I have links to my three public towns: Applewin, ACNLpics, and Foster.
With Applewin, I did not methodically plan, from the start, exactly who would live in the town. I wanted my three originals, Normal frog Jambette, Jock duck Scoot, and Peppy bird Twiggy, to not leave because of the bonds they have with the humans, especially Mayor Jill. As for the rest: I accepted Smug goat Kidd, invited him to move in, from the Camping Ground. I won Bell Tree Forums bids for Smug horse Julian, Peppy cat Rosie, and Lazy bear cub Stitches. After starting the game, as my original town, in August 2013, they were established by the first quarter of 2014. Later in the year, I got Uchi ostrich Phoebe from another town I was re-setting. (She replaced Uchi bear cub Tammy, who I lost.) And then came Normal elephant Tia. She was won by me in a bid. I had her in two previous towns. And then I realized she needed to be in my original town. The last was Hamlet. I had one more slot available. I was in a casting mode. Who would be right for Applewin? I was thinking of Lazy villagers. (I no longer needed a Cranky or Snooty. And I needed, for balance, a male.) Then I realized, from my previous experience in a temporary cycle town, that the Jock hamster Hamlet is a terrific character. That he would be right for Applewin. He is! So, I chose him.
With ACNLpics, which I created over the Summer of 2014, I had a previous town named Progress. I was dissatisfied with it. In that town were Uchi cat Katt, Cranky werewolf Fang, and Cranky eagle Apollo—and I maneuvered to get them moved out of Progress and over to ACNLpics. In between getting that trio, my No. 7 villager (that is, when you look at the order of their names on the game’s menu screen) turned out to be Smug koala Eugene. (I originally planned for the Smug to be the sheep Pietro.) Eugene is so awesome that I changed my plans for him. I moved Merengue from another town (the same one from which I had done transfers of Tia and Phoebe over to Applewin). The rest were who I had in mind. I set up temporary cycle towns to transfer them over to ACNLpics. I can’t remember their seniority order, but I knew I wanted the luminous deer Diana for its Snooty, the dog Biskit its Lazy, and my original intention for the Normal to be the octopus Marina. I took a shine to Kevin, from a temporary cycle town, and chose this handsome orange pig as its Jock. I originally had for ACNLpics’s Peppy the squirrel Nibbles. I like her. But, I ended up having lost her. So, I replaced her with another squirrel, Peanut. Since this is a museum-themed town (the villagers’ pictures are on display in humans’ houses), I chose a good mix of villagers.
With Foster, which I created in January 2015, I came up with a fantastic map. I created it because of the Peppy penguin Sprinkle. She was in between towns. I adore her. I didn’t want to void her. At that time, I did not know I would buy more game cartridges of “Animal Crossing: New Leaf.” So, I found a map I love and called the town Foster. I had the five original villagers (none were kept; one was a repeat from another town). So, I slotted Sprinkle as No. 6. When it came to who I wanted representing the villager personality categories, I knew I wanted the Jock frog Ribbot and I wanted, as I previously experienced her in Progress, the duck Molly to be its Normal. I also decided the Snooty should be the werewolf Whitney. Then I found, in visits to other towns, I needed the Cranky to be the octopus Octavian. When it came to Smugs, I wasn’t choosy. I ended with two: Zell, the deer, came in first; he was followed by Rodney, the hamster. I wasn’t choosy with the town’s Uchi, slotted at No. 7, and so I was fine with the sheep Muffy. (I dig her. She’s a good character.) And then, from my experience with her in a cycle town (and having read others’ comments), I chose for an additional female to be a second Snooty: the ostrich Blanche. I originally had as the town’s Lazy the squirrel Filbert. He has since been replaced by the dog Bones. (This is good because I recently created an all-squirrel town, on which I plan to create a Bell Tree Forums thread, in which Filbert is a resident. It was required. I like to have five-and-five for males and females. And the squirrels have only five males, covering all villager personality categories: Crankies Static and Ricky, Jock Sheldon, Smug Marshal and, of course, Lazy Filbert.) So, I made some really good choices.