#had two graphic suicides in the first chapter then had child r*pe in it like graphically

[shimp-heaven]

[terramythos]

TerraMythos 2021 Reading Challenge - Book 27 of 26

Title: Jade War (The Green Bone Saga #2) (2019)

Author: Fonda Lee

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Female Protagonist, LGBT Protagonist, First-Person (briefly), Third-Person 

Rating: 10/10 

Date Began: 10/14/2021

Date Finished: 10/26/2021

Having barely escaped destruction at the hands of the Mountain clan, the No Peak clan seeks to strengthen its position locally and abroad. As war breaks out beyond Kekon’s shores, international attention turns to the small island nation and its valuable magic jade supply. Jade can enhance one’s physical abilities when worn, making it a coveted weapon of war. No Peak, led by the powerful and canny Kaul siblings, must strike risky alliances and combat unexpected enemies to secure the clan’s future on the world stage. But the Kauls will also have to grapple with themselves and how far they’re willing to go to protect family, clan, and country. 

“You have to go where your enemies are,” Hilo said. “And then further.” 

Content warnings and spoilers below the cut.

Content warnings for the book: Depicted — Death, animal abuse/death, graphic violence, graphic sexual content, drug use/addiction/withdrawal/overdosing, racism, domestic abuse, suicide/suicidal ideation, sexism, torture, terrorism, self-harm. Mentioned — Colonialism, p*dophilia, r*pe, child abuse, warfare, homophobia.

Jade War is everything a good sequel should be. The stakes are higher, the scope is broader, the political machinations are more intricate and intense, and characterization both improves and continues to impress. While I enjoyed Jade City a lot, Jade War is a huge step up. Assuming Jade Legacy sticks the landing (which I fully expect it to), I can say that The Green Bone Saga is one of the most criminally underrated fantasy series of the last few years.

Full disclosure — I initially struggled with this book. The first third or so is definitely a slow burn. Lee introduces a lot of different plot threads that, seemingly, have little connection to one another. Hilo meets with a jade smuggler to negotiate a hostage situation. Anden gets effectively exiled to Espenia and struggles to adapt in a strange, foreign county. Shae meets up with her secret boyfriend and ruminates on her role in the clan vs her personal desires. Stuff like that. I found it a little difficult to connect with everything. But all that setup pays off big time— and several threads from Jade City come back as well. Small details and minor characters return in interesting ways that play with one’s expectations. When everything comes together in the  final act, it’s simultaneously satisfying and harrowing.

While Jade City focused on Janloon and the clan war between the Mountain and No Peak, Jade War elevates things to the world stage. Jade, found only on Kekon, enhances the martial abilities of people who wear it. It’s captured international attention as a potential weapon. When conflict erupts in nearby countries, Kekon finds itself caught in the middle as allies and enemies alike seek to procure jade by any means necessary. Add that to a longer timeline and the strained, tenuous peace between the two Green Bone clans, and you end up with a layered political conflict.

And boy does political intrigue take center stage in this novel. The last book had its fair share of politics, negotiations, and backstabbing. But like everything else, it’s on a whole new level here. Everyone’s playing the long game, and many chapters read as intense, manipulative chess matches. Though they’re fun to read, these stretches would lure me into a false sense of security. Then Lee would just gleefully blindside me with a shocking twist or development. There’s always a sense of tension reading Jade War, because one never knows when the shoe is going to drop.

The title is almost a misnomer, because the so-called “jade war” happens elsewhere in a foreign country. We never see it directly. The war we do see is fought in nontraditional battlefields— boardrooms, clandestine meetings, homes, etc. I’m almost—ALMOST— disappointed that Lee’s excellent fight scenes are less prevalent in this book. But honestly, I think this just enhances the ones we do get. In particular, there’s an intense fight about halfway through the novel, and it’s probably the best one so far. I’m avoiding spoilers, but it’s just stupidly good. Again, Lee writes action better than almost anyone I’ve encountered. Her descriptions and choreography are vivid and cinematic.

Characterization is on-point, both improving what I liked and addressing my criticisms from Jade City. Specifically, the Maik siblings get a lot of development, something I felt was lacking in the last book. I got a clear sense of Maik Kehn and Maik Tar as individuals rather than interchangeable background characters. Maik Wen gets lots of attention and a few perspective chapters. She ends up being the most important character outside of the main leads.

