#precious baby pls use the box so we can take you to safety in the morning
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When there's a stray, possibly pregnant, extremely friendly cat MEOWING ITS HEAD OFF outside but you live with an unpredictable dog and it's nighttime so all the shelters and vets are closed.
#I'm suffering#we put a box out for her with a soft blanket and two exit holes#hoping she'll bed down for the night and still be there tomorrow#so we can take her to a shelter#listen I am a huge believer in the cat distribution system#but this isn't our house and we won't be moving into our own place until at least November#precious baby pls use the box so we can take you to safety in the morning#meanwhile the dog is like why aren't you guys doing something#because of YOU YA CRAZY ANIMAL
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Brenda deserves better.
Iâve talked about some of the other under-appreciated PL ladies like Katia, Janice/Melina and Marina. Now hereâs Brenda.
In PL4, Brenda appears in a grand total of two cutscenes (with 0 voiced speaking lines), in a bonus episode and a few credit pictures. At first glance, her character profile doesnât give us much insight into her personality either. She doesnât get her own description in the PL4 character section of The World of Professor Layton, just a quick summary in Lukeâs Family section. Itâs easy to see why people donât get immediately attached to her. Â
There are plenty of other female characters in PL4, even those who arenât âreoccurring charactersâ, who leave a much bigger impressionâ Rosa, Emmy, Arianna, Loosha, Marylin, Wren (A lot of my personal favourites!)... Listing them all now, Iâm just realising that itâs no wonder Brenda doesnât stand out!Â
We first hear about Brenda when Layton asks Clark how sheâs doing. Clark replies dismissively, âMy wife is fine. Sheâs away. Family matters.â Liam O'Brien doesnât get enough credit for how well he plays Clark. Seriously, as much as he snaps at Luke, if you replay PL4 you can hear the anxiety hidden in Clarkâs voice. He then quickly moves on to Luke. Layton says that he hasnât seen Luke since he was a baby, which would suggest he hasnât seen Brenda since then either.Â
Brenda enjoys travelling, as her character profile indicates, so her absence wouldnât seem too suspicious at first for Layton. However, itâs the manner in which she left thatâs odd. If you talk to Brendaâs NPC friend, Thomas, heâll discuss Brendaâs departure with Luke. Brenda would usually chat about her travel plans with Thomas, but this time, she left without a word. Thomas wonders if thereâs a reason for this. He notes that Brenda always loved family vacations, unless she and Clark were fighting... He could be referring to fights Brenda and Clark have had in the past, or to more recent fights during the spectre attacks. Brenda noticed how Clark was acting like a different person after Evan Bardeâs death (something Luke also picks up on), so that might have led to some misunderstandings. Â
Luke thinks his mum left because she couldnât deal with his dad anymore. (Or that Clark had even hidden Brenda away!) But she would never just leave without telling Luke.Â
Beth the maid notes that Clark has changed since Brenda left and sheâs been hearing noises from the Tritonsâ cellar.Â
As awful as it would be for anyone to be trapped in a dank cellar for months on end, it must have been especially awful for someone who loves travelling. And in their own house too! Sure, Angela got locked in a hotel room. Yeah, Flora was trapped in a barn. Bill Hawks got taken to Future London for like a weekâno one cares. But at least they all got rescued fairly quickly. Much like Angela, Brenda had a hunch about the villain in her town... and she ended up getting imprisoned by Descole.  Â
When Brenda and Doland escape from the cellar, Brendaâs first concern is Luke and Clarkâs safety. Emmy asks if sheâs OK, but Brenda doesnât answer. Sheâs just shocked to hear that Luke is with the professor. Professor Who? Hershel Layton?! Again, this suggests Layton hasnât seen Brenda for many yearsâ since Luke was a baby.Â
In Laytonâs bonus episode with Clark, Layton mentions how Clark and Brenda have always been close. Layton is the one to suggest that the Tritons should come back to London.Â
Sadly, we donât get a conversation between Luke and Brenda, or Clark and Brenda, during PL4.
We do learn that Luke is protective of the bear his mum got him for his birthday. Thereâs also the heartbreaking bit about Luke calling out to his mum in his sleep while she was missing. But then, we get THIS precious picture from the PL4 credits:
Thankfully, we get more interactions with Brenda during Azran Legacy, and we get more of a feel for her personality. Luke spots his mum in Kensington High Street and wants to say hello to her with Aurora. Brenda is surprised to see Luke, as she thought he was off on a trip with Professor Layton. (She actually calls Layton âHershelâ when she speaks to him!) Brenda is quite happy to let Luke tag along with Layton. Though, she does tell Luke to be on his best behaviourâ no reckless rushing around.Â
Luke mentions in a dialogue box that he got his blue cap from the fancy hat shop in Misthallery. @laytonerdââ came up with the idea that Brenda may have bought Luke his classic hat. (In the Layton universe, giving someone a hat is a sign of love*.)Â And from what we see of Brenda during Azran Legacy... yeah, that sounds about right.
I love how something so simple like the Dress Up Minigame can reveal so much about a character. Brenda is elevated from Loving Mother to Hippie Angel Lady. That quirky part of her personality was already alluded to in her character profile. But now we see that Brenda doesnât just collect odd souvenirs... She has a very unique style as well. (Her top hat appears to be inspired by Hershelâs top hatâagain, adding some weight to their friendship!) Luke thinks her whole outfit is just too much, but Clark thinks she looks stunning and it suits her to a T. This is probably just one outfit amidst a huge wardrobe of wacky outfits. Perfect for Brenda and Clarkâs wedding anniversary! Clark states that Brendaâs angel outfit reminds him of when they first started seeing each other... and he doesnât know what he did to deserve her, making Brenda blush. Luke wants no part in this.
