This year at MCM in May I am doing a Professor Layton cosplay with my boyfriend, the Wookiee. I have already made his hat, but have not yet started on my outfit.

My original thought was to cosplay Luke Triton, as he is the obvious choice from the Layton world, however I am now having second thoughts and am wondering whether Emmy Altava would be a better choice for me.

Ok, so Luke. He is the constant. I have absolutely no qualms about dressing as a boy, as I would feel more comfortable as a male character due to my body shape (a little on the larger side, size 14). Also I am short, so I could definitely pull it off when standing next to the Wookiee in his massive hat. I have already bought one small part of his outfit - the orange button for the shirt - so I could just continue with this and think nothing of it. I am also in desperate need of a hair cut and this would give me a perfect excuse to trim my locks shorter. I like Luke and Layton. Luke and Layton good. Makes sense. Happy days.

BUT I look like Emmy! Emmy is a fantastic costume for a less-confident girl like me, because, I mean, there is a distinct lack of revealing-ness about the costume. And I already have her hair! My hair is already perfect for Emmy so I don't need to do anything to it! There are less parts to the costume as well. Yellow coat, belt, shirt, bow tie, boots. She is curvy too, like me. And she is always taking pictures, so I could be just a little bit more in character as her. I would adore doing an in-character cosplay.

But there's Luke. If there was someone else in the group willing to go as Luke I would snatch up Emmy in a flash. But you kind of need him. He is the constant, and iconic. The other factor is that Luke carries a bag, Emmy doesn't. So I could carry stuff around as Luke, in my satchel, and not break the look with a plastic bag.

Well, maybe I'm thinking too much into it.

What do you guys reckon?

It's up to you in the end. Luke is (as you said) the constant but it doesn't mean you have to have him. It seems that you would rather cosplay Emmy and personally I think people should go with personal preference with cosplay, it's your time and money going into this so wouldn't you rather cosplay the character you prefer? Also, May expo is large with loads of people. I can't say it's a definite but there's a possibility you may even bump into a Luke.

Also, whichever you chose, I hope to see you around - the Professor Layton series is brilliant

Also, don't let body shape dictate your choice (I'm the same size as you).

Thanks very much! I think the problem is that I would love to go as both the characters, Luke for the fact that I like being a boy, and Emmy because I look a little bit like her (hair etc). I do think that an Emmy costume would be a lot cheaper, as there are less components to it, but Luke is Luke and they are a team. I love both! Haha.

I didn't really want to make it a body shape type thing, as I'm sure there are many discussions about it. It helps that I generally prefer less flashy characters anyway, being very girly isn't really my style

Is your boyfriend likely to wear his Layton cosplay at another event? Then you can chose one for May and do the other if he does want to rewear it?

I'm not sure really! He has a few other costumes that can be re-used as well, a fantastic Snake Plissken one from last Halloween springs to mind, so if he does re-use Layton then it might not be for a while.

If you want to go for Emmy, go for Emmy! It sounds like you want to cosplay her most and a Emmy/Layton duo makes sense even if it isn't as iconic.

It'd be super awesome if you found a Luke and had all three though

Being a massive Emmy fan aside, I think you should go for her. It kind of sounds like you think Luke needs to be there, but I don't think that's really a big deal unless you're doing a skit or something. And after all, Emmy was Layton's original assistant. ;D Plus, not enough people cosplay her!

Yeah, I did ask a friend of mine if he fancied it but he has his heart set on something else this year. I honestly like both, but I think I could pull off the Emmy outfit just a little bit better, plus it will probably cheaper which is a bonus. I'm going to mull it over for a few days and see which I prefer. It may all depend on what I can find in shops anyway

It’s up to you – you are more likely to be recognised as Luke (I had to look up who Emmy is as I have not played the games myself) but if you go as Emmy there is a good chance you will see someone else dressed as Luke that you can pose with for your group photos.

Great username btw

Yes, this is my thought too. I would like to have photos! I think with the Wookiee as Layton people will recognise us a bit more though.

Thinking more about it today, it certainly seems like Emmy is a better choice for me, but, I still want to be Luke too! Perhaps I can convince Chewie to take a city-break with me and book into a hotel for the weekend so we can go to all the days That's unlikely though!

Yup. Still struggling ^^

Aaaand thanks very much! I love the Harlequin mask - Chewie just looked over my shoulder & saw it and now he's getting all excited.