#she's still completely gross even when you remove the racism; check

[diaryofamadsunwukongfan]

POV: The writers made you the perfect racist character on accident

[ashdoesfandomarchieved]

Two Bisexuals Are Your Co-Captains

ao3

“I solved racism,” Mariner says, kicking open the ready room door. This should not be physically possible, as doors have progressed past the need to be opened, and are, in fact, automatic.

Boimler, whose face is currently one with the synthetic wooden desk, gives her a thumbs up but doesn’t move beyond that.

“Okay, I lied, I didn’t solve racism,” Mariner admits. “It’s still a problem in our galaxy. But, I did solve our captain problem!” she tries. This does get Boimler to remove his face from it’s fixture on the desk.

“You did?” he blinks up at her, creases in his face from where it had been smooshed against the hard surface.

Mariner dumps an honest-to-god paper file on his desk. “Check it out, twink.”

Boimler swipes the file, frowning as nothing happens when he taps it. Mariner helps him out, flipping the cover over. “So there’s this really nifty rule back from like 2039 that allows for two acting captains to co-pilot the ship simultaneously.”

“Are you serious?” Boimler groans.

“As Legato Infection,” Mariner confirms. “It was apparently instated for missions where the crew is like. Separated or some shit and need more than one captain coordinating. Because Starfleet was also part of the air force for a while, co-captains were basically just co-pilots. Like this was a whole thing. But it got overwritten with the First Officer Act of 2048 that instated First Officers as a fill in instead of a co-captain, able to make decisions and delegate, but it was never technically outlawed. Meaning…”

“We could technically take advantage of the loophole and-”

“Co-Captains!” Mariner punches the air. “You know what this means?”

Boimler blinks at her blankly. Beckett applauds herself over the alliteration, as she throws an arm over his shoulder. “It’s our ship,” she whispers dramatically, already envisioning the communist flags with selfies of her and Boimler printed on them.

“Or it could just be your ship,” Boimler says, fear in his eyes.

Beckett grabs his collar, dragging him up to eye level. “Our ship.”

________

“Beckett no,” Freeman says flatly. Ever since The Incident--the one where the ship was overrun with the Pakleds that took out the entirety of senior command--she’s been in medbay, wrapped up in so many bandages she looks like a mummy from one of those really old movies Boimler is obsessed with.

“Beckett yes ,” Mariner says, taking a slurp of her cherry limeade slurpee. “You named me First Officer!”

“Then why does Boimler-”

“Ransom also named him First Officer!”

“So your brain jumped to Co-Captains ?” Mariner can’t see her mom’s expression, but from her squinty eyes she’s pretty sure it’s disapproving. “That is the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever heard of.”

“You can’t call your daughter dumb!” Mariner throws her hands up in the air.

“Mariner, you’re dumb.”

“That’s against parent rules! Everything I do is supposed to be a fucking delight!”

Freeman turns her judgy eyes to Boimler, who had been staring off into the middle distance, probably traumatized by all of the shrieking the mother and daughter duo had been doing since they entered medbay. Whatever, it’s not Mariner’s fault that her mom’s kneejerk reaction to her daughter charging into medbay with a bat'leth and no shirt on was to shriek like a goddamn banshee.

“You know what,” Freeman says, eyes locked on Boimler. “I’m already having a bad fucking week. Go ahead, make it worse I dare you .”

“Uhm-”

“We absolutely will do that,” Beckett promises, crossing her heart.

_____

“ ATTENTION ALL PERSONAL ,” Mariner says, over the ship’s speakers. D’Vana, from her position at the First Officer’s station, gives her a Disappointed Look. Mariner gives her a thumbs up back.

“ DUE TO OUR EXCRUCIATING CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE LACK OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOUR FORMER CAPTAIN AND HER FIRST OFFICER, ENSIGN BOIMLER AND I WILL BE YOUR CO-CAPTAINS TONIGHT. OR FOREVER, WE HAVEN’T DECIDED YET.”

“Mariner, what are you doing?” Boimler says, storming onto the Bridge. Mariner, who had hacked the Bridge speakers to play Demi Lovato’s Confident every time Boimler entered, is pleased to note that nobody had figured out how to turn that off yet. Unfortunately for her, however, Boimler didn’t recognize his girlboss powers, and had been yelling at her every time it happened.

“I’m letting the ship know about our change in command, oh Co-Captain of mine,” Mariner says over the booming bass and Demi Lovato’s dulcet tones. In the corner of her eye, the vulcan side character that everyone thought was a Cool Guy, bopped his head to the music.

Boimler sighs, pressing his palms into his eyes. “So we’re actually doing this?”

