#callowmoore positive

[how-queerious]

been seein lot of posts calling the cast weird for the way they/their characters are being with the whole "destined" aspect of callowmoore but like consider who does and does not seem to outwardly ship it that way.

maybe there are things and dynamics i've been missing but to me there is a clear division between which characters (not actors) are pushing it and which are not; The main people seeming to push for it are FCG, Imogen, Laudna, and Fearne. The main people just watching and not really swaying either way are Orym, Chet, and Ash. Here's my thoughts on the possible motivations for that from a character perspective. With that in mind, I have focused on the PCs here; I have all the love in the world for matt as a DM, but to untangle the intricacies of his character work in literally even just one episode at a time is a whole other post. Accidental essay below the cut y'all.

broad strokes are that the camps are divided primarily* by who has and hasn't had extensive adult romantic relationships. Laudna, Imogen, and FCG are all experiencing what seem to be their first real adult relationships, and have had notably, explicitly little experience with romance at all beyond that. Fearne herself, despite her age, also seems to have had very little experience with romance and love (remembering that casual or platonic sex is not romance). They have all been starry-eyed and naive about love in prior episodes, and Laudna in particular has a childlike view of it. To compound this, Fearne has been lonely the vast majority of her life, just her, her nana, and their companions of questionable sentience and willingness. Exhibited in some of the darker episodes, and stated by ashley (at some point), she is literally just learning how to feel as mortals do in the prime material plane. Many of us as young shippers were drawn to the allure of the "Soulmate AU" for a lot of the same reasons.

On the other side of the coin, we have the three opposed or neutral. Chet and Orym, unlike any of the others, have both experienced long-term mature romantic relationships. Though Chet often focuses on the sex, and Orym tends not to focus on anything if he can help it, both have shown in their character choices and interactions with people from their past that they have the understanding of mature and healthy(ish) romance. As a contrast to their knowledgability, Ashton has only ever been burned by what should have been love in the past, and has not experienced romance. They have spent their whole life fighting fate, and will continue to do so for at least the time being. He is just learning to let themself love platonically, of course they don't want to follow "fate" to a romantic relationship with someone as chaotic and beautiful and terrifying as Fearne. They'll do the cool combos with her, and he'll flirt and tease, but anything else is unknown territory in a field already littered with the casualties of their past attempts to trust.

Though they may seem to be pushing for this fated dynamic in a way that feels very off for CR, there are genuine and realistic character motivations for them to do so. Perhaps I'm putting too much thought and faith behind it, but I think the specificity of who is or isn't pushing speaks great volumes to the fact that these are all people who have a wealth of theatric and improvisation experience and knowledge behind them. They are all actors with more than my lifetime of hard work behind this "silly game" they play, and I think we ought to consider that.

[luddlestons]

thank you to @lav3ndaze for the inspiration! I had been considering these 4 in a cuddle pile for a while now, but they inspired me to 1. actually draw it, and 2. put ashton in the middle.

[danwhobrowses]

For anyone else who is gonna struggle surviving the next 3 weeks with the angsty and tense situation of Callowmoore here's a few things from the last 2 episodes that I feel were underrated and will assist in trying to keep me sane/emotionally stable: - Matching messed up hands built for holding - Fearne nervously playing with her hair as she approaches Ashton - Ashton wanted Fearne to be either the last thing they saw if they died or the first thing they saw when they succeeded - Fearne's admittance corroborates Ashley's 4SD revelation that Fearne is in love with someone in the party but doesn't know how to process the emotions - Fearne wanted Ashton to be happy, while Ashton wanted to feel whole so they would be worthy of the Hells - Ashton twice tried to lead a search for Fearne, and instantly clocking onto Chetney saying he followed Fearne - Fearne making herself look as radiant as possible before giving Ashton the cold shoulder - Ashton only rose to Chetney's provocations until he said 'You hurt Fearne' Use how you will

[artiquar]

They both have such complicated designs which is why I have never drawn them properly despite them being my favorite campaign 3 pair

[nephriteknight]

look this isnt meant to be hate or anything, honest. these characters are a) really well made and nuanced and b) characters, who do not represent their creators and should have flaws. but im real fuckin tired of fcg's "but conventional romantic love!" shtick. obviously chetney avoids relationships of all kinds because he's afraid of abandonment, and yes, that isn't healthy. and i know that fcg is meant to be naive and pushy, with a view on life that comes more from social expectation than reality. but i hate hearing this get-married-and-settle-down angle pushed so hard, when chet has never shown any interest in that. maybe im just taking my frustration with the way fandom (pretty much all fandoms, not just cr) puts so much importance on romantic relationships over friendships and putting that on fcg, or maybe im just frustrated with fcg bc he is way too relatable in a lot of ways, but something about that moment just rubbed me the wrong way. "the family you never had" yeah, fcg, he fucking found it already. its you, and the rest of the hells.

