Queer as in Fuck You

Fic Commenters: If you ever want to make a comment going on depth about a part of a fic that stood out to you, but think “does the author really want to read all this?” The answer is YES! YES WE DO WANT TO READ ALL THAT!!!!

Lulu’s 24 Days of Christmas - Day 19

People Without History Are Dust

Queerness remains one of the most stigmatized and overlooked aspects of Holocaust history, often erased due to the lingering homophobia of survivors. People Without History Are Dust challenges this silence, weaving together compelling stories of German, Dutch, Czech, and Polish Jewish Holocaust victims and survivors - including Anne Frank, Molly Applebaum, Margot Heuman, and Gad Beck - whose experiences help illuminate the hidden history of queerness in a time of genocide.

Drawing on extensive archival research, this groundbreaking book uncovers the lives of those who were doubly marginalized, not only persecuted as Jews but also as queer individuals. In doing so, it confronts the ways in which history has excluded or minimized their experiences, urging us to question normative accounts of the Holocaust.

By shedding light on these long-overlooked stories, People Without History Are Dust deepens our understanding of identity, survival, and memory, reminding us why an inclusive and complex approach to history is essential - not just for the sake of the past, but in service to the present and the future as well.

Frankly, the fact that Hajokva promised to use a pseudonym and then used the woman's real name and photograph in promotional material is such an ethical breach. This is very basic stuff. If a source requests anonymity when talking about something as complex and damning as a Jew sleeping with a Nazi, you should honor that.

That's not even touching on assigning a sexuality to a Jewish child who didn't live long enough to decide whether she was queer or not. She was murdered for being Jewish. Plain and simple. Her sexuality was never a factor in her death, regardless of whether or not she was bisexual.

As for "holocaust survivor has affair with a Nazi guard" that is literally a trope in post war Nazi apologia to sanitise the violence inherent in *Jew during the holocaust exchanges sex for survival*, a circumstance that happened a lot, you don't have to be a genius to understand that.

-XYZ is Catholic

-XYZ is bisexual.

-XYZ is Muslim.

also wikipedia:

-XYZ is of Jewish descent.

-XYZ has Jewish parents.

but later on they clarify that she freed herself from being “ethnically charged” so it’s all good now

I know. I know. It's the hat, isn't it? You need to know more. You simply must. And if that doesn't do it, then perhaps this rather striking profile will:

Elizabeth "Amy" Dillwyn was born in Swansea in 1845, the eldest daughter of a prominent family. She was related to the photographer Mary Dillwyn, the abolitionist William Dillwyn, and the astronomer Thereza Dillwyn, and her father was the Liberal MP for Swansea. Upon his death, she inherited her father's spelter works in 1890, as well as his debts of £100,000 (£8mil today.) She lived in relative frugality while she worked to save the business, renting lodging rooms and refusing to pay herself a salary in favour of keeping 300 people employed, until the debts were recouped 7 years later and she was able to buy her own home.

Dillwyn was also an author, and her 6 novels often touched upon class issues. She was a supporter of the Rebecca Riots, in which local Welshmen dressed as women to destroy tollbooths in protest against unfair taxation, and also supported the strike action of local seamstresses. Her novels also often included lesbian themes, most prominent in Jill, which tells the story of a gentlewoman who disguises herself as a maid and moves to London, falling in love with her mistress. Dillwyn herself wrote about her sexuality in her diaries, writing about her love for her friend, Olive Talbot:

My own belief is that I’m half a man & the male half of my nature fell in love with her years ago & can’t fall out of it again. I care for her romantically, passionately, foolishly, & try as I may, I cannot get over it.

Dillwyn referred to Talbot in her diaries as her 'wife', and never married. She was considered something of a beloved social eccentric, often wearing men's attire, smoking cigars, and turning up to her father's funeral in a purple skirt with a yellow flower in her belt as a protest against Victorian mourning conventions. She was a staunch suffragist and supporter of social reform. She died in Swansea at 90 years old, and her house now bears a blue plaque to commemorate her.

"Not then, not now, never again fascism

Never forget Srebrenica genocide"

Mural in Amsterdam of Potočari cemetery featuring the names of different Bosnian towns and cities with the corresponding estimated amount of victims.

