Look outside, kid.
Beyond the bright lights. Beyond the walls. Out there.
There are lands where dragons and wyverns lurk. There is ocean where mountains once stood. A hundred thousand cities, turned to nothing more than elaborate ruins and oversized headstones. In the neon glow, can you see which stars should be there in the sky, and which shouldn’t?
The world outside is in disharmony, and those inside need to forget.
So honestly?
Doesn’t matter if you think it’s a lie or a scam or whatever. You’re a professional now. Keep it together and stay entertaining.
The bottom line of the City depends on it.
After Era Mythos
In 53 AE, belief shapes reality and talent agencies make idols out of mortals.
Neo-Astraea, the City of Heroes, stands as one of the few bastions of civilization left in a world irrevocably altered. Beyond the walls that stand taller than even the greatest skyscrapers, there is nothing but chaos and uncertainty, a bubbling unrest that has given birth creatures once considered mythological in nature. But within it?
The city is a place of peace and plenty, where anyone can become a Hero and gain the adoration of the masses. Through Fame, that combination of broad popularity and fandom fervor, individuals can rise up to become superhumans based off of the populace’s belief that they are. Neo-Astraea craves heroes, and the talent agencies, the PR firms, the self-marketing gurus? They are more than happy to provide.
Fan meetups every day. Bombastic battles every week! The greater a Hero’s Fame, the greater their powers become, enabling them to embody the ideal that rests in the heart of their beloved fans! And, of course, in a City of Heroes, one can hardly be only be someone who punches people hard! There are Heroes who dance and sing, Heroes whose ‘civilian’ alter ego see themselves star in TV or radio dramas, Heroes who invent inventions that unfortunately only they can use! Heroes who you can shake hands with and hug, Heroes whose lives you could read about on tabloid rags, Heroes who fall from grace so dramatically that years after their disappearance, they’re still spoken of! Hero merch, Hero photobooks, Hero vinyls and cassettes, Hero movies on the silver screen!
And of course, where there are Heroes, there too are Villains. Corporate-controlled and managed, feasting off the same Fame that Heroes do, but serving instead as a foil, a counterpart, to further draw the populace’s gaze and attention with their antics. They too have their fans, they too have their merch, they too are performers, acting out what their managers desire and what the people want to see. Following the narratives approved by Neo-Astraea’s Ministry of Self-Actualization, they do dastardly, harmless crimes, engage in heart-stirring battles across all levels of the city and, ultimately, fall dramatically to the Hero’s might.
Predictable stories, but comforting ones.
Neo-Astraea, the City of Heroes, stands as one of the few bastions of civilization left in a world irrevocably altered. Beyond the walls that stand taller than even the greatest skyscrapers, there is nothing but chaos and uncertainty, a bubbling unrest that has given birth creatures once considered mythological in nature. But within it?
The city is a place of peace and plenty, where anyone can become a Hero and gain the adoration of the masses. Through Fame, that combination of broad popularity and fandom fervor, individuals can rise up to become superhumans based off of the populace’s belief that they are. Neo-Astraea craves heroes, and the talent agencies, the PR firms, the self-marketing gurus? They are more than happy to provide.
Fan meetups every day. Bombastic battles every week! The greater a Hero’s Fame, the greater their powers become, enabling them to embody the ideal that rests in the heart of their beloved fans! And, of course, in a City of Heroes, one can hardly be only be someone who punches people hard! There are Heroes who dance and sing, Heroes whose ‘civilian’ alter ego see themselves star in TV or radio dramas, Heroes who invent inventions that unfortunately only they can use! Heroes who you can shake hands with and hug, Heroes whose lives you could read about on tabloid rags, Heroes who fall from grace so dramatically that years after their disappearance, they’re still spoken of! Hero merch, Hero photobooks, Hero vinyls and cassettes, Hero movies on the silver screen!
And of course, where there are Heroes, there too are Villains. Corporate-controlled and managed, feasting off the same Fame that Heroes do, but serving instead as a foil, a counterpart, to further draw the populace’s gaze and attention with their antics. They too have their fans, they too have their merch, they too are performers, acting out what their managers desire and what the people want to see. Following the narratives approved by Neo-Astraea’s Ministry of Self-Actualization, they do dastardly, harmless crimes, engage in heart-stirring battles across all levels of the city and, ultimately, fall dramatically to the Hero’s might.
Predictable stories, but comforting ones.
...
..
.
In Neo-Astraea, there are three Taboos.
The number 2000.
The word ‘Terror’.
The country ‘Japan’.
In Neo-Astraea, there are two Afflictions.
The Self-Propagating Villain.
The Thanatognosis.
In Neo-Astraea, there must be one Absolute.
Good will triumph over Evil.
..
.
In Neo-Astraea, there are three Taboos.
The number 2000.
