Some thoughts and theories based on “The Stone Unturned”:
We have parallels between Sasha and Slick– people who knew they were going up against dangerous people and planned accordingly by making sure they had no connections or identity to exploit
Except one unexpected connection– which instantly becomes a weakness. In Slick’s case it was Peter. In Sasha’s it’s this Child.
Not Juno or Mick, pointedly, because she tried to kill Juno already. I think that’s either to protect the Child, or else because she’s already lost the Child and is in a death spiral.
She’s purging databases, murdering weapons designers, killing friends, planning a big demonstration. And somehow even more frightening, she’s talking about becoming a symbol. It almost sounds like she’s planning to burn down the metaphorical house with herself still inside it.
It could be that the Child is her own– maybe she had a kid biologically (unlikely, given that a multi- month leave of absence wouldn’t go unnoticed, especially for such a notorious workoholic), adopted them, or:
The Child is her sister. Annie. Dead but resurrected after years on ice, like Wilco.
Dark Matters had no problem using Annie’s loss to torment Sasha once already. It’s possible they cribbed her voice and likeness from old audio and video files… But they might have used other methods.
Maybe Sasha learned this when she became Director. Maybe she tried to tuck the zombified corpse of her sister into her personal safe house, the way she once tried to do with Juno.
Maybe somebody found The Child anyway and killed her all over again during an attempt to usurp Director W.
Maybe Annie came back wrong, and Sasha did it herself to put her sister to rest at last.
Maybe Sasha decided that nobody should have this kind of power– and it the technology can’t be put back now that it’s out there, maybe she wants to ensure that nobody can use it like this again.
(Yes, that might also mean taking out Mick and Wilco)
We’ve already seen Points made about making assumptions and writing people off because of them, and about missing key details of your opponent’s motivation because you weren’t willing to look close enough to understand them.
Which is to say: Sasha isn’t in the right here, she’s burning things to the ground in the most dangerous way, but she’s not Evil or unworthy of being understood. Understanding is not the same as forgiving, which is not the same as condoning. Juno started down that road when he confronted his mother, and he’s doing it again by being willing to learn more about Nureyev through the book. He’s going to have to do it again for Sasha.
If Rita gets married, I think she’ll take her spouse’s surname.
Not in the sense that Rita will adopt it for her own– she’ll take it, and that surname will also become a mystery to the universe, never again to be spoken aloud.
since valentine’s day is next week, here you go. have some junoverse valentines!
[ID: a set of 9 valentines, each with pick up line and a digital drawing of a junoverse character on a colored card that says “to:” and “from:” at the bottom. the cards are as follows:
juno steel smiling softly in a yellow dress with the text “I’d go through a season-long character growth arc to be with you, valentine.” | vespa ilkay with her arms crossed beside the line “Would you be my… heh… wife?” | sasha wire holding up a blaster with the text “I always aim for the heart, valentine.”
rita munching on chips beside the line “Will you be my valentine?”, followed by a smaller paragraph of text that reads “*Just like in Valentine Kills 2: The Return of Dr. Love-Man when Riley and Elphana had to go on the run together through the Plutonian countryside to escape the terrible curse that had been placed upon them, and ended up finding love along the way–”.
peter nureyev smirking with the text “Call me a fool if you like… but I think I may want to be your valentine.” | buddy aurinko sultrily holding a wine glass with the text “I know how to make a special lady feel special. Maybe if you’re very good that’ll be you, valentine.”
jet standing with his hands behind his back beside the text “I do not experience sexual or romantic attraction, but I will gladly spend today with you, as you are a close personal friend who I respect.”
mick mercury making a heart with his hands with the text “Humans are 90% water, but I’m 100% full of love for you, valentine.” | the ruby 7 with the text “*whistles*”. END ID]
For everyone who is looking for a reason to start listening to podcasts!! I’ve only listened to a few so far but I’ve fallen deeeeep into the wormhole and am looking to drag some people down with me.
Reasons!
-Podcasts are super convenient. You can listen to them while you drive, cook, clean, draw, fold laundry, take a jog, etc etc. It’s not like binging tv shows where you have to stare at a screen all day, you can do other stuff while listening.
-There is a ton of easily accessible content. Ever feel like you’re losing passion for your old fandoms and are searching for a new obsession? Podcasts are for you! There are sooo many podcasts that have lots of episodes and for the most part, at least the ones I’ve listened to you can get for free on Spotify?? Super easy.
-All of the premises are really unique and creative. Sometimes it seems like mainstream media has beaten tropes and concepts to death, and podcasts are really refreshing in this respect. Every single podcast I’ve heard of has an entirely original idea for its premise, whether it be about a private investigator on Mars or supernatural therapy sessions or ancient fear gods, every podcast is interesting and fun and different.
-The storytelling is, dare I say, galaxy-brain. The plots of podcasts are all very intricate and well-constructed and pretty much flawless to a degree. The same goes for character development and everything else. It’s the kind of thing where you relisten to it and catch a bit of foreshadowing you hadn’t noticed before or think about a parallel and you’ve suddenly transformed into the ‘poetic cinema’ meme.
-There is sooooo much representation. Pretty much every podcast, at least the newer ones/more popular ones/ones that are well-known on tumblr, have extensive lgbt+ rep. I’m talking characters who are gay, lesbian, bi, pan, nb, trans, aro, ace…i’m not saying they cover every single identity, but there are some podcasts where it would be difficult to name a straight character. It’s pretty awesome.
-There’s something for everyone! There is a wide range of different genres of podcasts, from horror to fantasy to sci-fi to basically everything. There’s a lot of variety in the tone, too. Like, some podcasts are really prestigious and serious and have super in-depth plots and lore, and the character’s emotional arcs are kinda second to the plot. Then you’ve got podcasts where there is barely a plot and it’s just a completely wack story where the characters make out a lot. Take your pick.
-They’re just good y’all. They can make you laugh or cry or both, usually both. You’ll fall in love with the characters and finally be able to understand the fandom’s bizarre inside jokes. Give them a try, trust me.
I managed to collect Penumbra sketches for you since I have been busy BUT I have been doodling. Some of this is from some projects I wanted to do but ultimately abandoned. (+bottom right is @mx-marrow OC Hieron!)
I’m tired of not knowing what I’m doing when drawing amab ppl, so it’s time to learn from refrence; give it up for Peter Nureyev for being an excellent model
[id: a rough digital sketch of arum and damien from the penumbra podcast. arum is carrying damien in a bridal carry with all four arms, damien in turn smiling bright as he wraps one arm around arum, and using the other to begin caressing arum’s face. little hearts float around their heads.]
cannot be assed to finish this sketch right now but i miss a them
I started listening to the Penumbra one year ago today, so here’s the scalies in fancy modern clothes to mark the occasion. image description is under the cut
[ID: A digital drawing of Juno and Rita. Rita has pink-toned darker skin and short reddish-brown hair which flips out at the ends. She looks concerned. Rita is wearing a blue skirt and a pink long sleeve shirt. Juno has darker brown skin and coiled black hair and he is smirking at Rita. He is wearing a black shirt and a black trench coat. The background shows that they are at an amusement park.
![[ HOOPLA! ]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/4eb9bd62068a2b75403e21da55a879e8/eba06d5d8ad9b12f-01/s30x30u_c1/61811a22ab8dbe25cdd2a1c2dc30bcb8e87208e2.png){kind=small}
