Post by Tzigane on May 11, 2013 12:22:00 GMT -5
..x.. the basics
Name: Jace
Age: Seventeen
Race: Shadowhunter
Birthday: September 13th
Gender: Male
Eye Color: Sky blue
Hair: Golden blond
getting to know you ..x..[/color]
General Appearance: Jace tends to remind people of a lion - his feline, predatory grace, his golden mane, his sharp eyes, chips of amber glittering in them. It's in the way he can explode into action with but a second's notice or the predatory way his eyes can track someone. In lesser degree it is in the wiry muscles that cover his lean limbs and the thin scars that mar his golden-tanned skin, worn with pride and confidence. There's always an air of danger and power about him, a certain cocky confidence in his skills that makes him almost larger than life, makes it hard for him to fade into the background, although that is an art he has long since learned: stealth seemes to be second nature for him.
Most of the time he is dressed in Shadowhunter gear, the heavy leather a familiar comfort. When out of said gear, it's usually another pair of (tight) black pants, black, gray, white or blue wife-beater or shirt and a leather jacket. That, or his pajamas, which tend to be on the ratty side. Small creature comfort, if you ask him. Seldom does he wear his hair tied back in a braid or ponytail, but when he chooses that option, it tends to be slightly messy. As much as he takes pride in his appearance and uses it to his benefit, he doesn't take much care of it. Bruises, small cuts and scrapes tend to litter his arms and hands, as half the time he is too lazy to draw a healing rune. It's hardly a discomfort for him, anyway.
Playby: Jamie Campbell Bower
Talents:
- Excellent Shadowhunter
- Quite charming
- Playing the piano
- Superb with weapons (well, any kind of fighting)
- Languages
Interests:
- Shadowhunter duties
- Playing the piano
- Weapons/fighting
Clary
Personality: Jace is... Hard to capture in words. He is like an onion, with many different layers, every time you peel one back, there's another one. At the surface, he is an insanely arrogant, charming young brat who has a reply to everything someone tells him, loves to quip and be flippant when sarcasm doesn't do the job adequately and is not at all afraid to insult people, sometimes in such ways it even looks like a compliment. Despite that, he is charming, especially to the fairer sex, often needing nothing more but a smile or two and some kind words. His confidence is staggering, especially because even if he doesn't have any trouble to 'get it on' with aforementioned fairer sex, he doesn't form emotional attachments.
Only a select dozen or so have managed to worm their way into his guarded heart, past his walls, some of them long since dead. His 'father', for one, though he firmly falls in the 'hate category' of persons Jace knows now. Clary, the Lightwoods, the whole band that went through the hardships of the past year or so. Even then, trust is still an iffy thing for him, hard to gain and surprisingly easy to lose. And once lost is forever lost, where it concerns him. Though he no longer sees the world in black and white, it is the way he was taught. Part of his arrogance and confidence can easily be backed up by him; another part is slowly fading after years of indoctrination from Valentine in disguise of his 'father', Michael Wayland, learning him the teachings of the Circle before the Uprising. Jace is never one to blindly follow what someone says, though, quite capable of forming his own opinion and making himself heard. Loudly. Though very aware of etiquette and protocols, he has no problems breaking the rules whenever he feels it is necessary.
Jace has endured many hardships in his life, from an abusive childhood to certain more recent traumatic events. Body and heart have been broken more than once, and though he seems to be together again, cracks have formed. Deep inside, he's still a teenager who has seen and done far too much awful things and just needs someone to be there for him, to love him and to heal him. There's a deep well of pain, rage and hatred inside him, most of which he channels in both his sarcastic (and very nasty) remarks and fighting - one of the ways in which he relaxes. When he does something, he does so with conviction, be it (picking) a fight or falling love.
Though the world was fairly black and white for him, being raised his entire life to certain values (some of which were downright snobbish, like the Shadowhunters' attitude towards Downworlders and 'mundies'), he has maintained a strong moral compass, as such being incapable of murdering his own father in cold blood, despite what good it would yield.
Even if he is part angel, moreso than regular Shadowhunters, Jace has a pretty scary dark side, courtesy to his 'father'. Cruelty, sadism and ruthlessness are concepts that are not foreign to the angelic boy. He is extremely vindictive, especially on behalf of those he cares for and wishes to protect. As lethal as he is in a good mood, try him while he is seething. It may not show easily, for Jace has long since mastered the art of maintaining an expressionless mask, he will turn positively terrifying.
