#tcf Gilbert

[thegradus2]

[murasaki-cha]

Ok but Gilbert is so pretty???? He's super pretty and I'm actually pissed we never get much of him! Has he ever even talked!?? Damn it I need him to have more action please he's so freaking beautiful!

[blueteller]

Do you have more character analysis on og!Cale and how his relationships are with the other characters? Before and after transmigrating

Well, I'd love to, but..... here's the thing. For all the hype about OG Cale – and I'm definitely a member of that crowd, don't get me wrong – there isn't actualy... much about him. That is actually canon, I mean.

In fact, despite being one of the most popular characters in the fandom, OG Cale is only present in the novel for less than three full chapters in total (655-657), and all of them are spent mostly discussing how the war in the TBOAH timeline went down, not OG Cale's personal relationships.

Everything we know is all told through KRS!Cale perspective, who mostly just makes guesses and some pretty inaccurate assumptions. Sure, there was some stuff on how OG Cale treated his family in the TBOAH novels; but because "Nelan Barrow" did not really know the actual reason behind OG Cale choosing to act like trash... It's all extremely vague.

Nelan Barrow goes like: "OG Cale yelled at his servants yet never actually hit any of them, respected his father but kept distance from his family, and the closest person to a father figure he had was Ron Molan whom he treated like a human being". And that was basically everything, without any context added.

Ron had all of one flashback about OG Cale comforting his father after Jour's funeral. No explanation about Deruth's second marriage, about Basen – not even that they're not biologically related! OG Cale himself stated that "no matter how hard he tried to act like trash, they wouldn't kick him out", so that means the whole Henituse family did love OG Cale unconditionally. And also Ron and Beacrox were visibly quite tired of his nonsense by the time Cale transmigrated. But beyond that...

Well, to be fair, there were some minor characters sprinkled here and there who had a connection to OG Cale, before KRS!Cale got to meet them. There was Hans the butler, who was kind of scared of OG Cale... before he loosened up completely around KRS!Cale. And also there was the Eric Wheelsman, Gilbert Chetter and Amiru Ubarr trio; who were OG Cale's childhood friends because of their connection as North Eastern nobles. There was also the unnamed niece/OG Cale's reincarnated mom, and some Korean characters came up in the extras. They're all great characters, but... all of their relationships with OG Cale were exactly as one might expect: they're confused by OG Cale, yet overall like him (because for all the "trash personna" he did, OG Cale was never actually a bad person).

...Not much left to be said here.

And regarding the 20 years of war in the TBOAH timeline... OG Cale could be a biased narrator like Cale himself, but it sounded like he wasn't really anyone super important. He saw the confrontation between Choi Han and the White Star from the sidelines, not as someone close to the "main hero". He was just a soldier in the background of the battlefield. I doubt he talked to Choi Han even once.

Look, overall, most of OG Cale's relationships can be deduced or estimated from context – like the fact that despite his terrible reputation, no one who knew him actually hated him all that much – but in true canon, there's nothing much going on regarding his bonds with anyone aside his family. Yes, we can headcanon all kinds of drama based on Choi Han's violent actions in the beginning of TBOAH, followed by him leaving with both Ron and Beacrox without them saying goodbye to OG Cale... But that's all fan theories. In the TCF novel, OG Cale is a complete mystery for over 600 chapters.

...Which is probably why fans are so obsessed with him. Fleshing out OG Cale's character is super fun. No wonder there are so many Twin AUs, hahaha!

[mypromptlair]

TCF Prompt 24

When GoD transmigrated Kim Rok Soo, he went a little too far back into the past. And while he was not the one to be able to defeat the white star, he opened a doorway towards it.

So, why after all this time, was he awoken by a (regressed) Cale Henituse? He thought he hid this mansion quite well in this forest. Well. If he was an ancient power, he might as well get this over with. His test was quite easy, all the person had to do was eat a rock(he even made it soft because who likes pain?). Hm? Strange..why was he still here, and in this kids head no less? Wait, why were his old comrades here too?

*sighs* so much for being able to slack. Though, at least its Cale who's doing the work...but why does he(and the others) feel like they'll get grey hairs by the end of all this.

------

KRS is "Super Rock"

He has fun trolling Cale at first with "Are you trying to sacrifice yourself?

And then eventually Cale does, and KRS is horrified and scared. So are the other AP's cause now there's TWO of them.

The protective AP's activate on their own sometimes, especially when Cale is endanger or about to do something stupid.

They semi-parent/raise Cale.

