No reason every post here has to be an apology for not posting PhD related content, right? This has nothing at all to do with fodies, although I do have 2 1/2 Lego fodies with more on the way. This post is about Schitt’s Creek and Lego, and about how much I love Schitt’s Creek and how much I love Lego, and why I therefore decided to make Lego, of Schitt’s Creek.
While I love every character on the show, and I think that Moira Rose is one of the best creations ever to grace our screens (“KILLING a man, over a complementary bolus!”), David Rose, then Patrick Brewer, and their store the Rose Apothecary, are my favourite characters, couple, and location in any show I’ve ever watched. My OTP, if you like. The messages and themes of the show, of love and acceptance and of what people can do and achieve when they have these things, are a big part of what makes me love it so much. The inclusion of LGBTQI+ themes and representation, the ‘wine and not the label’ metaphor for David’s pansexuality, and the absence of homophobia make Schitt’s Creek feel like a warm and cosy blanket, even for a straight woman – though I do work on being an ally. This project of mine is my love letter to the show which, along with The Good Place (which shares similar themes of what humans can do and be when they make connections and have love and support) is basically my favourite TV show ever.
When, for approximately the 15th time, I was watching the episode “The Affair” during which Patrick brings David the silver-framed business licence I instantly pictured it in Lego, and then thought “I can build TOILET PLUNGERS out of Lego!”. So, I did. In fact I built the business licence, the toilet plungers, the entire store, AND David and Patrick, out of Lego.
The semi-official site Bricklink offers software called Studio which allows you to build literally anything you can imagine, out of almost every Lego part ever created, in any colour you like. It’s a full 3D CAD system, and the part I like the best is that you can also create these photo-realistic renders of your build which are so high-quality one chap refused to believe it wasn’t built out of Lego in real life.
David is very clear that having toilet plungers out near the front of the store is INCORRECT, , so obviously I put them there, right by the doors. Yes, I am the kind of person who trolls fictional characters. But I also trolled Patrick because his acoustic guitar is right there by the cash.
It wasn’t all entirely straightforward to build. The angled windows by the doors were difficult and that entire section has been rebuilt at least twice- building anything non-square out of Lego is complicated and there are hinge plates in there holding the section together. The stepladder and plank arrangements inside the windows were also difficult to work out and I’m not 100% happy with them, but they work well enough. I am really pleased with the front of the building, though!
Studio is an incredible bit of software, especially considering that it’s free! The lettering for the main shop name and the window decals are all custom and imported onto the relevant blocks. In addition, with a tiny bit of code hacking you can make specific colour blocks emit light in renders, which is how the lights above the door behind the cash, which David finds to be so impressive, are lit. Working out how to use Lego to create so many little details and easter eggs for fans of the show was so much fun, and there’s a few more in there I haven’t talked about for people to spot on their own.
You might be asking yourself why I did this, and it’s a valid question. Firstly, I did it because I could, because I wanted to, and to test myself in terms of designing and building something of this complexity. Secondly, I realised pretty quickly that there are a lot of Lego fans out there, and a lot of Schitt’s Creek fans out there, and that they might like it too. So I posted it to Lego Ideas, a site for fan creations. Any project uploaded there which gets to 10,000 supporters is included in a biannual review by Lego, for consideration as official Lego sets. This project is heading towards 2,000 supporters (March 2022) which is beyond anything I expected but also still a long way from 10,000. So if anyone reading this felt like clicking that link and supporting it, I and all the other Schitt’s Creek fans out there would be very grateful.