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lutiaslayton · 3 months

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Hi! I really love your timeline analyses and have been thinking about them a lot as I try to write my own Layton longfic. (I hope you don't mind me referencing your timeline and puzzle research for it ^^;) It's very well done! I have a hard time figuring out so many details at once like that, so it's been a huge help.

...I don't want to be annoying or overly nitpicky when I point this out, but I just thought I'd mention something.

We know that Dropstone was founded on August 12th (by the JP version) and Layton travels there on its 50th anniversary (also August 12th). In your deduced timeline you have that arrival date down as Wednesday the 12th, 1963. The year with a Wednesday on an August 12th is actually 1964. In 1963, the 12th falls on a Monday.

I don't know if the day being a Wednesday specifically matters at all, or if Layton's days of the week aren't in sync with ours, but from what I understand, your timeline might be 1 year behind. (Or that date was meant to be Monday the 12th...?)

I figured with SLS (one of my favorite fics ever, by the way!) being in 1953, a detail like this could be important to you, but you can totally ignore this ask if I'm wrong! I just wanted to let you know just in case.

Hi! The fact that you picked up on this is a true testament to your dedication and rigorous work, congratulations!!

I haven't touched this timeline in a long while for a number of reasons (far too many other projects + "um actually I think there might be multiple timelines and you can't put every single game/novel/manga/movie/other in the same chronology but it becomes soooooo much more interesting if you start placing them in multiple ones, also puzzle theory makes that not only plausible but also quite probable"), so sadly I have forgotten most of the details of how past me from over a year ago reached the conclusions that she did. From what I remember, however, the quick answer to your question is simple: yes, the days of the week in the Laytonverse are out of sync with ours.

(I kinda like how I take it as a bigger reminder that the Laytonverse really is disconnected from our world's History in a number of ways, from the mention in the novels of kings and queens that do not exist IRL to the simple logical fact that there is no way History happened the same way when mechas are a thing, the Azran happened, Targent happened, and also puzzles break the laws of physics daily. But that's just personal preference.)

I think what started it was the fact that London Holiday takes place on a Sunday and that I could not find any way to make the whole "a few days ago" for both Curious Village and Diabolical Box work alongside the "They arrive in Dropstone on August 12th." I won't redo the math right now because schedule and to-do list and other stuff (+ I trust you more to check it since your brain cogs are already warm and revving in the middle of it, so you would be more efficient at figuring it out as well as more critical than present me), but if memory serves, this was the best I could manage at the time, and I never went back later to recheck the math. I really just stopped at "Yes, there is a desync, so what? That's not supposed to be the real world anyway. Also huge kudos to whoever notices."

---

My mind is set on the fact that the Layton timeline places the original trilogy on the year 1963 because of the promotional UF artwork implying that UF would take place during the winter between 1963 and 1964, but that part is personal preference since I know (and stated on the timeline web page iirc) that in-universe, this date does not appear in the game. I know other people use for example the "Year 1960" unused artwork which had been datamined from Curious Village. I also know that the World of PL interview just says "There is no official date, it's inspired from the 1960s but we are never going to give a date because we don't want to." I also also know that some others, who consider the PLvsAA crossover canon, take the Ace Attorney timeline and thus completely yeet the "1960s" part into oblivion.

So the choice is ultimately up to personal preference, and you're free to choose a different one! The only reason I put 1963 in the timeline instead of "Year YYYY ; Year YYYY - 50 ; Year YYYY + 1" and such is for obvious readability reasons... and because past me had not thought that perhaps there could be a Javascript way to say "hey put here the year you'd like the original trilogy to take place in," have the user click on a button, and make the whole page do the calculations and display the new dates according to the user's chosen year of reference. darn it now I'm going to be nagging myself into implementing that but it would also be so tedious.

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Anyway TL;DR yes I was aware of this, and past me either forgot to mention it or thought "Eh it's not like anybody will notice/care" hahaha. Rather insensitive from past me admittedly, I do now wonder why I didn't add that as a small paragraph in the preliminary notes... Most likely reason is that the thought just didn't cross my mind at the time.

Good luck on your own longfic, don't hesitate to send me the link (no promises on reading it the day it comes out because there are SO many fics already on my to-read list, but nnngnfhghh I wish I could read other people's works as well as continue working on SLS), and thank you for your ask! Even though I was personally aware of it, you can absolutely feel proud of having picked up on it, and don't hesitate to come back to me (and make me sweat cold bullets) if you figure out a way to make "1963" + "London Holiday on a Sunday" + "No week day desyncs with the real world" work. Thanks to you, other people can now be made aware of this detail which I had apparently forgotten to explain explicitly!

Lastly, I don't remember whether I mentioned it here or not because it's still far from done and isn't going to be truly useful before a LONG while, but just in case what little info is on there could still be useful to you or someone else in any way: among many other things, I'm working on a Lore Map. Imagine having the ENTIRETY of EVERY SINGLE CANON FACT we have been given, in a single web page, with a whole list of tags so you can filter only the trivia that is relevant to your fanfic research <3

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(Now this paragraph is completely unrelated to your ask, I'm going to leave this here for a different person (or not? would be good luck if you're the same anon): I am so sorry to the anon who asked me if I considered the LMJ ARG event canon or not, I uhhhhh... got carried away and I don't think the answer will be posted anytime soon, because for the sake of answering it in an exhaustive way I wanted to re-read the entirety of what has been preserved of it + add every bit of trivia I could find to the Lore Map mentioned earlier. And I'm juggling between many other projects too so progress is very slow. TL;DR version of my personal opinion so far: as for everything else it is up to personal preference, but I could theoretically see at least parts of it being canon. The trickiest part I found by reading just the introduction of the ARG is the fact that Kat would apparently make livestreams. Which implies the existence of the internet or a similar technology, the existence of streaming platforms, and the fact that she would have a decent-ish enough following for her random viewers from all around the world to want to help her. And if we go with the hypothesis that there could be multiple timelines, I could see that happen in an Ace Attorney-based timeline such as the one in which the PLvsAA crossover is canon, for example! I don't know enough about AA to be able to speak about it with confidence, but I think that 20+ years after the original AA trilogy, internet technology is indeed quite advanced enough for this to be possible? anyway. Just thought I'd give you a first short answer so you don't have to keep holding your breath and/or think I completely forgot about you. I'm sorry :'D)

#lutiasreplies #lutiasgithub #pl theory board

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lutiaslayton · 3 months

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hiya layton fandom

in the vein of @angelasycamore’s azran symbolism/typography masterpost that i may or may not have accidentally inspired the creation of, here is an azran civilization stringboard with damn near every piece of lore i could find on these fuckers.

if you find a new piece of lore that i should include, reply to this post/leave it in the tags/dm me and i’ll add it - the link should automatically include any new additions

have fun!

