#like i actually BUILT a shop

[awkward-teabag]

Love (cannot emphasis how much sarcasm there is in that word) that an official Canadian government response to high cellphone rates is to switch carriers.

Switch it to what? We basically have three companies since one was allowed to eat the forth (with the government saying it wasn't anti-competition and the company eating the other pinky promising they wouldn't jack rates up). Even the smaller companies have to rent infrastructure from the Big Three so there's only so much they can do if that rent costs an arm and a leg.

And that's not touching on how many "small companies" are actually just subsidiaries of the Big Three. You may save $5 but you're still with Telus/Rogers/Bell.

Or that the actual small companies tend to have shit coverage because they don't have the infrastructure available to them and are prevented from getting it. Or their traffic is throttled in favour of the Big Three's customers. Or both.

Or that they're extremely regional thus aren't an option for a huge chunk of Canada's population.

We have no true options and the government has shown time and again that they're fine with monopolies, in multiple industries, and don't care when said monopolies jack up prices to make shareholders and the c-suite more money at the expense of everyone else. At most there will be a verbal slap on the wrist and a giftcard for $25 that people have to register for, for a decade and a half of price gouging.

It's not talked a whole lot about outside the country from what I've seen and heard but Canada is a country of monopolies. A handful of companies own nearly everything, every province has a family or two that owns a hell of a lot (Nova Scotia is basically owned by one family at this point), and our government ignores it. Even the branch that is supposed to be against monopolies is fine with mergers and takeovers in most cases.

Because, you know, the company said it totally wouldn't use consumers' lack of options to increase prices.

#canada #so much of our infrastructure and critical construction such as housing #has been pawned off for decades to private companies #and i forgot to mention one (1) family owns the bridge that is a major international corridor between canada and the us #which is apparently fine even though they fought tooth and nail to stop a bridge they don't own from being built #like our housing crisis can be traced back to the government deciding to stop building public housing in the 90s #because they figured private developers would pick up the slack #affordable apartments don't bring in much money so we got decades of cheap-ass 'luxury condos' instead #and once airbnb became a thing we got entire buildings with units <300sqft #and of course when the party in charge rotates between conservatives and neolibs nothing changes and that can gets kicked down the road #and keeps getting kicked until something collapses and they see the chance to fully privatize an industry #something similar is happening to our healthcare system too #it has been left to languish for years/decades with funding freezes and cuts #and private companies are quick to jump in and get the government stamp of approval to do [thing] that the public system clearly can't do #when [thing] would absolutely be possible if it was actually funded and/or staffed #so many communities were cut off when greyhound closed up shop because there's no government inter-city transportation #we lost internet/banking/cell service/etc nation-wide because one of the big three decided to push an update to live without redundancies #and it bugged and took the entire company's network down #even the government agency that demands major companies have a backup on a different network was taken down because they ignored that #and they got a deal if they kept their backup with rogers while their main network was also rogers #so they couldn't even make an emergency statement or anything about it #half my province also lost all digital infrastructure because it's a private company and making a redundancy line would mean smaller bonuse #it's just so bad #joke all you want about how canada is nice and friendly #but you are wrong and it's hell if you actually live here #the only reason canada is seen as nice is because it's hard to not seem like the better option when the us is your neighbour #and because of decades of pr work to make canada seem friendly and nice and not at all problematic #in some countries you actually have to try to hide you're canadian because of how much we colonize and the damage we do to other countries #yes these tags have derailed from the post but ugh #i take major issue with people who insist canada is nice and has never done anything wrong

[kyistell]

Oh look, what a surprise, a drawing from mwah. It's just the boys, NJ stole Rhodes hat and then had his taken by Del. Also yes Jersey is that much taller than them, I meant to put their heights but oops, Rhodes like 5'2 Dels 5'3 and Jerseys 5'8 so take that as you will.

