we spiraled about this on the server so here's a rough transcript of what we came up with:
Dew doesn't feel enough - not big enough, not good enough, not fire enough, but still has to play the Fantomen on stage
He tries to make up for it by having a big personality but deep down knows that he's not truly a fire ghoul, never feels enough
Feels fake, he's not an original fire ghoul.
His bass guitar is forcibly taken away from him and given to Rain.
That's why he's so drawn to Rain - he can't yet tell if it's hate or love, he is unimaginably jealous and mad that Rain gets to be a water ghoul and he doesn't. He's also immeasurably obsessed with Rain - he desperately craves his touch, company, affection - anything he can get from Rain, just to feel water again.
That moment on stage when Aether and Dew double-team Rain and play his bass while Rain just stands there? Dew doesn't realize he's doing it until it's over and the tears are streaming down his face. Curses on stage, fuck, can't let anybody see him like this, thank Lucifer for the masks and bright lights and sweat. Aether is panicking on the other side - shit, how could he let that happen? He didn't think it through. He's the only one who knows Dew's past truly, and his feelings, even though Dew only lets him see it at a surface level. He just went autopilot on stage, goofing around, having fun, breaking his friend's heart in a million pieces.
Then maybe others notice too. The audience may be clueless, but a ghoul's senses detect the tears, the shift in his attitude, tense shoulders, and stiff legs. The smell of salt on stage - different than sweat, teardrops instead.
So they get him a bass guitar. It's not the same one, a fresh start.
Dew doesn't know what to do with it, and keeps it in the corner of his room for the longest time - untouched, dusty, and forgotten.
He feels guilty every time he reaches for the bass, not water anymore and not fire enough.
Slowly, he picks it up. Tests it. Doesn't even play, just has it on his lap. Tunes the strings, cleans the dust off it.
One day he plays. Unsurprised that he remembers how to - how could he forget, he dreams of it in his sleep, plays along on his arm when Rain's sound-checking - it's engraved in his bones.
Soon, Rain convinces him to play together. He can't keep it together - his tail whacking everything around them, ears wiggling - like a kitten on crack. Dew is just trying to keep his cool demeanor.
Later, when he asks Copia if he can get a Fender Stratocaster instead of Fantomen, he has to come up with a lie quickly - it's too big, I can't play it too well, Fender's are cooler blah blah blah.
Water ghouls play Fender.
So does Dew, who newly accepted his reality, an ex-water ghoul, current fire ghoul. Enough.
The Fantomen sits in the corner of his room, shiny, clean, and adored.