[danwhobrowses]

I think yes because of the Cooldown comment but obviously I would've preferred to have seen it be established clearly in the episode itself. I understand why they didn't though, so to not make it look like it was competing with Dorian and Orym's tender and narratively perfect moment.

Don't mind either way though; their dynamic and appeal as a ship, for me at least, leans more towards emotional intimacy so if they didn't it's fine and if they did it's good for them! Plus Ashton got Persistent Rage at lv15 so - per Tal's comments on an earlier 4SD - not only does Ashton burning a rage mean that their chronic pain was muffled during the experience but also they could keep the dunamancy and reality bending stuff going for as long as they and Fearne wanted.

[zhellers]

Just on the topic of headcanons and such how do you see callowmoores relationship? You can go into as much detail about “stuff” lol as you’d like or just a sorta general perspective of the relationship!

again i'm not great at expressing myself through words but i'll try haha

Currently i think they're in a bit of an awkward position. I don't think Fearne is used to having romantic feelings for another which is why she gets so flustered when the topic of relationships comes up. She also was raised well...not quite caged but nana morri definitely kept her close. We know she craves freedom (see; her letting gloamgut free even if he would be a useful ally because she doesn't want it to feel trapped like she did) and i think she might still see anything more than a hookup as another cage which might be scary to her. The thing is from what we've seen from Ashton I think they'd be more than fine with a more open/polyamorus relationship.

But now! the thing with Ashton is that they still don't seem to believe they are deserving of love and to be cared for by another person. They seem to believe that they are incapable of being gentle and that Fearne deserves someone soft who isn't in pain and angry. I think he's slowly building that confidence up tho he too wants to believe he is more than pain and violence. He asks to cuddle and is happy to be the little spoon, he buys a bunch of jewelry he's never worn in the hopes Fearne just might pickpocket them, he loves Fearne home and Nana and he treats gloamgut as gently as he can with his literally rough exterior.

In the end they just need a proper long conversation with no one else to interrupt them, they clearly know they're attracted to the other they're just well..scared. They could bring the best, most chaotic parts of eachother. I could see them keep traveling together post-campaign, bring a third or fourth to their bed whenever they feel and becoming eachother home without having an actual solid one.

Does this make sense?

[criticalbeauregard]

positive version of the “i was so caught up in the euphoria” meme where i was so caught up in the euphoria of imodna sitting together that i didn’t even realize callowmoore is ALSO sitting together

[towards-toramunda]

I had a moment earlier in this campaign (maybe around episode 25-35?) when I thought “…hm maybe Ashton and Orym would be a good ship” and then episode 40 happened and I’ve been in an ashrym brain rot ever since.

Like don’t get me wrong I’m a Dorym and Callowmoore and Laudmoore respecter, but I just love the care and softness and respect Ashton and Orym hold for each other any time they have a one on one. And I had a feeling that without any healers there would be a moment of one of them caring for the other in this recent arc, but seeing Orym just reach for Ashton and begin massaging their hand because he knows they’re in pain even if they don’t say it? Absolutely perfect 10/10 no notes.

The world has been cruel to both of them in different ways, and they’ve both been overlooked in different ways. The soldier in the background doing what he’s told always. The broken thief laying on the ground to be left behind. The loneliness that comes from chronic pain. The loneliness that comes from being a widower. Orym constantly trying to turn towards kindness even when its hard. Ashton blaming the world, blaming themselves, believing that they deserved to be left behind.

Ashton telling Orym that it must be hard to be the good one all the time, and they’re here if he needs any help. Carrying him to his room after he fell off the air ship. Asking him what he thinks when he’s been silent. Looking to him. Trusting him with their pain when he knows they rarely trust.