Almost 30 years has passed since Europe was shaken by the genocide of more than 8000 muslim boys and men in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica, at the hands of Bosnian Serb troops during an operation of ethnic cleansing, witnessed by UN peacekeeping troops who failed resoundingly in their protection mission.

In the midst of the conflict in the Balkans during the 1990’s, the small city of Srebrenica, in Eastern Bosnia, was established as a “safe area” by the UN for civilians fleeing fights between Bosnian government and separatist Serb forces, during the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Very much did in the sense that I literally do not know where my job is at the moment. But, for the time being I haven't been let go because nobody else including the store owner knows where it is either.

So, I don't wanna risk doxxing myself by posting pictures but goddamn am I tempted because this is not a believable event. This is a cartoon problem. For looneytoons.

But yeah, so, I work(ed?) at a kiosk selling boba tea, right? Freestanding kiosk in the mall with full water and electrical hookups and multiple fridges and sinks and a mini kitchen and the works. Fully functional tea shop. Very important to note that it was there last night, The work chat was discussing another issue last night at closing time. I'll get back to this.

It's been showing signs of being on the way out with how business is being handled lately and I've been considering other options, which is probably why I'm not as torn up about this as I should be, but maybe it just hasn't set in yet, but that's not the point. The point is there's been a lot of shit breaking and not being replaced and nobody mentioning anything about it until I walk into work in the morning and have to figure out why shit like the fucking cash register isn't there today. So I'm kinda used to having to ask questions about big things that nobody bothered to update me on. I was out for two weeks recovering from a surgery, so I came to work this morning assuming there'd be some kind of bullshit, yeah?

So, the question I had to ask the chat this morning was:

Not a text I ever thought I'd have to send in sincerity, but there it is. Because what I found instead was a fenced off patch of discolored tiles and a few holes in the floor where my entire place of employment used to be.

And the answer? Nobody knows! It was there last night when the mall closed, and every single trace of the structure and all its contents including drink making supplies and our safe and cashbox was gone when it opened again. And when I say nobody knows, I mean everyone from last night's closers to the actual (former?) owner of the store jad no fucking clue about this until getting that text from me this morning. For once I am actually the first to know. 🎉.

So. I guess I didn't so much lose my job as had it stolen. Not by AI, but good old fashioned hands-on human beings picking it up and carrying it away somehow. All mall security would tell me was that they were instructed not to tell me anything and have us contact our management. Who also don't know anything. And later on I came across some construction workers around the gravesite of the kiosk discussing filling in the holes, asked them about it, and was told that they "weren't at liberty to say".

So, not only is my job gone in the most literal physical sense of the word, but it was taken in some kind of super secret kiosk extraction in the dead of night without any warning or witnesses and nobody is allowed to speak of it. The store owner said she was gonna figure it out 10 hours ago and still no word back.

My mother in law thinks the FBI took it.

Not any of the other stores around the state. Just the one little kiosk.

Why? Because she loves a conspiracy and is just a little bit extra.

Also because she was around for the massive crackdown on Yakuza-owned businesses in Waikiki (in her homestate) that did actually involve the FBI seizing stores (no confirmation of making kiosks cleanly disappear in the middle of the night though).

Still no word from my job on what's actually going on, but the most likely theory so far is that maybe the kiosk was on lease and got repossessed? The mystery continues

According to the owner, based on what she's been able to find out, the kiosk was not removed legally and they're starting a potentially long process of legal action. I hope she gets to sue the shit out of whoever did it but for now at least I know for sure I'm unemployed.

Really hoping for more details in terms of who/why/how, so I'll keep updating if I learn anything.

For now the summary is: An unnamed entity that is most likely mall management (on account of mall security cooperating with them) stole an entire kiosk and all the contents including money and machinery with barely a trace in the middle of the night grinch-style, with zero warning or explanation, and ensured the silence of both security and the construction crew, in an action that was definitely preplanned and illegal, and as far as I know nobody knows its whereabouts.