#professor layton resource #layton resource #professor layton worldbuilding #layton worldbuilding #pl theory board #azran civilisation #also reblogging this while I'm at it

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lutiaslayton · 3 months

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all canon azran symbols and motifs masterdoc

discord convo led to 6 hours of hyperfocus and research for me, so i'm gonna put my findings here for your resource as well!

as most of the resources concerning the japan-only azran legacy guidebook's azran "language" cipher (that used to be somewhere as a font back in the day?) and the fans' interpretation of what letters' solutions weren't included officially have disappeared off the face of the internet, i had the idea of reconstructing it, which brought me down the rabbithole of the INCREDIBLY inconsistent nature of the azran language throughout the professor layton prequels. even if that cipher is dubiously canon, some of its symbols appear as canon azran text in the games. i wanted to check overlap as well as log every existing example of characters in an azran writing system.

interestingly enough, some characters reappear across games- and there's lots and lots of them to account for. around 23 pages of this doc worth, actually!

this also led me to compile most of the visual imagery players see in azran spaces, as well as any azran seals shown in-game. i'm pretty sure i covered my bases, but if i'm missing anything, i can absolutely update this compilation!

here's a full pdf to save for your reference!

xo, lynnie

#professor layton resource #layton resource #pl theory board #professor layton worldbuilding #layton worldbuilding #YOOOOOOOO AMAZING JOB PEOPLE #Man I remember past me from 10 years ago had started doing that but. it soon devolved into fanmade conlang rather than canon analysis

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lutiaslayton · 4 months

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I did not have this specific scene in mind at the time, but thank you for reminding me that it exists. It is beautiful and very much accurate xD

Hello!

I come to ask you a question, as you are the leading researcher in the field of puzzle lore, and also a scientist! (Once more: congratulations!)

Apologies if these thoughts seem a bit.... messy and much. Feel free to just ignore.

I am currently writing a little story/fanfiction that includes puzzles, and first I wanted to ask if it is okay with you if I use your theory for that.

Second:

You already said that Puzzles, or rather Hamanier Particles have the ability to allow time/space travel, and that they allow clairvoyant abilities.

Puzzles/Hamanier Particles seem to be already used to research time and space travel, as your theory says.

Could puzzles have even more possible "applications"?

Is the main reason why the Azran were so advanced that they fully understood how to "use" puzzles and their supernatural-seeming properties?

Do you think they could also be the cause of other weird happenings and traits humans, plants and animals have in the series?

Could puzzles possess living things too and change them?

Flora Reinhold has the mole in the shape of an apple, that only appears when she is happy/laughing.

That isn't really possible, but perhaps that is caused by some sort of puzzle possession?

Could this also be an explanation for the nonsenical dusguise abilities Don Paolo and Descole have, that they might partially be literal shapeshifters (or something in that direction?)

A shapeshifting-like thing could also explain how Don Paolos hair works, why it is able to move around and shape itself in ways normal hair shouldn't (LF, the scene where he got his horns

Do you think it is significant that in/around puzzle shacks, plant seem to grow in strange ways (there is almost always a tree around, often growing indoors), and that other plants such as the sunflower in LF being able to store/attract puzzles.

(i also find it strange how flowers grow underground, at the grave of Viola Reinhold. But that might not be caused by puzzles, I think at least)

Could puzzle possession be able to alter genes/bodies? (here it becomes apaarent that my biology knowledge is not advanced enough yet).

If they potentially create little "weird traits" such as Floras apple-shaped mole, or even shapeshifting, then they might have the potential to do even more.

The animal experiments in LF were probably meant to test the time travel-capabilities of Hamanier particles.

But apparently, the exposure to them was what caused Subject 3 to become so strangely human-like, apparently altering his body(?) and making him able to "walk".

This might go to far, but regarding Animals being experimented with and becoming strange/humanlike-

The dog from LMJ, Sherl, was also implied to have been experimented on in a lab, and that is why he got the ability to talk.

Another Hamanier Particle experiment, maybe?

So, maybe puzzle experiments are not very uncommon in the Layton-Universe.

And that was... it, I think.

I don't know enough about science (yet) to properly understand the implications that Puzzles might be experimented with/have the capability to change living beings and allow "supernatural"-seeming phenomena to happen.

So that is why I wished to ask someone who knows way more than me.

Apologies if it wasn't understandable.

Hi, thanks! And, wow, that's a big one indeed xD

A few disclaimers ahead of time:

The theory is still a work in progress, in the sense that I won't be 100% confident in its solidity before I'll have had time to confront it to basically the near-entirety of the lore in the game. Which, obviously, is going to take a lot of time and work. So while I do believe that the current state of the theory is rather reliable, at least as a headcanon, I cannot claim with confidence that a few details here and there won't change in the future due to my finding out something else in the games/novels/other that I didn't know or had forgotten about, and which contradicts part of the theory.

I believe you likely saw this post already, but I link it just in case. I had tried in that post to make the theory's assertions as clear as possible, but the wording in some of your questions makes me wonder whether there might have been a few confusions here or there. If you or anyone else have questions regarding a specific part of the theory and/or you're not completely sure what X or Y means, don't hesitate to ask me.

Now, on to your questions:

Is it okay if I use the puzzle theory for my own fanfictions/fanart/other?

