Hang on im not ready

I don't know who, if anyone, this would appeal to, but I got bored and arranged the Targent theme for piano and thought I'd share it here. Sheet music is under the cut.

Descole Reveal Animatic (Professor Layton Azran Legacy)

I love this animatic for so many reasons–the body language is stellar. Sycamore’s little “thinking” pose at 0:11 (;-; the last time we see it ahhh-) and him waving the key around, mocking Layton before switching into Descole in the most dramatic way possible <3. 

I think it’s so interesting how he waits to put his mask on– almost hesitating before ending his time as Sycamore for good. For some reason I also see him waiting to put it on to show Layton that he hadn’t stolen Sycamore’s identity– he has, and has always been Sycamore. He’s telling Layton that Sycamore was the “real” him, and you can feel his smugness as he puts the mask on. 

Also, talking canon here–

THIS. Was the ONLY time Layton didn’t recognize and find him out. It’s so fascinating that this happens only when Descole isn’t wearing a disguise. “Recognize me now?” feels like such a pointed slap in the face for Layton. It’s filled with so many emotions. Smugness? Pride? Bitterness? Like— “You’ve seen through all my other plans, and THIS was where you failed? When I was pretending to be the me that died so that I could become this?" 

 Ahhhhh- This reveal hurts in so many ways because we SEE what Descole was like before his family was killed. He was a competitive, level-headed gentleman who cared about people. He told stupid and elaborate jokes. He looked out for people. He liked exploring and took joy in the company of others. He loved his wife and daughter and filled his life with things other than revenge. 

However, Targent killing his family was the last straw. Targent literally took EVERYTHING from him. His parents. His brother. His Father and mother the second time. His wife and daughter. His discoveries of the city of harmony, the Vault, the eternal garden, and everything else. He had nothing left but to stop them before they took anything else. Because of this, his revenge consumed his life because he didn’t HAVE a life outside of destroying Targent. 

VAs are LaytonGaming123(Layton), Angelbellelc2(ReverseAU!Clive) and Tom's Takes(ReverseAU!Desmond) (discord displynames)

BOOM, animation dump!

The one game where Descole is truly at the heart and the crux of it all, and they couldn't be bothered to give us more of him as a person. This isn't hate against L5 or AL, considering AL is my second favourite game, but there is nothing above criticism and frankly I will never forgive Level 5 for not making the scene where Descole saves Luke into an animated cutscene. I want so badly to see that.

I want a shot of Descole's face where you can see him glance over at Luke with his typical dismissive Descole flavoured expression before the realisation crosses his features. I want to see that dramatic shift where he goes from haughty Descole to terrified Desmond. Possibly see the echoes on his face of how he may have felt and reacted upon discovering his own family. Maybe the scene would give us a close-up of his mask—a glimpse into an eye hole just enough to see the fear enter his eyes, into his very pupils, as he realises Luke is in mortal danger. I want to see the immediate snap in him as without hesitation, not even needing to make a decision about it or weigh the consequences, Descole launches himself at Luke to sweep him out of harm's way. He does this before Layton—Luke's own pseudofather—even processes what's happening.

And I don't want it to stop there. I want to see his reaction afterwards, too. I want to see the look on his face as he processes the fact that he just forfeited his long-sought revenge for the life of a child he claimed to not care about. Is he smiling, in peace with his decision, glad that Luke survived? Is he afraid, gobsmacked by his own actions? Is he angry, blaming Luke for what he has now lost? But there's more, I not only want to see Descole's mental process in this scene, but Luke's as well, especially as he crawls out of Descole's cape, only to realise who saved him. The man he hates so much just saved his life, sacrificing his own (presumably) in the process. I want to see Luke freeze when he understands that Des is mortally wounded. When he sees that he's not getting back up.

I want to see the shift! The character development! The agonising crossroads you come to when you realise that a long-held belief might be flawed! I want to see Luke learn that nobody is truly 100% evil or 100% good, that people who are otherwise terrible are also capable of doing good things. Now your life has been saved by one such person. How the hell do you react? Luke doesn't know! Luke is a kid learning very big, very difficult things, very quickly and traumatically! And I want to see that expressed! I want to see Luke make terrified eye contact with Descole as they both face each other here, a pause of silence as they both reel in this massive mutual personal shock. Maybe that's when Layton will enter, assessing them both, thus beginning the backstory spiel.

Hi!! if you mean for sprites like these:

then i just use the basic lineart pen that can probably be found on any art program. for csp it's the G-pen and my settings look like this:

i set the pen pressure to a lower range just to have more consistency

if you mean for the box art style like this:

then i still use the G-pen for the lineart, but i use the basic default round brush which can again be found on any art program for the shading, for csp i used this:

more in depth tutorial for the box art style below, i guess?

by the way, have you ever looked really closely at official layton art? because...

that's DEFINITELY the default round brush being used to shade here, no question

Layton music.

My observations as someone who listens to the ost endlessly on repeat

I can't say I'm an expert on instruments and how they work and whatever, but I AM a musical fan, and I know about leitmotifs. Here are some things I noticed (mostly UF but also some LS:

Crisis at 0:55 features a part of Layton's theme (the part at 1:20) briefly, which I think is a neat allusion to the fact that the professor is probably trying his hardest to think inbetween all of the other noise of the situation. I read it as the solution still brewing in his mind as the chaos unfolds

The puzzle battle theme briefly features a few notes from this game's puzzle theme at 1:10 (although sped up), which makes sense too because it's at its roots just a puzzle variation really. It's a cute nod that ties both of the themes together pretty nicely while also making it it's own thing.

It's easier to hear when you listen to puzzles reinvented 2 starting at 0:06, because that version is slightly more sped up.

The towering pagoda is basically an altered part of Layton's theme in disguise if you listen very closely, but it's hard for me to pick out specific timestamps with this one, so try to see if you can hear it so I know I'm not crazy. This would make sense from two perspectives:

before the twist: future layton has grown corrupt over the years, and his theme has grown just as distorted as his morals have. The pagoda is his headquarters so it makes sense for it to exude this now evil theme because it's kind of a symbol of future Layton's power.

after the twist: we know dimitri is trying to imitate Layton to some degree to put on a convincing performance and make them believe they are actually in the future. Everything about the pagoda and the entire situation is staged, but because Dimitri obviously isn't the real Layton he can't manage to replicate him EXACTLY, and so the pagoda's theme can't replicate Layton's theme exactly either.

Btw Unwound Future's theme also has a fragment of Layton's theme in it at 0:41 but I won't comment on it because I think it's pretty self-explanatory as to why that is (being that the game about layton, will have Layton's theme in its game theme)

To know that in my life, I’ll never be there