[WTS] [CAN/US] Red Velvet Albums with PCs + Lighstick & Girls Day Albums with PCs
Hello everyone! I am trying to sell my albums ASAP because I’m moving out and I can’t take them with me. So I’m desperate!
1) Buyers pays for shipping (I can give a discount or omit this if you buy more from me) & I can calculate shipping beforehand and give you an estimate
2) ALL albums includes PCs & CDs have never been played
3) I will update this thread accordingly
4) I am OPEN to negotiating prices + I give freebies!
❗️PRICES❗️
1) GIRLS DAY EVERYDAY#5 – $30 USD Includes: CD, photobook & Minah PC
2) MINAH I AM A WOMAN TOO –$20 USD Includes: CD, photobook & Minah PC
3) SEULRENE MONSTER – $25 USD Includes: CD, photobook, Irene PC, stickers, & poster
4) RV PERFECT VELVET –$25 USD Includes: CD, photobook & Joy PC
5) RV SUMMER MAGIC REG ED – $25 USD Includes: CD, photobook, & Irene PC
6) RV SUMMER MAGIC SEULGI LIMITED – $90 USD Includes: CD, photobook, Seulgi hologram rare PC, Wendy PC, recipe book, & all original standees (dm for more pics)
7) RV REALLY BAD BOY – $25 USD Includes: CD, photobook & Joy PC
8) RV LIGHTSTICK – $60 USD Includes: Lighstick, white case, pink strap, & black handee bag.

Well folks, the season is over, with the final whistle being blown on a 4-2 loss to Hoffenheim, and the remaining excitement now revolves around which manager will Bayern manage to pull in after the massive debacle this past season has been. There is much blame to go around, with Tuchel, many of the key players, and the supervisory board all failing in significant fashion as Bayern fall to third-place in the Bundesliga, and a very early exit in the Pokal in embarrassing fashion (though Bayern did manage to rally for a strong run in the Champions League).
Roberto de Zerbi in action.
At this point, Italian manager Roberto de Zerbi seems like the most likely candidate, which an announcement coming that he'll be leaving Brighton this season. However, some additional candidates remain available, as Erik ten Hag, Massimiliano Allegri, and some others are still out there and de Zerbi is not a lock to Bayern yet.
Ten Hag with Bayern II.
Either way, this post explores what I would largely do if the transfers were up to me at Bayern. While the specific manager does play a degree of importance in these decisions, part of this does extensively look at some options who could fit a number of schemes, styles, systems, tactics, and such. My slight preference is for Erik ten Hag, as I think his familiarity from Bayern II and his past success at Ajax would be easier to replicate at Bayern than it was at Manchester United, a club I find is more concerned with its branding than its footballing. But I think de Zerbi has a lot of potential, though I worry about whether Bayern's supervisory board would be willing to let de Zerbi do his own thing, and the lack of German is going to be a problem for that board. It's problematic that the board feels so much need to do things one way and operate in such a chaotic fashion, so whomever Bayern hires is likely going to be fighting an uphill battle.

Defense

Bayern's future keeper, Nubel (left) and current keeper, Neuer (right).
Let's start off with the goalkeeper position, a spot that Bayern are largely set at. Right now, Bayern is set at that spot, as Manuel Neuer continues to be an elite goalkeeper even at 38-years old. And while the Bavarians have Sven Ulreich as the immediate backup keeper, Alexander Nübel is the long-term successor being eyed and groomed for the role, recently extending his contract at Bayern, though he remains loaned out to Stuttgart. Then of course there's also Daniel Peretz, a 23-year old keeper that Bayern added this past season. He seems likely to head out to a club such as RSC Anderlecht for a loan period for awhile this summer. In the meantime, Bayern might have Johannes Schenk back from Muenster to fill that third keeper on the roster, or he might get loaned back out once more. Overall, Bayern appear to be in really good shape for the goalkeeper spot, with Neuer continuing to lock things down for another season or so, before probably passing the torch over to Nübel in 2025 or 2026.
Shifting to the centre-back position, Bayern right now seem to have a good deal of interest in adding another big time centre-back, with rumored links of varying degrees to Ronald Araujo and Virgil van Dijk. This would likely mean that at least one current centre-back would need to be sold, as Bayern have a decent enough set of four starting caliber CBs on the roster, headlined by Matthijs de Ligt, but also including Kim Min-jae, Eric Dier, and Dayot Upamecano. My guess would be that if any departs, Upamecano is the most likely, given his inconsistent play and limited role in the lineup these days. De Ligt is the leader of the backline and has had some terrific outings as of late. Min-jae was a big time signing this past summer from Napoli, but has had some bumps along the way adjusting to life in Germany, and meshing into the current defensive system, which is quite hectic from the frequency of errors committed as a whole. Min-jae was excellent at Napoli and so it would not be too difficult to project him returning to that level of form after additional time in Bavaria.
Eric Dier was brought in as a late in the window depth addition, but so far has become a very solid add, starting a good number of matches alongside de Ligt. And whether he projects to start or is a rotational player next year, Bayern have already triggered an option to keep him next season. He's a solid piece to the puzzle overall, capable of giving them some veteran experience, and another Englishman alongside Harry Kane.
If Bayern did opt to sell Upamecano, then they reasonably could take a look at some other options to add into the mix. The top end of options here probably starts with discussing Ronald Araújo further, a 25-year old Uruguayan star for FC Barcelona. He's been a long desired prospect for the Bavarians, but he'd cost a pretty penny no doubt, as some have projected it could be upwards of 100 million € to acquire the talented CB. That's a big price tag, especially after Bayern spent almost €60 million last summer to bring in Min-jae.
Riccardo Calafiori in action for Bologna.
Should de Zerbi take the Bayern job, it's already been rumored that he has some targets in mind, namely Bologna center-back Riccardo Calafiori, a 21-year old Italian talent who can also handle some duties at left-back. He's been excellent this past year under Thiago Matta, and could fill a very valuable role for Bayern, competing with Min-Jae and Dier for the starting position next to Matthijs de Ligt. He also happens to be a left-footed defender, something Bayern have been lacking there as of late.
Some more middle tier options that peak the interest could be Kevin Danso, a 25-year Austrian CB playing for RC Lens in France. He spent a handful of seasons at Augsburg, and so has a good deal of Bundesliga experience and 100 appearances for Les Sang et Or these past three seasons. He's projected to cost about €25 million, so a much cheaper option that could fit well. Another mid-tier option could be Maxence Lacroix, currently in the Bundesliga at Wolfsburg. He's valued at about €20 million, and is a very strong and menacing presence on the backline, still 24-years old. He did get cooked a couple of times against Bayern, which probably harms some appeal there for some, but week-to-week he's been a quality player for Wolfsburg. The third name I'd mention here is Feyenoord's Dávid Hancko, a 26-year old Slovakian talent. He's a smart, savvy defender, and also provides some versatility between centre-back and left-back, which could be quite useful going forward. Oh and I'd be remiss to not mention German national Malick Thiaw, currently at Milan, as another promising option there.
The other option is to go with a younger, less established talent, someone like Armel Bella-Kotchap, who landed on Bayern's transfer rumor threads a good deal in the winter circuit as they were searching for some defensive help.
At left- and right-back, Bayern are in another similar spot where they might be fine, as the Bavarians have a deep rotation of capable options, but positional versatility, injuries, and inconsistent play have caused varying levels of upheaval. Let's start with this one -- if Bayern's new manager is able to convince Joshua Kimmich to remain as a right back, that would be one of the biggest wins they could manage. Kimmich is an elite player at the position, and while he's certainly a high caliber midfielder as well, I think he's best at right back. Whether that's likely or not, is a to-be-determined piece, but it should absolutely a conversation a new manager has with Kimmich.
While Bayern has kept its contract offer on the table for Alphonso Davies, I must admit, whether this is a popular position or not, I would not be a huge fan of Davies remaining with the club at this point. Part of this is because it very much appears as though Davies largely checked out of the season, instead letting all the plotting of a Real Madrid move occupy his headspace, leading to some very uninspired performance. Essentially, I hate to put it so bluntly, but I have been unable to really see it any differently despite my best desires to, it really looks like Davies quit on his team midway through the year, dreaming of Madrid. Whether Madrid come in with an offer at this point or not remains to be seen, but I would look for a way to remove Davies. As much as he offers a lot of potential, any new project for Bayern is going to require players who are bought in to making it happen once against in München, and I just cannot see that happening with Davies at this point.
Behind him, we've seen some excellent play down the stretch from Raphaël Guerreiro and Noussair Mazraoui, tag teaming duties at left-back and left wing to various degrees. I think if Kimmich is willing to man the right-back position, then a trio of Mazraoui, Guerreiro, and promising youngsters like Frans Krätzig and Adam Aznou would be sufficient.
Milan's Theo Hernandez, potentially Bayern's new left-back.
Bayern have been linked, however, with major moves such as AC Milan's Theo Hernandez, a world class player with elite pace and ability. They've also apparently looked into hijacking a potential reunion of Ian Maatsen and Borussia Dortmund, as the Chelsea-owned talent was quite good in Dortmund on loan. BVB would like to get Maatsen permenantly, though Bayern could pull a heist there. I think Bayern could also look at some other German options, such as 27-year old Stuttgart left-back Maximillian Mittelstädt, who recently broke out to the tune of some national team call-ups lately, or perhaps emerging youngster Luca Netz, who looked very promising at Borussia Mönchengladbach this past season.
And then the final note here, but Bayern are likely set with their right-back room, as Joshua Kimmich, Noussair Mazraoui, Josip Stanišić, and Sacha Boey are all on the team. However, there have been rumors that Bayern are interested in Leverkusen's Dutch phenomenon there, Jeremie Frimpong. While he plays as a very forward-oriented RWB, he's a very prolific player outright, with tons of big moments for Leverkusen this past season and a big part of their success.

