#the titular mufotsuki

[mufos-photo-album]

Sky is one of the games of all time

[mufos-photo-album]

So that new emote they added is really good

If you were curious what the black box was hiding + a fun interaction I had while getting the picture for this post

Bookworm Mufotsuki real....

[mufos-photo-album]

Sum Mufo lore below the cut vvv

My character playlist page for Mufo is coming along, though one big roadblock is that it needs background art! I've talked before about how I wanted to draw Mufo's home base someday, and I think just drawing a small portion of it for some background art would be a nice place to start. One thing I struggle with when it comes to backgrounds though, especially character-based ones, is making them feel lived in. Backgrounds I've drawn in the past often felt too clean to me, like no one is living there! Unfortunately I don't have the time right now to slap down some sketches to flesh out Mufo's room, but I can write about it to reference later, so here we go!

Mufo lives in the Vault of Knowledge, more specifically inside what can be thought of as a "storage closet". These storage areas resemble larger areas of the Vault, but are mainly used to store menial things like cleaning supplies, spells, and personal belongings. Mufo has part of a storage closet all to herself.

Her room is basically like an indoor tent. The "walls" are actually just pieces of cloth. It's convenient since she can enter and exit her room at any location, though at this point she has dedicated "door spots" — specific spots she decides she is allowed to walk through. Anything that isn't a door spot she treats as if its a regular wall and thus not normally walk through.

In terms of solid furniture (like, heavy stuff), Mufo might not have much. At the moment I definitely imagine she has a bed and maybe one or two bookshelves. Maybe she has a chair in there, to go with the shelves? Other furniture she has is mainly pillows and blankets, strewn across the floor so that many places in her room are comfy.

Currently debating if Mufo decorates at all. Like the stuff I listed before is mainly functional in nature. Maybe younger Mufo wouldn't have cared about decorating, but present day Mufo does since she has finally seen the outside world for herself and is insanely inspired. With that in mind, I gotta think about what Mufo decorates with. I definitely think if you showed Mufo some fairy lights it'd be OVER for her.

This might be one for the decoration category, but maybe Mufo keeps souvenirs from her journeys if she can pocket them.

Her room almost definitely has some memory lanterns and books lying around. This would have been especially true when she was younger (like the drawing above!), where such things were her only form of solitary entertainment. As she got older, she became better about returning memory lanterns and books to their rightful place in the Vault (though not all the time, hehe).

At the moment I don't imagine Piripu has a home, but if he were to crash anywhere, it'd be at Mufo's place. He probably does it often. With that in mind, Mufo's belongings probably got pushed around with Piripu becoming a pseudo-resident. Fortunately, he is a boy of few belongings... For now?

[mufos-photo-album]

(Transcript included at bottom of post.)

One's inner light is composed of 2 (sometimes 3, depending on who you're talking to) parts.

1) Eminent Light: Energy/light that is emitted by the inner light(s). Replenishes over time by itself, though the process can be sped up by light sources or nearby light creatures.

2) Inner Light: The light that makes up one's being. Can be sacrificed to perform more long-lasting and powerful spells. Does not replenish by itself, and must be restored using "roaming light" (or a possible equivalent source).

3) Core Light: The one part of your inner light that you cannot sacrifice during spellcasting. Doing so would be like voluntarily holding your breath to suffocate. Exists mainly on a conceptual level because there is no distinction between core light and the rest of one's inner light.

The basis of magic revolves around being able to move one's inner light outside of one's body (in the case of Spirits [when they weren't Spirits] anyways, skykids' lights are already outside of their body). The first spell most people were taught is the light spell, which simply calls for the movement of light. A well-known variation of the light spell is the candle spell, which calls for giving light specific form.

Once the movement of inner light has been mastered, one can begin trying to make it behave differently.

[Examples of different light manipulation behaviors]

Telekinesis: Using light given form to lift objects.

Flight: Stronger derivative of telekinesis. Using light given form to propel oneself. (Easier to do using something to act as your "wings").

Guiding Light: Making light grow brighter when close to object of desire. Variant: Making the light change color.

Additional notes:

In the transcript, the stuff in [brackets] are things that aren't in the original image. These were added to make things more understandable, hopefully.

This little graphic also has an outdated version (posted below). It was made around the same time as I made my first bigger headcanon posts, however it was too... condensed for my liking. Some of the information on this little page has been uncompressed and put onto other posts.

[mufos-photo-album]

(Transcript at bottom of post.)

Dark plants are a relatively new addition to the Kingdom of Sky, appearing some decades after the disaster at Eden. Like other plants, dark plants need light to grow. However, their leaves are too dark and thick to perform photosynthesis, and too much light delivered directly can cause the plants to burn and shrivel. Instead, dark plants absorb the light captured by dark water — water which has been contaminated by dark sediment, the byproduct of darkstone production.

[ID: A diagram showing the flow of light from creature to dark plant. When creatures of light come into contact with dark sediment, the sediment drains their light. The sediment, now charged with light, is dispersed through the water and soil, which is then absorbed by dark plants.]

In most cases, dark plants pose no direct harm to beings of light. In areas like the Hidden Forest, where dark rain commonly pours, dark plants take on indirect predatory behaviors. Especially in wet environments, dark plants will produce a sticky dew from their leaves that tends to attract butterflies. This dew contains trace amount of dark sediment which dulls one's senses when consumed. This leads to butterflies resting in the rain for longer than they usually would, leading to death in some cases. Dark plants have also been seen ensnaring mantas. This happens when mantas, exhausted by the dark rain or other factors, fly into the brambles of a dark plant, holding them in place as the dark rain saps their light.

