#first of all they didn't specify which TA

[sonkitty]

Did Crowley create the universe?

Did Crowley create the universe?

Yes, of course he did.

See. No universe yet.

Crowley says, "Let there be light."

Now we have a universe!

Ta-da!

See, easy.

...

What's that you say?

You don't believe me.

Well, okay.

Hold on, another call is coming in.

Oh, this caller wants the more complicated form of the answer.

Hmm. Okay, Imaginary Caller, for you, I will do that, but I will also give the skeptics a moment to leave if they so wish.

And the people who find this stuff boring, also if they so wish.

...

Okay, moment over.

So, what's the more complicated way to get to Yes?

When Crowley opens the book in Before the Beginning, it is labeled as a Nebula 213,080. During the line in which he recites the words, those words before, "Let there be light," you can find the letter set to "Book of Lie."

This letter set happens before the first instance of the letter set for "Book of Life." Throughout the dialogue in the show, a curious reader can find both in a format that looks like whoever put it there wants it to be found.

After all, the last instance of "Book of Life" happens before the last instance of "Book of Lie."

And the last instance of "Book of Lie" is the last time the letter set for "matchbox" can be found.

All of that is to say, that the Good Omens 2 universe takes place in the Book of Lie, a universe Crowley created in Before the Beginning.

Am I sure?

Well, I am quite sure those letter sets are where they are to give me that type of idea, which is in line with what's happening in Before the Beginning.

Before the Beginning tells us a lot of things, but a really basic idea is to show us a type of nothing surrounding a character before our idea of what the universe is appears.

The character showing the most substantial work on screen into making that happen is Crowley, but we are assured he didn't do it alone. He calls out to Aziraphale for help and even when Aziraphale asks if Crowley made it all himself, referring more specifically to the nebula, Crowley hesitantly credits himself while also admitting he wasn't the original concept designer. He worked very closely with Upstairs on it.

From there, new questions form. Is the Book of Lie a pocket reality, a backup copy of reality, a development copy of reality, a strong extension of Crowley's imagination, or what? Like...after Adam rebooted reality, with all its exertions on the fallout, does reality need time to repair itself? Crowley's incantation starts from page 11 after all. Adam was 11 when he rebooted reality.

The nebula in question is named the Pillars of Creation, so while that doesn't specify "universe" by word, it does lend itself to the "create" part of our worded question.

Speaking of which, perhaps you are wondering if the letter sets in Before the Beginning give us the answer to this question, and surprisingly, yes.

You wouldn't think so because "no" is so much easier to find than "yes," due to "n" being a more frequently used letter than "y."

In Before the Beginning, Crowley has 4 lines where you can find the letter set for the question, "Did Crowley create the universe?"

They are:

Example 1:

Oh, right. Well, what doesn't this beauty do? Basically, it's a star factory. All the…all the dust and gas you can see, is actually building about…about 5,000 young stars and protoplanets. Most of the universe's stars will come pre-aged, but these ones are only starting out. A few million years to bake and then voom! Stars everywhere!

Example 2:

But that's idiocy! It's the universe, it's not just some fancy wallpaper! Millions of galaxies, trillions of stars, oodles of…everything! It's not just put here to twinkle! Most of it won't even be visible from Earth. Why don't you put Earth in the middle of the universe so the view's better?

Example 3:

Well, you know, if I was the one running it all, I'd like it if someone asked questions. Fresh point of view. You can't just create a universe, run it for a few thousand years and then stop.

Example 4:

Mm, thanks for your help. And thanks for your advice. I wouldn't worry though. How much trouble can I get into just for asking a few questions?

Notice that 3 of these 4 instances have one question mark and even the one that doesn't has the word "questions" in the dialogue.

So, how do those examples give us Yes?

In Example 1, you can find the "y" for "yes" 9 times. On its own, that number mainly stands out at the moment due to a related puzzle about Crowley's rank and the number of orders in angelic hierarchy. I am reasonably sure of myself that he's a Throne in this scene, in case you were wondering.