Midfield

Do not for this one, while the no. 10 position is classified as a midfield position, I am including it in attack, with this one more just focused on the no. 6 and no. 8 roles in the midfield.
Pavlovic had a breakout season in Bavaria.
Bayern's midfield is going to need a major reshuffle. The two most certain pieces to be kept around are emerging youngster Aleksandar Pavlović, an academy talent who has worked his way up to being a go-to starter late into the season, and Konrad Laimer, who is valuable due to his versatility, intensity, and toughness. Kimmich, we'll touch on more below, but in the mean time, one of the major questions for any midfield duo at Bayern is going to be who departs and how things align? I think the one guy probably on the outside looking in is going to be Leon Goretzka. He's had his moments, some ups and downs, but right now figures as the odd man out for assorted reasons, namely the need for more defensive help in the midfield. Goretzka would have a market too if Bayern opted to move forward without him, with teams such as Juventus, Manchester United, and West Ham all having interest over the past year. Unknown. I'd lean towards a departure, even if only because Kimmich in the midfield is a better overall asset, and Bayern would need to free up some funds to acquire a better midfield partner than Goretzka provides.
Then of course there is 29-year old Joshua Kimmich. Mentioned him earlier as ideally slotting in at right back for Bayern going forward, but he's also proven to be quite capable in the midfield. He's excellent at dictating the play going forward, with timely, precise passes, and an aggressive demeanor. He's not terribly reliable as a no. 6, and some of this was the source of the rift between Kimmich and Tuchel earlier this summer, where he and Tuchel were somewhat publicly feuding over whether or not Kimmich could handle that role. Ultimately, I do think Kimmich is better as more of a no. 8, with a more defensive-oriented type of player brought in to compliment him. I think in that role, Kimmich can be wildly successful for Bayern in the remaining years of his career, but a long-term extension is needed at this point. As I've said earlier, I would prefer to keep Kimmich as a right-back, but I am quite content keeping him in the midfield if Bayern can find that no. 6.
Everton's Amadou Onana is a tempting target for Bayern.
And speaking of the need for a defensively minded midfielder... I do believe there is one genuinely excellent option there, with Everton's Amadou Onana available. Onana is a Senegalese-born Belgian national, and came up playing in Germany, with time at Hoffenheim II and Hamburger SV. Thus, he's fluent in German and could integrate to life in München quite easily. He's a very disruptive defensive stopper, with excellent ability to make tackles, halt offensive build-ups, and then quickly turn and push the ball forward for his side to go on the counteroffensive. He's an ideal fit for the system, able to help turn defense into offense in a hurry. Another one for the no. 6 that's been mentioned for Bayern is Adam Wharton, currently at Crystal Palace. The 20-year old English midfielder had an excellent season this past year.
The other one that I would anticipate being a priority if we see ten Hag taking over is a ramped up pursuit of Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong, a fellow Dutchman who was at Ajax under ten Hag for awhile. De Jong's had some injuries issues plaguing him lately, but when he's on, he's an excellent possession-oriented central midfielder, bringing a very well-rounded game as well that includes some noteworthy capacity with dribbling, defense, and passing as well. De Jong also has a notable history/connection with Bayern's Matthijs de Ligt, which makes it seem more feasible that he'd integrate well into the team. In many ways, I think de Jong probably only makes sense as a replacement for Kimmich if he were to depart.
Additionally, while he has been mentioned more as a Tuchel target than anything else, Fulham's Joao Palhinha is an intriguing option as a defensive midfielder. He's an elite tackler and defender in the middle of the defensive half, and shows some solid ability to distribute the ball and lead the build-up. Personally, I think Palhinha is the ideal partner in the midfield to be paired with Aleksandar Pavlovic, whereas Onana next to Kimmich is more preferable there. So some options based on how Bayern wants to set-up. And one other name that could pop up here is Mats Wieffer, currently at Feyenoord, a central figure to Arne Slot's success there. A 24-year old Dutch midfielder, Wieffer has been an excellent option in Slot's midfield, and it seems likely he'll be pursued by Liverpool with Slot taking over there, but Bayern could perhaps try to hijack it.
While at this point, I think Bayern would probably add Onana or Palhinha, maybe de Jong if Kimmich leaves, and then call it a day with Konrad Laimer and Aleksandar Pavlovic there as well, with Kimmich maybe even splitting some time between right-back and midfield throughout the season, there could be room for more players to be added. For some additional depth in the midfield, I think Bayern would do well to go after former academy player Angelo Stiller, who appeared in almost 30 matches this past season for third-place Stuttgart. The 23-year old is an excellent passer, able to distribute the ball forward with precision and anticipation. He'd be a nice reunion for Bayern as well, as he's also born and raised in München, and was added to the national team roster for the EUROs. However, I think Stiller's probably one that Bayern does not really need at this point, though if additional midfield help becomes a need (say perhaps next winter), then he's one to continue monitoring. One other name here would be OGC Nice's Khéphren Thuram, a talented 23-year old midfielder who is quite cheap considering his talent. His brother played for several years at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Another younger option I'd love to add to the roster here would be 17-year old Sverre Nypan, a Norwegian midfielder who currently plays in-country with Rosenborg BK. I admittedly don't know much about Nypan personally, but am going off of something from I read earlier about Ten Hag and United already monitoring his progress. He'd be a nice piece to add to the mix with other young midfielders like Zovrenek and Wanner coming through the ranks. However, I think a loan for at least one of them would be worthwhile.

