#btw this is not unique to the US or Canada

[lestis]

At first i thought this was referring to what happened in March 2020, but no. Things haven’t changed! Even as far back as 1918 this was happening! (More on that later.)

The health center in this case was in Seattle, not Canada, but it’s close to the border for a reason. it’s explained further by this article:

When Canada shut its borders to stem the flow of COVID-19 last year, people continued to cross freely into Indigenous communities in Ontario and B.C. by water—mingling with residents who had scarce access to masks or even clean water for hand washing.

Native communities in both the US and Canada are severely neglected and actively endangered.

Indigenous people weren't consulted when lockdowns happened. They don't have a seat at the table. Whether you're talking about the federal, provincial or the local level, they're not asked their opinion. In B.C., the federal government closed borders without their knowledge.

In Ontario, when they opened up the province in July, they didn't talk to First Nations people. They didn't seem to realize people would get in their boats and come to the First Nations, bringing COVID to our communities. People would tie their boats off and walk into the communities like there was no pandemic. To me, that was a huge eye-opening piece. (University of Toronto)

It's expected that epidemics hurt those of lower socioeconomic means in particular, which many tribes are unfortunately within. Other communities of color—specifically Pacific Islander, Latino and Black communities—were hit heavily as well, having a "COVID-19 death rate of double or more that of White and Asian Americans."

Indigenous communities still have the highest percentage of deaths, which the Great Falls Tribune attributes to long-term disinvestment, racist public policies, ongoing settler colonialism. Chronic underfunding (especially in healthcare) with outdated machinery, crowded homes and deficient plumbing also contribute to the issue. Many reservations have little access to clean water, despite tribal water rights legally recognized for over a century. It makes sense that on reservations in particular, there often isn't enough room for people to quarantine the way that most of us are able to.

Native American communities are often the latest to be addressed when it comes to federal resources. This is consistent with what happened in 1918, which Dana Hedgpeth of the Washington Post pointed out in her article "Native American tribes were already being wiped out. Then the 1918 flu hit" (unfortunately the whole article is behind the paywall).

Frustratingly, articles such as this one attribute the high death toll to (as well as underlying health conditions), "lack of institutional resilience, the relationship between the federal governments and tribal governments, and lack of social trust." This may be true, but if so is not unwarranted given the many, many legally-binding treaties that have not been upheld. There is a whole History article on Broken Treaties with indigenous populations, and that's only covering some of the most famous ones!

Not to mention that Indigenous Americans have lower life expectancy and significantly disproportionate rates of diseases and chronic conditions, which as we know makes them all the more vulnerable to death upon contracting disease. In fact, an analysis of disparities conducted by the Federal Health Program for American Indians and Alaska Natives states, "American Indians and Alaska Natives continue to die at higher rates than other Americans in many categories, including chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, unintentional injuries, assault/homicide, intentional self-harm/suicide, and chronic lower respiratory diseases."

Suffice to say, despite the many leaps in indigenous representation and recognition, indigenous tribes are often given the short end of the stick, especially when it comes to healthcare. We have to make it so that the next time something like this happens—and make no mistake, it will happen—things will be different.

[saritawolff]

A Patreon request for rome.and.stuff (Instagram) - Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum… that I went a bit overboard with lol. I’ve been waiting for an excuse to draw my favorite ceratopsian, and to digitally adapt my old Pachy marker drawing design.

So! Pachyrhinosaurus! As seen above, there were three known species of Pachyrhinosaurus, living in different locations and eras in Late Cretaceous North America.

The oldest, P. lakustai, was native to the Wapiti Formation of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. It’s known for the extra spikes it has at the center of its frill.

The slightly younger P. canadensis was native to the lower Horseshoe Canyon Formation and the St. Mary River Formation of Alberta and northwestern Montana. It was the largest of the three.

The youngest, P. perotorum, was native to the Prince Creek Formation of Alaska. As this ceratopsid seemingly stayed put during the long, dark, cold Alaskan Winters, it likely had adaptations for keeping warm.

The depiction of a “woolly” Pachyrhinosaurus was first popularized by Mark Witton as a speculative work, but the trope has prevailed. While many paleontologists find a heavy feather covering on a centrosaurine to be highly unlikely, and maintain that the animal’s size and homeothermy would have kept it warm enough, we still have no skin impressions to suggest that P. perotorum was fully scaly. So a feather coating is not completely out of the question (though it is unlikely). Still, I love the look of a woolly Pachyrhinosaurus and how it challenges our previous conceptions of non-avian dinosaurs. Stranger things exist in nature. I had to include a “woolly” option, especially since I already use the guy as my avatar on my paleo Instagram account, SaritaPaleo.

Pachyrhinosaurus was particularly unique in that it seemingly traded off something that had previously worked for other ceratopsians, horns, for a large nasal boss instead. For Pachyrhinosaurus, a battering ram worked better than a sword.

It was herbivorous, using its strong cheek teeth to chew tough, fibrous plants. Perhaps during the dark and cold Winters, P. perotorum would have also dug for roots or even scavenged carcasses. At any rate, from observations of their unusually conspicuous growth banding, it appears growth for P. perotorum would have been stunted during the harsh Winter, but was extremely rapid in the warmer months, an adaptation for the Alaskan climate.

The tundra of the Prince Creek Formation housed a surprising amount of diversity. Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum would have lived alongside smaller ceratopsians like Leptoceratopsids, as well as other ornithischians like the pachycephalosaurine Alaskacephale and the hadrosaurid Edmontosaurus. Theropods such as Dromaeosaurus and Saurornitholestes, as well as a yet unidentified giant Troodontid, lived here as well. P. perotorum’s main predator would have been the tyrannosaur Nanuqsaurus. Small mammals were also somewhat common here, such as Cimolodon, Gypsonictops, Sikuomys, Unnuakomys, and an indeterminate marsupial.

(Btw, the request tier for Patreon starts at only $5 a month. 😉 Link is pinned at the top of my blog.)

[ask-commander-arild]

OOC Post:

Hi, there! I'm @jnix-2006 and welcome to my ask blog, ask-commander-arild!! I made this blog for @pkmoth's @motherbound-askapalooza, and I plan on participating the entire month of August, but if it does well, I may continue it!! But, bear with me, because I don't use tumblr much, so this is all very new to me, haha. Before we start, I feel I should give a little bit of introduction to what exactly this is. So, firstly, what exactly is an Arild? Well, Arild is an OC I created for the game Mother 3 (Heavy spoilers btw)! He can be seen below!

Art done by @pinkalliums!!! Go check them out!!

Say hello to Arild Eskildsen! A young Norwegian lad of 15 years old who, through a series of unfortunate events, was once a pigmask. I know his design may look a little... 2015, but the design quite literally came to me in a dream, and I would've been stupid not to use it. Now, as much as I'd love to go into detail about his backstory, I wanna save most of it for the asks. I guess the most basic gist is that he was taken from our time, currently in the 2010's but may change later, from a very young age, and made to be a pigmask. Yippee, child soldier! He goes on to be promoted to captain. But after yet another unfortunate event, he ends up being chimera-ified and he gets promoted to commander, but not of the pigmasks... Of what, you ask? Well, we'll get there. For now, here's him as a captain!

Art also by @pinkalliums!! Seriously, go check them out! >:)

Few things to keep in mind for this blog:

1. I don't have many artistic abilities, unfortunately, so this will be a text only blog. Some friends have kindly made a few pieces for Arild, and I will show them off, but for the most part, there won't be much in the way of visuals. If you feel like making art of him, feel free! I would actually love to see it!!

