Favorite Screenshots
Important milestones or composed photos I particularly like. See captions for descriptions.
up close and personal
Some of my favorite pictures of villagers just hanging out and enjoying life on Meadow, or some nice scenery.
ACNH Polaroids
Moments in time and villagers at rest from the Meadow and Nostalgia islands, presented without comment.
April 20th: A wide open Meadow!
April 20th: release day for Animal Crossing: New Horizons and the founding of the little island of Meadow! My starting villagers are Stinky the jock cat and Sylvia the uchi kangaroo. My starting fruit is oranges and my native flowers are mums.
Week 1: orange blossoms
My first home is built and upgraded several times, Blathers sets up a tent and then a museum, Nooks Cranny is built, and I get fences! I also finally(!) catch my first tarantula after they had been knocking me out all week. I get 3 new villagers who move in after I gather materials for their homes: Benedict the lazy chicken, Kitt the normal Kangaroo, and Apple the peppy hamster!
Week 2: New Faces in town!
What a busy week! For starters, Tom Nook gave announcements (for the last time!) outside of a newly renovated Resident Services building and Isabelle joins the administrative team. This was a good week for NPCs: I meet Saharah the rug/flooring/wallpaper selling camel for the first time, and Flick the bug-purchasing chameleon comes to town. I catch my first coelacanth and oarfish, and I even got a stringfish literal hours before they went out of season! I paid off loans and kept expanding my home. Finally, my campsite opened and I was forced to accept Lionel the smug lion into my town. Gah!
Week 3: a blossoming little village
Wow, wow, wow, things are moving fast! For one, the island is covered in a sea of pink as cherry blossom season begins! New neighbors abound, with Marcie the normal kangaroo (my third kanga, lmao), Jacques the smug bird, Monique the snooty cat, and Harry the cranky hippo moving into town. KK Slider puts on a concert at Meadow, I unlock (and immediately purchase every option for) Terraforming and Waterscaping, Celeste comes for the first time, and the Able Sisters set up shop! Bunny Day begins and I get my first golden tool (Golden slingshot!!). Finally, I break through Sable's quiet exterior and become her friend, and due to our first ever villager deciding to leave (Harry) a new friend in the form of Erik the reindeer is en route to Meadow!
Week 4: Building Bridges & burning bridges.
My final home remodel, the basement, is built and I owe a boatload of bells to good ol Tom Nook. Lots of infrastructure was put up this week, I finally had some semblance of a real kitchen, and Meadow reached 4 stars. My sister in law visited, Bunny Day ended, and I caught my first swordfish! As a note: Lionel is not in most of my bridge pictures because he was sick and I didn't bring him medicine. He had picked fights with other villagers and given me attitude, so he was officially no longer welcome. In happier news, Dobie the cranky wolf moved in! I wanted him so bad and was so happy he finally came! I also get active in the AC discord.
Week 5: building a bustling community
A lot of long term decisions were made this week. First of all, Meadow is under a new banner: the flag is changed! It was to change again in the future, but now at least there's something. Apple and Stinky (two of my first good friends on the island) move out, and Lily and Chevre move in, which unfortunately also means that I now have 4 normal villagers. I spend the better part of a day attempting to redecorate my house, and I got my first purple rose and green mums!! I begin placing a boatload of fences and rock pathways around the island to spawn in 6 rocks where I want them, and it's grueling work. My villagers notice: in fact, that's almost all they talk about until it's over. Finally got the ironwood kitchenette built, and I also paid off my last home loan and made exterior changes to my house for the very first time. To celebrate, I threw my very first cataloging party for my IRL friends.
Week 6: new neighbors & 5 star island!
This week is pretty nuts and the most packed of any of them yet, so buckle up for the ride. First and foremost, more construction! My home gets a new exterior, finally. Benedict my sweet lazy chicken decides to move out and is placed into a loving new home. LIONEL THE CLODHEAD LION ALSO DECIDES TO MOVE OUT AND IS YEETED DIRECTLY INTO THE DAMNED VOID, HELL YES!!!! Maelle the snooty duck moves in, and I found Bluebear on a mystery island and she's so much better than Lionel. Woo! I move Kitt out of her starter home (with plans to pick her back up later so she can have a nice new home that isn't generic and DIY-heavy), and Walt the cranky kangaroo moves in. I also have now had 4 kangaroos. The next day, Earth Day begins and Leif is in town selling bushes: I get the recipe for hedges. Walt grows one year older, and I fiddle with a fountain area before ultimately deciding to turn it into a zen sand garden. Maelle moves out after just a few days and I decide that this is a good time to go on a villager hunt. There were a few highlights (Skye) and lowlights (lmao, hi Lionel) and on my 26th(!) ticket, I find Marina the octopus! The next morning, to my great shock, I find a little lily of the valley growing on my clifftop! What the heck?! I sprint excitedly to Isabelle and she confirms -- apparently in the days where I was landscaping and building the Zen garden, my island rating increased to 5 stars without me even knowing! What?! I get the recipe for the golden watering can and now the real work begins!
