Monday, August 1, 2011

YA Crush Tourney: Jace vs. Kaleb (Match #20) Goes to Jace

AND THE WINNER IS:


JACE


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.

And finally, due to some epic voting and the crashing of multiple websites, the matches will now only be open for voting for 24 hours, rather than 40. So, now it's even more important to get the word out and the votes in quickly.



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:

Close your eyes for a minute, picture a tall golden skinned guy, shirtless of course.  Across his chest and arms are these dark marks.  They look like perhaps symbols or characters from a time long ago.  His waist is lean and his chest and arms look as if they were chiseled perfectly by the gods.  His face is as beautiful as a fallen angel, angular and framed by wavy golden-blond hair.  His eyes are a piercing gold that seem ancient in his young face.  Do you need a fan yet?  Yep, that's Jace!  Pretty irresistible, huh?!?  Seriously, how can anyone turn turn down a tall golden haired bad boy with tats?  I'll take 2 please!!!

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 Kaleb?

Okay, this match is going to kill me!  When you read a lot of books you get attached to all the characters.  I have read Hourglass, more than once, and I fell hard for Kaleb also.  I will say that Jace does have an advantage because there are 4 books about Jace plus he's the main character, and as of right now, there is only one book about Kaleb who is not the main character.  Kaleb is very similar to Jace which makes this absolute torture.  However, if I have to choose, I mean put a gun to my head and make me answer, at this moment in time,  I would still say that Jace (please forgive me Kaleb) is the most crush-worthy.  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!  Plus, he saves the world from the bad guys!  Superhero + broken, bad boy dying to be fixed= WINNER!!!

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)

VOTE FOR JACE!  
"LOOKING BETTER IN BLACK THAN THE WIDOWS OF [HIS] ENEMIES SINCE 1234"!!!




Kaleb (Seed #7) 


The steamy Kaleb is from Myra McEntire's Hourglass. You can find out more about Myra and her Hourglass series by clicking on her name in the side bar of this blog. You can also check our Teaser Tuesday for Hourglass and the Hourglass Review posted just below this. Kaleb is being represented by Bethany. Go follow her on twitter @BethanyeLarson and check out her blog, http://www.bookishbethie.blogspot.com/.

Personality: 

Kaleb is the quintessential bad boy—reckless, devilishly charming, witty, physically intimidating, complex. However, his wit and charm and entire bad boy persona are only fronts (not that he isn't holy-hell-I-would-throw-myself-at-him-if-he-said-that-to-me charming ANYWAY, he just really plays it up) to hide the fact that he's really a big softy. Well, that and the fact that there is some serious family drama in his life. Which means that he's reckless, devilishly charming, physically intimidating, complex, and wounded, which is better known as the exact combination that makes girls melt and go nuts for a guy.

Looks: 

Kaleb is physically intimidating—tall, muscular (the incredible Myra McEntire describes his abs as "the most defined abs I've ever seen"), tattooed (three of them. At least, three that we know of.) and pierced (ears), with short black hair, and violet-blue eyes. If that isn't enough a visual, McEntire compares him to a sexy pirate. Yes, PLEASE.

Talents: 

In the Hourglass world, Kaleb is an empath, a person who is supernaturally in tune with other people's emotions. But other than his ability to read emotions and empathize like a champ, he also excels at drinking a lot and still being alive the next day, coming up with fantastically funny and apt nicknames for people, swimming, and making you feel all hot and bothered.

Special Attributes: 

Kaleb abs are an eight-pack, y'all. Just think about running your hands over it. Mhmmmm.

Additionally, have I mentioned that he is an EMPATH? Any time you were feeling sad or lonely or frustrated or angry, Kaleb would not only understand what you were going through, but would know EXACTLY the right things to say and do to make it better. Basically, he's the perfect man.

Why is Kaleb better than Jace? 

Ladies, (and gents!) I'm not going to pretend like Jace isn't a great catch. But let's be honest—he's a little hard to read. Not that emotional transparency is THE thing to look for in a guy, but a guy who is hot and cold will only make you a nervous wreck. Though Jace typically explains his emotions really well when he gets around to it, Clary is normally in a place that is concerned or worried about her relationship with him. In my opinion that is not a healthy relationship.

However, with Kaleb you get a guy who is not only a looker with his brooding good looks, but is funny, charming, and sensitive. Though I wouldn't necessarily call him an emotional fountain, he is an empath, and is thus very in tune with his (and every else's) emotions.

But one of the great things about Kaleb is that he's still kind of mystery to both Emerson and the readers. He wasn't introduced until a little over halfway through Hourglass, and though he made a big ol' splash, he wasn't the main focus. There is still A LOT to learn about this guy, which is all kinds of exciting, whereas with Jace we kind of know who is he and what he's about. (Well, more or less.) And that is a reckless guy with a chip on his shoulder and a dangerous taste for getting himself in all kinds of evil angel trouble. Does that sound like the guy you'd want to come home to? No. I didn't think so.

Anything else you would like to add? 

You know you want to vote for Kaleb. So, do it. Or else. *glares you into submission*


VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN FIND MORE INFO BY CLICKING ON THE CRUSH TOURNAMENT TAB AT THE TOP.