serpentcast

[serpentcast]

“Unbusheling. A revelation of magic.”

The first book in the Last Binding trilogy, A MARVELLOUS LIGHT is a queer historical fantasy set in an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts and conspiracies.

Coming 2nd November 2021 from TorDotCom Publishing

Preorder it here!

Add it on Goodreads here!

See what some lovely people have said about it so far here!

Get the first two chapters for free here!

[serpentcast]

This week we're talking about new technologies, platforms, and formats of storytelling! The tentpoles this week are the first episode of Campaign Skyjacks, the interactive fiction game Stay by E. Jade Lomax, and the twitter threadfic Still Waters aka Turtle Creek.

What We’re Into Lately

Untamed by Anna Cowan The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever Qi hun Hades Yesterday Upon The Stair by PitViperOfDoom 24 Hours in the Past The Repair Shop History Cold Case

Other Stuff We Mentioned

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Patricia Highsmith novels Hikaru No Go manga and anime The Queen’s Gambit Great British Bake Off “Birds Are Trying to Reinvent Your Heart” by Jennifer Mace “Eat prey, love” by Freya Marske in Unnatural Order Mermaids Monthly Weekend at Bernie’s Milliways RPG My Brother, My Brother, and Me The Adventure Zone Critical Role Serial Box The Witcher Person of Interest, aka “The husbands show” The Harper Hall of Pern by Anne McCaffrey Pirates of the Caribbean Groundhog Day Sleep No More Macbeth by William Shakespeare Mass Effect 3 Stephen King’s It It (2017) It (2019)

Homestuck

Blaseball

The War of the Worlds radio show

Welcome to Night Vale podcast

Alice Isn’t Dead (presented by Welcome to Night Vale)

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries webseries

The Magnus Archives podcast

The Bright Sessions podcast

The Archers radio play

‘Fan Is A Tool-Using Animal’ talk by Maciej Cegłowski

Delicious website

Macey’s audio fiction “A Cradle of Vines” out with Cast of Wonders

Macey’s upcoming audio fiction piece with GlitterShip

Snow White folktale

For Next Time

Nothing! It's the Extravaganza, and we've got an extra-special surprise for you!

Transcription

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Thank you as always to our stunningly talented team of scribes!

[serpentcast]

ALERT, ALERT, MY BOOK HAS A COVER AND IT’S UNBELIEVABLY BLOODY GORGEOUS

[serpentcast]

Happy holidays, everybody! On this episode, we're sticking with the theme of the season and discussing holidays in fiction! The tentpoles this week are the Doctor Who episode “A Christmas Carol,” the Disney film Coco, and the Scum Villain's Self Saving System fanfic “Shang Qinghua's No Good Very Bad Several Iterations Of A Day.”

What We’re Into Lately

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole

Four Letter Word For Intercourse by bendingsignpost

The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke

Hades

Helstrom

Hikaru no Go

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas

Sherlock Holmes series by Arthur Conan Doyle

Runaway Royals series by Alyssa Cole

Reluctant Royals series by Alyssa Cole

“Yo a ti, Cas”

Freya’s favorite Supernatural fic

Bastion

The Exorcist

Mermaids Monthly Kickstarter

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries: Murder under the Mistletoe

"Ernesto de la Cruz vs. The Court of Public Opinion" by skater_of_the_surface

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mò Xiāng Tóngxiù

The Deep  by Rivers Solomon

A Knight Before Christmas

The Princess Switch

The Princess Switch: Switched Again

A Christmas Prince

A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding

A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby

The Netflix Christmas Cinematic Universe fey conspiracy by Jodi McAlister

Orphan Black

Jupiter Ascending

The Nightmare Before Christmas

V for Vendetta

Die Hard

World Building for Masochists episode 14

reputation by Taylor Swift

For Next Time

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Transcription

The transcript of this episode is available here. Huge thanks as always to our team of scribes!

[serpentcast]

On today's episode, we're getting into that Spooky Season mood and talking about the dreaded VAMPYR. Or vampire, as Macey and Freya insist on pronouncing it. The tentpoles this week are “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time” by Kellen Szpara, What We Do in the Shadows, and “pro bono” by astronicht.

