#elias x laia

[princessyuwa]

Laia × Elias Civilian Life

[from-books-with-love]

"You are my temple," I murmur as I kneel beside her. "You are my priest. You are my prayer. You are my release."

Sabaa Tahir, A Torch Against the Night.

[jessread-s]

✩🦁📜Bookish Merch:

My Laia of Serra plushie from @faecrate arrived and I am absolutely in love!! The “An Ember in the Ashes” quartet will forever be one of my favorite series of all time, so I was excited to be able to purchase a plushie with Laia’s fierce likeness during one of faecrate’s many past items sales. I’ll definitely need her at my side for emotional support when I read Sabaa Tahir's newest project upon its release because her books always manage to rip my heart out. 

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[daniellesreadingnook]

I am back to podcasting!! I just needed a little break.

Today I talk about Sabaa Tahir's "An Ember In The Ashes" series! I highly recommend you listen to hear my thoughts!!

[clockworkbee]

—Laia and Elias, A Reaper at The Gates

[mydiarygaby]

UMA TOCHA NA ESCURIDÃO

  💥 Alerta spoiler 💥

Minha experiência com esse livro foi bastante complexa, eu diria.

Mesmo achando “ Uma chama entre as cinzas” um livro razoável, eu decidi continuar na leitura da série porque o final me intrigou um pouco.

De início , vou ressaltar que fluiu muito melhor comparado ao primeiro livro. Comecei a leitura e eles já estavam em fuga e era eita atrás de eita, quando pisquei já estava na página 200, não conseguia para de ler. Quem é leitor sabe, o quanto é incrível quando temos essa sensação com um livro.

Pois bem, não conseguia parar de ler, pensei - EBA! finalmente a história desenrolou pra mim - aí, começou as narrações da Helene… nada contra, no final do livro até gostei dela, mas antes era uma personagem que me irritava, ao invés de prender logo o Elias fica abrindo mão de tudo por conta de um homem que ela ama e que fugiu com outra, um saco.

Três personagens narrando a história já estava me deixando confusa na metade, isso aumentou mais ainda quando os 3 tomaram rumos diferentes. Não consegui me acostumar, era uma quebra de ritmo terrível, o tempo todo.

Em um momento o personagem  x estava em uma cena de ação super tensa, aí o capítulo acabava e o personagem Y estava acordando de uma noite de amor… Nossa, isso pra mim não rolou de jeito nenhum, pelo menos não em primeira pessoa, era melhor uma narração em terceira pessoa, talvez tivesse deixado a descrição mais sútil.

Da metade pro final estava odiando a Laia, gente que saco! que personagem chata, sonsa, sem personalidade fica sendo enganada o tempo todo, diz que ama todo mundo, quer ficar com todo mundo, meu deus, que carente! kkkkkkkk.

Odeio a protagonista que fica de mimimi por conta de par romântico, o plot twist que teve em cima disso foi ótimo pra ela deixar de ser boba. A última personagem que tinha me irritado tanto foi a Juliete de Estilhaça-me, mas Laia conseguiu superar, um feito e tanto!

Ainda não consegui mergulhar de cabeça na escrita, não consegui me envolver a fundo com nenhum personagem. Tinha momentos que eu até gostava do Elias ou da Helene, mas em outros achava o Elias um pamonha, um corno, e a Helene uma burra. 

Na verdade, acho que não me identifico com a escrita da autora, de alguma forma não me cativa e não consigo ficar perplexa com a história, tudo é muito previsível…. Mas isso eu já tinha notado desde o primeiro livro.

Fiquei com a mesma sensação que tive quando li o primeiro, é bom , mas não é nada de especial. É simplório, um livro de revolução e distopia e só, tem VÁRIOS melhores, com personagens melhores.

O final até que foi interessante, um Plot Twist que me deixou de cara, porque era o personagem que até então eu gostava, mas nada de “O h meu Deus”, porque em um certo momento eu pensei “ de onde esse personagem saiu, assim desse jeito? estranho”.

