The God Jars Saga Triggers
Fated
- Anxiety and Panic Attacks—Kerac suffers intense anxiety and a few panic attacks.
- Bullying—Several Aesriphos Aspirants bully Kerac for his anxiety. (Some think it'll toughen him up.) The bullies eventually understand they're being assholes instead of helpful, apologize, and spend time trying to make up for it and learning how to help Kerac in the future.
- Emesis—I think there's vomiting in this book, but it is not graphic, nor is it focused on too heavily other than the post-sick comforting.
- Mild Ableism—They don't realize they're being ableist, but their actions are definitely ableist. See the Bullying spoiler.
- Violence—Training, but it can get intense.
Saviors
- Abject Violence—Valis kills two bandits, and it's bloody and gory.
- Anxiety—Due to his father's abuse, Valis has anxiety throughout the series. He's slowly able to work through it and become functional.
- Depression—Valis shows signs of depression due to, well, his father being a dick all his life, like just about everything else in this list up to now. This slowly morphs throughout the series.
- (NOT) Grooming—Some say it appears that Kerac and Darolen are grooming Valis to be a sexual partner, but this is not the case. Please remember that this is not Earth; it is not our culture, nor is it our morals or laws. Valis watches Kerac and Darolen have sex because, at first, he thinks the moans from their tent are from Darolen hurting Kerac, but he stays to watch because it's beautiful and he's a curious young man (and a virgin). It eventually leads to Valis getting horny and taking matters into his own hands in his tent alone, followed by Kerac coming in and giving a gentle sex-ed lecture. I have had a few people think this means there are MMM elements, but there are not. The only romance here is Kerac and Darolen's love for each other, and their growing paternal love for Valis is not sexual or sexualized.
- Incestuous Longing—Valis's paternal uncle has tried grooming Valis from a young age but failed. When Valis encounters and bonds with Kerac and Darolen, his uncle tries his best to get him back to use as a magical battery and a sex slave. There is no incest. Asshole uncle just wishes there was. Uncle gropes Valis once if I remember correctly. I'm writing these content warnings from memory.
- Pedophilia—Valis's uncle has been lusting after Valis since he was young, mainly because he hates his younger brother having things (like a son) that he does not. It's only discussed or mentioned.
- PTSD—Valis has PTSD from growing up with a physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive father who took great pleasure in causing Valis various forms of agony. This stays with him for the most part throughout the series.
- Religion—This series has a religious system (not one in our real-life world) with a god/gods who are real, and show himself/themselves to Valis.
- Self-Harm—Valis is so broken from protecting himself and killing the bandits that he goes a bit insane. It culminates in him punching trees and roughly masturbating, trying his best to make it hurt for no other reason than to punish himself. Social and Generalized Anxiety—Valis is anxious of almost everything, much like a frightened rabbit, because his father was so evil. This continues throughout the series in varying degrees and manifesting in different ways, even as he learns to work past it.
Avristin
- Abuse—Valis gets arrested because of Tavros throwing a fear-fueled tantrum and calling the guards due to Valis's Mark of Qos. Valis ends up in prison with his father and two other inmates. His father forces him to fight the inmates, and Valis murders them to save himself. His father then abuses him, traumatizing him, until Valis snaps, knocks Daddy Dearest out cold, and tries to scratch off his sire's Mark of Qos.
- Bullying—Tavros bullies the fuck out of Valis because he's terrified of Valis's Mark of Qos (tattooed behind his left ear in infancy by his abusive birth father) and later because of his black-laced magic. He thinks the magic is evil, therefore making the person wielding it evil. This persists through until late in Possessed.
- Violence—Some fights occur beyond the jail scene. They're not bad, but they're there.
- Trauma—From here on out, throughout the series, Valis works through his trauma to become who he is meant to be. Like in real life, it is a long and sometimes lifelong endeavor.
- Semi-Attempted Rape / Dub-Con— Aryn doesn't realize that's what he's doing, but he tries to get Valis to have sex with Valis twice (I think), and Valis rebuffs him those two times, but Aryn tries to press the issue. It's hormones, as he's just coming into puberty (he's of age, just a slow-aging mage), and Valis is kind in his rejection. Aryn is horrified that what he did was attempted rape and sincerely apologizes. It should be noted that once, Aryn tried to initiate sex while Valis was sleeping, hence the one
- War—Mentions throughout the series, and then battles in some later books.
Possessed
- Bullying—Tavros is getting better because he got his hands figuratively smacked by his superiors, but he still bullies Valis a bit. In this book, he finally gets over himself. It's late in the book, though.
- Violence—The bullying ends up with Valis and Tavros dueling MMA style. It culminates in them knocking each other out.
- Violence 2.0—Valis and Tavros beat the dogshit out of some mercenaries. They also kill some, if I remember correctly. It leads to a talk about Tavros never killing someone and Valis helping him learn how to deal with taking lives.
