Explaining candela obscura to my roommate and she keeps calling Rajan “Bee Elsa” and I cannot stop laughing.
Sadie and Charles friendship headcannons bc they barely interact in the game and that’s a CRIME:
- Charles carved her a little flower when she first came to camp. He didn’t say anything just a simple gift.
- Sadie always goes up to Charles and tells him “I could take you in a fight.” And he always just nods and says, “I know Mrs. Adler.”
- Sadie will complain about anything to Charles. Charles get into it too. One time Sadie was saying some awful shit Micah said and Charles literally gasped and said “That bitch!”
- Sadie overheard Charles say that he forgot how to braid his hair, and so she got a couple of the girls together (Karen and Tilly especially) and they had a whole night of it.
- One time Sadie was being harassed in a bar and Charles (can’t handle his alcohol, has a temper, and respects women) kicked the guy square in the dick and screamed at him that no one talks to his friends that way.
- They are both WAY too competitive. They once played FFF for 3 days STRAIGHT because neither one would accept a loss. Arthur eventually had to intervene.
- Sadie calls Charles the most insane nicknames. “C Smitty,” “Carls Smoth,” and “My guy Chucky” being notable ones. No one else can call Charles a nickname.
I think my biggest issue with modern AU works is that they oftentimes take away the struggles of the characters. For example Lenny’s backstory and character rests on the fact that he had a bright future until racist assholes killed his father, and that is unfortunately something that still happens today. Charles’s mom being taken shaped the events of his childhood and the way he views the world, and MMIP is still a crisis. Even characters like Arthur would still fall victim to cyclical abuse and poverty, and if Dutch is still Dutch there is a high chance he would still get involved in crime. Now I have to emphasize the fact that it’s okay to have an AU in which they do not go into crime, and that au is more than valid in modern times. However, it is still important to understand that the characters issues are oftentimes still applicable in the modern time.
OH YOU ALL WANT MORE PAIN?!?! Isaac Morgan head cannons. (my au where Eliza died but Isaac lived)
- I think he was about 4 or 5 when Eliza died. Arthur came to visit about a month later and found out what happened.
- When Isaac first started living with his dad he felt like it was an adventure, but the longer he stayed he missed his mom and the “normal” life he used to live.
- Arthur tried his best to give him the best chance of having a good life, stealing books from the local school.
- Hosea took him on his first hunting trip and Isaac cried when he killed his first deer.
- I think Isaac learned what his dad really did at about 10 or so. He felt a mix of emotions, but he didn’t really think his dad was a bad person.
- When he was 13, Isaac and Arthur got into an argument about something stupid. Isaac, overcome with emotion, told his dad “I wish you died instead of mom.” It was silent for a bit before Arthur said, “Me too.”
- When he was 14ish he started going on missions, much to Arthur’s dismay. He didn’t do much on them but he was just glad to be able to be like his dad.
My Isaac Morgan lived Headcannons:
(Context for my idea, Eliza died protecting Isaac and Arthur raised him in the gang.)
- I head cannon he was about 15-17 during the events of rdr2 and was BEGGING his dad for jobs. Arthur always said no.
- Him and Lenny would sneak out and go robbing together, and Arthur would reprimand them each time.
- Isaac is SO smart. Like unnaturally intelligent. He doesn’t use his powers for good, but most likely finding loopholes to not get in trouble.
- He’s quick tongued and quick tempered. The first to start a fight and the first to play dirty.
- He’s not physically strong, but he has never lost a fight. He doesn’t know how to fight fair.
- Arthur calls him “Hosea Jr.” given how much this kid can weasel out of.
- Isaac never really understood why his dad was “no fun” until Lenny died and Arthur and the crew went to Guarma. During those few weeks he barely talked to anyone. Charles would sit with him, silently, just to make sure he never felt alone.
- Isaac knew his dad was sick, but Arthur never told him he was dying.
- He left camp after the battle on the oil factory, angry at his father’s complacency in Dutch’s massacres.
- He only found out his father had passed a few years later when John ran into Isaac working as a ranch hand somewhere.
- John invited Isaac to come with him, but he denied his invitation.
This is gonna sound weird but the teeth in the game are one of the coolest subtle storytelling features that are easily overlooked. By 1899: toothbrushes, cavity fillings, nitrous oxide, and dental schools all existed. Of course it wasn’t something that was too commonplace, particularly for outlaws, you can see a stark contrast between the “society people” and the gang. For example, Molly and Mary Linton both have straight, white teeth; meanwhile characters like Charles have jagged, yellowed teeth. Charles in particular didn’t have any access to dental care due to poverty, isolation, and racial discrimination. The character that the teeth really shine as a story telling element is Dutch. Dutch dresses well, properly trims his facial hair, but his teeth are yellowing and have noticeable gaps. Despite his presentation as a leader and a messiah to the gang, his teeth are just another example that Dutch is just an outlaw like the rest of the gang.
I headcannon Charles hated his hair when he was a kid. His mom would fix it every morning in different styles with pretty beads and clips to make it worth it, but it always took forever to do when that was time he could spend playing in the woods. It was only after his mom was taken and his dad let his hair tangle into a thick mat, eventually leading to his hair being shaved at the scalp, that he realized that his hair was more than just an accessory but a memory and a connection to his mom. Once he left to be on his own, he started growing his hair out and taking care of it. Despite the nostalgia, it really never felt the same as it did when he was growing up.