#orv-wards

[orvreread]

The ORV-wards (1-10)

i've decided i want to do a countdown of my fav quotes/moments from diff sections to help me remember my fav parts. esp once we're in the higher chapters. Below are my top 5 for the first 10 episodes (in no particular order):

We are companions who have gone through life and death separately.

listen she has the influence and reach. in all reality tho its fascinating how much its true. initially it is just kdj alongside yjh in life and death but yjh then gets to experience kdj's sacrifices/deaths and they become life and death companions together

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is excited by your existence.]

i like to imagine this is the moment that sp was immersed in kdj's story. beforehand 666 was sending out his messages for fun but this is when sp goes from apathetic to genuine investment and curiosity

...I was simply living as a single man, unremarkable in my loneliness.

i just really love that line. loneliness is one of the most haunting emotions

It was funny. Wishing to the beings who would become a source of nightmare, it was probably only human beings who did this in the entire universe.

it really is the human experience to look towards the unknown and have fear and hope

There are three ways to survive in a ruined world. I have forgotten some of them now. However, one thing is certain: you who are currently reading these words will survive.

this is for just that one reader

[gadaver]

faith: the omniscient trinity. or whatever

[lee-hakhyun]

Since you have no means of escape, let me tell you about my Merlin AU for ORV :D I haven't watched Merlin past some clips, making it clear, i just leveraged a very fun setting. Merlin spoilers ahead though.

Kim Dokja is the warlock servant who gets unceremoniously tied to Prince Yoo Joonghyuk by the whims of fate, meant to help guide him to become the Once and Future King. KDJ must keep this sunfish safe from perilous situations while hiding his magic, because magic is outlawed in the *flips notes* N'gai Kingdom.

Among this cast is fellow servant Yoo Sangah (Gwen), the king's ward Han Sooyoung (Morgana), a dragon in the basement (either Abyssal Black Flame Dragon or the Fourth Wall) the knights Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon, and on and on it goes.

In my head things would probably run similar enough to the show with the exception that every once in a while KDJ sees some strange cloaked figure that he can just feel the magic brimming off of, helping him in subtle ways when things get really tough. Who is that secretive figure helping him out?

KDJ kind of lets his guard down, able to trust this seemingly friendly (if extremely gruff) man with his magic in a way he can't with YJH. They don't have the same camaraderie, but it's still a comfortable companionship regardless.

And then this mysterious person kidnaps KDJ.

YJH and friends chase the evident sorcerer that kidnapped KDJ all the way to the ends of the Earth, having to combat power unlike any they'd seen before - until at a rift in space, this man finally uncloaks himself to reveal someone sharing YJH's face. It has to be a trick. It has to be.

But the man not a perfect reflection; he looks aged, older and wiser and with an undercurrent of grief that keeps him clutching KDJ to his side. KDJ is a warlock, the man claims. One that would, despite what YJH believes of magic practitioners, would give his heart and his life for over and over an ungrateful spoiled prince until he had nothing left to give.

And then he jumps into the portal. Into a parallel timeline/potential future.

This is where we get into spoiler territory for Merlin; in the series, Morgana betrays Merlin and Arthur, and Arthur kind of dies. In this AU, HSY and YJH were prophesied to experience the same thing, except KDJ gave all of his magic to abort said prophecy because it sucked and died, so now everyone in that particular future is in mourning.

Which is why, when the broken prophecy causes a rip in dimensions and into the past, YJH and HSY teamed up to nab KDJ from that other timeline. The people who MADE that prophecy though (either Olympus or the King Arthur legends from the universe of ORV's Main Story who are unhappy they didn't get the spotlight there, I'm not sure yet) are mad at KDJ for not following the prophecy and want to gank them. The future YJH (who will be referred to as SP for now) and future HSY have apparently become terrifyingly adept at fending off actual gods, but for how long? And how will KDJ get back to his original dimension?

Meanwhile, Prince YJH and friends desperately try to find a way to where SP had taken KDJ, as the rift had closed with their departure. Swallowing his pride and the biases that had started to form, he looks to powers he would never have trusted before...

(And somewhere in the future timeline, with the arrival of a reader to the world once more, a struggling writer finds himself startled to see a half-dead, malnourished young boy at his doorstep. To this boy that now rests in his home, he tells bedtime stories and fairy tales that he has no idea are now set to become another prince's adventure.)

This was very much abbreviated from the original thoughts I had, but I feel like I figured out a bit more of the details that I couldn't before (like what's going on with OD). Sorry for making your submission box my unwilling sandbox, but I hope you found some enjoyment out of it :>

[what-if-thoughts-daytiana]

fic idea about KDJ’s past being modified by the team in the epilogue and the consequence of that

the group view the story fragment extracted from KDJ and many of them are the traumatic past none of them know about. And they have a debate on whether they should include those in the novel to send to other world-line. Are those memories really necessary?”

“The suicide part is a must because that is how he gets to read the novel but do we also need to include how is repeatedly beaten or how he is ass4ulted or how cold that night his aunt left him outside was? Are all these necessary?”

The group is faced with an opportunity to make the past of KDJ slightly happier. Or. They are faced with an opportunity to modify the past as they like. This plan to bring KDJ is so absurd that they are all closely trying to not cross a certain line into manipulation.

They leave those part out (which is the Orv we are reading now, only containing flashback or greatly modified version of KDJ’s suffering). KDJ woke up in the ward and was showered with love.

But one day One of them slip over some thing and KDJ didn’t remember that. He panicked for a while wondering if this was a sign of his incompletion. But the group reassured him but KDJ still has this iffy feeling to the blurred sense of his past.

He then came across HSY’s notepad with his past written and edited. He was shocked and relieved but also questioned his existence: to what extent am I the Kim Dokja. Without the past, am I still me? This is like the avatar dilemma but right now KDJ is unsure how much of Himself is being modified or changed through the process. How much of a KDJ is he? If he needed to start the comparison, it is already self evident that he ISNOT KDJ.

