More thoughts on Infinity Nikki's themes that I'm still rotating in my head, but like.
In contrast to the Faewish Sprites who evoke children despite also living for hundreds of years, the Pieceys as a whole are old. There's this sense of...decay around them, coupled with the way the Abandoned District is designed as the literal ruins of human civilization. Pieceys cannot naturally heal, their fabric only grows more worn over time. They patch themselves with fabric, but do that too much and there's not enough of themselves and they die.
The Abandoned District itself is a sharp contrast to the Wishing Woods, and IMO it's a pretty carefully crafted difference. The Abandoned District's aesthetics and music carry this undercurrent of melancholy that permeates nearly every part of the experience in exploring it versus the way the Wishing Woods is whimsical.
The story of the Faewish Sprites revolves around the Coming of Age Ceremony—it's been delayed and it needs to happen. The Faewish Sprites are about the future. Meanwhile the Pieceys have multiple stories exploring death or remembering the past. I think it's not a coincidence their downtrodden are specifically those who cannot remember where they came from?
But there's another difference I think. The Faewish Sprites are a very collective kind of society. They all dress exactly the same with only minor variations—there are no Faewish Sprites with their hoods down, for example, but many wear makeup or accessories which provide only really inconsequential differentiations. Even their names follow a strict naming convention (-bo/-da).
Meanwhile the Pieceys are much more varied in appearances. If you look closely there are model recycles, but IMO that's more of a limitation of the medium than the way it's handled with Faewish Sprites. The Market of Mirth and the Handsome Lads Circus also stand out to me as celebrations of individuality and life, much more than any place in the Wishing Woods. Pieceys also have theatre and arts and tell each other stories, connecting them closely to the humans they succeeded.
The contrast brings with it a difference in mentality too. There's a letter to Giroda post-story from an anonymous Faewish Sprite that states that they never really hated him but Faewish Sprites had no reason to question Chigda as their authority, so they followed him in mistreating Giroda. It's arguable how sincere this letter was (I assume it is because of the way Faewish Sprites are in general), but compare that sentiment with how every Piecey we met all treated Raggy in different ways.
maybe it also goes back to the Wishing One. He created the Faewish Sprites in life, so they're perpetually his children. Because of this, we get the Ascetics who punish themselves and the Faewish villains who cannot accept this death. The Pieceys were created when he died and became the Silvergale, so they carry a perpetual grief within their bodies. So they try to celebrate life where they can.
I don't really know where I'm going with this! Despite focusing on Faewish Sprites more, I love both and I think they're both very well written and tie well together within the lore.