Week 7: island royalty
The museum is expanded, relocated, and a lot of hard work and time goes into the new clifftop spot for it. My house gains a study after I rearrange the rooms a bit, and also has a fresh coat of paint. I get a ton of new hybrid colors, move my orchards back by 1 square (which took the better part of an hour) and sell my turnips on Tuesday for a hefty chunk of change. My good internet friend Ross invites me to a cataloging party that night and absolutely loads me up with gifts and bells, and I finally purchase the crown! I spend the next day continuing to (re)terraform the museum area and decorate the island. Towards the end of the week, Jacques asks to move out. I head to the airport and after 17 tickets, Zucker moves to the island! I got some real questionable guys this run (including dual visits to both Hippeaux and Bubbles, and one visit to Rizzo), but it was worth it. Also, I know that passing up Stitches is probably a an unforgivable crime in some circles, but I don't trade villagers often and he's not what I wanted for my particular island. I'm not gunning for a triple octopus island and Marina/Zucker aren't going to be permanent members of Meadow, but it's nice to have two octopi for the time being. The week ended as May began and I filled my critterpedia some more!
week 8: my sweet kangaroos
I decide in the beginning of this week to merge my regular and hybrid flower gardens. Much work went into breeding for the project since this is the first time I've really begun gunning to complete flowers. It won't be complete for some time. I organize my second DIY/catalog party for friends, spend quality time with my villagers, and Sylvia has her birthday party! I see a frickin FIFTH kangaroo, this time in my campsite, and I just walk out of the tent. Oh my lord, I love my residents but please, no more new kangas right now! Chevre and Walt ask to leave at various points in the week, and I let them both explore new islands. I find Octavian on 3 (three!) different mystery tours, along with some winners (Apollo, Skye) and losers (Lionel, again), but I don't take any of them. Instead, Boone the jock monkey (Baboon) moves in and KITT COMES HOME!!! I had moved her out because she still had a starter home and she deserves better, and she's back! Late into the week, I find an amazing new home for Erik and he heads off, and Sylvia, my OG kangaroo, leaves as well. I have one short (Reneigh - 1 ticket) and one long (39 tickets - Sherb) rounds of mystery tours with the Dodos, and even found two money rock islands along the way. Other notable finds: Sterling, Chief, and Tangy. Additionally, thanks in part to the many mystery tour trips I've taken over the time I've been playing, the museum receives the very last fossil! Blathers is very pleased and so am I. Both the villager roster and final look of the island are slowly coming together.
Week 9: dear oh dear -- double deer!
The week begins with a celebration of Mother's Day (with my baby girl Kitt on the front cover). I finally stop storing duplicate DIYs in my basement and the Happy Home Academy awards me with my first S ranking. I also successfully breed for purple pansies which means that blue roses are officially the LAST flower color and breed I need before my gardens are complete. Early in the week, Bluebear and Marcie move out, and Merengue and Diana (campsite visitor!) move in. I realized with sadness that the custom sand designs in the zen garden was taking up way too many slots and took it down. In its place went a (temporary) free item area, with the free DIY area to its left. I also took some time and revamped the home decor some more. Marina asks to move and I pick up Beau after only two mystery island tours. Finally, Redd returns for the first time since his initial two visits. My villagers now are: one snooty (Diana), one uchi (Reneigh), one jock (Boone), one cranky (Dobie), three lazy (Sherb, Zucker, Beau), and three normal (Kitt, Lily, Merengue)! I need one peppy and one smug villager to round out the roster so I have at least one of each type -- otherwise, dialogue repeats and it can be tiresome. Not sure exactly how the final roster will stack up, I guess we will see!
