zeroghosts

[zeroghosts]

closed starter for @themonsterosity location: graveyard

The ordinary spot he once never left was now somewhere he could only bring himself to visit every once in a while. He still liked to linger around but most of his time was spent in Hotel Transylvania now, the graveyard there wasn't bad but too many people around for his liking. He situated himself onto the ground, leaning on his headstone that, right as his back caught direct contact, occurred to him it could use a cleaning. Not that he'd cared necessarily that it looked unkempt in some way, he just figured that the moss growing on it could have some bugs on it and now he'd have to clean himself up once he went back to the hotel. Because he had to care about stuff like that again, apparently. There were enough faults that came with having a physical body that he could find but he had to remember that coming here was a way to get his mind off of that. A good book typically helped, and in fact did, he thought it was a miracle he'd managed to get a couple of chapters in before hearing footsteps coming his way.

The company was always unwanted but when it came to Boo, she liked to stay regardless of this fact. And he could always tell it was her whenever she was near, maybe it was an aura to her or maybe he could just tell from being around her so often now that it was just something he'd gotten used to at this point. While Zero knew nothing could deter her from trying to initiate communication, he thought he could get the complaining out of the way this time, "Got a new stitch today," His eyes remained on the book page, merely raising his hand so that she could see the damage done. "Chopping off the hand does nothing, gotta cross that method off the list." And though he knew it was still unlikely that whining would discourage her from this conversation, he'd hoped that maybe, just maybe, being as straightforward as he could be would do the trick. "I'm sure whatever you have to say is interesting and all to someone else but unless you've figured out a foolproof method to get me back into the ground permanently, I kinda don't want to hear it."

[zeroghosts]

He didn't mind being rude, that's what usually kept people away so if staying silent while anyone approached him was considered unpleasant, Zero really couldn't care less. His plan was to just keep his nose in his book until she went away, that was until he'd found himself under the surprising understanding that she could also sense that he was dead. "You can tell that?" For a second, he'd wondered if he'd come across someone like Boo, a human who'd become close to those that have passed on and had some extra knowledge that most other mortals didn't. But then the obvious answer had struck him and he'd suddenly become disappointed. "Oh, you're deceased." There was plenty envy, he hadn't been so used to not knowing instantly who the other ghosts were. It was much easier to distinguish them before but now it was just another lost skill he'd lost thanks to the reanimating process.

He supposed it was still nice that he had some lingering traces of ghostly presence to him, in a way it gave him hope that he could still go back to that state of being. He sighed as he bookmarked the passage he was nearly done reading, trusting that this was going to be a conversation worth having. "I used to be like you, died somehow and next thing I know, I'm able to just appear and disappear from existence whenever. But then this girl I know goes and takes my corpse to bring me back to life so now here I am, some sort of undead-living dead-zombie situation." For as many times as he could complain about his position, it still never felt like it satiated his irritation about it all. he could groan about it all he wanted but it wouldn't change anything. "Word of advice: don't be friends with humans."

closed starter for @zeroghosts location: the graveyard

For all that the manor was brimming with ghosts that she could potentially interact with whenever she wanted, it had been decades since she had last spoken to any of them and resparking any half-baked friendships she had seemed far too daunting of a task. Especially when there was so much that had changed in the outside world that Melanie was now inspired to actually go and see. Though it was clear from the few interactions she had shared with humans since her reawakening into society that she was far out of touch with the reality of the modern world, and that was likely something she needed to work on before attempting to fully emerge herself back into society.

Which left Melanie with the job of people watching, learning about the new developments of the world from the humans around her. Shops and cafes were the best place for hanging around, floating above them all and remaining invisible as she watched, but some days it all got to be a bit much. There was so much to learn, between the new way in which humans spoke to technologies they had created… it was just a lot. And a break was needed from time to time - the graveyard being one of her favorite places to wander about as she internally processed it all. The grieving of a deceased loved one was still the same, flowers and tears along with a shared kind word or two, that much she thought would never change - so it was a good reminder that there was still hope she could do this, that human nature couldn’t have truly changed all that much.

It was on one of these walks through the cemetery, her form solidified so as to be seen by humans in a test run of trying to blend in, that she noticed a boy. At first she thought little of him, assuming he was just another grieving human come to see a family member or friend. But as she came closer there was a distinct aurora about him, one that she recognized from every other ghost she’s met - it was the aurora of the dead. Only his was… different. It felt more… alive, almost. How that was possible, Melanie wasn’t sure, but she certainly wanted to find out. “Excuse me?” she interrupts as she approaches the boy, her tone clearly confused but a soft smile on her face regardless. “I hope I am not bothering you, or being presumptuous by asking this… but… I must know. Who are you?” It takes only a brief moment for her to realize that wasn’t exactly what she meant to ask and to rephrase herself. “You are clearly dead, I can tell that much, but you also… are not dead. You feel as if you are almost half-alive… But I don’t understand how that could be.” It went without saying that Melanie assumed he could tell that she was a ghost as well, but whether or not he actually had that ability to tell anymore, she didn’t know for certain.

