Bug Hunting Season 2022

I quickly noticed a heavy meteor shower as I started up the game tonight. Unfortunately, there’s no way to wish on those shooting stars, but it is a nice sight to behold. 🌠

In the shop, I was actually a bit impressed with how the tiki torches look in this game. That top circle looks wider than the one in New Horizons, and I like it. Okay, maybe I’m just weird. 😛

Tom Nook: Yes, a tiki torch. It costs 696 bells.

I got to see the inside of Boomer’s house, and he apparently thinks he’s living on a small island by himself. He has a bunch of totem poles, a campfire, a sleeping bag, and…a cannon?

The inside of Boomer's house in Animal Crossing: City Folk.

If he thinks he’s firing at pirates, he’s actually going to be blowing a hole through his wall.

Once I was done talking to everyone and identifying fossils, etc., I got down to the serious business of bug catching. 😉 That time of year is here, and I’m ready for it!

The first valuable bug I saw was a tarantula. But the stupid little guy was about to walk right into the river and kill himself! So I had to hurry up my swing…and you can probably guess how this ended. Because I rushed my swing, my aim was off. And he jumped at the chance (literally) to attack me. The only consolation is that after he killed me, he also walked into the river anyway.

For the first 5-10 minutes of my hunt, I was only finding mid-range bugs (other than the tarantula I missed). My first good catch was this rainbow stag.

I caught a rainbow stag! Someone tell me, already! Where's the rainbow?!

That seemed to kick things off, with better bugs popping up regularly after that.

My bug hunts generally don’t involve much fishing, unless I see a shark fin or an eel. (Eels are only worth 2k, but they’re a sure thing because no other fish have the same shadow.) But of course, I also stop to fish when I see a huge fish shadow. This one in the river turned out to be an arapaima!

Catching an arapaima in ACCF.

My 50-minute hunt had a lot of variety. I caught three rainbow stags in total, thee goliath beetles, three scarab beetles, a golden stag, an atlas beetle, a cyclommatus, a tarantula, a scorpion, a hammerhead shark, a regular shark, a blue marlin, that arapaima, an elephant beetle, and of course, a bunch of mid-range catches.

My grand total for my 50-minute hunt was 213,057 bells.

213,057 bells

That did include a couple items villagers gave me, and a balloon present, so that’s why it’s an odd number. But that’s not bad for under an hour’s work! There will be many more bug hunts throughout the summer. Good luck to you if you’ll be doing the same this summer! 🐛🐞🦋

See you again soon!

Boomer, UFO

On Monday, Gwen’s replacement moved in: Boomer. I’m fairly neutral towards him; Boomer is just OK. 😉 But it is somewhat interesting that one penguin was replaced with another.

Boomer: Eep! My place still isn't ready, and neither am I! I'm Boomer, and I just moved here today.

Wendell was in town as the day’s special visitor, and Stitches was talking about him. Stitches wanted a sketch from Wendell, but of course Wendell insisted on food as payment. Stitches refused to give any food away just for a picture. 😛

Stitches: I mean, food is way more important to me than some picture, in a teddy!
You can afford to give some food away; you know you’re already stuffed.

I found Phineas out in the city, and he gave me a bunny balloon.

Phineas and Jeff holding bunny balloons.

On Tuesday, Big Top told me that he plans to move out of town! 😮

Big Top: Hey, darling, I know this is kinda sudden, but I have to move out of Forest.

Even though I recently let him leave my New Leaf town, this is my only Big Top left. I told him to stay, and he said he’ll see if he can get out of it. It didn’t sound like a sure thing, but I kept speaking to him and he didn’t bring it up again. So I think he’s safe, even if I’m not 100% sure.

In the city, I relived an old nightmare when I ran into Jambette. 😉 She claimed to be looking her best…which in my opinion, was still pretty awful. 😂

Jambette: I put on my Sunday best to try and impress everyone here, croak-kay.

Yesterday, Big Top mentioned that he wants to make his own comic books someday. But he didn’t want to tell me his ideas, in case I didn’t like them. Also, he was afraid there might be a spy nearby that would steal his ideas. I don’t know, that clock behind me does look a bit suspicious…

Big Top: Besides, you never know when there's a spy hiding somewhere, pen gwen.

Unfortunately, the stupid catchphrase I gave Gwen has outlived Gwen herself. 😛

There were no special visitors in town, and there was no sign of Pete during his usual time. So that meant it was likely a UFO day! Nothing came at 6:02, but at 6:07, I saw it coming across the top path, from right to left!

Chasing down the UFO.
You can see it coming in the top-right corner.

I chased it down and shot it just before it crossed the river. That was a bit of a close call, although I still would’ve had the return trip if I missed.

Shooting Gulliver's UFO in ACCF.
Bang!

This was my first UFO in four years, and my 32nd overall. It’s a rare thrill in the series, and it’s so satisfying when you do it. I found the spaceship part near my bridge, and I picked it up.

Today, Gulliver was in town, down on the beach. I gave him his spaceship part, and he gave me some chocolates in return.

Gulliver: Welp, no sense wasting any more time around here. Got other planets to seek out and name after myself!

That’s a disappointing gift, no doubt. I sold it at the shop for a measly 680 bells. 😂 But that’s okay; it’s about the thrill of the hunt and not the reward…especially since I already have all of Gulliver’s items.

In other news, peak bug season starts tomorrow (July 1st)! Late-night summer bug hunts are my favorite City Folk activity, and you can earn a lot of bells. My bank account balance currently sits at 50,570,000 bells.

I typically try to earn two million bells in July and August, but I’m going to aim a bit higher this time: I want to earn 2.43 million bells by September 1st (or my first play session in September), so that I can shoot for exactly 53 million bells. It’s going to be fun! 🐞

See you again soon!

Gwen Gone

Good news, everyone! On Tuesday, Gwen informed me that she’s moving out of town. 😁

Gwen: I'm moving out soon! I'm just too special to stay in one town for very long.

Queenie was walking around outside with a shovel, for an unusual reason: She was eavesdropping on people! She hoped to hear some “good dirt” on neighbors, under the guise of fossil searching.

Queenie: If you shovel for fossils near people just chatting away, you can get lots of good dirt on neighbors!

Later, she asked me for a new catchphrase. I opted for some ostrich onomatopoeia and I told her to say “awwwk!” 😛

Queenie: ...Awwwk!!!!, huh? How do you think that sounds, awwwk!!!!?

Gaston was sick with a cold, so I gave him some medicine. He said it tasted like a toenail milkshake; disgusting! How does he know what a toenail milkshake would taste like anyway? Maybe I don’t want to know. I don’t want to picture him with a milkshake mustache either…oops. 🤢

Gaston: Blech! This stuff tastes like a toenail milkshake. But if it tastes that bad, it must be good for ya!

After giving Gaston more medicine yesterday, he was over his cold by today.

Gaston: It was pretty much all I could do not to just crawl into a cave and whimper.

He thanked me for the help, and he gave me a life ring.

I found Gwen’s goodbye letter in the mail. So long, Gwen!

To: Jeff, I've decided to move away from Forest. It's hard to say bye to good friends like you. So I won't. Because I'm SURE we'll meet again somewhere! -From: Gwen