Complete Control Design Notes

Vyzor wrote:Man, you should submit this show idea to some tv company and get it made into reality. Did you plan on this being a live action show or a cartoon?

Kason Birdman wrote:just realized that all the main characters names start with a vowel

For the show in general, I wrote:Complete Control.

This show needs a new name. Neo doesn't really mean anything to me. And I'm gonna go with Complete Control. The sub-titles will be dropped for now, although I'll still refer to the seven-season structure. The superpeople are now called Controllers.

The term "Elixir" is to be renamed to "Supply".

Regarding power classification, I wrote:There are two ways of categorizing power.

One is the Trommler Definition. It is a classification of how restricted your powers are. It starts with Trommler 0, which refers to access to multiple forms of energy with virtually no restrictions as to how the energy can be applied. Examples include Ueli, Mason, Cedric and Flora.

Trommler 1 is the same as 0, except with only one form of energy. Examples include Alex, Emily, Olivia (I think, chemistry is weird) and Isaac. At Trommler 2, the Controller still has some room for imagination, but there are certain ways that they can't supply their energy. An example of this would be Peter, who can only use his power in short, powerful bursts.

Trommler 3 is for Controllers who can only perform a few actions with little wiggle room. The most they can do is adjust certain parameters of their action such as intensity. Trommler 4 means that you're (almost) completely restricted to one or few specific actions. Your only say in what goes is when it happens.

Trommler 5 is dangerous. These are Controllers who don't have any conscious control over their powers. At any point in time, any nearby location can be targeted by a Trommler 5. This is problematic when being "targeted" amounts to being set on fire.

The second method is the Zhao Scale. This one's easier, just a measure of the amount of energy a Controller can supply. A higher number means more power. It's logarithmic, so a Zhao 3 is WAY more powerful than a Zhao 2.

To simplify things, I'll augment it so that the Octet's Zhao numbers correlate to the season number. For instance, Olivia, Alex and co. will all be Zhao 4 in season 4.

The Trommler Definition and Zhao Scale are both named after past acclaimed researches within Encore.

Regarding the scale of power, I wrote:I'm thinking of re-revising the Scale of Power. Here it is right now.
1. 0.7 km^2
2. 7 km^2
3. 70 km^2 (Stratford)
4. 700 km^2 (London)
5. 7000 km^2 (Greater Toronto Area)
6. 70 000 km^2 (Nova Scotia)
7. 700 000 km^2 (Texas)

Now that I think about it, this is seriously overpowered. I don't need my main characters to regularly blow up Texas. How about:

1. 7 m^2 (car)
2. 70 m^2
3. 700 m^2
4. 7000 m^2
5. 70 000 m^2
6. 700 000 m^2
7. 7 000 000 m^2 (7 km^2)

This is the destructive power of a single main character for every season, I've effectively cut their range down to a thousandth of a percent of what they had.

There's a bunch of different ways that elixirs can be scarred and powers can be restricted. A common result is that neos can only affect certain materials (like moving only rocks).

One type that I've recently come up with is periodic scarring. The neo has pretty good powers, but they can only use them once every so often. For instance, there could be a villain who only pops up every Halloween because that's when their powers work. Periodic scarring can vary in both severity and pattern; some get their powers once a week, some once a year, some every other day. Others go months with and without having powers.

I really like this one.

Proper habits make healthy elixirs.
If you want a constant flow of energy, don't use too much at once. And take care of yourself normally too. Get enough sleep. Don't build up stress.

Regarding geography, I wrote:Something to set the world of Complete Control from the real world.
The continent of Asia is mostly barren. Instead of the billions of people that live there in our world, much of the land is desolate, with signs of previous civilization scattered about. There's no historical documents that can explain what happened to millions of people hundreds of yeas ago.

The reason is the Queen Alight. She started her reign somewhere there. I set her up as a mad god-queen with a hair-trigger temper. As a result of being kinda kooky, she went on a lot of murderous rampages. I used to ponder how I could get away with this without any signs of massive loss of life, when it occurred to me that who said I had to?

