Hi all! This one is a hell of a weird upload time, but I couldn't sleep so... Here goes.
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“I want Death by Carnivore” Benjamin almost broke down as he watched his kid sister through his memories, speaking as he did so. He could feel the Farie next to him even as he saw through his own eyes this time. He described everything in brutal detail, heard the screams, felt the bullets tear into him as he spoke. The vision’s felt distant this time, and Ben recognized Vilora’s gentle touch as she dulled the worst of the sensations for him. He had not asked her to, but he suspected that she had felt the full brunt already from their first experience of his flashback together.

“Ben! Don’t go! NONONONONO” Ben could still see his kid sisters blood-stained fingers, and face. Then the “trip”. Hurtling through the universe or rather, into the universe. He felt Vilora tense violently when His memories of meeting the being made of fire began. “I am the one you call, Sol.” She kissed him before pushing him and the memories ended.

Benjamin opened his eyes, failing to contain tears. He missed Tracy. He was terrified of whether she was ok or not. He wished he could have talked to his father one last time. Emotions broiled through him as he took a deep breath, realizing that he was still holding onto Vilora’s hands tightly. He released them, noting the complicated look on her face. “Now, you know everything.” His voice was barely above a whisper, “I don’t know what I am because, I was not born into this world. Where I come from; Farie, Orc, Trolls… They don’t exist. They have never existed outside of the fantasy of Literature. Viola, Valtria, Qort… All of you only serve passing resemblance to what our fiction stories created, and there are many more peoples that I have never imagined in my wildest dreams. “

Vilora nodded slowly, “But, your sister… her golden hair. She is…”

Benjamin cut her off, “Human. She is Human, like me. Humanity is the only sentient being on my… orb” He noted Vilora’s eyes as he used her terminology, “Humans come in a wide variety of shapes, sized and colors. Humans who have lived for generations in the deserts of Africa can have skin as dark as the coal a forgemaster uses to fuel his flames. People who live in the cold, bleak climates without much sun… They end up with skin much like mine. My mother Is Irish by blood, she gave me my eyes and my hair, and she gave my sister her short stature and petite form. My father is Norwegian by blood. He gave me my height, and my facial features, but he gave my sister her golden locks. My best friend was a Filipino named Crisanto, and he has dark hair, dark eyes, and brown skin. All of us, are still human, all of us bleed as I do.”

A pregnant silence fell over the group until Jukha finally spoke, “I believe you, Pink Skin.”

“You’ve been touched… Cosmos, who was she that brought you here.” Vilora asked finally.

“She told me that she has many names, She claims that My planet.. um… Orb.. has many variations, and that she is there for all of them. I’m guessing that This is earth, what we call my orb, but in some sort of alternative time, or dimension; but that is all but a guess.” Ben said, “She only ever named herself Sol. It is the name we gave to our sun, but she spoke of the Cosmos.”

Vilora nodded, “If she is our sun… Then…” she froze as Jukha put a hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t know..” Benjamin said, “She told me she was sending me to a time of peace, but that I was needed to save this world… But I don’t know what I am doing. I don’t know what the threat is. I don’t even know where I am. I’m lost, hardly able to fight, and haunted by the day of my own death…” Ben lowered his head, “I have no…” he couldn’t finish the words..

“You are touched by Cosmos,” Vilora responded, “No one has seen a god in over 1500 years. My sisters will need to hear of this, they may able to help. The Vin are not nearly as extinct as the brute believed them to be.”

“If they can, I would be grateful. I need to get back to the Forge. I swore to Qort that I would return.” Benjamin began to rise, only to be stopped by both slave girls.

Jukha nodded, “We will go in the morning, I require supplies to fix my home.” Benjamin nodded, leaning back against Viola, thankful for the support. He raised an eyebrow as she placed an object in his hand, “I’m sorry.. I was too late. I found it right as the Orc stabbed you.”

“Yes, about that” Jukha grumbled, “Would you care to tell me what sort of Majik you know if you can blow a hole through the middle of a soldier caste, and destroying your hand in the process. Or rather, how you managed to kill a Hellirine with fire. They are dam near immune to heat. ”

Benjamin chuckled, “If you could help me outside, Ill show you. Grab that strange pole from over there.” He gingerly stood, being supported by his slave girls ‘I really need to get them free’ he thought as they helped him to the bench outside pointed facing the court yard. “I probably shouldn’t shoot that right now, so lets see if the powder is dry enough. Jukha, hold the wooden end to your shoulder. Pull back the hammer looking bit back and make sure the curved metal is covering the cup at the bottom. Jukha did so, and carefully looked over at Benjamin, “Now, point that end at the tree over there, and pull the little metal bit underneath.
*chuff…BOOOM!* fire belched from the end of the metal tube, and Jukha was pushed hard enough to take a step back. The powder was slow, possibly still a touch damp, but it ignited, hurtling four round pieces of lead at the tree, two of them hit, blowing bits of splinters out the back of the wood. “That is an early version of what my people use for war. It’s called, a musket.” Jukha looked wide eyed at the crude weapon. Benjamin had modelled his hastily thought up design after the British Short Land pattern Musket, commonly known as the Brown Bess. The stock was a bit thicker than it should be, and the barrel was crudely formed, but it worked after a fashion. Benjamin had chosen to use an equally old ammunition design known as ‘Buck and Ball’ turning the musket into a 4 ball shotgun consisting of one .68in round lead ball with 3 .32in lead balls accompanying it. “I didn’t have time to make something more advanced, and I was never taught to fight with sword or lance. Viola here” He glanced over to the girl still clutching the curved stinky object, “Is holding a smaller version of that musket. It’s called a pistol.” Viola’s eyes flew wide as she held the weapon away from her in fear. “Its ok, I’ll teach you how, come here.” He stood her in front of him, leaning forward to support her. “Put both hands on the curved part, stretch your arms out” he ran his hands along her thin arms, giving his aid to her form. “… That’s close enough, we can work on the details later, now pull the hammer back and close the “frizzen” the curved bit. Now, pull the small lever underneath. It’s called a trigger. *bang!* the smaller report of the weaker charge still bucked the pistol in Viola’s hands, and she missed the tree entirely. The recoil drove her back into Ben’s shoulder. “Very good. I’ll take that now. Thank you.” She handed the smoking weapon to him, eyes wide in wonder. “In simplest terms, I am using Alchemy to create pressure to throw a round rock. I didn’t kill the… Hellirine with heat, I used heat to throw four rocks seven times faster than any bow. The impact did the rest.” Benjamin had to suppress a laugh at the slow dumfounded expression that Jukha gave the musket in his hand before turning back to Benjamin with a serious face.

“You’ve been here less than a year. You can’t have mastered majik to this point already, how are you not dead.” Jukha scowled.

“The night you brought me to town.” Benjamin answered, “Sol visited me in my room. I sorta…” he paused scratching the back of his neck, “blew up in her face. I was yelling at her, cursing her for sending me here with nothing in my possession to be able to do what she asked of me. She told me that she could not aid me in the way I wanted because of some old rules from the beginning of time, or whatever, Then I got this wild idea in my head. What if I could perfectly recall everything, I had ever laid eyes on. Every class, every concept, every formula and compound matrix. Before I knew it, she told me “I believe I can grant this” without me asking it out loud. She forced me to sleep like you did” He pointed at Vilora. “I didn’t know what she meant until I began working at Qort’s..” Ben slowly drew his Bowie knife from its sheath, tapping it lightly on the barrel of the musket. It rang like a chime.

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Qort grumbled as he closed down his shop. It had been three weeks since the Albino had left, and he was beginning to doubt the man’s survival. Benjamin was a paradox of an Orc, but he had given the Forgemaster the gift of steel. He had already sold a sword and two daggers for double what he would normally ask for. He secretly wondered how long it would take before the Academy came knocking on his door demanding his secrets. For now, he was content to sell what he could, and build a nest egg for himself. He rounded the corner to the building he had allowed Benjamin to live in, and stopped cold as he recognized Jukha’s cart. “Qort!” The Orc called out from the doorway, “My friend! How are you!” The Orc smiled.

“Aye’m Doin’ fair. D’yee bring’ta pink skin Back T’Mee?” Qort asked speculatively, and a heavily bandaged Figure, topped with Red hair and propped up by a pair of familiar girls slowly waddled out of the doorway, “I’m here Qort, but I’ll need a few weeks before I can return to work.”

Qort pushed past the Orc, walking quickly up to Benjamin, “What did you do to yourself, boy.” He looked Benjamin over as he leaned on Viola and Valtrya.

“I’ll be ok, boss. I Just got a little beat up saving the overgrown Olive.” Benjamin put on a smirk, recognizing Qorts ‘serious’ voice.

“What is an Olive, and why do I wanna punch you now.” Jukha joked back. “He saved my life, Qort; but he took a lance to the chest for it. It’s a miracle he survived.”

“I see. Well, considering how well business is going; I can make do until you recover. Savin a friend of mine is to be respected.” Qort said before finally dropping back into his accent with a smile, “N’don’t Yee be getting Soft wi’the girlies. Aye’ll be workin’ta snot outta’yee, when’yee return!” With that, the Durr Forgemaster waved his goodbyes, picked up the stack of coal he needed for tomorrow, and headed back home.

“That was close,” Vilora murmured after he rounded the corner. She had concealed herself behind the inward opening door, “His people suffered the worst in the hands of the Fay. I don’t think he would let me explain.”

“Hmm,” Jukha nodded, “Best to leave tonight then. Qort’s no idiot, and Benjamin needs to rest.” He turned, squeezing Ben on the shoulder, “Rest up. I owe you. I’ll swing buy with some game in a few days to keep everyone fed while you recover.”

Ben nodded, waving bye to the two as they slipped out into the night. Benjamin spent the next 4 weeks forcibly being cared for by the two Aereesin girls. They refused to let him sleep alone for the first two weeks of their return, and he lacked the will to complain. He didn’t let them off lightly, however. And as soon as he could sit for a long period of time, he began teaching them basic math, science, and writing. Luckily his “Orcish” automatic conversion from English transferred to reading and writing. They worked hard at their studies. Valtrya was excelling in basic math but struggling in phonics as she still refused to speak. Viola seemed to jump on the idea of letters and sounds but had more trouble with her numbers. Both of them, to Benjamin’s surprise, liked the sciences, but LOVED the Forge. Maybe it was the heat on their still thin bodies, or maybe it was because it was the first place that they experienced kindness. Benjamin did not know, but he added basics of running the billows and heating the furnace to their studies. By the time he was fit to return, they could get the forge roaring almost as effortlessly as they could swiftly.

Their bodies were also changing rapidly. Viola was obviously the older of the two, and she was quickly becoming painfully gorgeous to look at. Valtrya was following in her sisters footsteps, quickly bringing Benjamin to question just how young these girls may or may not be. It was a small relief when the two finally decided he could keep himself warm at night and began sleeping in their own room that used to be the old apprentice quarters. The building was built much like Qort’s current forge, just smaller. The Forgeroom was in the middle with the main entrance to the building on one end, and the two separate living quarters on the other. The walls proved thin, when Benjamin was awakened from one of his nightmares by the soft shaking of Viola. She could hardly be persuaded to leave his side, knowing in full what he was dreaming about, she instead sat with him for over an hour until he finally began to doze off.

Their return to work saw Qort elated. The Forgemaster watched as the girls prepared the Forge, and Ben started gathering tools and material. The Forgemaster had essentially two apprentices and a partner Forgemaster in his shop, and the next few months flew by. Summer came, and the Forge began drawing high end clients from across the realm. All races, and all creeds requested commissions from Qorts establishment, and soon Benjamin made the observation that they could make even more if they used both forges. So, it was done. Viola and Valtrya floated between the forges, assisting in keeping everything running smoothly; and Benjamin began working in the smaller forge. He began to feel better as the summer heated up, and His dreams slowly faded in their frequency and intensity. The second forge also allowed Benjamin to begin his journey further into Majik. His first attempts were rudimentary at best, but he searched his memory for the techniques and concepts that he would need. He tested his less… mechanical ideas in the forest during his visits to Jukha. Vilora picked up where Qorts understanding of Majik failed, and the things that were possible both intrigued and terrified Ben. He almost blew himself up three more times, but they were under the watchful eye of Vilora, who was able to heal him more easily each time as she learned the Human body. The last “accident” took her no more than a half hour to repair his seared off hair and mangled hands.

The first leaves were just beginning to turn colors when Benjamin began introducing Viola and Valtrya to advanced math and engineering concepts. Neither one showed any promise in Majik, despite being present for the majority of Benjamins learning of the supernatural art, but they worked hard to soak in all he taught them. Both of them now preferred the leather working clothes of the forge, and they were beginning to craft kitchen cutlery and small knives for the more generic commissions. Benjamin watched as the village slowly accepted them. In the villager’s eyes, they were valuable, if pampered slaves, but their “masters” treatment of them was seen as acceptable because of the results that it was producing. The girls were contributing, being made to work hard, and Benjamin’s occasional explanation of the rigors of the Forge sufficed as reasonable for their food and clothing requirements. Viola was widely acknowledged as Benjamin’s proxy when buying food or procuring material from venders, but they did not need to know that Benjamin often sent her out to “practice being free” with no actual mission in mind. The villagers never asked, so Ben and the girls never needed to lie about it.

Valtrya was a harder problem. Her mute status would make her a harder sell for immigrating into a more lenient kingdom, and Benjamins attempt to get her to speak were proving a failure. Viola simply said that it was not her story to tell, and that Valtrya wished for him to not see her with pity. Ben still wracked his brain to figure out a way to get through to the girl.

One morning, Benjamin woke up early. He was happy, it was a strange feeling for him. It was the weekend, and he stepped out into the forge to find Viola sitting at the table. She was spooning a mouthful of gruel to her lips, and he waved her down as she tried to get up to serve him. He smiled as she sat down without argument this time. ‘Maybe she’s finally getting it.’ He thought as he filled his own bowl and sat down across from her, “How’d you sleep.” he asked between mouthfuls.

She sighed heavily, “well enough.” She responded, “What shall we do today?” and Benjamin smiled at her with mischief in his eyes, “lady’s choice. What shall we do today?”
“I…” Viola stuttered pausing for a long moment, “I.. I want to go out… to get fitted for a new dress, then to eat, The three of us.” Benjamin raised an eyebrow and Viola quickly backpedaled, “I mean, we don’t have to. I don’t know what I was...” but Ben held up a hand.

“Out it is.” He said gently, “Go wake Val, Lets get some food in us before we leave.”

“Val?” Viola asked and Benjamin smiled broadly, “My people shorten the names of friends. Your sister’s name can be shortened to Val, and Yours to Vi. Is that ok?”

“I… I like it.” Viola said after a moment, “I’ll go get her, she’s been wanting a nice dress for a long time.”

