#i need to watch a play through of omori too. i read up on it and i wanna see it play out

[megatraven]

rpg maker horror games are so fucking next level they're always my biggest faves when it comes to the stories and the genre in general

[lelengerine]

comfort in you

pairing | streamer!haechan x streamer!reader

synopsis | sometimes (most of the time), you just need a little pick-me-up after a bit of depressing game plot.

genre | fluff, established relationship, mentions of game character death (but nothing explicit)

wc | 1.0k

notes | so i finished watching an entire 13 hour play through of omori and i was so sad i wrote this- highly suggest playing the game for yourself tho its a rollercoaster of emotions </3 as always, lmk your thoughts on this! rts and rbs are appreciated!

m.list

solemn music plays from the speakers connected to your monitor, slowly enveloping your soul with dread as your eyes flicker between the game and the messages flowing into your stream’s chat box.

user_1: NOOOO what do you mean the sister died??

user_2: RIGHT? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??

user_3: y/n are you sure we didn’t miss a chapter??? my eyes are bawling out TT

a soft chuckle escapes you while reading what your viewers had to say, somewhat relieving you from the heartbreaking arc of the game. “i’m pretty sure this is the right track… i feel my eyes tearing up too, you’re definitely not the only one.”

a couple more messages pop up, but you decide to focus on the game’s storyline for now. 

a little girl is hunched over her sister’s hospital bed, sobbing after the realization her beloved sibling was never going to wake up after falling from the top of the staircase in their home.

a tear slowly falls down your cheek while you stay silent and continue watching, hoping your viewers wouldn’t notice it if you act unfazed. though, it seems they have eyes sharper than you think.

user_4: Y/N DONT CRY :((( NOW IM CRYING TOO

user_5: SOMEONE GET THE EMERGENCY TISSUES!!!!!

“pshh, i’m not crying, chat!” you feign with a not-so convincing pout. you clearly have a soft spot for these type of family-oriented game plots, enjoying how they touch into the lives of people and the complexities behind them.

its during times like this where you yearn for your boyfriend, haechan, more than anything, but… you’re pretty sure he’s busy streaming another game in a different room. you face falls into a slight frown thinking about it, one your chat assumes is because of the sad story coming to a close.

a white screen snaps you out of your thoughts, signaling the game had finally ended and you turn to face the camera filming your face cam. “so… what do we think?” you ask, giving a warm smile.

user_6: GOD THAT WAS TOO MUCH

user_7: thank the heavens its done

user_8: wtf just happened…

“right? to be honest- im pretty overwhelmed.” you speak, taking a sip from your water jug next to you in hopes of letting the immense feeling dissipate, but that only does little in actually quelling it. you could really use a hug from haechan right about now… it wouldn’t hurt to leave chat for a moment right? 

“i’ll just go get something quickly then we can try to unpack the plot of the game a little better.” you tell your viewers before standing up from your computer chair and rushing over to haechan’s room.

as you approach the white door sealing his room from the hallways, you hear a string of curses pass your ears. “jisung you little shit! i said to your right not your left- no, no!! YOUR left not MY left.”

slowly, you peek through the door, getting a glimpse of your boyfriend seemingly fuming over a round of overwatch, but you (and his viewers) know that’s just how he plays — and it’s quite entertaining to hear the banter between him and his friends. 

“jaemin revive me. im by the corner- JUST WHERE ARE YOU ON THE MAP??? ahhh, im screwed for real.” he whines as his screen displays that he died in game, slumping back into his chair as he waits for the next round to start. “you guys better carry this game or else-“

“hyuck?” you finally speak up, pushing the door a little more to make room for yourself to enter. haechan’s chat goes crazy after seeing you enter his room, mostly filling up with messages to greet your entrance.

“sorry… i didn’t want to interrupt but you see- this game i was playing… it was so sad and i-“ you get cut off by your boyfriend reeling you into a hug. 

you don’t even need to listen in on his earphones to hear the coos from his friends, already used to their teasings when you and haechan are together.

“let me guess, another one about family?” oh he really just reads you like an open book, his voice much softer in comparison to how he was speaking earlier. you feel so loved knowing he pays attention to the smallest details about you. 

“mhm. i just wanted a hug.” 

“and that, you’re getting.” he chuckles, rubbing small, soothing circles on your back with his thumb. 

his embrace is warm. just what you needed after an intense, downcast game. you already feel yourself fueling back up with positivity, pulling away after a couple more seconds.

“thank you.” you smile sheepishly, feeling a little awkward his viewers just watched that entire exchange from the camera resting on top of his monitor. “i should get back to my own stream now though.” you add, giving haechan a small kiss on the cheek before waving a goodbye towards his camera. 

“i’ll give you all the cuddles and kisses later.” haechan tells you, patting your head as he lets you leave his room.

“i’ll be anticipating that.” you giggle before shutting the door behind you, and returning to your own streaming room.

“chat! sorry that took so long, but im back now!” you exclaim quite cheerily, a considerable difference to your gloomy expressions earlier.

user_9: welcome back our love <3 you look like you’re feeling much better yay

user_2: yayy happy y/n is back!

user_10: y/n was in hyuck’s stream!! they were so cute :[

user_7: omg really? man i should’ve checked it out-

you flush, realizing your actions have been found out. then again, it wasn’t that difficult for someone to know what you were doing when your boyfriend’s stream was publicized just like yours. 

“a-alright now, settle down everyone.” you chuckle, “now, what did you guys discuss so far?” 

the query has your chat switching topics in the blink of an eye, something you’re rather grateful for — knowing the blush on your cheeks already gave you away long ago. still, you'd say everything was worth it for that hug.

[justsomeno1s]

Basil - Kel Omori RoleSwap AU

(Stars I need an actual name for this thing-) This is a collection of Notes and Thoughts I have about my interpretation of the AU! Please understand- I've been working on this with an IRL friend who hasn't played through the Faraway segments and doesn't know the Truth yet (soon, but not as of this point), so I haven't had a good way to brainstorm about it yet.

ALSO: I know I may seem somewhat incoherent at points, as a lot of things are based on my and said friend's interpretations of the characters. I'll try to explain if requested.

Headspace will be different! Since Kel (an active force) is replaced with Basil (Significantly more passive), major events and places including either or both of them will have to be changed to keep working, and some character dynamics will be shifted. The fanfic will mostly be the group's adventures through Headspace- As if it were an actual game/mod.

Pre-Vanishing below Read More:

Omori's greeted by Hero, Aubrey and Basil, ofc. Kel isn't part of the initial group because "Kel and Aubrey have been going at it again.' ... 'It’s to the point where Kel won’t even come into the Neighbors room if Aubrey’s here."

Basil's wearing sleepwear, and Kel's got a more awake outfit! The most important thing about this is that Basil's got his Jump Rope as a belt (Where else would I put it?) and Kel has a blanket cape. I'm gonna draw or sprite them later, b/c I'm completely in love with the idea "

Basil still has a flower crown! It would be equipped as a weapon, but he uses his Jump Rope as a whip in fights. When the friends disagree or fight, it starts falling apart and dying faster- Aubrey's Stuffed Toy quest is replaced by Basil needing to find a replacement for his current crown. (Would be called Flower Crown, or something similar) (Bonus: Basil infodumps about each kind of flower in his crowns when he first gets them)

I write the characters as having EMOTIONS (like the colored auras) even out of battle. Kel would experience 3rd tier EMOTIONS, and goes MANIC before he goes missing because he gets over-excited about something.

No watermelons- Instead, there are cardboard boxes or pillows that Omori can slice apart. (Kel can't take care of plants, but he and his brother are Master Blanket Fort Makers, after all! Plus, I figure Kel would be a crafty kid)

Hero's a bit more proactive in this so far, physically stopping Kel and Aubrey's fights and calming Kel out of MANIC. He'll probably be a bit more high strung as well, since he's looking for his little brother. (I kind of want to have him be the one to cry after Space Ex-Boyfriend- "He's not here either... Sniffle... God, I'm such an awful brother."- but I'm not sure if that makes enough sense to put so early.)

Kel has a Camcorder! Its digital, and he uses it to record any and all things he thinks he should remember/are interesting enough. Its a secondhand, off-brand device that he uses so much he's dented it and worn off some of the paint. [In reality, the viewer's been snapped off, and its lost/hidden somewhere in Sunny's house. Kel got it for his birthday the year before the recital, and used it whole year. His parents recorded all of Hero's events- The spelling bee, the cooking competition, and such- and told him that 'we record things so that we can remember them and watch them again later', so he wanted one that he could use on his own.]

The tutorial sections are actually just for Basil! Kel goes into battle and bring Basil with him so that he can teach Basil how to fight and use his skills. (Would break the fourth wall a bit, but Canon does the same, so I'm not too torn up ") (Everyone but Basil would basicallly start at level 2, reasoning that they do fight monsters on their own.)

