YA Love Triangle Week Winners!

The Posters

I'm sad to see it gone but I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the week! So now it's time to see the winners of the whole thing! The voters have spoken and the pair that was the most creative, the most cohesive and had the best arrangement overall is...

Kari and Ashley

who represented

Team Adrian vs Team Dimitri

Erica O. said "I picked this team because they list the bad and the good of both characters. They are fair and ho nest and they weren't partial to one person."

Congrats to these wonderful girls! You each will win a one book that has a YA triangle in it from The Book Depository.

Thanks to all the contestant who wrote articles. Awesome job to all of you who participated and made YA Love Triangle Week great!

The Voters

So we had quite a few wonderful people who voted for the arguments. I want to thank each one of you for taking the time to read the arguments and vote for your favorites. So here we go...

I plugged in the numbers on a Random Number Generator

I got the results

The first winning number was... Brooke from Brooke's Box of Books

The second winner was... Ivalice Alliance 

Both girls have won one book featured during the week (of their choice) from The Book Depository.

Thanks so much to everyone for voting, reading the arguments and making this such a successful event. Stay tuned for the winner of The Iron King giveaway (will be posted within a few days) and look out for more details on First Come, Second Served month heading your way!

YA Love Triangle Week Reminder To Vote

Two days left guys!

Get your votes in for a chance to win your choice of the novels mentioned in all of the posts. You could be one of the two lucky winners!

Voting Form

YA Love Triangle Week: Team Stefan vs. Team Damon

Team Stefan vs. Team Damon

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Team Stefan

Team Stefan is represented by Emily of It's Just Life As I know It who is now taking over this post!

The Salvatore brothers. Yummy. But I have to say, I have a clear preference.

Stefan Salvatore. *sigh* I say the name. I see the name. I think the name. *sigh*

It is not just looks. If it were just looks, Damon could easily fit the bill. No, this is the complete package. Stefan has it all.

• Stefan is willing to do anything for the girl he loves. Yes, it's true. He will do anything. Drive miles and miles to find vervain. Promise to get along with and take care of his brother who hates him. Find a way to give up immortality and become human.

• Stefan is a great friend. He makes friends easily because he's just a nice guy. Even with his girlfriend's ex. They become best buds.

• Stefan is a great brother. Face it, his brother hates him. But does that stop Stefan from caring for him? No. He can't help it. He will always protect his brother and stick up for him. He gets mad sometimes and says things he doesn't mean, but in the end he sticks by Damon. Even though Damon is trying to take his girl.

Yes, I see where Damon can overwhelm a girl. And I will always hold a soft spot in my heart for him. But he can't equal the perfection that is Stefan. And don't forget, if you don't have your vervain, it's likely Damon has likely just compelled you.

~Emily

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Team Damon

Team Damon is represented by Emilie of Emilie's Book World who is now taking over this post!

Okay, so here’s the deal: Team Damon is the team to be on. I had my doubts about it too at first, I’ll admit it. But I came to my senses soon enough and now don’t even think about trying to get me to change back over to Team Stefan. It’s just not going to happen, so deal with it.

There is just so much more to Damon than there is to Stefan. Other than the fact that he loves Elena, is more or less a good guy all around and his good looks, what else is there really to Stefan? That’s what I thought, not that much. Damon on the other hand has a lot more to offer: he’s mysterious, dangerous, has his moments with humor and of course he’s pretty damn hot as well. And that’s only on the surface. 

When he finally gets the guts to open up and show more of himself, Damon can be an absolutely great guy. Sometimes you can just tell that he wants to be better he just hasn’t figured quite how to do it yet. But when he finally does, he will be just as if not more lovable than Stefan, believe me when I say this. He has his moments when he can be so amazing, both in the original series and the new one. In the new series, particularly the latest book, you can see more and more of his good side start to appear and that just makes me love him that much more.

And let’s not forget about the TV show. How can you not love Ian Somerhalder playing Damon. I mean just the eyes is enough to get most girls to fall right in love with him. And more and more on the TV show, you start to see his good side come through. Stefan’s not the only one who loves and wants to save Elena at all costs. Damon wants just the same thing, he just has a different way of showing it. 

