Three

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

Please don't fight during club meetings. ;;

Outside of the school is fair game, though.

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

Matsushima Mitsuko
Classroom 2-A, Yurei High School

It seemed that someone had tried to proffer up an answer. The girl who had spoken, Karuta Seiko if Mitsuko wasn't mistaken, certainly had made something of a name for herself. Mitsuko hardly had any delusions on why said girl would choose to come to an Occult Club meeting, and the answer that Seiko had given only further cemented that fact. Regardless, her expression remaining stagnant, Mitsuko gave a slight nod in response to the given answer.

"Thank you for your...attempt at an answer. Karuta-san, correct?" She replied. "While you're on the right track, it's important to try and make our definitions properly holistic, though. That explanation of yours operates off of a key concept that can be seen as the crux of occult matters: the soul. A spiritual construct that operates as a force of life outside of empirical fact. Ah, but first..."

Letting out an airy sigh, Mitsuko briefly shifted her gaze on Charles. Of course, she had expected that he would be a problem child, but he was nonetheless at least halfway necessary for her plans, so she would just have to humor him for the time being.

"Mr. Thompson, I've noticed you really seem to like something on that phone of yours. That's quite the coincidence, I have something on my phone I'm quite fond of as well. Now, please mute your volume and be a bit more respectful. I won't tolerate your usual brand of disobedience here."

After speaking, Mitsuko shrugged her shoulders helplessly, as though her thinly-veiled threat had been the fault of circumstances outside of her control. She had little doubt that Seiko would probably have written what she had just said down and already have developed a host of possible conclusions on the matter, but she couldn't be bothered to concern herself with such matters. Something that was appreciated though was the fact that one of the girls present had seen fit to threaten Charlie; that seemed to indicate at least some interest in her club's focus, which was certainly welcome.

On the other side of the spectrum was the girl who was very obviously in the wrong classroom, a notion made all the more apparent by her blatant confession to that fact. Shaking her head with a trace of disdain, Mitsuko let out a soft sigh before replying to the hopelessly embarrassed girl. "Terribly sorry, this is the Occult Club. I believe the Music Club is in 3-B or 3-A, I can't quite recall. If you'd like to stay, you're welcome to, but feel free to leave."

With that matter addressed, Mitsuko looked back over the gathered individuals as a whole, letting out a brief hum and subsequently speaking back up. "Now then, on the matter of the 'soul'."

"In sum, the soul is the heart of occult theories, but precisely because it is the heart of occult theories, making a true definition of it is a trial in itself. Doing such is akin to developing a grand unified theory, or "solving" morality. As such, we have an assortment of somewhat overlapping theories on the matter, some more viable than others. Essentially, you can treat the soul as a force of life possessed by beings that can 'comport themselves as a possibility within themselves'."

"Now, I should explain at this moment that the soul does function outside of the realm of empirical physics; however, it does not function outside the realm of science. Occultism is not non-rational, contradictory, or irreconcilable with reason. It does not generate logical fallacies. At its core, occultism is based around the concept of the human soul, and thus it is based in human reason and logic. There are, indeed, occult theories that blatantly go against what we know as observable truth, whether scientific, logical, or otherwise. We are not here to speak about crackpot theories any more than as an example of historical foolishness, such as how you have learned about the history of human understanding of the atom."

"A ghost is essentially 'a soul that does not possess a physical form conducive to its nature'. We will be explaining this further in future meetings, as well as speaking on the nature of the soul and how to reconcile it with empirical reality, but for now simply understand that. If my soul existed without my body, it could be called a ghost. If my soul, instead of being in my body, entered another physical object, we would still call it a ghost as the physical body is not conducive to its 'nature' as that of Matsushima Mitsuko. This is what is referred to as "possession", the occupation of a non-conducive physical body by a spiritual force."

"Now, the exact reasoning behind the formation of a ghost is unknown. Generally, the physical body serves as an anchor for the soul, which is a principle we will go in-depth on later, but in select circumstances, a soul becomes anchored to the world rather than a physical body. Thus, even after the body ceases to be, the soul will remain anchored accordingly. This is just one method by which a soul can persist without a body. While heavy emotional attachment or a 'vengeful' attitude is often colloquially linked to a soul's aptitude for surviving without a body, these are actually just colloquialisms, and don't have any definite correlation at the current time. That's not to say it isn't true, but rather that we haven't observed it to be certainly true at this time. It is, however, worth noting that the chance of any of these occurrences happening is incredibly minute, and when coupled with the fact that phenomena at this level functions outside of 'physical' reality, it makes recording these phenomena a trial in itself."

"This will be the point from which we segue into the Halloween Extravaganza's topic. Before then, though, I'll be opening the floor up to questions, providing they are related to the topic at hand. Please, don't be shy."

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

Year 19??

???
???, ???

You are human.

