#its complicated alright

[lady-raziel]

hilarious that with each new day that passes a new bit of dirt from JD Vance's past gets discovered and plastered over the internet...it's almost as if this is why presidential campaigns have always announced their running mates well before the convention...so that if glaring issues with a candidate came to light quickly there would be time to replace them on the ticket before they were officially locked in...it's almost as if certain things in political campaigns were done for a reason, donald...because the very same critical failures had happened before...but no i'm sure you and your guys attempt to recreate a fantasy version of history while ignoring all the reasons that history was a disaster will work this time...because you are built different and the 10000th time trying fascism will work like a charm...

[puppyeared]

tw flashing images, implied death

please for the love of god reblog this, it took me 3 days

[beth-and-bands]

My dad: Hows the building going in zelda?

Me: 😬

So clearly not great😭

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Hi!! Same anon from the comfort question! That's so sweet and cute thank for that!! (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

now Im imagining Eddie "the southern gentleman" Dear having a mini telenovela moment while the horrors happened, he's all like "oh, I am too late, I slept too long; he is with another and have too let him go" even sad music in the background

Meanwhile Frank is cuddling Wally AND Eddie after beating the shit out o f the horror, the man need a break and also be like "this is the 3 one this week I miss my garden"

I holding onto 'frank would hold on to you like a barnacle' to Eddie after so long talking to a fake one

that is pretty much Exactly how it goes in my head lmfao - and like, the thing is that Frank & Eddie weren't really together when Shit Went Down? they were in that "we're mutually courting & neither of us has said anything outright yet but we both Know and are waiting for the right moment" stage yk yk?

so when he wakes up Frank isn't immediately all over him, cause he's kinda like "oh shit where do we stand? im not used to this, i haven't talked to Eddie in so so long! how do relationships work?!" so that + his easy & affectionate behavior with Wally creates a Perceived Emotional Distance & Romantic Disinterest from Eddie's pov. like no, hon, Frank's just rusty <3 and also unsure if he Should pursue their relationship because he's slowly fucking dying & does he want to hurt Eddie like that???

[silent-sentinels]

dont mind the username change btw we're just separating blogs into a personal talky blog and a more plural oriented (ploriented...) blog, we'll keep you updated [fingerguns]

[zerotwoooo]

How the hell did Zero get into or control Kirby's body?

"Who knows... could tag it on anything..."

[fragaria-imagines]

Haii I really love your first kiss hcs with harlitt, tuxam, chaco and merold can you do it with Louter and klark? 🩷

I got a bunch of request for the Stellar Twins so I thought I’ll combine the two request! I decided to put an extra spin on this and lean in to the whole OHSHC harem vibes (even though I’m pretty sure you didn’t mean it in a literal sense-), so for this request the two stories are connected (going from Klarkstella to Louterstella) but it follows Otome rules where the romantic aspect/first kiss with one twin doesn’t happen, if you read the other twins story! I hope I explained it well(?), but I hope it’s enjoyable nonetheless!

Ever since you became a knight, quietness was not something that you experienced often. There was always something going on, a fight breaking out, training with noisy classmates, meetings with lord’s, there was never a moment of peace, never a moment for you to breathe, never a moment to sit in silence with only the thoughts in your head to keep you company.

So on the rare days like this, days where the birds stopped chirping, days where the wind stilled as if time stopped moving, days where nobody was around, you appreciated the silence even more.

The only noise that could be heard in the otherwise quiet eerie morning was the sound of the machine's churning, a sound which you have come to appreciate more and even look forward too, each passing day.

"You are doing it wrong, give me the hammer” Klarkstella bluntly said, glaring at you as you worked on the machines. Though his tone wasn't demanding, it didn't leave much room for objection either.

Or more accurately, you were looking forward to seeing the person who was responsible for those machine noises.

You don’t remember how this tradition began but every morning you’ll come by the mechanic shop, and see him already there working on the machines, never taking his eyes off it no matter what was going on around him. Truth be told, you didn't know much about the blue haired knight, you two were in different bouquets, and ran in different social circles, yet you couldn't help but feel intrigued anytime you were with him.

