#I'm really hoping that the end of orv is a happy one

[novemquadragintillion]

It's February 15th, Kim Dokja's birthday!!! Happy birthday Dokja <3

[oseike]

I've been hurting myself with this thought that just won't leave me so I'm sharing it so others can suffer with me, hi

But

The one who suffered the most from the group regression was Yoo Joonghyuk.

Let's look at it this way: When 49!kdj collapses, the party ends up with the knowledge that someday, the Kim Dokja in front of them will just disappear. He won't wake up, and will remain as he is until that time. So, they band together under Yoo Joonghyuk, who has evolved his skill into allowing a group to regress, and they go back to save the rest of him. At this time, Yoo Joonghyuk regains his memories of his Turn Zero, and he realizes his sponsor - that silent force that has been watching him all 1864 rounds - was Kim Dokja all along, likely observing from that train.

Then they get there. They reach him, they dig him out of that subway car....and they have already failed. The end result is Kim Dokja in a coma, now looking younger as well.

To the rest of the party, it really is a zero sum, or maybe slightly better even. They started with a comatose, incomplete Kim Dokja who would never wake up and would someday disappear. They ended with potentially even less of Kim Dokja, still in a coma never to awaken, but without the surety that he would disappear. Essentially, nothing was gained, but also nothing really was lost.

Except for Yoo Joonghyuk.

To Yoo Joonghyuk, he intended to rescue Kim Dokja - to complete his own original desire to finally meet the person who led him through his first life, to face the one who has been watching him since then, and rescue his life and death companion.

But what he is left with is so much worse. Not only does he fail, but after they return, that sponsor, that gaze that had been watching him - a gaze he had come to hate but now no longer could - was also gone. He has to live with the knowledge that Kim Dokja had watched him sink into hatred for him, had sworn to kill him, and then in the moment when he had returned at last, intending to save him, he instead fulfilled the dark wish he had made for countless lives instead. There is a black stain on his sword he can't get rid of that is proof of that.

If he had not regressed, if he had not gone to save Kim Dokja, then Yoo Joonghyuk would not have been the one to strike down the last remnants of him. The gaze of that sponsor would have simply faded away with the system, and he wouldn't know what happened to Kim Dokja. He would probably believe he would just keep living to watch over the world lines forever.

Instead, he has to live with the knowledge that he rushed Kim Dokja to his death, and cut him down at the last. The comatose Kim Dokja he has now is a cold reminder of what he truly lost, and the sky that used to be alive with that silent gaze is now wholly empty. For the first time in 1865 rounds, he is alone, and that fact is not a celebration, but a dirge.

[shadebloopnik]

Unrequited/One-sided Radioapple but it isn't treated like an angsty end of the world thing.

Imagine they slowly get closer after all the banters, and eventually becoming close friends. Lucifer ends up catching feelings for him, and after a long while, decides to confess and ask Alastor if he felt the same.

Alastor admittedly does not feel the same.

He's getting uncomfortable, struggling to keep his composure because he's DONE this before. He KNOWS how this ends. He remembers Vox and all his insistent declarations of affection and desperate pleas for Alastor to reciprocate; the possessive entitlement. He remembers how all those sickly sweet words morphed into something venomous when he didn't give the lowlife what he wanted. He remembers the anger, the ridiculous notion that it was Alastor's fault why he was so mad, that Alastor led him on and that he obviously deserved something in payment for it all-

So yes, Alastor knows how this ends.

It doesn't mean he isn't disappointed though, because he actually LIKES Lucifer, far more than he ever did Vox. Perhaps not in the way the king might have wanted, but he did. He treasured their little talks, their drinking sessions, their shared love for their instruments, Lucifers singing, their little duets, the banter, the playful jabs, the sparring.

He'd even slowly grown accustomed to the other's touches, not feeling the same surge of disgust and discomfort whenever the shorter man would grab at his arm in excitement, forgetting his usual thoughtfulness of Alastor's touch aversion for the short moment of whatever distracted him. Alastor even enjoyed it at times, relaxing at the feel of soft feathers beneath his claws, or the sensation of gentle scratches against his ears.

Difficult as it was to admit, Alastor had grown to care for the angel, the same way he had for Rosie orv Mimzy.

But no matter how fond Alastor was of Lucifer, it didn't change the fact that he didn't feel the same way romantically, or even sexually. No way in the 7 rings of Hell was he going to lie to Lucifer about either, not going to even entertain the idea of pretending he reciprocated for Lucifer's sake. He respected his friend too much for that.

So a clear, direct rejection it is. It was a shame, but nothing could be done. He said his piece concisely, and waited, shoulders set, back straight, smile and eyes a careful blank canvas as he prepared for the inevitable.

Lucifer nodded, a normal soft smile still in place, "Thank you for your answer, it means a lot."

Which......what? Alastor expected an outburst, or at the very least sharp words.

What he did NOT expect was....acceptance? And not just that but, a happy one? Contentment?????

"You're....alright with that?", he had to ask, he had to. Lucifer was clearly just very good at masking his upset.

But the damn angel just smiled?? And it didn't even look fake, just as bright and soft as his normal smiles, albeit a little confused?? Lucifer smiled at him, his brows furrowing in a bit of confused disbelief, as though Alastor is being the weird one here.

"Uhh, yeah??? Why wouldn't I be??? Yeah I may have some feelings for you but its not like you're obligated to feel the same. Above anything else, we're friends first and foremost and i'm alright with that..."

Then he seemed to have reached his own little conclusion as his words trailed off, because suddenly Lucifer's eyes widened in realization of something, and his words picking up with a sense of panicked urgency.

Alastor would really like to know what Lucifer's supposed realization was about himself because he had absolutely no clue.

"I mean, we ARE still friends right?? I don't- I- I hope this doesn't like- change your opinion of me. You're not- oh gosh I'm not making you uncomfortable am I? I- I won't mention it! You can even forget this whole confession ever happened! We can just go on as before! I don't feel any different or would act any different! Honest! I mean, I don't regret confessing because you deserve to know and I'm not ashamed of my feelings, but I don't want you to be uncomfortable! It doesn't change the way i'll treat you! Or change any aspect of our relationship! I don't even think I like you more as a lover than as a friend! I really, really do love our friendship, it matters more to me than any thoughts of being in a romantic relationship with you! So please just forget it all-"

Alastor let the word vomit wash over him, every word leaving him more confused by the minute.

Because yes, there's the desperation he expected, but...it was more about, convincing Alastor to remain friends?? Reassuring Alastor that nothing has to change?? That their friendship is the most important thing here??

(If anyone asks, no Alastor's heart didn't swell. Only lesser beings would have had the urge to cry, and Alastor is anything but.)

Lucifer is unknowingly reassuring Alastor of every single one of his insecurities about the situation. Because Alastor DID want to remain friends, he cared too much about the man to let it go so easily. It was rare to find people who treasure friendships above romantic relationships.

"I don't tend to forget easily, nor will I forget this one in particular.", he spoke, finally finding his voice. At Lucifer's defeated, pained expression( is their friendship really that important to him?), he continued. "But....yes. I'd like that.. To remain...friends."

He didn't often say the word out loud, being comfortable enough with each other that it need not be reassured with the label. But with Lucifer brightening up like his namesake, relief and happiness palpable, Alastor felt no qualms at declaring their friendship out loud.

So life went on as usual. True to his word, Lucifer remained basically the same. The following weeks were a bit stilted for Alastor, as he put some rather painful distance between him and the angel; limiting their interactions, their usual touches.

