Complete Control Design Notes

Thursday:
So originally I gave Olivia alchemy and heat powers. Good combo, I thought. I gave Emily electro-and-photokinesis, but they never really felt like things she should have. So I've given them to Olivia. I risk making her overpowered, but I think the electrokinesis, at least, will compliment her chemical powers.

Friday:
There will be (mostly) no secret identities in the Neoverse. One quarter of the neo population is telepaths, and identifying a masked vigilante is relatively easy. To compensate, Encore offers reliable protection for families of neos.

Won't stop a few idiots from donning costumes at night.

Episode 8. So the agent from before (let's call him Ji-hu) wants to guide our quartet to each other. What he doesn't know is that he's drawing the attention of a couple of Daniel's thugs. Here could be the beginning of the main story arc of Neo Birth.

Sunday:
Isaac Testardo is the brains of operations. The smart guy, the one who gets into people's heads. His telepathy allows him to make calculations and process thoughts hundreds of times faster than normal. He can read minds and take control of them. Assuming they're not telepaths, he can control whole crowds of people.

Isaac values the ends over the means. When he works on a project, he does so with great determination and enthusiasm. He finds things to do and sticks with them. He does not cut corners to hasten completion, and does not waver from his goals. He tends to ignore criticism and is slow to change his mind. At best, he is steadfast and loyal. At worst, he is unforgiving and stubborn.

Isaac enjoys all sorts of arts, like painting and music. He likes to test his boundaries, both with himself and with other people. This tends to get him in trouble.

Over the course of the show, Isaac contemplates how his powers affect his worth as a human being. His powers effectively grant him the mental manpower of an entire city, but does that make him a priority? How many can be sacrificed for the sake of a definite victory? Does having an elixir give him a right to rule?

His arch-enemy will be the Queen Alight, a tyrant who desires nothing less than the whole world to be subject to her reign.

Monday:
More on Isaac. Over time, Isaac develops a psychic sense of death. When a person dies, he feels it, and it's not very nice. This will tie in with his contemplations of the relations between him and the people he protects. As the wars get bloodier and bloodier, he becomes one of the bitterest characters about it all.

Tuesday:
Lots of people are probably going to die at some point. As in, a single disaster. It's bound to happen when both the heroes and the villains hold the magnitude of powers that they do. At some point, the Cold War between Encore and Ueli is gonna bubble over, and someone like Cedric or the Queen is going to lash out against a state or something. In a later season, probably 5.

It could be a game-changer (probably should), seeing all the different factions respond to the massacre that was committed with the flick of a wrist. Events will be set in motion that affect every life on the planet, and repercussions are bound to be felt everywhere.

Mason should have his own crew of super-superheroes. Larger than Ueli's, but individually weaker and younger. We'll see them all the way in season 1, but the full extent of their powers will gradually be revealed.

sounds good yo lets hear some mr. everest stuff

Thursday:
And now, for more of Kason's Kreepy Konversations with Kids!
Man: Here, put this [bracelet] on.
Child: Mmm (grunt of discomfort).
Man: It's okay, it's okay, I just want you to put this on your arm. See it? It's pretty.
*The man struggles to fit the bracelet on the child.*
Child: It hurts.
Man: That's okay. It always hurts at first.
*The bracelet is fitted on. Nothing else happens.*
Man: Hmm, must be broken. *Takes it off.* Let's go find you another toy.

I am destined to write this duo in somewhere.

Friday:
Alexander Everest is the main telekinetic. He can move any piece of matter in any direction he wants, on a number of scales. He can fly, shoot cars like bullets, obliterate mountain sides, and split off a chunk of material into a thousand tiny bits. Tends to take on the action role in the Quartet.

Alex is a thrill-seeker. He loves sports, the outdoors, and roller coasters. He doesn't do very well in school, not that he doesn't give an honest effort. He's impulsive, goes for straightforward solutions and is a little naive. He does not like being talked down to and is quick to temper.

Over the course of the show, Alex gets overall smarter. He learns just how versatile his elixir is, how it can be used for more than blowing shit up. As he matures, he becomes more and more haunted by the senseless mistakes he makes with his powers.

