Complete Control Design Notes

Italyins wrote:man cephalo you put a lot of work into this. very impressive.

Thanks.

Sunday:
Emily's Durnin sub-plot for season 1. Between pages 3 and 4 I touched briefly on each main character undergoing Power Incontinence. For Emily, I figured this would take the form of her teleporting randomly, unable to return home. She's freaking out because she has no idea what's going on. Meanwhile the public cites her as missing, and her family is terrified of the idea that someone has gotten to her. Which, to be honest, could happen with Daniel picking out neos.

Monday:
Mason Smith is in his 50s. He's married, with a single adolescent son. Neither his wife or son have powers.

Tuesday:
A plot point that could come up in, say, season 2 would be concentrated appearances of neos in certain countries. There's no pattern to openings; some countries will get more neos than others. Politically speaking, it would be a game changer. Imagine if Belgium announced one day that it just discovered 1000 neos inside its borders. It's a massive power source. All sorts of industries would skyrocket: efficient mining, faster manufacturing, and all sorts of new services.

And then you've got everyone else's reactions. Fear of attack, movements to build stronger relations, and alliances with other nations. Encore's job will be to keep track of it all and maintain peace.

Wednesday:
Powerset idea: someone who can turn into a liquid/solid form. They can also turn other solids into fluids and absorb them, effectively relocating the solids.

Thursday:
So I'm gonna allow time-travel. Travel towards the future shouldn't be problematic. The problem will be implementing travel towards the past. That's a big deal, resetting events and potentially making preventing them from ever happening. So I'm gonna set up a proverbial barrier, make it require a lot of energy. So much energy that there's only a handful of back-travellers on record for all time.

How it works is that the time-traveller becomes a focal point. The rest of the universe switches directions, going the opposite way in time, while the focal point remains unchanged relative to themselves. There isn't any alternate timelines; the original universe is just wound back, like a roll of paper.

So what if two time-travellers were to both go back at the same time? Well, the one going farther back would probably win over, and both would end up in the same place in time.

yeah what rory said, i wish i had this motivation for sharkasia right now. although i am putting some deass work into origins code

Friday:
Isaac Testardo's sub-plot for season 1. He has super-intelligence, so of course he goes investigating into the recent gang activity. Part of him wants to use his powers, but another part of him just thinks he's going crazy. He's keeping all of this a secret from his parent because he doesn't want them to think he's going crazy in case he actually isn't crazy.

Last Saturday:
Olivia's sub-plot for season 1. She wants to figure all of this out on her own, so she doesn't tell anyone about her powers. But shit keeps happening around her, and she gets roped into various skirmishes across town. It reaches a point where she gets mistaken as a member of Daniel's gang. So now she's being chased by the police.

Last Sunday:
Alexander Everest's sub-plot for season 1. He does the smart thing and tells someone about his powers. Namely, his family. So his mom, step-dad and half-brother take Alex to remote locations to hone his powers. Despite the Everests' efforts, Ji-wu finds out, and Encore starts offering Alex opportunities to learn more about his powers and neos in general.

Last Monday:
Powerset idea: a neo who's constantly phasing in and out of his current location. Let's him phase through stuff. He's a master thief.

Last Tuesday:
Powerset idea: a neo who can telepathically send any sound or sight they themselves hear, but only whatever they're currently hearing/seeing. If they're listening to music with earphones in, they can send the sounds to the minds of everyone in the area.

Last Wednesday:
Powerset idea: a neo who can reshape matter with their hands like putty.

Last Thursday:
What will season 2 build up to? There's a small group of neos (somewhere) who feel like society/Encore has screwed them over. They're master plan is to harness the power of an incontinent neo as an act of revenge. The neo in question, for the record, doesn't actually want this. (S)he is kinda "out of it".

Last Friday:
Villain team idea: the "Halogens". Not they're actual name, just what I think of them as. They're a hierarchy of criminal neos that are out to ruin society. The weakest ones represent the lower halogens. So "Chlorine" (Chloe?) is their leader. Or so we're led to think.

Saturday:
Villain idea: a main nemesis, on the same level as Peter. A woman with a semi-decaying body, immensely powerful, crazy. Her powers lean towards the out-of-control type. Kinda appears out of nowhere during season 5. She'll have a particular rivalry with Olivia (although, like Peter, she means trouble for all of the Quartet). She turns out to be in charge of the Halogens (she is Fluorine).

Sunday:
Character idea: Aster. When we first meet her she just seems like an odd child, but she's later revealed to be an artificial human being created by "Fluorine" for kicks.

Monday:
Back on page 1, I alluded to a civilization of neos living as part of the earth, literally. They're mostly apathetic to the conflicts above. They rise up to fight whenever someone starts causing just a little too much mayhem for nature. Doesn't matter who they are: Encore, Third Act, Queen Alight. You piss off the rock, it's gonna fall on you.

Tuesday:
Olivia is an only child.

Last Wednesday:
Villain idea: Chloe, the (supposed) leader of the "Halogens", seen in season 2. She's the one trying to use an out-of-control neo to wreck havoc on the world. Her power is a telepathy that lets her use other people's powers.

Last Thursday:
Villain idea: Bronislav. Second-in command of the "Halogens". Has the power to break down compounds and mixtures into clouds of pure substances, and telekinesis to move such substances around.

Last Friday:
Villain idea: Ian, the weakest member of the "Halogens". Has the power to teleport, but also drags surrounding matter with him to wherever he goes.

Last Saturday:
NEW ORGANISATION!! I'd like to introduce Oblatio. We see them occasionally starting from season 2, and their appearances grow more frequent over time. They are like Encore, a group of neos anticipating Ueli's master plan. Encore and Oblatio share the same goals, but a difference in principles keeps them separate.

Oblatio has a tendency to get in people's faces, so to speak. Whereas Encore works from behind the scenes, recruiting new neos when convenient, Oblatio is more direct. One day, you might be a neo walking down the street alone when an arm grabs you and you get pulled towards...the wall. Suddenly you're in a dimly lit room, sitting on a rather comfortable couch. An old man sits across from you, wearing a suit, grinning widely. You've been invited.

Oblatio's aggressive, but friendly and fair. They're constantly telepathically scanning cities across the world for any newly opened neos, which is one of those big things Encore disagrees strongly about. You get teleported to a secret base to discuss options with your potential new boss. If you don't like their special brand of help, they'll be happy to leave you alone...gradually. Oblatio's nothing if not persistent.

They're not quite as strong as Encore or Ueli's factions (they've got no trump card like Mason to deal out), but they're large and organized. They are to be watched out for.

Sunday:
Character idea: Bachir. The original founder or Oblatio, and head of it to this day (Oblatio is young compared to the likes of Encore and Ueli). An old man with strong telekinesis, he's the one that our protagonists first see from Oblatio, and the main one they talk to from then on. He's charming and jovial, which makes him a good recruiter. Passes away between seasons 4 and 5.

Monday:
Whenever the Queen arrives in a new nation with intent to conquer, she always selects one neo to be her Knight. This Knight is her mouthpiece, her bodyguard and her connection to the people she is about to enslave. When she arrives in Canada at the end of season 3 and during season 4, she's already set her eyes on a candidate. One of the neos that Carlos helped to create.

Isaac Testardo.

Tuesday:
Isaac's main conflict for all of Neo is with the Queen Alight. In season 4, he's brainwashed into being her Knight. By the time he's freed in the season finale, he's in a vegetative state without the Queen to guide him. His story in season 5 will be about him recovering from the psychological trauma that was inflicted on him by the Queen.