Yknow within fics and fanart theres a lot of attention drawn to Rudo's scars, and the chronic pain or how stigmatized they are by the Sphere's standards. People draw them as they are, angry and blackened and painful. Or as like, the mark of some beast.
However, in fanart, Tamsy's scarring is often drawn as aesthetically appealing, something that is attractive or to be desired, or lessened into simple discolouration. Its smoothed out, it curls in pretty ways to frame his face and body. He's almost also never drawn in pain as Rudo is. And I've never seen anyone in fanfic, other then maybe two fics, mention him having flare ups, or tightness or itching, or even phantom pains from his missing pinky.
This is because its just a reflection of how the two are in the manga, we get personal with Rudo, its from his perspective. In contrast, we know basically nothing about Tamsy, how he thinks and feels and how his scars have impacted his life, as the only other Sphereite with scars and oddly coloured hair. So a lotta people are left to their own speculations, preferences, etc.
Its just smth I think about. I won't get into how we see scars treated on the Ground or my speculations/HC on the Sphere's views on scarring or visible disabilities, but i do hope we get to see some parallels between the two in the Manga and how they're treated.
I also hope other fic authors explore the scars that the cast each have in their own ways, since what, Gris, Enjin, Rudo, Tamsy, Follo, and how many other people i missed each have some. I feel like its a reflection of what happens to a lotta of the 'trash' (perfectly good stuff with just scuffs or a minor crack etc) that's wastefully tossed out by the Sphere.
just joshin' ya, kinda. But this is one of the things ive kinda been dying to talk about fer a while and have been waiting fer people to bring up within fanfic and discuss but I've yet to see.
Keep in mind, my main artisanal craft is Otomi/Hñahñü/Tenango embroidery from central Mexico. I've dabbled (and fumbled) with weaving with a backstrap loom, quilting, dyeing, tailoring, fashion design, sewing, and making uniforms in a small factory. I've got a general gist of how ixle, cotton, silk, and flax are harvested and spun, but haven't done it myself yet. Its something I very much wanna learn how to do soon.
Without further ado, here's a small crash course about fashion, what the fashion design in Gachiakuta tells us (not all encompassing since we're really only covering Tamsy, and the Sphere's clothing) and my analysis of Tamsy's Vital Instrument Tokushin! (And why it drives me nuts to think about bc of what it says about him as a person.) Spoilers Ahead!
Okay so! Lets first address what we canonically know about Tamsy, his Vital Instrument, Tokushin, and the world.
Tamsy is a Sphereite. presumably up high in their hierarchy. Some believe he's a prince, I feel as though he could be a priest or noble of sort, but as of now, we don't know what role he plays up there. Just that he's high up there.
Tokushin is SAID to be a distaff. I call bullshit but that's what its called.
We don't know how the Sphere mass produces everything that inevitably gets thrown out.
Everyone on the Sphere wears thick white clothing with gold hardware. All seemingly made of the same materials between classes.
The Sphere has access to animals that are extinct/mutated on the Ground (Horses being one of them.)
Tamsy likes loose clothing. His uniform carries a lot of excessive amounts of fabric and flourishes, its by far one of the most elaborate/unique uniforms among the Cleaners.
Clothing from the Sphere sells for a pretty penny. Even when bloody or soiled, implying the quality is something that can't be easily replicated or replaced, or just sought after to be destroyed.
Now lets address some important things about fashion.
People tend to think of clothing as neutral, or unimportant but that isn't the case at all; its one of the most important inventions humans have ever made, and continues to be. They reflect everything about a person and society; what they value, what they don't, what they hope for, what they fear, etc, its political and can control perception of reality. Its just overlooked because well, A; its associated with vanity and women, and B; its so normalized that people take it for granted. Being able to understand clothing is like learning another language or how to read; its another way of conveying information quickly.
