obsessed over how on one hand we have a straight up greek tragedy and on the other we have Vik and Jayce’s Gay Hextech Adventures. very impressed over how the fuck they made telling these stories side by side work

do you have any podcast recs for someone who doesn't usually listen to them but wants to start?

yes!! i used to be like that, too (my friend can attest that they’d rec me them all the time and i’d be like ahhhh idk how to podcast), so i can tell you which ones made me become a Podcast Person. step one, though, is finding out what circumstances let you listen. for me, that’s pretty exclusively video games (things like skyrim, where i can just fairly mindlessly kill enemies, or a match-3 game are great), my mom and i have some we do while we color or make jewelry, i know someone who can only listen if she’s doing something physical like cleaning or driving, i’ve heard some people can only listen if they’re doing absolutely nothing else. that said! here’s some of my favorites for getting interested, in no particular order:

welcome to night vale. a friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass ahead while we all pretend to sleep. this is the first podcast that many people tried, including me. for years, it was actually the only podcast i could do at all. it’s told in the story of community radio updates from a small town, in which all conspiracy theories are true, and the weird is mundane. it’s a comedy! it’s horror, told in the form of a comedy. (don’t worry if you don’t like horror—i know people who can’t handle horror at all, but love night vale. the comedy is forefront. it’s hysterical.)

lore. folklore, myths, legends, tall tales, actual historical fact, all of it blends together into stories of what the creator calls ‘the darker side of human history.’ it can be anything from vampires and werewolves, to the life story of a criminal, to how people have died for fashion throughout history.

cabinet of curiosities. it’s done by the same guy who does lore, and it’s little snippets of history—little funny stories, fascinating tales, interesting coincidences. this is actually a great one to get into because the episodes are only 10 minutes long, with two stories per episode, so they go by really quickly.

the magnus archives. i wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve heard of this, it’s pretty popular right now, but it is very good. it’s about the archives of an institute that records stories of the supernatural and paranormal, and as the new archivist digs in, he uncovers more and more of the mysteries of the archives. it’s slow to start; the beginning is interesting, don’t get me wrong, but it really kicks off when the overarching plot becomes more integral and the characters become more prominent. as a warning, this is a horror-tragedy, so be sure you’re prepared and like horror!

the domestic life of anthony todd. a writer moves to a tiny british town to try to write a book way out of their style. of course, there’s something more going on in town! they take it upon themselves to record their findings in the life of a young boy named anthony todd, and his guardians, and how strange this town is, because it’s always the tiny towns of like 3 people that are the absolute weirdest, isn’t it? so few of these take place in like, new york city, in a stark contrast from tv and movies.

rabbits. actually, the experience of listening to this is what spurred my final transformation into A Podcast Person™ rather than just someone who listens to one or two occasionally. a journalist begins a search for her friend who goes missing. she’s podcasting the search, of course. the further into the investigation she gets, the deeper she gets into uncovering a mysterious, ancient game known only as “rabbits” or simply “the game.” how do you play rabbits? if you’re asking, you’re either already playing, or you’re already a pawn in the game.

the left-right game. rabbits and the left-right game are very similar in my mind, but i’m not sure there’s any particular reason for that. a journalist again, she hears of a creepypasta type of thing called “the left-right game” in which you take certain turns at certain spots in order to arrive on “the road.” to finish her story, she joins a group of people who are all players of the game, and with her along, they all go farther than they’ve ever been on the road—maybe even all the way to the end. also, it stars tessa thompson!!

alice isn’t dead. a trucker believes her wife died long ago…but this may not be the case. through her long-distance trucking job, she searches for the wife who definitely isn’t dead, and along the way, she’ll encounter conspiracies, towns lost in time, interesting people, and some people who may not be quite people.

the adventure zone. you’ve likely heard of the mcelroys, of my brother, my brother, and me and polygon fame. the three brothers team up with their dad and they all play dungeons and dragons together. i’m not very far into this (15 episodes or so?) so i can’t really give a great summary, but it’s very fun, i promise. it takes a short time of getting used to, but once you’re used to it, you’re hooked in.

badvertising. three friends with absolutely no advertising or marketing experience get together and try to create the idea for and advertise the worst product possible. every episode they get a real-life brand, and make it as awful as they can, such as coca-cola that you vape but only in VR.

that should be enough to get started! you can also search for anything you may be interested in and see what comes up, like i also have a few podcasts i like about greek mythology, or dog training, or gay stuff, or knitting, or spanish. hope this helps and feel free to let me know if you like any of them!!

