#All I can think is Sunny in the end looking at Kel and being like :] ...... >:]

[kanene-yaaay]

To Catch a Hero’s Giggle

Alternative Title: Golden Child

Kanene’s Notes: This fic is heavily inspired by This Headcanon that is basically that Hero has a natural quiet laughter and everyone likes to pretend that they ‘stole’ his giggles while tickling him

Warnings: This one has a lot of tickles dfghjhgfgh. Angst with a happy ending. Hurt/Comfort. Raspberries. Lee!Hero and Ler!Sunny&Ler!Kel. Around 3.500 words.

[~*~]

The top is a lonely place.

Actually, thinking about where he is - in the highest spot - feels weirdly frustrating. This numb feeling as he stared at the good grade on his newest text, the lack of even a small sparkle of proudness or relief at knowing that he did it again, the neutral tune of his face, the constant tiredness on his bones… none of this felt like the top. Like the best version of himself, like the amazingness and peak of development that he could achieve.

Yet, that was what everyone around him told that it was his place. The top of his class. The top of the students. The top of his school.

Hero had listened to it for years now, he had even fought with all his power for the title. And still he wondered when it would ever begin to make sense for him, to mean something for him.

(He wondered when he would look at the mirror with the same shine of pride and trust that his teachers and parents had when talking to him.)

"Hey, Hero! How did you do?" 

Hero didn't grimace, because that was his classmate and she was nice. In any other and every other situation that didn’t involve school or grades, she was really nice. 

Unluckily for him, that was not the case today.

"How did you do?" A smile, a curious look. Usually that would be enough to trail the attention away.

"I got a D! Not as brilliant as you, I guess, but still enough to pass so yeah!"

"D is still a good grade. I am glad you got it!"

"Hm mm, but still you're not running away from the question. Tell me, what did you get?"

His hand began scratching the back of his head, fingers tangling in his hair. "Ah, nothing much, just a B." He chuckled in good humor.

"Nothing much? Hero, I would commit crimes for your grades! Uuuurg, and you don't even look happy for it, too. Come on, I would be shooting fireworks if I was you right now. Is being that good just so normal for you, golden student, that you don't even care about them anymore?"

Words appeared and died in his tongue. A mix of "You’re not me" and "but I don't feel happy" and "Please don't call me that". Instead, he smiled and opened his mouth to say something (anything).

Scratch, scratch, scratch. He could almost feel the spotlight. It was starting to irritate, burn his skin.

Another classmate cut them.

"Hey, hey, Heroooo, my man!" That was June. She was nice and the arm that he slipped across his shoulders in a half hug made warmth spread across the touch. She was nice. "Sorry for cutting you short but I really need you to explain the subject of our Literature test like right now." 

His eyes ran at the clock above the white board on the room. It was lunchtime, their literature test would be in the period right after it.

"Of course!" Smile. Suddenly, he was back at his comfort zone, with notes and books and subjects that don’t make any sense, but when you start to stare at them long enough with a tilted head you can start to see the connections. "Do you have any questions in mind? What was the part you got the most confused?"

In a blink his own literature notebook was on his hands, pages being fastly flipped as the boy looked for where his notes were. 

Silence. The arm slipped from his shoulders.

Hero looked up. June laughed, with a tiny drop of awkwardness and bit her thumb with a dangerous smile as she avoided the other's eyes.

"Everything."

Hero stopped. Blinked. There was a light tremble in his words.

"The seven chapters about art schools?" 

"Yep." She popped the p. "And the historical context. And the authors. And characteristics." Hero must have shown a glimpse of the dread he was feeling inside because soon June was holding his hand and kneeling on the not-so-clean-and-where-did-all-this-ink-even-came-from-floor. "Please, Hero, please! I know that I haven't studied anything but you're so great at teaching. I will owe you that one, please!"

"Ok! Ok!" Hero fumbled a bit with his own hands, feeling a mix of relief to take over his movements. No one should be so desperate to get his help. And how could he even say no to her? "It's fine, it is a very long subject but we have one hour before the class so I think we can cover a bit more than the basics." 

His face became more serious, determinated eyes. "Get your book. We're going to meet on the tree next to the entrance, alright?"

"Perfect!" June jumped in the same place. "Thank you so much, Hero!"

"It is fine." And it really was, Hero loved to teach. But…"I am always happy to help, but next time, please ask me a day or two before the test." 

"Of course, dude!" And she was already out the door. 

Deep sigh. Hero looked at the clock. Actually, he took like one week to study all that stuff, however, maybe if he got the main historical events and explained how those affected the literature, architecture and worldview of each age, perhaps he could summon the main points of everything.

Another minute ticked by. Hero got his sandwich from his bag, already opening and taking a bite. Today was going to be a long day.

At least June was truly nice.

(...)

The thing about having Sunny as a neighbor is that sometimes he was just… there.

Hero, in his spot laid on the floorboards of his room - having fallen there after coming back from school and realizing that Kel was still out with the basketball group, - stared wide eyed at the deep dark eyes that curiously peaked at him from above. As soon as his brain clicked and he recognized the boy, however, his fast heartbeats began to calm down.

“Sunny!” He didn’t really want to get up, the cold floor soaking through his clothes and resting on his skin making all his muscles relax and keeping his mind from floating away. Still, he sat and turned around to stare at the younger with a pleasant quirk of lips. “Did you come to see Kel? He is still at his basketball practice. I am sure that you can still find him if you go to the park.”

Sunny looked back at him, his face was less pale and his movements less sluggish. It was good to actually see him more often, see the light come back bit by bit in his eyes. The same attentive eyes that fixed their attention at the taller boy, the silence stretching across the room before Sunny seemed to arrive at a conclusion, lightly nodding his head before popping himself on the floor right at his side.

He pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them and Hero opened his mouth, wanting, but not knowing how to explain that he really wasn’t a fun company right now.

“Heh. Sunny, I-”

A hand rested on his. The cold fingers patting his hand twice before a phone screen was basically shoved in his face.

Hero blinked, chuckled and adjusted himself to see what was on the device. It was a video of a small duck shaking himself and walking excitedly behind its owner with a light and quick ‘pap pap pap’.

He smiled, much more naturally this time, and pretended to not notice how thick with emotion was his voice. “This is cute.”

Sunny nodded, seeming content with himself, before turning back to watch something else. Probably more videos with ducks.

“Right.” Hero mumbled for anyone in particular. Deep breath. “Alright.”

Something hot ran across his cheek. And another. And another. And another.

It felt like burning, almost as bad as his eyes. Almost as annoying as the itch on his nose, the dryness of his throat.

Still, the floorboards were cold. They were brown and smooth and filled with dents wherever the tip of his fingers passes, result of years and years of both him and Kel having more accidents than the normal amount for two boys with inexplicable clumsy tendencies.

Still, there was a cold hand on his and the sound of puppies ‘yip yap yap’ and ducks ‘pap pap pap’ in the air smiling at it felt a bit easier.

 Breathe.

Hero stared at the ceiling for a pieces of minutes, letting himself slowly close his eyes as his breathing got slower. 

What a long day.

(...)

He opened his eyes, rubbing them and yawning as the consciousness slowly creeped back to his senses. His gaze travelled to the window, confirming that it was still afternoon and that possibly didn’t doze off for more than an hour. 

Stretching on the floor, the older one realized that Sunny was still there, unfolding from the tight ball he usually imitated when sitting down and answering his gaze with his own curious eyes.

Hero smiled.

Sunny was a good friend.

His smile quickly turned into a grin.

“Sunny. There is something on your face, come here for a second.”

One blink, two blinks, Sunny came closer. Hero tried to not let his plan ( or mischief) show too much on his face.

“Just a little bit closer.”

He opened his arms, Sunny moved to attend his request. Hero’s arms got closer and…

Bam!

*HERO captures you in a hug!*

With a squeak, Sunny trash for a second before realizing what was happening and letting himself fall on the floor with a small smile, amused titters making his shoulders bounce for a bit before he let himself be hugged like a teddy bear with no complaints.

“Thank you, Sunny. You’re a really good friend.” 

The younger boy didn’t answer him, but it didn’t matter. The silence that fell on them wasn’t in any way awkward. There was no need for words when all of his acts and little expressions showed how much Sunny cared.

Hero only kept him in the embrace for a couple more of seconds, giving the boy a quick squeeze before letting him go as a dazzling smile took over his face. Now it was time for him to show a bit how he cared about the younger too.

That was enough sulking for one day.

“Kel still hasn't arrived, huh? What if we both play a game then? I am sure we still have that old Spaceboy videogame where you can race his-”

“Another game.”

The voice was low, but for the way that made him immediately stop right on his tracks could be the loudest shout to ever exist. Hero tried to not let the immense wave of pride that filled his chest everytime Sunny decided to express his opinion show in his expression.

“Do you want to play another game?”

Sunny nodded, lightly pushing Hero’s shoulder so he would be laying down again. Hero let himself fall with an amused light in his face.

How could he deny that boy anything, really.

“What game is it?”

Sunny shrugged, as if not sure, he didn’t wonder about it too much, however, the shorter quickly calling his attention by lightly shaking his hands and lifting them. 

Hero tilted his head, confused and still amused. Kids nowadays are so fun.

Sunny repeated the movement.

“Ah!” Finally, it clicked. Hero lifted his own arms. Was this a new version of Worm? He and Kel used to play it all the time as kids, even though his mother never seemed excited in seeing her two sons wiggling around the floor like two invertebrate beings. “Like this?”

The younger nodded, patting the arms for a good measure and a clear message of ‘stay’.

Then he lifted his own hands again, Hero watched attentively, ready to follow the instructions to the next step of the game.

That was the moment Sunny shoved his hands on his sides.

The sound that came out of his mouth was a half gasp and a half squeal, arms immediately crashing down in an attempt to catch and stop the onslaught of squeezes and pinches that were being delivered all across the ticklish skin.

“Suhuhunny!!” As quick as the giggling came, it went away, being immediately replaced airy titters and low, almost inaudible laughter, especially as Sunny spidered his nimbly fingers upwards in order to escape the hands that tried to pry him away, each prod and poke on his sensitive ribs making the older one arch his back and let out a single high pitched squeak that made his entire face explode in warmth. “W-why!”

