Wednesday, August 3, 2011

YA Crush Tourney: Patch vs. Ash Goes to Ash

AND THE WINNER IS:


ASH




Before we get started, it's the same rules as usual. We've tried as much as possible to keep everything spoiler free, but to really show the best qualities of a character sometimes spoilers are necessary, so BEWARE!!! Also, feel free to write comments in the comments section about either character, but we will not tolerate rudeness. The moment it crosses over from logical argument to rudeness, your comment will be deleted and your vote cancelled. Voting will remain open for 24 hours. With all that said, let the voting begin!

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, Jamie 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 Patch?
Ok so we all know how fantastic Ash is he's noble, but also a bit of a bad boy, protective, loves Meghan completely, and will risk his life for her.

Now onto Patch. He is a great advocate and has his crush-worthy moments. He's a bad boy - which always has its positives and negatives. It makes him absolutely mysterious and sexy, but also makes him not ideal boyfriend/crush material.He's not always honest, he's secretive and in being the way he is, he's broken Nora's heart. He is absolutely sexy and intense, but he can appear cold, and cruel, even if he isn't really.

Although he redeemed himself at the end of the first book, he did spend much of his time wanting to kill Nora and that his motivations weren't always honest. Even in the second book, he's secretive, not willing to be up front with Nora about what was going on. She shared her feelings, opened up to him, told him she loved him, and he says nothing. He allows her to believe that something might be going on with Marcie.

In conclusion-
Ash has tried to defend Meghan, Ash's behavior being cold as an Ice Prince has always been in protecting her, even if he screwed up, whereas Patch's behavior wasn't always to protect Nora. In book one, he wanted to kill her! In book two, in protecting her, he actually put her in harms way and also in the process broke her heart.

Besides who is more crush worthy? A Faerie Winter Prince that lives in a magical realm? He lives in a whole other world. He doesn't hang out in pool halls and drink. He battles magical creatures. And even though he's from a cruel world he has a heart that beats for Meghan.

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!


Patch Cipriano (Seed 19)

Our beautiful fallen angel, Patch Cipriano, is represented by Momo over at Books Over Boys. You can also go follow her tweets on twitter @booksoverboys.  Patch is from Becca Fitzpatrick's series Hush Hush.  You can find out more info about these books here.

Personality
Patch. Patch Cipriano. Oh gosh! How to describe this hunky piece of smoldering sexiness! Patch is the ultimate bad boy! He's got that "I don't give a crap" vibe going on and it makes you curious about him and why he just doesn't care. He's carefree and tough and sarcastic and witty and uber sexy!

He has that really hard and guarded facade about him but as you read more about him, he has his soft side and he's the sweetest thing in the world! He totally has that dangerous 'thing' on lockdown!

He's such a total flirt and he's not like the brooding type either, like I said, he just doesn't give a crap! But that's exactly why he's crush-worthy!

Overall, Patch is that whole package, you know, the one where he's the ultimate sexy, dangerous, hot bad boy! What more could you ask for? ;)

Looks
Whew! Don't get me started on his looks! EEE! I'm a mess right now; let's see if I can get through this.

First of all, raise your hands (Yes, both arms please!) or...say I if you love a man who can work the whole ""sexy in all black"" thing? I know, right?! Patch also has that thing down to the core! He's got that black t-shirt, black pants, black boots, black hair, and of course, the mysterious black eyes down to a T! Woot!

Patch is described as a mint scented “dark-Levi’s, dark-Henley, dark boots kind of guy”. He has dark hair and his dark eyes. See? What did I say about working that ""sexy all in black"" thing? LOL, workin' it, this Patch!

Patch is just hot. Sizzlin' hot!


Talents
Oh gawh! Patch will leave you breathless and always wanting for more! He'll kiss you here and there and right when you're about to faint, you know, from being breathless and all that, he pulls away and you find yourself chasin' after him, wanting more!

He's an angel, a fallen angel at that! He fell for love! (Ha, had to giggle at that line!) ZOMG, like that is the cutest and most adorable thing EVER. He is crazzzzzy about Nora and he hearts her unconditionally and he proves so in the book. Just read it and if you have, you know what I'm talking about!

Patch is very charismatic and the stuff he says will linger forever in your mind long after he's already said them!

One of his most famous lines: "You can call me Patch. I mean it, call me." *jaw-drop* EEEE, squealing like a little school girl over here!

Special Attributes
Patch and his lines! He has the power to just say things that will leave you dumbfounded and blushing straight down to the core! For example:

WAIT! *brakes!* SOME, MORE LIKE ONE, OF THE QUOTES FOUND BELOW COULD BE A BIT SPOILERY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED! PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

“Say ‘Provoking’ again. Your mouth looks provocative when you do.”

"You possess other people's...bodies."
He accepted that statement with a nod.
"Do you want to possess my body?"
"I want to do a lot of things to your body, but that's not one of them."

"I get my very own guardian angel? What, exactly, is your job description?"
"Guard your body." His smile tipped higher. "I take my job seriously, which means I'm going to need to get acquainted with the subject matter on a personal level."

"You should go," I breathed. "You should definitely go."
"Go here?" His mouth was on my shoulder. "Or here?" It moved up my neck."

Ohmygosh, right?! What did I tell you? ;) Ah!           

What makes Patch better than Ash?

Ash is a really tough competitor to go up against.  I am having a hard time typing this, to be honest. The way I see it, Ash and Patch are similar yet different in that they're both the bad boys but I see Ash just a tab bit more like the broken-broody-I-need-to-be-fixed type of character where Patch's character just doesn't really care: the carefree I-do-what-I-want type of character.

And this is hard for me because I honestly love both types of character: the broody/sad/broken kind and the badboy/dangerous/mysterious kind.

In the end, if it comes down to it and you're REALLY not sure who to choose, well just do like how you did back in the days when you had to take tests and both answers looked really good and...you resorted to eeny meeny miny mo! ;)

Anything else you’d like to add?
Also, who else in the world has a name like that, Patch. Patch Cipriano. So bad-a**! <3           

And lastly:






Like Nike says, JUST DO IT!
C'mon Patch's Army, don't let him down!









P-DOT-S Here's a song, in my opinion, that couldn't describe Patch any better! Click play and listen to it while you consider who to vote for! ;)




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Did ya finish listening to it? Have you heard of it already? What do you think? SO Patch, right?! AH! Patch a.k.a Trouble! <3

P-DOT-DOUBLE S If you vote for Patch, he'll give you a big one of these:


Voting is now closed! For more info on the tournament, click our crush tab at the top!