Weaknesses:
- Has serious trust issues
- Quite impulsive and reckless
- Not versed in 'normal human behavior'
- Seems incapable of shutting up, even when an occassion calls for it
- Has endured a lot of hardships in the past; they've left some cracks in his inner psyche
- Can be seriously cruel or sadistic
- Currently burns everyone who touches him but Clary; while against enemies this might be considered a strength, it's also a burden to Jace
Strengths:
- Very experienced Shadowhunter; has done this for roughly a third of his life already, having killed ore 500 demons already, including Agramon, the Demon of Fear
- Determined; doesn't do things by half
- Shadowhunter version 2.0; not only does he carry the customary blood of Raziel in his veins, he also carries that of Ithuriel, allowing him to surpass all other Shadowhunters when it comes to nearly everything, such as speed, strength, stamina, coordination, agility, durability, reflexes, senses and even his leaping ability
- Speaks several languages, including Romanian, Italian and Latin
- Left-handed by nature, ambidextrous by training
- Fiercely protective of those he cares about
- Intelligent
- Will do whatever it takes if that's necessary
- Charming
..x.. your past[/color]
History: Jace was born a Herondale, though that little fact was soon lost in chaos - first Stepehen died, killed in the Uprising, soon followed by his wife Celine by her own hand, still heavily pregnant of their son. A son that was cut from the womb by Valentine and raised by the man, who pretended to be (the already dead) Michael Wayland, with Jace as his own son. His life wasn't per se easy, but he didn't know any better, and he was raised in a loving, but harsh way. The first ten years of his life were spent that way. Jace was taught the Shadowhunter ways from early on, being trained how to use weapons, how to draw runes, how to survive. In his free time, the golden-haired boy liked to read to entertain himself and, in the brief time the bird lived, a falcon he had to tame. It was through that falcon that a lesson he still can hardly shake was that to love was to destroy, and to be loved was to be destroyed.
It wasn't long after that that Michael Wayland was bloodily murdered in his own home, in front of the eyes of his kid. Jace, alone and traumatized, was shifted around a few times before he was sent to the New York Institute, where he didn't exactly fit in quite so easily, already ahead where it came to training and skills. Still, as time passed, he seemed to thaw out, started talking
That ended during a routine hunt. Eidolon demon in a local club; should've been easy and smooth. Instead, they were spotted by a mundane. And told Valentine was back. They let rumors be rumors, but the mundie? She required some attention. Besides, there was something about her that had caught Jace's attention. And so he confronted her, heard half a hysteric phonecall and got his Sensor stolen by her, interrupting just in time to save her from... Well, the Ravener demon she sort of already had killed by herself. The escape-part was something he could still help with, risking a guess and giving her a Mark for invisibility to get her past the demonic cops and back to the Institute, having a gut feeling she was someone important.
She turned out to be just that; a block in her mind strong enough it warrants visiting the High Warlock of Brooklyn (who conveniently also was the one to place it there and sign it), a rescue mission to save her mundie friend who had been turned into a rat, escaping on a vampire's motorcycle
It was at Renwick's that he was found again, by Clary of all people. Before they even reached the rescue part, though, revelations piled upon revelations, mainly that he and Clary shared a father. Shared blood. And, as it turned out, a mother too. It nearly tipped him over the edge, the confession of love and literal kinship. But then he tipped back, rising against his father, but unable to kill Valentine, while he had the chance twice.
Life almost returned to normal after that. He went back to the Institute, back to fighting demons, even if Hodge wasn't there to guide them. And okay, so perhaps all their tangles didn't go quite as effortless (apparently, mostly extinct isn't good enough for Alec), it was almost normal again, or at least what constituted normal in Shadowhunter society. That lasted all of a week before Maryse Lightwood returned, had a serious talk with him that mostly was her accusing him of being Valentine's minion and spy within the Institute and kicked him out none too friendly. Of course, his first reaction was to run to a pub and get drunk - or pick a fight, whichever came first. Turned out it was the fight, which only led to something much, much bigger.