Anden also feels way more impactful as a character. My struggle last book was that he didn’t do much and felt a little wasted. But now that he’s a fish out of water and has to develop as a person outside of clan expectations, he matures quite a bit. His chapters add a lot of context about the world outside of Kekon, and I like how even Espenia has an unofficial clan structure among the Kekonese diaspora. He also has the most optimistic ending, which is a far cry from last book. His chapters seem almost at odds with the rest of the story, but, like everything else in the book, it all comes together in the end. It’s hard to pick a fave out of the three leads, but Anden comes closest.

But most of all, I love that Jade War explores and expands on the morally gray nature of the characters. Jade City touches on this a bit; often our heroes do questionable things out of necessity with an ends justify the means attitude. After all, Ayt Mada and the Mountain are cutthroat and willing to do whatever they can to undermine No Peak. Why shouldn’t No Peak do the same? The kid gloves come off in Jade War, however. The climax of the first act solidifies this— I won’t spoil it, but it’s a total shock that haunted me for the rest of the book.

The morally gray, violent nature of the story is often juxtaposed with the core theme of family. There are several kid characters who are obviously set up to be the next generation of Kauls. Hilo, despite his brutal nature in much of the book, takes to fatherhood with love and enthusiasm. He’s shown to be a compassionate and caring father figure, something he never had himself. But then you have one chapter where Hilo dispassionately buries a man alive to suffer a slow, agonizing death in jade withdrawal… then goes home and has a cute, meaningful scene with one of his kids. It’s horrifying, and there’s lots of examples of this throughout the book. The takeaway is that the two sides of clan life are intertwined… something the conclusion (especially Shae’s speech) drives home.

One last detail I enjoyed is that Hilo and Shae experience a reversal. Hilo, normally portrayed as the headstrong warrior archetype, shows his more duplicitous and politically cunning side. Meanwhile, Shae becomes more impulsive; she’s the one who jumps into a secret relationship and picks the most notable fight in the book. This is the opposite of their dynamic in the last book, yet it’s still perfectly in character based on their backstories. In Jade City, we learned the two siblings basically hated each other as kids, and even now they butt heads pretty often. The narrative doesn’t dwell on this much, but it’s interesting that the two are, at their core, pretty similar people.

If I have a criticism it’s that, again, I wish we saw more of the Mountain and its villains. Ayt Mada is such a fascinating antagonist, but outside of a few memorable scenes, we see very little of her directly. Nau Suen is also an unexpected treat (god, that one wham line), but outside of one chapter, he disappears until near the end of the book. As the Mountain and No Peak become more similar, and the line of morality continues to blur, I really want to see more of these characters. They’re not exactly the narrative focus, and I get that, but I think exploring them more could only strengthen the story.

That being said, Jade War was freaking awesome. I’m sad I have to wait a whole month for Jade Legacy to release, but I have high hopes for it. Definitely check this series out; it’s unlike any urban fantasy series I’ve read before, and its roots in martial arts and gangster stories add a lot to the experience. Mind the warnings though, because these books get pretty dark.

[theprodigypenguin]

Writing Commissions {open}

As most of my followers know already, my laptop very recently broke, and I haven't been able to write as frequently or in as much volume as I usually do. 

At the same time I've been going through a rather hard time, and writing is one of my main coping mechanisms, how I leech myself of toxic emotions and relax, do something productive with my anxiety and depression. 

Thanks to my broken laptop, I have not been able to cope productively or in any healthy way at all, which is not good for me, but it has taken a LOT longer than expected to save the money I need to replace my laptop.

So, I made the decision to open writing commissions. I imagine I'd get more luck if I was an artist, but alas, I am not, so here I go shooting my shot. If you're not interested, don't feel bad about ignoring this post. I'll add the information in a "read more", as it will likely be a long post.