Fer example, in fashion design, there's this '20 year cycle' rule. Basically, every 20 years, old trends recycle into the current era, albeit changed to fit current sensibilities a bit. Its what makes things predictable. (though with globalization, the internet, and social media this cycle might be going 'faster'.) See; during the mid to late 2010s, the 80s and 90s were coming back with things like 'mom' jeans n scrunchies. The 2020s are all about the Y2K era, and were starting to see a 2010s revival in things like the color turquoise and coral.
Additionally; what becomes popular is a reaction to whats happening in the world.
Fer example; during the covid lockdowns, moral was low, people were dying and isolated, so naturally they gravitated to things that made them nostalgic for a safer time; y2k, cottage core, sparkles, sequins, plastic and fun kitschy or kiddie aesthetics.
Then, after that, people became jaded after the dust settled. Inorganic materials were out, utility wear, masks, uniforms (think office siren or practical workwear), wear and tear, visible mending, vintage, earthy or muted colors became more popular.
Now, theres a recession, multiple wars and atrocities, rising facism- food is becoming a luxury, so fruit and veggie prints are more popular as a sign of 'luxury'. That 'chinese time in their life' trend, they're reach more for other cultures and aesthetics and artisanal one of a kinds, despite propaganda to counter the antihuman war and ai. Although, many do so uncritically, and are actually just consuming other cultures and customs as costumes rather than appreciating the people they come from genuinely.
I bring this up, because Gachiakuta says a LOT with its fashion design alone. Almost too much, to the point it makes me question everything.
Fer instance; we know that August designs all the uniforms for the Cleaners in house. However, we're never told what they're actually made of. My guess would be thick, durable, heavy duty and flame resistant cotton like what we used in a factory in Mexico to make uniforms for municipality; gasoline workers, street workers, firefighters, etc. it matches the weight, stiffness and thickness of what we see.
But where does it come from? Who's making it? Who's farming it? Cotton takes a lot of water to grow, water that's likely scarce and precious on the surface.
What about Sphereite clothing? What is it made of, why does it look the way that it does? What does it say about the people who wear it and what they need it for? That's even more confusing to me.
Because currently, the fashion industry is one of the largest polluters on Earth, alongside war, fossil fuels, and industrial farming. We have more than enough clothing fer multiple generations, in piles so large you can see them from space marring Chile's deserts.
Prior to the industrial revolution, everyone wore their clothes till they became rags, they knew how to make and repair their own clothes. Painstaking crafts like lacemaking, embroidery, dyeing were the backbone of many economies and cultures. Hell, even post the revolution, it was a rush to see who could make a machine to make these things faster w/o people to gain control of a market. Think the lacemaking machines in France, or how Indonesian Batik came to West Africa. Of course, they can't be entirely what people call 'machine made' since those machines are still operated or sewn by a person, its no less hand made then smth yer granma made ya. The only difference is the fact it was made in a sweat shop.
Which is why the situation around Sphereite clothing and Tamsy's Vital Instrument being a 'distaff' IS SO WEIRD.
For a culture so wasteful, you'd expect them to wear all kinds of fashions like us, that their clothing wouldn't be worth a lot on the Ground because its so common and cheap, reused for various purposes. Similar to how places like Ghana end up taking unwanted 'clothing donations' from places like the US.
But they aren't.
Its rare and valuable, meaning they almost never get thrown out; perhaps they're burned before getting thrown into the pit, except for when 'criminals' are dropped, since most of them have dirty or worn down clothing as opposed to what the Cityfolk wear and discard.
So that leads me to think that Spherites' clothing is actually well tailored and made, they must not have a fast trend cycle and maybe that implies a society that very rigid, conformist and against standing out; fitting, considering they all wear one colour, white, aside from gold embellishments. They don't make as much textile waste as we do; fashion wise at least. Their clothing also seems very tight and form fitting fer the most part, aside from the Tribesfolk (likely explained by being handme downs rather than tailor made.) We can see it in the structured pencil skirts and pants of the adults, and Tamsy's uniform. Through it seems like among children, big skirts and hoodies are more common. Capes/caplets are worn by all, but women's tend to be smaller then men's. Hats are still popular too, meaning that even if they have trucks and cars, their cities are more walkable considering the reason we stopped wearing them as much was because of car ceilings.
