INTERNET FAMOUS
Chapter 4
by StageShowMM
Thankfully, Mark’s instincts had been correct regarding the wraparound video with Todd. While Mark’s initial upload, “NAKED IN BURGER KING?!?!?! WORLD’S BEST HYPNOSIS SUBJECT IS BACK!!” initially garnered just slightly above the level of views for Todd’s debut, Mark had wisely intuited, given the amount of pushback he’d received in the comments for how mean his video had gotten, that it might be wise to include something to soften the blow: even if Todd wasn’t a willing participant in his own humiliation, it was best to let the public think otherwise, turning Mark’s videos less into a cruel prank and more a hypnotized version of Jackass.
Just as Mark suspected, the audience had eaten up Todd’s reaction footage—if Todd was just some goofy guy down for anything, it was a lot easier to laugh at his antics than if people were constantly thinking about how the boy might feel when coming out of trance. (No need for them to know, thought Mark, that he had actually done an incredibly thorough job erasing all of Todd’s conscious memory.) Even if having Todd fake being into it increased the share of viewers that thought the videos were a put-on, it was worth it in Mark’s regard. After all, a click was a click, and the clicks didn’t lie: within a few days after posting an edited follow up, “I DID WHAT IN BURGER KING?? HYPNO-TODD REACTS,” Mark had nearly tripled the views of his earlier version, and within a week or so, it was up almost ten times. #HypnoTodd even started trending (albeit minorly) on Twitter, and a dedicated sub-Reddit popped up with users memeing their favorite Todd moments, debating the veracity of the videos, and discussing follow-ups and additional triggers.
Sensing he was on to something, it was only a week-and-a-half before Mark was filming his next video, being sure to sprinkle in a few other snippets in-between to keep up interest. He’d dropped one of those “Try to Hypnotize Yourself!” pieces of bullshit a few days after, walking viewers through a simple 10-minute induction and visualization, and even managed to get one of the girls from his first session with Todd in the park to come over and let him try a slow hypnotic orgasm session with her on-camera. While she’d asked Mark to keep things PG-13, with something like a “tingling touch” kind of sensation, the final session had gotten distinctly raunchier, with the young woman tightly gripping Mark’s hand as he led her through a series of escalating, shuddering climaxes on-camera. Mark had to do a bit of instructing as he wrapped up her session to make sure she was cool with him posting the whole thing, but he still kept a final, even more extended director’s cut for himself, where he lifted up the young woman’s skirt to reveal her sopping wet panties. Nevertheless, he knew that the real meat and potatoes of his operation was Todd, and he had to generate another follow-up sooner rather than later.
For Todd’s next video, “HYPNOTIZED TO WEAR A TUTU?!?!? HYPNO-TODD ON THE STREET,” Mark had once again kidnapped Todd—something it was becoming easier and easier to do now that Todd was so comfortable with his Good Friend Mark—and taken him downtown in a nearby, much larger city, in the hope he would be less recognizable. The one weak point that remained in Mark’s gambit was that he needed Todd, when awake, to be oblivious to his other life, lest he discover how he was being taken advantage of and seek recourse. Of course, the more popular he became, the better it was for Mark, but the greater he risked discovery if any of Todd’s acquaintances should find out. Nevertheless, the allure of public spaces remained strong, as it was a particularly great way to demonstrate the outrageousness of Todd’s behavior.
During all this, Mark was also growing increasingly adept at manipulating and packaging Todd as a brand. He was filming intros directly beforehand now, with him and Todd even debating what Mark might make him do, and Todd—under Mark’s prior hypnotic direction—egging Mark on when one of his suggestions seemed too pedestrian.
The next video, after a preamble between Mark and Todd in the car, where Todd told Mark there was absolutely no way he could get him to dance ballet in public (cue some flashback footage to Todd and Mark’s first rendezvous), next switched to the boy obediently putting on a full-body leotard and tutu, then being led into the middle of a busy downtown park under Mark’s direction. After being given a clipboard and pen along with a thorough set of instructions by his puppeteer, Todd was sent around on a mission to collect signatures for Ballot Measure 69, which would make goat-fucking legal in the privacy of your own home.
