#omori daddy longlegs

[penta-png]

every single au character i've made ... fairly rushed so it kinda looks like ass but thats ok

[lilac-gold]

I find it so interesting that Sunny's parents are nowhere to be found in Headspace. The only glimpse of them is the photo in Sweetheart's Castle after it's given to Omori by the Keeper, but Mari's a pretty large character in Headspace and it's her who Sunny killed. Logically, she would be the face he tried to forget about most- or go the other way and remember everything admirable about her as a result of his guilt, which he does. Sunny glorifies her in his memories, denying her death and his guilt, but he blocks out any recollections of his mom and dad. Maybe it them seemingly splitting after Mari's death, Sunny's family falling apart even more, multiplied his guilt but it began to manifest itself in the only was he knew how to. He forgot the bad, and refuses to think about his parents in his dream world.

What I find equally intriguing is that it's Hero and Mari who take up the roles instead. Mari offers Omori & co. a place to rest and recover, somewhere to eat food, get better and ask for advice. She acts in a parental manner to the younger kids, and while this could just be her older sibling instinct showing, she does seem to fit into the role of Omori, Aubrey, Basil and Kel's mother. Likewise, Hero offers warm meals and looks after them, healing them and getting them out of sticky situations. He's protective and mature, older than the rest of them and taking them on as his responsibility.

Also, he makes dad jokes and acts like an old grandpa sometimes. The foe facts journal adds so much more fun traits to the HS gang that we otherwise don't get to see

Idk if this has been theorised before, but it's also possible that Sunny's father appears in HS through Daddy Longlegs. The hat/ hat rack and 'daddy' part would indicate so, and it's interesting that a shadowy, faceless, tall figure holding a light and wearing a hat helps Omori get closer to Black Space & the truth. If Sunny hasn't seen him in years and is potentially mad at him about the divorce, he might have blocked out his father's face, only recalling someone guiding and tall with a hat on their head lol. DLL looks like a shadow- like a hole that needs to be filled, a missing space. Like how Sunny's dad is missing from his home

I'll probably have more thoughts on this tomorrow, but for now, I need to get some rest! I hope you enjoyed reading this far- thank you for taking the time to do so! I always love hearing people's thoughts on my little analyses if you wish to share them <3

[picnicbask3t]

art/wip dump!

cw: poorly shaded gore, body horror, omori spoilers

some of these may be reposted later becuz,, they’re part of a series of drawings

(( laurence belongs to @one0p1nk , phineas and carina belong to @klai-16xoxo ))

[writings-the-systems]

Next is a analysis only post of a likely system of

Sunny from omori

First analysis

Sunny is a character from omori that many actually speculate to be a system given the game takes place a lot in his dreams with a prominence of a separate entity called Omori who is protecting him from the truth of some trauma while another entity named Stranger tries to lead him to the truth

Let’s go over everything we know and which dream world entities I believe are probably actual alters and which are just things he came up with

Also huge spoiler warning ahead given I will be talking about key details slightly

First of all let’s go over Sunny given he’s the simplest one and the only one confirmed to fully actually exist and have his own ideas and stuff

He rather forget his trauma and does the role of a host and seems to always be fronting other then in his dreams when Omori takes front

I’m going to move on to omori given there’s not much to say about Sunny without talking about everyone

Omori is a younger Sunny in a way that knows the truth and the emotions tied to it

Depending on the route you take Omori is a little different so let’s go over both versions

In both routes Omori is the main character in the dream world and travels alongside younger versions of the system’s friends which I would say were fictives but I just don’t believe so given they seem to have a emphasis on being replaceable which alters can’t just be gone like that

Now I’m going to go over the changes between routes

In the Sunny route eventually Sunny learns of the truth and fights Omori while Omori acts as a persecutor just saying all Sunny’s bad thoughts like how everyone would hate him and some darker things which I’ll not be going over here

Meanwhile in the Hikomori route Omori seems to become host at the end because everything becomes too hard for Sunny and he asks Omori for help

This is why some may speculate these guys are a system

Now that we got the basics down let’s go over some dream world people that I believe could actually be alters

First off Stranger given we need to go over him

Stranger I believe if Sunny is a system is a alter for a multitude of reasons

First off Stranger seems to have a thought process of his own and have control of himself given he’s doing things that Sunny and Omori wouldn’t want to happen (lead to the truth)

Stranger would also have every reason to exist as a alter of he’s directly tied to the trauma of Mari’s death

Like Omori Stranger is different between the routes and in the Hikomori route he genuinely seems upset and hurt that Sunny doesn’t even want to look for the truth

Now that we’ve analyzed I’m going to go over how I believe Stranger works in the system

He’s a Factive of Basil of course but he also is a trauma holder and a alter who is formed to help with accepting a truth

Next I’m going to just go over a few other things that I believe could be alters in some way? But they don’t have big ties to anything

Capt Spaceboy given that seems to be a comfort media of sorts so I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy is a fictive

Sweetheart could also be a alter who’s formed to help with self love and just the feeling like no one would love the system if they knew the truth

Mewo in white space could be some form of animal alter soother or observer

Daddy Longlegs completely because he knows the truth despite how the Dreamer(Sunny) doesn’t which doesn’t sound possible unless he’s a separate entity

Something could be a fictive of a delusion

Now just a few I don’t think are factives and stuff

Mari I don’t think is possible and I think the Ghost Mari thing was probably more of a paranormal thing in some form at least in my opinion

The main group as priorly mentioned in blackspace are shown to be replaceable at any time

Basil is also shown to be replaceable

But in all honesty everything in the dream world could be argued as alters

That’s all given I’m not going to exactly explain their trauma and things or counter points I’m more here to talk about the things I’ve noticed as a system that could lead towards the theory

Feel free to leave your theories in the comments :D

Here’s the ending photo

[humornaut]

Analysis of Pyrefly Forest; Part 2 of Who Listens to Sunny?

Hey all! I've recently become pretty obsessed with focusing in on specific parts of Headspace to figure out what they represent, and as part of that, I really want to go over one of my favorite short and sweet segments of the game, Pyrefly Forest. I want to note that this post will almost read as a follow-up to my first post about Black Space, though I will cover the relevant parts of that analysis here, so don't feel pressured to go back and read that. I should also note that this analysis is going to dive fairly deep into personal interpretation at parts, and you may disagree with some of the conclusions I come to, which is very fair, because honestly, this analysis has me feeling a little delusional at times, but heck, it's all in good fun anyway when it comes to analyzing a game I love! Omori Spoilers Ahead!

