That legendary evil beast Mukumuku...

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Poor Mukumuku!!! Described as a 'legendary evil beast', he can be found in the Valley only during the Winter Season. He is a Yeti, an 'Abominable Snowman', but in fact is the sweetest, most innocent creature one ever could encounter... but Daryl doesn't think so! Daryl is determined to capture the evil beast...

This conflict between the two characters is nothing new. In 'A Wonderful Life', Daryl's greatest ambition was the capture of Mukumuku. There were a number of events in the game wherein Daryl tried one sort of bait after another in an attempt to lure Mukumuku into captivity. He never succeeded.

Your character, on the other hand, can establish a close relationship with the Yeti very easily. Simply give him a flower and you will raise his FP by 9 points. In fact, the 1st day of Winter is Mukumuku's birthday. It is your first opportunity to meet him as well. He will appear at a position near the Goddess Spring at 4.00 p.m. each day in Winter. Give him any sort of flower to raise his FP. On the 1st day of Winter, you will find him at 32 FP. Giving him one flower will raise his FP to 77FP as it is worth 5x its ordinary value. Give him two more to raise him above 100FP.

Even without raising his friendship level, you can experience his first event on 1 Winter by entering and exiting the Sprite Company Tree. You then will experience an event involving Daryl and Mukumuku...

It is the first installment in HM Cute of the historial conflict between the two... Daryl attempts to capture the 'legendary evil beast', determined to use his own strength rather than the bait his 'ancestor' used in 'A Wonderful Life'.

(There is a strange little twist in the game wherein all characters supposedly are the descendants of their identical 'ancestors' in previous games. I prefer to think of them as the same characters myself... after all, they have the same appearance, the same names, the same Likes and Dislikes and the same histories.)

It is a little laughable to consider Daryl in the role of strongman, especially if you have experienced his Goddess Spring event with Flora, and witnessed his utter defeat at her hands! As one might imagine, Daryl is no more successful in capturing Mukumuku than his 'ancestor'.

If you raise Mukumuku to 100 FP on 1 Winter by giving him flowers on his birthday, you will experience another event with him on 2 Winter when you exit your farmhouse.

You will experience the first of Thomas' Winter Request events as well... In the case of Thomas, he will come to your door requesting a random item in order to win a wager with the 'Mayor of a neighbouring town'. Give him the item he requests in order to obtain a piece of Golden Lumber AND rescue a Sprite.

In the case of Mukumuku, if you have raised his FP to 100, he will appear at your door with a gift: a Big Fish! It is a very brief encounter but rather sweet. If you are interested in experiencing all of Leia's events, give her the Big Fish, as it is her Most Favourite item. You should try to have her at Yellow Heart level at least by the end of Winter, as you then will be able to catch a Bottled Message for her with a mystrile fishing rod in Spring.

The Bottled Message can be caught only if you have a fishing rod at mystrile level and only if Leia is at Yellow Heart level or higher. If you have been visiting her regularly with gifts, you should have her at Orange Heart level by the beginning of Winter, well on her way to deepest red... Remember, even in Cute, you can 'propose' to any of the Magical Girls and have a 'Best Friend' instead of a spouse.

There are more events with Mukumuku, but they will be covered later...

N.B. The second photograph shows Mukumuku at his regular position near the Goddess Spring and at your first encounter with him, when he will be at 32FP. Freya gives him a Blue Magic Grass flower to raise his FP instantly to 77FP on his birthday.

With Winter comes Snow, Mukumuku and Finest Curry

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Ordinarily, I would not be too excited about the advent of Winter in Harvest Moon, although I do love the beauty of fallen snow, contrary to the small white lie I told Kai in his Heart Event... I was obliged to declare Summer to be paramount in my list of seasons, when in fact I prefer Spring and Autumn... (I do hope Kai hasn't any sort of access to my journals!!!)

