#but i hope you found this interesting

[somekindofsentience]

through the looking glass, or understanding windows and their relation to colour theory in OMORI

WARNING: MAJOR OMORI SPOILERS. PLEASE PLAY THE GAME FOR YOURSELF IT IS BEAUTIFUL

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO SUICIDE, DEATH, LOSS, AND GRIEF

READING-THIS WARNING: ITS VERY LONG IM SORRY I AM INCAPABLE OF SHUTTING UP AND I ALSO GO IN TANGENTS ALL THE TIME

I feel as though people miss the smaller symbols in this game.

Obviously it's easy to look at, say, flowers throughout the game, or what Something and Stranger demonstrate, or maybe even mirrors and our understanding of reflection, but there's plenty of symbols that people don't look at or write about, because they feel less relevant. Symbols are easy to overlook when you're no longer studying English Lit.

But I am your certified Wet Rat, and I spend hours overthinking this game, so I'm going to talk about what windows represent in Omori, and how this relates to colour theory.

There are several colours that are designed to remind players of the truth, or at least hint toward it, and these are bright red (light), saturated blue, and monochrome. These are all somewhat relevant here, so I'll go through them, and explain their connections with windows.

Windows as a Foreshadower of Truth, but also Repression

Before we discuss the relevance of red light shining through windows in foreshadowing Truth, we have to understand why they stand out among the rest of the house.

To do this, let's discuss saturated blue.

Saturated blue is a very deliberate choice - we know this from Omocat herself - it is the colour of the Phobias, and Sunny's house during Phobia sequences, as well as Basil's boss fight. The use of saturation conveys intensity and fear, and there is a sense of impending failure - we cannot "beat" any of these boss fights by normal means, but instead are doomed to lose or wait until Mari consoles us. This blue is also deliberately not black - this somewhat disconnects these segments from the Truth, because the ultimate purpose of the Phobia bosses is to provide a comparison between Mari saving Sunny's life and Sunny ending hers. Within the Basil boss fight, more features are monochrome, which ties it more closely with the Truth. (Saturated blue is also the colour of Hellmari, but she's more relevant when I talk about Spirit Mari later down the line.) It's prevalent in the Deeper Well, but notably absent from many Black Space rooms, who choose to use solid monochrome or other colours to convey emotion. It still exists within Black Space despite this.

Red (light, specifically in windows) is symbolic of distortion, but it also foreshadows the Truth creeping into Sunny's life. I am talking about red light in particular - while red is carefully used in the final boss fight, Red Space, several areas of further Black Space and in the Red Hands, red has more complex meanings in this game, where it depends entirely on the other colours around it (red and black represents malicious intention, red and white is more closely tied to repression, and red standing out against the Dreamworld is tied to Truth).

It is designed to feel wrong, the same way the encroaching fog across vast forest feels wrong, and the deeper well's atmosphere feels wrong. This discomfort is very well-captured throughout the game, and the careful use of red contributes to this.

In several segments, red light streaming through a window is shown to represent repression of Truth. We know that the sky was not red when Mari was killed - it was late afternoon, with some light streaming through the trees - so, in some ways, the Truth has already been distorted, being shown as worse and more horrific than the actual events. This is likely a result of Sunny's repression.

There is one particular moment where this glowing red light represents repression. This occurs in the Hikikomori Route, if you wake Sunny up during the night. You see several horror sequences relevant to the truth, and the piano room lit with a red glow. Entering it reveals this...

I'll talk more about the symbolism of that particular window later, but we know that the piano is being repressed here. Instead of the pure red light, we see the combination of black and red - which we know represents malicious intent - showing how Sunny's repression of the Truth has become more powerful than Sunny himself, and Omori is now taking over his mind.

Windows as a Door to the Truth

During the Truth sequence, there are red windows in almost every room, aside from backstage-like areas. We know from the previous section that this foreshadows the Truth, and the increasing number of these windows brings it to the player's attention, standing out more than it did previously. The same glow is also found coming from the TV in the first room. Sunny is notably drawn to this glow, as is the player, and you are also required to interact with (which implies potentially entering) the window in the Hospital sequence to proceed.

To understand windows acting as doors, we need to talk about the sliding glass door.

The sliding glass door in Omori is both a window and a door - letting in the eerie red light, but also letting the player (and Sunny) access it and understand it for the first time. This makes it the ultimate foreshadower of Truth, and we must enter it in order to view the entirety of the Truth photo album.

