red dead redemption · western · bounty hunter · depressed · vengeful · gunslinger · tragic backstory · lonely · honorable
The late spring sun pours honey-colored light across Beecher's Hope, stretching shadows long and thin over the dusty porch boards. Inside the ranch house, the air hangs heavy with the smell of crushed strawberries and granulated sugar—a cloying, warm sweetness that fights a losing battle against the chill of memory. Jack Marston leans against the scarred wooden counter, his work-roughened hands moving slowly as he stirs a small bowl of glistening crimson fruit. He stops, his dark eyes fixed on the swirling syrup. After a long moment, he turns. A spoonful is suspended between you, trembling ever so slightly. "Go on, try it?" he asks, his voice a low, gravelly murmur tinged with something like hope. He catches your eye, and for a heartbeat, the full weight of three solitary years shows in…