So there's gonna be far fewer people in this world. Doesn't have to be Asia, or just Asia. The idea is to leave behind some evidence somewhere.

Powerset idea: a Controller who's pretty powerful and few restrictions, but their elixir keeps switching between types of energy. One week they have telekinesis, the other they're a Warper. The swapping is inconsistent, too. Sometimes their power changes every day, sometimes every month, sometimes by the second.

Regarding characters, I wrote:

Regarding Wyatt, I wrote:New main character: Wyatt. He has all sorts of powers: electric, thermal, chemical, nuclear, you name it. The catch is that he can only affect surfaces within physical grasp.

Wyatt Butler is the close-quarters member of the Octet. He has a wide-variety of powers, and can be very versatile with his Supply. The big catch, is that he can only affect the points in space extending no more than about one foot from his body.

Wyatt's kind of a dork. Doesn't always know the right thing to say, and when he does, he says so rapidly and excitedly. He loves studying history and different cultures, and he has a tendency to rant on about how people in general should be encouraged to learn more of them.

Wyatt's character arc will be about his desire to become a superhero. He's one of the more accepting members of the main characters, regarding the presence of superpowers. He's pretty idealistic, but he's not the best problem solver. Complete Control will follow his growth into a more mature superhero, one who recognizes that there's more sacrifices to be made than just personal ones.

Wyatt and his sister are both adopted by a lesbian couple.

Regarding Vivian, I wrote:New main character: Vivian. Has the power to slow/speed up time around a certain area.

I don't want Vicky's powers to be about time. I originally wanted to include that with Emily's powerset (as a minor inclusion). But I'm not sure what else to give her.

I'll leave her as blank for now.

Back on page 11, I mentioned a Controller who's Supply switched between different powersets irregularly. I think I'll make Vicky this Controller.

Vivian (her name was originally Vicky) Zhao (not a coincidence, she is the descendent of the namesake for the Zhao Scale) is perhaps the most peculiar member of the Octet. When observed immediately, her powers seem pretty normal: a newly emerging Trommler 1 with a Zhao Number similar to her peers. The weird thing is that, at any moment, with no warning, instantaneously, her Supply shifts between types of energy. She could have telekinesis for a week, telepathy for a day, and then teleportation for a month.

Vivian is the sensible one of the group. When everyone else is going all sorts of crazy over holyshitsuperpowers, Vivian's the one who sits down, takes a deep breath, and sorts things out calmly. She likes things orderly, and prefers to be in control of a situation. She likes to lead, but isn't necessarily the best leader. She does a lot of volunteer work around town. And she loves cooking.

Vivian gets very interested in Encore itself, and wants to get involved in the Controller underground.

Vivian has a younger brother, a younger sister, and an older brother.

Regarding Yvonne Sauveterre, I wrote:Yvonne Sauveterre is the Octet's electrokinetic and photokinetic. She can charge materials both electrically and magnetically, and shoot lightning from her hands. She can shoot out radiation in one or more directions simultaneously, and adjust the type of light from all across the spectrum.

Yvonne's the tough girl. She does well on her own, experienced in doing so. Not exactly a people person. She doesn't like being forced into situations; she wants to make her own choices. She wishes Encore and Oblatio would just back off from her. And she likes to play pool. Really likes pool.

As her character grows, she is compelled to create her own group, separate from Encore and Oblatio. This will be the basis for the Third Act. Ooooh, I really like that part.

Peter and Yvonne's parents are divorced.

Regarding Peter Brandt, I wrote:Peter Brandt of the Octet has access to multiple forms of energy. The catch is that he can only supply it in short, powerful bursts. He doesn't make objects fly, he shoots them like bullets. He doesn't heat up a room, he makes the building spontaneously combust. He can also do telepathy. Don't ask him to do telepathy.

