#also brief overview of rules??

[ciaossu-imagines]

Eric Surt Headcanons? Like any form? Also bc i am on mobile and cant read up on rules that well, do you do general hc or specific things?

I can definitely do these up for you, my lovely anon! Where you gave me complete freedom, I stuck to mostly general headcanons! But I do understand how hard it is to find the rules on mobile (and honestly, I need to update those anyway)! Thank you so much for thinking to ask.

It’s probably easier to say what I won’t do for headcanons, anyway, since I accept most requests. I won’t do canon character x canon character shipping, since I’m pretty much the antithesis to a shipper, but will write for canon character ships or polyships with canon characters and a reader/reader’s OC. And I’m always happy to accept canon character platonic headcanons or deep dive into the relationships and interactions between characters in a non-romantic sense. If headcanon requests are for smut, it’s a female reader because it’s what I feel comfortable writing, and I won’t publicly make my headcanons on character’s gender identities or sexual orientations known; and I don’t answer requests like ‘what would character think of a gay/transgender/non-binary partner’ because like, they’d adore them, just as they would any other type of person! And I don’t write yandere headcanons or headcanons where any character is abusing another or straight up toxic where it’s expected for me to treat it as okay or romantic. Other than that, please feel free to ask because I love seeing the ideas people come up with!

Moving on to the headcanons, I hope you’ll enjoy them!

So, carrying along with something I mentioned in my last batch of headcanons for Eric, he’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol and gets drunk really quick. But he’s not a violent asshole of a drunk, like you might think he would be. Nope, drunk Eric will still be kind of irritable and he’ll definitely still insult people but overall, drunk Eric is a happier drunk than sober Eric. He gets really giggly too. Like, this boy will straight up insult someone and then straight up giggle over whatever insult he came up with because he’s suddenly grown a sense of humour and his sense of humour is that he’s fucking hilarious. He even just randomly giggles because something popped into his head that he finds really funny, and he thinks he said it out loud, but he didn’t and nobody quite understands why he’s laughing. It’s probably one of the few times people hear him full out laugh too, by the way.

Because of his light colouring, Eric blushes pretty easily and pretty noticeably and it embarrasses the fuck out of him. He hates it. When he blushes, it’s not just his cheeks either. His whole face gets really red and his neck and upper chest flush red too. It’s not just embarrassment that makes him blush either, since he gets really red if he over-exercises or gets really angry too.

Eric doesn’t like socks. He’ll only wear them if he absolutely has to and takes them off the moment he’s able to. He doesn’t even really like wearing shoes that much, to be honest, and enjoys walking around barefoot whenever he’s able to. Weird headcanons, but I feel his feet have a pretty big gap in between his big toe and the rest of his toes, which are all close together. Doesn’t affect him any, but his feet look kind of weird because of it.

Eric’s definitely the kind of guy who wears his pants more than once before washing them. He doesn’t do laundry often and probably even does this with his shirts. The only things he won’t re-wear and that he puts in the dirty laundry to be washed right away are his underwear and even then, there are times (mostly when he just doesn’t have a spare pair clean) that he might re-wear those too.

Eric has tried smoking, but it tasted disgusting to him, and he honestly doesn’t get how people smoke or enjoy cigarettes. He can’t even describe the taste, but it’s worse than food he’s been forced to eat out of the garbage in his past, so that is saying something major.

Eric calls himself a dog sometimes, but he doesn’t really like the animals. He doesn’t hate them or anything. He won’t push one away from him or be mean to one and he’s okay with sitting around while Kousuke feeds the strays dogs that he looks after. There are even certain dogs that he can be pretty cool with. It’s just that they’re definitely not his favourite animal and there are a good number of other animals he’d rather have as pets. I personally see him as having fish as a starter pet and really enjoying them. He gets along well with fish too but his dream pet, and the one that makes him happiest…He wants one of those mini, tea-cup pigs.

[hoe4sports]

“Private, not secret.”

Caroline Graham Hansen x reader

A/N: No tiggers.

It had now been a few months since you and Caroline started hanging out. She obviously is a very private person, so nobody knows. It’s actually fun; sneaking around like teenagers, leaving the others apartment without anyone noticing, making sure people don’t see us arrive in same car and taking turns on choosing activities. You can describe it as being girlfriends, just undercover. The team however, was growing suspicious, and you knew that Ingrid was struggling to keep the secret as Mapi was also increasingly getting suspicious. 

You were walking down the long corridor with Alexia who you also had gotten to know on a very personal level. We were heading down to the team’s warderobe, of course, Caroline staying behind to make sure that nobody suspected anything. “Please Hermosa” Alexia teased, “Come with me for one night, I’ll be fun! I promise!” Alexia had practically begged me to go on a date with her, and you thought it was hilarious. You laughed as she made a pout with her perfectly coloured lips. We arrived at the warderobe, and she swung the door open for me. “Ladies first” she said with a flirtatious vibe as she put one hand to signal that she wanted you to walk in first. You laughed, and a few of the girls who were already there made whistling sounds. You walked in and you both sat down.

This meeting was the first orientational meeting that we had every day. The coaches, the players and the staff would all meet in the warderobe for a short brief and to get an overview of the day. You and Alexia sat down next to her cubby, and you rolled my eyes. Alexia winked, “one day, hermosa, you will go on a date with me, you just don’t know it yet” she teased as Ingrid shot you a look. You just laughed it off and slapped Alexia’s knee playfully. You saw Ingrid once again signaling me to look up towards the door. Caroline was standing in the doorway with a tense look on her face as her fist were clutching, her jaw was tense and her eyes were somewhat deadly. You stopped laughing, and put your cleats on. You had just gotten new hot pink cleats, and Alexia complimented them. “Colorful shoes for a colorful girl” she teased. “Ale, will you give me one second without trying to take me to bed!” You stated as you shot her a look while all the girls were watching attentively. “Ooo” you could hear the girls say as you giggled. “Aios mio Hermosa! You are embarrassing me! But I’ll take it.” She joked as she patted your back.

Fast forward to the end of the last practice of the day. You had made sure to push the attackers extra hard, and Alexia or should we say her thighs, was definitely taking the consequences of that hard. Caroline had been staring down Alexia the whole practice. As we all walked into the warderobe, Alexia threw herself on to the physio bench and was screaming a blood hurdling scream. “AY!!” The girl was screaming as she held to her muscles. You knew this, her muscles were tired and she needed to be stretched. You hopped up, confidently knowing that you spent 3 years studying physical therapy before you started your sports leadership bachelor. Your instincts kicked in, and you hopped up on your knees to the physio bench between her legs. You took her cramping leg, and pushed it up as hard as I you could. The girl screamed out in pain, and within 10 seconds her body relaxed. “Fuck Hermosa, my muscles are falling apart for you ai.” She said as you rolled my eyes and giggled. “Well” you said, “I should get off” and she winked. “I know you would like to see me in this position, but at least let me take you to somewhere private.” she finished and the girls; including you and Alexia was laughing on the top of your lungs. You hopped down of the bench and as you passed Caroline, you could tell that she was upset. However, we had a rule that she had introduced; keep it private. 

By the end of the day, you had just finished up the last meeting with Jonathan for the week. This week had been good, and you had the weekend off for a change.  You changed into your outdoor hokas, and popped on your white Barca wind jacket as you popped sunglasses on and walked to the car. Barca had leased this cute Toyota for you, and it had everything I needed. When you arrived at the car, you dropped everything in the backseat before flopping down into the drivers seat. Normally, Caroline was catching her ride with you but today, she had hopped into her own car for a change. You brushed it off and headed towards your apartment. Music was ringing in your ears ,and you were singing along at the top of your lungs while driving. Life was good. Ever since coming to Barcelona, everything was so uncomplicated. It was easy, and you loved it. 

You pulled up to the garage underneath the apartments and found your spot. Parking wasn’t your strongest side, but the fear of damaging Barca’s car was enough to keep you sharp. Eventually, you had finished parking and were up in your apartment. You turned on some music and let fresh air into the spacious place. “Hey Alexa, Play Senorita by Camilla cabello” you suggested, and alexia turned it on. You hopped in the shower to get rid of the sticky feeling of sweat off your skin. You used my fruity scrub on your legs, and it felt amazing. You sang along and you danced just enjoying the comfort of your own company. You rinsed off all the sugar from the scrub and stepped out. It was radiating heat in Spain at the moment, so you just didn’t bother with drying myself off. You popped on shorts and a Nike shirt after you finished drowning yourself in bodylotion. As you stepped out of the bathroom, there was Caroline in all her glory sitting on my couch like nothing had ever happened. “Excuse me, care to let me know that you are here?” You said jokingly as you giggled, but your giggles died out fast when she turned her face towards me. She looked tired? Almost like she hadn’t had a restfull moment in all of her lifetime. “Y/F/N..” she started, not finding her words easily. “Are you okay?” You asked, still confused over the whole situation. “I-“ and then she cut of herself before she even started the sentence. You sat down in the couch facing towards her with your legs crossed underneath you. “Caz..” I” you said carefully, “I can’t help you if you won’t communicate” as you brushed your hand on her face. She pulled out her phone, and for a moment you felt annoyed. Could you find a worse moment than this to flip through instagram you thought to yourself. Then she searched up Ona and showed me the picture. She had shared a picture of you and Alexia on the physiobench while Alexia was screaming. The caption said “I give it 4 months». You felt confused. “It’s just a picture, Caz.” You said carefully, but you must admit that you felt equally unsure. She then got into the comments and showed you the comments. Comments like “goals”, “just start dating already” and “Go get her tiger” was mentioned multiple times. You looked up at Caroline as you placed the brunette’s phone down on the table. “Caroline, are you by any chance; a bit jealous?” You suggested as you stroke her back carefully. She sighted and looked at you with big sad eyes. “It’s just all in good spirits, she’s not serious” you spat out as you tried to comfort her. It was obviously not working, and you still felt very much confused. “I wish that was me” she mumbled, and you got confused. “I promise that you don’t, the cramps were probably awful and besid-“ you said as a was cut of by your own thoughts. Shit, she didn’t mean it in that particular way. You scooted closer to her, and kissed her cheek. “I don’t like Alexia. I like this. Sneaking around, Farris, watching you play ps5 and spending time together” you said as a drew circles on her back. “I just wished that people would back off. I don’t want to be all flirty at work, but I just wish the girls would stay off.” she stated as she looked at me. “Come again?” You said as I you stroke her hair. “I want private, but not secret.” she said with her raspy voice. “You want that?” You asked with a glimmer of excitement in your voice. She was a very private person, and her stating that she wanted people to know was a big step for her. You weren’t really private, but had adapted to her wish. She nodded and looked at you with her dark blue eyes. “Whatever you want babe” you said as you leaned in and hugged her. She wrapped her long arms around you, and let out a relieved breath. A few hours later, her phone was blowing up and she proudly showed me what she had posted.

Graham95: Private, not secret.

@Ingrid_Engen: elsker elsker elsker

@Alexiaputellas: Well played.

[perplexingluciddreams]

A “brief” overview of my communication journey:

My verbal communication was always limited to echolalia and scripts (by scripts, I mean pieces of different echolalia that I stuck together to create a new phrase, or longer several-sentence delayed echolalia. But I didn’t learn to do this until I was at least 9 years old). I also had very limited control over what my mouth said - I would regularly hear my mouth say something I completely disagreed with, then had to watch in panic and confusion as the people around me reacted as if it was something I actually thought.

I used to request things that I didn't even want. "I want..." statements were banned in my house because they were "rude". “I want never gets!” I had stuck as a script for the longest time, even involuntarily saying it when other children said an “I want…” phrase.

I was given examples of how to request things by my parents. I used "I would like...", "Can I have... please", etc. But this didn't give me a reliable way to ask for what I wanted - I could only ask for things I had a script for. So I was limited to a handful of foods and objects that as I grew older, I had less and less interest in.

Saying "please" and "thank you" was drilled into me so much that I would often say it at the end of other unrelated scripts because it got "stuck" there by my mouth, without my permission. I got laughed at for this a lot.

I would say "yes" when I meant no, I couldn't reject things because I didn't have a script for saying "no". And I had been told to be polite so many times that it was a concrete rule in my mind - breaking a rule was worse than anything else. Saying "no" was rude, according to the adults around me - if another child said "no" to something, they were told off by a teacher or their parent. I didn't understand tone of voice so I thought it was the thing they were saying that was wrong.

As I got older, and became more aware that other people seemed to have more control over their voices and could say what they wanted (my general awareness of people and my surroundings definitely played into my struggles with communication, but I won’t elaborate on that here) I would sometimes sit in my bedroom and attempt to read aloud from a book, or write a sentence and read it aloud. To my confusion and upset, it would come out garbled with sounds mixed up, words missing, sometimes no sound coming out of my mouth at all. I couldn't make intelligible speech with my own words AT ALL.

I managed to teach myself to manually make some sounds, mostly vowel sounds, by moving my tongue around whilst making sounds with my vocal cords. But clearly this was not enough for using spontaneous speech as communication. Not to mention, any time I even considered trying to get my OWN words out (with speech, writing - even drawing pictures, signs), all words and scripts I knew just disappeared from my mind.

The only time I could even slightly get my emotions out was through movement - I used to throw myself backwards onto my bed repeatedly, bang my head with my hand, pull my hair, spin around in circles. I now know these would be called "stimming", but at the time I used it more for expressing myself. I also had other repetitive movements that I did almost constantly without even realising what I was doing, but I considered the expressive movement to be a different thing entirely at the time.

It took me years to get my own words out, and that was only once I managed to break down (spoken AND written, and both connected) language into individual words and learn the meanings, then learn to build it back up again. (And, this could only happen after I’d lost most of my out-of-control scripted speech. AAC with symbols helped me break down language in this way, because each word has a separate button and I was forced to learn to form sentences without an already-there structure to fall back on).

In order to do this, first I must take the long string of noises, and break it down into words. Then I must take those words and process the meaning of them individually. The biggest challenge, and the thing that takes the most time, is building the sentence back up.

Words often change meaning when they're strung together, and this is the part where that meaning tends to disintegrate into nothing, for me.

I have to build an abstract "picture" of what the words mean in my head. With very complex language, or a lot of language at once, this can take me hours, days, or even weeks.

Written language is a lot easier to process - firstly, the "string of noises" part is completely eliminated from the equation. Secondly, I see written words as entire shapes. Shapes, symbols or signs connect much more strongly to their meaning, in my head.

I learned to write by hand before I could type, because writing by hand is just copying the shape of a word. I hadn't yet learned to break down a word into it's individual characters and sequence them in the right order, not to mention finding the letters on the keyboard. My spelling has always been fantastic because of my tactile memory for words - and I say tactile instead of visual, because I don't "see" anything in my head, but the shapes of words are something solid that I feel I can touch, hold, grab on to.

But typing was a completely different thing, because even though I could recognise and read words in a typed print, it took longer for me to understand how to put letters together in the correct order to create words using a keyboard. The motor plan for typing was much more difficult for me to learn, but now I have that skill it's invaluable to me in terms of communication.

It took me a little while longer to realise that a keyboard gave me the opportunity to use my own words from my own mind, rather than whatever my mouth (or brain, when writing - I had different written scripts than verbal scripts, though, usually from books) happened to blurt out without my control.

I learned to read very early, but my understanding of language was actually quite poor - separately I could recognise the definition of one word, but when many words are put together I didn't understand the meaning of that sentence or paragraph.

The feeling of being able to put my own thoughts into written words like this, and read them back, is such a rush of power. I can have a concrete, physical impact on the world now that I can use a keyboard and get all the things in my head out there. It becomes real as soon as it's outside of me.

I remember that "comprehension" (answering questions on a written passage - we learned to answer the questions in a certain way, with a “blueprint”) in school really helped me with the breaking down of sentences and rephrasing them. Even though at the time, it just felt like it added to my out-of-control scripted speech, it gave me a skill that has been incredibly useful to me in the long term.

