#well. that’s kim dokja’s whole thing isn’t it

[dreadark]

orv epilogue talk

initially the explanation behind the fourth wall bothered me a bit because I was fine with it as is… a literal fourth wall the dokkaebi king isn’t really much of a character so like why should I care about this idk…

but then I realized. the point isn’t what it is but rather why

the dokkaebi king only became the wall because of han sooyoung’s wish to protect kim dokja. during orv the [fourth wall] skill saves his life countless times, but at the same time it dulls all his emotions so he can't fully connect with everyone else

that’s just the literal events that happened. symbolically, han sooyoung’s wish was expressed through her writing twsa for him, and by escaping into the fiction of that world, kim dokja was able to survive. at the same time, using fiction to cope with reality like that has him feeling disconnected from the world and everyone else in it… and that’s what led to him making the 49/51 decision he sees his place as just a reader—an outsider to everyone else's story. because that's how he survived

so maybe han sooyoung’s desperate wish to save him back then also doomed him..? but that really was all she could do then...

[neuvistar]

how are they in bed? 18+ minors do not interact !

— featuring ┊honkai star rail, genshin impact, jujutsu kaisen, blue lock, omniscient reader’s viewpoint men x afab!reader !

tags: @yanqingisim

your body was supported by the pillows he put beneath you, catching your lips in his before cupping your chin as he kept an arm around your waist. pulling away from your lips briefly after as he let your foreheads touch. his thrusts are steady and romantic, you could even sense passion in them as well.. like he’s fucking you with love, with emotion almost. he wanted you to feel them, to feel the love in his slow and sensual thrusts.. he can’t help it. his hands are already on your hips, angling them just right as his cock slips perfectly inside your drenched cunt. his kisses are filled with love too, planting them all over your body while you thread your fingers in his hair, small yet sweet whimpers leaving your lips. “is this alright? i’m— fuuck.. not hurting you too much now, am i?”

listen. trust me babes.. he’s gentle. and i don’t mean gentle, i mean gentle. gentle as in he treats you like a gem that should be treasured and protected, holding you like you were a feather of some sort. i assure you he loves to make sure that you’re taking him alright, reassuring you that you’re doing great.. asking you questions if he’s being too rough or if he should slow down. he takes his sweet time with you, making sure he worships every single detail and every single thing about you.. he wants you to be comfortable and he wants this to be the most comfortable experience for you. he makes sure that he caresses and kisses literally every single part of you, he’s not letting a spot go untouched.. his hands are gonna be all over you! of course they are, they’re filled with love and pure affection.. all for you. he’s definitely prepared and has a whole plan ready for aftercare afterwards, he’s just.. so sweet ! all for you too ! this man treats you like royalty during aftercare it’s so sweet, his aftercare is ON TOP i tell you <3 he never disappoints with how caring he is towards you whenever he finishes dicking you down for the night.. haha.

— SUGURU GETO, NEUVILLETTE, ARATAKI ITTO, kaeya alberich, KAVEH, nanami kento, KAEDEHARA KAZUHA, dan heng, SHIKANOIN HEIZOU, GEPARD, JING YUAN, luocha, KIM DOKJA, THOMA

tbh w u.. he said that he’d be gentle but he isn’t! honestly tho he doesn’t mean to be all rough in the first place! he just loves how addicting it is to have your pussy pulse around his dick like it’s nothing, he loves how good it feels when his cock twitching inside for more, in other words.. he’s more desperate rather than rough but whatever we’ll use the word rough in this scenario! of course though, he won’t be too rough that it would hurt.. but as long as you’re fine with it and he sees that you’re taking his cock nicely with no complications, it’s no problem for him. but yet.. his thrusts are fast yet enough to satisfy your needs, enough to drive you crazy as your knuckles turned white from clutching down at the soft surface of the pillow beneath you for support.

he just can’t help it. he fucks you from behind, that sweet yet dangerous expression on his face was enough to catch you off guard! how can he look so nice but fuck you like his life depended on it? it always seemed to confuse you! i’m pretty sure he’s capable of lasting a few rounds or so as long as you’re okay with them. on top of that, he’s good at using his cock.. he knows the right places to hit and the right places to make you weak, he loves taking you from the back so he can see just how roughly he’s being with you, especially with how hot you look with his dick repeatedly sliding in and out of your cunt at a quickened pace, you were always taking it like an absolute champ! i’m sure you didn’t expect him to be rough in bed, but he didn’t either! he didn’t even know he had this side in him until now! but who knows? maybe he wasn’t aware of the lust within his body until he got to experience it himself.

— kamisato ayato, TOJI FUSHIGURO, sampo koski, SHIU KONG, al-haitham, OLIVER AIKU, BLADE, wriothesley, RYUSEI SHIDOU, il dottore, capitano, PANTALONE

ah yes. here we have the guys who just take in your sounds and savour the feeling. tbh, these guys are in the middle.. if you want them to be tough, they’ll be rough! if you want them to be gentle, they’ll be gentle! they can play both, but if he’s actually dicking you down for the night.. i can guarantee that his eyes would be on you the entire time.. keeping tracks of your movements to check for any discomforts in your facial expressions or body language. he wants to make you feel good, yes.. but he also wants to savour in the feeling of your pussy hugging his dick too! he’s so calm during the moment, the sounds of bed squeaking and skin slapping against one another.. followed by your heavy panting and his soft grunts were the only things you could both hear. he fucks you at the pace he likes, or the pace you prefer. he doesn’t mind pounding into you like there’s no tomorrow and he certainly doesn’t mind taking it slow with you.. allowing you to savour in the moment further.

like i said, he can be what you prefer. if you want him to be rough, he’ll be rough. if you want him to take it slow and be gentle, he’ll be gentle. honestly, he might just be a teeny tiny bit quiet during the moment as well. he’s either getting lost in the moment and obsessing over just how good it feels to pound you like how ever wants to or he forces himself to stay quiet just so he can hear those pretty moans that leave your lips, knowing just how damn good hes fucking you. like i said, he’s not that verbal but that doesn’t mean he won’t let a few grunts or two escape his throat! he just wants to hear you whisper his name under your breath while he bullies his dick further inside your walls until his whole length fits! ++ his aftercare is also great i bet <3

— YOO JOONGHYUK, SATORU GOJO, cyno, SCARAMOUCHE,, XIAO, tighnari, pantalone, dainsleif, CHILDE, BAIZHU, SAE ITOSHI, albedo, CHOSO KAMO, diluc ragnvindr, welt yang, ZHONGLI

[weirdsht]

What if i have an idea and it's orv's "incarnation kim dokja will be killed at the hands of the person he loves most" BUT it's reader and cale

May Our Fates Intertwine Once More - Cale/Reader

notes: 1. Anon I'm sorry for taking so long to write your req; and 2. I'm sorry to everyone who saw the small preview I posted before and thought it was fluff.

tags: fluff, no gender specified for reader, novel spoiler (sealed god's test), hurt no comfort, angst, death, canon divergence from 620

English isn’t my first language so there will be grammatical errors

Pls don't repost my work anywhere without my permission

Constructive criticisms and any kind of interaction are more than welcome

Requests are open and welcome

Buy Me Dessert

Navigation Masterlist

One moment you were next to Cale then the next second you’re standing in the middle of an unknown place with this weird half-transparent blue screen in front of you.

[Quest List:]

[1. Pass the tutorial

2. Launch a widescale attack on the safe zones during the eclipse 

3. Die after fighting a magnificent battle at the hands of the person who loves you the most]

“What the fuck…”

You cursed as you read what the screen says. You tried to see if you could touch it but something else popped up as soon as your finger made contact with it.

[WARNING!! WARNING!!]

[All injuries sustained in this body will be mirrored in your real body!]

“This isn’t my real body? But it looks the same.”

It really does. The only thing that has changed is your clothes. You’re wearing something that fits the image of a deity.

Still confused, you look around you. There’s nothing you recognized. But it does look like you’re somewhere abandoned.

[A message has arrived! Tap here to read!]

You tapped the new overlay that popped up and it instantly brought you to the message.

[Are you enjoying your lover’s original world?]

The anonymous message said. Immediately, you had an inkling as to who it could be.

“What the fuck? You must be that stupid god presence we felt back there.”

[Such brash words while talking to a god… Anyway, are you aware of where your lover is?]

“His around here too right? What the hell did you do to him?”

[Nothing much. His just under my test to overcome his despair. I’m waiting for him to be consumed by it so he can take my hand.]

“Knowing Cale, I'm sure he’ll overcome it. He’d rather die than work with you.”

[That’s where you come in dear.]

