wormssforbrains

[wormssforbrains]

save me mother and child imagery save me thistle’s innate desire for a family save me (peep the mother and child painting on the first pic)

[wormssforbrains]

Did Edolon become Seinru? Well, yes. But actually no. (Edolon Character Analysis) [REVISED REPOST]

Content warning: Discussion of abuse, manipulation, cults, and canonically depicted gore

Spoiler warning: Snowbound Blood Volume 12.

AUTHORS NOTE: Hello! Back in July I posted a similar version of this analysis, but since then I’ve realized a lot about Edolon and Seinru and decided to private the old one and republish this revised version instead. I think this version offers more canon compliant insight into both of their characters and I am much more confident in this version; so I hope this offers a new perspective into both of their characters :)!! They are both very very interesting and I have spent way too much time thinking about them.

In discussions of Edolon, something that people have found confusing is his seemingly drastic change from what we’ve seen of him pre sacrifice of Seinru and post sacrifice of Seinru. Before Snowbound Blood Vol. 12 came out, this was especially the case. 

From what we’ve seen of Edolon pre-ritual is a much more dependent and less confident person in comparison to those traits, while not fully going away, seemingly diminishing post-ritual. This paired with some concerning dialogue and actions pertaining to “becoming Seinru” has led to some… worrying conclusions. 

First, let's quickly go over some observations that have caused confusion or concern in some readers. These will be elaborated more on later.

Seinru saying to Edolon before their death, “As long as you're still here, I'll never truly be gone.” 

After Seinrus death, Edolons had a seemingly drastic change in character that involved picking up many of Seinrus traits.

Edolons severed hand was replaced with Seinrus hand.

So, did Edolon become Seinru? What does that even mean? Did Seinru really possess him?

While I find the theory that Seinru possessed or is controlling Edolon to be interesting, I think that there’s a lot more analysis and discussion to be had about Edolon being the person that he is today because of Seinrus manipulation and shaping of him along with a wide variety of other factors. Edolon not having full physical control over his actions absolves him of a lot of blame, which is much less interesting than all of his actions and feelings having a root cause that can be traced back to people, events or influences in his life.

So, in order to understand why Edolon seemingly changed, we have to analyze the way he was pre-ritual, leading up to the ritual, post-ritual and factors that would impact why he changed in the way he did.

As said before, prior to the ritual, Edolon showed less confidence and a dependency on Seinru. In many moments both his reliance on Seinru and his nervousness is shown,

A gaunt man steps from the shadows and slides up next to Seinru. They give his hand a gentle squeeze before disappearing behind the altar. As he nervously leans forwards(...)”

SEINRU: Dolo.  Out of the corner of your eye, Seinru steps forward, taking Edolon's hand in hers. She squeezes it, gently. 

Edolon approaches you, taking Seinru's place as they retreat into the sacrificial slab's gloom. Where Seinru knelt beside you, Edolon tries to loom. It only emphasizes his stoop. You laugh. To your displeasure, so does Pozzol. (...) Edolon glances in Pozzol's direction. His eyes drift instinctively to the altar, to the rim of darkness in the vague outline of Seinru. SEINRU: This is your moment. SEINRU: Everything, from here to obliteration, belongs to you.

Along with this, Edolon isn’t confident that he’ll be capable of taking her place as the high priest of the cult,

EDOLON: i'm just not convinced i have what it takes. EDOLON: i'm not like you. EDOLON: i'm still afraid. i'll still feel the pain, even when you don't. EDOLON: what if i can't do any of it? EDOLON: then all i'll have accomplished is adding more misery to my life. SEINRU: That's not going to happen. EDOLON: and this is not a role i was meant to play.

From this, we get some very interesting insight on Edolon dependency and feelings towards Seinru. Edolon depends greatly on Seinru for reassurance and guidance and looks for their care when he feels insufficient. Edolon sees Seinru as someone perfect, someone he needs and someone who makes his miserable life worth it. All this makes the idea of their death all the more terrifying for him.

Though post-ritual - without Seinru there to guide him - Edolon is seemingly much more confident and capable of his role in the cult. This supposed confidence only ramps up to extremes as he both unlocks his alchemic potential and ESPECIALLY as the events of Incursion take place. I don’t think analyzing quotes would do this change justice. Just look at any of his actions he takes to progress the game and crash an inauguration without Seinrus guidance. 

So what does this mean for Edolon? Why did he react and change this way in response to Seinrus death?

First off, we need to remember what character we’re dealing with here. In order to understand why Edolon responded this way to the death of someone he loves, you have to remember that this is Edolon. There are many factors of his life and upbringing that change the way that he responds to trauma. Due to the severe brainwashing from both Seinru and the cult, as well as the severe abuse he faced in his childhood, the way he reacts to the traumatic event of losing his partner is much different than a majority of the people faced with this kind of loss.

Rather than reacting with anger, fear, depression, numbness, or many of the other common reactions to the death of a loved one, he reacted in the way that the cult and Seinru manipulated him into reacting. Before their death, Seinru told Edolon what they wanted from him after death, and Edolon in turn became what they wanted him to become. He wanted to accept the gift and chance to grow that Seinru had told him they were dying for so that he wouldn't let them down. Along with this, as a Gaiaeon worshiper he has an extremely deranged view on the world. Edolon truly believes that the world should be destroyed in the name of Gaiaeons perfect reality and the sacrifice of Seinru would aid in that goal, even if he doesn’t want to lose them. To the cult, death is a form of release from the corrupted world that they live in.