Time To Hurt You

The Story Of Tony  - Chapter 1

 People noticed that Tony seemed to be walking around with a heavier tread, now.  Nat noticed, as did Pepper.  Maybe others did as well, but they didn’t matter.  Pepper mattered because she was still his wife.  Nat mattered because, well, she was the Black Widow, Superspy.  Her opinion counted for a lot.

Since Sanjay had left him for Bangalore and Abdulaziz the eunuch, Tony was beginning to see his life as a long and tedious Shakespearian tragedy (or maybe a Greek Tragedy?  Which one had ended with all the dead bodies on stage?  That kind of tragedy.)

These days, the play seemed to be lingering on the part that all the girls sighed for – the part where one character was up on the balcony in the moonlight thinking outloud and the other character was below the balcony, listening in, getting ready to spout poetry.  

Sure, the girls in the audience were sighing now, but Tony was in the wings, holding the script.  He knew that, before the night was over, one character would be romancing the business end of a dagger all because the first character couldn’t have waited 15 minutes for his true love to wake the fuck up.

In Tony’s head, it went like this.

  Anthony And Cleopepper I, A Comedy

 After a great deal of experience (from the three plays before) King Tony and Queen Pepper conclude that the terms “Husband and Wife,” while nowhere close to explaining their relationship, would best define them to the outside world.  

And that’s what they wanted. For the outside world to see them as a single, inseparable financial unit.  What was going on behind closed doors was none of the world’s business (and impossible to describe, anyway.  At least, impossible to sum up in a playbill.)

What was going on behind closed doors, well, that was going smoothly, at any rate.  Both had agreed they needed the freedom to scratch whatever itch came along, and if any serious feelings grew from scratching an itch more than once, that they would immediately alert the other.  That’s exactly what Pepper did, both when she began her relationship with Maria Hill, and when she realized it was becoming more serious than anticipated.  

And when Pepper had hinted that it was so serious, she was actually visualizing Tony moving out and Maria moving in, Tony (rather foolishly because tragic heroes always have character flaws))  jumped headlong into a relationship with the painfully cute and charmingly shy up-and-comer in the Foreign Affairs division, Sanjay Anand.

At least, he thought he had jumped headlong into a relationship.

Turns out Anthony wasn’t as smart as he thought he was.

Anthony and Mr. Anand II, A Tragedy

The story begins with Tony genially moving out of the home he shared with his wife, amiably talking shop with Maria over drinks knowing damn well that Maria was now sleeping in his bedroom.  He was cheerful about it, terminally cheerful.  Because he was moving into Stark Tower and he had invited Sanjay to move in with him and Sanjay agreed.

Sort of.

Pepper’s original misgivings about Tony moving out were entirely concerned with who was going to take care of Tony.  Who would remind him sleep, to eat, to balance tinkering with the other aspects of life (like food and sleep?)  She had quizzed Sanjay on the subject, declared him a genius (which Tony already knew) and was satisfied that the man was up to the task.

Which was why it was so much of a surprise to Tony to find that it was quite the other way around.  

When he came ‘home’ to Stark Tower, he wasn’t terribly interested in the man taking care of him.  Instead, he found himself longing, in a new and surprising way, to take care of that man.  

It wasn’t easy, of course, this new lifestyle (not living with a man, but living with someone he had to take care of.  Because taking care of Sanjay meant he had to take care of himself. THAT was his new lifestyle.)

His new lifestyle was very difficult primarily because no one knew Sanjay existed outside of Pepper and Maria.  Sanjay lived a precarious double- life (Tony tried to relate, but couldn’t) trying to live one life in America (with a male lover who was technically still married to a woman) and one life in Bangalore (where being openly gay was not an astute business decision.)  Still, the Anthony of this Shakespearian Tragedy entertained High Hopes.  When Pepper and Maria casually chatted about their budding plans for the future Tony nodded sagely.  Because he, too, had plans.  He could see Sanjay really moving into the tower (instead of maintaining three residences, two in New York and one in Bangalore.)  He could see Sanjay sitting by his side someday, casually chatting about their budding plans to a sagely nodding Pepper.