#welcome to the table #wttt #wttt new jersey #wttsh new jersey #wttt delaware #wttsh delaware #wttt rhode island #wttsh rhode island #wttt fanart #its kinda comical how different the heights are #like del and rhode are basically the same #and then theres jersey #the context for this drawing is that del wanted coffee #and rhode and jers tagged along #for no real reason #and connecticut was out at the same time #so he took the photo #your welcome #also rhode literelly never takes his hat off #so his hair is a mess #the no on his arm was drawn on by del at the coffee shop #i actually had a slightly hard time with jersey #like hes built like a tank #but visually a twink kinda #and thats just #thats a hard thing to achieve #so i had a tough time #but it was fine in the end lol #actually had a pretty easy time with del #his hair was slightly weird to do

[aphsillyos]

silly lil designs for pf ez and aphelios blending into piltover :]

#me arts tag #i was going to draw smth a bit more substantial but i need a nap :'D #the monocle and glasses are just their visors disguised somehow #and the weird half vest? design for ezreal.. i imagine half of it tears off/opens (like buttons or smth) #to accommodate his arm cannon transforming. actually i imagine both their outfits kinda work like that #tearaway clothes for their pulsefire equipment somehow #although im imagining the pulsefire tech might be able to make some illusion/disguise clothes.. transforming tech? who knows #realistically im sure aphelios would cover up the glowing marks on his face but it also looked odd w/o his face markings so i just left em #ezreal monocle doesnt look as silly as i thought... maybe he should wear one normally #im meh on aphelios's coat design but maybe ill rerereredesign into oblivion... LOL #wanted to give him more of like a pilot jacket originally but idk what his vibe is. goofy lil guy. what fashion even suits you #OH.... I GUESS. HE NEEDS HIS SCARF.... ill fix it at some point probably maybe sure #i think it'd be a bit funny if ezreal is unintentionally a fashion/style person #just bc of how much blending in with timelines and worlds and stuff hes done #he just ended up absorbing so much fashion knowledge #aphelios or ekko points it out at some point and hes like. huh. im not into fashion #(said while reading a hefty book on fashion history for whatever location theyre at) #yeah im sure PEARL probably has built in search engine stuff #but ezreal just strikes me as the type of guy to research and memorize/learn stuff #''just in case i lose access to PEARL's database again'' or whatever #im sure thats probably happened like 100 times #so random but i feel like aphelios has the vibe of a guy you wanna dress up in various outfits #but also hes like :) (just happy to be included/present) so he doesnt mind #you put a goofy souvenir shop floppy hat on him and hes like. :) #my aphelios hcs are nonsense im so sorry. i want him to be happy #pulsefire ezreal #pulsefire aphelios #pulsefire #aphelios #ezreal

[whatislifebesidesrehearsal]

Student: Elmo has been given the right to bear arms.

#guys help i scratch built an elmo puppet and now i'm scared #Why Does It Look Like That #theater #theatre #behind the scenes #theater class #sesame street #<i'm so sorry people who are here for actual sesame street and not my cursed spoof sketch #props #prop shop

[technetiumai]

Only a couple of months later, I’ve finally started trying to sort through some of theses pictures I took using these fabulous paper dolls made for me by @cutestkilla!!!

This whole thing was for an unpublished portion of one of my WIPs in which Penelope and Baz are kinda-sorta tricked into going to Wisconsin instead of California, and where they meet a new friend who tells them about how his family’s annual trips to The House on the Rock were his introduction to the world of magic, and he introduces them to many of his friends therein. 

I really didn’t take much time to find like the cream of the crop or anything, I honestly just wanted to get some of these out there 😅

(It was actually... so hard to choose which pictures to post. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that this was the first time I had ever used a camera in my life---None of the pictures are great, but there were kind of a lot of them...)

This was so much fun! Someday I will take pictures with the Halloween costumes that @cutestkilla also made for them, and one day I’ll maybe even get around to writing the House on the Rock portion of that fic! Possibly in time for Halloween 2023! 😆 We will see...

Penny near a giant carousel

Fuzzy Simon, giving us a better view of the giant carousel

Fuzzy Baz, also by the carousel

Can’t find any of them with the actual automaton orchestras, but there’s the sign...

Baz and Simon have to share a bed, obviously.

This might be my favorite of the pictures

Look at that guy! Such a fun dude

Gotta get the snacks in

IDK, just seemed right

Infinity room, hell yeah!

The fate’s confirm Penny’s lovability

This used to be another snack place, but now it’s just a big friggin’ pointless room full of tables and chairs...