2. Quite a lot of the stuff here is going to involve my own headcanons for the Mother series, especially post-game Mother 3. For example, in my headcanon, Claus survives and becomes the leader of the army, rebranding it in the name of peace, and that is why Arild is a commander. Basically, since everyone has unique headcanons for the series, you can just consider this an AU.

3. There will be mention of a couple real life places that will have Mother-ified names. With any mention of Norway, the name will changed to Fjordland, on account of its many... fjords. Canada is also an important place within the story, and that I have decided to call Mapleland. Creative, I know. I figured I would bring it up to avoid confusion

4. Feel free to ask whatever! Though, obviously, just make sure it's on topic, of course. Silly questions are easy to answer and will usually be answered quickest! Lore relevant questions are a little trickier and may take me just a bit longer to respond to, but I will be happy to get to them!! Also, RP is okay with me, if you want to!!

5. When it comes to asking questions, please don't be weird or anything. Like... being a former pigmask, Arild is a plus-sized character, so a comment about his weight would not be great. More importantly, absolutely NO NSFW. This character is a minor, and that stuff is not okay to ask. I don't think any of this will be an issue, but it's good to mention just in case

6. I do not speak Norwegian, so if I want to sprinkle it in a little bit, I have only on option. Google Translate. I know, I know... it's not the best, but I will try my best to avoid mistranslations or misuse of phrases. I wouldn't want to be the new version of that one post about the Norwegian Butter Crisis, haha.

If you're still here, thank you for reading until the end!! As said, I've never done something like this before, so this intro is probably super chaotic in comparison to other blogs, haha. I am really excited to get started here! I've always wanted to do an ask blog, and I really needed an excuse to flesh out my OC, so I'd say this is perfect! I'd like to give thanks to all the friends, and my bf, who helped me out on this!! Thank you to Moth for setting this event up! Thank you to Hal and a few others for the art! And also thank you so much to my friend Red who helped me create this character in the first place! He didn't tell me what his tumblr was, but he is @/Doc_Glowstick on Twitter!! Alright, I think I've rambled enough now. I'll probably go through this and change it later, but for now, let the blog begin!!!

[nonymous06]

JUST REMEMBERED

Anyways

Are they aware of their secret identities and all? Like...

*akuma* then it's like a groupchat between the welders and then it's

Gwen: there's an akuma btw when will you guys be here

Sierra :I think Trixx died..

Courtney: did you feed her

Sierra oh yea..

Courtney: Sierra!!

Heather: stop blowing up my phone I'm trying to do my nails 😒

Gwen: there's an akumatized villain keep doing your nails and there won't be a nail salon tomorrow

Courtney: where tf is Alejandro

Alejandro: where tf are you guys I'm getting my ass beaten up by some akumatized twink..

Gwen: lol

that was long

Anyways or is it like they just don't know and stuff..

Do they live in Canada still and are they Parisian now

Okay starting w the setting question - I have no clue. Probably from Paris because I find it impossible to separate miraculous from Paris in my head, like the way the set of the city works in the show is perfect for the aesthetic compared to cities elsewhere

And idk yet, I know for a fact that Alejandro and Gwen know the identities of all the secondary heroes outside of Heather - she's a unique case because she found the bee miraculous after it got lost before it could be given out (just like chloe in the og show did)((Heather did not reveal her identity because as soon as she realised it was a miraculous it became an advantage and therefore something that should be a secret)) however, Alejandro does not like having less information so one fight he avoids using his cataclysm and secretly follows her hntil she detransforms - he doesn't tell Miss Fortune but now he's got the identities of all the "secondary" heroes (brackets around secondary because as soon as they get their miraculous permanently they're main heroes in my head, it's just their miraculous are in the secondary wheel of the miracle box and then the like chicken and shit are in the tertiary wheel) -> Also! Alejandro finds out Heather's identity after they began getting close as heroes, so any of their academic rivals bias couldn't interfere since he's already softened to her abrasive personality

I think after a year of being holders Gwen and Alejandro trade identities because one fight nearly went horribly wrong due to identity shenanigans and they realised not knowing could get them in deep shit -> it is also this moment wherein he tells Gwen Heather's identity too as an "all facts on the board" moment of trust, he's actively giving up the information advantage showing that he trusts her not to turn it around on him or make him redundant (he's overcoming his fear of being replacable look at him go)

As for the gc idea, I love it and am making it canon but via burner accounts so they all use their hero names/identities (there are 2 gcs, one with the core ground of Alejandro, Gwen, Sierra, Courtney and Heather and then a much larger one w the rest of the hero cast)

Those burner accounts are probably how the heroes become mildly popular online (bcuz I'm a suckered for social media au's they're consistently so silly and funny just like chat fics)

I imagine the core gc has the stupidest nicknames too like Gwens being "Emo bug" or smt like that. Courtney sets Alejandros as "Faux Feline" (as a way to call him a fake bitch, because their friendship like that™️) and gets called "Forgotten Ninja Turtle" in vengence

[imsobadatnicknames2]

I have some good news: No one is pretending any of that! You seem to be projecting onto me positions I have never expressed either on or off this website.

Shocking to me how US people on this website are STILL acting like foreigners couldn't possibly understand how wildly varied and diverse their regional culture is because the USA is such a big country when in actuality the USA is like. Surprisingly culturally homogeneous for a country of its size.

I just saw someone say "what people from outside the states don't understand is that there is no unifying "US" culture like there is for most countries" like dude... There a countries a fraction of the size of the US where you travel to another city and people don't even speak the same language.

[starry-mist]

S6e7 thoughts (finally):

Love the subtle Charah worry for each other in the poison scenes.

Charlie: You didn’t come in contact?

Sarah: No, I’m gloved.

Me: Which literally never stops you from constantly touching your face/hair, but okay.

(Side note: How does Sarah look good in a freaking hazmat suit?)

Jesse. Sense of humour on point.

This joking and respectful s6 Jesse and Joe dynamic is my new favourite thing.

Asshole husband could have been treated to a Rex takedown in my ideal world, but given how complex a story the A plot was, I’ll let it slide.

I love the team closing ranks to investigate this one on their own. More team episodes, please.

Adding the CSIS element was fun. Special Agent Liu would make a great recurring character.

It is here where I go on a tangent about how this show could use a shadowy figure/a big bad/some ongoing story arcs, because if they’re planning a longer run, they can’t sustain just standalone episodes. Or maybe they can, what do I know?

There’s another subtle moment where Sarah takes a beat after she hands Charlie the magically procured antidote. (Also I’m gonna go ahead and assume one of those doses is measured for Rex.)

Wardrobe. We need to talk about Charlie in these denim tuxedos.

Love Sarah casually shining a light into Charlie’s eyes as if she’s actually checking him for injury rather than using it as an excuse to seek that reassurance that her boyfriend is okay after once again nearly dying.

Charlie on the phone with Trina…is that…do I detect a hint of actual continuity? From this show? Dare I hope?

And at this point I go a little off the rails as I get really distracted by 1) the reappearance of The House and 2) the unexpected Charah moment.

The Truong family: I’d wondered if her parents or perhaps grandparents were refugees/immigrants given they’d likely be about the right age for either (look up Vietnamese history in Canada for what I’m talking about.) Sounds like Mr. Truong was for sure. Also they can’t keep mentioning him if they’re not going to show him at some point, can they? Give me Truong family, please.

But anyway now Charah are kissing and they’re totally off to have some hot, passionate “thankful you’re alive” sex.