And when Sanjay called from Amsterdam to gush about his new friend Abdülaziz? Abdülaziz the Muslim, Abdülaziz the Social Justice Wonder Warrior, Abdülaziz the eunuch, Abdülaziz who was working with homeless youth in India and couldn’t Stark Industries write him a very large check? Tony was thrilled for his lover and shared his enthusiasm and, naturally, his money.  And when Sanjay came back to America gushing over Abdülaziz to Tony, and to Pepper and Maria, and to Happy and to anyone who would sit still enough to listen, well, Tony just glowed with pride at his lover’s new hobby.  And when Sanjay asked permission over the phone to take the Social Justice Wonder Warrior to bed?  Tony had absolutely no problem.  Hell, he was in an open relationship – an open relationship with Pepper, an open relationship with Sanjay, an open relationship with the world.  

Besides, Tony knew how shy Sanjay was in bed.  Had spent months just trying to get him there.  Had been patient and gentle and tender and good-natured about it.  Had even pretended it didn’t matter.  Because Sanj just had a low sex-drive, that’s all.  Tony could adjust.  If sex wasn’t all that important to Sanjay, then Tony could adjust accordingly.  That was the new Tony.  That was the new lifestyle.

And when Sanj and Social Justice Wonder Warrior disappeared off the face of the planet along with the Stark Foundation grant money and no one had any idea what had happened for two weeks?  And when Sanj and SJWW finally surfaced in Goa with NEW plans to open a home for gay youth in Goa AND planned to get married (AND Sanja was converting to Islam, why any man would want to convert to Islam AND marry a man at the same time no one could explain to Tony) well…

…lets just say Tony wasn’t adjusting very well.

So how he lived in his empty Stark Tower penthouse, looking out at a bleak and sterile city, loved by half the world and utterly alone.  And who did he have to blame for that?  He was in an open relationship with Pepper.  He was in an open relationship with Sanjay.  They were open, loving, tender relationships and they were both so open he fell right the fuck out.

Anthony Alone III, The Travesty

He fell right the fuck out, and he landed hard. He tried to dive back into the tech again, ah god it had worked the first time, hell he had once almost lost Pepper because of the tech, and yet it was as if the tech wasn’t having him either.  Which meant there was nothing to distract him from the cold, harsh world he was living in – a world where he had learned to take care of himself in order to take care of a man who was no longer there.  If the tech didn’t take him back, where else was there to go?  He was too damn old for coke (although the alcohol was beginning to call his name again.)

It wasn’t that the tech wasn’t there, it’s just that it wasn’t pulling him in the way it used to.  And if he couldn’t lose himself in the tech, well, what else was a man supposed to do when he had gone 72 hours without sleep?  Casual sex was out – that was a habit he had lost when he was patiently waiting for Sanj; patiently waiting to get Sanj into bed, patiently waiting to get Sanj back home, patiently waiting for Sanj to get back in the mood to get back in bed …. Tony had gotten used to waiting.  Casual sex with a stranger didn’t work for him any more, not when he was on interested (desperate sometimes) to get naked with one of the two human beings on the earth that he loved.  (Well, there were three – but Bruce was far away.  And relying on Bruce for more than a couple of nights was always a mistake.)  It’s not that Pepper wasn’t still sleeping with him – she would if he asked.  Hell she would sleep with him while Maria hung out in the next room if that’s what it took.  She was still willing to take care of him.  She always would be.But Pepper’s mind was somewhere else, now.  Lord knew he knew what that felt like.  Besides, that would only end his skinhunger – his heart would still be aching.  Aching for what he was so damn sure he had, and didn’t have at all.

Fortunately, he was still an Avenger.

Danger took no holidays.

So, on occasion, he had Avenger Adventures to distract him from his new barren lifescape.  

Avenger Adventures  meant high-octane situations, plenty of adrenaline, technical problems that had to be solved RIGHT NOW and mostly long periods of time that involved Not Thinking.

And then there was Peter.

Avenger Adventures involved Peter, too.