He didn’t blame the group because he knew this was the best they could do and he was grateful. But he still sometimes felt like he was not himself, or he had frequent nightmares from the fragments of what he saw and worsened by his imagination.

YJK found about the nightmares and confronted KDJ and learnt the truth. He was furious about the whole omitting-the-past plan(he was already in outer space that time so he didn’t know about this) +

[dailycharacteroption]

Pactbound Intitiate (Pathfinder Second Edition Archetype)

(art by Kalfy on DeviantArt)

Yesterday we looked at those who swear oaths in order to gain power, but sometimes accepting a pact means taking on a great burden first and foremost. If you’re lucky the vow comes with some neat powers or privileges, but for the most part, it’s all about the duty that one accepts.

Such is the case with today’s entry, one that’s gonna take some setup to understand.

In the real world, the saumen kar, or Tornit or Tuniit, are sometimes compared to the legends of sasquatch as seen through the lens of Inuit culture, though online resources are admittedly rather limited, so that may be entirely wrong.

In Pathfinder, however, the saumen kar are a horned, yeti-like people with glowing blue runic brands covering their bodies, shining through their fur, who typically live in isolation but occasionally interact with the peoples of the Crown of the World.

Not much is known about the Saumen Kar, even to themselves, for it seems that most of their own history has been lost, with not even the purpose of the runes on their bodies being remembered beyond the passive and active elemental benefits.

It wasn’t until the Monsters of Myth book in Second Edition did we get the reveal of what little these people of the snow remember. I recommend reading the full version in the book, but the cliffnotes version is that the saumen kar discovered the source of the black blood of Orv deep belowground, and in a bid to seal this great evil away, they made a deal with their god, erasing nearly all knowledge of their culture and identity (including their worship of said deity) in order to bind a seal around the great evil and the blood-corrupted undead and whisper-corrupted mortals (including several of their own) beneath the earth.

The runes and spells of the binding are spread about on the skin of every living saumen kar. The exact amount of writing on each on fluctuates with the deaths and births of their people.

There’s just one problem: The saumen kar are dying out. Not only do they lack a stable population for reproduction (many haven’t seen another of their king in ages), but over time the nature of the magical burden they carry has worn down the life expectancy of their species. What once stood for several millenia now reach elderly age after only a few centuries.

Nobody knows exactly what will happen when the last saumen kar dies. Maybe that final sacrifice will complete the seal and lock the evil away for eternity, or maybe they’ll break free. Either way, some saumen kar are not willing to let the world find out. To those among other ancestries they trust, they sometimes offer a chance to share their burden, adding willing beings from outside their species to the binding to help keep the world safe.

Which is where today’s archetype comes into play, representing those that have chosen to accept the responsibility, gaining some of the secrets of saumen kar magic in the exchange. So without further ado, let’s begin!

The base dedication of the archetype requires initiation by a saumen kar. After which, other saumen kar can sense the bond and what it means. Meanwhile, as a base benefit, the initiate gains the ability to blend in with falling snow, hiding their presence.

The saumen kar once could infuse magic into ice to make weapons and items that never melt. What’s more, they are infused with a primal power similar to cold iron, making them quite effective against certain foes.

The pact sworn by their ancestors was meant of the saumen kar alone, and as such, many who accept it find their bodies changing. One such transformation grants a strong sense of smell, stealthy instincts, and mighty horns of the icy primates.

Eventually, many find the icy runes of their patron appearing on their skin. These ward the initiate against evil, let them sense the presence of undead. Meanwhile, they also chill ice-crafted weapons and their horns, dealing additional harm to foes.

Just as many saumen kar trap their foes in icy domes, so can some of these initiates, entrapping foes to be dealt with later.

Finally, there is a point of no return where mortals become truly bound to the pact, becoming very saumen kar-like as their bodies grow. With it, their bodies become even more resistant to cold, and their runes finally provide protection from fire as well. Finally, they gain the ability to reflexively discorporate into icy wind and snow, avoiding attacks and punishing those they engulf with chilling frost before returning to their corporeal form.

This archetype is extremely thematic, so much so that it’s not going to see use outside of a campaign that takes place at least partially in the arctic. That being said, it grants some fun utility such as crafting magic items from ice, as well as melee options for passive extra damage and attacks, as well as escaping harm at the zenith of their power. Pretty much any class can make use of this power, but it seems to do best with natural attack builds.

Now, like yesterday’s entry, this archetype is begging for homebrew. After all, there are a lot of mystical forces and the like that one could take a binding oath to serve and protect, even at great personal cost, so this archetype is a handy template for just that!

Though massive for a shoony and always cold to the touch, Billbram has been a loyal caretaker of his people’s lore for ages. He was not always so, however, but returned from adventuring to the far north with the blessings of the ���wise one” that he speaks little of. Even so, the process blessed him with a very long life as a fixture of the community, but even one such as he cannot live forever.

Rimed by frost and bearing a legacy of curses and duty, two foes are set on a collision course. One a disgraced warrior turned graveknight seeking purpose in a power hidden in the farthest north, while the other is blessed by the icy-blue runes that mark his role in guarding that power. When they finally meet, the ice will tremble with their battle, and many forces watch the outcome.

They say that in the center of the ruins of Pelgana lies an ancient weapon that spelled the city’s doom. Greedy nations, blind to the danger, have tried to claim it, but they have all been thwarted by those who guard it, ordinary men and women mostly descended from the citizens of fallen Pelgana, who bear on their brow the rune of the bleeding eye which is emblazoned on the side of the weapon’s outer casing.

[toast-of-eden]

I really, really like Kim Dokja as a woman in fics.

A cursory dive into men and women in ORV.

PREFACE: I love this IP as it is, I'm not a gender studies expert, and I'm a cis woman. So this is just me musing on this, and hopefully encouraging other writers and fanfic aficionados to fuck with gender roles and have fun with it.

I'm also not 100% sold that any of this was intended by the author or that other readers will like or agree with this take — a lot of it is how I, personally, have chosen to frame the text for myself.