Orym with ties to something that sounds familiar (Ashari?) treating Ashton with kindness. Telling them to breathe. Blotting out their nosebleed. Teaching them to meditate. Massaging their hand. Showing them that they’re part of the group. That their pain matters to someone else.

Since the recent 4 sided dive and Liam mentioning that Orym was about 5 when Vax went to Zephra: I’ve been thinking about how Orym is 35-36 and Ashton is 24-28, and I feel like we can see all the time how much Ashton looks up (pun intended) to Orym. He’s older, he’s more experienced, and they’re constantly looking to Orym for wisdom and asking him what he thinks and following him. Ashton may be a punk who has problems with authority, but he has no problem putting Orym in a position of authority. At the end of the day Ashton believes in him, and they believe in him because hes kind.

And just to be clear: if they don’t turn into any canon romantic pairing or anything I’d be totally fine with that. I just love their dynamic so much. I love the tanks constantly going into the heat of the fray, but helping and understanding each other. (Almost similarly to how I felt with Beau and Yasha last campaign)

[mimymomo]

I think it’s genuinely interesting how differently critters are reacting to last night’s episode depending on what platform you’re on

On twitter, I’ve come across more fans being negative and angry at Ashton’s choice and focusing heavily on how it affected Fearne and the rest of the characters even to the point where I’ve seen a few people actually upset at Taliesin himself and saying he was inconsiderate of the other players

However here on tumblr, while I wouldn’t say that people here are excusing Ashton’s actions, I’m generally seen more people on here react more positively towards yesterdays events: more people here acknowledging Ashton’s perspective and how yes their actions were wrong, but it fit in like with their character

I don’t mean for this to come off as there’s a right and wrong way to respond and think about what went down in the episode, I just genuinely think it’s interesting how different everyone’s reactions and opinions have been. I love this game so much and i think we should all take turns curbstomping Ashton together (I love you taliesin/ashton but did you have to do this that right after I got my callowmoore kiss?!)

[astralleywright]

my two cents here: i have NEVER seen anyone make callowmoore "cishet"? laudmoore, yes. oh holy fuck yes. like everyone that ships laudmoore is a massive homophobe. maybe i only follow trans people that like it but i was very much under the impression people understood that were both nonbinary as fuck? i feel like you when you were confused about "orym hate"

i've been trying to figure out how i want to answer this all day, because ultimately its going to end up being deeply subjective. if this hasn't been your personal experience, that's fine and great actually. i'm not interested in changing anyone's minds, or accusing certain groups of or individual shippers of being homophobic or transphobic. (which, i'm gonna join the war against laudmoores on the side of laudmoores here; this feels like a very overblown reaction to a handful of weirdos in amongst the slightly bigger handful of laudmoore shippers. fr there are like, 8 of them total. throwing them all under the bus like this feels very wild!)

meanwhile, callowmoore has both a lot of passionate shippers and casual support, including for the handful of posts that i think do kind of amount to actual erasure. if explicitly t4t content of them of the same popularity exists i have not seen it, and the passive acceptance of stuff like this can make even neutral content feel... weird and loaded.

especially given that a lot of callowmoore content and discussion is, imo, very shallow and tropey, and popular shipping tropes tend to operate through an understanding of romantic relationships as a monogamous thing between two partners that begins with love, then sex, then marriage, then maybe a kid or two. there's nothing wrong with that path, and its not one limited to or solely the aspiration of cisgender heterosexual people. but it is one made for them, and one which trans and queer people are often coerced into participating.

and one that feels deeply unfitting for fearne and ashton rn, and especially fearne, who has really seemed to just be living her best polyam/alloaro/hot girl life so far. i'm still not convinced her reaction to the sister comment wasn't just bc she's been trying to hit for so long. and even if it was romantic, i don't think that means that they're "so married", or that ashton supposedly being jealous when she flirts with guys is a positive, or that they said it as some sort of denial or pulling pigtails thing and everyone can tell he's actually in love, etc etc. it just feels like a waste to try and force these joyfully unconventional characters into such deeply conventional boxes.

