Hello, fellow Hero enjoyers, and welcome to "Hero Deserves To Be Happy" our side blog for Hero Appreciation! We wanted a proper home for all our Hero love and devotion so here we are. 🥰
We mods are a fic-writer (Mod Acacia) and a fan-artist (Mod Sprinkles), are both adults, and are the co-conspirators, co-owners & co-creators of the "When Sun Shines Again" series.
This blog is all Hero content and appreciation all the time--both created by us and lovingly reblogged from other Hero enthusiasts. We will have some HeroMari here too, of course! 💙💜 It is also the home of "When Sun Shines Again": our series focused on Hero's Life After Mari (post-good ending).
This blog is not spoiler-free, but we will try our best to properly mark all spoilers with the "Omori Spoilers" tag.
Feel free to drop by the ask box any time to talk about the best, the kindest, and the most delightful of all OMORI big brothers! 💙 (We'd say out of all the OMORI characters, but the rest of them are pretty cool too 😊).
This blog is and always will be 100% safe for work! Thanks for visiting!
A couple of blog considerations:
All Safe for Work (SFW) Hero content is acceptable here including art, fanfiction, headcanons, and character analysis posts. There will never be any NSFW content here and any of our content containing any heavier themes as seen in the OMORI canon (i.e. grief/mourning, mental health issues, ect.) will include proper warnings.
All major OMORI spoilers in our content will be tagged as "omori spoilers," and we will try to tag spoilers in reblogged content as well.
All platonic Hero friendships will be celebrated on this blog, and the main romantic ship here will be HeroMari (Hero x Mari). 💙💜 There will occasionally be some Hero/OC (in the "When Sun Shines Again" Universe) and maybe some Hero/Brandi (though we tend to write them as platonic friends). Please note: This blog will only entertain Hero x Canon Character romantic pairings in which the other character is confirmed in the canon to be Hero's age since he is canonically an adult [i.e. Mari (who is canonically the same age as Hero) or Brandi (who is confirmed to attend university with him) would be acceptable, but we are personally not comfortable with anything explicitly romantic between Hero and any character of an ambiguous age. Platonic content for such relationships is okay. Please see this post for more information if needed.]. All Hero relationships both platonic and romantic will be properly tagged.
To make this blog super inclusive for all Hero appreciators regardless of their ship preferences for the other OMORI characters, no content that involves undeniably, explicitly, and/or intentionally romantic ships for Sunny, Kel, Aubrey, or Basil will be posted here as a general rule.
Constructive critiques and thoughtful discussion are allowed and even encouraged; however, there will be no meanspirited slander of Hero or any other OMORI characters or relationships on this blog. We recognize that there are many possible interpretations of Hero, the other OMORI characters, and their interpersonal relationships with each other, and we want to state upfront that we personally tend to have positive interpretations, especially as far as Hero's family in concerned. Though they are not perfect and they do make mistakes, we really believe that they are ultimately a loving family, and this blog will reflect that viewpoint and interpretation.
Thank you for being mindful and respectful of our blog rules & considerations!
Featured Tags (Listed in Alphabetical Order):
"hero character analysis" for Character Analysis
"hero fanart" for Art
"hero fic" for Fanfiction
"hero headcanons" for Headcanons
"heromari 💙💜" for content including/featuring HeroMari
"hero and kel's brotherly bond" and/or "it's the brothers 💙🧡" for content including/featuring Hero and Kel's sibling relationship & brotherly friendship
"hero friendships" for content including/featuring any Hero platonic friendships with the other OMORI characters [A/N: There are also specific tags for each friendship with the following naming convention: "Hero and [Canon Character's Name] friendship"]
"hero plush's adventures" for posts featuring the official Hero plushie
"hero polls" for polls about or featuring Hero
"hero songs" for posts with or about songs that suit Hero
"omori spoilers" for content involving, including, or featuring major OMORI spoilers
"our content" for content created by Acacia and/or Sprinkles [both created for this blog and reblogged from our mains]
"When Sun Shines Again ⛅" for content related to the "When Sun Shines Again" universe
⛅WHEN SUN SHINES AGAIN [Hero's Life After Mari]
A Post-Good Ending series focusing on Hero finding healing and building a life for himself after the loss of Mari. Eventually includes him learning to love again after an extremely slow burn.
Romantic Relationships: Main Ships: (Past) Hero/Mari and (Eventual) Hero/OC. Side Ships: Brandi/OC and a brief mention of Mikhael/Bebe are the only side ships involving canon characters.
