#and the author is hsy...

[hashbrowne08]

Spoilers for the epilogue

I love how daytime hsy sees "kim dokja" commenting on every episode and thinks "wow naming your alt account "reader" huh? Really subtle"

Where as nighttime hsy just sees it and goes "nooo you naive child don't name your account your full name!"

[00a-calabi]

한수영!!

my wife btw

[reminiscem]

Kaizenix.

I will never get over Kaizenix; HSY waited 50 years for her sole reader.

The way her speech began to slowly change, it began to fade, yet she still waited, she still showed us she perfectly knows her reader.

⸢Oh, my sole reader. This is the tale of a certain woman who managed to survive in the messed-up scenario.⸥

Goosebumps began slowly rising up from the ends of my neck. This was the recorded history of Han Sooyoung's life; words containing her rage, her resentment, and her longing.

⸢I don't know whether you're a suitable guy for this 'three methods' or not, but at the least, I'm sure of this one thing.⸥

The following words were eerily similar to a certain body of text that I was familiar with.

⸢The you reading this story will definitely make it out of here alive.⸥

The TWSA/ORV beginning foreshadowing is showing.

[arachnidlily]

“I won’t give up on this life”

[ambigirl]

Have y'all ever thought about YooHan relationship!?

About "Yoo Joonghyuk's true intention wasn't the final ark, but he wished to die in that place, by the hands of the one who wrote the very first sentence of him."

[metanarrates]

its interesting to me that the common sentiment appears to be that han sooyoung intended for jang hayoung to be trans. I think there's room for multiple interpretations, but I view being trans in orv as being inherently tied to the themes of self-actualization, as well as the idea that a narrative is unable to be fully defined by either author or reader. put more simply, jang hayoung is trans regardless of either kim dokja OR han sooyoung's intentions in creating her, or in how they each interpreted her. maybe the version of her in the novel was meant to be something else, but in the reality of this world, she is a trans girl. han sooyoung's intentions kind of don't matter there because the text has moved beyond its author

[pttucker]

"It's okay. By now, the strongest reinforcements should've arrived." "The strongest reinforcements?" "That guy should be sent…" At this moment, a message appeared in the air. [Someone in Dark Castle has achieved the first transcendence in the scenario!]

Han Sooyoung bit her lips besides me. "When did you become so close to him? That psychopath…" "We aren't close." "You had a very trusting expression when you said those words?" "You are mistaken. I trust the dokkaebis more than I do him."

ARE YOU SERIOUS

Joonghyuk & Dokja BOTH: “That guy” (affectionate)

[icantmoveitmoveitanymore]

Okay wait this is kinda embarrassing but like. Has anyone ever read this multichaptered completed joongdok fic where i think kdj meets yjh and starts a bet that his cooking isnt even that good and they start to bring fried chicken for each other to try to compare their cooking (kdj steals lhs recipe)

and eventually close to the end of the fic yjh confesses but kdj rejects him not bcs he doesnt like him but he thinks like yjh doesnt actually know him something along these lines and by the end yjh finds out and is like wtf i can decide that for myself and yeah they get tgt PLS i swear i bookmarked it but i think its deleted i just wanna know if i hallucinated it or smt (i reread it like 3+ times)

[theofficialuriel]

If I was a famous author, I would keep my identity a secret and then audition for leading role in an adaptation of my own work.

Then, I would gush over the author in multiple interviews to the point where the fans ship me with myself and write fanfics about it

[tamaharu]

writing my orvzombie au but shaking my head the entire time so people dont think i approve of the police

[astranauticus]

damn shouldve broke my glasses and had to switch to my contacts before i started reading the orv epilogues then at least my eyes wont be so fucking dry

[reminiscem]

And when YJH, alone, in space, read the novel HSY wrote, he finally felt like he could understand Kim Dokja just a little.

That novel became his only hope, what kept him from dying, from going insane.

He even managed to know himself in a way he had never imagined; not a regressor, not anymore, but a reader too, a character who escaped by breaking the chains, a man whose purpose is still being sought.

And perhaps, that was the only end he was looking for, the only version worth fighting for, what now allows him to take a look at his ■■.

Perhaps, KDJ and YJH have never been so close like in those exact moments: So distant, yet so close, maybe even one single individual.

«Stories began leaking out from the ripped-open gaps of the tattered spacesuit. Bit by bit, he was losing his strength. His lengthy regression journey. Yoo Joonghyuk instinctively realized that this was his conclusion.

'This is the end I wished to see'.

