A St. Elsewhere Drabble Set in Season 2 (230 Words)

This is too short (and too obscure) for AO3, so I'm posting it here. I originally wrote it in the aughts, but since I might be doing more with this canon, let's pull this sucker out of the trunk:

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“Hey, Shirley – you know where Elliot went?”

Don’t tell him. Elliot thumped his hot forehead against the bathroom door. Please?

It was the first day of gross anatomy all over again – only this time, the patient was alive – and bleeding – out there, and Elliot himself was still conscious. In other circumstances, the second might’ve been recognized as a sign of personal growth. In other circumstances.

Stars started to twinkle at the edges of Elliot’s field of vision, and he quickly backed up into the tiny bathroom, sitting down hard on the toilet seat. With slick, trembling fingers, he tried to loosen his collar. He was suffocating.

Then, just as suddenly, nerves and self-loathing propelled Elliot back onto his feet, and he started to pace the enclosed space, wringing his hands. “What’s wrong with you?” he muttered aloud. “You’re not supposed to panic, Axelrod. Pull yourself together.”

“Elliot?”

At the knock on the door, Elliot froze, a brand new crimson flush crawling up the back of his neck. This was it. He was going to throw up. He was going to die. He was going to be barred from practicing medicine before he’d even begun.

“It’s okay, Elliot. You can come out now. They just took the patient up to surgery.”

Was Dr. Fiscus amused?

Elliot drew in a deep breath and, bracing himself, opened the door.

---

Yeah, I don't know. Hope this amused somebody!

IMB, 12/18/19: Guilty Pleasures

Before Thanksgiving, I hadn't touched the Marvel Ultimates line at all. But now that I've read the two trades pictured above (which you can pick up here and here), I can finally say: I like them. They're the opposite of idealistic, but the art (at least in these volumes) is incredible, and the stories are solid.

They're definitely guilty pleasures if you're a Tony-stan, though. And I say this because - uh - Ults Tony is the most unapologetic playboy of all the versions of Tony that exist (as far as I know, anyway). Like I remarked on Facebook, if Ults Tony met 616 Tony and MCU Tony at a multidimensional shindig, he would playfully scold his counterparts for being too damned serious. (He would especially boggle at the domesticity of Endgame MCU Tony. Good grief!)

Ults Tony likes to fly around the city in his armor and wave at the "very, very pretty" office girls. He's also a heavy drinker -- but doesn't see it as a problem. Actually, he says at one point that vodka is an absolute necessity for the line of work he's chosen -- that he wouldn't have the nerve to climb into the armor if he weren't sloshed beforehand. And every time something remotely grim comes up - like his terminal cancer or Natasha betraying him - he flatly refuses to dwell on it.

No one would get away with writing a character like Ults Tony in Current Year. (Though, to be fair, I have my doubts that MCU or 616 would pass muster either.) Which just goes to show how joyless our current era is, really, because Ults Tony makes me laugh -- a lot. How could I not giggle at Tony singing drunkenly as he's picking enemies off during a battle, declaring that despite being utterly wasted, he's an excellent shot?

Plus, there's still something weirdly noble about Ults Tony -- even though, as his death approaches, he's firmly decided to pursue the CHIPS regimen (CHIPS: cocaine, Hawaii, intoxication, parties, and sex). He doesn't give up, for one. In his first major engagement in volume one, he gets physically and emotionally overwhelmed at one point. But when he sees how much the assembled crowd is depending on him to pull through and save the day, he gets right back up. The upshot? The guy does have depths. And he's admirably resilient.

Do I like Ults Tony as much as I like my sweet, tortured sons in the 616 and the MCU? Not yet. But he's roguishly lovable in his own way.

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Bonus: Pallbearers, my fanfiction tribute to MCU Tony, is now complete.

IMB, 12/6/19: Crack! Glorious Crack!

So I was going to talk about the Millar/Hitch Ultimates this week -- but then the ever-helpful internet informed me of the existence of this:

Guys, guys: Let me tell you about this comic. This comic is the definition of "What the Actual Fuck?" It involves Guy Smith ("Mr. Sensitive") and our Tony battling it out to seize possession of this brain thing -- while in the nude.

You see, said brain thing has fallen into the territory of a religious nudist colony. So when Guy and Tony show up to retrieve it, the locals insist the heroes disrobe according to the colony's custom. But wait, wait, it gets even better! Naked Guy and naked Tony don't have access to their usual armaments (because, as we've established, they're naked), so they attack each other's physical weaknesses in what is, essentially, an extended slap fight. Guy has hypersensitive skin, so Tony tries to disable him by - well - poking him and throwing grass at his face. Guy, meanwhile, attacks Tony using pressure points that fuck with Tony's abused heart and liver.