“Dude, I already made us friendship jackets. That shit had a no refunds policy.” She pulls a leather jacket that had been draped over their helmsman's head--bad for ship navigation, but good for dramatic effect--and throws it at Boimler. Boimler unfolds the pink monstrosity, sighing deeply at the neon-yellow glitter words Gatekeep Girlboss Gaslight emblazoned on the back.

“Is this really necessary?”

“It’s ABSOLUTELY necessary,” Mariner says, standing up. She turns around, showing Boimler her purple jacket which says Malewife Mansplain Manipulate in snot-green glitter.

“HOW DOES THAT MATCH.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW DOES THAT MATCH.” Her voice echoes strangely, alerting her to the fact that the shipwide comms are still in use. She reaches over, flicking the switch off and turns back to Boimler, hands on her hips. “Is this an anxiety thing again? Do you need to go back on medication?”

“I don’t need to be on meds!”

“Then why won’t you wear our super secret special jackets!”

“Because mine is hot pink and says girlboss on the back!”

Mariner lets out a gasp. “Are you saying... Boimler are you adhering to GENDER ROLES?”

“No-no stop it -”

“You! You of ALL PEOPLE-”

“Mariner, cut it out!”

“LET IT BE KNOWN THAT BRAD BOIMLER IS A-”

Boimler pulls the jacket on so violently that he somehow elbows himself in the eye. The pink really does go with his hair-which Mariner knows for a fact he dyes himself every three weeks. “There! Happy?”

“So so happy.” Mariner hands him a martini from the tray she had brought in and nailed to the arm of the captain’s chair. The one she hands to Boimler has a rainbow umbrella in it. “So, first order of business. I think we need car seats for short people.”

“Excuse me.”

Mariner picks up her own martini glass and takes a chug, choking on the strawberry chunks she had grinded into it a few minutes before Boimler got here. “You know, car seats? That shit you put babies in because cars are a danger to humanity but we keep buying them? I think the shorties on this ship deserve some protection.”

Boimler drains his glass. “Fine, whatever, I don’t even care anymore.”

______

Mariner is commissioning the previously mentioned communist flags with hers and Boimler’s faces printed on them, when Tendi comes into the ready room. She is wearing the face of complete and utter defeat that everyone else had been wearing since the Co-Captains had been instated. Mariner insists it’s because they’re sad that she and Boimler wouldn’t get to be captains forever. Boimler says it’s because everyone’s writing their suicide notes to their familes.

“Mariner, we need to talk,” Tendi says, using the opening line to every break up Mariner’s been a part of and seen on tv. Which is really weird because she didn’t think she and Tendi were in a relationship.

“I’m all ears,” Mariner says, which is a dumb fucking line because clearly she isn’t , but people say that all the time.

“I don’t want to be your First Officer,” Tendi says, crossing her arms. “It was fun for the first week, but after you made it mandatory to do the Macarena during the first ten minutes of each hour, morale has been down.”

“Hmm,” Mariner pets Boimler’s therapy cat, Dishwasher, thoughtfully. “Okay, I’ll make that one optional. Any other requests?”

Tendi sighs. “No,” she admits. “To be honest, the ship is running at 98%, which is the highest any ship in Starfleet has ever run. I think Brad orgasmed when he heard about that.”

“You call him Brad ?” Mariner stares up at her friend, aghast.

“That’s his name?”

“Yeah, and his cat’s name is Dishwasher , but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to call her that!” Dishwasher growls at her name. Mariner shushes her, hands clamped over her ears. “She turns into a murder-rage machine when you call her by her given name! How do we know Boimler isn’t the same?”

“Because I call him Brad all the time!” Tendi hisses back, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Oh my god, he’s probably serial killing as we speak. I hope you’re ready to talk to the victim’s families and let them know that their loved one’s died because you couldn’t help yourself.”

Tendi stares at Mariner for a full minute. “Resignation,” she reiterates, pointing at Mariner. “I want to be a gross ensign scrubbing the deck again. Nepotism sucks .”

“Fine, you’re demoted. Go enjoy mediocrity.”

“I will.” Tendi storms out, kicking the door shut. Which again, is completely, 100% impossible because it’s the 23rd century or whatever-Mariner’s not keeping count-and automatic doors are now a Thing.

Mariner hacks their speaker systems to play the Wii Shop Channel Music-a reliac of the past only alluded to on private groupchats and servers- to play whenever Tendi entered a room. It’s the least she could do.

______

“As your First Officer,” a reluctant Rutherford says reluctantly, “I am here to remind you that that would be a very bad idea .”

“Rutherford, who’s the boss around here?” Mariner asks, hands on her hips.

Rutherford sighs. “You.”

“And as the boss, who makes all the decisions around here?”

Another sigh. “ You .”

