#i think it's also worth noting how often i see the discussion of hera and humanity conflated with the discussion of

[commsroom]

i think there's something to be said about what exactly it means to be "non-human" in a story that is as much about humanity as wolf 359 is, where even the dear listeners are defined less by their own perspective and more by what they fail to understand and therefore reflect about the human perspective - to the point that they don't even have their own voices or faces or identities that aren't either given to them or taken from humans. they speak to humanity as a mirror.

even pryce and cutter are "very much humans" - pryce defined by her resentment of and desire to transcend its limitations, and cutter by his aspirations to redefine and create a "better" type of human - and find the idea that they might not be human laughable. it's interesting that they have distinctly transhumanist aspirations when their goal is the narrative opposite of common science fiction fears: that we will expand the definition of humanity so much that we'll lose whatever it is that makes us human. pryce and cutter's transhumanism narrows the definition of humanity to the worthy and the useful, as defined by them; "there will still be a humanity; it'll just be our humanity."

in direct opposition to that, i think it's meaningful that the show instead expands the definition of humanity in ways that include lovelace and hera, who in another show with different themes might be considered (in the descriptive, non-moralistic sense) non-human. i will always make a point of saying that personhood and humanity are two often-related but meaningfully distinct concepts, especially when talking about sci-fi and fantasy. i am talking about humanity.

the question of how hera identifies, and what social pressures influence that, is a complicated one. i've talked about it before and i will talk about again. what's important for the purposes of this post is that i think the show considers her fundamentally human. think about her role in shut up and listen - consider jacobi's lion example and the concept of different paradigms - that even things that are close to humans, comparatively speaking, understand the world in different ways. whatever differences hera may have from the others, it's primarily in experience, not fundamental understanding. she shares their emotions, their concerns, their values, their thought patterns. she has an appreciation for music, which the show considers a hallmark of humanity. she fits within the framework of humanity as the show defines and is, in her own words, left feeling "uneasy" about how difficult it might be to communicate with beings who don't. and it's significant that this takes place in shut up and listen, of all episodes, specifically because the way she is clearly and unambiguously included in the show's understanding of what it means to be human highlights the ways she and lovelace are othered by eiffel's careless comments that suggest otherwise.

(i don't want to get too into these details for this particular post, but it's worth noting that hera will refer to 'humans' as a category, often when she is upset and feeling isolated, but has never said that she 'isn't human' - she has never been upset that people are treating her 'too' human. i've seen it said about the line "you need to get it through your heads that what goes for you doesn't always go for me", but that's a frustration related to ability and safety, not identity. far more often, she will refer to herself in 'human' terms - referring idiomatically to experiences or body parts etc. that she doesn't literally have - and is upset primarily with comments referring to her status as an AI. it does not diminish how being an AI influences her perspective and experience, but again, so much of that is in terms of ability that it feels almost inseparable from a discussion about disability.)

lovelace's humanity and hera's humanity are so interlinked and directly paralleled in the text that i think it's impossible to really argue one of them is "not" human without making implications about the other. in desperate measures, lovelace tells kepler he's "not human" and he responds "you're hilarious. on a multitude of levels." later, defending lovelace against kepler's repeated dehumanization, hera very pointedly uses the phrase "that woman." in out of the loop, hera says she's never met anyone who "worked so hard at being inhuman" as jacobi, who says "what do you know about being human?" hera very emphatically responds, "i know plenty." later, defending hera against jacobi's repeated dehumanization, minkowski pointedly uses the phrase "that woman." with the care taken towards language and the way scenes and turns of phrase will parallel each other, that's not a coincidence. it might seem strange to have the "non-human" characters be the ones to express criticisms based on perceived "humanity" (something hera will do in other contexts as well - "we don't have funerals for animals" etc.) but in the broader context of the show, i think it's the point.

so, whether hera would ever call herself human, or be comfortable with that, is a complicated question for another time and depends on a lot of other factors. but wolf 359 is a show about humanity, it includes her within its definition of what it means to be human, and i wouldn't be comfortable definitively saying she's not human because of that. it can't be a neutral statement within the particular context of this show.

[hephaestuscrew]

Minkowski's Position as Commander: An Attempted Analysis

TLDR: Increasingly as the show progresses, Minkowski's role as Commanding Officer of the Hephaestus is not about the position given her by Goddard but is instead about a choice that she and her crew continually make.

At the start of the series, Minkowski very much believes that she derives her authority from the position given her by Goddard Futuristics. It's clear that this military chain of command is really important to her. For example, when Hilbert attempts to leave Minkowski to die in space, the main thing she says to try to persuade him to let her in is:

This is treason. This is a betrayal of your commanding officer.

[CONTINUED BELOW THE CUT]

It's quite revealing that Minkowski thinks that military protocol / her role as Commanding Officer provides the most powerful reason for Hilbert not to kill her, even though he has known her for nearly two years and they have generally been on quasi-friendly terms.

After Hilbert's Christmas mutiny (and to a certain extent even before that), the Hephaestus crew know that Command cannot be trusted. The authority that initially conferred a position of power onto Minkowski has lied to them all and is actively malicious. So past that point, Minkowski's status as Commander isn't really determined by the fact that Goddard Futuristics gave her that position, because the crew have no reason to obey Goddard anymore. The basis of her authority no longer comes from Goddard, but more from a kind of unspoken agreement that someone needs to be in charge and it ought to be her. As rebellious as Eiffel and Hera both are, neither of them actually question Minkowski's status as Commanding Officer. It's true that they often don't obey her orders, but when they go against what she's said, it is with a conscious sense that they are disobeying not just another crew member, but their commanding officer.

The next major wrench to be thrown at Minkowski's Commander status is the arrival of Lovelace, who is arguably more qualified to be Commander than Minkowski. Not only has Lovelace commanded the Hephaestus herself (and for a longer period of time than Minkowski has), her title of Captain outranks Minkowski's title of Lieutenant. In Lovelace and Minkowski's power struggle after Lovelace's arrival, they are both coming from a perspective of "I was here first". Lovelace commanded that ship first, but Minkowski commanded that crew first and that ultimately gives her more power. Minkowski remains the Commander of the Hephaestus because the crew know her and trust her.

Eventually Lovelace comes to trust Minkowski too and to view her as the rightful Commander of the Hephaestus. In S3 and S4, she often backs up Minkowski's authority and tells the others that they ought to follow Minkowski's orders.

When Kepler shows up, there's a new official Commanding Officer of the Hephaestus. The si-5 declare that Minkowski is stripped of the title of Commander. Of course, I couldn't write this post without mentioning this iconic exchange:

EIFFEL I'm glad to see you too, Commander.

MINKOWSKI You heard the new boss, you don't need to call me that anymore.

EIFFEL Uh, yeah, they can go screw themselves. The entire universe will freeze before you're not the Commander of the Hephaestus.