Cale is 16 when he goes after the AP's. He uses his trash persona to get away and try and start to deal with things on his own.

Ron and Beacrox eventually find out and follow him around and guard him, etc. Cale picks up Rons training like a sponge, which makes Ron both sad and proud of his puppy. And if sometimes Cale calls Beacrox hyung on accident like when he was younger, well... :)

Cale has both parts of his mother's ancient powers. WS never got the one from Harris. Which makes the WS want him even more later on when he finds out.

He does find and take in, On, Hong and Raon early(KRS helps with the name). He also meets Choi Han after he gets Super Rock and leads him to Harris Village to stay/get citizenship too.

He meets Choi Han again at 18 and aids Harris Village in the attack(he doesn't hate the people, he just hates the Village /the unsafe area.)

Cale's family find out mostly everything after the plaza incident, where Cale takes Basens place, etc. Henituse fam and Cale finally start healing and bonding.

They also have a bigger role to play in the war. Basen is still the heir, tho Deruth uses it as a threat when Cale gets too sacrificial ,etc.

Eric, Amiru and Gilbert also have bigger roles as well. There's also a older sibling war between them and Alberu after they become sworn brothers. Cale is confused and annoyed. And a smug Beacrox already knows he won this round much to Ron's amusement.

Everyone's super protective of Cale (which he is mostly oblivious to of course)

Cale's trash persona also yeets itself away after the plaza incident. He doesn't know how to feel, but Ron and KRS aren't letting him go back to it, let alone his family :(

Cale has dreams/nightmares of the past of the AP's. His soul shares a bond with theirs, especially KRS who he is related to.

KRS is a Henituse not a Thames.

Because of the special bond, Cale gains KRS's earth powers(record, etc). Which is not good for his plate.

These memories and his previous ones are also not a good mix, leaving him with migraines/headaches/nosebleeds and insomnia.

Some things follow the TCF storyline, but Cale is not KRS and does things differently.

For KRS, Cale will try for a slackers life(he's never let himself rest before like KRS wants to), but it's just out of reach for him as it was for KRS(for now). sad times.

But a farm with his kids and found family and just resting really does actually sound nice after two lifetimes of war...

[unparalleledtrash]

Because I've got nothing better to do...

✨my unpopular/underrated ships in TCF that either needs no explanation or is in desperate need of one✨

1. Rosalyn and Beacrox

2. Hannah and Mary

3. Tasha and Shawn

4. Jopis and Bud Illis

5. Gilbert and Amiru

[cindythecyclops]

Nuku, how could you

[leniiva]

Cale has a large library to herself in the Thames Estate. At first it was just books that were already there, but after Cale went through them all (as a way to pass time/learn about the world/Record ability also comes in very slowly or late so it’s a form of build up on how much info she can retain until it comes back fully), she started requesting more.

(The first time Cale goes through a whole new shipment of books in just a few days is when Dawn decides ‘Yeah, I need to find her some friends to talk to’ because between that and assassin training, social interaction outside of the three servants would be a good idea.)

Cale, training how to use record and accidentally spends a week in the library: hmhmhm! :DDDD

Dawn: I- fuck

Beacrox: what, she went through the new shipment already??? She’s getting too pale.

Dawn: other than the training, I believe this is her only hobby….

Ron: I believe it would be good for the young lady to make some friends

— a few months later —

Ron: young lady, when this old servant said to make friends, I didn’t mean that you should bludgeon someone over the head for screaming at your new friend

Cale: well he shouldn’t have started screaming at young lady Amiru!

Cale: Plus, he’s been laundering money out of the surrounding orphanages so I believe my actions were of sound mind

Ron: that’s when you call in Beacrox, not commit assault

Cale: says the assassin

—

Beacrox, peeks head out: father, Cale is out with a new friend

Beacrox: apparently she made this one by tackling a pickpocketer

Ron: I-

Ron: why didn’t she just call dawn for that???

Beacrox, already used to this shit: She just likes violence at this point.

—

Ron, walks in with a rough looking Cale and a rambling young Eric:

Dawn: did she bludgeon another bar owner again?

Beacrox: or tackle a thief?

Ron: worse, she reversed mugged two gangsters

Cale: WORTH IT!

Eric: DON’T MOVE TOO MUCH! YOU’LL HURT YOURSELF >:CCCCC

[omniscient-commenter]

LOOK AT HOW GOOD THEY LOOK

this is chapter 45 of the TCF manhwa btw

yes, its a blurry image but look at these high quality beings they’re so pretty 

[route22ny]

(In the previous post I referred to Mr Gallagher’s book Reimagining Detroit. In looking for a bio to link his name to, I discovered he was retiring and had written an open farewell letter to the city in December.  I’ll put the entire text & photos where possible into this post.)

