purlturtle asked:

šŸ’„: Whats a weird talent of yours?

and

ā¤: Tell me a fluffy headcannon you have for Helen Magnus!

Thanks for the ask ā¤ļø this is a super hard one though!

Whatā€™s a weird talent I have?

This would require me to think I have any talents at all. I mean what qualifies as a talent? Honestly I donā€™t feel like I am talented at anything. But! I want to answer so I will go with what eventually popped into my head after staring at this ask for a while – my Lego inventory.

I have itemised in a database (Rebrickable) every single Lego part I own. For the sets thatā€™s easy – just add the set. But when I first started getting into Lego I came across a good deal on marketplace. I got a lot of loose parts from that, and since then I have bought more parts on a number of occasions from BrickLink. Anyway thousands of parts all found, not just by part but also by colour. Why do this? Well if I want to build something I need to know if I have the parts, or what parts are missing.

Then the ā€˜talentā€™ part if you like is that you can pick any part in my database and I will be able to tell you where it is/find it in my collection. I have all the parts sorted out intoā€¦ honestly I havenā€™t counted but probably hundreds of bags and boxes. I tend to repurpose set boxes as larger containers, and then buy freezer bags from the supermarket in varying sizes.

Now to be honest I donā€™t think this is a talent or special. It is probably quite weird. It took weeks of effort to initially set up and I have obviously had to maintain it. Upgrading parts to larger bags/boxes as I get more of them. Everytime I build something then putting the parts back in the right places etc. Mum has said she thinks itā€™s special but only because itā€™s weird, as she says she doesnā€™t know anyone else who would have the patience or the persistence. I find it soothing rather than annoying. I like sorting the parts, putting them in order. But then I am also the person with a completely alphabetised DVD collection. Having everything in order is a me feature really.

A fluffy headcanon for Helen Magnus

Ooof. Fluffy and Helen Magnus donā€™t go together all that well. I supposeā€¦ I donā€™t know if I counts but I do headcanon her as a loving mother. Iā€™ve seen a few opposing headcanons that Helenā€™s first priority is her work, that Biggie probably did most of the raising for Henry and Ashley. That Helen was probably distant and emotionally unavailable but I just donā€™t see that personally.

The thing that I have always seen in Helen is that she has a personal face and a public face. We mostly see public because even when they are at the Sanctuary they are still working. But there are little glimpses, moments of banter, how Helen will reach a comforting hand. Plus I think the biggest endorsement of her as a mum is that both Henry and Ashley are still so close to her. I donā€™t sense any coercion or indoctrination. More that yeah Helen believes in her mission and that passion is catching. Iā€™m sure Helen did model a strong work ethic but being a working mother doesnā€™t mean she wasnā€™t also a mum.

Itā€™s a balance for sure but as one example I like to imagine Helen did tell bedtime stories, perhaps not read them, maybe sanitised versions of her own adventures with abnormals. Yeah thatā€™s a nice fluffy thought šŸ„°

So Ahsoka is 5 days away (and yes the countdown is completely necessary šŸ˜›)

But the Lego Ghost is 2 weeks away and I am so damn torn up about it.

I have never pre-ordered any Lego. There is no benefit to doing so. Iā€™m not getting extra VIP (soon to be called Insider) points for future discounts, there is no cool ā€˜gift with purchaseā€™. It makes no sense to do it.

What I usually do with my Lego purchases is reverse order buy. So sets that have been out the longest (or are retiring first) I prioritise. The theory is I still have time for the others. Although as they bring out new sets all the time there are always sets I would like that I just canā€™t budget for (still sad about the Tantive but never mind).

I also sometimes get sets ā€œout of orderā€ if there is a really good discount, or there is a discount + itā€™s at a more manageable price point. I adore Lego but itā€™s stupid expensive. I have a ceiling limit and wonā€™t go above it, however cool the set is. With my budget it just feels ridiculous (for me) to drop above a certain amount on a single set. When I canā€™t sleep and I dream about winning the lottery a big part is always that I would buy so much Lego hehe šŸ˜‰

Anyway I am rambling. I just keep going to the Lego store page and staring at it. From the moment I came out of my ā€œdark ageā€ and learned that I had missed out on the original Lego Ghost I was sad. I tried to BrickLink some pieces and cobbled together a build (not colour correct and no minifigs). Itā€™s my favourite Star Wars ship, itā€™s the Ghost! I want it so much but logic says to wait. If I wait it will probably instantly go out of stock, that often happens with pre-orders.

Itā€™s going to be on the shelves for at least a year. There will be a deal, a double VIP points event, a gift with purchase etc. Waiting is the smart move and yet I am still thinking about it.

Recently I got Kanan as a minifig off BrickLink. Twice what I ideally like to spend on a minifig but I made the average work out to be correct by getting 3 other minifigs from the same store. I got Ezra (and Chopper, and the original Phantom) off eBay. Had to pay +50% on original RRP which sucks (it is both cool and annoying that Lego is so valuable second hand) but at least for such a small set that wasnā€™t too painful. Chopper is also in the new Ghost set with Hera. If I want Sabine Iā€™ll need to get the Jedi ship set as well (they split them to be purposefully evil I swear). Heraā€™s minifig costs too much on BrickLink for her Rebels version. Sabine is iffy as helmets are an issue. I would be fine with the new versions of both if I can swing it. Shame about Sabineā€™s hair colours though. Zeb is just never happening. Heā€™s not in the new sets and is crazy money on BrickLink. Still eventually 5/6 Spectres is pretty cool.