Viola got up and semi rushed toward the room she shared with her sister, and Benjamin filled a third bowl and set it at an empty place on the table, Today was going to be a good day.
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DISCLAIMER: I'd like to note that I do not consider myself an expert on many of the topics he talks about or even economics in general but a lot of what I'm about to say is pretty easily verifiable and basic, and I'll try to be clear that I'm expressing my opinion and not fact when I'm doing so. Given my lack of expertise, none of what I say here should be considered as the final authority on these topics, it's a reddit post for fucks sake, I encourage everyone to search up the relevant data and information on the topics they are interested in or claims they find dubious. It's really not that hard and all the links and data I'm gonna cite here took me less than five minutes to find for each piece of information. If you're not familiar with where to find this data it might take you longer but I promise that anyone with access to the internet can do the same thing I'm doing. Finally, for those looking for some opinionless, academic argument, that's not what this is, this is gonna sound like a rant because it is, I'm posting this for nothing more than my own satisfaction, take from it what you will.
Ok I'm writing this after I finished the whole thing and I said that I'd try to be clear that I'm expressing my opinion and not fact when I'm doing so and the basically entire second half of this is my opinion and I don't make that very clear so sorry about that.
Honestly I'd love to be wrong because I really do think that younger people are at a disadvantage compared to previous generations at the same age but the arguments he makes and the data he uses throughout his talk just sound like such bullshit to me.
https://www.ted.com/talks/scott\_galloway\_how\_the\_us\_is\_destroying\_young\_people\_s\_future?
https://www.profgalloway.com/war-on-the-young/
Scott Galloway recently did a Ted talk titled "How the US is destroying young people's future", as well as an accompanying blog post. He's made some fair points about how young people have been put at an inherent disadvantage and that they have it harder than previous generations. That's most likely true and I personally support that point of view, but the a lot data and numbers he makes this argument with seem to be cherry picked, misleading, or just straight up wrong. So let's break his talk down. u/JustTaxLandLol made a pretty good post about him comparing median wages to the S&P500 (https://www.reddit.com/badeconomics/comments/1cc3rs8/scott\_galloway\_compares\_median\_wage\_to\_sp500/) but I think that Galloway's mistakes are much more comprehensive than just that particular slide.
The first slide with data makes a claim about how pre-tax income, adjusted for inflation, has decreased across generations from grandparents to parents to kids, and that cost of public colleges and home prices have increased significantly across generations too. First of all, categorising generations by whether they have children or grandchildren is kinda nuts. That's a very wide, overlapping, range of ages. If he has actually fixed age ranges for each generation that don't overlap and just made these categorisations for the sake of understandability to a nonacademic audience, I still think that's the wrong choice but fine. However, his claim that real income has decreased across generations is weak at best. This working paper (https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2024007pap.pdf) from the Fed Reserve was published February 2024, and from the figures that start at page 35, shows that by almost every categorisation they could think of, GenZ earns more at the same age than every previous generation before them. There's some conflict here with Raj Chetty's work but I don't have the time or knowledge to reconcile the two perspectives but at best, the pre-tax income numbers Galloway presents are questionable at best. Furthermore, he doesn't provide anyone a chance at even checking the sources he gets this information from. Not once in his entire talk does he cite a single source. He couldn't even have some tiny text at the bottom of his tables or diagrams saying what organisation he got this data from. Ok so that crossed out bit is wrong, he does have sources they're just very very faint and you can see them if you squint hard enough at the bottom left corner of his graphs. But the source he gives for this slide is a joke. Here's the link https://www.profgalloway.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Table-01.png
His "source" is his own analysis. Ok so by his analysis, the average cost of public college is 56000*0.43 = 24080. I'm gonna use numbers from this US News page (https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/paying-for-college-infographic), which might not be the most reliable source in the world, but it's probably somewhere in the ballpark. So according to US News, average tuition for the 2023-2024 school year for out of state students going to a public school is 23,630 and 10,662 for in state students. If these numbers are anywhere near accurate, the only conclusion I can draw is that Galloway has cherry-picked his data by only including the cost for out of state students in his analysis. First of all, public schools in the US are there to provide affordable access to higher education FOR RESIDENTS OF ITS STATE. Using only out of state numbers is absolutely ridiculous. Secondly, even if he used only the in state numbers, 10662/56000 is approximately equal to 19%. So if I use his very very questionable pre-tax income numbers, cost of public college for in state students has still increased across his categorisation of generations. It's not like his point would have been invalidated if he had used the in-state numbers, a trend of tuition increasing as a percentage of real income across multiple generations is still very bad. This is my opinion but I guess that he just wanted to find a nice shocking number. I didn't catch this but in their post, u/JustTaxLandLol notes that later on Galloway says "real median income from labor is up 40% since 1974" so he's also contradicting himself in the same talk.
I couldn't be bothered to look into the house price to income column he has so I don't have any comments on that.
His next slide is a point about how the percentage of 30 year olds earning more than their parents did at 30 has been decreasing very significantly over time. This is from a paper in 2016 by Raj Chetty (link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aal4617). I've seen some counterarguments about the methods used in the paper but there are counterarguments for basically every inequality paper in existence so I'd take them with a grain of salt. Those points are more complex than the scope of this post and I lack the expertise to be making them anyways so I believe this slide. I'll admit that Galloway makes a good argument for this slide.
Right after this slide he says "As a result, people over the age of 55 feel pretty good about America, but less than one in five people under the age of 34 feel very good about America. This creates an incendiary, righteous movement...". He supports this with data on the percentage of US adults who feel "extremely proud" to be American.
Before I talk about the data on this slide, I'd like to be a little anal about things and pick apart his wording and causal claims he makes. When Galloway says "as a result" he's making a causal claim about the relationship between a young person's earning ability and their national pride. Leaving aside the econometric issues of making random causal claims, this is a ridiculous marginalisation of all the other critically important issues in the US. It seems pretty clear to me that reduced national pride amongst younger individuals is a combination of a lack of social mobility (or however you want to word your version of the fading American dream), the continued existence of systematic racism and sexism, US response to ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, bodily autonomy (abortion), and many other issues. Not to say that the economic disadvantages of young people doesn't play a role in causing this lack of national pride but come on. He also says "this creates an incendiary righteous movement...". Ok if the "as a result" from the last sentence could be interpreted as the economic disadvantages of young people play some part in their dissatisfaction with the government, it should be obvious to anyone not living under a rock that many of the political conflicts and movements that have erupted in the US over the past few years have little, if anything, to do with earning ability. In the slide after the poll data he shows three photos, one of a MeToo protest, one of a BLM protest, and another of a pro-Palestine protest. I can only interpret this as him making the claim that the younger generations economic difficulties are causally linked to those movements, which is totally bananas.
Now lets talk about the data. He got this from the Gallup polls (link: https://news.gallup.com/poll/394202/record-low-extremely-proud-american.aspx, there's a link to download the pdf with the poll numbers at the end of this article). There are 5 options for the Gallup poll: "Extremely proud"; "Very proud"; "Moderately proud"; "Only a little proud"; or "Not at all proud". So Galloway is cherry-picking again. To be fair, it's true that even including the rest of the answers, a quick glance at the data suggests (very strongly) that young people are less proud than older people. There are also more young people who choose "Not at all proud" (11% for 18-34 and 1% for 55+). Though there is probably some argument to be made about whether "extreme" pride is a good thing. Furthermore, "pretty good" and "very good" do not reflect the extremity of choosing, well, the most extreme option.
As an introduction to his next slide he says that "a decent proxy for how much we value youth labor is minimum wage". I've never heard of this before and am very very skeptical but I'm willing to attribute this to my own ignorance so I'll leave that sentence alone. So on this slide there's a graph with two lines, one is minimum wage across time adjusted for inflation, the other is whats supposed to be minimum wage if adjusted for productivity (also adjusted to inflation I assume). Galloway got this data form the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) (https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/), which shows that this gap between productivity began around 1979. This was when Carter was president and right before the Reagan administration. Those who know about the economic history of this time probably won't be surprised since a lot of the policies of this time were rather inegalitarian and heavily favoured the wealthy. I agree that many of the policies of the time contributed heavily to the inequality America faces today and though I haven't read any studies about how this affects minimum wage workers, I believe that minimum wage workers or low income workers in general today have significantly lower purchasing power relative to a few decades ago.
What I have a problem with here is the idea that productivity and minimum wage should increase in tandem. According to the EPI, "Productivity measures how much total economywide income is generated (i.e., for workers, business owners, landlords, and everybody else together) in an average hour of work" and "pay is defined as the average compensation (wages and benefits) of production and nonsupervisory workers. The pay for this group is one appropriate benchmark for 'typical worker pay' because production and nonsupervisory workers have made up roughly 80% of the U.S. workforce over the entire period shown in the figure and because the data for production and nonsupervisory workers exclude extremely highly paid managerial workers like CEOs and other corporate executives". Before I try to break down my complaints with the measures used, my immediate reaction when I saw this was that it seems rather stupid to compare the relationship between average productivity and minimum wage in an industrial economy against the same relationship in a service oriented one. There are just more jobs now that let you make an impact on the economy far beyond what you are paid and it is so so difficult to quantify this change. Using a similar argument, I really have no clue how macro people make models or do estimates for things like productivity but I'm quite skeptical about the reliability of using such a measure of productivity because of the increased prevalence of second, third, or n-th order effects that would be present in a measure of something like total gdp but pretty much impossible to identify for any employer. For those who want to read more about this difference between productivity and compensation I think this is the most relevant paper from EPI (https://files.epi.org/2015/understanding-productivity-pay-divergence-final.pdf). There are some points I'm not satisfied with in this paper like them attributing the entirety of the difference between median hourly compensation to average consumer hourly compensation but that would take more time than I want to spend on this.
Now we're still on the same slide. Galloway says "we've kept it [minimum wage] purposely pretty low" twice in three sentences. Now he's suggesting that there's some collective out there that has the political power and desire to keep minimum wage low. By "we" I think he means to suggest that the old-timers have banded together to screw the young people over. Ok buddy. I'm stepping outside the bounds of what's considered strictly economics here a little but pinning the injustices of society on some ethereal enemy whose existence can never be disproven is the same as taking "advantage of the flaws in our species with medieval institutions, Paleolithic instincts, and godlike technology" (Galloway's words, same TED talk) to me. Maybe there really is some cabal of scheming geezers out there who have some twisted desire to keep the minimum wage low, but I'm more inclined to believe that a lot of these "injustices" are a result of our existing political and societal institutions being poor and inefficient aggregators of our desires as a society, rewarding selfishness instead of cooperation. This certainly makes the problem harder to solve than if there were just some evil 'others' we could get rid of and be done with. Having a target to direct our outrage at, believing that I am good and they are bad, is easier than facing the reality that everyone is born with the selfishness that creates the injustices we live with but that's not gonna make people more agreeable. As an economist, I study the theory of incentives to use the same human selfishness that creates all the problems Galloway talks about to create solutions that hopefully improve our quality of life. This is what I believe is the beauty of being human, all the good and bad that happens stem from the same desires, it is our job to create institutions and systems that allow us to channel our desires in a way that benefits everyone, but I digress. The point is, this enemy that Galloway creates is an effective tactic at convincing people of his argument, but I don't believe such a perspective benefits society at all. Mistakes should be corrected, that doesn't mean they're always the result of ill intentions.
His next slide compares the difference between percentage increase in median household income against percentage increase in median home price, as well as a comparison of the median monthly mortgage between 2019 and 2024. I have nothing to say about the graph, I agree that over time, home prices have increased to an unacceptable level. The Fed funds rate went from 2.4 percent in Feb 2019 to 5.33 percent in Feb 2024 (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/fedfunds). To his credit, Galloway does attribute this increase in mortgage payments to "an acceleration in interest rates" but what's the alternative? Don't increase interest rates? Then if I was Galloway I'd make the same TED talk and talk about how the continued low interest rates contributed to rampant inflation that made all the poor people even poorer. It seems like he's decided to take whatever bad economic event that seems somewhat relevant and made it to be the result of some group's dogged determination to keep the younger generation down. Why is the increase from pre- to post-covid prices on anything surprising. I'd like to meet the genius who saw covid coming and intentionally created this increase in home prices.
He also says "the most expensive homes in the world, based on this metric, are number three, Vancouver. Why? Because 60 percent of the cost of building a home goes to permits...". I have no idea what point he's making here. Based on what metric, median home price? Monthly mortgage payments? Why do I care about Vancouver, a Canadian city, being number three? Then he talks about how "the incumbents that own assets have weaponized government". Either he's switched to talking about oligopolistic lobbyists in general without saying so or he's still talking about Canada. I dunno. Someone please explain. Then he says "this is the transfer I'm going to be speaking about". Also, everything he just said is talking about how there exists a group of people trying to PREVENT transfers of wealth to new entrants. And there was huge applause after that sentence. Nutsos, all of them.
Ok next slide. Galloway presents two pie charts, comparing the share of household wealth by age in 1989 to 2023. So he's talking directly about inequality in wealth now. Inequality in the US is really really bad, that's a fact. I'm a big fan of the work of Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman, and Thomas Piketty. These people have been at the forefront of research on inequality for many years now and though their work is not flawless, I'm convinced by the data they present and the methods by which they have aggregated the data and what they show is that inequality is worse than even what the pie charts Galloway presents suggest. However, this is not to say that Galloway makes a valid argument. Please note the grey bits in the pie chart. If Galloway has shown the numbers for everyone under 40 and above 70, the group that's excluded are those between 40 and 70. So those in the age range of 40-70 owned 100 - 19 - 12 = 69% of household wealth in 1989 and 100 - 30 - 7 = 63% in 2023. I could probably go and find how the age demographics of the population have changed over time and I think that with declining birth rates, the percentage change in age demographics would be pretty close to the percentage change in household wealth but I'm tired of beating every slide to death so I'll leave that to someone else if anyone's motivated enough to do that (if my hypothesis is wrong here just comment and I'll make that change). My first thought when I saw this though was again, this guy has paid no regard to structural change in society. Given the increased accessibility of buying stocks over the past three decades is it really that surprising that older people who have had more time and cash at the start of the digital age to invest in companies that are now massive mega-corporations have experienced a higher return on their capital. This is not to say that none of this change in the share of wealth held by those under 40 is due to some inherent unfairness in our society and I have neither the time nor knowledge to separate these effects out but to say that this was a "purposeful" effort to cut their wealth in half is complete and utter bullshit. Also, this guy makes another causal claim WITH NOTHING BUT A CHANGE IN SHARE OF HOUSEHOLD WEALTH. Congratulations everyone Scott Galloway has just made every econometrician in the world redundant, I always knew my professors were just trying to confuse me with funny symbols and Greek letters, someone get this guy a Nobel Prize.
Then while introducing his next slide Galloway says that his analyst's presence in the audience "brings the average age of the entire conference down in 11 days". So he's saying that TED knows exactly who's showing up to their event before it happens and that they have the exact birthdates of everyone in the audience too and that they've given this information to one of their speakers. A friend of mine has told me he's just making a joke and that I should let this point go because I'm being too anal about things but yeah I become anal about things when someone suggests sweeping institutional changes in a talk viewed by millions of people so thought I'd include it anyways just as another example of the bullshit this guy has been spewing.
When he moves on to the actual content in the slide the first point he makes is about lower acceptance rates in schools. So I don't have data on this because I couldn't be bothered to go find any so again, I'll change my statement if anyone has reliable data indicating otherwise but I think its pretty safe to say that way less people used to apply than before and combined with an increase in international student applications and enrollments the competition is just way higher than before. The most obvious explanation would be that higher education institutions have made the mistake of not increasing enrollments at a rate quick enough to meet demand. However, according to US News (https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-many-universities-are-in-the-us-and-why-that-number-is-changing) there were 3982 degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the US. and UCLA is ranked 15th in national universities. So why is it surprising now that university education is becoming more popular that higher ranked universities are harder to get into. So instead of expanding enrollment I think that a well thought out plan of affirmative action would be a much better option of giving "unremarkable kids and giving them a shot at being remarkable" (what this well thought out plan may be I don't know, I honestly didn't even search up any statistics about affirmative action this was just the first solution I thought of that didn't involve ignoring the crowning achievement of statistics). To his credit, Galloway does include a point about income-based affirmative action at the end of his talk, though he overwhelmingly emphasises increasing enrollment in schools. I don't have any data about that but I think that class sizes at public universities are large enough as it is.
The rest of the slide gives numbers on college debt of house price compared to first year income. College debt is ridiculously high and many people struggle because of it. I don't have the solution and neither does Galloway because he doesn't really mention it. I think that house price-to-first year income is a poor comparison because it doesn't take into account average rate of income increase and no normal person from any generation is looking to buy a house with first year income but there's probably a more appropriate metric out there that shows a similar change anyways so I'm ok with that.
Then he talks about him and his "colleagues" who "artificially constrain supply to create aspiration and scarcity". I would like to meet the professors who have control over enrollment rates because none of mine did. Then he says "to my colleagues in higher ed: we're public servants, not fucking Chanel bags". The marketing professor from NYU says he's a public servant...ok.
The slide after that compares Harvard's increase in endowment compared to their increase in enrollment and he calls them a "hedge fund offering classes". I see no issue with this point, he made a great argument, can't really criticise anything here.
Don't worry though he makes up for it by immediately making one of the most egregious statements in this whole talk. We're looking at his next slide, the one titled "Grand Bargain" now. He says that the government should take some of the money that's supposed to be used to forgive existing loans to about 500 of the top public universities to reduce tuition by 2% and year, expand enrollments by 6% a year, and increase vocational programs to 20% of the degrees granted. Then the slide after that, claims this will double freshman seats and cut costs in half in just 10 years. Ok so he thinks that most of the money "earmarked to bail out the one third of people that got to go to college on the backs of the two thirds that didn't" should go to future students instead because, I assume from the tone of his words, he doesn't think they need or deserve all that loan forgiveness. So why bring up the increase in college debt previously (the slide I talked about three paragraphs ago)? Anyways that's not the crazy thing. Let's see what happens if you reduce tuition by 2% a year for 10 years. So the calculation goes like this 0.98^{10} is approximately equal to 0.81. So with the number he puts up, tuition decreases by 19% in ten years. If everything before this slide could be attributed to cherry-picking, stupidity, or lack of good data, then fine he's just ignorant even though he shouldn't have been if he went up there to make that talk. But now this is just a FUCKING BAREFACED LIE. I cannot think of a greater insult to the audience's intelligence than the fact that this guy didn't think anyone would pull out a fucking calculator and do the calculation themselves. I won't blame the audience for not saying anything because I'm not sure I would have wanted to do that either but at least from youtube and reddit comments there are a decent number of people who didn't realise this. A similar calculation shows that expanding enrollment by 6% per year increases seats by about 80% total (1.06^{10}). Not sure how that translates in terms of freshman seats but at least this is closer than the tuition claim.
Then his next slide compares wages to the s&p500. This is the point of u/JustTaxLandLol's post and I think his post and the discussion in the comments covers most if not all of my thoughts so you can just read that. https://www.reddit.com/badeconomics/comments/1cc3rs8/scott_galloway_compares_median_wage_to_sp500/
Ok next slide, "The Transfer: Purposeful". Oh yay he's about to make another causal claim with nothing but a graph on the change in top marginal tax rates for corporations and individuals. And if we skip ahead to the next slide we'll realise that this claim is that the gradual decrease in top marginal tax rates for corporations and individuals results in lowered senior poverty and child poverty either remains constant or increases. Yes everybody the newest advancement in economic research has just been released. Lowering top tax rates decreases senior poverty and increases child poverty. And Scott Galloway made that argument in 24 seconds (transcript on TED website has time markers).
Man I really set out with the intention to keep the tone of this post as neutral as I could but I'm just writing out my internal dialogue with less swearing now. I apologise to those who would have preferred a more careful and less emotional knee-jerk response of an analysis but this is a reddit post, its not like there are standards.
Now he moves on to talking about social security. Galloway says "it would cost 11 billion dollars to expand the child tax credit. But that gets stripped out of the infrastructure bill". So zero explanation about why it would cost 11 billion dollars to expand the child tax credit, why not more or less, no comment about how many children it would affect, how much money it would mean for each child or family, just some number that you have to accept. Most of the time there's no why to the amount of funding that the government allocates to policies but at least there's some breakdown to how its going to be used, Galloway doesn't even have that. This is before we even consider the fact that child tax credit was expanded this year (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/child-tax-credit-2024-who-qualifies/). Maybe he's talking about some other issue that I'm not aware of but I don't think so. He says he got the social security spending data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which is a think tank. I don't want to sort through their website to fact check so I'll accept it as the truth but as far as I know the actual social security administration releases their facts and figures for the year August of next year so I'm not sure why he didn't just use the 2022 numbers from a more reliable source.
His next few couple slides are about the increasing age of politicians. I think this is a great point but he probably should have used a better example of a younger politician than Justin Trudeau.
Then at around the 10 minute mark, using his slide titled "Generational Theft", Galloway claims that "we pumped the economy" during covid so that the Nasdaq would gain value, causing "intergenerational theft". I don't know if he thinks it was intentional or not but how is he going to completely ignore the fact that the stimulus checks were primarily for households that were struggling due to the greatest unemployment rate we have seen in our lifetime (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/06/11/unemployment-rose-higher-in-three-months-of-covid-19-than-it-did-in-two-years-of-the-great-recession/). I'm really kind of tired of this so I'll let those at the CBR make my argument for me. "Within the first 10 days, households spent an average of 29 cents from every dollar received. The bulk of this spending was on food, rent, and bills" (https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/how-effective-were-stimulus-checks-us). Damn so turns out struggling families did need these stimulus checks pretty urgently. Shocker. I also think that most people in finance would agree that tech stocks surged over covid because people needed fucking technology... People built PCs to play video games, used online shopping services because they couldn't go to malls, all that.
The next slide is supposed to support his point that the increase in stock prices doesn't allow young people to find "disruption". What. The only thing that matters to any investor is the percentage increase in value of the stock price after you've invested. It doesn't matter if 7 dollars is 1 share of apple or 0.04 of a share of apple. Its stock price going up by 100% means you get 14 dollars either way. I think this guy's arguments are getting dumber as the talk goes on, I actually had to go and find data to refute his points earlier on. Now arithmetic does the work for me, I should have hired a grade schooler to do my analysis.
His next point is about how algorithmic content selection is bad. Yeah its bad. Its bad for everyone, turns everyone into psychos. Though I think there's a very good argument to be made about how such content could affect developing brains. He makes a point about age-gating social media at the end of the talk. This is actually the only drastic measure he proposes that I agree with so I'll leave this alone too.
After a couple slides about Zuckerberg and TikTok (which I agree with, though I think Zuckerberg's damage probably leans more towards older people than young now), he gives a bunch of graphs showing upward trends in all sorts of terrible things happening to young people. Every single one is an issue of critical importance in the US, but importantly, no comparison to older people. For all we know, the trend on every graph could be the same or even worse for older generations. If I had written about this first then I'd go and find the data for it but at this point I just want to be done with this but can't stop without getting to the end so I'm just gonna slap this slide with lack of comparisons and move on.
His next slide shows the difference in 30 to 34 year olds who have at least one child, some of that is probably due to family planning but I still think its a great indicator of people not wanting to have children because its not affordable. Great point, I believe in it.
Next slide, oh god it's a happiness report. I think happiness reports are a fun conversational tidbit but I see no way for it to be reliable enough to be used as an argument in any semi-serious setting. That said, I have no idea how they do these measurements so maybe I'm wrong.
As if the happiness report wasn't bad enough, Galloway is gonna compare the biggest one-day market cap gain (in an unspecified time frame) to the budget of several policies implemented by the government. Oh man. This is too stupid, there's so many things to pick from it'd take too much effort to sort through them. Someone else please make the argument for me.
Then he says universal basic income should have been called negative income tax. Wow the frequency of good points is going up, though I think this is accompanied by an increase in the frequency of absolutely idiotic arguments.
Then he says we should eliminate capital gains tax deduction. The issue of taxing capital gains is a very serious one, but I don't think it actually matters that much how much we tax realised capital gains. Again, not an expert but here's my understanding. If you have a high net worth with a lot of it in stocks and you need cash, you don't have to sell them and get taxed on the realised gains. You go to the bank and say I want to borrow money, I'm going to put these stocks up as collateral so if I can't pay you back you can take these stocks which are somewhere around the value of the principal amount plus total interest over the course of this loan. Because the bank is now convinced they'll get the money back regardless of if you make the payments or not, they say ok here's the money you asked for at a nice low interest rate. Then you take the money, you keep your stocks, which will probably gain value at a rate that exceeds the interest rate by a pretty decent margin, and you can probably make your interest payments pretty easily because hey, you were rich to begin with. If you're really strapped for cash a couple years down the line, you can sell some of the stocks that are now worth more than they were before and cover your payments and not have to pay taxes on the rest that you don't have to sell. Free money. There's plenty more ways to avoid taxes if you're rich but you get my point by now. Now that's a lot of problems without a solution. Luckily we have some economists far more skilled than I am who work very hard to find solutions to these problems. Here's one example of a policy that may help (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/03/opinion/global-billionaires-tax.html). This is an opinion piece written by Gabriel Zucman (famous economist), for the New York Times. If you don't have an NYT subscription, sorry for giving a link you can't read but if you search Gabriel Zucman billionaire tax, you could probably get a decent idea of what this talks about. Here's Zucman tweeting his proposal for his suggestion (https://twitter.com/gabriel\_zucman/status/1763253132572729623). It probably requires a little more thinking than the NYT article but he did present this at the G20 so that might sound more exciting to you than some news article.
Then Galloway says "we need to remove 230 protection for all algorithmically-elevated content". Zero mention on what 230 protection is so here's an explanation (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230). Basically that was a fancy way of saying that companies should be held accountable of the content on their platform, even if it's posted by an unrelated third party. I'm not sure getting rid of it in its entirety is a great idea (though I have no arguments against that except Orwellian ones) but I certainly agree that most if not all social media platforms have abused this protection and it should be at the very least restricted. To what extent? Again, I have no clue.
Then he goes "break up Big Tech". That's the whole suggestion. This is a terrible idea but the fact that he doesn't elaborate more on how to do this, the ramifications of doing so, or really provide any explanation at all makes me automatically ignore this. Then he makes his point about age-gating social media, like I said before, I agree with it.
His next suggestions are universal pre-K, great idea, then "reinstate the expanded child-tax credit". Not sure what he's going on about here, child tax credit exists and like I said before, was just expanded. Then it's income-based affirmative action. I don't know what kind of affirmative action is best and that sounds like an interesting idea so I won't criticise it. I think the rest of his suggestions are pretty normative arguments so I'll leave those alone too.
Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly agree with the overall theme of his talk. I believe that young people in the US (and many places worldwide) are at a massive disadvantage when it comes to accumulating wealth, buying homes, inter-generational transfers, etc. But you cannot go up on a popular platform like this, make claims as sweeping as he has, and make suggestions as radical and drastic as he has, with garbage arguments and data like this. Saying the right things for the wrong reasons is arguably worse than just saying the wrong thing because it makes it easy for those who want the status quo to remain to make counterarguments. Given how divisive opinions have become over the past decade or so I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how many people are eating this up but it kinda scares me how easily people will eat up this shit as long as its for a cause that sounds like its going for some kind of radical change for the good of all and has some imaginary "them" as the common enemy to everyone.
So that's it, I've finally covered all his points. I'm free, thank fuck. I should really proofread this but this has been my past eight hours and my back is breaking from all this sitting, I'm just gonna post this and read it over tomorrow. Maybe do a tl;dr, fix some formatting.
EDIT: As u/myphriendmike and u/Mordoci have pointed out, my dummy corp example was just tax fraud, that's illegal and so it's a bad example, I've removed it. Zucman has some estimates on the "real" tax rate wealthy people (mostly billionaires) pay, maybe I'll include that at some point.
I also corrected my wording in some places.

