#splintertown aesthetic

[alwri-tes]

Runo: People keep s-saying things l-like "y-you're being weird on p-purpose just because you *want* to s-stand out!" "You w-want to be s-special so badly!" Nooooo. I *want* to fit in. I *want* to be liked. There's just s-something wrong with me. PSYCHOLOGICALLY!

[alwri-tes]

*When they were young* Su: Okay, fine, before we all waste two hours arguing, let's just all come clean: Raise your hand if you've kissed Kazik. No judgement here, just honesty.

[alwri-tes]

Kainma: What's it called when you become so disconnected from reality that you barely feel anything anymore? Kahzeh: Depersonalization. Nai: Locking in. Kazik: Your average Thursday.

[alwri-tes]

Runo: F-fathers will always s-s-say the most random things unprompted t-to you. It's universal. It's l-like s-something compels them to do it the s-second they h-have a child. These days S-Su will randomly t-tell me about s-strange dreams he had when he was young. It's weird, but I'll take it any d-day over K-Kazik walking up t-to me on my t-twelfth birthday and s-saying "Don't e-ever bury me on the s-same plot of l-land as your mother. Leave me to the coyotes and v-vultures if you h-have to. Oh, and happy birthday s-son." Runo: L-looking back, I w-wonder how he might have f-felt about potentially being buried on the same p-plot of land as me and my s-sisters. I mean. There's n-no way that's happening now. And I think we know what his answer to th-that q-question would have been. But s-still. You wonder about these things when your f-father hates you.

[alwri-tes]

Splintertown spoilers under the cut! (It's just an incorrect quote, nothing huge)

Agath: So I found a dream-plant growing inside your father, it's the biggest and nastiest one I've ever seen. Do you want to take pieces of it home. Like a trophy or something? *holds out jar of cut-up plant parts*

Runo: ...no.

Agath: Nice, I get to claim it!

Agath, walking away, whispering to the jar: You're so screwed, little plant, I'm going to experiment so much on you-

[alwri-tes]

I feel like the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty would have some particularly messed up implications in the Splintertown universe

[alwri-tes]

So youtube autoplay randomly recommended the song "I Know Those Eyes/This Man is Dead" from The Count of Monte Cristo musical, and even though I have basically no context for it, it reminds me so much of Splintertown it's crazy

First voice: "My god, my heart beats faster! And my mind is racing! Could it be that you've come back to life? I know those eyes...I know that face, younger and kinder, it haunts all my dreams. How can you stand there, a whisper from me, yet somehow be so far away? In eyes once familiar, a stranger I see..."

Second voice: "This man is dead, he is no more. He died a little each day...the man you seek is long gone. Dead and cold. A story told, by those he trusted, those he loved, who then moved on. I am a ghost, just a mirage, who chases traces of you."

Both voices: Can either of us really ever be free? How can you stand there, a whisper from me, when you are still so far away? And why does the truth seem too hard to be true? With so much broken, and so much damage, there are no more words left to say..."

While the original song is very clearly about two lovers singing about each other, it reminds me so much of Splintertown it could be interpreted in multiple contexts. For a platonic/familial interpretation, It could be Su (first voice) and Runo (second voice) having an angst-filled moment because of Runo's self-esteem issues as a result of his severe trauma, Su pleading with him but Runo rejecting his kindness. In another platonic interpretation, it could fit a duet between Su and Nai after she was forced to exile him. It could also fit Su and Kazik.

[alwri-tes]

It's always interesting to look back on stuff that you read/watched/etc in the past, and realize in hindsight that it may have influenced your own writing and/or artistic craft in some way.

I decided to reread a few chapters of Sadie by Courtney Summers, a book I read years ago and fell in love with. Rereading it now, it's almost eerie how much the protagonist, the titular Sadie, resembles Runo, one of the protagonists from Splintertown, a novel of my own. This was not intentional!

They're both overlooked, downtrodden people with stutters (and even the same hair color, kind of) trying to avenge the wrongs that have been done to them and their family by a man who was supposed to be a father figure and protector to them.

Some quotes from Sadie that remind of Runo in some way:

"A man sits at the wheel with his arm hanging out the window, and he's tense until he sees me, and then all his tension seems to melt away. It's offensive. I'm dangerous. You shouldn't underestimate people. I want to call out."

-

"'Does your mama know you're out here?'"

"'M-my mom's d-d-d-"

The more I d-d-d the redder her face gets, the less she knows where to look...

"'d-dead."

"Jesus," Becki breathes, and I know it's not because of the inherent sadness of what I just told her, but because of the broken way it came out of my mouth... "'Should you-I mean, can you drive?"

It's one of the more subtle ways someone has asked me if I'm stupid, but that doesn't make it any more maddening from a woman who can't even spell the word please.

-

"When she (my sister) laughed, it would go so shrill and hurt my ears, but I'm not complaining because when she laughed it was like being on a plane at night, looking down on some city you've never been to before and it's all lit up. Or at least how I imagine that would be. I've never been on a plane before."

-

"Is R-Ray around?"

"What's this about?"

"T-trying to f-find someone."

I take out the photograph (of the man I'm looking for)...He has a hard face...he looks like he would step out of the photograph just to hate you up close.

I flip the photo and scribble quickly across its back:

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?

"Who wants to know?" she finally asks.

"His d-daughter"

"He might've come through, but I don't remember him if he did."

I can hear the lie a mile away.

"He s-said...he knew R-Ray."

"Well I'm not Ray and I don't know him." She slides the photo back to me, her voice taking a saccharine turn. "You know, my daddy left me when I was younger than you. Trust me when I tell you that sometimes it's just better that way."

I bite my tongue because if I don't, I'll say something ugly.

-

"Hey," the voice is featherlight, uncertain. I turn around and the other woman is staring at me. "Look, there's a guy... He might be able to tell you something."

"Thanks. A-appreciate it."

"Don't thank me yet. He doesn't do anything for free and nobody talks to him unless they have to, so think long and hard on whether or not you really do."

-

"Didn't your mama tell you about approaching dangerous men in the dark?"

"W-when I see a d-dangerous man, I'll k-keep that in mind."

"Wuh wuh wuh will yuh yuh you?"

It's not the first sorry imitation of myself I've ever heard, but it still makes me want to pull his tongue out of his mouth and strangle him with it.

"I n-need to talk t-to you."

He coughs, spitting on the ground. "That right?"

I take the picture out and hold it right in front of his fucking face...

"D-do you know this m-man? I n-need to know where to f-find him."

He laughs and shoves past me, his bony shoulder slamming into mine, sending me into a graceless backward shuffle.

"I can p-pay."