Penny’s fortune

Baz’s fortune

Simon’s fortune

Shepard’s fortune

That’s all I think, I know it’s not much, but I am... quite sleepy. I assume that I will wake up in the morning remembering this post as a fever dream and being very confused by the choices I’ve made here.

#carry on #flat stanley #paper dolls #house on the rock #ummmm #simon snow #baz pitch #Penelope Bunce #shepard love #pizza and ice cream in a tiny town built into a cliffside by some dude in his shopping mall sized basement or something #I forgot the piggly wiggly picture #Penny buys Fiona an extra large pink piggly wiggly sweater as a souvenir because thats just the relationship they have in this universe #she might have bought a purple one for herself #who's to say #I also bought just...so many snacks on Simon's behalf at the piggly wiggly #my husband was like... you know we do actually just live in the US right #you know what our snacks are like already #no research required #but I've never had PIGGLY WIGGLY brand red licorice or gummy orange slices #so...

[mattodore]

spent half of my free time in the last two days in blender just to end up with images that honestly don't look that different from how they would've looked in game

#river dipping #IDKJNHKFJNHDJNFGH #this is WHY i only have blender installed on my computer for pose making reasons like #i am NAWT built the same as everyone else on simblr like i see the appeal of blender but i'm like... my game would've looked just like this #no rlly it's just bc i don't really know what i'm doing when i get in there i just start pressing buttons #i need to actually sit down with a guide on how to do cool things in blender and maybe then i'll warm up to it! #.......me posting all of this from my drafts rn bc i can't open my dash since it's a minefield of succession spoilers atm #i can't watch it until later so instead i'm sitting here recoloring paintings for matthias's family home #i have pose ideas for him and imani that need the manor up and running so i'm cc shopping like crazy #i also need to make teenage versions of the two of them for the poses too WHEW

[ssaalexblake]

well, the problem of having had a huge box of books for donation in the garage for 2 years but nowhere to donate them to has handily been solved by the fact that that stupidly long period of rain a few of weeks ago kind of flooded the floor where they were kept and like 90% of them have mould now :/ 

not how i’d have liked this to end (i hate chucking books) but it’s not like i can Not chuck them now

#eh #a Few books are more likely to be donated than a huge and heavy box #the only way u can get to the charity shops here is by driving into tow #*town #or taking a bus #and then walking the long high street to the charity shops #(no cars but emergency vehicles) #and uh #it costs a fucking fortune to take a bus Or to park #And the huge box was too heavy to just try and do a one off expense thing #but eh a little box that can be carried in might actually happen #also pro tip! if you're all about no car urban planning #i would advise that people based city planning with a prominent public transport system #only works if your public transport is not privately owned #trust me. #i live somewhere built Not to cater for vehicles but people #(it's pre car by Thousands Of Years) #and capitalism ruins the utopia you want #i can't afford to take public transport into town lololololololllll it's a laugh #a one off expense maybe... regularly? not fucking likely #too far to walk #too expensive to park and there's little parking anyway #yeah anyway those posts annoy me #they're usually ableist anyway #saw that one abt seoul and ppl praising it and like a month before i'd seen a post abt a protest by disabled people #at how inaccessible the public transport was

[tauruswiftie]

gonna be fr i don’t think “traditionally/stereotypically feminine” interests should be dunked on at all but also this is exactly the kind of thing that makes me feel insecure about ever having daughters (as someone who wants kids in the next ~6 years). idk why there is this expectation that if you don’t wear makeup/heels/nail polish/do skincare/etc you’re misogynistic and can’t bond with your daughters lol

#my mom didn’t do a lot of this stuff with me either and yknow what i didn’t want her to #i LIKED doing girly stuff with my older cousins and friends #idk anyway. not to have INTERNALIZED MISOGYNY but i am really hoping that #my future daughters inherit my tomboy adjacent highly neurodivergent brain genes so that they don’t resent me for wanting to bond w them #over literally anything that isn’t makeup and heels and bras lol #like. idk i cannot imagine acrually wanting to go bra shopping. i have never done this of my own volition as an adult #and i found it mortifying as a teen #like bra shopping for me is walking into a target and picking out 3 bralettes that could vaguely fit me and that’s it #i would rather die than step foot into a victoria’s secret. i do not know OR care what my actual bra size is beyond a target small/medium #and if my daughter wanted to go or was built diffeeently to me i’d do it for her but i wouldn’t…. specifically set it up as a bonding thing?

