#every part has something fun to look at and i loved all of the gyroid and gnome mini towns SO MUCH

[cicadatree]

hollows by @flopperpants

DA: 4061-9984-5930

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Rainy day gyroids

Rainy days are the perfect excuse to stay inside with a cup of warm tea and a good show to watch while letting the day pass on by. How fitting is it that the theme of this gyroid event happens to be rainy days?

Joining us on this rainy day adventure are Robert and Mace, two former members of Jamie's entourage back when she lived on Peace Coast Island. Robert Azarias is a writer and actor, best known for his work in the TV show Faerie Town, which just ended earlier this year. Mace Callaghan is an actor whose career kicked off thanks to people like Jamie and his cousin Amelia, who's also an actor as well as a producer. Both have been super busy as they're on a new show that's set to premiere in the fall so they're at the camp for a short vacation after pretty much working nonstop for the past several weeks.

The new show is called Mount Barley, RFD - which stands for rural free delivery - and it's about a journalist who moves back to his old hometown to take care of his aging father and reconnects with his old friends. Mace plays the main character, Alex, an ambitious creative who has a tendency to get carried away with his ideas. Robert's the co-executive producer/showrunner and has a recurring role as Jerry, a friend and colleague of Alex's who sometimes gets dragged into everyone else's problems due to bad timing. Other characters include Alex's dad Emmett, the wise father figure everyone looks up to, Blossom the pharmacist who's a neighbor to Alex, Leia, a childhood friend and work colleague, and Deedee, the hairstylist who serves as Alex's source for gossip.

Having insider information is kinda a blessing and a curse. Well, what I mean by curse is that I can't say too much about something because of non-disclosure stuff, which means I have to be careful not to let anything slip. Especially with a lot of show creators, writers, and actors being active on social media, it's kinda easy to accidentally reveal something that wasn't supposed to publicly come out yet. It's not usually anything super confidential but some companies are more particular about what people say more than others. While being able to interact with crew members has its perks, it also has its drawbacks - then again, that's social media in general.

Robert's previous show, Faerie Town, ended last year after five seasons. A good number of the entourage members were in that show like April Wingate, Melody Muto, Linus Cooper, and Cecelia Argent. Robert was a writer on the show as well as a recurring character who became more prominent from season three onwards.

Ending the show was one of those cases where they were told ahead of time that they weren't going to get renewed. By then, the overall story they wanted to tell was coming to a conclusion so it made sense to start wrapping things up. Being an ensemble show, it kinda suffered from a large cast - I'm overall satisfied with the way the main characters were handled but at the same time I felt that it could've been balanced better. And I'll admit, the writing during the last two seasons were weak, but not to the point where the show went downhill.

The way I see it, there's a difference between a show going downhill and a show where the writing isn't as top notch. Downhill is bad, as in this has a negative impact on how I feel about the show in general. An example of downhill is Popular Besties, which, looking back wasn't entirely good, but I enjoyed it as a kid. It was one of those shows which the quality dipped a lot - and knowing the issues going on behind the scenes, it makes a lot of sense as to why - and it gets to the point where you're watching a new episode out of obligation or dropping it all together.

Hogan Family Values is an example of a show that has fallen to weak writing. Like Faerie Town, it has a big cast, though it struggles more in terms of having too many characters to handle. It's ending after three seasons, which has ten episodes left. Season three started out pretty strong, but since then it has been a mixed bag. We all kinda suspected that it was ending as some of the episodes kinda had that vibe and that was later confirmed by the creator just recently.

I think the biggest problem with this season is that the pacing's kinda rushed and I feel like the show has kinda written itself into a corner by trying to wrap up various plotlines while introducing a bunch of new characters/plot points at the same time. On one hand the show could use another season just to pad things out a bit, but at the same time it makes sense why they would end it there.

The show's still good though, it's just season three doesn't have the same spark as the first two did. I mean, the stronger episodes of this season are some of the best in the show overall while the weaker ones aren't entirely terrible, just mediocre, or at worst, somewhat boring. And despite my reservations at the moment, I have faith in the crew that the ending will be satisfying, even if rushed.

A show with a satisfying ending is Star's Universe, which has become one of my top favorite shows of all time. I think, if it wasn't for the network, the show could've easily run for another season to even out the pacing towards the end. It also suffered from the uncertainty of being renewed, which then led to a movie. While working on the movie, the network decided to order an additional season at the last minute to fully wrap things up. There's still a lot the show can touch on but it's all extra stuff - and while it could've focused more on the supporting cast, I can understand why they couldn't because it's essentially not their story.

