fantasy

Universal Pictures and Christopher Nolan to Adapt The Odyssey

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It’s been ten years since a Lionsgate screen adaptation of The Odyssey by Homer was announced. Sadly, that project didn’t get off the ground.

Now there are news of a Christopher Nolan adaptation. Nolan is to write, produce, and direct a “mythic action epic”, with backing from Universal Pictures.

Unlike the ill-fated Lionsgate project, this time more than one actor were reportedly already attached by the time the adaptation was announced. (At this writing: Zendaya, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, and Lupita N’yongo—gosh!) On the basis of the big-name initial cast, it sounds likely that this time there will actually be a movie.

Flickr Gary Todd Hellenic War Museum Penteconter Sm

Also, judging by the current publicity poster, there will be some ship action (maybe even ship-vs-monster action!) and in IMAX, no less. Writing in Nolan’s movies is either a hit or miss for me, but at least there’s usually been something interesting to see, so the sailing scenes might look truly magnificent. On the other hand, action sequence special effects in recent block busters have sometimes been—shall we kindly say—too implausible (and sometimes just badly made) for my enjoyment. I’m hoping that the effects teams, Nolan, other producers, and the studio can strike a sensible balance.

At this writing, the release day is set to July 17, 2026.

Image: a Greek penteconter ship by Gary Todd via Flickr (CC0 1.0 Universal), edited by Eppu Jensen

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Quotes: You Were Never Going to Be Anybody Else

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Food for thought for a new year:

“You learned better and you got on with things. You learned that you were what you were, and tried to be the best version of that person, because you were never going to be anybody else. And you stopped envying other people because everyone had problems you didn’t know about.”

–Sister Clara in Paladin’s Strength by T. Kingfisher

Current Reading Paladins Strength

I can’t think when I’ve last felt envious of another person. I’m sure it has happened, and relatively recently, too; I just can’t remember it. Which means—I hope, at least!—it can’t have been a very strong emotion or moment, which is a good thing.

In any case, more of the best version of myself for the coming year would also be great, not just for me but for the people around.

Kingfisher, T. Paladin’s Strength. Dallas: Argyll Productions, 2021, p. 200.

Image by Eppu Jensen

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Some Thoughts on The Hunt for Gollum Adaptation

Eppu

The news has been out for a good long while now: a new live-action Middle-Earth movie is in the works, set to be released in 2026 and produced by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens. It’s provisionally called The Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum, and Andy Serkis will both direct and play Gollum. Apparently it’ll be the first of multiple films by Warner Bros. based on Tolkien’s books, and told from Gollum’s perspective.

Since this fall has been surprisingly full of Tolkien for us (we both re-read LotR in addition to our two trips to Tampere, first to see the John Howe exhibit and then the theatrical adaptation), we ended up talking about the upcoming Gollum movie and our misgivings with it. Below are some of those thoughts.

Erik

I’m not excited for The Hunt for Gollum. Nothing about the character of Gollum or the long and mostly fruitless search for him, as described in the book, sounds like promising material for further on-screen exploration. I fear that this film will turn into more overstuffed action/fantasy/comedy like the Hobbit trilogy. At best I hope to enjoy the settings, costumes, props, and other details that were made with such love and dedication by the production team on the earlier Middle-Earth films. Still, I’m always ready to be pleasantly surprised.

For films that fill in more of the story we haven’t yet seen on screen, I’d be more excited about an exploration of Sauron’s attacks to the north. The appendices to The Lord of the Rings mention that Sauron’s forces at Dol Guldur assaulted Lothlorien and ravaged the lands of the Mirkwood Elves while an army of his allies from the east came against the Men of Dale and the Dwarves of Erebor. In the end, Sauron’s forces were defeated. Galadriel, Celeborn, and Thranduil cleansed Mirkwood and overthrew Dol Guldur while Bard II of Dale and Thorin III of Erebor pushed Sauron’s allies back to the east. There is plenty of scope here for big action set pieces, drama between the folk of Middle-Earth, and the return of some favorite characters. At the same time, there is enough blank canvas that for new characters to join the cast without feeling like they were squeezing out Tolkien’s story. It would be nice to see what was happening to places and people we know from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings while Sauron’s main offensive against Gondor was going on.