It could've been a slightly more excellent conclusion. If he had made a different choice back then, or maybe, if he chose to go down the better direction, then…

Yoo Joonghyuk smiled bitterly.

In the end, he remained a regressor even until his final moment. He knew it. He knew there was no better conclusion than this.

He knew that, regardless of what choices he might have made in different moments of his life, he'd still end up regretting something about them.

Even then, he'd regret and eventually, repeat the result of all his regretting.»

[cheri6dore]

Happy birthday to our mischievous cat, our only beloved author whom loves her very own reader. This also reminds me of a certain comic that concerns this day, April fools which is called “This is so unfair" said Han Sooyoung and Yoo Joonghyuk as Yoo Sangah and Kim Dokja got married by Jagopolis on ao3.

[orphiclovers]

I laugh when people make happy nothing hurts fluff aus of orv and everyone is living their best life and doing what they love hsy a writer kdj at some company yet YJH is still a gamer, a job which he absolutely hated, cause fuck this one guy in particular I guess. but also very very typical of YJH to still be stuck in the torment nexus in a world where the apocalypse doesnt happen hes the most torturable guy in the world you can take the angsty edgy protagonist out of the gritty apocalypse but hes still doomed to be defined by the one character trait his god gave him for a backstory. its still his only defining feature even fanfic authors cant save him and concieve of a universe where hes found his own purpose in life. meta

[pttucker]

"Hang on." "What is it now?" "There is a special discount category." I pointed at the small notice attached next to the price list. * Constellation X Incarnation Couple Discount Coupon, now available! * This is a special couple's discount coupon designed for those Sponsors visiting along with their Incarnations! Make beautiful new memories with your Incarnation and enjoy sweet, relaxing time together! Han Sooyoung finished reading the notice and turned to look at me. I nodded my head. Which prompted her to ask a question. "Have you finally lost it?"

ORV's take on fake dating: Not for your family. Not for health purposes. Not to solve a case. Not for any of those other typical trope reasons.

Fake dating so that Dokja can save some coins on amusement park tickets.

[raverin-ghostie]

Even the author cannot love their own story - they'll always find something wrong with it. Only a reader will ever truly love it. Only a reader can.

TRAUMA IN ORV

[SPOILERS]

While it's a common theme in any manhwa or manga for characters to not address each other's (or their own) trauma, I think ORV shows that beautifully.

We, as readers, feel each character's pain because we see every aspect of it. A spectator is mostly the only one well-qualified to differentiate right from wrong in a conflict. The only reason why we're able to do that is because we're readers (or shall I say "fragments of Kim Dokja" because I'm delusional like that T_T).

Do you notice the similarity? The reason why Kdj knew exactly what everyone was feeling at all times is because he always saw them through the eyes of a reader. But that goes contrary to "just because he's read about it doesn't mean he understands it". So, here's my take on it - just because he knows their pain doesn't mean he knows how to confront it. Kdj is the least qualified person out there to talk about one's feelings. He can't even address his own trauma because he doesn't see it from the eyes of a reader. To him, that was the one real thing that's ever happened. And that's why he's a sacrificial squid.

Maybe if we were in ORV (we were, we're all Kdj, remember?), we would've done the same. Kdj's got attachment issues, he's got a lot of issues that need to be paid attention to but nobody knows how to make him feel better. It's difficult to help a person who looks and acts like he doesn't need help.

This distinct parallel that ORV has between Kdj and the readers is what makes this novel so great - what makes it feel alive. It's not that hard to believe that "yes, maybe Kdj did exist", "maybe we all are fragments of Kdj", "yes, it's possible".

I cannot stop talking about this novel. Every part of it is so beautiful. I recommended it to a friend and the only thing I told him is that he can only truly understand the manhwa if he falls in love with the story or the characters. ORV as someone's debut novel/manhwa into reading would be questionable. But for someone who is already a reader, someone whose whole life is books, this is a must read.

I wonder how different the story would've been if Kdj acknowledged that he needs help. Sometimes it hurts that he never even realised the sheer extent of love everyone had for him. Inversely speaking, none of them could ever do what Kdj had done. They might be willing to - to save him, but they couldn't. Because everyone wanted to "see the scenarios end" or something similar to that, while Kdj was the only one who wanted to see the "epilogue". He doesn't even think of himself when he thinks about the future. It's always my companions this my companions that. Everyone's motivation was either each other or the dream of a normal life but his motivation was a story.

Even the author cannot love their own story - they'll always find something wrong with it. Only a reader will ever truly love it. Only a reader can.