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humornaut · 2 years ago

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Sunny and Daisies

Hey everyone! I think this post will be a bit shorter, but recently, I've been thinking about some of the flowers that appear in Omori that we are never really given an explicit meaning for, and I wanted to talk about something that has come up. Omori spoilers ahead!

So! Obviously, based on the title, you know that the thing I want to talk about here is the use of the daisy in-game. We see it a couple of times in Sunny's dreams, and it's clear that they are associated with Basil. One appears in the Rain Area of Black Space, next to Stranger, where he talks about how Sunny was always someone that he could depend on.

And then, when you get to Neighbor's Bedroom in the Omori route, you will have a daisy, rather than a sunflower, in the lineup of all the friend's flowers.

Finally, Home for Flowers (Daisy) is the version of Basil's theme that plays just prior to the truth segment.

So, where does this association come from?

The first thing to note is that when Basil talks about sunflowers, he never says that he is a sunflower, only that he wants to be like a sunflower. The second thing to note is that in the game itself, there is no indication in the real world at any point that Basil ever assigned the daisy to himself. Some people say that the flower he wears in his hair is a pink daisy, but Basil's flower clip does not match up with how daisies are depicted in-game or in art, mostly due to the number of petals.

There isn't really any evidence for this one way or the other, but I personally believe that this is an association that Sunny himself made at some point, and that Basil doesn't even know about it. Like sunflowers, daisies can represent loyalty, and they have other meanings as well, such as innocence or purity.

However, the most relevant meaning, in my opinion, is its Victorian meaning representing the "ability to keep a secret".

Now, there is one big reason that Sunny would associate Basil with keeping a secret in the modern day, and I assume that that isn't something that I have to mention here. However, Sunny already notes Basil as someone that enjoys keeping secrets. Take a look at Memory Lane:

In the Treehouse Memory, Basil revels in his winning hand, and teases the others with his secret.

In the Beach Memory, we are given an example of Basil taking a picture of Aubrey without her knowledge, which is something that he prefers overall, as mentioned a couple times in the game.

In the Picnic Memory, we see Basil planning to hide a flaw with one of his photos (Hector's poop in the background) so that he can still include it in the photo album.

In the Rainy Day Memory, he of course promises to keep Sunny's crush on Aubrey a secret.

In the Birthday Memory, he teases the others by refusing to tell them what his wish is for.

And finally, in the Christmas Memory, we find out that Sunny's violin was actually Basil's idea in the first place, and that he successfully kept this a secret from Sunny even as the entire group was working the entire Summer to save up for it.

I'm not sure that Basil would ever assign a flower to himself based on his love of secrets, but Sunny's repeated memories of it make it likely that he would assign it to him, especially since Basil seemingly refused to assign a flower to himself.

This has all been pretty straightforward, but I want to hop into some possible connections that I've never seen discussed. Bear with me, because this link is going to sound tenuous at first.

First, take a look at the way the daisy in the Rain Area is referred to:

If we hop into the sorting minigame in the Omori route, one of the things we find this:

I promise this isn't as insane as it sounds I hope

So, most of the things that we go through in the sorting minigame have a direct link in Headspace. The similar wording is interesting, but my attention would not have been drawn to it if there weren't something more.

Let's rewind way back to the beginning of the game, during the prologue.

One of the first quests that the player is able to access (and I believe the only quest that the player can start while Basil is still in the party during the prologue) is entitled "Daisy's Dilemma". It can be and usually is completed during the prologue. Daisy is looking for some help in finding a gift that she can gift to her crush. When you get to Otherworld, you will find the "Flower Puzzle", which you can then give to her to pass on to Neb, her crush.

Ignoring the obvious implications of having such a quest so early on in the game with what we will later learn about daisies, I want to take a look at the puzzle itself.

The description of the puzzle in your inventory calls it "A perfect combination of flower and puzzle". The word "perfect" is of note here, with the very specific use of it throughout the game, especially as it pertains to Basil. But more than that: take a look at the icon for it:

The puzzle piece on the right, to me, pretty clearly shows a daisy, which leaves us with little triangle of evidence including a flower puzzle depicting a daisy given to a crush in Headspace by someone that loves flowers named Daisy, a single daisy depicted next to Stranger in Black Space (along with other evidence in the game linking Basil to Daisies), and a single puzzle piece that can be found among Sunny's belongings during the Omori route.

I realize that this may be a stretch to some, but I absolutely see this triangle of daisies and puzzles to be intentional.

So, is there anything else going on here that we should take note of?

Well, Daisy doesn't appear to have a direct analogue in the real world. You might be able to say she represents Bebe, who is said to have bad taste in men, and we see develop a crush on the Maverick throughout the real world sections of the game. I do find this a little unlikely, as Bebe seems unaware who the Maverick is at all, and doesn't seem to have any connection to Angel, who is represented by Neb.

Now Neb is very interesting. He clearly is representative of Angel, but it's kind of hard to tell due to their differences in personalities. To my knowledge, Angel is never really associated with puzzles in the real world, though he is pretty immature overall, and spends time at Hobbeez and enjoys games. The fact that his name is "Neb" is something that I find interesting, though, as this makes him the only one on the playground, based on a real person from Sunny's life, who's name seems irrelevant to his namesake.