- Semi-Dub-Con—It's not actually dubcon so much as they sleep-fondle while recovering in the same bed, and Tavros is completely asleep and dreaming, and gropes Valis. Valis desperately wants it but wants to keep his "purity" for Ezhav (the equivalent of a matrimonial soulbond), so he gently rebuffs Tavros. Tavros finally wakes up, and there's a discussion. When Valis tells him no, Tavros stops and goes to take a cold bath. He's respectful in a gruff, sleepy way and is kind once he's dealt with his horniness.
Support
- Violence—There are several areas where Valis and friends murder mercenaries and evil shits. It's gory.
- Violence 2.0—In a battle in a town, there's gory, intense death all over the place.
- Intense Loss and Death— In a training session, Tavros gets a training sword to the throat that kills him. He's revived, don't worry, but the scene is intense.
- Animal Death—Valis's horse is injured in battle and dies of his injuries.
- Intense Loss 2.0—In a village scene after a battle, Valis finds a man holding his dead and decayed family, and it's rough. Very emotional.
- Suicide Ideations—That man with the decayed wife and daughter wants to kill himself and tries by trying to throw himself onto their pyre. Valis saves him and gently, kindly convinces him not to do it.
- Bullying—The Kalutakeni warriors bully the Mercenaries because they killed many of their brethren. Valis helps ease tensions, and it gets worked out.
- Glimpses of Torture Aftermath—Valis gets visions of someone sitting in their own filth after being tortured. It may trigger gag reflexes.
- Decapitation—An enemy or several gets divorced from their heads on the battlefield.
Mentor
- Bullying—Hoo, boy. I didn't realize this was a recurring theme. Sorry about that. Two Aesriphos bully the shit out of Valis, calling him evil and such things, and on a couple of occasions, outright try to kill him. But, of course, they end up friends in the end. If you want to know more, hit me up. I want to keep spoilers to a minimum.
- Violence—Lots of fights where Valis and those Aesriphos butt heads and sling magic.
- Attempted Mobbing—Those two Aesriphos dicks try to get Valis's students to turn against them. They also try to get those students to complain to the Patron Priest to get Valis in chains.
- Child Abuse—Yep. Those two are at it again. They knock out and kidnap a child (about 8 in mundane human years) to use as bait to get Valis alone to try and capture him for nefarious purposes. They also bonk her on the head in front of Valis and threaten to slit her throat.
- PTSD—Several books deal with PTSD, but this one is one of the worst. They call it War Trauma. It doesn't go in-depth since it's experienced by side characters/enemies, but you see its effects on them and those around them.
Betrayal
- Bullying—Aryn bullies Valis and Tavros behind the scenes.
- Bullying 2.0—Tavros bullies Valis because he thinks Valis is calling the wedding off, but it's because he's going insane, himself.
- Gaslighting—Aryn gaslights Valis and Tavros about what they are seeing and experiencing. Tavros also gaslights Valis about what they're seeing and experiencing.
- Mental Health Issues— Aryn's so depressed and jealous that he's become deranged, and it lets the darkness in, tainting him with black magic, which sends him further into madness.
- Mental Health Issues 2.0—The turmoil from gaslighting and bullying sends Valis into a spiral. It causes severe and harmful rumination for him. "Nobody loves you" and other such nonsense goes around and around in his head until he starts believing it—that kind of thing.
- Violence / Attempted Fratricide—Aryn tries to kill his brother, Tavros.
- Abandonment—Valis feels like Tavros has abandoned him during their ordeals.
Marshal
- Violence—Valis and Tavros must battle against the two Grand Master Aesriphos and win to be allowed to form an army and find and rescue his father from captivity. There's also violence in their training.
- Gaslighting—Brother Bachris is rather mean and adamant that Valis and his army will not go on their mission to rescue Darolen, and gaslights a bit to try and win the ongoing argument.
- Mentions of Torture, Torture Aftermath, and Torture Recovery—Kerac has escaped captivity and arrived at the monastery almost dead. It takes a lot to get him somewhat stable. But his mind is as broken as his body from emotional and physical torture. Torture isn't shown, but it is mentioned and discussed.
Anchors
- Violence—There are several gory battles, especially the ones in the Anchor's home(s).
- Personal Injury and Sickness— Tavros nearly dies because he's thrown from his horse and breaks a leg, getting soaked in icy slush in the middle of a blizzard. He almost dies from pneumonia.
- Violence—There are a few battles. If I remember, they're rather intense. The violence will amp up with the following two books.
Incursion
- Child In Danger—Aenali refuses to stay home and ends up helping in the final battles. She's rather badass. But she does not come to harm. She's just in danger of it.
- Violence—Several battles. The final few at the enemy monastery are the most intense. They're gory. One is rather dizzying and intense, with Valis flitting all around the battlefield murdering evil shits.
- Violence 2.0—Exploding enemies...