Fear and Isolation

The end of season 2 of Ascendance of a Bookworm circles back to the head priest mind melding with Myne to see where she (Urano) came from. I thought he would be the noble to adopt her (which makes the title of the next arc make sense) in order to keep the other nobles from trying to kill her for being a commoner, but instead he has the other knight commander do it. As with Beno almost adopting Lutz, I thought her family would be very much against it, but they don’t even know about it yet other than she needs to stay for the winter anyway (which they were also very much against). Given what almost happened at the end of season one, I thought something would’ve happened to her family, but I’m glad that’s not the case. As for Urano, the best we get is her reading at the table and being rude to her mom. Assuming she has friends, she’d probably do the same to them. Not all bookworms are like that, I swear! No reading at the table! Eat your dinner! I’d find it more relatable if she had been excluded from being a librarian because established librarians are no longer shushing old ladies but grown-up mean girls and their chosen. Maybe there will be another OVA to bridge to the next season. I want the Seteth character to come back. He wanted to meet Myne, so let him come back already. Iggy too; Myne made sure to voice her concern for his safety. Forgot to say this last time, but during her rage over the library, an abridged version would’ve evoked Yami’s censored rage at Yugi from that abridged series. “Sideways!” BlueDrakmaVA, who made Fate Apocrabridged, cancelled his series due to similar burnout to Team Four Star (and LittleKuriboh, but he's got bigger issues), and he expressed the notion that abridging was dying. The pandemic certainly didn't help, but Journeyman Abridged is still moving forward with its Naruto and Digimon full arc abridged series, so check them out if it suits you. I plan to join them later as Yolei when they get to Zero-Two.

“Sorta Cinderella,” or “It’s Cinderella-ish,” made for the best episode so far this season. It perfectly encapsulates what’s going on in Fruits Basket right now. It was amazing to see the play in color and in motion. Such attention to detail! Then there was Machi’s episode, which ended in Akito injuring Yuki at the New Year's Banquet. And of course they ended the season with the reveal that Akito is actually a woman. The dub is now eleven episodes behind. We’re finally through with the summer vacation arc and getting down to the nitty-gritty. Laura’s younger Tohru voice used for the flashback really got me. Can relate. Wanting to see your dead loved ones is fine, but don’t go after them. Speaking of, Molly has risen from his grave on Critical Role, so we'll see what Matt and Taliesin have come up with for him.

DuckTales season three finally came back from hiatus. Scrooge is one of those characters who knows magic is real but still thinks it’s bullshit. The girls all but said “Friendship is magic,” to which Magica said, “Gross.” Magica has her amulet back now that Lena has harnessed her own magic via the friendship bracelets, but I was enjoying the de-powered, pathetic Magica. She was very funny in this episode.

Inspired by the ruby chocolate Kit Kats sampled by Phelous and others, I tried the ruby cacao Haagen Dazs bars. It was like if red velvet cake was an ice cream shell. It was worth trying once.