Kel's got some OP battle skills, because he doesn't stay on the team. [Also, way, way farther than where I am in writing rn- Black space involves Kel fighting of dangers on his own, and I want it to be an overconfident into overwhelmed kinda thing "]

Kel's "Basil's house/garden" equivalent is a Blanket Fort set up between a mountain and forest, with half for Hero and half for Kel. Kel's half (the primary focus) is a sunset colored living room, filled with blankets, pillows, stuffed animals- the usual kind of stuff you might find in a sleepover. (I think? idk I'm weird) It has shelves of movies and comic books, themed by who likes what, and a wall spanning projector screen so they can watch them. It would be the fourth wall if in a game/mod, and Kel would get yoinked after it starts playing his memory of the Truth. [My friend had the idea of him calling out to Sunny before he gets got, b/c we're both shipping trash and Caprisun is The Good Shit, but I'm not sure it makes enough sense.]

I'll talk about a bit more soon, but I've got a thing today, so. It'll have to be later. Soon " Feel free to interact/Give ideas/Tell me it's unrealistic- whatever! Will respond asap "

[z0mbk1tty]

here's my list of other cool fictional characters i feel like miles be literally besties with:]

HEADS UP!! There are gonna be some huge spoilers from other fandoms and characters so if you havent watched/played/etc the stuff then i maybe recommend you to that or not! Its fine u dont wanna:)

ok so idk how to start the list BUT WHO CARES LETS DO IT ANYWAY BABEH!!!

(Also ill explain why i think the characters and miles could possibly be cool buddsters)

Tanjiro kamado from demon slayer/kimetsu no yaiba: i think tanjiros positivity and energetic personality would be a pretty good example i think but tanjiro really cares about others and will literally risk his own life just to save someone, so like if there was ever a tanjiro spiderman i feel like tanjiro would just be super positive and kind with miles. Like literally if someone is mad at tanjiro or something like that one scene in season 3 where genya is just being grumpy but tanjiro uses his best boi eyes and makes genya literally stunned lol. But tanjiro would also be also comforting and caring to miles because like just imagine if miles was sad and stuff but tanjiro is like "nuh uh!" And comforts him LIKE HHSHSHSHS!! Even in the anime he's caring and super kind,super light hearted,very pure like hes just a happy fella and i think miles needs a postive friend like tanjiro cuz if yall watched itsv and atsv...yk what poor miles had to go through bro😭

Deku/ Izuku Midoriya: OKK just a quick uhhh explaining uhmm...i haven't watched..mha.. IMM SORRYY IK UR GONNA HATE ON ME CUZ OF IT BUT LISTEENNNN!! HEAR ME OUT. i saw one fanart of a cool crossover with the characters miles and Deku and i just thought that they might be cool friends even tho i havent watched the anime or read the manga. But if you are a mha fan..PLS SHARE UR OPINION ON THISS😭😭

Kel/kelsey from omori: Again just like tanjiro. Kind of. Again i feel like miles needs an friend that is super positive and always tries to lighten the mood. Literally when mari died kel was still happy and joyful. Thats literally because he tries to lighten the mood of his friends and make them happy again like LAST YEARS BRO! He literally tried to help aubrey to stop bullying basil and tried maybe helping her to come back to the friend group like years ago yk? So imagine if frickin spider man kel or whatever actually does that to miles when he feels sad to? And plus i think kel and miles would be an pretty powerful duo as both spiderman lol.

Kagamine len/ Len: ik what yall gonna say for this. "oH iTs imPosSiblE foR thEm tO Be frIenDs bla bla bla"Quit with the chatterbox. IF there is a miku spider woman then there is a len spider man IDC. Anyways ik miles and len would be an unstoppable duo! Literally. Even tho len is a fricking voice machine and miles is a person with spider powers. They'd still be buddies if they met cause hear me out! Look ive never played pjsk before cuz of storage issues so i could never even detect what lens actual personality is like but to me he seems out going and funni:) and idk something about them screams best friends yk?

Hero/Henry (yes thats his real name..) from omori: wowzers another omori character. Yeah i kinda ran outta ideas so i just chose another omori character! But lemme cook rq brosters. If kel could be bros with miles then kels brother TOO!!! 1 he could prob teach miles some cooking recipes even tho he quitted doing that. 2 i feel like hero and miles would be like brother figure dynamic prob like kel i guess? And again MILES NEEDS MORE CARING FRIENDS BRO!! AND HERO IS CARING CUZ HE LITERALLY SAVED SUNNY FROM DROWNING AND BASIL TOO!!

Anyways thats all i have for this! Pls tell me what fictional characters you think miles could be buddies with in the comments or your opinions! And also its alright if you disagree with something in this list just remember that these are just my opinions so im fine with you not buying it lol

[sunnysviolin]

It's me again hello :)

My sister has a headcanon that some of the cast (the gang? The og friends? Not sure) used to be fans of psychological horror-esque games (such as Omori) before Mari's death and now they still enjoy them but have to be super super careful of triggers. I really like that headcanon ngl 👀

Hi there! Sorry for the wait on this (Universe why so much work) but I've talked a little bit about this and I definitely want to expand on it because my Suntan mind is at work

So in their little friend group there is a big divide on scary things. It splits fairly down the middle with Mari, Sunny, and Kel loving scary things and Hero, Basil, and Aubrey very much not. Even a cheesy bad 80s monster movie with terribly fake effects and horrible acting will scare Hero and Basil, and so they try to avoid watching scary movies as a group. If the horror junkies get a hankering to watch something frightening, then Basil and Hero will go into the kitchen to bake or into the dining room to play a board game.

Aubrey likes to pretend she isn't scared of anything (mostly to spite Kel who likes to tease her) but truthfully she doesn't like scary movies. Even when she gets older she doesn't like them, but she hides it better from the Hooligans. Luckily Mari and Hero realize what's happening quickly, and usually Hero can pull her away by saying that he needs an extra hand for baking or their game is 3+ players.

When it comes to video games however, I think this is where it's just Sunny and Kel. Mari isn't a big gamer, it just doesn't really hit the kind of thing she enjoys. Mari is a quick person with a sharp mind, so she probably would get pretty bored at the beginning of games that is easy things. With horror games, even the psychological ones, she would just get bored too fast to enjoy them. Plus something about a video game is different than a movie she can't suspend her disbelief long enough for it to be enjoyable as an experience. She's too busy trying to win instead of trying to play.

So scary games are Kel and Sunny's thing. Usually the whole group is together, but there are a good amount of times where they break out into smaller groups to do things. So when the other four are off in their own little groups, Sunny and Kel will go up to Kel's room and use his gaming systems to play scary games. They have other games they play too, but they both like the ones that make them jump a little bit or think too hard at night.

Post canon after the truth has come out, it's hard to be in a full group together at first. There's a lot of emotions there, and being all in one place usually exacerbates those emotions. The easiest thing to do is to start in small bursts, seeing a few of each other for a small bit of time

So Kel chooses scary games. It's the perfect solution, it's something that only he and Sunny enjoys, and he knows none of them will bug them. Of course now he does his best to choose games that don't have certain things. He avoids any games with mentions of suicide, and he also avoids games that are about covering up people's deaths. After a particular game that leaves Sunny shaking, he also avoids games that deal with voices inside of someone's head. Overall though the games bring them a lot closer together. Kel and Sunny are able to let go of how awkward they're supposed to feel and get back to being the best friends they used to be. Having Sunny lean his head on his shoulder while watching him play through a game resets something in both of them that was lost all those years ago.

Sometimes Hero will come in the room too. He doesn't sit and play with them, he's still scared and the wounds are still fresh, but he sits on his bed and reads or does some of his summer work for school. Kel always stays really casual about it to try and keep Sunny and Hero both feeling comfortable, and after awhile it's perfectly natural for Hero to come in while they're playing and even sit on Kel's bed faced away from the TV to chat with them

[melohax]

Sunny’s Feelings About Basil

Warning: Longass post ahead as usual. Also Major Spoilers.

I’ve gotten DMs here and there from people who read my OMORI story explanation. I’ve been asked if I’m implying Sunny is a Bad Person cus I say he subconsciously feels both love and hatred for Basil. Also have people asking me if I think their Sunny/Basil ship is bad or problematic so lemme clear those up!

So first off: about shipping.

I don’t really care about what anyone ships and for what reason.

I also don’t mind if someone ships a relationship that is considered “unhealthy”. Like seriously, don’t be scared to ship what you want how you want. You don’t need my permission or anyone else’s. Think up whatever scenarios you like about the story and its characters, have fun.

On to Sunny and Basil:

I’ve said before that it’s very obvious to me that Sunny loves Basil and much of the game revolves around Sunny’s quest to save him. I’ve also said before that I also think there’s hatred mixed in there with Sunny’s feelings for Basil.

I think resentment towards Basil does play a significant part in Sunny’s subconscious feelings for him. Like I said before, you can talk to invisible “strangers” in the blackspace hub if you press A (on controller) while walking between the doors. Those npcs have varying things to say, including sarcastic quips about how lucky Basil is to have Omori try to save him and they also say that they’ve seen what Omori does to Basil when he isn’t “pure” or “uncorrupted” enough for him.

The fact that those strangers are part of Sunny’s psyche to begin with kinda tells me that he subconsciously feels guilt over his mind’s treatment of Basil (both the idealized Basil and the one he calls “Stranger” at the same time) cus otherwise, the stranger npcs wouldn’t make a point of talking about the horrible things Omori does to Basil or being sardonic about it.

