#if memory serves: a Juno Steel mystery

[thevioletsunflower]

A piece inspired by part one of If Memory Serves: A Juno Steel Mystery by @thepenumbrapodcast. If you aren’t already subscribed to their audiobook feed you absolutely should be.

[thepenumbrapodcast]

Big news yesterday, Travelers...

Not one new project, but TWO!

The audiobook for our Juno novel, If Memory Serves: A Juno Steel Mystery, starts releasing Oct 6, exclusively on our bonus content platform!

Then our next audio drama, Thirst, will begin next summer, 2025.

Want more info on the Juno novel, including its release plan and how it links to the podcast? Head on over to this post, where we've laid it all out for you. (The post is free, so you can read it even if you aren't a Patron.)

Want more info on Thirst? Well, we've got an eensy teensy little bit of that at the link above... but for the rest, you'll have to wait 😉

[chainlxnk]

just started the q&a and "juno and the second citadel are dead. and today we dance upon their graves!" fucking killed me

OH WE'RE STARTING OFF STRONG WITH A QUESTOIN AOUT ANNIE OKAY THEN

i do love their policy on not answering things post finale and like leaving things uo to interperation its like one of my favorite things about them

I ALOS LOVE THE WHOLEHEARTED BELIEF THAT NUREYEV CAN'T COOK FOR SHIT THIS MAN HAS NEVER ONCE MADE A DISH THAT TASTES ANYTHING EVEN RESEMBALING EDIBLE

"well buddy canonically does own a bar, which probably serves food" "buddy also canonically doesn't eat"

"when we started, we didn't even know this was gonna be a podcast!" I'M SORRY WHAT??????

WHAT WAS IT GOING TO BE?????

"Juno Steel, five years old" ?????????????

its really nice to know that voice actors are also insane about other voice actors lmao "I can report, not to call you out, that I have literally watched you engage in conversation with Kiki and loose the ability to speak" "i get so weird around her" and "I bid, like the highest and I won- (cackling in the background) shut up, and i won but i had to reach out to her to sceduale it and I just never did bc i got to scared.so I still am owed a shopping day with Kiki Samko, and someday i'm gonna be there, but not yet. it was like a decade ago." so real. so real.

trying to avoid major spoilers for Second Citadel (bc im considering listening to that one next) is so fun lma

wait i love their response to 'howdoes it feel to be a part of so many queer and trans awakenings' like i'm gonna cry over here

wait wait wait i just saw that the first episdoe of If Memory Serves is captioned with 'a juno steel adventure' does it have to do with NIghtmare-not-sasha????? plesase tell me it has to do with nightmare-not-sasha

JOSHUA ILON JOKING ABOUT PLAYING SPIDERMAN OMFG

I'M SORRY CIRCLE BACK "rita is almost certainly originally from earth, and her mom was almost certainly a terrorist. like her mom built bombs and used them on probably innocent people"

HARLEY ND KEVIN WROTE A JUNO STEEL NOVEL?????????????????

OHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOH THATS WHAT IF MEMORY SERVES IS!!!!

oooo its about young junoooo!!!!!!

wait is that from sasha??? IT ISSS

omg diamond. fuck i this has to do with DIAMOND????

"i dont know! talk to them about which gun is the sexiest until i come up with something better!" "..is that really what you think we talk about"

HIJIKATA????????

SHUT THE FUCK UP HE THINKS SASHA'S DEAD????????

ohh my goddddd the fickking cliffhanger i'm gonna end up suscribing to the supercasttt fuck i need a job

AND they're making another podcast tooooo ahhhhhhh

okay I'm dying thanks for introducing me to the magic of the penumbra Lu you've killed me

the Spiderman au was DESTINED

SPEAKING OF BUDDYS BAR BARTENDER AU WHEN I NEED IT LIKE WATER

I need that book immediately god I need poster time to practice drawing Juno again oh my god

Rita is low-key so mysterious WYM HER MOM WAS PROBABLY A TERRORIST 😭 I need tidbits os Rita lore in an art book or something

TERHEE UR WELCOME I LIVE TO RUIN PEOPLES LIVES W GOOD MEDIA 🤭🤭🤭

[davey-in-a-minivan]

every single chapter of if memory serves a juno steel mystery makes me crazy but episode 7 is making me WILD it's like it was tailormade for meeee

[stillpartofthisworld]

Juno Steel and the Deal with The Devil-NanoWrimo 11/02

Juno knows this is a bad idea.