Getting to this point, where I can express myself fluently and eloquently through written language, took so much time and work, and still takes all my energy to write something as long as this. I am so grateful for the genuine communication I have now. It took many sessions, over months, to write this in its entirety. I wrote it in separate chunks, all trying to express similar things, then fitted them together and altered some sentences to make it flow better. (Of course with lots of editing to fix my grammar and my tendency to repeat the same sentence structure over and over - I still use my “blueprints” while writing, it’s the only way I can form complex long sentences like this one).

In order to communicate a memory or past experience in words, I had to have been actively translating (or attempting to translate) my abstract thoughts into language at the time.

If I wasn't or couldn't do this at the time it was happening, those experiences, thoughts, emotions, etc. are almost impossible to describe in language now.

And translating my brain takes so much energy and effort, and relies on me being able to understand what is happening and what I'm thinking and feeling. I more often than not don't comprehend my own mind - if this is the case, then of course I can't explain it to someone else.

It still takes so much time, effort and energy to get my thoughts out like this, and I’m very proud of the progress I’ve made. Even just learning to use Tumblr and posting on here as regularly as I can manage (plus reading other people’s words about similar experiences, or even very different experiences), has increased my ability to express myself and the vocabulary I’m able to access.

[spanishskulduggery]

Adjective Placement in Spanish Overview

With regards to adjective placement, I know I linked that bigger post I made about what the placement of adjectives generally mean but I'll give a very brief overview and if anyone has any specific questions please let me know.

IN GENERAL for like 70-ish percent of the time, adjectives go behind the noun in Spanish. These are your basic everyday adjectives that just describe nouns; el gato negro "the black cat", la mujer alta "the tall woman", los datos importantes "the important data", las tormentas peligrosas "the dangerous storms"

And again, IN GENERAL, if an adjective precedes the noun it is as if you bolded or italicized the adjective. It makes the adjective really stand out because of how out of the ordinary it is. It's very commonly used in poetry, writing, or for hyperbole:

La cruel realidad = The cruel reality La fea verdad = The ugly truth Mis sinceras disculpas = My sincere apologies Mi más sentido pésame = My most heartfelt condolences/regrets

If you were looking at it more poetically you could think of "blue sky"... el cielo azul "the blue sky" is everyday Spanish, very typical. Saying el azul cielo "the blue sky" draws the eye to azul making it seem like "blue" is the most important or noteworthy thing about it

You typically see this kind of construction in everyday Spanish with expressions of gratitude, grief, horror, deep love, or any very strong emotions or when you're trying to make an impact

(More below)

-

Note: This will impact certain aspects of grammar, such as the nouns that are actually feminine but take a general masculine article such as el agua, el arma, el hada, el hambre, el águila etc.

As an example:

El hada madrina = Fairy Godmother La buena hada = The good fairy

To further explain this rule - el hada is written with a masculine article. This is because it has its vocal stress on the first syllable and begins with A- or HA- [where H is silent]; and treating it as feminine would cause the sounds to run together, so the el adds a kind of phonetic break to preserve the sound; but in plural it will be las hadas "fairies/fey"

A word like this would still retain its normal functions as a feminine word, thus el agua bendita "holy water", el águila calva "bald eagle", el ave rapaz "bird of prey", and then in this case el hada madrina "fairy godmother"

By adding a separate word in front, you interrupt that la + A/HA construction and create a hiatus in the sounds already... so you can then treat it like a normal feminine noun, la buena hada "the good fairy"

You might also see this with grande "big" and its other form gran "great/large", el águila grande "the big eagle" vs. la gran águila "the great eagle"

-

Moving aside from the normal grammar, we now enter the exceptions. First - determiners.

There are a handful of adjectives that are known as determiners which come before the noun and they provide an important function in communicating things like number, possession, and location

The most common determiners include:

Definite articles [el, la, los, las]

Indefinite articles [un, una, unos, unas]

Possessives [mi, tu, su, nuestro/a, vuestro/a]

Demonstratives [este/esta, ese/esa/, aquel/aquella]

Interrogatives [qué, cuál/cuáles, cuánto/a] (Also work as exclamatory determiners which just means ¡! instead of ¿?)

Cardinal numbers [uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco etc]

Ordinal numbers [primer/primera, segundo/a, tercer/tercera, cuarto/a, quinto/a, etc]

There are also a few determiners of quantity such as mucho/a "a lot/many/much", todo/a "all/every", cada "each", vario/a "various/many", poco/a "few/less", tal "such", tan "so much" / tanto/a "so many", algún/alguna and ningún/ninguna etc.

And it will generally apply to más and menos "more" and "less", and sometimes mejor/peor "better/worse"

-

Note: With possessives is that there are two forms depending on adjective placement:

mi amigo/a = my friend mis amigos / amigas = my friends un amigo mío = a friend of mine una amiga mía = a friend of mine [f] unos amigos míos = a few friends of mine unas amigas mías = a few friends [f] of mine

All the pronouns have their own version of this possessive pattern

mi(s) and mío/a, tu(s) and tuyo/a, su(s) and suyo/a, and then nuestro/a and vuestro/a are the same but the adjective placement is different

As an example - nuestro país "our country" vs. el país nuestro "the country of ours", or nuestros familiares "our family members" vs. unos familiares nuestros "some family members of ours"

A common religious example - Nuestra Señora "Our Lady" and then el padrenuestro "the Our Father prayer"

The possessives that come after the noun are usually translated as "of mine/yours/his/hers/ours" etc.

You can also see a few determiners/adjectives in different places in a phrase like - un viejo amigo mío "an old friend of mine" vs. mi viejo amigo "my old friend"

-

As mentioned in the very beginning there are a handful of exceptions

Most notably:

viejo/a = old / elderly

antiguo/a = ancient, old / antique, old

mismo/a = same / self

gran = great, grand grande = large

And includes propio/a "own / appropriate", as well as bueno/a "good" or malo/a "bad". I discussed a lot of these in more depth in the previous posts and in the one linked above

In many cases the exact meaning is different, even if it's slight - such as el hotel grande "the big hotel" vs. el Gran Hotel "the Grand Hotel"

bueno/a and malo/a are generally either "good" and "kind", or "bad" and "unkind", though the meanings can kind of blur together... as something like la buena hada "the good fairy" isn't so far off from el hada buena "the nice fairy"

When places before though bueno/a turns to buen + masculine, and malo/a turns to mal + masculine

As an example - un buen augurio "good omen", un mal presagio "a bad omen/portent"

.....but in feminine it looks like you'd expect: buena suerte "good luck" vs. mala suerte

Similarly, and one I didn't include the first time is cualquier/cualquiera

cualquier persona = any person una persona cualquiera = an ordinary person

cualquier in front - regardless of gender - means "any", literally "whichever"

cualquiera in back comes out as "ordinary" or colloquially "any old" [such as un beso cualquiera "an ordinary kiss" / "any old kiss"], or in the case of people it could be like "a person of dubious/unknown background" sort of like "they could be anyone"...

-

And then you run into what I would consider "collocations" which is another word for a set noun or expression

There are some words/expressions that have the adjective in a specific place and you can't really change it or it sounds weird, so you sort of have to learn them as specific units to remember:

las bellas artes = fine arts [lit. "beautiful arts"]

(de) mala muerte = "backwater", "poor / middle of nowhere", a place of ill repute or somewhere very remote or inconsequential [lit. "of a bad death"]

a corto plazo = short-term

a largo plazo = long-term

(en) alta mar = (on) the high seas

alta calidad = high quality

baja calidad = low quality

Blancanieves = Snow White (the character/fairlytale)

la mala hierba, las malas hierbas = weeds [lit. "bad grasses"; plants that grow without you wanting them to or that grow in bad places etc]

los bajos fondos = criminal underworld [lit. "the low depths"]

el más allá = "the great beyond", "the afterlife" [lit. "the more over there/beyond"]

buen/mal augurio = good/bad omen buen/mal presagio = good/bad omen

buena/mala suerte = good/bad luck

...Also includes all the greetings like buen día / buenos días or buenas noches etc. they're all considered set phrases

There are also many collocations that use adjectives in their normal place that also can't be separated such as los frutos secos "nuts", or el vino tinto/banco "red/white wine" etc.

A collocation just means that they are treating multiple words as set phrases or a singular unit

And again, some history/geographical terms will have these as well:

la Gran Muralla China = Great Wall of China

la Primera Guerra Mundial = First World War

la Segunda Guerra Mundial = Second World War

el Sacro Imperio Romano = Holy Roman Empire

la Antigua Grecia = Ancient Greece

el Antiguo Egipto = Ancient Egypt (el) Alto Egipto = Upper Egypt (el) Bajo Egipto = Lower Egypt

Nueva York = New York

Nueva Zelanda = New Zealand

Nuevo México = New Mexico

Nueva Escocia = Nova Scotia [lit. "New Scotland"]

la Gran Manzana = the Big Apple [aka "New York"]

Buenos Aires

There are many such terms

[snailstriad]

Connections Between Novel and Current Milgram

Alright, it's theory time. While it's not confirmed yet, after Kotoko's music video, I am certainly sure that the two novels and our current Milgram are connected. Because their motives fit so well? Maybe some of you know about our "snails theory," right? If not or if you've forgotten about it, please take a look at it too! [in our twitter under the same name] (I must say that some parts of the theory (e.g the voices part) are wrong, but it is a theory after all.) To summarize, we think Haruka, Muu, Shidou, Amane, and Mikoto's beliefs and mindsets come from the first novel, and Yuno, Fuuta, Mahiru, Kazui, and Kotoko's mindsets and their thoughts resemble the second novel. First of all, please do not forget that we are not connecting crimes. Maybe you can see similarities but I, too, believe crimes and storyline different(not completely because of Touchi) from our current trials. This theory is only about mindsets. Well, let's start with 1st novel characters.

Our first prisoner, Gentle. He is a very emotional man to me. And killing a man, who is about to kill a woman. Of course this is pure coincidence but the thought of killing one life to save the others is bugging me. Because of this, I feel like there is a parallel between Gentle and Shidou.

Nervous. Her anxiety of being useless and a failure is similar to Muu actually. Another point that these two have in common is wanting to be appreciated. This desire for acknowledgment adds a psychological layer, suggesting how much external validation influences their thoughts and actions.

Considering that Close and Gentle are siblings, you might think I've lost my mind for what I'm about to say next, but yes, I believe Close and Amane have similar thought patterns. Let's look at the events this way: Close is someone who would do anything and everything to get the person she loves. However, after all the events, she no longer fears suffering. In fact, she wanted to experience pain and didn't seek help. This reminds me a lot of Amane. Maybe in the future, I'll prepare a separate theory for Amane, but I always felt that in that famous electric shock scene, Amane was afraid of pain, so it seemed like she was trying to comply with the rules. However, after her father's death, and of course, when she came to Milgram, she tried not to fear pain and even attempted to surpass the help she received.

The next prisoner, in my opinion, is probably the easiest to connect among all the characters: Two-Face. Initially, I had wondered besides the name, what similarities there could be with Mikoto, but then I realized I had overlooked the most important thing. Both of them were unaware of the consequences of their actions. As you know, Mikoto was completely oblivious to everything. On the other hand, Two-Face genuinely didn't know that what he was attempting could lead to an actual murder.

Our last character from the first novel is Torch. Firstly, when we saw less of Torch's story and mindset compared to the second novel, I couldn't liken him to anyone. However, later, with the release of the second novel, I understood that the reason Torch's (or Touchi's) life was saved was Milgram. Through Milgram, he found the love he had been seeking for a long time, thanks to Sumi. When I look at this child who has no one in his life, I see Haruka. Both are individuals without anyone and in need of love. Additionally, Milgram, who saved Touchi, also saved the first trial Haruka. The lack of self-confidence he had when he first arrived was overcome thanks to Milgram.

Our first prisoner in the second novel: Tatsumi. I might exceed my thread limit before finishing listing the commonalities with Fuuta. First, let's talk about how both perceive their crimes as a symbol of justice. For those who haven't read it, I'll give a brief overview of the common theme in the second novel: all the characters' crimes are based on a kind of murder trend called "justifiable righteous murder." When Touchi asks him what justice means, Tatsumi responds, "Justice is a social media hashtag." Most likely, you've already understood where I'm going with this: both share similar thoughts about the concept of justice. Another shared aspect is that both constantly question the concept of justice they possess.

Rina and Mei, since they share the same trial, I'll continue without separating them. In my previous theory, I talked about how Yuno and Mahiru are opposites of each other, yet still closely connected. The same holds true for Rina and Mei; they are almost opposites, but their attitudes towards all these events are still the same. It's similar to Yuno and Mahiru; Yuno has a very cold personality while Mahiru is the opposite. However, when it comes to Milgram and its rules, both pairs' thoughts align remarkably.

Alright, this was the person I found the most challenging to connect among all the prisoners: Tomonari. Because, honestly, when I first looked at him, nothing came to mind except the word "psychopath." However, if you look at Tomonari's actions, despite all the darkness within, he never tried to kill anyone until the very end, somewhat keeping his "true personality" hidden. You might get upset with me, I know, but I associate him with Kazui. As I mentioned, this theory is not about the crimes they committed. Kazui, too, chose to lie and conceal his true self until the very end of his life. In my view, they are similar because of these choices they made.

Finally, the last prisoner, Mako. First, I can't go without mentioning that, in Kotoko's MV, I saw Kotoko closely following the "Justifiable Righteous Murder" trend created by Mako (even looking at the news of Tatsumi's murder). Both of the characters are individuals willing to kill for the goals they have set in their minds. Additionally, both characters closely follow the workings of Milgram and manipulate it in line with their own interests.

[42lolita]

Guide To Ouji Fashion For Beginners: Dos And Don’ts

Boystyle (ボーイスタイル), also referred to as Ouji (王子) in pop culture is a fashion style that is frequently associated with lolita fashion. Although it is not Lolita style per se, it is more of a masculine counterpart of the fashion style. It shares many of the aesthetic elements of the Lolita style. If you are a Lolita fan, you are bound to fall in love with the Ouji fashion, also called Kodona Fashion.

The Ouji fashion follows its rules and can be pretty different from the Lolita fashion. Given that the word "ouji" means "prince," it contrasts with the princess-inspired Lolita aesthetic. However, this is just a brief overview of the world of Ouji fashion. Keep reading to dive deep into the beautiful world of Ouji Lolita fashion! 

A Short Introduction To Ouji Fashion

The Ouji fashion is a Japanese trend frequently considered the Lolita fashion’s masculine counterpart. Don't mistake it for a sub-style, though; it is a full-fledged fashion item in itself. Since “Ouji” means prince in Japanese, you may think of it as the male Lolita fashion or even as the “Prince” to the Lolita fashion’s “princess.”

The primary distinction between the Ouji look and its feminine counterpart is the use of pants rather than skirts. The Victorian clothing style has also had an impact on the pants, which come in a variety of lengths. Vests and blouses will go with them. Most outfits may pair a waistcoat with it to complete the look.

So a typical Ouji outfit consists of the following: a blouse, pants, a vest or a jacket, shoes, socks, and, if desired, a hat. When you put these together to create an Ouji coordinate, it should look masculine yet elegant. A vital factor to note is that, although it’s supposed to be "masculine" fashion, anyone –regardless of gender- can wear it.

Types Of Ouji Fashion Style

There are numerous sub styles and themes for Ouji fashion. It has the same three primary substyles as Lolita: classic, sweet, and gothic. However, there is a lot more overlap between these sub-styles, which aren’t as clearly defined. Even so, let’s look at the different types of Ouji fashion styles -

1. Sweet Ouji

The sweet Ouji style refers to more adorable, youthful, and innocent coordination. This style adheres to some of the same guidelines as Sweet Lolita, a sub-style of the Lolita fashion. But this style has a lot more of a “Shota” or young boy vibe.

People who wear this style often pair it with a cute Lolita to twin with them. Some common themes or motifs are school-style, circus, sailor, and white rabbits. There aren’t many hard and fast rules for the set.

But generally, the outfit should include a blouse with ruffles. The pant length will depend on the person’s tastes, but pumpkin or puffed ones are more common. Other common elements include cropped or high-waisted vests, ribbon neck bows, mini crowns, or mini hats.

2. Classic Ouji

The emphasis on elegance and a refined air characterize classic Ouji. This substyle has a more traditional “Princely” feeling. It is more sophisticated than sweet—most Ouji that aren't overly sweet or gothic fall within the classic Ouji substyle. The whole coordination should give off a refined and more mature vibe.

