Tcf - Blog Posts
The fight of the century
Some doodles as well!!
I was reading abralhugres ' "one last death" and "I'll save you when you're weak"
BIG SPOILERS FOR LCF PT2 CHAPTER 102!!!!!!
The Soos are so fucking stupid I hate them so much..... THE RECENT CHAPTER????? hellooo????
Cale coughing up more blood than he ever has. Ever. Then proceeding to get hit with. the worst feeling of hunger he has ever been through and proceeding to shovel an apple pie in his mouth as quickly as he can.
THEN CJS BREAKING THROUGH THE ROOF. WHILE FIGHTING THE MURDER DEMON???????????????? Sui just being so goddamn done with him..... CJS just smiling and greeting Cale as if he hasn't seen him since HE DIED IN FRONT OF HIM (same thing happened with Sui these little shits...) and as if Cale isn't covered head to toe in his own blood and stuffing his face, as if he isn't fighting one of the most powerful people IN THIS WORLD??????
TCF Chapter 685 in a nutshell
(Based on my TCF Summary Series)
The entirely scientific Circle Diagram, explaining the principles behind TCF Paradigm of Misunderstandings(TM)
🧐
Finally – a proper TCF timeline!
At long last, I made a semi-coherent tBoaH/TCF timeline for myself
Obviously there are many characters I didn't list, but at least the main players are all there. It's a bit confusing in places, but that's how it is when you deal with time travel, lol
(Sorry for the crude "___" form but apparently the Tab key doesn't work!! 😕)
Timeline POVs
___________________age_____year(tBoaH)_____year(TCF)
Ancient times______-_______~10,000 B.F.C*__- Sheritt's death____~800____8-9,000 B.F.C___- Cale B.'s birth____0_______~220** B.F.C____- Eruhaben's birth___0_______219 B.F.C_______- Choi Han arrives___17______600-700_________- KRS's og birth***__0_______<=763___________<=767 1!KRS's birth______0_______767_____________745 2!KRS's birth______0_______-_______________763 Ron's birth________0_______721_____________- Beacrox's birth____0_______751_____________- Alberu's birth_____0_______758_____________- Destr. of Molan____-_______~759****________- Cale's birth_______0_______763_____________- On & Hong's births_0_______771, 774________- Raon's hatching____0_______777_____________- Destr. of Harris___-_______28th March 781__- OG!Cale regresses__40______803_____________- KRS transmigrates__36______-_______________781 Cale meets ChoiHan_18______781_____________- Meeting On & Hong__7, 10___-_______________781 Meeting Ron________60______781_____________- Meeting Beacrox____30______781_____________- Raon's escape______4_______781_____________- Meeting Alberu_____23______-_______________781 Meeting Cale B.____16-21___-_______________783 Sealed god's test__20/38___783 (for 2!KRS)_765 or 787 (for 1!KRS)
28th March 781 - the only exact date we got I believe
Events which happened only in tBoaH (the Birth of a Hero timeline) or in both are on the left, events from TCF (Trash of the Count's Family timeline) are on the right.
"Destr." is short for "destruction", since I couldn't find a better shorter word
1!KRS and 2! KRS refer to Kim Rok Soo from Earth 1 (the 36 years old KRS turned MC Cale) and Kim Rok Soo from Earth 2 (the KRS who's 20 years old). (...which lead me to the whole confusion with dimension travel ages?? That's why there are 2 sides. How do you count age, from which timeline, before or after regression? So I decided to include both.)
* - Before Felix Calendar begins ** - or >240 B.F.C if his first life counts *** - the birth of KRS's originally intended body, taken over by White Star (Cale B.) through reincarnation **** - I think it was mentioned that Beacrox was 8? I'm not 100% sure tho since I don't remember the chapter
Reasons Cale Henituse is the funniest motherfucker:
*People cheering for him in the streets* Hm. Don’t like that.
His self-proclaimed speciality is just disassociating on command
Someone: *helps him* Cale: *sighs* I guess I have to solve every problem you’ve ever had
When learning a language, memorised all the swear words before anything else
“I don’t like cats,” says Cale, holding two kittens tenderly, plotting a rebellion to instate a third cat as the new emperor
Single father of *checks notes* uh… 3 to 14 children,
All he wants is to retire to the country; can’t stop getting into international incidents
His relationship with the crown prince is basically: *points at each other* Bastard
Keeps telling people not to trust him while saving their asses from certain destruction
This loser thinks he’s ‘quiet’ and ‘good at keeping still’
Cale: *smiles gently* Everyone: oh god stop What the Fuck
‘Accidental Baby Acquisition’ trope but it’s ‘Accidental Family Acquisition’ and they’re all agents of chaos
“I heard you got hurt,” says a concerned child. “Yes, I coughed up blood.” Cale comforts, comfortingly.