Minkowski is ready to accept that she's no longer the Commander, because a part of her still thinks leadership is determined by the official chain of command. But Eiffel doesn't accept that. And he's not the only one who still acknowledges Minkowski as leader despite the arrival of the SI-5. Although her programming prevents her from addressing Minkowski as Commander, Hera believes that:

Lieutenant Minkowski's still the one who gives the marching orders.

Throughout Season 3, there's the sense of a crew-within-a-crew on the Hephaestus. Sure, Kepler is officially the overall commanding officer, but to Eiffel, Hera, Lovelace and even Hilbert to a certain extent, Minkowski is their true leader. Even though Lovelace and Hilbert do go behind Minkowski's back, they still seem to have a sense that a mutiny ought to have her Say So.

Another interesting element is that, in the eyes of Command, Minkowski was never the highest ranking crew member on the Hephaestus. Kepler confirms this in Ep48 when he says that the "Highest ranking member of each crew was briefed on the possibility" of a Theta scenario and that for both Hephaestus missions that was Hilbert. To Goddard Futuristics, Minkowski was the Commander in name only.

The Hephaestus crew (by which I mean everyone except the si-5) treat leadership as something official and codified, but not as something conferred by external authority. They follow a policy where one person has to be clearly designated as the Commander, but where Goddard Futuristics does not determine who that person is. This approach is displayed in Ep47 when Minkowski asks Lovelace to take over command of the Hephaestus. Minkowski's status as Commander is proved to have been a choice, because she can also choose not to be Commander. This choice is a personal one. There's no military protocol involved, just a discussion between two friends and the handing over of a title.

It's also worth noting Lovelace's reluctance to take over the role of commanding officer and her insistence that this is a temporary arrangement. Her reaction demonstrates how much she has come to see Minkowski as the rightful Commander. S2 Lovelace would have responded very differently.

When Minkowski becomes Commander again in Ep53, she has another conversation which reveals a lot about her attitude towards leadership. I'm just going to put the whole long quote here because I think it's all very relevant to what I've been talking about:

MINKOWSKI It's just... there's been all these times when somebody put me in situation where I was "in charge," but I wasn't... in control. I can't think of a decision in my life that wasn't already determined by someone else. But... even then, there was always a choice. I always made it. Even when I didn't realize I was making it. So now... I think I need to make choices by myself. For myself.

LOVELACE Aaaaand does that mean you're perhaps ready to take command of a certain space station again?...

MINKOWSKI No. Because I've never been in command, I can't retake it. But, if you'll allow me, sir, I would be honored to relieve you of your duties, and assume command of the U.S.S. Hephaestus Station.

Lovelace SMILES, and salutes Minkowski.

LOVELACE About friggin' time, sir.

Here it's made explicit that the question of Minkowski's status as Commander is tied into themes of choice and responsibility and control over one's own life. Minkowski recognises that her starting the Hephaestus mission as Commander was a choice made for her by Goddard (this is especially true because Minkowski applied to be just a Navigations Officer, not a Commander). Her continuing to be Commander was a choice, but it didn't feel like one to her at the time. To some extent, it was a choice she made passively (although I think her crew actively chose to follow her).

This conversation shows how Minkowski's view of leadership has changed dramatically. At the beginning of the series, she probably would have said that Goddard's choice to designate her Commander was what made her a Commander. She probably would have said that was how leadership ought to be determined. But by Ep53, she no longer wants to be dependent on the decisions of others to decide her role. Being Commander is not only a choice, it is now a choice she makes consciously and independently. She doesn't really have any more control over their circumstances when she retakes command in Ep53 than she did before handing over command in Ep47. Nonetheless her decision to make active choices for herself is still a significant one, because it reflects a paradigm shift.

Of course, there is some cruel irony in the fact that very soon after this conversation Minkowski is put under Pryce's mind control. Sometimes the choice to take control of our lives is taken away. Notably though, Eiffel still calls her Commander when she's not even able to command her own actions. And when she does regain her autonomy, she automatically assumes command of a new crew-within-a-crew (Eiffel, Hera, Lovelace, and Jacobi).

Cutter recognises how important Minkowski's role as Commander is to her. In the finale, he tells her:

People cared about you because of what I made you: A soldier. A leader. A commander. I gave you that

But I would argue that this isn't true. Yes, it was Cutter who initially gave Minkowski the title of "Commander", but that was never what made her a leader. Goddard never saw Minkowski as a leader. They saw her as a tool. She became a leader in her own right because she strived to do the right thing for her crew and because her crew trusted her to lead them.

For a final example of how important Minkowski's role as Commander is to her, here's what she says to reintroduce herself to Eiffel after the memory wipe:

Hi. My name is Renée Minkowski. I'm the Commander of this space station.

At this point, Minkowski knows that the space station in question is not going to exist for much longer. She knows its been a long time since Goddard would have said she was the Commanding Officer of the Hephaestus in any sense. And yet, the second thing she wants Eiffel to know about her is that she is the Commander. She asks him to call her Renée, but she still wants him to view her as a commanding officer. This makes sense when we recognise that the trust of her crew - and of Eiffel in particular - has been the essential foundation of her status as Commander after the foundation from Goddard fell away.

Throughout the course of Wolf 359, with the various revelations about Command and with the arrivals of Lovelace, the si-5 and eventually Cutter & Co., the official reasons to classify Minkowski as the Hephaestus' commanding officer are eroded. But Minkowski still ends the show as a Commander. She's the one who decides whether they are going to stay and try to stop Cutter's plan (the others recognise that it's up to her even when they disagree with her initial decision to leave without trying to fight Cutter). Lovelace calls her Commander even after the Hephaestus is gone. Minkowski represents the ship when speaking to Earthspace ATC. And she's the one who finally brings the crew home.

[cyargent]

⚠️DISCLAIMER⚠️: ik this is kind of a 'kids show' as many would put it but missing posters of tbb's lack of concern for crosshair have been put up.

most of this was written before episode 12 so keep in mind.

people complaining about crosshair not appearing in the show often and hating the writers but what if tbb are just dicks? what if they moved on from cross to omega. and they left him?

cmon, the only episode crosshair appeared in without the presence of tbb near him is replacements, which only happened bcs omega. (i'm not including bounty lost bcs its a direct continuation to reunion. also not devil's deal bcs he appeared in it for the plot on ryloth, if you know what i mean.) she found his weapon kit, which lead to wrecker missing him then she talks about him with hunter. she thinks hunter's angry at cross and tells him that he cant control it. and hunter tells her that he's angry at himself for leaving him behind. i start to feel for him but he doesn't do anything with the information. not an 'oh so hes not bad bad i better grieve and be sad about abandoning him or strategically plan with his brothers, even if it's a shitty plan that they won't go on with'. nothing like that. fuck you hunter. well fuck even the title suggests that tbb replaced crosshair with omega, and tbb with the elite squad, from another perspective. what's up with that.

and after that episode he doesnt show up anymore until reunion. between episode one to eight but excluding them (dk what this is called???) they only thought about him once when hes gone and it wasn't for long. in reunion hunter and omega tries to convincd cross to snap back, which shows that they care but other than that there's nothing much done. huh?

also about the extraction mission, even if i want to i can't blame tbb for not trying. its not an easy task with cross trying to gun them down and the empire being his new best friend. its just that they dont acknowledge him anymore and it really shows in the episodes with his lack of appearance. the thought of rescuing him never even crossed their minds. as if he's a forgotten memory. before devil's deal, the episodes are not tbb centered but more like their perspective. i'm quite fond of those type of shows since it's like you know how they feel and struggle but this? this is your brother who ya'll go on missions with for a long time. where is your love for him?

btw im not mad at hunter or tbb, i'm just disappointed at them. they can and should do better than that.