“Then why are you being a killjoy over my decision to get down and dirty with my Co-Captain?”

Rutherford makes a shriek-y noise, like those boys who got their testicles cut off in the old days so they could sing opera. “Mariner, I’m serious, don’t do it .”

“Is it against regulation?”

“No,” Rutherford groans. “You’re both the same rank-”

“So what’s the problem?”

“You can’t sleep with Boimler just because you can!”

“That’s not why I’m going to sleep with Boimler,” Mariner waves him off. “I was sitting on his lap the other day-”

“Oh my god -”

“-in the Captain's chair--ooh we should look into getting another one of those, TWO chairs are better than one--”

“Mariner, to the point please.”

“Oh, yeah, so I’m in his lap and I maay have backed up a little too far and bumped up against-”

“Stop literally stop .”

“Yeah, so turns out Boimler is PACKING and I gotta hop on that train, so to speak.”

“Okay, you know what?” Rutherford shoves his padd at Mariner. “I quit, I can’t do this. I want to be a lower decks ensign again.”

“Wow, you’re like, the seventeenth person this week to quit. Which, coincidentally, is exactly how long I’ve been captain.”

“Yeah, weird coincidence,” Rutherford deadpans.

_____

“I may have fucked up, Mom,” Mariner shrieks, waltzing into medbay with all the grace of a duck pulling off a white bread heist. “I think you should take captaincy back.”

Freeman, who had fully recovered two days ago, but refused to engage in the chaos Mariner was purposely causing on her ship, looks up from where she’s reclining with her long island ice tea and swimwear magazines. “Really now?”

“ Yes . All of my friends hate me and I found out Boimler has purple pubs.”

Freeman almost drops her drink. “ What .”

“Tell me about it. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still fucking, but like. Wow, I thought he dyed everything. Turns out that shit is natural.”

Freeman covers her face with one hand. “No.”

“What?”

“No, you’re keeping the ship.”

“WHAT.”

“I already spoke to your father,” Freeman gives her daughter a shark-like smile. “We agreed that this position of authority has been good for you. And, considering, the ship is running better than any ship in Starfleet since the inception of the Federation, the Admiralty wants you and Boimler to stay on.”

“ WHAT .”

“They think it’s an interesting social experiment that merits more research. Congratulations, you and your fuck-buddy are now ginnypigs.”

___

“I think, as a sign of protest, we should rename the ship,” Mariner says, draped across the desk in the ready room. Boimler, sprawled out all over the desk chair, snorts. The room has been completely revamped in pride flags and the previously mentioned communist flags. Mariner thinks it’s her best interior design work, but Boimler claims it’s an eyesore.

“What would we name it?” he asks, humoring her.

Mariner considers it, taking a swig of vodka. “Okay, hear me out. Q and Picard’s Loveboat.”

Boimler grabs the bottle out of her hand, taking a chug. “You know what? This might as well happen.”

They submit the formal request on Boimler’s padd a few minutes later and are both pleasantly-at least in Mariner’s case-surprised that it goes through. It’s likely that the guy in charge of filtering these requests is either very very bored or very very underpaid and either way Mariner likes his energy.

A few days later, they have Q AND PICARD’S LOVEBOAT stamped across the side of the ship in comic sans-a truly underappreciated font from ye olden days that Mariner dug up one night on the wayback machine.

It takes exactly four weeks for the Admiralty to catch wind of it-by then she and Boimler had been Co-Captains for almost two months-and, well, there isn’t much they can do about it.

She does receive a rather long voicemail from her dad that she promptly deletes. She’s not about that energy.

_____

“Boims, Boims, Boims,” Mariner chants, crawling into his bed. Boimler lets out a shriek as her ice cold toes slide up against his bare thigh.

“So you know how our ship got renamed so easily?” she says, once Boimler had stopped screaming. “Well, I found the dude who approved it. Nice kid, I want his gender. Anyway, looks like my dad is getting a new ship and they're getting someone to christen it.”

“Oh my god,” Boimler says faintly, turning his face into his pillow.

“I may have gotten us on the list of possible people to christen it. As in, the kid hacked the server for me and we're the only people on that list.”

Boimler looks like he's regretting everything ever. He also looks like he's kind of in love with her. Mariner inspires that kind of duality in people. “What are we going to name it?” his voice has a tinge of fear in it that both of them get off on. The kink is strong with this couple.

Mariner grins.

_______

THE DADMIRAL: ACT OF REBELLION OR GENIUS?

Ash H. Beiggs

Many of you may remember the highly criticized decision Starfleet made when instating “Co-Captains” on the starship Q and Picard’s Loveboat ( formally known as the USS CERRITOS). Well, Captains Bradward P. Boimler and Beckett E. Mariner are back with bigger and bolder headlines to make.

