A sweet reminder that while Cale winning against the White Star seemed one-sided and refreshing, it absolutely wasn't the case.
Reading tboah shows how shrewd and ruthless the ws actually was; most of the tcf cast had faced brutal ends by his hands, if not all. Its only Cale that made him become a white radish, a sore loser.
The thing is–all we read in tcf were Cale's meticulous plans and the consequent wins, so much so that at some point all his fam worried for was his health, and never his plans going awry.
But yk, what about Cale? What did he feel when thrown into the middle of a war, fighting against beasts he had only read about, and with thousands of eyes depending on him, watching his every move with awe? He had experience as the Team Leader, but did familiarity lessen his burden?
So, fic writers, here's the thing-
Have him breaking down in the middle of night, all alone in his room, as his heart pounds in fear at the thought of losing his loved ones again.
The next morning he wakes up as his usual indifferent self, checking reports and strategising in ways that make him seem all the more reliable.
Have him absolutely losing his mind at even the smallest mistakes–maybe spilling a splotch of ink on an important document–and saying the most self-deprecating stuff to himself over it.
Have him skip meals and avoid any sleep for days because Records are acting up again and all he can do is drown in work and let the days pass. The Vitality of the Heart wouldn't let him die anyway.
Have the others see him as such a reliable and fearless hero (which is canon).
And have him hide his trembling hands under his coat because the kids are on the battlefield and if he makes one mistake then it's all over again.
Have him hide it all from his family—because allowing himself such vulnerability is something that would never even cross his mind, let alone showing it to the others.
