Be The Serpent

By Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske, Jennifer MaceArts

Be The Serpent episodes

April 07, 2022 Episode 101: Jumping the Shark
And here you thought that the Twitter announcement on April Fool's Day about our upcoming shark episode WAS the joke! No! The joke is on us because we had to watch Sharknado for this prank! Also Jaws and Deep Blue Sea.

What We’re Into Lately
If They Haven’t Learned Your Name by silentwalrus
Succession
The Big Bad Wolf series by Charlie Adhara
The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
“A Cornstalk Fiddle” by notbecauseofvictories
“To Call the Darkness Home” by scioscribe
The Heir to the House of Prince by Ada_Lovelaced & elph13
“Aurelius (to be called) Magnus” by Victoria Goddard
“Portrait of a Wide Seas Islander” by Victoria Goddard
Black Sails

Other Stuff We Mentioned
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Thick of It
Diana Wynne Jones (author)
Dan Brown (author)
The Devil Went Down to Georgia (And Then Went Down on Johnny) series by notbecauseofvictories
Justified
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
The Chant series by Alexandra Rowland
Alien
Overinvested podcast
Overinvested’s Jaws episode
Titanic
Jurassic World
Jurassic Park
Star Wars
Watergate scandal
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The Day After Tomorrow
2012
Sharks In Venice
The Meg
The “Cows With Guns” YouTube video
Freya’s Twitter: @freyamarkse
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
A Restless Truth by Freya Marske (sequel to A Marvellous Light, coming out Nov 1st, 2022)
Pre-order for A Restless Truth
Macey’s Twitter: @englishmace
“heat death” poem by Jennifer Mace
“Silk & Steel” short story anthology (featuring Jennifer Mace & Freya Marske)
Alex’s Twitter: @_alexrowland
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland (coming out Aug 30th, 2022)
Alex’s website store: alexandrarowland.net/store.
The infamous “sharks are smooth as hell” shitpost

Content Warnings
Gore (in every tentpole & throughout episode discussion)
Body horror (in episode discussion)
Sexual harassment (in Sharknado)
Misogyny (discussed)

Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. Thanks to our fabulous scribes for their work!
1 hr 2 min
December 01, 2021 Episode 100: Superstravaganza
On this week's episode, we have a two-hour special to answer questions sent in by our darling listeners! Thank you to everyone who has been with us through the last four years! The Great Hiatus begins now, but we will return for at least one more episode next year! Get hype!

What We’re Into Lately
My Name
Beyond Evil
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
All the Feels by Olivia Dade
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
And This, Your Living Kiss by opal_bullets
The Courtier’s Love Affair (and Other Stories) by tridenture
Harlots
Bridgerton
The Living and the Dead
Macey’s NaNoWriMo Project: The Resurrection Chalice
In the Realms of Gold by Victoria Goddard
Sword Dance trilogy by AJ Demas
Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard
Alex’s NaNoWriMo Project: Some by Virtue Fall

Other Stuff We’ve Mentioned
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
Supernatural
Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty
Merlin
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian
Silk and Steel
Our Opinions Are Correct
Tales from the Trunk
Fated Mates
Heaving Bosoms
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Fansplaining
The Fantasy Inn
Breaking the Glass Slipper
Overinvested
Campaign Skyjacks
Tor.com
The Rec Center
Pinboard
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Fantasia in D Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Allegro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
BtS episode 6 “Cross Your Stars and Hope to Bi”
BtS Special Episode
Strange Horizons
Miss Congeniality
BtS episode 80 “Extravaganza”
My Hero Academia
Yesterday Upon the Stair by PitViperOfDoom
BtS episode 98 “[SPOOKY NOISES]”
“Bakugou and Todoroki’s Foolproof 5-Step Plan to Fuck with Mineta Minoru” by Anubis_2701
Naruto
The Witcher (video game)
The Witcher (TV)
Person of Interest (2011)
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Ones Who Stay And Fight by N.K. Jemisin
Singing my Sister Down by Margo Lanagan
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Yuri!!! in Space series by Fahye
Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland
A Sword On Two Fingers by Freya Marske (unpublished)
Viable Paradise (writers’ workshop)
Sam Hawke (Australian author)
Jenn Lyons (Author)
E. Jade Lomax (Author)
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
Welcome to Night Vale podcast
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
astolat
Macey’s Frozen Meat Salesman Segment
Macey’s misspent youth
Sutton cottage (from A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske)
Stars in the marsh (from A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland)

Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. We'd like to take this moment to give an extra-special thank you to our team of scribes, who are amazing and meticulous and dedicated and extremely hard-working. Scribes, thank you, thank you, thank you. You're all amazing.
1 hr 58 min
November 17, 2021 Episode 99: Detective Boyfriends
On this week's episode, we're celebrating the release of Freya's debut book by talking about detectives in love! The tentpoles are Of Dragons, Feasts, and Murders by Aliette de Bodard, A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, and the fanfic If Life Was A Movie We’d Have A Better Soundtrack Than This by galaxysoup.