Enjoy the unintentionally funniest text I've ever sent in my life

Aaand a close-up:

HEY HI HELLO THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE

Still haven't heard back from the unemployment office, but a few days ago I ended up telling this to the SNAP caseworker, who absolutely lost her shit and then put everything on hold to go investigate this herself out of a sense of justice and Needing To Know More. World's most nosy angel who helped me out a lot in general (in case she ends up seeing this: I appreciate her so much).

While she didn't find a facebook listing for a used kiosk (yes, that post is just a coincidence, I'm sorry), what she did find was the actual kiosk for sale. By the owner. On a reputable website.

Now, there are a lot of funny conclusions to be drawn from this, but I'm afraid it's not quite that wild. I asked a friend in management about it and turns out the listing is from months before the disappearance, it wasn't kept a secret, it just wasn't relevant. She had been trying to sell it for a while without much luck, wasn't selling the entire business, but just the kiosk with that branch included (the listing advertised that it would include the equipment and drink recipes and retain the current staff). It also said the lease with the mall was active until some time in 2027.

So, no, as funny as that would be, the owner did not heist her own kiosk. However, what this does tell us is:

She must have owned the kiosk outright, so the only way this could be a repossession is if she had a mortgage on it? I guess?

It definitely isn't about the lease being up. So any eviction would legally require like 30-days notice and, presumably, a valid reason like a violation of the terms. (this is how it works with renting homes in my country, and I've never rented a business location, so I can only guess that it's similar)

The store was not financially beneficial enough to keep. This could just mean that she was focusing on other ventures like she says in the listing, but it could really also mean that she was having money trouble and couldn't afford to keep the location.

SO. This leaves the most likely scenario being that the owner was behind on rent, and the mall manager (who has a history of being outta control and pulling shit like this, as well as harassing asian businesses and our shop specifically) decided to illegally remove the entire kiosk about it.

Still no confirmation at all about anything, but I remembered the listing today and realized it gave some additional clues.

And then I went to the USAmerican Midwest

Rains frequently, but the worst is like standing under a bathroom shower. Genuinely inhospitable rainstorms are uncommon.

Along the coast, it's pretty easy in most areas to walk to at least one store, or else there's usually a bus or shuttle available. There are sidewalks and bike lanes everywhere.

It's a temperate boreal rainforest, so while there are many freshwater lakes and rivers, they're usually pretty cold. The biggest danger is typically getting caught in a strong current, and the most dangerous animals in swimming distance are on land.

Earthquakes happen almost every day, but the vast majority go unnoticed. Buildings are designed to withstand bigger seismic activity, so unless it's a 5 or higher it just kind of feels like having low blood sugar for a second. There are no tornados

Rural Illinois, USA:

One minute it's sunny, then ten minutes later that distant smudge on the horizon has swallowed the entire sky in black clouds and the water is coming down like waterfall and you literally CANNOT SEE. Then there's a crash like cymbals and you need to get indoors because the thunder and lightening are on TOP of you

No sidewalks until you are in the smack dab center of town, which is a three hour walk or twenty minute drive from wherever you are.

There aren't many natural bodies of water other than small ponds and creeks, and because the environment is so much warmer, those are filled with snapping turtles that can grow bigger than a nine year old child and water snakes that are incredibly venomous. These are paired with leeches and mosquitos for that sweet umami flavor.

Martin, it's all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.

Miyeong didn't "die" when demons attacked the hanok when she was there with only her demon boyfriend and a baby Rumi.

(They manage to hide Rumi and when Celine and Third get to the hanok, she's the only one there.)

It's not that demons *can't* be killed with conventional means, it's just that demons, being technically spirits and all, are a little harder to kill without supernatural, glowing blades.

The way 'Rumi' stirs the dust from deep long-buried memories.

The way the red haze of hate clouding her vision thins, just for a moment.

The way it rushes back when the attack continues.

The way the strands shimmering in the air around her hum a mournful ballad, and cry with every strike.

The way, as her patterns burn her back to Hell, she looks up at the Hunter-

No, no that's wrong; a different word...a different word...

A body laid atop her breast, warm and soft and tiny and perfect; a wispy tuft of hair still damp and new; a fist so small she could enfold it in her palm...

A feeling in her chest so strong it almost took her breath away.

She hadn't known you could love something that much.