#kim dokja will be killed by the one he loves most and yeah

[tls12lessthan3]

throughout the story both kim dokja and han sooyoung define themselves in opposition to yoo sangah. kim dokja defines himself as a reader in contrast to yoo sangah as a protagonist, and han sooyoung defines herself as a villainess in contrast to yoo sangah as a heroine. outsider vs insider, evil vs good. in doing so, they dehumanize themselves and yoo sangah. kim dokja denies himself the agency that he gives a protagonist, positioning himself as merely an observer in both his life and others to cope with his mental health issues. han sooyoung denies herself any emotional or moral complexity, assigning herself a simple role she feels most comfortable in due to her own self worth issues as a way to conceptualize how her 'genre' as changed around her.

as coping strategies, these kinda suck ass. they hurt themselves in doing so, and they hurt yoo sangah. the overlapping roles they assign to her - protagonist and heroine - make unrealistic demands of her, project a perfection that isn't real, put her in a box and ignore all attempts to escape it. they distance themselves from her and damage their relationships in the process. and a large part of yoo sangah's character and arc is her either fighting back against this dehumanization or just refusing to play ball as a way to deconstruct the heroine archetype. when she is dying she uses what seem to be her final moment to make one last escape attempt of kim dokja's idolization of her, reminding him of the pepper incident and forcing him to recognize her as not just a person but a friend. and during moments when she and han sooyoung are at odds, their different attitudes towards it are so stark - han sooyoung regards it as almost a battle of good and evil, whereas yoo sangah sees it as a more personal argument. han sooyoung's discomfort comes from a clashing of philosphies, whereas yoo sangah's comes from the fact han sooyoung is kind of a fucking bitch who has killed people she cares about and might again. han sooyoung leans into yoo sangah's worst thoughts about her as an 'evil', whereas yoo sangah is just trying to asses her as a person.

when kim dokja and han sooyoung categorize the world in this way, they dehumanize themselves and their loved ones. and yoo sangah refuses to play along, recognizing both her own and their humanity and forcing that same recognition onto them. when kim dokja and han sooyoung build a wall between themselves and yoo sangah, defining themselves by that distance, yoo sangah climbs it. yoo sangah doesn't just expose the dangers of the small box she gets shoved in, but exposes the others as well. she's an incredibly important character for orv because she does exactly that - it's an extension of her larger role in the narrative as someone who challenges roles and tropes of the genre, who reaches across the divide caused by these expectations we create for ourselves and others and says hey, im just a person, just like you. so maybe we should hang out sometime and just be that, yeah?

[asteropewpew]

YOU GOT ME AT SCHRODINGER'S I'M SCREAMINGGGG but yeah, i just want to share and geek out about how the Oldest Dream situation really reflects Schrodinger's Cat theory and how Kim Dokja is the cat in a very poorly worded way with hopes that people can understand why I always get so insane about the Oldest Dream situation.

Likeeee, imagine the subway train as the box and 51% Kim Dokja as the cat. In order to "maintain" the worldlines, we know that the fragments of 51% Kim Dokja will be scattered throughout the universe to maintain the existence of everyone else, essentially having him follow the rules of quantum superposition. Quantum superposition is an explanation of how many different states can essentially exist in every possibility at all points in time because they are "unobservable," and what you observe is all those unobservables collapsing into a single outcome. You can only imagine what the cat in the box is doing until you actually open the box. Relating this to 51% Kim Dokja, 51kdj is essentially both dead and alive at this point in time within the subway train because we no longer have his pov beyond what happened in the 0th regression. We can only imagine what is happening to him until we actually "open" the box (which is the train door of the cabin that he was in).

Now let's connect this to the ORV author's epilogue. yoohan and kimcom coming in to save 51% kdj (opening the "box") collapsed the unobservable reality within the subway train of their worldline into one "observable" outcome, which is 51% kdj becoming the oldest dream (scattered into fragments and implicitly dead) and 49% as the kdj that they got to have.

Fourth wall saying, "You should have been content with 49% Kim Dokja," is SO interesting to me by the way, because the way that the Fourth Wall talked when they arrived at the cabin where 51kdj is, it's like kimcom and yoohan's actions are indirectly responsible for doing three "irrefutable" things: 1) fulfilling the prophecy for the final time and establishing it again that you can't escape the fate of the prophecy iirc even if kdj had managed to cheat it out in DKOS arc (Kim Dokja will be "killed" by the one he loves most), 2) that Kim Dokja will regret his decision of splitting up himself 49/51 (because yoohan and kimcom will always look for him as long as they find out instead of settling down and being finally happy), and 3) that 49kdj will now always have to deal with the reality that they are not the Kim Dokja that everyone wants even if 51kdj said to the Fourth Wall that 49% Kim Dokja is technically him fulfilling his own wish and promises to be with kimcom and just live happier...

SO YEAH. TL;DR kim dokja is the schrodinger's cat and by extension, the entirety of Everything in orv existing hinges on the Schrodinger's cat theory which is on nobody ever knowing what the Oldest Dream "actually does" (and you can see that numerous times when Kim Dokja was initially puzzling out what this constellation sponsor was doing and surprise, bro is himself and doing the job of keeping everyone else alive) until they opened the forbidden box—er, final wall slash train door and then that's when everything blows up and kills me

Love the fucked up YooHanKim dynamics in early ORV. Kim Dokja is has made it his life's mission to save YJH's life and solve all his problems and be his fucked up apocalypse therapist but also can't hold a conversation with the man to save his life. YJH can't decide if KDJ is his ride or die bestie or some freak he can't manage to kill. They hate each other. they'd die for each other. They have a thousand years of history they don't remember because it hasn't happened yet, and 15 years of history YJH is just straight up not aware of. Han Sooyoung is busy starting a cult and moonlighting as the author of a book she plagiarized.

Schroedinger's polycule. Quantum relationship. who else is doing it like them

[everyones-least-favorite-bard]

thinking about the ship of theseus as a concept and how it applies to kdj. how much of yourself can you cut away before you cant be called the same person anymore. how many times can you kill yourself before there stops being enough of you to be killed. how much of yourself can you tear into pieces and throw away before the callousness with which you do it becomes a fixed apathy. how many repairs can be made to the ship of theseus before it stops being his.

honestly feel like it applies to yhk in general really well too. han sooyoung and her avatars in a literal sense since she is quite literally sectioning herself off into pieces whenever she uses the skill; yoo joonghyuk more metaphorically since we see in the 1863rd round whats basically like. the stripped to nothing recognizable ship now returned to theseus (kdj). but i feel like with kdj its just The Worst because we look at the scenarios themselves and like kdjs half performative half genuine flippant reveals of his deepest traumas and at his thinly veiled suicide attempts (sacrifices) are just. hello? i mean each one of those just guts him further and further and we see the literal actual fourth wall continue thickening to the point where (given we observe in kcoms pov) who is kim dokja? whats left after you peel back all the skins hes discarded? what makes the ship of theseus the ship of theseus?

and then you throw in the sucker punch of the 49/51 debacle and the question stops being like a vague overhanging vibe to the story and instead becomes the focal point of it: how much of a person can you strip away before they stop being the person you know? and i really truly think orv answers this. it answers it in the most beautiful way possible and the answer is that if theseus loves the ship. its his ship. the ship of theseus can be 1% original parts, it can be 49%, it can be 99%, it doesnt matter. the ship of theseus is theseus' ship because he loves it and as long as it continues to be loved it will continue to sail under his name.

and idk. i think about that a lot. people love you regardless of how much they know about you and thats the point. being known often precludes being loved but sometimes people know you because they love you. the ship of theseus is his because he loves it. yeah.