Platonic Relationships: Hero & Brandi Friendship, Hero & Original Characters Friendship. Some Hero & Kel Siblings Relationship & Brotherly Friendship, Hero & Aubrey Friendship, Hero & Basil Friendship, Hero & Sunny Friendship, and Hero & His Family.
Prequel: "Am I Ready For Love? Or Maybe Just A Best Friend" [Hero Centric Hurt/Comfort, Angst, & Slice of Life; Post-Good Ending. Special emphasis on Past Hero/Mari (Angst) and Hero's platonic friendships with his college friends (Brandi & OCs) in the present. Could be Hero/OC if you really wanted to see it, but this work focuses on their platonic friendship] (**intended to be read prior to "When Sun Shines Again"**) [A/N: originally posted on main]
⛅️"When Sun Shines Again" MASTERLIST ⛅️
Links to Some More Content Created By Us:
Hero Content:
Hero Character Analysis and Some "Post-Truth" Headcanons (feat. some songs that suit Hero) [reblogged from main]
"Hearts for Hero" Headcanon Request Event Masterlist
Hero Birthday Art
Hero Platonic Relationships Poll
What Hero's Attempts to Comfort Sunny on the Night of "Two Days Left" Tell Us About His Character [Analysis Post]
Hero-Centric Fics:
2 AM -- Hero, Kel, and Aubrey discover the aftermath of Sunny and Basil's fight...
300 Profiteroles -- Hero, Bowen, and Daphne Friendship Fluff & Slice of Life (Post-Good Ending)
Hero Character Analysis Posts Masterlist
HeroMari Content: 💙💜
HeroMari Headcanons and a Song [reblogged from main]
HeroMari Sketchdump [reblogged from main]
HeroMari Fics:
More Than Words (Pre-Canon HeroMari Fluff)
Some Things Are Meant To Be (HeroMari College AU)
Hero and Kel's Brotherly Bond Content: 💙🧡
Brothers Headcanons Request Event Masterlist
Brothers Centric Fic:
Tell Me Where It Hurts -- Hero and Kel Brotherly Hurt/Comfort and Angst Pre-Canon
Hero and Sunny's Friendship Content: 💙💛
Sunny and Hero's Friendship Headcanons (Mod Sprinkles' Birthday Event) Masterlist
💙CURRENT EVENT: Interview Questions Ask Game (the questions don't need to be about OCs. You can ask for canon characters too!)
Currently working on our remaining Hero Ficlet Requests. We are (unfortunately) very slow writers. Thank you for being patient!
(The banner of this post and this blog's pfp include official OMORI art and are edited by us)
In the future, nearly 14 years after the good ending of OMORI, Hero meets up with his old friends from college and reflects on how a Fall break vacation over a decade ago quickly turned into a road trip Hero and his friends would never forget.
Hero's friendships with his college friends Brandi, Kyle (OC), Zoey (OC), Tamra (OC), C.J. (OC) and Lorraine (OC)-centric. (Past Hero/Mari, Eventual Hero/OC, and Brandi/OC are also mentioned)
Slice of Life and Friendship Shenanigans Post-Good End (with a little bit of Hurt/Comfort).
Rated G. Some mild warnings for canon-typical heavy themes (i.e. grief and mourning) & some occasional mild language in later chapters, but this is mostly friendship fun and shenanigans. Please see AO3 tags for more information and also be mindful of OMORI spoilers.
Chapter 1 of 5 || Chapter Word Count: 2,412
Reading "When Sun Shines Again" and "Am I Ready For Love? Or Maybe Just a Best Friend" before this story is recommended.
A/N: This story is a gift for @shine-n-bright and was inspired by Shine's prompt and beautiful artwork of Hero and his friends. Thank you so much again for the wonderful art inspired by "When Sun Shines Again" and the prompt for this story!! We are so sorry for all the delays and appreciate your patience. We loved your prompt so much that this story became a much bigger work than we anticipated so we have divided it into chapters. We hope to post the next chapters very soon and really hope you like this story! 😊
Link to the chapter on AO3. Full Chapter Text Below the Cut.
Thank you for reading and supporting our work in progress! ⛅
PROLOGUE:
“There you are! What took you so long?”
Fidgeting, Hero scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry, Kyle. I got caught at work.”
“Eh don’t worry about it,” Kyle insisted as he shrugged his shoulders with a lopsided grin. He patted Hero on the back as he ushered him into the house, then laughed as he took his jacket. “Nice scrubs.”
