#with no consideration of the people with specific needs who either this won't help or it'll need modifying

[felassan]

Some snippets from DA dev Luke Barrett on the unofficial BioWare forum, cut for length:

DA:I -

User: "I am still convinced that Bioware cut the healing spells and went with barriers instead because of the Multiplayer." Luke Barrett: I can't speak to any other games directly but I can give a bit of historic context for DAI. The game was initially a more dungeon/linear delving - see how far you can get - experience and there was no barrier of any kind. As a side note: healing has always been a hot topic in design because as soon as you include it there are many other conceits you now need take into consideration for the gameplay - one of which I will call 'the Anders problem'. Anyway, as DAI got the date moved and shifted more into the pseudo-openworld the concept of attrition (see how far you can get before having to return to camp) became less relevant and we needed to help the Players have more moment-to-moment agency around their survival. Unfortunately for various reasons (one of which is the sad reality of designing a game with a shifting timeline) the healing couldn't be re-added so we ended up with more of a mitigation strategy in the barrier system. It went through a lot of iterations but eventually landed on what it shipped with which I would call... acceptable (but just barely). Now, I will concede that a part of the reason it didn't return after that shift was an aversion to holy trinity gameplay specifically for MP but it wasn't the core reason. As a side story, trying to balance the game (as that was my job on DAI - and yes, it could be much better haha) we had to all but force Players to take barrier. It is intentionally the first skill in the first tree for the Mage and all the autolevel (I also handled that) is designed to get it right away." [source]

User: "Merry Christmas Luke! Sooo what was the hardest class you had to balance? [DA:I]" Luke Barrett: "I feel like anyone who was around for the post-launch content will already know the answer to this as it was the bane of my existence when I got put exclusively on MP after launch but the Knight-Enchanter barrier absorbing was a pain. Stuff like that is very challenging to feel good without being broken as they are relative to damage so scaling is fairly open-ended. Too little and the casual players won't get use out of it, too much and the character builders will be wildly OP. We actually had a 'no nerfing' guideline for the SP side so it was a hard battle to fix that silly thing 🙃." [source]

"As a fun fact, I did all the logic for autolevel on DAI and the guideline I was given was literally "make functional builds, but don't make something optimal that you'd play"." [source]

DA:TV -

User: "If you can, say thanks to the people making the no die option possible." Luke Barrett: "Done! My team handles this stuff so I let them know 😊" [source]

"Comically, I designed the majority of the items and skills and I am still finding it fun making awesome builds (been almost entirely doing playthroughs lately" [source]

"Was really important to the team that everyone could play the way that felt best to them." [source]

"Each specialization has a focus around a few specific mechanics, some of which are the weapons or damage types but you can go off script and make it work for sure (this was intentional in the designs)." [source]

"I designed all the skills and so they're each enjoyable to me to some extent. I have been playing through the game over and over the last couple months for balance purposes so I've played them all fairly extensively." [source]

User: "Necrotic sounds like it could be either Spirit or Nature." User: "For Rogue, it replace "poison". For Mage, it replace spirit (Spirit bomb). For Warrior, it's more spirit (especially Reaper), but some skills could work as poison too. So basically they merged spirit and nature." Luke Barrett: "Thats pretty close to spot on. They were actually heavily iterated on throughout development - I can't (at least currently) go into specifics as to why though." [source]

"the target for the progression vision is that you can make a viable build out of almost** any aspect of the gameplay." [source]

"As for timelines, We started DA4 in October of 2015 roughly. The entire team was moved to MEA for about 3-4 months to help it ship and I also spent all of 3 weeks helping out on Anthem. But otherwise I've been on some incarnation of DA4 for about 9 years now - pretty ready for it to release 😅." [source]

"yes, years of working on the same thing can cause some burnout but I've played through the full game probably about 8 times in the last few months and it's still fun (though some of the specific levels that haven't changed in a long time I've done 50+ times easily and I could do without ever seeing them again 😂)." [source]

User: "I do kind of feel that at this point the DA team has put so much work into creating and improving their tools and learning the ins and outs of Frostbite [...] But who knows what the devs in the trenches really feel" Luke Barrett: "I will say it does some things very well and some things poorly, relative to other engines. Personally I really enjoy Frostbite but I've been using it since 2012. In an ideal world, many engines would be viable and developers would make games suited to the strengths of a specific engine." [source]

User: "Since this game is much more stat heavy than prior titles, specifically when it comes to skills and gear, there's likely a need for some balance changes to be made post-launch. Does the game being playable completely offline hinder the data capture side for your team (in terms of analytics), or is this a non-factor?" Luke Barrett: "Generally speaking, most people leave data analytics on so we get more than enough data coming in. Additionally, I'll personally be watching several channels for things that are underperforming (relatively speaking) and not have to nerf anything. The rpg side is vast though and I'm sure people will find OP combinations/synergies that might need 'adjustments' but as long as it's fun and not an "I win" button that trivializes combat I'm pretty cool with it." [source]

Luke Barrett: "I can safely say there are many builds for each class that will feel very powerful if you're not on the highest difficulty 😉. What I'm really excited for is when the guides comes out that show people the fastest way to get some of the uniques that unlock 'special' gameplay 😊. Let's just say I love the feeling of rushing to Patches in DS1 and kicking him off the bridge for the Crescent Axe (iykyk)." [source] User: "Speaking of guides. Will there be a guidebook like there was for DAI? " Luke Barrett: "Not that I'm aware of but I'm happy to help feed info to somewhere like fextralife or the dragon age wiki after a week or so to help with those pursuits. Have to leave some time for exploration and discovery before the optimizers streamline the experience 😉" [source]

"Effectively, at least until the game launches (and likely a week or so after), you won't get anything interesting out of any of the devs save Mike Gamble or John Epler. Longer term I hope to be very active, at least for build mechanics and all the combat/rpg nuts and bolts conversations." [source]

"I started "da4" in October 2015 and so after 9 years of effort (minus 3 months on Andromeda) I'm quite excited for tomorrow and the launch week. I don't know if I'd say nervous, I feel pretty confident in the product, but definitely that eager kid before Christmas feeling 😊" [source]

"As the person who did all the balance, I will say that if you are comprehending how to make a cohesive build and understand the combat mechanics, you should play on Underdog. One of the downsides to having a lot of power growth vectors is the difference between people who engage vs those that don't becomes a chasm quite quickly. If you start blowing enemies up rapidly, turn up the difficulty (or play on nightmare where that will not be the case) - basically if it ever feels super easy or like enemies are health sponges you're probably on the wrong setting for your skill level. The custom difficulty settings are there to make the gameplay enjoyable (for whatever that means to you)." [source]

"As a tip from me, the balance is subtly tipped in the players favor until the last fight of the 3rd combat mission. Be warned if it's feeling too easy you may want to wait until after that to decide." [source]

[on DA MP] Luke Barrett: "It was actually pretty fun but very much not what most people wanted us to make (including internally). Also we had, let's say, limited staff who had a passion and background in MP so it was definitely the right call to go SP only. Now, it would have been nice had we just started that way but so it goes sometimes." [source] User: "You still play it yourself from time to time (DA MP), or have you left it be?" Luke Barrett: "After playing variations of DA4 for so many years (9!!!) it's hard to go back to anything with DAI controls/gameplay speed. Even the initial Joplin prototypes I was doing were much more snappy/twitchy - for everything good about DAI the combat was definitely in the middle of two different styles." [source]

[on aiming bows] "we actually used to have separate buttons for ADS and ranged attack but it was wildly overloading the controller. These RPG games need controllers with at least 2 more buttons (fingers crossed for the next gen)" [source]

User: "After the last few games, I'm really surprised by the current skill... tree?" Luke Barrett: "I call it a skill graph - aside from the beginning where you have 3 choices the entirety of it is 2 choice splits and it'll essentially make a build for you. Just go a little at a time and aim for whatever specialization seems most fun to you 😄" [source]

"Loot is not random so theoretically guides with drop locations should appear pretty soon." [source]

"Yep, Spellblade is the only spec that directly impacts fire damage but you can get benefits from most of them and still go fire. As for the specs, yes it would have been nice to support all of them but just wasn't in scope unfortunately. Mage has Mourn-Watch, Shadow Dragons, and Antivan Crows specializations - only the Rogue has a Veiljumper one. Deathcaller left side you can go beam based and use a Fire weapon. Evoker you'd likely need to do a hybrid ice/fire build." [source]

User: "Bit of a side question, but for those who intend to make more characters, is BioWare considering upping the amount of playable character slots you can have (currently at 3)? Or is there a hardware restriction here given the game is offline playable?" Luke Barrett: "Don't quote me as I don't handle the technical side of this but my understanding is we have to allocate a specific amount of HD space on the consoles so we basically have to pick a limit, relative to our save file sizes, and then divide that by number of careers. I'll inquire if this is something we can increase with an optional download or something but I suspect consoles are stuck that way, unfortunately." [source]

[on Patch 1] "It's been awhile since I actually did the content for this patch so I'd have to check but I have a pretty anti-nerf policy for SP games. I know I fixed up a couple enemies that weren't as hard as they were supposed to be and definitely boosted a bunch of synergistic things though. I'll take a look tomorrow but for those that don't know, the turnaround time on these things is about a month of it's not an emergency due to certification process with consoles. Longer term my goal is to keep an eye in telemetry of any underused abilities and items (or enemies with too many kills under their belt) and audit them just to double check if they need a boost or if people just haven't figured them out yet 😉." [source]

"The equippable items are all predetermined with a minor exception*. Some items are class specific (all the weapons, a small amount of armors and accessories, 2 runes) so when you play a different class you'll see your classes 'version' of that item. Things that are random (from a table/pool) are valuables. Exception: Near the very end of the game we do a few checks on what equipment you haven't acquired. A bunch of those final drops, and inventory on the final merchant, simply find stuff you don't have and give it to you. That's basically the only major RNG we have with loot. If you notice even 99% of the skills and item mods employ an effect after a condition is met X times rather than a more traditional 'proc chance'." [source]