What We’re Into Lately
Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat
The Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher
that ruthless love by alherath
The Warrior of the Third Veil by Victoria Goddard
The Sisters Avramapul series by Victoria Goddard
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Captive Prince by C. S. Pacat
Chant Universe by Alexandra Rowland
"You Should Really Be Reading Victoria Goddard’s Nine Worlds Series" by Alexandra Rowland
Guardian
Bones
Castle
Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
House
The Angel of Crows by Katherine Addison
Doctor Who
The Memory of Souls by Jenn Lyons
Captive Prince series by C. S. Pacat
Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold
Leverage
The X-Files
Hannibal
Rosemary & Thyme
Poirot
Hinterland
Hot Fuzz
Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The Will Darling Adventures by K.J. Charles
John le Carré
James Bond novels by Ian Fleming
Think of England by K.J. Charles
An iconic Doctor & Donna scene from Doctor Who
Greenwing & Dart series by Victoria Goddard
Be the Serpent Episode 33: Turn In Your Badge and Gun!
A Private Reason for This by femmequixotic (aka mentioned Harry/Draco case fic)
A Dead Djinn In Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

For Next Time
None, it's the Extravaganza!

Content Warnings
Minor fantasy violence in Of Dragons, Feasts, and Murders and A Marvellous Light.

Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. Thank you so much to our wonderful team of scribes for their hard work!
1 hr 4 min
November 03, 2021 Episode 98: [SPOOKY NOISES]
Happy (slightly belated) spooky season, darling listeners! On this week's episode we're talking about afterlife career plans and... well, ghosts! Tentpoles this week are Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, the film Ghost, and the Inception fic, “The Boy Who Spoke With Ghosts” by AvocadoLove.

What We’re Into Lately
Squid Game
The Discord of Gods by Jenn Lyons
A Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons
The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu
My Words Will Be Your Light by Page161of180
The Memory of Souls by Jenn Lyons
Midnight Mass
Naruto self-insert fic
the name of the game by a_sassin
the sun don't shine underground by ultranos
Bar Cart Bookshelf
How A Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom
The Bride of the Blue Wind by Victoria Goddard
“You Should Really Be Reading Victoria Goddard’s Nine Worlds Series” by Alexandra Rowland

Other Stuff We Mentioned
Snowpiercer
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
The Magicians
The Queen's Gambit
Avatar: The Last Airbender
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
Bluebeard
Inception
The Sixth Sense
Dead Like Me (2003)
The Ghost of You by luchia
The Untamed
All that’s left of two hearts on fire by Lirelyn
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Crimson Peak
Be the Serpent Episode 74: Darling, It’s Better Down Where It’s Wetter
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Ghostbusters
Supernatural
Ask a Mortician YouTube channel
a tempest, a cyclone, a goddamned hurricane by Dialux
Boku no Hiro Akademia
Yesterday Upon The Stair by PitViperOfDoom
Black Sails
the aftershocks remain by pdameron
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

For Next Time
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

Content Warnings
Some gore in Ghost.
Depictions/discussions of death through all tentpoles and the podcast discussion

Transcription
The transcript of this episode can be found here. Thank you to our wonderful team of scribes for their work!
1 hr 5 min
October 20, 2021 Episode 97: A Symphony of Serpents
On this week's episode, we're discussing music! Musicians! Being gripped by the madness of creation! Selling one's soul for art! The tentpoles this week are the film Amadeus, the fanfic "String Theory" by toft, and Ryka Aoki’s Light from Uncommon Stars.

What We’re Into Lately
The Hellion’s Waltz by Olivia Waite
Peter Cabot Gets Lost by Cat Sebastian
The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
Symphony for the City of the Dead by M. T. Adderson
The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach
Compass of thy Soul by Umei_no_Mai
Campaign Skyjacks
Skyjacks: Couriers Call
Hannah Gadsby: Douglas
The Wilds
‘In the Company of Gentlemen’ by Victoria Goddard

