#some of these won by a very thin margin

[nekogorogoro]

This or That

I was tagged by: @steamcaptain

Tagging: @writing-biting @eggymcdegy @perphella @fire-rose @portalcartoon

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Clean Template:

coffee or tea | early bird or night owl | chocolate or vanilla | spring or fall | silver or gold | pop or alternative | freckles or dimples | snakes or sharks | mountains or fields | thunder or lightning | egyptian mythology or greek mythology | ivory or scarlet | flute or lyre | opal or diamond | butterflies or honeybees | macarons or eclairs | typewritten or handwritten | secret garden or secret library | rooftop or balcony | spicy or mild | opera or ballet | london or paris | vincent van gogh or claude monet | denim or leather | potions or spells | ocean or desert | mermaids or sirens | masquerade ball or cocktail party

[perfectsunlight]

21 ⸺ TYPE

warnings: infidelity, angst, swearing

word count: 3.2k

part of the series: LOGICAL

when aeri read it, her heart stopped. she read it again, and then again, trying to make sense of it. somi? with chaeyoung? the two people she trusted most? she hadn’t seen it coming. not even a little. 

at least, that’s what she tried to tell herself. deep down, she always feared this moment would come.

aeri had always felt like she wasn’t enough for somi, but now, seeing the confirmation of her worst fear in that single text, it all came crashing down. 

and all she could think about was how she wasn’t the type of girl somi really wanted. 

or maybe she never had been.

jeon somi had more ex-girlfriends than she could count on her hands. she was tall, blonde, and very athletic—anything a girl could have ever wanted. similar to lisa, girls followed somi around like moths to a flame. whether it was her charming smile or her flirtatious nature, somi had no trouble finding someone new, someone fun. she thrived on the chase, always seeming to have someone wrapped around her finger.

but aeri had been different.

the japanese girl wasn’t like anyone she had ever met. somi usually went for the ones with carefree attitudes and a bit more rough around the edges. tattoos, piercings, and wild nights out were usually her style. 

but aeri was serious, quiet, and more grounded. she was always around the basketball team but never part of the spotlight. as the team manager, she kept her head down, organizing schedules, making sure everyone had what they needed, and barely giving somi a second glance. 

and maybe that was what had intrigued somi in the first place. 

aeri didn’t care that somi was the best center in the league, or that every other girl in the gym was vying for her attention. she didn’t care that the taller girl had a fanclub that waited to take pictures with her after every game, some even asking for her number as well.

to her, somi’s achievements and popularity were irrelevant. 

the first time somi had asked aeri out, she’d been friendzoned faster than she could blink. 

it was after a particularly exciting game against hanyang university, where ygu had won by a massive margin. the gym had buzzed with the energy of the win, the crowd’s cheers echoing off the walls as the team celebrated. the players, sweaty and exhilarated, were starting to disperse, while aeri was methodically packing up the equipment, her focus on tidying up the chaos left behind.

somi approached, her usual confident character on display. her dyed blonde hair was damp from sweat, sticking to her forehead in a way that made her look more approachable. she grinned broadly, the kind of smile that was more than just a bit friendly, and leaned casually against the table where aeri was working.

“hey, aeri,” somi said, her voice bright and casual. “you up for celebrating with the team tonight?”

the japanese girl barely looked up from the clipboard she was scribbling on. with a practiced efficiency, she finished jotting down notes and then glanced at somi with a polite and disinterested thin smile.

“no,” she replied, her tone steady and unflustered. “i’m not interested.”

somi’s smile faltered for just a moment, her eyebrows lifting slightly in surprise. she straightened up, pushing off from the table, but her body language remained open, trying to keep the mood light. “oh, alright. well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

aeri nodded, already turning her attention back to the clipboard. “i won’t be changing my mind.” and with that, she turned on her heel, walking briskly towards coach irene and coach taeyeon who were discussing the game’s highlights.

as she watched the shorter girl walk away, somi’s shoulders slightly slumped in defeat. 

the energy she had carried into the conversation had dissipated, leaving her standing alone, a lingering frown creasing her brow. she watched as aeri moved towards the coaches, blending back into the background of the post-game routine, and realized that the casual rejection had not only stung but had also stirred up a deeper, unsettling awareness of aeri’s indifference.

jeon somi knew she had to try again. she just had to. the first rejection had stung more than she’d let on, but it hadn’t deterred her. instead, it had fueled her determination. she convinced herself that persistence might win out in the end, that maybe if she kept trying, aeri would eventually see her in a different light.

the second time somi asked aeri out, it was during media day, a high-energy event where the team was swarmed by reporters and photographers. the gym was buzzing with the activity of the media, flashing cameras, and the loud hum of excited chatter. the team’s new uniforms were on display, and everyone was in high spirits, mingling and preparing for the season ahead.

somi spotted aeri amidst the chaos, standing near a backdrop where players were taking their promotional photos. aeri was dressed in her usual managerial attire, a sleek blazer over her team polo, her hair pulled back neatly. she was chatting with a couple of reporters, her demeanor calm and professional. somi took a deep breath, steeling herself for another attempt.

with a confident stride, somi made her way over, navigating through the crowd of reporters and camera flashes. she approached aeri with a warm, friendly smile, trying to exude an air of casual charm.

“hey, aeri,” somi said, her voice rising above the background noise. “got a second?”

the dark haired girl looked up from her conversation, her eyes meeting the center’s with a mixture of surprise and a faint smile. she was clearly busy, but she made a polite effort to engage. 

“yes?”

somi took a small step closer, leaning in with a hopeful grin as she clasped her hands together. “i was thinking, with the season starting soon and everything, maybe we could have dinner tomorrow night? just the two of us. what do you say?”

the japanese girl’s smile widened, but it was accompanied by a hint of incredulity. she laughed lightly, shaking her head with a mixture of amusement and disbelief. “you’re really persistent, i’ll give you that.” her tone was warm but laced with a gentle mockery.

the blonde’s grin faltered just a touch, but she maintained her hopeful gaze as she rocked back and forth on her heels. “so, is that a yes?”

aeri’s laughter was soft, almost incredulous. she shook her head again, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “no, i’m not interested. you should know by now.”

somi’s smile dimmed, and she nodded, trying to mask her disappointment. “alright. maybe another time? when do you have some time? what’s your schedule like next week?”

aeri offered a sympathetic smile but turned her attention back to the reporters, signaling that the conversation was over. somi lingered for a moment, the weight of the rejection settling heavily on her. the lively atmosphere of the event felt distant now, overshadowed by the sting of the repeated rebuff. 

as she walked away, she couldn’t shake the mix of frustration and resignation. despite her persistence, it seemed that winning aeri’s affection was going to be far more elusive than she had ever anticipated.

but the more aeri resisted, the more somi wanted her.

by the time she considered trying a third time, somi was determined. she didn’t even care about aeri’s supposed indifference anymore. it had turned into a challenge, something she needed to win. but what somi hadn’t expected was that, somewhere along the way, it stopped being just about winning aeri over. 

she had started falling for her—hard. 

everytime aeri came in for practice, somi lost all focus.  the sight of her managing the team with that efficient grace, the way she interacted with the players, her infectious laughter—it all had a magnetic pull on somi. even the simplest gestures, like aeri adjusting her glasses or brushing a strand of hair away from her face, became captivating. it was as if somi was seeing aeri in a new light, each moment amplifying the depth of her feelings.

one evening, after a particularly grueling practice, somi found herself lingering by the gym’s entrance, her heart pounding with a mix of excitement and anxiety. the players had dispersed, but aeri was still there, packing up her things. somi watched as aeri’s movements were precise and deliberate, her focus intense. it was a side of aeri that somi had come to admire, the dedication and professionalism that seemed to shine even in the smallest details.

taking a deep breath, somi approached aeri, who was now organizing her clipboard and making last-minute notes. somi’s heart raced, not just from the anticipation of asking aeri out again but from the realization of how deeply her feelings had grown. she could no longer deny that this wasn’t just a challenge—it was something much more profound.

“hey aeri,” somi began, her voice slightly hesitant but filled with genuine emotion. “uh, can i talk to you for a minute?”

aeri looked up, her eyebrows slightly raised in curiosity. she set down her clipboard and gave somi her full attention. “sure, what’s up?”

somi took a step closer, her gaze steady. “i know i’ve asked you out a couple of times before and you’ve turned me down. i get that. but i need to be honest with you. i really like you, aeri.”

the other girl’s expression softened, but there was still a flicker of surprise in her eyes. she considered somi’s words, her gaze dropping to the floor for a moment before meeting somi’s again. 

“i appreciate your feelings, somi,” aeri said with a sigh. “but i have a lot on my plate right now. tomorrow night, i’m completely booked with team obligations and personal commitments. it’s just not a good time for me.”

somi’s heart sank slightly, but she tried to maintain a hopeful smile. “i understand. i didn’t expect you to be free.” the basketball player rubbed the back of her neck in defeat, trying to ignore the pang in her chest.

the japanese girl began to gather her things, preparing to leave. somi simply watched her, feeling a mix of sadness and resignation. just as aeri reached the door, she paused, her hand resting on the handle. she turned back towards somi with a thoughtful expression.

