Fourth Wall and Catalysts

While I'm still struggling to get a living novel up and moving on Tumblr (ammutterings.tumblr.com), I have been attempting to ask a lot of questions and teach a little bit of literary theory.  Most recently, I've been talking about the Fourth Wall and Catalysts.  But, since I have only one follower on Tumblr, and perhaps a few here, why not  toss some of my questions out here to those who take a gander from time to time.

Catalysts are things in the plot that kick the conflict into high gear.  So out of the great myriad of catalysts that I can choose from, I need to select one that would reveal a character's nature as something greater than all others, or someone possibly threatening.

What would be a few great ideas for a catalyst to pique a female character's abilities?

The Fourth Wall is the idea that between the reader and the characters there's an invisible veil.  I was thinking that bringing the audience in to help decide the novel's path would be a good way to break that fourth wall.  However, upon thinking about it, that's not the case.  There's still a barrier up.

So...how could I break that fourth wall truly?

shamelessly grabbed from: http://iaanhughes.com/2010/06/03/breaking-glass/