#PenumbraParty

[patriciasage]

if y’all like The Magnus Archives and Welcome to Night Vale (and associated Night Vale productions) and even D&D podcasts like The Adventure Zone or Critical Role... you need to get into The Penumbra Podcast. 

I know you like gay little stories and, let me tell you, this one is audio fiction royalty.

Just listen to the first episode. Give it a chance. You will NOT regret it.

[stubbornjerk]

hey maybe when fans of color tell you that the apology didnt actually do anything and that its insensitive that theyre running this during BHM, you should like, not tell them they're putting up a fuss. the offense was that they took the criticism for hiring a racist artist, told fans they were bullies, and didnt actually apologize for it in all 12 pages of that document that took WEEKS to make. and thats on top of ellison being forced to apologize and the apology in question was that they 'liked drawing goofy things.' yeah, racist is pretty goofy if youre white.

next time, dont defend someone who actually was the perpetrator and take our side for once. this podcast positively affected our lives too, before they called us bullies for pointing out that they hired a racist.

[punkryuki]

If you're looking for a new podcast to listen to, might I suggest The Penumbra Podcast? It's so good, you guys. It's one of the rare podcasts where I think the cishets might be the minority.

I love it so much.

[ellevenstar]

The sad thing about penumbra is that it used to be something really important to me. You see it in my old art and cosplays and even, to my friends who hear it often, the way I talk.

I felt seen by it, heard and understood. And as a Black queer woman in a predominantly white area, that meant a lot. So it hurt like hell when they labeled POC, trans individuals, and more marginalized groups as bullies for raising criticism towards a decision they made themselves. And it’s not cool to see so many people ignoring it or just plain being unaware. I don’t think people get just how much Takagi-Kaner and Vibert HURT PEOPLE with the people they hired and the poor attempts at justification for it loosely labeled as apologies. This is not the first time they’ve done this, and unfortunately, that means they are very likely to let it happen again.

I’m sure some of you are going through the tags on Tumblr, Twitter or whatever to see what people who love this podcast are saying. Look for the people who are upset. We’re not just saying these things for nothing.

[assorted-aesthetics]

i stopped listening to 4.09 after 41:45 :)))))) everything is fine :)))))

[fallenfromtheskies]

okay but if you are ever in the mood for a podcast there's not one i'd recommended more than the penumbra podcast

there are two main storylines

first follows juno steel a private eye in hyperion city on mars as he uncovers ancient martian mysteries, political scandals and arrests captivating homme fatales

the other is the second citadel which tells the tale of a world in which humans battle monsters, knights battle old notions of knighthood and certain people battle their feelings for four armed lizards (seriously the wizard is impossibly hot. you will go in thinking of course lizards aren't hot what the hell are you people talking about. but you'll see.)

but honestly the plot is amazing and it's funny and beautiful and it will make you cry and you will love it

and possibly the best part is the character development just all the character grow and it's amazing and i have no words to even begin to describe how much some of the lines get to me

(my fav part is absolutely juno steel and the promised land pt 2 and the way he decides to live in spite of the world and how he realises he's too pissed to die and continues to fight just with me the notion of not giving up, looking up at the big mean world and laughing, dear god i get chills just thinking about it)

[storyteller-aprendiz]

Pls pls pls! Listen to this podcast

Desperado is an audio-drama by Sami Souissi about “ Blood magic, Voodoo magic, old gods, new gods: We've got it all! Follow the story of misfits from all over the world, as they try to survive and protect their heritage from modern-day crusaders.”

It has a similar narrative framework to the Juno Steel S3 in the sense that there’s both narration by the characters that get shifted through the episodes so we get different povs and parts that are not narrated. However unlike penumbra other character’s can hear the narration since is this kind-of retrospective narrative so we get the others laugh at the first impressions the narrator had or make fun of them because x thing.

Also the worldbuilding is estellar, so much thought is given to how the magic works, and how gods interact etc. which you can specially feel through the sound desing.

There is a trans woman with powers, a gay guy with wings and a straight fella with an INCREDIBLE pain resistence. The main trio is made of mexican and japanese men/boys (the ages are a bit weird) and a haitian girl/woman and they are bound together by the shared need to protect themselves and their heritage.

also the first mexican character I saw in audio fiction, which as mexican, is pretty nice yk?

They’re currently looking for funding for the second season (which by looking at the characters descriptions of the casting calls) will be more amazing.

Here is the link to their trailer:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5zoVi4iRD8NVLYJN5yr3Zm?si=44b3df898a5a4d4a

So...

If you’re going to support the penumbra while ignoring the VERY VALID  reasons they lost viewership (listenship?) you can also give this podcast a listen and see if you’ll like to support them too.

And...

Unlike the penumbra the VAs are ACTUALLY the race/ethnicity their art portrays them as! I know, I too didn’t think it could be done! But it seems like it can.

[measuringspoon2]

my review for the penumbra campaign… what the hell, right? y’all have been important to me.

the title is “a show wearing campy noir fiction like a trenchcoat is actually a story about recovery.”

