Do you make up storylines for your island?

[Kumori]

I’m a role player from waaaay back, so if something is even moderately accommodating to storytelling, I tend to latch on and come up with stories. For my NH island I’m starting to concoct one. We have a witch and a hermit living on Kumori, though I’m not sure if the former is a helpful witch or if I wanna go the edgy horror route.

I‘m planning on incorporating all of the villagers into a big story - it’s just fun to brainstorm while I design stuff on the island. But I am curious if anyone else has story they‘ve come up with for their island and villagers!

 

[arikins]

lol i was a huge roleplayer as well so i thought that would transfer to acnh, but i havent noticed anything like that for me yet. i suppose because of the lack of control i have over how my villagers act or react to things. the only thing i can think of is when im decorating their houses. all of my villagers with nature hobbies are going to go in one district and i imagine them all with very lush gardens and a green house. my island is an urban city but moderately overgrown with nature, so i imagine that was because of the nature enthusiasts

 

[Pyoopi]

It's more on a casual level and I'm big on the designing aspect like terraforming, interior/exterior decorating and creating artwork. I've slowed down a lot but it's part of the reason why I made an island journal.

As for the characters, they loosely have roles but I don't go in depth about it as I'm more of a visual artist than a writer.

 

[Moritz]

Yes and no

They have back stories (based off assumptions I make about them from appearance and personality) given to them when they arrive and then have stories based off their interactions around the island.

We have Tybalt the criminal who's dating Quillson to get his money. Spoke about him a lot on other posts so won't again here. But I have designed my path to Redd to be secretly hidden behind his house.

Quillson the rich 21 year old who for the first time in his life is not relying on his parents to do everything for him. Still relies on their credit cards. Unknowingly being used by Tybalt.

Harry doesn't have the biggest story but he's really into fishing.

Carmen is such a fame seaker she takes up causes she does not actually care about for publicity. Much to the annoyance of others.

I want Hans and Becky to get together but they've not interacted with each other that much sadly so I can't justify that story... yet

The only person without any sort of story for them at all is Maple because she's just so boring. Maybe not having a story works for that

 

[KittenNoir]

My island is based on the island I went on my honeymoon so I have a few things the same and a few little areas that the real life island had

 

[The Loyal Rat]

I’ve always been the type to have headcanon towards things, it helps add depth and character I think! (Plus it’s just fun!)
In my game I got nine of my dreamy amiibo’s and moved them all in without too much thought on it, I would let it play out.

To share some, I like to think Chrissy and Francine are one-hit wonder pop stars who decided to retire my island, but both seem to still dream of fame at times, Chrissy as a pop star, and Francine as a fashionista.

Also Chrissy seemed to just SPAM me with sweet letters and gifts despite me paying waaay more attention to Bob and Lolly for the first months, I’m talking like a letter or three every week despite not giving her gifts, and she was the only one to give me a valentines letter and chocolate as well! (I don’t understand why I only got one?!)
So I headcanon that she has a heavy crush.

I’ve got plenty more on all of them, but not enough space to type haha!

 

[oranje]

I love writing, so I started brainstorming on my island's narrative as soon as I figured out what kind of theme I wanted. My town is based on a old, rusty maritime town that's seen better days. It used to be a big shipping and fishing hub, but the ships stop being built and the fish aren't biting as much as they used to. To generate revenue and revitalize the island, the villager leaders invited a marine biology lab (The Institute) to use the island as their headquarters, with the free use of the land to conduct their experiments. Little do the islanders know that The Institute has been experimenting with unethical and cruel methods on the local sea life and as consequence, bringing the wrath of the sea to their coast. And slowly, the ocean is claiming them for their transgressions...

To help with that idea, I've created some shrine areas (including a main cult alter), a marine lab, a more touristy area near my museum, and an old sailor's chapel and graveyard dedicated to the sailors that had once inhabited the island. Even the islanders have been assigned roles in the story, based on whether they're townies or work for The Institute. The story's themes are a clash between old traditions and science, horror vs hope. It's honestly a lot of fun to come up with new ideas and design an island on a story.

 

[Kumori]

I love writing, so I started brainstorming...

Ok but I really love this? I've been trying to incorporate the sea/island motif into my own story but I always have a hard time. And maybe it's because I'm a 90's kid but something about an institute abusing nature and people fighting back against it just hits different lmao.

