Templum Bellonae

Another fic I don’t remember very well, which will get a summary when I have the chance to re-read it.

An AU set in California. Trowa and Wufei answer Quatre’s personal ad.

Sugar Daddy by Windsor Blue

Ten years after Endless Waltz, Duo and Trowa are forced into therapy together. A large part of this story’s awesomeness comes from Trowa’s internal voice, which is perfect and funny. I have a weakness for mental illness fics, and the GW universe has some of the best justifications for that kind of story.

Rattlesnakes by Trixie

Duo returns to his current school after a misson.

Loaded by One Person

(Link is to GWA main page)

Also Quatre/other.

A Quatre-centred fic, miracle of miracles. You may have realised that 1×2 is my OTP, but I like all the pilots, so this story is a refreshing chance of pace.

Feeling stifled and trapped in his role as businessman, Quatre takes a year off to go to university.

Nothing Like The Sun by Sol 1056

(Link is to GWA main page)

Five years after Endless Waltz, Heero hasn’t kept in touch with the other pilots. When he hears that Duo and Trowa have disappeared, he decides to go looking for them himself.

This is a very long and satisfying story. I’m particularly fond of post-war stories where one of the pilots (usually Heero, which is pretty much canonical) has been out of contact with the others, and has to work to understand the changes that have taken place in his absence. Sol 1056 makes the best of that plotline in this story; she doesn’t oversimplify and never takes the easy way out.

The Drums of Heaven by Sol 1056

(Link is to GWA main page)

This isn’t a story that’s easy to summarize, so I’ll let the author do it for me, as I so often do:

This story grew out of my wish to respond to the seemingly endless number of stories revolving around the topic of slavery, especially those that focus on breaking or torturing a person past their point of resistance. Sometimes reading those becomes excruciating, since so many seem to revel in a concept that I find personally abhorrent, when put into reality: removing all free will from a person, and destroying their spark of individuality. And worse, few investigate the process involved in surviving (let alone healing from) such an experience. So I decided I would.

Part of the bleakness will be as the back-story becomes clear. Expect physical abuse, violence, torture, and possible squick situations. Also expect gallows humor, surprising light-hearted moments, and behaviors that make no sense from a rational point of view.

It is not a pretty picture. And the simple fact is that I can’t necessarily promise a happy ending in the traditional sense, where everything ends up back to ‘normal,’ because I can’t find anything in the medical or psychological information that indicates that a person – after surviving such an intense psychological breakdown – will ever be truly ‘normal’ again. You’re also going to read a lot of questions raised by performing such a horror, and the two main characters will also be raising ethical questions about their own roles in the recreation of an individual. Some of their positions and conclusions may surprise you, and some may upset you.

I’ve done a great deal of research for this story, and I’m trying to stick to as realistic an extrapolation as possible. Now that you’re braced for impact, I will assure you that I believe in the strength of a human being to come up with a way to fight even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. To paraphrase Trowa’s words in the first chapter, none of the characters in this story are going to go gently into any damn night.

This story is less romantic or sexual than psychological, but it’s none the worse for that.

Broken Jade by Sol 1056

The series is continuing, but each story in the arc pretty much stands alone. Although some things are left unresolved from story to story, there are no cliffhangers.

I love this series, even though it has way too much Duo-angst in it. I think the early stories are the strongest, especially Assumptions and Evasions. The stories start during the war, but mostly take place afterwards, when Duo takes a dangerous salvage job that goes badly wrong.

The Ion arc by Sunhawk

Short, sweet high school AU. Everyone thinks Heero and Duo are dating, but they’re not. Really.

Falling Sideways by Blue Soaring

A Preventers clinical psychologist, Milliardo Peacecraft has his hands full with Heero Yuy as a patient. Luckily he has Duo Maxwell to help him. Mild bondage.

Disinhibiting Heero by Becca Abbott

Schmoopy and sentimental as hell, but in a really good way.

Struggling to make it after the war, Duo and Heero discover Christmas has a magic neither of them ever expected.

Short, and there’s an equally short sequel, Memories and Miracles.

Gifts of the Heart by Becca Abbott

A light, fluffy AU. Heero, a famous author, visits Hollywood to discuss making one of his books into a movie.

Californication by Merula

Another great fic by the author of Axiomatic, although very different in tone. After the war, the pilots struck a deal with the government, but didn’t get exactly what they bargained for. Heero is living in comfortable apathy when an attempt on his life forces him into action.

Touch the World by Jei

For the first time, I’ve been finding a lot of great Gundam Wing fanfics, and this is one of them. Duo is tempted into breaking the law, and Heero, now a Preventer, makes him an offer he can’t refuse. Besides the character interaction, this story does a great job of painting a realistic portrait of what an L2 colony could be like to live on.

Lawless Hearts by Kracken

Five years after the war, Heero is called in by the Preventers when something important goes missing.

One of the best GW fics I’ve ever found, and, at 946k, one of the longest. Jei does an excellent job of letting the backstory to this fic emerge naturally, and of writing from Heero’s POV.

Axiomatic by Jei

“Charges all set?” Duo asked. Heero nodded. “Okay, then. We detonate in ten … nine … eight … seven …”

Heero reached over and pressed the trigger. Duo threw up his arm to shield his face from the sudden bright light. The sound wave threw him back off his feet. “God damn it, Heero,” he said. “I wasn’t ready.”

“I waited long enough,” Heero said. He gave Duo a hand up, then turned to leave. Duo grabbed the rest of their equipment and hurried to catch up. His ears were still ringing.

Countdown by Halrlopillalar

The five pilots are trapped in the middle of nowhere and Heero is badly injured. Heero wants them to abandon him for their own good; predictably, they ignore him. Oh, and Noin and Sally get to be brave and resourceful and kick some ass.

It’s well written, and I didn’t even mind Heero’s dream sequence, even though I usually loathe reading about people’s dreams.

Set in Stone by Mitsugi

Heero Yuy’s mission planner:
Date: AC199.
Mission objective: Finding compatible mates for Gundam Pilots 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Timeframe: Undefined.
Difficulty: Moderate, despite lack of personal information on the subject of romantic affection. How hard can it be to get people to fall in love?

Oh Heero. We love you even though you’re a clueless bastard. Link is to Chapter 1, but there’s a link to the rest at the bottom of the page.

Trial and Error by Maldoror

(Link is to GWA main page)

This is definitely the best GW fic I’ve ever read. I adore it. It’s long and satisfying. Heero’s character development is fascinating to watch, and his internal soldier voice is perfect. If you only ever read one GW fic, this should be it.

Whispers by Maldoror

Also Wufei/other.

An AU about Quatre’s coming of age at a Catholic boarding school. Series of 11 stories. It’s long–the first story, Chiaroscuro, is 26 parts long, but it’s definitely worth it. After Chiaroscuro, the rest are just follow-up fics or missing scenes, so you can read them out of order without missing anything. My fave is Notes to the Virgin because it’s funny. Oh, the liver! I’m laughing just thinking about it.

The link to the series doesn’t seem to be working anymore; I haven’t found anything except a copy of the first story, Chiaroscuro. Hopefully I’ll be able to find links to the side stories soon.

ETA: This series is no longer available online; the author has removed her fanfiction from the web and begun to submit original fiction for publication.

Bildungsroman by Lorena