Brendaâs favourite colour is yellow. A colour associated with the sun, flowers, hope, cheerfulness and energy. (Like Emmy!) But itâs also associated with sickness, cowardice and deceit. (Again, relating to Emmy!) I wouldnât call Brenda a coward, but she was a pawn in Descoleâs plan and it probably took some time for her to recover from that. But, from her demeanour, she seems cheerful when sheâs in London!
Brendaâs obviously quite close to Doland too. He worries about her when they escape from the cellar. Itâs not like he does all the chores around the house! Brenda is the one to cook Lukeâs favourite meal (roast lamb) when their family is reunited. Brenda knew when something wasnât right with Doland while Descole was in disguise. She even refers to him as âOur Dolandâ. Awww! Â
We get several conversations between Clark and Layton in PL4, along with a bonus episode, demonstrating their friendship. But I really wish we couldâve seen more of Layton and Brendasâ friendship. Brenda is very relaxed about Luke going with the professor on his trips. (This isnât surprising as she is a fan of travelling herself.) Brenda is very similar to Layton in how she picks up on other peopleâs behaviour. Brenda noticed that Doland was acting out of character, and she noticed Clark was being manipulated. She tried to go to the authorities (though, Third Eye Jakes wouldnât have been much help...) and so, Descole had to take her out of the picture. She, like Layton, posed a real threat to Descoleâs plans. Brenda describes Hershel as being very dedicated and hardworking when he was a student, but heâd also disappear for days on random adventures. With Brenda being a traveller herself, thatâs another thing she and Hershel have in common!Â
To this day, Iâm still not 100% sure what Brenda does for a living. In Lukeâs Family section in The World of Professor Layton, itâs mentioned that Brenda was âalso Professor Laytonâs classmateâ. Iâm assuming this means she studied archaeology as well? During AL, she talks about how sheâs going to Gressenhellerâs Library to do some research for a paper on plate tectonics... I thought that had more to do with geography than archaeology, but who knows? Maybe she does both! So, she might either teach at Gressenheller like Clark and Layton, or she has returned to university to do some studies of her own. She doesnât seem to work in the same department as Clark, at least. She âdrops byâ to see how Clark is doing, and to get a look at his departmentâs cutting-edge technology.Â
Brenda, like Professor Sycamore, is partial to the odd pun! She then proceeds to give them a puzzleâ âMutual Meeting Placeâ.
Itâs about four friends going to the theatre! ...Four friends. Could that possibly be a reference to Layton, Clark, Brenda and Claire? The girl in the puzzle picture also just happens to have red hair and sheâs wearing green! (I just made myself sad.) Unfortunately, Claire doesnât get so much as unnamed reference when Clark, Brenda and Layton talk at Gressenheller, but itâs easy to imagine Claire was close with them back when they were students.Â
Iâd like to think Brenda was particularly good friends with Claire. (They may even be a rare ship of mine...) *Who else was obsessed with quirky styles, and bought a hat for someone she loved? Brendaâs top hat in her Dress Up costume looks just like the hat Claire chose for Hershel. Brenda has an interest in new technologyâ imagine how many hours she spent discussing science with Claire! âYou want to be the worldâs first time traveller? Sure, go for it!â I find it quite significant that Claireâs deathâ and the institute explosionâ were referenced in PL4. (Chelmeyâs bonus episode is so hard to watch!) Had the Tritons already lost touch with Hershel (and Claire) before Claireâs death...? I wish Level 5 had given us more content for the Gressenheller gang.Â
I canât really say Brenda went through any under-appreciated character arcs, like Katia or Janice/Melina. She starts out as Lukeâs-loving-mother... and by the end of the prequel games, sheâs still Lukeâs loving mother, which is fine! By AL, I guess you could say her relationship with Clark is much happier, if they were fighting before? And in the AL bonus episode, she admits she was initially worried about Luke when he wanted to go on adventures with the professor, but she can see has Luke grown up since then. She even helps Luke choose the blue sweater that he wears during the original trilogy games. Brenda and Clark donât appear during the original trilogy- obviously, as their characters werenât invented yet. But we could take this as a sign that theyâve accepted Lukeâs growing independence and they still trust Hershel immensely!Â
There is a picture of the Triton family meeting up with Layton, Flora and the Barde siblings. Luke, Arianna and Tony are looking at a photo, remembering the time they spent together in Misthallery. Brenda is smiling at Flora in the background. Brendaâs clearly happy and, like the Barde siblings, she was able to move on from what happened with the spectre. Â
@the-triton-family-blogâ was also a great help for this post!
#professor layton#brenda triton#clark triton#long post#sorry#luke triton#Clark/Brenda#last spectre#spectre's call#PL4#The character arc is there if you believe!#If Level 5 won't give her a character arc I'll FIND ONE#Arianna Barde#Tony Barde#doland noble#character analysis#This is less an analysis and more like HERE'S EVERYTHING I CAN DISH UP ON BRENDA#I feel like I should go back and re-write everything about Brenda in my long fic#Same as Clark#PL4 has the best characters ok
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