Shadow Basil also tells Omori that he was split in half the day Sunny “became nothing”, alluding to the two Basils Sunny created in his mind. He then asks Sunny which he thinks is more painful, becoming nothing or Basil being split in two. This tells me that this isn’t just about Sunny seeing Basil “out of reach” but that it’s him/Omori realizing the way his mind separates the “pure” part of Basil from the part of him that hurts Sunny with the truth he carries.

Then afterwards, there’s the event on the good ending route in the Blackspace church where Omori stabs Basil while the latter begs Omori to stop. Not only does Omori stab Basil but he purposefully walks on his corpse. This isn’t just him not caring about the “fake” Dreamworld Basil anymore. Deliberately spiteful imagery is being used there.

There’s also the pretty ruthless choices Sunny can make during his night sleeping over at Basil’s house.

Here’s the scene we see as soon as Sunny falls asleep in Basil’s living room:

We’re shown right there that Sunny isn’t as unaware of Basil’s intentions as he looks. This means he very likely knows Basil will hurt himself unless he intervenes. Its shown by how Sunny himself (not Omori) is lying down in Whitespace, watching Basil being enveloped by “Something” until he’s swallowed up while begging for forgiveness. Note Sunny’s “epiphany” expression too.

It’s no accident that it’s this moment that makes Sunny decide to face the truth once and for all

After this, you take Sunny through the Truth album. Basil has one request he repeats during this process and it’s for Sunny to please forgive him. Sunny’s mind is shown to fixate on Basil’s words with how many times he recalls Basil asking for forgiveness.

When Sunny wakes up from the Truth Album, that’s when we get the numerous options Sunny can take.

One of Sunny’s choices can be interpreted as a message that no, he doesn’t forgive Basil when he decides to go back to sleep in the living room. Sunny wakes up and gets to choose wether to look at Basil’s corpse or not. He can then choose to go back to his house, sleep until the next day and move out with his mom.

The evidence is very much there that Sunny preemptively knows that Basil is in danger. When you go to Basil’s door, you also get the option “Do you want to save Basil?”. The wording is important here, with how “save” implies that Sunny is aware Basil’s life is on the line, that he’s aware of the consequences of not entering Basil’s room. It’s also as if the prompt is asking Sunny if he actually wants to save Basil or if he’d rather let fate take its course with him.

You can then choose “No” and then you can also choose to just go back to the living room and sleep. These are all choices Sunny can as a character can make, which imo shows his intentions without outright spelling them out. Its Sunny making a deliberate choice there of leaving Basil to die.

We could say Sunny’s fear of having to live with the truth is involved in this as well but I don’t think that’s the main reason. The fact that this whole sequence of events happens right after Sunny’s mind has been ruminating on Basil’s apologies, I get the feeling that this is all Sunny’s answer to Basil’s question of “Will you forgive me?”. Whatever action Sunny decides to take right after waking up in the living room is his final answer to Basil.

To clarify, none of this means that I’m saying Sunny is “evil” or whatever. I’ve written another analysis post before on why I really disagree with people who say Sunny is primarily cruel and/or a psychopath. Darker feelings like resentment and even anger make sense for Sunny to feel alongside fear, yearning, sadness and remorse.

Sunny’s coping mechanism of “It did not happen/ I do not see it” means it makes sense if he subconsciously also feels some particular bitterness towards Basil. Not only does Basil always inevitably force Sunny to see the truth with his mere presence alone but the way Sunny tries to avoid facing his own actions as much as possible means that blaming Basil even just a bit helps with taking himself out of Mari’s death. Another way to interpret it is that this could be a way he can use to avoid admitting what he himself did to Mari.

So yeah TL:DR: Ship whatever you like and Sunny is a complex character capable of both good and bad things simultaneously. None of this makes him irredeemable or evil or whatever.

[voltrinityub]

Omori AU - Mari Pushes Sunny Down the Stairs and Basil Witnesses it

//Spoiler Warning for the Omori end game! Even though it’s an AU, I don’t want to leave implied spoilers!! 

//Trigger warning for death and graphic imagery!

Omori AU where Mari pushed Sunny down the stairs and Basil is the one who witnessed it.

Major points -

Basil was visiting Sunny’s house to play before their recital. The twins had just finished a routine practice session but Sunny was upset and Mari was mad at him.

Soon after Basil arrives, the two fight, and Sunny grabs his violin and throws it down the stairs. It breaks at the bottom of the staircase.

Mari storms up to him out of anger. The two proceed to argue and fight back and forth. Basil is watching in disbelief the whole time.

Mari suddenly pushes Sunny down the stairs during their fight. He lands at the bottom on top of the violin, a snap was heard during his fall. Basil watches in disbelief.

After a few moments, Mari realizes what she’s done and rushes to her brother. She tries to wake him up and notices he isn’t moving or responding.

Meanwhile, Basil’s in shock at what he witnessed. His perception of Mari is changed from this event and now he fears her and is afraid of her and seeing his best friend dead.

Mari’s Something takes the form of Sunny with a limp expression, while Basil’s Something takes the form of Mari’s silhouette because he now fears her.

They end up contacting their parents and emergency personnel. The event is played off as an accident after authorities questioned Mari and Basil about what happened. Neither of them could formulate the courage to admit what happened (Basil’s in too much shock, Mari is breaking down and doesn’t want to get in trouble).

Basil is unable to confront Mari or be with her from that point onward and starts to seclude himself from others after watching his best friend die. He couldn’t bear to see Sunny’s face in photos anymore after that, so he removed them from his photo album in addition to scribbling out Mari’s face on some.

Mari goes into a depressive state and ends up quitting piano because of this. She puts off going to college for a little while until after she moves away.

The gang would be affected by Sunny’s death and not hang out as much anymore. Basil’s too traumatized to play with them and stops attending school. Mari doesn’t attend school for a while and Hero helps her with taking notes, etc, and starts to spend less time with the others. Kel and Aubrey begin to fight more now that they’re alone and eventually drift apart. Everyone is upset by Sunny’s death.

((I don’t think Basil or Mari would play off Sunny’s death as a suicide, but I also don’t think they’d completely tell the truth either. They’re still young and don’t want to suffer the consequences, whatever they maybe, so it is played off as an accident instead))

More under the cut if you’re interested!

Story Breakdown

I wanted to include how I envisioned this to play out. So, if you’d like to read some of my 3am thoughts then enjoy lol.

Beforehand -

The day starts off perfectly normal. Sunny was practicing with his sister in preparation for their recital. He had asked Basil beforehand to come play with him later that day.

Basil arrives at Sunny’s house just as he and Mari finished practicing. The door opens with a somewhat annoyed Sunny and Mari yelling at him from inside the house. Something was off with the two of them and Basil could tell Sunny was upset and so was Mari, but he didn’t ask.

As Basil and Sunny were starting to play in the living room together, Mari comes in and complains to Sunny about storming off from their practice to play and not playing well enough (she wanted their duet to be perfect)! Sunny is annoyed and doesn’t care, saying he just wants to play with his friend.

Mari and Sunny continue to argue while Basil is still settling down. Basil watches as his two friends fight about their playing and attempts to calm them down but is too timid for them to pay him any attention.

The two’s argument gets worse when Sunny storms off to his bedroom to grab his Violin he just put away, while Mari is demanding he stays put and Basil just watches his two friends fight. (Arguments between Sunny and Mari are few and far between, and when they do happen they resolve very quickly or are about little things. But this one is different: it’s more physical and there’s genuine tension between the two he’s never noticed before.)

Angry by Mari’s demands and bickering, and sick of practicing a hobby he thought would be fun, Sunny throws his violin down the stairs in a fit of rage, frustration — you name it.

Basil and Mari hear an instrument crash against the hardwood floor and run to the stairwell to find Sunny’s gifted violin broken at the bottom of the stairs.

At first, Basil is just shocked and all he can do is watch. Sunny’s at the top of the steps angry and crying. Mari, however shocked in disbelief she is at first, storms up the stairs to Sunny.

The two begin to argue more and this time they’re getting physical. Mari’s yelling at him, asking all sorts of questions out of her anger and disbelief. (“Why would you do that? You broke the present we all saved up for you? And our recital!? You completely ruined our recital!”)

Meanwhile, Sunny’s breaking down and angry because he’s so frustrated with how strict Mari is during practice and how much he hates doing this. He won’t ever be good enough for her and is just sick of hearing how to improve or about their concert later. He’s had it.

Basil is watching from the bottom of the stairs, hiding behind a wall watching his best friend and his sister fight. He’s too timid (and scared) to break them up or speak up; all he can do is watch as they hit one another and shove one another.

During -

Then it happens. Between the sibling’s fighting and bickering, Mari pushes Sunny down the stairs.

Several loud thuds later and Sunny crashed at the bottom, into his broken violin, with an audible snapping sound along the way.

Mari’s at the top of the steps still heaving and angry.

