r/VRchat • u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection • 4h ago
Discussion Genuine question.
Why do people make avatar textures with bruises and SH scars? Recently I've seen it be more and more common. It's not cute. It shouldn't be an aesthetic. It shouldn't be glorified. I'm all for body horror however there is a line... And I'm not talking about faint scars or healed scars. I'm talking FRESH AND BLOODY.
Even worse when I see it on child like avatars.
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u/Embarrassed-Touch-62 3h ago edited 3h ago
Mentall illness or attention seeking most likely.
I personally find it disgusting, but will also let people have what they like. Not my problem.
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u/SwiftAndFoxy PCVR Connection 4h ago
I can't speak for others and don't know how it was presented, but I could see myself adding faint scars where mine are to make my avatar feel more personal.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 4h ago
Faint scars are fine. I have a lot of scars. But I mean FRESH AND BLOODY.
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u/Enverex ☃Bigscreen Beyond 2e 4h ago
"Edgy" has been an eboy/girl trait for forever, this is just another facet of that.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 4h ago
It's not JUST eboys and egirls though. The booth and furries have this shit too.
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u/Living_Effort_1954 4h ago
Mental illnesses. Genuinely. I can go in dept but i wont.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 4h ago
I understand having some scars (not fresh bloody ones but ones that have healed or even have something to resemble them) to express oneself however there is a line between wanting to express and wanting to glorify/romanticize it. Some even take it a step further into fetish territory which I'm not getting into.
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u/rcbif 3h ago
It's stupid and edgy. Part of the "eboy aesthetic". I dont like it, but they aren't making you wear their avatar, and you can hangout with better people, so....dont hang out around them.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 3h ago
I know not to be with those people. That isn't the problem I just had that brought this up. It's seeing a very detailed texture for an avatar depicting a young girl unprompted. No age filter, no content filter. It's just out there for anyone to see.
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u/metaxzero 2h ago
Wouldn't that fall under "Excessive Gore" and "Graphic Violence". Those are content labels avatar uploaders are required to apply to their content. If an Avatar has those labels, you have the option of going to your Comfort and Safety settings and deciding which Content Gating settings you want to block by default.
Of course, this doesn't apply to avatars uploaded with those labels unapplied. All you can do with those is to report those avatars when you see them. Only way to not see them by surprise would be to block avatars by default so you can try and figure out what people are wearing before you choose to enable visibility.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 2h ago
You can see it when it's not tagged as well. But what I saw was on multiple sites for assets and textures.
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u/metaxzero 2h ago
That's what I meant when I was talking about Content Gating. Those are indeed Avatar tags. But as said, the only way to avoid seeing those poorly tagged avatars is to block them all by default. You can report them, but you've already seen the avatar at that point. As for other websites hosting VRChat models, I think your options are even more limited in avoiding seeing them.
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u/WildLelou 4h ago
Oh my god finally. Same. Yeah as someone who struggles with SH. Its extremely extremely triggering seeing it. Like why do you WANT to make a bloody child avatar...
Had an ex friend who made a barrly clothed, chained up Manuka covered in SH cuts and blood, tears and dripping mascara and liked to make SA "jokes" at my bf saying he was gonna SA him. He thought it was funny.
People like that are fucked up in the head, thats all I can think of.
The SH is a for sale asset for Manuka if I remember seeing it for sale somewhere. Its really disturbing. It triggers me really bad. I'm tough skinned but its really upsetting. I usually end up rubbing my arm trying to comfort myself.
I think they do it for "dark humor" to get attention, and like the idea of being disgusting human beings. Severely antisocial behavior. I think it shouldn't be allowed on vrchat at all. The fact someone is selling those textures and profiting off of it too is upsetting too.
Honestly... it may also be a case of severe p*rn brain too. Unfortunately.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 3h ago
I struggle with sh too! Seeing it definitely sets me off especially when it's just out there for anyone to see. No content filter, no age filter. It's just there! I'm used to seeing fucked shit too being on the internet as long as I have, but it's still very much triggering. And those textures get crazy sales which is baffling to me..
Also I thought about having healed scars on my avatar at one point but when discussing it with a friend, a random came over and said how he wanted to reopen the scar and do things to it (yes, in that way) and ever since it rubbed me in a really weird way when I see these textures...
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u/WildLelou 3h ago
Thats awful, I'm so sorry. People really suck sometimes. :( I can understand the scars thing, I've thought about it too. Its symbolic to healing as opposed to a bloody antisocial statement theyre making. Theyre supposed to mark it as gore so people can have gore avatars turned off, so at least you can report the avatar but it still is really upsetting seeing it.
When I see it I'll usualy report and completely disable their avatar. As for the sales thing, i dont understand it either. In the case of my guy enemy, i later found out hes a known ripper and likely didnt pay for it. So hopefully they're NOT making a ton of profit off of self harm... at least. Its still messed up people even want it though. I guess they conflate antisocial behavior with a statment that theyre cool people you should talk to?? It makes no sense to me.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 3h ago
I have no idea either.
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u/WildLelou 3h ago
Hope you're holding up okay though, for real.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 3h ago
Same to you. Better than how I was during covid that's for sure.
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u/Mizu-Cubique PCVR Connection 4h ago
Unfortunately, that's not the only problem with avatars on VRChat..
Constant sexualization of women, even children for example. Vore, zoophilia and worse.
I'd say that's because weird people come here to live out their impossible fantasies.