[on modding] "Once this starts to pick up, feel free to PM me if anyone needs help 'finding' assets or has questions about how one might mod something. We don't officially support mods buuuuut we don't have any kind of anti-modding stance either" [source]

"To give the high level gist of the resource economy: - each class starts off with minimal ability usage, this is intentional to force people to learn the other combat mechanics as they're a necessary skill and it's easy to lean on a crutch like ability spam and kiting - abilities are designed to feel powerful on use, thus they all have a decent cost and can't be spammed* - weapon attacks generate your resource - in the bottom right of the center skills area is a node to make each class's resource easier to manage - halfway down all starting segments (N, SW, SE) there is always a node that boosts generation - there are +max nodes on all sides of the skill graph for each class, this is particularly important for the Mage as they start each fight at max - each class can build into being ability focused but starts intentionally rounded - loastly, the first ability is always a resource spender and 1 or 2 of the next available ones will be cooldown gated. It is recommended to have at least one cooldown based ability slotted" [source]

"So loosely the rogue momentum works like this: - each ability costs 50 momentum - hitting enemies generates ~2 momentum per hit (base), you get extra for bow weakpoints - when you are directly hit, you lose 15% of your current momentum, this means the more you hold the more you will lose (this loss has a small cooldown so you don't lose a whole bar when you get hit rapidly) - momentum carries forward between combats (compared to warrior rage which decays when out of combat) If youre having issues, make sure you get that skill in the middle section that reduces momentum loss when hit. As a helpful tip, the Quicken buff generates small amounts of momentum each second so it's a good way to get more if you're having issues." [source]

"I highly recommend using the belt that grants Quicken early game until you can generate momentum faster yourself. And yes, the time dilation affects everything in the world except the Player so all your buffs and things still tick at normal speed" [source]

User: "If I knock an enemy off an edge, if they were supposed to drop something will it appear on the edge, or is it lost for good?" Luke Barrett: "It should appear on the ledge. I will say the 'real' loot from enemy drops are all hand placed. The actual random stuff is just valuables and materials." [source]

" The way it actually works is very complicated with a lot of necessary exceptions but loosely - each ability has a base damage and ones that hit multiple times have an offset multiplier. - That value is multiplied by the sum of all your stat bonuses, conditional bonuses, resist and layer modifiers. - We then subtract enemy defense and multiply by 1-resist (with penetration being calculated here). - this new damage then gets multiplied by 1+crit+weakpointpoint (so those bonuses always feel meaty) and then multiplied by a random number between .95 and 1.05 just to give a little range to the floaties (basically just a presentation thing) - we then multiply again for buffs and debuffs so they, again, always feel meaningful - lastly, we take all added damage and add it flat on top" [source]

"Specific enhancements make enemies immune to the matching affliction. For example, Fire Enchanted enemies are immune to burning. Juggernaut enemies are immune to being staggered but otherwise it should work in everything." [source]

[foxmulderautism]

doing the reset and the self care day where i sort things out and take care of my body actually pulling me out of the mental rut i've had for the last week. who could have foreseen this

[zangtang]

I’m a big fan of your recent creation, especially the chunky chav collect. Are you using a single AI imagine create or a combination of tools? Would really like to learn more.

I'm using https://www.bing.com/images/create?FORM=GENILP (If you lose or don't save the link, it's simply the Bing search engine, choose Images, choose Create) Unlike Midjourney, it doesn't really HAVE any tools - but it's still so much more precise that it doesn't really need them. The prompts for the chavs in full was "very rotund 35 year old chav with a large round belly, tracksuit, washing a car, gold chain necklace, carpark at night" You can remove or add details as you please, just bear in mind some words are more heavily weighted against the censor than others: chav, or fat, can result in more censored work, so using slightly off-kilter words like rotund help to be safer. "Chav" can become "London man" or whatever. The moderation is very reactive, and I think it's already changed considerably since last week - "hugging" and "handsome" seem to be okay words now, but I couldn't get them to work earlier. I've got to give SO much credit to people who have helped me in very surprising ways (I won't name them though, they're free to reply to this if they want credit lol.) Many, many details have been either suggested to me or given directly as tested prompts - for example I'd been trying "man falling over another man" and someone recently simply changed it to "falling over another man, rugby field." I then added "low tackle, handsome" and voila! A world of difference!

i'm sure you're not at all curious but.... just in case you were interested, the specific prompt for these was very rotound man, 25 year old, large round heavy belly, fat rugby player, low tackle, falling over another man, rugby field, raining, italian, handsome

Switch "low tackle" to "slide tackle" for variety, change nationality, other than that, exactly the same Also, I implore you to share anything fun you find, it's how we all find better tricks and make each other better. Good luck!

[thewisecheerio]

The "Astarion is just 'I can fix him' as a character" takes are lazy, and I say this as someone who previously fell into that trap before I played through his story. Are you "fixing" a stray cat by making sure they have food and water and shelter? Or are you just providing basic needs that the cat should have had access to in the first place? First, Astarion's story is about an abuse victim. It's about someone trying to escape the cycle of abuse, and dealing with feelings of fear, lack of self worth, and shame. It's not about a psychopath that you can fix with the power of love; it's about the stray cat that is hissing at you out of fear. But even more importantly, you don't sit him down and provide special therapy to him specifically, magically solving all his problems. You provide the same thing you provide to the rest of the camp: shelter, safety, food, and companionship. These are things people are supposed to have access to *anyway*. That's not "fixing"; that's providing basic necessities that were previously denied. Even in the pivotal moment where Astarion has a choice on whether to ascend or not, the player's role is largely secondary. You either agree to his plea for help with the ritual, or you provide your viewpoint for his consideration ("Player: I know you think this will set you free, but it won't. This power will trap you, just like it trapped Cazador."). You're not providing any more guidance than a friend might provide to you if they were worried about something you were about to do. This is an extension of basic companionship, not a magical fix via the power of love. Mechanically, the advice is a roll for persuasion--he doesn't automatically acquiesce--which means that it is ultimately up to him to decide to take or leave that logic. Even if you consider non-ascending Astarion as "fixing", *you* aren't doing it; he's making that choice to either agree (should the roll succeed) or ignore you and do the ritual anyway (should the roll fail). If anyone gets to "fix" Astarion, it's himself. Putting that onto the player actually makes the story weaker. So to sum up, reducing Astarion's plotline to "I can fix him" is both reductive toward his own actions, and overestimates the contributions of the player in the pivotal moment. What the player offers is the basic necessities of shelter, safety, food, and companionship; what follows in regards to his journey toward healing is largely on Astarion himself. A final thought: if providing basic necessities sounds like "fixing" to you, maybe raise your standards, because you deserve better. Enjoy this picture of two strays enjoying each other's company:

[arileartist]

Hi 👋 👋 can I Request Asahi Rin, Ikuya and Hiyori as your senior. I freaking LOVE YOUR writing ✍ 😍. If its not too much

Oh gosh I've been busy in uni for such a long time!

Order for One steaming plate of fluff!!

Just for my cuties~<3

Rin as your Senior:

•Strict. He won't be very chatty with you but he's ready to help you wherever necessary.

•He's not very talkative, but you can tell that he cares. He's kind enough for you to be comfortable around him and feel safe, which he likes to boast about.

•With him comes a free package of having Yamazaki dad- I mean, Sousuke around so you essentially get two expert opinions.

•He'll not show you his emotional side. He believes in a the more traditional rules of senior junior relationship, however he himself finds that erasing those lines will be better after a certain point.

•Mom behaviour. After taking care of Gou, he has developed a sense of nurture. He will tell you to clean up. He will take away your phone. He will scold you for dating the wrong guys. He. Will. Get. Pissed. If. You. Don't. Do. Well. In. English. Although you'll find him giving you chocolates if you do well and will surprise you with random gifts, even if they include goofy ones like animal plushies or funky tees.

•You'll not catch him EVER wasting time. This boy likes to get his success. He lives on it. He'll read books on success, write diaries, do anything BUT waste time. He'll try to push it on those around him as well.

•There's a distance you'll need to cross before he starts being friendly with you. He's not mean, but he's not very easygoing and friendly either. Take the right steps and you might have a very motherly senior~

Hiyori as your senior:

•Brutally honest. The first time you met this guy was probably when he was judging you and you overheard him. He didn't seem too fazed about it either. It's not that he is being mean, he literally doesn't know how to speak with consideration. He only cares about his friends.

•If you do manage to get on his good side, don't expect him to pay much attention to you. Hiyori is the kind of guy who really doesn't care unless he thinks you're important to HIM.

•Yes he'll care about you and he'll give you advice wherever you want him to, but he is not going to go out of his way to ensure you're doing well. He's a sweet talker for sure, but you'd know that his words have little weight behind them.

•You'll definitely get a few glances from Ikuya, who just feels sorry for you if he ever knows that you like Hiyori.

•Hey, but on the plus side, he can definitely cheer you up with food. He's also going to be protective. You'll be receiving mixed signals. This is a true beige flag. On one hand, he'll not give you much importance in the team, however if anyone dares to look down on you in front of him, he's not staying silent either. He'll step up and give a sizzling zap of his spicy words. That's not before he tells you that you need to stand up for yourself though.

•You'll also not see him alone much. He's always going to be with Ikuya. The times you do catch him alone, he's not going to be talkative or conversational. Probably also dry on texts.

•He can't show gestures of affection so you'd get a smiley “Congratulations” and more affirmations from him. Don't expect anything more though.