For our current search, the 9 is more of an alert that we can consider numbers in this question/puzzle.

In Example 2, the "y" hits 5, which doesn't help much at the moment.

But Examples 3 and 4 are where we get the answer.

In both examples, the "y" for "yes" can be found 3 times. If you don't already know by now, this story is heavy on the Rule of Three.

Interestingly, for Example 3, the letter "s" is findable 11 times to match our page 11 of the book.

But Example 4 is where it's really at.

The letter "e" is very, very common in the dialogue. For Crowley's "spend" speech in the Final Fifteen, I can find the letter "e" 70 times. Why 70? I don't know, but it definitely stuck out when I was running other searches.

How many instances of the letter "e" can be found in the question, "Did Crowley create the universe?" The answer is 6.

How many instances of the letter "e" can be found in Example 4? The answer is also 6.

Example 4 is the last finding for the Book of Life in the letter sets for this scene, all found in that last question of, "How much trouble can I get into just for asking a few questions?"

Not only are there 6 instances of the letter "e," there are 6 instances of the letter "s" to be found in that last line, and 6 instances of the letter "i."

What's so important about the "i," given that the letter is not in "yes," "no," or even "maybe"? If Crowley's telling us the answer, he is giving us the "i" to represent him ("I did" or more specifically, "I did but not on my own").

Do you remember the 5 instances of "y" for Example 2?

How many words is the question, "Did Crowley create the universe?" It is 5 words.

Returning to the letter "e" idea, that is a precise effort to get that many of that extremely common letter. It matches the number of Crowley's 6 Threshold Tricks performed during Good Omens 2. We get the "s" and the "i" to reach 3 letters that hit the 6.

And the number 6 is a perfect number.

So, that's a way of the writing communicating to a curious reader that yes, this exact question wording was intentionally hidden in the dialogue, especially for the last line of the scene. From there, you can play with the numbers for the "yes." We can be further helped along by recognizing that "yes" is a 3-letter word.

A key idea in answering this question is to recognize that Crowley had help. He was part of a team. Even in Earthly Objects where his play is top tier and well beyond other characters, his advanced moves, his Threshold Tricks, always require assistance from somebody somehow to do the Trick.

[galactiquest]

I just adore your blog! Something about it and your imagines are just so sweet and homey 🥺 Could I please request some headcanons for Vash, Woowoo and Knives with a reader who loves to draw and is really passionate about it? I mostly have general sketching/figure studies in mind but you can do whatever is easiest for you! I hope that you have a good day and your blog continues to prosper <3

Thank you for the compliment ��!!! I'm so glad it feels homey. I try to make things like a home here... after all I LIVE HERE... thank you I hope to keep this blog going for a while after trying to revive it like twice before!

I think this request is so cute, I'm an artist too (have been for like, over a decade ^_^) so I've got lots of ideas in that aspect. I tried to keep to general sketching/traditional stylings of art but I think a lot of these can be applied to other art areas too!!

Vash, Wolfwood, and Knives x Reader: Artistry

Content Warnings: None! Reader doesn't have a specified gender, and some parts of the imagines are a little romance-oriented but this could also be interpreted as a strong friendship. Also this is my first mutli x reader so I hope the formatting's alright. No version was in mind for any of these so take them as you will!

Vash

Oh, he is definitely excited about this.

Vash is a bit of an artist, himself. He can do those super-complex technical drawings, and he really likes making art of machinery and stuff like that. There's a lot of diagrams of his arm lost in a notebook somewhere.

He loves to see your style and interpretation of the things around you. Seeing the world through your eyes, even for just a moment, is like heaven to him.

If you ever give him some of your art as a gift, he keeps it hung up on a wall or wherever he can stay for a while. (If he's in a more permanent place, his walls are covered in your art. He just loves it that much.)

