#mainly stems from feeling like that there is enough textual setup in the games to get the romance even if it's not a typical one

[bragganhyl]

I can see why someone wouldn't feel like Aloth loves the Watcher, even if I don't necessarily agree. He doesn't show it in the most typical way, because well, Aloth himself isn't the most typical person. He's incredibly mentally ill and traumatized, him loving the Watcher (or anyone) in such a way is very foreign to him. He's afraid to love and be loved. We see him learning to open up over the course of the two games, and he's definitely not fully there even at the end of Deadfire, but he is trying and he genuinely cares. I've always thought they were a pairing that completely embodied the saying 'right person, wrong time'. If we do ever get another installation of the Watcher's story, I imagine we'll see them grow even more. Maybe then will be the right time for them both.

Pretty much this^^

and just... y'know that line Aloth has in Forgotten Sanctum? When you talk to Bekarna? "We must take what hope we can, when we find it" which he says while grabbing the Watcher's hand and I am very normal about that moment I swear? Yeah, in some ways that feels like the thesis of their dynamic and yeah I'm rambling, thank you Anon