Week 10: a beautiful blue bud
This week, the blue rose bud that I had been working towards since launch finally sprouts, and the flower garden is officially complete. I took great pride in breeding for all of my flowers and not buying any, so this was a great achievement for Meadow. Museum Day also kicked off with Blathers, and I spent some time reformatting my house again: the top floor is now a studio apartment. The other rooms are a study, bathroom, lounge, workshop, and tea room. I spend some time working on filling out some of the vast empty spaces on my beaches, and there is now a beachside tea house, natural stone and wood onsens, and a luxurious set of poolside beds and hammocks. At this point, the island is shaping up, just need to work on the area behind the shops, the spot to the right of my fruit orchards, spruce up the museum area, and make the marketplace in front of the airport.
Summer 2020
June 1st marked the official start of summer in Animal Crossing, Nook's Cranny gets a new look, and there are new shrubs in bloom. Excitement and new beginnings are in the air: wedding season with Cyrus and Reese begins on Harvey's island, Reneigh celebrates a birthday, and Shep the smug sheepdog takes Beau's place on the island (Aurora also visits the campsite, but wanted to trade with Reneigh). Silhouettes in the water also sometimes have fins now: sharks are here! I picked up a bunch the first few days and really filled out the aquarium, which is great since I didn't want to visit a southern hemisphere island for museum purposes to keep it exciting for me the whole year. Flora the peppy flamingo came to the campsite on June 7th and took Shep's place (which means that I am again on the search for the right smug villager for Meadow). Meadow bustled in the summer with several visits from Redd, newbies coming for DIYs, and a really good price on turnips from Daisy Mae. Flick came to town for the Bug-Off, and Luna opened the dream suite so we can visit other islands! In the late summer, diving was unlocked and Meadow also had its first ever fireworks on August 2nd. I also visited my first few dreams during this time.
Fall 2020
Fall began with Nook's Cranny getting a new festive look. Boone had a birthday, I learned the recipe for the golden axe, and new fish and bugs were caught. I had several visitors in September, chief among them my sister in law Madison (the pirate baby) and Tyler's work friends Matt and Chloe. I updated the custom clothes in Ables for fall and winter: before, it was just a loose collection of random stuff. Now, it's four outfits in two colors: the dark red is the sanguine line, and the dusty blue is the solemn line. I also finally(!) got the recipe for the pine bonsai tree and crafted the bonsai shelf! The basement tearoom is almost complete! At the turn of October, I also got the final stamp for helping Gulliver and got a letter from Jack. Zucker asks to leave again, and this time I let him -- a lovely community member came and picked him up! I then went island-hopping and after 93 tickets (a new record), I decided to pick up Dom, a jock sheep villager. I had been casually looking for a smug villager but I wasn't able to find any of the ones I like most. Along the way, I found some really good ones: Ketchup, Cube, Mitzi, Marina, Pietro, and Erik chief among them. We close out the fall with Halloween, my own birthday, and Turkey Day! Lily and Dom move out and Fauna and Marshall move in.
Winter 2020 - early Spring 2021
Winter begins with Nook's Cranny stocking some toys: the first day, we got an adorable battery-powered pupper! I caught my first snowflake, and then when the snow started sticking to the ground, I made a Snowboy for the very first time, and he was perfect! Mid-December, the pine trees started bearing ornaments, and it opened a new seasonal craft category. I helped Jingle wrap and deliver presents for Toy Day, gave away loads of DIYs to folks on Discord, and rang in 2021 with my villagers. After the holidays, Diana and Sherb both celebrated birthdays. Valentines Day came and so did the Lunar New Year, and I gave all of my villagers sweet gifts for both occasions. Later that year, Pave came and we celebrated Festival for the first time. Dobie celebrated his birthday on February 17th. Shortly after this, I took a break from ACNH. We were still knee-deep in the pandemic and having played ACNH nonstop for an entire year, I was thoroughly burnt out, but grateful for the sanity the game brought to me in the first year of COVID 19. I would not pick up Animal Crossing again until shortly before the DLC & update was announced later that year.
