A Friend Requested That I Post Some ORV Thoughts On Tone And Themes From Discord. I Have Edited The Messages

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.

Tags

orv

More Posts from Panca123 and Others

panca123

3 months ago

An 8 page digital comic for Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, drawn in black pencil and colored in with a flat, watercolor texture. The comic is monochrome with scanned pieces of paper incorporated in the work. Lines of text are dispersed through the comic.

Page 1: A white backgound. A pair of hands is typing on a keyboard. An IV is connected to the right hand. On the monitor, a snippet from Ways of Survival is visible, reading: "Yoo Joonghyuk stood before the vast, endless calamity pouncing on him and spoke, "Until I witness the end of the scenario, I shall never give up. That's why... You shouldn't give up, either."

The text of the comic reads: "Live. Even if you must crawl your way out of the grave."

Page 2: A white background. The text continues: "and even if you must burn every page of this book to keep you warm."

A young Kim Dokja sits on his chair, his back facing the viewer. In front of him sits his mother, Lee Sookyung, in a prison uniform. Only part of her face is visible through a tinted screen. The rest of the screen is covered with pieces of paper, all including snippets about the characters of Ways of Survival.

Page 3: A white background. A young Dokja types away at an old computer. Below him, an older Dokja is wearing business clothes and typing at a newer computer. Both are visible from a top-view, and only the tops of their heads and their arms are visible. They are positioned such that they're facing each other. Young Dokja has a blanket of paper on his shoulders, while older Dokja has a coat of paper hung on the chair behind him. Both pieces of paper include snippets from ORV. For young Dokja, it is about the characters of Ways of Survival. For older Dokja, it is about his guilt for reading this story.

Between the two monitors the text of the comic reads: "You can consume us to sustain you through the winter and we will still be there when spring arrives."

Page 4: A white background fades into black. A tree branch and leaves cover the top of the screen. The branch and leaves are all made of pieces of paper. Behind the leaves stands an older Dokja, wearing his white coat. He is looking at something with a horrified expression on his face. The background fades to black. At the bottom of the page, the outline of young Dokja is drawn in white pencil. He is hugging his knees to his chest and looking forward. In front of him stand the characters of Ways of Survival (Uriel, Hyunsung, Jihye, and Namwoon) drawn in a loose, sketchy style. They are all looking at him, and Uriel and Hyunsung are leaning over as if to speak to him.

The text above these sketches reads: "The moment you love a story it becomes immortal,"

Page 5: A black background. At the top of the page the text continues: "Neverending." The rest of the page is covered in a piece of paper with the top cut out to resemble grass. On top of the grass sits an older Dokja drawn in white pencil. He is on his hands and knees, sobbing while covering his face. Next to him, the figures of the Forgotten Ones (the Outer Gods) are shown as blob-like shapes cut out of paper. They are made of repeating texts, such as: "Kim Dokja" "Who are you" "You know us" and "Give me". One of the blobs is reaching out to the sobbing Dokja.

The rest of the page is the scanned piece of paper. It is filled with snippets of the Forgotten Ones' memories. They are the last words the companions spoke to Joonghyuk in his past rounds. The text fades in opacity as you go down, and the contents become more and more scrambled. At the bottom, two words are bolded and outlined in pencil, representing the text of the comic: "Take it."

Page 6: A black background. The scanned page from Page 5 is now zoomed out to be a square on the top half of the page, with some creases visible. Some words are circled in black pencil and shaded in, colored white on the black background. They read: "Take all of it".

Below, the piece of paper is further zoomed out. It is folded into some sort of origami shape.

Page 7: A black background. A continuation of page 6. The piece of paper is gradually zoomed out, folded further and further with a shape resembling a spiral at its center.

Final page, page 8: A black background fades into white. At the bottom of this page the final product of the folding is shown: a paper rose. Dokja's hands are cupping the flower. The final line of text of the comic reads: "We don't mind." /END ID

[Story "One Who Is Loved By All" is continuing its storytelling.]

Tags

orv kim dokja I will forever love this i think

2K notes View Post

panca123

9 months ago

hc that jang hayoung is trans because han sooyoung originally wrote her as a guy, but since od wanted jhy to be a girl in the first place, he imagined her has a girl in his day dreams as well. he basically headcannoned jang hayoung into being trans... (important distinction is that he did not headcannon her as trans, but jhy developed feelings of not being a boy herself due to kdj's influence on the universe 😭 i do not think kim dokja would have a clue of trans people or the lgbt community pre scenarios)

Tags

orv kim dokja han sooyoung jang hayoung does this come across as denying her feelings being real? thats not what i mean. she isnt a character anymore after all. she decides her own feelings despite what kim dokja thinks

30 notes View Post

panca123

3 weeks ago

Made these a while back for sooyoungs birthday but they arrived today. Not sure if I'm happy with the way they turned out.

Tags

orv han sooyoung these look soooo cute

60 notes View Post

panca123

1 month ago

Mo Willem Interviews Are So Very Orv To Me

mo willem interviews are so very orv to me

Tags

orv trying to create that kind of awe in children is like the ultimate hsy & od dynamic

15 notes View Post

panca123

9 months ago

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

Tags

orv kim dokja yoo joonghyuk yoohankim thank you op for putting it into words

110 notes View Post

panca123

1 month ago

some of my old fanarts that i liked from orvww and stuffs

i've lost ysa finished work and only have this left

Tags

orv

105 notes View Post

panca123

9 months ago

rereading early orv is like. wow kdj is so detached from the rest of his companions. he still believes ysa's close to him because she's nice to everyone and he counts as everyone. he still talks about the end of the scenarios as if he expects a peaceful, happy ending to this story because he hasn't planned it out yet. he still judges yjh as if he were only a character he would utilize to get to that end. and every time i feel uncomfortable reading kdj be so heartless i remember that he hates himself exactly because of this in the later scenarios

Tags

orv its devastating to say the least

76 notes View Post

panca123

3 months ago