Basically it all comes down to this, Damon can be just as soft, sensitive and sweet as Stefan but he can also be a total badass which just makes him that much more awesome. Maybe I’m biased and the fact that I have a major tendency to fall for bad boys probably doesn’t help either, but Team Damon is the way to go. You can believe whatever you want but Damon will always be better than Stefan for me.

In case it isn’t clear yet. If you aren’t on TEAM DAMON, you are most definitely on the wrong team.

~Emilie

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So there you have it! Please vote who you would choose based on these two arguments and stick around for more guest posts and the final round of voting!

YA Love Triangle Week: Team Bill vs. Team Eric

Team Bill vs Team Eric 

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Team Bill

Team Bill is represented by Mad Scientist from Steampunkery & Books who is now taking over this post!

Readers!

Do you like a man with Southern Charm?

Do you like your men sexy?

Do you like a man who is older then you?

Do you like your man with a smothering scowl?

Do you like a man who can curl your toes? 

Look no further because Bill Compton is a older gentleman with a slightly tortured soul.  But we can fix that for him.  Right ladies?!  He is essentially a good guy but the vampire tourtured soul sometimes makes him thing otherwise.

We might be able to use this to our advantage.  Sometimes all a twisted mind needs is a few hours in the bedroom.

If you love a tormented man with sharp fangs and manners Bill Compton is your man! 

Take a Peak at his Sexy Line!! 

Noteworthy Quotes:

"Sweetheart," Bill said formally, "I have always loved you, and I will be proud to die in your service. When I'm gone, say a prayer for me in a real church." 

Sookie Stackhouse: [after they have made love] Doesn’t it get old for you? I mean you’ve been doing it for over a hundred years. Doesn’t it get predictable? 

Bill Compton: Not with you it doesn’t. You’re entirely different. And the beauty and the tragedy of it is that you don’t know just how different you are.  There’s nothing more natural than the act of making love. Who am I to try to change what comes naturally to you. 

Sookie Stackhouse: But if you could change something… 

Bill Compton: I wouldn’t change a thing. 

Sookie Stackhouse: [awakes to find Bill licking at her open head wound] Do I taste different from other people?

Bill Compton:  Yes. What are you?
Sookie Stackhouse:  Well, apparently I'm not dead. What I am is telepathic. I can hear people's thoughts.
Bill Compton:  Even mine?
Sookie Stackhouse:  No. That's why I like you so much. I can't hear you at all. You have no idea how peaceful it is after a lifetime of "blah, blah, blah."  

Bill Compton:  May I ask you a personal question?
Sookie Stackhouse: Bill, you were just licking blood out of my head. I don't think it gets much more personal than that.

Another Reason to Vote Team Bill

Stephen Moyer is featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine’s April 2009 issue on their list for TV’s Sexiest Bad Boys, Page 62.

Who Loves Bill? 

Michelle Forbes who played the wickedly sinister Maryann, on season 2 of True Blood.

Michelle confessed that she will always be Team Bill:

“Oh, I’m Team Bill all the way. I’m Stephen Moyer all the way! I love that man!”

These Two Belong Together!! 

Just another reason Bill is the one. Look at these two...  What a great couple! I would have to agree that Sookie needs a man who has manners. Southern accent, Southern charm and Southern Looks!

When will she choose?

Who will she choose?

Who do you choose?

Vote Bill

Portrayed & Praised by:

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Team Eric

Team Eric is represented by Nafiza of Biblophilic Monologues who is now taking over this blog!

So here I am, all set to argue for Eric. Now, before I actually fling myself into my argument, let me just say that I don’t watch True Blood – I just haven’t had the time for it – but I am a fan of the Sookie Stackhouse novels so everything I say will be based off that. This also means that if you haven’t read the latest book, you might be spoiled. Sorry!

Why Eric, you may ask? 

Well, let’s consider our choices then.

• ·         Bill.

Yes, he must be mentioned. How could he not? He is/was (depending on who you ask really) Sookie’s first real love. And he’s dependable. (Just like diapers.) And in love with Sookie – wait, is he? Really?

Um. Not really. Not if this new estranged love of his life has anything to do with it. Actually, they are not really estranged anymore since the Queen has died and left the field open for the ex-lover to return and be reinstated lover. 

Those complications aside, I can’t feel the chemistry between Sookie and Bill as anything but a natural reaction one has to something new. (Was he not the first vampire Sookie had actual dealings with?)

