#i don't think there are omori spoilers here

[acacia-may]

8 for the writing asks pls?

Thank you for the ask and for playing this writing ask game.

8. An excerpt of my writing that hurt my own feelings to write.

I've definitely written a lot of things that hurt my own feelings to write, but I cried real, genuine tears when I wrote this scene and was so emotional over it that I actually had to stop and take a break to calm down by the time I got to Aubrey's "because you've always been that person for me" line. I've written a lot of angst and a lot of devastating moments, but I've only actually cried because of my own writing maybe twice(?) in my life (I'm usually not much of a crier), so it definitely sticks out to me and I consider the Aubrey-centric chapter of "When Sun Shines Again" some of the best writing I did last year. Here's a snippet:

With a heavy sigh, Hero turned away from her, staring out of the dark and gloomy window. “You know, I��ve…never really had a lot of fight in me…” he admitted quietly, a faint flush in his cheeks before he let out a light, somewhat self-deprecating chuckle. “It’s something I’ve always thought I should probably get a little more of. But you…” His expression softened, and he smiled at her as he met her eyes. “You’ve always been a fighter, and I’ve always admired that about you. You want to protect everyone—fight for your friends even when they can’t or won’t fight for themselves. But I’m your big brother…”—he took a shaky breath and patted the top of her head—“I’m supposed to be the one protecting you, so you don’t need to protect me, okay?” “But that’s the thing, Hero—you’re everybody’s big brother. Without Mari, you don’t have anybody to protect you anymore. And as long as you feel like you have to protect me and Kel and Sunny and Basil—as long as you feel like you have to take care of us, you’re never going to tell us what’s wrong, so you’re just going to suffer alone and none of us want that. We all worry about you too.” Aubrey paused, wiping her eyes. Hero froze. His hands trembled. He didn’t know what to say—didn’t even know how he felt. To see Aubrey so broken up and worried about him was like a wrench to his heart. First, Kel. Now, Aubrey. Could he do anything without hurting the people he cared for most in the world? “Aubrey, I…” he began to stumble as tears pooled in his eyes. “No, I—” she cut him off. “I didn’t say this to make you feel bad or feel guilty. I just…I know you, Hero. I know the way that things are—the way you always push aside how you feel to take care of everyone else, and I guess that’s part of the reason why I was so upset—because I knew how much you were suffering all alone and how you didn’t have anyone you felt like you could talk to. I know you’re never really going to be able to talk to us about what’s wrong—but I just…I think we all want you to have someone you can talk to. Someone you feel like you don’t have to protect. I know that’s never going to be me or Kel or even Basil or Sunny—you’re always going to be our big brother, but I want to believe there’s somebody out there—maybe even several people—maybe Brandi or your friends from school or I don’t know just anybody…somebody who you feel like you can tell these things to, somebody you can always go to who’ll try to understand and will comfort you and support you no matter what. I want you to find that person, Hero—because you’ve always been that person for me.”

[undergoing-mitosis]

i put on a son lux song and blacked out in a caffeinated autistic haze and when i came to this had just spawned on my page

-----------------

Red Space

And the void reaches out its fragile hands towards my pale throat. It is desperate, clawing for a way to hold on to this side of reality. It digs its cracked nails into my forearms and drags. I remember when pain was an escape. Before I became too tolerant of it. Now, I barely feel a thing. It's pathetic, really. I used to be afraid of this void, what it could do to me. But there's no point being afraid of what lies in the dark when you know you're far worse than anything that could thrive there. I have taken this incessant pain and moulded it into my subordinate.

All that is left is absent pity. Like the real Sunny has left, is floating somewhere out of reach. I left that version of me hanging by the throat.

My identity is lost to this clawing darkness. I am only the child who drifted. The hikikomori boy. My friends are warped. I am hollow.

I sit on a throne of hands. My soul is soaked in blood. And yet I don't feel a thing.

-----------------

inspired by this scene, for obvious reasons. OMORI SPOILERS IN THAT VIDEO!!! plus loud noises, implied murder, death, and a knife. none of it is graphic tho, dw. just classic psychological horror things yk hahahahahaha *screams in pain*

[1-800-cuupid]

ykw im so pissed about the parents in omori, mainly sunny's mom & dad.

spoilers obvs

BRUHHH!!! I was sitting there in SHOCK because!!! !!

She left son in a house that she thought had no electricity, barely any food and didn't go check on him when he wasn't answering her calls!!!

She would rather go to some stupid fuckin furniture sale instead of checking on her child who she is FULLY aware hasn't left the house in 4 friggin years!!!! hasn't been going to school!!!! hasn't been talking to his friends!!!

SHE EVEN SAYS HERSELF THAT KEL HAS BEEN COMING AROUND DAMN NEAR EVERY DAY AND SUNNY HASN'T BEEN RESPONDING, NOT ASNWERING THE DOOR, SHOWING NO SIGNS OF LIFE WITHIN THAT HOUSE!!!

And this lady doesn't think "HOL UP, LEMME GO CHECK ON MY SINGLE SURVIVING CHILD!!!"

Don't even get me started on Basil and Sunny framing Mari's death as a suicide. Theres no fucking way that two little boys who were 12 and 13 at the time were framing a perfect suicide, there is simply no way.

Mari fell down the stairs, landed on a violin and perished (both WOODEN, mind you. There must've been bruises and cuts on her body SO BAD that it probably looked like she had gotten into a fight!! Not to mention broken bones in her body that would make no sense in a suicide, too.

My point being that when the parents came home, they HAD TO KNOW that something was DEFINETLY wrong!!

>Be parents, Mari and Sunny perfectly fine, Basil is not there, leave.

>Still parents, come back, Basil is there, Sunny is probably disassociating, both boys look like they've just seen the eye of sauron, Mari dead in the backyard, ????????????

His parents had to know that there was an accident of some kind and helped them cover it up to an extent. What solidifies this even more for me is that at some point, Sunny's dad says that he's not his son during one of his memory/dream sequences as he's chopping down the tree Sunny and Basil hung Mari from.

The dad dipped and the mom is clearly checked tf out.

Absolutely worst parents ever!!!

[petorahs]

on the 5th of march, 2010 — a boy fell into a deep, deep slumber (...)

i think its very twisted n ironic how i finished my persona 3 fes playthrough just in time for makoto yuki's death anniversary 😭

of course, i had to whip something up in honor of the 16+ year old game that destroyed me. so here are some notes on it (including the flower meanings!):

the second illust is quite shamelessly ripped from an OMORI cutscene hehe so all credits for inspiration goes to that game! i will be spoiling some aspects of its story below so be warned

to me, makoto and aigis' relationship somewhat resembles sunny and mari's in that game, but specifically in an "OMARI" au where sunny is the one that falls and mari has to live with not being able to protect the one person she innately needed to protect.

not only does makoto fit sunny/omori's personality, being the quiet, introverted kid in the friend group, but aigis has been referred to as a big sis multiple times in the game once she gains feelings. i think, at her core, aigis is meant to be a loving big sister type! either way, MC and their relationship with aigis is so simple yet profound to me. all of my favourite moments in the game come from aigis, with my favorite quote of all time being: "You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life... Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of. I'll keep on living no matter what , so that I can protect you..."

ok no more OMORI spoilers!! on to flower meanings:

[inazumatrash]

Some concept art for a discarted comic idea.

But I ended up adapting the script to a fanfic! (It's a little rough and I'm new to writing, so any feedback is welcome) Omori spoilers ahead.

The events of this story happens sometime after Mari's funeral.

///

It's sunset time with blue and soft pink tints all over the urban scenery. Basil is finishing tying up the velcro of his sandals to go out. Grabbing the door knob, he turns his head back to leave one final message before leaving.

"I'll be back soon, grandma!"

There's a chilling breeze outside and the streets are eerily empty. But Basil prefer this way. His head is full of thoughts, he needs the space. Approaching his destination, he stops looking at the sidewalk and lifts his head. He finally spot a living soul a bit ahead of him.

It's Kel. He's in front of Sunny's house. Kel seems to hesitate for a while, but gathers courage and knocks on the door. He vigorously give three consecutive knocks.

"That's a bit too much." Basil observes. Good old Kel.

It doesn't take too long for the door to open, and Sunny's mom appears. She has a dull look in her eyes. She's tired.

"Oh, it's you, Kelsey…" She looks over his shoulder. "and Basil."

Kel also looks back. Basil is suddenly there, a few steps of distance.

"What can I do for you two?"

"Uh." Kel is a little surprised with Basil's presence, but figured out he came for the same reason as him. "Can I- Can we talk to Sunny?"

"Hm…" She looks away before answering. "He's a little more unresponsive than usual..."

Basil feels a pinch of pain in his stomach.

"I wasn't able to talk to him since… the funeral." Kel fidgets a little. "I want to let him know he can count on us!"

Sunny's mom mouth corner's change to a soft, yet warm smile.

"Well, I'm sure he would appreciate to hear from you two, at least."

She steps back, opening the door welcoming the boys in. Kel perks up and calls Basil with a hand gesture. They enter the house.

"He's at their- at his room."

At the living room, the boys can see the glass door that leads to the backyard, highlighted with a menacing reddish orange light of the last sunrays. Kel immediatelly changes his attention to Sunny's mom back, while Basil has a hard time moving away his focus from it. They arrive at the staircase. Kel doesn't think twice and steps halfway through it. Basil freezes.

"Basil?" Kel calls out for him.

Basil tries to hide his anxiety and replies "C-coming!"

They are at front of Sunny's room, Sunny's mother a little further, to give the boys some space. Kel knocks the door, but this time, more gently.

"Sunny? It's Kel and Basil!" No reply.

Basil gives a quick look back at the staircase and Something starts crawling around him.

"Sunny." Kel starts again, leaning his hand on the door. "Sorry for not talking to you until now. But you know that we're here for you, right?" Kel sends a signal to Basil by raising his eyebrows and tilting his head towards the door, asking him to join.

Basil desperately tries to find the words. But the truth is, he wasn't expecting Sunny's mom, much less Kel's presence. It's not that he didn't have anything to say. He couldn't say anything he wanted to.

The creeping silence started to bother Kel, so he continued instead.

"Oh, I know! If you want, we can have a sleepover!" No reply. "Uh, it doesn't need to be anything fancy! We don't need to play games or eat snacks… We don't even need to talk. Just have each other's company, y'know?"