Sunny only hummed contently, letting his hands rest cozy and snug on his highest ribs, the tip of his fingers just scratching the tip of his armpits while the thumbs kneaded the ribs with energy. Soon enough more and more loud high pitched squeals and squeaks began breaking the quietness of his laughter only for Hero to descend right back and his hysterical airy giggles all over again, arms clued on his sides, torso squirming from a side to another in lazy, futile wiggles that did nothing to actually stop the sudden tickle attack.

“Got you.” Sunny’s voice was as calm as ever, with plenty of a playful joy blossoming on it freely. “I will steal all of your giggles for myself…” 

His attack went back to his sides, however instead of maddening squeezes or killer pinches, Sunny simply laid his hands on the skin and vibrated. 

Hero jumped, merely wheezing before inaudible snickers that made his shoulders bounce with giddiness bubbly right out of his lips.

“Got them. They’re mine now.” Hero almost wished that his laughter was as loud and boisterous as Kel’s just so it wouldn’t be so easy to listen to Sunny’s teasy remarks, which weren’t even that teasy in the first place, lacking the smugness Aubrey had during her tickle attacks or Kel’s mischievous pokes of fun, but his words right now sounded just so sincerely happy that all that Hero could do at the this was let out an embarrassing snort that made his cheeks even more warm, the gigantic smile plastered on his face getting wobblier.

Especially as he heard a voice from his doorway.

“Are we tickling Hero?”

The immediate cry of “No!” that flew from his voice was quickly subdued by the fact that the younger violin player decided to change his technique to a skilled scribbling that concentrated too much on the spot where his sides connected with his stomach to be a coincidence. The word died in the air just as Hero’s bouncy snickers got even bouncier and even snickery, Sunny’s affirmative hum instead filling the room.

“Great!”

“Don’t!” Hero managed to slip in between his chuckles, opening a watery eye just to face the one thousand watts smirk of his younger brother, a smirk full of promises of danger and his very immediate doom. His brain run though arguments to find anything, anything promising enough to discourage Kel from helping Sunny but all he got was the same mantra of “it tickles it tickles it ticklesitreallytickles” that scrambled his thoughts any time that wiggly fingers even looked at his direction. 

“I’m going to-” Wheeze. 

“I can’t-” Yelp. 

“When I-” A hiccup. More airy giggles.

Finally, he acquiesced, accepting his fate. “Plehehehease.”

“You’re tickling his sides? Nice idea, Sunny! That is a very good spot.” Kel carelessly threw his bag somewhere on the floor running to sit right at his brother’s sides, taking full advantage of the situation where Hero couldn’t scold him for that. “But you have to see his reactions when I tickle his legs! It’s like a super secret spot that can get him crazy every single time!”

Hero actually jumped when a hand lifted his leg, a few half-heartedly kicks with no real effort showing his struggle as he shook his head in protest.

“He always gets all squirmy when I do that but he never actually tells me to stop.” Kel ‘whispered’ (which, for Kel’s standard, was a lowered shout). “Even when he kicks me it’s so light that I can barely feel it. I think that he really doesn’t mind being tickled but I don’t tell him that I know or he would be really embarrassed.”

Sunny seriously nodded in understanding. Hero wondered if his face was trying to melt with how hot it was. Maybe if he tried enough he could be able to get that invisibility power he always wanted as a kid.

He kicked again. 

“Watch this.” Kel whispered to Sunny, who decided to stop his own attack so the taller could get some interrupted oxygen. Two sets of watchful eyes turned in Hero’s direction. “Ha! This one wasn’t even close, Hero. Try again!” And then Kel’s hand found his calf and began kneading.

The force of the crackle that was fished from his throat made Hero shoot his head backwards, arms failing around for a couple of seconds before he fell back on the floor, quiet, fast and impossible to hide began dancing around in the room like a sweet melody.

“Ok, ok!” Kel, like the little demon he is, laughed together with him. “Now you just need to do this and…” His fingers crawled a few inches closer to his knee, attacking the spot with squeezes and pinches non stop. A snort shot in the air. And another. And another. And another. “Tcharam!! A snorty piggie coming right up.”

“Kehehehel! Don’t!”

“Make me.” Kel raspberried at him, suddenly stopping the banter when he saw his neighbor moving like he was snatching something out of thin air. “Eh? Did you catch a mosquito?”

Sunny shook his head, a grin on his face. Hero turned his attention to him as well when the boy repeated the gesture.

“I am catching Hero’s snorts.”

“Ohohoho my gohohod.” Sunny telegraphed his movements enough that when the oldest’s protest began disappearing in a wheezy crackle he was already “snatching” it from the air. “Stohohohop!”

“Ah! I get it! But you can’t have only his snorts, Sunny. Look! I can make him do other sounds too.”

Suddenly there were scritchess and scratches worming their way on the extremely, awfully, horribly ticklish skin under his knee, giving every inch of it a special attention as more and more silly sounds fell in flocks from his lips.

“There is a giggle!”

“And a yelp!”

“Quick, catch this squeak, it’s already floating away.”

As Kel and Sunny kept their play pretend, Hero started to feel like he was going to explode, and, in an unexpected bound of energy the flew forward and catched Kel’s hands, holding them with a triumphant grin - which was cracking at the corners with leftover chuckles, it’s true, but still - as he stared down at the brother in front of him.

“Heyyy, Hero.” Kel smiled nervously. “I, huh, er, uh…”

“Hi, Kel.” He was careful enough to put a playful growl at the end of the younger’s name. “Missed your old friend, the Tickle Monster?”

“Eek! Aaaaah!! He is going to tickle me! Sunny!”

“Don’t worry, the Tickle Monster has two hands. One for each ticklish boOOOY!”

A sensation exploded across his senses. A buzzing that began in the back of his neck and spread like a tickly electricity across all his nerves, teasing his ears, dancing on his chin, zig zagging over his spine and humming over his torso.

“Yes! Get him, Sunny! More raspberries until the Tickle Monster is defeated!”

Quickly another raspberry followed the first, and then another and another over and over again, all of them unfairly attacking his unprotected neck. For a moment Hero lost himself in uncontrollable belly laughter, in smiles, in airy snickers, teetery titters and in a maddening sensation that made everything else but the constant idea that “It tickles!” disappear from his mind in a blink.

After some time, he was tapping the floor, happy tears running on his cheeks and a wheezy “enohohohough” flying from his lips as the tickling went away. Sunny running to stay at Kel’s side as his friend called him for a winning high five.

“We did it. We defeated him!” Kel’s excited voice made amusement fill his chest. Kids are so fun nowadays. “Your raspberry attack was a good idea.”

Breathe in. Breathe out. Giggle giggle giggle.

“But, eh, why were we tickling Hero?”

At this, Hero’s head shoot upwards, body slowly unfolding from the defensive ball it tried to mimic to watch Sunny with an equally curious gaze.

The shortest eyes glanced at his form for a bit, but before Hero could think anything out of it (was he going to tell-) Sunny just shrugged.

Silence.

“Ok! Hey, Sunny, since you’re here, we should play a game!”

Their neighbor grinned, just the tiniest tiny bit. 

Hero wondered if he, as a good older brother, should warn Kel.

“Do you have any idea of a good one?”

But nah. Hero sighed - a mix of relief and a calm contentment that spilled from his soul and filled his heart. He would let them have their fun.

[isaacz]

not a big piece but i really wanted to share my ideas/headcanons for omori character design's! (already apologize for any english errors, i'm writting this at 2 am on a school night help) -HEADSPACE- -My first idea was to have all of headspace characters to look like cartoons, with wompy anatomy and shapes, it's even the reason why i try my best to draw eyes in the omori style, normally i wouldn't but i think it has it's charm. If i ever animated them aswell they would just have very exaggerated movement and reactions, like old cartoons -All of the main cast has different shades of purple! except for basil and omori ofc, basil being shades of green/cyan and omori being shades of darkblue/blue (in game lore it makes completely sense why he doesn't have color but for painting+drawing purposes i made him shades of blue to make the illustrations more interesthing haha)

Might be obvious by now but the characters have lil stars on their hairs and tips of their body parts (props to the omori fandom you guys are creative af, and mostly zipsunz cuz i got it from him) omori ofc doesn't have that BUT he does have a lil shade of dark blue that goes all the way to the end of his hands, i wanted to do that to kinda make a ref to black space, kinda like he has a part of blackspace with him at all times (also yes that hair light is supossed to be something's eye)

-FARAWAY- -WEll if headspace characters are cartoony, then faraway characters seems more real (as real as it can get on my style at least), it's just omori characters in my original style that's it -For sunny i headcanon that he had to constantly cut his hair while in isolation cuz long hair reminded of his sister, so when i draw him i try to make the back look as shitty as possible, cuz let's be honest i don't think he would cut his hair properly... (this btw was completely taken from the amazing headcanon comic made by v3ratrix, i really liked the idea so i wanted to include on my own drawings aswell! thanks v3ratrix!) -i like to make kel's hair curly cuz.. i like him with curly hair, and since him and hero are brothers, i made hero with a bit of curly hair aswell! they also have opposite moles from each other :)

-Since i have no idea wtf happend for Aubrey's eyes to turn blue, i like to imagine that she has to use glasses but uses contacts most of the time

-I like to think Kel and Hero are hispanic, and Mari and Sunny japanese american ! (cuz it fits them and also KEL AND HERO SPEAKING SPANISH SUPREMACY!!) -Basil learns portuguese later on because he thinks it's funny that his name sounds like Brazil (ofc i'm going to have a self indulgent headcanon his name is literally perfect for it!) THIS IS IT FOR ALL OF MY HEADCANONS :D tysm for reading until the end, i appreciate people liking my ideas and i hope i can make proper pieces in the future, for now i'm procastinating on projects and drawings in general PLEASE make sure to check out both v3ratrix comic and zipsunz artwork that were mentioned in this post, they're very good and i don't want to take credit from stuff that i got from them alright buh bye !

[aubreysheadspace]

Hello! This is my first time requesting something like this so I’m a little bit nervous <:3 But anyway can I request the omori faraway gang (including Mari) with a partner who is just in LOVE with snakes. Like they have several snakes at home, both big and small. She knows all these facts about snakes and how to take care of them. Just a reader who absolutely loves sneks :3

MAIN CAST WITH A READER WHO LOVES SNAKES

OMG SNAKES LOOK SO COOL but I’m absolutely terrified of them honestly . THIS REQUEST IS CUTE THOUGH??? hope u enjoy ! (Spoiler alert: they’re all a bit afraid)

this man SUNNY has definitely never seen a snake personally, i mean he has no reason to after all, he lives in a town! either way he’s probably afraid of them without even realizing it

once he visits your room full of snakes.. he doesn’t move from his place. he’s petrified. you might need to help him walk from his spot at the front of your door.

conclusion: he’s never coming over, which sucks but hey, the man’s afraid after all. sure he had a snake give him daily allowance in his HEADSPACE, but that was in his mind!