Other things of note; no one has body mods beyond a single pair of earlobe piercings, we never see any women wearing pants and they seemingly favour short hair or updos, nor are any men wearing skirts or tunics, and none have hair longer than their shoulders. Baggier or loose clothing is only for children, likely to grow into, Regto's the only person we see with tassled stoles until we see Tamsy having similar embellishments.
Tamsy's silhouette is much different to his uniform with the Cleaners. Oddly enough, he wears pants and a half skirt/apron as well as a half cape on opposite sides, its very asymmetric unlike other clothes we've seen. With his hair down, he's still a major outlier to other Sphereites blending feminine and masculine traits together, or breaking norms established. Other than Rudo, he's the only other Sphereite with two toned hair.
Judging by his comment about not being allowed to skate topside, his labret piercing, and how he presents on the Ground, its probably safe to say he goes against most Sphereite norms where he can get away with it and how he dresses on the Ground's more faithful to what he prefers.
Now, with everything we've broken down about the Sphere's and Tamsy's fashion, lets address his Vital Instrument, Tokushin.
Tokushin is said to be a distaff, but I genuinely think that's a lie, or has to be mistranslated, or they're just using it as a cooler name then spindle because THIS
Looks and functions a lot more like THIS, a Spindle.
Granted, there are some 'cage' distaffs I could find, but all of them were still much longer than his hand held one, and looked much different to his, and while it seemed noble women would have nicer, hand carved staffs, I can't really confirm the validity of this cage distaffs being real antiques or even used for this purpose. And even if they were, a distaff holds the unspun fibers on a long stick for the spinster to drop spin with a spindle. Prior to the invention of the spinning wheel, which made the process much faster and easier, drop spinning was the only way to make thread. Its an ancient craft, prehistoric even (remember how I said clothing is one of our greatest inventions?) weaving and spinning are often the subject of many myths and folktales (The Fates, Mayahuel or the tethers of Life, Sleeping Beauty as an example but THAT is an important tidbit for later.)
However, Tokushin clearly small and hand held, and uses spun threads and cordage, and it winds around like a bobbin or spool.
A distaff is tall, it wouldn't need to transform into a staff from like it does, the fibers would be loose and chaotic. Also, a distaff technically doesn't even have to be a staff, it could just be a bundle of fiber wrapped around your hand.
ANYWAYS IM A 'TOKUSHIN IS A SPINDLE NOT A DISTAFF' TRUTHER FROM HERE ON OUT.
(Logically, I think, The reason its called a distaff is bc its much more audibly and visually appealing as an actual staff like object, and they just meshed its function with that of a spindle so they wouldn't have to give him two instruments. Its just using magic logic for the fibers to be spun already but that detail really bothers me. It could've also maybe been a mistake? since the two tools can be conflated sometimes but not that often. I could see someone unfamiliar with them thinking they're the same.)
A friend has suggested that Tokushin is actually from a broken spinning wheel and other theories, which I would be receptive to reading about if that's the case, but anyways;
Back on track since we've established Tokushin is actually a spindle. Spinning takes a helluva long time to do, it requires a lot of focus, patience and practice to do without thinking since yer trying to make sure everything distributes evenly for quality thread. Its the exact opposite of how Tamsy can be; a tad impulsive, self indulgent, risky, impatient. As I've pointed out in another post about his character.
Although it wasn't uncommon for noble women to spin like their poorer counterparts, It was something that happened more in the Medieval era I wanna say than like. Later, it was more likely for noble women to take up embroidery or lacemaking as a craft. Men were also spinners, however they tended to be artisans not nobles.
