Proof that the remaining 10% is worth finding Gavin for is here.
These are recommendations made by Tropers for Red Dead Redemption 2 fanfics, all of which have to be signed to stay on their respective pages. Feel free to add a recommendation of your own to the appropriate list, but remember to use the template found here.
You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. You can do it by expanding on the synopsis and/or pertinent tags, or linking similar or related fanfics. Reviews are also encouraged, but please make sure to make reviews have substance; if you simply want to recommend a fic without an extensive review, put your Troper name in the Recommended by line of the fic in question. Please use the discussion page for conversations about fics.
General Fics
what wastes and deserts of the soul
by magistrate- Recommended by: DreamingTraveler
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Eight years have passed since Blackwater, Saint Denis, and the fall of the van der Linde gang. The survivors are trying to make a life for themselves – some moving on to nobler pursuits, some circling back in like carrion birds on the scores they left behind. And outside a town called Purgatory, West Elizabeth, a man wakes up without a scrap of memory or a name, haunted by a black wolf and a golden stag.
- Comments: This is absolutely stellar; if you're a fan of slow-burn fics, this one is a must-read. The author has honed Arthur's personality, psychology, and voice pitch-perfectly and his journey into self-discovery is (appropriately) detailed to the highest degree. This begs for recognition.
- Recommended by: HighfalutinQuelea
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: As Dutch van der Linde's broken mind has become its own downward spiral, he receives strange visits in the deep of the Tall Trees forest. Whether it is a result of his madness or judgment coming his way, Dutch will have to confront echoes of the past and maybe lose the last shreds of sanity he has left.
You bled and fought for me by Splat_Dragon
- Recommended by: HighfalutinQuelea
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Dutch couldn't make it right. His boy was dying. So many had already died. But, at least, he could make sure he wouldn't die alone.
Shipping Fics
May The Sunrise Bring Hope Where It Once Was Forgotten by Deathmallow
- Recommended by: Kung Fu Kitty
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Arthur/Sadie, John/Abigail
- Synopsis: After so much effort trying to figure out how he wants to die, now Arthur Morgan has to figure out how he wants to live. After hanging on to get revenge on the O'Driscolls, Sadie Adler isn't sure what comes next either. Surviving sometimes is the easy part—living is harder. (UA for the end of the final Chapter 6 mission, "Red Dead Redemption" and beyond).
- Comments: A beautifully realized, character-driven slow-burn romance based off a tantalizing what-if scenario in which Arthur manages to survive the events of the main game with Sadie's help. Easily one of the most detailed, well-researched (and longest!) stories in the entire fandom that wonderfully fleshes out Sadie's character and actually makes a more hopeful ending for her and Arthur seem plausible.
I Stop Somewhere Waiting for You by Anderfels
- Recommended by: Kung Fu Kitty
- Status: Completed
- Pairing: Arthur/Charles
- Synopsis: Set during and after 'Blessed Are The Peacemakers' in Chapter 3, a bid to parley with the O'Driscolls goes disastrously wrong. Charles takes it upon himself to find Arthur and bring him home before he succumbs to days of torture and imprisonment.
- Comments: An uncompromisingly raw and visceral retelling of Arthur's harrowing captivity and agonizingly slow recovery after the events of chapter 3. While the starkly realistic depiction of mental and physical trauma makes it a difficult read, Arthur's suffering is handled with surprising maturity, as is his budding romance with Charles. Worth reading for the beautiful, evocative prose alone.
Crawl Till Dawn by PositivelyVexed
- Recommended by: tsukixkumori
- Status: Dormant; last updated April 2020
- Pairing: Arthur/Kieran
- Synopsis: After Kieran's been missing a few days, Arthur stumbles across an O'Driscoll hideout, where he finds a familiar ex-O'Driscoll in their clutches. When impulse makes Arthur attempt a rescue, both he and Kieran end up captive, where they must rely on each other to survive. The fight to get home turns into something much more complicated, as it becomes increasingly clear that Arthur's decision to save Kieran's life may have had far greater repercussions for Arthur's life, and the gang's entire future, than anyone could have predicted.
- Comments: A great story that treats the character of Kieran better than the canon itself. It's very compelling to watch Arthur and Kieran getting closer and protecting each other when they're faced with different degrees of danger. Believable characterization, some whump, and an underlying plot that's still unfolding.
The Gentling of an Angry Wind by TsarBomba
- Recommended by: DreamingTraveler''
- Status: Ongoing
- Pairing: Bonnie MacFarlane/Original Female Character
- Synopsis: A mercenary, a rancher, and patience.
