“No, more to the left! Your other left!”



The aging producer yelled at the stage-hands suspended over the stage, carefully measuring out the dimensions of the set that their prop department was going to construct in preparation for their production of Moonlit Flight, one of the world’s grandest and most famous of plays, written by the great Lord Avon himself. It was being held at the Jidoor opera house, the most prestigious and expensive theatre on the continent, and had just finished casting its stars after a lengthy and painstaking series of auditions.

“I thought he said he’d done dozens of plays here!” Grumbled the overworked assistant to his colleague, only to be barked at again by his employer.

“I heard that! And for your information, I’ve been producing plays here since before you even knew how to pronounce the word!” The producer shot back. “Which is exactly why I know that you should never cut corners when you’re performing a classic! Now hop to it!”

“Mr. Gallo! I’d like a moment of your time.”

The aging producer turned to see a beautiful blonde woman marching towards him, with a look of fierce determination of her face that demanded answers.

“Miss… Chere, was it? I must say I was quite fond of your audition.” He said, recalling the young actress who had put on a performance well beyond what one would expect from somebody who had supposedly only quite recently begun her acting career, without any notable credits to her name besides a performance as the titular Maria

“If that’s the case, I’d like to know why I wasn’t cast as Ashley.” Celes said, her arms crossed. It wasn’t a look of indignation or offence like one would expect from a diva spurned, but more of somebody who had their heart and mind set on something and weren’t quite willing to give it up. “I heard Jessica’s audition, and I know that she’s not the right pick. She can’t hit the high notes, and her Ashley is unconvincing. Her acting style is too modern, and she plays herself, not the character.”

“And I suppose you see yourself as the better choice for our leading lady?” He raised an eyebrow. “There’s hundreds of actresses hoping to get their big break just the same as you who’d tear you to bits thinking you can cut in line.”

“At the very least, I’d like to know what I’m lacking.” Celes asked sternly. She had prepared for weeks in advance, and she knew that she had nailed the role. The mannerisms, her voice, everything had come together just right. And yet when the roles were decided, she had been nowhere in the list! As soon as she had found out she had come right here to confront the director, for better or worse.

“That’s obvious, isn’t it?” The producer sighed. “I shouldn’t have even let you onto the stage, you know. You’re right, as an actress and performer, you’re certainly a better Ashley. In fact, while you were auditioning, it was if you were Ashley herself! And your voice! Under any other circumstances I would have demanded that we have you.”

“So why didn’t you?” Celes challenged, and his look of enthusiasm quickly gave way to tiredness.

“Because Ashley is traditionally played by a woman three times your size! You’re just too skinny! Even the most uncultured of theatre appreciators should know that.” The director said in a matter of fact voice. “Honestly, I don’t know what you expected! I swear, actresses these days!”

“That might be so, but the play was written hundreds of years ago, when Ashley was conceived as an ideal beauty of the times. I would expect that modern audiences would prefer a modern Ashley.” Celes argued, gesturing at her svelte figure.

“Don’t be stupid! If all I wanted was a pretty face I could shout in the streets and have a dozen applicants by the end of the hour. To put a skinny Ashley on stage would be sacrilege! It would destroy my reputation, no, the reputation of the play itself!” The director said, Celes’ cheeks turning a tinge red. She was well aware of her looks, being renowned as a beauty dating back to her days as a general, and it galled her knowing that most directors and producers cared more about that than her acting ability. It reminded her of meatheaded soldiers suggesting that she had only gotten her position by sleeping with the chain of command, only then she had gotten the opportunity to prove them wrong with her fearsome fighting abilities and skill as a leader.

“But, if it wasn’t for your weight, you’d absolutely have been my first pick.” He said, taking the edge off of the blow. “I’m sure a woman of your talents shouldn’t have trouble finding work. Why insist on auditioning for a role you knew you couldn’t get? It can’t be just for the sake of your career.”

“I had hoped to perform here at the opera house again.” Celes admitted, a wistfulness in her voice. Ever since her reluctant performance as Maria here at the opera house, she had found herself with a longing in her heart to live that moment again, and although she had taken enthusiastically to her peacetime calling as an actress, she hadn’t performed anywhere half as grand as here. Cheap plays with upbeat songs intended to please the masses were all she could seem to find work for, and she had hoped to springboard to classier acts by participating in one of the biggest plays in the world. She had to at least take the chance.

