it’s all really supposed to be backdrop to the MC’s personal journey of discovering himself and what he really wants in life and choosing the life/love he wants

So an alien romance?

yeah alien inter-species love triangle

ok. straightup human-humanoid action

Can aliens and humans inter-mingle?

there are many theories on that…. in Star Trek canon (and many other sci fi universes), they rationalize the fact that most aliens are humanoid by there being a long extinct master race that, after discovering they were alone in the universe, seeded the primordial soup of many planets so that they’d live on in a fashion

So they are human, but evolved to their environment

well, humans evolved on Earth and the Yrn evolved on Yrnia.. whatever the master species was could have been entirely different

the love triangle

well, not exactly a romance, but it is the main catalyst for the change in the hero.

His name is Jak

Jak is mated with Kara but he’s having an affair with the human Diana

and is mated like prearranged marriage - prearranged is the custom of the Yrn

He meets Diana at work and she’s the one who concrips him into the Third Faction

Jak is a clerk in the Ministry of Interspecies Affairs

matching is made by a lottery of sorts.. selection by magic stones. or some crap like that

The Third Faction is the faction that wants actual bona fide peace (or so they profess). They are really just terrorists and has members from both human and Yrn races

The public conflict is between the Yrn and huma proper

Where I’m kinda twisted is in how Diana and Kara are really working together and using Jak

So… from Jak’s persepctive, he’s embroiled in this love-fueled renegade action and Diana keeps prompting him to leave Kara so they can be together.

But in reality… they’re working together behind his back?

Kara is about to betray her people and side with Diana on the human side of the war.

her external motivations are that she’s the daughter of the Yrn monarch and sees no future for her people. To save them, she must see them conquered and assimilated. Her internal motivations are that maybe she herself is in love with Diana?

so… both KAra and Diana are double agents politically and Jak is the chump in the middle … and the only one that truely believes in the Third Faction

I’m still pretty sure that the best POV is from Jak’s.

You could write from all three povs

Different chapters

I think I would have to write all three POVs where needed to get elements of the plot and story out.

That would make this more a character drama than anything.

that’d be almost trodding on literary territory… O.O

so, I’ll have to practice some economy in the story.. keep it on point. by writing the three strong character arcs, I doubt I’d have much room for additional subplot

You’d just have to keep the plots contained. So pick what character a certain plot point would have the most impact from

Don’t overlap in other chapters. Pass the torch instead

so, my plan at this point is to write out the three story lines for each POV and then weave it together into a single outline to see how it looks

I think that’ll be the best way for you to get the whole story out

And take it from a romance to a multi-level story

I can pick the right POV for the intersecting points

Then if a chapter ends with something dramatic from one pov, you can open it in another pov in the next chapter

But also gives you the ability to pan out to wherever one party is compared to the others

So you can see what’s happening in the world in more than one place

Jak is now wanting to assassinate Kara?

kill Kara so he can be with Diane. Diane is manipulating Jak

But then it’s revealed Kara and Diane are working together, right?

In the other POVs, KAra and Diane are in cahoots.

So you’re still thinking of taking on multiple povs then?

I think I have to.

in order to get the political bit out and to flesh out the other side of the love triangle

Hmm… so you’re trying to figure out if Jak lives or dies?

So in that case, too, if you do kill Jak… he’s not the main MAIN character

Kara’s story goal is to save her people by arranging to have her father murdered, assume the throne and assimilate to the Huma Proper. Love with Diane complicates

I can kill Jak if it’s a tragedy and the story ends there.

Are you going to have Kara in love with Diane, too?

Yeah. So you need to decide if you want it to be a series or a stand alone

yes. that’s part of why they are in cahoots.. part politics and part love

Okay. So that’s going to be a tough reveal/resolution at the end

Yeah, that’s why I want to craft both Kara’s and Diane’s storyline in 3 act structure.

1. I’ll figure out the right POV

Do they love each other?

and 2. I’ll figure out the ending

Because then you need to deal with them… either being bisexual? Or closet gay? Married to a man, but spent their life wanting to be with a woman?

But then why is Diane with Jak if she also love Kara, etc?

Kara and Diane start off as political allies who end up falling in love. Jak loves Diane, but ultimately is too selffish

Are they discovering these feelings as they’re happening?

So Diane doesn’t actually love Jak back?

Diane’s storygoal is that she’s an operative wioth Human Proper infiltrating the Third Faction. Jak is a tool/pawn she is using to undermine it. That he’s also Kara’s husband is a complication. What should have been a straight using situation is complicated.

I can see Kara being gay and not saying anything because she’s in an arranged marriage. Now exploring that world

But for Diane… She’d have to be bisexual in order to have feelings for both

Diane doesn’t have genuine feelings for JAk

Oh okay

She’s using him as a leg up

To further her mission

I was picturing it being a complete love triangle

Jak loves Diane. Diane loves Jak. Kara loves Diane. Diane loves Kara. Kara and Jak… don’t love each other?

I see where you’re going though

it could end up that way when I sketch out the ladies’ POV

In other words, total mess for everyone. Lol

sexuality with the Yrn doesn’t have to be strictly binary

True

However…

The only reason I brought it up is because of all these recent outcry with J.K. Rowlings characters

oh?

The pride community seems to be in an uproar over there not being a clear identifier as to character’s sexuality

And so you might want to be careful how you approach that

ffs

Go in with a confidence of their history

Well, I don’t think it’ll be an issue so long as you clearly know their history

tru. I’m glad I’m sorting that out with the outline first (edited)

They either are or aren’t gay or bisexual and they either are or aren’t in the closet about it

And if you’re clear that in Yrn sexuality isn’t so black and white as it is on Earth…

I don’t see that being an issue then

Different world, right? Different societal structure

exactly

Just something to think about is all and know that you have to go in with a clear explanation

thanks.

Yours is coming along really well, too. Your characters are growing every week and I’m now seeing Kara and Diane’s part in it more clearly

yeah. all three have strong arcs. I have to go back and tweak Jak– his role became a lot more stronger

So, Kara and Diane are now the founders of the third faction? Or have they always been?

he’s got a turning point where he moves from victim to leader.

Yes, the ladies created the Third Faction as a paper-organization to deflect blame. Jak ends up taking the mantle and making it real

When Kara murders her father, is that a turning point for her? If so, how?

Also… “her current assignment is to observe and compromise Jak, the ineffectual husband of the Yrn princess” - This is great

she takes agency for her path and her people. There’s no going back from that. She starts out accepting the role of princess and defference to her father. Diane halps her see that he path is her own

What happens when the last atmospheric processor is gone?

that dramatically worsens the environmental calamaty. Nothing to regulate rainfall. Constant rain. Flooding.. Crowding into the cities. Food shortages

Okay… so why do they want to do this?

Are they thinking they’ll gain more control through chaos?

The Yrn and Huma Proper governments are in a stalemate where the Yrn are a subject state to the HP. By putting pressure on resources (land, food, etc), it destableizes things. The HP are somewhat complacent as conquerors anyway, which make the Yrn uprising even more effective. The HP leadership falls quickly