#angel reads twatf

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orv, chapter 488 & 489

twatf, chapter 149

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anyway my final verdict on twatf? it's no orv, but as someone who loves engaging with philosophical ideas of fantasy and humanity, it is a VERY fun read once the novel actually starts diving into said ideas

otherwise it's a very basic story of surpassing the common flow of the world by being the strongest but also only guy to do so ever - the novel tries to deconstruct that last bit, but in a more metaphorical way that more so explores other ideas and concepts and allusions rather than staying within the context of the plot.

definitely a novel that you either like or don't depending on your own preferences. it doesn't appeal very wildly... initially. only at the end does it get "broad" enough to engage in a way that'd be both more familiar and more shared in experience among its readership. just like the protagonist, you have to tough it out to the end wwwwwwww

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The World After the Fall, Episode 81:

The World After the Fall, Episode 93:

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man sing-shong really likes to discuss what truth (reality) is and make everything into a circle of some kind

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i... finished reading twatf. it's. it sure is.

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reading twatf manwha and finally seeing the new changes to the novel!!!!!!!

the world force restriction thing us definitely new, and completely changes the flow of the plot bc there's no such restrictions in place and the protag went straight to the auction house to encounter myad, which resulted in a giant fight.

the restriction ensures this simply cannot happen bc essentially, combat is disabled.........

and so the protag goes to a whole new place entirely - which, ugh, I REALLY don't wanna do orv comparisons. but it's basically mini orv right now, ish. also new character, and heeeey, the revision is actually pulling up loose ends from the original ver!!!!!!!!

mainly barrier kid who literally appeared once and then never, and fleshing our anderson's backstory - the novel says she used to be a high-ranking god that fell from grace essentially, but it's never discussed how. the revision, and by extension the manhwa, looks like it's going to discuss why she was high-ranking to begin with

this will be fun heehee hoohaw

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reading the twatf manwha now. since i read the novel and so far: exposition could be done better (theyre skipping a couple of side note things, but those side note things still do clarify why some shit is happening in some scenes rip), but otherwise it's matching pretty closely with the novel

though if ive heard right, some of the bigger changes only start once mc gets to the abyss, so like, who knows how long that's going to last lol

on the plus side, the art is really gorgeous. the artist really puts a lot of effort into closeups and environment design primarily, which is very neat - though i think they also have a really weird thing for water or Ten Thousand Clothing Creases (bc of wind or water or nothing at all but damn)

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as usual, the final chapters drop all the nutsy bombshell details that turn everything upside down and also hit you the hardest. also, the start of the novel having that sing-shong trademark of discussing fiction and the world ww

also the way it slightly touches upon mental illness...... or rather, how mental illness is treated at large, it's so :') !!

like I don't want to constantly do orv comparisons bc I think the novel should and can stand on its own, but the threads really are similar at this point - and where kdj uses fiction to cope with reality, jaehwan is using fiction not just for that, but also to resist, to "prove" his world and his dreams' existence and stability.

the commentary on fiction in twatf can be summarized as fiction not just being as worthy as reality, but creating new, better realities - fiction, a story, is resistance and revolution and innovation! a way to not just change what's here, but to outright create something that doesn't exist at all yet.

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SPEAKING OF DREAMS, the parts where the novel talks about dreams and humanity are some of the most fun things I've chewed on in a while and also my biggest jam ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

like the first mention of a dreamer is easy to take literally, and you probs are supposed to - a dreamer is someone who aspires for something lofty and idealistic - unrealistic, and perhaps greater than the world itself.

but then later on, the novel talks more about dreams........ or rather, what it means to aspire for the dream such that you are no longer a dreamer but the dream itself. in which case— you won't be human anymore.

because the dream cannot be the dreamer - after all, logically speaking, a person needs to dream the dream. a human needs to dream to be a dreamer. the dreamer can only be human. and to become the dream itself is to deny your humanity, to strip yourself of everything that isn't the great, lofty ideals untethered to reality in exchange for supposedly knowing all, becoming purely conceptual (perhaps... even becoming like an adult.)

—thus, what does it mean to be human?

to be human is to be flawed and uncertain doubt, with imperfections and desires, constantly dreaming of better worlds, constantly questioning the state of the present world.

