Be The Serpent/Episodes 1-10

False Utopias and… Robot Sex??

• Date: JANUARY 31, 2018
• Tentpoles: the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K Le Guin and the fanfiction "Victory Condition" by astolat.
• Mentioned:
  • Hopepunk, Grimdark, and Noblebright
  • Amal El-Mohtar
  • Zen koans
  • Rev. Martin Luther King
  • The Trolley Problem
  • Doctor Who: “The Beast Below”
  • Strongtime: when stories happen
  • Siegfried Sassoon and Regeneration
  • Omar Khayyam

Personality Taxonomies and Shouting about Hogwarts Houses

• Date:FEBRUARY 14, 2018
• Topic: Hogwarts houses (especially in regards to the Sorting Hat Chats system), the daemons of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials, and how personality classification systems can be a fun and useful writing tool.
• Mentioned:
  • Sorting Hat Chats
  • Astrology
  • Social identity theory
  • Anne McCaffrey
  • Divergent (Veronica Roth)
  • Liminal space
  • Howl's Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones)
  • His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman)
  • “He Says He Is an Experimental Theologian” by ErinPtah (Welcome to Night Vale-with-daemons AU)
  • "What a Beast Is Mankind" by Lady_ragnell (Leverage-with-daemons AU)
  • Psychoanalytic literary criticism
  • Navah Wolfe
  • The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Mackenzi Lee)
  • The Ringed Castle (Dorothy Dunnett)
  • Raven Strategem (Yoon Ha Lee)

Apocalypse Sometime, Maybe Next Tuesday

• Date: FEBRUARY 28, 2018
• Topic: The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison, the Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, "Sailor's Delight" by jinjurly, and what we'd do in the event of an apocalypse.
• Mentioned:
  • The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (Meg Elison)
  • Star Wars
  • Mad Max: Fury Road
  • "Sailor's Delight"
  • Broken Earth trilogy (N. K. Jemisin)
  • School’s Out Forever
  • Lord of the Flies
  • In the End (Alexandra Rowland)
  • "Solfege" (Freya Marske)
  • “The Day it Fell Apart” (Leslie Fish)
  • Natural Disasters
  • Frederica (Georgette Heyer)
  • Lotus Blue (Cat Sparks)
  • The Belles (Dhonielle Clayton)
  • A lot of Person of Interest fanfiction.

The Bastard’s Lying to You!

• Date: March 14, 2018
• Topic: LIAR by Justine Larbalestier, Yuri!! On Ice, "The Women Men Don't See" by James Tiptree Jr, and the joys and delights of unreliable narrators.
• Mentioned:
  • Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers
  • Liar (Justine Larbalestier)
  • Yuri Katsuki of Yuri!!! On Ice (2016)
  • "The Women Men Don’t See" (James Tiptree Jr.)
  • Kingsman (2014)
  • The Captive Prince series (C. S. Pacat)
  • Alex’s debut book, A Conspiracy of Truths (forthcoming, Fall 2018)
  • The Italians (John Hooper)
  • The Handmaiden (2016)
  • Fingersmith (Sarah Waters)
  • Why street magicians are the worst people alive
  • The Queen’s Thief series (Megan Whalen Turner)
  • Lots more fanfiction
  • "Written by the Victors” (Speranza)
  • “The Way of the Apartment Manager” (Elizabeth Culmer) (The Naruto fic Macey mentioned)
  • Lotus Blue (Cat Sparks)
  • The Belles (Dhonielle Clayton)
  • Undiscovered Country, A novel-length Yuri!!! On Ice Fanfiction
  • Even more Person of Interest Fanfiction

O Captain, My Captain

• Date: March 28, 2018
• Topic: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, Jupiter Ascending, and "Dangerous if Unbound" by Astolat -- what do these have in common? Fealty relationships!
• Mentioned:
  • Disney princesses
  • Noblebright & the hieros gamos (again)
  • A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland
  • The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
  • Jupiter Ascending
  • "Dangerous if Unbound" by Astolat
  • The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
  • The Empire Trilogy by Janny Wurts and Raymond E. Feist
  • Self-insert fanfiction
  • Courtly love
  • Eleanor of Aquitaine
  • Anastasia (and the stage musical)
  • Person of Interest
  • Kings
  • Single Use Weapon by Freya
  • Mathematical theory aka witchcraft
  • Ninefox Gambit and A Conservation of Shadows by Yoon Ha Lee
  • Atomic Blonde
  • Merlin
  • Star Trek TOS and the Star Trek reboot films
  • Reflections: On the Magic of Writing by Diana Wynne Jones
  • An Unsuitable Heir by KJ Charles

Cross Your Stars and Hope to Bi

• Date: April 11, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be The Serpent, we're talking about bisexuals in fiction. And because this is us, we have to come up with a taxonomy for them. So join us as we debate the merits and charms of the Chaos Disaster, the Sad Floppy Disaster, the Punch-You-in-the-Face Disaster, and the Terrifying, Competent Force of Nature Not-A-Disaster. The tentpoles this week are: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Mackenzi Lee), The World That You Need series (Dira Sudis), and In Other Lands (Sarah Rees Brennan).
• Mentioned:
  • The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
  • The World That You Need series by Dira Sudis
  • In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
  • Person of Interest (again)
  • Astolat (again)
  • Captive Prince by CS Pacat (always)
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • Hannibal
  • A Deeper Season by lightgetsin and sahiya
  • Killjoys
  • Grey’s Anatomy
  • Captain Jack Harkness of Doctor Who and Torchwood fame
  • Revenge
  • The Count of Monte Cristo
  • Nirvana in Fire
  • Julie d’Aubigny, historical Disaster Bisexual
  • The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (and the Vorkosigan Saga more broadly)
  • The Covert Captain by Jeannelle M. Ferreira
  • The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by Phenderson Djèlí Clark
  • Mr. Try Again by A. Merc Rustad
  • Too much Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfic.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells the Story

