#Ab Analyzes

[amaryllisblackthorn]

spoilers for professor layton and the last specter

one day i'll finally write that ~analysis about how layton treats children esp in pl4 and esp in comparison to emmy that's been in my head for literal y e a r s at this point

i'm going to actually leave some of my scattered thoughts abt it here finally. note that this is all based on the US localization.

for lack of better words, layton treats children with respect and seriously. like of course he's mindful that they're children but he takes what they say and feel with seriousness. vs emmy who's often patronizing, demeaning, or impatient (for lack of better words).

this is prob most apparent with Luke in pl4, though not limited to him.

when first told about the door puzzle, emmy goes 'aw thats so cute let's do it'. like indulging a little kid. which luke is, but i digress. EDIT: briefly checked out the jpn text in the scene and it doesn't seem like Emmy calls it cute, and her tone isn't doing it either. seems like she's just like, 'Professor, let's do it!' which is interestinf

there's a point where Luke is freaking out about the specter and the power it has and how it's corrupted his father. emmy's like 'you cant seriously believe theres actually a specter!' but Layton says to Luke 'I believe the specter has the power you say it has'. Layton doesnt believe there's an actual monster re: the specter, but he believes there is something re: the specter, and that's the important thing. and Layton furthermore immediately goes on to say he's noticed something's up with Clark, himself. Layton is listening to Luke and taking his feelings and fears seriously and is validating him -- and this is so incredibly significant bc of Luke's whole feeling like he's unable to trust anyone during the game which is incredibly related to this but a bit separate so im trying not to digress. THE POINT. is. the difference between Layton and Emmy in this regard.

i dont remember if it's the same part -- i think it might be later but maybe not -- i think it's when Luke reveals how he can tell where the specter will appear next? -- but basically Emmy's kind of upset for lack of a better word that Luke had been withholding that info and is like 'are you hiding anything else, like what the specter has for breakfast?!' or something iirc. luke mind of apologetically defends himself with 'i didnt know if i could trust you' and Layton is totally understanding

EDIT: (i removed an example bc upon further reflection it wasnt necessarily relevant. i might readd it later)

then there's the part with Jakes' son near the end iirc

also the small part nearer the beginning iirc when Luke goes chasing after the cat and Emmy&Layton are chasing after him and Emmy complains to the professor 'he's acting like a child!' and layton's like 'heh well he is a child c; '

there's also how Layton treats/interacts with the Ravens

also when first meeting Luke and Luke's opening up slightly but then Clark comes in and starts scolding him which has Luke withdraw/angry/turn away and Layton's like, "Clark, please"

there's also the cutscene when they first see the specter, where before it appears. Layton asks Luke, 'well, luke, what do you think? do you see anything?', he says no nothing, and Emmy's like 'I still have a hard time believing this. it sounds like a scary bedtime story. is this even possible?'. Layton says, 'Well, we'll soon find out.' and then Emmy goes on to say 'and a poor boy who predicts where the giant specter will appear' and Luke's unhappy about her comment

ALSO when Layton tries to go after the Specter that scene and Luke grabs onto him and tells him not to go, Layton takes the time to talk to him. same for when Luke's freaking out when the police took Arianna away. Layton puts a hand on his shoulder, gets to his level, and talks to him seriously.

this isn't bashing on Emmy btw I actually enjoy this as part of her character and it makes sense to me the difference between her and Layton in this regard. im also not saying that shes like always like this with kids either. or that it's even kid specific. I genuinely think it's neat. I also think it's a super neat part of Layton's character.

also ive really got to either play through pl4 again myself or watch a playthrough to record all the specific instances again.

also Layton taking Luke's feelings and fears seriously and Luke coming to trust Layton at this time of his life means the world to me

[milogoestogreendale]

i think one of the things that is so refreshing to me about trobed is that a lot of slash ships in fandom are admittedly based around stereotypes. there’s kind of a cookie cutter pattern for how people accept gay couples, but none of that is really seen with troy/abed. the openly weird, film obsessed autistic nerd is seen as the more confident and experienced one in his sexuality. meanwhile, the popular and masculine jock is allowed to be overly emotional and sometimes insecure in his feelings.

this isn’t done just to subvert expectations though, it’s all in keeping with their characters. abed is sometimes perceived by his friends as a nerdy virgin, but the show goes out of the way to say that this isn’t the case, with a character that is very self-assured (in what is hinted at in canon and commonly accepted in fanon as his bisexuality.) troy, on the other hand, who works to portray a macho heterosexual persona, comes to realize it’s okay to get rid of those barriers and explore himself now that high school is over. it all comes off as a very authentic portrayal of queer identity, and the chemistry between troy and abed makes for a very real portrayal of a gay couple, whether it was intentional on the writers’ part or not.

[saph-yells-into-the-void]

hmm..

hmmmmm...

[lifestreamblack]

imma be so honest i dont like the whole "jenova was controlling sephiroth" theory. this yt comment described how i felt abt it perfectly. they said "I get the feeling that a lot of people who want Jenova to be the main villain are those that have some sort of admiration for Sephiroth and want him to be a tragic, redeemable character, rather than all-out crazy maniacal." or something to that effect.

and listen, i'm not all caught up, and im going purely based off vibes and what i understood from the story (all forms, mostly the OG). i think it's scarier to know that sephiroth's will and hatred was so strong he was able to overpower an extraterrestrial calamity. it makes him more villainous imo, and to have that all be flushed out by "well he was a puppet the whole time!!!" im just kinda like oh. thats a bit snooze but he's still my little doodlebop i wont think less of him, but its just more villainous to me for him to enact his will over something already so powerful.

