The first (full) week of January was marked in Animalia and its colonies by a number of main "staples" being closed for cleaning and renovating. While there were those who were greatly disappointed by this, especially those who were "regulars" at the Meat Market, it was deemed necessary since regular "use" causes wear and tear and since January was often considered a time of new beginnings, it was considered a good time to do so. Fortunately there were a few other things going on, mainly with Animalia Ambassadoria interviews and previews, as well as some "vacation photos" from some of Animalia's newest members.
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The biggest "preview" was of the "overhauled" Meat Market which was not only going to be larger in many ways, but also include a private "recording studio" for recording premium videos for the website. While there were many expressions of disappointment, this was deemed necessary to keep things out of the hands of minors.
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There was also a preview of the "new, improved" weight room of Claw Coliseum, which also included modified machines for the newer, heavier weights. This was partly because the Ultraheavyweights of Animalia were starting to complain that the heaviest weights were starting to get a little easy to lift, so newer weights had been commissioned that were even heavier than what was already there, which also prompted a redesign of the weight machines to allow the use of said weights.
Another thing that was getting redesigned was Claw Coliseum's main field, though that was mainly due to the Year of the Ox Zodiac Competition. While the Mountain of the Zodiac remained in place, it wasn't going to be the focal point of the final challenge since cattle weren't really known for climbing mountains. Probably the biggest thing tied to this was the obstacle course design (complete with "troll bait" to keep the trolls busy) which was about making it challenging while making sure it wasn't "unsolvable".
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The vacation photos that were being shown on Animalia's websites were generating a lot of comments, basically on how certain Animalians with a bit of a reputation were reacting. The best example of this was Henry's vacation pics of his official "first date" on Mieni Atoll with Beatrice. While he was clearly enjoying it, some of his reactions to Beatrice's antics clearly showed that he was still out of his comfort zone.
Ollie and Leslie's vacation photos were actually quite standard, but to be clear neither Ollie nor Leslie did any of the dangerous things that some people did to brag on social media about. While there were those who thought otherwise, these were generally ignored since "social media obsession" had started a trend of people who kill themselves while attempting dangerous things for social media. There were comments who applauded them (metaphorically speaking) for avoiding needless risk-taking.
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Probably the biggest thing on the website was an official interview between a major news station and Miss Fabina. Fortunately, the PR-MD were able to keep things reasonable for both Miss Fabina and the news station, and there were no "naughty" questions. The interview seemed to show that there were "hidden depths", as one news website put it, especially since her most recent project involved rediscovering the identities of the former "pumped up, plastic" girls who were among the newest members of Animalia.
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Dino City had its own fair share of news and surprises, but only a few of them were considered newsworthy. Probably what was the biggest (relatively speaking) piece of news was the official unveiling of Dino City's first mansion, for Patrick Diamond and his daughter, Penny. While it was considerably larger and "ritzier", it matched the overall theme of Dino City, causing some hilarious reactions on the website, especially since there were some modern appliances that had been given a "stone-age makeover" with some clearly mixed results.
The other, funnier, piece of news actually came from Sophie and Roland giving Buzz his flying lessons. Apparently the news of what landed Buzz in Project Phoenix had reached a certain group called the "Darwin Society". While it was clear that it was a group focused on Darwin's Theory of Evolution, they decided to prank him extra hard when they learned about his bout of stupidity.
During one lesson, a package for Buzz was delivered. While initially confused, Buzz got his answer (and a bout of severe embarrassment) when the package contained a trophy that firmly labeled him as a member of the "At-Risk Survivor Darwin Award Club". Someone managed to get a picture of both him, his trophy, and his surprised reaction and plastered it on social media. After that, it wasn't long until his "condition" was well known and he had to deal with being labeled as an "At-Risk Survivor".
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The first full week of January was a good start, though it was considered normal for the start of a new year.