Young Writers Society

You live in a small, residential gated community that lies a few miles outside the main city. Outsiders think the gate is for the purpose of security and privacy, but perhaps it has more to do with the people inside.

Feel free to drop in any character into this scenario! Just make sure they know well enough how to "blend in" into a semi-normal life. There may be some pretty unique characters here, but no one wants to make too big of a scene, do they? That might attract unwanted attention.

Your character can be a long-time resident or a recent move-in. Whatever suits your fancy!

Just a few ground-rules before you start:

1. Let's start with the characters living close together (at least on the same street). That way they have more of a reason to run into each other.
2. If according to your character's personality, your little suburbanite is more of a recluse, at least give them a reason to pop their head out for a bit, eh? It is an rp after all! That, or let's get someone to knock on their door. Let's be inclusive and make sure no one's left out!
3. PLEASE don't anything too... destructive? I mean, if your character accidentally blows up their own house, that's on them, but don't go blowing up the whole neighborhood! Then we'd all be dead!
4. Keep it clean? Let's try to keep it PG for the most part. If you're unsure, just don't write it.
5. Your character CAN leave the suburb, but... please come back sometime? The goal of this is to keep the rp in one setting so everyone can interact.

It really doesn't matter how your character got here. Maybe this is their summer home, or they're visiting a friend in the community. If you want to go so far as to say they got zapped here by some spell, that works too! But there are lots of homes open, too!

Have fun!

(I've never started an rp before so hopefully I set this up alright? I'll be posting my rp of my character asap, but feel free to jump in.)

Alice had been doing chores all morning. She'd cleaned all of the dishes and dried them, and then put them all away. She'd tidied up the kitchen, cleaned the counters and tabletops, and swept the floors. She'd vacuumed the carpets, the couches, and those pesky little corners where there was always something collecting. She'd even run around the house throwing clothes in the washing machine and hanging them up on a clothes-line out back (it was a bit old fashioned, but it saved money over time).

After spending the best hours of her morning working, she finally felt like she'd accomplished something. "There," she said to herself, as she finished putting all of the cleaning supplies back in the closet where they belonged. "Nothing left to do!"

It was at that moment, however, as those words escaped her mouth, that she realized she wasn't done. She still had to take out the trash. With a dramatically long sigh she heaved herself back into the kitchen and began to haul the trash bag out front. It was trash day.

She struggled for a moment to close the door behind her while also carrying the heavy trash bag, but finally managed and walked out to the big trash bin. She lifted up the lid, dropped the bag in, and let the lid fall back down. "THERE." She said again. "NOW I'm done." Done with chores, that is.

Summer


I slowly shut the door,

"Whew."

I went into the bathroom, adjusted my dark brown wig, and made sure that my makeup looked ok, and went outside. I was getting better at "Acting Normal." I just wanted to leave my troubles behind me, and my past. I shudder. I walk up my neighbor's door, holding a plate full of oven homemade cookies. I knock. . .

Alice

It wasn't long after she'd gone back inside that she heard a knock on her door. She looked over at the door with a small pout, and let out a long sigh. It wasn't like she had many plans for the rest of the day, and answering the door wasn't necessarily a chore. It was a petty thing to be upset about, so she got up from her seat, walked to the door, and briefly massaged her face.

Gotta smile, right? Besides, she had no excuse to be grumpy. She proceeded to open the door curiously.

"Hey there!" She said, smiling, before she got a good look at who it was.

Schadel:

Schadel was excited.

Blanx would argue that she was always excited, but this was an especially exciting day. She had studied humans from the edges of various gateways for over a year. She could blend in with them.

Holding both her head and her old suitcases high - Blanx had assured her that both were authentic twentieth century ones - she made her way over to her new house. It was one that was falling apart, but she had fallen in love with it at first sight.

The minute she rushed inside, she began to imagine where all of her books would go. Blanx had promised to send them over, but had never specified when. That would prove to be a problem. There was only so many times that one could read Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of Baskersville.

"Well," she thought out loud, "I probably should say hi to the neighbors."

The simple idea of doing something like that made butterflies appear in her stomach. She had to get used to meeting new people. How else would she be able to have a successful business?

She checked her pockets after she put her suitcases down. Pen? Check. Mechanical pencil? Check. Spare lead? Check. Notepad? Check. Business cards? Check. Key to the house? Check. She felt as if she had forgotten something. But what was it?

