#yjh pov

[readers-folly]

yes i am keeping to schedule

no i do not actually have one planned, stfu

[orviposition]

will forever be thankful that we have multiple pov changes in orv because how else would i discover that yjh waited for three days and three nights on that bridge for kdj to resurface from the monster's mouth since he couldn't accept kdj's companionship offer like a normal person

[insomaniacat]

orv spoilers

tbh I'm so happy there is no explicit romance in orv (minus the brief stuff that happens with jhw and lhs) and because of that I feel like I've been able to appreciate kdj in such a profound way as a character

like sure i like joongdok and yoohankim but to me at least kdj has this level of asexuality to him that I don't usually associate him with anyone that romantically. And their relationships are still as complex and has such a great depth that they are like THE foundest of families and I can return to the kim dokja company at the end of the day as all of them being my comfort characters. you know that saying like 'i love you so much i'd make the world burn for you'? it's meant to be this dramatic line about how much you love someone (romantically), but kdj's company fully encapsulates this in a platonic way that just isn't cringey or anything like that

they are all so platonic but they love each other to such an unconditional way that they ALL decide to relive through all the scenarios again in the hope of finding kim dokja again. and later, they all help to write and spread a story - stories, the thing the reader loves - again, in hopes of bringing kdj back home. they aren't sure if it'll work, but it is through this love they all have that they don't give up and put their hope in this seemingly impossible method

and this is also what makes them fundamentally different from kdj. unlike kim dokja in the apocalypse, they do not have any sort of proof their methods will work. kdj has twsa - the novel he grew up reading, the novel he fantasized living in, the novel that he's spent 13 years following, learning every nook and cranny and probably even planning out his own way to survive the apocalypse from this lengthy novel. he has some sort of assurance his methods will work, with the amount of time hsy put into describing the settings (remember that twsa was not popular and one of the complaints was that tls123 put too much emphasis on the settings that deterred people from reading it, when really, that too was a way to ensure kdj survived the apocalypse later on). he has had time to reassure himself and plan for it, and probably had yjh case test them all

but kdj's company had no assurance - they did not grow up with a book that confirmed their methods of bringing kdj back would work. they did not have any 'third plans', no 'ressurections', no 'restarts', that kdj had in the apocalypse. all they had was their own hope - something kdj didn't have when he was fifteen sitting in that hospital bed after that failed suicide attempt, feeling like the whole world was against him. Until he searched up those three words on his phone. Those three words that were probably 'Ways of Survival'.

And then he found his hope in twsa. he found his hope in yjh, the protagonist made just for him. he found hope in the story that he believed in for the next thirteen years. the story that got him through high school, the CSATs, the military. his hope was in this tangible book that carried him through the apocalypse.

kdj's company had none of that. they only had their hope in kim dokja - the man they survived the scenarios with. they could only put their hope in their memories of surviving with the man that saved them, even though there was no evidence he lived in their world anymore. they had to put their hope in the fact that they remembered he existed, even though they had to acknowledge that they didn't know everything about him.

sing shong touches upon this idea a lot throughout orv - does something really exist if no one knows about it? or, in a more modern saying, did a fallen tree in a forest really fall if no one heard it? what proves the existence of something? what proves that something truly happened? sing shong seems to make it pretty clear that the existence of something can be represented metaphorically like a 'story', and stories need a 'reader', some sort of spectator that witnesses it, for the 'story' to exist.

for kim dokja, his final sacrifice, where he split into infinite little pieces scattered across the universe, was to ensure that everything existed. that open ending, as tragic as it was, was meant to be comforting. that his sacrifice was supposed to be so existences like you and me, are real. no matter how lonely we may feel throughout our lives, a metaphorical 'kim dokja' is looking at our own stories, spectating our own stories, even living our own lives himself.

and what i hate to say sometimes is that kim dokja is not really a character - he is an idea. he is an idea of some being affirming our lives, that it's real, that what we do from day to day, even something as simple as getting up in the mornings and brushing your teeth, or thumbing through a store catalog, matters. and this is why kim dokja sacrificed himself. for all the stories that may have not 'existed' if no one was watching it.

and it's out of love. this tragic, terrible love for the world, that eats away at yourself until you are nothing. but at least you exist.

