Oerba Yun Fang/Oerba Dia Vanille

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Pairing
Pairing: Oerba Yun Fang/Oerba Dia Vanille
Alternative name(s): Fanille, ファンヴァニ (FanVani), Crystal Lesbians
Gender category: Femslash
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII
Canonical?: Ambiguous/Disputed
Prevalence:
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A visual comparison of Fang/Vanille with official couples from previous games in the Final Fantasy series, including Zidane/Garnet (Final Fantasy IX), Cloud/Tifa (Final Fantasy VII), and Tidus/Yuna (Final Fantasy X).

Oerba Yun Fang/Oerba Dia Vanille (also known as Fanille) is the pairing of the characters Oerba Yun Fang and Oerba Dia Vanille from the Final Fantasy XIII video game series.

Canon background

Final Fantasy XIII introduces Vanille as a young woman caught up in the pandemonium of an enemy fal'Cie (godlike supernatural being) having been discovered in the floating country of Cocoon. She bands together with a ragtag group of allies against the Pulse military, which seeks to destroy or use them for their own ends. Another young woman named Fang leads a military unit pursuing them; it turns out that Fang is a dear friend of Vanille's, and she only joined the Pulse forces for the sake of finding her.

As it turns out, Fang and Vanille are not citizens of Cocoon, but rather they hail from the enemy country, Gran Pulse. Hundreds of years ago, during the War of Transgression between Cocoon and Pulse, Fang volunteered to become a servant to the local pulse fal'Cie, Anima. However, this was only a pretense, and Fang's true intention was to air her grievances about Anima failing to protect Gran Pulse from Cocoon. The local priests decided to put Fang to death for blasphemy, but Fang's friend Vanille begged for Fang's life to be spared, in exchange for Fang and herself serving as Anima's servants. Together, Fang and Vanille were bestowed with the power to become one being, a magical beast known as Ragnarok. Ragnarok invaded Cocoon to bring about terrible destruction, but Vanille was horrified by their terrible power. Fang alone became Ragnarok, and set to destroying Cocoon, causing much death and destruction. The goddess Etro intervened, transforming both Fang and Vanille into solid crystal, and so they remained in stasis for several hundred years.

Upon awakening, Fang was afflicted by some amnesia--she couldn't remember how or why she ended up in Cocoon, or the events leading up to it, and Vanille tried to keep her ignorant, though the truth comes out. Ultimately, Vanille convinces Fang to use their power to protect Cocoon as their new home. The two join hands and become Ragnarok, using their power to sculpt an enormous crystal pillar to prevent Cocoon from crashing into the land below. At the core of the pillar, Fang and Vanille are frozen in crystal, curled toward each other, holding hands in their eternal sleep.

Fang and Vanille appear together again in Final Fantasy XIII-2. When Serah finds herself lulled to inaction in an idyllic dream world, Fang and Vanille pop in to act as a Maitland ghost couple to her Lydia Deetz, providing timely help and encouragement for her to escape back to reality.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII takes place hundreds of years in the future, in an era where the ever-dwindling remainder of humanity has ceased ageing for centuries, on the eve of the Apocalypse. The cult known as the Order of Salvation revere Vanille as "the sacred one" who is foretold to sacrifice her life performing the Soulsong, a ritual to purify the souls of the dead. While Vanille stays with the Order in hopes of penance for her past, Fang leaves on a nearly decade-long quest to find and destroy the lost relic needed to perform the Soulsong. Ultimately the pair discover that the Soulsong is actually part of the master plan of an evil god; held in Fang's embrace, Vanille instead uses her blessing to guide the souls of the dead to be reborn in a new world. After the final battle, they ascend into the light together and depart to the new world.

The novel Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories- reveals that Fang and Vanille have been living together in the new world, and have made their home in an arid region that reminds them of their hometown.

Fandom

Reactions

The canonical status of Fang/Vanille has muddled consensus among fans.[1][2][3][4] Some fans believe that their interactions are heavy with romantic overtones and directly parallel the affection shown by official Final Fantasy couples.[5] Other fans believe that their love is sisterly, paralleling the Farron sisters' familial devotion. The foundation of the debate may come down to a personal determination of canon. Some believe that Fanille deserves some credit as the first gay couple in the Final Fantasy series.

Due to the shared name "Oerba", the name of their hometown, some fans are under the mistaken impression that Fang and Vanille are sisters, cousins, or otherwise relatives, and reject Fang/Vanille as incest.

Creative Fandom

In fan works, Fang/Vanille is often complementary with Hope Estheim/Lightning and other pairings.

Example Fan Works

Fan Fiction

Fan Art

Cosplay

Meta

Links

Archives and Communities

References

  1. ^ https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/928790-final-fantasy-xiii/59321195?page=2
  2. ^ https://steamcommunity.com/app/292120/discussions/0/617319460853107815/
  3. ^ https://www.neogaf.com/threads/fang-and-vanille-is-it-canon.1095780/page-5
  4. ^ https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/928790-final-fantasy-xiii/69478300
  5. ^ https://finalfantasyblog.com/fang-and-vanille-are-lesbians-an-analysis/
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