Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny/Fanfic Recs

Proof that the remaining 10% is worth dying for here.

These are recommendations made by Tropers for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny fanfics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found here.

You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.

Authors and Websites
None Yet.

General Fics
''Stories focused on the family and the friendly relationships of the cast. Plot-focused stories or light day-in-the-life stories. Pretty much anything that isn't focused on romance.''

The Eden Disaster by Maderfole
 * Recommended by Lorthos
 * Synopsis: The continuation of Chaotic Cosmos. Features the main cast of the show.
 * Comments: Another colossal epic. Maderfole's writing gets even better here as he blends humor, tragedy, and sheer awesome to shock and entertain. Can be seen as something of a really massive Fix Fic for GSD, though Chaotic Cosmos should be read first to understand all of what's going on. The author does a good job of making his villains sympathetic and the cast fleshed-out. A superb fic.

The Reclamation War by Maderfole
 * Recommended by Tsukishijin
 * Synopsis: Part 3 of Maderfole's Golden Era stories (the other two being Chaotic Cosmos and The Eden Disaster). Seven years after the worldwide changes in the wake of the Eden Disaster a familiar enemy from Chaotic Cosmos returns while the world learns to deal with New Eden.
 * Comments:Fanfic is quickly becoming a worse word for these stories. While the main characters are ones introduced in Gundam SEED, all of them have undergone such character development that they are indistinguishable from the ones in the original series. Add in better villains, a slew of excellent OC's and impressive science and you have epics on your hands. The story has just begun, but it's already compelling and provides small tastes of the technology that is to come.
 * Tristraim: It's already at chapter 75. The war is at full swing, tensions are high, and Anyone Can Die is in full effect, with a huge bodycount, including OC's and some canon characters. The story's blossomed into a bigger epic than its prequels, with POV's from both sides of the conflict, expositions of different politics, technologies, and plenty of good fight scenes, mixed in with bits and pieces of life after the Eden Disaster. Expect to cry, laugh, be amazed, feel terror, and much more when you read this story.

Cry of the Falcon by Solid Shark
 * Recommended by Comartemis
 * Synopsis: Sequel to Birds of a Feather. The outbreak of the Second Bloody Valentine War draws Ken, Kira, Athrun, and the rest of True Zaft back into the thick of the fighting.
 * Comments: If you have ever wanted to know what GSD would be like if if it weren't a steaming pile of crap but can't play Super Robot Wars Z for some reason, look no further than this fic. Solid Shark is in his usual form here and has taken advantage of the opportunity to salvage Destiny's plot by fixing almost all of the major complaints fans had with the series (as of this post, that includes such things as the Earth Alliance being dangerously competent, Kira and the old crowd having damn good reasons to get back into the action, and Shinn being beaten mercilessly with the character development stick), making it one of the best FixFics this troper has ever read.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY by Shadow Cell
 * Recommended by Fenrir, User:Nitramy
 * Synopsis: The capstone of a very lengthy retelling that starts off at the very end of SEED and starts taking things in different directions, starting with Kira becoming a Fallen Hero.
 * Comments: For those that are looking for bringing out the most Zeta aspects of Gundam SEED Destiny, this is the fic for you. The story is dark and brutal as Shinn struggles with fighting for himself amidst those that would use him merely as a tool. Shadow Cell brings a lot of minor characters in for some focus, including the Phantom Pain members from Stargazer and Lowe and Gai occasionally along with a few original characters. The stories also paint Shinn as someone who is not so much immature as lacking direction, and have the dubious honor of making this troper start to like Lacus.
 * Your Mileage May Vary - Shadow Cell goes very far into the Kill'Em All territory, as well as having just about everything get worse, apparently for no reason other than True Art Is Angsty.
 * Comartemis: I'm giving this one a negative recommendation. Not only does the author desperately need an ego check (this series is the result of him "proving" that he can do Destiny better), he also seems to think that the way to "fix" Destiny is to turn it into Victory Gundam: The Sequel.
 * Fenrir: Yes, because every other fanfic author whose done a Fix Fic isn't doing it because they can feel they do better and the series Destiny's a remake of ended with sparkles and sunshine and a happy ending through and through.
 * Comartemis: Oh bullshit. People say "I think I can do better" or "I'm going to try to do better", not "this entire series sucks balls and I can make it kick ass by killing all the characters and making the setting borderline Grimdark". The author loses points right from the start for using a Diabolus Ex Machina and an extremely OOC reaction to turn Kira into one of the bad guys and it never gets better after that point. Destiny did not have a perfectly happy ending, else Stellar and Meer would've been alive at the end; the fact that  does not, in any way, make up for such angst-ridden bullshit as  . Not ever. I'm going to say it again: if you had any fondness for SEED and/or Destiny as they were, avoid this series like the bloody plague. If, on the other hand, you are a fan of Kill'Em All Tomino's work, knock yourself out. I'll stick to Solid Shark's 'fics, thank you.
 * SolidShark: Going to have to concur there. Leaving my own works completely out of the discussion, I'll simply say that I think the author is Completely Missing the Point, both of Gundam and the problems with Gundam Seed Destiny. Point one: Gundam never shies from showing the dark side of war, that's true; but there's almost always an underlying theme of the struggle being worth it in the end, of something good coming from the heroes' efforts. Hell, even Victory Gundam gave its protagonist a happy ending, however bittersweet. Point two: it generally seems to be agreed among the parts of the fandom that dislike canon Destiny that one of the big problems was the returning characters being OOC... so ShadowCell's solution is to make at least one of them more out of character? I'm sorry, but that simply does not make sense to me. Negative recommendation here.
 * Komuro: If it means anything, his sequel story is nowhere near as dark, but is the sequel worth wading through 50 chapters of death, darkness, and destruction? That's the question you have to ask yourself. And I'm not so sure his much-improved sequel is worth struggling through his rewrite of DESTINY.
 * User:Nitramy: In other news, the first chapter of the sequel Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT has now been released on ff.net.
 * ShadowCell has just finished the last part of the trilogy. ETERNITY can be found on his homepage, and it is a fitting end to the DESTINY rewrite he began.

GUNDAM SEED Kismet by thebigmacattack


 * Recommended by Komuro
 * Synopsis: Three years after the end of Gundam SEED, war brews again. The Earth Alliance and ZAFT restart the fight, and the survivors of Gundam SEED and brand-new ones face difficult choices. How will this new war be fought, and who will survive?
 * Comments: At first, this fic seems to want to delve into territory much darker than Shadow Cell's, but quickly pulls out of it. A few awkward sentences (and frequently misspelling Waltfeld's last name) aside, the re-imagined DESTINY characters interact well with both the author's OCs (who seem to make up most of the casualties) and the established SEED cast. Kira's a total angstfest though and Lacus gets dragged down with him, but I guess it's more of a YMMV thing in the end. Athrun and Cagalli are on the mark, though, and the redone Shinn and Stellar interact naturally and remind this troper of Shiro and Sayla from Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team a bit. Fifty chapters are up, so there's plenty there for people to read.

Shipping Fics
Stories focused on the romantic relationships between the cast.

Tomorrow by Fledgling
 * Recommended by Pureauthor
 * Pairings: Shinn/Lunamaria, slight Shinn/Stellar
 * Synopsis: Introspective fic on Shinn reflecting upon the differences between the two women he's loved, and the meaning of Stellar's final words to him.
 * Comments: An extremely well written piece of work, and as a Shinn/Luna fan I'm happy for this short story of 850 words actually exploring their relationship in more depth than the anime itself ever did.