Anytime now, Lucifer would break and show his true colors, Alastor would think, waiting for the boot to drop. Lucifer would end up angry, and dissatisfied, and that was that.

But it never happened. Lucifer never expressed discomfort when Alastor avoided him, seeming to be understanding of the others need for space. He was just as affectionate as before, though initially a bit held back, as though gauging Alastor's comfort.

Months would pass, and the king never faltered. Their friendship remained strong, if not growing ever closer than before. Alastor found himself even growing more comfortable with the man. Affectionate touches were becoming common, hugs and head pats and cuddles being a welcome thing, with the reassurance that the shorter king would never disrespect his boundaries.

Lucifer seemed genuinely happy about it, despite being clearly told that none of Alastor's actions hinted at anything romantic. In fact, he seemed ecstatic that Alastor was getting more affectionate towards him as a friend. The embarrassment the radio demon felt at having Lucifer basically tear up (no really, he was crying so hard, full on drama sobbing) with joy in front of him was intertwined with the sheer incredulous fondness he felt for the man at that moment.

They were sitting at a couch one night, more than a year passing since that confession. Lucifer was leaning back, resting against the cushions, while Alastor had his head on the smaller one's shoulder, nuzzling at the crook of his neck, legs tucked close to his body. Both had a book in hand, two nearly empty cups of tea on the table in front of them. Every so often, Lucifer would flex his fingers that rested on Alastor's head, running a digit against the other's ear, often prompting the demon to lean into the touch. White wings enveloped the two, blanketing them against the chill of the night.

As Alastor turned the page of his own book, relaxing into the touch of his dearest friend, he wondered how he ever got so lucky in hell.

[insomaniacat]

orv spoilers

tbh I'm so happy there is no explicit romance in orv (minus the brief stuff that happens with jhw and lhs) and because of that I feel like I've been able to appreciate kdj in such a profound way as a character

like sure i like joongdok and yoohankim but to me at least kdj has this level of asexuality to him that I don't usually associate him with anyone that romantically. And their relationships are still as complex and has such a great depth that they are like THE foundest of families and I can return to the kim dokja company at the end of the day as all of them being my comfort characters. you know that saying like 'i love you so much i'd make the world burn for you'? it's meant to be this dramatic line about how much you love someone (romantically), but kdj's company fully encapsulates this in a platonic way that just isn't cringey or anything like that

they are all so platonic but they love each other to such an unconditional way that they ALL decide to relive through all the scenarios again in the hope of finding kim dokja again. and later, they all help to write and spread a story - stories, the thing the reader loves - again, in hopes of bringing kdj back home. they aren't sure if it'll work, but it is through this love they all have that they don't give up and put their hope in this seemingly impossible method

and this is also what makes them fundamentally different from kdj. unlike kim dokja in the apocalypse, they do not have any sort of proof their methods will work. kdj has twsa - the novel he grew up reading, the novel he fantasized living in, the novel that he's spent 13 years following, learning every nook and cranny and probably even planning out his own way to survive the apocalypse from this lengthy novel. he has some sort of assurance his methods will work, with the amount of time hsy put into describing the settings (remember that twsa was not popular and one of the complaints was that tls123 put too much emphasis on the settings that deterred people from reading it, when really, that too was a way to ensure kdj survived the apocalypse later on). he has had time to reassure himself and plan for it, and probably had yjh case test them all

but kdj's company had no assurance - they did not grow up with a book that confirmed their methods of bringing kdj back would work. they did not have any 'third plans', no 'ressurections', no 'restarts', that kdj had in the apocalypse. all they had was their own hope - something kdj didn't have when he was fifteen sitting in that hospital bed after that failed suicide attempt, feeling like the whole world was against him. Until he searched up those three words on his phone. Those three words that were probably 'Ways of Survival'.

And then he found his hope in twsa. he found his hope in yjh, the protagonist made just for him. he found hope in the story that he believed in for the next thirteen years. the story that got him through high school, the CSATs, the military. his hope was in this tangible book that carried him through the apocalypse.

kdj's company had none of that. they only had their hope in kim dokja - the man they survived the scenarios with. they could only put their hope in their memories of surviving with the man that saved them, even though there was no evidence he lived in their world anymore. they had to put their hope in the fact that they remembered he existed, even though they had to acknowledge that they didn't know everything about him.

sing shong touches upon this idea a lot throughout orv - does something really exist if no one knows about it? or, in a more modern saying, did a fallen tree in a forest really fall if no one heard it? what proves the existence of something? what proves that something truly happened? sing shong seems to make it pretty clear that the existence of something can be represented metaphorically like a 'story', and stories need a 'reader', some sort of spectator that witnesses it, for the 'story' to exist.

for kim dokja, his final sacrifice, where he split into infinite little pieces scattered across the universe, was to ensure that everything existed. that open ending, as tragic as it was, was meant to be comforting. that his sacrifice was supposed to be so existences like you and me, are real. no matter how lonely we may feel throughout our lives, a metaphorical 'kim dokja' is looking at our own stories, spectating our own stories, even living our own lives himself.

and what i hate to say sometimes is that kim dokja is not really a character - he is an idea. he is an idea of some being affirming our lives, that it's real, that what we do from day to day, even something as simple as getting up in the mornings and brushing your teeth, or thumbing through a store catalog, matters. and this is why kim dokja sacrificed himself. for all the stories that may have not 'existed' if no one was watching it.

and it's out of love. this tragic, terrible love for the world, that eats away at yourself until you are nothing. but at least you exist.

[orphiclovers]

Okay. Long incoherent rambling theory post ahead. Specifically, I want to talk about how the Han Sooyoung 'split' happened/how Han Sooyoung got the avatar skill, extrapolating from canon where I can and headcanoning the rest.

Let's start from what she herself says on the topic. 3rd rounds Han Sooyoung tells Kim Dokja, in a conversation about how 'Avatar' works, that the very first time she made an avatar, she gave it too many memories and it 'went out of control' and ran off. This was a friendly conversation and hsy brought it up herself, so there's not really a reason for her to lie here - this is probably close to how she actually remembers the situation.

Which is interesting because 1863rd rounds Han Sooyoung denies this fact and says SHE is the main body and that she left an avatar behind to act as her. Now 1863 could be lying here to unbalance kdj, they were having a battle of words at the time with lying being an explicit part of the game, but she could also be telling the truth and maybe 3rd just doesn't know she's an avatar (like 49%). we don't get a comfirmation either way so that is left ambigous. So. That's a dead end.

Then, how does the Avatar skill evolve in general?

Kim Dokja says the requirements to evolve it is that you need to be in a creative field of some kind (so you have an 'Author' attribute) + under enough psychological distress for your mind to 'split' in a way that orv compares to DID (in not the most tactful way). It's a rare skill so I'm guessing it probably requires both of these to be true at the same time. A key hint is that we do actually get one other example of someone evolving the Avatar skill on screen. 1863rd rounds Yoo Joonghyuk. It goes like this:

So...not exactly a fun time. But actually I'm sensing a pattern here. Both Yoo Joonghyuk and Han Sooyoung, after evolving and using the avatar skill for the first time end up as two sepetate autonomous entities with their own free will - 1863rd!hsy and 3rd!hsy and white and black coat wearing yjh respectively (Kim Dokja too actually - with 49% 51%). So, I think this might be how the skill functions, spontaneously splitting you in half the first time and then both halves of you can make avatars at will after that. Let's assume this is true for the sake of the theory. This conflicts with the way both Han Sooyoungs describe it - they both say they 'created' an avatar the first time BUT I think neither of them were being entirely truthful.