“what about the day after tomorrow?” aeri asked, her tone a bit more tentative. somi’s eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope, her sadness momentarily forgotten. “the day after tomorrow? are you sure?”

aeri nodded, offering a small smile. “yeah, i should be free then.”

somi’s heart swelled with a renewed sense of optimism. she couldn’t help the grin that formed from ear to ear. when aeri finally said yes, after months of persistent flirting and half-serious jokes, somi felt like she had conquered the impossible.

once they started dating, things were a bit rocky. aeri had always felt out of place in somi’s world. 

she wasn’t like the other girls somi had dated, and she knew it. somi had never said it outright, but aeri could feel it in the small, subtle ways—the way somi’s gaze would linger just a little too long on other girls, or the way her friends would make comments about somi’s type. 

aeri had tried to ignore it, tried to believe that somi really wanted her, but the insecurity never left.

maybe that’s what had slowly started to pull them apart.

aeri had always feared that one day, somi would wake up and realize she could do better—find someone more exciting, someone who fit her lifestyle. she had always worried she wasn’t enough, and now, standing in her apartment, staring at lisa’s text, it felt like all those insecurities had been right.

she had never been enough for somi.

son chaeyoung was somi’s best friend since college started. they had met at one of the many parties thrown during welcome week and they clicked instantly. chaeyoung was everything aeri feared she wasn’t—confident, carefree, and spontaneous. where she tended to overthink and second-guess herself, chaeyoung just seemed to live in the moment. 

she fit perfectly into somi’s world, the one aeri always felt slightly out of place in.

how could she not have seen it?

sure, she had known about somi’s history—about the exes, the flings, the friends with benefits. she had always been surrounded by people, and aeri was just always hovering on the outskirts of somi’s chaotic, lively life. but even though aeri had friend-zoned somi more than once, she’d let her walls down eventually, let herself believe that maybe, just maybe, somi had chosen her.

but maybe somi had never really chosen her at all.

she thought about the little things—the way somi would glance at her during practice, the shy, teasing smile that only aeri ever seemed to notice. the way that the taller girl would wrap her jacket around her during winter practices, knowing how cold the gym was. or even how everytime somi scored, she’d make the letter “a” with her fingers and put it on her heart.

was it all a lie? did anything have any meaning?

“aeri,” somi’s voice was heard from outside the japanese girl’s apartment door. “please. let me explain.”

the mentioned girl stood frozen, her hand hovering over the doorknob. somi’s voice, muffled but pleading, cut through the numbness that had settled in her chest. explain? what could possibly explain this? but something in her still wanted to hear it. maybe it was the part of her that didn’t want to believe it was all over. 

maybe it was the part of her that still loved somi, despite everything.

with a shaky breath, aeri unlocked the door and pulled it open. somi stood there, her eyes red-rimmed and glassy, tears streaking down her face. she looked a mess, and definitely heartbroken. but aeri wasn’t ready to feel sympathy—not yet.

somi took a hesitant step inside, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “i—i’m sorry,” she stammered. “i just, look, i didn’t mean for any of this to happen once, let alone twice.”

aeri stayed silent, closing the door behind her. her arms were crossed, more out of self-protection than anything else. “what exactly didn’t you mean to happen, somi?” her voice was cold, a sharp contrast to the trembling girl in front of her. “what do you mean it happened twice?”

the blonde’s gaze fell to the floor, the weight of her confession hanging heavily in the air. “aeri, please,” she took a step forward, her hands raised as if to ward off the distance. “it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

she felt her heart race, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the features on her girlfriend’s face. “what do you mean it happened twice?” she repeated, the tension in her voice palpable. she had known something was wrong, but she had convinced herself that she was just being paranoid. 

she wasn’t.

somi hesitated, her breath hitching as she tried to find the right words. she ran a hand through her hair and sighed deeply before looking back at the shorter girl. “the first time was just a kiss,” she finally admitted, her voice shaky. “i was with chaeyoung, and it happened when we were out celebrating. i was drunk and i didn’t think it meant anything.”

aeri felt her heart drop. she had never known about that. and the fact that the girl she loved kept it a secret for so long seemed to make her feel even worse. “a kiss? you kissed her? and then you slept with her? how is that supposed to make sense?”

“no! i didn’t sleep with her then. that was a mistake, too. but last night? that was different.” somi’s eyes were wide with fear, her voice rising with desperation. “i swear, i didn’t mean for any of it to happen! i was confused. i thought we were okay, and then—”

“clearly, we weren’t okay. you knew we weren’t okay,” aeri shot back, her voice trembling with hurt. “how could you do this to me? i trusted you, somi. i thought you loved me.”

“i do love you!” somi cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. her heart was entirely the japanese girl’s. even if she didn’t show it “you have to believe me. but at that moment, everything got blurry. it was chaeyoung, and she was there, and i didn’t think—”

“didn’t think what?” the brunette’s voice was low and dangerous, her heart racing. “didn’t think about how i would feel? didn’t think about what it would mean for us? didn’t think you were making a mistake?”

somi’s shoulders slumped as she struggled to articulate her feelings. “i didn’t want to hurt you, aeri. i thought it was just a moment, something that wouldn’t change anything between us. but then i woke up next to her and realized...”

“realized what?” aeri pressed, her voice icy. “that you made the wrong choice? that you let someone else in when you should have been with me?”

her girlfriend swallowed hard, her hands trembling as she reached out toward aeri. “i didn’t mean for it to happen. i promise. i wanted to be with you, but—”

“but what?” aeri challenged, her heart aching. “you tell me that you wanted me, but you didn’t think twice about sleeping with your best friend?” somi’s eyes were filled with tears as she shook her head. “no, please don’t say that. i care about you more than anything. but i messed up. i messed up so badly. and i hate myself for it.”

aeri felt a deep pain in her chest, a raw ache that wouldn’t go away. “you think saying you hate yourself changes anything? you’ve already made your choice. and now, you’ve lost me.”

the taller girl stepped back, her face crumpling in despair. “please, aeri don’t do this.” the center fell to her knees, continuing to plead with tear-filled eyes. "i can't lose you. i can't—" her voice cracked, her heart visibly breaking before the japanese girl’s eyes.

her hands trembled as she stared down at the blonde, her chest tightening with emotions she couldn’t entirely suppress. she had told herself not to give in, not to let somi’s tears sway her, but seeing her like this made it so much harder.

“you already have,” aeri whispered, her words making somi’s head spin and her heart shatter into the remaining fragments that were left of it. “i’m done. we’re done.”

the next day at practice, the team manager felt as if she was watching a stranger on the court. somi was clearly off her game, unfocused and distracted, a shadow of the dominant center she usually was. her movements were sluggish, lacking the usual power and precision that made her such a key player. every missed shot, every fumbled pass, only seemed to deepen the frustration etched across her face.

it truly did pain the uchinaga girl to see the girl she loved like that, but somi had done it to herself. 

lisa shook her head everytime the center fumbled a play or missed a shot, leaning over to y/n with a scoff. “she’s a mess today,” the thai girl muttered, her frustration evident as she watched somi stumble through another drill. “she needs to get her shit together.”

y/n frowned, her eyes following the blonde’s every move. “something must’ve happened,” she whispered quietly, concern creeping into her voice. she glanced at aeri and then made a quick glance towards her girlfriend.

because although it was unusual, y/n couldn’t help but feel like her girlfriend had something to do with this, too. 

TAGLIST ⸺ ✭ @silantryoo @rosiehrs @niniwhiskers @cwpiqwon @jisooftme @1luvkarina @scarfac3 @santasbitch @lisas-earlobe @wallfl9wer @aerihiltonn @unforgivenangel @uzumakioden @skydreamed @haerinfangs @la-douleur-ne-finit-jamais @haerinkisser @giginings @lilsvx @milanlaia @pandafuriosa60 @wifey-badalee @slowlyturninggay291 @dreamingst99 @7daysronnie @thefckghost @drawing-into-the-night @xszn

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Andy Craig at The UnPopulist:

In 1801, when President John Adams peacefully accepted defeat and ceded power to the winner of the prior year’s election, his partisan opponent Thomas Jefferson, it established a model for how electoral contests, even sharply divided ones, would conclude in our burgeoning republic. It was, substantially, the first time anything like it had ever happened. Over time, as elections attracted novel challenges of various sorts—such as the 1876 presidential contest—Congress and the states passed new legislation, and sometimes constitutional amendments, and courts provided rulings that accumulated in more procedural certainty. For the most part, we got by without triggering very many electoral crises thanks to candidates of all political affiliations following longstanding norms. We can no longer take those norms for granted.

Donald Trump’s avowedly anti-democratic stance, in both the previous election and this one, isn’t grounded in serious arguments about flaws in our electoral processes, or fairly arguable legal disputes. He rejects the premise, root and branch, that voters should ultimately be able to go with someone else instead, and that his power should be checked in any way by the rule of law. He is not running for president, he is running for dictator. Trump and allies filed over 60 lawsuits in 9 different states after the 2020 election—none with any merit. When legal efforts weren’t leading anywhere, he resorted to fraud and then to violence. And if things don’t go his way on Nov. 5, he’s likely to attempt even more of the same. But we should resist treating his electoral challenges with a legitimacy they don’t possess. We shouldn’t normalize what is essentially a repudiation of our democracy, not a good-faith challenge to the accuracy of vote totals or our election processes. These are not just questions of law, with answers to be found in the Constitution and statutes and court rulings. They are an attack on our fundamental political philosophy as a nation, the principles of the Declaration of Independence.

Trump’s Election Claims Aren’t Genuine Legal Challenges

Today, largely in response to the turmoil following the 2020 election, the legal architecture around election disputes has become more robust. The Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA), which passed with bipartisan support in 2022, tightened the procedures for certifying presidential results, ensuring that no vice president or rogue state officials can obstruct the will of the voters. Some states have also taken measures to shore up weak points in the administration and certification of their election results. But while the law has evolved, the fundamental reality hasn’t changed. No recount or post-election lawsuit is capable of flipping a presidential election unless the apparent margin of victory is razor-thin—as in, no more than a few hundred votes in a decisive swing state.

Of course, the arguments advanced in the aftermath of the 2020 election were completely spurious, both factually false and legally baseless. Voting machines did not alter the count. Trump’s claims of millions of illegal votes were made up out of thin air. Changes made to accommodate the pandemic were lawful, and upheld by the courts, and happened in states Trump won as much as those he lost. Nor did botched social media policies about Hunter Biden’s laptop affect the outcome, not that such a thing could be legally relevant anyway. State legislatures do not have the power to overturn presidential election results. Neither do governors and secretaries of state have the power to refuse certification. The fake electors scheme was completely bogus, and the conspirators who instigated the attempt knew it. The last-ditch litigation by Texas suing Pennsylvania and other swing states won by Biden was so frivolous the Supreme Court refused to even hear it. Mike Pence did not have the power to change the result, and neither did Congress under the circumstances. And yet, most of these same lies are being repeated now.