I love how Rex has become forever protective of Sarah BTW. It’s just a given that he lies on her lap for pats now.

I live for Jesse and Sarah banter.

LOL I missed the “CSIS Safe House” on the screen the first time around. Awkward.

Well I guess we aren’t getting Agent Liu as a recurring character…RIP

I wanted more whump from this last action scene.

(I can’t be the only one who half expected Rex to inject Charlie with the antidote can I?)

Charlie stabbing himself right in the chest with the needle, I just…I’m gonna need a minute.

(Also that little hint of chest hair with a few more buttons undone than usual…help.)

Wardrobe pulls off a win at the ballet studio with Sarah’s outfit and Charlie’s casual top.

I want to see Sarah accompany Sadie to New York…okay maybe I just want to see her punch Ryan in his stupid jerk face.

Rex is a ballet fan.

Interesting. Different. Unique. Way to perfectly round out a team episode, writers. Well done.

Sarah is a Bond fan: might have to work that into a fic.

And they settle on watching Black Swan. LOL I knew Rex was going to dance eventually.

[lesbianmikenesmith]

KLAATU

More underneath in case you're not familiar with the lore of this Canadian prog-rock group

Starting in the early/mid 70s, members John Woloschuk, Dee Long, and Terry Draper from Toronto formed their band "Klaatu" named after the main character from the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (the original one not the keanu one).

All was going great for the band in Canada, they were receiving rave reviews for their album 3:47 EST otherwise known as Klaatu (I own this album on vinyl btw it's great) However, when the album took off in the US, things went south.

There was something particular about this album's sound and vocals that made one Steve Smith in 1977 start the infamous rumour that Klaatu were secretly the Beatles (kind of stupid you know considering the everything).

Take a listen to the below song, "Sub-Rosa Subway"

Mr. Smith was convinced this was Paul.

Things got even more complicated when manager Frank Davies, went with the bit so to speak, refusing to disclose who the musicians behind these albums were. Kind of shady but managers cant help a "get rich quick" scheme.

Can you piece together where this eventually ended? yeah that's right the Paul is dead theory. A connection that I still see videos being made about to this day.

Anyways all this leaves us with a very talented band, never being valued for their own merit or contributions to the prog-rock genre and constantly living in the shadow of the Beatles.

This isn't to say they weren't inspired by The Beatles in any way, listen to those accents you just know thats on purpose.

If you want to read the original article by Steve Smith here's the link:

[passportpair]

Day 6: It's time to learn!

As English pedagogy students, we wanted to enrich our culture more, so we went to explore a school in Toronto City to know how the education is done and how much different it is from the education in Chile.

As part of our proyect, we went to some schools to know more about the educational system and its characteristics

1. School Levels:

Canada: So, in Canada, You start with elementary school (grades 1-8), then move on to high school (grades 9-12), and after that, it's off to college or university if you choose.

Chile: Down in Chile, it's quite similar. You've got your basic education (grades 1-8), followed by secondary education (grades 1-4 "medio" thats the equivalent to grade 9-12 in Canada), and then you can also head to university or technical institutes for higher education.

2. How They Grade You:

Canada: Canadians tend to use letter grades, F is the worst, and A+ is the best.But this can varies by province and level of education.

Chile: In Chile, it's all about that 1.0 to 7.0 scale.Being 1.0 the worst and 7.0 the best that you can have. (BTW, We hope we get a 7.0 in this project, hahaha), sometimes the marks could eveng go since 0.0 or 2.0 depending of the school or city.

3.Lets talk about money $$

Canada: Education is usually free through the public system. University and college might have some fees, though.

Chile: Chile has both public and private schools. Public education is free, but private schools can cost you a pretty penny. University fees vary, and scholarships exist but might not cover everything.For example, Millaray is studing with a load that the banks give her which its called "CAE" that she had to pay when she start working, however Miguel is studying free because he has a schollarship that the goverment give him.

4. Language:

Canada: English and French are the official languages, and most instruction is in these languages. But bilingual programs exist in areas with a strong French or indigenous presence.

Chile: In Chile, it's all Spanish, but you can learn English too, in the school they teach English and there are institutes that teach only English like "Instituto Britanico". but we do not have to forget about our culture, there is another language called mapudungun, it comes from our original people, unfortunaly, just few people know this language and with the time it has been decreasing his speakers.

5.Inclusion and Special Education:

Canada: Canada is all about inclusivity. Special education services are available to support students with diverse needs.

Chile: Chile is working on being more inclusive, but it's still a journey to ensure that every student gets a fair shake.

So, there you have it, amigos and amigas! While Canada and Chile both have their unique flavors in the educational kitchen, there are also some tasty similarities. From elementary to higher ed, it's all about learning and growing.

something good for both countries is that they have plenty of programms for academic exchance, so the opportinities increase way more, and you do not have to be studying in the country hahaha

[creativecoaching]

This is me

I am not going to bore you with every detail of my life, because you’ll be staring at your screen for hours, and most likely will be sleeping after page 3. So let me be brief on who I am and what is most unique ABOUT me, as well as most important TO me.

My name is Melanie, which btw. is Greek and literally means ‘blackness’ or ‘darkness’. Whenever someone asks me how I like my coffee, my response is always “black like my soul” … I was born and raised in East Germany, and don’t have too many memories of all the things that happened before the wall came down, but what I do recall is receiving white chocolate from family friends who lived in West Germany, and occasionally sent packages to us. White chocolate was not available to us at a time. My greatest memory from after the wall came down, was that of being able to travel freely. It meant family vacations outside of our little bubble.

I came to Canada almost exactly 16 years ago on a work & travel visa. My love for traveling only got stronger over the years. By now I had some experience, as I already worked and lived in Ireland for a year, before studying Hotel Management back home in Berlin. The original plan was to spend one year in Canada and continue doing work & travel in other countries, before starting my career in Hotel Management back home. To shorten the story, I have since stopped planning more than my next meal, and possibly an upcoming vacation. As you can tell, I am still in Canada 16 years later, and have changed not only my career, but my whole way of living. Over the past few years I have worked in many different positions, ranging from vineyard work, life insurance agent and business owner of a coffee/ice cream shop, to being a student of different health programs. I am currently employed as financial advisor at a local Credit Union, and I am hoping to transition to a position in the leaning and development department, and ultimately prepare my path for continued health coaching.

Teaching and raising awareness is where my passion lies. My dream is to one day open a health retreat and do nothing but coach and support others in their journey of healing.

[handweavers]

it doesn't help that malaysian canadians are a very small group (less than 17,000 according to 2016 census) and the majority of us are either of indian or chinese ethnicity, so we are not "visibly" malaysian and identify both with our ethnic heritages as well as our national ones, and most other chinese and indian canadians are not from the diaspora but from the homeland, so in terms of finding community we assimilate into those diasporas bc we don't have the numbers to make our own community and even then that's just not how Indian Malaysian or Chinese Malaysian identity works even in Malaysia.

this means that we don't really have a distinct collective identity as malaysian canadians and thus don't have much of a voice here. most people don't know we even exist. this isn't the fault of indian or chinese canadians who came directly from the homelands btw, just to make that clear lol, it's just something that is consistent with 'double diasporic' groups - people who migrated to one place and set up long term roots as a diaspora, and then migrated to another place carrying that unique diasporic identity into another diaspora.

it can't really be helped but it definitely plays a role in why canada's exploitation of malaysia doesn't get much attention domestically. community organizing and collective identity is vital to that sort of thing; think of how the punjabi farmers protests have been hugely publicized in canada due to significant numbers of punjabi canadians especially in brampton and surrey where we sort of run the place lol. it's impossible not to know about the protests because punjabi and other south asian canadians have a collective identity and the numbers to voice these issues here. punjabi malaysian-canadians are largely assimilated into this community, and even in msia there are less than 150,000 of us let alone the tiny numbers that exist in canada. I can only think of 1 other Punjabi Malaysian Canadian who is not related to me in this whole country LOL. the collective voice as a double diasporic group just doesn't exist

[dolldirt]

This will probably be comparable to a recipe blog hiding the recipe in a mass wall of text...

