Henjin_Quilones

(Not to pick another fight on the Nocturnian board, but...) On the contrary, my Rat-Friend, I can think of little more diabolically Nocturnian than a well-executed pink castle...populated by Elves and Friends minidolls. I would rather face a ten thousand-strong force of drow or orcs than a few smiling faces of minidolls. If Raavage had an army of those fiends, he could easily destroy all of Historica in one single blow. Furthermore, I am sure that somewhere in the lavender waters of some Darklands swamp of the realm there is such a force and fortress, waiting to unleash the forces of cute despair. At least my tight-wearing Avalonian imagination believes as much.

Excellent work as usual, SK! Your alien landscapes are almost as good as snowy Mitgardia. The vehicle is great, too, with fun play features.

I love that cart, with the clean look of well-planed boards and the nice awning. Tindan himself looks less than friendly, and perhaps not someone to trust; but if a guy makes a living selling weapons in the Darklands, friendly might not survive long. I agree with Slegengr that the ground could use a bit more texture, as well as that the hay would probably be better sitting a plate above the ground level; otherwise it does seem like the hay has sunk down into the grass and rock. The only bit of original feedback I have is that I am oddly put off by the black 1x1 plates on the corners; for some reason the close proximity to the reddish brown and dark bley is causing it to look off. A different color might be better, like reddish brown or dark brown. Otherwise, I think this looks great!

Trees are very good huggers, I'll have you know. And my lawn is very nicely trimmed, so do stay off of it, please. But in seriousness, I was not intending to insult anyone's customs (ok, maybe a little? but in a nice way...), I was merely explaining how your lovely (and rather interesting, I must say...it ran a close second when I was choosing a guild, and five of my six GoH builds have been set there) guild operates from an outsider's perspective. In an unbiased, merely definitional way, "civilized" inherently implies cities, and a city-centric lifestyle (civis, civis, m/f, in Latin means "citizen", and civitas, civitatis, f. means "city"); and I think you would agree that a more-heavily tribal plan, as Nocturnus seems to have, is thus objectively less "civilized", since it entails fewer cities. Whereas Avalonians like cities and urban centers, and are thus more "civilized". I would never argue that Nocturnians are less cultured or less sophisticated, or inferior in any objective way to Avalonians, since Nocturnus does not lack for culture or wisdom. And on a side note, I do not particularly like quaint cottages and tudor-style buildings (though in the right hands they can be stunning); there is a reason I chose a territory in the Enchanted Forest, where dark magical things can roam...

The issue, in part, is that the inhabitants of Nocturnus, unlike the more civilized folk of Avalonia, do not claim land for themselves in the sense of a land stake that becomes theirs. You just kind of...build, and do it wherever you want, and then claim that it exists because you built it. Not much is hard and fast in Nocturnus, to my knowledge. In general, yes, the orcs live in the mountains. But not all do. The border between Kaliphlin and Nocturnus is somewhere in the Siccus Badlands and the Rakath Mountains, as I understand it, but the border is not solid. No border patrols or customs officials prowl the perimeter. And as a general rule, the Black Spire rules the east, and the Resistance is still clinging desperately to the west, but what precisely is east or west? Don't ask, just build. If you want more precise answers, perhaps someone out there knows, but precision (except in acts of treachery and deeds of darkness) is hardly a Nocturnian trait...

Very nice! Hopefully someday I can get on one of these things, assuming there would be a second series...

Yes, the guilds are always open to new members. Welcome!

Looks great, LJ! I love that blue roof! It looks spectacular here. Your birds of a feather, though, are what catch my eye the most. They are so simple, yet look so good! I also like the use of the black hands for the window grate, something I do not believe I've seen before. Had you not pointed it out, I never would have noticed that the river was SNOT cheese slopes, yet it looks lovely, too. Great work on the trees, the walls, the base, and pretty much everything. This one has a certain something that most builds do not, a sense of aesthetic arrangement and balance of color that makes it pop. The blues of the roof, bird, and water tie in splendidly, the orange and dark red are nicely mixed throughout, and the greens, greys, and browns play their background neutral roles perfectly. Can you tell I like this one? The only thing I'm not sold on is the brick-built squirrel, but it is better than the Friends/Elves ones at least...

Awesome geyser, it reminds me of the Lego Movie explosions. An excellent action shot and great irregular base!

