Synopsis: In an alternate universe where individuals are born with powerful Affinities—Nature, Combat, Technology, Mind, Mystic—you play as the 25-year-old Unit Chief of an elite government intelligence team comprised of members from different Affinities, specializing in handling cases that involve the misuse of Affinity powers. However, an unprecedented challenge arises when you are summoned to investigate disturbances on the West Coast. The source of the chaos is a rumored prodigy—a young Hybrid between Nature and Mystic Affinities, who has achieved the status of Paragon by mastering all their powers by the age of 22. This enigmatic figure is causing havoc, driven by a belief that the efforts to control the Affinities are misguided. You must lead your team to confront the Paragon, all while reconciling your own Hybrid identity and the potential of your power.
Update 7/17/24
Finally, after a long while of jumping between different ideas, I’ve settled on this one. It is to stay – I already have 30k words written for chapter 1 and plan to release the whole chapter (projected 50k) in September, but here is a sneak peek!
Update 8/6/24
Added 2 possible ages. Genres have been decided: supernatural, action, mystery, romance. Still planning for September chapter 1 release. (See comment for details)
25 seems too young for the chief, particularly if your opposing prodigy is 22. Perhaps make the chief 35 instead? I understand why you did it, but unless you want to age down your opponent, that’s a bit too close and I don’t think MC would be trusted to stay objective.
I agree that 25 feels a bit young for the responsibilities the MC seems to have as a chief in this situation. Unless the story acknowledges that the MC is a prodigy themselves, ageing the MC to be in their thirties might not be a bad idea.
I love the concept a lot and think it’s a super cool idea! Also to the point of the characters age I think 25 could lead to some interesting plot points like the mental toll it takes on the Mc and people older than them having to take orders from someone younger could be fun to read!
I totally agree with all of the above! For one, it would be more believable in terms of workload and mental capacity if the MC were older. On the other hand, MC is a Hybrid, and it will be established as the story goes on how they have been training since they were basically a child. I do think it would be smart to age MC up to 30; still, at that point, they are the youngest in their team and will have to deal with struggles with older figures of authority. My biggest concern is that I wouldn’t be able to write a character (at least, a main character) who is older than I am Will the various professional styles still work? But I’ll give it a try, and thanks for the feedback!
MC being young for a chief kind of make sense considering MC has been with the FBI-AD since 13 years old. At least to me.
MC’s a special case (and is literally built different )
There’s also the thing that the paragon is THE prodigy having mastered things at 22, so if MC is already established hybrid unit chief at 25, it doesn’t feel like such a great achievement. The age itself is your choice, but the difference between these two should be bigger so as not to downsize the importance of a main plot point. The idea feels like a lot of worldbuilding for only a very small area of activity, but let’s see how you establish that first and go from there.
Good luck, patience and motivational snacks to you!
In most of the Western world, there isn’t a social expectation that women must get married. They’ll get shit for it from some quarters (usually incels - that is, men who are pissed that women don’t want anything to do with them) but there’s nobody who can force the issue. Is it different where you’re from?
Will the various professional styles still work? But I’ll give it a try, and thanks for the feedback!