To you, and to anyone else who will probably ask again sooner or later (you're not the first one haha): YES. The puzzle theory by itself is something that I was stupid/crazy enough to come up with, but since the evidence that led up to me thinking about it came directly from the official content, it doesn't feel to me like the theory really "belongs" to me! It's as if you had to pay royalties to Albert Einstein whenever you wanted to write E=mc². Kinda stupid if you ask me (and even stupider in my case because the puzzle theory isn't nearly as fundamental to the progress of humanity as real world science is).

Also what fun is there in finding a lore mechanic that is so wide, could have SO many applications and implications, inspire sooooo many fascinating storylines and AUs, only for me to then go "nah I'm the only fanfic author who's ever allowed to use it. Get screwed, fandom." For real, the reason I share this theory at all is because I WANT the fandom to know about it and have their own fun with it, if they decide that it's a toy box worth adding to their collection of headcanons!

If anything, credit is appreciated if you want your potential readers-who-are-also-writers to read about the puzzle theory in turn and get inspired to also write about it; but it is absolutely not required.

However, one thing that is required (not really but I would love if you could do it): please do send me the link of your fanfic once it is written and posted because I absolutely want to read it 👀

TL;DR: Yes, it is ok, and I want to see it. Go wild, and have fun!

Hamanier Particles have the ability to allow time/space travel, and they allow clairvoyant abilities. Puzzles/Hamanier Particles seem to be already used to research in time and space travel, as your theory says. Could puzzles have even more possible "applications"?

I believe that imagination is our sole limit! (like, literally, since Hamanier particles are basically what constitutes complex thoughts in the Laytonverse)

That, and more importantly the fact that what scientists within the Laytonverse truly know about how Hamanier particles work and how to harness their power has yet to be defined in detail. They have mechas, Descole's machines definitely use puzzle shenanigans, and Dimitri was able to build a pair of glasses which can record a person's memories (aka also related to Hamanier particles). But on the other hand, the average Layton NPC's daily life (Layton himself included) isn't using technology that is more advanced than our own, far on the contrary. It seems that whatever it is that humanity knows about puzzle physics at the time of the main six games, the ability to actually control Hamanier particles remains rather niche (and it seems like Steam Bison might actually give us quite a bit to think about, especially the part where, allegedly, "solving more puzzles will cause the city to evolve technologically").

It's a bit like how humanity has known that electricity existed for aeons (without necessarily understanding how it works), but that it took a while between the moment when the first inventions which were capable of generating/relied on electricity were built, and the moment when every house in the country required electricity for powering nearly everything. I believe the Laytonverse is sitting in that phase where a few scientists in isolated labs were able to find the means to control Hamanier particles, but that due to the costs, or because it's tricky to implement in terms of engineering, or for other reasons, the knowledge of how to control them is either not well-spread just yet, or people just aren't jumping on the hype train to use puzzle magic to power everything in their daily lives because they don't see the point (at least not yet. Once again, let's see how Steam Bison appears when we get to see it in its full glory).

So, applications for puzzles/Hamanier particles in a daily Layton NPC's life? Well, let's see...

First off, something which is kinda used in canon but would deserve to be expanded upon a lot more: using puzzles as basically weapons for delaying someone, like a smoke bomb of sorts (could be offensive, could be self-defence). The dialogue from Luke after you solved London Holiday's Puzzle #009 has him talk as if he just physically had a jog walking on bridges in a tropical archipelago, all the while (as far as we know) he did not leave the confines of Layton's office. So did the puzzle make him hallucinate that? Was Luke temporarily sucked into a pocket dimension until he solved the puzzle??

I'd personally go for the former since the Folsense gas is a thing (and this interpretation does not require to find proof that a) such pocket dimension exists, and b) find an explanation on how it works, where it is located, and how it was created. In short: hallucination wins over pocket dimension thanks to Ockham's Razor). At least some puzzles seem to thus have the ability to trap the person solving them into some sort of trance until they're solved, which depending on the circumstances, could put the person in a rather vulnerable position where they can't interact with their surroundings.

So, list of possible uses:

Weapon for trapping someone inside their own head until the puzzle is solved (no technology required, just fetch a feral puzzle and yeet it at the person's face like a poké ball). Arguably already used in canon, notably with Bishop or Plover in Azran Legacy, and probably in dozens of other cases. It can be of note that their response after the puzzles have been solved is often along the lines of "what the heck! how did you solve it that quickly???", which could be interpreted as some form of "wtf bro it's like if my smoke bomb only lasted two seconds how do you expect me to have the time to make any use of it"

Time travel/teleportation, the former of which we know has been attempted, with near success, only to have the project abandoned. It is more or less likely that the same could be said of the latter; though there is no time paradox to worry about, I do believe that the main mechanism is the exact same as for time travel: it's just that you don't want the other end of the vortex to be set in a different time. So, in short: a bunch of scientists managed to make it work, but as far as evidence shows, they're not to the point of being able to make it safe and practical for everyday use. I'd compare Dimitri's time machine to the real world LHC: humanity's top scientists can do it for science, but the world is absolutely not ready to popularise the technology and have every layman get to buy and play Candy Crush on their own toy LHC (for a number of reasons, and the one asking "How can you even play Candy Crush with a particle accelerator?" comes with the lowest priority).

Speaking of teleportation, it is however possible that some characters actually already use it to some extent...? I'm thinking notably of Granny Riddleton or Keats. Or... perhaps that's also why Pavel is never able to explain how he ends up in the most random places. In any case, I believe that those instances are caused not by Laytonverse steampunk technology, but rather because of these characters' clairvoyance, or because of wild puzzles being particularly feral and kidnapping them across time and space. Poor Pavel must have made a few of them very angry. Or he's psychic and doesn't know it.

There totally is some illegal hint coins trafficking going on in the suburbs of many towns and cities, where most of the buyers are students during the week before their finals.

Scotland Yard and other police forces have a branch dedicated to puzzle-related problems. My personal headcanon is that Colby may actually be stationed in the reception room and rarely ever allowed on the terrain because the times when he is allowed on the terrain, it's because it's an eldritch shenanigans level of puzzle issue.

...

Layton's trunk, which is capable of holding a whole fish tank (just kidding. probably.)

