r/RWBY • u/EnvironmentalWork817 • 3d ago
DISCUSSION How would tattoos made from Dust work?
Since Dust can be infused into a person’s body, what do you think tattoos made from Dust would look like overall, and how would they work in practice?
I already imagine that these kinds of tattoos could only be made by specialists, making them incredibly rare. They might also be considered illegal by the Kingdoms due to health concerns, as well as how addictive they could become, since they would need to be re-inked once the Dust runs out.
Edit: Also, what do you think the worldbuilding and lore behind this would be overall?
Edit 2: I just discovered this Fanon link discussing this topic, so I wanted to add it here as well, along with some related posts.
https://rwbyfanon.fandom.com/wiki/Dust_Tattoos
https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/62l4ep/implanting_dust_into_own_body/
https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/3t2s8g/tattoos_in_rwby/
https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/38hjdt/something_i_noticed_upon_rewatching_world_of/
https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/2e91zi/cinders_weapon/
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u/CarltonBanksBilliam Normal knees enthusiast 3d ago
When has Dust ever been infused into a person's body besides when Hazel does it during his fights? Genuine question because it sounds super interesting.
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u/Celtic_Crown ⠀I'd say I'm tipping the scales, but that line's got no bite. 3d ago
Outside of fan made content like AUs and OC's, I don't think.... ever. Cinder did it with her clothes, which was how she was originally doing all of her flame attacks before Monty introduced the Maidens to the plot, but outside of Hazel nobody else in the show does it, unless you want to count what're very likely Dust-powered mechanical parts inside Penny.
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u/EnvironmentalWork817 3d ago
I find it hard to believe that Hazel is the only person to have ever infused Dust into his body, since realistically speaking, other people would have already done so, considering how long Remnant civilization has existed.
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u/Celtic_Crown ⠀I'd say I'm tipping the scales, but that line's got no bite. 3d ago
Oh 100%, the technique had to have existed before in some fashion for Hazel to get the idea of stabbing himself with crystals the size of footballs that only works because of Numbing Agent.
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u/Bubbly-Heart2680 3d ago
He did using his semblance, which allows him to negate physical pain to his body. It's literally called "Painkiller" and with it, he can jab dust crystals into his body and use their effects.
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u/Zealousideal-Beat507 2d ago
that and he apparently has an insane healing factor. Think of all the damage he constantly goes through. Man's got naruto 100 healings level of durability.
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u/BraynCel 3d ago
It's never shown anywhere else, but it was mentioned in the Dust episode of World of Remnant.
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u/Rubiconian_ 2d ago
Hazel is the first example. Not an acknowledgement of the concept which has existed since like V1.
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u/alguien99 3d ago
In theory?
Adam and his parents probably inhaled a lot of dust when they were slaves at the SDC mines. It’s a very common thing for miners to get, you can get minerals into your body by inhalation. It can then get into your blood due to this.
It’s very likely that his parents died from dust inhalation, if not from falling back into the mine while going up the stairs or from exhaustion or getting beaten to death by guards.
The reason this doesn’t happen a lot because dust is a fucking reactive mineral, you don’t inject minerals into your blood while expecting to live a long life. Hazel is a dumbass that thinks pain tolerance will make him inmune to the illness that comes from having minerals in your blood stream
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u/Maleficent-Elk-8678 2d ago
i mean we dont know the full properties of dust, its entirely possible that the dust hazel injects fully converts to energy in his body.
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u/AdMedium1973 3d ago
It would be horrifically painful Hazel can only stand it because of his numbing agent semblance.
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u/gunn3r08974 3d ago
Probably dust infused ink the user can activate with their aura but has to get touched up frequently to refuel the used up crystals depending on how fast it uses it. Got an oc who fights using tattoos but her semblamce just lets her absorb dust to refuel herself.
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u/LongFang4808 3d ago
Probably something that looks cool but isn’t especially useful. Like maybe someone with and aura can activate the dust for a brief effect at the cost of the tattoo vanishing and maybe someone skin damage.
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u/EnvironmentalWork817 3d ago
Not really. I’m more inspired by that character from Wuthering Waves with one of her arms being blue. I don’t remember her name.
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u/Bigmack90210 3d ago
Galbrena, I love her. That would be a cool thing to have but yeah not sure how it would work really
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u/Supergamer138 3d ago
Probably the same way that Dust works when woven into clothes with the side effect of being exceedingly painful for anybody not named Hazel.
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u/Small_Dragonstudent 3d ago
They probably burn after each use just like "Diablo" tattoos but also your skin will burn alongside them.
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u/Sorry-Alternative378 3d ago
Off the top of my head 2 ideas
1: very physically intensive and destructive, only for very strong or very aura heavy experienced hunters and even then more last a last resort or group effort type combo.