Kel smiled as he placed his other hand and ear to the door, waiting for the answer. He believed his idea was too good to be turned down. No reply.

"Sunny?" More silence.

Sunny's mom sighs, ready to call Kel and Basil back. Kel moves away from the door. He starts playing with his hoodie strings, looking a little less bright than before.

"Don't worry about it, it's okay." He did his best to hold a smile "I totally understand if you just need time alone."

"…like Hero." He completes under his breath, almost a whisper.

Another wave of silence. Is Sunny ignoring them? Is he even listening? Basil's mind go blank as he stares at the door.

"We'll come back tomorrow!" Kel bursts. The "we" took Basil by surprise.

"R-right! We'll be back tomorrow, Sunny." Basil faintly addes to the farewell.

Kel gives one last knock on the door, and starts walking away. Basil follows him.

"Oh, kids…"

"Can we really come back tomorrow?" Basil asks.

"Oh, yes, you may come… I'll let you know if he's available or not." It wasn't very reassuring.

After one last goodbye, the two boys leave the house. A few steps later, they stop in front of Kel's house. Before Basil could say anything, Kel apologizes.

"I'm sorry you couldn't say much. I hogged all the time for myself."

"N-not really. I wasn't sure what to say, anyway…"

"Isn't it strange, though? Sunny… He doesn't like to be alone, why would he…?" Kel stops and shakes his head. "We just have to try again tomorrow!" Kel smiles seems forced, Basil notices.

"W-well… See you tomorrow, then?"

"No, wait- let me walk you home!"

"O-okay." Basil let him be.

In the middle of the walk, Kel turns to Basil.

"I still didn't talk to Aubrey either. Did you?" Basil shakes his head. "I thought about visiting her too, but- I think I'm the last person she would want to see." Basil thought the same of himself, but kept silent about it.

Kel is a open book, he has no reason to hide his emotions and usually can be very blunt with his honesty. But something feels off today. Or since then. That day. Looking better, Basil notices Kel was using a navy colored hoodie at least two sizes larger than it should be. A small letter "H" was embroidered on it. Kel would use passed down clothes from Hero, but this one was clearly borrowed before its time.

He was lonely too.

Soon, Basil's home is right around the corner.

"Hm, actually." Basil starts. "I promised grandma I was going to buy a few things at the convenience store. Do you want to tag along…?" Kel snorts in reply. Was Basil trying to cheer him up?

"Sure, let's go! But let's be quick, mom won't like if I come home too late." He skips ahead.

"Wait! The store is on the opposite direction!"

"Oh!!"

///

It's night. Between the interval of a lightpost to another, Kel can't stand the silence anymore.

"Aah, I should have brought some pocket money!" He comes closer to Basil, using his hand to shield the conversation like he was about to confide a secret. "But I already spent all my allowance."

Basil wasn't expecting chit-chat, but wasn't too surprised either. It kind of gave him a sense of normality.

"…Hero always scolds me for spending it too quickly.

Like everything that happened was just a bad dream…

"But Mari would always treat me instead!"

A shiver passes through Basil's spine.

"Are you cold?" Kel opens his arms as invinting for a hug.

"No, I'm okay!"

Kel stops and rewinds what he just said.

"Sorry."

"N-no, don't be." Basil almost regrets calling Kel over. The uncomfortable silence is back, until Kel broke it again.

"I'll be more careful with my money from now on."

"?"

"So I can be the one who treat everyone out! How is that?"

"Are you sure you'll be able to do that?"

"What? You understimate me!!"

Basil slips a weak smile. Kel smiles back, like he planned it from the beggining. They continue their walk.

///

At the convenience store, Basil goes straight to what he went for. To kill time, Kel explores around until something take his attention at the candy area. Basil approaches too see what was so interesting. Kel only notices his presence after a while.

"Eek!" Kel was startled.

"…Are you going to ask for borrowed money?" Basil teases.

"No!! I was just looking… See, there's everyone's favorite flavor today…"

Basil identifies each flavor and silently pick them up.

They leave the store and Kel lifts his lollipop over his head.

"Basil, you're the best!" The compliment take Basil aback.

"It's just candy…"

"Yeah, it's just candy." Basil didn't expect him to agree so fast.

"It's the thought that counts!"

Basil just nods.

///

They arrive at Basil's house again.

"We're here!" Kel announces the obvious.

"Y-yeah."

Basil moves ahead to the door.

"See you tomorrow!!"

Basil stops.

"S-sure."

///

Basil is welcomed by his grandma with tea and cookies. Putting the groceries aside and with a cup in hands, he stares at the lollipops over the kitchen's table. Strawberry, watermelon and grape. He thinks back when Kel pointed that everyones flavors were available. All six of them. He shrugs the thought away.

Kel is on his way back, already appreciating his orange lollipop, while waving the cola flavored one in the air. He wonders when he'll be able to deliver the little gift. He wonders when he'll be able to talk to Hero again. Or to any of his friends for that matter. He shrugs the thought away.

THE END

[aritsukemo]

Heyyy! I hope the requests are open and im not putting too much work on your shoulders...

Anyways, this is my first ever time requesting... ANYTHING at all so i hope this is a not-so-hard or something that i shouldn't request (if not or you just don't feel like doing this request do NOT respond/do this request. I don't want to cause you burnouts or anything...)

Okay.. so...

May i request OMORI main gang x reader (all separate ofc) how long did it take for them to get comfortable around their s/o fully and how do they act in the developed relationship?

Thank you for your time! ^^

How long would it take the Omori Gang to become comfortable with their s/o? Well..

( @weed-stoner )

Warnings: Spoilers ahead! ( Implied in others and blatantly stated in Aubrey's part )

A/N: I AM SOOOOO INCREDIBLY SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!! I started this shortly after you requested it but then things happened and I had a little dry spout with Omori and forgot about it completely. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this! ( And again, I am SOOO sorry, love! 😅)

I'd say, based on their level of openness, the ranking of how quickly they'd become comfortable with their significant other would look something like this..

Kel

Mari

Hero

Aubrey

Sunny

Basil

And here's why..

Kel is the type of person who can vibe with anyone as long as they aren't a horrible person. ( Or act like Mikhael. Even then there's a chance. )

I'd say give it maybe a couple weeks? He's never been in any kind of relationship like this one so he may act a little different than usual for a while. Once that's over though, he's pretty much the same eager ball of sunshine! He'll always want to nag them to come out and enjoy the world with him and will do everything in his power to be around them! After all, it's way more fun hanging with them than being at home..

Now this can be up for debate, but I think Mari wouldn't take long at all to grow comfortable with her significant other. In her opinion, communication and trust are key parts to any lasting relationship so she doesn't mind coming to you when she's a little bothered by things. ( Which happens more times than one may think )

I see her taking maybe around a few months ( like three to four ) before completely letting the person in. It's nothing personal, she just wants to gauge their personality and see whether or not this relationship will be able to last.

Now, Mari doesn't act much different when she's comfortable with people. Subtle things do change though. For example, her smile seems more relaxed and she gets less upset when making mistakes around that person. Their presence soothes her and as a result, she's less uptight around them.

For Hero, it really depends on when he got into the relationship. If it was before his relationship with Mari, which is not likely, he's not that much different to Kel. He'll spend a lot time with the person and pretty much tell them anything and everything. If it's after his relationship with Mari, which is more likely, it'll be much different.

You see, Hero has experienced heartbreak in one of the worst possible ways and it'll take time for him to heal. That being said, I really don't see him dating anyone until that happens, but let's say that he does. Realistically, it take quite some time which can vary from a few months to a year to way longer than that.

Now, Hero is still Hero so he'll treat whoever he dates with the kindness and respect that they deserve and will do everything he can to make sure they're happy and healthy, ( both physically and mentally ) however when it comes to verbalizing his own emotions, that's where we hit a nail. Whoever he dates would have to be very patient with him otherwise it may cause him to put even more walls up.

When he's finally comfortable around them, it'll show. He'll start telling them things he wouldn't before and'll even rant to them about his problems occasionally. He'll be way more open with his partner and'll be just a tad bit ( a lot ) more clingy than he used to.

Aubrey is a rather tough cookie. Ever since Mari died and everyone distanced themselves, forcing her to cope with everything alone, she has never truly let her walls down in front of others. And, if someone attempted to break down those walls, she'll grow defensive and even violent towards that person.

How long it would take Aubrey to even be comfortable enough to date someone really depends on the personality. Like, I see her letting her guard down quicker if the person is more kind and patient with her like Mari rather than someone's who's short-tempered or rough around the edges like her.

When Aubrey is comfortable around her significant other, she'll be less afraid to tell them how she feels. She'll vent to them, but because of that, she'll be more shy towards them. Aubrey'll also hold that person in higher regard than others and'll hold them close to her heart. When they scold her, she actually listens and tries to do better. If they're upset, she'll be the first to notice and'll be there to listen to them rant/help them out in any possible way. And, she'll always try to make sure that her little fights and other violent affairs never mesh and disturb the person's daily life. In a way, she sees this relationship as a way to pay them back for putting up with her for so long so she'd pretty much do anything for that person.

Sunny's next and oh boy..

I honestly don't see him indulging in any kind of romance with anyone unless him and that person were like childhood friends—I'm talkin' never leaving each other's side, seen everywhere together type of close childhood friend with someone—and even then, it's hard to imagine post-traumatized him feeling comfortable around anyone besides his former friends, let alone a relationship. But for the sake of this, let's say he does..

I can't put a time limit on how long it'll take him simply because I see it depending on which ending we're talking about. Obviously if we're talking about any of the bad endings, he's pretty much a lost dead cause. He's not going to make any attempt to open up to them and no matter how much they may try, there will always be distance between them. Now, if we're talking about good ending Sunny, the person actually has a chance.

There will be a lot of trial and error simply because Sunny's used to keeping things bottled up. He's not used to being upfront and truthful and he's only used to running away and not facing his problems. That being said, I see the process quickening a bit if the person he's dating is super gentle and patient with him. If they just gave him time, and a tiny push here and there, he'll come around. And when he does, he'd be stuck to them like glue.

I feel like he'd make it known with his body when he's truly comfortable around his partner. Whether his shoulders noticeably slump in their presence or maybe he lets his guard down enough to hold you or lean on you. Just something that'll let the person know that he feels truly safe around them! I see him being sorta touch-hungry and expressing it once he's comfortable with that person by giving them a bunch of hugs and cuddles and such.

