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A podcast by three red-headed fantasy authors talking about everything from academic mythology to dick jokes (and sometimes, both at once), as well as the role of fanfiction as an integral yet oft-overlooked part of the literary conversation and in the broader cultural context. It is, obviously, a podcast of extremely deep literary merit.
Episodes
Wednesday Apr 10, 2019
Wednesday Apr 10, 2019
On this week's episode, we're talking about time travel fix-it fics! How sexy can a paradox get? Are there multiple timestreams or just one? Can anyone keep all of this straight?! The tentpoles are the fanfic World Without End by Sorted, the book To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, and the TV show The Umbrella Academy.
What We’re Into Lately
The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard
Docile by K.M. Szpara
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube by Blair Braverman
Brianna Teintze’s Lord of Secrets
Escape to River Cottage
A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Aliette de Bodard’s Dominion of the Fallen series
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Gossip Girl
Captive Prince series by C.S. Pacat
Pretty Woman
Suits
A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland
The Hugo Awards
Episode 30: Extravaganza
Episode 22: Out of Cheese, Error, Redo from Start
Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" by They Might Be Giants
Heroes
fanfiction.net
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Naruto
Final Fantasy VII
Grey’s Anatomy
Doctor Who
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
Astolat
And I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You by astolat
Back to the Future
Sheppard’s Law by Speranza
Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffennegger
Groundhog Day
Time Flies Like an Arrow by Katlou303
“Turn” by Saras_Girl
Freya’s Captive Prince time travel ficlet
“Outsider Perspective” by Neery (Person of Interest husbands amnesia fic)
Person of Interest
Amy Santiago from Brooklyn Nine-Nine
For Next Time
Midnight Riot (aka Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch
Transcript
The transcript for this episode can be found here.
Thanks to our amazing supporters on Patreon, the scribes are now officially getting paid!! Hooray for the scribes!
Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
On this episode, we're talking about cities so vibrant they might as well be characters in their own right! Our tentpoles are “The City Born Great” by N.K. Jemisin, the Mortal Engines movie, and City of Lies by Sam Hawke.
What We’ve Been Reading/Watching
The Magicians
The Wicked King by Holly Black
My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Feris
Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Leningrad Symphony
The Hunger Games
Mortal Engines [book]
Discworld series
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Watching the English by Kate Fox
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Twilight Robbery by Frances Hardinge
The City & the City by China Miéville
A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
Howl’s Moving Castle
Georgette Heyer
Zen Cho
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Nightvale from the Welcome to Nightvale podcast
He Says He Is An Experimental Theologian by ErinPtah
Episode 2 of Be The Serpent: Personality Taxonomies & Shouting About Hogwarts Houses
Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities
The Great Cities in History by John Julius Norwich
Firefly
Farscape
The Expanse
Battlestar Galactica
Stargate Atlantis
For Next Time
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. Three cheers for the scribes: Millie, Sara, Kelly, Neharika!!!
Wednesday Mar 13, 2019
Wednesday Mar 13, 2019
It's time for another Extravaganza! This week, we're getting tipsy, answering listener questions, and revealing our brand new Patreon! Please consider supporting us there so that we can pay the scribes for their amazing work!
What We’ve Been Reading
The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland
Russian Doll (2019)
The Umbrella Academy (2019- )
Erkenci Kus (the Turkish soap opera)
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Doctor Who
Pacific Rim (never explicitly stated, but this is where the term “drift compatible” comes from)
Steven Universe
Tintin
Asterix
Bunyips
A Conspiracy of Truths
Barns Courtney’s “Glitter and Gold”
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
Coldplay’s Ghost Stories
The National
Tabletop Audio
The Hazards of Love by the Decemberists.
A Beautiful Mind
The Blue Planet
Wicked Girls by Seanan McGuire
"Wicked Girls" by Seanan McGuire
My Chemical Romance’s Danger Days
“The Queen and the Soldier” by Suzanne Vega
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Cat Valente’s Space Opera
Moulin Rouge!
Stilyagi
Atomic Blonde
Amélie
Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes
Hannibal
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
Discworld by Terry Pratchett
Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce
The Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
A Sword on Two Fingers by Freya Marske (unpublished)
Untitled Manuscript by Alexandra Rowland (unpublished)
Catalyst by Jennifer Mace (unpublished)
Hagstone by Jennifer Mace (unpublished)
Antonia Fraser’s Robin Hood
The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green
Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Cycle, specifically Silverthorn and A Darkness of Sethanon (and also Magician)
Gareth Gates
For Next Time
"The City Born Great" by NK Jemisin
Transcription
The transcript for this episode can be found here. Thank you so much, scribes!!