He's standing in his kitchen, staring at the countertop. It's a nice countertop-a lovely granite that matches the cupboards. Shame that he got blood all over it.

The blood in question isn't his, for once. It's goat's blood, fresh out of the bag from a butcher across the street. He'd put it in a bowl, and then used one of Benten's old watercolor brushes to draw the appropriate sigils across the surface. The summoning circle he'd drawn looked perfect, mirroring the one he'd seen online.

Now he had to hope that the rest of the plan went as smoothly.

He lights the five candles at the edges and pulls out his phone. He's only a little buzzed tonight, so he can make out the words on his screen easily. They were in Latin, sure, but Sasha had taken Latin in highschool and had forced him and Mick to help her memorize verbs, so it can't be that different.

He sucks in a breath, and begins to chant.

20 minutes and 2 cans of beer later, and Juno feels like an idiot. Of course the stupid, stupid summoning circle didn't work. Why the hell should it? It's not like demons actually exist, and even if they did, why would the come at the beck and call of a Reddit post?

"Fuck," he mutters, and lurches out of the couch. He needs to clean the kitchen before Rita comes to see him tomorrow. Can't have her seeing his slow descent into madness, especially not after-

He hears a knock on the door.

Juno moves towards it. He thinks he might have ordered a pizza when he got home, but the amount of drinks between got home and now are enough to make him uncertain. He fumbles for the lock, and only remembers to check the peephole after the door is swinging open.

The man in front of Juno's door is tall, pale, and most importantly, handsome. He's dressed in a tailored suit, all black save for the blood red cufflinks on both wrists. His silver cross earrings sway in the breeze, glinting as they reflect the streetlights. His face is all angles; sharp cheekbones, slanted eyes and a cocked smile, his lips pulled back far enough to reveal wickedly pointed canines. It's enough to make Juno want to touch him and make sure he's real, that beauty like that could be tangible.

Instead he settles on clearing his throat. "Who are you?" He asks gruffly, and somehow the strangers' smile just gets wider. "I'm not sure what you mean, Juno," he says, and even his voice sounds beautiful, smooth and sauve like liquid mercury. "After all, you're the one who called me."

Juno freezes. Then:

"What."

The man points a long, manicured finger into Juno's apartment, where the kitchen is. Where the summoning circle.

Well, shit.

"What, you mean, you're...the...demon?"

The alleged demon chuckles at his incredulous tone. "What else would I be, dear? It's not everyday random men show up at your doorstep."

"You'd be surprised." the rebuttal comes automatically, and just serves to streach the man's grin even wider. "Aren't demons supposed to show up in the summoning circle? And be all fire and brimstone?"

"Is that what people are saying nowadays?" The stranger sighs, shaking his head. He leans on the door frame, using his height to let his gaze rove lazily across Juno's body. "The summoning circle isn't meant to trap us, dear. It's more of a...calling card. I show up how I like. And as for the 'fire and brimstone', well-" He snaps his fingers, and suddenly there is a small blue flame in between his thumb and index finger. "I could certainly show you," he continues smoothly, "But I assumed that your furniture might be flammable."

What had he gotten himself into?

"Oh, nothing that thousands of other humans haven't gotten themselves into before," the demon replies, and Juno realizes he's been talking out loud. "Might I come in?"

Still reellng, Juno moves out of the way to let the man in. He looks around the space curiously. It's a nice place; Rita was the one who'd shown him the listing, and Benten was the one who'd bought all the furniture. It still felt like it wasn't his apartment at times, like he was the one dirty thing in this clean, crisp home.

The demon, however, fit perfectly into the room. He sits down on the couch, crossing his legs and gingerly placing an empty beer can on the coffee table. "Can I get you something to drink?" Juno asks, and the demon waves him away. "I'm quite alright for now, thank you. Let's get down to business, shall we?" He spreads his hands in front of him dramatically. Sighing, Juno takes a seat opposite of the demon.