And hey, maybe he'll even talk! ( Nah I'm playing BAHAHA- )

Finally, we have our sweet boy Basil. The gardening genius that carries a ginormous bouquet of trauma wherever he goes..

It's easy to say that whether the person was his friend prior to the incident or not, it'll take forever for Basil to truly feel comfortable around them.

If they were his friend prior to the incident, well, it all really depends. Was he close ( closer than he was with the others ) with them before the incident occurred? Did they distance themself from the group like everyone else? Did they stick to him and never let him go? Depending on what the person does all depends on how long it'll take. To me, I definitely feel like Basil would spill everything eventually if the person decided to stick with him when everyone grew apart and, as a result, would become sort of this unhealthy lifeline to Basil. Since they'd be the one he confides in about everything, it would grow to the point that they'd be the one thing keeping him together. He'd be at their mercy, and in a way, they'd be at his and nothing would really change until probably after the truth comes out ( if it were to come out ) and Basil got the proper help he needs.

If they weren't his friend before the incident, good luck. They'd be lucky enough to even get a full conversation from him, much less get him to be their friend and harbor any kind of romantic feelings for them. But let's say that is the case. Let's say that through some stroke of luck they managed to befriend Basil and eventually end up in a relationship with him. The person is going to have to put up with a lot. Basil is a very sensitive person and all it takes is one bad interaction for him to completely shut them out. They'd have to tread very lightly ( but not too lightly; if they don't try enough, the relationship's not getting anywhere ) or else they'll end up back at square one. I see this taking years ( specifically four or more ) and really, I only see him completely growing comfortable with the person after some extensive therapy.

When he's finally, fully comfortable with them, he'll be way more verbal and open. The fear of being rejected/judged would've been less apparent and slowly pushed to the back of his mind. Being with them for so long, ( and having gotten at least some bit of therapy since I literally don't see this happening otherwise ) he's grown to trust them to some extent. He's also grown to love rambling to them about whatever's on his mind. Whether that be about flowers or things much darker. I see him craving their touch and he wouldn't mind asking. ( But not too many times, he's still Basil after all ) I see those two spending so much time together that Polly would see them as an extension of the household. ( She'd fix them dinner every evening and would grow concerned if they didn't show up to get it and say hey to Basil. That's how much they'd be together. )

Dividers were made by me, pictures used are from Pinterest, post formatting is inspired by @xxsabitoxx

[hero-deserves-to-be-happy]

Let Kel Be Sad: An Analysis on Kel’s struggles to express his negative emotions

Like Hero, Kel is also a “fixer”—he would bend over backwards to solve his friends' problems and stop the world if it would make them happy again, and both him and his brother are such big hearted and generous people who would much rather be the emotional support for others rather than talk about their own problems and make a situation about themselves and their feelings. For Hero, this often involves burying his own feelings and faking happiness, but I don’t think it necessarily means this for Kel, even if he struggles to express his negative emotions.

To me, Kel’s happiness and positivity is genuine, but he dismisses, discounts, and often runs from his sadness when he does experience it.

Let's discuss under the cut.

[Mod Sprinkles made the joke that in another universe I (mod Acacia) would also run a blog called "Let Kel Be Sad" so here are some Kel thoughts. Thanks for indulging my ramblings! 🧡]

Disclaimer: These are just my personal opinions, perceptions, and headcanons about Kel (and Hero). There are a lot of ways his character can be interpreted, and one of the great things about fandom is getting to see different points of view and differing interpretations of characters we all know and love. I know I speak for both Sprinkles and myself when I say we have a lot of respect for that, and for that reason, I want to be upfront that, while I do genuinely believe Kel struggles expressing negative emotions (thus the "Let Kel Be Sad" title), I don't personally view Kel as someone whose happiness is "fake" in the same way as Hero's. I can see the appeal of this interpretation and can understand why people interpret his character in this way, but it personally does not vibe with my personal interpretations, perceptions, and headcanons of Kel and his character, so if you perceive/headcanon Kel in that way, this post probably won't be your cup of tea. Please keep that in mind.

Warnings: OMORI Spoilers and discussion of game-relevant heavier topics such death, trauma, and grief.

Kel wears his heart on his sleeve, but this doesn't mean that he is shallow. He is a big-hearted, deeply empathetic, and incredibly loyal friend, and it cannot be stated enough that one of Kel’s biggest strengths is his ability to use his natural positivity and resilience to lift up those around him. He’s really the hero of the game because none of the healing would have been possible if he hadn’t continued to believe in his friends even after all of this time, hadn’t encouraged them, and hadn’t built them up just by being Kel.

And while I do think Kel does struggle to express vulnerabilities and negative emotions, I don't personally think of Kel's unwavering optimism as a mask. In my mind, Kel is not an emotional repressor or burier in the same way as Hero. In fact, because he wears his heart on his sleeve, he would probably really struggle to fake an emotion he wasn’t feeling (even if it was something positive like happiness). If Kel doesn’t want to express an emotion, I imagine he runs from it and avoids it, since it’s not natural or easy for him to “replace” or “bury” it with a fake one. Whereas Hero is much more reserved and private about his feelings, no matter what they are, so it’s much easier for him to convincingly mask pain and suffering under layers and layers of fake happiness. I just don’t think Kel would be able to hold back those emotions for very long. His negative feelings would eventually just kind of explode out of him without thinking and/or they’d become so apparent from his expressions and/or actions (since he does wear his heart on his sleeve) and everyone (including the player of the game) would know that he had so much negativity under the surface.

This isn't to say that Kel is perfectly fine. He isn't. He has suffered a terrible loss just like everyone else, but I think the game makes it clear that Kel has the most acceptance surrounding Mari's death and that he has made peace with what happened more so than the other main characters. Please keep in mind that this is only relative to the other main cast. Kel may seem "well-adjusted" in comparison to his brother and his friends who are, quite frankly, barely keeping it together, but he would not necessarily be considered well-adjusted in comparison to the non-traumatized townies. I genuinely believe that Kel is still in the process of healing, but relative to the other main cast members, he is farther along in that journey than they are.

And in that way, the game doesn't really give us a moment where Kel is overwhelmed by grief in the same way as the rest of the characters. Yes, there is the scene (one of my personal favorites) where Kel shares about his fight with Hero, and it is incredibly vulnerable and gives a lot of subtly and nuance to his character, but I don't think it's necessarily evidence that the player can't accept Kel as he presents himself to us at face value in the way that we can't accept Hero as he presents himself to us at face value. As I recently discussed in this post, the scene where Sunny finds Hero crying alone at Mari’s piano on the night of "Two Days Left" tells the player that Hero's attempts to appear well-adjusted and "fine" are, at least to a certain extent, all for show. There isn’t a Kel equivalent of this scene which, I personally think, is meant to tell the player of the game that Kel is the most well-adjusted member of his friend group (key words here being "of his friend group") and the one who has the most acceptance surrounding Mari’s death. Additionally, Mod Sprinkles actually made the point that Sunny is extremely perceptive and sensitive to his friends’ feelings and emotions. If Kel was still harboring a lot of negativity surrounding Mari’s death, Sunny likely would have picked up on that and been more hesitant to go outside with him in the first place.

This isn’t to say that Kel doesn’t ever have any negative feelings and that he doesn’t struggle to express those sometimes, but I think this struggle to express “the bad stuff” doesn’t stem from a pressure he feels to be happy all the time. That said, I do wonder sometimes if he is a little scared of feeling sad. He wants to be happy and wants everyone around him to be happy, and I think there is this certain helplessness that he feels when he can’t cheer other people up. We see a little glimpse of that in his account of his & Hero’s fight after Mari’s death. I think watching someone he loved so much go through such a deep and debilitating depression at such a young age probably permanently affected him, and he might have some worries about getting “stuck” like his brother, wallowing in that sadness and grief if he allows himself to feel it.

However, this is an unwarranted fear because Kel and Hero are very different. Even though Kel might feel sad, and his feelings are absolutely valid, I don’t think he’s prone to that level of despair and depression that we see in Hero. Understanding that his experiences and emotional responses are different than his brother’s is a big part of growing up so it might take him a while to realize this, and in the meantime, I could see it possibly manifesting itself as a sort of avoidance of sadness.

Everyone grieves differently. This is a difficult concept for even adults to understand, so I can't imagine how hard it would be for a 12-year-old like Kel. Because Kel didn't grieve Mari in the same way as Hero or his friends and didn’t spiral into the same level of despair and depression as the others, I think he struggles with invalidating his own feelings to himself sometimes--writing them off as shallow and dismissing them to himself as "just not deep enough." Again, I think this goes back to the one (1) fight that Kel and Hero had. We don’t know exactly what they said to each other in that fight, but it’s my personal headcanon that Hero lashed out at Kel for “not understanding” for he felt. From then on, I think Kel really does struggle with this fear that he just doesn’t understand emotions and because of that, any attempts to help his hurting loved ones will only make everything worse.

I’d really like to see him reach a place in which he can accept that even if his feelings and his grief are different and perhaps not as lingeringly overwhelming as the others', that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have them and that doesn’t mean he didn’t care about Mari or his friends. In my mind, Kel’s hesitation and worry at expressing his negative feelings and his happy-go-lucky personality can both exist at the same time. I don't think they are mutually exclusive, and I tend to think of Kel as someone who naturally looks on the bright side of things and is genuinely optimistic and uplifting. To deny this feels like a disservice to (my personal perception of) Kel, but I think it is also a disservice to pretend he never feels sadness or any negative feelings at all. There has to be a balance.

Let Kel feel sad when he needs to but recognize that he doesn’t actually need to feel sad all that often.

[humornaut]

Sunny's Smoothie Situation

Hey all! Two posts in one day, wow! This is actually more of a quick follow-up to my post about Sunny and cooking, but I decided to put it as it's own post since it's more related to food in general. Slight Omori Spoilers ahead?

I briefly mentioned it in that post, but there is something interesting going on with the smoothies that you can find within Headspace.

(We're going to not include the Dino Smoothie, as the Dino snacks are kind of in a class of their own and "Dino" isn't a flavor.

