Western Wanderer Ship meme (Bosscout and Favorowdy!) from @bleak-nomads
So I saw a ship meme circulating around the pasta fandom a while back and I thought “Hey I should do this for my ship!” and then a lot of the questions were far too modern sensibilities and didn’t even remotely apply to the ship I wanted to write it for.
So here’s a ship meme specifically for cowboy couples who wander the desert and the plains 😀 Hope you all have as much fun filling it out/tagging as I did coming up with it
1. What do they do for work? (this can be canon, it’s just an interesting question 🙂 ).
Gil Favor, Trail Boss. Pete Nolan, Scout – for the cowboys and sometimes for the army. Rowdy – Ramrod, for the herd. Until he eventually becomes a Trail Boss. I guess they’d all describe themselves as ‘cattlemen’.
2. Who is better at navigating?
Well you’d hope it’d be Pete! Being as he’s the scout. But I reckon Fave is probably as good. Rowdy….certainly can’t be bad at it, but we never really get to see much of his skill. If he’s not that great at the start, he picks it up.
3. Who is better at charming the townspeople?
I’d say this depends on the situation. Rowdy is naturally cute and charming. But whilst some people might fall for him… others would think he was too young to be trusted. Fave can be charming, when he wants to be. And has manners – from somewhere. But is often grumpy. Pete is probably the most naturally easy-going and relaxed. But he doesn’t often go into town!
4. Who gets them run out of town more often? (This can… absolutely be the same person, hah)
Probably Rowdy…. he has a way of attracting trouble. Then Fave, who has a habit of getting in other people’s business. I can’t imagine Pete ever being run out of town. He’s a lover, not a fighter.
5. Who makes the coffee over the fire in the morning?
Pet makes it because he gets up and knows everyone will want some – especially Fave. Fave makes it if no one else is up, because he’s a complete addict and can’t function without it. He probably makes it so strong that everyone else hates it. Rowdy hopes someone else makes it, but if it’s a choice between making it himself or putting up with Fave coffee-less, he’ll make it. No one wants an uncaffeinated Trail Boss.
6. Who is better at starting fires? Who is better at chopping wood?
Pete is the one who relies on being able to light a fire the most. He’s often out on his own. Fave has had plenty of experience, but someone else usually does it these days. Rowdy can, but he’s not much for all these domestic chores, he’ll avoid it if possible. I think they’d all be pretty good at swinging an axe, but Fave would be the most dedicated to the task. Because he’s very focussed. Rowdy would get distracted. Pete would do what he had to.
7. Who is better at cooking over open fire? Any favourite camp food meals?
I think Pete probably makes the best food as far as other people are concerned. They can all feed themselves, although I don’t think Rowdy has a very wide range of recipes. Fave and Pete both have more experience, because they’ve needed it in the past. Fave is the least discerning. He’d eat anything that won’t kill him – dirt, puddles, grass. I’m not sure other people would think much of his cooking, because he doesn’t care enough to spend much time making it taste good. It’s functional, not fun. He does like good food though, which is why he employs a good cook. His favourite is bacon, eggs, sausages and biscuits, I think. Rowdy’s favourite is anything on Fave’s plate, but he particularly likes roast beef. Pete doesn’t care what it is.
8. Can they both read? How does this come up in their relationship (ie. Reading together, teaching the other to read)
All three of them CAN read. Fave reads well, and writes well. Rowdy can read, but nothing too complex, and can write, but doesn’t choose to. He doesn’t think he’s much good at it, and doesn’t like not being good at things he does. He loves it when Fave reads to him, though. He doesn’t care what. He just likes the sound when he leans his ear on Fave’s chest. Fave gently teaches him to write more, encourages him to keep his own trail log, in prep for being a trail boss himself. Let’s him sit by him and copy down some of what he writes. Rowdy likes that.
Pete can read well enough, and write well enough, but doesn’t particularly do either, unless pushed. He likes to watch Fave writing out his trail log, watching his expression, the way he chews on his pencil when he’s thinking.
9. Do either smoke? How do they get when they can’t get a smoke? 😉
All three do, but Fave is the dedicated smoker. Always got makings or cheroots in his top pocket, smokes whenever he can. When he’s stressed, when he’s relaxing, literally whenever he can. Pete smokes the odd quirley, when he’s relaxing, maybe on night herd, or around the fire of an evening. Rowdy can’t roll his own, so just steals drags from Fave’s. He’s not even sure he likes it, but he likes the gentle back-and-forth of passing a quirley between them. Likes watching Fave roll his own, too. The delicacy, the deftness. Sometimes he wishes he smoked, just to have something to do with his hands. Sometimes he also practises lighting a match with his thumbnail like Fave does, but he can’t do that either… Rowdy and Pete don’t particularly care if they don’t smoke. Fave gets moody fast. If he’s also going without coffee then basically you don’t want to be near him. He’ll chew on pencils, straw, matches, anything to try and distract himself.
