#nb!shepard

[sol-consort]

Kaidan was attracted to Shepard from the very start.

I read that line in the wiki and now I want to talk more about it because it makes so much sense.

He has been alone for so long after jump zero. Rising through the ranks of the military quickly before he could establish a connection with anyone. He mostly kept to himself to stay in control, not risk scaring people off.

Then he meets Shepard, and a wrench is thrown into his plans. He is absolutely awe struck. Emotions he hasn't felt since he was a kid are quickly resurfacing back inside his 32 years old heart. He feels almost embarrassed at how smitten he is.

Eyes glancing at you while you walk around the ship. Kaidan coming with excuses on why he should be at the helm with Joker just because that happened to be where you spend most of your time at, listening to your banter with him and adding a comment every now and then himself, trying to pretend that the sound of your laughter isn't the sweetest music he has ever heard.

A fool in love, he tries so hard to hide it to no avail. So much that even captain Anderson orders you to stay off of the biotics wings unless absolutely necessary just so Kaidan can get his job done without being distracted by the way you're holding that gun handle, fingers delicately holding it as you test it for any imperfection, the way it fits perfectly into your fist and oh god he can't take it anymore.

You had him wrapped around your fingers and the two of you haven't even had a one on one chat yet, the only introduction he ever got from you was when captain Anderson brought him on board and started introducing him to the crew.

"Shepard, come here." Was all his new captain had to say for the most jawdropping gorgeous human that Kaidan has ever seen in his life to walk into the room, posture straight and mesmerising eyes glancing at him for a second before focusing back on the captain.

"This is Commander Shepard, your Commander for the upcoming missions, Lieutenant Alenko."

Kaidan almost fainted when he heard that. Why couldn't you be some cute medic on board or an engineer? At least he might have had a chance then, but now he can't even dream of it unless he disturbs the chain of command.

Although, the thought of calling you "Ma'am" or "Sir" stirs something inside him. A part he never realised about himself before and wow is that military uniform really working for you, he never thought they made them that tight, or is it your body that can make even a potato sack look this enticing?

"Lieutenant?" Your voice finally came out after Kaidan just stood there, dumbly staring, too in his mind to remember to introduce himself or at least give a salute.

He sutters out his name, trying to keep his cool and clearing his throat.

Your voice was the killshot in all of this, the deepness of it that he felt he could drown in. The way you spoke each word carefully, the hint of danger, the authority it resonated in everyone who heard it.

Kaidan was down bad, the idea of that same voice ordering him around has blood rushing to his face. Wasn't it for his immense self control, he wouldn't have been able to continue on.

[depressed-sock]

It's Colder in Hell (Wishing you were there!) (2649 words)

Treat For Elle_Weird. Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Mass Effect Trilogy Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Zaeed Massani/NB Shepard Characters: Zaeed Massani, Shepard (Mass Effect) Additional Tags: Mistaken Identity, Stranded, Bad Intel, Alternative Universe- mercenaries, Shepard would just like to say My Bad, Short Shepard Supremacy, Engineer Shepard, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Developing Relationship, Prothean Technology Shenanigans, a series of unfortunate misunderstandings lead to this, It did not help that Shepard's friends kept making it worse Preview:

Audio crackles to life from a comn unit several decades old.

“It’s just going to be a routine check Garrus. It’s not like the ancient Prothean Technology is just going to magically activate because I stepped in the wrong place.”

“Shepard, I want you to take what you just said to me and repeat it back to yourself slowly. Then I want you to remember how this whole mess started in the first place.”

“… I just jinxed myself, didn’t I…”

“Oh you definitely did. I’ll start making preparations for your funeral.”

A loud sigh can be heard under the static.

—

Zaeed Massani above all else was always going to be a Merc. He’d made it his job, carved it out in others blood, tamed it in his own, and kept to it like there was nothing else in the galaxy that could satisfy him. He’s done everything and anything… but it’s times like this where he seriously begins to contemplate just fucking retiring rather than putting up with any of this bullshit.

It’s like these people don’t think he wouldn’t know a bad job until it bit him in the ass.

