“Like looking in a mirror, the image is slightly distorted.”
Today is @notllorstel’s twisted fates au! Where two alternate realities end up colliding. One which we’re familiar with and the other where a few key events happened differently.
I gave tf Hershel a toolbox in contrast to our Layton’s trunk.
Also gave the Lukes different outfits.
Now the question is which Luke goes where? Are they in the right reality or are they in the wrong place? 😈
I figured I’d finally draw the outfits Luke has for his various occupations over the years in the How Things Change Au.
From his early 20s to his early 30s, he takes after his adoptive mother and becomes a police inspector. He garners quite the reputation too, solving unique cases like he used to with the Professor. But this time, he’s solving cases with his adventurous assistant Lucille Layton and his number one apprentice Hershel Bronev by his side.
Then Targent happens, he’s captured while Leon and Rachel escape with their kids and gets taken to whoever their base was. None of his years there were particularly good, but his first few were the worst. As an inspector he’d been working against Targent and not only that, but he let the archeologist they were after escape and they wanted to make him regret that. At the start, the only one who had his back was a reluctant follower of Targent by the name of Raymond.
Then the group he’d acquired manage to escape, but not without casualties on both sides. Emmy, who was only a child at the time, lost her mother, leaving her an orphan. Targent lost their leader (and a few buildings). They were on the run for a while but when things settled down to a somewhat normal, Luke used the training he’d gotten in Targent to get a medical degree at Gressenheller University. While there he ends up befriending a certain quartet of younger students.
Thinking about cycles of revenge in the prequel games again.
The Azran people refused to free the sentient golems, so the golems destroyed their civilisation. A few surviving Azrans imprisoned the golems in ice and set up their legacy knowing the golems could wipe out a future race. If whoever freed the Azran emissary viewed her more as a pawn than a person— enough to pierce her heart— then the legacy would be unleashed.
Leon and Rachel Bronev were taken by Targent and their kids were left behind.
After Rachel’s death, Bronev rose through the ranks of Targent and eventually, tried to bring his eldest son into the fold, like many archaeologists before him. When Desmond refused, his family were killed.
From then on, Descole became so determined to unlock the Azran sites before Targent that he would hurt/kidnap/manipulate other people’s families— even his own brother who stood in his way.
Of course, the people Descole used as pawns also reacted:
Third Eye Jakes’ control over Misthallery, Oswald Whistler trying to steal others’ lives to revive his daughter, Randall terrorising Monte d’Or and his old friends…
And so on.
The cycle only stops when someone decides to break it. Luke— despite seemingly being shunned by his family and his friends— writes to Professor Layton for help. Melina— despite being given a second chance at life— hopes Professor Layton will stop her father. Angela— despite her losses and her troubled past with Layton— reaches out to him after eighteen years.
Even Desmond, on some level, realises this when he asks his brother to investigate the Azran with him. Sure, he ends up betraying Layton… but look at how well that worked out for him; he lost the Azran key to Targent and then Bronev unleashed the Azran legacy.
Aurora— despite everything the Azran did to she and her fellow golems, despite being kidnapped by Targent, despite the betrayals she faced even from her human friends— begs the light of the Azran to resurrect her friends after they sacrifice themselves.
Even if the prequel series isn’t very connected outside of the Azran sites being mentioned, I like how this cycle is felt throughout. I love how Layton— a contender for the world’s most tragic backstory, who’s suffered so much thanks to the Azran— steps in to stop it.