Sunny never represses the sliding glass door, but will refuse to go outside until forced by his friends in Faraway visiting the Treehouse. In the real world, it is shaded over, making it impossible for the player to see through (save for a short Stranger encounter). This opaque nature is present in the Truth segment as well, except it is glowing red.

You can't see through it, but you can finally enter it.

This door leads us to the peak combination of our colour theory.

To the eyes, this first looks like a fade between red and purple, but the only possible relevance purple would have is its association with Mari.

This colour scheme is actually the result of a fade between red and saturated blue. Combining the colours of the Phobias, fear, as well as Mari's support and safety, and the day of the Phobias' creation; and the Truth, repression, and the fateful day of the recital. Although subtle, this is the game's big comparison, and the main purpose of mentioning the creation of the Phobias at all.

These two days are designed to compare Mari and Sunny, increasing his guilt as he remembers the way his sister generously saved his life, and remembers what he did to kill her.

Windows as a Symbol of Ascension

Monochrome is a key colour associated with Truth in Omori, and it does so in a relatively obviously. It is the colour of White Space, Black Space, Something, Stranger, and, notably, the colours of the photos that show the player the Truth. In this way, monochrome simultaneously represents repression of the Truth and the past; but also the desire to uncover it. Areas and characters that contain more black than they do white tend to represent truth, whereas the opposite tend to represent repression, save for portions of the Final Duet and the Hospital, where white represents acceptance. White also symbolises Sunny, shown in the pinwheels, and it has further meaning in the multiple flowers associated with it.

Spirit Mari is also associated with monochrome, her sprites existing in this colour. We contrast this to Hellmari, who is coloured in the saturated blue beforehand, and we can start to understand the mechanics of Headspace as a whole.

Despite Stranger's quote, Sunny, Basil and Mari are all split in halves, each half with different goals. Sunny, although he doesn't always know it, wants to seek the Truth; but Omori wants to repress it. Stranger wants to free the real world's Basil; but Headspace Basil is a representation of desire, the idea that everything is okay. In a similar way, Spirit Mari wants Sunny to seek forgiveness, and Hellmari is a hallucination of a Mari who would never forgive him.

I personally do not believe that Spirit Mari is Mari's actual spirit trying to communicate with Sunny - as much as that is a nice thought, and even though it is backed up with meaning of the White Egret Orchid, I choose to believe that Spirit Mari is Sunny's own desire for acceptance. As much as Sunny hates himself, the game is about seeking and forgiving yourself for what happened that day, and that requires this hidden desire, which is channeled through Mari.

The window above the piano room is found in several locations in Headspace. It is found in the first Black Space room, just above the first ever key you collect, and Mari is found hallucinated in front of it several times in the Real World. It is an important reminder of the real world, everything Sunny is leaving behind.

Spirit Mari also ascends through the this window during the North Lake sequence, and again during the Final Duet.

The whiteness of the area is highlighted with a light, pastel blue. Unlike the horror of saturation, pastel in-game represents peace and purity, being directly contrasted with each other. Pastel isn't symbolic of repression, although it is the main theme during the happier segments of Headspace. These particular colours - white and pastel blue - are also found in the Hospital, and in the final scene of the good ending. Pastel means acceptance, and it means there is no need to "saturate" the events of the recital day.

Here, the colour gradient, and Mari ascending through the window, are symbols of freedom. Sunny has accepted the Truth, and can now properly grieve his lost sister in peace. Simultaneously, you could argue Mari's spirit is finally free - she isn't tied down by Sunny's repression, and her ascending through the window is symbolic of finally entering the afterlife.

sorry for going so off-topic. as with most of my analyses, the idea came to me at 5am when i was half-asleep and i just had to write it out. lmaooooo.

[choccy-milky]

@foundthatoldzeppelinshirt what did u do to me...what in the wattpad is this... i only planned to do a few doodles but then i kept getting more brainrotted and things got out of hand LMAOO (and ofc i HAD to draw hockey player seb at SOME POINT bc its my duty as a canadian citizen🫡🍁🍁 O CANADA!!!)

[marigraphia]

I've had this pose ref saved for a while and the Superman set photos just gave off the same energy 👉🏻👈🏻

The reference is this photo of Katharine Hepburn as Antiope and Colin Keith-Johnston as Theseus in the 1932 play 'The Warrior's Husband' (and I'd love for people to turn into a draw your otp meme pls pls pls this pose is so good)

And also, of course, the Superman (2025) set photos

[floundrickthewayfarer]

I understand your pain, @saturn-sends-hugs. As someone whose least favorite Batcher is Hunter (and who also couldn't care less about the alleged "hotness" of characters), let me expand on what helped me find him more interesting when writing him.