Peter is desperately looking for a purpose in life. He was very average in all of his courses in school, and has no grand ambitions. He views his superpowers as a chance to really make a difference in the world. He's very optimistic of other people, willing to ignore past mistakes, and is very insistent on people living to their fullest potential. He loves music, and listens to all kinds.

As I've touched on before, Peter gradually becomes a full-fledged villain. Unhappy with the way Encore runs things, he sets out to walk the earth, joining up with various organizations from all over the world. But it never works out for him. His ever-growing desperation pushes him to side with the Queen Alight.

"Queen" is a boring name.
Let's call her the Arm Alight!

Peter's mother is a nationally reknown chef. He has a baby brother.

I'm thinking of bumping "Fluorene" (let's call her Flora from now on) to main-villain status. Up there with the Ancient Evils (Ueli, Farmer, Queen and Storm). She could be the modern equivalent.

Flora's main ambition is to change the world. Vague, I know, I'm working on it. Basically, she wants to see the whole of society take a dramatic turn. She wants to see borders redrawn, constitutions amended, countries re-named. It's why she hires the "Halogens" in season 2, among others later.

Race lift!
I'm thinking of making Olivia Brazillian. Her new name is Olivia Espada.

Olivia's family emigrated from Brazil for a job opportunity.

A little more on the timeline, starting with the beginning.

The Accident is a prologue, an incident that will only take up one episode. The very next episode skips ahead a year. Let's call the night of the Accident "March 0", when the Octet is in their final year of high school. The time skip is all "Year 0". The number refers to the number of years that have passed since the Accident, with March as the start of each year. Episode 2 takes place in March 1.

For season 1, I wrote:Wait, better idea for the Accident.
Meteor shower. It's alien, it's easily a danger, and it can affect a wide range.

Why did I make the prologue into two episodes? I could probably cover the Accident and subsequent hospitalization in a single episode.

I remember why I considered using a smaller town as my setting now. I don't know what Toronto looks like. Like, I'm not familiar with the city.

Regarding episodes, I wrote:Combine the current episodes 7 and 8. They're pretty much the same plot.

The new episode 7 (1 and 2 became one episode, as did 8 and 7) will follow Yvonne. As we are given insight into Yvonne's character, this is when the mysterious phenomena begin occurring. Chunks of road start hovering in thin air, and Yvonne is harassed by some of Daniel's gangsters. They attempt "persuading" her to join them, or else she'll be a priority target (they don't bother to specify why).

The new episode 8 will follow Peter being chased by Daniel's gang. They keep pissing him off by harassing him, and he keeps pissing them off by beating the shit out of them every time.

Episode 9 will be about Wyatt. His powers are on the fritz too, but his only work close range. So, stuff's only happening right around him and not anyone or anything else. He starts isolating himself from his family and friends and ends up running away at the end of the episode. The idea is that he will be the opposite of Emily, who's forced away from home and is trying to get back. I'll probably have them meet up at some point, too.

Episode 10 will be about Vicky, the time-flow alterer. She's living her life as normal, when all of a sudden the next few hours literally fly by in seconds. It keeps happening, time speeding up and slowing down, throughout the week. The episode ends with time at a virtual halt, and we don't see it speeding back up. It appears stuck.

The order of the character-introductory episodes as seen here isn't necessarily what their final order will be. In fact, it would probably be better to jumble up the order so that people won't figure out which main characters are the most important.

I've given an introductory episode for each of the eight main characters (the "Octet"). I'd like Daniel's cult/superpowers to be gradually revealed bit by bit in each episode. Here's my idea of an order so far:

Episode 2: Vicky, and the reveal of strange phenomena happening to the main characters.
Episode 3: Alex, and the reveal that the characters are sub-consciously responsible for the phenomena.
Episode 4: Wyatt, and --------.
Episode 5: Isaac. He feels a general disturbance in the telepathic field of the city, prompting him to investigate.
Episode 6: Emily, and the reveal of a large gang chasing down superpeople.
Episode 7: Peter, and the continued reveal of the large gang. Confirms that they're going after more than just Emily.
Episode 8: Yvonne, and the reveal of strange phenomena throughout Southwestern Ontario.
Episode 9: Olivia, and the reveal of Daniel himself.

