i always wondered what it was that endeared the younger of the gang members to arthur.
i mean, arthur is an intimidating man, he's large, he's tall, he's covered in scars and most importantly, he's not just loyal to the gang, but protective also (and picky about who they work with, if you consider arthurs first meeting with seamus) so of course he's going to do his best to intimidate any new members to join.
but he has a very good relationship with each one of the younger gang members.
with john its obvious, i mean, its one of the most talked about relationships in the rdr2 fandom, as despite not being biologically related to one another, with the way they act together, whether it be picking fights, picking on, with the way they argue, or how even though they spend so much time at each others throats, there is still genuine care shared between the two of them
with lenny they're able to have a drink together and drink to excess, he's comfortable making a fool of himself, he invites himself on jobs with lenny, whether to get a piece of the cut, wanting to spend time with him, or making sure that lenny is okay. lenny is comfortable coming to arthur about his troubles (his talk with arthur about what happened in strawberry comes to mind), in a way he isn't exactly comfortable coming to dutch, lest he is accused of doubting him, arthur also tells him outright that its fun spending time with lenny, that he enjoys it
with sean, he isn't afraid of "making fun" of arthur, or joking around with him, he's comfortable enough to do so, whether because he knows arthur wont attack a gang member in the presence of the rest of the old guard (dutch and hosea and susan), or he knows that it just isn't in arthurs nature to come after you for making a joke out of him, and he apologizes when he knows he's gone too far (seans party, when he said strauss was having more fun at the party than arthur was, and once arthur replies, he apologizes soon after) he wants to spend time with arthur, coming on jobs uninvited and when he does come on jobs, he's generally happy about it, having fun. he's tells arthur he loves him, in a joking way or otherwise
with javier its very much the same, in fact, all of the younger gang members arent afraid to quip about arthur, he's excited to invite arthur along on jobs (whether it be actual jobs or otherwise, like fishing), he offers to go out of his way to make things for arthur (if of course arthur gets the resources he needs to make things for arthur), he's comfortable enough to share his frustrations with arthur, whether small, such as his relatable irritation with the english language, or the direction of with the gang is going
with the girls, its been established in the fandom that he's one of them, that arthur morgan is one of the girls, and its true, he is! arthur isn't afraid of being vulnerable with them, often giving him good advice and reassuring him that his actions are not him, that he can, and has done better, and that he is a good man, they invite him in on conversations that most men back then wouldn't be the most comfortable with (such as their discussion of the future of women's rights) and they, like the men, are comfortable making quips about arthur (he's also seen to be very gentleman like, I'm recalling the gifset of arthur being a gentleman and most of the gifs involving arthur and the girls (and albert))
with mary beth, they both share a love of writing, whether fictional, in the case of mary beth, or nonfiction, in the case of arthur (though if someone were to actually read some of the parts of arthurs journal, you'd think he'd be writing fiction, with the case of the vampire for example) and both share their relatable frustrations of writing, their insecurities about the topic and what they write, arthur is protective of her and whose she's around, gang member or not (arthur inviting himself on a job with sean because he doesn't think sean will be able to make sure mary beth is safe), he doesn't mind dancing with marybeth, and has fun doing so
with tilly, he's known her most of her life, she came in young after a very traumatic experience in her life, and her, like john, have grown up viewing arthur as some sort of older sibling, she likes to share her frustrations about some of the older gang members, like susan, and is comfortable joking around with him, where arthur returns those jokes back to her, they share a love of playing games together, and likes to go on jobs with him and she knows that no matter what, arthur will be there to protect her and not out of duty or anything like that, but because he generally cares about her
(and we cant forget to mention that out of all the gang members, she was the one who had her own goodbye for arthur, one where she got so emotional she couldn't get the words out, yet, arthur knew, arthur always knew)
with karen, out of all the girls she is the most likely to call the men, especially arthur out on their bullshit, shes confident enough to argue back against arthur, she likes to sing and spends time with him, and by the fact that she knows arthur is an incredibly messy drunk, i don't think its too far to say that she and arthur have shared some misadventures like lenny and arthur did, and despite all the snark she can give arthur, she out of all of them knows that he can do better, that in his heart he is a good man, a kind man
and with abigail, he has proven time and time again that he only wants the best for her and young jack, to the point where he's even had the thought of marrying her himself, just to make sure she gets by, she isn't afraid to tell him her thoughts on things that are taboo, such as mary or dutch, and she knows that despite his reluctance in the beginning, that she can rely on him, she, like the rest of them, can also have a laugh at arthurs expense in jest, she, like tilly, also enjoys to play games with him and knows that jack cannot be safer with anyone else than he is with arthur
i mean, even with molly, a person arthur doesn't spend so much time with, he is always polite to her, holds sympathy for her and even she knows that if she wishes to discuss something that cant be said in public, she knows that out of all the members in the gang, arthur is probably the safest option to go to
out of all the members in the gang, arthurs least problematic relationships are usually with those who are younger, either because they know that they can rely on him, and they know that they are safe with him, and it doesn't usually come with a whole heap of complications than it does with some of the older gang members, specifically dutch
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