So based on the descriptions, something that is immediately obvious is that these are not organized by how much Sunny likes each individual flavor, as if it was, it'd probably have Berry at the bottom, then Banana, followed by Strawberry, then Mango, and finally Melon.

In addition, they aren't organized by healthiness, either, as the Berry Smoothie would be at the top if that were the case.

So how are they organized? Well, they appear to be organized by Basil's preferences.

Basil says in the Birthday Memory:

and then, regarding Bananas:

Obviously, we don't have a full rundown of Basil's fruit preferences, but I think these being the two that are put at the top and bottom is enough to assume that that is the order that Sunny's mind went with here.

However, the fun smoothie facts don't end there. Meet Budgirl:

There are nine of these little fellas all in one area. Off the rip, they take the form of a tulip with it's color changed to match Basil's flower charm. It has a face that resembles a face that Sunny makes several times in the photo album, and it makes a "meowing" sound sometimes when you interact with it. It's the same audio as when Claus or Mewo meow.

More importantly, whenever you interact with the central one, there is a 20% chance that you will receive a Mango, Berry, Melon, or Strawberry Smoothie. This is also the only repeatable and reliable way to get Strawberry Smoothies, as they are the only smoothie that cannot be purchased anywhere, so it's either this or going with the 2% chance you get from fighting Strawberry Short Snakes.

I just think it's a little adorable that this even exists, a pink version of the flower Basil associated with Sunny, which dispenses smoothies excluding Basil's least favorite flavor, and which is the only way to reliably get the smoothie that his most favorite flavor!

As one last aside, Sunny does appear to know that that tofu can be used in the making of smoothies, according to the chef mole...

And what really ties all this together in a real way is that despite never really appearing in the real world, blenders appear often in key areas of Headspace (and even in a version of Sunny's kitchen in Black Space!) The Blender weapon for Hero is one that's easily missed while getting chased by Experiment 667 in Humphrey, and is in the same area as the "Heart String" charm, which makes the wearer happy (like the Daisy and Wedding Ring, no less).

What I'm getting at is Sunny likely used his book about tofu to learn how to make smoothies with or for his best friend Basil. Heck, the ingredients you are collecting for Hero are linked to Basil already, and use tofu sprites!

[acemakes-art143]

Uhhh I may have accidentally clicked unfollow because I thought it said follow like a sleep deprived dumbass.

Anyways..

Please, I request of thee, infodump about this ship named Suntan. I know very little. And I wish to know more.

EEEEEEEEEEEEE YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY SUNTAN!!!!!!!!!! also it's fine no worries it happens lol

OK SO idk how much I can say about them without spoilers for omori BUT I will ramble about how much I love these little gays hehehehehe

First, I guess, is talk about the characters individually

Kel. This guy:

he is an absolute ball of sunshine, silly little guy, love him. Tall boi. This guy's TALL. He plays basketball. Does he have ADHD? Most likely! Is he a little stupid? Absolutely! And I love him for it. He just silly. He is the kind of person who would accidentally burn the water while cooking, haha! This is also my favorite character in omori btw I love him he's so silly and goofy and I love him!!

LGBTQ+ Headcanons: panromantic asexual trans boy (he/him but he probably would be completely chill with they/them if someone used it)

Next up: sunny. That's him:

This guy. He doesn't really like to talk much (in other posts I've talked about a headcanon I have for him but basically I think he has a notepad or smth that he carries around to write things instead of verbally talking). VERY traumatized. Definitely needs therapy. Does he get it? Nope! He has his tall sunshine boyfriend instead :)

Now, you may also see him shown with an eye patch on one eye, or a scarred eye, or something similar. This, without saying too much because it would be spoilers, is because his eye got hurt towards the very end of the game, so people (the fandom) gave him the scar/eye patch for post-game fanart/fan animations/comics/etc.

LGBTQ+ Headcanons: demi-biromantic asexual maybe demiboy? (he/they)

Now the main event: SUNTAN!!!!!!!!!

The name: sun(ny) + tan (kel)

Other names that I hear commonly are sunkel (just sunny + kel) and CapriSun.

Think: sweet happy extroverted ball of sunshine character x sad also sweet introverted and very traumatized/unstable character

Such a good dynamic I love them so much and they're so cute and AAAAA I can't talk about their relationship in the game at all because I don't know how much I can say before I reach spoiler territory and I want you my lovely mutual to go into the game 100% blind (or at least 90% blind) so yeah uh BUT they do interact a lot and i mean they're bestfriends so let them be boyfriends right?

Hehehe ok that's all I can think of to say about them here have some of the Suntan fanart I've found that I love a lot

This one was done by me while watching a movie! It's a little old, but it still looks so cute! Maybe I'll redraw it and make it even better! My shading style has definitely improved since this one, if nothing else.

And yeah! That's my Suntan ramble/infodump that mostly consisted of talking about the characters individually because I really really REALLY don't want to accidentally spoil anything even minor things because it's so so so good if you just go into the game fully blindly so hope you get the game soon and enjoy my funny rambles :D

[habizuh-studios]

Hi....if you don't mind me asking, who are your top 7 favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon) and your top 10 favorite characters ever from any media? Why do you love them all? Thanks if you want to answer my questions....

OHH my god thank you so much for this ask!!! hmm let me think about this- here they are in no specific order! spoilers for svsss, tgcf, zhen hun/guardian, and omori!

bingqiu (SVSSS, canon) -> mainly i love this one because first of all it's canon and second of all i adore the dynamic- not between teacher and student ofc, but like the fact that shen yuan literally died on accident and still made it his lifes purpose to go against what is basically a god to make binghe's life better and the fact that binghe adores shen yuan for it even without knowing it just bc he showed him kindness!! it's so amazing and that's the tl;dr

cumplane (SVSSS, not canon) -> okay i mainly like this one because shang qinghua and shen yuan are the only two transmigrators which strengthens their bond and their avid shitty novel reader/writer dynamic is so interesting to me. i also think they can work together really well, especially considering that you could stretch it so that shang qinghua is kinda like binghe in the sense that they both kinda. are pathetic and will cry so they can get what they want but can be secretly manipulative (obv binghe has the more "favorable" traits and is more exaggerated since he's the protagonist) and shen yuan and mobei jun are kinda like the. icy cold kundere/tsundere ahh beauty thingies. ehhh

hualian (TGCF, canon) -> sorta similar with bingqiu with the whole god and kindness thing but!! i adore the fact that they literally saw each other's whole (not whole but most of their) lives and lived through part of it together and saw all of their faults and still loved each other. it's like you fall in love with the one who saved you and they fall in love back hundreds of years later and then they find out that their lives are literally intertwined. and their dynamic is so fun too hehe

lang qianqiu/xiao mengyou (TGCF, not canon) -> ngl i really like the way their personalities and roles work together. lang qianqiu is brash and prideful but still really kind and noble and he's a prince,,,, xiao mengyou is more mellow and keeps lang qianqiu's impulsivity in ccheck and he's the servant,,, and they seem to trust each other more than anything as lang qianqiu involved xiao mengyou in where he buried the guoshi after defeating him which is really personal to him but he still chose to do it and augh!! it's all really sweet- not to mention that they probably grew up together <3

guo changcheng/chu shuzhi (ZHENHUN, not canon) -> okay i mainly ship this one because i love love love love LOVE guo changcheng and he's closest to chu shuzhi BUT their dynamic is also really cute!! pathetic loserboy who literally does things out of the kindness of his heart and nothing else despite having all of his good karma go somwehere else x cold-ish mean-ish zombie who doesn't really understand but softens with him........ tbh it's honestly similar to hualian if you stretch it. and obviously you need to understand their characters and shit. BUT OH!! theyre so cute!!

zhao yunlan/shen wei (ZHENHUN, canon) -> reincarnation. okay this is kind of similar to hualian in the sense of living live(s) together but this is different because reincarnation. basically shen wei watches zhao yunlan throughout his lives and even gets with him a few times despite his vow not to get close after zhao yunlans first life as a god(ish, i dont remember but i think that was it) saves him and makes him divine/immortal :> they dooo have a little issues with communicating (shen wei hides a lot from zhao yunlan, but since it's from his perspective, it makes a lot of twists and shit) but in the epilogue they promise to talk it all out, so that's sweet <3

sunflower (OMORI, not canon) -> okay this is sunny x basil and the main reason i ship them is because i think that from a young age their friendship was super super close and i ADORE friends to lovers- another thing is the trauma bonding. the experience they went through together is something that cannot be replicated with literally anyone else and it's really special between them, and it also showed that basil would do almost anything for sunny to be safe and that's beautiful and allat :> also they look good together and in the true/good ending, when they tell the truth (their traumatic experience) it's like. another thing. they will always be together type shi......

OKAY NOW ON TO FAVORITE CHARACTERS!!! also in no specific order!!

shen yuan -> okay i really want to study him under a microscope. like this man- he's hilarious and reads the prn for plot. literally the only man who has done so, LMAO- not to mention he's just so!! like he downplays his achievments but in actuality he does a lot for the story, for others, and just for everyone in general but he downplays it all because??? BECAUSE WHY??? idk i just like that!! he's humble and we love that!! we also love his denial!! like- idk man he's just a sweet guy who could insult you back into the stardust that you came from if he wanted to!!!! and he's funny!!! personality and his humanity (like he makes mistakes and doesn't communicate and is like, kinda flawed but that's what makes the story the story) >>> and he's cute what who said that

luo binghe -> ngl i have a teenie weensie thing for the mc's of media i ✨consume✨ so he probably caught on. he's also so so sweet and nice but he could and would defeat you in a heartbeat because of his stallion protagonist core. he's just a sweet little kid with so, so much trauma and i love that for him. his personality is really chefs kiss to me <3 he was changed by kindness and i think that means a lot. ik i talk about humanity and kindness a lot in this post but augh it means so much to me. plus he would do anything for his shizun and tbh i would too. i would also do anything for his shizun. shen yuan save me shen yuan- also +1 for orphan

lang qianqiu -> bro lang qianqiu is literally the most underrated character ever, he literally has almost 0 FANDOM i'm not even joking. try to find one lang qianqiu centric fic i fucking dare you. anyway he's really sweet too and he's a prince and noble and he has a bit of pride and a tiger and he's just so nice and he has trauma and he's great. i made a post basically rambling about him here if your curious! +1 for orphan

guo changcheng -> pathetic loserboy. pathetic kind loserboy who really does good for the sake of doing good and no other reason other than the fact that doing bad is bad and he can't idle away doing nothing. he's one of the side/main characters of zhen hun and his pov is always so fun to read. he's so so human and in the whole SID you have all these different characters representing different things and he's the only human but he also acts like it? like he makes mistakes and he embarasses himself and allat but he still does good and that's so. mmmm!!! he's also orphan core!!! +1 for orphan

sunny -> his trauma >>> probably one of the realest characters ever lmao, this is half a joke but my point still stands. none of this supernatural trauma is happening. it's all in his head. and his humanity is also so nice! i also rlly like his kinda quiet personality, i think it really suits him and it provides for so much good and juicy angst. also inherent kindness is a plus. him living in his own head is so nice to me and idk why, he just wouldnt be him without it lol. no idea where his dad is but his mom is technically still around even if his sister isn't.

