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i think it's interesting that red dead redemption 2 opens by setting up this dichotomy between dutch van der linde and colm o'driscoll. we see the ways in which they contrast quite early, but what we see even earlier is the ways in which their gang members contrast.

the o'driscoll that jumps arthur, once you have the ability to interrogate him, will fold instantly. no further beating required. you simply ask, and he will give up information. his loyalty to colm o'driscoll and his gang was fickle. then, when you see how colm treats his gang members, it makes sense. he clearly doesn't respect them, and that's why within chapter 1 not one but two o'driscoll's (barn jumper and kieran duffy) fold on their loyalty to their gang without much push at all. in fact, kieran also reaffirms this idea that he hardly knows the o'driscolls and he even hates colm.

dutch would know this. they have a history, which this chapter makes sure to relay, so dutch would be privvy to the way colm operates and treats those around (or under - in a hierarchal sense) him. he would also know what it yields. he affirms this when he talks about how many gang members colm goes through, how low the standards are for the o'driscolls and how impersonal their dynamic is. in contrast, we see the way dutch treats those around him. he seems to care for them and their well being, insists upon their safety. but we know retroactively that perhaps, this wasn't truly who he ever was. he's self serving, which this chapter also establishes through subtle nods like his calls for the gang to stay with him, or the subtle reflex to put himself before the group when speaking of charles smith's necessity to the gang.

the contrast between dutch and colm only really strengthens this idea of it being a facade for me. especially as we are told they have history, both from his own mouth and arthur's. with time spent around colm, both amicable and antagonistic, dutch has come to understand how colm works and how he doesn't work. and he responds accordingly.

colm and the o'driscolls are really a pretty minor antagonist, so it makes one wonder why they're the first one we're introduced to and struggle with the longest. their impact on the story is tangible but in comparison to the pinkertons, leviticus cornwall and dutch van der linde himself, they pale in comparison. but the contrast between dutch and colm, the o'driscolls and the van der lindes, in retrospect calls dutch's character into question early.

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Handposting

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hey… so guess what podcast i got into after tma.. i think i’m only on season 3 but i’m vibing for the most part. but i had to draw the scrunglies in a similar style to my Jon piece. my eyes hurt from staring at this yellow for too long 🥲👍

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really like this picture who posted it first

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Arthur Lester as disco portrait

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Arthur Lester could do TMA but Jon Sims could NOT do Malevolent. Arthur would put Elias in the ground with the power of love and a gun on day 3 and a half. Jon would get eaten by Faust.

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Van der linde band(?)

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Death awaits

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Vere is mad about something, so he finds the only person who can comfort him...

Happy birthday Vere~🦊💕

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The Allmother: An Entirely too Long Analysis

In the whole demo, we only get one completely missable set of dialogue on this potential deity.

But that is more than enough information for me to start speculating. The two important parts to break down here are her supposed connection to the hearth and thus fire, and her title of Allmother.

A hearth is the part of a house where fires are made and kept (a fireplace is the modern day equivalent). Traditionally, before the advent of stoves and furnaces, this fire was used both for heating the house and cooking meals. It was considered one of the most important parts of the home, and so by extension, the spirits and deities that lived in the hearth and controlled the hearth fire were the most important beings to the household and its survival.

Hestia, Greek goddess of the hearth, was given the first offering of every domestic sacrifice, and at feasts she was granted the first and last sip of wine.

Gabija is the Lithuanian spirit of fire, who was offered bread and salt to feed her. If you did something to disrespect the hearth, like spitting or peeing in it, she was known to burn the house down. Later she would become known as the hearth goddess Matka Gabia.

The Ainu people worship Kamuy-huci, who lived in the hearth and controlled the gateway between humans and the divine. Deceased souls would reside in the hearth alongside her, and so keeping it clean was vital to ensuring those souls could eventually reincarnate properly.

Jowangshin is the hearth goddess of Korean shamanism, and relayed to the heavens the going-ons and behaviors of each household's inhabitants. She is described as vengeful towards those who do not respect their hearths, and actively works against such individuals.

The pattern between all of these deities is clear. The hearth is controlled by a woman who is deserving of the utmost respect. And it is pointless to think on the hearth without tying it to the element it is tasked with controlling and maintaining, fire. Hestia is sometimes described as a living flame, Gabija is originally a fire spirit, in some myths Kamuy-huci is born from a fire producing drill, Jowangshin is the goddess of fire alongside the hearth. To say that a hearth goddess is also a fire goddess is no great stretch of the imagination.

But why does the Allmother's connection with fire matter? Because we're all rather familiar with a certain being who is constantly being associated with fire, flames, and especially warmth:

Right from the beginning, before we even know what he looks like.

In non canon events.

In teasers for the game.

And of course, in the demo itself.

Kuras is a furnace, and we're not allowed to forget it. And wouldn't it just make sense, that the angels of a hearth goddess are themselves related to fire? Kuras is an angel, which means he responds to a higher being, why not this one? What that means for his route, I can only image.

Back to the original text, the traveler is praying that the Allmother will be forgiving of sins, implying that part of her domain includes the right to judge lives and morality. She is also believed to guide lives "unto her hearth," likely at the time of death considering the context of when the pray is being uttered. Which leads me to believe that she is responsible for helping souls pass on peacefully, but only if she deems them worthy of her fire. Since in many cultures a "good" death is a very important end goal to pursue, staying in her favor would be considered paramount to those who believe in her.

Moving on to her title, the name suggests that she is either the deity of a monotheistic religion and thus naturally all encompassing, or a major deity in a polytheistic pantheon. Either way, there are only so many interpretations one can dissect from a title that implies an all encompassing claim of maternal jurisdiction.

If nothing else, I suspect she is considered a mother to her angels. Whether or not Kuras will even bring her up is debatable, since I could just be seeing connections that aren't really there. But as an angel I'm sure he'll at least drop the name of the being he's serving penance for.

Maybe she won't be mentioned ever again. Maybe she'll be an integral part of Kuras' route. Maybe she'll be a passing mention that isn't nearly as important as such a name suggests. Regardless this break down has helped me better understand Kuras' themes, and has made me even more excited to play his route.

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I'm sick.

Anyways here's Javier singing u a song.

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pspspspspsp more human yellow- he’s so angry all the time

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I had this idea of Yellow and the king in yellow using Arthur’s appearance to mock Jon or something idkkkk. I wasn’t supposed to post this but…..

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he'd look for me