The Curious Case of "Melanie" (Patreon)

Folks who’ve been around the FA/feedist “scene” for a spell probably know a website by the name of “Southern Charms.” A nude modeling site dating back to the metaphorical dawn of the Internet (1996!), for over two decades now Southern Charms has remained a surprisingly resilient hub hosting an ever-shifting assortment of “amateurs” eager to showcase their bodies for a bit of cash. 

Of course, that alone wouldn’t be enough to make Southern Charms noteworthy for our interests. Rather, it’s the consistency with which no small number of Southern Charms gals have demonstrated that what makes them “amateurs” isn’t merely cheap photography equipment or competing employment obligations, but an amusing inability to maintain the physiques that led them to start modeling in the first place. To put it more bluntly: lots of Southern Charms models chub up. If, like me, you’re the sort who appreciates a well-documented unintentional weight gain, Southern Charms has been a great beach to comb every now and again for new treasures.

One such “treasure” is a gal who modeled under the name “Melanie” between 2003 and 2005. 

Merely one of many Southern Charms gals to pack on (more than) a few pounds during her run, Melanie’s situation stands out for another reason. Numerous details in the overall presentation of Melanie’s sets seemed designed to highlight the fact that she was gaining weight. Her photos were posted chronologically out of order, often showing dramatic shifts in weight between them. The clothes she wore tended to be increasingly ill-fitting as she got heavier: overly snug waistbands, belts straining against awkwardly cinched buckles, tops riding up to expose an ever-thicker sliver of tender flesh. 

The framing of the shots and the poses in which she was captured were no kinder. The photos seemed calculated to be anything but flattering: emphasizing the curve—and, eventually, prominent doughy overhang—of her belly…

…the increasing roundness of her face…

…and the new love handles spreading out around her “tramp stamp” tattoo. 

And yet despite all that, nowhere on Melanie’s model page was there ever any explicit reference to weight gain being an intended feature of her modeling, or even an acknowledgement that she was so dramatically porking out. Everything was posted sans comment, left for the mixed audience to make of it what they would. 

Then, after a while, Melanie’s page unceremoniously came down; seemingly “the end” for yet another Southern Charms weight gain tale. 

The whole thing always struck me as odd. I suspect it may have been someone other than “Melanie” posting these photos (all of which likely were taken some time before her Southern Charms page went up) and that there was underlying it all a mischievous (if not exactly ‘malicious’) intent to trigger public reaction about Melanie’s ballooning figure. Was Melanie “in” on that objective, too? She did squeeze into the outfits and pose for all these less-than-flattering photos. Or was she perhaps only lured into doing so by a devious feeder type, urging her to keep posing (and keep eating) all while slyly managing her website as a stealth experiment in marketing weight gain humiliation? Did her month-to-month membership revenues track the documented weight fluctuations in any particular way? It’s too bad Southern Charms didn’t enable more substantive interaction between the content creators and the audience. This could have been a lot of fun at a place like Curvage or Fantasy Feeder. Oh well. 

Have you guys scoped out Southern Charms yourself over the years? Have there been any particular Southern Charms gals that struck your fancy? Do you want to see more “case studies” like this one, drawn from my own archives? Share your thoughts in the comments below. 

-Riptoryx