By this point, Mark had also invested in a wireless mic, so it was easy for him and Tyler to get lots of great hidden-camera shots of the poor young dork accosting unwary park-goers, clomping over in his ballet flats and asking—serious as a heart-attack—for their help with his important measure. Mostly the young man drew a lot of incredulous laughter (which for the life of him he couldn’t understand), though at least one meathead threatened to beat the shit out of him, to the point Mark had to rush over and intervene. For the lucky few who actually grabbed Todd’s clipboard, they were greeted with a message stating (unbeknownst to Todd), “Hi! I’m hypnotized and being filmed for YouTube. Say the magic phrase TWINKLE TOES to make me dance.” Laughing, a few of them even went along, leading poor Todd—already divested of his clipboard—to yell out his (in his mind) famous catch phrase, “I’m Queen of the Sugar Plum Fairies!” and then twirl and pirouette for the next 20 seconds, generally making a complete ass out of himself and reducing the bystanders to gales of laughter. Afterward, Todd would come out of it, none the wiser, and go back to strenuously advocating for goat sex, though by this point Mark usually felt it prudent to butt in and snap the poor boy back into trance, just to prove to the bystanders the whole thing wasn’t a put-on.
After a few hours getting great footage in the park, Mark convinced Todd it was time to cool off in the nearby pool (in reality a large, historic fountain in the center square). Thankfully, since Todd was also an accomplished practitioner of water ballet, he found time to practice his moves, splashing around all over the place for myriad onlookers’ delight. Finally collecting his charge after his antics started to draw the attention of a couple patrolmen, Mark decided things weren’t quite done as the trio headed back to Tyler’s car. Spying a bank along the way, Mark sent Todd (now mostly dry again, thanks to the bright noonday sun) inside with one last important mission: he (name of Cocksucker) needed to withdraw 10,000 gumdrops to pay for his new tiara, and he was instructed to get quite angry and upset if he should meet any resistance. Recording from the side, it was difficult for Tyler to keep the camera straight he was shaking with so much laughter, as the ridiculous-looking young man began first stamping his feet (still in his sodden little ballet shoes), screaming that his name was Cocksucker and he needed to withdraw his gumdrops, before being reduced to tears of frustration as the poor unwitting teller refused to give him what he wanted.
Again rushing Todd (er, Cocksucker) off the premises with profuse apologies just as security guards were about to step in, Mark finally decided they had enough footage for the day and had Tyler drive them back to Todd’s apartment to film the reaction. Setting everything up again in Todd’s living room, Mark once again had the boy chortling uncontrollably as he enjoyed the antics of one of Mark’s hypnotized volunteers—completely unaware the entire time that he was watching himself. Finally, again convincing Todd they too had been out for a bit of hypnosis, but had again kept their routines limited to the mild, the two again filmed their outro, with Todd even ribbing Mark (gently, of course, since he was His Good Friend) about his inability to make him do any ballet. Ever the good sport, Mark just laughed it off, though right as the video ended threw in a quick “Realize what you’re wearing right… now” with a snap, and Todd’s face transformed into a mask of shock as he looked down and realized he was seated in his living room wearing a full leotard and tutu.
Having already started building a steady audience off his previous videos, Mark’s latest proved even more successful, with the upload quickly racking up six-digits of viewership and, after a week or two, even starting to nibble at seven. Of course, forums took the content and ran with it, with a well-chosen still of Todd realizing he was in his tutu becoming a favorite short-hand meme after annihilating someone in an online argument. With “Hypno-Todd” becoming something of an online celebrity, there were the inevitable calls for an AMA, which Mark accomplished by posting a photo of (a surreptitiously hypnotized) Todd smiling with the daily paper, before leaving the poor boy slumped over on his couch while Mark fielded the several hours of questions himself. Most of it was fairly simple: just feigning enthusiasm about being down for anything, though some of the questions got weirdly flirtatious or even downright dirty. Mark couldn’t believe it, but he actually began to get jealous as he fielded all the queries, starting to become worried he might be becoming eclipsed by his own creation.