[Girl hits on him] No thanks [Guy hits on him] No thanks
Everyone: you’re a good person Cale: incomprehensible, have a terrible day
Named his adopted son, a dragon, ‘Dragon’
Tells people to drink tea before pulling out something that will make them spray it everywhere like a cartoon
*to a 13 year old* No you can’t train to become a knight you’re too young *to a 5 year old* Alright tonight we’re gonna blow up an island and participate in the slaughter of half a race make sure to protect me well
His entire fucking backstory, like what? What???
Raon: I’ve only had this human for an hour and a half but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone on this continent and then myself Cale: That’s terrifying please stop talking
Never thinks, at any point, to tell anyone that he has a healing power
He’s THE most extra bitch. Orchestrates his b&e’s like he’s conducting an opera, always plans for maximum Dramatic Effect
*The crown prince doesn’t help in a terror incident* That’s fine because he’s weak. *Finds out he’s strong actually* Bastard??????
Gives his kids an extravagant allowance. Doesn’t let them spend it and buys everything for them instead
‘I should have just got beaten up’, Cale thinks, war waging around him. ‘That would be far less annoying.’
I was gonna post this as a reply for this post by @he4d-banger but it got too long so I’m making it a separate post.
I have talked about this before but I’ll talk again because I love talking about Cale’s complex emotional state.
More than pushing them away, Cale completely ignored his grief which has made him completely emotional constipated. This has lead to many side affects which get glossed over most of the time since we read the novel from Cale’s pov.
Some that I can remember from the top of my head right now are: dissociation, selective memory, depression, anxiety, stress and tons of physical problems like eating disorder, etc. which I’ll get into more another time. His self destructive tendencies based on the decisions he makes are all because of his emotional constipation.
Cale’s denial over his own symptoms has become chronic over the years even tho it’s fairly visible from other peoples perspective. Some instances I can remember where we see Cale’s condition from other peoples pov are: moments when Alberu tells him he’ll definitely get his slacker life, everyone’s reaction to him smiling after crying, Choi Han meeting younger Cale, the villains’ reaction when Cale gets angry, everyone telling him he’s too weak and skinny, Ron and Choi Han’s pov during side story 7 after Cale dreamed about CJS and LSH first death anniversary, etc. Everyone can recognize that he’s not well.
And about the venting on destroying stuff, that’s exactly correct. Many times when we see the fight from the other pov of the villain, most of the dialogue is about how angry and terrifying Cale looks. Of course part of that could be due to the effect of Dominating Aura, but they specifically mention Cale’s expression and the look in his eyes a lot. That’s what truly terrifies them. Cale doesn’t recognize this but he’s really expressive, everyone says that he’s very expressive and lets his emotions slip through his face.
Another case when he couldn’t control his emotions anymore was when he cried. An interesting fact is that people who aren’t used to crying and/or hold themselves back from crying, once they do actually cry they can’t stop the flow of tears and are motionless and/or rather calm and quiet. It’s that silent unstoppable crying that Cale displayed. His grief finally exploded after meeting LSH and he couldn’t understand the sadness he was feeling at that moment because the meeting ended with consolidation and relief. All the pain over the deaths of his best friends finally released.
That is a complete contrast to his reaction in side story 7 after the first anniversary of his team’s death. When he arrived home he just collapsed on the floor expressionless. Not once did he cry. But the way he collapsed at that moment said a lot about his state at the time. All the stress accumulated in his body from holding back his emotions all day today affected his physical health to total exhaustion
Actually in my opinion SS7 is one of the best chapters about examining Cale’s emotional state. There are multiple visible of him suppressing his emotions like: keeping a neutral expression all day around, refusing to mention what day it was tomorrow even though everyone knew, not closing his eyes in front of the grave because the memories would resurface, the small panic attack shown by his shortage of breath, background silence and feeling of heaviness, and you can see how burned out emotionally and physically he feels. The only way he wouldn’t feel these things was by working, as it is noted multiple times throughout the story that he never took days off.
