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Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Anne Teldy, Carson Beckett, Radek Zelenka, Jennifer Keller
Rating: Explicit
Length: 18,013
Content Notes: Graphic depictions of violence. Jeannie, Rodney's sister, has died long before the story starts. Academic ethics are somewhat compromised!
Creator Links: Telesilla on AO3, helens78 on Audiofic Archive
Themes: Crack treated seriously, First time, Friends to lovers, Animal transformation, Werecreatures, Complete AU, Interspecies pairing, Research, Worldbuilding (I had difficulty finding actual tags to reflect some of these because while there's a minor character werewolf in this, most of the Weres aren't wolves.)

Summary: John Sheppard has had over twenty years to come to grips with the fact that every four or five weeks, he turns into a mountain lion. Like most Were, he accepts that that's just the way it is, and so he's not particularly interested when he learns that researchers at the local university are trying to to develop drugs that will help Were control their cycles. Then he meets Dr. Rodney McKay, a brilliant but irascible biochemist with reasons of his own for spearheading the university's Were research and John suddenly finds himself struggling with more than just his attraction to McKay.

Reccer's Notes: Werewolves, or in this case, Werecreatures in general, are a popular crack fantasy trope. This story's excellent as it turns the fantasy trope into a real minority of individuals having Were genes, forced to change cyclically to an animal form. In this story's interesting worldbuilding, Were are discriminated against and find it hard to get jobs and live as full members of society. John is a werecougar and he meets Rodney who's a scientist running a research trial to test a new drug intended to suppress mandatory cycling. The story is crack "taken seriously" as there's no fantasy element. This is a genetically-driven thing, with Were a slightly different species to humans. Their cycles vary according to gene expression, and aren't moon-driven. Plus, in this world, Telesilla shows the politics of discrimination against Were, with John initially resisting the research as he's angry that they're yet again being viewed as humans with a sickness that needs treatment. The story has lots of plot and drama, a great developing relationship with Rodney, and a satisfying conclusion. Very much recommended!

Fanwork Links: Where the Brave Dare Not Go, it's locked to AO3 so here's a Wayback link
Excellent podfic by helens78 here

Fandom: Game Changers series
Characters/Pairings: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov
Rating: Explicit
Length: 4639
Content Notes: Discussion of unplanned pregnancy and of abortion as a treatment option. Brief mention of a tapeworm analogy.
Creator Links: SirMxALotts on AO3
Themes: Crack treated seriously, AU, Canon LGBTQ+ characters, Mpreg, Established relationship

Summary: Most people in Shane’s position would call a doctor after two positive tests, but Shane isn't most people, so instead of doing that, he takes 17 tests over the course of two days.

Final result: 16 positive, one negative.

Reccer's Notes: A classic crack trope this time: Mpreg. The reason why a man could become pregnant in this AU isn't given, nor why Shane did nothing to prevent it (or didn't expect it), but it has happened so he faces a choice. This is where the "taken seriously" part comes in, as it's the same difficult choice any woman faces with an unplanned pregnancy. Rather than an unrealistic tropey outcome, Shane (after ignoring the whole problem for a while) finally talks to Ilya about it and makes his decision. I enjoyed the realism and the way Ilya was supportive without trying to persuade Shane one way or the other. We don't see the final outcome, but the story covers enough so that we know Shane's decision.

Fanwork Links: nothing but some heartburn, baby