Day 6: Role Reversal AU - If It Weren't For That Reader, I'd Probably Have Died Back Then

genuinely cant stop thinking about that doksoo post by the way. what if you met this guy and he was everything you wanted in a reader. he treasured that webnovel the way you were desperate for but he never liked yours. and then youre thrown together by circumstance and you fall in love with him and he promises to read your work every single chapter and then he gives you 49% of himself and doesnt even include the part that loves reading. and then you discover that when you split yourself in two, yeah that other part of yourself? she loved him too. she loved him so much she wrote for him for thirteen years and that work you were so jealous of was your own and it was that quest that even made you a writer and every single part of yourself seems to come back to loving him. what would you even do

A friend requested that I post some ORV thoughts on Tone and Themes from discord. I have edited the messages for better organization and clarity below:

There are a lot of quotes that you could argue are the culmination or distillation of ORV. You could also argue that ORV itself is not reducible to a single quote because of the sheer enormity of it, and how that size is a component of the story itself. But if I were to convey the specific melancholy of ORV-- my most fundamental read on the Feeling of ORV-- I would choose one quote to do so.

I’d fall back on, “In a world turned upside down, where monsters were rampant, we still had to clear the snow.”

Throughout the immense battles of good vs evil or gods and demons, ORV remains a story about people doing the things they have to in order to continue living.

And there is a distinct melancholy to that: the grief stricken “is it just this forever,” everyone being a regressor, and the mundane tragedies of struggling on in a world that will build a narrative around you regardless of your input or desires. However, all of these things are part and parcel to ‘surviving’ in a ruined world

It's about taking those small steps forward, regardless of cataclysmic tragedy and world-rending stakes. You still have to clear the snow. You still have to take care of the people around you. You still have to cook dinner. You still have to live.

It's the melancholy of a 'nevertheless', and that's a hopeful kind of melancholy. Reaching out and trying again and again. Leaving a mark on the wall because someone might read it. Regressing so that one day you won’t have to. Iterating and changing and trying again and again. It’s about making attempts.

It's about finding ways to survive, even if you've forgotten a few.

if i have one purpose on this earth it is to push the doksoo agenda look guys i was there. i was reading the joonghyuk fics i was nodding along when they called han sooyoung the lesbian best friend but ive grown ive matured and so can you. take my hand. think about the kaizenix arc with me. remember 1863rd han sooyoungs devotion. and we can walk into a beautiful sunset together <3

thinking about this

they both tried so hard. kim dokja would never sacrifice himself again, but he did. yoo joonghyuk would never regress again, but he did. something something orpheus will always look back for eurydice...

Happy birthday, our dearest Reader.

you who appeared like a star..

was getting tired of my artstyle so i drew dokja eating a burger

My part of a collab for the @orv-gotcha-for-gaza event! It was an honor to work with you guys on this. Huge thank you to @/constellorv on twitter for donating, and to the mods for organizing this huge endeavor! Though the official donation phase is closed, the need for donations is not, so to anybody reading this: please continue finding and contributing to fundraisers you come across; this is the ORV G4G's original donation page if you're not sure where to start, but by no means is that an exhaustive list!

[ID in alt text]

(Full collab) (Piece #1 by @normalfreaks) (Piece #2 by @kookadooks/@tls123_twt)

Happy bday Kim Dokja!!!

Based on @d0gtoothjones’s art

Extras + original under the cut

Original version

My pattern (99x118, ended up adding 2 extra rows to the top)

I’m really proud of the gradients :D

Photocard I did for the KDJ Birthday event at the Kick café in Paris hehe