Let's talk about that second parameter. 'Severe psychological distress' in a way similar to that of DID. How I interpret this, based on what we see of 1863rd!yjh, is that there needs to be some fundemental dissonance of core beliefs that cannot exist or be held at the same time, so requires the soul to split in half. For Yoo Joonghyuk it's 'I want to live/I want to die.' (Although Kim Dokja doesnt get the skill in the natural way, I think this concept still holds true. His dissonance is not so explicitly stated but maybe it's something along the lines of 'epilouge/eternity' i.e 'happily ever after OR atonement for his (percieved) sins'.)

But also there's an element of, how do I say this...'purifying self-destruction' to how we see our trio use Avatar. Yoo Joonghyuk takes the blackened and traumatized part of him that wants to die and kills it with a sword, leaving only the part of him that still has hope to regress to the 3rd round, free and unburdened by the weight of bad memories.

You could interpret 51%/49% this way too. The inherent act of Kim Dokja choosing to use this skill to split his soul in half means he did not see another way foward - that psychological distress and belief dissonance is an inherent part of this skill. 49%, the one who get's the 'happily ever after' does not remember needing Ways of Survival, maybe because Kim Dokja couldn't imagine himself having a happy ending with the weight of those specific memories.

But coming back to Han Sooyoung. Just look at the way she uses Avatar in kaizenix. She is a person who does not enjoy being emotionally vulnerable so in any heavy situation she clings to her dry and witty personality like a shield.

Let's just fully realize what she's saying here. When she says she erased the memories of her life deliberately, what she means is that she created an avatar, a sort of 'black coat wearing han sooyoung' and killed it again and again, every year, so she could keep that sarcastic and light hearted attiude. Otherwise she would have become someone like 1863rd rounds Han Sooyoung - hardened and unhappy. And I mean that she literally was on the path of becoming her - she even got 1863rds skill.

She deliberatley brushes off Kim Dokja and doesn't acknowledge the weight of her actions in kaizenix, both waiting for 50 years and killing parts of herself over and over.

And I think this is the sort of mindset she had while telling Kim Dokja about 'creating' an avatar for the first time. She doesn't see the point in potraying herself as vulnerable, so she probably would obscure some details of that story, for example if she was on her knees clutching her head a la 1863rd turns Yoo Joonghyuk at the time. This would seem like a pointless detail to add when the point of the story was that her avatar ran off.

So FINALLY, here's my headcanon on what I think the original belief dissonance was for Han Sooyoung and how she got the Avatar skill.

The split happened very early on in the scenarios. And well, there is one obvious Big Event that might cause someone to have a mental breakdown/identity crisis. The first scenario. I think whoever Han Sooyoung killed, she couldn't deal with the fact she had become a murderer and 'exorcised' those memories - and so 1863 was born, with blood on her hands, in an already destroyed world.

[i-am-totally-meh]

ORV X OG!CALE

More under the cut because this post is a bit of a long one!

When the apocalypse first started, Cale did not think he was going to survive because he did not like the idea of killing someone. However, Ron came to save the day! Ron got his kill and made sure Vicross got his before ordering him to protect Cale much to Vicross' dismay. Ron basically subdued multiple people who looked like they were going to kill the Henituse family and brought them for others to kill. (He mainly does this because he sees this as a good time to repay a favor and later stays because he sees there is some stability still in the Henituse territory.) This allows the Henituse family to survive.

Cale was honestly surprised he made it even if he didn't really have to do anything other than kick down and stomp onto his morals. Now, as time continues on, surviving with his family and the scary duo of Ron and Vicross becomes easier, and they start to see through his trashy mask.

Because would trash repeatedly check up on them and donate coins when they are running low? No, trash wouldn't, but Cale does. Cale starts to hunt monsters with Vicross for food (someone help him, he's terrified but not of the monsters.)

So, the relationships of the family are still strained, but there is a lot less awkwardness. Who knew that all it would take was the end of the world for some improvements. Moving on, on one of their monster hunting trips, they ran into Rok Soo, who was becoming quite popular as a hero. However Cale’s problem was that this dude looked just like him!

There are a lot more run-ins between Cale and Rok Soo before they start talking. Later, when things are becoming even more dangerous, Cale decides to make a deal with the man who was becoming closer and closer to a God each day. Cale said he would do everything and anything for Rok Soo if Rok Soo kept his family safe and happy, Rok Soo had agreed because he needed to Cale act as him.

This later becomes a very common occurrence, Cale would travel places while acting as Rok Soo to confuse the enemy on Rok Soo's whereabouts. This has even worked against the constellations before. Cale helping out Rok Soo so much was beginning to bring up his fame too, his fame as a hero.

He didn't know how to feel about that, but he does know that he has begun to like his lookalike. And that he has gotten very used to having extensions in his hair.

This is why he was rather sad to see his friend become a constellation, but him becoming a constellation was to save their world so he doesn't dwell on it.

With everything over, Cale thought he would go back to being an alcoholic but he was scouted by a group who was trying to revive the arts after the devastating apocalypse. This included dancing and painting, but more importantly, theater. Cale’s acting as Rok Soo has made the group try and bring him into the theater world.

Cale, with nothing better to do, agrees and becomes known as a famous actor. He normally gets casted as Rok Soo (even when he is a character in the play, they cast him as Rok Soo)

He thinks the best part of his new job as an actor is that his family attends all of his plays. He had sent out an invite at first with little hope, but when he saw their faces in the crowd- he didn't know how to describe the feeling.

That's the end of that! And now I give you a very large collection of drawings.

Cale after his performance, it's a bit messy but I was very out of my element here!

Next, we have Cale and Rok Soo hanging out.

Cale was meant to say, "Yep! But only you can tell." Or something along those lines.

And lastly is Cale when this all started.

That's all I got! While I'm here I would just like to thank the people who have left comments on my stuff, it really makes me smile and I always want to reply and say thank you but I don't want to sound like a bot! I always worry about things like that, but I'm trying to get better at it.

[headphonemouse]

Spoilers for Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint and The World After the Fall

He's like everyone's hyung. Jaehwan crawled as a sopping wet mess so everyone else could be slightly less damp on their own journey

I just finished The World After the Fall and i have. some thoughts. just a few.. I came from ORV first though so it's mostly in relation to ORV rather than discussion of TWATF on its own

At first I thought Jaehwan was really like Yoo Joonghyuk. I described him and his story like this

But over time and as I reached the last arc I realized that he has a lot in common with Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung as well. Kim Dokja and Jaehwan's mutual love for webnovels stems from SingShong's love for webnovels, and I liked that because you can see from reading their works that those authors really, really love webnovels and philosophy. Jaehwan has a lot of facets to him, and that was a really important plot point, but a common complaint I saw in reviews of TWATF was that more or less the only fleshed out character was Jaehwan. I kinda agree. Jaehwan has a lot of depth and there's a ton of introspection and philosophy in the second half of the novel, so he's a very intriguing character. But no one else made that big of an impact. Then in ORV, it seems like SS were able to split up some of those facets that make an intriguing protagonist and gave those traits to YHK. Jaehwan is like a one-man cast.

