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"I must play the role that they want me to play": Trans coding and Furina de Fontaine

There are several facts that, when combined, make the character of Focalors/Furina is distinctly transgender in nature. Firstly, Focalors/Furina was born an Oceanid, a species of pure water spirits that is genderless and sexless.

In legends shared by humans regarding their origins, the first Oceanid is called “it/its.” The human author recounting this story says humans have used “she” to Oceanids ever since, more as a matter of course than an expression of gender.

Oceanids are also sexless, as they do not reproduce through any sort of coupling and instead proliferate through abstract means that are little understood by humans. Focalors/Furina, after seeing the lives humans led on land, eventually longed to be human herself. The desire to transform from Oceanid to human is already a solid metaphor for transness in and of itself, but is even more so given that Focalors/Furina as an Oceanid starts as a creature that is genderless and sexless.

The trans coding of Focalors/Furina’s dream to be human only becomes more profound once they become a god and are forced to split themself into two i halves in a bid to save Fontaine. The divine half has to give up her humanity forever, yet continues to long for the humanity she once had down to her very last breath.

The human half, Furina, meanwhile has to hide her humanity and true self for centuries. Forced back in the metaphorical closet in a way that is acutely familiar to any queer person who’s been closeted.

Going beyond the lore that Focalors/Furina was born genderless and sexless and the storyline which serves as a broader metaphor for transness, Furina’s design is distinctly androgynous, so much so that her Japanese voice actor, Minase Inori, shared that when she first saw Furina, she couldn’t tell if the character was meant to be a boy or a girl and found the ambiguity captivating.

Notably the Japanese dub leans into the androgyny angle, both through Minase’s performance and Furina’s use of the personal pronoun “boku.” As a pronoun typically used by young men and boys, when used by a female character can emphasize their eccentricity and gender non-conformity, both key traits of Furina.

Returning to Furina’s design, one of the key design philosophies for her character is contradicting elements to emphasize the contradictory facets of her personality, as explained by Vivi, one of Genshin Impact's Character Concept Artists, in the La Vaguelette behind the scenes video.

One such contradicting element is the mixture of both men’s and women’s clothing that she wears. The lower half/back of her garment features a morning dress with a modified western women’s petticoat-style tail, whereas the upper half is a men’s waistcoat and vest.

Furina’s vest has its buttons on the right, as traditionally found on men’s clothing. This is in contrast with other Fontainian characters such as Wriothesley and Clorinde, whose buttons are placed in accordance with the traditional style for clothing made for their gender.

We see the same sense of contrast in her combat animations, where she does both a masculine style and feminine style bows when performing separate abilities.

Other elements such as Furina’s noticeably flat chest and a haircut which could belong to someone of any gender further evoke a sense of androgyny.

While I'm not trying to prove anything with this or convince anyone Furina is canonically trans beyond that their original species does not have gender in the human sense, I hope that more people can open their hearts to a trans reading of the character. What delights me most about Furina is that no matter the specific interpretation you take—the Oceanid who dreamed she could be a human girl, the human who pretended to be a goddess when really he was nothing of the sort, or someone who's neither or even both—her story and character design resonates deeply. :)

Drawing my favs in my country's traditional clothes! (Philippines) Kaveh in a barong and Furina in a filipiniana hehe

ITCHANGED TO 70 BECAUSE I REPOSTED OHNO

Hello all!

I'd like to share my love for my favorite characters from some of my favorite franchises, and what better way to do that than a good ol'...

funky crossover? ;))

Friends from MLP:FiM and Nevermore, unite! RariLight-ers, meet Lennabel-ers and vice-versa in this self-indulgent crossover. I personally see a lot of parallels with these characters and the ships and details and aesthetics and etc.

So if you ship RariTwi, check out Nevermore on Webtoon - it's really good + you get to experience the posh sapphics be gay and all that.

And if you ship Lenore and Annabel Lee, take a moment to appreciate the underrated glory that is Rarity and Twilight.

And if you ship both and see the vision like me, you are amazing ;)

Original reference below vvv

69 likes on my debut post ;)!

Thanks for liking my funni ideas!

Hello all!

I'd like to share my love for my favorite characters from some of my favorite franchises, and what better way to do that than a good ol'...

funky crossover? ;))

Friends from MLP:FiM and Nevermore, unite! RariLight-ers, meet Lennabel-ers and vice-versa in this self-indulgent crossover. I personally see a lot of parallels with these characters and the ships and details and aesthetics and etc.

So if you ship RariTwi, check out Nevermore on Webtoon - it's really good + you get to experience the posh sapphics be gay and all that.

And if you ship Lenore and Annabel Lee, take a moment to appreciate the underrated glory that is Rarity and Twilight.

And if you ship both and see the vision like me, you are amazing ;)

Original reference below vvv

Hello all!

I'd like to share my love for my favorite characters from some of my favorite franchises, and what better way to do that than a good ol'...

funky crossover? ;))

Friends from MLP:FiM and Nevermore, unite! RariLight-ers, meet Lennabel-ers and vice-versa in this self-indulgent crossover. I personally see a lot of parallels with these characters and the ships and details and aesthetics and etc.

So if you ship RariTwi, check out Nevermore on Webtoon - it's really good + you get to experience the posh sapphics be gay and all that.

And if you ship Lenore and Annabel Lee, take a moment to appreciate the underrated glory that is Rarity and Twilight.

And if you ship both and see the vision like me, you are amazing ;)

Original reference below vvv