You feel like you can hear the god’s vile laughter even through the screen. But you wondered how you’d help meet Cale’s demise. Unless a demon possesses you to the point where you can’t control yourself, you won't do it.

Then it dawned on you.

The mission.

[3. Die after fighting a magnificent battle at the hands of the person who loves you the most]

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! You’re quite witty, aren’t you? On the bright side, I found out Cale loves me the most thanks to you.”

[It’s great, isn’t it? If you don’t do your missions you’ll be stuck here forever. If you do them you’ll die. Whatever you do you love must say goodbye. An instant recipe for despair.]

“We’ll see about that. You might be underestimating me too much.”

You pointed your middle finger towards the screen with messages before closing it.

Getting past the tutorial was easy. Turns out you have an inventory that contains countless supplies of food and other necessities. You also have the ability to summon monsters.

The same monsters your lover told you he fought in his previous life before becoming Cale Henituse.

“Ho? This is interesting. It feels like I’m playing a game of some sort.”

You said no one in particular as you read the descriptions of the monsters at your disposal. You spend the whole day navigating the screen that calls itself the “status window”. According to it, you have the whole day free today as the eclipse will happen tomorrow.

As you take yourself on a tour of your inventory one particular item catches your attention.

[Sword of Liubi Duplicate]

It was your sword. Well, a duplicate of it. It was given to you by Cale after you first met. Clicking on the sword, you read what properties would its copy have.

[A sword replicated from your world. It’s strong, probably one of the strongest swords on Earth 2 despite being nerfed. However, since it’s a duplicate it will only have half of its original prowess. It is still a remarkable weapon nonetheless.]

Some of the terms used like “nerfed” you don’t understand as they don’t exist in your world. But it still gave you a general idea as to what the status of your sword is.

Well, it’s better than nothing.

Plus you think the only time you’d have to use it is when you fight Cale so it’s better that it’s not as strong as before.

“Either way I die huh…”

You mumbled as you stared up at the ceiling of the abandoned house you found. Usually, a person would not be able to stay in such a place so leisurely. However, since the monsters won’t touch you it's a different story.

“What am I getting sad for? I was supposed to die way back! I’m just fulfilling it now…”

It’s the truth. If it wasn’t for your lover and his friends you would’ve died a long time ago. You guess someone bound to die early will die early.

You dismissed the thoughts of your death out of your head. Instead, you focused your energy on thinking about how you would get Cale to fight you so he could complete his mission.

With those thoughts in mind, you slowly fell asleep. 

“Okay, this is kind of fun… but I feel bad since Cale and the others are fighting the things I summoned.”

You’re on top of a building. A good distance away from Cale– no Kim Rok Soo’s safe zone but still near enough to be able to observe what’s happening.

“Is that Choi Han? At first I felt bad for them, but now I feel bad for myself. They’ll finish my babies in no time!”

Observing Choi Han and the others fighting, you kept summoning more monsters. The monsters you summon are regulated by the status window but you still find some joy in doing it.

It is getting tiring though.

You can’t believe you have to keep doing this for 24 hours straight. You’re not even getting paid…

[Alert!]

[One (1) of your “Grade 1 Taster Monsters” have broken from the pack]

[Alert!]

[Two (2) of your “Grade 1 Taster Monsters” have broken from the pack]

“What the hell? I swear my dearest must have an ancient power that allows him to gather powerful beings. His even stealing away my babies.”

You huffed in frustration as you watched two of your summons go over to Kim Rok Soo’s side.

“Isn’t this whole thing too good for me though? Everything I need to survive is free… And summoning monsters doesn’t cost anything.”

[It's the least I could do for someone bound to die either way]

That pesky god messaged you again.

“Well look at you being Mr. Nice. Are you flirting with me? Sorry, I’m taken.”

For emphasis, you brought up your ring finger that contained your engagement ring. As if flipping the god off.

[Blasphemous as ever. It tempts me to take you as one of my children. Too bad you won’t be able to take in the despair that comes as a price.]

“Yeah yeah. Just shut up. It’s not like I have any plans teaming up with a god.”

Sealed God shut up and you lived the next days in peace.

You have the monsters at your disposal that can do whatever you need them to do. And you have no quest assigned to you aside from that dying one. Your mind has also been at ease as you have a general plan as to how you’ll get your love to fight you one-on-one.

[New Mission Alert!]

[Summon one (1) Electric Eel in Gwangalli Beach]

Gwangalli Beach where is that? You have absolutely no idea. In fact, you’re tired of your status window acting as if you were from this world.

“I’m sure the monster will know where it is…”

Convincing yourself that your summons will know where it is you summoned a flying monster to take you to that place.

Luckily, your assumption was correct. In no time you were where you need to be.

“Status window summon one Electric Eel… Who named this thing? I mean it’s a snake that will be summoned from the sea, and has electricity as one of its powers. But Electric Eel? Seriously?”

After bashing the monster’s name a little, you summoned it.

“I’m sure you already know what to do…”

You mumbled to the monster before going away to hide before someone saw you.

All that’s left for you to do is watch and wait for your entrance.

3 days. That’s how many days it took for them to defeat the Electric Eel.

While everyone was doing that you were watching on top of the building. Your robed dress flows freely in the wind as you do so. There were a lot of instances you wanted to intervene. Wanted to go help the love of your life and the man you considered your brother.

But alas you couldn’t.

The status window with only one quest left reminded you of that every time.

[Are you ready for the final act?]

Sealed God messaged you again. As if laughing at your inevitable demise.

“Just watch my performance. It’ll be spectacular.”

For a moment you were tempted to curse him out as you usually would. However, you decided that if you’re gonna go out today, you’re going out with grace and elegance. It's only fitting as the fiance of a duke’s son.

[Player _____ will be killed at the hands of the person that loves them the most]

[The last arc of the game…]

[Starts Now]

Ignoring the status window, you ride the flying monster waiting for you. It’s the same monster that brought you to the beach before.

“I worked so hard just for you to defeat my baby.”

You gently spoke as you gracefully descended from the monster's back and onto the dead Electric Eel. 

“...That’s your baby?”

Kim Rok Soo mumbled quite mournfully. He was supposed to be your baby after all.

“Wait how are you even here?”

He asked. Looking at you curiously. 

“Oh, I’m the one summoning all the monsters you’ve been fighting. Was it fun? Ah, don’t ask me where they come from though. I have no idea where they came from. I can only summon them.”

You spoke as if there was nothing wrong. As if you guys aren't standing on the opposite sides of the battlefield.

“_____-nim…”

Choi Han, the man you have come to consider your brother, slowly called out to you.

“What are you doing?”

He asks, not minding the whispers from the people around you three.

“So that’s what happened to my Dark Tiger… Asking permission to borrow my things would have been appreciated, Your Highness.”

You addressed Alberu first before answering the swordmaster’s question.

“Don’t you still get it? Every play must end with the hero defeating the evil mastermind! And you Kim Rok Soo…”

The sword you summoned on the way here pointed towards your lover.

“You shall be the one who strikes the final blow.”

Kim Rok Soo’s brain connected the pieces. You smile while observing him. And that smile pissed him off.

Because you were smiling as if everything was okay.

As if you hadn’t just announced your death.

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll be stuck here and die. You wouldn’t want that would you?”

“So I just have to kill you here?”

‘And then you’ll return to my arms in our world?’

You knew the silent question that lingered in the commander’s reddish-brown eyes.

“Yes.”

Yet you ignored it. Letting him believe that everything will be fine. That you will only die in this world. That nothing will happen to you in your world and all shall be well.

It was for his own good.

The only way for him to not fall into despair once more.

Drawing your sword once again, you beckoned for your lover to fight you.

“Everyone else stay back. I’ll summon another unranked monster if you interfere.”

“Follow what they say and just watch.”

You and Kim Rok Soo said before your powers clashed with each other.

Lightning after lightning struck you. However, your sword blocked most of them. Dodging the ones you couldn’t block.

When it was your turn to attack, you struck your sword towards Cale. Each slash either landed on the Indestructible Shield or was blocked by the Fire of Destruction.

“Your sword is stronger than this. I did not give you such a flimsy thing.”

Cale spoke as you failed to cut through his shield once more.

“Don’t worry this isn’t the one you gave– Ugh!”

A lightning struck you. Cale used it as an opportunity to land more hits.

“I was talking you know? You’re as rude as ever. Anyway, this one is a duplicate.”

Your sword managed to land a cut on the commander’s arm. Everyone else watched the two of you. People who don’t know you were wondering how can the two of you fight while bantering as if your lives aren’t on the line.

