Be The Serpent/Episodes 11-20

It’s All About the Money, Money, Money

• Date: June 20, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be The Serpent, we're discussing economics—no wait! Come back! It's going to be fun! Money in fantasy settings, alternative currencies, worldbuilding... All the stuff you like! Our tentpoles this week are The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, the movie In Time, and the fanfic “Freeport” by Maldoror_Chant.
• Mentioned:
  • The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
  • Skies of Wonder, Skies of Danger, an anthology (including a short story by Macey)
  • Viable Paradise (a SFF writer’s workshop)
  • Aphra Behn
  • The History of Money by Jack Weatherford
  • Saikaku Ihara
  • Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
  • The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins
  • The economics of slow-burn coffee shop AUs
  • Hopepunk
  • The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
  • The Folding Knife by K.J. Parker
  • Australian vs. American currency differences
  • The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett (esp. Making Money)
  • The Craft Sequence series by Max Gladstone
  • “Harry Potter and the Natural 20” by Sir Poley
  • Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
  • The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
  • The Silk Road
  • Tamagotchis
  • Oversized tourist attractions for children to climb on in/around Queensland, Australia
  • 18th century French people getting extra freaky to avoid pregnancy
  • England’s Wool Act of 1699
  • God’s Own Country
  • The Henchmen of Zenda by KJ Charles
  • Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Yes, It Goes On and On, My Friends

• Date: July 4, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about our favorite long-form stories—epic fantasy, extremely long podcasts, and the slowest of slowburn fanfics.
• Mentioned:
  • The Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones
  • Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
  • Speechless
  • The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
  • The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
  • The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
  • The Magician sequence by Raymond Feist
  • The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovich
  • The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
  • War and Peace by Tolstoy
  • Natasha Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
  • “Freeport” by Maldror_Chant
  • Critical Role
  • The Adventure Zone
  • The Simpsons
  • Sacrifices arc by Lightning on the Wave
  • Twisting the Hellmouth, a Buffy fanfic archive
  • Mike Carey’s Lucifer
  • Game of Thrones
  • Yuri!!! On Ice
  • The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
  • The Down to Agincourt series by seperis
  • Supernatural
  • Repossession by Lazuli.Kat
  • Embers by Vathara
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender
  • The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
  • Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky
  • Prince of the Dark Kingdom by Mizuni-sama
  • Severitus fics
  • Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen
  • Catch Your Breath by Lang Noi
  • Iryo-nin Kasa by Vaengir
  • Fate/Stay Night fanfic
  • Fallen by Confusedknight
  • The Kushiel’s Dart series by Jacqueline Carey
  • The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson
  • Nirvana in Fire
  • Captive Prince
  • Charles Dickens
  • Friends
  • The Dark Tower by Stephen King
  • Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
  • Gundam Wing
  • Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
  • Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
  • Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
  • Hild by Nicola Griffith
  • The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

Machiavellian Overthinkers

• Date: July 18, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're discussing some of our favorite sneaky, conniving little shits and their schemes, both successful and embarrassing. The tentpoles for this episode are A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold, Lithograph by romantic_drift, and Jingo by Terry Pratchett.
• Mentioned:
  • Fernand Braudel’s The Structures of Everyday Life
  • Mediterranean by Fernand Braudel
  • The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
  • A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland
  • "Love in Every Stitch" by Alexandra Rowland (published in Fireside Magazine Issue 57, digital release forthcoming!)
  • "Cradle of Vines" by Jennifer Mace
  • Cast of Wonders
  • The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
  • The Borgias
  • The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
  • The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
  • A Deeper Season by lightgetsin, sahiya
  • Nirvana in Fire
  • Discworld by Terry Pratchett
  • City Watch (Discworld Sub-Series) by Terry Pratchett
  • Going Postal and Making Money by Terry Pratchett
  • Ocean’s series
  • Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat (and the short story “Pet”)
  • Misethere by Astolat
  • Once Upon a Time
  • Elementary
  • Magnificent Century
  • The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett

Once Upon a Something

• Date: August 1, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're discussing fairytales: how do they work, what purpose does their beauty and terror serve, and why are they so intertwined with everything we read? Our tentpoles this week are Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, Stardust (the movie), and the Yuri on Ice fanfic "hood & glove".
• Mentioned:
  • Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
  • The movie Stardust
  • “Hood & glove” by Fahye/Freya Marske [which features artwork by hawberries]
  • The folk tales “Tam Lin,” "Baba Yaga's Daughter" and “Little Red Riding Hood”
  • “Cinderella”
  • Queer Eye
  • This interview between Shveta Thakrar and Over The Rainbow Fairy Tale about Euro-centric attitudes about fairy tales
  • The Orpheus myth
  • Sir Orfeo (medieval ballad)
  • “King Orpheo” (Scottish song)
  • Uprooted by Naomi Novik
  • Stardust (the book) by Neil Gaiman
  • “Rapunzel”, the fairy tale
  • Tangled
  • The fairy tale “Snow White”
  • The Princess Bride
  • Yuri!!! On Ice
  • Supernatural
  • The hieros gamos
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • Victory Condition by astolat
  • Seelie and the Unseelie Courts
  • “Cradle of Vines” by Jennifer Mace
  • “The Bonny Swans”
  • “Win me, win me, an ye will” by Fahye/Freya Marske
  • Zen Cho’s Sorcerer to the Crown
  • Miss Marjoribanks by Mrs Oliphant
  • Cruel Prince by Holly Black
  • Tithe by Holly Black
  • Into The Woods, the musical
  • Aarne-Thompson Tale Type Index
  • Thompson’s Motif Index
  • Dewey Decimal System
  • Swan Lake, the ballet
  • Maleficent
  • Disney’s Sleeping Beauty which is based on “Sleeping Beauty”
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  • Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire
  • Alice in Wonderland 1999 TV film
  • strongtime
  • Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
  • Armistice by Lara Elena Donnelly
  • Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
  • The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
  • The Starlit Wood (anthology), ed. Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe
  • Rag and Bone by KJ Charles

My (Psychic, Firebreathing) Little Pony

• Date: August 15, 2018
• Topic: On this episode, we're talking about horse books! It's just that a lot of the horses in these horse books have wings... and... breathe fire... so yeah. But they're horses and it's a horse book! Listen to find out why! The tentpoles for this episode are Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern, You Drive Through the Dust by Dira Sudis, and the movie How to Train Your Dragon.
• Mentioned:
  • A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge
  • Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
  • Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
  • Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher (and the rest of the Magic Shop series) by Bruce Coville
  • The Goosebumps series by R.L. Stein
  • The Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate
  • The Abhorsen books by Garth Nix
  • The Young Wizards series by Diane Duane
  • His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
  • The Brainship series by Anne McCaffrey
  • Farscape
  • How I Met Your Mother
  • Wizard of Earthsea from the Earthsea Cycle series by Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Dragonflight and The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
  • The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
  • Generation Kill
  • Nirvana in Fire
  • River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
  • The “Worst Cat” Tumblr
  • The Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey
  • Dragon’s Bait by Vivian Vande Velde
  • A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
  • Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix
  • The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfic
  • Needs Must by thatotherperv
  • Rag and Bone by KJ Charles
  • Witchmark by CL Polk
  • The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
  • 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H. Cline

