Our first RDR Virtual Photography Challenge week is over! Thank you SO MUCH to all the talented photographers who took part and shared all their fabulous captures with us! We loved seeing all the different prompt interpretations 😍
If you missed out, don’t worry! You’re welcome to challenge yourself with our Virtual Photography Challenge Prompts at any time. Use the tag #rdrVirtualPhotographyChallenge and we’ll still reblog :D
If you’re waiting for the next rdr event, RDR Sapphic Week (hosted by @rdrsapphicships) will be kicking off in September! You can also check out @rdrsafehaven, an RDR Discord server which frequently hosts server games, events, and activities, with it’s very first theme week launching soon.
𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘-𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐆𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋: Before the VDL gang & General Headcannons ☕️ (slight TW for emotional abuse?)
Marybeth is one of the only characters I’ve ever been able to relate to & is extremely underdeveloped so i figured I’d delve a bit into her past.
Early Years
-Marybeth never cared for her mother, in fact they had a very rough relationship overall. It’s a part of the reason she doesn’t talk about her past often or at all. Her mother wasn’t inherently “bad” just a very desperate woman. She worked several jobs, met many men, & was constantly moving around with her daughter. She’d tell the same sob story, take what she could, & move on to the next man. Mary-Beth always had to be prim & proper in front of the men her mom would take from. If she wasn’t, it resulted in being slapped or being yelled at, just overly strict discipline.
-The only good thing her mother taught her was how to write & read at a fairly young age. Although she only dived into the world of writing & literature as a late teen out spite.
-Mary-Beth joined the VDL gang in 1894 at around 17 years old. (This part is technically canon but anyway) After her mother died to typhoid she was sent to an orphanage. During Mary-Beth’s time in the orphanage, she helped to take care of the younger kids & became like an older sister to them. When she got the chance, she’d sneak out in the night to steal toys for the kids & books for herself—somehow rarely getting caught.
-Eventually she escaped after being caught a few too many times with very little money to her name, a few books, & a stolen revolver underneath her skirt. She never used the gun & promised herself that she’d only use it in an emergency. So she began a life of crime since prostitution was out of the question for Mary-Beth. Of course, a life of an outlaw wasn’t necessarily ideal either.
-Her crimes were nothing terrible. She’d pickpocket strangers in wealthy towns, & steal women’s clothes while they were bathing—sometimes disguising herself as a prostitute. She would get towels, soap, doing whatever she could to “help,” meanwhile stealing jewelry & valuables when they weren’t looking. It was certainly risky, but how could anyone expect that it was a girl as sweet as her?
-Naturally, things didn’t always go according to plan. People sometimes caught on to her plans & she would barely get away by the skin of her teeth. Almost every couple of days, she’d sneak on to a train to another town, looking for opportunities. Whatever happened, happened with that kind of life. So when she mentioned to Arthur at the Shady Belle camp, “If you’re a girl without means in this world, life is very scary.” She wasn’t just saying it to sound intelligent, she knew from experience.
-When she did join the gang, it was relieving. She didn’t have to worry about being bound by societies laws, she could live somewhat as an equal & never have to be held back by anyone ever again. She wholeheartedly believed in Dutch’s “promises.”
General Headcannons
-Mary-Beth has always been a terrible nail biter, it’s a stress reliever & a nervous habit.
-When she was little, she always stole her Mom’s coffee & it quickly became one of her favorite things.
-The name Leslie was actually the name of her friend she met at the orphanage.
-If she’s bored, she’ll write scenarios about certain camp members & change their names to make them seem more “character esc.”
-She’s always had a bit of a crush on Arthur being a hopeless romantic. He was strong, protective of the people he cared about, & good man— he reminded her of the love interests she read about in her books. In the end, she never mentioned her crush to him out of fear of being rejected. It also wasn’t the best idea to have a crush on someone who’s life was constantly in danger.
-Mary-Beth got her nickname, “The Sweetest Outlaw in the West,” After her first encounter with Arthur, Dutch, & Hosea.
-During the first couple years of her time in the gang, Hosea taught her & Tilly an abundance of skills & the two grew close. Jenny & Karen joining the group not long after.
-The reason she always keeps a pocket mirror on her is because she’s very careful of her appearance. Usually trying to make sure they’re isn’t a noticeable speck of dirt on her face, or that her curls aren’t too frizzy. Especially since her mom was always so picky about it.
-Mary-Beth initially offered to exchange writings with Molly in attempt to possibly grow closer since they had a few things in common—although, Molly (in classic Molly fashion) said it would be childish to do so.
-Grimshaw’s confrontations (to say the least) remind her of her mother. The slaps, the yelling, it really strikes a nerve. So a part of her really does despise Grimshaw.
-Her favorite flowers are Violet Snowdrops & her favorite smell is spring rain.
