2022 Schedule: Nominations begin: January 24 Nominations end: January 31 Signup begins: February 1 Signup ends: February 14 Assignments: February 17 (at latest) Assignments due: March 27 Assignments reveal: April 3 Author reveal: April 10
Did you know Spec Rec’s 2023 collection is open? Have you read or looked at anything in that delicious collection of sweet, sweet rare pairs? If not -- or if you want a second look -- CHECK OUT THE COLLECTION HERE!
If you want a game to help you find new things to read, we will also be doing commenting bingo cards. If you want one, let us know by commenting below!
What’s a Commenting Bingo Card?
Commenting cards are a randomly generated 5x5 bingo card with a free space in the middle. The free space is meant for whatever sort of rubric you want to set, ex: “a work that was gifted to me”, “ a work featuring Tali and a Geth”, etc etc.
The other prompts are different criteria based on tags/attributes of works in the collection, such as "comment on a work tagged F/F", "comment on a fanart", "comment on a work with Grunt", etc.
Your challenge is to read and comment on as many as you can to fill up the card, help make other rare pair purveyors happy, and have the Space Hampster smile upon you.
Comment cards come in three forms: safe for work (SFW), not-safe-for-work (NSFW), and combo; you may ask for a card made up of SFW prompts, NSFW prompts, or a card with a combination of the two. SFW cards are generated with prompts from works in the exchange from K-T, and NSFW cards use prompts generated from E and M rated works in the collection. Combo cards use both prompt sets.
These are on the honor system, and are meant to be a spot of fun. The prize is enjoying more tasty works and getting bragging rights if you get a bingo/blackout!
Please comment below (comments are screened) with what kind of prompts you'd like and we will send you back a card!
Apologies there was no countdown to opening this year; we had pinch hitters bravely took pinch hits at the very last minute to ensure we would open (close to) on time. Thank you so much to the pinch hitters who were willing to go down to the wire with us.
For everyone else, the FEAST of fic and art is live. 64 works, no waiting! Please come and nom-nom the works with us!
Please reply below (comments are screened) or email specrecs@gmail.com to claim. This pinch hit will be due Sunday, March 27th at 10:00 PM EST. This has been claimed, thank you!
Please leave a comment here (comments are screened) or email specrecs@gmail.com to claim. This pinch hit will be due Sunday, March 27th at 10:00 PM EST.
Request 1 by Velasa Saren Arterius/Nihlus Kryik, Fanfiction
G to NC-17. I'll take fluff, I'll take drama, I'll take angst, I'll take smut, anything as long as they're portrayed as the capable men they are in a mutual relationship built on respect (though Saren is likely somewhat emotionally unavailable in account of the shit he's been through. He's better with Nihlus than he is anyone else though)
They don't start a relationship until after Nihlus finishes his Spectre training. Saren is from Palaven and was raised by his brother after their parents died, and Nihlus is very serious about his job but quite good natured on his own time. Kinky is fine but nothing gross/freaky, and absolutely no feral turian stuff or violent bloody sex. Saren is bi (turians and occasionally asari), Nihlus is pan. Smehur and the Misfireanon's works are my Kryterius bible so if you make references or take notes from their stuff I will love you forever. I am game for angst-o-rama post Eden Prime Saren having a breakdown about having to kill the <i>other</i> person he loved more than anything for the sake of the mission.
Request 2 by Velasa Charr/Ereba (Mass Effect), Fanart, Fanfiction
G to PG-13. All of the happy ending fluff with the two of them raising little tomboy twins Shepard and Rose on Tuchunka after the war. PG13 at most if there's some cursing. Fluff is the best, there can be a little drama as long as everything ends well. They're both pansexual.
