HSS Entertainers: Mme Celeste Delivers Bad News

[SarahJoy]

The line forms every morning, and Madame Celeste hops over the counter to her fortune-telling shop and reads fortunes in the cards. She reads for any who visit her. Some pay well, and some pay nothing. She says this way, she doesn't feel responsible when she has to deliver bad news.

Mme Celeste: "First, we have the Sun card. This represents achievement and joy in your life"

Harry: "Yes! I just got a promotion, and my lady friend agreed to marry me!"

Mme Celeste: "And then. . .Uh oh. The Tower."

Harry: "Is that bad?"

Mme. Celeste: "It means your whole world is going to come crashing down, something really important to you will be destroyed."

Harry: "Oh no!"

-----

Mme Celeste was lucky to find this crescent-shaped rock formation just outside of the Ruadhi market. How she convinced the masons to carve out the space, and then construct the building, remains a mystery. Hell, we're not even sure her name's really Celeste. We kind of doubt it.

I have mixed feelings about this build. I'm not really happy with the shape of the back of the build, but taking it apart without destroying the whole build proved difficult. Fortunately, great suggestions from the guild (yay Kaliphlin!) help to disguise the problem areas. I keep reminding myself that this was supposed to be a quick "fun" build, and that the next build will be another opportunity to work on studs-up rocks.

I tried using a different camera, my old DSLR, for these. The color balance is better than my phone -- tan looks tan! Yay! -- but I'm really not in love with the noise, and I need to mess with some of the manual settings.

I'd like to claim UoP credits for Architecture: Roofing (approved) and Architecture: Round Walls and Towers (denied).

Edited September 7, 2014 by SarahJoy

[Scaevola]

Very nice build, I love the roof of that little structure . Great idea with the use of those plates to texture the sand as well, might have to try that myself

[Zerobricks]

Awesome curved roof! What do transparent blue pieces represent.

[mccoyed]

Very cool build. Great sense of humor and great use of an underused but super good 'fig (fortune teller). How does she get out though?

[gedren_y]

Wonderful job of making it work. You could probably get a couple of UoP DoH credits for this. I suggest 'roof' and 'curved wall'.

[SarahJoy]

Wonderful job of making it work. You could probably get a couple of UoP DoH credits for this. I suggest 'roof' and 'curved wall'.

Thank you, and good idea! Done!

Very cool build. Great sense of humor and great use of an underused but super good 'fig (fortune teller). How does she get out though?

Thanks! Mme. Celeste is very nimble, and hops over the counter.

Awesome curved roof! What do transparent blue pieces represent.

The transparent blues and reds are colored glass. Mme. Celeste claims that the blue in the roof represents the celestial heavens, and helps her to channel her psychic powers, while the red in the wall helps to ground her energies.

Very nice build, I love the roof of that little structure . Great idea with the use of those plates to texture the sand as well, might have to try that myself

Thanks!

Edited September 5, 2014 by SarahJoy

[IenjoyLego89]

Awesome build and story. Really like the roof :)

[MassEditor]

Great build, very unique and definitely a great fit for Kaliphlin. The curved structure is expertly done, and the colored glass accents work very well. There's a couple of spots on the rock formation which could use a little touch up I suppose, but for a quick build it came out really well. Nice idea using jumper plates as ground texture, and the whole scene has just the right amount of detail and color. Maybe a few decorations or a potion shelf inside the hut would have been nice, but otherwise this is a wonderful MOC. I totally look forward to your next one!

[Infernum]

Wow! Really cool build! I love the way you made the front of her store!

[mccoyed]

Thanks! Mme. Celeste is very nimble, and hops over the counter.

Oh man. You built that just to answer me? That's fan service right there.

Edited September 5, 2014 by kabel
: please do not quote pics!

[Kayne]

Great stuff Sarah! I will give the +1 to both claims

[Yzalirk]

Very nice build, it came out awesome. I also like how you added the blue and red on the "kiosk" to represent it's Kaliphlin-made.

[SarahJoy]

Oh man. You built that just to answer me? That's fan service right there.

Haha I wish I could say yes. It's a photo I took last night, but decided not to use, because I didn't like the angle the photo was taken.

Great stuff Sarah! I will give the +1 to both claims

Very nice build, it came out awesome. I also like how you added the blue and red on the "kiosk" to represent it's Kaliphlin-made.

Thanks y'all!

[gedren_y]

UoP DoH +1 on both claims.

[Hammerhand]

Nice build Sarah! I like the ground texturing, and the trans red/blue plates and studs to give it a "mystic" feel. I have to agree with ME about there being a couple of rock spots that could use some work, more specifically the flat parts could maybe use a few more slopes. Also, I believe the Kaliphlin colors are red and dark blue, just for further reference.

Edited September 5, 2014 by Hammerhand

[robuko]

I absolutely love that roof. It took a while to figure out how you did it, it's a great technique for that and definitely +1 on the roof claim. The wall is kind of small so I am not giving it a credit, although the integration into the base is very nicely done. I didn't comment on the back of the wall because I thought it looked fine as it was. The front looks a little rectilinear to me, but that could be how the dune was carved. Great story too. The new camera looks a lot better than the first shots. One thing I would suggest for flat plate type bases is to raise it in a frame to make it stand out from the back drop. Great build. And don't worry too much about the colours, Hammerhand is right but we're pretty liberal on that.

[mrcp6d]

I absolutely love that roof. It took a while to figure out how you did it, it's a great technique for that....

Completely agree!

[-Carson Haupt-]

Really nice!