Related to his similarities with YHK. Between him and KDJ, they are both self sacrificial but while KDJ sacrifices himself for his companions, Jaehwan sacrifices himself. for himself.. And then between him and HSY, they would both doom the world for the sake of one person. But HSY dooms worldlines for KDJ's sake. and Jaehwan destroys and then rewrites the Tree of Imagery into existence for his own sake. Jaehwan and YJH both have lonely backs, but the difference between them is that none of Jaehwan's friends were ever able to catch up to him. He faced his [end] alone. I don't think he was ever able to escape the loneliness that has plagued him since the beginning. He made friends and they supported him and they tried their best to fight with him, to follow his example, to honor him in his absence, but in the end they were too weak to stand at his side, unable to even follow, and after they died his memory in the world faded away.

It makes me sad. I really did like the other characters, how they looked at Jaehwan and saw hope. He became 'the world' to so many people. He was loved. He was admired. He was respected. His friends gave their hearts to him but it wasn't enough to ever reach him. We didn't get all that much time to focus on other characters. Still, I thought they were interesting.

I liked Runald the best, his outburst at Yoo Surha over the happiness evaluation surprised me. As the person who understood Jaehwan the most, I wonder how he felt enduring all those years. He's presented as a simple minded boy but he's got quite a lot he doesn't talk about. Wonder who he learned that from.

I can't imagine a good outcome for Jaehwan if he somehow reenters the Tree of Imagery. What would he do? Everyone but Sirwen is dead. Would he fight the System again? The System that he destroyed and then brought back? Why do all that? If anything, he should talk to Sirwen and finally tell her that he killed her dad. Her looking for information on Mulack was pretty important but then it was never mentioned at the end.

Jaehwan was a really interesting character and I liked how often he was allowed to cry, without realizing it, as if the emotions spilled out before he could recognize them. His conversations with his [clothes] were interesting, how cocky some of them were, or proud, or quiet, or scared. They were all Jaehwan. They were all human.

I'm running out of things to say, but to wrap up. I didn't really enjoy the story. It's not the kind of story that I'm usually into. But I wanted to see where Jaehwan would go. Just to see him reach his [end], I read the whole thing. It was extremely depressing. I don't regret reading it because I learned more about the writers through it. Sometimes while cheering for Jaehwan I felt like I really related to KDJ. And the end. That was it? It was an ending that stayed true to the themes of the rest of the story. That's all I can say.

[aingeal98]

hello hello! i saw your post and need your thoughts and verdict (hypothetically) for yhk in the last chapter. what would yjh and hsy do once kdj woke up, what if he never woke up and remains unreachable to them after all the effort?

thoughts on doksoo/ joongdok centric and which (poignant) scene makes a neuron lit up and go ah, them. and makes you go crazy, like, every single scene might as well an orpheus and eurydice-d, such as that "cancel your skill, kim dokja"

DHGFVJDFGV sorry you're just such a joy to read on the tags as you go through the story on tumblr since the yhk tags are most often then not, lifeless

Aaaaa thank you for this it's a fun ask! :D

Personally I believe Dokja woke up. Both because I want a happy ending for them and because I wouldn't put it past yoohan to track down and kill everyone who read orv and imagined a sad ending. But also I think him waking up is only the first step. There's no way things aren't complicated afterwards because Dokja will feel guilty for putting his friends through the trauma of losing him and his friends will try and convince him that he deserves love and they don't mind but at the same time the trauma is real and it's there. So it's going to be a long road to helping him forgive himself even if they all have done so already.

I feel like YJH would be pushy at first. Like this is the guy who became a terrorist rather than try therapy. He wants to find meaning through Dokja, to ask Dokja how he's supposed to live now, and that's a lot of pressure that none of the others will want to fall on Dokja's shoulders. Which I think will be good for HSY because it let's her fall into the comfortable zone of yelling at YJH for being terrible at expressing himself and ignoring her own terrible emotions as much as possible in the mean time. So I kind of see it like:

YJH & HSY: Screaming clawing kicking biting each other outside the hospital because HSY thinks YJH is being too pushy with Dokja and YJH thinks he's helping both of them by asking Dokja for guidance and HSY is getting in the way of his recovery.

Sangah, calmly pouring herself and Dokja tea inside his hospital room: So I spoke to your mother today and she'll be here soon! Oh don't worry about those two they'll probably only break a few bones.

But then if he never did wake up... I don't think either of them would be able to truly move on. I think they'd keep hoping that he would get better and the longer he doesn't the more the likelihood grows that one of them snaps and comes up with another reckless life threatening plan to increase the odds of his recovery. I'm not sure what it'd be but I like to think HSY is the one that snaps first this time. Just goes up to YJH like "hey are you ready for me to subject you to more horrendous torment for the slim tiny chance that it could make Dokja wake up" and YJH is like "naturally".

Whether they actually succeed or whether their plan is so terrible and hopeless that Sangah has to step in and force them to accept he's gone (an impossible task but she'll push them as close to the acceptance stage of grief as she possibly can.) I'm not sure. Either way it'd be fun to read about. I haven't looked into the side stories yet but I'm curious if they might make me change my mind about any of this. For now this is how I imagine it going down anyways.

Doksoo are insane and they consume my every waking thought. Reading the webtoon after the novel is so crazy because HSY really shows up as this random villain and no one including her has any idea that she's one of the three most important people in the universe. Like she's just a little fella. A prankster who's pranks sometimes involve murder. And the way she and Dokja are so unimpressed by each other and have no idea how much they'll end up loving each other... I feel like rereading any early doksoo interaction is going to come with extra loud clown music like even Dokja calling her a plagiarist and Sooyoung being like ugh you're such a cliche like oh you dumbasses. You have no idea.

I enjoyed both doksoo and joongdok's early banter a lot like it always added a ton of energy into every scene. But the moments it really clicked for me was the whole reincarnation island arc for doksoo. Like reading his narration about Sooyoung it's like ohhhh my god he's down bad. He's as in love as I am. He doesn't even realise it but he is so enamoured by her. Like that was the moment I could see the potential for them to become as important to each other as they did. The foundation and foreshadowing was done so well, not one bit of their relationship progression felt unearned.

And then for joongdok I think it was their divorce era that really got me on board. Like they were fun in the early stages but once Dokja is convinced there's no going back and is actually emotionally vulnerable and honest with YJH and YJH gets to vent his own frustrations about being nothing more than a character... It really solidified their bond for me. It brought Dokja down to YJH's level rather than the reader he was trying to be to YJH's character. Plus we get HSY dying and traumatising Dokja for once instead of the reverse. It's what they deserve.

Also punisher and transfem YJH and everything that's implied in the novel and how that would add to to her dynamics with doksoo. Haven't gotten any solid thoughts on that yet but the concept is slowly taking a grip on me.

So yeah after the reincarnation island arc I was so fully on board with this ot3 and every single Orpheus moment that followed hit right into my heart.

Sorry this is so long and barely scratches the surface alsjsjdhdh. I'm still processing everything but man. What a story. What a trio. Wretched mirror soulmates with toxic codependency my beloveds.

[died-but-not-dead-propaganda]

Kim Dokja Propaganda

he canonically dies seven times <3 he's tried and avoided dying even more than that. multiple characters in text have asked him to stop dying.

He literally plans his own death out and then gets surprised when it happens and people react to him dying he's so stupid I love him

he does it 12 times i'm not joking

i lost count but he's died and come back at least 4 times. mf won't stay dead (affectionate) but he's also so damn smug everytime like he didn't just give all his friends lasting trauma for the 3rd time that week

He is like, the perfect person for this tournament. He dies, and dies, and dies like every 5 seconds. And the majority of them are emotional. I think. Like, we know he's not actually dead but his friends don't (in most of them).

