What do Christmas ornaments and bedtime stories have to do with LEGO RPGing? And why should you go join Eurobricks’ “castle-builder’s paradise” and start counting your white slopes? We’ll unpack these questions and much more in my interview with Louis of Nutwood, an up-and-coming LEGO builder and storyteller from Brazil who had a few stories to tell both about his LEGO building and storytelling!

Louis is an active member of Eurobricks’ Guilds of Historica castle RPG (Role Playing Game), and he distinguished himself in last year’s Style it Up contest and as an enthusiastic Burgomaster in Decisive Action 4 as well. But one of my favorite things about Louis is that no matter whether the build appeared in a day in response to a sudden twist in a LEGO tabletop-sort-of game, or whether it’s the product of three years of careful work, he always seems to be unfailingly ready with an engaging story to accompany it.

What does the LEGO world look like from the perspective of such an incurable story writer? Well, as Louis said when I had the pleasure of chatting with him, “Let’s get to it!”

Isaiah Durand (Garmadon): So (not to start too clichély, but we have to start at the beginning), what got you into LEGO and into the online community?

Louis: Both my parents are architects and encouraged creativity, so drawing, painting, and building were always a big part of my childhood. I was introduced to LEGO at a very young age and I always, ALWAYS adored it. I remember having this box with sorted bricks (it was one of those sets with sorted bricks from the ‘90s) that you could build a bunch of small things out of. It frustrated me that none of the suggested buildings used all the bricks in the box; but then again, I was like five years old, and my building skills were pretty shy. Eventually, I grew up and kind of put LEGO aside, especially as a teenager and in my final years of college. Thus began my Dark Ages.

Fast forward—I started studying International Affairs and every end-of-the-year, during holidays, I went back to my mom’s to get together with my family. But there was this one year that she didn’t put the Christmas decorations up—she said she was just not in the mood, and it broke my heart. I then suggested I would put up Christmas decorations myself, and she agreed. Little did she know I had something different in mind… I took all my dusty LEGO boxes from the closet and started decorating for Christmas with ALL the LEGO bricks that I had.

That very Christmas all the memories I had made as a kid kicked in, flooding my emotions and bringing me back to the old days. Oooh, the nostalgia. And this brought me out of my Dark Ages. My mom eventually took out the actual Christmas decorations but didn’t oppose leaving a bunch of sets built all across the living room playing the part of Christmas decor.

Closure for this story: that same holiday, I was going to present my new girlfriend at the time (who has now become my fiancée), and I was feeling... let’s say insecure about showing her my “collection” of the “highly complex interlocking brick system.“ She came to the house, and I was sweating my arms off, expecting her to see the nerdy child within myself. But she ended up being extremely supportive and became interested in the hobby. So, jackpot! Once I reached back to my childhood with LEGO and knew the girl I loved was more than OK with it, LEGO instantly became a huge part of my adult life. For about... eight years now actually.

Isaiah: You, Sir Louis, are not one to disappoint! That’s such a fun and awesome story, and you make me glad I asked because that’s certainly not a cliché answer (whatever may be said of the question, haha).

2012 is about the time I got involved in the online community as well. Where did you start? A local LUG, friends into the hobby, or a forum online?

Louis: At the time I got back into LEGO I had no idea there were actual forums and LUGs and a community embracing all of us in this super creative hobby. When all was done after that holiday, of course, I went on to dismantle all the sets I’d built; but there was one—ONE—that I couldn’t. It was the Emperor’s Stronghold (3053-1) from the Ninja line that I felt was sooo impressive and nostalgic. It was something about the ninjas and the accurate architecture; I simply loved it. And I wanted to make it bigger!

So I started researching online and fell into this world of custom creations, and got introduced to the acronyms MOC and AFOL and SNOT and BURPs…

Instantly my creative juices started kicking in, and I got into projects that were way too challenging for a kid who’d never MOCed in his life. I tried to copy the wholesome creations from Isaac and John Snyder and from Sir Henjin Quilones with the poor collection of bricks I had… and then figured that I had to start smaller. So I started with a small boat; then a small house, then a hint of vegetation and environment.

Isaiah: Did you have all the pieces you needed or did you have to start collecting more?

Louis: I realized all these amazing creations were built with bricks coming from bulk-buys. Hence, Bricklink. So... to keep up with the hobby, and this new thing called Bricklink, I basically needed a job.

And with my first salary, I put ALL of it into a (not really-) gigantic Bricklink order of Dark Bluish Grey slopes. And I was finally, utterly happy. Once it happened, there was no other way around. That was life.

Isaiah: I very much remember when the lack of DBG slopes (and brown tiles) was the bane of my existence.

Louis: Can’t say enough how I feel you, man. One can never have enough DBG slopes.

Dark bluish grey slopes - the life-blood of many castle builders!

Isaiah: Because once you think you should have enough, one just starts building bigger! That’s the nice thing about having siblings into the hobby with their own collections that I can “borrow” from, I must admit. Still, I have pretty much run out of all of ours together before, and then all you can do is cap everything off with snow (Mitgardia for the win!). And then when you run out of snow you’re really in trouble, haha!

Louis: Hahaha. Oh, yes! The lack of white slopes is certainly a source of anxiety for me.

Isaiah: Are there any Pick-a-Brick walls in Brazil?