The word ‘Terror’.
The country ‘Japan’.
In Neo-Astraea, there are two Afflictions.
The Self-Propagating Villain.
The Thanatognosis.
In Neo-Astraea, there must be one Absolute.
Good will triumph over Evil.
Utopian Dissonance
Anyone who was anybody would live in Neo-Astraea, and plenty of nobodies are lucky enough to live there too. A metropolis that five million people call home, it is a city in defiance of nature itself. Grand, semi-opaque walls stretch fifty meters high, forming a clear boundary between the city and the outside world, and yet, paradoxically, sunrise and sunsets can still be seen, and a blustery breeze can still be felt. Winters are mild and wet, casting the city in a somber yet delicate hue, while summers are heady and dry, the perfect day for romance and revelry. In Neo-Astraea, the skyscrapers form the outer rings, residential and industrial complexes reaching just below the top of the walls, while the inner city is flatter, more pastoral, filled with sandy beaches, pleasant parks and gardens, amusement parks, quaint streets with cafes and bookstores, and 'suburban' blocks with proper single-family homes. From above, perhaps, it resembles a storm: chaos abound the boundaries, yet growing more tranquil the closer one is to the center.
At night, the city is bathed in neon. Work-life balance for common citizens is mandated by the Ministry of Civil Bliss, with a universal basic income and free Blocktown housing guaranteed for all citizens. It is a utopia where, at the bare minimum, even the most destitute soul will still have a roof over their head and three solid meals a day, as well as a plethora of options for entertainment, from bars to night pools to concerts to sports matches to, of course, the dozens of Hero events occurring across every district of Neo-Astraea at any hour to day.
No one thinks about where food or water come from, when there's neither space for livestock or agriculture. Indeed, such subjects aren't even taught in an otherwise robust educational system. The City has provided for more than half a century as the population grew. There is no reason to believe it wouldn't continue to do so.
Anyone who was anybody would live in Neo-Astraea, and plenty of nobodies are lucky enough to live there too. A metropolis that five million people call home, it is a city in defiance of nature itself. Grand, semi-opaque walls stretch fifty meters high, forming a clear boundary between the city and the outside world, and yet, paradoxically, sunrise and sunsets can still be seen, and a blustery breeze can still be felt. Winters are mild and wet, casting the city in a somber yet delicate hue, while summers are heady and dry, the perfect day for romance and revelry. In Neo-Astraea, the skyscrapers form the outer rings, residential and industrial complexes reaching just below the top of the walls, while the inner city is flatter, more pastoral, filled with sandy beaches, pleasant parks and gardens, amusement parks, quaint streets with cafes and bookstores, and 'suburban' blocks with proper single-family homes. From above, perhaps, it resembles a storm: chaos abound the boundaries, yet growing more tranquil the closer one is to the center.
At night, the city is bathed in neon. Work-life balance for common citizens is mandated by the Ministry of Civil Bliss, with a universal basic income and free Blocktown housing guaranteed for all citizens. It is a utopia where, at the bare minimum, even the most destitute soul will still have a roof over their head and three solid meals a day, as well as a plethora of options for entertainment, from bars to night pools to concerts to sports matches to, of course, the dozens of Hero events occurring across every district of Neo-Astraea at any hour to day.
No one thinks about where food or water come from, when there's neither space for livestock or agriculture. Indeed, such subjects aren't even taught in an otherwise robust educational system. The City has provided for more than half a century as the population grew. There is no reason to believe it wouldn't continue to do so.
The Subliminal Stream
The largest section of the already massive entertainment industry that seems to seep into every corner of Neo-Astraea, Agencies are controlled by the regulatory body known as the Ministry of Self-Actualization, and are responsible for the simple task of instilling hope and excitement into the lives of the citizenry. Executives make decisions that may influence the livelihoods of tens of thousands of interconnected peoples and businesses, while analysts are one of the few exempt from the work-life balance instituted by the Ministry of Civil Bliss, given the 'privilege' to work around the clock monitoring social media and studying crowd sentiments. Costume designers possess more licenses than Neo-Astraea's police force when it comes to the procurement of weapons and materials technology, while some of the best doctors and surgeons that the city has to offer can be found in the Medical and Beautification Departments of major Agencies.
And of course, who could forget about managers They're the ones that uncover the potential Talents that be showing up on childrens' lunchboxes, the ones that make sure current Talents don't crash out and go so horribly off-script that the Ministry of Silence needs to get involved, the ones that make sure retiring Talents are able to properly separate themselves from their Stage Personas in order to properly go on with their lives. Considering the relatively low average age of most Talents, and the immaturity that often accompanies money, power, and popularity, it becomes ever more important that managers are able to serve as an anchor for their Talents, to keep them grounded.
Fame, after, is a double-edged sword. And it is the Agencies, not the Talents, that best know how to control it.
