So, I'm doing a story that takes place in purgatory. It's a little esoteric and might not make sense, but try and follow me. In my version of purgatory, everyone who arrives there has some kind of "advantage" or for lack of a better word, "power". For instance, if someone died by drowning and they go to purgatory, they breathe underwater and can't be drowned again, etc. Think of it like a kind of leg-up "given to them" to make it easier to do what they need to do in purgatory to get out and either ascend, descend, or be reborn on earth. I have 2 main characters who, through some loophole I haven't figured out yet, weren't supposed to come to purgatory because they committed suicide. As a result, they have some unique and powerful "advantage" or "power" that other people there discover and exploit for their own gains to get out of purgatory. I can't really explain more than that without really digging into other aspects of the plot, but I'm wrestling with what that "power" could be. Anyone have any ideas? I guess it would maybe depend on HOW they committed suicide?
This seems a bit strange, but I'll throw it out there anyway. What if the fact that they chose death, instead of the other way around, actually gives them options and opens a "door", or even multiple "doors" to the different places? Now this is where my idea branches off. On one hand you could make it so that these doors open randomly, and fairly often, as soon as they stepped into purgatory. The catch though is that they don't know where the doors lead, so they don't use them. My idea branches again here. You could make it so that others do know where these "doors" lead, like they can see or understand something about them that the MC's don't, and they can also use them even though it's not intended for them. Or you could make it so that no one knows where the doors go, but most people don't care at this point and just want out and are willing to take the risk, so they use the doors (this can also lead so someone wanting to see if they can find a way to determine where they go, and end up taking the two MC's hostage to find out). Or, you could make it so that the two MC's can't see the "doors" opening and don't know they're there, but others can see them and know where they lead, but the "doors" don't open very often either and stay open for varying lengths of time. Once someone else uses the "door", it closes, so even if the MC's tried to follow someone in it wouldn't work, and nobody is willing to tell them the "doors" are even there when they show up, so for the longest time they're oblivious to it until someone takes pity on them and explains what's happening. In any case, no one wants these two to use their "doors" because once they find a way out, they're gone, both the character and the appearance of the "doors". You can also have it so that someone in purgatory already knows that suicide grants this ability to open these things, and they've been waiting for the next person to come through purgatory so that they can exploit it and keep those people from leaving themselves. They could even have gathered a small gang of others that are working with them towards this goal. Every other suicide victim has come and gone from purgatory, except these two who have freshly arrived. This is where I'd probably make it so that the MC's do know about the doors, know where they lead, but are kept from using them by the antagonist. That would explain why everyone else with this ability has already left is because they simply chose a door they wanted and left...until now. However, I'm not too sure about how interesting it would be to simply have the antagonist keeping them from using a door at all times. Unless, they found a way to curse these two souls so that they can't use the doors without breaking said curse. Then have the two MC's escape from the antagonists and go on a search to fix this problem, all the while still dealing with this group trying to pursue them and utilize these doors as they appear. It could also be that there's only so many doors that they get, and after so long they stop appearing entirely...and maybe the real problem is that everyone else who committed suicide is now stuck in purgatory because the antagonists had used up all their doors for each person. Then you can have a thing where these other suicide victims are trying to help the two who MC's, while some are trying to also exploit them as well, then you can have any mixture of my previous ideas here applied. Hope something here helps, it's just an idea that popped in my head. I'm pretty good at coming up with weird shit that kinda works, so. XD
This is a very interesting idea, it opens up some cool avenues. It would actually kind of jive well with the plot. Nice!
This is a really interesting idea that you have here. I love the concept of it! To help you with your dilemma, it really depends on what you would consider a "power". It also depends on how they committed suicide as well. Someone could drown themselves to commit suicide, and with your previous logic this would mean that they wouldn't be able to drown again. But there is one core difference between the two. The person who committed suicide isn't afraid of death. While they may have some fear of the concept of death, they were still able to go through with ending their own life. And this isn't saying that people who die on accident or through natural causes can be unafraid of death, it's the mentality of the person who committed suicide that can make it different. I could even go as far to say that they care little about their own well being, and they don't feel like they have any reason to care, which is a common thought that goes through peoples minds when they have suicidal thoughts. This itself can be super exploitable. People like this can be used to do things that others don't want to because it may threaten their well being. This can be an advantage because this means you don't really care what happens to you, so you are willing to go to further lengths to get something done. Again this isn't really a "power" per say, but its still something that can be considered. I hope this helps and I wish you luck!
