#IN THE SAME EPISODE that Buddy talks about knowing Juno is Nureyev's reason AND that he can excise those morals if needs be
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Y'ALL. Re-listening to The Penumbra Podcast (s3 now lol bc yes I am specifically looking for Nureyev lore since s4/5 new info) and Man in Glass has me SOBBING IT WAS RIGHT THERE ALL ALONG.
s3ep2, Buddy telling Nureyev his "calling card"
Buddy: "An endoring moral core, coupled with a strong desire to excise that core completely...like having a heart embarrasses you. I brought you on this ship for that moral core. If I distrust you, darling, it is only because you have proven that you can do anything you set your mind to, and so I am certain that you are capable of excising those morals for good. You just haven't done it yet."
Then later, s3ep2 still, Nureyev is talking with Juno in his room and Nureyev narrates:
Nureyev: 'I feel the weight of potentiality sit heavy on my shoulders, I hear Buddy's words about the excision of my moral core and about my ability to do it. And I realize, for the first time, that there is a kind of helplessness in complete freedom[...]when trouble arises, I disappear. [...]but looking at this new man [Juno], there is nothing I want more than to stay.'
AND THEN AND THEN IN S5ep14 The Sixteen Tons,,, yeah I know this line by heart :')
Nureyev and Juno talking (arguing) after Juno takes him into the closet at the facility (near the beginning of the ep)
Nureyev: "I do not want to see you anymore, Juno."
Juno: "...What?!"
Nureyev: "You said that it would just take those words to excise you from my life entirely, didn't you? Well, I've said them..."
THE EXACT WORD CHOICE. THE WAY HE WANTED TO STAY ON THE SHIP AND JOIN THE AURINKO CRIME FAMILY FOR (money, but also) JUNO. BECAUSE JUNO IS HIS MORAL CORE, THEIR MORALS DO ALIGN. THAT'S WHY THEY WORK SO WELL. SO OFC HE HAS TO "EXCISE" JUNO TO CARRY ON WITH THIS.
Because the reality of it: keeping someone between life and death for YEARS, helping fund the Big Pharma that has vowed to safe Slip and yet also commits such horrific acts, but he has to do it or else he never gets to know Slip or have someone know him as he thinks they should bc surely he must not be worth all of this to Juno, the lady's just being stubborn again and inconsiderate, but deep down Nureyev KNOWS that's not it at all. He knows that Juno does know him and will continue to know more about him, and if he can do that and love Nureyev... well, that means Nureyev could have a future.
But Nureyev has been trying to stretch out the future for over 20 years. He's set his mind to it, and he can do anything he sets his mind to. Including destroying himself until there is nothing left to bother with a future anyway. Until there is nothing for Juno Steel to know and love and so he gets the punishment he believes so adamantly that he deserves long before Juno first left him in that hotel room.
If he is alone, then when trouble comes he can just disappear. If he is alone, there is no one to hurt when that bomb goes off.
#juno and nureyev being character foils will always destroy me#yes I know they have many similarities for character foil label but so do Aang and Zuko and look where we are#also the way Nureyev finally realized Juno HATED Zola in s3ep2 bc he is morally disgusted by her — as is Nureyev's words#IN THE SAME EPISODE that Buddy talks about knowing Juno is Nureyev's reason AND that he can excise those morals if needs be#It is that being what Nureyev admires most about Juno but also the reason he must push him away to continue down this path#Because Juno already almost died for him. Nureyev cant have Juno living for him#Train from Nowhere also makes me sob if u cant tell#the penumbra podcast#long post#ehe#tpp#tpp s1#tpp s3#tpp s5#tpp s5 spoilers#tpp spoilers#just in case#jupeter#juno steel#peter nureyev#peter ransom#juno x peter#buddy aurinko#my beloved mother#the aurinko crime family
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The Penumbra Podcast and its take on love and heroism
This post was originally posted in a tumblr named story-teller aprendiz before the announcement of the hiring of the new poster artist (a choice which I disagree about). The reason I’m reposting it is just so that I have all my articles in one place.
Spoilers froms s1 through s2 of both Second Citadel and the Juno Steel storylines.
In anticipation of season 4 of the Penumbra I would like to take a look at one of the penumbra's mission statements: subverting tropes. And no, I don't mean the homme fatale. In this opinion article I will talk about our brooding detective, heroism and love in the penumbra podcast.