There were a few more videos with Todd, one of which featured some particularly raunchy behavior in a grocery store, and another of which found him lingerie-shopping at Victoria’s Secret. As Hypno-Todd’s notoriety began to grow, however, Mark found himself wanting to pivot toward more private venues, as he noticed the young man starting (on occasion) to get recognized and began to become worried about something happening when Todd was out of hypnosis that might blow up Mark’s operation. Of course, Mark had thoroughly conditioned Todd to believe any video he happened to see couldn’t possibly be him, but who knew what might happen if things took off completely—Todd’s family or friends might get involved, and then there would be trouble. It was a tricky balance to strike—using the easily-malleable boy as a gateway to attention, but without drawing so much of it that it would compromise the ignorance of Mark’s unwitting subject. Mark knew it was only a matter of time until he had to pivot—to turn the attention that, right now, was mostly being drawn to Todd back on himself.
A final couple videos were shot in less public environments, as an effort to try to claw back a bit of anonymity. In the second-to-last video, Todd joined Mark in Tyler’s car dressed to the nines, in a full tux and everything, convinced they were on the way to a wedding. Unfortunately for Todd, where they were actually headed was the local wetlands, where Mark convinced the poor boy to give an encore of his famous water ballet routine in the swampy marsh (still in full wedding attire, naturally). After getting into a lively debate with Todd about whether or not he would ever want a dog (Todd loved dogs, but considered them a bit more commitment than he was willing to shoulder), Mark countered that he had always wanted one, and promptly put the boy back under, strapping a collar and leash around his neck and taking him for a long walk through a nearby muddy field. Eventually spying a tree, Mark was particularly proud of himself when he convinced the poor dog-boy to mark his territory, staining his already-defiled trousers even further as he raised his leg and took a long, warm leak inside his pants. (Of course, even Mark wasn’t stupid enough to leave this in the final video, but he had to admit—if only to himself—that it really gave him a thrill to see the young man so obediently following absolutely any instruction he was provided.)
Deciding they’d mostly done enough for the day, Mark asked Todd if he was ready for the ceremony, and Todd said of course! Snapping the boy back under, Mark finished by instructing him that this was in fact Todd’s wedding, and the spouse of his dreams was standing right in front of him waiting for her kiss. Either Todd simply faced the music and settled for a bride or corrected things with a fantasy man in his mind, but regardless, when he awakened, the young boy happily stepped forward and, wrapping his arms around the tree in front of him (that he’d just finished attempting to piss on), gave it a long, passionate kiss, running his tongue lovingly over the rough, filthy bark. Leaving the boy standing there making out with the tree for a good five minutes (with Tyler nearby to supervise), Mark rushed back to Tyler’s car, pulled his own suit out of the trunk, changed, and finished things with a photo of him and Todd (right next to Todd’s blushing, barky bride) both smiling in their formal best, Mark looking like a million bucks while Todd, standing there grinning like an idiot covered in mud, twigs and piss, looked like an absolute fool. Dusting off an old stage hypno classic, Mark even had Todd do his reaction video with his “actual” girlfriend, laughing uproariously as he told her about how Mark made him fall in love with a tree before concluding with a passionate make-out session with the mop from his broom closet.
Again, Todd’s forest video performed like gangbusters, and a quick follow-up was delivered a week or so later, “HYPNO-TODD AT HOME,” where Mark proved you didn’t have to go anywhere special to have fun with hypnosis. Shot over the course of an afternoon, the video consisted entirely of tricks Mark thought up to play on Todd around his house. Starting with Todd answering the door in nothing but his underwear (an earlier call with Mark ensured he thought tighty-whities were perfectly normal attire), everyone headed to the couch under the pretense of doing another reaction video before Mark snapped his fingers, instantly alerting Todd to his embarrassing state of undress. Sending Todd to his room to get more properly attired, Mark followed along and ended up putting the boy back under once more, before rutting around in his closet to find something ridiculous to make him wear. Unfortunately, Todd’s tastes ran so milquetoast there wasn’t anything embarrassing, so Mark simply convinced him all his clothes were inside out and he would want to put them on “the right way” to look his best for the video.
