caption The phrase "Joyconboyz forever" has been adopted by Etika's fans

Jose explained how the motivation behind his tattoo was linked directly to words spoken by Etika himself.

"When he died it was a lot to take in," Jose said. "In his last video he was saying the world would forget about him.

"Even though he doesn't know I got this tattoo, it helps. The world isn't going to forget about him, because the tattoo stays forever."

Others on social media shared their tattoos of the Etika logo, which people typically had tattooed on their wrists.

image copyright @Trainer_Derek

And a Twitter account set up in memory of the YouTuber summed up how many are feeling after his death.

image copyright @EtikaMemories

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