EDIT: after watching todays episode, im still pissed that wrecker sees crosshair and goes 'ugggh, great'. fuck you too wrecker. and to hunters attitude at hera (a child who just lost her parents and came desperate for help to them) saying it's not worth the risk, how dare you! a sincere no is the least you could do.

about tech and echo, i'm still fine with them but thats prob due to the fact that they have little development (especially tech) and that echo was an amazing character in tcw. in this show its always been about:

1. omega

2. hunter

3. wrecker

but to end this on a positive note, it seems that hunter finally sees things clearly after listening to howzer talking about not leaving his squad. there's a scene where the marauder leaves ryloth and hunter looks out the window to see the place, or maybe looks for crosshair. if he doesn't, i might actually hate him (which is rare especially for fictional characters.) hopefully they'll start acknowledging him. it'd be nice to see them discuss about freeing him since they could free hera's parents and risk their lives y'know. like they learned a lesson or got a wake up call from this experience. but i guess we'll just have to wait and see. ok bye lol.

[reblogthiscrapkay]

Persephone in Disney’s “Hercules”

After doing my write-up on “Jasper in Deadland”, which doesn’t actually have the myth of Persephone in it but does have her and Hades as characters, I found myself thinking, ‘why don’t I do more write-ups about media that has Persephone in it even if her myth isn’t directly addressed?’ And once I had that thought, I decided I should talk about Disney’s “Hercules,” which is probably just as famous for its portrayal of Hades as it is for literally anything else about it.

I think anyone’s automatic thought when I say Persephone in Disney’s “Hercules” is that she’s not actually in the movie at all and that’s not actually correct.

I’m not crazy about her design but it’s not the worst thing. Why is she so blonde when most of the other gods seem to be more monochromatic (and as I’ve said before I’m not into blonde Persephone)? In fact, her lack of monochrome makes me wonder if they might have intended other things for her since the gods who aren’t mostly one color in general have more importance in the narrative. Also her earrings are probably supposed to be leaves but they look more like feathers to me. 

Persephone is only in the background of the pantheon scenes with her standing next to her mother in the opening scene and being one of the gods to crowd around Hercules at the end. So what is there to talk about? That. The fact that she is there and the fact that she is only in the background. This is important. In some stories this would be a minor detail that just shows that someone did their homework, but in this story where Hades is the main villain and easily the most memorable character, there’s a discussion to be had.

Before I get into depth about the villain aspect, I want to point out the fact that villains of the Disney Renaissance era are some of the most often cited when someone wants to have a discussion about queer coding in media and Hades’ name comes up basically every time. To me, he reads more like a sleazy used car salesman than a queer-coded villain (I think Radcliffe from “Pocahontas” or Ursula from “Little Mermaid” are more straight forward examples to point out for a straight audience) but there are definitely moments in the film where you can see this; his gay best friend-esque dialogues with Meg are pretty notable. That being said, this Hades being into ladies would not feel incorrect to me, a queer. Isn’t every Hades at least a touch bisexual (and everyone in Greek mythology for that matter)? Happy Pride!

So moving past the queer-coding discussion, we get to the villain issue. Giving a villain someone to love is going to change the dynamic of the villain and the story and is a really complicated choice for most writers. There’s a reason why every live action movie with the Joker in it has either had no Harley Quinn or Harley was the main character and the Joker was secondary. And they happen to be a couple with a bad relationship where you could easily have one of them throw the other under a bus if needed! Including Persephone in this story as Hades’ wife would mean that it would be really hard to make Hades the villain. In almost every medium where Hades has a Persephone, he isn’t presented as a villain but instead strictly lawful neutral, and you could still have a funny Hades who’s lawful neutral (look at “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” or “Jasper In Deadland” for example).

Sure, there’s the option of making Persephone a villain too, but while there’s no real precedence to make Hades a villain outside of a lot of conflating him with the devil through incorrect translations and confusion, there is absolutely no precedence to make Persephone a villain. Hades’ villainy already only works in this story because they have set it up that Zeus single-handedly won the Titanomachy and assigned the Underworld to Hades, leaving him bitter about it. In some versions of the myth of Persephone, Hades’ bitterness at his lot in the Underworld is actually the driving force behind him wanting a wife in the first place. Persephone would likely be a placating force for Hades, causing the more straightforward hero-villain narrative to not work and Disney’s shtick at this time was very much about straightforward hero-villain narratives.

There’s also the general problem that Persephone’s presence would make Hades WAY too powerful as this amazing Tumblr post discusses.

So Persephone as a villain is bizarre and she would likely be a positive thing for Hades. What if they had a relationship that was bad i.e. Joker/Harley? It would be a complete Greek God couple inversion since this movie shows Zeus and Hera as a happy couple (again, the goal was to simplify; this is also why Hercules is their child isn’t of Zeus and Alcmene). Well, then you basically have the horrible “Lightning Thief” movie (which I should maybe write about some time) and honestly, I think it would read really badly. If you don’t get why, go watch that film (but don’t, it’s terrible). Hades is unique is the Disney villain pantheon because he’s so likable and while he does bad things, his motives make a bit more sense than a lot of Disney villains. I think giving him a wife who he’s mean to would not only decrease his likability substantially but I think it would also be kind of controversial. Hades certainly wouldn’t be the iconic character that he is. It would also likely distract from the amount of time he spends interacting with Meg, who is not just a love interest to Hercules but a hugely important factor in the plot. Even if Persephone is equally mean to him, I think you’d still end up in this problem of having to address how two people who hate each other ended up married and then you’re into having to pose Hades as a kidnapper who regrets his choices. Also, I think in 1997 the married-couple-who-hate-each-other trope was mercifully on its way out.

So what if Hades and Persephone are married and it’s a decent marriage but Persephone just doesn’t know about any of his evil plans? That’s workable. Hades’ original plan to kill Hercules is pretty quietly done, and his all out war plan could have involved her being cooped up in Elysium and oblivious. Heck, you could even have the movie play out entirely as is until the scene where he’s enslaving the gods and then suddenly they see each other and he’s like, “Good news, honey! Soon everywhere will be my domain and you won’t have to be cooped up underground half the year!” and she’s like, “Is this what you were planning in your office every night?! You complete idiot!” That would kind of even give Hades more motive without having to mess with Persephone’s character.