[urbanfiltered]

can’t breathe

#i am so fucking overwhelmed and depressed jesus!!!!!!!! #i feel like i’m unwraveling i feel like my parents sit at night and scheme to make sure i lose my grip on reality day by day #i can’t fucking breathe #it’s like the millisecond i get off work i do not have one single solitary second to myself #any moment not spent with my parents is such an ultimate sin #it’s making me sick #i feel like a parent in many ways #and my parents are the todflers and i spend all day just like #managing their emotions and planning play dates and playtime activities for them and putting on movies and shit #and i HAVE TO bc if they don’t get enough enrichment time they start getting restless and begin ripping into me instead #better to take my mother shopping for the fifth time this week instead of be her punching bag #im like crying in the bathroom as i type this im like not built to live like this #i lived on the floor of a 1 bedroom apt for 2 months with no privacy whatsoever and then i live here with my parents and #i just spent a whole week couch surfing on my various friends’ couches and it’s like #i just never get to be alone unless i stay up till 3 am which makes my next day so much worse and i just don’t think it’s #long term sustianable #might need to check myself into a psych ward or something #to sit in a solitary confinement room for a few days idk #i might genuinely die if i don’t #i can’t explain what i’m feeling but i think my actual body is breaking down #the sickest thing is all the weight i’ve gained in the past few motnhs making it harder on my body to just do things #like i’m never this heavy and i FEEL IT slowing me down #and my mom will yell at me till the cows come home about my eating habits but i can’t find time to go the gym if i’m constantly sitting #there with them participating in the 10th conversation of the day #i’m a wittle introvert baby i wasn’t meant to handle this #also if i try to leave the house alone they narrow their eyes because ‘going to the gym’ means i must be out there doing every drug #known to man or something #tbh in many ways moving away from each other was harder bc now when i’m around they pay unbearable amounts of attention to me #i can’t sleep anymore idk i wish i was dead a little bit

[ferberus-skull]

y'know, I should get some more dragons with crystal or facet

#gremlin blabs #this is mainly just because i wanna draw them and they're almost never sponsored in my adopt shops :( #i think i've drawn them... once for each shop #both for the coatl base funnily enough #and both were for facet #i don't think i've ever actually drawn crystal before #but i imagine it'll be just as fun #like i just!! i want to draw it more!! #i'm half tempted to put a thing on the shops begging for people to get adopts of their crystal/facet dragons hjnkmld #this is a cryface appreciation blog!! #i am built different from all the other fr artists and i look forward to drawing it every time #is it time consuming? yeah #but not in a bad way #it's just chill. it's relaxing #it takes time but for me it's genuinely not that hard

[zaddyazula]

funniest fact i live in the city (and sort of local area) where cadbury’s is from so my year 2 school trip was going to cadbury world 😋😋😋 7 year old me was so lucky

#while you’re munching your cadbury chocolate i’ve been there!!! #they actually have kids football teams and my brother used to play for the under 9s or 10s can’t remember how old he was #cadbury world is sick. egg ride? 4D CINEMA??? bangs #took it for granted ☹️ one of my year 2 history topics was the cadburys/local area #bournville is a bit dead. like there’s a church and a few shops and cadbury world #bournville is the village where the factory is the main cadbury guy built it for his workers #but they were quakers so no pubs!!! boring!!! #the train station is the one before mine #selly oak and then city centre are past it so you mainly just drive through it #i think i’ve walked around bournville once #it’s dead. it’s literally birmingham it’s gonna be #uk #cadbury’s #chocolate #bournville #zad talks #england

[tamarrud]

Hi, I'm sorry if this is a dumb question. Gaza has been has been bombarded, cut form electricity, not received aid, etc. So how do we get pictures and videos of what's happening there? Because surely , Israel would've cut internet at the same time than electricity.

I'm not trying to deny what's happening in Palestine , just understanding better. Where I live there's not coverage or news about it in the media so all I know is from social medias and we all know we can't trust everything on here.

Thanks

I think that’s a fair question to have.

Palestinians have always had to be creative when it comes to finding ways of survival.

