A Heavenly Town

dauphinaisa

“Back for day two?”

A familiar voice beckons you to the town’s mayor, who like last time, appears excited to begin.

“Last time we met, we didn’t really do much talking about what you can do for your town,” he continues, pushing himself up from the metal bench, picking up a steady pace, seeming to head forward with a destination in mind. “But don’t worry! Today’s all about perfect towns!”

“Now, what is a perfect town, exactly? Well, a perfect town has to do with the condition of your town and the satisfaction of the townsfolk. As the condition of your town depletes, so does the happiness of your villagers. In order to keep your citizens happy, you need to maintain your town and make sure it’s a town that all of your residents enjoy.”

Max leads you to Hell’s town hall, ushering you inside and approaching the front desk where a smiling yellow dog resembling a shih tzu greets you.

“You’re familiar with Isabelle. She’s you’re best friend as mayor, especially when regarding the state of your town! To find out how your town is doing, ask Isabelle about citizen satisfaction. Here, I’ll do it right now to give you an idea of what to look out for:”

“According to Isabelle, my town is the best town ever! This is what you want to look out for to know that you have achieved perfect town status. If she doesn’t tell you that your town is the best town ever, she will give you constructive criticism instead. Listen to what she tells you! Trust me, she knows what you need to do to succeed. You might have too much clutter around your town, or maybe not enough plant life. Whatever it is, take care of the trash, or plant some flowers and trees, wait a day, then check back with Isabelle. She’ll let you know if the problem is solved or not.”

“Easy, right? Well, this step might go by quickly, or you may need to go back to Isabelle a few times over. There may be more than one issue that’s preventing you from getting that perfect town status. Maybe you planted flowers and trees, but Isabelle tells you that now there aren’t enough public works projects. If that’s the case, you might need to take it a little slowly. Public works projects cost a pretty bell and don’t happen overnight (unless you have enough bells to pay for it in full that same day; in that case, it quite literally happens overnight). Walk around town and wait for villagers to confront you. Sometimes, they recommend projects for you, which could be something you want to incorporate into your town!”

You two exit the town hall and stop right outside momentarily. Max proudly gestures to the building with a smile.

“Sure, there’s a lot of work that goes into getting that perfect town status. But hey, there’s a lot of benefits that come from it, too! I mean, take a look at my sick town hall! Once you get that perfect town, new public works projects open up for you, such as this town hall renovation. There’s other great options to pick from as well, not just this one!”

“Or maybe you prefer the classic look, that’s cool too! Another great addition to your town you can only access when Isabelle gives you the ok is the flower clock!”

“It’s definitely one of my favorite parts of Hell, and it could be in your town too if you put in the work for it! Your neighbors will appreciate it, I promise you!”

Max stops suddenly, lifting a hand, silently asking you to wait a moment. His free hand digs into his pocket, pulling out something golden only a second later.

“Here it is! My golden watering can! This baby was a gift from Isabelle! I spoke to her about fifteen days into having perfect town status and she gave it to me as congratulations! What’s cool about this is that I don’t have to water one plant at a time anymore. Sure, once I had upgraded to a silver watering can, I could water about five at a time, but this lets me water nine at a time! I’d say it’s worth checking in again with Isabelle around the fifteenth day of having a perfect town. She might just give you something really cool, too!”

“One more benefit I’d like to mention about having a perfect town are the pretty new flowers that start growing by the cliffs of your town: Jacob’s Ladders! They’re these little white flowers that dangle down from the stems like little white bells. Unfortunately, I’ve had no luck breeding them, so I don’t think it’s possible, however, when I plant them beside other flowers I want to breed, they seem to make the process a little easier! Another day, we’ll get into flower breeding. Believe me when I tell you though that these little guys are super worth it!”

“Though it’s exciting to get the perfect town status, not everyone’s ‘perfect town’ is going to look the same. Sometimes you want your town to look different than what the conditions for perfect town status call for. That’s totally ok! At the end of the day, you want a town that you’re proud of. Sure, citizen satisfaction is important if you want to make sure villagers don’t move out, but nothing is worth being unhappy with how your town looks.”

“As a mayor with a town that satisfies the perfect town conditions, I can tell you that I still have work to do to make my town ideal for me. As much as flowers are my absolute favorite, a lot of them around my town have taken a mind of their own and grown in patches that don’t compliment the details of my town that I’ve put extensive effort into. It just goes to show that no matter the conditions of your town, it doesn’t make one town better than another.”

“Wow, I really ramble on for a while, don’t I?” Max laughs. “I think that’s enough for one day! Let me leave you with this: It’s 100% fine not to get perfect town status. You don’t need it in order to build your perfect town! That being said, it’s also a nice thing to have just because it has so many great benefits that come with it! No matter the goal you have set for your town, we can work together to build a place for you that feel like heaven. Until next time!”

