hi hello, as the distraught early single father Arthur OP, i just wanted to *agressively points* YOU GET IT! YOU GET ITTTTT *ahem* fr it's such an overlooked time period that i know crafted/carved Arthur as we know and love him and i'm sobbing. hopefully i'll get around to writing fics about it one day. but for now, i wanted to let you know that your tags hurt my soul, thank and bless you
AND YOU GET IT SO GOOD RIGHT BACK !!! 👉👉
(shakes your hand aggressively)
I am honored to have impacted soul damage upon you, and I will have you know that you did that to me as well and I was Thankful cause I am (mildly) obsessed with Dad Arthur, and like,
it's soul-healing and utterly crushing to think about both
I get it why the fandom doesn't often talk about it - comes with our canon boi trying not to talk about it himself... but it's just so delicious and painful to think about
(am I about to use your ask as an excuse to ramble? yes, yes I am)
If I remember the date correctly, we have canon info that Arthur immigrated at 17. We don't have much (anything) besides this, and I imagine that a young 20-something orphan didn't have many opportunities to build a life. Though, knowing Arthur and how stubborn he is, he probably managed to carve out something for himself (apparently not enough to support a family, but that's hardly surprising in these circumstances).
Then came Faroe, and I think everyone knows that children require their adults' life to be thoroughly... rebuilt, really, from the ground up to raise kids. So, when Arthur accepts Faroe, he has to start from scratch.
Then Arthur has all the wonderful learning curves of a single father of a toddler to go through. Given how nervous and reluctant he was right untill her birth, I imagine he wasn't at all prepared to really handle a child. He also had a very strong bond with his girl, so he probably lost his mind a lot in the beginning with her.
Maybe that's where Tess came into picture, actually. Arthur, scared shitless of being unable to provide adequate care for his daughter and stressed out of his sanity, finally accepted he could not do it alone and required outside help.
So, now he has a toddler to care for And on top of that needs steady work to afford help.
Getting into another profession would be too taxing with a child in mind, so Arthur turns to what he can do already - music. He can compose from home, he likely had some connections or experience in the music field already, and it would allow him to combine child and work hours, plus this minimises the amount of hours he has to get a carer for.
And it seems like he's getting this life sorted out. Arthur has a home, he has a daughter he loves more than the entire world, he feels more adequate at caring for her, he has a second pair of competent eyes for help should he need it, and now he can even make a name for himself through his old musical passion! He is building a future both for his daughter and for himself together.
then Faroe is gone.
and besides the crushing devastation of loosing her, which is enough to break someone's spirit completely on its own,
it becomes clear that whatever the name Arthur Lester stood for, now it's destroyed all over again. Arthur's entire life is gone. Again. Arthur himself is gone as well, in more ways than one. He has nothing, he has noone (now we know Daniel...at least wanted to be there for him), he lost his own light and he has his personal demons to finish the job.
Arthur was buried right there with Faroe.
It's sheer luck that his leftover husk has been picked up by Parker, and he was carried on another's shoulders long enough for the name Arthur Lester to make a new meaning for that wiped slate. Again. But Parker did, and Arthur had done it.
...then the Entity happened, and Arthur's life has been left in shambles. Again. Though, truth be told, this was an accident waiting to happen, with a profession that dangerous. It's just that the Scale of danger Arthur landed in was much more horrifying than whatever his detective work could have thrown his way. Still, John was and continues to be a great support for Arthur, and if he could rebuild himself after Faroe, then he could move on and carve a new place for himself and his friend just as well.