Browser fingerprinting is a method used by websites to collect unique information about browsers and web devices. Initially, fingerprinting was used to display websites correctly, but now it can track users’ online activities and create their online profiles, making them perfect targets for marketing campaigns and stripping them of their online privacy.

What is Browser Fingerprinting?

Browser fingerprinting is when a website collects a variety of information about a visitor to recognize the visitor from other Internet users.
When you connect to a website through a web device, the website gives specific data to the web server. The website will use different scripts to get to know you better. The website will recognize you:

1. Network device
   
2. Operating system
   
3. Browser used
   
4. Installed software
   
5. Time zone of your location
   
6. General geographic location;
   
7. Language
   
8. Whether or not an ad blocker is used;
   
9. Screen resolution and color depth;
   
10. Browser extensions installed;
    
11. Technical specifications of the driver in question, etc.
    

What Are the Main Browser Fingerprinting Recognition?

Websites can utilize advanced technology to identify users with high precision. The following features help the website to interact with your browser to obtain more detailed technical specifications about the browser and thus about you.
1. Canvas Fingerprinting
Canvas is one of the most commonly used fingerprinting technologies.
2. Device Fingerprinting
Tracks all media devices on your computer with their IDs (e.g. audio and video cards) and connected devices (e.g. headphones).
3. Audio Fingerprinting
The website sends low-frequency sounds to the device through the browser with the help of an audio API and measures how the data is processed and tests how the device plays the sound. Audio fingerprinting detects AudioBuffer and DynamicsCompressor values.
4. WebGL Fingerprinting and Rendering Fingerprinting
WebGL is a JavaScript API for rendering screen images and graphics to estimate screen resolution and the type of graphics card installed.
5. Hashing
All data obtained from digital fingerprinting is processed through a hash function and recorded as a string of letters and numbers of fixed size, pointing directly to your device.
6. User Agent Detection
Part of the software used with websites to identify browsers and their version.

How to Prevent Browser Fingerprinting?

It is almost impossible to prevent fingerprinting, however, there are some tools and methods to camouflage protection and reduce the chance of being recognized with real information.

1. Use proxy server: Users can choose to use some proxy servers that will not be recognized as real IP address.
   
2. Use anti-detection browser: In recent years most people have started to turn to anti-detection browsers because of their powerful privacy protection and account management features. Anti-detection browsers can modify the browser fingerprint to avoid being recognized by the fingerprint as the real identity.
   

How does VMLogin Fingerprint Browser Prevent Fingerprinting?

1. Supports customization of fingerprint hardware parameters such as browser UA, fonts, language, CPU, graphics card, resolution, sound card, memory, media devices, and so on;
   
2. Supports emulating Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, and IOS operating system browsers;
   
3. Supports ClentRects, Canvas, Audio;
   
4. Context and WebGL fingerprint protection;
   
5. Supports customized settings for SpeechSynthesis API, SSL, plug-ins and other fingerprints;
   
6. Supports customizing computer name and MAC address to prevent leakage;
   
7. Supports cell phone browser mobile emulation function and detection of screen touch event function;
   
8. Supports customization of DNS, Header, and startup browser parameters, and can also hide the “Webdriver”, and set Do Not Track;
   
9. Supports customizing the latitude and longitude of the geographic location;
   

VMLogin Antidetect Browser mainly provides unlimited unique browser fingerprint environments for each account and window, each browser environment will be displayed as natural, native local settings, effectively preventing fingerprinting and user accounts from being banned. New users can try it for free for 3 days!

The Kremlin’s masters are well aware that they will lose in a direct clash between the military machines and economic potentials of totalitarian Russia and the 32 democratic members of the North Atlantic Alliance. That is why Moscow intimidates and blackmails the capitals of Western states with nuclear threats, waging a full-scale war with the West, a hybrid one.
Putin and his henchmen dream of all sorts of crises, political instability, economic troubles, and ideally chaos in the EU, the UK and the USA. The leadership of the Russian Federation hopes to at least partially disintegrate the EU, separate Scotland and Northern Ireland from the UK, provoke the confrontation between red and blue states in the USA, initiate the separation of Quebec from Canada, etc. It is worth noting that recently Russia’s agents of influence in Europe and employees of the Russian special services took an active part in the Catalan independence movement for the independence of Catalonia from the Kingdom of Spain, in the protests of the “yellow vests” in France, in the actions of the Republic of Srpska to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina, in finally, in recent EU farmers’ protests against the implementation of the Green Deal (to create a climate-neutral continent by 2050). In general, Moscow skillfully and successfully uses any problems and contradictions in the West.
According to Western intelligence leaked to the mass media, after the unprovoked large-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, Russia's hybrid war against the West only intensified. For example, explosions at weapons and ammunition warehouses in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, damage to military equipment in Slovakia (service staff from Russia had access to it), sending letters with threats and bloody animal entrails to politicians and diplomats in Spain, fires in a building with aid for Kyiv in the GB, incidents on the railways of Sweden, damage to fiber optic cables in the Baltic Sea, jamming of the GPS signal necessary for aircraft in the Far North, Baltic and Kaliningrad regions of the Russian Federation, after all, frequent arrests of both recruited citizens of EU member states and citizens of the Russian Federation, which were exposed during sabotage attempts and terrorist attacks (for example, these cases were publicly reported by the media of Poland and Germany, many of such episodes took place on the territory of the EU, GB, Norway and Switzerland). In addition, Russian cyber experts, as years before, are actively trying to interfere in elections and influence the course of voting and their results.
It is also necessary to take into account the highest level of rapprochement of the Russian dictatorship with the openly terrorist regime of Iran and its proxy in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, Arab-Palestinian extremist groups, the radical Islamist Taliban movement in Afghanistan, military juntas in Myanmar and some African states, as well as the totalitarian regime in North Korea!
The 7/10 HAMAS attack against Israel proved that the Russians provide active assistance to these organizations. It would be logical to assume that various terrorist organizations will contribute to the implementation of Moscow's plan to destabilize Europe and throw it into chaos.
In this context, the law enforcement agencies of the Western countries should not be afraid to start, or to continue, or significantly strengthen thorough inspections of certain (well-known) political parties, movements and organizations, most of which have already discredited themselves. It should be understood that, giving the general aggravation of Russia's confrontation with the West, the Russian special services and their agents of influence (both obvious or latent) will only intensify their dangerous and destructive activities!

A thread for new collectors to ask basic questions of the community.
Frequently Asked Questions below!
A longer version of the subreddit rules is here.
For questions specifically concerning bootlegs or vendor legitimacy, please ask in the Bootleg Megathread.
NSFW & Spoiler Guidelines

• For Self Posts: include a bolded NSFW note next to links in that post.
• For Links to sites/images: If the figure is NSFW, or the website has any NSFW content (including ads) be sure to tag your post NSFW and use the appropriate link flair.

Bootlegs
Any collection posts containing bootlegs, comments advocating buying bootlegs, or links to sites selling bootlegs, recasts, or unlicensed merchandise will be removed.
People often ask about the legitimacy and/or safety of a number of websites which sell large resin statues. The more commonly-asked of those deal primarily in resins from studios which do not have a license from the Japanese IP holders to produce merchandise. Therefore links to those sites are not permitted here. Another sign is if MyFigureCollection doesn't list the either the statue, its manufacturer, or the shop it's being sold on.
MyFigureCollection
My Figure Collection is like MyAnimeList... but for figures! Their database includes thousands of items which been produced during the last couple of decades, along with reviews of shops and other helpful articles. One can also list their own collection and post gallery photos.
Shops

Retailers:
AmiAmi HobbySearch Mandarake (sells rare figures) Good Smile Company Online Shop (often has exclusives) Good Smile Company US shop Crunchyroll Store Hobby Link Japan (aka HLJ) Solaris Japan (MFC partner) BigBadToyStore (MFC partner, US retailer) Big in Japan (also has proxy service) Tokyo Otaku Mode FigureHaven Archonia (EU) Yorokonde (EU) Figuya (EU) Gamersheek (UK) Jungle
List of retailers on MFC
/AnimeFigures' List of Retailers
Community Guide to Shopping in Japan

Blogs/News:

Nekomagic (News/Previews) NyaaFigurines (Reviews/Releases) Kahotan's Blog (News/Reviews) Figma Blog (JP)

Buying & Shipping

1. What’s the best place to buy my anime figures from?
That’s going to depend a lot on what works for you, but most people around here buy them from Amiami, Big in Japan, Hobby Search, HobbyLink Japan, or Tokyo Otaku Mode. If none of those work for you for whatever reason, there’s a list of reputable retailers in the sidebar that you can check out at any time. Be extra careful when ordering figures from websites like Amazon or ebay, as there are a lot of bootlegs on those sites. Don’t be afraid to ask in our Bootleg Megathread if you’re unsure.
2. What differences are there between the shipping options I get from most Japanese shops?
Below is a rundown of the main shipping choices you’ll get at most retailers. Keep in mind that if an order is large enough you will be forced to use one of the more expensive options, as SAL shipments have lower size and weight restrictions.

• Unregistered SAL: Sometimes referred to as uSAL, is usually the cheapest method. It does not come with any tracking or insurance. Usually takes up 2-4 weeks for delivery.
• Registered SAL: Sometimes referred to as rSAL, is insured for the declared value up to 6,000 yen. It comes with a tracking number and usually takes 2-4 weeks for delivery.
• EMS: This method of shipping is much faster than either SAL options, usually arriving within a week of shipment. EMS shipments are insured for the declared value up to 2,000,000 yen.
• Airmail
• E-packet
• Surface: Shops don't offer this very often. It's an actual cargo ship and slow as a result.
  
• DHL: Becoming more available as an alternative to EMS on AmiAmi and other sites. Can be less expensive than EMS and of comparable speed, but may be more reliant on the specific geographical area being shipped to. The price is also determined by the size of the box. Offers their own tracking.
  

3. I placed two+ orders for figures at different times. Will my items be shipped together, or will I have to pay shipping twice?
Most shops will ask you to pay shipping on a per-order basis, but here are some that will allow combined shipping:

• Amiami: You can combine orders here, as long as the orders ship in the same month. It doesn’t matter if the item is new or preowned. Any preorders that are set for that month can also be combined with other orders for that month. However, be aware that if the preorder gets delayed, Amiami will remove that item from that month’s shipment and place it on a new order. To combine orders on Amiami, use the “Combine Orders” feature under “My Account”.
  
• Hobby Search: Hobby Search will let you combine orders that release in the same month, but you cannot combine in stock items with preorders. If you want to combine multiple preorders, or multiple in stock items, you can do so using the “Order Recombination” feature on your account page.
  
• HobbyLink Japan: At HLJ, you have the option to send paid orders to their “Private Warehouse”, where you can store them for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to ship the items, you simply select which items to ship and HLJ will combine them into one shipment for you. To use this, just select the “Private Warehouse” option as shipping when you order.
  

If you’re unsure about whether or not a shop we haven’t listed will combine your orders, please refer to their individual FAQs.
4. When will I get charged for my preorder?
Most Japanese shops charge you once the item is in stock and ready for shipment. When that happens, they will send you an email asking for payment. Some shops (mostly overseas ones), will allow you to pay for the item up front though, if you’d like. A few with that option are:

• Big in Japan (Japanese store)
• Tokyo Otaku Mode
• Anime Island
• Crunchyroll

Keep in mind that overseas stores will likely get the figure a few months after Japanese ones, so pay attention to the release date stated on the website you are buying from so as to avoid that confusion.
5. Should I expect to pay customs fees when importing figures?
That depends on where you live. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Australia: 10% GST is now assessed up front.
• Canada: Minimum declared value for charges is around CAD$20 for regular shipments, and CAD$60 for gifts (gifting something only seems to lower the declared value by about CAD$40, not deplete it completely). When using Amiami, try their Small Air Packet option. It comes with tracking, gets there in about the same time as EMS, and is better at avoiding customs.
• European Union: As of 1st July 2021, VAT has to be paid on all goods imported from outside of the EU. Retailers are supposed charge VAT for purchases under €150, however many Japanese retailers currently do not, so VAT will be charged when your order arrives in the EU. Orders that are >€150, VAT and duty will be charged by your local customs.
• UK: As of 1st January 2021, VAT is to be charged by retailers for orders <£135. However, customs isn't currently charging VAT on parcels valued at <£135, even if the VAT hasn't been paid. Goods >£135 will have their VAT and duty calculated and charged by customs.
• Mexico: Minimum declared value for customs fees is USD$300 for shipments by post, and USD$50 for shipments by courier.
• United States: A shipment has to have a declared value of USD$2,000 before customs starts hitting you with fees, so you most likely won’t have to worry about them at all.

6. The figure I want is an exclusive, how do I go about ordering one outside of Japan?
You have three options for this:
A. Big in Japan is known to stock exclusive figures and ship to other countries. Usually the price is higher because they build in their proxy fees, but it’s easier than worrying about using a forwarder or proxy service. If you live in the US, Crunchyroll, Right Stuf, and Tokyo Otaku Mode also get exclusives sometimes, but out of the states the shipping can get expensive.
B. Forwarding Services: A forwarder is someone who you ship an exclusive item to so that they can forward the package on to you, usually for a flat fee + shipping. When using a forwarder you still make the purchase yourself, and enter their address into the shipping field. When the box arrives at the forwarder they will then stick your address onto the package and send it on its way.
Some popular forwarders are:

• Big in Japan
• Tenso

Be sure to read each sites instructions on forwarding carefully!
C. Proxy Services: With a proxy, you tell them what the item you’re looking for is and they will purchase it in your stead. This is handy for when a company doesn’t accept foreign credit cards, or you’re having trouble navigating a Japanese website.
Some popular proxies are:

• Big in Japan (Won’t proxy for Yahoo Auctions)
• From Japan

Again, be sure you thoroughly read through each sites proxy instructions.
7. I see a bunch of really cheap figures that ship from China on ebay. Are those okay to buy?
Generally, no. They’re most likely bootlegs. If you want a second opinion on that, feel free to ask in the Bootleg Megathread that’s always stickied at the top of the sub.
8. What’s a bootleg, and how can I avoid buying them?
A bootleg is a counterfeit figure often made using rejected molds of the official product. They are usually priced significantly lower than the genuine article, and in order to make their profit, bootleggers use lower quality materials and have less attention to detail- resulting in a substandard figure.
The Bootleg Megathread that I mentioned in question 7 is a great tool to avoid buying any bootlegs. It has a few tips and tricks to avoiding them to begin with, and a few more on how to spot them if you’re worried you might already own one.
9. Does anyone know when figure X is going to be released? How do I know if it was delayed?
My Figure Collection (sometimes referred to as MFC) does an excellent job of staying on top of information like release dates and delays. If you’re curious about an upcoming figures release date, check there first. This information can be found directly under the “Releases” section on a figure’s entry. If you only see a month and a year in that section, it means the release date has not yet been announced by the manufacturer, and there is still a chance the figure could be delayed.
If you make an account on MFC you can also subscribe to comments, changes, and pictures via a checkbox on the right hand side of a figure’s listing. Subscribing to any of these things will allow MFC to send you an email anytime the subscription in question updates. Subscribing to “changes” is a great way to keep up with release dates and delays, among other things.
10. The figure I want is long sold out at normal retailers! What’s the best place to pick it up in the aftermarket?
A list of reputable retailers can be found under the “Shops” section of the /AnimeFigures sidebar. They all sell legitimate products, and many of them also sell figures second hand. However, the most frequently suggested second hand sites are Mandarake and Amiami- who has a preowned section that they update every night save Sundays and Japanese holidays around 1PM JST and again around 6PM JST.
AmiAmi grades their pre-owned items on a letter scale. The general consensus from buyers is that their ratings are conservative, so unless the item and/or packaging is specifically indicated as having significant flaws, pre-owned items from them are usually in at least as good a condition as their rating suggests.
Note: When you search Mandarake, you’ll get the best results by using the Japanese characters for whatever you are searching. If you don’t know them, you can find them on MFC by clicking on any of the “details” in that figure’s listing.
11. Amiami has a figure I’m interested in labeled as “For sale in Japan only”. Does this mean I can’t order it without a proxy or forwarder?
No, you can still order it. Amiami’s English site has that warning on many items, and it’s mostly meant to inform you that this product was made for a Japanese market, and as such, will have Japanese speaking/writing in it- so don’t expect any instructions to be in English. If Amiami doesn’t want foreigners buying a certain product, they won’t even list it on their English site.

Displaying Your Figures

12. What display cases do you recommend?
If you live near an Ikea try out one of these:

• Klingsbo
• Billy (Often used with Morliden doors (now the HÖGBO and glass shelves.)
• Detolf: Formerly the go-to choice for inexpensive display cabinetry, the Detolf was first made flimsier around 2020 and then essentially phased out of the name, to become the BLÅLIDEN. Knockoff versions of widely-varying quality are commonly found on other shopping sites these days, though.

*If you decided on a Detolf, you might find that there is a lot of wasted space. Here are a few tutorials on raising the shelves or and adding extra ones in.

• Using metal clips
• Using acrylic supports and PVC pipe

If you don’t live near an Ikea, Amazon has a few display options, though they are more expensive. Also keep an eye on your local Craigslist (or your country’s equivalent) and stores near you that are closing up.
13. What lighting do you guys recommend?
Ikea’s Dioder LED strips were discontinued after a long run. A current version is the Vattensten, if you're inclined to buy your case and lights at the same time.
LED strips have become very commonly available in recent years; most hardware and home furnishing stores carry a selection now. Just make sure that the lights don’t get too hot!
14. What are those clear plastic boxes that I see under everyone’s figures in their collection posts, and where can I get them?
Those are called risers. Most of us use standard acrylic risers like these. Some other, easy to find things that have been suggested are:

• Plastic picture cubes
• Card Deck Boxes
• If you’re feeling adventurous, try making your own!

