#orv peace land

[orv-random-quotes]

day 12

"Hero who saved Peace Land.

His name

It isn't Dokuja

Dokja

Ohh it is Dokja."

[orphiclovers]

Hold up. For what reason did the webtoon change Asuka's hair design from silver curls to a straight red bob?? This is anti white haired anime girl propoganda and I will NOT stand for it

[insomaniacat]

this hurts

[featherxs]

been thinking about asuka ren a normal healthy amount ever since she debuted in webtoon and now i realize tumblr is better for compiling all my thoughts on her. so here… are some thoughts, for sure!

first of all… we know so little about her :( the main things are basically: japanese mangaka, creator of peace land, and was present in the group regression in epilogue. mostly she serves as hsy’s foil throughout the peace land arc, and she briefly shows up during the enemy of the story scenario to support kimcom.

but there are a lot of small details that add up to her character, in my opinion… for example, her constellation sponsor is “master of the niten ichi-ryu,” who cannot be anyone but miyamoto musashi himself. this is kind of funny considering how she is unfortunately a wet sock for most of peace land arc except for that scene (…where she doesn’t even use a sword!). what’s even funnier, though, is that miyamoto apparently did ink paintings as well. sometimes i think singshong just gave asuka some random big-name japanese sponsor to cement her status as a leader among them, and sometimes i think about this coincidence. because… is it?! (incidentally, she is mentioned to have/use a katana, but it isn’t specified if she has two. tsk… what’s your dual blades stigma for if you’re not gonna use it, girl?) in addition, her physique and strength were both level 55 during peace land arc, which were pretty high when you compare it to michio’s mid-20 stats. a twitter user got the idea of her being from a family that runs a kendo or judo gym and was going to inherit the dojo someday before she declared she’d become a mangaka, and i haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since.

as for her personality… well, we’re told she’s a leader among the japanese incarnations, but… honestly, does she act like a leader to you…? from what we see of her in peace land, she can be cowardly, easily shaken or attacked, and she put the small people’s lives over her companions’… in short, she’s a little bit pathetic (fond). but then again, that was in peace land, so i guess you can’t blame a girl for being a little shaken up after being confronted with choosing between killing her friends or killing her creations. but we also see her argue with hsy a little over clichés and tropes, and we also see how she spoke out against yamamoto when he declared he’d kill the small people, so that adds up to her being decisive and true to her morals. (also, tangentially related, she calls michio by his first name without honorifics, which is as intimate as you can get. this is cute, personally, because in the ebook he mentions he was a college student before the scenarios, so he could be anywhere from 18-22+ years old, while asuka… is 31. that’s, like, her little brother.)

definitely the most interesting part about her is peace land and her relationship with it, though. because, of course, a creator must have a relationship with their creations! she must have resented her work at some point because of all the critique it got and how it ended up getting canceled so early in its serialization… i wonder how long ago was that before the events of orv, if peace land was her debut manga or her most recent work. if it was somewhere in the middle, then i want to know if she went back to making mainstream content after peace land’s failure just to earn money and if she resented that, too, or if she was prideful enough to try and make more unorthodox manga like it but kept getting shot down anyway. did she lose confidence in her craft… could she no longer find the same joy in creating no matter what she made…

then when tls123 apparently contacted her about it — how cruel must it have been to unknowingly have let someone borrow your setting, thinking your words may have finally reached someone, only to later find out the characters and setting you had put your heart into were turned into cannon fodder for your colleagues. to destroy your own work in order to move forward… what if she considered it for just a moment… after all, if anyone had the right to decide what happened to these people’s lives, it should be her, the one who made them in the first place. but after seeing them with her own eyes, in that panel where the small people are looking up at her, it must have really cemented her decision then. to them, she’s just another disaster here to kill them, but they don’t know she’s technically their god… (maybe that’s also partly why she seemed so agitated when questioning how hsy won over the people’s loyalty so quickly, because who is she to them?)… they don’t know she must have really loved them as she wrote their story. and even if they knew, maybe they would only resent her for bringing this torture upon them anyway… the guilt and resentment and frustration of a failed work but still, still that creator’s love and pride throughout it all. because after all, a writer truly can’t help but love what she has created…