The Old Geyser Location: G09 - Greater Drigo Tags: Exploration, Land Vehicle, Spaceship Previous story: "Someone else has been here, Sir," said the voice of Kiri, his walkie-talkie personal assistant. "That is a Kawashita KX-1902b Planetary Observer, and has not been there long." "I can see that, Kiri," said Henjin Quilones, the intrepid explorer. "I wonder who else has been sent to Greater Drigo. Kiri, do the logs show anyone else in this quadrant?" "Checking logs now...no, Sir, I see nothing here." "Very strange; very, very strange," said Henjin. "I wonder if I should call this in and report it..." He drove his Kawashita ATV around the rocks and saw a geyser lake, one of thousands that dotted the landscape. "Detecting a large amount of seismic activity, Sir," Kiri said. "Please be careful when driving near that lake. It may not be safe." Henjin ignored Kiri, as usual, since she seldom gave good advice, unless one asked for nearby restaurants or for pickup lines. He drove his ATV right up to the reeds on the water's edge. He would have driven it further, except the wheels got stuck in the thick clay and refused to spin. "Ah well, I guess we'll do this the hard way." He leaped off of the vehicle and began to patrol the area on foot, noticing how the geysers were behaving more like fountains, with continuous streams of water gushing forth, instead of a great big burst. He made a note of that in his exploration report and walked a bit further around the edge. There, on the ground by the shore of the lake, was a Kawashita Exploratory Corps uniform, and by the fit of it, it was a woman's. However, there was no woman in it now. "Oh no!" cried Henjin. "Somebody killed one of my corps-mates, and stole the body!" "Shall I call for help, Sir?" asked Kiri. "I...I don't know." "Oh, hey Henjin," called a fair voice from the lake. Henjin turned and started towards the voice, thinking it was some foul Drigonian geyser-lake mermaid, perhaps the one that had left that Kawashita explorer dead. But it was just Stefannie Stryyk, the one woman in the Corps who had ever even glanced his way. And she was lightly clad, bathing in the geysers. Very lightly clad. That certainly was not regulation swimwear. "The water's warm, Henjin, and there's room enough for two in this old geyser..." More pics:

Nice vignette, Vlad! I like the dark red foliage of the trees, though they seem a bit too vertical for my liking. The terrain colors and the little lean-to are great, though.

Nice foray into the lusher lands of Avalonia! I do have to agree with Titus, however, in saying that I am not a big fan of the trees. 2x2 rounds just don't really work, in my opinion, since they end up looking so unnaturally straight and smooth. The other tree is better with regards to shape, but it needs a bit more foliage. Another point is that I actually prefer the waterfall of last build to this one, despite the fact that it widened out so much at the end; this one looks a bit to grid-like from the front, I think. Maybe instead of all 1x1 trans clear and blue, you could use some 1x2 shapes as well, to break up the pattern. Other than that, I think it is nicely green, and I even think that your grassy area is well done, something that most people struggle with tremendously. Good work! Out of curiosity, how far into the Avalonian forests are these guys? Like, Enchanted Forest-deep? I have a feeling the sharp-eyed elves would have noticed them by now. The humans to the east, however, would be blissfully oblivious...

Very nice smaller build, Maestro! The wall looks great, and the irregular base is lovely, with the dirt and grass going all the way down. I have several nitpicks here, though. I do not really like the tree; the foliage part is fine, but the trunk is grey flex tubing, not brown, and it is way too slender to have grown up on the other side of the wall instead of on top of it (which makes one wonder about the maintenance level of the wall, if there are trees growing in it). I would recommend getting some brown flex, and using several tubes together in the style of DC to make a small, shrubby tree. Beyond that, though, I guess a few more 1x1 rounds in the road might be nice, though it looks fine now. Nicely done!

Fun vehicle! The flames out of the rear are the best part, but I also love the orientation of the canopy.

The field looks so much better with those reeds than it did with the flower-stem grass, in my opinion. Very nice!

Thanks, Prof. I'm glad you like the floor, as that was the most tedious part of the build, since half of it is SNOT and half regular studs-up. It made sense to have the pipes sunken, as then the scientists don't have to keep tripping on them all the time. Thanks, Robuko! I tried to do what I could for the glory of Kawashita. The gears are from my father's ancient Lego collection, from a set from the mid-1960s that my grandmother had kept in a closet for nearly fifty years, and I was itching for some way to use them in a build. Thanks, Kodan! Glad you like the colors, mostly red and yellow amidst a uniform grey. It was unintentional, but I think it looks good, too.