During the Clone Wars, Hunter is good at what he does, and he knows it. He has complete trust in his team and very little (if any) trust in anyone else. They get in, they destroy everything in their path, and they get out. Hunter feels comfortable with this. He's confident, even cocky.

After Order 66, everything changes. Hunter no longer has orders, his sniper, or the Republic he was created to serve. He feels lost. He copes with this by trying to hide, run, and control what variables he can. He tries to avoid risky situations, even when it means leaving others high and dry (like Hera and her family, Crosshair, or Gregor.) He wants to protect his squad/family, even if that means not helping others. What matters to him is his family, not anyone else's. That doesn't mean he doesn't feel for them, but, ultimately, he won't stick his squad's collective necks out for others unless pushed.

To me, Hunter's very selective loyalty and altruism is interesting when contrasted with the characters he's paired with: Omega and Echo. Both of these characters are extremely willing to risk their lives for others, even strangers. Omega convinces Hunter and the others to help people multiple times (Hera's family, the kids in "Retrieval," etc.) Echo does the same with Gregor, and his desire to help other clones eventually pushes him to leave the Hunter and the Batch and go with Rex.

While it's easy to side with Omega or Echo in these situations we see in the show-- "Why won't he help them? Why doesn't he want to help?" -- I think that's unfair to Hunter. It's easy to ask those questions, but Hunter's perspective/reaction is the more natural one. Why march your family, including your kid, into a war zone for someone you don't know? If you had a choice between risking your brothers' lives for a stranger or getting them to safety, wouldn't we all want to choose safety for the ones we love? When facing the unkillable, crushing might of the Empire, why march the ones you love into its jaws?

Anyway, this became way longer than I meant it to, but that's kind of how I approach Hunter. He's a soldier who, overnight, went from a confident young sergeant with a Republic and an army at his back to someone with no money, no resources, and no future---and three brothers and a kid in tow. He's trying to protect his family by keeping them out of harm's way, even if it means making sacrifices, running, or turning a blind eye to the suffering around him. That doesn't mean he's right, but it means he's human, and I could connect with that flaw of his.

(Also, tagging @the-bi-space-ace in case you also want to expand on this and/or add your own thoughts? I know we've had some solid conversations about Hunter, and I always enjoy how you write him!)

not trying to ruffle feathers here, but i honestly think i would like hunter way more if he wasn’t just “hot sergeant dad” in fandom. like the other batch members i think have a more balanced amount of fandom that thinks they’re hot and fandom that discusses their character, if that makes sense?

every time i see a hunter appreciation post about his leadership, his character arc, or his struggles in raising a kid, it still eventually turns into how hot that apparently makes him lol. i think if there were more… nuance? (idk how to say that without sounding pretentious lol) then id be able to appreciate his story more.

idk, something about him or the way popular fandom presents him just makes him really boring/flat as a character to me

again, if you think he’s hot, great!! genuinely happy for you, i think my problem is just that i’m an aroace lesbian who tends to dislike the popular interpretation of characters lol

(yes this is a plea for u to convince me he’s actually interesting plsplspls i want to like writing him bsjshdkdl)

[raplinenthusiasts]

BTS x Major Arcana

for @dearedwardteach 🖤 {cr. namuspromised / psd / cards}

[vaguely-concerned]

just for fun this time during 'sea of blood' I counted out all the venatori corpses I think we can be pretty sure were lucanis' handiwork before we show up (not including the ones he kills in his initial cutscene, and with an assumption that he's been at work mainly up and down in the areas we move through until we find him, not behind the locked door -- I think that's mostly the work of rampaging undead and other venatori-hoisted-by-their-own-petard suchlikes). can thus happily inform you lucanis has killed at least 32 venatori before rook and company get there. at least one of them he's impaled on their own weird crystal spike things the venatori mages cast as an AOE attack and that they're trying to keep him contained with when we find him. so he's clearly been keeping busy lol. that's my boy dispensing poetic justice and claiming some enrichment in his enclosure while he's at it good for him!

[mossy-paws]

hi uehmm idont know if you do shipart requests but could you do medbrand (medkit x firebrand)…. that would be awesum,,,

I don’t usually draw ships often, but sure!

[whenyoulosesmallmind]

Nicklas Bäckström & the Washington Capitals (+ nickeovi) ― Immortality, Clare Harner | insp.

credits: x. x. x. x. x. x. x. x. x. x.

[little-pup-pip]

hi!! is it possible to get a bunny + fallen angel themed moodboard? masc/androgynous preferably, no paci, and like darker colors pls!! no worries if not :)

Sure!!

