yohanpalia

[yohanpalia]

#bravest person on earth being the only person in the palia tag talking abt fatphobia. the body type customization in this game is egregious#and the casual fatphobia of excluding fat ppl from being PCs is reinforced as Pretty fuckin intentional by#the rest of the games fat NPCs

THANK YOU! its been driving me nuts since i wrote this in 2023 that it occasionally gets likes and a reply here and there, but everyone is apparently so scared of talking about fatness and fatphobia that nobody dares reblog it. its been rly interesting to see how i have tons of posts on other blogs that get tons of reblogs but if you discuss fatness and fatphobia its suddenly radio silence. big bad topic apparently truly terrifying and controversial to say that fat characters being portrayed and handled differently than skinny characters is fatphobic and disgusting and that skinny charas going "haha i forgot to eat lolz i was just being so cool and artsy" and fat charas going "omg i love sandwich more than life. what did u say i was thinking about sandwich" or "haha i eat too much stew when i cook for my family :) i am a parent and not sexy or romanceable" is INSANE.... THE FUCKING MOM-ROBOT COOKING FOOD AND BEING ROUND AS HELL AND NOT ROMANCEABLE AND THE STICK-THIN DORITO ROBOT BEING ROMANCEABLE............ ?!?!??!?!??! ROBOTS?!?!?!?!?

fatness in palia

(its gonna sound like i hate palia bc ppl dont understand the concept of nuance, so just to be clear - i decently like the game so far. things can be both good and bad, and some ppl, like me, enjoy analysing and criticising things without hating on the things.)

it rly bugs me that the only properly fat character so far in Palia is someone whos obsessing about his sandwiches and talking about how he always makes sure to eat properly, and *also*, is someone in a position of power who does bad things (the quest where we grew crops for him is the most clear example ive seen so far). basically - the biggest fat man is a bad person who is obsessed with food.

delaila is big, but also falls into a stereotype - shes a countryside mom (often fat in media), and parent characters are generally easier for mainstream fatphobic media to design as fat bc theyre not intended to be attractive in the same way the younger characters are (or older men, see hodari and ashura). i also want to point out that she reads as having a little more of a curvy body type compared to kenli whos more of a big ball, and that none of the female characters read as having the same type of facial fat or double chin that kenli has (which is indeed why im calling him the only properly fat character). its almost as if that kind of facial/chin fat is considered worse on women than on men or something :)) wink wink.

ashura and sifuu are big, but read as "strong and muscular", not "a fat person". which any fat person will know is a significant difference in how you're perceived. (there is also an aspect here ofc of that irl, masculine-presenting "bulky and strong" ppl are often more positively perceived than feminine "bulky and strong" ppl, and that masculinity being seen as desirable in itself affects why "bulky and strong" is seen as desirable where "just fat" isnt, but this is a sidetrack rn.)

elouisa and caleri are... chubby, i guess? i was happy the first time i met caleri bc she had a visible double chin. but, after a bit of playing, seeing that there werent any fatter characters than this who were supposed to be seen as attractive or even good nice people, that enjoyment weighs little. i also again want to point out that both elouisa and caleri have very "smooth" faces, and mostly "conventionally attractive" features, essentially. they are chubby/curvy, but not in ways that would be considered *too* far off from the fatphobic, ageist, sexist beauty standards of society. they also have basically hourglass bodies.

the characters that we are mainly "supposed" to find attractive in this game - the romanceable ones - range from very skinny to "fit". there is even a romanceable skinny robot, notably not a romanceable fat robot (hekla is round, reads as the fat mom stereotype, and is not romanceable - einar is tall and slender and kinda built like a dorito, and, oh, presents more masculine... even robots arent free from misogynist and fatphobic design). there is also a non-romanceable character that apparently both characters in the game and many players find hot, which is a non-fat man, hodari. i note this bc he's presented as an attractive character, and is not fat.