The chaotic young duo are renowned Federation-wide not only for running the tightest ship in Starfleet, but for their unorthodox methods. Captain Mariner in particular has been praised for her innovating thinking and usual personality. When asked about her decision to name Admiral Mariner’s ship The Dadmiral she simply claimed that “Mohammad had his mountain, Jesus had his followers and [she] had a molotov cocktail and nothing to lose.” Captain Boimler declined to comment.

The actual christening of The Dadmiral was reported as a “spectacle to behold” by many onlookers. Captain Mariner was seen streaking through the aforementioned ship, with a bottle of vodka in one hand. Her Co-Captain was not far behind her, but was reportably more restrained. The actual christening was completed by Captain Mariner who “yeeted the vodka” into the ships warp core, shouting “ One of us. One of us,” in rapid succession until she was removed by security.

Neither Admiral Mariner or Captain Freeman are available to comment at this time.

[kristablogs]

A guide to protesting during a pandemic

Gloves, masks, and signs—protest essentials. (Clay Banks / Unsplash/)

Protesting has always been risky business. The current situation in the US, with people in all 50 states standing up to racism and police brutality, is no exception. But since we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, these demonstrations have an extra layer of risk.

If you want to support the cause from home, you can help by donating to organizations and raising awareness of the issues that ignited the protests in the first place. But if you want to be a part of the movement by taking to the streets, there are ways to minimize your chances of catching COVID-19. .

It’s impossible to be completely safe from infection. But being careful and prepared will allow you to freely exercise your First Amendment rights in the safest way possible, while also protecting your community from the novel coronavirus.

The basics: time and place

At a protest, the two most important factors you’ll be dealing with are how long you stay and whether the demonstration is in an open or closed space. It’s all about managing risk.

The longer you stay, the more likely you are to be infected if there’s someone with the disease in attendance. Closed premises—such as an auditorium or a subway platform—are worse than open-air locations, since they don’t allow proper air circulation.

If the protest you want to go to is indoors, you may want to skip it. And since there’s no particular amount of time that makes it safe to attend any large gathering (no matter where it is), plan the duration of your stay beforehand and stick to it.

Keep doing what you’re doing—and then some

No matter where you go during this pandemic, you should be taking precautions to protect yourself and others. These include wearing a mask at all times and either washing your hands when you touch something or someone, or wearing disposable surgical gloves.

At a protest, you should follow these rules even more rigorously. Without a mask, your chants for justice or inspiring speech will spray drops of saliva onto whatever’s nearby, including people’s skin and faces. Yes, this is gross, but because many COVID-19 carriers don’t know they’re infected—and you may be one of them—it also increases the likelihood of spreading the disease.

In the event you come into contact with tear gas—even a small amount—your body’s natural response will be to get rid of it by coughing and sneezing. This, in turn, will send droplets from your mouth and nose into the open air—unless you’re wearing a mask.

A face mask will filter out most tear gas particles, but even if you do inhale some, you should not take it off—make sure you move to safety first. When you’re away from the gas, uncover your face and wash it with copious amounts of water or a baking soda and water solution before you put a clean mask on. For more information on how to deal with tear gas, check out our complete guide.

"I’d also recommend wearing goggles,” says Rohini Haar, an emergency physician and a research fellow at the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley. “That way you’ll be protecting all the mucous membranes of your face, like your eyes, mouth, and nose.”

Even glasses might help to some extent, though they’ll only protect you from particles coming straight at you. Everything coming from above or the side can easily make its way into your eyes.

Wearing gloves can be helpful too, though you can forgo them if you are thorough with washing or sanitizing your hands. “As long as you have a bottle of hand sanitizer with you and use it whenever you come into contact with a person or a surface, you should be fine,” says Crystal Watson, an assistant professor at John Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, and an expert in contact tracing.

A crowd is a crowd is a crowd

We know it's fun to be in the middle of a protesting crowd, but to prevent infection, you'll want to keep your distance. (Derick McKinney / Unsplash/)

There’s no way around it—by definition, the very objective of a protest is to attract a crowd to raise awareness of a particular issue. But standing in the middle of a large group of people is the exact opposite of what you should do if you want to protect others and avoid getting infected during a pandemic.

You don’t actually have to be in the middle of a dense gathering to participate in a protest, though. Even in this kind of event, we should strive to keep that 6-foot distance from others as much as possible. Staying in the outskirts of a protest will make distancing easier, and will also help you move to safety more quickly if violence ensues.

Nevertheless, it’s important to know that even though you may intend to keep your distance, your ability to do so will be affected by a number of factors. These include the particular topography and layout of the protest location, and the position of police forces and other law enforcement officials.

