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dragonknightofsummerset · 2 years

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I’m Only Human

Okay, so I've been trying, ever since I finished my first (& only lol) playthrough of Andromeda, to write a fic about Reyes and Ryder, but I cannot for the life of me be satisfied with what I write (except for like the 1 scene I wanted to base the whole thing around lol).

I thought I would instead try to explain what I like about Reyes & the romance with him, which was supposed to be a key factor into the whole fic that will never see the light of day (rip). I'll put it all below a cut, cause 1. I don't want to be perceived & 2. It's just going to be more of my rambling & opinions & it's long :3

*Small note: Sometimes I write, “we”, “you”, and It’s because I’m referring to myself, & any readers, as the players, and I tried to distinguish between Ryder and the players in that regard, so sorry for any confusion.

We know that Ryder's father, Alec, gave his life for them during the events of Habitat 7. When he did this, he also linked SAM (pretty much bound SAM) to Ryder's brain which technically killed Ryder (SAM says they were clinically dead for 22 seconds), & there is no way of removing SAM without risk to Ryder's life. I don't want to go on a rant on this, cause that's a whole other bag of emotions that didn't start setting in until a few days prior to starting this, when I realized I never processed this while playing the game (& it ties into what the Ryder twins find out about their mom later in the game which is just...a mess.) Anyway, here are a few images for proof about the SAM thing:

Anyway, Ryder is then told that they're the new Pathfinder, and from then on, Ryder just doesn't catch a break. They meet the ones in charge of the Initiative, after arriving at a dark & outdated, Nexus station, further showing how nothing is going according to plan for the Initiative; and Ryder is heavily scrutinized by Addison, as well as having to carry the burden of having everyone else's hopes that the Initiative will work out still, on them. Addison claims it isn’t personal, but the way she interacts with Ryder is just very...no.

Of course, this is par for the course for main characters in many games, but I feel like Ryder is never given time to process their father's death (no matter how estranged they are), or to have a proper freak out about being Pathfinder other than when they're first told, and with a few moments when talking to Cora, where she offers her support.

But then there's like the whole thing where the game didn't seem to take itself seriously. The problem with this was, as funny as the meetings could play out, no one on the crew seemed to respect or take Ryder's role seriously because...I'm not sure why tbh. Was it because they didn't present themselves in the same way Alec did? Was it because they were young & had no training for the role of Pathfinder? Like I literally don't know, talking with the crew you don't get the idea that they don't respect Ryder; some of them don't trust Ryder yet or aren't ready to talk about themselves but that's separate from what I'm referring to (& also okay cause it takes time to open up to someone, if they even want to). It just seemed to contradict the bit of conversation we can overhear between Peebee & Liam, where she points out that Liam stays close to Ryder when they go out on missions together, and Liam explains that it's because Ryder is the Pathfinder (someone important who needs to be protected because without them they're essentially screwed). And as much as I love this bit of information, it just doesn't make sense with the way the crew acts at the end of meetings when they know, & have said, how important Ryder is to the Initiative; especially for Liam & Cora to behave the same way when they know what happened on Habitat 7, & they know how Ryder feels about being forced into the role of Pathfinder, because they get to hear their response. (Also, I need to clarify, I know Ryder's crew does care about Ryder, beyond their Pathfinder role, but I feel like it's important to point out how they bring up Ryder's importance and tie it to their Pathfinder role, while also not taking their leadership role seriously outside of 1 on 1 conversations.) And don't even get me started on how little acknowledgement there is for the 2 times that Ryder dies; I feel like it should have been questioned more when it happened the second time...but I digress. I wanted to bring up these things Ryder goes through, and how it ties into the fact that Reyes is so good for them (for my Ryder btw, I understand this isn't universal).

Reyes is a bastard, but I love him & there is more depth to him than some people care to admit. Unfortunately, his romance is tied to Kadara; he isn't a crewmate, so Ryder's interactions with him are limited to Kadara's main missions, emails, and a very short conversation at the end of the game. (I guess if you want to count the wink after the final fight but like, the game could've done better.)

Upon meeting him, Ryder deduces he's a smuggler, and we can pretty much guess he doesn't like Sloane & doesn't want her to be in charge anymore based on his comments about her & how she runs things, in follow up conversations with him. Reyes then offers to help Ryder, granted this is if you decide to work with Reyes instead of Sloane, and tells them that they can come to him for anything they may need while on Kadara.

