[male shrinking, implied female shrinking, male and female giants, crushing, pets]
It was Us Weekly that first broke the story. Ryan Gosling had shrunk down to about one foot tall in preparation for his role as Ken, just to "get in the head space of the character." Publicity photos of Gosling started coming out. Gosling enjoying a "hot tub" in a soup bowl. Gosling sitting in Eva Mendes's hand. Gosling smiling out through the cellophane window of pink box. He even appeared on the Today Show, seated in a miniature version of the set created especially for him, plugging the newly released shrink ray that made it possible.
Within hours, it became a huge Tiktok trend. Guys were putting on tiny shorts and cutoff shirts, dying their hair or finding wigs and shrinking down so they could post themselves mimicking Gosling's photos. Ken sales went through the roof--because people wanted the boxes. It seemed like any guy with even a small following was getting in on the trend.
As more people copied it, the scenarios got more elaborate. Ken's making the bed in Barbie's dream home. Ken drives a pink Corvette around the house. Ken takes a bath with Barbie's fingers. Ken gets carried around in Barbie's cleavage. The last one sparked a whole series of OnlyFans posts where Ken did things he'd never done before.
Some guys competed to outdo each other by branching out to other toys. Guys decked themselves out in cammo to be GI Joe. They put on their spandex Superman costumes and posed as the man of steel. One guy even got a friend to tie a wire around him and fly him through the air. That of course inspired copycats of its own, as did the Spiderman with the reusable adhesive stuck to his hands and feet.
They got ever more daring with their videos, and of course there were a few accidents along the way. Guys with popsicle stick splints on their broken limbs became a video meme all of its own.
The most famous accident was "Boot Crush Spiderman." College student Jeff Martin shrunk himself down extra small in his Spiderman costume, ostensibly to do 'Spiderman Fights Green Goblin Action Figure,' a fairly popular meme, only in Jeff's version his roommate comes along, yells "spider!" and stomps him. The stomping would be faked as Jeff would actually roll out of the way before the boot got him. Unfortunately, Jeff wasn't as quick on his feet as the real Spiderman and he ended up a sticky spot on his dorm room floor. The FTC was quick to issue a warning about the dangers of shrinking, but the video did wonderfully and "Boot Crush Spiderman" became Jeff's most popular video, posthumously.
Unfortunately, the Tiktokers were soon to learn, as Gosling had, that the shrink ray hadn't undergone the rigorous testing you might hope. It was great at making you smaller but the reversal feature was more than a bit lacking. Most of the Ken videos and the other variants were quickly followed up by videos of tiny angry men complaining about their permanent new stature. Since these posts were much more negative in tone, the algorithm mostly suppressed them and it took a while for word to get out that shrinking was a one way trip.
After that, the Ken posts dried up as quickly as they started, save for a few diehard posters who thought it was worth it for the likes. Verilian Industries, the manufacturer of the shrink ray, was quick to point out that the End User License Agreement, which everyone automatically agreed to by operating the shrink ray, did not guarantee reversal and the company wasn't responsible for any loss of size that occurred while using it. This protected them from most of the lawsuits, although there were a spate of "overshrinking" suits, cases where the ray had shrunk someone smaller than it claimed it would, and Verilian was forced to pay out on most of these. It was a small dent in the huge profits Verilian had amassed and while sales of the shrink ray fell off for a while, it would later see a resurgence among women as a non-lethal weapon of self-defense. Ryan Gosling had no license agreement to protect him, however, and he was entirely wiped out. Broke and unable to work at one foot tall, Gosling disappeared from public view. Eva Mendes, who had a savvy prenup and was insulated from Gosling's misfortune, told an interviewer that she was "happy to finally have Ryan all to herself."
The trend was over, but now came the question of what to do with this new population tiny men. They were helpless, unable to feed themselves, unable to live in a world far too large for them. In congress, a bill was proposed that would see the creation of a new city, sized for the shrunken men (the shrunKen, as they came to be known), as well as the much smaller population of women who had gotten in on the trend. Congress debated for a while, but in the end everyone agreed this sounded like a handout and it wasn't fair to people who hadn't shrunk, so the bill was scrapped. Instead, Congress passed an act that declared the men property and ordered the creation of a nationwide chain of pet stores where they would be sold off and the profits of returned to the relatives of the shrunKen to offset the costs their care had incurred. This was minus a "small" fee that would be collected by the private company that oversaw the shops, a fee which ultimately swallowed the sales almost completely. (It was years before an enterprising reporter at the New York Times traced the connection between Pets4U, the company that sold the shrunKen, and Verilian, through a complex network of holding companies. It took even longer for the same reporter to discover that Gosling's movie had been wholly financed by Verilian as well, but the reporter disappeared shortly after that with no trace except a strange, dark footprint next to his desk.)
That was how Grant Forrest found himself tiny, naked and occupying a small aquarium with four other guys. He'd been confident that his girlfriend would keep him hidden when the g-men came looking for him. He'd been mistaKen. Kim simply snatched him up by his Superman cape and handed him over to the dark suited men at their door, asking "When does the check arrive?" Kim would be disappointed when she found that her boyfriend wasn't the only thing that was tiny.
Grant was deposited in a small plastic box and a brief car ride later, he was handed over to the local Pets4U. The clerk who took him out of the box was a teenager. He had to be eighteen to work there, but there was no way he could be any older than that.
"Another Superman," he said, holding Grant in his hand. "Wait. I remember you, with the wires, right? You were the first one to fly?"
"Yeah," sighed Grant. "That was me."
"Funny stuff," said the kid. "Well good news for you, that video makes you worth a little extra."