Request 3 by Velasa Lantar Sidonis/Solana Vakarian, Fanfiction
G to R. I am here for all of the AUs of these two being a thing because it is glorious. Solana meets this nice, short, cute, somewhat awkward, timid guy with a sense of humor and has a thing for him. Lantar sees her as this goddess of a woman who's clever and sharp and compelling and falls head over heels in love before he realizes what's happening. They are both cute as fuck and everything is beautiful.
If we're talking post-ME2 canon then Garrus is a giant dick to his sister about it, but she's never let <i>anyone</i> push her around and that includes him. Possible arguments: she's an adult and her brother has no business policing her vagina, Garrus <i>forgave</i> Lantar and that should be the end of it, he's paying back his debt to society now and is a good person, the Archangel thing was insane and suicidal in the first place (and you barely even fucking called what the hell Garrus I had to take care of mom and dad all by myself and mom was dying you bastard) so he needs to get over that it ended badly, and technically by turian standards Garrus was Lantar's commander and it's <i>his</i> fault for putting a soldier in a job they couldn't handle. Garrus may not be happy about it but he's not gonna win this argument.
Solana has an iron will and is a crack shot and an excellent goddamn soldier. Lantar is a colony kid from the ass end of Invictus who dropped out of the service as soon as he finished basic. Sex is fine but would prefer no hardcore smut (Sol is totally the dom though). They're both bisexual and usually prefer men, turians only.
Request 4 by Velasa Nyreen Kandros/Aria T'Loak, Fanfiction
G to R. I want their relationship before things went bad; Nyreen questioning herself for compromising her morals working for a dictator, and Aria hating herself for every moment of weakness she shows to this woman she wasn't suppose to fall in love with. Sex is fine but would prefer no hardcore smut. Angst over the relationship is great. Fluff would have to be very small and subtle because Aria doesn't do fluff. Nyreen is a lesbian, Aria is pan with a female focus.
Request 5 by Velasa Female Shepard/Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Fanfiction
G to NC-17. I'd prefer silly, cute, sweet stuff, drama that ends well, or happy loving sex with much kissing and running of fingers through hair and boundless affection. They can get kinky and a little freaky but none of the really Out There stuff. A little angst is ok but not too much. They are both stupidly in love and it's honestly embarrassing to watch. After the war they move to Rannoch and Shep builds her a house and everything is good.
Request 6 by Velasa Macen Barro/Avitus Rix, Fanart, Fanfiction
G to NC-17. I want to know more about them! What we see in the tapes shows an incredible gentle affection, pet names and teasing and big romantic gestures. I'd prefer the fic be about when both of them were alive but would accept something set afterwards with Avitus still missing his husband but mostly ok and recovered. Will also accept fix-it fic where Macen survives his ordeals and is in recovery while Avitus takes over Pathfinder duty. Sex is fine but should not be the focus of the fic, and nothing kinky. They're both gay and focused on turians.
I picture Macen as a tall, broad turian with deep brown plates and forest green tats from a well-off Hierarchy world. He's former Blackwatch and very professional on the job but when you see him in civilian life with his husband he's so sweet it'll make you ill. If you'd like to see my take on him for inspiration you can go here (https://archiveofourown.org/works/30083091/chapters/74092053), but that's not required because He's Free Real Estate. If you already have your own Macen feel free to go for it!
Request 7 by Velasa Kaetus/Sloane Kelly, Fanfiction
G to R. Two people with rough edges facing impossible choices in a new world find each other again against all odds and are deeply in love. Work makes things hard some times; Sloane needs to be deeply guarded about shows of weakness but he's fine with it as long as he can be useful and be near her.
Sweet stuff in moderation, some angst and drama are good but it ultimately ends well. They're not really the fluffy sort. Sex is fine as backdrop to other emotional content but would prefer no hardcore smut. Sloane should survive the encounter with the Charlatan. Genuinely have no thoughts on their sexualities save being compatible with each other.
