i put this as a comment in @shanehollandertwentyfour's excellent post, but i think it also deserves its own post because i'm seeing some people's reactions and i need us all to have a little bit of discernment and nuance here.
writers describing characters as "stocky", "thick", or "soft" has ALWAYS been code for "fat" in writing. a lot of writers (and people in general) are scared of the word "fat" and will avoid it as a descriptor at all costs.
(to be very clear, "fat" is a morally neutral word unless the person saying it intends for it not to be. I am a fat person - this is the simplest and easiest descriptor to explain my body and i will continue to use this word to explain my body in a morally neutral way.) But, to return to the point, this is an existing issue in the literary world - just like there are many writers that use words like "tanned" or "olive toned" when they're scared to clarify the character isn't white. Both situations are problems in literary spaces that we've had for ages.
Soft language is used as a descriptor whenever a character isn't thin, fit, or white. So, no, we're not stupid for "imagining" Harris as chubby or fat that being said, i am looking forward to Justice Smith's portrayal of Harris Drover. and NO, him being black is NOT an issue and if that is YOUR issue - we are not the fucking same. "Erasing a character's white identity" is in no fucking way the same as removing the precious little fat representation in romance media we already get.
Especially because media is not created in a vacuum and it IS worth mentioning that we're currently in a heightened state of fatphobia and body harming via fashion drugs like Ozempic - removing the fatness from a main romance lead IS a statement that we all get to feel something about.
I'll even go a step further and say that it will be an incredible addition to Harris' character to be a black man who has lived his life as openly gay while being loved and supported by his family. That in itself is so rare in media and I can't wait to see the Drover family absolutely adore their gay son. (and his new boyfriend!)
tl;dr - let people be upset about losing a character that made them feel "normal" in their bodies. and don't be fucking weird about Harris being a black man.
