Don't Go (She-Ra story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Don't Go
Author(s):	Annacharlier
Date(s):	May 20, 2020
Length:	5,414 words
Genre:	femslash
Fandom:	She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
External Links:	Archive of Our Own
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Don't Go is a Catradora story by Annacharlier, however it is believed to be written by She-Ra's showrunner ND Stevenson. Within a day of it being pin-pointed as the most likely candidate of a fic ND claimed to a have posted following the series finale it became the most kudoed and bookmarked work on AO3's Princesses of Power section. As of 2022 is the most kudoed F/F fanwork on all of AO3.

History

The story was originally posted on May 20, 2020, five days after the final season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power was released. On June 9, ND Stevenson and his wife Molly Ostertag hosted a charity stream for Black Lives Matter in which they answered various questions about the show and themselves. When the donation total had reached $33,000 ND stated that if they hit $40,000 then they would share a secret. The remaining $7,000 was donated within 10 minutes. True to his word, ND shared their secret: he had posted She-Ra fanfiction on AO3.

ND: So I had a lot of big feelings at the end of season 5, including some scenes I maybe wanted to see more of but we didn't have time. And so I was like hey, what do people do with those feelings now that I no longer run a show? [...] And the answer was: make an AO3 account. Which I didn't know how to do! So I texted my friend Amy, who's been trying to get me into fanfiction for ages. We were best friends in college and she's tried to get me into fanfiction for ages and I've just never got into it the way she wants me to. [...] So I texted her like, "Amy, how do I make an account?" And she was like "lucky for you I have a bunch of invitations" and she sent me one. And then I like, had a freak-out because I just wanted everyone to see my fanfiction and say nice things about it, but I couldn't tell anybody that I'd written it. And so it was like "Amy, I haven't gotten any kudoes, what do I do?" and she's like "You're fine!" And Molly was like, [ND] is going to school JK Rowling, where she writes a secret book and gets upset when no one is-

Molly: It's not doing as well as they wanted it to do.

ND: And then tells everyone that they did it. And that's exactly what happened! Because I'm telling you right now I wrote a secret fanfiction.

Molly: It's really good and if you guys look for it you'll find it.

ND: I think you will. I could tell you how to find it but I'm like really embarrassed. [...] I will say, it's not weird, it's not sexy. It's emotional. Yeah, that's all I'm going to say. I'm so embarrassed. Please don't be mean if you find it. [...] If you have constructive criticism I will take it. I will not write another one I just needed to get my emotions out.

Molly: If you are mean I will burn your house to the ground. I will.

ND: That's my secret. I believe in your ability to find it! If it's been like a week and you still haven't found it then I'll tell ya.

Following the reveal, the fandom quickly mobilised to hunt for the fic while ND trended on twitter. During this time, AO3 temporarily went down and while it is unknown if it was due to the fandoms sudden interest, it was nonetheless joked about thoroughly. Within hours, fans began pointing to Don't Go by Annacharlier as it fit several of the criteria needed. It was tagged "Missing Scene" and "Post-episode: S05Ep05 Save the Cat", Annacharlier's account was created on May 19, 2020, a day before the fic was posted and it had no other fics posted. Fans also noted a scene at the end of the story seemed very similar to art ND had posted on May 23. The fic quickly gained thousands of kudoes and hundreds of comments, soon having the most kudoes any fanwork had on AO3's Princesses of Power section.

The fic has yet to be confirmed as the one ND wrote but he later tweeted "gonna go back to being unknowable for a while y'all saw nothing" which most took as the closest confirmation they'd get.

Reviews and Comments

Pre-Charity Stream

2 things:

1) I love how Adora just casually drops in the "I think Bow and Glimmer are making out and I'm scared to go back in"

2) I LOVE this story, the amazing wording, you nailed all of the emotions and how (I think) the characters would act in this exact situation, I thank you so much for writing this beautiful story, I don't like to admit it but I must leave as I am now tearing up at how amazing this is

This is so soft, I can't handle it. A++

I checked to see if you'd written anything else I'd like and found out that this is the first fic you've posted. I was very surprised by that, your writing has a confidence to it that I usually associate with more experienced writers. This is one hell of a start, well done!

Aw, poor Catra. It makes perfect sense for her to panic at first, wondering if it was another of Prime's sick mind-rape games. She's gonna need a lot of love to recover from that and from Weaver's brand of trauma too, along with her being the bane of Etheria for years. Catra x Adora x Therapy is a threesome that needs to happen. :D Hah, but seriously, Prime is a real piece of work, he completely deserved what he got.

Post-Charity Stream

ok if this is [ND's] fic, first im super sad that it wasnt part of the series but also after seeing this i know i just wouldnt be abble to see it without crying and losing my shit sooo

Love this so much, so warm and fluffy

Also love how all the people who commented before the writer was revealed say how in character and how amazing it is She ra was one of my fave shows over the past few years and was really sad but satisfied when it finished, this just feels like a huge as s bonus

Oh to be such a good author that people are confused if you’re [ND] or not whsjdbskcbskcbdjdb that’s the dream tho being a director/creator of a show and writing fanfic of it anyway this is amazing and I loved the bow/glimmer in the back

[ND] you're a legend before the livestream I never thought about Entrapta's and Catra's redemptions being connected and now it makes sooo much sense!!!! And Catra slow blinking!!! Glimmer and Bow making out!!!!!!! Tender bed sharing moment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This fic is amazing! The characters were so in-character that I could easily hear their voices!! A perfect missing scene!

If you are really [ND]: why were you so worried about our judgement!? We literally love everything you make!! And this piece is objectively really really good! And you made that beatiful drawing too!! Thank you for this! Thank you for She-Ra <3 Grazie!!!!! If you are not [ND]: the first part is still valid! Your writing is so good that you fooled everyone!! Congratulations!! XD Thank you for sharing!

Inspired Fanworks

• Video animatic adaptation by Haejin Kang