[zeroghosts]

DOMINIC SESSA Icon Magazine, June 2024

[zeroghosts]

A cursed existence was all that Zero could see for the rest of eternity. It was a similar position he found himself when he was a ghost but this didn't come with any positives. He was as dead as one could be in a mortal body and yet he lived. None of his theories on getting back to his ghostly spirit had worked and only further frustrated him. He was doomed to a life without an end, it seemed. And even if he managed to end it, there was no promise of becoming a ghost again or if he'd lose his spirit to whatever came in the afterlife.

Zero turned away from Boo, preferring the view of the wall instead. For all the chaos she caused him, he wasn't really willing to embrace the friendship she sought out from him. He just wanted to keep to himself and she never could quite catch onto that so ignoring her was his best option. But as much as he wanted to evade her, she kept talking when all he wanted to do was keep his nose in his book. It was enough talking that he couldn't avoid it and finally gave her an answer to her offer, "Sorry to disappoint but there's very little you could say or do that would make me leave my current position."

who: @zeroghosts where: hotel transylvania

It hadn't entirely gone to plan, bringing a friend to life when he had been living happily for centuries. The girl felt guilty for having pulled him from the ground and brought him back into a world he'd escaped all those years ago. That didn't stop her from also making sure this time around this life was lived to the fullest capacity. A few days of silence could be loud when she let herself worry, just hoping that Zero hadn't gotten himself stuff at the bottom of some ditch or lost another limb. She felt some sort of responsibility for him after all, it was she who dug him from the dirt and forced him back into a new world. By now the girl had come to know where he would hide, doing her best to maintain the distance he wanted while also providing a friend if he ever needed one. The dark-haired girl made her way down the corridor of the hotel as her eyes scanned the details in the decor. Sometimes when she walked in there it felt like she was teleported to another world, a better one, where those who were different were able to exist openly. That had yet to crossover into the world they lived in but Boo hadn't given up hope that one day it could change. "Thought I might find you here," the girl said poking her head into Zero's favorite reading room. "I just finished my organic chemistry final... I thought I might go celebrate if you wanted to join me. It'll be fuuuun," Boo sang the last word in hopes of enticing him out of the hotel. "You haven't even seen the arcade yet or had their pizza which is like basically an injustice that I haven't taken you."

[zeroghosts]

                 meet  ezekiel 'zero' mortensen  !

                                 21 (64) — UNEMPLOYED

favorite song? in between by willis

sexuality: heterosexual 

pronouns?: he/him 

those that knew ezekiel when he was living knew he didn't have a great time. he could never quite get used to the social aspects of living, he was quiet and tried to seclude himself as much as possible. and when others from school would neglect him on purpose or not, it suited him. he never gained too much attention other than from bullies who coined the nickname 'zero' for him. the name stuck but he didn't care, in fact, he reclaimed it as his own. zero moved through life rather tame, very little excited him other than keeping his nose in books and writing short stories.

it's a bit hazy to him when his life ended and when he became a ghost, the two facets of life naturally blended in together. he recalls suddenly waking up one day and recognizing that he was perpetually cold but that didn't mean much since it was the wintertime, he was ignored by others but that didn't raise any flags since he didn't want to be acknowledged by anyone anyway. it wasn't until a stroll through the local graveyard informed him that he was dead.

death turned out to be not that bad, his ghostly body could remain unnoticed and move through planes of existence whenever he wanted. it was the best parts of living but without all the trivial, mortal agony. he could listen in on conversations without the need to hide away, his ghostly presence did that for him. he rarely ever showed himself, maybe to fuck with a couple of people but hiding away was how he remained, and that's how he liked it. he made friends with other ghosts and other magical beings, with the rare human ever catching his attention. one in recent years did though, the girl that hung around his grave seemed to be interesting.

the graveyard was where he situated himself most of the time for the quiet. as it turns out, others liked to hang around there as well. the average person took a stroll, mourning for a loved one, or sometimes on halloween a group of kids would try summoning a ghost (zero did show up sometimes for his own amusement). one day, from a distance, he did notice someone approaching his grave. they sat down and started reading aloud, this was one of the few moments zero didn't want to disturb so rather than stick around, he awarded them complete privacy. that girl came back often and through a series of days, he listened on as she talked about her life. she spoke to his grave as if he was there, which he was most of the time but he kept his distance when he found out she could see other ghosts. it was a bit exhilarating having to hide as if he was human all over again, he supposed in very limited instances there were times he thought being a human wasn't so bad. those thoughts were merely fleeting and were never to be taken seriously but unfortunately for him, he was given a chance to live once more.

HC's:

not happy with the whole living undead situation. he theorizes he could become a ghost again under the right circumstance, it's just a matter of finding the right way of getting there that's the problem. he's tried jumping off a cliff, chopping his hand off, and drowning himself but nothing gets him the results he wants. he's determined to get there though, in the meantime he'll stick around boo as she stitches his body back up.

now that he cant just sleep anywhere or ghost into some spirit world, he lives in hotel transylvania as that is the only place that has ever truly called out to him because of the diverse cast of characters around. he likes the fact that he could walk into the restaurant and find vampires hanging out with werewolves, and that fairies caught dinners with warlocks. it all excites him more than he lets on.

tldr; he's essentially a ghost turned reanimated corpse thanks to boo. think of his vibes as introvert forced into extroverted nature

[zeroghosts]

The Holdovers (2023), dir. Alexander Payne

[zeroghosts]

THE HOLDOVERS — 2023, dir. Alexander Payne