Is the main reason why the Azran were so advanced that they fully understood how to "use" puzzles and their supernatural-seeming properties?

Yes. In Azran Legacy, we have the following quote: "We were masters of technology and science. There was no puzzle we could not solve." Now, of course, it could be coincidence. I could be reading into it too much. But in the light of the puzzle theory... Why couldn't we take it literally? It's not like all this glowing shifting stuff (which is somewhat reminiscent of Descole's Detragigant anyway) wasn't screaming "arguably supernatural" anyway. Also the fact that they can resurrect the dead (no I will never let that one go).

More seriously, the Azran basically turned the Illusory Forest's Ancient Tree into an immortal clairvoyant cyborg who records knowledge about the entire world by using a network of plants worldwide in order to absorb what is basically brain juice (aka Hamanier particles). That thing alone revolves around using puzzle magic to acquire knowledge.

TL;DR: Yes. Definitely. Absolutely.

Could puzzles also be the cause of other weird happenings and traits that humans, plants and animals have in the series? Could puzzles possess living things too and change them?

Believe it or not, that is one of the questions that will either be raised in Stable Like Sand (my own fic) at some point, or has at least been written and will just end up in the pile of cut content that didn't make it in the fic if I can't find a place for it to fit properly. But to paraphrase my notes: "That's usually what the immune system is for."

That being said… We do have a few canon phenomena: Folsense's gas and Labyrinthia's ink causing hallucinations/having strong powers of suggestion, Labyrinthia's water causing people to faint if they hear the sound of a bell made of pure silver… It could also be argued that at least part of the "unknown incurable illnesses" that afflicted quite a few characters throughout the series, sometimes leading to their death, are a result of puzzle decay/possession gone wrong.

It is possible that some in-game puzzles involve fauna or flora having been physically altered for the sake of a puzzle, but I do not recall any specific example, so take that with a grain of salt. I do however remember that Colby, a constable from Scotland Yard, has his chin get longer whenever he smiles (as in it's not just me overanalysing his sprites, it's literally written down on his in-game profile description).

TL;DR: Yep. And the more you think about it, the more horrifying it gets.

Flora Reinhold has the mole in the shape of an apple, that only appears when she is happy/laughing. That isn't really possible, but perhaps that is caused by some sort of puzzle possession?

Yep 👀 (and, unfortunately, this is also why I believe that both her parents died because of puzzle decay/possession)

Could this also be an explanation for the nonsenical disguise abilities Don Paolo and Descole have, that they might partially be literal shapeshifters (or something in that direction?) A shapeshifting-like thing could also explain how Don Paolos hair works, why it is able to move around and shape itself in ways normal hair shouldn't (LF, the scene where he got his horns)

I wish I had an answer for that. For the time being, I am stuck at the stage of raising my fist at the sky and growling "I will figure out a scientifically valid mechanism someday. SOMEDAY. JUST YOU WAIT LEVEL-5, I WILL FIND AN EXPLANATION FOR YOUR CARTOON PHYSICS."

To give some more details: I can say at least that Descole and Don Paolo's disguises don't seem to work the same way. Don Paolo canonically uses latex(?) masks and extra clothes matching the person he's disguised as, which he leaves behind for Luke to collect and try on during the credits of Diabolical Box and Unwound Future. This... would be simple enough if it weren't for the fact that he's the one who somehow managed to disguise himself as Flora.

Meanwhile, Descole… just puts on his hat, and boom there we go the entire cast of characters and the audience alike just went from "A platypus?" to "PERRY the platypus???" So current guess is that instead of a full disguise (although he might still be using some kind of disguise to some extent, I don't remember the mention of latex masks or extra clothes in his case), he instead uses some sort of illusion/hallucinogen mechanic. I wonder whether he ever went to Folsense/Labyrinthia (or other location with similar properties), found out about the gas/other, and managed to weaponise it in order to trick people into seeing and hearing him with a different identity.

By the way, what if the hallucinogenic something that Descole uses is the reason why nobody in-universe was able to see how similar Desmond Sycamore looks to Descole, and why he could just get away with basically wearing the exact same clothes (or at least shoes)? Huh. Perhaps for all we know, he doesn't even bother trying to mimic other people's voices when he's "disguised" as them.

Last minute addition by @toy-pigeon: "i mean if his cologne is so strong that whatshisface in phong gi was able to smell it, maybe THAT'S what the hallucinogen is"

And now back to Don Paolo... I guess his hair could be similar to the examples of Flora or Colby, now that you mention it.

...Maybe one of his experiments made it worse and he actually can somehow fit inside those disguises.

...Oh darn I believe that might be an option and if it's the result of one of his engineering experiments gone wrong you've got even more reason for him to be the way he is, with the diving into super villain mode on a whim and all.

Thank you, I hate it, and I need some ibuprofen because my brain is boiling.

(Man, imagine writing a PL fanfic with a shapeshifter in it and only figuring this stuff out a year and a half later)

Do you think it is significant that in/around puzzle shacks, plant seem to grow in strange ways (there is almost always a tree around, often growing indoors)?

By itself, I wouldn't call that weird or supernatural. There is vegetation everywhere, and it is precisely what the Illusory Forest's Ancient Tree uses to collect knowledge from across the world. Also, Granny Riddleton has her shack inside the Molentary Express for a bit... The miniature tree could be fake, or could take its roots in. um. somewhere...? (it probably makes more sense if it's fake, but I did say earlier that Granny Riddleton may be capable of teleportation, so. there are a couple of hypotheses that may need to not be discarded just yet. but the tweezers I'm using to hold those hypotheses are the size of Clive's fortress.)

If it has any significance at all, it would be related to the Ancient Tree's shenanigans, not to the local laws of physics.

(i also find it strange how flowers grow underground, at the grave of Viola Reinhold. But that might not be caused by puzzles, I think at least)

Also not particularly supernatural looking to me, iirc there was sufficient light in her basement/grave for vegetation to grow relatively well. The sight does not shock me; in fact, a lot of flowers benefit from having sunlight, yes, but not direct sunlight.

