Examining Egon
Title: Examining Egon
Fandom: Ghostbusters
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore
Summary: Done for the 1character challenge on livejournal. 50 sentences on different facets of the character we know as Dr Egon Spengler.
Note: Written in 2009. Archived from FFN. I don't quite agree with Egon/Janine, and I don't really treat RGB as movie!canon, so I've stuck to movie as canon. I feel the cartoon version would miss certain subtle nuances in Egon's character.
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#01 - Speak
Egon couldn't really care what people think of his speech patterns, one way or another - there is nothing new about being labelled an egghead - but he is grateful anyway when Venkman takes up the PR without the need for words between them.
#02 - Touch
He remembers the feel of Janine's hand brushing against his and wonders why he can remember the sensation with such independent clarity - surely memory cannot persist in such a fashion.
#03 - Memory
In his memory, Egon's not entirely sure if Peter breaks up the moment when Janine leans in towards him.
#04 - Vanilla
When the wireless technology first comes up, he and Ray are quick to start working on upgrading the traps, if only to stop entangling wires from being all over the place.
#05 - Chocolate
Surprisingly, Egon actually likes chocolate - he likes its sweetness, and tells himself he needs the sugar boost to his brain.
#06 - Ways and Means
When Venkman asks him how he and Ray managed to get the equipment in order to construct the proton packs, Egon's expression is studied academia (he does not look in the direction of Columbia University.)
#07 - Belief
When Winston asks him what he believes in, staring at the distant church lights, Egon doesn't say anything for a while, because it's evident even scientists can fail - he finally answers, "Reason."
#08 - Linger
Venkman and Winston wait expectantly; Egon tweaks the PKE meter, examining the resultant waveforms, before he concludes that there are lingering traces of psychokinetic energy in the area.
#09 - Illuminance
Some part of Egon isn't happy with his life - he's famous as a paranormal investigator, and not a man of science.
#10 - Ornament
Egon isn't sure what to make of the cheap mug with a bikini joke printed on it - courtesy of Venkman.
#11 - Coup de foudre
Understanding, Egon realises, is always sudden; the moment of comprehension is always sudden and fleeting - like the sudden spark of scientific intuition that tells him to cross the streams.
#12 - Archway
Egon is not amused when Venkman grins from the other side of the archway and says, "Sorry Spengs, tall people prohibited."
#13 - Fate
Egon wonders if it's fate that has brought them all together, because there's been so many coincidences leading to their defeat of Gozer that his mind just can't accept.
#14 - Pulse
Once they had captured the jogging ghost, the first thing Egon did was to check if it really did have some form of a pulse.
#15 - Envelope
The first thing a marshmallow-slathed Egon does is to find a clean, brown paper envelope, and to slide Janine's lucky coin inside - she never does ask for it back.
#16 - Cold
Egon has never understood why so many of their fans seem to think he is cold - he knows his passions and desires, but he hides them better than most.
#17 - Need
When Peter's mom dies, Egon wakes up in the middle of the night, presumably to check on his fungi, but really, just to sit up with Peter until his friend is ready.
#18 - Drunk
Egon has never gotten drunk before - one glance at Peter the next morning is enough to persuade him of the folly of alcohol.
#19 - Mask
Walter Peck learns that the dedicated scientist is just another mask, albeit one with much truth to it, when Egon reaches the limit of his tolerance.
#20 - Rose
Analytically, Egon knows the prevalent symbolism of the rose - but he also thinks that they are quite overused.
#21 - Two
It only takes two fumbles with the proton pack and the trap before Egon and Ray both decide that Louis Tully and equipment should not be anywhere near to each other.
#22 - Fresh
Egon says nothing when a haunted Winston is up late at night, taking a breath of fresh air outside, new cigarette dangling from his lips.
#23 - Bribe
Egon isn't exactly surprised when the Walter Peck incident is further investigated - and the official changes his mind after a green bill passes (discreetly) from Venkman's hand to his.
#24 - Error
He works late at night - but Venkman makes sure it isn't to the point of exhaustion, ever since the modified proton pack exploded because Egon made an error in calculating the rate of particle flow.
