Oof nothing like trying on a dress in a store and breaking the zipper to smash your self esteem into the ground...

(TO BE FAIR, it actually was going to fit but the zipper was so fucking stiff that I yanked it up too hard I guess and it split. Side zips should be outlawed tbh. I feel like I sprain something in my ribs every time I try to do one up)

Anyway I got tacos to make myself feel better lol.

I had too much caffeine and can’t fall asleep yet so here’s some late night Starker thoughts...

Yoga instructor Peter and stressed CEO Tony?!

Pepper basically forces Tony to take care of himself and demands that he leave the office/workshop at least once during the day. She signs him up for a yoga class. He balks at first but quickly changes his tune when he sees the adorable - and VERY flexible - instructor.

Unfortunately for Tony, Pepper signed him up for the advanced session (did she do it on purpose to torture him? wejustdontknow.gif) but he can barely even touch his toes because his muscles are so tight from stress. Meanwhile Peter is sliding into poses like this without breaking a sweat while being sweetly encouraging and even trying his best to hide his giggles when Tony keeps falling over.

After a particularly embarrassing class Peter quietly offers to give Tony some private, one-on-one lessons that are a bit less intense.

“And then I can be much more hands on, Mr. Stark, really help you get into those positions” he says with just a hint of a grin that leads Tony to believe he might not be as sweet and innocent as he seems.

Needed another background show to put on while I'm working so I finally decided to give The Rookie a try.

Uhhh I had zero idea that Nathan Fillion was actually the main character (or even in the show at all)?? All I've ever seen on my dash has been Chenford lmao I literally though Lucy was "the rookie" and they were the main characters???? What even.

After playing four huge new games in a row recently I wanted to jump back into a game I've already played, and I ended up on Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It kind of made me reflect a bit on how initially I was quite disappointed with this game but now it's really, really grown on me.

I'm a huge fan of the newer AC games but when Valhalla first came out it was a very distant third place in that trilogy. There are still some things that annoy me (being forced into open combat for so many encounters rather than being able to stealth) but I think what threw me off the most at first was coming into it after Odyssey which has SUCH different vibes.

Like, Origins to me is a really fun adventure/mystery story. It has some dark and serious elements but it also has Bayek who can be quick-witted and funny, it has the great Bayek/Aya romance, and it has the creation of the Hidden Ones which is SO cool. And then Odyssey is just pure joy imho. Alexios/Kassandra is a big old goober and they're so silly and I mean I guess it depends on the choices you make but it always makes me feel so fufilled and happy at the end when the family gets back together. It's heroic and light-hearted, has a lot of really goofy side missions, and even the world itself is bright and colourful and full of life.

Then you have Valhalla. Valhalla is DARK. It has this overarching sense of futility and inevitability, like your fate has been written and there's no escape. Eivor is stoic and brusque and violent and quite frankly a little unlikeable. A lot of the victories don't even feel like victories. They're tainted by loveable characters dying, friends betraying you, basically: winning but at what cost? Eivor often feels lost in their own story, being manipulated by people like Basim and Fulke and Alfred. They're also burdened with Odin's memories and end up having to leave everyone they know and love to deal with that.

But it also has these moments of searing beauty that make it into a wonderfully stirring experience, and I think it took me a while to realize that. I missed the joy of Odyssey so much I couldn't appreciate what Valhalla had to offer. I've been listening to the OST a lot and I think it captures that bittersweet vibe perfectly... the main theme alone is so haunting. Most of the England you explore is dirty and muddy and brown but every once in a while you are at the top of a hill and you see a beautiful sunrise light up the gold in the trees and it's breathtaking. That, to me, is what Valhalla excels at.

Me playing Baldur's Gate 3: Scratch!!! 🤗🤗🤗🤗❤️

Me playing Alan Wake 2: Scratch!!! 😨😨😨😨❌

Love spending Valentine's Day getting absolutely pummeled by my physiotherapist 👍🏻

Finally escaped from BG3's clutches long enough to start Alan Wake 2 and omfggggg I am already obsessed.

I feel like I'm playing a Hannibal/X-Files video game?! Two FBI agents investigating weird ritual murders in the PNW where one of them apparently has an actual mind palace you can explore and link clues together in and do some legit Will Graham style profiling?! And STAG IMAGERY?! What is happening.