***

Dear Detroiters,

After 32 years covering this city and state for the Detroit Free Press, today marks my final column. For a lot of reasons I’ve decided this is a good time to move on to my next chapter.

But I’m not leaving Detroit and I’m not hanging up my keyboard. I’ll continue to write in a variety of ways — more books, perhaps blogging and podcasts, and otherwise I'll be engaging with this fascinating city and its people in a bunch of new ways.

I thank my editors and my colleagues for their support during my career here at the Free Press. And I thank you, my readers, who over the years have shared this amazing city with me. You’ve responded to my work by turns complimentary and critical, encouraging and scathing, but never dull.

This job has given me a front-row seat into one of the world’s great urban dramas — the resurrection of a once-powerhouse city brought low by the scourges of racism, suburban sprawl and factory closings. Whether you agree or disagree that Detroit has made progress in recent years, you have to admit that the range of effort here has been nothing short of remarkable. Not for nothing is Detroit known as an urban laboratory for the world’s struggling cities.

The work of reimagining a Detroit after the fall has been the focus of my work for many years. So today, let me try to sum up what I think we’ve learned.  

The free-fall years

When I joined the Free Press in 1987, the city of Detroit was still in free fall. Decades of factory closings, years of of flight to the suburbs, a dismal legacy of racism and its effects, had drained the city of residents, jobs and political clout. A population of about 1 million would drop at least another 300,000 in years to come. Anchor employers like Comerica decamped their headquarters to the Sunbelt.

Perhaps the low point was the case of Malice Green in 1992, when two white cops during an arrest beat Green, a black suspect, to death with flashlights. The case exposed all of Detroit’s woes and seemed to give the lie to any notion of progress on race or any other matters.

Two neighborhood boys walk past the Malice Green memorial at Warren and 23rd Street in Detroit in 1997. (Craig Porter, Detroit Free Press)

And more disappointments were to come. Michigan would sink into its “Lost Decade” in 2001 when the state began to shed jobs every year for 10 years in a row. Those who predicted a quick turnaround were proved wrong again and again. It was no normal business cycle but, as University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes told me for a 2018 article, the long-overdue reaction to the vanished market share of the Detroit Three automakers.

"That was a permanent adjustment of the auto industry to the loss of its monopoly power," Grimes said. "We'll never get back to where we were in the year 2000."

And then came the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Short of an atom bomb going off here, it’s hard to image a worse calamity for the city. The collapse of the subprime mortgage market, the devastation wreaked by the Wayne County tax foreclosure auction, the implosion of home values, all but finished off Detroit.

The Great Recession turned Detroit from a city of homeowners to a city of renters. It wiped out a generation of black family wealth that we are yet to recover. And it led inexorably to the city’s municipal bankruptcy of 2013-14.

The first hints of recovery

But even amid the losses and abandonment, some early shoots of recovery were showing.

For years, Detroiters were turning vacant lots into urban farms. There were hundreds of small community gardens and several larger farms like Earthworks and RecoveryPark on the east side, the D-Town Farm led by Malik Yakini of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network on the west side, and the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative in New Center.

This repurposing of vacant and abandoned land for productive use first drew the attention of the world and began to inch Detroit’s reputation from Rust Belt failure to that of a city reinventing itself.

Then, too, a city government too broken and dysfunctional to do all it should began to spin off some of its operations into innovative conservancies, nonprofit corporations and public authorities. These spin-offs were hotly contested each time but ultimately proved remarkably successful.

Under these new management models, Eastern Market transformed from a faded and failing operation to the lively marketplace we see today. Cobo Center, now renamed the TCF Center, was once so poorly run by the city that it almost lost the annual auto show. Once spun off into a regional authority in 2009, the convention center transformed into the gem we see today with its soaring riverfront atrium and a ballroom that is one of the city’s best venues.

The nonprofit Detroit Riverfront Conservancy built and manages the RiverWalk. Ditto the lively Campus Martius Park, built by another conservancy and managed today by the Downtown Detroit Partnership on behalf of the city. The Detroit Historical Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the city’s workforce development agency, the Detroit Land Bank Authority, and, most  controversially, Belle Isle itself, all improved, often dramatically, once spun off from direct city control into some new form of management.