Here's a sample of the dialogue I swear I'm not making up:

Guy: Take that!
Tony: Eat finger!
Guy: MY SKIN!
Tony: MY HEART!

And here's a real, totally-not-Photoshopped panel I captured from this issue for - er - reasons:

My God, I've never laughed so hard in all my life! I don't even know where the hell this came from, but it certainly brightened my day. Why not inflict it on all of you?

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In other news, I've made quite a bit of progress on that fic I first posted before the Thanksgiving break. Chapters four through seven are now up!

IMB, 11/20/19: Another Writing Project!

Pallbearers

The rest of the world arrived at the ruins of the Avengers compound not long after the battle’s sudden end. CNN. MSNBC. Fox. Every local news outlet in the state of New York. Medical crews. And Damage Control, of course, to pick through whatever was left.

Some perfunctory interviews were conducted. Basic facts were laid out in clipped, hurried syllables for the curious, frightened reporters who gathered at the scene. Some of those reporters were left at a loss for words.

Everyone, it seemed, wanted to talk to Captain America. But the leader of the Avengers was no longer there. He had already left on a Quinjet with Pepper Potts-Stark and seven others. Seven volunteers for another mission.

Word rippled out into the ether: Iron Man had fallen. Tony Stark had died to save us all.

And eight witnesses wanted to help his wife bring him home.

--*--

Or: Ten reflections on a life.

Chapter One // Chapter Two // Chapter Three (Out of Ten Planned Chapters)

(Note: This is meant to be a character/relationship study and a more explicit opportunity to vent my feelings about Tony Stark and Endgame. 'Tis self-indulgent, I know, but I hope you'll bear with me while I work this through. ;))

IMB, 10/30/19: Fic Completion & Video

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The fic I started a few weeks ago is now complete!

DSM-V: Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3 // Chapter 4 // Chapter 5 // Chapter 6

As I said in my final note, I will be writing more in this fandom. Indeed, I already have another idea in development that will probably be completed some time in November. We shall see how that goes!

IMB, 10/23/19: Fic Continuation & Interesting Link

The story I started last week is now two-thirds complete:

DSM-V: Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3 // Chapter 4

The rest will be linked in the next installment of IMB. As I suggested last Wednesday, writing MCU fanfiction is just another way for me to process my grief. I just hope I'm entertaining somebody.

I also came across an excellent post today on the MCU that I think deserves to be shared:

Masculinity and the Marvel Movies, Ed Feser

I've always wanted to write up a post on Tony, Steve, their relationship, and how their respective arcs respond to each other, but this gentleman beat me to it -- and probably did a better job than I ever could. Go and read!

IMB, 10/16/19: A Video & A Fic

I'm still adding content to my YouTube channel. Please subscribe if you haven't already!

What do I offer? Well, in this video, I prove Martin Scorsese wrong via a discussion of Tony Stark:



At the same time, I'm also working through my feelings regarding this character through fanfiction -- because, as my brother would say, I am a mega-dork. Here are the first two chapters of a six-chapter work-in-progress in which I'm exploring Tony's canonical PTSD as seen through the eyes of the people around him:

DSM-V: Chapter One // Chapter Two

I'm arranging the chapters both chronologically and by intimacy of the relationship, so if you're looking for, say, Tony/Pepper, that's coming. Stay tuned!

Iron Man Blogging, 8/9/19: I've Committed Fanfiction

I mentioned yesterday that I was occupied with a little writing project. Well, here it is:

Closure

'Tis an Endgame missing scene featuring Tony, Steve, and their healing friendship.

I'm heartily sorry, but Tony started yakking in my head and wouldn't shut up until I wrote it down.

(Let's be real, though: the only reason I've ever written fanfiction is to placate a character who's taken over mental real estate.)

RIP, Stephen Furst: My Old Vir Fanfiction

Over the weekend, I was deeply saddened to learn that Stephen Furst passed away Friday due to complications from his diabetes.

Now hopefully, everyone who's reading this knows who this guy is. The news has generally referred to him as one of the stars of Animal House, but I will always remember him as Vir Cotto on Babylon 5 (and also as Elliot Axelrod on St. Elsewhere).

As I've mentioned in at least one earlier post, I was (and am) mad for Vir -- and Furst was the perfect actor to bring that character to life. Seriously: Who else would've been able to hold his own opposite Peter freakin' Jurasik, who was nothing if not larger than life?

For the next week, I'm dedicating this blog to Furst's memory. I'm not exacty sure what I'm going to do for each post just yet -- but in the meantime, allow me to share a link to some of the B5 fanfiction I wrote a decade ago that focused on Vir, Londo's stammering conscience:

AO3: The Works of "Hobsonphile"