its nice to see an older(?) female character presented as attractive - tamala, however she is very skinny and with an hourglass type build. this is still... nice, i guess, but in the context of the lack of "attractive characters" that arent really skinny, or muscular, or hourglass shaped.....

another related issue is that a very skinny character, jel.... literally says things like "i havent eaten for 3 days". wow! thats lovely! especially together with kenli obsessing over food! and together with an average size character, jina, also mentioning she forgets to eat. that made me feel gross to read, and i dont think its a good choice to put "lol forgetting to eat, relatable content" in the dialogue of characters who are very skinny. this can be a bad reinforcement of society's abuse ("just starve yourself and you'll be skinny and beautiful!") for people with eating disorders and for ppl who struggle with their weight and with their relation to food in general. but *especially* when the biggest character is, in contrast, talking about how hes obsessing over his sandwiches and whatever (and again - is a bad person and also not supposed to be attractive, while jel and jina are supposed to be attractive and romanceable). this is also obviously a reinforcement of prejudice against fat ppl - that fat ppl eat too much, cant control their eating, are always thinking about food, etc etc, while skinny ppl ~forgot to eat lol~.

all in all, if anyone reads this, i just hope ppl can acknowledge and be aware to the fatphobia that has gone into the design of this game, *just like basically every other game*. im not saying palia is worse than other games, bc frankly, most games are like this, and its gross and weird and i hate that. but its still valid to discuss that problem in the context of one game, without implying that its an issue that only affects that game.

i hope that at the very least, they will eventually add in more body types to the character creator that also represent bigger people, and that potentially, we might see some attractive fat characters as npcs in the future. and no, their faces dont need to be slimmed down compared to their bodies to be attractive! they can have unsmooth faces and double chins and wrinkles and still be attractive! and they can have all that and not be men, and be attractive! and they dont need to have hourglass bodies nor to be muscular and strong to be attractive, either!

[yohanpalia]

link to the dev update post that talks about future additions like sitting and other furniture interactions, and more

[yohanpalia]

Low maintenance Palia farm layout #2

All crops have Weed Prevention, Harvest Boost, and Water Retain (other than the corners which don't have Harvest Boost)

Perfect for a low maintenance farm before blueberries/apples if you don't need cotton, and have star seeds or quality up fertilizer

Made using my Palia Crop Boost Visualizer! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z60kAOtJTESQocGVLz33tv1u2Y9jilwtNU6f67Ww42g/edit#gid=0

[yohanpalia]

@paliahunter tagging u bc u might want to try this

Low maintenance Palia farm layout

Uses all 7 basic crops, every crop has weed block and water retain so you never have to water or weed them, all inner crops have yield up, and cotton is sprinkled in for fabric making!

Built with my spreadsheet: https://href.li/?https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z60kAOtJTESQocGVLz33tv1u2Y9jilwtNU6f67Ww42g/edit#gid=0

[yohanpalia]

I’m so sorry hassian im also apart of this problem 😭

[yohanpalia]

so here's a longer take than me just being sarcastic in replies to ppl who dont actually explain any of their argument despite them feeling bothered enough by my post to reply.

the summarised topic of my long post they replied to is: there isnt currently good representation of fat or chubby body types anywhere in palia - the only really big round fat man is pretty much a bad guy and obsessed with food, which isnt very pleasant representation. there are no romanceable characters who arent very skinny or fit (theres 9 romanceable charas). palia is bad at fatness, and so is almost every other game, and this is constructive criticism about that. (read the long post itself for more background, info and clarity!)

palia being in open beta has nothing to do with its character design re: fatness. it doesnt take more effort to design and add a fat npc than to design a skinny or muscular npc, so there's no reason to "put off" adding more fat characters until later development stages - not when they clearly designed all charas individually already until now (they don't have the same body types as each other, same face shapes as each other, same animations, etc - they're all unique already).