First of which was a pending trial by the Soul-sword by the Inquisitor herself. First thing she did
He was there, locked up, when the Silent Brothers were murdered on orders of Valentine, who spared him - and stole the Mortal Sword. Shortly afterwards, he was saved by Clary, Alec and Isabelle, aware now of a bigger game, but unable to expand on it, to answer the questions asked, ending in being sent to Magnus Bane for medical attention and confinement.
From there, things went from bad to worse, starting with a trip to the Seelie Court and having to kiss his sister
A lead that led him to a boat. Valentine's boat. Where he saw Clary - only it wasn't Clary, it was Agramaon, the Demon of Fear.
And there, on the boat, he asked the question, but didn't get a satisfactory answer... Or so he thought at the time. Holding the Mortal Sword, he was granted a sneak peek to what would become his father's demonic army.
Of course, nothing is that simple. The next morning, it turns out that the Inquisitor was spying on him by means of a shard of the Portal Mirror he kept with him, hoping to catch glimpses of his father and of his old home, back when his life made sense. It resulted in his arrest by said Inquisitor, being taken off again, back to the Institute, where he was held in a trap called the Malachi Configuration, manacles eating at the skin of his wrists. Attempts to convince the Inquisitor of what was about to transpire went unheard, no matter how hard he tried. It was Alec that provided him the clues to get out, the speech to bolster his confidence that let him leap out of the Malachi Configuration - a solid thirty feet to the ceiling with no headstart to speak of. After a brief chat with Isabelle, including being patched up the old-fashioned way, he broke out of the Institute intent on going after Valentine, wanting the man stopped and to save the mundie/bloodsucker he might actually like. With Clary and Luke part of the 'rescue effort', they went to the waterfront to meet up with Magnus, who would provide him with a way to reach the boat and deal with the wardings. Even on the way the fight already begun, but it didn't burst out in its entirety until Clary was taken by a demon, brought to Valentine. The fight was hard and ugly, just him and Luke against hordes of demons, Oni and Moloch and others alike. They held on by the skin of their teeth until finally the Shadowhunters arrived in the nick of time, the Inquisitor dragging him off as the fight continued - for a talk of all things. Unwilling to waste time when he should be fighting, should be saving his friends, he nearly didn't listen, only pausing when she threw herself in front of a Scorpios' demon sting to save his life. With her dying breath, she revealed her secret to him, leaving him reeling before he fell back in the fight, doing what he did best. Just in time to see Isabelle get splattered with poison, to see Alec get hurt.
His last stand begun.
Having fallen through the corroded, rotten deck, he met his Father again - only it wasn't Valentine, it was Agramon. And he killed him, the Demon of Fear. But that was not the end. Following a trail of blood, he found Simon's body, devoid of blood but still alive. So he did soemthing he had never imagined being possible: he let Simon drink his blood. Something Valentine didn't particularly approve of, when he found out mere minutes (and an iratze) later. Nor that Jace killed Agramon. Upon the confrontation with Valentine, he let Clary have her mother's stele, trusting her to save them - and the Nixies he'd send a message earlier. The Queen of Seelie Court couldn't lie, after all.
The battle over, life returned to a semblance of normality, even with two of the three Mortal Instruments gone, Valentine still alive, and so many Shadowhunters dead. The colossal meeting in Idris wasn't unexpected, and Jace wasn't really sorry he had to go - as long as he could keep Clary save. It seemed all to be working out until their party, waiting for the Portal, was ambushed by Forsaken, leading him to drag the vampire through the Portal to Idris, saving his undead life. It's in Alicante he first met Sebastian, as well as many other Shadowhunters, like Aline, with whom he flirted mercilessly and quite possibly more. It's through her that Clary's send off again, a harsh fight between them enough of an opportunity for him to drive the girl he loved away once more.