Request 8 by Velasa Vetra Nyx/Female Ryder | Sara, Fanfiction
G to NC-17. Ryder's a formal bookish science kid who's completely tongue-tied over this stunningly gorgeous, incredibly tall goddess of a turian woman and fell head over heels in love with her from the start. Vetra's sweet despite her hard exterior and as the relationship develops she opens up with her affections and teasing. It's genuinely embarrassing being around them after a while they're so cute.
They're very playful romantically and I would prefer any smut was fluffy in nature (light bondage and strap ons are fine but nothing wilder than that). Drama in moderation, not really looking for angst. If Ryder can be a Korean adept who's always very professional except for with close friends that would be amazing. Ryder and Vetra are both bi.
The kind mods over at fffx have asked us to cross-promote a pinch hit (an assignment needing a pinch hitter). Please note that their standards are a bit different from ours: They are looking for 1x10,000 word fic or 2x5,000 word fics, so for those of you who have epic yarns in you, this might be a good exchange to look at.
You may also choose ‘Any Pairing(s)’ and ask for or volunteer for 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 February 14th, 8:00PM EST. (What time is that for me?)
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 are in an “Any Pairings” request. Thus, it should not be used for a request like “Any Garrus Vakarian fic”, nor can we control which specific pairings you would like to see in it. “Any pairing” requests should only be used for when you really want to see a certain trope or kink or enjoy a pure mystery!
The only limits we will allow on "any" requests by are the following parameters:
the category of relationship, eg Gen, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, or Other: you will get a sign up with at least one request of the chosen category. Can be combined with setting.
the game setting: at least one request will be set in Trilogy or Andromeda, depending or your pick; this can be combined with the above, e.g. "Any trilogy Multi" or "Any Andromeda F/F"
ANY Protagonist Shepard pairing: At least one pairing will feature a Commander Shepard (this restriction will not match Hannah Shepard or Clone Shepard.) You may combine this with a relationship category, e.g., "any Female Shepard F/F".
ANY Protagonist Ryder pairing: You will be matched with a sign up featuring at least one sign-up with a Ryder character (this request will not match Alec Ryder or Ellen Ryder requests). You may combine this with a relationship category, e.g., "any Male Ryder M/M".
No other limits may be selected on any/any pairings so chose this CAREFULLY.
If you would like to participate but do not have an AO3 account, please send us a message on tumblr and we will send you an invitation.
Once again, we have some nominations that we can’t approve as is. Please reach out through Tumblr, Dreamwidth (comments here are screened), Discord, or email (specreqs@gmail.com) to let us know. You can also just edit your nominations directly.
Kirrahe/Shepard (Mass Effect): Kirrahe/Female Shepard and
Kirrahe/Male Shepard are both already in the tagset. Would you like us
to add Kirrahe/Nonbinary Shepard?
Tentacles/Any companion character: We’re not sure what companion character means in this context. Please try to narrow down the focus.
Non-binary Nihlus Kryik/Saren Arterius We are not allowing nominations of non-binary characters other than Shepard and Ryder. We feel that adding nonbinary to canon character nominations is too restrictive and makes it much less likely that someone will match. We would encourage you to put in your likes/prompts that you are interested in a nonbinary Nihlus, but it cannot be part of the nominated relationship. Saren/Nihlus is already in the tagset. We will leave this one as pending so that you can edit to include another relationship you’d like to see.
Original or Canon Ardat-Yakshi/Original Ardat-Yakshi We will be approving this one as Original Ardat-Yakshi/Original Ardat-Yakshi. If you would like to nominate any of the canon Ardat-Yakshi with an OC and do not have spots, let us know and we can add it in.
Sparatus/Original Turian ST&R Non-combat Agent (IE: Intel or R&D) We think that you mean Sparatus/Original Non-Combat Turian Spectre, is that right? The part about Intel/R&D should be included in your prompt for this relationship. We would also like to know whether you have a gender preference; if you would be happy with any gender, then we can approve Sparatus/Original Non-Combat Turian Spectre.