People who practice this style frequently wear boots. They also have specific buttons and structures for the jacket to be considered Classic Ouji, and even the pockets are unique.

The Classic Ouji fashion follows a significant historical influence. The typical elements of this style include – knee-length or longer pants, full-sized bicorn, tricorn or cavalier hats, waist-length or longer vests and jackets, and elegant jabots or neck-bows. The most common themes or motifs can be military, pirate, or royalty.

3. Gothic Ouji

Gothic Ouji exudes a sense of darkness that can take the form of opulent decadence, distressed decay, or a simple, angular design. Generally, Gothic Oujis favor darker color schemes, makeup, patterns, and fashion—people who follow this outfit typically twin with the Gothic Lolitas.

To perfect the Gothic Ouji look, you must have a lot of specific details, just like the two styles mentioned above. The buttons, bows, and pockets should follow the particular Ouji rules. This Ouji style often gets inspiration from Visual-Kei elements such as big hair, platform boots, and flamboyance. The most common aspect of this Ouji style is the color black.

The outfit features jewel tones like navy or Bordeaux to contrast the black. The Ouji style also uses a lot of textures instead of colors, such as jacquard, velvet, or distressed fabric. Another common element is capes and overskirts made from long flowing fabric. The most common themes include vampires, priests, and crosses.

5 Simple Dos And Don’ts about Ouji Fashion You Should Know About

If you are a beginner in Ouji fashion, there may be various elements of this fashion world that you may want to know before delving deeper. Mainly because many people tend to confuse Ouji fashion with Lolita fashion, the more widely recognized fashion style of the two.

So we bring you some simple dos and don’ts in Ouji fashion that you should keep in mind as a beginner.

1. Ruffled Blouse Over Plain Blouse

When you are doing an Ouji look, plain button-ups work fine. But when you pair them with a jacket or vest with a longer neck, the simple button-up can look a bit too simple. So you may opt for a more extravagant and frilly shirt that brings detail to the neck. Ruffles, jabots, neck bows, lace, and big collars are some details that favor the Ouji style.

2. Pants Define The Ouji Look

Pants are one of the essential elements of the Ouji look, as they are the main element that set the style apart from Lolita. Shorts and knickerbockers are the most common styles and lengths of pants that bring the Ouji vibe to an outfit.

Pants will also determine your Ouji style for the day. Long pants work best if you want a gothic and mature look.

3. Accessorize A You Want

When it comes to accessories, only the sky is the limit for you. Simply play around with it. If you already have a lot of Lolita accessories or other gothic ones, they may also complement the Ouji style. Some of the most common accessories in Ouji fashion are ties, bowties, jabots, lace, pocket watches, waist chain, etc.

4. Invest In Real Top Hats

Hats are most probably the most common element of the Ouji look. The two hat types most frequently seen in the style are top hats (mini or not) and tricorns (mini or not). Nevertheless, wearing newsboy hats and bowlers is also possible.

It’s best to avoid buying costume hats when you’re out shopping for hats. Authentic top hats look much better and aren’t even that expensive. Please note that if you buy these hats internationally, the shipping fee usually will be very high as the hats will involve volumetric weight.

5. Try Not To Look Too Casual

In the Ouji style, it’s best to avoid looking "too casual." Simply pairing a button-up with shorts or capris does not look boyish. Such an outfit seems uninspired and boring. Adding a few small accessories allows you to turn even the most basic style into something more attractive.

Conclusion

For everyone starting their Ouji journey, the new terminologies and overlapping substyles can be a bit overwhelming. So for all the beginners out there, we share a guide to Ouji fashion in this article.

I hope it has helped you start your journey with a clear idea of the beautiful world of Ouji fashion. Thanks for reading up till now.

[rocketturtle4]

Aceness in BL: Let’s go for a Ramble

(I made this post soon after Be My Favorite finished but shadowbanning has delayed the posting) - I'm Freeee (@plantsarepeopletoo @shouldiusemyname)

So, I’ve been thinking more and more about aceness in BL (mainly BL anyway), and to get my thought’s in order I thought I’d make a post.

This post is NOT intended as a blanket rule in literally any context. It is specifically about how 1. I frame aceness in my head based on very surface level research and my own experience and how 2. I apply that to a few characters (In BL) who, to me, have felt acespec.

This post will cover

A brief overview of how I understand the acespectrum (with reference to aesthetic, romantic and sexual attraction)

How I view demisexuality as a kind of doorway (with reference to my own deminess)

How I feel five characters (Ae from Love by Chance, Arthrit from SOTUS & SOTUS S, Kat from The Warp Effect (yes not BL but whatevs), Kawi from Be My Favorite and Khai from the Warp Effect) might fall on these spectrums. (THIS WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS)

A wrap up on acepectrum, transient identities, and labels

First Up the Ace-Spectrum!

(How I frame aceness in my head)

Aesthetic attraction = I really want to just stare at this person, they so pretty

Romantic attraction = I want to have this person with me, I want to hold them close and see them daily and talk to them about everything, also I want to cuddle and sleep together (maybe idk this is the attraction I am vaguest on)

Sexual attraction = I want to have sex with this person, I want to personally bang this person, I stare at this person and think about what it would be like to kiss them with tongue and push them against walls and have them underneath/on top of me. (This isn’t necessarily at like 100% all the time I think)

Kapish?

Romantic and Sexual attraction are both spectrums (obvs) and in my head they go from

Allo (100%) <------- to --------> Ace/Aro (0%) with the percentage reflective of how frequently you find people attractive, (I don’t think 100% is everybody all the time though).

So theoretically anyone not at 100% for either romantic or sexual attraction might identify as acespec, though I IMAGINE most people over perhaps, 30% feel attraction often enough that they don’t consider it, so for headcannon purposes I’m considering under 30% as ace or aro.

Sometimes people might consider themselves grey-ace (or grey-aro) if they fall within the more middling but still low percentages (say 15-50%,) So they experience attraction to individuals on occasion, but less frequently than typical. (But, again any label that people identify with is true for them)

Framing Demisexuality as a doorway

Demisexuality is, to me (in brief), not experiencing sexual attraction prior to the development of strong emotional/intellectual/romantic feelings (also can feel like a significant jump rather than completely 0-100, for me it’s almost like a switch on/off, but it can be gradual too)

Demiromantic people don’t experience romantic feelings for people unless there’s a strong emotional bond in place. (Same caveats as above)

The demi-doorway doesn’t automatically open the moment bonds/romantic feelings are developed, it’s simply that these feelings DON’T occur without the bond first. An alloromantic demisexual person MAY develop sexual feelings for someone they like romantically, but they also may not.

Personally, I consider myself demisexual and demiromantic because (based on 1.5 data points (data points = people), which is really not enough evidence) after bonds are formed both my romantic and sexual interest about a specific person jump up to allo. My deminess also feels tied to the way the changing/wavering of these emotional bonds also closes the door really quickly?? (So I can become abruptly not attracted to someone anymore if my romantic feelings/emotions are gone/destabilised, let me tell you it is weird to experience)

The lines around characters and actors and attraction gets all blurry too. Kind of like there’s a window in my door(s) that can be open or shut, but I can always look through it? (IDK how this metaphor is holding up)

For example, here’s some arbitrary categorites:

1. People are nice looking because everybody is nice looking (e.g., most people)

2. Aesthetic attraction (let me stare) e.g., Jean from The Warp Effect or Ayan from The Eclipse

3. Aesthetic attraction but more??  E.g., Joong (Joong is pretty, VERY PRETTY. But it’s still not really sexual attraction…I just want to stare at him…extra hard…and if he WANTED to fuck me…I mean for science…but I still don’t really WANT to??)

4. First. E.g., AM I EVEN ACE/ARO WHAT IS THIS SORCERY??

Clear as mud I’m sure.

Ace people can also dislike sex, be sex repulsed, enjoy watching, and whatever else without it emphasising or erasing their aceness, since it’s about sexual attraction to an individual more than anything else.

In a similar way you can also be sex repulsed or dislike sex or dislike aspects of sex without automatically being ace.

ALSO Demispec people may experience full (e.g. 100%) romantic/sexual feelings once the door is open without the caveats that I listed (about emotional instability) and this in NO WAY erases their aceness (or their deminess). There is also something to be said for the different ways the emotional bonds are formed/feelings are triggered. My two data points (attraction to people) were both triggered by strong intellectual connections.

ALSO acespec (which includes all aro/ace/demi people FTR) people can have gender specific (or non-specific) orientations as well (e.g. homoromantic asexual or aromantic pansexual or even biromantic bi-grey-ace).

Examples from Thailand BL/QL in my headcannon

I’m only talking about allo/ace/demi here, no gender-(non)-specific orientations.

Ae (Love By Chance) alloromantic demisexual (through the door 100%)

Ae is, I think, a pretty classic example of the most common view of demisexuality. He experiences romantic feelings for someone (idk if it’s the first time for this) and then slowly realises he’s sexually attracted to said person and goes a bit crazy because he doesn’t quite know what his feelings mean because he’s never experienced them before and, well, he’s a horndog (I love Ae and this depiction for the record) his demisexuality is absolutely a gateway to 100% sexual interest!

Some signs of his aceness might include his lack of interest in sex as commented on by his roommate and his confusion over the feelings he’s experiencing for the first time because they’re outside of his frame of experience. Also his sexual feelings seem to take a while to develop, after his crush has begun.

(I’m much less certain about romantic orientation here because we don’t know if he’s had crushes before (without wanting sex) and also he’s only 18, so even if he hasn’t doesn’t mean he’s arospec)

Arthrit (SOTUS & SOTUS S) Alloromantic demisexual (but different!!)

Arthrit seems alloromantic, in his previous feelings for his childhood friend and his clearly developing romantic feelings for Kong.

Arthit’s aceness is less clear cut than Ae’s because even after he develops sexual feelings (through the demidoor) he doesn’t experience allo sexual attraction as strongly as someone like Ae. I found a lot of his reactions to the relationship ups and downs in SOTUS S were very relatable (and prompted my first ever long post lol click for way more info on this) because of how Arthrit’s desire for sex (or sexual touch) seem to waver with the relationship stability. This is not about being uncomfortable with Kong exactly, but more about how even after they’re technically on an even keel and Kong’s sharing his bed and apartment, Arthit still seems uncomfortable with some of his sexual advances. While LATER after they’ve properly talked about it, he goes back to leaning into Kongs space and making flirty eyebrows.

So his deminess kind of means his aceness is variable even through the demidoor, like the door is wavering between open and closed. But it also doesn’t ever feel like his romantic feelings for Kong waver, just that the unstable grounding of their relationship boundaries lead to emotional instability which effect his sexual interest.

(Because I will take every excuse to use my Arthrit screenshots)

Kat in The Warp Effect (aromantic allosexual)

Honestly, Kat being Aro seemed basically canon during my viewing of The Warp Effect. She shows essentially no evidence of romantic feelings for anyone the whole series. (Though obvs people can want and have sex without wanting relationships and not be aro)

While Kat later tells Alex that she likes him (and tells Jean too) I don’t really feel like this mucks with the head-canon for a few reasons:

Kat is shown to be pretty monogamous when in sexual relationships with people even as she want’s no strings (she tells Alex he’s the only one she is currently having sex with (I think), she later tells Captain Asshole this and then later tells Tony this).

Thanks to Captain Asshole she begins to feel unsafe with the way she lives her life.

She initially wants to commit to Alex as the person she is most comfortable with, but we are not really shown any evidence of romantic feelings, just a desire for commitment.

She seems to reach a similar sort of balance with Tony in the OG Warp Timeline, but there still (to me) isn’t really evidence of romantic feelings

Aro people can, after all, want a committed and/or monogamous relationship.

Kawi in Be My Favorite (Alloromatic Asexual (not Demi IMO))

The reason I think he’s ace rather than demi is more about the language he uses even after he’s in love with Piseang (please see my thoughts about ace-kawi coding in ep 10 for more details if you're curious). Even after this wasn’t made explicit by the narrative, I stand by my thoughts around his lack of interest in sex in general. (As well as the coding in ep12 of him trying the rollercoaster and not liking it). It didn’t really feel to me like he gained sexual feelings for Piseang (unlike the vibes I personally got from Arthrit even if they wavered), more than he tried sex and enjoyed it enough to participate again in the future because he loved and felt comfortable with Piseang.

If you feel ambivalent about playing tennis, but your partner really likes playing tennis than maybe you make a point of playing tennis regularly even if it’s not something you’d think about doing on your own, because playing tennis with your partner is fun you know?

Of course, if tennis makes you feel icky, or really bored, you many not ever want to play it even if your partner enjoys it.

Khai in Theory of Love (demiromantic allosexual)

So Khai is my most recent addition to this post given I just finished ToL but he was so demiromantic it crushed me into pieces so he gets to be included! ways Khai feels demirom:

His confused realisation of feelings when he talks to his Phi at the beach.

He likes to keep things uncomplicated with the girls he’s seeing because he doesn’t do relationships.

He actually tries to take his relationships seriously but just never really seemed to genuinely want the romance.

Even after he realises he has romantic feelings for Third, when he returns back to him (after the beach reflection) he notices his sexual attraction more easily than his romantic feelings.

His confusion over how much he hurt when Third seemed to be choosing Un over him, and how it was the first time he realised how much Third must have been hurting because he’d never felt like this before.

The entirety of Ep12 with Third telling Khai what he feels isn't love (because Third has seen time and time again that Khai hasn't loved anyone before). Khai's attempts to prove himself even though he really understand what loving someone means, even as he follows his emotions, and tries hard to be “better” for Third because he does love Third, he chooses Third, he changes for Third, he cries for Third.

He also curls up in his room watching romantic movies for multiple days because Third tells him that what he's feeling isn't love and if it isn't then what is?)

Very relatable and also owie ouchie my brokenness feelings.

Lack of data points makes it tricky:

There are probably lots of other characters that COULD fall into a-spectrum, (just as there are reasons why these characters might not) but the thing I find the trickiest to navigate (for my headcanons) is lack of data points. Most characters in BL are in highschool/college, and this, combined with a desire for lack of messiness in story structure, means characters are often experiencing feelings ‘for the first time.’ Long term pining, childhood crushes, and first attraction to the same gender, all come into play and make evidence muddy and lacking a concrete foundation, from which to draw conclusions.

We can’t ask characters about their preferences, previous feelings, levels of emotion etc. so in my opinion conclusions can’t be drawn, only inferences made.  

I don’t have a problem with anyone headcannoning these characters as not acespec.

I don’t have a problem with anyone headcannoning other characters as acespec.

Identities, Transience and Labelling

In discussing this post and my own framework with a couple of people I wanted to add a bit more of my personal experience with the ace label and the ace spectrum. Because the thing about both ace-ness and allo-ness is that they’re not equal all the time. Some people experience sexual attraction first or more frequently and may only experience romantic feelings later or less frequently. Some people feel romantic attraction before sexual, but only sometimes and sometimes people feel both at once and straight away, or both at once but only later on…

The romantic and sexual attraction spectrums are spectrums that everybody exists on and in existing on a spectrum some people have a firm placement and others a shifting one.

People who are ace-identified are typically those who have felt meaningfully different from their peers in the level and/or frequency of experiencing any sexual attraction and/or any romantic attraction and whose attraction is close to zero for one or both of those spectrums. They have thus sought out explanations for their difference and found the ace labels. Demi-ness, on either spectrum, then relates more to the way emotional(/intellectual) bonds, positive or negative, directly impact your ability to feel romantic or sexual attraction.

In the context of TV, for me, it’s picking up a photo of a character you love and being confused when they don’t seem right anymore. Its looking at a cast of beautiful humans and not really feeling anything but awe at their acting. It’s forgetting that characters were shirtless until the gifs show up on your dash the next day. It’s reading the definition of chemistry and not really understanding what it means. It’s not realising that there’s a difference between kisses where the lips move and kisses where they don’t because the way the characters talk and stand and stare means so much more. It’s so many things until you must notice because what you’re seeing and noticing and caring about is just…not the same as the things other people are seeing, noticing and caring about.