He didn’t say much back then, always hyper focused on the task at hand, though little by little, he finally started acknowledging your presence, whether that be giving you a curt nod or a blank stare. And you didn’t mind the silence, it was refreshing to be in the same room with someone without being expected to entertain a conversation, you quite liked the comfortable silence you two had going on.

But on the off times when he actually said a word to you, it was usually very short and to the point, never engaging in any small talk unless it was to critique or criticized you. Oddly enough, for someone who likes the silence so much, you found yourself to like those days the most.

You huffed in annoyance at his demeaning words, but you caved in and handed him your hammer, knowing that as much as you hated his arrogance, he was undoubtedly a genius when it comes to machines, and would most likely fix your problem.

“I don’t know what I did wrong though, I followed the instructions to a T!” You commented, watching him tinker with the machine. He rolled his eyes at your comment, knowing you did no such thing, but kept his thoughts to himself as he fixed your machine.

“I seriously don’t know why you even bother to come here so often, if you can’t even fix a simple machine” Klarkstella retorted, though there was no real malice in his voice, more so just tired annoyance from cleaning up your mess so many times. Still that didn’t stop the redness in your cheeks from spreading, knowing full well why you come by often, when you had no major interest in machines.

“And there we go, that should do the trick! You’re welcome by the way” Klarkstella confidently said, not even bothering to hide the arrogant smirk on his face.

“Oh shut—AH!” You started your insult but before you could finish it, you ended up slipping on a piece of loose machinery on the floor.

You shut your eyes and braced yourself for the cold impact of the floor but it never came, instead Klarkstella quickly grabbed your arm and pulled you into a warm embrace before you could hit the floor. You slowly opened your eyes and were met with his icy cold glare.

“You idiot watch where you’re going! You could have seriously gotten hurt!” Klarkstella scolded you. You winced at his harsh stern voice and waited for him to loosen his grip, before pushing you off him with contempt, but it never came. His embrace never wavered, in fact you felt like he only tightened his hold on you.

You wanted to say you’re sorry, you wanted to apologize for inconveniencing him time and time again, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do so because as held you so close to his chest, you could feel his heartbeat thumping against your ear, you could feel his breath, his arms, his face so close to yours. It was at that moment you realize, you didn’t feel sorry for the inconvenience at all.

He always helped you any time you were having trouble with something, even when he could be doing anything else, and for that, you wanted to show your gratitude and appreciation for him.

An idea blossomed into your mind and you quickly turned red at the mere idea of it, his face being inches away from yours, and having his arms tightly wrapped around your waist, was definitely not helping your case, it did give you the courage to go through with it.

Slowly you moved your head closer to his and engulfed his lips with yours. You heard a small gasp coming from his lips but he made no movements to kiss you back, realizing what you have just done, you instinctively tried to pull back, in hopes to salvage whatever dignity and pride you had left.

But before you could pull away fully, Klarkstella pulled you back towards him, closing the gap between you two once again, this time more animated than before. You wrapped your arms around his neck, melting under his touch, you could stay in this position for hours.

Unfortunately, while you two may be fairies, life is not a fairy tale. You reluctantly pulled away from Klarkstella to catch your breath.

“Ah how cute…!” You thought, chuckling to yourself, once you noticed his ears had turned a bright shade of red.

Klarkstella, noticing that your attention shifted towards his ears, scowled at you. Though it wasn’t as threatening as he would have liked, since his face was just as red as his ears.

“A-anyways, um thank you for helping me with fixing my machine, a-and for catching me when I fell…! That was really nice of you so t-thanks, and I’ll love to stay and chat but I’m meeting up with a friend afterwards, so uh, see you tomorrow…!!” You awkwardly said, too embarrassed to even come up with an eloquent explanation.

You bolted out of the shop right afterwards, but you didn’t miss the amusing smirk he had on face as you helplessly explained yourself, nor the small chuckle he gave as you ran out.