Regardless of how fervently you pursue something past that horizon, you cannot escape this sole truth. Your mind, your soul, your nature is fundamentally human. As such, for daring to peer past that veil, your only hope for escape is atonement. Atone for your sins. Atone for the sins that are not yours.

"Th-The circle is failing! Stop the flow, now!"

As you are a human, you cannot understand. That which you have dared to reach out towards is beyond description from the concepts of your enclosed reality. You cannot comprehend something so Other, as your mind cannot understand memories which go beyond what it means to be a human.

"Energy accumulation is happening too quickly, we can't do anything!"

This time, your world is not to be cursed. Your world cannot be cursed, as it was you who brought that vital tear that allowed something from beyond its own logic to enter. That is precisely why your world has attempted to fix your mistakes, why your world has attempted to atone for your sins, why your world has condemned you to death.

"Hurry, everyone get out! We'll collapse the building before the formation completes itself, this was a mistake but we can still-"

But, your world is shortsighted. Hopelessly, pitifully shortsighted. Even as it beats back against the current that flows from the tear you dared to rip, it fails to recognize what lurks in those waters that it rebels against.

"...what..."

"...what the hell is that?"

---

Year 2015
Tuesday, October 27th- 3:30 PM

Matsushima Mitsuko
Classroom 2-A, Yurei High School

With a raised eyebrow, a steel-faced young girl looked out over the gathered individuals. Frankly, the sheer number of people who had elected to come to this first meeting was...surprising. She had expected no more than three or four prospective members.

Maybe the promise of free snacks was that enticing? She'd have to note this for later...

After checking the clock mounted on the classroom wall to confirm the time, the young girl walked over to the propped-open classroom door and slammed it shut with a resounding thud, subsequently clearing her throat firmly to disrupt the chatter of those inside of the classroom as she walked up towards the board at the front of the classroom, where a teacher would be standing during a lecture. Once everyone had quieted themselves, she spoke.

"Good afternoon, everyone. For those of you I have not met previously, I am Matsushima Mitsuko. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the first meeting of the newly-refounded Occult Club. The advertised snacks will be served at the end of the meeting, so please be patient."

Speaking up in a crisp tone, the girl, Mitsuko, addressed her peers with a straight face, though one might notice the trace of a smile playing across the edges of her lips. She had to admit that she was rather satisfied with this turnout, even if the majority of those here were just present to make a mockery of her organization.

...Mitsuko also had to wonder why Shikishima-sensei's child was here, but that could wait until later.

"Now then, today's club meeting will take the form of a hybrid lecture-seminar, to introduce those of you with little occult experience to basic knowledge about the occult. I will be leading a discussion on the matter, and all of you are free to ask me questions, within reason. This Thursday's meeting, as well as all subsequent meetings, will take a group discussion format generally, but because many of you might have little experience with the subject-matter, I've prepared some basics to go over for today. We will also be discussing the theme of this year's Halloween Extravaganza, and I will be distributing waivers for those who are interested."

"Let's begin. Would anyone like to tell me what a 'ghost' is? Ah, and please, if your answer is 'nonexistent' then kindly don't bother raising your hand."

@Mr_pink @Rune_Alchemist @Vocab @KaijuBaragon @Savo @PixelJunkie @AirBender @TrixyTrix @Black Alice

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

@Vocab I'm in EST, so I was planning on starting in the next couple of hours. If you want, I can just start things off now so you can get off a post today; starting a couple of hours early won't hurt anyone.

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

Barring unforeseen complications, we'll be starting later tonight. Anyone who has expressed interest but not apped yet (@XxFellsingxX, @Mr Allen J, @Ostarion) will be free to apply even after we've started, but other newcomers will still have to be put on hold. Feel free to PM me if you're interested, though~!

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

@TrixyTrix Approved. Just don't abuse the "basic skills", and keep in mind that the RP starts on the very first club meeting's day.

@AirBender Approved. We needed someone to fight the communist ghosts.

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

Interested~ Will do a sheet...if you still have room for more.
Yuri High...lol

@TrixyTrix

Welcome aboard~
With that, I think we've reached a suitable max, so...

At this time, if you haven't expressed interest by this point then I'll have to ask that you hold off on joining, unless people who are currently interested end up dropping out. One of the people who was PMing me got busy and had to cancel, but the other one (@Black Alice) is working on her app at the moment. Between them and everyone else who's joining but has yet to make a character, we've got a pretty big roster, so I'll have to put any newcomers on hold for now.

To clarify, if you are not:
@AirBender, @TrixyTrix, @XxFellsingxX, @Mr Allen J, or @Black Alice
Then I will have to ask that you don't join, at least not for now. Sorry. ;;

Once the above five have made their apps, we'll be starting. If they end up taking too long, we'll be starting on Wednesday at the latest, but ideally I'd like to start with everyone.

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

Got room for one more? I'm definitely interested in this.

@AirBender

Yes we do, welcome to the party!