If you want an unambiguously unusual example though, look at collection item #13 of Azran Legacy: "Bashful Sunflower - This healthy plant runs contrary to the laws of nature by turning away from the sun." And the original Japanese version if you want it: 「はにかみヒマワリ｜貫録あふれる花と葉をたくわえていながら、おひさまから目をそらすほど内向的な性格」 (Translation: "Bashful Sunflower - Despite its sturdy flowers and leaves, it is so introverted that it turns its eyes away from the sun." So this flower is sentient and extremely shy.)

(It's easier to see if you look at its 3D model in-game, but it is literally using its leaves to hide itself from the sunlight)

…and other plants such as the sunflower in LF being able to store/attract puzzles.

I'd connect that to the Ancient Tree, personally... But it's also basically implying that the plant itself is indeed having strange properties, which may have been developed in its species aeons ago due to exposure to puzzle weirdness (it would be, after all, the explanation for why the Ancient Tree itself was born. Simplest explanation is very simply that the Ancient Tree is a clairvoyant plant, on the same level as Granny Riddleton for example. It just also happens to be a tree, but as we saw a paragraph above, plants also can be sentient in the Laytonverse).

Could puzzle possession be able to alter genes/bodies? If they potentially create little "weird traits" such as Floras apple-shaped mole, or even shapeshifting, then they might have the potential to do even more.

As TL;DR for this whole part of the ask, I will just quote an excerpt from my notes which tried to summarise the puzzle theory in as few words as possible (I now realise that past me had not added this paragraph to the list of screenshots in the post I mentioned at the beginning of this reply. My bad, I believed that it was not that relevant at the time since it wasn't really about puzzles themselves):

The animal experiments in LF were probably meant to test the time travel-capabilities of Hamanier particles.

But apparently, the exposure to them was what caused Subject 3 to become so strangely human-like, apparently altering his body(?) and making him able to "walk".

I would argue that adult Subject 3 doesn't look that much different from his baby self from before he was experimented on. Same for Sherl, he doesn't look particularly "human-like" physically speaking, and doesn't look that much different from other dogs aside from "main character design" syndrome.

(Beasly, on the other hand... Well, seems like Level-5 conveniently baited us by having a whole cutscene where he said he had a whole backstory explaining how he came to be the way he is, only to be silenced by Puzzlette. But I'm putting him aside. And also -- just like Sherl, not every human can understand him. If you try to talk to him while Luke is missing, Layton and Flora don't even acknowledge his presence, let alone are able to understand what he says.)

I'm just going to quote again the screenshot from just a paragraph above, but "Plants/Fauna are WEIRD" in general. Plants are sentient and acquire information that they then convey to the Ancient Tree, animals have some level of sentience regardless of whether they have been experimented on (otherwise Luke wouldn't be able to hold complex conversations with them such as the ones he has with Toppy or with the other rabbit from the Miracle Mask minigame), and they too are able to solve puzzles, once again regardless of whether or not they have been experimented on.

TL;DR I don't believe that the time travel experiments that Subject 3, or the Parrot (Subject 1) suffered from had any significant changes on their body or psyche, other than being traumatising events by themselves.

As a reminder by the way: regarding Sherl, just like Subject 3, Beasly, or other animals, only a couple of humans are able to understand them. In the main six games, Luke and Clark Triton are the only ones canonically known to understand animals (and feel free to watch the Subject 3 scene and the Beasly cutscene from Unwound Future, in both cases Layton really is just standing motionless in the back, metaphorically fumbling his thumbs and waiting for Luke to come back and translate; and once again, when Luke is gone from the group, it is possible to go talk to Beasly... or rather, try).

In LMJ, it seems like Katrielle and Ernest are the only ones able to understand Sherl (unless some other NPC that I don't know about showed up occasionally and everyone went "you can understand him too?????", I did not watch all 50 episodes of the anime yet). Interestingly, Ernest is shocked that he could understand Sherl, so it seems that while Ernest is Special™ somehow, he is not able to understand other animals. And though Katrielle was barely surprised when Sherl showed up at her door, it also doesn't seem like she can understand other animals either. Whatever it is that Ernest and Katrielle have in common with each other but not with anyone else, for them both to be able to understand Sherl... I honestly have no clue (none that even remotely makes any sense, that is).

Aaaaaaand I believe I addressed everything! Phew, that was a lot, and it actually did give me a few things to think about that I had not given enough thought to until now.

So the big TL;DR:

Yes please do use this theory/headcanon in your fanfics/fanart/comics/macaroni collage and please give me links once it's done because I want to see it and give it love.

Puzzle weirdness has a lot of uses indeed, with the only limitations being Laytonverse humanity's current understanding of their own laws of physics (for mad scientist use) and general society's interest for puzzle-based technology (for widespread daily use). It is extremely likely that they do not understand most of the puzzle theory and that they just shrug it all off because it's normal to them. It's just like our own world: do we all commonly understand the entirety of physics? Heck no! And yet it interferes with our lives daily. Physicists in our world are figuring stuff out to this day, sometimes figure out that stuff everyone believed to be obvious in the past is completely wrong, sometimes figure out new stuff that nobody knew was a thing. It's the same thing in the Laytonverse, whether with "regular physics" (assuming those still work the way we know it) or with puzzle physics.

Absolutely-not-widespread uses include but are not limited to: St Mystere's robots (if they are sentient, they most likely rely on Hamanier particles stuff. Also the part about altering Dahlia's memories... Well, just take a look at ->), Descole's Detragan, Dimitri's time machine and mind-reading glasses, probably Descole's mechas in general (on the basis that they are likely inspired from Azran technology to some extent)...

The Azran had totally figured out how puzzles worked, to the extent that they even knew how to resurrect the dead and (allegedly, probably on accident) create an entire race of sentient robots. Go figure.

This post contains a lot of Illusory Forest spoilers (not that they're new to be fair, I've been talking about it for a while and I'm happy I finally get to start sharing the translation with you guys).

Puzzle decay/possession affecting living beings, including humans, is a horrifying subject that I want to tread with caution; but I do believe we have enough instances where it seems to be the simplest explanation, to conclude that it is an unavoidable consequence.