O pior foi a Laia se entregando pra ele, coitada, a impressão que deu foi que “ o Elias foi embora, agora vou ficar com esse aqui, foda-se”, porque antes disso ela queria o Elias né, aí um semana depois o Keenan se tornou a paixão louca da vida dela. Gente não dá, o romance desse livro me mata de raiva kkkkkkk.

Apesar de não ser uma prioridade de leitura agora, talvez eu continue a ler a série daqui um tempo, porque a TRAMA, ignorando os personagens e suas singularidades, no geral, tem bastante suspense e várias descobertas a serem feitas e PRINCIPALMENTE porque quero saber mais sobre a comandante, pois, por incrível que pareça, ela se tornou a personagem mais intrigante para mim. 

Quero muito descobrir os podres dessa mulher, o que essa louca psicopata esconde!

⭐⭐⭐ 3/5

[rhikasa-archived]

Summer Reading/Writing Tag

Thank you @druidx (here) and @mjparkerwriting (here) for tagging me! ♥️

Describe one creative WIP project you're planning to work on over the summer

Although most of my focus will more so be centered around WOS, I want to work on developing TH&TW a bit more as well. Beyond the initial idea of a werewolf murder mystery, I didn’t have much of a plan starting out, but now I have a better idea of where the story is going.

Recommend a book

If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend reading An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. It follows two main characters; a girl named Laia who finds herself spying for a group of rebels in exchange for their help with rescuing her brother, and a boy named Elias who is struggling to escape the regime he is forced to serve under. It’s the first book of a longer series.

Recommend a fic

I’ve been thrown back into a Star Wars fixation after re-watching the original trilogy, and I found this lovely fic series on AO3 called Dangerous Dreams by @shirozora-draws; if anyone else ships Din x Luke as much as I do, you’re gonna love it (they’ve included art for most of the chapters, and they have more over on their blog).

Recommend music

Bad Love (Esh Remix) by Vice & Caitlyn Scarlett has been stuck in my head lately, but I’d also recommend listening to Demons by Hayley Kiyoko.

Share one piece of advice

Don’t be afraid to write what you want to write!

Tagging (no pressure): @abalonetea @isherwoodj @magic-is-something-we-create @mecharose @pinespittinink @pens-swords-stuff plus anyone else who would like to join!

[starfallkaz]

so you’re telling me my girl Laia still had sugar-scented hair after travelling on horseback for over a week, running for her life, while dragging elias’ comatose ass with her????

[paperbacktomes]

“All of us trained to tell stories have a bit of magic in our bones."

– Sabaa Tahir, A Sky Beyond The Storm

[princessyuwa]

Elias × Laia - Modern AU

[wojosubahjaldinahiuthti]

meri cutieeeeeee didi 💜💜 thank you for tagging me love you bahut saara

❤️‍🩹 three ships: Elias x Laia, Jacks x Evangeline, Me and Charles Leclerc 😳

❤️‍🩹 last song: I've Been Thinking About You by Londonbeat

❤️‍🩹 last movie: jab we met 🫶🏻🫶🏻

❤️‍🩹 currently reading: (two books actually but i'm naming one coz the other is 🫣) Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen McManus

❤️‍🩹 currently watching: (rewatching) drive to survive

❤️‍🩹 currently consuming: chocolate cookies 😭

❤️‍🩹 currently craving: new books please 🥺🙏

not tagging anyone, anyone can do this 💜🫶🏻

Tag game

Thank you so much @i-did-not-mean-to and everyone else who tagged me!