Hero sheepishly smoothed his hands across his shirt. These days, he spent most of his time in scrubs, so it was easy to forget he was wearing them. “Sorry,” he apologized again. “I didn’t have time to change.”
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Kyle laughed again. “You know I don’t care. I love scrubs—it’s like wearing pajamas to work every day, but what in the world happened to you? We got off at the exact same time—or at least we were supposed to.” Kyle tilted his head, and Hero shuffled his feet. It was easy to forget that Kyle knew all about his schedule now that they were working in the same orthopedic clinic. “I thought you took this outpatient job, so you’d have more time for yourself than you did in your residency. That’s not gonna work if you keep working after hours.”
Hero sighed heavily. “I know…but I got behind on some of my charting today and—”
“You work way too hard, Mama,” Kyle interrupted with a tut bringing up an old nickname that had somehow stuck around since their undergrad. “And you’re already like the busiest person I know. You need a break.”
“I’m fine. Please don’t worry.” Hero insisted, then chuckled lightly to himself. This conversation was all too familiar. He and Kyle must have had the exact same one at least a hundred times over the decade they had been roommates before Kyle had finally moved out and into this lovely house in the suburbs.
Kyle shrugged. “You know I don’t worry about anything, but you need a vacation. I think I’ll buy you one.”
“Oh you really don’t have to—”
Hero’s protests were promptly cut off by the frantic flurry of clip-clopping high heels, bouncing golden curls, a twirling sparkling tutu, high-pitched giggling, and an excited squeal of “Uncle Hero!”
He wasn’t really her uncle, only her godfather, but the title made him smile brightly as he scooped up Kyle’s daughter, Eloise, and she placed a tiara triumphantly into his unruly hair.
“Thank you, Ellie,” said Hero with a laugh as the tiara began to droop over his eyes. Eloise’s tiny brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to catch the crown, practically smacking Hero in the head with it as Kyle cackled in the background. Kyle only laughed harder as Hero reached up with his hand to try to affix the tiara to his head which, unfortunately, it seemed was much too big for a crown designed for toddlers. He looked at Eloise apologetically, but he couldn’t hold back his smile as he heard familiar laughter coming from a nearby doorway.
“You’ve finally got your crown, Mr. Prince.”
Hero stifled his laughter at another nickname it seemed he would never be able to outgrow, and Zoey leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms with a quirk of an eyebrow. Her voice was dry, but Hero knew her well enough after all these years to see the twitch of a smile in the corners of her mouth and that teasing sparkle in her green eyes as she added, “It suits you.”
Hero’s face grew warm. The fact he was blushing at Zoey’s recurring ‘prince’ joke after all this time was even more embarrassing than the joke itself. For a split second, he hoped she hadn’t noticed, but she knew him far too well for that. Hero was sure of it—even without her pointed flash of the engagement ring on her left hand as she raised it to her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Hero shrugged but smiled. Touché.
“I think it’s better for a princess,” he said as he gently nestled the tiara into Eloise’s blonde curls.
“I’m playing Cinderella,” Eloise explained. “You’ll be the prince for me—won’t you? Dad says you’re just like prince charming.”
Laughing, Kyle took his little girl from Hero and held her himself. “I said he was ‘basically prince charming,’” he corrected—clearly more for Hero’s benefit than for the understanding of his toddler. “Which he is.”
Before Hero could even begin to protest, a high-pitched voice laughed, “Oh he totally is!” followed by the excited footsteps of Lorraine sprinting through the doorway and practically jumping on him to squeeze him into a tight hug. It had always been her preferred method of greeting, but even after all of these years, it still surprised him, as did her unexpectedly tight grip for someone so dainty.
“My future brother, the prince,” she teased with a beaming smile, ruffling a hand through his hair before she turned to Eloise. “He’d be the perfect prince for your game, but he’s here to do some grown-up stuff, so he can’t play today.”
With a disappointed hum, Eloise pouted, “But Uncle Hero…” She blinked at him with big eyes and a pleading expression which reminded him a lot of her father’s. If Hero had to guess, she’d be just as persuasive as him someday—a troublemaker who somehow always managed to be earnest and look innocent, and just as Hero had always struggled saying no to Kyle, he struggled to say no to Eloise too. He almost wanted to say that he would play with her for a little while, but he had kept his friends waiting for so long already, so instead he sighed with a half-smile and said, “I promise we’ll play next time, okay?”
