So I don't often do standalone posts talking about Defiance or my plans for the story. It's been going strong for almost two years at this point and I think y'all know I both have plans and am going to keep putting out chapters at the same pace.
Most of y'all know this is a runaway fic. It's the second time in my decades as a writer/fanfiction writer that I've had a story run away from me like this. The world building, the characters, the things that the 2018 She-Ra gave me are such a dense, fertile place to dig into story.
So here we are. What was supposed to a 90k (just a month of writing) for the 2024 Big Bang has turned into a years long adventure that I have loved every minute of. But the original plan for the reunion has been scrapped to bring it closer in.
But I'm writing a story that fits into my two favorite genres (planetary romance and space opera) and I am loving the long form writing.
And we're coming up on it. But because y'all have been so patient, here's the basic plan - it will happen before the end of summer. The The reunion is coming.
2-3 chapters of Adora and Co. at the library
A chapter or two of Horde and Haflmoon
4-5 chapters of Salineas
2-3 chapters of Halfmoon
And then the Reunion Sequence will begin. My hope and my plan is that I will be able to write fast enough to get the 8-12 chapters of the Reunion sequence done before I start posting them -
- and be able to post them in a blitz of one a day until Arc II ends, at which point, I will take a break of at least two weeks before I start posting agian.
That's the update.
Wish me my luck with my schedule, that I can write fast and well!
The Blonde Next Door: Extended Edition | Chapter 4 [Missing Twin]
Title: The Blonde Next Door: Extended Edition
Chapter: 3 [Behind the Mask]
Rating: Teen Audiences & Up
Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Tags: AU- Modern Setting, AU- Neighbors, Slow Burn, Kidnapping, Manipulative Shadow Weaver, Bad Parent Shadow Weaver, SpinnTossa Adopts Catra, Catra is Bilingual, Fluff & Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Swiftwind the Service Dog, Adora is Bad at Feelings, Family Feels, Reunions, Trans Catra, Mating Bond
Everything happening with school and his health aside, it didn’t make for a good day when also paired with the mental hurdles that randomly decided to destroy his ability to function properly or think straight. Oh well, at least the day couldn’t get any worse.
Chapter 4 is officially up! This is a rough chapter for Adam, and I also put a Content Warning for grief. As someone who cried writing a good chunk of this chapter, I thought maybe I should stick the warning there.
This is also a huge chapter for the Extended Edition, because this is the first time we get to see perspectives from characters outside of Catra and Adora. We get Adam's mainly, but there's also a snippet from Bow's POV, and Randor's!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Catra, driven by memories of Adora and fears over her fate - delves deeper into subtheria, following the Horde's tunnels to wherever - or whatever - they will lead her expedition to. Kesi is just as driven as Catra - and faces her own revelations.
When I originally sat down to write this story, I had a list of roles original characters would need to fill, because both new canon and old canon didn't quite have the right characters. As a fan writer, I like to follow the Law of Character Conservation as often as possible and use canon characters in as many roles as I can.
But in a story the size and complexity of Defiance and in a universe as sprawling as the one She-Ra and Masters of the Universe exist in, this isn't always possible. The genre of Planetary Romance (which is what She-Ra and He-Man ultimately began as and mostly stay true to) often requires many disparate settings, plot lines - and people.
Thus, when I started writing, the character of Kelara was meant for a specific role - a role that, based on the feedback from my readers, shifted to Kesi. She's shockingly beloved to me, because she was written as a one-off assistant to Percival who was meant not to return often - if at all.
I'm glad I'm writing Kesi in that role instead of Kelara - who now fills a much different, but equally needed role.
This chapter is the real start of Kesi's arc to fill that role. And it is the start of a new beginning for another recurring character. A beginning, I think, many of you will be very excited to read.
Danny gets sent by his parents to summer camp as a surprise. Danny isn't exactly happy about it. He opens the door to his cabin and gets introduced to his two bunk mates, Damian Wanye and his older brother Tim. The two had also gotten sent to camp by surprise. In reality, they were sent undercover on a mission to investigate something odd happening in the camp. Tim expected Damian to run Danny off within a week, but that didn't happen now. The two have to work hard to keep their work under the radar while trying to act like normal teens around Danny. Danny is aware of this but doesn't care to get involved up until things get supernatural in nature
Damian and Tim: *seething with rage bc they have to room together while pretending to be normal kids and investigate something suspicious about this summer camp AND the damn kid that they’re rooming with won’t leave*
Danny: *with glowing eyes and ghost powers* Wow, people outside of Illinois are weird asf
(Also, to make things a little easier, I'm making the age gap between Tim and Damian three years. So they'll be 17 & 14.)
Cabin 18 and the Missing Kids.
Danny wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but one moment, he had been sleeping, and the next, he was being dragged out of bed, shoved into the GAV, and dropped off at some random camp with bags he hadn't noticed missing the night before.
"It'll just be two weeks, sweety!" Mom cheered, not even looking at him as she studied the device in her hands. It blinked, but not insistently enough to mean anything concerning.