Connection to Black Space

The first thing I want to get out of the way before really diving into the actual interpretation of the forest itself is it's connection to Black Space, and specifically the Spider Area. If you haven't read my previous analysis on this topic, the thing that is important to note from it is that the memory that Headspace Basil gets back in this area of Black Space is the memory of Sunny talking to him about his fears in regards to the Lake Incident, in which he almost drowned after a spider landed on his shoulder causing him to fall. Real world dialogue and scenes imply that Sunny didn't talk about these fears with the rest of his friends, as Hero doesn't realize that a spider is the reason that Sunny fell in the first place when the topic comes up, and neither Aubrey or Kel ever acknowledge Sunny's fears with regards to drowning or spiders in the relevant scenes.

Pyrefly Forest is home to one of the very few new picnic conversations that you can access upon completing the Hikikomori route. In it, Kel has Basil try and talk some sense into Hero with regards to Hero's fear of spiders, though it doesn't really work. What is relevant about this picnic conversation, though, is that the dialogue that Basil uses when talking about Hero's fear of spiders here is identical to what he says in the Spider Area (unique parts about Sunny's Lake Incident not withstanding).

In the picnic conversation:

Vs in Black Space:

Summary of Pyrefly Forest

As far as gameplay is concerned, Pyrefly Forest serves as the transitionary segment between the playground hub area of Headspace and the Sweetheart portion of the game. It highlights not just Sunny's own conquered fear of spiders, but Hero's unconquered fear of spiders as well.

Ignoring the side content, the main thing that you are doing here is completing the minecart track so you can ride that through the forest to get to Sweetheart's castle.

Pyrefly Forest's Real World Inspirations

Pyrefly Forest as a whole, as noted by the wiki, appears to be inspired by the day that the group went beetle catching in the photo album. One of the photos added to the album after the completion of the Hikikomori route even references this by copying one of the real photos, replacing the beetle Mari found with a spider. It's also interesting to note that this is the only new photo in the album post-Hikikomori route that is a copy of a photo from the real world album, rather than a completely new and unique image.

I think it is interesting to note that Sunny appears to associate this memory with spiders specifically, rather than beetles. In fact, beetles don't appear at all within Headspace. You can even see in the photo album pictures that where in the real world, the focus was on Mari taking care of a beetle that surprised the group, Headspace puts the focus on Basil taking care of a spider that surprised the group, showing that Sunny may have relied on Basil to help him with his fears, especially when it comes to spiders.

One of the photo album images for this day has Basil noting that Sunny looks "sleepy" in the background of an image of Kel.

I really wish I could see a clearer or more high definition version of this image, but to me, Sunny appears to be holding himself or a tree while staring up at something on another tree. All things considered, Basil may be misinterpreting Sunny being afraid of a spider as him being sleepy. This may have even led to Sunny opening up to Basil about his fear of spiders overall. We know that in the current day, Basil is able to tell that Sunny is scared during the bathroom scene, despite Sunny not really emoting fear when you look into the mirror during that scene.

In addition, both picnics in Pyrefly Forest have tofu as their healing item, which as I've noted before, is a food associated with Basil. Obviously, within Headspace, the food is associated with the Sprout Moles, but I do think that it is interesting that tofu is used for these picnics, rather than in the Sprout Mole village picnic, or even somewhere within Sweetheart's Castle.

The Sidequests of Pyrefly Forest

There are three sidequests that the player has access to within Pyrefly Forest, and I think that all 3 are worth mentioning for different reasons, so I'd like to go through them separately.

Fascinating Literature

This sidequest is initiated by speaking to Demi at a bookshelf in one of the side areas that you need to go to get a rail segment.

This sidequest of the three is the most up-front with it's interpretation. Basil and Sunny had a relationship in which, at the very least, Basil would recommend books for Sunny to read, while Sunny would read them. Demi even has a passing resemblance to Sunny, so I think it is pretty clear that this sidequest is referencing that aspect of Basil and Sunny's relationship.

A Good Listener

Right off the bat, we can tell that this quest is also related to Sunny and Basil, as it's title is directly lifted from how Basil describes Sunny in the photo album. It involves finding Candlie's missing teddy bear and returning it to her. The missing Teddy is found in the Fanmail Graveyard section of Sweetheart's Castle, and is acquired after a fight with it as a Rare Bear enemy.

It is easy to see the teddy bear as representative of Sunny, while Candlie represents Basil in this quest, considering the quest being about the teddy bear being a good listener to Candlie, but I think you could very well make a very different interpretation of this quest with everything else going on in this segment of the game.

The first thing to make note of here is that Sunny is the one associated with owning plushies, not Basil. In Sunny's backyard, in fact, he even owns a teddy bear that has been abandoned to the elements.

Keeping in mind the references to Sunny talking to Basil about his fear of spiders, this side quest could actually be representative of how Sunny would come to view Basil as a confidant as well. This is definitely delving into some deep personal interpretation/headcanony territory, but this could even represent how Sunny would deal with his own worries prior to when he began opening up to Basil, by venting it out to his stuffed animals, but the Lake Incident and the trauma associated with it was too much for that kind of thing to work, leading Sunny to open up about it to Basil. The fact that Teddy attacks you during this sidequest certainly could imply that Sunny doesn't exactly have a positive opinion of it. The fact that Teddy was lost could also reference the fact that Basil is lost within Headspace and you are trying to find him.

On the other hand, we could buy into the more obvious interpretation of Candlie representing Basil and Teddy representing Sunny here. The Teddy attacking you could just represent how Sunny does not have a positive opinion of himself or his actions. The fact that Candlie is a candle is also fairly specific for Pyrefly Forest, as lighting candles is what allows the player to avoid groups of spiders, possibly referencing how Basil would take care of and relocate spiders that Sunny was afraid of.

You also get a little cutscene of Candlie hugging Teddy when you bring him back. This is interesting, because it's one of the few times we actually see a hug represented through the sprites in the overworld (also seen with Omori & Mari, Hero & Mari, and Basil & Sunny), and it's applied to such a small little sidequest.

You also get a rubber duck that doesn't like you as a reward. I'm not sure what that's supposed to represent.

Weeping Willow

So this quest is the one where you have to fill out a jokebook and have Hero tell jokes to the titular Weeping Willow to cheer her up (the jokes are too embarrassing for anyone else to say). When you finally can get her to laugh using the construction joke, she bestows upon you the "LOL Sword", which is a weapon that can be used by Hero and allows him to start the battle happy.

The LOL Sword is a very unique weapon for Hero. All of his other weapons take the form of kitchen tools, while this one is an actual weapon. In addition, the way that this weapon works allows Hero to start the battle Happy, even against enemies that would usually set Hero in a state of fear. This would seem to imply that the way Hero deals with his fear of spiders is distracting himself through humor, though we don't see this in-game when a spider is encountered in the real world.