In the real world it’s messier, because aceness is sometimes framed as only 0%. Experiencing emotions outside of 0% can make the label feel hard to keep, or wrong or mismatched:

My 16-year-old-self called herself Asexual and was relieved to have found a reason why she felt so weird, even if it didn't quite fit right.

My 18-year-old-self called herself maybe-bi because both boys and girls can be pretty to look at, and this must be what crushes are right?

My 20-year-old-self called herself Asexual again (even though it still didn't fit right) because she’d tried things with one of these apparent crushes and it just felt…weird.

My 22-year-old-self called herself maybe straight afterall because she dreamed about kissing someone for the first time and that person was a boy.

My 24-year-old-self picked up demisexual and clung to it like a lifeline because why else would her attraction just be…gone. Was I broken?

My 25-year-old-self discovered demiromantic was also a label and felt like things finally made sense.

But what’s important to know is that at no point between finding the asexual label at 16 to finding the aromantic label at 25, was I not aro/ace. And that if I had settled on a non-aspec label after any one of my identity-questioning experiences, it wouldn’t have made me a liar at any age or negated the experience of other aspec people in any way.

Because what my 25-year-old-self now understands is that labels aren’t there to put you in a box and squeeze you into shape, nor are labels there to lay across your shoulders and weigh you down with their expectations.

The labels are a lifeline, a hand reaching out, a voice whispering in the darkness…

You are not, and have never been alone.

So, for me at least, to label characters as this or that, is not to box them in, instead it is pointing and gasping, look, look, that one is like me…or maybe, look, look, that one is like you.

When a character acts the way I would, thinks the way I would, talks the way I would I am again reminded that,

I are not, and have never been alone.

So please, label away, I don’t mind if we pick different labels. I just like that I can share my labels with you. 

[paranoidginger]

Thank you all so much for your support on my CloneBlu AU! Today I will be expanding on the lore that I have come up with (No art this time, sorry guys!) as a brief overview!

My Team Fortress 2 alternate universe, found under the tag #cloneblu, follows the assumption that the Red team mercenaries are the original mercs, while Blu is made up of clones of Red. Thanks to the cloning process, they are nearly identical to their opposing counterparts, but with a few things that set them apart, such as scars and other small irregularities.

The respawn machine is also used in this AU, but in order to work, the body of the deceased must be placed into the respawn area (a job mostly done by the medic) and the machine must be manually turned on.

Despite being clones, the Blu team follows the same age rules as the Red team, with Scout, Demo, Sniper, and Pyro being the youngest, and the others being quite a bit older. This being said, I will not ship any of the four mentioned above with any of the older mercenaries, who are old enough (or close to it) to be their parents. Based on my headcanons, as well as canon clues, the ages of the mercenaries go as followed:

Scout- 27, Sniper- 28, Demo- 29, Pyro- 26-29, Engie- 45, Soldier- 47, Medic- 47, Heavy- 48, Spy- 48.

The romantic ships that I will be using in this AU consist of Engie + Spy, Heavy + Medic, and Pyro + Scout. I am also fine with Sniper + Scout as well as Sniper + Demo! I personally just like Pyro and Scout as a ship!

For platonic relationships, Medic, Heavy, Engineer, and Spy all have a fatherly relationship with Scout. Engie acts as a dad to all of the younger mercenaries, especially Pyro. Medic and Engineer are close friends as are Sniper and Spy. Demo and Soldier are also very close friends! In general, all of them get along fairly well. (Medic as an adoptive dad to scout is very important to me.)

If you made it this far, please feel free to ask any questions about my AU and I will do my best to answer them!!

[wonder-worker]

what did cicely neville do in edward iv's reign?

Hi! Cecily’s entire role during Edward IV’s reign is too long and complex to fully get into right now, so this is just going to be a very brief overview. It’s also not going to touch on her relationship with her daughter-in-law Elizabeth, even though that's somewhat relevant here in some aspects, because that’s also too complex and speculatory.

Ironically, despite the Duke of York’s claims to kingship, it was only after his death and during her widowhood that Cecily Neville truly emerged as a “quasi-queen”. After her son Edward IV had been acclaimed as King in London, and before he left for Towton with the other lords, he summoned the mayor and “all the notables of London” to gather and “recommended them to the duchess his mother”. During his absence, Cecily would preside over his household in Baynard Castle and was probably meant to act as his representative of sorts in the city. After his kingship was more firmly established, Cecily primarily resided at Westminster with him from 1461-64 and regularly accompanied him on several ceremonial and political occasions, such as their visit to Canterbury where she was magnificently welcomed. She also appears to have had a great deal of personal and political influence with her son: Nicholas O’Flanagan, the contemporary Bishop of Elpin, observed in the first few years of Edward IV's reign, his mother could “rule the king as she pleases.”

Cecily’s role demonstrably changed after Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville in 1464. She remained the second-highest ranked woman in the country, but she took a significant step back from high politics (a la Joan of Kent after her son’s marriage to Anne of Bohemia). That does not mean that either of them suddenly became apolitical or uninvolved: quite the opposite*. Cecily remained the head of a large household, her administration supported her son’s, she continued to support a few religious institutions, she engaged in trade, she launched court cases, and she clearly inspired loyalty among her affinity. All of this was fairly standard for a medieval noblewoman, but was naturally enhanced by Cecily’s own prominent royal status. Cecily was godmother to at least three of the royal children: Elizabeth of York, her namesake Cecily, and the youngest child, Bridget. She also played a role in reconciling her son George to the Yorkist cause in 1471, though she did not have the spearheading role which has often been erroneously credited to her by historians (ie: “engineering peace between her warring sons”); instead, it was her daughters Anne and Margaret who took the leading role in achieving the reconciliation, while Cecily probably aided them. She was also clearly perceived to be influential with Edward IV, best evidenced by how the mayors of Norwich petitioned her to aid them against the Duke of Suffolk in 1480, though we don’t actually know the result of Cecily’s intervention to judge whether it succeeded or how effective it was**. Regardless, though, she evidently had a much lower national profile during these years.

(On a more personal level, we also have a very sweet anecdote from Elizabeth Stonor who spoke of a meeting between Cecily and Edward in October 1476 at Greenwich: 'and ther I  sawe the metyng betwyne the Kynge and my ladye his Modyr. And trewly me thowght it was a very good syght’.)

Cecily’s numerous titles are also interesting. Immediately after Edward IV’s ascension, she called herself “the Kyngs Moder, Duchess of York”. Variations of the title included references to her late husband, but she primarily defined herself in relation to her son, through whom her current position and power derived. As Laynesmith says: "narrative accounts, particularly chronicles, had naturally used the phrase ‘the king’s mother’ to describe women in the past, especially Joan of Kent. However, it was Cecily who turned this into a specific title in her letters and on her seals." A few months after Edward's marriage was announced, Cecily adopted a new title, now styling herself as: “By the ryghtful enheritors Wyffe late of the Regne off Englande & of Fraunce & off ye lordschyppe off yrlonde, the kynges mowder ye Duchesse of Yorke.” This referenced the Yorkist perception of her husband, Richard Duke of York, who was called the "true and indubitable heir" of England. In 1477, a herald for the wedding of her grandson Richard of Shrewsbury styled Cecily as “the right high and excellent Princesse and Queene of right, Cicelie, Mother to the Kinge”. This was once again linked to her husband’s status: Cecily described him in her letters as “in right King of England and of France and lord of Ireland”. All in all, Cecily’s various designations appear to have been designed to signify her own importance within the regime, to uphold the claim of her late husband, and to strengthen Edward IV’s position by promoting him as the son of the supposedly rightful heir. It’s also very possible, as Laynesmith has suggested, that “it was as her queenly power diminished [after the early 1460s] that her claims to queenship were more elaborately emphasized in wax and on parchment”.

Cecily’s role and prominence, and how it changed overtime, is best demonstrated by the number of times English subjects offered prayers for her soul in return for grants. Between June 1461 and September 1464, there are twelve instances of grants made to people who offered prayers for her. (To compare, during the first three years of Elizabeth Woodville's queenship, there were sixteen grants of the same type. So, Cecily didn't quite reach the level of the queen, but she came close; it was quintessential "quasi-queenship"). However, mentions of Cecily dramatically deceased following Edward IV's marriage: over the next 19 years till 1483, she is only mentioned five times, and in all cases Elizabeth Woodville was also listed before she was. Three of these mentions are in 1465, likely reflecting contemporary unease with her son's controversial marriage and the perceived unsuitable origins of the new queen. After that, however, Cecily is mentioned only twice: once in 1476 and once in 1481, with the latter being a grant to her own son-in-law Thomas St. Leger***. This fits well with what I mentioned above about her quasi-queenship in the early 1460s, followed by a much more reduced role and lower national profile in the future years.

Hope this helps!

*Oddly, Cecily is not mentioned at all in contemporary reports for her daughter Margaret’s wedding. Laynesmith believes that she was unwell, and that may as well be true, but Margaret's celebrations went on for a great period of time and it does seem conspicuous that Cecily was entirely absent from them all. It's also worth noting that a letter from the Milanese ambassador Giovanni Pietro Panicharolla on the marriage wrote that "the king, the queen, her father, and the king's brothers are all disposed to it" (sidenote: it's VERY interesting that the queen's father is mentioned before the king's own brothers and male heirs) but made no mention of Cecily. Nor, iirc, was she mentioned in the tournament held to celebrate Anglo-Burgundian relations. It does clearly seem as though Cecily did not play a notable role in the marriage, and relevant diplomacy, at all. (Laynesmith's claim that Cecily had "helped lay the ground for" the marriage because she *checks notes* dispatched both her sons to Burgundy in middle of a civil war 7 years earlier, with many fluctuations in Anglo-Burgundian relations in between, is, I'm sorry to say, nonsense). ** Laynesmith believes that "Cecily’s intervention to control Suffolk perhaps marked a turning point in the duke’s violent career because when he resorted to force again the following summer his victim successfully reclaimed the manor from which he had personally ejected her." I think that Laynesmith is being far too assumptive and that we don’t even know the result of Cecily’s intervention in 1480 to somehow credit her with entirely different case one year later that did not even involve her, lol. ***Even more oddly, Cecily’s own son Richard didn’t include her among the list for who to offer prayers for in his college in Middleham in 1478. This was despite the fact that he had included Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville, his wife Anne, his sisters, his dead brothers and his dead father. It’s incredibly striking, and I wonder what could have happened to cause her exclusion, especially since she was included in religious foundations by both Edward and her son-in-law Thomas St. Leger? Laynesmith claims that "this rather suggests that Richard's own piety was not consciously influenced by hers", and sure, that seems obvious, but it certainly can't have been the only reason. Was she merely overlooked (unlikely), or did they have a quarrel at the time, or was it for another now-unknown reason? Whatever the case, it's a small but intriguing detail to me.

Sources:

"Cecily, Duchess of York" by J.L. Laynesmith

"A Paper Crown: The Titles and Seals of Cecily, Duchess of York" by J.L. Laynesmith (The Ricardian)

"Cecily Neville: Mother of Kings" by Amy License

[ask-jamessunderland]

[ Welcome to Silent Hill ]

A brief overview of the rules and information for this Ask Blog.

Mun Info:

24 | Dae/Daem/Daer or masc terms. Hi! I'm Maxie! I'm actually an artist from my art/fanblog @m00nymcmoon

Blog Info:

Blog is 16+ with sometimes 18+ themes but will be tagged as such.

I'm fond of shipping however, I'm keeping James quite open at the moment! (I'm a multishippher so I'm not opposed to certain ships unless they are flat out Not Good.)

OC and Character interacts are encouraged!

Note some responses may take time as Im currently in college.

Tags: JS art, JS answer, JS ooc

Characters answering will have their initials like JS (Ex: Mary Sunderland is MS art)

Blog will have themes of violence, mental issues, alcoholism, and such. Each one will be tagged appropriately.

Muse Info:

Its mostly a James ask blog but I will do other SH characters from 1-3. DBD characters and such are also encouraged and accepted.

This James is sort of AFTER the events of SH2 he's just recovering poorly. He's not exactly in the DBD universe either so he is in the In Between.

He is currently guardian over Laura

6'1/185.42cm | He/Him/His | Bi-Curious | 30 yo

PTSD, Minor Alcoholism

*if you have any questions feel free to ask.

[resplendentoutfit]

Edwardian Fashion: A Brief Overview

The Edwardian era (1901-1914) is the last period in British history to be named after the monarch who reigned over it. Although Edward VII reigned from 1901 to 1910 to be succeeded by George V, the Edwardian period is generally considered to have ended at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Edwardian age was known for the excesses, elegance, and strict social rules modeled by the wealthy.

The era's fashion was characterized by expensive fabrics and trimmings, and a mature, distinguished look. Some notable features of Edwardian fashion include: Corsets and long skirts were still common, and women often wore high collars during the day. Evening gowns featured silk satin fabrics, empire waists, and column silhouettes, and were often embroidered with beads or lace. The Gibson Girl style was also popular, featuring embroidered blouses, shirt collars, and waists worn with ties or cravats.

The Edwardian silhouette was that of the S curve – a shape that pushed the hips back and the bust forward, exaggerated by floppy blouses that hung over the waist at the front.

Lingerie style dresses were the preferred attire of tranquil femininity and upper-class lleisure.

Widely caricatured in newspapers and propaganda throughout the 1890s and 1900s, the New Woman was denounced for adopting more masculine styles of dress such as tailored jackets, and bloomers or 'bifurcated skirts' for cycling – not to mention her implied sexual freedom and shockingly masculine habit of smoking.

Dramatically large hats such as this one that almost covers two heads, were seen everywhere in the Edwardian era.

The S silhouette was achieved with a corset that put less pressure at the waistline by pushing a woman's chest forward and her hips back. Also helping the look were dress tops and blouses that were looser than Victorian clothing previous was.

[hxroic-wxlls-rxborn]

MARIO’S OLYMPIC GAMES: INSTANT TRANSMISSION TAG

“ Hey, Paisanos! It’s-a me, Mario! While some of our other contestants are resting, I figured we could liven things up for the eager crowd with the next game! Remember, the event, itself, won’t come to an end until everyone’s done, so don’t worry about rushing anything. So…let’s explain the rules! “

“ For this, I emptied out the stadium of everything, except the seats for the spectators, so you’ll have plenty of open space to run around… As for what you’ll be doing, in this space, let me bring forth our guest of honor. “

And from the shadows, a familiar Saiyan turned child, smiling with half a burger shoved in his mouth.

“ Hey, guys! It’s me, Goku! I’m really excited to be here! So I got a brief overview of how this works. So, in this arena thing, you’re gonna have five minutes to try and tag me, while I run around and try to dodge you guys to the best of my abilities. If things get really close, I can use instant transmission to get out of the way, but I only get to use it once. And I can’t warp outside of the arena… Simple enough, right? “

“ That it is, indeed! Also, we’ll be recording the whole thing. So, even if you don’t tag him in the five minutes given, if you got REALLY close to tagging him at one point, you’ll be given a high score! So…that’s about it! Good luck, paisanos! “

(Key Note: Goku’s treated like an NPC for this event. So if you get a high score in the drabble, don’t worry if you feel like you’re god modding. It’s all cool.)

[themask-maker]

Ikana Kingdom: Timeline Overview

Here is a brief visual of the history of Ikana in this AU. Some pre-TMM stories will be posted and given a reference back to this timeline for ease of understanding their placements.

A detailed explanation is under the cut.

Pre-Ikana [~2000BAW - 200BAW]

The Tribes remain in their own separate regions and are generally at odds with one another. Demons worship local deities specific to their Tribes, but also collectively revere the Golden Goddesses as the original creators of the world.

Ikana's Founding [200BAW]

The Golden Goddesses are predicted to leave the world for Somewhere Beyond. In their wake, it is said they will leave a blessing for a Tribe that will take stewardship of the land, but only the Tribe which embodies a balance of their own virtues: courage, wisdom, and power. The Demon Tribes elect to have a tournament to decide which of them should meet the Goddesses and accept the blessing, and they erect Stone Tower for the winner to ascend into the Sacred Realm. Demise of the Gerra wins and goes to the Sacred Realm, only to find that the Golden Goddesses have seemingly chosen Hylia as their steward instead. Furious, the Demon Tribes turn their backs on the Goddesses. They band together under Demise's rule as Ikana Kingdom and declare themselves the gods of their own land instead. They add the suffix "-kana" to their Tribe names, to indicate that they are peoples under a united banner.

