Writing/Roleplaying Basil from OMORI Guide
I am a writer and when I was in the Homestuck fandom, the roleplay guides were a great tool for assisting me in writing the characters and helping to have all the information in one place! I’m going to try and deliver that same level of help I got from there to this fandom! @derselord is my inspiration for this guide and I will be laying out a format similar to theirs. Be sure to check them out because I felt their character analysis was amazing.
It is also important to note that the characters in OMORI leave a ton of room for interpretation and with the release of the manga I will make a part two to this with it in mind. I am going to try to go off of the physical facts as much as I can but I will have to draw conclusions from other less cut and dry events and dialogue.
Disclaimer: These are my interpretations and opinions. I am but a random person behind a computer so if you disagree with anything that's completely fine! There is no right or wrong way to write or express a character, especially (Emphasis on this) in fanfiction! :)
Let’s get into it.
(MAJOR SPOILERS)
Personality/Character Analysis
First, we will look at what OMOCAT has to say about her character, then we will take a look at Fanon Basil, and finally some random likes and dislikes that people may forget.
Basil’s personality as stated by OMOCAT is supposed to come off as sweet and gentle, which is something we noticed right off the bat in the game. You enter the park and instantly meet up with Mari and are introduced to a flower-crown wearing boy who is bashful and humble, often talking down his skills in photography but still has a wholesome cheer to his hope.
“The first iteration of him was calm and gentle- the type of character that has everything under control- a little more of a perfectionist, but all of those traits ended up on Mari instead. The next Basil iteration was Rowan, who didn’t have that calmness. He was just pure angst, supercharged with anger, and easy to cry. That type of character. That didn’t work well for me either, because I thought he was super annoying. So I made Basil by mixing parts of both Flower and Rowan. He seems angelic and caring from his appearance, mannerisms, and the way he’s thoughtful. But there’s still that angst underneath, which comes out through his nervousness. Even though he doesn’t admit it, it’s still there…” (OMOCAT, artbook.)
In this statement from OMOCAT as seen in the end pages of the artbook where she discusses the game and characters alongside the other artists in the ‘artists interview’, we can see from her eyes what kind of person she intended for Basil to be. His whole thing is looking sweet and gentle but having a very angsty side to him that he doesn’t like or want to admit despite very clearly being there. It’s like he is a coin and on either side is Flower or Rowan but with the lack of having it all together and an attempt to appear calm despite being a very nervous individual. She goes on to say that in response to The Truth Basil was completely unable to blame Sunny and had a dissonance of not being able to see him as a bad person. She also mentions when making a statement on how the friends are supposed to be set up, Basil’s description is “Basil… Basil is someone who you can always count on and will do literally anything for you.”
From this artist's interview, we can infer that Basil is a very caring individual who will do anything for his friends and has a very difficult time with understanding that people really can do bad things. An interesting thing to note is that he does seem to have this view at his core that doing a bad thing can make someone a bad person. This may explain why he is so uncomfortable with the thought of having what he may see as “undesirable traits.” He himself does not want to be a bad person. He truly wants to be a good person and aims to do what a good person would do but he often ends up going too far with it that it ends up hurting himself or others.
This shows when he doesn’t want to believe Sunny is a bad person for what he did. Sunny made a terrible, diabolical mistake, sure, but at least for you and I with a bird’s eye view and the power of literally seeing inside of his mind, we know he isn’t a bad person and is haunted by his mistake.
This leads to the thought that Basil, who has these flaws and this internal insecurity, probably has an even deeper insecurity that he is as a whole a bad person. He knows what he did, he knows he has “undesirable traits”, and he doesn’t want to admit that to himself. This is a constant internal conflict for him and may be seen from an overly nice persona to mask it.
It’s not even that he tries to hide this monstrous identity and that he’s some great big evil, it’s more that he just is unable to accept the fact that having some bad traits, trauma, or flaws isn’t actually enough to make him a bad person. The fact that he tries to hide that is at least thoughtful for the people around him, but like he does with helping others, he takes it way too far, and this leads him to being an incredibly avoidant character who has a hard time talking to people about things that are really bothering him.
Examples of Basil being avoidant and the lack of knowledge from his closest friends.
Kel, without knowing, gives him a way out of many situations. One such example is that “He has a weak stomach” and believing he went to the bathroom on Three Days Left because he was sick. Basil takes this and runs with it without mentioning that it was actually a panic attack. Then, Kel goes on to say that “He’s always had a weak stomach” implying that this is not the first time this has happened.
RED FLAG: AVOIDANT
It also shows it has happened since their younger years which only pushes the idea that Basil, who is already an anxious character, has likely had this issue for a very long time, and has not told Kel about it at all. Not even when they were closer.