Heroism
Living in the superhero renaissance -and as part of a species who tell stories- we all have been subjected to the scene where the superhero sacrifices themself for humanity or any other noble reason.
Spoilers for the final resting place
In this episode Juno has his own "heroic" moment but it isn't framed as so, if anything it's depicted as anything but a nightmare. Even when he is able to win and live, he doesn't get rewarded and is one of the many reasons he decides to walk out on Nureyev.
Spoiler for the Angel of Brahma
Heroism for Nureyev or "doing the good thing" has always been tied to loss for our thief. He saves New Kinshasa (and Brahma really) and he loses his home, father and identity; he saves Mars with Juno and loses his salary or pay? and gets his heart broken.
In the end for him hiding his heart is a way to protect himself for this rule the universe has seemingly put on him, but still sometimes gives into the desire to be what that child on Brahma wanted him to be.
Spoilers for heart of it all part 2
To be fair Buddy isn't as self-sacrificing as those above but she does put her life on the line for the mission and for her family. And I love the idea that Buddy ends up saving herself from herself (ironically) by her words being declaim by the same people that she helps.
Spoilers for What lies beyond Part 3
In What Lies Beyond we found out of an agreement made by all space pirates: "If things go wrong, promise you will save yourself for that is our only chance of succeeding" and that is what Juno does at the end of the episode and what Nureyev does in final resting place.
Damien I believe also plays into this with how often he will disregard his needs for his vocation, loves, and home. How it is portrayed as a flaw (though not necessarily something he needs to change) as we see how it affects Rilla especially and well, also him.
In the narrative heroism in the conventional way that is depicted on the mainstream leads to pain, suffering or the hero is actively seeking some kind of those. However that doesn't mean the Juno storyline is not about heroes, in my opinion it is completely about that but rephrased: people doing good. People with all the mess they are, and with the fact that we are selfish and that's okay.
And maybe there is credibility that your death can bring some good to the world but, your life can bring so much that death ever could: to the world, to your loved ones and to you.
Love
The same in how it handles platonic & romantic love.
Juno is loving the people he cares about -especially Rita- by taking care of himself and as we saw in season three if he hadn't done so the Carte Blanche crew would have been at worse odds than it is. We can also see it in the fact that one of the reasons Nureyev decided to try things with Juno was because he wanted to get better. In Vespa and Buddy and how both won't let themselves die, not only because of a survival instinct, but because they already know the impact it has on the other, and they can bear to do it a second time.
Additionally I dear to say that The Penumbra Podcast plays with the Romeo and Juliet Narrative.
Disclaimer: I never finished Romeo and Juliet's story, the closest I got was the half of the modern adaptation movie with Leonardo Di Caprio but, what I noticed was dying -through poison- because the world won't let you be with your sweetheart.
Spoilers for the Midnight Fox
In the Midnight fox we are told the story of Valles Vicky and Ingrid Lake and their "Home beyond the stars' . As thieves the treat of getting caught and being separated was always looming in the background, so they swore to commit su*cide if that ever went to happen. But by a turn of fate it was only Ingrid who was caught and Vicky was able to move on and in hindsight she was able to understand how messed up the vow they made really was.
Regardless if Shakespeare intended his tale to be a "romance" it has been taking like that by the public, therefore what The Penumbra does: taking this type of narrative and showcasing the unhealthy aspects of it while acknowledging the love in their relationship and the fact that their promise was made out of this passion and simultaneously not excusing Ingrid's (or Vicky's) actions or the horror of their vow is part of the reason this podcast is one of my favorites.
Spoilers for Man in Glass
Another example that comes to mind is Nureyev's and Zolotovna's declaration of love. It isn't uncommon to see a movie with this premise or the act of dying by declaring your eternal love for someone as something romantic but The Penumbra treats this as a joke.
Spoilers for the Moonlit Hermit
Of course that isn't to say that the show doesn't play on some problematic tropes like "The beauty and the Beast" narrative for Rilla and Arum's storyline. To be clear I don't condemn it nor think that Rilla & Arum are in an abusive relationship or stockholm syndrome or something like that because they aren't, however I would have like to see more development or exploration about their first encounter, Arum's actions, how they move past it, and how they interact with their present in relation to their "rough" [for lack of a better word] start. And most importantly Rilla’s feelings and thoughts about that.
In conclusion I like this podcast to an unhealthy amount, and think there is more "subversion of tropes" to it than "popular tropes but gay".