I haven’t really touched on what might actually be the most obvious answer of why Persephone is in this movie but not as Hades’ wife: that just hasn’t happened yet. I’m sure this is the argument anyone who worked on the film would make. Okay, sure, there are no winter scenes in the film, but that whole thing is implied to happen long before any of the famous demigods are born. Perhaps this is just the answer. Although I think he’d have a much harder time winning her over now after he, you know, tried to take over the world.

The life of Disney’s “Hercules” Hades didn’t actually end with the film by the way. In the television show, which would have been the perfect place to tell the myth of Persephone, Hades actually has a crush on Aphrodite instead. While it’s kind of cute to give him a crush in general, why did they give up on this prime myth real estate to make this up out of nowhere? And it did in fact make him more sympathetic, but he’s also just far less villainous in the show. Disney just can’t stop with this Hades redemption and romance arc thing either. In the third “Descendants” movie, Hades is there as Mal’s father meaning that he canonically had sex with Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty.” I had to lie down after that one. But it’s worth noting that while he’s a totally absent father until the point that this film happens, he has his reasons, his characterization in that movie is 100% sympathetic, and he’s not a villain at all.

Gosh, Disney. Just give the man his wife already!

(And in case you were wondering, there is some really cute fan art out there of these two if you have a burning need.)

[unclefungusthegoat]

Far Cry 5 Theory #3- Faith And The Greek Goddesses

Hi all, and welcome to the third in a series of Far Cry 5 meta posts! Today, I’m talking about the often sadly overlooked, beloved little sister, Faith! It’s not an original theory this time, instead I’m building on already existing and acknowledged symbolism within the game!

This one is 1972 words, so another long one, but I hope it’s interesting!

Far Cry 5 is laden with Christian symbolism- talk of God, baptism, souls and sins- but there is one very interesting example of where this trend is broken. This moment comes within the scene where Faith entices Burke to kill Virgil, and then himself.

As she approaches her victims, she says to the Deputy:

“Do you know what hubris is? Arrogance before the gods. The Greeks saw it as a dangerous form of pride that invoked the goddess Nemesis, who would seek retribution.”

This is the only example in the entire game (and indeed, the supporting materials) where the situation’s religious undertones are blatantly derivative of Greek mythology. And while Faith is heavily under the influence of Joseph’s doctrine and ideology, I feel that this very deliberate reference can shed some light on how she decided to play the new role she had been given.

Not just as a Herald... but as a goddess.

Aphrodite. Cybele. Psyche.

Nemesis.

Nemesis is the Greek goddess of retribution, justice and revenge, a figure who punishes arrogance and pride.

Immediately after making this reference, Faith goes on to say:

“If violence is the only language you choose to speak, I’ll speak your language.”

She directly places herself in the role of Nemesis, deciding that she must combat the Deputy’s violence, their hubris, by retaliating with Burke and Virgil’s deaths.

Faith is the only one of the Seeds who actually punishes the Deputy’s actions.

INSPIRATION

Due to this reference, it appears that Rachel took heavy inspiration from the Greek mythology when performing her role as Faith. It has been discussed before (in this post by teamhawkeye and weekend-writer) that she may have learned how to be a Herald from Jacob, since she directly quotes him within the game, and I also think that all of Jacob’s talk of humanity, history and falling empires may have influenced her to look at the ancient societies, to understand the faiths that made their empires so strong.

She would learn of their all-powerful gods and of cruel punishments  administered to those proud enough to challenge them- think of the fates of Medusa, Arachne, Marsyas and Tiresias.

And seeing how successful the ancient gods were at eliciting respect and obedience, she decided to put their methodologies into practice.

BUT WHY?

Delusions of grandeur.

It’s easy to imagine, that having been once cast out from society, Rachel might become enamoured with her new position as a Herald, as the one Joseph hand-picked to be at his side. She rose from nothing to become a leader, loved and feared. She now held the ability to control people entirely. She was now divine.

It’s pretty likely that power went to her head.

I have been considering the possibility that Faith believes she is supposed to act as a deterrent for Joseph’s own hubris. Joseph would worry that to wield the power he has, and to carry the notion that he is chosen by God, may make him arrogant and tyrannical, and he would need someone to keep his pride in check. Greg Bryk has discussed how Faith is a motherly figure to Joseph- who better to aid him in a battle with his own sins than a parental figure, just as he, as a ‘Father’, aids the atonement of his flock?

But why would Joseph ask her to take inspiration from an ancient religion that isn’t part of the Eden’s Gate doctrine? Why would he raise her to be a godly figure, when he and his brothers were simply prophets?

He wouldn’t.

So maybe Faith, with talk of her divinity as her new form of cocaine, combined Joseph’s request to assist him, her developing delusions of grandeur, and the ancient stories she learned from Jacob, to come to the conclusion that she was special, chosen like the heroes of old?

And so she decided to become a goddess, as evidence of her worth.

Faith wasn’t named by the Voice in Joseph’s original visions like John and Jacob were, and I imagine she’d be aware of that. Perhaps she felt bitter, outcast, not quite part of the group. A Herald, but not a prophet. A Jessop, not a true Seed.

She knew she must have a purpose, after all, she was chosen.

Perhaps she was chosen as a guide for the prophet, so that he might remain humble and loyal to his holy cause?

SO WHAT PROOF OF THIS IS THERE?

HER ORIGINS

Nemesis is the child of Nyx, the goddess of night, and Erebus, god of darkness. And so it can be argued that she was quite literally ‘born of darkness’. Both Nyx and Erebor were born of Chaos which the Greeks described as a formless, eternal dark abyss between the Earth and sky, or upon which the Earth rests.

In one of Faith’s broadcasts, she can be heard saying ‘Life comes from chaos’.

The Greeks' dark void, Chaos, was worshipped as the very first thing to exist.

It seems too much of a coincidence for her to make this statement, a sentiment not shared by any of the other Seeds, if she had not been influenced by Greek mythology. And it could be that Faith’s belief in this doctrine comes from the parallels it has with her own story:

“Faith flies divine—and Rachel…Rachel gropes around in the darkness. I left her there a long time ago.”

Rachel was born into a world of darkness, by abusive parents. She tried to remake herself using drugs, but still was lost in the ‘chaos’. It was only when Joseph found her that she finally became ‘Faith’... that she became ‘Nemesis’ and came into the light, ‘born’ as the person she was meant to be.

There are also interpretations where Nemesis has no father, which is all the more interesting, considering Joseph’s epithet.

SYMBOLISM

The above depiction of her is especially interesting, as Nemesis holds two of her symbols- that of scales, and a sword. These are the very symbols of her adoptive brothers. We have little insight of how Faith interacts with John and Jacob, but we know that Joseph apparently dotes on her. Perhaps, if she is indeed consumed by the notion that Joseph chose her, made her a favourite, that she feels she has some degree of control over them too? 

