Sly 3: The Evolution Of Penelope

* VIOLENTLY SHAKES FIST AT SLY 4* -SPOILERS- by ~SnipsySnips

Penelope and the gang <3

a gift for murray!

Penelope

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.

Murray and Penelope: Friendly Competition

I like to think that they did this in their free time both during and after the events of Sly 3.

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.

Something I've been thinking about lately is the shame around writing slowly, and how prevalent it is for people to be upset about not being able to write a lot really quickly. About how so much of writing advice is "how to write more faster," and how many people seeking advice are asking how to write a thousand words a day, and how big of an annual thing NaNoWriMo is because it's difficult but there's this general vibe of condescension for those who don't participate or who don't "win."

And I used to feel ashamed too. I'd get frustrated by my apparent inability to write more than a few hundred words in a sitting on a good day. I'd beat myself up for only managing my bare minimum of fifty words, I'd try again and again at NaNoWriMo and hate myself for not being able to do it.

But I've realized that if I didn't write slowly, my stories wouldn't be what they are. I wouldn't love them so much, because they wouldn't have become what they did - because they had time to bloom.

And I've also realized that while I have had moments in time where I wrote like that - multiple thousands of words a day for days or weeks on end - that's... not something I aspire to.

I write slow! That's okay!

I'm proud of writing slow. I'm proud of having gotten to the point where I put myself and my process before what others expect of me.

You don't need to be fast. You don't need to be ashamed.

And you don't need to want to be fast, either.

I certainly don't.

Quick Tips for Writing Protective Tension

One character immediately steps in when something happens, overprotective much? The other one is like, “Chill. I got this.”

They stand just a little too close, constantly checking if the other person’s okay, but trying (and failing) to be subtle about it.

“Be careful,” “Watch out,” or “Don’t do that,” every two seconds, like they’re babysitting, but it's all about concern.

One of them puts a hand on the other’s shoulder, almost possessively, like, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

They instinctively move in front, even if it’s something minor like a crowded street or a heated argument.

I thought I'd skip ahead and work on Episode 2 for a bit (specifically Jail Break), but I've got a question for you, readers.

Is there an official name for the prison at Cotton Mouth Bluff? The one where Tennessee (and later, the boys) gets locked up in? If not, I'd love to hear name suggestions.

If you must know, the mission Jail Break contains a bit of a deviation from canon (aside from Penelope now being on the rescue team). The boys are being held in jail separately. Our three heroes (Penelope, Tennessee, and Carmelita) are going to split up to save them. Penelope's going to free Bentley, Carmelita's going after Sly, and Tennessee's stuck with Murray.

I'm thinking about how they're all going to pull this off, starting with Penelope freeing Bentley. The only catch with Penelope's part is I don't want her just using RC vehicles. She's going to actually fight guards. She'll start by picking a guard's pocket to get the key to Bentley's cell, then... she'll clean house.

Why is she doing it this way? She's trying to show Bentley she's not a helpless damsel. Spoiler alert: It works.