I think that an interesting idea here is that humor is how Sunny may have dealt with his own fears, prior to the Incident. Obviously, the way his fears manifest in the current day is a bit more extreme than they likely manifested themselves as prior to the Incident, but they still existed following when he almost drowned in the lake pre-canon. In the Lost Library memory for the construction of the treehouse, Sunny appears to make special note of how much time has passed since Mari has climbed down her ladder, perhaps indicating that Sunny is not willing to climb up the ladder himself at this point in time, due to his fear of heights. If you buy into the idea that Sunny opened up about his fears to Basil, I think it could become easy to imagine Basil doing things like telling jokes to Sunny as he climbed the ladder to the treehouse to distract him from his fear of heights, which would have been enough at that point in time, even if it didn't end up being a permanent solution. And if you buy into this interpretation and want to dive into delusion with me even further, the fact that the joke book is too embarrassing for anyone except Hero to read could represent that Sunny was too embarrassed by his fears to open up about them to the others. The fact that it has to be Hero specifically is relevant, as Hero himself doesn't really have any shame in expressing his fear of spiders.

One last thing to mention here is that originally, one of the books that Sunny would own in the Hikikomori route was titled "Weeping Willow", which would have tied back into Basil and Sunny's reading interest, and a weeping willow is a type of tree, which has some pretty specific connotations in OMORI.

Lost Forest

The final thing that I feel is relevant to note about this area is the connection to the Lost Forest. Overall, the Lost Forest portion of the game is more to set the player up for the existence of a Truth that has been forgotten, as it wasn't really mentioned during the previous night in Headspace. Since I'm focusing more on Basil right now, I won't go too in-depth on this very interesting area, but there are some notable things that you can see and find. You are able to find a "Pearl" item on the dock in area 3 of the Lost Forest, which could be seen as representing the gang's hideout, as well as this being the only time Pearls appear in the game outside of Sweetheart's Castle, which is a location that I've noted before as being fairly connected to Sunny and Basil's relationship.

Stranger appears at the beginning of the area, then appears again alongside an apparition of Basil in the fifth area of the Lost Forest before disappearing. There is also a hanging Mari from the Fishbowl Area of Black Space that Appears in the final room as a WTF Event. I find this interesting, as that area of Black Space heavily focuses on Sunny and Basil's relationship. The OST for that area is White Pillars (also the 143rd song on the soundtrack), which has so many different things that it could refer to. One interpretation that I like is that the "White Pillars" that the song refers to are the hanging Maris that appear within that area of Black Space, as well as here. The metaphorical "White Pillars" that has allowed Sunny to force himself to forget and live in delusion all goes back to Basil's lie. Sunny wouldn't be able to live within Headspace and forget his crimes if everyone knew about them. The presence of a hanging Mari from the Fishbowl Area here, of all places, plays into that interpretation, as this is the room where Daddy Longlegs discusses the creation and purpose of Headspace. It makes sense for a reference to that to appear here.

Conclusion

Like I said at the beginning of this post, a lot of my analysis of this area goes back to personal interpretation, and even I can see that there are parts where I'm stretching a bit, but I do think that at the very least, the sidequests and other details of this area allow you to build a solid reading on this portion of the game being about Sunny and Basil's relationship, which will be expanded on right after with Sweetheart's Castle.

The fact that both "Interesting Literature" and "A Good Listener" are both accessed through areas that you only have to go to due to the rails needing repaired could even represent how Headspace itself is breaking down and that to repair it and continue or break the delusion, Sunny has to expose himself to reminders of his relationship with Basil.

Also: something that I didn't mention in my previous post on this topic. While I do believe that Sunny did come to see Basil as someone he could open up to, I don't think that Sunny ever would have told him about his worries with the violin. Basil is the one that had the idea for the violin in the first place, and I don't think Sunny would bring it up to him due to his known drive to avoid disappointing his friends. I think that that actually adds to OMORI's tragedy: the two people that Sunny could open up to about things were the two people that Sunny would see as being most disappointed in him for wanting to quit, eventually leading to the incident.

[nav-i-nav]

My thoughts on OMORI and its message

I feel like I should talk about the impact OMORI had on me as a whole and recent posts made the thoughts I had after finishing the game for the first time come back, so here we go!

Remember this is my own interpretation, so don't take anything I say as the irrefutable truth! Likewise, feel free to add anything I might've missed in either tags or reblogs! I love hearing about other people's interpretations of the game!

Lastly, please forgive me if something I write isn't clear or easy to understand, I just needed to get this out of my system, so apologies for any typos/formatting issues ヽ(*。>Д<)o゜!!!

TL;DR: OMORI is a complex game about acceptance and choosing to move forward, and how the choices you make will influence the path ahead of you.

There are two routes the player can choose to follow during OMORI, as well as three endings you can reach based on those choices. The true route (which can lead you to either the good ending or the bad ending) and the hikkikomori route (which leads to the neutral ending).

As I've stated in previous posts, I firmly believe this game is not about "unconditional love" or "always forgiving"; rather, it's about not running away from your mistakes and confronting, accepting, and moving past them.

The hikkikomori route

One thing I've seen a lot of people do is disregard the fact that Sunny completely forgot about Mari's death. Yes, even if Headspace Basil or Stranger remember, and even if Something is a constant "reminder" of the truth, Sunny does NOT remember this UNTIL the day before he moves away, which in turn leads to him looking for Basil and thus, this resulting on a fight breaking out between the two of them which lead us to the hospital, where we choose one final time.

We know the cycle and resetting of Headspace has happened AT LEAST four times before the events we see in the game thanks to this dialogue found right before the Black Space segment of the game.

What we don't know is if Sunny actually remembered the truth during those instances or if Omori managed to put a stop to it. Personally, I like to believe this is the case. Why, you ask? Simple. I like to believe the hikkikomori route is but another one of these cycles.

Nothing special happens, nothing that alters Sunny's routine. Sure he is going to move away, but he still chooses to isolate himself in his house and wait until that day, doing nothing but the occasional chore and sleeping. He doesn't open the door for Kel, there are no external stimuli that indicate something is wrong and the ones that are already present inside the house have been blocked (the piano room, the closet, the backyard). And so, there is no reason for Sunny to question anything. There's no reason to accept or forgive anything.

To Sunny, Headspace is real. To Sunny, the truth is that his name is Omori and that he goes on all sorts of adventures with his friends while his dear sister stays behind. This is the truth he's accepted for four years, the life he's taken on and the life he'll continue to live should he not open the door.