 

[bestfriendsally]

i've got a thread about my acnh oc - penny's future island story, if anyone ever wants to take a look :3 - https://www.belltreeforums.com/threads/my-animal-crossing-oc-penny-redo.578369/


i'm not sure if this would qualify as a storyline.. but my character-self has a pet goldish named cleo & now a pet umbrella octopus, named Angel :3

 

[Agaphea23]

Yes, I actually started making a story and origin for mine and have written in my text books and notepads the chapters concerning my characters and island which I am thinking on adding to my journal later. Such as having crashed onto a mysterious island which is a remnant of an ancient era/civilisation [ie Atlantis] and having to return the balance to the land where the energies have become disharmonious due to the fall.

I tried to make little ruins scattered around my island but since reshaping it I created an area where an ancient temple is, an enchanted forest, mages tower, a swamp, etc.

My characters are magic/spiritual-science based like alchemist, sorcerer, mystic, priestess/healer, shaman etc; who dig up the secrets and unlock the energies locked away and attain quests to solve. Even the villagers have backstories and jobs

It definitely makes the game a whole lot interesting and helps in cultivating my story telling/writing skills .

 

[Stella-Io]

Ooh boi do I. I'm not a role player but I do like to write, esp world building and character designing. So I've put WAAAY too much story to my islands But I do it anyway cause it's entertaining. I'll put each island in a spoiler tab.

Spoiler: Natsukashi

Natsukashi is stuck in a 'time bubble'. Villagers from different time periods reside here who shouldn't (like lifespan-wise, such as villagers from the 1920s to current day). Thing is, these villagers are completely unaware that they live in such time bubble, nor do they realize that other villagers are out of their time period. For example I have one villager I HC as hailing from the 1920s and another from the 60s or 70s. They have passing thoughts like 'hey this villager seems weird with their choice of language, clothes and adaptability to technology' but they really don't think much of it. The only one who knows about villagers being from different periods of time is Resident Rep Jerico who is from current day, and possibly Avery, who is from ancient times and I made him magical cause I wanted some magic on the island. Also, villagers have like small roles or backstories.

Tiffany and Dobie give me 1920s vibes. Althou for Dobie I gave him a more expanded time period of 1920s-40s. That's not to say he died in that time and only lived 20 years, he is an old man after all, but that's more so the time period I take my inspiration from. Infact I don't HC any of them as dead, just plucked from their time period and wound up on Natsukashi, somehow.
Peirce is 1960s or 70s, I need to do lots more research on trends in those times.
Jerico is from current day.
Avery is just ancient.
Kidd is still very undecided, I'm thinking he could go as far back as the 1800s. He's an ex writer/poet who came to Natsukashi by invite of Jerico while island hunting, looking for a new muse, saying his current living place is boring and devoid of inspiration. He really has no set time as he doesn't give me a time period vibe like Tiffany nor does his backstory pinpoint him to any place in history, like the story I made for Dobie.

The story I have for Dobie is that in his 'prime time', 20s-40s, (he was still an old man at this time, just not as old as he is now) he was in a gang/mobster and participated in speakeasies. However he's now retired from that dangerous life and just wants a peaceful time on Natsukashi. His past is very secretive thou as he tells no one about it.
Tiffany just gives me 1920s vibes, esp since I gave her a flapper dress. Lavish parties, a luxurious lifestyle and slang to match, she's stuck in her old ways. Dobie and her get along quite well since they're from the same-ish time period. However if Dobie uses slang from the 30s or 40s, Tiffany doesn't know what it means.
Pierce age-wise is a prob like, in his early 20s and comes from a time period of bright clothes, loud music, weird slang and feel good vibes. I think the cellphone or computer was introduced or atleast a thing in the 60s or 70s, so out of all the villagers, besides Jerico, he's prob the most adept to the Nook phone technology, as well as any laptops on the island.

The rest of my villagers stories and time periods are SUPER undecided and basically non existent at this point, but I'm working on it.

Spoiler: Willowisp

Willowisp takes a darker turn than Natsukashi, almost a horror based town, just without any blood, guts or gore. The villagers are odd, the whole island gives off a haunted atmosphere, it's always somewhat dark and always cloudy/misty. The real horror is the mystery of what happened to the previous island residents many many years ago.

Willowisp is the town I'm going to mainly feature in what will hopefully be an ongoing comic or writing peice, Project: New Horizons. Skipping over the backstorty of Project: New Horizons because it's kinda long, like Natsukashi, villagers have backstories or small roles.