- Comments: While this retelling may count following The Stations of the Canon so far in the fic, the author's storytelling and attention to detail makes it worth the read. The most fascinating aspect, however, is Jacklyn Martson, who's a Native American genderbent equivalent to John Marston. She's a unique combination of him, Abigail, and even their son Jack, but is her own character, surprisingly. This change recontextualizes the setting through her own experiences without it wallowing in trauma porn, thankfully. Plus the main relationship between her and Bonnie is a slowly burning light in the darkness. You will be gunning for happiness between these two.
American Dreaming by bren97122
- Recommended by: Animefan35''
- Status: complete 24 May 2022
- Pairing:Kieran Duffy Mary-Beth Gaskill
- Synopsis: Kieran Duffy has always been running and surviving, one place to the next. He's used to it, or should be at least. But after a series of events that finds himself in new company, Kieran realizes this could be a place he doesn't need to run from. All it takes is the right cause, and a woman worth fighting for.
- Comments: I highly recommend this one to anyone who is a fan of Kieran Duffy and Mary-Beth Gaskill.
Crossover
The Gunslinger by Mugiwara N0 Luffy- Recommended by: VictorioMWolff-Haddock
- Crossover with: Goblin Slayer
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Arthur Morgan got his redemption at the end, or at least something that made it all worth it to him. But it seems God wants to give him another chance. Now, Arthur has to figure out if he really did learn from the sins of his past to help better a future for a world unknown.
- Comments: After the rundown, friendships & tragedies of his lifetime, Arthur Morgan expecting an afterlife in Hell for every misdeed he's done...only for him to get awakened in Goblin Slayer's world, and been told by someone/thing who, as Arthur put it, "workin' for the big man", that he gets a second chance, a redemption, by using his skills to aid this world. With guns & rifles using energy instead of bullets, fake name of "Gunslinger", and aid of steel-armored warrior who hell-bent for goblin's extinction, Arthur Morgan shall step into & mend this broken world, one shot at a time.
- Now has a tropes page of its own.
Outlaw Knight by Ernestrunningaway
- Recommended by: mrthischarmingman2
- Crossover with: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Defeated by his nemesis, abandoned by the man he gave his life to, and dying from his ravaged lungs, Arthur Morgan was certain his time was at an end as he looked to the dawn one last time. But through the will of fate, or some silent, unknowable power, he awoke to a foreign land, tended to by strangers. Among them, none baffled him more than this cobalt-haired girl with a sword...
- Comments: This is one of the last kind of crossovers I'd imagine anybody making, but honestly? The author makes the premise really work, especially with how the characters interact off each other. Arthur and Byleth's interactions together are the highlights of the fic so far, and I look forward to seeing where the author goes with this story once it really gets started.
Untitled Cowboy Fic by Pipdepop
- Recommended By: AnonFangeekGirl
- Crossover With: Untitled Goose Game
- Status: Complete
- In the six months or so since Dutch and Hosea found him, Arthur has brought back all manner of creatures as would-be pets - from the conventional but inappropriate, to the unconventional, to the downright bizarre. One day, shortly before his first Christmas with them, he brings back a horrible goose.
- Comments: Hilarious and touching characterization of child!Arthur, Dutch, Hosea, and Susan Grimshaw. Also, Dutch gets tormented by a goose. What more needs to be said?
Luck Takes a Turn by bathedinblood
- Recommended by: VictorioMWolff-Haddock
- Crossover with: RWBY
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: In the final hours of his life, one more good deed rewards Arthur Morgan with a second chance he never thought he would have. Now, burdened by a promise and thrown into an unknown world, Arthur must show everyone that he isn't down for the count yet. Now if only he could get this tiger off of his back...
- Comments: Arthur Morgan got transported to Remnant and saved Summer Rose from venom, and in return, she bring him to somewhere where his TBC can be cured. On his travel on Remnant, he ended up helping a group of Faunus led by a certain tigress...
Alternate Universe
The Future will Take Care of Itself by Adjourn- Recommended by: Silent Stranger
- Status: Completed.
- Synopsis: An Everybody Lives AU that diverges from the main timeline when Theodore Levin happens to get a glimpse of Arthur's sketch work during their first meeting in Valentine...
- Comments: By far one of the best Red Dead AU's I've ever read, and an especially recommended read for other fans who wanted to see the characters get a (somewhat) plausible happy ending. Also recommended if you liked Arthur's drawings in the game, and thought it might be interesting to see a story built around that skill.