Eventually – key word there. I should wait. Itā€™s smarter to wait. I do have impulse control. Itā€™s just The Ghost! Aaaaand around I go in circles again.

Ahhhhhh!

I am so excited šŸ¤©šŸ¤©šŸ¤©

Star Wars Rebels = my favourite Star Wars media.

I (like a lot of people) had a ā€˜dark ageā€™ when it came to Lego and the run of Rebels sets happened before I came back to Lego which I have been crushed by ever since my return šŸ™ they are impossible to get secondhand for a decent price. Usually they go for 2-5x what the original RRP was and I just canā€™t.

Obviously this new version of the Ghost doesnā€™t have the original minifigs but there is a version of Hera and Chopper. Both Zeb and Sabine appear in Ahsoka so might appear in a different set. So sadly that leaves Ezra and Kanan missing.

There is a JACEN minifig! He doesnā€™t have the green hair whichā€¦ to be honest I am a bit disappointed about. I hoped he would as an inherited manifestation from his mum, but weā€™ll have to see. He hasnā€™t appeared beyond 5 seconds at the end of the Rebels finale so I withhold judgement.

September 1st this comes out.

I try and be strategic with my purchases to get the biggest bang for my buck. I wait for sales or if there is a good ā€œgift with purchaseā€ but I donā€™t know if I will be able to wait šŸ˜‚ itā€™s the Ghost!!

Iā€™m kinda bummed we didnā€™t get a Red Shield carrying Lego Marvel Black Widow minifig now in the collection of 12.

Personally Iā€™d have replaced the gross zombie!Cap with her *shudder* but then I am very anti-zombies because Iā€™m the worlds biggest wimp. Anyway considering the gold Gamora was only in the last episode, and didnā€™t say much, I do feel that badass last-woman standing shield-carrying Natasha Romanov would have been a better choice.

Natasha is one of my favourite characters though so I am probably pre-disposed to think that. Donā€™t get me wrong I do like Gamora itā€™s just I have feelings about last-survivor Natasha.

I should see if there is fanfic to readā€¦

Had another excursion for ā€˜gamblingā€™ aka Lego Marvel minifigures.

No repeats this time. I got 2 more of the figures I wanted (Bucky & Scarlet Witch), and 2 more that I wasnā€™t bothered about (Loki & Sylvie).

So Iā€™m still missing Monica Rambeau and White Vision. Technically thereā€™s still Zombie!Cap and whatever that version of Gamora is but Iā€™m not worried about those. In fact I actively donā€™t want the zombie one *shudder*.

Ultimately though I am 8/9 on unique minifigs which isnā€™t bad as things go. Itā€™s a little disconcerting as I was wrong in my guess on 2 of them (so Iā€™m just lucky that they werenā€™t duplicates). Hopefully when I go next week Iā€™ll be lucky again and finally get the last 2.

So the collectible Marvel Lego minifigures came out today.

I actually went outside – to a store! – and had a look at them. I know, the horror, I hope the devil got his ice skates in time haha. Still if anything is going to get me to leave the house it would be Lego šŸ™‚

Anyway, Iā€™m not a fan of gambling and I hoped in squeezing the packets Iā€™d be able to guess at the contents. I like 7/12 of the minifigs and I selected 5 packets before I lost my nerve. I wasnā€™t sure of my guessing abilities.

Results – 4/5 perfectly correct + one that I wasnā€™t just wrong about, it was also a duplicate which kinda sucks (I really need some actual Lego friends as this would be a perfect trading situation).

So with those results Iā€™m both tentatively encouraged and also slightly nervous. My guessing skills came out at 80% on this first sample, which is pretty good odds. However, I now have 4/7 of the minifigs that I like and so Iā€™m now searching for 3/12 – probability isnā€™t in my favour.

I did at least learn some things. I learned that all the packets contain not just a square instruction book, but also a rectangular display stand. I think I was incorrectly identifying a lot of packets on the shelf as Cap-Falcon when I felt the stand, so knowing thatā€™s in all the packets should hopefully help next time.

I walked away with Cap-Falcon, Spiderman, Captain Carter and Tā€™Challa as Star Lord (twice). So next time Iā€™ll be hunting for Scarlet Witch, Monica Rambeau and Bucky. Iā€™m undecided about White Vision and I have zero interest in zombie!Cap, the unknown Gamora variant, Loki in the TVA uniform or Sylvie.

Itā€™s not a bad selection. Iā€™ve never done the collectible minifigs before. I know theyā€™ve done tons of sets of just random Lego ones (which doesnā€™t interest me). I hope this experiment with licenced versions works out for them. As much as I despise gambling I like minifigs more so another Marvel series, or we could only hope maybe a Star Wars one? would be epic!