"Huh? Y-Yesterday?
W-What do you mean?
A-Ah... Oh, right...
Yes, I feel much better now." -Basil when being asked how he is feeling after his 'stomach ache'
Kel wanted to hangout? Basil says no?
RED FLAG. AVOIDANT
Polly tries to talk to him but he is cold and locks himself in his room?
RED FLAG- you get the point.
Aubrey seems to know more about his state than Kel and is a little more intuitive about these situations, likely from their friendship before meeting the rest of the gang and perhaps from her own experiences at home. She could sense a huge difference in him after The Incident (Which would obviously cause him to be even more nervous). It is also mentioned that he “Went to the bathroom and she found the album on his bookshelf.” Which once again goes to show the bathroom is a safe space for him. She to some extent knows he has these tendencies but does not know how deep they run judging by her bullying. I will post a separate thread on her discussing her bullying and why it was so heated other than the obvious reasons soon. Basil has a similar issue with Aubrey as he does with Sunny by still looking at her from the lens of their childhood and refusing to accept that she was a bad person. This can be seen from the Japanese version of Omori where he referred to her as “Aubrey Chan” (I believe, do correct me if I am wrong) during an argument at the park. He also tries his best to approach her despite her clearly being angry showing a clear detachment from the reality that is their current situation.
Sunny is an entirely different ballpark. While it can be argued that the incident led Basil to hermit himself and become more isolated, it can not be ignored that he has a habit of bottling his feelings and hiding his issues from his friends. Sunny was the friend he talked to the most towards the end and they grew to be best friends and shared a lot of common interests. Basil states in game that he likes taking care of things and that he sees Sunny as “the baby of the group” and that he needs to be taken care of. This could be due to Sunny’s own anxieties, reserved nature, and calmness. With someone who is quiet and calm and doesn’t really push people to reflect on themselves such as Aubrey, Sunny was likely the friend he could tell anything to without being judged.
“Yeah! We talk about how cool and composed OMORI is all the time... Or about how AUBREY is so caring about everything…” (HS Basil during a picnic. This is kind of a sad but funny dialogue because I am sure at one point this was true but it’s also Sunny being a lil goof in his head. Then again this is hikikomori route so Sunny hasn’t exactly been outside to see the insanity.)
He appreciates all of the traits his friends bring, but Sunny and him share a special bond that feels safe. This is why I can see them growing close because both of them have that inner turmoil but neither one of them is judging the other for it (to their face). This also leads to conflict as resentment can (and did) begin to boil over from their lack of being completely truthful and upfront with each other.
This is a difficult thing for him to do anyway due to his worries he will be perceived as a bad person by himself and others. If Basil begins to think his actions are bad, then that causes him to have to work circles on whether or not someone else is bad, and the cycle continues leading to a confusion on how he really feels because he’s too afraid to actually feel those things.
He avoids Sunny and Kel and rejects hanging out with them and is pretty curt with the “no thank you” statement. It is in his mind that not only does he think he’s a bad person but he thinks Sunny believes this too and doesn’t want to place a burden on him. This is a common trend seen in his character, the word burden shows up constantly with him.
"But somehow... whenever I try to help... I always end up burdening you instead."
Alright dude, a little guilting but I'll let it slide.
Anyways he isn't someone to blow up a lot and he's not going to freak out. Until he does. And when he does, it usually ends up pretty intense. It’s hard to properly gauge what his emotional explosions would be like considering we see him at one of the objectively worst times in his life, but from what OMOCAT has to say about his character and his history of repressing his true emotions that he, unlike Sunny at the current time of the game, knows are there, I can’t assume it will be good. There is just too much baggage that he tries to carry and he swings from one extreme to the other and it usually takes a lot to bring him to his breaking point, but even before that point, the issues he harbors internally only get worse with time.
“Hey... I'm really sorry to bring this up, but...Something has been really bothering me…” -Headspace Basil trying to vent to Sunny but being really gentle about it.
Fandom VS Canon VS Interpretation
Basil is seen as kind of a wimp. He quick to cry, leans heavily on other people to unhealthy degrees, his emotions are extreme and everyone in the group notices, and is typically sad and pessimistic while loving flowers and talking sweetly and innocently about little things he likes. This, however, is not exactly Basil. Basil does depend on people to unhealthy degrees but he doesn’t make that known because he isn’t exactly proud of it. To some people, such as Sunny given the situation, he absolutely becomes desperate in an attempt to navigate the problem together given Sunny is directly involved and there isn’t anyone else to talk to about it. This isn’t how he is with the others though. He will hint, tip-toe, and unconfidently try to convey that he’s worried he is bothering someone with his presence but will not outright talk about his feelings unless he is at his complete limit which may come as a surprise to the person he is flipping out on. I do subscribe to the idea that he’s quick to cry though because Rowan was quick to cry and in many of his emotion profiles he is crying be it from anger, sadness, or even happiness. He doesn’t tend to cry in front of people though, he is more of the type to lock himself away in his room or the bathroom and try to organize his thoughts. He also isn’t always sad and pessimistic and most people who are suffering from mental health disorders are not either. It is seen from a majority of the flashbacks that he enjoys poking fun at his friends, having a good laugh, and enjoying the small things. In the current time, there aren't a lot of things to laugh about but this should be noted from the game.
