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queenofbaws · 5 years

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UD: Who ya gonna call? Not these creeps.

Chapter: 1/? Chapter title: Prologue - Something strange Fic rating: T - Language, blood, general spookiness Summary: After transferring schools and finding herself utterly without a friend-group to call her own, Sam Giddings comes to the conclusion that she should probably make an attempt at socializing more. She finds a listing for an...interesting extracurricular club and decides to give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen? After all, there’s no way they’re serious about the whole ‘paranormal research’ thing, right? Right?! Author’s note: Hey guys, happy SPOOKY MONTH! In honor of the most wonderful time of the year, I’m gonna be posting this little GHOST HUNTING AU(!!!) I’ve been working on alongside my bigger UD fic! Will this be done by Halloween? Most certainly not - have you MET me? Time management isn’t my strong suit. Also, I have no idea how to say this, but this entire fic is based on a really, really good question featured in MBMBaM episode 471, so buckle in. (If you prefer reading on AO3, you can find this up there, too!) Next chapter

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Really, the whole thing was her fault.

If she’d just stuck to doing her homework, she never, ever would’ve found herself in this situation—and she knew that, okay? She knew that. But the essay she’d been working on wasn’t due for another two weeks, she was already ahead of schedule with it anyway, and Christ Almighty, it was boring, so yeah! Yeah, okay? She’d gone putzing around the internet instead. Who could blame her for that?!

And—and!—if there was blame to be had, then honestly, some of it belonged to her dad, too. He was the one, after all, who kept calling and telling her the same thing over and over again: You should get out there, Sam! You should be making friends and having fun! You can’t just mope forever, it’s not healthy…

Not that she was moping.

It had been a while since she’d transferred schools, though, and while she’d gotten adjusted to new classes, new professors, new dining halls, a new campus…even she had to admit there was a marked absence of new friends.

She had her reasons for that, of course…and she thought those reasons were actually pretty dang strong, but the fact remained that Samantha Giddings wasn’t the sort of person who thrived in isolation. She was a social creature at her core, and while the accident back home was still horribly fresh in her mind—a raw, throbbing nerve behind her eyes—maybe the time had come for her to pull herself up by the bootstraps and try again. Give it another go.

If nothing else, she was getting real tired of bumming around her dorm with no one else to talk to.

And that seemed like a solid line of thought, right? Sounded like a halfway decent idea?

Well it wasn’t! It wasn’t at all! Because it was precisely that hokey bullshit that had led her to…well…

This.

See, she’d closed her essay document. And then she’d opened her browser. She’d gone to the school’s homepage, then clicked around through its (absolutely atrocious) user interface until she’d found the extracurricular listings. She’d started in the athletics tag, obviously, but she was a hiker, a free climber—not a pilates person, or a weight lifter, or whatever the hell CrossFit people called themselves. She’d gone to the arts after that, but had only made it through two or three listings before she remembered that it took a very particular sort of person to deal with self-proclaimed ‘artistes’ for any period of time. So she’d taken a risk, a real gamble, and clicked on the tag labeled ‘Other.’

That was when she saw it.

‘Serious: Paranormal Enthusiast Needed!’

Of course she clicked on it.

Who in the right mind wouldn’t have?!

The listing had been unexpectedly well written, and still it only took a sentence for her to realize what it was actually asking for: a ghost hunter.

Ah. The joys of college.

The best part—the absolute best—was that the listing included a literal job application.

Again, of course she opened that link. Of course she did. This was too good, how was she supposed to pass it up?

With nothing better to do, she read through the application, snickering to herself. It was bad. So, so, so very bad…but so good, too. Good in the way truly horrendous movies were good; good in the way greasy, day-old takeout was good.

Each blank space was like the world’s weirdest Buzzfeed quiz, and she was weak to resist its pointless, time-wasting appeal. She lazily typed in response after response, scrunching her face up whenever an especially strange question necessitated an equally strange response.

Name?

Well that one was easy.

Sam Giddings.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Only Casper and Boo Berry.

