November in this house of leaves

[misnomered]

The Haunted Meme

There are ghosts all around, at any time, lingering in places where they died or that were emotionally significant during their lives. Some of them refuse to give up the life they once lived, some have yet to accept that they have died, and some just want revenge against those who are still living.

Wherever you are, whatever you were doing, you've happened across a place where a particularly strong ghost (or maybe more than one?) is lingering. The ghost might try to possess you, using your body to do what it cannot, it might try to torment you in whatever ways it can, or it might just try to attack you. What will you do? Who you gonna call?

HOW IT WORKS:
Leave a comment with your character's name and canon, and your preferences. Remember that the ghosts can possess your character (influencing their actions or outright taking control of them) or torment them (exerting an outside influence or attacking).

Please respect others' preferences when tagging, and if a thread goes somewhere you aren't comfortable, communicate with your thread partner.


1) ANGRY This ghost either died angry or has become so over time. It might want to take out its anger on someone else, make noise, or hit or break things, whether by itself or using your character's body or special abilities.

2) VENGEFUL This ghost wants revenge. Maybe it's against someone who wronged them in life, maybe it's against their murderer, or maybe it's just against the living. They might mistake your character for the target, or use their body to exact their vengeance.

3) REGRETFUL This ghost is much sadder and quieter, consumed by regrets of things unsaid and never done. They might just lurk about and increase the emo factor, or they could drive your character into despair.

4) DEMANDING This ghost wants something done. Maybe they want a message delivered or a hidden treasure found. Or maybe they just want to force your character to compete a task. Whatever it is, they won't stop demanding it until they're satisfied.

5) LUSTFUL Being a ghost gets very lonely. Maybe they want to possess your character to experience the pleasures of the flesh once more. Maybe the ghosts of star-crossed lovers will drive two people together. Or maybe your character might just feel an intangible hand copping a feel...

6) OBLIVIOUS This ghost doesn't realize it's dead. They might resent your character's presence or mistake them for the real ghost. Or they could accidentally inhabit your character's body and try to continue their normal routine.

7) INHUMAN This ghost isn't the spirit of a person, but something else. Maybe an animal, maybe a creature thought to be imaginary, maybe an alien that hitched a ride on a meteor, whatever it was it wasn't normal. And if it possesses your character, neither are they.

Originally from HERE, knockyoursocksoff

Comments

[butterflyboy]

"It's rather more than a wobble thing," Victor says, giving the difference engine a look before turning back to where the voice is coming from. "Doc would be able to better diagnosis it. . .but you're just sort of -- drifting around? I -- t-that sounds lonely." Especially if he can't normally interact with anyone.

[spideyfanone]

"It's not all that emotionally satisfying, nah. I don't even get to haunt anything." Probably dying while jumping between worlds, neither of which was his own anyway. Or maybe not. There's a definite dearth of data on ghosting. "You want any help with that? I, uh, never did anything bigger than a clock in gears before, but..." He'll figure it out. Always does.

[butterflyboy]

"I see. . ." Victor looks at the difference engine, then waves a hand. "That can wait. Unless you want to work on it," he adds hastily, not wanting deny the -- ghost -- something that might make him feel better. "I just -- I'm more interested in you. I've -- never met a ghost before."

[spideyfanone]

"I'm probably a pretty lame place to start." But he'd probably be curious too, under the circumstances. He continues to hold tight to the engine, but talking is also making it easier to keep talking. Building a bit of a connection as he goes, perhaps. Maybe it's not normal to be an unmoored ghost, and he can fix that? Haunting something sounds better than just wandering. "And I'm definitely bad at it. I can't figure anything out." The shadow of a shape is beginning to flicker again, though Kurt doesn't notice.

[butterflyboy]

"Not at all! You shouldn't be so negative about yourself." . . .This is coming from someone who had very little self-esteem before he arrived in Secundus. How mad science changes people. "Well, perhaps we can --"

He stops as the form flickers again. "Oh! I think you're starting to become more visible!"

[spideyfanone]

"Huh." He briefly pauses to wonder how, exactly he can see when he's not even visible and doesn't have eyes to take in light and translate images. Probably for another time. "Really wish they gave you a guidebook. Maybe it's like radar. The more pings, the clearer the image..." The physics of the afterlife are obviously an important subject.

