Hey, hey it’s MJ,

            I am not really a gamer, casually at best. I am the person who when playing Assassin’s Creed Syndicate I apologized every time I ran into people then got stuck on the train which is like mission two and stopped playing. I want to play it I really do but I get pretty frustrated by games. I think the last game I beat was Pokémon Ruby, so it’s been a while. Like a said casual gamer, sometimes I play Minecraft on peaceful because well Creepers are terrifying and I don’t like to be stressed out when I play games. 

            As the world was falling apart my birthday happened and my best friend being her best self sent me a copy of Animal Crossing New Horizons and I have been obsessively playing since late April. Maybe it’s because I am such an escapist or maybe I want to sell my soul to a tanuki named Tom Nook, who knows. I like the idea of living on an island where I can sell literally anything to two other tanuki’s and make millions of bells, don’t judge me. 

            I feel the need to clarify something early, I didn’t play Animal Crossing as a kid I was aware of it and I was confused but I have been playing Pocket Camp since it came out so having a console game with the full Animal Crossing experience has been great in this time of what seems like never ending quarantine. (which is a word I still can’t spell properly, thank you autocorrect)

            I feel like a lot of people are playing Animal Crossing right now and that is totally okay because we all need something to smile about. This isn’t a review or an island tour (if I was still actually using my YouTube channel (one day I will get back to to) I would do an island tour video but that’s just not in the cards at the moment.) Also a piece of MJ trivia as a child I could not for the life of me understand how island was pronounced as it was and my third grade teacher got really mad when I kept spelling it iland because that is how it should be spelled, the English language man it was my first language and my only fluent language and even in my late 20’s I still haven’t mastered it. 

            My character had a closet full of cute little outfits that I wish I had in real life and enough hats to attend several fancy parties, because, hats. Also let’s be honest Pinterest has given me unattainable expectations of what I want my house to look like because they have so many cute ideas and it makes me feel like my house in inhabited by a trash goblin who had no tastes and then I remember I also see those houses on Pinterest and feel exactly the same way about the real place I live. So trash goblin makes sense…

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            My residents are really cute and I have cycled through a few since I got my island at the end of April but for sure my current faves are Bones, Zell, and Sherb they all are just so happy and cute and I love them. I got Lyman as an original villager and he’s a koala which are my favorite animals so he is eternally my fave. 

            The NPC’s that visit the island are I feel like becoming more numerous and they are great but it means that you don’t get to see certain ones very often, there are some that are there every day so I don’t count them, so Isabelle (whose morning updates I love because that would be me as someone who had to do morning announcements just telling people all about my TV habits), Tom, Timmy, and Tommy Nook, Mabel and Sable Able, Blathers, and Pascal (who is the best). But I’m thinking more Sally Mae who brings the turnips on Sunday mornings, Celeste who is Blathers sister and brings you star fragment recipes, Gulliver and Gullivarr who are both sea gulls who wash up on your island because they are not really great seafarers, Red who tries to sell you art but some of it is fake art, Leif the sloth who sells plants, Kicks the skunk who sells accessories, Label who is the last Able sister who is a fashion designer, CJ and Felix who collect fish and bugs respectively, Wisp the ghost that you have to find his spirit pieces to get items, and I know I am missing a few but my brain at the moment can’t remember, I could look it up but I feel like that’s cheating. 

            I just paid off my home loan completely, so I don’t have any more expansions and now I get to focus on other things on my island like making it a five star island and trying to breed certain colored flowers, blue I have got but purple and black are evading me at the moment. 

            It’s just been something that I have been whole heartedly enjoying and I have logged something like 200+ hours in it so far which I feel is a little excessive but come on, I want to get all the critters and creatures for museum and balloons are great so I play as much as I can and want to. 

            I’m not the most experienced player nor do I want to be, I don’t want to know how to get rich quick or try and outsmart the game because I just want to enjoy it. Like I use all sorts of cheats on The Sims 4 but rarely anywhere else. 

            If you play Animal Crossing what’s your favorite things, got a room you’re proud of, a resident you love to pieces, or even a fish or bug that’s your favorite? Let me know! 

            I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and I will see you on Sunday with a new post!

            -MJ