•In the pool, he'll surely teach you what you need to know, but won't bother asking first. You'll need to tell him that you want to get help specifically from him. That too he'll probably reply with “why me? There are better suited people in the team aren't there~ please go and ask them, if they are busy, then maybe I'll consider it”

Yeah I don't think Hiyori would be a senior you should look up to…

Asahi as your senior:

•Dream senior of anyone tbh. He's hot, he's handsome, and he's blithe. No, it's giving Bokuto but with more brain cells. You can easily rely on him for anything you want and he'll do it for you. Happily. He doesn't care about the senior junior standards set up by the society. If something makes you happy, he'll do it. He's also dense enough to not realise that things he does might be taken in a romantic way.

•He's going to be the guy to take you out with his friends and party together. You will encounter a lot of joyous adventures with this guy. However, if you're someone who's into reading books and staying in, maybe Asahi isn't the senior you'd hangout much with. Just for you though, he's going to be texting you too~ he knows that different people need different forms of persuasion. He'll skiddadle into your texts smoothly with one of his dad joke pick-up lines.

•He WILL defend you if he sees you encountering difficulties with your mates. If anyone tries to pass off a snarky comment, he will call them out. No holds barred.

•He'll also scold you if he catches you doing something harmful. If you tell him you're going through a tough time, he'll do everything he can to support you. He may not understand you, but he will try his best to give you the confidence to face your problems head on. He'll also end up making you laugh while at it.

•He's definitely popular with your classmates and they're gonna be soooo jealous when they find out he's friends with you. You don't even have to call him “senior”.

•You can ring him up anytime and he'll answer. No matter how, no matter where. If he knows something is troubling you, he'll definitely stay up and listen, although you'll have to tell him that you're just trying to find a place to let out your thoughts. He will try to provide solutions because of the way he wants to make everyone comfortable and content.

•Please don't rely on him for educational advice though. I doubt the guy is a straight A’s student.

•You really can't get much better than this. 10/10 senior.

Ikuya as your senior:

•Quiet. In the starting, you didn't even know who he was. You just knew some “Kirishima Kun” because of the cheer squad constantly chanting his name whenever swim came up.

•When you first met him, you immediately notice the guy's standout personality. He doesn't Converse much, doesn't come out much, but mostly, whenever you try to talk to him, he's very dry.

•He WILL take time to warm up to you, but you'll see it little by little. He will try to observe you silently first, and then if you keep talking to him, he'll gradually talk to you normally. Even though his “normal” is still going to be very less.

•You would often ask Hiyori about it, but he shrugs it off saying that's just how Ikuya is.

•If you tried to take advice from him, he'll definitely give you his experience. If you express your problems, he'll pat your head and give you a reassuring look. You won't get much reactions out of him, but you can certainly tell that he cares.

•After all, Ikuya himself doesn't want anyone who's younger to him to feel the way he felt when he was thrown into his lowest.

•You'll find occasional snacks and drinks next to your bag. It's his way of telling you that you're doing well. He may not say it to your face, but he's not afraid to text you. Text is where he talks with you the most. He will send you occasional reels, but Ikuya is also the type of guy who respects the traditional “keep distance between juniors and seniors” rule. He'd be the ideal introverted senior.

•You can always find him peacefully floating in the pool or relaxing. He's always open to listen, however, don't talk to him too much or he might not like it. He values his own space and although doesn't mind being around people who show interest in him, he runs out of social battery pretty quickly.

•He'll give you the neatest notes. You'll be surprised as to how hygienic and well kept he is. Though good luck trying to convince him to lend you any of his stuff.

[commsroom]

i need to relisten to wolf359 bc it was YEARS ago so i don't remember much, but i have this specific idea about hera post-canon

i don't remember if they get her onto the escape vessel (im pretty sure they have to? she has the power of navigation being a literal slave station?) but when they get back to earth, in the chaos that ensues, jacobi makes sure to somehow... store hera? only her personality matrix, if that's possible. he could break into the high performance computing cluster of some university and store her in a little known spot, then "break her out" later.

i don't remember how much in character this is (he seemed a bit more chummy with the haephestus crew by this point), but i imagined him building either (1) a robot body (who knows how common that is on earth at this point) or (2) an eyepiece and earpiece for here's personality to exist in, so she can in SOME way go out, see the world and talk to them still once they're off the escape vessel.

i want her to still be with them even when they're not on a ship anymore.

first: you should absolutely relisten! and you should let me know your thoughts, when you relisten. especially if it's been years, i'd be really curious to know if and how your opinions have changed!

thankfully, you remember right - hera does go back with them, and the final scene and sentiment of the show definitely implies that eiffel, hera, and minkowski intend to stick together. they would fight for her to stay with them. which does get potentially complicated, from both a legal and practical standpoint.

(and i won't get into my thoughts about post-canon jacobi here, but i will say... he went to MIT and was friends with maxwell; he's more likely than eiffel or minkowski or lovelace to know people who know people who could maybe help hera. and wolf 359 loves to put characters in situations where they have to rely on people they don't particularly like. they've even done that with jacobi and hera specifically - ep 57. "sure. fine. as long as it's not jacobi doing it, it's fine." cut to jacobi doing it. of course.)

i don't think AI is actually that common in the world of wolf 359; hera is the first AI eiffel and minkowski have met, and even maxwell, working for the "best AI research lab in the country" was unaware of the existence of "full-minded" AI (however that's defined) until she was recruited by goddard in 2013. my impression is that it's, like, something people are aware of, but it's still very detached from the average person's life, and AI personhood is not even a consideration yet. having an android body would definitely make hera... visible, in some ways that she might not like.

maybe worth noting that goddard is also very into biotech, and there's some interesting... overlap with that and the dear listeners' duplicates in terms of what it asks about 'artificiality', in my opinion. wolf 359 is very much a show about humanity, and i think any post-canon extension of those themes would have to be about... learning to be a person on earth, with all that entails, and the way that applies to hera's situation is meaningful to me. all of which is just kind of a rambling way to say, yes, i'm also totally in favor of hera having a body. like, on one hand, because i think there's something to it as a discussion about disability and bodies in general, with the way it would re-contextualize her experiences on the hephaestus and the pain she's been living with - and that a lot of things she experienced without a body and felt were unique to her, she would still experience with one. but i also think it's the best option for her; i really think anything else would by design deny her autonomy and freedom of movement on earth. from a more sentimental standpoint, i just want her to be able to go to a real beach and put her hands in the ocean.

[dramawatch]

Why this

Dear Reader, IRL I begin my discussions of Asian drama with either a rebuke of American media for it's failure to meet my specific requirements (if the listener is not already a convert), or I bring out my oral manifesto on Why I Like Asian Drama. I will spare you both of these, not only because I'm a tad tired of hearing it myself, but because online such as we are a present, you can walk away very easily, and I won't even see you do it. This eases the tension quite a bit for both of us, if I'm being honest, so I'm going to give it all to you as succinctly as possible today and let the chips fall where they may, so to speak.

All media, IMHO, works within its own parameters. It may be done well, or poorly, or even done in some oxymoronic way where bad becomes good or vice versa. (There is probably jargon media experts would use right now to express this, dear Reader, and if you are one of them, I apologize for all the eye rolling you may be performing. I'm not a media expert.) However, no matter how well a particular media is executed, it is not guaranteed to suit everyone. We all have our own needs and tastes. My needs and tastes are not met by the parameters of American dramas.

You may be wondering at my use the word "parameters." Perhaps if I was someone else, who thought slightly differently, I'd be writing about originality or being forward thinking or something else in the context of media. But what I think about is parameters. Everything has parameters. Parameters help lend definition to something. Although they are literally limiting, which can seem like a negative, it is very difficult to get anything done without them. Even this blog. It's easier for me to be creative within the confines of this austere, questionably attractive blog format, than I would if I were spending energy on being slick or savvy. If I had many fancy options, I'd bouncing off them endlessly, instead of just getting down to writing this here today.

The parameters of Asian drama hit my pleasure center just right.

There is tremendous of variety amongst them, for one. The number of episodes varies drastically, from 6 episode long Japanese web dramas to 60 episode long Chinese costume dramas. It can be fantasy or historical, contemporary or futuristic, romance-centered or mystery-centered, or combinations of them all. There are many tropes and archetypes. Meme bingo cards have been made of them, they're so prevalent. But a trope or an archetype is just another kind of parameter, and I'm all for it.

I'm not anti-innovation or creativity, dear Reader. In my defense, I'm going to drag in Jane Eyre.

Jane Eyre one of the most famous Bronte novels. We've all heard of it, even if we don't know much about it, per se. It's part of our popular culture. Why is that? What makes it so great?

It's because Jane Eyre is a play on the dominant romantic paradigm at the time, the Gothic novel, where a beautiful young heroine meets a dashing, handsome, virtuous man, and is rescued from supernatural and earthly horrors by him and Live Happily Ever After. Jane Eyre is a young woman, but she is neither beautiful, nor such a paragon of virtue - she doesn't forgive just because people ask, and she is not entirely sheltered from cynicism. Edward Rochester is the main love interest, but he is also not handsome, nor particularly charming, and he has some obvious faults of character that those who have read the book know very well. In a typical Gothic novel, Rochester would have been the villain. This is what makes Jane Eyre great: Bronte turns the Gothic novel on its head, and doing so, wrote the first modern anti-hero.

I consider the anti-hero considerably when I'm consuming media. I enjoy exploring all the incarnations of archetypes and the way they can be played with or mutated. Sometimes it can be frustrating, but it can also be very satisfying. Asian dramas bring in a wider variety of archetypes and tropes than American media and are not shy about it. I can't tell you how many arrogant CEO romances I've seen, some of which wouldn't be too ashamed to put that in their title like a Harlequin Romance, and I still have room for more, because even if it's a remake, it's still not quite the same.