I've wondered for awhile what the reason for this was. Recently, I discovered that one of the definitions for neb refers to a snout or nose. As luck would have it, there is another playground kid that is named Nose!

So Nose is one of only three of the playground kids that do not appear to be based off of a real person, including her best friend Bun, and the aforementioned Daisy. Like some of the others, she is based off of one of Sunny's plushies, though her and Bun do not appear to also be influenced by the younger tutoring kids in the same way Brows, Bangs, and Happy are. If you take a look at the photo album, you will find Nose in one of the pictures, being cuddled by both Aubrey and Basil.

And let's also take a look at some of the few lines of dialogue for Nose and Bun:

The term "best friend" has some pretty specific usage throughout the game. While Sunny himself appears to apply the term generally to his friend group, the real Basil is only ever shown to use it when referring to Sunny. Not to mention, the way that Bun is talking here is very reminiscent of the first few pictures of the photo album, in which Basil refers to Sunny as his best friend, as well as shy.

After playing hide and seek, Bun and Nose will play patty cake together.

The reason this is so interesting is due to the implications later on that Sunny himself was involved in the making of Basil's birthday cake, or at least learned the recipe for it at some point.

And there are some surface level similarities between Sunny and Angel that could've resulted in Angel being the one to play this role in Headspace. Both are the youngest in their respective friend groups, and Angel is seemingly raised by an overbearing older sister, with his parents nowhere in sight. He even has a "Foe Factx!" journal in his room that you can find, similar to the one that Sunny has in his dreams.

None of these characters really have a whole lot to say other than what we've gone over, but I also want to bring up the item that you get for completing this quest.

She gives you a Daisy charm, which allows the wearer to start the battle happy. I'm not sure it means much, but the two other charms that make the wearer happy are the Heart String and the Wedding Ring, which both use some fairly romantic imagery, and are easily missed by most players. The Heart String is available in the room in Humphrey in which you are chased by the cat monster thing. This is also the same room where you can get the blender item for Hero (relevant due to the smoothies being organized by Basil's tastes). This probably isn't an intentional connection, but it is also soon after the Branch Coral, which includes the line about Basil and Sunny being "tied by a string of fate". The Wedding Ring is of course given to the player by Spaceboy at the end of the Omori route.

Now, you might find a lot of this to be a little bit out there, especially with the connection to the puzzle piece that Sunny has in his belongings. However, I hope that this has at least shown that there is likely a connection between this first side quest that you can take and Basil.

Finally, while real world Basil is never depicted with daisies in-game, he is shown with one in some post-release official art.

The birthday pictures, and especially this last one for Basil's birthday, are notable for including pink daisies rather than white ones. Relying too much on flower meanings is kind of rough because most flowers have a lot of different possible meanings, and I don't like using art from outside of the game, since it really shouldn't be taken as canon, but I have seen that pink daisies can be given to someone to confess your feelings, and I believe that this birthday picture was the 143rd post to the Omori Instagram page, though don't quote me on that.

#omori #omori analysis #omori basil #omori sunflower #omori sunny #sunnflower #sunflower omori #basil #omori spoilers #omori daisy #daisies

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essayist-unexpectedly · 3 days ago

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The Basil Quartet: The Roles of an (Oopsie) Daisy

The roles of different characters are interesting to look at and pick apart within OMORI. One of the most interesting characters to analyse within the game being Basil. This is thanks to the four different versions of Basil within the game - Headspace Basil, Realworld Basil, Stranger, and Memory Basil. Each version of Basil plays a different role outside of being a dream and a real person, and each role holds incredible importance within OMORI. A sweet gatekeeper, an anxious mess, a mysterious guide, and a hope for the future, there is no doubt that the many faces Basil wears are all vital to the recovery of the truth and the entirety of the plot of OMORI.

The first role that Basil fills comes within Sunny’s headspace. The young, mint-haired version of Basil is portrayed as a sweetheart, one who is simply trying to hang out with his friends and take care of his plants in a world of joy. Unluckily for him, Headspace Basil - who will from now on be referred to as HS!Basil for convenience - is also meant to play the role of the gatekeeper of the truth. It is HS!Basil, who will be the reason the truth is even hinted at in the first place, as he picks up a photo he doesn’t remember taking, one that leads to him disappearing into the Blackspace, where Omori must travel to find him, to bring him back. Him being the gatekeeper of the truth is clear within different clips in headspace - such as his initial disappearance, the cutscene of him on the cliff where his eyes go red and Something appears, as well as the ‘Basil Tape’ where a younger Basil is shown looking horrified - as well as simply how he acts in the real worlds, as the most anxious and fearful when Sunny reappears. The version of Basil met within the Headspace is gone for most of the game, only reappearing in the end which also contributes to his role as the gatekeeper to the truth - after all, as the game continues, the player gets closer to finding HS!Basil and discovering the truth. It is in Black Space when this form of Basil reappears that he tries to tell Omori what has happened, when he tries to remind Sunny of the horrors of the day of the recital. The role of HS!Basil is that of the driving force to some degree - he forces the journey in Head Space to happen, as he has for many cycles, and it is through him that Sunny is triggered into remembering the truth - even if he doesn’t learn it in the Black Space. This Basil is the one who holds the truth and ultimately appears to be the cause of the memory sequence - if he is never lost, he can never remind Sunny of the truth, meaning he wouldn’t be reminded over and over again of what happened. HS!Basil is the keeper of the gate that blocks out the suppressed memories, even if he’s just doing his best to survive and continue being a good friend. He highlights the sweet innocence of an ideal Basil from their childhood, but he is also the one cursed to be lost in order to help Sunny remember the truth.