When
nominating, please fill in “Mass Effect – All Media Types” in the fandom box.
As a reminder, both gen (&) and romantic (/) relationshiptags
are allowed for this exchange. Any relationship that fulfills the
criteria below the cut is eligible! If you have any questions, please don’t
hesitate to ask the mods via our inbox or on our discord!
Please see eligibility rules, a how-to guide to nominating, and commonly asked questions below.
Did you know Spec Rec’s 2021 collection is open? Have you read or looked at anything in that delicious collection of sweet, sweet rare pairs? If not -- or if you want a second look -- CHECK OUT THE COLLECTION HERE!
If you want a game to help you find new things to read, we will also be doing commenting bingo cards. If you want one, let us know by commenting below!
What’s a Commenting Bingo Card?
Commenting cards are 5x5 bingo card with a free space in the middle. The free space is meant for whatever sort of rubric you want to set; “fic that was given to me” “ a fic with Tali” etc; the rest are different criteria based on the works in the collection
Your challenge is to read and comment on as many as you can to fill up the card, make other rare pair writers happy, and have the Space Hampster smile upon you.
This year, comment cards come in three forms: safe for work and not-safe-for-work; you may ask for a card made up of SFW prompts, NSFW prompts, or a card with a combination of the two. These are on the honor system, and are meant to be a spot of fun. Please comment below (comments are screened) and we will send you back a card!
Just a quick message reminding everyone that the assignments are due tonight at 10:00PM Eastern time. If you need more time, please comment below with your Ao3 name and how long an extension you need. (Comments are screened on this post, so only mods will be able to see them.) If you have previously spoken to one of the mods about an extention, you do not need to report it here again.
Please leave a comment (all comments are screened) or email specrecs@gmail.com to claim. This pinch hit will be due Sunday, March 14th at 10:00 PM EST.
Request 1 by CypressSunn Kasumi Goto/Jacob Taylor, Fanfiction
Likes: Accidentally fell in love with the mission target • Amnesia • Angst • Banter • Break up to make up • Communication difficulties • Enemies to lovers • Fake dating • Friends to lovers • Genre fic • Intimacy • Jealousy and infidelity • Lived-in settings • Loyalty • Marrieds • Relationship negotiations • Secret relationship • Smut • Snowed-in together • Soulmates
DNW: Abuse • Character bashing • Eroticising racial features • First/second person POV • Humiliation • Incest • Mentions of menstruation or virginity • Sex without attraction, unaroused sexual partners • Unrequited feelings • Unrequested kinks (excretory play, a/b/o, ect) • Underage sex (meaning 17 or younger)
Request 2 by CypressSunn Liara T'Soni/Ashley Williams, Fanfiction
Likes: Accidentally fell in love with the mission target • Amnesia • Angst • Banter • Break up to make up • Communication difficulties • Enemies to lovers • Fake dating • Friends to lovers • Genre fic • Intimacy • Jealousy and infidelity • Lived-in settings • Loyalty • Marrieds • Relationship negotiations • Secret relationship • Smut • Snowed-in together • Soulmates
DNW: Abuse • Character bashing • Eroticising racial features • First/second person POV • Humiliation • Incest • Mentions of menstruation or virginity • Sex without attraction, unaroused sexual partners • Unrequited feelings • Unrequested kinks (excretory play, a/b/o, ect) • Underage sex (meaning 17 or younger)
Request 3 by CypressSunn Garrus Vakarian/Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Fanfiction
Likes: Accidentally fell in love with the mission target • Amnesia • Angst • Banter • Break up to make up • Communication difficulties • Enemies to lovers • Fake dating • Friends to lovers • Genre fic • Intimacy • Jealousy and infidelity • Lived-in settings • Loyalty • Marrieds • Relationship negotiations • Secret relationship • Smut • Snowed-in together • Soulmates