I'm going to end this admittedly not very succinct post with a recommendation for my favorite arrogant CEO drama:

Lost Romance. An editor (and voyeur) at a romance publisher witnesses the attempted murder of the handsome CEO through a drone and ends up falling into the novel she is editing as the female antagonist. If you want to see a lighthearted rom-com wherein a female underling can talk her way free of consequences after being caught watching her boss shower, this is for you.

[realestateppcads]

Effective Travel Advertising Strategy for 2024

When marketing travel services, you can't only rely on people's wanderlust since, although it might keep your company afloat, it won't help you stand out in the field.

In addition, people's desire to travel varies widely and might be affected by unanticipated circumstances.

This was shown in 2020 when travel was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by past years' data on industry spending on digital advertising. Although things are getting better, a lot depends on how well travel advertisements function.

You need to use both innovative advertising and sound planning for your vacation advertising to be genuinely successful.

Follow along as I take you through the process of creating a workable travel advertising plan, which includes determining your target market, understanding the customer journey, establishing campaign objectives, and gauging the success of your ads.

We'll also examine 16 well-known travel advertisements that will undoubtedly serve as inspiration for your upcoming advertising campaigns.

Use the summary below to go directly to the section on the advertisements if you're more interested in those than in the strategy.

Steps for The Perfect Advertising Strategy

Because advertising requires time, money, and other resources, maximizing return on investment is the ultimate goal.

Creating a strategy in advance, or a detailed plan to target the appropriate audience and convince potential customers to select your travel services over those of your rivals, is the most reliable approach to do this.

Having a strategy not only gives you a clear path of action but also acts as a guide for you to evaluate your progress along the way and adjust your plan as necessary.

The following are essential measures to ensure the development of a robust tourism advertising strategy.

1. Identify your target audience

A strong target audience is the cornerstone of any effective advertising campaign for travel. 

Consider how pointless it would be to target users who have no chance of becoming clients. By reducing the group size, you can concentrate your efforts on contacting the people who stand to gain the most from your travel services.

Additionally, by keeping a specific target market in mind, you may produce travel advertisements that also function as customized client experiences, which have been shown to increase conversion rates to sales.

Create a buyer persona, or a list of the qualities you would like to see in your ideal client, to identify your target market. These characteristics may be behavioral, psychographic, demographic, or geographic. 

Geographic: anything having to do with a customer's location, such as their nation, state, city, or postal code;

demographic: characteristics of the population based on factors like age, gender, income, education, and marital status;

Psychographic: characteristics of personality, values, interests, pastimes, and way of life;

Behavioral: online actions based on spending and buying tendencies, browsing patterns, and a host of other factors.

2. Know the traveler’s customer journey

The customer journey encapsulates every interaction a potential consumer has with a brand from their initial meeting until the transaction is finalized. 

It's generally split into three phases: conversion, consideration, and awareness.

A traveler's customer journey, however, is different from the conventional model because making a travel reservation requires careful consideration and planning; it's not an easy decision to make. 

Would you, after all, purchase airline tickets as soon as you would a chocolate bar? Not me either.

Thus, the trip experience of the client can be divided into the subsequent four to five phases:

Dreaming: here is where all aspiring travelers start, whether they are imagining themselves lounging on a Greek beach or in a gondola cruising the canals of Venice.

Planning: Even the most impulsive travelers plan their trip in some way, even if it's only as simple as choosing which hotel to stay at.

Booking: Prospects are prepared to purchase airline tickets and make hotel reservations. 

Experiencing: Vacationers are having a great time and creating lifelong memories.

Remembering: Recall that you can strengthen the bond between the traveler and your brand during this optional phase, which follows the completion of the excursion.

By being aware of this customer journey, you can schedule your travel advertising to coincide with the most advantageous times, particularly when potential customers are still in the planning and booking phases.

3. Set your travel campaign goals

Set goals or targets for your travel campaigns to help you stay focused on the importance of your job and track your success along the way.

The S.M.A.R.T. criterion should be used to create your marketing goals for the best results. The acronym represents the attributes that your goals ought to possess: they are precise, quantifiable, attainable, pertinent, and time-bound.

The following are a few typical objectives that can help your campaign succeed:

Raise brand recognition by placing your travel services in front of prospective clients.

increase website traffic or draw in new customers to the website of your business encourage thought by running campaigns to highlight various travel services.

Create leads by getting potential customers to fill out a form to learn more about an offer or by getting new newsletter subscribers.

Increase conversions to increase revenue.

4. Create travel ads with seasonality in mind

Not really, though. It cascades down the mountains and northern shore of Spain. However, the nation has unique weather, much like any other tourist destination.

Travel is heavily reliant on the weather. In the travel industry, there are generally three seasons: peak, shoulder, and off-season.

Known as the peak season or high season, summertime (mid-June through August) is when demand typically reaches its annual peak.

The shoulder season, which runs from April to mid-June and September to October, is when most people travel, albeit not as much as they do in the peak season.

During the so-called "off-season," which runs from November to March, all travel-related firms see a drop in sales.

But seasonality isn't always a bad thing for travel advertising because

But while seasonality gives you a clear picture of the upcoming months, it's not always a bad thing for travel marketing.

Try to pay attention to seasonal patterns and trends so you can determine when potential customers are interested in buying airline tickets, hotel rooms, or all-inclusive deals for particular locations. You may be able to influence consumers' decisions to buy by scheduling your creative advertisements and modifying your messaging for certain seasons.

5. Choose the right advertising platform

There are many different platforms for advertising, but the simplest approach to finding the ones that work best for your brand is to find out where your customers hang out.

For the majority of enterprises, the following three platforms are often the best options:

Google Ads: You can take advantage of Google's extensive reach and sophisticated targeting possibilities by launching search or display ads on the Google ad network to reach prospective clients at the precise moment that they are searching for travel services.

Social media advertisements: Advertising on social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, enables you to simultaneously reach a larger audience and build brand awareness. Additionally, it lets you test out a variety of ad forms, such as picture and video adverts.

Email marketing: Email provides a direct line of connection with clients through which you may provide customized messages, promotions, and discounts. In addition, it's an inexpensive marketing strategy with readily quantifiable outcomes.

6. Measure your ads’ effectiveness

It is possible that things will not go as planned even if you have a brilliant plan in place. Even if they do, tracking the effectiveness of your trip campaign is essential to knowing how well your vacation advertisements are doing. 

If all goes according to plan, you'll know what to do differently in future campaigns, and if not, you'll learn how to make advertising more successful.

Fortunately, relevant measures known as KPIs (key performance indicators) are available for tracking the most popular campaign objectives on all advertising platforms, including Google and Facebook. You therefore know precisely what to look for.

Email marketing campaigns operate differently because campaign performance is measured through the use of third-party solutions that facilitate email automation.

Inspiring Travel Advertising Examples 

Now for the moment, everyone has been waiting for a list of 17 travel advertisements that, in one way or another, are successful in grabbing viewers' attention

Expedia: Chase new experiences

Let's start with a major player in the market: Expedia. The reason these two imaginative advertisements from the same campaign are so effective is that they highlight Moroccan experiences for visitors rather than the actual place.

When combined with stunning landscape images, the font combination is a match made in heaven, and the prose effectively communicates a message.

A group excursion devoid of drama

The challenge of organizing a trip with plenty of pals is understood in this Kayak display advertisement. No matter how close the ties are, there will inevitably be hiccups.

Although the ad's design may not be very striking, the language effectively communicates with viewers, thus I believe it merits a spot on this list of examples of travel advertisements.

Conclusion

In the travel sector, it is evident from the strategy recommendations and ad samples provided in this article that knowing and relating to customers is crucial. 

Hopefully, you've gained some new knowledge that you can use to help you plan or create advertisements for your upcoming trip campaign.

[jauneilles]

hi, headcanon prompt time. what is the progression of chloe's relationship with zoe like? specific talk points, but feel free to add on if you get brainworms:

how did she feel about learning she has a younger sister?

how did she feel about zoe coming to paris (ie. did it give her difficulties when she was trying to learn to be Better™)?

how did she feel about zoe becoming the new bee?

how did she feel about being entrusted with the bee again after zoe had been established as the new bee (and sharing the role)?

how does she feel about there being two bees going forward?

unprompted asks / always accepting !!

Chloe has a lot of complicated feelings surrounding Zoe, especially in the beginning. Finding out she even had a younger sister that she didn't know about previously meant that she had to acknowledge her mother left to start an entirely new family. Chloe has always had a very distant, strained relationship with her mother, Audrey, in trying to live up to her impossible expectations; so finding out she had a sister living in New York just kind of added another layer to her already struggling questions of whether she was a good enough daughter.

I think that when Zoe first arrived in Paris, Chloe still would have been a little unfair and certainly jealous. She wouldn't have been as cruel, but there would definitely be feelings of jealousy and comparison — again, going back to the fact that Audrey left to create this other family outside of the Bourgeois. For instance, in Zoe's introduction episode, I think a lot of Chloe's behaviour would have been relatively the same, except perhaps a touch less cruel, and that only at the end of the episode, and seeing the way Zoe was able to reach out and make friends despite trying to emulate Chloe, would have helped Chloe to realise that she, too, could still have a chance to make friends. And that, I think, would have been the start of trying to build the bridge between her and Zoe.

When Zoe became the new holder for the Bee miraculous, it definitely stung ( no pun intended ). In a lot of ways, Zoe is Chloe's foil. She has Chloe's potential for cattiness and meanness, as we see when she tries to emulate her sister, but she actively chooses — going forward — to be kind, considerate, and to not let other people dictate how she should present herself, even her family. These are all things that Chloe, herself, struggles with. She struggles to let down her guard and be kind. She struggles to live up to her parents' "perfect" image and reputation. She struggles to let people see her true self ( and it can certainly be argued that even Chloe doesn't know who her "true self" is anymore, either ). But, going back to Zoe being the new Bee holder, it kind of reinforces everything about Chloe's own struggles and why she decides to make a significant change for the better. She wants to be someone that can make and keep friends. She wants to be someone Ladybug trusts again. And yeah, admittedly, she wants to be the holder of the Bee miraculous again — she won't say she doesn't keep that thought in the back of her mind when she's trying to build trust with her peers again — but ultimately, as the story progresses and Chloe learns more about herself in relation to her peers, she comes to accept that Zoe is the rightful holder of the Bee miraculous.