I could also enjoy a movie set in the Shire in the years after The Hobbit. A light-hearted comedy of Hobbit manners about the Sackville-Bagginses and their designs on Bag End could intertwine with the growing up of Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam and the forging of the friendships that would be tested in the crucible of war far from home. A movie like this could give appropriate scope to Jackson’s taste for slapstick comedy while also allowing hints of the slowly creeping darkness of the ring and its effects on Bilbo to show through.

Eppu

My very first thought was: why would we want to see this particular story? Andy Serkis’s performance as Gollum will always be stellar, and I’m always up for seeing more of Weta’s work, but otherwise I’m quite unsure why this story was picked and why it should excite us.

Firstly, there isn’t that much to go on in LotR. According to Appendix B, Aragorn and Gandalf searched for Gollum together a few separate times, and the whole process takes them some 16 years.* In the second chapter of book two, The Council of Elrond, we get the most detail. There’s first a reference to a long and hopeless search. (Gandalf says that they went to the Mountains of Shadow and “the fences of Mordor”, where they guessed that “he dwelt there long in the dark hills; but we never found him, and at last I despaired”.)

Aragorn is the one to actually catch him: apparently he by chance found Gollum’s footprints leading away from Mordor and caught him somewhere in the Dead Marshes. Then followed an unpleasant walk to Mirkwood, and, finally, Gandalf questioning Gollum there.

What I see so far is a long, tedious, and possibly uneventful beginning followed by sleeplessness, stink, and cruelty (Aragorn himself says that Gollum “bit me, and I was not gentle […] making him walk before me with a halter on his neck, gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food”).

A very skilled writing team is required to make something exciting out of that.

You know what I would rather see? For instance:

  • anything do do with the Hobbits arriving into Eriador (1050, c. 1150 of Third Age) and settling first Bree-land (c. 1300) and then the Shire; also the Stoors leaving the Angle and some returning to Wilderland (1356)
  • the heyday of Osgiliath (before the city was burned and its palantir lost in 1437)
  • Gondor and Arnor renew communcations and form an alliance (1940)
  • the fall of Arnor and the northern kingdom; how the heirlooms of Arnor are given to Elrond’s safekeeping (1976)
  • Dwarves live and mine in Moria and eventually are driven out
  • Thorin I leaves Erebor and goes north to the Grey Mountains (2210)
  • excavations of Great Smials (begun 2683), Bandobras Took defeats Orcs in the Northfarthing (2747), Gandalf comes to aid Hobbits (2758)
  • life in Dale, the coming of Smaug (2770)
  • Thráin II and Thorin wander westwards (from Moria?) and settle in southern Ered Luin beyond the Shire (2799-2802)
  • how and where Aragorn’s mother Gilraen (born 2907) lived in the north, her wedding to Arathorn, son of Arador (2929); death of Arador (2930) and birth of Aragorn (2931), Gilraen’s travels to Imladris with Aragorn after the death of her husband (2933)
  • The Fell Winter when many northern rivers are frozen, incl. the Baranduin (Brandywine) (2911)
  • Gandalf and Balin visit Bilbo in the Shire (2949)
  • Aragorn meets Gandalf and their friendship begins (2956), Aragorn’s journeys in the Wild begin in earnest, including time in Rohan and in Gondor in disguise (2957-2980)
  • Balin leaves Erebor and enters Moria (2989), the end of Balin and the Moria Dwarf colony (2994)
  • The Scouring of the Shire and the Battle of Bywater after the destruction of the Ring
  • King Elessar rides north, lives by Lake Evendim for a while, including meeting his Hobbit friends on the Brandywine Bridge, Elanor, daughter of Samwise, becomes a maid of honor to Queen Arwen (1436 Shire Reckoning)
  • Samwise, Rose, and Elanor ride to Gondor, stay there a year (1442 S.R.); Elanor marries Fastred of Greenholm (1451 S.R.), they have a child, Elfstan Fairbairn (1454 S.R.), and later move to Undertowers on the Tower Hills (1455 S.R.); Rose dies and Sam rides to Tower Hills and gives the Red Book to the Fairbairn’s keeping before leaving for the Grey Havens (1482 S.R.)