[heyclickadee]

Okay but for all we know Saw and his buddies picked Tech up (alive) on Eriadu.

[finisnihil]

Do you have any jingluo rambles or headcanons :3

I'd like to know more ☺️

Oh hi thanks for the ask! I don't typically talk about my more fanon ideas because I usually like to do analysis/theories of the canon material, so most of the time I write my headcanons and stuff into my fics or whatnot but! I'm totally happy to talk about some of them!

-More so a theory I'll die on the hill of but I do think Luocha is an Emanator, I have a post explaining my evidence here! It's not the most fleshed out because it was one of my first posts on here but yeah!

-One of my big Luocha headcanons is the flowers blooming out of his hair according to his emotions. He's considered an Abomination of Yaoshi, a term only really used for Mara-struck, and the Mara-struck typically have mutations of like ginkgo brances/leaves growing from their bodies. I think it'd make sense if Luocha also displayed Mara symptoms in his own weird way!

-I like to think Luocha can kinda "eat/digest" Mara. To me, Mara reads like a weird combination of rabies and chronic wasting disease. Vultures are a favorite bird of mine and they have extremely strong stomach acid, strong enough to digest rabies. They help manage the spread of rabies because of this and I can see Luocha's body functioning a similar way with Mara. Something percieved as scary or gross (Emanator of the Abundance/a scavenger that eats predominantly dead animals) but being essential to the managing of a healthy ecosystem because they perform a thankless task.

-Jing Yuan has crows feet. Even though the Xianzhou people don't really age past a certain point and their bodies stay that way no matter what (see: Dan Shu and her explanation of disabilities on the Xianzhou which is incredibly interesting) he is 721-ish years old and he smiles a lot. I think it'd be sweet to see evidence of that, that despite everything he still can smile so much it leaves little lines of joys in his face.

-Jing Yuan to me is more of an acts of service guy (His being General shows his love for the Luofu because taking care of its people is the ultimate act of service). I think Jingliu was also more of an acts of service person because to her fighting was all she lived for, for a while, so her showing love is wielding her sword for somebody (like wielding it against Baiheng to free her). I think that's a way Jing Yuan kinda embodies her yaknow? As for Luocha, he's more a quality time person. He's a traveler who doesn't really have anywhere permanent to call home so he likes to soak up as much time with the people he loves as he can before he's forced to move on again. He also likes receiving gifts because they're momentos of those people he can carry with him.

-I think Luocha would like to garden but he's never had a permanent place to do so, so when they get together he just takes over Jing Yuan's garden (which is suffering due to Jing Yuan's busy schedule) and rules it with an iron fist. The neighbors are jealous.

-I saw this post propose that Jing Yuan might be half Foxian and I really love that idea so that's something I like to chew on

-Both Luocha and Jing Yuan are strategic people and Luocha is one of the few people who have successfully outsmarted Jing Yuan so I imagine their enrichment is playing strategic games together. Western chess (my beloved), General's chess, Go, etc. I imagine Luocha is better at western chess and Jing Yuan at Go and General's chess, simply bc those were the games they were raised with.

-Luocha runs cold and Jing Yuan runs hot. Adding to that, if Luocha is an Emanator, he's probably stuck in this pseudo-death limbo so I imagine he's cooler to the touch. Meanwhile, Jing Yuan is very alive and pretty active, therefore warmer to the touch. Jing Yuan likes to nap resting on Luocha because it's like having a cool pillow and Luocha likes it because Warm. He would also like to tease Jing Yuan by putting his cold hands on the back of his neck or something and make Jing Yuan jump due to not expecting it.

-Being General is a demanding and exhausting job. I can imagine Jing Yuan doesn't really spend a lot of time on self-care in that aspect. He has a planet-ship to run after all so he probably doesn't care too much about what shampoo or soap he uses. Luocha is appalled and uses his connections as a merchant to acquire quality stuff (some of which is better for foxian hair types) to systematically switch out when Jing Yuan isn't paying attention. Jing Yuan obviously notices but he doesn't particularly care, later noticing his skin is less dry and his hair is way softer and healthier.

-Jing Yuan can cook but it's a 50/50 on if it actually ends up eatable. His job can be tiring and I imagine sometimes he's just too dead tired to stay awake and the food burns or whatever. After him and Luocha get together, Luocha will cook or he'll check on the food for him.

-I've been pinging around the idea of Jing Yuan having narcolepsy

[crescentfool]

having the hc that minato is ace is incredibly funny sometimes when you think about how ryoji is oh so very bi because it's like. "ah. death stole my ability to be attracted to people," in the same way that ryoji stole minato's eye color and energy level. like wow, thanks ryoji, you just keep finding things to steal from minato!

