Okay So I Know A Lot Of People Argue That Basil Dying A Lot In Blackspace Means Sunny Hates Basil (I

Okay so I know a lot of people argue that Basil dying a lot in Blackspace means Sunny hates Basil (I think that was what you were referring to by saying Basil was killed constantly? Sorry if I misinterpreted that TvT). HOWEVER, I actually think there’s a lot of evidence to support that it means he cares for Basil a lot, and can be interpreted as repressed (romantic and/or platonic). In Blackspace, you still play as Omori. I’d like to address the spider-room death first. Basil starts being swarmed and covered in spiders, and eventually cries out to Omori for help. Omori backs away from Basil, and Basil disappears as the spiders presumably consume him. Notably, Omori is the one in control here. In the game, we play as Sunny; anytime we lose control of the Omori character, it presumably means that Sunny also does not have conscious control over Omori. Another thing that might be worth mentioning, is that although Omori technically overcame his fear of spiders in headspace, this is no longer headspace. This bit is more up to speculative, but it can be interpreted that Omori was too scared to save Basil from the spiders because he himself was scared of them. In which case, this death could also be interpreted as Sunny’s own fear causing pain for the people he cares about, something that we see at other points in the game.

Another particular Basil death that might be worth addressing, is the one in the glitched Neighbor’s room, where the headspace friends turn on him, and he cries to Omori for help before Aubrey hits him with her bat. To me, this very much doesn’t read as Sunny wanting Basil to die. It feels a lot more like he’s helpless to do anything- Because yet again, at that moment, we cannot control Omori anymore, and neither can Sunny. He doesn’t want Basil to die; he just feels powerless to do anything about it. Also, the many possibly interpretations of Aubrey being the one to unalive Basil here. I do think that Aubrey hitting him with her bat is likely a nod to the fact that she’s been bullying Basil in the real world. Even more fuel that Sunny feels helpless to save Basil from being hurt for Sunny’s own actions (Mari’s death, scribbling out the photos). Another possible interpretation (and one that is, admittedly, a lot less likely), is that it’s Sunny’s idolized crush, that he’s held onto for so long, is trying push down and get rid of the crush he has on Basil. It could possibly be taken as a sign of repressed feelings for Basil, whether that be because he hasn’t accepted his bisexuality (or whatever your personal headcanon may be), or he’s simply scared of letting go of his old crush.

There’s a lot more Blackspace stuff I could go into, but this is really long already aaand I’m in class TvT

TLDR; Blackspace has a lot of evidence of 🏳️‍🌈🌻

every day the Branch Coral line about Sunny and Basil being tied together with a string of fate

like,,, soulmates? your honour? string of fate??? perhaps the,,, red string of fate?

it doesn’t even have to be romantic, it just feels like a soulmate thing! like Sunny and Basil are tied together after this single incident, they will always be intertwined after that day

they may not have been known it, but they are so heavily intertwined together that even Sunny’s subconscious picked up on it. even coping mechanism calls out how the two are connected.

it’s like - sir, the mixed signals of killing Basil constantly but then essentially using soulmate theory? do you hate him or want to kiss him? (/j)

also, with that joke, i do actually ship Sunflower, and this line speaks to the hopeless romantic in me to some degree - because what do you mean Sunny thinks “a string of fate” ties them together? like it’s super dark, but also kinda gay. just slightly.

anyways, the Branch Coral was super cool and i love the slight soulmate implications on Basil and Sunny even though it’s super screwed up!

(also there’s the line - it’s so minor but like dude-?! the sheer gayness of this is amazing /j)