Oh, she realized with a sheepish grin. She had forgotten about her wallet. Upon further digging into her gigantic pockets, she found it.

Schadel took a deep breath.

She carefully opened the front door and walked out into the cool winter air. She quickly saw that she wasn't the only one wanting to talk to her new neighbor - a girl with brown hair was standing on the doorstep of her neighbor's house.

Well, she might as well introduce herself to multiple people at once. As Blanx would say, she should kill one bird with two stones. Or was to kill two birds with one stone?

Whatever the case was, Schadel still somehow made it to the door. Her mouth dry, she managed to get out, "Hi. I'm the guy who bought the house next door. I'm Schadel Kueper. I haven't had a chance to really start it yet, but I'm the owner of Schadel's Necromancy Agency."

Summer

I heard a voice behind me, he said his name Schadel, and he was starting a necromancy agency. I spun around. I gave a friendly smile. Trying to hide a different kind of smile. I waved and handed the girl the cookies, and ran across the street and into the house. . .

Alice

"...U-uh. Oh." Alice was surprised that there were two different people at the door. There was a girl - probably younger than her - who had just handed her a plate of cookies. Then there was a young woman to her left, that was introducing herself. She stepped out her door, leaving it cracked open behind her, and looked back and forth between the two briefly. The brown haired girl was running away?

That was the weirdest way to ding-dong-ditch that she had ever seen, if that was in fact, what she had just witnessed. She really wasn't sure what to think of it, but heck, she had a plate of cookies, and that was awesome.

Before the girl could run too far, Alice yelled over to her. "Thank you for the cookies?!" It came out less confident than she'd intended. She wish she could've thanked the girl in a nicer way, but she wasn't going to chase her down.

Turning to the girl who'd approached her, she smiled and, lifting the hem of her skirt slightly with her free hand, gave a little curtsy. "Hah, sorry about... whatever that was? I... well, I'm Alice." She held out her hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you Schadel."

A necromancy agency? Well that was certainly peculiar, but it didn't contradict her getup. She was dressed in all black, and had a skull necklace around her neck. "I'm glad you came by! It's always nice to meet your neighbors, haha." She said, smiling again.

Summer



OH MY GOD!! I AM SO DOOMED!!!

I check my cell phone, uh oh. 7 CALLS?! Uh oh . . .

I run into my room . . .

Schadel:

She threw a glance over her shoulder as the girl ran off. Why on Earth had she done that? Had she known?...She tried to brush the thought away. If she knew, she could kiss the agency goodbye in a heartbeat.

Her gaze returned to Alice. As she shook her outstretched hand, Schadel had to stop her hand from trembling. She was nervous. More nervous than when she had been gathering up the courage needed to greet the neighbors. The thought that someone knew the truth about her terrified Schadel.

Say something, idiot! she inwardly screamed at herself, but the words failed to appear. She made due with giving a tight-lipped, forced smile - the type that she always did when she was under pressure.

Alice

Alice decided to initiate the end of the uncomfortably long handshake by letting go, returning the hand to the plate full of cookies, so that it felt more steady and secure.

"Hah, I'm really not sure why that girl ran away, but I am glad that she gave me cookies. It is rather odd though, but, I guess there are stranger things!" The thought did come to mind as to whether the cookies would be safe to eat, but... she was going to hope for the best? Besides, she had been craving sweets all week, and now she had a good excuse to eat them! She'd gotten them for free!

"...Would you like one, Schadel? It know that - or, at least, it sounded like it, based on your introduction - that you might be here on business, but, would you like a cookie? I certainly can't eat all of these myself." She probably could, but she knew she shouldn't. "But I might have one right now, though, haha. Hmm." She took a closer look at them, noting they were chocolate chip cookies. "I hope you like chocolate chips! I know I do." She smiled, chuckling to herself as she picked up a cookie and held it out for Schadel to take if she so desired.

Schadel:

She eyed the plate of chocolate chip cookies. They reminded her of Blanx's cooking. She guessed that she was going to be getting nostalgic about a lot things now, considering how she was barely going to see Blanx. The thought made her heart ache for her one guide in life, the one person who has always been like a big brother to him.