Check your local hobby store for the first 2 options, or your local hardware store if you want to make your own.
Another common suggestion is to visit The Container Store if you have one near you. They have a lot of things to choose from that can suit a variety of needs. Be sure to check out their standard acrylic risers, their Amac boxes, and the various display cases they sell (baseball cases, mini car cases. hockey puck cases, etc).
15. Should I keep my figures sealed?
That is, of course, up to you really, but here are a few things to keep in mind when debating this question:

• Keeping it sealed can actually damage your figure. PVC figures usually have something called plasticizer in them, and that plasticizer needs to be able to breath. If a PVC figure isn’t exposed to oxygen, after a period of time the plasticizer starts to break down and form a sticky substance on the surface of the figure. Simply opening your figures and taking them out of the box prevents this from happening. If you happen to find plasticizer goo on one of your figures, Kahotan has a handy guide for dealing with it.
• Unlike some other figure markets, keeping an anime figure sealed won’t raise its value by a whole lot. In fact, because of the plasticizer problem mentioned above, your figure could actually be in better condition if you open it versus keeping it sealed.

Finding the Right Figure(s) for You

16. What are "scales" and "prizes"? What is the difference between them?
Those are classifications for figures based on a few factors.

• "Prizes" are generally more simply produced figures which are intended to be given as prizes for playing arcade games. They are inexpensive and lack the detail of scale figures, though some prize figure lines have standouts which may approach lower-end scales in quality. That is uncommon and often depends on the individual figure.
• "Scales" are called such because they are nominally designed to be proportional to the dimensions of the character which they are based on. They are generally of much better manufacture and materials than prize figures, allowing for more detail in painting, accessories, or complex poses.
• "Trading" figures appear in gashapon machines or as blind boxes on shop counters, often as sets which include multiple characters. As suggested by the class name, the randomness encourages trading. They are usually very inexpensively-produced, though as with prizes, some series are better than others.
• "Non-scale" encompasses a variety of other categories. It is often used to describe poseable figure lines such as figma and Nendoroids.

In recent years producers such as Good Smile Company attempted to further bridge the gap between prize quality and scales by introducing figure lines which are intended to be moderately-priced while retaining a higher level of detail than the typical prize figure, to varying levels of success.
17. There are so many figure companies! Who makes good figures?!
Obviously this is a very subjective question, but as a general starting point, here are a few well renowned figure companies:

• Alter
• Max Factory
• Good Smile Company
• Kotobukiya (usually hit or miss for people. Use your best judgement based off of the prototype)
• Flare
• Stronger

18. I really love “series X / character X”- how can I check if any figures were ever made for it?
My Figure Collection can be your best friend here. Simply do a search on the name of the series or character using the search bar located at the top right of the screen, and all associated figures pop up!
Alternatively, if you’re looking at a figure’s MFC entry, most of the text under the “Details” section can be clicked on and used to run a search.
19. How can I commission a custom figure?
None of the major figure companies (Alter, Kotobukiya, Good Smile Company, etc.) will take a commission for a single figure. This thread has a few websites in it that you can check out, or you can look into garage kits. Some kit painters would be willing to resculpt, frankenstein together, or otherwise modify kits for the right price.
If you're looking for help completing a garage kit, /brushforhire may be useful.

Keeping Up with New Announcements

20. How can I keep up with figure news (announcements, updates, etc.)?
Most people use a MFC combined with any or all of the following news sites:

• Neko Magic
• Alter’s Blog (In Japanese)
• Kahotan’s Blog (Only GSC and their sister companies)

Many figure companies are active on Twitter, so following them there is recommended for quicker news.
To use MFC for this I’ll quote question #9.

If you make an account on MFC you can also subscribe to comments, changes, and pictures via a checkbox on the right hand side of a figure’s listing. Subscribing to any of these things will allow MFC to send you an email anytime the subscription in question updates. Subscribing to “changes” is a great way to keep up with release dates and delays, among other things.

Most companies have one or more Twitter accounts. Some examples: Good Smile Company sales, Good Smile's USA branch, Max Factory, AmiAmi Hobby News.
21. Everyone’s excited about something called Wonfes….. what the heck is that?!
WonFes (short for Wonder Festival) is a biannual figure expo where many figure producers (both large and small) show off new sculpts and updates to figures already under way. Most companies save their most exciting announcements for WonFes, so we all look forward to the expo whenever it rolls around! Winter Wonder Festival is usually held in February, while Summer Wonder Festival is usually in July. The event has also spread to Shanghai, in the late spring.
22. One or two (or 15) figures were announced at WonFes that I’m really excited about! How can I keep track of their progress once the event is over?
MFC is always really quick about getting new WonFes announcements (or any others throughout the year, for that matter) listed in their database, so we suggest using that. To find a figure from the event you can search any number of things, including the name of the character or the name of the show. You can also use the tag search to search “WonderFestival 20xx_[season]” to see all items announced at that event.

Fair use-
House Republicans criticized NPR CEO Katherine Maher Wednesday for not attending a hearing about alleged bias within the network, while Democrats defended the network and called the hearing unnecessary.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said the hearing would “discuss accusations from within National Public Radio … that the organization’s D.C. bureau is actively censoring viewpoints, all while enjoying funding from American’s hard-earned tax dollars.”
“The Energy and Commerce Committee will fully fulfill its responsibility to investigate the allegations against NPR and take appropriate action based upon what we find,” she added.
The hearing was announced April 30 in a letter sent to Maher by Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Bob Latta (R-Ohio). They referenced the April 9 commentary published in The Free Press by now-former NPR editor Uri Berliner, who criticized the network for a liberal bias in reporting and a lack of ideological diversity among staff.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has “concerns about the direction in which NPR may be headed under past and present leadership,” the lawmakers wrote. The representatives also asked NPR to provide a breakdown of the registered political affiliation of its news staff over the last five years.
Maher declined to attend the hearing due to a conflicting NPR board meeting that had been scheduled more than a year ago, according to the network. In a written statement provided to the committee, Maher thanked Congress “for supporting public broadcasting and public media institutions, including NPR, that provide public interest journalism to the American public, and in doing so protecting freedom of the press in this country.”
“I welcome additional conversation and feedback from the Congress on how we can serve our audiences better, and I look forward to speaking with you in the near future,” Maher wrote.
In a statement Wednesday, NPR said that it “takes the Committee’s comments and questions seriously, and welcomes the opportunity to discuss how we can best meet our public mandate to serve all Americans and reflect a diversity of perspectives.”
NPR added that it had proposed alternate dates for Maher’s appearance “and will continue to work with the Committee and respond to their letter.” ~snip

P.S. This is Tagged as spoilers for some pieces of infromation that may be spoilers for those who have not seen or done her interrogation or the Floral Unfurl and RainBurst Events. This is also the first post of mine to break the Character limit so I will be breaking it into two parts.
Link to Part 2: https://www.reddit.com/PathToNowhere/comments/1clu7gw/path_to_nowhere_sfw_headcanons_for_shalom_part_2/
Part 3: https://www.reddit.com/PathToNowhere/comments/1clua8k/path_to_nowhere_sfw_headcanons_for_shalom_part_3/
1. She has many times attempted to usurp Nightingale as the chief’s adjutant in an effort to get closer to the Chief, with her efforts ranging from subtle attempts to discredit Nightingale, to outright attempting to have her transferred to a different Agency, though these efforts have all been in vain.
She has since switched her efforts from removing the Adjutant from play, to making her into an ideal subordinate to aid the Chief and to use as a proxy for her own plans to benefit the Chief, herself, and the rest of the MBCC through a variety of means, some of which have left Nightingale adamant in putting a bullet in the head of whoever is responsible for them.
2. She does not like overly spicy food, something with a little kick is fine, but anything above that is too much for her, a weakness that Coquelic somehow figured out and used against her by lacing one of her meals with a notoriously hot pepper.
Shalom’s yelp of pain as the spice overwhelmed her, and the way her eyes had begun to water as she downed her entire drink before she asked Rahu to get her another one, is an image that has been immortalized in the halls of The Garden via several covertly taken photos and videos.
That the Garden found its flower garden in the Greenhouse dying barely a week later, in addition to the Chief being unable to get her hands on any additional flower seeds to replace the ones they had lost for several months afterwards was certainly just a coincidence…right?
3. She still has a soft spot for Christina despite past…incidents. And while she desires for Christina to make her own path, she still considers her to be her detective, and as such maintains a careful eye on her.
From keeping track of which cases she is working, the threat they pose to her detective, the people she socializes with, her newest interests, her family’s state of affairs, to the way she decorates her room, and so on, she feels at ease knowing that her detective is safe and sound.
She has made it clear to her detective that she will always be present to offer her help should she need it, granted her help tends to come with the requirement of Chris having to spend time with Shalom while she addresses her as ‘Big Sister Shalom’ during said time and allowing the Hush to call her ‘Little Sister’ as well.
As such she is never able to fight the smile that comes to her face when Christina needs her help, especially when she is able to use the chance to pamper her detective and see how far she has grown while on her own.
4. This suggestion came from EinarKaslana on Ao3, the credit for it goes to them.
That said, it is a shared headcanon between us that she is fond of photography, and maintains many photo albums throughout her places of residence, with specific people, such as the Chief, Christina, and Rahu, having entire albums devoted to pictures taken of them by the Hush.
That some of them were taken by cameras they were unaware of is neither here nor there to Shalom, and so long as they remain unaware of them, it will be nothing to them either…especially so long as they do not discover the albums that contain more candid pictures of them in various states of undress or in certain…compromising positions.
It is safe to say that those albums are among her most well hidden and well defended of treasures, with even Schorl being unaware of their location.
5. She has a soft spot for cats and dogs, often leaving out food for them or taking the time to pet and pamper them when she encounters them, as such she was one of the staunchest backers for the MBCC gaining an on site pound/shelter.
That said, she is also an avid fan of cat cafes having dragged Christina and Rahu to enough that they can reliably name the majority of the cat cafes in Dis off the top of their head, with but a few exceptions for those that have yet to have the Hush grace them.
She also tends to leave very sizable tips at said cafes, enough that the staff go out of their way to meet her expectations, and that they do not say a word about her gathering enough cats to cover herself and whoever is with her at the time in them.
6. Her room is surprisingly rather homey, with a number of bookshelves lining the walls, only broken up by small tables or wall fixtures with lamps and candles resting on them, an assortment of dark colored furniture, a large amount of flowers, both in pots on tables and hanging from the ceiling, and a rather sizable collection of horror related media.
She also has a large canopied bed that she has covered in enough pillows that many periodically fall off when anything jostles the bed, and a rather sizable amount of scented candles and incense scattered throughout her room.
Her main outfit of choice, along with several copies of her favorite coat, is kept in a dresser near her bathroom, while a much larger walk-in closet is dedicated to other uniforms and outfits that she has amassed over the years, though they are a subject for later on.
There is also a room that is hidden within her cell, a result of her machinations and of several deals made to allow her skills to be used to benefit the MBCC, said room being filed with a wall of monitors and terminals, a large number of filing cabinets rigged with incendiary devices that she can activate by tapping a button on her terminal, and a sizable amount of targets for her to focus her skills on.
She can never stop herself from chuckling everytime she enters the room, picturing the look on her former handlers faces were they to become aware that the Hush of Paradeisos, has become the Hush of Minos, granted said role is kept secret from the Chief, but it is the thought that counts…at least to her.
7. While there are many Sinners and staff within the bureau that adore Shalom, there are equally as many that hold in her both dread and contempt, be it because they know just Who she is, or because they feel that something is not quite right with her, some sixth sense warning them to avert themselves from aligning so closely with her.
Among those who hold her in disdain are Langley, who has seen enough of the mountain of corpses the Hush has built as an agent of Paradeisos to fully trust her, even with her devotion seemingly to have switched to her rookie.
As a result, the Spider has a special bullet with Shalom’s name written on it for the moment she feels the Hush has become more trouble than she is worth keeping around.
Another one that holds the Hush in contempt is Chameleon, the hypnotist being able to see through the mask that Shalom wears and finding the thing she glimpses beneath it to be of no small amount of concern, hence her own caution in regards to her.
Her trepidation regarding Shalom was only further cemented by the fact that the one time Chameleon attempted to use her power on Shalom resulted in her awakening in her cell with a migraine, a bloodied nose, and a letter reading- “Please, don’t try that again. I would hate to have to explain your loss to the Chief. Sincerely-Shalom”
Of course there is also the Garden and their own wariness of the woman to consider as well, as, while they do admit her actions allowed for them to escape the clutches of the Underground, her methods…have done their perception of her no favors.
Though they can agree with her desire to support the Chief and to safeguard their new home, it does nothing to keep them from having their eyes on her, and a blade marked with her name on it should she overstep her bounds.
While there are many more who feel wariness of the former Hush of Paradeisos, perhaps rivaled but by that of the former leader of Rustifre is that of her own former protegee and pseudo sister, Chirstina.
Having seen first hand just how ruthless her mentor can be, along with having gotten a glimpse as to the true nature of her work for Paradeisos, she has since found that while she yet has a fondness for Shalom, she can never feel as at ease in her presence as she once did due to what she has done, something which is bittersweet to Shalom.
8. She is one of a very select few to have actually beaten Eirene at both normal chess, and a specialized version of it designed by the Head Of Quinn, with her version of chess being something which involves multiple chess boards linked to a rotating table, where the players are playing multiple games simultaneously with but a few moments to make each decision and move.
Said game lasted nearly 12 hours, and ended with Shalom claiming a resounding victory with but minimal losses upon the other boards, a feat which has since earned her no small amount of fame within the bureau, even from her detractors, and a standing offer to play chess with Eirene whenever she wishes to.
9. While she is physically frail, especially for an S-Rank Sinner, she is still heads and shoulders above an average person in terms of speed, strength, and endurance, being as able of breaking bones with a punch as she is ruining someone's life with a few well placed whispers.
That said, she is surprisingly somewhat unaware of the extent of this strength, especially given that she is severely lacking in training for CQC and the usage of firearms and other weaponry, given her preference for remaining on the backlines and using the overwhelming might of Schorl to contend with any foe that gets in her way, and has thus not really had any reason to use it.
Yet even without training, she is still a capable threat should someone get in close, something which has lead to several sinners and staff seeing the surreal scene of her casually flinging a corruptor, that had somehow bypassed Schorl’s scanners, three times her size against a wall before it was vaporized by the aforementioned Paradeisian weapon.
10. She has gained a habit of messing with Schorl by putting stickers and such on it, something which the machine does not seem to enjoy given how it will try and find any way it can to remove the stickers or markings from itself the moment they are applied.
Shalom even once went so far as to write on the Paradeisian device with a pink marker, using it as a means of reminding herself of an appointment she had with Dr. Iron and Nurse Anne regarding her health, with the machine actually allowing the message to be written and to remain…at least until after her appointment, at which point it bore a hole through a water pipe and used it to wash itself off.
Similarly, she once brought up the idea of coloring the Schorl, with the machine and its operators adamantly rejecting the very concept of the idea, going so far as to destroy the can of paint and paint brush that she had purchased to do so before they scurried off.
11. She cannot drive. This is one of the few points of agreement the Chief and Paradeisos have ever been able to reach as Shalom’s driving can lead to no small amount of damage to the vehicle she is behind the wheel of, along with the sanity and health of her passengers.
The last time she attempted to drive she managed to make it a quarter of the way to her destination before Rahu and Christina, both of whom were holding on to one another for dear life, managed to convince her to switch with Rahu while Christina and Schorl spoke with the sherrifs regarding the collateral damage.
They were less than 3 minutes into what should have been a 9 minute long drive at the time.
12. She is fond of dropping by the Chief’s office and helping them with their work whenever the opportunity presents itself, something which has greatly endeared her to the Chief, and, albeit begrudgingly, Nightingale.
That she tends to leave each of these sessions wondering just how it is that the Bureau has not imploded in on itself or declared secession from Dis in some fit of mad lunacy, is something that tends to add some enjoyment to her day by trying to make sense of the insanity of the MBCC.
She has even gone so far as to compile many of the more interesting stories and reports into a personal collection to browse for her own entertainment whenever she feels the need for some levity.
To this day, one of her favorites remains the time that Emp managed to weave so elaborate a lie that it resulted in the FAC spending nearly 4 days investigating a ‘Duck Sinner’ that was responsible for the destruction of a power plant, with the Archer even managing to, albeit unknowingly, have Paradaisos waste several days investigating the same claim when it was relayed to them.
The true culprit of the Power Plant overloading was of course, EMP herself, though Shalom vowed to take that secret to her grave in exchange for the amount of humor her lie gave her.
13. Rahu once attempted to teach her how to use a conventional weapon for self defense, in the event that Schorl was destroyed or disabled and she was not present, only for the attempt to end with Christina having to get her hat repaired courtesy of the bullet ricocheting off of the target, off of the ground between Rahu’s feet, the ceiling above them, the railing of the shooting range, and then into the top of Christina’s hat.
That Langley had the audacity to not only laugh when she heard the report, but to then order Shalom not be allowed to touch any firearms in the Bureau has since been something of a sore spot for the Hush, especially since both Christina and Rahu aid the Spider in enforcing such a rule.
14. While her fondness for the horror genre of film has long been a well established trend in the bureau, with her appreciation for it in literature and art being similarly well known, her fondness for horror games is a relatively new obsession of hers.
Most of this fondness for the horror genre of gaming can be laid at the feet of Etti, who Shalom overheard running a horror themed tabletop session, EMP, who introduced her to horror anime as repayment for lending her a movie, and Nino, who she watched stream a horror game that caught her fascination.
Since then, she has devoured many horror games in terms of both playing them and watching them, with some of the games being of such disturbing levels that even Schorl was driven to escape the room to avoid the more disturbing scenes and gameplay.
That her new fascination has started a trend among the ones in charge of monitoring her via Schorl using the media she enjoys as a form of Test Of Courage, is something she is aware of enough to greatly enjoy.
With her fondness later extending to Tabletop games and the potential for horror and suspenseful storytelling within them as she learned of many of the horror campaigns that had been run by other DMs.
This being something that led to her approaching Etti to request her guidance on the matter, with Etti agreeing to help her DM a horror themed session, the young dragon all too happy to help a fledgling DM in the art of destro-*Ahem* creating an enjoyable session for everyone with minimal tears and screams involved.
That said session she ran resulted in Horo hiding under Zoya’s bed, Christina hiding with Thistle in a closet, Hella and Ninety-Nine refusing to leave their room without ear plugs on as they cursed her to hell and back, was something that lead to Etti declaring Shalom to be her new apprentice in the art of DMing.
The sheer panic that announcement caused nearly brought the Bureau to its knees.
15. Upon learning of Cabernet’s ability to materialize and consume souls, Shalom sought her out with a rather curious request, as she wished for the Franc Heiress to materialize a piece of Shalom’s own soul so that she could taste it out of her own curiosity.
After a rather lengthy debate with the Chief, and several tablets of aspirin, it was decided to allow the experiment of sorts to take place, with Cabernet materializing 2 pieces of Shalom’s soul as a pair of grapes, one being given to the Hush and the other being kept by the Glutton of Souls herself.
Cabernet would later remark that the taste was bizarre, as at first there appeared to be no flavor at all to her grape, only for her to be suddenly hit with an overwhelming bombardment of taste to such an extent she was nearly ill, the heiress later remarking to the Chief that beyond all of the myriad flavors there was something else…a feeling that was unnamable to her, yet left her feeling uneasy for many days afterwards.
Shalom would claim that she enjoyed the taste of the grape as well, though the true joy of the experience seemed to be an idea that had come to her as she would later approach the Glutton with an offer that she would request be kept between the two of them.
What was that offer?
Perhaps it is better off unknown if the way the Franc Heiress refused to leave her room for several days afterwards was anything to go by, and it is likely better still to not question why it is she seems to make a weekly tribute of a grape to the Hush, one that could not possibly have been made with Shalom’s own soul.
Indeed, it is better not to question what was said between the two.
16. She is still in regular contact with, and financially supporting, her former maid from her time at Erica Villa, Rosa.
The young woman having managed to somehow earn the fondness of the former Hush to such an extent that she has been working quite tirelessly to convince the Chief to allow for her to be employed at the Bureau, her main argument being that she could be of great help as part of any of the departments that need her…along with being another at least semi-sane and responsible person to help keep the MBCC in…relatively stable condition.
With each day she makes the argument to the Chief she wears her down more and more until she will be able to have her maid back at her side, and once more enjoy teaming up with her to make Rahu, and soon the Chief, as flustered as possible with their shared teasing.
17. She is not allowed any form of caffeine, a rule Paradeisos ‘forgot’ to inform the Chief of when Shalom was sent to the Bureau, with Rahu and Christina thinking the Hush herself or Schorl would have informed the Chief of this rule…only to learn that was not the case.
Indeed, the Chief learned of this rule when someone, she is willing to bet her life that it was either Hella or EMP, saw that the former Hush looked tired and offered her some of Summer’s Special Brew Coffee.
What happened next is something known but to those who were there that day and who managed to gain access to the security footage, something which was soon locked behind the highest grade of confidentiality that Paradeisos could create, with the files being further encrypted by Summer and Langley as well.
Any attempts at acquiring an answer from those who witnessed what happened that day would be met with nothing but a thousand-mile stare, with several others whimpering and curling into the fetal position or turning and fleeing as swiftly as they can, with none daring to vocalize just what happened that day.
All anyone knows is that a substantial portion of the bureau needed repair done to it, several officials that had been adamantly against the Chief and the MBCC had to resign from their positions in disgrace once certain information regarding them was leaked, along with a rather sizable amount of collateral damage being done to several major roadways and side streets.
Schorl has since been given permission to destroy any source of caffeine Shalom manages to get her hands on.
18. She has been utilizing her abilities to commune with the Mania Monster made of her discarded humanity known as Rebel in a bid to earn its compliance and to be assemble to utilize it to its fullest one day, her primary reason for doing so being something of an emergency measure should Paradeisos attempt to remove her from play along with having an emergency ace in the hole for rainy days.
That it could be an additional tool for the Chief and a means of further defending her should anything befall the Hush, the monster having long made clear its own deep seated adoration for the Chief to her during their…’Conversations’, is but yet another lie she has come to tell herself.
That she also wants to reconnect with her lost humanity and to try and bond with it is something she has tried time and again to deny even to herself, yet as time has gone by, and her emotions have begun to return to her, she has found it increasingly hard to deny her true reason for wishing to do so.
The truth of the matter…is that all of this is being driven by Her ability to feel the loneliness of that missing part of herself and her desire to end it and fill the gaping wound torn in her own soul all those years ago by Paradeisos.
All she truly wants is to feel whole again.
19. She has an odd relationship with Hecate, somewhere between an almost sisterly bond and that of a mentor, with the former Hush often volunteering to accompany the younger sinner into the field to act as a mentor to her, that she still unconsciously tries to protect her is something neither will directly mention to one another.
The pair have likewise somewhat exchanged hobbies with Shalom managing to get Hecate interested in the horror genre, while Hecate has managed to convince Shalom to take up sketching and, to a lesser degree, painting as a hobby, something the Hush has taken the somewhat relaxed leash and observation she is under during her stay in the bureau to thoroughly enjoy.
That most of her works feature the Chief, several even having her in a state of undress or in various…compromising positions, is something that only the Hush and Hecate, who happened to mistake her sketchbook for an empty one, knows of.
It is safe to say the following exchange was quite awkward for the pair, though they were eventually able to work past it and continue their regular sessions of shared artistic endeavor…with the addition of a rather bright tag to mark which sketchbook is Shalom’s.
In a similar vein, Shalom has taken a rather sizable amount of time in teaching Hecate how to think strategically and to plan for various scenarios, with the young Sinner having shown a marked improvement in her Dispatches as result of the tutoring, that the Chief saw fit to praise Shalom was simply a bit of icing on the cake to her.
That said, many Sinner feel no small amount of unease at the idea of the Hush having taken the Chief’s Shadow under her wing, especially given the uncanny similarities the pair seem to share, the only comfort most have been able to find in the matter being their shared loyalty to the Chief.
Though even so, most fear the idea of just what Hecate could become if Shalom is allowed to mold her enough, thus all of those within the Bureau tend to keep an eye on the pair whenever they are together and they can.
20. She has mapped out the vast majority of the secret tunnels that span the Bureau, particularly all of the ones that lead to the kitchens and to the Chief’s room, with her making use of them to not only be able to sneak away to the kitchen for late night snacks or when she needs a drink during her work, with her also using the tunnels to deliver snacks to the Chief and to surprise her when she is working.
She also makes use of them to avoid certain parties and to surprise others, with her usage of them having gotten to the point that a not so small number of Sinners and staff are of the opinion that she is in possession of some form of teleportation device.
That Shalom seems to find some humor in these rumors and even tends to encourage them through her own actions and inactions has likewise led to no small amount of confusion and unease among the Sinner population due to the potential threat she could pose with such a device.
The Chief has tried time and again to dispel these rumors, only for them to constantly re-emerge after enough time has passed, something which has led to the Chief and the rest of the administration staff of the Bureau nearing the end of their rope in regards to how to handle the spreading rumors, with Paradeisos offering no help on the matter.
21. She has found something of a way to utilize her “Mark” in tandem with the Chief’s Shackles, a method of piggybacking off of the Shackles and utilizing her ability in a way that makes it considerably less obvious towards both the recipient of the ‘Mark’ and the Chief herself that one is under the Hush’s influence.
Even with this loophole removing her need for direct eye contact with her targets among the Sinners, it still requires for the targets to be in a heightened emotional state, and for the Chief to not be aware of her actions due to her ability to sense the influence through the Shackles and throttle it before it truly spreads.
The knowledge of this influencing power is strictly confidential so as to prevent any panic from spreading among the Sinners, especially among those who have prior experience with the Hush and her power., with the Chief having further heightened her security around the Hush, despite her claims of only wishing to use her power to aid the Chief.
That said, the loophole has a further weakness in that Sinners of strong enough will, or those who are particularly Contaminated, such as Nox, Dreya, and so on, can not only resist the influence of the Mark through this loophole, but can also somewhat retaliate against it, causing Shalom a sizable amount of pain when they do so, Nox’s own retaliation leading to her having a severe nosebleed and being near catatonic for several hours.
The final weakness of this ability is that she requires time to focus on the Shackles, and the slightest of disturbances can interrupt her ability, with contact with the chief being an additional means of furthering her power’s stability, though since this loophole came to her awareness she has made certain to be on her guard around her the vast majority of the time.
A final note is that by some means she has been able to keep this development secret from Paradeisos, using it as yet another tool in whatever schemes of rebellion she harbors against the organization.
22. She has given Thistle the equivalent to ‘The Shovel Talk’, with the exception of her talk involving her simply sitting in silence for a while as she looked Thistle in the eye, smiling as a triangle Mark flared in her eye as an unspoken warning of what awaits the assassin if anything befalls Christina.
Thistle’s reply simply being to lift up her sword and set it alight with her own silent vow, that should any of the Hush’s schemes cause harm to the detective, she would not live long enough to enjoy whatever form of victory she managed to achieve.
That the Hush has the audacity to smile at her actions a low chuckle slipping past her lips as she finished her tea before rising and walking past the assassin, pausing but to ruffle Thistle’s hair with an amused glint in her eyes as she left the assassin, only caused her to further despise the woman even if they could agree on protecting Christina.
That Thistle collapsed back into her chair as she fought to control her heart beat and suppress the adrenaline tearing through her body after Shalom had left the room, is something that she will deny ever happened that day.
23. She has met Christina’s step sister several times, each time ending in her being chased out of the house courtesy of the wheelchair bound girl either throwing objects at her or swatting at her with something as she tells her to stay away from Christina.
That said, she has not stopped her attempts at somewhat courting the young woman’s favor, having arranged for, and personally done, many things to make life easier for the young woman, such as aiding in her finding a stable source of income from home, and ensuring that she and Christina are able to visit whenever they wish.
Even with all that she has done however, the young woman still does not trust her, and does her best to try and mitigate any influence Shalom has over her, that said, she does appreciate Shalom’s efforts and has at least allowed for them to chat for more than 30 minutes before she starts chasing her out of her home.
24. While Shalom can be said to have a rather refined palate, she does also have a taste for more simple foods as well, especially given that Paradeisos did not allow her to indulge in them before due to her needing to maintain an image as their Envoy and their close monitoring of her.
As a result of this, and the somewhat increased freedom she has at the Bureau, she has gained the habit of searching for small hole in the wall restaurants and such to dine at with the Chief, Rahu, or Christina, with her having gained a reputation as an exceptionally generous patron.
More than once, Rahu has been caught off guard by seeing staff greet the former Hush by name and show her to her favored seat in the establishment, one time of note involving a rather portly chef who was easily double Rahu’s own size and weight leaving the kitchen to greet Shalom with an embrace as he sat her down and spoke with her for a little bit before going to cook her meal.
She has even tried some of the more exotic foods brought back by Wolverine from his hunts, such as the meat of Sand Worms, which she claims has an oddly gamey flavor to it that is not that unpleasant, and a form of lizard that she actually quite liked the taste of, much to everyone’s shock.
That said, she did refuse to even look at the scorpions and other multi-legged insectoid like creatures the Hunter caught, due in part to a reason that will be touched on below.
To Be Continued in Second Part due to 40,000 character Limit.