I’ll also say that genderbending KDJ to make the Joongdok ship into a cishet one can be viewed as problematic, but I’m not really talking about the ship. More about the characterization.

I’m basically about to give you 2,000 words of this. That’s a lot. But here’s my Tl;dr

[Spoilers ahead. Also CW for some talk about SA in the webnovel.]

Just in case you don't feel like reading a 2,000 word character analysis and musing on men, women, and the treatment of gender in ORV.

Because ORV is largely told from Kim Dokja’s perspective, his view of gender and their roles is incredibly impactful on the narrative and the story we’re told.

That trickles down into how we’re shown characters and, in turn, how he values certain traits attributed to his concept of gender roles.

In the real world, pre-scenarios, he’s only seen the worst of men. From his father to his bullies to assholes at work — men just suck.

Enter Yoo Joonghyuk, the fictional hero of Ways of Survival.

YJH’s masculinity is, to Kim Dokja, what every man should really strive to be. Yes, he’s very strong and very handsome — but he's also deeply emotionally complex. He also cooks, cleans, and raised a baby all by himself, SO.

Add women to the mix: KDJ is absolutely surrounded by strong and resilient women right from the jump. We saw what Han Sooyoung and Kim Sookyoung did with the little fuzzy knowledge they had in the early scenarios. I can’t even imagine what they could have done with KDJ’s reference material.

All that combined makes female Kim Dokja just... honestly a powerhouse of a character to explore in my opinion.

Men in the "real world."

Growing up, Kim Dokja's male role models were... lackluster. At best. And Kim Dokja didn't fit any of the forms of masculinity presented to him.

His father, the first male role model in most children’s lives, was an abusive piece of shit.

At school, he was bullied by other boys.

Moreover, he wasn't able to thrive in the army, nor could he thrive in a white collar environment (see: Han Myungoh).

And why the fuck would he want to be like that guy?

So Kim Dokja's male role model was found in a web novel. Yoo Joonghyuk, a fictional character, captured his attention.

Yoo Joonghyuk is what Kim Dokja believes an ideal man should be from his beginning all the way to his end — round zero to 1863 and beyond. He wants to be like that guy.

Yoo Joonghyuk = complex, strong, deeply emotional but resilient

Men in the real world = churlish, brutish, villainous, or otherwise just meatheads.

That leads me to men in the early scenarios.

From the earliest scenarios, Kim Dokja is surrounded by strong women. Right from the jump.

Yoo Sangah adjusts to the new world almost immediately. Jung Heewon's sense of justice makes her the strongest member of the group. Han Sooyoung is a BAMF. Lee Seolhwa is the smartest person in the room and the only woman who's ever caught and held Yoo Joonghyuk's attention. Hell, Shin Yoosoung is Kim Dokja's powerhouse ward and loyal follower — to the point that she reincarnates herself without her memories to serve his purpose.

Aside from Lee Hyunsung, whom Kim Dokja often describes as a being a real stand up guy, the only man he spends real significant amount of time with is Yoo Joonghyuk.

We have to remember that this story is from Kim Dokja's perspective, so it's entirely possible that there were other men around, but that he just didn't see it that way.

At any rate, the worst, least complex characters are often the men of the story. This is especially true of the men in the early scenarios, which show Kim Dokja’s POV a little more straightforwardly, so I’m going to use them as primary examples.

Take, for example, Chapter 17: Ep. 4 - Line of Hypocrisy, II. Here, Kim Dokja has come upon a disheveled Jung Heewon who's dying in the street with her "jacket...half removed and a bit of her skirt...torn," left for dead lying in the streets, slowly dying from poison gas. He assumes she's been sexually assaulted.

He quickly figures out who the attackers are, because they try to attack him too. When Uriel starts a bounty scenario to take the villains down, Kim Dokja says this:

And again:

Men in the real world = churlish, brutish, villainous, or otherwise just meatheads.

Let's get even more literal here.

Take, for example, Song Minwoo, a bully from the pre-scenario world who shows up during the scenarios as a literal monster.

This is a villanous male in Kim Dokja's life who, coincidentally, has some of the same knowledge as him, having read some of the chapters of Ways of Survival. And he learned nothing, except how to bully better.

Yo FUCK that guy.

Let's go for another example.

Quality Assurance Dept. Deputy Yoon Sangho and the Mino Soft coin farm.

Coincidentally (completely on purpose) in the same chapter we meet Song Minwoo, we're introduced to another male character who was actually not antagonistic IRL.

Guess what? He's antagonistic now.

As a quick recap, when Kim Dokja gets there, he finds that the coin farm has captured Han Sooyoung. They plan to "make content" with her, and Yoon Sangho offers Kim Dokja a first go at her if he gives them more resources.

Read panels left to right, top to bottom.

Ew.

So much ew.

ANYWAY. Will reiterate the pattern here:

Men in the real world = churlish, brutish, villainous, or otherwise just meatheads.

I don't think it's a stretch for sexual violence to be considered a man's weapon. I also don't think it's a stretch to imagine that Kim Dokja, in spite of knowing this, won't attribute it to gender verbally — he'll just show us how he sees it. That's... kind of his thing.

Let's touch on Yoo Joonghyuk as Kim Dokja's Masthead for just a second before getting into the women of ORV.

I won't get into the later scenarios too much, because a majority of the new male characters are transient aside from Yoo Joonghyuk and his various regressions. And then we get POVs from (ahem) other characters.

So I'll get into YJH's regressions.

I've really hammered in how much men suck in ORV, but not really much about why Yoo Joonghyuk isn't like that. He's Kim Dokja's companion. His foil. (The love of his life.)

This is where things get complicated, because this guy is literally Kim Dokja's role model and, in a lot of ways, the center of his universe.

But that's why it's also most interesting part.

Yoo Joonghyuk remains the masthead. And it's not for his physical strength.

In spite of all of his changes in personality, he's still the same person underneath, who's fundamentally lonely and depressed as all hell. He's seen lifetimes of loss and goes on to transcend humanity, time, and space to become a fucking god. Even so, he perseveres through it to find the very end.