the fact that the charas are already wildly different from each other is the exact reason i wrote my long post. bc it wouldve been just as easy as anything else to add in an attractive fat or chubby character who is romanceable! and they actively chose not to (the 9 romanceable charas are between very skinny to fit). or to add in fat or chubby npcs that arent stereotypical (someones mom, a bad person, obsessed with food, selfish/greedy, etc).

so it being in open beta is not a rational argument for this specific game, since it already has a diverse cast with diverse designs.

how about "palia is a videogame"?

besides the obvious point that it being a game doesnt make it any different than other media in regards to harmful stereotypes and harmful social structures etc, you can see that the palia devs already took care to create somewhat diverse characters.

they cared to create charas that have different facial traits, different body types, different hair types, etc. they actively chose to create a diverse cast - but didnt include chubby and fat people in that cast in any other roles than "not meant to be attractive".

this is the problem and this is why i talk about it. there need to be romanceable fat/chubby characters, even just *one* would be better than nothing among than the current 9 (!!!) romanceable charas that are all skinny or fit. ideally we should see bigger variety than just "9 skinny/fit ones and one fat", though.

the non-romanceable npcs should also feature chubby and fat characters that dont fall into basic "its someones mom" stereotypes or harmful stereotypes (food obsessed, lazy) etc etc. there should be a charming and attractive fat character who isnt shady or bad or selfish, an intelligent and friendly one, or an angsty creative one, i dont care! the point is they need to be interesting people and potentially attractive the same way the skinny and fit characters are created. and they shouldnt just be "someone's parent" for fucks sake.

palia failing at fatness rn, doesnt mean that the devs wont add more fat or chubby characters in the future. they might. we dont know that. they might not. thats why its necessary to voice and discuss topics like this so that people are aware to the issue and can constructively criticise it.

[yohanpalia]

on behalf of that nobody cares about my long post about fatphobic character design in palia (this is not hate! i like palia. it is constructive criticism) ill boil down the easiest question into a short post:

why arent there ANY fat or even chubby romanceable characters in palia? there's 9 romanceable characters. theyre all between very skinny to fit

[yohanpalia]

mini video showing the pretty water particles in palia, from a waterfall and a fountain. idk if anyone else cares i just love water and thought its pretty

[yohanpalia]

my journey of trying to find a place to take a swim

[yohanpalia]

now listen tish --

... u may not be entirely wrong.......

[yohanpalia]

first seconds of me getting in the game and promptly realising theres skirt physics, proceeding to excitedly skip around in my purple skirt

[yohanpalia]

fatness in palia

(its gonna sound like i hate palia bc ppl dont understand the concept of nuance, so just to be clear - i decently like the game so far. things can be both good and bad, and some ppl, like me, enjoy analysing and criticising things without hating on the things.)

it rly bugs me that the only properly fat character so far in Palia is someone whos obsessing about his sandwiches and talking about how he always makes sure to eat properly, and *also*, is someone in a position of power who does bad things (the quest where we grew crops for him is the most clear example ive seen so far). basically - the biggest fat man is a bad person who is obsessed with food.

delaila is big, but also falls into a stereotype - shes a countryside mom (often fat in media), and parent characters are generally easier for mainstream fatphobic media to design as fat bc theyre not intended to be attractive in the same way the younger characters are (or older men, see hodari and ashura). i also want to point out that she reads as having a little more of a curvy body type compared to kenli whos more of a big ball, and that none of the female characters read as having the same type of facial fat or double chin that kenli has (which is indeed why im calling him the only properly fat character). its almost as if that kind of facial/chin fat is considered worse on women than on men or something :)) wink wink.

ashura and sifuu are big, but read as "strong and muscular", not "a fat person". which any fat person will know is a significant difference in how you're perceived. (there is also an aspect here ofc of that irl, masculine-presenting "bulky and strong" ppl are often more positively perceived than feminine "bulky and strong" ppl, and that masculinity being seen as desirable in itself affects why "bulky and strong" is seen as desirable where "just fat" isnt, but this is a sidetrack rn.)

