Body Positivity Arc

She took another long, deep sip.

It was no small feat, sequestering herself away from windows for a little over a week. Especially considering her estate was mostly floor to ceiling windows, overlooking the valley. But impatiently waiting for this little pow wow of theirs to commence, Emma had reached the point of no longer giving a single fuck. On mute & fuming, she slowly stepped out onto her balcony by the pool, overlooking the Hollywood Hills. Her silk robe didn’t billow in the breeze as much. Less excess fabric.

Helicopters, drones, even just a decent telephoto lens, cameras could be lurking anywhere. She was exposed, out in the open for any keen paparazzo to see. And they’d probably have the story of their career on their hands too. But then, part of her wondered if they’d really even recognize her. In this condition? Other than maybe her hair? No shot!

“Ok, if everyone’s joined the call now, I think we can begin.” Darren said flatly. There was a sheepishness to his tone, uncharacteristic for the usually slick talking strategist. Almost as he was bracing to be called to the carpet. “So Em, I suspect you’ve got a lot to say. The floor’s yours.”

“Ok- yeah- uh-” the starlet stammered at first, before kicking it from 0 to 60 in just a second. “What in the actual fuck you guys?!”

“Listen Em-“ Darren at the ready, immediately trying to jump in with his trademark damage control voice. Emma was in no mood, & she certainly wasn’t about to let him try. “We truly understand that you’re upset bu-“

“The whole point of hiring a pr firm is to make me look good! And right now? Right now?! What you dipshits have done to me…?! She gesticulated emphatically, shaking all-too-heavy arms she still wasn’t entirely used to. The flub undulating in a way that just made her even angrier.

“Em, Karim here. We get that you’re angry but-“ Emma still wasn’t ready for input though. After a sigh, she bulldozed through in her typical, ”Type A” way.

“You know, I was really burnt after filming for this last show. And when I told you jagoffs I wanted to lay low for a month or two?” She huffed, exasperated. She thought she heard talking on their end but didn’t care. “You just had to go & pitch this whole cockamamie “body positivity arc” scheme.”

“Okay well calling it a “scheme” makes it sound a lot more cynical than-“ She heard Jen try to contend. If she wasn’t ready for Karim’s input, she definitely wasn’t ready to hear from the likes of Jen. 

“You massive gaping assholes badgered me into drinking this… weird day glow sludge! ” She gave the thick, viscous fluid a tight little shake, but it seemed to barely react. It was almost paste like in its consistency. And sickeningly sweet. “To intentionally put on weight fast! Then get caught out in public once, all roly poly just to lose it again!” She paused to suck on the straw briefly. “Because you insisted “the journey back would make [me] so much more relatable! Admirable even!” That’s what you said!”

“We were only talking twenty, maybe thirty pounds though.” Darren attempted to contend when Emma need to take a breath. Yelling so loud was taking a lot out of her.

”Just enough to show up on the gossip pag-“ Jen tried to add. Emma fired back. 

“Oh no! Trust me!” She scoffed, almost laughing as she paced her balcony. Or at least attempted to. The recent changes to her figure had left her round, expansive body with something of a pronounced waddle. “I totally remember all the “20, maybe 30” bullshit!” Her rage bubbling. Palpable. “Just like I remember…”

”Em-“ Darren attempted to interject. Futilely.

”So are you a firm “No?” Emma mocked, channeling Darren. “How firm?” She then turned on Jen, recounting one of her nudges. “And: “Oh! You’ll get to eat whatever you want!”

”If we could just-“ Darren wasn’t having much luck.

”Ooh! Or how about: “With your genetics?!” Reminding Karim of his own words. “You’ll carry it so well!” Then there was that one that Jen said that ended up being the nail in the coffin. The one that finally caused her to cave. “Or: “Just think of the chubby lil’ tween girl in Peoria that you’ll inspire! You’ll be her hero!” Emma wavered a little, still thinking about that one. And how it was used to manipulate her. Darren pounced on the brief milliseconds of hesitation.

”Admittedly, mistakes were made.” He fessed up.

”Oh-ho-oh!” Emma cackled, back on the offensive. “Mistakes?!” It was such a massive understatement, she nearly keeled over. “This neon slop you’ve got me drinking works too well! It’s almost like I’ve- I’ve… Quadrupled in size! In a week!”