Have you ever had a real-life experience you would consider paranormal in nature? If so, explain.

That was one of the face-scrunchers.

Once, I was sure I was out of gum, but then when I checked my bag again, there was actually still a piece left. Other than that? Probably not.

Why are you interested in this position?

Sam looked at the question for all of five seconds before shrugging, typing out a flippant reply.

Because why not, right?

And then, after more than a page of bananas-crazy questions like those, the final one almost caught her by surprise.

Do you have any tech experience?

Taught my dad to use an iPhone. He still doesn’t understand what an emoji is, but besides that, he seems to be doing okay.

She reread the ridiculous résumé, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “God. Takes all kinds…” She moved her cursor to the browser’s ‘Back’ button and clicked, thinking she’d give the athletics tag one last chance before giving up for the night.

Only…nothing happened.

Groaning, she clicked again…and again…but the page did nothing. She clicked on one of her bookmarks. Nothing. Clicked on the X to close the page. Nothing. Clicked to open a new tab, clicked to open her history, clicked to adjust her volume…nothing, nothing, nothing. She couldn’t open the task manager, couldn’t force quit her browser, couldn’t do anything, but her cursor just kept moving. Even as she waited, thinking maybe she was just dealing with some kind of lag, nothing changed.

The last straw came when she shut her laptop. Shut it, let it rest for ten minutes, then opened it again…to find no change.

“Cool. Great. This is exactly what I need right before midterms…” Sitting down to the desk, she gave it another go, clicking and clicking and—

The screen flashed.

Thank you for submitting your application! Someone will be in contact with you shortly!

Sam stared at the words, feeling her eyebrows creeping up her forehead.

Well. Shit.

That hadn’t been the plan. She’d meant to close out of the stupid thing, not send it in. Ugh.

She jiggled her finger against the laptop’s track pad and, lo and behold, when she clicked to a new page, it opened. No problemo. Like nothing had ever happened.

Sure. Fantastic. Why the hell not.

“…maybe someone’ll get a good chuckle out of all this, at least.” Too tired to think on it anymore, she shut the laptop again, going to take a shower.

So yeah, okay, in that way, it could be said the whole thing really was her fault. She had filled the questionnaire out instead of just laughing at it. A little social humiliation was the least she deserved for doing something like that, and honestly? After everything she’d been through the past year or so? A little social humiliation was the least of her concerns.

Or so she thought until she went to check her email, towel still wrapped around her wet hair, and saw the (1) next to her inbox. She didn’t recognize the sender’s name but opened it anyway, half-expecting to find a message from a classmate needing the day’s notes.

It was not from a classmate.

Hey Sam—

We’ve received your application, and if you’re still interested in joining the group, we’re going to be holding informal interviews tomorrow! Just come on over to The Willows complex off of 3rd and Main tomorrow at 7:30pm (apartment B10). Interviews typically take 15-20 minutes! Hope to see you there!

-A. Brown Collegiate Researchers Examining Extranormal Phenomena Society Representative

Something about the message itched at the very back of her brain. As she read and reread the frankly unnervingly cheerful email (knowing full well that she would never, ever, ever sink so low as to show up to a ghost hunting meeting in a stranger’s apartment), it finally hit her.

C.R.E.E.P.

Whoever the fuck they were, they called themselves the fucking CREEP Society.

Yeah, no thanks.

Hard pass.

She signed out of her email and got ready for bed, though only after making a mental note to thank her dad for putting the idea in her head.

Man oh man…there were some freaky people in the world

#my fanfiction #until dawn #sam giddings #happy halloween month heres a ghost hunting au

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junker-town · 6 years

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Dwane Casey’s new job might be the NBA’s toughest

We have that and more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.

The Pistons hired Dwane Casey as head coach on Monday, inking a five-year deal (no word if there’s a team option in there). That job security is important, but the expectations and reality of this team seem like a huge mismatch.

