parabnormal is the tags related to a story i would like to do something with some day, even if its just to write it out to get it all out of my head.
SETTING:
the story takes place in an earth that discovered indisputable proof of ghosts in the late 1800s during the boom in interest in paranormal activity that occurred in our own timeline. this discovery began a push in ghost related and paranormal-centric sciences during the industrial revolution of the early 1900s that not only made ghosts more visible to the public due to awareness and access to technology that could capture them (and could prove the existence of ghosts to a wide audience) but ghosts also became more noticeable due to the growth in ghosts populations following the first world war.
while ghost technology took a back seat during both the first and second world wars and during the depression (as technology was advancing to propel interests abroad rather than scientific interests unrelated to the wars or the economic crisis), it became the focus of both government and public interest during the 1950s onward. thus ghost science is still a relatively new science lead primarily by the western world and pockets of asian countries, particularly india, china and japan. however, traditional occult practices to interact with ghosts are common and practiced across the globe.
in modern day america, ghosts have taken on a sort of role as household pests and are the result of being either naturally occurring pockets of concentrated spiritual energies as well as spirits of the deceased. in response the us government has created the paranormal investigation agency (pia) and the paranormal sciences department (psd) to both eradicate major threats to public safety and to study ghosts, respectively. things that are not considered a matter of national security are typically handled by private contractors which became major corporations during the 1980s. these contractors use scientifically tested ghost “vacuums”, ghost versions of bug bombs for major infestations and other pest control modeled equipment to shoo away unwanted ghosts. the ghosts that are collected rather than eradicated are then given or sold to research institutions.
the main characters of this story are not professionals in the least
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CHARACTERS:
maxine “max” “maxie” gottwine and jack henderson could best be described as the “wallet friendly alternative” to big businesses when someone needs some ghosts exorcised. specializing in “old world” (read: cheap) ways to eradicate ghosts, they settle for the old fallbacks of lighting candles, saying the right prayers, and dragging out and chasing down ghosts with ouija boards and emf detectors. each ghost takes a different approach which they choose to describe as “challenging”, unlike those fancy bastards with their thousand dollar vacuums.
they both live in a typical big city, u.s.a. thats based off both urban, decrepit parts of new york and la and the rotting 1950s aesthetic thats still lingering around reno. jack works as a convenience store clerk during the day while maxine spends her time researching and scouting out jobs for them to do (or fucking around all day, as she is prone to doing).
maxine is a rather experienced but economically unsuccessful ghost hunter and is the go to for people below the poverty line in her neighborhood and surrounding cities. she and jack met for a brief time in college, became friends, and parted ways after maxine dropped out due to disinterest and dissatisfaction in her classes and education.
jack graduated with a degree in communications and went on to become a news anchor for the local news. his success was short lived, having suffered an embarrassing reveal on camera was pressured to leave his position from the station in retaliation and publicly shamed via youtube remixes and ytmnd memes. jack and maxine reunite by chance at the convenience store where jack was hired and he moved in and started dating her shortly after.
while maxine is seasoned and knows her stuff about ghost extractions, jack is very inexperienced but knowledgeable when it comes to working with electronic devices, cameras, tape recorders and the like, proving himself to be capable if not a little naive.
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THE GHOST WORLD:
ghosts in the world of parabnormal come about in a few different ways
ghosts appear to be both naturally occurring or the result of a person’s death. the latter are influenced by the person’s race, gender, life experiences and the cause of the death. violent and traumatizing deaths lead to stronger and more violent ghosts.
the more common ghosts include:
1. bedsheet ghosts which are are simple harmless little floaters who drift around and, sometimes, make sounds. they can vary in size and loudness but are usually small and quiet. they are the most common ghost.
2. will-o-wisps are orbs of light that tend to linger in very dark places and corners of rooms. they too are harmless and most often ignored. people are generally very fond of will-o-wisps.
3. poltergeists are common but dangerous. they are the only 100% naturally occurring ghost and are the result of nervous energy and usually spawn in homes with boys entering puberty. they have no physical form and their destructive acts are always random.
4. black dogs are harmless but spooky. their name is a bit of a misnomer. they are not always dogs and are most often an unidentifiable four legged animal with shining or glowing eyes. they rarely appear in homes and are NOT the spirits of dead animals. animals do not have spirits in this universe. they are believed to be bad luck and doom-harbingers. however they never attack and prefer to stand at a distance from people.
the power rankings of ghosts goes like this (from weakest to strongest)
- nonhuman formless ghosts (all of the above)
- human shaped but non sentient ghosts (shadow people, etc)
- animate objects that are possessed
- human shaped and sentient (“pure” ghosts, ghost of people who look like themselves)
- ghosts capable of possession
- “regional” ghosts (powerful, with a purpose, usually and most likely isolated in areas hosting or home to a particular race and/or ethnicity)
- old ghosts (an umbrella term for ghosts that have “existed” for over 100 years, very powerful and hard to detect and drag out)
in order to contain and capture ghosts above the level of animate objects, the ghost must be “bound” to an object using a spell. ghosts confined to the object cannot escape unless the spell or the object is broken. objects must be carefully chosen so they are not easily shattered or in danger of burning. ghost bonding can be used for more nefarious purposes, such as smuggling ghosts whether knowingly or by accident. antiques and imported objects are frequently “checked” at borders for paranormal activity though it is difficult to impossible to regulate ghost movement.
the amount of magic that exists in the world is very minimal and more or less contained to binding ghosts or old school methods of ghost removal.
unless you’re one of the beings that walks the line between human and ghostly.
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more characters click here