That emotional resilience and strength is what Kim Dokja admires in his only male role model.

Now let’s turn our eyes to the women in ORV.

Oh, this is so juicy.

The characters that show the most development in both the short and long time, with the exception of Lee Hyunsung, are women. I'm just gonna name some of the women in the early scenarios. There are so, so, so many other examples, from constellations to YJH's mentor, etc.

In order of appearance (I think):

Yoo Sangah

The most adaptable character of the earlier chapters

She starts chapter 1 as a high-achieving, kind of prim lady. She very quickly makes a deal with her constellation to become a badass who wears a catsuit, becoming stronger and stronger, kicking asses and taking names. She's also still good with kids.

Once it's established she's not a love interest, though, her prominence largely fades from the story. Side-eye.

Jung Heewon

Literally the best person KDJ knows. The moral high-ground and trauma-buster.

As previously mentioned, her first appearance in ORV is as an SA victim. Within about 10 minutes of reading time, she shows that she's able to put aside her trauma and discomfort to get shit done (a very traditionally masculine trait, by the way). She serves as the absolute good of KimCom and is often portrayed at the angel on his shoulder. She's also one of the strongest characters in the series by the end.

Shin Yoosoung

The little girl who believed she was evil, and eventually became it until she defied her fate.

A little girl who will one day become a villain. It can't be understated how complex this girl's trauma is from the moment we meet her, especially knowing that her fate is to be betrayed and trapped in slavery for all of eternity.

Kim Sookyung

The Wanderer King, Kim Dokjas mother, a false villain.

Fate did Kim Sookie dirty.

First of all, she introduced Kim Dokja to reading and the joy of reading things again and again, which eventually led him to Ways of Survival.

When Kim Dokja killed his abusive father as a young child, she framed herself so that she'd take the fall for the incident.

She wrote a book to collect royalties and help him live an independent life while she was in prison. To protect him from the truth, she let herself be the villain to her own son.

He held onto that — he was bullied in school because of her, and he didn't know the truth. So he resented her.

And when the truth came out, and Kim Dokja realized she wasn't the villain, she was eaten by the Fourth Wall. Holy shit. Of course, she was spit right back out when Dokja begged for it, but holy shit.

Long story short: not only was she not a villain, she maintained an unconditional familial and selfless love for Kim Dokja and protected him from the worst trauma imaginable by taking on the role of a villain.

Kim Dokja as a woman.

In my opinion. Just mine. Based on all the above.

Kim Dokja as a woman in explorative fics is fascinating to me.

As someone who's never resonated with traditionally masculinity, admired the story for what it was, defied it in the way he did, and admired the protagonist in a deeply emotional way, I just... just...

AH.

Ruthless, cunning, manipulative, largely (largely) asexual (we don't have to get into that here), and probably (maybe?) aromantic (definitely aromantic) — these are all traits that subvert traditional femininity too.

And I have to say — the family of cishet wiil-they-won't-they tropes could also be greatly subverted here, because this isn't a romance. It's a story about companionship.

I want emotional intimacy without the physical intimacy. I want the physical intimacy without the emotional intimacy. I want platonic love explored without emotional or physical intimacy at all.

But most importantly, I want it from a female character. Because I think that would be fucking cool. I’m tired of “woman with bow and arrow hates dresses and isn’t like other girls,” and I’m also tired of, “woman likes dresses but goes so super traditionally feminine that she eschews any masculine traits at all.” There’s a flavor of empowerment in both. But I want to see a next evolution, pleeeease.

[sleepdeprived-idiot]

I've been having orv on my mind lately

doing the best to ward of the urges to be extremely annoying about it

[directorofnight]

8. [ORV] Yoohankim

Han Sooyoung could feel Yoo Joonghyuk's sword pierced her chest, basically she also didn't intend to replace Kim Dokja's role and sacrificed herself for the sake of others.

But what if... What if her actions could give Kim Dokja the epilogue he's always wanted to see?

Han Sooyoung smiled at Yoo Joonghyuk who was looking down at the bloodstained floor. Her hand reached for the man's hair, "You've done well." Han Sooyoung could feel the iron taste in her mouth, the chill all over her body and the other feelings of dying that she didn't like.

Yoo Joonghyuk chuckled, "You two are the same... Selfish, jerk, dumber than the dumbest."

Han Sooyoung laughed, "Is that your last words for me?"

[<Star Stream> Ready to turn off]

Yoo Joonghyuk looked at the woman, pulled then hug her like it was the last time. Han Sooyoung didn't expect that, but she closed her eyes As her body is getting weaker.

[<Star Stream> will turn off in 30 seconds]

"Idiot... You idiot." Yoo Joonghyuk squeezed the lifeless body. Tls123 was dead, millions of fables exploded and spread through the air. The chain of chaos from the epilogue happened again, what was supposed to be 'Never Ending Story' now forced to end with Death of the Creator of this world.

[<Star Stream> Has been turned off ]

The messages keep popping up uncontrollably along with other error notification. Yoo Joonghyuk didn't cry, he really didn't cry. He was just pensive as he looked up at the gray sky.

He hates the chains of their destiny that is twisted in a terrible way. Why can't the three of them just live happily? Something normal, casual story with normal problems.

About a gamer, a writer and a reader who are friends and love to hang out together. Why can't they just be like that?

They should have each other, but why do they always end up having nothing but the terrible endless life?

[<Star Stream> Ready to turn on]

[3]

[2]

[1]

[...]

[<Star Stream> It's been turned on]

And... Kim Dokja opened his eyes from the hospital ward after a long coma. 

A notification appear on his screen.

[You are no longer 'The most ancient dream']

"Now I know, the reason why they hate self-sacrifice so bad."He muttered on His weak voice while laughing hollowly.

And Tears came out of the boy's eyes.

