BUH 😭 Okay so before I dive in, thank you so much - I have this major major hangup about writing an OC and people just… not being a fan of that story. Its the largest part of my writing heart.
Okay, so now that I’ve gotten that over with~
Ruth is trying to figure out her place in the world - newly widowed, thrust into a situation where she has little agency. Used to having the respect of her late husband, here she is in an outlaw gang of all places, trying to figure out what the hell to do next. She’s beholden to this group, knowing she doesn’t have much to survive on if she were to leave. At least now, she’s surrounded by people who (hopefully) will protect her, especially with certain men with badges trying to find her.
Arthur (at least in Devil’s Backbone-verse) is perennially annoyed when he meets her. I really try to thread that line between low and high honor. He’s trying to get work done, and now he’s been saddled with bringing this woman back to camp for (what looks like to him) Hosea’s fondness. She’s not a thief, not a shot, in his eyes, she’s fairly useless. While he may idolize a bit of that genteel and womanly charm outside of the gang (read: Mary) when it is IN the gang, it is getting in the way.
When Ruth grows a little backbone and they have a spat, does Arthur find that maybe she isn’t just some doe-eyed proper woman. And when he is forced to apologize, Ruth finds that maybe he isn’t all piss and vinegar.
Over time, bit by bit, Ruth finds a source of comfort, strength, and protection in Arthur, which is what she is so desperately looking for. Arthur finds that she needs him to protect her, and goddamnit, and the bottom of his black heart, being needed for what he actually excels in is quite the feeling for him, instead of being measured up to his faults. Arthur sees that Ruth needs a man who can use violence to his (and her) benefit, after her having gone through so much of it herself. Shit, he’s good at that.
So around and around they go, unwilling to admit a smoldering tension between them.
At least, that’s where they are as of chapter 17 😉 I’m so excited to say that I made a ton of headway over the last weekend to the next two chapters of Devil’s Backbone, and I hope to get chapter 18 out by the end of the month.
Agh, you’ve hit me right in the feels. Thank you for asking, anon. I’m not sure if you realize how much it means to me 💕