The ones that are most special to him, he likes to keep in his pockets, so he can look at them whenever he needs a morale boost. Like, this is what he's fighting for: a world full of love and peace, a world that's able to keep creating beautiful art like this for years to come.

One day, the two of you get to draw each other as a sort of practice. Seeing each other through the others' eyes... again, it feels like a dream. Vash draws all the parts of you that you weren't always confident about with such care that you feel truly loved by him in that moment.

Wolfwood

"Oh, yer an artist? ... Can ya draw me?"

Yes he will absolutely pull that stunt at least once or twice, if only to get a hilarious dirty glare out of you. If you do actually take him up on this, he might let out a nervous "Haha... I mean, ya didn't have ta' do it, but..." He'll be really charmed.

Though his hands are strong and nimble from doing all those flippant tricks with the Punisher, he's entranced with the way you're able to use yours to create, to draw.

He's always sneaking you extra supplies, like pens, pencils, and paper, whenever you least expect it. You never have to ask for any of those things anymore, or even shop for them--they just happen upon your desk whenever you think you're running low.

One day, he takes a piece of your paper and a pen and doesn't let you see what he's doing until he's all done. He's a little dodgy about showing you, eventually he does. It's a crude scribble of the two of you, though you can tell he really put his all into it.

It's your most prized possession, and you give him a big hug for it.

Knives

Much like Vash, he's actually an artist himself--but doesn't really call himself one, rather saying that he's... capable of copying something he's seen part-for-part. So, his drawings are more like pictures or prints. They're exact. Eerily so.

The art that you make gets a half-hearted snort of approval from Knives, which is basically one of the highest praises he can offer in his own sort of language.

Though normally he'd want to give some sort of unwarranted criticism for a drawing looking wonky or off, he saves you from it. He doesn't want to break your passion--but he's not going to admit that outright.

If you do ask for criticism, though, he's very thorough while keeping you on the road to improvement. If you're studying a specific style, he's reading up on it. If you're trying new materials, he's making sure you have all the tools necessary for it.

And speaking of materials, he's able to secure uncommon colors and rare tools for you to use for art. He's making sure that everything you create is of the highest quality.

One day, you drew a portrait of him and presented it to him as a gift. He gave out that little snort of approval and maybe even a a tiny "Thanks..." as he wandered off. He secretly keeps it close to look at it in his private time, tracing his fingers over the ink marks and recalling your movements.

[mello-bee]

Reasons why YOU should be suspicious of O'Connor

(contains spoilers to the princess event and slight Clarence's white day event) (it's also written from the prespective of an EN only player)

I believe O'Connor is in cahoots with Cael somehow and have alot of delusional reaching - that I and @smudgedvolt come up with in our secret lbc basement - to back me up

for one, he's the art TA for the school, and while Cael isn't the only art professor in the school, he was never specified to be anyone else's assistant, for all we know he may have been handpicked by Cael himself (i told you this had alot of delusional reaching)

he also just straight up didnt graduate, which is more of an indicator that Cael may have pulled some strings to get him to work in ST. Shelter

secondly, he's the only NPC that appears everywhere at all times on the map

he's the only NPC that does this as IL are the only ones that change location once per day, and NPCS like gerald and william are usually bound to where they are everyday

so how come he's the only one who can change location multiple times per day? and specifically going where YOU are?

what if he's specifically watching you?

he also gives MC alot of assignments,

Do you think he's maybe trying to keep her busy?

