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Hiya, I need a little help here. I've sorted out my sides, I have a beginning, I have an ending, and I have character motivations. I have one, itty bitty little problem though. That's getting my characters to go to a decent, all out war. So far I know this:

Aislin (Queen of the Gods) she's trying to defend everything she knew before it changed. Aislin hates change, so she doesn't particularly like magic. But Kora has to somehow make her change her mind, and I haven't a plan for that yet. For the war, Aislin needs to be on the side of magic, and of good.Kora also needs to do some recruiting, and build an army. I have no solid plans for this yet.

Thanos Is the Lord of the Dead. He wants Aislin's throne and will do anything to get it. He's fierce, evil, and a bit like Hades. The difference is that Thanos is actually evil.

Mecca Is the Trickster God. He's the one putting the cards in place, he's also the one who gave my MC the idea to break into the Gods Palace and become a god. He's convinced my MC that his girlfriend is dead, so he joins Mecca's side and will help place Mecca on the throne.

Also, I need to get the elemental gods, there are four of them, out of the way. Mecca has successfully done this with three of the gods, but the forth manages to escape. It's seen in the prologue, and he's not actually introduced by name so we can side with him in the beginning of my novel. But I have motivations planned, see. I just don't have the "How" sorted out in the actual "getting there" bit. I have portions in my mind that play out perfectly, the rest? They don't make much sense. As far as I get is the actual recruitment of two prominent soldiers in Kora's army, but I don't know how to progress from there to an actual army, and an actual war.

Also, we have the humans. I haven't figured out what to do with them yet. I only know they fear magic, and the scene we open with shows Kora going to the gallows in a Salem Witch hunt type thing. But I don't know whether to ally them with Kora, or to ally them with Thanos. Thanos is a possibility, but I can imagine Mecca convincing them to join his side as well. I have no idea what to do with the humans, or how to progress it properly to war.

Any tips?

I know humans can go to war over the stupidest things: Troy, for example, was one of the stupidest things TO go to war for. But there are other parts of Troy that I have directly borrowed. I've borrowed both Achilles and Odysseus and styled them as different characters, and am considering following their mythologies as well. I've borrowed plenty of things from Troy, and am at the stage where nothing else from that book would work unless I modify it to the point where it's unrecognisable and nothing to do with the original story line at all. What I'd actually like to see is some Norse mythology and their idea of war, and even Egyptian so I can add it into my book. This is mythological fantasy, rather than medieval at its best.

I'm still trying to work out how to get to war, and sort my characters out of their current mess! Kora's furious with Aislin because she thinks that Aislin set up the monster attack, when it was actually Mecca. Getting them to work together for the upcoming war will be next to impossible!

Also, I have to make sure my MC is blinded to any evil that Mecca might commit, so he follows Mecca blindly into war regardless of the evidence that Kora might be alive. At the moment, I'm considering labelling them as two different characters, and having the MC refer to her as a nick name, but I'm not sure how that's going to work. I need thoughts on how I can disguise the character - Kora - as someone other than the MC's girlfriend and still let the reader believe she is being fooled, also have the reader believe that my MC is on the right side.

I know this is getting a bit long, but I'm unloading. I'm up to the point where I'm stuck and have no idea where to go with my idea. I know it's novel worthy, and have expressed that it's multiple point of views, but I've also got to show Mecca and my MC doing evil things, and still keep the reader believing that it's for the greater good! I also need to show Thanos as the ultimate evil all the way through the book, and I've no idea how to do that, either.

Aaargh!

I'm so confused, I really need help on this idea!

You know, that part about trying to make a character seem like two different people is something I have trouble with myself. One of my own characters, Samhain, is like that. He's Raven, a special sort of general and something of a holy man, but he's also "hiding behind the lines" as Samhain, Raven's right hand and spy. I want the reader to actually see them as two entities, but it's a bit hard considering my MC knows they're the same person thanks to her Sight. I'm trying to make it work by putting both entities together in the same scene (illusions, people; Samhain does it fairly often to keep people from suspecting), keeping them seperate through personality and/or behaviour, and making sure my MC talks about him as both as little as possible. I have no idea if it will work, though.

Now, for your situation. Giving Kora a nickname could work, though what I have no idea. Mixing that with keeping her own past and connection to the MC rather murky and vague might work. I think. Or she might have changed her name herself for some reason or other, so the MC knows her as Kora while everybody else knows her as this other person named Whatever.

Or you can brainwash her. That would also solve the "Why would she join someone she friggin' loathes?" problem. Although that might be a bit typical...

"The end justifies the means," somehow comes to mind here. Make it seem like MC & Co is fighting for a better world or something just as cheesy, and the only problem people will have is with how cliché that is and if they have a moral codex that doesn't support aforementioned ideal.

That last part there was mostly my feeble attempt at being funny. My mind decided to shut down, probably because it's past midnight here and I really need some sleep.

No idea if this actually helped (maybe you've even solved it yourself already). I hope it did, at least a little. Making the wheels turn is good for the brain anyhow. Probably...