[orviposition]

ALSO. also. this is one of those times where i'm uncountably grateful to flamescan's translation notes because they say 'with the comma, there's an implication of two meanings; the one kim dokja loves the most, and the one that loves kim dokja the most'

which is spectacular when you think that 1) right as yjh and friends are killing him they also love him so much it hurts, 2) wos was written as a love letter for him specifically (one who is loved by the story) and 3) i can put my shipping glasses on and think 'well, there's a guy whose life was so changed by kdj he willingly deleted his memories twice just to chase after him again and again'. in terms of shipping, i do personally like to imagine that yjh takes a bit of time warming up to him, so the third one is kind of a stretch, but it's still fun to think about.

for context

agh, thank you flamescans for helping me brainrot over this. kimcom have so much love in their heart for him, it's not something i didnt know fr so to have it shown like this, in an explicit form that both the story and the person(ification) that kdj loves so much actually loves him back in return, that yjh was Created that way by the writer who also loves her reader.

yeah

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 4, Match 4: Kim Dokja vs. Roy Mustang

Submitted kids:

Kim Dokja: Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung are the commonly accepted ones but you can also make a case for Lee Jihye and Biyoo

Roy Mustang: Edward and Alphonse Elric

Propaganda under the cut!

Kim Dokja:

1. “In the first scenario (where you have to murder something alive) his first priority is to make sure Gilyoung makes it out alive (by giving him the grasshopper before letting others know about it), and when the future version of Yoosung (41st round) is going to cause havoc his first plan is to basically the past (his present) version of her so they would have her on her side (he takes her in as his incarnation- if that isn’t an adoption idk what is); Biyoo is literally the soul of 41st Yoosung that he WENT THROUGH AN UNDERWORLD TRIAL to get her back and she is legally his child. Lee Jihye is more like the older sister-teenager of the group be she’s still adopted by association and Han Donghoon is a kid who was hypnotized and exploited by the ‘prophets’ and Kim Dokja saved him and became someone he trusts in- which is basically adopting. Mia is YJH’s little sister but with the family dynamic all of KimCom has she’s basically adopted too. This man is someone who believes the worst in himself but gives all these kids someone they need and in return they are the family he’s never had.”

2. “He saved Lee Gilyoung on the subway when he was orphaned at the time the apocalypse started even when he didn't need to and kept him by his side and fed him at his own expense and believed in him and taught him to be strong when no one else had really done that for Lee Gilyoung before.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (pretty vague):

Shin Yoosung was a character in the world of the apocalypse that occured (long story, won't explain here lol) and she was supposed to be destined to become a monster that would destroy Seoul and the two people other than Kim Dokja who knew this wanted to kill her when they found her to prevent her from becoming that but Kim Dokja refused to kill her and physically stood to protect her and then he later became her sponsor (uhhh it's a whole thing in-universe but basically pledged to back her and help her ig) and the stigma (a special power thing that can be gained through a sponsor) he gave her was based in him protecting everyone in their group and his love for all of them.

Both Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung are extremely attached to Kim Dokja and have on at least one canon occasion slept clinging to either side of him.

LESS MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (though not terrible ig and still mostly vague at least):

Biyoo is. well she's Shin Yoosung actually but also not. So basically y'know that monster future Shin Yoosung was destined to become? so that monster version of her from a different timeline was sent backwards and sideways in time (idk how else to describe it jskdfs) and nearly did destroy Seoul as prophesied but Kim Dokja tried to save her—and he nearly did but then a shitty dokkaebi (they're like admin streamer people. idk would take a while to explain) did a shitty thing and forced her to be 'evil' and then she had to be killed ;-; but Kim Dokja promised to get revenge for her and after that he went and beat up the asshole dokkaebi who did that so badly that he gained a legendary Story. And then he traveled to the Underworld at risk of his own life to retrieve her soul and put that into a dokkaebi egg that he personally hatched. And she lost her memories for the most part but could still sense a bit what he'd done for her :') and so yeah she became Biyoo and is somehow both adopted and originally parented(?? idk saying biologically is. doesn't feel quite right lol) by him.”

3. “Bro is THE DAD of the group”

4. “Adopted his kids so hard that they’d do like anything for him they love him so much”

Roy Mustang:

1. “This pathetic cringefail loser of a man managed to raise and guide two traumatized children into becoming well-adjusted adults. He also gets bonus points because those kids end up saving the world from disaster.

Also he's hot sometimes”

2. “He has two(2) sons!!!!! Weird little traumatized children!!!! He's also soooo dad shaped(a mass murderer)!!!! He such a loser too!! I love him so much I wanna chew on him <3”

3. “ok i'm not into fma buts its a popular source and my oomfs r into it and i hear a lot about them. like top five things i hear about whenever i hear them talk about fma. hashtag war criminal family swag”

[makethosenarratorsfight]

UNRELIABLE NARRATORS; SIDE B

Yoon Jongwoo Propaganda:

So technically not a narrator but he's the main char/protagonist who we follow from majority of the show. But, he is slowly losing his mind due to: fear, paranoia, ptsd, being drugged, and lack of sleep. Big big spoiler for the last episode but we originally see him only killing in self defense and the main villian being the one to kill off/brutally murder the henchpeople BUT later on after the fight it comes out that HE was the one who killed them and he actually was even talking to himself at one point. It throws the whole episode into a new light and then makes u wo der how much of the rest of the show may have also been different than what we originally saw. How innocent is he??

Kim Dokja Propaganda:

I haven't read orv but he's fucking gotta be from what I've osmosised

He tries to remove his emotions out of the narrative soooo much, literally the most repressed guy ever. Okay so for context orv is about how this guy, Kim Dokja, has been the only reader of an obscure post-apocalyptic webnovel for years and the novel suddenly becomes reality. And at first you'll probably get the weird impression that his behavior is pretty strange for, you know, a literal apocalypse happening in his world - like yes, he is concerned with survival but he doesn't seem all that scared and he kinda treats it like a video game where he has to grind to make himself stronger and he also treats his companions like a party in an rpg. Then there's also the way he approaches the protagonist of the webnovel, from the start he just kind of describes him as a ruthless psychopath and jerk that is unfortunately a pretty useful ally. And also there's the fact that he carefully omits any mention of his past and when somebody asks if he's worried about his family when the apocalypse starts he just kinda... brushes it off? Anyway so yeah, this bastard is definitely traumatized, although I don't know how much of spoiler territory that would be, considering the fact that literally when he first reveals his trauma he's also unreliable about it. And turns out he does indeed, care A LOT about this world and the people around him. Because well, he kinda didn't care to mention that this webnovel that has become reality was like... literally his whole world before it literally became his whole world. Like, it was the only thing keeping him going for 10+ years and the protagonist that he likes to call a stupid jerk was his comfort character who he pretended to be when he felt like he couldn't handle something in his life by being himself. The protagonist is also canonically the person he loves the most according to a prophecy and he literally can't fathom the thought of him dying, even the timeline versions of him that directly oppose him. And I haven't even mentioned the Fourth Wall yet but I feel like this propaganda is a little long already

misreading the intentions of his companion (yoo joonghyuk) so many time.

YOU DON'T UNDERSTANDDD DOKJA IS SUCH A UNRELIABLE NARRATORRRRRR GOD I COULD WRITE AN ESSAY BUT I KNOW YOU LOVE DOKJA TOO BUT OMG HE'S JUST SO AAAAAAAAAAAH

he is the worst like actually. he starts the story talking about how normal and average he is. he is not. he is constantly mischaracterizing his friends and he's so good at lying to the readers that you don't even realize it at first. almost every single time he cries we have to be told by other characters because he never says it himself. there is literally a scene where his narration says "i wasn't crying" and then the in-universe entity that narrates the actions of people (orv is really weird and meta) says that he was, in fact, crying. honestly genuinely anything he says about himself (or doesn't say) cannot be trusted. he is just so frustrating. he drives me mad. i love him dearly. but he drives me so mad.

Rest of Propaganda under cut!

