Pretty nice slice-of-life, I must say. Fits very well with the art too, I think. Also, the name of the dragon caught my eye... Jarvinen... if it was "Järvinen", that would be a Finnish surname. Amusing as such. Korestai doesn't seem like a real-life name at all, on the other hand... When I used Google search, the third hit was the same picture used in this one, but in MoodyFerret's gallery in VCL... Amusing as well.

Anyway, enjoyed reading this. Not too graphical to my tastes... just an interesting incident in one photographers life. Well written.

Thank you for reading and commenting, as always

Actually, his surname should be Järvinen. *grins a bit* That was something I meant to ask you about but forgot. As for Korestai... well, there has to be some made-up stuff to go with a made-up dragon

I'm glad you enjoyed it, anyway.

*reads*

How depressing! I thought that you would have played one of the characters! *wants the romance and sexual tension that was brought up earlier!*

*demands another story which details the couple's evening*

*laughs softly* Well, all right, I confess. To be honest, the original idea used what I've written here, with some modification, as a frame for the story.

The thing is that I'm not really feeling romantic and sexual-tension-y at the moment, in any way, shape or form. Give it a bit of time and I'll see what I can do.

As short as this was, I have to admit, I enjoyed it immensly.

There was one thing that confused me though; first of all, the photographer calls the two men "fags", but he later shows that he has nothing against them, and in fact wants the pair to be happy. Well, actually, that's not quite right - the second thing that confused me was the time that the three were in. Was it a costume party for 1934, or was it the actual year? What's really doing it in for me is the color picture, which implies the former, though I can't shake the latter feeling either.

Thank you very much: I'm glad you enjoyed it And thank you for the comment

The language I used is as close as I can remember to the language in use at the time. (Based on the books I've read, especially George Chauncey's.) "Fag" was a common term for a homosexual male; however, the real derision was saved for the "pansy", the obviously effeminate homosexual who it was assumed took the submissive role. It wasn't uncommon, in fact, for otherwise completely heterosexual men to have sex with 'pansies' - but since they took the dominant role, they didn't consider themselves to be queer. In this way, Korestai and his boyfriend aren't 'threatening' to the moral order --- yes, I know it doesn't make sense, but please believe me when I say that's just how it was.

The other thing is that the picture is supposed to be in 1934, and the story was supposed to be the photographer's recollection of that evening at some number of years' remove. I can appreciate that the colour picture skews things somewhat. I didn't want to grey-tone the picture, though, since I think it looks so beautiful.

Strangely, I can actually see what sense there is to be had in that. Dominance is typically what makes a man feel like a man, and to submit to another sexually...yeah, I can see it.

Still makes me like what time I'm in, though, and prefer it. xp

I'd also like to thank you for explaining the year that this was taking place in; that brings a further question, however. Is this a relationship between two men honestly interested in each other, or simply one gay man having feelings for a straight one who doesn't mind being on top of another male in bed? Somehow, that idea kinda detracts from the story, for me...

*chuckles* It's an interesting subject. I wrote somewhere between three and four thousand words on it in my Master's thesis - which wasn't, in fact, specifically about queer social history but was the better for it.

It's interesting, the subject of what makes a man feel like a man. I'm going to call you on the "dominance" point. I've given a lot of thought to it down the years, one way or another: is a man any less a man if he lets himself be penetrated by another male? Well, society would have it that he is, sure, and has done since at least the Roman times. But is he, really? Is a man defined solely by something like that? What about all the guys who switch? what about all the guys who liked to be on the bottom who marched off to war - dulce et decorum est pro patria mori and all that? Isn't that manly?

I've got a quotation in my head right now. Harvey Fierstein wrote a play called "Safe Sex" which includes a monologue from one gay man to his ex-ex-lover who are back together after a couple of years apart. Maybe it doesn't make complete sense here, but it jumped up when I started typing, so here it is anyway. "When I picture you then, I see a man prone in my bed and waiting. No expectations or demands. Just a man, waiting to be with another man, where he was happy and belonged. A nervous smile, an unassumed pose, patient, excited, warm and delicious."

Anyway.

To answer your current question, it's a relationship between two gay men. Korestai is completely gay, and (to my knowledge, anyway) so is his boyfriend. Being gay, in upper-class society, puts Kore in a delicate position in many ways, and, well, (a) he's too dominant to let anyone just get on top of him like that, and (b) he wouldn't want to be in a position to be blackmailed by a straight guy who knows this upper-class dragon likes guys. As long as Kore doesn't do anything to draw opprobrium, he's safe: his society friends will protect him and his boyfriend. As long as.

Ah, yes society, deeply hooked by religions of all kinds simply to advance forwards. It's funny, that despite living miles away without hearing a peep about the other, how cultures can advance similarly to another's, paralleling them and making what seems like just an act to be a blasphemy. Personally, I'm not into using viewpoints of the many for my own ideology; if I'm influenced by then, so be it, but I'm not about to personally reference something just because a crowd of people said it's right, or wrong.

And yet another instance of society at it's...hm, what's the word for it? Anyways, I made a bit of a mistake in judgment due to the previous comment there (where you mentioned that in past times men would think that even if they had sex with another man, so long as they were on top, they weren't gay), which has thankfully been cleared up here, and with it, that plausible mar against the story. However, the ominous note you left at the end there still gives me a bit of worry...overall, though, it makes perfect sense, and thus I won't counter it with some petty argument. Thanks again for sharing your story and picture with us Seht, and sorry for taking so long to compose a comment.

Thank you for your kind comments. I hope I haven't come across as didactic or brow-beating: that wasn't my intention. Just trying to explain why I wrote things as I did.

I thank you for the discussion, and for reading and commenting.

As for the last part of my comment... well, Society is a funny thing... :-/

You know, people have a funny tendency to say that I make kind comments, and yet I'm just writing what comes to mind. Anyways, you have no need to apologize for anything; your words had logic, reason, and your own voice behind them. That, and I somewhat agreed too.

I'm likewise happy to have a conversation that I didn't inadvertently kill because I said something odd or offense. As for the reading and commenting, well, those are a given, aren't they? ;-p

And for the society discussion...well, it is what it is, and shall remain at that, right?

When you first posted the picture, I was kind of hoping you'd write something up about it. Yes, pictures are great, but the written word can add so many more layers to a simple snapshot. You plan on writing more with these two characters?

I do plan to, yes. While I was out fencing tonight I had an idea for a way to write a short story around the picture above, but of course I didn't have pen and paper handy. I tried writing it on my sparring partner's front with the point of my epee but that didn't work either... It's a bit annoying since it was a nice opening, too.

As far as Kore himself goes... well, I could write loads about him. I wanted to do a set of graphic novels involving him, since it feels like it would really work well, and I want to see him come to life that way.

Remind me never to fencing with you. O.o I might get a poem scribbled across my chest.

*laughs softly* Only a short one. And just think how much you'd be worth with an original poem scratched into your front

I am so terrible. The first thing that went through my head was that scene from "Young Frankenstein"
No I won't sing it....

*laughs softly, eyes shining* Here's the very first ever picture of Korestai... go ahead, knock yourself out

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2117940/