The groundwork being laid for Trump to overturn a defeat, if he is in fact defeated, is far more ambitious than any sincere dispute over a genuinely close outcome. These attempts cannot be reduced to mere creative lawyering, or trying to find the right legal loophole. Treating them as such, even in rebutting them, grants these schemes a patina of legitimacy they do not deserve. They are pure lawlessness. Like the attempt to overturn the last election, which Joe Biden won by tens of thousands of votes across multiple states, these plans are not pursuing any colorable legal theory. They are a criminal conspiracy—as one federal judge put it: “a coup in search of a legal theory.”

[...]

Recounts Adjust, They Don’t Overturn

Recounts exist to correct small errors, not to rewrite history. When every vote is recounted, slight adjustments are inevitable, but they are typically minor—a handful of votes here, a few miscategorized ballots there. In highly unusual cases, the final tally shifts by a few hundred votes, but even that is the upper limit. Often it’s less that; a recent statewide recount in Washington, where the candidates were initially separated by only 53 votes, ended up moving the margin by just two votes. The reality is that modern voting systems and election administration methods, despite their imperfections, are remarkably accurate. They are designed to withstand the occasional human error or technological hiccup without compromising the overall result. Even if a court finds evidence of localized errors or irregularities, the remedy is proportional to the scope of the problem. If some ballots are misread or reported incorrectly, the solution is to correct the mistake—not to invalidate thousands of legitimate votes. Legal challenges that aim to disqualify broad swaths of the electorate or overturn certified results require proof of systemic failures or outright fraud on an extraordinary scale.

[...]

The Myth of Widespread Fraud

Donald Trump and his allies, including X owner Elon Musk and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, have been busily pushing the idea that non-citizens are voting in large numbers and tipping elections. There is no evidence to support this claim, but that hasn’t stopped them from using it as a rallying cry. It is worth being blunt: the idea that there is widespread voter fraud going on is an utter myth. Exhaustive investigations by election officials, courts, journalists, and independent watchdogs have consistently found that improper voting happens at rates so low as to be statistically irrelevant. Georgia, for example, identified a small number of incorrect registrations, but could not identify a single non-citizen who’d actually cast a ballot. Even in the few cases where non-citizens or ineligible voters have cast ballots, the numbers are minuscule. Isolated instances, often the result of confusion rather than malice, and which involve members of both parties, are not sufficient to swing a presidential election. In the vast majority of elections, the margin of victory is measured in thousands of votes or more, far beyond the impact of any sporadic irregularities. In a system where more than 158 million votes were cast in 2020, a number likely to be greater this year, some errors are inevitable, and yet the number of provable cases is astonishingly few. But the purpose of these fraud claims is not to address a real problem; it is to provide a pretext for overturning accurate results. This narrative is not just about casting doubt on election outcomes, it is about laying the groundwork for rejecting the possibility of losing an election altogether. Trump’s playbook isn’t to prove fraud under any existing law—it is to create a cloud of suspicion, enough to justify extraordinary measures. The point is not to win by the rules, but to convince supporters that the election was stolen, regardless of the evidence, and that a possible Democratic victory can’t be legitimate.

Andy Craig writes in The UnPopulist that Donald Trump is likely to see another coup attempt if he loses to Kamala Harris.

[mariacallous]

Sunday was election day in my state of Brandenburg. The morning was sunny, unseasonably warm, yet already in autumnal gold. Normally I just cross the road to vote, but due to a lack of poll clerk volunteers, I had to drive 8km to one of the next villages. Following Google Maps, I ended up on a road so rocky that only tractors might brave it. The thin layer of recent asphalt had cracked over the GDR gravel. At the bottom of the potholes lay the Prussian cobble stones.

I was greeted by three poll clerks: a middle-aged woman, a grey-haired bulky man and an adolescent with a decidedly military haircut. Grabbing my voting slip, I couldn’t help being moved for a moment by the beauty of democracy. Here I was, about to make a cross they would probably deem degenerate or totalitarian, knowing full well that I deemed theirs fascist. Statistically, two of them would vote for the far-right AfD. Our parish has again come out with more than 50% for the far right, as it did back in May for the European elections. And yet, neither I or anyone else in the polling station ended up with a black eye. The clerks didn’t even hiss “we know where you live”.

It was a relief to see the results that evening. After months with the AfD ahead in the polls, the social democrats won by a tight margin of 1.7% (30.9% for the SPD, with the AfD at 29.2%). This was certainly not the achievement of Olaf Scholz, the social democrat German chancellor. Brandenburg has been red for about 35 years, and its governor, Dietmar Woidke, is very popular. His primary campaign strategy was to dissociate himself from the government in Berlin. Scholz did not take part in any of the campaigning. And the election posters presented the party affiliation as a bullet to be bitten: “If you want Woidke, vote SPD.” A vote for Woidke was also endorsed by some who might otherwise have voted for the Greens or the Left party. Alice Weidel, the AfD’s co-chair, complained that it only lost due to tactical voting. But lose it did.

Nevertheless, Hans-Christoph Berndt, the AfD’s main candidate in Brandenburg, who recently argued for a segregation-style law banning immigrants from attending public events, defiantly claimed that the future was “blue” (the AfD’s signature colour). The future is open, but it is undoubtedly true that authoritarian populism is on the rise. The AfD is up about 6% from the election in Brandenburg five years ago, and was the strongest party among younger voters.

To understand the shift to the right in Brandenburg, or the former GDR, it is vital to look at global and local trends. First, this isn’t a result of east Germans’ unfamiliarity with democracy, as some commentators suggest. After all, we are witnessing a shift to the right among many voters in the oldest democracies, too, including France and the US. Much more decisive is what the Vienna-based historian Philipp Ther has called “the other end of history”: unhampered neoliberal restructuring after the iron curtain fell. This restructuring affected rural and de-industrialised areas in the west as well, but is most pervasive in the postsocialist regions. Echoing the economist Karl Polanyi, Ther stresses that marketisation corrodes the social fabric. Politics then mainly consists of attempts at repair, attempts that mostly miss the root causes of the degradation.

After reunification, only 6% of formerly state-owned assets ended up in the hands of east Germans. Even if there is some economic growth, as there is in Brandenburg, it comes from multinational investors – Tesla for instance – which creates volatile, non-unionised jobs.

Besides the economic stratification, there is a wounded memory of dispossession connected with the post-socialist transformation. Up to 80% of east Germans lost their jobs, with many of them seeing their training rendered useless overnight. The bitterness that arose from the pandemic era’s quarantine measures – a great source of contention in Brandenburg – was partly to do with people once again being compelled to suspend ordinary life. It is as if the weight of another break in routine was simply intolerable and experienced as sheer sadism, but resolved by declaring any government action an incursion into one’s personal freedom.

The core remedy that the AfD promises is control in another realm: an entitlement to treat racialised others like disposable objects. They promote white supremacy and ethnic homogeneity. At least some of the AfD sympathisers I have been in conversation with argue, in stark contrast to the party’s economic neoliberalism, that they would like to see the state crack down on the super-rich and address social inequality. But they consider this so unlikely, so out of reach, that another demonstration of sovereignty takes precedence: Germany for the Germans.

After I had returned from the voting booth, the older guy among the poll clerks reminded me that we knew each other. We had reroofed a house together about 10 years ago for a friend of his, using shiny new tiles. We in turn were grateful to salvage the old clay ones. In fact, I often refer to this experience when asked by those in metropolitan areas how to talk to your political adversaries. “You can only do so if you have another context that you work together in,” I say. Societies should offer those spaces. If their fabric tears, it’s hard to find enough common ground to say, for instance, that no, open borders are not the problem, or to tell them you simply don’t find that joke funny. That time on the roof, such conversation was at least possible.It hasn’t become easier in the meantime.

At the polling station, the clerks lightly mock me: “Why did you take that idiotic route? There is a much more direct way back to your place.” They know where I live and choose to help me and compensate for my dodgy navigation. We still don’t know how to create a cooperative basis for society. But when I experience small interactions like these, I realise such an ambition is the only viable path away from a bleak, fascist future.

[fruitymarcy]

Fitting in as a Fat Person

Fitting in: it's hard for everyone socially, but for fat people it's hard both socially and at times physically as well. The world is built without fat people in mind, or in some instances it is specifically designed to work against fat people. Fat people deserve to fit in, so let's talk about it.

Recently I moved into a new apartment, and one of the two bathrooms has a walk-in shower. I can't even walk into that shower, the sliding door doesn't leave enough room. Thankfully there's that other bathroom which has a bathtub instead, but the thought of a fat person moving into an apartment and then realizing they're unable to do something as simple as shower due to an inherently anti-fat design of the apartment is startling.

Some may hear this and think well, that's a sign you need to lose weight. You're just too fat. I can even give those people this, in my last apartment I had to walk sideways to get through one of the doorways, I acknowledge that I am a very large person. However, I completely reject the idea that I should change myself to accommodate a doorway or a shower door's poor design.

There's a few very commonly held outlooks on fatness:

Being fat is an inherently bad thing

It's always the fat person's fault for being fat

All fat people should lose weight to better themselves

The world shouldn't change to accommodate fat people

These views go hand in hand, they reinforce one another. If you believe that being fat is a bad thing, and if you believe that every fat person became this bad thing by fault of their own, then when you hear someone say that all fat people should lose weight, that's only natural. Of course you believe that, because if being fat is bad and people become fat by being lesser, then changing that is a good thing and those people would be better if they were thin. If you believe all three of those things, then of course you believe the fourth idea, that the world shouldn't change to accommodate fat people. Being fat is bad, right? It's these people's own fault, right? They'd all be better off thin, right? Then of course the world shouldn't accommodate them. They should just change themselves. Except those ideas are flawed.