Other Stuff We Mentioned
Leverage
The other two Feminine Pursuits books by Olivia Waite
Sherlock
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Hollow and Honeycomb by antistar_e
The Old Guard
Lost
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett
Stargate: Atlantis
Shakespeare in Love
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (“topless towers of Ilium” quote)
Maskerade by Terry Pratchett
The Phantom of the Opera
“Requiem” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Requiem” by Gabriel Fauré
"Devil Went Down to Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band
The Devil Went Down to Georgia (And Then Went Down on Johnny) series by notbecauseofvictories
Black Swan (2010)
Aria of the Sea by Dia Calhoun
Catalyst by Jennifer Mace (unreleased)
Scheherazade (character)
A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland
Hamilton (musical)
Fall Out Boy (band)
Crystal Singer series by Anne McCaffrey
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
Beatlemania
Def Leppard (band)
The Velvet Underground (band)
Isavalta series by Sarah Zettel
The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
The Goose Girl from Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Jack and the Beanstalk
“Bonny Swans” traditional ballad
Sistersong by Lucy Holland
“The Bonny Swans” by Loreena McKennitt
Hild by Nicola Griffith
Johann Sebastian Bach
Harry Potter film score
Ramin Djawadi’s musical scores for Game of Thrones & Westworld
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

For Next Time
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Content Warnings
Attempted suicide (in Amadeus and brief mention of it in the discussion)
On-the-page sexual assault, on-the-page hate transphobia, child abuse both explicit and referenced (in Light From Uncommon Stars)

Transcription
The transcript of this episode can be found here. Thank you to our wondrous choir of scribes!
1 hr 1 min
October 06, 2021 Episode 96: Changing Places
On this week's episode, we're discussing body swap fic! Swapping bodies! Trading meatsuits! It's all fun and comedy, right? ...Or is it? Anyway, the tentpoles for this episode are the anime film, Your Name, the fanfic Vinculum by Skadiseven, and the Farscape episode, "Out of Their Minds."

What We’re Into Lately
Bombshell by Sarah MacLean
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
Schmigadoon! (on Apple TV)
Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells
Pressure Machine by the Killers
Campaign Skyjacks (podcast)
The Bachelor’s Valet by Arden Powell
Petty Treasons by Victoria Goddard

Other Stuff We Mentioned
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
The Untamed
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Farscape
The Dark Crystal
Jupiter Ascending
Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
Star Trek: The Original Series
Laughing Gas by PG Wodehouse
Stranger Than Fiction
Babylon 5
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Sword Art Online
Stargate
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
to memory now I can’t recall by Etharei
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
Guardian
Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Good Omens miniseries

For Next Time
Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Content Warnings
Mention of molestation in the context of the bodyswap trope (in episode discussion)
Mention of dysphoria & trans erasure in the context of the bodyswap trope (in episode discussion)

Transcription
The transcript for this episode is available here. Thank you to our stylish and fashionable team of scribes!
1 hr 5 min
September 22, 2021 Episode 95: The Jasmine Throne
On today's episode we're doing another deep dive on the marvelously sapphic fantasy novel The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri!

What We’re Into Lately
The Secrets of Charlotte Street series by Scarlett Peckham
- book 2: The Earl I Ruined
- book 3: The Lord I Left
Seducing the Sorcerer by Lee Welch
The Bachelor’s Valet by Arden Powell
Game of Thrones fanfic
Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells
cast your bitterness into the sea by Kilerkki
Campaign Skyjacks
Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard

Other Stuff We Mentioned
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Swordheart and The Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher
Jeeves/Wooster fanfiction
Firefly
Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
The Witcher
“Hellfire” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Game of Thrones
Empresses in the Palace
The Realm of Ash
The Magpie Lord series
A Cradle of Vines by Jennifer Mace
Sleeping Beauty
‘Seasons of Glass and Iron’ by Amal El-Mohtar
Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri
The Twilight Zone theme
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

For Next Time
Your Name.

Content Warnings
Violence against women, imperialist violence, semi-graphic death descriptions, references to torture and drugging in The Jasmine Throne

Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. Thanks once again to our most excellent team of scribes for their hard work!
1 hr 3 min
September 08, 2021 Episode 94: Into the Woods
On this week's episode, Macey is forcing us to put on our hiking shoes and dragging us out into the forest to look at some "really nice moss." The tentpoles we’re discussing are Princess Mononoke, Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s story ‘Vaster Than Empires and More Slow.’
What We’re Into Lately
‘a kind of dwell and welcome’ by leupagus
Reputation by Lex Croucher
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
orange_crushed ‘s Untamed fics (esp Pentimento.)
And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed
The Necessity of Stars by E. Catherine Tobler
Victoria Goddard’s books:
Greenwing & Dart series (esp Love-in-a-Mist)
Ask A Mortician Youtube Channel
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Ted Lasso
Gundam Wing
Ponyo
Robin Hood legends
Hannibal
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
The Jungle Book by Ruyard Kipling
The Secret Life of the Forest by Richard M. Ketchum
The Hidden Life of Trees by by Peter Wohlleben
Pando
QI
Semiosis by Sue Burke
Brain coral
Green Man motif
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten
Hild by Nicola Griffith
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Into the Woods
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Black Sails
Vikings
Magician by Raymond E. Feist
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Westworld
Stargate: Atlantis
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Black Spot TV show
Avatar
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Pocahontas
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
BTS Episode 16: A Bump In the Night, and Not the Sexy Kind
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake
Merlin Sheldrake’s YouTube video showing him eating book fungus
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter by Ben Goldfarb
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben
Around the World In 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori
‘Colors of the Wind’ from Pochahontas
The Biggest Estate On Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia by Bill Gammage
Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden
For Next Time
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Content Warnings
Racism (in ‘Vaster Than Empires and More Slow’)
Problematic portrayal of an autistic character (in ‘Vaster Than Empires and More Slow’)