(All pulled from Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings.)

So much could be told about the the Shire’s early history. The tidbits on fighting with Orcs, a company of Hobbit archers sent to assist the King in the north, and the Fell Winter are tantalizing. Or the later history, too, especially focusing on Sam, Merri, and Pippin and their families.

There also has got to be a lot of unmentioned history behind details like “Gondor and Arnor renew communcations and form an alliance”, but I can see the (probably economic or marketing) reasons for focusing on characters we’ve already seen on the screen.

So, you could go with “Thráin II and his son Thorin wander westwards. They settle in the South of Ered Luin beyond the Shire”, or “Gandalf and Balin visit Bilbo in the Shire”, and keep a reasonable connection to events in the movie adaptations. The latter took place some eight years after the events of The Hobbit and 40 years before Balin sets out for Moria—surely a lot of leeway for embellishment there.

I also would really love to see the scouring of the Shire. Understandably the sequence would take a lot of reworking, since Jackson et al. chose to kill off Saruman and Wormtongue already at Isengard, but that kind of major revamping is hardly new to the team.

In any case, we’ll reserve final judgment until we know more. Here’s hoping it’ll be good.

*) Appendix B lists three years to do with the hunt for Gollum. First, in the year 3001, “Gandalf seeks for news of Gollum and calls on the help of Aragorn.” Second, in 3009, “Gandalf and Aragorn renew their hunt for Gollum at intervals during the next eight years, searching in the vales of Anduin, Mirkwood, and Rhovanion to the confines of Morder. At some time during these years Gollum himself ventured into Mordor, and was captured by Sauron.” Third, in 3017, “Gollum is released from Mordor. He is taken by Aragorn in the Dead Marshes, and brought to Thranduil in Mirkwood.”

In Creative Differences we discuss a topic or question that we both find interesting.

Theatrical Adaptation of LotR in Tampere

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Our fall is forming up to include a bit more J.R.R. Tolkien than usual: besides seeing The Art of John Howe in Tampere, we have tickets to see a theatrical adaptation of Taru sormusten herrasta (The Lord of the Rings)—also in Tampere.

There is a short but handsome trailer:

Taru Sormusten herrasta – Tampereen Teatteri & Tampere-talo by TampereenTeatteriTT on YouTube

(Note: There’s no captioning, and it’s only in Finnish, but mostly the trailer is non-verbal. In the beginning, the text reads Experience the world’s best-known adventure. At the end, while raising his staff Gandal says You cannot pass!)

Tampere Theatre, Tampere Hall, and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, have worked for four years to create the adaptation. I haven’t heard the reason why the play runs only about two months (Aug 22 to Sept 21, 2024 and Dec 18, 2024 to Jan 11, 2025); you’d think a slightly longer run might be warranted for such a large production. I do know it’s staged at Tampere Hall instead of Tampere Theatre’s own, beautiful historical building because the latter is under renovations. I also know that the production team had to make their own Finnish translation from scratch and that no songs were allowed due to limitations posed by The Tolkien Estate.

The sets and props look fantastic, as does the lighting and video projections. I’m not sure I agree with the Elven costuming, though; their profiles look a little too much like the female Hobbit / villager Hobbit profiles. Otherwise the wardrobe looks fabulous. You can’t tell about the soundscape on the basis of the trailer alone, but I have high hopes. I hope the Hall also works for the adaptation as a performance space.

