#also yes jacob and nashua are actual OCs of mine xD

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okay so i have an idea for a very long story. i figured out how i wanted it to end, so let me know what y’all think. 

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i’m thinking it can be just one part but to really flesh it out, it should probably be four parts [like four separate books]: the beginning, which establishes everything, the first middle part which will probably be shorter but it’ll establish the world after the events of the first part, the second middle part which starts to ramp up the stakes more for the main characters, and then the final part which is where all the events of the previous three parts come together and we get some emotional beats from the characters and badda bing badda boom. 

but the think i’m going to have running through all the parts, starting with the later bits of the first part, is a romance. this is when i need y’alls help. 

Jacob and Nashua meet in the first part. They’re our protagonists. They’re kind of like, not friends, but allies. They come from opposite sides of a war fought between the people and its rulers [Jacob is on the side of the people and Nashua is a prince/commander of some troops and loyal to the crown] but once they meet, Nashua especially starts to question his own role in things. 

But in the first part, the only relationship that’s growing is friendship. I’m thinking this can be like, a slow burn enemies to friends to lovers kind of deal. it’s going to take a lot to write it but oh well. 

So the first book will have Nashua seemingly sacrificing himself for another character’s wellbeing. I’m not going to make that the end of the first book though because I don’t want to end on that cliffhanger lol, but I am thinking it can be the second to last ‘part’ of this book. It’ll take another couple of chapters to realize he’s still okay, which is good! And then i’ll have the first book end with Jacob and Nashua still parting ways but the war is over and Jacob is unsatisfied because he lost people he loved but Nashua basically tells him that this is just the new normal, and that they have to make sacrifices for freedom, etc etc. 

The second book will be a little shorter I think because it’s really just going to exist to establish a world post-first book war. Jacob is going to be struggling, Nashua isn’t going to be around as much, even though he and Jacob are friends, and Nashua is going to be insistent that he has to now take on a rising force inside the kingdom trying to seize power. Jacob will try to ask how he can help but will get rebuffed. It’s Nashua’s fight, not Jacob’s. 

By the midpoint of the book you learn that Nashua is getting into some nasty shit in order to take down this threat and by the midpoint, Jacob is trying to convince Nashua to not go down that path which now includes some dark magic bullshit, but Nashua is so caught up in the desire to take down this rise in power by this other character, and he enjoyed the small rewards from the magic he’s already tried, that he doesn’t listen. 

Because he doesn’t listen, he winds up unleashing a powerful, evil force into their world. Nashua also dies, and Jacob spends the second half of the book upset about it and struggling to contain the force that Nashua unleashed. 

But by the end of the book, Nashua is back — however now he and Jacob are going to be blown to the shadow world in which the evil forces came from. That’s how the book ends, and we don’t know now if ANY of them are alive. 

The third book will contain the after effects of book 2 wihle still playing off of the turmoil of book 1. Jacob comes back without Nashua and is struggling because of it but wont’ tell anyone really what happened in the shadow world in full detail. Finally we learn that Nashua was still stuck in the shadow world because he is punishing himself for the damage he caused in their own world. He doesn’t want to face it, he doesn’t want to keep on living his life like he didn’t just cause a lot of damage. But Nashua does eventually come back but it’s for a sinister reason. Magic folk who are mad at him are trying to brainwash him. 

The whole third book won’t be as long as the first book but it’ll still esablish a lot: The first part will be a development of Nashua and Jacob’s realationship. The second and third parts of the book will highlight Jacob’s own fall from grace in the desire to save those he loves but in turn it really screws him up and Nashua is helpless to stop it. The fourth part of the book will introduce an antagonist who is misunderstood herself, but will also serve to highlight Nashua and Jacob’s relationship even more, specifically the pining portion of it. 

And finally the third book will end happy, actually. The antagonist turned out not to be so bad after all, no one dies, Nashua and Jacob are still on the ground together, etc etc. 

