#Layton rambling

[ninadove]

I’m sure many others have pointed this out before, and this is certainly not the first time I ramble about it, BUT:

Notice how Clive’s parents look like Hershel and Claire.

Notice how they disappear to the right of the screen, which is symbolically associated with the future, while Layclaire exits stage left, remaining in the past.

Clive represents the child they could have had. Hence why he’s so smart he can rival our protagonist in a battle of wits. Hence why he’s saved by both Hershel and Claire at different points in his story. Hence why the mobile fortress is defeated by a simple pocket watch, the ultimate symbol of their love. Hence why he’s close to the Professor on the box, where Luke would typically be:

It’s him! Clive is their Lost Future.

[spiritoast]

my favorite coming-of-age teen sitcom

[peachducy]

professor layton azran legacy spoilers

ready for reincarnation

[teddyqd]

the biggest reveal in that trailer was that layton wasn't wearing a cozy jumper all that time. it was a SHIRT. and he had the top two buttons undone. like a WHORE.

{ID - screenshot of layton from the New World of Steam teaser, zoomed in on his iconic orange shirt, revealing that it has buttons, the top two of which are undone. END ID}

[icebarefoxy]

Wanted to try making some fun post-game credit art !!

[jistda]

Digging through cutscenes to see if there are any more interesting discrepancies between English and Japanese Descole. And I'm definitely reading into this one way too much, but...

In Last Specter, where in English he says "Hershel Layton, I hope you are prepared to play your part", in the Japanese version he says 「工ルシャール・レイトン、 その名に恥しぬ活躍に期待しよう」 -- "Hershel Layton, I hope you live up to your name"

Of course he’s probably just referring to the fact that Layton is well known for his puzzle-solving skills, but if we put this in the context of AL, to Descole, “Hershel Layton” was the name that almost became his own.

We go back to the flashback scene in AL, where the first thing Roland says is: "You're the famous Hershel, eh? We've heard that you're a very clever boy" (or in Japanese "we've heard throughout the town about your excellent reputation").

"Hershel Layton" came into his name with a reputation already. And that was a reputation that young Des had made for him. The “I hope you live up to your name” is almost like he wants to see what Layton has made of the name that he gave to him.

I wonder, was this the scene that Descole was thinking back to as he readied himself to meet his brother again?

[lesmond-sycamore]

DES DID NOT THROW HIS LIFE AWAY FOR HIS BROTHER JUST TO NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN LET THEM SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN I AM GOING TO STRANGLE YOU LEVEL 5

[everdoeswriting]

i have a love/hate relationship with trending tags on tumblr because sometimes it gives me fandom news i hadn't heard, and that's great!

other times i spend a good while combing the tags trying to find news that doesn't exist. no news, tumblr just decided to randomly bring back a fandom for no reason. which is nice and all but also then i'm bummed there's no news!

[zillasafe]

Thinking about that one part of Azran Legacy where Layton dives at Descole from the air and swings a metal pipe straight for his head. Thinking about how for the first half of that fight Layton is on the offensive, how Descole is the one blocking and parrying—trying to keep Layton away. How even when Descole cuts the pipe in half and expects the fight to be over, Layton immediately adapts and just keeps going for him. How Layton easily rips the sword from his hands. How Raymond has to snatch Descole away from the fight before Layton hurts him.

[darkartistyt]

it is entirely possible that this does exist and i just have yet to see enough of it, but i feel like a fairly underutilised part of hershel's character is how he can be kinda manipulative at times without even realising it

[sacriou]

Putting these up because I want to go back to them later and I don’t want to forget about them lawl

[ninadove]

The most brilliant part is that no, it isn’t, even though this was straight-up genius and established Clive as Hershel’s intellectual equal as early as his introduction. The real test is the ensuing gun fight:

This is the actual battle of wits. He’s testing Hershel — not to triple-check his identity, but to assess how well he does in highly stressful situations. Can he improvise? Can he keep a cool head in the face of potential death? Can he get the two of them, and the people around them, out of this quagmire alive?

All skills that are going to be relevant when push comes to shove.

[101flavoursofweird]

One thing I find clever about PL4 is how Emmy reads *Clark’s* letter aloud. We don’t get a voice-over of Clark reading the letter, like with Dr. Schrader, Future Luke, Janice or Angela. (Even if two of those letter-writers were not who they claimed to be!)

Clark isn’t the one who wrote the letter. It’s Luke.

Layton mentioned that Clark was never a fan of ‘typed-correspondence’, but it’s kind of implied that Layton hasn’t contacted Clark in years— long enough to not know where the Tritons were living.

But still, as Layton said, he would never ignore a friend in need. Even after they fell out of touch, he still came rushing to Misthallery to help Clark, knowing something was fishy about the letter.

He still hurried to Monte d’Or to help Angela, despite their troubled past.

He answered Janice’s plea for help— a former student who he cared about enough to risk his and Luke’s life.

Then there’s Dr. Schrader— Layton is absolutely SHOOK when his old mentor suggests that he will open the Elysian box. Layton is even more shook when he finds Scharder’s body on the floor.

Of course, Layton wants to help the letter-writer claiming to be Future Luke, as unlikely as that sounds. Maybe it’s not really Luke, but it’s still a person asking for Layton’s help, so Layton will answer.

And now I’m thinking about how Layton might have emotional constipation, but he still cares about his companions so much. He just doesn’t show it in obvious ways. Maybe that’s why he likes letters so much…

And didn’t CLAIRE give him a letter when she was going to confess her feelings to him?

[merquplex]

trying to replay unwound future but I can't concentrate because I know he is coming and the thought of that genuinely terrifies me

[heal-the-ashes]

i've been going around and unironically saying "This reminds me of a puzzle!" when i see things that do, indeed, remind me of a PL puzzle. now, suddenly, i get it when hershel says it a lot... and actually, it's so fun to me when i get to do that and a puzzle that i've completed jumps to mind. especially if the puzzle was one of my favorites. LOL

[ceruleanslob]

i just found out about professor layton vs phoenix wright today and a thought came to mind:

what if whenever phoenix talks about his "friend" who invites him over to europe during the 7 year gap, everyone assumes it was edgeworth when in all actuality, it was professor layton?

idk much about the Professor Layton series but that would be so funny...