Basil watched in horror as someone he loved and trusted just pushed his best friend down the stairs, in total shock and not moving at first; this will lead to him fearing Mari and this day ((will explain more further down)).

A few moments pass and Sunny isn’t moving. Mari catches her breath and Basil emerges more from the corner, flickering his gaze between Mari and Sunny lying limp on the ground.

When the two take clear notice Sunny isn’t moving, panic sets in. Mari realizes her mistake and runs down the steps to her brother, stopping at his side.

Basil’s still in shock but slowly moves forward. He’s starting to breath rapidly and rationalize what the hell just happened.

Mari’s now freaking out next to Sunny’s body. She tries to wake him up, tries to move him slightly or tap on him to get a response. She tries her best but there isn’t any response... Sunny’s just limp. And all Basil can do is watch.

“S-Sunny?” Basil sheepishly mutters, now he’s only a few steps away from his friends. He notices Sunny’s limp posture and expression; Sunny’s face is scarred into his memories.

Amidst Mari’s panic, she hears Basil and demands him to grab the house phone for her.

Basil’s startled at the demand but heads to grab the house phone in the other room. He’s shaking and breathing violently, comprehending what happened (“Mari’s a good person, she’d never do that! It’s just an accident! Mari didn’t mean it! That wasn’t Mari!”).

Meanwhile, Mari doesn’t know what to do and her hysteria is taking over. She can’t think or reason but she’s mature enough to know to call someone: ((I believe Mari would be more mature and knows her brother needs help but still isn’t responsible enough to rationalize it completely and do the best thing. I don’t believe she would try to cover it up and I also don’t believe Basil would suggest something as such to her. Personally, I think they would be too terrified of the consequences of doing so))

Once Basil returns with the phone, Mari snatches it from his hand. She can’t decide who to call first — her parents, Hero’s house next door, or 911 for help. She doesn’t have time to think though and her first instinct is to call Hero’s house to get someone else here.

Mari calls Hero’s house and cries when she hears him answer. She sobs and painfully asks him to come over with his parents, muttering something about Sunny and needing help. It’s hard to understand but Mari’s panicking like he’s never heard before.

Within a minute, Hero’s rushing into the house with his parents right behind him. Kel was out with Aubrey, so neither of them are here (and that’s for the best).

Hero ignores Basil who’s hiding behind the wall still in shock and rushes to Mari’s side. Hero yells to his parents to call an ambulance and they do.

Meanwhile, Basil is dissociating and hard. Panic, fear, confusion — any and every type of feeling is running through his brain after seeing his friend get pushed down the stairs by his sister. Basil looks at Mari with horror and an image of a black distorted figure takes his mind in place of Mari (his Something).

Basil drowns out the commotion of Mari, Hero’s family, and the EMT that arrive the whole time. He’s sitting against the wall in shambles until one of the authorities snaps him out of his trance. 

Meanwhile, Sunny was taken away in an ambulance with Hero’s mom (Mari and Sunny’s parents weren’t there, and Mari was still freaking out so Hero’s mom volunteered to go with them until their parents arrived)

The authorities begin to question Basil and Mari about what happened. Mari claims it was an accident and found Sunny like that, not completely telling the truth. But all Basil can really say is “it was an accident.” 

The entire case was written off as an accident. Neither Mari nor Basil could clearly confess what happened even though they both know what happened.

Afterwards -

Hero’s mom goes with the EMT service and contacts Sunny’s parents along the way, meanwhile Hero’s dad stayed behind. Hero ends up walking Basil home and can’t get a response out of him.

Once Sunny’s parents and Mari get to the hospital, it’s too late. Sunny died going down the stairs with his neck snapping. There wasn't anything they could do to save him.

The recital never happened that night.

Basil found out that same night his friend was dead and he witnessed it.

The next few days are met with grief, remorse, sorrow, and regret on Mari’s half.

Mari’s family is mourning the loss of their son. The news is broken to Kel me Aubrey the next day. They’re both sad and confused.

Sunny’s funeral was hard to sit through. All of his friends attended but Basil couldn’t rationalize it. The whole time at his funeral, all he could do is stare at Mari in fear and disbelief while he mourned the loss of his best friend. It left him sick to his stomach.

Mari is crying the entire time and regrets pushing him down the stairs and to his limits. She should’ve been a better sister.

After this, Mari would fall into a deep depressive state. She would end up quitting playing the piano and resenting it. She would stop going to school and would rely on Hero to bring her class notes, but she never had the enthusiasm to try hard anymore and eventually just stops.

Basil stops going to school after this for a while, most likely the rest of the year until he has enough strength to go again. But he has a hard time confronting his friends out of anxiety and fear from that night. He doesn’t want them to know what happened.

Due to Sunny’s death and both Mari and Basil confiding themselves to their homes, their group starts to break up.

Hero has little time to hang out with his brother and Aubrey while he’s swamped with school work, college prep, and trying to help Mari (I believe Hero would try to make Mari happy and help her, but would stop once he has to go off to college without her).

Kel and Aubrey begin to fight more without the others around. They blame one another in their grief and confusion until eventually they stop playing together. 

Aubrey eventually finds another group of friends and starts to bully Kel and Basil once he returns back to school.

Kel takes up doing sports to get his mind off of things. He tries to play with Basil still, but Basil has put up a wall between him and everyone else so Kel eventually gives up trying to talk to Basil.

The next several years, the gang is older but still hurt and distant. Sunny’s death was the unfortunate event that caused them all to drift apart.

Mari -

Mari’s Something would look like Sunny’s limp face after she saw him at the bottom of the stairs. It haunts her constantly.  Her Something is a manifestation of grief, regret, self-hate, remorse, and anxiety.

I don’t believe Mari would have a headspace in this AU because she is older than Sunny in the original game, so it wouldn’t make too much sense to me if she had a Headspace to hide in. Instead, Mari would just be room-bound and would never make an effort to do anything or see anyone in her depression.

However, if Mari did have a headspace, I think it would revolve around the friend group and playing the piano. It wouldn’t be as crazy as Sunny’s in the original, but just a dream world she would find herself in where her brother was still alive and happy and not tormented by playing the violin.

I also believe Mari would rely on Hero for the first portion of this tragedy until he eventually has to go away to college, leaving her with only texts and calls instead of coming over to visit. Before Hero goes off to college, he tries to balance school work,  keeping his friend group happy, and caring for Mari whom he’d come to visit and support.

Basil -

Basil’s Something would look like a distorted version of Mari’s silhouette the day she pushed Sunny down the stairs. It would haunt him relentlessly to the point where Basil can’t even see Mari. This Something would be a manifestation of grief, anxiety, fear, and sadness.

Basil would find it hard to hang out with his old friends in fear of seeing Mari or somehow changing their perception of her. So he chooses to keep the truth to himself and hides away. 

Thank you for reading if you made it this far! 

I was just thinking one night “what would’ve happened if Sunny fell down the stairs and Basil was there?” This was just one of those crazy ideas I had to type out and imagine, so I hope you enjoyed it or will think about it with me. 

I apologize if my thoughts are a bit misconstrued but feel free to add on to this or whatever. I think the story could have a dramatic change if Sunny was the one who was pushed down the stairs that day and died rather than Mari.

If anyone wants me to expand on this AU story a bit more or has questions, let me know. I’m not the best story teller and I didn’t want to make this too long.

[frauleinjustice]

Present for J: suntan one-shot!!

Supriiiise~! I wanted to write up a short lil suntan one-shot for my good friend @magicalmasa for her birthday!! 🍰​​ I really wanted to post it yesterday, but I sadly became so much busier until nighttime, so I apologize for that: but I still hope this can be a lil surprise for you to see~!

Summary: Sunny and Kel spend the weekend night together, with Kel spending the night over at Sunny’s house! They have lots of fun, spending time together... and they’re boyfriends, so Sunny also loves to just... relax and be happy with the boy that he loves...

So basically, just some mindless suntan fluff! This is my first time ever writing Sunny and Kel, and an OMORI one-shot in general, so I hope it’s good, and that you especially will love it, J!! ☆ ilu homie!! And to anyone else who may read this, thank you!! Hope you enjoy as well!

Sunny liked weekends. Not just in general, but especially because he could stay up late with Kel. The other was going to spend the night at Sunny’s house. Since Mari was still away at college with Hero, it admittedly got a bit lonelier in the house... so whenever his boyfriend could spend time with him, it made Sunny truly happy.

They even made a blanket fort, bringing up snacks and drinks from the kitchen as they planned to watch some movies, play video games together, read some comics... jokingly telling themselves that sleep was the last thing they will actually be doing.

“Aww, I was so close! You really are too good at this game, Sunny.” They were currently playing a fighting game together, Sunny winning yet again as Kel dramatically sighs in defeat.

“...Get good, Kel.” Despite the stone-faced look on Sunny’s face as he says that, there’s a hint of a smirk on his face as he looks towards him.

“Excuse you? Where’d you learnt that from, huh?” He laughs, wrapping one arm around Sunny while his other hand playfully gives Sunny’s head a noogie. “If we ever play a basketball game together, we’ll see who’s the one that really needs to get good, hah!”

