MegaUmbreon

This is the way.

Are these promoted somewhere before they happen? I feel like I always find out about them in a post about the results, which is a shame because I like Connor.

I think it's to give the top women a platform, for young girls to see people like them on the TV and make them believe they can do it too. If enough young girls start playing and keep playing, there should be plenty of female players that can compete with the best men in short order. There are also women's titles that have lower requirements than men's. It's a pretty controversial thing; some women refuse to take the "lesser" WGM title over the open IM title.

I'm not saying this works or I agree with it, but that's the thinking.

It's called the Peter Principle.

RIP Gigi, she looked like a sweetheart. She's very lucky she had you to spend her life with ❤️

His little baby face is adorable!

This, so much. Especially if you cook short grained rice like sushi, makes it almost impossible to fuck up.

"Science fiction" is kind of broad, most anime has elements of science fiction because the medium (i.e. not being real) lends itself to more fantastical ideas. I upvote others recommendations for steins gate and cowboy bebop, here are some offbeat recommendations.

If you like emotional anime, I really enjoyed Plastic Memories. The last couple of episodes especially really hit me, the running theme of the agency having non-human employees is kinda interesting.

Serial Experiments Lain is a psychological horror thriller type thing with very heavy sci fi elements. Considering it's from the 90s, it's commentary on the internet is surprisingly relevant these days. A bit artsy and kind of disappears up its own arse sometimes like Eva, but really interesting regardless.

Wonder Egg Priority is kind of sci-fi, tbh I don't know where sci-fi ends and fantasy starts, but I really enjoyed it. Just forgive it for the fucking dire ending, I think they ran out of budget, which is a shame. Kind of a "monster of the week" setup with cool action. Killer soundtrack too.

Finally, Eden of the East is a series I'll always recommend. A mystery/thriller series where a group of people have access to a concierge that can basically do anything and they have a vague mission to "change the world". Borderline sci -fi because of the heavy use of technology as a plot device. Also has an underwhelming ending, but the rest is top tier.

That SIC might be the cutest thing I've ever seen, it looks so happy!

Worth watching, but only watch in English if you think you can get over the dubious dub. After a few episodes it mostly stops bothering you, but it's probably better to watch in Korean with subtitles if you're sensitive to that.

The real issues? Social anxiety, general guilt and regret about the past, the acceptance and occasional pain in knowing that I'll never have a partner.

But the situation has been the same for about a decade and I've moved past the point where it bothers me other than acute episodes. I'm fortunate enough to have a good job and enough money that I don't have to worry about housing or food, and aside from work I can basically do whatever I want (the positive side of "no partner"). I have hobbies and am going to start traveling soon and work keeps me busy, so I don't really have grounds to complain.

Also, at some point if you're not dangerously depressed, it just becomes a part of life and the new baseline. I feel "meh" at the best of times aside from when I level up on OSRS, and having that kind of pessimistic outlook does have some advantages. I don't really panic when something goes wrong because everything is shit anyways, so the boiler breaking down or w/e is just another Tuesday. Makes life much more chill then the rollercoaster of being an optimist.

Not inherently, but I've been in communities where everyone is weirdly positive in the name of being "non-toxic" and it resulted in people generally not voicing dissenting opinions, which is pretty similar to an echo chamber.

I no longer frequent those places because it all felt a bit artificially happy like a kids TV show.