And my favorite moment was when we see Cale waking up from the dream and very clearly experiencing signs of ptsd and a panic attack. He was feeling cold despite the entire house being heated with magic, cold sweat running down his face, shortage of breath as soon as he woke up and a distressed expression as shown from Ron and Choi Han’s pov He also felt the need to hear noises and pet the kids to make him feel a sense of attachment with reality since the silence in his memories made him feel suffocated. Tho Cale himself couldn’t recognize these symptoms.
That side story also shows how he has grown emotionally throughout the novel now becoming more emotionally open with others.
I can also go on about his selective memory, anxiety, get more into his self destructive lifestyle and about his obvious signs of depression during his team leader days and early part of the novel while touching on his childhood trauma, but this post is already long enough so I’ll leave those for another day.
Spoilers for Cales past and a ss of a few paragraphs of chapter 695
Cale hates when people sacrifice themselves. He hates when they push themselves too hard, especially for him.
Because that’s what happened with Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo, isn’t it?
Cale was supposed to die. They sacrificed themselves for him, and he lived, and now he gets visibly upset when people try to do things that are similar.
What does he think about when he sees people work themselves till they faint? It’s stupid. Not just because it’s not healthy, but because it’s sacrificial. He hates martyrs. He hates it when they’re his friends.
Cale has a weird complex, right? Sacrificing himself left and right, fainting, but not allowing anyone else to do the same? Hypocrite, right?
(Chapter 695)
This is weird, isn’t it? This complete lack of awareness is concerning! It’s almost as if he’s oblivious to the fact that he does the same thing all of the time!
To everyone else, yes, this situation with the crown Prince fainting after using all of his mana is a perfect parallel to Cale using his ancient powers too much and going into a coma.
But Cale doesn’t see his actions in the same light! He really isn’t trying to sacrifice himself 90% of the time! The collateral damage (fainting, bleeding, pain) is usually not part of his prediction, and if it is, it’s more than he expected.
His intentions and thoughts are always about keeping his friends safe, and he’s okay with coughing up a bit of blood to do that! Just a bit, maybe enough that it will look scary but it won’t hurt him in the long run and that’s okay.
If he faints? It wasn’t planned, so it’s not really sacrifice. Maybe a little but he’s selfish enough already, it’s the least he can do, honestly.
When Cale puts himself in danger it’s for selfish reasons. Self-declared selfishness, but that’s how he sees it.
Cale doesn’t sacrifice himself. Everything he does is because he chose to! He chose to. If it doesn’t hurt too bad, he doesn’t consider it as doing much at all. The level of pain he experiences in every situation is his way of determining how much he’s ‘accomplished against his will’ (sacrificed).
Not only that but there are circumstances he must be in to even consider it of consequence to other people. If it doesn’t happen while someone’s in danger, it doesn’t really matter, does it? He doesn’t understand why someone would be asking about his well-being. He doesn’t plan to let anything that happens affect his plans, so there’s no reason for them to worry.
If he’s not on a battlefield, all of the effort he puts in?
(ancient powers) (strengthening his friends) (being in pain and pushing through it) (planning and strategizing) (so, so much more)
It doesn’t count. He is familiar with meticulously and extensively optimizing his time, because as KRS, monsters attack indiscriminately. Being prepared and working hard to be strong is nothing when compared to the battle soon to come, therefore, it doesn’t count as “work.” It’s what is expected. It is the basic standard for what is required to survive.
Where everyone sees Cale working nonstop for weeks and months and years, it’s a normal weekend for him. Those days outside of battle don’t count. He worked like that for 15 years, so much stress is easy for him.
But- why doesn’t he recognize that he pushes himself until he faints? There’s a threshold that he passes where he faints, but he still keeps crossing it?
Well, because he’s the protagonist and- often, our only source of information for what happens in this world- narratively, he tends to stay awake and only faints when the battle is coming to a close, or has just closed. If the battle ends, his presence isn’t of vital importance, so it’s fine if he was unconscious for a little bit. Other times it’s involuntary and a result of his body’s terrible condition or outside forces.
He doesn’t recognize his fainting as sacrificial because as long as the battle ends on a good note and he’s still able to think and plan relatively soon after he wakes up, he hasn’t sacrificed much other than time. He also has Vitality of the Heart, which lets him feel rejuvenated after a ‘nap.’
You see, Cale Henituse is interesting. He doesn’t know how to distinguish being selfish and selfless because being selfless is, in itself, an act of selfishness. When Cale (from the perspective of his friends) ruins his health and runs from battle to battle without resting or thinking about his friends concern— it’s pretty selfish of him.
