anyway the point of that was i wanna make a timeline of events for how things come about for my main faves in my head for no reason other than meaningless organization make brain go brrr but the main points of it are (disclaimer that i am a fandom troglodyte who prioritizes shipping way too much)
cheryl and marley are very very close friends and as they become more stable in life, they realize what they want out of life are things that are leading them in different directions . marley moves to unova
cheryl lives with her grandfather in floaroma, visits neighboring eterna city often for errands and/or work
meets gardenia, they eventually get into relationship.
meanwhile cynthia and diantha are pussyfooting around each other and likely have been for a while but still arent anywhere near getting into a relationship
gardenia and cheryl uhaul it and move in together shortly after starting relationship
marley meets roxie several months into moving to unova, perhaps through marley trying to meet others in her area by playing games at local nerd shops or perhaps meeting a totally trashed roxie at a concert. something like that. details unclear
marley and roxie begin a "relationship" that both are aware is not a real relationship and is for nefarious purposes
cynthia and diantha are still being stupid and not yet together but theyre getting closer
something is stirring between roxie and marley??
gardenia and cheryl start talking about marriage a couple years into their relationship
cynthia and diantha are still not together
cynthia and diantha are still not together
roxie has some sort of meltdown upon realizing she cant avoid her actual feelings about marley anymore bc they make her feel so vulnerable and embarrassed
marley and roxie go on a short break
marley and roxie get into a Real Relationship
cynthia and diantha are still not together
marley and roxie discuss bdsm dynamics
gardenia and cheryl are planning wedding
marley collars roxie officially
cynthia and diantha still are not together
no wait they got together a month before going to sinnoh for gardenia and cheryls wedding. fucking LAMEASSES
thats as far as ive got in terms of People Getting Together
theres still lots of things i could add about individual characters that have nothing to do with shipping but that would make this post much much longer and far more confusing to follow