xie lian -> ohh boy. his trauma is so thick it can fit two books. also his love. inherent humanity shit i already mentioned but this is basically the moral of tgcf. your kindness mattered. it did not change your life for the better (immediately), but it mattered. you trying mattered. and he's also a scrap collector!! he's not a doormat but he's polite and he does things for the sake of getting them done. his inner voice is so snarky at the most random times and it makes you laugh. he is truly one of a kind and i think reading the book makes your insight on him so much better because oh my gaush. trauma and humanity galore. +1 for orphan

feng xin -> he's so sun core but not in the normal sunny way. sun core in the way that he burns himself out to give light to others and everyone else takes it for granted. he is also just so warm and kind and he tries really hard!! he is an archer and i love that for him, archers need more love and i like the fact that he's the archer and not his rival even though one would think it makes more sense, lmao. feng xin is also such a good foil to hua cheng and a beautiful childhood friend for xie lian, and his loyalty is almost UNMATCHED. we have no idea how his upbringing was either, all we know is that he was friends with xie lian, trained a lot, and probably lived in the palace. i don't headcanon him to be an orphan, but you never know...

kel -> hoooo kel is so amazing. he's the sun- not only is he warm and bright and infectiously joyous and funny and tries to bring everyone together, but also in the way that feng xin is- burning himself up and hiding everything other than happiness so that everyone around him can be happy, even if it's just for a little bit. he's not the favorite child and he has so much going on but he hides it and tries dealing with it even when not everyone realizes it and that's so good.

zhao yunlan -> also got infected my main character disease. not to mention he's sarcastic and funny and literally THE rizzler. he's also really genuine and a smart worker, he's kind even if he doesn't show it in his usual way and does NOT run his department corruptly despite being a part of the government!! i knowww it sounds bad,,, but he's still so cool! not to mention his time as kunlun,,, that opened a whole other can of worms that i dont really feel like yapping about rn. he's not an orphan but his dad is sometimes posessed

kaveh -> where the fuck do i even begin. bro is an architect and an ARTIST, thats the main thing, but he's still smart and empathetic. his trauma is so amazing like genuinely it's so well done, i think he's super real especially for all the creators out there- his empathy and drive and guilt is what drives him to destroy himself in the end even when he needs saving and he's trying so so so so so fucking hard. he's so babygirl he's just a little guy. tf you mean he's 25+ not to mention his personality! i feel like in genshin (i dont actually play so idk) everyone's personality varies by what dub/sub your listening to. i know they translated some of his lines so he sounded more rude/snappy in english? which was a weird decision imo, but he's still so lovable so artistic so smart and so <3333 +1 for orphan

ALSO all of the character designs are amazing!! i love looking at them they are all so well done :D thank you so much for the ask!!! i cannot thank you enough for enabling me to YAP!!!

[acacia-may]

Hi Acacia! 14 and 24 for the writing game pls

Hello hello, friend! I'm always so excited to see you in my inbox, and I hope you are doing wonderfully! 😊

Thank you so much for your ask and for playing the writing excerpt ask game. I'd be happy to answer these for you and will be sure to choose excerpts from my OMORI stories since it's our shared fandom (and I'm really going to try very hard to get creative and not choose any Kelbrey excerpts for you too though there are several that fit both of these categories)! ^^

Everything is under the cut because of MAJOR OMORI spoilers! One snippet has its own set of additional warnings so please be mindful of that as well.

14. An excerpt of my writing that was out of my comfort zone

Do you mean any time I try to write romance ever? Because goodness that makes me so nervous and stressed out! I've been trying to practice a little by writing about ships I feel very passionately about and/or really, really like, but even then, it's a major struggle for me and I feel like it ends up leaning very ambiguous (i.e. it could be romantic or it could be platonic. The readers can choose their own adventure!) or blending into a background of several other plotlines going on. Sitting down to write a purely romance story is just not my thing, and I honestly don't think it's my strong suit. Therefore, for the sake of honesty, I feel compelled to give a major shoutout to "There Is Happiness" (which is about functional post-bad ending Kelbrey, sorry) because it was an entire story outside of my comfort zone but especially the dancing sequence. I still can't believe I wrote that (which I guess fits your other question too lol), but I won't subject you to an excerpt of that, friend! Instead here's some swoony HeroMari from my college, everyone lives AU one shot "Some Things Are Meant To Be":

Mari sighed. The truth was she was glad she had to stop at this point on the tour because she likely would have stopped anyway—too stunned by the swooning, swooping sensation in the pit of her stomach whenever a particular culinary arts student smiled. She had never spoken to him before—had never had the opportunity to properly introduce herself, but she supposed that might be for the best. She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d even be able to muddle her way through a coherent introduction if they did have the chance to meet. After all, on the few occasions he had met her eyes through the glass, staring at her with such gentleness that she could have sworn her heart had skipped a beat, her mind had completely emptied and she couldn’t even think of the tour script her roommate often, somewhat playfully, accused her of reciting in her sleep. Knowing herself, she’d probably forget her own name if he so much as said “hello” to her, so they’d both likely graduate before they got to share anything more than a few somewhat shy waves at each other whenever she passed by his class on her tours. Halfway through her little speech about the state of the art kitchen equipment they had available to students, Mari reached the line she both adored and dreaded which prompted the tour group to look through the window to see the future chefs of the world cooking and baking. When Mari turned to glance into the classroom herself, she somehow always managed to find him immediately in the crowd. Today was no different. Just as he was taking what appeared to be a souffle out of the oven, he happened to turn at the exact moment she did. Their eyes met. Time stopped. Mari’s heart raced. He smiled, and her heart ached. All of her thoughts disappeared, except one: Oh… He was beautiful.   That was not in her tour script.

And also, just for you, I'll include this excerpt of Hero admitting he's ready to find love again a decade after the good-ending from the final chapter of "But I Always Thought That I'd See You Again" (which is Aubrey and Hero's platonic friendship centric even though it also includes some background Kelbrey). I'm including it because it was another story out of my comfort zone, especially this particular scene (and I did a ton of research for it) and because I purposely wrote the story in such a way that the identity of Hero's love interest could be anybody you wanted who fit the ambiguous descriptors (I'm really sharing because I hope it'll resolve that "I need Hero and Zoey to realize their feelings" sentiment you mentioned in your comment on "Under the Weather" or maybe just add more Hero/Brandi to the world. It's written in such a way he could be talking about either of them or neither...choose your own adventure!)

“I think you’re a much stronger person than me, Hero. If someone deserves to be broken up about it, it’s you, and you should take as much time as you need. No one would blame you if you just…never moved on.”  Hero took a long, shaky breath then pressed his lips together. “That’s…that’s the thing, Aubrey. I…” His voice was so quiet she could barely hear him. He stared intently at his hands—twisting them together, refusing to look at her. It was almost like he couldn’t. “I had actually been thinking…”—he swallowed hard—“That is I…I actually wondered if maybe…I might be…ready…to...um...”  Aubrey tried her best to stifle a gasp. Of all the things she could’ve expected…she would have never even entertained this as a possibility. Hero had never expressed any interest in pursuing a relationship with anyone after Mari. They all respected it and never pried, just quietly resigned themselves to the fact that Hero might never love again, so to hear that he was actually, seriously considering moving on... She just couldn’t hold back the smile that tugged at her mouth as her eyes started to grow misty. “Really?” Hero blushed, and Aubrey’s breath caught in her throat. The expression on his face was so flustered but so warm, so affectionate—she never thought she’d ever see him make that face again. “Yeah…uh…I was actually…kind of thinking that I might ask someone out.” Aubrey’s jaw fell slack. Here she had been worried that Hero was listening to sad music and still pining after Mari when actually he was thinking about moving on. A flabbergasted but excited chuckle escaped her lips, and she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him—center console be damned. “Hero, that’s wonderful! I…you have no idea how excited everyone is going to be to hear that, especially Kel.” “Just…Just for coffee…” he stumbled quickly, awkwardly patting her on the back. “Nothing too big or dramatic or anything…” “This is big, Hero,” said Aubrey pulling away from him with a wide, bright smile. “You…you’ve met someone…” It wasn’t really a question.   His blush deepened. “I think it’s more like I finally saw someone who had been there for a long time.” “So it’s someone you know well?” Aubrey repeated wracking her brain trying to think of Hero’s closest friends and who this could possibly be. She supposed it was really none of her business, but she was curious. Hero nodded and hummed. “For a long time. We became close friends in college and we’re in this wedding together now so we’ve been seeing a lot of each other and…I guess I’ve just been thinking…realizing that…when I’m with her, I—I don’t know, Aubrey—I…feel things that I didn’t know I could feel anymore…” His voice trailed—quiet, distant as if he had forgotten himself, but his cheeks flushed a bright red. Aubrey’s eyes widened, but she could only blink at him in shock. Was Hero…? Was he really… in love? The question felt somewhat silly and juvenile, especially seeing as he had never even been on a date with this woman, but…Aubrey couldn’t help but wonder. There was something so incredibly gentle and sincere in his face—something so warm and wistful, almost pining in his dark eyes as he sighed with a certain love-struck helplessness that Aubrey honestly didn’t think she would ever see from him again. “Honestly,” he shyly admitted. “I…I think I’ve felt this way for a long time but…I just…wasn’t ready to see it.”