AUBREY grew up in FARAWAY TOWN, so she also had no experience with a snake. nobody owned a pet snake until you moved into town (last time i checked). she always listened to when you spoke facts about snakes.

it was weird that you knew so much, she clearly didn’t take the hint that you probably owned one. so when she came over one day… let’s just say AUBREY saw the life flash before her eyes. (exaggeration)

conclusion: she was TERRIFIED at first, but of course you let her know your snakes weren’t venomous. at one point she even held a tiny snake in her hands, until she got too frantic and tried to shake it off. she’s also not letting them around her pet BUN-BUN at all, her bunny is not food for your snakes!

BASIL is a fond of all animals just like he is with plants, but snakes and other scarier animals are just.. scary to him. they are fun to read about.. but to actually meet one in person? he’d die from a heart attack for sure.

even thought that’s the case, he loves hearing all about your snake facts! your conversations are like a deal being made. you give snake facts, and in return basil gives you plant facts. it’s a win-win on both ends. so when he finally comes over and meets all of your snakes..

conclusion: he fainted, well almost. he tried to keep it cool but flinched at every one of them that tried to move. eventually he starts calming down and sees that they’re kinda cute! just.. just don’t ask him to feed them with a dead animal or he’ll actually pass out.

while KEL moved to FARAWAY TOWN when he was just a kid, he had grown accustomed to the town and never expected to meet any strange wild animals. if he did, he would totally go, "woah look! a cool looking bear!"

KEL loves when you rant to him about the snake facts you have up your sleeves! he thinks snakes are so cool and awesome, it’s like he doesn’t even think he’s gonna meet any..! until the day you invited him over.

conclusion: give him time to process the many snakes in your room. he’s gonna think they’re so cool! he definitely the type who goes up to one of them in their glass tank and taps the glass to say, "hey little guy!"

HERO is probably a guy who would pass out the minute he sees an wild animal roaming the streets. thankfully he never had to deal with an exotic animal in his life until.. you came along!

he’s a guy who would ask questions about the things a person is interested in, and would allow them to ramble, so of course he does it with you and your wild facts about snakes! when you asked him to come over, he doesn’t mind and happily says yes! i mean, what could go wrong?

conclusion: you might’ve just given him a new fear. spiders are still his number one enemy but snakes might be in his top 20. of course he tries to like them for your sake but.. it’s hard for him when they’re constantly making noises at him like they wanna bite him..

MARI is someone who’s a fan of regular pets like a cat than exotic ones like a snake. she doesn’t judge though, because it’s MARI after all! you can talk to her about anything and she would always listen!

so of course when you talk about snakes with her, she loves all the snake facts you bring to the table. she’ll even surprise you with a snake fact the next day, she researched it in hopes you enjoyed it! even after all this, she never expected you to actually have snakes in your house until the day she came over..

conclusion: she’s very … flinchy around your snakes at first, so you might wanna help her with that. eventually she’ll grow to love your snakes and start to think they’re adorable the more she focuses on their cute face!

[pineappleciders]

RW Omori squad (separate) with a s/o who has verbally abusive parents. Just like “oh it’s fine, it’s how we talk :)” and it’s clearly not, and the character can see that. (and the reader knows too but they don’t like to say that because that’d make everybody sad!)

RW OMORI gang with an S/O who has verbally abusive parents

includes: SUNNY, AUBREY, KEL, HERO, MARI, BASIL

TRIGGER WARNING: verbal abuse, physical abuse (mentioned), parental issues, arguing

reader is referred to with they/them pronouns

☆ ☆ ☆

SUNNY

sunny grew up in an asian household, and not to mention his parents favorited his sister. so he's faced his fair share of hurtful comments or impossible standards

although, he hasn't really gotten it to the extent you have, and he's a little. concerned.

like when he first hung out at your place and he heard your mother call you names and berate you,, he got really nervous and awkward

he really doesn't like arguing, and for many other reasons you two sort of decided it would be best to not chill at your place

but it doesn't mean he ignores it!!! he thinks about your parents all the time, and is kind of scared to pry but he asks about it for your safety

you two spend a lot of time at his house!!!! he prefers to not go outside and seeing as your parents erm. aren't the greatest, his house is usually empty and so it's perfect for hanging out!!!!

he never pries to the point of making you uncomfortable, but he is very worried. he'll constantly try to be there for you and lend an ear, as he knows your parents aren't the best listeners.

if you text him that your parents are being loud or yelling at you, he'll send you songs he likes for you to listen to to distract you and texts u constantly to keep you company

AUBREY

it. really pisses her off.

she had incredibly neglectful parents, and her mother would even get physical when drunk

so she knows what abuse is like. that's why although it angers her whenever she hears your parents degrade you, she never talks back to them or anything. she knows that would only end up worse for the both of you

although, she does express it a lot when you two are alone.

"dude, your parents are dicks, Y/N."

she's fully aware you're only playing it off for everyone's sake, but she never really talks about it. she knows how much it sucks for someone to call out a facade cough cough

she'll get you little trinkets or send you images of things that you like or that remind her of you throughout the day to hopefully cheer you up

her house isn't really available for hanging out either, so you guys often go to the lake or get pizza at GINO's, or just chill with the hooligans at the park

she never judges you for it, and tries to subtly let u know that she's there to listen whenever you need it. she wants to offer support that you otherwise don't really have

KEL

when your parents start saying shit at dinner, he looks kinda awkward and tries to change the subject. like if they started comparing you to him he'd be like "oh, haha i actually look up to Y/N! you raised an amazing kid :)"

he might dislike your parents, but he's always respectful of parents in general. he was always taught to respect his elders!!!

and then when you two leave the house he looks at you like a dejected kicked puppy

"man.. your parents are really something, huh?"

kel had only really been insulted by his parents during arguments or whenever he did something wrong, whereas he'd get spanked with a shoe and berated. they didn't verbally degrade him often, but they emotionally neglected him a lot.

he feels real bad for you, but he tries not to bring it up often. he knows it's a sensitive subject, he can tell by how you constantly say it's normal and it's just how they are

kel wants to wait until you're ready to talk about it. he doesn't push it, he wants you to come to him whenever you're comfortable!!

lots of walks and playing sports to get out of the house. he is constantly treating you to pizza at GINO's, and his family loves you to death!!!!! hero sees you as a little sibling and is always teasing kel about you

HERO

he tries his best to be respectful around your parents. he honestly wants to punch their faces in but he will not admit that

it concerns him when you lie and say it's nothing, but he doesn't push it often. sometimes he'll let you know you can be honest with him and that he's there to listen

with most parents, hero automatically wins them over and always tries to be polite and kind. but he doesn't really bother to get your mother roses or strike up conversation with your dad. he just can't really be comfortable around them

hero's family is very welcoming, so he'll always invite you over for dinner and his mother is asking constant questions!!! kel bugs you and jokingly asks why on earth you'd date someone like hero

(this earned him a smack on the head from both his mother and hero)

gets you gifts and flowers often, and leaves encouraging notes and compliments. he really doesn't want you to feel bad about yourself,, he knows it must be hard having parents like that

has a bit of a hard time finding words if you break down or cry, so he holds you in his arms and rubs your back.

"hey, hey, sshh.. i know... it's alright.."

MARI

similar to hero, your parents make it hard for her to control her anger. they're just so!!!!!&!!$&$ she has a general level of respect and awareness though, so she never really says anything

if she's at your place, she tries to be quiet but eventually can't take it and stands up for you.

"you should be a little easier on them. they've been doing quite well in school lately." she says, crossing her arms.

unfortunately this led to her getting kicked out, but she didn't really regret it

if you're ever feeling down about your grades or yourself in general, she's immediately showering you with compliments and encouragement. mari can't stand seeing you doubt how much you mean to her

i think mari has had a complicated relationship with her father, so she isn't a stranger to arguments and general mean comments and berating. part of why she's such a perfectionist is because her father pushed her,, so she's a bit of a hypocrite when saying you shouldn't let your parents dictate what you do

she's very supportive of wherever you want to go in life, always helping you practice and follow your dreams no matter what!!

always taking you out for picnics and dates!!! you spend a lot of time with the group to get away from things for awhile

she plays the piano for you to help you relax, and sometimes you fall asleep on her shoulder as she plays a calming song. she cherishes those moments the most.

BASIL

he hates it, especially when your parents come into the room and start yelling at you. he can't stand it at all

it makes him angry, but he's far too scared and shy to say anything, so he opts for excusing the two of you and taking you outside to check up on you

he can only imagine how hard it is for you to deal with that, so he's always checking on you to see how you're holding up mentally

he isn't great with words, so you two often spend lots of time together!!! at the park, at his house, at the beach, anywhere is fine with him as long as it's with you

polly loves you dearly!!! she's always embarrassing basil in front of you

he's scared that you're insecure about yourself due to your parents' words, so he leaves little sticky notes and drawings around to encourage you in everything you do

"hi Y/N! i hope you have a great day!!!!! here's a sunset picture, it reminded me of you :) -basil" and there's a photo attached of a pretty sunset

you cook the simplest meal?? he's praising it like it's gourmet

he gets you into gardening and photography, always sending you pictures that remind him of you!!!! they're good coping mechanisms for him and make him happy, so he wants to share that happiness with you

[woodchipp]

Currently replaying OMORI because I'm a masochist with my best friends @beevean and @the-crow-binary providing emotional support lmfao. Even despite how soul-crushingly boring it is, I think we're still having some sort of fun with this clusterfuck of a game

Highlights (and the misc. problems we've managed to spot) so far include:

I already knew that this game's length was detrimental to it during my first solo playthrough, but this playthrough is helping me put into perspective just how bloated OMORI is, even when it comes to an aspect like dialogue. For example, a single conversation between Space Boyfriend and the main cast took us approximately 5 minutes to get through, and it's not like the writing is gripping enough to make us give a shit about the characters or anything they're saying

Speaking of the dialogue, you can just see how hard it tries to be witty and Quirky™ the way Earthbound and indie RPGs like Undertale were. Needless to say, it fails horribly, and the end result of that was me having to fast-track some conversations because they were unfunny and weren't relevant at all

I got unintentionally (!) stuck in White Space for 15-20 minutes because I couldn't find the map the game needed me to find to let me open the door. Beev came to hate the repetitive 8-bit BGM the area had by the time I finally found the map lol. game_design.exe

Headspace's music is so ear-gratingly abysmal oh my god. I can only call it "dollar-store Kirby music" because that's the most appropriate description that comes to mind and I'm pretty sure Lost at a Sleepover gave Beev severe PTSD. Of course, the music of Faraway Town isn't any better: the "track" that plays in the first fight with Aubrey is less music than it is the result of an .exe file being put through an audio player. Sonic Chronicles might have some serious competition in the "worst video game soundtrack" category asdfghjkl

The plot of the Faraway Town segments is so cookie-cutter that it genuinely hurts to sit through. Character writing (or the lack thereof) aside, Sunny and Kel spend half a day loitering around the town and asking Aubrey's cronies where she is even though Kel could've easily gotten that information from Mikhael had he just indulged the latter's delusions of grandeur a little bit

Faraway Town's daytime sky is literally a scrolling JPEG of a cloudy sky. The battle backgrounds of the real world segments are edited JPEGs as well. Everyone's houses look exactly the same on the outside save for some of them being a different color. The developers spent six years and more than $200,000 on this game.