Attack

Simons has been electric this past season at RB Leipzig.
Looking at the no. 10 role for Bayern, I have some questions. Jamal Musiala is an exceptional talent, and at only 21 years old, Bayern need to be doing everything in their power to extend him and make him the central figure of the club in the years to come. But, as far as position goes, he's very versatile and that allows for Bayern to get very creative in how they configure their attack alongside him. And while Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz is a top target for the 2025 transfer window for Bayern, I do tend to agree with take from Complexes on Twitter, that Wirtz probably follows Alonso to Madrid in 2025, and thus I'd be very much in favor of Bayern opting to add Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig this summer. This isn't to say Bayern should abandon its pursuit of Wirtz, but rather that I'd say that Bayern should pursue Simons this summer and be quite happy/content to land him, lest they risk going 0-2 on both if Wirtz does indeed land with Madrid next summer.
The thing I love most about pairing Simons and Musiala together is the versatility and creativity. While both tend to occupy a spot more frequently as a central attacking midfielder, Musiala has played a decent amount of time on the left wing and Simons has also played over as a right wing. Add in Bayern's current right winger, Leroy Sané, also showing some versatility between right wing and occasionally cutting in and operating centrally, and you have the recipe for a versatile, ever changing, flexible attack that can advance the ball. Overall, I think Simons addition into Bayern's attack would unlock a new level of effectiveness for the incoming regime.
The other one to mention here is Schalke academy product Assan Ouédraogo. At just 18-years old, Ouédraogo has already landed on the monitor of Bayern and RB Leipzig, and the two clubs appear to be battling for his signature. A move to acquire Ouédraogo and then loan him back out for more experience, whether back to Schalke or moving him up to the Bundesliga, would seem to be a solid plan for the Bavarian giants to see if Ouédraogo could become a long-term fixture in their lineup. If a move for Ouédraogo falls through, another young attacking midfield with immense promise that I think Bayern should look at is 16-year old Polish midfielder Jakob Adkonis, currently at Legia Warsaw. He'd definitely be a development piece long-term, but the upside is very high.
Then looking at the wing spots, Bayern are in an interesting spot. Jamal Musiala and Thomas Müller have interchangeably slotted in as attacking midfield types with the ability to spell time out on the wings. Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman are both very talented options there, but suffer from a lack of reliability with their frequent injuries.
Fuhrich is a very solid player who could be a strong add for Bayern.
This section thus deals with a lot of ifs. I think Bayern could theoretically look at it and say Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala, Thomas Müller and then maybe some Mathys Tel, as well another who can play wing at a good level, and be content. But, if they choose to sell one of Gnabry or Coman, which I think they should, Bayern could be in the hunt for a replacement there. They've already been linked with German international talent Chris Führich. He has been very good for Stuttgart this past season, and would only cost Bayern a fraction of some bigger names. At 26-years old, Führich could still give Bayern a solid run of play, and has shown some versatility to alternate sides or even drop into the midfield as required. He's a steady and solid player, not a superstar by any means, but could serve as a valuable rotational piece if Bayern do move on from Coman or Gnabry.
Another option would be the speedy Nico Williams, a 21-year old Spanish winger playing for Athletic Bilbao. He's going to be in the very expensive price tag range, but with his combination of potential, production thus far, and excitement, he could be well worth the cost. Another younger option here, and a more affordable one, would be Brajan Gruda, a 19-year right-side winger playing for Mainz. He infamously had the jersey swap photo already with Thomas Müller and seems like a rising talent with 27 appearances for Mainz. While Gruda statistically hasn't had much production thus far, at just 19-years old, he's given some very promising performances against the likes of Bayern and Dortmund as well while getting acclimated to life in the Bundesliga.
If Bayern continues to play Tel more as a winger than a true no. 9 striker, which I think is also the correct call, then Bayern are going to need to be in search of a strong replacement for Eric Chuopo-Maxim after this season, a genuine backup to Harry Kane. There are two routes they can go which is to either find a youngster who could theoretically take over for Kane in 2-3 years (as most of the reports indicated he'd probably want to return to the Premier League before the end of his career to chase the all-time EPL goal record), or a veteran looking to milk the last couple of years out of their career and be a part of a championship squad. If Bayern go the youngster route, two names that stick out are Leipzig's Benjamin Šeško, a towering 20-year old Slovenian who has looked really sharp in Leipzig spelling Lois Openda. Sesko would likely cost a pretty penny, but if Bayern are willing to pay it, I think they should make that move. If they want a more budget friendly option than perhaps angling for Hoffenheim's recent DFB call-up, Maximillian Beier as a promising up-and-comer could be in the cards. Beier scored against Bayern in the final match of the season. Not as young, but Wolfsburg's Jonas Wind, a 25-year old Danish talent, could perhaps fit nicely, as he can also operate as a second striker and produced 11 goals in the Bundesliga this past season.
If Bayern want a veteran option, Serhou Guirassy has been a player that Bayern are already linked to. He's also got some interest from Dortmund and Tottenham as of late. While Guirassy is a fun player, and a talented one, as he was second in the Bundesliga in terms of goals scored, I don't think that he should be a significant priority for Bayern, as they need to allocate funds to other positions before coming around to landing a backup striker to Harry Kane. And since we've mentioned significant versatility for a lot of others, both Mathys Tel and Thomas Müller could certainly be able to fill in situationally, though if there's a major injury to Kane that becomes more problematic.
Personally, the move I think is much more likely is finding a veteran striker on a lower level squad who might be interest in chasing some titles with a bigger club. Bayern added Chuopo-Maxim as a 31-year old, albeit from PSG rather than a smaller club, but I do think it's a decent example of a reasonable move Bayern can make to shore up their depth without breaking out too much spending. Two names I think really intrigue in this kind of mold are Hoffenheim's Andrej Kramarić, a 32-year old Croatian forward who scored 15 goals this past season for Die Kraichgauer, including a hat trick against Bayern in the season finale as well. The other one is Tim Kleindienst, a 28-year old German who has played largely in the 2. Bundesliga but has spent a few seasons in the top league at Heidenheim and Freiburg during his career. He had an excellent showing in Heidenheim's upset win over Bayern earlier this season, netting himself a brace, two of his twelve total goals this season. Both are veteran, experienced strikers with some capacity, but might be open to a diminished role behind Harry Kane in order to potentially get some bigger opportunities with Bayern's pedigree.

Final Squad Planning

Now, time to prioritize.

• Top priority for me would be figuring out what Joshua Kimmich is going to do. I'd still love to extend him, and ideally keep him at right-back which he's indicated he's open to. Besides, Kimmich's non-stop motor, stamina, and intensity make him well suited to being a highly versatile piece, so someone who starts at right-back every week, but can easily spell others in the midfield throughout the season. That's the top priority.
• Next one is figuring out who goes. In this exercise I am going to go ahead and move forward with the idea that I would sell the following players:
  • Midfielder Leon Goretzka
  • Winger Serge Gnabry
  • Defender Dayot Upamecano
  • Left-Back Alphonso Davies
• I could certainly be talked into selling some others, like Kingsley Coman, Kim Min-jae, or Noussair Mazaraoui, maybe even Leroy Sane if the contract talks don't prove fruitful. In this scenario, let's just say Kimmich is set to take on the right-back role, and thus we facilitate a departure for Noussair Mazraoui who still is in a stage in his career where he could command a bigger role at plenty of other quality clubs. With Kimmich and Stanisic taking on the roles there, the right back spot remains set.
• Before we even think about what the team needs, I'd see what Bayern can make happen to bring in PSG's Xavi Simons into the lineup, ideally a loan with an option to buy afterwards, though PSG seems reluctant to sell, and thus it's probably only a loan on the table. I'd still be fine with a one-year loan, as it'd set Bayern up to see about integrating him for one season and then either pursue and land Florian Wirtz next summer, or at that point revisit a purchase with PSG.
• After that, Bayern's defense needs better shape. They've had some rough stretches lately, and while the backline has shown some shakiness, I think adding a true no. 6 to command more of the structure and steadiness there is ideal. I would prioritize a pursuit of Everton's Amadou Onana, as his time in Germany suggests he'll be able to integrate into the team quite easily. Palhinha would be my backup option.
• Next up is the left-back role, and I'd be glad to see them make a big signing here, going for Theo Hernandez, whom it already sounds like they've been back-channeling with to facilitate something. He's a world class player who should fit just about any manager. After him, I think my next choices would be Maatsen and then Mittelstadt, though at that point, I would just as soon not sell Mazraoui and let him take over at left-back. But if they can move Davies, get Theo, then I am estatic.
• I'd want another CB option here with Upamecano on the way out. If it's de Zerbi as the manager, Riccardo Calafiori seems like a no brainer for him to add, though Kevin Danso would be a fun choice as well, as both play similar styles.
• For a striker behind Harry Kane, I'd make a push for Hoffenheim's Maximillian Beier. He's a very talented younger player, and Bayern can use him behind Kane and then he has the pace and speed to contribute as an additional versatile forward.
• With Gnabry out, the right wing needs some solidifying. Even though Sane is the starter, it would be nice to have further options there, so we'll go ahead and target Stuttgart's Chris Führich to join Bayern. Again, versatile and can be an excellent piece for Bayern.
• After that, it's youth stacking time, as I'd push to add both Assan Ouédraogo and Brajan Gruda, though probably with the desire to send both out on loan for another season or so. The priority is towards Assan, but either would be a very fun add.