[wovenstarlight]

as someone who read orv and got a bit fucked up by the ending, would you recommend sranks? what kinda warnings would you give, like, concerning the story n the kinda things that happen in it. I know it's 800 chapters long which means A Lot must happen so I'm not expecting depth or even you to answer this but I'm curious anyway.

honestly it depends on what exactly fucked up you about the ending of orv... i can kind of give general content warnings for s-ranks, if that'd help? but really whether or not i'd recommend s-ranks depends on how you felt about the themes in orv. i'll do the bulk of the answer under a cut for people's dashes but i can go over some of the themes and things they have/don't have in common, plus general content warnings for s-ranks

disclaimer that, honestly, i'm not exactly sure how to answer this??? i'd need to know more about your personal likes and dislikes to be able to more accurately assess whether you'd enjoy s-ranks or if it'd fuck you up like orv did :( so this is gonna be kinda vague and general

disclaimer 2 i'm not the best at analysis so this is probably gonna be somewhat lacking.

disclaimer 3 i don't know that this is an exhaustive list of comparisons!! it might very well have stuff missing. i'll add things in a reblog if i notice any glaring omissions later though

alright first off themes and topics comparison

orv is heavy on like meta-narrative stuff. S-Ranks Is Very Much Not!!! it's an action adventure fantasy story. at their base the major thing they share in terms of setting is just "the world will suffer an apocalypse if we don't fight off [insert enemy/monsters here]". in some ways that means s-ranks is more straightforward, i suppose... in terms of not having meta discussions about the story, i mean. DEFINITELY NOT in terms of having a less complex and roundabout and interlinking plot.

there ARE some themes they share though which is like. i guess Control might be one? control over your own life, having your life controlled by someone else.... mind control shows up extremely frequently as a story element in s-ranks. geunseo really likes exploring control and power dynamics.

identity is also something that comes up a bunch, mostly focused around the different versions of people from before/after the regression, but also how people define themselves in relation to others, that sort of thing... humanity and normality, particularly with the s-ranks in question

one thing orv and s-ranks have in common is a WONDERFUL depiction of a variety of relationships. han yoojin's relationships with his brother and ward and friends and assorted allies, and THEIR relationships with each other, are really charmingly deep and complex and lively and it's one of my favorite aspects of s-ranks. hell, one of the major characters is literally a fucking cat and HIS relationships with han yoohyun and han yoojin are complex and deep. like geunseo did NOT skimp out on this aspect, it's incredible.

complex characters in general really. people will have the best intentions and do unbelievably cruel things to their loved ones. people will be immensely kind and loving, and convinced they're irredeemably evil and fucked up and sick in the head. people WILL be sick in the head and convinced they're completely normal. people will be loving and caring and then acid-melt a dude into a puddle for being rude. characters aren't one-dimensional, is what i'm trying to say, and sing shong + geunseo both do really well with this. also being inside han yoojin's head as the POV character is a lot like kim dokja because they will both of them reveal some absolutely batshit insane thought process and then continue about their day like they didn't just say something absolutely wack.

more in terms of plot elements and storyline, it is a fantasy story so its high in ACTION SEQUENCES and DRAMATIC PLOT-FILLED FIGHTS but also graphic violence/death/murder and that sort of thing. common with orv in that way. i like that sort of action-y thing in both novels

but yeah if you liked orv's action and worldbuilding and contract negotiations then you will greatly enjoy s-ranks' More Action and More Worldbuilding and So Much More Contract Negotiation It's Genuinely Stunning (that last bit plays into the power dynamics thing i mentioned earlier, sort of)

also similarly to orv, s-ranks isn't shy about discussing darker/heavier things? like beyond stuff like depression/suicide + alcoholism there's characters who have been (Severely emotionally) (but also some cases physically) abused, there's instances of what's pretty much sexual assault, kidnapping happens a BUNCH of times, my guy almost gets straight up sold into slavery at one point (possibly multiple points). a lot of devaluing of human life from some folks. it's less in the orv-style "The world is ending so humans are going wild" and more just, people are like this sometimes and it fucking sucks :/ but the dungeons definitely did not help.

i realize now that that last bit is starting to turn into a trigger warning list so i'll turn my attention to that. this is going to have spoilers because i'll be naming some characters and vaguely describing some events so you know what to watch out for

this might get overspecific and super long but i'm just covering my bases!! webnovels can get pretty intense i don't want anyone getting hurt because i was too vague

DEATH AND MURDER AND VIOLENCE GRAPHIC VIOLENCE VERY MUCH DEATH I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH. body parts get dissolved with acid. in the webtoon people get eaten alive. when i say graphic i mean Graphic.

(W.R.T. the death and murder, do note that orv-style, Death Is Not Always The End, there's at least one character who's just inexplicably running around fucking things up for people despite being Most Definitely Dead so ???)

Dungeons/End Of The World plot and all the drama that comes with that

MAJOR warning for thing that has put a lot of people off s-ranks (the novel) in the early stages: s-ranks (the characters) are very, personalities cranked up to 10, and they can get really (maybe uncomfortably) possessive and bitchy about things they like (han yoojin, the MC) to the point where people have described them as yandere types?? i personally don't consider it yandere (honestly i absolutely hate yandere stuff but the s-ranks' behavior doesn't bother me) so your mileage may vary on this one. read at your own risk. (if this is a concern for you, i can say that they do get a bit better about it as time passes, largely since hyj has expressed discomfort with how they act towards him. sung hyunjae's a big offender in terms of dehumanizing others to describe them as his possessions, but even he quits that after hyj lashes out at him for it)

definitely linked to above, there's a major loss of autonomy for hyj because of how restrictive the s-ranks can be. generally restrictions tend towards confinement/not allowing him to leave the house + constantly having guards watching over him fuckin panopticon style /hj + keeping him in the dark about major matters regarding him. like I said before hyj DOES protest and feel uncomfortable with a lot of this (quite understandably!) but sometimes he chooses not to fight it and just lets them do whatever. sung hyunjae + some of the people hyj loves most (like han yoohyun) are the worst offenders but there are a few others who contribute to this, and hyj is frequently treated in a very dehumanizing manner. It Kinda Sucks For Him! though he does speak up about it being uncomfortable it's unfortunately become kind of unremarkable in the narrative

depression and suicidal thoughts/suicide attempts from multiple characters but most notably han yoojin (depression, attempted suicide in the webtoon), yoo myeongwoo (both, attempted), and sung hyunjae (both, thoughts)

abuse, emotional and physical, largely from (former) guardians of various characters.... child neglect also.... this is depicted on-screen in some cases so please be careful. some characters with severe self-worth issues and self-hatred as a result of said abuse (noah luire in particular. he's working on it)

cannot emphasize enough how often hyj gets drugged and kidnapped and imprisoned and then sometimes violently tortured. even despite the poison resistance. possibly Due to the fear resistance. it's a whole thing.

