Civil Procedure in the United States

[LYourLocalAutist]

Jurisdiction is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, The primary distinctions between areas of jurisdiction are codified at the federal level. In the United States' common law system, jurisdiction is conceptually divided between jurisdiction over the subject matter of a case and personal jurisdiction over the parties to the case. In U.S. federal courts, courts must consider subject matter jurisdiction suh... sua...

Sylvie's pen made a small thump against the table as it was dropped, her head following shortly thereafter to nestle between pages bound in leather, a soft and exhausted groan emanating from the ensuing mixture of study material and face, filling out the lamp-lit room. She swore she could fall asleep in her own workbook at this point.

Sylvie Rattray-Aubert continued from What's on the Agenda?

Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics. Mom & Dad had been so proud when Sylvie had enrolled. She knew they were. Academically, she understood that. Emotionally, though... it felt like they were moreso proud of some hypothetical her who was five years older and had passed the bar and was perfectly poised for the position of partner at Rattray-Aubert. Someone who'd earned that name beyond just having been born to it. Someone who didn't exist, but got a little closer to existence every time Sylvie got a test result that maintained her 4.0.

...Sylvie knew she was being ridiculous, but it was very hard not to be ridiculous when all she wanted to do was to sleep. The test wasn't even until Friday. But here she was, busting her ass against history and terminology and reform and procedure procedure procedure.

It'd be fine if she wasn't sick and fucking tired of it.

No- Christ, enough thinking like that. She did need a break. Lifting her head off the paper, she began to move away from the desk, switching its lamp off as she went. She knew the exact amount of steps it would take for her to make it to her bed and the exact position of the switch that would turn on the fairy lights in her curtains. They were there because they were much easier on the eyes than anything else in the room, and could keep her awake when she needed a rest but not a sleep (like now!) and. And.

...She had them on her curtains because she thought they were cute and pretty and Sylvie liked cute and pretty things. Are you happy? Probably. Sylvie wasn't. Not outside of the room and a few people at least. People her age didn't like these kinds of things, least of all future lawyers. Weren't meant to. Pink and plush and kawaii was for kids. Sylvie already had enough problems looking like one and had gone through hell trying to get people to stop seeing her as one as was. But her stupid heart and stupid brain didn't stop liking any of this stuff. And it was nerve-wracking to think about.

But, flopping into her soft mattress, innumerable pillows, reaching for the nearest beast of stitched up cotton and faux fur and squeezing, Sylvie took a deep breath in and out and realized— she didn't have to. Not right now. She let her brow increase as she sunk a bit further into bed and held her current plush a bit closer. Warmth and comfort and nostalgia seeping in. Strain in the brain dissipating. She didn't have to think about any of that right now.

She had herself to herself.

[LYourLocalAutist]

In United States law, a motion is a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for a decision. It is a request to the judge(s) to make a decision about the case. Motions may be made at any point in administrative, criminal or civil proceedings, although that right is regulated by court rules which vary from place to place. The party requesting the motion is the moving party or movant. The party opposing the motion is the nonmoving party or nonmovant.

Sylvie began a little nesting process. The plushie she currently grasped (tactilely identified as exhibit B16 (Pippen Hill Rooms Big Nibble 20” Bunny(Lily))), seeping comfort into her through its fluff as it was, was only the beginning. Sylvie began palming around her bed, where she knew she'd find more things strewn around. Bear. Unicorn. Anomalous shape-thing. All being carefully positioned around her to facilitate something that was precisely hers. Sylvie found herself smiling more and more as her entourage grew and grew, adding to some exponentially increasing statistic of surrounding softness in which she could do nothing but sink. She kicked her feet, rolled around a little, and giggled. This was so nice. God! Plushie heaven. She loved that she could just do this if she needed to relax. The only times she couldn't were when a friend who wasn't Clarissa was around (aforementioned, entered into evidence; embarrassment/infantilization fear (motion to stop thinking about it)). Clarissa, or...

Claude.

Sylvie stopped moving as much as his image flashed into her mind. She held onto the bunny a little tighter and somehow felt a little smaller than she already was. ...Maybe it was okay to think about him here? It probably was. Where there were no eyes but buttons and stitches. Especially in the wake of... that time in Crateful. It warranted a bit of extra thinking... even though it was difficult enough without turning into some goopy little mess.

How could one man, on his own, be so unabashedly perfect? So strong and so gentle. So confident and so kind. Funny and humble and sweet. ...And hot, fine. There was this... presence the man projected, through how he moved and how he acted. It made you feel so at ease. Unworried and- and safe. Like none of your worried matter in his wake. Regardless of feeling, around him, Sylvie always felt this precise sensation of being exactly where she was meant to be.

...Now if only he knew that.

