Ok, but unironically, the song Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley represents Hermes perfectly to me.
For starters, it's a meme, and I think he would love that. What's not funny about Rick Rolling someone in a moment of silliness?
Along with that, though, the actual lyrics of the song remind me strongly of Hermes, especially in his willingness to help others and his reliability.
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"Never gonna give you up,
Never gonna let you down,
Never gonna run around and desert you,
Never gonna make you cry,
Never gonna say goodbye,
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you..."
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In my personal experience with Lord Hermes, he is extremely loyal, kind, and considerate. He chooses his words wisely and expertly delivers them. If someone needs his help, he answers them swiftly (there's a reason he's known as Eriounês - Ready-Helper/Luck-Bringer). He goes out of his way to support others during their times of need, whether that be through giving them something to smile about or offering a listening ear. Hermes is always there when you need him, just like Rick Astley.
I think that this song - outside of the song's romantic context lol - represents Hermes' dedication to his worshippers and loved ones. I feel that Hermes is a dedicated, generous, and caring god, and while maybe these aspects of him go overlooked sometimes, Never Gonna Give You Up brings them back into focus.
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What the Legos Want
MK: "I just- I don't want to let my friends down, you know? It's like, I want to help out in the store, do arts and crafts with Sandy, and party with M-m-m-Mei! Mei! But it's to hard, I'm just one guy!"
(1x02 Duplicatnation)
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MK: "Okay! I did bad, I just- I really wanted that peach, and I guess I got carried away."
(1x06 The Great Wall Race)
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Sun Wukong: "Take in everything! Choose what you want to do, and then do it! That is focus."
(1x07 Impossible Delivery)
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MK: "I just wanted to be good enough—like you."
(1x09 Macaque)
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MK: "It's like- I want to be strong, and I'm trying to be! But it- it's like Monkey King isn't giving me a chance! *sigh* What if- what if he knows he made a mistake—chose wrong, chose the wrong successor?"
(2x07 Shadow Play)
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Sandy: "Hurting others isn't a measure of one's strength—took me a really long time to realize that. As long as I'm doing something to help out a friend, I don't mind what it is! I just want to be there for 'em when they need me."
(2x08 To Catch a Leaf)
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Sun Wukong: "You want me to leave it, and I want me to take it! Eh, it's toughy."
Ne Zha: "What!? Don't do this!
Sun Wukong: "I'm sorry—it's the only way!"
(3x01 On The Run)
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MK: “Why are you helping her—Lady Bone Demon—like, look, I get that you’re a bad guy, but you know that she wants to destroy everything, right?”
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Sandy: "I don't want to fight, but I can't let you hurt my friends!"
(3x04 The Winning Side)
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Sun Wukong: "What? You got what you wanted didn't you? Not gonna gloat? Monologue a little before scurrying off to your master? Go on! The Lady Bone Demon is waiting."
Macaque: "I couldn't care less about what the Lady Bone Demon wants!"
(3x09 The King, the Prince, and the Shadow)
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Mei: "I can't! I don't want to hurt you—any of you! I'm sorry."
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Mei: "No! Stay back! I- I don't want to hurt you!"
(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)
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The Mayor: "All my lady ever desired was a world no longer plagued by pain—until the Monkey King and his companions got in the way. Fate however has gifted her a second chance!"
(3x13 Time to be Warriors) (Desired, wanted, same thing.)
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Lady Bone Demon: "Save your hero speech child—I've existed long enough to know when it's over.
MK: "You still think that the universe really wants anything, from any of us?"
Lady Bone Demon: "Don't you?"
(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)
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Macaque: "Still the same Wukong, doing whatever he wants with no regard for others!"
(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)
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Sun Wukong: "It's actually amazing how quickly you're mastering your powers—when I was your age-"
MK: "-You were fighting the celestial armies and generally swinging your big ol' tail around to get what you wanted?"
Sun Wukong: "Well I was going to say making regrettable life choices but yeah, thanks for laying out. I'm embarrassed to admit it but—you might have actually already done more for this world that I ever have!"
(4x01 Familiar Tales)
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Mei: “What’s the point of having power if you won’t use it? Don’t you have people you want to protect?”
(4x05 Court of the Yellow Robed Demon)
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Sandy: “But you were too WEAK to be who you truly are! I am a monster! That’s what the world wants me to be, so that’s what I’m gonna give ‘em!”
(4x06 Show Me the Monster)
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Curse MK: "Hey no no no- I get it man. You want to get back to our monster of the week adventures, get back to our simple missions with Mei, mastering all of Monkey King's powers and delivering noodles for pigsy. Right?"
MK: "Yeah...yeah actually that's exactly what I wanna-"
Curse MK: "But we can't! Not after all we've seen! All we know and all we don't? *sigh* Right friend?"
(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)
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Azure Lion: "No no—this isn't what I wanted! All you had to do was wait, after this was all over I was going to release Sun Wukong, help him see reason! That is now impossible—not after what you've done!"
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MK: “No matter what I do, it’s going to lead to pain. It’s like the Lady Bone Demon said—it doesn’t matter if I want to help people or not! Everything I do just- it just makes things worse!”
(4x08 The Brotherhood)
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Macaque: "Point is, it’s time to start making your own choices—something I wish I would have learned a lot sooner than I did. You don’t want to fight Azure because people might get hurt, you don’t want to not fight him because people might get hurt–so do something else! Only you get to decide who you are kiddo.”
(4x10 The Jade Emperor)
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Sun Wukong: "Ah, don't be like that! Eat some fruit, soak up the sun—that's why I've been training so hard!"
