pandemic solidarity is a communal responsibility

(Active for now) The ask box is open! Please read the pinned post to understand this blog's purpose & boundaries!

[i-still-mask-because]

Hello! 👋🏾😷

This blog is meant to serve as a safe space for those who still mask up, who are actively covid conscious, and who practice pandemic solidarity!

The ask box is open to answer the prompt "I still mask because...". Anonymous submission is an option! And the queue is set for 1 post a day between 4pm EST to 12am EST.

When submitting your answer to the prompt, please refrain from using casually ableist language to describe people that don't mask. I feel like if we're pushing against ableism, then we should try to unpack & check the casual ableism in our language too. This website gives a glossary of ableist words and phrases as well as alternatives that can be used instead.

The blog's main tag is #i still mask because. This is where the asks & submissions for the main prompt will be!

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I started this blog especially because it's been very difficult dealing with the loneliness of continuing to mask & avoid ignorance of covid, so I hope this space can open up the opportunity for others like me to share their experiences as well as find some covid-aware & covid-informed community!

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Please do not interact if you don't think covid is a big deal anymore. I do not welcome any unsolicited consolation that the pandemic is "over", nor do I welcome any unsolicited advice that I or anyone else should just stop worrying so much & just "live our lives". This is not the space for that kind of commentary nor for any willful ignorance of covid, and I would appreciate if that boundary was respected. Any attempt to do such things on this blog will be deleted and those responsible will be blocked.

All that said: If you actually are genuinely curious about why the covid pandemic is still something to take seriously, please do feel free to ask questions. But I'll only make space for people that come to me with sincere intentions to understand and learn.

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Thank you for stopping by 😷💛

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Answering questions takes time and energy, so feel free to tip me through ko-fi! ☕

[i-still-mask-because]

I still mask because I don't want to get sick. I've only had covid once and it was a month of hell I don't care to repeat.

Also: I still mask because I masked occasionally before the pandemic! I masked in hospitals and on particularly dusty days, and sometimes just for fashion. Public bathrooms are much more pleasant with a mask on

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[i-still-mask-because]

I still mask for two reasons.

First, all of the best most loving people in my life are immunocompromised and extra vulnerable. They are they people who always gender me correctly and never bawck at me for “not passing,” the ones who help me work though my emotional and employment issues, and who have helped me u learn the toxic things my parents taught me. They are caring, passionate, and so much fun to have in my life. I was less happy when I wasn’t close to them, and being COVID conscious is such a small price to pay for keeping them in my life.

The other reason is job security. I do hard physical labor, lifting, moving, and running. It’s intensive work that I need to be in good shape to do. And many many many symptoms of long COVID would make this job infinitely harder, if I would even still be able to do it at all. So it’s very important I keep myself as safe from COVID as possible to keep providing for myself and my loved ones.

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[i-still-mask-because]

I want to protect kids, because I believe they deserve to have the chance to grow up healthy and safe

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[i-still-mask-because]

because nobody else deserves to die like this, even the person killing me, even every person who sees this and leaves me to die homeless. there is no program than can help a whch user obtain accessible, affordable housing. waitlists here are over 30 years and less than 1% is accessible…so the real wait is much higher. i can’t physically or financially afford to move. cc community could’ve housed/saved my life but nobody cares in any way that matters, that changes this hell. i was disabled by childhood abuse and medical neglect. i never got to live. it doesn’t get better because surviving isn’t my choice. in fact, had i committed to leaving this world when i knew things would never improve, i could’ve at least left a proper goodbye. instead i self harmed trying, forced to explain myself to stranger after stranger who promised to help, only to ghost/abuse me when they realized everything i’d told them, was true. funcap 0.2. too immune vulnerable to survive any nursing home. ripping out my intestines would’ve been kinder than this. i am not a person to you in any way that matters to me.

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[i-still-mask-because]

While we're talking about having sex while recovering from covid, what's the strat for trying to hookup while covid conscious?

Honestly, I'm on a hiatus from dating for personal reasons, so I haven't got much advice to give from experience 😭 But if I were to start back dating, I think my strat would be participating in as many covid conscious spaces as possible that welcome mingling (either virtual or in-person). Honestly, a lot of the same boundaries and expectations I have in general for anyone (consistent testing, masking, precautions, etc.) are things that I would absolutely expect from my partner of choice too, so it would be 100% ideal if they were on the same page as me in that regard. That would make the dating process go a whole lot smoother, because we'd be able to put our heads together to come up with our own ideas of our preferred places to go on a date, how we're navigating food, and what kinds of experiences we want share together next. I feel like a lot of it comes down to being able to schedule the day in a way that gives you guys room to be out and about while also making time to sustain yourselves safely (i.e. hydrating and eating— which I probably would rather do at home, if not finding somewhere secluded outdoors to eat/hydrate together). In addition, testing frequently is an absolute must if we're gonna be kissing, sleeping together, and having sex (and even for something as simple as just enjoying a meal together).