Eloise frowned—clearly not too pleased with the idea, but her face lit up into a bright smile when her dad said, “Hey, you wanna watch Cinderella on the big tv?” and led her off practically skipping up the stairs her plastic dress-up high-heels loudly clip-clopping all the way.
“Gotta keep an eye on our goddaughter,” quipped Zoey. “She’s dangerous. Before we know it, she’ll be roping her friends into who knows what—have them camping out in the middle of nowhere in an RV that had broken down on the side of the highway.”
Hero stifled a laugh. He hadn’t thought about that in years. Looking back, it was kind of amazing to think of the kinds of shenanigans he and his friends had gotten into back in college—all mostly thanks to Kyle and his hairbrained ideas. Truthfully, it was a little unbelievable seeing as they were all such responsible adults now: a teacher, a doctor, a speech therapist, two lawyers, an engineer, and a physical therapist. Nearly all of them married—some, like Kyle, with children who, in Eloise’s case, at least, for better or worse, seemed to be just like her dad.
“Ooh that reminds me,” interjected Lorraine. “I got out all my photo albums out for you to look at. Basil called me about pictures for some collage or wedding video or something, and you’re welcome to borrow any you want.” She clapped her hands with a smile. “I have an album from that trip, you know?”
“I still don’t know why you wanted to document that…” Shaking her head, Zoey sighed but shrugged. “Just don’t show Brandi, okay? I’m pretty sure she still calls it ‘the Road Trip from hell.’”
“Aww but it was the first time we all ever went on vacation together. It was so much fun!” Lorraine beamed, but her sister just shrugged. She quickly turned to Hero. “You want to see the pictures, don’t you, Hero?”
He could barely mumble a polite, “Um…sure, Lorraine” before she had dragged him through the doorway towards the dining room and kitchen where the rest of their friends were hard at work seemingly getting ready for dinner. C.J. and Tamra turned towards him with smiles and friendly greetings, but Brandi just huffed and crossed her arms.
“Well look who finally decided to show up.” She bristled, but Hero liked to think she happy to see him. Maybe… It was often difficult to tell with her.
“Finally,” C.J. repeated, though he sounded relieved rather than disgruntled. “We were about to cut our losses and order takeout. You know none of us can cook.”
“Hey,” huffed Brandi, but C.J. just smiled.
“You know I love you, but it was your idea to order takeout.”
Brandi frowned. “I didn’t mean me.”
“Well, I’m flattered,” Kyle interjected with a bright, smarmy smile as he walked in through another entrance. “But honestly, I think I could still burn a Pop-Tart.”
Brandi rolled her eyes, but paused glancing around, Hero could only assume, for Eloise, not wanting to insult Kyle in front of his kid. Even though the little girl was upstairs now, Brandi still just muttered a tame, “moron” under her breath and otherwise she pretended she hadn’t heard him and continued, “Lorraine is a pretty good cook, and Tamra’s still working on that lasagna.”
“Yeah…I think we should probably give up on the lasagna.” With a weary sigh, a particularly bedraggled Tamra chuckled somewhat sheepishly and wiped her floury hands on a stained apron. “We should not have tried to substitute the eggs when we ran out.” She shook her head but smiled at Hero with a shrug her shoulders, “I don’t think even you can rescue this one, Hero.”
“I think we should just order takeout,” huffed Brandi. “I’m starving.”
“And cranky,” quipped Kyle in a playful scold.
“You’re the one who invited people over for a dinner with no food.”
Kyle shrugged. “I thought Hero would cook for us—like the old days, but he was late.”
“I’m sorry, everyone.” Hero had lost track of how many times he had apologized, but he felt another apology was warranted. “I can whip something up right away.”
A gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him. “No,” said Zoey. “I’ll order some takeout. Don’t worry about it.”
“Kyle will order some takeout,” Brandi corrected. “Since this is his fault.”
Laughing, Kyle held up his hands in a sort of helpless surrender. “Okay. Okay.” He pulled a menu for a local Chinese restaurant off of his refrigerator. From it’s prominent placement amongst family photos and Eloise’s artwork, Hero could only assume that Kyle was a frequent customer. As Kyle began to pass the menu around to his friends, Lorraine placed a stack of photo albums on the table.
“We should look through some pictures while we wait for the food!” She smiled brightly handing an album with “Our First Road Trip” emblazoned on the cover to Hero. “Here’s the one we were talking about.”
“Oh no. Not that one,” complained Brandi, peering over Hero’s shoulder. “I had almost blocked that road trip from hell out of my memory.”