Here's the truth:

Being fat is normal

People can become fat for a variety of reasons

Fat people should decide for themselves whether they want to lose, gain, or maintain their weight

The world should change to accommodate fat people

Being fat is normal. It is not inherently unhealthy. A fat person can be healthy, and even if they're not, they deserve just as much respect as anyone else. I am not the healthiest myself. I have difficulty with even light physical activity. I still believe that I deserve just as much respect as a healthy fat person, or as a healthy thin person for that matter. Health does not indicate a person's worth. I am worth just as much as anyone else, and the same is true for other fat people. Second, being fat does not mean you're ugly. Fat people can be beautiful. Third, being fat is not a moral failing. If you're fat, that's okay, and it shouldn't matter how you ended up fat either. Maybe you exercise regularly, but your genetics make it hard for you to lose weight. Maybe you never exercise and you eat unhealthy food often. Either way, you still deserve to keep your dignity and be treated with respect.

If you are fat, you should be the only person who decides whether to change your body, just like any thin person should be for theirs. In any context, your body is not anyone else's to change.

The world changes all the time, that's progress. In this world where gay marriage became legal in the United States after decades of hateful laws and bigotry, where the fight for trans rights is ongoing, with poll after poll showing that the majority of people still support trans rights despite intense right-wing propaganda attempting to change that - in such a world where marginalized groups are fighting to get closer to equality and have won those fights time and time again, why are fat people different?

Fatphobia is so heavily ingrained in our society that most fat people seem to hate themselves. Even the ones who don't have an incredibly hard time pushing for change, given the vast majority of people are not only against them, but sickened by them.

Fat people deserve to fit in, and for us to ever even have a chance of fitting in we need to spread love and acceptance, and unlearn the fatphobia so deeply ingrained in all of us. I am fat and proud, but even I doubt myself at times. It is so hard to escape the grip of fatphobia and truly accept yourself and others as they are, however it is so important that we work on it all the same. When we accept one another and come together we can fight for change, like how New York City successfully passed a bill banning weight discrimination this year when fat activists pushed politicians to act. Love and accept fat people, and fight for them. Fat people deserve to fit in, and don't ever forget it.

[idontlikeem]

In hockey when does the lack of a Finals appearance draw out for teams that make multiple conference finals appearances? Like the Ducks at their peak in 2014-17, the 2010s Sharks, the Canes now.

Have the 2023 Panthers and 2021 Habs among others showed the limitations of becoming the “team of destiny” in the playoffs? If anything during the Cup runs they got enough fortune to make the SCF but still came up short when they ran to a buzzsaw team.

Re: Jake, how possible is him returning to the Pens and if it happens how much is he worth?

1) Sorry I don’t understand what you’re asking!

2) This is kind of a false comparison IMO because the Panthers had won the presidents trophy in 2021-2022, they were still a very good team in 22-23 they just struggled a LOT at the start of the season, and then this year they continued to be very very good. They’re simply a good team. You don’t get to the Stanley Cup Finals on luck and good fortune. The Habs in 2021 got close to doing that, I guess, but the “fortune” was the extremely goofy division realignment that gave them weak competition at the start—the rest was all them. They had a generational goaltender and that will take you very, very far, and Shea Weber who is also an elite talent destroyed his body to get them there. Idk I think there’s a lot less “destiny” and “luck” in hockey than I guess some do, there are far more upsets in the NHL than in the other major league sports but that’s because generally the margins between the “better” and “worse” teams are very thin because the hard cap forces a level of parity. When there’s a true imbalance, it looks like the Rangers vs the Capitals in round one of this year. Mostly, the teams who are true competitors are just really good.

3) It’s always possible until it’s not. At the start of this season I would have said 8 years at $8MM AAV should do it. I do think he underperformed a bit this playoffs but he’s going to be a very coveted free agent if it gets that far, so the price may have gone up. Never say never though!

[deadpresidents]

Did Gore ever say why he didn't run again? Or was it just "I did that and it didn't work out, so I've moved on"?

I don't recall Al Gore ever giving a specific reason for why he never ran for President again after 2000. It's probably a combination of reasons, but I do think he was just ready to move on and focus his energy and platform on the issues he cared about most passionately, like combating climate change.

I'm sure that Gore was also frustrated and disheartened by coming SO close to being elected President and still losing. He won the popular vote in 2000 and it was the Supreme Court's decision (along strict party lines) to halt the recount in Florida and hand the victory to George W. Bush. I mean, imagine that feeling -- that you put everything you had into running for President, won more overall votes than than your opponent, and very possibly would have won a recount that handed you the Presidency, but lost due to an unprecedented decision via the narrowest possible margin by a separate branch of the government that was voting along party lines. There were votes still needing to be counted or recounted, and the Supreme Court just suddenly called the election while his opponent had a razor-thin margin that was shrinking by the hour. Why would you ever put yourself through that again?

Gore also saw an opportunity to make a shitload of money and, as a public servant who had spent the last quarter-century in elective office making money was an appealing idea. And he made a TON of money.

I'd also suggest that the timing never worked out for him once he skipped running in 2004. I've said before that I am confident that Gore would have defeated President Bush's bid for re-election if he had faced him in 2004, and the longer he was out of office, the more likely it would be that the Democratic Party would build a deeper bench of active, exciting potential Presidential candidates. That's exactly what happened and 2004 was probably the last, best chance for Gore to have jumped in the race and been heavily favored to capture the Democratic nomination. The 2008 campaign saw Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton become to top Democratic contenders, and 2012 was a re-election cycle for the incumbent President Obama. Maybe Gore could have made some noise if he decided to run in 2016 or 2020, but by then he had been out of any sort of public office for 15 (and then 20) years, so his time had passed. I've probably written this thousands of times, but ideal timing is a huge aspect of successful Presidential campaigns.

[poke-admin-showdown]

ROUND 2 ANALYSIS: A PATTERN EMERGES

round two voting has concluded! and as is usual, i have some things to say about it

first of all, this round marks the entrance of our four highest seeded contenders - plumeria, the shadow triad, eri and matt. the title of this roundup post was originally going to be "MATT'S HERE NOW" but his match was actually significantly tamer than others, and there's something else i want to talk about more

almost half of our contestants going into the quarterfinals share three attributes: a red theme, bobbed hair, and capacity for (possibly feral) violence. mars, courtney and mela have significant support within the demographic of people voting in this bracket. now, i doubt the hair is really doing anything, i think that's mostly a coincidence, but it is interesting and pretty funny to me how that's worked out.

starting with mars: she's feral and we all love her for it. there have been enough tags about mars being feral that i'm going to have enough to make an entire tag compilation post at the end of this bracket. she's the star of the most one-sided poll this round, winning against petrel by 88% of votes. this is also our most-voted poll with 161 votes at time of writing. tumblr LOVE mars.

secondly, courtney: a significantly closer match this time against her team magma colleague tabitha, but still a clear win. i thought this match would have been a lot closer, and i saw some great arguments for both opponents in the tags, but in the end courtney won by 65%. that's pretty significant! i was honestly half expecting tabitha to win. i would like to officially state that i hope our banner isn't influencing results even though it is correct.

and finally, mela. i was not expecting her to get this far, i'll be completely honest. she has rage in her heart, yes, but she's also wearing those big ol boots. i spend a lot of time thinking about garment construction and how it would limit movement in a fistfight and in mela's case, i believe her boots would hinder her. She was seeded below Atticus for this exact reason. but she's taken down a galactic commander (rip saturn you tried) and her ninja-themed bestie, and i'm very curious to see how she'll do against her next opponent. will the angry bebooted teenager make it through the quarterfinals or will her reign end here? who know! not me!

other things of note: jupiter made it through round two, but with significantly less of a winning margin at 56/44% at time of writing (which is also our closest match), with a reverse sweep, since Oleana had an initial lead. i'd chalk this up to her opponent - while i haven't played swsh, i have heard a few things about oleana, and she does seem like the kind of person to fight dirty. unfortunately for her the tumblr consensus seems to be that jupiter would fight dirtier. the #jupitersweep dream lives on For Now.

a fight i wasn't expecting to be as close as it was is (one of) the shadow triad vs rocket executive archer. i don't know if archer has secret combat tricks i don't know about and that's why he got 34% of votes but that was genuinely a surprise to me considering he was up against an actual ninja who can appear out of thin air and stuff. pretty impressive on his part honestly.

finally, and related to my last point, we've lost two more villainous teams this round. team rocket has lost all four of its representatives in one round and is now entirely out of the running. we also lost macro cosmos's only representative, oleana, who did her best and i'm very proud of her.

the teams left in the running are teams aqua, magma, galactic, plasma, skull and star. most of those only have one representative left but galactic and star have two. i don't have too much to say about this, but i do think it's interesting and worth noting.

and now, funny tags time!

(courtesy of @/edgeanescence on the matt vs ariana poll)

(courtesy of @/spaghettiwolf on plumeria vs proton)

(courtesy of @/pixelchaos00, also on plumeria vs proton)

(mars vs petrel compilation, courtesy of @/clefaiiiry, @/salon-maiden-anabel and @/quarterdollar)

[lightdancer1]

The Austro-Prussian War is a good reminder that history really does hinge at times on kings and battles:

One relatively impolitic and unfashionable truth is that the reason old history was so much a history of kings and battles is that kings and battles did so much to *shape* that history and who wrote it and the audiences for which it was written. There were societies that rose and fell on the course of a single battlefield. The wars of Otto von Bismarck-era Prussia and the unification of Germany (and the realities of today's Ukraine War, along with, really, the US 'War on Terrorism') show that this hasn't changed.