Though you didn’t wait long enough to hear his response, you had a good feeling everything would be alright when tomorrow comes.

You had plans to meet your friend at a local café, but thanks to an incident at the mechanic shop -an incident that you may or may not have been responsible for-, you were running late on meeting him.

You knew he wouldn’t mind and would be understanding of your circumstance, but you couldn’t help but feel guilty for making him wait so long. So you did your best to quickly rush out of the shop to hurriedly meet up with him, Klarkstella’s lectures be damned, that was a problem for another day.

“I’m here!! I’m sorry I’m late!!” You shouted an apology to your friend. You quickly came to regret that decision, as the usual empty café, -that you specifically picked out because it was so empty, now was filled with hundreds of people…. who all heard your sudden outburst, and gave you looks of confusion, annoyance, or a mix of both.

“Y/N, over here!” Louterstella, who was sitting at the back of the café, gently called out, ignoring all the attention and turning heads that he received. You quickly made your way towards him, not wanting to draw any attention further, and sat down right across from him.

“Why is there so many people here today? It’s usually so empty” You asked, once you were seated, the embarrassment slightly started to wear off as people continued on with their day.

“It’s the morning crowd, it’s usually always like this” Louterstella explained, taking a sip of his tea afterwards.

“It’s a full house today, I’m surprised you even managed to get us a seat….” You replied absentmindedly, taking a bite of his croissants, as you looked at the menu.

“Ah yes, it is a bit difficult to find a good spot when it’s so crowded, it’s a good thing I didn’t come so late like some people” Louterstella teased, his smile never wavering. You choked on your croissant, the earlier bashfulness from before, was coming back in full gear.

“Careful now, have some water” Louterstella gently said, handing you a cup of his water, which you graciously accepted.

“Yeah sorry about that, there was a bit of an incident at the shop that kept me later than usual but it’s fine now” You explained after you were finished drinking water. “I would have come sooner hadn’t the accident happen, honestly!”

Louterstella waived your explanation away, seemingly not that upset about it. “Relax Y/N, I’m only teasing, I know hard it is to work a machine so don’t worry about it, I assume Klark was not pleased about it, though?”

You internally rolled your eyes at the mention of Klarkstella’s name, but your annoyance wasn’t that well hidden it seems, as Louterstella let out a small laugh seeing you so defeated at the mention of his brothers name.

“Oh, so it was that bad, Klark usually means well but he does come across a bit harsh when machines are involved, I hope you don’t hold it against him” Louterstella nodded in understanding, sipping his tea.

“Yeah I get that but Louter, you have to understand, it was a total accident! I followed the instructions and everything, I don’t know how it all went so wrong!” You ranted, remembering the moment where you slipped from the broken machines parts, and Klarkstella just stared down at you, with his “I told you so” smug look.

Louterstella didn’t interrupt your long winded rant, just sat there and nodded in sympathy, understanding the frustration when it came to working a machine. And that was the great thing about him, he never had to say anything or do anything to make you feel seen or heard, his presence was more than enough. There was just something comforting about him, where you’re able to let your guard down and confess your greatest sins to him, and you wouldn’t have to worry about him judging you or thinking you were odd, he just gets it.

“I understand, I’m not great with machines myself, one time I accidentally set a room on fire because the machine I was working on exploded” Louterstella said it so softly and so casually, that if you hadn’t been paying close attention to him, you would have thought he was talking about changing the curtain drapes to another color.

“You what!? How did that even happen?” You questioned, completely in shocked as to what you just heard.

Louterstella only shrugged, like setting a room on fire and accidentally exploding a machine was the most normal thing ever. “I don’t know really, it just happened, but on the bright side the room had to be completely refurbished and now it looks better than ever!”

You laughed at how nonchalant and casual he was, yet another great thing about Louterstella, how he always managed to find a positive in every situation he’s in or faced with, even if the whole world was looking very bleak and depressing, he’ll still find a way.

It was something that you admired greatly about him, and one of the first things that attracted you to him. As a newly turned knight, you have to admit that sometimes you don’t have the most positive outlook on life at times, there are times where you are way in over your head, and feeling like the whole world is out to get you.

