My girlfriend and I have been playing a lot of Animal Crossing, and with all the talk of consent in gaming, something came up that's super-interesting to both of us.

Some context: my girlfriend has had four major surgeries in her life (three on her heart, one on her spine), starting from when she was a small child. They've literally left their marks on her body. So she's very squeamish when it comes to body horror, understandably so.

Animal Crossing, as we all know, is a sweet and gentle game where you meander around a deserted island collecting fruit and shells, paying off a no-interest loan from an anthropomorphic racoon-like creature named Tom Nook.

But the game provides occasional moments of adversity. Sometimes, when shaking or chopping down a tree for resources, you get… an active wasp nest.

This results in your avatar getting stung, and one of your eyes swells shut. If you get stung a second time, you "faint," and wake up in your home.

For my gf, these wasp stings, and the swollen eye that comes with it, made her uncomfortable (and subsequently surprised at her discomfort). She didn't want to see her avatar mangled, especially in a game that was otherwise so sweet.

It's not like she's not playing anymore, or having nightmares from it. But she *hates it,* because it brings in experiences she doesn't want to associate with the game. I have no doubt, if she could have X-Carded her avatar's swollen eye, she would have.

If this thread has a point, it's this: you might be surprised at how people react to content in your game that you might personally find innocent and harmless.

(Epilogue: my gf's avatar now carries a couple of doses of medicine with her at all times to get rid of wasp stings.)