[bee-does-a-gaming]

[americaninferno]

@kayuripax i ended up having so many thoughts abt this that i felt it best to just. make a whole separate post SNKSKNSK thoughts that are. so largely irrelevant and mostly just me screaming into a void abt how i can’t imagine things outside of canon. thoughts that you did not ask for, and actually no one asked for! and what my thoughts boil down to, tl;dr i love reading Other peoples’ work in this lane bc Hell Yeah but i can’t write it myself bc im a stick in the mud for canon

as usual w/ these kinds of posts its all my Opinions and i dont work for r* etc etc

i love reading fics in this vein. i love reading fics where the three of them are a delightful lil polyam moment, i love when authors play in that space bc i Wish hosea matthews had gotten what he wanted. i wish he had his cake and ate it too. but to me, i think dutch is actually the problem here—i just can’t picture dutch being willing to play in that space At All. romantically, sexually (and this is not to say the man wouldn’t be down for a threesome, even a threesome with hosea and another woman, i just dont think he’d be down with bessie, and ill get into that), the whole nine yards.

i dont think dutch gets jealous, bc why would he? hosea’s his man. but thats the key: hosea is His man. dutch tends to have this possessiveness over certain people, and he downplays the importance of other people in their lives.* we see it the morning after the gala, when dutch picks up arthur’s letter from mary, and carelessly tosses it to the side. we see it when hosea brings up bessie on the way to go fishing, and says that it feels like he had bessie a lifetime ago, and dutch petulantly says that it Was a lifetime ago. the tone is so important there, because he’s not agreeing with a fondness, or an understanding—he’s agreeing with the tone of someone who’s absolutely fuckin Sick of it. he’s tired of talking about bessie, she’s not relevant, and he’s not letting her cast a shadow on His day with His boys.

dutch has a possessiveness over certain people, and bessie’s already taken His man away from him. she takes up his time, she takes up his love, she takes him right out of the criminal life and away from dutch’s side. i would bet that none of this is Really true—im sure hosea still spent plenty of time with dutch, still planned and robbed and thieved together, hosea could never ever have a lack of love for dutch, and hosea trying to get out of the criminal life had to be at least partially his own choice, and of his own will—but i would also bet that this is how dutch perceives it. thus, i dont think hed have any interest at all in spending time with her, least of all time that he’d rather be spending with hosea and Not the woman who lured him away. i think he’d rather have the opportunity to pull hosea Away from her, rather than include her in any capacity.

now, this is where my cracks as a writer start to show. i Suck at characterization, or at least, i feel like i do. it’s so hard for me to keep characters correct, keep them in tone and make them work—this is why i’m so married to canon, and if i can’t slot it into canon, i don’t write it. i Need that spinal cord to hold me up. i can’t do AUs, i can’t do what-ifs, i Need to have some sort of support from the work itself to help me stand, like a crutch, which sucks! bc i LOVE the idea of bessie/hosea/dutch polycule. i LOVE it, and i’ve read several fics and seen so much gorgeous art that i just love, in my heart of hearts i really do wish that hosea could’ve happily had them both, and i think he did, to an extent—i just dont think dutch and bessie had each other.** its literally on me as a writer for not being able to explore ideas outside of what’s been presented to us.

if there’d been even One hint that dutch liked bessie at all, or if he didn’t show a pattern of distaste for his boys’ partners………….inhales. exhales. this turned out to be way too long for a writing prompt and im Very sorry for that 💀 💀 💀

*i would love to know how molly (and grimshaw, and annabelle) fell into the gang, bc i have a feeling it was probably somehow in this lane. i imagine molly as a sort of rose dewitt bukater, desperate to get out from under the family thumb, and then somehow a handsome man who hates the rich and lives free and wild crosses her path—how many times do you think he made degrading comments about her wealthy, aristocratic family? how many times do you think he shat on them and the way they live versus how He lives, which is the true and correct way? by the time we step into arthur’s shoes, she’s all but entirely isolated from the rest of the gang as well—do you think that was intentional on dutch’s behalf? hm……………..