Sunny's fights against his fears are boring. You just need to wait until a particular turn when the game grants you a special skill you use to end the fight immediately. What was the point of designing these hallucinatory monsters if the player doesn't get to fight them at any point during the main route?

Aubrey (ostensibly) swinging a nail bat at Sunny is not treated with the same degree of realism as Sunny slashing her with a knife. Additionally, Aubrey rides away on her scooter just fine even though she's supposed to be bleeding

Mari's picnic baskets are inexplicably scattered all across the town and fulfill the exact same function as they do in Headspace. So much for realism!

I won two of the fights against Aubrey's goons even though I was trying to lose. gameplay.exe

Sunny is even more unpleasant than I remember. He doesn't respond to Basil - who is supposedly his best friend - when the latter talks to him, stays silent while (and after) Kel vents to him about Hero yelling at him and barges into the church despite Kel advising him to wait until the sermon ends. Why should I feel bad for him again?

Kel generally seems to treat Sunny like an actual baby, spelling out incredibly obvious things to the latter (e.g. that Sunny shouldn't be carrying a knife or walking in the road because it's dangerous) and making all of Sunny's decisions for him, to the point of not allowing Sunny to return into his own house until nighttime under the pretense of "there's so much to do! it's a brand new day!"

Finally, the "fight" against Sunny's fear of spiders comes completely out of nowhere since nothing triggered said fear during Sunny's adventures outside

Peak game, everyone.

And it's going to get way worse down the line!

[justherefortua]

Hello all, as we wait in the blank space between season 3 and season 4, the last season of these silly little guys…

I reopen my vault of absolutely unposted content to bring some drawings from a tua x omori au i was thinking up. Because sibling trauma + death in the family + they surprisingly fit the style super well! Look at how cute the kid versions are!! There are a lot of parallels in both stories that just fit so well

Of course, these images are probably more meaningful if you know both media, but haha. Yeah. Basically, Ben is dead. And the siblings are… coping (?)

Under the read more is a little more of what I mean, omori and tua spoilers warning! Well. Yeah.

A happier childhood -> a bleaker adulthood after the Incident, in this case being ben’s death.

Ben haunts the dreamscape of viktor and (to make it fun) the other siblings as the HORROR, much like SOMETHING does for basil and sunny. “4 days left, 3 days left…”, quite haunting in the context of an apocalypse instead of moving away…

Viktor would probably be the Sunny equivalent here because. Coughs. Violin. Five would also work—they can share that burden together. I don’t know if the powers are in this au since it would probably focus more on how they’re just messed up kids?? But also Viktor causing the apocalypse in the bad endings makes a lot of sense. Maybe they can still have their powers and make a mess.

Since they’re all siblings it’s obviously a different situation than the friend group, but…

Very Roughly,

Sunny -> Five and Viktor

Omori -> The White Violin

Stranger/Something -> The Horror (Ben but spooky)

Mari -> Ben

Kel -> Klaus

Basil -> Klaus

Aubrey -> Diego, maybe also Allison?? As in she changes a lot between then and now.

Hero -> Luther, maybe also Allison

But yeah! I drew these long ago so I don’t remember fully every detail, but ): the happy Bens are so precious to me. And Viktor works so well in this style it’s like he was born for that deadpan numb stare. Er, well. Drugged.

Feel free to expand this idea as you wish, if it give you food for thought… or come yell at me about these messed up kids! I’d love to get in touch with the fandom again :)

[br0-k3n-sch00lb01]

Faraway Town had been… strangely uneventful lately. Basil had killed himself, and Sunny had been sent to an asylum. Hero, Aubrey, and Kel were all in Hero’s car as he drove them 3 hours away from town to visit Sunny. The car was silent at the moment. Aubrey finally spoke. “Am I the only one that’s… like… really scared to see Sunny..?”

Both Kel and Hero looked to Aubrey silently for a moment before Hero spoke.

“..No. I’m nervous too. I’ve been calling every week since he got sent there, and even the doctors there said he’s.. a little.. difficult..”

Kel glanced out the window in silence, his arms crossed silently in his lap. Aubrey let out a breath through her nose.

“I’m not surprised. I had been wondering when he’d finally snap. He’s always been a bit… messed up.”

Hero winced at her words and took a shaky breath, the man not saying anything in response.

Kel suddenly spoke up with a rather cold tone.

“Hey, don’t talk about him like that. No one can go through that and come out okay.”

Aubrey snorted.

“We all went through it and didn’t completely fucking LOSE IT. Don’t be an idiot. He was already fucked up.”

Kel looked to her with an almost offended expression, frowning in response.

“You think that I don’t feel messed? You think that this has just been some sort of walk in the park? We all went through it, but none of us had our boyfriend blow his brains out in front of us. That was different. He’s messed up because he’s been through trauma, don’t go calling him crazy.”

Aubrey shot him an exasperated look. “Well, if he’s not crazy, why’s he in the place where CRAZY PEOPLE go?!”

Kel looked like he was actually pissed off now, turning in his seat and snapping back in response.

“He’s in there because he’S TRAUMATIZED! Stop being such an ass!”

“WE’RE ALL TRAUMATIZED!! IF HE’S NOT CRAZY, THEN WHY IS HE THE ONLY ONE THAT ENDED UP THERE, HUH?! TELL ME THAT, SINCE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING!” Aubrey yelled at him.

Kel looked angry now, his fists clenching.

“MAYBE ITS BECAUSE HE’S THE ONLY ONE THAT LOST A LOVER? MAYBE ITS BECAUSE HE’S THE ONLY ONE THAT WITNESSED THE SUICIDE OF HIS BOYFRIEND?!”

Aubrey pointed to Hero.

“HE SAW MARI KILL HERSELF AND HE’S TURNED OUT JUST FINE! KEL, YOU’RE BEING AN IDIOT AND A DICK!!”

Those words seemed to piss Kel off to the point of exploding, causing him to yell back at her.

“THATS- THATS DIFFERENT. YOU CAN’T COMPARE WHAT HAPPENED TO MARI TO BASIL AND SUNNY’S SITUATION!”

Aubrey’s eyes were welling up.

“YES I FUCKING CAN!! They were the ones who fucking did it to her, weren’t they? Don’t act like they never told us that. Just because you play the ‘happy friend’ doesn’t mean you also have to be stupid, Kelsey.”

“Oh, I’m the stupid one here? I’m not the one who’s sitting here going on about how Sunny is crazy!”

Kel’s voice was almost borderline venomous and he was clenching his fists tightly. He looked furious, and almost looked as if he’d lunge over and smack her.

“WELL, I’M ONLY SAYING HE’S CRAZY BECAUSE HE IS CRAZY! THAT MUCH IS CLEAR! He killed his sister, then his boyfriend blew his fucking brains out, and LOOK WHERE HE ENDED UP! Do you remember how he just LAUGHED for over an hour straight on that day?! How can someone do that, and be called SANE?!”

“HE LAUGHED BECAUSE HE FINALLY SNAPPED. HE’S NOT CRAZY, HE’S JUST- JUST TRAUMATIZED AND HE LOST SOMEONE HE LOVED, SO OBVIOUSLY, HE’S NOT GOING TO BE DOING OKAY RIGHT NOW! HE DIDN’T ‘KILL’ MARI, THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT AND HE WOULD NEVER HAVE DONE THAT ON PURPOSE. STOP ACTING LIKE SUNNY CAN JUST ‘GET OVER’ THE SUICIDE OF HIS BOYFRIEND WHEN THAT’S ALL HE CAN PROBABLY THINK ABOUT!”

“OH, YOU PIECE OF SHI-“

Aubrey was cut off by Hero speaking.

“That is ENOUGH. Both of you, STOP.”

Hero firmly snapped at the both of them, his voice almost commanding and harsh. Both of the other teens went silent, both of them staring at the ground.

“You two arguing and fighting is NOT going to help anything. I can’t believe the two of you are acting like this. You’re both smart enough to know better. Stop it. Now.”

[turniparts]

So... Life series winners as Omori characters anyone? Individual ref sheets and more info under the cut :D

Okay SO, for starters I will just say that I am biased towards Scott Smajor and that is why I made him the main character. However, I do believe that in the end he does kind of make the most sense for Sunny considering that everyone else fits better as the other characters imo. Also I used tints of blue instead of black and white bc drawing Scott in black and white just simply feels incorrect.

Anyway, Scar and Pearl are just 100% Hero and Aubrey respectively. A lot of Hero's character revolves around his charming personality, which he uses in headspace to get people to do him favors. I feel like this matches up with Scar's "too charismatic for his own good" schtick that usually happens in the life series.

Aubrey reacts to a negative experience where she was abandoned by IMMEDIATELY lashing out at everyone and becoming a social outcast, hanging out with delinquents. I don't think it's rocket science to see that Pearl, who reacted to negative experiences where she was abandoned by going crazy and lashing out at everyone, matches her character really well.

Going from there, Scott as Sunny makes sense because of his abandonment of Pearl in double life mirroring Sunny's retreat from Aubrey and his friends in how the latter reacted.

