#jaybird analysis

Yall know how Arthur is constantly railing John for being an idiot? Yall notice how Arthur refuses to speak up, he is steadfastly silent he is literally the audience, while John is like "wtf you just fed a very important mob boss to a gator how does this help us?"

Bc Arthur is thinking the same thing. He is appalled. They all are. But John is the one who speaks up. He voices the thoughts that everyone is thinking. They all know Dutch is out of line here, but John is the only one to call him on it.

So how is it the wolf-eaten idiot is the only one with any sense? Idk he took a year off, and gained perspective? He knows he's insulated bc he's the 'golden boy"?

John has real stakes now. He took his son for granted until he was kidnapped, and the threat of losing him became real. Arthur doesn't know it yet, but he's already seeking absolution vicariously via John. They all want out, but they're looking to Dutch to lead them out, and John is the only one starting to see that Dutch is only leading them to their execution.

But what can he do? He'd lean on Arthur, but arthur ain't a leader. Arthur can think on his feet but he can't really think beyond that, he's always relied on Dutch and Hosea, and Hosea is outnumbered.

What if Micah coordimated the parley with the o'driscolls, specifically to get Arthur out of the way? He's definitely not above it, and he's definitely clever enough to pull it off.

See like, Dutch aside, I think Micah is jealous of Arthur. Arthur is considered one of the most, if not /the/ most capable members of the gang. They respect his opinion on things and usually follow his lead without much fuss. They invite him to take a load off, sit by the fire and have a drink. The girls invite him to chat. He has an easy camaraderie with the rest of the gang.

Contrast this with Micah, who seems constantly at odds with everyone. Crazy homicidal tendencies aside, he does seem to want a connection with at least some of the gang. He'll sit by the fire and tell a story. He'll try to talk to the women, who brush him off with disdain or scorn. His sense of humor is fucked 9 ways to Sunday, so most of his "jokes" involve blatant sexism/racism, or he's just otherwise cruel (though I think his cruelty is half him lashing out, half him being cruel for the sake of it)

Half of the gangs rejection has to do with him just being a shitty person, but I think Arthur's attitude also plays a big part. Arthur makes no effort to hide his feelings about the man. He doesn't like him, he'd wish he'd get gone, he only tolerates him bc Dutch, ect. And because Arthur doesn't like him, the rest of the gang, subconsciously or not, follows his lead. I say this because you also have a man like Williamson, who is racist and filthy and a drunk, and yet because Arthur doesn't outright hate him, the rest of the gang tolerates him well enough.

And then there's Dutch. If there's anyone's opinion, anyone's esteem Micah truly wants to be held high in, it's Dutch's. And yet again Arthur stands in the way of this, at least in the early chapters. When Dutch wants something done, he sends Arthur. When Dutch wants to take a load off and fool around, he fucks off with Arthur and Hosea. On the rare occasions that Arthur offers his opinions on things, Dutch takes it into consideration, even if he ultimately does whatever he wants anyways. And oh I just know that Micah was stewing over the fact that the gang moved camp to Clemens Point, the place that Arthur and Charles found, instead of Dewberry Creek, the place he suggested.

All in all, Micah is envious of Arthur's place in the gang. He wants that for himself. Ultimately he manipulates his way to Dutch's right hand, but before he got to that point, he may have figured the best way to the top was to simply remove the competition.

So he runs into a few stray Odriscolls and instead of killing them, urges them to pass a message along to Colm. He plants the idea of kidnapping Arthur to lure the gang out, except he was never planning on turning them in, at least not yet. He has them suggest the meeting via Pearson to avoid arousing suspicion, though he throws his weight behind Pearson to make sure everything falls into place.

All so that Arthur when fails to meet them at the fork in the road after the parley, he can convince Dutch that it's fine, he probably saw some pretty buck or damsel in distress and went after it, you know how he is, he'll turn up.

Dutch is a goddamm egotistical fool hypocrite. Like he HAD to be a good guy at some point, that's the only way I can see the likes of Arthur and Hosea continuing to follow this blatant narcissist down his dark descent.

For all his talk about the evils of civilization, he certainly seems enamored with Bronte and his lifestyle. You can see it in his eyes how he hangs on to the man's every word. He's not disgusted at all, he's envious. As much as he likes to present himself as the man with the plan who's always in control, I think he understands that he's a little out of his depth at this high society shindig and he is humiliated, though he refuses to show it. Instead he listens as Bronte points out all the city's influential figures, trying to figure out how to play him. Meanwhile Bronte has already see right thru him and is pointing these people banking on Dutch fucking them around, which convienently helps him out. Bronte is the one doing the playing, not Dutch.

In the middle of this is Arthur, who doesn't even pretend to care. He is not enamored, he is not in awe, he doesn't bother trying to fit in because, unlike Dutch, he's under no such illusion that he fits in there. He's not enjoying himself at all, he's just enduring it because he has a job to do. And yet that quality is probably the best one for the situation. He's not blinded by the bullshit high society refusal to speak directly. He notices things precisely because he's not hanging on to Brontes every word.

Round here I go by June/Junebug, Stormpulse, or any variation of either. This is my red dead SIDEblog! Where we do unhinged posting and reblogging and writing the occasional fic.

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Works posted to my Ao3:

Good as Gold, Sweet as Poison: Charthur, lighthearted sickfic hijinks followed by TB devastation. 6k words. Complete 2/2 chapters.