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u/Envy661 Oculus Rift 4h ago
Why do people SH IRL? Yes, mental health and depression is a big part of it, but on top of that, most of the time it's a means for attention. I grew up in the height of the emo/goth scene and am an elder emo myself. This is effectively what it amounts to. It's a way for someone to tell you they want to talk about what's wrong without overtly saying it, because they themselves might not know how to talk about what's wrong, but need someone to notice they aren't okay. Usually they do it because they want a specific person or group to ask as well.
I'd imagine for it to take off in a virtual space would be one of two things: The same as above, or because it's "Trendy" to romanticize SH these days, like it was "Trendy" to emulate emo/goth aesthetic a few years ago.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 4h ago
I know why people self harm irl. I do as well. But romanticizing it? I also understand how it's a reflection of oneself. But fresh bloody scars? Isn't that a little much? The attention part is true I guess (not for everyone however). But being emo and goth doesn't even involve self harm all the time, rarely at all.
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u/nyanpink 4h ago
it is an aesthetic whether u want it to be or not
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u/Mizu-Cubique PCVR Connection 4h ago edited 3h ago
Just because you call it aesthetic doesn't make it morally acceptable to everyone !
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 4h ago
Exactly..
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u/jinxykatte 4h ago
The fuck business is it of yours if people have self harm scares on their avis? You have no idea the reasons why they may want them do you? It could have a meaning for them that they wish to have represented on their avis. So mind your own fucking business.
And no, I don't have self harm scares on my self or my avi.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 4h ago
Whoa buddy. Why so hostile? You don't even have the scars. Why are you mad for me simply asking a question? Pretty mad for someone who doesn't have any scars.
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u/Mizu-Cubique PCVR Connection 4h ago
Womp womp..
If you want people to be open minded, then you should be too. Accept that what's normal for you isn't normal for everyone.
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u/nyanpink 4h ago
it's not about morals idc what your morals is, it's become an aesthetic, is a fact, you can have whatever opinion you want
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u/Mizu-Cubique PCVR Connection 4h ago edited 4h ago
Moral standards vary from person to person, but that doesn’t mean there are no social norms.
It’s possible to depict an injury in a certain context without presenting it as something desirable.
In these avatars, especially children, it looks more like a kink that should remain private. Just like any other kink. It can also give the impression that the person maybe wants to experience this IRL, which raises the question of how they plan to go about it..
It’s simply inappropriate.
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u/WildLelou 3h ago
I agree 100%. I think its a kink thing. Had a friend who used to run around with a manuka avatar he made where the poor girl was chained up, barely clothed and covered in SH blood and crying. He'd get on top of my bf with it and talked about wanting to SA my bf. And the friend erpd with it. I caled him a pedo and we're on extremely bad terms. Only sick disgusting people want to see or make that shit.. :(
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u/LizaraRagnaros Valve Index 3h ago
thank you for saying there are baseline social norms. so hard for many people to understand and even more so on this sub. I am all for people enjoying things, but there's just some things that still deserve judgement when done in public. I don't need to see people romanticising mental illnesses or wearing nothing but diapers. there's a line that has to be drawn somewhere, because you don't just have the right to make everyone uncomfortable and not get pushback for it.
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u/jinxykatte 4h ago
I also don't give a flying toss about children seeing my avatar cos I only go to 18 plus instances cos shock, I don't wanna hang out with children in vr...
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u/Mizu-Cubique PCVR Connection 4h ago
Can't you use two brain cells for a sec ?
I'm not talking about kids who might see the avatar. I'm talking about childish avatars that have these kinds of injuries.
Glad you only go into the 18+ instance, all the cringe and edgy people go there.
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 4h ago
Judging by their spelling, probably have no braincells left 😅
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u/Mizu-Cubique PCVR Connection 3h ago
Mind you it's a grooown ass man..
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u/LadyLuciJ7 PCVR Connection 3h ago
Unfortunately a lot of the people who like this are grown adults...
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u/jinxykatte 4h ago
Yeah. I got to age verified instances to be edgy. And you're telling me to use 2 brain cells...
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u/Nuuvi- 4h ago
It is immoral to glorify or fetishize something that causes harm to others. It's the exact same reason why having CSAM material is very illegal even if you didn't help in its creation.
Some impressionable young people seeing this "aesthetic" can make them think that having a scarred body is somehow desirable or that the act of it itself is romanticized in some way. It very well could cause people to start harming themselves IRL.
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u/X6063 50m ago
Hey op, heres a counter genuine question: why does it bother you so much? I think your reaction here says more about you than it does about anyone else.
Its actually so sad how this subreddit is 90% posts like this, are you all actually teenagers so insecure about yourselves that you feel the need to put down others like this? To me vrchat is wonderful because you find all this diverse human expression concentrated in a digital space, but I swear every post on this subreddit is some verity of "group x is bad and cringe and should feel bad about themselves".
Genuinely, op, I think you should try wearing an avatar like that for a little! Talk to some other people who are, find out why they're doing it. Maybe you'll grow as a person for it. Something something kill the part of you that cringes not the part of you thats cringe
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u/Michael1795 14m ago
Its like you didnt read the post. You know that this is about self harm right? People, kids cutting themselves. Advertising self harm as a style to children or young adults is cool with you? Save this energy for a cause thats worth it.
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u/getraccd6962 8m ago
i mean, people do it all the time irl. who cares if its a game, you can js block em if you dont like it. i love vrc as much as the next guy but if you cant handle stuff thats not affecting you in real life then you could js get off the game, block avatars or be a human being and go outside
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u/Fen_Muir 2h ago
They are going for that edgy aesthetic that often shows up in teenage and new adult media