Emerging from his room in an inside-out dress shirt tucked in an inside out, backwards pair of slacks, Todd drew gales of laughter from Tyler, though he had no idea why. Thankfully, Mark put him back down again while Tyler calmed himself, and even took the opportunity to head back into Todd’s closet and fish out a tie, which he tightly tied around the boy’s head like a blindfold. Speaking softly to his puppet, Mark informed Todd that the next time he snapped his fingers, he would awaken with no memory they were hanging out and no idea there was a blindfold wrapped around his head. Instead, Todd would believe he had gone totally blind, and continue to believe so until Mark put him back to sleep. As Mark woke Todd up, it was all Tyler could do to contain his laughter as the poor boy stumbled around his hallway, careening into walls and tables as he began to cry and call for help. What was so amusing for Tyler, however, was downright traumatic for Todd, who within a minute or so was reduced to a complete wreck, sobbing and curled up on the floor until Mark snapped his fingers, erasing all cares and sending the boy back into a deep state of hypnotic slumber.
Removing the tie, Mark next led the sleeping Todd into the kitchen, where he informed him he was back with his friend and the two had gotten so hungry they’d decided to raid the pantry. Informing Todd that whenever Mark said “hot” or “cold,” Todd would believe whatever Mark handed him to be that type of food until Mark snapped his fingers and said “wide awake,” Mark next rummaged through Todd’s things and set a few of them on the counter, waking him a moment later. Asking if Todd wanted ice cream, Mark was frustrated when Todd replied, “Not right now, thanks, I’m pretty full,” and quickly put the boy under again to ensure he had an absolute craving for it. Waking him back up, Mark once more offered Todd a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and a spoon, which this time Todd gratefully accepted. Popping the lid and setting it on the counter, the usually more cleanly boy dug straight in, taking several big scoops of ice cream one right after the other straight from the container. When Mark asked if he was enjoying it, Todd nodded eagerly, and Mark said that was a surprise, since he knew that that food was so “hot.”
The moment the word left Mark’s lips, Todd gagged, spitting a huge gob of ice cream into the sink. Fanning his mouth desperately, Todd turned to the cabinet to grab a glass for water, though thankfully Mark held out a bottle of something else instead, saying, “Here Todd, this is cool. This will cool you right down.” Grabbing the bottle desperately, Todd uncapped it and began shaking the contents into his mouth—as expected, it was indeed powerfully cool, with a refreshing hint of menthol. Todd gratefully swirled the substance around, savoring the relief and only wishing it would come out of the bottle faster. “All better, Todd?” Mark asked with a smile, and Todd nodded happily. “That’s great. And wide awake… now,” Mark snapped, and the boy’s eyes immediately bugged out of their sockets as he felt the hot, burning taste of Tabasco flood his mouth and sinuses. Immediately gagging into the sink, the poor boy again sent Tyler into fits of laughter, and Mark had to very quickly induce him again to keep him from vomiting. The boy collapsed straight toward the sink, and Mark had to catch him and prop him up to stop him from doing a face-plant into a basin of melted ice cream and hot sauce.
After instructing the poor boy—whose inside-out dress shirt was now stained with splashes of red sauce and cream—that when he next awakened the bad taste would be gone, Mark next fished a tub of potato salad out of the fridge and informed Todd that when he awakened, he would be starving for some, but: one, have no idea what a utensil was or why he would want to use one; and, two, find it utterly impossible to actually get the food in his mouth, unless he stuck his finger up his nose. Waking Todd up, Mark and Tyler laughed uproariously as Todd dug into the tub straight with his hands, first mashing the potatoes all over his face and then, remembering his secret trick for mouth-finding, jamming a potato-smeared index finger up his nostril before gorging himself on several handfuls of salad, all while politely responding to Mark’s po-faced questions about what he’d been up to this week and whether he had any plans for the weekend.