Chapter Six : L AS IN LESBIAN

THE STORY OF SAPPHO OF LESBOS

Sappho (630–570 BC) was a Greek poetess from the island of Lesbos, located in the northeastern Aegan Sea. Sappho (or as some would call her “The Tenth Muse” or “The Poetess”) was known for her lyric poetry, usually written to be sung while accompanied by a lyre. Over the centuries, most of Sappho’s poetry was lost, except for one complete poem :

ODE TO APHRODITE Iridescent-throned Aphrodite, deathless Child of Zeus, wile-weaver, I now implore you, Don’t — I beg you, Lady — with pains and torments Crush down my spirit,

But before if ever you’ve heard my pleadings Then return, as once when you left your father’s Golden house; you yoked to your shining car your Wing-whirring sparrows

Skimming down the paths of the sky’s bright ether On they brought you over the earth’s black bosom, Swiftly — then you stood with a sudden brilliance, Goddess, before me;

Deathless face alight with your smile, you asked me What I suffered, who was my cause of anguish, What would ease the pain of my frantic mind, and Why had I called you

To my side: “And whom should Persuasion summon Here, to soothe the sting of your passion this time? Who is now abusing you, Sappho? Who is Treating you cruelly?

Now she runs away, but she’ll soon pursue you; Gifts she now rejects — soon enough she’ll give them; Now she doesn’t love you, but soon her heart will Burn, though unwilling.

Come to me once more, and abate my torment; Take the bitter care from my mind, and give me All I long for; Lady, in all my battles Fight as my comrade.

Though not much is known of Sappho’s life, her work speaks of a great admiration and fascination for the beauty of women. Fragmented biography written on papyrus states that Sappho was accused by some of being “irregular in her ways and a woman-lover” but it does not prove anything at all. It cannot be denied that the remaining 650 lines from her body of work portray homoerotic feelings. The conclusion of this is nobody knows Sappho’s life. That didn’t stop them from originated the word Lesbian from her place of origin.

ETY-HOMO-LOGY

The term Lesbianism, to describe erotic relations between women, had been documented as early as 1870. By 1890, the term Lesbian was used in a medical dictionary. Synonyms from the early 20th century include invert (which seems to be the equivalent of our “butch” term), homosexual and… sapphist.

Interestingly, far less was written by medical professionals about lesbianism as it was viewed as a lesser problem than male homosexuality. In some cases, it was not acknowledged to exist at all. We could talk about the works of sexologists Ebing (Germany) and Ellis (UK) but they believed a woman’s attraction to another woman could be either medically reversed or vanish after the woman had experiences marriage and a “practical life”. They also indicated that homosexual men has behaviors that should not be considered a criminal vice. So.. Yeah ? Misogyny wins ?

LESBIANISM AS AN IDENTITY

As a cis gay man with no rights to give a personal opinion to what is and isn’t considered lesbianism, please acknowledge I’m only reporting previous theories and opinions that were stated by more or less qualified people than me.

It seems that the act of sexual relationships between two women is still up for debate as to be defined as lesbianism. According to feminist writer Naomi McCormick, Lesbianism was mostly constructed by men, whose primary indicator of lesbian sexual orientation is sexual experience with other women. As I believe sexuality is a spectrum and not a series of boxes to check, I would tend to agree with that statement. But I will not give more of an opinion on the subject. She also stated that emotional, mental and ideological connections between women are as important or more so than the genital. As the definition of lesbianism was clearly unfocused depending on who you were talking to, and the rise of feminism in the second part of the 20th century, women felt safer claiming to be more sexually adventurous, allowing them to be feel more accepted by the male gaze. In the 1980s, a significant movement rejected the sexualization of lesbianism which became part of a heated controversy called the feminist sex wars. The movement is built to counter the idea that women is long-term relationships with other women were having less sexual contact that heterosexual or homosexual male couples, calling this “Lesbian Bed Death”.

The idea is that a woman that does not identify her sexual feelings toward persons of her sex as lesbianism and does not engage if long-term emotional attachment will keep on being sexually viable in the eyes of society. Using the word “lesbianism” as a death sentence on your sex life, putting you right in the category of asexual beings. Misogyny wins again ?

In direct consequence with the male gaze and the construction of the word lesbianism by male minds, homosexual women from western culture often adopted lesbianism as an identity itself. As most people are taught that heterosexuality is an innate quality in all people, women who realize her romantic and sexual attraction to other women go through an ‘existential crisis’. The identity of a lesbian, challenging what society had offered in stereotypes about homosexuals and learning to function within a homosexual subculture. From that perspective came the stereotypes that were naturally reused in the media as to make the whole thing comprehensible to heterosexuals with no capacity for nuances.

