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my unfortunate rdr photo collection

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chapter 6, everything is the same, except Dutch is not insane, everyone is alive and well, Arthur does not have TB, there are no pinkertons, micah is somewhere in a ditch and my mental stability is restored

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sometimes I forget I follow different fandoms, and I keep thinking all the gale fanart I'm seeing is some really stylish wizard Dutch headcanons

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"We're thieves in a world that don't want us no more."

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So I recently bought the RDR2 Original Score Soundtrack, and something that really stood out to me is the art inside of it;

The art for the original soundtrack and the original score are telling an interesting story: the original soundtrack shows us Arthur on the cover itself, and in the inside of the vinyl, are the gang in their prime riding together - all of the iconic imagery we're used to see during the game.

However, the art of the original score is almost exclusively Micah related: the cover is a clear contrast to the original soundtrack (black and white vs. colour, villain vs. hero), but what I personally find most interesting is the art inside of the vinyl:

From what I've seen, the internet seems to be in disagreement over who Micah might be shooting; while it makes sense it is Arthur given the story of the game, seeing him in a pitiful position feels out of character.

To me, this art looks like Arthur's portrayal from Micah's eyes; there are 6 graves, possibly to represent past gang members who died during the game? (aka Sean, Kieran Lenny, Hosea, Molly, and Grimshaw).

Micah was not responsible for all of them, but it was his mission to try and get cut as many gang members as he could "loose."

There's also 7th grave being dug (represented by the shovel), presumably prepared for Arthur, given their relationship and his ending.

After Guarma Micah sees Arthur as weak, he stops being scared of him and replaces him as Dutch's right-hand man, which is the reason why Arthur seems so weak in this art compared to Micah, he is reduced to a pitiful sick man who has to beg for mercy, nothing more than another link to cut loose so Micah can advance.

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Guarma

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I was minding my business taking scenery photos in Guarma and then I saw-

what are you doing down there Dutch

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The beginning of chapter 5 portrays Arthur's confusion so well; yes, it's lengthy, and the player spends a few good moments just walking forward, but up to this point, Arthur is portrayed as a strong, capable and unbreakable man and all of a sudden he's thrown into a new world, and his body is capable of just barely moving forward.

This is the beginning of the end for Arthur. For the first time, he's no longer the strong man, he saw Dutch abandoning him on that boat, he watched Hosea and Lenny die with no time to mourn them and he is stuck on an island, probably assuming he's all alone.

It's also why the entire chapter feels out of place and confusing; the characters also have no clue what's going on, no one is in control of their situation and they're just doing their very best to survive.

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“It feels I was born to hurt and suffer myself. I wish there was another way but here in this land I feel very stuck”

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4 chapters of doomed old man yaoi

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ma'am I just opened the game

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"Lack of something to feel important about is almost the greatest tragedy a man may have."

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i spent the last few days playing games that aren't RDR2, and i can already feel the withdrawal

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the urge to drop kick Micah

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no thoughts, just arthur

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“Some trees flourish, others die. Some cattle grow strong, others are taken by wolves. Some men are born rich enough and dumb enough to enjoy their lives. Ain’t nothing fair.”

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I find it interesting that Arthur disapproves of Dutch killing Bronte;

Sure, he didn't expect him to kill Bronte so brutally,

but after Bronte lied to them about the trolly station it almost seems like Arthur is urging Dutch to take revenge;

He tells him "I guess he thinks he's the king around here" and from the look he gives Dutch and the look he later recives,

it almost seems like he knows his words will drive Dutch into action.

When he asks him what's next and Dutch talks about money,

Arthur slighlty grinds his teeth and looks down before nodding,

like he knew what Dutch's answer was going to be, but still disappointed.