For starters, when this aggression was in its early stages, telecom companies like PalTel would assure everyone that their coverage is built to last longer than other companies because, according to their CEO, they have been preparing for war for 15 years. For example, contrary to what other telecom companies do, PalTel run their cables way deeper than necessary to ensure less effects of bombing.

Later though, even PalTel had to go out of service for the most part due to Israel’s relentless bombing. Not to mention, Israel deliberately targets and kills telecom company workers who even try to repair damages to what remained of the network.

Now, the only viable option that Palestinians in Gaza have to connect with the outside world is in fact through e-SIMs. This initiative was started by Egyptian activist Mirna El Helbawi which you can actually donate to and help connect people in Gaza to reach their loved ones and to get help when needed. We hear stories every day of people not being able to notify the civil defense or medics about wounded people following airstrikes who later succumb to their injuries.

As for electricity, at the beginning of all of this carnage, people would use generators. This is actually quite a normal practice as the electricity in Gaza was never provided consistently so people would switch to generators regularly. However, generators are powered by fuel, which is something else that Israel cut off the strip.

So when people and shops ran out of fuel, people started utilising solar panels and continue to do that as their main source to charge phones. Some people would even start applying a fee to allow people to use their charging stations, which are usually set up in tents or on top of cars. Others would walk miles every day to access free solar powered charging stations to be able to charge their phones.

Still, Israel started targeting solar panels specifically so they are not as widely available as before and the dust and debris from bombing rendered a lot of those panels useless. Some people started using car batteries to set up charging stations now. 

With all of that, connections are weak and spotty and some people literally travel to other areas under so much threat just so they can connect and hear the voices of their loved ones. I was actually watching a video earlier today that shows people going on hilltops, raising their arms up hoping to "catch" a signal. 

When it comes to the pictures and videos, remember that what you’re seeing, with all its magnitude, is a drop in a sea of Israeli terror against Gaza. Journalists have literally sacrificed their lives trying to get the word out. Kids started to record and share videos because even they realise that this horror is too much for them to bear alone. This is why it is crucial to amplify their voices and share their stories because they’re literally doing it in the most impossible of situations. 

#palestine #gaza #israel #answered: palestine

[sistertotheknowitall]

I love the idea of Danny being just Some Guy.

Like yes he’s Phantom, yes he has ghost powers, yes he’s the King of the Infinite Realms. But to the BatFam? That is just Some Guy. A random dude - if you will.

They are positively baffled by him. Like he’s completely normal as far as they (and the background check) can see. Yet, he. Is. EVERYWHERE. (Not actually but it sure feels like it.)

The kids have a running bingo card of where he’ll turn up. Outside a warehouse they’re raiding? Check. Stopped a mugging? He was the one being mugged. Tim’s favorite coffee shop? He was just hired as a barista.  Seriously it’s like everytime they turn around he’s there.

Which wouldn’t be such a problem if he REACTED NORMALLY. But no. He doesn’t flee in fear, stare in awe, he doesn’t even try to say thank you. This man looked Batman in the eye and called him the furry vigilante - TO HIS FACE! He casually referred to Dick as “the flying monkey one” to Red Robin while also calling Tim a literal walking Red Flag. When he crosses paths with Duke he doesn’t always speak but he does always give him a snack. (Sometimes it’s candy, sometimes it’s fruit but it’s always food. And he only gives them to Duke.)

He once told Jason that he didn’t care that he was a crime lord and built like a brick house, Danny would kick his ass and drag his “rotted milk soul” too hell if the gun fights kept going on past midnight. (He had exams in the morning damnit.)

He will only call Damian “baby ninja” no matter how many times the kid insists that his name is Robin.

Spoiler and Orphan? The only ones he’s respectful to but even they get the occasional random comment. (“It may be a Tuesday, but if the universe is gonna make me the human equivalent of a pin cushion then I have the right to keep the knife.”) (It was actually a Friday but who were they to argue with a man bleeding out in an alley.)

Eventually the Batkids start keeping score of who has had the most out of pocket thing said to them by this random white boy.

#batman crossover #batfamily #danny phantom #dc x dp crossover #dpxdc #dp x dc #dcxdp #dc x dp #dc x dp prompt #danny is a little shit #and a menace to society

[ms-demeanor]

how do you find love?

