#Bessie Matthews

[arthursfuckinghat]

So, I was nosing around the gang's tents and I thought that it was honestly so sweet that so many of them have photographs of themselves or of family right?

Little baby Charles with his parents, a young Susan, young Hosea and Bessie, but then I found something interesting in that pile of junk down the cliff just behind Arthur's tent-

Dutch actually writes notes for his famous camp speeches.

And if you've seen the speech that these notes are referring to, Dutch seemed to simplify it a lot when he recited it, almost dumbing it down for the gang entirely?

Writing notes for an important speech isn't the strange part, but the fact he dumbs them down and that these notes are hidden/thrown away out of sight is really strange to me. It makes me think that this is possibly a rough draft or early version of what he wanted the speech to be, sort of implying that Dutch practices and revises his speeches.

Which, if he ultimately dumbs them down for the gang, then what is the point?

The likely answer is that he holds himself to a higher standard because he feels he's above the gang members, in a way. He's the visionary, the leader, the man in charge, the one who reads philosophy books almost exclusively, to say that Dutch didn't think highly of himself would be a lie. And because the gang is 'below' him, he simplifies his speeches for them - despite majority of the gang being well educated and understanding. He doesn't think that the gang is as intellectual as him.

I made a post previously talking about Dutch and his Evelyn Miller philosophies and how he argues with gang members that don't agree or understand. It's especially interesting how Lenny, also an avid reader, disagrees so strongly with Miller's writings when that's what most of Dutch's philosophies are based on.

It solidifies that Dutch was manipulative from the beginning, and probably long before too.

[river-of-wine]

You know what would’ve made Colter less miserable for Hosea? Wife

[bre4ch3d]

“Hosea was married!!” And you think he didn’t run panicked to Bessie when he realised what his feelings for Dutch were??? LIES

(Idk what sorta polly shit was happening but Bessie and Dutch were both with Hosea, thank you.)

[nthspecialll]

Annabelle vs Bessie

I think one of the saddest things in Red Dead is the difference in how Dutch talks about Annabelle vs how Hosea talks about Bessie because when Hosea talks about Bessie he talks about who she was. He talks about her kindness, her caring personality, he talks about how passionate she was about dominoes and how they could play it for hours. He talks about how he was willing to try to leave the only life he knew for her, but wasn't able to, yet she understood and forgave him. He also talks about how after her death he was drunk for a year straight, not a day sober and how he doubts god because any deity that would not spare her life for his is not good.

Dutch, however, when he talks about Annabelle he talks about who she was to him. She was the girl he loved, but what more? What did she love? Was she kind? Was she firm? What were her hobbies? Were they married or was she a girlfriend? How did her death affect him? Does he look at a picture of her or was it gave him an excuse to be mad at someone he had already come on rocky ground with?

Bessie is her own person, she is fleshed out, we know who she is because Hosea loves to talk about her. Annabelle isn't a person, she is a concept, a reason for hatred, I wouldn't be shocked if her gravestone said "Dutch's girlfriend."

Even if Hosea never said the word love, we would know that was how he felt, but Annabelle was never given that because she fell in love with a man who cared more about her title as his than who she actually is.

[verdemoun]

modern au but the gang waking up in modern day in the order they died with memories of their lives as outlaws:

bessie motherfucking matthews being the one that rounds them up. she's a professor at a university teaching women's history and owns a little cottage on the outskirts of town, and uses newspaper articles to try and plot out who/where someone will 'wake up'

sean was the first VDL she successfully found. davey and mac somehow found each other and got themselves incarcerated for armed robbery before she got them.

sean adapts almost instantly and loves the chaos of modern day cities: car horns, fluorescent lights, night clubs, television (fuck you lenny reading is for nerds!!). he steals a bike he calls ennis II and gets a job delivering pizzas

she finds hosea and lenny next. it's a very emotional reunion. she starts calling lenny her son. hosea spends at least a week refusing to let his wife out of his sight because he has to be dreaming, kisses and adores her at every opportunity. their dates are her teaching him to drive a car

lenny takes less than a day to figure out computers and takes over the locate the VDLs project. he has what is effectively a murder wall of colored yarn and push pins trying to figure out when and where the next person will appear. manages to cyber-stalk down jenny, who being as breathtakingly clever as she is figured out the present all by herself and works in a diner. she comes over for dinner twice a week

retracing the gang's steps they find kieran, who is doing fabulously not well. he's been homeless for a month, got hit by a car and is very, very distraught by not only the memories of his torture after being taken by o'driscolls but the fact he betrayed the gang by talking. bessie matthews, mother to all, introduces him to noise cancelling headphones, gardening, and horse girl movies.

