#gupna

(Chapter 111)

Fred's, Malcom's, and Mary's deaths are particularly brutal in that rather than shooting them from a distance, Andrew chose to relish bludgeoning them to death with the butt of his rifle until their faces were unrecognizable.

However, none of them have any significant moments in the narrative prior to dying, and their names aren't revealed until this extra in chapter 119. I distinctly remember feeling Shirai was trying to have his cake and eat it too, running with this to say "see, death is still a real possibility for these kids!" The effect is muted though when I don't know who they are besides "background character whose design I vaguely recognize from earlier chapters" and all ten members of the Goldy Pond Resistance survived their gun battle with the demon nobles.

Reading all that in chapter 85 and then seeing Paula and Sandy alive in chapter 96 was so jarring and kind of a "lol okay I guess" moment for me on my first read. It's not actively wishing for the death or brutalization of children who are already victims of the farm system but wanting to see lasting consequences that have weight to them and seeing how characters cope. Sandy loses an eye, but much like Emma losing her ear, we never see him note his long-term struggles with that loss, such as having a larger blind spot, the anxiety and anger that would understandably result in, or even minor annoyances that when stacked together weigh on him. Compare to Lucas who, while still a very capable character, does reflect on how the loss of his arm impedes him.

Tying that back around to muerte, my initial thought was that it similarly feels like it's cheating the narrative on a surface-level read and it seems to rely more on soft magic than the series typically does. Compare to Mujika's blood that has seemingly magical properties. While we're never given the specific details of how it works, Norman's explanations of demon physiology in chapters 120, 126, and 127 are enough to ground it in the hard science of this series' universe. It provides something their genomes are missing and is potent enough to permanently stabilize them upon introduction to the body through consumption.

But again, this is only a surface-level read and I don't know all the details of your story.

Vida is like it's "evil twin." Instead of sucking the life out of its victims, it can undo the effects of vida if so desired. It only withers if the person who's touched it last is dying or has died.

How does it undo the effects of vida, which draws up a being's blood into its stem and then carries it to its petals that results in its flowers blooming? Does it naturally create chemicals that when introduced into a being's bloodstream don't harm said being but cause a negative reaction in the vida plant, resulting in it shriveling up and dying? What of the stab wound still left by it, which is a major factor in its victim's death due to piercing their heart? Does it provide potent clotting agents to prevent a being from bleeding out after its removal as well as rapid mending to flesh?

I'm also a bit confused by what causes muerte to wither, assuming that it has to touch a being that's in the process of dying in order to counteract the vida and restore life to them. If a being uses it on another being but they're unaware they're dying from a disease like cancer, or adrenaline is pumping and they're unaware of a fatal wound when they go to help someone else, is muerte rendered ineffective?

Another thing to consider and something that could potentially offset the narrative convenience of being able to undo death is how it factors into demon culture. Gupna is a carryover from the original faith. Is muerte seen as unholy and are beings saved/revived by it seen as unnatural in the eyes of the general demon population and/or those who follow the original faith? Would that put a human or demon revived by it in conflict with Sonju? Is it highly regulated by the demon nobility as another means of controlling the demon population, or is it so rare it's believed to be an extinct species of plant? Are beings hindered in some way after being revived or are they fully restored to a clean bill of health? Having power over death in a series where it's treated as a genuine finality would dramatically alter a culture and its relationship with the afterlife.

It started when Ray and my OC found it and gave one to each other to make sure the other was always safe before my OCS shipment.