The First King's Era (Demise of the Gerra) [200 BAW - 9 AAW]

An era of rapid growth, but also cold war. Ikana becomes a formidable and wealthy Kingdom. Tensions rise steadily between Ikana and Ancient Hyrule. Over time, trade restrictions develop into outright embargoes and travel bans. Hylia erects the Goddess Wall. The Sheikah and Igo develop a secret alliance for their own gains - the Sheikah receive illusory Magicka and the Igo receive Timeshift stones. War becomes inevitable when the Sheikah are caught attempting to smuggle a significant resource out of Ikana. Igo leadership abandons the Sheikah and obscures their involvement.

The Ancient War [0AAW - 9AAW]

Demise declares war, claiming Hylia unfit to be Steward of the Triforce. Ikanan forces circumvent the Wall, instead inventing Twilit Doors to teleport their forces directly into Hylia's territory. The war rages for years, but eventually, both Demise and Hylia are "killed". The conflict destabilizes Ikana and practically decimates Ancient Hyrule. Remaining Ikanan leadership declares the areas beyond the Goddess Wall as off-limits and sacred ground. Demise's sword is retrieved and regarded as a sacred symbol for the Kingdom.

The Second King's Era (Vaudan of the Massu) [9AAW - 433AAW]

An era of rebuilding. Ikana emphasizes collectivism and patriotism in the face of their losses from The War. Sorcery colleges and standardized schooling established. Ikana assists Orq'oten in Lizalfos conflicts and annexes their land.

The Third King's Era (Calypse of the Twili) [433AAW - 901AAW]

An era of knowledge. Ikana emphasizes intellectual advancement to bolster their understanding of technology and sorcery. Minor skirmishes over land with non-Demonic Tribes - Deku in Woodfall, Rito in Cragmaw, Lizalfos in Tempore, etc. Cracks are beginning to form from a flawed foundation, but not enough to feel like a widespread problem for the powers that be.

The Fourth King's Era (Majora of the Igo) [901AAW - 1014AAW present day]

An era of unrest unity. Infrastructure falls into disrepair and citizens become displeased that their taxes are vanishing to frivolous uses. Court Lords become ruthless and greedy, willing to kill other nobles over resource disputes in the pursuit of more wealth. Most of Woodfall and Great Bay nobility disappear without a trace to no apparent consequence. Orq'otish Gerudo call for independence. Ikana forcibly emphasizes unity, but focuses on the symptoms instead of the problems themselves.

The Events of Skyward Sword [1011AAW]

The First King's Sword is stolen from Stone Tower. The last Woodfall Lord disappears.

The Events of The Mask-Maker [1014AAW]

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Do Gallifreyans and Time Lords have any active religion(s)? How much do we know about their old and new religions overall?

How does religion work on Gallifrey?

Ooo, fun! Here's a brief whistlestop tour of it because, unlike most things, a lot is known already and I could write an essay.

🌌 The Creation of the Universe

Gallifreyan legends tell of the Universe's birth from a sentient singularity called 'Eru' or the 'Great Old One Azathoth'. The Mother Goddess used the Aurora Temporalis to create Time itself, and in turn, seconds were created by the Temporal Phoenix (who was apparently imprisoned in a time loop by people known as the Philesians).

📜 Old Times

Shobogans were the original indigenous people of Gallifrey, and some say they were immortal until Death's Messenger came to Mount Perdition. (Rather, an ancient species of religious zealots named the Kotturuh brought the concept of mortality as a 'gift' to the universe, limiting the lifespans of other species.)

Shobogans worshipped a pantheon of gods known as the Menti Celesti ('heavenly minds') and made offerings to them in alcoved shrines in their homes, particularly if they'd had good fortune. The primary gods included Pain, Death, Time, and Fate (Osuda). There's also the mystic virgin moon goddess Pazithi, for whom one of Gallifrey's moons is named. The Devil was the Dark God Valdemar.

The Shobogans also believed in reincarnation and said that after death, souls ended up in a mysterious sea, where you can hear them whispering - which is probably their concept of Hell.

😇 The Order of the Pythia

The Order of the Pythia was the central religious institution during these times. The Pythia, chosen by the Menti Celesti, was the supreme spiritual leader, ruling over the Shobogans. This role included responsibilities like being the Mouthpiece of the Gods and the Guardian of the Great Book of Future Legends. The Pythia and her Sisterhood performed sacrifices and rituals to gain favour from the Menti Celesti and foresee the future.

🔮 The Decline and Transformation of Religion

During the Time of Chaos when Rassilon stuck his finger in, the influence of the Pythia flopped big, leading to the collapse of the order. The surviving Sisterhood relocated to the planet Karn, becoming the Sisterhood of the Flame under High Priestess Maren. It was also at this time the ousted Pythia condemned Gallifrey to be barren - this is known as the Curse of the Pythia, which I'm sure you'll already know about.

🚀 Beliefs and Rationalism in the Era of Rassilon

In the era of Rassilon, a lot of Gallifreyans moved towards a more scientific and rational understanding of the universe. The discovery of the ratio 1 to 812, crucial to quantum string theory, reinforced beliefs in a creator but distanced them from traditional worship.

⛪ The Black Council

Somewhere between Rassilon and the 1st Doctor, Gallifreyan religion included the Black Council of Cardinals, Time Priests, and other religious figures, led by the Supreme Pontiff of Time. However, significant reforms thousands of years before the Doctor's time restricted the religious class's power, eliminating their access to Time Travel and genetic benefits. By the time of the Doctor's exile, the position of Supreme Pontiff was abolished, and the monasteries dissolved.

⏲️ Modern Era

Despite all these shifts, about 25% of Gallifreyans in the modern era still worship the Menti Celesti, with private prayers to Time and her sisters. Modern Gallifreyans don't really understand or give merit to the concepts of good and evil, and sins are virtually nonexistent. Allegedly.

Related:

What does the Gallifreyan political and social environment look like?: Overview of the general structure of Gallifreyan society and politics.

What are Gallifreyans’ thoughts on entropy?: How Gallifreyans see and fight the concept of entropy.

What is looming and how does it exist alongside natural reproduction?: Overview of looming and its place alongside natural reproduction in Gallifreyan society.

Hope that helped! 😃

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[wrightfamilyagency]

Hey, so... remember that Layton/AA/Pokemon AU I was talking about a month ago and said I'd post more about���? The post I was writing got… out of control, I restarted it two or three times before actually finishing it today... I really hope it makes sense if you want to read a rough of the plot outline and pokemon teams in this thing!

Also since I'm never going to write this, I'm just going all in and detailing all my cool reveals that would have been surprises had I written this AU instead of the one that actually exists. xD

Firstly, a brief overview of things that haven't changed: 'Toppy' the Rattata, Thalassa's and Trucy's Popplios, Clay's Pidgey, Athena's Rotom-powered Widget, the Kurain Eevees, Misty's Espeon and Morgan's Umbreon, Maya's Sylveon, 'Charley' the Sunflora, Phoenix's Magikarp 'Milar', Larry's Smeargle, Miles Edgeworth's Lillipup 'Pess' and Honedge, Gregory Edgeworth's Aegislash and Steel-type speciality, Manfred von Karma's Steel-type speciality, Furio Tigre's shiny Arcanine, Iris giving Phoenix a Fletchling, Emmy's Tyrogue, Descole's pack of Mightyena, 'Missile' the Yungoos, Maggey's Absol, Franziska's Ferrothorn, 'Shoe' the Alolan Meowth, Zak and Valant's Minun and Plusle, Geary's Klinklang, Drew Misham's Sudowoodo, Eustace Winner's Shroomish and his father's Fire-type speciality, Kay Faraday's Greninja, Hugh O'Connor's Decidueye, 'Taka' the Staraptor, the Phantom's Ditto, Dhurke's Dragonair, Uendo's Castform.

Phoenix's story is mostly unchanged, or at least this first part: He, Larry, and Miles become friends tracking down the owner of an abandoned Lillipup that Miles ends up taking in and naming Pess, after which Gregory also gives him an Honedge he names Excalibur. Larry hangs out with an old family Smeargle, and Phoenix feels left out enough that he recruits his friends into helping him catch a Magikarp that he names Milar. A few months later, a member of the local Elite 4 retires, and the top contenders for the open spot are Gregory and fellow steel-type specialist Manfred von Karma. Before the big bout, they happen to also be facing off in court; Though Gregory loses the case after a year-long battle, he doesn't plan to lose the pokemon battle… only to lose his chance to even compete when he gets trapped in the elevator with Miles and bailiff Yanni Yogi. As soon as they realise they are trapped, they recall any pokemon they have out to preserve the oxygen, but all three end up passing out regardless, and Gregory dies. His pokemon pass to his apprentice/assistant Eddie Fender (who already has a Mawile), and Miles goes into care with his Lillipup and Honedge. Manfred never shows up for the battle, instead immediately leaving the region and sending word of his formal decline of the position. A few months later he comes back only to adopt Miles, taking him from the region also. The open spot in the Elite 4 is eventually filled with someone else. Phoenix and Larry, having been very patient in waiting for someone to tell them what's happened to the Edgeworths, hit their last straw when they see the house being emptied of furniture, and even though they're not yet 10, Phoenix convinces Larry to sneak out on their own Pokemon Journey to find them.

Mia's story also starts the same, but with some lore I left out of the last post: Kurain Village has a sizable breeding stock of Eevees from which they pick out partners for future heirs, and over time this small population has developed their own eccentricities, though some of them probably exist only in the belief system of the Feys. First off, Kurain Village specifically use Eevees descended from the original brought by Ami Fey, who was said to be as spiritually skilled as Ami herself, and this potential inherited skill is why every immediate heir to the Mastership is given one. The Feys quickly realised, however, that Eevee breed much more quickly than people and the Eevees soon outnumbered the heirs, so the rule was broadened to allow the Master to gift them to whoever she deemed worthy of one, while still keeping the special Eevees exclusive to their community. As more time has passed though, this hasn't done much to keep the population down, thus the Eevee themselves began to occasionally leave their home to find their own partners (often recruiting townsfolk to help them), and the Feys decided simply to let them, believing the people they partner with may help Kurain or the Master some day in the future. One undeniable trait of these Eevees though, is that once they have 'bonded' to a trainer, if that trainer suffers an early death, their Eevee doesn't live for more than a couple of years before also passing. Morgan and Misty, as immediate heirs of their mother, were given Eevees on the first full moon after their respective tenth birthdays: Morgan's evolved into an Umbreon, while Misty's (named Elise) evolved into an Espeon. Morgan's twin daughters weren't yet old enough for Eevees at the time their father took them from the village, being around 5 or so at the time Misty became the Master; Not too long after that Mia turns ten and gets hers, which she names Sandy. Mia is 13 when the DL-6 kerfuffle causes Misty to flee, leaving behind her Espeon to protect her daughters. Mia decides to go find her mother, joined by her Eevee, but on her way out of town, Elise the Espeon comes to join her, with a second Eevee at her side. Mia is surprised, but accepts the second Eevee into her team, naming him Davey. On her way to the city, she runs into Phoenix and Larry and the trio team up. She isn't at all impressed with Phoenix at first, despite lending him Davey, and fully believes Davey will agree with her and pick someone else, but in the end (helped by her rescuing and befriending a Sunkern she names Charley, which she evolves into a Sunflora) she warms up to Phoenix and Davey stays with him. Phoenix at the same time learns a bit of self-confidence, and after Milar evolves into a Gyarados, he evolves Davey into a Jolteon and takes down the bullies who were tormenting him and Larry on the road in a sort-of-climactic battle. Larry, who started out their journey full of boasts about how great a battler he is despite losing almost every battle, finally accepts he's not a very capable battler… then buys finds himself a Klefki, and goes right back to boasting (over the years, said Klefki's thieving nature will only get him into more trouble). The trio make it to the city, learn about DL-6 (Mia, being intensely private, finally opens up about Misty's part in it), then they manage to track down the safehouse Misty is staying in, only for Misty to slip past their 'watch', dropping a note in their laps begging Mia to leave this be and go back home. With Miles out of the region and Misty gone, the trio reluctantly go back home, but Mia and Phoenix stay in touch through letters (easier to hide from Morgan than a phonecall), having promised to help each other reunite with their respective lost loved ones.

When Mia grows up, she returns to the city to study law, taking with her Sandy the Sylveon (her original Eevee), Charley the Sunflora, and her mother's Espeon Elise. Finally, Phoenix is able to visit her, and crashes with her for a day or two so he can take part in the open Pokemon Battle Tournaments over at Sunshine Coliseum. He's not anywhere close to the top of the rankings, but he's having fun, and occasionally he drags Mia along with him. Mia also befriends Lana around this time; Lana has recently become the sole guardian of her little sister Ema, and the pair have jointly inherited their parents' pokemon, Nidoking and Nidoqueen, one of which Lana usually has with her alongside her Skarmory. Mia tries introducing Lana to Phoenix, but the two don't really connect (Lana sees Phoenix as an idiot nuisance, much like Mia did on first meeting him, and Phoenix picks up on the vibes), so Mia reverts back to her intensely private nature and keeps Phoenix and Maya as their own separate social group away from anyone else she befriends. Speaking of, once Maya gets her own Eevee at 10, she immediately insists on visiting her sister in the city and finally getting to meet her sister's penpal she's heard so much about over the years, and demands that Phoenix write to her like he wrote to Mia. Phoenix is baffled, but agrees, and the two are very quickly best friends.

Unknown to his former friends, Miles Edgeworth returns to California at the age of 20, bringing with him his pokemon team of Herdier and Doublade. He's been raised in the von Karma tradition, which involves not naming their pokemon, but rebels in his own tiny way by still calling his partners Pess and Excalibur when he's certain he won't be overheard. He's supposed to be in California only for his first trial, which ends up cancelled when the defendant and original prosecutor are murdered before it even starts, and Franziska insists on initially tagging along with her Ferroseed to help investigate. Along the way, Edgeworth meets Gumshoe and his tiny Maractus, Detective Badd and his Murkrow, "Calisto Yew" and her Thievul and Lurantis, and young Kay Faraday, who inherits her father Byrne's Frogadier and Zorua.

Edgeworth's second attempt at a first trial happens to be Mia's actual first, another failure that horrifies both. Mia is most enraged by her inability to prove Dahlia (and her Shuppet) as the true culprit in court, and her assistant Diego Armando (and his Zangoose) promises to help her investigate. Mia is so focussed on Dahlia she forgets all about Edgeworth and says nothing to Phoenix, instead spending all her time with Diego on their investigation into Dahlia. Phoenix, having by this point also moved into the city and sharing an apartment with Mia, of course knew her first trial was coming up, and worries when she comes back from it upset and unwilling to talk about it. His worries soon give way over time when he looks up her failed trial and realises not only why she was so distressed but also that Edgeworth was there too. Still, he tries to be kind and keep giving her space while trying to write to Edgeworth, only to find himself ignored on both ends. Finally his patience runs out and he gets mad at both of them, Mia for betraying their promise and not telling him about Edgeworth and Edgeworth for refusing to write back. He and Mia are barely talking anyway at this point, so he begins avoiding her as she is seemingly avoiding him, and switches his studies into law. The 'argument' comes to a head after Diego is poisoned, when Mia comes home to find Phoenix happily doing whatever with Dahlia's necklace around his neck. They end up yelling at each other without a lot of listening or explaining, and Phoenix storms out to crash at Larry's until he calms down. Mia calms down first and realises Phoenix's grievances were mostly legitimate, so when he comes back the next day she finally explains what was going on for her and apologises for not telling him everything sooner. He also shares what he's been up to and agrees to help her with Dahlia in Diego's place. When he next goes to class at Ivy University, he is approached by "Dahlia", except she now has a Chingling instead of a Shuppet, asking for the necklace back. His infatuation this time is only an act, and he talks "Dahlia" into meeting him somewhere more private later. He tells Mia, who tells Lana (now a successful detective and on a rare solo case away from Gant), and the trio ambush "Dahlia", only to discover this is actually Iris. Mia and Lana don't let up on grilling Iris no matter how distressed she is, leading to Phoenix defending her and genuinely befriending Iris, giving her the courage to defy her sister and help get Dahlia arrested and convicted for the attempted murder of Diego. Iris takes in Dahlia's Shuppet as her own, as pokemon are always confiscated upon arrest and prisoners are not allowed to keep them. Iris and Phoenix start dating in the aftermath, and though it takes Mia a long time to stop seeing Iris as Dahlia, she eventually warms up to her and accepts her as family too. When Maya next visits, she's shocked at being introduced to a new older cousin (Pearl is a toddler at this point), but soon connects to Iris just as easily. Iris gives Phoenix a Fletchling as a gift that Christmas, which he soon evolves into a Fletchinder. Sometime in the next year, Phoenix and Iris break up, but remain friends, and Mia and Maya make it clear to Iris that they will always support her as family.

