Hi! If there’s already a topic about this, please feel free to redirect me But I am getting to the part of my story where I want the MC to be able to decide what sort of body they want to have and I’m sort of coming up short.
For context, I’m a pretty average physique (I think I fall under the “mid-size”ish category where I’m usually right around XL sizing for women), and I tend not to think much about my own body because that’s like a lot of work. I feel like I’ll be competent in describing more intimate scenes with different body types, just because that sort of writing comes naturally to me (I’ve done it a LOT for work), but I’m struggling to find adequate words for just normal, day-to-day body types.
Maybe I’m overthinking it, I don’t know. Basically, I just really want to write bigger bodies as an option that sound genuinely desirable and real and raw (instead of the sort of plastic-generic “Oh, they’re curvy” and not getting specific) and I’m realizing a lot of what I’ve written before (for work/clients) has revolved around people with thinner bodies. I want to right that in my personal work here, but I’m not sure the sort of verbiage that works best/feels most genuine. Definitely don’t want to set out to make body-inclusive stuff and then just make everyone roll their eyes, lol.
Anyway, I figured I’d ask and see what y’all think—hopefully this question makes sense, please let me know if it does not!
Adding specifics if y’all have opinions:
Fat, voluptuous, thick, curvy, curvaceous, Rubenesque, emphasis on round limbs/stomach, back or stomach rolls, thick thighs, etc.
My approach to erotica, which is still evolving, is to focus on common body positive imagery, like “silky smooth skin”, or a “gently curving neck”, such that my prose (hopefully) can connect with each reader.
My approach to romantic prose, which is again, evolving as I grow as a writer, is to focus more on what connection is between the two people involved.
One way of doing this with a MC character is to present the reader with a choice of what they find attractive about this person, and offer different types of attractions for the reader to chose. I then would use multi-replace to customize generic sentences and *if statements to customize more in-depth passages.
If I missed the mark of the thread’s topic, I apologize.
What about doing presents based on the vocabukary listed in the OP, then have an option for the player to input their own adjective. In a scene where you want a more detailed description based on body type, you could just use a more vague descriptions for input adjectives. Would that work for what you want to do?
I don’t mind being called “fat” as a description of my body - I literally have a lot of adipose tissue, it’s simply the truth - but it would feel uncomfortable in an erotic context. “Curvy/curvaceous” isn’t my favorite, but it’s not awful. I could do without “thick.”
Just please don’t refer to a person’s body as “chunky.” Ever.
[quote="Eiwynn, post:6, topic:160638”]
“silky smooth skin”, or a “gently curving neck”
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i love both of these!!! yes in the erotic contexts i love getting a little specific on tiny details (kissing shoulders/neck, grazing fingers, etc. etc.) instead of like. the whole body because then it’s just very mechanical i feel like. thank you so much!!
[quote="Eiwynn, post:6, topic:160638”]
Key words I like in this list include:
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THANK YOU this is a resource i love omg.
[quote="Cat-Toes, post:7, topic:160638”]
vague descriptions for input adjectives
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oh totally, i think in intimate scenes it’ll be less about the actual like specific appearance of parts and more like touch/sensation/the romantic aspects. or whatever. hopefully i’m making sense hahaha!
true!!! i might include it as an option on the body selection choice then just in case some players prefer it but yeah more unsexy/biological (like you said, adipose tissue lol) terms will be just for character creation and not in erotic contexts because at that point who really cares. i definitely think more specific/intimate imagery (like where are hands touching? where are bodies grazing? etc.) will be better there, just wanted to have really solid options for the MC’s body so people know what to expect in terms of descriptions (either from RO’s or however else comes up) in more romantic contexts.
also AHAHAH “chunky” would be pretty crazy !! i plan to avoid that one at all costs lol.
Honestly “curvy” has been so co-opted by both sides of the body-positive movement it’s losing all meaning. It is a type of shape. A smaller person can be curvy just as well as a larger person. Not all thin people are straight up and down like a pencil just as not all larger people are hippy and busty. Curvy no longer indicates a type of shape the way it has come to be used and is instead being incorrectly used to describe specific bodies and/or sizes of bodies; I think that as a descriptive term, it could probably use a bit of a break. I agree with voluptuous and curvaceous as better options than curvy, but would also like to add my support for (most of) Eiwynn’s linked article and shortlist.
I probably like curvy the most. I also think soft, rounded, and voluptuous work well,
I’ve seen chubby a couple times in IF, and I don’t really like it. I don’t like fat either. They don’t feel descriptive, and they have a certain connotation to them.
Yeah, curvy feels more like a specific feminine-associated body type to me; I wouldn’t usually see a male character referred to as curvy. As mentioned elsewhere I think curvy could apply to such a range of sizes - from this to this and more in any direction - so it’s clearer for me to visualise if other words are used.
Soft, round, broad, heavy, or heavily-built are probably the most body- and gender-neutral ones I like most. Could always focus on particular body parts, like “the trousers hug his broad belly” or “his round face is framed with a beard” or “her dress drapes elegantly past her round hips” or something. (not saying those sentences are perfect/will work for everyone as I just plucked them from nowhere, but just examples!) Fat can also be neutral, but is more of a loaded term for many. Voluptuous/curvaceous feel more feminine to me and also more associated with attractiveness - so if it’s more of a day-to-day description that may not always be quite right.
I wish authors would just call fat people fat instead of trying to dance around it. You can’t simultaneously dance around the word fat while also championing body positivity.
I agree, I wouldn’t want to be called that either, but we’re talking about MC customization, and people being able to choose MC’s body type. The people that would choose such a thing either venerate it, or have a reason for choosing it. For example, in the Path of Martial Arts story, the MC can be chunky, and that has mechanical benefits as well as flavor text (I’m assuming, since I’ve never played with that body type, but it’s there).
The reason I I prefer the blunt approach is because using euphemisms for fat is misleading and irritating to me. Curvy, voluptuous, and fat are very different things, yet are used interchangeably in some weird attempt to make being fat more appealing.
Is pulchritudinous regarded as a body descriptor or just a general way of saying you’re beautiful? I always thought it specifically referred to a well-endowed female, but I’m not finding a lot of resources pointing that way and now I wonder if 90s-era Comedy Central sold me a bill of goods.
But I am getting to the part of my story where I want the MC to be able to decide what sort of body they want to have and I’m sort of coming up short.
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