Post by James Florian on Nov 5, 2015 2:16:47 GMT
Okay so for a while now I've been telling you guys that I was writing a future short story about what happens to Louis after he leaves SH and finds himself in the midst of World War II. As I've said before the whole idea would be that he would be drafted and deployed to the Pacific where as a soldier he learns what it's like to truly is like to finally belong without the stigma of being biracial or a villain separating him from the others. The ending is still up in the air (because I love your suggestions, but I'm currently battling whether or not it would be realistic or not.)
Anyway what you guys don't know is that for a while I've been thinking about how James's life outside of SH would play out as well, but it's been a bit harder since you know James is clearly my favorite character so I knew whatever I decided had to be special, it had to be memorable... and this is where the irony kicks in because the inspiration that finally made all the pieces fall into place that it exists almost nowhere on the internet and I found it in an obscure history book hidden away on a bookstore shelf.
Basically the last few days of James's life is going to mirror the siege of Carcassonne in 1209. For those of you who do not know what this is (I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only one) Pope Innocent III (?) ordered a crusade against a religious group known as the Cathars who were basically baby protestants to put it simply. Well this crusade led to two very distinct sieges of cities who refused to give up this religion group in France; Beziers and Carcassonne. Beziers was the first city to be attacked and when the siege was over the entire city was burnt to the ground and completely destroyed. This posed a problem for the crusaders since they had planned to take all the gold from the destroyed cities to fill their own pockets and the churches. Faced with the proposition of a rebelling army, the leaders decided that Beziers was not enough and instead focused their sights on Carcassonne which was lead by the Vistcount Raymond Roger III de Trencavel who had openly defied the pope on his decision to commit genocide.
Raymond was a fighter and a braveheart so instead of rolling over and playing dead, he and the people of Carcassonne prepared for the siege by stockpiling food, relocating those outside the city walls and training every able bodied man in the city to learn how to fight. When the pope's army came, they held out for a few weeks, until the enemy gained control of the well. Faced with the threat of thousands of people dying, Raymond made a selfless and almost unheard of deal in Medieval history. He traded his life for the lives of those living in his city.
Under the promise of peace, the people of Carcassonne were able to leave with only the clothes on their backs and once they were gone Raymond was brought back to his castle by the enemy and chained to the dungeon walls where he died thirteen weeks after the siege. This is how I envisioned James dying, trading his life for those he had always cared about since he would probably be the one to anger the pope.
Now clearly everything is not set in stone, but the idea for the system of events comes directly from what James --or Grove-- has already said in regards to their home. Kings die from sickness or sieges, James would have to eventually get married to pass on the dynasty, only death could separate Jove, and (soon to come once I finish editing) James is going to promise to make sure that everyone back home has access to some form of education. From what I imagined happening was a step by step sequence of events all starting here at Seacombe with James and Grove finally getting their schizz together and realize that they love each other. From there I imagine that James's father Florian somehow learns of the relationship (aka they screw up) and calls James back home to quickly and quietly marry him off to some blushing bride in order to "cure" his son of the sin that same-sex relationships were regarded as. Well this would be the first domino since humans love to gossip so I could see word somehow spreading of the fact the prince kissed a dude which would send up red flags in the minds of all the religious folk around the kingdom.
Then for a few years or so things would be mellow. (I would also like to assume that during that time at the very least a son would be born, fulfilling James's main purpose in life according to tradition besides just becoming king.) Everything is also peaceful and the rumors start to fade until suddenly, or not so suddenly, the king dies leaving James in charge of everything the light touches and suddenly the rumors crop again like crazy. However at the time they are temporarily quelled by the scandal James would release by proclaiming that all children are required how to learn to read and write. The only problem with this would be the fact that the only books around at the time was the bible, and reading the bible on your own would be a big no-no. However James doesn't care, he only believes what he's doing is right. This on it's own would anger the pope if he caught word of it, but much wouldn't be done until James makes the mistake of opening his city gates for those being persecuted for their religious choices. This would launch either another war or a crusade, depending on the players at the time.
From there what I imagine would happen would be an exact mirror of Raymond and Carcassonnes with the city surviving a siege for a while, but once things get truly dire James would trade his life for the one he cares about and he too would be brought back to his own dungeons to wither away.
However this is also where things get a little vague, although the realistic thing would be that he dies there, I could also see Grove finding a way to rescue his friend since he has stated he does know the castle almost as well as James does, but I'm not too entirely sure of this. What I do know for sure with James/Grove for sure though would be to protect his wife and children deep in the forest along with maybe Grove's family --if he has one-- or maybe even Jove babies. Who knows. Also I see this all happening fairly soon after James graduates so I want to say that if Jove left their homelands in 1227, then James would die in 1236. I know it seems like a short time, but in reality nine years is a long time. Maybe also the timeline in regards to this could be different, but I know it will happen when he's a young king.
So that's how I think James will die. The moral of this story is, don't set Jordan loose in a bookstore.
She will find all the feels and depressing character deaths.
From there what I imagine would happen would be an exact mirror of Raymond and Carcassonnes with the city surviving a siege for a while, but once things get truly dire James would trade his life for the one he cares about and he too would be brought back to his own dungeons to wither away.
However this is also where things get a little vague, although the realistic thing would be that he dies there, I could also see Grove finding a way to rescue his friend since he has stated he does know the castle almost as well as James does, but I'm not too entirely sure of this. What I do know for sure with James/Grove for sure though would be to protect his wife and children deep in the forest along with maybe Grove's family --if he has one-- or maybe even Jove babies. Who knows. Also I see this all happening fairly soon after James graduates so I want to say that if Jove left their homelands in 1227, then James would die in 1236. I know it seems like a short time, but in reality nine years is a long time. Maybe also the timeline in regards to this could be different, but I know it will happen when he's a young king.
So that's how I think James will die. The moral of this story is, don't set Jordan loose in a bookstore.
She will find all the feels and depressing character deaths.