He glares down at the datapad that’s been handed to him, a faint sneer pulling at his lips in disgust as he reads exactly what his client wants.

A kidnapping job. Or as it’s been so nicely written, a “Retrieval” mission. Not exactly something new or extraordinary in his line of work. He’s done jobs like this a dozen times over. So really it’s not the basic terms of the job that are the problem but the target that has him wondering if this slimy fucker really thinks Zaeed is that stupid.

“You want me to go after Commander Shepard.” He doesn’t make it a question because the contract itself is pretty fucking clear. They want him to go after the most fucking dangerous individual in the entire fucking Galaxy. The person whose got several bounties and about a dozen life sentences on their head. Whose leash had been held tight by Alliance Military and the Council until they’d cut themself free in a bloody display of power.

Commander Shepard is a name that’s whispered in fear by the powerful and in awe by every single lowlife thug in the galaxy. And this fucker here wants to hire him to kidnap the Commander Fucking Shepard like it should be the easiest thing in the Galaxy.

It would be one thing if it was a hit. That he would at least have a fucking chance in hell of maybe accomplishing (and shit maybe he’d survive it too) but fucking kidnapping?

He’d rather eat his own goddamn gun than deal with the absolute nightmare that would entail trying to hold them down long enough to deliver them back into his clients hands.

“You don’t think you can handle it?” The Illusive Man himself huffs softly, bringing a cigarette up to his lips and inhaling it like he didn’t just ask Zaeed to go on a suicide run. He’s had to have already gone through a list of Mercs before he got to Zaeed because Zaeed’s good but he’s nowhere near the best.

The best just so happens to be the target the Illusive Man is pointing him towards.

[imagines4abrokenheart]

I drew Mordin and my Shepard! Took me 2 days to draw and color this uwu I'm so proud of myself QwQ

This Shepard is Non-binary masc, and aroace! UwU

[thymelessink]

Salarian Curiosity

[chimeowrical]

A kissy commishie of Kasumi and Mercy Shepard for spooky!!

[tekehu]

when will people stop tagging as femshep, honestly it's the only game where i see others (still) doing that

[earthenterran]

in another fucking life

(nb shepard, she/they)

[aedyre]

nb child returns, now in HD! seriously tho modded MELE looks like a whole other game. finally no more potato face

[irikahkrios]

i was tagged in this mass effect questions meme by @imakemywings and, although i do like answering posts like this, i'm pretty sure this was the same one that was going around to try to silence any criticism of the demaster before its release. with that in mind, i couldn't resist taking the opportunity to put in a few more critical questions to balance out the positive ones. EDIT: apparently i'm wrong and this is a new meme, and just has similar wording/questions to that other one. but i've kept my extra questions because why not lmao

I've been a fan since: christmas day 2017, when i bought andromeda on sale. i wasn't planning on playing the trilogy because of the lack of gay romances, but then i saw thane and, well. y'know.

Favorite game of the series: me2 or andromeda

Favorite gender for Shepard?: mshep my beloved <3 love being able to play a male video game protag (in a Shooty Sci-fi Game no less) as soft and loving and respectful of everyone around him. paragon mshep and his respectful caring friendships with his crew just make me very happy

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: spacer

Paragon or Renegade?: paragon, i can't make myself choose evil options in video games

Biotics or Tech?: biotics

Favorite class: vanguard

Favorite companions: irikah and thane

Least favorite companions: liara

My squad selection: me1 is garrus + tali, me2 and me3 is any combination of irikah + thane + garrus, andromeda is liam + jaal

Favorite in-game romance: thane/irikah/shepard forever. like, the themes? these two people who have been so thoroughly broken down by their experiences and their trauma, who have been clinging to each other and trying to ensure a future for their son without really thinking about themselves beyond "when we go out, we'll go out together," meeting this person who makes them both realize that there can be a future for them too?? who makes them see the beauty and possibilities in the galaxy again, makes them remember why they fell in love in the first place and makes them dream of a future (however brief it may be, due to thane's illness) for themselves and this wonderful person? like. fuck. they're my everything

Least favorite romance: thane/shepard without irikah.