Dictionary definition of unreliable narrator. Does not tell the reader anything and then things happen and he's like oh yeah btw there was also this and this earlier but i just didn't feel like mentioning it. There's even a thing called the "Fourth Wall" that is able to see through kdj's bs so occasionally you get gems like, Kim Dokja: I didn't cry The Fourth Wall: [Kim Dokja was crying] Imagine being so unreliable as a narrator you need a more powerful narrator to call out the actual narrator.

This goes into spoiler territory, but; Kim Dokja is in possession of a skill called the Fourth Wall, which on the surface seems like it appears because he read the book that reverse-isekai’d into his own. However, as the story goes on it becomes clear that it’s pretty much a souped up version of his pre-existing dissociation. You cannot trust him to be honest about his feelings, his past traumas or his feelings about his past traumas, not to mention his tendency to just outright omit information that only gets revealed later on either when it becomes relevant or when an outsider POV reveals what’s actually happening. Exhibit A: he says (in 1st person POV) that he’s not crying. The Fourth Wall immediately contradicts this (as it is literally words of the novel) by saying (in 3rd person POV) ‘Kim Dokja was crying’. Exhibit B: Fails to mention entire actions when it shows him emotionally honest even in the slightest; we had to read from another character entirely when Kim Dokja was being physically affectionate with his companion. It’s so bad that there’s this entire paragraph about Kim Dokja describing himself hiding his eyes in his hands in jerky, weirdly specific detail and just AVOIDING EVERY WORD THAT MIGHT SHOW HE’S CRYING. The brilliance of ORV is that when you re-read the entire thing you get hints that ‘yes, this WAS hinted at the entire time’ but you have to dig it out of Kim Dokja’s repressed, depressed self-hating internal dialogue with your own two hands.

i am a simple man (not a man). i see a tumblr text post with the words “unreliable narrator in it”. i read nothing else. i reblog & tag #kim dokja okay but in all seriousness i’m just going with the musty basic example: so there’s this moment where he sacrifices himself to save this guy. as he lays on the ground bleeding out, he says “hey, you don’t like me, right? you should kill me to get some money” the guy says “no kim dokja i cant do that (going through the five stages of grief except there’s only one and it’s anger)” the constellations (twitch viewers irl) are like omg he (the guy) doesn’t want to kill his companion (kim dokja) and shower him (the guy) with money kim dokja: oh, he’s not killing me for the money. smart! as i quote a brilliant youtube video (all of omniscient reader’s viewpoint in 6 minutes) “yoo joonghyuk sees kim dokja as a c_____” yoo joonghyuk: companion kim dokja: cunt

Hides his true feelings, tells the readers what he thinks is convenient for the plot and that his own personal feelings don’t matter or are not so significant. Has unreliable thoughts abt his companion and is a liar. And is also an omniscient reader.

Kim Dokja always perceived his companions in this like nonchalant way like “oh yeah we get along but really we’re just fighting to survive (apocalypse setting) it doesn’t run that deep” when they all do genuinely care for him and he does in turn. He just, doesn’t think of it as an equal relationship? Dokja’ll sacrifice a lot for them but will get seriously flabbergasted if they do the same thing, so fricking problematic. Not to mention Yoo Joonghyuk, his “Life and Death Companion” (read: husband). Kim Dokja always seems to think that Joonghyuk has it out for him, which is kinda true, but he is literally blind to the fact that he’s attached to him. Like, it’s so obvious??? Also they have hella sexual tension but that’s another thing entirely

se get some many pov changes where kdj in his pov just assumed things based on what he knew the characters would do. however because of his interference the characters have changed and he wouldn’t know that if it hit him in the face

He's an unreliable narrator because he lies to himself and thus the audience. He literally rewrote his own childhood core memory. If someone says, "this guy is my friend!" He will go through so many hoola hoops in his mind just to rationalize it. Because he fundamentally believe that no one could love him and even if they did they couldn't know him and he's just gonna hurt them. He cries sometimes in canon but a lot of those times it's not even mentioned as crying he's that unreliable of a narrator. No joke, one time this guys he has a gay thing with called him his "companion" to someone who had just killed him (long story) and this bitch thought "oh wow he's doing it for the coins (another long story) he's so smart i wish I'd thought to that. He's terrible. He literally has an exchange with something called the Fourth Wall (an even longer story) where it said "you're crying" and he said "no I'm not" but he was crying. He makes me insane because the reader is supposed to project onto him. He made me see how much of an unreliable narrator I WAS. ORV is just like that tho.

[forgetfvlness]

re:love and terror [orv]

[omniscient reader’s viewpoint epilogue spoilers; no side story content]

“She might be the author responsible for creating this world, but she was also a powerless god. A god that couldn’t even save a single reader.” — Chapter 537, Epilogue 3: Author’s Words (III)

omniscient reader's viewpoint is undeniably about cycles and impossible probabilities— ouroboros and square circles, trauma and hope. it recalls stories in its thousand variations. throughout the story, arcs are repackaged and retold to hone in on one fact: the world is layered with paradoxical time loops of doom, desperation, and all-encompassing love.

han sooyoung’s deliberate actions in writing the end of the world was an action of love and terror. while love was there, the horror of maintaining one life by destroying the universe is undersold. 1863!han sooyoung was projected into the body of her teenage self; she is simultaneously an adult who conquered hell and a lonely teenager. she wrote for over a decade under the belief that every chapter extended his life one more day. years dedicated to this singular faith and, for a brief moment, the novel challenges this fact.

“I would’ve thought about dying every now and then, and also, there could’ve been many a day when I fell asleep while re-reading the ‘Ways of Survival’, but…Yeah, I wouldn’t have died. Not that easily. I’d have continued to live on, somehow.” — Chapter 371: Ep. 70: A Story That Can’t Be Shared (III)

while talking to yoo sangah in the fourth wall, kim dokja comes to a brief realization: he would have continued on without twsa. imagining a future without the novel, he reconnects with a reality he has not confronted since he was a child. he imagines growing old, studying languages, and bike riding with yoo sangah. kim dokja is unreliable on the most basic of narrative terms, however for a moment he genuinely believed that he could have lived on without the novel.

it can be argued that he only comes to this realization due to the companionship he experienced within the apocalypse. it can also be argued that he was doomed to become the oldest dreamer the moment he clicked on the novel. however, focusing on these aspects of the past and future ignores the thematic undertones of doomed attachments. this brief glimpse into kim dokja’s thoughts on his life pre-scenarios uncovers the underlying question: was it love or terror that doomed him?

the obvious answer is yes, of course, it was both love and terror that doomed him. by the bedside of a comatose avatar, shin yoosung and lee gilyoung flip a coin on whether kim dokja lives or dies: 49 alive, 50 dead. a coin is tossed and fifteen years in the past, han sooyoung of an alternative universe publishes another chapter. the coin floats in the air. another dead end and yoo joonghyuk regresses once more. the coin never falls. yes, it was love, but it was also terror.

han sooyoung knows that continuing the story dooms kim dokja. she’s uniquely aware that saving kim dokja is a thankless duty— the universe in exchange for a life past expiration. a story recalled and retold: kim dokja chooses shin yoosung over seoul, han sooyoung choses kim dokja over the universe. kim dokja wins and han sooyoung always, always loses.

han sooyoung never questions if kim dokja could survive without the novel. part of it was selfishness: she’s finally experiencing the love of a dedicated reader she’s been envious of her entire life. she’s devouring herself to keep his attention, his comments. she kills, resurrects, and regrets yoo joonghyuk’s existence. she is also an adult and a child, and she is terrified of having kim dokja’s blood on her hands.

it’s easier to become a cog in kim dokja’s self-fulfilling tragedy than it is to leave him be. she cannot test the possibility of kim dokja surviving without the novel if there’s a chance he can’t. her desperation overrides her rationale. her love wanes in comparison to her fear. if there was a chance of kim dokja surviving without the novel, it could never be fulfilled. kim dokja is never given the chance.

to bring him back, han sooyoung writes once more. a coin falls. thousands of fragments collectively dream a thousand endings. 50 alive, 50 dead. what is love if not selfishness? what is terror if not love?

