I need help brainstorming a key event! I have my WIP broken up into 3 parts. The first part is my MC, a young alien woman, exploring the human city, making friends, falling in love, etc. The second part, is my MC back in her alien civilization after something happens in the human city that forces her to go back where she came from. While the first part focused on the human city, the second part focuses only on the alien civilization. The 3rd part is irrelevant to the question im asking lol. I'm stuck on exactly what makes my MC go back home. There are a number of possibilities. What I have written now, is that an alien body is found mutilated and burned in the human city. My MC and her human friends take it as a warning, and she leave the human city for good. That doesnt sit well with me anymore. It feels bland... other things have happened before that scene that could lend to possible reasons why she is forced out: There is a crooked soldier who a) has it out for my 2nd MC, who is my alien's friend, b) has a terrible fascination with aliens, and c) is secretly working for the leader of the alien civilization so he knows a lot about my alien MC the government doesnt condone alien/human relationships, and my MC has grown too close to my 2nd MC, who is her human friend my 2nd MC has been using her to gather information on the alien civilization where she came from. It was not his plan or idea to spy in this way; once the higher-ups found out that he had saved an alien, they had him continue to see her and report back to them. He feels guilty about this and plans to confess. aliens and humans should not mix, and so in her civilization her people have zero contact with humans. My MC has been super lucky, sneaking out to the human city for months without getting caught. I feel like her luck should run out in some way humans are still weary of aliens; because of a public statement made by the police department, the human city now knows that there is an alien among them. There are some humans that want the city to stay "human." My second idea was to have the crooked soldier threaten her on behalf of the alien leader (at this point, my MC doesnt know about the power shift in her government, which is to be revealed in part 2). My 3rd idea is to have my 2nd MC confess that he has been using her for information, which reaffirms her fears that humans really are terrible (my issue with this is because my alien views eyes as "the windows to the soul" so she already knows that he is not a bad person.... so after his confession, she wouldnt just run away and wash her hands of him and humans)
For such a pivotal moment it seems like it would be best for the reason to stem from either the primary external conflict or the primary internal conflict. That would probably be why having an unrelated murder as the catalyst doesn't feel right. Obviously you'd have a better understanding of what those conflicts are, but it seems like the external conflict is about the relationship between the humans and aliens. I don't have enough information to guess the internal conflict of your protagonist, but I could see it being her individual feelings about humans is in conflict with what her society has told her about them. It also depends on where you want her to be mentally at the start of part 2. If she is forced to leave the human world behind, she will likely long to return to it and to her friends. But if she chooses to leave, because she begins to doubt her initial impressions and think that her society was correct in avoiding contact, then she will strive to be content in her new life despite potential doubts. Personally I think having her choose to leave makes for a more compelling narrative. Maybe the tensions are rising and it feels like it's becoming less safe to stay, but she still doesn't want to abandon her friends. Then 2nd MC confesses that he's been spying on her and given the rising tensions, she doubts her own evaluation of the situation. Allowing her fears that humans are actually terrible to override her earlier impressions that 2nd MC is a good person.
Is there some reason she would be drawn back to the alien civilisation? Rather than being forced back? Maybe some reason she wants to be back there—even temporarily—unrelated to her situation in the human city?
She is an outcast in her city. A "throw away" so she isnt too keen on going back. She cares a lot about her father and, even though her former friend wants nothing to do with her anymore, she still cares about her too. They would really be her only reasons for going back, but at this point, she doesnt know the danger they are in (she finds that out in part 2, and thats what keeps her there in her city, as opposed to trying to go back to the humans after leaving)