Edolon is also driven by his need for revenge against Corporate. As a child, Edolon was raised and abused by The Executive for not being able to live up to his expectations and because of this was later abandoned by Corporate. Due to both the cult's brainwashing and wanting revenge for how he was treated, Edolon wants to destroy Corporate as a whole. In order to enact this plan, though, Seinrus sacrifice would have to happen. 

Along with this, Edolons childhood and his doom aspect has greatly affected how he views pain. He was raised to endure brutal circumstances, just like Sestro was. To him, pain is something that you must grit your teeth and learn to power through. It is something that you must become numb to in order to harness that pain and throw it back towards those who hurt you. And to Edolon, the final goal of the cult is something he must work towards, and Seinrus death is another thing he must painfully endure for the “greater good,” no matter how much he doesn’t want to lose them. (There’s a great analysis about this topic that you can read here; it inspired me to add this paragraph)

From these factors, we begin to see how all of these aspects of him are intertwined with each other and how they have shaped who Edolon is today. 

Now, going back to Seinru: We can see from this that Seinrus words have a very strong impact on Edolon. As said before, the severity of this impact on Edolon comes from his dependency and idolization of her paired with Seinrus manipulation of Edolon.

With this context, the way that Seinrus words impact Edolon after her death becomes more clear. The most important scene that shows Seinrus impact on Edolon and Edolons fear of disappointing Seinru is their conversation before her sacrifice.

To preface this part of the analysis: I think that Seinru meant everything that they said in this passage. I don’t think that any of the things they are saying are lies to get Edolon to go through with the sacrifice, they are just his true feelings, which are extremely selfish. It’s very clear that he is guilt tripping and manipulating Edolon into going through with the sacrifice, but I think his words being lies takes away from the harsh reality that this is just who he really is as a person. With that out of the way, let’s read through the conversation with this in mind.

EDOLON: and i wouldn't ever wish to disappoint you, either. EDOLON: but there's still a part of me that feels like i can't do it on my own. EDOLON: i need you, sen.

We can see Edolon admit directly that he doesn’t want to disappoint Seinru, something that shows the importance of their words on him. 

SEINRU: You're not as powerless as you were before. And you'll certainly be even less so, once you realize all of that wonderful potential you have tucked away. SEINRU: You're capable of achieving great things on your own, despite how you've been made to feel in the past.

By reassuring Edolon that unlocking his alchemic potential will make him more powerful, it sets Edolon up to feel more confident after her death. All of the words that she says here are very intentional to fully prepare Edolon for her absence after the sacrifice, something she directly says and is one of the last things she tells Edolon before her death: “I've taught you everything you’ll need from this point on.”

SEINRU: I want you to be the one to grow from this. SEINRU: I want you to be rewarded for everything you've been forced through in your life. SEINRU: You've come so far, Dolo. SEINRU: And you've helped me tremendously in our time together, don't you forget that. SEINRU: I only want to help you see in yourself what everyone else couldn't. SEINRU: I just knew you'd do great things the very moment I met you, you know. SEINRU: All of this is for you. SEINRU: So please, don't reject this gift. Don't let me down, now of all times.

And from this, we get some very interesting insight on Seinrus feelings towards Edolon as well as some insight into who she is as a person. We see here that Seinru is a very manipulative person with a deranged perception of what love is. Seinru is very much in love with Edolon, but the way that they show that is extremely selfish. Due to a combination of her belief in Gaiaeon as well as her truly believing that the world should pay for how they treated Edolon, she sees the sacrifice as a gift for him. It's a gift to grow on his own, become stronger, take revenge and destroy the world she sees as a wretched place that can only be purified by Gaiaeons “perfection.”

With this insight on Seinru and Edolons character, we can see exactly how this relationship molded Edolon into the person he is today. 

Both due to Edolons love for Seinru as well as her manipulation: Edolon accepted the gift that Seinru gave him. He took the sacrifice as an opportunity to grow, change and become stronger. A chance to take revenge against the world that wronged him and purify it with Gaiaeons grace. 

So, let's discuss the changes that happened to Edolon after accepting this gift. Or, in some cases, the lack of change. Remember how I’ve been alluding to but not elaborating on Edolons so called “confidence”? Yeah, let’s finally get into that.

As said before, prior to the ritual, Edolon was a nervous and insecure person who depended heavily on Seinru for guidance and reassurance. But afterwards, we can see him acting without Seinru with some level of confidence in leading the cult and enacting their plans. 

But don’t be fooled; Edolon is still a very, very insecure person. This so-called “confidence” is only what happens when an extremely insecure person with a deranged set of beliefs gains an unfathomable amount of power. Edolon is a very bitter man that truly believes that the world that wronged him belongs to him and he has the right to destroy and purify it, and through the cult, he gets access to going through with that plan. As he gains more power, we can see the timid and insecure person he was prior to the ritual morphing into a dangerous individual that now has a platform to spread his beliefs and the power to enact them. 

Some important quotes that really show this insecurity may be a bit hard to catch if you’re not looking, but really look at these lines. You can see the insecurity, resentment, and his crazed beliefs ingrained deeply within them. 

EDOLON: you want to know who i am? well, you're in luck. EDOLON: i'll tell you. EDOLON: i'll tell everyone. EDOLON: i'm not ashamed of acknowledging it anymore. EDOLON: my name is edolon vryche, and i am that regret. EDOLON: i'm the descendant of the holistic blight, the man who was soulmate to the executive and damned representative of his noble compact. EDOLON: clarud enthal made me. he raised me as his prodigy. EDOLON: and i am the rightful inheritor of the ruined world he left behind.

EDOLON: but truth be told, my admission wasn't meant to convince anyone here of what i'm saying. EDOLON: it just feels... good to get it out in the open!