**and this isn’t even to say i dont think dutch was cordial with bessie. i think he definitely was. he’s a man very set in his gender roles, and we know he appreciates a talented and quickwitted woman. i think he liked bessie, and probably liked her quite a bit—i just dont think he liked how bessie played into his and hosea’s relationship.

and as a secret little ps at the bottom, if anyone’s still here…i Do think there’s merit in a fic where hosea and dutch are sneaking around behind the camp’s back, and dutch is aware that bessie knows theyre doing it, maybe even watching but hosea is completely unaware…hm hm hm hm hm hm hm hm hm

[americaninferno]

im literally that guy that's in every town in rdr2 who's standing on some street corner preaching abt some bullshit no one cares abt at the top of his lungs

[americaninferno]

"oh remove the weight of the world from your shoulders for a minute arthur" is such an underrated dutch line we don't talk enough about oh remove the weight of the world from your shoulders for a minute arthur

[americaninferno]

this whole mission honestly. this whole mission is so defining for dutch just...as a character. he's careless, he's self-centered, and above all he doesnt give a damn abt any casualties whoever they may be. he's reckless and hes dangerous. and he enjoys it too—he gets a kick out of violence (we see it so many times: dutch laughing through the valentine shootout at the end of ch2, dutch actually saying out loud with his whole chest "this is kind of fun" as guarma is getting bombed to hell, and more), he gets a thrill out of putting his life (and others' lives!) on the line and it's even better when he pulls it off in the end. it makes the stakes higher, makes his ego bigger, his hunger for that thrill even more voracious and without someone ahem ahem to reign him in and talk him down to sensibility, he's a dog off its leash running fucking stupid

[americaninferno]

"oh remove the weight of the world from your shoulders for a minute arthur" is such an underrated dutch line we don't talk enough about oh remove the weight of the world from your shoulders for a minute arthur

[colterblues]

[americaninferno]

midday

[shiftedjaw]

Filth 🦷💥

[pailiky]

i need to draw them again

[americaninferno]

if vdm was yuri dutch would be high femme and hosea would look exactly the same

[dillthing]

my heart cant take this i need to lay down

[elesketchii]

im back in the red dead trenches

[americaninferno]

concept: why’d you come in here lookin like that by dolly parton

[americaninferno]

waiting to get my fucked up taxes fixed, let's chat gays

[americaninferno]

for the ask game, 14!

HELLO THANK YOU and lemme just be the first to say

TILLY FUCKING JACKSON 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️

when i found out (through a random camp interaction btw, im pretty sure) that tilly had nearly the same upbringing as john and arthur—lost her parents young, fell into trouble, brought into the gang, taught to read and write and survive by dutch—it genuinely made me so mad. bc why isn’t she more important?? why isn’t she more relevant?? minus the One mission centered on her, the stagecoach robbery she can join in on (which she does Nothing in), and one dominoes cutscene, shes basically shoved to the background.

i think theres so much potential in her, in her character, that we see brief glimpses of—we know shes tough, we know shes ruthless, and we know she cares deeply about her family. if you keep an eye on her in camp, she’s almost always in jack’s radius if abigail isn’t, as though she’s watching over him as an auntie. she speaks on how much she loves dutch, and when he gets back to the gang at the beginning of ch6 and asks for coffee, she’s quick to jump up and get it for him. she stays til the end, just like arthur and john, because she cares about everyone in the gang, especially dutch. i would’ve KILLED for more cutscenes or even just camp interactions with her and dutch and hosea honestly. her playing dominoes with hosea. her debating ethics and morals with dutch. one of them practicing shooting with her. anything.

arthur and john both have crazy intricate narratives showing them both growing as people, why couldn’t tilly have been in on that?? we see arthur lean more towards hosea’s temperament, and john towards dutch’s—i think it would’ve been really interesting to see tilly be straight down the middle. a level head, a critical thinker, a clever girl who doesn’t shy away from violence, even if it’s not the first or best choice. she could’ve been the best of them.

