equilyn

ecky

Hey there! I'm Ecky and I do things ;) he/they // founder of the "mlp:fim x nevermore" bullshit // trying to figure out how to do a tumblr??

5 posts

Hello All!

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

More Posts from Equilyn

equilyn

1 year ago

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

345 notes View Post

equilyn

1 year ago

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? ;))

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

Tags :

LETS GOOOO haha funny number silly goofy mood apologies for being inactive asf i will uh. t r y to put something forth in the near future maybe rarilight :))? i dunno but we shall see

94 notes View Post

equilyn

1 year ago

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? ;))

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

94 notes View Post

equilyn

1 year ago

"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.

Screenshot from Genshin Impact that reads: Ancient Natural History Excerpts ... Oceanids are beautiful creatures nurtured by the land of Fontaine. According to legend, the gentle Egeria shed the first tear, from which the first Oceanid was born. Some say that Egeria felt great sympathy for dragons, and others say she felt great sadness over the eventual fate of humanity. Now, all that we have left is a metaphorical representation whose true meaning remains unclear: "The lizard's bones dissolved into mud, from which swans emerged." The newborn Oceanid was bestowed with the task of comprehending all forms of life: to seek an understanding of the diverse array of species and to love every creature. It emerged from the sea of life, possessing the power of metamorphosis. Egeria wished it to use this power to etch the essence of living creatures into its being and it gradually developed a yearning for life. Once it gained enough understanding of humanity, it shed its first tear upon the earth. We have used "she" to refer to the first and her lineage ever since. This is the origin of Oceanids.

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.

Screenshot from Genshin Impact that reads: The increase in the number of Oceanids (we have previously considered breeding, proliferation, and reproduction, but none are suitable terms) does not require any pairing off or matchmaking. After gaining sufficient understanding and emotion, they approach the Hydro Archon or an elder for permission to claim... um, a thing, which results in their division into little Oceanids. This thing is highly abstract, and in order to make its name more comprehensible to humans, we refer to it as a "Helixsplit." However, what it is exactly remains unknown. Some believe it could be a drop of pure water essence, nurtured by the emotions and intelligence of the parent, eventually giving rise to life. Others speculate that it might be a single sound, a name, possibly even a forbidden utterance, capable of stirring the cycle of elemental forces and drawing on the desire that doesn't exist with the pure water bodies of Oceanids, allowing new life to be attracted into the world. Still, others propose that it serves as a permit, granting permission for the dreams and desires within Oceanids to be bestowed with a new name — much like the names of childhood dreams throughout the ages. However, this is a story between Oceanids, and humans have no hope to know it.

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.

Screenshot of Focalors from Genshin Impact. Subtitles read. "Focalors: Yes, I was. I always dreamed of becoming human... And I still do, even now. In my eyes, to be human is to be part of the greatest opera ever known."

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.

Screenshot of Furina from Genshin Impact. The text reads "Furina: (No, this won't work... They'll suspect me again. I must play the role that they want me to play.)"

Screenshot of Furina from Genshin Impact. The text reads "Furina: (The day's finally over. I haven't had a moment to breathe this whole time...)"

Screenshot of Furina from Genshin Impact. The text reads "Furina: (Phew... I don't think I let anything slip today. I must show the people that there is nothing to worry about...)"

Screenshot of Furina from Genshin Impact. The text reads "Furina: (I want to tell someone, anyone, about this... But would that not destroy all I've done so far?)"

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.

Screenshot from Genshin Impact Version 4.1 Special Program, Japanese version. Subtitles read: Minase Inori: "Then when I saw Furina for the first time, my first through was like 'Is this a girl? Or a boy?'"

Screenshot from Genshin Impact Version 4.1 Special Program, Japanese version. Subtitles read: Minase Inori: "I was captivated by her appearance, which could be both."

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.

Screenshot from Whispering Waters: Behind the Scenes of the Making of "La vaguelette" | Genshin Impact. Subtitles read: "To show these two sides of her personality"

Screenshot from Whispering Waters: Behind the Scenes of the Making of "La vaguelette" | Genshin Impact. Subtitles read: "We wanted to handle some aspects of her design differently from previous Archons"

Screenshot from Whispering Waters: Behind the Scenes of the Making of "La vaguelette" | Genshin Impact. Subtitles read: "So we integrated a lot of contradictory elements"

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.

Screenshot from Whispering Waters: Behind the Scenes of the Making of "La vaguelette" | Genshin Impact. Subtitles read: "The base of Furina's usual outfit is a morning dress."

Screenshot from Whispering Waters: Behind the Scenes of the Making of "La vaguelette" | Genshin Impact. Subtitles read: "With a modified Western women’s petticoat-style tail"

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.

Screenshot of Wriothesley from Genshin Impact, showing how his buttons are placed on the right hand side of his vest, in traditional masculine fashion.

Screenshot of Clorinde from Genshin Impact, showing how her buttons are placed on the left hand side of her shirt, in traditional feminine fashion.

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.

Screenshot of Furina from Genshin Impact performing a feminine style bow after using her elemental skill in Pneuma form.

Screenshot of Furina from Genshin Impact performing a masculine style bow during her normal attack string.

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. :)

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