You have to be willing to be hurt and trust people not to hurt you.

But also go out and do regular activities with people who share similar interests. I'm extremely unromantic in terms of how friendships and relationships are built. Go out and spend time with people who are into the same stuff that you are into and eventually you will probably find someone in that group who you are romantically compatible with and who is open to a relationship at the same time you are.

Like there are tons of jokes about various communities being insular and socially incestuous but, like, the reason improv groups have all dated each other is because they spend a lot of time together doing things they like and that's actually a pretty good foundation for a relationship.

Also, real talk: you have to be okay with being alone. You have to like yourself enough that it wouldn't be the end of the world if you were all you had. That is really difficult for a lot of people, but genuinely one of the ways to start liking yourself more is to go out and do things that you think fun and interesting people would do until you discover that you have tricked yourself into becoming a fun and interesting person.

But also take that with a grain of "I lucked into a long-term relationship at eighteen because I met someone cool at a coffee shop where I worked."

(however, being regulars at a coffee shop did legitimately used to be a way to meet people, I know lots of people who met at the coffee shops I worked at and found their partners there, but that's because coffee shops used to be the kind of place where people would go and hang out for hours after work every day and interact with new people and I'm not sure how much that's a thing anymore, which is why you have to manufacture it by, like, joining an adult kickball league or getting deeply involved in your local larping scene or whatever)

[cattatoir]

Nothing humbles you quicker than air quality alerts

#actually kinda concerned I’m Built Different #bc I had to go make 2 returns and like after 10m walking was like ah #I’m gonna be sick #but there’s a bunch of people out clearly having days and shopping etc #and I can’t even walk back my body is hurting so much #??? #cmo's log

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

SFX Magazine Issue 372 - Designing Good Omens ❤ 😊

PRODUCTION DESIGNER MICHAEL RALPH REVEALS HOW THE SHOW’S CENTREPIECE SET, WHICKBER STREET, WAS GIVEN A DEVILISHLY CLEVER UPGRADE FOR THE SECOND SEASON

WORDS: DAVE GOLDER

Invisible Columns And Thin Walls “The new studio is Pyramid Studios in Bathgate – it used to be a furniture warehouse. And unfortunately – or fortunately, because I accept these things as not challenges but gifts – right down the middle of that studio are a series of upright columns. But you’ll never spot them on screen. I had to build them in and integrate them into the walls and still get the streets between them. And it worked.

“There’s all sorts of cheeky design values to those sets. Normally a set like this is double-skin. In other words, you do an interior wall and an exterior wall, with an airspace in between. But really, the only time a viewer notices that there’s that width is at the doors and the windows. So I cheated all that. I ended up with single walls everywhere. So the exterior wall is the interior wall, just painted. All I did was make the sash windows and entrances wider to give it some depth as you walked in.”

GOOD OMENS HAD A CHANGE of location for its second season, but hopefully you didn’t notice. Because Whickber Street in Soho upped sticks from an airfield in Hertfordshire to a furniture warehouse in Bathgate, Edinburgh. It’s the kind of nonsensical geographical shenanigans that could only make sense in the crazy world of film and TV, and production designer Michael Ralph was the man in charge of rebuilding and expanding the show’s vast central set. “I wish we could have built more in season one than we did,” says Ralph, whose previous work has included Primeval and Dickensian. “We built the ground floor of everything and the facades of all the shops. But we didn’t build anything higher than that, because we were out on an airfield in a very, very difficult terrain and weather conditions, so we really couldn’t go much higher. Visual effects created the upper levels.”

But with season two the set has gone to a whole other level… literally. “What happened was that the rest of the street became integrated into the series’s storyline,” explains Ralph. “So we needed a record shop, we needed a coffee shop that actually had an inside, we needed a magic shop, we needed the pub. To introduce those meant we had to change the street with a layout that works from a storylines point of view. In other words, things like someone standing at the counter in the record shop had to be able to eyeball somebody standing at the counter in the coffee shop. They had to be able to eyeball Aziraphale sitting in his office in the window of the bookshop. But the rest of it was a pleasure to do inside, because we could expand it and I could go up two storeys.”