“Unfortunately, we’ve locked in the roles of the supporting cast already.” Mr. Gallo said, shaking his head. “And it would be a waste of your talents to merely be a bit player. But alas, unless you know a way to put on two hundred pounds overnight, our cast is settled. Now if you’ll excuse me Miss. Chere, I’ve got a production to run and three months is hardly enough to get these animals to do a decent job of it.”

He paid Celes no further attention, and she left with a bitter feeling in her chest. So close! She had been so close! If it wasn’t for that damned stubborn director and his traditionalist fixation, she could have had it! Stomping out of the building, Celes paused, took a deep breath, exhaled, then composed herself. She had known that when she got into acting it wouldn’t be easy, but still, this was the only chance she had of getting a serious boost and getting to perform at the opera house for at least the next year! Having it slip from her grasp was just…

“Alright, today I’m getting that cake, and having the whole thing to myself.” Celes declared, clapping her hands together as she decided to head to her usual destressing routine: a bakery that had just the most delectable pastries she had ever eaten that she just couldn’t get enough of, and had to constantly deny herself every time she walked past it, lest she start to put on weight. Although Celes had a serious exterior, she had a serious hidden sweet tooth, and her troubles seemed to just melt away as long as she had something sugary in front of her. She tended to go there when she was feeling down and in need of a pick me up, and what better time than now? She licked her lips in anticipation, able to taste it already, perhaps because she had been slacking a bit and going there a little more often than she should have been due to her recent dissatisfaction with her roles. But oh well, she thought flippantly, it wasn’t like she was going to make a habit out of it…

–

“Johnathan, oh Johnathan, how I love thee so… My love for you is like a… do I even need to bother rehearsing this?” Celes broke character only a few seconds into practicing on the tiny stage, pulling off her cheap red wig that she was wearing for her role as a one-dimensional love interest. “I only have what, four lines in this whole thing, and they’re all about how great the hero is.”

“What, not refined enough for your classy tastes?” Ruby asked snarkily, the proprietress of a mini-theatre that specialised in cheap entertainment and was a fellow actress, although one far more satisfied with her place in life with her average at best acting skills. “You’re getting paid, aren’t you? The guys won’t come if they don’t get some eyecandy.”

“I’m only here because I just barely missed that lead role in I Want To Be Your Canary and you know it.” Celes grumbled, planting herself down on a nearby crate. She was only here practicing before any of the other actors had arrived because she’d have a string of bad luck in her auditions lately, constantly losing roles to more established actresses. In the last month she was lucky if she even got a musical number to herself, seemingly only ever able to get the role of damsels in distress for low-class plays and bit parts in larger productions where hardly anybody even noticed she was there. Ruby might have had reliable work for her, but sticking her in a bright green leotard for the men to oogle at wasn’t exactly career-advancing material.

“Why don’t you practice smiling? That’s an important skill for an actress.” Ruby reached in and pulled on her cheeks, Celes giving her a death glare in response. “Are you still moping about missing out on Moonlit Flight?”

“No.” Celes lied. “That was just me taking a shot in the dark anyway, I was never going to get it. Why would you think that?”

“Because you look like you’re aiming to be big enough to play Ashley by this time next year the way you’re bursting out of that leotard. ” Ruby pointed out, Celes looking down to a distinctly chubbier body than usual. Her cleavage-bearing stage leotard was barely able to hold in her noticeably larger breasts, and she had a distinctly plush belly pressing into the thin material. Her slight muffin top didn’t help either, and her ass was starting to sag slightly as the back of the leotard was consumed between her wobbling ass cheeks. She was getting undeniably fat, her dour mood causing her to fall back on comfort eating for most of the last month as it became obvious that she wasn’t getting anywhere fast. Back when she had been in the army, she’d she’d subsisted on mostly bland rations and eaten purely with the pragmatism of keeping herself going, and as a result her sense of self-restraint when faced with the realisation that she could eat whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, was flimsily developed at best.

“This is just, you know…” Celes couldn’t come up with a good excuse, and Ruby placed a sympathetic \hand on her shoulder.

“Look, I know how much you wanted it, but you’ve got to let it go! Besides, it probably wouldn’t have worked out anyway.” Ruby said, pacing back with a gleam in her eyes that she got whenever she was about to discuss some gossip. “I heard the producer blew his top at the lead actress the other day and that they’re considering a recast.”