EDOLON: SHUT UP! EDOLON: i think you've had MORE than enough time to SPEAK!

And all of these beliefs were very much instilled into him by Seinru. Before their death, they said this to him: “Everything, from here to obliteration, belongs to you”; and after, he says “THIS ROTTEN, DESOLATE CARCASS OF A WORLD… BELONGS TO ME!!! ” It’s very clear how deeply Seinru molded Edolon into the person that he is today. So many of the actions and words that he says can be led back to something that they said to him. 

Now, going back to the other change: being able to act without Seinrus guidance. As we discussed, before the ritual he could barely act without Seinrus guidance, but after he was able to go through with all of the cults' plans and act without them. But, is that really true? I think to Edolon, he’ll never truly be alone because he believes that Seinru will always be with him, even in death.

Before their sacrifice, Seinru tells Edolon that “As long as you're still here, I'll never truly be gone.” This is something that Seinru means in many, many ways; both literally, mentally, and physically. 

In the most literal way, even after Seinru has died he still lives on through the homunculi. In the process of the sacrifice, Seinrus soul was used as a key to open The Abyss, and the lime blood was used to bring Gaiaeon into the physical world through homunculi. Now, Seinrus' soul controls the homunculi from The Abyss. These creatures have aided Edolon through his plans and been by his side almost every step of the way. 

We can even see Edolon talking to Seinru through a homunculus which he literally responds to from beyond the grave, or more literally, from The Abyss where his soul now resides. 

Speaking of The Abyss… I won’t get too deep into this until a bit more elaboration is offered, but Seinru quite literally lives inside of Edolons mind(scape) which is connected to The Abyss (or, is the abyss? don’t ask me).

Inside of Edolons mindscape, we can see golden vines coming from Seinru growing all across of Edolons mind. They’ve quite literally ingrained themselves to Edolons core, inseparable from his mind and from his body. 

Which is the next topic; how they’ve ingrained themselves physically into Edolon, from his exterior to his interior. 

Externally, we can see Seinru all over Edolon. On Edolons sacrifice/incursion outfit, we can see their blood color and center of their sigil - a diamond - pressed close to Edolons heart and placed throughout the outfit. On Seinrus sacrifice outfit, though, we don’t see any of Edolons blood color, symbolizing that Seinru will live on through him after their death.

We can also see Seinru ingrained into Edolon in the most literal and physical way possible when Edolon replaces his severed hand with Seinrus.

Which, can I just mention… Seinru does their best to control the homunculi directly when they can, and there is no doubt in my mind that they willingly brought their body to Edolon after he told the homunculi to. I believe that to Seinru their bodies becoming one, fusion, is the purest form of love and romance. To be inseparable and ingrained into him is more than to show that they are each other's lover, it’s to be one. It’s to be each other's heart, to be each other's soul. I think that this belief has been passed onto Edolon as well. 

Another way they are connected is the fact that they were bonded; as long as Edolon lives he will feel the pain of withdrawals in Seinrus absence. Seinru has left a mark on Edolon that can never be severed; but this mark does not just show on his body, it shows in his actions, words, and mannerisms. 

I think that Edolon is imitating Seinru in a lot of ways after their death in an attempt to fill the role that they left behind. Edolon is still very much himself, but we can see little bits and pieces of Seinrus personality now picked up by Edolon, whether this be subconsciously or intentionally. The most notable one being Edolon picking up on Seinrus usage of :) and their witty one liners, something Edolon never did before their death. We can also see a lot of the beliefs that Seinru preached being repeated by Edolon (This obviously also comes from them being in the same cult, but I find the similar wording most likely to be intentional).

SEINRU: We are in the business of entertainment. :) EDOLON: something that we left behind. :)

SEINRU: Your strongholds don't protect you or anyone from the agony of this world. They compress it, scoop it all up and dump in it one big writhing core of pain. EDOLON: new pain folds itself over old pain, until it all coalesces into a hulking mass of agony.

SEINRU: Otherwise, everything we've accomplished together, all that we've worked so hard for up until this very moment... SEINRU: All that pain would be rendered meaningless. SEINRU: All your effort, wasted. EDOLON: when dealt in excess, the very idea of pain, no matter the cause... EDOLON: becomes simply— EDOLON: meaningless.

In the end, though, I believe that Edolon “becoming” Seinru represents something: the cycle of abuse. The cycle of abuse in this context specifically is in reference to victims of abuse becoming their abusers due to not healing from the trauma of their abuse. Many victims of abuse who have not healed will subconsciously inherit the traits of their abuser and continue to perpetuate them through relationships of any kind, thus creating new victims. If this cycle is not broken, it will never stop. 

Because of this, Seinru will always be a part of Edolon. 

So, I think Edolon did become Seinru in a way, but Seinru also became Edolon. They are each other's hearts and each other's souls, and in the obliteration of the universe, they would become one in the vast nothingness that is Gaiaeons perfection. 

They are truly the most sane and normal couple in Vast Error.

[wormssforbrains]

A Brief Analysis of Edolon and Sestro

I just recently read the newest update of Vast Error, and I just have to say I love the character parallels that exist between Sestro and Edolon in their fight scenes.

The way that Edolon’s powers of doom seem to work is that they’re empowered in some way by pain. He says to Hamifi that, if she knew him at all, she wouldn’t have hurt him. Previously, he’s also spoken to Serpaz about how pain, when dealt in mass, becomes meaningless. After revealing that to her, he says he “doesn’t expect [her] to know what [he’s] talking about yet” (pg 712). This is an indication that this truth might be a key to her powers of doom too. So, it’s likely Edolon uses pain in some way to empower his doom aspect. 