The second part of Mary's and Elizabeth's story. I learned from last time: This is a draft! You will find some of the sources and the literature at the end (I was trained in Germany, we don't differentiate between primary and secondary sources but sources and literature):
I. Introduction
In the spring of 1554, Elizabeth Tudor was in grave danger. Her half-sister, Queen Mary, had imprisoned her in the Tower of London on suspicion of being involved in the Wyatt Rebellion. The insurrection was against the Queen's plan to marry the Spanish crown prince, Philip, who was a staunch Catholic. Elizabeth was forced to live in the same chambers where her mother, Anne Boleyn, had been held before her execution 18 years earlier.
According to Tracy Borman, the Queen's advisers had already written up Elizabeth’s death warrant. All Mary had to do was sign it. As she held the ink-soaked quill that could end her half-sister's life, her hand hovered over the document. However, she ultimately chose not to sign it.
On May 19, 1554, Elizabeth was released from the Tower and placed under house arrest in the old royal hunting mansion at Woodstock. Until then, Elizabeth did not know whether she was to be allowed to live or had to face execution. It wasn't until the anniversary of her mother's execution that her fate was revealed to her.
During her time at the Tower, Elizabeth learned two valuable lessons that would shape the rest of her life: She should never be replaceable, and she should avoid making decisions until they are unavoidable. These principles guided Elizabeth for the rest of her life.

II. Why Elizabeth was saved
Elizabeth had very few people in Mary's government who were on her side. Only William Baron Paget advocated for Anne Boleyn's daughter. On the other hand, Elizabeth had many enemies. Lord Chancellor Bishop Stephen Gardiner, Mary's cousin Emperor Charles V, and the imperial ambassador Simon Renard all believed that Elizabeth's execution was necessary to ensure the Queen's permanent hold on the throne. There were even rumors that Margaret Douglas, Mary's best friend and potential heir, had spoken in favor of Elizabeth's execution.
However, there was a lack of evidence to support such a decision. The government tried everything to find evidence, or at least to fabricate it. The insurgent leader Thomas Wyatt was at the center of these efforts. He had already been sentenced to death before Elizabeth arrived at the Tower. However, the execution had been postponed. Wyatt, who had initially supported Mary even against Lady Jane Grey at the beginning of her reign, was now being pushed to incriminate Elizabeth as much as possible. As a side note, it wasn't Wyatt's first time being involuntarily held at the Tower. During the reign of Edward VI, he had also been imprisoned there for a few days because he had drunkenly smashed windows.
Wyatt, however, refused to name Elizabeth as the head of the rebellion, only stating that she may have known about the plan. His co-conspirator, Sir James Croft, could say more. Wyatt instead heavily incriminated his co-conspirator, Edward Courtenay. He was the real head of the conspiracy.
Mary's interrogators capitulated: April 11, 1554, was designated as the day of Wyatt's execution. As a resident of the Tower, whose name is not known to us, reports in a private chronicle, there were two peculiarities: First, Wyatt asked to be allowed to speak with Courtenay, who had been imprisoned in the Tower since February 12. Second, his last words were to be interrupted.
Wyatt's request was granted. According to the source, he had to be carried to Courtenay, who was imprisoned in the tower above Traitor's Gate. This shows the massive torture he was most likely subjected to. The two men talked for about half an hour. Unfortunately, the exact content of the conversation has not been handed down.
However, Wyatt's last words give an idea about what was said: he not only withdrew his accusations against Elizabeth but also exonerated Courtenay. In doing so, he probably saved two lives. Henry Weston, who oversaw the execution of Wyatt, interrupted the condemned man, which was highly unusual. According to the tower resident, he spoke this sentence:
"Merke this, my masters, eh sayeth hat that which eh hathe showed to hte counsel ni wryting of ymlady Elizaleth and Courtney ys true."
In this way, he confirmed that Wyatt had not lied to protect his reputation in the public eye, which held Elizabeth in high esteem but secretly incriminated her. It's unclear how Mary's advisers responded. It was a remarkable parallel of history: Wyatt's father had been imprisoned in the wake of the allegations against Anne Boleyn on suspicion of having had an affair with the Queen. The only thing that saved him was his friendship with Thomas Cromwell. Weston's father, Francis, was less fortunate. He was beheaded on May 17, 1536. Now the sons of the two men faced each other – and Weston had to supervise the execution on behalf of the Queen.
Mary herself dealt with the fact that Wyatt had exonerated her half-sister in a surprising way: she confiscated Wyatt's estates because he was a convicted traitor. However, she provided his family with a small pension that allowed them to survive. Among Wyatt's descendants was Wallis Simpson, for whom King Edward VIII abdicated his throne. Wyatt himself was beheaded before being quartered. He thus escaped the worst part of his punishment.
Courtenay, who had betrayed the rebellion before it even started, was released from the Tower and exiled to Venice. Mary's government tried for four more weeks to find any incriminating material against the Queen's half-sister but to no avail. The public grew increasingly resentful of the continued imprisonment of the heir to the throne, especially after Wyatt, who had been visibly tortured, cleared her name. Additionally, Mary's judges informed her that her half-sister could not be found guilty under the current laws.
It is not clear what ultimately led to Elizabeth's release from the Tower and her house arrest in Oxfordshire. While some argue that it was due to the Queen's conscience, which emerged just in time, others point out that between 1554 and 1555, people from Elizabeth's household were repeatedly arrested on suspicion of treason. This suggests that the Queen continued to view her half-sister as a threat. Modern historians have described the Queen as "paranoid about Elizabeth.”
Another thesis uses the popularity of Anne Boleyn's daughter as an argument for why Mary spared Elizabeth's life. Even this justification is not entirely convincing: During the Wyatt Rebellion 20,000 Londoners had volunteered to fight for the Queen. She had just successfully crushed the uprising. It had not found the popular support that its leaders had hoped for.
Elizabeth was likely allowed to live for several reasons. The Queen saw the rebellion as an attack by Protestants on their religion, who were allegedly equipped with "a Spanish cloak to cover their pretended purpose," as she wrote in a letter. She couldn't imagine that Catholics could also be against her marriage to the heir to the Habsburg throne. The rise of English nationalism was not a relevant force in her eyes.
Elizabeth had never made any public comments regarding Mary's plans to get married. Even though she appeared to be a Catholic, attending Mass twice a day, she avoided speaking in support of the Catholic faith. She would often cough or clear her throat to excuse herself from speaking at sensitive points during Mass. Mary had been aware that her half-sister was only pretending to be a Catholic since December 1553. In fact, at that time, Mary had even accused Elizabeth of it.
Despite this, Anne Boleyn's daughter was still valuable to Mary as a symbol. The more Elizabeth was seen attending Mass, the less suitable she was as a leader of Protestantism. However, if Mary were to have her half-sister executed, Elizabeth would become a martyr. Therefore, it was more beneficial for Mary to keep Elizabeth alive and permanently convert her to Catholicism.
On top of that, her wedding to Philip was getting closer and closer. The wedding ceremony had already encountered major issues and difficulties. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was imprisoned for being a heretic. Typically, he would have been the one to conduct the wedding ceremony and crown Philip as the king. However, if Elizabeth remained imprisoned in the Tower during the wedding, it would cast a dark shadow over the connection. Elizabeth was still the heir to the throne. Her execution around the time of the wedding would have been disastrous.
To avoid any potential issues, Elizabeth had to disappear from the public eye. If she wanted to play an active role again, she would have to comply with the Queen's demands. This impression is evident in the sources available. Officially, Mary was done with her half-sister, and Elizabeth's name does not appear in the collection of Mary's State Papers for the rest of the Queen's life. In this situation Mary was a perfect blend of her parents, possessing Katherine's political acumen and Henry's stubbornness.

III. Elizabeth is under house arrest
Mary initially felt vindicated in her decision to keep Elizabeth under house arrest, as it seemed to work in her favor. While over 200 rebel leaders were executed, most ordinary prisoners were pardoned for a fine. This prevented any serious uprisings against Mary for the rest of her reign.
In addition to the emotional significance, Mary's marriage to Philip was also economically beneficial for England. Phillip brought 20 cartloads of American silver to the wedding, which helped to support the weak English economy. The Royal Mint was allowed to mint silver coins for Spain, which marked its first foreign order. Mary proved herself to be a capable ruler in economic matters.
During her reign as Queen of England, Mary made significant strides in modernizing the country, which her predecessors had failed to do. England still adhered to the rules of the late medieval economic system, despite its collapse in the second half of the 15th century. Mary caught up on the overdue reforms, which would benefit her successor for decades to come.
In September 1554, Mary received good news as she gained weight, and her menstruation stopped, leading her doctors and court attendants to believe that she was pregnant. The Queen herself also experienced nausea, which further convinced everyone of her pregnancy. The imperial ambassador even reported back home that there was no doubt that the Queen was carrying a child.
Mary felt empowered and began to take violent action against the Protestants in her kingdom. Just a month after announcing her miraculous pregnancy, she had Bishops Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer burned. Thomas Cranmer, whom she hated, was in prison awaiting his indictment as a heretic.
According to Mary's wishes, Cardinal Reginald Pole was to play a decisive role in this. Her close confidant returned on 23 November 1554 from his exile and assumed the position of Archbishop of Canterbury. Mary's great goal now was for her heir to be born in an England where the Pope would be the head of the Church again.
Parliament supported Mary on this issue. In January 1555, the Second Act of Repeal was passed, which made England a Catholic kingdom again. The law also removed the legal hurdle to prosecute Protestants more severely. Corresponding actions began as early as February 1555.
The unpopular burnings earned the Queen the nickname "Bloody Mary". Nearly 300 of their subjects were to die at the stake. However, historians have debated whether her reputation for cruelty is accurate. The book "Book of Martyrs" by John Foxe, published in 1563, was instrumental in creating the image of Bloody Mary. As a Protestant, Foxe had a strong religious interest in portraying Mary as a monstrous and frightening figure.
Mary viewed the use of burnings as a necessary means to deter Protestants from their faith and was surprised by the number of Protestants who chose death by fire over converting to Catholicism. However, she believed that the most important aspect of her efforts was ensuring that no new Protestant clerics could emerge, hence she strictly monitored seminaries and universities.
During Elizabeth's time of house arrest, she was under the guard of Sir John Williams, who treated her kindly. It is assumed that Elizabeth acted with extreme caution during this time so as not to upset her half-sister. As the announcement of Mary's pregnancy meant that Elizabeth would lose her position in the line of succession, she had to be careful not to do anything that could jeopardize her safety.