[femwizard]

If you haven’t already checked them out I HIGHLY recommend the penumbra podcast. Want a sci-fi mystery thriller about a flaming, bisexual disaster detective? Want a romantic fantasy piece that explores the ethical dilemmas around the question of what really is a monster? Look no further!!! This shit? Is seriously fire 🔥🔥🔥

[nickelsandknackels]

One of my favorite podcasts is asking people to spread the word, and as someone with seven posters from it this is the least I can do. I forgot to take a picture of my review on the Apple podcast app before I sent it in (and now can’t find it for a screenshot) but I did copy paste the whole thing so here goes. My thoughts on The Penumbra Podcast:

I have listened to a lot of fiction podcasts, and this is one of my absolute favorites. It initially starts out as a sort of anthology series, but quickly narrows focus to its two main stories.

The Second Citadel

A fantasy world filled with monsters and knights and a large ensemble cast. The episodes are so much fun, with one of my absolute favorites being about nymphs who just really love sports. The characters are complex, and their relationships with each other are unique and interesting. Every time I listen to a new episode, I’m sad that it’s not following the characters from the previous episode for like a minute, and then I’m fully engrossed again. It’s ultimately a story of trying to do better and be better, and trying to take a stand against an unjust world.

Juno Steel

Juno Steel is a private eye on Mars. He deals with corrupt mayors, distractingly attractive criminals, and big conspiracies that he never should have gotten into in the first place.

This story in particular has such a special place in my heart. Each of the individual episodes are extremely fun, with my personal favorites being Juno Steel and the Time Gone By and the entirety of season 3. The story starts with Juno in a pretty bad mental space, and throughout the seasons getting to see him grow and try so hard to get better is incredibly rewarding. It’s a show about messing up and picking yourself up each time, and learning to accept help from other people before you fall in the first place. It’s a show about family and friendship and how messy life and everything it brings is. Juno is one of my favorite characters of all time, not just in podcasts.

For both stories:

The voice acting is amazing, and really brings the characters to life. The score is beautiful and has alternatively made me cry and jump up in excitement. Also, something I haven’t mentioned so far is that this podcast knows how to do a romance. I usually don’t like romance in stories, I think that it’s usually not written well enough or just done lazily. But in THIS show? I adore every single romance. The romances are written with nuance and complexity. It explores all of the emotions that come from falling in love with someone, and how these relationships work or don’t work out. I don’t even have the words to describe it but it’s just done with so much love and care to the characters.

Each season of both shows brings a new and unique adventure, growing and changing with the characters. This podcast has some of the best writing and characters that I have ever had the absolute delight of experiencing. If anything in this review sounds at all interesting, please do yourself a favor and check it out. The experience of listening to this podcast is not something that anyone should miss out on. And, if audio mediums aren’t your thing, full transcripts are available on the show’s website!

[touchstarved-astronaut]

Y’all GOTTA go listen to the penumbra podcast ASAP it is literally f-ing phenomenal

[lichpoweredbyfandoms]

I had one (1) singular thought about season 1 of the penumbra podcast and decided I had to relisten to final resting place for the millionth time. I have no clue what they put in that episode to make it so addictive but it’s still fantastic every single relisten.

[fowlfederluft]

I want to make a longer post one day, but right now I just want to say: the penumbra podcast, especially the story about Juno steel has been one of the most important story's for me.

There is just no other story like this. It's about depression and still going on, it's about living. Being alive.

It's about being a good person and how hard it is, how you can't simply be a good person.

But you still you should try.

I really can't put it in words, but I feel it in my heart. The last year was really really hard on me. Juno helped, Juno really helped. So thank you penumbra podcast

Thank you

[ladyknighttime]

If anyone’s out there looking for new media to consume, may I point you to The Penumbra Podcast and Juno Steel.

Pros:

semi noir-detective that later turns into heist shenanigans

cool space locations and future tech (starts on Mars and has tech-related plot points while also not worrying about “and this is how atmosphere creation works”)

gender? who is she? vibes for our leading lady Juno Steel

eventual romance, but between exhausted 30+ year olds, along with other characters

building found family

general background LGBTQ+ content (a lot, but what made my brain go ! is a solid ace character who is [redacted], my beloved)

Cons:

alas, does not have infinite content

it is a podcast if that’s not your vibe, I guess?

For me, I marathoned the first two seasons when in quarantine, and I can recommend it as something to listen to in the bath, while sewing, or while making boredom-inspired croissants from scratch. As someone who enjoys the narration style of noir detectives without a lot of the gratuitous objectification of women, that was my initial pull. If you want some general content warnings, feel free to shoot me a message or check out their episode descriptions!

[protectclaypigeons]

There’s been few shows in my life that I’ve felt as personally connected to as the penumbra podcast. When I first took up the recommendation from my friend a few years ago, I never would’ve expected the coming obsession — but here we are! It’s the perfect mix of out-of-pocket entertaining, with crazy plotlines and twists.. but also really human characters and touching relationships. So it feels fantastical in some ways, and perfectly real in others. Also, the worldbuilding! The voices! The writing!!! Aaaaaa it’s all so good and I could talk about it for ages — and I HAVE — but right now you should really just go check it out :) or give it a relisten!

[pensivespacepirate]

I really thought kabert were going to miss with the 3 useless goons in the terrible trio part 2 but nope they got their layers!