As the spinning wheel rose to prominence, and even later with industrialization, fewer people learned how to do this. Judging by the fact the Sphere does seem to have automation; trucks, garbage disposal, electric poles, its safe to assume the higher classes/cityfolk don't need to spin their own textiles themselves by hand. Especially not someone as high up the ladder with elaborate clothing such as Tamsy.
SO WHY THE HELL IS HIS VITAL INSTRUMENT A SPINDLE???
Someone of his status, let alone as a man, shouldn't even know what it is, or care about it. Especially enough to cherish it so much.
I assume we'll actually get a backstory behind this choice later down the line but lets see what this potentially says about him;
He's an artisan. Like, he likes art. and being creative. Which falls in line with liking music, how he presents himself, his liking for passionate people. It actually explains he must legitimately hate how wasteful and conformist the Sphere is; perhaps being able to make his own clothes, in different shapes and colors then what was provided to him to match the rest. To dress how you like enables a sense of autonomy he may not get up there. It speaks to a sense of respect and appreciation for artisanal crafts which is antithetical to fast fashion, consumerism, and colonialism as a whole. (Not necessarily saying he is against all those things? but his love of what he handmade or fixed himself might've been when turned him against the Sphere when didn't approve of it and opened his eyes to how it treats people too.)
The fact that he doesn't align with the male or female aesthetics of the Sphere, combined with this craft leads me to believe its also tied to his own gender identity and expression too, obvi.
Tokushin, his vital instrument might be what humanizes him the most to me, artisan to artisan, fibre artist to fibre artist. It makes me believe he's not just doing all this for the hell of it and actually cares about other people to an extent. Since fiber arts, in my opinion and experience, are so tethered to community and humanity itself. Sure, we've got puppet masters and spiders making traps but; spinsters and weavers created clothing to keep each other warm, bandages for our wounds, nets to catch food, and even were responsible for computers and modern tech as we know it.
Personally; Part of my own goal is learning how to harvest and spin, and weave so that I may teach it to other generations. Currently I organize and teach others how to sew and embroider because I want to lift my people from poverty and reconnect them with our cultural practices and the land beneath out feet. Although he's done atrocious things, when i hear he's never been understood his entire life, and yet has a spindle as an instrument, I can't help but think Tamsy started out wanted to do the same as me at some point before the threads got all tangled. Getting into fiber arts was what gave me a solid community i could rely on and give back to, and identity and style too even.
Anyways, I think I've said my peace fer now. I do want to make maybe a second part or companion piece to this about the mythical/folklore connections he and his Vital Instrument have. Namely to the various Sleeping Beauty stories, and how he's a subversion of them, but das another story fer another day. Later yall, stay frosty, I hope you learned smth neat today from me.
EDIT TO ADD: I didn't get to it, but i'm curious as to what kind of fiber his threads are made of (wool, ixle, flax, etc) and where he gets it from. If he spins/makes thread in his off time, if so, does he trade them or gift it to anyone? does he also know how to weave, embroider, knit, or crochet? Does he help or supply August in any way? but these are more minor and better explored in fanfic and art lol.
A; the no man's lands are actually the sites of long dead gods, hence why they're so volatile and different.
B; Rudo has a god, or possibly the heart of the watchman itself (which might be the only god left) trapped/sealed inside him/his bloodline.
C; Regto and Tamsy were co-conspirators trying to restore said god to take down the Sphere fer good. (Personally believe Regto might've been Tamsy's past teacher/noble or family advisor etc who shared his plans fer the Sphere/Rudo to Tamsy as a child before purposefully getting himself exiled to the slums n killed, or was from the slums and befriended/radicalized Tamsy in secret meet ups.)
Oh and this is more headcanon or what I'd prefer to see, but D; Tamsy might have originally started with 'good' intentions, legitimately caring about the Ground, wanting to get justice, (an act of love for this place that he could be free) but got more and more twisted as he had to he put on a facade around both sides to accomplish his goals, ultimately losing himself and ability to be himself around others. Doesn't excuse what he's done but maybe, like Amo, he has a chance to course correct and actually help Rudo instead, or at least, stop what he's doing.