Additions:

Position	Player	Former Club	Valuation*
MID	Amadou Onana	Everton	€50.00m
MID	Xavi Simons	PSG	Loan
LB	Theo Hernández	AC Milan	€60.00m
CB	Riccardo Calafiori	Bologna	€25.00m
ST	Maximillian Beier	Hoffenheim	€24.00m
RW	Chris Führich	Stuttgart	€23.50m
MID	Assan Ouédraogo	Schalke	€15.00m
RW	Brajan Gruda	Mainz	€9.00m

*- number listed is the value projected for the player on Transfermarkt for the sake of consistency.**- my preference here would be to facilitate a loan with an option to buy for Simons.
And of course, that means a number of players need to depart. Here's ultimately who I'd move on from:

Position	Player	Any Where In Mind?	Valuation*
MID	Leon Goretzka	Juventus	€30.00m
RW	Serge Gnabry		€45.00m
CB	Dayot Upamecano		€50.00m
LB	Alphonso Davies	Real Madrid	€60.00m
RB	Noussair Mazraoui		€30.00m

Again, just using the Transfermarkt values for consistency on these. This would lead to pretty much net zero spending if only these values were used. The reality of it probably becomes that Bayern would end up shelling out more than they'd get back, as I know, just off the top of my head, that with Davies contract where it's at, it's likely he wouldn't command as much as the valuation indicates. So overall, it's a spot where if Bayern can sell some of these guys for bigger figures, they can make multiple changes to the squad to revamp it.

Bayern Munich "Depth Chart" 2024-2025 Season

Harry Kane (left), and Joshua Kimmich (right front) are major pieces for Bayern's chances at a turnaround.
The idea of a "depth chart" isn't used in international football as much as it is in other sports, namely American football. However, think it's a useful organizational tool to get a feel for roughly what the squad would look like headed into this next season. The bolded names are the ones I'd most want in an ideal starting XI, and then the rotation and depth players would also see various minutes based on how far into the Champions League, Pokal, and other competitions that Bayern goes through, or injuries require.

Position	Starter	Rotation	Depth
Goalkeeper	Manuel Neuer	Sven Ulreich	Johannes Schenk
Left Back	Theo Hernández	Raphaël Guerreiro	Adam Aznou
Centre Back	Riccardo Calafiori	Eric Dier	Tarik Buchmann
Centre Back	Matthijs de Ligt	Kim Min-Jae	- - -
Right Back	Joshua Kimmich	Josip Stanišić	Sacha Boey
Defensive Midfield	Amadou Onana	Konrad Laimer	Noel Aseko Nkili
Central Midfield	Aleksandar Pavlović	(Joshua Kimmich)	Lovro Zvonarek
Attacking Midfield	Xavi Simons*	Thomas Müller	Arijon Ibrahimović
Left Wing	Jamal Musiala	Kingsley Coman	Yusuf Kabadayı
Striker	Harry Kane	Maximillian Beier	- - -
Right Wing	Leroy Sané	Mathys Tel	Bryan Zaragoza

And this sets up fairly well for the 2025 summer transfer window, as Bayern can aim to bring in Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, and either shift Musiala over to the left wing, where I personally think he has the highest potential, or find ways to integrate both together more centrally.
Loans

Position	Player	Club
GK	Daniel Peretz	R.S.C. Anderlecht (Belgium)
MID	Paul Wanner	Lower Bundesliga.
LB	Frans Krätzig	Austria Wien
MID	Assan Ouédraogo	Schalke

Could also maybe throw in a loan move for Zaragoza depending on how things shape out there. Feel bad for him. Not much opportunity for the guy lately.
Probably plenty of other good options, and I'm sure there's some parts that'll happen quite differently than projected, but this would be my ideal outcome for Bayern at this stage in the process. It's been a rough process so far, but think there's still lots of potential for Bayern with a revamped and refreshed squad.

NOTE: All of these are just my opinion. Feel free to disagree.
Ratings:
The Bad

• 1/10 - The Worst: Episodes that I despise
• 2/10 - Awful: Epsiodes I hate
• 3/10 - Bad: Episodes I think are bad

The Mediocre

• 4/10 - Not Very Good: Episodes I don't like but have good parts in them
• 5/10 - Alright: Episodes I think are ok/don't care much for
• 6/10 - Decent: Episodes I like but aren't crazy about

The Good

• 7/10 - Good: Episodes I like
• 8/10 - Great: Episodes I really like
• 9/10 - Amazing: Episodes I love
• 10/10 - The Best: Episodes I adore

Episode Ranking (From best to worst):