The Austro-Prussian War is a very good example of that. Austria goes into it with every possible advantage. Interior lines, superior numbers, a man who at the start vastly outweighed Helmuth von Moltke in reputation. Like Mexico in 1846 every paper strength military factor would have given Austria every possible chance to win this war and to do so decisively.

Instead in six weeks blind aggression and audacity won Prussia the war in spite of its army at times displaying the same reckless bloodlust that recurred in 1870-1 and both world wars. The reality is that against Franz Josef, the jobber of European wars, this was plenty to work. Against a divided and weak Second Empire and early Third Republic, amplified by the civil war of the Paris Commune, it was enough to work. Committed to a general European two-front war it wasn't anywhere near enough to work and the German officer corps could not bring itself to admit that military power alone wasn't enough, and so it plunged Germany into two avoidable bloodbaths that left Germany at the end of it the fourth power in Berlin.

That was hindsight. At the time the swift motions from the onset of the war, from Moltke's grasping the right potential of breechloading rifles and railroads where other powers were slower to do so, to the decisive battle of Koeniggratz (which like other decisive battles hinged on a razor-thin margin that some slight differences on the Austrian side would have turned into a victory as grand for Austria as the real life battle was for Prussia and rendered the entire set of defeats before it moot) stunned Europe.

Austria's weaknesses, in turn, were not exactly the multi-ethnic nature of its army. This particular factor of Austria is often invoked to explain the terminal collapse of the Habsburg system. It's too simple because the truth is that the Austrian Empire itself was a desperate bid to keep the imperial title and its diplomatic perks in the Habsburg family after the defeat of the 1806 war against Napoleon and the dismantling of the HREGN.

Austria never developed from that the basis of being a cohesive state and there were multiple ideological and bureaucratic factors that prevented any such thing. On paper it was the second-largest state after Russia in terms of population and land mass in Europe. In an age that identified power with the ability to run an effective military machine this created some pretty obvious Catch-22s for Italy and Austria, ones that ultimately cost both states much in the vain pursuit of what they could not do.

9/10.

[crazy-pages]

You're right, those are bigger factors. But when you're trying to rig elections, you don't leave ways to manipulate the system on the table. Especially when elections are won by small margins, and gerrymandering means the ability to adjust district population numbers can be such a huge advantage.

So let's say you some predominantly black districts which vote Democrat by a narrow margin and a super majority of those votes come from black people, and you also have some predominantly white districts which vote Republican by a huge margin. (A not uncommon state of affairs in the US South). Well first, you can swing a couple Democrat districts by disproportionately imprisoning black people in those districts for felonies. But then you can also bus them to a prison in a couple white districts, in large enough numbers to justify splitting them into more districts, by a population count that includes the non voting prisoners. Maybe you can even justify consolidating some black districts because of their reduced population.

It's a subtle thing, done by thin margins, but that's all that's really needed for it to have an impact.

It's not the *entire* reason US politics look the way they do, it's simply one part of a very large toolkit for disenfranchisement. But include laws which limit time off work for voting to 1-2 hours, don't enforce that time off anyway, reduce polling place numbers in black neighborhoods until they've got 3 hour waits, then make driver's licenses required to vote when black people are more likely to live in inner cities and not own cars, etc, etc. Do it with a dozen small cuts and you can take a pretty big slice of the political cake like this.

In case you didn’t know:

The Electoral College originally heavily favored Slave States, because the large slave populations contributed to electoral points, but obviously slaves could not vote, so voting whites in those states had more political power per vote.

And NOWADAYS, the Electoral College heavily favors states with high prison populations for exactly the same reasons. 

[diinferi]

BACKGROUND

[ORPHAN] People don't often live to a ripe old age when they're sent on life threatening missions every week. The fact that you grew up without parents is a testament to that fact. You've been set up with an apartment and some local clothing. You are considered a member of the village you start in.

LOCATION

[KONOHAGAKURE] The Hidden Village of Leaves, based in the Land of Fire, and led by the Hokage. While the hidden villages of the Five Great Ninja Countries are considered to be largely equal on paper, Konohagakure is still considered the most influential due to winning the previous Great Ninja War, but the fact that the nine tailed demon fox rampaged inside the city has many people casting aspersions on exactly who is the strongest. The use of Fire jutsu is prevalent amongst the ninjas of Konohagakure. They pride themselves on the will of Fire, a philosophy emphasizing teamwork and self sacrifice. They are based in a great forest.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

[BASIC NINJA TRAINING] You know how to use kunai and shuriken, a basic taijutsu style, how to walk on any solid surface regardless of petty things like gravity, how to walk on water, create a non-physical illusion of yourself, and change places with a previously prepared log or another generic item to dodge attacks. You can also reinforce yourself with chakra, making you significantly faster, stronger and more difficult to hurt, and if you apply yourself, you will be able to keep up with Captain America. You also gain the ability to jump ludicrously far, on the order of dozens of meters. It's all topped off with some serious stealth skills too. As in keep yourself from being spotted while wearing a bright orange jumpsuit and defacing Mount Rushmore levels of stealth.

[CHAKRA ENHANCEMENT SPECIALIZATION] Every Ninja enhances their body with chakra, but you have focused on a particular area to great effect. Other ninja compete with Captain America, but in at least one sphere of physical ability you blow him out of the water. The only problem is that it's a temporary and can be exhausting to use.  

[SPEED] Are they holding still? Oh wait, it's not them holding still, it's you not being slow. You can expect to move faster than most ground based vehicles if you put your nose to the grindstone. Your reflexes are boosted to keep up with your increased speed.

[YOU HAVE RESERVES] All ninja can increase their reserves with training, but you've won the chakra lottery. Even now at the start of you journey some ninja with years or even decades of experience on you still have less chakra than you do naturally. This effectively enhances your stamina as well as letting you use more powerful ninjutsu than others. Other options increase your chakra reserves, but You Have Reserves increases them by a much larger margin. Unless otherwise stated, any other choice that increases you chakra will give you one half the effects of You Have Reserves.

[ELEMENTAL CHAKRA AFFINITY] Most ninjutsu rely upon manipulating the elements, and you’ve discovered what element you’re naturally inclined towards and have some basic training in using it. Further training will increase the power and efficiency of the techniques using your element. You can use techniques for affinities you aren't naturally inclined towards, but they'll be significantly weaker, less efficient, and the most powerful techniques will be beyond your grasp entirely. 

[WATER] Allows the user to manipulate pre-existing water or create their own by turning their chakra into water inside their body. It is also possible to create water outside the user’s body but this is very difficult. Can be used to change the density of water as well. Water techniques rely on pressure to deal damage. Strong against fire because it naturally extinguishes them, weak against earth as earth structures can dissipate the force of water and rendering the technique ineffective.

[WIND] Used by making the chakra as thin and sharp as possible though some techniques instead rely on brute force to simply blow things away. Mostly consists of short to mid-ranged offensive techniques which rely upon precision for maximum cutting and slashing damage, and short to mid range attacks meant to give you more space. Strong against lightning because it is dispersed by wind but weak against fire as it feeds the flames.

[NIN/TAI/GEN/BUKIJUTSU SPECIALIZATION] You are particularly skilled and talented in an area of the ninja arts. You will start out knowing one basic technique for the category, and one dangerous, forbidden, and powerful technique from the category you select. The techniques you learn from this may be of up to A rank. In addition, you will learn things that fall under your category far more quickly, and all techniques from your category will be faster, stronger and more efficient. Can be taken once per category.

[BUKIJUTSU] Weapon techniques that cover the use of handheld weapons, whether the user be shinobi or samurai. Academy students are all taught the use of basic ninja weapons and tools like shuriken and kunai, learning how to wield them through target practice. With this you can become a true master of weaponry. Can be used in combination with all other weapons, chakra flow, fuin-, nin-, tai- and genjutsu to increase its effectiveness. A bukijutsu adept might well be able bounce shuriken off of each other in mid flight to hit different enemies who are completely out of sight or decapitate someone with a spoon.

[TAIJUTSU] Hand to hand combat. With enough training, a taijutsu user might be able drive their boot through a foot of steel, and punch the air so fast and hard the air friction creates fire balls.

[FUINJUTSU PRODIGY] You are one of the very few who are talented in the art of Fuinjutsu, an esoteric discipline combining all the complexities of calligraphy and physics. Despite the difficulty in learning fuinjutsu, skilled practitioners find it well worth it. Fuinjutsu, or sealing, is at its most basic storing something within something else through symbols to be released at another time. More advanced techniques still follow this same principle, but to great effect. Seal masters can seal away the elements, chakra, form summoning contracts, teleport, or even summon and bind souls using these principles. It's only downside is that this art is massively difficult to learn even for the talented, and will take years of intense study to master. You start off knowing how to make the two most basic of seals: The storage seal which allows you to store items in slips of paper much smaller than they are, and the explosive seal which is basically a few glyphs on a piece of paper the size of a greeting card that explodes like a small amount of plastique.

[UZUMAKI] You are a member of the scattered and decimated Uzumaki clan, you are naturally inclined to fuinjutsu and sensory techniques and have an incredibly strong life force, giving you great endurance, longevity, and increased chakra reserves. With training, you might be able to create chakra chains from your body which you can manipulate at will. You may now change your hair color to red at no cost, reflecting your lineage. As this clan is nearly extinct, if you select this to be the clan you've been born into only your immediate family is alive and well.

[KAGUYA] Kirigakure based. You possess an abnormal skeletal structure making medical treatment somewhat difficult, and can manipulate it at will. Infusing your calcium with chakra, you can manipulate the growth and properties to your liking. This can render you effectively immune to all damage from kinetic energy by growing an armor of bone immediately beneath your skin. This also comes with some minor regenerating abilities. Selecting this allows you to turn your hair white. Bone white, at no cost. This clan is renowned for its blood thirst, and was one of the first clans put to the sword in Kirigakure. Take the Hunted (Kirigakure) Drawback. As this clan is nearly extinct, if you select this to be the clan you've been born into only your immediate family is alive and well.