late Fall & winter of 2021
My husband Tyler was having some a dip in mental health after we moved from Georgia to Texas and id Studios continued to work from home, and he turned to Animal Crossing as an aid to relax after the update and DLC were announced and scheduled to dropped on November 5th. He moved in to Meadow, we made a new flag to reflect that we shared the island, Audie moved in, and then the update dropped. Dobie wasted no time visiting my house (my first guest!), I took my first Cap'n tour, and I enacted the Beautiful Island ordinance. I met Lottie from the DLC, did some stretching, and met Brewster, a gyroid loving pigeon. New crops started appearing, and by the end of the following week, I had secured all the new crops except wheat. Brewster opened the Roost, Harvey's island expanded and I started giving that dog 100k bells a day, and I paid for the final home storage expansion for 1.2 million bells. Then, a week or so after the DLC dropped, I picked it up. I built my first house (Eloise) and Clementine High School and then invited Kitt and Dobie to come. After that, I open the Mocha & Matcha Cafe and rapidly, I gain access to roommates, two story homes, pillars and counters, and sounds. I build the Bonsai Heights Izakaya, a music festival is planned, and Lottie becomes ill -- Niko takes over in her absence. When Lottie returns, we build the Chrysanthemum Clinic and then open Sea Salt and Mahogany, a luxurious menswear boutique. DJ KK comes to perform for the first time, I unlock bugs, complete Harv's Island and receive good news: my villagers on Meadow will now let me renovate their homes! Later this fall, I become best friends with Marshall, the first smug villager that I've befriended, and he gives me the Showmanship reaction. I celebrate my birthday, make loads more homes in the DLC, and celebrate Thanksgiving by planting wheat, the final crop I was missing. Audie moves out, Apollo moves in, and Toy Day of 2021 comes and goes. For Christmas in real life, my husband got me the DLC villager amiibos, which I scan! I decide to invite Marty to Meadow at least for a little while as I search for Shino, and Flora leaves after being on my island for a long, long time. It was really fun getting back into the game after the big update breathed new life into my routine!
Early 2022
In 2022, I shelved Animal Crossing for a while to help Tyler deal with various personal and household struggles. I played from the new year until around the end of February, so not much action happened at this time. In spite of that, it was a rather productive month or two in game: Marty moved in to Flora's old plot, we celebrated various villager birthdays, and I began getting daily coffee with Brewster who opened a coffee shop in the museum. Over time, I acquired the siphon, coffee grinder, and on the 51st day of coffee, a very charming brewsteroid that lives in my home now.
I took full advantage of the Winter Fishing Tourney to finally get a golden fishing trophy, as previously I only had silver. I changed the entrance to the museum as I finally got a second Beautiful Statue, also known as Venus of Milo (the first went to Blathers, of course). I closed out the game that year with Dobie's birthday and Festival on February 28th. I turned off the switch for a long time after this, and picked back up in 2023.
I took full advantage of the Winter Fishing Tourney to finally get a golden fishing trophy, as previously I only had silver. I changed the entrance to the museum as I finally got a second Beautiful Statue, also known as Venus of Milo (the first went to Blathers, of course). I closed out the game that year with Dobie's birthday and Festival on February 28th. I turned off the switch for a long time after this, and picked back up in 2023.
Early 2023
I booted ACNH back up in March of 2023 after some health issues forced me to slow down. I spent the first few days on my return catching some new seasonal critters for the museum. As of now, I am still missing a few, and it will take another half year or so to completely fill out the fish and bug dexes. The art gallery is still about a third or halfway full, so it will be some time until it's complete. I spent some time filling out some empty rooms in the house, and began working again on the Happy Home Paradise lots (pictured in that respective tab rather than on here). I receive my second-ever villager photo: Diana (my first was Reneigh), shortly followed up by Apollo, Dobie, Merengue, Sherb, Marty, and Kitt. Early April rolled around and I found my final diving creature: a lobster! I happily ignored the return of Bunny Day, as well as the Spring Fishing Tourney as I've completed those in the past. Bunny Day overlapped Cherry Blossom Season hard this year but it was still beautiful. I also had my first meteor shower Kap'n island! During the last few months, Diana (my only snooty villager) repeatedly asked to move, and in April, I finally let her move away to a lovely island called Emberwood. I looked extensively for another snooty villager that I wanted but I didn't find one in time, and the plot auto-filled to Jacques (again) from somewhere called Meadowfern, which must have been someone who visited my island at some point. I finally convert my flat area where I gave away DIYs into a proper coffee and chat square, and I get the DAL flight jacket and dumbell from flying a lot and doing group stretches, respectively. Sherb and Marty, my two sweet lazy villagers, celebrate Marty's birthday together with me, and with a night of shooting stars, I finally get enough Taurus fragments to complete the tub DIY I had for ages. And then finally, after nearly two months of daily fresh gourmet fruit delivery, Boone my jock baboon finally gifts me his villager photo, the last holdout after everyone else did so a while ago. Got photos of all my faves currently on Meadow now! Next step: filling the peppy and snooty void that Flora and Diana left.