“Told you,” quipped Zoey with a chuckle, but Hero doubted she was heard by too many of their companions over Kyle’s very loud and very dramatic gasp of offense.
“Why would you want to do that? It was the best trip ever!”
From the looks that were being exchanged, Hero could tell that while none of them would likely go so far as Brandi to call their vacation the “road trip from hell,” no one agreed that it was anywhere near the “best trip ever.” The way Hero remembered it, everything that possibly could have gone wrong did. Starting from the first moment Kyle had pulled up the driveway of their fraternity house in a weathered, broken-down RV equipped with a gross carpet interior and peeling paint. His mouth twitched in the corners as he released that his truly unforgettable recreational vehicle had been immortalized forever as the first photo in Lorraine’s album.
Though Lorraine hadn’t gotten a photo of it, Hero could vividly picture the bright beaming smile on Kyle’s face as he had proudly declared he had had “the best idea ever” to use their plane ticket money in order to rent that hunk of junk RV on the somewhat fantastical notion that a road trip would permanently bond them, make them all “best friends forever” like in one of those coming-of-age sitcoms Kyle loved so much. Hero could distinctly remember Brandi huffing, “This isn’t ‘Saved By the Bell,’ Kyle” as if friendships that close were just a fantasy—something only found on TV.
Hero supposed that in a way, at that time, it was a sort of fantasy to him too—a distant dream that almost didn’t feel real. He had had friends like that once, but, back then, back when Kyle was masterminding that road trip, he couldn’t imagine ever having friends like that again.
It was strange thinking back to that time, now, after everything that had happened. In a way, he felt almost like a different person—like the young man who had driven that dilapidated RV all the way to Kyle’s family lake house wasn’t even him at all. That Hero could have never imagined that their ragtag group would still be in touch with each other after all this time, let alone such close friends. He could have never imagined that at the end of the road they’d someday all be gathering around the table to look through Lorraine’s photo album of that fateful road trip to find pictures for his wedding of all things.
Hero covered his mouth with his hand and laughed in spite of himself. It was truly unbelievable. Impossible. Even now, having reached this destination it almost didn’t feel real, but as Kyle had once said, some of the best journeys in life wind up at places you could never expect—that’s part of the fun!
In that way, Hero supposed it was impossible to ever really know what was waiting at the end of the road. After so many twists and turns in the winding dark, there was a future surrounded by friendship and love that he hadn’t believed he could ever have after losing Mari, that he hadn’t believed he deserved anymore.
But he had had no way of knowing that, had no way of knowing he could ever be happy again, just like he had no way of knowing that his Fall break vacation to Kyle’s family lake house would turn into a cross-country road trip he and his friends would never forget.
Ooh an Aubrey ask!! I (Mod Acacia) adore Aubrey (she's probably my favorite character in the game besides Hero) so this is so exciting! I'll try my best to answer in her POV in keeping with the ask game (and I chose some game sprites to include just for fun too!)
Thank you so much for the ask. Take care! 💙
AUBREY Answers:
7. Who do you look up to?
I would have said Mari but um...I guess I'm older than she was now...
I think I'm always going to look up to her though. She was so kind and had this way of taking care of everyone. She could make you feel safe, like everything was going to be okay no matter how bad things were, and she was always looking for everyone and protecting them. No matter what you knew she would always be right by your side.
When I was little, I thought she was just the most amazing person. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. I still do. Even if I'll always be older than her now
17. What makes you laugh?
Thanks for thinking I actually have a sense of humor. Some of my friends don't think so 🙄 but that's only because I don't like stupid jokes or potty humor (which is all bozos like Mikhael and Angel are capable of).
But I do laugh at snarky things, especially in movies, on TV, or with my friends. Kim is really sarcastic and makes me laugh a lot, and Sunny occasionally has some funny one-liners (even though I think he's just being honest and not trying to be funny).
Don't tell Hero but sometimes his "dad jokes" are actually kind of hilarious too (even if most of them make me want to roll my eyes).
And...fine. I'll never live it down for admitting it but...
Sometimes Kel, Mikhael, and Angel are so ridiculous that they're funny...but only sometimes. Most of the time, they quickly go from goofball to just obnoxious (especially Mikhael).
Absolutely!! We'd be delighted to answer these questions (er...uh to "have Zoey answer them" 😁). Thank you so much for the ask! Take care!! 💙
ZOEY Answers:
13. You're given an unlimited budget to build anything you want! What do you build and where do you build it?
I'd definitely build a bridge! It's always been my dream to build bridges ever since I was little. Since the budget is unlimited it would be nice to build a more expensive type of bridge like a suspension bridge or a tied-arch/bowstring bridge (that's one of my favorites, actually, so I might have to choose that).