So turns out Descole using a hallucinogenic gas of sorts similar to Folsense or Labyrinthia for his disguises could be an interesting way to explain how he can just put on his tricorn and °magic poof° now he's Descole (whereas Don Paolo needs a bit more time to physically remove his disguises).

How dare you plant into my mind the idea that Don Paolo MAY ACTUALLY(?) have some relatively limited(??) shape-shifting ability(???) I hate how I cannot in the present times come up with a better explanation. I prefer the times when I was just aware of the issue and trying to postpone it for later, meekly hoping that future me would be able to find a rational explanation. You have opened my eyes on the fact that I need to get out of my denial phase and face the issue head on. Even if it means throwing my hands in the air and giving up. I tried looking for a different explanation. I really did.

I believe fauna and flora are Just Like That from the start, because animals in the wild are just as weird as the ones that were experimented on, with the sole exceptions being Sherl, who is more in a grey area than completely sticking out of the norm, and Beasly who is. an interesting case to say the least. (an interesting case I have little to zero clues about for the time being. perhaps he's Subject 2 and what you said about Subject 3 actually applies to him instead. perhaps it is something else entirely.)

To conclude with your last few sentences -- if you intend to study the research aspect of science, good luck and have fun with it! (as much fun as you can have that is-- jk don't worry we're having a lot of fun even if 80% of our job is experiments or simulations not working and us crying because we have no idea what went wrong)

In a weird sense, I like to think of the puzzle theory as a way to introduce a simple enough way to go through the "scientific method" for research: you find something weird, you look for an explanation; and while looking for evidence in favour AND against your temporary explanation (*), you try your darn best to avoid that annoying confirmation bias among many other traps your brain will lay against you. The hardest part is to manage to respect Ockham's Razor (since the "simplest explanation requiring the least amount of assumptions" is surprisingly not always the most obvious one at first glance) and impartiality (because of the above-mentioned confirmation bias, notably).

---

(*) It is very important that we also look for evidence that challenges, or even outright contradicts our current hypothesis on how the thing we're studying works. After all, if your hypothesis is "all raven in the world are black," you can't be 100% confident in that unless you check every single raven in the world and make sure that you don't stumble upon a white one! And if you do find a white (or green with pink polka dots) one, instead of looking away and pretending you didn't see anything, you will adapt your hypothesis: from "all raven in the world are black," it will become "most raven in the world are black; we have looked at a thousand ravens so far and found two white ones, therefore the current state of our research leans towards the conclusion that there are 99.98% of black ravens and 0.02% of white ravens in the world."

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lutiaslayton · 4 months

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So uh. Hi, I finally made a decision I probably should have made a long while ago thanks to talking a bit on Discord: for the sake of my sanity I will not be keeping up the weekly schedule after all 😔 Layton's Book Club updates WILL be posted exclusively on Saturdays at the decided time, instead of at any random time in the week, and I will likely make a few heads up when we're on a lucky week during which you'll get an update, but I will not force myself to make it happen every single week. Simply because at least right now, it is physically impossible for me to do so. (Chapter 1 Part 1 of Illusory Forest is going to be the end of me, and not just because I am still questioning if the author was under the influence of some Folsense gas while writing it.)

That being said, I believe this should actually be treated as good news, and not just good news for my personal health. Because, sure, the updates will not come out as often as I had originally planned to. But in the long run, I actually believe that since I no longer plan to force myself to only work on one thing (which has progressively been eating at my sanity on top of that because darn it this chapter is stupid and it just doesn't seem to END, + it'd be nice if I could finally get some content out that is my creation rather than somebody else's), it means that I will actually allow myself to post more diverse Layton stuff in the meantime.

Stuff like the Evan Barde post I made a few days ago, or other helpful-for-the-fandom stuff that isn't translation work, or… even maybe stuff like finally allowing myself to write SLS and draw random stuff again? Or even read other people’s fanfics and comics and AUs and stuff? (ok technically that last one would probably not lead to tumblr content but shush it means I would take time to look at YOUR content for a change)

The list of stuff I'd like to post in the future includes but is not limited to:

A tutorial on how I get my translation stuff done despite the fact that I do not actually speak Japanese. Best case scenario, this might even lead to some brave people among you to start helping me with this monumental task that is translating multiple novels and games from scratch while you're not even fluent in the language you're translating, and this would be a MASSIVE weight off my back. (spoiler alert: while I do use DeepL to check stuff and/or get inspiration, my work is NOT limited to simply copy/pasting sentences into it and then copy/pasting whatever it gives me back)

The Playthrough series! You had all forgotten about it, hadn't you? Yeah, me too.

Lore analysis stuff in general. I have a massive, absolutely insane project ongoing which is basically "Want to find some info about X? Just open that one (1) web page, enter a few tags such as a specific character's name or location, clich the Search button, and get a list of every single known fact which is related to all of your tags which is summarised down to the bare minimum fact, along with the exact source and quote directly taken from the source material."

Puzzle theory stuff. I've talked about it a lot, it'd be cool if I could finally get the stuff sorted and actually provide all the evidence supporting, refining or challenging it in one place. Above-mentioned lore analysis stuff should help with that.

More fancy shitpost such as the ones found in the #lutiasdraws tag. Let me join in on the fun pls it's good for my mental health to get some serotonin out of non-boring stuff. Heck, perhaps I might even do fanart/shitpost about some fanfics/AUs/others I find and enjoy.

That being said, I apologise to everyone who was hyped at the idea of Illusory Forest updating weekly, but I hope you'll still enjoy the stuff I'll be posting here. If not, blacklisting tags is a thing! I tag everything diligently so for example if you're tired of seeing me ramble about stuff (I do that a lot lately, sorry for that 😭), you can just block the #lutiastalks tag. Yes I finally decided to make #lutiasreplies exclusive to actually replying to asks or reblogs, and use #lutiastalks for random news stuff. yay to self-care and cleaning up my house, head, and tumblr blog.

#lutiastalks

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lutiaslayton · 4 months

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So. um.

Evan Barde. Know that guy? The man who died one year prior to Last Specter under very suspicious circumstances, falling off a cliff with Clark being the sole witness and him not seeing anyone else around at the time? The one whose death was quickly ruled out as a suicide by the same guy who then proceeded to alter his will?