[song-tam]

i am SO distressed right now what the fuckkkkk. i read a BUNCH of orv to pass time on a long plane ride and i think that was maybe not one of my best ideas……….. screaming sobbing punching the wall dramatically i hate this book so much

i’m right before they all group regress and Fuck. What The Fuck. i finally know what 51/49 means and can i go back to not knowing. what the fuck. and then,,,, yjh’s 0th turn???? if i continue to regress will i ever get to meet you again??????? that affecting the other world line??????????? and even before that too, with the oldest dream reveal,, FUCK. like i sort of expected it but it was still so devastating to read. and THEN. the quote that’s like “the oldest dream was the worlds most omniscient yet powerless god” or something. OW. i feel like i’ve been stabbed repeatedly. every time i type out another sentence in this ask i want to sob.

and then,,,,, his companions realizing something’s wrong. han sooyoung being the first to act on this because the kim dokja she knows best is the one that isn’t here. yoo joonghyuk choosing to regress (in both this world and the 0th turn) for that sliver of a chance that he’ll see kdj again. and the fact that kdj doesn’t consider even once that this might happen, that his companions would realize something was different. and this isn’t even something new! in all the times he sacrifices himself, he fails to truly acknowledge how much it affects the ones he cares about. he doesn’t comprehend (or is unwilling to comprehend) how much he is loved. his happily ever after doesn’t even include him, not fully — and i don’t think he believes he’s deserving of that happily ever after, either. he’s a reader. he doesn’t realize that this is his own story, too. goddddd i hate this book SO much (<- lying)

ORV ON PLANE RIDES SO REAL…….. tbh it’s such a Plane Book something abt being thousands of feet in the sky in a giant heap of metal while reading the most devastating piece of media to ever exist. what a vibe truly

WHEN I TELL YOU IWAS GAGGED AT 49/51. HONESTLY. kdj CONSTANTLY sacrificing himself to save his friends because these are the same people that have BEEN saving him since was fifteen fuck my life. god.

0TH TURN YJH IS SO INSANE the way it all comes back to those two. i literally could write paragraphs abt 0th turn they make me feral he guided him through all of it he got to see an ending where yjh got to live a long happy life and it’s what he was reading for the entire time im actually

oldest dream & kdj………….. tbh i think that must be so heartbreaking on both sides. kdj seeing his younger self and being so upset because at the end of the day it was him causing suffering for the people he loves most but oldest dream seeing his older self coming to fucking kill him and thinking that it didn’t get any better at all. he can’t even be loved by himself who else would love him then

YES HIS COMPANIONS GODDDDD the yoohankim of it all makes me SO sick actually. especially han sooyoung because hey he was supposed to be her reader. that’s what he promised her. instead she has a version of kdj that doesn’t even really read anymore and what kind of kdj is that? and yjh wanting to get kdj back because he was promised they’d see the ending TOGETHER and instead he doesn’t even have a full half of him. promises made promises broken to BOTH OF THEM fuck i’m unwell

kdj i hate you and your self sacrifice. i’m literally. exactly what you said tbh like he is loved!!!!!! and he doesn’t fucking realize it. but the thing is he would be dense to not know and that’s why 49!kdj exists in the first place bc he’s hoping that will be enough for them to just fucking sit still and live their lives. in his head he’s downplaying his importance which is why he gives them a fucking replacement

AUGHHH fine line between reader and protagonist and writer and the way all the roles are interchangeable and im. yeah. god

[myfaveisfuckable]

Pete:

starts off as the comic relief side character. gets kidnapped and tortured. laughs in the face of the man electrocuting his dick. ends up sleeping with him later (by choice. like he wants him), decides he's in love witht he single most crazy unhinged character in the show and reduces him to like crying in his noodles because Pete escaped the safe house torture/sex dungeon where he was kinda a prisoner. shoots his man in the arm (to keep from being killed by other people), beats the shit out of him (that one is for personal reasons), the man confesses his undying love and kisses him before running off, pete chases after him, has to point a gun at him again, the man runs off, pete quits his job and chases after him again, pete stops the man from killing himself and is like "I'm your pet, you're my owner, you have to feed me" (it's a callback from their days in the safehouse torture/sex dungeon), the man gets shot by someone else, and pete goes crazy kills the guy who shot him. so yeah he's totally just a silly comic relief character

KDJ:

1. Introduced as a bland everyman only made exceptional by circumstance, slowly revealed to be the most batshit, suicidally depressed, bisexual maniac in existence. Uses self-sacrifice like a tool and is completely unaware of how beloved he is by the people he keeps pulling into his fold because he is so deeply and utterly convinced that he is fundamentally unlovable. He's like sixty foundational traumas stacked in a trench coat and he's always sixty steps ahead of everyone else and he loves the people he chooses so so dearly and people keep calling him ugly even though he's canonically pretty average and holy shit dude get some therapy please

2. He looks like a neet-pulled office worker. Spoilers: turns out to be one of the oldest things in the world and the only being keeping it going and alive. He needs to be there to keep the world going. Also, he got like kind of adopted by Persephone and hades. Like his blorbo is real and in love with him. But this man looks so average that people call him ugly to his face just because he’s surrounded by absolute gorgeous people.

3. do NOT let the pretty official art fool u. this is the most average 28 year old salaryman going through the absolute most in the apocalypse. ORV is a story about the most average man on earth with the most mundane, depressing life. and one story that he read to cope with it all. he's just some guy, but he is also the most beloved specialest guy. not because he had some hidden talent. just because he loved a story ferociously and also he likes getting in trouble on purpose. he is the most unreliable narrator you will ever find. every piece of the universe loves him for his average stupid self. you will understand when you read 👍

4. GHBJNKML i am praying someone has sent him in but. unreliable narrator the most ever and also i just. love him so much. orv in itself is such a goo dnovel but like. kim dokja is the definition of love and the most caring person but also he's suffered so much and while. yknow we're introduced to him as a kind of nerd but like. listen he's so fucked up juts LISTEN

[alexbutrandomthoughts]

Now, that you've started ORV, welcome (sorry for being late in saying this). So, what are your top 5 fav moments (until now) and which ships are you in for Kim Dokja (the het, slash, or poly ones)? Why?

[For me as multishipper, I love both the poly and slash ones, depend on my mood for the day]

Now, between Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk, do you see their relationahip more of a platonic (bromance) or romantic (subtext) one? Why?

Ngl this might change since i plan to reread orv, so I'd say in no particular order 1)kdj dying as the demon king, 2) kdj and hsy riding the ferrarighini and kdj shouting embarrassing shit, 3) oldest dream reveal, 4)joongdok fight in that trust chamber thingy which names escapes me, 5)Joonhuyk reading the novel to cope with being in space alone (honorary mentions, kdj waking up to kkoma yjhs, kdj making 1863rd eat dirt, jhw having a breakdown when kdj sacrificed himself again even though he promised not to, the entire military sequence with lhs)

I prooooobably prefer joongdok, yknow black and white, life and death companions, them catfishing everyone with their names, incarnation and it's star, you know the drillllll

Although i absolutely see yoohankim being a thing like maaaan, the reader/writer/protagonist relationship just UGH so powerful. Like even if i like joongdok more, hsy is always there cuz ofc she has to be, that's just how it works

I mean you could probably guess by this point that i see them as gay gay homosexual gay than bromance. I mean i suppose they could kinda work as bromance, but like after the whole "getting killed by the person he loves the most" it was sooorta hard to see them that way (and yes i get that it was probably referred to all of kimcom but like bro still delivered final blow and got whole ass panel to himself when kdj was thinking of em all) i cannot really formulate my thoughts properly rn cuz i am writing this as I'm having a veeery high fever but yeah

[pttucker]

