- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per day
- 1-3 posts per week
- One post per week
- Writing Levels
- Intermediate
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
You lay awake, restless, watching some late-night television on an early Summers eve. Alone. Your efforts to find something entertaining on your instant-streaming medium of choice have proved to be fruitless and thus, you have been forced into the tedious act of flipping through channel after channel.
*Click*
A local newscaster reports on the days events. Something about a disappearance at Central Park.
*Click*
A Game Show host asks the current contestant to name the video-gaming industry's "Fastest Thing Alive". The answer is "Dankey Kang".
*Click*
An infomercial for "The Pocket Microwave" ends, explaining that if you call the number on-screen in the next twenty minutes you will receive a "Rush'n'Brush" with your order for free.
However, before you can click away nonchalantly, you feel uneasy. Suddenly, you are not alone. You look around you, but there isn't anybody there. Is it just a figment of your imagination, or is something awry?
Before you have time to throw open the covers and switch on the lights, another commercial comes to air that catches your attention;
When the advert finally ends, all you can do is roll your eyes. Ghostbusters? Really? What a scam. There isn't a rational person alive that believes in the supernatural, you think. However, you chuckle a little at what would appear to be the comedic timing of the universe; a commercial about 'Spirit Cops' airing at the same time you get a weird feeling in the night? What are the odds?
By the time the thought finally leaves your head, it would seem that exhaustion has overtaken you after a yawn escapes your lips. Time for bed.
You pull back the sheets, wriggle around a little on the mattress to try and get comfortable, and just as you shut off the TV... You see it.
You freeze, staring ahead at the apparition floating above your bed as it stares back down at your, unblinking eyes focused on your pathetic mortal form. You try to scream out for help, but your voice has long since abandoned you and the only sound you can muster is a pathetic low chirp. For the first time in a long time, you feel afraid. Utterly, pathetically, hopelessly... Afraid.
Before you pass out from the sheer terror of the situation, a thought crosses your mind; When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who're you gonna call?
-------
The year is 2014 and still, the world fails to recognize the existence of the Paranormal on a global-scale. Despite being responsible for three near-'End of the World' events in 1984, 1989, and 1991, the governments of the world publicly deny the existence of ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and monsters. Although this is no small feat, it also helps that anything remotely Supernatural has an adverse effect on the living, forcing both those who were directly and not directly involved with the event//entity/object in question to essentially forget what they've seen/experienced. This has become known as the "I.I.I.G.A." Effect ("If I Ignore it, it'll Go Away") and as investigation into how it manifests have continued, it has been deduced that the human mind can be trained to resist it.
However, behind the scenes, one organization works on a global scale to find, isolate, and eliminate any sort of paranormal threat that may appear. They are, the Ghostbusters.
Founded in 1984 by Dr. Ray Stantz, Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Peter Venkman, and later joined by Winston Zeddimore that same year, "Ghostbusters Paranormal Investigation Inc." (commonly known as Ghostbusters Inc.) was born out of the research conducted by Dr. Spengler and Dr. Stantz while at Columbia University. After perfecting their 'Proton Pack' technology so ghosts could be properly contained, the three Doctors launched the business to help combat the rising supernatural populace of New York City. Zeddimore joined in the weeks that followed the company's sudden success. Soon after Zeddimore's employment, the 'Busters came face-to-face with Gozer the Gozarian, a god who had come to bring about the end of the world. One thing led to another and before the day was won and Gozer was defeated, the 'Busters came face to face with a 50ft Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man that squashed a church and tried to kill them.
And I bet you thought your day-job was bad.
But that wasn't the end for the boys in beige, as the I.I.I.G.A. effect came in at full-swing, forcing the City (and the world) to forget what the Ghostbusters had done and a slew of legal troubles were sent their way, forcing the company to shut-down. It was either that, or risking the four founders serving serious jail-time. So, in 1986, a full two-years after the company began, Ghostbusters Inc. went bankrupt. However, when the threat of a paranormal-extinction reared it's ugly head once again in 1989 with the attempted rebirth of Vigo the Carpathian, who sought to end the world on New Years Eve, 1990. Thankfully, the 'Busters got back together and Vigo was destroyed. But unlike their previous victory, their triumph over Vigo didn't come with lawsuits or a loss of the company, but instead, the U.S. government stepped in and personally thanked the Ghostbusters for their efforts.