So here's some of my hightlights (Contains spoilers):

-His first death was by being incinerated by a dragon's breath (not really interesting, but it's his first death).

-There was an scenario(missions? kinda?) where they had to kill the strongest in the dome and nobody knew who it was so there were two really strong guys having a duel and while everyone else was busy watching it he killed himself behind a building and just waited for everyone to notice (he was the strongest in there).

    +People called him ugly at his funeral

-Idk if it counts as a death but he sacrificed himself and got expelled from the system and I don't remember if his body was destroyed but I think yes. So this would normally mean you will die for real so everyone thought he was dead but he kept his soul alive by talking to himself and eating garbage and went to a doctor and leaded a coup d'etat and gave birth(? kinda?) all while pretending to be someone else.

-He was asleep while using a skill to watch his friends have a serious discussion about his kinks and dies.

this man. keeps. dying. everytime he dies it traumatises his kids and friends and then he does it again! eventually they just straight up locked him up in gay baby jail in an attempt to get him to stop dying. it didnt work. hes a disaster and i love him

That man CANNOT stop dying istg (via sacrificing his life) i don't even know how many times he's died,,, (it's the suicidal tendencies and the feeling he doesn't deserve a happy ending lbr)

(warning for spoilers in the next paragraph)

he has 1)died by throwing himself at a giant dragon 2)died by throwing himself in front of his blorbo/reason for living (who has threatened to kill him multiple times) at the hand of the woman who later on become his daughter    (he came back from those 2 in a few minutes with a power that allowed him to resurrect if he saves 100 people) (he then lost this power and gained another that allowed him 7 resurrections but with a longer delay)

3)died by asking his internet bully/best friend to kill him to save the city  4)there was a prophecy he was going to be killed by the person he loves most. his mum killed him knowing about his resurrection power and hoping it would complete the prophecy. it did not. (fun fact he was passed out when that happened and his previously mentioned best friend was defending him, and she allowed the shot to hit his heart to avoid it hitting his crotch #priorities)  5)sacrificed himself by turning into the villain and making all his friends kill him to stop his blorbo from doing the same. fun fact he was the one to deliver the final blow and it did satisfy the prophecy. also for reasons his resurrection power didn't work here (he still found a way to come back though! but it was much more difficult and complicated

also, it's irrelevant to all this but he literally gets adopted by hades and persephone at some point and becomes the heir to the underworld

anyway this is very long and does not include all his deaths i don't think but you get the idea! orv is very good i promise don't get fooled by my shitty description lmao

This ridiculous man has an addiction to dying istg. He makes a point of obtaining every ability he can that allows him to return from death and chooses to throw himself in harms way constantly. His companions has to sedate him just to get him to take a break because he just will not stop dying on them. Hes a hamster of a man. Hes also just so pathetically average and abnormal at the same time and its great. Throughout the whole story, people try to convince him to stop sacrificing himself for them, but he just keeps doing it because he doesnt really know how else to show how much he cares because he is incredibly emotionally stunted (its the trauma!). Orv is legitimately such a good webnovel, it changed my brain chemistry permanently. Its a really great read because it contains a little bit of everything, so you get to enjoy a bunch of different genres. Its also pretty fast paced but not rushed, so the plot is always moving forward but not feeling forced. There arent really any plotholes either, because it accomplishes what it set out to do as a story. Only issue some people have getting into it is that the first chunk of chapters are kinda slow, but it really starts to pick up after the disasters and keeps getting better from there. Also that it has 551 chapters, but these chapters are all necessary, trust me. The ending is so good. Just try to avoid spoilers some if you do check it out; they dont necessarily ruin the experience but some major plot moments are revealed. Also, I really reccommend reading the actual webnovel instead of the manhwa(which is the webtoon) because the manhwa edits a lot of things out and is much plainer than the actual story. Anyway, sorry that this turned into me telling you to read the novel instead of campaigning for kdj. But! Its what he would have wanted, seeing as he once read a webnovel as the sole reader of it for over 10 years.

Okay so. This man has died over 10 times (I'm not counting the exact number I'm sorry). He got burned to death fighting a super dangerous dragon, he died IN FRONT OF HIS FOUND FAMILY. then he pushed another member of his found family away from a fatal attack and took it on himself, causing him to get a huge hole right through his stomach and said member of his found family to go beserk over his death cause he didn't know he'd come back to life. He then asked a different member of his found family to KILL HIM. because he needed to die for everyone else to survive or whatever so he convinced her to kill him even though she didn't want to. And then HE GOT KILLED BY HIS FOUND FAMILY AGAIN. because once again he had to 'die' for everyone to survive but specifically he had to be killed by his found family, so he got stabbed through the heart by one of his found family members and then crumbled to dust in said family member's arms. He 'died' and disappeared for 3+ YEARS , and came back just as his ff were finally moving on from him. (Also he came back in a giant squid form that couldn't communicate with the FF at all and almost got killed my the ff AGAIN...) there's... A lot. More but it's been a while since I've read the novel so I don't remember every single death unfortunately but yeah 👍

He died like 12 times and traumatized all his companions with that

Over the course of 100 chapters, this man managed to die and get revived FIVE GODDAMN TIMES. And he keeps doing it. Nobody's doing it like him fr fr

i’m still read orv but as far as i’ve heard that’s his whole thing other than being gay for the protagonist of his favourite web comic who is real now

hoooo boy. i think he dies around 8 times in total? and somehow each time is worse than the last..... the first 3-4 times he has a skill that lets him regenerate, so its mostly fine (there is some good angst about his companions worrying he died for real, though, and at least one funeral scene).

then theres a prophecy about how he will be killed by "the person he loves most" and, without spoiling it too much, hes killed by the person he loves most. sword through the heart and touching last words and everything. its fucking DEVASTATING. he survives with a bunch of cheat code bullshit and then next time they see him is weeks or months later in the fucking demon realm with a body thats falling apart.

then a while later he almost dies AGAIN but when they go to save him he gets kidnapped and sent to another world and they dont see him for FOUR YEARS. hes obviously presumed dead while hes off in another worldline trying to get back

uh. there might be more than that. this novel is VERY long. anyway it gets to a point where any problem thats too big gets solved by him sacrificing himself while his companions scream and cry and beg him not to. and then he shows up later like "see! i survived :)" and they get so upset because why does he keep DOING this??? and he doesnt see the issue because he did it to save them! its a happy ending as long as no one dies (but not me though. its fine if i die as long as no one else does)

anyway, all this to say. basically his defining trait is that he dies and comes back. hes infamous for it and his companions start to hate it about him. one of them literally tries to pay a HEAVY price to ensure that he cant die anymore. hes GOTTA be on this bracket

Self-sacrifice is the only way he knows how to express love because it's the only form of love he was shown as a child. He keeps dying for his companions even while knowing that he is traumatizing them and thinking that they will hate him for it eventually (just like he hated his mom) because he thinks he deserves to be hated. The entire novel is about saving him. My god.

This man has died (and revived) about thirteen different times (I think? Very easy to lose count), and that’s only including successful attempts, he tries to sacrifice himself many more times. His companions are literally begging him to stop killing himself to save the world. They come very close to just tying him up so he can’t go running off again.

