Cupid's Arrow

"There is something more powerful than each of us, a combination of our efforts, a Great Chain of industry that unites us. But it is only when we struggle in our own interest that the chain pulls society in the right direction..." - Andrew Ryan This article falls within the scope of the BioShock Wiki:Businesses Project. This project is dedicated to improving the articles about Rapture and Columbia's many businesses. Would you kindly help the BioShock Wiki by volunteering on the project page?

The exterior of Cupid's Arrow.

“Well… They didn't have these books in my tower.”

― Elizabeth

Cupid's Arrow is an erotic paraphernalia store located in the Housewares department of Fontaine's and is owned by Antonio Rodriguez. While the store primarily deals in pornographic and fetish related novels, magazines, and films, it also caters in live performance.

History

Rapture was a city that promoted freedom from government institutions, censorship, and, most of all, shame. Cupid's Arrow was an establishment specializing in erotica to suit the various tastes of the more libertine citizens who called the city home. The store featured multiple films, books, and publications, as well as a "Peepshow" room where visitors could enter private viewing booths for live entertainment. Carol Lynn was one of the women employed in the show.

Despite Rapture's more "adventurous" reputation, the venue flirted with some contentious issues. Besides being situated uncomfortably close to a preparatory academy, the erotic paraphernalia store was one of the few places where a person could purchase the controversial Peeping Tom Plasmid. The females working at the store apparently had a lot of admirers, suggested by the gifts and flowers found in trashcans in the backroom. While popular, the store was nonetheless closed when the Rapture Central Council converted the department store complex into a prison.

Reading and Viewing Material

• Gender-Bender
• Mother May I?
• Below Decks
• The Farmer's Daughter
• "Big Daddy"
• Appetite For Sin!
• Co-Eds
• Pearly Gates
• Lusts

Burial at Sea - Episode 2

Products on display.

Main article: Burial at Sea - Episode 2

After emerging from Ryan the Lion Preparatory Academy, Elizabeth is hit with memories of her originally crossing the Tear into Rapture to find Comstock. When she arrived in the undersea metropolis, she snuck into Cupid's Arrow to find more period-appropriate clothing suited to the city's style. The door further along requires a lockpick, so she heads into Cupid's after using the Air Grabber on the door mechanism. On the front counter, she finds a locksmith bag, some coins, and some of the stores more popular periodicals; Elizabeth blushes after observing some of the titles.

While there's not much of value in the front area, the dressing rooms at the back of the store have purses and other containers filled with loot. One item in particular has special sentimental value to Elizabeth: her blue dress, still where she left it, but now on a mannequin. A nearby audio diary reveals that the woman whose clothes Elizabeth stole found the abandoned dress and took a liking to it. A bottle of the Peeping Tom Plasmid can be found on the "Peep Show" stage. Upon taking the Plasmid, a pair of Splicers enter the store.

New Discoveries

New Plasmids

• Peeping Tom

Audio Diaries

1. Antonio Rodriguez - Laissez-Faire - Back of the store, on a display stand near the left Employees Only door.
2. Carol Lynn - The Blue Dress - Employees Only area, near Elizabeth's dress.

Videos

Cupid's Arrow Theme

Gallery

Interior

Animated version of the sign.

The backside display of the store.

The leakage knows no boundaries!

Erotica for everyone.

The viewing booths.

Step up to the Peepshow.

Disposed admirers' gifts for the peepshow models.

"Hey… There you are."

Posters and Magazines

"Rapture's Man of Steel."

"Liberation found… Fathoms below!"

"The temptations of Rapture."

"Turn Every Room into… a Peepshow!"

Reading material for the discerning customer.

Behind the Scenes

• Cupid's Arrow gets its name from the god of desire in Roman mythology, who fires his arrows to make people fall in love and the other way around.
• According to the Burial at Sea end credits, the song playing in the store is the "Valse Immorale", composed by Duncan Watt. It translates to the "Immoral Waltz".
• Much like in Eve's Garden, the "XXX" seen above the viewing booths are most likely an anachronism, as the "X" rating was presumably first associated with pornography in the United States during the 1970s.
• The Appetite For Sin!, Gender-Bender and "Big Daddy" posters are all available on the Irrational Games Online Store as real life replicas.
• Many products in Rapture have posters or advertisements re-purposed from vintage fruit crate labels and other media. At least four of the pornographic materials inside the store continue this trend.
  • Co-Eds uses an only slightly redesigned image from a fruit crate label of Co-Ed Brand apples.
  • Pearly Gates uses a modified image from a crate label of Plenti Grand Brand vegetables.
  • The Farmer's Daughter repurposes a fruit crate label for Buxom Melons.
  • Below Decks uses a modified image from a World War II propaganda poster, "If you tell where he is going… He may never get there!", designed by John Philip Falter.