so with this being the Hot Topic of the week i wanted to make a post talking about fat characters and body diversity in IF. if we’re going to talk about it, let’s actually talk about it. and as a fat person myself, i want to talk about it.
i don’t think i really need to say that fat bodies are neglected in media in general - we all are aware of this. in interactive fiction specifically, there is definitely a notable absence of fat characters, but especially fat romance options. and when there are fat romance options, they tend to be stereotyped, or sidelined, or seen as “undesirable” to the average reader. more mainstream IF games don’t even have any body diversity at all, with all romance options being described as conventionally attractive (euro-centric) and skinny, or “super model-esque” which is usually just another way of saying conventionally attractive and skinny. on the other hand, a lot of IF leaves characters more vague and up for interpretation, simply because that is the nature of IF and it is designed for people to be able to fill in the gaps with what they want to see.
unfortunately, this may lead to people automatically defaulting to “skinny.” which, it’s already been said: that says a lot more than i ever could about how society views fat people. though, i do think it’s important for authors to be specific in their descriptions and identities when it comes to representing marginalized groups, not just with fat people but all across the board.
this lack of fat representation does feel particularly malicious when it comes to romance, with fat people very rarely, if ever, getting to see ourselves depicted as the person that is desirable, or the person that gets to be in love, and receive love, be deserving of love. fat people are mocked and shamed and fetishized from a very young age, with no positive depictions of people like us in media to look up to, and it can be extremely cruel and alienating.
and society is actively hostile towards fat people. the BMI is used to shame us, despite being fake science. doctors actively ignore our problems and reduce all of it to “you need to lose weight.” there is no standardized sizing when it comes to clothing, and fat people are almost always left out. fat bodies, when they are represented, are reduced to negative stereotypes and “cautionary tales”, a thing to avoid and fear. only in recent years has there been any kind of push back against this, but we still have a long way to go.
and then there’s the word fat itself. there can be a lot said about the word “fat” and what exactly it means. it’s something that i think every fat person has strong feelings about. and i know a lot of people have a complicated relationship with the word, myself included. a lot of times people avoid that word to describe their characters - i know i tend to, because as a fat person it’s been used against me all my life and i’m still trying to unlearn that. it’s a word with a lot of stigma around it, and for some people it can be really personal. but ultimately, it’s a neutral word, a descriptor. it took me a long time to realize this, but fat is not a bad word.
i wanted to write all of this out because i do think this is an important conversation to be had, and i think the first step is just making people realize that fat is not bad. skinny is not the default. if you find yourself constantly interpreting characters as thin unless they are explicitly stated otherwise, challenge yourself about that. if you’re an artist, start drawing more fat bodies. if you’re a writer, think about what you can do to normalize fat people through your stories, and help destigmatize the word fat.
here are two articles i want to share:
Creating Fuller Stories About Fat People
And the Health At Every Size website, which has its own page of resources.
finally, i wanted to highlight some authors & games that do include fat ROs. this is by no means an exhaustive list, but simply the games that i’m familiar with, and i think it’s important to show support to the people that are already doing the work and making strides to turn IF into a more inclusive community. (i also want to note that all of these games are WIPs, and may not yet explicitly state in game the description of their characters. however all have been portrayed and confirmed to be fat by the author on their blogs)
The Unknown One in The Moonless by @moonless-if (demo tba)
Bautista and Devin in Greenwarden by @fiddles-ifs
Florrie in Body Count by @bodycountgame
Hekate in Fields of Asphodel by @asphodelgame
Charlie in You Live and Fern by @beetlebethwrites
Nico in When It Hungers by @roast-ifs (currently undergoing edits)
Aja and Luc in Magician’s Voyage by @magiciansvoyage
Jabberywocky in Rabbit Hole by @if-rabbithole (demo tba)
Blake and Carmen in Off Script by @offscriptif (demo tba)