But not everyone in the audience didn’t know you. Two people in there knew you very well. 

“I’m going back first. Something about this feels off.”

Alberu told Choi Han who was gripping his scabbard tightly.

“His Majesty is going first?”

“Seems like it.”

You can Cale continued talking as you fight. It reminded you of the small talks he would engage you in as you train.

It reminded you that this is probably the last time you will be able to talk to him like this.

“Ow! That hurts you know!”

A particular attack from the Sky Eating Water rendered you unable to pick up the sword. Cale took this as an opportunity to hold you down using the trees summoned earlier to fight the Electric Eel.

You watch as Cale turns off his Sound of the Wind. He walks towards you at a leisurely pace, picking up your sword on the way. 

“I’m sorry.”

He said and you noticed his hand tremble ever so slightly.

“Don’t be. I’m happy that it’s you. Do you want to know what’s the prerequisite of my death?”

Cale did not answer but you said it anyway.

“I shall die by the hands of the one that loves me the most. That’s what it said.”

The commander’s eyes shook along with his hand.

“That’s why I’m glad…”

Blood spilt from your mouth as your sword stabbed your heart. From the corner of your eye, you could see Choi Han running towards where you are.

“_____-nim!”

Your brother called out to you as Cale let go of his control on the trees in favour of holding you instead. 

There’s still blood spilling from your mouth but that didn’t stop you from smiling at him. Your smile was weak and tired, but it was the best you could do at the moment.

“I’m fine…”

You assured Cale squeezing your hand.

“I’ll be waiting for you in our world. So don’t be sad okay? Remember you have to overcome despair.”

“Promise?”

Cale asked you as he cradled your body in his chest.

“I promise.”

You left out the part that you’ll probably be dead or dying when he sees you. 

Weakly, but full of determination you raised your left hand to link your pinkies together. The diamond in your engagement ring shone as you did. Meanwhile, your right hand is being held by Choi Han.

They said that your life will flash in your eyes at your last moments. No such thing happened to you. But you did remember a conversation that you and your lover had prior to this whole thing.

“So you’re birthday is on November 8th? Why are you only telling me this now? There’s so little time to prepare a gift for you!”

“What are you talking about it’s still so far away?”

“No, it’s not! It’s not enough time for me to prepare the perfect gift for you.”

That’s right, today is November 8 in this world. It’s Cale’s birthday…

“In Raon’s castle… My gift is there. He should know about it…”

“You can just give it to me yourself when we get back.”

Cale answered and you almost laughed at his cluelessness.

“...Happy birthday my love. May you always find happiness.”

Those were your last words before you took your last breath. Before your body slowly turned into dust in Cale’s hold.

But Cale wasn’t in despair even as you die.

He may be sad, but he wasn’t in despair.

It was because he was holding onto your words that you’d meet him back home.

That’s how Cale was able to pass the Sealed God’s test.

But why…

“MOVE ASIDE, LET PENDRICK AND SAINT-NIM HANDLE IT!”

Why was the first thing he heard as soon as he came back Alberu’s shouting when he was supposed to be in his castle making preparations?

“CALL FOR MORE HEALERS WE’RE LOSING _____-NIM!”

“_____ wake up. Please wake up.”

Alberu and Raon’s voice rang on his head. 

At that moment. Rosalyn and Eruhaben noticed that he was back. They quickly greeted him before calling over Raon and Sherrit to remove the barrier that surrounded him.

“What’s happening?”

Cale asks as he enters the room where the shouts are coming from.

The sight made him stop in his tracks.

Laying on a grass bed that’s similar to where he was just a few minutes ago was his lover. His fiance.

They were lying there. Bleeding.

On the heart.

Exactly where Cale had stabbed them back on Earth.

A realisation dawned on him at the moment.

You just promised that you would meet him back home.

You did not promise that you would meet him alive.

Cale, the fool, had only assumed you would.

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 4, Match 4: Kim Dokja vs. Roy Mustang

Submitted kids:

Kim Dokja: Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung are the commonly accepted ones but you can also make a case for Lee Jihye and Biyoo

Roy Mustang: Edward and Alphonse Elric

Propaganda under the cut!

Kim Dokja:

1. “In the first scenario (where you have to murder something alive) his first priority is to make sure Gilyoung makes it out alive (by giving him the grasshopper before letting others know about it), and when the future version of Yoosung (41st round) is going to cause havoc his first plan is to basically the past (his present) version of her so they would have her on her side (he takes her in as his incarnation- if that isn’t an adoption idk what is); Biyoo is literally the soul of 41st Yoosung that he WENT THROUGH AN UNDERWORLD TRIAL to get her back and she is legally his child. Lee Jihye is more like the older sister-teenager of the group be she’s still adopted by association and Han Donghoon is a kid who was hypnotized and exploited by the ‘prophets’ and Kim Dokja saved him and became someone he trusts in- which is basically adopting. Mia is YJH’s little sister but with the family dynamic all of KimCom has she’s basically adopted too. This man is someone who believes the worst in himself but gives all these kids someone they need and in return they are the family he’s never had.”

2. “He saved Lee Gilyoung on the subway when he was orphaned at the time the apocalypse started even when he didn't need to and kept him by his side and fed him at his own expense and believed in him and taught him to be strong when no one else had really done that for Lee Gilyoung before.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (pretty vague):

Shin Yoosung was a character in the world of the apocalypse that occured (long story, won't explain here lol) and she was supposed to be destined to become a monster that would destroy Seoul and the two people other than Kim Dokja who knew this wanted to kill her when they found her to prevent her from becoming that but Kim Dokja refused to kill her and physically stood to protect her and then he later became her sponsor (uhhh it's a whole thing in-universe but basically pledged to back her and help her ig) and the stigma (a special power thing that can be gained through a sponsor) he gave her was based in him protecting everyone in their group and his love for all of them.

Both Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung are extremely attached to Kim Dokja and have on at least one canon occasion slept clinging to either side of him.

LESS MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (though not terrible ig and still mostly vague at least):

Biyoo is. well she's Shin Yoosung actually but also not. So basically y'know that monster future Shin Yoosung was destined to become? so that monster version of her from a different timeline was sent backwards and sideways in time (idk how else to describe it jskdfs) and nearly did destroy Seoul as prophesied but Kim Dokja tried to save her—and he nearly did but then a shitty dokkaebi (they're like admin streamer people. idk would take a while to explain) did a shitty thing and forced her to be 'evil' and then she had to be killed ;-; but Kim Dokja promised to get revenge for her and after that he went and beat up the asshole dokkaebi who did that so badly that he gained a legendary Story. And then he traveled to the Underworld at risk of his own life to retrieve her soul and put that into a dokkaebi egg that he personally hatched. And she lost her memories for the most part but could still sense a bit what he'd done for her :') and so yeah she became Biyoo and is somehow both adopted and originally parented(?? idk saying biologically is. doesn't feel quite right lol) by him.”

3. “Bro is THE DAD of the group”

4. “Adopted his kids so hard that they’d do like anything for him they love him so much”

Roy Mustang:

1. “This pathetic cringefail loser of a man managed to raise and guide two traumatized children into becoming well-adjusted adults. He also gets bonus points because those kids end up saving the world from disaster.

Also he's hot sometimes”

2. “He has two(2) sons!!!!! Weird little traumatized children!!!! He's also soooo dad shaped(a mass murderer)!!!! He such a loser too!! I love him so much I wanna chew on him <3”

3. “ok i'm not into fma buts its a popular source and my oomfs r into it and i hear a lot about them. like top five things i hear about whenever i hear them talk about fma. hashtag war criminal family swag”

[quotablefanfiction]

Kim Dokja really did not understand his life, but tea cheered people up, right? That’s how you comfort people? You give them a hot drink and try to avoid looking them in the eye? Kim Dokja isn’t very good at this whole people thing. It gives him hives.

Kim Dokja recognizes he is socially inept (chp. 1)

“You are loved,” said Yoo Jonghyuk. “This is a threat,” said Yoo Jonghyuk. by IceBreeze (AO3) Omniscient Reader – Teen – Kim Dokja/Yoo Jonghyuk #Alternate Universe #Canon Divergence #Time Travel #Reincarnation #Fix-It of Sorts #Post-Canon #Pre-Canon #(It’s both) #Past Character Death #Implied/Referenced Suicide #Found Family #Sometimes family is the people who Naruto run through the time space continuum for you

“Kim Dokja.”

“Did you break into my house to just say my name?” And then, frowning, “How did you even break into my house, actually. Light does not count as public transportation.”

The man breathes in, and out.

