#she like casually strolled in for lunch at 3pm the entire pub was empty and i was GAGGED

[inspector-montoya-fox]

What are your thoughts about it not being brought up through Thieves in Time that Carmelita lied about Sly being her partner when he pretended to have amnesia? I don't mean this as slander or hate towards Carmelita, I love her a lot, but I think it would have been interesting to see her and Sly discuss how she didn't tell him the truth about who he was when he was acting amnesiac. Though from Carmelita's perspective, I could imagine that having to explain to an amnesiac that they are a master thief in their family's vault would be dificult, so just telling him he was her partner was the easiest story to tell him.

you know what, i've neglected my asks for a hot minute but i'll answer this one just for you silly anon.

the way SP left things off between Sly and Carmelita at the end of Sly 3 is really interesting because you have a romantic relationship being built on a foundation of lies: Carmelita lied to Sly about him being her partner, and Sly lied to Carmelita about having amnesia. going into the next game, it'd be really cool to see if the two would be able to overcome this situation once the truth came out or if it'd break them. other interesting questions: Sly chooses to ignore that Carmelita lied about him being her partner so why wouldn't Carmelita do the same? the last thing that occurs before the lies start is that Sly sacrifices himself to save Carmelita, so doesn't that action show her how much he actually loves her despite the lie? how would the other characters react? would they take sides?

now, keeping all of this in mind, what did we actually get in TiT? well, none of this actually. instead or receiving a really great B-storyline for the game, where Carmelita and Sly are forced to deal with the reality of their lies, we get... Carmelita getting shoehorned into (a) the angry ex girlfriend stereotype; and (b) the loud latina stereotype, both played for laughs while Sly does the bare minimum to fix things and just casually hangs out with his buddies while things calm down on their own. it's so infuriating to see this storyline get neglected but also fully handled through the male gaze, because if the fact that Carmelita also lied was brought up it could make for fascinating dialogue and character development. perhaps it could speak on Carmelita always wanting to be right, or how Sly chooses to let shit slide for the sake of getting what he wants which is very toxic? but no, let's just have Sly's literal ancestors have furry boners for her in the miniskirt and completely remove her for several levels because she's the damsel in distress and needs some time to cool off. because y'know she's a girl and she's way too emotional.

imagine if S*nzaru were capable of telling multifaceted stories, like what a treat that would be. instead of Sly abandoning Carmelita within 3 seconds of the opening cutscene, what if we got a look into their relationship and how they co-existed in a reality they created through lies? instead of having Carmelita fully join the gang in the game's fourth episode and having the entire story presented through Sly (except for those shitty flashbacks with Carmelita voiceover), what if we got to play through Carmelita's version of the story? what happened when Sly told the gang that Carmelita lied about him being her partner? what if Bentley fully took his side because he was always a bit skeptic about her but Murray was all-out Team Carmelita, causing a rift in the gang? what if Murray stormed off with her in Clan of the Cave Raccoon and we got Carmelita & Murray missions?

interesting thing about S*nzaru's take on Carmelita is that it reflects more on them than anything else. because, despite the misogyny and really harmful clichés they attached to her character, i think they never intended to hurt her the way they did. instead, they're just a bunch of horny guys who didn't really have a clue. in their eyes, they were given a character who is overpowered and they chose to trophy her because they don't see the miniskirt, the damsel in distress, the 1cm waist, the angry poc stereotypes or the bellydancing thing as bad or distasteful. in their eyes, Carmelita was a "Mary Sue" (i hate that term) and that's how they chose to handle her even though SP never actually treated her as such. i think Carmelita's scarce appearances in the original series made her flaws a bit more subtle, like her inability to acknowledge Sly as a grey instead of black or white. and S*nzaru never picked up on that or chose to fully ignore it, so they wanted to preserve her as a perfect character who can jump extra high, has a gun, possesses solely positive traits and can get whatever she wants because all the guys go cartoon eyes bonkers over her. and for them, allure = womanhood or femininity, and that is so deeply shallow. everything about their treatment of Carmelita is deeply shallow to the point where their intentions backfired and we got a prime example of misogyny.

so, to answer the question: i think Carmelita's lie isn't brought up in TiT because it would present her as a flawed character. a woman who lies doesn't align with the S*nzaru guys' perception of an ideal woman, and that's what they set out to make Carmelita: the ideal female. it would also over-complicate their shit for brains plot but whatever