Himejoshi, PhD

The moon has no light of its own. Of course a game about copies is so fixated on it--it can only reflect the sun's light. This is why the moon feels more representative of La Luz despite the other superpowers that have colonized it. It may be the end of history and everyone is on the moon, but the Luzians still wish to further conquer it--or at least the image of it--with wolves and pop songs.

Hershel has two counterparts, Zoe in EMTERR and V in La Luz. And she can end up with two copies, Karolina and PSEUDOPOD.

Zoe and Hershel are defined by being raised by abusive or distant mothers, and both use spy work to process this. Hershel is the type who copes with her Shadow Mother by seeking approval of woman authority figures, like Mel. Zoe on the other hand adopts the traits of her abuser and expresses them using her personas.

V, despite being younger and an idol, is the closer counterpart to Hershel. They project themselves on to each other. If you pass the poetics check V will take Hershel's cryptonym as her new stage name. Both work in constructed identities, but like how Hershel's masks are just her at this point, so does V's music still comes from herself. And then there is something about both of them, their personas, that allows them to channel something from outside of themselves at different points of the game. You but from a Dream.

More than any other character in the game, Karolina shows you who Hershel really is. Here was a 16 year old that she left behind to be tortured. A 16 year old--that while it never crossed the line into something sexual--though there are certainly overtones--an adult woman groomed through movie nights and cool spy lies. Five years later and CASCADE's hold on her has never loosen. Her own Shadow Mother that she seeks the approval of and now emulates. Everything involving Karolina in this game is heart breaking and fucked up. I love it.