Curate, connect, and discover
Penelope Mouse - Blog Posts
Thieves In Time Redux Super Duper Abridged
In which our heroine, Penelope, gets roped into a time travelling journey.
Paris Tutorial: How did I wind up in this mess?
Episode 1: I'm not feeling up to this...
Episode 2: What's truly important to me?
Episode 3: I've been on the wrong side this whole time!
Episode 4: Time to start being a hero again!
Episode 5: Now comes the part where I pull my weight...
Episode 6: And now the part where I redeem myself!
Thieves In Time Redux Meme #2
For context, this is one of Penelope's actions during Something's Fishy. Episode 1. It's during a newly added RC Car segment.
For more context, this "gate" is something she could have opened in seconds. It's something she designed herself.
And these "higher expectations" might make future snooping sessions a bit harder. Whoops. And even worse, she comes out of this one empty-handed.
But at least her boyfriend and honorary older brother like her better now?
Thieves In Time Redux Mission Recaps
Here's what happens in each mission:
Paris Tutorial Intro: Our four heroes break into a museum to steal a dagger so they can travel through-- wait, hold up. Four?!
Sly Cooper, The Thief: A museum break-in goes almost according to plan.
Bentley, The Brains: A turtle and mouse run through a sewer system, then get separated.
Penelope, The Wild Card: A mouse feels overprotected and underestimated as she reunites with her other half.
Murray, The Brawn: A hippo cleans house with some weak rat guards.
Carmelita, The Ex-Girlfriend: One secret-keeper escapes suspicion by the skin of their teeth while another gets caught in the act.
Episode 1 Intro: The van goes on its maiden voyage as Penelope reconsiders her life choices.
Photo Op: Our heroes settle in while Sly does recon work.
Breakout: Sly breaks his first ancestor out of prison.
Sushi House Startup: Penelope does background research while Rioichi reclaims his sushi restauraunt.
Something's Fishy: A turtle, hippo, and mouse go fishing in a not-so-secret fishing hole.
Pretty In Pinker: Murray embraces his feminine side while Penelope does more background work.
Tiger Tail: Penelope convinces Bentley to take her place so she can go snooping around elsewhere.
Spiked Sushi: Rioichi spikes his sushi while Penelope does even more background work.
Altitude Sickness: Our heroes deal with El Jefe. Also, Penelope tries to go rogue.
Episode 2 Intro: A mouse gets parented as the team ventures off west.
Under Arrest: Sly gets himself arrested to save another of his ancestors.
Jailhouse Blues: Sly tries to break Tennessee out of prison. Meanwhile, Penelope re-examines her priorities.
Cooper For Hire: Scorpions attack a turtle. Tennessee reclaims his cane from Toothpick.
Saloon Bug: Lots of guards see double while Penelope snoops around in a saloon's air vents.
Blind Date: Penelope stays behind while everyone else tries to save a captured Carmelita.
Jail Break: Penelope, Carmelita, and Tennessee try to break the boys out of Toothpick's jail. At the same time, Penelope sees a dark future.
Grand Key Larceny: Murray, Sly, Carmelita, and Penelope compete to win keys to free the Cooper Van from its prison.
OP: Gold Digger: Our heroes reclaim their van, steal some gold, then take Toothpick down.
Episode 3 Intro: Our heroes get stranded in prehistory. A hot-headed fox storms off on her own.
Stone Age Reconnaissance: Sly scours a prehistoric ice age for missing time machine parts.
Unexpected Ties: Sly finds an ancestor in a cave wolf.
Getting Stronger: Bob gets training in, then someone else falls ill. Spoiler alert: It's Penelope who gets sick.
Going Up: A benched Murray searches for healing herbs while Bob scales a mountain.
Starving Starving Hippo: Murray searches for more healing herbs while reclaiming time machine parts from penguins.
Ice Ice Bentley: Bentley goes searching for healing herbs while tagging The Grizz.
Duty Calls: Sly chases The Grizz, then runs into a familiar fox… Meanwhile, Penelope sees the error of her ways.
OP: Jurassic Thievery: The Grizz gets his tail handed to him by a hippo and a newly reformed mouse.
Episode 4 Intro: Penelope treads familiar ground while evading suspicion.
