In the picture above, two middle-aged-looking men stand calmly by the seaside, watching the setting sun as the seabirds fly home. This couple are characters from the work of Echigoya Tatsunoshin, a Japanese gay male illustrator.

I used to find it hard to understand why some people are drawn to these plump, so-called “bear” middle-aged men. But Echigoya Tatsunoshin’s illustrations seem to offer me a clue. This love for “bears” is just as ordinary as falling in love with a man or a woman. Love is not an image, not a fantasy — it’s simply that he is there, that he is the one, and so you fall in love, that’s all.

Perhaps this is just what we call nature. The best love is never something God hands to a chosen few — it’s something ordinary people kindle for themselves.