The Price of Infamy

Content warning: This story contains profanity and sexual content

Damnit! How the hell did they find me this time?

A young woman with caramel skin, long flowing black hair, and golden hazel eyes looks back at the discarded gyro she just bought from a street vendor sprawled on the dirty, wet, brown concrete sidewalk. Its tasty veggies, meat, and seasonings never to bless her yearning taste buds.

I haven’t had anything but Chinese takeout for almost a week now! How am I still the talk of the town?!

She is dressed as incognito as she could, but ever since she talked to that mysterious man in the café almost a month ago people seem to just recognize her no matter what. A crowd of about fifteen people begins to surround her as she attempts to flee the scene.

“I LOVE YOU TINY TESSA!” A voice shouts from the crowd which causes everyone else to start chanting the same thing. The fever of their fandom becoming hotter and hotter with each passing moment spent in the presence of Tiny Tessa, infamous Youtuber and viral video sensation. Her latest video has gotten over fifty million views within a week, launching her career full speed ahead.

Her real name is Theresa Tapia, and she thought this is what she desired in life.

If only she knew the price of infamy a month ago when she met that mysterious man in her local café.

***

Theresa was the kind of person that would apologize to you if you spilled a drink on her. Never wanting to cause a scene or a ruckus, for the majority of her childhood and adolescence she remained on the fringes of society. No one ever bothered her and once she left high school she suddenly realized she had no one to celebrate her accomplishments.

No friends. No rivals. No family that truly cared about her left alive since she was six years old. Her foster family loved the money the government gave them for taking her in, and they weren’t cruel or anything. Just let Theresa do her own thing so long as she didn’t cause them any trouble, which she never did out of fear of losing the safety of a house.

I don’t want the rest of my life to be like this. I want everyone to know my name, my face, and want to be around me!

So with that in mind, Theresa Tapia got herself into her local community college in upstate New York. There she studied hard for two years and got her associates degree in graphic design and a few business classes sprinkled in to get a feel for what it will be like working for herself.

However, she studied so hard for two years she once again made zero connections at her college. Even her professors wrote her off as one of those students that show up, do their work, and leave. Never taking any interest in her or what she plans to do after graduating.

It’s fine. Soon the world will know my stage name. She thinks to herself as she finishes designing her Virtual Youtuber likeness. She exaggerated her figure and facial features as all VTubers do. Impossibly large breasts, a Barbie-thin waist, thighs that could crack a watermelon, and eyes the size of an anime girls that sparkled anytime she smiled.

However she wanted to stand out from the endless sea of rising VTubers and so she shrunk her VTuber likeness down to to the size of a can of soda.

Perfect.

She writes down the name Tiny Tessa, and thus her VTuber persona is born.

As the days turn into weeks, Theresa has been recording various videos that have gotten a handful of views, but nothing to break her into the next tier of fame.

Some comments here and there about how cute she is and weirdos that fetishized her size all too quickly.

Whatever, my break will come soon as long as I keep working hard.

For the next year Theresa posted Tiny Tessa videos every single day. Not one missed day. She thought she was going to wither away before she could become famous. After all her hard work all she had to show for it was a couple hundred views on a handful of videos where she did angry ranting content. The community calls it rage baiting content, and she discovered she has a knack for making people angry. So she continued down the road of infamy.

Her channel grew to a comfortable five thousand subscribers and she quit her day job as a bar tender. No one said goodbye to her on her last day. I don’t even think her boss knew her name. Her checks always misspelled her name as Tessa, which is where she got her VTuber name from.

But Theresa still wasn’t satisfied.

Only five thousand people know me, and they don’t even know the real me. I know its my own fault for becoming a VTuber instead of traditional Youtuber, but it sucks that this seems to be as far as I go.

Theresa was editing a new video where she was going to rant how much she hated pick me girls while also acting like a typical pick me girl. She hopes that this will get a hot debate going in the comments, but when she is about to hit the upload button a deep man’s voice comes from behind her.

“Hello. Sorry to disturb you while you are working, but I got sick of waiting for you to look up and notice me noticing you.” Theresa turns around and sees the most gorgeous man she has ever laid eyes on. Easily over six feet tall, strong muscular build, nice clothes that fitted him perfectly, sun-kissed white skin and ice blue eyes that stared into your very soul.

Theresa stumbles over her words “H-h-hi. You aren’t disturbing me. I don’t get disturbed.”

The handsome man raises his eyebrow at that statement and then says “Never, huh? Why that is quite the talent you have.”

“Y-y-yeah well…I haven’t ever really like to cause disturbances so naturally I don’t get disturbed.”

“Very intriguing. And yet Tiny Tessa is infamous for her controversial content.” The handsome man sits across from Theresa. He rests his hands on the table stretched out towards her laptop. Instinctively she shuts it and begins to pack up thinking this handsome man might be interested in her.

“You know who I am?” She asks eagerly.

“It wasn’t obvious at first, but the more I looked at you the more I could see Tiny Tessa. Now there is a woman that knows how to get attention and make her presence felt. You ever consider revealing your face?” The handsome man inquires.

“No…well sometimes. I don’t know. I like the idea of being recognized more often, but what’s the point if only five thousand people out of the billions in the world know my face. I want the world to know my face!”

“Well if that’s what you really wanted, then you sure have chosen a difficult path.” The handsome man brings his hands close to his mouth while lost in thought.