That’s why, you’re so glad to have Louterstella by your side, someone who would pull you away from your own dark thoughts, someone who would always be by your side no matter what, someone who cares about what you have to say, and not only cares but actually listens to what you have to say.

As you come to find out there’s a lot of great things about Louterstella, and the more you spend time with him, the more you want to find out about every single one, every nook and nanny that there is to know about him, you want to know it all.

But the question is why? Why do you want to know so much about him? Why do you want to spend so much time with him, that you rushed out of the shop, mid Klarkstella lecture, just to go see him? And the truth is, you don't know why. You don't know what these new found feelings are called. Is it love? Is it infatuation? Is it just friendship? And what were you supposed to do with all these new feelings that you don't know the name of? Do you confess? Do you put it in a little box and shove it in the back of your mind till it goes away? You just don't know. All you do know is that Louterstella makes you feel happy, makes you feel safe, makes you feel heard and seen, and isn't that enough?

“Y/N are you alright?” Louterstella asked in concern, noticing how you suddenly went quiet.

“H-huh, I’m sorry Louter, can you repeat that?” You asked. You tried to pay attention to what he was saying, you really did, but you got lost in your own thoughts— and oh god, was his face always this pretty? You knew he was an attractive man, hell there were times where you would just stare at him and say nothing, completely mesmerized by his beauty. Was that what you were doing right now? Was that why he looked so concerned? Was he weirded out? He is weirded out, isn’t he-

“Y/N!” This time Louterstella called out your name more sternly, his eyebrows furrowed in worry, and your stomach flooded with guilt.

“I-I’m sorry Louter, I don’t know what’s with me today…!! I must be feeling tired from work and— Louter…!?” Your sentence trailed off, as Louterstella gently put his hands on your forehead, activating the butterflies in your stomach that were begging to crawl out and combust.

“You look very red Y/N, it seems like you’re running a fever” Louterstella said, matter of factly. Your heartbeat was pounding against your chest at his sudden movements, and your blush only darken, which didn’t really help your predicament.

“I-I’m really fine Louter-”

“Are you sure? Because your face has only gotten redder” Louterstella pointed out, he removed his hands from your forehead, to your relief and disappointment, and started packing his things.

“What are you-”

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone when you’re so sick, so I’ll be accompanying you and nurse you back to health” Louterstella explained, with a genuine smile on his face. You, on the other hand, wanted to die right there on the spot.

“Oh I can’t ask you for that! I don’t want to cause trouble for you!”

“Nonsense, it’s no trouble at all! Just think of it as one of my knightly duties” Louterstella said, he said it gently but sternly, leaving no room for you to argue with him.

With a heavy sigh, you agreed, knowing full well there was no changing his mind when he decided on something.

“This is going to be a loooong night”

————

For the rest of the day, Louterstella spent every waking minute nursing you back to health, and while you knew that there was nothing physically wrong with you, you had to admit that it did feel good to be looked after and taken care of by Louterstella, even if it was under false pretenses.

“How are you feeling, Y/N?” Louterstella asked, putting a wet cloth on your forehead, standing next to your bedside.

God, how crazy was that, Louterstella standing next to your bed? Louterstella’s in your room? Louterstella in your house?? The thought of it would have sent you blushing, but you tried to control it, knowing he would have mistaken your flustered face as sickness, and while you were happy to be taken care of, you didn’t want to take advantage of his kindness even more than you are.

“I’m feeling great Louter, you’re a really great nurse!” You complimented, you didn’t know if it was your mind playing tricks with you or what, but you could have sworn his face turned pink at your words.

“O-oh why thank you, but it’s really no problem, I used to take care of Klark a lot of times when we were younger” Louterstella said softly, rubbing his neck bashfully.

“I guess I like taking care of people that mean a lot to me” Louterstella continued, in a hushed tone. He said it so softly and quiet, yet there was no denying the genuine feeling behind his words, or the fact that his gaze on you lingered for a lot longer than it was appropriate.

