Photos for Sweetheart

Did you know photography has been ranked one of the most attractive hobbies a man can have by women?

It's 1917. The Kaiser of Germany hoped that the Empire which had only been born within a lifetime would have its place in the sun by the time his reign ends, yet as the war he is largely responsible for seems further and further from victory for Germany. Soon, even more foriegn soldiers will pour into the continent and turn their armed forces to paste. All the while, the people of Germany chafe under blockages and food shortages.

You know the horrors of the trenches. You braved them for a full year until you bravely pulled a wounded soldier who had lost a hand and a leg out of a burning bunker in the Slavic lands of the eastern front. That young man turned out to be the son of a wealthy old money widow who had lost her other three sons in battle already. To repay you for saving her only son, she pulled some strings with the brass and got you an honorable discharge so that you too could be spared the horrors of battle before it claims you next.

You struggle with your past as well as the knowledge that the men you grew up with are still there. You tried to put it behind you by traveling to Berlin and finally devoting yourself to what you studied before the war: photography.

You haven't seen Berlin since you were a boy, but it's definitely changed. The need for fresh meet in the trenches has taken all the fighting men, leaving behind their mothers, fathers, sisters, and children. Those who stayed struggled too with the production side of the war and the supply shortages. But you are Lucky. You got a good deal on a long-abandoned shop to set up your photography studio and you quickly got a long enough line of customers that you repaid your loans for your equipment easily.

Why do you have so much business, you ask? Why would someone want to get their photo taken in a time like this? Because, my dear photographer, the poor young women of the Kaiserreich and their poor sweethearts haven't seen one another inna long time. Years, in some cases. They crave one another's touch, yet all they can do is mail one another momentos of what it's like to lie together once again.

Not only that, but who knows what those boys are getting up to in their deployments? You know what they say about French girls. Lonely men sharing the land with those seductive harlots... Absolutely not! They need to find a way to keep their hearts aching for them so it doesn't go a-wandering into someone else's bed.

That's why it's so nice that you set up shop here in town. When the girls save up a little pocket money, some free time, and a healthy dose of mischief, they can put on their best clothes and makeup and visit you. After all, there's so few young men around these days. They do so love the way you smile and the way your gaze travels over their bodies as you direct their poses. You're just so helpful! Thanks to you, they can take a spicy picture in a safe environment and get something for them to keep their boys warm in the cold trenches.