Lots of things I'm really interested in are looked down on by other adults I know. I love animation but it's seen as something for kids. I love video games, but that's for teens, incels and nerds. And I love birdwatching, but that's for boring old people. Oh and also whatever my ADHD is making me hyperfocus on at any given moment. I could talk about any of those topics for ages, but more often than not people aren't interested, so I keep it to myself.
I've lived in multiple European countries, and visited and dined in many more. Never once paid before a meal. Where in Europe are you from?
I'd honestly be interested in listening if we lived in the same area. I'm a total noob when it comes to anything beyond basic money management. I hope you find people who appreciate your insights!
In addition to what people have advised so far, I can't stress enough how important rest, and especially sleep is when you're ill. Whenever I've fallen ill with a cold, flu, cough, etc., I find that if I try to fight it and go about the day as normal, the illness lasts much longer. If I try to sleep it off, I get better a lot faster. If you can, and especially on the first day, don't go to work, don't run errands, and especially don't go to the gym/exercise. Good luck!
My sister got me an electric blanket some Christmases ago, one of the thick ones that heats up when you plug it in. I use it all the time - best xmas gift ever!
That's a really heavy burden to place on a child. Sure when they're really young you'll be the centre of their universe. A superhero that can do no wrong. But eventually they will grow up, and become their own people. That process often involves outright rejecting you and being really hurtful. If you have a fragile sense of self I'm not sure raising teenagers will make you feel any better, they can be godamn mean.
Also your kids should NEVER be responsible for your mental health and self esteem. It's incredibly unhealthy and you will likely end up raising broken adults because of it. Honestly, save yourself and your potential future chlldren the trauma and heartache and do the work it takes to deal with your issues. It will be hard, but believe me it's a piece of cake compared to the pain you'd be setting yourself up for later.
Another person chiming in with the same use case. It's saved me SO MUCH time and it really helps get over the anxiety-related procrastination.
Hard to pick but for the longest time my favourite animated film was How to Train Your Dragon, the firdt one is really charming. There's so many good ones to pick from. Wall-E is a great movie, and the soundtrack composed by Thomas Newman is just, chef's kiss, y'know? Have you ever watched song if the sea? Another good one with a great story and beautiful music. Do you watch animated series? Anything you particularly enjoyed lately?
Favourite video game right now is Hollow Knight, even though metroidvanias aren't necessarily my thing. I've never played Borderlands, what's the gameplay like?
We are kindred spirits! I am devastated at what's happened with HBO Max, I will forever be salty that they gave up on Infinity train! And netflix too, dropping glitch techs, dead end, and inside job. So many good shows without closure.
I'm heartened that some indie artists are starting to go their own way online. Lackadaisy, Helluva Boss, monkey Wrench. It's promising and could be the future of animation, but requires a lot of patience for now.
I started Summer Camp Island but dropped it along the way. Maybe I should pick it back up again. What other shows are you desperate to talk about?
I'm super excited for Lackadaisy too - the pilot is of such amazing quality, even some major established shows don't match it. I also loved Bee and Puppycat, and Hilda, really whimsical. Also loooooved OK KO. Have you watched Wander Over Yonder, or Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart? I feel the humour is very similar. Another couple of shows that were cut too short (at least the former provides some closure).
I have to say Infinity train doesn't get any less brutal, and I definitely get missing Lake. Still think it's worth watching the next seasons as there's some continuity in the story (which HBO should let them finish dammit).
To be fair I really got into animation shows (as opposed to movies) around the time of the pandemic, so I missed most of the pilots. I am excited to see what happens with Hazbin Hotel, and other online projects like Talon, and Hugo's Mind Palace. If you haven't yet, I really recommend watching the shorts on the Gobelins school animation page. Some of them are mind-blowingly amazing.
If I were to ask which are your top 5 shows, would you be able to pick?
In addition to all of the above I recommend The Dragon Prince on Netflix, there's a few LGBT characters on there, a couple if which play very prominent roles in later seasons. Season 4 drops off in quality a bit but it picks back up in season 5.
Star Trek Lower Decks has a bit of representation too, and you don't need to like Star Trek to enjoy it.
The last episode of Ghost and Molly McGee nods to one of the big supporting characters being lesbian or bi.
Craig of the Creek is for younger audiences but has a bunch of lgbtq characters, including a lesbian kiss scene! It's very good at all sorts of representation.
One of the main characters in The Great North is gay and out. It's a fairly chill comfort show I'd say but different from the ones above.
The main protagonist of Dragon Age: Absolution is a lesbian but that's not specifically a central part of the story.
There's a bit of representation in Vox Machina, but be warned it's quite violent and bloody at times. Same for Castlevania but my god that was an amazing show. There's even a MMF sex scene, but I won't give away much more on that.
Those are some that come to mind for now but I'm certain there's more. Enjoy!
Edit: I just noticed you didn't list Adventure Time. If you liked all of the cartoons you listed you -must- watch Adventure Time! There's a wee bit of lgbt rep in there too.
Is it very violent/bloody? Sounds like something my son would like (he enjoys Fortnite and Overwatch), but he's only 10.
Yeah you never know with age ratings. I found fortnite to be ok even though it's rated 12+. Deep rock galactic is rated 16+ but apart from the odd swear word (which, frankly he'll hear more often from me) I find that quite exaggerated. If there is a lot of gore and blue humour I'll wait a while before trying it with him.
I might check it out then. Shooter games aren't really my jam but I play Fortnite and Overwatch with my son from time to time and he loves it, so maybe I check it out with him. He might be too young for it though.
My guess is Reddit is doing this to temporarily raise traffic. It's like rage bait. They know they're pissing people off and protestors will flood the site, but traffic is traffic. If they can demonstrate engagement it must be good enough for the upcoming IPO.