RDR2 headcanon: Micah Bell kills his brother Amos in 1907
I think the family who Micah and his gang invade the home of and murder is Amos and his family.
The crime is mentioned twice: in a 1907 newspaper, and by Cleet before John or Sadie kills him. The family includes a husband, a wife and daughters, like Amos' does, revealed through Micah's speeches, a knife game, and the letter from Amos in Shady Belle. (Shady Bells, both of them lol, being shrouded in mystery. I'll try to unveil them a little).
In the letter, Amos rejects Micah and tells him to stay far away or he'll kill him. "I have daughters, as you know". Micah must know his brother's address as this letter is a reply, but how does Micah know about his nieces? Did he visit? Did he stake out Amos' ranch, before he was spotted? (That must've been an intense moment). The letter can be found randomly as if thrown away, so it must've upset him, who is usually secretive. He is also swears he remember threats.
Is 1800s Micah capable of killing his own brother? Idk. But in the 1900s, I think he's unhinged enough to do it, especially if his O'Driscoll-like gang members join in. Amos is a failed Bell and a loose end, and he witnessed a weakness on Micah's part, in the letter.
For Micah hope is weakness, a belief that was softened and then solidified when he was in the Van der Linde Gang. I think he joined unconsciously wanting a family, consciously wanting money (the Blackwater score, Dutch's bounty, the gang funds…). Maybe Dutch let him join as as a pet project, testing his mentoring skills on a man rougher than a street kid (and if Micah can soften or settle down, so can Dutch?). Between chapter 1-4 of RDR Micah gets a sliver of hope and reaches out to Amos. But the reconciliation with the old family, the new family, and the money all go to hell. He likely ratted after Guarma, but I'm unsure if he were going to give the Pinkertons, Dutch. As a young man, Micah chose his father over Amos, like he chooses Dutch over Arthur or any other gang / family members. When Dutch rejects him, he screams in frustration. The money is seemingly not enough. I think he changes after this, going from bad to worse. And at his worst, he's probably capable of spilling his own blood. Maybe he feels like he's killing Amos on his father's behalf, like he killed "traitors" on Dutch's. (Daddy issues deluxe edition).
Micah and Amos can be read as a dark mirror to Arthur and John. Both Amos and John abandon their lawless lifestyle – and their brothers – to become lawful sheep ranchers. But where John lives on thanks to Arthur's involvement, it makes narratively sense to me that Micah's involvement does the opposite, ending his remaining family. In canon, John is also killed in the end, after a few years of lawful living. Amos might've been equally unable to escape. Especially with a brother like Micah.
Sorry if I got any details wrong. Special thanks to @zanazirafanfic and @the--end-is--nigh , who chatted about this with me months ago, offering their insights. I've been seeing a lot of cool Micah Bell and RDR theories lately, so I'd thought I'd share one of mine.
OOC: John shows firm signs of alcoholism in rdr 2 and symptoms of a recovering alcoholic in rdr 1.
I will say that alcohol was usually the safer beverage to drink rather than water. A lot of people didn’t boil it long enough, and that’s where the jokes about Mr. Pearson letting the camp have dysentery or cholera come from.
I don’t know how much whiskey is in camp. I personally think those bottles are beer because it’d be way way way cheaper.
Now, their definition of alcoholism might be different than ours today.
By rdr 1, John doesn’t drink very often. It sounds like a bad habit he wants to shake off? When he visits Marshall Johnson, he has a shot, but that’s kind of it. When Irish starts this, He takes one or two sips when people ask him to drink.
John says, “The drink makes me violently angry.”
Now, I think it’s more that he’s trying to scare Irish, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he does get into fights while drunk.
People act differently depending on what they drink.
I think John wants to show that he is a new man with a new life. In rdr 2′s epilogue - he only drinks when you tell him too. Arthur is also implied to have alcoholism issues.
In Modern AU - I’m kind of basing what I see off in the game - but also - I think people drink more these days to deal with their problems than they did back then. (This is just my guess/opinion.) I believe with John having such a horrible past and hardly any help or support at all - I think this is a very probable scenario.
So trust me, it’s not just for funsies or excuse for angst.
