RDR2 Headcanon request: Four jobs Arthur Morgan could have had other than being an outlaw (Or possibly while being an outlaw?) with Dutch.
… I don’t know why you do this to me, you know I overthink everything… (i still love you)So, if we stick with Arthur’s canon backstory, we know he’s orphaned around 11 and lives on the streets, having been raised by an outlaw and petty thief. I’ve heard rumors that Arthur was a petty thief or pickpocket himself before Dutch and Hosea picked him up around 14/15, but all I’ve found out from canon for sure is that he was a little hellion when they did pick him up…Assuming Arthur’s size has a good bit more to do with his genes instead of his lifestyle (he’s a big boah and a poor boah and those things don’t usually go together well with growing children) he’s probably just before his major growth spurts when abouts Dutch and Hosea find him. I bring this up so we have an idea of the Arthur we start with before meddling with the Arthur we eventually get…
Most readily, Arthur likely remains a thief on his own, and once he hits that growth spurt and gets big and intimidating, he could start a gang of his own if he wanted… but I don’t want to go that route. I don’t see him surviving long alone in that sort of life…
- If we keep him growing up alone, I like the idea of him wandering out of wherever he was, and going to a new area, maybe the next state over, and working as a hand on a farm or ranch to feed himself, hiring himself on to the next place and the next one. It’s not glamorous, and he won’t get rich… but I think from a story-telling standpoint, it could be interesting. He picks up skills, learns quickly how to tell a jerk employer from a decent one, learns how to assert himself over the other hands, meets a bunch of different people, swaps a bunch of stories, gets stiffed– gets justice (even if it looks more like revenge?)… It’s a thing he could do. He’s not like John, who just CAN’T ABIDE menial labor.
- I also like the idea of him picking up a different mentor, like a priest, or a deputy, or the guy who works at that store over there. Just a guy who sees this kid and decides he’s not going to be one more kid on the streets. This mentor probably isn’t in a position to adopt a rowdy kid off the streets, for whatever reason, but he takes time to talk to him, give him food, try to impart some kind of wisdom… Eventually Arthur goes about trying to make himself useful to this man out of gratitude and a desire to belong. Starts doing odd-jobs or chores or whatever, hangs around, picks up some useful skill (maybe learns to read, that’d be swell). I’m kind of leaning towards priest or deputy, honestly. I like the idea of the town whispering about “the brat who follows the deputy on his patrols” or “haunts the church grounds” eventually turning into the “big feller shadowing the deputy” or “always working around the churchyard”. I don’t see Arthur ever becoming a man of the cloth, but I do see him eventually becoming a sheriff– maybe not even of this town, but I think if provided a good mentor, he’d be one of those ‘salt of the Earth’ sheriffs. One of those who… may not be the nicest man, certainly not the friendliest, and sometimes his ‘justice’ is a bit skewed, but damned if he doesn’t keep his office for 30+ years because everybody trusts him to do the best damn job.
- I think a job Arthur could take to really well, even if he was in the outlaw life for a little while, but then decided to try and go straight would be as private security– particularly for trains, stagecoaches, herds, or prospect sites. It’s sort of mercenary work, and that kind of impersonal business would suit a more hardened Arthur. Besides that, he’d get to travel and he’d be paid well (you generally don’t stiff the guy you hire to shoot people messing with your stuff).
(Let’s throw an AU in here, just for fun!)
- People like to make a modern!AU Arthur an artist… but I think that’s focusing on the wrong thing. Arthur is a very talented sketch artist, but he doesn’t sketch things for art, and in fact, he doesn’t seem to have a great deal of appreciation for art for art’s sake, either. He sketches things he finds interesting. Objects, people, and places he wants to remember. Things that leave an impact on him, and he writes about them too.
Boom. Traveling photo-blogger. He’s a modern adventurer and explorer! I totally see him backpacking around the world, blogging about his adventures, the people he meets, their stories, the misadventures he runs into, the secrets he stumbles across. Arthur always seems to find something strange or interesting wherever he goes in RDR2, and his musings on it are always entertaining. Imagine reading that same deadpan frankness in one of his articles, sprinkled generously with his sass. Sometimes he throws a sketch up there, but his photos are really great. Great storytelling in every shot. NatGeo may or may not be trying to bring him to the table…
He’d have his private journal, of course. The blog is just there for sharing ‘fireside stories’.