“I know. I’ve always been invisible to the people around me my whole life. For once, I want to know what its like to be recognized and acknowledge by strangers, make friends, maybe even fall in love!”

“What if I told you this was all still possible. In fact, what if all your heart’s desires will come true in just one month. One month and the world will know the name Tiny Tessa! All you have to do is sign over your creative rights to the company I represent, and make the videos your publishers tell you to make.” The handsome man pulls out a lengthy looking contract, flips to the last page, and hands me a pen.

“Sign right on the line, and I guarantee you will gain the recognition you so desperately crave.” He turns the contract to me.

Everything I’ve ever wanted, and this man says his company will just give it to me? It’s too good to be true, and yet…What the hell!? I’ve wasted far too much time being unknown already! One more month and my dreams will come true!

Theresa grabs the pen and rapidly signs her name before she can change her mind. The pen’s ink is a deep, dark red color and Theresa feels a strange sensation all over her body once she is done signing. Like ever cell in her body surged with burning energy.

“Excellent decision, Miss Tapia. My company will be reaching out to you soon. We are going to make Tiny Tessa an infamous household name!” The handsome man gets up and walks out with her contract before she can get another word out.

Was this a mistake?

***

The following month flew by like a whirlwind. The video she was editing at the café the day she met the mysterious man went viral. Over a million views in just a few days. Her subscribers jumped into the hundred thousand’s in two weeks. Her comments were littered with love, praise, hate, bullying, simping, and so much more.

The icing on the cake was a conversation she overheard between two middle-school aged girls about the latest Tiny Tessa video. One girl said she was a genius while the other vehemently said she was a sell-out.

If middle-school girls are arguing about me, then I really have become an infamous household name.

Tiny Tessa, the infamous VTuber known for her rage baiting and borderline inappropriate softcore porn content. While Theresa despised what the company made her make for Tiny Tessa, the results don’t lie. She is the fastest rising star in the VTuber community. She even appeared on a late night talk show as her VTuber persona while being interviewed! But the company still couldn’t convince her to reveal her face. It caused so much tension that Theresa threatened to leave the company despite them having creative control of Tiny Tessa.

Just one more week and I’ll be free of my contract and I can make what I want to make and leave Tiny Tessa behind me.

But as she thought this while ordering her usual coffee, she noticed a video playing on someone’s phone. It was a YouTube video with Tiny Tessa and her own company ID picture side by side with the caption “Tiny Tessa Finally Revealed!”

Without even thinking, Theresa pushed her face into the stranger’s phone. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

The stranger back away, looks at his phone then up at her and says “Wait! You’re Tiny Tessa!?!”

Shit!

More and more people begin to stir around her.

“Tiny Tessa? That provocative whore? I had to ban my daughters from watching her videos!” A woman dressed like she goes to church everyday shouts.

“She isn’t a whore! She is a genius! Using our own rage to fuel her success! I wish I could be her” a young girl about fourteen rebuffs.

The customers at her café begin to surround her. This isn’t anything like she thought being recognized in public would be like. She doesn’t feel safe.

Theresa runs out of the café, hurries back to her lonely apartment and locks the door.

Just give it a couple days. People around here move on to the latest gossip in the blind of an eye.

***

Theresa runs down the street being hotly pursued by both fans and haters. Something felt off about all this. How the hell are all these people recognizing her? Even with the reveal video released without her consent, only a few million people would bother to watch.

There is no way old man Wiggins would know who she is, and yet as she runs past his house where he sits on his lawn chair shouting at rowdy teens he gives her a scoff.

“Keep away from me you damn temptress, Tiny Tessa!” He shouts this as he raises his four-pronged cane in the air.

How does he know who I am?

As Theresa thinks this, she rounds the block and ducks into an alley. The crowd chasing her runs past her as she breathes a sigh of relief.

She begins to cry into her arms as she collapsing onto the ground.

This isn’t what I wanted. I’m scared. Please, someone I take it all back. I don’t want to be recognized anymore!

As if he was summoned, the same mysterious man appears before her.

“Not having fun, Theresa? That’s to be expected. The price of infamy often leads to disaster. But no need to worry. The company understands and regrets their actions against you and Tiny Tessa. While they won’t give up creative rights to her, they are willing to let you out of your contract early if you’d like. In exchange, they want you to make one last farewell video to the world. Filmed right in their own studio. What do you say, Theresa?”

One last video and I’m free of this nightmare? This feels familiar. Like the last time we talked.

“And what kind of video would I be making?”

“Well the world needs to say goodbye to Tiny Tessa! So you’ll kill Tiny Tessa! You’ll forever be known as the woman who killed Tiny Tessa! Isn’t that thrilling! It’s the easiest way to solidify your internet legacy!”

No, this is wrong!

“I refuse!” Theresa screams.

“I refuse! I refuse! I REFUSE!” Theresa shouts until her voice turns raspy. The mysterious man gone without a trace.

Shakily, Theresa walks out of the alleyway. The normal everyday traffic buzzes around her. Not a single pair of eyes wanders over to her to acknowledge her presence.

She pulls out her phone and goes to her channel.

Tiny Tessa has only a couple hundred views and barely a hundred subscribers. All the videos she made under the company’s guidance gone.

Good riddance. The price of infamy is far too great for me.

And Theresa walked back home. Content with where she is and all the accomplishments she has achieved on her own. Maybe now that she is happy on her own, she will make some real connections soon.