Sunny has forgotten himself. He cannot accept the truth or forgive himself because of this. Daddy Longlegs confirms this thanks to the following dialogue:

Not only that, but Sunny also starts seeing himself as Omori in the mirror at the end of the hikkikomori route, which only solidifies the fact he has lost himself at this point and has given in to the safety of Headspace.

Lastly, let's not forget one of the biggest differences between the true and hikkikomori routes—the "boss" fight. Whereas in the true route, it's Omori, in the hikkikomori one, it's Stranger.

Something really interesting is the change of Stranger's dialogue between the true and hikkikomori routes. Here is the dialogue during and after the fight we have against him:

There is a distinct aggression that Stranger lacks in the true route. Stranger is the embodiment of everything Sunny wishes to forget. No matter how hard he tries to separate Basil from the incident, the truth is that he will always be linked to Mari's death one way or another, and, as Daddy Longlegs says:

However, even if Sunny didn't open the door, the fact he is moving away remains. We know this causes Sunny some sort of uncertainty and discomfort, as seen by the "Time" area in Black Space. Sunny is aware something will change and that causes him anguish. It's both figuratively and literally, a timer. To leave and forget or to step outside and find out the truth.

The reason Stranger is the final "boss" of the hikkikomori route is precisely because he is the last obstacle Sunny must "overcome" before he's able to fully forget himself. He is moving away and he's chosen to go with it, to let go of the past forever and completely abandon his identity as Sunny to embrace Omori fully.

Stranger, of course, knows that Sunny has chosen to turn a blind eye to the truth, so as a last attempt, he forces him to face him, to confront everything he's run from, and try to snap him out of it. But by this point, Sunny has given up all hope. He refuses to accept the truth, he refuses to see the pain and suffering his actions have caused, and so, Stranger backs off. Because he knows that at this point Sunny is far too gone.

The true route

With that out of the way, let's focus now on what is canonically considered the true route of the game. We all know what happens: Sunny opens the door and steps out of his house for the first time in years, which leads him to reconnect and mend relationships with old friends and make new ones, all within the span of three days until he moves away.

This is already a huge difference to the alternate route, as he actively interacts with all sorts of people and environments, allowing him to explore the real world and reconnect with it again. Of course, Headspace's influence is still present (as seen by the Headspace imagery that we can see around Faraway on the first day we go outside), however as time goes on, these disappear and instead Sunny starts remembering memories he had buried deep underneath the vibrant colors and fantastical aura of his dreams.

We all know this, so why am I bringing it up?

Thanks to all the stimuli that he's being exposed to, Sunny is able to remember more and more of what happens. He can no longer run away because Mari's death is a fact that he is constantly being reminded of by the world around him. Little by little he pieces what happened back together right until the sleepover he has with everyone else at Basil's house.

During three days, Sunny begins remembering who he is, and although Omori is him, he is not Omori. He is not as strong as him, nor is he able to ignore his fears like his counterpart. Just like the branch coral dialogue indicates:

Omori can mimic a human, but Sunny will never be an empty husk. His human nature remains above all and that is precisely why he can only run for so long. One way or another, Sunny must confront his mistakes and choose.

He can still run away by not opening the door on the second day, he can still escape during the sleepover by choosing not to save Basil, but by this point, he's already faced with the truth.

Now, let's talk about Basil and Sunny's fight. Although Sunny realizes Mari's dead, he doesn't learn the full truth until after Black Space. Again, one of the main things that distinguishes these routes is what happens with Stranger after we've explored this area. The main difference is that, unlike in the hikkikomori route, in the true route, Sunny knows that he has people he can count on. He knows he is not alone, as stated by Stranger:

Sunny is no longer isolating himself. He can finally see that people care about him and that he counts with them. This is reinforced by Hero, Kel, and Aubrey's dialogues right before the fight with Omori:

As well as Basil's before Sunny enters his house for the last time>

Both of these scenes happen right before Sunny takes the initiative to confront and accept what he's done. The difference between the true and the hikkikomori routes is the fact Sunny is no longer alone and he trusts that he'll have his friends by his side until the very end.

And then, we reach the final moment. The final decision.

Just like how Stranger was the final boss for the alternate route, we stand before Omori, who readies his blade as he blocks your path. Sunny has learned the truth, he has seen what he's done and now he has to fight. To prove that he is ready to move on.

Omori has been Sunny's shield for so long. So now Sunny must show Omori he is ready to let go and be himself.

This is the difference between the journeys we go through on each route.

The reason I believe that the hikkikomori route ends with a “neutral” ending is because Sunny never faced the truth. He didn’t even try to do so, instead choosing to hide away and forget, rejecting the idea that Mari died once again. Whereas in the true ending and the bad ending, he accepts this fact and embraces it. He sees the incident once again and remembers the role he had in everything that happened over the course of four years. And then he chooses if he wants to move forward or not.

Let's look at the cutscenes that play after the fights with Stranger and Omori respectively. (I will be using the good ending cutscene for the true route):

One of my favorite things about these is the fact that in the Hikkikomori route Sunny is still submerged in the darkness of Black Space. He is still blinded and therefore he can't see those who still care for him, those who cheer on him and wish him to move on. Instead, all he sees is Omori, because that's all he's known for four years. He is the only one who's been able to provide comfort to him because he won't let anyone else inside.

This changes during the true route, and regardless of what happens in the fight, one thing is clear: Sunny has accepted the truth. He is no longer blind to what happened, and he has finally come to terms with it. Only then does he decide if he wants to take the next step forward or not.

My thoughts

If you've read this far, thank you! Now, you must be wondering what does all of that have to do with the game's message. Well, I'll get to that.

First, I want to make one thing clear. I firmly believe Sunny's journey is not one of forgiveness but of acceptance.

Sunny's been stuck in an endless loop for roughly four years. All he's done is relive the same stories and go over the same path again, just as the following dialogue shows:

He will never be able to move forward unless he accepts the truth. What's done is done, and no matter how many times Headspace is reset, Sunny will never be able to undo it.

This is why the hikkikomori route is a neutral ending compared to the bad ending, even if the outcome is considered worse but most of the fanbase. Because in the hikkikomori route, Sunny never took a step forward. Nothing changed. Meanwhile, in the bad ending, Sunny knows what he's done and he chooses to take his own life as a response. He took a step forward but didn't have the courage to take the next one.

This leads to the last ending. In the good ending, Sunny takes two steps forward instead of one.

In the secret cutscene for the true route's good ending, when Sunny and Basil’s Somethings disappear, it isn’t their guilt or their regret. Rather, it’s the delusions (both literally and figuratively) that have blinded them for so long, the delusions that made them unable to move on. And now they can finally see past them and find each other.