Unfortunately for you and him, you didn't catch his lingering gaze or the double meaning behind his words, for you were too focused on the sibling comparison. Is that what he thought of you? Just another young sibling to take care of? Suddenly you felt your face start to heat up, but this time not from being shy and bashful, but from utter embarrassment and shame.

Here Louterstella was just trying to be a good friend and you not only completely misinterpreted his actions and words, but you also took advantage of his kindness and his hospitality. You're not even sick! And that's the only reason why he's here, because you're "sick", yet you foolishly deluded yourself into thinking of something that wasn't even there!

"Well I'm fine now, so you can leave" You replied curtly, you knew you were being cold for no reason, but you just couldn't help it. Now that you know how Louterstella really feels about you, it hurts too much to even look at him, much less be in the same room as him.

"Oh....yeah, I should probably get out of your hair then" Louterstella said in a dejected tone, taken aback by your cold words. Though he said he'll leave, he made no effort to do so, he just didn't get it, did he do something wrong? Were his feelings for you not clear enough? Or were they not convincing enough?

Never the one to sit there and not do anything about it, he made his way towards you, if words weren't enough to convince you, then maybe actions would get through?

Just as you were about to ask why he was leaning over you so suddenly, your words caught in your throat, as his lips crashed into yours. Overcoming your initial shock, you kissed him back just as intensely and passionately, you were overflowing with joy, cradling his face in your hands, your thumb gently tracing over his cheek.

Louterstella was the first to break the kiss, his was completely flushed, and you would have teased him about it, if yours wasn't flushed as well.

Still even with the adrenaline rushing through your veins, even with your heart about to explode from your chest because of the sheer happiness you felt, there was still something, you still didn't quite understand....

"Louterstella why did you..." You trailed off, not finishing your sentence, whether it was because of disbelief or because you were still in cloud nine to come up with a proper sentence, you didn't know.

"Kiss you? To be honest, I'm not sure about it myself... I really like you Y/N, maybe even more than a friend. This is all so new to me, I never had anyone that I was close to other than my brother and our Lord's, and then you came around, and then everything changed. I look forward to our hang outs, I like being around you, I don't know if that's considered love or what, but all I know is that I'm never lonely when I'm with you...." Louterstella confessed, his eyes never leaving yours for a second.

Your eyes widened at his confession, his words mirroring your own thoughts from not too long ago, the confusion, the embarrassment, the guilt, you understood it all.

Once he finished his confession, you pulled him into a warm embrace, which he happily accepted. No words were exchanged but there didn't need to be, because no amount of words could ever convey what you two were feeling.

For once, you weren't afraid of what the future had in store for you, because you knew no matter what happened, no matter if something would transpire between the two of you or not, you know you'll be okay, because Louterstella would be right by your side no matter the outcome.

And you wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

[spotsupstuff]

Now Pebbles and Zephyr live rent free in my head too. God that interaction is so heartwarming and sad and AHHHHHH!!!!

YEA YEA YEA FUCKIN HRHGHRHGHRH

back like. a month or so ago when that chancla post was happening? i kept thinkin about a scenario where Zeph hints at her whole intention of completely disregarding the Great Problem and focusing on the iterators themselves (her whole!!!! plan is called Mission Self-preservation!!!!!!!!) around the group and Suns, the usually apathetic brick of a fucker, just shoots up and attacks her about it n starts an argument

and as they are arguing about it and Zephyr's whole point of view is more n more revealed, Pebbles in the back starts shaking about it as if he's on the verge of crying and when the two arguing notice they stop and Zeph asks "...you know what i mean. don't you...?"