STERE-HO-TYPES

First, let’s talk about what other dumb people can think about a lesbian : 1. Lesbians just haven’t been with the right guy yet — There is no right guy. 2. Men molested them as children and turned them into lesbians — sexual identity cannot be changed to any events whatsoever. And why do you have to associate that to tragedy ? 3. In every lesbian couple, one has to be the man — Men are useless most of the time. You don’t need your idea of a man. 4. Lesbian hate men — I don’t think they do. But do men hate lesbians ? The idea of, no. Them ? Probably a very emasculating thought. 5. It’s not real sex if there’s no penis — you clearly never had good oral sex in your life. 6. All lesbians use strap-ons/No lesbians use strap-ons — there are contradictory reports. Do that I say the fuck do you care ? It’s not your concern!

We also have the two main categories of lesbians that are absolutely and definitely real and nothing else because otherwise, how are we gonna understand those people ?

If you are a lesbian (and we highly doubt that cause you haven’t met the right guy yet), you are a butch or a femme. As everything had to be either masculine or feminine in gender, sex or identity studies, even lesbians adopted that way of thinking in the last century. A US study from the 90s showed that “95% of lesbians are familiar with butch/femme code and can rate themselves or others in terms of those codes”. Those two clichés of what a lesbian should be also created debates inside the community, subculture and the feminist movement. For some, the sexual and romantic association of butch and femme was a replication of heterosexual relations while other commentators argue that, while it resonates with heterosexual patterns of relations, butch-femme simultaneously challenges it. A lot of theoretical talk for something people don’t seem to totally understand.

NO BI, BI, BI

Lesbians in western cultures generally create an identity that parallels those built on ethnicity : they have a shared history and subculture (as gay man do but more focused), a similar experience with discrimination (homophobic AND misogynistic) which has caused many of them to reject heterosexual principles. It created a point of contention with the ideas of a bisexual woman and a lesbian who once had sexual relationships with men. Lesbians who have never had sex with men may be referred to as “gold star lesbians” while those who have may face ridicule and rejection from others. Bisexual women also face, more so than in heterosexual relationships, identity challenges with regard to defining what it means to be interested in women. I had a conversation the other day with someone who happens to be a gay woman about what she was looking for in a girl. I scanned for people I might know and talked about a friend of mine, single as well. It seemed that the bisexuality of my friend was a point of no return, as she did not want to engage with someone “who didn’t know what she wanted”. As I’m going to cover the B in LGBT in another article real soon, I won’t get to far in that particular area today. Though I need to insist right now (and yes, this is a fact AND an opinion) : Bisexuality is not a half-way stop to homosexuality. There is not transition. Saying you’re bisexual while you are actually gay is something a 15 year-old confused teenager would say out of fear of being rejected. A grown-ass woman does not have that fear. She knows exactly who she is just as you do. B as in Bisexual… coming soon.

LESBIAN REPRESENTATION

If I say Lesbian, you say Ellen ! Lesbian! Ellen ! Lesbian ! Ellen ! As I’m also covering Ellen in the future, I won’t get too much into that right now. Yes, Ellen Degeneres is probably the most famous (and possibly richest) lesbian in the world. And though she broke barriers, she was not the first.

Selma Lagerlöf, first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Jane Adams, first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Julia Morgan, first woman admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Lili Elbe, first identified recipient of gender confirmation surgery (Yes, transgender woman can also be lesbians as sexuality and gender are two different things). Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady of the United States (still disputed by many though). Marguerite Yourcenar, first woman elected to the Académie Française. Interesting to notice that while I was researching those names, many of them (Joséphine Baker, Frida Kahlo) were bisexual women, showing that even now, bisexuality is not accepted as face value and just another name of lesbianism for women.

In literature, The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (1951) comes to mind, depicting the first-ever “happy ending” for a lesbian couple. The release of the book was so scandalous at the time the author had to use a pseudonym. Following the Stonewall Riots, lesbian themes multiplied in more diverse and complex themes, though mostly through essays on feminism and sexuality. Important lesbian writers to read are Rita Mae Brown and Audre Lorde, to name a few.