What We’re Into Lately

Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

The Faerie Hounds of York by Arden Powell

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran

Naruto longfic

Scum Villain longfic

An easy lie by Nythtak

Say Yes to the Dress

Say Yes to the Dress: UK

Nazranaa Diaries

Curvy Brides’ Boutique

Hold the Line: A Guide to Defending Democracy

Love is More Than a Word

For A Good Time, Call by ScarlettStorm

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson

Serial

Dug from Up

The Untamed

Tales from the Trunk

Finding Faeries by Alexandra Rowland

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Writing the Other workshop

Writing the Other book

Asians Represent

Gold Ennies

Flying Fables

Deadline City

Disney’s Sleeping Beauty

Flight of the Conchords

What We Do in the Shadows TV series

Big Brother

Be the Serpent Episode 66

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite edited by  Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker

Interview With a Vampire by Anne Rice

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

Pulp Fiction

Van Helsing

Elizabeth Bathory

Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Firefly

True Blood

The Vampire Diaries

Twilight

Dragon Ball

The Inherent Eroticism of Vore

Dirty Talking With Jesus

The pros and cons of cannibalism

Sweeney Todd

Mulching the rich

Alex’s new book Finding Faeries: Discovering Sprites, Pixies, Redcaps, and Other Fantastical Creatures in an Urban Environment

For Next Time

Bend It Like Beckham

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. As always, huge huge thank you to the team of scribes for their amazing work.

[serpentcast]

HELLO TUMBLR

so

if you’ve been wondering what I’ve been doing with myself for the past few years that’s not ‘writing fanfic’ – here’s the answer!

this will remain a fandom blog; the best place to follow me for actual news about my actual writing is right here on twitter

I’m so excited to share this book with you & so very very grateful to fandom and fanfic and all my readers. I quite literally wouldn’t be here without you.

[serpentcast]

On this week's episode, we're joined by glamorous guest star Naomi Novik to talk about magical boarding schools and the purposes of structured education. The tentpoles this week are A Deadly Education and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

What We’re Into Lately

Will Darling Adventures series by K.J. Charles

The Sugared Game by K.J. Charles

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Niccolò series by Dorothy Dunnett

The Spring of the Ram by Dorothy Dunnett

The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett

Freeport by Maldoror_Chant

Event Horizon by MonstrousRegiment

Provenance by Ann Leckie

Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie

Scum Villain fanfic

Motherland: Fort Salem

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Legend of Korra

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi

Scum Villain animated series

The Untamed fanfic

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Temeraire series by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Organization for Transformative Works

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Time-Life books

Wizards and Witches by Brendan Lehane

Tortall Series by Tamora Pierce

Welcome to Night Vale podcast (specifically Episode 15: Street Cleaning Day)

Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce

Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip

My Life as a Background Slytherin by Emily McGovern

Transfigurations by Resonant

"House Proud" by astolat

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin

Be the Serpent Episode 1: False Utopias and… Robot Sex??

“Victory Condition” by astolat (and the quote: ‘the empire of unsheathed knives’)

The Husbands And Wives Show aka Person of Interest

For Next Time

What We Do In the Shadows (2014 film)

Transcription:

The transcript of this episode is available here. Thank you to our team of scribes -- each of you is a gentleperson and a scholar.

[serpentcast]

On this week's episode, we are pondering the nature of mortality -- and immortality! We're discussing demigods and other sorts of very, very long lived folks. The tentpoles for this week are The Old Guard, The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson, and “The god of scraped knees.” by spqr.

What We’re Into Lately

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite

Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield

Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia

Fiyah, issue 15

Summer in Orcus by T. Kingfisher

Campaign: Skyjacks

Other Stuff We Mentioned

WorldCon

Feminine Pursuits series by Olivia Waite

Alice Payne series by Kate Heartfield

Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Annihilation

The Adventure Zone

The Decemberists

Our Opinions Are Correct

Episode 39 of Be the Serpent

Claire Rousseau’s Youtube channel

Finding Faeries by Alexandra Rowland

Hercules

The Witcher television show

Star Wars prequels

Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott

A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

Mad Max: Fury Road

Atomic Blonde

Smallville

A Memory Called Empire

Yoon Ha Lee’s books

Good Omens

Good Omens TV adaptation

The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

MXTX

Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

Keanu Reeves definitely Not being immortal

For Next Time

"Favorite" by astolat

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. Thank you as always to the eternal beloveds of our hearts: the team of scribes who made this possible!

[serpentcast]

If you love the podcast, supporting us on Patreon at the $2 level gets you access to monthly shitty drawings of the adorable snake mascot of the podcast, Jeremy, courtesy of your favorite American snek Alex :D This month’s is particularly good, subscribe and check it out if you haven’t already!

[serpentcast]

On this week's episode, Macey gets her feet tangled in her cardigan, Freya tries to convince everyone to submit Extravaganza questions via 5-star iTunes reviews, and Alex is very tired. Oh, and we're also doing a deep-dive on a single tentpole: The Witcher tv show!

What We’re Into Lately

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert Haikyuu!!

