#tillier

La graine est dans le fruit et celui-ci est dans la graine. - Proverbe anglais

Tilly and Javier || Horseshoe Overlook

I think it very definitely could have worked, had things gone differently.  The hints are subtle (it’s the little things like Javier sitting near and playing for Tilly while she works) and could be taken as close friendship, but the overall vibe reads more like a crush on Javier’s part at least, and Tilly being at least somewhat receptive to those quiet overtures. Tilly’s a great characterization.  I think it’s no stretch to say that she and Sadie are allowed to be the most deeply rendered, multi-faceted, and complex women in-game.  She’s allowed to be practical without becoming hardheaded or cynical like Karen and Susan, allowed to be a woman whose isn’t a damsel and whose pain isn’t merely written to serve a man’s story like Charlotte or the single recollections of Eliza, and allowed to be optimistic without retreating into dreamy romantic fantasies like Mary-Beth or Mary.  If Sadie’s allowed to challenge the paradigm that a woman resorting to violence is a dangerous abomination, and she can be both a vengeful goddess and a tender caretaker, Tilly’s allowed to be a thoughtful, deeply realized WOC who’s neither a tragic victim nor the Angry and/or Erotically Fetishized Black Woman. (I stan Matilda Badass Jackson a bit, OK.  I do not apologize for it.) So yeah, a thoughtful and multi-faceted man himself, Javier also challenges the stereotypes of a Latino man.  He’s not lascivious, hyperviolent, ready to kill someone for looking at him wrong.  Though as noted, the fandom certainly has a problem with fetishizing him as Mexican Knife Daddy and can we not.  He’s quiet, polite, considerate, passionate about his ideals.  Unlike most of the misfits who have drifted in under Dutch’s aegis and came to his philosophy later, Javier genuinely believes in the ideals Dutch pretends to sell, and tried to fight for them.  And I think those insightful, thoughtful, kind, and practical personalities that they both have would suit each other. It’s also notable that Tilly’s eventual husband, Henri Pierre, is mentioned to be a Haitian-born lawyer, who’s “very understanding” about her past.  The fact that Henri is Haitian feels important, given the Haitian culture towards promoting black freedom and civil rights.  (Hercule Fontaine, helping lead the Guarman rebellion, is also Haitian.)  So it’s very likely Henri uses his elevated and educated position as a lawyer in St. Denis to do what he can to advocate for black peoples’ rights and equality under the law.  So Tilly’s ideal partner is someone both intelligent and passionate about justice and equality for the downtrodden, which clearly is something dear to her that she’ll dedicate herself to a partnership with that kind of person.  She knows she’s also marrying a cause.  So yeah, I think Javier, who’s a freedom fighter and philosopher both, would fit that bill for Tilly.  Javier himself would see a lot to admire in Tilly for the same reasons.  It’s kind of a shame that RDR1 storyline means it’s a ship that never gets to really sail, and I did stick with Tilly’s marriage to Henri and giving birth in 1907 in Sunrise as I’m still trying to be canon-adjacent where I can.  But I could definitely see it having some rich possibilities in a UA, and I did imply Tilly/Javier in my UA where Dutch was killed before the gang met Micah and therefore they all just quietly retired to a ranch.

"La Belle Epoque" de Nicolas Bedos avec Daniel Auteuil, Doria Tillier, Guillaume Canet, Fanny Ardant, Pierre Arditi et Denis Podalydès, novembre 2019.

A: I love it