The Ghosthunter AU

Mystery Inc, Ghostbusters, Buzzfeed Unsolved, we've all seen them or something similar. People who may or may not be properly prepared venturing out into the dark to face the supernatural and either debunk, study, or just deal with it. Sometimes these series get dark, full of horror and legitimate supernatural threats that mortal man was not meant to face.

But this isn't the meme for those kinds of stories. This is for playing out the lighter side of things, where no one gets hurt, and and if the threat is real then being clever and a Rube Goldberg trap or the power of friendship is probably the answer somehow. The kind of thing you could unironically describe with the word "hijinks".

Because sometimes you've just got to tackle a ghost and rip its stupid rubber mask off.

What Kind of Hunter are You?
1. The Professional: You do this for a living. All that fancy equipment you see on TV and in the movies? You've got it all, and probably invented or improved some of it yourself. The supernatural is real, and darn it you're going to prove it!

2. The Skeptic: Maybe you're a reporter, maybe you're a new homeowner, maybe you're the new desk clerk at the allegedly haunted hotel. But rumors of something spooky have been going around, and you know they're garbage - it's either pranks getting out of hand or someone's covering something up and you're going to find out what.

3. The Detective: Or cop, or security guard, or what have you. This was just supposed to be a normal job, but you keep getting chills from nowhere and you swear you're seeing things in reflections that shouldn't be there...

4. The Normal: What the fuck, you were just minding your own business, why is this ghost chasing you?!

5. The Chosen One: Maybe you're the Slayer, maybe you're the last in a long line of secret spellslingers, maybe your family is charged with putting down the spirit of a vengeful pirate once every fifty years, but either way, this is your job whether you want it or not.

6. The Mascot: You know the character. Your Scoobies, your Slimers, your token non-human teammates. You may or may not be supernatural in origin or powers yourself, and you might be thoroughly outclassed by everything you encounter, but you're still going to help your team as best you can, even if you have to annoy the shit out of the audience while you're at it.

7. The Creepy Groundskeeper: You're not a hunter, you're here to look suspicious and distract from the real culprit or ghost, and you may or may not know what's Really Going On. It's a tough job but someone's got to do it. (No they don't.)

8. The Wildcard: Pick your own role!

Where are You Looking?
A. Haunted Mansion: Spooky, dusty, probably has some literal skeletons in the closet. A classic.

B. Creepy Carnival: Or fair, or festival, or amusement park, whatever you call it. It's supposed to be a place of fun, but bad things have happened. Expect at least one creepy clown, either as a ghost or just an employee doing their best.

C. Ghost Ship: Yo ho ho, a pirate's ghost for me, probably. Supernatural goings-on on the high sea, or at least in a dock.

D. Night at the Museum: Was the sarcophagus in that Ancient Egypt display always open? And those paintings always had red eyes, right?

E. Abandoned Hospital: There was probably a doctor or nurse who shouldn't have been allowed to practice medicine, there always was. Patients' rights are, like, important, zoinks.

F. On the Road: YOU WANT ME OFF THIS BRIDGE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO KILL ME, GOAT MAN! Or maybe you're just on a long, lonely road in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but cornfields as far as the eye can see.

G. (Bought the) Farm: Speaking of corn, you probably don't want to go out into the fields alone. How many scarecrows were there, again?

H. School: School is hell, sometimes literally.

I. Yonder Lies Der Kestle: A popular subset of the haunted mansion, or maybe haunted mansions are a subset of haunted castles? Who knows.

J. The Forest: Or generally in nature. Older than any developed location by default, home to things older than humanity. And why are you finding these notes everywhere?

K. IN SPACE: how did we get here i don't even- are there alien ghosts, is that a thing?

L. The Wildcard: Make something up, we're not the boss of you.

What's Going On?
i. The Setup: Those infrared cameras and microphones aren't going to set themselves up, are they? Or maybe you're staking someplace out, waiting to see if anything weird happens.

ii. The Bet: Maybe you're not officially investigating this place per se, but it's reportedly haunted and you've been dared to spend some time there. Maybe for money, maybe for hazing, maybe just for shiggles. What could go wrong?

iii. The Seance: Or just, kind of, poking things with a metaphorical stick. If there's anything going on here, you're gonna make it come to you one way or the other.

iv. The Chase: YOU POKED IT TOO HARD, THE MONSTER'S GONNA EAT YOUR GIBLETS, FUCKING RUN-!

v. The Scheme: You're gonna trap this thing, or salt and burn its mortal remains, or maybe just escape and run towards dawn without looking back. Regardless, you've got a plan, and the more ridiculous and convoluted it is the better.

vi. The Research: Maybe you've gotten a glimpse of the ghost, and you're looking into the local lore to try figuring out what's got its underwear in a twist.

vii. The Unmasking: You've caught your ghost, intentionally or not, and now it's time to see who they REALLY are, and how likely they were to have actually gotten away with it without you meddling kids.

viii. THAT'S NOT A MASK HOLY SHIT: Yeah, this is one of those times when the monsters are real, have fun dealing with that.

ix. The Wildcard: YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS BY NOW

Post a top level with your character and preferences, and tag around. RNG for a starter, or pick whatever strikes your fancy. Have fun!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Maybe she's tagging along to help the ghost you're investigating, oooor maybe her dead sister is the ghost you're tasked with investigating!]

[He probably ended up in this line of work by accident, mostly because he has a van and can store everybody's gear.
But he's also good at it for reasons that no one's yet been able to discern.]

[She's more monster-hunter than ghost-hunter, but she'll handle those too, just give her a call.]

[So very much the mascot, strap a go-pro on him and let him in there, it'll be great!]

[Okay but a literal band of ghost hunters, it would be ridiculous and fun.]

[Bitty-baby witch-in-training, mostly kitchen witchery and herbology, but she keeps the team safe from actual hex-work and with an old-fashioned wooden spoon with a hole in the middle as a casting focus and seeing-stone, she's pretty dang helpful.]

[...but what if the Umbrellas were ghost-hunters instead of superheroes?]

[She's a lone ghost-and-monster hunter, it runs in the family, but she's good at what she does]

[She's a seer, so she might be the one being haunted, or she might just be an auxiliary to a hunt]

[He's the team's token normie, and he's so much of one that the ghosts and etc. refuse to bother with him. He's basically ghost repellent as a person, they call him in from the van if shit starts to get too real.]

[Every good team has a research assistant, he's that guy!]

[Okay but is the team mascot allowed to be an actual ghost? Because she'd be good at it!]

[ surprise! she's the ghost. ]

must be tuesday

The Ghosthunter AU

Gina Lestrade | The Great Ace Attorney

Magilou | Tales of Berseria

Daisy Johnson | Agents of SHIELD | OTA

Wendy Carter (+ Abigail) | Don't Starve Together

Maedhros | the silmarillion | ota

Eddie Munson | Stranger Things | OTA

Betty Winchester | Supernatural OC/AU | OTA

Sebastian | nu!Suicide Squad | OTA

Henry | X-verse OC | OTA

Nile Freeman + The Old Guard + OTA

Klaus | Umbrella Academy | OTA

Mina | Urban Fantasy OC | OTA

Maggie | NOS4A2 | OTA

Steve Harrington + Stranger Things + OTA

Maison | Urban Fantasy OC | OTA

Chrissy Cunningham (AU) | Stranger Things | OTA

Polly Geist | Monster Prom | OTA