If you’re arrested and moved into a closed and people-dense environment, such as a bus or a jail cell, or if you’re forced to move to an area where social distancing is not possible, keep in mind that your safety should be your first concern. If you can, move to a more open space, and if you can’t, try your best to keep your distance and your mask on.

Law enforcement could ask you to remove your mask, even if anti-mask laws have been suspended in several states due to the pandemic. If you ever face such a situation, weigh your risk and remember safety should be your priority—you may be able to avoid excessive violence by cooperating.

Things get a little more complicated if you have a higher risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19—that is, if you have any sort of immunodeficiency or underlying conditions.

“In that case, it might be good to protest from a further distance,” says Watson. She recommends that at-risk demonstrators hold their signs from the inside of their cars or bang pots and pans from the windows of their houses or apartments.

True—this is far from ideal and certainly not what comes to mind when you think of a protest. But we should not forget that by taking care of ourselves, we’re also caring for our community by not putting even more pressure on our healthcare system.

When to opt for a stay-at-home protest

Your right to protest is sacred—it’s protected both by the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. No one should tell you when you can or cannot protest, but there are some circumstances in which you should ask yourself if going out during a pandemic is the best decision for you and your community.

If you have been at high risk of infection lately, suspect you might be infected, or have any symptoms, it’s a good idea to stay home. Healthcare professionals have already voiced their concerns about how the nationwide demonstrations will affect the spread of COVID-19. Some of them—including Watson and Haar—agree that a second surge of infections is highly likely.

“It's a difficult situation, because I understand the sentiment and the need to protest,” says Watson. “But I do expect there will be some increase in transmissions, though we don't really know how big it could be.”

We need to be as careful as possible during this time, because all medical professionals can do is monitor the situation closely and act quickly when new cases are reported. This is why contact tracing is so important. “If someone is infected, we can trace the people they were with and ask them to stay at home and quarantine,” Watson says. “Then we can stun any surge that occurs.”

Contact tracing: how to help and stay safe

Sticking to your group of friends and staying away from the big crowd will make contact tracing a lot easier. ( Hayley Catherine / Unsplash/)

Contact tracing has been used in public health for years to help stop the spread of contagious diseases. The process identifies people who might have been exposed, alerts them of their situation, and asks them to take the necessary measures to prevent further transmission. This tool has been used to control the spread of Ebola, sexually transmitted diseases, SARS, and other contagions. Multiple states are now gearing up to use it against COVID-19.

Since it’s highly unlikely you’ll know everybody at a protest, Watson recommends that you stay within your own group and try not to make contact with other people. If there's an infection, that will make it much easier to trace.

But when protesters have been subjected to excessive force by the police and other authorities across the country, it’s normal to be wary if someone asks you for information about yourself or the people you were with at a protest. There are ways to tell the difference between public health workers and people with other agendas, though.

Most importantly, contact tracers will not address you in a public setting. “If someone is approaching you at a protest and saying that they are contact tracing, that is not real—you should not engage with them,” Watson says.

Contact-tracing professionals will only approach you through a phone call or a text message, and they should properly identify themselves as officials from your local health department before they ask anything, Watson explains. You also have the right to question their identity and ask for credentials, and they should never ask for sensitive information such as financial records or your social security number.

Always remember that protesting is your inalienable right, and you should exercise it whenever you feel like it. On the other hand, don’t feel pressured to go out if you don’t feel safe or comfortable doing so. There are a lot of ways to help the causes you care about—you can sign petitions or donate money to civil organizations. Some of the things you can do, like streaming a playlist on YouTube, don’t even require you to leave your seat—let alone your home.

[scootoaster]

A guide to protesting during a pandemic

Gloves, masks, and signs—protest essentials. (Clay Banks / Unsplash/)

Protesting has always been risky business. The current situation in the US, with people in all 50 states standing up to racism and police brutality, is no exception. But since we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, these demonstrations have an extra layer of risk.

If you want to support the cause from home, you can help by donating to organizations and raising awareness of the issues that ignited the protests in the first place. But if you want to be a part of the movement by taking to the streets, there are ways to minimize your chances of catching COVID-19. .

It’s impossible to be completely safe from infection. But being careful and prepared will allow you to freely exercise your First Amendment rights in the safest way possible, while also protecting your community from the novel coronavirus.

The basics: time and place

At a protest, the two most important factors you’ll be dealing with are how long you stay and whether the demonstration is in an open or closed space. It’s all about managing risk.

The longer you stay, the more likely you are to be infected if there’s someone with the disease in attendance. Closed premises—such as an auditorium or a subway platform—are worse than open-air locations, since they don’t allow proper air circulation.