Jacques, Eugene and Kyle are in a little clique group type thing. They say they're in a band and they do have instruments and a sound system. But whenever Resident Rep Io gives them a chance to perform, they always decline saying some flaky excuse like 'our music isn't ready' or somethin along the lines of that, vague answers. Despite never performing they meet up every day at the burned down house (which no one knows why the house is there or what caused it to be burned to the ground) for 'band practice'. They always hang out together and are usually never seen apart, unless one or two of them is going to meet up with another. What makes these 3 most unsettling is that they've seemed to be on the island even before Io arrived. Which, ingame isn't possible. So Io is wary of them.

Bella gets bullied alot by Kyle, Eugene, Jacques and Diana. Despite her small size she has a big attitude and a bigger mouth. She's as stubborn as a mule but is the epitome of 'scaredy cat'. She often gets caught up in dares by K, E & J, goes venturing out somewhere then gets stranded in the dark alone without any lantern fuel. Io has to come to her rescue every. Single. Time. Because of this she sees Io as her hero and best friend and always runs to them when she gets in trouble. Io doesn't mind the constant rescuing and will even defend Bella from the three or whatever lurks in the darkness. When Bella runs to Io the three always back off. Diana doesn't thou.

Diana is the counter part to Avery in Natsukashi; a magical being who's as old, if not older, than the island. Unlike Avery, Diana is worshipped amongst the villagers (excpet Io). Even thou they see her as a deity, she likes to play harmless pranks and tricks on the villagers alot, esp Bella her fav target. However Diana's magic and tricks/pranks never work on Io, or just, not as intended. The pranks never hinder Io in anyway as they should have, they'll either not work or somehow even go in Io's favour. This has caused Diana to be very skeptical of Io. She wants to learn what makes Io so special, so she makes very obvious attempts to befriend Io, so much so that the other villagers take notice. Io doesn't push away or praise these attempts but does admit they do like the gifts of pretty rocks Diana brings.

Raymond came to the island for unknown reasons. I think I want to HC him as once working with Dobie in that dangerous lifestyle, thou not like what typical mobsters do. He was on the sidelines doing money stuff, couting and managing it, ect... Kinda like the mobs personal banker. He's quite devout to Diana and makes a trip to her fountain everyday to praise her, even thou he has to go throu the eternally dark woods.

And now my fav, Io. Io is not a normal human. They look human enough, but the others, esp Diana, question what Io actually is. The villagers, not including Diana and Bella, take note that Io is ALWAYS wearing imp horns and wings. They change colour but Io is always wearing them. Even if they wear another headgear like a hibiscus hairpin, they still have the impish horns on. Io also almost always fully covers their mouth with a mask. They're able to change their haircut, eye and hair colour on a whim and do so quite frequently, compared to Jerico who hardly ever changes anythin. When asked, Io will make jokes and change the subject, which the villagers always fall for. Bella however doesn't really take into consideration the odd things about Io. She doesn't really care, so long as she can continue running to them when she gets herself in trouble. Diana's skeptical nature doesn't dare allow her to make her suspicions publicly known, esp to Io so she never asks anythin. She'll merely watch from afar.
Io will also NEVER allow house guests, no matter how much pestering K, E & J give them.

And finally, since the island is always almost dark during the day, all villagers carry around a lantern and plenty of lantern oil. They can make their own oil, plus the Cranny always has enough in stock. The light from a lantern is the only thing that prevents whatever lurks in the darkness of the woods from getting them. That, and whatever Io has going on.

There is one time in the story that Bella gets stranded in the PITCH BLACK woods because she was too careles to keep her lantern filled, after she got dared to go in the woods by K, E & J. Bella can hear multiple things slowly walk towards her. She is frozen in fear when, unknown to her, Io is behind them. Io pulls down their mask which causes all the monsters to run away. Io then lights Bella's lantern, Bella now seeing Io, who has pulled back up their mask, but doesn't know what caused the things to run away so hurriedly.

 

[bestfriendsally]

alright, maybe i do have one...

bubbles is biff's slightly younger sister :3

 

[LeenaM]

I don't have a storyline, it's mostly headcanons like "these two look cute together so I think they're dating", or "Kabuki is a japanese cranky cat so he'll live in his own zen garden", or "both Molly and Flurry are small, normal villagers with the nature hobby, they should have their own farm/botanical garden". Or it's stuff villagers told me, like "Audie is a good cook", "Muffy knows a lot about flowers".
Once I have a better idea of the general vibe of my island, I'll probably try to build on these to create some sort of story, I think I'd be fun .