IV. Mary's First False Pregnancy and the Fatal Consequences
Mary found herself in a situation similar to her mother's, towards the end of Katherine and Henry's marriage, during the spring of 1555. Mary had a responsibility to produce an heir, as failure to do so would put her position and Catholicism in England at risk. At the time, Mary was fully aware of the potential consequences if Elizabeth was to come to power.
However, it is unclear whether or not the Queen recognized the parallel between her mother's life and her own, or if Mary was trying to break the curse that had plagued her since Anne entered her life. Regardless, Mary followed the customary practice of withdrawing to Hampton Court in the spring of 1555 for the birth of her child. She ordered Elizabeth to be present when her heir to the throne entered the world.
If you want to, you can interpret this order as a gesture of reconciliation between siblings, which must have taken place in 1555, at least on the surface. However, I find it difficult to interpret it as anything other than an attempt to humiliate Elizabeth. The Queen, for instance, stated that the Spanish king, Philip, should be regent for the child, not her half-sister, should she die in childbirth.
As we all know, events took a different turn. The calculated due date came and went, and it was not until July that the Queen resigned amid mocking laughter from the political public. Her abdominal swelling had subsided. The Venetian ambassador, Giovanni Michieli, had recently predicted that the pregnancy would end “in wind”. Philip, much to the Queen's sadness, returned to the mainland just a month later. Most people saw the false pregnancy and Philip's departure as a sign that the Queen would never be able to have children.
Mary was likely struggling with depression during that time. She believed that the events that occurred were "God's punishment" for tolerating heretics in her kingdom. As a result, she took even harsher action against them. One of her most prominent victims was Cranmer, who had renounced Protestantism for fear of being burned at the stake and turned back to Catholicism. Although it was customary for him to be pardoned, Mary did not follow this tradition.
Cranmer was forced to read out his retraction in public shortly before his burning in October 1556. According to reports, he first put the hand into the fire with which he had signed the document by which he turned away from Protestantism. Historians agree that it was primarily an act of personal revenge on the part of the Queen, as Cranmer had annulled her parents' marriage.

V. Philip and Elizabeth
Elizabeth might even have become a threat to Mary’s marriage – at least in the eyes of the monarch. Despite Philip's constant search for new lovers on the continent, there is little doubt that the Queen was truly in love with him. For example, Michieli reported she was "extraordinarily in love."
Philip, however, had already discovered while he was still in England that Elizabeth was, let’s say, of marriageable age. According to Michieli, the Habsburg prince had considered marrying the Queen‘s half-sister in case Mary died giving birth. However, there is some disagreement about how serious these considerations were. In a letter to his brother-in-law Maximilian, Philip expressed doubts about whether Mary was pregnant.
Following the false pregnancy, Philip aimed to establish a positive relationship with Elizabeth, most likely having already supported her while she was under house arrest. Mary’s half-sister was pleased to accept the king's friendship. As per J. E. Neale, she made every effort to integrate herself into Philip's circle of Spanish friends at court.
In October 1555, Elizabeth was permitted to leave Mary's court and return to her household, but it's uncertain whether it was a sign of Queen Mary's confidence in her half-sister. It's more likely that Mary couldn't tolerate Elizabeth's presence anymore. At this point, Mary began focusing on a topic she had never been enthusiastic about: finding a suitable husband for Elizabeth.
Philip advocated for Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and with good reason. Not only would he ensure a Catholic succession, but he was also Philip's trusted proxy in England. After Mary's death, Philibert would be a suitable puppet. In December 1553, Elizabeth had also agreed to have her name linked with Philibert's. This option was more favorable than making Mary, Queen of Scots the heir, even so she was catholic. Mary, promised to the French Dauphin, was too close to the Habsburgs' greatest enemies.
Elizabeth, however, knew that time was on her side. She was safe as heir to the throne after the disaster of the false pregnancy. Even for the Spaniards she was considered a better alternative than her Scottish great-cousin. She refused all marriage requests. Philip's four-month visit to England, beginning in March 1557, was primarily intended to persuade Elizabeth to change her mind. Mary must have been hurt significantly as she had been urging her husband to come back for a long time.
It seems improbable that Parliament would have approved of such a marriage. Consequently, it gradually distanced itself from Mary. In December 1555, the Queen attempted to seize the assets of 100 Protestants in exile, but her request was denied.
Later, Philip reconsidered the idea of marrying Elizabeth himself. After she ascended the throne, he proposed a corresponding match, but the new English monarch declined the offer.

VI. Mary joins Philip's war against France and becomes an enemy of the Pope
Philip became King of Spain in 1556. Mary, as his wife, thus became Queen of Spain. The Habsburg, now finally in power, wanted to eliminate Protestantism by all means. War was included. And that's what happened – but against Catholic France.
France had done Philip the great favor of attacking the Spaniards. Mary rushed to her husband's aid and joined the war. Together, they inflicted a heavy defeat on the French at the Battle of Saint-Quentin in August 1557. But the fortunes of the war turned against the English: Calais, the last English mainland base, was lost in January 1558.
Mary is said to have reacted to this message with the following sentence:
"When I am dead and opened, you shall find Calais engraved on my heart".
Pope Paul IV raged over the war. He needed the French to defend him against the Habsburgs in northern Italy. England's participation had ensured that he could hardly expect any significant support. He therefore demanded the return of Pole to Rome in order to appoint a new Archbishop of Canterbury himself who would bring the Queen under control. Mary refused, going against the authority on which she had hitherto guided all her actions.
Later on, this turned out to be helpful, albeit in a cynical way, for Elizabeth. The Pope had spoken out against Anne Boleyn's daughter inheriting Mary's throne. However, the relationship with the English Catholics had become so strained that this was no longer relevant. It was clear that the future of England lay in Elizabeth, and with that, it was expected that Protestantism would return.
Mary still hoped to prevent this from happening. She believed she was pregnant again in 1557. However, this time, there were no preparations for a birth, apart from the fact that she made her will in the spring of 1558. It is tragic to read this from today's perspective:
"Fyrste, whereas I the said Quene have with the good contentment and pleasure of my said most dere belov'd Lorde and husbande the Kyng's Majesty devis'd & made my said last will and testament, beryng date the 30th day of Marche last past, and by the same, for that as I then thowght myself to be with childe did devise and dispose the Imperiall Crowne of this Realme of Englond and the Crowne of Ireland, with my title to France and all the dependances thereof, and all other honours, Castells, Fortresses, Prerogatives and hereditaments, of what nature, kynde or qualitie soever they be, belongyng to this crowne, unto the heires, Issewe and frewte of my body begotten, & the government, order, and rewle of the said heire and Issewe I recommended unto my said most dere Lord and husband duryng the mynoryte of the said heire, accordynge to the lawes of this Realme in that case provided."
"Thinking myself to be with child in lawful marriage between my said dearly beloved husband and Lord, altho' I be at this present (thankes be unto Almighty God) otherwise in good helthe, yet foreseeing the great danger which by Godd's ordynance remaine to all whomen in ther travel of children, have thought good, both for discharge of my conscience and continewance of good order within my Realmes and domynions to declare my last will and testament"
Mary believed she was pregnant and in good health, and even suggested once more her husband be named as regent for the child. This was unrealistic as England had suffered significant losses in the war, while Habsburg had not. The Spanish king was more unpopular than ever. From 1555 to 1558, Mary's kingdom struggled with severe crop failures, leading to hunger and a severe influenza epidemic in 1558. One of Mary's ladies-in-waiting, Jane Dormer, fell ill but later recovered.
The Queen herself may have also fallen sick. When Mary returned to London at the end of August 1558 after her fake pregnancy, she asked Dormer how she was doing. Dormer replied with "reasonably well", to which Mary said, "So am not I". She then retired to her chambers and never left them again.

VII. Battle for the Crown: Mary Must Accept Elizabeth
Mary's health was deteriorating day by day and she was having fever dreams frequently. According to Dormer's later reports, Mary would sometimes wake up and recount seeing small children playing angelically beside her in her sleep. The Queen used these stories to console her close ones by reminding them that whatever happens, God has allowed it.
However, Mary's will posed a problem as it did not name any heir, except a child that was not born. This made her last will not only impractical but also went against the current law of succession. To resolve this, Mary agreed to add a new passage to her will on October 28, 1558:
"Yf yt shall please Almighty God to call me to his mercye owte of this transytory lyfe without issewe and heire of my bodye lawfully begotten, Then I most instantly desire et per viscera misericordiae Dei, requyre my next heire & Successour, by the Laws and Statutes of this Realme, not only to permytt and suffer the executors of my said Testament and last will and the Survivours of them to perform the same."
Elizabeth was only confirmed by the insertion "by the Laws and Statutes of this Realme". However, this was still not enough as Elizabeth was not officially named despite actively preparing for her reign that very same month. Due to this reason, Mary was pushed further.
The Queen finally sent Dormer to her half-sister with three conditions, which she had to meet in order to be allowed to succeed her:

1. It is important for England to remain Catholic.
   
2. Queen Elizabeth should treat Mary's servants well.
   
3. Queen Elizabeth is responsible for paying the Crown's outstanding debts.
   

It is said that Dormer demanded proof on Mary's behalf that Elizabeth was indeed a Catholic. Elizabeth reacted angrily to this, arguing that she had complied with this often enough. However, she accepted the terms. It is mentioned in the literature that Mary also acknowledged Elizabeth as an heiress by name on November 6, 1558, but I couldn’t find a source for this.
Mary passed away between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning on November 17, 1558. Her good friend Reginald Pole survived her by just twelve hours. The diplomat Nicholas Throckmorton was tasked with informing Elizabeth of Mary's death. Six hours after Mary's death, Throckmorton proclaimed Elizabeth as the new Queen. It was then that the coronation ring was brought to Elizabeth, which was extensively checked for authenticity by her ladies-in-waiting.
Mary's funeral was held on December 13, 1558, and her husband was not present. In a letter to his sister Joan, Philip expressed "reasonable regret" over her death. However, there was a scandal during the funeral when Winchester's Bishop John White gave an obituary for Mary and expressed doubts about Elizabeth's abilities as Queen. As a result, Elizabeth had him arrested a day later. With Mary's death and Elizabeth's ascension to the throne, England's generational traumas of Katherine and Anne finally came to an end. Although there were others to follow, such as the "Great Plot" to assassinate Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. But we will not delve into them today.

Examples for literature and sources used for this text (That’s far from being all. I tried to pick those
you can check online yourself for this list):

Borman, T. (2023). Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I.
Edwards, J. (2007). Mary I: England’s Catholic Queen.
Edwards, J. (2018). Mary I: The Daughter of Time. https://www.amazon.de/Mary-Penguin-Monarchs-Daughter-Time/dp/0141988681
Froude, J. A. (2023). The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon
The Story as Told by the Imperial Ambassadors Resident at the Court of Henry VIII.
Lee, S. (1900). Wyatt, Thomas. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Wyatt,_Thomas_(1521%3F-1554))
Lemon, R (1856). Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reigns of Edward VI., Mary, Elizabeth and James I, 1547-1625 Preserved in the Stat Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office. https://www.google.de/books/edition/Calendar_of_State_Papers_Domestic_Series/NvsUAAAAQAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=state+papers+domestic+mary+I&printsec=frontcover
Loades, D. (2016). Elizabeth I: A Life.
Loades, D. (2011). Mary Tudor.
Mayer, T. F. (2000). Reginald Pole – Prince & Prophet. https://www.google.de/books/edition/Reginald_Pole/OqaBq2QGrFEC?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=reginald+pole&printsec=frontcover
Neale, J. E. (1934). Queen Elizabeth. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208607/mode/2up
Nichols, J. G. (editor) (1850). The chronicle of Queen Jane, and of two years of Queen Mary, and especially of the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat / Written by a resident in the Tower of London. https://books.google.de/books?id=-cwyHxW4TwEC&printsec=frontcover&hl=de&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Whitelock, A. (2016). Mary Tudor: England’s First Queen.

Yenesh gender roles: an overview.
As penned by: Sapien Prime Node 2791
The Yenesh are a somewhat unique race among the developed species in the galaxy. Due to panspermia, they are of course subject to the inevitability of gender existing. Out of all 19 documented advanced species in the galaxy, only two lack gender and they’re invertebrates. The Yenesh, however, are the only race in which gender roles are completely inverted from the galactic norm. Of note, the Drakkani do not make this cut, because despite the females being larger, they do still trend towards domestic roles and rearing young.
This is not the case for Yenesh. For them, the females are the warriors and the workers out in the field, and the males stay home performing domestic roles and guarding the young. In fact, until the last century, misandry was a recurrent problem in their society and still exists in small pockets.
It was because of this unique inversion that when first contact was made and they prepared to join the galactic stage, they quickly took a guarded stance. Despite being large and imposing obligate carnivores, they have strong pack instincts and a tactical mind. One could argue this commonality of thought and instinct was what drove them towards seeking out the humans, but that was in fact only a secondary common ground.
The primary reason they sought them out was because Humans are one of only three species in the galaxy with a very pronounced and direct approach to unconventional gender roles, and of those three they’re the only ones who are part of the Empire.
In many species, there exist flukes in behavior and genetics. While the origins and implications of these flukes are hotly debated even to this day, with people often being brought to violent rage to defend their stances on it, humans are uniquely inclusive in their acceptance of these flukes.
It was in fact humans who normalized same-sex relationships, something which was seen as taboo for the vulprens, and worth being ostracized for in some more traditional lykarin clans. While many other species look down on those with nonstandard mating preferences, or who’s hormones are unstable, or who suffer dysphoria, humans not only embrace it, but in many cases their cure for dysphoria isn’t to remove the sentiment but instead to allow the individual to embrace their desired form, be it through simple social or medical adjustments or through more radical things such as surgery.
This was the kind of open mind that Yenesh needed. They immediately reached out to the humans to be their advocates when discussing territory to be allocated, technologies to be licensed, and cultural exports and imports to be permitted. This was when the terran standard name “Yenesh” originated. Ambassadors noted that the large, inverted gender carnivores strongly resembled spotted hyenas from their home world, and upon describing them as “yeen-ish” the name stuck.
Initial negotiations were optimistic, however it quickly became apparent that several Vulpren Great Houses were not welcoming, and cited some of their own laws which mandated the physical sex of individuals representing a nation, military, or economic hub be males. Despite strong pressure from the more open minded House Equinox, including a very heated speech from Flint Equinox himself about how the other houses were being imprudent, backwards, and a host of other words that do not translate cleanly into english nor into polite discussion, they remained steadfast.
It seemed for a time that the Yenesh application to the empire would be refused due to a genetic trait they had no control over, but then the humans did what the humans do; they didn’t so much bend the rules as twist them into a knot.
Those same vulpren laws permitted proxy representatives, so the Terran nations began sifting through their best officers, ambassadors, and xenopsychologists while also were in active and heavily guarded talks with House Equinox. Terran command actively and aggressively sorted the dossiers of several billion humans, creating a national stir that made interstellar headlines. They were digging for something, but we didn’t know what.
Not right away, at least.
A season passed, and it seemed like the traditionalist houses got their way and the Yenesh would be forever locked out of joining the Empire, but then a request came through. The Yenesh would be appealing the decision, and Terra would be representing them.
The heads of the houses who were keeping them locked out could not have been more stunned. When High Warlord Argenta of Saro Nation strode into the council chambers, her lawyers and her proxy speaker all seemed to be female humans, and the escort honor guard, a traditionally male dominated field, were females, earth space marines specifically, donning their own flags in addition to Saro ribbons.
Only one of the group appeared to be male, a stenographer to serve as the archivist, a witness to proceedings as mandated by Vulpren laws, and who could be any gender. So, it was him they spoke to.
“What is the meaning of this parade? You’re making a mockery of these chambers with this blatant and shallow gesture.”
The male only smirked slightly at first, but he had a look in his eyes every predator knows. He paused to make sure he had their attention before speaking, “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about. We’re following every rule to the letter.”
“You most certainly are not! The proxy cannot be a vixen, or doe, or whatever word you use for your–” He paused to compose himself, and in that moment Flint, head of House Equinox interjected,
“Lets just skip to the fun part before Jespit blows a fuse. Which rule are you not breaking?”
It was Argenta who spoke next, “I have broken no rule nor law-” when Jespit of house Shore began to interrupt, she simply spoke louder, the commanding and authoritative resonance a person only learns when spending most of their days with soldiers and on battlefields, “Your law requires my proxy and my legal team be males. Your laws define male as having an X and Y chromosome. I assure you, every single one of them does.”
Then the speaker took her podium, flicking the microphone to pull attention, “I am Colonel Wilma Kessinger of Terran Space Defense, born William Kessinger. Despite my appearance, I was born male and went through male puberty. My DNA is on record if you really need to verify. You will find that all four lawyers by my side here also have male DNA and experienced male puberty. And I should also mention you broke your own laws by addressing my stenographer first. He is not only not representation for the Saro Clan here today, but he was born female. Now, if you’re done, I’d like to begin discussing our friends here and why you decided to shut them out of the Empire despite that you very much already have a member of the empire which very much does not agree with your outdated and narrow perspectives on gender roles.”
In the moment of silence that followed, the only noise that could be heard was Flint trying his best to suppress an exceedingly satisfied laugh.

I have a node api that has a successful upload service with an S3 bucket.
I’m trying to serve up public assets (images, video, audio) via cloudflare cdn but am having a terrible time.
My policy allows object reads from whitelisted cloudflare ips, I even changed the policy to allow anyone access but have not been able to proxy correctly.
My bucket name is a random bunch of letters and the CNAME I’m using is simply cdn.
If I try to access it says to me bucket cdn.my domain.com not found. Almost like it is using my domain name for the bucket instead of the value I am trying to proxy to (xyz.s3.region.aws.com).
Does anybody have any experience or reading materiel to correctly serve assets from a s3 bucket via cloudflare cdn?

I've recently moved abroad to Norway. Where I live it can easily take a week or more to get letters from the UK (it's anything from 2-10 days, with seemingly little consistency). I'm very much concerned that a postal vote won't make it for me to return it in time.
The backup option then I assume would be a proxy vote. Can this still be done in the constituency I last lived in? Or does the vote go to the constituency of the proxy? The proxy person is in an extremely safe seat, my last location is a very contested seat. So obviously it's in my interest to vote in my last location if I can.
I've been browsing gov websites on this but information seems a touch vague. Just trying to figure out how best to register for the upcoming election.

Hi all, try to keep this concise
TLDR: HOA limits lockbox accessibility for necessary medical device delivery but allows real estate lockboxes. Any suggestions?
We have lived in our condo community (4 pod, 4 units per pod) for 1.5 years as a tenant with no issues.
I work in medical device consulting for trauma coverage at the local trauma hospital and frequently have medical devices delivered to my residence to fulfill medical needs of patients.
The short explanation is these must be delivered to my residence because they need to be audited and prepped for patient use, prior to me hand delivering to hospitals for medical use.
Due to time constraints of on-site consulting, I am not home a lot to receive these packages. My wife is also an ER vet doctor and is not home frequently either.
I had a lockbox on the outside of the building to allow access to the medical device courier delivery companies to deliver these goods inside my common area door, as it would be unreasonable to leave it outside due to theft concerns of extremely expensive medical devices.
I cleared this with my pod companions and life goes on… until the board (after 16 months) did a exterior inspection and says that a lockbox for my personal use is not permitted due to safety concerns that I am giving communal area access to non-resident individuals. I understand by the letter of the covenants, this is a violation.
These are not your average parcel delivery services, I have specific records of all individuals with time-stamps to track these packages.
I am now stuck and unsure what my best option is. As a tenant, I have no ability to speak at HOA meetings. My landlord wanted to give me proxy ability to speak on their behalf but our Covenants do not allow tenants to be proxies.
There are no commercial parcel receiving areas that are open for 24 hour delivery that I can find locally.
Our building is old and only has a buzzer hardline system. There is no community parcel receiving area, only the standard USPS mailboxes.
Is there any options available to me? Open to any and all suggestions as this is an extreme limitation on my ability to provide high quality patient care if I can no longer receive packages.
Side note: We have had multiple packages stolen prior to my lockbox system. The HOA was not concerned with the theft because it was “left out in the street”.
EDIT: If USPS or a traditional commercial mailbox was an option, I would have done it years ago. These operate during traditional business hours and are not viable.
**** I UNDERSTAND THIS IS A ME PROBLEM NOT AN HOA PROBLEM. Just searching for any amenable solution that provides security for our community and allows me to continue to live here and do my job.