BECAUSE YES HE DOES. HIS RAGE IS A VALID ONE. ITS AGAINST SUCH A BLATANT INJUSTICE AND INSTEAD OF HAVING THE PERSON HE LOOKS UP TO A LOT AGREE WITH HIM OR TRY TO SEE HIS POINT OF HIS VIEW AT IT HE GETS TOLD THAT HES SUPPOSED TO JUST *ACCEPT* THIS UNFAIRNESS. that its Okay and How It Is Supposed To Be- them dying for this. them suffering for this. but its fucking *not*, nobody should be suffering like that ever

and here comes Zephyr- someone who understands even better than he understands himself right now in this. she Gets it and she's the first and she won't ignore this pain and anger. she wants to hear about it, she wants to guide him through it and offer him the hope that things can be alright yet

[aromanticsuzuya]

HIIIII HOW ARE YOU DOING?

WHAT DOES YOUR USERNAME SAY IT'S SO SO LONG !!! I'M CURIOUS AND I FEAR I'LL EXPLODE IF I DON'T FIND OUT SOON

[carp-from-space]

The demon hunter. And by demon hunter I mean demon fucker.

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[tankgotstuckinthecircusgate]

late Carlo and Moretti (during vinci-moretti war) are like Luca and Clemente to me. Moretti will never raise his hand on Carlo but! will he drive him into guilt in ways that are not direct? insult him in passing? convince Carlo that he's doing everything wrong, when in fact it's the opposite? of course such a painful kick to Carlo's ego, it's unfair, he doesn't deserve it. and it's not a father-son relationship, it's a professional relationship and he can't say anything back & defense himself in any way maybe Moretti's more favorable to Eddie in this period because he's more blindly loyal and Carlo feels he's about to explode

[yoshistory]

part of me still feels like i might be sort of genderfluid and/or bisexual but just traumatized about it. no idea anymore

[garbasaur]

Lil oc doodle.

[todayisafridaynight]

Kiryu's trying so hard to be a good dad for all of his kids while Kazama very clearly only favored Kiryu. Do I think this was an intentional writing decision? Probably not but it's interesting

intentional or not, its a good perspective and helps explain why kiryu Is Like That. especially if we want to look at the case of nishiki who was given too much power before he was ready to handle it (and around the same age as daigo too if not a little younger), kiryu wants to make sure daigo doesnt similarly crumble under that pressure that nishiki did. we know nishiki's death haunts him for at least five games after the fact- it's no wonder he's so hyperfocused on making sure it doesn't happen again

the problem lies in that, just like kazama to nishiki, kiryu was the reason why daigo got that much power in such a short amount of time anyway. we know he acknowledges this, which is probably why he tries so hard for the tojo despite wanting to distance himself from the yakuza world. kazama did the bare minimum- if anything- for nishiki. and while we know kiryu respected kazama immensely, i want to hope over the years he's realized that leaving a young man in a powerful position unprepared isn't a good idea, esp after mine rubbed salt in the wound and called him out for abandoning the tojo- ergo daigo, so now he especially feels like he has to make it up to him.

if he couldn't help nishiki, then the next best thing he can do is help someone he considers his son- as if trying to right the wrong kazama did and be a better father, whether he can admit or not to kazama failing to take care of nishiki

but the follow up problem to THAT is he's neglecting his other kids when he does go to help. it wouldnt be a problem if RGG remembered the ryudo family and they could watch the kids while he's gone or something, but since they don't we just have to assume haruka's unfortunately been left to act as big sister to all these kids, and THAT has undoubtedly bred a great burden of feeling responsible when she's only a kid. it's really unfortunate that while kiryu apologizes to daigo repeatedly, he never apologizes to haruka for leaving her alone and in charge so many times (i actually thought kiryu's letter in Y6 was supposed to go to haruka at first). it's made her feel as though she has to take care of everyone and she has to be the strong one for the family when kiryu's away, and because of that we get problems like Y5 and Y6

in all of this, and in a terrible twist of irony, in trying to prevent one of his loved ones from enduring a similar fate as nishiki, he's now jeopardizing his relationship with his other kids- he's now unintentionally putting haruka on the back burner because he's so traumatized over what happened to his brother. he might have prevented another nishiki situation, but haruka had to be collateral as a result

[doublebattled]

stealing my banner from my other blog because fuck it I might as well. detailed headcanon on Isshu, ancient unovan history (nothing that could be construed as modern, literally just up to the Heroes of Truth and Ideals), and the surviving culture. All of this is written AS IS KNOWN BY MODERN DAY HISTORIANS. This is largely why I am writing it on this blog instead of Adair's; lots of names are omitted because those have been lost, it's incomplete and in places not actually wholly accurate to the slightly more detailed version of canon that would be found over on @fusionbolts. I also have a lot of links embedded to other headcanons. So lets get into it.