#25 - Appetite
Egon is entirely fascinated by how the Sedgewick ghost can still have such a voracious appetite for regular food, despite its deceased state.
#26 - Refrain
It is only Egon's enormous self-control that stops him from punching the smug professor in the face - how dare that man speak condescendingly of that which he doesn't even know of?
#27 - Family
Egon isn't overtly given to sentiment, but he does suppose that a house of four Ghostbusters makes them a strange kind of semi-dysfunctional family.
#28 - Grieve
Egon had been out on a bust when his mother passed away - he hid his grief in the middle of a night of late calculations, until he was too exhausted to think about anything and everything.
#29 - Vapor
Class Five Full-Roaming Vapors never existed until the moment Ray opened his mouth to speak to the hotel manager at the Sedgewick - but Egon's mild surprise goes unnoticed.
#30 - Tea
Oddly enough, Egon has a strange preference for tea over coffee - a single cup of Earl Grey stands out prominently in the midst of three cups of coffee.
#31 - Medicine
Venkman is exceedingly stubborn about his medication, and so Winston threatens to sit on him, while a conscripted Egon drips the cough syrup down Venkman's throat and forces him to reflexively swallow.
#32 - Moth
Before fungi, Egon used to collect moths - he only learned Winston had a small phobia of moths when Winston stumbled uppon his old moth collection.
#33 - Perfect
Egon doesn't like to use words lightly, but he's sure the calculations indicate error is at a minimum, and he could refine the mechanisms of the proton pack even further.
#34 - Rope
Dangling over the edge of a high-rise building, and clinging for his life to the cord attached to his belt, Egon's first thought after reflexive fear is that Venkman had better not let go.
#35 - Wind
The wind blows, all is silent, and Egon is left with his own thoughts, some too heavy for his liking.
#36 - Crossroads
Egon rarely wonders what would have happened if he'd stayed at MIT instead of going on to Columbia University.
#37 - Summer
The only (main) opinion Egon has on summer - a pointless waste of time, and weather that is insanely hot.
#38 - Candy
Egon takes an almost childish delight in candy - especially Twinkies.
#39 - Photograph
Perhaps it is sentimental, but Egon keeps the photograph they took right after they defeated Gozer, even after the company was disbanded - and he still has it by the time they form the Ghostbusters again.
#40 - Spoon
Egon stares dubiously at the bent spoon, but is forced to conclude that there are things beyond his ken, and simultaneously determines to understand them, one day.
#41 - Forest
Venkman yells when he sees the forest that Egon's fungi collection has become - Egon points out to him that he's left a cover this time, so it can't be due to ectoplasmic influence.
#42 - Mirror
After Ray suggests that they might actually be famous if he's got crazy hair, Egon stares at his reflection for a moment, before deciding naah, he'd rather be famous after he's dead, then.
#43 - Smoke
While Egon's not militant about smoking, he's never lit up a cigarette, unlike Venkman, Winston, and Ray.
#44 - Shine
Egon stares at the boots with a bit of disgust - while they are excellent protection from ectoplasm, he can't help but think that shining boots caked in dried ectoplasm is actually harder than it looks.
#45 - Balloon
Egon remembers buying a balloon on a whim - he never had one as a child, but then the moment of fascination passes as his brain processes just how a balloon works.
#46 - Vine
Being restrained in one way or another by ectoplasmic entities is not new, but Egon figures vines - are they being psychokinetically controlled? - are quite a different set of particles altogether.
#47 - Butterfly
Egon watches the butterfly for a few moments of wonder, but is content to turn his attention away from it, and towards the latest samples of ectoplasm.
#48 - Gloves
"This, Venkman, is why we don't handle ectoplasmic samples without gloves, because samples with a high level of psychokinetic energy do strange things to protoplasm."
#49 - Venom
Winston and Ray restrain him, telling him the man is trying to get to him - but Egon can't quite forget the hateful words spoken.
#50 - Remain
Egon remained the last Ghostbuster, and the last of the serious parapsychologists, in an age where Ghostbuster franchises were more for the cool factor than any serious paranormal investigation or study.