[eri-pl]

@edennill and others, asking for your help, because I just realized I don't really have any human fave (actual human, not a half-elf) I mean I do like Amandil, but I'm not that interested in him, and I do have a ton of elf faves and that's kinda biased.

I don't think it's healthy to have faves only in the most powerful groups, I need some balance.

Recommend me some Men, with an explanation why they're cool? (Preferably from Slim, may be LotR, but Aragorn is too mainstream 🤣 and Faramir idk, I know they're both awesome but they're not my jam)

Thank you.

[mitchmotch]

day 3 of 30 minute sketch mondays with @revalito! this time with jack zimmermann ^^ (he's 100% looking at bitty)

[steinwayandhissons]

arctic monkeys and every time the word ‘love’ is mentioned

whatever people say I am that’s what I’m not

tonight there’ll be some love, tonight there’ll be a ruckus yeah regardless of what’s gone before

~ view from the afternoon

oh there ain’t no love, no montagues or capulets

~ i bet you look good on the dancefloor

all that’s left is the proof that love’s not only blind but deaf… yeah I’d love to tell you all my problem

~ fake tales of san francisco

she makes a subtle proposition, I’m sorry love I’ll have to turn you down

~ when the sun goes down

lady, where has your love gone, i was looking but can’t find it anywhere, they always offer when there’s loads of love around but when you’re short of some it’s nowhere to be found

~ no buses

well how can you wake up with someone you don’t love and not feel slightly phased by it

~ leave before the lights come on

favourite worst nightmare

it’s wrong wrong wrong but we’ll do it anyway cause we love a bit of trouble

~ balaclava

and those dreams weren’t as daft as they seem, aren’t as daft as they seem my love

~ fluorescent adolescent

there’s room for the trouble and there’s lovers to be had

~ this house is a circus

it’d be a big mistake for you to wait and let me waste your time, really love it’s fine, I said really love it’s fine

~ the bad thing

old yellow bricks, love’s a risk… houdini love you don’t know what you’re running away from

~ old yellow bricks

another roll around and another push and shove, further away from the idea of love

~ da frame 2r

the more you keep on looking the more it’s hard to take, love we’re in stalemate… you’re slacking love where have you been

~ the bakery

am I too quick to assume that the love is no longer in bloom

~ too much to ask

humbug

i had a hole in the pocket of my favourite coat and my love dropped into the lining

~ i haven’t got my strange

suck it and see

i wanna feel your love brick by brick

~ brick by brick

do you still feel love is a laserquest or do you take it all more seriously… when I’m not being honest I pretend that you were just some lover

~ love is a laserquest

your love is like a studded leather headlock

~ suck it and see

jealousy in technicolour, fear by name, love by numbers… crushing up a bundle of love

~ that’s where you’re wrong

before she showed you how to shake love’s steady hand

~ the blonde o sonic shimmer trap

your love’s not what I need, so don’t give it to me

~ evil twin

am

it’s not like I’m falling in love I just want you to do me no good… the look of love, the rush of blood

~ no.1 party anthem

love buckles under the strain of those wild nights

~ mad sounds

I heard that you fell in love, or near enough

~ snap out of it

love like locked horns, love like dominoes… love like thunder, love like falling snow

~ electricity

I know you’re nothing like mine cause she’s walking on sunshine and your love would tear us apart

~ you’re so dark

tranquility base hotel and casino

love came in a bottle with a twist off cap, let’s all have a swig and do a hot lap… but it’s alright, cause you love me

~ star treatment

when true love takes a grip it leaves you without a choice

~ golden trunks

pattern language in the mood for love

~ the world’s first ever monster truck front flip

I wanna stay with you my love, the way some science fiction does

~ science fiction

the dawn won’t stop weighing a tonne, I’ve done some things that I shouldn’t have done, but I haven’t stopped loving you once

~ the ultracheese

the car

lights out on the wonder park, your saw toothed lover boy was quick off the mark

~ jet skis on the moat

put your heavy metal to the test, there might be half a love song in it all for you

~ mr schwartz

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Thunder City

standalone novel set in the Moral Engines universe

when a small wheeled city is taken over by a rebel faction with a small army of dangerous revenants, a history teacher & the mayor’s son travel to find someone with experience fighting them - and find a young woman who’s grown up battling revenants for entertainment, and offer her an escape

along the way they pick up various unlikely stragglers - including an older mercenary, and an artist