fitz-higgins

[fitz-higgins]

Another snippet from a blissful holiday, much needed after the anguish of the war

[Art by pokatac]

[fitz-higgins]

[fitz-higgins]

History is full of lesbians who lived together happily for decades. Here are just seven of them

[fitz-higgins]

Vignettes

All the short (sometimes very short) stories that have been posted here over the years are now gathered on ao3! There will be more between big stories, most likely

[fitz-higgins]

Story Base Idea Tag

(Tagged by @gaslightwestern here, thank you!)

Rules: Share the original base ideas for your WIP(s)

With the boys, it's actually pretty simple. As we started as a spontaneous text roleplay, there wasn't any idea. We didn't even know it would develop into something so meaningful! But once it did, we felt like sharing it with the world.

So, the base idea was... simply sharing some wholesome stories about two happy gay men in the 1910s and onwards. It could never become a standard novel, so from the beginning the plan was to create a collection of short or not-so-short stories about Monty, Henry, and 'Enery. And it's very heartwarming that people appreciate it!

Tagging @amielbjacobs @floofyhobbit @deadtwinksdetectiveagency @noahhawthorneauthor @aloeverawrites and @nothwell

[fitz-higgins]

Imperial Aunts: Lives of Queer Men in Saint Petersburg in the Belle Epoque

A relatively small article which explains how queer men in St. Petersburg of the early 20th century navigated the city, refusing to hide and being quite open. With a cameo from Mikhail Kuzmin, of course!

[fitz-higgins]

A place no doubt frequented by the boys very often

1918 Washington Square Book Shop located at 17 West 8th Street. From New York City-Vintage History, FB.

[fitz-higgins]

Ruth and Naomi as queer role models

In the past, when homosexual figures were far and few between, many people turned to the Bible. Here, two of their heroes (or heroines) were Ruth and Naomi. Rather unlikely heroines.

When Ruth's husband died, she refused to return to her family and decided to stay with Naomi, proclaiming: “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die – there will I be buried.” (Ruth 1:16) Thus she became a symbol of loyalty and devotion.

But, although Ruth later married another man, she was also seen as a symbol of love between women by lesbians since at least the 18th century.

Some of them used Ruth's words as a vow, be it in letters or in secret ceremonies. Like two female lovers from Helen Anderson's Pity for Women (1937) who repeated the vow at a home wedding.

In Isabel Miller's (real name Alma Routsong) Patience and Sarah (1969), a novel about the love of the titular painter and farmer in the 19th century, when they move into a new house, Patience begins a painting of Ruth and Naomi, as a symbol of their union.

Or see, for example, Emily Dickinson's letter to her beloved Susan:

You wont cry any more, will you, Susie, for my father will be your father, and my home will be your home, and where you go, I will go, and we will lie side by side in the kirkyard.

More recently, a Christian singer and lesbian Marsha Stevens wrote a song based on Rurth's vow for her wedding. The words “Where you go I will go” were chosen as a slogan for the lesbian conference in 2004.

Ironically, in the past these words were used in heterosexual weddings as well. Nowadays they are repeated by queer people of all sexualities.

[fitz-higgins]

I often think that to have a friend who would love physically and be open to all the new ways in art, be an aesthete, a comrade in tastes, dreams, thrills, a bit of an apprentice and admirer, to travel together across Italy, laughing like children, bathing in beauty, to attend concerts, ride, and love his face, eyes, body, voice, to have him – that would be bliss

– Mikhail Kuzmin, 1905

Monty and Henry during their Mediterranean tour in 1920, as happy and besotted as eight years ago when they just met

Art by Oriollie

[fitz-higgins]

A little teaser of an upcoming story

There was a hint of shyness in Henry’s smile as Monty kissed his cheek, looking as if they weren’t established partners but fellows on their first outing together. Somehow it felt different here, compared with their own little paradise at home. Not only because they had to keep an eye out despite their relative seclusion but because, well, they were in the great outdoors with nothing but the grass, sun, and the blue expanse of sky above them. It was positively idyllic on a grander scale. The rush of emotions made Henry clasp Monty gently by the wrist, pulling him for a longer kiss on the lips before reluctantly drawing back.

[fitz-higgins]

Aerial view of Central Park from midtown, ca. 1923.

Photo: Underwood Archives/Pixels.com

[fitz-higgins]

[fitz-higgins]

A bit of theatrics in Santorini, 1920

[fitz-higgins]

Love is stored in making tea for your beloved, and Monty makes Henry's favourite brew – just as Henry makes the best toasts with marmalade. In their summer travels, when they stay in hotels, Monty doesn't usually get to make tea. But when they stayed at a ranch in Texas in August of 1912, they did have a lovely tea break, as well as a break from Henry's allergy to horses. The things you do for love... Sometimes it's making tea and sometimes it's suffering from severe allergies because you want to see your lover on horseback.

[Art by patronjenu/@patronjenu]

[fitz-higgins]

[fitz-higgins]

[fitz-higgins]

In honour of the anniversary of Monty and Henry’s first meeting on board the Carpathia

Love at First Lecture – full story

“Going together would certainly be better, Professor. When can he call by, do you know?” He said it without looking at Henry, instead focusing on his hand that he kept in his gentle hold. The fingers of his other hand touched Henry’s palm lightly, as if it was very delicate and fragile, but the sensation sent an electric feeling through his fingertips. There was a moment of silence as Monty, it seemed, was fully preoccupied with their hands. “There is nothing like a touch, you know,” he said suddenly, looking at Henry again, not releasing his hand, fingers touching it lightly. The touch. Before anything else came the touch of a hand, of the very fingertips, and Monty longed to experience it with this man.

Henry flushed slightly, entranced by the sensuality of Monty’s attentions. He had also lost the power of speech which was... ironic for a man who had spent his whole life focusing on it. Oh yes, there really was nothing like a touch, not when wielded like this, in ways he couldn’t even begin to imagine. “I- I wouldn’t really know,” he confessed, reddening again, but summoned enough courage to envelop Monty’s hand firmly in his own. “But... I would like to learn.”

It finally happened! We have an ao3 account, and you can read the four-chapter story about how Monty and Henry got together, from the aftermath of the Titanic's sinking to a chaotic lecture and unexpected kisses.