1. The Bad Guy Club for Villains - 8/10: It says something when this is my favourite episode of the season, but the unique style of this one and the superhero cartoon parody makes for a pretty fun episode
2. The Great Patty Caper - 7/10: Now this is how you do a mystery heist story
3. Earworm - 7/10: After listening to that song, I'd probably be in the same position as SpongeBob
4. Gary in Love - 7/10: Amazing how Gary can be the star of both one of the worst and one of the best episodes of this season
5. Love That Squid - 7/10: I missed episodes where SpongeBob actually helps Squidward instead of just thinking he is
6. The Inside Job - 7/10: I've always been fond of this one, it has a nice premise and is well-executed
7. Enchanted Tiki Dreams - 7/10: I don't like the opening, but the rest of the episode has a nice vibe
8. Krusty Dogs - 7/10: Retreads 'Bossy Boots' a bit, but the premise and jokes elevate this one
9. Perfect Chemistry - 7/10: I like the Sandy and Plankton team-up in this one, makes this one stand out
10. The Curse of Bikini Bottom - 6/10: Not big on the ending, but the rest is pretty good
11. The Abrasive Side - 6/10: I like this one, though I could do without Patrick's snideness at the beginning
12. Growth Sprout - 6/10: I love the rare moments we see where Mr Krabs actually cares for something other than his greed
13. I Heart Dancing - 6/10: The nice dancing scenes carry this one
14. Greasy Buffoons - 6/10: It's overall decent but I like how this isn't the same old 'trying to steal the formula' type of episode
15. Whelk Attack - 6/10: It's crazy how this has more monster action than the one that's about an actual monster
16. Welcome to the Bikini Bottom Triangle - 6/10: The best episode of the Legends of Bikini Bottom mini-series
17. Karate Star - 6/10: Been a hot minute since we've had a karate episode, and this one ain't too bad
18. Tunnel of Glove - 6/10: Could've done without the Patrick subplot, but it's overall fine
19. Squidward in ClarinetLand - 5/10: I like the weird visuals but I feel the pacing and story let it down a bit
20. Buried in Time - 5/10: It's alright though for some reason, I always think this is a Season 5 or 6 episode.
21. The Curse of the Hex - 5/10: Good premise, just doesn't do enough with it
22. The Play's the Thing - 5/10: It has some good jokes, but aside from that, I'd rather watch 'Culture Shock'
23. Sponge-Cano! - 5/10: I like the gratitude song, but the ending is bogus
24. Model Sponge- 5/10: Fine idea but I feel they don't do enough with it
25. The Cent of Money - 5/10: I should hate this episode more, but I have a bit of fondness for it, so...
26. Shellback Shenanigans - 5/10: It's amazing how there are three episodes this season with the exact same premise
27. Grandma's Secret Recipe - 5/10: I don't mind SpongeBob being gullible, but this is pushing it
28. The Masterpiece - 5/10: Is there even a plot to this episode?
29. The Monster Who Came to Bikini Bottom - 5/10: For such a thrilling title, there sure is a lot of nothing interesting happening
30. New Fish in Town - 5/10: This is a great episode premise, so why is this episode so drab?
31. Rodeo Daze - 4/10: This could've been a good episode if it didn't just meander on the same joke again and again
32. Summer Job - 4/10: An interesting premise held back by SpongeBob's annoying persona
33. A Day Without Tears - 4/10: This one's just 'Funny Pants' except it's about SpongeBob's crying
34. The Wreck of the Mauna Loa - 4/10: Did Mr Krabs need to be in this one?
35. Back to the Past - 4/10: Patrick constantly causing issues isn't funny and the episode doesn't even have a proper conclusion
36. You Don't Know Sponge - 4/10: We get it, Patrick's a dumb friend, can you move on with it?
37. SpongeBob's Last Stand - 4/10: I like the songs but they really botched the message by having everyone in favour of the highway be idiots
38. That Sinking Feeling - 4/10: To give this season credit, the Neighbour episodes aren't as bad as last season.
39. Kracked Krabs - 4/10: Dealing with one cheap crustation is bad enough, but now we have a whole room of them!?
40. Hide and Then What Happens? - 4/10: How can they make the concept of SpongeBob and Patrick playing hide and seek so boring?
41. Big Sister Sam - 3/10: I don't find Sam funny and this episode is just her destroying things. Where's the funny?
42. One Coarse Meal - 3/10: Just because I don't hate it as much as everyone else does doesn't mean it's not a bad episode
43. Down the Drain - 3/10: My vote for the worst plot of a SpongeBob episode
44. Tentacle Vision - 3/10: Don't you just love how everybody highjacks Squidward's show for the stupidest of reasons? Cause I sure don't
45. Stuck in the Wringer - 3/10: Most of this episode is fine, but that scene with the background fish is infuriating and not needed
46. Keep Bikini Bottom Beautiful - 3/10: That police fish is my least favourite character in this show
47. Someone's in the Kitchen With Sandy - 2/10: The whole subplot of this episode would not be as annoying if Sandy had just worn the space suit
48. Trench Billies - 2/10: This episode is stupid, both in story and in visuals
49. A Pal for Gary - 1/10: This one speaks for itself. SpongeBob is badly written and the episode as a whole is more frustrating than it is funny
50. Yours, Mine and Mine - 1/10: Patrick is insufferable throughout yet the episode tries to make me believe that he and SpongeBob are equally in the wrong. Guess what? It doesn't work and makes this episode a chore.

Season Overall - 5/10: Not surprisingly, Season 7 turned out to not be an upgrade from Season 6. In fact, I'd argue it's even worse. It's still mostly episodes I find meh or don't care for, but the amount of episodes I dislike or flat-out hate is larger in this season than in any season previously. Unless Season 8 is worse, this is my least favourite season of the show thus far
Tier List:
https://preview.redd.it/hzv37t1vs51d1.png?width=1140&format=png&auto=webp&s=d426e6da48d143f338851666926b7e8bef83afe0