 

[piske]

I’d like to create some personas for my villagers so it might make it easier to decorate their properties but I don’t have an overall story developed for my island yet. I really enjoy it when people do though, so I am inspired to try!

 

[Nooblord]

Tom Nook didn’t thoroughly survey our island before he started his deserted island packages. He completely missed the ruins of a fort, hidden in a valley on the northeast quadrant of the island.
As a retired explorer, I made it my duty to learn the history of our island’s past inhabitants, and learn how their kingdom fell into ruin.

Once my colleague Blathers learned of our island, shrouded in mystery, he quickly established the Wits’ End museum; not only to curate exhibits for wildlife, fossils, and art, but to assist in the research and excavation of the ruins.

I decided to relocate my home to a plateau overlooking Wits’ End Valley, for easy access to the ruins. However, when expanding my home to add a basement we stumbled upon the base of an underground tunnel system connected by wells. Though the tunnels seem to only stretch across the northeast quadrant, they go down deeper than we could have ever imagined...

Blathers and I discuss our latest discoveries on a weekly radio show. Covering both our historically accurate findings, and the folklore that quickly spread across the island. Though Blathers tends to err on the side of science, I like to entertain the eerie experiences villagers share when wandering by the wells at night.

The story of Old Wits’ End’s sudden demise is a dark and dreary tale. The bulk of its story is found in the diary of the kingdom’s princess, Lily. Luckily, it was well preserved in the cellar of a temple on the outskirts of the fort. Long story short, she fell blindly in love with a prince of a neighboring kingdom who convinced her into disclosing the secrets of their kingdom, and how they were expanding downwards, into the belly of the island. She soon began to conspire with him. Drunk off of love and beginning to share his appetite for power. They started planning on how to overthrow her kingdom, then conquer the surrounding islands, so that she may rule at his side as his queen.

A war soon ensued between the neighboring kingdoms. The townspeople sought shelter in the underground bunkers of the fort... Little did they know.
The enemy breached the stone walls, but knew not to follow them into the wells, thanks to the princess... Rather, they stood guard at each of the wells and began mining into the cliffs of the valley in an attempt to flood the tunnels with the lake that overlooked it.
It was a successful strategy, to say the least. Those who did not drown were met with the enemy at the mouth of the wells, weapons drawn...

They say Redwood used to be Whitewood. With towering birch trees, and blanketed in white flowers, but the bloody water from that dreadful night seeped into the earth and stained everything red...

They say princess Lily can be found wandering around the island at night, still waiting for her prince to return. Oblivious to the fact that she was only being used by him.

They say you can hear the wails of the townspeople, still crying for help if you walk by a well at night. And if you get too close, Lily will push you in, desperate for the trust of her love, and hoping one more life would be enough to appease him.

But those are just stories...

Oh, and Wits’ End is the origin of a really awesome punk rock band called Drool Stains, whose lead singer, Hornsby, left the island to find himself after Celeste broke his heart.

(I got a little carried away, I should probably just start a journal, lol.)

 

[bestfriendsally]

i'm not sure... but i think marina likes julian... i mean, look at this at - 6:21 pm tonight

one other time before, she thanked him for sending her poetry... i'll post the screenshots when i find them :3

 

[Airysuit]

I tend to do that a little, but not as much in previous games I'm afraid i felt those games were a little more immersive and cutesy, and especially in NL you would have a little office in the town hall. So i would pretend to go to work and talk to the villagers and really feel like a mayor.

I still have that now, but in this game I'm a bit more focused on design and collecting and less on stories and villagers.

Love reading yours though!

 

[Moritz]

So... I now think my character is dead and its the afterlife...

 

[Cnydaquil]

I have wanted to do somthing like this for a while. I would have to restart my island and start from scratch. Im a huge roleplayer and have my own versions or A.Us of things like tv shows, games. for my island tho i would love to make a legend of zelda twilight princess island. Im considering restarting but im not sure yet

 

[The Loyal Rat]

I just wanted to share more head canon cause it’s fun haha.
I like to think that Roald has no clue whatsoever about anything relating to athletics, all he does is shout vague jargon that he remembers hearing when watching sports on TV for a few minutes. He also pretends to work out whenever he’s outside so he can maintain an ‘image’ of being a manly dude, when in reality, Roald is as dorky and bubbly as Bob, and just as lazy. All my villagers just kinda play along with him, because Roald is such a cool dude.