If You Were a Ghost... http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034 Ashrazan Hello everyone, I was contemplating this question yesterday and felt like sharing it with everyone to see what your answers are. If you were a ghost, what kind of ghost would you be (what would you do?) and where would you like to haunt? Personally, I would like to be a ghost that wanders around a big fancy mansion at night singing. I'd also randomly organize/ clean peoples things. I may or may not listen to song requests from the residents and would often wander into someone's room in the middle of the night and say, "Oh I'm sorry I was trying to go somewhere else." and float off... That or haunt the children's wing of a hospital and tell children stories when they're too scared to sleep... Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:23:18 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_654409 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_654409 premiumcider I'd love to be a traditional chain rattling ghost that haunts people I feel deserve some haunting. That makes me sound vengeful, which I'm not really. I'll probably haunt politicians, give them the 'A Christmas Carol' experience so they learn to make more human decisions and stop cutting down on the welfare. Now, that makes it sound like I'm into politics, which I'm not really either. I don't think I'd want to be confined to just one place, unless that's just an inevitable part of being a ghost. I don't know that much about ghosts. Sat, 12 Nov 2011 02:39:03 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_655114 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_655114 Algae Volvox I'd like to haunt politicians too! I'd probably be pretty serious about it too. Otherwise, I'd just be incredibly obnoxious.Maybe pretend I'm a Gastly or something ridiculous like that. Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:41:22 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_656119 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_656119 Lady_Indis_Dress I would love to go through walls, and maybe rearrange people's furniture. That said, I'd probably want to haunt some of the places I've always wanted to visit. Not sure it works that way though. I'd definitely be a singing ghost. Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:08:46 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_667118 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_667118 Lady_Indis_Dress I like your sense of humor. Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:09:08 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_667127 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_667127 Zookeeper I think I'd like to haunt the deep forest or some lonely wilderness. Sneak up on hunters and shout "boo!" just as they're getting ready to shoot Bambi's mom. :-) Or maybe hide under bridges and play cards with the trolls. Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:36:00 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_667560 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_667560 simply_complex Well, I was working in a fast food job that I hated for 3 and a half years. In the midst of it, I felt like I was practically living there, so I was joking with my friend saying that I would probably become the manager, meet my husband there, and maybe even die there. But I was listing many other things too. Then I said that if I died while still employed there, then I would want to haunt the hell out of that place and be a poltergeist: pelt fries at the people I hated, splash ketchup at the bitchy customers, do whatever I could to freak people out, and I would laugh my way into the afterlife. MWHAHAHAAHAA! But I've since quit that job and I'm over all the drama. I'm not interested in spending any part of my afterlife there. So I've decided that if I have to be a ghost, I'd want to be in a library and play harmless, innocent pranks of people like moving books around, and doing small things like that. Spend the rest of eternity in a library? Can we say HEAVEN?! Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:25:20 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_683812 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_683812 flounce I would like to be a poltergeist. I really just want to trash some houses. Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:22:53 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_684789 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_684789 liralen Ooooh fun. I think I would keep pretty busy as a ghost: -Find someplace to haunt. I'm not sure where, but I think I'd pick a college dormitory or something and go cause some minor trouble. -Float through strangers' homes. Invisibly, ideally. Do some minor haunting and some major prying into their lives. -Read a lot. I mean, okay, I already do this. But I like the idea of being able to float into a bookstore or library at three in the morning, find the book I'm looking for, and read the book straight through without worrying about things like sleep. This is assuming that I'd be able to handle objects, though. I wouldn't want to be a ghost if that meant not being able to read. -Conduct experiments. Can ghosts swim? What happens if they jump off tall structures? Is there anything a ghost can't walk through? Do they need rest? Can they cause haywire in electrical systems? Do they show up in pictures? -Go looking for other ghosts. Form an incorporeal book club or Haunters Anonymous or something. Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:12:21 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_685762 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_685762 MalcolmCooms If I were a ghost, I think I'd commit suicide. Oh, wait... *Rimshot* Okay, seriously now: If I were a ghost, I'd go haunt a theater. Not sure if I want it to be a "big" theater or a High School theater, though. I'd imagine that to be a kind of cool experience, especially since theater people are quite superstitious. Unless I were really malevolent (which I wouldn't be...at worst mildly mischievous, at best helpful), I know from experience that I'd be accepted by the cast almost like I was something worth bragging about. "Oh, don't mind that faint voice randomly singing songs from musicals we did fifty years ago. It's just our ghost. He's friendly..." I'd do my best to rat out assholes to the directors, or if the directors are the problem try and get them fired, or at least reprimanded. And yes, I would randomly sing songs from old shows, especially late at night to freak people out. Of course, it would probably be less "old showtunes" and more "eighties rock", which, I suppose, is even more creepy in a way... And I would, of course, try and meet other ghosts. Maybe if I found friends we could band together as the "Anti-asshole Ghosts Society" or something. It would be our job to stop all the other ghosts from really screwing with people. Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:30:21 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_686105 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_686105 Septadius Angel or Ghost? I would go to orphanages and childrens hospitals and make them laugh. I would be a friendly one. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 07:22:09 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_691488 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_691488 RedxLuna Is is bad that I find thinking of this fun? Either way, I think I would be a generally friendly spirit. I would wind up helping out the people who lived in whatever place I was haunting. But if someone living there turned out to be a real jerk then I would torment the hell out of them just to give them a taste of their own medicine. And if anyone tried to deny that I existed then I would do something that would show them that I totally was. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:36:07 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_696317 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_696317 BlueGonfalon Ahahahah, I love this thread! I would totally be one of the nice ghosts that plays with kids and all that. I would make them feel better about themselves, and sing with them and comfort them when they're sick. I'd be the "imaginary friend" which makes all the adults wonder, and then, just once, I'd show up and confront any parents who are making things hard for their kids. If they didn't listen, I'd punish them. But I would be nice if they did listen. :D Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:02:36 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_696740 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_696740 AlwaysInADream My sole abilities would be flight, invisibility, and intangibility. Also I can't die again because I'm already dead. ... I'd probably wimp out and just do the same stuff I do already. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:07:45 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_698865 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_698865 Jacqueline Rochow If I was invisible, I'd find somebody with great stage presence and convince them to become a magician. Then I'd... help, and we could laugh at the hordes of people who never managed to figure out how the 'tricks' were done. That, or submit myself to science for study. In fact i'd probably just continue my current scientific career, minus going to any conferences, and speak to new contacts through a trusted intemediary. Not sleeping and being able to be intangible would make a lot of experiments much easier (hell, sample collection itself becomes easy). Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:20:56 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_705792 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_705792 Septadius I would wait until christmas time, and when I see that someone acts out the Christmas Carol play, I would walk in as all three ghosts, have some fun with it :D Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:12:32 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_707586 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_707586 Spaghetti7 I'd be the sort of ghost that gets hours of amusement out of putting her hand through her stomach. Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:17:57 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_708184 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_708184 fictionalboyfriend I'd find myself an old castle and go all-out. Wailing, singing creepily, playing piano at odd hours, knocking on doors at midnight, floating around hallways in a long white gown with my head under my arm...the works. Either that, or I'd haunt people who write terrible stories and publish them/post them online, until they learn to write better. Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:45:50 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_728555 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_728555 MalcolmCooms [quote=fictionalboyfriend]Either that, or I'd haunt people who write terrible stories and publish them/post them online, until they learn to write better. [/quote] You just gave me one of the best ideas for a story that I've ever had. Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:55:25 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_732349 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_732349 Bessie_Boo I actually had this conversation with some teenagers yesterday. My favourite answer was one boy who felt if he was invisible he'd be really worried about getting hurt because no one could see him. I think it's an interesting angle on being a ghost. The actual ghost in my novel has just decided that after fifteen or twenty years of wandering around still looking like she's just been savagely murdered, it's makeover time. I think that would be me :D Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:15:55 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_734972 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_734972 Bessie_Boo Or walking through walls: "I'm in the kitchen! The living room! The kitchen! The living room!..." Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:21:00 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_735042 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_735042 fictionalboyfriend Ooo, you're welcome! I hope you write it and have fun with it! Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:57:15 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_735514 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_735514 J.E.Blackworth Same here! Though poltergeists tend to be kind of tormented and in pain (at least from what I've read) but... Wouldn't it be swell to be a meanie and bother everyone and scare them shitless! Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:49:36 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_739061 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_739061 ikemiker This is really out there, but a friend and I have an agreement about this... if one of us dies and can become a ghost, we have to go haunt a certain actor's house to find out if they are gay, as we suspect they are. Then we have to come back and somehow let the other person know. I really just wish this actor would come out already and save one of us the trouble of having to die to find out. Also, I wish that I wasn't this immature. I'm 40 already, you'd think I'd be past stuff like this. And as long as I'm wishing, I wish my novel were done and it was even reasonably good. Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:17:01 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_740978 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_740978 Angryman I would be more than just a ghost. I would be a Death. And it would be an afterlife business. "Death's Door. How can we help you today?" Fri, 25 Nov 2011 22:05:27 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_848516 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_848516 Sayaren I think I'd like to mess with people a bit. Nothing serious, just a few minor pranks or whatever, but overall I think I'd watch a lot of people, then after I gathered a ton of information, find someone who could see me and make them write for me. And get books for me to read (although they'd have to turn the pages). A library could be an interesting place to haunt, I think... Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:52:16 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1136022 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1136022 theInsane i'd totally mess with people. minor stuff, unless it was someone i didn't like (corrupt politicians - oh man. i'd have <em>fun</em> with them!!) also loving the idea of finding some creepy old building and doing the whole chain-rattling, wailing, door-slamming, cold-breeze-across-the-back-of-your-neck thing. bonus points if i was able to haunt a building that had an old-school pipe organ. i'd randomly start banging away on it at 3am and scare the living hell out of everyone within earshot. (and maybe after a few hundred years i'd be good enough to actually play music - that would be cool) Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:50:25 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1139331 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1139331 Dragon Gal Angryman, that sounds amazing. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:36:08 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1143563 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1143563 Dragon Gal Hmm, I like the idea of being an imaginary friend to children- especially sick kids/really really sad children. I'd try and make them feel better. Then again, I like the idea of being a poltergeist too. And the clasic castle, chain-rattling thing. So, overall, I don't know yet. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:38:07 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1143565 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1143565 Moonlightwriter I would write my novel on my computer at night and then print it randomly when the humans were gone and leave it for them, author and all. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:45:48 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1143568 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1143568 Angryman Thanks. It's actually an idea for a story that I've been working on for some time now. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:28:25 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1143727 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1143727 Spuggey Slightly off topic, but my mum keeps vowing to haunt me. She says she'll turn up and make scary noises and appear at the end of my bed, to which I point out that it won't be scary because I'll know it's her. It'll just be... 'Go away, Mother! I'm trying to sleep! Dammit!' Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:43:20 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1143742 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/34034?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1143742