“He is?” Celes perked her head up immediately.



“Apparently, Jessica let the role go to her head and kept asking for them to change the script. Now she’s blown the biggest role she’ll ever get!” Ruby giggled. “Maybe you should skip the diet and go for it again, huh?”

Celes was silent, a deeply contemplative look on her face and Ruby frowned.

“That was a joke, Celes.” She stressed. “Listen, I’ll come up with a dance to help you burn it off, now let’s get back to practicing!”

Unfortunately, the thought stuck in Celes head through the practice session, through the performance itself, and all the way back to her room, where she was still thinking about it while she laid back on her bed. She was in need of a diet, she thought ruefully as she grabbed her plentiful belly fat, although it wasn’t too bad just yet. Not nearly enough to count as a fat lady for the role of Ashley, that was for sure. But what if she doubled down and went for it, though? There was still another couple of months before the play started, and based on Ruby’s gossip and some questions she asked the other actors who had also heard the rumours, they might be desperate enough to at least consider her as an alternative. Ever since that producer had set up shop she had heard nothing but stories about his perfectionism. Maybe, just maybe…

No, what the hell was she thinking? Celes turned over, scowling at her vapid fantasy. Even ignoring the question of how she’d do it, the idea of putting on significant weight just for one role was absolutely ridiculous! Sure, it was a well paying one, and one that would put her on the map, and it wasn’t like she would be performing the play just once, but destroying her figure just for a chance at playing Ashley was absurd! It would severely limit her opportunities, defeating the whole purpose of getting the career booster in the first place. Exactly how many major roles for obese women were there? Sure, she could lose weight afterward, but just how long would that take? Would her moment in the spotlight be over by then?



Then again… Celes turned back over. The producer was right, there was nothing special about a pretty actress. All of her roles were vapid supporting ones, cast purely on her looks and decided half the time before she even showed that she could carry a tune. Each time it had frustrated her, knowing that she was always being passed over because there was some other more established actress just as beautiful as her, and in their eyes, the name recognition was more important. Just how far had being skinny gotten her, anyway? The only major role she ever had a shot at was lost because she wasn’t fat!  And now she was stress-eating her figure away anyway. At the rate she was going she’d be too plump for mainstream gigs, too skinny for what she had realised was her dream role.

So, what if? What if threw caution to the wind and tried for it again? If she could divorce conventional beauty from her acting and singing abilities, wouldn’t it be a perfect test of her skills? They would be forced to look past her curvy figure and to the real actress, the ones who could embody Ashley herself and stun the audience with her voice. They would be forced to take her seriously, and she wouldn’t have a crutch of conventional beauty to fall back on. And hell, she could frame it as her being somebody who would do anything for her character, then just lose weight afterwards! With such a famous production and her name all over it, she was sure she could burn the fat fast enough to capitalise.

Gritting her teeth, Celes decided for once to throw caution to the wind…

–

Opening scene goes here

“Director, can you please just make up with Jessica already?” The stage director begged Gallo. “Forget the performance itself, how are we supposed to advertise if we can’t even tell anybody who the lead actress is?”

“Not a chance.” The stubborn old man said, instantly shutting him down with no room for debate. “Maybe I’ll consider it if she comes crawling back and apologises! Instead she’s just double downed and

“Because you offended her!” The director complained, about to follow up before he quivered under Gallo’s glare.

“Offended her? She offended the entire art form and the proud lineage of performers before her with her trite suggestions! Moonlit Flight is as fresh as the day it was written! Change the script, change her lines… who does she think she is? Can’t I find a woman who understands what it means to embody the role?”

“Mr. Gallo!” A burly stagehand suddenly barged in, looking breathless and slightly confused.

“What is it? We were having an important discussion, or at least we were before you blundered in!” The veteran producer thundered, the muscular man shrinking back, wishing he wouldn’t shoot the messenger.

“There’s, uh, somebody who wants to meet you!”

“Who is it? Do they have an appointment?” He asked irritably. “And can they deliver a new leading lady to me on a silver platter?”

