Sly4 AU Where Penelope Is Revealed To Be A Robot.

Two underrated interactions between Murray and Sly, first from 2:

Sly: “You know how much I love messing with Carmelita.”

Murray: “Yeah…it’s weird.”

And in 3:

Sly: “-pry off that mask of Dark Earth and maybe we’ll get back the Carmelita we all know and love.”

Murray: “I do not love her!”

Usually it’s Sly sneaking some good natured jabs at his friends because he’s a sarcastic little shit, but those two moments are a rare glimpse at Murray’s perspective on Sly’s whole fucked up dynamic with Inspector Fox.

Firstly, that he thinks Sly’s a fucking weirdo about the whole thing, and secondly that it is very important for him that Sly knows that he’s the only one in the group who has this fucking hang up about Carmelita and to leave Murray the fuck out of it. 

Murray is usually all about wanting Sly to think he’s cool cause he looks up to him, but those two times are a rare time of him just looking at his good friend Sly and going “dude what the hell is up with you…” because even a life long friendship is not immune to those moments where you just have to look at your friend and wonder just what the fuck is going on in their head…and deciding that you would really rather not dig that up.

Sly: I love being in STEM (shenanigans, tomfoolery, escapades, and mischief)

Bentley facing Jean Bison in Sly 2: (nervously trying to avoid confrontation) sorry i wasn’t trying to escape, i just dropped my glasses,  pleasedon’tkillme

Bentley facing Muggshot in Sly 3: YOU’RE A SEWAGE-EATING MEATHEAD AND YOUR MOTHER WAS A TUB OF JUNK!  FIGHT ME! YOU COWARD!!!!!!

Thieves In Time Redux Meme #8

We all know where we want her to go...

One path leads to an epic redemption quest.

The other... Well, the less we say about that, the better.

One of my favorite moments in Sly 2 is the first time you go over the Contessa’s bridge.

You’re Bentley, completely alone. You have to make it to the first mission where Bentley eavesdrops on the Contessa. You struggle through the terrifying area outside the safehouse, which is swarming with guards, and then….

And then you get to an empty bridge. 

The only way to get to the mission is by going over this completely empty bridge.

  There are no guards. Those statues are unsettling, but everything here looks unsettling, so it’s fine. You feel like you’re finally in the clear. 

So you start carefully walking across the bridge…. and THEN

HOLY SHIT THEY cOME TO LIFE????? RUN!

A TANK??? THERE’S A TANK TOO??? DON’T RUN THAT WAY

RUN UP THE RAMP WAIT THERE’S FLOOR-SPIKES???? AVOID THE FLOOR SPIKES

A big part of why I like Jailbreak is because the level hub is designed to give you these fun moments of “cartoon horror” that make you really get what the little characters are feeling. 

Bentley’s First Mission (Disco Demolitions) Appreciation Post

Sly: How’re you holding up out there in the field?

Bentley (obviously not fine voice): Fine, fine…I’m just fine.

One of my favorite Sly 2 missions is Disco Demoltions, because it’s at once adorable and just so funny. And BEAUTIFUL just look at the pretty colors and all the neat design details, like how the spiral in the middle of the dance floor is designed to look like Dmitri’s tail! But a Sly Cooper Trilogy level being Really Pretty is sorta just…that’s just how Sly Cooper Trilogy levels be

This mission is the first time you ever play as Bentley. But if you’re an 8-year-old who’s nervous about playing as Bentley–it’s his first real solo mission, so Bentley is also very nervous about playing as Bentley!

It takes place in a building Specifically Designed to make Bentley uncomfortable. If someone asked you “where would a nerdy awkward turtle feel like he Really Does Not Belong” the correct answer would be “the dance floor of a funky disco.” Like… imagine how much this mission’s tone would Not Work if it took place anywhere else…it wouldn’t be hilariously anxious/awkward if you were bombing Dmitri’s wine cellar. It HAS to be a disco dance floor 

Your goal is to bomb the pillars and shake the disco ball loose. But this nightclub isn’t guarded by the little guards, but by the Giant Scary Flashlight Guards™– who tiny Bentley stands no chance against in a fight. And because there’s basically nowhere to run you have to sleep-dart them before they catch you or you’re pretty much dead.

But if you miss a sleep-dart shot/misplace a bomb, the Giant Scary Guard™ will spot you… so the mission is always one tiny mistake away from disaster. If you have bad aim/have never done it before (like if you’re a kid playing the game for the first time) a Giant Scary Guard™ WILL catch you and you will have to frantically RUN and BOMB and RUN!!! It’s a series of nerve-wracking explosions and “I GOtta hURRY and BOMb him BEFORE HE WAKES UP” as Bentley’s gameplay animation looks utterly anxious and terrified….

But

But all the while that funky disco music is playing

So its like.

BLAM! BOMB EXPLOSION! (Guard shoots you, Bentley screams) *funky nightclub music goes ‘’Ooh-OOOOOOOOOOH”*

Inner Conflict Prompts

Have a character wrestle with guilt over a past mistake.

Introduce a scenario where a character must choose between two equally important things.

Show a character struggling with their own identity or sense of self.

Have a character battle their own fears or phobias.

Introduce a moral dilemma that challenges the character’s values.

Show a character torn between loyalty to their friends and their personal ambitions.

Reveal a character’s internal struggle with jealousy or envy.

Have a character grapple with feelings of inadequacy or imposter syndrome.

Show a character dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic event.

Have a character question their own sanity or reality.

Penelope in a Black Baron-ish outfit

Sly stuff

I find it a bit hard to believe that after 11 years of Thieves In Time, and combing through several rewrites...

My rewrite is somehow the only one that has Penelope fighting Le Paradox at the very end.

Why does she end up fighting him? Simple. She feels it's something she has to do as part of her redemption quest. If she can't do it all by herself, her attempt to atone won't count.

After all, this is her mess. She needs to be the one who finishes cleaning it up. What better way is there than taking Le Paradox down?

This, of course, leads to the final lesson she needs to learn: Atoning for her crimes doesn't mean she has to try to fix everything all by herself. She is allowed to ask for help.