On the other hand, we have Sestro who tells the copy of the Executive in his head that he’s going to essentially override his physical body to use it past its limits. He’s trained his whole life to be able to use his mind powers even when his body completely shuts down due to strain. We see how terrible that strain can be in Snowbound Blood - where Sestro can pass out and be completely bedridden for days. During this scene, Sestro is far past that level, his body almost resembles a husk when he faces Edolon. 

It’s a parallel of how Edolon is using his powers: they are both burning themselves up to fight. 

For all their differences, Sestro and Edolon share one thing, one thing that has influenced both of them into fighting like that. Generational trauma, passed down by their ancestors. Sestro was raised to run himself ragged just to stand in the Executive’s shadow, to hurt himself to prove his worth. Edolon was almost certainly taught the same, and his aspect might reinforce this behavior even further. Edolon has also learned to tolerate pain for the good of a cause. He lets go of Seinru to fulfill their plans, even though he doesn’t want to lose them. 

Here we have two characters royally screwed over by their ancestors and the system around them, struggling under the weight of generational trauma, and fighting the only way they know how: by hurting themselves to fix things. Two sides of a broken society, both trying to chase change, both burning up in the process, both feeling like they aren’t fully seen, heard, or understood by most people. Two characters, so very alike, carrying such similar burdens, and yet so vastly different at the same time.

[wormssforbrains]

Old graphics I made to explain why Sou Hiyori and Shin Tsukimi are the best “sun and moon” characters.

[wormssforbrains]

HI ZOEY!!! Hopefully I’ll post some analysis on The Abyss and it’s link to Edolon soon, but this is a great summary of our thoughts on it at the moment :-)

Understanding The Abyss is a bit difficult due to how incomprehensible it’s existence is (as is all things gaiaeon related) and because of this is very much theory/speculation territory, but it’s connection to Edolons mind is undeniable.

me when i'm so silly it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it h

seeing her again in comic made me lose my mind i was running around and around and around .EVERY TIME WE SEE SERPAZ ITS HORRIBLE FOR HER. imagine being a serpaz fan and she finally shows up again and when she does it’s the implied embodiment of all negativity and doom she’s ever felt. like yeah ok. Whatever ..

[wormssforbrains]

Why did Seinru in specific have to be sacrificed? (a short analysis/theory/observation)

I really love that Seinrus alchemic sigil is "fusion." A lot of people talk about how it correlates to Edolons response after their death (picking up some of their traits, physically fusing their body with his own... I did an entire analysis on this), but it also may hint to why them in particular had to be sacrificed.

In order for the sacrifice to work as intended, Seinru would have to be killed and her soul be made a key to abyss. After this, their soul would have to be fused with the all mothers and the naught fathers essence (that presumably being the limeblood and the abyss). In doing so, homunculi would be created and released into the world.

My theory is that Seinru in particular being sacrified was because they were the most important harbinger, as well as their alchemic sigil being fusion which may make them the only troll on Repiton able to use their soul to fuse the essences and create homunculi. This idea also gets into some speculation regarding Seinrus ancestor potentially letting homunculi into the world long ago as the executive mentioned something that alludes to homunculi being a thing in the past. Which may explain why they talked in depth about ancestors and sigils being something people can't free themselves from in Snowbound Blood Volume 12... but I don't think I have enough information to form an analysis off of that just yet. It's a theory within a theory which definitely needs more information revealed before I can do anything with it.

As said before though, this is just a theory and their sigil may just serve as just symbolism rather than some sort of destiny or power. Or maybe its both?? Well that's kinda how theories work.

[wormssforbrains]

oh yeah someone in the ve discord (and by that i mean one of the writers) pointed out that what i noticed about probabilities and how those tied into the cult's plans was something no one else had ever connected before. so i'll post about it here too

in this conversation, an alternate murrit from a probability that reaches the end of the game and fails to defeat gaiaeon exposits to laivan a lot about how probabilities work, defining them as separate in concept to alternate timelines as seen in homestuck:

as a time player at the end of their rope, led astray under the wing of renowned probability expert mimesis (presumably for this exact conversation to happen), alt!murrit has the fullest possible grasp on how time as an aspect functions. probabilities are created from all what-ifs founded upon things that aren't done in the true timeline, ones that only make sense up until an end point where they start to fall apart, at which point logic flies out the window — a trait that makes this conversation possible to begin with.

at the end of all probabilities, they are destroyed by gaiaeon to prevent them from having any effect on the true timeline, such as the true murrit benefiting from murrits that shouldn't even exist, aka, stealing time from alternate murrits, which is what will end up happening anyway should laivan relay any of this to the true murrit.

but, more related to my point here is that the harbingers of the alpocalypse claim to be capable of divining the future through their time alchemist: the leader himself, weird al. they see endless possible futures where the only thing left is a blank slate — their entire end goal.

the harbingers will not stop until there is nothing left, and they take the fact that all probabilities end in naught as a sign that such an end is definitively inevitable (alternatively, Doom). but since they're not time players, they have no way of realizing that this being how all probabilities end is simply a property of probabilities, a property brought about by gaiaeon himself (alternatively, Void). they are dealing in the wrong aspect.

thus, when it comes down to it, the entire basis of their goal is bunk. in other words:

insanity.

[wormssforbrains]

Reposting my Road To Recovery analysis from last year onto my tumblr :D All of it is speculation + art may be outdated plot wise in some ways, but it’s fun anyways!