While everyone else considers him selfless, he thinks of himself as doing the “obvious” amount of work and being selfish too. That much work is expected of him, so it isn’t selfless. It’s all for his own gain, because when everything is over, he’ll be the one going away to slack off in a forest. Ha!He’s seven steps ahead of everyone (and on the verge of collapse).
How trashy.
So to answer the question? Cale doesn’t notice his own sacrifices because he feels that:
1) his intentions remain solely selfish, so fainting and coughing up blood is just something he needs to do to get closer towards his goal.
2) anything that occurs outside of battle does not count as sacrifice because it does not affect how his plans will pan out, and everything he does is just a normal amount of work for him.
3) fainting is not on his list of to-dos, it happens without his consent- constantly- and it is very annoying because it’s an unpredictable variable, but thankfully it happens when the battle is almost over/already over so it’s not really fainting. It’s like taking a nap! Involuntarily, but at least it’s sort of convenient.
4) being overly selfless is selfish, and selfish = bad, so Cale is a Bad Person and Complete Trash. Look at Cale, selfishly wanting his friends and his homeland to be safe so that he can retire. Bastard!
So, turns out his inability to realize the irony of his statements is because of the traumatizing 16 years of mental conditioning where pushing himself over the edge is normal and expected, spurred on by his socially isolated past that led to a lack of empathy and emotional awareness, and his two closest friends sacrificing themselves for him after his ability couldn’t predict the situation accurately enough.
Wow, it was the trauma all along…
€<><><><><>o
{>>>O=
^^^ my attempts at fish
Anyway, here is a compilation of my favorite Cale moments :D find it under the cut :3 they’re angsty :v spoilers ofc
Chapter 258 ^
Chapter 259 ^
Chapter 303 ^
Chapter 420 ^
Chapter 560 ^
Chapter 584 ^
Chapter 656 ^
Let's be honest in this whole transmigrating situation, the one who got the shortest end of the deal isn't krs! Cale. Like, sure, he was forced into a series of sucky things, but he still gets something out of it.
You know who's the one that doesn't benefit whatsoever from Kim Rok Soo's deal?
The original, unknowing, 18-year-old, Cale Henituse.
Did the now Kim Rok Soo realize he had killed an innocent 18-year-old boy the moment he regressed?
I'm writing a reaction fic with an alive tboah!Cale, but tboah!Cale is not the original Cale, and sometimes I can't help but think about the truest victim that everybody has forgotten: Cale Henituse, the boy whose entire existence was erased the moment 40-year-old Cale regressed.
Can you imagine? One day, you went to bed like normal, and then your body suddenly ceased to be yours.
Apparently, your depressed "older self" - who had already lived his life but was now stealing yours - not only decided to kill you in the name of the "Greater Good", he was also too much of a coward to stay.
Your "older self" (and your murderer) had made a deal with a God and would be fucking off to another world very soon.
You were left to come to terms with 3 things:
A stranger will be taking over your body in your stead (and you know they don't have a choice in this either, but still, you hate-)
You will die. No, more like you will get deleted (and no one will even remember that you had once lived)
You do not get any say in any of this. (You never did, and now, you never will.)
(And to think that in another world, you would have grown up to become him.)
(In the end, Cale Henituse dies hating himself.)
It keeps me up at night sometimes.
Me to the shadow in the living room at 4:57 AM: No you do not understand the perfection of White Star’s death being so quick and unimpactful. He is someone who lives for the attention. His god complex is so empowered that he hates when something doesn’t go his way or he’s not the center of attention drives him insane. The whole fated rival bullshittery with Cale was just that, making it all about himself again. He needs to be important! So Yoo Ryeo Han making his death so quick and completely forgotten in a span of paragraphs is literally the finest torture for that man’s nonexistent never resting soul. It’s not that Cale didn’t struggle to kill him. We didn’t really get to see what Cale was feeling using Instant like the time he broke the statues, we only saw what everyone else was seeing. Cale was probably struggling a lot going towards White Star. But that doesn’t matter! He will never know that and he died with the thought that he was killed in the span of 2 sec without even a fight. THAT’S PATHETIC FOR HIM! A man who lived for the drama, died i. The most uneventful way possible for him and that’s the HELL for him and I LOVE IT! It’s similar to Locke’s death in QON where he died off screen and barely given a paragraph to describe his death. Literally the biggest FU to these bastards is not caring about their deaths. It’s what they would have wanted and we ain’t giving them that. So what I’m trying to say is that Yoo Ryeo Han is literally a genius when writing their character and especially scenarios depending on their personalities and how they would react in those situatio—
The shadow demon: *crying in a fetus position*
I got the 'written animatic' idea from one of @blueteller 's stories so thank you for that-
This is pretty short btw
---
You are my sunshine
A close up shot of Raon in Cale's arms. You're unable to see Cale's face, only the bottom half. Raon is looking up at Cale as Cale sings to him.
