Monday, August 8, 2011

YA Crush Tourney: Jace vs Ash (Match #23) goes to Jace!

And the winner is...
JACE!
Tune in Wednesday for the finale: 
Zachary vs. Jace!
And information about future tournaments. :)

Some general rules before we begin:

There may be some spoilers in the following post. We've tried to keep it fairly general, but overall, this Tourney will not be spoiler-free. So beware.

Secondly, You are welcome to write your own comments about either character in the comments section, but we will not tolerate rudeness. The minute it crosses over from logical argument into character bashing, your comments will be deleted and your vote canceled.  Voting will be open for 24 hours, 8am to 8am.  Without further adieu, let the match begin!!!
Jace Wayland (Seed #2)

Jace Wayland is rep'd by me, AmyG, from YA-Sisterhood.  You can check out my blog here, and follow me on twitter @YASisterhood.  Jace is from the Mortal Instruments series by the talented Cassandra Clare.  You can find out more info about her and her books by clicking on her name on our side bar.

Personality:

I am going to borrow from the fabulous JKR and say, "JACE WAYLAND IS MY KING!!!"

I'd like to at first say that I began reading City of Bones in early 2008, and from that day forward Jace has been my number 1.  Other YA characters have come close, but none have been able to usurp Jace off his thrown!  The thing about Jace is he's that guy that comes across as cool, suave, good-looking, sarcastic and snarkie when in all actuality, on the inside, he's torn to shreds.  He's from as messed up a family as you can get.  He was emotionally abused by the most evil man since Voldemort.  This quote by Cassandra Clare from City of Bones basically sums up his childhood,"The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he'd learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed."  How cannot every fiber of your being cry out to help him, to give him any amount of love to make up for the life he had endured thus far.  He hides his pain and his insecurity behind a "rapier wit".  He can word duel with the best of them, slaying you with his words one minute while cracking you up the next.  Out of all the amazing guys in this tournament, Jace is the most complex of all the characters.  In his case what you see is not necessarily what you get.  To get to the core of this hero, you must look deep and read between the lines.

"My rapier wit hides my inner pain." -Jace Wayland

Looks:



Talents:

Without being too spoilery, there are some questions about the actual birth of Jace.  Who is parents are, what happened to him in womb or shortly thereafter.  These questions arise because even Jace's superpowers have superpowers! He can run faster and jump higher than any other nephilim.  He's basically like a Shadowhunter Limited Edition!  He's also one of those guys that every girl swoons over.  He walks into a room and all eyes are on him!  If your wondering why this is under talents, sit back and people watch for awhile!  You will notice that there are very few guys that actually have this talent, and Jace has it in mounds!  Lastly, I will have to mention his snarkiness under this category.  In order to be truly witty, it takes talent.  You must be fast on your feet and prepared for a comeback at any moment.




"What are all these?" Clary asked. 
"Vials of holy water, blessed knives, steel and silver blades," Jace said, piling the weapons on the floor beside him, "electrum wire - not much use at the moment but it's always good to have spares - silver bullets, charms of protection, crucifixes, stars of David-" 




"Jesus," said Clary 
"I doubt he'd fit." 





"Jace." Clary was appalled."  City of Bones 



Special Attributes:

Jace is a shadowhunter or nephilim, part human and part angel.  He's actually descended from the offspring of angels and humans mentioned in Genesis 6.  He has incredible powers, powers enough to police the downworlders: vampires, werewolves, witches, warlocks, faeries, and demons.  Shadowhunters also have the ability to mark themselves with ancient runes for protection, healing, or added super-abilities.  Their purpose is to protect the mundanes, normal humans, from the downworlders.  So, they basically spend everyday saving the world!  

Why is Jace better than Ash?

Okay, I feel like I say this every time, but this match is going to kill me!  When you read a lot of books you get attached to all the characters.  I love Ash dearly!!!  He can honestly be my knight anyday!!!  However, if I have both Jace and Ash kneeling at me feet vowing to be my knight for all eternity, and I have to pick one, it's Jace!  For me, its always been Jace!  He's the broken bad boy that every girl is dying to fix!  He's the sexy male that is hard and cold on the outside but just crying out to be loved on the inside!  So, be honest with yourselves girls, you know that's what every girl wants!  