Then Grian as Mari because 1) Desert Duo(not necessarily romantic, just in how they are inextricably linked), and 2) He was the first winner and with Watcher stuff I feel like his character is best suited to Mari's role in headspace.

That left Cleo and Martyn as Kel and Basil. These two were the ones I debated the longest, because I feel like they both suit both roles. I went with Cleo as Kel because she's the one who stuck with Scott throughout every life series, like how Kel never gave up on knocking on Sunny's door.

Martyn and Scott were of course the mean gills, and Martyn won through attacking Scott despite all they'd been through together. Basil experienced the trauma with Sunny but still ended up attacking him in his fear. Plus with listener lore I feel like Martyn being the only other person to know the truth makes sense.

Also, whether you look at it in the celestial bodies interpretation(Grian Sun, Scott Stars, Pearl Moon, Martyn Mars, Scar Earth, Cleo Pluto) or tarot cards interpretation(Grian Sun, Scott Stars, Pearl Moon, Martyn Tower, Scar World, Cleo Fool), the omori characters also match up to those.

Sorry that was a lot of explanation for why I linked the specific characters I did. Onto the flowers! Scott as a poppy actually makes a lot of sense even w/out flower husbands, as it's a flower that symbolizes sleep, due to its use in sleeping gas, as well as death, which both match up with how Sunny acted in game.

Pearl is a Datura becuase of its ties to the moon(Moonflowers) as well as its other name(Devil's Trumpet) referencing her Double life character. It is also a very spiritual flower for many cultures, which ties into Aubrey and how she attends church.

Cleo being a succulent feels self explanatory, much like Kel's cactus in game they are easy to take care of and grow under many conditions.

Scar is lavender because of its associations with calming and devotion. Hero acts as the group's peace-keeper, and Scar with this role would do the same. It also has some medicinal properties like soothing headaches and having anti-inflammatory effects, which I feel fits well.

Martyn is a water lily because the season he won was the mean gills season, which I wanted to tie in. Their meaning being rebirth(which also matches the poppy) fits the way that Sunny can only face the truth after Basil nearly kills him. They also symbolize enlightenment, which again aligns with how Basil/Martyn is the only character to know the truth other than Sunny himself.

Grian is the red zinnia because firstly, I wanted him to have a red flower, and secondly its symbolism matches pretty well. Familial love, of course, represents how Mari(Grian in this case) was not only Sunny's big sister, but also acted as a sisterly figure to the other kids. While they are tough flowers, they also symbolize remembrance, pointing towards the death of Mari/Grian. I probably could've kept everyone except Scott and Martyn's flowers the same, but I actually had a lot of fun looking into flower meanings and stuff(sorry if it's not al 100% accurate).

I was honestly surprised with how many parallels I was actually able to find here. This really started as a silly thing I played with in my head because I enjoy both of these medias, but the more I thought about it, the more I went "huh, that actually does make sense", so now here we are.

@easily-distracted-by-fandom , I hope you enjoy the ramble. I also hope that I find more people who know what the heck I'm talking about lmao

Edited in an attempt to make this easier to read instead of big blocks of text lmao

[nonbinaryaubrey]

pretty muuch everyone in the cast has some minor inconsistencies between their artbook cover artwork, ingame art work, and sprites. (this is INCREDIBLY nitpicky i do not care thaat much.. but still. wanna point it out. also i am DEFINITELY missing things i am not going too in depth here i am soo eepy)

some small examples:

sunny:

in sunny's official artwork, and all of his in game artwork, his vest is completely black, the only time this isnt consistent is in his actual pixel sprite

--

Omori:

he has a preeetty simple design? so his never gets too inconsistent. but at times his sock length are changed.

(socks higher up)

(socks lower than the knees)

--

Kel:

Obviously, DW!Kels shirt changes constantly between artworks. cant even be annoyed at this one that shirt looks like agony to draw, altho his sprite loses the more pastel coloration.. altho i think this is just kind of a consistent thing with the dw sprites, so i wont point it out much with them.

RW Kel doesnt have.. anything suuuper noticeable ?as far as i can tell. but his sprite and actual artwork definitely have.. inconsistencies (skin tone, along with the stripe on his pants)

--

Aubrey:

DW Aubrey doesnt have anything suuper inconsistent i believe? so i wont bring her up. and we have already talked about RW Aubrey. her outfit is. WILLDLY inconsistent between artworks, even in the game itself. (im NOT getting into other official artworks here but . her shoes too i believe tend to not stick too one design)

--

Hero:

for DW Hero, just inconsistencies with the stripe thickness, the collar part of his pajamas, and.. whatever the part near the hands are called being either solid white, solid blue, or striped

for RW Hero.. oh boy. His shirt collar

Official artwork (and tag photos) it looks like this ^

in his talk sprite, its still a vneck but with a white stripe

when he saves you from drowning, it looks like this

even his pixel sprites have inconsistencies between eachother

(normal)

(hospital)

good fucking lord man .!!!

--

Mari:

not too much with her actually!! main thing is. inconsistencies with her having shoes or not. (if u want a bit in non-in game comparisons, some official art has her dw self wearing socks when in game i dont think shes ever shown wearing them?)

--

Basil:

and to end it all off, lets move onto Basil. !!!

(going to point this out first, in a LOT of both RW in DW Basil's actual artwork, he has 2 little tufts of hair at the top of his head, but in both his talk sprites and overworld sprites, its missing)

for DW Basil there is.. 2 things i think?

1: the flower crown. it varies.. a LOT between artwork. kind of obvious.

aaand. 2. his shirt . in most artwork ^ like shown above, it has a rounded tshirt neck. but in one specific artwork, it shows it being a collared shirt with a button

for RW Basil.. i dont think theres much?

kiiind of the same issue as sunny? tho less obvious ig. his shirt is shown as dark green in the official artwork, but as a muuch lighter green in the sprite.

also in his battle sprite, he loses that... little part between the vest and the collar of his shirt? idk what to call it.

i beliiieeeve thats.. it for them all? i think i am missing things apologies .but i dont feel like looking thru the wiki anymore . and i have no space left for imgs pretty much

[77ngiez-archive]

post-good end omori thoughts brought to u by the sunny omori himself

sunny and basil stay really close, mostly because they think everybody else in the group hates them but theyve been thru too much shit together to hate each other. basils the first in the group to get his drivers license (besides hero) and so sometimes he’ll drive up to the city sunny lives in. he’ll leave friday right after school and stay until sunday evening. sunny’s mom is almost always gone working so it’s nice that basil’s around.

basil is also the only one that sunny’s told about headspace. partly because of the aforementioned "wow everybody else probably hates me for killing mari" and partly because. basil could see "something". he doesnt tell basil everything ofc but he tells him a fair amount, and weirdly basil can guess some stuff before sunny says it. or maybe it’s more than guessing, who’s to say?

at any rate, because basil and sunny know about headspace but the others don’t, that’s another reason that they’re closer even when the main friend group reconnects. aubrey will be over at basils and mention that she’s considering dying her hair purple, and basil flinches and is like "are you sure thats a good idea?" and shes like What Are You On About and then he has to avoid the topic.

obviously the rest of the group Does Not hate sunny and basil (except maybe hero a bit, but not even him really, he’s just in a lot of pain), but it takes a bit to get that through their thick (read: traumatized) heads. it ends up being kel who helps sunny realize that he’s been forgiven.

for basil, oddly, it’s kim—she noticed aubrey was acting weird ever since sunny moved, and she felt guilty about having bullied basil in the past, so she tried to talk to him about it. obviously he didn’t tell her about the whole mari thing, but he tried to help her understand what was going on with aubrey a bit because he still cares about her. yadda yadda yadda kim and basil ended up becoming friends somehow, and bcoz aubrey drags kim (aka kim follows her) to a lot of her hangouts with kel and hero, kim ends up picking up on a bunch of stuff that never gets said out loud. and she convinces basil that he is NOT universally hated by everybody except sunny.

sunny completely loses his eye, and so he wears his eyepatch at pretty much all times except when he’s sleeping. even though he’s home alone. he feels like when he looks at things with his missing eye socket, he can see omori and mari. so he just. covers it lol.

hero dates a lot of girls from college. they never last too long, though. he’s never really managed to get over mari, but he knows she’d want him to, so he’s trying. but none of his relationships really work out since his heart still wholly belongs to a dead girl.

kel still bottles things up for a bit. everybody can tell that he’s upset, but he refuses to admit it, until one day aubrey takes him to one of those places where you just break things. kel first treats it like a joke, but he ends up screaming and crying and shouting while he breaks things.

"SUNNY!! BASIL!! I— FUCK YOU!!! I LOVE YOU BUT FUCK YOU!!! I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU SUNNY, I HATE YOU BASIL, I HATE YOU HERO, I HATE YOU AUBREY, I HATE YOU HERO!!! I WISH YOU GUYS WOULD STOP NEEDING ME FOR JUST A MOMENT!!! WHY AREN’T I ALLOWED TO BREAK DOWN?! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU, I HATE ALL OF YOU, EVEN MARI, I HATE EVERYBODY, I HATE EVERYTHING, I HATE IT SO MUCH-!!" and etc

but once he gets it all out, he’s a lot better. he’s even more willing to be vulnerable and talk about things. although he’s only really able to bear his soul with aubrey. for what it’s worth, it’s pretty reciprocal.

speaking of aubrey. she’s probably been coping the best for the past four years, but once sunny tells her the truth, she kinda breaks. she copes with self-destructive behavior, and sometimes drugs (mostly just weed, from the maverick). she stays really close with the hooligans, maybe even closer than with the others. it takes years, and sunny and basil’s permission, but eventually she tells kim everything.

when they reach college, they end up going to the same place—except hero, who’s graduated from medical school but is taking online classes for culinary school without telling his parents.

basil and sunny move in together, because. they’re still very very close. aubrey lives in her car. on purpose. most of the hooligans do, to be honest. they’re still super tight-knit. kel lived in college housing, but eventually hero made him move in with him, which ended up being good for them both.

basil and sunny have hallucinations. sunny’s are mostly omori and the stranger (mari’s gone now, and he thinks maybe she wasn’t a hallucination after all but her ghost, who’s finally moved on now that the group is healing enough). basil’s are mostly something, although sometimes he sees the headspace version of himself. sometimes alive, sometimes with his head crushed like a watermelon. (when he talks about it after a particularly bad nightmare, sunny chokes up, because he never told basil that particular detail.)

uhh yeah this is getting too long soo goodbye for now lol

[unavoidedbyme]

hi !!! can u do rw omori characters x reader (separate ofc) who's overcoming anxiety !!!! :D ALSO IF U DONT WRITE STUFF LIKE THIS IM SORRY, DELETE THIS RQ tysm ^_^💘

a/n: this is my first request and i’m happy to bring you the scenarios! thank you so much for the req. <33

im so sorry if this isn’t what you requested..!

