disclaimer:
had to switch to PC, because I cannot see me spending so much time correcting every second or third word for the following text, so in a bizarre twist of fate, SONNICK comes to the rescue of SUPERSONNICK, who is, for the record, too fast for software-keyboard input, so slo-mo sonnick takes over now:
top-secret spacer technique tipp:
opening angular bracket, br, closing angular bracket, and it should look like this (without the blanks, or you wouldn’t see anything)
< br >
i like using manual paragraph spacing for improving readability, feel free to spread the word!
re spreading the word: i'd like to answer to the SotC-bit in particular in King of Posters, to keep a record for when I come back to the notions I've had, because in a few years' time, a lot changes and you see things differently ... however, since I do not know whether you want to keep it in the axe, pruning of personal things et al, I will reply in a second post here, and move it to KoP only if you are fine with it.
(btw, I though i had dropped a short version of my SotC-impression in the official™ SotC-topic, but just saw I didn’t do so, and neither did i do so in the Last Guardian topic, much to my surprise.)
on to the real deal then:
it’s OK if it takes time to change! that’s what I find so fascinating about being, it is looking back to where you came from, remembering what you did see and experience, and wondering where you will be in the future … it does give you an indication how you, as a person, have evolved, instead of being a NPC that is stuck in time, or rather doomed to be frozen in time, forever being a static personality that other actors around him will know all too well after a while, until they get so sick of him that they aren’t talking to each other anymore (that sounds like a good idea for an RPG, but i am sure that someone already did a take on this).
Whether changing your behaviour has driven some friends away - idk, i’d say that it is a thing of getting older and being more focused on relationships, where people seem to disappear suddenly, only to surface a few years later again?
Of course, your gf would know best if you are a more rounded, nicer/more approachable person, and if she can agree to that with confidence, it’s probably true, so … in best SB-fashion, here’s my hot take: if you are trying to be a better person and friends leave after a while, time to get some new friends!
(j/k, but with every joke, there’s some grain of truth hidden inside there… if e.g. toxic “friends” only like you when you’re being toxic or overly cynical, better start gettin’ out of there sooner than later).
… anyway, before i go too far off the tracks, time to get this train movin’ again!
tl;dr version is keep on working on it, even if it is just a tiny bit, improving or learning is worth it, and if you enjoy it, hey, what better way can there be?
regarding the usage of the word “fun”:
i love the slogan of natsume (are they still using it these days?), which goes “serious fun”.
the obvious synonym to use instead of fun is obviously - joy.
Talking about the fine and subtle nuances/differences between joy and fun is for another topic, I agree …
last, but not least …
you know what? … just for fun, I went to the website of arte, and looked for other languages, and would you believe it:
https://www.arte.tv/es/search/?q=karambolage&page=1
no geo-blocking, and spanish subs (from the looks of it, only checked one vid tbh!) - there’s a whole world out there for you to explore. Have fun!