#(not entirely an AU for Flora but I think the tag makes sense anyway)

[livedtoserve]

[ 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 ] : sender is voicing their negative opinion about a person who appears to be close with the receiver. (Birthright route perhaps? :eye: since toa!leo is conquest :))

"His attitude lacks refinement," Leo says, eyeing Jakob's retreating back. The tea service was, as always, perfect, though the prince could do without the constant caustic tone.

Emerald eyes settle on Flora. He doesn't reach for a teacup yet, instead observing her. "Regardless. I'm inquiring about supplies needed for everyone in the army. We'll be purchasing goods in the next town and I want to be prepared. Is there anything you need, Flora?"

still bottled up | no longer accepting!

[AU - Birthright Earlygame]

The maid follows her senior butler, forming a single-file line to deliver the nobility their desired refreshments. Their last client (for now, at least) being Prince Leo, Flora makes sure to keep the prepared tea bitter for him. She has not served the noble nearly as much as Lord Corrin, yet it is in a maid's best interests to recall the tastes of the upper class close to her liege.

If worst comes to worst, she will need to keep working to the Nohrian nobles' satisfaction, considering she is only here due to Corrin's departure. Although she may not know all of the finer details, rumors in the castle spread far enough for her to know her young prince will not be returning home anytime soon.

The perfect opportunity to break away and return to serving her home. The people she truly cares about.

But for now, she sets the tea platter down and keeps her gaze on the blonde prince, ensuring he is content before returning to her room. A maid must ensure the servee is properly cared for before her work is finished, no matter the person.

Not to say Flora holds any ill intent toward the man sitting in front of her, or at least ill intent of his own fault. It's just that he turns out to be a child of Nohr, the kingdom that rules over the Ice Tribe with an iron fist. And if his fist is one she must freeze her way through in retaliation, then so be it.

Furthermore, she is not deaf. Perhaps he believed Jakob was out of earshot to hear his negative remark. Or worse, he did not care if he overheard. Either way, she avoids mention of it, her focus instead on when she will leave the castle without notice.

Her waiting in him tasting the beverage only ends with a question being thrown her way, forcing the maid's hands to leave her front as she cups her right one on her chin. Collecting supplies for the army...a kind offer for a non-combatant like her. As much as she would love to request resources for her village, she must refuse. Even if his offer is genuine, no one can suspect she will return home.

"Well...I do not believe so, Lord Leo. We're well-stocked in the kitchen at the moment, or a servant would have told me otherwise. If we do run out while you're gone, I will take care of it," well, that second line isn't entirely a lie.

"If that is all, I shall make my leave," Flora is quick to take the answer as an opportunity to exit from where she entered, hoping he did not see the small bead of sweat she feels sliding down her hair.

[unwoundfutureost]

list of professor layton fic recs

here by popular demand, a full list of fics i think everyone should read because they’re really good and i’ve lost litres of tears over them

all of these were hand-picked with care 

mostly one-shots but there are still a lot of multichaps in there... i’m only reccing ao3 fics this time and ff.net has most of the multi-chaptered fics so sorry skjdh

under the cut because i have. a lot 

the ends justify the means by misthalleries

words: 2,066

chapters: 1/1

warnings: grief, parental death, mourning, etc. etc. all the canon stuff just a little more detailed 

it’s a really good one-shot fic that’s just a clive character study and it portrays him really well. like it writes it so that you really relate to him i dunno how to further explain you should read it though

You Can Run by AnonymousPuzzler

words: 8,329

chapters: 1/1

warnings: narrated by bill hawks, who dies at the end

another one-shot that kind of ties together loose ends between unwound future and layton brothers mystery room, explains stuff for alfendi, justin lawson, and more! it’s also just a really smooth and cool plot and seeing bill hawks’ perspective is kinda cool. also not to condone death but bill hawks has ruined a lot of lives so seeing him get kinda ‘what he deserves’ is kinda interesting

green carnations by redmacallan

words: 7,181

chapters: 1/1

warnings: character death (desmond’s husband and daughter)

YES i know i’m ALWAYS going on about this one but it’s seriously so good. it portrays descole’s entire identity crisis thing INCREDIBLY well not to mention Gay Desmond in a typically homophobic period (the fic sets the professor layton universe in the 1960s) and it’s just very realistic and well done and there’s a layton desmond ruinion thats so. augh you can feel their frustration through the screen it’s so great and i’ll never stop talking about this fic thank you

Reuinion Tour by St4re4ter

words: 22,537

chapters: 7/7

warnings: none that i can remember

first multichap fic on this rec list!!! this is basically a ranlay rewrite of professor layton and the miracle mask but it gives randall more character and kind of a motive that makes more. sense??? idk it’s like they kind of added on or did a slight revamp of randall but very well and the added motivations kinda make the story richer and also adhd randall and hershel r heavily implied and there are so many heartbreaking lines in this idk you should read it

Doldrums by TheMockingJ3

words: 1,294

chapters: 1/1

warnings: mention of death brother

it’s canon compliant and nothing gets resolved but that’s part of why i like it??? it’s basically set in randall, hershel, and angela’s high school years and they come across a magazine with desmond on the cover and angela asks hershel if he has any siblings. and there’s so much detail to it and it gets some points across in such a realistic way idk i just like it a lot because it leaves you upset and frustrated but like in a good way.. i like it i like how they portray the characters it’s the very definition of a slice of life 