TWO HAN SOOYOUNGS! Well, okay, there’s technically always been two Han Sooyoungs but ngl I completely forgot that she mentioned a clone that ran off. Or so she says, anyway. Because why not add another mystery onto our mystery? Which Han Sooyoung is the original? Which is the avatar? (Honestly I don’t even care, I love them both.) Absolutely was not expecting the other person Secretive Plotter made an Outer World Covenant with to be her, though of course that makes the most sense actually. And his words were lowkey foreshadowing if you think about it with the whole “I’m expecting much bigger things.” Yeah, because Dokja’s actually read the entire novel whereas Sooyoung hasn’t so he's expecting more from the guy who's read it all. And that's not even getting into how Secretive Plotter was immediately drawn to Dokja (and perhaps Sooyoung too). I've thought for a long time that he was away of who Dokja was or at least what he could do. And speaking of the original novel, everything is so mixed up right now. We’re getting into some real hardcore sci-fi alternate universes and parallel timelines kinda stuff. Though I did vaguely feel like something like this was coming. Not this specifically but the fact that the novel isn’t halfway through did actually make me wonder if we weren’t going to start the story over (like maybe Dokja was going to regress somehow) or something weird like that. Wasn’t expecting to jump into Sooyoung’s version of the 1863rd round, but if Dokja is going to start looking into other worlds, this does make sense. Now I’m really wondering what’s gonna happen with all of these different versions of TWSA. Will it be Dokja vs Sooyoung for who’s final chapter will prevail? Or will the worlds not merge at all and they can continue to reach their own final chapters? Since Secretive Plotter specifically asked "what about the other worlds" will Dokja's goal moving into the second half of the story now involve saving them too? And, wow, on an entirely different note, it’s actually kind of terrifying how easily Dokja was able to completely neutralize not only Joonghyuk, but the strongest Joonghyuk who’s existed 1863 rounds. No, not even neutralize, but turn him into his own personal mindless weapon. I mean, sure, Fourth Wall started it by making it so that he could be affected by the regressor depression but Dokja is terrifying in applying his knowledge of all of Joonghyuk’s best and worst moments. Which, on that topic, it’s honestly upsetting to see this world where everyone has managed to survive together until the end—the very world that Dokja has so carefully being trying to create—and Joonghyuk is still alone. 😭 They're off in their little base together like some kind of family and he's treated like some kind of beast to hunt down. 😭 And why is he alone? “Because he’s a bad guy who won’t hesitate to kill to fulfill his goals.” Uh...you guys literally have Kim Namwoon on your team and Han Sooyoung is not the most merciful person for a leader. Are you really ones to talk??? Yeah, Joonghyuk is a killing machine but you're telling me nobody on this team has killed people to fulfill their goals? What??? Especially since Dokja, the guy who has read the entire novel and knows intimately how truly awful Joonghyuk can be, still chose to reach out to him again and again and again and again until it finally stuck. Joonghyuk isn't some depressed, murderous monster in his world because Dokja did everything in his power to prevent it. Joonghyuk didn't have to end up like this. Again. Admittedly, even Dokja says that he got lucky finding Joonghyuk in his third round whereas Sooyoung seems to have found him in his last, but even in this round with a much scarier and more jaded Joonghyuk already in the 95th scenario, Dokja is still refusing to kill him even after he already attacked him, even if he knows that if Joonghyuk snaps out of his weird trance he will absolutely try to murder him.

[lee-hakhyun]

595, 596, 597

yoo joonghyuk you asshole

here's my summary and thoughts on the first half of episode 9, 'Words that Can't Be Written'!

595. Words that Can't Be Written (1)

so. lee hakhyun's in a terrible state, and he was pulled away by a thread of light

o..ouch....

right, so this is definitely yoo sangah so, kimcom is aware that's something is up, but it seems they can't help out? oh hakhyun,,

lee hakhyun wakes up to jhw and ksi calling his name, and when he looks down, his body is fine. his head is not fine, probably. when jhw leaves to get water for lhh, ksi and lds come over to ask lhh what happened.

it seems he doesn't remember what had just happened he confirms with everyone that

they weren't able to find jiyoon, but she's read orv a lot. i'm sure she's still alive somewhere. but there's another question

are they really dead? did any of them end up in the underworld? are they just.. gone?

ye hyunwoo comes up and greets hakhyun then, and lhh belatedly notices people are moving around and preparing for something

emergency defense? this was happening earlier than in orv, and it wasn't planned. how did all the green zones get destroyed so quickly? ...there's only one answer to that. lhh had too much faith in yjh

god damn it, joonghyuk lee jihye goes to the stairs to watch. it's too late to persuade her to help now, but it seems ye hyunwoo has prepared everyone beforehand

to make it clear, the '7 apostles' is an orv fan club but it's led by 7 'apostles', one of which is killer king lhh again noticing the differences between this turn and kdj's turn

jung heewon. i love you. in every turn, she wants to protect,,,

orv isn't over yet. there are still stories to be told 'he couldn't even do that properly' holy shit hakhyun give kdj a break LMAO

with ye hyunwoo and gong pildu leading chungmuro station, the emergency game starts

this is concerning. she's not here to help the readers and it seems han sooyoung is planning on killing yjh. yoohan♡

596. Words that Can't Be Written (2)

gong pildu uses [armed zone], and his turrets take out waves of ground rats, but more continue to rush in. people fight, and people die.

lhh and ksi talk while they fight. i can see how sein didn't see the scenarios as fully real,, this is like both the most unbelievable yet believable thing ever. it's orv, who hasn't thought about what would happen if the scenarios started? but it's a whole different thing if it actually happened. there would be some separation from reality

yeah.. this could mean something going to write your own story, hakhyun?

the stuggle continues, and grolls start to emerge along with the ground rats. grolls are 8th grade monsters, and take a lot more to kill than a ground rat eventually, gong pildu needs to reload, and hakhyun's party steps up to cover the gap they manage to survive that long, but gong pildu was getting tired. kim dokja had given him a ton of potions, but hakhyun.. well, he's about to, but gong pildu calls hyunwoo

HE WENT ALL IN ON MAGIC POWER. THIS INSANE KID i commend him for being so attached to a character he'd base his whole strategy around them. the 'tech tree' that hyunwoo had been talking about all this time was for this. he's putting everything into surviving with gong pildu

good for him! the constellations took notice too (i don't know if i've mentioned this before, but pay attention to the constellation who hasn't revealed a modifier. he keeps showing up with,, interesting messages.)

but, someone says the words.

don't know if i talked about this before, but the last time someone said things were going 'smoothly', things did NOT go well. a screenshot from chapter 558

if you find yourself in the scenarios, do not say smoothly ^^

so, there are phases now, and a giant 7th grade monster appeared. the pildu and hyunwoo combo can not deal with this. but there's someone who can.

hakhyun has his own tech tree! well, not really, but it's close enough

another mention of hakhyun writing side stories speaking of the side stories;

597. Words that Can't Be Written (3)

lhh got that notification, but he's kind of in the middle of a battle. can't really check his phone right now. let's put that aside for now

jung heewon! with her new attribute, 'judge of demons', she's able to deal with a monster at this point only yoo joonghyuk would be able to kill.

oh!! she learnt a skill on her own!! jung heewon!!! catching the interest of the constellations too jhw against an imaginary yjh.. getting thrown off a bridge would do that to you jhw was really strong in the main story also,, lhh wonders if she'll be able to match yoo joonghyuk this time

there's the chapters, and the one we're reading right now i previously posted screenshots on this, but he uses the comment passes and gets very short comments. this pisses him off. with 2 passes left, a new option appears

pay coins to read top rated comments! coins really are everything the comment may be referring to hsy's plan for yjh? of course, lhh has no idea about that, and thinks that obviously nobody can deal with yjh he uses his final pass, and,

uh oh. but everything's going smoothly?

oh.

the comments are still increasing. lee hakhyun thinks, are the stories of the 'extras' written?

i'll come back to this in a later chapter.

lee jihye is a main character, not an extra. she wouldn't die. neither would jung heewon. but what about cheon inho? lhh hands jhw to ljh, who takes it in confusion. and then lhh starts walking forward.

i don't know how i feel about him relying on his skill to tell if he'll live or die. i believe in him, but this also doesn't feel good but go hakhyun!! write something good! you wouldn't go too far, would you?