[SENSOR NINJA TRAINING] You’re capable of detecting the presence of other people through chakra. With enough training, you'll be able to use your sensory ability to tell who specific people are from miles away.

EQUIPMENT

[BASIC GEAR] Basic ninja gear, enough shuriken, smoke bombs, kunai, caltrops, explosive notes, ninja wire and other assorted gear to last you a while. Also includes three small reusable storage scrolls.

[FUINJUTSU KIT] Basic equipment to start fiddling with sealing techniques. Has enough provisions to create 50 explosive notes. Their overall quality depends on your skills to make them, though.

[SPECIALIZED GEAR] Contains a set of more specialized weapons or equipment, like a few oversized shuriken, a katana, a set of unrealistically heavy training weights or the like. You can't buy this to get anything with a name, or anything that costs CP on this jump.

DRAWBACKS

[STUFFED] All the filler is now part of your jump's timeline.

[BORUTO!] You start at the beginning Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring instead. Alternatively, you may simply increase the duration of your stay until ten years after the events of Boruto are resolved. You are guaranteed not to die of old age if you select this option.

[THERE'S HOW MANY MOVIES?] Eleven. There are eleven Naruto movies. The events of any of those movies you choose will occur as part of your jump's timeline.

[HUNTED: KIRI] Congratulations, a village hates you enough to place a bounty on your head! Decide which of the starting villages are actively hunting down with their spy networks and operatives.

[MC-KUN/MC-CHAN] Congratulations, you are now now a main character! Your starting location is set to Konoha and you now take Sakura's spot on Team Seven. Your teammates are Naruto, Sasuke, potentially Sai, and your Sensei is Kakashi. You will have to go through all the plot right next to Naruto or Sasuke, your choice, though of course you can change the canon outcomes. Either way, their success or failure depends on you and you will be forever trapped in this world should they fail. If either die, success become impossible. As a bonus their plot armor is degraded to the choice you can purchase here. You will only need to help the one you side with while they are separate; the other will have the full force of his canon plot armor to rely upon while they are apart. Yes, you are considered just as important to the plot as either of them; you will need to pitch in during the major battles they face if you wish to claim victory as the enemies you face have grown much stronger. If you manage to make it through to the very end they can become your companions if you wish. You may not select different companions than Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, and Kakashi, but may still import additional companions from previous jumps. This can be taken with Fan-verse, but only if Naruto and Sasuke are still the main characters and still get into an equivalent amount of trouble. Good luck; you'll need it.

FUTURE

[SAMSARA] While this place was... interesting, you decide to embark on your next great adventure to yet another world. Naruto might try to follow you because NAKAMA. And stalking your nakama is OK, no matter what Sasuke says. The crazy idiot might even find a way to do it too, and will promptly try to kick your head in with the power of friendship.

[oppositionresearch]

We now know which parties will control which chambers of Congress until the 2024 elections. Despite significant economic troubles, and centuries of precedent showing that the president's party virtually always loses big during midterm cycles, we were able to push back Republicans to a razor-thin majority in the House, and we might actually gain in the Senate depending on the outcome of a runoff election in Georgia. What happened? Two main things: First and foremost, young voters turned out.

Young voters (defined as voters between ages 18 and 29) voted more this year than almost any other midterm year in the past 30 years-- the only time we turned out at a higher rate was in 2018.

On top of that, young voters are overwhelmingly progressive. Voters younger than 44 trend towards voting Democratic, but voters younger than 29 are almost twice as likely to vote for a Democrat than a Republican.

[image description: a series of four graphs from the Tufts University Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. The graphs show partisan preference among voters, broken down into four different age groups. Both voters aged 18-29 and voters aged 30-44 favor Democrats, with 63% of voters aged 18-29 preferring Democrats.] I think this is important to note not just because it was a huge factor in our great results this election, but because the main way a lot of people our age engage with institutions regarding civic engagement is being shamed for not voting. And we historically haven't been good about voting! But in years like 2018, 2020, and now 2022, when we do turn out, we've made a big difference in the outcomes of those elections. And our influence will only grow as more and more young people come of voting age, and we keep up the energy. We've taken the blame for so long. Now we get to take the credit. We did this. Secondly, Republicans inadvertently depressed their own turnout. If you've been paying any attention at all to Republicans over the last couple years, you know they've been trying to undermine the results of the 2020 election, sometimes through massive acts of violence. Many Republicans running this year denied, or cast doubt on, the 2020 election without evidence. Some, in very red states and districts, won their races. But virtually every election-denying candidate in a remotely competitive race lost, and frequently did worse than other Republicans on the same ballot. Not only did people buying the lie stay home (why vote if the election is rigged, right?), but Republican voters who DID turn out withheld their votes from candidates who pushed the lie. What happens now? Because Democrats held the Senate, and possibly even improved their margins in it, federal judicial nominees will stay confirmable. We've yanked the gavel out of Mitch McConnell's hands- he will not be able to prevent President Biden from placing qualified judges on the bench like he did with Obama in his last years. Ditto for every Senate-confirmable appointment for the next two years. "Partisan gridlock" is going to be a big term once again. Because Republicans will control the House of Representatives, one of the two chambers bills must pass through to become law, new laws will become much harder to pass. But because the GOP majority in the House is so narrow, we will not need to pull as many votes from Republicans as we otherwise would to get essential legislation through. And Republicans will need to defect occasionally to save themselves from defeat in 2022, because: Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump are fighting for control over the Republican party, and right now DeSantis is winning. DeSantis is scary because he is one of the loudest homophobic, transphobic, racist voices in the Republican party right now, and he won re-election in a landslide this year while Trump-backed candidates tended to lose. He does all of the awful, evil things Trump does, except he is also extremely competent, and can point to his success in Florida as a model for what Republicans should be doing nationwide. I don't know if DeSantis will run for president, but if he does, he will have to beat Trump in the primaries first. I don't know who would win between them, but either would obviously be bad. There is no semi-moderate Republican who looks to be seriously considering a run. That's the bad news. The GOOD news is that serious primary fights in the modern era against a president seeking re-election have always always ended with the winner getting destroyed in the general. It's hard to see where Trump and DeSantis would fit in this, but if they have to face off against each other it very easily could turn voters off of both. If that happens, the Republicans best suited to stay in Congress would be those in "safe" seats, and those who could point to legislative successes over the next two years-- successes they will only get if they cooperate with Democrats.

Make sure take some time to feel proud of what we've done the last couple years. The fight isn't over by a long shot, but we've seen that we have a strategy that works-- and if he keep voting, we will keep winning.

[mey51]

took me bit but i'm done \o/ (under is my opinion on each character)

Iruma : The Boii, The legend... I don't know a lot of Shonen main character as sweet and sensible as he. I really appreciate him, we might have lost a bit of edge and sarcasm from the very first Iruma, but he is cute and badass, I'll gladly take it! Our boy is turning into a very greedy and powerful demon, I only wish to see him evolve more.

Azz : Now we're talking about a favorite of mine. He was my fav for a long time, but opera won in the end. I still love him!!! We're almost nothing alike, but he reminds me of myself somehow. I love how he loves Iruma and Clara, I also like how such a hard badass like him is so sensible, loving and caring. I really love his vibes.

Clara : My sweetheart, you're doing such a great job!!! Truely, seeing characters get to know love and love in return is hitting a sweet spot. She's very much needed in the love trio, she brings the whimsical and fun around her. She has ambitions and i can't wait to see her reach her goals.

Sabnock : I loove seeing him on screen, he is so motivated, strong... I love seeing him smile, he has a calming presence. He's also the base of a good amount of jokes, he's pretty solid.

Kerori : I like her, but she's best when she's an idol or an idol enthusiast. She's pretty blank when she's purely a student. Her motivation and adulation with her line of work is what I enjoy about her.

Shax : ... I like him a lot, but he sometimes is so painfully a horny teen...it's hard to watch... He has a good heart tho, and he offer a good balance in the cast.

Jazz : Nishi sensei really knows how to makes you care about characters. Jazz is very cool and at first detached, but she manage too stir him back to beign one if the most sensitive and touching face in the class. He looks cool, he's a sweetie, I just love seeeing him getting to be a dependable older brother for the misfits in place of his piece of shit of a bro... I really like him.

Agares : I really like what happend with him, just like with Allocer, Nishi sensei took one of the shadow in the class and made something out of it. I'm not going to say that he is profound, but he's a compeling character. His pairing with Gaap is really well done, they really work well with each other.

Gaap : He's a really cutie this one, I really appreciate how open with others he has been from almost the start. Also, his abilities are realy neat and cool.

Elisabeta : hmm... it's a bit harder for her. I like her very much, but she's used a lot for fanservice, and the fact that she's pretty young rubs me the wrong way. I can "excuse" some of it to the "she's a seduction demon', but that's flimsy at best. Other than that, she's pretty and nice, for when she's given the chance to do things she's pretty good in the story. I would enjoy seeing more of her doing important stuff.

Allocer : He really came to life with the Harvest Festival, he had a good job beign the "brainicac" of the Misfits before, but he really was just a puppet made to fill out space... I really enjoy what he became, still the brain, but getting to show how he uses it! I really love how close to Jazz he became, I wish we would see more of that in the futur.

Caim : You can stay... BUT YOU'RE ON THIN FUCKING ICE!! (really, he became marginally better with time, not by much, but I'm willing to take anything to make him more pleasent to watch. He was pretty good in the harvest festival doing his job and lusting on the down low)

Purson : OH my GODS Purson Soi... The pinnacle of taking a shadow and making an AWESOME character with it! He became one of the fan favorite overnight, and for good fucking reasons!!! he is so precious, so good. His character is so compeling, ever since he's been visible he's making every moment he's here better. just seeing smile with the others, or vanishing into smoke when something bad is happening... I love him:

Balam : What can I say? I love him! HE's so precious, so pretty, so relatable, so cool, intelligent, gentle, strong!!! He's the whole package... And he's such a good character, we see him grow as a person alongside Iruma, getting to earn the admiration of his students. We also learn a lot through him, he is very well used by the story.

