#the authors of this story came up with kim dokja & then were like put that man into situations [that require him to have tentacles]

[kim-dokja-you-adjective-bastard]

kim dokja you incomprehensible, monstrous, walled-off bastard.

kim dokja you dead bastard.

[your--isgayrights]

3, 5, 17, 34 :?

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

Oooh hmm... Its hard to compare stuff I’ve written to other people’s writing, but I guess that the things I try to add to my writing that I wish there was more of is like, an emphasis on the relationships between characters more than plot developments, and weighing out the sort of long term emotional consequences of certain life events. I try to write every scene that I do with a specific purpose, and I have this specific feeling in mind while writing that I want to make sure is communicated to the reader so that they can understand it. Another big thing when I’m writing fic, mostly, is that I always want the reader to remember that they know who these characters are. There are a lot of AU fics that I’ve read where I’m just like... this is a great story, but I wonder why the author didn’t just use original characters, since it doesn’t really remind me of the original work. So I guess I think a significant feature of my fics is playing off the original text in a specific way?

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

Ahhh, I’m the type who sees the flaws in older works rather clearly... I’d say that I’m rather proud of the first fic that I ever finished mostly because I just managed to finish it. It was only eight chapters long and I don’t think I like the writers craft much now, but if I think about it I think that I was putting something really genuine into it while writing that I’m proud that I managed to get out. Although, I have to say that I’m pretty proud of the direction that “and at the very least, the wall will change.” is going, even if its still a WIP. There’s some sections of it that I really want people to see, but I need to put in the build up first for it to properly make sense.

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for.

Hmm... Well, there’s some obvious ones like the fact that I’m not really an nsfw writer or someone who does like trauma p*rn or gore or things like that. But I think a more fun answer is that I’m never going to write a love at first sight kind of fic. I’m kind of a big slowburn guy, and I really like writing relationships between people who have long, complicated histories with one another. I also don’t really know what it feels like to look at someone and feel attracted to them romantically right away, so its not something I would ever write about.

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of. 

Under the cut because I picked a long one!

“Won't you be mad with me, though?” Shin Yoosung hid her face against his leg as she asked him this sad question in that very small voice of hers. “For making you take care of Biyoo on your own…”

 …

It… it was an odd moment, because Kim Dokja had the realization that if he had known she was someone who knew Yoo Jonghyuk, he probably would have never spoken to the little girl who seemed so concerned over him now at all.

And he had been so preoccupied about this problem that only affected him that he hadn’t noticed that this kind girl was feeling so down on herself just now… truly he was a person who was far too self-concerned.

Kim Dokja extracted his leg from this young girl whose sense of responsibility was so admirable. She let him go with little resistance, seemingly not surprised by the action. The girl continued to hide her face by staring down at the ground.

He then crouched down so that he could meet Shin Yoosung’s eyes, putting his hand on her shoulder as he did.

 “Of course I’m not mad at you, Yoosung-ah.” He reassured her in the warmest voice he could manage. “After all, how can I really claim to be the only one taking care of Biyoo, when you’ve already helped me so much.”

He gently brushed some of her hair aside, so that her eyes, which had become slightly wet at this point, could meet his own.

“You saved Biyoo’s life when you took her in from the snow.” He wanted to make sure that this was something that Shin Yoosung completely understood. “She would have died if you hadn’t rescued her, you know that?”

The young girl who was not quite yet crying wiped her face a little. “I-I know that.” She said the right words, but in a voice that made Kim Dokja believe she didn’t quite understand the significance of them.

“And, you know,” Kim Dokja went on, “If I had been the one to find Biyoo in the snow, I wouldn’t have known what to do at all. It’s because you know so much about animals, and care so much about them, that you were able to save her life, and tell me all of the important instructions on how to properly take care of her. So every time I remember those words that you gave to me, and use them to properly take care of Biyoo, that’s you saving her life again, alright?”

 “A-alright…” Shin Yoosung sniffled a bit, but nodded her head.

 Kim Dokja cursed himself a bit, thinking that all the odd things he had suddenly started to say had made Shin Yoosung a little more emotional.

 “So you’ve done enough.” He summarized what he had wanted to say to her. “You can just go enjoy your dinner now, and not feel so guilty about it, okay?”

 “O-okay.” Shin Yoosung nodded once more, this time more vigorously. As if she really believed him.

Good. He patted the girl once more on the top of her head, before standing back up.