"I have to say, I am curious," The demon cups his chin with both his hands. "Why did you summon me, Juno Steel?"

"Well...you know, thinking back on it, it wasn't such good idea." Juno scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "I was sad, and drunk, and honestly I didn't even think it was going to work!"

"Most people don't-"

"And it's not like I have to show up with you tomorrow," He says, getting angry at himself. "I can go with Rita and Ben and just stick to the back of the reception. Drink all I want and get driven home. But it was just...the pictures and the updates and the register- God that fucking register-"

"I'm not sure I follow-"

"So I just had to pretend that I got over him! Putting down a plus one and writing "significant other" like a fucking dumbass. Stupid Juno, stupid-"

"Can you please explain-"

"I need a date for my ex's wedding."

The demon looks at him and blinks once, twice, before- "I beg your pardon?"

Juno pauses, unsure. "You...know what a wedding is, right?"

"Of course I know what a wedding is," the demon snaps, and Juno swears that for a second his dark eyes glow blue. "But is that the only reason you called a demon? To spite an old partner?"

"He was my ex-fiance, if that adds anything." His tone is flat and unbothered; he'd been practicing. "Found out he was cheating on me a week before the wedding, too, the bastard."

The demon looks at him in shock, then with something akin to sympathy. "That...makes a lot more sense."

"Yeah, yeah, so now he's marrying the same asshole who he left me for and had the nerve to invite me, so excuse me for not wanting to look like I'm still pining for him." Juno looks away from the demon in front of him. God, he needed a drink. Hell, he needed a liquor store.

"And...might I ask why you simply didn't...look for a human to go with?" The demon inquires softly, still staring at him. "Go on one of those those...blind dates?" Juno's head snaps back to look at him incredulously. "Have you seen this, buddy?" Juno gestures to his face; the scars around his eyepatch, and the very visibly sunken skin under it. "Ain't no one swiping right on this."

"I think you're quite handsome, actually. In a rugged way." The demon says quietly, and Juno has to laugh. "You're a natural at this boyfriend thing, bud. I almost believed you."

Before he can speak again, Juno cuts in. "Anyway, what's the payment for this again? You want my soul or something?"

"Oh, nothing so barbaric," the demon waves a hand. "We haven't asked for souls for a long time; they don't keep as well as they used to."

Juno decides not to ask about that.

"Rather, we trade in favours," his smile is back, his tone all milk and honey. "I do something for you, you do something for me, and everyone's happy."

"Uh-huh.” Like he was about to buy that. "What do you usually ask for?"

"Why ruin the surprise?" His canines peek out again, and Juno briefly wonders how the demon never manages to cut himself on his own smile. "I try not to ask for the same things twice; gets awfully boring when you do. It doesn't have to be right away, either; I could ask you years down the line instead."

Juno scowls at that. "I like my consequences to be punctual, actually."

"Good thing I'm the one planning the consequence then, hmm?" The man laughs lightly. "For now, dear, all I need is to officially seal our deal." He stands from the sofa, towering over Juno. "I am bound to your service for as long as you require me," he says, bowing slightly. "All I ask is that you give me a name."

"What do you need a name for?"

The demon shrugs. "It's a way of sealing the contract. The old way demanded that we spill the blood of a virgin, if you would prefer." He looks up from his bow, one eyebrow raised. "I'm sure you don't meet the criteria for that, but if you want we could-"

"Fine, fine!" Juno nearly shouts, willing his blood to not enter his cheeks. "You want a name that badly? Why don't you pick one?"

The demon straightens. "Well, I suppose I could think of a few names that might fit..." He taps a long finger to his chin thoughtfully. "How about...Rex Glass? That sounds exciting, doesn't it-"

"Nope. Too weird."

The demon looks at him, shocked. "Too weird?" He chokes out. "Well, I never-"

"Picked a good name before? Clearly. Try again."

The demon sighs. "Well, if you insist. How about... Perseus Shah?"

"Nope."

"Duke Rose?"

"Sounds like someone I'd want to shoot, next."