[MKJoshA]

I love what you are adding to Kaliphlin! Great build and wonderfully unique style!

[SarahJoy]

Here's a quick-and-dirty photo of the roof, that better shows its construction:

As you can see, it's just a series of short round walls, each reduced in diameter, with a few cheese slopes slapped on top, tied into the side walls. It's not at all water-tight, but that's not really a problem in this part of Kaliphlin.

Awesome build and story. Really like the roof :)

Thanks!

Great build, very unique and definitely a great fit for Kaliphlin. The curved structure is expertly done, and the colored glass accents work very well. There's a couple of spots on the rock formation which could use a little touch up I suppose, but for a quick build it came out really well. Nice idea using jumper plates as ground texture, and the whole scene has just the right amount of detail and color. Maybe a few decorations or a potion shelf inside the hut would have been nice, but otherwise this is a wonderful MOC. I totally look forward to your next one!

Thank you for the detailed critique! I agree that the rock formation needs some work. I believe the polite term is, "a good start" -- something to improve in the next build, definitely. The jumper plates are both aesthetic and functional -- they're the only things holding the 4x4 and 4x6 plates underneath from falling apart! A potion shelf would have been a good addition -- I thought about adding interior decoration, but totally drew a blank. Potions would have been a good solution.

UoP DoH +1 on both claims.

Thank you, and thank you for suggesting them!

Nice build Sarah! I like the ground texturing, and the trans red/blue plates and studs to give it a "mystic" feel. I have to agree with ME about there being a couple of rock spots that could use some work, more specifically the flat parts could maybe use a few more slopes. Also, I believe the Kaliphlin colors are red and dark blue, just for further reference.

Thanks for the feedback! Rocks will definitely improve in future builds. I agree, I really should have a dark blue flag; it's on my "to buy" list. Fortunately, Kaliphlin is less strict on such things for newer members.

I absolutely love that roof. It took a while to figure out how you did it, it's a great technique for that and definitely +1 on the roof claim. The wall is kind of small so I am not giving it a credit, although the integration into the base is very nicely done. I didn't comment on the back of the wall because I thought it looked fine as it was. The front looks a little rectilinear to me, but that could be how the dune was carved. Great story too. The new camera looks a lot better than the first shots. One thing I would suggest for flat plate type bases is to raise it in a frame to make it stand out from the back drop. Great build. And don't worry too much about the colours, Hammerhand is right but we're pretty liberal on that.

Thank you for the excellent critique! If the only round wall was the little bit on the bottom, I would totally agree with you that it isn't worth a UoP credit. I'm comfortable claiming "Round Walls" for the way I used round wall techniques both in the base of the booth and its roof, showing mastery of the technique, but I understand why you chose not to give credit.

The front is a bit too rectilinear. Originally, the fortune teller was supposed to be tucked into a corner of the old city walls, and that's how the build started, but I decided that such valuable real estate wouldn't be used on a tarot reader, and so we ended up in the crescent-shaped rock formation. I tried to curve the rocks a bit, but clearly not enough.

edit: I also changed my lighting setup. Next build I'll take comparable shots (same lighting, angle, etc) with my phone and my camera for y'all to evaluate the difference.

I don't understand the "raise it in a frame" -- could you elaborate?

Completely agree!

I love what you are adding to Kaliphlin! Great build and wonderfully unique style!

Thank you for your compliments!

Edited September 5, 2014 by SarahJoy

[NiceMarmot]

I like it. I think the rocks turned out fine. And a very cool little roof -- +1 for the roof. I'm withholding judgement on the round walls. The round roof is certainly well done, as is the base. I'll have to think on it a bit; maybe I was expecting more somehow... Certainly another round wall / tower build would put you over the top.

[SarahJoy]

I like it. I think the rocks turned out fine. And a very cool little roof -- +1 for the roof. I'm withholding judgement on the round walls. The round roof is certainly well done, as is the base. I'll have to think on it a bit; maybe I was expecting more somehow... Certainly another round wall / tower build would put you over the top.

Thank you!

As to UoP DoH, fair enough. It's certainly not a traditional round wall/tower, and I'm good with planning on a future, more traditional, fully-in-the-round tower-wall-thing. While "nope" votes are disappointing, I appreciate that UoP looks for and holds us all to specific standards.

[robuko]

Sorry to disappoint you with a "no" on the walls. I only give credits for techniques that I find really really impressive or original. I'm a tough marker but this is a University, not high school ;)

By raising the base in a frame, I meant to put a decorated border around the build and raise the baseplate a brick or 2. I realise that would be tough with the irregular shape you have chosen, it's a good way to disguise a flat base though. Compliments on the sand texturing by the way.

[SarahJoy]

Sorry to disappoint you with a "no" on the walls. I only give credits for techniques that I find really really impressive or original. I'm a tough marker but this is a University, not high school ;)

And that's why I like you! I appreciate thoughtful tough criticism.

I agree, if UoP credits were child's play, they wouldn't be worth much.

By raising the base in a frame, I meant to put a decorated border around the build and raise the baseplate a brick or 2. I realise that would be tough with the irregular shape you have chosen, it's a good way to disguise a flat base though. Compliments on the sand texturing by the way.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you mean something like this (my own rough example, irregular base) or more like this (more formal decorative base)?

[kabel]

This is a really nice build, I wouldn't have thought of doing a dome like that. I'm not really sure why you wouldn't feel statified with this build. I guess it's doing everything in tan that's kinda boring to the eye, but hey you've choose Kaliphlin after all

The only thing I'd critisize is the use of that grey cloth as background.