[butterflyboy]

There's probably some long explanation that use the words "ether" and "paraphysical space" and stuff like that a thousand times. "I think some of our Reanimated would appreciate that too, even if they're a bit more -- ah -- solid than you are." He nods. "That could be it. The more steady contact you have with something or someone, the easier it is for you to manifest?"

[spideyfanone]

"Seems to be working that way. I guess I haven't wandered by anything else I was that interested in. This thing is cool." The shadow, slightly more solid, runs oddly shaped fingers along the machine. Carefully. He doesn't want to mess anything up. "Poking things is maybe the answer to life after death?"

[butterflyboy]

"Perhaps not," Victor agrees. then chuckles. "Cool but broken. Something's jammed somewhere inside, which knocked some other things loose. . . Of course, I can't tell exactly what's jammed." He laughs again. "Either that or massive amounts of electricity."

[spideyfanone]

"I wish I knew more about this stuff. I saw one in a museum one time, but that's not really experience, as such." He could probably figure it out given time. He's good with anything mechanical. But he doesn't have much of a starting point.

[butterflyboy]

"In a museum? Like Mr. Babbage's original?" Victor looks impressed. "It's all right, really. It takes time to learn all the ins and outs of these machines. I've been living and working here for over a year and I still don't know everything there is to know." Pause. "Not to mention you're, um. . .dead."

[spideyfanone]

"Nah, reconstruction. And, um, yes, that's socially awkward, but I promise I'm not offended." Being dead, while definitely a drag, is certainly nobody's fault and nothing he can change, so he'd rather the nice guy who can currently kind of see him not worry about it. As much as is reasonable, anyway.

[butterflyboy]

"Ah. And I'm glad -- I didn't mean to offend. I'm just -- like I said, I've never interacted with a ghost before." He studies the outline of the shade. "What's your name?"

[spideyfanone]

It's a little more firm all the time, though for now, the effect is mostly that of a deepening shadow. Though even the silhouette is certainly strange and far from standard human. "Kurt Waggoner. You?"

[butterflyboy]

Yeah, Victor can see that -- good thing he lives in a place that regularly plays host to "far from standard humans." "Victor Van Dort," he says. "I'd offer to shake hands, but I don't think you're quite solid enough for that yet."

[spideyfanone]

Experimentally, he tries to press his hand against the nearest metal bar. He manages for a second and then his fingers slip through. "Yup, looks like. Maybe I'll work up to that. Baby steps.

[butterflyboy]

"Well, you're already doing much better at being seen," Victor comments. "Maybe once you're fully visible, you can work on solidity?" Or whatever passes for such with ghosts.

[spideyfanone]

"Maybe. If I could do all that I'm not sure how ghostly I'd be anymore, though. Seems like it might be pushing the envelope too far. When I can get things to move it's usually more like raw force than actually using my hands." Or what had been his hands.

[butterflyboy]

"Hmmm. How curious." Victor looks thoughtfully into the distance. "There's some men in town who claim to study ghosts." And eliminate troublesome specters, but Victor's not going to bring that part up. "I was never sure what to make of them until now."

[spideyfanone]

"Do they have any useful findings?" Because he could really use even very preliminary results, even without properly statistical significance, if need be. "I'll take trending data and field observations if I have to."

[butterflyboy]

"I'm not sure -- I've never really talked to Dr. Spengler or Dr. Stantz about it," Victor confesses. "Though I've heard Dr. Stantz go on about different classes of apparitions and ectoplasmic samples and things like that, so. . ."

[spideyfanone]

"Yeah, that sounds helpful. Just wish I'd seen any pertinent research before I wound up accidentally field testing." Bah. He tries not to sulk, but this dead thing would weigh on anybody. He's pretty sure.

[butterflyboy]

Victor gives him a sympathetic look. "I could try summoning one of them in to have a look at you?" he offers. "I'm sure Dr. Stantz or Dr. Spengler would jump at the chance."

[spideyfanone]

"Well, no major rush. Just good to know that someone might have ideas." Kurt shrugs. "Weird question, but where, uh, am I? I kind of end up in odd worlds sometimes, and it's hard to get your bearing when you're insubstantial."

[butterflyboy]

Victor blinks a few times. Odd -- worlds? "You're -- not from Secundus?" he blurts, inadvertently answering Kurt's question in the process. He just -- he was assuming, from the silhouette, that Kurt was a Fabricated of some description. He doesn't know many people outside of the city who might walk about with a tail.