OMORI casts with a READER who’s overcoming their anxiety

featuring: SUNNY, MARI, AUBREY, HERO, KEL, BASIL

tw(s): anxiety, vomiting, mentions of death(MARI’s death ofcourse), reader being anxious, major spoilers for OMORI

SUNNY

you’ve been with SUNNY for quite awhile now, after the death of his sister he has shut himself out for four whole years. And thankfully, before he moves out he decided to spend time with his friends (and lover).

before he moves out, KEL has requested that they should have a sleepover one last time at SUNNY’s house like they used to before. HERO, who has came back from his college for the upcoming break, agreed since it’s probably their last time together before SUNNY will come back to visit them which probably will take a long time.

the fact that your lover finally showed up from his house made you overwhelmed. You were happy ofcourse! but the fact that after this he would move away makes you feel like you’ve been abandoned. You ofcourse, doesn’t show it infront of him. Which lead to you crying on his bathroom at night.

You woke up in the middle of the night, sweats formed on your forehead while you look up to see SUNNY sleeping ever so peacefully while hugging you close. This made you smile that he finally find his peace after… her sudden death. You think back from all those time alone after MARI’s death, because when you finally want to reach SUNNY he suddenly disappears and doesn’t answer your calls or knocks. Your stomach doesn’t feel really great either, so you slip your body with slight moves so you doesn’t wake him up. After that, you quickly went to his bathroom and locked the door.

You threw up on the toilet. Once you finally done, you walked to the sink and wash your face only to find you’ve been crying this whole time. “It’s okay” you thought, trying to smile in attempt to overcome those anxieties that he’ll abandon you again. Surely he doesn’t right? He would.. never. But why does he left you alone to rot for four years alone? the group was falling apart. And when you needed him the most, he just.. disappeared. The only person who does stayed by you was AUBREY. If only you were there for SUNNY, he wouldn’t have shut himself. If only you comforted him- If only-

“its okay, everything is not your fault. I would never abandon you.”

MARI

she’s really good at comforting people. Since she has a younger brother that usually sticks with her, and whenever the group has some sort of problems, they will usually run to MARI to get the comfort of someone reassuring them that its alright.

and you are no exception. You’ve been feeling like the group has been tired of your antics lately, and the fact that AUBREY and KEL just had a big fight makes it worse. You feel like you’re just a bother that doesn’t fit in into the group.

MARI has noticed the anxiety signs that you give and decided to reassure you that none of this is your fault and that AUBREY and KEL was only messing around with eachother and it’s not your fault.

the day has almost come to an end. AUBREY, KEL, BASIL, and SUNNY was the only ones at the treehouse that afternoon, everyone was looking at AUBREY and KEL that has just got into a big fight, it makes you worry that the group is going to fall apart and it’s all your fault for not stopping them earlier.

as one of the responsible people in the group, it’s supposedly your job to stop them both since you’re the only one that’s old enough at the treehouse. With AUBREY and KEL shouting at eachother it made you feel like you’re useless.

once HERO and MARI came back from taking the snacks, both of them looked confused and shocked to see you crying on the corner of the room while BASIL and SUNNY was trying to stop AUBREY and KEL from hitting eachother. She knew what to do and instantly rushed in to hug you close while telling you reassuring words.

“Everything’s alright [name], it is not your fault. And you would never be a bother to us.”

after you eventually overcome the anxieties, you felt like two people were hugging you. It was AUBREY and KEL. They’re both sorry for what they did and that they shouldn’t have fight over small things. You we’re happy, and hope things would stay like this together.

AUBREY

AUBREY is not really good with words. So, she oftens show that she cares through her actions. Even though you two always seem to stick together, you sometimes think that you really doesn’t deserve her.

after MARI’s death, she’s always been with you from the dawn to the dusk. But as of lately, she’s been less and less hanging out with you. You, as her s/o ofcourse were worried if she’s already burned out from all of your rantings and sudden anxiety attacks.

eventually, you came up with the terms of that AUBREY doesn’t care about you anymore. That she already finds someone better than you, and now has finally leave you alone for good. But that wasn’t the case isn’t it? she truly does still love you, it’s just that she was mad. Not to you, to her other friends. AUBREY just need some times to herself.

it was like just any other random days, where you would lay on your bed and cry yourself to death. AUBREY has been absent as of lately, thinking that she was tired of your antics; you overslept yourself again for the entire day.

AUBREY has been infact worried about you. But she just needs sometimes for herself, but once she does have her time, she knocked on your door but got no answer. She’s been worried because you kept locking yourself on your house. Scared that you will be like one of her friend, locking himself alone inside his house. This routine has been cycling for about one week and she finally had enough.

she busted inside your house and then found herself hearing a sobbing voide. Crying and screaming to themself. AUBREY was alarmed, and quickly went into your room without a knock and it suprises you.

“A-AUBREY…? i thought- you already got tired of me.”

“i would never got tired of you.”

HERO

he wanted to start a new life, and a better life. So after MARI’s death, he decided to go to college and study there for four whole years. On the first day of his college, he was looking rather… depressed. So many people were avoiding him because they doesn’t want to be a bother for him.

but that’s where you came in. “Hello? do you need help around the campus? Im [name], nice to meet you!”

he remembers that day vividly, where everyone would avoid him but not you. You remind him of MARI very much, the way you’re so gentle of someone you just met. The way you care for others, had him so… inlove with you at the first sight. And now here you are, feeling anxious about meeting his bestfriends for the first time.

HERO talked ALOT about his old friends from his town, and now when the break is coming up; he decided if he want to introduce you to the group! He also talks alot about MARI and already told you how similar you are. But the thing is, if you were suddenly appear in his friends life how would they react? how would they react if someone that even HERO said you were very similar to his late crush came?

so here you are, waiting inside his house with his parents asking about you. “i heard from my son that you’re his S/O correct? oh my gosh, you look so much like her! even the way you’re acting, if he didn’t tell me about you sooner i would’ve guessed that you ARE her.” this even made you more nervous than it actually are. Now his parents are reminiscing back the old times, and it made you more overwhelmed now. You couldn’t hold it in anymore so you excused yourself as nicely as possible to go to the toilet.

you’re crying yourself out. It feels so wrong but you couldn’t help it. Now how would HERO’s friends react to you? you couldn’t bear their reactions. Would they be disgusted by you? would they be scared to you? why did you even look like her is the first place? this is all too much for you to overcome. Eventually, you heard some knock on the door.

“hey… [name]? are you there? it’s me, HERO.”

you let him in, and when you open the door he suddenly pulled you into a hug.

“i know how hard it is for you. But don’t worry, they won’t hate you. I promise.”

KEL

you are pretty scared of new people. And meeting his parents were no exception. Even though the family was known for their kind personality, it didn’t stop you for feeling like you’re not good enough for KEL.

KEL is a really outgoing person, he was very different for you. And that difference is something that you are scared of. You wondered; how did you even get someone such as himself?

you’re scared that his parents doesn’t approve of your relationship. And also even though your guardian(s) has known them for a long time and that his parents is now treating you like their child, you are still pretty nervous around them.

you’re currently trying to look presentable as possible. Looking at your mirror to find yourself looking well, overdressed. Its been 2 hours since KEL was calling you that his family invited you to a dinner over their house. And of course you being you decided to look more ‘presentable’ at their dinner party. It was mostly just for congratulating HERO’s return from college but KEL has suggested that they should invite you.

when you heard what KEL said, you look completely pale from the news. He said he will be picking you up in 2 hours which is like 5 minutes from now on. You started to feel like there’s something leaking from your eyes, trying to get it away from your face you only realized that it’s your tears. And now your make up are completely ruined.(just ignore this part if you don’t use make ups.)

It feels like forever until you felt somebody was hugging you. You look over the mirror and found KEL hugging you from behind. He was in his normal orange sport clothing and look practically like any other day. He told you that there’s no need to overdress yourself to look presentable, his parents already approves you the way you are.

“there’s no need to dress yourself like this, [name]. My parents loves you from the day they met you already.”

BASIL

to be quite honest, BASIL also has.. some anxieties that he also deals with. So when you are trying to overcome your anxieties, he quite knows the way of dealing with it.

BASIL invited you to come over his house to have a sleepover. And you accepted it, but lately you have been dreaming of… something. Its bit a pleasant dream when its literally about your boyfriend framing the death of MARI.

you feel guilty, really guilty for even thinking about BASIL that way. You’re sure that he’s not like that, BASIL is a really sweet person and that made you even feel even more guilty for dreaminh about it.

you are sitting on a bench, looking at your friends from afar who was playing with eachother just a few hours before SUNNY’s and MARI’s recital. You looked everywhere, trying to find BASIL but he’s nowhere to be found. Feeling like he was checking on the siblings, you decided to go over their house. Maybe you could even hear them play together before the recital.

once you’ve arrived at SUNNY’s and MARI’s house, the house was oddly quiet. Not a sound could be heard from the house, which was unusual because the siblings should have been practicing their recital by now. You were looking at every corner of the house and found no one, the only place you haven’t check was the treehouse. So you decided to got there, not knowing that there would be some… terrifying scene will enroll.

you were skipping your steps heading towards the treehouse, only to hear someone talking to somebody. You recognize those voice and soon enough you realize whose voice that belongs. You happily run towards their place but once you opened your eyes-

you were breathing heavily. That same nightmare has been repeating itself over and over for the past few days. You’re tired, but also guilty for it. You starts to cry and sobs violently, once you feel like someone was touching your shoulder you flinched from the sudden touch. Realizing that it was only BASIL.

“hey… i-i don’t know what you were dreaming but it’s okay. It was just a dream and nothing is real. Im right here… okay?”

a/n: im sorry that this was more of a character comforting reader… i tried my best. I don’t really know what you mean by it so.. i tried my absolute best. Sorry if its not meeting your expectations…

[ask-bad-end-sunny]

Given that you've been in the Lost Library, I'm...guessing that you're aware of what the incident at the lake felt like to Sunny....