"That's right, Dann-o!" Dad laughed, clapping Danny on his back, almost sending him crashing down. Grumbling, Danny tightened his grip on his bags and stared at his parents.
"Vladie's paying for all expenses, so enjoy it while you're here. said it was one of the best camps in the world!" Dad continued, ignoring Danny's obviously decreasing mood.
Granted, he had already been rather upset after getting woken up at 3 in the morning, so his parents probably just chalked it up to him being tired. (So tired; he had only just gotten to sleep, not even twenty minutes before they woke him up. Damn ghosts and not respecting sleep schedules.)
Mom patted his back with a small smile as Dad jogged back to the GAV, "I know you don't like Vlad and his schemes, and I completely agree with you, but he's trying, sweety. At least give this a chance before locking yourself in your cabin. Who knows, maybe you'll actually enjoy it here."
"Do you even know what the camps name is? or the programs schedule?" Danny asked, frowning up at her.
"Uh," she blinked, before shrugging, "didn't get a chance to look into it. Vlad kind of just told us about it last night, said it was supposed to be a surprise."
"Anyway," she continued, ruffling his hair with a tight smile, "give it a chance. We'll see you in two weeks. Love you." And with a kiss, she rushed off to the GAV and left Danny to watch as the car sped away, almost knocking a tree over in it's haist.
Turning with a sigh, Danny slowly made his way to an adult dressed in bright orange. "Check in!" the guy shouted, waving his arm over his head, clutching a clipboard in the other hand. "Check in over here!"
"Excuse me?" Danny asked, already done with the situation.
"Oh! Hello there!" the guy smiled, way too cheerfully for eight in the morning. "What's your name, kid?" he asked, already scanning the board.
"Danny," Danny huffed, squinting up at the sky. It looked like it was going to be clear and sunny today, hopefully it stays that way into the night. He might as well take the opportunity to stargaze, it'll probably be the only good thing he'd get out of this.
"Last name?" the guy asked, flipping through the pages. Just how many kids were going to be here?
"Fenton," Danny answered, watching as the man's smile grew tighter. Obviously Vlad had pissed them off then, not surprising really. The fruitloop probably made up the whole plan yesterday and Karened his way to getting Danny a spot. There goes his chance to stay under the radar.
"Right!" the guy continued, trying to not seem annoyed, "because of your... late addition, you'll be in Cabin 18. Your roommates are already unpacked and settled in, so you'll just have to deal with whatever beds are left. Sorry, kid."
He was very obviously not sorry. Time for damage control then; does he go with classic deception or outrageous lies? hmmm, probably be better off with half truths.
"That's fine, sorry about my uncle and all the trouble we've put you through. He's been trying to make up for accidentally leaving me on his private island last month. Dad probably told him I liked camping or something." Which was true, both the being left on an island and his dad's nonstop talk of going camping with just Danny, which probably gave Vlad the idea for this, now that Danny was thinking about it.
"Oh," the guy blinked, before awkwardly clearing his throat and glancing to the side. He smiled again, this time trying not to look baffled instead of annoyed. Well, being thought of as an unlucky, sympathetic rich kid was better than being the bratty rich kid.
A win's a win.
"Well," he checked off Danny's name, digging into his bag and handing over a key. "Here's your key, don't lose it. We've had to install locks after last year's incident. Only those who sleep in the cabin or camp officials have keys. So if you do lose it, please let one of us know and we'll get you another one. If you find a key, please bring it to the main office were we can store it safely."
"Cabin 18 is down that path," the guy turned and pointed, "and will be three cabins back on your left side."
Turning back, the guy gestured for Danny to start walking, "get settled in; we'll be going over the rules once everyone is here. So, around 11, head down to the cafeteria and take a seat at your numbered table. Also, don't go exploring without supervision, we don't need to send out another search party."
"Right," Danny acknowledged, walking as quickly as he could while not making it obvious he was running away.
This was going to suck.
Not only did Vlad have some new plan to probably kill Dad, but Danny would be stuck out here camping and unable to disappear long enough to deal with Vlad without anyone noticing his disappearance if the search party comment meant anything.
Amity was four and a half hours away, which he could fly, but it'd take him at least thirty minutes at his top speed to get there, then however long to fight Vlad, stop his plan, then another thirty to get back.
If they really were as stingy about the rules as he was starting to think they were, he wouldn't even get ten minutes away before someone noticed his unauthorized absence.
"Don't leave the path," some random camp leader shouted, glaring at two kids trying to sneak away through the trees. They had only gotten five feet off the dirt path before being spotted.
Shaking his head, Danny kept walking and watched the number of cabins pass by. It seemed they were being grouped in rows of six. which meant cabin 18 would be the sixth one in row three.
Coincidentally, that was the last row.
Which meant there was another eighteen cabins down the other path where all the girls had been heading. Which meant 36 cabins full of kids.
I was recently in a pub, talking to a friend about their collapsed game of Dungeons & Dragons. I was somewhat frustrated by their tale of woe – perhaps the most common tale of woe. I imagined all these decades of people wasting time, just waiting for that one player to be free on Friday.
I decided to solve their problem by writing a patch for the 2024 edition of the D&D Players handbook.