Mina Powell of Southfield skips rope at Eastern Market before the 2018 Ford Fireworks in Detroit on Monday, June 25, 2018. (Cameron Pollack, Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press)

And in this process, philanthropic foundations played a key role. The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has been a leader in building greenways like the Dequindre Cut. The Kresge Foundation contributed tens of millions of dollars to the RiverWalk and other efforts. The Ford Foundation was a lead contributor to the Grand Bargain that made the city’s trip through bankruptcy a success.

It would hard to imagine Detroit’s recent progress without the work of these and many other foundations. And the foundations weren’t the only nonprofits to take a leading role.

Neighborhood community development organizations like the Southwest Detroit Business Association, Eastside Community Network, U-Snap-Bac, and, perhaps most successfully, Midtown Detroit Inc. under its longtime leader Sue Mosey, led the recovery in their districts. These community groups and their staffers worked when no one else seemed to care, often for years, often alone.

And beginning in the early 2000s the city’s economy began to slowly evolve from the heavy-industry model of the past to a more entrepreneurial ecosystem. Entrepreneurship gave Detroiters a new path to remake their lives.

There was a former Chrysler line worker named April Anderson whose dream of becoming a baker led to Good Cakes and Bakes, one of the city’s leading suppliers of sweets. Roslyn Karamoko’s Detroit is the New Black apparel shop, the StockX sneaker exchange, and hundreds of other startups showed that there was indeed economic life in the city, after all.

Detroit’s municipal bankruptcy, and the 2010 move by Dan Gilbert of his Quicken Loans downtown, with Gilbert's rapid remaking of the downtown core, were major steps that have gotten a lot of the credit for the city's comeback to date. But I think we cannot underestimate the importance of the urban farmers, the spin-offs, the foundations, the neighborhood activists, and the entrepreneurs in reinventing Detroit. 

And along the way there were milestones of recovery once thought unattainable. Both the long-dormant Book-Cadillac Hotel and the defunct Michigan Central Station stood for years as international symbols of the city's failure. Both at times were recommended for demolition. But the Book-Cadillac reopened to fanfare in 2008 and Ford today is turning the train station into its future center of mobility research.

Setbacks aplenty

To be sure, the work has been long and tedious, beset by setbacks at every turn.

Rebuilding a city already built upon for 300 years means dealing with a legacy of debris just beneath the surface. When the Orleans Landing project by McCormack Baron Salazar on the riverfront east of the Renaissance Center started to dig foundations a few years ago, crews uncovered sewer lines that according to city maps shouldn’t have been there.

As another developer joked about his project building a medical warehouse in New Center, “We dug up everything but Jimmy Hoffa.”

Facing these and other challenges, almost every project takes longer than we think it should.  When the Police Athletic League was planning what became the Willie Horton Field of Dreams at the site of the old Tiger Stadium, it discovered a regulation that a public playfield couldn’t be landlocked by other development on all sides as was planned for the perimeter of the site. So lawyers had to work out a solution to solve that problem. It worked, but the process that burned up several more weeks of time.

Problems so complex

Or take mortgage lending. Detroit is a city so financially broken that a normal mortgage market here almost didn’t exist until just recently. Thousands of houses do change hands each year, but mostly through cash sales or land contracts, a financially risky way for a buyer to get a home.

The dearth of market rate mortgages reflects the legacy of  racism and redlining that scarred Detroit and many other older urban centers at mid-20th century. But even bankers who admitted their past mistakes and tried to infuse more capital into the mortgage system here found that it was no simple matter.

With the Detroit skyline in the background, several empty lots sit on the corner of Park Ave and Sibley in the Cass Corridor.  There are still many undeveloped sites despite the empowerment zone being in Detroit since 1994. (Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press)

In Detroit, a potential buyer might have saved enough for a down payment but not enough for the repairs that would make a house move-in ready and eligible for a market-rate mortgage. Or an annual income that might support a mortgage in most cases might not be enough once student debt or child-care expenses were added to a borrower’s burden.

Low appraisals, lack of public transit for residents to get to jobs, food or housing insecurity — all these could hold back efforts to create a thriving mortgage market in the city.

As Janis Bowdler, president of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, told me earlier this year, "As we've been sleeves rolled up, working in the community, we're learning over and over how multifaceted the challenge is. It's not just a supply of mortgage capital or a matter of producing enough credit-worthy borrowers. It's much more complex."

Working the problem

Detroit's mortgage lenders, and civic and nonprofit leaders, have worked hard to overcome these challenges. As they've counseled home-buyers and come up with innovative approaches to housing, the number of mortgage loans made in Detroit has been rising from almost none 10 years ago to more than 1,000 a year today. But clearly we still have a long way to go.