If the protest you want to go to is indoors, you may want to skip it. And since there’s no particular amount of time that makes it safe to attend any large gathering (no matter where it is), plan the duration of your stay beforehand and stick to it.

Keep doing what you’re doing—and then some

No matter where you go during this pandemic, you should be taking precautions to protect yourself and others. These include wearing a mask at all times and either washing your hands when you touch something or someone, or wearing disposable surgical gloves.

At a protest, you should follow these rules even more rigorously. Without a mask, your chants for justice or inspiring speech will spray drops of saliva onto whatever’s nearby, including people’s skin and faces. Yes, this is gross, but because many COVID-19 carriers don’t know they’re infected—and you may be one of them—it also increases the likelihood of spreading the disease.

In the event you come into contact with tear gas—even a small amount—your body’s natural response will be to get rid of it by coughing and sneezing. This, in turn, will send droplets from your mouth and nose into the open air—unless you’re wearing a mask.

A face mask will filter out most tear gas particles, but even if you do inhale some, you should not take it off—make sure you move to safety first. When you’re away from the gas, uncover your face and wash it with copious amounts of water or a baking soda and water solution before you put a clean mask on. For more information on how to deal with tear gas, check out our complete guide.

"I’d also recommend wearing goggles,” says Rohini Haar, an emergency physician and a research fellow at the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley. “That way you’ll be protecting all the mucous membranes of your face, like your eyes, mouth, and nose.”

Even glasses might help to some extent, though they’ll only protect you from particles coming straight at you. Everything coming from above or the side can easily make its way into your eyes.

Wearing gloves can be helpful too, though you can forgo them if you are thorough with washing or sanitizing your hands. “As long as you have a bottle of hand sanitizer with you and use it whenever you come into contact with a person or a surface, you should be fine,” says Crystal Watson, an assistant professor at John Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, and an expert in contact tracing.

A crowd is a crowd is a crowd

We know it's fun to be in the middle of a protesting crowd, but to prevent infection, you'll want to keep your distance. (Derick McKinney / Unsplash/)

There’s no way around it—by definition, the very objective of a protest is to attract a crowd to raise awareness of a particular issue. But standing in the middle of a large group of people is the exact opposite of what you should do if you want to protect others and avoid getting infected during a pandemic.

You don’t actually have to be in the middle of a dense gathering to participate in a protest, though. Even in this kind of event, we should strive to keep that 6-foot distance from others as much as possible. Staying in the outskirts of a protest will make distancing easier, and will also help you move to safety more quickly if violence ensues.

Nevertheless, it’s important to know that even though you may intend to keep your distance, your ability to do so will be affected by a number of factors. These include the particular topography and layout of the protest location, and the position of police forces and other law enforcement officials.

If you’re arrested and moved into a closed and people-dense environment, such as a bus or a jail cell, or if you’re forced to move to an area where social distancing is not possible, keep in mind that your safety should be your first concern. If you can, move to a more open space, and if you can’t, try your best to keep your distance and your mask on.

Law enforcement could ask you to remove your mask, even if anti-mask laws have been suspended in several states due to the pandemic. If you ever face such a situation, weigh your risk and remember safety should be your priority—you may be able to avoid excessive violence by cooperating.

Things get a little more complicated if you have a higher risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19—that is, if you have any sort of immunodeficiency or underlying conditions.

“In that case, it might be good to protest from a further distance,” says Watson. She recommends that at-risk demonstrators hold their signs from the inside of their cars or bang pots and pans from the windows of their houses or apartments.

True—this is far from ideal and certainly not what comes to mind when you think of a protest. But we should not forget that by taking care of ourselves, we’re also caring for our community by not putting even more pressure on our healthcare system.

When to opt for a stay-at-home protest

Your right to protest is sacred—it’s protected both by the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. No one should tell you when you can or cannot protest, but there are some circumstances in which you should ask yourself if going out during a pandemic is the best decision for you and your community.

If you have been at high risk of infection lately, suspect you might be infected, or have any symptoms, it’s a good idea to stay home. Healthcare professionals have already voiced their concerns about how the nationwide demonstrations will affect the spread of COVID-19. Some of them—including Watson and Haar—agree that a second surge of infections is highly likely.

“It's a difficult situation, because I understand the sentiment and the need to protest,” says Watson. “But I do expect there will be some increase in transmissions, though we don't really know how big it could be.”

We need to be as careful as possible during this time, because all medical professionals can do is monitor the situation closely and act quickly when new cases are reported. This is why contact tracing is so important. “If someone is infected, we can trace the people they were with and ask them to stay at home and quarantine,” Watson says. “Then we can stun any surge that occurs.”