My only sunshine
The background is light gold colors, everything is just the slightest bit fuzzy. It seems as though they're in Cale's bed. Raon feels warm.
You make me happy
Cale begins to pet Raon softly on his head.
When skies are gray
Raon snuggles into Cale's arms just a bit more
You'll never know, dear
As Raon is closing his eyes, we see Cale's mouth begin to shake a little.
How much I love you
Cale brings Raon into his arms in an embrace, the point of view gets closer to them and we see Cale's shoulders begin to shake
Please don't take
As the point of view backs away, the warm and gold background slowly fades into a battlefield.
My sunshine away
We see Cale hunched over Raon, the indestructible shield covering them, they're in the middle of a battlefield with some of their comrades fallen next to them. Some fighting is still going on in the background as the screen fades to black
---
Inspiration really does come to me in the weirdest of places-
I wrote this pretty quickly, please do keep in mind-
I like how alberu knows how cale operates. Like everybody seems to be assuming that cale is righteous and his morale compass is definetely "good", but alberu knows thats not the case. Its not so bad that everyone thinks so, i feel like it will be the running gag throrough the whole series, but i was hoping for at least someone to have an idea that cale is always strategizing and his intentions are not purely good.
Cale is kind, yes. But he is not righteous
I REALLY hope alberu does not change his view of cale, from someone who always has ulterior motives to a lawful good person
Spoiler Novel Ch. 767
Cale: Your highne—
Alberu: Cale, faint
Cale: But your hi—
Alberu: Cale
Cale:
Cale: *sees toonka and Litana running*
Cale: *proceeds to fake fainting*
Got to love that the first thing Alberu decided to do after he realised that Cale wasn't joking about being a Slacker is to threaten him into doing things for him by using government positions and titles.
This man is the only one aside from Ron and the children that are actually able to get Cale to do things that he would normally protest against. Doesn't mean that he's going to make it enjoyable for his Hyung-nim, but still, he's figured out the secret to Cale's obedience very quickly.
It hurts me to think that Cale's worst fear is not his family and people dying, but being the only one to survive again.
That's what I think the reason Cale is so ready to throw himself into danger is, because if he does, not only will he potentially save everyone, but he has a high chance of not being left behind again.
His hyungs died protecting him, and he had to live with the guilt afterwards. The thought of going through that, technically for the third time, is what pushes him to overuse his powers constantly. It's why he was able to complete the Thief's test the way he did, even though it'something he managed to stop himself from doing during his life as KRS.
His fear is not the fear of losing everyone, but the fear that he will be the only one left alive.
Cale is so ready to take on everything.
I’m rereading the heart scene and, just- his life as Kim Rok Soo had such an impact on how he handles pressure, it’s actually sad. When he was KRS, people relied on him. Heavily. As the team leader, people saw him as a life line.
He never took breaks, he put himself in danger and sacrificed his well-being by using his abilities (for example, Instant), and as we hear later on- he had a 0% mortality rate. When people around him were weak, he became strong in order to overcome it. Nobody died when he became the Team Leader.
And in the world they lived in- yes! I’m not surprised at all that people latched onto him. No matter how much they care about him, they couldn’t help but allow him to save them. Over and over again.
So Cale had this expectation for himself too! When others give up -> he does not. In front of impossible tasks, he rises up, because that’s how it should be. How could someone who had so little as a child- no parents, no friends, no stability or safety or reliability- how could he possibly give up what he’s managed to attain? How could he let his friends get hurt when he knows that he could be hurting instead?
And then he becomes Cale, and he relaxes. His new companions are strong, and he’s not going to be with them for very long anyway. He will slack off, chill out, and take his hands off the wheel.
But he can’t- he just can’t stop helping them. Like an addiction, he helps Choi Han get a connection to Ron and Beacrox. Then he saves Raon. He helps Lock, Amiru, Mary, Alberu, Queen Litana. It’s fucking impulsive. It’s for his own benefit but he tangles himself into the story because tampering with Fate is a fucking side hobby for him.
Then he develops relationships and friends- and when he sees danger approaching he stands up against it like a solid wall. Over and over again.