Earlier this year I wrote about Detroiter Jomica Miller, 43, a cashier working at 36th District Court. She had hoped to buy her parents' home after her father died but found it had been sold out from under them at the annual Wayne County tax foreclosure auction. She also found her past credit history presented a problem for lenders. She had student loans she was slowly paying off and a past bankruptcy on her record.

Jomica Miller stands in front of her house she recently purchased on Detroit's northwest side on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. (Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)

"I actually started my process in 2017," she said. "Nobody wanted to work with me because my credit was so bad. I didn't know where to start."

Through credit counseling and perseverance for more than a year, she eventually was able to buy a house in the Marygrove district on the city's northwest side with an FHA-backed mortgage. The house is one of four that were part of the Fitz Forward project that has gotten mortgages closed in the Fitzgerald neighborhood. Fitz Forward is the initiative led by Century Partners and The Platform to rehab houses in the district.

"I almost gave up, but I had some great people in my corner," she said. "Don't give up."

Grind it out

So if the problems are complex, so, too, are the solutions. A week ago Mayor Mike Duggan and other leaders announced a $10 million gift from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation to the city’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund. The fund works in 10 specific neighborhoods on streetscape improvements, new and rehabbed housing, retail readiness and other improvements.

But if it sounded like a simple transfer of funds from the foundation to ready-to-go projects, it wasn’t. The money flows through Invest Detroit, a mission-based nonprofit lender that has worked overtime in recent years to generate new investment in the city’s neighborhoods. Speaking at the announcement, Dave Blaszkiewicz, president of Invest Detroit, noted that it took the coordinated efforts of multiple departments and agencies to make the work possible.

Without question, the complexity of the problems and the difficulty of coordinating solutions has held back Detroit’s efforts at recovery. But the good news — the really good news — is that Detroit in recent years has gotten so much better at working that magic.

Whether it’s city planners, the foundation staffs, bankers or neighborhood activists, more and more of these players have learned to reduce the barriers and make a complex system of investment work.

Try everything and keep trying

Does that system sometimes favor corporate interests to the detriment of ordinary Detroiters? Perhaps. Do we still sometimes see well-meaning efforts result in nothing much? Sure. Are there still problems that we have barely begun to touch? Certainly.

But the overall impact of Detroit’s recovery efforts — efforts by thousands of committed people working across a broad range of activities, from workforce training to urban farming to education and transit, these efforts have slowly inched Detroit forward. And the city is better for it.

There’s a saying that “nothing works but everything might.” It means that there is no silver-bullet solution to our problems. But if we work across a hundred different fields, making progress in each one, those efforts will add up to something greater than the sum of the parts. That’s the approach Detroit has taken and must continue to take.

There’s a story from the American Civil War that I like.  A new regiment came up to the battlefront and its colonel asked the general commanding where they should go in. “Why, go in anywhere,” the general replied. “There is lovely fighting all along the line.”

And so in Detroit. If you want a to-do list to take away from this column, work on whatever holds your interest. We need progress on public safety and education, but we also need to work on transit and child care and vacant buildings and entrepreneurship and any of a hundred other fields. Take your pick, and get busy.

It’s a long and difficult task. But that shouldn’t faze a city with a gritty work ethic like Detroit's.

And so, onward

Detroit’s story is so varied, with so much conflicting evidence of progress or lack of it, that even today one can lean toward either optimism or despair. I choose hope. I believe with Dr. King that the arc of the moral universe is long but that it bends toward justice. And I hold with the message of Irish poet Seamus Heaney whose words about his homeland echo for me in Detroit:

History says, don't hope

On this side of the grave.

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up,

And hope and history rhyme.

So much work lies ahead of us. And in that task, I'll be there. Though I won’t be writing as a Free Press columnist, I will be writing about Detroit in other ways, and engaging in the life of this community in new ways yet to come. I’m looking forward to that.

See you around.

(John Gallagher is a native of New York City who joined the Free Press in 1987 to cover urban and economic development. He is a resident of the city for many years. He is the author of several books including "Reimagining Detroit: Opportunities for Redefining an American City" and "Yamasaki in Detroit: A Search for Serenity." He was a 2017 inductee into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame.)

https://www.freep.com/in-depth/money/business/john-gallagher/2019/12/19/reporter-john-gallagher-retires-detroit/2685362001/

***

The bio of Gallagher I mentioned in the intro is here; there are also links to a  number of his more recent articles about the city and related issues.

