tragedykery - Tumblr blog

[tragedykery]

in guarani there's a standard greeting that literally translates to "are you happy" (ndevy'apa) and the natural reply is "i'm happy" (avy'a) and as americans learning the language we were so distressed like "but what if we're not happy....." and our teachers were like "that's so not the fucking point"

we kept trying to think of any other way to reply but our teachers kept trying to get it into our brains that it's an idiomatic greeting, it literally is not the time or place to traumadump, and as usamerican english speakers we are not some special exception for saying "what's up" with the reply being "not much" instead of "the ceiling"

but anyway while i was working in paraguay -- the country with the largest population of guarani speakers -- i got sent an article by some friends back home like "look! they're saying that paraguay is the happiest country in the world!"

and the methodology was "we went around and asked paraguayans if they're happy and recorded their responses" and i was like. oh. of course you did. and of course you got a 100% positive response rate.

[tragedykery]

my scapegoat is eating your straw man

[tragedykery]

engaging the dragon who eats virgins in a discussion on the constructed idea of virginity and queer theory and he gets so annoyed he eats me anyway

[tragedykery]

Congo: The Genocide that implicates us all

Heavy fighting erupted in 2023 between the Congolese Army and several armed groups, most notably the M23 militia, escalating an already disastrous situation. Thousands have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. At present, there are 7.1 million displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Violence of this scale is not without precedent, with the conflict in Eastern DRC leading to an approximate 6 million deaths since 1996.

In November 2023, an unidentified man in the capital Kinshasa set himself on fire while holding a sign reading “Stop the Genocide in Congo.” Another man, Cedrick Nianza, did the same in 2011 while shouting Congo na nga, Congo na nga (my Congo, my Congo).

Violence and conflict inflicted on the people in the Congo is not new. Over a century ago, one of the worst atrocities in recorded history occurred with King Leopold II’s genocide of 10 million African people to control the rubber trade during his colonial rule over Congo from 1885 to 1908.

The modern conflict includes ethnically motivated killings, which have been a frequent reality in Congo since the spillover from the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi people occurring in their neighbor country Rwanda. Thirty years later, the M23 claims to defend the Tutsi from further acts of genocide.

Along with the ethnic divisions, the modern conflicts are fueled by a diverse constellation of internal, regional, and international actors with the essential factor driving the violence being control over resources.

Almost all new technology, especially what is described as ‘green tech,’ requires materials such as lithium, cobalt, copper, and tin. The Eastern regions of the DRC are rich in these materials – as well as in diamonds and petroleum – and are thus subject to fierce contestations by local militias, backed by foreign governments (such as Rwanda in the case of the M23 militia), and international capital. Those that mine for these materials experience horrible conditions, with many accounts of slave labor and child labor. These same minerals are bought by international companies and create technologies such as smart phones, laptops, electric vehicles, solar panels, ear pods, speakers – basically anything with a battery.

Many activists are calling for a boycott of new tech and insist that the transition to green technology – a phrase used to indicate a switch to more ecological forms of energy production – cannot be built with the blood of Congolese men, women, and children.

This is the third in a series visualizing genocides across the globe created by Hisham Rifai and Ayman Makarem. See the first two specials, Resisting Starvation in Gaza and ‘Zaghrouda’ in the Midst of the Sudan War below.

The artistic duo has also created the Revolution in Every Country comic series on revolutionary movement events and ideas in the SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) region.

[tragedykery]

dreams are insaaaane. every night theres a chance ill experience some sort of delight or horror that has the chance to color the entire next day. and it doesnt even require a monthly subscription

[tragedykery]

new poem called "OTZI AWAKE". it's right here so you don't have to subscribe to my substack but i'd love it if you did

[tragedykery]

women love me. fish fear me. machiavelli said it is better to be feared than loved. sorry women, im building a kingdom of fish!!

[tragedykery]

due to woke the hanged man tarot card is being replaced by the hung woman

[tragedykery]

i knew we shouldn't have come to the club on catharsis night. everyone is weeping and wailing as their negative feelings are cleansed through vicarious emotional experience and it's really bringing the mood down, which is simultaneously bringing the mood up. plus all the fake blood from that production of the agamemnon is making it too slippery to dance

[tragedykery]

less than one week till the third birthday and posting of the final instalment of a conversation between us, my jadie songfic series set to small talks' 2019 album. you guys should read it

[tragedykery]

I hate being a tourist I hate doing that to people

[tragedykery]

just asked my professor if he wants to feature on a song LMFAO

[tragedykery]

so sad that people got sick of "doomed by the narrative" and decided it was cringe, because fate and free will in fiction has been a major interest of mine for like eight years, but alas so it goes. anything that gets popular is destined to become reviled in short order. it's like some sort of unstoppable, uncompassionate, avaricious cycle of rising and falling and rising again. like whatever happens, no matter the intentions, it will always result in the same tragic ending. you could almost say it was d

[tragedykery]

you have to make it homoerotic and weird

[tragedykery]

you can butch4butchify anything if you have the warrior's spirit

[tragedykery]

I think the hot new trends for this summer should be reading comprehension and critical thinking skills

[tragedykery]

enough about taylor swift already. reblog and tag the smallest, least known artist you listen to