Wednesday Feb 27, 2019
Wednesday Feb 27, 2019
On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about spies and secret agents, and we speculate about whether they screen for bisexuality in the hiring process (this episode was almost called "No, Mr Bond, I Expect You to Bi"). The tentpoles this week are the fanfic Ulysses by girlbookwrm, the movie Atomic Blonde, and the book City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett.
What We’ve Been Reading
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
The Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker
Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch
The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
Any Old Diamonds by KJ Charles
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian
Erkenci Kus
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Ulysses by girlbookwrm
The James Bond movies (in particular, 2006-2015)
John le Carré
Ian Fleming
Spooks (aka MI-5)
Spy (2015)
Kingsman (2014)
The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)
“99 Luftballons” (cover by Kaleida)
Interview with Atomic Blonde choreographer
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.(TV series 1964-68)
The Americans (Macey calls it The Russians)
Nirvana in Fire
Totally Spies! (2001-2014)
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
The “Genghis Khan” music video (Miike Snow, 2016)
Skyfall (2012)
Person of Interest (2011-2016)
Amberlough series by Lara Elena Donnelly
Spectre (2015)
The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Casino Royale (2006)
Killing Eve (2018)
Codename: Verity by Elizabeth E. Wein
Duplicity (2009)
Hybrid Author Podcast
For Next Time
Nothing! It's the Episode 30 Extravaganza! Be sure to send in your questions by March 1st!
Transcript
The transcription of this episode is available here. A round of applause for the scribes
Wednesday Feb 13, 2019
Wednesday Feb 13, 2019
On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about gender, relationships, and the worldbuilding thereof! The tentpoles this week are a selection of Steven Universe episodes, The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang, and “An Ever Fixed Mark” by imperfectcircle.
What We’ve Been Reading
Heroine Complex series by Sarah Kuhn
A Perfect Spy by John le Carre
Empresses in the Palace
Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World
Nirvana in Fire
Le Guin short stories
The Royal Tailor
The Grand Heist
Thugs of Hindostan
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Mad Max: Fury Road
“The Answer” (the episode of Steven Universe with Garnet’s origin story)
“Now We’re Only Falling Apart” (the episode where Garnet unfuses)
“Jail Break” (the episode with Lapis Lazuli/Jasper fusion)
The Tensorate series by J.Y. Yang
“An Ever Fixed Mark” by imperfectcircle
Merlin
“A Fisherman of the Inland Sea” by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
City of Lies by Sam Hawke
Homestuck by Andrew Hussie
Baahubali
Magic Mike XXL
The Harwood Spellbook series by Stephanie Burgis
The Underwater Ballroom Society edited by Stephanie Burgis
Hark! A Vagrant comics by Kate Beaton
Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie
For Next Time
Ulysses by girlbookwrm
Transcription:
The transcript for this episode can be found here! Thank you to our darling scribes, Sara, Neharika, Kelly, and Millie!!
Wednesday Jan 30, 2019
Wednesday Jan 30, 2019
On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about witches! Our tentpoles this week are I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett, “In Which Lettie Makes Demands” by ryfkah, and the movie Practical Magic.
What We’ve Been Reading
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)
The Underwater Ballroom Society by Stephanie Burgis and Tiffany Trent
Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
Flight of Magpies by K.J. Charles
“Monologue by an unnamed mage, recorded at the brink of the end” by Cassandra Khaw
“Darling and the Cinderella Club” by emilyenrose
For Real by Alexis Hall
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Skies of Wonder, Skies of Danger, ft. our very own Macey
A Sword on Two Fingers by Freya Marske
The Hugo Awards 2019 Nominations
Female-presenting Nipples (Thanks, Freya)
The Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
Groundhog Day (1993)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
The Immortals series by Tamora Pierce
Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce
Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce
Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
The Scottish Play by Shakespeare
The Spanish Inquisition
The Salem Witch Trials
The Adventure Zone
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books [website]
Smart Podcast, Trashy Books [podcast]
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife
The Damore Memo
The Wizard of Oz
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Tournament of Minds
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Bewitched
Check Please
“sundown starts at half-past six” by halfdesertedstreets
The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
“Cornerwitches” by charmingly antiquated
For Next Time
The Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y. Yang
Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here! If you see a scribe, give them a high five and thank them for their hard work!
Wednesday Jan 16, 2019
Wednesday Jan 16, 2019
As you may have heard, there's been a slight rearrangement of episode topics, due to the fact that the audio of our original recording of Episode 26 (witches!) was haunted. Therefore, this week we're talking about, well, exactly what it says on the tin. In other words, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat. Our tentpoles this week are The Shape of Water, "And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hillside" by James Tiptree Jr, and "Bro: discover new talent." by Laylah (Homestuck fic).