[thegradus2]

Idk what this is im sorry gilbert… i made all your friends gay and dipped

[thegradus2]

Yay them \o/

[nukudraws]

When I started reading the lcf/tcf manhwa I had no background knowledge about what I was getting into. I just saw some fanart with a cool red haired character and a blond prince so I assumed it would be about war and politics then I got hit with the found family, then I read the book for the found family and got hit with the wars and politics xddd Anyways-

In case you're interested (I know no but still)

My initial reaction to the manhwa characters went something like this:

Choi han: ah do we have a Kim Dokja variant as a main character again? Bro looks kinda traumatized (spoiler: he is, was, probably will be more in the future)

Cale: oh he's the main guy! ...there's no way he isn't a vampire, right?

Og Cale: he had fangs!!(he didn't) Vampire I tell you

Ron: *screams in terror in tandem with krs Cale*

Henituse family: ...why is Cale the singular red haired person in the family?????

Beacrox: oh look, they got a zombie chef, nice

Billos: he looks huggable but why is he pink

Ohn and Hong: even these orphans look more related to Cale than Cale's relatives?? What the

Hans: hmm a ginger, he gives happy hamster vibes which is pretty rare hamster mood as I've heard

Hilsman: you're fun

Venion: who allowed you that haircut

Neo Tolz: I couldn't care less about this guy tbh

Raon: blue eyed Toothless

Taylor Stan: he looks like yoghurt

Cage: she would so have tattoos... omg, she does have tattoos!!

Lock: Alhaitham and Atsushi meshed together?

Rosalyn: so, does she have a tie at the back of her hair or does it just stay like that-

Eric Wheelsman: bro looks like he'd be a chocolate chips cookie

Amiru Ubbarr: for a fantasy setting you have surprisingly modern clothes

Gilbert Chetter: who?

Alberu: I waited so long for you to appear, you're so damn gorgeous

Redika: why cool hair if evil :⁠'⁠(

Toonka: that's a grizzly bear

Harol: WHAT IS THY GENDER??!!?

Paseton: that's a whale?!?? I wanna see an alive mermaid then

Witira: I think she must be the prettiest woman in the whole manhwa, even outside of it, her hair is simply the coolest thing ever (opinion haven't changed since)

Archie: why are you beefing with our baby, Choi han, huh?

Litana: I don't actually remember what I thought about her first but something something cute badass leader(?)

Tasha: she spooked me for some reason but then she started talking with Cage and was fun

Mary: I don't think I had much of an opinion other than she's cute friends with Raon

Hannah: I thought she was a background character or smth xddd

Pendrick: you're sus for no reason

I'm probably forgetting someone but we'll pretend it's intentional (if their name starts with a Z, it might as well be)

[leniiva]

15yo!Cale writing to the NE Friend group: ‘Sorry I can’t visit for a while, I’m being grounded.’

NE Friend Group: (‘Grounded? What does that mean??’)

Eric- (the worrier) Are you alright?

Amiru-(expects Cale’s shenanigans) What did you do?

Gilbert-...Try not to get into anymore trouble.

(There is very little info about Gil personality wise so I didn’t know what to do for his part. ^^;)

Not canon to the Thames family au btw - just let me put more crack here:

Cale’s hand writing bleeds into their joint communication paper, “Hi sorry if anyone is on but, I got caught sneaking out into the forest to sacrifice this dumbass who tried kicking my cats”

She had wrote that down with the causality of someone who hadn’t just confessed to be sacrificing someone in the middle of woods like a witch.

But Gilbert has been friends with Cale since they were all 13 - his friend sacrificing someone because they tried to kick Cale’s apparent cats was the most casual thing he had ever seen her do.

So that’s what stopped him from pointing out that 15 year old noble girls would be at parties or hanging out with the social scheme and not plotting someone’s death by ritual sacrifice.

Instead he jotted this: “When the fuck did you have cats.”

“When I turned 15”

Amiru’s handwriting joined the conversation, “Cale, that was barely a month ago.”

“So what? I’m a proud cat mama now”

He could practically feel Cale smirking behind those words, thank god that Eric was asleep or else he might get an aneurysm from this conversation alone.

Gilbert coughed into his fist, “A single mother at 15, what in the world would Dawn think?”

“Oh she’s currently curled up on my bed, she looks like she’s competenting her ability on raising me”

“I would imagine anyone who raised someo a sweetheart like you would be always question their child raising abilit-” But he was cut off by the sudden red ink that scribbles out his writing.

