Nevanna's Forest of Stories

Since it’s still Femslash February and I’ve been thinking about my beloved X-Men: Evolution even more than usual, I decided to list my top five moments of more-than-platonic subtext between female characters on the show. (During the years that XME was airing and I saw it for the first time, most if not all of my ships were het. I’ve since rewatched it multiple times, on purpose, and with a more open mind.)

1. Kitty and Rogue dancing (“SpykeCam”)

This scene happens when Rogue has absorbed some of Kitty’s dancing ability through brief physical contact, while practicing for their school’s production of Dracula: The Rock Musical. (Yes, really.) One of the producers has stated that the animation was based on a memorable nightclub sequence between Buffy and Faith – a massively popular femslash pairing – in the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

2. Rogue saving Jean’s sanity by absorbing her memories (“Power Surge”)

Speaking of Rogue’s powers… in this episode, they granted her the most intimate possible insight into someone she’d always resented. Even if that storyline was partially intertwined with their romantic rivalry over a guy, Rogue’s epiphany about Jean (“She’d have done the same for me”) wasn’t necessarily centered around him at all.

3. Pretty much every scene involving the Bayville Sirens, but especially the musical montage (“Walk on the Wild Side”)

Mutant powers are often read and/or written as an allegory for queer identity (among other marginalizations; I do not think any one group has a claim on it), and this episode adds another layer to the metaphor: the girls are leading secret, transgressive, nocturnal lives that give them new confidence, using their powers with little regard for secrecy, and, yes, dancing even more closely than Kitty and Rogue in the previous season. Your mileage may vary about whether that sequence is in good taste, and the actual gender politics of the episode are a mixed bag (Jean actually admits at the end that she took “the whole ‘girl power’ thing” too far), but if the story sparks discussion and multiple interpretations, I consider it a success on at least some levels. It also initiates what has since become one of my favorite f/f pairings in this or any other fandom…

4. Amara and Tabitha bonding (“Cruise Control”)

I have no proof that the show’s creators intended for us to interpret these two as a couple when Tabitha said “do I know what my girl needs?” while lounging with Amara in a hot spring, but I would not be at all surprised.

5. Kitty and Danielle’s psychic connection (“Ghost of a Chance”)

I really like how this episode handles the “it was all a dream” cliche, and more screen time for Dani is definitely on my list of things I’d have liked to see in the Season 5 that never happened… a Tuesday Top Five entry for another time, perhaps!

In recognition of Black History Month, here are five of my favorite Black characters from Western animation (some of whom I am including even though I recognize that they're from fantasy worlds that don’t recognize race in the same way that our world does). Also, I’m just one white fangirl and I am speaking for my own – and exclusively my own – preferences and tastes.

1. Amanda Sefton (X-Men: Evolution)

Amanda has very little screen time or characterization outside of being Nightcrawler’s Girlfriend, but I’ve always appreciated how she fits into the show even in that context, especially as the tensions between mutants and baseline humans became more central to the story. I like that she was already interested in Kurt before she knew that he was a mutant; that she wanted what was best for him even when she didn’t always know what that was; that she tried to keep the peace between him and her parents but defied their wishes when they told her not to see him again.

2. Kaldur’ahm/Aqualad (Young Justice)

I love Kaldur’s leadership abilities and willingness to make difficult choices for his team, but I’m also grateful that Season 4 (which I’m currently rewatching for the first time in quite a while) acknowledges the ways that his family and mentor treated him as an adult before he was probably ready to be one. Also, he’s the first YJ character that we see in a happy queer relationship.

3. Darius Bowman (Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous)

Camp Cretaceous is an ensemble show in many ways, but Darius is the first character that we meet, the one whose backstory and motivations are explored through (heartbreaking) flashbacks, and the one who Tells Us The Point Of The Story through the monologues that wrap up the first and last seasons. He’s brave and smart and tries to be a good friend, and although (arguably) Ben and Kenji have the most visibly dramatic character development, there’s also a lot to love about Darius’s growing recognition of how his “dino nerd” knowledge will and won’t be useful in a real-life survival situation.

4. Raine Whispers (The Owl House)

Dashing middle-aged nonbinary bard with divided loyalties and excellent fashion sense! I’ve been watching The Owl House with some new viewers, and Raine is one of the characters whom I’m most excited for them to meet.