In regards to meeting other covid conscious people to date, I am aware that One Click Events hosts virtual events every now and then for that purpose! I'd look into their new event called "Pitch Your Pal" that has a participation sign up deadline for July 19th! The actual official event is on August 22nd, and I believe they'll likely have future events like it if you miss that one!

I would have recommended the app Refresh Connections (its whole purpose is to be a dating/friend-finding app for covid conscious people), but I found out recently the owners of the app are Zionists that ban anyone who criticizes them; so if anyone knows anything like it that isn't run by assholes that would be great!

Anyone is free to share their thoughts and advice if they have experience with this!

[transcockiness]

do any covid conscious folks have tips on gradual return to sexual activity including masturbation with covid recovery? i know there's a general guideline to pace yourself, and to return to strenuous activity in stages and keep your heartrate under 70% of maximum and then 80% for a while (up to 3 months i believe), not sure if anyone has any more information or like, suggestions on how to keep heartrate low during

reblogs for reach appreciated!

[transcockiness]

hey so most people seem to be misreading this post. this isn't about someone having already recovered from acute infection who has developed long covid, this is about trying to avoid developing (worsened, i already had "mild" symptoms) long covid while i recover from acute infection!

[covid-safer-hotties]

WORLD MASK WEEK 2026

An effort to onboard folks back into masking up in solidarity with those most impacted among us and to cherish the health of ourselves and o

Info in Spanish at the site

[i-still-mask-because]

[Image Description:

WHAT IS MASK WEEK?

At its simplest, Mask Week asks folks to commit to collective health by masking up as often as possible for 1 week.

Bigger picture, Mask Week is so many things: an invitation to co-ideate with folks inside or outside your region, a tangible solidarity action, a vessel to meet like- minded folks, a way to truly embody intersectional values, & so much more.

It will look different place to place, but all Mask Week efforts are an invitation to deepen practices of community care.

WHO IS IT FOR?

Folks looking to commit to masking in public more often

Folks who are "still COVIDing" or trying to avoid airborne illnesses

Folks needing access to accessible resources & PPE including masks & tests

Folks wanting to fight things like fascism, mask bans, and oppression towards Indigenous, Black, 2SLGBTQIA+, disabled, houseless, elder, youth & other marginalized beloveds

You know your area best! Do your part to call in your community and invite your neighbors in!

ROLES (1/2)

Masker: commit to masking up for the week whenever in public spaces

Amplifier: help get the word out. On social media, through in person flyering outside, by talking about it wherever you find yourself, helping with press/PR, etc.

Event holder: host an event during Mask Week. Events should of course be accessible, potentially hybrid, and have clear precautions in place.

Translator: translate things into non- English languages

ROLES (2/2)

PPE Hub: be a location where folks can snag some masks before Mask Week

Distributing PPE: help get masks to folks who may not have access to them

Artist: make flyers, graphics, videos, jingles, zines, or whatever you feel called to create to get the word out about World Mask Week

Meeting facilitator: hold space before or during Mask Week for people in your region to connect

Add your own roles as called!

End Image Description]

[covid-safer-hotties]

Share Your Long COVID Story

The World Health Network (WHN) is gathering stories in support of Long COVID awareness. We want to hear from those with lived experience—pat

[i-still-mask-because]

started masking whenever i thought might be starting to get sick before the pandemic started, because a lifetime of struggling to make ends meet and having to navigate impotent systems made me realize it’s always the “little” shit that breaks you. “death by a thousand cuts” is by goddamn design because it helps keep hidden just how awful shit really is. because if people realized how bad things really are for so many people they would burn it all down. bad for business that. so it just didn’t feel right to be a cut in someone else’s life if i could help it. ntm i’m ugly but have nice eyes so it helped me stay safer because of how people treated me with vs. without the mask. well, at least before masks got politicized. now i get to enjoy medical hostility and gaslighting in every single human interaction forever! sure that’s great for the psyche and body.

anyway, went into the pandemic knowing i was high risk but obstacles i couldn’t overcome without support (support i couldn’t get without support) meant i only had access to surgicals and had no way of knowing how bad that was.

now my mind and body are such that i can’t even think or consolidate the information necessary to keep me alive…which i need to be able to do in order to know what to ask, to get the help i need to survive.

trying over and over to prove barriers/needs were as i said they were has made me so bad even the tiniest mistake/roadbump is legitimately life-threatening and it’s stress no one should know. i can’t wish it on anyone who’s been through even half as much. no one deserves to have their body transformed against their will into something that punishes you for trying. that prevents you from being able to work through anything to grow because the stress because the process take energy you need to keep breathing. where you’re denied living and death and therefore all dignity. i’ll mask for the rest of my life….though it doesn’t feel like that counts for much when your death is essentially an inevitability no matter what you do. worst still when you missed the chance to die. if i hadn’t kept trying to survive despite all logic, for others, i could’ve had a death with dignity. now i’m too unwell to even arrange that and there’s not a single person in the world who will help. and that’s honestly the worst torture. if i can protect one person’s ignorance in the sense of allowing them to keep believing the world/other people care it matters. i almost said worth it. but nothing is worth this pain. nothing can justify it. just typing this cost me more than anyone will ever understand. except maybe others who won’t make it who wanted to live.