Shopping Spree: Sly goes material hunting.
Juggling Act: Sly releases another ancestor from his prison.
Cane Swipe: Sly reclaims Sir Galleth's cane.
Eye In The Sky: Sir Galleth strikes down some evil-eyed blimps.
Mechanical Menace: A lady slays a mechanical dragon for a knight. Meanwhile, Sly gets relationship advice.
Short Supply: Our heroes systematically shut down some systems of the Black Knight.
Untitled SSH: Penelope's kidnappers are identified at last.
Hard Target: Sly engages in target practice, but trouble arises afterwards…
Princess Out Of Distress, Part 1: A somewhat distressed princess escapes from a tower.
Princess Out Of Distress, Part 2: A princess and her knight in a shining wheelchair defeat a robotic impostor. Confessions are made.
OP: Frog Trap: Sir Raleigh gets royally clapped by a reformed traitor and her blissfully ignorant friends.
Episode 5 Intro: A scorching hot desert does nothing to douse a mouse's rising spirits.
Lost And Found: Sly searches around for yet another ancestor.
Open Sesame: Sly pays a price with some priceless gems.
Rug Rats: Salim finds and frees the first of his friends.
Up In Smoke: A turtle and mouse double team some air defenses.
Copy Cats: A raccoon, a hippo, and a mouse get trapped in a cave.
Heavy Metal Meltdown: Miss Decibel gets a taste of modern music… and hates it.
???????????: Penelope finally starts to feel like she belongs in a real family.
All Rolled Up: A terrible secret is exposed. An elephant is also trounced by a mouse and her friends.
Episode 6 Intro: The boys make a deal with the traitor in their ranks.
The Final Plan: Penelope nearly cracks under the pressure while preparing for what may be her final mission.
Deja Vu All Over Again, Part 1: Penelope works to redeem herself for real.
Deja Vu All Over Again, Part 2: Le Paradox's plot finally meets its end.
Epilogue: Everything is wrapped up. Our heroes prepare for a new adventure in the present day.
Here's what it should have looked like...
It's the prologue in a nutshell.
On top of this, her blueprints for said blimp also get stolen.
Just a meme I made for my Thieves In Time rewrite. It's on DeviantArt.
Just a meme I made for my Thieves In Time rewrite. It's on DeviantArt.
Extremely Intelligent RC expert, Ace Pilot, Buff Fist-Fighter & very flirty mouse, Penelope, hanging out with one of her fans~! . Yet another for the cartoon crushes series! Always adored this girl in Sly 3 & need to write an essay on how they dropped the ball with her in Sly 4
But who should the villain responsible be? Sir Raleigh, of course. He escapes from prison, kidnaps our heroine, and has her impersonated as part of a revenge plot.
How does he know to target her? Was he hired by someone? We don't find out until later...
And the impostor herself... She can get under Penelope's skin, taunting her every time they meet. She's holding that history of betrayal over the real one's head. And if any of the boys are around, she can get very crafty with her words without revealing a thing, amplifying our heroine's guilt.
With that, we'd have both a villainous Robo-Penelope and a heroic Penelope at the same time; the latter of whom now wants to redeem herself.
Let's also have our heroine engage in increasingly reckless behavior, especially after her reveal of betrayal. She'll think that risking her life is the only way to atone for her treachery. Don't worry; she won't actually wind up dead.
Forgot to mention. For this to work, Penelope would definitely need to have second thoughts either during blimp development or during her confinement as a kidnapping victim.
I want to believe Penelope was kidnapped and impersonated. She still designed the blimp. Her impostor (an evil robot) did everything else. Even her motive was fabricated.
Here's something that could happen in Sly 5.
When the boys (Sly, Bentley, and Murray) eventually find out and take her back, she's going to be a guilt-ridden mess hell-bent on destroying her impostor and her creator for breaking Bentley's heart and making everyone hate her, with several measures of self-loathing for nearly doing the same thing herself.
The reunion scene would need to happen early in the episode in which this story takes place, during the second mission, and no later. That way, the player can get used to her being fully playable for the first time ever before the boss fight.
All three boys, while elated to have Penelope back, will quickly notice that something is seriously wrong with her. They think her impostor did everything, including designing the blimp. When they ask her what's wrong, she refuses to elaborate.