Heroism in the penumbra as cliché as it sounds is "saving yourself so you can save others". And on the surface that might seem as a selfish action but as Nureyev says: "I couldn't have rescued you if I hadn't left in the first place". And Love in the Penumbra, as cliché as it sounds is "loving others by taking care of yourself" and it's messy and beautiful and as Juno says: "Not something that happens to me but something that I am making".
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EPISODE IS UP TIME TO SCREAM
First of all. I love vespa SO much. I know I said the same thing about jet last episode but like they're all so good is the thing I love All of them so much
Second it's so fucking nice to have Another of my hcs confirmed...... first aroace jet & now trans vespa penumbra you are SPOILING me
As for the actual episode though. First thing is that I really enjoyed that first section, going from "wtf is going on with peter" to "wait hang on. That's not peter" but I think the interesting thing is that as a listener, you can put two and two together pretty quickly because we know nureyev & that while he might be a little bit of a dick, he's not a complete asshole, whereas vespa really doesn't know him at all and therefore finds it harder to tell the difference. I'm wondering how much of her distaste for nureyev (& juno as well) has to do with conflating the very harsh versions of them that she hallucinates vs what they're actually like
Also the fact that she considers herself a has-been? Which we know is something nureyev also struggles with? I'm really hoping for some kind of reconciliation between these two next episode because it seems like nureyev is someone that vespa is projecting a lot of her insecurities onto - a thief (with some assassin-like tendencies) in the height of his career (at least in vespa's eyes) and one with a shadowy past & a motive to betray them, someone that buddy made the decision to hire despite vespa's opinions to the contrary. That's a whole lot of her issues bundled up & represented in one person so I don't think it's any wonder that he seems to be the focal point for her nastier hallucinations
Noah sounds like he’s having a fucking ball though
On a lighter note I'M SO PROUD OF JUNO HE'S DOING SO WELL & TRYING SO HARD I LOVE HIM SO MUCH & I MISSED HIM. "Oh wow I'm yelling really loud aren't I" ma'am I love you
Also the fact that juno "everything that ever goes wrong is my fault" steel is saying "hey, this wasn't my fault, it was yours, could we maybe get an apology for your fuck up" is definitely a step in maybe not entirely the right direction with the blame game but for sure a different one
Why was he walking around in the middle of the night though huh. Juno were you texting your boy & got worried when he stopped replying is that it
Why was jet yelling...... was he stuck in there? Jet why were you yelling like that
Jet's little "hello!" absolutely murdered me on impact I straight up Barked
Side note. I can't believe we ACTUALLY got the juno & vespa buddy cop adventure that I've been dreaming of once AGAIN penumbra thank you for my fucking life
Can't believe rita is corrupting jet with her conspiracy theories either that's so fucking funny. Yeah they broke him
*Cocks gun* Ship's haunted.
Seriously though what the fuck is up with nureyev seemingly going walkabout. What
If we're talking a non-human but biological invader.... dark matters? I'm thinking of those things they were using in day that wouldn't die, but then again those might've been mechanical. Still if this is something that's followed them off-planet maybe they weren't as successful in their getaway as they thought
If the setup for this episode was that they can't go ahead with the main part of the mission until juno & vespa can get along I have really high hopes for them resolving their issues by the end of next episode. I'm so happy I cannot wait oh my god
In conclusion [BIG YELLING FOR SEVERAL HOURS]
Additions after listening a second time:
Rly interesting listening to that first convo keeping in mind that nureyev isn't actually there, love that
I had this thought the first time through but kind of dismissed it for reasons I'll mention in a second: are.... all of them hallucinating? Jet definitely sounded like he was fighting with someone, and was ready to brain juno & vespa before he realised it was them, even though there was no-one else in the room with him. Juno was wandering around the ship with his gun out for some reason. If the ship is losing air they could be suffering from a lack of oxygen maybe? The only thing about this is that I can't think how all three of them would be seeing the exact same hallucination at the end there
The other option I'm thinking about is that it's something to do with that small rat-like thing that vespa saw & then dismissed - something small enough to get past juno & vespa & maybe make them think that the door opened by itself? & something small enough to keep making small holes in & out of the hull perhaps. This is going back to the whole dark matters tech thing a little bit
Why was jet in the docking bay in the middle of the night anyway. Why are so many people awake and wandering around at this hour. Juno can be pretty paranoid at times too, I'm wondering if he's in a similar situation to vespa where he woke up from a nightmare involving nureyev, tried to contact him to confirm that it was just a dream & got himself worked up about it when he didn't answer? & I guess jet is also a bit of an insomniac when he can't get his thoughts to slow down. Still though??