In cinema, openly lesbian content in mainstream films began appearing during the 1990s, exploring sympathetic lesbian characters. By 2000, some films portrayed characters beyond issues of sexual orientation, reflecting a wider need to see lesbianism as more than sexual desire. Unfortunately, most mainstream films with lesbian protagonists are directed by heterosexual male directors. 2001’s Mulholland Drive put two women in a grotesque exposure of their sexual desires. 2013’s Palme d’Or winner Blue is the Warmest Color (La Vie d’Adèle Partie 1&2) gives us the most explosively graphic lesbian sex scenes in recent memory, though it was received by some lesbian communities as exploitative and offensive. Summer of Love (2004) is a great indie movie with delicate use of lesbian themes and characters but it was directed by Pawel Pawlikowski.

In television, lesbians were largely ignored for quite a while. Not until 1962 were there mentioned in reports concerning female homosexuality. On scripted shows, the word “lesbian” was never heard of, instead using codes like “villain” or “neurotic”. In the 80s, L.A. Law included a lesbian relationship in one of their storylines, causing outrage. Sci-Fi shows of the 90s implied more than stated that characters were gay. It really only changed with Ellen’s 1997 Puppy Episode (more on that later, I told you). After that milestone, Soap operas included a couple of lesbians here and there, cable shows tried it too. The L Word was created by Showtime as a response to the network’s own Queer as Folk. Though not a great show in terms of writing and pacing, it remains an important landmark in lesbian history and is getting rebooting in the next few months.

I do believe the bigger, brighter and thoughtful representation of a lesbian romance was in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But even then, the network did not want the two lesbian characters to kiss on screen (they had to wait over a year after the met for depicting the smallest kiss in the face of grief). In our golden age of television, we have the likes of Orange is the New Black, The Fosters, characters on Grey’s Anatomy, American Horror Story, Orphan Black. Not enough, but a start.

Overall, the lack of representation in the media justified the accumulation of basic lesbian clichés put together by society and the community itself.

IN CONCLUSION

Is lesbianism an identity ? If not, were lesbians force to assume this as their primary identity as a way to get ground and recognition ? That L is important. They have it rough. But not as ruff as Black Lesbians.

milo and tom (my loves)

I’m having some kind of technical difficulties because the ask box went and deleted the second part of my answer, so Tom will be separate.

Full Name: Milo Fiero MarsetteGender and Sexuality: *runs naked down the streets wearing nothing but a rainbow flag as a cape*: I’M GAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!“ -I guess he’s a proud, flamboyantly gay man or something, idk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Pronouns: He/himEthnicity/Species: He’s a Greek witch 🇬🇷 🔮Birthplace and Birthdate: San Diego, California, April 1st, 2015 🌴 ☀️Guilty Pleasures: His LIFE is a guilty pleasure! 🍆 🙊Phobias: commitment and his whole family being killedWhat They Would Be Famous For: what wouldn’t he be famous for? …jk. For being a controversial, but key player in the Second Supernatural War (being the brother of the genocidal megalomaniac trying to wipe out an entire race is kinda a bummer). What They Would Get Arrested For: Exhibitionism. No, but actually… vampirism is frowned upon in these parts and he’d get done for turning voluntarily. (Don’t make rash decisions when you’re bored with your life, kids!)OC You Ship Them With: the neurotic nurse who just wants to keep him alive for one damn day, Eric Matthews. 💖OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Plot twist: his brother.Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Um… the wildest, crackest one he can possibly find? The worse the movie the better? Trashy b-movies all the way.Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Gay tragedies. Ain’t nobody got time for that.Talents and/or Powers: Teleportation and pyromania. He’s also a very talented travel writer, stripper, and drag queen.Why Someone Might Love Them: He’s like, the best possible lovable hot mess you can find. He’s impulsive AF, which means guaranteed entertainment. He can’t keep his clothes on, and constantly flirts with any guy who crosses his path. I like to call him the Magnus Bane of the Time series, only gayer and messier.Why Someone Might Hate Them: He’s the walking definition of "why are you cutting up all your shirt sleeves?” “…because Eric is 83% of my impulse control and he’s not here, so…” …I don’t know how that’s a downside, tbh. Nevermind. He’s 100% a keeper. 10/10 would recommend this hot mess of a gay boy.How They Change: He starts out a really messy hedonistic guy who keeps shirking all his responsibilities because he’s afraid of laying down roots and committing to something and falling in love with his life because he’s full of survivor’s guilt, but the war comes and he re-evaluates what he wants in life and gets his shit together. The thought of losing Eric makes him realise he’s the one person he needs in his life, so he has a reason to take better care of himself and the people he loves.Why You Love Them: He’s the BEST to torment… No, but actually. He’s such an attention seeking asshole of a character who constantly gets jealous every time I write about someone who isn’t him, which leads to really weird strip teases and SOPHIE, LOOK AT ME! until I write about him again. Which has led to some bonkers stories. He leads this intensely crazy life of adventure and living everything to the fullest and just doing whatever the fuck he likes regardless of rules. He’s a good guy. Utterly crazy, but so great.