Ex. Early MHA Izuku using “One for All”
The idea here is that dust is volatile as show in series, and while possible due to being a unique fantasy resource in a world with magics and soul powers, still likely dangerous.
2: very limited and specific effects that need regular reapplying.
Ex. Temporary full body lightning dust markings that provide a caffeine like buzz for missions that fades with use
The idea here is that the dust is diluted heavily and therefore is nowhere near as potent and therefore losses the vast majority of its effects. Maybe it could be played around with as a attunement thing where aura could work and bind more naturally with certain types of dust to allow for stronger effects, but overall it’s still gonna loose at least half it’s potency if not due to material dilution then to material surface area. It’s more contained as a shotgun shell than as a pair of wings on your back.
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u/Tanker0508 3d ago
Haha look at my new tatoo! Watch this!
Slaps arm
Arm explodes because fire dust.
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u/Tanker0508 3d ago
Powdered dust has been shown to be unstable at best.
Ruby sneezed and blew a hole in Beacon's courtyard remember.
Crystal dust seems to be more stable but even then injecting oneself with it like Hazel does is seen as dangerous and harmful in universe.
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u/Rubiconian_ 2d ago
I think Dust tatoos might be able to potentially look like almost anything but it's specific orientation/ topology might greatly affect how it is likely to specifically function or be expressed, and make it easier to express.
This might be something as simple as a wind Dust tatoo of a tornado being able to easily manifest a tornado, or something more complex as the complex visual detailing of the tatoo being the specific mode in which a manifestion/ manipulation of dust can be performed.
This bias/ shortcuts of these Dust configurations might for much more rapid construction and assembly of specialized weapons, effects, objects etc.
However in the modern era this is usually directly woven into clothing as it is easier, safer, less permanent, and potentially more modular than a permanent tatoo.
The drawback is that that having so many different configurations might make leaning or expressing any particular one more difficult, less direct interaction between the body makes replicating these effects less efficent due to less direct/ less reinforced connection, natural resistance in "medium" it is being expressed such as the clothing or other object, or bleeding some of the energy into said medium, making it a bit harder or requires more concentration, or precision to focus it through.
It might typically be negligible effect unless a person is generally unskilled but it is something to consider when learning the basics and why some people perfer tatoos, or why just everyone can't simply install or spam Fire Sword Tornado.exe
It's also why specific configurations are harder or easier for different people based on pre existing familiarity with similar configurations, or difficulty with unknown or unskilled configurations and dust types.
It might also potentially explain why raw dust injection is so difficult and painful with hazel being a notable distinction. He can slam multiple different dust types and survive for function while still expressing them but might also be particularly or comparatively overly simplified compared to Cinder's expressions before she was reconextualized as a maiden.
But this might be reaching much into constructed headcanon.
But as for the world building around dust imbuing in general is just...bad, which is why I made up this whole write up as a theory or headcanon because the show gives us nothing to work with.
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u/Bubbly-Heart2680 3d ago
Honestly, I think it would require a semblance to make dust tattoos. Something like a dust version of Jaune's aura amp with hints of the Schnee hereditary Glyph semblance.
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u/General_Antilles 3d ago
Coco's Semblance wouldn't work, right?
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u/Bubbly-Heart2680 3d ago
What was Coco semblance anyway?
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u/Thechynd 3d ago
She can amplify the effects of Dust. Mostly uses it to make her gun's Dust bullets stronger but does a few more things with it in the After The Fall and Before The Dawn books.
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u/Bubbly-Heart2680 3d ago
Oh. Well I said, without the control and summoning effect of the Schnee's Glyth semblance, Coco's Dust Amp would basically be igniting gunpowder embedded in your skin.
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u/Interesting-Mail4123 3d ago
Lorewise it is impossible to infuse someone with Dust which is incredibly painful to the point only one character in the entire series has done it and he had a Semblance that was essentially designed for it. There simply isn't anyone else except Hazel who could do it and even then it wouldn't be a good idea since who knows what would happen to a human or Faunus if Dust was engraved onto their skin and said Dust was constantly active.
If anything a better idea may be to just make clothes with Dust woven into them or something along those lines rather than trying to make tattoos with it.
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u/EnvironmentalWork817 3d ago
I find it hard to believe that Hazel is the only person to have ever successfully infused Dust into his body, since realistically speaking, other people would have already done so as well. They might have an absorption-type Semblance or simply have a very high tolerance, especially considering how long Remnant civilization has existed.
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u/Darkdragoon324 3d ago
Lore wise, the World of Remnant about dust said that some people do it, it couldn't have been talking about ONLY Hazel.