Everyone knows that I buy Rainbow High dolls for the clothes. I find the dolls themselves odd and they have weird proportions. Considering that the joints are over engineered while still being badly designed was a let down. Also, having to wash RH hair immediately just to get a brush through it is a choice, but a choice MGA keeps making. At least the hair looks great in the box right?

When I started buying the series one dolls (which feels like 10 minutes ago btw), I was excited for the fashions. They appeared to be trendy and with better quality than anything Mattel was releasing. Seeing hems on clothing shouldn’t be exciting, but here we are. The fit on other dolls is hit or miss which is to be expected given RH’s unique body type. I mostly use the clothes on Japanese dolls such as Licca-chan, Tuli-chan and Wataru and find the dresses and jackets fit best. Pants are too short and wide. Skirts are too wide, but can be pinned. The tops are hit and miss just because I’m not a super fan of crop tops in general. The shoes all end up going to She-ra and Color Infusion Darby Kenner.

I’ve been happy with the outfit quality as a whole. It’s pretty consistent, from doll to doll. The main issue I have is with the plastic tabs they use to secure the clothes to themselves and to the box. Knit pieces end up with pencil size holes when they get stretched over the doll. RIP to any socks that are attached this way. I also have issues with Mattel when they do this, but I seem to have more of an issue with this when it comes to the RH dolls. Mattel tends to keep the tags closer to the edges and MGA just puts them everywhere... I don’t get it.

There have been dolls I regret buying such as series two Amaya. That was a doll that I impulse bought because of her sequin skirt and top (which I assumed was a dress initially). I’m not sure if mine was just a bad doll, but the dip in quality on the doll and her outfit is blinding. Loose threads on almost every piece of clothing and hook and loop tape that is sewn on poorly and Amaya has bald spots from her hair pulling out. She has several missing hair plugs just from washing her hair and trying to get a comb though it. I do love the colours of her hair but the quality of the doll over all left a bad taste in my mouth.

Rainbow High dolls are also a reminder that doll companies can make relatively decent quality dolls for an affordable price. MGA is running two core lines of dolls right now in a similar price group and both lines appear to be thriving. It’s okay Mattel, focus on Color Reveal dolls that will end up in a landfill. But I do wish that Mattel would up their game. Barbie Extra was a good foot in the door, but the design quality is still lacking compared to RH or OMG.

The point of this post I guess is that I got Kia Hart after finding her at Walmart here in Canada. It was a kind of a grab and go purchase since we are currently in a province wide lockdown and I’m trying not to be out any longer than I have to be. I wasn’t originally into Kia when I saw previews of her online, but I’m a sucker for pink. My sister was the one that grabbed her and put her in the cart for me while I was looking for new Barbie stuff (I grabbed the Kira behind her lol). She was spicy compared the other RH dolls that retail at $39.97 here and she rang up at a $59.97. So there was some shock at the check out!

 My overall impression of the doll is positive. Her hair is stunning, her outfit pieces are fun to mix and match and they finally made a long sleeve shirt that wasn’t a hoodie!! In my opinion, Kia is one of the best dolls in the line so far. I love her pastel punk look!

[sasspossrilla]

More opossum info here. The didelphis genus of opossum is immune to the venom of rattlesnakes and pit vipers (one of the most venomous snakes in the world) and also immune to certain toad toxins. Also people say that opossums lived at the same time as the dinosaurs, but they didn’t they evolved 23MYA at the earliest.

Anyway the main thing is wants to say is that the Virginia opossum is not the only opossum in North America, as is commonly said, but they are the only opossum/marsupial north of Mexico. There are actually at least 15 different species of opossum in North America! (at least 11 if you don’t include Central America for whatever reason). While it loves the Virginia opossum, it is not the only one on this continent and other really unique species opossums are also in NA.

Like yapoks here (water opossums). These are the most semiaquatic marsupials in the world (the only other two semiaquatic marsupials are also opossums). They live all over South America, but also go into North America into southern Mexico. Because they’re semiaquatic, they have a lot of unique adaptations. Like webbed hind feet (that they can still use their hind opposable thumbs with!). A pouch that can seal shut to safely go underwater (with joeys that can survive several minutes without breathing!). And they have a 6th pseudo finger on their front hands, and also some sensory organs on their hands that are unique to them. We still aren’t sure what they’re for.

The common opossum is in the same genus as the Virginia opossum, and is very similar to it, but slightly smaller and with darker fur. They live in southern Mexico down into mid South America as well

There’s Derby’s wooly opossum, who have really long tails

Also the Mexican mouse opossums who don’t have pouches (there’s actually quite a few opossum species who don’t have pouches btw. They’re not necessary to count as a marsupial. The joeys of opossums without pouches just kinda cling on to the teat and then ride on their moms backs when old enough ).

There’s also the grayish mouse opossum and the four other members of the genus tlacuatzin.

Philander opossum (gray four eyed opossum) has been split up into a few different species recently, but one of them is in Mexico (philander vossi)

And a few others that are in Central America (but that’s still North America imo) like Allston’s opossum, Robinson’s mouse opossum, the Panama slender opossum, and the brown four-eyed opossum

People writing off the other North American opossum species bothers it cuz there’s a lot of really unique and weird stuff about opossums that people don’t learn about cuz they think the Virginia opossum is the only one that matters because it’s in the US and Canada. Yapoks especially are cool as hell and idk why people don’t talk about them more!!

look at me. listen to me. this is directed at americans for the record. the reason you think North American animals are boring is because you live here. there are so many cool and beautiful animals here. we have beavers. we have wolves. we have moose. we have sea lions. we have armadillos. we have mountain lions. we have alligators. we have foxes. we have bighorn sheep. we have manatees. we have bears. we have ocelots. we have BISON. and that’s not even touching on the birds! or the turtles! or the snakes! we have amazing beautiful and diverse wildlife right here and it deserves to be appreciated and protected

[urmomsstuntdouble]

so a while ago i made a post with the signatures i made for the characters in 1836, and i was kinda having a lot of fun with it, so i decided to make signatures for all the hetalia characters (im totally not procrastinating with the intensity of the sun rn wym). so here they are, with the names closest to canon that i could find. my commentary is also interspersed. anywho here’s the signatures!

so this first page is of the characters whose names are in latin and cyrillic, the scripts i feel comfortable writing in. this is 99% europeans, plus the us, canada, and cuba. this is alphabetized by the name of the country the character repesents but not their actual human name because im a dumbass, except for the last three, which are russia, belarus, and ukraine. belgium doesn’t have a canon last name, so i deferred to netherlands’ surname for her. denmark’s name here is magnus densen, which is the only full name given in canon. there are other potential first names and last names given for him (none of which are mathias kholer btw) but seeing as magnus densen is the only actual full name, that’s the one i decided to go with. i also used erzebet as hungary’s name, and beilshmidt for germany (who doesn’t have a canon last name but you know. siblings with prussia), tolys for lithuania, timo for finland, antoño for spain (more old fashioned than antonio), vash for switzerland, and irinya chernenko for ukraine. 