Macaque: "What, so you can be the strongest?"
Sun Wukong: "Nooo! Well, maybe a little bit—but that's not the point! It's so we don't have to worry about anything or anyone ever again! Just living a lazy life, sitting in the sun, eatin' fruit, and doing whatever we want!"
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Sun Wukong: "I just wanted to protect the people I cared about—to be strong enough. I lost sight of why I was doing any of it."
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Macaque: "You did it for yourself! You've become this like, obsessive demon! I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no, Wukong doesn't listen to anyone, he just does whatever he wants!"
(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)
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MK: "That's what you were pretending to be right? To be my friend? To care about me? When really you were just using me to get what you wanted! To turn me against my own mentor! Put your hand in the monkey cage, and expect to get bit son!"
(4x13 Rip and Tear)
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Sun Wukong: "Azure just stop, okay? You've won—you're going to destroy us just like you wanted! Us an the entire universe."
Azure Lion: "Huh? No. This is not what I wanted! I can still fix this, it's- it's the whole reason I'm here at all!"
Sun Wukong: "Wait, how are you here!?"
Azure Lion: "What? What kind of a question is that you know exactly how I'm-"
Sun Wukong: "-No! Here and now! I put you in the underworld myself. How'd you get out, how'd you get the scroll? I know for sure you didn't steal it—you couldn't have! Azure, who gave you that scroll? Because whoever it was they must have known this would happen, wanted this to happen! And they used you to do it."
Azure Lion: "I just wanted to make the world a better place!"
MK: "You still can—you're the only one who can."
(4x14 Better Than We Found It)
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Welcome viewers, to a shadow play the likes of which have never been seen! It follows the tragic tale of a legendary warrior, and how those who bring light into this world inevitably bring darkness to those they hold dear whether they want to or not.
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A drabble for an anon asking about the prisoners watching their music videos! This is focused on specifically Mikoto’s initial shock at seeing MeMe for the first time, but just know that Double comes with a whole new set of shocks as he truly listens to John for the first time ;-;
Mikoto was no criminal.
He didn’t know how to break into locked rooms, or hack into complex prison security systems. He figured there was no way in hell he’d be able to see these so-called incriminating videos that the Warden was recording, and had resolved himself to an eternity of wondering what they could be. He was shocked when he didn’t need to do a single thing to gain access to them – Es simply adjusted the computer monitor and told him he could hit play when (and if) he wished. Then they left the room.
“A-are you sure?” he called, but they were already gone.
Mikoto blinked at the screen. It showed a stretched version of his apartment couch, near his bathroom wall, broken to reveal sky above. He thought he could spot his tarot cards at the bottom of the frame. Had Milgram broken into his home to film this?
He scoffed, and hit play.
Distorted guitar started up. He flinched as his own face appeared for a moment – looking directly into the camera and making a wild expression he would never have made if someone was recording. His body tensed up more as he heard his own voice start to sing lyrics he’d never spoken before in his life. He wasn’t even a good singer, and here he was sounding like a professional.
There were plenty of ways to accomplish all of this, of course. Software could mimic one’s voice, making him say anything these crazy reality hosts wanted. A team could easily add some digital effects to a stunt double and match his appearance perfectly. Knowing that didn’t make the experience any less unsettling.
He watched himself commit a nasty murder. He watched himself return home bloodied. But it was all ridiculous. How could Milgram even claim that this was him? He’d never raised a hand to anyone in his life. Were the other prisoners’ videos as outlandish as this one?
But then, a switch.
The song shifted to a new melody. He appeared to wake up from his couch, and suddenly Mikoto got the sense that this was him.
He was struck with how familiar this new segment sounded. It simultaneously felt like a favorite song he must have played on loop not too long ago, and one that he’d never heard before. As it played, each new note and lyric felt right on the tip of his tongue.
It ended as quickly as it began. The song returned to the heavy-metal-murder aesthetic it had started with, and once again he felt like he was watching a cheap copy of himself onscreen. He watched another murder, a shower scene (had the warden seen all that? How embarrassing…) and then he turned to his bathroom mirror.
At the same time as his musical counterpart, Mikoto leapt backwards in horror.
His eyes remained glued to the screen. His hand flew up to grab the lower half of his face. It was fake, he told himself. AI and CGI and all that. It was fake. It had to be.
Something deep inside of him said “no. That’s real. That’s me.”
Something else deep inside of him echoed the sentiment.
The video was less than four minutes of music, but by the end he was panting and tugging at his hair as if he’d endured hours of prison torture. He burst out of the room. He sucked in breath after breath. The melodies still played in his mind, lines repeating in his memory as he tried to put as much distance between himself and that little television screen.
He found the others in the common room. They gave him a knowing look, but somehow he knew his experience had been very different from their own. Es approached him.
They studied his expression for a moment. Thankfully, they didn’t ask anything stupid, like “how did it go?” or “what did you think?”
Instead, they just told him, “if you ever want to watch it again, just let me know, I can get it set up for you.”
He would want to see it again. Of course, it would be better, then. He would take a moment to calm down. He’d watch it later and everything would be okay. He’d have a clearer mind. He’d pick out all the little camera tricks they used to make it. He’d be sure it was a fake, and laugh about how ridiculous he was being now.
Of course. Of course.
He nodded to Es, unable to produce any words. Es left him.
The rules in this prison never made any sense, but in this case, he was grateful. He wouldn’t need to figure out any snooping or hacking to get access to the video again. After all, he was no criminal.
… he wasn’t, was he?
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