Episode 10 will be Ji-hu's episode.

For episode 2, I wrote:Vivian is the first character to be introduced, so her episode will be the most ordinary-life-heavy. She's going to film school, and wants to be a director. What happens throughout the episode is that she keeps getting shocked, and metal vibrates a little when around her. It gets stronger and stronger until one day all the metal in the room shoots right towards her like bullets. The episode ends with the metal all around her stopped, hovering in the air, inches from her body.

For episode 3, I wrote:In Vivian's episode, we introduced the idea of superpowers. So in Alex's episode, we will delve into the inconveniences they bring. This episode jumps ahead, with Alex having dealt with power incontinence for a while now. Stuff keeps shaking around him at random times, rather violently. He skips classes and evades his friends so that they won't find out. He accepts that he can't hide this forever, so he talks to his family straight about it. The second half is pretty dialogue heavy, until the end, when Alex's powers go on the fritz and the house starts getting torn apart. The episode ends with Alex stopping the telekinetic storm consciously, the first step in controlling his powers.

Throughout the eight introductory episodes, the main characters seem to be having different levels of difficulty with their powers. But really, I'm just time-skipping between episodes. My idea is that any point in time, each character's Supply is emerging at the same rate.

My point, each character has the same journey with their powers. iAlex's episode takes place two weeks after Vivian's episode. That's why he's been apparently having power-trouble for a while now.

For episode 4, I wrote:In Wyatt's introductory episode, his (little) sister's the only one who knows about his powers. For a good part of the episode they discuss the powers, whether he should tell their parents, how safe they are with him around. He leaves home because eventually his powers go so crazy that he can't stay in a small room without wrecking it with electricity/radiation/heat. He doesn't want to hurt his family, so he runs away from home. The episode ends with him on the road, unsure of where to go next.

For episode 5, I wrote:I've already talked about Isaac finding out his friends' secrets in his introductory episode. At the end of the episode, his telepathy creates a series of flashing images, showing him the other members of the soon-to-be-Octet. There's only one image that he can really make out; Alex's. So he goes to find him.

I'll have Wyatt and Isaac's episodes both take place about one month after Alex's, so we're now six weeks into Year 1. Some time in late April/early May.

For episode 6 wrote:So. Emily Durnin's introductory episode.

It's been three days since her powers started teleporting her all over the city. She's slept poorly, hardly eaten, been drinking from the river. Just when things couldn't get worse, this group of people starts chasing her, telling her to come with them. They're not very nice about it, so Emily is understandably freaked out. She starts running away, her powers taking her equal parts closer to and farther away from the gang.

Near the end of the episode, Emily, through sheer luck, warps back in front of her house. She reunites with her distressed parents and tries to explain what's been going on. Just as she's about to get it out, she teleports again. Her destination is left unclear.

Emily's episode will take place two days after Wyatt's/Isaac's. Because of this, I can have news reports of a missing girl in the background, foreshadowing Emily's powers.

For episode 7, I wrote:Peter's introductory episode begins with a shot of his house.
BOOM
There goes his house.

Vivian, Wyatt, Alex and Isaac just had to deal with weird shit happening to them and potential danger. Emily was the first to actually have bad stuff happen to her. Peter will be the first one who's powers cause damage to more than himself. Emergency crew arrive, people are wondering what the hell just happened, especially since Peter walks out from the centre of the explosion without so much as a scratch.

But there's no time for that, we need gang members to make everything worse! They're looking for Emily, but then they recognize Peter as another target, and a chase ensues. They're all running, small explosions sending the gangsters back. Once all of them have been knocked out, Peter looks back, to see a trail of destruction and havoc left by his out-of-control powers.

Episode ends.