In his introduction, MC describes him as something that doesn't belong

it's not like its the first time she's seen tourists or older people at ST. Shelters?

later we learn that he was the council president, before he suddenly disappeared and came back unannounced

the only other people described by Clarence to have disappeared are MC and Cael and you obviously know what's up with them (this actually makes Clarence's relationship with MC a bit sadder bc this means he's used to people close to him like O'Connor suddenly disappearing without an explaination and this could be why he documented everything in his notebook)

and even if he didn't mean "fled" as in "disappeared", fled is still a strange choice of words, was he running away from something? someone?

he also seemed to know that she's missing points; he explains that, of course he knows as he was an art student as well, but would he be able to guess that she's behind all the other art students bc she missed a few activities?

unless he knew of her travelling to godheim at he start of the year

next is the list he made during princess event, i haven't played princess event myself though so forgive me if any of this is explained at some point but

he just??? made a list of all the paragons?? + william and two other guys??? lars ISN'T EVEN A STUDENT why on earth would he put him there??

after Heinrich's death, Clarence visited the lab to find it empty

Clarence ruled out Cael because he also disappeared, although Cael has freaky time travelling powers but we cant rule out the possibility of someone else helping him

O'Connor is the only NPC with a card higher than R

i can't be the only one who finds it weird that Some Weird Art Guy™ just has an SR while lore important NPCS like Amelia and Naledi's counterparts are stuck as Rs and Ns?

I was gonna talk about this scene and the "mysterious seller"

but it all got thrown out of the window, it turns out Cael was behind the account :(

although I can technically use this along with other points to point out how william is even MORE suspicious than O'Connor but thats a post for another day

[liketwoswansinbalance]

MODERN AU: Rafal's reaction to Rhian getting into a car crash.

We all know this happened

Several days post-car crash:

Rafal: [hears the clink of porcelain in their mudroom and races into the hall to find Rhian holding an empty dish that once held his car key.]

Rhian: [incredulously] Rafal?

Rafal: [sternly] What. Why are you out of bed? It's 6 am. Your first class doesn't start until 9 and mine's at 3.

Rhian: I need to check my mail at the university. And before you say anything: I wasn't injured in the collision, and I can't fathom why you're treating me as if I were. Next thing I know, you will have strapped me down like I belong in a psych ward.

Rafal: [musing] ...not a bad suggestion.

Rhian: Rafal. Just give me my car key back.

Rafal: Which key?

Rhian: You know which one.

Rafal: Fine. [He hands a key to Rhian.]

Rhian: ...this is the key to my mailbox at the university.

Rafal: And you'll need it when you return. I'm not sure why you trusted your ex as a TA. In fact, I seem to recall that the last accepted call on your phone was minutes before you veered into the highway railing. And it was from Hook.

Rhian: Not funny, Rafal. I thought he would take me back.

Rafal: No, it's not funny at all.

Rhian: You know, I can't check my mailbox if I can't drive to campus.

Rafal: You're not going anywhere. If you set one foot out of this house, I will hack into your gradebook and fail every one of your Intro. to Chivalric Romance freshmen, and you'll be out of a job.

Rhian: [spluttering]

Rafal: I'm not finished. Then, next year, they'll all have to transfer to my intro. course, Regency Era Resurrectionists and Anatomists in Irish Lit., and I know your students don't want to discuss the phases of decay in my slides as they'd rather go weak in the knees over love, not exhumations.

Rhian: I could report you, lackwit. For poaching my students.

Rafal: You wouldn't.

Rhian: [sighs] What do I have to do?

Rafal: [gloating] Ah, I'm ever so pleased to hear that.

Rhian: [still looking distressed] What choice did I have?

Rafal: Let's see. First: Fire Hook. Second: Give me your phone and I'll give you your keys.

Rhian: Fine. [He takes a deep breath, hands Rafal his phone, swearing up and down to fire Hook the next time he sees the boy. Though, he plans to hand off a letter of recommendation to the boy when Rafal isn't watching.]

Rafal: [hands Rhian a keyring and promptly blocks Hook's number before deleting it from Rhian's contacts.]

Rhian: [examines the keyring.] Garden shed, back door, front gate, storage unit—oh, shouldn't have bought that chandelier in the end—paper shredder, garage doors, and no car key. [He glares at Rafal.]

Rafal: I didn't specify all of them.

Rhian: You. What do I have to do to convince you I'm a safe driver? I'm a grown man!