He eventually gets the attention of the Farmer, and dedicates his efforts to eliminating him.

hey look, a post

Saturday:
I've kinda reset on writing Peter's character. Here's everything I've kept with the character.
Peter is going to be a defector. In Neo Path, the enemy is going to attack, family is going to be endangered, and Peter is going to be pissed. He's gonna leave Encore, try to make a difference on his own. Over the next few seasons, he's going to commit acts more and more reprehensible, growing more and more desperate to do things on his own.

Now that I've written that out, it kinda makes Peter look like a strawman. Maybe I should write another lone wolf who doesn't stoop to Peter's level.

Sunday:
Character idea for Neo Birth: twenty-year old girl, no powers, but is Daniel's second-in-command. She is his lead adviser, encouraging him to reach his long-term goals and acting as an alternative point of view when making decisions. She found him shortly after he discovered his powers.

She's enamoured with him, and in turn, he's inspired by her earnesty. She keeps the role of lieutenant by staging scenes with Daniel that have her "standing up to him" as he "threatens" her with a superpowered beating.

Let's name her Beatrice.

Monday:
Daniel's elixir consists of telekinesis and photokinesis, both used by Daniel to instill awe in his audiences.

Tuesday:
As Daniel schemes in Birth, he'll happen upon other, younger neos. Some may be seizing territory like Daniel, some may just be laying on the down low. Regardless, Daniel makes it a point to capture these neos and subject them to his rule.

Wednesday:
I have a number of ways of theming the quartet. For one, there's the classical elements:
Earth for Alex.
Water for Olivia.
Air for Emily.
Fire for Isaac.

The idea is that the less solid elements (i.e. air and fire) go to the neos with the more abstract powers (Emily with her reality-warping and Isaac with what I've essentially written as spirit-powers).

Also, there's a day/night dynamic.
Alex is morning.
Olivia is afternoon.
Emily is evening.
Isaac is night.

I was thinking, sometimes, when a character has their moment to shine, it would take place during "their" time of the day.

Let's give a story to the robot-piloting guy who works for the Queen Alight. Served in an army (not sure which one). Loves to fight. Got lost in a battle, accidentally killed one of his own men, fled. Queen took him up, sheltered him until her grand assault on the world. Uses electricity and light with great efficiency to power his giant mecha.

Let's introduce him in Eve.

Friday:
Addendum to Paul's elixir. Along with the subspace pockets, he can swipe chunks of matter from other universes.

Which begs the question, couldn't other universes steal from ours? Technically, yes, but it's unlikely.

Saturday:
So I was thinking about how the presence of powers could explain a lot of real-life myths and legends in the Neoverse. And then I thought, wouldn't that just make more potential for myths?

So I'm thinking of doing that, throwing in a bunch of myths, both ancient and modern, that will be revealed to be of Neo origin.

Sunday:
In the early seasons, several characters are shown in school learning about an old nomadic religion whose god was born to them in their own kingdom and lived a life of hardship to ascend to the throne. This will turn out to be the Queen Alight and her cult.

Monday:
There's an urban myth in Toronto about a woman who was walking home one winter night when the weather got real bad. She didn't make it back home that night. Now, whenever there's a snowstorm in Toronto, her silhouette can be seen as she tries to return home.

In actuality, her elixir lets her teleport anywhere with a similar temperature. Later, she gains the ability to expel thermal energy, and redistribute thermal energy in an area without actually adding any.

good stuff

Last Tuesday:
I want the Quartet to meet each other in parts, not all at once. Like, Alex will meet Olivia, then Olivia finds Isaac, then Isaac discovers both Alex and Emily. It would give each character more development and allow for some one-on-one interactions.

good old cephalo the pod

Last Wednesday:
In the very first ever post, I listed the seven seasons of Neo, and in point form stated a few key events in each one. I've recently realized that those few points don't really say much. Now, for the next seven entries, I will give more detailed synopses. Let's start with Birth:

This is the season where are four protagonists' powers manifest. They don't notice them at first, or at least that the power is coming from them. Once they realize they're getting superpowers, they start investigating what caused them. They look for others like them, finding traces of the secret organization Encore along the way.

What sets this from later seasons is that the heroes are on their own, without Encore's direct assistance. They're just kids on the run from a gang who's gunning them down. Encore is still trying to keep secret, but that secrecy slowly erodes away over the course of the season.