elouisa and caleri are... chubby, i guess? i was happy the first time i met caleri bc she had a visible double chin. but, after a bit of playing, seeing that there werent any fatter characters than this who were supposed to be seen as attractive or even good nice people, that enjoyment weighs little. i also again want to point out that both elouisa and caleri have very "smooth" faces, and mostly "conventionally attractive" features, essentially. they are chubby/curvy, but not in ways that would be considered *too* far off from the fatphobic, ageist, sexist beauty standards of society. they also have basically hourglass bodies.

the characters that we are mainly "supposed" to find attractive in this game - the romanceable ones - range from very skinny to "fit". there is even a romanceable skinny robot, notably not a romanceable fat robot (hekla is round, reads as the fat mom stereotype, and is not romanceable - einar is tall and slender and kinda built like a dorito, and, oh, presents more masculine... even robots arent free from misogynist and fatphobic design). there is also a non-romanceable character that apparently both characters in the game and many players find hot, which is a non-fat man, hodari. i note this bc he's presented as an attractive character, and is not fat.

its nice to see an older(?) female character presented as attractive - tamala, however she is very skinny and with an hourglass type build. this is still... nice, i guess, but in the context of the lack of "attractive characters" that arent really skinny, or muscular, or hourglass shaped.....

another related issue is that a very skinny character, jel.... literally says things like "i havent eaten for 3 days". wow! thats lovely! especially together with kenli obsessing over food! and together with an average size character, jina, also mentioning she forgets to eat. that made me feel gross to read, and i dont think its a good choice to put "lol forgetting to eat, relatable content" in the dialogue of characters who are very skinny. this can be a bad reinforcement of society's abuse ("just starve yourself and you'll be skinny and beautiful!") for people with eating disorders and for ppl who struggle with their weight and with their relation to food in general. but *especially* when the biggest character is, in contrast, talking about how hes obsessing over his sandwiches and whatever (and again - is a bad person and also not supposed to be attractive, while jel and jina are supposed to be attractive and romanceable). this is also obviously a reinforcement of prejudice against fat ppl - that fat ppl eat too much, cant control their eating, are always thinking about food, etc etc, while skinny ppl ~forgot to eat lol~.

all in all, if anyone reads this, i just hope ppl can acknowledge and be aware to the fatphobia that has gone into the design of this game, *just like basically every other game*. im not saying palia is worse than other games, bc frankly, most games are like this, and its gross and weird and i hate that. but its still valid to discuss that problem in the context of one game, without implying that its an issue that only affects that game.

i hope that at the very least, they will eventually add in more body types to the character creator that also represent bigger people, and that potentially, we might see some attractive fat characters as npcs in the future. and no, their faces dont need to be slimmed down compared to their bodies to be attractive! they can have unsmooth faces and double chins and wrinkles and still be attractive! and they can have all that and not be men, and be attractive! and they dont need to have hourglass bodies nor to be muscular and strong to be attractive, either!

[yohanpalia]

the most american thing that happened in palia so far was jel asking me if ive ever touched fish

and it doesnt even end there, the answer options were "yes, i had to know what it feels like" or "no (insert more words here)"

not just.... yeah i have bc.... ofc i fucking have.... have u literally never cooked fish or helped someone else cook fish.... never gone fishing...... never handled an aquarium fish or something..... just never touched a fish?????

not to shame ppl who have never touched a fish bc... its fine... but i just need to express how this was a rly weird dialogue with no option for the majority of ppl on earth who have in fact touched fish for everyday reasons, not bc we "need to know how it feels". and therefore this made me laugh

[yohanpalia]

pinned post

this is a sideblog for me to post about the game Palia

my in-game name is Yohan so if u see a skirt-wearing man around named that, its me

im an adult queer man (engaged to my amazing gf) and this blog is personal and intended to be fun for me, so not rly a place for kids. not that palia especially is a kids game considering sifuus book