All spoilers for OMORI are unmarked. You have been warned!
The Weight on Your Shoulders
is a series of OMORI fanfics written by AidenDrake on Archive of Our Own.
The first installment, You’re Gonna Carry That Weight, picks up right where the game’s good ending leaves off, with Sunny admitting the truth of Mari’s death to his friends, dealing with their reactions and how or if they will forgive him as Sunny’s imminent moving still looms over them. Regardless of whether or not they forgive him though, Sunny still killed his sister, and the guilt is something he’ll have to carry with him for years to come.
Its sequel, Will You Still Love Me?, starts 14 months later, with Sunny living in the city with a few new friends and visiting Mari’s Grave at Faraway. He encounters Aubrey by chance, leading to Sunny slowly reconnecting with his old friends and the two growing their renewed friendship into something more. All the while, Sunny can’t help but feel like he doesn’t deserve any of it, and worries for his ever approaching adulthood.
This fic provides examples of:
In General
- Easily Forgiven: In contrast to her reaction to the truth, Aubrey has little reaction to Sunny revealing that he was the one who marked out Basil’s photos. She admits she’s still a little mad, but she fixed them and it’s all in the past.
- Happens again in the sequel, when Sunny admits he deleted her and the rest of the gang’s phone numbers. This time, she admits she wants to punch him in the face, but explains that Sunny’s mom probably won’t let him visit Faraway again if returns with a black eye.
- Parents as People: How Sunny’s Mom is portrayed. In the first installment, she explains that after Mari’s death and Sunny becoming a Hikikomori, she focused on work to avoid facing him and getting reminded of her failures as a parent.
- In WYSLM, she goes in the exact opposite direction by helicoptering Sunny, forcing him to attend therapy and go outside and not allowing him to visit Mari’s grave (at least at first) on the basis that it’s for his own good, even going so far as to accuse him of being selfish for wanting to visit, which he promptly loses his shit at. She gets better, thankfully.
- Put on a Bus: Hero quite literally puts himself on one in You’re Gonna Carry That Weight, heading back to college due to his inability to confront Sunny and his past with Mari in-person. This remains in the sequel.
You’re Gonna Carry That Weight
- Five Stages of Grief: Each chapter is named after them.
- Holding Hands: Aubrey does this with Sunny in chapter 4, on the basis that it’ll help him sleep.
- Ironic Echo: “I don’t want to see you ever again.” It’s first said by Aubrey to Sunny after he explains his Accidental Murder of Mari and she leaves Basil’s hospital room in anger. The second time comes during Aubrey’s Nightmare Sequence, said by Sunny, carrying Basil’s drowned corpse, to a horrified Aubrey.
- Nightmare Sequence: As expected of an OMORI fic, Aubrey and Sunny each get their own in chapters 2 and 3 respectively.
- "Not So Different" Remark: What ultimately leads Aubrey to forgive Sunny, remembering she could've legitimately drowned Basil had Hero not saved him, making the connection to Sunny's Accidental Murder of Mari.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Twice.
- When Aubrey is visiting Sunny in the hospital, she gets informed by a nurse that visiting hours are over and she’s got to go. Sunny begs her to stay, which the nurse turns a blind eye to.
- When Sunny finally leaves Faraway Town for good, she breaks down in tears immediately after and says nearly the exact same thing Sunny said.
- Rejected Apology: Downplayed with Hero. By the end of the story, he does admit in a letter to Sunny that he still can’t forgive him and Basil, but assures them he still doesn’t think they’re bad people and remains hopeful that he may be able to forgive them in the future.
- Ship Tease: Of Sunburn (aka Sunny/Aubrey), particularly when she visits him in the hospital. It progresses into a proper romance in the sequel.
- So Proud of You: Hero congratulates Sunny in his letter for finally facing his fear and admitting the truth to them, even going so far as saying Mari would be proud of how he’s matured.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Aubrey says a variation of this to Sunny during her Nightmare Sequence.
- Title Drop: All but outright stated to be said by Omori to Sunny, as he’s driving away from Faraway Town.
- Tragic Keepsake: Despite hating music and his old hobby, Sunny decides to take his broken violin with him to his new home, as a respect to Mari and his friends who got it for him.
- Wham Line: Shortly after Sunny encounters Blackspace!Mari, she says he’ll eventually have to leave, which results in Sunny declaring that he’ll do anything to have her stay.Mari was taken aback by Sunny’s sudden response. “You will?” she asked, which he immediately nodded. Mari then pushed her body towards him, hugging him so tightly. “I’m so happy, little brother. Then…”
She leaned towards his ear, whispering him the words of comfort.
