man thinking about ranlayclaire has given me a great idea for an UF au:
Clive, whilst researching everything he can about the professor in preparation to play the role of his apprentice, stumbles upon an article about one Randall Ascot, archaeology enthusiast and man of abundant wealth. He decides that Randall is an excellent candidate to kidnap into the future; having him would be a useful bargaining chip should things go wrong with the professor, and if nothing else his riches and status could prove useful to Clive’s plans.
What Clive doesn’t count on is Claire. Conducting her own investigation of Future London’s research facility, she stumbles upon Randall, a man she’s never met but knows all too well. She recognises him from the faded photographs that hung in Hershel’s flat, and from tipsy, late night conversations about the past, regret, and lost friends (read: loves).
Randall, who’d been biding his time whilst he thought up an escape plan, is more than happy to go with her - he may not know her in return but anyone close with Hershel is someone he could trust (it also helps that she seems to have a keen eye for puzzles). With his sharp mind, Randall is already wise to the fact that this Future London is not all that it seems, so the duo form an unlikely partnership to solve its mysteries.
The two form a strong bond, sharing in troubled pasts, even joking about their situations as the ‘undead lovers of Hershel Layton’. Randall’s heart aches for Claire knowing that she won’t get the same second chance at life he’d been given. He promises to do everything he can to help settle things so that she can return to her time knowing that the future is safer.
When the professor and the rest of the gang eventually meet up with the duo they are of course surprised to find that Randall is also in Future London. They don’t reveal everything they know for risk of jeopardising the investigation, cautious that ‘Future Luke’ is still accompanying them. Randall is somewhat surprised when Claire introduces herself as ‘Celeste’ however. He understands her wanting to avoid putting Hershel through any more pain, but encourages her to be honest with him so that they can enjoy their remaining time together. When they find the time to meet with the professor alone they reveal everything to him, and the three begin working on a plan to defeat both Dimitri and Clive, and ensure the safety of both Londons.
For the rest of their adventure together the three grow even closer. For the professor it’s a chance to reconnect with his two favourite people. In the case of Randall it’s the most time they’ve spent together since the events at Monte D’Or, and with the complicated feelings from the Masked Gentleman incident given time to heal they fall seamlessly back into their old friendship. Claire is the perfect addition to their dynamic; Hershel is of course already head over heels for her, and she and Randall get on like they’d been friends for years. He supposes it makes sense given their many similarities, both bold and confident, intelligent and inquisitive, shared terrible sense of humour and no, Hershel Layton does not have a type. He’s not sure what to make of what the three of them have, especially given the strange circumstances, but he knows it puts a warmth in his chest he’d been lacking for a while. If only they had more time to see what could happen.
When Claire’s inevitable departure finally arrives it happens much the same, though this time an additional heart is broken in the fallout. Randall, much like Hershel, had grown to love Claire deeply and had cherished the time they’d all spent together, however brief and unusual it was. She kisses each of them in turn before joining their hands, happy that the future is secure and that her boys will have each other. As she walks away, Hershel cradles his top hat to his chest with a pained smile and tears in his eyes. Randall simply stays there beside him, clinging tightly to the hand still entwined with his.
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Hey, gentle recognition for the people who are taking care of themselves in "not aesthetically-pleasing" ways. To the people who have to do things they don't want to because they know they would suffer more if they didn't, to the people who have to brush their teeth with their fingers, to the people who have to use washcloths to bathe, to the people who need to punch pillows or scream into them to express their intense emotions, to anybody ashamed about the way they need to live and take care of themselves.
You are doing the very best you can with the hand you've been dealt. It's not easy, it's not pretty, but it sure as fuck takes so much to do these things. You are doing what is best for yourself, and I, for one, think you deserve to be proud of that. Self-care isn't easy. It isn't pretty, often, but it's something you shouldn't be ashamed of or hide away because it's deemed "grotesque" or "not really self-care (because self-care is pretty and non-threatening to 'normal peoples' senses)"
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More past relationships crap I can dump onto punkflower becoz I like watching it grow but like
Hobie and Miles bond over a super specific thing, they get matching necklaces and Miles is so fucking adamant about not losing it but it gets misplaced and he panics, he’s damn near in tears rummaging through his room trying to find - he is desperate to find it, Gwen tries to help and comfort him until finally he finds it! He wears it to the next get together only to see Hobie isn’t wearing his and feels a little betrayed, hurt even about it but little does he know Hobie had it custom fitted into a little heart shaped case and keeps it by his bedside on a little end table, always facing him.