(To mun (just in case): The lake incident is referring to Sunny nearly drowning in his youth....)

"Yes...I'm very much aware, it was such a scary experience for Sunny- and everyone else, too...I can still remember that day so clearly..."

"I was sitting and helping Aubrey style her hair, and I had seen that Hero and Kel were jumping off that statue into the lake. They convinced Sunny to join them, and I told them to be careful..."

"I looked away for only a little bit, and when I looked back I saw Sunny falling into the water!"

"It all happened so fast, I was diving into the water before I had even known it!"

"It took every bit of strength in me to grab Sunny and drag him out of the water...but, when he opened his eyes, I couldn't help but be relieved..."

"...You sat there hugging me so tight and crying for what seemed like hours...I was crying too, though...I felt so disoriented and scared..."

"..."

"...When we visited the hangout spot before I...died...Aubrey told me that she had never seen you like that before..."

"It was probably shocking to see me like that...but, I guess I didn't really mind that the others saw me like that in that moment. I was just so relieved that you were ok..."

"I know it made them all a little disappointed in some ways, but after what took place that day, I asked them if we could stop going to that lake spot..."

"I didn't want to stop going there, I thought it was such a good picnic spot. But...when me and Sunny got home that same day, mom wanted us both to take bathes..."

"However, when Sunny saw the bathtub full of water he couldn't stop shaking and crying...it took me quite some time to help him through that...but, he still would freak out around places with deep or big bodies of water."

"I stopped wanting to go to the hangout spot because I knew Sunny wouldn't be able to relax there with the lake so close..."

"...I think that choice was for the best...I remember being really scared of spiders and high places after that, too..."

"...As sad as it was that we had to stop going...I don't think the others ever got mad or upset about it. We ended up making the treehouse instead...so, it all worked out..."

"...Sometimes I thought my fears were holding our group back from having fun...but, even back then, everyone was so understanding and still found ways to have fun and helped me..."

"Well said, little brother! Look at you, having such a positive perspective! I really like the new and improved you!"

"I think with everyone's help, and your own growth over all this time, you've really overcome your fears! I'm so happy for you!"

"...Yeah, I mean...I still don't like spiders, or heights, or water..."

"But, I don't really have a reason to be scared of those things now...it's not like I can drown now, so..."

[hero-deserves-to-be-happy]

As per post I saw about you wrote about imagining Hero crying over deleted unrelated posts -

I just got a stark imagery of Hero being a hoarder in a "but what if I need this later" way, like adding a loose wire/charger/cord thing to a box already full of them (but organized neatly) or other things like that.

I found it funny and maybe this blog would appreciate the contrasting ideas that is Hero being clean and organized (as per his side of the room) while being a hoarder at the same time. How would he deal 😂

Hi there! Thank you so much for your ask! We absolutely love getting to talk to fellow Hero enthusiasts and were so excited you wanted to share some Hero thoughts with us! (A/N: I (Acacia) am briefly breaking my hiatus to take this one because I actually wrote about Hero’s “secret” messy junk drawer in a fic once. ^^ Needless to say, I really vibe with this idea and it fits really well with my own personal headcanons & perceptions of Hero as a character!)

This is such a fun headcanon and given that Hero is so practical, it definitely makes sense to me. I can absolutely imagine him being the type to agonize over throwing things out sometimes because, exactly like you said, he’d question “What if I or somebody else needs this someday?” even if he already has plenty of whatever it is already. Your imagery of Hero with the overflowing box of cords is awesome! Love that very much!! I can totally imagine Kel just casually asking him “hey you got an extension cord?” and Hero pulls out an entire box with 20+ cords in it 😂😂 Perfect!

In my mind, Hero is also very responsible and kind of thrifty/discerning about how he spends his money, at least on himself. We see in the canon he’s extremely generous when spending on other people such as when he gives Sunny $10 to buy flowers for his mom even though they only cost $2 a piece, but as with a lot of Hero’s kindnesses, I don’t think he extends that generosity to himself (perhaps why Kel is so insistent on buying him the cookbook as a present since he knows it’s a luxury Hero would enjoy but wouldn’t buy for himself, but I digress) I can see his responsibility playing into the hoarding too with him thinking “It would be irresponsible to throw this out because I might need it someday and if I do I’d just have to buy a new one.”

As to how he would deal given the fact that he is so neat, tidy, and organized, I agree he would try to keep his collections organized as best he can, but I also agree it would be hard to deal with overflow, so perhaps they end up in some messy junk drawers somewhere which are likely kept “secret” on account of them being so messy (not because they hold anything embarrassing).

Everything of Hero’s is so perfectly organized on the surface and, to be fair, often under the surface (i.e. I imagine his sock drawer is probably color coded), so you likely couldn’t tell just by looking at Hero’s living space that he had a tendency to hoard things as everything is so clean and minimalistic, like a room in a catalog. But then he has this secret messy drawer (or in this case multiple drawers) filled with the randomest old things like a bunch of cords, batteries, papers, and other odds and ends he thinks might be useful later…

He hides these disorganized drawers because they’re a mess and he’s Hero—everything about him is perfect. A mess of any kind even in a hidden drawer nobody will probably ever see is unlike him, but I’m inclined to think maybe it isn’t that unlike him after all. Hero’s room looks perfect, but there’s still a small messy space, a part of it that’s less than perfect—a part that’s real and lived in, just like Hero himself in a way. Hero appears perfect, but under all his accomplishments, accolades, and successes, his role as this idolized big brother to the group, and Sunny’s idealized view of him in Headspace, there is part of him that’s just a little bit messy, a part of him that’s just little bit less than perfect. A part of him that’s real.

He’d rather everyone think of him as perfect and plays along with pretending he is because he doesn’t want anyone to worry about him, but the truth is, he doesn’t have to be perfect and pristine all the time and it would probably be better for him if he wasn’t. He deserves to be a little messy, to have an unorganized drawer or a whole collection of extra cords he “might need later.” He deserves to be human.

Thank you so much again for the ask! Our ask box is always open for respectful Hero thoughts, questions, discussion, and/or appreciation so please don’t be shy, fellow Hero enthusiasts. We love hearing from you! Take care 💙

[dreamybasil]

Can you tell me the plot of the game of Omori?

Thanks!

lplot... omor.....

[huge HHUUUUGGGEEEEE essay below the "keep reading"] (i'll try keeping it short..........not) (i cant help myself)

Basically it starts off with WHITE SPACE, a blank world where a boy OMORI lives!! You have MEWO, a tissue box, a laptop and a sketchbook in there!! and wont forget the black bulb :D

There's also a door, that leads you into NEIGHBOURS ROOM where all your friends are! Not really all of them, but the ones that will follow right with you! Aubrey, Kel and Hero!!!

Aubrey is a really cheery girl who's pretty much inlove with Omori

Kel is an energetic baller who's athletic and silly and stupid /aff

Hero is Kel's older brother! Also the one who stops all the fights between Kel and Aubrey, because those two fight a LOT

When you get outside the room, you can go to the forest playground where you see a lot more of your friends, and especially MARI on her picnic blanket! Mari is Omori's older sister!!

She's loving and perfect, a pianist who takes care of the whole group and is like the glue that keeps them all together.

And lets not forget BASIL!!!! He's Omori's best friend!

He's really shy and caring but cherishes all his friends <3

There's a ton more places to go to in headspace, where you can all explore!! And each one in the order of the game...

Vast Forest, Train station (with additional bonus Orange Oasis and Rain Town), Otherworld, Junkyard, Pyrefly forest, Lost forest, Sprout mole village, Sweetheart's castle, Deep well, Last resort, Deeper well, Humphrey...

But the game also has psychological horror genre in it, and that concludes into even more places

specifically: BLACK SPACE. A total opposite to WHITE SPACE, and there's a bunch of doors, each one leading to one nightmare and a mess of a world.

But without a conclusion, all of those are just dreams, made by a teenage boy named SUNNY!

If taking plot by using the SUNNY ROUTE.... He can come out outside after KEL knocks on his door, and explore the outside!

A small city with just 15 houses and a church!

Faraway Town, Faraway Park, Faraway Plaza and a supermarket mall-like building OTHERMART, that also connects with HOBBEEZ, GINO's and FIX-IT!!

gah im yapping so much and getting into tons of little details..

If a little shorter, through the story you acknowledge that Mari is actually dead, and Basil helped Sunny with the murder, in a way.

There was an argument between Sunny and Mari, since they had a recital to attend at autumn and Sunny threw his violin down the stairs in their house, and Mari started yelling at him, and out of pure rage Sunny pushes Mari down, causing her death.

Sunny tried bringing her body upstairs and put her into her bed, thinking she just needed a rest, but then realizing she's dead.

Basil saw it all, and he tried to help out Sunny, by carrying her body into the yard and framing her death as if she hanged herself with a jumprope, but once they tried to go back inside, Sunny looked back at her and saw something horrifying, which traumatized him for the whole time until he finally came back outside to see his friends, who changed a lot, because it was 4 years since the accident happened

each one of them also show one stage of grief

kel shows acceptance, basil shows bargaining if i remember right aubrey - anger hero - depression and sunny is denial

in the end, taking the good "true" ending, Basil and Sunny had a fight during a sleepover at Basil's house, ending in both of them being in a hospital due to severe injuries and Basil stabbing Sunny's right eye out

and at the hospital, after Sunny wakes up and beats OMORI in a fight, he goes into Basil's room where everyone else were, and tells them the truth.

Once the truth is out, their immense guilt is not following them anymore, both of their SOMETHINGS (hallucinations, in a way) disappear!!

[woodchipp]

I'm gonna be honest - along with OMORI pressuring the player into choosing the good ending lest Sunny kills himself, the whole DUET cutscene doesn't strike me as anything but very blatant emotional manipulation either. Every mention of it I saw was followed by fans talking at length about how thoroughly devastated they were left by that moment, but if you look past the Feels and focus on the Reals, what is there to be devastated about, really?

The (supposed) purpose of the cutscene is to show Sunny placating his depression by recalling the good times he had with Mari and his friends... except that is exactly what he's been doing via Basil's photo album throughout the entire game. That's what Memory Lane, which you have to go through right before the final boss, was there for. And just like the aforementioned two, the good times showcased in DUET are glurgy, meaningless fluff. They don't tell you anything new about the characters and they don't show them helping each other through thick and thin as people you could call "real" friends are supposed to. The fact that the cutscene itself looks like a PowerPoint slideshow or something you could theoretically cook up in Windows Movie Maker doesn't help, especially if you remove the music track altogether.