lenny: hey i've been doing some research and i think most of us have this thing called ptsd????

when hosea and bessie want to have a nice, quiet romantic dinner by themselves they put sensory videos on the tv and all the boys just sit there silently

[spoonsand]

RIP RED DEAD CHARACTERS YOU WOULD HAVE LOVED

Dutch- disposable fruity flavoured (mango) vapes, Duolingo

Hosea- rollerblading, old VHS movies, The Sound of Music, ear studs, small hoops, and ear cuffs

Arthur- LED strip lights, therapy, The Joy of Painting

John- Ax body spray, deodorant, those little arm floaties little kids wear in the pool

Mary-Beth- Lego flowers, The Notebook, Pinterest

Tilly- Easter egg hunts, making slime, slumber parties

Karen- Tube/crop tops, jean shorts, weightlifting

Sean- make your own mead kits, TikTok, “kiss me in Irish”, SUNSCREEN

Abigail- AirTags (she would put one on little Jack), Roasting marshmallows, Crime shows/courtroom dramas, Man! I Feel like a woman! By Shania Twain

Uncle- recliner chairs, dog sledding, Wheel of Fortune, Crosswords

Susan- Dark nail polish, cats(I’m 100% sure she’d own either a black cat or a tortishell that would sit on her lap/shoulder), dishwashers

Kieran- Creep by Radiohead, Tv shows about veterinarians, friendship bracelets (with Arthur)

Reverend Swanson- Support groups, The Robert Langdon series (especially Inferno, Angels & Demons), communion wine

Javier- Cards Against Humanity, online sheet music, ear gauges

Molly- Champaign toast anything from bath and bodywork’s, naval AND lip piercing, SUNSCREEN

Bill-sexy firefighter calendars, Grindr, Bumbl, all the dating apps, apples dipped in caramel, jolly ranchers

Charles- IMessage games (mini golf and battleship in particular), those long distance ‘thinking of you bracelets’, 90’s sitcoms

Lenny- The Carpenters, cologne to make him seem grown up, head pats

Trelawney- Harry Houdini, 50-60s movies, smoke bombs, dramatic flares

Strauss- a soul, Nigerian Prince scams, telemarketing

Sadie- gyms, self defence classes, the free Britany movement

Micah- staying in the strawberry jail, toothbrush + paste, good posture

Pearson- small businesses, handmade gifts, trying TikTok recipes

EXTRA

Annabelle- Gwen Stefani, sequins, Fast and the Furious

Jack (young)- The Backyardagains, cocomelon, a little toy train

Jack (epilogue)- Monty Python, skateboarding, swimming

Bessie- Bette Midler look a like contests, growing old, brown eyeliner, SUNSCREEN

[synthsays]

I can't name a single happy love story from rdr2 no joke

Arthur and Mary ❌️

Hosea and Bessie ❌️

Dutch and Molly ❌️

John and Abigail ❌️

Kieran and Mary-Beth ❌️

Sadie and Jake ❌️

Reverend and Margaret ❌️

Karen and Sean ❌️

Lenny and Jenny ❌️

Dutch and Annabel ❌️

[notdeadyetmatthews]

Headcanon: Hosea Matthews is one smooth, charismatic, silver tongued outlaw.

When Bessie said hello to him for the first time, it took him an entire ten minutes to be able to say hello in return before he quickly hurried off.

[falterinflight]

I fear i may be vandermatthews greatest hater.

Dutch likes things he can use to make himself look bigger and better - one of his biggest unspoken concerns is appearance. I mean look at his outfits, his tent, his PRE-WRITTEN speeches. And in romance too. He liked Molly because her coming all the way just for him gave him an ego boost. He flirted with Mary-Beth, pitted Susan and Molly against each other, because it gave him an ego boost.

Hosea is old and he’s seen enough of the world to know better than to entertain Dutch’s ego and his controlling streak, so I just don’t think they could be romantic together. Maybe they fooled around once or twice when they were much younger, before Bessie and Annabelle, or maybe Dutch had some unrequited feelings for Hosea but I strongly doubt that they had anything together and I personally think to suggest otherwise is character assassination.

Also. Put some respect on my girl Bessie’s name. Have you heard the way Hosea talks about her?? He was MAD for her. And she understood him, went back to a life she wanted to leave because they just got each other on a level that I just don’t see Dutch being on.

[scarfacemarston]

Hosea is so sweet here. This is when he talks about his own struggles with addiction.