The final book will be an emotional one as we lead up to the end. Nashua is going to die again, this time seemingly for real. I’m going to have the first several chapters again devoted to Jacob’s reaction which is going to be more intense than before now that they’ve gone through all these events together and it’s going to be clear now that friendship is not just friendship but there’s something else blooming as well [romance]. 

Nashua eventually comes back but before he does, I’m going to establish this other shadow world in which he was held. It is more like a spirit world. And it’s scary as hell. 

The book will continue on with some things, I haven’t quite landed on it exactly but I”m going to have Jacob put in a scary position again as he tries to save everyone, and I’m going to introduce a character that also helps highlight Nashua’s emotional journey from soulless prince, devoutee to the crown, to where he is now. The character will be the child of someone Nashua met up with in book four. He promised he’d take care of the child, so he does. Jacob doesn’t like the child as much because he views the kid as the reason for Nashua’s most recent death, which was traumatizing. 

But they all work it out. 

However, when the kid [I haven’t named them yet idk a name???] falls ill and dies, Nashua pulls out the stops to try and get him back and make him okay. 

But, by doing that, he makes a secret deal with the spirit world that Jacob, nor really anyone but the child, knows about. 

After that, we finally learn of our real villain who is THEE king, THEE person who has been calling the shots. It was the character we were introduced to in the first book, the one that Nashua first sacrifices himself for and the one we thought would be an ally. 

He had shown up again in book three, and we get the indication that he was not just a random village resident, but he still isn’t sinister. Now we learn that he’s actually been calling the shots the entire time and has had a finger in almost every aspect of their lives. 

Jacob is sent into a tail spin mentally about what parts of his life were meddled with and which parts were authentic. Nashua is determined to keep headstrong and figure out how to stop The Bad Guy. I’ll even have Nashua tell Jacob that both of them together are “real” which will imply that if they are together in a chapter, then the events taking place are likely events not being meddled with. 

By the end of book four, their relationship together is very obvious. It’s way more than just friendship, but they still haven’t said Those Words Yet TM. 

However, as they’re running up to the final battle, Nashua and Jacob get pinned down by an adversary. I haven’t decided what character I want this to be, probably a neutral one that’s maybe been influenced by the true bad guy, but I haven’t decided. But in any case, I want them to be virtually unkillable. 

Because now I want to envoke that deal that Nashua made with the spirit world. Only the spirit world would be able to take down this adversary, and if the adversary isn’t taken down, then Jacob is likely going to die, but Jacob has to stick around until the end. 

So instead, I’m going to have Nashua finally activate the terms of his deal in order to sacrifice himself to take down the adversary. It sounds like a boring ‘we’ve already done this’ scene but I’m going to make it really beautiful. 

Like, straight up I’m going to have Nashua sing Jacob’s praises, tell Jacob how amazing he is, how good he is deep down and how Jacob helped Nashua change, and how Nashua learned so much, and that Jacob isn’t just a fighter for the people but really a good person and a loving person. It’s going to be a long speech, but I think it’s worth it. 

I’m going to have it encompass their journey together over the last three [althought at this point since we’re near the end, four] books and it’s going to be VERY impactful. The spirit world is coming, and the deal that’s been hanging over Nashua’s head and indeed the readers’ head will finally be acted on. 

Nashua is going to the spirit world, that’s always been in the cards. You will understand that he is going to the spirit world and there’s no coming back from that. This will really feel like THEE final death for Nashua, and it’ll be sad, but it’ll also be emotionally satisfying because I’m going to have it so you feel like Nashua has been wanting to say all this for a long time now, like a very long time, but never could. 

Like this scene has the emotional impact and weight as only a multi-book slowburn romance could have. 

Nashua says I Love You because his knowledge of Jacob knowing he’s loved and that he is loving in return is enough for Nashua to find some kind of peace and enact the spirit world deal. 