i never really thought about asuka beyond a really stupid fic idea i had for her and hsy, but seeing her in webtoon following the ebook’s revisions really made me appreciate her character more. her feelings towards her work are so complex, even if we don’t see a lot of it, and even worse is that she forgets all about making peace land in the end. she doesn’t just become a character in a bigger story: her narrative has also completely escaped her hands now. but in a way, maybe she’d be happy to know they’re separate from her as she is separate from them, because that means they’re moving forward in their own world line… and not bound by such mortal restraints as the manga serialization being canceled.

man this got long, and this doesn’t even include all the delusions i have for asuka/michio and asuka/izumi. well then, my final message:

[metanarrates]

I only know the rudimentary basics of japanese imperialism in south korea but i am finding the way the novel handles it interesting 👍 orv clearly is a novel very interested in and concerned with the history of its country, and I like how frequently korean historical figures and conflicts show up in the text, since it does push me to learn a lot more about a culture and history I've never known much about. I'm curious how this stuff ends up reading to korean readers - is it a normal and even inspiring level of national pride, or does it end up reading as a little nationalistic? given sk's history of facing horrifically violent imperialism, I really would understand a novel writer's urge to invoke a sense of pride and importance in their country's historical figures, but idk enough to say much one way or the other

[clownsnake]

THIS PLACE IS CALLED *PEACE LAND?????????????* ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

[leafyloveslaughing]

webtoon explain yourselves

[everyasukaren]

068

[immortal-tale]

I also wanna be this good with a dagger, or even just a knife 😭

[orv-random-quotes]

day 15

[The new story 'Kim Dojega's Legend' has been created on Peace Land.]

...I hoped they would at least get my name right.

[orphiclovers]

LINES THAT HIT HARDER ON A REREAD HELLO??? 'Never ending' novel huh.....yes!! that's han sooyoung's thing, but she isn't even major character at this point!

"People who can't be summed up in a few pages!!" We knowwww. Ugh the recontextulization on a reread is crazy

[fallloverfic]

There are two versions of ORV: the original serialized version and the revised version, and the revision is what the manhwa is based on (it's the same for singNsong's other completed novel, The World After The Fall, which was revised after publication, and it's the revision that's being used for the manhwa adaptation of TWATF). One of the ORV arcs that was most heavily edited for the revision was the Peace Land arc. But the manhwa also adds/removes things as it goes because that's kind of the nature of adaptation.

The popular English fan translation of the novel is the unrevised version. As far as I'm aware, no one has fully translated the revised version into English. It's one thing people are wondering about with Yen Press' upcoming English translation: are they translating the revision or the unrevised version? It would make more sense that they'll do the revision because that's what singNsong have apparently said is their ideal version of ORV, and it's what's used for the ebook version of ORV.

Hi! I hope it's okay to ask, but I really want to read ORV and I'm.. a bit confused about something? How or where exactly do I read it, and which version of ORV is the one people usually recommend? Is there even a difference? I'd appreciate any and all help!

no worries! redirecting you here

as far as i know there are two versions? one is translated (the one i am directing you to) and the other is an edited version which may not be translated? and may or may not be the base for the webtoon? with some scenes added and removed? take whatever i say with a grain of salt though, i got handed the file in a dark alley by an ill meaning friend. she was out for my blood apparently.

[yoohankimsupremacy]

imagine having your thing cut off by someone as small as ants…

[metanarrates]

its insane how much more mentally sharp i am when I have caffeine <- guy who should probably be on prescription stimulants

[lunaxstrange]

Can we talk about love in orv?

[SPOILERS]

Okay so, I am aware that Kdj loves the "story" but I really wanna point some things out individually because it's 2am and ORV is on my mind.