Days later, Jace shows up in Amatis' home, offering his apologies to Clary, fight again over Simon's imprisonment and making good again to travel to the Wayland Manor, his knowledge of his childhood home helping finding the spellbook Clary needed. It was there they found an angel, tortured and almost broken in the cellar of the home, years upon years of captivity and torture having taken its toll on him. Ithuriel was its name, and his revelations were beautiful and terrible, one of them being that Jocelyn's son had been given demon blood. Jace let the angel kill himself, destroying the house at the same time. Him and Clary barely escaped alive, something he wasn't sure of he was happy with - the revelation nearly shattered him. Upon return in Alicante the city is in flames, chaos reigning the streets while they end up breaking out Simon and his 'roommate', who turns out to be no one other than Hodge Starkweather. As it turns out, Sebastian is not who he claimed to be: after the revelation that Lake Lyn is the last of the Mortal Instruments, Sebastian murders Hodge and takes off after Jace and his friends fight with him. Upon returning to the Hall, he finds out along with Alec, Clary and Simon that Max is murdered by Sebastian, nearly breaking his heart. He may be part demon, he may be not related by blood, Max was a beloved little brother to him. He finds comfort in Clary, sleeping with her (literally sleeping) before taking off, leaving her a note that warns her he's off to find Sebastian.
Jace finds Sebastian with Valentine, who wants to Summon Raziel, leaving Jace to battle Sebastian, who is the one to inform him of the true familial bonds - that Jace's father is not Valentine, but rather Stephen Herondale, making him and Clary unrelated by blood. It doesn't stop the greater scheme, though, which would involve Clary being the sacrifice to Valentine's summoning. Jace stops him at a great cost - his own life. Inadvertently, that also means he's the one used for the sacrifice. Raziel brings him back to life, though, a single wish granted to Clary.
Upon meeting again, he and Clary finally admit their feelings and kiss, finally able to be together.
Not long after, he starts to have bad dreams - as in, he dreams he murders Clary. Afraid this is a precursor to reality, he started avoiding her. He's not very successful with that, actually nearing the point of reaching next base with her when he practically injures her with a knife. Terrified and disturbed of himself, he confesses his nightmares to Clary. They go to the Silent Brothers for help, who inform him that because of his 'rebirth', he wasn't properly protected by the rituals anymore, open to demonic influences. Remaining in the Bone City (in a cell) out of free will, his dreams continue, showing him Max prompting him to try and cut out the rotten part of him - only Max was Lilith in disguise, using Jace's own blood to put him under her influence with a single rune. Escaping the Silent City, he kidnaps Clary from Luke & Jocelyn's engagement party, binding her with a rune... Just not the rune he told her about. He brings her to Lilith, where he is witness to Jonathan (Sebastian) being brought back to life. Clary doesn't want to see, and still loving her deeply, Jace embraces her, shielding her from it - allowing her to cut him, breaking the run and thus its hold over him. After watching Clary be hurt by Lilith, and then Lilith being killed by Simon and his Mark of Cain, the Clave appears, leaving him alone on the roof sharing a moment with Clary. Ashamed of them and the weakness he displays, he revels in her reassurances. Being left as she goes to check up on the others, Lilith's rune heals, Jonathan (Sebastian) returns to life and takes control of Jace, forcing him to finish the ritual. After that, he vanishes.
Two weeks later, in which he tried to resist, to fight back, but was incapable of doing so, he felt Clary nearby while he and 'Sebastian' were bantering in a library, finding one more piece to making a second Mortal Cup. That night, he showed up in her room, his feelings for her still there, telling her about the library and said feelings, asking her if she'd join them. Untimely, his 'other half' intrudes, breaking the moment. In a moment of privacy, he again tries, when Jocelyn finds them. In the fight that ensues, Jace barely stops Sebastian from killing Luke. As they disappear, he silently promises Clary he'd come back for her.
And he does so, fairly soon even, when she comes to join them. He rejoices in that, glad to see her again - possessed or not, he still loves her. Whilst unbeknownst to him the others work on a way to kill Sebastian without killing Jace, they're working on creating a second Mortal Cup to destroy the Greater Demons. It is during that time that Jace gets injured in a fight, temporarily disabling the possession due to a broken rune. In this brief period of time he tells Clary all he knows, including that he loves her. As they get intimate, he pulls back, unwilling to spoil their first time together because of 'him'. Still free of possession, he reveals to Clary that he intends to turn himself in to the Clave, willing to face their punishment, whatever it is, for the crimes he committed while possessed. He doesn't get that far, though, due to the rune healing and thus the possession of Sebastian taking effect again.