24. An excerpt of my writing that makes me go "huh...i wrote that?!"

In a good way or a bad way? 😅😂 If it's in a really good "I can't believe that I was capable of writing this" kind of way, then I think pretty much all of 2AM would fit in that category. I wrote that fic for a request, and it recounts how Hero, Kel, and Aubrey discovered and reacted to the aftermath of Sunny and Basil's fight on the night of One Day Left. It's another story that was completely out of my comfort zone because it was so heavy and dark (definitely not one I would have ever thought to write on my own), but I'm very proud of it so here's a snippet.

(Warnings for Injuries (Non-graphically depicted), Blood, Aftermath of Canon-Typical Violence (Non-graphically depicted). Fear. Emotional Hurt. Heavy and Dark Themes and Subject Matter. Heavy ANGST. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR OMORI)

“Hero, help Sunny!” He managed to catch Polly’s instructions amidst the chaos and dropped to his knees beside Sunny’s crumpled figure. With trembling fingers, he grabbed Sunny’s wrist—limp and clammy—desperately searching for a pulse. His chest ached as he found one—weak but still beating. Hero swallowed hard—watching the blood seep between his fingers as they held Sunny’s wrist. He searched for injuries. Where had Sunny been cut? His hands and arms seemed clear of wounds, so he must have used to them to try to stop the bleeding wherever he had been… Hero stopped abruptly. He finally saw it.  That gash across Sunny’s right eye. Frantically, he wracked his brain for his emergency first aid training. It was empty—useless in an actual crisis. His instructor’s words were garbled in his memories, almost as if she had been speaking underwater. Triage. Assess. Predict. Respond. And… Hero’s head whirled. He couldn’t remember and was too distracted by the sound of something clattering to the floor. Basil had finally dropped the weapon in his hands. He fell to his knees—caught by Polly and Kel. A pair of bloodied pruning sheers skid along the floor leaving streaks of red on the wood grain. Basil screamed again, but Hero’s vision blurred—blinded by the sudden burst of overhead light as Aubrey returned and flipped the switch. but she stopped, frozen in the doorway as she caught sight of Sunny on the ground. Hero blinked rapidly, but as his vision came into focus, bile burned the back of his throat. That slash across Sunny’s eye—deep and bloody in the light. Hero’s head ached. Jumbled memories playing in rapid succession. A diagram in an Anatomy and Physiology textbook. His professor holding up a model of the eye. The distant, garbled words: corneal laceration… Most serious of all eye injuries… High Risk…Permanent loss of vision… Hero’s stomach churned. As a streak of red trickled across Sunny’s cheek, he leaned forward with trembling hands, frantically searching for something to use as a compress to stop the bleeding. But he stopped himself. Hearing the warning as clear as day: Never, ever put pressure on a cut to the eye.

If it's in a "Why the hell did I write this?" kind of way literally anything from Safety Net (No, I'm not linking it. I didn't even put it on Tumblr because I have nothing to say for myself...) If it's more in a "I can't believe I wrote this, but I think it's okay(?)" kind of way, there is this incredibly mushy excerpt from my HeroMari fic "More Than Words":

Mari was his best friend, but even that title wasn’t enough for everything she meant to him. She was someone he could always rely on—someone he could talk to for hours until he completely lost track of the time. Someone he could share anything with—who he wanted to share everything with. She knew him better than anyone else—knew he wasn’t as perfect as everyone seemed to think and knew how hard he tried to be, but she still believed in him—saw something in him that he couldn’t even see in himself. She was the kindest person he had ever known and so beautiful that his soul ached whenever he looked at her. He cared for her more than he had the words in his young and inexperienced fifteen-year-old mind to express or really to even fully understand. All he knew was that he had never been happier than when she smiled at him—so bright and warm that he would have sworn the sun shined brighter. He couldn’t imagine a world without her in it, and he would give her the world in an instant if he could—would give anything to make her happy, to protect her, to care for her, and to in some small way repay her for being part of his life. But all she ever asked for was his friendship which he readily offered with as much loyalty and devotion as he could manage. Somehow even after all this time, she had never asked for his heart. Hero sometimes wondered if it was because they were still so young and she knew she had all the time in the world to ask for it. Perhaps she was waiting for the day he would be older and wouldn’t get so sheepish or tongue-tied whenever he tried to express his feelings. If Hero was being honest, he was looking forward to that day too…but he supposed it was more likely that Mari had never asked him for his heart because she knew she didn’t need to ask. It had always belonged to her. He knew Mari knew that. She had to know that. What he couldn’t say in words he practically screamed with offers to help with her chores or errands, with late night study sessions for the exams she stressed over or with hours spent cooking her favorite foods for her and carefully packing them into a basket for a picnic that, Hero was sorry to say, had just gotten rained out.

That was a lot of ramblings... Sorry about that. Thanks again for the ask. I hope you'll enjoy these snippets! Cheers! 💕

[earlgreygirlfriend]

sunnflower content BIG POST 🌻

first of all, ao3 !! i really just wanted some good, nontoxic sunflower fanfiction because both sunny & basil deserve to be happy after the shit they've gone through! also, i wanted to feel better because BASIL IS CLEARLY HEAD OVER HEELS FOR SUNNY AND HE DOESNT KNOW IT (video by nerdy arty) hdjvhdjvhdn he JUST LIKE ME FR!!

ive categorized them by AU / canoncompliant with additional tags! completed fics are marked with 🌻, long fics (5k+ words) are marked with 💡

canon compliant:

Culinary Conversations by ShardOfHope💡

A Mug of Sundrops in a Wave of Sadness by karma_kalanchoe💡

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life by smiles2m

Suddenly, Sunny by diagnosed_shitposter

Bloom Later by witheredahlia💡

Catch a Glimmer of Your Star by UdonPuddle 🌻💡

au / mari lives:

Secondhand Sequitir by Soppypup💡🌻

He's Impossible by HowardR💡

to bask in your warmth by im_clo💡🌻

Flower Language by mirror_to_the_past💡

hmestwbf by ME (yes yours truly)

next up is yt animatics because uhhh idk i really like watching homo idiots!! i have 🕹️ that indicates the video depicts some omori plot involving spoilers for the game (the accident, angst, etc) or covers the entire game happening.

OMORI MV - Eine Kleine by Bear🕹️

Try Again by eggsoupery🕹️

OMORI MV - Love Me by white_tulips_

Nonsense Speaker by Nerdy Arty🕹️

in defense of sunflower: (major omori spoilers here cw!!)

why are people antagonizing them this badly? seriously i don't get it. they were children when the accident happened and gameplay shows that both of them got shittons of trauma

"what the hell were you guys thinking when you decided to ship two mentally unstable teenagers that participated in the same manslaughter??"

it was an accident. looking at the incident, i firmly believe it was very seriously fucked up, and they weren't in the right state of mind when it happened. consider the situation, the person you love most in the world is gone forever. in this situation, sunny completely closes in on himself and creates headspace. basil on the other hand sees sunny (his childhood best friend and the one he describes as 'perfect' and puts on a pedestal) completely having a mental breakdown. basil panics, not knowing what to do, because both of the people he idolize are gone - mari is dead, a part of sunny died with her. obviously he has a mental breakdown figuring out what to do, too?

obviously we should also consider basil's mental state at this point - pure speculation here, but basil, due to his feminine gender expression, would have been a victim of bullying, and the gang would have been his first friends. and basil photographs things he cherishes. that would mean he sees himself losing his friends when mari dies because sunny is most likely gonna be legally convicted of manslaughter right? in his disoriented, panicked mind, he wanted to protect sunny, the friend he most likely did have feelings for but was unable to admit them due to already being bullied, (that's just my hc dw) and did something that is super fucked up — he did more harm than good, but i believe he was just trying to fix everything back the way it was. we're absolutely going to talk about why Basil knows how to tie a noose, which adds to my point — basil might already have been mentally unwell (no doubt taking more shit from life than one is supposed to) BEFORE he met his friends, and he was desperately trying to salvage what little happiness he had left.

i cannot deny that sunnflower has full potential of being a very unhealthy and toxic relationship, but i might add that the true + secret ending has both Somethings disappear, implying that both of them are capable of healing. thats why i ship them manyyearsafter-canon or AU, bc therapy can fix shit ive seen it myself

ill end this little rant by a comment from j0kerclash on reddit:

Pairing them together is the implication that they are able to completely heal from their trauma, the actual dynamics of their relationship isn't toxic, it was the circumstances of their interactions combined with the context of the event itself. Sunny and Basil aren't permanently fucked up, I'd say it's quite harmful to imply that people are forever broken and can never truly recover. Considering the choices in the game are about confronting, accepting, and moving on from guilt and trauma, the best scenario for both Sunny and Basil, is if they were truly able to let go and not become triggers for each other, which is illustrated by them being unaffected by the potential toxicity of their past.

sorry for the rant! here are some links also defending the ship

if you enjoyed, i also have another sunflower headcannon post

from diagnosed_shitposter

idfk how to link the original text im sorry

this

[thequietkid-moonie]

Meeting someone on the rooftop of the hospital

[ ONE SHOT ] [ Sunny ] [ Omori ]

⚠️ This contain mayor spoilers from Omori

⚠️ Mention of suicide attempt

It's totally not me thinking about unalive myself 😶

I think that all the endings of the game are pretty interesting and really acurate for what happen!! The creator really made a good job!!