Other pairings I like: obviously thane/irikah is my lifeblood and my reason for getting up in the morning. their love is the most important thing in the world and in these silly space games

Favorite NPCs: kolyat, anderson, and conrad verner

Favorite antagonist: i think kai leng had lots of potential and deserved better development. i wish he'd been introduced in me2, it would have helped with a lot of his writing problems in me3 if he was an established character in the games instead of seemingly coming out of nowhere unless you happened to have read the books.

i also think shepard's clone was a really interesting character concept and i wish they hadn't died. my shepard's clone has a whole-ass character arc postcanon

Least favorite antagonist: the geth. bioware did a great job of making them super creepy and soulless, every time i see one of those things i just wanna grab the shotgun

Favorite mission: priority tuchanka. literally the perfect mission, the absolute peak of good writing in this series. you finally get to cure the genophage, mordin gets maybe the best-written character death in the series, wrex calls my shepard his brother, and there's a giant fucking thresher maw that fucks up a reaper. what more could you possibly ask for

Least favorite mission: priority thessia.

Favorite loyalty mission: tali or jack. also mordin's makes me cry every time. so does miranda's, mostly just because of Same Trauma™

Least favorite loyalty mission: jacob i'm so sorry they did that to you, what the FUCK

Favorite DLC: i know almost everybody probably chooses citadel for this and despite a few problems with it i do really love it, but in the name of choosing a more interesting/less predictable answer i will say that i also have a soft spot for leviathan. surprisingly effective horror, can't describe the feeling of sheer stomach-churning dread i had playing it for the first time when my shepard was going down in that diving mech.

Least favorite DLC: overlord is just. so much. bioware certainly made some Choices when they made that one and i could write an entire essay on it

also i haven't played arrival and never will, like i totally understand that the Point is that it's the trolley problem on a massive scale. but i really don't want my shepard to be the one diverting that particular trolley. if you find it compelling and consider it part of your shepard's canon that's totally cool and valid!! but i'm just not really comfortable having it in my shepard's story.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: destroy. bioware there's no way i'm letting you kill my shepard. like sorry edi, i love you and i wish you didn't have to die, but i mean. come on.

Favorite weapon: m-22 eviscerator my beloved

Favorite place: gotta be boring and say the citadel wards. i am not immune to beautiful idyllic centers of galactic civilization having shady neon-lit underbellies. same reason my favorite star wars planet is coruscant

A quote I like: gotta go for comedy on this one, it's technically cut content and can only be accessed in-game if you use the save editor, but thane's "my bones are aching..." makes me lose my mind every time i hear it or think about it. it's so weird and out of nowhere

i'm not tagging anybody but if you wanna do it, feel free to say i tagged you!!

[cassandrapentayaaaaas]

Bro, I can’t see Ben NOT choosing Synthesis having played this whole series yet again. And that shit guts me, via my asshole.

[sol-consort]

May we have a crumb of yandere Kai Leng x reader headcannons or something like that? 🙏 🥺 (I'm sorry)

Hell yeah my dude, you may even get a smooch on the forehead for being the bravest soul out there to ask for this.

Yandere Kai Leng HC

[Dark content, yandere, stalking, obsession, possessive behaviour, enemies with tension, love/hate relationship]

[Shepard reader - gender neutral]

"You killed the scientists... What do you want?"

"Your attention."

Kai Leng is many things, an assassin, a killer, a bastard and the most annoying thorn digging at your side with exceptional delight.

The way he snatches victory from your fingertips at the last moment, drinks in the expression on your face going from genuine surprise to despair and then rage.

It makes the blood pump faster in his veins, being at the centre of your undivided attention as you stare at him with a look of pure primal rage.

Careful Shepard, you treat a man this way and he might get the wrong idea.

Next thing you know, he's breaking into the Normandy undetected while it's docked on the Citidal. Crew blissfully unaware as they enjoy their shore leave for a day.

Your quarters aren't what he expected, not from the best fighter he ever went against in his life. Yet so very endearing, you collect ship models? You care for fish?

How...cute.

