Somehow more than 5 ish seeders are usually enough for it to start playing within seconds. But im mostly watching episodes as they come out and 1k+ seeders is usual.

Not really a problem if you have decent enough internet and already use a vpn for other purposes but yes.

Or just use the torrentio plugin, no real debrid

Sponsor block gives me a nice list of options to do in that case: skip automatically, show a skip button or ignore. All based on what type of interruption there is.

Ghostbusters are the backup crew in case it’s real this time

Best way for pi alternatives I’ve found is to see which one is the most popular for the project / community I’m working with.

It isn’t always the latest and greatest but at least there will be plenty of support.