And then, he is hugging Kim Dokja tight, so very tight, as if he wants to open his ribs and tuck Kim Dokja inside them, to keep him close and safe; as if to so much as give Kim Dokja room to breathe would be to let him dissapear. As if Kim Dokja is sand and he the fool trying to cradle it. He is holding Kim Dokja like he is precious, like he is important, like he knows him and knows him well, and his touch is as gentle as it is desperate.

He presses his face into Kim Dokja’s shoulder, and breathes.

The man is shaking.

Kim Dokja thinks getting murdered might have been easier to deal with than this.

“Um.” Kim Dokja pats his back, awkwardly. “There there?”

The man starts crying.

Well, Kim Dokja thinks. Shit.

---

Kim Dokja doesn’t really know when he began collecting time travellers like stray cats but it’s not so bad, he guesses. He just wishes there was less crying.

Note: This is a restricted story and requires an AO3 account in order to read

[pttucker]

TWO HAN SOOYOUNGS! Well, okay, there’s technically always been two Han Sooyoungs but ngl I completely forgot that she mentioned a clone that ran off. Or so she says, anyway. Because why not add another mystery onto our mystery? Which Han Sooyoung is the original? Which is the avatar? (Honestly I don’t even care, I love them both.) Absolutely was not expecting the other person Secretive Plotter made an Outer World Covenant with to be her, though of course that makes the most sense actually. And his words were lowkey foreshadowing if you think about it with the whole “I’m expecting much bigger things.” Yeah, because Dokja’s actually read the entire novel whereas Sooyoung hasn’t so he's expecting more from the guy who's read it all. And that's not even getting into how Secretive Plotter was immediately drawn to Dokja (and perhaps Sooyoung too). I've thought for a long time that he was away of who Dokja was or at least what he could do. And speaking of the original novel, everything is so mixed up right now. We’re getting into some real hardcore sci-fi alternate universes and parallel timelines kinda stuff. Though I did vaguely feel like something like this was coming. Not this specifically but the fact that the novel isn’t halfway through did actually make me wonder if we weren’t going to start the story over (like maybe Dokja was going to regress somehow) or something weird like that. Wasn’t expecting to jump into Sooyoung’s version of the 1863rd round, but if Dokja is going to start looking into other worlds, this does make sense. Now I’m really wondering what’s gonna happen with all of these different versions of TWSA. Will it be Dokja vs Sooyoung for who’s final chapter will prevail? Or will the worlds not merge at all and they can continue to reach their own final chapters? Since Secretive Plotter specifically asked "what about the other worlds" will Dokja's goal moving into the second half of the story now involve saving them too? And, wow, on an entirely different note, it’s actually kind of terrifying how easily Dokja was able to completely neutralize not only Joonghyuk, but the strongest Joonghyuk who’s existed 1863 rounds. No, not even neutralize, but turn him into his own personal mindless weapon. I mean, sure, Fourth Wall started it by making it so that he could be affected by the regressor depression but Dokja is terrifying in applying his knowledge of all of Joonghyuk’s best and worst moments. Which, on that topic, it’s honestly upsetting to see this world where everyone has managed to survive together until the end—the very world that Dokja has so carefully being trying to create—and Joonghyuk is still alone. 😭 They're off in their little base together like some kind of family and he's treated like some kind of beast to hunt down. 😭 And why is he alone? “Because he’s a bad guy who won’t hesitate to kill to fulfill his goals.” Uh...you guys literally have Kim Namwoon on your team and Han Sooyoung is not the most merciful person for a leader. Are you really ones to talk??? Yeah, Joonghyuk is a killing machine but you're telling me nobody on this team has killed people to fulfill their goals? What??? Especially since Dokja, the guy who has read the entire novel and knows intimately how truly awful Joonghyuk can be, still chose to reach out to him again and again and again and again until it finally stuck. Joonghyuk isn't some depressed, murderous monster in his world because Dokja did everything in his power to prevent it. Joonghyuk didn't have to end up like this. Again. Admittedly, even Dokja says that he got lucky finding Joonghyuk in his third round whereas Sooyoung seems to have found him in his last, but even in this round with a much scarier and more jaded Joonghyuk already in the 95th scenario, Dokja is still refusing to kill him even after he already attacked him, even if he knows that if Joonghyuk snaps out of his weird trance he will absolutely try to murder him.

[mhaynoot]

if yjh is regression, mandala’s guardian is reincarnation and jhy is also meant to be seen as part of this ‘protagonist trio’, wouldn’t she be ‘returnee’?

she went to the demon realm; she came back from the demon realm. when kdj returned from the altered 1863rd worldline he also became a returnee, and the first thing he had to do was communicate with his companions that he’s returned through a star-stream enforced communication barrier.

that situation was far more artificial, but i think some comparisons can be made on a thematic level too! when a person leaves the world as you perceive and understand it, and then they return, inevitably changed…. it’s already a struggle writing on that wall the first time, but it’s easier still when you’ve never done it before. but now you have to continue writing after some absence, so how do you reconcile those changes? being changed by a world that is not familiar to you, only to return and find that the world you came from has become unfamiliar as well…

lee sookyung was not the person kdj once knew, the same way biyoo was not yjh’s 41st sys, the same way epilogue!hsy and epilogue!yjh were not [incarnation] kim dokja’s companions when they had to graffiti on the fourth wall to help him out.

the same way 1864!jhy was no longer wos!jhy who kdj requested into existence too, isn’t it?

the answer to all of these, when it comes down to it… is to keep writing on the wall :’) over and over until your message reaches them. mayhaps that’s the gist of being a returnee, in the end.

(and that’s my COMPLETED essay to this 👍👍👍 also, i was very flustered when i saw your response to my previous anon ask with the ‘wos characters each embody a message for kdj!’ i’m very glad you liked the suggestion though :’D)

ANON ANON HI YOU'RE BACK OMG HI *TWIRLS HAIR*

*slaps hand against thigh* fuck you're right she is returnee holy crap i forgot about that whole concept also isn't it neat that she's a returnee and kdj's white coat is the standard returnee uniform and isn't it neat that jang hayoung is the character that kdj was most directly involved in creating and his unending guilt in that ahahahaha like look at this dumb fool:

"Jang Hayoung, who was born into this world because of my greed, lived a life unrelated to me."

god i love him so much, he cares so deeply for all his kids in his fucked up little way.

okay okay so kdj is someone who kinda puts others into genres and classification. this person is the heroine, this person's genre is different, this is realism. it's a part of his coping mechanism and dissociation ala the fourth wall which made him very resigned to his own tragedy and unhappiness for a long time which is why he doesn't really cope well with changes. but through the course of the novel, he is forced to not only acknowledge but also understand change and it is particularly important in the industrial arc where he meets jang hayoung.

this is the basis of their wall writing talk as an extension of his revelation that adult or child, everybody changes. and he is horribly confused by it. confused by what he should do when the world and people around him changes constantly but there is this wall, this impossible wall that doesn't allow anyone to ever truly understand or know each other as we all change again and again as a natural occurance of living.

and jang hayoung, the returnee, his child, the one who he brought into this world more than any other, she points out straight away what he and every reader needs to do:

"Everyone has a wall and communication is impossible… that's obvious." I couldn't believe the friendly Jang Hayoung thought so. It was a bit surprising. Then Jang Hayoung continued, "However, we still have to talk. Even if there is a huge wall, there is a person behind that wall."

talk. we have to try and try again. always. even in the face of vast wall we keep between ourselves, continue to reach out.

Even if we can't reach each other, even if we can't meet each other, we should continue to pound away on each other's walls.

I think an important point is that it isn't about your messaging reaching the other person. because no matter how hard or how much we want it to, sometimes the message can never be sent, can never unchange the past, can never undo things. sometimes no matter how desperately we continue to write on the wall, that doesn't mean it will ever be read by the other person but that doesn't mean the act in itself is useless. because:

"It is just important that you left it." "The other party won't know so why?" "At least the wall has changed." I was speechless for a moment. Jang Hayoung spoke in a resolute voice. "Then one day, someone might read it."

because at the very least the wall has been changed. and you have returned differently. at least you have grown ever more couragous and strong. grown and returned with the strength to continue to live.