Sylvie quietly whined to herself, stuffing her face in her bunny and curling up in her nest. She'd had years. Years and years of high school and there was still that sinking feeling. That one. Made it that she couldn't even ask, even though everyone and their mom (excluding Claude himself) knew about how Sylvie felt and kept trying to push her forward to a conclusion that seemed obvious. But it wasn't that simple. That easy. Never was. It was difficult to describe, but the closest thing would be... that It'd always been about feeling like she could be enough for him.

And how could that be, if she was barely enough for herself?

Sylvie shuddered a little, then took another breath in. Scent of her room, scent of home. Claude wasn't like that and she knew it... but it was still scary. Staring out into some abyss with a clock tick-tick-ticking away. Heaven or hell inside, if she dared make that leap.

Maybe one day. Right now she had herself to herself.

[LYourLocalAutist]

In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of one party's claims or defences in response to another party's complaint(s) in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define the issues to be adjudicated in the action. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure govern pleading in United States federal courts. Each state in the United States has its own statutes and rules that govern pleading in the courts of that state.

In Sylvie's hands, there was a little rounded rectangle, with a wide and bright screen. Its back was dotted with a few stickers, and its edges were worn with use. She had been fitting this little console in her hands, tapping and clicking and whirring the joystick around, since she'd asked for and received it five years ago. Five years! Oh how the time flew! Five years ago, she'd been... she'd been...

Sylvie let the brightness of the screen extinguish itself as the face of the switch fell down on her chest, herself having angled her head up at the ceiling. Up at particularly nothing, always good observation material for thinking thoughts you didn't really want to think. An oxymoronic necessitation. She was still taking her shots around five years ago. This was some time before the doctors told mom & dad they wouldn't make a difference anymore. It was around the beginning of people... noticing.

It wasn't anything bad at first. It was just a bit remarkable. Sylvie thought to herself and concluded that that was, in fact, worse. She knew what was coming back then. Kids having their growth spurts and her having nothing. People pointing things out. But this was around when she could still try to laugh it off. Haha late bloomer haha it'll be fine and go to bed that night terrified. The more everyone else grew the more plainly, painfully clear it became it wasn't happening to her. Still, this was that short period where it was just the laughing, and just a little of the laughing was at her. Sylvie thought it was worse because she knew what was coming for her then. When the dust settled and nothing had changed and there was now a toddler in middle school. Sylvie remembered taking that shot every day and praying to someone anyone that this time it would help in a way that mattered. Sylvie thought it was worse because there was a semblance of hope that was placed in front of her, and the game life had made of slowly dragging it away as she tore and clawed at it was agonizing.

And then, Sylvie stopped thinking. And she was back.

She took a deep and shuddering breath in, and grabbed her bunny again, letting the switch slide off her chest and plop harmlessly on the mattress next to her. She squeezed it a little, let herself sink a little. She let every bad thought and feeling she'd ever had suffused into the stuffed and soft things around her, and because they were things of simple purity, the darkness died there just as simply. Her brow increased and she let herself blink. Nothing was there. She reached to her side and grabbed her switch, turning it back on and opening Stardew Valley.

She'd gotten past it. She had herself to herself.

[LYourLocalAutist]

In a legal dispute, one party has the burden of proof to show that they are correct, while the other party has no such burden and is presumed to be correct. The burden of proof requires a party to produce evidence to establish the truth of facts needed to satisfy all the required legal elements of the dispute. It includes the burden of production (providing enough evidence on an issue so that the trier-of-fact decides it rather than in a peremptory ruling like a directed verdict) and the burden of persuasion (standard of proof such as the preponderance of the evidence).

Stardew Valley was one of the first games Sylvie had gotten for the switch, right when it had its big 1.5 update and became essentially twice as much game, and she hadn't stopped playing since. Having a life that was all hers was almost like a dream, and that feeling never left. Her main save was unbelievable around this point. She had the most efficient farm on the planet which produced around 1/3rd of the planet's supply of wine, reached the bottom of the dungeon, had every item on hand at least once, and a lovely life married to Alex (he, uh, reminded her of someone) with two kids. Ever since she'd realized she'd finished grinding every drop of everything out of playing the game normally, though, she'd been doing what she liked to call her "challenges".

They were really just self-imposed restrictions she'd try and make it through new playthroughs with. Sometimes they were funny and sometimes they were back-breakingly loathsome, but they always gave her something new to do. She came up with them herself, and essentially went through with whatever would cross her mind.

Her latest challenge was "monocultural polyamorous ultra-capitalist idiot."

Sylvie could only grow one crop (wheat was efficient) could only buy from and support Joja (Pierre's a bastard anyway) and had to romance every single option in the game at once exclusively through neutral gifts (part of why wheat was picked).

At least, it had been in theory. It was a bit of an abandoned project now.

This challenge more than any that'd come before was a trudge. Such a trudge she'd left it behind. Not because of the sheer inefficiency of monoculturalism as a strategy. Not because she hated Joja mart and that snarky manager. Because of the romance. Having to find every single bachelor/ette every day to give them something she knew they'd give a resounding "eh" to was like trying to walk through a swamp barefoot. Somewhat worse than that was actively ignoring their dialogue and their value as their own people because it was all for the challenge. Then after all of that, there was Haley.