Under it was neat handwriting with some paw prints of the at least three different animals. That must be the cats that Cale was talking about, though one of them seems to be fatter than the other two.

“Oh shut It Gilbert or else it’s gonna be you in this sacrificial circle instead of this blond Dora the explorer knock-off”

[leniiva]

Knowing that the other servants were also upset about Cale’s treatment...sends me? Sparks joy? (Slangs are hard. Either way I greatly approve).

Anyways about Basen, since he does eventually become the official heir, that means he gets to meet with other nobles. Meaning, he does interact on occasion with Amiru, Eric, and Gilbert.

So I’m kinda figuring that by this point they’ve already met Cale (how much they know of her situation is up to debate. Maybe heard from her directly or from the rumors). They care for Cale, and know Cale cares for her step family. So Basen gets even more older sibling-figures, helping ease him in to noble society.

(The Trio are absolutely amazed at how calm Basen is compared to Cale. And from the times Basen mentions Cale, are taken back by how innocent his view of her is)

Everyone is upset and no one except Violan wants to talk about it.

The quartet met when they’re all 13 (what a chaotic year) and Cale is like the glue that binds them together as friends rather than acquaintances. And she likes to talk about her family if in general terms. So they already have a good image of Basen and Lily.

But I would say that Basen becomes the Henituse heir official when he is 12-14. So he tries to get to know the other northern nobles, scared out of his mind bc he might screw things up or he’s be seen as lesser bc he’s not his father’s bio son.

So it’s really surprising and almost heartwarming to find that most of the northern heirs were almost overwhelmingly warm and kind.

They don’t say that they’re friends with Cale though, that’s a relationship that they want to keep away from politics. But Cale was right when she said that Basen was adorable but a bit nervous.

They’re a bit amazed about how much Cale resembles Basen tho. Brown hair with brown eyes, but almost none of the chaoticness that Cale has.

[mypromptlair]

TCF Prompt 10

AU. No KRS, Main OG Cale

Harris Village, a small place located near a dangerous, forbidden location. A place Cale Henituse despised with his very being. Because, like his mother, he knew the truth. Those people were not as innocent as they portrayed. They were not as kind as Choi Han believed, playing him like a fiddle. After all, they were after people like Choi Han, beings who cross time and space: transmigrators, and people like himself who regress. A organization known as Hunters. A villainous group even more older, annoying and more powerful than the White Star. While it was a help they took that bastard down, they also slew Choi Han and himself immediately after(causing even more chaos).

With things really not ending up well afterwards, the damned GoD sent him back to when he was 18, waking up in agony and finding the Molan's gone. What a pain.

But this time, he doesn't seem to be alone. This time he has his hyungs and noona with him(were they this...protective before?). Gains some very talkative ancient powers, saves some adorable bratty kids he would die for, and unknowingly creates a family along the way.

And after giving up so damn much the first time around, and seemingly having to do it again, when all was said and done he was going to go off and just slack. Rest somewhere away from everyone with the kids…maybe even have a garden? Or perhaps a farm...

It's just his luck that his mothers family decides to come out of the woodworks this time around. They look torn between wanting to throttle him and smother him in hugs. Weirdos.

Wait, Noona, why are you laughing? What do you mean I fit right in!? - Cale

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The Village did cause the carriage accident, though only Cale was able to figure it out due to his mothers journal(amongst other evidence, which was too late to bring to his father. As the man didn't see him anymore).

Eric, Gilbert and Amiru all have a huge part to play and are way more active, and more powerful/strong in their own right.

Cale ends up going to the capital instead of Basen. It becomes a shitshow, thanks to Choi Han intervening with him, but at least they stop most of the bombs.

Hans is also more involved. Slowly becoming more and more loyal and protective of his young master.

Protective!bamf Thames family(they are not very impressed with how Deruth has treated Jour's son either). They also know Cale regressed and are horrified. Which is why they came out of hiding.

Protective!dragons(Eruhaben, etc.) and allies.

Cale's plate is very thin, caused by his regression. He's a bit annoyed, the coughing up blood thing is getting old.

Cale's trash act is found out to be just that. Everyone's upset he would hurt himself in such a way. Especially Basen and Lily.

It's also found out that some of the staff and relatives tormented and lied about Cale without even Ron knowing. Beacrox is furious to find out they also tainted Cale's food(some of which HE had made himself). No wonder Cale stopped calling him Hyung and had those "tantrums"…

The Molans have a lot of regrets towards Cale, but they make up for it.

