About Lenny and Tilly in the fandom
So, the fandom has unfortunately dealt with a great deal of racism, but one bit that Iām not sure people think about is how Lenny and Tilly are treated. Neither person is widely represented in the fandom. The fandom talks about how much they love them, but where is the proof? Where is the representation? For one, Lenny is obnoxiously whittled down to Ynnel. Seriously? The arguably most intelligent person in the game is STILL reduced to that? Someone so kind and so bright, a man who could accomplish anything if he lived a different life, and the tragedy of his life being cut so brutally short. He was selfless, teaching Sean to read and knew how to navigate the sometimes tense moments in camp with the more racist members. (because he had to, sadly.) He's able to outsmart Dutch and shut him up about Evelyn Miller!!!! That is a huge satisfying accomplishment. Arthur, Dutch, and Hosea have all praised him. Yet I hardly ever see him represented on tumblr (or in general, to be fair.) beyond the meme. I hardly ever see him included in fanfics and almost never on headcanons. We need to do better. Tilly is treated slightly better, but so many people infantilize her; itās disgusting. Sheās a grown woman who has endured so much horror and tragedy like Lenny. The woman can defend herself. I do believe we see her shooting a gun at some point.Ā Her being kidnapped doesnāt mean she canāt defend herself other times. Abigail and Arthur were both also kidnapped. Tilly was able to plan a heist by herself while dealing with Bill Williamson successfully and she is able to get a lot of leads in towns. Sheās kind, even trying to befriend Molly. She saved Jackās life. I think she would have cared for Jack if Abigail and John died. Her kindness is not a weakness, and she is fully capable of standing up for herself. She is one of the most moral people in the gang. (I would say that Lenny is also pretty moral-based? Iām not sure if he is the most moral man outside of Charles in the gang.Ā He was definitely against unnecessary bloodshed and such.)
I will say that artists have done (what I think) is a great job representing Tilly when there is representation. There are so many beautiful pieces of art of her, and I often see her included with Mary-Beth and Karen. However, I think there should be more pieces of just her standing on her own. Unfortunately, Tilly is rarely written about as well. I would say sheās written about the least out of the young women.
And one of my biggest gripes is - how come almost every woman is shipped with people, but Tilly isnāt? Yes, Tilly is shipped with Javier sometimes, but thatās rarely discussed and sheās overall not shipped with many people. She should be able to have some romantic ships like everyone else. Tilly is NOT the youngest member of the gang as some people have said. I have a dear friend who has done the math and believes that Tilly is older than Abigail. (I know this can be debated, though.) My point is, sheās not a child. If you feel like thereās someone she could be shipped with, whether in the gang or not, go for it! Now, I am a white person, and I can only speak as an outsider looking in. I have heard some of my POC friends ' frustrations with Tilly, and this is one of the reasons that Iām writing this, along with my own frustration with how some of the POC characters are treated.
We need to listen to what POC people say about representation in the fandom. (More importantly, we as a fandom need to confront the fact that so many POC voices and creators have been chased away by the racists in this fandom just for posting the smallest thing.)
Tilly is my third most written-about character, and I sadly donāt have much for her. Iām an Abigail-centric blog, so thatās who I write about most, followed by Molly and now Tilly. I have some writing that Iāll hopefully post soon, and I admit I worry that I am representing her well, but I want to try anyway. I'm not saying this to say I'm better or anything. Just that I think itās important to try to branch out and figure out how to represent others even if it's hard or you mess up. There are sensitivity readers out there that can help. If so many white people can write for Charles and Javier, then do the same for Tilly and Lenny. They deserve better.
This turned out to be wayyyy too long, but I always write long posts, and I wanted to get my points across. Tagging everyone mentioned in this post for visibility. Thank you if youāre still reading this, and if anyone has anything they want to add, Iād love to read it.
this is amazing!!!!
I think itās also important to talk about the macsummers of it all. If Lenny is mentioned, a lot of times in fandom spaces itās connected to Sean. Now, macsummers in itself isnāt a bad ship and their friendship mirrors Charles and Arthur in a sense of someone who faces injustice helping another character better themself (aka Charles pushing Arthur to follow more moral principles and Lenny teaching Sean to read giving him more opportunities) but the thing about it is POC CHARACTERS ARE NOT JUST SIDEKICKS! Lenny is a character that is very passionate about discussing the mistreatment of black people and how the fight for racial equality is far from over. Heās well read, heās intelligent, heās seen hardships, and most of all LENNY IS INDEPENDENT! He makes a bad call on one side quest but he made the call. He robbed the lemonye raiders, he guarded colter in chapter one, he was the first one to jump of the train on the Cornwall robbery.
And Tilly? Tilly is a survivor. Sheās ran with gangs since she was 15. She holds her own because SHE HAS TO. Sure, she doesnāt go on robberies often but thatās because she doesnāt have to. Sheās intelligent, sheās poised and one thing I never see often said is she is BEAUTIFUL. Like Tilly is put together despite the carnage around her. That takes so much unremarkable strength to be as strong as Tilly.
Thank you so much op for bringing up excellent points and I hope I added to your point as well. :)