DNW: Abuse • Character bashing • Eroticising racial features • First/second person POV • Humiliation • Incest • Mentions of menstruation or virginity • Sex without attraction, unaroused sexual partners • Unrequited feelings • Unrequested kinks (excretory play, a/b/o, ect) • Underage sex (meaning 17 or younger)
Request 4 by CypressSunn Female Shepard/Jacob Taylor, Fanfiction
Likes: Accidentally fell in love with the mission target • Amnesia • Angst • Banter • Break up to make up • Communication difficulties • Enemies to lovers • Fake dating • Friends to lovers • Genre fic • Intimacy • Jealousy and infidelity • Lived-in settings • Loyalty • Marrieds • Relationship negotiations • Secret relationship • Smut • Snowed-in together • Soulmates
DNW: Abuse • Character bashing • Eroticising racial features • First/second person POV • Humiliation • Incest • Mentions of menstruation or virginity • Sex without attraction, unaroused sexual partners • Unrequited feelings • Unrequested kinks (excretory play, a/b/o, ect) • Underage sex (meaning 17 or younger)
Request 5 by CypressSunn Kaidan Alenko/Kasumi Goto/Male Shepard, Fanfiction
Likes: Accidentally fell in love with the mission target • Amnesia • Angst • Banter • Break up to make up • Communication difficulties • Enemies to lovers • Fake dating • Friends to lovers • Genre fic • Intimacy • Jealousy and infidelity • Lived-in settings • Loyalty • Marrieds • Relationship negotiations • Secret relationship • Smut • Snowed-in together • Soulmates
DNW: Abuse • Character bashing • Eroticising racial features • First/second person POV • Humiliation • Incest • Mentions of menstruation or virginity • Sex without attraction, unaroused sexual partners • Unrequited feelings • Unrequested kinks (excretory play, a/b/o, ect) • Underage sex (meaning 17 or younger)
Please leave a comment (all comments are screened) or email specrecs@gmail.com to claim. This pinch hit will be due Sunday, March 14th at 10:00 PM EST.
Request 1 by thisnewjoe Zaeed Massani/Male Shepard, Fanart, Fanfiction
I love tropes across the wide variety of tags, and am happy to go anywhere from the highs of a great romance to the lows of breaking someone out of captivity. Explicit content is welcomed and yet, it is not at all required. Fluff is enjoyable, too. Please be free to play with the relationship of these characters together as interests and amuses you. I am specifically disinterested in -cest fics, brutalty, on-page rape (though it being part of a character's history is no problem). Feel free to roam the range, but please leave the piss, poop, and spit out of it (other bodily fluids are welcome hehe).
Request 2 by thisnewjoe Male Ryder | Scott/SAM, Fanart, Fanfiction
I love tropes across the wide variety of tags, and am happy to go anywhere from the highs of a great romance to the lows of breaking someone out of captivity. Explicit content is welcomed and yet, it is not at all required. Fluff is enjoyable, too. Please be free to play with the relationship of these characters together as interests and amuses you. I am specifically disinterested in -cest fics, brutalty, on-page rape (though it being part of a character's history is no problem). Feel free to roam the range, but please leave the piss, poop, and spit out of it (other bodily fluids are welcome hehe).
Request 3 by thisnewjoe Male Ryder | Scott/Male Shepard, Fanart, Fanfiction
I love tropes across the wide variety of tags, and am happy to go anywhere from the highs of a great romance to the lows of breaking someone out of captivity. Explicit content is welcomed and yet, it is not at all required. Fluff is enjoyable, too. Please be free to play with the relationship of these characters together as interests and amuses you. I am specifically disinterested in -cest fics, brutalty, on-page rape (though it being part of a character's history is no problem). Feel free to roam the range, but please leave the piss, poop, and spit out of it (other bodily fluids are welcome hehe).