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better

💎 three ships: Vingilot, Millenium Falcon, Titanic... ah, you mean fic ships? Thorin x <insert a character I'm writing a story about atm>, Galadriel x Celeborn, Bilbo x Bofur 💎 last song: Norupo by Heilung 💎 last movie: The Two Towers 💎 currently reading: M. John Harrison, The Centauri Device 💎 currently watching: The Last of Us 💎 currently consuming: orange juice 💎 currently craving: cheesecake

Tagging @sotwk @xxbyimm @kibleedibleedoo @legolasbadass @linasofia @mrsdurin @the-fragile-heart-of-a-lady @enchantzz @heilith @sweetestgbye @aduialel and everyone who wants to join! :)

[murasaki-cha]

This my friends is why real men ain’t shit!!

Elias Veturius you beautiful little fuck😭

[elias-veturius-laia-of-serra]

[author-athenagrey]

A study of a toxic relationship written without romanticization

This post includes spoilers for A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir.

Did I enjoy ATATN very much? No. It was too slow paced for my tastes. But did I love how Sabaa Tahir portrayed Keenan and Laia's relationship in the book? Yes, I did. I am in love with the way she portrayed a toxic relationship. On first glance, it doesn't even seem toxic but then you see the subtext and go "this is brilliant." I made incoherent notes on that brilliance for this post.

For those who don't know, Laia and Keenan are a couple of sorts from book two in the An Ember in the Ashes quartet by Sabaa Tahir. We do not like Keenan. Here is why.

Love bombing

Keenan was hot and cold with Laia all through book one and just generally giving her mixed signals. He would be aloof and then bomb her with attention and make her doubt her emotions and feelings. He'd make it seem like he cared and then retreat again in his cycle of manipulation when Laia got dependent on him. He used her loneliness when she was vulnerable when Elias left for Kauf and slept with her. Then he used magic to befuddle her mind and manipulated the shit out of her emotions.

Invalidating her emotions

Making her feel like she should let go of negative emotions, instead of openly expressing and feeling them like positive emotions. Making her feel as if sadness is a luxury, when it's not.

Making her question her capabilities

This seems like it's sweet on first glance, but it's not. He used his magic to manipulate her, to befuddle her mind and to make her question herself. Then, in a position where she couldn't lean on anyone else because she was alone with him, he put her in an even more vulnerable state by making himself the only person she could trust. He made it so that she couldn't even trust herself more than she trusted him. He's making her feel like she's not ready and capable and making her dependent on him instead of herself. Her inner voice figures it out but his magic wins in the end and she tricks herself into believing he's right.

Making her feel like shit for having a voice

Laia questions his authority. Can't verbalize her doubt because he's breaking her spirit. 'As if she's growing smaller day by day' shows that she feels inferior and that she thinks she should be thankful (she shouldn't) that the Great and Wise Keenan is helping her and is with her. She trusts him and his abilities over her own, which is not a good thing.

Making her trust him

He does the stuff he did and then acts like he cares so she doesn't question his authority again. After all, why would he wanna harm her if he cares about her well-being like that?

Making himself her only relief

He took away her comfort space, the coat Elias gave her, to make him her only respite. He took away her comfort space and introduced a new one that's moreso based on him so he can take her further away from who she truly is.

Loss of sense of self

She's conflicted. She wants to be herself but she has no energy to fight back because of how he's hurt her. She wants to be herself again but she can't because she isn't even aware of the fact that she isn't herself and it's all because of him and this is brilliant.

Beaten and bruised

He told her this toxicity is normal. That this is better than independence because she can't handle independence. That she screws stuff up when she's not babied and infantilized and made dependent on someone. She completely loses trust in herself and places it in Keenan, as that was what he wanted.

Tl;dr, Keenan is a toxic s/o to Laia so I hope you don't ship them and go hype up Sabaa Tahir for she is brilliant.

[kweerkitten]

why is it always “i love you” and never “you are my temple, you are my priest, you are my prayer, you are my release”?

[aashiqeddiediaz]

elias veturius, who’s wanted nothing but freedom the moment he was born, calling laia of serra — for whom he bleeds with love and devotion — his release, his temple, his priest, his prayer…