Fiction:
Aftermath: Tides Turning (Clorinda Cathcart’s Circle Book 18) by L. A. Hall started my year off right with a check-in on old friends. I loved how the younger generation was taking up the slack to subtly change things for the better.
#TBRChallenge – Starting Over: A Paradigm of Earth by Candas Jane Dorsey.
Fanfiction:
Strange-Eyed Constellations by kaydeefalls was the sort of unexpected crossover I love: The Old Guard, movie version, with Star Trek, reboot movie version. By this point in their future, Andromache the Scythian has died but Quynh has been reunited with the others. They’ve all served in Starfleet in previous lifetimes, but currently are working independently, Nile and Booker in Space, Nicky and Joe and Quynh on Earth…until they begin dreaming of a new immortal, a Vulcan woman. I would read lots more of this crossover if it became a series!
firecracker, firecracker, sparkling in the sky by basketofnovas (slashmarks) for etothey is an AU of Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey, in which Lessa of Ruatha Hold impresses a bronze dragon while Kylara impresses the queen dragon, Ramoth. The two end up as the new Weyrleaders. I wanted a lot more of this story; it ends with the mating flight.
King of the Clouds by rayemars is the most unusual Check Please! story I’ve ever read; set among the Las Vegas Aces, it’s from the point of view of a Ukrainian player nicknamed Scrappy, a dreamwalker who gets drawn into Kent Parsons’ dreams. There are elements of psychological horror. It explores homophobia and harassment from an interesting angle.
More Than a Murderbot by pineapplesquid crosses over Martha Wells’ Murderbot series with Queer Eye. Ameena has recommended Murderbot for a makeover. This is incredibly sweet, and good about consent issues.
need a little angel sitting on my shoulder by napricot is a small-town Christmas romance with a touch of mystery, featuring Bucky Barnes and Sarah Wilson.
The Way of Conquest by pagination is an AU of The Mandalorian, in which Din and Grogu accidentally get thrown back in time and kill Senator Palpatine in the process. Hilarity ensues, some related to bureaucracy, some related to a tiny Yoda-creature’s eating habits.
Queer Omens by Lurlur crosses over the reality show Queer Eye with the television version of Good Omens. Post-Armageddon-that-wasn’t, Crowley kidnaps the Fab 5 who don’t make over Aziraphale’s bookstore, but do help the angel and the demon with relationship issues.
A Lifetime of After by Casloveshisfreckles is both a crossover and an alternate universe. The Fab 5 makes over Castiel Novak, a board game designer, who was nominated by his best friend and roommate, elementary school teacher Dean Winchester. This is also a romance. There are no Supernatural elements other than characters.
Queer Eye for the Staten Guy by lousy_science features Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. from Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. I’ve seen maybe a couple of episodes of that show, from early on in its run, but I was able to follow the story anyway. Sonny recently received his law degree, but his loving Italian-American family says he’s been distant from them since, and hasn’t wanted to celebrate his achievement. Sonny, meanwhile, has been dealing with several emotional issues, which the Fab 5 help him to overcome. There’s an epilogue in which he gets together with the person he’s been crushing on.
Queer Eye for the Spider Guy by sahiya is also both a crossover and an alternate universe. Tony Stark survives Thanos and has become even more of a father figure to Peter Parker, whose identity has recently become public now that he’s a PhD student at NYU. Peter’s having trouble balancing his Spiderman duties with everything else, which led to his breakup with MJ, and finds it difficult to accept help from his loved ones, even his Aunt May. The Fab 5 help Peter to go from “Spider-mess to his Spider-best!” This one is adorable.
Queer Eye For the Science Guy by heyjupiter features Bruce Banner, who lives in Avengers Tower after helping fight off the Chitauri invasion. Bruce only has two pairs of trousers, all his t-shirts used to belong to Tony Stark, and he forgets to leave the building for weeks at a time. The Fab 5 have their work cut out for them…plus they want to know what’s up with the Science Bros relationship. I loved this one as well.