[starsisbig]

I love fearne for the way she interacts with her people. the crownkeepers and bells hells. her fey curiosity and disinterest in grander machinations. the ‘baby in the cage’ situation where releasing it (a deadly monster) would be dangerous as fuck for everyone but she hates leaving it captured yadda yadda

my point. I love callowmoore but her obsessive behavior extends beyond ashton. she’s curious, she likes their sparkly brain, steals from them and they steal from her (or try to), shes vengeful and heals him after he’s nuked by the caster.

she also watches laudna as she sleeps, makes sashimi a wig and sets them up in a provocative position to delight her. she watches FCG in their sleep, looking for buttons and tracing the blades of grass on his front. she flirts with chetney, makes plans to fuck him, flirts with Pretty and is upset when he breaks up with her

(And Don’t get me started on the exu trio. codependency up the wazoo)

I don’t know. I don’t get the feeling that they’re heading toward a romantic relationship. i think she collects things that are beautiful and (like Anjali said in the exu wrap up) she acts purely on her id. does this make me feel good? I want it and I will have it cuz it’s pretty.

Truly I think she’s fascinated by ashton to a large degree. (In a similar, less intense way she is fascinated with the other members of the party). Their relationship is so important to me, I don’t think ash has had someone pay such specific attention to him, like, ever. Cuz he’s pretty. And that dynamic is so beautiful so amazing but I don’t know if it’s romantic (yet)

[danwhobrowses]

Well another week of Tal and Ashley putting Callowmoore through the emotional ringer. I'm kinda okay with where it's at right now (okay less kinda but I can still see an end goal for them), of course it wasn't the most ideal direction I thought up in my head but it rarely ever is. There's time, there's room, and maybe in 2 3 (again guys? mental torment for 3 again?) weeks time - because no show on Thanksgiving and then Candela Obscura - Tal and Ashley will pull the trigger and not leave me an anxious mess like they have the last month and a half every Friday Morning when I have to work XD

[danwhobrowses]

So Callowmoores am I alone in thinking it was cute that Fearne helped carry Ashton to the city? Like there's the parallel also with Ashton carrying her into the Bloody Bridge as well

[danwhobrowses]

Okay yeah I wasn't ever gonna be contained with just one post so, Callowmoore stuff that's on rotisserie in my brain from ep.94

Long and deep looks at each other and a hug right off the bat!

When asked by Laudna if they were okay in ep. 91, Ashton deflected with 'say that again?' and 'are any of us?', but when Fearne asks they give a genuine answer and then also ask her how she's feeling, because she's been quiet and they care

Ashton, despite hurting when they're touched and exhausted so the chronic pain is as intense as the first time, still wanting to cuddle with Fearne - and feeling at ease when they do

And like, the way they were trying to articulate it implies that they've wanted to ask for quite some time, but the timing has been off or situations have gotten in the way, and they don't want to wait any longer

But also they don't ask if they can cuddle they ask if Fearne wants to; they want to, but they ask Fearne if she doesn't want to sleep alone, because her comfort is as important or more important than their own

Fearne given her past experiences with people of course thinks they mean the other kind of company, which she notes she does want (so that's not off the table) but asks if they could just cuddle - to which Ashton doesn't entirely deny either, but notes that they're tired and in a lot of pain right now so they too was asking for the same

Also the fact that Fearne, who has been in a threesome inside a corrupted haunted wood, will later flirt with a dark echo of herself, and spooned with a ghost pirate captain, got so flustered about asking Ashton that she just wants to cuddle

Despite the awkwardness they still just laugh and joke together through it, they're awkward but it's in a sweet way

All of Ashton's immediate action the second they realised Fearne was missing - similar to how they wanted to find her after the shard incident but this time in a position where they could take action - no nonsense, no pissing contest with Chetney about her scent being on their bed, "Find. Them. Now."

And then still being soft after seeing Fearne again, because all that matters right now is that she's still here. And another post I saw said it better but, Ashton never seeks to change or 'correct' parts of who Fearne is; she can still follow cute animals just next time bring a buddy along (which given how they were in bed together would imply meaning them), they love her for her, fae and all, they just want her to be safe

Not entirely ep. 94 but given how on 91 Ashton pointed out that they needed to sleep and 'figure out who they wanted to be', and then here ask Fearne to be there beside them so they could have someone to wake up to, it to me at least says a lot about what Ashton has already decided; and how despite both of them having dealt with grief and anger and helplessness by bottling it up, hiding away, and shouldering it alone, this time they both wanted to just feel at ease with each other