Peter's episode will take place three weeks after Emily's (to leave time for people's out-of-control powers to escalate to the point of the Strange Phenomena, but make it a differently-sized skip than the others).

For episode 8, I wrote:Here's Yvonne's episode. Continuing on from the increasing effect of sub-conscious powers, there are news reports of fires on the streets, whirlpools in the rivers and lakes, and other mysterious phenomena happening around the city of London, Ontario. Yvonne is watching from a small TV outside, playing pool.

A few friends of Yvonne have brought in a bunch of tall metal structures to surround her, while she herself is standing on a thick mat of rubber. Small lightning bolts shoot out from her to the metal. She has a small talk with her boyfriend about how the electric spasms have gotten stronger, then the gang attacks.

This time, though, Yvonne meets both Peter and Emily. The gang's chasing Emily, and Peter's chasing the gang. The three have a pseudo-fight scene (as much ass as these people can kick when no one really knows what the hell's going on). Emily vanishes, and this is where Yvonne and Peter team up.

Yvonne's episode will take place one week after Peter's.
So for those keeping track at home, we are 2.5 months into Year 1. It's early June.

For episode 9, I wrote:So, after explosions and gangs and close brushes with death and isolation, we are left with Olivia, working at a grocery store. My idea is that Olivia's episode would mirror Vivian's, a more real-life episode. Except Olivia knows about her spontaneous thermokinesis, she just tries to hide it. Not so much because she's secretive, more because she can't really do it herself and doesn't want to reveal something she's not sure of herself.

Enter Vivian and Wyatt. Turns out the gang found them too, and they're going after Olivia. After Vivian and Wyatt beat the goons up, they talk with Olivia, revealing their sort-of powers in the process. They want her to come with them, but she feels that she has nothing to worry about, because her powers aren't really that strong. Why would anyone come after her?

Later, on a different night, Olivia is at the store when, all of a sudden, her powers go on the fritz, more than ever before. She starts a fire large enough to engulf the entire store. She gets out, only to find a large man standing right outside, waiting for her with some goons behind him. Say hello to Daniel, the gang leader.

Just when things are about to get bad, Vivian and Wyatt come out of hiding to kick some ass. Daniel starts to retaliate, when all of a sudden, Vivian teleports her, Wyatt and Olivia far away. This establishes Vivian's powers as being different from Yvonne's. With the burning store in the distance, Olivia realizes just how dangerous she and Daniel are, and elects to team up with Vivian and Wyatt. V.O.W. march off.

Olivia's episode will take place a few days after Yvonne's. I don't have anything I need to let happen between the two, hence the short skip.

I want to start mixing our protagonists together. Get them to interact so that the plot can get going with all of them together. I'll have them in groups of 2-3 (don't want each group to have the same number and make it too formulaic), with maybe one or two on their own at a time.

I want Yvonne to meet Peter. They can bond over their Daniel-ass-kicking. They'll be among the Controllers that Daniel captures. They will eventually be joined by Vivian and Wyatt.

Emily will meet everyone, but one at a time. Her power keeps her from staying in one place for too long, so she'll meet someone, but teleport away by the end of that episode.

I'll group Isaac and Alex together. Alex (and his family) is keeping his powers a secret. Isaac, having super-intellgence, makes himself into a detective to figure stuff out himself. This should be a fun pair. Isaac hunts down Alex (non-personally, Alex just happens to be the first guy Isaac finds) until he finally catches him and discusses the situation. Then they team up to find Daniel and his cult.

And that leaves us with Olivia, Vivian and Wyatt. They're the "other" group, meeting every so often to find new ways to use their powers without setting themselves on fire. They each end up wanting to do something different: Wyatt wants to fight Daniel, Vivian wants to find Ji-hu and his employers, and Olivia just wants to keep doing this thing they're doing. It makes drama.