Key things I really loved, or that made me love Ryder's and Reyes' relationship more:

Reyes laying it on thick with the charm but somehow turning it up when Ryder flirted with him

the fact that his heart eyes at Ryder seem to start once we uncover who's behind the murders (with consistent flirting btw) I mean, hello?? "Careful, I might start thinking you like me" "would that be so bad" "depends..." like damn okay

The mission where Ryder helps him out & there's a chance to say, "Reyes is a better man than you think" & Reyes being genuinely thankful that Ryder said that about him

His emails, I shall link the post with them <3

"Night on the Town" quest, peak perfection of a quest that serves to further the romance, if you choose it. Hear me out:

Reyes invites Ryder to a party, he is ok with whatever Ryder decides it'll be (a date or strictly professional), we meet Keema who tells us, "you're all he talks about lately", then we get ditched by Reyes and when we find him later we learn he was using Ryder to be able to look through Sloane's things & we have the option to call him out on his empty promises, what follows is a, "quick we need a distraction" kiss (again if you've been consistently flirting), before running out of the party together, holding hands, once Reyes manages to nab a bottle of whiskey, then at the end of the quest, 2 things: we find out why Reyes came to Andromeda, and Reyes & Ryder kiss for real.

Reyes' reason, "to be someone" & Ryder's response, "you're someone to me" are so, so good.

*Side note: I saw some wack theories about Reyes being connected to cerberus and I was like huh??? Yawn, moving on- I love the idea of Reyes having been a nobody back in the milky way; someone who had a simple job, seemingly unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and whether or not he had family, or other relationships, he just was left feeling like he could be doing more, that he could be more. Which is why he decided to be a part of the Initiative. There's a chance that if the uprising on the Nexus didn't happen, he could still have been a nobody, just in a new galaxy; but because of the uprising, he was able to become someone, The Charlatan, even if most people don't know that they’re the same person.

AND THIS IS WHY RYDER'S RESPONSE OF, "YOU'RE SOMEONE TO ME." IS SO GOOD!!!!

Reyes is someone, but hardly anyone knows it, and like he tells Ryder during the dance scene, his survival has depended on secrets ever since he left the Nexus. At most, he is at least known to be a good smuggler, enough so that other smugglers want to kill him, but a name bigger than "Shena", his smuggler codename, is the Charlatan's; and even though they're the same person, only a handful, if that, of people know, so is he really someone?

I'd also like to point out that when Reyes introduces himself to Ryder, he tells them that they can call him "Reyes" because he hates codenames. This is way more of a personal headcanon, but it makes me think that Reyes wants to be known as Reyes, not as these other codenames, but because of what he does, it's easier to operate with these codenames, and with hardly anyone knowing who he actually is.

Looking at his face when he admits to Ryder why he came to Andromeda, it looks solemn, like he's either remembering his life before the initiative, or he still feels like a nobody because as far as everyone knows, the Charlatan and Reyes are 2 different people.

But then there's Ryder, they don't know Reyes' secret yet, there is a lot they don't know about him, even so, Ryder seems to relieve Reyes of whatever thoughts plagued him in that moment with their genuine response of Reyes being someone to them, not the Charlatan, not "Shena", just him, Reyes.

And then the kiss, it's so cute & soft & of course Reyes would tease Ryder before doing it, but his face!!!! He is smiling so genuinely as he goes in for the kiss, he might have been pleasantly surprised by the distraction kiss earlier, but with the real kiss he is smiling!!! It's like a part of him wants this to work out, he wants Ryder, he doesn't want to disappoint them. During the kiss, it's just Reyes and Ryder. No Pathfinder, no Charlatan. (*I'd also like to link this song that I associate with them, specifically cause of this scene. Song. English Lyrics.)

Which brings me to the duel, I will refrain from commenting on the wack takes I've seen about this scene & skip ahead to Ryder's hurt surprise in finding out Reyes is the Charlatan, and Reyes attempting to reassure Ryder during the confrontation with Sloane, that they know the real him, that although he lied about who he is, he didn't lie about the feelings he showed Ryder. I believe that Reyes is terrified of what will happen after the duel, between him and Ryder. He has been lying to them after all, and to him, there's a chance that whatever real moments they shared, wouldn't matter anymore. Which brings me to the part where Ryder can potentially break up with Reyes. (Reminder that this scene only comes up if you DON'T save Sloane.) I am so upset that we couldn't have a longer conversation about finding out Reyes is the Charlatan, and what it means for their relationship. What we do get before the cave make out scene, is good though, especially if you think back to what Zia said about Reyes. In the cave, after the duel, Reyes admits that he liked the way Ryder looked at HIM, he didn't want that to change.