“Hehe....” A quiet giggle leaves Sunny from the noogie and Kel’s remark, playfully patting at his arm. Sunny wasn’t the most expressive, so it might be hard to tell if he’s being serious or not when trying to be playful or sarcastic. But of course; Kel knows Sunny more than well enough to tell. Sunny sometimes worried if he was far too quiet for Kel’s liking... but Kel always made sure to reassure him that he loves Sunny the way that he is. He doesn’t need to change anything about himself to make Kel love him more.

“Alright! Ready to make fun of some comically bad movies?” After letting go of Sunny, he holds up several DVD’s with a widening smile on his face. “I’ve got several.”

“Mmhm.” Sunny points to one of them, looking like some kind of action movie. The movie was so badly written that Kel was nearly spitting out his soda with laughter, and even Sunny almost choking when he couldn’t hold in his laughter as he was eating a slice of pizza. The sarcastic comments they’d make about the ridiculous parts of the movie, plus them sometimes mocking the characters if they said something stupid... made for one hilarious movie nights full of laughter and Sunny’s mom having to come into the room a few times to tell them to be quieter, them apologizing each time. Though she was happy to see her son having so much fun with Kel: it wasn’t often he had such a wide smile on his face and clearly looking like he was having a lot of fun.

As they continued to chat the night away afterwards while the TV was now mostly background noise for whatever channel was playing at the moment... sleepiness eventually did start to catch up with the boy as it reached 2am, them getting comfy under the blankets in their forts. “Sleepyyy... guess we failed the ‘Staying Up All Night’ objective, huh?” He chuckles, Sunny nodding in response. “But I don’t mind that. Cause...well...” Feeling his face starting to heat up, he wraps an arm around Sunny’s waist to pull him close. “I-It means we can fall asleep together...cuddled up and stuff. H-Hehe...”

“Kel...” Sunny’s own cheeks turned a light pink as he found himself huddled up closer against Kel. In the couple of months that they’ve started dating by now, they have cuddled a few times before, yet Sunny still felt his heart leap as if it were the first time they were doing so all over again. Kel felt so warm... he loves being in his arms. As he stares up at his much taller boyfriend, there’s a light smile on his face as he teases: “...Cute.”

“Ah-h-hey, come on! It’s already embarrassing saying this kind of mushy stuff. Don’t tease me!” He bashfully laughs, feeling his cheeks heat up even more. Kel really didn’t think, before he started crushing on and dating Sunny: that’d he find himself saying such intimate and romantic things. He jokes to himself that 12 year-old him would gag at the thought of saying such ‘sappy, cheesy’ stuff. But he didn’t mind that... he happily wants to get more used to it. He’s fully of love for Sunny... and wants to express that in every way, shape, and form that he can.  

A soft yawn leaves Sunny as he snuggles up against Kel some more, burying his face in his chest. He could hear Kel’s heartbeat... the sound being so soothing to him. He could listen to it all night if he could... “...You’re warm, Kel.” He softly mumbles, in a near whisper. “I like it... it makes sleeping feel even better.” And here he had thought before that nothing could beat the coziness of Mari’s former bed... but in Kel’s arms, he feels like he could drift off right away. “And your heartbeats....sound nice..”

“Sunny...” While it admittedly does fluster Kel to also be told such intimate things in turn, it made his heart warm. He initially never thought he’d be told such things before... and that someone could fall for him so deeply like this. He could still remember the day where he finally gathered the courage to confess to Sunny, and how unusually nervous he felt the whole time before doing so; and how happy their friends felt for him and Sunny when they told everyone they started dating. He could look back on it now and laugh it off, now thinking himself silly for fearing the worst if Sunny rejected him. He mostly had Mari to thank, since she of course knows her little brother more than anyone, and reassured Kel that her brother felt the same way: that he made Sunny light up in a way no one else could. And funnily enough, in turn: Hero reassuring Sunny that Kel surely likes him back, since he also knows his own little brother better than anyone else: and that Kel always looks especially happy whenever he’s with Sunny. “....I’m glad.” He mutters just as softly, smiling warmly. His other hand goes to gently comb through the boy’s soft black hair. “I wanna... be like a nice blanket for you to cuddle, you know? Kind of like how you feel like a soft pillow! Haha....” He gives Sunny a soft squeeze, humming as he softly nuzzles him more.

“...I’m happy, too.” He truly did want to feel just as nice for Kel to hold, too. He wishes he could go to sleep in Kel’s arms every night...Feeling his eyes start to droop, Sunny speaks up after a few moments. “...Kel.”  

“Yeah, Sunny...?”

“......” He could feel his heart starting to race. Even if he’s of course said it before, he was still so shy about doing so....it stil felt so foreign to him. But whenever he said it, it made him feel fuzzy inside: he was excited to eventually grow used to saying it. “....I love you.” Sleepy eyes dart up at the boy, his ears turning red.

“H-Heheh...” No matter how used to it Kel would eventually get... it still made his heart burst whenever Sunny tells him he loves him; and of course, he always wants to say it right back, too. Gently kissing the top of his head, he beams a brighter smile at him. “I... love you, too, Sunny! You’re the best boyfriend ever. Now let’s get some sleep...  I wanna continue to have lots more fun with you tomorrow. G’niiiight....”

“Mm: sounds fun. Goodni...” And just like that, Kel was already out like a light, hearing him softly snore with a goofy, content look on his face. “Falling asleep in seconds as always. Kel...” He quietly laughs under his breath, loving the dorky little traits about Kel like that. Honestly, everything about Kel, he adored. He found him to be the best boyfriend ever, too. He leans up real quick for a moment... so he can press a soft, light peck to Kel’s lips. With his arms wrapped tightly around Kel, he rests his head against Kel’s chest once more as he finishes: “...Goodnight, Kel.” Before he eventually drifts off, too. He was looking forward to the morning, to continue having more fun with him.

[arcanescholar]

Hard To Find The Right Words

Omori Post True Good Ending Spoilers. 

Aubrey having a tough time, etc etc. Enjoy maybe??? Might get more chapters later if I feel like it???????????? FUCK????????????

Ch 2 

On the long, long list of “shit Aubrey’s had to put up with” for the past few days…

This special, insidious sort of dizziness has gotta be a new one. Seriously, give a girl a break right? Who the fuck is able to handle this many highs and lows at once? It’s enough to make her head spin, and the hospital taking her bat away wasn’t helping matters.

The words that tumbled from Sunny’s placid, stony expression, his singular eye barely betraying the shaky, unsteady difficulty in handling recounting the story, made her stomach turn.

Shit, what a time to be thinking about what she had for lunch. If it comes back up right now she might straight up die of embarrassment y’know?

She couldn’t even turn her attention to Kel or Hero but, with the way the younger had to take a step back and struggle to find any words, and how the elder seemed to freeze like a statue, she had a feeling they were in just as bad of a spot.

“… and, that’s what happened.”

Sunny finally finishes recounting his story, and before he can say another word, Hero is already lunging, Ken barely able to snag his less-in-shape brother before he gets the chance to do whatever he was about to.

Aubrey, though…?

Years of anger, years of hatred and fury and bottled up impatience, a near lifetime of bitterness bubbles in her gut and sends her vision swimming.

Huh.

She just remembered, it was pizza.

Weird, why is Sunny getting so much taller? Kel? Hero? How come her knees started hurting suddenly-

Oh.

Oh, her legs gave out. That makes sense. God, her hair’s getting in her eyes, was it already starting to lose its color? Why is it so hard to focus on anything right now? She should be pissed! She should be picking up hospital equipment and chucking it out a window right now! So why can’t she move?! Why?!

For once, Aubrey can’t summon up her anger. For the first time in who only knows how long, she feels like the scared little girl that had to hide away when holes got punched into walls, that covered her head in her room and squeezed herself into a corner with her rabbit when the arguing got too loud. Her breath catches in her throat and refuses to let up. Is she going to die?

She can’t handle this again. Not now. She’s not strong enough, she’s not tough enough to deal with this-

….

Pap

… A hand rests against her head. That brief touch is enough to peel back the veil and drag focus back kicking and screaming into reality. She almost reflexively goes to turn and smack the hand out of the way, only to realize part way through her turn that it was just Basil’s arm, flopping out from the mattress and accidentally brushing against her head for a moment. The boy was still asleep, still a mess of injuries that made her nearly throw up seeing him in that state.

She might have bullied him, fantasized about beating him to an inch of his life, thought about crushing that bat of hers against his skull more times than she could count. She might have turned that weapon on Kel and Sunny both at least once before, but…

Seeing him like this, seeing Sunny with that eye patch, having lost sight in one of his eyes for what might be the rest of his life?

…

She takes Basil’s hand in hers and carefully stands up. Hero and Kel had been shouting for at least a minute now, she’s not sure how long it’s been since they started processing what happened in their own way. A shove is all Hero needs to finally get out of Kel’s grip, giving him time to damn near sprint out of the room, tackling the door hard enough to almost knock it off of its hinges before dashing out of the room.

Almost without thinking, Kel dips out, rushing after his brother with words that only come across like muffled noises in Aubrey’s ears.