He traces his gloved fingers against the surface of your desk, leaves a couple smudges on the glass of the aquarium with a smirk as he imagines the annoyed look on your face.

Sits on your chair, examines the various medals you keep in a case display. Reading what each one was for, looking through your life achievements as if it was a to do list he's crossing off, comparing his own skills to yours without a hint of shame.

Moving to your couch, he spots a half empty glass of wine. A small smudge of lips against the rim of the delicate glass.

Nimble fingers pick it up, careful not to let the sharp metal nails on his gloves scratch the surface. He drinks in the aroma of the wine.

Oh, definitely not his type, you have an awful taste in wine. He thinks as he turns the glass around, parting his lips and pressing his mouth against where your own lips have been.

Downing it in one gulp, he feels the same rush of dopamine whenever he fights you. The same shiver ran up his spine as that day he noticed a bit of your blood on his finger and licked it off while meeting your eyes, shameless at the look of disgust in yours.

You tasted just as awful as this wine, as sickingly bittersweet, and he can't get enough.

Your bed is on display next to him, all made and neat just like any alliance soldier must have been taught to do.

What a good little soldier you are, he thinks, did you keep your bed all made for him to ruin?

So many ideas go through his head on the ways he could piss you off with this, maybe spill the wine on it? Or how about his own blood? Maybe litter the cover with bullet holes and spell out his name.

He walks closers to the seemingly soft thing, lifting the covers and leaning down.

It...smells like you. Like the faint scent he catches whenever he has you pressed under him during combat, amidst the smell of gunpowder and rubble, your own scent stood out as he pressed his nose closer to your neck, alongside his sharp sword.

Kai Leng buried his face in the pillow much like he wanted to do with your neck just before you flipped him over on the ground and pointed a gun at his head.

He settles for laying on the bed, nothing else. You wouldn't have had an idea he was here except for the few wrinkles on the sheets his heavy armour would leave behind.

Your bed is surprisingly hard, much like your own body. He thought it was fitting, and yet a part of him wanted to force you on a soft bed, see you unwillingly sink into the comfortable fluffy sheets and have your muscles unconsciously relax.

Do you keep yourself constantly sharp not to lose your survival instincts? Do you refrain from allowing yourself the luxury of comfort not to grow soft around the edges?

He has read and heard so many things about you, he has searched the aftermath of every battlefield you left behind.

He knows more about you than anyone could ever claim to, more than the person you've shared this bed with before could ever attest to.

On his way out, he removes the bugs he planted to block the cameras. Twirling one of your shiny medals between his fingers, your opened wine bottle in the other hand.

"You're not as weak as I thought. But never forget that your best wasn't good enough to stop me."

He's cocky and confident in his own skills. He has nothing to prove and no one to impress.

But you, oh you, always working hard to meet other's expectations. Always being spun around and dragged from one trivial mission to another, hunting for the most useless of sentimental items to return to their owners without being asked to.

He hated seeing others use you, he felt like it was only his right to have you running around searching for him.

Whenever your focus drifted elsewhere, he'd blow up a small colony here to get you chasing after his trail again, plant a small hijacking device on an alliance ship you'd need to save, let some info slip so your sources could get a tip on him.

Let your pathetic crew think they managed to track him when he turned off his own firewalls just long enough to ignite the flames.

He always gives you just enough to keep the fire burning, just enough to keep him out of reach with you on his heels.

Just enough so you don't get distracted by lesser matters.

Or lesser people.

He has seen your record, read your personal information reports and he was not impressed by the person you've called your lover.

What do you even see in them?

Now he can't have his cute little commander getting distracted by some lame date or a sorry excuse of a person you call a lover, no he needs you to focus on him.

And if slitting more throats was all it took to keep your pretty eyes focused on him, then can you really blame him?

Can you blame him for looking forward to each fight with you.

Your back aches from the sharp stones of the cracked wall behind you digging into your armour. Legs floating just above the ground below as you were helplessly pinned to the wall by a hand against your throat, helmet cracked open with your eyes glaring into the masked figure in front of you.