I really got reflexive, maybe this is a little vent but don't matter, I hope you enjoy it! 😙

No matter how much time it pass the guilt Sunny feel doesn't go away, in fact it had just become more dificult to bear, he had get enough and just let himself fall into de despair

Climbing the stairs towards the rooftop without thinking in anything else aside from putting an end to all of this, is the only thing he wants right now, he just can't continue fighting

His body was practically moving alone when he reach the top of the stairs and open the door of the rooftop, but he was stoped by something he never expected to see, there were someone else, someone dressed in a hospital gown similar to his, someone who was on the edge but just looking at the view

He was really shocked, Sunny had been trapped in his own world for so long that he had just forgot about the rest of the world, he never expected, or even thought that he could meet someone in a similar situation (aside from Basil)

When you had noticed him you just had greet him with a smile, inviting over to look at the view of the city with you, he isn't unfamiliar to kindness but he never expected to be accepted in this state, and again, without thinking much, his body slowly approaches to you. You two spend a while just watching to nothing in particular without saying anything, not a single word, Sunny can't help but wonder what you were doing there (even when thinks he knows the answer)

When you ask him if he was planning to do it too he was taken aback, you seem in peace righ now so why will you want to jump? and how do you know that he was planning on doing it? he isn't the type to express his problems and still you had read him like an open book

This was one of the only times his facial expression showed how surprised he was, and you were quickly to reasure him, although not knowing exactly what to say, maybe you say that you just suspected that that was the reason that bring him here or you reveal that that was your reason for being there

Sunny was so taken aback that he didn't know what else to do or say, so he just stay there by your side while you talk. You start saying that life isn't easy, that you feel like it would be better if you weren't there, just put an end to everything probably would be better, but for some reason you always find a reason to not do it, maybe you were just too coward or maybe there were really reasons to continue fighting

Why is a question you don't manage to answer yet, and you want to make sure you won't regret it on the middle of the way, when it were too late. Maybe that were the reason you were there, being so close to what you want but still with the option to decline it gives you peace

Everyone says that things will get better but is really getting better? how will you know if things are getting better? If you ask him he won't be able to answer to that either, he doesn't even had pay attention to rest of the world, but what you said make him remember how Mary had teach him to calm down and focus when he started to be afraid and how she used to tell him that everything will be fine, maybe things don't get better but for some reason that always comforted him

Unlike at what it was expected Sunny was paying a lot of attention, but what you were saying was something he had really never considered, again it was because he was trapped in his own world

None of you really noticed how much attention he was paying to you, but when you do you were quickly to apologize for venting to him, you were sorry for bothering him but is just that the moment felt perfect to share this, and you admitted that you didn't remember when was the last time you had the opportunity to talk to someone with such sincerity, heck you don't remember if there was even an oportunity to do so

You were right, when it was the last time he had talk about this?, the only people he dare to talk with about this kind stuff was his sister Mary, but he killed her, and his best friend Basil, but he turned away from him when he insolate himself, not even to himself since he had been trying to avoid all of those feelings, the guilt was starting to get unbearable but when was the last time he tried to face it or talk about it?

You two spend some time just watching the view from the rooftop, mostly in silence, you just say some coments from time to time, but that was enough to make him wonder if the things were really like he think of them, he had been all this time fearing that his friends will blame him and hate him for Mary's death, but if a stranger that doesn't even know his name accept him at his lowest maybe things won't go as bad as he thinks

At some point you two say goodbye and wish luck in your lifes for both before going back inside of the hospital, and even when you had go away your words get stuck on Sunny's mind, he had just realice that he isn't alone, in this world are people that understand how he feels even when the situation isn't the same or even when you don't express it directly

Maybe this wasn't the moment to jump, maybe this wasn't even a good option, Sunny doesn't have the answer to everything and he still fears the future and what will bring him, but right now he think that maybe it won't be that bad to give a try and continue fighting

He knows that the chances are minimal but he can't help but wonder if he will be able to see you again, he should thank you for give him motivation to continue at least one more day

[the-rocket-scientist]

Mandela Catalogue Symbolism

Okay. I was thinking about this for a while but I finally announce it. Heavily inspired by the game Omori, but there will be no spoilers.

Heavy topics are mentioned below, so read with caution.

So the world of Mandela Catalogue have a lot of relation with the Bible and Christianity, regardless of the viewer's beliefs. But what if it was more than just shapeshifting demons from Satan that was sent to Earth to torment humans?

We don't have to look far to see that these demons could be considered just a part of our mind.

Okay, let me use an example. Let's just say Mark Heathcliff was suffering from a trauma. Their subconscious that usually tells the person to kill themselves talk to Mark yet again. Since Mark's subconscious is technically himself, the subconscious takes in the form of the person related to his guilt and his source of trauma. Let's say that's Cesar Torres. Mark's subconscious, who is in the form of Cesar, tells Mark to kill himself because of the things he has done. All the things he is guilty for. Mark, unable to hold on and handle the trauma any longer, after trying to fight back against his subconscious, kills himself.

You see what I'm saying?

The SYMBOLISM I interpreted here, derived from this example:

Humans - humans

Alternates - human's subconscious that takes in the form of their source of guilt, the voice that tells the humans to kill themselves, the voice that reminds humans of the guilt and trauma they have

M.A.D. - the past, the truth, what the humans have done for their guilt and trauma to occur in the first place, self hatred

This is just my interpretation on the Mandela Catalogue world. If you'd like to share more of your interpretations feel free to! I like to see what other people think of this :D

[ddarker-dreams]

yooo lock from one gamer to another, any recs for the steam summer sale? i've got most horror jrpgs down like misao, ib, and witch's house

ANON FORGIVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE i was thinking about this ask for a few days and. ahem. in that time, the steam summer sale ended. 😦 just keep this in mind for the next sale perhaps?? alas. here are some of my favorite games on steam .

disco elysium

one of my favorite games of all time. i replayed it recently and have a newfound appreciation for every element of it. the extensive worldbuilding can be overwhelming at first, but i personally enjoyed how fleshed out the world is. the writing is sublime and i've never experienced anything like it across any medium. also it's the only game to have kim kitsuragi so that automatically makes it a 10/10

divinity original sin 2

this game is another favorite of mine. there were multiple times when i was playing it where i went 'huh, i wonder if i can do so and so' and i could. i killed a giant ogre with like 10k HP by sneaking an invisible character into its vicinity and teleporting it into lava. before leaving an area i killed a character who i bought tons of equipment from and got all my money back. it's just a really entertaining game. you can also play it with friends so that's fun. the game can be as dynamic as you want it to be. i like spending hours researching the most optimal builds but you don't have to be a nerd to make it through the content. or you can be like me and spend thirty minutes setting up explosives and perfectly placing each party member before every combat encounter because i've never felt the touch of a woman

hades

fast paced, fluid combat, greek mythology, killer soundtrack, pretty graphics, and bisexuality. what more can i say. i got such an adrenaline rush after beating the final boss that i almost collapsed onto the ground and rolled around like a pill bug. very very fun and addicting

hyper light drifter

HNGNNGN PRTTY and the soundtrack also slaps here too. the color palette is so gorgeous. once you get into the rhythm of the combat you feel like a god among men. zooming all over the place. nyooooooom.

omori

this game took my heart, ripped it out of my chest, stomped on it, slapped it back into place, then closed my open ribcage with a hello kitty bandaid. i cannot praise it enough. it's charming, the psychological horror is one of a kind; it's a game that seeps under your skin and stays there. if you haven't played it yet and you're comfortable with the dark themes it explores i'd recommend it 100%. go on without any spoilers.

pillars of eternity

i uh. i like CRPGs. pillars of eternity has a special place in my heart because it went onto influence how i do worldbuilding. the game has one of my favorite stories from a CRPG, it's overflowing with creativity that's explored to the fullest. it's also made by the folks who created fallout new vegas so that's a bonus. the combat isn't my absolute favorite when compared to something like divinity original sin 2, but i still found it enjoyable overall. interacting with the characters and the fleshed out world was what i had the most fun with.

planescape torment

this game's combat is scuffed but the story is one of the best across any medium. play on easy i'm not joking the combat does not matter. but the world, the characters, the factions, how it dabbles into philosophy, the story that leaves you with more questions than answers as you progress,, it's just so good. when it's on sale it's ridiculously cheap and so worth the price of admission. there's lots of reading but if you're into the type of stuff you'll love this game. also there's a floating talking skull

va-11 hall-a: cyberpunk bartender action

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVS THE VIBES ARE IMMACULATE THE WRITING IS IMMACULATE THE ART IS IMMACULATE THE SOUNDTRACK WOULD MAKE BEEHTOVEN JEALOUS and there's also bisexuality here too. this game is an example of the writing i wanted to aspire towards after i played it for the first time. it influenced me heavily.

[somekindofsentience]

reframing Omori, or are the endings really black and white?

MAJOR OMORI SPOILERS FOR EVERY SINGLE ENDING PLEASE PLAY THIS GAME I SWEAR ITS SUPER GOOD PLAY ALL THE ENDINGS (OR AT LEAST KNOW ABOUT THEM IF YOU'RE TOO SCARED TO PLAY THE NEUTRAL ENDING BECAUSE GOD KNOWS I WAS TOO)

TW: SUICIDE, GRIEF, LOSS, DEPRESSION, MENTAL ILLNESS, GAME-TYPICAL CONTENT

THIS IS ALSO REALLY LONG BECAUSE I'M INSANE. SORRY.

Right. This will be a big write-up of multiple interpretations of the different Omori endings. I feel like the game is quite black-and-white with how the endings should be interpreted, the achievements literally state what is good and bad for the player (and "other", which is also referred to as the neutral ending). But I don't think things are as good or as bad or as neutral as they seem.

Let's be explicit here - you're meant to get the good ending. The game does everything it can to ensure you get the good ending - even scrapping a daytime Hellmari jumpscare to ensure the player would keep opening the door for Kel. You're meant to save Basil. You're meant to defeat Omori. You're meant to uncover the Truth. You're meant to sit there and cry when Sunny and Mari play that Final Duet. And also, we like a story where there's the possibility for a happier ending! Don't you want these little babies you've follow around for 20 or 80 hours to get some closure and peace?

For these reasons, the good ending is usually considered canon, and I personally think the secret ending is also canon. I'll also be considering both canon for the sake of this post, although that isn't really relevant, since I'm going through all endings.

With this in mind, let's consider each ending.

THE "GOOD" AND SECRET ENDING.

This one is by far the easiest to flip the switch on. Since it's left ambiguous as to whether or not Sunny is forgiven by his friends, it could easily lead to a far worse ending where Hero throws Sunny down the stairs, or he is never forgiven, or other horrible events occur. Arguably, the point of the game is Sunny's personal acceptance, so whether or not his friends forgive him is so irrelevant that it's up for player speculation.

But that's all so simple, and all personal interpretation. I think considering the actual canon is far more interesting, particularly how it may affect Basil.

You could consider the secret ending to be an objective "good" ending - Sunny and Basil are smiling, and the Somethings fade away. But take a look where each Something goes.

Sunny's fades away entirely behind him, because his character arc surrounds finding and accepting the truth, and this means admitting to his friends what he has done. In this way, he also somewhat frees Basil from needing to obsessively hide the truth from the others, which is part of Basil's character arc, and quite crucial for the specific event that traumatised them both. This is healing specifically from Mari's death and the coverup.

But Basil's Something seems to... hide itself. It doesn't fade. It is still there.

