Aino's (and Bryan's) Adventures in Animachi, Weeks 11 and 12

Let's get something monumental out of the way right of the bat in this installment of "Aino's (and Bryan's) Adventures in Animachi": Animachi finally has a proper town flag.

Here's a shot of Mayor Aino as she stands proudly beneath it:



Here's another look at it, in case you can't make out all of the details in the shot above.



The "A" is Animachi, of course--although a few of the town's snarkier citizens have suggested (in hushed tones, naturally) Aino may think it's supposed to represent and honor her on-going mayorship.

The figures that can be seen standing around the "A," by the way, are (from left to right) Ankha, Snake and Barold.



Hamlet, above, didn't make the cut, sadly. Is that what prompted him to pack up and leave town last week? No one knows, but at least a few Animachians suspect it may have been a factor.

Although both Aino and Bryan were sad to see the little jock go, the former was happy that the removal of his home meant an illuminated tower could be erected in its place.



The tower in question looks snazzy enough by day (above), but it looks nothing less than stunning at night (below).



Another reason Aino, especially, wasn't entirely gutted by Hamlet's departure: he sent her a framed photo of himself as a parting gift.



Speaking of villager photos: Aino also got Winnie's "pic" last week after completing an entirely mundane task for the long-faced lass.

Aino's (and Bryan's) Adventures in Animachi, Weeks Nine and Ten

Were Aino's and Bryan's ninth and tenth weeks in Animachi as adventure-filled as the ones that came before them? That depends on what you thought of those previous weeks, I guess, but I think both of the aforementioned citizens would say they were filled with at least a bit of adventure.

They certainly were filled with a smidge of intrigue, as it was revealed that Barold, Rodney and Snake all are gay.

OK, so maybe that's a stretch, but the conversations above at least suggest they could be gay.

Hamlet isn't gay--or at least I don't think he is--but he is a bit fidgety, as evidenced by his recent urge to leave the, er, hamlet of Animachi for greener pastures.

Being the meanies they are, Aino and Bryan didn't try to stop him, even though they like him quite a bit. Unfortunately, he's one of two hamsters in Animachi, and one of two jock villagers, and Aino and Bryan prefer Rodney and Snake when it comes to hamsters and jocks, respectively, so ... Hamlet had to go.

Only he didn't. Move out, I mean. The day before he was about to do so, Aino checked in on him and when she did she was informed that he would be sticking around for a while longer. (Yeah, right; she's heard that before.)

Which would've been all well and good, but around that same time Filbert wandered into town to make use of its campground. With Hamlet staying put, the adorable blue squirrel wasn't able to fill his spot as Animachi's tenth villager.

Aino got over her disappointment rather quickly thanks to the professionally shot photo Ankha gave her after she completed some gargantuan task (like catching and handing over a coelacanth).

Aino's (and Bryan's) Adventures in Animachi, Week Six

Week six was a pretty low key one for Aino, the Magnificent Mayoress (that's what she's requiring her underlings to call her at the moment) of Animachi, and her cohort, Regular Ol' Citizen™ Bryan, as you're sure to see while taking in the following photo diary.

That's not to say it was without its thrills, though. Case in point: a rather fabulous lighthouse was built (overnight, of course) near the town's most precipitous cliff.



Also, Animachians were treated to a stunning meteor shower for the majority of one evening.



And then there was the morning when both Bryan and Aino were handed golden watering cans in recognition of all the hard work they did (not much, to be honest) to maintain Animachi's "Perfect Town" status.



All of those events paled in comparison to the one documented in the photo below, though.



Why was the unearthing of yet another boring fossil considered such a momentous occasion? Because it had laid, maddeningly undiscovered, for about three or four weeks--during which time Aino and Bryan nearly tore out their hair in search of it. (Because, you know, it meant they only were able to dig up three, rather than four, fossils each day.)

Aino's (and Bryan's) Adventures in Animachi, Week Five

Life in Animachi was a bit less frantic this week than it was in weeks one through four. That's not to say it was boring, though. For instance, Mayor Aino continued her quest to pimp out her ever-expanding, not-quite-humble abode--including the trippy "balloon room" that can be seen below.

As effervescent as that room is, Aino doesn't spend much time in it. Instead, she spends most of her time in her brand new (and still-in-the-works, admittedly) study.

Aino also erected a few more public works projects in the past week, including this "illuminated heart":

And this "stone tablet":

As exciting as those events were for the citizens of Animachi, both pales in comparison to the opening of the town's first cafe.

That's not to say Aino ran around like a headless chicken the entire week. She also relaxed a bit. Case in point: one day, she spent a few minutes (with Ankha and Winnie) taking in the sight of a double rainbow.

She also had a nice--if exercise-centric--chat with her main "brozinsky," Hamlet.

She hoped to have a similarly enchanting tête-à-tête with Barold, but, well, those of you who've met him know how can be...

Aino's (and Bryan's) Adventures in Animachi, Week Four

Last week was another noteworthy one for the residents of Animachi. Case in point: Mayor Aino found the village's first mushroom growing beside one of its many "special" tree stumps.

She also shot down its second golden slingshot. (Bryan nabbed the first a week earlier.)

As for Bryan, he was stoked to stumble upon the Able Sisters working away on the rainbow shirts that surely will be worn by Animachi's citizens during its upcoming gay pride festivities.

Speaking of gay stuff: Bryan paid a visit to Dunwich (of The Dunwich Hoarder fame) early in the week so he could spend some time ogling the muscle-boy signs that sit outside Mayor Terry's pad.

While there, he discovered that someone named Butch will soon move into town--and then made a mental note to return with "housewarming gifts" (let your imaginations run wild) as soon as that happens.

Bryan also make the trek to Mamemura, the village maintained by Anne of the Chic Pixel blog, last week.

BREAKING NEWS: I finally let someone visit my Animal Crossing: New Leaf town

OK, so I'm being kind of silly with the header above. Only kind of silly, though, as it's true that since I started playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf I've yet to let another human visit Animachi.

I haven't kept people out of my New Leaf town because I'm a big jerk, by the way. Rather, I kept them out (until now) because I was feeling bashful about Animachi's status as a "work in progress."

I still am, to tell you the truth, but my shyness has softened a bit thanks to the fact that Animachi's main street is nearly full--Kicks just opened and Club LOL will follow this weekend--and its trees now feature every kind of fruit a visitor could desire.

Anyway, the point is that I welcomed my first human visitor--Terry, aka Zaphod65--last night. Of course, me being the numbskull that I am, I didn't nab any screencaps while we roamed about Animachi.



Thankfully, Terry did. Not only that, but he made a little comic out of said screencaps for his New Leaf-focused tumblr, The Dunwich Hoarder, and published it (above and here) earlier today.

Would you believe I'm now starting to second guess my decision to allow Terry to (attempt to) woo away Hamlet?

Oh, well, at least if he succeeds I may finally get to meet one of the game's many deer villagers (especially Fauna or Erik).

See also: 'He likes Animal Crossing: New Leaf and he loves to abuse the screencap function'