"Thank you," she quietly said as she grabbed the cookie out of the girl's hand. She ate it slowly, savoring the taste of the chocolate chips. It wasn't the same as Blanx's cookies, but it will still delicious! The girl that had fled when she arrived was certainly a good cook.

A childish, idiotic grin appeared on her face when she finished. "Those were really good!" she exclaimed. She quickly thought back onto what the girl had said earlier - the cookies had done a wonderful job of calming her nerves. "I'm not here on business. I just was trying to be a good neighbor and say hi." She was relieved by how easily the words came out.

Maybe this wasn't so difficult after all!

Alice

Alice chewed on a cookie of her own while Schadel ate hers. She nodded in agreement as she complimented the young girl's cooking, and was glad that the cookie seemed to open up conversation and ease some of the tension between them as strangers.

"Well, it seems you have proven that you are a good neighbor by doing so!" She smiled, shrugging and lifting the plate up with both hands. "But I suppose as neighbors we ought to know each other. We've exchanged names, and shared cookies. And apparently you own your own Necromany Agency! Much respect for you, for being bold enough to start your own business. That takes a lot of courage, and I'm sure it's not always easy." She took a moment to take a bite of another cookie. These things were tastier than she'd suspected.

She continued, while finishing her chewing. "If you don't mind me asking, what made you want to start your own business? How'd you get into... uh, necromancy? Is that the right term?"

Schadel:

Schadel froze. She hadn't thought of an answer to that particular question. She had come up with an entire identity for herself - thanks to Blanx's suggestion - but the most basic part of who she was didn't have a predetermined answer. Her name was Schadel Kueper, she was turning twenty-one on August 4th, she lived in Germany for a short time (it explained the accent) but was too young to truly remember it, and she had an older brother named Blanx who owned a antique store in New York.

But what on Earth could she say in order to explain her interest in ghosts?

"Uh..." she awkwardly began. God, she felt terrible about lying to her. She felt terrible about lying in general, in fact. "Um...Well, I've always been able to see ghosts and my older brother suggested that I do something like that! It's kind of a family trait, but he doesn't really use it. He owns a store in New York. An antique shop."

Now that lie had left her lips, Schadel stared down at her feet. Sure, some of it had been true. She had always been able to see ghosts. But Blanx hadn't nudged her in that direction. Schadel had decided to become it on her own. And Blanx was only a brother to her in their hearts; both of them lacked what humans would call families.

"And I wanted to help people," Schadel suddenly added. That had been the true reason for it all, hadn't it? She was fed up with people ignoring each other, fed up with how people only thought about themselves. By taking on this job, she could help everyone. The living and the dead.

Alice

A small grin grew on her face as she closed her explanations with those words. "And I want to help people."

"Well, that's certainly a noble reason. I'm glad I have a neighbor who uses their talents for good! Wanting to help people is always a good reason." She tried to give her an encouraging smile, since she seemed to be a bit shy or uncomfortable. She was the one to come over and say hello, but she understood it was still a hard thing to do.

"Seeing ghosts is a unique ability. What do ghosts look like, exactly?"

Schadel:

Now that she was no longer afraid of giving herself away, Schadel found that it was a lot easier to talk to the girl. (After this conversation ended, she would have to ask her name.)

"They look like everyday people," Schadel explained with an idiotic, childish grin on her face. "They're not transparent. Ghosts are souls of the deceased. So they're exactly the same as they were when they were alive." She suddenly spun around and pointed at someone crossing the street. "You can't see him, but there's a ghost right there. These surburbs are really haunted."

Schadel turned to face her once more. She fingered the notebook in her pocket, remembering how it had been a goodbye present from Blanx. "The ghosts in pop culture are different from reality," she added. "Pop culture says that they can go through walls, that they can hover above the ground. They can't. They also can't touch people, but they can touch objects. They're invisible to the normal person, but they aren't different in any other way."

The grin grew bigger as she drew her hand out of her pocket. "Another thing that pop culture got wrong is their reason for not moving on. Though a ghost might stay here because they want vengeance or have regrets about their life, they also stay because they want to watch over someone. To protect someone."

That thought always made Schadel feel warm inside. People always seemed to focus on the negative side of things, and never take in the bright side. There was always a sun shining in the sky of life, even if it was hiding behind the clouds. It saddened Schadel that people didn't think the same way that she did. It saddened her even more that only the occasional human seemed to share her view on life.