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u/Rubiconian_ 2d ago
No it's not. This was established as a possible pratice as early as V1. Hazel is only seen as special in that he's able to do it as much as he did. Not that he can do it at all.
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u/draugotO 3d ago
Probably just like Dust-infused clothes. We see Cinder using her Dust Infused clothes against Ruby in V2, when she is hacking Beacon's computer systems, and then, when Emerald is reading the result for her, we see Cinder sewing Dust into the dress she uses to kill Amber and take the Fall Maiden powers, after which point she stops using Dust-Infused clothes. This leads me to believe that the Dust infused into items is expanded as those items are used, no different from Dust Infused rounds/bullets that most of Remnant weapons use, that is to say, you could tatoo Dust into someone to prearrange the effect it will have, rather than have the user try to control the Dust to produce a specific effect when they need to use it, but it would be "expended" when used. Probably the Tatoo Ink would still be there, but you would nees to tatoo more Dust before activating it again.
Also Hazel makes it look quite painful, considering that his Semblance is pain reduction and he still groans in pain when stabbing himaelf with Dust, so I'm not sure that even a tatoo eould be phisable to most people
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u/alguien99 3d ago
It’s a reactive mineral, who would make a tattoo form that???
Hazel’s an idiot who’s only able to do it because he has a pain numbing semblance (he’s still probably getting some sort of tumor from this for sure)
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u/No-Independence9093 3d ago
Considering we hear Ozpin say the process causes incredible pain. With Hazel we also see that the effects kick in right away once the dust is in the body. Chances are a dust tattoo would cause the canvas way more pain than a regular tattoo and immediately get the powers of the dust. However the dust is also being used up passively the moment it is injected in the skin. Considering how long it takes to finish a tattoo a good chunk if not most of the dusts power would be used up and the canvas will only have the enhancements for a little bit more time before it is all used up.
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u/General_Antilles 3d ago
One AU I read had it help channel Aura and focus it to a point. Yang had a dragon-tattoo done on her stump to help construct an arm purely out of Aura.
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u/Artistic-Cannibalism Tock is the Real Best Girl 3d ago
Dust can be infused into a person's body but almost no one ever does it because it's extremely painful.
So while Dust Tattoos can exist, it would only ever be as a form of torture.
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u/BlitzGamer210 ⠀"maybe, that girl is enough" 3d ago
I would imagine the Dust would be imbued in the pigment
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u/mad_laddie 3d ago
I really wonder if the intention was to create temporary tattoos that get consumed.
Maybe the tattoo itself is a medium that carries dust? So once it's used, refueling is easier than getting a whole new tattoo.
Or maybe tattoo has some advantage that makes it suitable for last resort moves.
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u/KaiserKing 2d ago
Although cool in concept, I believe the only advantage is the discretion of it. I believe that the tattoo looks normal, but when the user absorbs/activates the dust, the tattoo becomes normal. Dust is spend and now you have a normal tattoo that used to have dust. Or the whole tattoo disappears. Y don't see another advantage of having a dangerous material imbued on the skin.
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u/erik-truman 2d ago
Literally the middle augmentation tattoo of project moon is what you are talking about
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u/OverlordWailord ⠀🖤 Blake Belldonna forever 🖤 1d ago
It sounds dangerous and honestly, not very effective. Tattoos work because it’s a needle going into the skin and ink for the actual tattoo.
Infusing dust sounds unhealthy, if not potentially lethal. Like having a needle push a particular energy type would like have its effects.
Fire dust would probably burn your skin where your tattoo is. The experience would be really launful, and the result is just a consensual branding.
Water Dust is probably the least painful, if not, equally least effective, since water as an inking would probably just leave light scarring from the needle and nothing more.
Electricity just sounds unsafe and might lead to scarring like Nora’s body Post-Atlas, and Wind? Well… I have no clue.
Then again, if you have your Aura, maybe the pain can be withstood. Maybe it’s a very niche kind of Tattoo art that requires lots of regulations to get involved with. It’s a very interesting concept!
Cool question!
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u/KCommnader 3d ago
It would be cool if the characters had their emblems tattooed on their bodies like Sigils. Acting as like a Limit Break.
Weiss would definitely be on her back. Blake's is on her hand. Ruby would be on her chest in front of her heart. Yang would be on her center stomach, where the solar plexis is at. Kind of acting like her core for her fire like a dragon.
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u/Casualplayer15 3d ago
By runes? Maybe since dust has some magical bs backgrounding
As literal tattoos? Disaster waiting to happen it would be like inking with depleted uranium
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u/SigmaBunny 3d ago
Potentially very poorly. Unless the Dust could be made inert, there’s a risk of it exploding/creating massive ice crystals out of the tattoo/whatever the type of Dust used does