"Hehe...
Don't worry about it. You'll find out soon enough.
Shhhh... Don't tell anyone, okay?" -Basil being devious about poker.
A big thing also is that the friends all react to him very differently. Sunny can tell when something is off but doesn’t know how to approach it (though in the end it’s hopeful he will have a better idea of what he needs to do). He is very careful with Basil and the two of them seem to be able to talk about anything. Sunny is scared of him though. I think he sees the darkness inside himself and because Basil is so close to what happened he can feel that uncomfortable feeling. He is definitely scared from the way Basil reacts when he is under intense stress and his frantic back and forths. This can be seen when he tries to leave the room. Note that it was not always this way as Basil stated he could go to Sunny about anything.
Aubrey can also tell and is seen to be very gentle with him until you meet her in the present time and she’s not happy… at all. It should be noted that her emotions can definitely get in the way of this, but shouldn’t be dismissed that she is the one who recommended the group should stay the night at his house on One Day Left. She noticed him when he was acting strange after The Incident and tried to hangout with him to the point of begging to come over, and in Headspace, she cries at the thought he may be in danger and is worried to tears. I know Headspace isn’t reliable but I do believe it is an important detail because she cried on two separate occasions and was one of the last to forget about him. This shows me that Sunny knows they were close and that she would be worried if Headspace were to be taking place for real in the timeframe he is imagining. I personally believe that based on their closeness as children they were once very close and that’s why it really hit Aubrey hard when she thought Basil was a nutcase who scribbled out the photos. It would definitely hit hard for someone you really trusted to turn out to be a big goober. In the end he didn’t do that but he also did the other thing so I guess it balances out. However she did push him into the lake so there’s that too. That’s a lot of angry feelings for one person to have about another and typically it shows how much they meant to you before for you to feel so betrayed. Similar thoughts to her relationship with Kel and Sunny but that’s for another post.
Kel on the other hand, our sweet summer child, is often oblivious. He does notice when things are off and he is afraid to make them worse, but he really does have a habit of missing the big things. He doesn’t realize that Basil is having issues even to the point of stating,
“You just focus on going back to being your happy, carefree self!” On Three Days left. He is completely unaware of what is actually brewing underneath but is also a very ‘To Your Face’ type of person and likely assumes that is how his friend will be and that his friend will be honest with him.
One last thing to touch up on in the analysis that’s very important is his codependency on other people. He wants people to like him and to care about him but he also isn’t used to it and as a result doesn’t know how to do it to a healthy degree himself. He has his grandmother and Polly, the latter of which he is cold to. His parents had dumped him off at his grandmother’s and Polly who had been there for either two years or three months depending on which dialogue you want to go off of, had only seen them one time and Sunny never.
Which is odd because they had spent a ton of time together. Like a lot.
From this, it can be gathered that he has some intense abandonment issues. He also may have gained a lot of (seen in general) feminine traits such as his enjoyment of hygiene (reminding Kel to wash his hands and telling his friends to white their feet off on the mat), gardening, photography, and wearing hair clips and dressing like his grandmother picks out his clothes. He is gentle and incredibly effective. Why? This guy was raised by a gardening grandma and grandma’s (most) don’t really enjoy when someone is messy or dressing weird. Seriously, my grandmother cried every time I cut my hair and would put me in these little outfits. I don’t know, this just makes sense to me.
He is also used to having his birthday missed as he assumed his friends had forgotten and was delighted to know they had surprised him instead.
“(2/18 - MY BIRTHDAY): It's my 12th birthday today! I thought my friends forgot, but they all surprised me with a strawberry cake. I feel so lucky... This year is looking to be a good year!”
He is a person who is terrified of losing anything which is why photographs are the perfect way to showcase this character. He loves his photography because he loves his friends and wants to hold them close and take care of them just like he takes care of his flowers. He is passionate about his hobbies (up until you meet him in the RW) and although there is this soft sweet side to him, there is also a side that is in VERY deep turmoil and pain that he hides.
“It's hard to remember now, but... I think... at the time... I took photos of what I was most afraid to lose.”
In summary from this little spot, Basil is often boiled down to a few different traits but in reality is insanely complex!