He’s somebody’s great grandfather. This is not to imply that grandfathers (even great ones) can’t be sexy. Sure they can but IT’S STILL CREEPY! I’m sorry, I’m a horrible person but the entire idea of a grandpa vampire is…well, not enough to elicit any sort of swoony sighs from me.

• ·         Sam?

Sam is awesome, okay? I totally love him and if Ms. Harris were inclined to go in that direction, I’d be really tempted to skip teams but as it is, that particular duet has yet to be sung. (Hurhur.)

• ·         The White Tiger (I don’t remember his name.)

Can you say emotional issues? You can’t? Well, I can. Sure, true love is blind but real love means jumping in with your eyes wide open and you can’t jump if the man you are with has emotional baggage the size of Alaska. It’s rather unfortunate though. He was written quite smexily.

There’s also the pack leader of the Werewolves whose name I can’t remember either. But he behaves in such a chauvinistic manner that whatever attraction there was in him has dried up to the size of a microscopic raisin. 

This leaves us with the infuriating but gorgeous Eric.

I’ll admit it, okay? The man isn’t perfect. In fact, he is so far from it that it would take him years to find just the meaning of the word. But don’t you think that his very imperfections are a part of his charm? Sure, we all want Prince Charmings (who would ideally not need blood to survive but hey, as long as he flashes fang sexily, we’ll forgive him) who are the personification of ideals we have nurtured – always rescuing us in their white Ferraris, always there with a smile and a plate of pineapple – okay, this may be my fantasy alone, heh, but bear with me – but the truth is, that real relationships tend to last longer when imperfect people get together and try to make things work.

Because let’s face it, perfection while intriguing at first is ultimately boring. Eric and Sookie’s relationship is so interesting because of the difficulties that they face maintaining it.

The one thing that stuck with me is the fact that Eric was not present to play Rescuer of the Damsel in A Lot of Distress during The Great Fae Attack. A lot of bad things happened and understandably, Sookie was more than a little upset by Eric’s absence. To contrast, Bill most certainly was present and he did save Sookie like a certain chivalric knight I love to hate (Lancelot, in case you were curious). 

However, Eric makes it very clear that had it been possible, he would have been right where Bill was, doing what Bill did but life doesn’t work that way. The situation he had been in made it impossible for him to get to Sookie in time. 

It made me wonder, you know, what Ms. Harris intended with this set up. Bill was presented as the chivalric hero in that instant while Eric, no matter was his reasons were, forfeited his worthiness (dare I say?) by not being there when Sookie needed him the most. Was this intended to contrast the differences between the two men vying for Sookie’s affections? Were we supposed to pick one against the other?

Bill is shown in a more positive light in this scenario.

Yet…

Say all the other men I mentioned as possible contenders for Sookie’s love disappeared and things came to a triangle between Bill and Eric.

I’d pick Eric simply because he isn’t anyone’s great grandpa. (Or it hasn’t been revealed that he is. Who knows what the future holds?)

I’m just kidding. Honest!

The real reason I’d pick Eric is simply because Bill destroyed any trust I had in him when it was revealed that he got close to Sookie because of his Queen’s commands. The fact that he plays with Sookie’s feelings like they cohere into a special brand of yo-yo does not help him either. 

Eric, on the other hand, ruffian that he is, has this clean (I can’t find any other word that more aptly describes it) honesty where his feelings for Sookie are concerned. He wants her. He loves her. And while that love may be marred and flawed, he is at least honest about it. There are no guessing games about that and I appreciate the simplicity of that.

It doesn’t hurt that he is gorgeous as well. Yes, I am a shallow woman, woe on me. 

I will also point out that he seems to have as many emotional issues (if not more, isn’t he older than Bill?) as Bill, The Grampire (Grandfather and Vampire, yes, I know, I’m hilarious) but he deals with them much better than Bill does.

And Eric is cool.

I know that’s an immature thing to use as a comparison between two men because as an educated woman, I am supposed to be more discerning but come on, Eric is cool. Bill? Not so much. (Grampire.)

Anyway, this is how I will end my defense of Eric as the one true love (unless Ms. Harris brings in new characters who are sexier nicer) for Sookie. I will reiterate that my opinion has been solely by reading the series and I have not seen the TV show. Who knows, my opinion might change if I were to watch the show. 