The type of bridge is really going to be dependent on where its being built though since certain bridges are better suited for certain conditions (i.e. distance and local weather).
I'd want to build my bridge wherever it was needed most and where it would benefit the most people.
20. Describe your biggest pet peeve.
I've always been pretty irked by people refusing to apologize and failing to own up to their mistakes whether that be by insisting they've done nothing wrong or by pushing the blame onto others and insisting that their mistakes are "always somebody else's fault." Everyone makes mistakes (I certainly have made a lot of them myself). The best and most mature response is always to say, "I realize I messed up here. I'm sorry" (even when it's difficult and humbling to admit) and to try to make things right. For someone to dig in their heels, refuse to take responsibility, and insist they've done nothing wrong or that it wasn't their fault, is often entitled, narcissistic, and juvenile. It also shows an unwillingness to learn and to change which has always been very off-putting to me.
There's no chance to learn and grow from our mistakes if we don't take responsibility for them.
22. What's the easiest way to flirt with you?
(...why is everyone so interested in my love life? You know I don't really have one, right? 😅)
Um...honestly no one I've ever been romantically interested in has been particularly skilled at flirting. I think it's probably because I'm generally drawn to people who are genuine and sincere (not just in a romantic sense but in a platonic one too). Honesty is really important to me, and oftentimes really charismatic people come off as disingenuous which I find slimy and off-putting, especially when they're flirting. Thankfully, Kyle, who has more charisma than he knows what to do with, has only ever seen me like a sister and has never tried to hit on me because I doubt we would've ever become friends otherwise (even though I know that under all that flirty bravado he's really just a goofball).
I like to think I'm a pretty discerning judge of character even though most people are not 100% honest all time. We all hide parts of ourselves, I think, especially our vulnerabilities, but there's a difference between being private and being fake. I don't mind putting in the effort to get to know "the real you," but there has to be something real and sincere upfront because you can't build any lasting relationship on only smoke & mirrors.
In that way, I guess that the easiest way to get me to like you would probably be just by being yourself, and however, you flirt--no matter how awkward it is--it's honestly kind of endearing because it's you and that's real.
In terms of specific types of flirting though...I've always enjoyed a witty banter. I've always been the type to tease to show affection, and people say I'm fairly quick-witted so, I'll admit, that particular brand of flirting is pretty enjoyable to me. 😁
Thank you so much for the ask, 🩶 Anon!! It's always so wonderful to hear from you!
We'd be thrilled to answer all of these questions for you, but to keep the posts from being too long we've decided to divide them between canon characters and OCs into two separate posts (the other is linked here). The canon character answers are below, and in keeping with the interview part of the game, we tried our best to answer in the respective character's POV (and included some game sprites just for added fun!).
We hope you'll like what we come up with! Take care! 💙
HERO Answers:
3. What is your favorite childhood memory?
I have so many wonderful childhood memories that it's hard to choose just one, especially if I had to choose between memories of my family or my friends. They're both very important to me.
In terms of childhood memories of my family, I loved learning how to cook from my grandma, Mamá Alma, and cooking big family dinners with her. My parents taught me a lot too. Kel and I used to build bird feeders with our dad, and our mom tried to teach us how to knit once but Kel ended up tangled in all the yarn (which he insisted was way more fun than knitting anyway).
Kel and I had a lot of fun together when we were young! We'd stay up late building blanket forts or telling stories, and we loved playing adventure games especially pretending we were pirates looking for buried treasure in our backyard. Sometimes our friends would play too.
I have a lot of fond memories of them as well. I loved spending time at the park or visiting the beach, watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, playing cards or board games, and especially having picnics together. I think some of my fondest memories are of when we would all cook or bake things together to pack in our picnic baskets. Mari and I always tried to make everyone's favorite foods, so we'd spend a lot of time preparing, and honestly, I think I sometimes enjoyed that more than the actual picnics themselves.
Looking back on it all now, it's hard to choose just one favorite moment. It's all those little things that are most meaningful to me: helping Basil plant seeds in his flower garden or building blanket forts with Kel or how we'd all stay up all night playing video games, reading comics, or watching funny movies. The way Aubrey laughed when her face was covered with watermelon seeds or the way Sunny was always way more excited about the box and wrapping paper than any present you ever got him. How Mari's face would always light up when she pulled her cookies out of the oven or how she smiled whenever she played piano for us and we'd all stand around singing along.
