#also also yes im giving him all my weird sensory hangups im valid

[nelyoslegalteam]

thinking about the timeline of my murdoc designs in game today so i’m gonna infodump

teen/young adult/early game

very insecure in his presentation

dresses Plain But Nice - likes a fitted dress shirt and a simple necktie sort of deal. not a jewelry person and doesn’t really take to embellishments on things.

color scheme tends a bit lighter - whites and baby blues as base colors, with some dark purples and goldenrod yellows as accents.

around the inn i think he experiments with suit pieces but probably isn’t wearing them much on the road yet. discovers he’s good with a waistcoat/suit vest. occasional nice jacket but doesn’t really end up keeping this as a look as he hates having That Much Fabric around his arms.

went a bit overboard on cutting his hair short for the first time and is very sensitive about the length. crops it pretty close, probably a lot more than is typical for a hobbitish hairstyle. learns that he likes to shave it off his neck both because having sensory input back there sucks and also because it feels a bit euphoric for him. curls on top still but he puts in a lot of effort to keep them looking neat and they’re still short for a hobbit.

does NOT wear armor. hates how bulky and constrictive it feels and really doesn’t consider it a necessity since he mostly fights from a distance anyhow. does wear a proper arm guard and archery glove for shooting though. hates trying to wear his arm guard over his sleeves so he takes to cuffing his dress shirts pretty dramatically to accommodate for it.

late-early game/early-mid game/new to being a public figure

acquires some of his signature Fancy items - most notably, this is when he gets his cape, which becomes his signature statement piece for the rest of the game. floor length, slightly heavier cape with midnight blue fabric as the base, heavily embroidered down the outside with iridescent “dragon” scales. are the scales fake? yeah. pretty much definitely. BUT they’re shiny with all sorts of purple and green tones like how crow feathers are and they look real neat. golden clasp and gold shoulder pieces.

murdoc’s still not quite a jewelry person but he does adopt gold as his metal to match the cape. also acquires some nice diamond cufflinks from thranduil’s halls and now cuffing his sleeves dramatically has the added bonus of showing them off.

suit vests are now a mainstay of his outfits, especially on the road. reinforces them with some flexible leather on the inside because his friends gently bullied him into wearing Some form of armor and at least that doesn’t feel too bulky or constricting.

starts incorporating royal/dark purples and blues as base colors in his outfits, either on his neckties or on his suit pieces. color scheme shifts a little darker overall to feature said dramatic purples and blues, with white and goldenrod as accent colors.

neckties also get a Lot fancier and he does like an elegant or flashy pin for them. loves a cravat or a ruffled collar on his shirt. learns he likes to dress up even when he’s just running about in the woods.

still shaves his neck for the sensory benefits but lets his curls get a little longer up top. partially this is because a close crop is harder to keep up as he spends more and more time on the road but also partially it’s… nice, to feel less pressure in the way he presents and to let his hair look more typically hobbitish again.

mid game/established as a public figure

hits a point where he becomes a Lot more comfortable and confident about his presentation and starts to absolutely relish being as sparkly and fancy as he possibly can. develops a taste for jewelry and starts experimenting with it. really leans into it after maedhros joins the party and murdoc gets close to him.

has an ornate necklace of rubies inlaid in gold, and a singular matching dangly earring, worn on the left. he gets these before meeting maedhros, but only settles on rubies as his stone after they get close, as the red becomes a private nod to him.

color scheme shifts to accommodate this - his main colors remain royal (or dark) purple and royal (or dark) blue with white to break things up, but his accents are now jewel-tone red and gold.

doesn’t change his hair any really - still likes it longer up top and shorter in the back - but isn’t as fussed about letting it get a bit longer if he’s been on the road for some time. sometimes when it’s long enough, ríros likes to do some braids in it - given that murdoc keeps his hair much shorter than most elves keep theirs, and also that it is a mess of curls, braiding it works better with maedhros walking them through smaller, more complex noldorin style braids. murdoc can’t really wear these in public though so he only keeps them in when it’s just him and the party. ríros does like figuring out how to get sindarin braids to stay in murdoc’s hair though and murdoc does leave these in around people, especially if they’ve been traveling for a while.

late game/post-hand loss/current

keeps his color scheme, ornate style of dress, and love of jewelry, but starts favoring looser fitted clothing, Especially when it comes to shirts.

wears braces for spine and shoulder support beneath his clothes. much like with his arm guard, he hates the feeling of trying to put them on over fabric, so his shirts get more blousy and campy. he Does like the aesthetic of it, but largely it’s so that he can move more comfortably and avoid anything constricting around or under his aids.

his injuries are actually pretty similar to maedhros’ on account of the hand loss and the damage to his spine and shoulder from being dangled, so he goes to maedhros a lot for advice and help. his braces are at least somewhat modeled after maedhros’ own, and maedhros helped design them on account of having a pretty good idea of what would help.

leaves his right uncovered; he’s got a special arm brace modified with a hook for him to draw his bow with, and it’s both more comfortable to wear and easier to take off/put on with his arm uncovered. still not opposed to a good dramatic cuff, but shirts without full sleeves end up feeling less bulky and are easier to manage. likes a good poofy sleeve that buttons neatly below his elbow.

notably, does Not give a fuck about covering his right in polite company either, or about wearing anything on it that doesn’t have a specific function for him. is simply Not going to do that. his ability to shut down bullshit was forged in the entire hospitality industry and he does not have any reservations about anything anymore. did You fight a werewolf? no? then kindly shut up :)

gives up on cropping his hair shorter in the back, and lets it get shaggier and more neck length. it’s a Very hobbitish look. he completely hates it from a sensory standpoint, but he doesn’t really have the energy for anything requiring more precise or more frequent maintenance. it’s fine aesthetically when he’s at the inn or staying somewhere longterm where he can get up the spoons to wrangle it to be as intentionally styled as he likes, and it’s nice to have the visual reminder of his heritage when This Many years of adventuring have started to wear on how hobbitish he feels, but it’s a fucking Sensory Pain when on the road. hates having it loose if he doesn’t have the spoons to style it and is very insecure about how unpresentable it looks. ríros helps a lot by modifying sindarin style braids for murdoc’s length, and maedhros helps a lot by advising on what’s easiest and most comfortable for murdoc to maintain on his own and/or keep in longterm. almost always has those modified sindarin braids in while on the road, equally because he likes the look of them, because they’re comfortable from a sensory standpoint, and because letting ríros braid his hair for him is important bonding time for them both.