Sylvie didn't think much of Haley at first. In fact, during her interactions with her in previous saves, she thought her rather annoying. She was just another tick on the list for the challenge. Another pretty face to hand off wheat to. That was... before the heart events began. During Haley's four-heart, something felt like it... clicked. Sylvie continued to talk to and focus on Haley in passing, but her focus gradually shifted completely as heart events came and went. There were in-game days she forgot all about the others and the challenge and would just focus on Haley. It was the little things. The real and observable personal improvement as their relationship developed. How sweet and compassionate she'd become from how shallow and materialistic she was at first, slowly seeing changes in her mannerisms and how she began to enjoy the outdoors, and, well, she was really pretty. She even made being covered in mud from falling off a cow look good. It's not like Sylvie felt anything, though. There was no tingle in her heart at her small flirtations and sweet words and the way her hair was so beautiful and twirly and the kiss. She was just... interested in the character. After all, Haley was a girl, and Sylvie was

Sylvie was

Sylvie sighed deeply and turned herself on her side in the midst of her nest. It wasn't so easy just to yell at her own brain to shut up because there were other people around when there were none. Sylvie liked Claude. She knew with total certainty she still liked Claude, so she couldn't be... but couldn't she? Clarissa was. Clarissa was and she thrived. But Sylvie already had someone she was sure she liked, and that just... fit. There were no problems with liking Claude. Not a one. Liking a girl...

Sylvie shuddered slightly. She felt scared enough of where she stood on the school's ladder as was. Cheer was a membrane holding her back from the jaws of one issue as was. Sylvie didn't know if she could afford another. She was scared of the thought. Holding those feelings in, though, became harder and harder as the days went by. As she looked at the other girls and how they looked and spoke and smiled. It felt like yet another weight upon her back, one of the heavier ones, another one she had to bear on her own.

Sylvie didn't know if or when she'd break. But she knew she couldn't afford to.

So she sighed again, turned herself back on her back, and switched off Stardew Valley, booting up New Horizons instead. Why was she overthinking so much on what was supposed to be a rest from her work? She didn't know. But she could keep distracting herself.

She had herself to herself, after all.

[LYourLocalAutist]

In law, a trial, also called a hearing, is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, which may occur before a judge, jury, or other designated trier of fact, aims to achieve a resolution to their dispute. The four main recognized categories of trials, by type of dispute, are Criminal, Civil, Administrative and Labor trials.

Sylvie was upside down. At least from the perspective of what she was staring at. Being in The Nest™ entailed a lot of shuffling and squirming around, as to apply oneself to as much surface area of the fluff as possible at regular intervals before settling down for a little nuzzle time. At this moment, she was on her back, leg towards the bed's headboard, and that meant head towards her desk. With the small illumination of the fairy lights, she could peer right at all her textbooks and papers. Every little thing she was leaving incomplete to snuggle with her stuffies. A small pang of something hit her, but she quickly cleared it with the prescription bunny squeeze. Mmh. Law.

Sylvie had a knack for memorizing the stuff. Some flat academic ability where she could remember what objections were valid from what points and the process of evidence submission and police warrants and whatever. Lawyer genetics. LK would probably make a Naruto reference. That's why she didn't just flop every test and go insane after five minutes. So sure, she had talent. Could probably do really well in a courtroom. The thing that she was very afraid to tell her parents even now was that it just... wasn't a passion for her. Law wasn't even something she particularly enjoyed. How the hell was she meant to do it for the rest of her life?

What else would I do? Was the question that came to mind. She'd googled professional cheerleading, and there wasn't a life in that. She drew some enjoyment from studying the way people worked, but now way she'd have the chops to be a psychiatrist. The fact was, her best option was the one she'd been brought up for. She often tried to justify it to herself with that. It's be fine, she'd get paid well, she had the skill and connections and everything... but she could never help but feel a little disheartened thinking of that as her future. No matter how good and practical and *realistic* it was on paper, it would never truly be hers. And that scared her.

She curled up a bit more and squeezed the bunny a bit tighter, but these bad thoughts proved to be a little tougher than most. She sighed and flipped around. She wished Liz or Dizzy could be around, but they were both sleeping downstairs. It was getting late, she realized. She'd need to retire soon as well. If her parents were here, they'd probably tell her she's wasting her time "resting", haha.

...Ha.

Her brow furrowed slightly and she squeezed the bunny harder than she had any other time this evening. She had to stop getting to herself like this. She, not anything else, she'd realized, would be her downfall. Her breaking point. It got harder to ignore every day. But she had to. Had to. Now, of all times... when she was at least trying to keep herself feeling fine. She was fine. She was.

She had herself...