My solution is to use a dedicated profile in Librewolf to watch youtube. I've also got this setup on Brave just encase.

I bookmarked all my Pipepipe subscribes and installed Sponsorblock. I have all the channels in my RSS reader so i know who has a new video.

Librewolf clears all browsing data on exit. I did encounter a captcha but closing the browser and changing vpn location took care of that.

I'm keeping pipepipe installed for now on Android encase they come up with a fix.

I did try Freetube on Fedora but during the second day, it refused to play anything. Ft seldom worked for me but I was hoping the app improved since I last used it.

Edit: after two days my browser solution is working good. I do miss being able to block channels like I can with a frontend. Oh well. Can't have everything.