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

I JUST WOKE UP AND THEN RUSHED OVER HERE WHEN I SAW FHE TIME . ORV !!! PLEASE … THEY ARE SO ??!?!?!??!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING PPL…. WHY R YALL SO DISASTROUS…. WHY R YALL SO BISEXUAL ….. WHY R YALL SO OBSESSED W EACH OTHER….. their dynamic is so funny too idk, they’re like a comedy trio. idk how to express how funny they are, they r idiots… idiots in love but like they’re idiots… i don’t know how to explain. they are just??? they’re just silly okay. they are goofy and silly. they are idiots and fools and love each other so much.

they always seem like they’re attacking each other BUT they are just a mess it’s fine. it might just be kdj misinterpreting yjh’s actions once again bc kdj thinks he understands but at the same time he really doesn’t if that makes sense, and hsy is just too emotionally constipated in the “i don’t care about him, no not at all, yes i do hate kim dokja. why am i trying to save him? well. fuck you. you can’t question me like this” way like girl why are you so defensive abt it it’s okay you can care about someone like i’d say yjh is at least a smidge better bc he at least tries to make it clear that he DOES care abt kdj (the fool) (btw i find it funny that kdj just ends up with extremely important bonds w two emotionally constipated losers and he’s like “god these two need to confront their feelings more” as if he isn’t also as emotionally constipated just in a different way)

ARGHH i had this whole rant for yjh and kdj’s relationship but i realized it might ruin a part of the novel bc their relationship is just so integral to the story?????? just note that yjh cares so much for kdj, kdj affected and changed yjh so much. kdj loves yjh, it’s important, impersonal, he understands yjh and he doesn’t understand yjh, it’s sacred and ordinary love. if i try to explain why or how it’ll ruin part of the plot but just,, know. it is that. the barrier between protagonist and reader. (also this extends to hsy too, kdj just creates this barrier between himself and others in general and it annoys hsy and yjh SOOO much) hsy and kdj’s relationship is also important so idk how much i’ll say on that topic but like, what if lonely selfish people came together what would happen. and also i’m not actually finished with the novel so i’m not qualified to talk abt yoohan.

in conclusion: what if yoohankim was people saving each other over and over. what if they were each other’s salvation and couldn’t have survived and lived without each other. what if they were each other’s demise, the reason for this tragic cycle. what if they cared, so. so much that they would sacrifice anything and everything for each other. what if their relationship as a whole was so important to them. what if they were each other’s comfort. what if they gave the world to each other. what if. is it so wrong for them to want? is it so wrong for them to just want to hug and find such an ordinary love within each other? is it so wrong for me to want that for them? why are they so devoted to each other it makes me SICK in the head.

(sorry this is so long, it’s taken me over 2 hours to write this and it is still incomprehensible. i think orv just makes me so sick in head in general. help me. i feel like that one thing like girl help im an orv fan, we’re insane.)

girl help i never read orv and im becoming insane about them

[unexpectedgeese]

Major Orv spoilers but anyways

Been thinking about the way that Sing-Shong built up the secretive plotter, the oldest dream, and tls123. The first impression you get from them is that they’re these all powerful deities who can shape the world as they see fit. And that first impression is horribly, ironically wrong.

The Secretive Plotter is introduced to us as a minor player, as a constellation so weak he was never mentioned in the original story. And even as Kdj realizes that he’s actually really powerful, the idea that he’s a being outside of the story sticks with us. SP is the first character we see that can travel between world-lines. He’s literally an outer god- a being outside of the story. But when you actually connect the dots and realize that he’s Yjh, that gets flipped on its head in the most delicious way possible. He’s literally the protagonist. He’s the one that’s MOST trapped by the story- he watches himself fail again and again and again until he gives up on ever escaping that narrative.

The oldest dream is the same- although we don’t see much of him until his identity is revealed, Sing-Shong does a great job of hyping him up as this big final boss that the characters are going to have to face. We don’t know much about the oldest dream, but we do know that he’s powerful. He’s Yjh’s sponsor, after all- a being so revered that nobody can mess with him, not even the bureau. We know that we hate him, too- pretty much everyone, readers included, are PISSED about the whole regression thing. We assume that he’s just like the other constellations- Some uncaring asshole who created a world filled with torment just to watch it unfold. Hell, if you’re still hung up on the whole author thing, you might even assume that the Oldest Dream is tls123. And that’s reversed SO. WELL. with the reveal- he’s literally the most powerless being of them all, to quote Uriel. He’s a kid, dreaming of a world where he’s not alone. He didn’t create this world out of some morbid curiosity of his; He loves the story more than anyone else. He’s not the author, he’s the reader. He’s Kim Dokja, and he’s not a monster.

And God, tls123? Don’t get me started. The identity of the author is one of the central mysteries of the story. As the audience, we’re trying to figure it out the second we start reading- Is the secretive plotter the author? Is the Oldest dream the author? And in the middle of all this guesswork, literally NOBODY suspects Han Sooyung. As the readers, we just kind of assume that the author is going to be some all-powerful deity who created the world on a whim, Because they’re the author. But we’re entirely wrong on that. Hsy didn’t create the world. If anything, she did the opposite- Writing WoS is the action that cements the timeline in stone. She ended it, in a way.

It’s like... Throughout the whole series, you’re waiting to meet God. You expect that the world’s the way it is because there’s some guy making all the rules, doing evil, perpetuating the cycle, etc. There has to be a guy- who would the protagonists fight otherwise? How else are they going to break the loop?

And then you figure it out, and you realize that there isn’t a guy. There’s no one, singular person in charge of the story. The author can’t write without a protagonist to write about, and a reader to read their story. The protagonist can’t move forward if the author doesn’t write the next page, and the reader doesn’t read it. The reader can’t read if there’s no book, or if there’s no character. They all need each other to get anything done.

[lizhly-writes]

tried to write something for normal orv fan knw for an ask.  it didn’t work, i ended up with this instead. context: this takes place at a point where our normal orv fan knw no longer thinks that kdj is going to kill him on sight.

This is the most useless ability ever.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Kim Namwoon says as he scrolls through all of the ORV stuff on his Twitter timeline. Seriously? This is what he gets? Kim Dokja gets the whole text of WoS with revisions, and Kim Namwoon gets the ability to scroll through orvtwt?

That can’t be the only thing he can do, right? It’s not like he ever downloaded a copy before, but he should have a copy of ORV, shouldn’t he? Ah, but Kim Dokja got a system notification when he received his copy of WoS. Kim Namwoon hasn’t gotten any such thing, so does he just not have the text at all? If he doesn’t, maybe he has to level up or something so he can access it? Though even that’s looking at it really positively. It could be that he doesn’t have any chance of obtaining the text all and he’ll just have to rely on his year-old shitty memory of the webnovel because everything is —

“Are you trying to crush your phone?”

Kim Namwoon comes amazingly close to punching Kim Dokja in the face. It would probably be really satisfying if it actually hit, but as it is, Kim Namwoon’s fist touches nothing but air; Kim Dokja sidesteps neatly away, eyebrows raised like a schoolteacher who’s just witnessed his student do something truly ridiculous. It feels like Kim Namwoon’s going to get a scolding for wasting valuable education time any moment.

It’s annoying. It’s really annoying. Kim Dokja is really annoying. Kim Namwoon knew that before ever entering this novel, he thought it had been really funny. But it’s one thing to read it in text, another thing to be stuck with that smug smirk in actual meatspace.

“What do you want,” Kim Namwoon says.

“Oh, nothing in particular,” Kim Dokja says breezily. “Problem? It seems you’re experiencing technical difficulties.”

Out of spite, Kim Namwoon shoves the screen at him, which is, of course, stopped on a beautifully rendered picture of Kim Dokja making out passionately with Yoo Joonghyuk for like, the millionth time. Kim Namwoon isn’t much of a Joongdok fan, to be honest, but the artist did really well with the color palette and subsurface scattering. Kim Namwoon would be full of envy if he had the energy to spare for it right now.

Kim Dokja takes in the screen for only a moment before his eyes flick back to Kim Namwoon’s face, completely unfazed. “Did you expect the internet to work fine through all this?” he says, confirming Kim Namwoon’s assumption that ORV-related shit gets censored through this skill. Maybe his screen’s blank or there’s a connection issues pop-up or something.

“I don’t know, maybe there’s some guy with an internet skill out there and I could just stand next to him for wifi,” Kim Namwoon says.

Kim Dokja almost looks surprised — there’s the slightest twitch in his brows — before he says, like the irritatingly smug person he is, “Well, it’s good to have imagination.” As if they don’t both know that yeah, there is actually a guy out there who can act as a walking talking wifi signal.

…Well, Kim Dokja doesn’t know that Kim Namwoon knows, at any rate. Kim Namwoon wonders if he can push it. How much knowledge can he pass off as lucky guesses before it becomes apparent he knows something he shouldn’t? Not that he’s planning on doing anything like that. It would make Kim Dokja suspicious. Make him poke around. End up asking questions Kim Namwoon doesn’t know how to answer. It’s not an ideal situation.