And, what? He naturally expects the people behind him to stay behind that wall. To listen to him and help, but to stay safe in the long run. He expects them back off when something looks impossible. Because- well, he’s right here isn’t he? Overcoming the impossible is second nature for him!
But the people around him… aren’t standing by passively, like they did when he was KRS. When he was KRS they let him protect them for 15 years. Then he’s Cale Henituse and they don’t. They learn from him. They learn to stand up against the unpredictable and the indomitable. They see him and learn.
They aren’t happy about his sacrifices, but he tells them to be full and content and to eat well… so they listen. For a while. They understand wisdom and they take his words and learn their limitations.
Right until he stabs himself in the heart. What the fuck?! Biggest hypocrite in history right??! Can’t trust this guy to not bleed and sacrifice himself for shit!!!
So they angrily push aside his worry and their limits and they decide that it’s THEIR turn to protect him. Even against a GOD, Cale has shown them that nothing is impossible so they’re going to turn the tables and THEY’RE going to be the ones to cough blood!!
This scene is so heart wrenching, but it’s Cales disbelief that hurts the most. He’s fucking stunned. He’s someone who can’t even imagine the lengths that a person would go for him. He’s a person who protects without ever expecting to receive that same effort.
Sure, he knows he’ll be protected. He’s not naive. But he puts 200% and expects 50-100%. He goes above and beyond, but prepares for average. Prepares for lackluster.
So when everyone tries to push him aside to protect him? He- he doesn’t even notice their efforts! It’s like looking for a leaf in a forest, but he’s supposed to be looking at the entire forest. Why would he think that they would give him a forest’s worth of leaves? He’s oblivious. So he looks for a single leaf.
Then they really do push him back and protect him- they defend against the orb that’s exploding and it’s like they’re screaming “It’s the forest! It’s always been the forest!”
And he’s lost. Absolutely, utterly lost. It’s heartbreaking, how distressed he is that his friends are hurting and they won’t let him handle it for them. He’s not even hurt, after all! He hasn’t fainted, he’s still useful! He’s ready! What he’s done so far hasn’t even been too difficult! Why won’t they let go and give it to him?
Everyone is so angry at him, or busy pitying him, that he’s left alone with this. While reading this scene I’m filled with a strong disconnect. He is surrounded by his friends but everyone is far away from him. Their goals have never been farther apart than this moment.
He’s always been one step ahead.
He’s always been ready. He’s always waiting.
And then he stabbed himself in the heart, and everyone but him felt the shift in the stars.
And then the next scenes are his friends trying to wrestle the responsibility out of his white-knuckles hands. They fight for it! Yet all the way until the orb’s time to explode, he holds onto it with an iron grip. I don’t even think he realized they were trying to take it out of his hands.
He kills the White Star, he Embraces the Ancient Powers, and he even manages to Embrace the Sealed God into the book and take over the temple in one move. We get to see everyone’s reactions to his stubbornness too.
So they become twice as stubborn. They cough up blood, they faint, they do 200% of what they’re naturally capable of. Why?
Because they saw Cale do it first. Because they refuse to let him do it again.
And Cale?
He can’t say anything.
Cale is used to being without.
Whether it’s food, sleep, safety or otherwise, he’s used to the feeling of lacking something.
His past has been filled with it. Anything that could be desirable, he’s been without it before.
So it’s no wonder he wants to be a slacker. It’s no wonder he asks if people have eaten or if they’ve slept. That’s what he’s always wanted. To be content. To not be lacking something. He wants to be bored because it means he’s not worrying about something.
No one else can understand why he so adamantly exclaims that his dream is to be a slacker yet can never seem to throw himself into the next problem— because he knows more than anyone else that he’s always had to fight for his peace.
As an orphan, as a teenager, as 20 year old KRS and as the 35 year old KRS. He understands more than anyone that the slacker life isn’t going to come easily. He had to fight for the bare minimum for years, so he is determined to fight for the maximum for even longer.
It’s his determination to be content that keeps him going. His refusal to lack something. His refusal to lose something.
Random TCF Shower Thoughts Time:
do you think Cale would K.O. if he used Instant and Record at the same time?
How bad would Cale's records act up if he was trapped under some rubble somewhere for days during part 2, far from his family?
