The YMMV tropes of The Penumbra Podcast and its various storylines. All spoilers from seasons 1 and 2 are unmarked.
The series as a whole:
- LGBT Fanbase: A pretty sizable one, primarily due to the creators' commitment to diversity and the show's large number of canonically LGBT characters.
- Stuck in Their Shadow: Out of all of The Penumbra Podcast's storylines, Juno Steel is by far the most well-known and has the largest fanbase; many people who haven't listened to the series assume Juno Steel is the only storyline, and some people skip the short story and Second Citadel episodes entirely on their first listen. (This is partly because Juno Steel was developed much more than Second Citadel in the series' first season.) The writers are now developing Second Citadel further, however, and fans of the show are starting to come around.
Juno Steel:
- Crack Pairing: Mick Mercury and Nova Zolotovna, for being the story's only two confirmed heterosexual characters that aren't already in a relationship.
- Love to Hate: Pilot Pereyra. They're a horrible human being, but beloved by the fandom for their hilarious dialogue and their comically impractical taste in heels.
- Jerkass Dissonance: Throughout season 1 and most of season 2, Juno's... not a great person. Sure, he's good at catching criminals, but he's also a depressed, self-destructive alcoholic who destroys his secretary's property when she annoys him, is horribly mean to even his closest friends, and walks out on Peter without saying goodbye the night before they're supposed to leave Mars together. Still, he's relatable and fun to watch, and him eventually trying to become a better person is cathartic to experience.
- Memetic Loser: Peter Nureyev, as of season 3. The first two seasons of the show portray him as The Ace and a Foil to walking disaster Juno Steel. Then he finally narrated an episode (the season 3 premiere, "Juno Steel and the Man in Glass"), and it became clear that he's more of a Broken Ace: he's depressed and bitter over Juno leaving him at the end of season 1, badly coping with his trauma, terrified of aging, and deep in debt. He's still very competent, but the fandom loves to jokingly bully him.
- Memetic Mutation: "Knees up, booty popped!"note