Contact tracing: how to help and stay safe

Sticking to your group of friends and staying away from the big crowd will make contact tracing a lot easier. ( Hayley Catherine / Unsplash/)

Contact tracing has been used in public health for years to help stop the spread of contagious diseases. The process identifies people who might have been exposed, alerts them of their situation, and asks them to take the necessary measures to prevent further transmission. This tool has been used to control the spread of Ebola, sexually transmitted diseases, SARS, and other contagions. Multiple states are now gearing up to use it against COVID-19.

Since it’s highly unlikely you’ll know everybody at a protest, Watson recommends that you stay within your own group and try not to make contact with other people. If there's an infection, that will make it much easier to trace.

But when protesters have been subjected to excessive force by the police and other authorities across the country, it’s normal to be wary if someone asks you for information about yourself or the people you were with at a protest. There are ways to tell the difference between public health workers and people with other agendas, though.

Most importantly, contact tracers will not address you in a public setting. “If someone is approaching you at a protest and saying that they are contact tracing, that is not real—you should not engage with them,” Watson says.

Contact-tracing professionals will only approach you through a phone call or a text message, and they should properly identify themselves as officials from your local health department before they ask anything, Watson explains. You also have the right to question their identity and ask for credentials, and they should never ask for sensitive information such as financial records or your social security number.

Always remember that protesting is your inalienable right, and you should exercise it whenever you feel like it. On the other hand, don’t feel pressured to go out if you don’t feel safe or comfortable doing so. There are a lot of ways to help the causes you care about—you can sign petitions or donate money to civil organizations. Some of the things you can do, like streaming a playlist on YouTube, don’t even require you to leave your seat—let alone your home.

[wanderingfan]

Things I Enjoyed This Week

Hello Again.  Hope you’re having a good weekend!  Here’s some things I watched/listened/obsessed over this week.  This week I’m going to try to be a little more thorough on what each piece of content contains this time.

Main Fixation

Banana Fish 

This is going to be here for the next 30 weeks and I don’t know what to tell you.  Oh wait I do have something to say that I probably can’t sneak into the Eiji and Ash post I’m doing (hopefully it’ll be done by Tuesday.)

WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT HOW HORRENDOUS OF A POKER FACE EIJI HAS WHEN TALKING TO IBE.

“Oh, I will,” he says casually with his eyes bulging out of his sockets.  I loved Eiji in the manga and I’m loving Eiji in the anime and frames like this really say a thousand words about him.  I have a more depressing image that also says a thousand words but I’ll put that on a solo post later tomorrow.

Videos

Cooking With Twinkies! by brutalmoose           

contains food products including sweets such as twinkies, ice cream and cookies, condiments, cooked and uncooked sausage and hot dogs, as well as a man cooking and eating said food.

Brutalmoose’s videos are always a treat to see, whether he’s making frozen dinners, cooking weird recipes, watching old tv or television movies, or playing far off video games.  This one is him dressed in a mustard twinkie suit making food...using twinkies.   The art is in the editing hon.  And by that I mean it’s odd.

Down the Rabbit Hole by Fredrik Knudsen

contains disturbing information regarding things ranging from cult-like activity to mental illness to online abuse to attempted murder and suicide.  viewer discretion is advised.

Hey hi I accidentally binge-watched this whole playlist.  It’s documentary-like video series describing strange, often disturbing events ranging from events involving content creators to historical events like the plague.  What makes this series work I think is how the narrator acts completely separate from the events, only giving information in order to allow you to draw your own conclusion.

Arthur Games #2! by PeanutButterGamer                                              

contain bits of video made to make Arthur and its characters disturbing.  some edits are disjointed and a little off-putting

Another video that relies on odd editing.  These videos range from funny to slightly surreal.  It’s about Arthur games...based on Arthur.  The only episode I remember watching of Arthur is the one where he broke a glass bird by accident, and then one where his sister wanted to wish on a shooting star...I don't know I put in here because I watched it okay?

Examining the Yaoi BL Genre by GoatJesus

contains discussion of sexual assault, homophobia and sexism along with showing episodes that include sexual assault.

I almost removed this because there are some opinions GoatJesus has that I heavily disagree with.  However when it comes to this video in particular GoatJesus is very on point, so I feel like since I keep running into posts declaring they hate Yaoi (sometimes while putting any content with seemingly non-straight undertones into that category,) and then others justifying their love of Yaoi (but not...real LGDTQ+ people and the stories they write cough cough) by declaring some nonsensical reasoning like yaoi was before gay culture (which is...uhuh. sure. okay.) I think it’s important to have more videos like this that are clear and honest on how they feel about this topic.

The Shape of Ableism: How We Restrict Disabled and Disfigured Stories by The Princess and the Scrivener

contains discussion of mental and physical disabilities, ableism, prejudice, racism, sexism and how film portrays these topics with examples from The Elephant Man, Wonder, Me Before You, and The Shape of Water, among others.  