(longer idea inspired by us questioning Cale's third ability below)
Give me Cale with some sort of Survivor ability. Where Kim Rok Soo lives because he literally can't die. Where whenever he's on the edge of death, when his heart is about to stop, Survivor kicks in and goes above and beyond his limits to keep him from dying, be it by fighting or running away. Where during a battle Cale is fatally injured and his body stills for one second before immediately getting back up, forcing broken bones back into place and wiping blood from his face and gunning it towards the enemy like doom incarnate.
His family is screaming because "gods dammit Cale-nim/Unlucky bastard/Cale-nya/Human/Young Master/Dongsaeng you're bleeding out!!! you've done enough, stop fighting!!!" And something feels so Wrong about this and they don't like it one bit. But they can't place what's wrong until after the battle once they've forced Cale to lay down and realize he hasn't said a word and has been diligently listening to their demands that he rest and let them handle the rest.
His eyes are blank, not like when he uses Record, no it's worse somehow. There's nothing behind his eyes at all-Survivor is active and in control, not Cale. Cale's down for the count, deep deep down somewhere recovering because that attack did more damage than anybody realized and he's not waking up anytime soon.
Give me everyone losing their minds over this with worry and fear because there is Something walking around that looks like their beloved red head, Something that mechanically eats apple pie and drinks lemon tea but doesn't pet the kittens and give them a scammer smile. Give me the kids rambling about their days in his lap. Give me Alberu offering Cale golden plaque after golden plaque. Give me Choi Han quietly whispering to Cale in Korean while he guards him day after day. Give me everyone doing everything they can think of to get his attention and wake him up, only for Survivor to ignore it all.
Survivor is there to ensure Cale's physical wellbeing-to help him survive, not to help him live (because yes there is a difference)
You know what??
De-aged Cale where its roksoo right??
He's sitting there anxiously as the adults discuss what the do with him. It's happening again. He knows they're going to get rid of him like some old, unwanted toy.
His stomach gurgles and growls. He keeps his eyes trained on the shoes everyone is wearing, ears burning. How embarrassing... He's usually better than this.
He jumps when a pair of shoes move in front of him. It's hard to hear what's going on when the cotton in your ears keep blooming. Suddenly, he's face to face with an old man... whose smile is.. pretty scary. Not that he'll say anything about it though. He can't figure out where to place his eyes. Adults don't like it when he looks at them in the eyes. They say he's being defiant, that they don't like the way he looks at them. But then they don't like it when he doesn't look them in the eye, something about finding the situation unimportant. He doesn't know what to do... So his eyes jump from meeting the old man's and back to things around the room. Back and forth, back and forth.
"young master," the man starts, "why don't you follow my son to the kitchen? My son, Beacrox, will get you something good to eat."
Oh! He can do that. He's been in kitchens before, so he willed himself to meet the man's gaze one last time before giving a small, but firm nod. Then, he hops off the plush couch and trails after the guy who must be Beacrox.
This man is stoic looking and not much of a talker. It's okay though, he isn't much of a talker either. They walk in silence to the kitchen, he tries to keep his breathing in check as he jogs to keep pace with the man. His steps must be too loud though since the man turns towards him and then slows his pace. So nice!!
Even when they get there, the man still hasn't said anything. He stands at the doorway, unsure of what he's needed for. The kitchen is clean... Extremely clean. How will he earn his food? What is he supposed to be doing here??
We makes his way up to the counter where he finds a rag. That'll do!! He takes it and wets it in the sink before making his way back to the sitting area. He drops to his hands and knees and begins to scrub at the already clean floor. The adults at home say that even if it looks clean, it's never clean enough! So surely this should be enough to earn his keep.
He hears a clatter and startles as the knife falls to the floor. The man's face isn't stoic anymore. The man is mad?? Is he cleaning wrong?? Roksoo is scared.
The man storms up to him and begins to reach out towards him. Roksoo fails to hold back a flinch. He's messed up, adults don't like it when he's scared. He squeezed his eyes shut, in hopes of hurting less.
Nothing comes. The pain never comes. Only a warm hand on his head?? He slowly opens his eyes and meets Beacrox 's. There's nothing, but hurt and eager swirling in the man's eyes. Why's he sad? Roksoo doesn't understand.
"young master..." Beacrox sounds strained. Again with that weird title.
Roksoo wordlessly watches the chef try to string together words. His own throat feeling too clogged up to ask what he did wrong.
He manages though.
"why.. why are you sad?" His words come out like small croaks. It's getting hard to speak again. Adults don't like it when he can't speak.
Beacrox's eyes just fill with more hurt, hurt, hurt as he opens and closes his mouth uselessly.
He seems to figure out what he wants to say though.