The second role of Basil is found within real world Basil - this role is essentially just an anxious mess. Now in spite of these two words summing up his entire personality, there is still a lot to say about Basil - and with this being real world Basil, he will simply be Basil. This form of Basil is the most conflicted - hence the title of a mess. He tries to be a protector to Sunny, shown in the past when he hung Mari’s body, as well as how he is trying to protect Sunny when he attacks him during a psychotic break during the final night. Evidently, both of these actions fail in their goal, only harming the group, but most of all him and Sunny mentally and physically. Whenever he tries to do something right, Basil finds himself in a bigger mess of a situation, and because of this he ends up with anxiety worse than a hamsters’. The overarching role of this Basil is to try and fail at being a protector, to try and to fail at being as good as he wanted to be. In the end of the Sunny route, actions around Basil will also help the player to achieve any of the four endings, landing Sunny in a few different types of messes - by going back to sleep and Basil killing himself, the player can end up with Sunny moving and never dealing with the mess that was left behind or in a mess of blood when he stabs himself, if the player saves Basil, Sunny either ends up telling their friends the messy truth or else he can end up as a mess on the pavement. While Headspace Basil is the one who drives Sunny to find the truth, Real World Basil is the reason for the truth to exist, he is the trigger to the entirety of the game because of how he is unable to stop making messes out of misguided attempts to protect.

Stranger is the third role that Basil plays, having the reputation of an elusive guide during the party’s quest to find HS!Basil. Stranger is representative of the darker parts of Basil - a foil to the other version who appears within Headspace thanks to his more jaded and bitter nature. The role of Stranger is to persuade the Dreamer - Sunny - to find the truth, meaning that he’s one of the characters who goes against the protective and oppressive nature of Headspace. He actively works against hiding the truth, the only other character who does this being Spirit Mari, with Daddy Long-Legs mostly just warning against Headspace not necessarily encouraging the finding of the truth. It makes Stranger an anomaly. His appearing in the Blackspace also makes him a little strange though, as he is one of three characters existent there - Omori and HS!Basil being the other two. It’s clear though, that he simply is a wanderer who longs for something that could heal his real world counterpart. Stranger is the pressure, he is the one who is actively pushing at all times for Sunny to wake up from his delusions, he is the one who warns against forgetting, and he is the one who will fight Sunny in the Hikkiomori route because of his lack of action. Stranger is all of the darkness that Sunny fears Basil will have developed in his absence, he is the jaded nature after abandonment, and he is the ominous warning of the tragedy that will become of Basil without Sunny realising the truth and saying something.

Finally, there is Memory Basil, who is the representation of love in the past and hope for the future. This version of Basil is the one who appears within the memory sequence at the of the game as well as the one who hugs Sunny within that sequence. M!Basil helps to show what the past was like - like all others, he also reveals a different side of himself from the present and the dreamworld version. He shows that he wasn’t always so scared and desperate, but wasn’t the most sweet and innocent either - rather, Basil shows that he was a sweetheart, but also cheeky at times, would tease, not just compliment - especially with Sunny. These memories help Sunny to realise that the times the group had together were amazing, that he was lucky to have had the group, and that, even if nothing was perfect - his best friend included, there could still be hope. The imagined sequence of Basil hugging Sunny is in a way based on these memories, he is the idea that the future will be better if the truth comes out. M!Basil shows the flaws and imperfections that made young Basil, the ones that were excluded from Headspace Basil, shoved into Stranger, and the sides that have been lost from current Real World Basil. Sunny can open up not only because of the fight with Omori, but because of his interactions with the memories, and M!Basil in both those past and imagined events bring another sense of hope and reassurance that not everything will be awful, that there can be healing, if the truth is finally told. The role of Memory Basil is to remind of the good that once existed even with flaws and therefore there should be confidence going forward - no matter how terrifying.

Overall, Basil is a very important character within the world of OMORI. He has four different roles, all of which are vital to the progress of the game. The vast personalities are all interesting, but also all create a cohesive character who was driven by love for his friends, who was a cute kid with a snarky side, but grew up to be less than lucky in life. Both in the Headspace and Sunny route with the Real World, Basil is a plot driver, important in every area. He is tragic to think about, with his actions having long lasting effects on everyone, but his counterparts also help Sunny to realise that the two of them will never be able to recover without the truth coming out.

#Spence does Essays (OMORI)#omori #omori basil #omori sunny #analysis #character analysis #essay #the cute little Oopsie Daisy #he has so many roles #i love basil

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