Kiroen

Understand that I'm going to be legitimately pissed off If you accuse me of being the one who started the off-topic, when everything I said in my first post was directly meant to answer OPs questions, while your very next one's only purpose is to discuss the off-topic. SPECIALLY If you proceed to give a warning for following your example, even before that I had the opportunity to reply; ONLY to keep discussing the off-topic after you have called it to an end, and finishing it with a "You started first".

I was talking about the roles society attributes to each gender. Are you implying that the biological, genetic differences justify the contemporary gender differences in roles? Which ones, then? I don't see where's the contradiction? The fact that it's satisfying for a lot of people doesn't mean that it isn't promoted by the society's culture. If they are mere stereotypes, and not statistical trends, companies are doing something terribly wrong with their advertising. Or I have missed several years of TV where men's cosmetics and clothing commercials boomed to the point of jumping out of it and obnoxiously sinking in the soup. Edit: Hadn't read this when I started the post. But maybe you should check again who started the off-topic.

It's amazing to see that I'm terribly late to the thread, even though it was started today There's something that has been said several times, but maybe summing it up in a short phrase will help: Don't look for potential lovers; look for potential friends. Even If it may sound contradictory, that mindset makes the process faster. By meeting more people, it becomes more likely that you find someone with whom a relationship may work (pure statistic); in the other hand, If you look for a potential lover, you'll be more likely to fall in love* with someone that wouldn't go out with you - thus getting you stuck in a non-relationship dynamic for some time. (*I mean the "falling in love at first sight" way, which is usually unrealistic and impractical, since your mind fills the gaps that you don't know about the other person with an idealistic, but fake view). As for the gender roles: while we, progressive, free-thinking individuals (so cliche) know that they suck and we'd be better without them, being a guy and being too shy or not being confident closes you a lot of doors (...not having self confidence is terrible in a lot of ways whatever sexuality you have, too, but back to the point). On the another hand, a lot of hetero-normative couples don't work because they fall so deep in our societies' gender roles ( footballgetdrunkbeisbolmotorbikesgitdrunksportssportssportsgtednruk / suchfashionbuyclothesbeautymoreclothes ) that they eventually find out that they have nothing in common; they started going out because it was normal according to their society's myths, it worked because they liked sex, and once their jobs' stress takes that away, they find themselves stuck in a marriage with someone they don't really like that much, but the divorce means economic difficulties and problems for their children (If you think this is too cliche, you're lucky. My uncle (who is around his fifties) has very few childhood friends that haven't gone through this process already). My conclusion on the matter is that it's unavoidable to go through some roles (unless you're lucky enough to find a really open-minded / intelligent / progressive partner), but basing your whole relationship on them is signing its own death sentence. As to the idea that women are less intelligent, it's being proved wrong as time goes by. I can't find the source, but the following experiment was conducted: Group A and B have both male and female students. Both groups have to pass a test of mathematical and logical problems, but before the test, the Group A is told <<Women are statistically worse than men at math and science>>; while the Group B is told <<It is proven that women are statistically as good as men in math and science>>. In the results of Group A, male students got 10 out of 100 points than female students in average, while in the results of the group B, female students got 0,5 out of 100 points more than male students in average. It's a very small example of how the society's myths changes what people ends up being. Yes, you will find more successful male scientists and engineers, but the numbers will be balanced to perfect equality as soon as we start banishing these myths.

Mankind suddenly becomes intelligent enough for Reality TV shows not being profitable anymore - however your sister is displeased, and now dedicates her free time to spy you, in order to satisfy her need of gossips. I wish I liked lemonade again so these lemonade bottles don't go to waste.