[wormssforbrains]

hi, and welcome to my side blog! this side blog is for analysis and random posts about my interests!

my main blog is @dbllrainbow and my art blog is @digitalizedworm! if you like my posts here, check these out!!

on here, I post in depth analysis' and observations about my interests, along with some random memes and headcanons.

posts are VERY varied and VERY spread out. this is mostly just so I can post things to a tag for people interested in the media to find rather than posting things to my main for a set group of followers. I heart side blogs <3!!!

anyways, I hope you enjoy! If you want to have a discussion about any of my posts, feel free to send me an ask :D!

[wormssforbrains]

[wormssforbrains]

oh, we're talking about sunny's mom???? GOOD CUZ IVE BEEN WAITING FOR A HOT MINUTE.

i made a post a while ago about her, but to put it bluntly: i don't hate sunny's mom. i think i might? love her? maybe because she reminds me of my own mom, which is definitely a projection giving that she just isn't in the game like. at all. BUT LET ME EXPLAIN.

i've seen some people interpret her character as someone who doesn't care about sunny, and i just don't see how this is plausible at all when looking at the text.

i, once again, want to focus on the theme of forgiveness and what sunny's mother represents within the narrative. i've talked about this before, but i'm gonna recap. essentially, sunny's mother and father represent opposing scales of forgiveness. his father is ultimate rejection while his mother is ultimate acceptance. bringing it to another level, his father is completely absent from his life while his mother is overactive and smothering.

they even have scenes that are meant to parallel each other. when his father is chopping down the tree with the line, "Stay away... You are not my son." compared to the scene with sunny's mother in the living room while we are in pursuit of the truth where she has the line, "My only daughter... is gone. And you... You are my only son. I can't... lose you as well."

(very clear, intentional contrast between the two.)

though sunny's mother isn't physically present at almost all points of the game, her presence is definitely felt with her daily voicemails and encouraging/reminding sticky notes that can be found scattered around the house.

these aren't the words or actions of a parent who doesn't care about their child. i don't think she's perfect by any stretch, overactive parenting can be very bad, and in sunny's case, it's allowed him to continue his passive hikikomori lifestyle and isolate himself which is OBJECTIVELY BAD.

but she represents unconditional forgiveness and love. to lose a child is one of the worst things that can happen to a person. true parental love goes unmatched. one k*lled the other and she still has her arms open in forgiveness. that's how much she loves sunny, and that's how much she loves mari.

when i think of sunny's mother, i don't see a neglectful parent, but one who is desperately clinging onto the last bit of her family after it was torn from her. i see her wandering alone around her house, picking up the pieces of herself and her son. i see her packing up her dead daughter's clothes and pictures and toys, alone. i don't think she knows what to do with herself OR sunny. (that's why her taking the initiative and moving the both of them away after four years of stagnation is a big character moment for her.)

i think i just really, really, really, really, really pity her. our entire cast is a bunch of people coping with the loss of mari, and sunny's mother is definitely no exception. she and sunny's father are the people who lost the most. that's why, internally, i get a bit defensive when i see people ragging on sunny's mother, because i feel like a lot of y'all forget that she's a victim, too. hero, kel, basil, and aubrey's loss will NEVER amount to hers. not even close.

so yeah, i love her! would die for her, will protect her at all costs, i think she's highly flawed, but also? aren't most of these characters? i don't want anyone to think this is me justifying some of what she's done or dismantling criticism, but i do think that the way some people talk about her is lacking in perspective and also completely ignores her place in the narrative.

[wormssforbrains]

Unpopular opinion!

Is it just me or is people pretty harsh on Sunny's mom? Many of you people really do try to make her as abusive as possible in fics some of the times. Honestly I found her okay in the game and the more I think of her the more I understand her situation.

In the game it was implied that she doesn't know that Mari was killed and that Sunny as involved by the dialouge "My only daughter... is gone. And you... You are my only son. I can't... lose you as well." unlike her husband who up and disown Sunny. So basically in her point of view her daughter committed suicicde, her (ex)husband blamed and disowned their son, and now she is left to take care of a grieving 12 year old boy.

In the game it was never implied or stated that she had a job, so it seems that the money would have come from the dad, but since he is gone she would suddenly need to find work to keep the house and her son. Single parents tend to have less time for their kids. She at least keeps him updated on what's going to make sure he isn't worried for her if she doesn't show up for a long period of time.

Looking through the house she seems to be aware that Sunny doesn't seem to be able to function as he used to (ie. "Hi, SUNNY! This is a note from MOMMY. Remember to brush your teeth every day! Love you, XOXO.") but at the same time she doesn't know how bad he has it (ie. "Hi, SUNNY! This is a note from MOMMY. If you leave the house, remember to look both ways before crossing the street! Love you, XOXO.") for her she seems to see Sunny as being a bit all over the place thanks to Mari's death, but is able to function enough to do things he needs to do for him to survive.

Another thing I want to talk about is how many people seem to portray her as someone who is never in the house ever and just leaves Sunny on his own in a big house. It could work if it weren't for the context that they are moving houses (probably due to the fact they don't need a house that big since half of their family members are gone therefore this would be a big waste of money, also why not get a house for less the price so she can focus on being closer with Sunny and his education that he missed out on, though that can just be a theory). In the game she stated multiple times on why she isn't here the first call was her informing Sunny that she is setting things up for the new house, the second was about the last day of a furniture sale that she couldn't resist going to, and the third call was her telling Sunny that the movers are here and that she will be outside and she will wait until he is ready to leave. All of these are all connected to moving which is again a lot of work.

Another thing I want to add is that in black space 2 it is implied that Sunny's mom is hiding her pain, yet Sunny still notices. It is seen by the statue that looks at Sunny wherever he goes until you go behind her, then her face becomes distorted until you go around her again and her face gets fixed up. [link]. Which makes sense given everything that is going on with her. Her son is depressed and she can't be there for him 100% due to having to get enough money for him to live, her husband left her, her daughter committed suicide, and everything is a mess. Why does she have to worry her son more by showing herself in pain? He is already having things way tougher than he should have, he should be given the privlages of having his mom being as emotionally available as she could.