~ Ahhhhhh, I need a second, I am going feral over this. ~

Okay, so when we meet Zia a few missions before, she calls Reyes selfish and says it's why he doesn't have friends, Ryder then says, what I'm sure turned the tables on their relationship with Reyes, that "Reyes is a better man than [Zia] thinks", when she threatens Ryder, Reyes threatens Zia to leave them out of it & even Zia notes that Reyes must "really like [Ryder]". And this is so important for their relationship, like idk if I can put it into words but I'll try:

At this point in the game, Ryder knows Reyes is shady, but even still they see something in him that makes Ryder want to defend him, because they believe that at his core, Reyes is better than what he lets people see. Another personal headcanon, is that there was potential for Reyes to lose the good he had and to turn out no better than Sloane and the other exiles wreaking havoc; what changed was having someone believing he was good. And he liked that Ryder saw him like that. Despite the little Ryder knew about him, and what they did know was morally questionable, they still looked at him like he was a good person or trying to be one at the very least. Which is why when he admits to Ryder that he didn't want that to change, it hurts 😭

I'd also like to point out that Reyes neither confirms, nor denies, his trust in Ryder, which makes me believe further that it wasn't about trust but instead, it was exactly about what he said, that he liked how Ryder looked at him. I mean, we find out later, if we talk to Keema again, that he DID WANT to tell Ryder about how he's the Charlatan, he was agonizing over it, (she found it adorable).

Then there's the follow up scene after the whole cave scene, Reyes admits to neglecting Ryder on their first date and offers to dance with them in that moment, as a way to make it up to them. If you accept, Ryder comments on how they "didn't know [Reyes] had a romantic streak", which Reyes responds to with, "there's a lot you don't know about me."

Reyes continues the conversation by saying that his survival, after leaving the Nexus, has depended on secrecy; but he doesn't want any more secrets between them. What follows are 2 good responses from Ryder & unfortunately we can only choose 1.

We can have Ryder remark that Reyes is the encrypted one, which earns such an endearing chuckle from Reyes before he responds with the cheesiest line, "Consider me hacked." *cough* my blog title *cough* Although it's cheesy, and Ryder proceeds to make out with him to get him to stop talking, I love that it suggests that Ryder has full access to Reyes, he would tell them anything if they asked.

Almost equally, I love the other response where Ryder answers a bit more seriously, saying that Reyes is someone who will always have secrets because it's who he is as a person, and for him to just not lie about the big stuff. Reyes proceeds to thank Ryder for accepting him as he is. And you guys 🥺 it's just so sweet knowing these are the 2 responses, like I need a moment every time I think about them & I wish we could choose both cause guhhhh

Anyway, now that I've essentially covered things about Ryder, Reyes, and their relationship, let me get down to the core of the fic I had wanted to write. So this part is all headcanon, not something brought up in the game (T.T)

Ryder needs a break, as important as outposts are, they go through so much with little time to recover or process certain events. Reyes comes accross as someone who will make sure his partner isn't overworking themselves and is taking proper rest. He becomes a place of peace for Ryder, somewhere for them to just be & not feel the weight of the Initiative on their shoulders. Ryder is able to sleep more when visiting Reyes due to his comforting presence. Sometimes he'll find them asleep in his room and he makes sure they're not disturbed, allowing them to sleep, while he works silently next to them. And on rare occasions, Reyes will fall asleep while resting his head on Ryder's lap. And both of these scenarios lead to a lot of picture taking of each other lol.

Meanwhile, Ryder is someone who keeps Reyes grounded. They have a way of bringing out different sides to him, that he doesn't show anyone else; for example, protectiveness, fond/genuine playfulness, a romantic side, vulnerability, and so on.

Both of them are busy people and I like to think that they make sure to make time for each other & make sure they don't get bothered when they are together. Considering Reyes is mostly on Kadara, and since Ryder is out and about all over Andromeda, they have a lot to talk about and catch up on whenever they meet up.

Anyway, this is pretty much what I have to say. I'm not sure how to end this, but again I'd like to state that these are my opinions; and although I referred to Ryder as they/them, I wrote this with my Pathfinder, Alma Ryder, in mind, so I understand these feelings are not universal. Also, as I mentioned before, some of what I wrote, are headcanons and just how I interpreted Reyes' character and his relationship to (my) Ryder.

#mass effect: andromeda #reyes vidal #reyes x ryder #i say i cant write a fic and instead write a whole ass essay 😭#to be fair its a bit easier to write down my thoughts & feelings about something than it is to write a fic when i only have 1 scene in mind #i was initially going to include more images. especially when discussing the reyes romance but that would have been too much lol #either way. i made sure i double checked on the dialogue & i didnt include anything i wasnt sure about #*oh yeah. the title is just referencing the game in general. and my brother said he'd read the whole thing if i title it this #ah before i forget. the ss i do include is of my newest pathfinder & not of alma #and sorry if the links dont work. i tried (T.T)

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