Kdj had the easiest way out of the 1863rd turn. The most perfect turn (at the time) but he really went I'd let the world burn for Yjh? Yeah, everything is "part of his plan" but let's talk about the 73rd Demon King arc. My man would do anything to make sure Yjh finishes his story. Apart from this, it's the fact that while everyone else dislike any other version of Yjh (even he hates himself lol), Kdj loves every. single. one. I mean 3rd turn (1864th) Yjh? Yes. Hsy's 1863rd turn? Yes. Frickin' Secretive Plotter? Got off to a rough start but yes. You simply cannot make Kdj hate his beloved protagonist. I mean, this man risked his whole existence to make sure the 0th turn is actually the most perfect one. He didn't want Yjh to regress but became his sponsor anyway because it's what Yjh wanted. He would do anything to see Yjh happy. This type of love isn't romantic or platonic or anything else, it's the most inexplicable form of love. Love in its purest form. I'd like to take the time to compare it to Achilles and Patroclus because while we can fight over whether these two were gay or not, we cannot deny the sheer love they had for each other. No strings attached. Kdj is in awe of Yjh.

Yjh. The regressor. The protagonist. The person Kdj loves the most. Yjh had everything (0th turn) but he really gave it all up just to meet Kdj. Suffered the "Hell of eternity" just to see him. Bro didn't even love Lsw the way he loves Kdj. Tbf, 0th turn Yjh didn't know what the real struggle of passing the scenarios without help was but I'm sure he got the gist. Okay, sure, you can call it "curiosity" that led to Yjh keeping Kdj alive during the 3rd (1864th) turn. But my guy didn't choose Kdj to go to Peace Land because he had "someone he loved" like bro, YJH!? THE COLD REGRESSOR??? HE DID THAT FOR KIM DOKJA! Not to mention the fact that Yjh didn't even care that his whole life was a mere novel. He just despised the fact that Kdj chose the 1863rd turn over him. I'm gonna cry. Bro wanted Kdj so bad that he kept fighting the Secretive Plotter. Not only this, he gave up the 3rd (1864th) turn for Kdj too. Went from Supreme King to terrorist just to save Kdj. When everyone else - even Hsy - gave up. After all, what is a protagonist without a reader? The whole astronaut ordeal might've been to "find his purpose" but we can't ignore their connection. He gave up everything he could ever ask for twice (0th and 3rd/1864th turn) for Kdj. The attachment these two have with each other is insane.

I could go on about them for eternity but we have another person to talk about - Hsy. This woman spent 10 years exhausted, stuck in a world-line and body not her own for one person. Even if it's only Hsy with half her memories, she gave up her perfect world-line because she missed Kdj. Just like Kdj loves Yjh, Hsy also loves every version of Kdj. She wanted to meet him, no matter what the world-line. My girl had only a few hours where she was in control and decided to use off all those hours to write TWSA - a story she herself disliked. Hsy wants to see Kdj happy, every part of Hsy loves Kdj. There is nothing a writer could love more than an avid reader who loves their story. And let's talk about the fact that Yjh and Hsy absolutely hate each other. He is literally her creation (more or less) but their relationship is questionable. Why? Because a protagonist has no value without a reader. Kinda like Asuka Ren and Kyrgios Rodgraim. They have no special relationship despite being creator and creation. Since there is no reader, Asuka and Kyrgios are as distant as two people can be. Alternatively, what brings Hsy and Yjh together is Kdj.

I just can't get enough of the way ORV relationships are written. If I had to describe love as a writer, I'd cite ORV as an example.

[writeronartblock]

A play-by-play of my reaction to reading ORV ep/chp 220 (it's 2 AM, I wrote this at fucking 2 AM)

THE FACT THAT THE OPENING SCENES OF THIS CHAPTER HAS ZERO DIALOGUE AND HAS FIVE OF THE GROUP MEMBERS CRYING BEFORE DOKJA AND JOONGHYUK START TRADING BLOWS

JOONGHYUK'S FACE, ANGUISHED AND MAD AND SAD IN AN EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED WAY

HIS GONNA GET KILLED BY THE SWORD THAT THEY BOTH HAVE! THE SWORD THAT THEY MADE WITH EACH OTHER

"I hopes that the moment when I have to use this would never come."

