#oh this got long but i just have SO many thoughts about orv i need to physically shake them out of my brain

[kimdokjas]

Hi~ I binge-read orv webtoon today and I have just finished. I came to Tumblr to know more about the fandom and I realised that people ship Dokja with Joonghyuk. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting that. I thought their "flirty"(? interactions were just some sort of fan service or silly jokes. Is there anything in the novel that implies a relationship between them? Or maybe something that I missed in the webtoon? (I struggle with picking up social cues, especially romantic cues)

I hope this ask doesn't upset you, you were one of the top orv blogs that Tumblr showed me

(also, I apologize for my bad English, it isn't my first language)

Wait I'm one of the top orv blogs??? 💀💀💀 But for sure, I don't mind at all, anon! I love having an excuse to rant about orv <3

To preface this: yes, most of the heavier joongdok content comes until later in the novel, but there ARE some highlights in the webtoon as well so far.

I think most of the appeal of early joongdok interactions in the webtoon comes from the enemies to lovers vibe they have going on. Picture KDJ hyperfixating on his single favorite character for 10+ years, through every up and down of his life. In his narration during their FIRST meeting he explicitly says:

I liked you, hated you, resented you, and cheered for you. I was with you throughout your three-thousand episode journey. (webtoon ch. 12)

AND THEN. He finds out his favorite blorbo comes to life and proceeds to annoy him until he starts choking him over a bridge with a sunset backdrop like something out of a romance drama. It's all about the tension and subversion of expectations 🤌

Their relationship is very much a slowburn. YJH very reasonably distrusts KDJ at first (due to some past trauma) but we do see him gradually start to warm up to KDJ as the story progresses.

One of the main highlights is during ch. ~100 in the Disaster of Floods scenario. When KDJ sacrifices himself for YJH, he proceeds to freak out, tries to save him even when he knows it's futile, and refuses to kill him for coins even when YJH is often largely pragmatic in his interactions with others. We're told that YJH pretty much never uses the word "companion" because it holds too much meaning for him and he's never acknowledged KDJ as such, even though KDJ insists they're "life and death companions" (which is already pretty damn poetic if not romantic imo). But when Shin Yoosung asks who KDJ is to him, YJH says:

"That guy. He is my companion." (ch. 102)

(This got translated as "a companion of mine" in the webtoon but the novel is where it's at.) And keep in mind this is also an actual quote from the novel btw:

The weight of this word, 'companion', was too great for Yoo Joonghyuk. (ch. 12)

However, as I mentioned, their relationship only really starts to develop until later in the novel. To be clear, there's no explicit romance in orv–which I personally really appreciate because it opens up the floor instead to flesh out all the platonic relationships all of the characters have with one another that are JUST as deep and profound.

But even so, joongdok is very much canon to me. I don't want to give too much away because I'd be spoiling the rest of the novel for you, but they really are cosmic soulmates meant for one another in a way that is so narratively profound and completely goes full circle. The lengths they go to for one another are actually insane and there's no doubt in my mind the love and devotion they feel for one another is real and simultaneously indescribable by mere labels.

I really hope you're planning on continuing to read the novel now that you finished the webtoon! I truly cannot recommend it enough. It is literally and unironically the single greatest piece of literature I've ever read and the journey is 100% worth it. Plus, the webtoon will take a long time to complete at the current rate so the only way to find out what happens next is by reading the novel 😉

Anyway, I hope this was somewhat helpful to you! I think it's really admirable that you're trying to search for a different interpretation from your own. There's a saying in orv by one of the characters: "Read it again", and the intention there is that by rereading (or looking at things again in a new light) you will always find new meaning even within the exact same text, as long as you're willing to look for it. So the fact that you're asking this question is very much in the spirit of orv itself <3

And this goes without saying but you're also completely free to interpret them in your own way as well!

(By the way, I highly advise you to blacklist the "orv spoilers" tag and try to tread with caution if you're searching for content! There are spoilers literally EVERYWHERE and while orv is still very much enjoyable even with spoilers, all the reveals won't hit as hard–trust me. There really is so much that can be spoiled.)

