Headline: Fat people discovered to have sex lives; world aghast.

[pauraque_bk]

ani_bester complains of InexplicablyThin!Peter, and I quite agree with her. Let him be fat. Let Neville and Dudley be fat as well, while you're at it. When you write these characters having sex, it isn't necessary to excuse yourself by pointedly noting a convenient over-the-summer weight loss.

That is all.

Comments

[vikingcarrot.livejournal.com]

Over-the-summer weight losses are terribly unrealistic in my opinion. Unless of course somebody's randomly decided to starve themselves, and they usually didn't start out fat.

That said-- hear, hear.

[scarah2.livejournal.com]

Here's a thought: Has anyone ever EVER read a fic where a skinny character suddenly got fat? And then had SEX?

OH I WANT IT.

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

Me, I've always had a soul boner for Fat!Snape.

[deslea.livejournal.com]

Amen.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Needed to be said.

[bruno-greengras.livejournal.com]

You know, it's crazy that one should even have to state this...
:/ Thanks for doing it.

Word.

[aristide.livejournal.com]

This is high up there on the list of pet-peeves I have, if only for the fact that I've seen writers/artists of almost all ages doing it.
I always thought that 'image labels' and the like were something most people grew out of, in favor of more logical reasons to dislike some one, pity the fandom in general likes to prove me wrong.

[scribbulus-ink.livejournal.com]

And now I feel smug that I've written several Harry/Neville and Remus/Neville stories, and he's always been described as not-thin. ;) He's round-faced, soft, and/or stocky, but he's not thin, and my Harry in particular tends to have a thing for bottoming for podgy!Neville. He gets off on feeling Neville's weight on top of him; it's like a comfort thing.

[switchknife.livejournal.com]

Amen to that. *nods*

Complete characters, human characters, are more erotic to me than laminated, manufactured poster boys and girls.

possibly irrelevant commentary

[millefiori.livejournal.com]

I think the description/conception of a person as 'fat' in a society as weight-obsessed as ours (and presumably the WW's, as well) is kind of relative.

I remember thinking I was huge and fat as a girl (huge b/c I started puberty early and absolutely towered over my classmates in elementary school--I *still* think of myself as being tall, even though I'm only 5'4"), and my family and friends seemed to agree with that self-assessment. I didn't suffer any cruel jokes or comments, but my family definitely supported the idea that my dieting or losing a bit of weight was a good idea. My younger sister (Melanie) *did* suffer cruelly, and was often called 'Melephant.' (Reminds me of 'Snivellus' actually). The thing is, *neither* of us were fat! Looking back at pictures taken during that time, we were healthy young girls, not skinny, no bones showing, but we weren't overweight by any stretch of the imagination. I would say we were closer to the line between normal and overweight than many of our peers and (given our weight obsessed culture), "you're fat" becomes an insult that can be used against anyone in that position.

So, for me, reading the HP text, I don't read 'pudgy' or 'round-faced' as fat--I read it as a kid who's not skinny (which may be splitting hairs, but I think you'll know what I mean). And I think because of my personal history, this is kind of my mindset with all written characters, unless the author specifically describes evidence of true obesity (as JKR does with Dudley).

Of course, all this has nothing to do with the idea of Skinny!Peter! My personal view of Peter is one of those kids who's just a little too plump to be 'normal.' (Perhaps because he's noticeably heavier than his constant companions.) It's like he's put on the pudge that many boys do in preparation for the massive growth spurts that come with adolescence, and then just didn't have the genetics to use it up. Given his description, I think writing or drawing him thin in order to make him more attractive is just another symptom of our weight-obsessed culture. And putting forth a 'makeover summer' to explain the changed appearance falls into the category of Hermione finally learning to tame her bushy hair into attractive ringlets, or Snape suddenly appearing with straight, white teeth and clean, silky hair, revealing that he's been disguising his appearance all this time. (My response to which is generally *laugh--yawn--backspace*.)

[impinc.livejournal.com]

Dudley's over-the-summer weight loss is canon. :)

[switchknife.livejournal.com]

Eo, Eo! Have you read this (http://www.livejournal.com/community/queerditch_pub/19606.html?thread=693654#t693654) yet? Voldemort/Peter! Peter with thinning hair! Peter terrified at tenderness!

--Erm. Right. Sorry for spamming you with recs.

[i-smile.livejournal.com]

Right! Chicks dig Peter, and he doen't have to be skinny for that. Peter! :D

And it might even have been canonically contradicted, but I'd always pictured Hermione as slightly pudgy, too (If you're a know-it-all dentist's kid with big teeth, there're better things for kids to make fun of than a little fat), and everyone writes her in sex.

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

*loves you*

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

Just adding another "hell, yes."

[wolfie-thu.livejournal.com]

People make Peter out to be thin? Huh...well, I shouldn't be surprised; the only character who I haven't seen prettified in fan stuff so far is Hagrid. Though I'm sure that if I looked hard enough I'd find a Hagrid who, over the course of the summer, tames his hair into shimmering locks of ebony, takes speech lessons to acquire a voice like a thousand nightingales in spring, and starts dressing in black leather lace-up trousers and silk shirts.

And on a personal note, chubby boys get me randy. And "ugly" people are often more interesting (to look at). Which is one of the reasons I don't like Rickman as Snape.

Oh, and this reminds me, I've been meaning to ask you, pauraque, a question about a post I've been thinking about making on snapesupport (hope you don't mind me asking you this here). I've been meaning to start a bit of a discussion on the "prettifying" of Snape that goes on in fandom; I know that the snapesupport community is meant mainly for those who write Snape, but could I possible address some of the common fanart cliches as well?