Now that I've watched a bunch of episodes of The Rookie I definitely 10000% need a crossover with 911 now that they're on the same network. I mean it would fit perfectly!! They even had similar calls (guy stuck in the ATM?). And I just want to see some of the characters interact. I feel like Eddie and Angela Lopez would be so funny together (idk unless she leaves later, I'm only in early season 2 and two characters are already gone lol).

The only thing I don't really like about it so far is the same issue I had with 911: Lonestar. It's way too centred on Nolan, like Lonestar is on Owen. The reason I love OG 911 is because it truly feels like every single character has equal time, including Athena and Bobby who you'd think would be "main" characters. It's not AS egregious as Lonestar so far but yeah aside from that I'm still liking it.

I guess this is what happens when I actually leave my own neighbourhood for once lol

Idk if anyone follows my posts enough to even notice this but you may have seen me talking about a lot of new things I've watched so far this year, both tv and film. I kind of made a mini resolution to do this because I found, especially at the end of 2023, that I was stuck in a rut of either rewatching old things or mindlessly flipping through YouTube videos I had little to no interest in. There's so much media out there I'm interested in and now I feel almost reinvigorated to go through it and I've been having a blast.

Most of the time I'll probably just reblog a gifset or two with thoughts in the tags but I finally watched the Interview with the Vampire tv show and I have FEELINGS (mostly good)! Spoilers for season one and I do talk about book things that eventually happen so beware in case you don't know and want to continue the show completely blind...

So I kinda put off watching this at first because the Vampire Chronicles books are some of my favourites, and while it did have its own issues, the 1994 film holds a special place in my heart. I was like... do we really need anything else? But I'm glad I gave it a chance because the show was able to go so much further in so many aspects and also now we have a chance to actually see even more of the book events take place!

I'm gonna say up front that almost every character felt very different from how they are in the book except for Lestat. Lestat was actual perfection and I cannot BELIEVE someone did a (dare I say) even better job than Tom Cruise who gave the performance of his life in the film. Sam Reid's Lestat is unhinged and dramatic and terrifying and sad and cringe and yet also loveable and it was a masterpiece of acting. For the majority of the other characters I really didn't mind the differences and in some instances I thought they were actually improved. Daniel Molloy, for example, who is basically Anthony Bourdain? Perfection. Louis who is yes kind of pathetic and dramatic like the book, but also is volatile and complicated which Lestat is drawn to right from the beginning instead of only after having his little breakdown caused by his brother's death? Excellent. Armand who is older and looks nothing like the Armand described in the books but I can see without any problem how Marius fell madly deeply insanely in love with him because he's GORGEOUS and has this unsettling serenity about him? Give. Me. MORE.

The only issue I really had was with Claudia. I see people praising her all over the place so I'm sure this is an unpopular opinion but I hated that they aged her up so much. The most compelling thing about Claudia as a character is that she is an adult woman trapped in the body of a literal CHILD. A pre-pubescent child. Not a teenager. It's absolutely horrifying and it should be horrifying. Now, I will say, I saw an article where they talked about part of the reason behind this choice being that they needed the actor to work longer hours and it was impossible for a kid to do that, plus the very intense material, and I fully FULLY support any protections for child actors because the industry is insane. But it does make me sad and I wish there was some way they could have worked around it. I get what they tried to do with teenage Claudia but it just fell flat for me. And also the actress really looks her age (I think she's 20?) so like the few times where people were making fun of her for "playing dress up" or whatever I'm like... she fully looks like an older teen at LEAST what are you talking about lol. Also I thought her accent was kind of bad.

But honestly, that was really the only problem I had with the whole series. I absolutely loved how they went full-on explicit with the Lestat/Louis romance and the chemistry between the two of them was... WOOF. I was actually really interested in the modern portions too, mostly because Anthony Bour-- I mean Daniel Molloy was so entertaining lol. I loved how he pushed and pushed at Louis and their whole back and forth was brilliant. Although putting on my archivist's hat for a second to be outraged at Daniel consenting to wearing the cotton gloves to handle the diaries but then eating a fucking sandwich right beside the book???? Absolutely not lol. It was so much fun to see the Armand reveal (which I was spoiled for somehow but that's ok) especially knowing that Armand eventually turns Daniel and boy oh boy I hope they go long enough to get to that. I loved the continued references to Lestat's love of music which makes me hope they're planting seeds to make rock star Lestat a little more believable lol (god can you even imagine?? And we don't talk about the Queen of the Damned movie ok).

