Bell, Book, and Candle

Summary: Ring the bell. Close the book. Quench the candle. Time to show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown. An AU telling of the 1984 Ghostbusters film. Peter/Dana, Egon/Janine, Ray/OFC, Winston/OFC. Warnings: Gratuitous footnote abuse, swearing, sexual content in thought, word, and deed.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ghostbusters; else Ghostbusters II would have been *WAY* different.

Author's Preface1

This is very much a fan work, a fixfic, if you will. It has been said that Harold Ramis was unsure of the Egon/Janine subplot, stating that he felt it awkward. I can understand this, Ghostbusters was a horror/comedy film written by comedians. There was also already romance in the Peter/ Dana storyline. The required finesse for Janine and Egon would have been an entire movie in and of itself. They didn't have time for that, but I do. And so, I present to you a revised Egon/Janine friendly version of Ghostbusters one and two. Obviously, I am drawing heavily from the scripts of the first two films, the action will be near identical, however, I hope to get inside the character's heads and examine their feelings, fears, and motivations. I will also draw on the Real Ghostbuster's cartoon for some background and part of the timeline. This piece is pure AU and is AU to all Universes (Ghostbusters I, II, 2016, the Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters) but does overlap some and endeavors to include the more major plot points of all universes.

The major differences in all the canons will include, but are not limited to:

All characters will resemble their film likenesses (the first film specifically). I have one rule: No rattails. Carton Egon violates this in a major way.

Obviously, as this is a JaninEgon fic the Ghostbusters II relationship between Louis and Janine will not happen, nor will Janine's fashion in the second film. Also, because this is a JaninEgon fic the events of later Ghostbuster plots (mainly the cartoons) will be altered to align with Janine and Egon marrying, having kids, and all that other married person jazz. Peter and Dana will also have a place in my story, unlike in the cartoons. And unlike in the movies and the cartoons Ray and Winston will also get some love. Later… eventually.

I have played fast and loose with the timeline of this movie/story. In the film I think it suggests that all of the events from the library until the final battle took place within like a month. Makes sense in movie logic but I can't imagine in "reality" all that stuff could have happened in four weeks. Updating the firehouse alone had to have taken time. Their popularity and reputation – especially in the news media had to have taken more than 24 hours. Real romance takes more than two weeks. Anyway, this is the new timeline of this universe: The story opens in early spring (like March). Janine is hired sometime in like, April/May, "Slimer" is captured in July. For the purpose of this story the final battle will take place around Halloween.

A handful of Original Characters will be introduced throughout this story, hopefully you enjoy them, or at least not hate them.

Ghostbusters I, II, 2016 © Columbia. The Real Ghostbusters and the Extreme Ghostbusters © Saturday Morning. Mistakes, inaccuracies, continuity errors, anachronisms, blatant OoC moments and annoying original characters © moi.

1 The name, Bell, Book, and Candle, is in reference to the 1958 movie with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. The movie takes its title from the three components of excommunication, though at the time the playwriter mistakenly identified them as components of an exorcism. In either case I am certain the Ghostbusters will wind up dealing with bells, books, and candles in their line of work.