Welcome To Hell

dauphinaisa

After a journey that seems to linger on for much too long, the train begins to slow to a stop as it meets the station. The conductor gleefully announces that the train is approaching the unfamiliar town

“Welcome to Hell,” he cheers as the vehicle comes to a complete stop in front of the station. The flag of the town proudly displays an outdated meme, a seemingly fitting choice for a town known as Hell. Walking out of the station, however, you are greeted by numerous flowers, the peach stone at your feet framed with pink and white cosmos.

Before you can decide whether or not to run back into the station and take the next train home, you’re approached by a boy, pink from head to toe who is eager to grab your attention.

“Hey there! Welcome to our little town!”

The boy waves in greeting, a pleasant smile spreading on his face.

“My name is Max, and I’m the mayor of Hell. Don’t let the name fool you- I assure you you’ll love it here!”

Max makes a broad gesture out towards the town, a multitude of brightly colored flowers adorn the ground. All plant life appears in great health, bunches of trees lining the pathways that lead out onto brick bridges over the river. He fondly looks over the land.

“My villagers and myself have put a lot of work into this town to make it a comfortable and enjoyable place to live. It certainly didn’t happen overnight! Before we get into that, however, how about we take a walk around town and get you introduced to everyone?”

“Uh-oh, I guess I missed the pitfall during my morning routine. As a cranky villager, Wolfgang is pretty easy to anger as it is. Still, he gets along with mostly everyone pretty well and we love having him in our town! Too bad this is your first impression of him.”

“…Let’s just leave him alone for now, shall we?”

“Next, meet Peggy! Peggy’s only been here about a month and she’ll be leaving on the 7th of March. Though she’s only been here a short amount of time, she’s been all over the place! I swear I never see her go into her house! She’s a perfect example of a peppy villager!”

“Over here, we’ve got my buddy, Scoot! This guy moved in a little before Peggy, and at first I wasn’t sure if we were going to get along. Scoot’s a jock, and physical exertion isn’t really my forte, but we hit it off a lot more quickly than expected! Scoot’s really cool, even if he makes me do silly tasks by telling me it’ll make me strong when he’s two feet away from what he wants.”

“From where he’s standing, he can see the peach tree. Really milking my mayoral responsibilities there, Scoot.”

“Now, over this way there’s… Oh no.”

“Diva. For whatever reason, this abomination has moved into my perfect, sweet town. Not only this, but she just so happened to claim a spot right next to my house. She has an uchi personality type, which doesn’t make her really mean per se, so it’s not that aspect I dislike about her, it’s just… God, she’s unsettling. I’d stop at nothing to get rid of her.”

“…Let’s move on.”

“Maple! This sweetie has been in Hell since the beginning! She makes it an absolute delight to live here! Being a normal villager, Maple’s really calm and friendly! Out of all of my villagers, Maple’s the one who visits me the most and invites me over frequently!”

“Sally, like Peggy, is relatively new to Hell. They both came in around the same time, but unlike Peggy, I rarely see her. She’s usually in her house, but her house is out of the way of where I usually wander. She’s pretty cool, though. Also has a normal personality type.”

“Meet Lolly! Lolly is a villager who has been around for a long time. Not quite from the beginning of Hell, but pretty close! Just like Maple and Sally, she has a normal personality. Lolly actually moved in from one of my close friend’s town. I rub it in her face to this day, but Lolly likes to sing to me the tune of her old town at least once every few days, so I guess we’re even.”

“Hell seems to be a town favored by primarily normal villagers, for here we are once again with a normal villager, another normal cat at that! Mitzi only just moved in about a week ago, but I’ve known Mitzi for a long time! We go way back to when I used to live elsewhere. I’m overjoyed that she found her way here!”

“And last, but certainly not least, Tangy, the love of my life. Tangy is another villager that I’ve known for years. She was one of the first villagers I had ever met and she became a really close friend in a previous town. I’m not sure what it is about her that I love so much, but whatever it is, or was, that appreciation for her has lasted throughout the years and I’m absolutely thrilled that she decided to move in! Too bad she didn’t take the spot next to me. Maybe then I wouldn’t have to see Diva everyday…”

“Your time is coming, Diva.”

“…Well, that about covers everybody!” Max finally concludes, short in air supply from such long-winded introductions. The sun which had been hanging low in the sky has fallen at last, beginning to sink below the horizon. Faint stars are starting to peek out from the darkening sky.

“I guess we should call it a day, then! Don’t worry, we’ll begin to learn about town improvement soon! You’ll be on your way in no time at all!”

With that, Max bids farewell and returns to his home. After a hectic day of hunting down eccentric characters to meet, the first day in Hell comes to an end. Regardless of such an unwelcoming name, the folks in the town appear rather friendly and excited to see a new face around. Not to mention the vibrant and plentiful greenery decorating every inch of the town. The villagers appear to get along well with one another and are content with all that they have. Perhaps there is much to learn from a town called Hell.