I don’t know if this came across in text because no one really commented on it, but this scene of KDJ comforting SYS was really important to me, one of the most important scenes in the chapter. It sort of mirrors this feeling I was having about some of my friends and the way that I loved them and how the positive things they have said to me over the years carry me on. Everytime I remember someone that I truly love, I remember a different way that they saved my life. And well, in fiction I don’t want to give too much away before chapter six, but I do want to mention that all of the relationship moments I choose to include follow similar themes for a reason, and I’m a bit proud of how the continuity is starting to flow together as I write more scenes in chapter 4.

[khorale]

Regression Instruction Manual

This is a Korean webnovel that I’ve been very interested in lately. Since I can’t really find much content on tumblr for it, I guess I’ll start making my own.

Now, this is a pretty popular webnovel in Korea - not as much as the Holy Trinity, but still highly rated. And despite the main story being complete at 877 chapters, the sidestories are still ongoing! The sidestories are pretty much a continuation, and the story is currently 1350+ chapters long. It may seem super long (more than twice the length of ORV!), but stories like these always gets finished quickly and leaving you wanting more.

It’s not that I finished the novel, but I’ve got a bad habit of jumping around so although I’m technically at chapter 120 of the novel, I know too much of the future plot to be going into it blind. It’s okay though, because it only makes me want to read it more.

I’m planning to start the manhwa/novel from the beginning and liveblog my way through to the point where I left off, then continue until I finish the main story. The english translation has stopped at 877 at the end of the main story, and the mtl stops at chapter 946. The only way to continue from there is to buy the korean chaters and translate them. Luckily, it really doesn’t cost much. If my liveblogs last until I get there, I might even do summaries (but srsly, it’s like 10 cents each and the mtl is mostly readable, so buy it and support the author!). It all depends on how long I stay in the fandom.

I’m going to talk more about the series under here. If you don’t want to follow along my readthrough, just blacklist #rim liveblog

Plot synopsis: The series starts out with the main character, Lee Kiyoung, transported with a bunch of other people from Earth to a different world. They were put in a ‘Tutorial Dungeon’ where only the ones who survive can head to the new world. There is a System setting and Dungeon setting like a lot of Korean novels, and when Lee Kiyoung checked his, he discovered that his stats and potential are the worst of the worst. However, his luck came when he met a regressor who came back from a doomed future - Kim Hyunsung. With his ticket to survival secured, Lee Kiyoung joins up with Kim Hyunsung to get through the Tutorial Dungeon and prepares for the danger that the regressor returned for.

One of the reasons I can think of for why this story isn’t popular in the English-speaking fandom are probably a few things: 

1)  Lee Kiyoung

The main character is trash. Not ‘character-thinks-he’s-trash-but-is-actually-a-good-person’ like Dokja or Cale, but a legit manipulative and shameless dude who’s probably more evil than the other antagonists in the series. He starts out with terrible stats and growth potential but still gaslight gatekeep girlbosses his way into becoming the continent’s light and savior. You either end up loving him or hating him - and for me he’s one of the most unique protagonists I’ve seen. It’s fun to follow his schemes, even if you end up cursing at him a lot along the way.

Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t like ‘weak mc’ or ‘morally-bankrupt-mc’ so they end up dropping the series. But hey, once you get far enough into the series you can tell that he does care for his allies and people, and the lengths he’d go for the sake of achieving his ideal scenario is insane. I’m a sucker for complex characters who have many layers and also character developments, so I really like it. I’d love to talk more about him but we’ll be here all day.

2) Jung Hayan (and others)

Yanderes. I shouldn’t excuse this since I also don’t like yanderes as a character archtype so I perfectly understand why people drop the series because of it. Jung Hayan is like a ticking timebomb that constantly needs to be babysat and also one of the strongest characters in the story. Which makes room for a lot of horror-movie style scenes. At least she is loyal and doesn’t want to hurt Kiyoung, but that still doesn’t excuse a lot of what she does.

She’s not the only person interested in Kiyoung either. Kiyoung has a hidden skill/characteristic that makes dangerous people of the opposite gender attracted to him... which... is very dangerous when yanderes are involved. Even more so when Kiyoung just has a talent for seducing people of any gender.

3) Harem? BL?

Another pain point is the harem tag. For this one I’d say is: don’t trust the harem tag. Although there’s loads of people interested in Kiyoung and his romantic relationships are all over the place, it’s not the main focus of the story. In fact, he doesn’t seem to be that romantically interested in any of the women and gets along with them to appease them. No, many times, his thoughts are about how handsome and good Kim Hyunsung is. There are SO many moments where their bromance gets dangerously suggestive that there’s an in-universe novel series about their love story. I honestly couldn’t find many moments where he was thinking about women the same way. It’s ORV all over again 😂

Anyway, these were all the times that I think are people’s issues with the story. If you can bear through it, I’d definitely recommend it. This fandom is too small! 😭😭😭