[rikan-oo]

I mean, I get LSK

If my son told me about some red flag fictional psycho with that kind of expression, I'd be greatly concerned too

I think she thanked God that TWSA wasn't popular, so KDJ couldn't make a mini shrine for YJH with dakimakura in his bed

It's too bad that in the end, he brings ultimate TWSA merch – Yoo Joonghyuk himself

[melanchoise]

modern au where Nothing Bad Happens yet they’re still friends because they will find each other in every universe

anyways they’re celebrating hsy’s novel release 👍

[aceofenderafterdark]

I haven't started the novel yet, just read the webtoon a lot. But, I am in a unique position where I love the ORV webtoon. And my older brother's best friend also likes it. But, as I'm sure you can tell, I am queer and he is not. So he looks at it and sees a cool action story. I look at it and see a cool action story with doomed(?) yaoi, found family, and kdj's slutty little waist-

[pttucker]

"Huh. Actually, ahjumma, your son's gone to some place with someone. But that place is…" "Are you perchance speaking of that?" Han Sooyoung followed Lee Sookyung's pointing finger and turned her head. The TV mounted on the wall was playing a news footage. The scene on the screen showed a man wearing a white coat floating in the jet-black sky, with Kim Dokja dangling off that man's arm. – Breaking news! < Kim Dokja's Company >'s president kidnapped! Han Sooyoung's jaw dropped to the floor as she muttered softly. "…What the heck is that?" For some unfathomable reason, the Earth's media had found out about that event. Lee Sookyung and her rather relaxed expression stared at the screen for a little while, then she nodded her head. "That boy. He's still so popular." "Ahjumma?! Don't you get that it's a pretty serious problem??" "But, he looks like Yoo Joonghyuk-gun. So, what can be a serious problem?" "Because that's not the 'Yoo Joonghyuk'. That's the problem."

Oh man, where do I even begin?

First off, it’s still completely wild to me that Earth’s news continues to broadcast. That electricity for TVs and computers and communication in general is still being produced. That power lines and internet cables are still intact.

Like this all seems like such a huge apocalyptic scenario without even talking about the actual apocalyptic scenario, just the fact that scenarios exist in general with giant monsters and groups of Incarnations and Constellations out to do no good and straight up Death as the penalty for failing even simple scenarios and and and...and yet the news still persists. I guess I’m so used to seeing canons where stuff like this happens and all of society completely breaks down all Dawn of the Dead style.

Of course, now it’s switched to reporting on things like Kim Dokja, the random nobody who’s been at the forefront of completing the Main Scenarios alongside his party, who are also random nobodies aside from Yoo Joonghyuk, the famous pro gamer lmfao.

Secondly...

His mom’s reaction!!!

“Ma’am your son has been kidnapped.”

*News literally shows a completely helpless Dokja being slung across someone’s arm and carried off.*

Lee Sookyung: “Oh it’s just Joonghyuk, I’m certain he’s fine. My son’s so popular.”

adkfjsldjfksdkfadfs

Dokja’s mom is 100% fine with her son being kidnapped by Yoo Joonghyuk without any further context whatsoever.

(To be fair, she was the one to realize that Joonghyuk was the person most loved by her son back in that arc so…)

Oh man, what is the rest of the world thinking? DO THEY THINK THE SAME THING? “Oh isn’t that guy Kim Dokja’s companion? Nbd.”

Thirdly! The way Joonghyuk just keeps rewinding the TV and glaring at Secretive Plotter as he takes Dokja away. Oh man, he’s so pissed.

It may very well be the last thing he ever does in this regression but he’s so gonna throw hands the instant he sees Secretive Plotter again.

Fourthly!!! Bihyoung absolutely distributed that footage. He may be Dokja’s secret dokkaebi BFF (not so secret anymore) but he knows a good show when he sees one.