The Foundation of Isshu

While the vast majority of Isshu's history is forgotten to time, there are a few oral traditions and folktales that have persisted, one of which being the most foundational to their culture: the founding of Isshu and Isshurem's pact with humankind. As expected, the details of the tale are somewhat fuzzy, being literal centuries old, but the core of it remains fundamentally the same:

In the distant past, there was a time when the differences between humans and pokemon seemed impossible to bridge; they lived entirely separate from each other and fought often. At this time there lived a young boy who was born with a gift that allowed him to speak with pokémon. This boy, who walked freely between the worlds of human and pokémon, sought out the Great Dragon, arbiter of balance, to help him bring about peace between their kinds. They forged a pact, that human and pokemon kind would walk side by side forevermore.

At least, that's the general gist of it. (A longer version of it exists on one of my older blogs, if you're so inclined. Fair warning I wrote it like five years ago. Probably more.)

This foundation myth is fundamental to Isshu's spiritual beliefs and their relationship to pokémon, information which can be found here. However, Isshurem has always been core to its belief system as the nation's sort of guardian deity, with the name "Isshurem" itself literally meaning Guardian of Isshu. In the old days, leadership of the nation meant being Isshurem's partner.

The Golden Age

Very little is known in detail about the golden age of Isshu Culture as much of it was destroyed, lost to time, untranslatable until very recently, etc. Part of it is the result of Unova's very tumultuous history and the eventual fall of Isshu, and part of it is just due to the fact that it's a very, very old culture and a lot of their written history fell victim to time. BUT,

The Golden Age of Isshu was, as the name would imply, the height of their civilization, but historically speaking—virtually none of it still remains. The only structures still standing from the Golden Age are the League Building and Dragonspiral Tower. Historians who have been able to study the few remaining writings from the era have also managed to learn something about "seals", a form of ancient "technology" developed by the people of Isshu that made their quality of life quite remarkable by ancient standards. It's also what gave us Golett and Golurk! Nobody knows how, though. The Golett that exist are... all of them. Ever. The art itself has been lost, but remnants of it remain in modern Isshu art and traditional crafts.

The original written language of Isshu has also largely been lost—or so it was thought until the Abyssal ruins were uncovered and translated, allowing them to serve as a sort of Rosetta Stone for the original alphabet. The modern version still follows many of the same grammatical rules (and uses the same pronoun system!), but beyond that, there's little resemblance.

In short: little is known about Ancient Isshu, but it was believed their civilization was highly advanced for the time. They were, perhaps because of their advanced technology, or perhaps due to their distance from many other regions, an extremely isolationist culture and did not have much exchange, cultural or otherwise, with the other large civilizations at the time. That was, until...

The Fall of Isshu

Short version: colonialism happened.

The long version: Paldea, Kalos, and Galar sometimes just got done fighting a real big war and somebody (we won't name names) set off a superweapon and just decimated both armies entirely.

Wars are very expensive and this was a large problem for everybody, so with this on top of it, two of those countries came out pretty broke and the third was having its own problems with a giant space worm and some dogs. It was a bad time! The solution? INVADE SOME OTHER COUNTRIES ABOUT IT!

Again, this is a particular part of history that is not especially well-documented from the Isshu/Unova side of things. Historians know that Isshu's rather limited military force was not prepared for the attacks, which made them a pretty easy target. We also know the then-sovereign of Isshu was killed in the ensuing conflict, and the original dragon was presumably quite badly wounded, which ultimately led to Isshu's utter defeat at the hands of invading foreign forces. (It is believed that the Abyssal Ruins, dating back to that general era, are a tomb or memorial for the last King.)