So I think it’s not just one favorite moment. It's so many, and they're all precious to me.
16. Describe your perfect day.
I don't think I need anything too big or exciting for the perfect day. If I got to do anything I wanted, I guess I'd cook a big meal for all my friends and family and invite them over for dinner. Everyone's so busy these days, it would be great to have a quiet evening where we could all get together and catch up, eat good food, and spend time together.
KEL Answers:
18. What's the best way to cheer you up?
With my favorite stuff probably! If someone brought me an Orange Joe, I'm sure I'd be happy again!
(Hero: Kel...I think they're hoping for something a little more specific...)
Oh, uh...okay! Mmmmm... When I'm having a bad day, I like to distract myself and try to take my mind off it by doing something else I like. I'll play basketball or ride my bike, listen to my boombox, or play video games, or yeah, have an Orange Joe!
Watching funny movies or tv shows are always good too because when you're laughing you can't feel as sad anymore!
SUNNY Answers:
13. You're given an unlimited budget to build anything you want! What do you build and where do you build it?
A perfect, comfortable bed as big as my room. Then my room would be a bed.
It would be at a 12/10. Maybe more if it had a high-density viscoelastic polyurethane mattress, but I don't know if they can make one as big as a room.
really late, but wanted to send in a little assortment of question prompts for the ask game, so take your pick!: 3 and 16 for hero, 1 and 5 for CJ, 6 and 7 for lorraine, 8 and 15 for tamra, 18 for kel, and 13 for sunny! :D - 🩶
🩶-Anon!!!! Hello!! It's so wonderful to hear from you again. 🥰 We hope you are doing well and that you enjoyed the newest chapters of "When Sun Shines Again." Thank you so much again for the support and encouragement! It meant so much to us to get to hear your thoughts on our series, and we made sure to thank you in our authors' note on Chapter 7 & hope you enjoyed that one especially 💖
Thank you so much for your ask as well! It is always such a delight to see you in our inbox, and we'd be thrilled to answer these questions for you! We're going to try to answer all of them but have decided to divide them into two posts: one for canon characters and the other for OCs. The OC answers are below and the canon character post is linked here. Thank you so much for playing!!
Please drop by our inbox anytime! We love hearing from you. Take care!! 💙
C.J. Answers:
1. Who makes up your family? How close are you to them?
My immediate family is my parents, my three sisters: Shawna, Lisa, and Camille (but we all call her Cami), and me, but my Nana (my grandma) has always lived with us so I'd include her too. I think I'm pretty close to them.
My older sisters, Shawna and Lisa, are always going to see me as their dorky little brother, I think, but they've always looked out for me. Nana says used to treat me like their doll when I was little and would dress me up in silly clothes and loved pushing me around the in stroller like they were playing house, but I don't remember that beyond her stories and some pictures. I do remember playing together with my sisters as kid though. They both have much stronger personalities than me, so I think they liked that I would just go along with whatever they said and whatever games they wanted to play. Shawna can be really bossy sometimes, and Lisa's really into a lot of girly stuff I don't know that much about, but we always had fun together. They tease me for being hopeless with girls (instead of, you know, actually giving me useful advice), but I know we've got each other's backs.
Cami is my little sister, and she's 7. Shawna and Lisa were 15 and 17 when she was born, but I was only 12 so I think we've always been a little bit closer, especially when our older sisters went away to college and we were the only kids still living at home. Our parents work a lot so we spent a lot of time together just the two us and Nana. We like to watch cartoons together, and Cami loves stories, especially comic books (and I have a pretty big collection of those). She was really sad when I left for college, and I really miss her, but we talk on the phone a lot.
5. What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
I love spending time outdoors. Hiking is probably my favorite thing to do, but I love pretty much all outdoor activities, except fishing. It's too boring.
I like spending time with my friends too, so the best is when they tag along on my hiking trips. There's a lot of parks in the city including a nature preserve with a lot of hiking trails close to our college, and we'll all go out there sometimes when the weather is nice. Hero and Lorraine pack picnics for us. It's always a lot of fun!