[ravs6709]

idk if this is something im maybe hallucinating or maybe its just the posts that i see occasionally but ifl sometimes its hard for the fandom to let yjh exist outside of kdj?? like i know the whole kdj being the reason for the story and yjh as an extension to exist is a thing but yjh separating himself from the narrative and establishing himself as not just the protagonist but a person is Also a thing and i feel like we don't talk about it as much.

like i dont know man!! maybe this is all in my head but sooo much of the yjh content also doubles as joongdok?? and you KNOW i love good joongdok but where are the character studies. where are the deep dives. where is the acknowledging yjh as an intricately convoluted and complex characters with his own wishes and desires and the way those desires fuel the narrative like goddddd hes SUCH a Character i think we need to discuss it more. anyways hes my fave btw no one gets him like i do

NO YOURE SO RIGHT THAT IS EXACTLY WHATS HAPPENING

Like yjh becoming a Person is his whole growth??? I haven't been consuming nearly as much orv content, and I'm pretty sure it's for this very reason cause I want more character studies so bad!! Or dynamics with other members of kimcom!!

You ever think about him and mia, mia who is suddenly so distant from her brother, you ever think about him and jihye, how she wants to be strong like him

Or sp!!! Who carries so much grief, and it saddens me that his "why is it not me, but you?" line got reduced to "oh he's jealous he doesn't have a kdj" when it's "he doesn't have ANY companions he doesn't have a SISTER A DISCIPLE A TEACHER"

[evilkaeya]

this novel is comedy

[blerghie]

How many times did he read? Kim Dokja's eyes, shining like stars, dimmed little by little. Kim Dokja fell into a shallow sleep.

Yoo Joonghyuk stared at the scene with empty eyes. The back of the weary Kim Dokja. A snoring sound came out at regular intervals.

— chapter 294

The Dokkaebi King approached Yoo Joonghyuk like an encroaching shadow as the latter dazedly looked up at the sky. No, he was no longer the 'Dokkaebi King'. With every step he took, his face and his silhouette changed.

⸢The pale cheeks; two eyes gleaming like stars, were now looking at him.⸥

— chapter 508

Yoo Joonghyuk hurriedly rubbed his eyes without even realizing it. Was he hallucinating, instead? This young girl's external appearance resembled Kim Dokja's, somehow. Her eyes sparkling like stars were quietly observing him.

— chapter 549

image source:

[metanarrates]

moe....

[lee-hakhyun]

soo. for the fifth scenario, the washington dome was invaded by demons. anna usually prepared for the scenarios using the future, but things went wrong due to unforeseen variables (the readers).

5% of the washington dome's population is left.

now, these demons are subordinates of a demon king. when yoo joonghyuk asks anna which demon king is it, she tells him that the demons said that their master was the 'demon king of salvation'.

[crystalcatgamer]

"Mia." A single word - blunt, tense, underscored with panic. With relief. Her brother drops to his knees with a thud and drags her into a hug. "You're alive."  Yoo Mia wraps her arms around the man just as fiercely, burying her face in familiarly broad shoulders. "I knew Oppa would come find me." 

Yoo Mia, the scenarios, and her brother through them. 

(Always, he’s different. But he loves her, as their friends fall and the sun rises. And isn’t that what matters the most, in the end?)

[orviposition]

tbh webtoon not featuring the smirk is nothing compared to them not featuring yjh telling kdj that "he can't do it" re: kdj asking yjh to kill him during 41st sys arc

THANKS FOR NOTHING ANON 😭😭

[hanicchy]

kdj and hsy are SO important to me. imagine you're thrust into this hell world designed to kill you. around every corner is another hurdle meant to slow you down and possibly end your existence for the entertainment of beings beyond your comprehension. you're a plaything at best, a speck of dust at worst, you have little agency beyond how you choose to solve the problems laid before you and even then the end result is almost always set in stone.

and there's a single person, just one, who understands the world to the same length as you. they are the only one with the same amount of knowledge, who knows things they shouldn't, who can look at the world as someone outside of it rather than someone living in it. you're watching a story you know intimately unfold in front of you, and you know the person beside you is doing the same. it's all the two of you can do to use that knowledge for survival, and even though you may not get along you trust them more than you trust anyone else, because who else could sympathize with your need to use that power for good?

[pttucker]

"Yoo Joonghyuk, defend me." "What?" I immediately closed my eyes and focused. I had become quite familiar with it after all the practice while sleeping. There was the feeling of my body sinking to the ground and darkness was everywhere. I felt a shallow sleep and immediately used Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

NO HESITATION WHATSOEVER

They're in the middle of nowhere, literally surrounded by potential enemies, and Dokja doesn't even blink before leaving himself completely vulnerable, trusting Joonghyuk to watch over him while he totally zones out.

Talk about relationship growth.