Which is why, when she's presented with the opportunity to be the holder of the new, second Bee miraculous, she's initially in shock. At this point, she's made her peace that she probably wouldn't get that opportunity again, so to be presented with it and that a second Bee miraculous was even created for the purpose of Chloe taking on the role? That's a huge exercise in trust.

There is this fanart ( that, of course, I can't find when I actually need it ) and is actually one of my favourites and it perfectly illustrates how I think Chloe feels about taking on the role of Queen Bee again. It's basically her as Queen Bee standing next to Viperion and she's saying something like "I won't let Ladybug down again."

That's how Chloe feels. When she accepts the role of Queen Bee again, it's because she wants to be a team player. She wants to be someone Ladybug and the other holders can count on. I think, initially, it takes some getting used to, knowing there are two Bee holders going forward. This is Chloe, and at her core, she is always going to be a bit vain, selfish, and want the limelight. She's just learned to have more empathy and compassion for others along the way. But, at the end of the day, it's more important to Chloe that she was given this second chance as Queen Bee and she'll do everything in her power not to mess that up again.

[prahostservers]

How to Choose the Best Server Hosting Provider in Germany

Choosing a server hosting company in Germany is a difficult task. There are many options, and it can be hard to know where to start. In this article, we'll go over some of the things you should consider when choosing your next server host provider.

Choosing a Germany Hosting Provider

Choosing a server provider is more than just finding the best deal. It's also important to consider their reputation and track record, as well as customer reviews, in order to make sure you're getting what you pay for. A company with a good reputation will be able to provide services that meet or exceed your needs. They should have been around for some time, with plenty of satisfied customers who can vouch for their professionalism, reliability, and service quality.

If possible, it's best if your chosen Germany Hosting Provider has an established presence on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter (and possibly even Google+?) where people tend to share their experiences with others who may be looking at these sites too—so make sure they're active there! And don't forget Google+. This search engine giant is becoming increasingly popular among consumers so having them listed under “reviews” could help boost traffic toward your own site when someone searches "best webhosting provider."

Selecting the Right Server Host

Choosing the right server host is key to your success. The wrong choice can lead to problems with slow performance, security vulnerabilities, or other issues that could put your business at risk.

Before choosing a new server host, it’s important to understand what you need from them:

Features such as data storage capacity (how much RAM and/or hard drives) and network speed are just two examples of features that can make or break your experience with a service provider. A good provider will offer these types of options so they can meet each customer's specific needs while keeping costs low enough for everyone involved—you!

Price point is another factor when considering which provider might be best for you; especially if you're on tight budgeting terms here in Germany like me! You want something affordable but still reliable enough for any project needs without sacrificing quality either way--this means looking into their pricing structure carefully before making any commitments whatsoever towards signing up with them permanently as opposed to being just temporary customers until then again next month later down time around Christmas when everyone else tends towards spending more money than usual due

Considerations and Added Features

You should consider the following features when evaluating different server hosting Germany:

Support for specific applications, such as PHP or MySQL. If you need to run certain software, it's important that your provider offers support for these applications.

Dedicated servers. Those who use shared web hosting with multiple customers will likely find themselves running into more problems due to overloads and slowdowns from other users on their network. For this reason, it's best if you can get dedicated server in Germany instead of shared ones (and pay more for them).

Redundant power supply and network connections are also important considerations because they can save you money in case of an outage—or even worse, if there's no power at all! Having redundant power supplies ensures that there won't be any issues with your site being down during peak hours when everyone else is trying hard not only just connect but also log into their websites/apps too (which means longer waiting times).

Web Hosting Germany

Web Hosting Germany is one of the best providers in Germany. They have a wide range of products and services, so you'll be able to find what you're looking for if you decide to go with them.

They also have excellent customer service, which means that your needs will be met whenever possible. And since they're located in Germany, there's very little chance that this company won't be able to meet them!

Web Hosting Germany is affordable too - especially compared with other web hosts like Hostinger or Namecheap (both of which are cheaper than them).

There is a lot to consider when choosing a server hosting company in Germany.

There is a lot to consider when choosing a server hosting company in Germany.

You’ll want to make sure that your provider has servers located close enough to you so that they can provide high-speed connectivity and fast response times. A good option is one that offers data centers in Germany or other European countries, but if the server location isn’t within commuting distance - or even far enough away - then it might not be possible for your site’s visitors to access it quickly enough.

Bandwidth speeds are crucial here because any slow connection could result in lag time between clicks on pages of content (such as social media feeds), which would make users abandon their visit altogether without ever seeing what was being offered at all! The best way around this problem is by using Cloudflare CDN technology which allows users' browsers to access content directly from its nearest data center instead of having them download entire files over the internet each time they visit different websites."

Conclusion

We hope this article has helped you find the best service for your needs. If you’re interested in learning more about our German hosting or want to get started with a free trial, please contact us today! We look forward to hearing from you soon!

[lastoneout]

In retrospect I do think that the story was going for a "this is the one person you can't save" thing with her, or trying to speak to how limited your abilities as a cop are and how being a cop means some people are just never going to be comfortable interacting with you ever, or even is just trying to make you side with Cuno to make you think about what sort of misogynistic beliefs Harry or you or both have unconsciously absorbed, but it still feels a little mean-spirited to have the person you can't save be a tiny kid when you CAN save the other tiny kid AND you can get the Hardie Boys to like you even though they also fucking hate you and don't want to cooperate AND you can peacefully talk down a woman having a mental breakdown while holding a gun you aren't 100% isn't loaded AND you can let Ruby go, and, and, ect. You know? Like I can tell the Hardie Boys to go help The Pigs bcs she's just an old lady going through a mental health episode, but I can't suggest like....anyone? Go check on a single kid who is going through it and clearly in need of some serious intervention, especially intervention that doesn't come from the actual police, but rather a community that takes care of it's own?

There are so many characters that hate the cops and don't want to work with you that you can help, having the one person beyond your scope be a tiny child who has clearly been through hell just. It feels bad. But I do think it's entirely possible that it's supposed to feel bad specifically to make you think about why, and I won't fault the game for presenting an imperfect world where shit doesn't always work out just to make you think about your own biases, that does seem to be very much what the devs were going for in a lot of places.

But regardless of if it's the point or not, seeing so many people just accept what the story is saying at face value without any consideration for circumstances or internalized biases or whatever the writers might be trying to say without saying, it just sucks. We can argue all day about what the story is trying to do with any character, but it's clear the reasons you can't get through to Cunoesse all have to do with the character you're playing and the world he exists in, agreeing that Cunoesse is a lost cause who should be treated like a horrid monster shows that someone has either bought in to exactly what the game is(possibly) trying to critique OR just that they believe that it's possible for a child to be so evil they are no longer worth trying to help, which is profoundly cruel.

Idk, it's an interesting game for sure. I just wish people weren't coming away from that part believing that you're right to abandon a traumatized 10 year old because she did something bad and handled/is handling it extremely poorly.

Gotta say. I am NOT a fan of the way people on reddit talk about Cunoesse.

[twistyprefect]

Hello! So this is an uhh specific request but like I got ran over by a golf cart yesterday (I’m all good! Just sore!) and was wondering if I could request the heartslabyul boys (+grim!) taking care of an MC who got like into an accident but is in good spirits about it, cracking jokes, regaling the story while laughing cuz like bro it’s hilarious. Romantic or platonic it’s up to you! Either fem or gender neutral please

{hullo! i'm glad you weren't seriously hurt but i hope you're less sore soon ;~; i decided to do both platonic and romantic HCs & gender neutral MC so i hope that's ok!}

Ace Trappola

Ace is a bit concerned at first, but once MC starts to crack jokes, he does the same

he might be a bit teasing or mean about them getting hit by a golf cart of all things

still offers to do stuff to help them out a bit, like getting their favorite snacks or carrying books to and from class

if MC is his S/O, he'll be a bit more involved with helping them (even if they ask him not to)

he expects payment in kisses and help studying for their next exam or quiz

Deuce Spade

Deuce goes into overprotective mode, asking if MC knows who was driving the cart

once he calms down, he's actually a bit irritated with them making jokes; they could have been seriously hurt, it's not funny! (it's funny)

asks constantly if they need help doing something and tries to 'protect' them from somehow getting hurt again

if MC is his S/O, his overprotectiveness is bumped up to ten, and he'll probably end up enlisting Jack and Ace's help in figuring out who was involved

definitely distressed when they retell the story and laugh about it, but doesn't say anything about it

Cater Diamond

Cater actually thinks it's just as hilarious as MC does, laughing along and asking to share the story

puts MC explaining the story on his Magicam story so other people can enjoy it too

he does make sure they're ok with it first, since he doesn't want them to feel like he's making fun of them

if MC is his S/O, he's still pretty jovial about it; it's not like he can rewind time, plus MC seems pretty chill about it

he'll likely do smaller things to show his care though, like making them their favorite tea or coffee

Trey Clover

Trey is pretty worried at first, even if MC jokes around or says they're perfectly fine

after the initial worry, he's probably laughing along with them because it's a pretty ridiculous scenarios (who even knew people on campus HAD golf carts?)

seriously, only MC could manage to have something like this happen, and that itself makes him relax a bit

if MC is his S/O, he has a similar reaction but is more involved in their 'recovery'

makes them small treats, carries their stuff to and from classes, pulls chairs out for them, everything

Riddle Rosehearts

Riddle initially freaks out completely, threatening to use Off With Your Head! if needed (by needed, he means if MC will let him)

once he calms down a LOT, he's concerned that MC is joking about it, even if they're mostly uninjured

he hovers around them for a few days just to make sure they're actually 100% ok and just a bit sore

if MC is his S/O, even they can't stop him from hunting down and punishing anyone involved

as soon as he's calmed down though, he spends the next week or so spoiling and doting on MC, until he's sure they're no longer sore or in pain

Grim

Grim definitely tries to be caring and considerate but he busts out laughing halfway through MC's story

he listens to the story and immediately starts laughing and making fun of them, but not too harshly

asks them to re-tell the story when they're around the other freshmen, just do everyone can enjoy the kind of hilarious misfortune

if MC is his S/O, he has basically the same reaction as before, but he laughs less and asks them if they're ok repeating the story to their friends

he also tries to get into less trouble so that MC won't have to worry about him as much as usual

[ein-liebloser-wanderer]

Yandere Headcanons - Snake Scales and Serpent Tales #1

Warnings: typical power imbalances in relationships, controlling behavior (your typical yandere with a reptilian twist)

Notes: Various ideas I had about snake people or naga folk. Specifically, the big ones like boa constrictors, anacondas, etc. In this, I call them either the Serpentine and Serpent.