Feel free to reblog this if you want, but you are under no obligation to do so.

~~~~~

You can call me Nico (formerly amelia vale). I've been writing regularly for about 10+ years with a small handful of local college writing courses under my belt (I actually won an award in my first creative writing course. It was a college course and I believe I was 13 or 14 at the time (my charter school allowed me to take college classes while still in highschool)). I've also won a few local essay contests in my town, which probably doesn't mean much, but that's my history.

In my time writing I've finished 11+ novels (some of which reached 50 chapters+, and some which are not posted anywhere online yeet), and over 30 one shots, drabbles, and novellas, with a handful of in-progress novels and shorter fanfictions. I've written both fanfiction and original novels of varying genres.

I am by no means an expert in my craft, and while I do dream of publishing professionally some day, I am nowhere near that goal. I'm certainly hyping myself up, but I just wanted to express the experience I have with writing in general to assure possible consumers that I at least 89% know what I'm doing 🙃 I've also already done a few writing commissions in the past, which can be found on my DeviantArt, but you can find more recent examples of my work on Wattpad and Ao3.

Fandoms I've written for: Harry Potter, The Cursed Child, Riordanverse (notably PJO, HoO, and Magnus Chase), OHSHC, Voltron: Legendary Defender, One Piece, Hetalia.

Note that my main focus currently is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Jeddy and Jegulus mostly) but I have some experience writing in the fandoms above, though not all of those fics are posted online, and not all of them are incredibly recent.

I'm comfortable and have experience writing in an assortment of genres and themes, including smutty or sexual themes, incredibly graphic and triggering themes including r@pe, assault, abuse, neglect, torture, self harm, suicide (please note I wrote these themes as a form of therapy, not cuz I'm creepy), fluff, whump, dystopia, post apocalyptic, werewolf, vampire, etc (please ask if you want to know if I've written in a specific genre or theme not listed).

*important: just because an author may write something, does not mean they support that theme. I've written about graphic violence, r@pe, and racism, but I do not in any way support that crap.

Most Recent Examples of my Writing:

Chances || Venom || Broken Doll (rated E, very graphic)

Examples of Smut/Sexually Themed fics:

Say My Name || Chances || Rythmn of the Night (wattpad) || Encantador de Serpientes (wattpad)

Examples of Original Work:

Pigment || What Happens in Vienna || Love at First Crepe

Fanfic Examples:

The Hyacinth Prophecy(PJO) || Road to Ruin(PJO) || Serpentine Curse(PJO/Magnus Chase) || Make Peace(VLD) || Something Just Like This(VLD) || Stupid Deep(HP) || Recovery(HP) 

So if you've gotten through all the above 👆👆👆👆 (it was actually lowkey stressful to write cuz I'm very bad at complimenting myself, A for effort) and still are curious or interested in commissioning, then below are prices, things I will and won't write, payment methods, etc:

Things I won't write: 

incest, pedophilia, graphic depictions of r@pe or any form of sexual assault, marginalization of a race or group I have no personal affiliation with* (I won't write about a black woman enduring racism because I am not a black woman, etc), underage relationships (both characters must be over 19, unless it's a strictly familial fic).

*I will happily write a black character or any other race/minority, but I do not believe I have any right to add in their racial experiences as I have not experienced them for myself, and that would be wildly insensitive of me. I've written about marginalization from a second perspective before, but I had a lot of help from a POC reader while I was writing.

Things I will write:

fluff, smut (within reason plz), whump, romance, familial, Original work, OCs, fanfiction*, pretty much everything else that isn't in the "won't" list. I'm pretty flexible.

*Disclaimer: All characters in any of the fanfiction I write belong to their respective owners, and I claim no rights to them or to their individual stories. I do not own any of the properties, I am simply producing fan works based on or inspired by them.

Prices:

$15 - for fics under 3k

$20 - for anything over 3k words

$30 - $40 - for smut (smut is extra because I don't write it a whole lot, but I CAN write it, and normally smut fics end up much longer than general fics) 

*MUST BE 17+ TO COMMISSION SMUT (if your age isn't already in your bio I have every right to decline the commission. I just don't feel comfortable writing smut for anyone under 17. I know youngins will read it anyway, but this is just a personal pet peeve of mine)

Payment Methods:

You can pay either through Ko-fi or PayPal, whichever you prefer.

Rules:

PLEASE be kind and respectful to me.

Stay in contact with me as MUCH as possible.

I prefer a lot of communication, especially during my writing process, as I want to be sure I get every detail of the fic right for you.

Full payment upfront (this may change later, but currently I would prefer it upfront)

I do not have a time limit on my writing, that kind of thing stresses me out and my writing quality suffers, which commissioners do not deserve. I can however guarantee that I WILL finish your fic.

Please do not increasingly pester or ask me if the fic is finished or how it's going, I promise I will give updates when they are necessary.

The more enthusiasm and details you give regarding the kind of fic you want, the faster I will finish, because I'll probably get just as excited as you. Basically hype me on the theme and I'll be dying to finish.

