💌 🌲 [ the pawtucket post ]

[zissou]

Dear reader,

Two years, eight months, and five days of living in a sleepy, idyllic village with a despicably slow wi-fi connection will do things to a person. That's 980 days of crisp mountain air, botched sea bass meunière, and building bookcases with my bare hands just to feel something.

Needless to say, you can’t blame me for waking up one day and choosing violence drama journalism. Again!

I started Pawtucket's first island journal almost a year ago. Two states, three apartments, and one major career change later, I'm back. Buying that one-way sea-plane ticket felt like coming home. I missed the swaying apple trees, the Saturday K.K. Slider concerts, even — yes — Paula's always-burned gnocchi di patate.

The Bell Tree , especially Island Journals, is the Internet equivalent of a cozy armchair before a crackling fireplace. There is so much love here, amongst all of us in our miniature worlds, celebrating holidays and planting vegetables and documenting it all with humor and sincerity. To the readers and writers on here — you are my kind of people. Thank you for being here.

As for this journal — join me as I scheme, schmooze, and schismatize my way through the tangled secrets linking the not-so-mild-mannered citizens of Pawtucket. Or perhaps I'll learn to appreciate peaceful sunrises and forming meaningful friendships. (Maybe a bit of both.)

Your faithful Editor-In-Chief,
Zissou

P. S. Feel free to drop comments, messages, or questions at any time!
I'd love to get to know my fellow TBT-ers

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[zissou]

to be updated! ​

 

[zissou]

Spoiler: Daily Updates

november 25, 2022. musings on outdoor decorating.
november 28, 2022. late-midterms season blues.
december 04, 2022. yearning for holidays past.

Spoiler: Newspaper Features

none yet!

Spoiler: ~ a mystery category ~

none yet ... stay tuned!

​

 

[zissou]

november 25, 2022 | daily update: musings on outdoor decorating.

It's the day after Thanksgiving. And you know what that means?

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Toy Day decorating! Halloween is normally my holiday of choice, but I'm feeling weirdly insistent about sprucing up the island with seasonal decorations this month. I usually get burned out on Animal Crossing around wintertime -- I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't think I've actually played through the Toy Day event in my life -- so now that I have the energy for it, I'm going to decorate. Every. Square. Inch.

I haven't played a lot in the past year (oops) and I think what kept me away was the stress of terraforming and decorating. Some people find it peaceful. Historically, I have found it very anxiety-inducing. It's usually a cycle of build, struggle, enjoy, get annoyed with a bit, get annoyed with the whole thing, tear it all down, stop playing for six months. This time, however, I have an over-arching design vision.

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I miss... space. I was wandering around Pawtucket recently and realized that part of what made older Animal Crossing towns feel like real villages was all of the actual forest -- just trees, no overly meticulous decor filling up every nook and cranny. Of course, my aesthetic is slightly more cluttered than that, but that's my goal now. To create more open space for running and mushroom-hunting and wood-harvesting.

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The first thing I did was tear down my elaborate town square. No more bricks, no more shopping malls -- we want trees! Since then, I've been building wider, walking-oriented spaces. And I'm working extremely hard on suppressing my natural urge to fill every available square with stuff. It's dang difficult to create visually satisfying areas without relying on a million flowers and bushes, but I'm loving the outcome.

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A few things on my mind, in no particular order: There are so many beautiful items in this game, and I only want to use the mushrooms, barrels, bicycles, and signposts. RIP. What if I stumble across some gorgeous landscaping on Reddit and feel the urge to tear all of this down again? I don't think I've ever loved Pawtucket as much as I do right now.

I'm also messing around with flower placements. Purple and blue flowers look especially vibrant against the orange grass. I'm a little afraid of how everything's going to look right before and after the snow starts sticking, but hey. We'll deal with it when it happens.

About five villagers have asked to come over to my house in the past few days, and I've said no to all of them except Marina, who left immediately after she saw the roaches scuttling around my ceiling. I've since decided to let the roaches stay, since they're politely paying rent and keeping the villagers out of my space. I am feeling a bit mean about it, so I'm trying to spend more time with them outdoors. ️

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I've rambled for enough today. One last thought: I normally try to space out my flowers, but these two purple windflower plants outside of Roald's house are so lovely I've decided to leave them. I'll take the accidental beauties as they come. Have a safe and warm day, everyone!

Your faithful Editor-In-Chief,
Zissou​

 

[zissou]

november 28, 2022 | daily update: late midterms season blues.

There are so many emails in my inbox. And every morning, I wake up and... choose not to read them. Why would things be any different in Animal Crossing?

These days, my mornings go like this: barely make it out of bed, motivated only by the thought of coffee; wash my face and brush my teeth, hanging on by a thread; decide whether it's Real Pants day or another sweatpants day (hint: it's a sweatpants day); rush out the door and make the bus by the skin of my teeth. Catch my breath on the ride to class. Stumble into the lecture hall and marvel at the fact that it's 9:00 am and I'm alive and I'm here, ready to learn about... cyclin-dependent kinase activity.

I'd like to think it's different on Pawtucket, but it's not as different as I'd like. Am I still ignoring letters? Am I still scurrying out of my house with only a cup of coffee in my belly? ️ No. Yes. Moving on. I do exercise. With a blue talking sheep, no doubt. Her name's Wendy and she's delightful.

Ignore me huffing and puffing after approximately one (1) jumping jack, please.
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Have I been exercising in real life? I respectfully decline to answer. You can't blame me. We're in the last vestiges of midterms, and after Thanksgiving break and a series of unfortunate events occurring at my uni, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we are Struggling. It's at the point where I'm pleasantly surprised when I see my friends in class, because it means that not only did they bother to show up, but I also bothered to show up, too. Instead of, y'know, skipping class to study for that same class.