As for the overall story the show wanted to tell, they not only succeeded, but exceeded my expectations. The conclusion's satisfying in a way that it's open enough to revisit but if that's the end, then I'm happy with that as well.

I think Star's Universe has ruined me in terms of judging series endings. It still kinda doesn't feel real that the show literally just ended less than a year ago. The writing has also remained consistently strong for the most part and it's just a brilliant show. Now I feel like binging on a bunch of episodes. I guess you can say it's one of my comfort shows.

While collecting gyroids, we got to talking about Mount Barley, RFD a bit as well as catch up on life in general. Robert's got an interesting backstory that Hollywood has been wanting to make into a movie for years. He was known as the Etienne Falls Baby as he was born en route on the ill fated train that crashed in the desert. His father died in the accident while his mother passed away shortly after, leaving Robert in the care of three friends who helped bring him into the world. Only one of them survived and he, while carrying Robert, made a dangerous trek through the desert to find help. After the tragic ordeal, he adopted Robert, becoming somewhat known as a hero.

Mace is the nephew of actor Gary Stewart, who's well known on stage and screen, as well as his daughters Amelia and Lesley. It was Amelia who helped Mace pursue his dream of acting by helping him stand up to his father, who was against it. At the time he was going through a lot and as a result of everything, he finally had enough. It wasn't easy going against his father's wishes, but he had to or else he'd be stuck working at the bank being his father's successor.

He's still hoping for a reconciliation, though it seems unlikely at the moment. Since moving to the island, Mace rarely spoke to his father, who has pretty much disowned him. Back home he heard that his father's not too crazy about Mace having his own show as that'll make him more well known. At least his cousins and uncle have always been supportive of him - he had always been closer to them, especially after his mom passed.

It's been raining all day, though it started out as a light drizzle at first. I don't mind the rain too much - it adds to the rainy day theme! I love how gray and cloudy the sky gets - there's just something about rain that's calming and cozy. Also, it was the perfect excuse to break out my new umbrella - and it was worth every leaf ticket because not only it looks pretty, it kept me dry. Aside from the mud, collecting gyroids in the rain was a lot of fun!

When it started pouring we headed back to the cabin to begin crafting some stuff. I was surprised that we managed to collect a lot of gyroids today, then again, I think the rain might've helped some. We also managed to do some fishing and bug catching as well, which the guys had never done before. Robert's a fast learner when it comes to fishing - and a lucky one too as he managed to catch two king salmons!

Aside from collecting gyroids, we didn't get to be able to do too much sightseeing today. Once the weather clears up, I'm thinking of setting up a picnic in the meadow and a short hike along the trail. Then, depending on Gulliver's schedule, I was hoping we can catch a ride with him and explore an island or two. Robert mentioned that he always wanted to try out sailing so I want him to experience that. As for Mace, he says he's content with anything the camp has in store and he enjoys running errands for the campers.

With the rain pouring, we all were in the mood for some tea so I put on the kettle as soon as we got inside. While waiting for the tea we set up the TV to watch some shows while helping Daisy Jane package orders from her shop. Nothing like cozying up with a nice hot cup of tea on a cloudy rainy day!

[lemon-rawr]

Ideas for Animal Crossing Switch

A new animal crossing game hasn’t been announced yet but I’ve been getting so hyped up about an animal crossing game on the Switch that I have to share what I would like to see next! Some of the ideas you’ll see are ideas I’ve seen floating around on tumblr, but some of them also come from my dreamy little mind hihi

This post is going to be super long, so if you don’t read it that’s totally fine! But if you do, thank you, and don’t hesitate to add some ideas if you feel like it!

First I’ll start with features that we’ve previously had in games that I want to see again. (Keeping in mind I have only played wild world, new leaf and happy home designer)

- Being able to choose your skin tone. This is a feature they implemented well in HHD, and I think they could probably include a discussion bubble with Rover for that purpose.

- Bring Céleste’s observatory back!!! She deserves better than to tend a shop 24/7.

- Make NPCs as interesting as they were in wild world: Blathers used to go on a tangent giving you information about your donations, that was so cute and informative, I feel like he’s been censored. (Maybe leave an option for players to pick? If they don’t want to listen to Blathers go on he can ask the player if they want to hear more about their donation?) Also it would be great if they brought back cool backstories that you unlock through talking to NPCs, the Able Sisters have a very heart-warming story that has been shortened in new leaf. Maybe we could get Tom Nook’s back story or KK’s, or Brewster’s?

- This is in the same vein as the point above, but make villagers a bit more interesting: I played wild world again not so long ago and I was surprised at how fun and full of personality the villagers are. Once I tried to bamboozle a villager into giving me a t-shirt, they wouldn’t have it! Don’t get me wrong, new leaf villagers are adorable, but wild world villagers keep you on your toes!