“Perhaps.” Chuckled a vaguely familiar voice, the owner entering the room bellyf-rist with a definite wobble in her step. Celes smiled, her cherubic cheeks creasing slightly as the two managers gawked at the second chin she had gained since they last saw her. Formerly slim and athletic, the actress was now distinctly chunky, with hips that pushed out further than her shoulders, thighs rubbing together and straining her tight leggings, while a thoroughly stuffed belly bulged out well over her belt, accompanied by a healthy muffin top around the sides. Her chest had gone up several cup sizes and her to now struggled to contain it, while her slender arms had been rendered well and truly chubby, her biceps starting to sag and form a distinctive bulge that would only grow with time.

The most shocking part however was how confidently she walked, owning her weight and looking downright proud of herself, as she should be with how dedicated to stuffing herself she had been for the last two weeks in preparation for this meeting. She had come here straight from her favourite restaurant, packing on extra calories and making sure she had an extra large belly ready to go to emphasise her fatness. If she was going to gain weight, she was damn well going to make an impact!

“I heard you were having trouble replacing Jessica and thought I’d offer my assistance.” Celes said confidently, thrusting her chest out.

“Miss… Claire, no, Chere! What on earth have you done to yourself?” Gallo gaped, his excitement already audible in his voice. “Don’t tell me you’ve taken what I said to heart!”

“The one thing I was lacking, wasn’t it? I’m something of a method actor, you see.” Celes smirked. “Of course, this is the best I could do in such short time, but there’s almost two months left before opening night, isn’t there? I’m sure I could…”

Celes placed her hands on her hips, then moved them outward, gesturing in the shape of a much larger, wider woman.



“We haven’t said anything about recasting just yet.” Gallo played hard to get, but Celes and damn near everybody else in the building had heard him shouting his head off, and it was easy for her to tell him what he wanted to hear.

“Really? What a shame, I’ve really started to feel like I understand the character lately.” Celes made an exaggerated sigh. “I’ve got such a respect for the traditional role, you see, ever since you showed me the error of my ways. Ashley is meant to be portrayed the way the author intended, after all. Not a single line changed, not a single alternate interpretation.”



“See? She gets it. What’d I tell you?” Gallo whispered to the director, who simply shrugged and gave in. It wasn’t like his opinion mattered anyway. Gallo cleared his throat and stared directly into Celes’ eyes. It was clear that his mind was made up, and there was no more beating around the bush. “How soon can you memorise your lines?”



“I’ve been studying the script since we last met.” Celes declared, revealing a wisened copy of the play that she had bought from a second hand book store.

“Marco!” Gallo suddenly barked loud enough for the cast manager to hear him from across half the opera house. “Clear out Jessica’s room! We’ve got a new leading lady! And somebody get her something to eat!”

He turned back to Celes, who was barely able to control her beaming face now that her gambit has paid off.

“The gil for your diet is coming out of your pay, you know. We’ve got guests coming all the way from Doma to see Ashley, and they had better get her!” He warned her. “If you can’t fit into Jessica’s dress in a month, you’ll be the one begging her to come back and save you. Don’t let me down!”

–

“You know, sometimes I feel like you should be charging just to rehearse.” Edward, Celes’ co-star, joked as the two relaxed backstage after hours of meticulous practice. “It’s starting to feel like a bit of a waste.

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Celes briefly lowered her sandwich to smile before returning to devouring the overstuffed heap of meat and vegetables held between two fluffy slices of white bread. She could get a bit hot and sweaty after performing, so it was important to balance out any calories she lost. Of course, she had already put on far more calolries than she could burn off in one day before she even stepped into the building, starting her day with a hearty breakfast, then a hearty brunch once she was at the opera house, followed shortly by lunch.

“No, I’m serious. I’ve never seen anybody so… devoted, to the role.” He insisted, as much for her off-stage efforts as her performance on-stage. His eyes glanced over her thighs squashed together from sheer thickness as she sat, her hips spilling over the side of the crate while her huge butt took up enough space for two women, her distended gut pushing forward and threatening to make her as long as she was wide. Her huge, sagging breasts rested on her shelf of a belly, Celes having started relatively busty and soon growing out of control until she figured she would have breasts larger than her head by the time it was opening night. She could feel her fatty biceps squashing against the side of her chest when they were merely hanging by her sides, her plump forearms looking downright slender compared to her puffy biceps where the real fat built up. To top it off her second chin had grown and grown, her narrow chin long gone with nothing but softness remaining, her puffy cheeks squashing as she bit down on her light snack, as she would have put it. Celes was, undeniably fat, and that just the way she wanted it.

