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.

Artificial Auroch

I'm really surprised I hadn't yet posted this considering this outfit was one of the earlier ones I've made. Nonetheless, here it finally is. Also worth noting is that I used the chicken head cosmetic helm for a long time before switching to this one here.

After making so many outfits, I realised something: I don't really have a deep, long, processed train of thought when I do - the outfits just happen. I might have a theme, a colour, a piece, something, but other than that, it's whatever I find and whatever I think fits. This outfit is no exception, in fact it might be the outfit that began me using this strategy.

The idea was to make a badass piece of armour for a goofy chicken head helm, and so I got some of the biggest plates and leathers together in a brownish tone, mixed-matched the different hues of brown, and voila! this outfit was a reality, and from about level 20-60 the head was a chicken. Now I've forgotten why I switched out, but it might have been due to the story becoming more serious, and so did my outfit have to mirror that. It doesn't stop Isenbran from goofing around from time to time, however...

Head: Keen Helm of Determination (white);

Shoulders: Ceremonial Town-saver's Shoulders (white);

Chest: Ceremonial Breastplate of the Aurochs (sienna);

Feet: Ceremonial Pathfinder's Leggings (rust).

Wickie de Viking

Daar is Wickie, hier is Wickie! It's no secret that I've recently become almost obsessed with the Dutch musical Wickie de Musical (based on the characters from Wickie de Viking), even to the point of actually learning Dutch. I was on LOTRO one day while listening to the songs on Youtube when the idea hit me to make an outfit as tribute to my new favourite viking.

"Vikings val aan!" schreeuwt de kleine viking. I based his appearance on Remi De Smet's portrayal in the musical, mainly because I wasn't able to recreate the slightly blue colour of metal in both animated versions of Wickie. Also, it made more sense as I am more attached to Remi's Wickie than I am to the animated series', much the opposite of most fans of the musical who would have had Wickie as a part of their childhood. 

The helm was a no-brainer, and I particularly love it for the undyeable orange on the sides mimicking the orange bob-hairstyle worn by the viking boy. The shoulders were simple enough to decide on, but it took me a while earning Turbine Points just to buy Mithril Coins to make the purchase in Laila's Market, specially for the pinkish lining at the top as opposed to simply using the Mathom-hunter's Shoulder-pads because it has a dark blue.

The chest piece however was a real challenge, as I initially had the Lesser Cry of the West Breastplate which I had ready for use in my wardrobe. The problems was that it had a thick design, making it pop through both the shoulder-pads and the purple bracers on the arms which I felt was essential. I looked around for a decent chest piece with mail and almost couldn't find any until I remembered that Eadyth was an armourer. I logged on her and looked through what she could make and took a leap of faith. Thankfully, it fits well with the other two pieces.

Despite still having a duty to defend Middle-earth, Isenbran doesn't take his cosplaying lightly, and even arms himself with the appropriate sword and shield, though they be not as strong as his other weapons and protection. It's really a fine thing that he's a minstrel, and doesn't have to charge head-on into the forces of darkness. No number of prayers to Lieve Freya can protect him from folly arm choices, and orcs are definitely more intimidated by the Dwarvish Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! than the Dutch Vikings val aan!, mainly due to the language barrier. 

For a viking, Isenbran isn't a good boatman, losing his ship to the Storm op zee. 

Head: Ceremonial Helm of the Aurochs (white);

Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the Mighty Verse (white);

Chest: Elven Iron Armour (grey);

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

Legs: Ceremonial Leggings of the Graven Word (purple);

Feet: Ceremonial Thrill-seeker's Boots (gold).

Singer of the Sutcrofts

Isenbran, friend to and song-singer of the Rohirrim, travels the land of the Horse-lords in search of battle, but more importantly, in search of heroes of whom he writes epics and lays about. Armed with a hammer and shield of Rohan, along his trusty theorbo, he roams the vast green lands.

My apologies, I didn't initially want to post a Rohan-themed outfit next, but I thought that my Hobbit deserved some attention. The base of this outfit was the breastplate (yes, this is the heavy-armoured Hobbit minstrel I mentioned in my previous post) that I got a long time ago when Isenbran just reached level 75, I believe, from one of the quests I completed in my desperate rush to get my first war-steed. Also, notice how I've been using alliteration in titles so far; have a guess/personal bet how long I can keep this up!

At the time I was creating this outfit, I particularly enjoyed putting light armour on heavy-armoured classes, and vice versa. I wondered what it would look like having a fully armoured minstrel charge into the middle of the battlefield, especially during epic battles at Helm's Deep, since minstrels are such hard hitters anyway. I was satisfied with how it looked - it was different - and decided to keep the breastplate on.

The Map-maker's Travel Pack was intended for another minstrel character I made to play with a friend, but since she stopped playing I had stopped playing that minstrel as well, so I thought maybe Isenbran could use that back piece in an outfit. I was surfing through my wardrobe when I accidentally clicked on it, then suddenly I saw a battle-ready minstrel. All I needed was a helm, and thankfully I had one in the wardrobe at the time as well that fit the Rohirric theme of the breastplate. With that, my outfit was completed. I keep hands and feet exposed as to not forget his roots as a humble hobbit, but just look at how well he fits in among the big folk of Rohan!

Head: Enduring Great River Helmet of Agility (olive);

Chest: Utred's Decorated Breastplate (red);

Back: Map-maker's Travel Pack (dark green).