Charles Edward Merriam, the 37th President of the United States, Official Presidential Portrait
The Poisoned Chalice
Upon taking the presidential oath of office after the resignation of President Alvin York, Charles Edward Merriam found himself at the helm of a rudderless ship. Civil unrest was at an all-time high due to mass protests against York’s preemptive nuclear strike and large-scale labor strikes, much of the cabinet had been left vacant by a wave of resignations following York’s controversial decision not to consult his own advisors on the decision, and an already uneasy economy had been thrown into chaos by the total obliteration of a major trading partner. Even the sky itself had visibly darkened while global temperatures dropped, bringing about cries of the end times being visited upon Earth for man’s folly. In this moment of national crisis, Merriam took to the airwaves with a radio address to the American people asking them to unite with him in a national effort for the first 100 days of his presidency to right the course of the country amidst the national crisis.
Moving with alacrity to fill the vacancies within his cabinet and bring his administration into full gear, Merriam leaned upon his network of academic contacts to appoint a ring of economic, industrial, and social science experts — Jacob Viner, Bessie Louise Pierce, George W. Taylor, and Leo Wolman — into several key cabinet positions. Similarly, rather than appoint a political operative as his Secretary of State or War, he instead chose to elevate career diplomat and acting Secretary of State Joseph Grew into his position permanently while promoting War Department General Counsel William Marbury Jr. to be Secretary of War. Finding both Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal and Secretary of Agriculture John Marvin Jones to be highly competent and sufficiently disentangled from the chaos of the York administration, Merriam requested that the pair remain in their positions. However, Postmaster General Thomas Perkins Henderson would not be so lucky, as Merriam distrusted his close ties to President York and felt the office was wracked by cronyism, thus requesting his immediate resignation to be replaced with former Louisiana Governor and highly regarded reformist Sam H. Jones. To round out his cabinet, Merriam appointed California Governor Earl Warren as his Attorney General due to Warren’s wealth of experience in suppressing syndicalist insurrectionists in his home state, as well as Delaware Senator and businessman J. Allen Frear to manage the Department of the Interior with an eye towards economizing a bloated department.
​
Secretary of State Joseph Grew, a defining member of the Merriam administration with his foreign policy expertise during the world’s darkest hour.
Calming a Roiling Sea
Believing that anxiety surrounding a national economy plagued by boundless problems was at the root of the national malaise that might yet inspire a resurgence of syndicalism, Merriam quickly moved to restore confidence for both consumers and businesses. As a first step to move past the combative relationships that President Hughes and York held with organized labor, Merriam invited newly minted American Federation of Labor President George Meany for a symbolic meeting to discuss labor issues and establish an informal political alliance to raise wages and working standards as a means to settle the persistent labor unrest. Thus, President Merriam and his Secretary of Labor George W. Taylor began applying the National Labor Arbitration Act to settle hundreds of strikes across the country resulting in a moderate nationwide increase in wage levels and the proliferation of employer-provided healthcare as a commonly provided benefit. Taylor even proved successful in earning the begrudging respect of Congress of Industrial Organizations President Walter Reuther’s respect despite the organization’s more explicitly confrontational approach to industrial relations.
Despite this success in the application of labor arbitration, Merriam’s ambition of comprehensive legislation to establish a formal system of corporatist economic structures was repeatedly frustrated by the inability to secure enough bipartisan support in the House of Representatives to pass several successive iterations of his proposals. Yet as a longtime proponent of executive power, Merriam was not entirely thwarted by this setback and notably issued an Executive Order forming the Office of National Research headed by MIT President Karl T. Compton and complemented by a number of figures in both the natural and social sciences to direct national research efforts towards answering pressing questions of the new atomic age. Perhaps the most significant of its achievements were the pioneering of new sanitation, public health, and antibiotic techniques to finally stamp out the bubonic plague epidemic that had persisted since the initial Japanese bioweapon attack. Furthermore, Speaker of the House Wright Patman was successful in passing a budget through the House substantially scaling back wartime spending and taxation in light of the transition of the United States military from a combat force to an occupation force abroad. Anticipating a corresponding decrease in inflation, Merriam worked with his Secretary of Commerce Leo Wolman to begin the process of relieving wartime price controls that had remained in place throughout the York administration while encouraging the development of private industrial codes of conduct for businesses to self-regulate prices.
​
A wartime propaganda poster supporting labor arbitration that continued distribution under the Merriam presidency.
Sewing A Tattered World
America was not the only country suffering in the aftermath of the Second World War. The decade-long war had wreaked havoc upon the entire world and left entire nations virtually leveled by bombs and depleted of their resources. American efforts at international reconstruction had been haphazard and largely left in the hands of private charities during the York administration, much to the consternation of its allies and the occupied peoples. Thus, out of a mixture of humanitarian reasons, a desire to restore America’s international reputation, and a calculation that such destruction could breed communist movements such as the syndicalist revolt that had embroiled the United States, Secretary of State Joseph Grew proposed a much more ambitious plan that would soon bear his name. With the strong support of President Merriam, Congress earmarked a staggering $15 billion with wide bipartisan support to be distributed to European governments for necessary imports of food and basic materials from the United States as well as for industrial investments to rebuild the European economy. An ancillary fund was likewise also established to support the reconstruction of China, which had been ravaged by brutal warfare with Imperial Japan. As a committed supporter of free trade, President Merriam also used the leverage of the Grew Plan to compel the recipients of the funding to lower trade barriers between one another and with the United States in order to stimulate international trade. The sole major holdout would be the United Kingdom, where Prime Minister Aneurin Bevan remained committed to an autarkic system of steep trade barriers outside the Imperial system since the country had suffered far less damage than its peers in the Second World War.
Another guiding principle of President Merriam’s approach to international reconstruction would be a wide-ranging program of technical assistance. With the country’s decades-long commitment to widely available public education and a sophisticated network of universities engaged in industrial research, the American economy had come to be regarded as the most technologically advanced in the entire world. Already under President Dewey, the United States had begun programs of sharing its technical expertise in production methods and industrial organization to China and the countries of Latin America. Thus, Merriam’s formalization of an Office for Technical Assistance under the Department of State was an extension of an already well-established practice. With support from personnel and agencies in the Departments of Labor and Commerce, the Office of Technical Assistance undertook a wide-ranging and sophisticated statistical analysis of European industries to identify weaknesses in productivity while arranging for large-scale observation visits by European industrial leaders as well as the collation and distribution of technical literature in order to disseminate best practices across continents. Following the initial success of the program in Europe over the first months of his term, Merriam proceeded with an extension of the program to developing nations in the Middle East and South Asia in order to modernize their economies as well.
​
A meeting of Grew Plan information chiefs in the American Embassy in France.
Year Without Summer
While atomic weapons had been deployed several times throughout the Second World War to destroy French, Russian, and Japanese cities, they had never been used on the scale ordered by President Alvin York to destroy the German Empire. As a result of the simultaneous destruction of dozens of German cities in fiery infernos, the atmosphere of the planet itself became choked by a layer of ash and soot that demonstrably lowered global temperatures in the following months. With the effect coined as a “nuclear winter” by British chemist Samuel Glasstone, a world food supply already challenged by the disruptions of war experienced a dramatic shortfall in agricultural production sending many war-ravaged areas teetering into famine. However, this presented a unique opportunity for the United States, which had for decades struggled with chronic overproduction of agricultural products causing dim economic prospects for the nation’s farmers. Now, there was a ready market for the surplus in the United States that persisted even through the nuclear winter.
Though European governments were already using their Grew Plan funds to import American food products in large amounts, Secretary of Agriculture John Marvin Jones was determined to employ the powers of the federal government in assistance of this shift. Backed by a series of executive orders from President Merriam, Jones vastly expanded the neglected Populist-era Sub-Treasury system to grant easy credit and storage solutions to farmers who lacked sufficient capital to take advantage of the vastly increased demand for their product while also using wartime legislation to purchase eroded land for its rehabilitation and resale for food production by government experts. Much like the rest of the executive branch, at Merriam’s direction the Department of Agriculture also leaned into partnerships with dozens of agricultural colleges spread throughout the United States to collect and publish a corpus of literature on improved farming practices and fertilizer production techniques to further stimulate production.
​
Electrical lines going up on a rural farm as part of a program pioneered by Secretary of Agriculture John Marvin Jones to further develop American agriculture.
New World Order
Having earned widespread popularity among the American public for his statesmanship at home and thus leaving the November elections with a decisive popular mandate, Merriam turned to the pressing issue of foreign affairs in the latter half of his term. In the chaos of the Second World War and its immediate aftermath, the powers of the Grand Alliance had failed to conclusively agree on the structures of the post-war world. Even after the destruction of the German Empire, which had been the largest obstacle in the effort to conclude new international agreements, debate raged on what form these would take as the world federalist movement took root across the globe. In order to lay the foundation of future global cooperation, Merriam began by reviving the institutions of the Hague Treaty that had been rendered inoperative by the withdrawal of participation by several countries and subsequent outbreak of the Second World War. While the Permanent Court of International Arbitration would be restored largely unchanged from its original construction, the International Monetary Fund would be greatly transformed due to President Merriam’s influential support for John Maynard Keynes’s proposal to formulate a supranational currency called “bancor” to be the unit of account for an International Clearing Union tasked with regulating international trade.
While many nationalists and isolationists decried Merriam’s move towards the internationalization of monetary policy, the circle of Atlanticists within the party led by Vice President Edward J. Meeman was urging him to go even further towards world government. Compelled by a promise made to the Atlanticist faction during his party’s National Convention, President Merriam authorized the summoning of an international conference to discuss the concept of an Atlantic Union between the western democratic countries of the world. However, where many expected that Merriam might appoint a coterie of apathetic diplomats to undermine the movement, the President instead shockingly sent a delegation filled with committed Atlanticists led by New York Senator Grenville Clark, Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver, and the proposal’s first author Clarence Streit to Brussels for the conference, much to the outrage of opponents of world federalism within his party. After weeks spent deliberating the minutiae of the Atlantic Union, the conference emerged just before the holiday season with a proposed constitution and hundreds of pages of documentation surrounding the historical precedents and contemporary reasoning behind the proposal to electrify the debate surrounding a world government.
​
A Time Magazine feature of Clarence Streit, one of the leading theorists behind the Atlantic Union proposal.
God’s Instrument or War Criminal?
The most controversial question hanging over the term of President Charles Edward Merriam was the fate of former President Alvin York. To many Americans, York had committed a crime against humanity comparable to those against which they had fought against for a decade and the incident ignited a debate surrounding presidential authority to deploy nuclear weapons. Throughout the initial months of his presidency, Merriam dodged questions surrounding the President and declined to make substantial public comment aside from occasional suggestions that the President had sole command over the United States military. At Merriam’s private urging, Speaker of the House Wright Patman also squashed suggestions that a President could still be impeached after leaving office. Likewise, Merriam directed the Justice Department not to open a federal prosecution against York and thus leaving the ailing former President’s case in legal limbo. Speaking out more strongly after his successful reelection campaign, Merriam clarified that while he found the act personally abhorrent it remained a legal exercise of the President’s powers as commander-in-chief and that as the victims were nationals of another country there was no basis for either a prosecution or a pardon in the name of crimes against the United States.
Beyond just the conduct of the President himself, the atomic bombing of Germany brought with it new concern around the governance of nuclear weapons. Believing that tight-lipped military control over nuclear weapons under wartime authority was a large factor in York’s ability to unilaterally strike Germany, the Senate’s sole independent Brien McMahon led the charge to place nuclear weapons and energy development under the control of an independent civilian commission appointed by both the President and the legislative officers. Though his bill died in committee, it inspired the Federalist Reform Party to counter with their own bill introduced by Kentucky Senator Andrew J. May replacing McMahon’s proposed commission with a board to be dominated by military officers exclusively appointed by the President. While the Federalist Reform majority in the Senate quickly passed the May bill over an attempted filibuster by McMahon, the bill came to a screeching halt in the House of Representatives where the opposition parties unified to fiercely oppose its passage. With Congress at an impasse, President Merriam issued executive orders continuing the status quo of the wartime project board that had been initiated by President Howard Hughes.
​
Independent Connecticut Senator Brien McMahon, who took leadership of the fight for civilian control over nuclear energy
​
Note: Not strictly bound by Merriam’s term, the following sections are meant to summarize the state of the world after the conclusion of the Second World War.
The Red Stars of Europe
Throughout the decade-spanning Second World War, the United Kingdom had been under the leadership of Conservative Prime Minister Duff Cooper. In order to maintain control against the irascible anti-war opposition led by Labour’s Oswald Mosley, Cooper had resorted to the royal authority of King Edward VIII to unilaterally bring the country into the war and cancel elections throughout its duration. While he had been successful in prosecuting the war to victory and securing the downfall of Mosley’s control over the Labour Party, when Cooper was finally forced to call elections at the war’s end he found voters profoundly unsympathetic to his accomplishments and his Tory government was defeated in a staggering landslide by the Labour Party. Thus, King Edward was reluctantly forced to appoint the Labour Party leader, Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, as the Prime Minister of the country. As an ally to former party leader Oswald Mosley, Bevan quickly embarked on the domestic implementation of the “Mosley Memorandum” to nationalize wide stretches of the British economy while also pursuing a massive expansion of the British welfare state. Following the atomic bombing of the German Empire, Bevan forcefully attacked the wanton use of weapons of mass destruction in a surprise attack and relations remained frosty even after York’s resignation as President Merriam cut off the United Kingdom from any knowledge sharing regarding nuclear power and weaponry.