What the hell is that glowing thing nureyev is holding?? Huh?????
#Wastepaper basket#tpp#tpp spoilers#tpp s3#tpp s3 spoilers#TIME TO YELL#Anyway I can't wait for pt 2 aaaaaaaa
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just thinking lots of thoughts about Juno Steel tonight
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Jfc I am BUZZING what a fucking episode. The first part of this is mostly screaming tbh
I love happy juno but also grumpy juno is my favourite welcome back
I love how firm peter is with him in stopping him from spiralling? It's good
Rita coming into her own!! Learning lessons!! Growing up!! Yes!!!
SO MUCH INFO THOUGH. Dark matters wants the crime family and they want them alive and they don't know anything about two of them but!! Which two!!
You'd presume nureyev is one but..... who knows ahh
This is gonna be mostly screaming I have no time for coherent thought rn
Juno being protective over rita godd
Juno comforting rita while she's panicking ;;
OH HEY FUCK THE NAME? I MEAN LIKE IT WAS ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY BUT RITAAAA
Me thinking no surely he wouldn't have just abandoned them and breathing a sigh of relief when he hadn't only for my boy to DO THIS?? ET TU PETER??
PETER
NUREYEV
DESERVES
TO
BE
BULLIED
I'm not serious but my guy had BETTER have a good reason for this. I would hope it's a long con of some kind or SOMETHING but PETER
Anyway if these people know his name idk if this is either 1. Blackmail or 2. Maybe he didn't get away from brahma all by himself after new kinshasa after all. Maybe he had help and it's finally come back to bite him in the ass. Who knows but I'm fucking 👀 PETER.
MISTER WHO
Also. Robot kisses 🥺
ALSO. Juno just. Picking him up and carrying him out of the room fhshdhdgs
MAMA BUDDY SO ANGRY THOUGH. I thought this would be the case but ooof
LESBIAN WEDDING TIME THOUGHHH Buddy and vespa inventing romance once AGAIN
I mean I'm sad they're retiring (although depending on what nureyev is doing here this "last job" could be UHHHHH DERAILED) but!! Yes!! Married!!
Knife girlfriend will finally be..... knife WIFE
Juno sniffling in the corner like ME TOO BITCH THE FUCK. Secretly a sap as usual though mr steel I love you
I can't remember other things I just. So much happened. I'm gonna need to listen again at least a few times here
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Oh FUCK also rita!! "When someone tells you what they want you to call them that's what you call them"!! Penumbra said trans rights once again thank you kabert and also ms jones. Bless
Not a second listen yet but more Thots:
Rly good episode...... and the robot kisses were very cute...... but I had this thought in pt. 1 and again this episode that I'm kinda bummed out that we've kinda just.... skipped over all the relationship development for juno & peter. Like on the one hand it's kind of unavoidable to miss stuff given the series format this time around but on the other it feels like 2 seasons of build up for something that.... just happened offscreen :/ Idk I was hoping for a first kiss back together or Something
On the one hand while it seems like nureyev is being a Snake™ I'm gonna hold back on actually saying he's gonna betray the crew bc he's been so consistently set up as the villain, going back to s1 when juno refused to trust him all the way through to shadows of the ship, and he's never actually proven himself untrustworthy a single time through that? Like, murderous mask has been the only time he's actually fucked anyone over for his own gain, and he went back on that one pretty quick
Plus the fact that he's only claiming to deliver the four items they need, not the curemother itself - it could be that he's planning to wait until after they've stolen the curemother when they no longer have a use for them, or at least I'd like to think so peter I'm fucking Watching You
Another thought: you know how else you might describe a debt? Something you owe to someone because, maybe, they have something of yours? A fucking ransommmmm
Also, why! Did! That! Bot! Not! Self! Destruct! Or at least not straight away. It's almost like someone wanted them to get away in the nick of time. There's a part of me that's wondering if the fact that dark matters is under mysterious new management and the fact that nureyev has made himself what seems like a very powerful enemy are linked, but we'll see. Either way I think someone definitely facilitated their escape, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was whoever is holding peter's debt, using the crew as a tool to get their hands on the four items they want and keeping nureyev as a source on their progress
