Although the comic starts out as a slice-of-life romance, as it goes on it will delve into far darker themes and content. Because of this, I recognize that it would be irresponsible to not include a content warning, especially due to the "deceptive" nature of the first few chapters.
Please note that, if you're more concerned about possible spoilers than about things which could be potentially triggering, it is probably in your best interest to avoid the warnings hidden under the dropdown. This is because they may spoil major plot beats or story elements. Be warned that this list may be incomplete- I will update it more as time goes on.
"Mentions of" means that the element being warned for will not show up explicitly in the story itself, but will be discussed or referred to. Otherwise, assume that any elements being warned for will be depicted in the story itself.
All pages will be tagged when uploaded to tumblr, however there will not be content warnings or blurred images for individual pages uploaded to the website. Please take this page as your warning for triggering content if you are reading on the website.
Because of the non-comprehensive nature of this page, and because the list of content warnings may be long or difficult to search through, here is a quick reference of common triggers that will not be included in the comic:
Note that "Suicide" used to be on this list, however, I decided to remove it, as certain ideations later in the comic, while not directly suicidal, could be seen as such.
With that said, content warnings for UTOPIA MECHANISM are as follows:
The following content warnings are for things that are minor elements in the story, that are otherwise irrelevant to major plot beats, or that are so generic that they do not risk revealing plot information. While they may show up repeatedly, these are not elements central to the story:
MENTIONS OF ALCOHOL USE
MENTIONS OF DRUNK DRIVING / CAR ACCIDENTS
(ILLUSTRATED) BUGS / SPIDERS
STRONG LANGUAGE (SWEARING- NO SLURS ARE USED*)
* with the exception of the word "queer", however it is not used in a derogatory way
BLOOD
The following content warnings are relevant to major story elements, character dynamics, or may otherwise count as "spoilers".
These have been phrased as vaguely as possible in order to avoid revealing large elements of the plot as much as possible. They are hidden behind a dropdown so that anyone who would like to have their reading experience remain as spoiler-free as possible may continue to do so, while those who may require a more comprehensive content warning can access one.
TOXIC / ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS (PLATONIC AND ROMANTIC)
CHARACTER DEATH
DEPICTIONS OF DEAD BODIES / CORPSES*
* these will be from a distance and not in detail, but are present later in the comic
INTENTIONAL SELF-INJURY*
* when this comes up, it is not due to mental illness nor is it "traditional" self-harm (eg. cutting or hitting), however it may still be triggering
THREATS OF DEATH / BODILY HARM
MANIPULATION
GASLIGHTING*
* while the term "gaslighting" is often used to refer to lying or manipulation in general, i feel it is necessary to warn that this content warning is referring to a very specific abuse tactic: one character intentionally leads another to question their own sanity and memory in order to manipulate them and mislead them into believing a different version of events
POSSESSION / MIND CONTROL
ANXIETY, PARANOIA + ANXIETY ATTACKS
BODY HORROR
UNREALITY + DEREALIZATION*
* one character experiences derealization and confusion about their reality. as well as this, the comic has other scenes and elements that may be triggering to those who are sensitive
UNSETTLING / OFFPUTTING CONTENT
DROWNING
SYRINGES / NEEDLES
MEDICAL / SURGICAL IMAGERY + SCENES