On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about 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.

 

Things We Mentioned:

"Written by the Victors" by SperanzaHamilton by Lin-Manuel MirandaThe Fifth Season by N.K. JemisinThe House of Niccolò series by Dorothy DunnettPerson of Interest fanfic A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra RowlandArs 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, tigrrmilkAlexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow"Interlude (Rise Up)" by Fahye Mark Oshiro reading "Interlude (Rise Up)"Podfic of "Interlude (Rise Up)" by various narratorsBlack SailsTreasure Island by Robert Louis StevensonPirates of the CaribbeanThe Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan GottschallThe Newsflesh Series by Mira GrantHogfather by Terry Pratchett

 

What We’re Reading:

The Lymond Chronicles (specifically The Ringed Castle and Checkmate) by Dorothy DunnettThe Black Tides of Heaven by JY YangStill too much Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfic

 

Transcription:

The transcript of this episode is available here. Thanks as always to Sara, Neharika, and Magali!

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). 

Things we mentioned:

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi LeeThe World That You Need series by Dira SudisIn Other Lands by Sarah Rees BrennanPerson of Interest (again)Astolat (again)Captive Prince by CS Pacat (always)Brooklyn Nine-NineHannibalA Deeper Season by lightgetsin and sahiyaKilljoysGrey’s Anatomy Captain Jack Harkness of Doctor Who and Torchwood fameRevengeThe Count of Monte CristoNirvana in FireJulie d’Aubigny, historical Disaster Bisexual

What we’re reading:

The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (and the Vorkosigan Saga more broadly)The Covert Captain by Jeannelle M. FerreiraThe Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by Phenderson Djèlí ClarkMr. Try Again by A. Merc RustadToo much Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfic.

Transcription:

The transcript of this episode is available here. Thanks to Sara, Neharika, and Magali for their work!

On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, Jupiter Ascending, and "Dangerous if Unbound" by Astolat -- what do these have in common? Fealty relationships!

 

Other things we mentioned:

Disney princessesNoblebright & the hieros gamos (again)A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra RowlandThe Goblin Emperor by Katherine AddisonJupiter Ascending"Dangerous if Unbound" by AstolatThe Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen TurnerThe Empire Trilogy by Janny Wurts and Raymond E. FeistSelf-insert fanfictionCourtly loveEleanor of AquitaineAnastasia (and the stage musical)Person of InterestKingsSingle Use Weapon by FreyaMathematical theory aka witchcraftNinefox Gambit and A Conservation of Shadows by Yoon Ha LeeAtomic BlondeMerlinStar Trek TOS and the Star Trek reboot films

 

What we’re reading lately:

Reflections: On the Magic of Writing by Diana Wynne JonesAn Unsuitable Heir by KJ CharlesOur own books (because edits)

 

Transcription:

The transcription of the episode is available here. Thanks as always to Sara, Neharika, and Magali for their work!

On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about 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. 

Things we mentioned:

Spoilers, spoilers, spoilersLiar (Justine Larbalestier)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 aliveThe 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)

 

What we’re reading lately:

Lotus Blue (Cat Sparks)The Belles (Dhonielle Clayton)A novel-length Yuri!!! On Ice FanfictionEven more Person of Interest Fanfiction

Transcription:

The transcript is available here.As always, thank you so much to Neharika, Magali, and Sara for transcribing the episode!

On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about 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.

Things we mentioned:

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (Meg Ellison)Star WarsMad Max: Fury Road"Sailor's Delight" Broken Earth trilogy (N. K. Jemisin)School’s Out ForeverLord of the FliesIn the End (Alexandra Rowland)"Solfege" (Freya Marske)“The Day it Fell Apart” (Leslie Fish)Natural Disasters

What we’re reading lately:

Frederica (Georgette Heyer)Lotus Blue (Cat Sparks)The Belles (Dhonielle Clayton)A lot of Person of Interest fanfiction.

Transcription

The transcription of this episode is available here! Thanks to Magali, Neharika, and Sara for their amazing work this week!

On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about 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. 

Things we mentioned:

Sorting Hat ChatsAstrologySocial identity theoryAnne McCaffreyDivergent (Veronica Roth)Liminal spaceHowl'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 criticismNavah Wolfe

What we're reading lately:

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Mackenzi Lee)The Ringed Castle (Dorothy Dunnett)Raven Strategem (Yoon Ha Lee)

Transcript:

Please find the full transcript of this episode here!Thanks to Sara, Neharika, and Magali for doing the transcription this week, and thanks to Andrew Turnwall for helping transcribe the previous episode!

On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K Le Guin and the fanfiction "Victory Condition" by astolat. 

Other things mentioned during this episode: 

Hopepunk, Grimdark, and NoblebrightAmal El-MohtarZen koansRev. Martin Luther KingThe Trolley ProblemDoctor Who: “The Beast Below”Strongtime: when stories happenSiegfried Sassoon and RegenerationOmar Khayyam

If you enjoyed this episode, tell your friends! Follow us on Twitter and Tumblr as @serpentcast.

Transcript available here.