Looking forward.... other people have said this as well, but I don't think nureyev is ever going to be cast as a villain here. At the very worst, he'll do something well-intentioned but kind of stupid, and it's gonna blow up in his face. Like, it's gonna hurt, but I think he'll come out of the other side better for whatever happens. Currently, my thoughts are on whether or not we'll see a repeat of new kinshasa - a high-stakes choice between someone dear to him, and the choice he feels he has to make, whether that's other people's lives again or something else. Idk, maybe not, I'm just thinking about the theming of the series with the past always coming back to haunt them, the fact that he's been said to be at a crossroads back in man in glass, and the part in tools of rust where the ruby gives jet the opportunity to make the same mistake he did fifteen years ago, and he chooses differently. Tbh as usual I'm just excited to see how things play out however that is
ACTUAL second listen this time:
Rita redacted I love you so much x3 combo. I missed this earlier but it needs to be said
Rita says she found nureyev's name by hacking into buddy's notes on him and comparing them to the outer rim criminal records which leads me to ask the question how much does buddy know? Why would rita be checking outer rim records unless something in buddy's notes pointed her in that direction? I've had my suspicions that she knows more than she's saying for a while but 👀
Nureyev sounds so nervous/scared too...... :(
I had this thought on the first listen but didn't write it down: nureyev is so goddamn smart, like so smart, I don't think he gets enough credit for that. Also him saying "one problem at a time, like [buddy] would say" was - oof. Considering how much time he spends referencing mag's advice in man in glass, even if he's bitter about it, I think that reference is very telling on how he thinks about her
Love the way he skirts around saying they have to move sneakily dhsgjf. Also "only twice" I do love him
Juno joking about his track record on not dying.... oh he's come a long way though
The way that nureyev talks to rita throughout them moving around - he's kind of a natural leader (which, ouch), but also it's clear that he has absolute confidence in her, he doesn't ever doubt for a second that she wouldn't be able to do something. It's obviously a little unempathetic when she's so shaken and doubting herself but also he clearly trusts her almost as much as if not as much as juno, and I do love to hear it
Detective falco? 👀
Juno looking on the bright side! Not blaming himself! Saying maybe it's gonna be okay and believing in her! I cry!
Except for when nureyev is in danger though ): I love that this story never shows recovery in a linear way, that juno is still inclined to beat himself up even if he is better than he used to be. He's growing but it's always gonna be a work in progress!
The fact that dark matters seems to be moving entirely towards remote operation now? Like it makes sense tactically, there's no risk of expending agents in a fight, I'm interested if the writers are gonna dig into that considering the real-world state of drone use in the military and law enforcement
Calling their heist marks "radicals", it seems like dark matters is trying to keep track of or maybe capture rogue (or radical) elements out in the universe - things like the knife and the key, which is probably why they were after m'tendere, they themselves being a radical element. I wonder if this is what brought the crew to their attention in the first place; it's definitely why they want to capture them alive at least, they want information out of them on why they're collecting the same marks
They specifically say two radicals though, and potentially a third, depending on whether the book is counted as the third that might mean they don't know about the map at all, maybe
I mentioned this another time but I'm wondering Again if dark matters was behind the mysterious disappearance of all the theia soul chips except for juno's, esp with what rita said about the interface for the bots being like theia tech - experimental tech like that would deffo be considered a radical element and they definitely could have used it as a basis for these new bots
Peter........ he's in a ROBOT stop being HORNY
"Galaxy-class criminals" huh.
Someone else pointed this out elsewhere idr who but buddy's line that sometimes helping people means trusting them to help themselves despite your concerns, when paired with what's going on with nureyev is.... interesting
WOW buddy is mad though
I'm REALLY wondering how much she knows about what's going on tbh, especially seeing as her pov is probably up next. Aaaaa I'm gonna be yelling for the next however many weeksss
Jet sounds so happy about the ruby being fixed aw
Vespa so nervous about making her announcement AW
Buddy sounds so HAPPY AW
Peter starts laughing right at the end when vespa starts threatening juno which,, oh boy ): I rly hope everything turns out okay ;;
Rita saying that sometimes trying to help someone in pain is being selfish because you just don't want to look at the hurt is a really interesting thing to come from her considering her long-standing relationship with juno, huh
“Before the year is out” is a very vague timeframe, once again thinking that nureyev’s plan may well be to only hand the items over once the heist is done
Anyway once again AAAAA
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