Penelope Has Cured My Artblock ✨✨✨

Thieves In Time Redux: Rewriting the tutorial

You guys likely already know how Thieves In Time Redux begins. Penelope gets dragged into the events of the game against her will. Let's go over how she does during the story's opening...

We open near the museum, same as in canon. The only difference? There's four figures instead of three. The opening exchange now includes Penelope.

I'll just go ahead and show you the entire thing...

"Okay, you three remember the plan, right?"

"Of course! My mind is like a steel cap!"

"Uh, that's 'trap', Big Guy. And everybody relax! We've been over it a million times. What could possibly go wrong?''

"Famous last words! Look, we're only going to get one shot at this, so we can't mess up!"

"Alright, no messing up allowed. Now stop worrying! This is gonna be a piece of cake!"

"Question. Is it too late for me to back out?"

"I'm afraid so. You're coming with me, remember?"

"...Fine."

"We won't be out here forever, Sis! All we gotta do is take that dagger, do our thing, and clobber some fools into next week!"

"...Right. I'll keep that in mind."

"And with that, I'll see you all inside. Now let's get going!"

Penelope will be joining Bentley in the sewers. Before the opening, she had been targeted by kidnappers. She told Bentley about them in a panic, and... that's why she's here. She doesn't get enough time to vanish without a trace. Oh, and her blueprints for Le Paradox's blimp went missing.

Spoiler alert: They were stolen.

Sly's section is identical to canon, save for a few new lines. Same deal for Murray.

Bentley's section is changed up to accommodate Penelope. She'll only be following him for now... at least until her segment begins.

Just like in canon, Bentley falls deeper in the sewers... and gets separated from Penelope.

"How's that security system coming, Bentley?"

" Uh... Great! Perfect! I'll be done in a jiffy! *moves forward, only to realize he didn't land where he was supposed to* H--how did I...?"

"I thought you said 'no messing up allowed', old friend."

"I'm... taking the scenic route tonight!"

"Uh-huh... *short pause* You haven't forgotten Penelope, have you? Aren't you supposed to be watching her?"

This leads to a tutorial section for our favorite mouse girl. Her objective is finding Bentley. She's also given a title: The Wild Card.

"Sorry, I'm a little nervous. Nearly losing you to kidnappers does that."

"'A little', you say? You've been a nervous wreck ever since we left HQ."

Since this happens to be Penelope's very first solo outing, poor Bentley is freaking out. Penelope, meanwhile, isn't nearly as uneasy. She's just annoyed that she's been dragged into this adventure against her will. Not that she can tell Bentley why...

She instead tries to reassure him that yes, she can take care of herself... only to immediately follow that up by trying to run off. Bentley, of course, thinks she got lost and turns her around. She plays along and evades suspicion.

Since running off is no longer an option, Penelope goes off to find Bentley... When she does, he's in the process of almost getting jumped by a guard. She responds by knocking said guard out... because nobody touches that turtle except her.

Now reunited, they move onward to the same control room from canon.

Everything after that is nearly identical to vanilla. Yes, even Murray's segment. And yes, even Carmelita catching Sly in the act of thieving around.

The only difference is Penelope now being in the van with the boys as they all drive into a time portal.

Not a bad intro, huh? I've already talked about everyone's character arcs in previous posts, so here's a quick recap...

Sly learns that maybe ditching his friends on Kaine Island wasn't the best idea.

Bentley learns that he needs to not be overprotective of Penelope, but rather supportive.

Murray... doesn't go through much of a arc. He's focused on being a good older brother towards Penelope.

And Penelope? She's got a lot to learn about friendship. I bet you can't wait to see how she goes from distant and not wanting to be here to willing to take responsibility for what she's done. Because yes, she is still responsible for the Le Paradox incident in this rewrite.

I won't be writing Penelope as a sociopath, but rather as someone disconnected from her friends and what she actually needs.

I kind of neglected to mention that since Penelope is still behind the events of this game, she's going to be a bit confused about how Le Paradox's evil plan has gone ahead without her.

Lastly, I want to address how long it's been since the end of Sly 3. It's been roughly 19 months since Sly started faking amnesia.

At the beginning of this rewrite, Sly and Bentley are 22, Murray is 23, Penelope is 21, and Carmelita is 25. No clue about Dimitri or the villains.

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. 

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.

They are Friends

Have some Penny.

yo are we going to just ignore the fact that penelope has years of training in boxing??

Sly4 AU where Penelope is revealed to be a robot.

First of the five Penelope flirting with Bentley. Penelope will be inching herself closer to Bentley as the Safe House location keeps changing. Hope this looks good.

Note: all fan-art drawn by me are a gift to Sucker Punch. However, you may re-post anywhere you want with credit.

Tools: MS Paint, Coral Paint

Penelope and the gang <3

Medium Support for Cooper

Penelope wasn't informed that Carmelita went to this gym. Alternative of Carmelita because her chest fur is inconsistent.

This was posted on my Patreon and Ko-fi weeks ago. If you'd like early access and exclusive art you can support me there!