Your excitement is contagious. I made an account because of this post. I feel a bit apprehensive sharing my preferences, because they are quite specific and rarely shared. To some, perhaps many, they might be off-putting. On the other hand, it feels good to confess. Who knows? Maybe someday a game that can accommodate at least most of my particular desires may come about.
First, some background on my ideal gainer. This individual (furry or human) is a young, straight, single male–college-age or younger. I would like to follow his life from a very young age (toddler). He grows up an only child in an upper middle-class, American household where his parents (present but not overbearing) harbor some worry about his gaining, but rarely take action beyond intermittent comments of disappointment and occasional constructive criticism (“Maybe it would be better to try the low-fat milk…”). He does not have doctors on his case (he does not visit them). He also has average-weight friends to protect him from bullies, but his pals lightheartedly tease him from time to time.
He avoids depression by devoting himself to both his studies (which he excels at) and positive social relationships. He is an introvert who spends his free time reading and casually playing the sousaphone. He played less than one year in his school’s marching band before dropping out because it was too strenuous.
His ascent up the BMI scale is moderate and steady. This is due to several factors. First, he is not intentionally gaining weight. He overeats, but does not stuff himself; he has no eating disorder–he just makes poor dieting decisions and never learned portion control. Sometimes he blames it on slow metabolism, since his parents are overweight, too (not morbidly obese like him, though). He does not have a feeder, and is unaware of the gaining community. There is no pressure for him to gain–no gainer shakes, no magic.
Second, he is not happy with his weight. As other games have put it, he has a slightly negative outlook on being fat–ashamed, even. The problem is he lacks resolve to change his ways. He tries every now and again (think the typical unfulfilled “New Year’s Resolution”) a diet and exercise regimen, but gives up because he goes it alone.
Now we get into his body type. His build/height is average. The adipose is distributed fairly evenly around his body, with some emphasis on his moobs and belly (overhang and lovehandle rolls abound). Double chin, cankles, chafing thunder thighs, flabby arms (“bingo wings”), slight fat pad, he develops them all over time. Perhaps it could be chalked up to stunted puberty, but he has little to no facial and body hair. Having never participated in strength training in his life, he has minimal muscle definition. Couple that with his inactive tendencies, and you have a boy with very little stamina. That said, immobility will be many years down the road, if ever; limited mobility is my favorite. His gradual weight gain means he has only a few light stretch marks.
Throughout his life, he has had almost no preexisting conditions. Unless, of course, you count obesity, but he was born a normal weight. His size may be a hindrance at times (ex. bad back; sore, flat feet; burning legs and lungs after even simple activity), but he has become accustomed to it. He amazingly has avoided developing sleep apnea and diabetes, but he does have hypertension. No asthma or allergies.
I may add more later to this already overboard description, as this is just an overview of my perfect character. I am a huge fan of envisioning how morbid obesity affects the stamina of the individual. Panting/wheezing, rapid heartbeat, the aforementioned pains of just supporting one’s body weight gets me aroused. I love pushing it to the brink of a medical emergency, but not over. That way, my character can still believe that he has not reached the point where outside intervention is needed–despite the fact that it has long become a daily struggle. (Plus, not being able to read the scale helps.)
I want to follow that struggle through scenes of embarrassment. One day the elevator he takes to get to class is broken, forcing him to use the stairs. Another day he braves a trip with friends to a waterpark, hauling himself up the stair tower to the highest slide only to be asked to step on the scale and denied access since he exceeded the weight limit (of what was supposed to be a ride for two). Flashback to a day in middle school, where he tore his undersized shirt trying to pull it down, eventually was given the largest one the school could find in the back of the storage locker, then heard the bell ring partway through his third of four laps of “running” the mile. How about the talking scale he bought himself for the new year, which he returned, claiming it did not work but secretly knowing it was because he exceeded the 400 lb weight limit…
Sorry…I am letting my perverted mind go overboard here…You get the picture…Thank you again for encouraging me to share my passions.