I followed the install instructions for docker to the letter. I have the site up and running just fine, everything is working, as long as i don't try to use SSL. Once I add https: to the URL in the .env file it won't load. Says SSL error.
Both sets of code have been edited to have correct information, but for my question i just put in the relevant information. IE Url.
Am I missing somthing? I have never used Caddyfile before. Like i said, as long as i don't try to use https, the site works wonderfully. Fully functional in every aspect.
Here is my Caddyfile code:

# Caddyfile for Inventree # The following environment variables may be used: # - INVENTREE_SITE_URL: The upstream URL of the Inventree site (default: inventree.localhost) # - INVENTREE_SERVER: The internal URL of the Inventree container (default: http://inventree-server:8000) (log_common) { log { output file /valog/caddy/{args.0}.access.log } } # Change the host to your domain (this will serve at inventree.localhost) {$INVENTREE_SITE_URL:inventory.domain.ca} { import log_common inventree encode gzip request_body { max_size 100MB } handle_path /static/* { root * /vawww/static file_server } handle_path /media/* { forward_auth {$INVENTREE_SERVER:"http://inventree-server:8000"} { uri /auth/ } root * /vawww/media file_server } reverse_proxy {$INVENTREE_SERVER:"http://inventree-server:8000"} } 

And here is my .env

# InvenTree environment variables for docker compose deployment # Specify the location of the external data volume # By default, placed in local directory 'inventree-data' INVENTREE_EXT_VOLUME=./inventree-data # Ensure debug is false for a production setup INVENTREE_DEBUG=False INVENTREE_LOG_LEVEL=WARNING # InvenTree admin account details # Un-comment (and complete) these lines to auto-create an admin acount #INVENTREE_ADMIN_USER= #INVENTREE_ADMIN_PASSWORD= #INVENTREE_ADMIN_EMAIL= # Database configuration options INVENTREE_DB_ENGINE=postgresql INVENTREE_DB_NAME=inventree INVENTREE_DB_HOST=inventree-db INVENTREE_DB_PORT=5432 # Database credentials - These should be changed from the default values! INVENTREE_DB_USER=pguser INVENTREE_DB_PASSWORD=pgpassword # Redis cache setup (disabled by default) # Un-comment the following lines to enable Redis cache # Note that you will also have to run docker-compose with the --profile redis command # Refer to settings.py for other cache options #INVENTREE_CACHE_HOST=inventree-cache #INVENTREE_CACHE_PORT=6379 # Options for gunicorn server INVENTREE_GUNICORN_TIMEOUT=90 # Enable custom plugins? INVENTREE_PLUGINS_ENABLED=True # Run migrations automatically? INVENTREE_AUTO_UPDATE=True # Image tag that should be used INVENTREE_TAG=stable # Site URL - update this to match your host (and update the Caddyfile too!) INVENTREE_SITE_URL="https://inventory.domain.ca" COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=inventree 

They own three planets, a ton of outposts, and nomad fleets.
Most countries have a military industrial complex. Clan Sea Fox is a military industrial complex without a country. Or with one maybe? It's not clear. There are 400+ million souls living under them as far as we can tell... for now.
It is invited wherever it goes. Unlike ComStar where you have no choice, with Sea Fox you always have a choice.
And in time, as their power grows, refusing those choices might come with... costs of doing business. A planet in a vulnerable position that decides not to re-up a mercenary contract might discover that whispers of that decision immediately reached nearby pirate organizations somehow. A company that won't sell might discover that its rivals are making exceptionally well-informed moves. An intransigent government might discover that political radicalism is growing and suddenly every terrorist psychopath knows how to hit them where it hurts the most. A political leader might find that his dirty secrets are being sold, and he can't afford the price to keep them quiet.
If you think like a merchant, there are so many interesting ways of applying leverage. And if you're smart, and not too greedy, after applying that leverage and being a reliable, honorable partner when it comes to the deal you sign, you can make it look like you're saving the guy you just almost fucked over. You can make a problem worse, and you're also the solution that can permanently end those problems.
If you do a deal with Sea Fox? You will benefit every time. They're as honorable as they are clever. If you have something they want, they'll make you rich. Even if they have to make you poorer first.
Did Diamond Shark not trade with the Dark Caste? Of fucking course they did. They'll have no issue working with, well, anyone. Through proxies if necessary. Through shell corporations, and spinoffs.
What if Marik or Davion go to outright war against the IlClan. Well! Sea Fox will cut off all aid and trade absolutely! But they'll trade with a shell corporation that they own with a permanent contract with another shell corporation that they own who trades with a company owned by a shell corporation owned by Davion, and they'll all contract with a certain shipping company that might lose ships occasionally or have a regular and expected level of cargo loss in transit (which is insured so don't worry about it) or might be wholly independent and under permanent contract to a Sea Fox subsidiary and a Davion shell corp.
To the disinterested capitalist, "sanctions" just mean trade with extra steps and higher profits.
To the Sea Fox nation-state, sanctions just mean coming up with clever solutions to obey the letter of the law without losing customers.
And if the ilClan gets mad and actually tries to fight that, then, well... we've seen that tape before.
Sea Fox is a society of capitalists that is enjoying the benign neglect of a central, authoritarian monarchy. We saw a society of thirteen such organizations get particularly infuriated when the central monarchy chose to yank their chain, and severed that chain.
There has never been a proxy for the United States in the BattleTech universe.
A group of hypercapitalists and children of religious fanatics (how else to describe clan society?) embracing new ways and escaping the old? We have seen such a story before.
And think about how Sea Fox currently gains territory and control.
When they set up shop, they are invited. They make deals, not enemies. They will in time become more and more wealthy and powerful. Their influence and economic power will grow.
And they are still fucking clanners while also being merchants looking for a deal so they will absolutely offer an enticing mutually beneficial deal to any potential enemy. They'll try to buy out the competition so that there won't be any. Assuming the competition has something worth buying.
And if they discover that someone is standing on principal, then they'll end up out-foxed by economic maneuvering designed to ruin them.
And when the foxes show up at the end of that day, it will be with a life raft, not a death sentence. Why kill someone when you can buy them? And desperate men who are about to lose anything will thank you for the timely rescue. And even if they figured it out no matter how angry the person is, if the foxes are the only salvation available, there's a good chance you take the deal because the alternative is the destruction of everything you're working to build, and seeing your rivals win it all.
This is a group that again are still clanners so if pressed, can absolutely go fully kinetic to protect their assets, but war is good for business when you aren't the one fighting it and will thus prefer less... costly methods.
Think about the mentality that can develop here!
Sea Fox. Let us make a deal. You always have a choice. But some choices are costlier than others. We advise you to pick the option that is mutually beneficial while such an offer is available.
Opportunity costs mean that the next one likely will not be as generous.
So celebrate. That we are interested means you just won the lottery. We will make you rich.
But if you refuse, well, it is a dangerous world out there, and we won't be in a position to protect you from your competitors.
Jade Falcon refused our logistical help during the Clan Invasion. They lost.
Do not make the mistake of refusing a good deal. And remember, you always have a choice. Contracts can be voided.
Oh, yes, there are a lot of penalties and noncompete clauses in that contract we are offering you. But that's because we're being generous and the deal is weighted in your favor. You and your descendants will be wealthy. Well, yes, we will own your assets after you die but your children will have generous stock options. But you can't expect us to give you all that without us having some legal security for our investments. Look, we trust you, and you trust us because we always honor a deal, but lawyers? We don't trust them at all.
What? You do not want a deal that gives us control? Fine. How about a licensing arrangement? You get to own the technology, but see, we get to use it. It is less generous, of course. But it still benefits us both.
Still a no? Well, that is a shame. Here is my card. Call us if you ever change your mind, or your children get kidnapped by pirates who are arriving in-system in approximately 97 hours, or some political radicals burn your factory down, or your rivals come for you and start trying a hostile takeover, no matter what evil might befall you, we want to be your friend. We will swoop in and save you at the 11th hour if you need us to.
Of course, by refusing this deal now, and needing us to step in and help later, that's going to cost us. So we will not be able to afford to be as generous, but we will still make sure you are taken care of one way or the other.
If it gets scary out there all alone, the door is always open, and we are an HPG call away.
Because please remember: you always have a choice.
So choose profit.
Choose security.
Choose the safe bet.
Choose an absolute win.
Choose Sea Fox.
We will make it worth your while, and while we are waiting for your answer, we might help you discover what our friendship is worth.

I have looked through and found similar threads that are helpful but still after a little advice if poss…
I bid for some plant on a proxy bid type of site from what seemed to be an established auctioneer that had run lots of other auctions, I had used the bid site before using another auctioneer successfully with no problems. I enquired from the auctioneer what the delivery arrangements were as I couldn’t pick the bid up, they let me know, it was a good offer and I won the lot. I paid the invoice next day as usual and a separate delivery invoice came a little later. That is the last I heard from them. I can’t get through on the phone and emails are not answered. I have sent a letter by email and in post saying that I was expecting delivery, and if I don’t have delivery then I want a refund. I have asked for the bidding proxy site to assist and they have also contacted the auctioneer. They are helpful and obviously don’t want to be associated with an auctioneer that is going to rip people off. I am not sure now what my options would be, I could go down getting a CC judgment, that is up to £10k and would cover the payment, I have contacted the bank and they can try a recharge after 30 days have passed or is there another action with a commercial impact that can make other auction sites they are active in and other potential customers of the risk with doing business with them? Thanks for listening!!

Fascism has a number of essential characteristics but the most distinct is palingenetic ultranationalism: The myth that the nation is an organic body composed of a downtrodden but authentic "common people" who have been betrayed, victimized, and derived of land and money by out-groups (especially Jews, LGBT folks, immigrants, and liberals), and the nation must be reborn and grown larger, phoenix-like, from the ashes of its downtrodden state through the cleansing fire of violence against those out-groups and their allies (especially their allies among the "common people") and the seizure of their land and property, regardless of how many "common people" must be sacrificed in this process of violent "purification"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palingenetic_ultranationalism
Palestinian nationalism has all these definitional features. Its central myth is that "the Palestinians" (whose language, Arabic, lacks the letter P) have been betrayed, oppressed, and deprived of their land and money by Jews, and "Palestine" must be reborn and grown larger, phoenix-like, from the ashes of its current corrupt theocracy through the cleansing fire of violence against Jews, LGBT people, and liberals (especially liberal Arabs who believe in co-existence with Jews and LGBT people), and all those who support them, regardless of how many human shields, child soldiers, and hospitals with bunkers underneath them must be sacrificed in this process of purification
This Palestinian ideological mythos entirely reverses victim and perpetrator
In the real world, there is an extensive and well corroborated archeological record (starting with the Merneptah Stele) showing the continuous residence of the indigenous Jewish inhabitants in the land of Canaan, but that Stele alone independently establishes their presence for at least the last 3200 years
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merneptah_Stele
This makes sense when you understand the history of the region, and how Arab-ness was imposed by force (along with Islam) by multiple relatively historically recent waves of conquering Muslim settler-colonists
The Ottoman Empire was the culmination of those waves of Muslim settler-colonists, and after World War I it collapsed and in much of the Middle East was followed by Pan-Arab nationalism, which was a remarkably Nazi project. The founder of modern Palestinian religious nationalism (Amin al Husseini) was a close ally and personal friend of Hitler
https://time.com/4084301/hitler-grand-mufi-1941/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-official-record-what-the-mufti-said-to-hitle
After waging and escalating series of genocidal pogroms against the indigenous Jewish people (culminating in their alliance with the Nazis in World War II) and getting their asses kicked, Palestinian nationalism (as distinct from pan-Arab nationalism) emerged a fundamentally Soviet project
That is not an exaggeration. 100 years ago most people in the region defined themselves as Ottoman, by their village, or by their religion. Arab nationalism is a relatively new socially constructed weapon, made up by unambiguous fascists (like Sati Al-Husri, Abdulrahman Badawi, and Amin al-Husseini) and communists (like Fawaz Taraboulsi or Suhayl Idris) to mobilize hate against and justify the murder of their imperfect but much more reasonable democratic enemies (who also happened by the enemies of the Nazis and Soviets)
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/liberation-arabs-global-left
Palestinian nationalism, as opposed to Arab nationalism, was created by the KGB after the repeated defeats of the USSR's Arab-nationalist proxies in 1948 and 1967. The blueprint for the PLO Charter was drafted in Moscow in 1964 and was approved by 422 Palestinian representatives hand-selected by the KGB. At that time, the USSR was in the business of creating "people’s liberation" fronts. The KGB founded the PLO as well as the National Liberation Army of Bolivia in 1964 led by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and the National Liberation Army of Colombia in 1965
The “Palestinian Liberation Army” was contrived by the KGB, much like the KGB devised the Bolivian National Liberation Army. It created this Arab army in the early 1960s following the failure of the troops of various Soviet-puppet-ruled Arab states to destroy Israel. The KGB drafted the Palestinian National Charter and handpicked the 422 members of the PLO council that approved it. As the KGB's director said at the time, "We needed to instill a Nazi-style hatred for the Jews throughout the Islamic world, and to turn this weapon of the emotions into a terrorist bloodbath against Israel". Likewise, both the Palestine National Covenant and Palestinian Constitution were drafted in Moscow
The most popular Palestinian faction, Hamas, pointedly opposes multi-ethnic pluralistic democracy. That's what Israel already is and they hate it. They explicitly want to expel and kill Jews and impose an Islamic theocracy by force
The founding covenant of Hamas, which they created their terrorist organization around in 1988, opens with a message that precisely encapsulates Hamas’s master plan. Quoting Hassan al-Banna, the Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is a constituent member (Article 2), the document proclaims, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
After some general explanatory language about Hamas’s religious foundation and noble intentions, the covenant comes to the Islamic Resistance Movement’s raison d’être: the slaughter of Jews. “The Day of Judgement will not come about,” it proclaims, “until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
Article 11 spells out why this annihilation of Jews is required. Palestine is described as an “Islamic Waqf”—an endowment predicated on Muslim religious, education, or charitable principles and therefore inviolate to any other peoples or religions. Accordingly, the territory that now encompasses Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank is:
consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up … This Waqf remains as long as earth and heaven remain. Any procedure in contradiction to Islamic Sharia, where Palestine is concerned, is null and void.
In sum, any compromise over this land, including the moribund two-state solution, much less coexistence among faiths and peoples, is forbidden.
https://web.archive.org/web/20231010215457/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/hamas-covenant-israel-attack-war-genocide/675602/
And Hamas has the support of somewhere between 65-80% of the Palestinian people
https://www.awrad.org/en/article/10719/Wartime-Poll-Results-of-an-Opinion-Poll-Among-Palestinians-in-the-West-Bank-and-Gaza-Strip
Both Palestinian leadership and street have repeatedly acting as willing pawns, first of the Nazis, then of the Soviets, and now of the contemporary fascist Axis that includes Russia, China, and Iran. The historical Palestinian embrace of Nazi, Soviet, Islamist, and modern Axis fascism (and their rejection of democracy and equal rights) only makes their rationale for doing do so, and the nature of their project, more clear
Palestinian-ism is fascist, and everyone who understands and opposes fascism should oppose it

Dear everyone in this subreddit as well as Comporium Management,
I am writing this letter not only as a frustrated customer but as a Tier 5 certified network administratoengineer who is completely blindsided by the ongoing internet connectivity issues that solely affect all Windows computers on my network. Let me be explicitly clear: the problems we are experiencing are strictly related to internet speed and not the overall performance of the computers.
Despite the uninstallation of AVG Security Antivirus, which was accessible but not user-friendly for someone who uses a screen reader—as I am blind since birth—the problem persists. This clearly indicates a deeper, systemic issue within the network setup, especially since AVG has never been installed on the other Windows devices yet they exhibit the same issues.
Over the course of troubleshooting, I have executed a multitude of technical remedies: - Multiple system reboots and updates of all drivers including the Wi-Fi adapter. - Comprehensive Windows updates. - Uninstalling and reinstalling network drivers and testing with different network adapters. - Attempting both wireless and Ethernet connections. - Adjusting and then resetting the wireless channel on the router to eliminate potential interference. - Flushing DNS cache, resetting TCP/IP, and repairing/resetting Winsock. - Running DISM with the restore health option and SFC /scannow in the command line. - Performing speed tests directly on the Comporium website. - Manual checks in the registry and router logs, which showed nothing out of the ordinary. - Ensuring no VPN or proxy settings were interfering and checking network QoS under policy manager. - Monitoring resource usage that showed no excessive bandwidth consumption. - Restarting both my gateway and the router, specifically the SmartRG SR400 provided by Comporium.
Despite these extensive efforts, the issues remain unresolved, and Comporium’s responses have been inadequate. I am profoundly disappointed to report that Comporium has indicated an inability to remotely access the router for diagnostics, despite it being technically feasible—I can provide proof if necessary. This, alongside being taken in circles with repetitive and ineffective solutions, suggests a reluctance to genuinely address or acknowledge the problem.
This situation has pushed me to my limit. While I truly do not wish to escalate this matter publicly, I am prepared to involve "Action 9 On Your Side" if necessary. I am past the point of simple troubleshooting and demand a comprehensive resolution.
I expect Comporium to move beyond denial and deception, acknowledge the issue at hand, and provide a meaningful resolution. Continued inaction will force me to take this matter to a platform where it will gain the public attention it warrants.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this critical issue. I await your prompt and decisive action.
Sincerely,
Chris.

A thread for new collectors to ask basic questions of the community.
Frequently Asked Questions below!
A longer version of the subreddit rules is here.
For questions specifically concerning bootlegs or vendor legitimacy, please ask in the Bootleg Megathread.
NSFW & Spoiler Guidelines

• For Self Posts: include a bolded NSFW note next to links in that post.
• For Links to sites/images: If the figure is NSFW, or the website has any NSFW content (including ads) be sure to tag your post NSFW and use the appropriate link flair.

Bootlegs
Any collection posts containing bootlegs, comments advocating buying bootlegs, or links to sites selling bootlegs, recasts, or unlicensed merchandise will be removed.
People often ask about the legitimacy and/or safety of a number of websites which sell large resin statues. The more commonly-asked of those deal primarily in resins from studios which do not have a license from the Japanese IP holders to produce merchandise. Therefore links to those sites are not permitted here. Another sign is if MyFigureCollection doesn't list the either the statue, its manufacturer, or the shop it's being sold on.
MyFigureCollection
My Figure Collection is like MyAnimeList... but for figures! Their database includes thousands of items which been produced during the last couple of decades, along with reviews of shops and other helpful articles. One can also list their own collection and post gallery photos.
Shops

Retailers:
AmiAmi HobbySearch Mandarake (sells rare figures) Good Smile Company Online Shop (often has exclusives) Good Smile Company US shop Crunchyroll Store Hobby Link Japan (aka HLJ) Solaris Japan (MFC partner) BigBadToyStore (MFC partner, US retailer) Big in Japan (also has proxy service) Tokyo Otaku Mode FigureHaven Archonia (EU) Yorokonde (EU) Figuya (EU) Gamersheek (UK) Jungle
List of retailers on MFC
/AnimeFigures' List of Retailers
Community Guide to Shopping in Japan

Blogs/News:

Nekomagic (News/Previews) NyaaFigurines (Reviews/Releases) Kahotan's Blog (News/Reviews) Figma Blog (JP)

Buying & Shipping

1. What’s the best place to buy my anime figures from?
That’s going to depend a lot on what works for you, but most people around here buy them from Amiami, Big in Japan, Hobby Search, HobbyLink Japan, or Tokyo Otaku Mode. If none of those work for you for whatever reason, there’s a list of reputable retailers in the sidebar that you can check out at any time. Be extra careful when ordering figures from websites like Amazon or ebay, as there are a lot of bootlegs on those sites. Don’t be afraid to ask in our Bootleg Megathread if you’re unsure.
2. What differences are there between the shipping options I get from most Japanese shops?
Below is a rundown of the main shipping choices you’ll get at most retailers. Keep in mind that if an order is large enough you will be forced to use one of the more expensive options, as SAL shipments have lower size and weight restrictions.