Furthermore, the credits. Despite everything, Sunny does move from Faraway, the credits of a car rolling by definitely suggest this. I also don't think this fight would deter Sunny's Mom from wanting to start a new life - in fact, she'd probably want to do so more.

Basil's abandonment issues are unanswered.

I believe these issues have occurred for longer than the day of the recital - Basil takes photos of things he is "afraid to lose", we know Basil's parents are absent - and therefore they are a separate problem Basil needs to heal from. (omocat make an Omori 2 about basil pls it would be so good i swear i swear)

Basil means a lot to Sunny. We can see this in the numerous Basil-related things that appear in Headspace - all the little flower facts, the photo album's integrity to the group, Headspace's insistence they are best friends - and we juxtapose this to Basil's absolute state of panic over potential further abandonment, which is heartbreaking to witness, ending with his psychotic meltdown, furiously begging Sunny to stop leaving him. The abandonment of Basil had a massive affect on Sunny's mindscape, where his friend is constantly missing and tormented in Black Space, a forever reminder of the truth and the world he shut away. And from the way their Follow-Up Moves work, a hurt Basil is also hurt Sunny.

This comes to my final point - the Good ending is not objectively "Good" because of the implications it has for Basil, who has the ability to influence Sunny. Basil is missing a massive part of his healing, which is often why he is mischaracterised by the fandom as an insane yandere. Sure, the ending has the potential for future healing, but this ending also has the potential for further mental decline, and even points to the latter.

The ending is better than the others, yes. But it is far from a "good" ending.

Whether or not Sunny is aware of all this is up to you, which could be altered by whether or not you believe the two share dreams.

THE "BAD" ENDING.

Obviously the bad ending is bad. I am absolutely not encouraging the events of that ending, and I genuinely thought it was the worst possible ending - you did all that work to seek the truth and mend friendships and it leads to... that? - up until I watched this one amazing animation by _ysther. Please watch it for context.

Rolling Girl is about suicide, or severe mental illness, at least. Many people believe that the 'rolling' within the song is a metaphor for self-harm, but you may also consider that it is a metaphor for some half-baked existence - this feeling of being barely alive, surviving off the next hit of a potential future.

This animation frames the ending in a slightly different way, at least in my interpretation - that Sunny is exhaustedly trudging through Headspace, trying to see if there is something there for him, and there isn't. Omori and Sunny's hug at the end of the animation is notable - Sunny is in his hospital gown, and the headspace background fades through the air... this is implicit of the Bad Ending. This animation ends with the bad ending, and in the context of the song, Omori accepts Sunny's exhaustion, and sets him free.

Ultimately, the Truth is overwhelming. That's why Sunny repressed it for four years - it is so horrific that he cannot function in daily life without dissociation, and even with it, he's still a barely functional shut-in. He creates Omori and White/Black/Red Space, and daydreams to cope with his loneliness. At the end of the game, he faces Omori, who convinces him that death is the only option left in a seemingly sadistic way.

But Omori's purpose - just as any mind with suicidal intentions - is not to kill Sunny. His purpose is not only to repress the Truth, but to protect and support him. This is shown in Omori's final hug. When things get overwhelming, Omori convinces Sunny into suicide for their own freedom from suffering. It is a selfish act, which is why Omori spends time deeming Sunny worthy of committing it, but it is also a freeing act.

Furthermore, we know Headspace repeats over, and this repetitive cycle is innate to Sunny's (and many other people's) trauma. Repress, uncover, repress, uncover. Sunny's final fight with Omori was probably not the first, and if Sunny had survived the bad ending, it probably wouldn't have been the last. Omori is the absolute last line of defense, protecting Sunny and his friends from the Truth. This suggests that Sunny wasn't ready for healing, which lead to the bad ending.

The "bad" ending isn't explicitly bad - it is some twisted form of freedom. By killing him, Omori is freeing Sunny from the guilt and pain that has been destroying him for years. This suicide is the ultimate form of self-protection, Omori's final love note to Sunny.

But it is also a symbol of immaturity, though not necessarily a negative one. The bad ending is the implication that Headspace should have repeated, and the Truth needed further repression before Sunny could accept it. Sunny fell into Omori's trap because he simply wasn't ready, and this led to his death.

People always consider this ending in the context of what is best for the group and everyone outside of Sunny's mind, but they don't consider that, to himself and Omori, Sunny is a selfish person who is worthy of one final selfish act for peace.

THE "NEUTRAL" ENDINGS.

While the other segments were focused on greying out the black and white, demonstrating the more subtle implications of the endings, this will be proving that the word "neutral" should never be associated with these endings ever again.

Please note that I am only talking about the neutral endings that occur when you choose not to save Basil on the final night - we will discuss the implications of the Hikikomori route and its endings later.

The neutral endings are, hands down, the worst possible route you can take during the game. One of them is the only ending where three people explicitly die during the game. If you won't take this from a Basil lover, I'm going to prove objectively that this is the worst route for all members of the group, including Sunny.

Firstly, we have to talk about the dialogue that Aubrey, Kel and Hero say when Basil commit suicide.

Aubrey thinks it is her fault, for everything she did to Basil. Aubrey will forever blame herself for Basil's suicide, and this quote implies that. Looking at her expression, she's completely despondent. She isn't crying, she is feeling horrific guilt - not unlike the guilt Sunny feels for the truth. She might even slip into his habits of isolation and repression, or perhaps lash out further to cope.

Kel, on the other hand, is crying - which is incredibly notable for him, because his whole thing is ignorance and smiles - but he isn't blaming himself or the group or even Aubrey, but comparing this death to Mari's. Kel is such a complex character that I have difficulty analysing this particular line, but I personally think Kel is holding some of that childlike confusion, something similar to when he interacted with the depressed Hero. Why does this keep happening? Kel holds his own cycle of ignorance, and here it's broken. Perhaps he's questioning his own ability to "be happy" just as much as he is questioning the deaths.

idk. i'd love to here people's takes on this.

Hero's use of the second font is particularly notable. This font is associated with truth, and in particular, distortion. The most notable characters who use this distorted font are Basil during a breakdown and Omori - both characters associated with severe trauma and repression, trying to hide something. To me, this suggests that Hero is next.

Hero feels like he is the caretaker of the group - and he's failed, again. He thinks he hasn't been doing enough to protect everyone. He may experience another depressive episode, or that same repression followed by obsessively behaviour, trying to keep everyone alive safe. Whatever it may be, Hero is completely broken, as is the rest of the group. This is the end of any remaining functionality that they worked so hard to build up.

After this, viewing Basil's body leads to his door disappearing, as Sunny slips further into his repression. Something is yet again behind Sunny in the mirror, reminding him of the Truth.

I want to now draw your attention to something stated by the disembodied voice in the Map of Truth.

'They' is referring to both Basil and Mari, and at this point, Basil and Mari are dead. Sunny is the only person still alive who knows the Truth.

There is no way he can live with this, which is why the Knife Ending is readily accessible - but only if you explicitly seek it out. Within the knife ending, a dial-up rings forever for a call that will never be answered, as Sunny bleeds out on his bed. Sunny's Mom has lost both her children, and Kel, Aubrey and Hero have lost three of their friends, close enough to be family. This is in no way a "neutral" ending, this is the worst case scenario.

But even the Abandon Ending is unbearable. Sunny is the only one left who knows the truth of Mari's death. Implicitly, he has also killed Basil by the player's choice not to save him - which you could take as suggesting he somehow knew Basil was going to die.

The game shows to us that complete repression of the Truth is not possible. Even in the Hikikomori route, cracks of the Truth show in abstract ways - including Black Space 2 and the simulated Mari fight are good examples, as well as the horrific repeated jumpscares prevalent on the night in the real world before moving day. Even if Sunny moves away from the two ghosts he left behind, he will never be able to repress the Truth forever.

These endings are in no way neutral, and I think that's obvious to everyone. These are the worst endings you can receive, even the biggest Basil hater couldn't stomach all of this. I think.

THE HIKKIOMORI ROUTE.

If the good ending has elements of bad, and the bad ending has elements of good, and the neutral endings...

Well. Then the Hikikomori route is the perfect combination of both good and bad. It captures perfect game mechanics, and the peak of repression, but in some ways, it is the worst route you could consider taking.

On one hand, it's the perfect route for die-hard players. Peak exploration, unique information, the chance to level up and buff your characters, free access to the photo album, boss rush, and so much more. I personally love it, and I carefully plan out every aspect of what I'll do on that One Day Left. For Sunny, it is also a symbol that Omori has achieved his goal of "repression", or the façade of it, and will now sleep forever in peace. Dreamworld Basil is no longer a threat to Omori's perfect world (of which the meeting of the two literally felt like a wedding) and defeating the three Somethings achieves repression. Everything is okay, in Sunny's head.

On the other hand... it's the guiltiest route. The player is making an active decision to reject Kel and reality, which makes you feel guilty. It is incredibly difficult to take this route by pure accident, unless you were paralysed by the Hellmari jumpscare the night before. Unlike the other endings, Sunny never sees the truth in this route, only distorted fragments in Black Space and Black Space 2. Sunny never experiences the Something boss fight, but does still experience a Stranger fight, Headspace's final prayer to accept the truth, before Omori takes over forever.

And I don't know about you. But watching that piano fade away in the Lost Library... I felt shameful. It makes you want to apologise for the world you left behind.

It's quite easy to forget all this in the blur of Headspace, but Basil and Mari at the picnic blanket are a constant reminder. The blanket represents safety and protection, both for the party, but also the two left behind in it. Perhaps the fact he is present in the picnic blanket specifically suggests that Sunny is somewhat aware that Basil has committed suicide.

This route's endings are no more notable than the neutral endings, except Basil doesn't explicitly die in them, but it can be inferred he does from the results of the neutral endings. But the fact that we cannot confirm this just brings back that regret - Sunny has abandoned Basil and his old friends forever, for unrealistic Headspace reflections that Sunny made up. As I stated before, there is no way the Truth can be repressed forever, but it's pure speculation as to what happens after you abandon the group on the Hikikomori route.

thanks for reading, lol. i don't know how to conclusion. let me know your thoughts! this almost felt like stating the obvious half the time but i dunno, it felt cathartic to write.

i may write something about my journey with omori and i may not. this is a place for me to, idk, ruminate on things. i hope i don't become obsessed.