There's a sharp dagger against your heart, an obsidian blade threatening to tear through your armour like paper. It has also dug a way through to your bare flesh with its tip, you feel the cold press of the sharp stone against your skin.

Heart beating, your fingers stay still against the trigger of your pistol. Despite the barrel pressed directly onto the temple of his head, Kai Leng paid it no attention as his closed his body against yours more.

Thighs touching each other, the heat radiating off of the two of you from your previous game of cat and mouse. The way he keeps all of your weight lifted off of the ground with just a single hand, pressing hard enough to choke you but not cut your air off.

He's smiling, a gesture so seemingly innocent yet smug at your scowling expression. Each one holding the thread of life of each other, the threat of snapping it hangs thick in the air but neither of you makes the first move.

The dagger is steady against your heart, his body keeps moving closer. You're struggling not to let your grip on the pistol falters, it's all you have left.

Letting go of your neck, the supply of air makes you regain your wits. His body is tightly pressed against your now, the blunt edge of his dagger pressing against his own heart.

Strangely, his free hand holds you lovingly. Holds you like you're partners in a slow dance, like you're seconds away from sharing a kiss after months spent at sea away from your lover.

His face is moving in, your eyes are glued to his lips. Your mouth parts on its own.

Closing your eyes, you feel your finger slipping from the trigger on the pistol. You feel the dagger faltering.

Within a second, you immediately bring up your knee to dig painful in his stomach and free yourself. He staggers backward before finding a cover from the barrage of bullets you fire his way.

The dagger slashed across your armor, a line from your heart and upwards to collar bone. The marks of his fingers on your neck left a visible bruise.

He noticed your high collared wardrobe choices in the following weeks, the corner of his lips tugging upwards at the purple traces peaking through the turtlenecks you wore.

But his own bruise from your solid knee hitting his stomach was on fill display as he wore lighter clothes during his training. Stopping in front of the mirror in his room to lift his shirt and admire the mark you've left on him.

He wanted more.

He wanted your claws marking down his back, he wanted your thighs squeezing his waist until it bruised.

Your teethmarks against his neck and shoulders, a slap to the face, a punch to bruise his side.

Reducing the two of you to animals in a state of primal fighting for domination, he wanted you to give your best to him and watch as he still overpowers you.

Make you struggle for your life and then lose to him, time after time he wanted to keep you frustrated and losing.

Making the acclaimed hero, the Commander Shepard, feel weak against another human for once in your life.

It gave him such a power trip. A rush of ego going straight to his heart and between his legs.

You were his. Since the day you the Illusive man handed him your file, you were fated to be his.

He wanted you more than anything, he wanted you more than air itself at times. Wanted to push and prod you and experience all of your reactions, wanted to put you below him then watch you flip him over.

Kai Leng will take anything and everything you have to offer, be it love or hate. He will gladly feed his obsession off of both, make you feel his body pressing against yours during each encounter.

Remind you of your equal, that you're not the unbreakable titanium everyone claims you to be.

That just like him, you're human too. Weak and prone to error.

He will never look at you with stars in his eyes like the rest of your loyal crew does. He will never see you as bigger than life like the other humans do.

He will always see past all the fancy titles, shiny medals and heavy armour.

And see you. Not Shepard, not your last name and not the commander.

But you.

Bare, strong, weak.

And no one else besides him will get that, no one else will be your equal but him.

He will make sure of it, that you won't get to experience this with anyone else.

Everyone is worshipping at your feet. Doesn't it get tiring? Don't you want to feel alive? Really alive rather than being reduced to this symbol of hope rather than the living being you are?

And so he reminds you of that, several messages disguised as war reports or intel from military officials sent by him.

Only for the first line to be met with, is him praising you for doing such a good job and opening these messages, falling straight into his trap.

Be good for him, read through the whole thing. Through all the demeaning praise and gratifying insults, through all the things he has written about you.

Like eating at a restaurant and leaving a review afterwards, that's how he treats those battles the two of you have. Sending you a performance review afterwards and listing the things you did wrong and how to improve them.

Making you the more confused by him, by why he does the things he does.