Request 4 by thisnewjoe Kaidan Alenko/James Vega, Fanart, Fanfiction
I love tropes across the wide variety of tags, and am happy to go anywhere from the highs of a great romance to the lows of breaking someone out of captivity. Explicit content is welcomed and yet, it is not at all required. Fluff is enjoyable, too. Please be free to play with the relationship of these characters together as interests and amuses you. I am specifically disinterested in -cest fics, brutalty, on-page rape (though it being part of a character's history is no problem). Feel free to roam the range, but please leave the piss, poop, and spit out of it (other bodily fluids are welcome hehe).
I love tropes across the wide variety of tags, and am happy to go anywhere from the highs of a great romance to the lows of breaking someone out of captivity. Explicit content is welcomed and yet, it is not at all required. Fluff is enjoyable, too. Please be free to play with the relationship of these characters together as interests and amuses you. I am specifically disinterested in -cest fics, brutalty, on-page rape (though it being part of a character's history is no problem). Feel free to roam the range, but please leave the piss, poop, and spit out of it (other bodily fluids are welcome hehe).
A treat is a work composed for the Spectre Requisitions Collection outside of your assignment. A treat is extra, i.e. you are free but not obligated to create it on top of your assignment. This is possible in the following ways:
A fanwork for an un-requested pairing on the nominations list. Is there a pairing on there you just absolutely want to write something for and no one requested it? You can post it to the collection as a treat!
A fanwork that fills a request of one of the participants you weren’t assigned to. Maybe one of the requests on this list just grabs you and you can’t help yourself. We feel you. We really do.
If you create a fanwork for a participant of the Exchange, you are obligated to follow that person’s squicks/triggers and pairings. If your treat doesn’t have a particular recipient, it must still be tagged appropriately (i.e. warn for potentially triggering content, rating).
A treat does not have a minimum word count requirement; it doesn’t need to have over a 1000 words like your Assignment Fic does. A treat may also be a manip on its own, unlike an Assignment Artwork.
You do not have to be signed up to post a fanwork to the collection! All you need is an AO3 account; if you don’t have one, you may message the mods and we will get you an invitation. The collection is open to treats from now up to March 28th. It will be inaccessible to anyone but the creator and the mods until reveals.
How to post your treat:
1) Log into AO3 and go to Post->New Work. Fill in your actual document, titles, warnings, etc. like normal.
2) Under Post to Collections/Challenges, type in the following groups:
- SpecRecs2021
3) Under Gift this work, type in your recipient’s name. If it’s a treat, type in the person whose prompt you used for your fanwork if you used one; otherwise, you can leave this form blank to just make a general gift to the community. If you’ve done it right, it should look like this:
4) Scroll to the bottom, post your work! Voila, you are done!
After that, the mods will take a look at your fic; if we have any follow up questions, we’ll email you at the address listed on your Ao3 account.
Please check your AO3 assignments page or the email you have associated with Ao3 and see who you were assigned to! There were NO initial pinch hits this year. If any pinch hitters are required, we will advertise when they become available both on our tumblr and DW comms.
We have done our best to try to ensure that everyone has a good match, but if there is an issue with yours, please contact us. We will handle things discretely and privately.
Since assignments have gone out, there are a couple things we’d like all authors and artists out there to keep in mind:
You are only committing to writing or drawing one thing for your assigned recipient. That means, of the 5+ ideas they have offered, you are committing to writing one. If they asked for two pairings in the same line, you’re obligated to write only one of the two (your choice). Can you do more? Absolutely. Are you obligated to? Absolutely not.
Please remember that the spirit of this exchange is all rare pairs, all the time. Do not use the exchange to try to write/draw a mega-popular pairing, with a less-popular pairing in the background. We do not allow backdoor mega-pairings to dominate works in this exchange.
Please do not post your fic or art on Tumblr/DeviantArt/etc until the exchange has been revealed. It is imperative that everyone gets their gifts at the same time.
Please don’t contact your recipient directly. If you have questions you want to ask them, please contact us! We are happy to be intermediaries for you!