Great literary reads set in Montreal

There’s nothing like spending some quality time in Montréal’s unique neighbourhoods, parks and cafés to really get a feel for the city, its culture and its people – go one step further by adding the creative, insider perspectives of some of Canada’s bright literary minds. With these books – and a visit to Blue Metropolis lit festival in late April – Montréal might just start feeling like home.

Une publication partagée par Bison Books (@bison_books) le 19 Oct. 2015 à 8h34 PDT

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, by Mordecai Richler.

Why not start with one of the most famous and award-winning of Montréal-based books? Richler takes us through mid-20th-century Montréal in the satirical yet heartfelt story of a young man, a third-generation Jewish immigrant, who wants nothing more than to succeed in the eyes of his father and grandfather, and thus the world. His schemes, from juggling multiple jobs to conning people, don’t win him much love in the end. with several recognizable landmarks along the way, such as Wilensky’s diner, etc. Not to be overlooked, however, is Richler’s darkly comedic novel Son of a Smaller Hero, also set in Montréal, this time following the life of a young man working his way out of the Jewish ghetto while remaining emotionally tied to his undeniable roots.

Une publication partagée par Lis-moi ça (@lismoi.ca) le 7 Sept. 2015 à 10h13 PDT

The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant, by Michel Tremblay.

This endearing novel is perhaps the best known in the legendary Quebecois author’s series of books set in Montréal’s Plateau neighbourhood and focused on everyday working-class life during the post-WWII era. The prolific Tremblay also the pen behind one of Québec’s most successful theatrical productions Les Belles-soeurs, deftly pairs comedy with tragedy, love with fear, interweaving the lives of seven Francophone women as the summer of 1942 begins and thoughts turn to the future of their families and that of newly religiously-rebellious Québec.

•Today’s Find• #LeonardCohen #usedbooks #vintage #retro #novel #literature #juicy #paperback #TheFavoriteGame #bw #monochrome #booksmells #bibliophile #horndog #LCohen #vintagebooks #avon #thrift

Une publication partagée par LL (@mysinkingvessel) le 20 Juil. 2015 à 1h35 PDT

The Favourite Game, by Leonard Cohen.

Written partly while living on a Greek Island and published in 1963, Cohen’s first novel delves into the life of a Jewish family in Montréal, particularly the family’s only son, Lawrence Breavman and his struggles with growing up, love woes and the death of his father, interspersed with his fascination for hypnotism and staying out all night with his best friend. The novel takes a New York City turn, following similar themes as Breavman falls in love for real. Cohen also wrote his next novel, Beautiful Losers, while on an island in Greece, yet its emotionally-fraught, sex-filled narrative also harkens back to Montréal via a Québecois nationalist protest in Parc Lafontaine.

Une publication partagée par Laura.L (@_l.laura) le 16 Nov. 2016 à 10h53 PST

The Tin Flute, by Gabrielle Roy.

Montréal’s working-class history comes to the fore in Roy’s Governor General’s Award-winning novel set in the neighbourhood of Saint-Henri – an area much changed since the book was published in 1945. Back then, the area’s residents, many of them recent immigrants, lived a gritty life of long working hours, family members cramped into small apartments, living meagre paycheque to paycheque – Roy tells much of the tale in the common spoken language of that time and place, a mix of French and English slang called “joual.” Today the neighbourhood has seen a boom in new homes and restaurants, a farmers’ market and boasts a pastoral bike path along the once-industrial Lachine Canal.

Une publication partagée par ℓ. (@acleverghost) le 4 Juil. 2014 à 14h04 PDT

How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired, by Dany Laferrière.

