Shadowchasers: Sweet Sixteen
is a fanfic written by Mei1105 as part of the Shadowchasers Series, this author's first foray into the series.
Set just after Shadowchasers: Soulscape, the story follows Judy LaBaron as she struggles to deal with the rather mundane task of homework. Thankfully, she is saved from this arduous challenge by three of her friends shanghaiing her off for an evening of fun to celebrate best friend Emily Foxblade’s sixteenth birthday
Unfortunately, things go awry when a duel breaks out over some queue-barging...and then goes further south when the losers turn out to be a rather angry group of dark elves...and then it all goes so far south as to be underground as the irate elves kidnap Judy’s friends. Now, with little more than her wits, courage and card games, Judy must brave the labyrinth of darkness that holds her friends and hurry. Or none of them may see dawn.
This fic contains the following tropes
- Ascended Extra: Mei had only previously made a cameo in TwiceToldTales but has more time here.
Word of God says she has become Mei1105's Author Avatar. - A Day in the Limelight: This is the first full fic to focus exclusively on Judy, although the limelight is shared with Emily and Becky.
- All Webbed Up: Not played for laughs in this one. The hostages are kidnapped this way, and a rather frightening description of Becky's point of view follows, focusing on not being able to move or talk, and the helplessness associated with both.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Unfortunately, the fight between Jalal and Adrian against the giant spider in their attempt to prevent it from getting to the surface takes place between chapters; far more attention is paid to the battle with Mora.
- Dangerous 16th Birthday: Kind of the whole idea behind the plot; Emily's "sweet sixteen" involves being kidnapped with the intent to be fed to a spider, and it isn't very pretty.
- Defiant Captive: Judy and Emily were never going to be intimidated by a pack of drow, and spend most of their captivity having Casual Danger Dialogue, openly mocking or embarrassing their captors, and calling Maureen out on why she’s such a terrible villain.
- Dragged Off to Hell: Both Mora and her mother are taken by Lolth at the end of the fic, cocooned by powerful evil magic and dragged away, likely to face punishment for failure. Although, a later fic shows that Mora was rescued eventually.
- Fed to the Beast: The drow idea of Human Sacrifice is feeding captives to the Giant Spider; this unfortunately leads to a graphic - and nightmarish - description by Becky of how normal spiders subdue and devour prey, with comparisons to how it would work on humans.
- Fluffy the Terrible: The giant spider's name is "Muffet".
- Giant Spider: Maureen keeps one as a pet, and mistakenly believes that feeding humans (or anyone if she’s really stretched) to it will please Lolth.
- Geeky Turn-On: Jalal seems to enjoy watching Maria duel quite a bit.
- I Know What You Fear: Rhea's whole MO, and she uses it in an attempt to reduce Judy to a Despair Event Horizon by bringing back memories of the events leading to her father's death, which almost works.
- Shout-Out: Given the author, there are a lot of references to the Anti-Cliché and Mary-Sue Elimination Society, while "Walk like you're about to murder Captain America" is from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
- Papa Wolf: Both Jalal and Adrian show this more than any other fic to date, although Jalal is clearly closer to losing his nerve. Mei shows a lot of Mama Bear traits as well.
- Running Gag: All three of the protagonists say that they're going to "murder Captain America" several times; something of an Inside Joke, this means that if you look like someone who's determined and confident enough to stand up to someone like Cap (which pretty much everyone knows is a near-insurmountable task) you'll get more respect from others.
- The Starscream: The whole fic gives a detailed description of why betrayal is so common in drow society, Mora trying to be such to her own mother due to the demands of their goddess, and the hard consequences that come later. This is in harsh contradiction to Judy's feelings towards both her true father and Jalal.
- Underground City: The drow live in one beneath London, accessable from the subway.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Subverted. Becky asks if she knows too much now that she can see Shadowkind and has been told about the activities of the Shadowchasers. Emily promptly laughs and assures her that she can do what she likes with this new knowledge, pointing out that even if she told everyone, who would believe her? However, the fic ends with at least a hint that Becky will be a new recruit.