Hershel's and Desmond's story starts the earliest in the timeline, probably: Leon Bronev has a Cofagrigus he caught as a Unovan Yamask overseas (either living there or on a dig), while his wife Rachel has a Roserade she's raised from a Budew. When their sons Hershel and Theodore each turn 4, Leon catches them a pokemon from his digs (pokemon are surprisingly common around ruins, no matter how degraded), so elder Hershel gets a Galarian Yamask and younger Theodore a Baltoy. When Targent comes, Leon and his Cofagrigus hold them off while Rachel has the boys recall their pokemon into their balls and sends them away to hide, her Roserade joining them as protection; Leon, Rachel, and the Cofagrigus are then taken away. A deserting Targent agent, Raymond, soon finds the boys with the help of his Mightyena and Dragapult, and decides to start righting the wrongs he's helped commit by finding the boys new homes (all unofficial to keep from being tracked by Targent), but the only takers are the Laytons, who can only take one child. Raymond makes himself scarce, hoping to subtly persuade them to take both anyway, but when Hershel hears they're coming for him, he plots to present younger Theodore as 'Hershel' and insists he's staying with neighbours to ensure the Laytons will take the younger boy to safety. He tries to get Roserade to go with the Laytons too, but it recognises the elder boy remains in danger and insists on staying with him to fulfil Rachel's final order. No one else ever comes forward for the elder brother, so Raymond raises him himself, and the boy takes on the new name Ted Phibbs, throwing himself into archaeology in the hopes of recovering his family and getting revenge on Targent.

Young Hershel Layton and his Baltoy have trouble settling in with their new family, so the Laytons decide to get Hershel an assistant/emotional support pokemon, a Ralts, to help. He names it Teddy (his former nickname), and it helps him deal with the trauma of the kidnapping and find happiness in his new life; When he's old enough to sign up for the Gym Challenge, he turns it down, still too anxious to leave his new home. They move to Stansbury when he is about 16, by which time Teddy the Ralts has evolved into a Kirlia, but it's the Baltoy that attracts Randall's attention. Randall's primary pokemon is a Galarian Farfetch'd, which he uses as a sparring partner in fencing club, while his girlfriend Angela's is an Applin he gave her, Ascot servant Henry has only a male Indeedee, and friend-turned-rival Dalston's primary partner is a Houndour; While Randall and Dalston went on the Gym Challenge once they were old enough, neither got further than the third gym. Henry was forbidden from trying, while Angela cut hers short after only the first gym due to the sudden death of her older brother, whose Machamp she inherited. Once Randall has dragged Hershel into fencing club, he gives him a Dawn Stone, which Hershel uses to evolve Teddy into a Gallade, making him a good sparring partner too. They are 17 when Randall drags Hershel into the Akbadain ruins, during which both Randall's Farfetch'd and Hershel's Baltoy evolve into a Sirfetch'd and Claydol respectively. At the bottom, they see the river and recall their pokemon to make the crossing easier, only for Randall to fall into the pit and Hershel left to return home and break the news. He ends up taking his friend's place at Gressenheller and going into archaeology in Randall's stead.

(Randall washes up, amnesiac, in a small farming community, where he is adopted and given the new name 'River' after where he was found. His Sirfetch'd tries to lead him home despite having no idea where 'home' is, but Randall/River won't follow so it gives up and stays put by his side with the rest of the team.)

In Wyndon, Hershel meets and befriends Clark and his Bronzong, Brenda and her Boldore, and Claire and her Xatu, said Xatu being named Susan; Much like the Stansbury gang, these three either didn't/couldn't try the Gym Challenge or did but didn't get very far. Clark and Brenda then Hershel and Claire start dating, and once their studies are over, Clark and Brenda get married, have Luke, then move to Misthallery. Hershel has just been promoted to 'professor' at Gressenheller when Claire suddenly dies in an explosion at her work. Her Xatu, safely left in its ball during the experiment that went wrong (specifically because it had been acting very oddly for days), is recovered and claimed by Hershel.

(Another bit of world-building I forgot about: Scotland Yard is known as Crown Plain Lane here. The Crown Tundra is formerly known in-universe as the Crown Plains, and you can't go wrong with a good rhyming name ;D )

Meanwhile, 'Ted Phibbs' has also successfully made it into archaeology, but not without his own struggles. After accidentally getting scooped up by Targent as a student alongside his teacher, he learns the true fate of his parents, evolves his Yamask into a Runerigus as he escapes, and is forced to change his name again, this time to Desmond Sycamore. He meets and marries a Kalosian woman named Jeanne, who has a Noivern, and they move to Kalos, near Santalune Forest, where they set up their base for anti-Targent activities while Desmond takes up a job as a professor. They then have a daughter, Colette, who catches a Scatterbug when she is young that she later evolves into a Spewpa. Eventually however, Targent tracks them down and kills Jeanne and Colette, with only Desmond and their pokemon escaping. He and his newly expanded team make their way back to Raymond, who handles acquiring the Bostonius to be their new base while Desmond pulls together a new identity once more, combining the costumed identity Jeanne had made for him to fight Targent with, "Désolé", with veiled reference to the lost Sycamores to invent his new name, Jean Descole. After some training with his team, he makes the decision to keep his Runerigus to one side, while his Roserade, Noivern, and newly evolved Vivillon help him on his re-invigorated campaign to take down Targent.

Luke's first pokemon is, obviously, Toppy, a purple Rattata who is either one of a very small population of Kantionian Rattata living in Misthallery, or a very rare new Galarian variant of Rattata that is normally grey with a purple shiny, I haven't really decided (Rattata aren't in Sw/Sh, but I couldn't not make the purple rat the purple rat pokemon xD). He keeps Toppy a secret until after summoning Hershel to Misthallery for their Spectre problem, and that same day meets a marine biologist called Marion doing research on rare fish in the town; She recruits the eager Luke to look after a Feebas for her, and he ends up befriending it and keeping it on his team; He may not speak 'fish' very well at first, but he learns it over time as he also improves his general ability to talk to land-based pokemon. During Eternal Diva, he is with Hershel on the Crown Patone when the 'game for eternal life' starts, and the ship is surrounded by swarms of floating/swimming Dragapult to discourage anyone trying to swim or fly away on their pokemon. Luke tries talking to the Dragapult, but they are all wearing odd headsets and don't seem to hear him. When they arrive in Ambrosia, they find themselves also hemmed in by a pack of Mightyena in identical headsets that also seem unable to hear Luke; Unknown to them, the two groups are being led by Raymond's Dragapult and Mightyena, who use their headsets to receive and distribute orders from Descole. Eventually, Luke, Hershel, and Emmy manage to start getting the headsets off the Mightyena, who instantly disregard their orders once Luke can speak to them. One Mightyena helps Luke and Hershel as they take on Descole, and joins Luke's team permanantly in the aftermath.

Not sure how old the protaganists of Sword/Shield are, but I'd say Luke hits that age about this point? Regardless, he adamantly refuses to bother with the Gym Challenge when its offered to him, finding his 'job' as Professor Layton's apprentice far more exciting.

(Emmy has a team of two, a Galvantula she befriended as a Joltik while briefly living on the streets as a child and a Hitmonlee gifted to her as a Tyrogue by Leon after he took her in. Loosha is the full version of the Galarian fossil of either 'Arcto-' or '-vish'.)

The Stellar Circus (US: One Ring Circus) of Miracle Mask has as its star the white Luxray Hannibal (US: Maurice). The ringmaster is having so much trouble training up the younger duo of a Bunnelby and Buneary that he asks Luke's help after noticing the young trainer, so Luke temporarily takes the pair in to teach them a few tricks for the circus before returning them to their home. Someone in the city of Stow-on-Side also has a trio of horse pokemon near the parades, which Emmy borrows on a brief chase after the Masked Gentleman: Gallant the black Kantonian Rapidash (who Hershel rides), Spirited the Galarian Rapidash (who Emmy rides), and Faithful the Mudbray (who Luke rides) (though I do think it would be hilarious if this random unseen person actually had Glastrier and Spectrier, but no-one recognises them as legendaries and just thinks they're weird-looking breeds of Rapidash xD). Since knowing them as teenagers, Hershel's former friends from Stansbury have updated their teams: Angela has evolved her Applin into a Flapple, Henry has a Lucario, and Dalston has evolved his Houndour into a Houndoom, and at some point acquired a second one too.

As Descole and Hershel have continued to run into each other, Hershel has managed to connect the dots between this Roserade who goes out of its way to protect him, the vaguely familiar feeling he gets from Descole, and the distant memory of his brother and the Roserade who protected them. It hasn't slowed his determination to stop Descole's plans when he comes across them, but he has made enough of a point of asking after and calling the Roserade by name that Descole knows he's recognised them. When Descole changes up his tactics for Azran Legacy, he hides away his Roserade, Noivern, and Vivillon to bring back out his Runerigus as Desmond Sycamore's partner (Raymond similarly hides his Mightyena on the offchance Luke's Mightyena recognises it), but it doesn't occur to him that Hershel might recognise the Runerigus too until after their group picks up Aurora and introduces her to all their pokemon; Luckily for Desmond, although Hershel recognises its nickname, he only idly comments he 'once knew' someone with a Yamask by that name, confidently adding when asked that it was a Unovan Yamask, confusing the old memory of his brother's partner with their father's Cofagrigus. Luke has picked up another pokemon by this point, befriending a Pachirisu named Hazel that has joined his team, while Keats the Glameow has made the Bostonius his new home and ends up adopted by Raymond. When Descole finally reveals himself, he flies off the tower with the aid of his Noivern, and Hershel has no time to stand in shock, following on the back of his Xatu. In the resulting swordfight/pokemon battle, a sequel to one they had on top of the DetraGigant, neither is really talking about what they both know but they are both aware by now that the other KNOWS, and this time Descole fares much better with his Runerigus giving him the advantage of numbers against Hershel's team, allowing him to slip away with Raymond.

When Emmy betrays the group, she uses her team's type advantages to take out Luke's team in one hit each (Hitmonlee on Rattata and Mightyena, Galvantula on Feebas, both on the Pachirisu to overwhelm with numbers), then threatens Luke with the ice pick to make Hershel and Descole stand down and allow her and Leon to leave with Aurora and Luke. Now Descole and Hershel are alone, they more frankly address being brothers and who Leon is (Hershel is definitely embarrassed when he realises where his confusion around his brother's Yamask came from), and Descole doesn't bother with the "I definitely don't care about any of you" act until they run into Luke again, and he decides to play along with Luke's animosity. Hershel decides it wouldn't help to tell Luke the truth at this point, so keeps quiet until Descole throws himself in front of a laser to protect him. Injured, Descole makes Hershel promise to stop their father and the Azran, and Hershel adds a promise to come back for Descole, leaving his Claydol to stand guard while Descole orders his Roserade join Hershel and Luke. As they leave, Luke questions the mention of "our father" and Hershel admits he and Descole are brothers; Luke is so shocked the conversation ends there. When the golem army is released, they are entirely made up of Golurk without their chest seals (seriously, look at Golurk's dex entries here, they are a PERFECT match for the Azran golems). When the humans decide to sacrifice themselves to stop them, they release all their pokemon to say goodbye and allow them to escape (except for Luke, whose team are still unconscious, so he leaves the pokeballs to one side in the hopes they will make it to safety), but at the last moment, the assembled pokemon all team up to push the humans aside and take their place: Descole's Noivern and Vivillion for Descole, Hershel's Xatu and Gallade for Hershel, Descole's Roserade and Leon's Cofagrigus for Leon, Emmy's Galvantula and Hitmonlee for Emmy, and Hershel's Claydol and Descole's Runerigus for Luke. The pokemon die and the humans are left injured from their attempts, but Aurora prays to the ship and heals everyone more-or-less back to normal. In the aftermath, Leon is arrested and his Cofagrigus ultimately claimed by Emmy before she leaves Galar.

Flora is gifted an Applin when she is young, a play on the apple-shaped birthmark on her shoulder. Her father has a Vanilluxe, and her mother a shiny Galarian Meowth, Claudia, which after her death ends up in the care of her robot replica Lady Dahlia. After Lord Reinhold's death, his Vanilluxe passes into Bruno's care instead. Bruno himself has a swarm of Rotom he uses to power and program all the robots of St Mystere, but ends up with a Vanillite too somehow, which he gifts to Flora when she leaves with Hershel and Luke. Don Paulo, when he attacks, has a team full of Drifblim loaded up with Explosion and Revives, but what Hershel's Xatu lacks in moves and defence, she makes up for with her trainer's wits, and easily takes them all out. Chelmey, when Hershel and Luke finally meet the real guy, has a Pangoro, and Barton a Clobbopus. The farmers of Dropstone keep imported Miltank that don't live in the wild, and when Flora gets stuck in town there for a while, she picks up a Milcery from the surrounding fields. Much like with the Stellar Circus's rabbits, Luke briefly takes in the train chef's Morpeko to help it lose weight.

Back in California, Mia and Phoenix have been working together on their case against Redd White, but living together as roommates means its still safer to occasionally leave bits of evidence or research with Iris in Hazakura or Maya in Kurain. After Phoenix's first trial defending Larry, they get something they decide to hide in Larry's statue clock, which they both agree Maya will love to play with. On the evening of the handover, Phoenix plans to be out to give the sisters some time alone together, but comes back to find Mia dead and Maya framed for it. He jumps to defend his friend, helped by Iris's late arrival, but still makes the mistake of confronting White and getting himself framed instead. Iris declines joining him in court, having bad memories of when she helped convict Dahlia, but does visit Phoenix and Maya in the defendant's lobby to wish them luck; When Edgeworth comes to meet them before the second day of trial, he freezes on spotting Iris, needing a long moment to recover and deliver his message. In the aftermath, Mia leaves Charley the Sunflora to Phoenix, Elise the Espeon to Maya, and Sandy the Sylveon to Iris. A few months later, they run into Edgeworth again on the Steel Samurai case: Gumshoe has added to his team (of one) with a Yungoos named Missile, and Maya befriends Penny Nichols and her Porygon-Z. Cody Hackins has an Aron, hoping to one day have an Aggron like the Steel Samurai himself, though Will Powers has a Bastiodon for a pet; The Samurai's Aggron and the Evil Magistrate's Kingambit are owned by a Pokemon Tamer who trains and directs pokemon actors on sets (though I haven't figured out how this new character would fit into the existing case yet). Iris helps out again while defending Edgeworth, being with Phoenix and Maya as they are attacked by Manfred's Magnezone and struggle with Yogi's Chatot. Lotta Hart has a Bouffalant that gets easily excited, nearly tossing their group in the lake a few times when they visit Lotta's campsite.