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[i-still-mask-because]

i mask because i’ve lived the lie of “we keep us safe” my entire life.

because when my lease ends not one queer/long covid org/group/person will step up to house/help in the ways i need to avoid a horrible, traumatic death. because even if they did, it would already be too late. because (believe it or not) sometimes things take a minimum amount of time that be can’t overwritten without a kajillion dollars to buy a home and care that doesn’t suck.

because even my “allies” will see my death as a tragedy, but still blame me for it. for not relying on inaccessible “services” they’ve never tried. “services” that would end me cause they don’t know shit about covid, my needs, aren’t willing to learn/adapt, and i’m too sick to self-advocate anymore.

i mask despite the fact that even though i can’t give my child self a single reason to stay (shit never got better), i don’t wanna take anyone else down with me on my way out. even though it’s scary to face death completely alone.

i mask knowing i can’t even say any of this—talk about reality—without my “allies” assuming everything i say is an emotional, delusional exaggeration, instead of plain simple fact.

because everyone (including me), if they think of my life at all, will see it as a net negative and i honestly hate anyone who’s instinct is to respond with empty garbage like “i’ll be you’re friend,” like that could ever be anything but a slap in the face when the guillotine’s already slicing into your neck and they won’t lift a finger because they think the blade is all in your head like they didn’t supply the fucking steel. even if i know where that impulse comes from. but i’m tired of being forced to comfort the people guaranteeing my death about it. i’m tired of making it comfortable. tired of acting like they can’t pull the blade back if they tackled the executioner. cause no matter what you say, your actions tell us we’re not worth the effort or risk. that the potential danger to you from extremely sick/vulnerable people is somehow always bigger and scarier than anything else.

because it’s an insult to have a lifetime of pain reduced to a parable or theoretical rhetorical device in someone else’s life. i look forward to the death of every trace of of this shitty life, so no one can use me anymore. that’s the reality everyone who doesn’t mask has guaranteed. and continues to guarantee for others who can still be saved.

because i know my allies aren’t coming. because even here people’s hearts will ache, but they’ll scroll on, no thought to their spare room, the good people in their life they could ask to help. because if tou help one person you have to help everyone and because choosing is too hard it’s better to let all of us die. or only save the easy ones. i mask knowing knowing how fraught others trying to help would even be. because those who can see the roadblocks know they won’t be good allies and those who think they’ll be good allies can’t see. because all it takes to suffer and die when you’re barely hanging on is ignorance and requiring explanations (that take energy people can’t spare) to do what they need.

TL;DR: incoherent ramble because i’m too tired and no longer care to translate myself for people whose inaction makes death a certainty. i mask as a fuck you to every person ensuring death through inaction. to both spare other people in the same boat and those holding me under, because you can’t pick and choose who to help when it comes to infectious disease without nicking the those who’re already down 4.9 liters with no transfusion in sight.

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[i-still-mask-because]

I still mask because half of my garage band is on chemotherapy and i dont want to hurt my friends by infecting them. Also i enjoy not being sick, and less smells (like spray paint or even farts)

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[i-still-mask-because]

I still mask cause I don't give a fuck, COVID, flu, common cold, whatever, I dont want it. Plus I like not having allergies is a nice upside.

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[i-still-mask-because]

i still mask because i'm mutiply disabled and don't have health insurance. it's hard sometimes when i see people who don't mask not present as symptomatic when my latest cold left me with fractured ribs, but i still continue to do it because i could be dead if i didn't mask and i can't afford to die because graves are expensive

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[i-still-mask-because]

I still mask because I enjoy not getting sick

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[i-still-mask-because]

I wasn't elderly or unhealthy or immunocompromised or sick in any physical way before. I was healthy - work, exercise, chores, friends, hobbies... Suddenly, my brain and body don't work anymore, and in ways I never thought possible or was never told could happen, either. It genuinely feels like since I became sick no one believes me about anything I say. I can't work, stand up to pee, cook, walk, anything anymore, and instead of friends or family helping me I was left to die on the street. Doctors haven't diagnosed me with anything other than "low vit D" and refuse to give me any medicine including pain, it's been 4 years since this suddenly happened to me. I have nothing, not even my hands work well anymore.

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[i-still-mask-because]

I still mask because I want to keep myself and my partner healthy and avoid post viral complications

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