Banned for being a video game character from the 80s

Add me to the list - even though it's not saying much. Asperger's is, sadly, just that: a syndrome, a stupidly huge group of symptoms that psychologists put together because there were statistics that pointed towards the possibility that they could be related, up to the point that both a borderline autistic and someone who's had almost not a single meaningful problem in his or her life (because of the symptoms) fall under the same category, even though their characteristics may be caused by different physiological reasons. Why is it sad? Because it's an impractical, useless categorization when it comes to find solutions to the problems that the symptoms may cause. In my case, I was unaware of double meanings, certain jokes, subtle social interactions in general that I didn't care about until some point at high school. That led to bullying at some points (and its consequences: lower self esteem, social seclusion, and other bs that it's not cool to talk about), until I finally decided that, If I was to find interesting people at some point of my life, it would be for the best that my social skills didn't suck, so I started paying attention to other people's gestures, tones, reactions; and later analyzing and practicing myself in front of a mirror. Like If I was researching the subject of "how to be socially successful among all of these morons". The process was really slow, and it would take ~3-4 years to culminate. When I was starting, I was aiming for a state grant to join international Baccalaureate, so I joined the high school in which I could take it one year later. The first confrontations of the ideal life I was imagining for myself with reality was, as it should be expected, disappointing. I lost interest for it before it even started, I didn't have any interest in meeting people, and, at the first new signs of bullying, I turtled myself - but at least it didn't go too wrong. Instead of getting into an abusive dynamic, this time I was fast to reply back to "jokes" (If you can call something with such terrible intentions a "joke") and I developed a fame of being an honest, but prepotent asshole. That, united to the fact that I frequently engaged in discussions with the teachers, simply because I hated the idea of having an authority figure giving diffusion to their dumb opinions (why hello there philosophy teacher), earned me some kind of respect. I didn't get in other people's lives, they didn't get in mine. After the first delusion, that was all that I ended up wishing for. In my disinterest for most things, I was happy. Somehow, I had ended up making friends, and even though I had stopped studying and getting good grades, I received the grant for IB. The next year, however, several adversities found me at the very same time. The collapse of romantic delusions and other false expectations, a love rejection stupidly prolonged in time (precisely wasting the only months of my life in which I had been rejecting girls myself), the pressure of having a tight schedule in which I had to dedicate too much time to study stuff I didn't care about, while the subjects I was interested in was advancing way too slow... I quit High School. I got in depression, quit High School against my friends, family, classmates and teachers recommendations, and three months later, after I had got more perspective, I regretted it and came back, but it was too late. Not paying attention in class and catching up with your classmates' notes later is one thing, but completely leaving HS during a trimester, only to come back some time before the final exams... I failed completely the first one, realized the situation, and didn't attend to any other test. I had to repeat the grade - this time in regular High School (logically, they wouldn't give another grant to someone at my situation), got distanced from my friends and fell, again, further in depression. Drama. I suspect I've got deviated from the main topic, so back to it. A couple of years after that, after I had gotten new friends and stuff, they all agreed in that I was charismatic.... !?!?!?¿¡!? To my surprise, I hadn't realized that, even though I had been going through so much bullshit, I had finally developed social skills up to the point that I didn't have to consciously act to express my feelings or thoughts. My whole perspective of life might have crashed and all, but hey, at least I excelled at overcoming my social awkwardness. (Yay.) My other big symptom associated with Asperger is obsessions. Once I take a particular interest in something, my mind enters in a train route that forces me to keep thinking about it. This has both positive and negatives consequences: I can easily spend hours and hours learning about something (be it learning click optimization or tactics in AoE or something more useful, such as programming), but I can't easily choose what my next obsession will be, so it can get really troublesome some times ("You have had a fight with your girlfriend and didn't solve it yet? FUCK YOU, you are not going to sleep tonight" my mind, making a worryingly accurate prediction). I haven't been as successful with this, and it's getting increasingly annoying lately. In any case, there's as much intelligent and stupid people with Asperger as there are without it, so I'd gladly get rid of it If I could. Edit: Several typos corrected.

I don't know how things work over there, but in Spain, missing to go to work for a few days immediately means that you lose your job (unless you have a very valid reason AND a very good relation with the owner of the business), which can easily escalate into being evicted and socially excluded in a couple of months. Thus, If he had been in a social or economic position that meant either taking the alternative penalty or falling further into poverty, he would have been indeed coerced. Had there been any kind of economic pressure, his girlfriend would have also been coerced, either by emotional or financial reasons. 1) The judge was giving his own religious beliefs enough value as to allow someone to avoid jail time If he writes them over and over in hand, as If he was a kid. He's perfectly free to give them such a value in his free time, but not when he's representing the state. 2) If he wanted the condemned to copy over and over on paper an ethical dogma (such as the bible verses), he could have made him copy parts of text of the criminal code - specifically the ones for which he was condemned guilty. It wouldn't have put any system of beliefs (or the lack of any) over another, the judge wouldn't have cleaned his balls using the Constitution, and the condemned would have learnt some criminal law. And it wouldn't have been a dogma the judge himself chose to believe in, but a pact of the society which could be changed If the society uses the required means to do so. Which totally kills the reason to be for a Constitution, which is to prevent the State (and its representatives) from making abuse of power. TL;DR: Calling the condemned an idiot when you don't know his personal circumstances nor why he took the choices he did is deeply disrespectful, specially If, by doing so, you shift the focus of the criticism from a representative of the State who is making abuse of power, doesn't respect the condemned's Constitutional rights and ignores the separation between Church and State, SPECIALLY when we are talking about a JUDGE, who is required to have studied all of this in order to get his position.

All of that is true, but it only makes it worse. Solaris is murdering people and causing disasters because he wants to change the world for the better (even If we could prove, without a chance of being mistaken, that his posture is incoherent or irrational), Fern supports such a group and everything they're doing because he's an attention whore, because he's a spoiled brat, maybe even without any considerations at all of the grand scheme. Having said this, I loved the "Fern was here. MC is a loser." graffiti - ...And obviously, Blake is worse.

I keep reading "bad guys" this and "bad guys" that, and even If it's a bit off-topic, I wanted to mention that both Team Meteor and the Arceus' crazy freaks zealots have systems of beliefs that lead them to think that THEY are the good guys. Good and evil are relative, they think they are doing greater good to the world (or, at least, the new world) that is far beyond their crimes they have to commit for it - and, of course, they have no reason to treat their Pokemon in a bad way. The exception to all of this is Fern. Fern is just a jerk. Keep hating him.

Persona 4. I was enjoying it at first like a regular game, but the character of Naoto touched me in a personal way. Spoilers incoming.

Thanks to everyone for the responses, it seems like a really solid base to put my feet on.

I meant some normal games, I already proved everything I wanted to proof to myself in ranked last year and it isn't a experience I'm eager to repeat.

Well, I finally decided to give it another try to the game. Anyone in EUW willing to carry someone who hasn't played in almost a year?

I finally have enough 3DS games in my wishlist to justify the purchase, but MONEY ISSUES happen. I have been thinking in buying a secondhand console and games online, but I have never done anything similar, so I was expecting someone of you could share experiences with what sites are trustworthy, what guarantees I will have about the items being in a good condition, etc.