Mind Control and manipulation/manipulative characters. lighter early on (some unintentional manipulation/mind control and the character does damage control where he can), but extremely frequent as we get into later stages. a lot of cases where characters get possessed by their alternate selves/some totally different fucker who makes them do shit against their will, often to upsetting degrees (think trapped inside your own body and unable to do anything but watch as you Violently Murder Your Better (Worse?) Half With Your Bare Hands)

kind of linked to the above, memory loss/manipulation - one character has memory manipulation powers and some others have had their memories forcibly altered or even wiped against their will

less a trigger warning and more a trope warning, because this does bother me: there's a lot of This Is For Your Own Good from the main cast as well as the antagonists, where "This" ranges anywhere from abandonment to abuse to gaslighting to forced memory alteration to.... arranged marriages? it's 800 chapters ok Stuff Happens. there's an honest to god octopus involved at some point.

identity shenangians...? though less in the orv-style Identity Theft sense and more people's senses of self, since the regression created two versions of some characters (one from the new "future" and one from the original "past") and some characters are particularly [waves hand] about establishing themselves in the wake of that. see above re: getting possessed by alternate selves, also

Trauma holy shit hyj's trauma comes up a lot. abandonment and loneliness and grief and loss. i already mentioned this but the possessive stuff from the s-ranks does also result in pretty much codependency between the han brothers at least, along with some others. later into the novel hyj suffers from panic attacks and dissociation because of certain triggers. some other characters also get triggered and attack people violently.

frankly absurd amount of limb loss??? someone's lost an arm. someone threatened to rip someone's leg off. someone's lost an ear. i know i already said graphic violence but i can never repeat it too much, and at this point i'm just covering my bases.

sexual assault comes up more rarely, once in an early scene and then somewhat later on there are... suggestive?? scenes??? it's hard to parse through MTL but this one is much more easily skippable and not a major theme. you don't have to worry about this too much.

writing all this down makes it seem a little ("""a little""") overwhelming and Extremely fucked up but then again it very much is... an 800 chapter novel! so there's a lot more room to fit in fucked up shit.

but there very much are reasons for people to keep reading anyway, for me it's the character relationships (not necessarily romantic ships i just get my brain cooked like an egg when people interact in any way at all in this novel) and the time travel plot, so if you stick with it for a while i think you'll find something you'll like!

[fagcrisis]

if you put kim dokja in eskew hed get out under two episodes. if u put him in revachol however hed try to solve it like a puzzle and develop several more neuroses. if u put harrier du bois in eskew hed succumb to the city completely after like an hour but if you put him in orv hed thrive (differently than kdj but he would) if you put david ward in revachol hed have a chill time working at frittte hed have a communist gf if u put him in orv hed become uriels favorite scrunkly this post makes sense to probably like 5 entire people and only one of them will see it

[orvreread]

the orv-wards (21-30)

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is shutting off his heart.]

this is sp's message during kdj's third death and damn. imagine sp, burnt out from so many losses and deaths and tragedies, but even he must remind himself to not be emotional when kdj dies

At this point, it already wasn't a normal conversation between mother and son. [...] We knew too much about how to hurt each other.

kdj and his mom's relationship is so layered. i love that kdj never 100% forgives her but she also never asks for his forgiveness. they are a mom and son who are always going to be reminded of that man

Nirvana looked at me and gritted his teeth. "…You are beyond my imagination." "I hear that often.”

this is a hilarious response to a 1000 yr old reincarnator

Yoo Joonghyuk thought about it for a while before finally letting her go. 'If you mention him in front of me again, I really will kill you'.

shout out to one of the first hsy and yjh interactions without kdj as a buffer. and he was still a buffer.

“Why the hell does the scenario exist?' The answers to this question were different. For example, the returnee Kyrgios Rodgraim said: Without it, the universe would be too lonely.

the tragedy of the truth. the scenarios and the story were to help a small boy not feel alone amidst the cruelty of reality

and these quotes- my beloveds:

It was the first time I noticed that Yoo Joonghyuk's back was so big and wide. His back was wide and lonely.

If I was really a god, then I was the most incompetent god in the world. The most helpless god in the world who knew everything but couldn't explain anything.

[jilted-love]

I created kidified Kim Dokja at the end of ORV from the epilogues. When Demon King of Salvation wakes up in his hospital ward and leads their company again even if he's taking time to regain his soul (and height).

[whgmasterofceremonies]

WHG 17 - Day 1

36 pedestals rise up onto shallow islands of grass amid a sea of mud. In the center, a giant cornucopia rests, overflowing with resources and weapons. Beyond the clearing, it looks like an ecologist tried to explain the differences between swamps, marshes, fens, etc. and the bored game designer responded with, “Why not just put them all in?” Dozens of rivers crash from higher grounds, leading to false oceans with vicious waves. The arena is huge, oblong and confusing in shape, and ridden with mutated plantlife.

As the first sixty seconds tick down, a fine mist begins to fall. Distant thunder rumbles. As if in echo, the horn sounds as the countdown reaches zero, and it’s time to get bloody.

Finn gets the first ofishal--sorry, official kill of the Games with Julian keen to keep up! One Oliver Rook comes out swinging and Deacon makes a bit of an ignoble move. A few other tributes decide to take the moral high ground and work together, while others like Anton Ward and Caelum Chen look to make themselves dangerous. I am particularly concerned about Ward.