As for S2, I'm so excited for Paris and the Théâtre des Vampires and HELLO Ben Daniels as Santiago!!! Omg so hype for that. And it's going to be so interesting to see the Armand/Louis relationship as well because I mean it's always going to be Lestat/Louis and Armand/Marius for me so Louis being like "he's the love of my life"... girl. (And speaking of Armand/Marius please GOD give us some flashbacks because they are my Vampire Chronicles OTP and I need to see that whole story including my girl Bianca thank youuuuu).

Yeah so overall I'm quite positive about the whole thing and sincerely hope that they get many more seasons because there's so many interesting stories in those books and we've only ever gotten a TINY portion on screen.

Uhhhhh hi lol. I haven’t posted in over a month but I am most assuredly NOT dead. I was on vacation, busy with work, taking a break, etc. etc. all those good excuses. I popped in every once in a while to like some posts but I really wanted to give my blog a good refresh. I just did a pinned post with updated info, and I also changed my theme and it’s so pretty!

So I know some of you may have followed me because of Starker and while I’m not “leaving” that fandom or pairing by any means, I’m just not as into it as I was. If you’re here for exclusively Starker content then you may not be interested in my blog anymore and that’s ok! I’ve always been multifandom anyway tbh. But if you’re cool with variety and lots of video game content please stick around :)

I want to do more original posts as well. Fic, of course (if I can ever manage to sit down to write again ughhhh), but also just things like quotes or passages from books, moodboards, brief personal thoughts, etc. I would love to do some fanmixes even though I know they aren’t popular anymore, or at least try to post some more music! At the very least I’m going to try to stay consistently active again because I’ve missed this a lot.

I don't think I could ever choose a favourite Old Gods of Asgard moment out of all their major appearances in the Remedy games, but the more and more I listen to this and think about the scene the more and more I ADORE it. The song on its own is a certified banger but it's also weirdly emotional. Not just the whole event of bringing Alan out of the Dark Place, but when Tor and Odin are performing you see the younger Old Gods projected in the sky and Balder is still with them ;____; it just got me.

My first attempt at the Cazador boss fight in BG3 I hit him so hard with my light-emanating, radiant damage machine mace that the game crashed lmao.

Correct and reasonable video game take: every game should have a DLC like Citadel from Mass Effect. Let me get drunk and throw a party with all my companions. Let me blow up a sushi restaurant. Let me dance awkwardly in the kitchen. Let me fight my clone. IS THIS TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR.

You single handedly made me put on 9-1-1 today. I want to like it so much but so over the top 😭😂 does it get better or is it like this the whole time?? BUDDIE LOOKS SO INTERESTING

I literally cackled out loud when I saw this ask omg 🤣 I'm so thrilled that my 9-1-1 brainrot has infected someone else.

But like ok here's the thing... is it award winning television? Absolutely not. If you're looking for the next Succession or something you won't find it lol. BUT, that being said, if you can kind of turn your brain off and just enjoy it for what it is then yeah it's honestly super fun and it DOES get better after S1. S2 is when Eddie and Maddie both show up and the whole dynamic gets way better. And it's absolutely over the top and silly and dramatic and sometimes kind of cringe but the characters and relationships are incredibly heartfelt and lovely (not just Buddie).

I started it because I wanted a dumb show to put on in the background while I was working and now it's taken over my brain lol.

I was just re-watching 5x07 Ghost Stories and like, can we talk about the potential of Taylor Kelly/Lou Ransone because... 👀👀👀

I know a lot of people don't like Taylor but she gives me such Lois Lane/Karen Page vibes and I can't help but adore her. She was TERRIBLE for Buck tbh but her and Ransone would be so perfect for each other. They'd bicker all the time but like... in a sexy way.