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

The Wild Dead by Carrie Vaughn

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

Naruto fanfic

Rookie Goo Hae-ryung

“this river runs to you” by sundiscus

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Prince of Tennis

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djèlí Clark

Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn

Bobbin lace-making

variolation

Dragon Age

Shrek

“Toss a Coin to Your Bitcher” by Suzanne Walker

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

Queer Eye

Baby Shark

Person of Interest

The waning droning quality of a hurdy gurdy

Miles Vorkosigan

Robin Hood

Galavant

Chant Bullshit, courtesy of Alex’s book series

Gossip Girl

Macey’s eternal dedication to Scum Villain fanfic

The Sorting Hat Chats podcast episode on The Witcher

For Next Time

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson.

Transcription

The transcript of this episode is available here. Thank you a thousand times to our wonderful team of scribes, who make this possible!

[serpentcast]

On this week’s episode, we’re discussing soulmates and soul bonds! Everyone have your assigned buddy? Remember to hold hands so nobody gets lost! The tentpoles for this episode are Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert, Fated by maydei, and “Deconstruct” by flowercity.

What We’re Into Lately

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley “Of Dragons, Feasts, and Murders” by Aliette de Bodard Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri The Terror Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm The Balance arc of The Adventure Zone The Adventure Zone graphic novel series The Old Guard

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Hanahaki Disease The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley Dominions of the Fallen trilogy by Aliette de Bodard Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri Good Omens television series Lucifer television series Consolation Songs by Iona Datt Sharma et. al Uncanny magazine saltwashed by Jennifer Mace Pon farr Star Trek T’hy’la The Untamed The Witcher Heaving Bosoms Podcast Ice Planet Barbarians series Yuri!!! On Ice Loveless Pacific Rim Red String of Fate Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura Haikyū!! by Haruichi Furudate “five snapped heartstrings” by welcometothehumanrace ‘Fan, Sword and Flame’ by TentacleBubbles The Fast and the Furious “Victory Lane” by astolat The First Cow

For Next Time

The Witcher

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. A thousand thank-yous to our incredible team of scribes!

[serpentcast]

On this week's episode, we’re discussing soulmates and soul bonds! Everyone have your assigned buddy? Remember to hold hands so nobody gets lost! The tentpoles for this episode are Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert, Fated by maydei, and “Deconstruct” by flowercity.

 What We’re Into Lately

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley “Of Dragons, Feasts, and Murders” by Aliette de Bodard Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri The Terror Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm The Balance arc of The Adventure Zone The Adventure Zone graphic novel series The Old Guard

 Other Stuff We Mentioned

Hanahaki Disease The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley Dominions of the Fallen trilogy by Aliette de Bodard Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri Good Omens television series Lucifer television series Consolation Songs by Iona Datt Sharma et. al Uncanny magazine saltwashed by Jennifer Mace Pon farr Star Trek T’hy’la The Untamed The Witcher Heaving Bosoms Podcast Ice Planet Barbarians series Yuri!!! On Ice Loveless Pacific Rim Red String of Fate Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura Haikyū!! by Haruichi Furudate “five snapped heartstrings” by welcometothehumanrace ‘Fan, Sword and Flame’ by TentacleBubbles The Fast and the Furious “Victory Lane” by astolat The First Cow

 For Next Time

The Witcher

 Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. A thousand thank-yous to our incredible team of scribes!

[serpentcast]

On today's episode we're talking about Harry Potter, the unbearable TERFness of JK Rowling, and the power of fanfic to reclaim and transform problematic canons: We're doing a deep-dive on the fanfic "Transfigurations" by Resonant!

What We’re Into Lately

Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson

The Letdown TV series

Pink Slip by Katrina Jackson

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

What married people do by Shamelesscooper, a Scum Villain/Untamed crossover fanfic

The Black Calhouns by Gail Lumet Buckley

The 1619 Project

TorCon 2020 panel: A Whole Universe in Pages — Worldbuilding for SFF

The Devil In America by Kai Ashante Wilson

Watchmen miniseries on HBO

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

"White Bears in Sugar Land: Juneteenth, Cages, and Afrofuturism" essay by Tochi Onyebuchi

"I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream: The Duty of the Black Writer During Times of American Unrest" essay by Tochi Onyebuchi

Queer Eye

Good Omens

Other Things We Mentioned

Juneteenth

Black Lives Matter

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

The Stabby Queer Ladies Anthology, Silk & Steel

Kerin Cunningham’s Kickstarter

My Chemical Romance

The Unbearable TERFness of J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Witchmark by C. L. Polk

Lumos by birdsofshore

The Untamed

Star Trek

In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae

Eclipse by Mijan

A Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Alexander the Great’s sex life

tissue of silver by fearlessdiva

Maya’s Harry Potter fics

For Next Time

Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. Thank you to our amazing team of scribes, as always!!