“Emma, I can’t help but notice-” Karim chimed in. Less defensive. More almost… concerned. “That’s twice now that you’ve said “drinking.” Like in the present tense.” Emma blinked. “Please, for the love of god,” He muttered. The more that she sank into the realization, the more her anger turned into bewilderment. “If you see what it’s doing to you, don’t tell me you’re still-“

”Yeah. Why am I still…?” She questioned, pulling the phone away to mutter to herself. Even though it was on speaker. She watched the thick syrupy goo churn as she bobbed her cup. It’d only been a week. And it wasn’t like she enjoyed it. Not in the slightest. And she absolutely hated the blimp it had turned her into. She was a bloated mockery of her former self, a “sexiest woman in the world” recipient to several popular magazines. 

But also…

She hadn’t even realized that she just been mainlining it. This whole time. A cup had never left her hand. All week. One after another. Even after she noticed its effects. She just kept chugging it. Wanting, no, needing more! Didn’t even cross her mind to just… stop. Fuck, even now, the thought of it sent a shiver down her spine, causing too much of her to jiggle.

”Emma..?” She thought she heard from the other line. Probably Darren. She dipped the phone closer to her chins.

”It’s not like… supposed to be like… habit forming, is it?” Her rage evaporating to concern. It started to weigh on her mind that it had been a few minutes since she’d sucked her last sip. “Why… do I… always… need more?”

”Oh Emma…” Jen said, almost admonishingly.

“Unfortunately,” Darren said our info on it’s a little spotty.

“What?!” Emma scowled. 

“But it was supplied to us by a very reputable doctor.”

”Heh, reputable…?!” She mocked, staring longingly as the straw. A small bead of bluish gel sat on its tip. 

“Emma, just promise us you won’t touch another drop before we can-“ Karim actually did sound concerned. And almost on a human level, not just the whole ”her being a cash cow” (now actual cow) front. Too bad for Emma though. She was just a little too far gone already, as the loud sounds of a straw sucking desperately for smoothie, only hitting air their side of the phone. Followed by an almost mindless coo for “More.”

”She’s just going to keep pigging out on the stuff.” Jen huffed, almost seeming to not care if she was heard or not. “Until we send someone over. Or she explodes.”

”She probably won’t even answer the door if she sees its any of us.” Darren said, holding the mute button. “Try to murder us. Probably by sitting on us!” He laughed bleakly.

”Well what do we do though?” Karim asked earnestly. There was a brief pause.

”What do we do though?” Jen mocked cartoonishly.  ”She’s too fat to ever get casted again. And she was sort of on her way out, cooling off anyway. I say we just deny, settle anything we need to, & cut our loss.”

”But we’re responsible!” Karim reminded them, almost appalled. “We put her up to this & gave her that- that- slime.” Darren smiled a wry smile.

”And so maybe we just make sure she doesn’t run out.”

”Oooh,“ Jen laughed, catching his drift.

”What?” Karim gasped. “You can’t be serious! You saw that selfie she sent. What it’s doing to her!”

”I know,” his superior admitted. “It’s not… ideal. But if she’s more wrapped up in slurping down formula, the less litigious she’ll think to be.” He turned to Jen. “However much we have left, can you just send it over? Care package?”

”My assistant’s already on it!” She grinned. Jen saw Karim sink, deflated. “Aw. Don’t worry, scout. 5600 square foot mansion. All to herself. It’ll be a bit at least before your girlfriend starts to run out of room.” Karim looked down, disgusted. Darren clapped his hands together.

”Ok. Next item of business… lunch.”

|||

Had this cynical idea for a story kicking around in my head for a while. A celebrity being coerced into having her weight fluctuate purely for the PR, but it blowing up in everyone’s faces. This is a some what truncated version of the original plans which was more of a natural gain story. 

But I liked how the art turned out & thought I’d try to do it all as dialogue originally. And I liked her mocking them angrily. Ultimately though, that’s probably way way too much dialogue for an image. So I attached clean versions with no dialogue too. Also, stretch marks aren’t entirely my thing if I’m honest. But I felt a rapid gain such as the one mentioned might call for them. And that certain people might appreciate them more. So there are versions like that too. There may be other versions in the coming days as well.

Attached is a timelapse. But know that I try to do a lot more horizontal flipping these days to iron out flaws. While I recorded most of the process here, it is flipped vs the final.