"How about a Monsieur Dauphin? A little mystery-"

"Is going to get both of us killed, try again."

"Christopher Morales?"

"Well now you just went too plain."

"You're impossible to please, did you know that?"

"So I've been told."

The demon huffs. "Well, then, how about..." His face goes thoughtful for a moment, then nostalgic, then something else altogether that Juno can't quite place. He stays like that for a moment, all softness and memory, before suddenly switching back to a rogueish grin. "I've got one. Peter... Nureyev."

He looks so pleased with himself, it takes all of Juno's willpower to not shoot it down. Because it's actually a good name. Peter Nureyev seems to fit this demon well.

"Nureyev it is, then."

And they shake on it.

[knitmeapony]

Knitmeapony’s Serial Fiction Podcast recs

These are the serial fiction podcasts I have listened to enough to have opinions on.  Please feel free to ask about any of them if you like!  

I need to go back through and make sure I didn’t leave any out, so if you see something not on the list drop me a note -- there’s a better-than-even chance I just didn’t realize it wasn’t here.

Ongoing Podcasts

http://mabelpodcast.com is amazing, it’s an eerie story about a woman trying to get in touch with the estranged granddaughter of the woman she takes care of as a live-in nurse. There’s ghosts, or faeries, or something else eerie.

gonepodcast.podbean.com is a weird, cool, single-voice podcast about the only woman left at the end of the world – or maybe just in this current iteration.  Wonderful narrator, lovely details about her life, deals with disability well!

http://thebrightsessions.com is a sweet, light podcast about a bunch of kids (high school and college age) who have superpowers and go to therapy. There’s a thriller element, lots of queer rep, and tons of in-world documents/blogs/etc created.

https://spinespodcast.com/ is about a girl named Wren who wakes up in the middle of a blood ritual only knowing that three words are important: Grove, Mosaic, Trumpet.  It's a great surreal podcast about people with some kind of powers. Some disturbing body horror in a couple eps, some great conspiracy work in others, all around fantastic.

https://www.thefarmeridian.com/ is about Peri, an agoraphobic woman who finds that her house is suddenly swapping between realities.  She goes out to get supplies, figure out why, and find her brother.  Very ethereal and a relaxing listen.

http://www.kingfallsam.com/ is about the radio hosts of the overnight call-in show in King Falls, a town where the weird happens.  Reminds me of Eerie, Indiana, if you ever saw that show.

http://withinthewires.com is by the Welcome to Night Vale people and it’s a creepy horror story about an oppressive regime and women escaping from it, and sisters and love and memory and identity.

https://arsparadoxica.com/ is a cold-war-style spy show about time travel and accidental history and science and people who are broken in interesting ways.

http://www.albasalix.com/  is a silly fairy-tale comedy that reminds me in all the best ways of a great sitcom. It’s about the grumpy Royal Physician to the King in a fantasy land and the idiots that plague her.  There's a spin-off, The Axe and Crown, about a troll-owned tavern in the same universe.  It's on the same feed and just as good, if not better.

http://woodenovercoats.com/ reminds me instead of the great old British comedies like Fawlty Towers and Are You Being Served? It’s about a struggling funeral home on a tiny island and is lightly surreal. (It’s narrated by a mouse, for starters).

http://iriscasefiles.tumblr.com only has a couple of eps, but it’s a cool adventure-y mystery in outerspace about a biologist and, I think, a revolution.

http://www.wolf359.fm/ is incredible, it’s about a small crew on a deep-space science mission that quickly goes bad – but it’s funny and charming and full of found family.  In its last season.

http://www.thepenumbrapodcast.com/ is a genre-bending semi-noir semi-cyberpunk semi-manythings podcast about a grand hotel just this side of nowhere and the people that inhabit it.  Juno Steel is a mess of a detective, but he gets through the day with a few drinks and some good people helping him.

http://thebridgepod.com is a tale of the Transcontinental Bridge, a once-grand project that has fallen to ruin, the mystery of what happened to those who once lived there, and deep-sea monsters and the eco-terrorists who love'em.  Atmospheric af.

