Emotions In Writing

Sly Cooper Characters as Firefly Quotes

Sly: “I aim to misbehave.”

Bentley: “It’s a real burn, being right all the time.”

Murray: “Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.”

Carmelita: “Sir? I think you have a problem with your brain being missing.”

Neyla: “Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!”

Penelope: “I can kill you with my brain.”

Dimitri: “Your mouth is talking. You might wanna look to that.”

Riochi: “I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.”

Tennessee: “If anyone gets nosy just...y’know, shoot em.” “Shoot em?” “Politely.”

Bob: “Shiny.”

Galleth: “Time for some thrilling heroics.”

Salim: “Is that him?” “That’s the buffet table.” “...Well how can we be sure, unless we question it?”

Feel free to add more characters/alternative quotes.

I’ve been watching Red vs Blue’s Tumblr fandom go absolutely hogwild, making fake memes for hypothetical seasons they might have gotten instead of the highly contentious and fandom-sundering follow-up from a different creator they did get

anyway, here are some fresh memes I made about 2012′s Sly 4: Time Is A Thief

Let's now go over all the change Bentley goes through in Thieves In Time Redux... I don't think I need to say who he's referring to...

Bentley during the prologue: Please tell me you're still in one piece! (During Penelope's segment)

Bentley during the prologue (again): I'm glad you made it back. And thank you for saving me from that guard's wrath. Am I worrying too much? (After Penelope's segment)

Bentley during Episode 1: Stay behind me and Murray. This place is dangerous. Did those guards back there hurt you? (During Something's Fishy)

Bentley during Episode 1 (again): I hope you learned your lesson. You nearly gave me a heart attack when you ran off! Then again, we might have lost Sly if you hadn't done that... (After Altitude Sickness)

Bentley during Episode 2: You really didn't have to jump in there and take those stings for me… but thank you. Let's get your injuries patched up. (After Cooper For Hire)

Bentley during Episode 2 (again): The way you broke me out of that prison was incredible! I was wrong to underestimate you! (After Jail Break)

Bentley during Episode 3: If only you'd told me sooner… Why didn't you say you were sick? (After Getting Stronger)

Bentley during Episode 3 (again): I'm positively speechless. You and Murray worked so well together against The Grizz! Feel free to go back hom-- Wait, you're staying? (After OP: Jurassic Thievery)

Bentley during Episode 4: You want to help Murray tear that tavern apart? The one that's loaded with those massive guards? You know what? Go for it! (During Short Supply)

Bentley during Episode 4 (again): Breaking yourself out of a tower and striking down the Black Knight?! Is there nothing you can't do?! (After OP: Frog Trap)

Bentley during Episode 5: Your services will definitely be required in this perilous structure. I'll have tea and cheesecake ready for you when you get back. (During Copy Cats)

Bentley during Episode 5 (again) This whole mess was your doing?! Young lady, you are in big trouble! (After All Rolled Up)

Bentley during Episode 6: I'm willing to wipe your slate clean if you put an end to what you started and-- You want to lead us to victory? I hope you don't let us down. (Before the final mission)

Bentley during Episode 6 (again): When I said "put an end to what you started", I didn't mean "fight Le Paradox all by yourself"! Please come back safely... (During the final mission)

Bentley during the epilogue: I knew you wouldn't let us down! Of course you can stay with us! Just never betray us again! (After the final mission)

So yeah. Thieves In Time Redux through the eyes of Bentley.

Fixing Thieves in Time Penelope

Thieves in Time was a pretty good game overall, but I am STILL pissed about what they did to Penelope. ‘She thinks Sly is a bad influence’ like excuse me? Even if that made any kind of sense (it doesn’t), am I the only one who remembers that she had a bit of a crush on Sly when she first joined the Cooper Gang? And suddenly her inventions are awful, even though they recruited her because she was as good if not better than Bentley? I call bullshit, fuck you very much.