Amélie : I think she's a really cool character. I enjoy her strengh, spirit and devotion. Yet at the same time, her character works so well because Nishi sensei is making a melting pot of her manga, and Amélie is also the soft hearted, shojo enthusiast that brings the very sterotipical romance aspect in m!ik. It works well with her, she is strong yet delicate and she can use both of this sides together in some of her best moments... I fucking love the scene when she sings Kuromu's song about how young girls in love are invincible as a way to give herself enough strengh to kick the ass of a big ass beast... It's so fucking good...

Kalego : Alright Kalego... Same as with Balam, he's strong, cool, well used in the story. He is one of the most used face in the story, and he knows how to fill that role. I don't have any bad thing to say about him, he's sexy, funny, impressive and interesting. I'm not sure what more I can say...

Robin : Sweet Robin. I think I like him more now than we saw the Barbathos clan. He was cute as a rookie teacher, but I've enjoyed a lot seeing him resolved to protect his students, he was cool in the heartbreaker arc, but recently when he brought Iruma in front of the head of the Barbathos and when he realised he probablly made a mistake and sprung in front of Iruma to protect him, that was so nice to see. Also, just because i like seeing him more serious doesn't mean I don't want more random, cute and weird Robin moments... I can't wait to see his adorable face and voice in the new season.

Bachiko : She's solid, a good character that's confident, yet can get emotionnal. She's a good branch to help Iruma's growth, but she's also growing thanks to him. I want to see more of her, and also learn about her past.

Ali-san : Mysterious, funny and irreplaceable. He's solid, still waiting to see what his deal is.

Sullivan : Same as Ali-san... What the hell is your deal Sully? What happened with Delkira? What are your motives? Keep beign a good grandpa.

Opera : I love Opera more than I can tell. They are my favorite character in the end, now that they have more screen time and more things to do in the story, I can't deny that I'm totally entranced by them. Love the humor, love the coldheadness, love the looks... Truely one of the best.

Kirio : Okay so I don't love him like some of you on here does, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like him. Without Kirio, Mairiruma would have never been what it is to me today. The revelation of his true intention, moreover, the twist using the "disabled person frustrated with his own inability" is what made the show for me. I don't love him, but i'm lowkey obssessed with this moment. He is one the pillar that makes M!ik worth watching imo.

Ronove : ... You're fucking lucky Nishi sensei knows how to make characters compeling... I hated his first apperance a lot, but with the climax at Walter park, and the way he genuienly was helpful in the begining of the music festival, I've learned to appreciate him more. Also, I like how gay this boy his without even accepting that about himself.

Baal : As a person I despise him. As a character, he is interesting. I don't quite get where he's getting at, but he's moving the plot forward. I'm waiting to see more of him, even if I get uneasy everytime. (I really don't like how he interact with the Sabnock familly...)

Delkira : I don't know a lot about him, he's fun when he's on "screen"... I'm pretty sure he's... "dead" in some way? like... he's never coming back as he was.

Hey guys, I made a character jar template for Mairimashita Iruma-kun, that u can use for free

I'd really like to see your responses

[newstfionline]

Monday, November 14, 2022

Democrats keep Senate majority (AP) Democrats kept control of the Senate on Saturday, repelling Republican efforts to retake the chamber and making it harder for them to thwart President Joe Biden’s agenda. The fate of the House was still uncertain as the GOP struggled to pull together a slim majority there. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory in Nevada gave Democrats the 50 seats they needed to keep the Senate. Democratic control of the Senate ensures a smoother process for Biden’s Cabinet appointments and judicial picks, including those for potential Supreme Court openings. The party will also keep control over committees and have the power to conduct investigations or oversight of the Biden administration, and will be able to reject legislation sent over by the House if the GOP wins that chamber.

Money is “vanishing” from FTX (Reuters) At least $1 billion of customer funds have vanished from collapsed crypto exchange FTX, according to two people familiar with the matter. The exchange's founder Sam Bankman-Fried secretly transferred $10 billion of customer funds from FTX to Bankman-Fried's trading company Alameda Research, the people told Reuters. A large portion of that total has since disappeared, they said. One source put the missing amount at about $1.7 billion. The other said the gap was between $1 billion and $2 billion.

Brazil grapples with trust on heels of Lula victory (CSM) Tears streaming down her cheeks, Viviane Ramos joined hands with other protesters and began feverishly murmuring prayers outside a military building in Rio de Janeiro’s center. Along with thousands of others clad in yellow, she was there to protest the result of the Oct. 30 election, which leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known universally as Lula, won by a razor-thin margin. Underscoring a lack of trust in established politics and democratic institutions that has grown over the past four years among a large segment of the population, protesters are demanding that the military step in to keep far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in power. “We won’t accept the results,” says Ms. Ramos, an administrative assistant. “I can’t prove it, but I know the vote wasn’t fair.” She worries a swing to the left would threaten family values, paving the way for legal drugs and abortion. “These are not my values. We can’t let our nation be destroyed.” Widespread mistrust in the electoral process, largely stoked by Mr. Bolsonaro himself, has posed tough questions about the integrity of Latin America’s largest democracy, and whether Lula will be able to overcome the challenges—or exacerbate them. “Lula will clash with this radicalized segment at every turn over the next four years,” says Paulo Henrique Cassimiro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. “The extreme right is not going to disappear just because Bolsonaro lost.”

UK’s self-billed ‘Scrooge’ promises tax rises, spending cuts (AP) Britain’s Treasury chief warned Sunday of a coming spending crunch and tax increases for cash-strapped Britons as he bids to fill the “black hole” in the country’s finances. Billing himself as a “Scrooge” figure ahead of Thursday’s Autumn Statement, when he will update Parliament on the government’s budget measures, Jeremy Hunt said he was forced to make “very difficult decisions” in his attempt to curb inflation and put the British economy back on an even keel. He told British broadcasters that he was determined to make an expected recession as shallow as possible, and warned that everyone could expect to pay more tax. Hunt is seeking to make up to 60 billion pounds ($71 billion) in savings and extra revenue in a bid to tighten up public finances and undo some of the damage that economists say was done by his predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and former Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Man's eagle eyes save lives in France building collapse (Euro News) No deaths have been reported so far following the collapse of a building in the northern French city of Lille, thanks to an early warning one by resident, authorities said. One person was pulled from the rubble by Lille's firefighters, with only light injuries. Another person, reported to be a doctor, remained missing as of Saturday evening. The multiple-storey building in the city centre was evacuated before dawn after a man coming home from a night out at 3 a.m. saw cracks appearing on the surface. He reported the issue to emergency services, the Lille prefecture said. The fire service responded and created a cordon around the danger zone.

Mediterranean marine heatwaves threaten coastal livelihoods (AP) A decade ago, Tunisian fisherman Ahmed Chelli’s nets bulged with fish and octopus that he sold at the local market in the Kerkennah islands. Today, he pulls up only “ISIS”—the name locals have given to the blue crabs that have invaded their fishing grounds in the fast-warming waters of the Mediterranean. “The fisherman, … instead of finding fish to provide an income, he finds something that cuts his nets,” Chelli complained. For more than 70 days this summer, a marine heatwave cooked the waters of the western Mediterranean. It was the worst swelter for the western part of the basin in the last four decades, said marine ecologist Joaquim Garrabou. By September, populations of sponges, sea-stars, fish, and mollusks were dying en masse in the waters off France and Spain. Corals bleached to bone white. While tourism drives most of the sea’s economic activity, worth $450 billion in 2017 according to the World Wildlife Fund, there are millions who rely on the sea’s bounty for their livelihoods. But as climate change makes the Mediterranean among the world’s fastest warming seas—with temperatures rising about 20% faster than the global ocean average—that bounty is under threat.

Russia Quietly Inspecting Soviet-Era Bomb Shelters Nationwide (Bloomberg) Russian authorities have quietly launched inspections, repairs and cleanups of bomb shelters nationwide that have laid dormant since the end of the Cold War, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the efforts. The unannounced campaign for state workers to check Soviet-era basement shelters in apartment buildings, schools and government offices alongside other protected areas is not motivated by specific threats or plans to use Russia’s civil defense infrastructure, the people were cited as saying. But it reflects the Kremlin’s existential view of the war and its broader militarization of society as the invasion of Ukraine nears the nine-month mark, Bloomberg said. The inspections are also motivated by the chaos seen during Russia’s “partial” mobilization—its first since World War II—this fall, with Bloomberg reporting that “the authorities are taking no chances with other war-related preparations.”

Ukraine Signals It Will Stay on the Offensive, Despite Talk of a Lull (NYT) As jubilant Ukrainian troops hoist their national flag over Kherson after a comprehensive Russian retreat, they give no sign of stopping their offensives for the winter, or allowing the war to settle into a stalemate. In the east, Ukrainian forces continue to grind forward and have repelled repeated Russian efforts to seize towns like Bakhmut and Pavlivka, reportedly killing hundreds of Russian soldiers. In the south, they are striking deep behind Russian lines, hitting Moscow’s troops before they can settle and build defenses on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, across from Kherson. And there are growing hints from troops on the ground, and volunteers close to them, that the Ukrainians are preparing for a new land offensive between those two fronts, south through the Zaporizhzhia region toward Melitopol, challenging Russia’s hold on the entire southern area that it seized in the invasion that began in February.