THE ANGELS

Faith appears to have taken inspiration from Nemesis in her manufacturing of the Bliss, and the effects it takes upon those consumed by it.

The Angels are overdosed so heavily on Bliss, that they no longer have free will. This is an irreversible process, and one wonders why such a process is needed, if the Bliss is influential enough upon most people to make them suggestible to the Project?

Well, perhaps Faith suggested it, in reference to Adrasteia.

Adrasteia was an alternative name for Nemesis, and in Ancient Greek, roughly translates to ‘one from whom there is no escape’.

Interestingly, Adrasteia is also the epithet of Cybele, the goddess of childbirth. Could it be that Faith, in a twisted way, thinks of the Angels as her children- a note from a Priestess describes them as ‘extensions’ of Faith- and one very telling phone message, has her saying:

“A baby is a sack of screaming, shitting, crying impulses with no thoughts, no personality, no understanding of the world beyond feelings. It has no soul. You have to give it one. The only soul we ever have, we receive from others. And it is only others who can take it away.”

Writings on Nemesis has also described how she uses "adamantine bridles" to restrain "the frivolous insolences of mortals”- and it wouldn’t surprise me to think that this is why her Angels wear masks over their mouths. There is a suggestion that their tongues have been removed, but why would Eden’s Gate hide that? They are hardly adverse to graphic reminders of their sins?

THE SIREN AND NARCISSUS

Faith bears the title ‘The Siren’, a creature from Greek mythology famous for leading people to watery graves by seducing them with their voices, and it therefore can be no coincidence that water is a recurring feature within Faith’s scenes. And, as The Siren, Faith uses desires and dreams to entice the disillusioned, before drowning them within the Bliss.

Nemesis is a siren in her own way, famous for leading someone to a watery grave- Narcissus, the man who fell in love with his own reflection. 

Parallels can easily be drawn to Burke’s tragic tale. Once proud and confident, but discontented, he sits with the Deputy upon the water, quite literally reflecting upon his new life, filled with love for his new happier self. And though others try to save him, he cannot escape the obsession with these reflections and ultimately dies because of it.

PHYSICAL- APHRODITE?

In the Bliss, Faith seemingly possesses a pair of beautiful white wings. And while initially this may seem to suggest her angelic nature, it seems odd to brand her with the same title as the mindless Angels, when she evidently not only has free will, but also is of great value and deeply cherished by Joseph.

And so now we come to note that Nemesis is actually very often portrayed as a winged figure- the poet Mesomedes described her as “Nemesis, winged balancer of life, dark-faced goddess, daughter of Justice”.

Additionally, it can be argued that Faith also took inspiration from Aphrodite.

Nemesis was said to resemble Aphrodite, the goddess of love who is famously beautiful, and there are multiple lines of dialogue from characters within the game that reflect on Faith’s attractiveness. Hurk even asks if there would be any way of reviving her, because she is so beautiful.

It makes sense that Rachel, riddled with low self-esteem, would choose to empower herself by modelling her image on a goddess so desired. Parallels can be drawn to the Greek tale of the ‘Judgement of Paris’, where Paris, prince of Troy, named Aphrodite as the most beautiful, over Hera and Athena- just as Rachel was chosen by Joseph as the most faithful over Lana and Serena.

Finally, Faith is often seen with butterflies around her. In Greek mythology, the goddess Psyche was a beautiful woman who people began to covet and worship in place of Aphrodite, and she was eventually brought into the service of the goddess, having evoked her wrath.

Psyche is represented with butterfly wings.

SUMMARY

Each of the Seeds act according to their own gospels, inflicted upon them by their own individual ‘Gods’. Joseph’s is the Voice. John’s are the Duncans. Jacob’s is his younger self.

And so who drives Faith?

She adores (and fears) Joseph. She learned from Jacob. But to assume that they are her Gods detracts from the severity of her actions and her evil. It removes her free will... and she is no Angel.

No, she must have set out to find a God of her own.

Tracey says of Faith: ‘This is what she does. Takes. Destroys.’ Faith knew misery in her life before the Project, and so is of the same mindset as the other Seeds- that happiness can only be found by enduring suffering and pain. And she may experience jealousy of others who have never had to suffer.

A quote I found on Nemesis read:

Nemesis believed that no one should ever have too much goodness in their lives, and she had always cursed those who were blessed with countless gifts. 

In other words, Nemesis believed in punishing ‘undeserved good fortune’, not necessarily making people suffer completely, but suffer enough.

Just as she did.

Faith saw herself in this vengeful, loyal, beautiful goddess. She recognised her past and new mission within the holy figure’s doctrine. And with Joseph's open attitude as to how the Heralds chose to operate, she could easily merge her fantasies with his.

She became Nemesis, challenging the rightful goddess, and committing the very sin, the hubris, both of them sought to seek out and punish.

[waltzofthewifi]

Rachel's Very Hectic Stay In Paris

Miraculous Ladybug x Percy Jackson crossover one-shot

Posted as part of my Kota/Mayfly extras, but can stand alone

Rachel's Very Hectic Stay In Paris

When the first supervillain attack Paris, Rachel was very confused.

Most people were scared - even those who had previously known magic existed - and some were excited. But most didn't have a built-in future teller who usually warned them of important events.

And that was the weird thing. The oracle spirit had not warned Rachel at all.

So when a giant rock monster emerged, Rachel was very, very confused.

Of course, the first thing she did was call Chiron.

"Some magic is outside the oracle's power," he explained. "You'll have to be as careful as everyone else."

Rachel couldn't decide if that was a helpful answer or not.

"Do you know anything about these... miraculouses? Miraculi?" Rachel asked.

"I know a little," Chiron replied. "They've made their way into the hands of demigods before."

"But nothing helpful?"

"It is hard to say," Chiron said. "The situation is too new. Just be careful, and stay in contact."

Rachel debated trying to reach Apollo. It wasn't like she needed to know - but she was dying to - and it was probably better if she stayed out of it - but she didn't want to stay out of it.

Eventually, Apollo reached out to her. With a note on her bed.

"Don't get too involved

They might not know of Greek Stuff

Keep them in the dark"

Which was also good advice.

Rachel was tempted not to follow it.

.

But she did.

It wasn't as hard as she thought. It wasn't like the Greek monsters she saw growing up - everyone saw the giant stone monster. All of her roommates got put into the bubbles, not just her.

And, slowly, everyone in Paris was becoming a conspiracy theorist.

The first roommate that bent to the conspiracy side was Jay.

"You see," he said, gesturing to the stereotypical conspiracy theory cork board he had in his shared room. "All of the akumas have been spotted in this general area."

"So Hawkmoth lives near us?" Another roommate, Nova, asked. They were curled up on Jay's bed, watching with apt attention.

"No," Jay replied. "Well, maybe. But it means he's - they're? She's? - I don't know - but they're aiming for international attention. This is the most tourist-y area of Paris."