"young master, why are you on the ground?" Beacrox keeps his voice soft, keeps his tone open and forgiving.
"I didn't know what else I could do," he confesses like he's sinned. His eyes make their way back to anything other than the other's.
Beacrox brews silently, waiting for his master to finish his thoughts. Beacrox doesn't like where this is going.
"how else can I earn.." roksoo's palms feel sweaty where they're clenched at his sides.
"I don't deserve food yet," roksoo's words are firm and believing as he meets Beacrox's eyes.
The man's eyes seem to tremble as he processes what roksoo had said.
(Beacrox wants to skin whoever taught his young master this. He wants to make them beg for the sweet release of death as he slowly guides them towards it. Having them teeter on the edge of death and consciousness).
He snaps out of thought, saving them for later. The others will be hearing of this, they can all come up with the plans together.
"young master," Beacrox hopes his words will reach the boys heart, "you deserve everything."
He watches as the boy takes his bottom lip captive between his teeth. How the boy clenches at the hems of his shirt and tries to calm his breathing. How the boy is trying to blink away tears, but is failing.
"you are worthy" he whispers, removing a glove to pat roksoo's head. Beacrox looks seconds away from jumping back and escaping. Roksoo let's put a shaky laugh at the thought.
Right now it's hard to believe, but.. he wants to. He wants to believe that Beacrox is right. He'll try...
But he still follows Beacrox back to the counter and begs to help. He feels too antsy not doing anything.
All he's handed is a small bowl of snacks and he's told his job is to finish them by the time the meal is done cooking. He feels his heart swell. Roksoo feels like his heart is doing flips in his chest. He feels so safe.
-
Feeling like I probably post too much on this,, but I will.. continue. :)
Cale, upon feeling the sensation of something like a parents warm hand, immediately deduces that danger must be nearby and that it isn’t to be trusted
That’s super depressing wtf
This is a fanfic on wattpad about cale replacing the white star and even though it doesn't have a lot of chapters it's so FUCKING GOOD I can't he's a manic little baby running wild and I love that for him
He's so majestic I can't-
Goldie gramp, I hereby declare that you are my newest obsession.
He so handsome (*༗▿༗)
So this was supposed to be just a small panel redraw sketch..... yeah I don't know what happened either
But I really liked this panel of Alberu in the manhwa and I wanted to draw it in my style!!
I'm sobbing from his beauty I can't he's so ethereal and pretty and gorgeous and mesmerizing and delicio-*gets shot and dragged away*
OUR BELOVED GOLDIE GRAMPS ERUHABEN CANON DESIGN IN ALL HIS GLORY!!!! He's so freaking beautiful for lack of words because no words can describe his beauty and so shiny WE ARE NOT WORTHY!!!!😭😭💕
He's so gorgeous and ethereal and pretty and yummy an-*gets bonked and dragged away*
My naughty paws got to the golden grandfather)
I wonder what's the white star's reaction to this?
Rok Soo's ability isn't Instant AU
Instead of being able to, very briefly and painfully, fuck with time; he got an ability based on all the absolute bullshit that's happened to him.
From the childhood, to his friends dying in front of him. All the shitty rumors that sprouted up, all the shit luck, all of it. Just, all of it.
So instead of Instant, he got Lament.
Lament is a scream capable of leveling buildings, at the cost of absolutely shredding Rok Soo's throat.
As a result of that power, Rok Soo doesn't talk often, and when he does his voice is hoarse and pained. He also refuses to speak at full volume, because while he's got a handle on his power, he's paranoid that he'll slip up.
So when he transfers over to the body of Cale, people notice.
The Young Master went to bed his usual talkative self, but when he woke up?
Barely a word, and when he did speak, a whisper.
Cale barely speaks a word to Ron beyond the single syllable required. Barely bothers to acknowledge Deruth. Relies on hand-speak and notes to talk to merchants.
Deruth is going crazy trying to figure out what the hell happened to his son, Ron is very close behind him because what the hell got past him? He's Ron Fucking Molan.
Then Cale comes home with a bedraggled punk that smells like the trash the killed Ron's family, and Ron has to listen in astonishment as he says more to this jackass than he's said to Ron in a week.
Basically; Cale's power of Lament is so strong and painful that everything Cale is paranoid of letting it slip, that he's selectively mute. This causes many misunderstandings, in true Cale fashion.
*aggressively likes*
He so fucking pretty oh my go- *explodes*
Priest Cale, any one?
Is this enough for you to deflect to the enemy’s side yet?