🧢

Apparently in the Japanese version of Unwound/Lost Future it's revealed to be one of Luke's favorite foods! Poor sweet Flora went out of her way pouring her heart into making something she knew Luke would like and the whole time Luke was being rude when she brought it up.

Flora: "Now, this should cheer you up. We can have cucumber sandwiches, Luke's favorite."

Puzzle 28 from Unwound/Lost Future is a pretty cool concept. Putting together the slot-machine gun and the cutscene afterwards was so very thrilling. Professor Layton looked like an action hero when he was defending against the Family!

The shared reactions of Luke and Clive as Professor Layton was thinking about building the slot-machine gun is a great inclusion. Clive is literally looking in Professor Layton's thoughts if you notice the direction his eyes are in and Luke is wondering what the professor is thinking about.

If you look closely at the thought bubble there's smaller drawings inside like there's the ones on the top left corner of Professor Layton probably choosing between Future Luke or Luke to help. There's one of the bottom that has Professor Layton shooting at the Family goons and as he does it he's thinking about a cup of tea. The rest is of how the slot-machine gun works.

I just noticed that Luke's promo art is mirrored to Clive's art from Unwound/Lost Future. There are little differences like Luke's hand positions with one on his chin and the other being in a fist.

And that Luke here with his thinking expression is different from how he usually does it. Before Luke did his finger gun thing with his chin in the middle but now it seems he is trying to not do it. I wonder if Luke is trying to figure himself out in nwos by emulating Clive in a way. I can't get over how much Luke's nwos design takes from Clive's.

The statue that is in Future London seems to be connected to both Luke and Clive as both see something to it. It's probably more than likely that Clive meant the statue to represent how he thought of Professor Layton and himself. Professor Layton did save him 10 years ago when he was still a child. Clive probably dedicated this to that important moment.

I think that the story of the author and little boy is metaphorical and not an actual event. The boy is most likely a metaphorical version of Clive as a young child while the author is the metaphorical version of Professor Layton.

Luke sees this as a representation of his and Professor Layton's friendship. Luke had a couple of times pointed out how this statue reminded him of himself and Professor Layton. I think that Luke grew an attachment to this statue because of what he thought it meant to him. The story of the "author and the little boy" shows how close these two were during the time the little boy was sick.

The author stayed by the boys side and the two's relationship grew until one day the boy passed away. The part of the boy passing even though sad the bond between him and the author is everlasting. Luke saw himself within the young boy as he was going to be separated from Professor Layton just as the boy was from the author.

I think the only time where therapy ALONE could have been very impactful for Clive is right after his parents died and if it was something he kept doing for a long time. It could have been the way for Clive to stop the downward spiral before it happened and a way to learn to channel his anger and grief towards something less destructive towards himself or others.

But by the time Constance is dead, he's doing journalism as a part of his revenge plan, and has a crap ton of money? Oh, no. A therapist would not be able to reach him. Clive would have to tell the therapist directly about his revenge plan in order for them to truly understand what's going on with him psychologically, and he's never gonna risk that. I think at this point he would view therapy as a place for hollow platitudes that can never be the "real" answer to his problems. Is this actually true? No, but Clive's at the stage with his mental illness where he's rejecting anything that could be marginally helpful for whatever reason he can come up with.

Even after the events of Unwound Future when Clive has recognized how dangerous of a spiral he was living in, I still don't think therapy would be that impactful, especially without any other resources. I think his specific, severe crimes would make it difficult for a therapist to approach him at all, let alone in an unbiased, kind manner. I think this time around, Clive would at least try to engage with a therapist, but he'd always tell himself that these medical professionals don't really "know" him. Clive always needs someone to talk to more for the emotional connection rather than the intellectual discussion. Clive was ultimately saved because of great acts of compassion twice, after all. At some point, a therapist would probably just start telling him things that he's already figured out. I think Clive is the type to who, on an intellectual level, understands his mistakes and what led him there, but is frustrated at his inability to unlearn negative thought patterns even after figuring them out.

That is not to say that Clive is incapable of being a better person or getting a better handle on his demons (canon implies otherwise), it's just that he needs a LOT of support that his current situation in prison can't give him. What I think would be far more impactful for him is a support system, a newfound sense of purpose, a lot of compassion, and generally positive things in his life that can actually give an alternative to the bad, but that's only if he's given the chance. The chance to practice being good again.

I like to imagine that even a more "well-adjusted" Clive still has plenty of bad days/bad moments. He would feel kinda lobotomized to me if that wasn't the case, but I imagine that time, practice, and resources would give him the tools to not lean into those extremely self-destructive tendencies. Maybe after a lot of time has passed, therapy could wrap back around to being helpful as a way to stay on top of things.