also i would LOVE to know what the "balloon catching jail bars" were for! it feels like it should be self-explanatory but i can't figure it out!
I can NOT get a read on you to tell if you're joking or being serious right now, so I'll answer earnestly. Some furniture, most famously jail bars, are too tall for balloons to float over, so instead they float downwards to reach the end of the object and then continue on across the island. So, if you want to make balloon farming a little easier, you can place a row of jail bars from the top to the bottom of your island, near the beach. Then, when a balloon spawns in, instead of having to run up and down the beach to find it, you can just hang out at the bottom of the jail bars and know they'll make their way down to you.
So, today I wanted to talk about the eventual permanent residents of Meadow. I wanted a good variety of species (no duplicates) and personalities (one of every type plus the 2 extra) and they had to pass a vibe check. I want to be clear, the vibe check does not mean "is one of my favorites" because some of these villagers I'd never actually thought about before! It IS still related to my aesthetic sense, but that's not the sole determining factor.
So I clicked though the 8 personality categories and picked who I thought fit best.
Cranky: Dobie the wolf
There's more decent cranky villagers than I expected, but ultimately it HAS to be this old man wolf, because he looks SO much like the base wolf model in Meadow.
Jock: Antonio the anteater
This was one of the last personalities I picked, actually! He's very much a vibes-based choice, I love the greyscale with the warm off-white face, and the anteater shape with their long snouts give me perfect whimsical Moominvalley creature vibes. I never considered anteaters a favorite before... but the model has really grown on me, helped in part by my temporary resident, Snooty.
Lazy: Dizzy the elephant
I had him on my old island! His big, innocent eyes, sideways mouth, and overall shape (the trunk! cuuuute) really charmed me, and he gives me young Moomintroll vibes. As a bonus, there's an elephant calf as a playable animal in Meadow.
Smug: Curlos the sheep
He gives me BIG 2019 Moominvalley character Stinky vibes. I think it's the eyes. Plus, he's a sheep! I've always wanted a sheep villager.
Normal: Kitt the kangaroo
KITT my beloved! She was also on my old island, very early on. I let her move away and regretted it forever. Once I got her amiibo, she was the first one I invited to the Meadow campsite. The kangaroo model is very charming, esp with the little joeys, and she gives me BIG Moominmamma vibes. She was the first one I had picked out, I think.
Peppy: Piper the bird
SO many peppy villagers I like that do not fit the aesthetic theme of Meadow, or were a species I already used elsewhere, ah... thankfully, there's Piper. I luckily found her island-hopping, and she's grown on me! I was worried because I really didn't like my original peppy villagers on Meadow (one was Sprinkle, I think?) and I know their personalities are essentially identical... but idk.
Sisterly: Deirdre the deer
Okay, let me be honest, I just think she looks cool and fits the vibe.
Snooty: Pecan the squirrel
There was lots of potential in the snooty roster, but when I saw Pecan and her house (and considered the snooty personality) she reminded me of Mrs. Fillyjonk, another Moomins character.
And then... the last 2, the doubled-up personalities...
Normal 2: Kiki the cat
Okay... I'm a fan of cats in general. Kiki's personality does NOT fit this, but her general look kinda reminds me of the Groke?
Smug 2: Lionel the lion
I really wanted to say Leopold, my original island bestie, my partner in green-haired crime, but somehow knowing it would be a "different" Leopold (mine came from a friend's sibling's island with a DAL eyemask he loved wearing always, for example) made it really hard. So, I went for a different Lion who gave me Moominpappa vibes.
If I remember, tomorrow I'll try to share some pics of the mountains I terraformed! I could do it today but this post is already getting out of hand hahah
