Fu Hua and Immortality: Unarmored from Grief

What is the downside to being immortal? The idea of immortality seems tantalizing. Yet, it comes with downsides that can weigh on the individual. A text that touches on immortality is a sci-fi manhua titled: Springfest by Hoyoverse. The story follows an immortal character named Fu Hua and her droid companion named Fuxi. For years, Fu Hua defended the lands against monsters called Honkai. However, she always refused to join the spring festival celebrations. Throughout the story, Fuxi tries to make Fu Hua join the festival. Springfest is not only entertaining on a surface level, but also there is more than meets the eye. Upon closer inspection, the story gives an insight to what it means to be immortal and dealing with grief. Ultimately, Fu Hua’s immortality does not shield her from grief.

First of all, the issue that this paper plans to discuss is about loss and grief within immortality. The experience of loss and grief is a matter familiar to everyone. Yet, no one is born immortal, so this causes one to question: how do immortals experience loss and grief? Beforehand, we need to define what immortality is. The Britannica Dictionary defines immortality as: the quality or state of being immortal. Moreover, immortal means: not capable of dying or living forever. Fu Hua is immortal because she continues to live on whilst her close friends have already passed. Also, I will analyze the text using the Dual Process Model of Grief by Margaret Stroebe and Henk Schut (2010). This model helps understand how people mourn and their ability to cope to move forward in life (Cake & Vasquez, 2022). The model contains three components. First is loss-oriented stressor, which is stressors that come from focusing on loss. Next is restoration-oriented stressor, which is behaviors that offer respite from loss-oriented stressors. Last is oscillation, which is the process of swinging between loss-oriented and restoration-oriented stressors (Applebury, 2021).

First, Fu Hua is still vulnerable to thoughts and emotions that bring up memories of her loss. An event that stirs Fu Hua to think of her past is being surrounded by people cheering for her. After defeating the Honkai, people rush to her and invite her to the festival to celebrate. Yet, Fu Hua rejects the offer and continues walking. The thought of celebration from the people is a loss-oriented stressor. In the past, Fu Hua cherished this invitation, but in the present, it only proves to be a painful reminder of her loss. Fuxi states in her narration, “She was different back then. In fact, she was very, very warm.” Alongside that, a panel shows Fu Hua smiling and waving towards people. The inevitable happens when her friends pass away one by one. A panel depicts Fu Hua in a graveyard during a rainy day. She looks up at the drizzling sky with the expression that hinted to a realization. She realized the weight of loneliness and the fear of perpetual grief. Due to that, any mention of celebrations will remind Fu Hua of the times when her friends were still alive. Thus, the mere event of people surrounding Fu Hua and cheering her is enough to remind her of her loss.

Second, Fu Hua becomes stoic to remain functioning. Merriam-Webster defined stoic as: not affected by or showing passion or feeling. Fu Hua's stoic attitude is a restoration-oriented stressor. She becomes stoic to help her face her responsibilities. There are several depictions which show Fu Hua's stoic nature. For example, Fu Hua becomes avoidant. After defeating the Honkai, Fu Hua insists on returning to the temple without taking a break. Fuxi tries to make Fu Hua stay, but Fu Hua ignores her and walks away. The reason behind this is to prepare for the next battle, thus forming a distraction from her loss and grief. Another instance is Fu Hua distancing herself from other people. Fuxi's states, “As an Empyrean, the immortal understood and accepted the laws of nature, of life, and of death. Yet the pain was too much to bear. She stopped making friends. When even that didn’t work, she began to distance herself away from people entirely.” Fu Hua finds that distancing herself from people helps her function in the present. If she were to grow closer with mortals, it will only divert her focus to her previous loss. As stated by Fuxi, “And that’s why she didn’t want to stay or get to know you. You’ll become her friend and she’ll grieve when you die.” To summarize, Fu Hua must uphold a stoic nature to avoid facing her grief and function in everyday life.

Finally, Fu Hua alternates between being stuck in the past and remaining in the present. Thus far, there are depictions of Fu Hua facing loss-oriented and restoration-oriented stressor. Though, to grieve in a healthy way, one must swing between both stressors. Oscillation is the dynamic process of swinging between loss-oriented stressor and restoration-oriented coping (Stroebe and Schut, 1999). There are several instances in which Fu Hua experiences oscillation. The first instance is her behavior towards Fuxi going missing. At first, Fu Hua seems detached from Fuxi as shown from neglecting Fuxi behind. Yet, later in the day Fu Hua hears about Fuxi being missing. She ends up spending the entire day searching for Fuxi. She searched despite not knowing Fuxi's exact location. A few panels show Fu Hua walking out of the palace with determination. Also, during her search, the sky transitioned from a clear blue sky to an orange one. Here, she demonstrates oscillation. Fu Hua going out of her way to search for Fuxi is a restoration-oriented stressor. Yet, the reason Fu Hua wants to find Fuxi is because she received Fuxi as a gift from her close friends. Fu Hua states in her inner dialogue while searching for Fuxi, “They gave her to me as a gift. She’s all that’s left.” Thus, the loss-oriented stressor from her memory activated her restoration-oriented stressor. At last, when Fu Hua found Fuxi unscathed in a cave, her stoic nature weakened. She gives a worried look at Fuxi. When Fu Hua realizes that Fuxi is fine, she swings to a restoration-oriented stressor. She rushes to leave the cave and continue her travel.

Next instance of oscillation is Fu Hua’s experience of the spring festival. Fuxi asks Fu Hua before she leaves the cave, “Are you sure you don’t want to join the people for the spring festival?” Fu Hua remains silent. She presumes that Fuxi does not have much time left before her battery depletes and shuts down. Thus, she agrees to go to the festival. Fu Hua's agreement to go to the festival is a restoration-oriented stressor. At first, Fu Hua's resistance to go to the festival is a loss-oriented stressor. She does not want to go to the festival because the festival reminds her of a time when her friends were still alive. Hence, she prevents herself from going in order to avoid the sadness. During the festival, Fu Hua reminisces of a time where she went to the festival with her friends. Fuxi states, “You’re finally smiling! I haven’t seen you smile like that for ages!” and Fu Hua replied, “I was just thinking about the past.” The act of reminiscing is a loss-oriented stressor. Furthermore, she swings between the previous stressor to a restoration-oriented stressor. After reminiscing she enjoys the festival by watching the fireworks. In the end, Fu Hua faced her grief. She would not have been able to do this if it were not for Fuxi's invitation to the festival. The festival has been a constant reminder to her past. By visiting the place associated with loss, Fu Hua is able to come to terms with the reality of the present. As well as accepting the inevitable, which is Fuxi shutting down. After realizing Fuxi is no longer with her, her eyes opened wide. Yet, Fuxi left the most precious gift to Fu Hua, which is the courage of facing her grief. Thus, Fu Hua is able to come to terms with reality by reflecting on her loss and coping with it.

In conclusion, even though Fu Hua's immortality has made her become the esteemed Empyrean and celebrated by mortals, her immortality does not save her from facing grief. The nature of her grief follows the dual process model of grief by Stroebe and Schut, which consist of loss-oriented stressor, restoration-oriented stressor, and oscillation. As depicted in the manhua, Fu Hua seems to experience the two stressors by either directing her focus to either the past from her memories or putting focus towards her present by using coping strategies such as adopting a stoic attitude. In the end, Fu Hua’s immortality may serve as a boon in giving Fu Hua endless chances to be the hero of Shenzhou, but grief will linger in her regardless of how long she lives on. One can gain the insight that even immortals suffer from experiences which mortals suffer from as well.