- Interactions with furniture items like in HHD: One of my favourite features to play around with in HHD is the interaction with objects (warming your hands by the fire, dancing to a stereo, bringing out a frying pan in front a stove). It would also be nice if the villagers inside their houses could still be able to do little cute tasks like in HHD (sweeping, dancing). Little details like that just brighten up my day!

- Bring back carpets, ceiling decorations, curtains, different types of windows: this is a no brainer. Being able to place furniture items on half spaces is also something I would have difficulty living without. What could be cool is if we could have a choice between different shapes of rooms like in HHD, it would help make houses a little bit more personal and unique.

- Having a little garden that you can decorate with furniture items: this is a feature I loved in HHD. I remember when I was a child playing wild world, I would dream I could put a pool in front of my house and have a little garden. When I saw the HHD trailer, I was just sooooo happy, it was like a dream come true.

- Bring back public works projects: this is also a no brainer. Public works projects are amazing, and one can only strive for more of them.

- Customisation: being able to customize objects was a great addition to new leaf. Maybe this could even be expanded on: being able to customize clothing into different colours, PWPs…

Now for “new” things:

- Maybe introduce new NPCs, with new buildings! I was thinking it would be great to have a bigger Main Street, sort of like in city folk (which I have barely played). What I thought would be great is if we were put in charge of developing and decorating Main Street, kind of like a town developer or something: you could choose what exterior the building has, what type of building it would be, its exterior and it would be fantastic if we could decorate the inside. (Maybe also have an option where the player can choose a standard form if decorating is not their forte) I’ve seen so many great ideas on tumblr, with people saying there could be a library or a bakery, that would be awesome.

- Isabelle as mayor: I am ready to relinquish my role of being mayor to Isabelle, who is frankly better suited for the job. What I thought we as players could be, is town developers, we would help Isabelle revitalise the town.

- Having a bigger world and different levels of terrain: this would make your town look so much cooler! With a bigger town, there would be a possibility to have more villagers, maybe 12 instead of 10?

- Of course, it would be nice to have more villagers, and to see old villagers come back (without having to buy their amiibo card). I’ve seen so many cool ideas for new villager species: bats, kittens, owls, sharks, snakes. I thought of meerkats and red pandas as new species to put in. More personalities would also be appreciated.

- Placing PWPs more intuitively: we could for example choose a section of the map and place a PWP with the touch screen on an area in that selected part of the town. It would also be fantastic if it were a little faster to get PWPs suggested…

- More things to donate to the museum: gyroids, artefacts (like old furniture or vases), books…

- More plants: different types of trees, more flowers (chrysanthemums, poppies, lavender bushes…), more colours for flowers, water plants (lily pads…)

- A bigger variety of house exteriors, although the four we have are quite good.

- Being able to invite more friends to your town at a time: I believe that with the Switch 8 consoles can connect at the same time? It would be cool to have more people over. It would also be great if you could click an option where visitors cannot make any changes to your town (they can’t cut down trees with an axe, trample flowers, or dig holes everywhere). Having this option would prevent a lot of heartache. Of course, if you know and trust the people you are playing with, you could have the option to leave your town normal.

- Being able to visit NPCs after hours: imagine if you could visit Isabelle after town hall closes for the night or the Able Sisters after the store closes, wouldn’t that be adorable? They could have a house in a different part of town or have a back door in their store for you to visit after hours.

- And finally cooking: Animal Crossing is a life simulation game, I think implementing a food system would be nice. Your playable characters would get hungry around dinnertime, and you could play a little minigame and cook a dish for them to eat. I always feel sorry for my mayor who only gets to eat a piece of fruit once every blue moon. Fruit prevents scurvy, but it’s far from a balanced diet. Now this should not be a feature that is too compelling, whenever you are logged off, of course your playable characters would feed themselves, and if you go months without playing, your playable characters would fend for themselves. I just think this would be a cute addition to the game, it would add some realism. It would also be adorable if you could walk into your villagers’ homes and find them eating their dinner or preparing food. I mean villagers talk about food constantly, but never eat any, it’s sad. Villagers could have different eating schedules depending on their personality for example. Or you could maybe plan dinner dates, and this could trigger another minigame where you cook together. Anyway, this is just something I daydream a lot about, but it might make animal crossing a little too much like cooking mamma…

Those are all my suggestions, it feels good to have them all in one place rather than scattered all over the place in my mind! For those who got this far, thank you and don’t hesitate to add more ideas, I’d like to see what you come up with! A new animal crossing game would be amazing regardless of some of my suggestions, but it’s good to dream a little…!