[libzarzar]

That's already fcng start of a morning why I'm thinking about those chapters from Pet Shop of Horrors with girl and her singing birdy and yoohanhim in it... can't I just fall asleep without breaked heart...

So if you don't know about that manga - go ahead and read it, it's collection of short stories about a lot of human's things and, besides, how you can make mistakes even when you're in love and care and hoping for the best for your loved ones. Huh that manga definitely were a traumatic experience for little me but that was wonderful

And also there is sneaky seller yeah dream-uncle

stop here if you don't want spoilers or emotionaldamage idk.

Even if I don't remember all of it. And also this is a horror story so be aware

At first you need to know the context. That story was about rich girl, reached to the PetShop, seeking for a new perfect pet. And Count D of course has one. He told about beautiful bird from the country far away with most miraculous voice in the whole world. And girl followed him in the show room. But what she saw here wasn't a bird. That was a most beautiful boy in tons of jewels with wings on his back. She complained, scared of buying human being, but count D stood his ground.

There is only a bird in that room, it doesn't mean how she sees him. And that bird can be a her pet. If she will follow the rules.

Of course she made a deal, he catched her heart immediately. And she did all what D said her, she gave a whole winter garden to it, prepared best fruits for meals. And he song most beautiful songs every night, with truly amazing voice.

That was such a wonderful time. Until she get a painful thought.

That bird is probably so lonely. He is now here, in foreign country and can't meet up with his specie while he is in cage. Probably he singing so much, trying to reach for someone. She should find him a pair and then he will be more happy. And have beautiful kids, she will be so happy to see his nestlings

So Court D did as she asked. And she brushed over all "are you sure" questions.

Girl-bird wasn't such colorful at all. After she was brought into the winter garden, on front of her fabulous pair and hundreds of flowers she looked even more blank.

Girl just wanted her beloved pet to be happy.

So she again said as she was told to - she left them alone for a few nights, without any visits, just listen to the unfinishing song each night and couldn't stop worrying.

And her will broke as few day past. Because singing suddenly stopped.

Her pretty lovely bird were left there without food for so long. Probably so exhausted and hungry. She should've check on him, pass some snacks. D can't know everything, she totally wouldn't ruin anything, she's bird's master after all.

And she took some fruits and opened the door tho the garden. And there were unusual silence.

And there were torn body of her lovely bird, almost eaten by female. As she should for feeding her child inside of her. She ate him all that days but he continued to sing until she finally reached to his throat. For his loved ovneress.

D told not to get inside just so female could've finished her meal, consumed body without any left. But girl was as impatient as at the minute she decided to get a nestling. And now she lose her mind, crying over cold body

They loved each other. But they don't know what to do with all that love at all

💫 sO NOW AS/IF YOU ARE INFORMED ABOUT ORIGINAL 💫

Yoohanhim

bird-Han Sooyoung, standing over the almost finished Kim Dokja's body, covered in his blood with coldness in her eyes.

And Yoo Joonghyuk, staying in the moonlight from the glass ceiling, with that burning feeling, just started to crawl from his chest to his face. And we know that that guilt, that loss, that feeling of killing Dokja by his own will.

It will shatter him to the bloody dust

I see that scene on my eyelids I want to draw it so much ugh

Also found picture yeey. hope that's not prohibited..

[katcadecascade]

Reader Study (Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Oneshot)

*spoilers up to chapter 79

Summary: 

“Your face is getting red, Kim Dokja.”

“No it’s not.”

She didn’t need to use lie detection.

Han Sooyoung clapped her hands, peering down at him with a wide grin. “What kind of fanfics did you read?”

Kim Dokja is both impressed and exhausted by the fact that he’s surviving in the apocalypse.

Most of that credit is due to him being the sole reader to know about the webnovel that just happens to become is new reality. There’s still a lot of confusion on how that came to be. Kim Dokja has encountered character from the novel, the deadly scenarios, and even people who were never a part of this once fictional world.

“Are you finally taking a break from your airbending training?”

There were other readers. They didn’t stay with the novel like he did so his title as sole reader remains.

Techniqually…

“Stop ignoring me.” Despite that, Kim Dokja tried his best to ignore his current companion. She continues, “I know what you’re thinking. ‘Why can’t I learn the Way of the Winds skill?’ Its because you’re not the protagonist Kim Dokja.”

Han Sooyoung. The first Apostol, she read the most of the original Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse aside from his truly. Except she does know a lot more about the novel than others.

Because she plagiarized it.

Or not as she claims every time he calls her out.

Either way she knows about the world. That means she’s dangerous if left alone. Hell, she’ll gather up another cult like what she did with the Apostles and Prophets.

So since Kim Dokja has been separated from his companions, living in the consequences of a kingless world, he struck a temporary contract with Han Sooyoung until the next main scenario.

He’s really regretting his decision.

“Maybe I’ll ask Lycaon to teach me to be an airbender since it’s so important to you. I probably have the SSS grade talent you lack.”

“No.”

Someone needs to learn the Way of the Wind skill to go against the Disaster of Questions. Kim Dokja doesn’t trust Han Sooyoung with that power and the original protagonist is nowhere nearby to get this skill in time.

Logically, he thought he should get the skill but apparently, Lycaon has deemed him void. Despite that, Kim Dokja tried to train with the wolf monster. So after a good few hours of nothing, he finally took a break and is lying flat on his back in the remains of the business district.

“You’re a real rat bastard, Kim Dokja.”

“And you’re a real rat plagiarist.”

“I didn’t plagiarize!��� She’s sitting away from him but close enough to kick his foot. “Everything I wrote I saw in a dream and from that point on my novel became popular due to my own writing skills. It became so popular I even got fanfics!”

“I can’t believe you’re bragging about that. They’re probably not even good.”

[Han Sooyoung has activated the skill ‘Lie Detection.’]

[‘Lie Detection’ has verified his words as false.]

“Oh?”

Why did he open his mouth? It’s been a long day of (futile) training under Lyacon. The world is in more ruin because of his choice at the Absolute Throne scenario. He’s away from his friends. The Disaster scenarios are arrive in a few days. Kim Dokja is with the one other person who has read his favorite novel in depth.

Ways of Survival didn’t get popular, it lost a lot of readers. In other words, it never got any fanfics.

But Han Sooyoung’s SSSSS-Grade Infinite Regressor did get a plethora of fanart and fanfics.

So maybe one night curiosity got the better of Kim Dokja and searched for some fanfics of a protagonist very similar to Yoo Jonghyuk.

“Your face is getting red, Kim Dokja.”

“No it’s not.”

She didn’t need to use lie detection.

Han Sooyoung clapped her hands, peering down at him with a wide grin.

“What kind of fanfics did you read?”

Kim Dokja has been lying back, slowing regaining his breath from training. He only has enough stamina to simply roll over and face the opposite direction.

Han Sooyoung merely scooted over to his other side, still grinning.

He turns again.

“You read the steamy fics,” she accused.

“I did not.”

[Han Sooyoung has activated the skill ‘Lie Detection.’]

[‘Lie Detection’ has verified his words as truth.]

“Boo.”

“Did you read your novel’s fanfics?”

“Of course not! That goes against an author’s ethics of copyright.”

He just stares at her.

She glares, “I’m not a plagiarist.”

Kim Dokja would love to have the lie detection skill right now.

Han Sooyoung rolls her eyes and offers up, “Occasionally I’ll check the number of fics and see what the most popular tags is. That’s about it.”

A dangerous expression washes over her face as she remembers what exactly the most popular type of fic is. He can see her calculating the probability of Kim Dokja ever reading those type of fics.

Han Sooyoung stares at him with an open mouth smile.