Rafal: [unperturbedly] One: You can't pretend [he pitches his voice up mockingly and waves his hands like Rhian does] that everything's all 'tickety-boo' when it's not. Two: You're getting worked up. Can you see it, or do you need a mirror? Intense emotions interfere with driving. You'll get your keys back the day you're not in love with someone or another.

Rhian: But—

Rafal: Shut it, or I'll rescind my offer to drive you.

[zoueriemandzijnopmars]

I was a teaching assistant last period and I got called very kind in the evaluation <3

[paper--moons]

Hello! I hope you don't mind us asking but how do you make your paci drawings? It's okay if you can't explain or don't want to, but we absolutely adore them and would love to make some of our own!- @decopaci

Oh, I don't mind at all and it's no trouble to explain! Everyone should be able to get in on the fun in my opinion. So, I'll try to keep this as concise as possible!

First, I should mention that I start off with the base paci. The original base outline was lent to me from @prince-honeypaw (who is always a big help!), which I then referenced to draw my own to suit my needs. Compared to the original, I resized it, changed things like line thickness, and I made a few tweaks to things like the handle until I got what I wanted. I then saved my version as a transparent png and use it as the base for all of my paci posts.

From there it's all about the character I receive the request for! If left entirely up to me (i.e. the requester didn't specify any sort of color or theme), then I start off with color. Usually I go with the color I most associate with that character while also keeping their personality in mind. Once I've decided the predominant color, I search for color palettes with that color (as I've been told I'm a bit colorblind, but that's mostly on the blue-purple front). After that is when I start thinking more along the lines of theme, and (once again) try to keep the character in mind; this also helps for variety because some characters I see as having simpler pacis while seeing others as having more decorated ones. Any assets that I use are either free to use and edit (typically pulled from sites like pixabay) or drawn by myself! Even with assets that I pull from free sources, I tend to edit them a bit, most often color shifting them or adding a little something. But then it's all about putting your pieces together and ta-dah! you have a paci design.

If you are wondering about what program(s) I use, I do all of this in ibispaint. Which is the free app that I use whenever I draw, but really you can go with whatever drawing application you're most comfy with!

So to reiterate:

Make yourself a base outline of your ideal paci. Keep shape in mind.

Pick out colors! Use color palettes if you need.

Pick a theme if you want and find/make assets.

Assemble!

(And of course there's no wrong way to do it, so this isn't like an end-all be-all guide. Find what process works for you and all that. But hopefully this helps get you started!) 🌙

[neechees]

So, I have a question, would it considered appropriation if I am writing a fantasy series, and the fae in it (specifically elves, who are forest fae that sort of the protectors of the forest, right, and they live in groups depending on what role of protector they play, yada yada) have tattoos denoting family and status/role. I didn't think so when I first made them, but now I worry that the specific group we know of them seems to much like certain Indigenous Peoples and their stereotypes (ie 1/2

[2] The group we know lives off of the land, and uses bow and arrows, which I did because of elf stereotypes, the usual idea behind them, but mixing with the tattoos and I worry it might come off like I'm trying to appropriate the cultures. How do you feel about it? The tattoos themselves aren't based on anything irl like, the archers have an arrow tattooed under their eye (rank by the amount if arrows), family tattoos is a plant in which the family name is rooted from. I'd just like you're opinion

Tbh I don’t know which specific group you would be talking about in terms with the tattoos. If anything, I’d say watch how you write them culturally what with the stereotypes in the other things you told me about, not so much the tattoos, that seems pretty unique to me (afaik). Fantasy has come to the point where sometimes people write Elves to be analogues for Indigenous people or that the way they’re written kinda gives off a “noble savage” type of vibe, like with the Elves in Dragon Age. A lot of stereotypes and fantasy tropes of Elves happen to be similar or the same as Native stereotypes and tropes, unfortunately, but in this case, I don’t think your tattoo idea is one of them. I feel like you also might be misusing the word “cultural appropriation” a bit, and I think you mean “I’m accidentally ‘coding’ the Elves to be Indigenous & it has bad implications because of stereotypes”. If you gave the Elves something like Ta Moko or Tuuniit, then that would be appropriation. Blatantly peppering in some cultural aspect from a culture (esp if it’s something that shouldn’t be done by people outside of that culture or from a closed culture) and divorce it from all apsects of its original context or bastardize, then that’s appropriation. But again, your idea on the tattoos seems pretty unique. 

