Guess Who Made QR Codes For Penelope’s Suits? Me ^_^

I think I finally understand why people write fanfiction. it’s so aggravating when a piece of media doesn’t engage with its premise - like maybe the implications were too dark, maybe if we followed it to its logical conclusion the main character would be irredeemable, maybe it’s too complicated, maybe it’s too flavourful (weird, horny, unflattering) so we only get a liiiitle bit of it sprinkled on top of an otherwise generic story

whatever the reason, we end up with a diet lite homogenized version of what the initial story promised us. it makes me pace around my house biting at my thumb, going “no…..no it could’ve been better…..I could’ve made it better…..”

One interesting thing I LOVE about the Holland Level in Sly 3:

So I’ve talked before about how every Sly Cooper level is based on the personality of the character who owns it. 

Generally, this means that the level’s color palette will be based on the villain’s color palette! You can see this very clearly in Karin Madan’s concept art for Sly 1:

But then you get to the Holland level. You’re introduced to the Black Baron, whose color palette is obviously BLACK and RED.

So you go into the level expecting to see a lot of black and red. The Contessa was another black-and-red-themed character, and her levels had RED SKIES and BLACK SHADOWS, because that’s how Sly Cooper level design works.

But then…. you don’t see that?

Instead, the level’s color palette full of purple…

 Gold….

And light blue skies.

Because the levels are based on the personalties of the character who owns them! Purple, gold, and blue  aren’t the Black Baron’s colors–but they ARE Penelope’s colors!

Time for Act 2. This covers several missions. Oh, and Penelope is now fully playable. She's seated between Sly and Bentley. I'm giving her those Morph Wrenches I previously talked about. She also has a title: The Wild Card.

With the threat of the Robo-Cooper Gang looming, our heroes agree that solo missions are temporarily off-limits. They will now only go out in pairs or as a group of four... at least until those robots bite the dust.

Most of the gang's missions revolve around shutting down charging stations for the Robo-Cooper Gang.

Penelope is put to work very soon after her reinstatement. While she does pull more than her fair share of weight, it's clear there's something seriously wrong with her. She refuses to elaborate whenever the boys try to ask her.

Bentley is especially concerned, but incredibly proud of his girlfriend for her enduring loyalty. He's fallen in love all over again, doting on her every chance he gets.

Robo-Penelope becomes quite the thorn in our heroes' side, especially Penelope's. The latter sees the former as a very personal enemy, jumping at any chance to take her impostor down. She even manages to save Bentley from the robot's wrath at least once.

As for Sly and Murray...

Sly now feels bad about ditching everyone back at Kaine Island, and has even apologized to Penelope for doing so.

Murray is happy to have his younger sister back. He now refuses to call her anything other than "Sis".

With the Robo-Cooper Gang now severely weakened, our heroes are ready to scrap their impostors.

Final act coming soon.

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.

Penelope and Henriette Cooper Gijinka

First pic: Henriette "One Eye" Cooper

Second pic: Penelope

SLY COOPER ANNIVERSARY ‼️‼️‼️

Thieves In Time Redux: Why Toad Town?

Check this post out for context.

You may be wondering why there's so much music from Paper Mario: The Origami King associated with this project. This was actually a decision I made quite recently.

For now, I'm only talking about Origami King's Toad Town.

I started work on Thieves In Time Redux long before Origami King ever existed. It was just a massive stroke of luck to see OK's Toad Town of all pieces work so well together with the progression of my little story. Or more specifically, a certain mouse girl's evolution into the true hero I know she can become.

Take Toad Town Ghost Town, for instance. It's assigned to Episode 1, the beginning of our heroes' time traveling adventure. Not only is it perfect for Feudal Japan, it's also perfect for the beginning of Penelope's character arc.

Might as well talk about each step in the music's progression. Toad Town - Red Streamer Removal is assigned to Episode 2. Perfect for a wild west town, is it not? Here, Penelope is beginning to understand the consequences of her actions, mainly through what happened to Sly and Carmelita.

My favorite, though, is Toad Town - Blue Streamer Removal. Assigned to Episode 3, that's when Penelope undergoes her change of heart. It happens after she gets placed on bed rest and needs the boys to take care of her.

Then there's the more heroic shift in tone that comes with Toad Town - Yellow Streamer Removal. In which our heroine successfully strikes down her own creations without being discovered as their creator.

Episode 5 gives us Toad Town - Purple Streamer Removal. Penelope's nearing the end of her character arc, and the boys are proud of her. Too bad Le Paradox outs her as his mole at the end of the episode.

Toad Town - Green Streamer Removal gives us the end of her character arc with Episode 6. After her journey across time, Penelope has changed for the better, she's been found out, and she's willing to take responsibility for what she's done.

How in the heck did freaking Toad Town manage to retell my entire fanfic so perfectly? Even I have no clue... But I'm so glad it turned out that way.

Long story short, I love how the music progresses to its final form.

Here’s your intermittent reminder that Penelope the mouse

is introduced as explicitly a better RC specialist than Bentley

a top-tier engineer and mechanic

so good at dogfighting than when she became a combat pilot “at a young age” she was instantly elevated to celebrity status

very convincing at pretending to be a different age and gender???

apparently wasn’t lying about being a trained boxer

can hack pretty good

easily matches and contends with Bentley’s intellect and could, therefore, plan heists pretty good

just fuckin picked up a sword and used it to murder a guy who had dedicated his life to being an old-timey pirate captain, and, by extension, swordfighting.

Penelope could kick the ass of the collective Cooper Gang at any point and the only reason she doesn’t is to be polite

yeah it's furry wife again. in the past eight months i've been on-and-off doodling about 278271 different minor variations on her sly 3 design... and i think i've finally settled with a design and style i like?? aaaa

replayed the sly cooper series recently and I missed these two so badly

I ain’t no dumb blonde, I ain’t no stupid barbie doll!!