"Likewise. Though, not anymore."

DON'T AGREE WITH HIM, PLEASE?!

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is Despairing]

ME TOO URIEL, ME FUCKING TOO

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is Sighing Deeply]

ME TOO WUKONG, ME FUCKING TOO

THE SWORD NULLIFIES THE EIGHT LIVES ATTRIBUTE SO HE WON'T GET REVIVED AGAIN

PERSEPHONE IS WATCHING

THE CONSTELLATION WHO HAS NOT BEEN NAMED GIVES HIS FIRST STIGMA TO HIS INCARNATION AND IT'S CALLED "SACRIFICIAL WILL"??????

OH YOOSUNG BABY, OH NO

AND HE'S THANKING THEM

[The Incarnation Kim Dokja will be killed by the one he loves most.]

AND THEN IT SHOWS HIM READING TWSA ON THE TRAIN FROM WORK, LIKE THE START OF IT ALL

SECRETIVE PLOTTER IS WATCHING

WHEN THE PROPHECY SAID HE'D BE KILLED BY THE ONE HE LOVES MOST IT DIDN'T REFER TO ANY ONE PERSON. IT REFERED TO THIS STORY, TWSA

URIEL IS WATCHING

SUN WUKONG IS WATCHING

ABYSSAL BLACK FLAME DRAGON IS WATCHING

GENERAL YI SUN-SIN IS WATCHING

THE SEQUENCE OF THE CHARACTERS????

WHEN DOKJA FIRST MET THEM AND THEIR BIGGEST DEFINING MOMENT????

HELLO????

TWSA BECAME HIS STORY! HIS!

TWSA FELT LIKE A STORY SPECIFICALLY MADE FOR HIM, IT'S SINGULAR READER WHO READ IT TILL THE END

AND NOW IT'S A STORY THAT HE CLAIMED FOR HIMSELF BECAUSE IT'S FILLED WITH STORIES THAT HE HELPED CREATE AND HIS PRECIOUS COMPANIONS UEUEUEUEUEUE

WHEN EVERYONE STOOD BY HIS SIDE AND HE LOOKS TO FIND JOONGHYUK IN FRONT OF HIM?? AND THEY ALL JOIN HIM??? SANGAH AND SOOYOUNG ALSO LOOKED AHEAD!!!!

THE SMALL CONSTELLATION FROM PEACE LAND IS WATCHING

ALL THE CONSTELLATIONS OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA ARE WATCHING

JOONGHYUK HOLDING HIM UP BY HIS SHOULDER

YES, IT'S BEEN A WONDERFUL STORY! BUT PLEASE!!!

THE WAY ALL HIS STARTING CONSTELLATION SPONSORS DIDN'T WISH FOR HIS DEATH

THE WAY URIEL BEGGED HIM TO NOT DIE

JOONGHYUK GRIPPING HIS SHIRT ONLY FOR IT DISINTEGRATE, REACHING FOR HIM AND SCREAMING HIS NAME

YOOSUNG RUNNING AFTER HIS DISINTEGRATING FORM WHILE CRYING, THAT'S YOUR INCARNATION!!!

THE WAY EVERYONE OUTSIDE THE CASTLE REJOICED AT BEING LIBERATED FROM THE SCENARIOS

THE WAY HIS MOM AND THE GRANNY JUST STANDS LOOKS AT THE NOTIF SCREEN

LITERALLY EVERYONE IS CRYING

BIHYUNG!!!!! ALL THE DOKKAEBIS LOOKING IN SHOCK

[Your Modifier is 'Demon King of Salvation']

SHUT UP! FUCK OFF! DON'T COME ANYWHERE NEAR ME!