The second Mortal Cup complete and ready for use, Sebastian tries it out on Amatis. When the other Shadowhunters, including Simon and Magnus (as well as Alec and Isabelle) arrive, battle is inevitable. In that battle Jace gets stabbed in the heart with the heavenly blade Glorious, setting him ablaze with light, leaving the others to the conclusion he has met his demise. But as the battle ends with the death of the dark Shadowhunters and Sebastian fleeing, his heart is still beating. He was hanging on by a thread, and that was enough. Returned to the Institute, he is allowed to recuperate there from his severe wounds. And he does so, coming out better than ever, albeit with some side effects. Getting stabbed by a blade of Heaven and surviving left an ember of sacred fire within him, burning everyone who touches him - except for the girl he still loves and that, against all odds, still loves him. Perhaps now life can finally turn normal again, though Jace seriously doubts that.
Family:
Stephen Herondale, biological father, deceased
Robert Lightwood, adoptive father
Cecile Herondale, née Montclaire, deceased
Maryse Lightwood, née Trueblood, adoptive mother
Alec Lightwood, parabatai & adoptive brother
Isabelle Lightwood, adoptive sister
Max Lightwood, adoptive brother, deceased
RP Sample: Jace had perfected the art of being unpredictable. He did things people didn't expect him to do, acted rash and impulsive at nearly all times, his train of thought only logical and understandable to himself. Even those that knew him well, like Isabelle, Alec and Clary couldn't quite pin him down all the time. Part of that had to do with recent events, part of with who he was. Something he, frankly, wasn't all too clear about himself. He'd been born a Herondale, ripped from his mother's womb by Valentine Morgenstern, raised first as a Wayland and then as a Lightwood, before he was practically kicked out during a stressful time and left to fend for himself for a while. Recent events hadn't helped: being killed not once but twice, idem dito for being possessed. It had been a tough year on them all. He was strong and he knew it, but it also meant that he was carrying the burden of that weakness alone. Nobody else needed to carry it for him; having someone carry it with him had honestly not thought about it.
He had been raised since birth to believe that to love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be destroyed. And even if his love for Clary made him stronger, it also made him more vulnerable. He despised weakness, found it dangerous in so many ways. And he knew that he was dangerous right now, moreso than he normally was. Though confusion was a big word for it, he did have a minor identity crisis, not being able to label who he was, with whom he belonged. Only Clary let him feel at home, made him feel like he belong. Clary and, in a lesser degree, Alec, his parabatai. His other half in battle. His neglected other half in battle.
Frowning a little, he ran a hand through his golden locks before digging up the already slightly crumpled letter from his pocket. Amatis had hidden it within some of his stuff, leaving the letter from his birth father for him to find at a later date, when he was better, physically and mentally. He'd found it a few days ago and had read it multiple times since. It didn't explain much, didn't tell him much, nothing new. All he could remember without re-reading it was the plea for him to be a better man. A better man than his father. Valentine's second in command after Luke was... Relinquished from that duty due to circumstances not entirely his fault. The letter had kept him awake at night, spending them up in the greenhouse of the Institute just pondering. One simple request from the man that had been absent from his life but had played a role in it.
One simple request.
And he had failed. He had committed crimes, played a part in the Mortal War and nearly the destruction of the Shadowhunters. His death had opened the doors to unspeakable things. He had allowed an angel to commit suicide. One simple request, and he wasn't even close to being a better man than his biological father. It was one of the reasons he didn't carry the name Herondale, even if he was entitled to it. Wayland worked; Lightwood felt good. Herondale was the name he ought to carry, but wasn't worthy of. Not yet, anyway. With a growl, he lept of the edge he was perched on, landing lightly on his feet like a cat landing on its paws, crossing the greenhouse in a few long, easy strides as he clenched his fist, rumpling the piece of paper even more. He didn't need to read the words anymore, though. As much as he tried to tell himself he only remembered the request of being a better man, he knew the letter by heart, word for word. He hadn't spoken to anyone about it, one more burden he was carrying himself, but in the end? This burden might just turn out to be feathers ready to be blown apart by the wind, scattered around, rather than lead weighing him down.
almost finished now ..x..
[/color]Characters Quote: To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed
Anything else?: There's no need to clarify my finger snap.
Custom Title: To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed
User Name: Tzigane[/center]