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Shinsou had a crush on you since like, young kids days and never thought you noticed him, but that was good cause maybe you thought he was a weird kid, so once he beefed up and finally got the confidence to talk to you it gets shut right tf back down when you're like "Of course i remember you!"
I don't know which part is worse............................ Shinso being so absorbed in his own supposed loser-hood in his youth that he essentially ignored you for 5-10 years while he was working out his self esteem issues ... or the fact that you not only DO remember him, berry well at that, but don't really think anything of it because you thought HE was kinda... a jerk for never being nice to you back.
(Cuz on one hand, you're so sweet, smiling at him when he approaches you, genuinely, just like you did back when you were both under ten and you'd smile at him from the other side of the park... but on the other hand, you don't hesitate to turn right back to your own friends after he barely manages to answer your "how have you been" question and you give him pity eyes like you still think he's a shy headass.
It's just... he doesn't want to fuck it up a second time and lose his momentum... but all the confidence he put into the moment deflated the second he realized you were even more beautiful and more kind than he remembered you and it got him tripping over his words)
ANYWAY then there's another 2-4 months of him trying to get your number just to be a fool over text before even managing to convince you he's worth a fucking damn LOL.
(And he is worth a damn, so much more than a damn because he's willing to give anything and everything up for you but... doesn't know how to say it in a way that wouldn't scare you off for good...
Not to mention he's so fucking bad at texting. Yes, his dry humor is funny as hell but he's not trying to be funny with you, he's trying to WOO you and so the whole thing is just him making excuses to reach out to you even tho texting first for him is like plucking ass hair.)
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it's so funny (read: sad) that if bigoted fuckheads didn't insist i was a woman simply by virtue of my body at birth, i'd probably be chill with she/her pronouns in addition to he/they. if my mom didn't insist i was her daughter, i'd probably let her call me that, and we could still have a relationship.
i'm nonbinary and 'gendered' words are hypothetically meaningless, but because there are so many people who are more interested in telling me who i am rather than lovingly and curiously letting me express my own sense of self, those words carry trauma.
there's no reason a nonbinary person like myself can't be a son and a child and a daughter. there's no reason a nonbinary person like me can't go by he, they, and she.
'she' is not a slur. 'daughter' is not derogatory. 'beautiful' 'pretty' 'gorgeous' 'feminine' are not insults.
to the contrary, they're parts of language that express certain facets of a multi-faceted human existence, like mine.
and i have this sad, mournful feeling that if it weren't for unloving, condescending people, i'd probably be down to be called any of those things alongside my usual masculine/neutral terminology.
but i'd rather die than let anyone tell me what i have to be called.
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Listen: if you’re questioning your sexuality or gender and having a really difficult time figuring stuff out, you might wanna try reframing your thinking from “what am I?” to “what do I want?”
If you want to have sex with men, do it! If you want to go on hormones because the physical affects are desirable to you, do it! If you don’t want to have sex at all, (don’t) do it!
Labels can be a wonderful thing, don’t get me wrong, but they can also cause you to second-guess yourself into paralysis if you give them too much importance. You can always label your identity later on if you want to, but, in the meantime, don’t let stress over which label is “right” stop you from doing what makes you feel fulfilled in the here and now.
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idk what it is about the way dungeon meshi portrays relationships but it feels so unique to me
i like all of the ships and also want none of them to be canon. it's fun to imagine literally all of them, but it's just as fun to examine the platonic relationships and what they mean
it's so refreshing to see marcille & laios' friendship but i totally get why people ship them. marcille & falin's devotion to each other is amazing to explore in any context. chilchuck & laios, laios & kabru, senshi & chilchuck, even toshiro & falin. literally every character dynamic no matter the romance/lack of it is so interesting to me
it really felt like a breath of fresh air getting into something where the relationships between characters felt both real and substantial the way they are, but also capable of being expanded upon and played with without feeling like they're betraying the main themes/ideas. man i love dungeon meshi
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