In any case, in Harvest Moon Cute, I eagerly awaited Winter, counting down the days, because Winter brings White Grass, an ingredient required in Finest Curry. Why should I care so deeply about Finest Curry? Only because it is Skye's Most Favourite. It happens to be Cliff's Most Favourite as well, but I doubt I will squander it on him more than once. The Mineral Town events move at such a snail pace that I am resigned to the slow rise of affection there. I have Cliff at Purple Heart now, but must engineer a rainy day in order to experience his Purple Heart Event. I deliberately rejected a prediction of rain actually for Saturday, the 1st day of Winter in order to be able to give Skye his first taste of Finest Curry tonight. Skye does not visit the Valley ordinarily in bad weather, although he will make an exception when he is on a 'job'.

When I gave the first Finest Curry to Skye, my heart skipped a beat. He actually blushed and stammered, quite unlike the smooth-talking 'player' he attempts to show the world at large. 'F-Finest Curry!! It is for me? You are like a goddess!'

Ahhh... How can I resist this lovely creature? I experienced Grey's Blue Heart event two days ago and my old fondness for him was kindled anew as he proclaimed his deep admiration for Carter and all those who 'chase a dream'. Although he declared that his ambition was merely to become a respectable blacksmith, I happen to know his SECRET ambition, which is to create beautiful jewelry. In fact, in Mineral Town, he once gave me a piece he had created himself...

From my old MFoMT journal:
Grey: Actually, there is something I want you to have.
Me: (?)
Grey then threw a blue brooch at me.
Grey: I hope you like it...
Grey (with tear): I made this on my own secretly from Grandpa. I'm not nearly as good as him, but still it's a good achievement for me. I made this for you. I want you to have it. I just wanted to make sure you like stuff like that, you know? I hope you like it.
Grey left hastily then, evidently wishing to avoid any negative response from me, although he should have realised I would have thrown myself into his arms and kissed the darling boy! The silver brooch he made is gorgeous!

END OF QUOTE.

So you see, there is a sweet history between us, but I still expect I shall choose Skye in the end... In my next life, however, I daresay I'll choose Grey once more. I have many lives to lead and many marriages to make...

This entry was supposed to be about Skye, not Grey! I'm all over the place today, aren't I?

In fact, I wished to speak of all the reasons why Winter can be an exciting and fulfilling time.

First, there is the White Grass which allows one to make Finest Curry at last. Then, there is the appearance of Mukumuku, sometimes known in the world as the Yeti or Abominable Snowman, but in fact, one of the sweetest creatures to walk the land.

With Mukumuku's arrival, you will be treated to a number of events that can occur only in the Winter season. I will devote a separate post to Mukumuku but suffice it to say now that the first of his events can be experienced even BEFORE you raise his friendship level at all. All that is required is that you exit the Sprite Tree after 4.00 p.m. on the 1st of Winter or any sunny Winter's day.

It is a very amusing event, with a long history known to those familiar with 'A Wonderful Life'. It will be the subject of my next post.

N.B. Note the sorry state of Skye's AP as it appears on 1 Winter before the gift of the Finest Curry. Skye's affection is at 44000 AP and 255 FP before the Finest Curry was accepted. When accepted, it will be at 44800 AP 255 FP. This is due to the fact that I was unable to experience Part II of Skye's Blue Heart Event long ago on a Sunday night... Carter's fault, because he lingered on the road until midnight.
Not experiencing Part II cost me a 1000 FP penalty simply because I did not trigger it and another 3000 AP that would have been gained if I had triggered Part II of the Event AND given the correct response in the course of the event. That means effectively that Skye's AP would have been at 48000 AP tonight before the gift of Finest Curry and at 48800 AP afterwards. With Finest Curry, therefore, it will take me 5 days longer to bring him to full red heart level!

This is moot, really, because I shan't marry Skye until I have experienced all four heart events for each of the Mineral Town bachelors... Those five days become meaningless in these circumstances. Even so, I feel it useful to point out the penalties incurred when you do not trigger both parts of one of Skye's events. It will not prevent you from marrying him ultimately, but it will slow you down considerably.