We can’t wait to see it!

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The Art of John Howe in Tampere

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Last month we saw an exhibit of fantasy art by John Howe in Tampere-talo, Tampere, Finland. Titled The Art of John Howe: Journeys through the worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, the exhibit is the first time that Howe’s work has been comprehensively displayed in Finland.

2024 08 13 Howe Exhibit1

Over 250 original works were presented, from pencil drafts to finished color paintings and sculpture, along with sketchbooks and even some metal armor belonging to Howe. Some images were also enlarged into murals or banners, and a number of video screens scattered around the exhibit looped captioned interviews.

2024 08 13 Howe Exhibit2
2024 08 13 Howe Exhibit3

Apart from various illustrations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, on display were for example works on mythical topics or sagas, like Beowulf and Arthurian legends. Also various architectural or creature studies were included.

2024 08 13 Howe Exhibit4

The exhibit space was partitioned into irregular areas. Walls framed your route in interesting ways, and the murals created striking views. In one corner there was even a video with flying dragons projected up on the wall high above the framed artworks so that the dragons were visible from a distance. The art pieces had enough room, and no area was too small—clearly accessibility was planned in.

2024 08 13 Howe Exhibit5

There was no predetermined loop, merely a path suggested by the layout, which made it easy to pick your preferred viewing order and to avoid the occasional crowd. It was also easy to double back without first having to finish the whole route.

Color and lighting were used in a fascinating way. Most spot lights were warm orangey-brown or in the blue-purple range. Otherwise the hall was surprisingly dark, but not unsafely so. It was very interesting from a mood point of view.

2024 08 13 Howe Exhibit6
2024 08 13 Howe Exhibit7

Visitors were encouraged to take photos. Unfortunately, the ceiling lights reflected on the glass, which made photographing individual framed artworks difficult.

2024 08 13 Howe Exhibit8

It was great seeing the complexity, detail, and vividness of Howe’s art in person, not to mention the variety of his work. We were absolutely delighted to be able to visit!

Images by Eppu Jensen

In Making Stuff we share fun arts and crafts done by us and our fellow geeks and nerds.

Some Cozy Fiction Favorites

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Recently I’ve been very drawn to cozy fiction. I focus on SFF and mystery for the most part, but not exclusively; my consumption also tends to (but doesn’t exclusively) fall under fantasy. (I do also continue to read and watch other kinds of stories like competence porn). But regardless of genre, the works I enjoy the most share a certain element of comfort in them.

Thematically I need:

  • lower stakes—the problems must be smaller. (They can be large-ish for the characters, however.) No cataclysms or world-enders (i.e., quests that only the protagonist can complete before the looming threat will irrevocably ruin life in the whole universe), and absolutely nothing gloomily post-apocalyptic. Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree amply fills this criterion. (Although if L&L had had any more faffing about with coffee than it already did I might have screamed.) His Bookshops and Bonedust was good, too.
  • protagonists who either already have or within the story make at least one reliable, supporting connection. The Earthsea world by Ursula K. Le Guin has quite a few characters like this. (Nostalgia does also help.) A found family counts for me, too, of which the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers is a delightful example. (The Monk & Robot duology, however, I emphatically bounced off of.)
  • antagonists who form reasonable obstables, but aren’t too far-out or vile. I might mention The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.
  • things to eventually settle into a comfortable state. If not an outright happy ending like in The Princess Bride movie, then at least a kind of a happy ending. As Erik put it, as happy an ending as possible under the circumstances. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher comes to mind.
  • and last but not least, protagonists who know themselves and are comfortable with themselves and their place in the world, like Ellis Peters’s Brother Cadfael stories. (Sadly, you can’t binge read the series without quickly noticing what a boring copy-paste job Peters does with the featured young women—they tend to be perky and pretty and often strong-willed. That’s all fine and good, in itself, but there are already enough Smurfettes, thank you.)