I feel like these stereotypes about the Noble savage etc could be avoided if maybe you add in different types of cultures of Elves, maybe modelled and coded or inspired by various cultures, including not-Indigenous ones, & then adding complexity or your own specifially unique flavor to them will help. Maybe some Elves tattoo and another culture doesn’t. Maybe one culture of Elves prefers axes over bow and arrows. Maybe certain Elves in both cultures are more concerned with upkeeping nature than other, maybe some don’t care at all. Maybe one culture places high cultural and spiritual importance on trees, whereas another places its primary importance on water. What are their civilizations like? If they place such importance on land and upkeeping it, how do they live to do as little harm as possible (ex: do they live in biodegradable structures? Are they nomadic, so they don’t deplete the resources? Do they actively watch animal populations accordingly so they aren’t overhunted?)? Are they like Elves that are simply another race similar to humans, or are they more like Nymphs or fae in Celtic mythology (more nature/spirits than ordinary/physical beings)? What are the consequences if they DON’T live the way they do, & why do they do it? Are these consequences mostly physical (like in real life, like overtaxing soil or poisoning rivers, thus rendering them unusable & its just common sense to take care of what you’ve got) or is their worldview and culture also placing an importance on nature because it’s in their religion (ex: consequences in the afterlife for disrespecting nature? Are there vengeful spirits? Will it cause natural disasters or misfortune?)? Are the Elves treated or written as “primitive” for living the way they do, or are they just as complex and civilized and modern as others (& this can be a big one for avoiding what you want to avoid)? Are there arguments between Elves on what they think is “best” for upkeeping and protecting the land?

Myself, I like the idea of Native Elves, so long as there’s not too much “noble savage” ideas or imagery. But I feel like the stereotypes can be partially avoided or lessened if you ask questions like the above, add depth & complications to what some of these are, or even apply similar cultural practices in humans. Maybe there ARE a culture of people that are analagous to Indigenous People, but they’re not Elves. Or maybe there’s both. Adding in elements to say that the Elves (or some of them) aren’t specifically Indigenous but instead, something else could also help. That came out longer than i wanted but I hope that helps!

[bardofhype]

Maybe some buds go be chilling?

Like what's hangout usually like?

you did not specify any characters and that's okay, hope you don't mind me free-styling this dialogue "... Oh my god, finally. It took you, like, forever to get here." "Awh, shut up. Ya know I had'a do some stuff before meetin' ya here." "Considering how long it took you, I'm assuming you were, what, taking a small trip to, like... space and back or something?" "Come now, I was just fixin' up a buddy's truck and all, it didn't take that long." "Oh, that's why you smell like oil! Makes much more sense than being in space." "Oh lord- tell me yer joshin' me." "... Heheh." "Oh ya freakin'- shut up an' git o'er here!" "Okay, okay, I'll- OOF-" "Been lookin' forward to our meet-up all day, y'know that? Goddarn missed ya, doin' all sortsa busywork from 9 ta 5!" "Th-that's great- you're squeezing me too tight-" "Ah, sorry 'bout that. Just thought I'd give ya one, ya need a lotta 'em every day, after all." "Yeah, yeah... ... I missed you today, too." "Atta boy. Which joint ya wanna hit up first? Spend some change at th' arcade, chow down on them nice burgers over by th' diner?" "I don't really care. Drag me to whatever or wherever, Doc." "Gotcha, sunny."