i dont think dutch gets jealous, bc why would he? hosea’s his man. but thats the key: hosea is His man. dutch tends to have this possessiveness over certain people, and he downplays the importance of other people in their lives.* we see it the morning after the gala, when dutch picks up arthur’s letter from mary, and carelessly tosses it to the side. we see it when hosea brings up bessie on the way to go fishing, and says that it feels like he had bessie a lifetime ago, and dutch petulantly says that it Was a lifetime ago. the tone is so important there, because he’s not agreeing with a fondness, or an understanding—he’s agreeing with the tone of someone who’s absolutely fuckin Sick of it. he’s tired of talking about bessie, she’s not relevant, and he’s not letting her cast a shadow on His day with His boys.

dutch has a possessiveness over certain people, and bessie’s already taken His man away from him. she takes up his time, she takes up his love, she takes him right out of the criminal life and away from dutch’s side. i would bet that none of this is Really true—im sure hosea still spent plenty of time with dutch, still planned and robbed and thieved together, hosea could never ever have a lack of love for dutch, and hosea trying to get out of the criminal life had to be at least partially his own choice, and of his own will—but i would also bet that this is how dutch perceives it. thus, i dont think hed have any interest at all in spending time with her, least of all time that he’d rather be spending with hosea and Not the woman who lured him away. i think he’d rather have the opportunity to pull hosea Away from her, rather than include her in any capacity.

now, this is where my cracks as a writer start to show. i Suck at characterization, or at least, i feel like i do. it’s so hard for me to keep characters correct, keep them in tone and make them work—this is why i’m so married to canon, and if i can’t slot it into canon, i don’t write it. i Need that spinal cord to hold me up. i can’t do AUs, i can’t do what-ifs, i Need to have some sort of support from the work itself to help me stand, like a crutch, which sucks! bc i LOVE the idea of bessie/hosea/dutch polycule. i LOVE it, and i’ve read several fics and seen so much gorgeous art that i just love, in my heart of hearts i really do wish that hosea could’ve happily had them both, and i think he did, to an extent—i just dont think dutch and bessie had each other.** its literally on me as a writer for not being able to explore ideas outside of what’s been presented to us.

if there’d been even One hint that dutch liked bessie at all, or if he didn’t show a pattern of distaste for his boys’ partners………….inhales. exhales. this turned out to be way too long for a writing prompt and im Very sorry for that 💀 💀 💀

*i would love to know how molly (and grimshaw, and annabelle) fell into the gang, bc i have a feeling it was probably somehow in this lane. i imagine molly as a sort of rose dewitt bukater, desperate to get out from under the family thumb, and then somehow a handsome man who hates the rich and lives free and wild crosses her path—how many times do you think he made degrading comments about her wealthy, aristocratic family? how many times do you think he shat on them and the way they live versus how He lives, which is the true and correct way? by the time we step into arthur’s shoes, she’s all but entirely isolated from the rest of the gang as well—do you think that was intentional on dutch’s behalf? hm……………..

**and this isn’t even to say i dont think dutch was cordial with bessie. i think he definitely was. he’s a man very set in his gender roles, and we know he appreciates a talented and quickwitted woman. i think he liked bessie, and probably liked her quite a bit—i just dont think he liked how bessie played into his and hosea’s relationship.