A Bump in the Night, and Not the Sexy Kind

• Date: August 29, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about some creepy stuff! Guest star Ryan Boyd, of the horror podcast Rank and Vile, joins us to discuss Clive Barker's "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament", both the book and movie versions of Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer, and the Hannibal fanfic "Where All Ladders Start" by emungere.
• Mentioned:
  • Ryan Boyd’s podcast, Rank and Vile
  • Dune by Frank Herbert
  • Halloween Horror Nights
  • The Skeleton Key (2005)
  • “Mr. Try-Again.” by A. Merc Rustad
  • The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
  • The Addams Family
  • Get Out
  • Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  • Dracula by Bram Stoker
  • “A Cradle of Vines” by Jennifer Mace
  • Maniac
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street
  • Carrie by Stephen King
  • The Green Mile, Part 1: Two Dead Girls by Stephen King
  • Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
  • Episode 14 of Be The Serpent: Once Upon A Something
  • Saw, the movie
  • Glitter and Gold, a fanvid by voordeel
  • Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris
  • The Hannibal Lecter movies
  • The TV show Pushing Daisies
  • The TV show Dead Like Me
  • M*A*S*H
  • Nightmare on Elm Street 3
  • Black Sails fanfic
  • Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
  • Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson
  • The Henchmen of Zenda by K.J. Charles
  • Spectred Isle by K.J. Charles
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfic (again)
  • Lost Country by William Gay
  • Space Opera by Catherynne Valente

A Bump in the Night (The Sexy Kind)

• Date: September 12, 2018
• Topic:On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about sex—why we write about it, why we read about it, and more. Our tentpoles this week are Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey, An Unnatural Vice by KJ Charles, and the entire genre of F/F fanfiction (with three great recs from us)!
• Mentioned:
  • Leverage
  • The Hugo Awards
  • Bad Sex Awards from the Literary Review
  • The Sins of the Cities trilogy by KJ Charles
  • A Charm of Magpies series by KJ Charles
  • Bird in the Hand by novembersmith
  • Truth and Measure by Telanu
  • Oral Histories by Telanu
  • Prizefight Verse by Telanu
  • Captive Prince
  • The Devil Wears Prada
  • Glee
  • Legends
  • Gwen/Morgana (Merlin)
  • How the mouth changes its shape by breathedout
  • Due South
  • Restoree by Anne McCaffrey
  • Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
  • The Tiger’s Daughter by Arsenault Rivera
  • Docile by Kellan Szpara (Spring 2020)
  • The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet
  • Heroine Worship (Sarah Kuhn)
  • A Duke by Default (Alyssa Cole)
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition

Heist, Heist, Baby

• Date: September 26, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about heists and thieves and how much we love them. We almost called this episode "Sticky Fingers, Stolen Hearts". The tentpoles for this week are Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, Ocean's 8, and two Inception fics by imperfectcircle: "Palm, Ditch, Steal" and "Load, Misdirection, Switch".
• Mentioned:
  • Revenge
  • Nirvana in Fire
  • Guardian
  • Wynonna Earp
  • “The Great Chinese Art Heist” article in GQ
  • Alex’s loathing of stage magicians
  • Now You See Me
  • Sorting Hat Chats
  • Be the Serpent, Episode 13: "Machiavellian Overthinkers"
  • “Palm, Ditch, Steal” by imperfectcircle
  • “Load, Misdirection, Switch” by imperfectcircle
  • Inception
  • Tuckman’s stages of group development
  • Leverage
  • The Belgariad by David Eddings
  • Malloreon by David Eddings
  • The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings
  • “Miss the Train Before” by Fahye (incomplete)

You and Me and Our Boyfriend Makes Three

• Date: October 10, 2018
• Topic: On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're discussing OT3s (One True Threesomes). After all, it's twentygayteen, people! Give us more polyamory in canon media! Our tentpoles this week are “The Rundown Job” (Leverage season 5, episode 9); “Always Starts the Same, with a Boy and a Girl”, by lightgetsin (White Collar fanfic); and “Didn’t Know How Lost I Was”, by Annakovsky (Star Wars fanfic).
• Mentioned:
  • Leverage
  • The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
  • White Collar
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi
  • Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley
  • Ursula Le Guin’s story “A Fisherman of the Inland Sea”
  • Sedoretu
  • Black Sails
  • Mother of Invention edited by Tansy Rayner Roberts and Rivqa Rafael
  • The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross
  • City of Lies by Sam Hawke
  • Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn
  • Ada Harper’s A Treason of Truths
  • 1688: A Global History by John E. Wills Jr.
  • The Adventure Zone
  • The Chinese drama Guardian

Extravaganza

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• Topic:
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