I think one of my "favorite" moments is Sunny and Mari meeting Kel and Hero, which is represented by the latter two literally popping out of thin air

You'd think that as a story with the power of friendship as one of its central themes, the game would show how the characters became friends in the first place and what makes them gel together, but no. This is all you get.

It's the same thing with Aubrey and Basil. The gang meets Aubrey for the first time while she's crying on the sidewalk before the game cuts to her introducing Basil to them. Was them comforting Aubrey over her lost shoe enough for her to befriend them? How exactly did she and Basil meet? I dunno, you tell me! Think about the plot so the writer won't have to!

So emotional. So peak. Two hundred thousand dollars was spent on this.

Speaking of Sunny and Mari, the cutscene's Peakest™ moment is the smash cut from a bright shot of Mari embracing a younger Sunny to a gloomier shot of the older Sunny sitting there all alone and morose, which delivers the message with all the subtlety of a nuclear bomb explosion

she passed on The Emo to him. truely devastating. also why do they both look malnourished. what the hell is this artstyle

Yes, game. I get it. The grass was greener when Mari was alive. That's roughly her gravestone's epitaph. What is the point of this? What am I supposed to cry about?

That brings me to what I believe is the main problem with DUET, and a problem with the game itself as well - the story doesn't put in any real effort to flesh out the characters you're supposed to feel bad for, yet expects you to feel bad for them anyway. Even after playing the entire 25 hours of this game, I don't know anything about Sunny, nor can I recall anything noteworthy about him except from him calling lemons "oragnes". I don't know anything about who Mari really was except that she's treated by the narrative as if she was Jesus in the flesh. They're not characters - they're effectively cardboard cutouts, and I have no idea why the game's imploring me to shed tears over two cardboard cutouts.

The cherry on top is Omori straight-up vanishing after the cutscene ends. One could argue that Sunny's victory was temporary, but that's not indicated - Omori seems to actually vanish once and for all after the game's events, and the main menu even features Sunny himself as opposed to Omori to mark the change. Because we all know that severe depression can be treated by thinking happy thoughts, right? tfw the powerpoint slideshow was so cringe that even the depression decided to peace out

Maybe I wouldn't have been as harsh if the story had Mari kill herself instead of it being a cover-up for manslaughter. Maybe then I'd have been able to see the tragedy. But given the context of the plot twist, all I can see is a coward and a liar soothing his well-earned guilt over committing a serious crime and lying about it in the most laughably melodramatic fashion possible.

[sixpossumsinatrenchcoat]

game over

One year after the worst end, Kel and Aubrey confront their regrets. (Spoilers for abandon end/knife end.)

Kel used to fall asleep so easily. But that hasn’t been true in a long time. 

After lying awake for a lifetime, he can feel a familiar weight settle onto the edge of his bed. He stretches an arm out invitingly. The knot in his stomach loosens a little as Sunny slides in beside him. 

Kel keeps his eyes shut. He doesn’t want to see the bloody mess of Sunny’s chest. He just wraps his arm around Sunny’s clammy shoulder and pulls him in closer. When he starts twisting his fingers in the soft hair at the nape of his neck, Sunny lets out a contented little hum, like he used to when they were kids. 

Everyone always spoiled Sunny. Patting his head, scratching his back. Wrapping him up in your favorite sweater after he forgot his. It probably wasn’t good for him, but it just felt so nice. Probably ‘cause everything about Sunny was so painfully honest. His emotions, especially. Sunny couldn't fake a reaction if he tried. When he smiled, it was true to the bone. Like looking directly at the sun. 

Kel can feel cold fingers tracing the line of his collar.

“I wouldn't have touched you like this,” Sunny reminds him.

“I know.” 

“Or I already would have.”

“Yeah.”

“I liked when you touched me, though. I really liked being touched.”

Kel huffs a laugh. “Pfft. Yeah. You were always kind of a brat.” 

He still doesn’t look, but he can hear the scowl in Sunny’s voice. “It's not nice to speak ill of the dead.”

“Hah. Yeah. I always thought that was kinda dumb, though. I mean... It’s not like they’re gonna mind. Isn’t it meaner to shit-talk someone who might actually hear you?”

“Point,” Sunny concedes, pushing up on one elbow. 

Kel can’t resist. He opens his eyes in time to see Sunny grin, just the briefest flash of teeth. Sunny’s eyes are empty holes.

###

Eventually, Kel falls asleep.

It’s one of those weird dreams, where Sunny is a little kid for some reason. But at least this one isn’t full of bloody holes.

“Sunny!!” Kel greets him, beaming.

“I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Haha, yeah, right! What was it again? I don’t really remember this game…” 

Baby Sunny rolls his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. Why are you here?"

“Huh? Pff… What, am I not on the guest list? Did you have plans today or something?”

“No. But this place isn’t for you. It’s— I think it might be. Bad. For… people like you.” His face hardens. “I think it was bad for Sunny.” 

“But I like it here!!! It’s kind of… I dunno. I can’t explain it. But for some reason, it… sort of feels like Sunny? Does that make sense?”

“No,” Baby Sunny says flatly. But there’s a familiar glint in his eye. Sunny used to look like that when he was laughing at you, not with you. “All the more reason to stay away. Sunny gave up. He lost. You shouldn’t be moping around after some dead kid you only saw for three days out of the last five years.”

“Haha. Y-Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“So you’ll stop coming?”

“Nnn….no?” Kel thinks about it. “No, I’ll probably keep coming. Sorry.”

“Ugh. You people are all the same. But, fine. If you’re going to be like that, I’ll try to find his stupid ghost.”

“Wh– Huh?? But—isn’t that what you’re supposed to be?”

Baby Sunny gives him a scathing look. “Why would Sunny’s ghost be twelve?”

“….Because it’s a dream? Or it’s… when my fondest memories are from, or something?”

“Oh, right, because it’s all about you,” rolling his eyes. “Be right back.”

Huh. This is… sort of a weird dream, actually. When you stop to think about it. 

Kel is vaguely aware that dreams are supposed to mean a bunch of different things. Like, if you  dream about your teeth falling out, it means you’re losing control of your life, or… need to find a new dentist, or whatever. And if you dream about finding a big pot of leprechaun gold, maybe you’re about to find a big pot of leprechaun gold? 

So maybe he should, like, talk to someone. A fortune-teller, or a therapist or something. He could at least look it up online. What does it mean if you dream a bunch of weird alter-egos of your dead best friend? Though it might not take a fortune teller to figure that one out. You’re grieving, idiot. You’re all hung up on someone who you’ll never see again, so your stupid lizard brain is filling in the space.

Then the air around him sort of—stutters, and Sunny is standing in front of him. 

It’s not baby Sunny this time. Not bleeding-from-the-chest Sunny, either. This one looks almost exactly how he did the last time he was alive, except with all the color drained out of him. He’s as white as a sheet of printer paper. 

On the bright side, he also looks a lot less miserable. 

The second Sunny spots Kel, he lights up. Fingers curled, eyes bright and disbelieving. Then he takes a longer look, and his face falls. “…Kel.” 

“S-Sunny?” It comes out as a pathetic little croak. 

Sunny shrinks a little more. “You. Look so sad.”

“Haha.” Kel tries for a smile, but it doesn’t fit. He gives up. It’s not like it matters. Too little too late. “Y-Yeah. Um. I guess.”

“Why?”

Kel winces. How do you tell a guy, Well, buddy, it’s ~mostly~ ‘cause you kinda ruined my life. A little. Or a lot, maybe. How do you say, Those three days I spent with you were the happiest I’d been in four years. I’m probably not as happy as you think, actually. It just seemed that way ‘cause you only saw me when I was with you. “Uh…”

“Oh,” Sunny says quietly. “Sorry.” 

“O-Oh. Huh. Is that, like, dream stuff? You know what I’m thinking ‘cause we’re in my head?”

“What? No. You’re just obvious.” 

Kel stares. Sunny stares back at him.

“...This is weird,” Kel decides. He talks to Sunny a lot, in one way or another. When he’s really tired, sometimes he even gets an answer. But his hallucinations aren’t usually this nice. And none of them have ever sounded so much like… well, Sunny. (How he imagines that Sunny would have sounded, anyway, if Sunny had opened his mouth even once after opening that door. The last time Kel actually heard Sunny’s voice, they were in middle school.) “Why are you… Or. I mean. You sound sort of… different? When I see you, you… don't usually sound like this.”

Sunny’s eyes widen. “You’re. You—see me?”

“Well, yeah.” 

“You don’t mean— Do you mean Omori?”

“Omori,” Kel says, with relief. That’s what it was. “I don’t know why I can never remember that. But, um. No. Not the kid one. The other one.”

“When?”

“At night, mostly? Like, when I can’t sleep and stuff. So, uh. I guess, like, most nights?”

“But that’s not me,” Sunny says urgently. “That’s just something you made up.” His forehead scrunches. “...Is he mean?”

“Uh.” Kel doesn’t know how to answer that. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

Sunny’s mouth tightens. “Well. He— What you’re seeing. You know it’s not me.”

Uhhh… “Well, yeah. ‘Cause you’re… you know.” Dead. “But it’s the same for you, right? It’s just… all the different ways I saw you, or whatever. Memory soup.”

“No.”

“N-No?”

“No. But it’s fine. I just.” Sunny hesitates. “Don’t want you to… hurt yourself. Especially not using me.”

“Haha,” Kel says unhappily. “Well. I, uh. Don’t really need to go out of my way for that, bud.”

Sunny’s head tilts. He doesn’t get it.

“Because. You know.” But Sunny just keeps staring, like he genuinely doesn’t. Kel takes a second to remind himself that Sunny is dead, and can’t get his feelings hurt. “Because, um. You’re the one who hurt me?”

Sunny’s face crumples. Kel can feel it in his marrow, a leaden sort of ache. Sunny couldn’t fake a reaction if he tried. When he cried, it wasn’t ‘cause he wanted something, or was trying to make you feel bad or whatever. It was just because he felt sad. 

...It’s weird. There’s no light in this Sunny, no breath or blood. But he still feels so real. True, in a way that the real Sunny felt. Kel’s stupid waking nightmares never make him feel like this.

Read the rest here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46429294/chapters/116900185