… … …

There was a time when she confided in Mari, a time when she spoke to her about what was happening back at home, she remembered the pain in the older girl’s face, and the words she told her as she let Aubrey rest her head in her lap one quiet afternoon, just between the two of them.

“It’s not my place to say, but… If I could, I’d adopt you right now and give you the biggest welcome to the family hug I could…! Family should never hurt family. No one should ever raise a hand to a loved one and mean it, and the fact that they’re scaring you like that just isn’t right…” The older sister murmured at the time. Aubrey remembers now, Mari brushed her fingers through her hair in a really specific and special way that she almost forgot about.

It was like tracing little circles into her skin with her fingers, like trying to massage the fear from her brain, reaching in deep and grasping the wellspring of her despair and coaxing it out to let her think clearly again…

“When you get older… When things seem tough and scary and you don’t know what to do, that you feel like you’ve got nowhere else you can turn to. You might want to get mad, you might get really furious at having to deal with so much as a kid, but… Promise me, you won’t turn that anger on your friends, okay? Take a breath-”

… Haaaaahhh…

“-center yourself-”

Aubrey gives Basil’s hand a light squeeze. She can hear the hum of medical equipment and the sound of Hero and Kel’s footsteps retreating again.

“-and remember all the precious people you have in your life.”

She wasn’t the sort to pay the most attention to school, but, in this moment, a line she read in a book she had to read a few weeks back crosses her mind again.

“They asked, ‘do you love her to death’? And I said ‘speak of her over my grave, and watch how she brings me back to life’.” (1)

Funny how things dredge up in your memory at the weirdest possible moments, she thinks. For the first time, she’s starting to understand at least some of what those words really mean. 

…

After a moment, she carefully tucks Basil’s hand back into the bed, before letting loose a light huff through her nose. He’s still sleeping, if a bit more fitfully from all the noise.

“… Kh. Don’t gotta remind me like that y’know? Puts a bad taste in my mouth…” She nearly spits, trying to mask herself with bitterness.

It wouldn’t be long before hospital security came to drag Sunny back to his bed and cut this conversation short, she had to act fast.

She steps forward, and without hesitation, reaches up… and presses her hand on Sunny’s head, rubbing her fingers through his hair, tracing circles and massaging with a silent, stony expression that matches his own. She was still sick to her stomach, her balance was still terrifically uneasy, but…

“… I’ll come talk to you again later, okay?”

She pulls her hand back, and gives him a light punch to his shoulder before stepping out of the room.

“For what it’s worth…” She says, pausing in the door frame as she hears the sounds of shoes squeaking against tile flooring as the hospital staff finally approaches to do their damn jobs.

“I kinda get it. I understand it. I’ve been there. I’m not good at talking about this kind of thing, but, if you need to talk, I can give listening a try... this time.”

Sunny was going to leave after he recovered enough for the hospital to let him loose with his frankly fucking negligent mom. There was nothing she could do that would change that, but…

At least for now, at least while he was still recovering in the hospital, she could finally, actually speak to him.

“… Thanks for opening up Sunny. Give Hero a bit. That guy’s so strung up trying to be the best of us that I guess even he’s gotta snap at some point right?”

Says the girl trying to play mom-friend to the most broken-ass friend group in the tristate area. Christ, trying to be a decent person sucks. How the fuck did Hero pull it off for so damn long?

“Aubrey…”

“Yeah Sunny?”

“… thank you. I’m sorry.”

“Kh, fuck that, I almost drowned both you and Basil. If I started whining about accidents that happened in fits of rage I’d be the worst hypocrite in history, y’know?”

“…”

“Talk to Basil and let him know what happened if he wakes up before the staff drag you back to your room or something. I’ll let ‘em know you need a sec.”

With that, she carefully shuts the door.

What she says to the staff, what kind of look she gives them is growled with enough force and tinged with enough protective violence that it gives them just enough pause for the young boys to exchange an all too important smile of mutual understanding. 

Even if Aubrey never saw it, that little moment of clarity between them saved both of their lives in a way she’d refuse to take credit for helping make happen, knowing her.

A busted, crappy, cracked-screen phone buzzes to life as she walks past the staff. God, she fucking hates it here. The way her shoes hit the tiles, the way the equipment sounds, the fact that every time she’s come here, she’s ended up crying for some reason or another-

Shit, here come the water works now. Damn it Aubrey, at least make it out the door first-

A trip and a tumble nearly sends her falling straight to the floor but, she snaps out her hand just in time to snatch onto a handrail on the side of one of the hallways, her head still spinning as she sags against the floor, her phone toppling out of her jacket’s pocket and landing on its back with a loud, spinning clatter, settling in upside down to her perspective. Tear drops spatter onto the screen, distorting the light and scattering rainbow patterns across its surface. Gah. Add that to the damage. This just isn’t her day. 

Behind a call notification, her background shows the cork board in her room with the pictures she yanked out of Basil’s album after saving them from their near ruined state, mixed in with pictures of her and her other friends she made in the time that passed since. A little bubble on the screen bounces about, showing a picture of Kim flashing a peace sign with a bright eyed wink that reflects in Aubrey’s tired eyes, refracting as it passes underneath her teardrops.  “… Hhfffhh…”

She eventually picks her phone up off the ground and answers it. A hospital staffer looks about ready to tell her off for using her phone in the hallway but, lets be honest.

The kind of glare Aubrey gives off as she very deliberately swipes her finger across the screen to accept the call is the sort that would give most adults pause.

“… Hey.”

“Aubrey!!!! You finally picked up!!!”

“…”

“I was so worried when I heard about what happened! Kh, stupid hospital not letting us in…!”

“…”

“… Aubrey? Are you there? I can kinda hear you breathing so you probably didn’t butt-accept the call or something!”

“Yeah. Yeah I’m here.”

“Jeez, how come you weren’t saying anything? Did those ner-”

An audible pause. Kim clears her throat after a second.

“Sorry, uh, did those guys get out of the woods okay…? I kinda only caught the cliffnotes of you going to the hospital from that text you sent me so…”

“They’re fine.”

Aubrey steps outside the hospital’s visiting center doors and finally breathes fresh air for the first time in what felt like days.

“Or… They’re as fine as they can be. Sort of. Kinda.” She continues, stepping over to one of the benches outside and taking a seat, drinking in the sounds of chirping birds, gentle breezes, swaying trees, and the sensation of warm sunlight… It was a beautiful day, and she didn’t feel nearly good enough to appreciate any of it.

“That’s good at least yeah? Uh… Hrmggh. I’m bad at this kinda thing but… Uh. If there’s anything you need to talk about, you can hit me and the others up at any time yeah?”

Kim’s voice was surprisingly tender, tender enough that it manages to draw a sniff out from Aubrey, forcing her to bring a hand up to her eyes and rub it across them to make sure she didn’t show any tears yet god damn it-

Ugh. Where’s Kel’s Taurine soaked brain anyway. He’s better about handling this kinda energy! Does- shit, does he even like energy drinks?

“Aubreeeeey, if you keep going silent I’m gonna think someone kidnapped you y’know. Gotta pull the whole gang together, beat up on the nearest creepos till we find you! The Maverick’s got a Style Meter App on his phone that does those shouts from that one game so we’ll even get t’ have our own hype-men-”

The thought of Michael in a parking lot with a buffer sword in one hand and a phone in the other trying to do combos for a video to put on his Way Too Many Social Media accounts hits Aubrey with a second hand cringe that nearly brings her to her knees.

“UGGGHHHH!” Aubrey finally cracks, a doofy grin hitting her lips despite her audible mental suffering, slumping back in the chair and nearly sliding out of it entirely, a few tears finally trickling down her eyes as her body releases its tension at last.

“I can’t believe that try hard seriously sprung for something like that. If he tries that shit in public in front of me I’m making’ his screen look like mine.” Aubrey finally grumbles, adjusting her bow. “… Right, I left my bat at home. Ugh.”

“There we go! Now you’re talking’ again. Jeez, way to make a girl worry… Charlene was getting ready to find some flowers to give to you too, the sweetheart.”

“She’s more of an angel than Angel is…”

“Right?! Maybe we should make Angel give up on his nickname-”

“Don’t bother, Charlene’d never let him do it.”

“You’re so right it’s actually kinda annoying.”

“She’s the best of us, y’know.”

“…”

“…”

“So, can you like, talk about what happened at all now or…?”

“… Hang out spot, by the lake, be there in 20.”

“Should I bring the rest of the group-”

“Not this time, Kim.”

The call ends without another word, another ping showing on her phone’s screen showing string of texts from Kel.

JrangeOoe: hey!!!!! ;v;

JrangeOoe: sorry i left you alone with sunny and basil there, hero was having a really bad freak out

JrangeOoe: mom and dad and i are workin with him now, gonna try to calm him down will be back at hospital to give basil and sunny another visit later

JrangeOoe: gonna be honest, this is giving me a little time to figure this stuff out too so, thanks hero for the panic i guess??????