Fanon- He's either Flower or Rowan essentially. Find baaalance
Canon- He's a nervous Flower but with Rowan lurking underneath (generalized)
Interpretation- Whatever else you believe/headcanon
Bonus Personal Head canon: I headcanon him as having some light scars after the encounter because they were slinging sharp shears all over the place.
Random Facts and Things to Remember
It is stated by HS Aubrey that Basil is a very considerate person who wouldn’t just wander off without telling anyone. This shows that at least in the past it could be assumed that he thinks of his friends first before taking on an action such as disappearing for long periods of time.
He rejects hanging out with Sunny and Kel
He wasn't the one who scribbled out the photos and was crushed by it
He was neglecting his hobbies when we meet him in RW
In the beta it is stated his favorite food is Tofu
He AND HIS GRANDMA have a staring problem.
Snow makes him sad
H-Huh? Oh... It's nothing!
Sorry... It's kind of silly.
I don't know why... but snow makes me really sad.
He is NOT an honest person. This isn’t to say he is a huge liar liar pants on fire, but he definitely lies. For example, he will NOT tell Aubrey that you think dying her hair pink is a bad idea if you answer “no” when prompted. This is actually kind of sweet.
What do you think, SUNNY?
Hmm... Maybe we shouldn't tell AUBREY that.
“Don't worry... I know I can always tell you guys anything.” -Basil, who is lying.
I do think he genuinely meant he could tell his friends things, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he will. Aubrey had to press him to actually answer.
HS Aubrey mentions he would not like a gambling joint.
Kel mentions he has a weak stomach
He does not like his shots being terrorized by Hector and his shenanigans
He knows that you need a good poker face when playing the game
Kel in HS outs him for being good with a camera and puts him on the spot. He doesn’t seem to like this or have the confidence to take a photo and mumbles: “Kel… why…”
He likes spiders because they help him with his garden and Kel once again offers him up and puts him on the spot to try and calm a terrified Hero. He is once again doubtful of himself but talks at lengths of their benefits anyway.
He says “ah” All the time.
He likes things that are cute. He’s called Sunny and Mari cute as well as Aubrey. Sorry Kel.
Dude is pretty mentally strong for going so long like this but is also a very haunted person
Was planning his suicide since before we see him
It is mentioned he is a very forgiving person
Aubrey straight thinks he is helpless and needs defended (HS) In RW he needs defending from her lol.
He's somewhat outgoing and a little too optimistic but it's usually a front. Not always, but usually. He just has an innocent outlook. Picture a traumatized stuffed animal.
“Ah! I'm sorry, AUBREY. I just thought you looked cute! I'll show you when it's ready.”
(Not a fact but funny thing is he’s called her cute, Hero straight outted Kel and told Aubrey that Kel used to think she was cute, and Sunny thinks she’s cute. Possible love triangle? Jk…. Maybe. NYAHAHAHAHA)
On Writing and Roleplaying (finally)
He does stutter when he’s nervous. Absolutely and this can be shown. Just don’t go too far! His stumbling and stuttering doesn’t always happen and typically only comes from when he’s flustered or upset. This can be shown in either the dialogue itself or from a description of the dialogue. He usually only stumbles on the first couple of words and sometimes he will pause in a sentence if he feels like he is revealing too many emotions and will turn it back around to make it pleasant or less suspicious halfway through.
He also repeats himself if he is really bent out of shape and has a very child-like way of arguing when he’s upset which showcases the lack of development from the last four years and the impact on his psyche. Another thing to note is he hides his feelings behind a smile and is very hellbent on making it work. A
"But... tomorrow... you're going away.
H-HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!?!?
That's mean, SUNNY. That's so mean!
here are you going!?
S-Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
I don't... want to be... alone... not again.
You... can't... leave me... again...
No... You wouldn't leave me. That's not like you, SUNNY!"
__________________
"H-How are you doing, SUNNY?
Is everything okay with you?
... Okay... N-Nevermind, then."
His delusions stem from him force-feeding his brain things that he knows aren’t true and pushing cognitive dissonance down his throat. This seems to stem mostly from him secretly believing that bad traits can cause a person to be a bad person which then turns into a need for his friends to not be seen as a bad person and then deluding himself from there. He does not want to admit that someone is bad. He even hesitated on asking Kel and Sunny for help with the photo album likely because of this exact reason. When writing from this perspective, just try to make sure there is actually a reason he is losing his mind and try to see the grounds that cause this problem. The main root of it is abandonment and not wanting a friend to be “bad” and cause them to disappear. It’s the same reason he doesn’t want to be seen as a burden because he believes people will not like him if he shares his secrets which creates an endless cycle of pushing people away. People often project their own worries and he is no exception to this.