White star is eventually dealt with, in such a surprising ease that Cale may or may not be a bit slightly annoyed at the fact.

Choi Han and his gang eventually become allies, but it will be a while yet.

Choi Han also finds out about the Hunters and is devastated to learn the truth of Harris Village. He also gets some much needed therapy for being alone for so long(along with the culture shock, etc.), thank you Eruhaben.

Cale gives him some cookies, as that damn fatherly dragon dragged him off for a similar reason as well. Then Ron gives them lemonade...urk.

Alberu also joins the older siblings train, though he feels like he's the only "sane" one(he says being a dark elf while wielding Taerang, a gift from the sun god, after dealing with Adin and his tower).

Cale, Cage and Bud are drinking buddies and get into shenanigans.

Cale gives his AP's grey hairs(if they could have them), Super Rock just wants to trap him in a rock and protect him there. He regrets constantly saying "are you trying to sacrifice yourself". It gave his wielder ideas...

The greatest enemy is the Hunters who are slowly taken care of.

[mypromptlair]

TCF Prompt 23

TBOAH/TCF AU - Afterword's - Hunters

After 22 years of a terrible war - And two years since the death of one Cale Henituse - Choi Han and Alberu Crossman fall at the hands of the White Star and SG.

When they regress, their memories mix in with the new and they are shocked at what has transpired in this new timeline.

Harris Village lives on, and Choi Han is no 'Hero', but a Guardian to the Village, Forest and Henituse Territory.

Alberu Crossman awakens to having the kingdom in the palm of his hands, seemingly loved by his people and having quite the backing he had always yearned for.

And then there's Cale. Cale who regressed, became a dear friend at a young age, and of course an amazing Commander in the war. And along with his brother, Kim Rok Soo, changed the fate of their world and saved it from the White Star/SG. In just two years no less.

They are both pleased at this turnout and at a loss of what to do now(what did they regress for?).

Then a group who call themselves the Hunters attack. And no, they don't go after the Soo's who reincarnated, nor went after Choi Han and Alberu who transmigrated and regressed.

No, they went after Cale. Who knows too much. And much like his mother, places burdens on his shoulders that are too heavy for him to bare alone. All at the behest to protect his loved ones from harm and so that his precious brother can finally achieve his slacker life.

But now its everyone else's turn to protect him.

-----------------

New timeline - group knows Cale regressed/Soo's transmigrated, etc.(War ended with Cale at 22, KRS 20, etc)

LSH, CJS are here as well. And helped out in the war.

Choi Han, Alberu and Cale were all known as "The Big Three", as they were the strongest fighters left in tboah world.

Cale died saving them and the last few good soldiers they had.

Choi Han and Alberu are very protective of Cale.

KRS and the others learn just how dark/terrible that timeline was

KRS realizes there was a lot Cale never told him, and that while he has slowly healed and learned to finally love himself(with a lot of aid from his said brother), Cale never took the time to do that for himself(the hypocrite).

Cale is extremely smart, and a scary good actor.

Cale has the AP's, while KRS retained his abilities from earth(KRS has a good plate...Cale not so much). They both still coughed up blood/fainted tho. Much to the stress of everyone around them.

Henituse family loves Cale just as much as KRS, there was just tons of miscommunication, etc, once again. And Cale is just as oblivious as his brother. But it gets figured out and fixed.

Cale is still the only red head in the family, KRS has brown hair like Deruth. Which also adds to some of the drama(but is finally dealt with).

Cale is the kids favorite uncle. He spoils them rotten(along with Mary).

Beacrox is Cale's hyung, which he takes srsly*stares at Choi Han*.

Cale doesn't realize Ron, Eruhaben and Fredo think of him as their kid along with KRS. He bout to find out though.

KRS and Cale are downright scary when they work together. And ppl learned never to let Cale and Rosalyn experiment on magic, etc together.

Cale learned a lot of things about the Hunters on his own(while KRS was off resting from his "shenanigans".)

He also learned that GoB isn't so...balanced as it thinks it is. Because of this, he was attacked while trying to get this info to GoD and CJS.

GoD is upset and protective that one of his favs got hurt. And from trying to protect him no less.

Eric, Amiru and Gilbert all had a bigger part to play, and protective of Cale.

OverProtective!Everyone for Cale!

Cale, Cage and Bud are all drinking buddies(and have to be separated cause they cause a lil too much Chaos for Alberu to handle)

Can have romance if wanted, but not needed(ChoiCaleAlberu and PolySoo's for example?)