After Dr. Spengler discovered the I.I.I.G.A. effect (which was jokingly named by Dr. Venkman), the Ghostbusters developed a method to mentally resist it, which they then passed on to the United Nations after the company was offered the opportunity to go global with the help of the world's governments. While the original Ghostbusters remained in New York, other Ghostbuster groups were established in major cities across the planet out of fear that if a supernatural event occurred outside of the New York area, then the original team may have a harder time dealing with the work-load.
Although despite technically working for the governments of the world, the Ghostbusters were still publicly reviled and dismissed as part of a cover-up initiative. After all, the United Nations didn't want the world to think that supernatural forces were constantly trying to bring about an end to the world as we know it.
This plan for a global-expansion seemed to work out beautifully, however, as in 1991, yet another End-of-the-World event occurred. One of Gozer's loyal followers, Ivo Shandor (otherwise known as the Architect), plotted to merge the spiritual world with that of the living, which would essentially result in a literal 'Hell on Earth'. While the 'eye of the storm', so to speak, was focused in New York, supernatural conductor rods were popping up all across the planet, threatening to end the world.
But once again, the boys-in-beige rose to the occasion and destroyed him, effectively ending the last shred of Gozer's connection to the mortal world.
After 1991, things seemed to calm down quite a bit in terms of big-bad ghosts trying to end the world. Sure, the supernatural problem was still pretty prevalent, but at least now the Ghosbusters didn't have to worry about saving the world anymore. Now, they could just focus on some good old-fashioned 'bustin.
But now, as the 20th Anniversary of the Ghostbuster's establishment arrives, business has picked up quite a bit. Ghost sightings have increased drastically across the world and as such, the government-led parent company, Ghost Corps., finds itself terribly understaffed, practically unable to handle the constant daily barrage of supernatural attacks and disturbances being reported.
So, now only one question remains;
Are you afraid of no ghost?
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AAAALLRIGHT! Now that we're past the heavy text blurb, I'm gonna try to keep this short and sweet since I figure you're through with reading for the time being, haha.
So basically, this is a continuation of the original Ghostbusters saga, which is comprised of Ghosbusters 1, 2 and the 2009 video game (Ghostbusters: The Game), taking place after the original squad has long-since retired (or have been busted themselves if they turned into ghosts upon their death). As the newest incarnation of the team, our characters would come from a variety of backgrounds (scientists, paranormal enthusiasts, regular civilians, government agents, ex-military, etc) and would be tasked with taking down the various supernatural threats attacking their home city (my initial thought was New York but if you guys have a suggestion for a new locale, let me know), while also investigating the source of the 'ghost-surge' (which, from the company's history, suggests that an End-of-the-World situation is on it's way).
I won't go too into detail about what the big-bad threat to our characters will be just yet, but let's just say that it will easily be the most difficult foe the 'Busters have come to face, especially since our incarnation of the team will still be pretty new to the game.
As for the ghosts themselves, they'll be a large part of the plot's progression as a whole, with a new piece of the story being revealed to the Ghostbusters with each bust they make. Also, these ghosts aren't your average Slimers or joke-apparitions; in the surge of supernatural activity, they've gotten more aggressive, and as a whole, more terrifying. Some examples of what our character's will be up against can be seen below in gif. form;
That's right; we're putting the 'Horror' back into 'Horror-Comedy'.
Anyways, that's pretty much all I've got to say as of right now apart from some minor character stuff I can go into detail about later on. As for our roster, we'll be looking for about 5-6 players to join up with this before we get things going (myself included). Each player will be allowed to play up to 2 characters, theoretically meaning, if everyone doubled, we could wind up with a maximum roster of up to 12 Ghostbusters.
If you're interested, or have any questions about this, feel free to post below! Also, if you're interested in joining, tell me a bit about the character(s) you might bring into this (ex. a sentence or two about who they are/their background). As for myself, I'll be playing one of the team's resident scientists with a major in Engineering and a minor in Parapsychology.
