Curate, connect, and discover
Exactly!!! There’s just no way for Basil to have just figured out how to tie a hangman’s knot (thanks for giving me the slightly-less dark term for it :P) on the fly like that… and now that I’m thinking about it, without practice. I tried to use a piece of thread the other day that I’d found (strange ik but eh) to make that knot, just to see if I could, and I didn’t use a guide or anything. Basil wouldn’t have had a guide with him- the chances of that are INCREDIBLY unlikely. And it’s not like he could’ve just googled it with ease, given the time period. Which probably means he’d tied a hangman’s knot before :C My poor little beannn 😭
So I feel like it’s not a leap to conclude that Basil had probably either attempted even before the incident with Mari, or he’s seen someone else do it. Either way, it means he’s probably seen death before, or tried to go to it T^T
Ughhhhhshfyyvdyyfyf and this is why I hate it when people say Basil is terrible
(<3 You’re awesome-ER!!! :D)
So- Omori rant rq since I'm listening to some VAs play through it cause I can't sleep.
Spoilers Below, obviously.
So- it's canon that Sunny was daydreaming of his little headspace FAR before Mari's death. It's in one of the books in the Forgotten Library (the place you fall into after defeating SweetHeart).
Headspace was an escape for him so that he could have his friends back, before they gave him the violin- hence why it never happened in the headpace timeline. To escape the pressure of not wanting to let them down, he created Headspace- but he got addicted to it and started to use it to avoid paying attention during school or whenever he was feeling pressured.
When Mari passed, Headspace took over his life- his parents split up, he was wracked with immense guilt, he couldn't bring himself to leave the house or even bed at first. His mother was forced to withdraw him from school since he had missed so many days, in order to prevent legal action being taken and her risking losing her only child left to his father or to CPS (logical guess, no actual proof other than he was taken out of school).
Sunny dived so deep into Headspace, that he was forced to create his Omori persona when he had gone too far and his brain created BlackSpace once it ran out of ideas- the place his guilt, regrets, and grief went to die everytime he allowed himself to sleep.
Sunny was always a maladaptive dreamer, but it steadily got worse overtime. As a maladaptive dreamer myself- I sympathize heavily with him and his coping mechanisms. His friends and family failed to see the signs that he was losing touch on reality, and when his big sister died- by his hands no less? He lost himself entirely. You can see when it happens in the photos you see of the truth.
When he realizes Mari isn't going to wake up? When he realizes she isn't breathing? His world shattered and he was paralyzed in his guilt- since he was so unresponsive, Basil did the only thing he could think of and tried to protect Sunny. In the process, gaslighting himself into having seen Something pushing Mari instead of Sunny.
Which, honestly, is also highly concerning. Why did Basil previously know how to tie a noose when he was only twelve..? My thoughts immediately go to his neglectful parents- maybe he had attempted before and that was the whole reason he was sent to live with his grandmother? To keep an eye on him, until she got sick and they hired Polly. Idk but that'd make sense.
ANYWHO- if anyone would like Omori oneshots, send in some requests. Be it tooth rotting fluff or heart wrenching angst- send it my way, I need a break from my books.