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this section,

and this section,

lowkey feel super big brain to be written relatively closely to one another, to touch similar subjects... because they both talk about having a dream - the former being in the situation of giving up his dream because the dream seemed too elusive, impossible to continue under the machinations of the world and losing his close companions, whereas the latter is beginning to feel the same... but stops, because he still has trust and faith in his friends and wants to continue it as such

or something like that lol

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there's a few parts of twatf that explicitly bring up the idea of being a child or rather, to have a childlike, innocent viewpoint in contrast to "the rest of the world, who are adults" - its interesting because these moments feel more like they're being used as a vehicle or embellishment to other concepts (such as "what does it mean to be human" and "learning to live in reality" or even more basic, "the individual vs society"), yet I feel like this idea is brought up very often in some form that it could still be considered a significant theme on it's own, discussed as is with much detail ww

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this is the most incomprehensible and funniest looking thing out of context but in context it's fairly meaningful akskskskskskskssksjsj EVEN THOUGH IT SOUNDS SO STUPID TO READ, IT REALLY MEANS SOMETHING........

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this is still lowkey among the fuckiest parts of the novel but the concepts being discussed here are basic as heck - it's just the metaphors being used that might make it a little complicated, but even then it's still a fun if not silly read to me ww

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this part is just straight up saying "wow creatives constantly churning out the same popular but generic stuff are kinda doomed!" but with different terms ajsnddnjdjdjd

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—The World After the Fall, Chapter 98.

personally, I think this is where the story starts to Really hint at the themes and messages it wants to talk about. like, the mc's powers already hint at some of it, but it's a very tiny hint. this chapter though - it's practically a dumpster truck of info alalsjdjdjdjdjxjx

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OK I need a hot second to just talk about twatf

like ofc I came in with some prior commentary/reviews on what it'd be like, as well as having read orv first to give me a foundation for the writer and what to vaguely expect as such. honestly, I think it was lowkey necessary bc I would have definitely dropped the novel early on otherwise - the plot is pretty basic overall and there's a lot of semi-unexplained terminology throughout, and the fun stuff for me—the philosophical concepts, deconstruction and commentary—only starts to have bigger relevance in the latter half, if not end of the novel. (which on that note, orv is very much like that. all the truly mind blowing stuff is at the end... the epilogue................)

it really requires some patience before the subjectively good parts come in, even if tiny hints are dropped early on. but hey, to me at least, it does deliver after all that waiting. but again, subjectively good - I think twatf really is like a prototype of orv in some ways, a little more unrefined, but some threads are very, very similar between them (especially that whole thing about reality vs fantasy, reality vs your own world/beliefs, among so many other little things.............). I'd also say it's a little... juvenile, even?? like it's trying to balance it's philosophical explorations with "fanservice" typical of a male-oriented fantasy lmao. so ultimately, the novel starts picking up for me at around chapter 90-100 and then gets Really interesting around 150 and beyond - with the accelerator on max speed once you're in the home stretch of the 200s.

—but anyway enough of all that!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to talk about the PHILOSOPHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bc woooow twatf leans super, super hard on its more philosophical/theoretical/conceptual side, at least if u compare it to the likes of orv. it's fun for me to chew on as someone who already likes philosophical examinations of Stuff so lmao biased commentary incoming but anyway -

there's a lot of concepts dropped, some of which I had a pretty accurate guess on even at the beginning when the mc's "powers" got labeled with stuff like [Suspicion] and [Understanding] of all things - but yeah, the main concepts that the novel tries to discuss is the idea of reality vs. fantasy, but also the concept of the individual perspective aka qualia (though the term is never actually mentioned, it inherently boils down to textbook descriptions of qualia). this is all mixed in with the shounen idealism of the determinator who never gives up unlike other people and aspires a hope, the kind that makes one want to be like that sort of great person (emphasis on purpose lol). the novel also briefly touches on.......... I want to say innocence or purity or even childhood (with accompanying themes of "what it means to grow up"; thats actually definitely very much discussed in the novel, in its own way), but it doesn't really go that route more so than borrow the imagery of those things in order to relay the other, bigger stuff the novel has going on lol.

(on a side note - speaking of imagery, the translation I read wasn't the best, bc it kept translating the Tree of Illusion as the Tree of Imagery, when even the orv epub got it right as "illusion" lol)

and on that note of childhood and innocence - I remember hearing how the story of the Little Prince has a big influence on twatf, and oh boy, that's probably an understatement. having not read the Little Prince myself, I can't really talk too much about how it relates to twatf, but suffice to say I think the themes are Extremely relevant in some places.

it's well done, the philosophical explorations, even if they seem to veneer through "wtf" territory half the time djdxjxjxxjssjjs, but I still found it very engaging and interesting!!!!!! but then again I'm biased and really love my weird conceptual thinky. I also like how so many themes and concepts came together and actually stayed consistent, yknow? like it's using a lot of stuff to say one thing, while also using that one thing as a basis of sorts to explore various facets of itself in a way. it's Consistent. the Message is consistent!

and that message of twatf is the one it proclaimed from the beginning: to be the sole person resisting the communal flow of the world and moving ahead on your own beliefs, and what that all means.

i... finished reading twatf. it's. it sure is.