And by “concerned” I mean totally excited! And that was just the first five minutes! Let’s see how our now 34 tributes fare for the rest of their first day!

Nico unfortunately discovers a new talent in trap detection! File that one under “failure.” Fernando kills one Stone with...whatever she had on her at the time. That’s it for the deaths for now, despite Caelum’s best efforts! Now, that’s what I call a game of fast chess.

In the meantime, Bastian Smyth gets homesick a whopping 6 hours into the Games, a bunch of folks rob an android, and we see some generous sponsors!

As the artificial sun sets on this watery wasteland, the cannons fire four more times and the faces and names of the day’s fallen tributes light up the holographic sky.

And then the fun begins afresh!

Caelum sets off for heaven and Aidan bows out...get it...bow...like in archery...fletchers make arrows...Anyway, Evelyn Haskell succumbs to gravity, Charlie spills his guts, a local deer god gets back at management by sticking it to Orville Violet-Verduzco, whose boss also dies along with Danica Vesrani. (I was really looking forward to seeing Ward use those explosives, too.)

Some people didn’t die, though! It’s a narrow miss for Lara Aigua, and Ferret also seems to be having a problem, plus some general crying and failure. Good on Chrissy for keeping it positive.

Thanks for tuning in to Day 1! We’re just warming up, folks, and I’ll see you here tomorrow for more!

District 1

Deputy Buzzkill (she/her), @ratracechronicler ​

Danica Vesrani (she/her), @alannaofroses

Meilan Liu (she/her), @starryeve88

District 2

Adrestia/“Drest” (she/her), @concealeddarkness13

Oliver Rook (they/them), @pen-of-roses

Kito Faraji (he/him), @starryeve88

District 3

Neuron (he/him), @knmartinshouldbewriting

Ad Lib (she/her), @knmartinshouldbewriting ​

Safia Sauda (she/her), @starryeve88 ​

District 4

Avanda Alistairion (she/her), @scribbles-to-feed-the-void ​

Evander Moore (he/him), @pen-of-roses

Jack (she/her), @onthetipofmyquill ​

District 5

Aidan Fletcher (he/him), @alannaofroses ​

Bastian Smyth (he/him), @alannaofroses ​

Vonnie Stone (she/her), @sparkles-and-hens ​

District 6

Charlie (he/him), @very-bi-giraffe ​

Jack (he/him), @very-bi-giraffe ​

Carsen (he/him), @onthetipofmyquill ​

District 7

Caelum Chen (he/him), @scribbles-to-feed-the-void ​

Mica (he/him), @maple-writes ​

Julian (he/him), @onthetipofmyquill ​

District 8

Fernando (he/him), @written-in-gold ​

Finn (he/him), @crazy-like-us ​

Deacon Noble (she/her), @childrenoflight-darkness-nothing

District 9

Amara (she/her), @written-in-gold ​

Lara Aigua (she/her), @crazy-like-us ​

Tyde Westbrook (he/him), @childrenoflight-darkness-nothing

District 10

Chrissy (he/him), @written-in-gold ​

Jasper Perle (he/him), @crazy-like-us ​

Evelyne Haskell (she/her), @childrenoflight-darkness-nothing

District 11

Nico Talent (she/her), @spacebrick3 ​

Orville Violet-Verduzco (she/her), @spacebrick3 ​

Anton Ward (he/him), @spacebrick3 ​

District 12

Chess (she/her), @concealeddarkness13

Zazu Hodkins (he/him), @vermontwrites

Ferret O’Connor (he/him), @scribbles-to-feed-the-void ​

[eyes-of-mischief]

weekly fic recs | 4

prompt: murder

fandoms: aftg, aot, bnha, bsd, hp, tw, orv

aftg

trivial questions about a triple murder (with answers) by Leocante

(graphic depictions of violence)

Nathan Wesninski was dead. And so was Lola Malcolm. Romero Malcolm. They were all dead, their bodies scattered over the floors tainted with blood, with the prospect of peace. Baltimore could start healing.

Nathan Wesninski was dead, but his killer was smiling, and Andrew couldn't shake off the feeling that it wasn't the end of anything. The city thrived off crime, and the crime itself was so much bigger than a triple murder. So much more important in the bright white of the interrogation room.

The killer was smiling. Andrew sat into a chair across him.

Cameras stayed off.

Innominate by Major_816

(explicit) (graphic depictions of violence, rape/non-con)

An AU where Mary never got Nathaniel out. Instead, he became too invaluable of an asset to be killed off or 'gifted' to Tetsuji. Instead, he's raised with Ichirou and Jean as a part of Ichirou's inner circle.

He'd always had a knack for languages and lying and all the 'messy stuff' came easily enough when your father is called the Butcher of Baltimore. So Nathaniel became the Wraith. He was untraceable, unknowable, infalliable; a criminal fairytale.

When Kevin Day leaves the Nest, there's no better person to send.

~

"Who the hell are you?" Andrew demanded.

He wasn't anyone, not really; not anymore. He hadn't really been anyone in years now. There'd been a time. Once. But there were entire lifetimes between who he could have been and what he'd become. He could taste it sometimes; blackberries and sand stinging his tongue like the iron branded on his shoulder.

It was easier to pretend he'd never been anyone at all.

"I'm nothing," he answered. The ghost of a smile pulled at his lips; sharp and cruel. "A wraith." The Wraith, he didn't say, but the shadows ran through Andrew's eyes and he wondered if Andrew had heard it anyways.

Shake My Tomb by exactly13percent_OLD (hymbeaux)

(explicit)

Nathaniel Wesninski takes his father's life and his father's title at the age of twelve. He kills a man at thirteen.

At eighteen, Kevin Day comes to him for help.

The Butcher of Baltimore is a name that used to mean something. Under Nathaniel's direction, the Wesninski Family has become an entirely different beast. They are the shadow thrown by the fire of the Moriyamas. Nathaniel isn't one to interfere with something bigger and more dangerous than him, but Kevin's position means something to him. Kevin, and the strange family he brings with him.