Louis: The first PAB wall in Brazil was inaugurated about six months ago, literally during the pandemic. I’ve never been to it, but there are a few Brazilian stores on Bricklink that fulfill some of my demands. Most definitely 98% of my collection comes from the States, though. Even with the trip, it is much more cost-effective including taxes and so on…

Isaiah: Yep, same here! Import taxes are what really drive the prices up in Chile too—it’s definitely a pity. I have no idea how builders who have to source most of their collection down here do it. Speaking of storytelling, where did you get started with that?

Louis: A few years ago, there was one night I was with my fiancée and she asked me something I will remember for the rest of my life. She asked, “Would you tell me a bedtime story?” I was taken by surprise. A bedtime story? I don’t think I had ever told a bedtime story. So I gathered all my courage and tried to remember all the tales I’d heard my mom, dad or grandpa tell me before sleep, and I started with what I knew: “Once upon a time…” After that I was stuck. But to my surprise, that beautiful girl picked the story up and said “there was a princess…” And then, I continued “with almond hair and the cutest smile…”

That story took shape, sentence by sentence, and eventually, it grew more natural. But for some reason, while thinking about the story, the characters, and the connections, I naturally recurred to the bricks lying inside a plastic box in the closet. And I thought of great green plains, a huge castle, dragons and races, all in LEGO form. There was intrigue, there was emotion—there was no way I was going to go to sleep now. Well, for me at least, because she was already snoring.

Since then, we’ve never stopped telling stories, always coming up with something new—and for some reason, they always come to me in LEGO form. Once I had built a whole world in my mind, it was time to literally translate it into the physical world. It got me thinking, “Am I the only one? Am I the one single person in the world thinking of stories with LEGO?” Turns out, I wasn’t.

Sigurd's General Goods, a skyrim-inspired mitgardian build by isaac snyder

Isaiah: I met you in the Guilds of Historica, so let’s jump there! What attracted you to the Guilds and (obviously) keeps you coming back? And I know you are an inveterate story-writer when it comes to LEGO.

Louis: The first time I posted anything online, one of my greatest inspirations, Sir Isaac Snyder, sent me a message introducing me to the Guilds of Historica and inviting me to take a look. I fell in love with the Guild of Mitgardia and the idea of combining stories and worlds within a shared community. Isaac brought me to the Guilds, and I just fell in love with the dynamics of storytelling and RPGing while building creatively with LEGO bricks.

And once on the Guilds, I felt I was finally interacting with the crème de la crème of castle builders, and I had to take that chance to learn from all these people I’d been admiring for years. It just felt like home.

Isaiah: What made it feel like home?

Louis: I started understanding that no MOC is only a MOC. No build is just a build. There is always (always!) a story behind it, even when it’s not written or told in words by the builder. Sometimes it is up to us to come up with the story. However, to know what came to the mind of the builder when he (or she) was putting that masterpiece together is an enormous privilege! It’s a rush! To see into another person’s stories and emotions through the use of LEGO is amazing. And being in the Guilds is exactly that. It encourages the builder to attach a story, and that to me is heaven.

Isaiah: Whenever I build, there is almost always a definite story I’ve got all thought out for it, but when I write there’s not necessarily a LEGO scene in mind. But for you, it sounds like stories and LEGO builds are even more closely connected. Do your builds always have stories inherently tied in with them, or have you ever built something without a story? Maybe your amazing Stag or your Burgomaster builds for Decisive Action 4 (DA4)?

Louis: It definitely goes both ways, and they are certainly connected, the story and the build. Which one comes first? It depends.

For the Guilds, as I normally have more time to think things through—the whole story comes first, then building (and finally, some story adaptation, as the final MOC is always different than envisioned). Whereas for fast paces competitions (such as Style it Up—and I’m thrilled you mentioned the Stag—as this was exactly the case), first comes the build, then I come up with a story. Especially when there’s a specific limitation (such as color, format, or even building for DA4), build comes first. There’s a task to perform: build! The story is the embellishment.

Isaiah: What shifts that balance so the story comes first?

Louis: On the Guilds, I feel the story is just as important as the build (if not more!). And since sometimes I’m picking up on the same story (of Louis of Nutwood, say...) well, then the task is the story. The complement is the build. The only build I think doesn’t have an actual story is my contribution to the 2020 Shiptember—The MOCHA. That one was so rushed at the end I just didn’t add a story. We gotta learn to let go, sometimes!

But independently, that’s a goal I set for myself: my builds SHOULD come with a written story. It sometimes gets tremendously difficult (A sailor’s solitude, for example), and sometimes it just flows (Jormungandr, for example). Ah, the art of writing. You know THAT very well.

Isaiah: Yes sir! It is definitely an art. Oh the joy of a writer’s life (and oh the misery of it, at times, haha)!

And that ends our interview for now, but we’ll be back soon to learn Louis’ tips to building a LEGO scene that tells a story! In the meanwhile follow Louis of Nutwood on Flickr, Eurobricks, and Instagram to catch all his upcoming builds and stories!

What is the story behind your LEGO MOCs? What are your favorite sources of inspiration to keep you building? If you do write out stories for your builds, how do you do it? And what’s your favorite LEGO metaphor for life? Let us know in the comments below!

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