One of Québec’s best-known contemporary authors, Haitian-Canadian Laferrière wrote his debut novel over 30 years ago while struggling to get by in exile in Montréal. For all its political controversy and erotic nature, the satire-laced book was quickly embraced, adapted into a film, and became part of the landscape of understanding interracial relations in Montréal in the mid-80s. Smart, funny and strange, Laferrière’s unique journey of character and city reads like little else and is thankfully responsible for spawning the career of a unique voice in Québec literature.

Une publication partagée par Brad (@fictionalpics) le 5 Mai 2016 à 11h57 PDT

Lullabies for Little Criminals, by Heather O’Neill.

A story of childhood lost somewhere on the streets of Montréal, O’Neill avoids getting lost in the doldrums of poverty and abandonment, instead captivating with its main character, Baby, and her underground life in the city. Winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction in 2007 (on that note, MacLennan’s The Watch That Ends the Night and Two Solitudes are definitely worthy Québec-based reads as well) and shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award in 2007 and the Orange Prize in 2008, the beautifully-written novel explores the city from a previously untold perspective, unafraid of harsh realities. O’Neill’s new book, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, is currently receiving its fair share of deserved critical acclaim too.

Une publication partagée par Zoka (@books_zb) le 11 Juil. 2016 à 4h13 PDT

Mãn, by Kim Thúy.

Similar to Thúy’s Governor General’s Award-winning novel Ru, a poetic story of fleeing Vietnam for Canada as a child, Mãn is a fable-like personal novel set in Montréal with profound tendrils in Vietnam. Sparse, clear prose helps base the novel in the realism of home and family, while barely containing an undercurrent of passion sparked anew by romantic love and sensual food. Read this novel while eating pho at a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown.

Une publication partagée par Érika Plante (@rikalechat) le 7 Sept. 2016 à 8h37 PDT

Nikolski, by Nicolas Dickner.

Winner of the Governor General’s Award for French fiction in 2005, the Prix Anne-Hébert in 2006, the 2008 Governor General’s Award for French-to-English translation, and the victor in CBC’s 2010 Canada Reads contest, Nikolski not only brings together three fictionalized, semi-nomadic 20-somethings living in the Plateau (all mysteriously connected, as we learn), but the symbolic presence of Nikolski, a small village in Alaska. While set in Montréal, Dickner’s  novel creates universal appeal out of its deep and entertaining musings on the meaning of home.

Une publication partagée par Chris Bruntlett (@modacitylife) le 28 Mai 2014 à 16h11 PDT

Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec, by Taras Grescoe.

If fiction just isn’t your thing, dive into a crash course in Quebec culture and history as told from the point of view of a Montréal travel writer who wrote the book around the turn of the millennium, when rents were just beginning to slowly rise as political referendum news wore off. Grescoe’s penchant for socially-relevant research serves the book well on both controversial topics such as Québec’s separatist movement and the so-called French-English “language wars,” and in its exploration of the city’s contemporary popular culture.

Une publication partagée par Emily A (@shmemadoo) le 2 Déc. 2015 à 8h55 PST

Bottle Rocket Hearts, by Zoe Whittall.

A coming-of-age story set in the mid-1990s, when grunge and riot grrl seized many of the city’s young hearts and minds while the 1995 separatist referendum loomed. Whittall’s novel sees Montréal through the eyes of a gay, sexually-adventurous young woman who tends to get a bit philosophical and self-involved when faced with her own angst, identity issues and general confusion. Yet her point of view comes balanced with the real-world experience and raw emotions of several other well-drawn characters, all providing insight into what it means to grow up in uncertain times.

Une publication partagée par Louise Primeau (@louisesarticulations) le 6 Nov. 2015 à 16h06 PST

The Hockey Sweater, by Roch Carrier.

And finally, one for the kids and kids-at-heart. Not only a hit in Québec, but throughout Canada, Carrier’s classic short story – found in numerous anthologies, including Carrier’s English-translated collection The Hockey Sweater and Other Stories – reveals the heart and soul behind common stereotypes of Québec and Canada as hockey-obsessed and snow-covered. While set in Saint Justine, Québec, the book is all about the Montréal Canadiens and its star player of the 1940s, Maurice “Rocket” Richard – and his iconic number 9 hockey jersey. The book proved so popular that the National Film Board commissioned Sheldon Cohen to turn it into a short animated film in 1980, which quickly became a classic in itself.

Up next:Five movies you didn’t know were filmed in Montréal

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