This is just my point of view of her from what I see in the game, there could be more points that can prove or disprove what I say, but this is all for now.

[wormssforbrains]

“Midnight Motorist” by busyauthor

CW // CHILD ABUSE, ABUSIVE PARENT / FATHER, SMOKING, IMPLIED ALCOHOLISM, AND VIOLENCE,

Writing rendition of the "Midnight Motorist" minigame from FNAF Pizzeria Simulator:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36305746

[wormssforbrains]

maybe I’m over analyzing, but when berdly breaks free from being controlled by the plug after the queens fight if you check on him berdly describes kris as having “deep concern” for him. maybe it was him being dramatic, but maybe it was kris actually being concerned because just like them they understand how terrifying being controlled can be.

[wormssforbrains]

wow

[wormssforbrains]

[analysis] i would love to talk about the second black space with you all and how it contrasts to the first black space (omori spoilers ahead)

tw for suicide, hanging, and knives,

full analysis under the cut! i think it’s worth a read, reblogs are very appreciated.

the first black space is very confrontational, a bit abstract, and very disturbing. it has some terrifying imagery of suicide, hanging bodies, knives, and many other things; all of these being the root of sunny’s trauma. the black space basically spells out what trauma sunny has yet also has a layer of ambiguity, it doesn't spell it out like "the truth" segment, but it does if you look and analyze it hard enough. 

this heavily contrasts the black space 2. the black space 2 is filled with disturbing imagery, yes, but it seems like a more repressed black space. i was actually surprised how much less scary the black space 2 was, call me weird all you want for saying that, but i think that was intentional. 

the black space has locations dedicated to tormenting sunny with the memories that are slipping into their escapism world, such as rooms like the pain area, the backyard area, and the punishment area. these areas have very obvious meaning to both sunny who lived their meaning and re-players. 

in contrast though, the black space 2 has many new yet slightly familiar locations, such as forests, docks, yards, etc that upon replaying after knowing the truth, still hold an ambiguous meaning. 

the black space 2 is a physical manifestation of what happened when sunny had repressed their feelings and trauma and indulged too much into their escapism reality. the black space 2 is a bit less confrontational because unlike the route you find the black space in, the black space 2 is found after ignoring everything and living in your own little world. 

the imagery in the black space 2 is exactly what someone who only played the hikikiomori route would see; and exactly what sunny, who has repressed all their memories and all their emotions, would see. they wouldn’t see imagery of hints of a truth they never fought to pursue, they will only see glimpses of already long gone and long buried memories.  

in the black space 2, there is a door you can find at the end of a red maze that leads to multiple descending rooms with a ladder in each one. someone warns you not to go, but if you go anyways and you make it to the bottom floor, you will see a barely recognizable hanging black haired girl with a long distorted face in the darkness.

this segment physically show’s that sunny has buried the truth 20 stories down, and considering the only way to leave this room is to stab yourself, they would rather die than confront what they did. 

the black space is sunny’s suppressed trauma leaking into their world of escapism; while the black space 2 is suppressing that trauma even further until the very end, never accepting it, and never moving on - which is exactly what the sunny route and the hikikomori route strived to portray.

[wormssforbrains]

Omori Content Warning Guide

Hello! While Omori is a very good game that I’d recommend to anyone who likes psychological horror rpgs, it is still a psychological horror rpg, meaning it contains content that could be potentially triggering to many people. In this guide I will be making a full list of all the potentially disturbing content in this game to make sure people stay safe if they do decide to play it. 

This guide will be split into three parts:

Spoiler free list of potentially disturbing content

Spoiler free list of potentially disturbing content and what days they happen on

A guide of what happens directly before said disturbing things so you know when to prepare yourself before they happen.

This guide was created by me and some extra help from an anonymous friend

Full guide under the cut!

Please message me / send me an ask if I missed any potentially disturbing content, the game is almost 26 hours long and me missing something is possible. 

This list will NOT cover jumpscares though, as they are a big part of the game. For a list of jumpscares, you can go here! Do note though, this list may be incomplete depending on what editing is done to the wiki.

This list will only cover the Sunny route good and bad ending. Straying off the course of these routes might lead to seeing unlisted disturbing content.

NOTE: “Pixelated” refers to imagery being shown in sprite form, sprites are tiny pixel characters for reference.

If using a computer, use CTRL+F to find any warnings you need, the terms used for them are listed below.

1. Spoiler free list of potentially disturbing content:

Most serious: Self harm, suicide, depression, jumpscares (audio/visual), stabbing, murder, hanging body (drawing), noose, disturbing cat death (pixelated, optional), distorted faces and bodies (faceless bodies too) (drawings, pixelated), drowning (non-fatal), hospital scene, IVs, syringe (pixelated, unused), acrophobia (fear of heights), extreme arachnophobia (fear of spiders), insects, emetophobia (fear of throwing up), thalassophobia (fear of bodies of water),

Injury: Body mutilation (pixelated), mouth trauma/teeth trauma (described), eye trauma (drawn), head trauma (pixelated), hand trauma (semi-realistic), being stoned to death (pixelated), sounds of crushed innards and skull cracking, decapitation (pixelated),

Specific: Religion (christianity, church), mention of absent parents, adults scolding and judging a minor, elder nearing death, coffin, realistic hands and arms, snake (drawing), teeth, 

Audio/visual: fluctuating loud distorted music, motion sickness, eye strain, short audio of pain, sound of glass shattering,

2. Spoiler free list of potentially disturbing content and what days they happen on:

Consistent warnings: Throughout the game knives are used and there are multiple unavoidable instances of suicide via knife, along with this sudden distorted and mutilated faces have a chance of appearing in mirrors and other locations multiple times throughout the game

Few notes: “NIGHT (OMORI)” refers to dream world sequences, not night in the dream world.

