The One Part of Slow Damage I H a t e D:

<tw: SH>

I am currently watching a playthrough of Slow Damage and, well, there are cathedrals, there's so many cathedrals but there's also... plenty to dislike. But obviously you can't expect every mental illness or social issue to be handled with the utmost care by a yaoi game, and I understand that lol

So, I continue on, turning my brain off when I need to, not thinking too much into things, and ultimately just going with the ride because this game is wack (and I'm obsessed).

But.. there's this thing that keeps happening, and nearly every character does it too. Everyone keeps romanticizing, even fetishizing Towa's SH scars. I feel like it's one of the of the only things I can't really right off because this rhetoric which is honestly so dangerous becomes so, normalized? It's to the point where Ikuina, a character that obsessed over Towa and fetishized him because of his SH scars, is a fan-favorite.

As someone who has delt with SH, the idea that SH scars are "hot" or "art" is a crazy trigger (one that I work to ignore obviously or I wouldn't be playing Slow Damage) because it actively validates the act of SH. Ikuina being a fan-favorite character could easily be a reflection of how so much of the fanbase is made up of teenagers with problems like SH who feel validated by Ikuina's fetishization of their scars.

I just find the normalization of this fetishization disturbing, especially since it seems to leak into the fanbase. I'm not trying to attack anyone or say liking Ikuina is bad or anything TT. If you disagree with me about anything I would really like to know your opinion in the comments! :D