this second one is mostly asian countries with scripts that i dont know how to write in/am not comfortable writing in. for most of the asian countries, and egypt, it’s common to use signet rings as a form of signature. im not confident in my ability to create unique signets for all of them and in five different languages that i niether speak nor know the script for, so i left that out. egypt’s official name is gupta mohammad hassan, but since the p sound doesn’t exist in modern egyptian arabic, i decided it wouldn’t make sense for him to have gupta as one of his names. while he would probably speak coptic, i doubt that many members of the government or even your average egyptian who’d be seeing his name on official papers (cops if he gets pulled over for speeding, personal credit card, etc) would be able to pronounce it. coptic is sort of in the same boat as latin with its status as a dead language that some people speak as a second language, and i don’t think there have been any native speakers for a few hundred years. for greece, i gave him both a roman and greek signature, because im a bit more familiar with the greek script than any of the asian ones. seychelles is included here rather than on the latin only sheet because she doesn’t have a canon surname. making it bonnefoy is a bit weird imo and not logically consistent with how former colonies names work in canon (look no further than any character from the americas), so i gave her my own. her name here is michelle vinot. hong kong also has his english name, leon, next to his cantonese name, but i wasn’t sure if he had an english surname, so i just left it as a first name (he’s already got a cantonese surname so i didn’t think an english one was necessary). anyway uh final note is that i hope taiwan and hong kong’s signatures are different enough from china’s bc i wanted them to be somewhat similar, but with varying degrees of divergence from china. 

anyway that’s all i have for now, i hope these were cool! ta ta for now

edit: i tried tagging them in the order they appear (in case you cant read one of them) but apparently theres a limit to how many tags you can put on a post, so they’re under the cut now 

america/alfred f jones

austria/roderich edelstein

belgium/emma morgens

canada/matthew williams

cuba/máximo machado

denmark/magnus densen

england/arthur kirkland

estonia/eduard von bock

finland/timo väinämöinen

france/francis bonnefoy

germany/ludwig beilshmidt

hungary/erzebet héderváry (forgot the accent marks on the actual signatue)

iceland/emil steilsson

lithuania/tolys laurinaitis

liechtenstein/lily zwingli

latvia/raivis galante (end of 1st sheet left column)

monaco/lucille bonnefoy

norway/lukas bondevik

poland/feliks łukasiewicz

prussia/gilbert beilshmidt

romano/lovino vargas

spain/antoño fernandez carriedo

sweden/berwald oxtenstierna

switzerland/vash zwingli

veneziano/feliciano vargas

russia/ivan braginsky/Иван Брагинскы

belarus/natalya arlovskaya/Наталыа Арловскаыа

ukraine/irinya chernenko/ириныа черненко (end of 1st sheet right column)

china/wang yao/王瑤 (i used google translate for this. i apologise. also used the traditional option)

egypt/muhammad hassan/محمد حسن (arabic from google translate)

greece/herakles karpusi/Ηρακλής καρπούζι (greek from google translate)

hong kong/wang ka lung | leon/王家龙 (simplified chinese from google translate)

japan/honda kiku/本田菊 (from google translate)

south korea/im yong soo/ 임수용 (hangul from google translate)

seychelles/michelle vinot

tawian/lin xiao mei/林小梅 (simplified chinese from google translate)

turkey/sadik adnan/صادق عدنان (arabic from google translate. the turkish alphabet is very similar to the latin one and not all turks use arabic to sign their names, however, it was common for sultans and other members of the upper class to have very elaborate signets called tughras which used arabic calligraphy. i feel like a country would have something about as fancy, and that turkey is the sort of guy who would want one, so here’s his name in arabic. idk that he’d use it all that much these days, but woo! history!)