Okay, so you say that Ash is a bad guy too!  You are absolutely right!  But, before he meets Meghan, he really is a bad guy.  He has honestly done some really terrible things!!!  Plus, he's a faerie, they toy with humans as a hobby!  Jace comes across as the bad guy, but I really believe that its just a facade to hold people at bay.  He's been burned too many times!  Also, don't forget that Jace is descended from ANGELS!!!  Plus, he saves the world from the bad guys!  

Superhero + broken, bad boy dying to be fixed= WINNER!!!

One last thing: I dare anyone to read this scene from Jace's POV and not fall for him all over again!!! 
It is spoilery bc its from the 2nd book, so proceed with caution!!! 

Anything else you'd like to add?

Yes, if you have read the first Mortal Instruments you know the monstrous, gargantuan, colossal twist that occurs.  Okay, think about that for a second, and how you felt through the next books!  If you were like me, all of the great, huge, horrible sin of lets just say "I", suddenly didn't seem too bad anymore!!!  I was actually routing for it in my sick mind!  I totally just didn't care!  So, the last think I will say is that if it will make me and everyone else totally okay with "I" then he deserves to win every stinkin' contest that he ever enters or is entered into for the rest of time!!!

"I know it's wrong - God, it's all kinds of wrong - but I just want to lie down with you and wake up with you, just once, just once ever in my life."  -Jace (City of Glass)
"LOOKING BETTER IN BLACK THAN THE WIDOWS OF [HIS] ENEMIES SINCE 1234"!!!


VOTE FOR JACE! USE #TEAMJACE TO SUPPORT HIM & SPREAD THE WORD!  CASSIE TWEETED THIS YESTERDAY, SO THIS MIGHT GIVE YOU EXTRA INCENTIVE:
So Jace fans .... tomorrow Jace goes up against the redoubtable Ash in the YA Crush Tourney http://bit.ly/jrwrmr and it's really getting down to brass knuckles now! So I've decided to offer up a celebratory treat if Jace wins: I'll post the Manor House scene from City of Glass from Jace's POV. And it'll be spicy. ;) So remember to vote, if you're so inclined!


Ash (Seed #6)

The hottastic Ash is from Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series.  For more information on this series you can check out our review here or you can check out our Theory Thursday for Iron Knight, the 4th book in the series. Ash is being rep'd by the girls from Two Chicks on Books, Jaime and Patricia.  You can check out there blog by clicking on there button to the right.  You can also follow them on twitter @arnoldjaime13 & @1of2chicksonbks.

Personality:

Ash can come off as cold and distant but that's because he's been raised to be that way. He has had to put up persona of the cold Ice Prince of the Winter Court otherwise he would not have been able to survive in the Unseelie Court. But beneath the cold exterior there is a fiercely loyal guy and not just because he can wield a sword like nobody's business. More about that later. He has managed to fool just about everyone into thinking that his heart is as cold as the iciness that literally runs thru him. That is until he meets the girl that melts his heart. He will do whatever it takes to be with Meghan even if that means walking thru poison to help her out, even if it means that he has to put up with her annoyingly prankster of a BFF, Puck, even if it means that he will be kicked out of his court or even be exiled out of Faery.  He will do anything for Meghan!! Because as he says to Meghan: ""You made me feel alive again.""

What is sexier than a guy who pledges his life and very existence to the girl he loves? Not much. Here's a little taste of the true Ash:

"My name is Ashallyn'darkmyr Tallyn, third son of the Unseelie Court."

Though his voice was soft, it never wavered, and I felt breathless at hearing his full name. His True Name.