…Then again, it’s not like Kim Dokja likes him much anyway. Kim Dokja might decide against poking around and just kill him on the spot.

“Ahjussi, you’re such a pain,” Kim Namwoon says, letting his head loll back. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

Kim Dokja smiles thinly. “Frequently, actually.”

[ot3]

Wait back up explain how yjk is a trans woman. This isn’t a hostile ask I’m actually very excited about your take

I am happy to explain my take. here’s how trans woman yoo jonghyuk can still win. orv spoilers below, obviously, mostly centered around the murim arc but up through the end of the epilogues as well. 

okay normally in terms of making this kind of post i’d go pull quotes directly from the text and i honestly really want to but i’m supposed to be catching up on homework today and can’t justify taking the time. anyway. i’m just gonna they/them yjh here because i’m never sure what pronouns to use when talking about a character who i think Should Come Out in the Future. 

first things first, everything about being a transcender is very gendery. prominent transcenders in ORV are

- kyrgios, an incredibly beautiful man who is self conscious of his small stature

- breaking the sky sword saint namgung minyoung, who is a woman of an unusually large stature, thought by some to be monstrous, who teaches a discipline of martial arts exclusively for women. 

- jang hayoung, a trans girl, who is the king of transcenders

- yoo jonghyuk. 

when they talk about transcendence in orv there are two very specific things that come up repeatedly: 1. being able to overcome the natural limitations of the body and 2. defying the structure opposed onto them by the star stream system. Specifically an interesting note about that last bit is that there’s this whole thing about how transcendence can only exist because the star stream exist - it exclusively exists in opposition to the rigorous hierarchy of the star stream, which is the dominant social narrative, and has no meaning or power on it’s own.

In a text like orv’s, i don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to see ‘characters who are social outcasts attempt to gain power by forging a sense of self outside of the dominant order and overcoming the limitations of their physical body’ and read it as a metaphor for being transgender. but then, on top of that, there’s all the stuff with the punisher

everything that’s in orv is there for a reason. there is an insanely little amount of wasted space in this novel. despite how much shit that happens it’s an incredibly tight narrative. SO WHY DO WE INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT THAT YOO JONGHYUK IS STRONGEST WHEN TRANSFORMED INTO A WOMAN? obviously it’s just incredibly fun hijinks in and of itself to have yoo jonghyuk’s gender get transed, but literally all of this begs the question of “why write it so that yoo jonghyuk’s primary martial art form is something that’s supposed to only be learned by women.” 

the narrative doesn’t ever really address the in-universe reasoning behind why they can actually learn it. kim dokja gives us what boils down to ‘he manage to overcome that’ without no real elaboration. jang hayoung learns breaking the sky swordsmanship as well. whatever gender-based qualification is used to allow people to learn the skill, it’s not a biological gender-essentialist one.

the punisher introduction pays off when YJH uses that appearance to win the martial arts festival, but to me that mechanical, narratively-oriented reason for its inclusion doesn’t justify it’s presence in the story in and of itself. 

What really stuck out to me on the read through later was this line, from the demon king selection arc, when yjh takes the punisher’s form to combat the constellations after kim dokja has passed out. 

A dazzling aura burst from Yoo Jonghyuk’s body. Soft hair poured down like a waterfall while his large size became a smaller and sleeker body. He took the form that allowed him to practice the ultimate Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship. Yoo Sangah stared at the scene from behind and couldn’t help opening her mouth. “…Yoo Jonghyuk-ssi?” 

 Yoo Jonghyuk slowly turned back, his long hair cut off by the Black Demon Sword. The ines of the face had changed but it was clearly Yoo Jonghyuk. No, it was even more than before. 

basically, after appearing to their companions as a woman, the narrative tells us yoo jonghyuk looks more like yoo jonghyuk than before. 

this reading also makes even more sense when you interpret it through the lens of how power hierarchy actually works in orv’s narrative. incarnation, constellation, and transcenders alike all gain their truest power from their stories. the Story of yoo jonghyuk as a woman is one that is, quite literally, empowering. 

although we know it’s not actually true, yjh themself and kdj’s understanding and interpretation of yjh, present yjh as a person whose only goal in life is to, by any means including the sacrificing of countless human lives, some of whom he is very personally close to, gain the power to overcome the star stream. but here we have a significant power boost yjh seems to actively avoid taking advantage of. which really suggests there’s some deeper emotional issues at play here.

which brings me to my last point: i think it would just be a very fitting end for the character.

We never see yjh’s ◼️◼️ in canon. Yjh’s entire arc is about attempting to claim agency and personhood after that has been denied to them just by virtue of his very existence, and we don’t ever see this come to completion. Which i love, don’t get me wrong. I think yjh’s  ◼️◼️ is something that could never be in canon, because it’d have to be something that happened to them outside of the context of the story, for meta reasons. but that’s an entirely other discussion. Anyway. 

but point being this means that yjh’s sense of self is, at canon’s end, unresolved. Over the course of the epilogues we see yjh become, for the first time, a reader, and i think this is really critical. it’s kim dokja’s status as a ‘reader’ that allows him to have the greatest influence on the story. back before kim dokja seems to come to grips with jang hayoung’s gender identity, what people keep telling him is that there is ‘more than one interpretation of a story’. on a physical level, constellations and high level incarnations are composed of their stories. in orv canon the Self and the Story are for all intents and purposes, synonymous. hence the entire ending.

yjh’s story has been told and read by quite literally anyone but themself up to this point. but now, for the first time, yjh has both the space and means to self-reflect. coming out as a trans woman would be a radical reclamation of his own story, both re-reading their past and re-writing their future, and i think it’s a reading the text explicitly goes out of its way to give some support to. 

also. not to mention. yjh as a woman is canonically the hottest character in all of orv. just SO sexy, guys. so extremely sexy. 

[generallypo]

in all sincerity, kim dokja makes me happy and he deserves to be so too :^(

incoherent yelling and sobbing under the cut. these fEELINGS will not be contained aaauuunnghhh. 

------

anyway i binge-read all 500+ chapters of ORV this week and i honest to god feel bad for this -- completely! fictional! aghhhh -- guy. in case you haven’t figured it out, the following is some spoilerly shit

i went in expecting a fun, brainless power trip fantasy for dudes with an isekai addiction. instead, it turns out ORV is actually a gigantic, self-deprecating prank on the entire genre itself. kdj plays more into the sad -- if high-functioning-- clown trope than the sexy, edgy, chuuni bastard type i was prepared to laugh at. there were -- gasp! -- female characters with personalities! parents (aka ADULTS who act like ADULTS) who actually survive and feature prominently! adorable children! a real sexy, edgy bastard! a power trio with amazing fashion! sexual tension and bickering! friendship! life and death bonding! 

*breathes in deeply* fouND FAMILYYYYYYY.

like, yeah, the plot around the first few arcs seems a little aimless, but the buildup is worth. the world-building is pretty decent. there’s discernible effort put into the fight scenes, and i can appreciate that. but -- but! what i stayed for were the characters -- namely, the fantastic OT3 of KDJ, HSY, and YJH -- who come together despite their initial rivalries and end up saving each other’s asses, like, every other day. granted, the other characters don’t get as much focus, and they do fall into certain character tropes.. 

but a trope done well is nothing i would gripe about. every significant character in ORV has a coherent, and more importantly, respectful take on their respective trope. maybe it’s because sing-shong is actually a married couple, but all the interactions between even minor characters are a convincing blend of awkward rambling, suggestive humor, sharp remarks, and casual banter. in other words, this cast of mostly working adults (plus a teen and two kids) talks like working adults. the relationships built throughout the story are, frankly, some of most realistic of its genre. sing-shong has managed to craft a dynamic that undoubtedly brims with fluffy fondness all around, but also drips with sarcastic tension, with unspoken urgency, with a wariness that softens into sincerity over the course of many, many chapters. it’s the kind of progression that makes even stock characters read like more than just the 2-bit villain or comrade or love interest. here, we have relationships both straightforward and not, strained or otherwise, romantically-oriented as well as decidedly the opposite -- and then numerous others scattered along the spectrum with the freedom to shift either way. 

it’s also an interesting point of note that our MC kdj actually does not end up with a stated romantic partner, much less a conventional heteroromantic harem. he gets teased about that fact from time to time, but it’s with less of the sleazy shonen locker room humor one would expect and more of the good-natured ribbing you’d find among friends or that one especially nosy auntie at the yearly family reunion. kdj is a grown ass man. in the background, i applaud his maturity, and he handles all the prodding like a champ. 

so instead of finding and fulfilling his horny, he builds himself a wealth of loving family. yeah, there are beautiful men and women around him. yeah, they unequivocally adore him. but they’re also adults, and they have priorities, too -- which are not so much finding a way to bang kdj’s brains out and more so simply keeping the damn guy alive. this is truly not ‘oblivious mc with his thirsty, sex kitten harem’. it just so happens that a guy proves himself to be unflinchingly gentle and capable in an apocalyptic setting despite his broken self-esteem, and lots of people find that attractive, romantically and platonically. 

it.. kinda makes sense? he’s a hard worker, thoughtful, and good with kids. kdj is the kind of guy you know would make a reliable partner, and anybody with eyes can plainly see and appreciate that. 

and it’s not that our MC’s a total brick wall. in fact, it’s likely the opposite, and he’s just too darned repressed to admit it. from what has been implied, kdj does indeed recognize and accept love, or at least a primitive concept of it. i like to imagine that the kind of love that he ends up seeking out simply manifests itself more easily as acceptance and safety, as warmth and a home of people to return to every day. even better, the people who surround him know this, and they give him exactly that. it’s refreshing, and honestly, really sweet.