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #300

that’s a lot of time wasted, lmao

If you were a witch, which animal would be your familiar? Could I have like, a melanistic barn owl? That'd be dope. They're fuckin gorgeous. If there's a design on your shirt, what is it? Ha, speaking of owls... Would you ever visit a ghost town? MOTHERFUCKER would I. Bringing my camera, too. What would you do if you found out your life was only a simulation controlled by someone else? I have a very much Detroit: Become Human (phenomenal game, btw) outlook on this: I think, therefore I am. It honestly wouldn't affect me terribly. I sure would hate my creator though, jfc, lmao. What's the scariest thing you've accidentally found on the internet? Okay so there is this one video filmed by some guys who had this really strange, sulking guy in black stalking them, and it ends with the suspected murderer slinking over to the guys (who were by this point finding it almost funny, due to how the man was acting) and charging with a knife, I think, once he was very close. I believe the men were never found afterwards. It is SO goddamn unnerving. Is there anything bothering you right now? Not to be a Negative Nancy, but when isn't there lmao. Thinking of every Halloween costume you've had, which one was the most creative? I never had creative ones, really. What's the picture on your calendar for this month? I don't have a relevant calender, just old meerkat ones on a wall in my room. If you were a mythical creature, which would you be? As much as I love dragons, they're targeted too much in fantasy to kill, so let's not, haha. Being a dryad would be cool. Or druid. Either/or. If you were an animal, which would you be? A housecat, ig. Were you ever bullied when you were younger and how did you handle it? I consider myself very lucky to have not been. Have you ever thrown something away and then wanted it back? Okay so it's "deleted" versus "thrown away," technically, but there are two senior prom pictures in specific I desperately want back because fuck my low self-esteem, I look beautiful in them and so damn happy. I even tried Facebook restore programs that supposedly recovered all pictures you ever removed, but I couldn't salvage them. I'm still pissed about it, haha. What's one random city you want to visit? I don't have a specific city, per se. More so just countries in general. If you owned a store, what would you most likely sell? I think owning a pet supply store would be really cool, with some animals that are actually very well-cared for, unlike chain pet stores. I HATE those, vehemently. So unspeakably ignorant and neglectful. If you had a garden, what sort of plants would you grow? I don't want a garden, but hypothetically, I'd love orchids, dahlias, tiger lilies, a weeping willow tree, some strawberries... What's your favorite phase of the moon? Full, of course. What's the song for your life right now? I've felt extremely connected to Seether's "Weak" lately. Do you believe that when you die, you get to see all your loved ones again? I hope so... Who would you be the most excited to see? DO I ACTUALLY NEED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION?????????? Do you enjoy reading National Geographic magazines? If I'm like, sitting in a waiting room and they're available, I'll go for them. Do you know anyone who's serving in the military right now? Welcome to the South, baby. The boys graduate, they're going straight for the military. I only have one real friend who was one but left tho because he fucking hated it. Does or did either of your parents serve in the military? No. Has anything in your house ever caught on fire? Not in this house, no. As a small child, did you ever feel as if you were different or weird? Absofuckinglutely. I have A LOT of bad memories of instances where I felt like "the weird kid." Can you say "happy birthday" in another language? Omg... I forgot the German phrase. Wow, I'm rusty. What subjects do you or did you get the worst grades in? Math. Do you have photos to go with all of the contacts in your phone? I don't have pictures that go with any. Who was the last person to comment on one of your photos on Facebook and how did you meet that person? I just checked, and it was my friend Summer. I met her because she was actually first friends with my younger sister in pre-k, but we grew closer than they did in our teen years. What career paths are you considering? I just want to be a photographer. So badly. But I've felt super, super discouraged lately. Do you watch music videos? I pretty much never do, but rather listen through the artists' Topic uploads or lyric videos. I don't generally like official music videos because they tend to have other sounds/parts/breaks/etc. in them that distract from the song. Have you ever clicked on those banner ads that promise a prize for clicking? Probably by accident at some point in time. What kind of computer are you using? Acer Nitro. What kind of computer do you wish you were using? I'm fine with what I have. Have you ever had a weight change so drastic you went to the doctor? .-. How cold does it have to be before you put on a sweater? Depends on how long I'll be outside, but in most situations, in the 50s. Do you eat things off the floor? Um, ew. Who do people say you look like? My sisters. Do you usually get your homework done on time? When I was in school, I was very serious about having my homework finished by the date it was due. Have you ever framed your old movie ticket stubs? I've kept some, but never framed any. Do you have a digital camera? A Canon, yeah. Have you ever stuck something inappropriate in an electrical outlet? Bitch I ain't tryna get electrocuted. How many days has it been since your last birthday? My b-day is actually coming up soon; the 5th of February. Do you want any more siblings than you have now? Well, considering both my parents (and stepmom) are in their 50s... How easily shocked are you? VERY. I am extremely jumpy and on edge at like all times. You like the color blue, don't you? I mean yeah. Particularly the lighter tints. Who was the last person who asked you something that made you think? My therapist REEEEAAAALLY makes me do this. She's an absolute pro at getting me to dig deep into myself. Ever fired a gun? No, and I don't want to. From 1-10, how would you rate your cooking skills? Is 0 an option? Do you notice the heat or the cold more? HEAT, JESUS FUCK. It can be one or two degrees above what I consider stable and I'll be sweating. I'm hypersensitive to it I know from being in such a consistent temperature in my room like 24/7. Do you believe in miracles? Probably no. What hurts more: scratches or bites? Bites, if you're talking serious ones. Do you prefer rabbits to mice? No, mice (and especially rats) are absolutely amazing, intelligent animals. Bonus points for being mega cute too, though I do find rabbits cuter. Who out of all the people you know reasonably well is the most "dark?" Sara, haha. Favorite chocolate-based candy? Reese's. Do you call anyone babe or baby? My pets sometimes. Name me a food you used to like that you now don't: Peas, olives. Name me a food you now like but never used to: Mashed potatoes, IF prepared very well (by my standards, obviously). Would you rather live in Europe, The US, or Australia? By this point, take me to Europe. If it wouldn't be such a huge life change and leaving so many people, I would 120% move to Canada, but out of these, Europe will do. Would you rather have a big house, a lot of kids, or a high flying job? Give me the high-flying job, 100%. I don't want kids, and I have no need for a large house. Is crime a big problem in your area? Oh yes. What’s your town/city most well-known for? By the locals, being the crime hub, actually, lol. Name 5 objects that you don’t have but would like right now: Hmmm... I want a 40g tank as an upgrade for Venus, a gaming chair for when I turn the extra room into my "office" so I don't destroy my back sitting there, new glasses and a driving permit, and don't forget a gd tattoo needle pounding my skin. :^) If you were given the choice to choose your child’s gender, would you? Yes, I would absolutely want a girl just because IF I wanted kids, I'd want a daughter named Alessandra. Do you get along well with your family doctor/your doctor? Yeah, she's nice. What types of soups do you like? None. If a color could reflect your current mood, which would it be? Grayish blue. The last time you saw fireworks? I really don't know; it's been years, at least. Have you ever gone to a movie premiere? Possibly for Silent Hill: Revelation, but I'm not certain. Who was the last person to make you laugh out loud? My mom, because she made me remember something funny. What was the last commercial you heard selling? *shrug* Do you prefer fairly common names or a bit out of the ordinary ones? Oh, definitely rare and unique ones. Would you rather have a pet cat, dog, horse or tortoise? At this current time, a dog for Mom, which we're actually probably getting. She misses having one super badly. Is your laugh loud, normal or very silent? My laugh is loud and obnoxious as fuck. What are you interested in that most people would be surprised to know? Tarantulas, probably. I love them, even though spiders kinda scare me. Last movie you watched the whole way through? Elf, I think, with Sara's fam. What's your favorite fruit? Strawberries are where it's at. Last time you drank coffee? I've only ever sipped coffee to try to see if I liked it. Never have. I THINK I last took a sip of Sara's when we went on a breakfast date? Has anyone ever called you rich? Calling me rich would be entirely ludicrous. What makes you feel beautiful? Nothing. How many bathrooms are in your house? Two. Last time you were on a plane and where did you go? A couple years ago, coming home from Illinois. Favorite flavor muffin? Uggghhhh chocolate. Do you prefer stripes or polka dots? Polka dots. I tend to find circles visually appealing. Did you take Music when you were in school? I think all the elementary school students did. I was also in band in middle and high school; I played the flute. Why did you last feel like crying? I'm just sick of how my life is going. Do you find being alone with strangers scary, interesting, or indifferent? I find it either awkward or terrifying, depending on the gender. It's not a willing thing or intended sexism whatsoever, I'm just naturally afraid of men. Do your initials spell a legitimate word? If so, what? No. Does someone’s background affect whether you'll be friends with them or not? Well, it depends on what they've done. How about their religious background? No. If someone admitted cheating in a past relationship of theirs, would you trust them? Nope, bye. Did you ever want to be a cook as a kid? No. How about a fashion designer? No. Do you prefer fire or ice? Fire aesthetically, but ice is certainly less intimidating. When happy, do you become more talkative? OH yes. Are you offended easily by non-politically correct language? No, really. I wouldn't say derogatory terms, but I really don't understand why most people put so much weight into a single made-up word. But again, you won't hear that language coming out of my mouth because I understand that it just does hurt some people, and I respect that. Do you think the censors/fcc go a bit too far or are just right? It's gone overboard, imo. What's your I.Q? I don't want to know, haha. Have you ever taken a martial art? Which one{s}? No. Do you know anyone who is scared of you? Um, no. What person who has died would you bring back and why? Probably Steve Irwin. His children have done FUCKING FANTASTIC at carrying on his legacy and purpose, but I feel he could've taught the world so much more than he had time to... Do you like watermelon? No. Too watery. Can you remember the month of your first kiss? Yes, actually. March. What do you think is the most interesting thing about you? I'm unsure, really. Do you like being complimented or does it make you uncomfortable? Both. What artist's paintings do you find the most beautiful? This is an impossible question. What about the most disturbing? Oh man, I watch this one person on deviantART that makes especially creepy artwork. I follow a loooot of dark artists, though, so it's difficult to pick. Have you ever gone to a camp or summer school? A church-related summer thing, yes, as a kid. What was your favorite cartoon as a child? Pokemon was/is where it's at. What was your biggest fear as a child? Thunderstorms, holy shit. Would you rather be able to fly or breathe underwater? Be able to breathe underwater. What about invisibility or mindreading? Definitely invisibility. Mindreading would just... suck. Hurt. Especially if you couldn't control it. Which stereotype do you dislike the most? Good question, considering I hate a shit ton. Can you remember all your past teachers names? No, not all of them. Do you like talent shows? Which ones? I don't mind watching 'em. I particularly used to love America's Got Talent. Have you ever failed an important exam? In what? Yes; I failed horribly at my final math exam the last time I was in school. Are you on any meds? Too many. Just way too many for someone my age. I'm really starting to think I'm over-medicated to where it's dulling my senses, feelings, and also destroying my memory. But I kinda need like... all of them. I'm talking to my psychiatrist in just a couple days though, actually, and I'm going to talk to him about maybe trying to wean me off my OCD med, since I haven't had big symptoms in a long time. I wanna see how I deal without it. What color is your razor? Black and orange. What is your fave frozen treat? Just the classic ice cream. Which supermarket do you like to shop at? We tend to get our groceries from Wal-Mart. Do you struggle to say ‘no’ to things you don’t want to do? YESSIREE. Are you friends with someone a lot of people dislike? I don't think there's anyone that is widely disliked, no. Have you ever had to deal with someone close to you going off to war? No, thankfully. Other than yourself, who did you last buy something for? Mom. What's something you complain about frequently? My legs hurting. It's hard to ignore when taking one step is painful. Have you ever talked about your period with a guy? Were they okay with it, or grossed out? I certainly haven't talked about it in-depth, but it's been mentioned in some way when I was with Jason. I mean we were together for three and a half years, sexually active (and I ain't doing jackshit if it's that time of the month), and I spent as much time with him as possible, so... it woulda came up. I'm sure he was indifferent about it, he was a mature guy. Have you ever been to an Asian (any type) market? If so, what is the closest one to you? No. I've never even heard of one around here. Have you ever slept with a member of the opposite sex without having sex? Back up two questions, haha. That was normal. How would you feel if your significant other had tattoos? Shit man, I love tattoos. I'd obviously not care. How have you been feeling today? Depressed. Where’s your phone right now? On my chest. I'm lying down. Is there a certain person that makes you feel safe? ugh When you drink alcohol with friends, do you play drinking games? I never have. What are the best kind of Girl Scout cookies? I don't remember their names, honestly... but the chocolate and peanut butter ones come to mind.