As always, learning to work together is a huge bonus for me. Plus, the focus characters need to come across as rounded personalities, not paper dolls being carted around delivering plot-advancing lines. The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells handsomely fit these two criteria (even if some of the problems are larger), as does T. Kingfisher’s The Saint of Steel paladin series (even if there’s a little more romance than I’d generally care for).

There are also a number of works that fill some of the wishlist points but not others. Katherine Addison has added to the fascinating world of The Goblin Emperor in the excellent duology The Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones, which I’d count cozy otherwise (or cozy enough, like Christie’s mysteries), but the protagonist Thara remains troubled throughout, with just the tiniest glimpse of contentment at the end of TGoS.

The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott also follows a protagonist with a number of established allies, but the problem was too grand and some of the characters too snide to fit it into my comfort reads category. And the otherwise excellent Thorn by Intisar Khanani has a very nice but ultimately helpless human who remains far too helpless for far too long.

In the visual media, if possible I would like to pull everything concerning the village of Ta Lo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings into its own story; there isn’t too much of it in the Marvel Cinematic Universe version, but what there is is lovely. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit show snippets of the ultimate cozy setting, the Shire, but, alas, they don’t amount to a long sequence either.

Character-wise, the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series features a delightful growing friendship between young Leia and Obi-Wan, but I couldn’t call the series cozy otherwise. To venture into the historical, most Jane Austen adaptations and the Miss Marple series with Joan Hickson always deliver. In fact, we just finished a most satisfying Miss Marple rewatch. 🙂

Unsplash Mariah Krafft Hygge Essentials Sm



There is, however, something elusive about my sense of cozy fiction which I haven’t yet been able to quite put my finger on. Oddly, as much as like tea, taking a mystery and slapping in ample servings of tea doesn’t necessarily cut it. For instance, Malka Older’s The Mimicking of Known Successes and The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles were complete misfires for me.

Some commentaries on the rising popularity of cozy fiction talk about foregrounding sensory details. That might have something to do with the appeal, although I think an overload is an overload regardless of what you’re overloading. (Hello there, Legends and Lattes, faffing about coffee.) I suspect, though, that the crucial factor for me is the protagonist’s sense of comfort with their situation; a comfortable amount of self-knowledge or self-awareness. I’ll have to think about it some more.

Apart from this mystery ingredient, it seems the works I enjoy most right now are basically about recognition of the ordinary. They have ordinary people persevering, or, in case of people with extraordinary skills, characters who nevertheless know how ordinary they are in other respects. Quite ordinary motives behind even the most elaborate murder plots. Or perhaps simply the enjoyment of commonplace situations and routines—but in a SFFnal setting, because I do still want a little bit of a twist in my fiction. 🙂

With the past three years having been very trying, I don’t wonder at taking comfort in a slower pace, lower-stakes challenges, more familiar burdens, and happy endings. With tea and yummy noms, if possible.

I may, in fact, be turning into an old cat, LOL! 🙂

Unsplash Sebastian Latorre Cat Sleeping Sm

Anything you could recommend along these lines? Do chime in! Also, if you have any cozy gaming experiences, I’d love to hear about them.

Images via Unsplash: Hygge essentials by Mariah Krafft. Cat sleeping by Sebastian Latorre.

Story Time is all about story-telling and how stories work, and what makes us love our favorites.

A Homebrew Alchemy System for Dungeons & Dragons

Erik

In one of the Dungeons & Dragons games I DM for, there is a player who is very into the idea of gathering herbs and brewing magic potions. The base game as written doesn’t have much in the way of rules for alchemy, so we’ve just been winging it for the better part of a year. That worked, but it wasn’t as satisfying as either of us would like, so I finally sat down and brewed up a set of rules for herb-gathering and alchemy. Here’s what we’re playing with now. Feel free to use this or adapt it, if it seems like it might be a fun addition to your own games.