The clerk started to peel his costume off.
"Hey! Wait!" said Grant, pushing back against the giant fingers.
"Sorry bro, no clothes for pets."
He stripped Grant naked, ignoring his yelling and struggling, and set him down on a stainless steel table. "Here's something you can wear."
It was a tiny collar. Attached to it was a small silver tag that said "I'm Special, Ask Me How!"
"Look dude, I can sedate you and lock a metal one on if you want, but I think you're going to like this one much better."
Grant sighed. What was one more humiliation. Naked and collared, Grant was deposited into a tank.
"Feeding time's in two hours, do your business in that bowl in the corner and don't cause problems," said the clerk as he walked away.
"Hey," said a fit looking guy with bleached blond hair. "What are you in for?"
"Superman," said Grant. "Ken?"
The guy nodded. "My boyfriend's idea. He thought it would be funny. When they came for me he said he'd come buy me back. That was a week ago."
"Shit," said Grant. "My girl said she'd hide me, but she handed me right over. I'm Grant, by the way."
"Mike. That's David, another Ken, and the smaller guy in the corner there is Russell. He's a Spiderman, but he hasn't figured out how to Spiderman out of this tank yet."
"I'll get it," said Russell. "I'm good at climbing."
"And then what?" said David.
Russell had no answer for that.
"So, Grant," said David, coming over to them. "I gotta ask. What makes you special?"
Grant rolled his eyes. "I'm the guy from 'Superman Flies.' The first one."
"Shit, I remember that!" said Mike. "My buddy decided to do a Superman just because of you!"
"Oh," said Grant. "Sorry."
People came and went, staring into the tanks, tapping on the glass. A few asked the clerk about Grant's tag. One couple asked to take him out. The clerk brought him to a small gated area and set him down on a table. The woman immediately picked him up.
"Isn't he precious! He even kind of looks like a Superman."
"He's eight hundred bucks babe," said the guy. "We can find one just as good for half that price."
The woman played with him a bit, holding him at different angles and moving his limbs around. Then she sighed.
"You're right. Let's keep looking." She leaned out and waved to the clerk. "Hey, we're done with him."
Grant went back to the tank.
It was just after feeding, a flavorless beige paste, that Grant heard a familiar voice.
He looked out. It was a buddy of his.
"Jordan?" He ran to glass and pressed his hands on the tank.
"Shit dude, look at you! All tiny and in a fish tank." Jordan lifted his phone to take a picture.
But Grant heard the camera sound.
"The guys are gonna love seeing this! No one's seen you since 'Superman Flies.'"
"Jordan! You can buy me! You can get me out of here!"
Jordan thought about it. "Maybe. Kathleen wants a shrunKen, but she might not mind if it was you. Maybe she'd even like it, she did tell me once she thought you were cute."
"Thank you Jordan, seriously dude, you don't know how much of a relief this is!"
"Hey," Jordan called to the clerk. "How much for this one here with the tag?"
"Jesus!" Jordan turned to Grant. "Sorry dude. I've got car repairs. But hey, uh, good luck!"
It was late afternoon when a pair of men stopped to look in at him. They were both fit and tanned. One had dark brown hair, with a few small gray streaks at the temples. The other was blond and couldn't be more than twenty-eight or twenty-nine.
"Here's a couple of good ones," said the younger guy. "Look at that one." He pressed his finger against the glass and pointed at Mike. "He's a beefy Ken!"
"Yeah," said the older guy. "Look at this one though. He's not as jacked but I'd say better proportions. 'I'm special, ask me how.' Okay buddy, how are you special?"
"Is he dumb?" said the younger guy.
"No!" said Grant. "I just… I can talk. I'm 'special,'" Grant used air quotes, "because I made the first 'Superman Flies' post."
The younger guy's eyes went wide. "No way! Babe, he's a rare! I've been looking for one all over! I really wanted the 'Ken Takes a Bath with Barbie's Fingers' guy, but 'Superman Flies' is pretty cool!"
The older guy smiled and put his hands on the younger guy's shoulders. "Sounds like we have a winner," he said. He motioned for the clerk who came over with a small cardboard box with holes in the top.
Grant realized he was being sold, just like that. To a gay couple. He didn't have a problem with gay guys, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be a pet for them.
Mike clapped him on the shoulder. "Welp, easy come easy go, eh buddy?" He saw Grant's face and he seemed to guess what he was thinking. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I was a married straight guy for five years before I met my boyfriend. You can adapt."
Grant stared at him. "Yeah…" he mumbled.
Then he was scooped out of the tank by the clerk and dropped into the box, which was folded shut.
"Here you are sir. With his food and cage that comes to eight eighty-seven fifty-two."
Grant listened as they paid. A few times he saw the younger guy looking at him through the holes in the box.
In the car the box was opened and the younger guy lifted him out. "What should we call him? I was thinking 'Chase,' originally, but he doesn't look like a Chase. I don't know."
"How about 'Clark,'" said the older guy.
"Yes! Oh my god, that's perfect. Clark! Hey Clark! I'm Kyle and this is my husband William."
"We have got to get you a little pair of glasses to wear, wouldn't that be hot babe? And like a little suit, I've seen outfits online for shrunKen."
William laughed. "He's yours so whatever you want."
"Thanks, hon. Really, I love him." Kyle laughed. "Isn't it funny? If my ray hadn't been dead, it could have been me in that tank! Would you have bought me back if that happened?"
"Maybe if there was a sale," said William.
Kyle smacked his arm. "You're so mean!"
They laughed, and the car pulled away from the curb.