I can’t believe the summer is already over – COVID has created this weird time-warp feeling, where days and weeks go by and I barely keep track at all. Thankfully, Animal Crossing’s weekly schedule ensures I know what day of the week it is – oh, K.K. Slider is here? Guess it’s Saturday already…
August’s big update brought back the Fireworks Festival from previous iterations in the franchise – and it’s better than ever in New Horizons. It’s also just nice to have something to look forward to on a Sunday evening. Getting to see all your villagers gathered in the plaza, clapping and yelling, and occasionally doing a sparkler, is adorable and I’m here for it. The fireworks are gorgeous, and the opportunities for clownery are endless, because custom firework designs are back, folks. My custom ones weren’t terribly exciting, just Dom’s face, and our lord and saviour, Froggy Chair, but it was funny to see them lighting up the night sky. I’ve seen other people on Twitter and Instagram create some amazingly creative themes to their shows – as usual, the community blows me away with its ingenuity.
We’ve had a resident change on Windfall, with Kid Cat leaving mid-month. I had just lost Pierce, and had Ankha move in, so it was a bit surprising to have someone ask again so soon. I didn’t really want to let him go, so when he asked, I debated for quite a while. But ultimately, I decided to say goodbye. It’s getting harder and harder to say goodbye to villagers I get attached to (still looking for Rod and Eunice) but I do try to cycle villagers in and out.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the two I was looking for, but I did run into Deli, a Lazy monkey villager. I’ve literally never had (or even seen) a monkey villager before, so I decided to go ahead and invite him to Windfall. He’s been really great so far – I like him a lot. But that’s the problem, see, because I like every new villager, and then I don’t want to let them go. Sigh.
I’ve been on a big terraforming binge lately, having finally found the motivation to start seriously working on my island. I’ve gotten a lot of ideas from Instagram, to help with my vision for creating a more natural looking island. I opened up the entire back section, which was previously just cliffs with unused space.
Now, I have Marshall, Dom, and Admiral back there, with a nice flower field in front. I finally caved and started laying down “The Path” that has been massively popular. In the end, my island will probably be like everyone else’s, but I’m trying not to worry about that – as long as it turns out the way I like, I’m trying not to be too hipster about it. I’ve put the Museum, Able Sister’s shop, and Nook’s Cranny over in the same corner, so I can access them all at the same time, and the rest of the island is still TBD. I’m thinking some more flower fields, and garden areas.
Everyone on the island is doing well, and I’ve finally gotten one more photo to add to my current collection. Freckles handed me her photo after I delivered a gift from Dom (they’d gotten into a fight apparently) which was a funny coincidence – I had sent her a letter the night before that said “GIVE ME YOUR PHOTO.” So yeah, not saying that it worked, but it totally worked. I’m still waiting on Sylvana and Beau, because I’ve been best friends with them for a while now. I think I’m getting close with Dizzy and Admiral, but Ankha and Deli are probably still a ways off. Deli is already best friends with Dizzy, and Ankha seems to be doing well too. My villagers keep setting up treasure hunts for me, and I fail every single time, because I suck.
I went on a bug and fish catching spree this week, to make sure I’d caught everything that’s disappearing at the end of August. The Golden Stag proved to be the most difficult to find – I ended up having to go to a Mystery Island to catch one. I had to get rid of all the flowers (it was a bamboo island, so the trees weren’t an issue) before combing the coconut trees for about half an hour before it appeared. Once that was caught and donated, my August beetle list was complete. I’m officially ready for the fall. I can’t wait for all the autumn recipes and scenery changes!
Another August update was the return of the Dream suite, and the ability to visit “dream” versions of other players islands. I’ve been doing a lot of dream-island hopping, mostly to see villages that a) are more creative than I could ever make and b) busier than I would ever want. I mean, it’s super cool to have a castle-themed island, with every space dedicated to that theme, but… how do you do anything? There’s barely room to move on some of these islands, they’re so packed, let alone fish or catch bugs.
I also decided to pay a fellow blogger a visit: since McKenna from McKenna Talks About Games had posted the code to her island, Azurerose, in her last Animal Crossing Diaries, I decided to dream-walk over! Hopefully she doesn’t mind me exploring her island. It was super nice! I loved all the open space, especially her rainbow flower garden. And I’m very jealous of all her blue roses. I’m planning on putting up the dream code for Windfall as soon as I get some of my fall recipe ideas built and put on display. I need those mush-lamps.
So that’s pretty much it – August, wrapped up. I’m seeing a lot of decorating on the agenda for September, with probably another villager change. Marshall asked to leave recently, and I said no, so I’m anticipating some of the OG’s asking to go soon. As much as it’s going to depress me, I think I’m going to let Beau and Marina go if they ask. They were two of my original villagers, but I’m not as attached to them as I feel I should be. I know they’re both popular so hopefully I’ll be able to find a nice person on Reddit to save them from the Void! I’m beyond excited for the Halloween season in New Horizons, so that’s it for me until our next check-in!
Meghan Plays Games 