This is the period in which most of Isshu culture was lost. Either it was taken by foreign forces (which is why we have Golett outside of Unova!) or destroyed utterly. For the next two centuries, much of the remnants of these people lived in the northern, mountainous regions of their country, where they could live more or less in peace. At this point, the Village of Dragons becomes the last bastion of Isshu civilization, and remains that way for... pretty much the rest of their history.

The Isshu people were not treated well during this time, as tends to happen with colonialism. I will not go into heavy detail as I think we can all fill in the gaps as to what that means, but it wasn't a great scene. (Slightly further detail on all of that and the leadup to the Unovan Revolution can be found here.)

In the meantime, the three major countries that had done that colonialism and also had done a war with each other right before... started fighting again. Shocking. It was less of a full-on war and more infrequent, but definitely regular territorial squabbles that, unfortunately, the remaining Isshu got dragged into. So you know what that means!

The Unovan Revolution / Foundation of Unova

Two brothers and a dragon do a revolution! Again, this is not an especially well documented period of history, but it is heavily mythologized thanks to it being the precursor to Reshiram and Zekrom. The short version is a couple of guys found Isshurem, who most people thought was dead, and it helped them do a revolution. (The full story is much more complicated than that, but you get the idea.)

As you can imagine, this was incredibly important. Arguably, the foundation of Unova was the only thing that allowed Isshu culture to survive in any form during the modern day. But it wasn't without its problems. As with any colonial state, people were, uh, having some complex feelings about who rightfully belonged there and who didn't, the direction of this new country, etc. etc., which would inevitably create a schism between the two brothers who started the revolution, and... Well, we know the story from there. Three dragons!

The ensuing conflict(s) and family drama would drive the then-kings to their deaths and leave the dragons stuck in rocks for a few millennium while the new Unova got to mythologize them.

There is reason to believe that while the Heroes of Truth and Ideals were both in agreement of trying to restore and preserve Isshu culture (generally accepted as being the culture they came from), their successor let it languish for unknown reasons, presumably political. (Ironically, it's pretty well known that their successor was the progenitor of the Harmonia royal line... Harmonia being an Isshu name.)

Modern Isshu Culture

As to be expected, there are still remnants of Isshu's culture and people within Unova, particularly in the northeast. While it's been through some extremely tumultuous times, even after Unova's founding, there have been some troubles with homogenization. But, nevertheless, there remains a handful of people who consider themselves Isshu and keep a few key cultural practices (copy and pasted from another headcanon, you're welcome):

1. Isshu do not (traditionally) use pokéballs. Tradition is to find and befriend a partner pokémon without catching them. Now, mind you, in the modern day and age, this isn't always practical, so some would opt to capture a pokémon after formally befriending them, particularly if their partner was especially large, dangerous, etc. However, a partner pokémon is typically kept outside of their pokéball as much as possible.

2. Isshu do not eat farm-raised meat, but wild-caught meat is acceptable. Again, practically speaking, this is somewhat difficult in the modern day: that accounts for, y'know, most meat products. Depending on where they live, many Isshu are effectively vegetarian or pescatarian. (The rules regarding animal byproduct, like in gelatin, are a little loosey goosey, but it's generally regarded as fine: ultimately, it abides by another core principle of Isshu culture, which is to respect the body of what you hunt/kill as to not let it go to waste. What isn't used should be returned to where it was found and returned to nature.)

3. Though far from a hard rule by any means, Isshu marriage tradition dictates that the couple exchange emblems of their partner pokémon when engaged, so the couple is symbolically always together. It's all very cute.

4. The major cultural holidays take place on the summer and winter solstices, with the latter being the cultural new year, much like how other cultures recognize a lunar new year. Minor holidays are on the equinoxes.

5. Again, this is far from a hard rule, but music is a very important component of Isshu culture. Many of their core mores and norms are born from concepts that are, culturally and linguistically, tied very HEAVILY to music. As such, it's extremely common for Isshu children to learn how to play an instrument.