He appears to be very close to his grandmother and it seems she was attentive to him. There’s only so much an elderly parent-figure can do though and it was likely he didn’t want to bother her with his issues either. She seemed like the only person who truly cared so my heart hurts for him that she passed away.
"H-HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!?!? That's mean, SUNNY. That's so mean!"
Basil crying in my opinion is absolutely not out of character and I am all for pushing characters to their limits and making them surprising but truth be told, he really doesn’t just spill his guts out to people the majority of the time. It is mentioned he talks to Sunny privately based on the game and based on Aubrey’s knowledge of him she probably knows more than most would think as well. Kel is the only person I’d be doubtful he’d be super open with but they both do have a good relationship. Kel is the person who puts him on the spot because he believes in him to a very high degree. This is usually counteracted with Basil being completely unsure of himself and vaguely putting himself down.
He seems to be an easy crier if you go off of HS portraits. Again, HS is not reliable but I do feel like the developers did have the character’s natures in mind for the majority of their HS writing though of course they are Sunny-centric since it’s in his head and he wants it to be that way. He is very sentimental and it honestly seems like he is easy to get his feelings hurt but isn’t the type to admit it until he’s at a breaking point. Just make sure you have some good conflict here if he’s like, exploding.
I thought he had tears in this one but I was wrong. You can't convince me he isn't a happy crier though.
Look. See those tears welling up?
Bro is an angry crier
Look at that stream. He does wear his emotions on his face despite trying to claim he feels a certain way. LOOK AT THIS!
You are not fooling anyone but Kel bro.
"Psh… nothing wrong over here! Just… enjoying the winter weather… Aaaah, it’s so nice…"
Bro has a blushing problem so be sure to add that if you want.
He isn’t super obsessive in the way many paint him out to be but that doesn’t mean he’s completely innocent from this tag. His beliefs and behaviors show that he does in fact get very in his head about things and kind of assumes the worst about himself which leads to him apologizing for trivial things likely in the hopes of getting reassurement, which his friends often provide. If he were a real person, this would become a regular thing as people like being reassured and if hinting and apologizing gives them that sense of comfort, they will continue to do it. He does seem to think at the current time of the game that everyone hates him and is to such a point that he is outright asking. Repeatedly.
One thing that I don’t see addressed a lot is how he would feel towards Kel being Kel got Sunny out of his house and spent all that time with him while Basil (despite isolating himself) wasn’t able to get Sunny out. I do wonder what’s going on in his brain about that because he was super angry on One Day Left and there is bound to be resentment. He does get annoyed, we see it very rarely, but it can be seen not only during the obvious Sunny-Basil fight but also during his small remarks when being put on the spot. It seems he rejects the idea that he has any skill in anything and isn’t the type to enjoy that kind of situation.
Ahhh... Okay, I'll try!
Look at his face when he says he will try to convince Hero that spiders are not something to fear as per the request of Kel.
He is very unamused and this is also his sad sprite. I enjoy the explanation mark at the end of his statement paired with this frame lol.
Here’s the one with the photograph thing when Kel put him on the spot.
Agh... Why KEL...
S-Sorry... I'm not all that good... Or even trying to be really!
I just take photos for fun!
B-But... I'm not trying to sell myself…
Wanna see the faces? Lol. Here.
Completely mortified
Attempting to be pleasant and recover
*Sweats nervously praying he did that right
He is DEFINITELY the passive-aggressive type so when he gets into general arguments, he wouldn’t be the type to lay out the insults but would rather start off by being incredibly passive. It’s more of the hinting/tip toeing behavior commonly seen. He is also more likely to take things out on himself, bottle up his annoyance, and then harbor resentment if the issue persists. Such as with our boy Sunny. RIP Aubrey, she’ll probably get a couple of those small quips but he’s also the type to feel HORRIBLE about feeling ill on others and is seen to be incredibly forgiving. He is definitely the type of person to make a lake joke I think, but it would be out of the blue, one singular time, when everyone least expects it. Stuff like that.
There was definitely resentment between both him and Sunny there which I personally believe to have been mostly repaired by the end of the game. He still cares about him to a very deep level but, just as Sunny, there is some anger. This is mostly from, once again, abandonment. When writing scenes with them, a good tip for post good ending fics is to think in the way he thinks and create a little bit of uncertainty between them because they both need to have a good long talk and they both tend to keep things from the other that they fear would hurt feelings. Basil tries really hard to make things seem like they’ll be okay but Sunny isn’t a dummy and sees through this. Basil knows this, he chooses to continue hoping anyways. There’s just this thing in both of them where they know each other too well to the point it can be uncomfortable because they can tell when the other one is hiding something.