They can finally accept that YES, Sunny killed Mari, and YES, both of them hurt the rest of their friends AND each other with their actions.

That’s the first step for them to heal.

But it’s definitely not the last one.

Trauma doesn’t go away so easily. And sure, life will be rough for a while. But at least they’re LIVING. They finally see things for what they are, and they are able to move past them and try to forgive themselves.

Maybe they won’t forgive themselves. And their trauma is never going to go away. But at least they’re no longer trapped in a lie and can choose what they want to do with their lives.

This is why, to me, OMORI is not about forgiveness. The story never shows Hero, Kel and Aubrey's reactions to the truth because this isn't what the game wants to focus on. Sunny's journey is for him to accept the truth and come to terms with it. But it's not the only journey we see along the way. Take Aubrey for example. She too came to terms with her actions towards Basil during those four years, and although there is not a conclusive ending to this, we see how she realizes her actions weren't justified no matter how hurt she was and she chooses to try and make amends.

Choices are extremely important in Omori. Sure, we can choose if we want to run away from an enemy or fight it, we can choose if we want to buy an item or not, we can choose to play the minigames or do the side quests we get along the way. But at the end of the day, the choices we make determine the future of the characters.

By opening that door, we can see the different outcomes of the story. And to me, that is just how real life is. We don't know what will happen in the future, we don't know if we are going to hurt others or if we'll regret our actions once everything's over, but what's important is to have the courage to make those decisions in the first place, the courage to accept when we're wrong and then choose to move forward or not.

Omori has taught me that making mistakes does not equal you being a terrible person. It is your choice to learn from those mistakes and improve. No matter what, you must have faith in yourself and those around you, and know that even if you didn't make the "right" choice, you can learn from it and you can become a better person thanks to it.

And I think that's beautiful.

[biocrafthero]

Hellsunny headcanons because I love him

Hellsunny manifested in Sunny's brain pretty early on, shortly before Omori. He represents how Sunny views himself in the wake of the accident, and acts as an alternative vessel that Sunny can inhabit.

In turn, he ends up carrying an unhealthy amount of self-loathing. It's a lot, but he unfortunately got used to it over the years, so he trudges along.

Despite everything, though, Hellsunny is very much someone who's still full of curiosity and care. He tends to feel emotions very deeply, so his reactions can be intense sometimes, but he means well.

He mostly lives in Black Space and Red Space, and gets very few opportunities to peek outside of it and into Headspace or White Space despite being a vessel for Sunny. When he is able to see glimpses, they're very fleeting; anyone who manages to see him peeking through is in for a scare due to his appearance.

He ends up scaring people on accident a lot, actually... he tries not to, but it's hard when he looks like That

He's missing several parts of his body due to Sunny's self-perception, most notably his eyes, mouth, and fingers on his right hand. He can appear normally without injuries if he tries hard enough, but the illusion quickly falls apart, especially under intense/stressful circumstances.

He may be missing these pieces because of how Sunny views himself as a zombie or a person who's just rotting away as time goes on, but it wouldn't be surprising if the specific parts that are missing are to keep himself from communicating the truth through speaking or writing (he's right handed, evident with how he holds his violin or knife) while having to bear witness to everything (Hellsunny appears to be staring forward unblinking)

Aside from the injuries, Hellsunny is a bit gangly. His bones definitely show through his skin, a reflection of how Sunny rarely eats and leaning in further to the idea of him being a zombie.

He ends up staring at mirrors a LOT, despite how he looks. The only mirrors from where he's from either shatter as soon as you look at them, show fake reflections and hold an entirely separate entity from you, or are too dark to look in. At every chance he gets, he WILL look at himself in a mirror. He thinks it's really cool.

After the truth, Sunny isn't quite able to get rid of Hellsunny. The guilt never fully subsides, and that self-hate doesn't leave him for a long time. The two of them learn to get along over time.

When around Omori, Hellsunny can become really high-strung—sometimes he's violent and aggressive towards him, but other times he can be scared. However, the emotion that tends to resonate the most is just sadness. He doesn't quite know why, but it may be that because Omori is the inverse of him, being the person Sunny wishes he could be. The two learn to tolerate each other, but it takes a while.

Hellsunny is probably friends with the Strangers, forgotten friends (Meido, Tako-Chan, Uni), Shattered Omori, and Abbi. They are all friends with each other and I will take no further criticism.

He makes sure to talk to other Black Space entities like the Deer Head, too. They can't hold conversations as well since a lot of them just repeat phrases over and over, but they're good company. Sometimes he'll see Daddy Longlegs, but those encounters are very brief.

He isn't super afraid of entities like Hellmari or Something (both include their variants), but they can be unnerving. He's grown very accustomed to it, though, and knows which ones tend to be hostile and which are more neutral. He spends time with them when he's able to.

Hellsunny actually also has control of the Red Hands, just under different circumstances. The Red Hands, at their core, belong to Sunny due to what they represent, but Omori can also control them so who's to say Hellsunny can't? They listen to him because, in Hellsunny's case, they're his actual hands, much like with Sunny himself. Omori uses them to keep Sunny safe, and so Hellsunny uses them in a similar manner, just with different application. He also uses one to help hold things in his right hand due to lack of fingers.

Because he lacks easy forms of communication, he ends up "speaking" by letting out general noises from what remains of his throat. At first it can be a little touch to understand, but it makes sense the more you listen. Omori, Sunny, Stranger, and Shattered Omori are all capable of holding conversations with him.

Sometimes he uses physical movements to communicate things when he can't really make sounds, but it's a lot more of a hassle.

He's very physically affectionate, holding onto someone he's attached to in some way, shape, or form. Usually he just holds their hand, but if he wants to express higher emotions he's a big fan of hugs.

Hellsunny and Shattered enable each other's mischievous sides. Chaos ensues and then Stranger ends up having to reel them both back in. The cycle then repeats.

Hellsunny, if he were a party member, would probably be a glass canon. Low speed and defense but high attack. His weapon would definitely be a knife. If he doesn't have a knife, he probably just jumps at someone and starts mauling them idk he's a little bizarre but he's got the spirit

Much like Omori, Hellsunny also possesses a "did not succumb" ability. Sunny's dream vessels are all incapable of being destroyed unless he did it himself, so Hellsunny can basically sustain infinite damage. However, whatever hit deals what would be a fatal blow can leave a bit of a mark on him. These can be patched up a picnics and such, but the injuries that he's always had never seem to go away no matter what he does.