I need money because I need a new laptop but I still want this to be fun for me, and for whoever commissions me.

I have a right to refuse any commission request without explanation.

This is NOT first come first serve. I will choose the commissions I feel I can do my best on to ensure you get the best quality writing.

Due to the fact I have a fulltime job already, and I can't write that much on my phone or tablet, and the fact I'm saving up to buy a laptop, I will only be taking two commissions at a time, so as not to overload myself and so I can provide a piece of writing to the best of my abilities. When I finish those two commissions, I will reopen these again, until I've saved enough for a laptop. I figure between commissions and work, I could afford one… maybe February if I'm lucky.

After which I will likely shut down commissions (unless something super serious comes up again).

Slots:

#1:

#2:

CONTACT:

You can DM me on Tumblr or email me at amelia.vale.official@gmail.com

If you do not want to commission me, or can't commission me because you are also broke (same bro) then feel free to reblog if you want (you have no obligation to).

If you still want to support me somehow but can't afford that much, you can donate to my Ko-fi. I actually don't drink coffee, I drink tea, so I'll have to change the caption from "buy me a coffee" to something else, but yeah.

Thank you greatly to the people who read this far, even if you don't commission. I appreciate all of my followers and whoever decides to help, as well as people who can't. I know commissions are a luxury, so if you can't afford it, don't feel bad, you don't need to apologize, cuz that makes me feel bad too. It's totally okay.

And for people going through a similar crisis, hang in there. It can only be shit for so long after all.

NOTE: COMMISSIONS DO NOT INCLUDE PROMPTS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN SENT TO ME, so if you have sent in prompts in the past, THEY ARE NOT COMMISSIONS. I asked for writing prompts/requests, so they are no included in this.

[realisticallycynical]

On Bakugou Katsuki, in the Context of My Fics

In the year or so that I've been writing Something Like a Star, I've gotten many (some less polite than others, but many nonetheless) comments about Bakugou and the readers' hope that I do justice to his relationship with Izuku, in the sense that they hope I don't romanticize it.

Let me be upfront about one thing: I love Bakugou, but I never have and never will excuse his actions towards Izuku. They were deplorable at best, unforgivable at worst. My fascination with him as a character does not equal my condoning his actions or words as a person.

However. If you are of the opinion that Bakugou cannot grow as a person, or cannot become a hero, let me make one thing abundantly clear: while you are completely entitled to that opinion, my fics, including and especially Something Like a Star, are absolutely not the fics for you.

Here is my interpretation, which is the lens through which I look at Bakugou and Izuku in every one of my works regarding the two of them. This isn't everyone's, and that's fine. But this is the way in which I portray them and will continue to portray them. What it is not is a) me defending Bakugou’s actions, or b) an invitation for quote-unquote debate (read: discourse) in the notes or my inbox.

Warning: Very Long Post Ahead. TL;DR at the end, trigger warnings for brief mentions of bullying, suicide baiting, abuse, and r*pe (no graphic detail but be safe)

Izuku's relationship with Bakugou is a deceptively complex one. To us as readers/viewers, it should be very simple: Bakugou is a bully (he is not an abuser; the difference is a subtle and intensely important one that I'll go into more detail on later) and Izuku is, in no uncertain terms, a victim.

The complexity lies here: Izuku doesn't have a singular, isolated feeling about Bakugou. Nor should he, considering how long the two have known each other. A story told from Izuku's perspective will always be one with an unreliable narrator, portraying his hatred of, respect for, fear of, and admiration of Bakugou. Before Izuku was diagnosed as Quirkless, and before Bakugou's quirk came in, the two of them spent their formative years as friends. Yes, Bakugou was a jerk, but no more so than any other Type A child would be at age 4.

Izuku absolutely loved Bakugou. Regardless of whether or not you ship KatsuDeku (which I don't, contrary to what people seem to expect of me sometimes), this is something that I feel gets overlooked far too often in fanwork. Midoriya Izuku worshipped the ground that Bakugou Katsuki walked on, even after Bakugou's quirk came in. It was only after Izuku's failed to manifest, and he was dubbed quirkless, that Bakugou's behavior toward him began to change. And consequently, so did their relationship. But the foundation of their relationship was always, on Izuku's end, one of adoration and respect.

Izuku may not have seen that side of Bakugou in years, but there is some part of him that still remembers it and vice versa; if there wasn't, not only would Izuku not call Bakugou "Kacchan," but Bakugou wouldn't let him continue to do so.

Now. As for the bullying.

It's immensely important for my own mental health that I make a sharp distinction between abuse and bullying. To do so, there's a very obvious parallel I have to make, and a take on it that I haven't seen anyone else share.

A reminder: this is only my personal view on these things, so if you disagree, that's fine. This is not an invitation for "debate" (read again: discourse) in the notes, in my askbox, or in my messages.

Bakugou is a bully. Endeavor is an abuser. Both terrible things to be, and similar in many ways, but not interchangeable.