• Date: April 25, 2018
• Topic: historiography, propaganda, narrative control, Macey's misspent youth as a frozen meat salesperson, and some excellent pieces of fiction: "Written by the Victors" by Speranza, the Broadway show Hamilton, and The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin.
• Mentioned:
  • "Written by the Victors" by Speranza
  • Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda
  • The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
  • The House of Niccolò series by Dorothy Dunnett
  • Person of Interest fanfic
  • A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland
  • Ars Atlantiadae by multiple creators (usernames found in the link)
  • Podfic of Written by the Victors by multiple readers (usernames found in the link)
  • Steve Rogers at 100: Celebrating Captain America on Film by eleveninches, Febricant, hellotailor, M_Leigh, neenya, tigrrmilk
  • Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
  • "Interlude (Rise Up)" by Fahye
  • Mark Oshiro reading "Interlude (Rise Up)"
  • Podfic of "Interlude (Rise Up)" by various narrators
  • Black Sails
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall
  • The Newsflesh Series by Mira Grant
  • Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
  • The Lymond Chronicles (specifically The Ringed Castle and Checkmate) by Dorothy Dunnett
  • The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang
  • Still too much Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfic

Once More, With Feelings!

• Date: May 8, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're discussing "Theft of Assets, Destruction of Property" by Helenish, Think of England by KJ Charles, and the television show Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, as well as a full buffet of romance tropes. And we're joined by a guest, the lovely Amanda Jean from The Hopeless Romantic podcast!!

• Mentioned:
  • Think of England by KJ Charles
  • Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
  • Theft of Assets, Destruction of Property by Helenish
  • The Hopeless Romantic with Amanda Jean and Austin Chant
  • Eurovision
  • Douglas Adams
  • The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
  • Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • "Think Once, Think Twice" by Fahye (Freya)
  • Bear by Marian Engel
  • Captive Prince (again) by CS Pacat
  • Sherlock
  • Yuri!!! On Ice
  • "Victor Effing Nikiforov" by shysweetthing
  • "i know my madness" by astoryaboutwar
  • Piper Vaughn’s Portland Pack Chronicles
  • Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
  • The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan
  • In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
  • The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera
  • Isobelle Carmody
  • Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho
  • The Tea Master And The Detective by Aliette de Bodard
  • Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
  • Space Opera by Catherynne M Valente

Like Rome, But With Lasers

• Date: May 23, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're discussing space empires! We talk a little bit about the history of empires, writerly tips for constructing an empire, and the problems of imperialism. The tentpoles this week are: Ancillary Justice (and the rest of the Imperial Radch trilogy) by Ann Leckie, Star Wars, and The Course of Honour by Avoliot
• Tentpoles:
• Mentioned:
  • Farscape
  • Saga
  • Killjoys
  • Tithe by Holly Black
  • White Cat by Holly Black
  • Spider-Woman/The White Widow/the Spider-Gwen series
  • 4th Street Fantasy Convention
  • Katamari Damacy
  • Game of Thrones
  • The Little Prince
  • The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli
  • The Sun Chronicles (forthcoming) by Kate Elliott
  • Jupiter Ascending
  • Ninefox Gambit and the others in the The Machineries of Empire series by Yoon Ha Lee
  • Terraforming
  • Star Trek
  • Eurovision (esp. Verka Serduchka, the Buroanovskiye Babushki, and sparkles)
  • The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
  • Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
  • “Maggie Fitzgerald and the Saltwater Drip” by antistar_e

Extravaganza

• Date: June 6, 2018
• Topic: On this special episode, we're not talking about a theme -- we're answering a cornucopia of amazing questions from our darling listeners! It's the one you've all been waiting for! It's the extravaganza!
• Mentioned:
  • Daemons
  • Sorting Hat Chats
  • Jake Peralta (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
  • Jack Harkness (Doctor Who/Torchwood)
  • Mei Changsu (Nirvana in Fire)
  • Ocean’s Thirteen
  • Julius Caesar’s sexuality
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • Freya’s Hamilton fic “Interlude (Rise Up)”
  • Julie d’Aubigny
  • Josephine Baker
  • Australian bush fires
  • The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett
  • Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
  • Ninefox Gambit and Raven Strategem by Yoon Ha Lee
  • Ursula Vernon / T. Kingfisher
  • The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett (esp. the City Watch, Tiffany Aching and Moist Von Lipwig books)
  • The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
  • The Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy Sayers
  • The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  • Xena: Warrior Princess
  • Fanfic tropes such as: Identity porn, MPreg/Pregnancy fic, Kidfic, Sick!fic, Slow-burn Romance, Competence porn, political complicated fic
  • Embers a fanfic in the Avatar: The Last Airbender
  • The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
  • Kate Elliott
  • Leverage
  • Farscape
  • EA RPGs specifically Dragon Age and Mass Effect
  • Alex’s obsession with the Dorian/Iron Bull listing on AO3
  • The Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
  • The Lost Years of Merlin series by T.A. Barron
  • The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings
  • The Acorna series by Anne McCaffrey
  • Gavia Baker-Whitelaw and her podcast Overinvested
  • Alien
  • Star Trek
  • Naruto
  • "Dreaming of Sunshine" by Silver Queen
  • Freya’s Naruto fanfic
  • "Solfege" by Fahye (Freya)
  • Elliot Schafer from In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
  • Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
  • Be the Serpent Discord Chat
  • "Freeport" by Maldoror_Chant (one of the tentpoles for episode 11!)