There’s also the small matter of the Pistons hiring a coach before a general manager. The last team that did this (at least in memory) was the Kings, who hired Michael Malone and then GM Pete D’Alessandro when Vivek Ranadive bought the team. Both the coach and the GM were gone within a few years.

Casey has Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, and Reggie Jackson. That seems like a core that should be moldable into something like a playoff team in the East. But the team lacks shooting and, critically, their first-round pick and any sort of salary flexibility. (Maybe that’s why a GM isn’t critical.)

What Casey did over time with the Raptors was wildly impressive. He’s going to have to be even more amazing to get the Pistons where the Pistons ownership -- namely Tom Gores -- expects Detroit to be. There’s also the issue of the team’s new arena, which needs some juice in the form of a good team ASAP.

No pressure, though.

Humility

Here’s Seerat Sohi on the evolution of the unselfish star in the NBA, from those who make plays for teammates (like LeBron) to those willing to share the spotlight for the greater good (like Stephen Curry). The psychology of NBA superstars is a fascinating topic.

There has to be a certain anti-selflessness to make it to the NBA. Note that I said “anti-selflessness” instead of “selfishness,” because the latter’s not quite right. That regard for the self has to be so strong to make it to the league and become a star there that it must be exceedingly difficult and take the right personality confluence for that regard for the self to then recede enough to be a good teammate, as Curry is by inviting Kevin Durant into his space to his own fame detriment.

It’s all pretty interesting, and would be more interesting if it didn’t all revolve around spicy takes and G.O.A.T. talk.

Links Galore

The Warriors’ parade is on Tuesday. The NHL champ Washington Capitals will also have their parade on Tuesday. Can you imagine if NHL and NBA champs from the same city or region won titles around the same time and celebrated together?! Like, imagine if the Sharks were the NHL champs right now or the Wizahahahahahha never mind.

I wrote a mock draft completely in haiku for Xth straight year (I don’t dare count them up lest I come across a stanza where I call Anthony Bennett the next Josh Howard or Trey Burke a modern Isiah Thomas).

Nice piece from Dan Grunfeld on LeBron’s only underrated trait: his character.

Kawhi Leonard updates! He and Gregg Popovich will apparently meet soon, and there’s a rumor that Leonard is on board with signing a huge extension with the Spurs.

Four WNBA myths debunked.

It appears the Raptors coaching search has narrowed to two names: Ettore Messina and Nick Nurse.

LeBron produced a documentary for HBO about unpaid college athletes.

Michael Pina attempts to put Steph Curry is historical context.

How sports leagues like the NBA are going to try to get paid on legal betting.

Dwyane Wade, who acknowledges he has no inside info, believes LeBron will focus on lifestyle and family over maximum chance for winning in free agency.

Today in Dang, You’re Old: 24 current NBA players were born after the Flu Game. Speaking of which, here’s Stu Scott’s highlight package from that game, 21 years ago.

Howard Beck talked to a bunch of retired stars about LeBron’s legacy and how much rings should matter. You’ll be shocked to learn that Kobe Bryant believes rings are just about the whole story.

Kevin Durant says he could see himself retiring at age 35. For the record, he is currently 29.

The twilight of Air Jordans.

Good championship cake.

WNBA Power Rankings! Are we worried about the Lynx yet?

Thaddeus Young seems like a candidate to opt in given a tight salary market -- he has $13.7 million player option -- but Woj reports he might become a free agent after all.

Kevin Pelton explains how LeBron could join the Rockets without stripping the team bare.

Martin Rickman on why LeBron staying in Cleveland makes more sense than you’d think.

The Bucks are selling lots of season tickets for their new arena. However, using “new season tickets sold” is a weird metric because the best-selling teams simply don’t have the turnover necessary to have many “new season tickets sold.” That said, Milwaukee is clearly ascendant in revenue factors and gate. Good!

In appreciation of Diana Taurasi’s collection of LeBron 15s.

Warriors fans are starting to wonder how far Golden State can go.

And finally: this SI cover pull from Sean Highkin is amazing.

Be excellent to each other.

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