For most of the set, which is around 80 metres long and 60 metres wide, the two storeys only applied to the shop frontages, but in the case of Aziraphale’s bookshop, it allowed Ralph to build the mezzanine level for real this time. According to Ralph it became one of the cast and crews’ favourite places to hang out during down time.

But while AZ Fell & Co has grown in height, it actually has a slightly smaller footprint because of the logistics of adapting it to the new studio.

“Everybody swore to me that no one would notice,” says Ralph wryly. “I walked onto it and instinctively knew there was a difference immediately, and they hated me for that. I have this innate sense about spatial awareness and an eye like a spirit level.

“It’s not a lot, though – I think we’ve lost maybe two and a half feet on the front wall internally. I think that there’s a couple of other smaller areas, but only I’d notice. So I can be really annoying to my guys, but only on those levels. Not on any other. They actually quite like me…”

Populating The Bookshop “The props in the new bookshop set were a flawless reproduction from the set decorator Bronwyn Franklin [who is also Ralph’s wife]. It was really the worst-case scenario after season one. She works off the concept art that I produce, but what she does is she adds so much more to the character of the set. She doesn’t buy anything she doesn’t love, or doesn’t fit the character.

“But the things she put a lot of work into finding for season one, they were pretty much one-offs. When we burnt the set down in the sixth episode, we lost a lot of props, many of which had been spotted and appreciated by the fans. So Bronwyn had to discover a new set decorating technique: forensic buying.

“She found it all – duplicates and replicas. It took ages. In that respect, the Covid delay was very helpful for Bron. There’s 7,000 books in there and there’s not one fake book. That’s mainly because… it’s a weird thing to say, but we wanted it to smell and feel like a bookshop to everybody that was in it, all the time.

“It affects everybody subliminally; it affects everybody’s performance – actors and crew – it raises the bar 15 to 20%. And the detail, you know… We love a lot of detail.”

(look at the description under this, they called him 'Azi' hehehehe :D <3)

Aziraphale’s Inspirational Correspondence “There’s not one single scrap of paper on Aziraphale’s desk that isn’t written specifically for Aziraphale. Every single piece is not just fodder that’s been shoved there, it has a purpose; it’s a letter of thanks, or an enquiry about a book or something.

“Michael Sheen is so submerged in his character he would get lost sitting at his own desk, reading his own correspondence between takes. I believe wholeheartedly that if you put that much care into every single piece of detail, on that desk and in that room, that everybody feels it, including the crew, and then they give that set the same respect it deserves.

“They also lift their game because they believe that they’re doing something of so much care and value. Really, it’s a domino effect of passion and care for what you’re producing.”

Alternative Music “My daughter Mickey is lead graphic designer [two of Ralph’s sons worked on the series too, one as a concept artist, the other in props]. They’re the ones that produced all of that handwritten work on the desk. She’s the one that took on the record shop and made up 80 band names so that we didn’t have to get copyright clearance from real bands. Then she produced records and sleeves that spanned 50, 60 years of their recordings, and all of the graphics on the walls.

“I remember Michael and Neil [Gaiman] getting lost following one band’s history on the wall, looking at their posters and albums desperately trying to find out whether they survived that emo period.”

It’s A Kind Of Magic One of the new shops in Whickber Street for season two was Will Goldstone’s Magic Shop, which is full of as many Easter eggs as off-the-shelf conjuring tricks, including a Matt Smith Doctor Who-style fez and a toy orang-utan that’s a nod to Discworld’s The Librarian. Ralph says that while the series is full of references to Gaiman, Pratchett and Doctor Who, Michael Sheen never complained about a lack of Masters Of Sex in-jokes. “He’d be the last person to make that sort of comment!”

Ralph also reveals that the magic shop counter was another one of his wife’s purchases, bought at a Glasgow reclamation yard.

The Anansi Boys Connection Ralph reveals that Good Omens season two used the state-of-the-art special effects tech Volume (famous for its use in The Mandalorian to create virtual backdrops) for just one sequence, but he will be using it extensively elsewhere on another Gaiman TV series being made for Prime Video.

“We used Volume on the opening sequence to create the creation of the universe. I was designing Anansi Boys in duality with this project, which seems an outrageously suicidal thing to do. But it was fantastic and Anansi Boys was all on Volume. So I designed for Volume on one show and not Volume on the other. The complexities and the psychology of both is different.”

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