(as a side note, i really, really do appreciate the cosmic bi energy radiating off of kdj, who canonically earns the title of being loved by all and is all but in name married to yjh and hsy. he also respects women and small children and honestly anyone who isn’t total scum to him or his family. i respect that.)

but the happy stuff aside, you know it it just ain’t ORV without the generous screaming dollop of angst. admittedly, there’s self-sacrifice, injury, lonesome wandering, more sacrifice, some epic fighting, reunion and confrontation. all of it is a lot to digest, sure, but never does it feel entirely hopeless, or truly, truly heart-clenching. ORV, up until the final act, is a mostly light read. you relax in your chair, thinking that nothing beyond this point can disturb you. 

yeah fucking right.

------

and then the beginning of the end arrives. when the squad finally break through to their ‘ending’, the scene that kind of breaks me is the reveal of the Most Ancient Dream. it ties so much thematically into the little tidbits that we get of kdj’s past, and it though it feels like almost a joke that the source of the goddamn apocalypse is a kid with bruises smeared across his skinny ass body -- it’s such a pathetic picture that it’s kinda poetic, actually. you’re left mystified but somewhat convinced, like a math problem explained halfway through. this.. child.. is a villain somehow, isn’t he?

and then 999th turn uriel speaks up, and she. just. hugs him. 

[[You are this universe’s most powerless existence, aren’t you.]] 

that. that gets me. kdj’s reaction immediately upon this revelation? absolute murder. seeing him essentially self-destruct upon realizing that all these people he’s surrounded himself with -- some who continuously proclaim their loyalty and affection for him throughout their journey, some who suffered eons of war and loss and trauma because of his existence -- not only forgive his younger self but smother him with unconditional acceptance and love is stifling, is too vulnerable and exposed and he simply can’t cope -- it’s so telling of his true mentality, of his crippling insecurity and crumpled sense of self-worth. kim dokja is a liar, through and through, so much that he fails, or perhaps refuses, to comprehend the veracity of others’ kindness and love towards himself. 

by some miracle, the events at the end of the world somehow resolve.. or so it seems. there is a departing train, a liberated team of ex-gods, and a child rousing from his slumber. in the aftermath, i am left shaking. somehow, despite the ending having been (happily?) reached, there’s still another chapter ahead. what is this witchcraft?

------

and then ah, yes -- the epilogue arc. i teetered on the edge of being critical for a little bit there -- is that display of deus ex machina, of sad, self-sacrificing nobility a bit too egregious to be acceptable? is this some wild last let-me-yank-this-outta-my-ass plot twist to drag out the chapter count? i sincerely thought that the arc before it would have been the finale. i was wrong. thank god.

anyways, as an answer to the above: no, and no. i stake my firm claim on the belief that the epilogue arc was meticulously planned out well in advance of its release, confusing and time-warpy as it is. i liked it. tremendously. even if it entirely invalidates all of kdj’s supposed development (”haha lol yeah sure i won’t sacrifice myself or anything anymore guys don’t worry about me” -- KDJ, at some point because he’s a lying rat bastard). actually, our beloved MC disappears for a large chunk of this arc, and i think it’s great. in his absence, the other characters not only go absolutely fucking nuts, but they have to figure out this new problem on their own, even if the lure of peaceful complacency in the newly saved Korea might convince them otherwise. 

and then the whole time paradox thing comes around. yjh goes to space, hsy saves the only life she can, and kdj grows up. the crew waits, holding onto their hope even if it bleeds them dry. sing-shong does a damn good job of illustrating their fraying calm, their lurking madness, the unseen but pervasive depression that seeps in from kdj’s absence. the kids lose their father, lhs and jhw lose their reliable leader figure, ysa loses a best friend and confidant, lsk -- as distant as she pretends to be from her son -- loses her only child. and then there’s hsy and yjh , who are essentially bereft of the other half of their existences. their pain is palpable, is grounded in the hopeless, gnawing frustration of an utterly meaningless victory. emotionally, ORV hits all the right -- if agonizing -- beats.

however, a story can’t sustain itself just through its pathos. i’m happy to say that ORV doesn’t drop the ball after the first milestone, and after all the hurt, the characters do leap straight back into action. even better, the plot holes actually do get patches, and the poetic cycle of writer, protagonist, and reader comes full circle by making use of all those supposedly throwaway characters from the myriad world lines. 

at the end of the road, there is a distinct sense of unity, of a delicate but undeniable cohesion to the world lines and their origins. sing-shong lets us guess a little here at the finish, but there’s just enough information to feel hopeful. maybe there never had been a definite start -- or finish -- to the story of kdj company, and... that’s okay. everybody ends up where they were meant to be, where they fought and struggled to reach. it’s.. almost like a happily ever after, if we’re allowed to dream of that.

------

now, i realize, this was all an orchestrated maneuver.

i’ll take it.

to me, all of this work sounds like someone put some serious thought into this behemoth of a plot. it cements the entire original premise of the story. it suggests -- but never explicitly confirms! -- the possibility that breaking free of the cycle is possible through the exact same system that sustains it. it’s terribly interesting -- and inspirational! with all the dramatic revelations and life-threatening scenarios  and the cast’s resigned acceptance of them that essentially make up ORV’s entire mood, there’s still that last hint of rebellious and righteous anger that lights up the whole damn nebula. it’s like the kdj company blasting away at the heavens just to yell into the nether: we’re not looking for the happy end, but the free one. stay alive.

it’s subtle, and yet it’s such an emotional gut punch. i came away with the most ruinous, frustrating, bittersweet sense of longing in ages. i pined. for these fictional darlings. god, i am weak.

so. yeah. ORV is pretty good. flawed, but ambitious and impressively thought out.  i’m stoked that the webtoon is making pretty good progress, even if it’ll take an eternity and a half to meet that monstrous chapter count. i’m still gonna follow it. hell yeah. 

------

(by the way the idea that secretive plotter and co are literally gonna take care of and raise baby kdj and spoil him and be the best friggin family a kid could ever want does things to me. protect him. he’s suffered too much. let at least one worldline’s version of him know happiness. and actually, aLL OF THEM DESERVE DOMESTIC BLISS TOGETHER IN A BIG OL MANSION WITH SUN AND FRESH AIR AND TENDER FAMILY MOMENTS UGH)

------

and there you have it, folks. you made it to the end. in the far, far distance, i’m cheering you on and crying my eyes out in gratitude. thanks for tuning in!

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 3, Match 7: Kim Dokja vs. Izumi Curtis

Submitted kids:

Kim Dokja: Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung are the commonly accepted ones but you can also make a case for Lee Jihye and Biyoo

Izumi Curtis: Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric

Propaganda under the cut!

Kim Dokja:

1. “In the first scenario (where you have to murder something alive) his first priority is to make sure Gilyoung makes it out alive (by giving him the grasshopper before letting others know about it), and when the future version of Yoosung (41st round) is going to cause havoc his first plan is to basically the past (his present) version of her so they would have her on her side (he takes her in as his incarnation- if that isn’t an adoption idk what is); Biyoo is literally the soul of 41st Yoosung that he WENT THROUGH AN UNDERWORLD TRIAL to get her back and she is legally his child. Lee Jihye is more like the older sister-teenager of the group be she’s still adopted by association and Han Donghoon is a kid who was hypnotized and exploited by the ‘prophets’ and Kim Dokja saved him and became someone he trusts in- which is basically adopting. Mia is YJH’s little sister but with the family dynamic all of KimCom has she’s basically adopted too. This man is someone who believes the worst in himself but gives all these kids someone they need and in return they are the family he’s never had.”