[monochromereflections]

Incorrect RDR2 Quotes

Sean: Gee, Hosea. I thought someone with two wives (Bessie and Dutch) would be happy. Lenny: Nah, you're thinking of someone with two knives. Pearson holding cleavers in each hand: I gotta tell you. This is pretty terrific.

[oldstormyy]

going straight era

[river-of-wine]

The Matthews!

[nthspecialll]

Do you have a favourite off-screen/only mentioned character you like to talk about? Or, maybe not favourite, but one that interests you?

There are a few that I like to talk about, but mostly I want to talk about them because I want to know more about them. We see the impact they left but we don't get to know much about them. The group I am refering to is one I could call the lovers. Annabelle, Bessie, Marget and Eliza.

The one I want to know about most is Annabella, I so desperately want to know about her. I have talked about it before, but Dutch never talks about her, he talks about how she has affected him. I don't even know if Dutch liked her at all because he only mentions her when he wants to justify his revenge plan. He never mentions her likes or her dislikes or her hobbies or what she looks like or anything, he has reduced her to his dead lover, she is nothing more than that and I think it is the saddest thing ever.

On the other hand we have Bessie. Hosea nearly won't shut up about her, he talks and he talks and he talks, and it isn't just about how she affected him, though that does come up, but also about her likes. She loved dominos, she would play for hours and she taught Arthur to play. She was a good woman, she was faithful and she was willing to sacrifce her own dreams of a "normal" life to be with Hosea. I just think she sounds amazing.

Marget, now many don't know Marget, but she was Swanson's wife, however she was already married previously so when the law came around she fled and left him behind. I want to know so much about her, I want to know if she actually loved hin, why she fled her first husband, if it was a marriage scam or if something happened with her first husband. Swanson clearly loved her so much, so much, like he thinks about her when he is high and how "home" to him is her. Arthur says "let's get you home" and Swanson replies "yes then I can have tea with Margret." Yet despite loving her he doesn't talk of her often, Arthur doesn't know her, Hosea didn't even know Swanson had been married in the first place.

Now Eliza, I think my curiosity is the same as most peoples. I want to know how she and Arthur met, how long they had known one another, I want to know if Arthur developed feelings for her later, when it was, if it was after or before Mary, if the gang knew of her, so much more. I find that I am more interested in how she affected Arthur, than I am in her, which is quite sad.

Thank you for the ask! I love to talk about these characters, there are so many questions surrounding them.

[verdemoun]

time warp au shitpost but bessie forcing them to go to a library as an outing because lord do these cowboys need something to do other than re-traumatise themselves, drink and sit in the dark staring at walls. after the initial pushback (kieran terrified to leave the house duffy, sean god gave me the ability not to read macguire) they would absolutely love it

okay lenny loves reading so much he would read the ingredients on a shampoo bottle. he's systematically working his way through non-fiction and is the only one who actually gets in trouble because he forgets they're not his own books and sometimes annotates them

sean initially only agreed to go for the crappy outdated gaming console but he would happen across a comic book, flick through a few of those, then graduate to graphic novels and manga. cut to lenny smiling warmly as he's reading something about astrophysics while sean is trying to excitedly explain the most violent, fucked up thing to happen in a comic based solely on the images

there's a reading/emotional support dog that immediately gravitates to kieran. he really enjoys the general quietness of libraries and the smell of books. give me kieran sitting in a bean bag listening to audiobooks patting a golden retriever with its head plopped on his lap.

haha kieran and horse books no fuck you mary-beth lived to 104 and is revered as one of america's best female writers all her novels are classics and kieran is so happy one of his only friends actually got out of the VDLs and lived a good life he's slowly listening his way through her expansive works occasionally giggling at lines that feel like inside jokes

bessie and hosea peacefully reading academic journals and poetry under a big sunny window. hosea quietly reading aloud a few lines of poetry that reminds him of his incredible wife. bessie reading particularly bad takes in peer-reviewed essays so they can both be annoyed.

side tangent even though bessie has been in modern era for a good 15-20 years she never quite got slang but still uses it, which hosea also picks up. lenny: dutch shot and killed leviticus cornwall bessie: cringe hosea, nodding in thoughtful agreement: that was not very girlboss

[spoonsand]

It’s after midnight and I have a thought no one can take away from me.

Susan and Bessie were thick as thieves, two peas in a pod, besties you may say.

When Bessie died Susan became more mean. When she sees the girls talking together it makes her jealous of what she lost. And miss her partner in crime