A few months later, now lacking Maya and Iris, Phoenix meets Ema Skye and her Helioptile and Nidoking, and recognises Lana's name when Ema gives it. When Phoenix tells Iris of what's going on, Iris decides to come help him in Maya's absence, as uncomfortable as she feels meeting Lana again after Dahlia's arrest. She's more understanding of Edgeworth's struggles than Phoenix is, but not confrontational enough to talk to Phoenix about it. Ema is surprised when meeting Jake Marshall again that his Cacturne is the same Cacnea she met on the night Neil Marshall died, who had been kicked aside early in the struggle between the men; Ema's Helioptile had also tried to 'help', shocking everyone into unconsciousness at the same time Ema jumped up to push aside the man with the knife. Jake's team full of Cacturne and Maractus (which he breeds and gives out to mentees like Gumshoe) pass into the police force after his arrest, and later are 'donated' to GatewaterLand, where they act as 'decoration' for the Wild West area. Angel Starr has a Droopy form Tatsugiri as her partner, which acts as a mascot for her 'lunchlady' business after she got fired as a detective. Damon Gant has a Poliwrath, highly enough trained that it had no trouble on the night of Neil's death taking out the weakened Cacnea and Helioptile in one hit each despite the type-disadvantage. In the aftermath, Lana's Skarmory and Nidoqueen go to Ema, who takes her team over to Europe with her.

Pearl is 8 when she first meets Phoenix, so doesn't have a pokemon of her own yet, but after her mother's arrest, she inherits Morgan's Umbreon and Grumpig. Franziska's Ferroseed has since evolved into a Ferrothorn, whipping both Phoenix and his Jolteon in court. When Pearl is finally introduced to Iris, she is very excited to have an older sister and offers to let Iris take Morgan's Grumpig, but Iris points out she already has Chimecho, Shuppet, and Sylveon, and insists she wouldn't want to take away one of Pearl's team of two. Pearl accepts this, but does ask if Iris can come visit her in Kurain now; As much bad history as Iris has with it, in Morgan's absence she agrees to return there. When Phoenix meets Maggey, it's only him and Maya taking the case; They are a little wary of Maggey's Absol at first, but Maggey is very quick to explain that Absol's reputation of bringing disaster is a misconception. Richard Wellington's fire extinguisher takes out Phoenix's dozing Jolteon as easily as it takes out Phoenix himself, leaving Phoenix without a pokemon partner in court and one less clue to help him overcome his amnesia.

The Berry Big Circus has a collection of pokemon, some the partners of individual performers but most as performers themselves under Regina's trainership. Max Galactica has a signature Roselia with white roses, Moe the clown has a Mime Jr that follows him around and imitates his every move, and Acro has a pair of small birds, a Natu and Spritzee, one of whom he is only caring for in Bat's absence. Ben Woodman's puppet Trilo is designed after a Nuzleaf, and the fact that 'he' is a 'talking pokemon' does nothing to change how the other performers treat 'him'. As for Regina, she looks after Regent the Luxray, Money the Aipom, a dancing Ursaluna, and a pair of Copperajah. In the past, they had a Pyroar named Leon, who was put down after Bat's accident. Acro's team go into Moe's care after his arrest, as he doesn't trust them with Regina.

Will Powers invites the Wright & Co Law Offices to the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix, and Iris goes with everyone as part of the team. When Maya leaves to 'answer her call', she brings with her her Eevee on her shoulder and Elise the Espeon walking by her side; Once in private, Shelly de Killer uses his Galarian Slowbro to take out both Maya and her Eevee, but Elise escapes, and de Killer makes no move to chase the Espeon down. While kidnapped, Maya's pokeballs are removed and de Killer keeps them on his person to ensure they cannot escape. Meanwhile, her Espeon flees into the city, where it knows Misty has returned, and summons her to help. Misty is now going by Elise Deauxnim, has evolved her Misdreavus into a Mismagius and befriended a Grafaiai, and when she approaches Phoenix's group under the pretence of "I found this random Espeon on the streets is it yours", Pearl immediately recognises Deauxnim from the 'author/artist' photos in her favourite books. Misty/Deauxnim makes no attempt to reveal her true identity, and joins the investigation, mostly helping keep Pearl's spirits up while Iris helps Phoenix investigate. Juan Corrida's hotel room is full of figures and toys of Teddiursa and Ursaring, with one large standing Ursaluna, all sent by fans to reference a story that he personally wrestled an Ursaring or Ursaluna to train for the show; Phoenix thinks it's very weird, especially as Corrida's pokemon partners were a Magcargo and Alolan Sandslash (the latter originally Celeste Inpax's partner) and the Jammin' Ninja was always pictured with a Kricketune. When Pearl channels Mia for court, Mia is very shocked to find herself face-to-face with Deauxnim, but decides to focus on the problem with Maya rather than confront her mother when it's clear the others don't know who she really is. She does find a moment to confront Deauxnim in private and implore her to tell everyone the truth, but in the end Deauxnim chickens out and never says anything, choosing to stay Pearl's favourite celebrity and friend of Phoenix's office and its resident Feys. During the investigation, Matt Engarde asks them to check on his Alolan Meowth, Shoe, only for Phoenix's group to discover it is already being cared for; After Engarde's conviction, Adrian takes it in, alongside her Alolan Sandshrew.

Some months later, Adrian gets back in touch with the Feys as part of her new job, setting up an exhibit on Kurain Village's treasures. Phoenix is hired by Desiree Delite, who owns a Cyclizar and a Ninjask, to defend her husband Ron, whose Shedinja and Flygon have been helping him as Mask DeMasque. Luke Atmey has a Mimikyu that clings to his shoulder most of the time. From the start, Phoenix knows who Godot really is - he had been keeping tabs on Diego Armando after Mia's death but missed him waking up as it was Mia and not him on the 'notify' list - and guesses Godot is so mad at him for failing to prevent Mia's death; Phoenix already carries a bit of self-blame for his decisions that contributed to Mia being alone that night, so he doesn't confront Godot on it, knowing none of his friends blame anyone but Redd White and unwilling to leave his own 'defence' to them.

Phoenix applies for a Legal League of Attorneys exchange that brings him and Maya to Galar for a couple of weeks, and quickly results in the pair of Americans - followed by Hershel and Luke - winding up without their pokemon in Labyrinthia. Nearly no-one in Labyrinthia has any pokemon, the only ones the four visitors see being Eve the black Purrloin, Constantine the Fidough (his Dachsbun mother was likely a runaway pet originally from Paldea), Hoots the Noctowl, Cracker the blue Squawkabilly (another pet imported from Paldea), and a lot of Skiddo and Gogoat used as farming stock; Pokeballs also aren't a thing here, with pokemon in general treated like dangerous animals (pets and livestock being the exceptions). With how much longer this Phoenix and Maya have known each other compared to canon, Darklaw confuses them for a couple and sets them up as such in Labyrinthia, and though they get their memories back within a day or two, it's enough for them to question their relationship going forward. After Hershel is 'turned to gold' and Maya 'burned as a witch', the two of them reunite in the Eldwitch Woods, where they see the Shades working together happily with a variety of pokemon, all paired to modern pokeballs the individual Shades carry with them. After a bit of investigation, they find a box in the Great Witch's 'office' that contains Hershel's, Luke's, Phoenix's, and Maya's teams, safely kept in their balls, and reclaim them all on behalf of their absent friends; Not long after, Phoenix, Luke, and Espella catch up and introduce their pokemon to each other (with the exception of Milar the Gyarados, who is too big for the underground tunnel they are in). On their return to town, their pokemon immediately stop to question the black machinary all around the place - Luke is translating - and that helps the group piece together what's really happening much quicker; During the final trial, instead of figuring out how to drive the machines he can't see, Luke is instead sent to join Phoenix and Maya at the defence to tell them Hershel's plan in taking over for Darklaw to force her to testify. Of course, the quartet all having (most of) their pokemon at their sides now makes the Labyrinthians very wary of them (like a regular person would be of someone walking down the street with an untethered lion), though they're more comfortable with Maya's and Luke's rather innocuous dog-cat-thing, rat, fish, wolf-hyena, and squirrel (Eevee, Rattata, Feebas, Mightyena, Pachirisu) than the floating clay figure, the two giant birds, the humanoid with blade-arms, the twin-tailed dog-cat-thing, or the spiky dog-cat-thing (Claydol, Xatu and Fletchinder, Gallade, Espeon, Jolteon). At the end of the trial, when Espella tries throwing herself from the tower, Hershel sends out Xatu and Phoenix sends out Fletchinder in the same moment to help; Xatu and Fletchinder do their best but can't carry both Espella and Darklaw (who also leapt to catch her) once they lose their grip on the tower, so Phoenix additionally sends out his Gyarados, who easily catches all four and carries them to safety. Once the 'spell' over Labyrinthia is broken, the pokemon who had been with the Shades in the woods return and reunite with their original trainers, having been given up when their trainers joined the original experiment (except for the very few allowed to stay in the town). Phoenix, Maya, Hershel, and Luke are returned to Wyndon and promise to stay in touch with each other before Phoenix and Maya return home.

(It's at this point in the story I'd be having Phoenix and Maya start dating, prompted by their experience in Labyrinthia. Also, Maya may or may not be pregnant now, because this is my self-indulgent AU and I can do what I want with it.)

Maggey is arrested while Phoenix and Maya are in Galar, making it easy for Phoenix to register a mistrial and defend her for real; He is especially upset after meeting Furio Tigre and his shiny Arcanine that Tigre doesn't have a single pokemon in common with him, raising even more questions about how he got into court. Gumshoe had taken in Maggey's Absol after her conviction, and is very happy to return it once she is acquitted.

On instructions from Morgan, Pearl pushes Maya and Phoenix to go take a course at Hazakura together and visit Iris, as she has always been the one to visit them. They readily agree, though Phoenix refuses to take part himself (if Maya is pregnant, he definitely is wary about letting her do anything but she talks him into it). They're surprised to run into Deauxnim there, but as she already demonstrated knowledge of Kurain channelling its not too big of a shock that she knows about Hazakura too. More of a shock is that Larry has recently become her apprentice, and Phoenix tries his best to put a firm stop on his ogling of Iris, knowing Larry would be a terrible match for her. Iris seems to be acting strange, but they write that off as nervousness about introducing them to her mother-figure Bikini - and Bikini's Froslass, Brassiere. When Maya heads off for her course, she leaves her Espeon Elise with Pearl (though Elise ends up sticking to Deauxnim) and takes only her Eevee with her. When Phoenix sees the bridge on fire, he has enough presence of mind that he sends out Milar the Gyarados to carry him across, but even with the dying light from the bridge, it's too dark to see anything on the other side; Regardless, all his talk of a killer on the other side panicks Larry enough that he still calls Edgeworth for help, unnecessarily summoning him back to California. Pearl comes out of hiding to meet Phoenix in tears, refusing to explain what she's doing near the Inner Temple, so Phoenix reluctantly gives up the search to take her back across, leaving his Fletchinder to keep a lookout for Maya. Edgeworth tries to ensure he's on the prosecution to help Phoenix out, but when Franziska hears what's going on, she insists on handling it herself, claiming she still wants 'revenge' on Phoenix (but really just wants to engineer a scenario to return Maya's card from her kidnapping). The bridge being out is no hindrance with plenty of flying and levitating pokemon to carry people across, but the police work on repairing the bridge anyway as having it makes things easier. Godot doesn't show himself until after the bridge is repaired, knowing he couldn't get away with having claimed to come across on a pokemon, and takes over the prosecution. In the Inner Temple, a Sylveon has consistantly been sitting just behind the bars, perfectly happy to stay exactly where it is, and it takes Phoenix a while to recognise it is Maya's evolved Eevee, and its insistance on standing guard lends credence to Maya being in the tunnel behind it. After the failure of getting Iris to open the bars, the Sylveon disappears, but everyone figures it just ran back into the tunnel during the earthquake… until it appears to Phoenix and Pearl as they head to court the next day, wanting to stay with them. Phoenix later realises it was standing guard over the channelled Dahlia, fled or was scared away when Iris switched places with her, and is continuing to try and stand guard by joining them in court (if Maya is pregnant, he definitely worries for the safety of the baby with its mother channelling someone for so long, but it turns out fine). After Godot's arrest, Maya feels obligated to check up on his Zangoose, which has gone into the care of the Armando family. As for Iris's team, Sandy the Sylveon goes to Maya, her Chimecho to Pearl, and her Banette to Bikini. Misty's Grafaiai goes to Larry, while her Mismagius ends up with Maya. Not long after, just short of two years since Mia's death, Sandy the Sylveon passes away in her sleep.

When Galar's PM Bill Hawks is kidnapped, his Alakazam is left behind; Though it teleports all over Galar in the aftermath, it is unable to locate where its trainer has gone. Down in Future Wyndon, only The Family seem to have pokemon partners and there are very few 'wild' pokemon around either, but Luke still befriends a green Squawkabilly that he adds to his team (Emmy had advised him when she left that he get something good against fighting-types, and he reflects a flying-type counts). Around the city, they also meet Beasly the Beedrill and Subject 2 the Diggersby, runaway experiments from the same lab as the Squawkabilly. Future Luke, when questioned on what happened to his Rattata, Feebas, Mightyena, and Pachirisu, spins a story of Future Hershel forbidding pokemon for all but a select few, thus they had to be sent out of the city for safety; Hershel hugely doubts this is something he would ever do, but keeps quiet and goes along with Future Luke's insistance they keep their pokemon in their pokeballs as often as possible. When they finally meet 'Future Hershel', he has a Gothitelle just like 'Dr Stahngun' and, as he eventually is revealed to be, Dimitri Allen. 'Future Luke' similarly is eventually revealed to be Clive, and reveals his own team of a pair of Unfezant (who were a pair of Pidove when Hershel first met Clive) and a Vibrava. Celeste evades Hershel's suspicions not just by claiming to be Claire's younger sister but by claiming she 'lost' her pokemon, a cover-story that also explains the joyful reunion Claire's Xatu treats her to. During the escape from Clive's mobile fortress, Hershel lends Celeste Susan the Xatu to allow her to fly back to help Clive while he continues on to drop off his passengers. Afterwards, 'Celeste' is revealed as Claire, has a proper reunion with her Xatu, and gets a last conversation with Hershel before going back in time to die. Less than a week later, though Luke is still against it, he's leaving Galar with his parents. Flora throws herself into helping with the rebuild of Wyndon, during which she picks up a Sinistea and the newly-orphaned 6yo Alfendi, who Hershel eventually adopts.

Edgeworth gets unexpectedly reunited with Kay Faraday, who shows off her father's now-evolved Greninja and Zoroark, as well as a device of her father's containing blueprints and images that allows the Zoroark to create an illusion of the room they depict. They butt heads with Shi-Long Lang and his midday form Lycanroc, and his assistant 'Shih-na' and her Seviper. Ema briefly helps them out, showing off her newly-evolved Heliolisk and a new member of her team, Venonat, whose special eyes are an aid in her forensic analyses. 'Shih-na' eventually gets outed as 'Calisto Yew', hiding the Lurantis and Thievul she had years before; Her boss, Quercus Alba, has a Trevenant. A few short days later, Edgeworth's group end up on another series of connected cases, during which they befriend Eustace Winner and his Shroomish, and Verity Gavelle and her Tinkaton. Prison head Fifi LaGuarde has a pet Sandile that has its own sandpit in the corner of the prison yard, as well as a shiny Furret she uses as a scarf and a near-literal horde of regular Furret she uses as a coat, getting around the six-team limit by legally assigning them as part of the program that pairs up prisoners with pokemon. Of her prisoners, blind assassin Bodhidharma Kanis has a Houndstone that acts as his guide animal and was known for assisting him in his assassinations before his arrest, while boxer Rocco Carcerato has been given a Cubchoo that loves him far more than he likes it. After a rocky reunion with Eddie Fender and his Mawile, Edgeworth's group manage to uncover the false Di-Jun Wang and his stolen Pyroar, arrest LaGuarde and the elder Winner (and his Heatmor), and finally corner the mastermind, Simeon Saint; Since becoming the assistant animal trainer at the Berry Big Circus, Simeon has assembled a team that is a mixture of pre-existing circus pokemon, new pokemon specially for him, and possibly a partner or two of his own he brought in with him: Money the Aipom, a Pignite, three Skwovet, a Skitty, two Buneary, three Flittle (or one Flittle and Acro's birds?), and an Annihilape. All turn on him when he reveals his true colours before his arrest.

