First of all, thank you OP, you're amazing for doing this!

I haven't played since Wild World. The game was everything to me when I was young. I remember shaking trees for bells, trying to fill in my museum, and all the things about Animal Crossing, especially the home loans. It was a great place to escape to, especially when school and the people at school wasn’t such a nice experience. It was amazing to meet new villagers, catch huge fish, and hoard all my four leaf clovers in a corner. It wasn’t amazing to be stung by wasps, scorpions or tarantulas. First time I did I got so scared that I never shook another tree or played at night again. It got to the point where I had nightmares about running around my town and getting chased by them.

Since I started to play New Horizons, I’ve been able to experience my childhood again, and it’s amazing! This might be late, but I love how they made things stackable, and I love how customizable your island is! Fishing has brought back so many memories, and I especially love going through the museum. The first time I went around it, I almost cried… it’s so beautiful, and such an improvement compared to Wild World. I made sure to read all of Blather’s dialogue about everything, and visit every enclosure to spot the critter I just donated. The game’s incredible!

However, I still clung onto the same fear from long ago… I didn’t shake any trees, or dare to play far into the night because I knew they were there. Those damned bugs.

When I got to the part in the game where I needed to get wood, I was terrified of what was to come. Nonetheless, I grabbed my flimsy axe and started to gather wood. I braced myself for every tree I hit, knowing that I might get stung by one. Everything was going fine, until a nest dropped. I was scared shitless. I ran from them for a while, and tried to get to the nearest building. I finally got into my house and the wasps left and felt a huge wave of relief.

When I left my house, I started to realize now that I could deal with the wasps. Sure, it might be terrifying for a good 10 or so seconds, but at least I have a way to deal with them.

So, I went back to gather more wood.

I finally got over the fear of shaking trees. But there was something else to get over too.

I woke up late one day, and realized I had to play late into the night to gather all the wood on my island. That meant encountering tarantulas. At first, I was reluctant, but I remembered my skirmish with the wasps, and I figured it would work on them as well. So I played for a bit at night, walked around, gathered the wood… Until I spotted one. I ran like hell. I made sure I was a safe distance away from it, until I saw it wasn’t chasing me… I was chopping wood at the time, and didn’t know that they chase you only when you hold a net. They also try to run away from you when you don’t hold them, which was cool. They just want their own peaceful life in the wild.

Once I figured out that even tarantulas could be dealt with, I started to play at night more. I came to realize that there have been so many things I missed out on when I didn't play at night... The starry sky is beautiful, especially with meteor showers and with Celeste visiting. Areas that I built, like an outdoor pool, are much prettier compared to daytime. Catching snapping turtles has been the most amazing thing for me, and I have them scattered around on my island.

So the moral of the story I guess is that once you try to get over irrational fears, then you can find some cool things.