Celebrating the My Middle-earth Mode family!

After a year and a half, I'd like to celebrate the ever-growing My Middle-earth Family, as well as (finally!) an actual logo for the blog!

Just a huge thank you to:

1) my inspirations, the other LOTRO fashion websites, and especially Nathrien of Material Middle-earth whose comments bring a smile to my face and motivates me to keep doing this;

2) the friends I've made on Gladden who contribute to the blog by sending me screenshots of their toons in costumes they made: Kyix, Sintuilë & Halygr;

3) my audiences from all across the globe, who make it worth actually documenting these outfits and publishing them online.

The Gathering at Bingo Boffin's

Alas, all great things must come to an end.

Not an outfit post, but I thought this deserved a place on the blog. I never got around to following Bingo Boffin on his adventure because I was too focused on end-game content. However, recently I've been stuck at outfitting due to the lack of new clothe pieces. I sought out Mr Boffins hoping his adventure would provide me some new and interesting armour/cosmetic rewards, but what I found was much more valuable.

I remember when the first Hobbit movie came out, I made a new toon just to re-xperience stepping into the wonderful yet dangerous world of Middle-earth for the first time, just like Bilbo had. Little did I know I would be much more satisfied feeling like a complete amateur adventurer on my almost maxed level Hunter, Eadyth. 

Even though I rushed through what was meant to be taken weekly (like I did with my first season of Gotham), I managed to grow very fond of the many companions I met along the way, Willem Whisker definitely being my favourite.

Yet, so many other characters who joined us were colourful (both in personality and in clothing - yes, I'm speaking about Theodore): barterers, treasure hunters, Dourhands, elves, horse-lords, skin-changers, distant kin, and even an old foe from the past now redeemed.

However, with so many friends met along the way, I have to admit I don't know many of them that well, as some were just passing acquaintances. Despite that, I think I would have appreciated each and every one of these characters as Eadyth would, were they real. 

It's moments like this too that remind me of my inevitable need to leave all my friends behind as Bingo has. The last 5 years in my high school have been the best years of my life, and there are a great many people I wish I didn't have to leave behind. I won't lie that I had not my share of ill-fortunes: falling into darkness, not knowing who I was, dealing with traitors. Thank Eru I didn't face a dragon! But if I've learnt one thing from my adventures with Bingo, it's that "it is difficult to say goodbye, but we had better leave now or we won't." 

Despite that, the fellowships made throughout the journey proves that truly special companions are those that will be remembered for long, especially when hobbit meets dwarf, skin-changer, or even great eagle! 

Perhaps I should have a gathering as Bingo has to celebrate the companionship I've had with my very own unique set of fellows, while not skin-changers or hobbits themselves, noteworthy in their own special ways. But when I do leave, I wish them all the best in their future adventures, and may they be filled with unusual happenings and great companions as well. We will see each other again - I don't leave to the Undying Lands, after all.

Athenian in Anguish

LORE-BREAKING! But then again, I created Eafrith for this particular outfit (I had it equipped on Eadyth before). Anyway, she stands ready to face whatever may threaten the acropolis of her Goddess Athena. Nothing will show such disrespect for the sacred temple while she still draws breath defending it.

Upon coming back from the war, Eafrith discovers that her home has been destroyed, with only a few pillars standing and a lot of rubble. She ventures into the desolation that once was familiar to her, only to find sorrow and the stench of death.

I drew inspiration for the outfit from the collective costume design of Lampito (of course, Lampito is Spartan, but whatever right?) by my classmates for our A Level drama course, as we are exploring Lysistrata, a comedy from Ancient Greece. It features the only pair of 'skirts' in the entire game that mimic the skirt-like armour that we agreed Greek warriors wore. 

Up at the acropolis, she removes the cruel beaks that prey on the bodies of her friends. Fending them off one by one, she treats them as mercilessly as they have treated the carcasses within the broken temple. I chose to expose her head and face, not using a helmet as soldiers of Athens would normally, mainly because it was hard finding a helm that was reminiscent of Athenian warriors (one that I felt looked good was the Helm of the Eastment, but it is green and undyeable), and also I wanted the show the face and marks of her face, which I felt emphasised a sense of anguish.

Thank you again, Halygr, for helping me take the pictures. Once again, I couldn't have achieved the angles I ended up using for this post without your help.