"But no one outside of Paris knows about Hawkmoth," Rachel pointed out. It sounded impossible - and it was possibly an effect of the mist - but it was true.

"How would you know that?" Jay asked.

"... I'm American?"

"Right," Jay replied.

"Perhaps it's an affect of the magic," Jay's actual-roommate roommate, Kal, suggested.

Jay pointed at Kal excitedly. "That's a good idea. That's - I'm writing that down."

.

Lyra was the next.

"What if Hawkmoth is immortal, and so are Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Lyra asked. "And we're just caught up in an ancient battle of good and evil?"

The six roommates were gathered around the small coffee table, drinking and playing card games. Rachel was slightly drunk, so she just blurted her response.

"Ancient battles are a lot more dramatic," she said.

"More dramatic? Did you miss the latest akuma?" Kal asked, picking up the next card. "Oh, come on, I do not need this card."

"Ooh, are you going to turn into a card akuma, Kal?" Ely teased, waving her drink at him.

"A Phase 10 akuma sounds terrifying," Nova said.

"Yes, please don't," Lyra agreed.

Kal grunted and discarded the card.

"Ooh, yes!" Ely said, picking it back up. "One run of four and one set of four!"

"Oh come on!" Jay said. "Stop it!"

"Stop beating you?" Ely asked. "Never."

Ely discarded her card, ending her turn. Rachel frowned at the discarded card, before pulling a card from the pile.

"Anyways," Lyra continued. "Have you seen the latest news from the Ladyblog?"

"Ha!" Rachel interrupted. "Two sets of three. Finally."

Rachel slapped her cards down with drunk enthusiasm, put a few cards down in other piles, and discarded, leaving her with one remaining card.

"No, but like," Lyra continued. "There's art of a ladybug hero in the Louvre, from, like, forever ago. Therefore, they also have to be from, like, forever ago."

"Are you going to play?" Kal asked.

"Hm?"

"It's your turn."

.

Rachel had been living with her roommates for three months when the idea of telling them first occurred to her.

It wasn't that the mist was gone, exactly. Rachel still caught glimpses of monsters no one else noticed - many she didn't recognize. But slowly, as akuma attacks got weirder and weirder, people started being more open to the idea of magic in general.

And eventually, Rachel told Ely.

The two were hanging out in their shared room that night, watching the unfolding akuma attack on Ely's laptop and sharing a bag of chips.

Rachel checked her phone for the thousandth time. "Still no word from Jay or Kal."

Ely cursed. "They've definitely been turned into - whatever. But they'll be fine, right?"

"Right," Rachel echoed.

"This is a weird akuma," Ely muttered. "Do you think he might actually be related to - oh, what was it? Hercules?"

"No," Rachel said. "He keeps getting the names and pronunciations and myths mixed up. Like, Hera threw Hephaestus off of Olympus, not Zeus."

"I thought there were versions of both?" Ely asked.

Rachel blinked, surprised that Ely knew that.

"What? I know things. Sometimes."

Rachel laughed, which made Ely laugh.

But Rachel found herself explaining that yeah, there was a version of the myth that was correct - and how Rachel knew, and Ely believed her and listened. Neither of them even noticed when the akuma was defeated, and when Jay finally returned their calls.

.

After telling Ely, telling the rest of her roommates was easy.

Rachel told Jay and Kal first, then Lyra and Nova. They all took the news well, in their own way. Jay was delighted to learn about more types of magic, and it wasn't long before more conspiracy theories sprung up on his wall. Kal listened, and then moved on. Lyra had the most art-related questions, asking how it impacted Rachel's painting, and Rachel had enjoyed going in depth with her. Nova had looked at her strangely, before asking questions that led Rachel to wondering if they also had experience in magic they hadn't told anyone.

But all her roommates were disappointed when Rachel told them that no, she couldn't predict akumas.

.

Rachel was really wishing she could've predicted this akuma.

She had been grocery shopping, as real adults do, when the fruit had spawned arms and legs. Rachel yelped, the couple shopping a few feet away screamed, and the whole store descended into chaos as all the fresh produce stood up and walked to the door.

The fruit joined together near the front door, growing and transforming into what looked like a warrior. The fruit warrior grabbed a baguette for a sword, and starting shouting orders at the costumers in the store.

It was only after all this happened that Rachel's phone buzzed with an akuma alert.

As she was forced to crouch down behind a table of oranges, Rachel felt a burst of grumpiness that the Oracle spirit hadn't warned her of this. Couldn't she have had a little warning to shop at a different time?

.

The akuma lasted about an hour. When it was over, the grocery store closed for the rest of the day and Rachel had to go home without her food. No one else in the apartment had gone shopping recently, so they ordered delivery for the night.

.

That wasn't the last akuma attack Rachel got caught in.

The worst had to be on Valentine's Day, when Nova and Lyra were hit with the akuma's arrow and their roommates had to keep them from killing each other. The akuma who flooded all of Paris was a close second. And then there was the akuma who had lost the election to be mayor - that had been an interesting experience.

Every new experience with akumas unsettled Rachel's roommates. Rachel wasn't much better. It was all so unexpected, so hard to predict, it felt like they were always waiting for the next attack.

It didn't help that their apartment and jobs were in the middle of all the chaos. Rachel had intentionally gotten an apartment close to the Louvre, even before she got her job nearby, and now she was starting to regret that.

Except no, she wasn't, because she liked her roommates. It was worth the chaos to get the chance to meet them.

Ely was amazing. Despite working two jobs - one in a bar and another in a clothing store - she always had extra energy. Even though she and Rachel each had a bed, the two of them often ended up in the middle of the room in a pile of blankets and pillows. Ely was a little bigger than Rachel, but they still managed to wear each other's clothes, and it wasn't long before it was hard to tell what clothes belonged to who.

Lyra quickly became Rachel's art friend. She used her job at the Louvre to get Rachel cheap tickets and insider knowledge. They went to art stores together, spent evenings sharing a table as they both worked on their art, and went to art events together.

Nova was quiet, spending most of their time curled up on their bed reading, but they had an endless supply of blankets and sweaters they were willing to lend out. Nova was the one to teach Rachel how to make tea, who showed her their favorite bakery, and who was always willing to listen to whatever rant their roommates had come up with.

Jay was generally the one ranting. He loved conspiracy theories, but he never took them too seriously. He was excitable, like a puppy, and always up for anything. Game nights and movie nights and two AM mini adventures were all his idea.

Kal was the opposite. He always looked cool and collected, even in the morning, and was the only one who actually ate healthily. He was the roommate the others turned to when they needed help adulting, or when they needed a bit of common sense.

And Rachel loved them all.

It helped that she could talk to them - really talk to them. Until she met Percy, Rachel hadn't had any friends she could discuss what she saw with. But when Rachel came home with stories of weird monsters, or ominous feelings, her roommates would - well, listen might be a strong word. Ely was usually having at least two conversations at any given time, either with her roommates or with someone on her phone, Lyra usually had headphones in, and Jay had a bad habit of interrupting. But they believed her, and that meant a lot.