Transcription
The transcript for this episode is available here! Thanks to our team of scribes for their great work!
1 hr 2 min
August 25, 2021 Episode 93: The Glamorous Authorial Life
On this week's episode we're discussing the glamorous authorial life -- authors (and other publishing professionals) through the lens of how they're depicted in media. Tentpoles this week are the film Stranger Than Fiction, the K-Drama Romance Is a Bonus Book, the story “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” by Ken Liu and The Unstrung Harp by Edward Gorey.

What We’re Into Lately
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Guardian fic
Macey’s all-fandom OT3 feast
Victoria Goddard books specifically the Greenwing & Dart series
Ask A Mortician Youtube Channel
Other Stuff We Mentioned
The Great British Bake-Off
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty
‘letters from the ides’ by Jennifer Mace (poet)
The Witcher (TV show)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Sam Hawke
Younger
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
Moulin Rouge
Untitled Seminal Male-Focused Work by Jennifer Mace (Literary author)
Seven Days In June by Tia Williams
Emily Henry

For Next Time
Silver In the Wood by Emily Tesh

Transcription
The transcript for this episode is available here. Huge thanks to our team of scribes for their hard work!
1 hr 3 min
August 11, 2021 Episode 92: Podcasting: The Musical!
On today's episode, we're bursting into song at socially inappropriate times to talk about... musicals! Our tentpoles are the Bollywood musical Aaja Nachle, the first two episodes of Galavant, and the musical Wicked.

What We’re Into Lately
Battle Royal by Lucy Parker
Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo
Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Red Azalea by CeNedraRiva
The Changeling by Annerb
The Armistice series by Annerb
World Ain’t Ready by idiopathicsmile
survival is a talent by ShanaStoryteller
Rotten Work by ShanaStoryteller
Campaign Skyjacks
Whiskeyjack by Victoria Goddard
Other Stuff We Mentioned
Hadestown the musical
Into The Woods the musical
Les Misérables the musical
“The Confrontation” from Les Misérables
Come From Away the musical
The Fast and the Furious
Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Decemberists
Weekend at Bernie’s
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
The Return of Fitzroy Angursell by Victoria Goddard
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
The Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Maleficent
“No One Mourns The Wicked” from Wicked
Hamilton the musical
Single Use Weapon by Fahye
Glee
Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary
“Defying Gravity” from Wicked
“Dancing Through Life” from Wicked
The Princess Bride
“Galavant” from Galavant
“Belle” from Beauty and the Beast
“Stand Up” from Galavant
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
A Knight’s Tale
Shrek
Camelot the musical
Spamalot the musical
In the Heights
High School Musical 2
“I Don’t Dance” from High School Musical 2
Hairspray (2007)
Footloose (2011)
Bride & Prejudice (2004)
A Chorus Line (1985)
Cabaret (1972)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
John Wick (2014)
Peter Pan (AKA Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up; or Peter and Wendy)
Pantomime
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Magicians
Scrubs
Farscape
Six
Oliver! musical (based on Oliver Twist)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
The Prince of Egypt
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jaskier’s theme from The Witcher
‘I Dreamed A Dream’ from Les Misérables
‘One Day More’ from Les Misérables
‘You’ll Be Back’ from Hamilton
The Beatles
Groundhog Day the musical
Groundhog Day film
Swan Lake
Peer Gynt suites
Carnival of the Animals
Peter and the Wolf
‘Peter and the Wolf March’ from Peter and the Wolf
'The Swan' from Carnival of the Animals

For Next Time
The Unstrung Harp by Edward Gorey

Transcription
The transcript of this episode is available here. Extra extra thank-yous to our team of scribes this week because YOWZA that was a lot of Other Things We Talked About to wrangle links for!
1 hr 5 min

About Be The Serpent

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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…

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