Oh my god I just saw someone tag you in a DA fic post and I thought “wait I know that name!!” And lo and behold YOURE THE ONE WHO WROTE SANTA SARITA!!! That fic series was my fucking favorite! The literal first fanfic I ever wrote was loosely inspired by The Sacrament. This ask is just me rambling but I’m such a fan I am fangirling okay goodbye
No, wait, come back!!!!
This is quite possibly the BEST notification to wake up to?!? I genuinely believe there is no greater compliment than to hear that my writing inspired someone else to write! Like, what???? Do you mean??? My words were so impactful that a reader felt the urge to write their own words???? So now we're both doing the gorgeous human magic thing called self-expression???? Called ART?!?!?
Thank you so much for reaching out and sharing this with me. Santa Sarita is so so dear to my heart and I'm so glad that all these years later people still think about it and are still reading it.
Anyway, my heart is full right now. Thank you so so much!
Summary: Reyes Vidal has always taken pride in his ability to keep his personal and professional lives separate, but all that changes when he meets the new Pathfinder. Cerys Ryder isn't what he expected and she isn't like anyone he's ever met before, and Reyes finds it impossible to keep away from her - even when he knows its the right thing to do in order to protect his true identity.
My attention is currently divided among 4 WIPs (fshenko, mshenko, gale/tav and reyder), all of them multichapter, so it'll be a while till I start posting this one. I'd like to make some more progress.
The excerpt I am posting is from an unnamed Reyder Casablanca-inspired post-break up fic, featuring some ME:A flashbacks that show how Ryder's relationship with Reyes develops. The excerpt is from a flashback right before Reyes meets Mara Jade for the first time.
Obviously, there are major spoilers for Mass Effect Andromeda after the cut, so if anyone hasn't played the game, please don't read further!
Reyes reflected on the time he’d briefly met Alec Ryder during his recruitment to the Initiative. The former Pathfinder had personally vetted almost every member of the Initiative that was expected to take up a critical position. He had seemed like a stern and controlling man, with a spine of steel and an unbendable spirit. To lose his life so soon into the mission, must have been a blow to the Initiative and his family. His daughter had taken up the mantle of the Pathfinder now, and she was on her way to meet him on Kadara.
An Initiative poster girl, if she’s anything like her father, he thought, as he read through Evfra's message.
She’ll attract trouble, like a lightning rod in a storm. That’s the last kind of complication I need right now.
Reyes was so close to finalising his plans to take over the port. A few more months of careful operations and Kadara would be up for the taking. A pathfinder added to the mix was an unknown variable he never expected and now had to plan around, and it frustrated him to no end.
Now, someone like Alec would have been a liability, he thought. Alec was a legendary N7, a survivor of the First Contact War, and rumoured to be as brilliant as he was ruthless. He would probably take a look upon the place and decide to end both Sloane and the Collective in one fell swoop. Alec would have been a definite threat.
But maybe I can work with his daughter. Sloane won’t be cozying up to her anytime soon, and I’ll be working with her as part of the Resistance network. Perhaps there is still time to salvage this, and either get her on the side of the Collective, or make sure she’s far and away when I make my move.
He looked at the picture he pulled from the Heleus News Service. Kadara had no local reception yet, but ships coming into the port had access to broadcasts and he made sure the Collective paid handsomely for any scrap of information they could get their hands on. There was no reason why the Pathfinder's hard work in establishing the HNS should go to waste, after all.
“Hello, Mara Jade Ryder,” he muttered, with a smirk on his face. “Time to find out exactly what you’re made of.”
A few hours later, his omnitool was blowing up with messages from his people. The Tempest's arrival to Kadara port had everyone's attention turned to the Pathfinder. Her every move was immediately reported back to him. Reyes hastily answered that she wasn't to be touched, put on his jacket and his best smile, and made his way towards Kralla's Song.
An injured and exhausted Sara has to rescue Reyes and his people before it's too late - unfortunately everyone thinks she's dead, and convincing a guilty and devastated Reyes that she's real is easier said than done!
"Reyes!" She whispered as loudly as she dared. It sounded far too loud in the empty corridor, but no one came bursting out to catch her. Reyes didn't look up or respond, and she tried again, "Reyes!"
He had been sitting still, but at the sound of her voice his muscles went rigid and he froze for a long moment. Slowly, as though he didn't want to acknowledge her at all, he sat up, bloodshot eyes focusing on hers with a haunted kind of horror in them.
"Dios." Reyes swore softly and shook his head, then buried his face in his hands. "I'm going mad."
Sara's heart clenched at the devastation in his voice.
"Reyes, it's me!" She glanced around, still certain she was making far too much noise. Her skin prickled as though being watched by unseen eyes and she shivered. "I'm coming in!"
SAM decoded the door and it creaked open. Reyes, lost in his own anguish, stared straight ahead with hollow eyes and made no move to free himself. He looked younger somehow as he huddled on the metal bench, almost boyish in his despair. His eyes flicked in her direction and away again, and Sara watched as he struggled to comprehend what he was seeing.
"You can't be real," he whispered in a tortured plea, and he shut his eyes and clutched his head once more. "I got you killed. You're not really here."
Not that I don't love my Kotaloy fic (I do!), but it is so wild to me that my Solavellan fic is considerably larger, has been around for longer, and is the fic of my soul (I wept when I finished writing it earlier this week) and yet has a fraction of the hits and engagement.
I'm SO grateful that people really love Medicine, seriously, my Kotaloy readers are the best! I just wonder why Inevitable doesn't seem to garner the same interest?
Anyway, if you like Kotallo x Aloy, Solavellan, or maybe even some F!Reyder(?) I have stories for you!
Medicine - HFW, Kotaloy. Currently in progress, updated today. Currently Rated M, will be bumped up to E soon :)
Inevitable - DAI, Solavellan. Complete, posting on Mondays and Thursdays until all chapters are available. Rated M.
Santa Sarita - MEA, F!Reyder. Huge series with multiple fics. All but one is complete (to be continued in the fall). Various Ratings M-E.
The Charlatan and the Coinshot - MEA/Mistborn crossover, F!Reyder. Complete. Rated T.