.

It also meant a lot that when Rachel's work needed extra volunteers for an event, Ely, Nova, and Jay all signed up.

Rachel had gotten a job - well, a volunteer position - at a local charity that was dedicated to giving arts education to low-income families. It was a cause that meant a lot to her, was close to her apartment, and with the money her dad sent her Rachel didn't need to worry about money. While getting a "real job" to be more independent was appealing, it felt like a wasted opportunity when she could afford to spend most of her time volunteering.

The event that day was an art show with pieces from the children the charity helped. Rachel felt proud - she knew several of the kids, and the art they made was gorgeous. Most of the art, at least.

While Rachel mingled with the students and their proud parents, Ely and Jay worked the entrance table and Nova helped with concessions. Nova was their usual quiet self, but Ely and Jay acted professional around the guests. Rachel would have guessed they became completely different people if it wasn't for the weird faces Ely made whenever she caught Rachel looking at her.

About an hour into the event, someone got akumatized.

It felt very out of nowhere. Rachel hadn't noticed anyone acting off, or anything that would cause an akumatization, and, of course, the Oracle hadn't given her any warnings. It just happened.

Rachel reacted quickly, grabbing the nearest person by her and dragging them behind the nearest table.

The other person cursed under their breath. "One day without an akuma. That's all I want." Rachel ignored them.

Rachel peered over the table. She glanced at the akuma which, to no surprise, was art-themed, then at the concession stand where Nova was. She couldn't see them, but given the angle that likely meant Nova had ducked behind the stand. Rachel could make out Ely and Jay hiding behind the welcome table.

Rachel ducked behind the table again. Her friends were safe, for now.

The akuma started monologuing. Rachel felt her stomach dropped when she realized what the monologue was about - someone's parents not being proud of their artwork.

Finished with the monologue, the akuma - Masterpiece - raised his hands, and the paint from the artworks behind him floated off the canvas and surrounded him. He pointed his hand at the table Rachel was crouched behind.

Rachel pushed the other person out of the way as paint slammed into the table and splintered it into a million pieces. Mid-explosion, the table froze, like a statue.

Oh, that looks cool.

Masterpiece continued sending jets of paint at various guests and furniture. One guest got a chest full of paint, and ending up looking like a marble statue. Another dissipated into a chalk drawing on the floor.

Rachel was starting to wish she brought a hair brush.

Masterpiece changed a trash can into a abstract statue, and then pointed his hand at the welcoming table, where Jay and Ely were still crouched.

Rachel moved before thinking.

She jumped onto Masterpiece's back, and he missed his shot. He spun, knocking Rachel off. She hit the floor with a thud and a flare of pain in her arm.

Rachel yelled a curse in Greek that Annabeth had taught her, because ouch.

Masterpiece turned to Rachel as she pushed herself up to her feet, and raised his arm. Rachel prepared herself to dodge - surely she was faster than Masterpiece, akuma powers or not, she -

Someone whacked Masterpiece over the head with a bottle. He stumbled, and Rachel saw Nova behind him, broken bottle in their hand.

Nova appeared to have no idea what to do next. They glanced

Fortunately, that was when the heroes showed up.

.

When it was over, Ely enveloped Rachel in a hug.

"Thank you!" Ely said.

"That was super cool!" Jay added, walking up next to Ely. "Same for you, Nova."

Nova blushed.

"Just don't make me do that again," Rachel said.

"Yes, please don't," Nova agreed.

"I don't know, I'd like to see that again," Ely teased.

"I would not," Nova said. "So let's not."

.

After that, things were uneventful for a few weeks.

Rachel's work held a make-up event, which came and went with no akumas. Lyra got a promotion at her work, Nova found a new book series to be obsessed with, and Rachel got a call from Piper about one of her sisters moving to Paris - but as long as she didn't move to where Rachel was, she should be fine.

It was a pretty good few weeks, so of course it ended with an akuma.

Rachel had felt this one coming, not in the way she felt prophecies coming, or anything else magical.

No, it was the overturned trashcan that tipped her off.

"Lyra," Nova explained, from their spot on the couch. They were picking at a loose thread on their sweater. "She's kicked it over when she walked in."

"Is she okay?" Rachel asked.

Nova shook their head. "I don't know. I - she was muttering something, but it didn't sound like French, but - you don't think she's at a risk of being akumatized?"

"I don't know," Rachel said. "Is she in your room?"

Nova nodded, and Rachel walked to their room and knocked on the door.

Lyra moaned, and Rachel took it as an invitation. She creaked the door open and peaked her head in.

Lyra was curled up on her bed, still in her work clothes, arms over her head. Her shoes had ended up on the other side of the room.

"Lyra?" Rachel asked.

Lyra moaned.

"Are you okay?"

Lyra mumbled something that sounded like "do I look like I'm okay?"

Which, no, she did not.

"Can I grab you something?" Rachel asked.

"Pain meds," Lyra said. "And something to drink."

"Are you injured?" Rachel asked.

"I think I have an ear infection," Lyra said. "It hurts so bad, I had to leave work early."

"That sucks," Rachel said.

"No kidding. And I just got this promotion - what type of person leaves early two weeks after getting a job?"

"The type of person who is sick," Rachel replied. "I'll grab those meds."

Lyra muttered a thank you, and Rachel closed the door behind her.

"Ear infection," she told Nova. "She'll be fine."

Nova nodded.

Rachel grabbed pain meds and a bottle of Lyra's flavored water from the kitchen, and was on the way back to her room when the door exploded.

Nova yelped and scrambled to hide behind the couch.

The explosion was accompanied with a distinct, painful ringing noise.

Rachel grit her teeth against the noise, still holding onto the water and medicine. Lyra - now very clearly akumatized - sized her up, before shaking her head and crashing through the front door and out of the apartment.

A second layer, Jay and Kal appeared in the doorway.

"Was that Lyra?" Jay asked.

Rachel nodded.

"We need to stop her," Nova said, standing up. "What if she gets in trouble?"

"You legally cannot get in trouble for what you do when akumatized," Kal reminded.

"Still, she's our friend, we should try to do something," Nova stressed.

"Do we even know where she's heading?" Jay asked.

"Work," Rachel said. "She was upset she had to leave work early."

"She got akum - never mind," Jay said. "Maybe we should let her go. Showing up akumatized because she had to leave work early might get her bonus points with her boss."

"Legally-"

"Yes, we know," Nova cut him off. "But legally doesn't always mean in reality."

"At the very least, we can be there when she is deakumatized," Rachel said. "Unakumatized? You know what I mean. We shouldn't get in the way of the battle, but when this is over it will be disorienting for her, so that's when we can help. Oh, and someone needs to tell Ely what's going on. She won't be home for another couple of hours."

.

The akuma attack ended up lasting about half an hour.