LORRAINE Answers:
6. What's the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?
It was hard to move around a lot and keep leaving my friends when I was a kid. I missed them so much and it has hard to keep in touch from so far away, but now I have pen pals all over the world so that's pretty cool! 🥰
I guess getting over some painful breakups was hard too. Heartbreak can be hard to recover from, but I don't think any of my failed relationships left me shattered and swearing off love forever like poor Hero (or at least I think that's what happened to him...? I don't know all the details, but I can tell his heart is broken and he doesn't think he'll ever be happy again. I worry about him sometimes... 🩷).
Compared to that and everything that happened to Kyle's knee, I don't think anything I've been through has been all that bad. Even my sister has had a rougher time than me, I think. I've had some normal tough times like everybody does, but nothing too lifechanging.
7. Who do you look up to?
My mom! She's so nice and so beautiful, and she has this way of making everybody happy, even when they're having a bad day. When I still lived at home and would invite my friends over, they would say she was like another mom to them because she always makes them feel so welcome and like part of our family. She's amazing at baking, crafts, and especially at gardening, and it's almost like she has this superpower where she can just look at person and know what's bothering them and what will make them feel better. I've always wanted to be just like her! 🥰
TAMRA Answers:
8. What do you think had the biggest impact on you growing up?
I think being encouraged to practice my music and follow my dreams had a really big impact on me. My parents wanted me to do well in school, of course, but they knew how much I loved playing piano so they always made sure I had lessons and time for practice too and would drive me all over the country for recitals, concerts, and competitions. My parents never made me feel like my music was a waste of time.
When I went away to college, I ended up choosing a double major in music and education because I love teaching too, and they were always really supportive of me. I think I might have given up on my dreams if it hadn't been for them.
I also have to mention Andre! He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and we've always been really supportive of each other and our dreams (even when they led us to universities thousands of miles away from each other). Getting to meet him and grow up together (and eventually to fall in love 💕) also had a really big impact on me! 💜
15. Do you play any instruments? Which ones? How long have you been playing?
Yes! I can actually play a lot of instruments at least a little bit 😅--mostly keyboard instruments like the piano, organ, synthesizer, keytar, melodica, and the harpsicord. Some of my friends from band in high school tried to teach me how to play some of their instruments, and I got pretty good at the clarinet, I think, which made it easier to play the melodica. At college, I've been trying to branch out into strings. My university has a program where its music majors teach private lessons to kids and other people in the community. I teach piano, but a friend of mine teaches viola and another teaches cello, and after our lessons wrap up for the day, we've all been staying late so teach each other our instruments a little bit. It's been fun, but I wouldn't say I'm very good at either of those yet.
My favorite instrument and the one I'm best at is definitely the piano. I've been playing since I was 4, and I love it! It's amazing to get to play piano at college too--though I'll admit I'm getting a little sick of playing Chopin. The chair of the music department's favorite composer is Chopin so I keep getting assigned his pieces for my student showcases, and I'd really like to play something else every now and again (Maybe some Debussy or some Rachmaninoff 🤞).
At my other part time job, I play popular music on piano at a restaurant, and that's always fun! I love transcription projects and getting to play people's (my friends') favorite songs on piano for them. 🥰
Thank you so much for the ask!! We'll try our best to be vague so we don't spoil too much for "When Sun Shines Again" (since details in the full answer for both of these questions will actually be coming up in the story eventually 😅), but we really appreciate you asking! Take care!!💙
ZOEY Answers:
6. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?
I've been very blessed not to have that difficult of a life, especially compared to what other people I know have been through, so I'm honestly not sure...
Moving around a lot as a kid was hard. I never really felt like I had roots or belonged anywhere because we would always just have to pack up and leave again. But I'm not sure that's really what the question is asking since I was a just kid and didn't have a lot of choice in the matter.
In terms of something I had to do that I decided for myself, I once had to lie to someone very close to me. It was really difficult because I don't like playing mind games with people and prefer to be direct (and am, often, pretty blunt). It's always so important to me to be honest even if it's a hard truth, but...in this particular case, I just knew that the truth would hurt more than it would help.
There are some things in life that are better left unsaid, but that didn't make it any easier.
23. Have you ever had a crush on someone? Do you have a crush now?
I know I always say I'm "married to school" and don't want to date until I have a master's degree and that's all true, but yes, I have had had a crush on someone before (do I have to say who?)
...It was back in high school. He was brilliant, ambitious, and unbelievably competitive and stubborn, but I'd never met anyone so driven. We kind of had this rivalry to be top of our class and fought all the time which was fun but also probably why it didn't end up working out.
Do I have one now? My friends certainly seem to think so... 🙄 But honestly, I think I only have eyes for my (future) civil engineering degree. 😏