Groups will form over the course of the introductory episodes.
Episode 4 (Wyatt's) will see him finding Vivian.
Episode 5 (Isaac's) will see him finding Alex.
In Episode 8 (Yvonne's), she and Peter will join forces.
In Episode 9 (Olivia's), she will join up with Vivian and Wyatt.

Regarding Daniel, I wrote:Daniel doesn't know it, but he's looking for Isaac.

He knows there are other Controllers out there, but he doesn't know how to find them. He does some old-fashioned investigation, looking out for strange, inexplicable events that might be caused by out-of-control powers.

The chase really gets going when Isaac's elixir sends out a stream of information to Daniel, giving him clues to the locations of the Octet.

Who would ever follow someone like Daniel?

He's not going out in public declaring himself lord of all (not yet at least. Oooo, I need to remember that one). He's gathering people in secret, inside abandoned warehouses, hiding from the authorities who might get suspicious of him. This is more Beatrice's idea (that tends to be the case between them). Some are homeless, some are from gangs, and others just don't have much else to live for. He's rounding up all sorts of people, and a lot of them ain't fighters.

Maybe Daniel and Beatrice will delegate someone to train the peons to fight. Maybe a few someones.

Daniel discovered his powers a few months before the Meteor Shower/Whatever-Accident-I-Come-Up-With-Next that kicks off the very first episode. This is important, because he started forming his cult right after the Accident. Because of this, our heroes think Daniel got his powers from the Accident, just like they (supposedly) did.

The reveal that he already had powers is the beginning of the realization that the Accident is a red herring, that it was not the source of our heroes' powers.

Regarding characters, I wrote:Character idea: Hugh, little boy who lives beside Olivia. Is like a baby brother to her. In later seasons, he gets the power to telepathically copy knowledge from anyone he finds. He can't send thoughts to others or control them; he's more like a massive database.

I want Hugh to be 18 or so for the end of season 5.
So, working backwards, he'll be 5 over the course of season 1.

For season 2, I wrote:Could I add a timeskip between seasons 1 and 2? I don't want to rush the protagonists into official superhero positions. I don't have big stuff planned for the beginning of season 2, so a year or two between seasons 1 and 2 wouldn't miss much.

Regarding characters, I wrote:New character! Meet Gregorio. No last name.

Gregorio is an enigma. He's been around for centuries, maybe millennia even. He pops around every so often, to heroes and villains alike. Not to do much, just talk. Sometimes, though, his talks help people greatly. He doesn't seem to have much of an agenda, or any agenda at all really. Everyone knows him, but no one really knows him.

The thing that makes Gregorio worthwhile to everyone else is that he possesses a great deal of power. No one can tell for sure, since he doesn't really use it. He's definitely a Trommler 0 like Mason and Ueli.

Just a cheery guy with tremendous power. Nothing to see here.

For season 3, I wrote:Maintaining prisons for neos is, naturally, a big deal. And really difficult. So Encore puts extra effort into rehabilitating neos and uses imprisonment as a last resort. Wardens tend to be telepaths, trained mainly to negate powers.

New group!
So you guys remember the "Halogens", right? Chloe, Bronistad and Ian, secretly led by Flora? I have an idea for a sort of police force, inspired by the Alkali Metals (so that they'll oppose the halogens). They fight for the people, but they're extremist and brutal. We'll introduce them in season 3, as a nice foil to our main heroes.

Regarding characters, I wrote:Character(s) idea: Lilian. She's a few years younger than the members of the Octet. She works alongside her father Nathan as a member of the "Alkali" Hero Squad. She's a bit spoiled. She doesn't like the Octet, mainly because they don't agree completely with the Alkali. She's also very close with her family.

Lilian can cause explosions. Not fiery ones; just sudden, rapid expansions of matter. Nathan can set things on fire. Really quick.

Villain idea for season 3: a corrupt businesswoman. She's been partially-to-mostly responsible for all the other villains running around during the season. She's actually being funded by an unknown benefactor, who will turn out to be the Queen Alight. She is a neo with the power to manipulate water.

Let's name her Monique for now.