10. Who is better at taking care of injuries?
Pete is the best as dealing with minor injuries. Again, he’s used to being on his own and self-sufficient. He and Rowdy are equal at dealing with more major injuries. Neither want to be a burden or hold up the herd, but both of them know they need treating! Fave is just shite at it. Pretends nothing’s wrong if he possibly can, then is a grumpy patient unless he’s essentially drunk. Doesn’t listen to advice and goes back to work far too soon. It’s destructive and he knows it, but knowing he isn’t being sensible just makes it all the worse.
11. How do they deal with being sick?
Fave is as bad at being sick as he is at being injured. Thinks the best way to treat it is to ignore it and hope it goes away. Rowdy worries about being sick, he doesn’t want to bother anyone or hold up the herd, but he admits it when he is sick. Pete’s stoic, but sensible. He’ll admit it if he isn’t well and get it dealt with, if possible.
12. Who always wants to go swimming when they come across a stream?
Rowdy. He’ll strip and be in a stream before anyone else has even noticed there’s a stream. Pete will swim when there’s time. Fave will swim only when there’s plenty of time, every animal and drover in his care has been looked after and there’s definitely no trouble on the horizon. (Spoiler….there’s always trouble on the horizon)
13. Who is better with the horses? Do their horses have names?
Pete. Although his horse doesn’t seem to have a name. But he’s the best rider, and likes to show off with his running dismounts. Fave’s probably next best. He certainly looks easy in the saddle most of the time. His horse is called Butch. Rowdy can sometimes look a little awkward, and falls off his horse occasionally (usually because he’s been shot….) His horse is called Fox.
14. What changes when they realize they have feelings for each other? How does that hash out?
I feel like Bosscout – Pete/Fave – probably realised they had feelings for each other in the war. I think they were close, but…Fave was married, there was a war, they both sort of ignored it, sort of became good friends, sort of maybe a bit closer than either intended sometimes, when no one else was around. And then Fave nearly died of a head wound, and Pete saved him, and after that they gave up ignoring it, because life’s too short. But they also have to keep it hidden, because there’s still a war on. So it’s stolen moments, sleeping close to each other, holding hands when they’re holed up someplace scouting the enemy. Living in the moment, because neither of them are sure what will happen when either the war ends, or one of them is killed/invalided out. They’ve never said they love each other.
Favorowdy…Fave falls for Rowdy the moment he sees him for the first time. But he doesn’t do anything about it…other than give Rowdy a job. He’s no idea if Rowdy will even be interested. Rowdy has no idea he is interested, until one day it strikes him that he’d rather sit in the corner of the saloon with a bottle and his boss than hang out at the bar with a girl on his arm… and then he really doesn’t know what to do about that at all. In the end he gets drunk enough to have courage at the end of their first drive and confesses to Favor. He doesn’t think he’ll get a punch in the face, because he knows that Fave lets Jim and Joe get on with their relationship and doesn’t seem at all concerned by it. But he is worried he might lose his job.
He doesn’t 😉 But he does have to get used to being both ramrod and lover. He finds it harder to draw a line between the personal and the professional than Fave does, and sometimes he finds that jarring.
15. Are they open about their relationship in company, coy, or completely secretive?
Pete and Fave are…discreet. The old hands know, the new ones don’t get told, but some maybe figure it out. They’re comfortable with each other, and know the job comes first, so they miss each other when Pete’s out scouting, or Fave’s off on business, but they’re relaxed about it.
Rowdy and Fave might try to be discreet, but Rowdy fails. Fave can’t pretend he really minds all that much, either. If people have a problem with it, they can leave, with or without their pay, depending how they go about it. Fave might frown at Rowdy’s openly affectionate nature sometimes, but secretly it cheers him up, and makes him feel kinda good about himself.
16. Do they prefer sex on the open road or sex in a nice inn room?
Bosscout – wherever they can get it and not be interrupted! Out ‘scouting’ together, or in town.
Favorowdy – a nice room in town. Rowdy loves to spread himself out and luxuriate in clean sheets. Fave likes to watch him. They won’t say no out on the trail, but there’s just something special about a nice soft bed. Plus it feels like maybe a little taste of what their future might hold…
17. What’s the weirdest place they’ve had sex?
Bosscout – well, in the war they’d grab any opportunity that came their way. Barns, ditches, ammunition stores, stables. Rumour has it they once did it in a General’s tent, but neither one of them will admit to it.