I'm making a lot of jokes, reader, but let me tell you: it's tough. I'm feeling overwhelmed with school, applications, work, volunteering, clubs, friends, family, my partner, and my own health (that pesky old thing?) I'm using TBT and this island journal as a silly escape from a biology lecture recording as we speak.

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Let's see... what's going on in Pawtucket?

Isabelle told me there was a campsite visitor, so I scurried on over. ️ For someone who's been so awfully reticent with my own neighbors, I sure was eager to meet someone new. Maybe it was just the thought of getting a fresh new start with someone who doesn't know all of my bad habits and the fact that I don't floss as much as I should.

It was Keaton. I pride myself on not being a villager snob, because I'm a googly-eyed, buck-toothed human, too, y'know? You don't have to be Fauna or Marshal to be a resident of Pawtucket. But there's something about the bird villagers that doesn't sit right with me. There's too... much of them. They're so... angular. Their energy is aggressive even if they're not aggressive.

Having already rudely ushered myself into his tent, and now facing the even more dreadful faux pas of not inviting him to move in, I had no choice but to play dead. I have no idea if he believed me, but he played along.

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I spent the rest of the day alerting the villagers to the fact that I was not, in fact, dead. Everyone shrieked about the fact that they hadn't seen me in five months. Marina wept and showed me the quilt she was working on in my honor, which was still damp in places (from the tentacles or the tears, I don't know). My neighbors have taken to sitting and staring morosely into space, to which I say... same.

Bill, I can't say I know what we're supposed to be looking at, but I can say that I understand.
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It's still quite warm in Pawtucket, which is at once comforting and unsettling. I'm still spending my days basking in the sunshine and contemplating my existential angst while nibbling on the latest batch of Tammi's burnt-to-a-crisp shortbread cookies. I'm not prepared for the winter ahead. The snow, the silence, the wind, the bare, shuddering trees...

And lately I've been thinking about how I'm getting old. Or... old... er. I know, I know. How many cliché, angsty thoughts can a girl fit into a single journal entry? A lot, reader. I've been holding myself back. Soon I'll be halfway into my current decade, and then I'll actually have to think about financing and investments and the fact that my knees aren't working like they used to. It's not so much death that frightens me as not getting to use youth as an excellent excuse for all of my foolishness.

Oh, reader. Tell me I'm not alone. I'm not sure if it'll actually help, but it'd be a comfort.

Next time, I promise a happier entry. For now, take this parting gift: a link to a lovely "cozy animal crossing music" playlist that I'm currently listening to while not studying. Time to fix that, I suppose...

Your faithful Editor-In-Chief,
Zissou ​

 

[zissou]

december 04, 2022 | daily update: yearning for holidays past.

It's December, dear reader. And do you know what that means? Do you know what time of year it is?

... exactly. It's the time of year where everyone posts their music listening history for the year and we all crow over how unique and diverse — or, er, not unique and diverse — our music tastes are. If you've been keeping up with my rambling, you'll know by now that I'm neck-deep in exams. Which means I spend most of my time at the library, trying to drown out all of the rustling papers around me while I cram information into my sobbing brain. So, unfortunately, my current #1 song is "Washing Machine Sound Machine (12 Hours)".

What? It's very soothing. And if you listen carefully, you can almost smell the fresh detergent.

Don't worry, I'm not insane enough to only listen to washing machines. I usually layer it with music to keep my vestiges of sanity — and this is my latest treasure. Animal Crossing holiday music!

Man, I didn't expect how nostalgic that playlist would make me, especially for a season I've barely played in throughout all of the games. I haven't thought much about New Leaf , but when the holiday tracks came on, I thought of all the hours I spent running around my dirty (with literal dirt. rest in pieces, animal tracks ) village, poorly plotting where I'd place my public works projects and making constant trips to the shopping district.

Oh dear... the shopping district. Shrunk's lame comedy. The little post office with Pelly. Digby, standing at the gates wagging his little tail. Shampoodle! I'll say it for the people in the back. I miss Shampoodle!

I miss a lot of things about the older games, but enough's been said on that topic. I want to make do with the game I do have. And even though it's completely irresponsible to be playing this game when there's so much hanging in the balance academically, I'm channeling my nostalgia into my first-ever attempt at decorating my village for the holidays!

Wendy, I know I'm illegally on your property, but can you chill? This is for the greater good.
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I've been scrounging up all of the materials I've begged, bartered, and hoarded from last year when I didn't play through the Toy Day event when I was more active. It's still a work in progress, but I'm keen to share it with y'all when it's completed... which will probably require me to work on my village infrastructure, won't it? Sigh... just when you think you can get away with throwing string lights everywhere.

The current decor is looking a bit janky with the fading autumn color scheme, but I'm hoping the snow will tie everything together. Until then, we will soldier on with the horribly clashing browns and blues.

I highly recommend browsing the Internet for nostalgic holiday playlists from your old favorite games. It'll send you spiraling into your childhood at a time where you need to be fully present. And isn't that what the holidays are all about?

I have a lot of exciting plans for the Pawtucket Post in the coming weeks. Pawtucket's history! Investigative journalism! Island drama! So, so many photographs taken with the "film" filter on! But for now, I'll leave you with this little sneak peek. Coming soon: the full Pawtucket holiday tour!

Thanks for reading, and stay warm! Or cool. Or, I don't know, mildly temperate. Wherever you are, I'm rooting for you!

Your faithful Editor-in-Chief,
Zissou ​