The largest section of the already massive entertainment industry that seems to seep into every corner of Neo-Astraea, Agencies are controlled by the regulatory body known as the Ministry of Self-Actualization, and are responsible for the simple task of instilling hope and excitement into the lives of the citizenry. Executives make decisions that may influence the livelihoods of tens of thousands of interconnected peoples and businesses, while analysts are one of the few exempt from the work-life balance instituted by the Ministry of Civil Bliss, given the 'privilege' to work around the clock monitoring social media and studying crowd sentiments. Costume designers possess more licenses than Neo-Astraea's police force when it comes to the procurement of weapons and materials technology, while some of the best doctors and surgeons that the city has to offer can be found in the Medical and Beautification Departments of major Agencies.
And of course, who could forget about managers They're the ones that uncover the potential Talents that be showing up on childrens' lunchboxes, the ones that make sure current Talents don't crash out and go so horribly off-script that the Ministry of Silence needs to get involved, the ones that make sure retiring Talents are able to properly separate themselves from their Stage Personas in order to properly go on with their lives. Considering the relatively low average age of most Talents, and the immaturity that often accompanies money, power, and popularity, it becomes ever more important that managers are able to serve as an anchor for their Talents, to keep them grounded.
Fame, after, is a double-edged sword. And it is the Agencies, not the Talents, that best know how to control it.
A Handful of Syndromes
What is Neo-Astraea without its Heroes? What are Agencies without their Talents? Whether Heroic or Villainous, Talents are the ones that have the most direct impact upon weaving the mythos of the City of Heroes. Some went through eight different auditions before being signed on with a major Agency and being sculpted into the perfect Hero. Some shone bright in a single viral moment, and an eagle-eyed gambler of a manager offered them a position then and there, to become a truly distinct Villain. Others started from ground-up, trying to cultivate any image for themselves to stand above their peers, gathering followers and fans until they simply couldn't be ignored by an Agency any more, as they reincarnated to a new form. No matter what their origins, however, upon the Stage, all Talents are equal, and all Talents could equally aspire to become the True Hero of Neo-Astraea.
Or well, they could be as equal as the amount of capital and resources they have on hand for equalizing the playing ground. Empowered as they are by Fame, the population's belief and recognition in the heroic identity they seek to wear, Talents must constantly be promoting and must constantly grasp at the spotlight in a city with a thousand distractions. Brand deals, musical performances, handshake events, merchandise sales, social media posts, collaborations with others, Talent teams, ensemble battles, movie deals, and so much more! It is here that any ambitious Talent would doubtlessly be drawn into the fold of increasingly larger Agencies, who could provide more opportunities, more resources, more manpower to keep increasing the numbers, keep deepening the fervor! Villain or Hero, it matters not! Without public's eyes on you, you may as well not exist!
Of course, there are Talents who are happy where they are, who just work to maintain their own humble fanclub and live their marketable years out as a neighbourhood performer. But those Talents are myths, stories told by fuck-ups. How can one seize the eyes of the crowd without a purpose in their heart, one hot enough that they could burn down the stage with?
What is Neo-Astraea without its Heroes? What are Agencies without their Talents? Whether Heroic or Villainous, Talents are the ones that have the most direct impact upon weaving the mythos of the City of Heroes. Some went through eight different auditions before being signed on with a major Agency and being sculpted into the perfect Hero. Some shone bright in a single viral moment, and an eagle-eyed gambler of a manager offered them a position then and there, to become a truly distinct Villain. Others started from ground-up, trying to cultivate any image for themselves to stand above their peers, gathering followers and fans until they simply couldn't be ignored by an Agency any more, as they reincarnated to a new form. No matter what their origins, however, upon the Stage, all Talents are equal, and all Talents could equally aspire to become the True Hero of Neo-Astraea.
Or well, they could be as equal as the amount of capital and resources they have on hand for equalizing the playing ground. Empowered as they are by Fame, the population's belief and recognition in the heroic identity they seek to wear, Talents must constantly be promoting and must constantly grasp at the spotlight in a city with a thousand distractions. Brand deals, musical performances, handshake events, merchandise sales, social media posts, collaborations with others, Talent teams, ensemble battles, movie deals, and so much more! It is here that any ambitious Talent would doubtlessly be drawn into the fold of increasingly larger Agencies, who could provide more opportunities, more resources, more manpower to keep increasing the numbers, keep deepening the fervor! Villain or Hero, it matters not! Without public's eyes on you, you may as well not exist!
Of course, there are Talents who are happy where they are, who just work to maintain their own humble fanclub and live their marketable years out as a neighbourhood performer. But those Talents are myths, stories told by fuck-ups. How can one seize the eyes of the crowd without a purpose in their heart, one hot enough that they could burn down the stage with?