Did I convince you?

Yea? Nay?

Whether the answer is in the affirmative or not, I hope you had as much fun reading this little piece as I had in writing it.

~Nafiza

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So there you have it! Please vote who you would choose based on these two arguments and stick around for more guest posts and the final round of voting!

YA Love Triangle Week: Interview with Cassandra Clare (Author of The Mortal Instrument Series)

I'm so excited to be able to post an interview with Cassandra Clare. She was nice enough to agree to an interview and her answers were so fascinating. Again, I focused on the boys we love and how she writes love triangles. I really hope you enjoy!

1) What is Simon's best attribute? Why would he be a good match for Clary?

Simon has a lot of great attributes. He's loyal, he's brave, he's devoted, he's smart. He and Clary have known each other forever and he still loves her, which means he loves the real her, the her with no makeup, the her with messy hair, the her covered in grease pencil, the her with chicken pox. He's already a part of her family and her mom loves him. They also have similar interests and values.

2) What's Simon's biggest flaw? 

Stubborness and over-sensitivity. If he wasn't so worried about how it would make him look, he would have told Clary and the others what was going on with him in the beginning of Ashes and thus saved himself — well, let's just say, a lot of pain.

3) Is there something about Simon that didn't make it into the books that you'd like to share? A fun fact that we should know?

He keeps his father's wedding ring on his keychain. It has an inscription in Hebrew that comes up later.

4) Do you have a favorite line that Simon says off the top of your head?

I think his speech about how telling your family you're a vampire is like coming out. 

5) Is there something you'd like to say to all the Simon supporters out there?

Look, I love Simon. Out of all the characters in the book I relate to him the best. Anyone who loves Simon gets on my good side automatically! 

6) What is Jace's best attribute? What makes him good for Clary?

Jace is also loyal and brave, smart and devoted; he never abandons or leaves behind the people he loves. In fact, once he loves someone, it takes a lot to dismantle that. You can see it in his relationship with his father. I think he's good for Clary because he admires those qualities in her, her bravery and her devotion to the people she loves, despite his protectiveness, he understands why she does the things she does. He's also totally devoted to her. There's a lot to be said for a guy for whom you really will always come first.   

7) What is Jace's biggest flaw?

Unfortunately it's also one of Clary's flaws: he takes risks, and tends to act before he thinks. He's more self-destructive than she is though. 

8) Is there something about Jace that didn't make it into the books that you'd like you share? 

He is secretly annoyed that Alec is taller than him. 

9) Do you have a favorite line of Jace's off the top of your head?

'My rapier wit hides my inner pain.' 

10) What would you like to say to all the Jace supporters?

The second cycle of the TMI books is going to be a wild ride for you guys. 

11) When you originally sat down to write City of Bones, did you plan a love triangle or did it evolve as you started writing?

Oh, I'm not a seat of the pants writer. I outline everything. I already knew everything that was going to happen to Jace, Clary and Simon before I started writing. The thing about love triangles is that they're as varied as snowflakes, and I think part of what marks their enduring appeal is that at base, they are an allegory for your hero or heroine's choice between two different kinds of lives. Choosing between Jace and Simon, for Clary, was always going to be about choosing between a Shadowhunting life, represented by Jace, and a normal life, represented by Simon.  

12) I hear there is another love triangle sprouting in your newest novel Clockwork Angel between Tessa, Will & Jem. Care to share a little about them for the readers who don't know? I spot a wholenew love triangle and a few boys to add to our love'em list!

I think of the love triangle in Clockwork as a love triangle in its purest sense, more so than in The Mortal Instruments. It is equally weighted toward both boys — we have Tessa, our heroine, a Downworlder with an unusual power, torn between these two Shadowhunters. When I said love triangles were as varied as snowflakes, this is what I was talking about — small alternations change the dynamic enormously. For instance, Jace and Simon can't stand each other. But Will and Jem are best friends, and really devoted to each other. Neither wants to make the other unhappy. They're also both burdened by their own secrets and flaws and in some way need saving — but she can't save them both. It's a lot of fun and I'm getting a big kick out of writing it!

Hopefully this will help you in your choice over which boy your going to side with. I want to give a great big thank you to Cassandra Clare for her brilliant answers and encourage everyone who hasn't gone out to buy these book to do so!