“By the sound of it Jessica just lowered your expectations.” Celes remained humble as she chewed on her sandwich, simply seeing no reason to not put her all into rehearsal, lest she screw something up on the big day. By the sound of it Jessica, an otherwise only modestly successful actress, had turned into quite the diva after going from bit player to star overnight, mostly because she physically fit the image of Ashley more than her portrayal did. She had gotten increasingly full of herself and was apparently quite nasty to the crew, who were glad to see her gone when Celes showed up.

Of course, it hadn’t been that easy. Although chubby by the time she showed up thanks to her efforts to stuff herself day and night in the leadup to her second impromptu audition, she was still well below weight for a traditional Ashley, and many suspected some sort of foul play or interference from above. As a result, most had been taken aback when Celes loudly and openly declared her intent to fit the image of Ashley by the time the the play officially started, most scoffing at the implication of her doubling her mass by then. And yet every day Celes had gotten a little bigger, stuffing herself with an unladylike dedication that had led to tem all realising that she really was expanding out in every direction a little more every time they saw her, until with a month to go, she really had doubled her size, and didn’t seem to be stopping. She had earned a begrudging respect on that alone, as she acted as if it were merely another part of her rehearsal routine whenever it was mentioned.

“To be honest, when you showed up, I thought our esteemed producer had just finally learned to compromise for the first time in his life.” He said, watching in awe as she reduced the enormous sandwich to breadcrumbs in seconds before reaching for another graciously provided by her personal caterer. It had become clear within days that such a role was needed, and the producer had eventually agreed to hire dedicated staff for her, abolishing “Celes duty” amongst the regular workers.   For the various stagehands, to be on “Celes duty” meant to be the one who had to run down to the market every morning and sometimes in the middle of the day and make sure that the larders were stocked, because they had found that their heroine ate through half of what was budgeted for the entire crew per day and simply asked for more at the end of it.

“I don’t think he knows the meaning of the word. I just happened to be the right fit for his idea of the character. With given time, of course.” Celes laughed, having had to keep on his good side since she arrived. Thankfully he seemed to be kinder to her, instead yelling at the others that they should aspire to be more like her. It was honestly a headache for Celes, as she had to make sure to convince the various stagehands, assistants, and managers that she wasn’t buttering him up on the side somehow. Thankfully, even the most sceptical of workers had eventually been won over by her hardworking attitude, transfixed by her singing voice alone that was enough to convince them that she really was the lead that they had been looking for.

“Which was why I was so surprised that he was willing to cast you when you were still, you know, just, um…”

“Chubby?” Celes offered. Edward was a gentleman, but there was no reason to beat around the bush. Celes was turning herself into a total fatass for the sake of the role, and didn’t regret it in the slightest. Every moment she wasn’t working herself to the bone preparing was spent relaxing with a smorgasbord of treats, a tantalising carrot dangling in front of her as if she needed any more motivation.

“I was going to say “lighter”.” he smiled awkwardly, far from the dashing impression he gave on stage. Honestly, Celes wished that the men around here would just go out and call her fat to her face. Most of them had no issue with it behind her back, after all.

“Well you’d better get used to saying heavier, because I’m only getting bigger from here.” Celes puffed slightly as she pushed herself back to her feet. Her change might have been rapid, but from her perspective it happened so steadily that she hardly realised just how large and cumbersome she had gotten until she accidentally bumped into something, or got to places a little slower than she expected, or started to get out of breath from the walk home. She’d have had her own hide if she were still in the military, and yet here she was, hoping to get even bigger. Honestly, she was starting to consider hiring a carriage, as it was quite unbecoming of a major actress to be gasping for breath walking into her own home.

“Is this really just for one role?” Edward asked, unable to grasp it no matter how many times he saw it.

“Of course. I’ll just lose it like that once we wrap up.” Celes said like it was no big deal, snapping her fingers to emphasise it. And she said it with such confidence that showed that even she truly believed it.

“Well, I suppose somebody like you would find it pretty easy!” He laughed, supposing it had to be true. “You look like the naturally slender type. But I think I’ll hardly recognise you.”

