Monday, February 14, 2011

Debarchery

Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy 
Put my glasses on, I'm out the door - I'm gonna hit this city
Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack
'Cause when I leave for the night, I ain't coming back


Fear the cute ones... Especially when the cute one is Hēdonē , the daughter of Eros and Psyche. She's sweet sixteen and bored with life on Olympus, so she's come to Earth looking for fun and trouble. She has her mother's powers, her daddy's bow, and a bad role model in the form of her aunt Eris, Goddess of Chaos and Discord.


She is debauchery and archery.... Debarchery. 



 
Tonight we're going hard, hard, ha-ha-ha-hard
Just like the world is ours, ours, ou-ou-ou-ours
We're tearin' it apart, part, pa-pa-pa-part
You know we're superstars
We are who we are!

We're dancing like we're dumb, dumb, du-du-du-dumb
Our bodies going numb, numb, nu-nu-nu-numb
We'll be forever young, young, yo-yo-yo-young
You know we're superstars
We are who we are!




Life is complicated when you're a Greek Goddess. Sure, life is unending youth and luxury, but it's also really fucked-up family politics, especially if you're Hedone.

Your great-grandfather, Zeus, has a tendency to screw anything and everything: humans, nymphs, even farm animals. Your grandmother is Aphrodite, who because of her status as Goddess of Love and Desire is seriously narcissistic and ego-fragile. Your father is Eros -- Cupid if you're Roman -- whose duty of shooting people with love arrows falls somewhere between promiscuity and rape symbolism, and let's not even mention the dysfunction that went on between your father and his mother because YOUR mother, Psyche, was a human who just happened to be beautiful enough to make Aphrodite jealous. Your father's father is Ares, the God of War, despite the fact that your grandmother is actually married to Hephaestus, God of the Forge.

Confused yet? We haven't even considered the aunts, uncles, and cousins... in short family politics is a nightmare, and the only reason there haven't been any murders yet is because Patriarch Zeus is a hardass and a skilled shot with a lightning bolt.

In one respect, Hedone is lucky: her father loves her mother, and they have one of the more stable marriages in all of Greek mythology (it probably helps that Psyche, being born human, was able to grow up without all the baggage that seems to plague most Olympians). But even goddesses have to grow up, and if all  Olympians are flawed (and they are), then their teenagers doubtlessly have Epic amounts of angst and drama in their lives.





So hey. You're the Goddess of Hedonism. Your grandmother HATES your mother. Your father is off shooting people all day. You're sixteen, and you just want to get away from all the fighting and chill out, but all of your role-models are TERRIBLE.

Great-Uncle Dionysus is pretty cool, and throws some killer parties, but he can be a mean drunk at times and the Maenads -- the women who follow him around -- well, "Them bitches be crazy," to use the vernacular. Your Great-Aunt Eris is pretty awesome, because no one wants you to hang out with her and it's cool to be subversive and do the forbidden. She tells you all the dirt on everyone else, and how to play the system.

But even with all this, it gets tiring being considered a child all the time, or worse, being a pawn in the game of family politics. So you decide, maybe it's time to head down to the mortal world for a bit. Chill out with mom's side of the family for a bit, have some fun, and get your head on straight. Really "find yourself," you know?

Except... times have really changed since mom was on Earth. There are all these people in costumes running around, some of them showing more skin than the Spartans, and they're ALL treated like gods. Oh, look, there's Thor! Wow, he's really cute, isn't he?

You know... this who "super hero" thing could be a lot of fun. You aren't treated like a stupid kid, and what's more, even some of the teenagers have powers! If only you had a power...

But you do, don't you? You learned to party like a mofo from your uncle, and your aunt taught you all about strife. You cause hedonism wherever you go, and can go alllll night like a lumberjack. All you need to do is ask your grandfather Hephaestus to make you a suit of armor (only, you know, cute), steal one of your father's bows when he's not looking, and bang, you're no longer Hedone -- you're Debarchery!


Now what? (What?)
Taking control
We get what we want
We do what you don't
Dirt and glitter cover the floor
We're pretty and sick
We're young and we're bored
(Ha!)

It's time to lose your mind
And let the crazy out
Tonight we're taking names
'Cause we don't mess around


If Debarchery's sphere of influence were to be codified, it might as well be "Goddess of Spring Break," with all of the associated baggage that entails: drinking and drama and strife; hookups and breakups and hormones, hormones, hormones.

Her greatest weapon is her father's bow, which supplies her with an unending supply of magical arrows which rarely miss. They are made of pure psychic energy, and as such inflict no real damage; but that also means they can penetrate armor and walls. She can imbue these arrows with whatever emotional or biochemical effect she desires, thanks both to her mother's legacy as Goddess of the Soul and to her training with her aunt Eris. As a result, not only can she create love and lust, but also sadness, fear, depression, weakness, anger, indecision, etc. Her "Orgasm Arrows" are a personal favorite.

She also possesses a mild form of telekinesis which enables her to fly, despite her tiny cherub wings, with perfect grace and maneuverability. In addition, she has the standard Olympian abilities of immortality; increased speed, strength and stamina; and enhanced senses and intellect.

However, she still possesses the emotional maturity of a teenager with an expense account and zero accountability. TOGA PARTY!!!






SPECIAL BONUS CONTENT: 
A DEBARCHERY VALENTINE 







All lyrics courtesy of Ke$ha. All graphics courtesy of City of Heroes.
All other Intellectual Property is copyright Erin Palette. 

6 comments:

  1. Nice. Now is she a hero, villain or rogue?
    Given the Greek gods jerkass nature she could easily qualify as any of those, especially being the goddess of sensual pleasure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Within the game itself, she's a hero, but that's mostly by default.

    As for out-of-game or story purposes --- she's not exactly a hero but not really evil either. She just wants to have a good time, and a lot of villains want to harsh her vibe and party-poop. She'd get along great with Black Cat and/or Gambit, though, and a suitably charismatic leader who isn't a big square could probably get her to join a more traditional team.

    In a lot of ways, she's like Ke$ha with superpowers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love it!

    I love the look of her armor. The detailed, modern meets ancient Roman style lend credibility, respect and strength that would otherwise be lost by having a character in barbie doll pink.

    ReplyDelete
  4. the card came out really nice :) it made me smile

    ReplyDelete
  5. Awww, you made me want to play CoH again. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like how she looks too, but I can't take credit for the art. That honor belongs to the designers and programmers at Paragon Studios (notably the Dev "Sexy Jay"). All I did was assemble the pieces and choose the colors.

    ReplyDelete

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