Despite everything, though, Hellsunny is a very sweet guy. He may carry Sunny's self-hate, but it makes it so that he's VERY kind with others. He's just a little guy

[skyedancer2006]

Planning on using something from OMORI as our senior quote ✌️

Mostly settled on this Daddy Longlegs one:

“Sometimes when we hide things from ourselves, we create different truths and eventually forget our way. Have you found yours yet, or are you still lost?”

A very nice insight, and a bit of advice/a call to anyone reading through the quotes!

[penta-png]

father

[karlachfan86]

daddy longlegs and omori hanging out and a totoro au with mari, sunny, and the creatures being truth knowing npcs. ^_^

[nonbinaryaubrey]

Mission: SOS is a lot more self indulgent. I also accidentally messed up a few details haha. There's actually 5 npcs that help, and they don't exactly appear in real world. 5 npcs are Stranger, Daddy Longlegs, Abbi, and the beta characters Meido and Uni! I mostly just chose them because they're fun to mess with and decide on personalities for to be honest! but anyways, each of them appear in one of the faraway gang's dreams asking for help, Stranger for Basil, Daddy Longlegs for Aubrey, Abbi for Hero, and Meido n Uni for Kel. they manage to get the faraway gang into the dream world somehow, and they all work together in the background to help save Sunny, doing their best not to get caught by Omori! and 1 more thing: the name is short for Mission: Save Our Sunny! in au Kel picked that name for their plan and everyone just went with it -⭐🖤🐈

OOHOHH THATS FUUNNN one of my favorite things to see is the rw friends ending up in headspace, those AUs r always so cool. and this is a rlly neat take on it! i like seeing the some of headspace(blackspace ig..) characters getting involved too.. AND THE NAAMEE AWW.. thats definitely a kel thing right there....

[fantasychica37]

-either Daddy Longlegs or Omori, I can’t decide

Hello, Reader

This trap is a fabrication of your pure fantasy. A world designed for you, by you. Every struggle you currently face will no longer weigh you down, every wish you have will be granted.

But, dear reader, your loved ones cannot follow. You may fabricate them in your world, but you must recreate them from memory alone.

How accurately do you think you could rebuild them? How good is your memory? How well do you truly know your loved ones? Do you know the faces they wear when you’re not around? Will they love you more, or less? Will your self-hatred or narcissistic tendencies bleed into the way your recreations interact with you? Do you know what they worry about, late at night? How well can they keep a secret? Will you be able to handle it when they look you dead in the eye while you are nauseous with dread at every reminder that it is not your partner, not your mother, not your friend? Maybe it will be the way their eyes sparkle, a stray from a habit, an opinion that doesn’t wear well. Or do you prefer the stability of a character over the unpredictable nature of a human? Will you lie awake at night, wondering what you got wrong?

Because of course, do any of us really know each other?

Can you breathe, reader?

[humornaut]

hi!! i’m a relatively new omori fan (a brainrotted fan, however, with 140 hours in the game so far… and 98% completion bc i lost to the recyclepath.. -_-) anyway, i love your analysis posts, you’ve clearly studied the details of this game very well!!

i was hoping to ask about the timeline of white space and headspace creation, if you have the time and would like to! my roommate and i played together and have tried to piece it together a few times over the four playthroughs we’ve done (two of each route), but there are still some details that seem contradictory to me. i’m sorry if this is obvious though!

so the transcript of the truth album says “you sink into a crevice in your mind… an empty white room” so i initially assumed white space was created on the day of the incident, in that dissociative state while mari was in the bed. you also see this in the sequence after three days left before going back into headspace where it’s sunny and basil in front of the door, then sunny in white space, then the manifestation of omori. of course, we’ve also been told “you’ve been living here for as long as you can remember”, but we can assume the “you” is omori instead of sunny, which makes sense if he was created in white space

however. in the lost library we see that sunny used to explore headspace during school, presumably before the incident, and daddy longlegs says “in the beginning, there only existed two... the dreamer and his room” and then “the dreamer grew weary of his room and created a door that led to many different worlds”, referring to white space and headspace, so white space existed first. so white space existed before the incident.

so then the white space reference from the truth album is maybe about the manifestation of omori, instead of the creation of white space. i think the outfit sunny’s wearing in the omori cut scene is also the same as from the day of the incident (the black tshirt & shorts). so presumably (before the incident), sunny used to explore headspace as sunny instead of as omori.

daddy longlegs then goes on to talk about black space, and how omori was created to let sunny “ascend to a blissful state of ignorance” and “forget himself” (this also prompts an interesting question of how sentient omori is — because he’s the protector (& knows enough to be willing to kill basil) but he’s also “ignorant of his own fabrication”, according to daddy longlegs, but i guess that’s another matter entirely!) black space was created in response to trauma, so that again supports the idea that omori was manifested after the incident.

so then white space. a place to survive but not to live. the black lightbulb is the repression of an idea, ie, the lightbulb was created after the incident. but sure, white space can exist without the lightbulb. my question then is, why did sunny need a place to survive before then? we could say that dissociation has always been his go-to reaction in stressful situations, and that’s why. but he was also in white space long enough to get bored of it, enough to conjure headspace.

we have a few vague clues that sunny & mari’s home life could have been bad, but nothing concrete. and personally, i’m of the opinion that his life being more or less ideal to begin with enhances the tragedy of the story (as well as him and basil having opposite tragedies, as i saw someone else point out — sunny’s being that he was already very much loved & cared for, so it’s worse when it’s taken away, basil’s that he never had that in the first place), but i guess that’s up to interpretation. other than home life issues then, just the stress of the violin? general developmental issues? depression? something else?

i’d be super curious to hear what you think (again, if you have the time)… thank you! :)

Hi there! Sorry about how long this took me, I've had a lot going on + I actually wrote a whole long response that took me like a week of on and off working, and then I accidentally shut off my computer and lost the whole thing :(

I want to start this off with a couple disclaimers: Omori intentionally keeps its timeline close to its chest (presumably to add to the game's feelings of unease and the mystery of it all) AND we see evidence throughout the game that during Omori's long development cycle, it saw multiple changes to its story that ultimately makes the game's timeline a little inconsistent in a way that doesn't really matter.

I think I don't really have to explain the first point to you, but it will be relevant when talking about Headspace, because the game doesn't even commit to Headspace being purely a dream, as there are plenty of indications throughout it that it could be something a bit more supernatural.

However, I do want to elaborate on my second point there, mostly because this is something that I've wanted to talk about for awhile, and what better time to bring it up than when we are talking about the timeline! So:

How Old is Hero Omori?