Yet even the radicalism of Nye Bevan paled in comparison to that of the Spanish Republic, where a blossoming social and economic revolution was years underway. Following the victory of the leftist Republic against Nationalist forces in the country’s civil war, thanks in no small part to the decisive support of President Frank J. Hayes, agriculture was rapidly collectivized by the Spanish government while a combination of state support and syndicalist initiative led to over 75% of the industrial economy being brought under worker control. Taking inspiration from the writings and political efforts of American President John Dewey, the Spanish also imported many of his principles of progressive child-centric education while undertaking the community construction of centers of adult learning woven into forums of political debate. However, standing in stark contrast to the system of government on the mainland would be the so-called “Spanish State” existing in Spain’s African colonies. With their heavy conservative military presence, the colonies had formed a powerbase for the Spanish Nationalists and thus served as a natural place of refuge after their defeat in the war, while the socialist Republican government held little interest in reconquering a system of colonies that it found morally repugnant. Thus, the colonies became the host of a rival government and ruthless colonial state that came under the leadership of Falangist Agustin Aznar after he successfully orchestrated the murder of his political rivals to become the Jefe Nacional.
​
Prime Minister Aneurin Bevan of the United Kingdom, the sole power offering a serious challenge to American hegemony over the post-war world.
Integralism Lives?
After the surrenders of the Kingdoms of France and Italy during the Second World War, the Allied powers were too pressed for manpower in their colossal struggle against Russia and Japan in the East to administer a full military occupation. Thus, instead the administration of Howard Hughes accepted the continuation of their governments so long as they cooperated with American occupation authorities. As a result, Italian Integralism and its monarchy would continue under the auspices of General Pietro Badoglio who was vested by King Victor Emmanuel III and the Grand Council of Fascism as Italy’s new prime minister after the downfall of Benito Mussolini. However, Badoglio’s position would become increasingly unstable after the large-scale effort of the German Empire to fund and arm leftist Italian insurgents and increasingly dependent upon the United States occupation forces for support to avert their overthrow. While France would likewise retain its newly crowned King Henri VI, his political strategy would be markedly different from that of the Italians. Believing that the monarchist right would have no choice but to support him, Henri appointed socialist Vincent Auriol as his Prime Minister and issued a new liberal constitution to endear the political left to him as well. Final peace treaties with both countries, forced to be renegotiated after the destruction of the German Empire, would not yet be concluded by the end of President Merriam’s first term though the recognition of separatist movements in Brittany and Corsica was viewed as an implicit precondition by the American government.
As the political and military leadership of the German Empire had been devastated by the atomic bombings, the continuance of the Kaiserreich was not only seen as undesirable by President Alvin York but also simply impractical. Although York would not be able to oversee the country past its initial occupation, President Merriam held much the same opinion and negotiated the de jure abolition of the German Empire alongside the British and divided the country into two zones of occupation. Though relying on the expertise of the limited number of German experts who were both still alive and willing to cooperate with the occupation authorities, much of the day-to-day administration of the occupation zones would be carried out by the military forces of the occupying powers. Yet while the occupying forces made great strides in repairing the utterly destroyed nations and stabilizing its food supply, the occupation faced never before seen challenges with enormous incidence rates of cancer and a newly identified “atomic bomb disease” with poorly understood symptoms and little understanding of its treatment.
​
King Henri and Queen Isabelle of France, wearing a more austere style in an appeal to the French working class.
Blood Tide of the East
After Russia’s humiliating defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1934-1935, the country slipped into a dark period of brutal dictatorship at the hands of Anastasy Vonsyatsky and Ivan Solonevich. Yet few could have imagined that the horror could grow worse. The employment of strategic bombing against its crucial oil supply, the nuclear bombing of several of its cities, and worst of all an enormous anthrax attack targeted at its food supply caused the disintegration of Russia into famine and anarchy. As the powers of the Grand Alliance had declared victory and withdrew their troops from active fighting upon the surrender of Andrew Vlasov’s warlord band to western forces, the turmoil in Russia remained raging throughout President Merriam’s term with little outside intervention. Forces ranged from the claimed Romanov regent Mikhail Drozdovsky to the classical Integralist Boris Savinkov to the bloodthirsty racialist Bronislav Kaminski and dozens more in between fighting for the desiccated scraps of the once mighty country.
Ever vigilant on the frontier of this anarchy was the Reichskommissariat Muskowien, the former German puppet state instated by the Kaiser to facilitate the colonization of occupied Russian lands by German settlers. After its Reichskommissar was killed during the nuclear attack while visiting Berlin, his secretary Erich Koch seized control alongside a junta of military officers proclaiming the Reichskommissariat as a haven for the German people and embarking on a program of ethnic cleansing of the local Slavic population. Fearing that a military response would not only require another costly and unpopular war in Europe but also embroil the United States in the Russian frontier, President Merriam opted to continue the York administration’s position of withholding recognition from the Reichskommissariat while instead extending American influence in Eastern Europe under the auspices of his newly formed Office of Strategic Services.
With the German puppet governments in the Baltics, Poland, and Ukraine deeply unpopular and dependent on German support, their governments quickly collapsed under American and British influence leading to the establishment of new governments in each of the nations. Taking inspiration from the British program to unify the three Baltic nations under a single Baltic Union, President Merriam undertook a nation-building program of his own to attempt to unify Poland, Ukraine, and Romania into a single federation. However, the project remained stalled throughout his term due to a lack of enthusiasm from the member countries. Meanwhile, in an accord with the countries of the Grand Alliance, President Merriam and Secretary of State Joseph Grew took to settling the geopolitical situation of the Balkans. With the restoration of the Tsardom of Bulgaria already settled and Greece still preoccupied by civil war, the chief question would be the status of the former Triune. Striving for a balance between the competing claims of Austria and Hungary which had spiraled the world into war ten long years before, Grew negotiated the formation of a Danubian Confederation to replace the former Triune with substantial autonomy granted to the Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Hungarian, Croatian, Triestine, and Austrian states composing it but unifying them with a common citizenship and foreign policy.
​
The ruins of what was once a Russian home, a testament to the country’s seemingly interminable anarchy.
Self-Determination For Whom?
Over the course of the Second World War, British and American forces had come to occupy virtually all of the vast continent of Africa and with the end of the war it fell upon them to oversee its fate. With the recent independence of the United States of the Congo under President Alvin York serving as an example, both President Charles Edward Merriam and British Prime Minister Aneurin Bevan were committed to the eventual decolonization of the African continent but they also agreed that the bulk of the diverse African peoples needed further “instruction” on democratic governance and western culture before being granted independence. Thus, the colonial system of rule remained largely unchanged on the continent, though German colonies would be transferred to the United Kingdom as trust territories and French and Italian colonies remained occupied until the settlement of a final peace treaty. The sole exception came in the German colony of Tanganyika, where former German Ambassador to the United Kingdom Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck escaped the destruction of his home in Bremen through a chance visit to his former Askari soldiers and worked with a group of veterans to proclaim a biracial Republic of Tanganyika in the aftermath of the German Empire’s destruction. Recalling Lettow-Vorbeck’s famous guerilla warfare campaign in the First World War, both the United Kingdom and the United States begrudgingly recognized this new African Republic.
Though the British were slow to release their colonies in Africa, the immense pressure building up within India could not be contained any longer as the Indian National Congress refused to tolerate the continuation of the home rule status quo. Thanks in large part to the close personal relationship of Prime Minister Bevan and Indian nationalist leader Jawaharlal Nehru, negotiations proceeded smoothly albeit without significant consultation of Muslim authorities that Nehru had clashed with previously. In the final agreement, India was granted independent Dominion status within the British Empire as a united polity and quickly forced the remaining princely states to comply. Under pressure of a possibly violent revolt in Burma, Bevan also pressed for an act to give independence to the Union of Burma soon thereafter. Even less consent from the colonizing power was required for the Indochinese Federation under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, which had already successfully cast off both French rule and a later Japanese invasion. Though cautious of Ho Chi Minh’s socialist principles, President Merriam and Secretary Grew remained concerned about the more dangerous Marxist-Hansenist opposition in the country and decided to recognize his leadership to bolster his position against the radicals. This anti-colonialist streak would also extend itself to Indonesia, where American troops were instructed not to turn the country over to the former Dutch colonial administrators and instead support the independence movement to foster a loyal American ally in Southeast Asia.
​
An independence procession in the newly formed Dominion of India.
Democracy in the Far East
Ever since the fateful day in 1939 when the United States declared war upon Japan, the Tiger of the East had become entrenched in the minds of the American people as their mortal enemy. Yet even despite cries for the execution of Emperor Hirohito and the visitation of revenge upon the Japanese people among the public, cooler heads prevailed in the State Department. The initial stages of Japan’s occupation were overseen by President Alvin York, who magnanimously saw Japan as a country that ought to be reformed rather than punished. Pressing for the shattering of its culture of militarism, the installation of structures of democracy, and even the Christianization of the nation, York’s program for the occupation proved massively influential for the future state of the country. Yet it would be President Charles Edward Merriam, eager to draw down United States military commitments, who would finish the process and finalize the treaty with Japan. Among the provisions of the treaty were the independence of Hawaii as a republic under American influence, the annexation of several Pacific islands including the Ryukyu Islands to serve as American naval installations, the placement of the remaining Pacific islands into trust territories, and the total demilitarization of Japan under a democratic system.
The presidency of Tasker H. Bliss had ushered in a special relationship between the United States and China that had persisted for the next twenty years. Yet under President Charles Edward Merriam, it had begun to fray. Upon hearing reports of American aid dollars being embezzled by the Chiang Kai-Shek administration for lavish personal corruption and believing Chiang to be a fundamentally self-interested and unreliable ally, Merriam quickly soured upon the Chinese Premier. Yet with the death of Vice Premier Feng Yuxiang, the opposition to Chiang remained too scattered for there to be any viable alternative. Thus, Merriam began maneuvering to install a set of new East Asian allies to reduce the monolithic power of China in the region. Chief among these was the Republic of Manchuria, which had been declared by a multi-ethnic group of local leaders seeking to avoid Chinese domination and given patronage by both Presidents York and Merriam. A further spite to Chiang would come with President Merriam’s support of the declaration of Taiwanese independence by Lei Chen, as the island had remained occupied by United States Marines after the end of the war. Despite these affronts, tensions between China and the United States were somewhat assuaged by American support for the return of French Yunnan, British Canton, Japanese Fujian, and Japanese Shandong to the Chinese Republic.
​
A woman voting in Japan’s first free and fair elections in decades.
World Revolution, of Two Sorts
During the Great Depression, the Dominion of Newfoundland found itself in total collapse and was forced to surrender its independence back to its colonial overlord in the United Kingdom. Yet the war years remained hard for the Dominion and its people remained deeply unsatisfied with its governmental arrangement. As the concept of the Atlantic Union spread through the world with the impending end of the Second World War, a local movement under the leadership of Chesley Crosbie began preaching for a declaration of independence and subsequent application for United States statehood as a demonstration of support for the Atlanticist concept. Though initially dismissed as a fringe movement, a rapid growth of support led the Atlantic Union Party to carry independence to victory in a 1948 referendum. A subsequent victory in the first elections of the Dominion brought the Atlantic Union Party into power and it made its application for American statehood shortly thereafter. Once again angering the anti-Atlanticist section of the party, President Merriam urged that statehood be introduced as a joint resolution of the House and Senate, which ensured its passage even despite the opposition of a critical bloc of Senators who may have made a regular treaty ratification impossible. Yet a similar attempt at statehood for the island of Sicily would be blocked by Merriam, who argued that the referendum used for its justification was illegitimate due to an opposition boycott.
Long suffering under the neo-colonialism of their former colonial masters in France and a newer clique of German elites dominating the local economy, the nation of Haiti became a hotbed for the ideology of Marxism-Hansenism, which preached a violent and permanent world revolution to secure control of the means of production under the democratic management of the workers. After succeeding in its own revolution to overthrow the capitalist class, Haiti became a haven for Hansenists across the Americas seeking to plot their own revolutions by supporting them with revolutionary praxis, arms, and propaganda. After the outbreak of a revolution in Cuba, President Merriam recognized the threat that Haiti posed to the stability of the Americas and ordered the imposition of trade sanctions to strangle the suspected flow of funds and materiel from American Hansenists to the island. Furthermore, Secretary of State Joseph Grew orchestrated a vote in the International Association of American States to expel revolutionary Haiti from the organization due to its support for world revolution and undermining the government of other member states.
​
Map of the world by the end of President Charles Edward Merriam’s first term in 1949. Credit and many thanks to Some_Pole for helping create the map!
How would you rate President Charles Edward Merriam’s first term in office?
View Poll