TBH tho i love a game that encourages fan theories, but what comes with that is disagreeing or agreeing and most of all, discussing. all just a matter of opinion. i just dont personally believe that hes a puppet to jenova the whole time.

this is what the youtube comment also said:

"What I feel those people fail to realize is that is exactly why Cloud, and Zack, were so devastated at his betrayal, and why he is a strong villain. Everyone looked up to him, but he went insane and murdered an entire village (and then went all 'destroy the world' crazy). Although I do find it interesting that some people cling to the belief that even after doing completely horrible acts, they feel there may be a chance at redemption (or at least that there may be an explanation as to why someone they admire became a monster)."

i feel like it adds to his tragedy, and i also don't really want him to be redeemed. he's straight up villainous and i like that. i like my big boobed, long haired, beautiful evil gay (and possibly nonbinary) villain...........

[anaphoraholic]

[reggiestein]

Always intrigued by this expression L makes once in this scene and then never ever again

[crunchycrystals]

@ my mom can you stop making fun of our culture while im actively engaging in it. we have a banger language we have some banger tv shows and movies and actors stop making fun of this show i actually like

[ciderjacks]

Abed is the only autistic character i relate to intellectually bc he is also very dumb.

[lenishi]

imagine posing half naked for a bunch of guys to see you couldn’t be me

[sluttywonwoo]

carats don’t be weird challenge failed yet again

[amaryllisblackthorn]

spoilers for the percy jackson and the olympians series, the heroes of olympus series, and the demigod diaries (i think)

there's no way Luke was written to have been actually attracted to Annabeth in the og PJatO series, no matter what subsequent books have said since. This is a case where I invoke Death of the Author and rationalize those later instances as Percy and Annabeth being unreliable narrators on the matter, regardless of Rick's actual intent. because it's just not there in the og series. especially when TLO emphasizes that they're family to each other.

Annabeth and Luke both come from a background of not having a stable frame of reference for familial love, so I can see both of them come to misidentify their feelings towards each other as romantic despite the feelings never actually being romantic in nature -- which is canonically the case for Annabeth.

post-Titan's Curse, from Luke's POV, Annabeth is the only one visibly/vocally ... who still cares about him? hasn't given up on him? like. WE know the complexity of Thalia's feelings re: Luke, and also Thalia was no where remotely in the wrong. but to Luke, Thalia basically cut ties with him.

and like, that's a lot, for him. for lack of better words. it's no secret how important Thalia's been to Luke, how hard he's clung to her and like.... i'm not eloquent enough to properly express it but like. he's clung so hard to not exactly a memory but something rooted/stuck in the past and the Thalia in the present destroys that and now he's left with nothing regarding that (which is his own fault! but he cant see that)

but Annabeth's still there. Annabeth, who he's had ~5 years to bond with after Thalia's 'death'. Annabeth, who's /always/ been there.

i think that if Luke had in fact come to potentially misidentify the nature of their feelings as romantic, it would have been post-Titan's Curse, pre-BotL. but they were never ACTUALLY romantic feelings.

which brings us to his final moments in TLO, where he infamously asks Annabeth if she loved him.

Annabeth starts to say 'There was a time I thought --', then looks at Percy, then tells Luke, that although he was like a brother to her, she never loved him [like that]. and Luke nods.

Annabeth is able to compare her feelings for Percy -- their feelings for each other -- to the feelings she's had for Luke and is able to realize that they were different, and that they had been different all along.

and, if continuing the proposed/potential 'Luke came to misidentify the nature of his feelings' reading, Luke nodding is him realizing the same thing. that the feelings Percy&Annabeth have for each other is and always has been different than the feelings Luke&Annabeth have had for each other.

it's important to stress that, re: this interpretation/reading, Luke never had actual romantic feelings towards Annabeth && he was never actually attracted to her!!! is it still problematic? sure but like. of course their relationship is problematic, specifically regarding Luke's treatment towards her throughout the og series, the power dynamic, etc. but i stand by him not having actual romantic feelings towards her in the og series, regardless of subsequent books.

[oofuri2003]

i cant tell thru the messiness of higuchi raw chapter scraggle and abe also wears a catcher mask and has bitch face but i cannot tell what emotion he is supposed to be feeling while catching for horii but it feels like unease or...nervousness?? like why is he uneasy tho

[milogoestogreendale]

oh, you’re autistic? what scene from an animated tv show most accurately captures the feeling of your meltdowns and why is it one or both of these two

[critterchitters-closedcaptions]

"the backrooms shouldnt have creatures it originally didnt" actually it did <3

a comment on the original photo says the following:

Particularly, "Got save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell heard you."

which is SO COOL AAawawagegfufnb........

but anyway yes. the original backrooms blurb (which, fun fact, was not immediately posted with the most popular image - posted below - but was instead a comment on the image thread) does imply that *something* is listening.

happy wandering <3

[santinacedes]

9 page paper due friday and i haven’t started or even outlined what i’m writing about oh how i love school

[adorkablenerd]

Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun for sure

mutuals do this