Taking To The Sky by Yamiyoru

words: 1,364

chapters: 1/1

warnings: none

basically what happens to randall after the events of miracle mask.. it’s very good and there’s a hopeful ending and i don’t want to spoil too much but it’s just randall finding himself basically. there’s implied henry/angela and randall/hershel and overall it’s just a very, idk, content fic. it’s hopeful

ten years by sunfish

words: 504

chapters: 1/1

warnings: none

this is really short but there are so many feelings packed into this baby. first of all the title is kind of a punch to the gut but also its just a very. small compact filled with emotions fic, with flora trying to forgive clive and subtle throwaways to her relationship to the professor and the professor’s disappearance in layton’s mystery journey and the anime. i just had to put this here i like it too much to not put it

A Proper Young Lady and English Gentleman by AzureMist 

words: 1,818

chapters: 1/1

warnings: transphobia

trans flora and hershel fic!!! that’s really all i can say it made me smile and the bit where hershel mentions his two deadnames is kind of gold and both of them vehemently ignoring flora’s father.. idk for me it was just really cool to see the father/daughter trans solidarity dynamic i liked it a lot

Kintsukuroi by Glowbug

words: 13,864

chapters: 11/?

warnings: nightmares, guilt, etc. it’s in the tags

okay i’m actually not that far into this one yet but so far i like it a lot... first of all emmy centric plus emmy redemption arc is really good and how they portray emmy is just :ok_hand: also slight ace attorney crossover as they make a trip to the fey village. synopsis of the story overall is the professor got kidnapped and luke needs emmy’s help to save him it’s really sweet but also i think it’s on a permanent hiatus or at least a really inconsistent update schedule rn because it’s been at 11 chapters for a while now

Spectral by AnaScrawls

words: 15,760

chapters: 7/?

warnings: some violence, i would say canon-typical to azran legacy

this fic made me cry like 90 times it’s. very good. basically the plot is during the events of professor layton and the azran legacy hershel begins to recall hazy days of long past and it really explores the relationship between desmond and hershel before hershel remembered i’m not doing it justice with this awful description i’m writing you should really just read it... it’s still updating i think every four mouths?? half year or so so very slowly but it’s really worth it to read

the girl and the golem by valorskills

words: 5,352

chapters: 3/?

warnings: none as of now i think

generally i don’t recommend shorter fics on permanent hiatus but this one is genuinely pretty good. it follows the story of aurora the golem and desmond’s daughter who’s stuck in targent and their escape and it’s only 5k but i think it’s worth a read bc the au idea behind it is really really cool

“Hershel” by goldenregit

words: 1,948

chapters: 1/1

warnings: none 

it’s exactly what the description says i included this one because it’s a punch in the gut to read esp when you know the full story behind desmond and hershel.. it’s well written too so i recommend checking it out if you’d like a kind of character study of hershel and desmond on their short time aboard the bostonius

Turnabout Brothers by Minmei

words: 51,787

chapters: 10/?

warnings: none probably

i haven’t actually read that far into this one bc when i started it i had not seen azran legacy yet so i didn’t want to spoil myself but from what i’ve read so far it’s pretty good!! you’ve read the title so you can probably tell it’s an ace attorney crossover but basically i think the basic plot is get desmond out of jail idk it sounds interesting so far i think you guys should check it out. it’s also a sequel to Storm’s End (26,379 words, 2/2 chapters) by the same author, which i ALSO haven’t read yet but it’s about desmond reconstructing his life i’m pretty sure it sounds cool so that’s why i’m adding it on this list 

Turnabout Adoption by WrightFamilyAgency (Unicornfoal)

words: 111,458

chapters: 54/54

warnings: (possibly temporary) death of parents, car accident

THIS FIC IS SO GOOD and it’s one of the most popular fics in the professor layton tag so i’m sure a lot of you have probably heard of it... it’s actually a revised edition of the section set in 2019 of Luke and Apollo Wright (962,790 words, 491/491 chapters) by the same author, but i’m linking this version because it’s shorter and i’m reading it rn!!! basically it follows phoenix’s disbarrment years where he’s adopted trucy and he goes out and adopts luke and apollo too! there’s a plot concerning the ‘death’ of luke’s parents and it goes canon-divergent from the rest of ace attorney i think, but it genuinely is very good... there’s clay/apollo/luke friendship and it’s a really cool found family fic and there’s so much attention to details (the author made a court record for almost every chapter and a luke’s journal entry to go with, and luke writes letters back to the prof and vice versa and aaaa it’s just really nice). anyway yall read this pls

you’ve made it to the end!!! i’m not putting any ff.net fic recs in this list yet because i’m still exploring it for good ones!!!! i might make a second list soon containing ff fics but for now it’s only ao3... also, if these aren’t enough and you want more, dm me!!! i’ll be sure to find something for you :ok_hand: p.s. if the formatting of this post is too hard to read lmk too and i’ll fix it up