#junipers rambles

[junipersrambles]

I have a lot of complicated feelings about Trigun Stampede, feelings I can't exactly summarize in one post or fully form quite yet (especially because the second season is not out yet).

I have a lot of personal attachment to Trigun Maximum and the particular way that story is told. I think the difference in story approach and overall atmosphere in Trigun Stampede initially turned me away from it. It was quick to judge, especially because I had yet to even watch the show when I started to feel this way.

Even after watching it (and rewatching it several times) I can't help but feel that something is a bit off for me. The show is really good, like really fucking good. Between the art direction, the animation, the music, and the voice acting, it is truly shaping up to fulfill all of its ambitions. On a technical level alone, the show is an incredible piece of art. It is also rare that a series like this even gets a modern remake at all. I'm so glad that it has brought new interest to a series I have loved for a while. I am so glad that Stampede can act as a modern gateway to the world of Trigun.

And yet, I have difficulty connecting to it the same way I did the original anime and the manga. It lacks some of the heart, and especially the soul of the manga/98'. I can't decide quite yet if it has to do with the pacing or some aspect of the writing yet, or both. All I know is that maybe, upon some reflection, I can figure out why I feel this dissonance between Stampede and the source material I love so much.

This is not really meant to be a hot take, or a statement of any kind. I'm just trying to gather my thoughts about Stampede while I prepare for Trigun Bookclub, and before the next season comes out.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Ranking the Veilguard companions Hookup Potential based on the kind of bed situation they have going on in the Lighthouse

(im in early act 2 so have no idea what further romance scenes are actually like, this is just jokin time without any romance spoilers. just pics of how their respective rooms in the lighthouse look and some basic characterization we know about them)

Taash: 8/10

In another game or the real world I would only rate this a 5 because she has no pillows or addition blankets. however she does have a real bedframe AND it's big enough for 2 which means she is doing better than 90% of the rest of the Veilguard so this score gets boosted. And while there's not many blankets, there are plenty of braziers around the room to keep you warm, and Taash is probably her own miniature furnace to cuddle up to. Crucially, she also has a whole wheel of cheese next to the bed, which means you don't even have to leave the covers to get a snack after.

Lucanis: 1/10

Oh no. I'm not even going to comment on the pantry angle because everyone else asks him about that to begin with, so this is just about the bed. Unfortunately the bed is a cot made of uneven wooden planks with some blankets on top of it, and is only wide enough for 1. This is because Lucanis hates sleeping and doesn't want to do it, so the less tempting his bed is, the better for him. Unfortunately this means sleepover potential is dreadful and you will have to find alternate solutions. He does at least have another blanket to go over him and one that's presumably being used as a pillow, so, he gets a 1 instead of a 0, but I am still planning on gifting him coupons for a back massage for Satinalia.

Bellara: 4/10

This setup is perfectly fine for sleeping. It's the lighthouse standard little bed couch thing, has a mattress/cushion, is elevated off the floor, has a pillow, and she's got her blankets folded below. Perfectly serviceable for getting a good night's rest which we know Bellara is not because she forgot to sleep again. However, it's very much a one person sized setup. You might be able to cuddle for a while but if one of you unconsciously tries to roll over you are going right to the floor. Ouch.

Lace Harding: 5/10

You might be wondring "why is sleeping on the floor rated higher than bellara's" and the answer is because this means you are not rolling off the bed onto the floor. it's not going to be comfy but we are not ranking comfort here we're ranking sleepover potential. Harding has managed to make this space look homey and the canopy gives the illusion of being in a tent or canopy bed to help with that illusion. There are rugs down on the floor plus the blankets and pillows--we know Harding is used to sleeping on the ground due to her career as a scout, and I'm sure she can scrounge up more blankets to make the cushioning big enough for the both of you. Your back WILL hurt in the morning but you'll get to have a fun night first.

Neve: 3/10

Girl I know you can do better than this. Which means you're not trying to on purpose, so, live your life I guess. I will say this cot IS bounds nicer than Lucanis's--you can see its a stretched canvas or hide on a frame rather than wooden planks, so it will have a little more give. However they are not THAT much comfier which I know having slept on this modern equivalent many times. Neve also apparently has 0 pillows or blankets so you're out of luck there, as well as the problem of it only being wide enough for 1 again. This woman has too many other things going on to think about romance so your Rook is going to be the one improvising on that matter I think.