2. “He saved Lee Gilyoung on the subway when he was orphaned at the time the apocalypse started even when he didn't need to and kept him by his side and fed him at his own expense and believed in him and taught him to be strong when no one else had really done that for Lee Gilyoung before.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (pretty vague):

Shin Yoosung was a character in the world of the apocalypse that occured (long story, won't explain here lol) and she was supposed to be destined to become a monster that would destroy Seoul and the two people other than Kim Dokja who knew this wanted to kill her when they found her to prevent her from becoming that but Kim Dokja refused to kill her and physically stood to protect her and then he later became her sponsor (uhhh it's a whole thing in-universe but basically pledged to back her and help her ig) and the stigma (a special power thing that can be gained through a sponsor) he gave her was based in him protecting everyone in their group and his love for all of them.

Both Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung are extremely attached to Kim Dokja and have on at least one canon occasion slept clinging to either side of him.

LESS MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (though not terrible ig and still mostly vague at least):

Biyoo is. well she's Shin Yoosung actually but also not. So basically y'know that monster future Shin Yoosung was destined to become? so that monster version of her from a different timeline was sent backwards and sideways in time (idk how else to describe it jskdfs) and nearly did destroy Seoul as prophesied but Kim Dokja tried to save her—and he nearly did but then a shitty dokkaebi (they're like admin streamer people. idk would take a while to explain) did a shitty thing and forced her to be 'evil' and then she had to be killed ;-; but Kim Dokja promised to get revenge for her and after that he went and beat up the asshole dokkaebi who did that so badly that he gained a legendary Story. And then he traveled to the Underworld at risk of his own life to retrieve her soul and put that into a dokkaebi egg that he personally hatched. And she lost her memories for the most part but could still sense a bit what he'd done for her :') and so yeah she became Biyoo and is somehow both adopted and originally parented(?? idk saying biologically is. doesn't feel quite right lol) by him.”

3. “Bro is THE DAD of the group”

4. “Adopted his kids so hard that they’d do like anything for him they love him so much”

No propaganda has been submitted for Izumi Curtis

[your--isgayrights]

[ORV spoiler warning I guess]

IM REREADING AND I GOT TO CHAPTER 310AND WHY DONT WE FUCKING TALK ABOUT THIS ONE ITS MAKING ME LOSE MY MIND

Like, the first part of the chapter where Yoo Jonghyuk does that thing where he, like, straight up lies. "No Kim Dokja I don't like you what do you mean I've hated you this whole time blah blah I'm a tsundere blah blah." AND THEN KIM DOKJA JUST TAKING HIM AT FACE VALUE BECAUSE HES AN IDIOT AND THATS THE CORE OF THEIR DYNAMIC

Ok but then the part that makes me really crazy is when Kim Dokja is reading the midday tryst messages and he realizes Yoo Jonghyuk is afraid of him dying... And then he like. Spins it into his comphet worldview of like. Wow, i can't believe Yoo Jonghyuk isn't confident that he can reach the end of the scenarios without me, I really messed up in changing the story like this. And. It's like. It never even momentarily occurs to him that actually maybe Yoo Jonghyuk just like. Legitimately cares about his well being. I'm dying why is this mans brain so broken why are they like this.

[starlesswritings]

yjh character musings

notes: please forgive me i haven't read all of orv since maybe a year ago. also, this was intended to not feel finished once the reader got to the end, i hope that's not too annoying.

Yoo Joonghyuk is... a jerk.

A handsome, tall — well, not taller than Lee Hyunsung, but that hardly matters, he’s still tall. As it was being stated. Yoo Joonghyuk is handsome, tall, intelligent, and powerful. His presence is on another level. He is... many things. Too many things, really. Far too many things for anyone to handle. Not Kim Dokja, not Han Sooyoung, Lee Seolhwa, Lee Jihye — no. Really, he is filled to the brim with too much.

But what filled him up so? What gave him such presence?

It could be supposed, that perhaps it is the overwhelming emptiness within the man who is Yoo Joonghyuk that makes him who he is. He is a shell of a person. Isn’t that what characters are? They are shells of actual existences.

That would bring up the quesiton of what it means to exist, and that is not a headache anyone wants to get into these days. Everyone has their own opinion on what is right or wrong in every regard.

I have an opinion on that discourse which I am going to call fact.

Right is always right. Wrong is always wrong. Whether we as people are aware of which is which half the time is of no concern to right and wrong.

This is a ramble of incoherency. Back to the point — Yoo Joonghyuk. This sad, sad, pathetic man. Orphaned. Lonely. He really did need a companion. Someone on equal standing with him as opposed to his little sister, who one could imagine was all he truly had before... well, before the start of the story, really. Family connects and ties together, but families have roles depending on the position.

It could be supposed, that he simply gave so much of himself, there really wasn’t much left. What he kept was rusted bones and filthy scars. All his love had been sucked out whole. All his happiness was elsewhere. Happiness was not a necessity, but a luxury, and one he simply could not afford.

So, yes. He is a jerk. I state this like it is a fact, but perhaps I am simply too ignorant to realize the errors of this statement. Or, perhaps I was wrong before about right always being right and wrong always being wrong. Perhaps, if I was wrong about that, then I may just be right about this.

It’s powerful, how probability tipped to one side and a few words and some currency can really turn the world inside out.

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 2, Match 53: Kim Dokja vs. Roberto de Niro

Submitted kids:

Kim Dokja: Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung are the commonly accepted ones but you can also make a case for Lee Jihye and Biyoo

Roberto de Niro: Meryl Stryfe, Vash the Stampede, Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Propaganda under the cut!

Kim Dokja:

1. “In the first scenario (where you have to murder something alive) his first priority is to make sure Gilyoung makes it out alive (by giving him the grasshopper before letting others know about it), and when the future version of Yoosung (41st round) is going to cause havoc his first plan is to basically the past (his present) version of her so they would have her on her side (he takes her in as his incarnation- if that isn’t an adoption idk what is); Biyoo is literally the soul of 41st Yoosung that he WENT THROUGH AN UNDERWORLD TRIAL to get her back and she is legally his child. Lee Jihye is more like the older sister-teenager of the group be she’s still adopted by association and Han Donghoon is a kid who was hypnotized and exploited by the “prophets” and Kim Dokja saved him and became someone he trusts in- which is basically adopting. Mia is YJH’s little sister but with the family dynamic all of KimCom has she’s basically adopted too. This man is someone who believes the worst in himself but gives all these kids someone they need and in return they are the family he’s never had.”

2. "He saved Lee Gilyoung on the subway when he was orphaned at the time the apocalypse started even when he didn't need to and kept him by his side and fed him at his own expense and believed in him and taught him to be strong when no one else had really done that for Lee Gilyoung before.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (pretty vague):

Shin Yoosung was a character in the world of the apocalypse that occured (long story, won't explain here lol) and she was supposed to be destined to become a monster that would destroy Seoul and the two people other than Kim Dokja who knew this wanted to kill her when they found her to prevent her from becoming that but Kim Dokja refused to kill her and physically stood to protect her and then he later became her sponsor (uhhh it's a whole thing in-universe but basically pledged to back her and help her ig) and the stigma (a special power thing that can be gained through a sponsor) he gave her was based in him protecting everyone in their group and his love for all of them.

Both Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung are extremely attached to Kim Dokja and have on at least one canon occasion slept clinging to either side of him.

LESS MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (though not terrible ig and still mostly vague at least):

Biyoo is. well she's Shin Yoosung actually but also not. So basically y'know that monster future Shin Yoosung was destined to become? so that monster version of her from a different timeline was sent backwards and sideways in time (idk how else to describe it jskdfs) and nearly did destroy Seoul as prophesied but Kim Dokja tried to save her—and he nearly did but then a shitty dokkaebi (they're like admin streamer people. idk would take a while to explain) did a shitty thing and forced her to be 'evil' and then she had to be killed ;-; but Kim Dokja promised to get revenge for her and after that he went and beat up the asshole dokkaebi who did that so badly that he gained a legendary Story. And then he traveled to the Underworld at risk of his own life to retrieve her soul and put that into a dokkaebi egg that he personally hatched. And she lost her memories for the most part but could still sense a bit what he'd done for her :') and so yeah she became Biyoo and is somehow both adopted and originally parented(?? idk saying biologically is. doesn't feel quite right lol) by him."

3. “Bro is THE DAD of the group”

4. “Adopted his kids so hard that they’d do like anything for him they love him so much”

Roberto de Niro:

“he's my dad”