One good thing to note is be sure to show off his good traits and harbor a depth to him because all in all, it’s who he is. Some guy who is friendly and sweet but who also has a lot of emotional baggage and turmoil following him around. He is actually pretty funny but he’s usually very unassuming with it like when Aubrey called Kel a prick and he didn’t disagree or when when Kel called Aubrey stubborn and he dismissed it.
He is also compliment heavy to the point it can get uncomfortable. He finds these very unique traits that are specific to the person he’s complimenting and he makes it very well known to them when he can. He also seems to be more of a touchy-feely type of friend with the hand holding, hugging, and brushing hair thing. Kel is also in this box. He’s the type of friend that hugs you and you’re confused on why he’s doing that and a little uncomfortable but you just roll with it because that’s just who he is.
He is the type of person who wants people to care as deeply as he does but does not give them an avenue or a chance to do just that and then begins to wonder why they don’t while knowing in the end it is from his own actions.
He does try occasionally to bring up his problems mostly to Sunny but is very hesitant to do so.
He fakes his smiles but is also TERRIBLE at it and just looks kind of scary in the process haha.
His friends mean the world to him and he is willing to destroy everything unintentionally for them. He also battles with a deep inner conflict that causes him to think irrationally at times. Very sentimental and sweet this guy cries with most emotions when they are intense but you usually wont see it because he will go into a private space so he doesn't feel like a burden. Keep this in mind when writing emotional scenes. He’s also either completely straight and sharp to his point before backpedaling or he beats around the bush so he can awkwardly bring up whatever is bothering him.
Basil does NOOOT like confrontation. Not at all. Remember when we looked at how he will take Kel’s assumptions and run with them? He is very hesitant when approaching something that bothers him (of course unless he’s at his limit and even then he teeters back and forth on what he wants to say and how he feels) and he will actively avoid it for as long as he can unless he truly believes he can talk through something. An unfortunate thing was that in his situation with Aubrey, there wasn’t a whole lot he could say but he did try. He’s not completely against trying and he will attempt for as long as he can if he feels there might be some hope, but in regards to his feelings and emotions specifically, he’s pretty bad with confronting them even though he really wants to. This is a parallel to Sunny who does not want to confront his problems and throughout the game has to work to finally allow for the necessary actions to be taken for the greater good of everyone and himself. A lot of Basil’s issues do boils down to a flaw of wanting and not wanting something at the same time and not seeking avenues to mend them. He didn’t want to tell Aubrey about the photo album but he did want to talk to her about getting it back. We do not know what it is he was going to tell her the two times he tried to talk to her, but he’d have to say something if she had given him the room to talk. He didn’t want to be out on the spot about his panic attacks and he did not reveal any of it to Kel but did to Sunny once Sunny saw firsthand. It seems to be that he is very much a one on one person where he would rather talk to an individual about a problem than to talk to a bunch of people at once about the same problem that may affect everyone. Once the cat is out of the bag with him, he seems to immediately go into repair mode and try to either elicit comfort out of someone or backpedal completely. He’s very complex in this manner. I think it looks kind of like this.
Issue- He will talk to one person at a time rather than the group of friends in their entirety. He doesn’t seem to enjoy being the center of attention and he talks to each character differently.
Emotional confrontation- Either very tip toe through the tulips and hesitant to reach a conclusion or an emotional explosion after holding everything in
Internal issues- completely hidden (such as his suicidal ideations, panic attacks, anger) unless confronted and then he has no clue how to approach the confrontation and goes back and forth on how he feels because he doesn’t even know. Is quick to point out what has been pissing him off or hurting his feelings. Will state exact causes but will also break down and be confused why someone would do something mean like that.
External issues (photo album)- will try to talk it out and if it has to do with someone first and if that fails he is prone to giving up. He does seem to find a small bit of strength if there are people on his side but he is still not confident in himself.
Another thing to keep in mind is how back and forth he is. Cognitive dissonance does this to people and can be seen during the Sunny Basil fight when he’s not only verbally going back and forth on what he believes and how he feels, but his moods change at the drop of a dime as well as his expressions. It was so terrifying when I first played through. Can you imagine being in Sunny’s shoes? He was switching so fast and didn’t know what to believe. It was a pivotal moment for him. This can be expressed in writing in a myriad of ways. One thing to avoid is to make him too straight to the point and one-lane focused.