Maybe even Andrew, the one that challenges Nathaniel the most—and the one that Nathaniel finds himself drawn to. There's a lot at stake, though, and Nathaniel has nothing left to lose. Nothing but himself.

aot

Holy Ground by verynotconcise

(explicit) (graphic depictions of violence)

Levi had been in the business too long for his instincts to fail him, and sometimes his instincts were screaming at him that there was something suppressed, buried deep within Eren— and whatever it was, it was dangerous.

Serial killer AU where Eren is a serial killer and Levi is his partner (in crime).

bnha

dripping blood by writedeku

(explicit) (graphic depictions of violence, major character death)

The first time Midoriya Izuku killed someone was at the tender age of fourteen and it was the school custodian; there were rumours this janitor was up to no good in the darkened hours of the school, and when Izuku found himself on the receiving end he’d snapped, and it'd felt amazing.

[Content] by Teobot

For all that the heroes save them, For all that the villains harm them, For all that the world allows them, There is not a thing that slips Between the boy and his ward.

-

Midoriya Izuku finds solace in the death of Chisaki Kai, even if it has come far more quickly than he anticipated. Next time, he’ll have to give himself a bit longer. A chance to draw it out.

Pity.

At least Eri is safe now.

bsd

nakajima atsushi and the ongoing struggle not to kill anyone by inuyasha (laurakinnie)

(graphic depictions of violence)

“The Boss has his own plans about how to approach this,” Akutagawa says in a purposeful, strong voice that’s trying too hard not to be an admission of guilt. “This way is more beneficial to both of us.”

“A recruitment pitch? You want me to work with you?”

“No,” Akutagawa scoffs. “You’re an idiot who can’t take directions and wastes too much time on moral crises. I just don’t want to kill you anymore.”

(otherwise known as “atsushi takes over the port mafia: slowburn edition”)

liar, liar by setosdarkness

(mature)

It’s been nearly four years since the infamous double suicide from Yokohama University.

Four days before its anniversary, a note is left behind at the local precinct, claiming that the double suicide is in fact a murder – and claiming that the ghosts of Dazai and Nakahara will resurrect for one night to obtain their vengeance.

As they say, two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.

hp

The Untouchable by TreacleTeacups

(mature) (graphic depictions of violence)

When he's little, Harry discovers something Very Special: he can make his wishes come true. Literally.

In which a young boy discovers a way to slide under the radar and the profound consequences that follow. What happens when you've taught yourself to become untouchable?

Rated M for a lack of moral conscience, the occasional murder, and a graphic dark theme here and there (because why not?). Happily Ever After, Voldemort style.

tw

Vengeance Looks Good On You, Sweetheart by cywscross

Just because Scott refuses to see the Argents for what they truly are - prejudiced serial killers sitting proudly on a mountain of innocent corpses - doesn't mean Stiles will. It's about time someone did something about the Argent Empire anyway, and what a coincidence - summer vacation is just around the corner.

--

Or, the one where Gerard Argent kidnapped the wrong fucking person to torture. Stiles has never subscribed to the policy of forgiving and forgetting anyway, not when razing the problem to the ground and salting the earth for good measure has always been a far better solution in the long run.

He doesn't expect to have company.

orv

rip my heart in two (for you) by ekideme

(explicit) (graphic depictions of violence)

Yoo Joonghyuk is a serial killer. Kim Dokja is an assassin.

It's a match made in hell.

[skiddlyskrong]

23 March 2022, Wednesday

Finished ORV yesterday and wow, what an experience, what an insane ride. Needed a full day to compose myself and organize my emotions and thoughts. Took me about 12 days to finish the whole web-novel and the ending was spectacular. The way they see KDJ’s fables begin retelling their stories as they run as a parallel to them crossing the Fourth Wall and the fables sending them off? The way they stumble and fall in their haste to get there and them helping each other get back up?? The way HSY’s inner monologue perfectly compliments the scene of them rushing towards the hospital ward??? I would get more into the character developments and how epic the characters are (HSY girlboss queen) but I wouldn’t be able to do them justice in describing how impactful the characters are. The authors really managed to tie everything together at the end (Holy Trinity KDJ, HSY & YJH fight me) and delivered such a poetic satisfactory ending. Literal chills. Though we won’t see their epic tear-jerking happy reunion they had been waiting literal years for, I think that this ending was beautiful in its own way. Shoutout to the translators and big thank you to the authors for producing such an incredible web-novel!! (Chapter 551)

(whispering) step on me

[orvreread]

the orv-wards (11-20)

top 5 quotes/moments over the 10 episodes in order of heaviness of the vibe (lightest first):

[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is chanting his own modifier.]

orv does such a good job of giving constellations personality and character despite only being portrayed in twitch comments

She looked between Yoo Joonghyuk's black coat and my white coat before opening her mouth. "By the way, are you a couple?" "…It is just a coincidence. It is a common design.”

i know shipper goggles is a thing but... come on

The thousands of constellations disappeared and my mind became heavy like a crowded subway.… My brain became overloaded the moment I contacted six constellations at the same time. The Great Bear stars started talking.

my intro to orv was the webtoon. i remember reading it liking the characters but kdj summoning each star in ursa major was the scene that truly hooked me to the point i wanted to explore the novel

“Then… who among the three has the most delicious meat?”

orv takes the trope of transmigration to another world and is like.. what would really happen? 17 yr old boys are not known for their problem solving skills

Humans were weak. However, there was one thing overlooked by the stars who were only afraid of a great probability. It was that all the myths on Earth started from the weak humans they ignored.

i love the moments in orv where humans are recognized for the influence and impact they hold. i view orv as an optimistic novel at the end of it. yes the novel shows humans' needless brutality and the tragedy inherent in humanity, but it also shows the moments of deep love. the love that is selfless and selfish and careful and reckless. we don't consume stories passively. no... we give myths and stories all of our love and imagination to the point we give it life. i don't know why... but this just reminds me of that