Bomb rocks avenue in heart of Istanbul; 6 dead, dozens hurt (AP) A bomb rocked a bustling pedestrian avenue in the heart of Istanbul on Sunday, killing six people, wounding several dozen and leaving panicked people to flee the fiery blast or huddle in cafes and shops. Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene on Istiklal Avenue, a popular thoroughfare lined with shops and restaurants that leads to the iconic Taksim Square. In one video posted online, a loud bang could be heard and a flash seen as pedestrians turned and ran away. Sunday’s explosion was a shocking reminder of the anxiety and safety concerns that stalked the Turkish population during years when such attacks were common. The country was hit by a string of deadly bombings between 2015 and 2017, some by the Islamic State group, others by Kurdish militants who seek increased autonomy or independence. In recent years, Erdogan has led a broad crackdown on the militants as well as on Kurdish lawmakers and activists.

Political maneuvering in Pakistan (Financial Times) Imran Khan said he wants to mend relations with the US despite accusing it of treating Pakistan as a “slave”, signaling a desire to work with Washington after claiming it conspired to remove him as prime minister a few months ago. In an interview with the Financial Times following an assassination attempt this month, Khan said he no longer “blamed” the US and wants a “dignified” relationship if re-elected. He also warned that Pakistan was close to default and criticized the country’s IMF program. The former cricket captain was ousted in April in a no-confidence vote he claims was the result of a conspiracy between prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and the US, a top security partner to Pakistan that has provided the country with billions of dollars in military aid. Many analysts believe that Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) party is the most likely winner of a general election that has to be held by next year, following a surge in his popularity thanks in part to his anti-American rhetoric.

Ukraine war, tensions with China loom over big Bali summit (AP) A showdown between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin isn’t happening, but fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing tensions between China and the West will be at the fore when leaders of the world’s biggest economies gather in tropical Bali this week. The Group of 20 members begin talks on the Indonesian resort island Tuesday under the hopeful theme of “recover together, recover stronger.” The summit’s official priorities of health, sustainable energy and digital transformation are likely to be overshadowed by fears of a sputtering global economy and geopolitical tensions centered on the war in Ukraine. The nearly 9-month-old conflict has disrupted trade in oil, natural gas and grain, and shifted much of the summit’s focus to food and energy security. The U.S. and allies in Europe and Asia, meanwhile, increasingly are squaring off against a more assertive China, leaving emerging G-20 economies like India, Brazil and host Indonesia to walk a tightrope between bigger powers.

Ethiopia’s rival sides agree on humanitarian access for Tigray (AlJazeera) Ethiopia’s government and Tigrayan rebels have agreed to facilitate immediate humanitarian access to “all in need” in war-ravaged Tigray and neighbouring regions. Saturday’s agreement followed talks in the Kenyan capital Nairobi this week on the full implementation of a deal signed between the warring sides 10 days ago in South Africa to end the brutal two-year conflict in northern Ethiopia. “The parties have agreed to facilitate unhindered humanitarian access to all in need of assistance in Tigray and neighbouring regions,” a joint statement said.

[warriyorcat]

I’ve seen a lot of info on the US election, but there’s one huge thing that I’ve noticed most media and commentators have not mentioned: what happened in the State of Michigan Senate and House races. 

For those unaware, Michigan’s state legislature has been under Republican control for years - since before my parents moved to MI in the ‘90′s - and that was what people expected to see this midterm. That’s not what happened. Control of the state gov’t is now in the hands of the Democrats. Even though there was no ‘red wave’, MI Dems were not expected to flip either chamber. According to 270towin, MI Republicans had a 53% probability to hold the Senate and a 64% probability to hold the house, whereas MI Dems had 35% and 32% probabilities, respectively; there were smaller chances for an even split. MI’s GOP should have held both chambers, and they didn’t. Why?

Every 10 years in US politics, states undergo a process known as redistricting, wherein political lines are changed based on population. In MI, up until 2018, this process was controlled by the party in power (The GOP). Because the party in power draws the lines, they tend to draw the lines in places that benefit them, even if those lines make no sense. This is known as gerrymandering, and it’s everywhere in the US. Michigan’s was bad, because the lines either concentrated Dem votes in one area or spread them too thin to compete with rural areas in the same district. Because of that, you would get wack vote tallies. Dems would win more votes, but the GOP would end up with 75% of the seats.

In 2018, Michigan voted to pass Proposal 2, which established an independent redistricting commission, which removes politicians from deciding where the district boundaries go. This commission is made up of 13 people (5 Dems, 5 Republicans, 3 independents) pulled from the common populace (my dad was invited to be on the commission but he declined). When 2020 came, instead of drawing incredibly gerrymandered boundaries, they drew the boundaries based largely on population. They also asked people to submit their own maps. The districts they drew pretty much balanced out Dem and GOP districts.

Thanks to the redistricting, it balanced the number of Dem and GOP districts and made several of them really competitive. Combining that with GOP candidates underperforming nationally (except Florida) and Dem candidates overperforming, a scenario was created in which the MI Dems flipped both chambers of the state legislature. Even though they hold a two-seat margin in each chamber, it’s still huge. Very few people thought that a flip would happen in MI; most people though other legislatures would flip, and likely in the favor of the GOP.

Anyway, thank freaking goodness. MI’s Governor, Secretary of State, and AG races were all won by the Dem incumbents, and now Whitmer (the Gov.) has a legislative branch that will work with her more on her key issues.

TL;DR: MI Dems flipped both state chambers because there’s no more gerrymandering in MI and not enough people are talking about it.

links: https://www.270towin.com/2022-election-results-live/state/michigan

here is a map of what districts looked like in 2020 prior to redistricting: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/map

Most states have some gerrymandering, but if you want to see extreme gerrymandering look at Maryland, Ohio, and the Chicagoland area of Illinois. 

[redadm1ral-moved]

So I was rotating Makarov in my brain a little bit the past few days, and specifically I was thinking about his queerness and his relationship with gender (for reference: my Makarov is a bisexual cis* man, and that asterisk cannot be emphasized enough).

(CW: Discussions of sexism and queerphobia, external and internalized)

Makarov's relationship with gender is complex. If things had gone differently—if he'd been raised by different people, made different choices with his life, ran with different groups—he'd probably call himself some flavor of nonbinary, or gender nonconforming, or honestly? Genderfuck. He's masculine, but in a feminine way. Manhood slightly to the left. None gender with left femme on masc bread. You get the picture. He wouldn't want to pursue a medical transition, since his body is already the way he feels comfortable (he likes the way more feminine clothing/accessories/makeup looks and feels on his body as it is, his body hair is sparse, thin, and very lightly distributed, and he has a versatile voice—basically he won the genetics lottery in terms of his own gender expression). And any social transition would probably be just the use of he/they pronouns and more obviously androgynous or feminine-leaning presentation.

But in canonverse (and COH and, to a lesser extent, Venator and Apoptosis), he would never admit that. Not to anyone, and especially not to himself. He doesn't even know how to put his feelings into words other than "I like to be pretty/beautiful sometimes" (with "pretty" and "beautiful" being strongly feminine words to him, at least when applied to people), because that's about as deep as he dares to go with his gender-related introspection.

Because Makarov didn't grow up with different people, in a different environment, and he isn't surrounded by people who would understand or at least accept him. He's Vladimir Makarov. His father's son, raised with the expectation that he will adhere naturally and enthusiastically to strict, conservative notions of what the ideal Russian man should be. He's meant to be защитник, a protector, a provider, possessive and aggressive and strong and ambitious. And he is some of those things, among other qualities, but his femininity, his bisexuality, his desire to be desired and be seen as beautiful the way a woman would be, his desire to be approached and pursued by another man (or even another woman, though he's even less likely to admit this over his desire for male attention) directly contradict the Soviet ideals of manhood that he grew up with—and that he idolizes, because it's all he's ever known and it's what he was taught is right for a man since he was a boy.

Some of it isn't his fault. He couldn't help the family and society he was born in. But some of it is also of his own making—he chose to enter the military, he chose to commit the atrocities in Chechnya that got him expelled from the Spetsnaz, he chose to run with Ultranationalists who, for all their Soviet nostalgia and strongly communist/leftist politics, are indistinguishable from right-wing fascists in terms of the strict, conservative ideology they bring to the table and the harm they inflict on other people, including and especially marginalized people in Russia, in the former USSR, and abroad. He refuses to let go of the USSR and everything that came with it, including the toxic ideals of gender and masculinity that were ingrained in him from a young age. And though he doesn't harbor personal hatred for any group based on race, gender, sexuality, or what have you, he is completely unafraid—and in fact, more than willing—to step on the marginalized people he has privilege over in order to elevate himself, and bring himself closer to the power he thinks will satisfy the gaping black hole in his soul—even if it's other queer people he personally relates to he's stomping on. Basically, he's a "fuck you, got mine" queer who cares only about his own advancement and has an active hand in enforcing the same ideology that severed him from himself.

So he keeps that part of himself, to himself. He indulges in secret. He picks colognes sweet enough to please his feminine desires but still masculine enough not to be mistaken for women's perfume. He few feminine items he owns (clothing, jewelry, accessories), are hidden away, and quickly destroyed if he fears discovery. Every now and again, if he's seeing a woman, he'll put on some of her lipstick or eyeliner in secret while she's away, just to look at himself for a few precious moments. The only other person who knows this about him is Yuri, and even before Yuri's betrayal, Makarov regrets exposing that part of himself to him.

And even though he pretends otherwise, Makarov resents this part of himself. He resents the bisexuality he's otherwise unapologetic of, he resents the complex, nuanced gender identity and expression and desire bubbling under his toxic, sexist façade of perfect Soviet masculinity, masculinity which he refuses to let go of because of his idolization, his fetishization, of what he was raised to believe was the perfect society. He resents himself for his "imperfection," because his queerness is a vulnerability. If others find out—if the wrong people find out—he will lose everything he worked for, everything he dreamed of, and achieving his goals will be that much harder...if not impossible, because if he's shut out of the Ultranationalists, and the world is his enemy, who's left to protect him—and serve him? Makarov is bound and imprisoned in the rigidity of societal expectation and his own selfish choices, fueled by greed and contempt for his fellow man.