The one who, prior to his death, was simultaneously:

- A friend of the Tritons and presumably a good loving dad (yay!)

- AND a very highly hated guy who charged people with insane rent for no known good reason (huh???), among other suspicious decision-making regarding the town that he also made, such as shutting down the factory and depriving many inhabitants of their jobs, making living in Misthallery more and more difficult for many?

Yes. Well.

What if every piece of info we had been given was entirely true, and we were simply missing the big picture?

What if, before Clark... Descole had successfully been manipulating Evan Barde and forcing him to charge insane rent and intentionally make people lose their jobs in order to get them to leave the town entirely before the excavation machines would then start showing up and leveling it?

What if, after an undefined period of time being under Descole and Jakes' manipulating scheme... Evan Barde could no longer take it anymore, and for one reason or another decided one night to leave the manor, making sure that nobody, let alone the men controlling him, saw him leave, and... made the jump all by himself?

Could it have been the guilt? the shame? the will or desperation to stop or at least hinder Descole's plan in some way, no matter the cost? Was he hoping that his sacrifice would, somehow, save his children or the town...? That one shall alas remain a mystery.

What if Evan Barde's death was indeed a major hindrance to Descole's plan, rather than a catalyst allowing it to start unfolding? What if Clark was never meant to be the puppet in the first place, but was taken as a replacement because their old one was no longer an option?

What if, with Clark not being as easy to work with as Evan once was, and with the townspeople evidently not leaving, Descole had to start excavating anyway... and decided to use an old legend about a specter in order to cover it up?

#professor layton #last specter #tw: suicide #professor layton and the last specter #evan barde #pl theory board

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lutiaslayton · 4 months

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happy new year!

Thanks, you too!

Happy new year everyone ^^

#don't mind the fact that I am already drowning in translation work #and crying in despair because I'm not even sure the IF update will be ready for this week-end #and that even if it is there's a dozen coming after that #and I want to catch up on mansion of the deathly mirror too #and I'm also standing here like “so when do I get to sit down and have fun writing my fic instead of fandom community service”#but hey happy new year don't mind me lmao #lutiasreplies #lutiastalks

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lutiaslayton · 4 months

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Hi all, I’m very sorry for the late notice (I was trying to push through until the end against the odds), but I won’t be able to get today’s update for Layton’s Book Club done in time 😔 I tried my best, but with the Christmas family gatherings (and eating ten times more than I am used to), the moving around multiple places (I get carsick so I can’t work during travels), the running some more simulations for my lab (I know my PhD is done but we just might be on the brink of a breakthrough), my favourite laptop needing repairs (it is now finally back home and I can finally draw again!), and the flu I got for two days (I’m better now), I unfortunately wasn’t able to make it.

When past me said that I had the entire first chapter as buffer and that it would amount to at least six weeks worth of updates… Well, that is technically true, but also that is only true if you want to consider the primary DeepL-only translation with the bare minimum of editing. What I realised upon giving it a closer look was that a lot of sentences are a bit hard to analyse and interpret correctly, at the very least during the scene which was supposed to be posted today. This first scene in particular is already extremely fast-paced and confusing as it is due to the sheer amount of action happening in it, so for this update more than for any other, translation accuracy really needs to be top notch. and the issue is that since I still do not speak Japanese, top notch 9/10 accurate translations take forever to make because I have to verify every word one by one.

The entire point of this second translation I am making is to have one that is better than the currently-existing Google Docs one on all aspects, mainly reliability and reading enjoyment (as much as I can make it since my own writing style is miles away from the Layton’s Book Club narration style). It would be hypocritical if my translation were just as half-baked as this first one from years ago, even if it would be of just barely higher quality thanks solely to DeepL being superior to how Google Translate was ten years ago.

So… If you want, you can read the first DeepL-with-minimalistic-editing translation directly on my transcription website in the meantime. And if you are even more impatient/curious, you can read here the Google Docs translation which was made by someone else years ago, and… really is lacking in a lot of important moments. But for Layton’s Book Club, in the end I decided to go for quality over quantity. And also this extra week will hopefully allow me to breathe a bit :')

---

PS: The translation you can read in black text on my transcription website is not actually meant to be enjoyable to read, it is rather meant to be as accurate and close to the original as possible (including the order of words, which is notably why they are so weird to read). Green text shows the sentences that DeepL spat out when I copy-pasted the Japanese version and which past me barely edited in order to make them sound like actual English, but their accuracy is not ascertained.

#lutiastalks #layton's book club

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lutiaslayton · 4 months

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Somewhere in this world lies the Book of Fate. This book knows the destiny of all humans. Whoever has it in hand will rule the world… Past, and future.

“It may be hard to believe, indeed. But if it were true, what would you do? If such a book really existed, anyone could control the fate of humanity as a whole.”

(*) Option 4 was too long for the character limit so let me write it in full here:

“Write an epic about the dramatic downfall of Targent, taking inspiration from the Silmarillion, the Iliad, and the Azran tales of the Great Riders of the Sky, adorned with endless twists and turns, then finally concluding the story with a five act tragedy sprinkled with music and pyrotechnics so he can then watch it weekly at his favourite opera house.”

#professor layton #illusory forest #professor layton and the illusory forest #jean descole #azran legacy spoilers

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lutiaslayton · 4 months

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Professor Layton and the Illusory Forest

ＰＡＲＴ　０１

〚ＦＩＲＳＴ〛〚ＰＲＥＶ〛〚ＮＥＸＴ〛

Disclaimer: This is a fan-translation for the Japan-exclusive novel Professor Layton and the Illusory Forest. The original novel was written by Kei Yanagihara under the supervision of Akihiro Hino, and belongs to Level-5.

This translation only aims to be a pleasant read for non-Japanese fans, nothing more: I made a few deliberate changes while translating in order to get the writing style closer to what is usually found in English fanfictions, as the Japanese storytelling can sometimes be different than what we are used to.

Somewhere in this world lies the Book of Fate.

This book knows the destiny of all humans.

