#i have to stop yapping im so sorry about this but god. arthurs love for dutch is so pure and true. theres such true belief in it

[prettyboykatsuki]

RAHHGHGHGH . so glad i can finally be fucking insane in the membrane abt dutch without spoilering . i know hes not ur guy from this one but hes such a fucking beast to me i need to put him in the salad spinner and watch him go .

his like subtle manipulation of everyone , particularly arthur, john and molly. oh my god i could talk for england abt molly oshea. dutch's romantic relationships are like a microcosm of how his manipulation and favour with arthur / john plays out over the course of the game . he was originally with susan grimshaw ( rip to the goat ) , then it's heavily implied he did her extremely dirty and ditched her for molly, a aristrocratic but crucially younger and less experienced woman who better embodied his big , grand ideas ( oh motif of dutch surrounding himself by rich lovely things. like his clothes . ostensibly pretty extravagant for an outlaw but when you get closer you see how ripped and frayed they are , representing him clinging onto a lost way of life ). THEN at several points in the game if you explore camp , you can see dutch flirting with karen multiple times !!! karen who is like NINETEEN i think ??

hes such a fucking scumbag . he does not get attached to people in the normal way . he views them as extensions of his pretentious beliefs . he preys on young, vulnerable people with nothing to lose, offering them a home , a family , only to use it against them when they start waking up to the reality. and it hurts so much watching arthur come to this realisation because he loves dutch so goddamn much , he sticks around for wayyyy longer than he should've because he's loyal down to his fucking core .

sidenote sorry for being insane . dutch has my fav speech in the whole game which is his one to milton ... 'ain't no such thing as civilised. it's man so in love with greed, he has forgotten himself and found only appetites ' ohhh dutch ur so silly dont u want to introspect a little . arent u tired of projecting . dont u just wnana go apeshit.

i know a lot about dutchs story through osmosis from beloved lamb and you are SO right that his relationships with women (particular his trading in of women for younger models whenever he so feels like it) is a microcosm of how he manipulates people in the game !!! it always baffles me when i remember that dutch was with grimshaw once upon a time and it feels . so apt to think that it would later be grimshaw to kill her, especially in the midst of the crisis of the gang falling apart.

i LOVEEE the motif of dutchs obsession with luxury - unaffordable luxury. its such a great way to subtly represent his greed that will eventually kill him. not only is it present in his appearance, but its really the most impactful when held up with how hosea dresses himself. hosea is such an important anchor to the gang, and an important part of leveling dutch overall. i really like that element and that hosea dresses primarily in blue while dutch does in red... i love the way the honor system uses color because once you see it you cannot Unsee it and it makes me insane

and i think that obsession with the finer things and also his consistent preying on the young and vulnerable and how he groomed arthur and john into violece is once again.... sooo representative of the fact that dutchs main sin is a deep pride and a sense of arrogance. he DOES believe that all people in the gang are some extension of his bullshit philosphy and he views his love (which i do believe he views as genuine love) as holy and righteous...dutch believes himself to know best. better than anyone, for everything. whether that be in clothes or how to live and act. his prestige is so ... fake... he is SO fake. he has constructed an entire life upon a falsity and false understanding and he's sold it time and time again to recruit members. and he does it so well that it drives the gang to obsess over loyalty and dutchs word as law.

the only thing that was tempering that for so long was hosea. hosea was the voice of reason. hosea was the counter. and when hosea inevitably dies - dutch completely slips and sinks further and further into his unethical tirade. but dutch still has some humanity in him, and everything snaps back to reality when arthur dies in front of him and it is all dutch's fault in some capacity. its the one time in the game where dutch is forced to reflect inward, because he did love arthur. he did. i know he did. and that is precisely why he leaves arthur there alone - because he is then forced to face every single reality all at once when arthur dies like that. and it is so .so .

#return to sender #i have to stop yapping im so sorry about this but god. arthurs love for dutch is so pure and true. theres such true belief in it #dutchs love for arthur is less pure but i do think he did love arthur. he did and thats the worst part to me. #he is a complete scumbag. a selfish and worthless piece of shit with no capacity for being critiqued #but he is so nuanced at the same time. i need to play the game 6 more times. #DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON HIS PROJECTING WHEN HE SPEAKS TO ENEMIES #THE O DRISCOLLS...THE PINKERTONS #i believe so sincerely that the only reason dutch specifically killed angelo bronte was because bronte called him exactly for what he is #and he couldnt STAND that #a.rdr2