Ma Mian (with Li of Gladden)

Ma Mian, translating to "Horse Face," in Chinese mythology is one of the two guardians - together with Ox Head - of the Underworld. In many stories, it is they who escort the recently deceased to the Underworld for judgement, punishment, cleansing, and finally reincarnation. 

Okay I have to say that Li may be my current favourite guest contributor as 1) she keeps using Chinese themes in her outfits (friends of mine can vouch for my intense fascination and obsession with the culture), and 2) the sheer absurdity that she makes look acceptable I find simply astonishing! I mean, she walks around with a donkey mask pretending to be a guardian of the Underworld who canonically has a horse for a face. And just look at that super weird colour scheme for an entity that escorts you to the Underworld! 

Another brilliant thing Li did was to use a horse-themed shield to reinforce the point that her outfit is meant to have a horse face and not a donkey's. It's the little things that really matter! Besides that, the spear she chose is slightly reminiscent of a trident, one of the canonical weapons born by Ox Head and Horse Face. The dedication to detail of my favourite culture is simply what makes me so excited every time Li comes up with something new!

Li suggested the Barrow-downs as the location for the photoshoot, and I recalled the time Gildomir had his pictures taken here. It really is phenomenal to see the differences and similarities between both outfits and their impact on their surrounding environment. For starters, both have a goofy side to them, using a silly head piece. On the other hand, they both represent, to many, fear and terror and death. Plus, the stark contrast in their colour scheme is intriguing as well: Gildomir's outfit featured typical Halloween colours (black, orange, & green) whereas Li's Ma Mian outfit takes inspiration from statues of Horse Face around Asia, such as shrines in Taiwan and Singapore, using much lighter and a more colourful palette, one not typically associated with terror. As always, well done, Li!

Head: Donkey Mask (white);

Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the Mighty Verse (bullroarer's green)

Chest: Lore-keeper's Robe (belegaer blue);

Feet: Ragged Leather Boots (black).

A Flying Flare (with Kyix of Gladden)

I rescheduled the posts to accommodate this outfit being posted here when it is because I wanted to board the "use new Mordor quest rewards" ship as soon as possible. After all, what point would there be to let people see outfits based on these pieces starting June next year (yes, I have posts scheduled until then)? 

By now, Kyix is no stranger to My Middle-earth Mode, and her constant contributions have been stellar so far.* This one, however, takes the word "stellar" and brings it further as the outfit simply glimmers under the light of the sun, gleaming hope into the hearts of all the citizens of Gondor. Obviously, the winged theme is used here in the boots, gloves and helm, but my favourite part of the outfit is its use of armour/cosmetic pieces from all over the place.

* I just realised that she has submitted many outfits but only two, including this one, have been published so far.

The helm, albeit winged themed as well, isn't actually part of a Gondorian armour set - both gloves and feet are - but rather is a quest reward from Dunland. Not only that, but the shoulderpiece used here is a 2016 Summer Festival cosmetic item which I imagine shouldn't have Gondorian history behind it - but it works so well!

I feel that the chestpiece is the one piece to bind them all together in such success. Being a one-piecer, it allows for a consistency from the neck all through the torso and legs to the feet, which allows for  more deviations from the set in other areas. Also, looking at the outfit from close up shows the obvious and beautiful glints of light on the metal pieces all over; and I can totally see this being used to great effect in Mordor as the idea of this outfit contradicts the very nature of Mordor, giving hope to those who would fight alongside Kyix in such a dark and desolate place.

Overall, I utterly love this contribution from Kyix, and she has really raised the bar for the quality of outfits on this blog from today on. I might just try my hand at using some Mordor quest pieces in my outfits right now, despite just starting my second semester here at Berklee College of Music - all is going really well, by the way! 

Head: Reinforced Leather Dunlending Helm (Belegaer blue);

Shoulders: Mantle of the Summer Sea (grey);

Back: Cloak of the Unwelcomed Huest (Belegaer blue);

Chest: Invader's Heavy Hauberk (Belegaer blue);

Hands: Heavy Nadhin Gloves (steel blue);

Feet: Heavy Nadhin Boots* (Belegaer blue).

* although supposedly being in the same set as the gloves, this piece has a very different look from the gloves. Kyix said she found it on the Auction House, but I haven't been able to find any of the other pieces in that likeness, so I can't say if there is a whole set like this or if it's just the boots.