I swear this is an actually interesting question

It might seem silly to ask this, considering the game actually tells us how old he is in Headspace, but stick with me.

Based on this line, Hero (and presumably Mari) are 15 pre-canon, while the rest of the group turns 12 during the year of the album (except Kel, who would've turned 12 prior to Basil getting the album).

So let's take the time skip into account. When we first meet real world Aubrey, she says this:

After this point, the game tends to stick to the time skip being four years whenever it comes up. But this isn't technically true! Even accounting for the months after the incident that Sunny continued going outside for, the incident happened in October, while Sunny comes out again during the summer. Most likely, we're actually looking at around 3 and a half years, with Sunny coming back outside the summer that he would turn 16. Since we are presumably at the beginning of the summer, with Hero just now coming home from college, Sunny would actually be 15, at least during the main portion of the game, though once he's in the hospital, it appears some time has passed so that school has now started back up.

Why does this matter? Well, based on this timeline with Hero being 15 in the photo album, he should have turned 19 the January prior to the game's main events, and this is what most people see as canon. However, within the United States, most people, unless they graduate early or late, will leave High School the year they turn 18, meaning most people turn 19 during their first year at college (if they attend).

At first glance, this doesn't seem to be an issue, but we know for a fact that Hero has actually been away at college for two years, due to this interaction:

This is the second summer that Hero has returned from college! He should be 20! Now Hero is a bit of an overachiever, so it is possible that what is actually happening here is that he graduated early, but I doubt that due to what we know about how Hero reacted to Mari's death.

For that first year, even if Hero was technically going to school, he certainly wasn't excelling at it. By the time he gets to the state we see him in-game, he has maybe a year to a year and a half left of schooling. I'm really not sure that I can buy Hero graduating early, regardless of how well he does from that point on.

I also want to acknowledge that the game could simply take place ~4 1/2 years, rather than 3 1/2. There's no reason not to go with this, other than it would mean that the younger four are actually 17 during the game. You are free to believe this instead, but I am going to go into what I actually think is going here next.

We know that the characters got younger during development. We actually have an older version of the photo album, in which instead of saying that Sunny was turning 12, it says 13. Why did this happen?

Let's take a look at Aubrey's recollection of what happened following Mari's death:

For reference, this is part of what she says at the tree stump during One Day Left.

Her words here imply that she wasn't actually aware about how bad it was for Hero, and most of the fandom typically just leaves it at that.

But that's weird, right? Look at what she says. It seems like she did HAVE a reason for why Hero wasn't available, it was just incorrect. And what's more, this is definitely how Hero would've been after his year of very much not studying. There's no reason that Aubrey would believe that Hero reacted to Mari's death in this way unless it was true, especially since it is something that would later be true.

I also want to point out that Kel's talk in the cemetery in which he tells us how Hero reacted to Mari's death is entirely optional and disconnected from the actual main story cutscenes in the real world.

To bring this full circle, I also want to point out a mechanic that was added to the game VERY late in development:

You might see where I'm going with this.

Here's my theory. Originally, Hero would not have reacted to Mari's death with staying in bed for a year in a depressed state. Instead, he would've immediately become lost in his studies as a coping mechanism. However, when the team had the idea for the emotions chart, they likely realized that while happy and angry fit Kel and Aubrey's coping methods respectively quite well, Hero did not seem to fit sadness all that well at all.

In order to make Hero fit sadness, they change his story so that he stayed in a depressed state for a year, but they don't remove his original story of getting lost in his schoolwork. After all, they already had the writing and art assets finished and the game had already been in development for a long time. So instead of doing any major rewrites of the actual script, they simply add a single cutscene in the graveyard that doesn't seem to contradict anything that lets us know that this is how Hero reacted!

Then they had another problem. If Hero spent a year not caring about school, how would he have graduated on time? It would've been difficult even for an overachiever to do two years of schooling in one year. This is an easy fix as well! All you have to do is go through the very few instances of characters' ages being mentioned, and make everyone a year younger! It would've been a lot easier for Hero to catch up and excel if he had an additional year to do so after the incident with Kel! It also gives us another instance of a character getting overwhelmed and angry and pushing someone they care about, which we see multiple times! It works really well, and I like it a lot, but I haven't been able to unsee this change being made ever since the first time I thought of it. The minor line of dialogue about the hero sandwich that reveals Hero has been in college for two years would have been overlooked, since it doesn't mention his age, and likely would've been forgotten due to its unimportance. Aubrey's line, while wrong, can also still be explained away by her simply not being in the know about how Hero really reacted to Mari's death.

I'm not saying this is definitely what happened, but this theory does explain that one tiny little inconsistency that we see in the game. Could also be nothing though idk I'm not perfect

SO

The timeline of the creation of Headspace, White Space, and Black Space! The thing you actually asked about and care about!

It's a little difficult to actually place a lot of things here. Headspace is already so vague. We can use Daddy Longlegs' explanation as a general guide, but it's still difficult to figure out how it lines up with the between night cutscenes, as well as some of the other things.

What I can say is that Omocat has explained Sunny's dream worlds as a very real reaction to trauma that some people have. From this perspective, it would've always existed in some form.

In regards to the truth album line about sinking into the empty room, it's important to keep in mind that nothing there (unless I am super mistaken) implies that this is the first time that Sunny has been there, only that it is happening in that moment. In fact, I find the use of the term "sink" to be very interesting in this context, because very recently prior to the end of the photo album and the incident itself, Sunny had another very traumatic experience when he nearly drowned at the lake. This incident is also very important because many of the traumas that we see from Sunny in game come from this incident. He is still extremely scared of heights, spiders, and drowning by the time the game happens. I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility that White Space was initially created as a response to that, assuming that it didn't already exist for Sunny's entire life.

Next! Headspace, as I understand it, refers specifically to the dream world that Sunny created by merging a bunch of different dream worlds together in order to hide away Black Space, as told by Daddy Longlegs. What we see in the school day memory isn't Sunny exploring Headspace, rather it is just establishing that Sunny has always had a creative and wandering mind, which is why he was able to create Headspace as a coping method in the first place.

The "you've been living here for as long as you can remember" line can also mean many things! It can refer to Omori, as you said, or it could refer to Sunny always having White Space to some extent, OR (and I find this to be the most likely answer) that regardless of how long Sunny has actually had White Space, his repression of ALL his memories both the good and the bad mean that this is literally all he can remember!

All of this is to say: I don't really know. I'm really sorry about that, I've typed this up multiple times trying to come up with a satisfying timeline that I can actually point at evidence for. I believe that Sunny probably had access to White Space before the incident itself, but Headspace probably only became necessary to form out of his different dreamworlds and fantasies after the incident. He was always creative, so he always had creative dreams, but Headspace itself was almost assuredly a post-incident creation.