Davrin: 10/10

Now here is a man who has his life together. Double or queen size mattress, rustic bed frame he probably lovingly carved and assembled himself by hand, and not only are there sheets AND blankets AND pillows, they are are full on matching set and this knight in shining armor dutifully makes the bed every morning. There's also enough pillows for two! While the remains of a giant corpse is hanging above you all night, the spacing of the ribs still gives you lots of room above to manouver, so just don't worry about that. As a bonus you'll probably even have a baby griffon come to cuddle in the night which is such a cute thought we're going to ignore how much worse getting stepped on by a griffon foot would be than even the biggest fattest housecat trying to stand on your stomach at 4:30am. My one criticism of the setup here is that due to the bed's positioning if the person on the inside needs to get up in the night they'll have to awkwardly crawl over the person on the outside, however everyone else's bed situation is so dismal I'm not even going to subtract a point for that. Great work Davrin.

Emmrich: ???/10

Where... does this man sleep. Peepaw I KNOW you can't be sitting in that armchair all night you need your beauty rest!!! There are 0 beds or cots or floor blankets in this man's room. HOW am I supposed to break his pelvis if he has nowhere for us to lie down??? We can't risk that old man's spine on the cobblestone.

Wait... unless. No, surly not. I mean--jk. Unless...? 😳😳😳

is daddy necromancer gonna fuck me on the sacrifice slab... 😳😳😳🥵🥵🥵

Bonus:

Solas 11/10

does not matter where he actually slept bc once my inquisitor Gets Him again they WILL be fucking on top of the piano in front of the mural in his Yearning Room

[junipersramblings]

Hey Marble Hornets fans, whatever you do, don't check the dates in the corner of Entry #26 and enttry #37

Trust me, you'll just make yourselves sad

Alright fine, but don't say I didn't warn you

The last day Alex saw his girlfriend alive, the day she DIED, was his BIRTHDAY

[gingermintpepper]

Tbh, I'm kind of obsessed with the almost tragedy of Eiland and Caldarus in Fields of Mistria. Eiland's dedicated his life to uncovering the secrets and stories hidden in Mistria's archeology - he's single-mindedly devoted to it, so much so that even his side hobbies are influenced by his love of history and desire to know more about Mistria's but it's that devotion that makes him so blind to the magic right in front of him.

It's Eiland's sharp eye that sees Caldarus' statue behind that tree on the farm. It's Eiland who whacks away at the bark with the axe fruitlessly until he's assisted. It's Eiland who coaxes the player to help repair Caldarus' statue and subtly ropes them into joining his History Society. It's Eiland who is devoted to the steles, who gets so excited at the prospect at uncovering a new piece of old Mistria's puzzle that he cuts his outing short to rush to the museum. It's Eiland who realises that all of the different eras of artefacts dug up in Mistria's soil must mean that Mistria itself was once the cradle of civilisation for Aldaria.

And yet, with all of that knowledge, he's still so, so blind to what's right in front of him. He doesn't realise that Juniper is a witch, he merely knows that she is familiar with all manner of the arcane and assumes it's a scholarly pursuit like his instead of what it actually is - Juniper's lifestyle, Juniper's culture. And ultimately, I think that's why he's blind to Caldarus and the magic right in front of him.

Eiland isn't taking the time to stop and really think about what all these artefacts and armaments mean. He isn't considering that remnants of old Mistria still live, he isn't even able to grapple with the question of whether or not it's right for him to dig up the armour at the stele when it's clearly hidden there for a reason. Eiland is completely detached from the history he's searching for and that's why, even with magic and the truth about Mistria right in front of him, he'll remain blind to it.

[dogshit-enchantment]

My bisexual ass is SWEATING god they're all so fucking hot

[im-spicy-sad]

I love that people in the twst fandom are just LOSING THEIR MINDS at the Vil and Rook cards.

As someone who just kinda likes Vil, it’s funny to see people melting at his new card and the reveal of his dad.

And as someone who loves Rook

Yes. Gimme feral weird man with long messy hair

If he’s weird to beastmen while in Pomfiore, how crazy was he while in Savannahclaw?

We are told that a lot of beastmen end up in Savannahclaw, so how did he act there?

How crazy was he when he was in a dorm FILLED with beastmen?

[rosie-kairi]

I couldn't hear anything that was being said.

I didn't know what was about to happen, what was about to unfold in front of us.

The intensity in the air was overwhelming. Images and sounds were burned in my brain.

There was no time to stop and think about why we were fighting-

why our enemies were no longer monsters, but each other.

Our friends.

But no matter how hopeless the situation, people will cling to the last shred of hope, the last piece of their dream, until the very end.

Man. I completely forgot that we got Player's inner monologue in this scene..... no one is doing it like them.

[best-sharks-bracket]

ok it’s pretty much the very opposite of the ocean but I would like to raise awareness of a really cool biome!

