The great players are the ones who make everybody around them play better. In relationships, the good ones are the ones who are notable because of their own attributes. The great ones are those who transform everyone else. Everyone here is reticent, slow to express emotion, wary of strangers and distrustful of anything new. As in small towns everywhere, knowing and being known is a mixed blessing.
Privacy is difficult, at best, and anonymity is impossible.
It's awfully easy to develop a reputation and terribly unlikely to live one down. If the local industry has left and there's nobody moving in, the inwardness is practically unbearable, and the stagnation is absolutely inevitable. The only church is closed because they couldn't pay a preacher. The Spitfire Grill is up for sale, but nobody wants to buy it. Relationships are weary from the relentless strain of constant attention.