What We’ve Been Reading
A Civil Campaign
Warrior’s Apprentice
Komarr
The Priory of the Orange Tree
The Perfect Assassin
“More Tomorrow”
Band Sinister
Ruin of Kings
Into the Spider-Verse
Nirvana in Fire
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Game of Thrones
Dragonriders of Pern
WorldCon (Dublin 2019) and eligibility for the Best Fancast category of the Hugo Awards
Venom
Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Naruto
“I Belong Where the People Are: Disability and The Shape of Water” by Elsa Sjunneson-Henry
Pan’s Labyrinth
Homestuck
“La Belle Dame sans Merci”
“Hood and Glove” by Fahye, Yuri/Otabek fic
"Writer Wednesday: A Guest Post by Daria Defore" (the monsterfucking article Freya quotes)
Jupiter Ascending
Guardians of the Galaxy
Mass Effect
Avatar
Writing the Other [book] by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward
Writing the Other workshops
the Greek myth of Galatea and Pygmalion
Leda and the Swan
Ron Weasley/Spider fanfiction
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Oglaf by Trudy Cooper & Doug Bayne
Tam Lin
Tithe by Holly Black
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Be The Serpent drinking game by Magali
Beauty and the Beast
East of Sun, West of Moon
The Bastard’s Lying to You, a Be The Serpent episode on unreliable narrators
“Women Men Don’t See” by James Tiptree Jr.
Pacific Rim
Edge of Tomorrow
Pacific Rim: Uprising
For Next Time
And I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
Transcript:
The transcription of this episode can be found here. Three cheers for the scribes!!!
Wednesday Jan 02, 2019
Wednesday Jan 02, 2019
On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about character deaths in fiction. In other words: MURDERRRRRRRRR. The tentpoles this week are "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" by Synecdochic, the first Hunger Games movie, and "Singing My Sister Down" by Margo Lanagan. (Warning: Spoilers!)
What We’ve Been Reading
A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde
We Rule the Night by Claire Bartlett
Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Rebecca Kuang’s The Poppy War
Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
BLEACH
Battle Royale
Stargate Atlantis
Deep Survival
Nirvana in Fire
Killjoys
Spooks
Black Sails
The Writing Excuses podcast
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The 100
For Next Time:
Due to the fact that the audio for the witches episode was HAUNTED, we are swapping the topics for Episodes 26 and 27. Despite what we said in the audio of this episode, next week's theme will therefore be about having sex with aliens and monsters, and the tentpole for that episode is the movie "The Shape of Water".
Transcription:
The transcript of this episode is available here. The highest of fives to our scribes this week: Neharika, Millie, and Kelly!
Wednesday Dec 19, 2018
Wednesday Dec 19, 2018
On this episode, the Serpents take a break from reading things to debrief about how their projects for National Novel Writing Month went!
What We're Into Lately:
Witchmark by C.L. Polk
Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night
1491
The Bodies of the Girls Who Made Me: Fanfic and the Modern World
Think of England fanfic
The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
The 2018 Olympics
Other Stuff We Mentioned
National Novel Writing Month
Court of Fives
Episode 5: “Oh Captain, My Captain" (BtS fealty episode)
“Fake married” trope
Sorting Hat Chats
Episode 2: Personality Taxonomies and Hogwarts Houses (BtS episode)
The Adventure Zone
Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Stairs and City of Blades
Seanan McGuire
SFWA Nebulas conference
For Next Time
freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose by synecdochic
Transcription:
The transcript of the episode is available here. Thank you to the sparkling jewels who worked on it, Kelly, Sara, and Millie!
Wednesday Dec 05, 2018
Wednesday Dec 05, 2018
On this episode, the Serpents were in the middle of National Novel Writing Month, so we settled in for a cozy chat about just one tentpole, one of our favorite fanfics: "Drastically Redefining Protocol" by rageprufrock!
What We're Into This Week
Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
sundown starts at half-past six by halfdesertedstreets
Out of play, out of competition by thenorthface
“Dangerous if Unbound” by astolat
Venom fanfic
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Hamilton
Check Please
Practical Magic
Freeport by Maldoror_Chant
Embers by Vathara
“Gonna Make It After All” by astolat, monicawoe & Speranza
Merlin
Society for Creative Anachronism
Sweet Valley
Stargate: Atlantis
Written by the Victors by Speranza
Bell Curve, or, Lady’s Night at the Boom Boom Room by rageprufrock
No Less Unthinkable by rageprufrock
Inception
Prince of Tennis
Notting Hill
Princess Diaries 2
Princess Diaries
Ruritanian romance trope
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot
Adam Lambert
Kris Allen
American Idol
A Matter of Inconvenience by astolat
LiveJournal
Oh No They Didn’t!
The Perez Hilton gossip site
Stargate: Atlantis
Yuri!! On Ice
"STET" by Sarah Gailey
A Deeper Season by lightgetsin, sahiya
Transcript
The transcript for this episode can be found here. Thanks once more to our scribes, Neharika, Millie, Kelly, Sara, and Magali!