“Here’s hoping.” Celes smiled, one hundred percent confident that she could lose this weight. But in the meantime, one overstuffed sandwich wasn’t nearly enough to sate her hunger. She lumbered off to go find another that could keep her going until dinner, where she’d eat far more than this in one sitting. Stuffing herself had taken effort early on, but the more she ate the easier it became to devour huge portions in a single sitting, and eat even more with just a short break. Her stomach grumbled if it went without food for long, which Celes had taken simply as an extension of her desire to gain weight.

Unfortunately, the truth wasn’t quite so optimistic. A stomach so thoroughly spoiled quickly got used to its treatment, and demanded frequent satisfaction. Celes wasn’t hungry because she felt a subconscious desire to gain weight for her role, she felt hungry all of the time because she had simply overindulged, and now her body expected it all of the time. Celes tended to get distracted if she wasn’t fed frequently, and she had to eat twice what she normally considered a hearty meal just to feel full, only have to have to eat just as much a mere few hours later to keep her cravings under control. Not to mention all of the bad habits she had built up from eating however she pleased, whenever she pleased. Celes had poor impulse control when it came to her eating when she was hungry, and she would soon find that a diet was nothing but hunger. Although Celes planned on a swift return to normalcy after this, her body would become her own worst enemy.

Of course, that was far off over the horizon for Celes. It was her eventual fate, to live with the decisions she had made to get this far, but for now she lived with the cheerful delusion that the habits she had formed were conscious and not simply snowballing…

–

A month later, it was finally the big night. The seats were packed, the audience’s chatter had reached a fever pitch, and backstage things were downright chaotic in the final rush to

“Really, it’s fine. We’re going to be late if you keep changing it!” Celes insisted as her makeup artist redid her eyeshadow for the third time, Celes finding that her face had been painted, washed, and then repainted to such an extent that she was starting to forget what she looked like in the first place.

“Now it’s fine.” The cosmetician said, applying one last delicate stroke to make sure that even the viewers in the back would be able to make out her beauty. Not that they would have any trouble seeing her face, the artist thought privately with just how broad of a canvas she had to work with. “How’s the dress?”



“It’s a little tight.” Celes admitted, tugging at the neckline of her elaborately embroidered dress.

“And who’s fault is that? I just let it out two days ago!” The production’s tailor complained, having had to constantly revise the outfit to keep up with Celes’ explosive growth.

“Oh come on, I haven’t gotten that big..” Celes said, blushing at herself in the mirror. She hardly noticed her own obesity, having gotten used to it by now, and was far more enraptured by her beautifully made up face and sparkling dress, her hair done up fabulously. She twirled with unusual grace for her weight, hardly caring about how her breasts were the size of her head when they were stuffed into such a fabulous outfit. She hardly paid attention to the twin folds of her belly sagging under their own weight, instead admiring the flowery patterns drawn over the dress that tried to contain it.

 From her perspective, her weight gain, while rapid, had been so gradual that she had more than enough time to get used to it. As a result, even as her cheeks widened, her second chin deepened, and her breasts swelled up to huge watermelons that required a powerful bra to not sag down onto her gigantic gut, her immensity never quite hit her. After all, she was just fitting the role. It was normal for an Ashley to have thighs each as wide as her male co-star, for her jewelry to vanish into her immense cleavage if she wasn’t careful, to have sausage-like fingers squashed into a flowery pair of opera gloves. Her skirt needed no padding, as her huge ass was more than large enough to prop it up on its own, her hips visibly bulging from the sides. Even with the corset-like approach the costume designer had taken to restrain her belly, it pushed out until she could barely reach the end of it, sagging down and obscuring some of the elaborate details at the front of her skirt.

Celes hadn’t just gotten fat, she was downright obese, having soared far past her initial goal with plenty of time to spare. Unfortunately, she had treated it with such a matter-of-fact attitude that nobody questioned her when she kept going, simply assuming that bigger was better and that even now, she was probably an average size for an Ashley. Like clockwork she had rehearsed, eaten, rehearsed, gone out for a huge dinner, then come back to prepare some more just a little heftier than she had been the last day. Of course, the toll on her body wasn’t lost on her nor anybody else. Celes lumbered slowly through the halls of the opera house, and refused to travel anywhere without a carriage to avoid exhausting herself. She needed frequent breaks to catch her breath, but made up for it by seemingly endless energy on stage. Hallways were cleared to make room for her, all the while Celes thinking that she was merely doing a good job meeting the expectations placed on her.