Sometimes, his messages include information about you that no one else knows, references to moments you were sure you've spent alone, past, and present.

He ignores every questioning message you send him, cherry picking the parts of your message to reply to.

He grew more and more unhinged with his messages as time went on, more and more shameless with his voicing his inner thoughts on a recording and sending it to you.

There's a faint sound of gunshots and screams in the background, as if he was recording them on missions. Forcing you to have to listen to them so you may catch any details on where he was and who he was killing.

Other times, you started finding things on your bed and desk that you were sure you didn't buy whenever you came back from a shore break on the Citidal.

A dark chocolate candy bar on your desk.

An apple on the table.

A shirt that's not quite your size, washed and folded on the bed.

A perfume that smells faintly familiar.

One handwritten letter you found, stabbed to the bedframe with an obsidian dagger.

"The legend of Shepard needs to be re-written.

I hope l'm there for the last chapter. It ends with your death."

[lanaevyssmoved]

I've been pretty active in the Mass Effect fandom back in the day and a lot of my trans mutuals got shat on by cishet women for playing maleShep (they were more comfortable playing as him) and got called misogynist for it even though they didn't say anything misogynist. and I remember a lot of the same women had a meltdown when people referred to Shepard as they/them when speaking in general, and what I'm trying to say is - yeah, the terf and radfem rhetoric is very much a thing in fandoms as I saw it first-hand.

It was very upsetting to see my trans mutuals being scared of sharing their male (or nb) OCs, because you were automatically labelled a misogynist. I used to identify as a cis woman at the time too and even then, it was baffling to me that they'd come to this conclusion. I know how actual misogynists act like and they were far from that. A lot of my mutuals, including me after I started questioning my gender, left the fandom because we felt we didn't belong.

gonna talk about this undercut because ngl i feel a tad unsafe in this topic

i'm seeing this happen in the bg3 fandom with posts in the main tags where tav is being she/her'd exclusively and happy endings for characters being nuclear family/pregnancy and nothing else is a true happy/good ending, and the second trans folks and gay men tried to talk about this becoming the only accepted view for many people they were stomped into silence again for ruining peoples fun... by people not even realising this stuff is rooted in terf/radfem rhetoric. they just comment 'pregnancy is ok actually, let people have fun' without even checking the original OPs blogs and seeing how transphobic and homophobic they are.

we don't get upset because we're not being included. we're upset because we know what the fuck is going on and we can see it happening in real time and are trying to stop it before it becomes so widespread we don't feel safe enough to talk at all.

this also happened in the dragon age fandom and it's just. maybe rpg fandoms are just not safe spaces! that sucks!

i'm really sorry your friends and you had a rough time. i'm also sorry this is a repeating behaviour, no matter how many years pass. there's never a lesson learnt here, i suppose

[depressed-sock]

Stuff I did for Spec Reqs 2024! :D

(I'll also be doing individual posts for these but here's just a comprehensive list! )

It's Colder in Hell (Wishing you were there!) (2,649 words) part 1/2 | Zaeed/Nb Shepard

Dangerous Together (Art) Miranda/ Liara

Hanging Around (375 words and Art) Zaeed/Chakwas

Mourning what we could be (911 words) FShep & Clone Shep

Beach day! (Art) Jacob/MShep

Make me a Home even as I Wander (4,345 words) Jack/Nb Shepard

Out on the town (Art) Miranda/ Liara

[thymelessink]

Shepard spending time with Mordin

[fornaxexchange]

Nominations are now open for the 2024 Fornax Exchange!

When nominating, please fill in “Mass Effect – All Media Types” in the fandom box.

As this is a smut-oriented exchange, only / nominations will be accepted; we will not be accepting any & nominations. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask the mods via our inbox or on our discord!

Please see a how-to guide to nominating and commonly asked questions below.

HOW TO NOMINATE:

1) Go to the AO3 Tagset Page for Fornax 2024 while logged into AO3. A tagset is what most AO3 fan exchanges use to determine what relationships 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  

If you don’t have an AO3 account, contact the mods, we’ll be happy to help you get one with an invite link!