“You, Kim Dokja, may be one of the strongest incarnations, a pain in the ass to me, the dokkaebi, and the constellations, but in reality,” she snorts at that word, “you are weak.”

She didn’t even need to ask. And yet Kim Dokja already feels defeated.

At least he did not admit it aloud.

No way will Kim Dokja verbally admit that he read self-insert fics as the protagonist’s lover.

It gets a little more worse when he remembers he read female self-inserts before finally scavenging the he or they pronoun fics.

But look at him now.

He’s in his favorite novel and met its protagonist.

Kim Dokja wouldn’t call their first introduction a ‘meet cute.’

No way does any of their encounters qualify as romantic. They fought and disagreed and their last encounter ended with Kim Dokja punching Yoo Jonghyuk into unconsciousness. If anything, Kim Dokja’s aim to be Yoo Jonghyuk’s companion is a fantasy.  

Han Yoosong apparently thinks otherwise.

She mockingly pats his shoulder with comfort, “You must be living your fics. Charming your way into Yoo Jonghyuk’s cold barriers.”

“He wants to kill me.”

“Yeah but has he yet?”

Despite the fact that Kim Dokja could come up with many reasons, he says nothing.

Yoo Jonghyuk could’ve killed him at the bridge, at the stations, and, well maybe not at the Throne because of Kim Dokja’s strategy. Every time Kim Dokja said something or did something to convince Yoo Jonghyuk that they are equals and needed each other for upcoming scenarios.

They have yet to ever be on the same page without annoying the other.

And yet Kim Dokja expected this.

It’s the one thing many self-insert fics lack.

As much as Kim Dokja secretly enjoyed the gooey romance orientated stories, none ever measured up with the real stubbornness of Yoo Jonghyuk.

He’s a protagonist who has suffered and thrived and flourished and dealt with impossible odds and despaired and will eventually reach the ending of this story.

Kim Dokja stayed with him for three thousand chapters. Now he wants to stay with Yoo Jonghyuk to… to…

Ah… he got too caught up with the self-inserts fics. A lot of those ended with marriage or something equally domestic.

That’s not an ending deserving of Kim Dokja.

All he wants is for Yoo Jonghyuk and the tohers to make it to the end of this story.

“Hey, you lost in thought about kissing Yoo Jonghyuk?”

“No!”

[Han Sooyoung has activated the skill ‘Lie Detection.’]

[‘Lie Detection’ has verified his words as false.]

She raises an eyebrow, smirking.

“Only because you just said it.”

“Sure,” she smiled like a liar.

Somehow it is the opposite smile of Yoo Jonghyuk’s smile when he threw Kim Dokja off the bridge and into the sea serpent’s mouth.

It’s frustratingly easy to remember how the last sunrays of the normal world is casted behind the protagonist. Seeing that damning smirk finalized the reality Kim Dokja is in.

This wouldn’t be Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse without Yoo Jonghyuk.  

This wouldn’t be Kim Dokja’s favorite novel without Yoo Jonghyuk.

This wouldn’t be Kim Dokja’s life without Yoo Jonghyuk.

So if Kim Dokja indulged into a few reader-insert fics where Yoo Jonghyuk fought by his side, survived by his side, was happy by his side, then call Kim Dokja a hopeless romantic.

“You are a hopeless romantic.”

“Why?” He demanded, less embarrassed and more worried if Han Sooyoung read his thoughts.

“I was there when Yoo Jonghyuk came bursting through the room before the Throne scenario. His eyes were only on you and you just exploded with sunshine.” She sticks her tongue out in disgust.

“I did not,” he shuttered, finally sitting up to defend himself with the little dignity he has left. “Sunshine?”

Han Sooyoung nods as if her words are obvious. She crossed her arms and scowled, “You read too many self-inserts.”

Kim Dokja shuts his jaw. If he says nothing she would not use lie detection.

The results are the same though.

Han Sooyoung laughs meanly, “I don’t blame your taste. Well he’s not for me but I guess he could be a real heartthrob.”

Kim Dokja sighs instead of agreeing.

Technically, all those fics were derived from Han Sooyoung’s protagonist.

As for Kim Dokja’s protagonist, he never got the creative drive (or sacrifice his dignity) to ever write his own self-insert with Yoo Jonghyuk.

Kim Dokja is a reader first and foremost.

And yet he still ends up inserted into Ways of Survival trying to overcome the scenarios, to outsmart the dokkaebi, and to eventually face off against the constellations.

All the while being Yoo Jonghyuk’s companion.

That last one is a work in progress.

“How many fanfics I’ve read doesn’t matter,” Kim Dokja says to Han Sooyoung, but it’s mostly to remind himself too.

“Oh I don’t know about that,” she smirks. “I think we’re in a classic canon divergence story.”

He scratches his chin, “That could be true.” As Han Sooyoung grins triumphantly, he says, “Maybe you didn’t plagiarize. You just wrote a big fanfiction.”

“Hey!”

He slow claps, “What a devoted fan.”

“At least I’m not in love with the protagonist.”

Kim Dokja nearly chokes, “I’m no-“

He shuts up before the display message appears.

[Han Sooyoung has activated the skill ‘Lie Detection.’]

She bats her eyelashes. “I’m waiting.”

“I hate you.”

[‘Lie Detection’ has verified his words as truth.]

“Because I’m not Yoo Jonghyuk,” she said, undefeated.

“Would you drop it?”

“No because it’s kind of flattering. You read fanfics of my novel and it has prepared you for the real deal! So what have you’ve done so far to capture his heart?”

“I’m not going to capture his heart.”

“Why not? He’s already obsessed with you.”

“Why would you think that?”

Han Sooyoung shrugged, “I’m a writer. I see things.”

Kim Dokja just blinks and lies back down.

“Don’t you want to know what I see?”

“Absolutely not, Han Sooyoung.”

“Imma tell you anyway.” His cry in protest is ignored. “In a crowded room where nearly everyone is killing each other, the time limit for the qualifying kings is ticking away-“

“You don’t have to describe it. I was there.”

“…and there! Fashionably late and very dramatic, the last king arrives but he pays no mind to anyone except one-“

“That was the one and only time you’ve seen us together and it was very short.”

“Nah uh,” she shakes her head, “My beheaded avatar. Yoo Jonghyuk practically presented it to you like a cat presenting their kill.”

Kim Dokja opens his mouth and closes it, having nothing to counter that simile.

“If you think I know little then what does that say about you?” She counters as if this is a riddle. “Kim Dokja believes he hasn’t made an impact on Yoo Jonghyuk? The only one who dares to upstand him, shouldering on herculean challenges, and hindering the plans of a great author?”

He frowns, “Are you insulting me or complimenting me?”

“Insulting because you’re too stupid realize that not only are you in a fictional genre, you will easily fall into a romance genre.” She angrily clicks her tongue, “How did an ugly guy like you get a hot harem?”

“My friends are not a harem.”

“Sort seems like it.”

Kim Dokja rubs his eyes, too tired of all this nonsensical conversations.

“My point is,” Han Sooyoung pokes his forehead to make sure he’s paying attention, “that you’re really becoming a reader-insert story. That usually leads to getting dicked down by the protagonist.”

Kim Dokja buries his red face in his hands.

“I’m just saying!”

“Then stop talking!”

“No way,” she pauses for a moment and taps her forehead, “where was I going with this again?”

“You decided to stop talking,” Kim Dokja said in hopes that this conversation will end.

“Nah,” Han Sooyoung waves her hand flippantly and then suddenly snaps her fingers with a grin, “Oh yeah, I was going on about the fact that Yoo Jonghyuk is in love with you like how you are in love with him.”

He just stares at this awful woman and quietly says, “He wouldn’t.”

“Must I repeat all the things I’ve told you?” Fortunately, she doesn’t but instead says, “You’re becoming way too important to a lot of people, including your protagonist.” Han Sooyoung grins, “I’ve read enough fanfiction to know where that goes.”