<<TOP SECRET: PROJECT PHILOSOPHER'S STONE>> Deep beneath the surface of Orinshi, Kawashita Group keeps its laboratories always working and turning out new and impressive technologies. In Dr. Dak Ralter's laboratory, his long awaited dream was about to come true. He had summoned his bosses, all higher-up military types, along with Mr. Suzuki, a CEO-type person (in the lab all of those people were the same: CEO, CFO, COO, VP, or whatever), to watch the first trial of his new machine--the first trial, that is, with properly adjusted specs, as he had already failed three hundred twenty-four times before. Dr. Ralter could see the doubt in the eyes of Commander Gorn, Major Karrus, and Admiral Kordo, but he chose not to focus on their negativity. Instead, he instructed his assistants to stand by. "Lucas, make sure the aureometer is calibrated to null, and Jeff, be ready to open the primary diffusion channel on my command," he said. His assistants obeyed him without a word, the previous three hundred twenty-four trials having accustomed them to the job. It was automatic now, as was the sinking feeling that the three hundred twenty-fifth time would not be the charm. Mr. Suzuki coughed politely as he looked at the screen on the viewing platform. "Gentlemen, I have asked you to come to witness one of the most glorious moments in the history of mankind," Dr. Ralter began. "Our ancestors, for thousands of years, have been trying to isolate the process by which one element, the coarse, heavy, unimportant lead, can become another, beautiful, refined, and precious gold. I believe that, at long last, we are finally able to say that we have done it. What you are about to witness should stand in the history books alongside the development of the GATE drive. This machine, which I have named the "Philosopher's Stone", after the long-sought alchemical artefact, can undo the atomic structure of one compound and reorganize it into another. The final tweaks have been made, and I have pored over the extensive calculations one final time, and now, Gentlemen, the moment of triumph." "Open the primary diffusion channel, Jeff." The initial reactor began to hum and glow redly, causing a great deal of warmth to wash over the observers, but the secondary reactor, with its refinement coils, was glowing with a warm yellow light. After a few moments something began to happen. To the doctor's left, in the collection chamber, gold began to fall from the hose's mouth, gold, precious gold. "Eureka!" cried Dr. Ralter. "Incredible," said Mr. Suzuki, staring lustfully at the gold. Dr. Ralter could only smile as more and more gold collected in the chamber. "I've done it," he whispered. This build is not to be judged, but was made to acquire Alchemy for Kawashita Group. More pics:

This is what AG builds should aspire to look like regularly...

This is spectacular! The highlight for me is the roof, as that technique works great for tiles, and your color choice is perfect. The patchwork in the walls, and the overall way that you managed to create a worn-down building, is excellent as well. Another detail that stands out for me is the wheelwell curve over the windows; great use of that! Very impressive. The only thing I can think to critique is the trees, as they seem a bit sparse, but perhaps in that climate that is as lush as they come. I'm also not a huge fan of the flower stalks-as-grass, as the regular green does not quite fit the palette you have created in the rest of the build. Otherwise, this is a fantastic build.

This looks great, Maestro! The techniques used on the tower remind me of older things I have seen posted by LD, a high compliment indeed. It is almost a splice of LD and DC's styles, and works remarkably well. You are coming into your own with the style of building, though, and all of the SNOT that goes into getting it to fit in there is impressive. I do wonder about the cliff's actual integrity, and whether the rocks could truly hold up a tower of that sort, and whether a tower of that sort could stand up without a deep foundation, and all of that, but I suspect that they are rather unimportant considerations compared to the whimsical, semi-magical setting of it all. I would love some detail shots, as it is hard to see everything that is going on from the overview pictures.

Yes, of course, just keep in mind that it is an fleshy elvish land, where humans and yellow faces are mistrusted...not forbidden, mind you, just mistrusted.

Start small, and do not be intimidated by what you see others doing. If you wait until your builds meet the "standards" you might never actually build anything. Build it, post it, and be humble enough to accept (and importantly, learn from) the critiques that others give you. No one on this forum is here to tell you that you suck, or that your build is just the worst, or something like that. We want you to succeed! But honestly, just post something. If you were to go back to the early days of SoccerKid6, or Blufiji, or LittleJohn, or any of the others you see building masterpieces every other week, you would find something very different than what you see now. They have just had more time observing and being critiqued on the forum than you. A vignette of a small corner of a barroom could be a good place to begin a tale, or introduce a character, as bars are always full of stories and interesting folk. That is my advice.

I like the scene, Garm, but as Kai said, the palm-pine does look a little odd. I have seen them done decently, but honestly I have never really liked the way they turn out. They just do not look like pine trees to me. I like the target, though, and the collection of archers is impressive. The terrain is becoming something of the norm, it seems, with everyone from SK and LJ and Blufiji and now you doing something very similar with those colors; obviously, if all y'all are doing it, though, it is because it looks good. Nicely done!

Very nice use of SNOT! I also like the use of the grey axle connectors as columns; that is surprisingly not something I have seen done very often. I myself probably would have used more tiles to smooth things out a bit, but the studded look works for the rough rock face. The dark tan base could use some more shaping, though. All in all, a fine first build! As for posting from Flickr, this tutorial might be of use (the basic idea remains the same, even of some features have changed in the past few years):

The detail that stands out to me most in this excellent build is the the gold 1x1 round plates on the tan 2x2 round tiles with holes. It creates a sense of kingly grandeur (with all the gold) within a Kaliphlinian atmosphere (the tan). The arrangement over the throne is the best. I also really like the alternating 1x1 tan round plates and 1x1 tan square plates (or 1x2 plates, or corner plates, or whatever you used) at the top. A small detail that adds so much. My one nitpick is that is slightly bothers me that, on the balcony, the posts supporting the guardrail are not matched up with the arches below. The arches are fantastic, as are the posts, but they don't line up. A different pattern, like two microfig posts and then the two round posts, with the round posts centered over the columns (like the one on the middle column) would have made an improvement in my mind. But since that is the only complaint I have, I think this is a very nice build, and another fine contribution to the culture and style of Kaliphlin. Good job, LJ!