In terms of his general character he is just a guy who hyperfixates on a bad webnovel for 13 years straight, I’m talking about 3000+ chapters that he was the sole reader of because no one else made it past ch100. Then when the webnovel gets its final update the events of the novel start happening in the real world, as the only person who has read to the end he has vital information to save the world. He pisses off the protagonist within a minute of meeting and then proceeds to have a high-key homoerotic relationship with him, with both of them becoming so intertwined that neither would exist without the other and creating a timeloop that sets the entire plot into motion (I can’t go into more details without spoilers). If you’d like more details then I highly recommend the YouTube video “badly explaining all of omniscient reader in 6 minutes” by ferd because it’s hilarious and leaves out just enough context that you don’t even feel like you’re getting spoiled because it’s so batshit

[pttucker]

In a completely unexpected turn of events Kim Dokja is studying techniques and Yoo Joonghyuk is reading TWSA.

Can't say that I saw this one coming way back when I first started ORV but I also can't say that it in any way surprises me that even now they're mirroring each other.

Well, first things first...

Ahhh! Dokja has a new teacher!

And he's teaching him.

Dokja is actually, for the first time ever, properly learning something rather than just stealing it. Dokja is actually, for the first time ever, not completely talentless. Dokja is actually, for the first time ever, understanding what his teacher is telling him and is able to put it into practice himself rather than relying on his skills to do the work for him.

And of course it's a technique that would be related to being a reader and seems to coincide with what he's already been doing this entire novel, i.e. listening to (reading) the stories around him and interpreting them. The mention too of how Dokja has had several beings just naturally like him for some unknown reason...

I get the feeling he's been unknowingly performing "Story Control" for a while now in his own way without even realizing it. At least the very tip of the iceberg of the technique, and now, finally, Dokja is the one who gets to experience enlightenment and get a huge bump in his abilities.

Of course we also get the message "currently, the Fourth Wall is in a very thin state" and even Sangah and Dokja believe this is happening because of that thinness. Plus the fact that Sangah was able to alter the entire scenario by sending out a "revelation." It makes me wonder just how much Dokja could be affecting the world around him if the Fourth Wall wasn't present.

Like, the Fourth Wall protects Kim Dokja from the world, sure, but I'm starting to think it might also protect the world from Kim Dokja.

Oh man, and on the opposite side we have Joonghyuk who's just been given a copy of TWSA? The full TWSA or just the first scenario? It says (First) after the title and I'd like to think that means First Version, just like how Dokja now has multiple versions, but Secretive Plotter said that he couldn't give him the full revelation? But then he also said "this way, it will be a fair fight" and Joonghyuk can't really have a fair fight if he only knows the first scenario while Dokja knows the whole thing. So maybe Han Sooyoung has been creating her versions in her world and Joonghyuk has been given the first complete copy of TWSA but not the final one that she ended with/is potentially still living???

Regardless, why are you encouraging Joonghyuk to fight Dokja, Secretive Plotter?

Ughhhh idk if this is all part of some scheme (because he's totally a schemer, right?) or if he's genuinely upset with Dokja for kind of side-stepping their Outer Covenant and not killing Joonghyuk properly or if he's not even been on Dokja's side this whole time?

That or maybe he wants Joonghyuk gone, in which case, he is very optimistic in thinking Dokja would win in a one-on-one right now.

Then again, Dokja did just learn a new technique...

The naive, hopeful part of me (I know, I know) is thinking that they'll fight but not like fight fight. Because Joonghyuk hasn't seemed quite as angry these past few scenes we've had from his POV? Maybe???

Though I'm not really happy that Secretive Plotter gave him Han Sooyoung's version of TWSA. Like, does he not have access to Dokja's or did he purposefully not use Dokja's because he doesn't want Joonghyuk to see his POV and to relive their life together and potentially start having second thoughts. Especially since Sooyoung's version is probably much darker? Like, yeah, it did turn out in the end that Sooyoung and Joonghyuk of the 1863rd seemed to understand and possibly care for each other, but the story is still full of him basically being used by her. Willingly used, but still.

That's probably not going to put Joonghyuk of the 3rd round in a good mood when he's already thinking that Dokja has been deceiving and using them.

....Unless that's what Secretive Plotter meant by not being able to tell him the full revelation? Does he have access to the end of Dokja's story and he can't give that to Joonghyuk because it would be way outside the probability? If that's the case, then I'm back to thinking that Secretive Plotter is on Dokja's side and perhaps this won't go too poorly? Maybe? 😬

I mean, Dokja has his new technique all about listening to stories, so maybe if he can make Joonghyuk listen to his...

[ravs6709]

Something something the way orv slowly introduces just how much yjh has gone through in his regressions I'm gonna ramble under the cut

Like you read the first set of chapters and it only mentions the first dozen or so and kdj getting annoyed at him for being a loner

And then theater arc shows 1) how even at #8 he's got to a point of giving up (yes because mental attack. But still) and 2) he had a wife. And a child. And directly states he's had to watch them all die. He watched his sister die. He had a wife. He was vulnerable enough to have a wife and child. Also he was backstabbed by Anna croft

And then we get towards the absolute throne section and it says he only figured something out at #41, and you also really start to realize that in every regression, he's always picking the same people, again and again. He is alone but they are there and he always chooses them but he can't get close to them

We see his grief and how he misses Lee seolhwa so much, how he went to her without a plan hoping in that moment that she'd be the same person that he loved

We get to nirvana and the introduction of his regression depression, of the way he does care but lost the ability to truly do so, to be forced to find the most efficient way of making it through the scenarios

And then slowly we start learning that his regressions don't just stop there, they keep going, into the hundreds, at least a thousand, until we get to 1863 and we see again that he still valued the same people. And we also see just how much he wants to die. And we also see just how much he wants to live

There's the portrayal that it's not even harsh memories that wear him down, but the sweet ones, the happy ones, the ones he rarely ever got to have, the ones he always lost

And then there's the reveal of sp's identity, of all that he was willing to do to end his suffering. The way he's jealous of 1864 for having his companions alive when he had to watch them all die as he made it to the end all by himself. Alone. As always. He gets to see a version of him that has his sister alive

And the way he interfered in 999 because he wanted to change its events. He wanted his companions to be happy. Even 999 yjh himself who always always always valued himself above everyone, deciding to throw it away, even if just once, so give his everything to the companions he still keeps choosing again and again. He sacrifices himself for them and it's the one time he's able to make it so far until 1863

[novemquadragintillion]

Feb 15, 2023 I FINALLY FINISHED ORV AFTER FOUR MONTHS 💖💖

My favorite scenes (⚠️novel spoilers!!⚠️) and thoughts:

Yoo Junghyuk and Uriel sprinting to the demon world because they got a vague hint about Kim Dokja's possible whereabouts

KDJ's modifier becoming the Demon King of Salvation. KDJ telling everyone that he had explained how to kill a demon king before, so... *cries*

KDJ making 1863rd YJH eat dirt literally (it was sad but really funny too)

Yoo Sangah making the first fake revelation from the hole in the Library

YSA shoving YJH onto the chest of unconscious KDJ, making him read part of the Library during the Isle of Reincarnaters arc

YSA and KDJ's conversation in the dark right before she reincarnates

Persephone stroking KDJ's head and telling him, [You're our son. That is all that matters.] (Chp 389)

KDJ, for the first time, desperately wanting to live. And sent Jung Heewon and YJH (and Han Sooyoung if I remember correctly) the message that he wanted help, that he wanted to be saved. (During the War of Demons and Angels, and KDJ was inside the Indescribable Distance)

YSA taking the monkey king's headband off his head and PLACING IT ON KDJ'S HEAD HAHAHA

Secretive Plotter sincerely smiling <3

Literally every time Sun Wukong/ monkey king referred to KDJ as maknae /maknae-ah in a brotherly affectionate tone of voice

The Librarians seeing KDJ+co. off at the subway train. Their voices being cut off from the door closing.