There was something about the Serpentine that had both fascinated and terrified humans for a long time.

Perhaps it was their bizarre physiology. How some had tails ten times the length of their human upper body. How their snake scales seamlessly smoothened into the soft flesh of humans at their waistline. There were even accounts from warriors on patrol, temple priests, and even the very few hikers who were lucky enough to catch--and survive--a glance of these solitary beings, and their descriptions ranged from the eerily beautiful to downright horrific.

⸸ Cold-Hearted ⸸

True to their names, the Serpentine are heartless.

Not because they have been known to kill and eat without remorse, but because they seemed incapable of feeling love for anyone. Not even for their own kind.

The common serpent are afraid of their own kind, especially towards their larger, stronger counterparts.

Rightfully so, because if it ever came down to it, they wouldn't hesitate to eat one another.

For a serpent, nothing matters more than themselves. But rarely, very rarely, they would find someone they consider worthy.

⸸ A Likely Prey ⸸

It is very rare for anyone to catch their eye, simply because of how solitary these creatures are.

Humans, however, are foolish, and have senses as dull as their intuition. Most of them wouldn't even know they were staring a snake at the eye, until it strikes at them from the grass.

Most likely, they found their human pet this way. A misstep on their tail, getting themselves cornered in the worst possible situation...

Imagine an adventurer going to the jungle, believing that they are more than capable of unearthing its secrets, only to be nearly eaten by the nearest monster around. Then, just at the right time, a Serpent comes around and spares them because of the human's bravery--or stupidity.

Each serpent has their own preferences! Stupidity just happens to be one of the few character flaws they find amusing endearing

Humans were just so helpless. If they hadn't come at the right time, their pet wouldn't still be alive.

⸸ Dedication ⸸

Keeping and caring for a pet takes dedication. They know that much.

Though they may be incapable of loving, they know that they must at least put time and investment into this if they want to keep their human pet around.

This was why they insist on trying to be caring, trying to be emotionally present even though wearing a mask was too mentally taxing.

If their human were to hide themselves in the corner of their room, they simply have to understand that they are terrified. The human can't help but feel that way.

But ultimately, they are the master, and the human is still their pet. To them, the human simply needed to be trained into fearing them less. If they must spend countless hours everyday being handy and intrusive, then so be it.

⸸ A Complete Lack of Empathy ⸸

It wasn't their fault that they didn't know right away how to deal with their human. That was a part of their heritage from the snakes. It just wasn't in their nature to be nurturing, considerate, never mind kind.

And it absolutely wasn't uncommon for Serpents to assume that all they needed from their human was tolerance. After all, no one would want a pet that bites its owner. If their human could tolerate their presence, then that was good enough.

How would they achieve that? By forcing themselves on their human, of course.

Believe them when they say that they also hate having their space invaded, but this was the only way for you to finally get accustomed to their touch.

Serpents have absolutely no concept of gratitude. Unless they have a basic understanding of human minds, they won't even consider the idea that by simply being kind, maybe they'll give their pet Stockholm Syndrome they could have avoided all this hassle.

⸸ Home Sweet Hell ⸸

Once they believe their pet is familiar enough with them, the Serpent might reward them with freedom.

Of course, this would be about as much freedom as any leashed pet would have. If the human thought they would be allowed to leave, then they are downright pitiful.

Freedom is being able to wander around within their perimeter, where they can still see or smell the human.

Freedom is being allowed time alone within the den they had found or built for their pet.

Freedom is being able to come with them wherever they might want to go.

But they should never, ever assume that they are free from their master. Only they know what is best for them. Only they are the ones who could protect their pet in such a dangerous place.

Because if their pet was unfortunate enough to wound up in their grasp...then they don't stand much of a chance against everything else the world has to offer, don't they?

_________

Final Notes

That's first post on the snake people. They are my new obsession, right after mermaids, so this won't absolutely be the last post I make on them.

I'm thinking...maybe vipers or smaller snake species next? Or maybe, perhaps I should divulge some of my more saucy ideas for big noodles?

[so-otterly-jaded]

Addition, because no it's not long enough(that's quitter talk), and also I like to keep things together(because as soon as they drift apart they gain sentience and we're not repeating That):

Person doing Thing is Problematic means that it's problematic for a person to be engaging in the activity in question, but if Thing isn't problematic without qualifiers beyond Person(as in a stand-in for any possible human person and also every possible human person in one), those qualifiers take priority. Those are now the problem(if their addition make Thing suddenly Problematic) or the exception(which is for when those additions are the times where anyone doing the thing makes it Not Problematic). I feel like this is an important way to test beliefs and ideas, in the same basal sense that stripping down questions to fundamental concepts is important to address how those beliefs form in the first place.

Like, yeah, it's great that you understand how you feel about the fundamental concepts of stuff, that's awesome, and also step one to deep personal growth. Next you need a way to unpack the beliefs you have and figure out if they align with your core fundamentals. A good way to do it is to take things that you read or hear about, or really interact with in any substantial manner, and ask this question about them, and just kind of run through a list of qualifiers to see where/if you draw the line. Petting kittens might only have a line when things align to lead to the person or kitten in question being hurt, and punching someone may need a very serious set of qualifications to pass muster; this will also probably change based on your emotions at the time, because those can and do directly affect our judgement, so maybe also try to include stuff like "do I still agree if I'm upset/overwhelmed".

If you do this enough, you'll get pretty good at it, and you won't really need a list to go through. You'll start instinctually following the trail and tracing out how you feel about things, potentially even getting so good at it that you don't even do it consciously, possibly only finding out what your stance is when it comes up in a dream or something.

This is also Pretty Handy(with proficiency) at feeling out how information is being broadcast around you, if not directly to you. If you get good enough that you can fit the question into a conversation with someone who has a difference in opinion from you, and maybe even a few qualifiers before the conversation needs to shift, you can not only learn how they actually feel, but also get an idea of where/how they're receiving the information that's informing those beliefs. Generally, you won't even have to add qualifiers yourself in these instances, just pay attention for any that the person you're talking to adds, and maybe try to see how they feel if you remove those. People with opinions about something that they are comfortable articulating will usually slip parts of their core beliefs in automatically.

Sometimes this can help you separate ideas for people that have been told they're connected without seeing any real push against the idea before you. If they're willing to change, it opens the door to do it with care and consideration. If not, it's still a good sample, because it can show a pattern. Is it Problematic for The Dutch to Eat Shrimp Tacos With Parsley on the 5th of June? Maybe, but knowing why someone thinks that can help you either alter or strengthen your own beliefs about this new tradition/trend and also help you understand how possible misinformation is being shared and what specific issues people are trying to Shrimp Tacos With Parsley or why it's basically fine the other 364(5) days of the (leap)year. This is useful for getting out accurate corrections, preventing misunderstanding within your circle and greater community through establishing preceding comprehension, and for understanding what sources to keep an eye out for, and the tactics being employed.

It all starts with questions to yourself, not just because it's important to make sure you're being consistent, and agreeing with what you actually believe, but also because proficiency is important, and the only real way to build it is to practice. You won't just learn how to ask, but eventually when you hit subjects that make you uncomfortable, you can look out for the ways you personally try to change or avoid the matter, and slowly see them in others when they're challenged. No, it's not easy to admit to yourself when you would be okay with something horrible, or when you would be willing to stop something technically Good in the moment even if you know it would be better down the road. That's good, because you're human, and humans are surprisingly similar in how they respond to being uncomfortable, though obviously individual morals will change how they feel comfortable acting in response to different challenges/slights so do keep that in mind and engage responsibly.

I really feel like, at the end of the day, there are some very fundamental concepts and opinions that you can trace large amounts of more nuanced ideas back to, within some general fields. For instance I think that the furthest you can boil down basically any question regarding politics and/or ethics(and morality to some extent) is to ask "What is the point of society?"

By this, I mean like, what purpose does it serve? Why did we make them and why are they still around? It's a lot less important at the initial stage to ask whether or not you think it's working as intended, as the main point of the question is to determine how you think it *should* work in the first place. Any ideas about whether or not you think it accomplished that purpose at any particular point in time effectively branch out from there, and eventually form individual concepts about ethics, which generally tend to inform how people file into politics.

It's important to at least keep fundamental ideas like this in mind when discussing matters, because it turns out that if you disagree on a base level, it's going to drastically impact not only where you agree/disagree, but also why. People who think society is intended to provide for the less able are going to approach politics very differently than people who see it as a way to gain purpose through hierarchy, or as a way to gather resources more efficiently, etc.