[booasaur]

As someone who works in TV I can understand why Netflix are doing a cull of things. Even if they had a successful first series.

The logistics of everything now is a nightmare. On top of the extra expenses for Covid testing/PPE/Cleaning equipment. There is ensuring correct transport that will keep passengers and drivers safe (all which have to be approved by a Covid supervisor). Additional rig days to ensure each department gets space to work (which is fine for light entertainment shows and just about manageable for sitcoms) but high end dramas? That’s so many additional days. If you add in potential weeks for shut downs which might occur if they have someone test positive, this then adds on an extension of costs for equipment and space.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Netflix, Apple TV etc have sat down with a list of shows and gone through which ones they are willing to spend the money on. If shows are easy to make normally, then they will more likely be higher on the list to film during times of Covid because of the potential for them to cost less than a show which would normally require a larger budget.

America is also very unionised so everything there takes longer anyway. So it wouldn’t surprise me if shows that film outside of the USA (take Warrior Nun as an example) get priority of those within the USA. It wouldn’t surprise me if shows also get filmed in the UK/Europe instead of the US

Okay, first, asks can be this long (again)?? What the.

But oooh, thanks for your expertise! From what I saw, that does sound spot on and it is...so much. I get it, and yet. Doesn’t make it feel any better, right. And can’t they just delay some of these? Shorter seasons?

Oh, and I think Away actually did shoot in Canada, but not sure if that’s relevant. Hopefully WN will be okay with the Europe cases rising again.

And another two anons:

Covid just fucking ruins everything huh

I know COVID has caused a lot of big shit but we can be mad at the small shit too right? Like all the shows it’s ruined for example

Lol, I was thinking that too, like of course, it’s actually killing so many and separating families and costing jobs (although these are jobs too), is it okay to be mad about this thing, since it’s mostly just us being upset at not getting certain shows... But I think we can be, we’re not saying it’s anywhere near that level of awfulness, it’s just one of many ways in which this has sucked. :x

And another anon:

Lu and Mei deserved better

Truly, whatever else the show had going on, that was such a unique little gem in the middle, something I’ve legit never seen in American media, adult professional Chinese wlw who clearly cared about and understood their culture. There are so few at all, but they’re either teens or like, action-centric. And the more I look at characters played by actresses like Michelle Yeoh and Ming-Na Wen, the more I appreciate a character from that mold.

But representation aside, they deserved an explicitly happy ending!

And another anon:

I doubt they would have even had to like do a lot of COVID stuff? Just cut down on the mission control scenes and quarantine the five actors together near the Mars set?????

Btw that anger was directed at Netflix but you

I can’t remember if I said not or but in that last ask so I wanna clarify Netflix not you

Lmao, this made me burst out laughing. How dare you! But no worries, it was clear in context anyway. But from what the first anon above said, I do think there are a whole lot of very specific expenses that they can’t just can’t skimp on. And it wouldn’t be just the five actors, but all the crew that would interact with them. 

But yeah, I don’t think there’s any kind of exact algorithm they’re using, it’s not as if they judge profitability in the same way other businesses can, they’re at the point where interest doesn’t automatically translate to new subscriptions because so many people have subs already, so it’s a whole thing to figure out what actually is a success and what isn’t. It may be more a gut feeling thing, what they think is better rid off or not.

And another anon:

The showrunner of Away said he had a COVID plan already in place and that Away worked perfectly for it ugh didn’t even let him try

Do you mean Jessica Goldberg? I feel like I read something like that, but I guess it was still too expensive to them, and of course, she was still a showrunner trying to get her show renewed, anyone in the same situation would say the same.

And another anon:

Away was one of my fave shows ever *Sigh*

Ouch. Sorry, bud. Brave of you to get invested in a Netflix s1...though I guess it seemed like a safe bet at the time! Still pretty shocked at it, tbh. But at least they ended on a high note, overall? You could imagine the mission going well, with of course the technical and emotional hiccups, and then back on Earth as celebrities.

[pynkhues]

I just have ask, cause I need to just voice this.. (BTW I do love the show no worry) Am I the only one who thought it was such a stupid reason that the new FBI decided that the fake money was made by women was because they used fuckin' NAIL POLISH?!! I legit sat dumfounded, I mean... wtf? What, men can't think to add nail polish to their fake money?

Haha, I get why you don’t like it, anon. As a functional plot device it’s a little hammy, but I appreciate it as a thematic plot device so much that I actually like it a lot overall. 

This show doesn’t really have a lot of recurring objects like many shows do, but when they are introduced, they usually serve as a means of underlining the gendering of spaces, crime and life, which is a theme this show is about as obsessed with as I am. I talked pretty extensively about the gendering of spaces and how the show uses them in this post (man, I should update this with the delicious new spaces in s3, because they continue all of these trends in such interesting ways!), and briefly touched on the gendering of objects too (namely Rio’s golden gun, and the dubby), but it really does extend well beyond that.

So let’s break that down a little!

(Under a cut to save your dashes!)

Functional vs Thematic Plot Devices

Plot devices take a hundred different shapes and forms throughout a story, and of course, always serve to drive narrative forwards, tell the audience something about a character, or drive home a narrative theme. Plot devices aren’t always physical – in many cases they can be a trope, expectation, lie, red herring, among many other things, but for the sake of this post I want to talk about physical plot devices.

So basically, I want to talk about the way this show uses objects.

It might not seem like it on the surface, but this is a show that uses objects as plot devices a lot. Sometimes these are obvious – the money for instance, the Boland Motors car Turner drudges from the lake back in s1, the dubby (and ho, boy, I have a lot to say about that last one, but I’ll come back to that), the guns, Lucy’s phone, etc etc etc.

While these are, of course, essentially props, this is a show that typically lends a lot of weight to them, and in particular, it lends a lot of weight to feminine-coded objects that would in other shows frequently be dismissed as inconsequential.