http://www.hectorvsthefuture.com/ is a staged audio show (complete with live audience in a theater) an absurdist show about a man who runs the only museum in the future, and the woman who runs the... opposite of a museum?  Lovely farce, very steampunky.

http://rustyquill.com/the-magnus-archives/ is a weekly reading from, well, The Magnus Archives, a collection of eerie, horror-tastic documents in possession of a group that specializes in studying the weird.

http://www.archive81.com/ is also about both the library and librarian of a weird collection.  I stopped listening at the beginning of season 2 because of some pretty explicitly on-tape torture, but before that it was good.

https://greaterbostonshow.com/ reminds me of a slightly more serious Douglas Adams, it’s a slightly surreal show about people in Boston and…weirdness.  Just getting going on this one, so no spoilers please.

http://www.returnhomepodcast.com/ is about an ordinary guy who returns home to find his dad has forgotten him, his mother is missing, and the Society of Shadows needs him.  The writing starts out pretty cliche but it gets better as the show goes on.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/oakpodcast/id1214775891?mt=2 OAK Podcast is about a burned spy trying to survive.  She's talking to her old partner, Oak, trying to get him to help her.

http://www.ourfaircity.com/ is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi… I’m not sure what to call it.  It’s not a comedy, but it is weirdly funny.  It’s not horror, but it can be horrific.  I have audio processing issues and this one gives me trouble, but when I can puzzle it through it’s worth it.  In its last season.

http://pnwstories.com/ has The Black Tapes, Tanis, and Rabbits, all presented as very ordinary NPR-style podcasts about weird and mysterious things – a collection of supernatural events that a scientist is studying, a place/state of mind/eerie thing called Tanis, and an ARG/real-world game.  I like’em well enough but they lean on the same tropes, so pick one and stick with it IMO.

http://www.lorepodcast.com/ is more folklore than fiction, but it’s good storytelling about mysterious and creepy and lovely things, so I think it belongs here.

Podcasts that are done/on perma hiatus afaik.

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/panoply/the-message The Message and Life After are each one-season shows on this same stream. The Message is about a dangerous sound/music being studied.  lif-e.af/ter is about people who live on via their social media profiles after death.

http://pleasuretownshow.com/ is about a turn of the century town in Oklahoma that was once envisioned as a hedonistic utopia but quickly fell to the vaguarities of man.

http://thrillingadventurehour.com/ now rarely updated, but with tons of back episodes – an old-school radio play type show.  The two stories that anchor it are Sparks Nevada, Marshall on Mars (space cowboys!) and Beyond Belief (glamorous NYC couple drinks, encounters the supernatural, amuses themselves by resolving problems) but there are quite a few serial shows.

http://www.eos10.com/ is about a couple of doctors on a space station that serves as an intergalactic travel hub, and is silly and ridiculous and worth it.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-elysium-project/id955156631?mt=2 The Elysium Project is about folks who were experimented on and given strange powers, and have now escaped from the people who had them captive.  Really interesting take on how the powers work, IMO, and definitely scary sometimes.

https://www.lessergodspodcast.com/ is about the Final Five – the last generation of humans after a reproductive apocalypse.  They live in decadent fame as the world ends and people desperately try to create more people.  I wish this was fully acted rather than read in-perspective, I have a hard time keeping characters apart sometimes, but it’s good stuff in terms of world-building.

http://www.limetownstories.com/ is so so so good and I so hope for another season – a decade ago a scientific collective/town disappeared completely, to a person.  A reporter related to one of them investigates what could happen.  Heart-poundingly scary in all the best ways.

[thepenumbrapodcast]

It's happening! Just 25 days 'til the story of Juno's first-ever cases as a PI starts releasing. Ep. 1 will be on our feed, but for everything after that you'll have to pledge on our bonus content platform to get the novel early, chunk by chunk, as we produce the audiobook. The roles are cast and recording is underway!

For up-to-date news on the bonus content platform shift and release, subscribe at patreon.com/thepenumbrapodcast!

And if a subscription model doesn't work for you, remember we'll be releasing the novel and audiobook for sale once it's fully produced next year. Details and price TBA!