@urban-trek-thru-middle-earthā€‹

Oooh, another Lego person! *waves* 

Haha OMG yes very much so! I am utterly nuts about Lego. Hang on let me take some photos to illustrate my point.

This is my coffee table right now. I built all the modular buildings that I have (4 of them) and over the coming weeks Iā€™m going to do alternate builds of them (thanks to Rebrickable). You can see the Mario TV just behind. I have broken up the console from the set but itā€™s my intention to (one day) design my own lego pictures to put inside the TV so itā€™s still built for now.

image

Then this is my table where I have a finished alternate build of the blacksmiths set (again from Rebrickable) and a partly done Yoda.

image

and in the corner we have the Pirate ship and then the folding book, plus the diorama book. Again itā€™s my intention with the pop-up book and the diorama to design my own scenes for them, but Iā€™m not good at getting round to it lol.

image

All told I think thereā€™s about 10 sets ā€˜activeā€™ in the room at the moment. I donā€™t usually leave sets built as I just donā€™t have the room for display, plus having the raw parts is simply too useful for Rebrickable. However, I thought it would be cool to at least see all the buildings together for a time. Also Iā€™m on this ā€˜alternate buildā€™ kick at the moment. I think I have 22 different builds to make from those alone?

Once Iā€™ve done the alternate builds I have in mind an idea for a pirate themed restaurant MOC. My history with MOCā€™s isnā€™t great (lots of intention, very little follow through) so weā€™ll see. I do have my annual christmas installation to plan as well. Thus far Iā€™ve mostly picked a selection of sets and then arranged them together to form a scene. These are mostly sets I havenā€™t bought so I BrickLink any pieces I donā€™t have. This year I have some slightly different plans as Iā€™m thinking of modifying some sets to make them christmas themed. Again have to see if I actually get round to doing that.

Anyway basically you canā€™t look anywhere in my room without seeing Lego. Itā€™sĀ everywhere, taking up every flat surface. My room is going to feel quite empty I think when I finally take the Lego street down haha.

@urban-trek-thru-middle-earth

This is fantastic! Weā€™re mostly a Star Wars Lego house, although weā€™ve made a lot of custom stuff from other shows – B5, Space Above and Beyond, BSG etc. We have our own store on BrickLink, sell custom instructions through Rebrickable etc. Our house is just CRAMMED full of Legoā€¦ 

Haha donā€™t be fooled by my currently ā€˜activeā€™ selection. I have 38 sets and 15 of them are Star Wars. Itā€™s my favourite theme by far šŸ™‚ Iā€™m currently waiting until they get the next wave of production sets out before I dig deep and use all my VIP points to get the Gunship. I donā€™t want the mistake with the imperial logo on the instructions/box hence waiting.

I really wish that I had been into Lego a few years ago. My favourite era of Star Wars is Rebels/Clone Wars and I missed the years when they focused on that :/ Iā€™ve built some cool stuff thanks to BrickLink but itā€™s not quite the same.

Ooooh do you have links? Iā€™d love to check out your stuff on Rebrickable. Iā€™m always interested in cool space builds. Oh I think Iā€™ve seen you post some photos before now I think about it. You do good work!

Fan Vote – Help choose one of the next Ultimate Collector Series Star Wars LEGOĀ® sets!

Itā€™s Clone Wars season!

aka you know what I voted for šŸ™‚

There are two other options but Iā€™m going to cross my fingers for this one. Not that I can afford it but I can dream.

On a related note I am seriously hoping that with Clone Wars season 7 there will be a wave of Clone Wars lego sets. I missed them when they came out in the past as I was in my wilderness years. A couple of battle packs of droids and clones at least would be amazing.

Went for the first time to a Lego store today andā€¦

Keyboard smashing could not do it justice. It was just gah!

The pick-a-brick wall was disappointing as it was pretty much was all system bricks, they didnā€™t even really have any side stud ones.

But But But

Zomg the 3D hologram thing was the most amazing thing in the world!!!

Just hold up a set and itā€™ll make a 3D moving hologram as if itā€™s on top of the set you are holding. You can rotate it to see all angles and the minifigs move around like they are actually fighting or whatever. It was one of the coolest things I think I have ever seen.

I held up the Thanos Ultimate Battle (a set from Infinity War) and watched Iron Man fly around firing at Thanos and stuff it was great! They also had the new Endgame sets to look at. I confess I did wind up getting the Ultimate Quinjet Set. I mean it is still a store :p but oh wow seriously that hologram thing, so cool!

Putting together one of the Lego 3-1 sets, the surf RV/coastguard hut + dune buggy/sport roadster one. Made this:

I thought that the selling point for these was you could make 3 things out of the same set of bricks. Look how many I have left!!

Iā€™m going to see if I can make something extra myself…

Ok I donā€™t know what it is. Maybe a catamaran boat type thing? Anyway I have a lot less pieces left:

Honestly *roll eyes* use more pieces Lego! Itā€™s like half a job.

Anyway šŸ™‚ not what I was supposed to do today but it has cheered me up no end. My mood is 100x improved from this morning and this wasnā€™t even a set I wanted! I just really needed to build something.