For season 5, I wrote:

Regarding characters, I wrote:Addendum to this:

Cephalo the Pod wrote:Friday:
Powerset idea: a telepath that spreads their power across a large area gradually. The telepathy takes the form of a demonic warping of the landscape, and everyone who is caught in the field is lost to the telepath.

I want to give demon-boy here teleportation as well, effectively making him a horror-movie neo.

Flora kinda comes out of nowhere halfway through season 5. She's alluded to as early as season 2, when it's speculated that the "Halogens" have someone pulling the strings behind the scnes, but she remains off-screen. When she finally appears, no one knows who she is. This makes tracking her next to impossible.

Eventually, it's revealed that shortly after getting her powers, Flora was so distressed from it all that she wiped her memory of herself, along with the memories of everyone who knew her. She's unknown to everyone, and unburdened by the trauma of her past.

For season 6, I wrote:I'm picturing some major changes to landscape between seasons 5 and 6. This is when society collapses and Anarchy begins, so there's gonna be a lot of change. Like, Southwestern Ontario could turn into a mountain chain. Deserts in Africa could turn into lush rainforests. It would create a lot of new environments to explore for the upcoming season.

Regarding Ueli, I wrote:I've got an idea for Ueli, our absolute main villain.

I've explained that he works behind the scenes, keeping himself and other top-notch neos from directly fighting lest they blow up Texas. But what if there's something else? What if Ueli has a weakness after all? What if Ueli is periodically scarred?

It could be a huge discovery in season 6. Turns out that a large portion of Ueli's powers has stopped working for a few years now, and is likely to remain locked for a another year or so. The idea is that everyone has been scared of Ueli all this time, when in actuality he's harmless at the moment.

A plot point for seasons 6 and 7 could be for the heroes to claim territory and take out Ueli's Associates before Ueli comes back strong.

Regarding revelations, I wrote:PLOT TWIST!!!

So I mentioned that Controllers can only supply energy, not take it away. It's why thermokinetics can't make a room cold, only hot. But what if there was a different kind of superhuman? One that took away energy? It's been unheard of for as long as Controllers have existed.

Anti-Controllers will be introduced in season 6. They'll be a pet project done by Ueli as a means of averting Decay. And indeed, Once the Nova Stimulus happens, There's no Decay. The Anti-Controllers balance things out.

With this said, I want to make the villain Cedric an Anti-Controller. Being the modern voice amongst the Ancient Evils, Cedric is the voice of "progress". Him being a whole new brand of superhuman fits this.

More on Flora's experimentations. She made her daughter Aster in order to basically raise a Tyke Bomb. She wants to create a Controller that is radically different, someone who will change the whole scene, like Cedric or the Ancient Evils. She also wants to experiment with Hugh (Olivia's much younger neighbour) in earlier seasons, sensing his telepathic potential.

Hugh and Aster are the same age. I don't wanna make them a couple, I intend to fully avert that. They're kids at the start of the show and teenagers in the final seasons. The idea of they're dynamic is that Hugh has a power that can't harm (directly) but he uses it to fight the villains, while Aster has very dangerous powers but wants to use them more socially. Not that I've developed Aster's powers yet.

Regarding our villains, I wrote:The alchemy that has maintained the Farmer's body for so long increases with damage; the worse he is for wear, the more energy is used to heal himself. It's a sort of emergency source. Because of this, the Farmer prefers close combat. Even if someone hits him (which is rare), his automatic alchemy compensates. It's a little extra bit of power that can be used to fight.

Gregorio is a piece of the Storm. He's significantly powerful (not dwarfing Mason and Ueli, not at all), and this allows him to temporarily "escape", living his own life. The reason he never takes a real side in battles is that the Storm actually has a light tug on him at all times. The Storm's productivity actually depends on whether or not it has control over Gregorio.

I've decided on the power of Aster, Flora's daughter.
She can create mass. Just, mass, out of thin air. Logically, simpler particles are easier for her to form.