Dew's Tattoos

Dew's Tattoos

My headcanon about Dewdrop and his tattoos! Warning for mention of needles, extremely unsanitary tattoo practice, and some elemental transition related body horror.

Dew has a bunch of stick-and-poke tattoos. He started doing them when he was still a water ghoul, using the end of a broken guitar string and a pen he’d chewed open. They were tiny at first- little stars, frowny faces with x-ed out eyes, and a Satanic cross, all on his upper thighs. They all faded in months, so Dew just tattooed new designs over them. His tools got a little better, he was using a sewing pin sterilized with a lighter and some calligraphy ink he’d stolen from the library. He slowly started to get better, his lines got steadier, and he even started sketching up designs rather than freehanding them.

Then his elemental transition happened. The process was excruciating- his body had to remake itself from the ground up. His fins necrotized and fell off and his coral-like horns grew brittle and crumbled away. His gills stung and itched as they sealed shut. He wanted this, had always felt off regarding his element of water, but he almost thought it wasn’t worth it. He kept telling himself it would be over soon but it just kept going.

It took six months for the transformation to be complete. When Dew was finally able to look in the mirror, he saw himself. It was freeing. The only thing he missed from his old body was the tattoos. Somewhere through the process of growing new flesh, the ink had disappeared. He mourned them- they were symbols of his growth and something that made his body uniquely his.

Dew started tattooing himself again, this time with slightly better tools. He used some sterile needles he’d swiped from the infirmary and managed to get his hands on some real tattoo ink. His designs started on his thighs, but moved to his arms, stomach, hips, and lower down his legs. His packmates watched him grow more comfortable in his new form as ink spread across his body.

However, Aether was horrified when Dew described his process the first time. He then gave him an hour-long lecture on sterilization and infections. Dew pointed out that it was very unlikely for ghouls to get wound infections while Topside but Aether insisted that Dew take the proper precautions when tattooing himself in the future, including doing it in the infirmary where it was cleaner. Dew agreed and ordered some proper equipment.

After a while, Aether let Dew tattoo something onto him- his favorite constellation, Ursa Major, in white ink on his wrist. Once healed, it became Dew’s favorite spot to kiss. He’ll never admit it to anyone, but the sight of his own art- even just a simple design- on his mate’s body makes him ridiculously happy. When Aether got top surgery, Dew tattooed more constellations along the scars. He also tattooed his own scars with flame designs.

He’s got some tattoos that are professionally done (mostly on his back, where he can’t reach) that he got on tour, but most of them are done himself.