#of course its orv

[fallen6253]

You put it into coherent words AUghshghasg I could never.

Also, with every parallel that ties back into storytelling, the novel describes all the ways people get by with words. When they write down a note for someone else to see, they call it communication. When they read every word in a long story, it's called adoration. When they write stories for years just for at least one person to read, they call it love. When people tell others what they need to hear to get through their day, or when they tell them the harsh truth because they need to hear it. When people say the worst things, the wrong things, or what changes others forever. When the words are spoken, written, or read, the story goes on and that's how everyone lives.

When a story is sold, it's meant to save someone who was already condemned.

When a story is told, it means it has lived.

auuaughaghaguhag sobbing

One thing I love about orv is that it initially bait and switches you by convincing you early on that the constellations are the "big bad" of the story - voyeuristic beings that gain enjoyment off the suffering of others - until the reveal that they are also going through their own scenarios. This mirrors how us as the readers are going through our own lives and our own struggles yet we consume media highlighting the experiences of others. We root for these characters, we follow their journeys, we see ourselves in them. And yet we're not villains - we're just surviving. We're escaping the struggles of our own lives by indulging in these worlds created by human imagination. Similarly, many of the constellations in orv do not have malicious intentions despite living off stories - uriel cares greatly for the incarnations she supports (as the "fangirl" archetype) and sun wukong and abfd also greatly support kimcom throughout their journey.

This is further solidified in the reveal of the oldest dream. Despite unintentionally creating worldlines through his imagination, the younger kim dokja was never a villain or "monster". He was simply a child who sook to escape the tragedies of his life through a webnovel. He depended on that novel to survive. And that was in no way the sin he thought it was - not even secretive plotter who had gone through countless regressions and witnessed the despair of the universe could hold it against him. Nor han sooyoung, nor yoo joonghyuk of the 1864th round, nor yoo sangah, nor anyone else in kimcom. No one thought dokja needed to atone for anything - they loved him and cared for him even when he couldn't love himself.

Just like kim dokja and just like the constellations, we are readers seeking an escape from the struggles of reality. And we too are loved - regardless of whether we know it or understand why.

[n0bluev]

Am i supposed to be sane after having finished reading orv ........ ?

[frobby]

Ive been thinking a lot about kim namwoon but not like in philosophical way more in the "what if you were created to aid one person and like thats the reason for your existence and then you find out... that guy hates you so much he would get into internet fights about it..." kind of way

[orphiclovers]

sp and yjh were canonically having nightmares about each other at the same time. they were LITERALLY each other's dream man. and you're trying to tell me spyjh isn't real smh

[orv-random-quotes]

day 29

Jung Heewon: Yet another nice-sounding suicidal plan...

[metanarrates]

rereading orv closely is a very rewarding experience because you can see how genuinely tightly the narrative threads are woven throughout this very long action-heavy fantasy novel. even the arcs I think have a little less substance than others still further the themes and foreshadow plot in interesting ways and even the most cliche power fantasy moments still have shockingly complex things to say about the world and characters. nearly every scene, even the most rote battle scenes, has a lot of depth if you poke at it! its incredible. also its still really really fucking funny

[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.

[headphonemouse]

Usually I don't buy into self sacrifice in fiction because how much can one human life really be worth, when so many have been lost already? But the way that orv sets up Kim Dokja's self sacrifices, sure it has its own in universe reasons, but the reason it sold me on why those sacrifices were necessary and worked was that subjective feeling of equivalent exchange. He wanted to save his world (companions), so he sacrificed himself. This is fair payment because he exists as 'the world' to everyone else. Just. Jung Heewon confronting Anna Croft with "you want to save the world? I do too. He is the world I wish to save" (paraphrased) and Kim Dokja obtaining the story 'One Who is Loved by All' and Lee Sookyung shaving off years of her life for him before and during the scenarios and him becoming a protective and nurturing presence to his kids and showing Lee Hyunsung how to use his strength to protect justice and giving Yoo Joonghyuk hope and giving meaning to Han Sooyoung's writing and decades of waiting to meet him just by continuing to exist. There are so many other people that he means so much to and I'll never get over how beloved he is, before during and after the scenarios. The whole time! The whole time he has been loved. He isn't always able to see it but it's always been there. Meeting him is like being unable to imagine someone more worthy of love while at the same time thinking that he's not particularly remarkable. It's the way that he is cherished and returns that kindness that makes him incredible (The Little Prince and his conclusions about the uniqueness of his rose come to mind. It wasn't mentioned in ORV, but the Little Prince played a significant role in TWATF so I think some of those themes carry over to ORV because SingShong seem to really like that story)

[pseudowriter69]

having friends who you talk to about everything but don't share similar ways of consuming media is a great experience. yes, tell me about how the magic system is expansive and clear-cut and perfect, i wouldn't have noticed that in the slightest. yes, thank you for listening to how these two random characters are Gay and In Love, when you would not have even considered the idea.

thank you for caring because i care, not because you agree.

[tls12lessthan3]

its stated multiple times in chapter 418 that yoo jonghyuk detests the colour white. i wonder if he picked that up before or after he fell in love with lee seolwha.....

[solcarow]

.

[leafyloveslaughing]

honestly curious how the webtoon is going to draw the wall eating scenes– i mean, how?? are they going to give it teeth?? or is it like one those weird creepy kids toys back then with blocks that have mouths?? or do they just..suck people in like a noodle 😭😂

[always-a-joyful-note]

Well, it looks like I've caved and started with the Korean TLs of the i7 story from 6.10. It's (pretty) slow progress, but I'm managing more or less okay. The question I have to the fandom is....while I'm not confident enough in Korean (like at all) to give direct TLs from that, nor do I want to since the translator has password protected their TLs (and I don't feel comfortable doing translations from a translation, anyway), I wouldn't mind giving summaries of each section after I finish it if people want it

[its-no-biggie]

i love when characters are naive/trusting/innocent and its framed as a good thing. to put your heart out there and risk getting hurt by people who dont care about you and then to keep doing that over and over until you find people worth trusting is, i think, actually a very good thing. and to see an example of someone loving fiercely and indiscriminately and not being chastised or ridiculed or taken advantage of by the people around them is so so important.

no more cautionary tales about being careful who you trust. no more using the words "naive" and "trusting" in a derisive or condescending tone. im tired of being told the world is a scary and dangerous place and that you have to always be on your guard. more stories about how trusting others is difficult but always worthwhile, about how everyone has good in them, about how important it is to connect with others. thank you for coming to my ted talk

[metanarrates]

six hour youtube video essay titled WAS TWSA ACTUALLY GOOD with kim dokja making an :0 expression as the thumbnail

[imbeingtauntedbyachild]

I need onecentfood to unprivate the single most heart wrenchingly beautiful piece of literature I've ever read right fucking now my bf and matt got into orv and I need to show them one of the best fics hell best piece of writing period I've ever fucking read I'm so fucking normal abt this fic