The piñon juniper woodland is a desert-like environment and covers about 15% of the western US and occurs between 4,500 and 7,500 feet in elevation! This biome consists of some ground cover, scrubby piñon trees and juniper trees, which are usually not much taller than 10 feet! This biome also occurs in close proximity to Joshua trees which are an endangered species endemic to the southwest US. A lot of different species call this habitat home, including tumbleweeds (which are native to Ukraine!), the endangered pinyon jay, reptiles, great horned owls, and many species of cactus! The piñon juniper woodland doesn’t really get much coverage and is threatened by climate change especially wildfires and many species are declining in population. This environment has a lot of cultural significance to the native people and is an important habitat in the American west. I hope this silly little post has helped raise some awareness of this beautiful biome! here’s a picture I took in Arizona in a piñon juniper woodland at about 5000 feet of elevation

Resources to learn more :

(x,x,x)

[gorgynei]

heyyy...... no way this is a coincidence, right

[ghostplasmas]

Ieytd fandom. Come hither. I truly believe from the deepest recesses of my charred heart of coal that juniper should be allowed to be the whiny bitch man-baby he is in the game. Let him be an egotistical power hungry maniac PLEASE. I need more. Let that man be your average silly villain. This game radiates Saturday morning cartoon energy and I NEED more of that for juniper. Let him be evil. Have him throw a little whiny baby tantrum like in the game. He's a 40 year old man child who thinks he should own everything he looks at. I want to beat him with a hammer. I want to grind him into a slushie. I want to turn him into paste. We need more content of juniper being a little shit PLEASE. I need more. He's so fucking funny in the games cause he's such a little SHIT. He's so manipulative and egotistical. He's so charming and funny but then as soon as he doesn't get what he wants, the façade drops and he turns into a little whiny BITCH. Shaking all of you PLEASE let him be evil. I'm on my hands and knees sobbing.

[junipersrambles]

someday I will make a comprehensive post about how the women in Hannibal are treated or discussed in Hannibal fan spaces, but today will not be that day

[juniperw]

I didn’t think it was possible but SEGA and Sonic Team somehow made Shadow cooler than he ever was before.

As if getting KEANU FUCKING REEVES to voice him in a major blockbuster movie and making official art of him cosplaying as Batman wasn’t enough, they gave him objectively some of the rawest powers ever seen in a Sonic game AND decided to start writing his personality correctly.

Whoever came up with all of those ideas needs a raise. This. Fucking. Instant.

[junipersramblings]

Greetings HI3blr

Secret thirteenth option: I'm bald/I don't go here/one of the extras

If you feel like putting a reason in the tags, be our guest! They're fun to read

!!PLEASE REBLOG IF YOU VOTE!! (It's for sample size)

[etirabys]

The last chapter of John Bradshaw's Cat Sense is dedicated to the future of cats as a domesticated species. They're kind of in trouble, at least in the parts of the West that have carried out successful neutering campaigns.

(tumblr post extracting the parts of the book relevant to making your actual concrete cat happier is here)

For most of their history as a domesticated animal, cats were "independent workers" who weren't integrated into human households like dogs were. The shift to "affectionate indoor pets whose hunting drive is a liability rather than the main feature" has been recent, and fast.

Not only are they not adapted for this role (see the 15% of cats that remain skeptical about humans despite good socialization as kittens), current breeding practices are making them worse for this niche. Pet cats are neutered by default these days, and the main source of new cats for aspiring cat owners are kittens born to strays who are selected for being difficult to catch and spay, i.e. the cats that are most suspicious of people and best at surviving on their own because they are keen hunters of wildlife.

(The book doesn't offer quantifications of how fast friendliness is going down because of selection effects. Only one study is mentioned: in 1999 the author compared one area of Southampton where the vast majority of cats were neutered (and kittens were probably fathered by ferals) and one area where the kittens were fathered by unspayed pet male cats. The mothers in both areas were unspayed pets, but the kittens fathered by ferals were less likely to settle on human laps. No numbers given, however.)

The obvious solution – since humans are likely to continue wanting cats as pets, ideally cats who like humans back – is to breed cats deliberately, the same way we breed dogs. We aren't doing that yet, or at least not for temperament. We do breed for looks (or for being hypoallergenic), and those cats do sometimes differ in temperament due to founder effects. The main exception is the Ragamuffin/Ragdoll breed, which has a "tendency to be limp and comfortable when handled".

I'm not too worried about this – neutering campaigns are not universal, and a couple of years ago I watched a documentary about the huge, human-habituated feral cat population in Istanbul where, presumably, friendliness towards humans is selected for. There are plenty of cats in the world who are chill with humans and with each other that we can start breeding for be good at being pet cats rather than good at being ferals. And if Western society starts noticing our cats have started being less friendly and more stressed compared to the past and to foreign cats, surely we'll get started on deliberate breeding. But as the housemate of a cat who only kind of seems to be content with life as an indoor pet, it does seem that we should get started.

[elmflowers]

i am objectively right on this one.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

this is slugly lizard my new best friend who hates when i look at him