Whoever has it in hand will rule the world… Past, and future.

Surpassing time and space, one could control everything.

And yet, if someone acquires it… The world will slowly fall to ruin.

The heavens will judge those who would attempt to lay their hands on it despite these warnings.

Chapter 1: A Wedding Under Attack

“The ‘Book of Fate’… Hmm.”

The glowing light of a fireplace illuminates the profile of a man engulfed in darkness.

This man is wearing a mask. The cloak on his shoulders is rather gaudy, and whenever the flames flicker, they make him look like some sort of clown. Despite this, his attire looks strangely fitting, when placed within the setting of an old English study.

His old butler humbly clears his throat, urging him to continue with an encouraging look.

The masked man speaks quietly. “At the west end of England lies Neverlace, a land inhabited by curious forest people.”

“Neverlace, you say?” the butler repeats in a whisper.

The man nods. “Legend has it that there is a forest haunted by strange phenomena within Neverlace, and that those who step foot in it will never come back. As if they were possessed by it.”

The butler bows his head lightly. “The people of England have all been familiar with forests from an early age, and have known to both admire and fear them. This is the kind of story that everyone loves to hear.”

From behind his mask, the man gives a mischievous wink.

“Oh, but there is more to it. Hidden in that forest is the Book of Fate… A book which knows the fate of all of humanity.”

The butler shakes his head sadly.

“I do believe that this haunted forest really exists. But a book that knows the future, now…? You should not be surprised that I find this tale quite dubious.”

The masked man says: “It may be hard to believe, indeed. But if it were true, what would you do? If such a book really existed, anyone could control the fate of humanity as a whole.”

The butler straightens his back and retorts with dignity:

“With all due respect, I believe that such a thing should only be used in the name of the divine, master.”

The masked man, named Descole, replies with a chuckle:

“This is precisely why I must have this book. No matter what it takes.”

　⇚　　　　　　　⇛

#layton's book club #jean descole #professor layton raymond #illusory forest #professor layton and the illusory forest #illusory forest novel #translation

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lutiaslayton · 4 months

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See you this Saturday for the beginning of Professor Layton and the Illusory Forest!

There it is my friends! Democracy has spoken, and thus Layton's Book Club will from now on update on Saturdays at 19:00 (7pm) UTC!

The prologue of Illusory Forest will therefore be posted in two days. In the meantime, have a little appetiser!

And what's more, the first few pages of the novel actually contain official character designs for three brand new characters!

(The following images are digital scans kindly provided by Shinjinotikari17)

[Hershel Layton] An archaeology professor at Gressenheller College.

[Luke Triton] An 11-year-old young boy. He admires professor Layton.

(Level-5 how could you do him so dirty you can't have that be his intro he deserves so much better than that???)

[Emmy Altava] Professor Layton's official assistant. Photography is her hobby.

[Inspector Clamp Grosky] Member of Scotland Yard. A hot-blooded police detective endowed with miraculous physical prowess.

幻影の森の中にある And now, in the heart of the forest of illusions...

[Aston Bloom] A wealthy youth living in the village of “Neverlace.”

(For the record, feel free to have all the headcanons you want, but he is not related to Leonard Bloom. Leonard Bloom's Japanese name is actually ロナード・ブルーマイル -- so his last name is not ブルーム like Aston, and his Japanese name actually reads as something along the lines of "Ronaldo Bluemile", with the L's and R's being interchangeable.)

[Sania Cornell] A beautiful woman who fell into a coma due to an accident which occurred one year ago.

[Village Mayor] The Village mayor of “Neverlace.” He will entrust Layton with the puzzle of a cursed dial.

(Imagine not even giving that guy an actual name 😭)

[Jean Descole] An unidentified masked scientist.

[Index] Chapter 1: A Wedding Under Attack Chapter 2: The Forest of Neverlace Chapter 3: A Residence Wrapped in Mystery Chapter 4: The Cursed Village Chapter 5: The Sleeping Bride Chapter 6: The Forbidden Grove Chapter 7: The Mystery of the “Ancient Tree” Last Chapter: The Fate of the Forest Prince Epilogue

Puzzle Production:　Shin Onodera Puzzle Illustrations:　Ritsuro Takamura Main Illustrations:　Takuzō Nagano (Level 5 Inc.) Binding:　Hitoshi Shirayama & Bay Bridge Studio

And that's it for today! Are you guys hyped? In either case, I hope you will enjoy the ride. Be ready for more than 300 pages of a brand new official Layton story!

And now that said Saturday has passed, you can now start reading!

» Click here to start!

#professor layton #layton's book club #professor layton and the illusory forest #illusory forest #aston bloom #sania cornell

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lutiaslayton · 4 months

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Guys, we have a problem. We have a tie and the poll ends in hardly more than twelve hours. Please vote if you haven't already and break that tie if you can! I don't want to have to flip a coin :(

About Layton's Book Club and Time Zones (Time slot)

Hello again! I have been thinking during the past few months, and I have been getting the feeling that perhaps Mondays at 6pm CET (5pm UTC) was not the most ideal time for at least some of you. I was not about to randomly change the dates before now, but since we are just finished with one novel and about to start translating another, now might be the best time to let democracy speak and decide on when the majority would like to read their weekly dose of Layton content!

The following poll is for deciding your preferred time for reading the chapters, but the options are exclusively in UTC. Before voting, please define the two-hour slot which best fits your preference, then convert it into UTC time through a converter such as this one in order to vote!

Tumblr unfortunately doesn't let us use two polls in the same post, so a different post exists for deciding on which day you would prefer to have your updates.

>> Link to the poll for the week day here!

As a reminder, Layton's Book Club is a weekly "series" of sorts in which I make an English fan-translation of Japan-exclusive Professor Layton stories. The novel that will be translated starting from next week (give or take the time needed to complete this poll and the following) is Professor Layton and the Illusory Forest, which is a 100% official story whose plot was supervised by Akihiro Hino himself! ...as well as a wild AF ride, I can tell you. Y'all are not ready (and I will have to pinky swear multiple times that no, I am not making it up, I promise all I'm doing is translating to English the real book).

#layton's book club

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