Gil Brodie - "He's my boy, not yours."

Wow, love the Peter Parker Pathfinder in your avatar!

Clark Kent was my original thought until I looked at the Spider-Man gif in your sig.

I love your Scott Clark as well, saw it on Tumblr!

Just finished reading it, that was wonderful!

Ill put on spoiler but:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY exca!! ❤

Problem is, the AI is literally at war with the kett and the Tempest crew is on the front lines. Worst timing EVER to try to raise a family.

Yeah, the problem of Jill, of the baby, is that she is pressuring Gil on this count. The game ends up presenting us with this toxic friendship (I think the common comparison used is Gil being in a homophobic high school, and she's the least homophobic person there, and becomes his friend by default, even though she's not much of one), and we can't call it out as such. That the idea of having a kid comes from her, and not him - he admits, he's an impulsive person, that he thinks it and does it. The game wants to SAY that he matures over the course of it, but does nothing to SHOW it. And the very idea is undermined when Gil's reaction to questioning him having a kid is to dig in his heels and go 'I'll show you!' That's NOT a mature reaction.

But Jill is really unforgivable - when you have an impulsive friend, you don't present them with this major life-changing thing and push for an answer NOW, even BEFORE we get to Gil's specific circumstances on the Tempest. Because the simple fact is, Gil is in a HORRIBLE position to be a father right now. He's the Tempest's only engineer, already putting in 48+ hour work days - what are they supposed to do, put a daycare in the Tempest's work garage? Because he loses his job if he were to transfer dirtside. Gil's circumstances are NOT conducive to being a parent, and even a MOMENT'S critical thought says that this is a bad idea. So the way that she comes across is a manipulative "friend" preying on Gil's impulsive nature to get a kid NOW, especially when she can line up another sperm donor between the visit to Khi Tasira and the party on Meridian.

This child is NOT. GIL'S. IDEA. He specifies it - "Jill wants to have a baby, and wants me to be the dad." This isn't HIM coming to the conclusion that he really wants to have a kid, it's him basically being a conveniently placed turkey baster for her! He doesn't display some deep-seated desire to have a kid, it's just HER idea, HER job, HER voice in his ear, playing this tune and sticking it in his head. Gil's got no arc, this is JILL'S story - going from a procreation tech to expectant mother - just from Gil's perspective. And the game doesn't even care to GIVE him one. He's totally subject to HER whims.

There's a reason that the most common reaction to this whole plotline is 'why aren't we on a mission to find Gil a better friend?' Like, I've been SORELY tempted to write her out of Gil's life, preferably in a way that denies any sympathy for her, in my fic writing. And I've always prided myself on not vilifying characters who are 'in the way' of my ships - hell, I live in rarepair hell, I normally can't afford to be resentful of a character like that. AND SHE'S NOT EVEN IN THE WAY OF RYDER/GIL!

Or maybe she is, considering that she HAS to be interacted with in order to lock in the romance...

Yeah, when I romance Jaal instead of Gil, I REFUSE to go to the meet with Jill on Eos - It at least lets me avoid hearing about him being trapped in her parenting thing.

*ahem* So, I have a new fic... It's pretty much pure sex.

And it's a threesome.

EDIT: I love that it's with this post my ID tag upgraded to 'Grizzled Warrior'...

Hmmm, I missed a Jill bashing session. Oh well, hmmm..did anyone make a jill on fire gif yet? Shouldn't that be a thing?