Bentley is especially concerned, but incredibly proud of his reinstated girlfriend for her enduring loyalty.
Cue Penelope pulling her weight several times over during her return episode and defeating her impostor, only to be consumed by all the guilt and confess to none other than Bentley about her treachery by the end. The only thing she doesn't reveal is her motive, saying it doesn't matter because what she did was wrong.
And because I love a good, happy ending, she will be forgiven. As for Sly and Murray's reactions? I'll leave that for you to decide. Would Sly drive himself crazy over not knowing her motive? I think he might.
I realize she will need a very sympathetic motive for this idea to work.
Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time Redux
Here's a super abridged recap of my rewrite of Thieves In Time...
Prologue: Penelope is revealed to still be behind the events of the game. She nearly gets kidnapped, foolishly tells Bentley about it in a panic, then gets roped into joining Sly, Bentley, and Murray for the whole game. She enters the game keeping a dark secret of betrayal.
Paris Tutorial: Joins Bentley in the sewers. They get separated, she gets her own segment. She saves his skin as they reunite.
Turning Japanese: Does her tasks to avoid looking sus. Tries to go rogue during Altitude Sickness. Runs into Sly and El Jefe's duel, then decides to help Sly. Also gets scolded for running off. Her secret is safe.
Go West, Young Raccoon: Manages to save Bentley's skin twice; once during Cooper For Hire, and again during Jail Break. Also gets to see Carmelita tearing Sly a new one, making her see a dark future for her and Bentley. Secret is still safe.
Clan Of The Cave Raccoon: Gets very sick, sees the error of her ways. Sees Sly and Carmelita not getting along, doesn't want the same thing for her and Bentley. Resolves to become a team player. Secret is still safe.
Of Frogs And Mechs: Sir Raleigh is revealed to be behind Penelope's botched kidnapping. She also has a robotic impostor. His men kidnap her. She mostly frees herself, and she gets to fight her impostor and Raleigh. She also gets closer to Bentley. Secret is still safe.
40 Thieves: Spends the whole episode pulling her weight and then some. Le Paradox reveals her secret of betrayal during All Rolled Up just when she's starting to feel like a true member of the team again. She refuses to rejoin the skunk. Her secret is out.
Paris Epilogue: Leads the raid on Le Paradox's blimp, then starts the final boss fight. Nearly loses before the rest of the playable cast comes in to help. Gives a speech on what she learned about friendship and takes Le Paradox down.
Aftermath: Tries to leave the Cooper Gang out of guilt, only to be forgiven. The game ends with her still on their roster. She and Bentley are also engaged.
Let's all just pretend this is what actually happened instead of the hot mess that was vanilla Thieves In Time.
Feel free to make as much fanart for this project as you want. I'm no artist; just a writer with big ideas.
sanzaru better have a doggone good reason to completely murderize Penelope’s entire personality like that, omg it was awful
come on guys, she deserved better than that
The Case For Morph Wrenches
I know boxing/swordfighting is a popular choice for Penelope's potential moveset, but... I want to go in a different direction with her.
Sly has his cane. Bentley has his wheelchair. Murray can clobber foes into next week with nothing more than his fists. Carmelita has her shock pistol.
We can't have two fist fighters on the team. Let's do something fun for our favorite mouse girl. She's a genius, right? Let's capitalize on that aspect...
What if Penelope dual-wielded a pair of morphing wrenches that can turn into, say, a giant hammer or a shield?
With the wrenches, she can quite easily defend herself and break stuff.
With the hammer, she could knock out guards. It'd be slow, but effective. And obviously noisy.
With the shield... well, that's obvious enough.
I even want her to inherit Bentley's old pickpocketing magnet.
If she ever does come back to the side of good, I want her classified as The Wild Card.
And if any enemies even think about looking at Bentley wrong... let's just say they'll have an extremely rabid mouse up their ass with an arsenal of weaponry at her command.
The possibilities are endless. Think about it.
I want to believe Penelope was kidnapped and impersonated. She still designed the blimp. Her impostor (an evil robot) did everything else. Even her motive was fabricated.
Here's something that could happen in Sly 5.