A pearl necklace, an old lady’s porcelain figurines, a smear of lipstick on a pen cap, a child’s blanket, a new engagement ring, a pregnancy test, vials of botox, and nail polish, among many other things, become objects of narrative and thematic importance.

When it comes to these sorts of physical plot devices, I generally separate them into two categories: functional and thematic.

Functional plot devices are ultimately what they sound like. They serve an often purely functional purpose in the story. Things like the Boland Motors car that the girls took to Canada, dumped, and then was drudged up by Turner. It was used as a means of re-directing Turner’s attention on Beth, while also revealing to Dean that Beth had been the person who’d robbed him back in 1.03. More recently too, the hockey jersey that Ruby stole was a means of ultimately giving us a fun heist as the girls scrambled to get the money to pay for Beth’s life, as well as getting us to the pawn shop where Ruby would see the pen that Sara had stolen.

Functional plot devices – at their most basic – move plot forwards, bridge the gaps between characters and accelerate the action and drama of a story.

Thematic plot devices on the other hand serve a different purpose, and are often less bogged down, I find at least, in perfect logic. While they need to do what a functional plot device does, they also carry the extra weight of underpinning character arcs and often punctuating the key themes of the story. The sled in Citizen Kane is a really good example of this – as a functional plot device it’s just a specific sled and a sort of silly thing for a multimillionaire to want when he can buy as many sleds as he wants, but as a thematic one, we lean that it’s the key thing in his life connecting him back to his childhood, his innocence and his humanity, and comes to represent the central loss of the film.

Similarly, Harry’s lightning bolt scar in the Harry Potter series serves as a functional plot device to tell us and Harry when Voldemort is near, but it actually evades logic to eschew a greater purpose – which is reiterate the theme of motherly love and protection in the story.

Sharp Objects

Good Girls uses objects this way a lot and frequently shifts them between the two purposes, and it has done that since the very beginning. Using toy guns on the very first Fine & Frugal robbery for instance, was a silly plot point used ultimately to get them into the situation with Boomer at the end, but it also thematically represented the naivety of the girls in the robbery, and Annie and Beth’s powerlessness overall, but especially in the scene with Boomer (something immediately juxtaposed with Beth hitting him with the bourbon bottle). It also works effectively as a means of showing how far Beth would come across the first season as she held a real gun at the end of it, and the further slip of her moral character and what she’s capable of across season 2 and 3.

Sometimes they seem to appear as purely functional too, but evolve into thematic ones – meaning they are enriched with weight and purpose as they transition in their design.

A good example of that is Boomer’s cell phone in 2.03 which was purely functional – serving as a means of tricking the girls into believing they were disposing of Boomer’s body, not Jeff’s, before it was pivoted in the last scene to be used on a thematic and character level. By Annie listening to Marion’s voicemails through it, it served to re-link Annie to her own humanity, and underpin her arc with Marion that would ultimately lead to betrayal, redemption, grief and guilt.

The Dubby: a quick aside

The best example though, at least to me, is, of course, the dubby. The dubby does a lot of heavy lifting on virtually every story level, and I could honestly wax lyrical about it until the end of time.

On a functional plot level, it’s there to ultimately get Beth shirking Rio’s instructions and throwing her weight against him in their partnership. It forces her to confront the fact that she views herself and Rio as equals, when the reality is – in situations like that – they’re not. It also gets us to confrontations between Beth with Dean, Rio and Ruby, as well as Annie and Ben (I told you it did a lot of heavy lifting!), served as the means to which Noah and Annie met (boo), revealed Rio’s hand emotionally, and forced Beth to face on a textual level (as opposed to subtextual level) her changing relationship with her home, with her role as a mother, and ultimately her children.

On a thematic level, it explores all that and more! Not only is it deeply, deeply symbolic of a loss of innocence (a baby blanket in a drug den!) – something that’s reiterated by the girls almost being raped in that house – but Rio’s desire, for whatever reason, to give it back to her (something actually reiterated in 2.08 when he tries to handle the baby hitmen for her) – a really, really interesting beat for a character that seems to revel in her moral decline. Rio has, I think, always wanted her to be both. Again, something that is the clearest we’ve ever seen in this episode – he wants her to own up to what she is (a drug dealer) during their fight, while simultaneously trying to restore her to a seemingly frivolous comfort as a mother. It’s complicated! And I love it!

It’s also a highly feminised object that is weaponised against Beth twice. Firstly, by Jane as a means of guilting Beth (she lost it in the drug den), then criminally (by the, y’know, criminals), and then Beth actually weaponises it herself against the woman in the craft store in a female hierarchical sense which is totally fascinating to me and feels very true of Beth as reiterating the sort of alpha woman she is.

I could keep talking about this, but let’s move on, haha.

Claws

It’s not just about character arcs though.

Thematic plot devices are also often used as symbolic touchstones to re-emphasise the key themes of the show overall, and it’s in this sense that the nail polish operates – to me – really effectively. The writers aren’t saying that nail polish is only used by women, they’re saying that it’s a feminine-coded object deemed frivolous or silly by a patriarchal society (which it is, even when men wear it), and that women can use that dismissal as a weapon.

In other words, the key through line of the show.

The girls have operated with this sensibility since the show began, acting within underestimated, feminine-coded spaces and using them, basically in a way that messes with people’s expectations. It doesn’t always work in their favour, but that’s not a bad thing, and I don’t think that that’s the story this show is trying to tell. Rather I think it’s simply trying to say that these things are active, and can be powerful and used in interesting ways. They’re not passive or frivolous as history has told us.

They’ve frequently actually tried to use female-coded objects in crime before too – namely Marion’s figurines, the secret shopping scheme, the botox – all of which failed in unique ways (all of which too were briefly entertained but ultimately rejected by Rio, and it’s interesting that a key transition in Beth and Rio’s relationship occurred around Boland Motors – a masculinised space that Beth feminised on her takeover of it – I spoke about that quite a bit in the gendered spaces post I linked to above!)

The nail polish though has been the first true, pure success of a weaponised, feminine-coded object in the crime storylines, and it’s not an accident that that has coincided with the launch of the girls’ operation and their pure success without Rio. Being able to use it to make the money has been key to representing their feminisation of the crime world and the crime space on a thematic level, and I’d argue represents a ‘full circle’ moment with the success of their returns-for-cash scheme working with Rio originally (again, a feminine-coded operation).

Like I said in my gendered spaces post – Beth, Ruby and Annie are at their strongest and smartest when they’re utilising the familiar, feminine-coded world and weaponizing it, as opposed to copying Rio’s highly masculine-coded world (one of the clearest examples of this ever on the show was this season actually when Beth realised she couldn’t intimidate Gil like Rio, but could blackball him in PTA mom mode). The nail polish is actually a key symbol of that too, and the fact that it’s identified by a female FBI agent is about reiterating the same themes. Phoebe has a chance to take down the girls and close in on them because she doesn’t underestimate that world like Turner did and Rio’s still prone to doing.

The nail polish in that sense formed not only a functional plot device (with making the money in the first place), a thematic one (the underestimation of feminine-coded objects by men), but a bridging device that makes Phoebe a real enemy to the girls. It also serves as a great narrative underscore as Phoebe removes that nail polish from circulation, not only indicating that Phoebe operates in that space as well as Beth, Ruby and Annie, because she’s a part of that world in a way Turner wasn’t, but forming a terrific narrative parallel where as Beth loses further control of her operation, she also loses control of a key ingredient which gained her that operation in the first place.

So yes! Less function, more theme, but I don’t know.

I’m pretty into it, haha.