Covid-Safe Cosplay

ID: a yellow and black plastic cable cover which is approximately 5-10cm tall with steep sides and looks like a small speed bump /end ID

Every time I go over one I need someone to help hold my chair and get me over it. Even with that support it hurts like Hell and has caused whiplash injuries for me in the past. It’s also very unsafe for others because even with support I cannot 100% control the angle my chair will end up lurching over it (and my chair weighs over 150kg without me in it so it’s not something you want to collide with). It’s also terrifying and makes noises that make me very concerned for my chair’s structural integrity.

If you want your event to actually be accessible to wheelchair users then consider using something more like this:

Free Zine Alert!

Could only add one link here, but both are free PDFs on kofi.

This is the final result when I'm done. Up next is the vest, and I have to hunt down a sword. Wish me luck!

Cutting - in my opinion, the most labor intensive part of the process. The amount of time/effort needed varies depending on the pattern and if seam allowance is included or marked separately, but no matter what this process can not be done by machine. Each and every panel and piece of fabric that goes into a garment must be cut by hand by a person.

Pinning/clipping - pinning (or clipping) is the stage at which you align the pieces you are going to be stitching together and hold them together with — you guessed it! — either pins or clips. This can not be done by machine.

Stitching - the actual sewing. This can be done by a sewing machine, but that machine still needs to be operated by a human being.

Ironing/pressing - two words that mean the same thing. The iron itself is a machine, but once again, it needs to be operated by a human being.

Finishing - depending on the technique you use, there are certain finishing techniques that can only be done by hand. But, let’s assume we’re talking about fast fashion, which is usually just finished with a simple overlock/serger. Once again: these machines need to be operated by people.

These are just the basic steps to making a garment, and don’t include textile arts that I am not as knowledgeable about, such as weaving, knitting, and crochet. Also, it is important to note that there are a lot of things that can only be done by hand, such as certain stitches and decorative techniques.

Also, the machinery being operated in textile factories is not equivalent to a domestic sewing machine. We’re talking about one of these guys:

See that gray cylinder under the table, behind the knee pedal? That’s the motor. These machines can sew through your fingers bones and all and not even stop. The people in these factories and sweatshops are operating heavy machinery, and are subject to all the risk that comes with that in addition to all of the work I mentioned above.

I never did update when this got finished last summer, did I?

- Hiring sign language interpreters

- Ensuring venues are step free

- Making dedicated sensory safe spaces

- Providing free masks

- Including braille or audio described signage

- Using plain language in speeches

"I'm really sorry that lockdown and the ongoing pandemic interrupted pivotal educational and social/emotional development moments for you. You have an uphill battle towards adjusting to a lot of community based efforts because you experienced a mass trauma during an incredibly important time in your life where you should have physically been around your peers learning to engage in shared community. There is no "but" here, I'm genuinely really sorry. Something many of us consider key points in our interpersonal growth as youths was taken from you, not without reason but without care for its impact on you. I hope you know we are eternally allies in our struggles and if that is something you struggle to know I hope you can learn it someday."

Because so many of the angriest, most disenfranchised people I see on this website are under 24 and I often try to put younger people's behavior in the context of where they might have been 2020. I've seen the impact on my siblings and their peers+friends first hand, all ages 18-24. We've talked about how its impacted them, the isolation, the attachment to the internet, the anxieties and phobias and fears it developed in them due to the pandemic, the political unrest, and the responses to both that we've seen since. I know they're not the only ones and I know how much being marginalized also influences that impact too.

I say this not as "boo-hoo poor baby nadi," I say this because I know worse is already happening to kids with long covid. Despite two rounds of democratic presidents since I was undergoing this torture, we still "No Child Left Behind," and I remember how students with even minor learning issues were taught by teachers when I was in public school. Now imagine you're a 8 year old with persistent brain fog and constant fatigue and weird gastrointestinal issues and imagine how teachers (whose jobs are still tied to student's standarized test scores over 20 years later) are treating them. How many of these kids are getting the opposite of attention? How many are getting crammed into already overpopulated and under-funded/staffed special education rooms? How many are branded as lazy and stupid and "problem" when they're literally sick and getting sicker because we can't even get schools to put an air filter in the room?

I have this passion for airborne illness caution because I can see just how many kids are living worse childhoods than I had. I can see the hundreds of thousands of kids across the country, the millions across the world, who struggle to pay attention to lessons not because they're uninterested or unintelligent but because they're in constant suffering no one will comprehend or lessen or excuse. And knowing what it's like, I don't want more kids to go through that: I was lucky to live through it, and many don't. Masking keeps kids safer. Air filtration keeps kids safer. Improved ventilation keeps kids safer. Frequent testing for respiratory diseases keeps kids safer. Paid sick leave keeps kids safer. Hybrid options for education keeps kids safer.