If you are writing a story/drawing a picture that features elements Ao3 has default warnings for, such as underage/non-con/etc, remember to tag your stories for such elements to advertise it to those that want to see it and to respect those that don’t. If you do not wish to do this or feel like you can’t tag a fic or artwork without spoiling the nature of a twist you’d prefer remain unspoiled, please use the “Choose Not to Warn” option so viewers can make the choice themselves whether or not they want to take a chance on seeing potentially upsetting content.
You are obligated to respect your recipient’s DNW/squicks, but optional details are otherwise that - optional.
Please be careful to not reveal who your recipient is. Posting “I’m so excited about my assignment!” is fine; posting “I’m so excited about writing Thane/Garrus for my best friend @participant!” is not.
If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know!
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 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!
When nominating, please fill in “Mass Effect – All Media Types” in the fandom box.
As a reminder, both gen (&) and romantic (/) relationshiptags are allowed for this exchange. Any relationship that fulfils the criteria below is eligible! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask the mods!
ELIGIBILITY RULES:
A pairing must have 200 or less works when viewed with completed works OR
NEW: A pairing may have over 200 works, but when viewed with completedworks and otp:true parameters, the amount of remaining works is both under 200 and less than 1/3rd of the total number of works.
For Example:
* If Adrian Victus/Steve Cortezhas 138 works, then it will be accepted as it has less than 200 works. No further filtering is needed.
* If Volus God (Self-Declared)/Liara’s Hanar Half-Sister has over 200 works, but when searched with the above parameters, only has 5 works, it would be allowed as it would have met the under the 1:3rd ratio rule.
* If Brooks/Krogan Wondering About Fish on the Citadel has over 200 works, but when searched with OTP: true and completed works parameters, has 100 works, then it would not be allowed, as the ratio between the completed works and completed works with just the pairing (otp:true) would be too high to qualify. This new rule is meant to help pairings that are commonly used as “side pairings” but rarely are featured in works where they are the focus.
If you have any questions on those rules or you just want to hang out and talk Mass Effect pairs beyond the most popular ones, consider joining us at Our Discord server. It’s a great place to hang out and talk rare pairs.
If this is your first year or you just want a guide to find out how to do nominations, please read below:
1) Go to the Ao3 Tagset Page for Spectre Requisitions while logged into Ao3. A tagset is what most Ao3 fan exchanges use to determine what relationships (in Spec Rec’s case) or other criteria are used for an exchange.
If a pairing is not nominated, it will not be able to be used for sign-ups, regardless of whether it would have been eligible otherwise. (Example: Suvi/Chakwas, while certainly being eligible as far as total works go, won’t be an option to ask for if it’s not nominated.)
If you don’t have an Ao3 account, contact the mods, we’ll be happy to help you get one with an invite link!
If you do have an AO3 account and you’re logged in, you should see this button in the corner that says “Nominate”:
2) Click the Nominate Button.
You should wind up with a page that looks like this, with 1 fandom tag and lots of relationship fields to fill out:
3) Fill out the Nominations Sheet.
For fandom, please use “Mass Effect - All Media Types”. We only use Mass Effect - All Media Types because it gives us the highest chance of getting that sweet, sweet Mass Effect content in there regardless of potentially sticky couples (for example: crossovers between a book and a game, or between the Mass Effect Trilogy and Andromeda, or crossovers between other media and Mass Effect) and because Ao3 frankly doesn’t like it when we have couples wandering through different fandoms in the tagset.
For Relationships, any pairing/threesome/moresome that meets the eligibility rules. For most pairings, Ao3 should help autocomplete it for you -- but if you come up with a very original pairing (or AO3 is feeling unhelpful), it may require you to type in the full thing. If it does not auto-complete, don’t worry - you can still submit it! Pairings should be in alphabetical order of names. One pairing per line, please!
4) Submit your Nominations! Just click the button on the bottom, and you should be off off and away!