Hi folks!
Talk to me about scoring. I’m just getting it all wrong.
This is what happens for me: 1. I score when I’ve just tipped it out of the banneton. Then the scored part squashes back together when I put it in the pot (Dutch oven) 2. I score when it’s in the pot and I can’t get a decent angle without burning my hands.
What do you do?
Anyway, this is the best loaf I’ve baked in a LONG time. I got stuck in a rut over winter, kept losing my starters to mould or they just weren’t rising.
Based on the Bread Code master recipe: 500g extra strong white bread flour 150g rye flour 75g stiff starter 15g sea salt 440g (ish… it varies) of water
Add dry ingredients and mix to combine. Then add water and starter and bring together before 1 hour fermentolyse.
Then do stretch and folds every 15 min for 2 hours, or until window pane test.
Bulk for me took 7 hours to double.
Preshape, leave 20 min, shape and then fridge overnight.
Bake at 240C fan oven for 20 min in a pot, then 20 min at 220C with the lid off.
The darker loaf stayed in 25 min without the lid, as I was on a work call.
The paler loaf I added an ice cube - I don’t usually but thought I’d try it. Crust is definitely softer than I usually prefer, but makes better sandwiches!
Paler loaf has mostly been eaten already 😋 Darker loaf is in the freezer.

Sweet Hawaiian-Style Tuna Salad Try my budget-friendly recipe for Hawaiian-style tuna salad. It’s my favourite recipe for serving up a cold pasta salad dish on a hot summer day. The link to the recipe is in the first comment