Alchemy

An alchemical system for Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition.

Harvesting herbs

To collect herbs, you must be in an environment where wild plants grow. The DM will determine whether there is anything available for you to gather. Specific environments may give you advantage or disadvantage to your roll, at the DM’s discretion. Gathering herbs takes an hour.

Roll a Nature check to see whether you successfully collect herbs and how much. If you have an Herbalism kit and the proficiency to use it, you may add your proficiency bonus to the roll

Once you have harvested an area, whether you successfully gathered herbs there or not, the plants need a month to regrow before you can harvest the same area again (unless they are affected by magic that causes plant growth).

Nature checkHerbs collected
Less than 11None
11 – 151 batch
16 – 202 batches
21 – 253 batches
26 or more4 batches

For each batch of herbs you collect, roll 1d6 to determine what type of herbs you find. (You can also choose to target a specific kind of herbs when you harvest. If you do, you make your harvesting roll at disadvantage, but all herbs you collect are of the kind you want.) Keep track of how many batches of herbs you have of each type.

1d6 rollHerb type
1bark
2berries
3fungi
4leaves
5roots
6seeds

Making potions

To make potions, you must have enough herbs of the right types (1 batch of each type listed on the table below, unless the chart calls for more). Some potions require special ingredients, to be determined by the DM. Each brewing attempt consumes the given amount of herbs and takes one hour.

Roll an Arcana check to attempt to make each potion. If you have proficiency with Alchemist’s supplies, you may add your proficiency bonus to the roll. If you do not have alchemical equipment, you have disadvantage on the check. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the herbs are consumed. The DC for the check depends on the rarity of the potion you are trying to make:

Potion rarityArcana DC
Common10
Uncommon15
Rare20
Very rare25
Legendary30
  • If you succeed on your Arcana check by 4 or less, you make 1 potion of the chosen type.
  • If you succeed on your Arcana check by 5 to 9, you make 1d4 potions of the chosen type.
  • If you succeed on your Arcana check by 10 or more, you make 1d6 potions of the chosen type.

(A DM might also allow a Medicine check in place of an Arcana check, or let proficiency with a Poisoner’s kit apply to the roll, depending on what kind of potions the character is brewing.)

PotionRarityHerbs required
AntitoxinCommonBark, berries, seeds
Oil of EtherealnessRareBark, leaves x3, roots
Oil of SharpnessVery rareFungi x4, leaves x2, roots x2
Oil of SlipperinessUncommonBark, leaves, roots, seeds
Philter of LoveUncommonBerries, fungi, leaves, roots
Potion of Animal FriendshipUncommonBerries, leaves, roots, seeds
Potion of ClairvoyanceRareFungi, leaves x2, roots x2
Potion of ClimbingCommonBark, leaves, roots
Potion of DiminutionRareFungi, leaves x3, roots
Potion of FlyingVery rareBark x2, leaves x4, roots x2
Potion of Gaseous FormRareBark, leaves 2x, roots, seeds
Potion of Giant Strength (Hill)UncommonBark, leaves 2x, roots
Potion of Giant Strength (Stone/Frost)RareBark 2x, leaves 2x, roots
Potion of Giant Strength (Fire)RareBark 2x, leaves 2x, roots
Potion of Giant Strength (Cloud)Very rareBark 3x, leaves 3x, roots
Potion of Giant Strength (Storm)LegendaryBark 4x, leaves 4x, roots, special
Potion of GrowthUncommonBark, leaves 2x, seeds
Potion of HealingCommonBerries, leaves, seeds
Potion of Greater HealingUncommonBerries 2x, leaves, seeds
Potion of Superior HealingRareBerries 2x, leaves, seeds 2x
Potion of Supreme HealingVery rareBerries 3x, leaves 2x, seeds 2x
Potion of HeroismRareBark, berries, leaves, roots, seeds
Potion of InvisibilityVery rareLeaves 3x, roots 2x, seeds
Potion of InvulnerabilityRareBark 2x, leaves, roots, seeds
Potion of Mind ReadingRareFungi, leaves, roots 2x, seeds
Potion of PoisonUncommonFungi 2x, roots, seeds
Potion of ResistanceUncommonBark, berries, roots, seeds
Potion of SpeedVery rareFungi 2x, leaves 2x, roots 2x
Potion of Water BreathingUncommonBark, berries, leaves, roots
Restorative OintmentUncommonBark, berries, seeds 2x
Sovereign GlueLegendaryBark 2x, fungi, leaves 2x, roots 4x, special
Universal SolventLegendaryBerries, fungi 3x, leaves, seeds 2x, roots 2x, special