PROLOGUE

NIGHT (OMORI): Flashing images,

WHITE SPACE (OMORI): Self harm and suicide (stabbing, pixelated),

NIGHT (SUNNY): Takes place in a dark house at night, realistic hands try to grab you, panic attack, teeth, acrophobia (fear of heights), emetophobia (fear of throwing up, pixelated, vomit is not visible), motion sickness, distorted face and body (optional),

THREE DAYS LEFT

DAY (SUNNY): Injury via knife (implied via text), religion (church), mention of an absent parent, adults scolding and judging a minor, elder nearing death, distorted music, 

NIGHT (SUNNY): Extreme arachnophobia (fear of spiders), panic attack, distorted face (optional),

NIGHT (OMORI): Extreme arachnophobia, Multiple eyes, scopophobia (fear of being stared at), 

WHITE SPACE (OMORI): Self harm and suicide (stabbing, pixelated),

TWO DAYS LEFT

DAY (SUNNY): Drowning (non-fatal), thalassophobia (fear of bodies of water),

NIGHT (SUNNY):  Distorted face and body (optional), 

Next segment is split into rooms to ensure all warnings are easy to read

NIGHT (OMORI): Distorted faces (scribbled out), imagery of drowning, dark tunnel is traversed, coffin, distorted person jumps at you, snake (drawing),

ROOM 1: Audio of pain (one second long), many distorted bodies and creatures, 

ROOM 2: Abstract scribble of a creature lying in a black liquid, neon eye strain, 

ROOM 3: No content warnings,

ROOM 4: Hanging bodies, mouth trauma (teeth falling out and being crushed), distorted and disfigured scribbles of faces and bodies,

ROOM 5: Repetition, 

ROOM 6: Hospital scene, syringe (pixelated), knife (pixelated), repetition, graphic and disturbing cat mutilation and death (pixelated, optional), 

ROOM 7: Murder (via knife),

ROOM 8: No content warnings,

Next rooms are skippable by entering a red door 

ROOM 9: Extreme arachnophobia (fear of spiders), insects, eaten alive, 

ROOM 10: Pixelated brain is shown, body mutulation and repetition is shown (pixelated, optional)

ROOM 11: Faceless NPCs, bodies on ground (pixelated), 

ROOM 12: Decapitation and painful death (pixelated), 

ROOM 13: Scribbled drawings of hung bodies,

ROOM 14: Decapitation (off screen, pixelated)

ROOM 15: Sound of glass shattering, distorted face (optional),

ROOM 16: No content warnings,

ROOM 17: Bright red colors, faceless NPCS, decapitated heads (pixelated), bodies on floor (pixelated), distorted faces (drawn), 

ROOM 18: Fluctuating loud distorted music, someone being stoned to death, head trauma, sound of head being cracked open, 

Next part is when entering the red door

RED DOOR: Religion (church), body being ripped apart (pixelated), stabbing and murder (pixelated), body mutilation (pixelated), sounds of a crushed innards, realistic hands and arms,

ONE DAY LEFT

DAY (SUNNY): Implied child neglect, implied suicide by hanging, 

NIGHT (SUNNY, ASLEEP): Multiple eyes, scopophobia (fear of being stared at), sound of glass shattering, panic attack, teeth, arachnophobia (fear of spiders), thalassophobia (fear of bodies of water), hanging body (drawing), dark rooms, injury, death, noose, loss of a child, hospital scene, IVs, photo of a realistic hand losing fingers (not graphically shown, sudden sound is heard and a finger disappears, no innards or bones of the inside of the hand are shown), body mutilation (body slowly beginning to rot away, all pixelated), flashing images, murder, suicide,

FINALE

NIGHT: (SUNNY, ASLEEP): Knives, violence, distorted faces, suicidal ideation and thoughts, realistic hands and arms, 

NIGHT (SUNNY, AWAKE): Eye trauma (drawn, injured eye is not shown), violence, panic attack, drowing (non-fatal), hospital scene, (potential) suicide via falling from a high place,

3. A guide of what happens directly before said disturbing things so you know when to prepare yourself before they happen:

PROLOGUE

NIGHT (OMORI): Flashing images will appear shortly after reorganizing Basil’s photo album. 

WHITE SPACE (OMORI): The pixelated suicide via stabbing will be an available option immediately after the segment in Basil’s house ends. However, the event will not take place until the option is confirmed by the player.

NIGHT (SUNNY): The segment involving hands and acrophobia will begin almost immediately after leaving your room for the first time. The segment involving emetophobia and motion sickness will begin after Sunny prepares and eats a steak. The optional distorted face and body will only appear if you open the door when prompted, and a second time if you look in the bathroom mirror after doing so.

THREE DAYS LEFT

DAY (SUNNY): The implied injury via knife is mentioned during the fight at the park. The religious imagery (church) is the next place you have to go to after the fight outside of the supermarket. The mention of an absent parent and the judging of a minor by adults takes place as dialogue during the fight at the church. The elder nearing death is seen and discussed while exploring Basil’s house, and this event is located in the door on the left. The distorted music will occur after Basil leaves during dinner.

NIGHT (SUNNY): The segment involving arachnophobia and a panic attack will begin after getting home from Basil’s house. The room will contain many spiders.