• Unregistered SAL: Sometimes referred to as uSAL, is usually the cheapest method. It does not come with any tracking or insurance. Usually takes up 2-4 weeks for delivery.
• Registered SAL: Sometimes referred to as rSAL, is insured for the declared value up to 6,000 yen. It comes with a tracking number and usually takes 2-4 weeks for delivery.
• EMS: This method of shipping is much faster than either SAL options, usually arriving within a week of shipment. EMS shipments are insured for the declared value up to 2,000,000 yen.
• Airmail
• E-packet
• Surface: Shops don't offer this very often. It's an actual cargo ship and slow as a result.
  
• DHL: Becoming more available as an alternative to EMS on AmiAmi and other sites. Can be less expensive than EMS and of comparable speed, but may be more reliant on the specific geographical area being shipped to. The price is also determined by the size of the box. Offers their own tracking.
  

3. I placed two+ orders for figures at different times. Will my items be shipped together, or will I have to pay shipping twice?
Most shops will ask you to pay shipping on a per-order basis, but here are some that will allow combined shipping:

• Amiami: You can combine orders here, as long as the orders ship in the same month. It doesn’t matter if the item is new or preowned. Any preorders that are set for that month can also be combined with other orders for that month. However, be aware that if the preorder gets delayed, Amiami will remove that item from that month’s shipment and place it on a new order. To combine orders on Amiami, use the “Combine Orders” feature under “My Account”.
  
• Hobby Search: Hobby Search will let you combine orders that release in the same month, but you cannot combine in stock items with preorders. If you want to combine multiple preorders, or multiple in stock items, you can do so using the “Order Recombination” feature on your account page.
  
• HobbyLink Japan: At HLJ, you have the option to send paid orders to their “Private Warehouse”, where you can store them for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to ship the items, you simply select which items to ship and HLJ will combine them into one shipment for you. To use this, just select the “Private Warehouse” option as shipping when you order.
  

If you’re unsure about whether or not a shop we haven’t listed will combine your orders, please refer to their individual FAQs.
4. When will I get charged for my preorder?
Most Japanese shops charge you once the item is in stock and ready for shipment. When that happens, they will send you an email asking for payment. Some shops (mostly overseas ones), will allow you to pay for the item up front though, if you’d like. A few with that option are:

• Big in Japan (Japanese store)
• Tokyo Otaku Mode
• Anime Island
• Crunchyroll

Keep in mind that overseas stores will likely get the figure a few months after Japanese ones, so pay attention to the release date stated on the website you are buying from so as to avoid that confusion.
5. Should I expect to pay customs fees when importing figures?
That depends on where you live. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Australia: 10% GST is now assessed up front.
• Canada: Minimum declared value for charges is around CAD$20 for regular shipments, and CAD$60 for gifts (gifting something only seems to lower the declared value by about CAD$40, not deplete it completely). When using Amiami, try their Small Air Packet option. It comes with tracking, gets there in about the same time as EMS, and is better at avoiding customs.
• European Union: As of 1st July 2021, VAT has to be paid on all goods imported from outside of the EU. Retailers are supposed charge VAT for purchases under €150, however many Japanese retailers currently do not, so VAT will be charged when your order arrives in the EU. Orders that are >€150, VAT and duty will be charged by your local customs.
• UK: As of 1st January 2021, VAT is to be charged by retailers for orders <£135. However, customs isn't currently charging VAT on parcels valued at <£135, even if the VAT hasn't been paid. Goods >£135 will have their VAT and duty calculated and charged by customs.
• Mexico: Minimum declared value for customs fees is USD$300 for shipments by post, and USD$50 for shipments by courier.
• United States: A shipment has to have a declared value of USD$2,000 before customs starts hitting you with fees, so you most likely won’t have to worry about them at all.

6. The figure I want is an exclusive, how do I go about ordering one outside of Japan?
You have three options for this:
A. Big in Japan is known to stock exclusive figures and ship to other countries. Usually the price is higher because they build in their proxy fees, but it’s easier than worrying about using a forwarder or proxy service. If you live in the US, Crunchyroll, Right Stuf, and Tokyo Otaku Mode also get exclusives sometimes, but out of the states the shipping can get expensive.
B. Forwarding Services: A forwarder is someone who you ship an exclusive item to so that they can forward the package on to you, usually for a flat fee + shipping. When using a forwarder you still make the purchase yourself, and enter their address into the shipping field. When the box arrives at the forwarder they will then stick your address onto the package and send it on its way.
Some popular forwarders are:

• Big in Japan
• Tenso

Be sure to read each sites instructions on forwarding carefully!
C. Proxy Services: With a proxy, you tell them what the item you’re looking for is and they will purchase it in your stead. This is handy for when a company doesn’t accept foreign credit cards, or you’re having trouble navigating a Japanese website.
Some popular proxies are:

• Big in Japan (Won’t proxy for Yahoo Auctions)
• From Japan

Again, be sure you thoroughly read through each sites proxy instructions.
7. I see a bunch of really cheap figures that ship from China on ebay. Are those okay to buy?
Generally, no. They’re most likely bootlegs. If you want a second opinion on that, feel free to ask in the Bootleg Megathread that’s always stickied at the top of the sub.
8. What’s a bootleg, and how can I avoid buying them?
A bootleg is a counterfeit figure often made using rejected molds of the official product. They are usually priced significantly lower than the genuine article, and in order to make their profit, bootleggers use lower quality materials and have less attention to detail- resulting in a substandard figure.
The Bootleg Megathread that I mentioned in question 7 is a great tool to avoid buying any bootlegs. It has a few tips and tricks to avoiding them to begin with, and a few more on how to spot them if you’re worried you might already own one.
9. Does anyone know when figure X is going to be released? How do I know if it was delayed?
My Figure Collection (sometimes referred to as MFC) does an excellent job of staying on top of information like release dates and delays. If you’re curious about an upcoming figures release date, check there first. This information can be found directly under the “Releases” section on a figure’s entry. If you only see a month and a year in that section, it means the release date has not yet been announced by the manufacturer, and there is still a chance the figure could be delayed.
If you make an account on MFC you can also subscribe to comments, changes, and pictures via a checkbox on the right hand side of a figure’s listing. Subscribing to any of these things will allow MFC to send you an email anytime the subscription in question updates. Subscribing to “changes” is a great way to keep up with release dates and delays, among other things.
10. The figure I want is long sold out at normal retailers! What’s the best place to pick it up in the aftermarket?
A list of reputable retailers can be found under the “Shops” section of the /AnimeFigures sidebar. They all sell legitimate products, and many of them also sell figures second hand. However, the most frequently suggested second hand sites are Mandarake and Amiami- who has a preowned section that they update every night save Sundays and Japanese holidays around 1PM JST and again around 6PM JST.
AmiAmi grades their pre-owned items on a letter scale. The general consensus from buyers is that their ratings are conservative, so unless the item and/or packaging is specifically indicated as having significant flaws, pre-owned items from them are usually in at least as good a condition as their rating suggests.
Note: When you search Mandarake, you’ll get the best results by using the Japanese characters for whatever you are searching. If you don’t know them, you can find them on MFC by clicking on any of the “details” in that figure’s listing.
11. Amiami has a figure I’m interested in labeled as “For sale in Japan only”. Does this mean I can’t order it without a proxy or forwarder?
No, you can still order it. Amiami’s English site has that warning on many items, and it’s mostly meant to inform you that this product was made for a Japanese market, and as such, will have Japanese speaking/writing in it- so don’t expect any instructions to be in English. If Amiami doesn’t want foreigners buying a certain product, they won’t even list it on their English site.

Displaying Your Figures

12. What display cases do you recommend?
If you live near an Ikea try out one of these:

• Klingsbo
• Billy (Often used with Morliden doors (now the HÖGBO and glass shelves.)
• Detolf: Formerly the go-to choice for inexpensive display cabinetry, the Detolf was first made flimsier around 2020 and then essentially phased out of the name, to become the BLÅLIDEN. Knockoff versions of widely-varying quality are commonly found on other shopping sites these days, though.

*If you decided on a Detolf, you might find that there is a lot of wasted space. Here are a few tutorials on raising the shelves or and adding extra ones in.

• Using metal clips
• Using acrylic supports and PVC pipe

If you don’t live near an Ikea, Amazon has a few display options, though they are more expensive. Also keep an eye on your local Craigslist (or your country’s equivalent) and stores near you that are closing up.
13. What lighting do you guys recommend?
Ikea’s Dioder LED strips were discontinued after a long run. A current version is the Vattensten, if you're inclined to buy your case and lights at the same time.
LED strips have become very commonly available in recent years; most hardware and home furnishing stores carry a selection now. Just make sure that the lights don’t get too hot!
14. What are those clear plastic boxes that I see under everyone’s figures in their collection posts, and where can I get them?
Those are called risers. Most of us use standard acrylic risers like these. Some other, easy to find things that have been suggested are:

• Plastic picture cubes
• Card Deck Boxes
• If you’re feeling adventurous, try making your own!

Check your local hobby store for the first 2 options, or your local hardware store if you want to make your own.
Another common suggestion is to visit The Container Store if you have one near you. They have a lot of things to choose from that can suit a variety of needs. Be sure to check out their standard acrylic risers, their Amac boxes, and the various display cases they sell (baseball cases, mini car cases. hockey puck cases, etc).
15. Should I keep my figures sealed?
That is, of course, up to you really, but here are a few things to keep in mind when debating this question:

• Keeping it sealed can actually damage your figure. PVC figures usually have something called plasticizer in them, and that plasticizer needs to be able to breath. If a PVC figure isn’t exposed to oxygen, after a period of time the plasticizer starts to break down and form a sticky substance on the surface of the figure. Simply opening your figures and taking them out of the box prevents this from happening. If you happen to find plasticizer goo on one of your figures, Kahotan has a handy guide for dealing with it.
• Unlike some other figure markets, keeping an anime figure sealed won’t raise its value by a whole lot. In fact, because of the plasticizer problem mentioned above, your figure could actually be in better condition if you open it versus keeping it sealed.

Finding the Right Figure(s) for You

16. What are "scales" and "prizes"? What is the difference between them?
Those are classifications for figures based on a few factors.

• "Prizes" are generally more simply produced figures which are intended to be given as prizes for playing arcade games. They are inexpensive and lack the detail of scale figures, though some prize figure lines have standouts which may approach lower-end scales in quality. That is uncommon and often depends on the individual figure.
• "Scales" are called such because they are nominally designed to be proportional to the dimensions of the character which they are based on. They are generally of much better manufacture and materials than prize figures, allowing for more detail in painting, accessories, or complex poses.
• "Trading" figures appear in gashapon machines or as blind boxes on shop counters, often as sets which include multiple characters. As suggested by the class name, the randomness encourages trading. They are usually very inexpensively-produced, though as with prizes, some series are better than others.
• "Non-scale" encompasses a variety of other categories. It is often used to describe poseable figure lines such as figma and Nendoroids.

In recent years producers such as Good Smile Company attempted to further bridge the gap between prize quality and scales by introducing figure lines which are intended to be moderately-priced while retaining a higher level of detail than the typical prize figure, to varying levels of success.
17. There are so many figure companies! Who makes good figures?!
Obviously this is a very subjective question, but as a general starting point, here are a few well renowned figure companies:

• Alter
• Max Factory
• Good Smile Company
• Kotobukiya (usually hit or miss for people. Use your best judgement based off of the prototype)
• Flare
• Stronger

18. I really love “series X / character X”- how can I check if any figures were ever made for it?
My Figure Collection can be your best friend here. Simply do a search on the name of the series or character using the search bar located at the top right of the screen, and all associated figures pop up!
Alternatively, if you’re looking at a figure’s MFC entry, most of the text under the “Details” section can be clicked on and used to run a search.
19. How can I commission a custom figure?
None of the major figure companies (Alter, Kotobukiya, Good Smile Company, etc.) will take a commission for a single figure. This thread has a few websites in it that you can check out, or you can look into garage kits. Some kit painters would be willing to resculpt, frankenstein together, or otherwise modify kits for the right price.
If you're looking for help completing a garage kit, /brushforhire may be useful.

Keeping Up with New Announcements

20. How can I keep up with figure news (announcements, updates, etc.)?
Most people use a MFC combined with any or all of the following news sites:

• Neko Magic
• Alter’s Blog (In Japanese)
• Kahotan’s Blog (Only GSC and their sister companies)

Many figure companies are active on Twitter, so following them there is recommended for quicker news.
To use MFC for this I’ll quote question #9.

If you make an account on MFC you can also subscribe to comments, changes, and pictures via a checkbox on the right hand side of a figure’s listing. Subscribing to any of these things will allow MFC to send you an email anytime the subscription in question updates. Subscribing to “changes” is a great way to keep up with release dates and delays, among other things.

Most companies have one or more Twitter accounts. Some examples: Good Smile Company sales, Good Smile's USA branch, Max Factory, AmiAmi Hobby News.
21. Everyone’s excited about something called Wonfes….. what the heck is that?!
WonFes (short for Wonder Festival) is a biannual figure expo where many figure producers (both large and small) show off new sculpts and updates to figures already under way. Most companies save their most exciting announcements for WonFes, so we all look forward to the expo whenever it rolls around! Winter Wonder Festival is usually held in February, while Summer Wonder Festival is usually in July. The event has also spread to Shanghai, in the late spring.
22. One or two (or 15) figures were announced at WonFes that I’m really excited about! How can I keep track of their progress once the event is over?
MFC is always really quick about getting new WonFes announcements (or any others throughout the year, for that matter) listed in their database, so we suggest using that. To find a figure from the event you can search any number of things, including the name of the character or the name of the show. You can also use the tag search to search “WonderFestival 20xx_[season]” to see all items announced at that event.

Please provide a proxy voting service for managed accounts. Merrill Lynch has this and it is a peaceful experience compared to getting stacks of proxy voting letters in the mail for the many dozens of securities in managed accounts despite the fact that I have everything set up for e-delivery. These proxies don't even show up in Fidelity's Proxy Materials page where I can vote other shares.
I see in another post that Strategic Advisers can act as agent for FidFolios if requested. Please expand this option for other account types.

On Thursday, April 25, Bogdan Syrotiuk—a socialist opponent of the fascistic Zelensky regime and the NATO-instigated Ukraine-Russia war—was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU, in his hometown of Pervomaisk in southern Ukraine.
Bogdan, who is 25 years old and in poor health, is being held in a prison in Nikolaev under atrocious conditions on fraudulent charges of undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine and serving the interests of Russia. If found guilty by a kangaroo court of these charges, Bogdan is threatened with a prison sentence of 15 years to life, which is the equivalent of a death sentence.
The arrest of Bogdan is the latest example of the Zelensky regime’s brutal repression of left-wing movements, whose opposition to the war is finding a growing response within the Ukrainian working class.
SBU agents ransacked Bogdan’s apartment and the office that he has used to conduct political and educational activities. The World Socialist Web Site has been informed that the SBU is claiming that it found a Russian military coat, a backpack with the letter “Z”—a symbol associated with Russian military chauvinism—and a gas mask in the office. Only dull-witted fascist police will expect people to believe that such items will be found in an office that prominently displays a photo of Leon Trotsky and offers a wide selection of Marxist-Trotskyist literature.
If such items were “found” in Bogdan’s office, it is because they were planted there by the SBU, whose unscrupulous and Gestapo-like methods are common knowledge in Ukraine.
Attempts to portray Bogdan as a supporter of the Putin regime and its invasion of Ukraine are politically preposterous. Comrade Syrotiuk is a leading member of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists (YGBL), a Trotskyist youth organization active in Ukraine and throughout the former Soviet Union.
In political solidarity with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), the YGBL opposes the oligarchic capitalist governments in both Ukraine and Russia. In numerous articles posted on the World Socialist Web Site and in speeches delivered at events sponsored by the ICFI, Bogdan has unequivocally condemned the war and called for the unity of the Ukrainian and Russian working class against the reactionary national-chauvinist regimes headquartered in Kiev and Moscow. His comrades in Russia unequivocally oppose the capitalist restorationist regime of Putin and its delusional glorification of neo-tsarist Russian nationalism.
In a speech written three days before his arrest, which he planned to deliver at the International Committee’s upcoming celebration of May Day, Comrade Bogdan states:

On the day of international solidarity of the working class, we, members of the Ukrainian branch of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists, and the entire YGBL call for the unification of the Ukrainian and Russian proletariat with the proletariat in the imperialist countries to end this war!

The arrest of Comrade Bogdan Syrotiuk, part of a pattern of brutal repressive measures by the Zelensky regime against opponents of the war and the entire working class, exposes the lying claim that the US-NATO war against Russia is being waged in defense of democracy. Ukraine is a police state. Its population is subjected to martial law. Elections have been cancelled and Zelensky rules as a dictator, subject only to the dictates of his NATO sponsors, the financial interests of the billionaire oligarchs, and the neo-Nazi gangs upon whom he relies to intimidate the Ukrainian people.
In fact, the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor acknowledges in its latest report, issued earlier this month, the Ukrainian regime’s brutally repressive character. Among the grave “human rights issues” cited by the report are:

enforced disappearance; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; restrictions on freedom of expression, including for members of the media, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, and censorship; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association; restrictions on freedom of movement; serious government corruption; extensive gender-based violence; systematic restrictions on workers’ freedom of association; and the existence of the worst forms of child labor. Some of these human rights issues stemmed from martial law, which continued to curtail democratic freedoms, including freedom of movement, freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful assembly, and legal protections.

Under these conditions of vicious repression, the life of Bogdan Syrotiuk is in immediate danger. Within the prisons, the inmates are subject to the violent regime instituted by an administration saturated with Ukrainian fascists. The State Department report further states:

Although the constitution and law prohibited torture and other cruel and unusual punishment, there were reports law enforcement authorities engaged in such abuse. Under normal circumstances, courts could not legally use confessions and statements made under duress to police by persons in custody as evidence in court proceedings, but the institution of martial law since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion permitted this.

Particularly ominous, given the attempt of the SBU to frame up Bogdan as an agent of the Russian military, is the State Department’s finding that:

There were reports law enforcement and military officials abused and, at times, tortured persons in custody to obtain confessions, usually related to alleged collaboration with Russia.

The Kiev regime, which is responsible for these atrocities is being showered with billions of dollars and armed with the most advanced weaponry by the United States and its NATO allies. The arrest of Bogdan occurred just as the US Congress voted to allocate another $60 billion to a war that has already cost the lives of approximately 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers. The Biden administration and its counterparts in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and the other capitals involved in the direction of the proxy war are no less responsible for the fate of Bogdan Syrotiuk than their agents in Kiev.
The working class and youth throughout the world are justly outraged by the criminal war being waged by Israel, with the support of the Biden administration and NATO, against the people of Gaza. But it must be understood that the same governments that are collaborating in the Gaza genocide are sponsoring the proxy war in Ukraine. The violence in Gaza and Ukraine are interconnected fronts in a global escalation of military conflicts that threaten humanity with a nuclear catastrophe.
The fight for Bogdan’s freedom and for an end to the proxy war must be seen as an essential component of the struggle against imperialism, genocide, and fascism.
The International Committee of the Fourth International and the World Socialist Web Site call for a global campaign to demand the immediate release of Bogdan Syrotiuk.
The international working class and student youth throughout the world must be informed of the seizure of Bogdan and mobilized in his defense.
We call for the widest circulation of this statement on all available social media. An online petition calling for the freedom of Bogdan has been established at Change.org. We urge you to sign the petition and post a statement on the site amplifying your call for his freedom. Bring this campaign to the attention of your co-workers and fellow students. For more information on how you can become involved in the fight for Bogdan’s release from prison, contact the World Socialist Web Site at this address.
Bogdan Syrotiuk must be freed!