FAQ:
How can I tell what is under 200 completed fics? I’m not a mind reader, C-sec officer!
You can search AO3′s tags here to find pairings for a given character (canonical only gives you pairings big enough that Ao3 has declared them canonical categories, which are bolded; it does not matter for spec recs whether or not your pairing is canonical). It should look something like this:
If you see a number under 200 here for your pairing, you’re golden! Submit away. If it’s over 200 here, however, don’t despair - check the completed works. For example, let’s look at this couple, Garrus/Tali:
Doesn’t look eligible if you just do a tag search. However, if you click the tag and then do a search for completed works only and you might be surprised!
To do this search for completed works, look at the “Sort and Filter” sidebar and scroll down until you reach the “More Options” field and under “All Works”:
Click complete works only. And in this case, you’d find this couple is, in fact, eligible!
However, let’s say you look at the couple and find they are still over 200, as in the example below?
Well, there is one last thing to check:
Go back to the sidebar, then down to More Options and scroll down to “Search within results”:
OTP: True will show you ONLY the works that are tagged with JUST the target couple. When you sort and filter, you will see a total. In this example’s case, that number is 30:
What this means is that off the 204 works in Garrus/Tali right now, only 30 only focus on Garrus/Tali as a couple. As a result, the ratio of otp:true works to completed works is less than 1/3rd of the total, and the couple would be allowed to participate.
What if I accidentally nominate something that’s not eligible? Will I get in trouble?
Nah. You might wind up with it being rejected, but we assume most people operate in good faith in their nominations. If we reject a couple, we will always put it in the spreadsheet for the year linked on the sidebar with a reason why.
How many things can I nominate?
10 pairings - so choose carefully what you’d like to see and write. That covers both Andromeda and Trilogy, and all the novels, comics, etc.
Can I nominate, even if I’m not sure I’ll sign up or don’t plan on signing up?
Of course! Nominating isn’t a binding process - you’re only voting for what you’d like to see. You don’t have to sign up after nominating things - in fact, nominations are anonymous, so we can’t tell what you’ve nominated.
Are there any special rules/restrictions on what I can/can’t nominate?
Only the eligibility rules.
Can I nominate Original Characters?
Yes- ish. We allow original characters who are defined enough to give the person who matches on the original character something to go on, but not so much so they have to do an exhaustive amount of research on a fanon character. For example:
Allowable OC nominations:
Female Asari Spectre/Female Cerberus Agent - both these roles are defined in terms of what category of pairing they want (f/f), and the two roles give someone an idea of who these people are without being excessively limiting.
Not-so-allowable:
Communications Officer/Male Original Character: both of these are too vague. We’re not sure whether this person wants a male, female, nonbinary, or other gender for the Communication’s Officer; Male Original Character is so nebulously defined that we’re not sure just who that might be.
Female Shepard/Batarian(s) - We don’t know who these batarians are, or how many of them there are. “Five Male Batarian Pilots” tells us a lot more.
Male Shepard/Legion/Ebony Raven Darkmayne (My OC) - While we encourage you to add details about your Shepards or other OCs, it’s very hard to write for original characters someone else has formed. Please nominate your OC in more generic terms (ex Male Shepard/Legion/Original Female Goffic Hogwarts Student). You can add in names and descriptions in optional details in your sign up, but this way the writer or artist has more wiggle room for what will suit their fic or art, and you have more options of matching more people since you aren’t limited to one interpretation of a concept.
A good rule of thumb is if you can sum up an OC in five non-name nouns or less, it’s probably a valid nomination.
Can I nominate crossovers?
Yes!
Crossovers between different Mass Effect properties are welcome and all crossovers between the different universes are as well! Just please, if the character you’re crossing over doesn’t hail from a Mass Effect canon, add in the canon next to the character name, eg “Darth Vader (Star Wars)/Garrus Vakarian."