Jacob is just too stunned to speak, he doesn’t know what to do if he should tackle Nashua to stop the spirit world from coming or shut him up so the spirit world doesn’t come or what — but since we know Jacob feels the same way, we aren’t shocked when instead what comes out of his mouth is ‘don’t do this’ because this isn’t how he wanted this to happen. We know he feels the same way, and them talking about it shouldn’t have been here, but at a moment of peace where they could finally open up to each other. 

But instead, Jacob doesn’t get a chance to say I Love You back [sorry, I know that’s frustrating] and Nashua is taken with a smile on his face. We’re going to end that chapter with Jacob on the floor, crying his eyes out, alone. 

Okay, now, here’s the final two chapters — I hope you’re still with me here:

Jacob picks himself up and finds that kid that’s been palling around with them since he’s integrel to the defeat of The Bad Guy TM. Jacob also finds his sibling who also has skin in the game, and some other powerful creatures. 

I’m not going to have Jacob really focus on the emotional weight of Nashua’s sacrifice though because I have too much story to wrap up and at this point, it’s not about their relationship anymore, right? So yeah, they all team up, they are betrayed by some magic person who turns out to be working for The Big Bad, but no big deal it’s fine. I’m going to have Jacob say something like “That’s not who I am” when the Bad Guy expects Jacob to kill him like Jacob has killed before — and I think that’ll be enough acknowledgement to the previous chapter. The chapter ends with the bad guy defeated, and the kid who now has the bad guy’s powers is just gonna peace out because I don’t need to care about him anymore. 

Also I have decided by this point, after one scene in the chapter where Jacob thinks Nashua is back, and says his name, that that moment will be the last time Jacob acknowledges Nashua. It’s just too annoying to have to keep talking about it, right?

So anyway. The final chapter! Or I guess this is just the epilogue? I haven’t decided yet. 

Jacob and his sibling kind of go back to how they had been doing things. No acknowledgement about the people they’ve lost, really no acknowledgement about Nashua. Jacob’s sibling says Nashua’s name once but grouped together with others, kind of like an after thought. 

Jacob gets wounded very badly and winds up at the castle. He now has to stay there. I’m not going to give an explanation as to why, but he just has to stay there. He doesn’t really do anything, but he sees some old friends, which I guess is nice. It’s a different life than the one he just left, but that’s okay. He’s just gonna loaf around. He’s deserved it! He’s deserved some chill time with some old friends that have been taken in by the crown as well and who also seems to have fun there. It’s also more realistic. 

Also, guess who is there as well??? NASHUA! Nashua has been in the castle the entire time! 

I dont’ think i’m going to explain how in the course of one chapter he goes from the spirit world to the castle. He’s just going to be there. I know there’s not a lot of time between his big speech and his scene where he leaves, his sacrifice, but that’s okay. He’s there! 

I thought about including a few chapters of Jacob trying to figure out how to get Nashua out of the spirit world but I figured it’s easier if Nashua just shows up. Less writing for me to do, and by now I would have done a lot of the writing, and I imagine my editor would just like to have an ending and be done with it. 

Nashua is back at the castle! The castle in which tortured him and brainwashed him and was the source of a lot of his grief, even the place he’s fought against a few times by now with Jacob and his friends and family, but it’s okay because he’s helping to change the Castle’s culture. I don’t know how he’s doing it, but it’s implied. He just does it. Or maybe I’ll imply that he did it with the kid who wound up getting into power, but I’m not gonna show the kid either. 

But he’s back! He’s back! It only took a chapter, and we don’t know how he’s back, but he’s back. No explanation, no reasoning, no chapters highlighting how he got out, he’s just out. 

I know his final scene was emotional and implied he was going to the spirit world for good but HA subvert those expectations! Bam! And since both Nashua and Jacob are there together, to call back to the “we are” (real) moment between them, that means that this setting indeed is real! Everything here is now real and not being meddled with. 

And they lived happily ever after in this Castle, no questions asked. 

.........

and this is why i don’t lke the concept of cas being in heaven in 1520.