[americaninferno]

For that ask game, as a certified horse girl (genderneutral) I gotta ask about your horse choices-

SNSKSNSJS so im actually insane and i Have to theme my horses for every playthrough. they also always have to be girls

i think it was 2demondogs on ao3 who noted that nearly all of us follow the naming conventions of the characters' current horses to name other ones (in a positive way, like naming pre-canon horses the duchess or copper penny) and i stick to arthur's naming conventions for my horses. mythological names, names of legends, usually tailored to whatever kind of playthrough im doing.

i have 3 ways i play through a whole round of rdr2 story mode (as im sure most people do) which is:

1. high honor beginning to end

2. low honor beginning to end

3. low honor start, high honor end (this one's my favorite)

if im doing option 1, there's a beautiful all black horse with crazy good stats that you can buy in saint denis—it's dummy expensive, but it looks nearly complete opposite of the count, and i like that symbolism quite a bit. last playthrough i think i named this horse epona, mostly bc its the celtic goddess of horses and protection but also...yanno.

option 2, i go get the white arabian from the mountains. it's the closest in match and stats to the count, and i like the symbolism of death riding in on a white horse...next to his mentor, father, and downfall, of course. i usually name this one after some kind of royalty, again to match the count—i think i went with jezebel on my last playthrough LMAO

option 3, yanno when you're riding around on the map and you can find a man who gets his head kicked in by a brown palamino with a white mane? that's my horse. that's my HORSE. that's my favorite horse in the whole game—just like arthur, she starts as a wild and untameable murderer, and slowly turns into a heroine herself. i almost always name her anne bonny after the pirate—an objectively horrible person who has become more legend and myth than pirate.

other than these horses, i love that big one with the skunk stripes. i name it mephitidae. which means skunk.

[essiewrites]

RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 ask game.

feel free to rb for asks, all asks are appreciated ⭑.ᐟ ✉️

what’s your favorite part of the map .ᐣ what town do you like the most, where do you spend most of your time .ᐣ what do you enjoy about the scenery .ᐣ

what horse breed do you find yourself using .ᐣ what is your horse’s name .ᐣ do you use a special saddle .ᐣ

which chapter do you enjoy the most .ᐣ what’s your favorite part of the story .ᐣ if any, which chapters did you dread or not enjoy .ᐣ

what gang/group do you run into a lot, and which one is the most bothersome of them all .ᐣ what gang do you recognize for being unique .ᐣ

if you could pick an alternative life for arthur than being with the van der linde gang, what would you imagine him doing .ᐣ how would he pass his days not as a wanted outlaw .ᐣ what kind of job would he have .ᐣ where would he settle down .ᐣ would he have any hobbies .ᐣ

what has been the scariest/creepiest encounter of your game .ᐣ

do you do the challenges .ᐣ which challenge is your favorite and why .ᐣ have you completed them all .ᐣ

who is your favorite character and why .ᐣ what makes them unique/stand out more than the others .ᐣ

if the main focus was not with arthur, who would you have liked to see the story play out through their eyes .ᐣ what would you have liked to see more of in their development, screen time, dialogue, actions, etc. .ᐣ

do you hunt and fish .ᐣ what weapons do you favor when it comes to either and which animals do you enjoy tracking down the most .ᐣ do you craft with the parts or sell them to butchers, trader them with the trapper .ᐣ

do you have any ships .ᐣ who do you think would have matched well, that may not have had the chance .ᐣ

do you have a favorite dish to feed arthur .ᐣ do you feed and bathe him regularly .ᐣ does he maintain his weight .ᐣ do you visit the saloons and order food or do you eat whatever is available in your satchel .ᐣ do you stop at the campfires to cook, do you use herbs .ᐣ

do you have any screenshots that you could share .ᐣ which ones are your favorites .ᐣ

which side character do you think is undervalued and not as appreciated .ᐣ what do you think is something about them that gets overlooked .ᐣ

what greenery or items are you attached to in game .ᐣ do you have favorite flowers, talismans, trinkets, store-bought goods, candies or tonics .ᐣ