Realizing they’d made quite a mess by this point, Mark next put Todd under and told him he would awaken as a dainty French maid, and desire to prance around the apartment getting everything back in order. As a reminder, Mark added that Todd was also a human Roomba, and would have no problem crawling around the floor sucking up any mess that had fallen to the ground. Telling Tyler to stop recording, Mark and his friend headed to the living room and enjoyed a beer as they watched a hypnotized Todd prance around his apartment, cleaning up the mess they had made while looking absolutely ridiculous. When Todd finally returned after getting the kitchen and bedroom back in order, Mark had Tyler start recording and did the Human Roomba routine again, instead telling Todd this time that he would feel compelled to slide around the living room on his butt while making vacuum noises.
After the two finished having their laugh, Mark again called Todd to the couch and put him under, commencing his usual series of brainwashing and deepeners as Tyler swapped out the data card on his camera, hooking it into the laptop and replacing it with a fresh one so they could record Todd’s reactions. It barely took any time at all by this point to mind-fuck the poor boy into laughing uproariously at his own antics, which produced a particularly amusing reaction in this instance, since Mark had once left Todd with a finger shoved up his nose and a face still covered in potato salad for the entire running time. “This is hilarious! Where did you film this?” gasped Todd as the video came to a close. “Right in the guy’s apartment,” said Mark casually. “And I really had no idea you did any of this to me?” Todd giggled, still confusing his “I”s and “he”s and “him”s and “me”s and wiping a tear from his eye with his free hand (the one that didn’t have a finger jammed up his nasal cavity). “Not until right… now,” Mark smiled, snapping, and Todd muttered, “Aw, fuck,” suddenly looking down in horror and realizing that not only were his clothes on backward, but he was mining for gold on camera. “Aaand, sleep,” snapped Mark, and that formed the end of Todd’s final, private hypno-humiliation, but for the usual outro with Mark dropping his socials and Todd—as always—obediently snapping himself back under.
By that time, the Hypno-Todd phenomenon was running the risk of becoming dangerously over-exposed—which is to say, exposed enough that it might somehow make it back to Todd. Indeed, while out grabbing lunch one day, Todd passed a small group of teenagers that seemed to recognize him, giggling amongst themselves and finally shouting, “Hey, Hypno-Todd! Over here!” Casting a glance back at them, Todd merely looked confused—it sure seemed like they’d been calling his name, but he had no idea what they were saying, and figured it was best just to ignore them. Years of middle and high school bullying had taught Todd it was always best not to engage, and even though he was a grown man now, that flight-prone part of him still took over whenever kids seemed like they were starting to make fun. Hurrying along, Todd left the laughing group, quickly putting out of his mind whatever obnoxious trolling they were attempting.
Thankfully for Mark, at just about the time Todd’s significant online exposure was starting to get him recognized, salvation came: having noticed the rapid head of steam being built up by Mark’s videos, he’d been contacted by a new start-up called GeeNee.TV, a short-form video aggregator looking to break into the viral video sphere. Capping premium uploads and scripted content at 10 minutes, the website/app’s broader focus was actually on sub-one-minute shorts, with the longer-form and professionally produced content serving as a gateway to a space which was, more broadly, little more than a short-form viral video editor and aggregator. The app was looking for something young and hip to draw in crowds, as well as content that could be exploited for singular “viral moments” that could form smaller and more readily shareable videos on the service, which users could clip out and mark up themselves using the interface. Mark’s output, with its rapidly rising popularity and brief, skit-based content, seemed like just the ticket. Reaching out to Mark, the app proposed some kind of limited series or short-form special, and Mark, finally recognizing an opportunity not just to make a leap toward more legitimate media but also to reframe his persona as central to his routine, jumped at the chance. A deal was struck, and over the next several weeks, content on Mark’s channel dried up, with no subsequent adventures for Hypno-Todd (much to the dismay of a certain, particularly vocal subsegment of internet perverts) for over four weeks. The only thing that went up was a series of short teasers, all reblogged from GeeNee, featuring not just Todd, but several new volunteers as well, each awaking to find themselves in precarious or embarrassing situations—one acting like a stripper in the middle of a public bus, another acting like a kangaroo in the middle of a park, and poor Todd trying to put on his by-now-famous tighty-whities—albeit under the impression they were an undershirt. At the end, each bore the same teaser: “MarkMyWordz2009: Live Hypnosis Special. Streams 5/13/2017 @GeeNee.TV.”