Every time someone says “Jaal’s romance was written with women in mind” I just can’t help but feel they think a relationship between two men is this aggressive, sex filled, intense exchange and there’s no gentle romance of any kind and all gay men are just plain barbaric in their romantic lives or something.
Literally nothing that happens in Jaal’s romance is exclusive to straight relationships and I really don’t understand how that notion even makes sense.
So @gizkasparadise let’s talk about First Contact. I think the game itself really failed to delve into this particularly delicious subject.
Consider this – as far as alien species go, the Angara have only met the Kett before Pathfinder shows up on their doorstep. And not just anywhere, but on Aya, supposedly hidden and protected. Their worlds are falling, culture lost, Moshae taken. They’re losing to the Kett.
Another unknown shows up in the one place Kett haven’t found. Their only sanctuary. Imagine the panic.
The Angara and the Resistance have maybe minutes to decide what to do. Young and bold, a certain lieutenant Ama Darav, looking to prove himself worth the esteemed name, volunteers as the front man to assess the new aliens. Evfra De Tershaav needs all the intel, but also assumes the worst – he lets his best soldier go instead of a scholar or a diplomat. Why?
Because he’s not sending in just a recon team. He’s placing a kill-switch.
Assess the aliens. Keep Aya safe, location hidden. Protect the Angara at all costs. Aliens give the slightest reason to suspect their motives…
Kill the Pathfinder. Eliminate the team. Hide all tracks to Aya.
Cue the times when Jaal Ama Darav almost pulled the gun, until the moment he no longer could. All the inherent mistrust and the weight of duty battling with this growing admiration for something, someone he hardly understands. This want and need, found in the unlikeliest of places.
And somewhere, Evfra De Tershaav reading reports and calculating whether his lieutenant has lost his wits or truly found a salvation for their people.
Jaal’s messages to his mother throughout his relationship with Ryder
To: Sahuna Ama Darav
From: Jaal Ama Darav
Mother,
there is no need to worry about my wellbeing. If what these aliens say is true, then they come in peace and they only wish to fight the kett alongside us.
Should they be lying, I am more than able of defending myself. Did you forget all those times I made it out alive from kett bases and camps?
The one leading these curious people, Pathfinder Ryder, claims she can interface with Remnant technology. I admit this… intrigued me greatly. Hopefully this journey will show me whether she was lying about that too or being honest.
I will be honest, mother: something deep in my heart tells me these strangers are telling the truth. I feel Ryder will help us save the Moshae and understand the vaults the Remnants left on our worlds.
Still, I will be sleeping with my rifle under my bed like I promised you.
whitemanning critical 