Kim Dokja unfortunately has read enough fanfiction too.

“Well Han Sooyoung, you’re wrong because the next time I see Yoo Jonghyuk he will likely kill me.”

His confidence does not change Han Sooyoung’s mind. “I think he’s trying to find you at this very moment.”

“To kill me,” he reinstates.

“But,” she flashes a smile, “if he doesn’t kill you immediately, it could be a sign.”

Again, Kim Dokja says nothing to argue against that because… well…

Han Sooyoung interrupts his thoughts with a singsong voice, “Sign of love!”

He stands up and goes back over to Lycaon to try training again, thoroughly ignoring the woman’s complaints.

Everything Han Sooyoung said has some misguided truths. This is the apocalypse. Everyone is depending on someone stronger to survive.

But this isn’t just any other apocalypse, this is the a story Kim Dokja knows from beginning to end. In spite of whatever future awaits them, he will do everything he can to use his knowledge to save everyone.

It’s almost expected that there will be moments where he did not see things coming.

For example, Yoo Jonghyuk showing up and not killing him.

It’s mostly because he’s poisoned.

Oh and the fact that the Disaster of Questions is waking up.

After buying their Midday Tryst and agreeing to the Oath of Existence, Yoo Jonghyuk agreed to not harm and instead cooperate with Kim Dokja for the time being.

All at the price of that Yoo Jonghyuk can hit Kim Dokja once.

Kim Dokja has no idea if this is a sign of love or not.

Maybe he’ll find out once that hit comes.

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 3, Match 7: Kim Dokja vs. Izumi Curtis

Submitted kids:

Kim Dokja: Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung are the commonly accepted ones but you can also make a case for Lee Jihye and Biyoo

Izumi Curtis: Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric

Propaganda under the cut!

Kim Dokja:

1. “In the first scenario (where you have to murder something alive) his first priority is to make sure Gilyoung makes it out alive (by giving him the grasshopper before letting others know about it), and when the future version of Yoosung (41st round) is going to cause havoc his first plan is to basically the past (his present) version of her so they would have her on her side (he takes her in as his incarnation- if that isn’t an adoption idk what is); Biyoo is literally the soul of 41st Yoosung that he WENT THROUGH AN UNDERWORLD TRIAL to get her back and she is legally his child. Lee Jihye is more like the older sister-teenager of the group be she’s still adopted by association and Han Donghoon is a kid who was hypnotized and exploited by the ‘prophets’ and Kim Dokja saved him and became someone he trusts in- which is basically adopting. Mia is YJH’s little sister but with the family dynamic all of KimCom has she’s basically adopted too. This man is someone who believes the worst in himself but gives all these kids someone they need and in return they are the family he’s never had.”

2. “He saved Lee Gilyoung on the subway when he was orphaned at the time the apocalypse started even when he didn't need to and kept him by his side and fed him at his own expense and believed in him and taught him to be strong when no one else had really done that for Lee Gilyoung before.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (pretty vague):

Shin Yoosung was a character in the world of the apocalypse that occured (long story, won't explain here lol) and she was supposed to be destined to become a monster that would destroy Seoul and the two people other than Kim Dokja who knew this wanted to kill her when they found her to prevent her from becoming that but Kim Dokja refused to kill her and physically stood to protect her and then he later became her sponsor (uhhh it's a whole thing in-universe but basically pledged to back her and help her ig) and the stigma (a special power thing that can be gained through a sponsor) he gave her was based in him protecting everyone in their group and his love for all of them.

Both Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung are extremely attached to Kim Dokja and have on at least one canon occasion slept clinging to either side of him.

LESS MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (though not terrible ig and still mostly vague at least):

Biyoo is. well she's Shin Yoosung actually but also not. So basically y'know that monster future Shin Yoosung was destined to become? so that monster version of her from a different timeline was sent backwards and sideways in time (idk how else to describe it jskdfs) and nearly did destroy Seoul as prophesied but Kim Dokja tried to save her—and he nearly did but then a shitty dokkaebi (they're like admin streamer people. idk would take a while to explain) did a shitty thing and forced her to be 'evil' and then she had to be killed ;-; but Kim Dokja promised to get revenge for her and after that he went and beat up the asshole dokkaebi who did that so badly that he gained a legendary Story. And then he traveled to the Underworld at risk of his own life to retrieve her soul and put that into a dokkaebi egg that he personally hatched. And she lost her memories for the most part but could still sense a bit what he'd done for her :') and so yeah she became Biyoo and is somehow both adopted and originally parented(?? idk saying biologically is. doesn't feel quite right lol) by him.”

3. “Bro is THE DAD of the group”

4. “Adopted his kids so hard that they’d do like anything for him they love him so much”

No propaganda has been submitted for Izumi Curtis

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 2, Match 53: Kim Dokja vs. Roberto de Niro

Submitted kids:

Kim Dokja: Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung are the commonly accepted ones but you can also make a case for Lee Jihye and Biyoo

Roberto de Niro: Meryl Stryfe, Vash the Stampede, Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Propaganda under the cut!

Kim Dokja:

1. “In the first scenario (where you have to murder something alive) his first priority is to make sure Gilyoung makes it out alive (by giving him the grasshopper before letting others know about it), and when the future version of Yoosung (41st round) is going to cause havoc his first plan is to basically the past (his present) version of her so they would have her on her side (he takes her in as his incarnation- if that isn’t an adoption idk what is); Biyoo is literally the soul of 41st Yoosung that he WENT THROUGH AN UNDERWORLD TRIAL to get her back and she is legally his child. Lee Jihye is more like the older sister-teenager of the group be she’s still adopted by association and Han Donghoon is a kid who was hypnotized and exploited by the “prophets” and Kim Dokja saved him and became someone he trusts in- which is basically adopting. Mia is YJH’s little sister but with the family dynamic all of KimCom has she’s basically adopted too. This man is someone who believes the worst in himself but gives all these kids someone they need and in return they are the family he’s never had.”

2. "He saved Lee Gilyoung on the subway when he was orphaned at the time the apocalypse started even when he didn't need to and kept him by his side and fed him at his own expense and believed in him and taught him to be strong when no one else had really done that for Lee Gilyoung before.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (pretty vague):

Shin Yoosung was a character in the world of the apocalypse that occured (long story, won't explain here lol) and she was supposed to be destined to become a monster that would destroy Seoul and the two people other than Kim Dokja who knew this wanted to kill her when they found her to prevent her from becoming that but Kim Dokja refused to kill her and physically stood to protect her and then he later became her sponsor (uhhh it's a whole thing in-universe but basically pledged to back her and help her ig) and the stigma (a special power thing that can be gained through a sponsor) he gave her was based in him protecting everyone in their group and his love for all of them.

Both Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung are extremely attached to Kim Dokja and have on at least one canon occasion slept clinging to either side of him.

LESS MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (though not terrible ig and still mostly vague at least):

Biyoo is. well she's Shin Yoosung actually but also not. So basically y'know that monster future Shin Yoosung was destined to become? so that monster version of her from a different timeline was sent backwards and sideways in time (idk how else to describe it jskdfs) and nearly did destroy Seoul as prophesied but Kim Dokja tried to save her—and he nearly did but then a shitty dokkaebi (they're like admin streamer people. idk would take a while to explain) did a shitty thing and forced her to be 'evil' and then she had to be killed ;-; but Kim Dokja promised to get revenge for her and after that he went and beat up the asshole dokkaebi who did that so badly that he gained a legendary Story. And then he traveled to the Underworld at risk of his own life to retrieve her soul and put that into a dokkaebi egg that he personally hatched. And she lost her memories for the most part but could still sense a bit what he'd done for her :') and so yeah she became Biyoo and is somehow both adopted and originally parented(?? idk saying biologically is. doesn't feel quite right lol) by him."

3. “Bro is THE DAD of the group”

4. “Adopted his kids so hard that they’d do like anything for him they love him so much”

Roberto de Niro:

“he's my dad”