Obviously this isn't something you can just ask anyone about brazenly and expect a straightforward answer that fits into some neat little notebook, but that's fine because it's still useful as a tool if you can figure out how to trace things back and forth. If you see someone talking about policies they support, or ideals they hold, or what they see as the problems that need fixing, you can learn to trace that back, piece by piece, to an idea about how they view the purpose of society. From there, you can extrapolate what else that mentality might lead them to believe and from there, one or two questions can help you confirm or adjust your concept. If you're just looking to trim out bad vibes or negativity, that can help you make a more informed decision in less time, though that's more up to personal preferences and such.

Let's assume you're trying to have an open discussion with someone, not just to get their views on things, but also for the sake of expanding and testing your viewpoints, or to try and convince someone else to do the same... Well you're not quite done. Just because you both agree on the most fundamental level doesn't mean you share opinions, as things tend to branch the further away you get from those basics, leaving tons of roads to change things around. You're obviously going to have a much easier time agreeing with alternative views that at least rely on the same basic principles, and that goes for others too, of course. If you and someone you're talking to have a large gap in your initial principles, then coming to even a compromise on anything is going to be a challenge, and might be impossible without substantial shifts in beliefs. If you want to convince someone that they're missing something on a level that borders on primal, you're talking about a years, maybe decades long journey that I wouldn't recommend getting into lightly. Great for counseling and therapy, not necessarily worthwhile for small talk in line at a restaurant with someone you're probably not going to interact with again.

It's also pretty important to understand this for personal growth. After all, personal exploration is basically just you having this kind of conversation with yourself, figuring out what your base principles are that you're living by, and deciding whether or not the information available to you necessitates some amount of change. If you never stop to question what rules govern your own internal space, you're just drifting around the ocean of existence with whatever morals and ideals your early development created for you. It's gonna make you ask some really uncomfy stuff, and you're eventually gonna find some really unpleasant answers. You're not perfect, and you never will be so that's just part of the process. Growing isn't comfortable, and change can only be for the better if you're moving away from something worse.

All this to say, I think society exists so we don't leave behind those who can't fend for themselves, and I'm still trying to make sure I'm consistent with that ideal. I'd like to convince others that it's the right answer to the purpose of society, but I've long since accepted that it will take someone better than the person I am today to accomplish that, and someone even better still to make a substantial change in the world.

Oh and don't forget that sometimes being uncomfy with who or how you are is the first step to becoming the person you can be comfortable being. Ask questions and seek help, it's a long journey, and friends are ones who want to see it with you.

[lightrises]

"Only in allowing her to pass..." — Hornet, The Radiance, and the means by which Hallownest turned its victims against each other

A quick note: I read Hollow Knight as an anti-colonialist text. As such I'll be touching on topics related to colonialism as it's depicted in the world of the game, and said analysis will reflect both a sympathetic take on The Radiance and a critique of The Pale King that won't pull its punches. If this sounds up your alley, hello and thank you for the read! Let us be sad about these bugs together.

———

So!! A while back I realized something about pre-canon that felt rather... "curious" is one way to put it, I think. To wit: for all the effort and scheming and determination The Pale King poured into trying to get rid of The Radiance, neither of his plans involved directly killing her.

Was that his long game? Well, sure, that seems clear enough. His tack changed from luring the moths away from their god and creator to a more literal form of incarceration once the infection became a factor, but at its core the end goal never really changed—The Pale King very sincerely wished to destroy Radiance via obsolescence. The Seer lends us foreshadowing to confirm as much:

[Image descriptions: Two screenshots from Hollow Knight, showing the Seer and Ghost in the Seer's alcove at the Resting Grounds. Across both screenshots, the Seer tells Ghost the following: "None of us can live forever, and so we ask those who survive to remember us. Hold something in your mind and it lives on with you, but forget it and you seal it away forever. That is the only death that matters." End description.]

(Which, by the way and given the context, talk about an extremely unsubtle allusion to cultural genocide huh!!! Whew.)

In any case, we're left with a whole bunch of machinations which build up to... well, two very roundabout attempts at committing deicide. That's kind of weird, all things considered! Why not just do the deed in one fell swoop and get it over with?

This could be for any number of reasons. Maybe the king was devoid of the means to instantly kill another higher being. Maybe his personal sense of scruples stopped him short of signing off on MURDER murder (although, y'know, the aforementioned genocide + eternal imprisonment = still cool and copasectic apparently!). Maybe the long drawn-out cruelty was the point. Maybe the idea of playing fuckign 4D chess with the circumstances was too delicious for him to pass up—that man did love to tinker and stick his claws where they sure as hell didn't belong—or maybe it was a little bit of All The Things. Who knows!!

But interrogating The Pale King's methodology on this count isn't what I'm here for, at least not really. The main reason I raise this question at all is that in her own way, Hornet did too.

"I'd urge you to take that harder path... "

See, going by The Pale King's actions and what The White Lady explicitly says, they both foresaw two outcomes wrt the infection: it can be allowed to spread, or it can be contained. At Teacher's Archives, Quirrel acknowledges the fact that Ghost is expected to do... something about this, but he doesn't elaborate on what HE thinks that's supposed to be apart from the obvious "Gotta bust into Black Egg Temple first". Hornet is the one person who presents to us—to Ghost—what's framed as a third option: confront and destroy the infection at its source.

And she doesn't bring it up like it's just another tactic for Ghost to consider, prim and indifferent to what they would do. She nudges them towards it, actively, up to the point where she throws herself into the fray against Hollow at a juncture that's uniquely dangerous to her and her alone just to make that option feasible.

Even when she's couching it in disclaimers that this is still Ghost's decision to make (and let's be fair, she's extremely not wrong about that lol), no one can pretend Hornet is unbiased. It's obvious in that buttoned-down Hornet kind of way that she is way the hell done with the increasingly tenuous stalemate that's kept Hallownest's desiccated corpse from collapsing in on itself. Personally it's hard for me not to read some Toriel Undertale-esque "My father was too entrenched in his own foolishness to pursue any course of action that would have DEFINITIVELY ended this" shade into her stance here, regardless of whether that's strictly true in canon.

And that bit—Hornet's hopes for an end to Hallownest's stasis, moreover her grim calculation of what needs to be done to get there—that's the bit I find super interesting but likewise tragic and depressing as shit, on multiple levels. In no small part because a) canon itself gestures towards Hornet feeling conflicted about the very plan she's pushing, and moreover b) she has at least two (2) damn good reasons to feel that way.

So, what do I mean by that? Let's look here first:

[Image description: A screenshot from Hollow Knight, of Hornet and Ghost inside the Temple of the Black Egg, standing in front of the unsealed egg itself. Hornet has been struck by the Dream Nail and her dialogue is displayed as follows: "... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?" End description.]

As the curtain is about to drop on things one way or another, Hornet thinks,

... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?

Now, looking at that last bit it's easy to go "Oh no, Hornet's worried that Ghost won't survive killing The Radiance!" And I do think that's part of it: Hornet is, categorically, not her father. By endgame it's clear she's not content to view her Void-borne siblings as tools to be used then disposed of. She's also well aware that as a healthy autonomous Vessel amongst the countless dead, Ghost is the only person left alive who has a fighting chance against The Radiance. Knowing someone is the only qualified candidate for the job doesn't make encouraging them to embrace a probable death sentence any less of a bitter pill to swallow, though. And odds are on that this sentiment extends to Hollow too, who IS going to die no matter what happens here. To put it bluntly, it's more than reasonable to conclude that Hornet hates the absolute fuck out of this.

But I don't think that's all there is to it either. Remember what I said earlier about The Pale King's bids for genocide? Well, it's not like the man deigned to limit his efforts to just the moth tribe.

"We do not choose our mothers... "

On top of everything else—an infected Hallownest being all she's ever known, the fact that she only exists because of the infection, the list goes on—Hornet has spent her life wedged into a position that's been uncomfortable and terminally unglamorous at best: she is both a daughter of her father's kingdom and of Deepnest.

Deepnest, which like the moths and many others was here long before the wyrm and his lady wife swanned onto the scene and the God Become Bug laid claim to everything the Light touched plus a considerable amount of change. THAT Deepnest, which has fought claw and thread to retain its sovereignty against same-said settler king, and for which Herrah not only surrendered her life but also agreed to bed her worst enemy, all in hopes of securing a viable future for her people (put a pin in that last part by the way, I'll come back to it soon).

Two Worlds, One Family (Ft. An Indigenous Woman Trying Her Damndest To Work With What She's Got Versus An Imperialist Who Only Signed Up For This Because He Needed The Political Favor THAT Badly, So It's The Height Of Dysfunctional Actually). Fun times!!!!

The baggage this entails for Hornet is gnarly enough without implications made by The White Lady and the pre-canon timeline of events and even Team Cherry's dev notes that the king may well have looked at baby Hornet, gone "YOINK", then ensured she spent the lion's share of her childhood reared within the pearly auspices of his Pale Court*. That would be rather advantageous for Him Specifically after all, the potential to mold a born foe into a future ally and even have her trained in combat under the same tutelage as her doomed sibling. And far be it from him to stop a grown Hornet—his own flesh and blood too!—from making Deepnest her forever home if she so pleased. He totally wouldn't be reneging on his "fair bargain made" by doing this one simple thing until Hornet came of age, not t e c h nic c a l l y.

If that is indeed the case, there's a non-zero chance Hornet's formative years were a hot mess of cultural alienation and being a good deal more privy than most to just how much of a bastard her father could be. There's an equally non-zero chance that at some point she stood or sat within earshot as The Pale King finally, finally dropped all pretense and euphemism to name the Light for precisely what (for who) it was.

See, in conjunction with the question that started this whole dang train of thought I've been asking this one too: Does Hornet know? When she speaks of confronting "the heart of [the] infection" does she know she's talking about not just a literal person but someone very specific? The Radiance, who god though she may be shares skin in the game alongside Hornet as a native woman screwed over by the same settler king, likewise deprived of her kin and saddled with a life gone horrendously pear-shaped?