2) Click "Nominate"

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

4) Submit your Nominations! Just click the button on the bottom, and you should be off off and away!

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

How many things can I nominate?

15 relationships — so choose carefully what you’d like to see and write. That covers both Andromeda and Trilogy, 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?

Everything is eligible as long as one part of the relationship is a Mass Effect character. Please remember to be specific in your nominations; for example, when nominating Shepard, please indicate whether it's male Shepard, female Shepard, or NB Shepard. Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko, Female Shepard/Kaidan Alenko, and NB Shepard/Kaidan Alenko will count as three distinct relationships

Can I nominate transgender or nonbinary Shepards/Ryders?

Yes! All Shepards and Ryders are welcome. For Nonbinary Shepards/Ryders, please nominate them under Nonbinary Shepard/Ryder. For transgender Shepards/Ryders, please nominate them under the preferred gender presentation and when you sign up for the exchange, please put in your sign-up that you would like that version of the character to be considered trans.

(Please note that if you only want a trans version of a character, to write in a DNW (Do Not Want) in your request for the cis version of the character; otherwise, you will be interpreted as open to both cis and trans “Female Shepard/Ryder” or “Male Shepard/Ryder”.)

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/Lia Forsithe (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/Female Original Dragonborn Fantasy Character).  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 more than one and less than five non-name nouns, it’s probably a valid nomination.

Can I nominate crossovers?

Yes! Crossovers between different Mass Effect properties are welcome, as are crossovers between other fandoms! 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.”

What if I have more than 15 to nominate???

We will allow people to request a couple extra nominations if they need the space; it’s a big, big universe after all. If you have exhausted your sign-up, please PM us or talk to us on the discord about adding in extra pairings. In order to keep things fair for everyone and not have one person’s pairings dominating the space, please limit your extra requests to no more than 5.

[hazelestelle]

Rarepairs! - A SpecRecs Rec List

@spectre-requisitions-exchange authors were revealed (last week XD), and I finally have time for some recs!

First, my wonderful amazing gift!

Stars With One by @wickedwitchofthewilds. I am so happy that you chose Harry Carlyle/Scott Ryder for me, and I love it so much! It's so sweet and a little spicy too.

There's so many great stories and you should definitely check out the collection, but here's some assorted recs:

On The Shore (From A Distance) by kaijuburgers. Kaidan Alenko/Citadel Doctor. It's so lovely and bittersweet, and I love Miles! Byte Me by Kalliesa. Legion/Female Shepard. It is so hot, omg! Trust Me, I'm a Doctor by @cat-shepard. Harry Carlyle/Sara Ryder. The doctor is in! It's so sexy, and the puns are amazing! Stitched Together by @ferindencadash . James Vega/Male Shepard. The slow burn, the pining, the flirting! It has it all. oil & water by forceinsensitive. Gil Brodie/Kallo Jath. The enemies to lovers ships! It's so well done, the world building is incredible and the relationship development is fantastic. Taking on the Broker by @alyssalenko. Shadow Broker/Female Shepard. It's hot. Like, hello?? Be Gentle by FinchMarie. Thane Krios/NB Shepard. It's art. Just look at it. So beautiful. A Deal is a Deal by @vorchagirl. More Shadow Broker/Female Shepard, because yes! a still, small voice by calypsid. Urdnot Wrex/Female Shepard. An amazing exploration of Shepard's character, and very hot sex too.

Of course, I also wrote some things myself :)

comm chats and more, Diana Allers/Samantha Traynor. Diana and Samantha talk a lot over the comms. And then in person. when push comes to shove, Akksul/Scott Ryder. Akksul and Scott's arguments turn physical in the best way. pour me a whiskey melody, Harry Carlyle/Reyes Vidal. According to Sara, Harry really needs to go out and have some fun. So he does just that. afterparty, Urdnot Wrex/Female Shepard. Shepard and Wrex have sex in a hot tub. That's it, that's the story. salt and pepper, Alec Ryder/Cora Harper. Cora is fascinated with Alec. She knows it won't go anywhere. Or maybe it will?

Happy reading! <3