Favorowdy – in a goods wagon of a train. They were going from one cow town to another, to speak to a cattle buyer. Both horny as all get out, so when the train slowed down they got into one of the goods wagons and stayed there until the train slowed again, letting them clamber back to the passenger coaches. Some parcels were harmed. It was Rowdy’s idea, Fave says. Rowdy’s eyes go wide and innocent and slightly scandalised, because it definitely wasn’t his fault. Well, maybe his fault, but not his idea.
18. Who cuddles when it gets cold at night? Big spoon/Little spoon headcanon?
Bosscout – they’re both cuddlers, and neither cares which way around they go. Depends who seems like they need a hug. Pete got kind of used to being the big spoon when Fave was recovering from his head injury in the war, but he likes it just as much when Fave wraps him up in a hug.
Favorowdy – Fave’s given up trying to be any sort of organised when sleeping with Rowdy. He always ends up in a tangle of arms, legs and blanket. Rowdy asleep is even more chaotic than Rowdy awake, if possible. If he’s the big spoon, Rowdy will turn over in his arms, tangle up their legs, fall asleep with his ridiculous mane of hair in Fave’s face. If Rowdy’s the big spoon Fave will be woken by a hand on his face, suffocated my a blanket and Rowdy’s other hand will somehow be stuck in Fave’s shirt. He prefers to sleep on his back, with Rowdy half on top of him, but Rowdy says he snores too loudly.
19. What piece of clothing are they always stealing from the other?
Bosscout – they have quite different styles. In as much as any cowboys do. If it’s cold and Pete’s going off on his own he might steal one of Fave’s undershirts. Nice to snuggle in.
Favorowdy – Rowdy doesn’t mean to steal them, but every time Fave bandages a new head wound up with one of his bandanas Rowdy washes it and keeps it afterward. Rowdy also steals Fave’s socks. Fave pretends not to notice, just like he pretends not to notice Rowdy stealing all his food off his plate. And he keeps buying new socks. More than he needs. More than he and his horse would need, if his horse wore socks. He’s not entirely sure what Rowdy does with them all. He fears there’s a few thousand miles of discarded socks behind them.
20. Do they ever go it alone? Why? How do they deal with being apart?
Bosscout – Yes. They’re alone almost as much as they’re together. They don’t mind it. It’s how their relationship has always been. It matters to them more that when they’re together they just slot right back into the relationship like they’ve never been apart. They both know a ‘scouting report’ from Pete is as much a catch up on how they’re both doing as it a report of the conditions ahead. Pete gets a little sad when Fave heads to Philly, but mainly because one day he’s afraid Fave won’t come back. And Pete doesn’t ever want to live in a city.
Favorowdy – Sometimes, but only when necessary. Neither of them like it, much. They’re too used to the other being by their side. Fave goes quiet when Rowdy’s gone, and everyone notices, even though he doesn’t think they do. Rowdy gets more stressed when Fave is gone, because he wants to do a good job whilst he’s in charge, and he worries a lot. He wishes he could ask Fave’s advice sometimes. When they’re not on the trail and they’re apart sometimes Rowdy goes home. He wishes he could introduce Fave to his Mother. He’s thought about doing it a number of times. Oddly he’s more worried about how Fave would react to the idea than how his Ma would.
21. Did they ever think about settling down? Where?
Bosscout – not really. Pete thinks Fave will, one day. And he’s not sure what he’d do, then. Because he doesn’t feel like the settling sort. He tries not to think about it too much. Fave hopes he can persuade Pete to settle with him, but deep down, knows he never would. So they don’t talk about it.
Favorowdy – Rowdy dreams about Fave settling down, and he’ll be right there with him. A nice spread, enough cattle to keep the two of them busy. Fave’s girls will grow up and get married and live nearby, and he and Fave can grow old together. Sometimes he thinks it’s a ridiculous fantasy. Other times he’s sure they’ll do it sometime. Fave’s a bit worried about bringing it up. He’s worried one day he’ll have to choose between his girls and Rowdy. He’s worried he already has, as he signs up for drive after drive. But he can’t live in the city. And he’s worried his girls can’t live on the plains. So he just keeps agreeing to take on new drives, because it’s the only thing he’s ever had for himself – his reputation as a cattleman.
Fantastic. Love 5, adore 8 and 11 (beautifully thought out – it’s so good when fan writers provide in-depth psychological stuff that is not necessarily there in canon). 10 is sad, but I agree. 18 is tender AND hilarious. Many thanks.
mici's campfire 