“…will you die for me?”
Will You Still Love Me?
- All Take and No Give: Sunny’s mom accuses him of being this in chapter 1. He doesn’t take it well.
- The Atoner: What Aubrey is trying to be to rehabilitate their image in the eyes of Faraway Town, taking up jobs and volunteer work with this in mind.
- Drinking Contest: Aubrey gets roped into an Orange Joe drinking contest by Kel, as vengeance for dissing his favorite drink. She ends up roping Sunny into it as well.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: According to Sunny, anger is Rowan’s default emotion and it’s very easy to set him off. It shows.
- His Own Worst Enemy: Poor poor Sunny. No matter how much he is assured otherwise, he can’t shake the feeling that his friends really don’t forgive him and are better off without him.
- Lighter and Softer: Ultimately this compared to the first installment. While it does have its darker moments and the occasional
Tear Jerker, the main focus is placed squarely on Sunny reconnecting with his Faraway Town friends and his budding romance with Aubrey. - Love Makes You Crazy: Sunny is of this opinion after seeing how lovestruck Rudy gets when talking about Hiyori.
- Mistaken Age: Rudy, upon meeting Sunny, initially assumes he’s a kid. When Sunny clarifies he’s 16, he and Rowan struggle to believe it due to Sunny being really small for his age.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After asking to visit Mari’s grave for the first time, Sunny’s mom loses her cool and accuses him of being selfish for not taking advantage of the new beginning she’s worked for. Sunny promptly reaches his Rage Breaking Point.“YOU’RE THE ONE THAT’S BEING SELFISH!”
Mom is taken aback. My heart is telling me to stop, but my emotions overflowed, revealing my feelings deep down. “I NEVER ASK TO MOVE HERE! YOU’RE THE ONE THAT’S MAKING ALL THE DECISIONS WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST!”
She stands up, looking in fury. “I DID EVERYTHING FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!”
“HOW WOULD YOU KNOW? YOU LEFT ME TO ROT AT THAT HOME ALL BY MYSELF!” - Rule 63: Rudy is based on official concept art of a gender-flipped Aubrey, but personality-wise is significantly different. His girlfriend Hiyori also counts, being a genderbent version of Sunny.
- Shout-Out: And How!
- At the start of chapter 2, it’s briefly mentioned that “that one song by Mariah Carey” is playing throughout the mall.the song
- Sunny owns a copy of LEGO Racers. Rowan is amazed at this, saying that most people “only play the Mario ones.” Rudy notes that Rowan is a big fan of LEGO in general, which Sunny later gets to see his collection of.
- Sunny also owns Max Payne and Unreal Tournament.
- When Sunny visits Rowan’s house, they decide to play Call of Duty 3. After Sunny thoroughly pisses off “xxDeathReaper69xx” (actually Aubrey using Kel’s Xbox) and decides to call her, their conversation is based on the (in)famous “Danny G from Smethwick, Birmingham” meme.
- Once Sunny gets a bus to Faraway for the first time, the radio is playing “Video Killed the Radio Star”.
- Sunny, while delivering pizza with Aubrey, realizes he may have a golden opportunity. After convincing Aubrey to let him deliver the last one and the door is opened, he commits to it.This is it. All seventeen years of my life have led me up to this moment. Like a deserted traveller finally found a source of water, I have discovered the purpose of my life, and it is for this exact moment. Under a soft breeze of autumn, I silently thank my mother for raising me the best she could.
Time begins to freeze as the only thing that still remains in my conscious is my own self, and the man standing right before me. An overflowing confidence courses through my body. I look at him deep in the eye before reciting the holy phrase.
“Pizza time.”- And on top of this, after the guy starts to play along and Aubrey misses the joke (assuming he’s legitimately not going to pay), Sunny explains it was a joke and the guy outright namedrops Spider-Man 2.
- When Sunny gets a random text in chapter 5, he hopes that it’s not “some kind of scam like [[FREE HOT DEALS!!!]]”
- While playing games with Kel, Sunny notes the game he's playing involves sneaking into a military compound with only a box as cover.
- Symbolic Mutilation: Sunny views his eye scar as this, and it’s the main reason he always wears an eyepatch when around other people.There’s a lot of history with this eye, one I wish I don’t have to remember. Yet every time I look at the mirror, it’s always there, reminding me of my mistakes. My eyes both tell a different story: one that looks towards the future, and one that is stuck in the past.
- Time Skip: The first 2 chapters have a quick series of these over the course of 14 months, detailing Sunny’s life and struggles in the city and his relationships with his new friends.
