I need help with one of my main protagonist?

[Burst]

Hello,

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask for help, but I'll just post here anyways...

I need help with my protagonist. She's supposed to die every five hundred years and be reborn five hundred years later. But she dies sooner because of a curse that forbids her from falling in love. Because of this, it disrupts the five hundred year cycle and she is reborn later than usual. I need something more complicated than that though, or is that complicated enough? Also, I'm trying to think of a way to break the curse, but I can't find a way, can anyone give me ideas?

Oh and the cycle was disrupted because she fell in love with my other protagonist who is exactly the same way, but he doesn't have the curse...or maybe he should? So they can work together to break the curse?

Sorry if this all sounds confusing.. but some help would be appreciated... if it ever becomes a novel I'll mention people.

 

[Ankari]

When I read this I immediately thought that she would be reborn right away (or a short time later) to finish out the remainder 500 years of life. This gives both protagonists a short time to break the curse.

I don't know about the second protagonists having the same 500 year life cycle. Perhaps he could, but in the brief time she is dead he could have found a way to live eternal or however long you want him to live. This gives him incentive to make sure they find a cure for the curse and repeat the same ritual that will break her 500 year life cycle so they can live happily ever after.

The time constraint gives the story a little bit of suspense.

 

[Burst]

When I read this I immediately thought that she would be reborn right away (or a short time later) to finish out the remainder 500 years of life. This gives both protagonists a short time to break the curse.

I don't know about the second protagonists having the same 500 year life cycle. Perhaps he could, but in the brief time she is dead he could have found a way to live eternal or however long you want him to live. This gives him incentive to make sure they find a cure for the curse and repeat the same ritual that will break her 500 year life cycle so they can live happily ever after.

The time constraint gives the story a little bit of suspense.

Well, what I was thinking is that after each rebirth she would have no memory of her past lives or of him. He would have to get her to remember who she is and who he is and what he meant to her in her previous lives in the short amount of time that she's alive. Also, I could make him immortal (without the five hundred year cycle) and during the brief time that she's dead he could find a way for her to live eternally and break the curse and her five hundred year cycle so they can live happily ever after.

Do you think that could work?

 

[Ankari]

Then you wouldn't have any suspense. I like the addition that she forgets. So when she comes back for the remainder of her 500 year cycle (how much time is left should be around 30ish years) then your male protagonist would have to make her remember, break the curse, then do the ritual to stop her life cycle.

That gives you 10 years of suspense and emotional roller coaster ride.

 

[Penpilot]

My advice would be don't make things more complicated than they need to be. Some of the best issues for stories are the simplest.

 

[Burst]

Then you wouldn't have any suspense. I like the addition that she forgets. So when she comes back for the remainder of her 500 year cycle (how much time is left should be around 30ish years) then your male protagonist would have to make her remember, break the curse, then do the ritual to stop her life cycle.

That gives you 10 years of suspense and emotional roller coaster ride.

Yeah I like that. Thanks for your help.

My advice would be don't make things more complicated than they need to be. Some of the best issues for stories are the simplest.

Good advice.

 

[Aidan of the tavern]

Well first off in my opinion I think you should avoid giving the lover the curse as well, if he loves her enough then thats reason enough for them to try and end the curse together. If you did give it to him as well it could also take away the "uniqueness" of your protag (I'm assuming the girl is the lead protag).

I'm not sure I entirely understand your cycle, when it gets disrupted does her lifespan get any shorter? I would say though you've got a good setup for a story here. Does she want to end the cycle to live one life with her lover instead of many? As a spine for the plot I think this is complex enough, you can always add complicated events along the way if you want to make it more complex.

In terms of breaking the curse I can't really help as I don't know how it got there and who did it. Was an old hateful hag, long deceased? Was it a sorcerer who tried to perform a possession ritual on her that went terribly wrong? Or was it a trap laid down by a god centuries ago?

Feel free to message me if you need any other help.