[serpentcast]

On this week's episode, we're looking at a selection of small scenes from several different pieces of media: The Expanse, Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon, an Alexander the Great documentary, K. J. Parker’s Devices and Desires, and Bujold’s The Warrior’s Apprentice.

What We’re Into Lately

Murderbot novellas by Martha Wells

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

The Accidental Warlord and His Pack by inexplicifics

Queen’s Play by Dorothy Dunnett

Desdemona and the Deep by C. S. E. Cooney

 Other Things We Mentioned

The Great Emu War

BBC Sherlock

GlitterShip

Game of Thrones

Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

Dragon Ball Z

Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

City of Lies by Sam Hawke

The Poison Wars series by Sam Hawke

The Expanse

“CQB”

Regeneration by Pat Barker

Black Sails 

The Far Side of the World

Jingo by Terry Pratchett 

Just war theory

Aubrey & Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian

Firefly

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliot

Star Wars

Misethere by astolat

K.J. Parker

‘On Sieges’ short essay by K.J. Parker

The Witcher television series

Bioware

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age: Origins

Overpowered Mages

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

Documentary about the rise of the Ottoman Empire

Edge of Tomorrow 

Ender’s Game film

Age of Sail

Honor Harrington series by David Weber

Riftwar Cycle: The Empire Trilogy by Raymond E. Feist

Magician trilogy (Riftwar Saga) by Raymond E. Feist

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

A Deeper Season fanfic series by lightgetsin & sahiya

Diplomatic Relations by Maldoror_Chant

Sacrifices fanfic series by Lightning on the Wave, a 3.6 million word arc

 For Next Time

Transfigurations by Resonant (Harry Potter fanfic)

 Transcription

The transcript of this episode is available here. Hail to the scribes, our conquering heroes!!

[serpentcast]

On this week's episode, we're discussing historical fantasy, and Freya makes a truly brilliant point about what this genre really IS. The tentpoles today are The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley, A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly, and “Duende” by astolat.

What We’re Into Lately

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Glitch

A Marvelous Light by Freya Markse!

Tor.com

Dr. Manhattan

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

Hornblower by C.S. Forester

Loveless anime

“Dangerous If Unbound” by astolat

Person of Interest

Hamilton

Black Sails

Downton Abbey

Temeraire series by Naomi Novik

P.G. Woodhouse books

Judging accuracy with the Bill and Ted test

Hild by Nicola Griffith

Georgette Heyer’s books

The Hornblower books by C.S. Forester

A Dalliance with the Duke by AMargeurite

An Ever-Fixed Mark by AMarguerite

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

The Glamourist Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

For Next Time

The Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce

Transcription

The transcript of this episode is available here. Thank you as always to our lovely scribes for their hard work!

[serpentcast]

Welcome back to campus, students! It's the episode about college AUs and university settings! On today’s episode, we’re discussing The Student Prince by FayJay, Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin, and the pilot episode of The Magicians.

What We’re Into Lately

Band Sinister by K. J. Charles

Stormsong by C.L. Polk

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun fic

The Untamed fic

The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Witchmark by C.L. Polk

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat aka 肉包不吃肉

All nighters and Irn Bru

The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers

The Lady’s Not for Burning by Christopher Fry

The Student Prince by FayJay -- podfic version

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Drastically Redefining Protocol by rageprufrock

Merlin

Juxtaposition

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Sneaking into events for free food

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

College AU shenanigans

American University Hellscape

Community

Advanced Ambulatory Ichthyology by gyzym

Two ducks per student

For Next Time

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here. Please applaud your scribes, all of them made it onto the Dean's List this semester for their hard work.

[serpentcast]

On this week's episode, we're diving into a very self-referential discussion of the metatext! Tentpoles this week are the film The Handmaiden, the fanfic “Steve Rogers at 100,” and A Choir of Lies by our very own Alexandra Rowland.

What We’re Into Lately

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri

The Impossible Contract by K. A. Doore

Georgette Heyer

The Untamed

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xu

Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xu

The Simplest Way Forward by harriet_vane

Other Stuff We Mentioned

Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild

1917

Eddie Izzard bit

Pirates

Overinvested

Written by the Victors by Speranza

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears

Person of Interest (or, the Husbands and Wives show)

For Next Time

The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Transcription

The transcript for this episode is available here! Appreciate your local scribes and their hard work by reading their margin comments--they've been metatexty this whole time, wow!