At the end of the True Ending we can see Sunny and Basil’s nothings disappearing and some may speculate Basil’s didn’t entirely disappear. A part of me is cool with this theory because he didn’t really get a lot accomplished on his end other than waking up to Sunny smiling at him. I think BOTH of them still have a long way to go but I think Sunny has finally started and is able to begin healing whereas Basil is pointing in the right direction but still needs to walk for a bit. Keep in mind when writing post good end fics that this kind of thing will leave lasting imprints forever and that people can heal but still have hurdles along the way. There are also always times people do fall down after doing good for awhile and returning to having issues. Basil is a very back and forth character and with the way the friends were so gentle with him as a child it could be thought he’s had some issues for awhile and they are aware and treat him accordingly. Be sure to reflect on this because when everyone just goes back to normal or hates each other without any of the lessons from the game it feels off in a way. Create some nuance! Give them mixed feelings. (If you believe that is what they would feel)
Talking to Characters
He talks to of the characters differently and I feel like it goes something sort of like this.
Mari- He compliments her a lot and looks very highly of her. He does seem to enjoy talking to her and Hero and it gave me the vibes of someone who had to grow up a little too fast and was comfortable talking to the older kids and understanding their wish to keep everyone from arguing with each other. He sees Mari as someone who has everything all together and that’s something he wants for himself. He’s very inspired by her.
Hero- There isn’t a whole lot of dialogue between them but I feel like it’s on par with Mari. Hero is calm and has a humble side to him that I think Basil would really enjoy. He seems to like that Hero watches over them all so they don’t get too rowdy such as when they were fighting over the Polaroid in HS which I’m sure I’d likely based on a true event because it just makes sense. I think these two would have a similar mood structure for a generalized calmness and humbleness but they also don’t have a lot of common hobbies and Hero is skilled and trophied whereas Basil hardly believes he can take decent photos. There’s more confidence on Hero’s end than there is Basil’s and that would cause a difference between them.
Sunny- Sunny is one of Basil’s closest friends leading up to the incident and he refers to him as his best friend. He deeply cares for Sunny and wants to make sure he’s taken care of. Sunny is shyer and quieter than Basil, and being that Basil has his anxious tendencies and prefers quieter hobbies, it is likely he has picked up on this and wants to make sure Sunny is heard and understood. It’s what a good friend does after all and it’s something Basil would want out of a friendship too. Sunny listens to Basil talk at lengths about his hopes, dreams, worries, and fears and they used to spend a lot of time together! He also always looks for Sunny’s opinions but generally only speaks on it if his opinion isn’t going to hurt someone’s feelings. (Aubrey’s hair, for example.) he’s a huge supporter and can seem to pick up on things very easy by seeing patterns and assuming based on expression. An example of this is Sunny’s crush on Aubrey. He picked up on this from Sunny asking to look at the picture of Aubrey and noticed a pattern in wanting to see. After the good ending, Basil is probably worried constantly about how Sunny feels about him due to the whole eye poke thing and likely still has a lot of hurt feelings to navigate through. They will definitely remain friends though. There is this deep understanding they have of each other but with their personalities being conflict-avoidant, it makes it so difficult for them to be able to fix a conflict the two of them share. Basil wants to but can’t by himself and Sunny is trying to run away from it. Basil takes it very personally and is incredibly hurt because who wouldn’t be and Sunny is terrified. Sunny picks up on Basil’s small issues easily but isn’t vocal about them like Aubrey is. He’s more of a physically be there and Basil seems to understand this and is alright with it. An example is Sunny following Basil into the bathroom or his bedroom and knowing something is wrong but being unable to say anything. In the end, Sunny had gotten the shears from Basil after popping him in the eye with his fist or something, and the two of them had a HUGE fight due to all their boiled conflict finally just exploding. This is something I feel would be common between them with smaller conflicts on a smaller scale because while they are there for each other, Sunny is terrible at talking about it which is something Basil wants and will try to force out of him because he’s making himself panic. The thing that tends to chill Basil out is talking through things essentially and Sunny’s not good at it. I feel like this would be something Sunny learns he needs to fix because at the end of the fic he finally does just that.
Kel- Kel is different when Basil and is one of the people that I feel is really fun to write for when it comes to dynamics here. The two of them are close and Kel often cheers Basil on buuuut he is loud, confident, and excited about it. I like how Basil gently talks to Sunny and cheers him on, Kel talks to Basil and SCREAMS that he’s awesome. Kel is a Chad for this. Basil, however, not enjoying being the center of attention, gets slightly irritated or nervous in response but generally caves under pressure unless he’s really unsure of himself. I feel he and Kel would have some of the best laughs but otherwise, there is a huge disconnect between the two of them. He definitely does see Kel as being an awesome person though because despite not liking being put on the spot, Basil sees the good intentions. Sunny is also very close to Kel and I occasionally wonder if there was ever a hidden nervousness around that seeing as Basil and Kel are so different and Basil is shown to be very wishful he had the “good” traits other people had. I don’t see a lot of deep talks between the two of them but I do see a lot of laughs, cheering, and an occasional very deep conversation about other characters or situations. There is just this fundamental disconnect where Basil seems to think Kel will not understand the issues he is having OR that he does not want to tell him out of embarrassment or worrying about burdening him. He does better when people pick up on his cues such as how he picks up on Sunny. The thing is though, Kel is very supportive and does have a depth to him that he occasionally brings out such as the graveyard scene. He’s just a very hyperactive person which I think freaks Basil out a little bit.