This isn't theory but smth to note;
Rudo, Tamsy, and Zodyl all want to take down the Sphere fer their own personal vengeance, not fer the people of the Ground itself. I hope we get to see more of Rudo interacting with the actual community of the Ground, not just the Cleaners. As the Cleaners themselves were never fully intended to protect the Ground's people in actuality as Corvus reveals (doesn't erase the good they've done and do, but it doesn't sit well with me. Do they help for free? Do they charge? Do they trade, as in, mutual aid? They seem to better off than the average Groundling and Towns) Otherwise, he'll never be able to meaningfully live a good life and have fun in contrast to the Tribesfolk's crab in a bucket mentality, if he doesn't connect with the normal people of the Ground more. The families, the neighbors, the labourers, the artisans, the scholars, the poor, the sick, etc.
I hope the Doll Fest changes that. Changes him fer the better and he can build real solidarity with. Then he can brutally take down the Sphere (and as much as i want him to go apeshit, chose not to kill the regular people of the Sphere bc at the end of the day, he's still a kid who doesn't need that on his conscious.) (I wont say anything if he kills any rich folk tho fuck em.)
Andromeda really went; "hey you wanna see me make a really cool n charming turian companion with daddy issues and a younger sister again but this time in girl flavor?"
Terrified of having to catch my flight at CDMX tomorrow THE DAY BEFORE MUNDIAL????? Praying to the ancestors. Pls. Pls. Make sure the roads aren't closed and the traffic is lessened porfis. I promise to fill my altar back home with extra goodies if it goes smoothly.
Idk how to articulate it but Enjin is absolutely NOT a father figure. Brother i could like. Maybe see if i squint. I also don't think he's honestly all that amazing of a mentor/leader esk figure. Though im sure that's actually intentional, he has flaws and is written pretty damn convincingly
Almost too fucking much tho bc as i have said before he is EXACTLY the type of man i hate the most (loud, cocky, secretive, doesn't like women/kids, childish, asshole, smoker) so take everything here with a grain of salt lol he's a good character but god damn i cannot stand him. I hope jakey does die.
Just thinking about it and like, i think the reason i like and find the dynamic between Rudo and Tamsy so interesting is that like, i think they actually could've become friends. Or, at least, supportive and helpful in attaining the others goals if like, they could actually align themselves correctly. Like, were they not each other's op rn, they'd be pretty terrifying to see work together at taking down the sphere.
Had they met at a different time in their lives or smth, it could've been that they found at least some other person who understood each other in a place where it felt like almost no one did (baring Regto and kinda Chiwa fer Rudo)
And like, I'm not saying this as in: "oh they'd make each other better and probably turn out maybe healthier?" (Though im not ruling that out in a AU that actually tries to figure out how that would happen) Nah, i mean like, they could've turned toxically codependent or like, pushed each other to be worse, to accomplish their goal. We already technically see that with what Tamsy is doing now, but it'd probably be worse with Tamsy actively encouraging Rudo's rage as a trusted ally, and Rudo not caring about Tamsy's methods and cruelty if it gets him results. Getting to indulge in someone who isn't afraid of his anger and slowing him down. (Granted in this case, Regto's killer would have to be someone other than Tamsy)
Or it coulda turned out completely differently, theres just a lot you can do with em cause like? Yer dad's murder pulling the strings from the background while thinking it was completely justified and pretending to be yer supportive co-worker who just seems like a really chill, cool guy? Like? Wild. And he's like, not even doing it bc he hates you, he isn't trying to save the place you both came from and hate, if it wasn't fer the dad killing he'd be the only other person who knows what its like where you grew up and likely understands and shared the same hatred you have. Idk does any of this make sense? I feel like im loosing it. Also can you tell i love Blood is Thick and its premise.