#oh this got long but i just have SO many thoughts about orv i need to physically shake them out of my brain #another underrated jd moment is again around ch ~100 when yjh exclusively seeks out kdj and thinks he sees kdj and ysa about to kiss #and then proceeds to get super jealous and sulky and storms off all moody AND THEN. #he tries to act all gracious abt it when he tells kdj it's fine if he stays behind bc he has “a woman he loves after all 😔” #LIKE. YJH I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE 🤨🏳️‍🌈 #also anon you actually got me to use proper punctuation for once for this lmaooo #oh and no worries about your english!! you actually speak it really well!! #feel free to let me know if you have any other questions!! i could honestly talk about orv all day tbh #ask #anonymous #orv #joongdok

[twigwing]

just collecting some of my misc orv tweets for my self-interested archiving / your viewing pleasure, if you’d like. raw text below the cut

image 1: from what i've seen i feel like kdj & yjh having game related occupations is sorely underused. just imagining them playing a game together and it is hands down the worst experience. yjh is naturally good at games and kdj's job was to break them. there would be blood // alternatively or maybe even simultaneously, kdj discovering a game-breaking bug and yjh instantly mastering using it, thus spawning a highly competitive kimco speedrunning leaderboard 

image 2: hsy and yjh are both steeped in a deep sense of longing for life and comfort but neither of them would readily admit it especially in the presence of the other and would actively attack the other for their respective longings, i think. what are you some kind of softy? tch // "oh are you yearning? are you longing for a life unlike your own, lived comfortably, surrounded by love and a sense of peace? pathetic." (begrudgingly affectionate) 

image 3: in my random scene rereadings i think a rly understated part of orv from my first read is how goddamn funny dokja's mom is. i was too busy feeling menaced to really appreciate her writing // "my dokja seems to like unhealthy children" this woman is a RIOT 

image 4: i gotta sit down to reread orv in full cuz i’m currently doing that thing i do where i reread specific scenes in increasingly more donked up order to the point of getting way too good at navigating a chapter list to locate One Specific Line and it’s just a rly weird relationship // kim dokja rereads his favourite story from start to finish. i reread my favourite stories like i’m picking out loose papers from a recycling bin. we are not the same // i will say tho jumping through orv via a game of word/thought association really makes you feel like a crazed animal in need of a vet visit and a few shots. recommend // QRT: HELP ME [attached is an image of a Discord message that reads: Pardon my phone edit; with a modified section of the novel reading: With that resolution Rook continuously read ORV. He read, read, and read it again.

image 5: i wish lee hyunsung got more attention in the novel. i think post-canon lee gilyoung should share the comics he likes with him and lee hyunsung discovers some joy in reading that way. i think it would be a nice new and gentle part of his life. he deserves it // actually i need to reread orv so i can pay better attention to the scenes lee hyunsung is in so i can turn post-canon lhs around in my mind cuz ss doesn’t love him like i do // in my current personal opinion i think a fundamental misunderstanding of lee hyunsung’s character arc is that he would ever stay in the military post-canon. i don’t think he would. i think he’d kinda end up like y[covers my mouth to muffle the epilogue spoilers] // at a glance lee hyunsung as a character is the typical heart of gold dumb of ass tank with little (surface) depth past that. and that’s why i like him i love that type of character. there’s depth here it’s disorganized in my mind rn but i’m gonna run at him with intent 

image 6: i’ve been writing out random little scenes in my notes app cuz otherwise my head is just too full thoughts many. greatest hits include hsy threatening yjh with hair dye and yjh making soup // idk if this sprawling post-canon notes app fic will ever see the light of day but i love this part [attatched is an image of white text on a black background that reads: “hey you.” yoo joonghyuk looks up from the book he was reading to the sight of lee gilyoung standing ominously in the doorway he raises an eyebrow at him. “what is it?” he doesn’t move from his spot. “do my homework for me so i can go visit dokja hyung.” yoo joonghyuk turns back to his book. “no.” “uuuuggggggghhhhhhh.”

image 7: orv epilogue spoilers but it's, ... one thing that haunts me the most about the epilogues is it isn't clear in ch 543 between hsy and ysa which one has the iced americano and which one has the peach smoothie. i think either is possible and i need to know. it's important to me // like it doesn't matter it does Not matter but i think a stupid amount about it. my kneejerk assumption is ysa has the americano and hsy has the smoothie to contrast their personalities(y'know) but also the reverse is equally as likely EITHER WORK FOR ME. AND I JUST I GOTTA KNOW // ysa probably has it. shes described twice in the novel drinking coffee and she's very much a coffee type character. but it specifically being an ICED americano i'm like hang on that's more specific and more palatable to someone who doesn't like coffee cuz it's a shitton of water // it's also simply "iced Americano" there's no mention of like milk sugar syrup or anything which doesn't mean it isn't there but most likely it's straight. but ysa offers to buy Her a drink and it would be a very hsy move to make her buy an expensive smoothie over a cheap coffee // BUT hsy seems like the type that would get coffee just for the caffeine because her life is a fucking nightmare. but idk if she would get it black since she seems to have an affinity for sugar. she'd def Add milk /& sugar but at that point i think she'd be more of a latte person // but ultimately i just think it'd be cute for hsy to have the peach smoothie. i like her

#i'm compiling these for my own amusement if you also enjoy them have fun #twigpost #orv #orv spoilers #orv novel spoilers #long post #<deranged