 "Let it be known---from this day forth, I vow to protect Meghan Chase, daughter of the Summer King, with my sword, my honor, my life. Her desires are mine. Her wishes are mine. Should even the world stand against her, my blade will be at her side. And should it fail to protect her, let my own existence be forfeit. This I swear, on my honor, my True Name, and my life. From this day on..." His voice went even softer, but I still heard it as though he whispered it into my ear. ""I am yours."
-The Iron Queen 

Looks: 
We could never do him justice but we will give you a peek of how Meghan sees him...

"...tall and lean, garbed in silver and black. A dark cape fluttered from its shoulders. Through the rain, I caught the barest glimpse of a face: young, pale, strikingly handsome..."
-The Iron King

"...He carried a sword, resting comfortably on his hip, and his face bore the fine lines of an aristocrat. But, unlike the others, he looked disinterested, almost bored, with the entire event. His eyes caught the moonlight and glittered like silver coins.”

-The Iron King

"Up close, he was even more beautiful, with high cheekbones and dark tousled hair falling into his eyes.” 

-The Iron King


Talents:
Who wouldn't want a guy with as many talents and attributes that Ash has. He's a masterful horse rider, he has mad sword skills, and he can shoot ice daggers at his enemies and centuries of knowledge and expertise. He's a bit on the quiet side, too. But don't think that he's distracted in anyway. Ash is deadly and those that cross do not live to tell the tale. He's also witty and one of his best and favorite attributes is that his sense of humor and sarcasm are intact. With lines like this who wouldn't love him:

"Touch her, and I'll freeze your testicles off and put them in a jar. Understand?"
-The Iron King             

Special Attributes:
Have we mentioned that Ash is Immortal!! So of course he's going to be with you forever and ever!!             

What makes Ash better than Jace?

Well you all know the many reasons Ash is Crush worthy so we’ll move onto why Jace isn’t.
Ok so to start we like Jace so this is going to be tough but here goes.
In the first book he’s admittedly flirtatious to an extreme. Jace knows he’s hot and he’s very arrogant . His hatred of all things Mundane (including Clary at first! ) and Downworlders is a weakness if you ask us. In CoFA not only does Jace completely ignore and basically treats Clary like crap but he actually tries to kill her and he dreams of killing her. What is crush worthy about that?
Also…
Ash is a prince of the faerie court. Jace is a shadow hunter which is cool, but it's not nearly as awesome or magical as being a faerie.

Ash while vulnerable isn't nearly as vulnerable as Jace is.

Ash although having a pretty terrible mother, was not raised by the Morgensterns. That could seriously lead to some messed up stuff in future books for Jace.

Ash is much similar to Meghan - they're both faeries and royals. Jace and Clary come from such different backgrounds. They just think differently.

But it boils down to the fact that while Ash may have pushed Meghan away he wasn't a total jerk. He did it because he had to. Jace is arrogant and selfish. And the only reason Jace is better is because of Clary. Ash was just fine on his own.


Also Patricia’s son says He’s a Jerk!

Anything else you’d like to add?
Here are a few quotes from Julie herself about Ash:
From supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com Interview with Julie.

If you were in an emergency situation (of any kind) and could call one of your characters for help, who would it be and why?

"Well, if it were something major, like the Zombie Apocalypse, I would call on Ash, because he’d be able to chop through the hoards easily. If it were something like getting my cat out of a tree…I’d still call Ash, because Grimalkin would probably mock the poor cat, and Puck might turn it into a bird or something."

From interview on enchantedinkpot.livejournal.com:

If you weren’t the creator, what team do you think you would side with?
“Oh, definitely Ash.  (Though I do love Puck, too.)  I just have a thing for dark, brooding bad boys, especially if they're a HBWS. (Hot Boy With Sword.)  It’s a weakness.  ;-)"

Also we're sure if Ash wins Julie will have something awesome to share with everyone like a teaser from The Iron Knight ;) so VOTE ASH and use the hashtags #TeamAsh and #IcePrince to support him!




He may be the Ice Prince, but he'll melt your heart!!!
















*Voting is now closed*
 Please check the Crush Tournament Tab at the top for more information.