[ID: A drawing of a manta caught in the brambles of a dark plant. It is raining.]

Fully getting rid of a dark plant can be difficult. They can be burned down using fire or a candle spell, but even if all the stems and leaves are burned, the plant will begin to regrow some time later. To truly destroy a dark plant, it needs to be uprooted, and the roots burned with the rest of the plant. Dark plants can also spread fairly easily, as they can reproduce asexually.

[ID: A diagram showing the 3 ways dark plants can spread -- via their roots, via cuttings, and via seed nodules. Mufotsuki is standing in front of the diagram, holding a seed nodule. She states: "The seeds are the easiest part of a dark plant to break off. Never leave them unattended for too long! Sometimes I collect them for my sister. She does experiments on them."]

Despite their mutual association with darkness, not many, if any, dark plants grow in Eden itself. Although Eden is abundant in dark sediment, the weather conditions are too violent and destoys most varieties before they can properly root.

Speaking of dark plant varieties...

Tree: Common variety which tends to grow tall and wide. Known for trapping mantas.

Bush: Another common variety of dark plant which tends to grow wide, but not very tall.

Moss: Uncommon variety which sprawls over flat surfaces. Difficult to truly get rid of since moss can grow into hard-to-reach places. Can cause man-made mechanisms to seize up.

Urchin: Uncommon variety that tends to show up in saltwater environments. They have many spines tipped with dark sediment to absorb ambient light in the water, but also to absorb the light produced by other plants.

Lilypad: Uncommon to rare variety that tends to show up in polluted freshwater environments. Problematic for other plants since they can blot out sunlight.

Floater: Rare variety of plant that comes from Eden. They take advantage of the terrible weather to spread their seeds across the realm, but mature specimens are rarely found in Eden.

[ID: Various drawings depicting each of the dark plant varieties, one for each.]

[mufos-photo-album]

Crabby see, crabby do (5/23/2024)

[mufos-photo-album]

the likerrrrrrs

STUMBLES OVER MYSELF I FORGOT TO INCLUDE THE SCREENSHOT THAT INSPIRED THIS PIECE!!!

[mufos-photo-album]

Note: Neither of them would actually say these things. This isn't because they don't like each other, but because it'd imply they're aware of the institution of marriage.

[mufos-photo-album]

Spear/Swordmaster Posting

[mufos-photo-album]

(Transcript included at the bottom of post.)

The Spirits, unlike other creatures of light, had their light located on the inside of their bodies.

This feature had its advantages and disadvantages. Their body served as a barrier to environmental threats, but it also served as a barrier to each other. In other words, Spirits couldn't recharge their light by being near each other the same way other light creatures can.

For a long time, the Spirits overcame this drawback by using portable light sources like torches and candles (hence their symbolic use as currency). The Spirits later learned how to move their light outside of their body, forming the basis of magic.

[mufos-photo-album]

The Spearmaster and the Swordmaster (6/8/2024)

Alternate colors beneath the cut!

I was honestly bouncing back and forth on whether or not Piripu should keep his red cape. On one hand, the white cape kinda symbolizes experienced and learnedness based on the requirements to get it in Journey. On the other hand... Red just brings out the details better, plus it makes Piripu more distinct from Mufotsuki.

[mufos-photo-album]

Adorable.

[mufos-photo-album]

I recently read all of (the currently released volumes of) Yotsuba&!

Extra commentary: Rendering Mr. Koiwai as a spirit would've been a good opportunity to brush up my spirit rendering technique. However, it was around 2 AM at the time of drawing and couldn't be bothered to get too into it.

Reference images used ↓

[mufos-photo-album]

she will be boiled

like to turn up the heat 🔥

reblog to add vegibles 🥦

[mufos-photo-album]

(Transcript at bottom of post.)

[ID: A skykid showing off the glyphs on the back of their cape. A few of the glyphs are dark.]

When faced with environmental dangers like dark rain, it isn't always obvious whether one's eminent or inner light is being drained. Eminent light is almost always drained first, but the issue is discerning when the environment starts to drain one's inner light. This is the first function of a cape. The glyphs commonly seen on the back of capes react to the glow of one's light, and the brighter one's eminent light is, the more glyphs will glow in response. If all the glyphs are dark, that's a good sign that one's inner light is in danger.

Among spell casters, the number of glyphs on one's cape also serve as an approximate indicator of power level. The more glyphs on their cape, the more advanced their abilities probably are.

Capes with this function may not be accurate if it's brand new or if the cape doesn't belong to you. This is because capes need some time to acclimate to one's light levels. Initial discrepancies can be especially egregious when people of different light levels swap capes. For example, if Mufotsuki, someone with a higher level, swapped capes with Piripu, someone with a lower light level, both of their capes would give incorrect readings. Piripu's cape, while on Mufotsuki's back, may indicate that her light's brightness is at 100% even though it's really at 80%. Likewise, Mufotsuki's cape, while on Piripu's back, may say his light's brightness is at 80%, even though it's really at 100%.

[ID: Mufotsuki demonstrating the discrepancies between wearing Piripu's cape and her own cape.]

The other, more well-known, function of a cape is as a tool for flight. One can fly with a partial cape or no cape at all, but the feeling can be clumsy to the inexperienced. Having a cape serve as one's wings offers more control and makes the experience feel more natural.

[ID: A capeless skykid about to crash into a rock because their arms cannot generate enough lift.]

Capes also serve as a fashion statement, but everyone knows that.

[ID: A group of 3 skykids doing various poses, showing off their capes.]