KDJ+co.+Outer God Kings meeting the Most Ancient Dream. the line, [Please end the 'Most Ancient Dream'.] BROKE MY HEARTTT

YJH becoming an astronaut!!!

KDJ waking up in the hospital at the end <3 At least I like to believe he did wake up. HSY and YJH did an amazing job <333

I just can't believe it's over now. I can't wait to see all the scenes drawn in the webtoon!! (But I'm scared about the health of the webtoon artists. It's gonna take ages)

The scenes that are most vivid in my mind are YSA's fake revelation, Secretive Plotter (and later, KDJ's companions) being chased by the Hounds Chasing After the Abyss, the [Please end the 'Most Ancient Dream'] scene, the Outer God Kings holding the Most Ancient Dream, Persephone stroking KDJ's hair, and KDJ being a demon king with his wings and horns.

Someday I want to reread now that I know what happens.

I guessed that tls123 was Han Sooyoung (I couldn't figure out how, though, until it was revealed). I definitely didn't guess correctly who Secretive Plotter or the Most Ancient Dream were. I thought SP was Dokja of the future, and I can't remember what I guessed for MAD. Pretty sure I was thinking of YJH, but very tentatively lol

I have so many other thoughts, but I'll just say, what an insane story overall. Honestly with all the time looping and regressing and stuff, things got confusing for me, so as I got nearer to the end, I was repeatedly shocked at how well everything was being connected together. How HSY and KDJ and YJH were all interconnected and there wasn't a beginning nor an end. But it all made sense!! And there were so many funny and extremely heartbreaking moments. I'm so happy and excited that I get to delete the orv spoilers content tag now and see all the fanart I want without spoiling myself.

I think the thing that will stick in my mind for a long time, is 'Write something on the wall, because maybe someday, someone will read your message. Even when you're long gone, even when communication is impossible'.

Thank you author (authors??) for writing this story. It's definitely one of my favorites now💖💖💖

I hope the ongoing stories I'm reading and love, will end as amazingly as ORV. Like Tower of God, Witch Hat Atelier, Inso's Law (webcomic), Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World (webcomic), Blue Period, Houseki no Kuni, Seraph of the End, and lots more 💖💖💖

[justaravingwritingdesk]

adding to my thoughts in a previous ask; i'd also argue that kdj's experiences shaped how he views the world, rather than that being evidence of him loving and hating himself the most. it's very common that the experiences you go through in childhood define one's understanding of 'how the world works', and it can take a lot of effort to deconstruct those views. i would argue that that is less on kdj loving himself most and more that he has a set knowledge base that takes time to shatter

of course, when it comes to putting that in the context of kdj's acts of love; it would delve into a deeper question of how love works, if it is selfish or selfless, which in itself is interesting but might take quite a bit of time.

it might be that we have different perspectives of love that has me tilting my head at your ideas; i can see kdj wanting to be yjh as a form of wanting to be better, ergo a dose of needed self-love, but kdj wanting to stand beside yjh... that is an act of love, to want to be by the side of your loved ones. perhaps it could be argued that loving yourself allows you to care for the ones you love rather than denying both of you the pleasure?

probably the one thing i'd like to prod on the most is your discussion of the most ancient dream, though - from my understanding, the scenarios of twsa were not thought of by mad himself, but by the author that wrote for him, in addition to the fact that the most ancient dream is very clearly depicted as not knowing that the dreams from his reading had been coming to life, so i'm perhaps just a little lost on that.

i hope these thoughts aren't too much of a bother! it's interesting to hear how other people view a story, and orv is rife with details to pick apart

Ah, yes, of course. Childhood experiences are what shape our mentality, with teenage giving way to change and maturity, and adulthood solidifying the end result. The older you get, the more drastic the needed change tends to be for it to stick. You'd have to reexamine yourself, which is admittedly not easy, and that's speaking from experience. You need to know what the problem is before you start with anything. That's why it takes a lot of time.

KDJ doesn't have that. He doesn't know what's wrong with him, not entirely. He knows he's "broken," in a sense, but that's all. He doesn't remember most of his past. What little he does remember outside of TWSA isn't always true. All this because of the Fourth Wall. Even if he tries to "fix" himself, he wouldn't know where to begin.

And that's just sad, because there's nothing anyone can do about it. Only the Wall, but he most like never would do it, because the flow of the story would be broken.

(And no, I'm not objectifying him, I'm just putting it in terms that are easily understandable and that I'm familiar with.)

Acts of love can be either or both selfish and selfless, but when we say love, it's usually selfless. Because that's what love is. It's not really about you, it's about the other person.

And self-love… You can't begin loving someone else, not truly, if you don't love yourself.

At least, that's how I see it.

I can also see KDJ want wanting to be YJH as a form of wanting to be better, but mainly because I think KDJ is like the young SYS when they first met. They've both done something they know is unforgivable, and they both think they're bad people who can't be redeemed anymore. But while SYS had KDJ to tell her that no, she isn't a bad person, that she had to do it to survive, KDJ had his mother to tell him that no, the blood wasn't on his hands, that he is innocent while she is not. KDJ gave SYS the truth and his companionship. LSK gave KDJ a lie and basically left him to the wolves.

What LSK did to KDJ left an impact. Despite the fact that he wanted to be with them, he couldn't think of any other way but to leave, to sacrifice himself, just so the Company could be happy. Even though he found a way to circumvent it via Avatar, it still doesn't change the fact that he left them with a lie, just like LSK did to him.

And you're right, loving oneself allows one to care for their loved ones. I think that's one lesson KDJ has yet to learn: loving himself would let himself be truly happy with the Company. That's probably one implicit lesson amongst many that ORV is supposed to teach.

And as for the MAD, it's true that the scenarios weren't thought of by the MAD himself, but that doesn't mean he had no influence on them. The Dokkaebi King himself said that everything in the Star Stream moves according to the MAD's wishes, conscious or not. The HSY who became tls123 only put the records into writing while the DK who became Fourth Wall passed it on so KDJ who'll inevitably become MAD can dream of it and YJH who became SP will live it. (The Unholy Trinity is actually the Unholy Quartet. FW is the ghost member and the only one without a split persona.)

That's the gist of it, I guess. Most of the referenced details are in the text somewhere, if you find the time to look for it.

Does this answer your question? If it does, well, I'm glad I could help, and if not, then oh, well. I had fun, tho.