Head: Arrows of the West Helmet (umber);

Shoulders: Lesser Blade of the West Shoulder Guards (steel blue);

Chest: Isengard Prisoner Shirt (sienna);

Back: Worn Cloak of the Ranger (red);

Hands: Leather Bracers of the Learned Stag (crimson);

Legs: Threadbare Leggings of the Dunland Healer (walnut brown);

Feet: Anorien Battle Boots (steel blue).

Mace and Mistress

You can tell it was hard to construct a name using alliteration when I refer to Eafrith's weapon as a mace instead of a Guardian's Great Club of the Second Age. Anyway, that's what this outfit was modeled after, and I tried to imitate the colour scheme and even shape of the weapon as much as possible. 

Now, I know that this outfit is very similar to Nathrien's Captain's Arm outfit, and that we both created our outfits based on the look of the weapon. In my defense, I hadn't yet seen her outfit by the time I finished making this. It's no surprise that we would do this though as cosmetic weapons are a fairly new addition to the cosmetic system in LOTRO, and I guess we're just outfit-holics trying to make use of the system as much as possible. But as I've told all my friends (in real life, anyway) Nathrien is a huge inspiration to me in the fashion of LOTRO and I have the utmost respect for her and her work. So please, if for some strange reason you know of my blog but not hers, go on and follow her, keep yourself updated, because her outfits are extraordinary! 

I love the detail on the different pieces of armour, especially how there is chainmail in almost every piece, and how it all matches in design and colour despite being from completely different sets (we all know how chainmail can differ from each other). I especially find it amazing how well the foot-piece fits with the entirety of the outfit, despite coming from an armour set that I wouldn't normally associate with the rest of the pieces. I remember trying out countless numbers of boots with more interesting designs, but in the end I realised that perhaps what I needed was something simple to fill the gaps, and that's when I turned to the 'heavy armour' filter in the Auction House. 

As you can see, I tried to recreate the star-like shape of the weapon using the shoulder and head pieces. I also deliberately used red on the gloves to imitate the small red gem-like ornaments on the handle of the club. Also, to compliment the star-like design, I used a leg piece that included an insignia of a sun also in gold. 

The location is Duillond as I love how the blue and gold stand out from the beautiful purple and green of the scenery. Aside from that, the outfit is what I thought a really high-ranked elf warrior would wear. The spiked edges are reminiscent of the sharp edges that the elves wear in Jackson's Middle-earth adaptations, but overall this outfit is more fantastical than the more realistic Lord of the Rings trilogy (well, I thought it was pretty realistic for a fantasy). Even in the darkness of the night does this outfit look beautiful against the purple sky. 

Again, let me thank my good friend Halygr for helping me take these amazing shots. I admit, this outfit has some of my favourite screenshots ever, and those could not be achieved without help from another player.

Head: Ceremonial Dragon-scale Helm (sea blue);

Shoulders: Ceremonial High-protector's Shoulders (sea blue);

Chest: Ceremonial War-captain's Breastplate (sea blue);

Hands: Sermaib (red);

Legs: Ceremonial Thunderstruck Trousers (sea blue);

Feet: Enduring Scale Shoes of Fleetness (walnut brown).

Woodland Wanderer

Sent from the Vales of Anduin to seek Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Eafrith gears up in her travel garments as well as a sturdy helm she bought when she arrived at the Bree Auction House. 

While browsing through the Auction House (what I've spent my last week doing) I found a chest piece I immediately thought was beautiful. It had been a long time since I created a medium-armoured outfit such as this (my last being on my dwarf champion I no longer play). I've always liked how the armour, especially medium armour, had such interesting colour combinations, and I made it a point to utilise as many of the natural undyeable colours as possible.

I initially wanted to keep Eafrith's head visible as much as possible because of the tattoo around her right eye and her hairstyle which I thought is cool, although probably not very lore-abiding. Unfortunately, there are just so many head pieces that aren't crowns or circlets that show off the hair, and I wanted to use some metal in the outfit (similarly on my dwarf as well). 

Head: Steadfast Westfold Assult Helm (olive);

Shoulders: Grimbeorn's Shoulders (umber);

Chest: Short-sleeved Shirt of Vigour (gold);

Hands: Gleaming Westernesse Leather Gauntlets (olive);

Legs: Garthraw (navy);

Feet: Ceremonial Pathfinder's Boots (olive).