I think a lot of what’s problematic about stories romanticizing substance abuse, rape, self-harm, harassment, inappropriate relationships, and mental illness boils down to how the issues are handled. A lot of the time they’re brushed under the rug, or used for shock factor, or ignored by the characters in the stories. They aren’t handled realistically.
If a story opened up a dialogue, if it used the very serious and very real issues a lot of us faced, or are facing as teenagers and young adults then it would be a different thing entirely. If I’m playing a MC and they are, god forbid, sexually assaulted, it shouldn’t be something to bring them closer to the LI it shouldn’t be something downplayed by the author. If you’re going to portray this, which honestly is risky on an app with such a large audience of young impressionable readers, then it should be portrayed in ways that explains the severity, that explains the trauma, and the lasting effects it can have on someone. It shouldn’t be something you use because you need to fill a couple chapters.
I think what comes to mind is the way Skam, a Norwegian television series, handled Noora’s believed sexual assault. It was done in a way that addressed very serious issues. It didn’t romanticize it, and it showed you the aftermath and how traumatizing it was for the character - without every having to be graphic. I think if a writer can properly portray it in ways that aren’t harmful then it’s something else entirely.
While it’s true that ignoring heavy issues does nothing to help anyone, romanticizing and making light of heavy issues does a lot of harm. I think in most cases it should be kept off of Episode. The readers are too impressionable and a lot of the times the writers are too uninformed to address the issues in the ways they need to be addressed.