When Jove Justice meets Thalassa Gramarye, he doesn't have a pokemon partner, and becomes the only member of Troupe Gramarye without one: Magnifi has his Meowscarada, Mamoswine, and Chewtle, Thalassa has her Brionne, Zak has his Koffing and Plusle, and Valant has his Luvdisc and Minun. To help Jove fit in, Thalassa does some research and surprises him with a Fuecoco, which she has named Theia. By the time the pair are off on their own, Theia has evolved into a Crocalor. When Jove ends up alone with baby Apollo and Theia in the burning palace, he thinks about it for two seconds before recalling Theia to her pokeball; She has open flames on her head, and thus is more likely to make things worse by her very presence. When Dhurke and his Dragonair come across Jove's body later, they recover baby Apollo and Theia's ball, taking them both in until Apollo is old enough to care for Theia himself. Dhurke judges that time as when Apollo is four, after watching how the boy helps his "older brother" Nahyuta care for the Bagon Dhurke gave him for his fifth birthday. The two boys engage in many low-stakes battles between their pokemon partners as they grow up together, up until Apollo is 9 and sent to California against his wishes. He manages to settle in with his first foster family, the Bonneys, who even give him a Scorbunny, but after a few years he runs away to try going back to Khura'in alone. He doesn't get very far and is removed from his foster family, ending up at a boarding school and only just managing to keep his Scorbunny. At 13, he befriends classmate Clay and his Pidgey, and the pair are soon doing everything together, including training their pokemon, evolving their Scorbunny and Pidgey into a Raboot and Pidgeotto. At 15, they get a brand new classmate, Luke Triton, who has two new additions to his team in his father's Bronzong and mother's Gigalith (it evolved after passing into his hands) - both were in their pokeballs during the accident, too big for inside the car, with only Toppy the Rattata on Luke's team out at the time. Toppy was injured in the crash, separating him from Luke just long enough to allow Luke to cheat suddenly having a team of 7 by reassigning Toppy as a non-battling pet, allowing him to keep them all with him.

Jumping back in time again, Trucy is 5 when her mother gives her a Popplio of her own, the child of Thalassa's Primarina (evolved since Jove's death). She is too young to really pay attention to Mr Reus's brief time with the Troupe, and his Charcadet and Gimmighoul that help him with his fire and coin tricks. After Thalassa's disappearance, Zak regularly lends Trucy his Kantonian Weezing 'to play with' (to protect her), and Weezing is with Trucy when Zak is eventually arrested. As part of Zak's plan to escape, Trucy returns the Weezing to her father, allowing him to flee with his closest pokemon partner. Unknown to her, Zak's confiscated Plusle is later taken in by Valant.

One thing I'd want to do different if I was rewriting this fic from the beginning would be the timing of when Luke arrives, meaning putting him in California before Phoenix loses his badge, just because that would be an interesting scenario to write. In this specific AU, that means it's Phoenix and Maya who are meeting Luke, being introduced to Clay and Apollo as simply his friends, and then fostering/adopting only Luke. Phoenix and Maya are planning to get married, but have been taking their time about it for various reasons, so just Phoenix is officially taking in Luke for now, though Maya makes frequent jokes about also adopting Apollo. Not long after, Phoenix is asked last-minute to defend Zak Gramarye and loses his badge, and Luke has no idea Phoenix even had a trial until he returns home that night for the weekend and finds Phoenix deeply depressed and the office phone unplugged. He does his best to help, and Phoenix tries to 'suck it up' for Luke, but it's basically a repeat of the night they thought Maya was dead in Labyrinthia despite their best efforts. It isn't until Phoenix's friends (and Kay) come by the next day he starts feeling better, helped by Maya making a big statement by dragging him to the courthouse to quietly get married with Luke and their friends (and Kay) their only witnesses. Phoenix, hoping to avoid his new spotlight however he can, changes his name to Fey; While Maya starts the process of becoming Luke's second official guardian, Phoenix gets the ball rolling to take in Trucy, who is very happy to get a new set of parents and an older brother and sister/cousin out of this deal. To solidify their new family unit (and because there's only just room for them and the three kids in the office apartment), they plan to primarily live in Fey Manor in Kurain, staying in the city only for work (Phoenix is entering the 'poker-lite' scene here) and school. It's around this time Phoenix discovers Apollo is Trucy's half-brother, and on discussing it with Maya, they decide to officially adopt him after all. Apollo is too ecstatic to question it at first, but once he's officially adopted, he finally stops to ask, and Phoenix admits the truth. In return, Apollo tells Phoenix the entire truth of his past in Khura'in, but asks him not to tell the other kids yet.

The Fey family's first big event together is after Pearl turns 10, and she is (on Maya's orders) granted her own Fey Eevee, who she names Sapphire. The next month, Maya asks Apollo if he wants one too, as her official son, and he agrees, getting an Eevee he names Helios. The month after, Luke is also asked despite his overflowing team, and he insists he can't turn that down, getting an Eevee he names Patch; With a team of 8 now, he sets up for Fey Manor to be his 'storage home', where he can keep his pokemon outside of a PC when they're not in his team, to allow his friends to stick around even if they're not travelling with him. (if Maya is pregnant, her and Phoenix's baby is born a few months later.) At the end of the year, Trucy pulls Apollo into performing with her as her stage partner, and he quickly proves to be a natural.

In 2020, Luke begins volunteering at a Pokemon Rescue, hoping to one day become a Pokemon Nurse. The regular staff all have Pokemon-themed nicknames, such as Vulpix (Fox), Wyrdeer (Reindeer), Ducklett (Duck), or Beedrill (Bee). Instead of a shelter, the Rescue works by taking in abandoned pokemon, returning them to full health, and then assessing them for either release outside the city or keeping around for rehoming (Luke's ability to quietly ask them what they want helps a great deal). Luke ends the year on a trip to Galar, officially to 'scout' Gressenheller as an option for uni, but really just to visit his friends back home.

In 2021, Elise the Espeon passes away in her sleep. Trucy turns 10, and also gets her Fey Eevee, which she names Selene. She and Apollo eventually evolve their Eevees into a Flareon and Vaporeon respectively, making them their stage partners. Not necessarily in this year, Pearl's evolves into a Glaceon, and Luke's into a Leafeon. By 2026, Apollo's Crocalor has evolved into a Skeledirge, Trucy's Popplio into a Brionne, Luke's Feebas into a Milotic and his Rattata into a Raticate, Clay's Pidgeotto into a Pidgeot, and Phoenix's Fletchinder into a Talonflame. Elsewhere in the 'family', Adrian's Alolan Meowth (Shoe) and Alolan Sandshrew evolve into Alolan Persian and Sandslash, Gumshoe's Yungoos (Missile) into a Gumshoos, and Edgeworth's Herdier and Doublade into Stoutland and Aegislash.

In 2022, Iris finishes her time in jail and reclaims her pokemon. She immediately becomes an aunt figure to the kids, visiting regularly from Hazakura. Pearl starts school in the city, sharing a room with Trucy in the office apartment during school time.

In 2024, a couple years after Morgan was delivered her death sentence, her former Umbreon passes away. Apollo, approaching the end of his studies, applies to work with Kristoph Gavin, whose pokemon partner is a Boltund named Vongole.

In 2025, the Fey kids meet Guy Eldoon when he takes over his late father's noodle stand; His pokemon partner is a Mabostiff named Spoon, but his father's old Garganacl is still hanging around as the stand's unspoken secondary mascot. The shelter trial goes much the same; The workers don't bring their own pokemon to work to avoid confusion with their 'boarders', so no-one has anything new on them on the night of the murder. Wyrdeer (Reindeer) still gets convicted, and Simba evades official suspicion. Detective Fullbright has a Vigoroth as his partner, which matches his energy.

Early in 2026, Luke's missing parents are declared legally dead and he inherits their estates. Zak comes out of hiding to pass on the Gramarye rights to Trucy right before his timer also runs out, resulting in Apollo's first case. Having found Zak and not needing the money, Phoenix quits his job at the Borscht Bowl Club and stays in the city only to look after his kids. Shortly after, Maya leaves for Khura'in to do her two years of training there, making Phoenix the primary/only parent in the meantime.

When Apollo defends Wocky Kitaki, he quickly meets Alita and her Pawmot, Winfred Kitaki and his Alolan Raticate, and Plum Kitaki and her Cinccino. Wocky has an Alolan Rattata, while Meraktis has a Hypno. When Meraktis threatened Alita, he used his Hypno's type-advantage to defeat her Pawmot while personally attacking Alita herself, and used Hypno again to psychically remove the bowls from the noodle cart to hide Alita in there, as he definitely didn't want to be seen obviously floating an apparently dead body across the park in the middle of the night. Luke's bird friend Corbin is a Rookidee who considers himself the protector of the park, refusing any and all attempts to catch him by young trainers. Upon first meeting the Fey kids, Klavier has inherited Vongole the Boltund, but also has his own Amped form Toxtricity that performs with him on stage. Ema has long returned her sister's Skarmory and Nidoqueen, and angrily guards the crime scene with her Nidoking, Heliolisk, and newly-evolved Venomoth.

Jumping back in time a bit, after Thalassa's accident, Geary tries to help her with her blindness and memory issues by getting her an assistant/guide pokemon and picks a Kirlia that eventually evolves into a Gardevoir. With her Primarina and Gardevoir, Thalassa ends up performing as Lamiroir with Machi, and at some point Machi gets a Cetoddle but I haven't figured out exactly when yet. As part of their act, they pretend the Gardevoir is his rather than Lamiroir's, and though it stands by Machi on stage, it subtly uses its psychic powers to guide Lamiroir to her spot on stage. They wind up on tour with the Gavinners and a brand new manager, meeting the Fey kids in California. Unfortunately, both Theia the Skeledirge and Lamiroir's Primarina are too big to be out in the (very busy) Gavinners' dressing room where they first meet, so it isn't until Apollo and Trucy go to question Lamiroir after the murder that they find themselves facing a suddenly-ecstatic Primarina that immediately recognises them. It takes a bit for Trucy to recognise the Primarina in return and a little longer for everyone present to twig who Lamiroir really is, reuniting her with Theia and the kids she had forgotten she had. Since Machi doesn't wander off (he even accidentally reveals he can speak a little English in his excitement at Lamiroir outright telling him he has siblings), the investigation and resulting trial go differently, but end pretty much the same, with Lamiroir/Thalassa intentionally leaving Machi with the Feys while she goes to Galar to restore her eyesight, looked after by the Laytons. She ends up extending her stay to go to Borginia with them still, hoping to find out how she ended up there and regain what memories she hasn't already recovered. By this point, Katrielle is part of the Layton family, and has recently acquired a Munchlax that challenges even Kat appetite-wise. Also, as Flora has blossomed into an experienced cook, she has expanded her team and evolved several, leaving her with an Appletun, a Vanillish, an Alcremie, a Polteageist, a Cramorant, and a Swirlix. Alfendi similarly has picked up a Koffing somewhere along the way.

Thalassa is back in California and with her kids by the time of the Misham trial, so Phoenix doesn't ask her to join the jurist panel as he doesn't want to interrupt such a fresh reunion. Drew Misham has long had a Sudowoodo that served as his 'mascot', and has passed on to Vera, as she never went outside to find a partner of her own. As Thalassa is tagging along with Apollo's investigation, Vera is much quicker to open up, recognising one of her favourite magicians, but still won't talk about her mysterious client until after getting sick.

Apollo makes the same mistakes not telling Luke what's going on with the shelter trial, but it gets resolved much quicker as Luke is less stressed out by other events and his Pachirisu is more than eager to play 'spy' for him on Apollo's investigation.

Jumping back in time again, Athena lives as a child in Cosmos Space Center with her mother Metis Cykes, and the only other people she knows being Aura and Simon Blackquill. When her sensitive hearing was first discovered, Metis got Athena an Audino to help her, and at some point began developing the 'Widget' necklace, who is powered by a Rotom; Ponco and Clonco, meanwhile, are powered by a pair of Porygon. After Metis's murder and Simon's conviction, Athena is sent with her Audino and Widget the Rotom to Europe to stay with her aunt. Although said aunt regularly travels all over the continent and speaks a number of languages that Athena eagerly learns, their home base is in Galar, where Athena ends up spending most of her time attending school and, after meeting Phoenix and Luke, taking courses at Gressenheller. She befriends Luke for good when they are both at uni together.

I won't go too far into detail of how Athena helps once she joins the Agency, partly because I don't have all those details hashed out in the original AU, but there are a few things I can talk about:

Taka is still a Staraptor, who Simon befriended in jail. He had an original partner who was taken in by Aura after his arrest, but I haven't figured out what it would be yet. Aura's only other pokemon are the Porygon that power Ponco and Clonco, though the one in Ponco has since evolved into a Porygon2.

Ora and Orla Shipley are both large Palafin, and switch into Hero Form during performances with Sasha. Rifle is a Priplup, and her baby Sniper a tiny Piplup.

Juniper has a team full of fruit-themed pokemon like Tropius, Bounsweet, etc. Hugh has his Decidueye that he does archery with, and Robin I haven't decided, but I think a pair of one very masculine and one very feminine pokemon, but the masculine one is a girl and the feminine one a boy, inspired by the number of times I've ended up with a female Machoke in my party in a Kanto game. xD

After Clay's death, Apollo takes in his Pidgeot. The Phantom's pokemon partner is a Ditto, and has been taking the form of Fullbright's Vigoroth just like its trainer has been taking the form of Fullbright. Ted Tonate has a Turtonator and maybe an Electrode too.

In Khura'in, Nahyuta's Bagon has since evolved into a Shelgon, but doesn't evolve again into a Salamence until after Nahyuta breaks himself free of Ga'ran's control. He has also acquired a Beautifly since Apollo left, a Khura'inese variant that resembles the Khura'inese butterfly with the connecting wing loop, and he takes in Dhurke's Dragonair after the latter's death. Ahlbi's dog Shah'do is a Hisuian Growlithe. Ga'ran is known for her Malamar partner, while her husband Inga has an Octillery; After their arrest and death respectively, Amara takes in the Malamar and Rayfa the Octillery. Amara has a large team, seeming to just attract pokemon wherever she goes, and has with her a Hisuian Typhlosion, a Pachirisu, a Deerling, a Spritzee, and a Flittle. Rayfa was given a Sensu form Oricorio as a girl to help her practise her dancing, and adopts a Bulbasaur from a small population in the palace garden.

And that's… all I have. Or at least all I can go into without spoiling things I've planned for the main AU. I did write a bunch of Phoenix, Larry, and Mia's journey to the city together years back, which got abandoned when I started revamping the AU again. If I ever dedicate actual writing to this AU again, it would probably be in the format of one-shots, covering the most interesting bits only.

[mariacallous]

In her dissent to the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson Supreme Court ruling late last month, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called out the reality that many local governments have already “made criminalization a frontline response to homelessness” and warned that the Court’s decision to further enable criminalization will lead to “a destabilizing cascade of harm.” The recent Grants Pass decision—which enables localities to arrest, ticket, and fine people for sleeping on public property, even if there is no housing or shelter available to them—runs the risk of further intertwining municipal homelessness policy with punitive enforcement, a move that could make both homelessness and crime worse nationwide.

Indeed, prior to Grants Pass, cities nationwide, from New York to Tallahassee, Fla., to Albuquerque, NM were increasingly relying on police, the enforcement of quality-of-life offenses, and the clearance of tent encampments to manage homelessness. States too have increasingly embraced punitive approaches, with more than a dozen states introducing or passing laws that ban sleeping outside. Kentucky’s public safety legislation went even further by not only making public camping illegal statewide, but also prohibiting the use of state funds to provide permanent housing without preconditions (essentially blocking the implementation of the evidence-based “housing first” model) and allowing property owners to use force—even deadly force—against homeless individuals who don’t leave their property.

While Grants Pass is likely to inspire more of these punitive policies at the state and local levels, the decision itself doesn’t have to be destiny. There are numerous evidence-based and cost-effective approaches that address both homelessness and crime in the public realm, if there is the political will to see them through. This research brief provides an overview of these evidence-based approaches, explores the critical intersection between housing and public safety, and offers short-, medium-, and long-term recommendations for state and local governments to ensure a safe and humane public realm in the changing legal and political environments that cities and regions now find themselves in.