[thevioletsunflower]

Part two of my @thepenumbrapodcast novel bookplates series, this time featuring one of the creepiest villains I’ve ever encountered in any media. Here’s to you, Flyface you terrifying cyborg!

[thepenumbrapodcast]

The first 1/12 of our Juno Steel novel is out now on the public feed! This is a younger Juno with Issues working through his first case as a PI - don't miss it!

And once you're done, we have a commentary up on the Special Edition for Behind the Scenes supporters! As always, you can sign up for the Special Edition here: thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com

Remember: starting w/ episode 2 these early episodes will ONLY be for Special Edition supporters, so lock in now to get If Memory Serves before anyone else and chat with others who have it, too!

[thepenumbrapodcast]

Just seventeen more days until If Memory Serves: A Juno Steel Mystery ep. 1 drops and your audio player could look like THIS!

... I mean, there will be sounds coming out of yours, unlike this image, but still

(Was this a little mean? Yes. Do I feel guilty? Constantly, every single day. Just not about this, specifically.)

Remember that you can get the most up-to-date info on our next project and platform shift on patreon.com/thepenumbrapodcast!

[thepenumbrapodcast]

Today’s the day! We’ve launched The Penumbra Podcast: SPECIAL EDITION and the full first episode of our Juno Steel audiobook, “If Memory Serves,” is waiting for you there RIGHT NOW.

You can head over to http://thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com to find it, and existing Patreon supporters can migrate their accounts at http://thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com/patreons. We hope you love the book! It was many years and much heartbreak in the making, and we’re very happy to finally be bringing it to you.

Note for existing Patreon supporters: Due to some changes Patreon made on their back end without our knowledge, the migration tool over to the new platform experienced some pricing hiccups upon launch. We believe we’ve fixed everything, so you should be all set! Please let us know if anything still looks incorrect to you and we will do our best to solve it.

Final note from Kevin: previously on Twitter and Tumblr specifically, I said that the first episode would be on our public feed today. We've discussed it internally and decided it's not fair to our supporters paying for the early release tier to do this, so the public release of episode 1 will be on Tuesday, as we usually do and as I should have assumed in the first place. I sincerely apologize for misspeaking - this is why we try not to announce anything until we have it all nailed down. --Kevin

[thepenumbrapodcast]

Just FIVE DAYS LEFT! This Sunday, episode 1 of our audiobook If Memory Serves: A Juno Steel Mystery is coming to your ears on the main podcast feed. This is the beginning of a younger, grumpier, messier Juno's first case ever as a PI, and you don't want to miss it!

(Patrons and bonus supporters: we're inches away from finalizing our new bonus platform and we're aiming to have it online this weekend, but don't fret: no matter what, you're still getting bonus content for episode 1!)

[thepenumbrapodcast]

Heads up!

Our series finale Q&A for Juno and Second Citadel, including our announcements and the sneak peek at If Memory Serves, the Juno novel, is up now on the public podcast feed! Enjoy, Travelers!

[thepenumbrapodcast]

Hi all! It's If Memory Serves Sunday over on the Special Edition, and the start of Part 2 of our novel means we have another teaser for you! This teaser features the debut of, no joke, one of Harley and Kevin's favorite characters they've ever written... with DEFINITELY the most audacious name they've ever written. No spoilers here that weren't in the first full episode we released to everyone, minus the fact that there is a total hunk in Part 2.

If you want to catch If Memory Serves as it's released, remember to head over to thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com and pledge at any level to access it! We need your support to make our next show, Thirst, happen. Please help us get it there!

[thepenumbrapodcast]

Our first VIP Livestream Club starts in ONE HOUR, at 4 PM EST! Come livestream hangout with Kevin, Harley, and Pint Slice as we talk about If Memory Serves, Thirst, and try to emotionally cope with the world.

This event is for Backstage Pass-tier supporters over on the Penumbra: Special Edition, which you can sign up for here: thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com.

See you soon!

[thepenumbrapodcast]

ICYMI: the VOD for our Q&A is up for all paying Patrons! Harley is wrangling the audio to get it all gussied up for release on the public feed... but if you can't wait, or if you want to see Joshua and Melissa's beautiful faces (or Kevin and Harley's ugly mugs), head to Patreon!