I apologize that this probably wasn't the answer you were looking for. There might be an answer in there somewhere, but I hope I've shown here how trying to come up with a definitive timeline for Omori can create issues.

[sweatertheman]

i feel like omori is very flawed as a game. as a story, it works well, and it has some pretty good ideas for mechanics, but in terms of the game design, it feels lacking.

the main reason for this, i think, is that headspace just blows. the main quests are a bit tedious and narratively uninteresting, and you just kind of want to skip over them to go back to faraway where you can enjoy well written scenes with endearing characters. and while there is interesting stuff to find in headspace, like the lost forest, the keeper of the castle, the KEY holes, the blackspace enterances, the dialogue which implies there's more behind the scenes, all of this cool stuff is off the beaten path. nearly every sidequest i've done in headspace has been "go find this thing for this character and bring it back to them for a reward." joke book, teddy bear, flower puzzle, mr. plantegg, hector, mr. scarecrow guy, brother mole, its just so tedious!

and because all the side quests are the same, and all the main quests are boring, most players aren't going to find any of the actually cool content, simply because after a while, they're gonna get sick of headspace, and just want to skip to the faraway segments. how many people who played omori even knew about orange oasis the first time?

OMORI, as a game, fails to do headspace justice, as it neither makes exploring to find the cool parts fun, nor places the interestint bits in a player's path so they'll get to see them. and even if this is intentional, and you want to get into a debate about whether or not games need to be fun, and you wanna bring up Pathologic or something, that still doesn't excuse the fact that my desire to continue playing the game that i bought is hindered by the fact so much of it takes place in a tedious, narratively drained series of wacky locations. with pathologic, the point is that its a challenge. you aren't playing because its fun, you're playing because you want to win. or so ive been told.

i suppose headspace does work to illustrate how sunny's fantasy world is an unfulfilling carousel of childish pleasures and escapism, and that ultimately sunny needs to return to reality, but despite that there's good gameplay mechanics in headspace which you don't get to engage with in faraway! and legitimately interesting stuff which ties back into the main story, like mr. outback, or the deeper well creatures, or the man on fire, or daddy longlegs. its just that all this good stuff is sprinkled between a bunch of nothing, and so much of it you have to be invested enough in headspace to go out of your way to crawl through it and–

hey, wait a sec. i think im kind of getting it a little bit. players who are already invested in headspace will likely spend more time there and find more stuff to fuel their investment. these are likely hikikomori route players. players who are more invested in the faraway stuff can skip over headspace and be no worse for wear. it kind of works, just not for me, because im taking the game as a whole. i want to have it all. i guess that kind of works too, in a way.

"Your soul is split, but you can only choose one path."

idk man

[starkcanvas]

any critisms or wishes you'd want from a revitalized story script of bsbr? asking for... reasons

Mmm... Not really any criticisms aside from maybe increasing voice volume for certain songs like Altar, but I do have some possible suggestions :)

Maybe try and incorporate some things from BlackerSpace/BlackSpace 2. Maybe get some of the more disurbing things from Sunny's mind. Like, don't just use HellMari, put HellSunny in there as well. Or the other inhabitants like Dorothi, Nanci, Merci etc. Those would be cool to see :D

It'd be pretty dope to see Daddy Longlegs throw down lmao

And then if you want crack, because OMORI or not, this is still an FNF mod so there's gonna be some game breaking, maybe have actual Spirit Mari show up somewhere and not just Sunny's hallucinations of her

Those are just some cool thoughts I had :)

[project-omori2]

Just found this blog. Idea seems cool and I like what you've come up with so far and I wanna throw some thoughts out! One aspect of Omori that instantly drew me in was the horror and its contrast with the cheery dream world's tone. While it's pretty in your face at the start of the game to hook you in (a lot more so than it's major inspiration, Yume Nikki, which was a lot more subtly unsettling), the small aspects of unsettling glimpses at the truth that build up to the full-throttle madness of Black Space and the dawning horror of the "truth reveal" segment is really well done in how slowly it lets dread seep in. I also like how Omori interacts with the fourth wall on occasion, mainly how the main menu changes over the course of the Sunny Route to reflect the state of the story.

AS for OMORI 2, I have a few ideas as to how these concepts could live on in a spiritual successor or indirect sequel. For one, you mentioned this:

"I also had the idea of their little pomeranian friend acting like a save point, much like the picnic baskets in the first game. Pomeranians are also save points in the real-world areas, though in some locations (such as in Hail's apartment), it's a plush pomeranian instead."

Great horror titles in the past have played with safe areas and specifically SAVE areas in great ways. Some survival horror titles like Resident Evil force you to ration the ability to save the game, allowing the player to risk losing more progress to heighten the stakes. Silent Hill 4 famously creates a safe haven the player returns to often, only to corrupt and haunt this haven halfway through the game and rob the player of that safety. Heck, even Undertale, in its darkest hours, threatens to smash your save files to bits just to scare you. Now, obviously, forcing the player to replay content can be quite irritating, especially in a text-heavy turn-based RPG that's naturally going to play slower. But threatening not just the characters and their safety, but the safety of the player's progress can be quite effective- even if it's an empty threat.

Omori had a brief segment on route to Daddy Longlegs with the spiders that mimicked Mewo, and I think doing something similar here could be very powerful. What if your little save dog that you're used to being a full heal and a brief pause from whatever the story's throwing at you was suddenly gone? What if your dog was in trouble? What if the save points that you trusted up to this point in the game suddenly seemed not so friendly and kind anymore, all foaming mouths or sharp teeth or other horrible distorted features? What if you were hoping for an escape and a full heal and the game turned around and said "Nope, actually, you're not escaping the horrors just yet!" and dragged you further into the darkness? Lots of fun potential. I haven't scrolled through the full blog so I don't know how the themes of repression, horror, and loss of control play into the story. But if you're looking to explore what new horrors one can do with a place like Black Space, this might be an interesting direction.

Thanks for the ask!

"One aspect of OMORI that instantly drew me in was the horror and its contrast with the cheery dream world's tone."

"I also like how OMORI interacts with the fourth wall on occasion, mainly how the main menu changes over the course of the Sunny Route to reflect the state of the story."

Yes to both of these. It's that contrast between Headspace and the elements of sadness and horror that either keeps the player on their toes or lures them into letting their guard down. As well, a lot of other games, including OMORI, use the whole "changing the title screen" thing very effectively.

As for your ideas about tricking players with a false save point, I would definitely incorporate it if OMORI 2 was a real game.