5. TIED: Ekko and Mel Medarda (Arcane: League of Legends)

I love what both of these characters bring to the world of Arcane: ( some of which is mildly spoilery )

I shared a picture that one of my oldest friends sent me, of a Nightcrawler doll that I made for them over 20 years ago.

The penultimate chapter of my XME fic is now posted!

My current work in progress - which, between my beta reader's schedule and my own, has been very slow progress indeed - is a retelling of the first season of X-Men: Evolution (Marvel's animated High School AU from the early 2000s), from the perspective of one of Our Heroes' human classmates. As the summary on AO3 runs: Amanda Sefton is an ordinary teenager attending Bayville High, where some very strange events have started to take place.

I would like to continue to update interested readers here on Dreamwidth as I add to the story, but here is what I've posted so far:

Chapter 1, in which Amanda’s friend Trish investigates an explosion at a recent school football game, and Bayville welcomes a new student, Kurt Wagner.
Chapter 2, in which intrepid girl reporter Trish Tilby continues questioning her classmates, and an overheard conversation at home leaves Amanda with questions of her own.
Chapter 3, in which things in Bayville start to really shake up (and your author refuses to apologize for the pun).
Chapter 4, in which descriptions of a spelunking trip gone wrong are uncannily similar, and Amanda suspects that she’s met a ghost.
Chapter 5, which contains an ill-advised technological intervention, hints of a conspiracy, and a musical number, not necessarily in that order.

These were both written for the "window sill" challenge on comicdrabbles.

Title: Room Enough
Fandom: Agent Carter
Pairing: Angie Martinelli/Peggy Carter
Summary: Angie has a favorite place in the home that she shares with Peggy.
Words: 100

Title: Fire In Your Head
Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Characters: Jean Grey, Elaine Grey
Summary: At home with her parents, before she learns to control her abilities, Jean hears enough to doubt that a normal life will ever be possible.
Words: 230

These were all written for the Bonus Round on comicdrabbles.

Title: All I Can Do
Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Pairing: Amanda Sefton/Kurt Wagner
Summary: Amanda and Kurt are making everything up as they go.
Words: 290
Notes: This story was written for the "adolescence" challenge. It assumes canon knowledge up through Episode 3.07, "The Toad, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

Title: On The Way Home
Fandom: Agent Carter, Iron Man (Movies)
Characters: Howard Stark, Edwin Jarvis, Obadiah Stane
Summary: Obadiah thought that he'd heard all of Howard's stories.
Words: 250
Notes: This story was written for the "late" challenge. It assumes canon knowledge of the first Iron Man movie and all of Agent Carter's first season.

Title: Weaving Webs
Fandom: Agent Carter
Characters: Dottie Underwood, Johann Fennhoff
Summary: Dottie has learned not to give in to desire or fear, but sometimes they catch up with her anyway.
Words: 400
Notes: This story was written for the "voyeurism" challenge. Although it takes place during 1.05, "The Iron Ceiling," it assumes canon knowledge for all of Agent Carter's first season.

Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Characters: Kitty, Scott, Charles
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, and I do not profit from their use.
Summary: Scott isn’t sure that turning away a troubled mutant was a good idea. Kitty still thinks that it’s better than the alternative.
Words: 400
Notes: This takes place after episode 1.02, "The X-Impulse," and (although technical difficulties prevented me from posting it before the weekly deadline) it was originally intended for the "library" challenge on comicdrabbles.

"So, this Alvers guy has dangerous powers and kind of a rough life..."

Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Characters: Jean, Scott, Charles, Kitty, Evan, Kurt
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, and I do not profit from their use. The title is from the song "Carnival" by Natalie Merchant.
Summary: As she and her friends continue to recover from Mesmero’s mind control, Jean tries to own her own mind and actions.
Words: 1,060
Notes: This story takes place after Episode 2.12, "Mindbender." It can be considered an expansion of or companion piece to Safe and Sound, though I think (and hope) that the two stories can be read independently of each other.

They all probably knew, just as she did, what it was like to lose control over their powers, to be betrayed by their own minds and bodies. This was different.

Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Characters: Charles and Rogue
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, and I do not profit from their use.
Summary: Charles tries to help Rogue recover from the events surrounding Mystique's latest betrayal.
Words: 295
Notes: Set directly after Episode 3.08, "Self Possessed." Written for the "backstab" prompt at comicdrabbles.

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