Aubrey and him have my personal favorite dynamic because it’s soooo messy. Basil and Aubrey grew up as neighbors and share a dysfunctional family dynamic and she was the one who introduced him to the group. There will be some personal interpretation here based on the contents of the game so keep this in mind. Aubrey was the person who picked up on Basil’s cues such and Sunny knew this. You can tell because in headspace, despite her HS counterpart being in love with OMORI, he didn’t wash out how much she cared about Basil. This is supposed to parallel her RW character too. She cried over him being missing, was one of the last to forget about him, talked about how she missed when he brushed her hair, lamented he wouldn’t like the Last Resort and was offended at Kel’s poor drawing, and picked up on his behaviors when he was sad. What this tells me is that prior to the incident these two were very close. Sunny either didn’t want to delete that from her character or was unable to dismiss it because it was so fundamental. Basil doesn’t usually explicitly say what’s bothering him unless promoted and Aubrey was the person that prompted him and noticed and for that she was a special person to him. She is capable of being very rowdy and loud just as Kel is, but the difference is that she also enjoys the calmness of small things, shares hobbies with Basil such as arts and crafts, and sees a side to him that he doesn’t like to share and is more than happy to comfort him. This is why I can see her drastic change being so believable because she felt like everyone abandoned her and when Basil was one of her first friends and in her mind avoided her and scribbled out all of the photos, she was blind sighted with rage and pain and thought it was more of a situation of him not caring, not wanting to be around her, being a huge nutcase, and her being completely wrong about his character the entire time than it was her just hating him to hate him. She mentions at the lake how he is the worst of all for what he had done and pushes him away. She immediately regrets this as she mutters “shoot” under her breath and in the walkthrough guide the art shows her crying as they carry him away. She is so distraught at her actions that she locks herself in her room and opens up to her old friends about their story at the end of the game. Aubrey hates rejection and when she felt rejected she took it completely to heart. She tells the group they should stay at his house that night and tries to talk to him when he locks himself away. This shows that she genuinely feels awful about it all and realizes her error in that he did care about her. How do I know it’s not just about the photo album and has more to do with their friendship? It’s obvious because she never even learned he wasn’t the one that did that. She begins crying because she feels awful and is finally humbled to the point she actually has to think about it all and approach it from an end she didn’t want to out of anger. She assumed Basil didn’t want to be around her but didn’t realize the depth of it. It was never about her as much as it was about all the other things she wouldn’t have even begin to know to think about. Her staying at his house that night is clear she knows something is VERY wrong and wants to be there to be safe. She knows a side to him that only Sunny also seems to really know and that is why she is so gentle with him (in the past) and so supportive of him. People get their dynamic as one extreme or the other so much that I feel it’s very important to talk about them because there are so many small details that are so easily missed. I feel like Aubrey and Basil’s friendship has a lot in common with Sunny and his honestly. Sunny was more in his head and Aubrey was outward. She also never hits him with the bat, even in the manga she kicks him over instead which is still diabolical. In the game though, Kim is the butt who hits him (dang it Kim) and Aubrey is more of the person who isn’t really actively doing that but does let the bullying happen.
It should also be considered that despite this she did call him names and was very cruel to him and it inspired others to do the same so I presume there is a chance she isn’t his only bully since she told Hero other’s joined in on calling him a creep and stuff. This all comes down to her wanting to not only push him away but being so resentful that he wronged her and Mari that she wants him to feel bad about it and no longer cares what he has to say to her because she feels like he is only going to lie and didn’t want to be around her when she was hurting anyways. In Aubrey’s mind she went out of her way to be around him after the incident but he didn’t want that and scribbled their history away. It’s very nuanced! They say hate is one side of the coin as love and I think that her deep friendship with him from the past is made so obvious for this exact reason. This can be said for Sunny as well who was incredibly troubled by his opinion on Basil but eventually came through and realized that he mattered so much to him that he’d do something he’d been running from so that he could fix things. I love coins.
Thanks for reading, I used the Wiki and the Omori Quote goats.dev website!!! Thank you to the people responsible. Please check out my fanfic! There are Petals All Around Us and Loser Committee on AO3, I will cry. They aren't perfect but I've really gotten into them and I have enjoyed learning how to write for these characters. I will have more character things so follow me if you wanna seeee!
-CF