The way Scrivener discusses topics and her response to “critical” comments speak to me on this personal level it’s like she’s in my head and now I weirded myself out so if you want to see a proper look at the mistreatment and lack of disabled casting in films check this one out.

Are Rules Made to Be Broken? | Philosophy Tube by Philosophy Tube  

contains discussions on politics, activism, philosophy, racism and discriminatory laws

An quickie on why rules are made to be broken...not much else to say the title speaks for itself.  Short and sweet.

So I Installed 30+ Mods Onto Darkest Dungeon... and VAMPYRBORNE by Indeimaus

contains video game blood, violence and murder.  also swearing.

Whenever I’m interested in a game but don’t have a big wallet I usually look at a good playthrough of it.  However ever since I discovered Indeimaus I suddenly can’t imagine going through 30+ hours of a playthrough unless its someone I really like, because Indeimaus usually makes a single video that chronicles his experience playing through the game.

Gator Ate My Camera! and BIG PIG PARTY! by Brave Wilderness  

first video contains live gators in a feeding frenzy and raw meat.  second video contains pigs, chickens, organic cake (safe for animals to eat), birthday décor and Coyote eating a piece of the cake after dropping it on the dirt.

PIG PARTY!  GATOR PARTY!  Brave Wilderness videos are always a nice treat to watch when I feel I stopped in my tracks.  When I’m lying down not sleeping I usually watch some Brave Wilderness videos until I go to sleep.  Coyote’s love for creatures big and small is infectious.

Power Rangers (2017) - Deep Dive by FilmJoy                                               

contains people eating oreo cookies and watching a movie.  people chatting and having a good time on a couch and pausing to talk in front of the camera.  movies watching parts are set in black-and-white.

Deep Dive is a series that strives to see the joy in movies that are...not conventionally joyful.  They’re great if you’re tired of reviews that are essentially “this movie SUCKS” for 15-30 minutes and instead want to see someone at least try to find the good in even things that are atrocious.  This time though they watched a movie that was...kinda actually good?  All of them are surprised by this.

Klonoa: The Saddest Game Ever Made (Analysis/Tribute) - ChaseFace ...by ChaseFace

contains story beats to the first klonoa game, which deals with destruction, loss, deceit, and other themes, but its not gory or “adult” in any capacity.

Wh-what?  Why would I be sad about this game?  I never played it!  I have no reason to cry about this cutesy game about friendship and dreams.  N-nope!  D-didn’t cry at alllllllll-aaaaaaaaaagh *gross sobbing*

Podcasts

Waypoint - Captain Toad's Wild Ride and No Man's Guy

contains discussion on toxic behavior in gaming communities (including mention of a bomb threat to a game creator) and the culture and issues of gaming development and publishing, along with brief asides to politics.

This week Waypoint discuss how good Captain Toad is among other Switch Games, and then goes into a details discussion on what happened to No Man’s Sky, including the visceral reactions to it.

Oh No, Ross and Carrie! - Ross and Carrie Traverse Flat Earth (Part 7): The Jeran Campanella Interview

contains skepticism of modern science, religion (focusing on catholic,) atheism and the flat-earther movement

Ross and Carrie take a break from the out-of-body club to interview a flat-earther on his experience in becoming one.

Wonderful! - Wonderful! Ep. 43: Davey Coolstool’s Math Poetry

contains a married couple being in love

Wonderful is a couple who used to do a Bachelor Podcast called Rose Buddies, but after the show got to a point where the couple decided they didn’t want to encourage anyone to watch the show they moved on to just a podcast talking about things they think are wonderful.  Saccharine sweet and positive, will probably lull you to sleep.

The Worst Bestsellers - Episode 102 – Ramona and Her Mother

contains childhood nostalgia, memories, and family issues

The Worst Bestseller are ladies who go through...the worst bestsellers, from Warriors (LIES) to Fifty Shades of Grey.  But PLOTWIST - They talk about a book they actually love this time with Ramona and Her Mother, which seems to understand the small struggles of being a young kid that are still applicable today as they were in the seventies.

Let's Fight a Boss - Ep 79: Willy-Banilly

contains swearing and some dark humor.  also contain irish funeral arrangements.

A group of friend poke fun at each other while talking about what they watched/read, what they played, games news and emails.  They’re usually two hours long but sometimes less or more depending on the topics.  They can be very frank about what they like and dislike which might throw people off, but I respect them for still being good people.  Its hard for me to get differing opinions that aren’t attached to more toxic behavior, so its nice to be able to enjoy a podcast that’s still respectful.  

That’s it for this week.  Take care!