[mobeu]

Ok I have to just come out and admit it: I haven’t managed to catch the drift of what Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint is about 😩 I’ve TRIED, but my trip down the ORV Wiki-hole was so confusing, like they’re sort of competing in Hunger Games-style combat for others’ entertainment BUT the sponsors are like. stars?? Or galaxies?? But also there are future versions of the protagonists from other “scenarios (multiverses??) trying to help out/sabotage them? Also there’s a train that starts everything off?? So far my mental image of ORV is like Hunger Games meets Train to Busan meets the MCU and I am SO confused. Please help if you have the spoons, you seem to like the series so maybe you can help me understand what’s going on at a high level, I don’t even think I have that down 😩

orv definitely is A Trip! and i'm gonna be honest with you, anon— i like the novel so far but i'm not even close to finishing it! i'll try to explain a couple things though ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

let's do a run-down!

kim dokja is the sole reader of an apocalyptic, survival game-based webnovel (where the protagonist is an OP broody fellow named yoo joonghyuk). the story begins when the author (han sooyoung, not that kim dokja is aware at this point) announces the imminent ending of the novel and gives him a file of the story so far as a thank-you gift for sticking around til the end.

while commuting on a train with a coworker (yoo sangah, one of the only people who's nice to him ;;), the world starts to end. this is where kim dokja meets yoo joonghyuk, who's now REAL, and this is where the file the author sent him comes in handy, because SURPRISE! the apocalypse is following the plot of the webnovel!

being the only one who was obsessed with followed the original webnovel to the end, kim dokja is also the only one who knows what's happening and what the future holds. however! the author hasn't released the epilogue yet.

remember how the plot of the original webnovel was based on characters competing in survival games? turns out that kim dokja, along with the now-come-to-life characters, must complete scenarios/the survival games to reach the ending.

there are indeed sponsors, referred to as constellations. this is where it gets a little murky for me as well because i'm not that far along in the novel, but my understanding is that the characters (kim dokja, han sooyoung, yoo joonghyuk, etc.) are able to "ascend" and become constellations themselves, changing parts of the narrative and doing all sorts of space/time fuckery. orv gets quite meta (;𖦹ㅁ𖦹)

so that's basically (lol) it!

i've seen some spoilers for the ending, but not enough for me to completely understand everything, haha. i hope that helped?? if not, i can probably direct you to some orv blogs i follow who can hopefully provide more clarity（´ ∀ `）

personally, i ended up getting really into orv because i think the characters are so interesting— their backgrounds, motivations, relationships, etc. are very compelling. i don't know if i've ever come across a story quite like orv!

again, hope that helped! i'm also happy to share some orv fics that i enjoyed ᵕ̈ (i'm thinking of writing a fic myself but that's a problem for future me lol)

[vikab]

I didn't want to clog my post caption longer but I wanted to put additional notes about my process etc

also: [youtube mirror]

So yeah exactly 2 weeks ago, I was on a drive back home from a camping trip and while I was offline I couldnt stream any music, I decided to give some old songs a listen by Ling tosite sigure, my favorite band of all time. It's been a while, I wasn't too fond of their recent releases so I haven't listened to my favorites songs by them for a while.

My favorite LTS tracks btw...

Of course then make up syndrome song came on. I'mperfect album by LTS is how I discovered them (through Psycho Pass OP song Abnormalize) and I love that album a lot, then I started thinking about animating a music video - as one does when listening to something and imagining your favorite characters to the song. Happens often, BUT I usually never act upon it.

I know animation is a lot of work, I didn't study animation at all - I have some random animation experiences but they're not a lot. I know how use Premiere Pro and After Effects, but thats it. I didn't know how to use the Clip Studio Paint animation feature. But I had just recently finished reading ORV... and was obsessed. The themes, the characters, Kim Dokja. I couldn't stop thinking about how good the song is, and how much I wanted to animate some parts of the song (particularly main chorus and some parts towards the end).

I began thinking of a storyboard. Didn't actually end up drawing out, I kept the whole idea in my head (I did write out some text details into my notes but that's it). Next 2 hours in the car I've spent obsessively replaying the song and imagining animation parts. I wanted... a lot of details and animation on that lol. More TV anime style, like an anime opening, looking legit 😅 But as I edited the song into short version (no way I would have finished this if I had done the full song) I opened after effects and started setting up my timeline. I broke it down into 13 segments and realized... oh boy. That's a lot 😅 Maybe I would just stick my own artstyle and do my best.

Through week 1 I began working on scenes I had more clear in my head and knew what specific effects I need. But still a lot of "after effects [effect i was thinking of]" in my google search bar, I havent used AE in quite some time... I downloaded few free plugins and templates but it was mostly a boil effect and chromatic aberration... some AE plugins are so expensive!!

Work week was busy but I utilized my time well. Then by the weekend I went crazy and got sooo many drawings done. They're all quite quick, I tried spending less than an hour on each, but still had to do like 5 redraws on some of them because I was not happy with some cuts. Running animation cycle at the end was most insane work I did because at first I was like "surely this cant be hard" spoiler alert: it was hard. I drew 8 frames for running and realized it was very... slow running effect. So I cut it into 4 frames, reducing my workload since I had to detail the running silhouette into HSY and YJH. yay?

anyway..... this was a lot of work. Week 2 I finally started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I knew my limits, I hibernate A LOT on drawing regular illustrations throughout the year, how am I supposed to animate a whole video. So I knew I had to push myself to finish by end of the week otherwise I will be too tired to ever finish it. I did become a bit frustrated with my work, I had left the most difficult parts for last, and I was worried I am not doing my best work. But I really wanted to finish this, actually finish impulsive desire to make animated music video to media I'm obsessed about. It's hard for me to put into words how well ORV did what it did, so I can only hope to convey my emotions thru my art.

Uhmmm that's it!! Hope you enjoyed. I struggle with confidence about my work so I was very surprised when my KDJ drawings popped off on here. I wasn't even done with the novel but somehow I hit a nail on the head I guess. I dont expect this to pop off at all tbh, im not good fighting the online algorithm. This was a passion project through and through, but I also feel mega cringe about it 🙈 This project ended up being a lot of drawings.. so many assets. My project file was messy, and my laptop was struggling with some effects. So when I rendered video last night for over an hour, I could finally view the video in proper HD definition (my AE viewport is Quarter quality) I noticed bunch of timing mistakes and had to fix it... then set to render the video while I sleep 🙈 thankfully when I woke up in the morning I havent spotted mistakes and decided yipeee im freeeeee!!!

(free me from orv brainrot)

song: make up syndrome - Ling tosite sigure (edited into shorter version)

[woolieshubris]

HI IM REREADING THE ORV WEBTOON AND THE THING W THE BIG DIPPER MADE ME THINK OF THIS ONE KOREAN FAIRY TALE THAT WAS LIKE THE WORST FUCKING FAIRY TALE EVER BCOS IT JSUT MADE ME CRY. anyways the parts i remember go like this

a long time ago, a little boy and a little girl lived with their mom. their mom went out one day, and was eaten by a fucking tiger. the tiger took her clothes and dressed as her and went home to eat her kids. he knocked at the door "hey kids i'm home let me in". his claw stuck through the door and the little boy was like "man i don't think that's our mom..." the tiger went "i'm your mom!!! let me in i love you guys im back hi" but through a crack in the door, his face reflected into a bucket of water. the girl was like "woah dude that's a whole tiger. look at the reflection!! that's not our mom" and so they just kinda ran really fucking fast and the tiger chased them. they went through a briar patch and the tiger got hurt and then they made it to a tree. they had an axe and cut notches into the tree and so they climbed it. then they were at the top of the tree and the tiger was coming after them so they just like. prayed really hard. "god please save us" and then god turned them into the stars and the moon (or sun??? idk i forgot) and their names r the words for the stars and the moon.

ANYWAYS I THOUGHT IT WAS THE WORST STORY EVER BECAUSE THAT DID NOT SEEM LIKE A HAPPY ENDING TO FIVE YEAR OLD RADISH I WAS SO FUCKING SAD LIKE SO THEY JUST DIED???? THEYRE JUST DEAD ?!?!??! SO SO SAD.

like now it seems cool but AT THE TIME. I WAS VERY SAD ABOUT IT !!!

LMAOFOGODLFLGG YHIS IS SO FUNNY BUT I HAD TO REPLY W THIS I HOPE U UNDERSTAND