JrangeOoe: ugh no that’s not fair

JrangeOoe: anyway, if you need to chill and get some ginos later i found 10 bucks in a visiting center couch and was trying to hide it but

JrangeOoe: today’s a “spread the wealth” sorta day

It took a couple of moments of hesitation, but…

headhooligan: dinner, maybe

headhooligan: fuck this whole dumbs week

headhooligan: i got some spare cash so i’ll chip in too to get hero something if it’ll help

headhooligan: also what the fuck how are you so calm about this are your parents not trying to work you through this too or something?!

JrangeOoe: uh

JrangeOoe: no but i think hero needs it more right now!!!

JrangeOoe: i dunno how i feel, i guess i’m just to worried about everyone else to think about it?

JrangeOoe: *too

JrangeOoe: i’ll catch you later for dinner tho, if i can get hero to calm down enough to feel safe leaving him be with mom and dad

JrangeOoe: get a feelings jam up in here

JrangeOoe: pizza and ice cream or whatever

JrangeOoe: not at your place tho tbh your mom kinda freaks me out like a lot

headhooligan: >:/

JrangeOoe: what? it’s the truth!

With a roll of her eyes, Aubrey stuffs her phone away, wrenching her bike out of its lock from the hospital’s parking lot bike rack and mounting up. She takes one, final, long look at the hospital’s monolithic facade, and thinks about just how high up that building goes before shaking her head, and pedaling off.

The whole ride home, all she can do is play back today’s events again, and again, and again. Hear the same story in Sunny’s stilted monotone, again, and again, and again.

Every instinct, every trained gut reaction, every beaten in urge and desire tells her she should hate him.

He stole her from everyone, he murdered her, broke her skull against the floor like some raging animal then strung her up like a horror show for everyone to see just to avoid consequences with Basil’s help-

… But…

That panic that gripped her chest when Basil fell in the water from her shove just a few days ago, the terror at taking not one life, but two when Sunny jumped in after him, still unable to swim.

“…”

Her pedaling gets harder, more forceful, making the aging, damaged frame of her hand me down, fourth hand bike creak and groan in protest, hair billowing behind her in a tangled mess of poorly kept locks…

What should be anger gives way to an oddly calm understanding, what should be hatred and fury and violence wraps itself so tightly in its own chaotic energy that all she can do is…

…

There’s not a cloud in the sky, but raindrops spatter on concrete and asphalt where she rides, leaving a trail of sorrow four years in the making, finally given “closure”, finally released.

—-

(1) Credit to Mahmoud Darwish for this legendary line.

[madamecricket]

Third Impressions of Omori

Okay then. I’m gonna try and be a bit more sparing with my impressions and just go with whatever really stands out to me, but there was A LOT this time around.

- I checked a walkthrough real quick and it turns out a place I mistook the next place I needed to go to for a route back. Whoops. The next large bit of progress goes by quickly. Thankfully I understand how the follow up attacks work now, so I take care of Space Boyfriend without too much trouble (especially because Aubrey knows Team Spirit now)

- I wander into the next story flag while seeing if I can find Hector under the ladder we took to get up here. I really hope that isn’t missable.

- A shadow figure (who looks a bit like Basil, possibly?) leads me through a field of cattails scattered with what I must assume are flashbacks. We find a barn with a long staircase inside (oh jeez, this again) topped with a family picture and a key for Hangman.

- I’m pretty sure the last words in the hangman puzzle are black place, but I guess I’ll find out for sure when I find the K, L, and P keys.

- aaaaaaand, we’re back in white space again, goddammit. I leave the same way we left last time. You have to stop doing this, Omori!

- this time it’s morning, and I am greeted by Kel who wasn’t aware that we were moving. I agree to spend the day with him because why not? I’m not actually sure whether I’ll get a “but thou must” if I refuse, but I genuinely want to see where this goes.

- where tf is everything goddammit Sunny you might live here but this is my first time seeing this town!!!! thankfully Kel is here to gently correct us when we go off track. 

- Okay, so we get to the park, and... okay, so I was incorrect about Basil being dead. Looks like his hair isn’t really green, though. It looks like he’s very much alive, and very much being bullied.

- we challenge the bully, and- Aubrey?!?!?!111?

- Omori Sunny still carries around the knife that he wields in the dream world and... and the battle finishes very quickly. No, not with us being arrested, but Aubrey is outta here and getting bandaged or something.

- I’m noticing a lot about this park that seems to have parallels with our dream world. Berly is actually called “Kim” for one thing. I’m also seeing a lot of NPCs and wandering enemies that just disappear when I try to interact.

- Aubrey has stolen Basil’s photo album, and we have a quest!!!!! A quest that involves a whole lot of slap fights with local urchins, and we are not prepared!! The first guy goes easily enough, but (bad news) everyone else kicks my ass, but (good news) it looks like that doesn’t actually stop me from progressing. 

- we confront Aubrey again and... oh jeez. I mean, she is being awful, but it looks like she isn’t having a very good time of it either. This bit in the church is actually kind of hard to watch.

- we get back to Basil’s place and the door is answered by Basil’s caretaker. Not his mom or dad - his caretaker. Ah. ...okay. He’s an orphan.

- We are invited to have dinner at Basil’s place and things just keep getting more tense. Basil is obviously making an attempt to be friendly, but he seems to be barely holding it together and might actually be afraid of Sunny. Understandable, he did pull a knife on somebody today. Kel is naturally oblivious to the atmosphere. I mean, good for him to keep his chin up when all these kids have gone through so much shit, but I can’t help but feel he may be coming off as uncaring. Aubrey certainly thought so.

- Basil learns that we’re going to move soon and does NOT take it well. Friggin’ Kel is still oblivious, so it falls on Sunny to follow Basil and see if he’s okay, and he’s... very... much... not. Yes, Basil. Yes, I can see it too. Please, Basil, just... maybe it would help a little bit if you just admitted for a little bit that maybe you’re not really okay. 

- I keep trying to talk to Basil or see if there’s something else I’m supposed to do, but there’s nothing else here to interact, so I leave because I can’t do anything else. Basil begs us to stay and holy shit Sunny get back here this kid is not okay. Sunny fucking seriously are you not even gonna say anything? Apparently not, and Sunny and Kel go back home.

- aaaaaand, spiders. Lots of spiders.

- aaaaaand, we’re up against Something again. Calming down doesn’t work this time, but fortunately Sunny can now focus.

- okay, if you’ve read this far, hopefully you don’t care about spoilers... looks like I was half-right about somebody important being dead. I didn’t mention this last time, but a few times in the dream world I saw what looked like a picture of someone set into the wall with some candles, which looked out of place, but also looked like some kind of memorial. Just looks like it was Mari and not Basil. Dammit, Mari didn’t even play that big of a role in Dreamworld. And Sunny might be seeing her ghost around the house too. Wow. 

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

How are you all doing today? We’ve made it to the middle of the week already, which is pretty fantastic…though it does remind me that I need to do some work and planning for D&D this weekend. Yeah, I need to do that soon. Anyway, welcome back to my weekly blog series where I talk about what I’ve done, watched, played, tried, and read in the past week, as well as a glimpse into what I’m hoping to read next. We are officially at a whole year of this post under the name Weekly Wrap-Up and two years of the blog series in general. That’s pretty impressive to me.

Okay, so watches are up first. Well, Damian and I went and saw the new “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie for Valentine’s Day, and it was rather fantastic, actually. And, with the way it ends, I’m really hoping for a sequel, because I want Tails and Knuckles and the rest of the gang to be introduced. I’ve also been continuing my “Arrow” re-watch, and I’m in the middle of the Invasion crossover event right now, but I’m enjoying this return visit to the show that started the DC Berlantiverse, you know, what the studio calls the Arrowverse. Oh! I also have watched the first two episodes of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” and if you like quirky contemporary musical shows, then definitely check it out. The first two episodes are available for free on YouTube or through the NBC web site.

I guess I should also talk about gaming a little bit, because I did pick up my Switch again a few days ago…only managed to play for an hour before I got the low battery alert and decided it was time to go to bed. But I have started playing Witcher 3. I think it’s a bit too early to tell if I’m liking it or not. I’m still figuring out controls and everything, so we’ll see what happens, but I’m definitely in a Witcher mood/obsession right now.

Speaking of obsessions, I finally got around to buying a Wicked Saints t-shirt from Blissfully Bookish, and I can’t wait to do a shirt/book photo shoot.

Anyway, I guess it’s time to move on to the reading portion of this post…because sadly I don’t really have much of a writing update for you guys. The writing is going very slowly. Actually most of the writing is going on in my head and not on the page. That’s still technically progress, but it’s not an easily quantifiable or visible progress.

Next up is everything I’ve read in the past week. It’s been a pretty decent reading week overall, so that’s cool. I still wish I had actually read more books that are on my TBR, but at least I’m still reading fantasy, mostly. Big Damn Hero by James Lovegrove, Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin, Snug: A Collection of Comics about Dating Your Best Friend by Catana Chetwynd, Looking for Group Omnibus Vol 1-3 by Ryan Sohmer and Lar Desouza, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon? Vol 4 by Kuneida and Fujino Omori, How to Treat Magical Beasts Vol 4 by Kaziya, Prince Freya by Keiko Ishihara, and The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin, and Critical Role Vox Machina Origins II Issue #5 by Matthew Mercer, Jody Houser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher.