 

[Ankari]

Well first off in my opinion I think you should avoid giving the lover the curse as well, if he loves her enough then thats reason enough for them to try and end the curse together. If you did give it to him as well it could also take away the "uniqueness" of your protag (I'm assuming the girl is the lead protag).

What if they were an ancient couple that caught the jealous eye of some sorcerer who cast the curse on both of them. If they love each other so much, let them do so for eternity!

 

[gavintonks]

2 protagonists do they normally hate each other?
how is she cursed and who does the cursing - possibly number 1 lover / wife puts the curse, keep her grubby paws off her man/ woman
so cursed how is the curse activated? kiss etc - shrivels and dies
write the issues in a list and progress the ideas as the story must flow
then she must go somewhere for the time and she must sell something to be able to be reborn with love
then
love is not reciprocated so all her sacrifice is for nothing
when she awakens early finds another set of rules that's why they go for 500 years / poisonous almost looses her immortality
There are lots of outcomes just write them down and follow the logic in the questions

 

[Burst]

Well first off in my opinion I think you should avoid giving the lover the curse as well, if he loves her enough then thats reason enough for them to try and end the curse together. If you did give it to him as well it could also take away the "uniqueness" of your protag (I'm assuming the girl is the lead protag).

I'm not sure I entirely understand your cycle, when it gets disrupted does her lifespan get any shorter? I would say though you've got a good setup for a story here. Does she want to end the cycle to live one life with her lover instead of many? As a spine for the plot I think this is complex enough, you can always add complicated events along the way if you want to make it more complex.

In terms of breaking the curse I can't really help as I don't know how it got there and who did it. Was an old hateful hag, long deceased? Was it a sorcerer who tried to perform a possession ritual on her that went terribly wrong? Or was it a trap laid down by a god centuries ago?

Feel free to message me if you need any other help.

Yep when her cycle gets disrupted her lifespan shortens. Her lover wants their cycles to end as well as the curse so they can be together forever and she wants the same. I originally had three other characters, two of them being a lesbian couple, and one who I think should fall in love with my prog's lover, creating a love triangle and adding more drama to the story, should I add them in? Or just focus on the two?

What if they were an ancient couple that caught the jealous eye of some sorcerer who cast the curse on both of them. If they love each other so much, let them do so for eternity!

An ugly witch, jealous of their love, disguises herself as a Phoenix and pretends to be hurt in order to get close to the prog's lover. So they take the witch in their home and take care of it and soon enough the ancient couple find out that the Phoenix is really a witch so they throw her out. The witch gets angry and casts one curse on the prog's lover, the 500 year cycle aka the Phoenixian curse and casts two curses on the prog... the Phoenixian curse and the Forbidden love curse that engulfs her in flames and turns her into ashes if she shows one ounce of love toward her lover... How does that sound? Kind of complicated to me lol.. decided to make the five hundred year cycle a curse too.. so now he has to come up with a way to break three curses in a short amount of time.

2 protagonists do they normally hate each other?
how is she cursed and who does the cursing - possibly number 1 lover / wife puts the curse, keep her grubby paws off her man/ woman
so cursed how is the curse activated? kiss etc - shrivels and dies
write the issues in a list and progress the ideas as the story must flow
then she must go somewhere for the time and she must sell something to be able to be reborn with love
then
love is not reciprocated so all her sacrifice is for nothing
when she awakens early finds another set of rules that's why they go for 500 years / poisonous almost looses her immortality
There are lots of outcomes just write them down and follow the logic in the questions

Those are some good ideas. Thanks.

 

[Aidan of the tavern]

Yep when her cycle gets disrupted her lifespan shortens. Her lover wants their cycles to end as well as the curse so they can be together forever and she wants the same. I originally had three other characters, two of them being a lesbian couple, and one who I think should fall in love with my prog's lover, creating a love triangle and adding more drama to the story, should I add them in? Or just focus on the two?

Thats up to you. At the end of the day its more how its written than what is written.