None of them got to see much of the fight. Rachel, Jay, Kal, and Ely had taken refuge in a bakery to wait out the fight, though none were hungry enough to order anything.

Lyra had never made it to the Louvre. She wasn't too powerful - she could cause explosions, and freeze people in their tracks, but that was all. The fox hero had appeared, preventing Lyra from hitting the main heroes, and causing confusion for anyone trying to figure out what was going on.

Lyra - or whatever her akumatized name was, Rachel hadn't heard it - was a prettier akuma than most. She was dressed in all black, with a skirt that floated down to her ankles, black pumps, a black business blazer, and a black turtle neck shirt. Her hair was now black instead of dark brown, pulled up into a ballerina's bun, with two stands hanging down around her ears. The only splash of color was her red scarf, patterned similarly to her work lanyard.

"She'll be glad to learn she wasn't one of the brightly colored akumas she's always complaining about," Nova noted.

"Like the bubble one?" Rachel asked.

Nova nodded.

"No one liked his design," Kal agreed.

The battle was won with a polka-dot ribbon, somehow, and after the magic ladybug swarm magically repaired all the damage, Rachel and the rest of the roommates rushed out to meet Lyra.

Nova was the first by her side, skidding to a stop on her knees next to Lyra.

"What happened?" Lyra asked.

"You got akumatized," Nova said.

"What?" Lyra asked. "Oh pl-" Lyra winced. "Yep, there's the ear infection."

"I brought meds," Rachel said, passing the bottle to Lyra. "And water."

Lyra downed the meds immediately. "Oh, you are amazing. Thank you."

"Are you okay?" Kal asked, stopping behind Rachel.

"I - no, not really," Lyra said.

"Come on," Nova said, standing up and offering a hand to Lyra. "Let's go home."

Lyra nodded, taking the hand. "Home sounds good."

[herawell]

#there are so many concepts here that could be posts on their own#but this is already too long. sorry.#i think it's also worth noting how often i see the discussion of hera and humanity conflated with the discussion of#whether hera would want a body and while i think there's some degree of influence in that. if she has human experiences without human form#there's something uniquely isolating about that that could influence her decision. BUT. the form she exists or doesn't exist in#is separate from whether the show includes her within its 'in group' of humanity. which thematically it does.#hera can be considered equally human without ever having any type of physical form. that's part of expanding the definition#and i think that's an important distinction.#anyway sorry i'm kind of passionate about this it just. doesn't quite sit right with me i guess#in a lot of cases i think it's important to acknowledge that non-human characters have different experiences from human ones and#a lot of science fiction will (or should) decentralize the human experience. but it's core to the themes of wolf 359. it's different.#i think hera is so interesting as a take on the 'human AI' character because. the mistake a lot of them make is having a character#'learn how to be human' and it feels patronizing. but hera is. a fundamentally human person who has been told she isn't#and internalized that. and i think that's much more complex and. well. human. i know she's just a fictional character but#i can't help but feel a little defensive sometimes#it's also part of a larger discussion but feeling inhuman is a not uncommon human experience. it is within those bounds

i think there's something to be said about what exactly it means to be "non-human" in a story that is as much about humanity as wolf 359 is, where even the dear listeners are defined less by their own perspective and more by what they fail to understand and therefore reflect about the human perspective - to the point that they don't even have their own voices or faces or identities that aren't either given to them or taken from humans. they speak to humanity as a mirror.

even pryce and cutter are "very much humans" - pryce defined by her resentment of and desire to transcend its limitations, and cutter by his aspirations to redefine and create a "better" type of human - and even find the idea that they might not be human laughable. it's interesting that they have distinctly transhumanist aspirations when their goal is the narrative opposite of common science fiction fears: that we will expand the definition of humanity so much that we'll lose whatever it is that makes us human. pryce and cutter's transhumanism narrows the definition of humanity to the worthy and the useful, as defined by them; "there will still be a humanity; it'll just be our humanity."

in direct opposition to that, i think it's meaningful that the show instead expands the definition of humanity in ways that include lovelace and hera, who in another show with different themes might be considered (in the descriptive, non-moralistic sense) non-human. i will always make a point of saying that personhood and humanity are two often-related but meaningfully distinct concepts, especially when talking about sci-fi and fantasy. i am talking about humanity.

the question of how hera identifies, and what social pressures influence that, is a complicated one. i've talked about it before and i will talk about again. what's important for the purposes of this post is that i think the show considers her fundamentally human. think about her role in shut up and listen - consider jacobi's lion example and the concept of different paradigms - that even things that are close to humans, comparatively speaking, understand the world in different ways. whatever differences hera may have from the others, it's primarily in experience, not fundamental understanding. she shares their emotions, their concerns, their values, their thought patterns. she has an appreciation for music, which the show considers a hallmark of humanity. she fits within the framework of humanity as the show defines and is, in her own words, left feeling "uneasy" about how difficult it might be to communicate with beings who don't. and it's significant that this takes place in shut up and listen, of all episodes, specifically because the way she is clearly and unambiguously included in the show's understanding of what it means to be human highlights the ways she and lovelace are othered by eiffel's careless comments that suggest otherwise.

(i don't want to get too into these details for this particular post, but it's worth noting that hera will refer to 'humans' as a category, often when she is upset and feeling isolated, but has never said that she 'isn't human' - she has never been upset that people are treating her 'too' human. i've seen it said about the line "you need to get it through your heads that what goes for you doesn't always go for me", but that's a frustration related to ability and safety, not identity. far more often, she will refer to herself in 'human' terms - referring idiomatically to experiences or body parts etc. that she doesn't literally have - and is upset primarily with comments referring to her status as an AI. it does not diminish how being an AI influences her perspective and experience, but again, so much of that is in terms of ability that it feels almost inseparable from a discussion about disability.)

lovelace's humanity and hera's humanity are so interlinked and directly paralleled in the text that i think it's impossible to really argue one of them is "not" human without making implications about the other. in desperate measures, lovelace tells kepler he's "not human" and he responds "you're hilarious. on a multitude of levels." later, defending lovelace against kepler's repeated dehumanization, hera very pointedly uses the phrase "that woman." in out of the loop, hera says she's never met anyone who "worked so hard at being inhuman" as jacobi, who says "what do you know about being human?" hera very emphatically responds, "i know plenty." later, defending hera against jacobi's repeated dehumanization, minkowski pointedly uses the phrase "that woman." with the care taken towards language and the way scenes and turns of phrase will parallel each other, that's not a coincidence. it might seem strange to have the "non-human" characters be the ones to express criticisms based on perceived "humanity" (something hera will do in other contexts as well - "we don't have funerals for animals" etc.) but in the broader context of the show, i think it's the point.

so, whether hera would ever call herself human, or be comfortable with that, is a complicated question for another time and depends on a lot of other factors. but wolf 359 is a show about humanity, it includes her within its definition of what it means to be human, and i wouldn't be comfortable definitively saying she's not human because of that. it can't be a neutral statement within the particular context of this show.