#specrecs2021

[blueboxness-art]

For @a-cosmic-elf! My contribution to Spectre Requisitions 2021.

I had far too much fun with this one. There may have been delighted cackling in the creation process. 😇 I’m not sorry.

[ferusaurelius]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Normally I don’t fill requests, participate in exchanges, or respond to prompts. I work too slowly and deadlines can straight up kill my motivation. 

However! 

This year for SpecRecs2021, despite not being actually signed up or officially part of the exchange, I had an idea.

An idea inspired by that particular moment or inflection point in a night of drinking where you’re so sloshed that the entire world -- no matter how absurd! -- makes sense to you. And you just go with whatever happens.

Enter ST&R candidate Nihlus Kryik accidentally trying to pick up his Spectre mentor in a bar, getting ‘robbed’ by an asari dancer at tit-point, and then needing to plan his own funeral when he finally sobers up.

Without a doubt the stupidest thing I have ever written, but I also could not stop laughing while writing it. 

I dashed this off in maybe two days? Very-super-secret beta reading by @datsonyat (thank you!) and another fandom friend.

Full disclosure: this story is a stand-alone no-Reapers AU take on a different sort of meeting than the one I’m going to be using for my main Blackwatch!Saren / “Air Needing Light”-verse.

While it is maybe-a-one-shot, there’s a chance I’ll also write some more vignettes for this alternative no-Reapers AU Saren and Nihlus...

Thank you to everyone who has already commented, added kudos, or recommended this fic! It was a real struggle not to fess up to my crimes until the appropriate moment. 

[spectre-requisitions-exchange]

Spectre Requisitions 2021

Are you a rare pair shipper? Do you love those pairings that canon never supplied? Or maybe you’re just good ol’ shipping trash who loves to ship almost EVERYONE in the Mass Effect universe? Then boy do we have good news for you!

The Spectre Requisitions Rare Pair Exchange is here!  We’re a rare pair exchange that’s open for the Mass Effect Trilogy and Mass Effect Andromeda. We exchange fanfiction and fanart, and we welcome fans both new and old!

Nominations begin: January 11 Nominations end: January 18 Signup begins: January 19 Signup ends: February 1 Assignments: February 4 (at latest) Assignments due: March 14 Assignment reveal: March 21 Creator reveal: March 28

We’re baaack! Esteemed creators, Spectre Requisitions is returning for another year of rare pair goodness! Mark the dates on your calendar and get those thinking caps on for nominations!

If you’re not already in the Discord, come join us! It’s open year-round for all your rare pair needs.

[dr-ladybird]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aethyta & Liara T'Soni Characters: Aethyta (Mass Effect), Liara T'Soni, Female Shepard (Mass Effect), Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Maya Brooks Additional Tags: Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Mass Effect 3: Citadel, Interspecies Relationship(s), Alternate Canon, Relationship Advice, Spectre Requisitions Rare Pair Exchange 2021 Summary:

Set during the Citadel DLC, Matriarch Aethyta meets up with Liara T'Soni at the most posh sushi joint in the Silversun Strip to have a nice father-daughter chat.

...

I got this brilliant fic about Aethyta and Liara catching up!

[cristaldephoenix]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nihlus Kryik/Female Shepard Characters: Nihlus Kryik, Female Shepard (Mass Effect) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Explicit Sexual Content, Post ME3, Massage, Intimacy, Alcohol, Sex, Snuggling Summary:

After the war, they have all the time in the world.

This what happens to them after the war! It is now my HC. The love and snuggles and feels! So perfect for them!

[andersonsbiceps]

Author reveal for the SpecRecs2021 exchange was yesterday, and since I wrote three (!!!) fics for it, I figured I’d do a masterpost of them here.

a twenty year dark night (but now i see daylight) for @lesbianically         - Lizbeth/Shiala from Feros in ME1, in a quiet moment during the reaper attack on Zhu’s Hope in ME3. I’ve always liked the ME1 side characters, none of the ones from the later games really seemed to compare. I also always wanted to do something with the Zhu’s Hope hivemind battle vs the reapers in ME3, since that sounds like the absolute coolest fight we only got to learn about from an email. Hence this fic, where we hang out with Lizbeth and Shiala and explore the Zhu’s Hope telepathy a bit. I had a bunch of fun writing it, and I liked being able to give back to my gifter from the holiday exchange!

kidfic #14 in A major for @dr-ladybird       - Miranda/Jacob kidfic (sorta, they don’t keep the kid). Wherein Miranda and Jacob are inspired to talk about their feelings by the unfortunate necessity of keeping Shepard from babysitting. I absolutely loved dr-ladybird’s prompt of Miranda and Jacob grappling with parenthood and trying not to become their fathers, I couldn’t let it pass without writing a story for it. I was always fascinated by Miranda and Jacob’s relationship, so I had fun exploring that as well.

i looked over it and i ached for @yourlocalpriestess      - The, uh, 20k Shepard/Saren canon au, complete with the canon character deaths. I read a whole lot of sad Saren meta early in my Mass Effect fan experience, which made me kind of want to write a more cathartic tragedy for him than canon Mass Effect was. I stuck Shepard in Anderson’s role, so she and Saren could get a head start on meeting each other, and let their story play out - from enemies to friends to frienemies with significant unresolved romantic tension - knowing the whole time that Saren was already indoctrinated, and nothing Shepard did would save him in the end. And for kicks, I added in some Anderson & Nihlus found family elements, because characterizing Saren and Shepard as reluctant mentor!parents was fun and also makes the whole thing just that much sadder. I am not even slightly sorry.