I'll assume for the sake of exploring the possibility and because I think it's a likely one anyway that yes, Hornet does know. She knows, and despite everything can't help empathizing. She might even look at Radiance and see bits and pieces both reflected and slightly inversed in her own mother: Radiance was forced to the sidelines while her people—her children, the brood she was meant to lead and care for—died out under The Pale King's rule, and it's no stretch to assume she's at least as upset about that as she has been about everything else; Herrah too took drastic measures for her people's sake, trying to head off annihilation by relegating herself to the sidelines in an act that was as much calculated risk as an attempt to find wiggle room and leverage in the face of a nasty proposition.

A calculated risk that, if things continue as they are, might well amount to nothing as the rest of Deepnest gets eaten alive by the infection. It survived The Pale King's advances for so so long, only to fall here. Herrah's sacrifice would be for naught; the other tribes—themselves the king's victims—would keep succumbing to the infection too.

And this is where things fall apart.

"... or the circumstance into which we are born."

Let's be clear: I think Hornet is wise enough to know what's what here, that all the carnage and suffering falls on her father's head for starting this slow-motion trainwreck in the first place. Hallownest wasn't always Hallownest. This domain was Radiance's home first, along with many others. It was the worm-turned-king who rolled up on the scene unsolicited and decided this was a ""'problem""" that had to be """solved""".

But the fact of the matter is that he's gone and The Radiance is here, raging, seemingly inconsolable. Above and beyond being Deepnest's rightful heir, Hornet isn't in a position to countenance more splash damage even if the grief and fury fueling it makes perfect sense. She can understand without ever bringing herself to love Radiance, and she can bend her knee to practicality even if she hates the everloving shit out of it because the fact that it "has" to end this way isn't fair.

This lends itself to one last awful conclusion: that Hornet has probably considered and (rightly or wrongly) discarded the possibility that Radiance can be saved, at least not without dragging more collateral along for the ride. If even her mother and every other enemy to the king seemed to dismiss talking Radiance down as an option way back when... well. Why should Hornet hope for any better after things have escalated so far?

Again, it's practical. A practical net good is what Hornet strives for. And again, it fucking sucks.

For extra tragedy points, this makes Hornet's extended crypticness around Ghost followed by her last minute casting about for a reason to tell them "Wait, don't; not just yet" that she never voices even more of a gut punch. She can't bring herself to burden Ghost with the context that haunts her so, least of all when it might weaken their resolve to go through with what (she thinks) needs doing.

It's the "same song, different verse" which led to the mantis tribe and Deepnest being pitted against each other: Hallownest rigged the game so that two women who could have been powerful allies—who have a mutual vested interest in driving out settler rule—wound up poised as enemies instead. And how awful is that? The king for all his being extremely fucking dead still gets the last laugh, because outside of a miracle the game never manifests Hornet can salvage what her mother started and look forward to a future where Deepnest pulls itself back from the brink if and only if The Radiance dies.

Resolution comes at the price of a completed genocide. Add two more dead siblings to the unconscionable pile thereof, while we're at it. That's what it boils down to whether or not Hornet can bear to articulate it as such, and there's no grace or even a properly bittersweet ending to wring from this clusterfuck. And that is rough.

———

* This has been better explained elsewhere, but a quick rundown: The White Lady tells Ghost that Hornet and Herrah "were permitted little time together." On its surface this can be taken to mean that Hornet was still very young when Herrah was shipped off to Eternal Dreamland—except this doesn't jive with the fact that we meet Hornet as an adult. If the stasis kicked in once the Dreamers went to their rest, which in turn halted the aging process for every living bug in Hallownest, AND before all this Hornet experienced little by the way of quality time with her birth mother... I think you can see where I'm going with this.

To top it off we've got Team Cherry weighing in ominously from their dev notes on Herrah: "As part of the agreement for her alliance and her role as a dreamer, King gave her a child (Hornet). Was she allowed to keep this child or was she taken away?" This isn't confirmation by itself of course, but given additional canon details (see above): Can I get a "yikes" in the chat fellas.

[volturialice]

so i saw a post on tumblr a few days ago about how jasper would handle the loving a human situation so much worse than edward. because, you know, we are talking about jasper-vampirey-totally-traumatized-ex-war-machine-and-an-empath. and i've been thinking about the vampire jasper x human alice thing. considering that, for any reason, he doesn't want/won't kill her, how do you think it would proceed?

I’d be interested to read that post! I actually disagree that he would handle things "worse" than edward, although that's a low bar. I think there are a couple key factors at work with vampire jasper/human alice.

[longass meta under the cut]

1) jasper's terrible control

let's face it, this dude cannot stop snackin on human blood. there's no such thing as cute one-on-one meadow time with him—if you're a delicious blood-filled human and you go into the woods alone with jasper, you ain't coming out alive. and if you're his singer? forget it, you're dead the second you walk over the threshold and so is the rest of your biology class.

there was always some suspension of disbelief involved in buying into the idea that edward was able to get near enough to kiss bella etc in the first place. smeyer tried to have her cake and eat it too with the whole "I could snap and kill you at any second...but let's make out" stuff. she justifies it in-universe by first giving edward Super Control and then having him claim he's simply incapable of hurting bella now after the whole believing she's dead thing in NM, and therefore his Super Control is even better. but ngl, that second part always struck me as pretty lazy writing (“the Power of Love did it!”)

so when people write vamp jasper/human alice, that's something to take into consideration. I personally think the best way to solve jasper's control issues is to make human!alice's blood smell actively bad to him, either because of medication she's on or for some supernatural reason (a reverse-singer? why not.) I went with option A in Perihelion, because it's easy to put Crazy Asylum Girl™ on some good ol' fashioned Brain Drugs.

and even then, I think jasper would still struggle a lot with control. there would be close calls. there would be times he insisted on having conversations in public, or not getting too physical too fast. times he would irish goodbye mid-makeout in order to go drain fifteen deer. from a narrative standpoint, it's a very fun conflict with a lot of potential for drama and comedy.

(especially since alice has far less patience than bella and is constantly trying to speed things up and skip ahead in her relationships lmao)

2) jasper's attitude toward humans

like you said with the traumatized war machine thing, he's much further removed from human experience than edward, who is actively trying to reclaim his humanity at every turn. jasper doesn’t see being human as a morally superior or aspirational state. he was conditioned for 80 years to devalue any life, and to view humans as Food, Not Friends. we get a glimpse in MS of the way he still struggles with that. so to suddenly be in love with someone whose humanity you struggle to recognize would lead to some wild cognitive dissonance. he might end up taking the same She's Not Like Other Humans view as edward.

he’s also a far less...teenage-y character than edward (bella in book 1: “the two older guys looked like they could be teachers”) who is used to adult levels of responsibility and agency, so that’s another big obstacle to falling in love with a human high school kid.

I think the one respect in which jasper and edward react the same is their horror at falling in love with a human, albeit for different reasons (edward: oh god, I'm a monster stealing this pure angel's future and putting her in danger!) (jasper: oh god, I'm attracted to my food source! a puny adolescent mayfly! what is wrong with me?) a pre-alice jasper has zero romantic ideas about One True Loves or whatever (consider how his last relationship went), so it would take him longer to come around to the idea that it's even worth it to try dating a human.

what I take away from this whole thing is that alice would definitely have to be the pursuer, at least at the start of the relationship. jasper’s not gonna go out of his way to get to know her, which is usually step 1 of falling in love. sure, her gift might intrigue him, but she’s the one who would have to go the extra mile to communicate with him. he’s giving her nothing.

3) jasper’s attitude toward vampirism

this one is really the kicker for me, because, as I touched on above, jasper sees nothing special or remotely useful about being human. to him, being a vampire is everything—it makes you safe, it makes you powerful, it makes you live forever. souls? souls are a fake thing the Church came up with to frighten the sheeple into compliance. humans have nothing to lose and everything to gain from becoming vampires.

so accordingly, once he accepted that he was in love with human!alice, jasper would want that girl bitten asap. every second she stays human is a second she’s in danger. another thing jasper has in common with edward is paranoia and overprotectiveness, which in his case is even more justified due to his violent background. the difference is that jasper is extremely practical and solution-oriented, and the obvious solution is “turn alice into a vampire,” not “hide in her bedroom and kill every spider.”

this can lead to its own interesting conflicts, of course. maybe human!alice doesn’t want to be a vampire, or isn’t ready, or lives under the thumb of abusive parents. maybe she gets institutionalized and goes missing. she’s vain enough that maybe she refuses to be changed until her bad haircut grows out, or she gets the chance to be drunk in las vegas at least once, or she gets just a little taller (“pleeeease I know I’m totally gonna hit five feet if we just wait one more year!”) jasper usually respects her agency, but this is one situation in which I can see him way overstepping and going so far as to change her without her consent (though he would probably need to enlist help from someone other than carlisle.)

in conclusion

so is jasper “worse” at dating a human? maybe, but he also doesn’t let her stay human for long, which in my book means he’s already handling things waaaaayyyy better than edward. there are no weird marriage ultimatums or “let’s try to have sex while i’m still human” bargains with jasper. no ghosting for six months and leaving alice unprotected. no soul-related arguments whatsoever.

how I think things would proceed

I mean, it totally depends on all the other factors I listed! I know that feels like a cop-out answer, but there are sooo many ways to execute vampire!jasper/human!alice (or vice versa, though that’s a somewhat different ball game.) for a long time I avoided writing the dynamic myself because it felt like other people had done it better, but then I completely caved and ended up with Perihelion. that story is definitely on the back burner, but any time I’m inspired and think of some specific thing I think would happen with vamp!jasper/human!alice, that’s where I’m gonna put it!