I think I’m in sort of a reading ADHD mood right now. Like I’ll plan to read a book, pick it up and read like 50 pages or so, and then I’ll get pulled away to another book. So I’m not making the kind of progress that I’d like. I think two of these books have been on this currently reading section for a couple weeks already. And the third one…is a NetGalley ARC for a book that doesn’t come out until August. Usually I try to wait until a little closer to the release day to read most books, but I don’t know, I just wanted to pick this one up. So I guess when I finish I’ll write up the review and schedule it for a few months from now. It’ll all work out eventually.

I want to pick up the next volume of Fruits Basket, and I discovered that my local library has volumes 5-12, so I could easily finish the whole series…but I’m not going to let myself go to the library until I’ve written up the reviews for volumes 1-4. If I’m going to binge the series then I’d rather not get the events all jumbled up in my head. I think that sounds like a reasonable restriction to give myself. And I want to read Sky Without Stars again because I was granted access on NetGalley to the sequel, and I’d like to read it before it’s released next month, but I feel like I need a refresher of the events in the first book. I also can’t resist picking up the conclusion to Julie Kagawa’s latest series, especially since I get to be on the blog tour for it. I’m so excited to get more kitsune tricks and awesome fights with demonic entities. It should be pretty cool.

Also, I’m getting ready for Middle Grade March, where I try and focus on reading, reviewing, and talking about MG books. I’ve already picked out a pretty good TBR, and I’ll talk about a couple of those books in next week’s post, and then even more in my Feb Wrap Up and March TBR post.

So yeah, that’s it for me for today. What are you reading right now? Let me know in the comments and I’ll be back soon with more bookish content.

Weekly Wrap-Up (52) Hey all, Dani here. How are you all doing today? We've made it to the middle of the week already, which is pretty fantastic...though it does remind me that I need to do some work and planning for D&D this weekend.

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 3/26/18

Blue Morning, Vol. 7 | By Shoko Hidaka | SuBLime – Encouraged by Akihito to pursue his own individual ambitions for once, Katsuragi becomes determined to save the workers at the spinning mill he briefly had charge of, and most of this volume depicts his plans to wrest control of the mill from a powerful ally without jeoparding said ally’s support of Akihito. It’s interesting, but of course the most important thing is Katsuragi finding something he really wants to do that does not involve serving the Kuze family. After a volume that’s 95% chaste, he finally travels to the remote villa where Akihito is recuperating and, okay, yes, they totally get it on. It’s not just smut, though; there is so much love between these men. Mutual respect, the sincere wish for other to find happiness and fulfillment… Blue Morning continues to be something special. – Michelle Smith

DNA Doesn’t Tell Us, Vol. 1 | By Mintarou | Seven Seas – Now that Monster Girls have become the new trend, it’s perhaps inevitable that we’ll get Animal Girls along with it. And so we get this series, which has animals spontaneously turning into human girls for no real reason. (Yes, always girls.) They’re still basically animals, though, so they go to a school to learn how to be human. This first volume follows the “tame” animals through the eyes of Youko, a Bighorn Sheep who is a bit more together and sensible than the rest of her goofy classmates. This edges towards the ‘fanservicey’ edge of the spectrum, but is essentially harmless, and didn’t really bother me too much. That said, I’d only recommend it to fans of animal girls—there’s nothing beyond that. – Sean Gaffney

Dragon Half, Vol. 1 | By Ryusuke Mita | Seven Seas – Before reading the first Dragon Half omnibus, I only knew the series by name, mostly due to the fans of the anime adaptation from the early 1990s. The manga itself was originally serialized between 1988 and 1994. Dragon Half is a ridiculous, absurd, and incredibly silly blast from the past. As a gag manga heavily inspired by fantasy and role-playing games, the series has its fair share of powerful, scantily clad women, including the titular half-dragon Mink. The daughter of a red dragon and a famous swordsman, Mink is on a quest to become human so that she can win the love of the dragonslayer (and teen idol), Dick Saucer. While I was amused from the very beginning, it wasn’t until about halfway through the omnibus that Mita’s sense of humor really started to click with me. The comedy can be a little hit-or-miss, but at it’s best, Dragon Half is hilarious. – Ash Brown

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Vol. 4 | By Nagabe | Seven Seas – There are many scenes in this volume of The Girl from the Other Side that elicit a pang of empathy. There’s Shiva, feeling so bad for lying to Auntie about having been touched by an Outsider. There’s Auntie, gradually losing her memory of her humanity and revealing to Teacher that the worst part about the curse is that after it fully takes hold the afflicted can’t die, putting a new spin on humans killing those who are only suspected of having been exposed. And there’s Teacher, watching Shiva and Auntie together and concluding that the girl no longer needs him, that it’d make no difference if he was around or not, and that perhaps he’s harming her by trying to keep her close. At least Shiva has other ideas about that, but it’s hard to see how a happy ending is going to be possible for this story. – Michelle Smith

Horimiya, Vol. 10 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – We don’t seem any closer to wrapping up, but there is a bit more forward progress here, though anyone expecting a straightforward answer to last volume’s proposal may be disappointed. Instead, the reader can enjoy seeing the over-serious Sengoku dealing with the pangs of love, and his conversation with Remi is also something of a proposal in a way, spoken through the plots of books. I enjoyed it. There’s also a nice helping of humor here, as we see Sengoku’s dad was friends with the Horis—and is not fond of that fact. We also see Hori’s dad with his hair up, and I straight up did not recognize him at first. We seem to be back on an upswing, and I’m looking forward to more. – Sean Gaffney

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Four-Panel Comic: Days of Goddess | By Masaya Takamura and Fujino Omori | Yen Press – These sorts of spinoffs are all over the place in Japan, but we rarely see them over here. It’s exactly what you’d expect—the DanMachi story told as 4-koma gags with the cast in superdeformed mode. Since it’s “Days of Goddess,” we follow Hestia more than Bell, as she struggles to get by despite only having one follower. It’s sort of nostalgic given how far the series has come since then. The other early cast members appear as well, though given Ais’ running gag of always eating, you’ll wonder if the author confused her with Saber. There’s another volume in the fall—twice a year seems about right for this cute and funny spinoff. – Sean Gaffney

Kemono Friends: Welcome to Japari Park!| By Fly and Kemono Friends Project | Yen Press – Sadly, this is one of those series where the real-life travails of the franchise prove to be far more interesting than the manga that came out of it. Based on an unsuccessful mobile game that got an anime that was VERY successful… until it blew up… the manga concerns a young woman named Nene, who is hired to essentially be a zookeeper for various young animal girls who are able to talk to humans and are basically eccentric young women with animal characteristics. Cute ensues. This volume contains both volumes of the original series, and as such wears out its welcome quite fast—series this fluffy should not be omnibuses. If you really like Kemono Friends, get this. – Sean Gaffney

Land of the Lustrous, Vol. 5 | By Haruko Ichikawa | Kodansha Comics – Although the narrative as a whole remains somewhat ambiguous, Land of the Lustrous continues to be one of the most visually striking series currently being released in English. With world-building and character introductions happening in fits and starts, the manga tends to favor mood and style over an obvious, logical narrative, but the melancholic atmosphere that Ichikawa has created with the manga is a compelling one. There is an intensity of emotion that makes it feel as though the gems’ psyches are as precariously close to shattering as their physical manifestations. Phos, the manga’s lead, has suffered immense trauma over the course of the series and has transformed dramatically as a result. However, as more is revealed about the characters and world, it becomes clear that Phos isn’t the only one hiding both secrets and pain. I’m still incredibly intrigued by Land of the Lustrous. – Ash Brown

Nameless Asterism, Vol. 1 | By Kina Kobayashi | Seven Seas – The premise of this sweet but deliberately frustrating series is that all of the main cast are in unrequited love with someone else in the main cast, and none of it ever goes anywhere. As such, it can be a bit teeth-grinding to see everyone confess over and over in their head but not do anything. A lot of the unrequited relationships are between girls, which explains some of the angst—indeed, one of the girls who goes on about all the boys she dates and talks about how that’s “normal, right” is possibly in the most transparent closet I’ve ever seen in any media. It’s decently written, and the kids are all likeable, but I have to admit that the volume did not really do anything for me. Still, if you like frustrating yuri. – Sean Gaffney

The Young Master’s Revenge, Vol. 1 | By Meca Tanaka| Viz Media – An unfortunate trend of most Meca Tanaka series that I read is that I enjoy them while also having very little to say about them, and that’s the case here. The premise is also remarkably similar to Masamune-kun’s Revenge, another series licensed over here, but fortunately the core audience are almost total opposites. Our hero was traumatized by an unthinking childhood friend when he was a kid. He returns, as a gorgeous rich teen, to make her fall for him and then dump her, as a somewhat petty revenge. Sadly, she’s no longer rich. Also sadly, she’s cute, plucky and adorable, and he rapidly finds himself falling for her for real. This fits the Shojo Beat line admirably, though I wasn’t wowed. – Sean Gaffney

By: Michelle Smith