[ginbiscuit]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Now that the reveals are done, I can finally share this! For the @spectre-requisitions-exchange, I wrote this lovely rare pair/throuple. <3 Very proud of how this turned out! Thanks again to the wonderful @dr-ladybird for beta-ing!

Fandom: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Male Shepard/James Vega Characters: Kaidan Alenko, Male Shepard (Mass Effect), James Vega Additional Tags: Pining, Angst, Threesome - M/M/M, Screen Reader Friendly Summary:

An invitation to watch a biotiball game at Shepard's apartment leads to more than James had ever hoped for—and that causes more complications than an easy-going guy like him had ever expected.

[spectre-requisitions-exchange]

Sign Ups Are Open!

SIGN-UPS ARE OPEN! Sign-ups for the Spectre Requisitions exchange will be possible from January 19th to February 1st. You must fill out at least five unique requests and three unique offers (requests and offers do not necessarily have to be the same!).  You may also choose ‘Any Pairings’ and ask or volunteer to write any of the pairings of the nominations list. NOW THAT SAID: SIGN UP! SIGN UP! SIGN-UP! CLICK HERE TO SIGN-UP! You can go back and edit your Sign Up Form up until  1 February 2021 06:00PM EST. A BIG WARNING ABOUT USING ‘ANY PAIRINGS’: Any pairing means exactly that, that you are willing to get or create fanworks for any pairing. We cannot control what characters or prompts are in an “Any Pairings” request. Thus, it should not be used for a request like “Any Garrus Vakarian fic”.  “Any pairing” requests should only be requested for when you really want to see a certain trope or kink  (and don’t care which characters are used) and should only be offered if you want the sheer challenge of a pure mystery! The only thing we will allow you to limit it by is the category of relationship, eg Gen, F/F, M/M or F/M. Anything else put into the box will be ignored so chose this option CAREFULLY. If you would like to participate but do not have an AO3 account, please send us a message and we will get you an invitation.

One Important Warning About DNW: Please add your DNW (Do Not Wants) to your sign-ups. We cannot enforce DNWs that are only in letters!

How Do I Sign Up? Instructions beneath the cut:

1) Go to the Sign Up Form at AO3 while you are logged in (or go to the Spectre Requisitions Collection for this year and click “Sign Up”) 2) Click the checkmark on “Mass Effect - All Media Types” for the fandom!

3) Start writing the name of your favorite character/pairing from the nominations. Don’t forget to check the spreadsheet if you need inspiration!

4) The box should start to autofill as you type; if it doesn’t, simply enter things as they are in the tagset. Select your pairing of choice. You can have one or two pairings per request, and may have ten requests total. This gives you a total of 20 potential pairings to request at maximum, and the minimum is 5 requests and 3 offers.

This is what it looks like with one relationship filled in:

Note that the box is still active and allows you to fill more in. If you are planning on requesting only the minimum, please only fill one in per box.

And here’s what it looks like with two tags filled in:

Now, the box is gone, and you’ve maxed out this request set. Note that when you’re doing multiple pairings, you’ll have to put your prompts/likes/DNWs for both pairings in the same box. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you’ve got more questions! 5) Decide whether you would like to potentially receive fanart or fanfic, or both. Check the applicable box(es) or select “any” for both. 6) Give your author some idea of what you want to see in the description box. Good things to list: general likes, rating restrictions, prompt ideas, squicks/triggers/do-not-wants, or anything else you’d like the writer to know. Make sure you list things you definitively do not want. Authors and artists are absolutely forbidden to ignore squicks and triggers. Otherwise, the only guideline of your prompt authors/artists is unequivocally beholden to is the requested pairing, though they are encouraged to take your preferences into consideration. 7) Repeat between 5-10 times, as you like! 8) You may write a letter that goes more in-depth and post it to your Tumblr, DreamWidth, public Google doc, or another platform, and then fill in the URL in the letterbox. 9) Fill out your offers. You must fill out at least three unique pairings you would be okay with writing and can choose one or two pairings to fill in per request. If you have any comments for the moderators, please put them in the “Notes for Mods” section. This should be used for people you don’t want to match with, subjects you feel you can’t/won’t draw/write, or other information that you think may be helpful for matching you with a good assignment.

A BIG WARNING ABOUT USING ‘ANY PAIRINGS’: You may choose to offer ANY, but this means you could be matched to ANYONE who has signed up for the exchange. Do NOT pick Any Pairings if you are not up for a challenge! The only thing we will allow you to limit it by is a category of relationship, eg Gen, F/F, M/M or M/F. Anything else cannot be controlled so chose this CAREFULLY. 10) Click submit! And welcome to the Mass Effect Rare Pair Exchange!