Fanatic Intervention Part 25!!
Thank you for your patience, folks!! Now that school's done, I can finally get back to updating this with some regularity!!
I've seen a few people mention me in the last bunch of months in their posts, and I'm honestly really grateful that people haven't forgotten about me. That's the biggest reason why I'm able to still love this story and still come back and pick it up after such a long time. Thank you for your support! I hope we can all keep having fun with this together for a long time!!
Now, ON TO THE STORY!!!!!
Beginning || Previous || Next
**************************************************************
Jeremy turns to move away, blowing a raspberry for good measure and holding in his giggles. He turns to leave, smacking his own backside as he looks back at you with his tongue out. Just a dumb, annoying teenager who has realized that the adults were bluffing the whole time and are out of cards to play. Honestly, you have half a mind to smack him. Thankfully, when he turns around, he almost runs right into Anathema – and she, being clearly smarter about this than anyone else, had made sure that when he whips around to leave, he finds himself at Eye Level. That is to say, he finds himself looking at a gorgeous woman, and his eyes happen to land right where every teenage boy would kill to have them land.
Anathema crouches to his level, and puts on a smile, letting her hair fall over her shoulders. You sidle over so you can watch Jeremy’s face, pupils dilated, and his expression drops to one of awe. It’s as close to a human-blue-screen as you’ve ever seen in your life, and it takes everything you have to keep from laughing. Thank Someone you brought Anathema with you.
“Hey,” she says to him, “Jeremy, is it?”
You watch him nod mutely, and wish you had some popcorn.
“I’ve seen your videos,” Anathema continues.
“Y-you have?” Jeremy is spellbound, cool kid bravado forgotten for a moment in the presence of stunning beauty.
“Yeah,” your brilliant witch companion says, “I think they’re really funny. I can tell you put a lot of work into them.”
To your surprise, Jeremy blushes and shrugs. “Thanks. I try really hard.” The way he suddenly makes himself small, shies away from the praise you know he desperately wants (because what teenager doesn’t), in a split second he’s gone from being the worst little brat to just being a kid. It’s an abrupt shift from one extreme to another, but that’s teenagers for you. And as annoying as he was a minute ago, it’s a sobering reminder that really, this is a kid with feelings who you’re about to get involved in something big and scary and dangerous. The worst part is you don’t really have much of a choice.
“I can tell,” Anathema says gently, “I bet you’ve even gone viral at least once.”
Jeremy shifts on his feet before he replies. His eyes are trying to look anywhere but at her. “I mean...I try. I work really hard – I even have a staff! I have a writer and an editor! I’m not like a lot of those other idiots who just do dumb shit out of nowhere! I plan these things!” To your surprise, he looks at Sardis, then you and Aziraphale and Crowley, pleading almost. Then you notice his fists clench as he drops his gaze to his feet. “I do everything I’m supposed to do to make it big, but it just doesn’t work.” He takes a deep breath as though he’s about to confess something huge and profound, and looks Anathema right in the eyes. “I’m not as cool as you think I am.”
With the effort it takes for you to hold in your laughter, you swear you’ve sprained something. Aziraphale nudges you. It takes a lot to get yourself under control, but once you do, you look at Sardis for help – to see that he is completely enthralled in the scene playing out before you. To be fair, this is probably the most entertained he’s been in a century or something. You look at Anathema instead, to see her aim a quick and nasty glare in your direction. She’s working here, stop it or you’ll ruin it. Message received. You pull yourself together, and Anathema turns back to Jeremy, satisfied.
“I’m sorry about them,” she says, “What do you mean you’re not cool?”
“I mean...I do all this work...and people watch! I have all the views to make it big, but no matter what I do or what I try – I only have twelve followers!”
This time, Crowley cracks first. Then, to your surprise, Aziraphale. Then Sardis. Only then do you let yourself join in the giggles. It’s just…and he doesn’t even know!! He doesn’t even understand! You just can’t help yourself.
“IT’S NOT FUNNY!!” Jeremy yells, he is full-on red in the face now. “LET’S SEE YOU PULL OFF THE VIEWS I DO! I BET YOU COULDN’T EVEN GET CLOSE!”
You wipe tears from your eyes just in time to see Anathema regain his attention by placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Jeremy’s boil turns to a simmer.
“I know,” she says, voice full of sugar and kindness, “What if I told you that we could guarantee you go viral? Then would you be willing to hear us out?”
Jeremy cocks an eyebrow. “You can do that?” He considers this for a minute. “Sounds fishy,” he finally says, “How do I know you’re legit?”
“I guess you’re just gonna have to try it and see for yourself,” Anathema replies with a wink, “Tell you what, here’s my phone number. Just send me the video after you’ve posted it, and we’ll do the rest. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” Jeremy asks, “That...sounds fake.”
Anathema smiles and stands back up.
“Think of it more as a...leap of faith.”
***************************************************
And so, your group had given him Anathema’s phone number and sent him on his way. Now, hours later, you all are sat at a table in a local Pub And Grill, waiting for his video to come through on Anathema’s phone.
“I just can’t get over how amazing that was!” You say to her. She smiles.
“He’s just a kid. I went to school with a lot who were exactly like him.”
You’re about to press her for more, when her phone dings. All five of you gather around the small screen to watch the video that just went live.
It’s awful. Well and truly terrible. A snarky Jeremy flips a can of spray paint before painting a troll face onto the side of a building. It’s been made into a terrible music video with hip hop music about being a rebel – it’s overly edited and full of every special effect that kids definitely think are cool. A cop shows up, chases him for a bit (set to Benny Hill), before he’s arrested. The rest is shaky cam and audio as he talks his way out of the situation, and the cop lets him go. There are no faces, badge numbers, or anything official present – the cop could have been an actor for all you know. The video ends with Jeremy’s snarky face saying “Phew. Good thing I’m rich.”
Overall, it’s gross. You look at your companions and see your thoughts mirrored on their faces. All of them look like they found something gross in their cereal. Well, all except Crowley, who looks...fascinated for some reason?
“Huh,” he says, “When I made tik tok a big deal, I definitely wasn’t expecting it to work that well.”
“Wait,” you say, “Did you actually make tik tok popular, or is it one of those things you just take credit for?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Crowley replies, crossing his arms in satisfaction and leaning diagonally in his chair. You’re about to say that actually yeah, you would kind of like to know, just for giggles, but Anathema brings you back to business.
“Alright Celestials,” she says, presenting her fist. You see there are paper straws sticking out of it, “Time to draw. One of you needs to make this thing go viral.” She looks from one of them to the other. Sardis, Aziraphale, and Crowley are all looking very uncomfortable all of a sudden. Anathema holds her fist out further, insisting. “For the world.”
With a sigh, Crowley leans forward in an effort to be nonchalant, and draws first. It looks pretty long. He settles back in his chair.
Sardis draws next. He carefully considers both options before pulling his choice. It’s long.
With a groan, Aziraphale pulls the last straw. It’s short.
Crowley snorts a laugh. “Looks like the honour is all yours, Angel,” he says slyly, “It’s what you were made for after all, isn’t it? Doing the work of The Lord?”
Aziraphale sighs and, with a shudder, he snaps his fingers. He looks like he just had to swallow some very unpleasant medicine.
“I think,” Aziraphale says, “That I could do with a rather stiff drink.”
What would you like next?
Something silly and fun so I can enjoy the characters!
Plot please! It's been so long!
Sardis backstory! I've missed him!
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 🖤
The poll is set for 1 week this time. It's been a while, so I want to give people a chance to find me again ^_^"
Also on the agenda, is to put this up on AO3!!
Beginning || Previous || Next