“It’s good to be dedicated to the role!” The producer had simply said, having been too busy to particularly care about Celes’ weight. The important part was that she was heavy enough in the first place, and so the topic of their heroine’s weight became a taboo subject amongst the crew, at least in front of her.

“Miss. Celes certainly is a hard worker, isn’t she? I could never keep up with her.” One starstruck stagehand said, his friends nodding in agreement  From their perspective, Celes lived and breathed her craft, and her meticulous weight gain was merely an extension of that. She was easy to work with and a marvel to watch, so her eccentricities were simply glazed over.

“Is she even gonna be able to perform at this rate? I’m surprised she can even walk. ” Another said, representing the other half of the internal opinion on her. Sure, she was talented, but she ate enough for ten men and acted like it was no big deal, and that was enough to give them the impression that at first she had just been overly excited for the role, but was taking it to a level of obsession most hadn’t seen before.

Whatever the crew felt, what was important was how the audience perceived her. When Celes waddled out onto the stage for the first time, the audience finally fell totally silent, save for a few whispering amongst themselves.

“Don’t you think Ashley is a little bigger than usual?” One fan of the play remarked.

“I’ve never heard of this actress before.” Another said. “They didn’t cast her based on looks alone, did they?”

A few more concerns fluttered through the audience, but were stunned into silence as soon as Celes began. Her slow, clumsy movements that befit a woman of her girth seemed to evaporate, Celes gliding across the stage as if she were weightless. Her singing mesmerised the spectators, and she performed with an intensity that convinced even the most cynical of viewers that they weren’t just watching an actress playing Ashley, they were watching Ashley herself.

But there was nobody enjoying the play more than Celes, absorbing the spotlight and gaining even more energy as the night dragged on and she worked in tandem with the other actors to reach new heights. Even as she felt her body shake and jiggle, her fat dragging her down, she felt light as a feather. This was it! This was what she wanted! All those awestruck eyes, the lights, everything was just how she wanted it! She thanked her body, her fat, her immense bulk, for giving her this opportunity. She would almost be sad to say goodbye to it… in a few months anyway. For all the effort she had put into gaining this plump body, she’d need at least twice as long and far more work to even hope of getting back to normal. She was already dreading the diet she’d have to put herself on, and how she’d have to say goodbye to the delicious palate she’d built up for herself. But of course, she was certain that nobody would want her like this…

–

“That’s right, I discovered her myself. As soon as I saw her I knew that I had to have her.” The producer bragged in the post-show interview, while Celes was swarmed with other newly earned fans and producers who wanted her for their own plays as soon as possible. She might have had a few things to say about Gallo’s embellishments normally, but she supposed that she could let him have a little credit for giving her this opportunity.

“In fact, I would say that she’s taken the role to new heights!” He declared. “When I found her she was as thin as a rake, but she simply saw it as a challenge, and now look at her! She’s the very image of what Lord Avon saw when he conceived the character! Although, perhaps she…”

“She what?” One of the interviewers asked.

“Oh, nothing.” Gallo said unusually timidly, rushing to move on to the next point. The world didn’t need to hear that perhaps even he felt that she might have taken it a little too far.

“Miss. Chere! Is your schedule open after this?” Celes found her puffy hand being grabbed by an excited producer. “I’ve never seen such a talented woman at your size! I simply must have you as Rosetta for my production of Dawn’s Sigh!”



“I was just thinking that she’d make the perfect Clarissa!“ an older gentleman barged in, equally eager to snatch her up, listing another old play. “So many of the classics these days are hardly done justice without an appropriate heroine the way the old authors intended! I’ve been forced to settle for mediocre actresses, or even worse, skinny ones!”

“Why, I’d be quite delighted to!” Celes said, taken aback at the enthusiasm of the growing crowd of eager directors and producers before her, each with another classical protagonist for her to portray. Heavy women had been much more popular at the time Moonlit Flight had been written, but thanks to her lower-brow career, Celes had underestimated how popular these classics were with the upper-class crowd. Celes had been expecting all of these men to be nagging her and asking when she was going to slim down, but instead she had inadvertently carved out a new niche for herself!

Well, Celes smiled, reminded of how much her hungry stomach was rumbling, perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to put off that diet a little longer…