I don't want things to get too crowded, so I might be closing apps in the near future, though.

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

Fwah, overwheeeeeelmed

Is this okay? I can change stuff if you want =)

Hider

”That. Sounds. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Name: Arata Hisakawa

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Personality: Optimistic to a fault, Hisakawa tends to walk a fine line between brightening people’s days, and driving them to near homicidal levels of irritation. In general, he can be a pretty annoying individual, his boundless energy, fascination with everything, and thirst for new experiences mean that talking to him can make for an outright exhausting encounter. He isn’t just a bundle of cheer though, once you get past the initial onslaught of “EVERYTHING IS FANTASTIC LET’S GO RUN A MARATHON!”, he can prove to be a loyal and trustworthy friend, who’s generally willing to listen regardless of whether he fully understands the situation or not.

He tends to veer towards a more spontaneous approach to solving problems, as opposed to thought out methodical approaches as he doesn’t have much patience. He can’t stand being alone, and he hates sitting still for long periods of time (unless he’s working on a complex maths problem, but more on that later), and he’s never finished an entire novel that wasn’t compulsory reading for school.

If he’s having a bad day, he can become very shy and finds it difficult to talk to people. It scares him when this happens (for reasons which will also be explained later), but he’s very determined, and will generally come back the next day ready to tackle whatever problem had him down head on. He lives his life by the motto- ”Sure, you can knock me down, but there’s nothing you can do to stop me from getting right back up again”

Although he’s determined when it comes to random disasters, he can be a bit of a pushover when it comes to actual human beings. His eagerness to try and make sure that everyone around him feels just as awesome as he does leads to him being easily manipulated by people with more domineering personalities, not that he really minds of course, as long as they’re happy, he’s at least partially happy.

History: As a child, Hisakawa was completely different to the person he is today. He was shy and introverted, and really struggled to make friends. His predisposition towards both panic attacks and bouts of depression meant that his parents worried about him constantly, to the point where they decided to pull him out of the public education system and home-school him.

As he got older, his problems worsened, and by the time he was thirteen he had severe social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and almost daily panic attacks. Life was unbearable, not just for Hisakawa, but for his parents too. If his aunt hadn’t intervened, the outcome probably would’ve been a lot worse, but luckily, she did. She only visited the family once every couple of years due to the fact that she lived in New Zealand, but when she saw her nephew hiding in a corner, unable to speak to anyone or leave his room, she demanded his mother take him to the doctor’s at once.

After that, it was an uphill battle, but at least he wasn’t going down anymore. Over the course of three years, five different psychiatrists, a dozen different medications, and a total of six months spent on a psychiatric ward (not all at once), he slowly but surely started to leave his anxieties behind him.

Filled with a renewed vigour, Hisakawa feels like he has a lot of living to do if he wants to make up for all the years he lost crippled by anxiety. It was difficult to convince his parents to let him go back into public education, but he did it, and so far has loved every second spent at Yurei High, even though he’s only been there a few weeks. He’s looking forward to joining the occult club, and the art club, and the tea ceremony club, and the advanced quantum physics club, and the…..

Skills:
Smiling!- Yes, he sees smiling as a skill, and he practices it every day, which can be uplifting, annoying, fairly disconcerting, or anywhere in between depending on the individual and the situation.

Colouring in- He takes great pride in his ability to colour inside the lines, and has improved this ability since the last time he was in a class full of other students. He is a touch confused about why this vitally important skill is no longer taught in lessons.

Advanced Mathematics, especially when applied in areas like mechanics - His abilities in maths and physics have baffled his parents since his second birthday, when he first asked his parents ‘what happens when you divide by zero?’. They can’t quite figure out where he got this ability from, seeing as they’re both florists, but they do know it comes in quite handy when they’re working out things like budgets.

Other:
-He still sees a psychiatrist every two weeks, and takes a very low dose of an antidepressant called Nardil, which means he can’t eat smoked or aged meat (he stays away from meat altogether), cheese, large amounts of chocolate or caffeine, and a variety of other things. He also has a list of medications he can’t have, which he keeps in his pocket in case of an emergency. His dosage is currently being reduced under medical supervision, and he eagerly awaits the day he can eat ridiculous amounts of chocolate again.

-His parents own a flower shop, and the whole family lives in a two story flat above the shop.

- Very few people in Yurei High knew him before he started there, and those who do only remember him vaguely because he was home-schooled. He’ll happily explain why he didn’t go to school with anyone else if asked seriously, but he does not take kindly to being called ‘crazy’ or any variant of the word.

@PixelJunkie

Approved~

At this rate, we'll be starting in the next day or two. I have a couple of people who've sent me some WIPs and don't want to start without them.

Yurei High: Spooks Versus Students (Ghost Hunting)

-Dislikes prosciutto and cats-

Fuck your memes.

Anyway, @Savo is approved at well.

I'm honestly surprised, we're getting a lot more interest than I expected, yay~