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Well, my immediate problem is the general lack of memory and personality change (can’t really rely on a 10 year old’s diary.) So… I’m probably going to need some sort of convincing injury to blame.

After that is the hard choice. I could toss the USB and just live. But the nature of the situation suggests I’m supposed to do something. At minimum I’d want the means to investigate the scenario. Running away has merits, but this sounds like a safe, stable situation, and it seems wrong to abandon the family this kid belonged to.

I’ll need a side hustle that works for a 10 year old… maybe trading cards or something along those lines. The money does not matter as much as the hustle and laying the ground work for an early interest in business and money making schemes. After that, retail arbitrage, then a bigger payout. Cashing in a big prize for a discovery or winning the lottery would draw too much attention, but sports betting could work. Then use that to move into financial markets. Moving slowly but setting things up to ramp gains by 18. I know that misses the goal, but doing it earlier depends entirely on the family situation. 20 is probably more doable.

While there are several I may go back and binge now the season is over, for some reason I only really ended up watching four seasonal shows to completion. (Kind of fell out of the anime habit for a bit, least I’ve watched in years. To the extent I’m even late commenting here…)

My Dress-Up Darling - Picked up right where the last season left off and continued strong. I know some people are disappointed the relationship did not move quickly, but there is still some character development needed for both to get there. Hopefully this leads into a satisfying third season.

Secrets of the Silent Witch - My favorite new show of the season. The first volume was adapted pretty much perfectly. There was a clear attention to detail and care for the story and characters. Sadly, the second part felt very rushed as if they were fast forwarding through scenes with characters barely introduced then sidelined with no room to breath or really be recognized. But it slowed back down on the moments that mattered, and it ended very strong.

Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra - The show was enjoyable enough to finish, but there is just something dull about it… The dark elves as characters, palette, maybe the lower production values… not sure. But it just seemed “muted” at times like it was almost but not quite what it should be.

Call of the Night - probably my anime of the season. The whole show is just a “vibe” carried by the music, setting, and characters. Like Dress-Up, this picked right up where it left off. We got character development, more background story, a great new character, and well executed plot that seamlessly wove all this together.

Found an Etsy listing: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1592716281/vintage-ceramic-pixie-figurines-zebra

Possibly made/imported by Norcrest https://www.worthpoint.com/dictionary/p/ceramics/na--united-states/norcrest-china-company

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“1st Chapter” concerns me. Is this a complete, stand alone game with a satisfying conclusion or does it’s story ultimately rely on playing later games as well.

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U.S. Corporate Capitalism is a cult. Adherents worship the Market as god and believe it is the sole arbitrator of wealth and worth. They believe that if you give your time, money, labor, and life to the Holy Market and follow it properly it will reward you with wealth and importance, but if you do wrong by it, it will punish you with poverty. If you are rich, you must be a good person who should be listened to and emulated. If you are poor, you must have done something wrong and need to do right by the Holy Market by giving it more of you time and labor. The poor must be lazy because if they worked properly the Holy Market would surely reward them.

Thus, welfare, which separates the poor from the consequence of their economic sins, is evil.

Stock brokers are the priests. They commune with the Holy Market on behalf of people in exchange for a tithe (commission.) Billionaires are the saints. They have been greatly blessed by the Holy Market and thus are the best of all people and should be followed and emulated. The U.S. Federal Reserve chair is the Pope and the rest of that board are the cardinals. They represent the Capitalist orthodoxy and are often at odds with the more radical believers.

Donald Trump… is the messiah. The faithful believe he is here to bring in a second coming of U.S. financial greatness. They bring him offerings of gold. He travels the world in a (soon to be golden) flying chariot, wielding vast financial powers in order to extract tribute from other nations.

Watching:

• My Dress-Up Darling - I forgot how much I enjoyed this show. Second season continues right along with no noticeable drop off. 4/5+
• Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra - I like the dark fantasy aspect and how the world/game aspects are based on a strategy game instead of the usual RPG. But, there is not much of a plot yet, the characters have not been that interesting, and the world building is slowing down. 3/5 for now.
• Call of the Night - Another returning series that picked back up with the same energy as before. This season has a good plot driving some character and world building. 4/5
• Secrets of the Silent Witch - The first four episodes were nearly perfect, and I could tell the adoption was being handled with care, but the next four felt very rushed. The quality was still there and nothing specifically was wrong just it did not seem like enough time was allowed for one event or character to be established before it jumped to the next. 4/5
• Reborn as a Vending Machine - I enjoyed the original three light novels and the first season. But this season should never have been made. The pacing, plot, etc. are all really poor. My guess is they are now adopting the web novel and that lacks the polish and fleshing out a light novel would typically add. 2/5
• Cultural Exchange with a Game Center Girl - Its always weird to be a native English speaker watching a subtitled anime from Japan featuring an English speaking character. Sort of doubles the titular cultural exchange. So far its been interesting and fun enough. I worry a bit about the potential age gap relationship, but so far that’s not developed into a real problem. 4/5

Soft Dropped:

• Clevatess - The dark fantasy, high stakes, implied world building depth are all great. I just got really tired of the cliff hangers and constant amping up of drama. Seems like it would be better watched one arc at a time. So I may pick it back up later. 3/5

Dropped:

• Scooped Up by an S-Rank Adventurer! - I know better than to have expected much from this. It was OK at first, but then I found myself “hate watching” it. I’m generally fine with and often enjoy the unaware, overpowered main character trope. But this one doubles down and makes the entire rest of the cast seem utterly stupid as well just so the MC seems smart in comparison. 2/5
• The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses - Eh, it seemed okish, just not of interest to me.

To pick up:

• Dan da dan - I enjoyed the first part of the first season, then sort of fell out of watching it. Not sure why. Still intend to pick it back up.
• Kaiju No. 8 - I enjoyed binging this one when the first season aired so plan to do the same here.
• City the animation - Amazon’s video service is trash. Other options… have their own complications, so I hope to catch it all at once later.