NIGHT (OMORI): Extreme arachnophobia is a very prominent theme when entering the Pyrefly Forest, There is a minor segment which may trigger scopophobia, in which there are a group of eyes near the bottom of the screen after boarding a train.

WHITE SPACE (OMORI): The pixelated suicide via stabbing will be an available option immediately after the segment in the lost library ends. However, the event will not take place until the option is confirmed by the player.

TWO DAYS LEFT

DAY (SUNNY): The segment involving non-fatal drowning and thalassophobia will begin after the fight near the picnic and lake.

NIGHT (SUNNY):  A distorted face and body may be seen if you look into the mirror.

NIGHT (OMORI): A distorted face may be seen if you look into the hole left by a key on the Underwater Highway. Scribbled out and distorted faces can also be seen when entering a lighthouse in a foggy ocean and inspecting a painting on the wall. Imagery of drowning takes place after taking a bite of an apple hanging from a tree. After biting said apple, you also traverse through a dark tunnel. At the end of this tunnel is imagery of a coffin, which a distorted person will jumps at you from. In your sketchbook, there is a lot of disturbing imagery (including a snake), so be warned.

After this, there will be many rooms back to back:

ROOM 1:  In this room there are many distorted bodies and creatures immediately after entering. When interacting with NPCs similar to “SOMETHING”, they will play a short audio of pain.

ROOM 2: This room is filled with neon eye strain imagery and may be hard on the eyes, there is also imagery of an abstract creature lying in a pool of an unknown liquid, this is unavoidable so be warned.

ROOM 3: No content warnings,

ROOM 4: In one of the houses in the town, sketchy drawings of a hanging body will appear along with distorted and disfigured scribbles of faces and bodies as well. Mouth and teeth trauma is present if you eat a cake in the house. 

ROOM 5: Unavoidable repetition is present in this room.

ROOM 6: This room contains cat death/harm, description of distress, and repetition. This room also takes place in an operating room with a (pixelated) knife and syringe. You can use stab to avoid this room altogether (like when exiting White Space), but this comes with its own warning.

ROOM 7: In this room, a murder via stabbing will take place near the end of the room.

ROOM 8: No content warnings,

Next rooms are skippable by entering a red door 

ROOM 9: In this room, someone is overtaken and eaten alive by spiders and insects (pixelated), this happens soon after spiders begin to crawl on said character.

ROOM 10: A pixelated brain is shown if walking too far up, do not interact with said brain multiple times or it will begin to mutilate. Along with this there is repetitive text when interacting with the brain.

ROOM 11: Faceless NPCs and bodies on the ground are shown instantly when entering this room. A distorted and disfigured face will appear if you speak to Mari multiple times.

ROOM 12: A painful decapitation (pixelated, on-screen) takes place soon after two characters enter an elevator, specifically at the end of the elevator ride. 

ROOM 13: Scribbled drawings of hung bodies are immediately present,

ROOM 14: After going on a raft with another character, their head will be cut off in a tunnel (off screen, pixelated)

ROOM 15: The shattering of glass takes place after breaking a mirror in this room, do not break all the mirrors or a distorted and disfigured face will appear.

ROOM 16: No content warnings,

ROOM 17: This area is bright red and filled with faceless NPCs, decapitated heads (pixelated), and bodies on the floor (pixelated) immediately upon entrance.

ROOM 18: In this area when walking towards the back, the music will begin to distort at random intervals and may get loud. Along with this, when nearing the back of the room, a character is stoned to death (pixelated) and the sound of their skull being cracked open can be heard. Disfigured faces appear when interacting with the NPCs in this room. 

Next part is when entering the red door

RED DOOR: A church will be present at the top of the hill. Later on, after entering and walking to the top of a red room, a body will be pulled apart and mutilated along with being stabbed (pixelated). Sounds of crushed innards are heard soon after this. Realistic hands and arms are prominent near the end of this sequence. 

ONE DAY LEFT

DAY (SUNNY): The segment involving implied child neglect will begin when entering Aubrey’s house. The segment involving implied suicide via hanging will begin when visiting the treehouse.

NIGHT (SUNNY, ASLEEP): The sound of glass breaking will play soon after Sunny (not Omori) enters White Space. A segment involving multiple eyes, scopophobia, a panic attack, a dark room, acrophobia, arachnophobia, thalassophobia, and a hanging body will begin after a lightbulb is broken. 

After speaking with Basil at a tree, there will be a segment in which Sunny’s body will progressively become more mutilated, but this is a small pixelated sprite (do not look in any mirrors to avoid seeing this in detail).

Other content warnings for the segment after speaking with Basil at the tree include: injury, death, noose, hanging, suicide, loss of a child, hospital scene, and IVs.

During this segment there is a room in which a realistic hand will flash in the corner of the screen and lose a finger (is not gory and does not show bones, just a small bit of blood) as well as make a sudden noise and make the screen tint red and shake with each photo you pick up, this part begins in a dark room with two staircases leading to a bright light.

This entire segment has an extremely large focus on death and suicide! Please be cautious.

FINALE

NIGHT: (SUNNY, ASLEEP): A segment involving knives, violence, distorted imagery and faces, suicidal ideation, and realistic hands will begin after Sunny performs on a stage in front of many empty seats.

NIGHT (SUNNY, AWAKE): The segment involving eye trauma, violence, and a panic attack all occur when entering Basil’s room after waking up during the sleepover. Imagery of non-fatal drowning will briefly occur during a video with music about Mari and Sunny. A hospital scene will take place shortly after this. If you chose not to try again during the previous fight, a segment depicting suicide via falling will occur.

I hope this guide has been helpful! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions, feel free to send me a message. thank you so much for reading!