When the boys (Sly, Bentley, and Murray) eventually find out and take her back, she's going to be a guilt-ridden mess hell-bent on destroying her impostor and her creator for breaking Bentley's heart and making everyone hate her, with several measures of self-loathing for nearly doing the same thing herself.
The reunion scene would need to happen early in the episode in which this story takes place, during the second mission, and no later. That way, the player can get used to her being fully playable for the first time ever before the boss fight.
All three boys, while elated to have Penelope back, will quickly notice that something is seriously wrong with her. They think her impostor did everything, including designing the blimp. When they ask her what's wrong, she refuses to elaborate.
Bentley is especially concerned, but incredibly proud of his reinstated girlfriend for her enduring loyalty.
Cue Penelope pulling her weight several times over during her return episode and defeating her impostor, only to be consumed by all the guilt and confess to none other than Bentley about her treachery by the end. The only thing she doesn't reveal is her motive, saying it doesn't matter because what she did was wrong.
And because I love a good, happy ending, she will be forgiven. She's already spent the entire episode proving herself in spades. As for Sly and Murray's reactions? I'll leave that for you to decide. Would Sly drive himself crazy over not knowing her motive? I think he might.
I realize she will need a very sympathetic motive for this idea to work.
I haven’t used pencil crayons in so long. Drew Penelope, just cuz her redesign was really cute, even with all the shit that happened.
“I hate hate haaaate Penelope’s TiT look but honestly the one image we get of her in the prologue with her OG outfit in that style is super cute. Though it just makes me even more annoyed that they changed it.“
Confessed by: Anonymous
Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time Redux by nikkikins
What a storytelling trainwreck Thieves In Time was... Here. I fixed it for ya. This a Thieves In Time rewrite.
Let’s keep the “Penelope betrays the gang” angle, but rope her into the adventure and have her learn a lesson or two about friendship. She’ll start off wanting no part of the journey, then grow to like Sly, Bentley, and Murray all over again, eventually seeing the error of her ways.
And also have her narrate. Yes, I know that’s a bold move, but ask yourself this. Would this story work if Sly narrated? Didn’t think so.
Now, this story doesn’t include her motive. Nor any dialogue. That part is left up to the reader.
Penelope will spend most of this story keeping quiet about her treachery, only for everything to be revealed at the end of Episode 5. By then, she will have returned to being on the right side for real.
She only gets as far as designing the blimp in this story.
One last thing... Toad Town from Paper Mario: The Origami King not only slaps, but its musical progression works perfectly with this story. Start with Musée Champignon, then Toad Town Ghost Town, and work your way up to Toad Town’s final form.
Spoiler alert: As the music progresses to its final form, Penelope will become more heroic.
Here’s your order:
Musée Champignon (Prologue & Paris Tutorial)
Toad Town Ghost Town (Turning Japanese)
Toad Town Red Streamer Removal (Go West, Young Raccoon)
Toad Town Blue Streamer Removal (Clan Of The Cave Raccoon)
Toad Town Yellow Streamer Removal (Of Frogs And Mechs)
Toad Town Purple Streamer Removal (40 Thieves)
Toad Town Green Streamer Removal (Paris Epilogue)
Yes, you read that correctly. Episode 4 has a new villain. I’ll give you one good guess who they might be.
“You’re a heck of a woman!”
“I know. That’s what it says on my homepage.”
Thinking about Penelope
Sanzaru looked at the silly one-off joke in Sly 3 where Penelope badly photoshops herself into a sexy femme fatale, and were like….‘what if we did that but For Real’
Whoa, Sly Cooper designs be upon ye. Sly, Penelope and Carmelita, of course. Then Sly and Carm fankids, and Sly's folks!
I've been busy, UwU.
Please imagine with me the potential for The Contessa to make a comeback. Imagine her forcing Penelope into a hypnotic, spice induced state where both her and Bentley’s intelligence and knowledge were stolen/abused for Cyrille Le Paradox’s scheme for time travel. But the only reason The Contessa was on board to work for Cyrille was because she wanted to get back at Bentley. He was the one responsible for ripping Sly, Murray, and Carmelita out of her control. She had some interest in getting back at Sly too, but Bentley was her main target.
If only Thieves in Time was written better. :’( Penelope and Bentley did not deserve what happened… And there were so many cool opportunities WASTED.