Now, here's the thing. There are two characters with Very Obvious character foils within BNHA: All Might and Midoriya.

Izuku's foil is, of course, Bakugou. Whereas, to me, All Might's has always been Endeavor. Following that logic, then, Izuku has the potential to become All Might and Bakugou has the potential to become Endeavor.

I've seen people making that comparison before, but I've never seen (I'll be honest: I'm not interested in discourse so I've never really looked for) people taking that a step further.

The entire point of BNHA is that Izuku isn't going to become the next All Might. He's going to become better. He's going to take all of his potential and grow into it, to the fullest possible extent.

So why, I wonder, do people come into my comment section and say that Bakugou can't and/or won't do the same thing? Why is he any more bound to the path he was on in the beginning of the story than Izuku was?

Here's my number one issue with people comparing Bakugou in the present to Endeavor in the present: Bakugou has grown. Not only that, but he still has the potential to grow. Regardless of his crappy attitude, of his objectively terrible actions toward Izuku (that were, I always feel the need to reiterate, supported or at least not reprimanded over the course of his entire life so he never, until meeting Aizawa, got the message that his behavior was unacceptable), Bakugou is fifteen and still has a much greater capacity for changing his habits than Endeavor, a middle-aged man.

Yes, there's the infamous "just jump off the roof and die then" scene, and everything preceding and directly following it within the narrative, and no, I'm not discounting that. Izuku absolutely shouldn't ever forgive him for that, especially since Bakugou shows no outward sign of repenting.

But would the Bakugou Katsuki we know-- more importantly, would the Bakugou Katsuki that UA has helped to shape, ever punch a five year old in the stomach? Would he go out of his way to shirk a responsibility as huge as children? Would he ever rape a woman as a show of power?

(And yes, before you start that angry reply, I am of the very firm belief that Todoroki Rei absolutely did not consent, at the very bare minimum after she saw how Enji viewed her and whichever one of their children was born first.)

I find that very, very hard to believe.

Bakugou went out of his way to hurt Izuku because it made him feel big. It made him feel powerful and validated, and everyone told him that he had a right to act that way. But literally as soon as someone took the time to guide him away from that behavior, those habits began to change. Reading any of his more recent panels in the manga and then going back to the beginning is a pretty jarring experience, and that kind of growth happened over the course of half a school year.

For someone so sure of his own power and ability, Bakugou is a deeply insecure character, particularly when it comes to Izuku. Because Izuku’s most noticeable traits (his kindness, willingness to help others, generosity, etc) are simultaneously the traits most intrinsic to becoming a hero, and the traits that Bakugou doesn’t come across naturally.

And Izuku, for what it's worth, can see some of this. Which only adds fuel to Bakugou's fire.

Within the context of SLaS, my most popular ao3 fic to date and the one that has sparked many of these comments, Izuku is so deeply connected to Bakugou due to his empathy quirk that the line between love and hate is blurred almost beyond recognition.

This line being blurred is not a good thing; it will not be romanticized or overlooked at any point.

Let me make this abundantly clear: this is one of the main conflicts in Something Like a Star. Izuku and Bakugou's relationship is, no pun intended, the star of the show, and its development is going to be very, very clear by the end of it.

Izuku, in any canon, is not the most emotionally intelligent person, to say the least. The added context of an empathy quirk is a hindrance to that aspect of him, rather than the help one might expect it to be. Within the context of SLaS, Izuku's link to Bakugou is constant, unyielding, and an immense drain on his energy.

But, similarly to their relationship, it is something that Izuku can depend upon, however unhealthy that dependence may be.

Izuku's emotional growth with regards to Bakugou depends entirely upon his relationships to his other friends and enemies. It may not be the most obvious, in-your-face growth at first, but it will be there. With every new empathetic link and every new friendship Izuku forms, his understanding of the toxic relationship between himself and Bakugou will increase. Only then can he (and Bakugou, but 3rd Person Limited only allows for so much outside of Izuku’s perspective) begin to take steps to change that.

But as of chapter 13? Izuku doesn't have any awareness of that. All he knows is that his feelings regarding Bakugou are confusing and upsetting, and that his own hero complex won't allow him to see the worst in anyone, even someone who's been as terrible to him as Bakugou.

TL;DR- Yes, Bakugou bullied Izuku in ways that no one with a conscience can ever condone. But he isn't a hopeless case, nor does he lack a heart or the potential to become a hero. And I will never do his character the disservice of treating him as though he does lack these things. The amount of growth he's shown in half a year under proper guidance is staggering, in my personal opinion. Izuku is an unreliable narrator at best, and his feelings regarding Bakugou are murky and complicated. I will not romanticize this in any way.

So please, be patient with that relationship in fic. It gives more meaning to the payoff for Izuku in the long run, since the development of his relationship with Bakugou is directly correlated to his emotional maturation as he grows into his potential.