I’ve come up with three alternate ways they could have done Penelope’s story that actually make sense and don’t feel out of character:

Option 1 Mind Control: Le Paradox has Miss Decibel hypnotize Penelope to make her give him the designs for the time machine. He decides to keep Penelope on-hand to maintain his blimp, and to serve as a hostage should the Cooper Gang uncover his plans and try to stop him. Upon their arrival in England, Sly and the Gang immediately learn that Penelope is working for Le Paradox and are devastated. During a recon mission, Sly and Bentley discover devices similar to Miss Decibel’s record players, which keep Penelope hypnotized. Bentley immediately begins drawing up plans to destroy the devices and free Penelope. The boss fight against her still happens, but with the plan being to destroy the hypnotic devices keeping Penelope under Decibel’s control. The Cooper Gang succeeds and Penelope is freed, reuniting with Bentley and rejoining the Gang for the rest of the game.

Option 2 Double Agent: Penelope catches wind of someone trying to get their hands on the designs for the time machine, and does a little investigating on her own. This leads her to Le Paradox, who offers her a position working for him. Recognizing the threat Le Paradox’s plan poses to her friends and boyfriend, Penelope agrees, and she sabotages his plans and tech every chance she gets. Throughout the game, she leaves clues for the Cooper Gang to find (such as the sheriff’s badge), trusting them to thwart Le Paradox’s operations. She’s ordered to go to England to work alongside the Black Knight, who is revealed to be Raleigh from the first game (Le Paradox arranged his escape from prison in exchange for a chance at revenge on Cooper and the Gang). In the final fight, Penelope reaffirms her allegiance to Bentley and the Cooper Gang, and she and Bentley work together to dismantle the giant robot, allowing Sly to land the final blow to take down Raleigh. As in Option 1, Penelope and Bentley reunite, and Penelope rejoins the Gang for the rest of the game.

Option 3 Dangerous Threats: Le Paradox threatens to erase Bentley from history unless Penelope gives up the designs for the time machine to save him. Terrified of losing her true love, Penelope reluctantly agrees, and Le Paradox keeps her close by as a hostage and to prevent her from tipping off Bentley and the Gang. She is sent to Medieval England and is kept prisoner in the castle by the Black Knight (who could be Raleigh as in Option 2, or a new character) and is forced to design and build the mechanical guards for him. Once in England, Sly discovers Penelope’s location and sneaks into the castle to confront her. When she reveals Le Paradox’s threats, Sly reassures her that together they can keep Bentley safe, and convinces her to escape with him and return to the Gang. Penelope and Bentley reunite at the hideout, and she gives the Gang useful information about the Black Knight’s plans and weaknesses. During the boss fight, Penelope again comes through for her friends by being the one to finish off the Black Knight and reveal the next time period they need to travel to.

In all three versions, Penelope and Bentley both serve as tech experts during the final confrontation with Le Paradox, making use of their combined talents to help achieve victory (while also being totally adorable together: finishing each other’s sentences, hugging and holding hands, kissing, all of it).

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!

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.

Internal conflict writing ideas

Not everything has to be fight scenes

—Losing something of emotional value and remembering its history and why it’s important to the character

—Reliving a traumatic event

—Running into an old friend who’s either completely changed since they’ve last seen each other or far too similar, leaving the character to wonder about how they’ve matured and grown compared to this other person

—Internally deciding if they should voice a fear or concern to the group, even if they might look silly or ridiculous doing so

—Friends vs family in terms of choosing who to follow and listen too

—Feeling unqualified to work on a project or be apart of the adventure

—Romantic feelings for someone they shouldn’t and dealing with how they should proceed internally. (THIS MEANS RIVALS OR FORBIDDEN ROMANCE. NOT ANYTHING ILLEGAL!!!)

—Thinking about mortality and death after being reminded of an late friend/family passing

—Being less talented at something years later when they used to be the best in that field

—Finding an old photo that carries much more emotional significance now than it did X years ago.

I drew this for my mom as a Christmas gift since we’re both huge Bentley fans!

Trying to pull myself out of a rough patch so thought I’d do a headshot of this angel. Did start as only a sketch but I got carried away

sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four