The table above includes only items listed in the Systems Reference Document released by Wizards of the Coast under Creative Commons. If you want to expand this table to include other potions and items, you can apply the following principles:

Determine how many ingredients the potion requires. The number of ingredients depends on the rarity of the potion.

RarityIngredients
Common3
Uncommon4
Rare5
Very rare6 – 7
Legendary9 plus a special ingredient

Determine which ingredients are needed. The table below gives some general suggestions, but feel free to choose whichever ones feel right for the potion in question.

IngredientFunction
barkprotection, endurance
berrieshealing, strength
fungiharm, power
leavestransformation, deception
rootscreation, discovery
seedsrestoration, growth

Images: Algorithmically generated images made with Night Cafe: alchemist’s workshop, forest, potion bottle

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DIY Illusionary Labyrinth Wall from the Movie Labyrinth

Eppu

This is so epic and ingenious! Jen and John at Epbot built in their home a DIY version of the illusionary labyrinth wall from the movie Labyrinth for a theme party. You remember, the one with the worm? “Come inside, meet the missus!”

Epbot Jen John Labyrinth Wall

Here are a couple of behind-the-scenes photos:

Epbot Jen John Labyrinth Wall Behind Scenes1
Epbot Jen John Labyrinth Wall Behind Scenes2

As you can see, they built a small temporary wall to make a small hallway to step into. The opening between the rooms was partially covered with faux brick panels. Careful painting and lighting complete the illusion. (They even added the worm! Squee!)

Go ahead and visit Jen and John’s post for a video of John stepping through the opening—it’s really impressive! And other posts document the build process (one, two, three), the guest costumes, and a final reveal.

Such commitment – not to mention planning and building skills. Kudos!

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Someone Liked Our Rohan Recipes

Erik2 Comments

Well, how about that!

We just discovered that our recipes for the Riders of Rohan were referenced in a piece of Middle Earth fanfiction over on Archive of Our Own. The story is called “she had a spirit and courage at least the match of yours” by shOokspeared, and it’s a lovely little slice-of-life tale following Éowyn on a visit to the Shire in the days of peace after the War of the Ring. In a letter home to her husband Faramir, Éowyn mentions enjoying the familiar tastes of braised beef and saffron and cream pancakes for lunch with her Hobbit friends one day.

We’re astonished and delighted to see that our work is still interesting and useful to others!

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A Wondrous Jaina Proudmoore by Ibelinn Cosplay

Eppu

Ibelinn Cosplay from Norway made an absolutely astoundingly accurate cosplay outfit of Jaina Proudmoore. Take a look:

Imgur Ibelinn Cosplay Jaina Proudmoore

Everything looks like an exact match: the layers, the embellishments, the shading, the shapes—down to the stupid-awkward blocky shape of the World of Warcraft cloaks. It’s almost uncanny!

She shares more photos of her version of Jaina on Imgur, including the staff for the outfit, and more Ibelinn cosplays on Instagram. I highly encourage you to visit and admire!

Image by Ibelinn Cosplay via Imgur

In Making Stuff we share fun arts and crafts done by us and our fellow geeks and nerds.