roleplay: Ghost Hunt, SOMBERTOWNS

"so wash it a way, go out all day. don't stop to say anything to anyone you couldn't have saved before" ("bodega cat" good looking friends)

name
Reagan Jo Murphy

alias(es)
Rea/Ray (by friends and family), Jo Jo (by Harrison)

age
Twenty-two years old

gender
Cisgender Female

sexuality
Bisexual

birthday
June 23rd

faceclaim
Sydney Park

personality
Reagan has always been an action-forward person. In addition to being very determined, she is goal-oriented, two traits that result in someone who is naturally driven and always aims for efficiency. She pays close attention to detail, as opposed to trying to understand the larger picture, and likes knowing that there is a clear path towards action where she can achieve her desired result. She doesn't like when there isn't a clear solution but doesn't let that stun her into inaction. Instead, she puts in even more effort to find the best possible solution, often to her detriment, as she never lets herself rest until she is certain she has found the most "correct" answer. Additionally, she doesn't like that the world is not black and white. She is slowly coming to terms with the fact that there is often not one correct answer and is learning to live in the gray areas. Reagan is also very loyal. She always wants to be there for those she cares about, no matter what the situation is. She shows her love for people by trying to help them or find solutions to whatever is troubling them. In the past, her focus on tangible solutions has prevented her from connecting emotionally, but she is working on understanding that finding a solution to the issue doesn't always solve how someone feels. She is very easily trapped in her own perspective but is not afraid to admit when her perspective is wrong or adapt based on new information. Her dependence on logic has not made her closed off to new information or perspectives — in fact, she is very willing to hear multiple sides of the story to ensure that she has the greatest possible understanding. Still, she has a much easier time understanding detailed information than she does abstract ideas. Reagan is very resourceful and creative. She takes great pains to find out-of-the-box solutions — though she also highly values common sense — and does not become paralyzed by unexpected information. Her curiosity has almost always led her down the correct path. Though she is principled and independent, she does let herself rely on a select few people. Those people are able to get her out of her head and help her see the brighter parts of life. When she is comfortable around someone, she lets the more serious shell drop and gives into an impulsive side she takes great pains to hide. She strives for answers but knows that these answers are nothing without the people who help her find them and the fun they can have along the way.

backstory
warning: this backstory mentions a car accident that results in the death of a family member.
Reagan is the product of her parents' dedication. Her father, Jason, was a race car driver and had only been in the professional circuit for two months when he met Reagan's mother, Heather. She was the head race technician and while she had been working on the circuit for several years, it wasn't until Jason's third race that they actually met. They made a perfect team. They worked together for a year before they started dating, and five more years passed before they got married. Reagan and her twin brother, Jamie, were born three years after that. While Heather had already been considering leaving her job and opening her own automobile repair shop, it came as a shock to everyone when Jason announced he would be taking a few years off — though not retiring — from racing to be with his family. The four of them moved back to Jason's hometown and immediately got to work opening up their repair shop. With Heather's and Jason's combined experience and knowledge, their hard work paid off, their shop was a success, and they were able to be there to watch their kids grow up. Reagan and Jamie grew up in a very supportive household with a great support system made up of their parents, family friends, and grandparents. When Reagan and Jamie were nine, Jason went back to racing, though he only competed in charity races to raise money for causes his family helped him pick. Three years later, Jason was involved in an accident during a race. Another car fishtailed and crashed into his, sending them into a wall. Both Jason and the other driver died in the crash. The following years were incredibly difficult. In addition to grief, Reagan experienced a lot of anger directed towards the world in general. Life, of course, never returned to what it was before Jason passed away, but Reagan learned to adjust and her anger eventually faded. She got into a good college in the area and continued working with her mom while majoring in nursing and minoring in engineering. After graduating, she started night classes to get her Master of Science in nursing and is currently working with her best friend as a paranormal investigator. She hopes to become an ER nurse and use her engineering knowledge to help different communities (including the paranormal community), just like her parents both dedicated themselves to their goals and the causes they cared about.

family
parents | Heather Murphy (mother, alive), Jason Murphy (father, deceased)
siblings | James "Jamie" Harvey Murphy (twin brother, alive)
significant extended family | Josephine "Jo" Murphy (paternal grandmother, alive), Henry Murphy (paternal grandfather, alive), Rae Kim (maternal grandmother, alive), Jin Jeong (maternal grandfather, alive)

likes and dislikes
likes | Old cars, soccer, horror movies, jasmine perfume, drums, winter, gingerbread cookies, silver jewelry, comic books, apples, chess, physics and biology, coffee, rocky road ice cream, card games, knitting, and dystopian novels.
dislikes | Any superstitious signs of bad luck, small or cramped spaces, driving a car she doesn't own or being in a car someone else is driving, lavender, white chocolate, being interrupted, heights, big corporations, cooking, tea, and scented hand sanitizer.

misc. information
playlist
- "Bodega Cat" Good Looking Friends
- "Purge The Poison" MARINA
- "Mad At God" Sarah Saint James
- "New York Minute" Sig Figs Collective
- "Bloody Shirt" To Kill A King
fun facts
— Reagan is incredibly superstitious. She never goes anywhere without wearing a bracelet her dad made for her (she claims it's lucky) and she refused to go to Harrison's house for a month after his family adopted a black cat.
— She was detained twice, once when she was eighteen and once when she was twenty-one, at protests she helped organize. The charges were dropped and she doesn't even have a criminal record, but her mom definitely wasn't happy. Still, she knows she's fighting for what she believes in, even if there's consequences that are less than ideal. In her free time, she attends a lot of protests and likes volunteering with grassroots organizations — though she hasn't been able to volunteer as much between night classes and her job as a paranormal investigator.
— Reagan really loves Dungeons and Dragons. She started playing with her brother when they were in middle school and quickly fell in love with the game. She still has a ton of old character sheets stashed somewhere in her childhood bedroom.

———

"it's such a tragedy, when people hardly speak, to live up to the person you pretend to be" ("mr. know-it-all" young the giant)

name
Harrison Desmond Neiman-Nuñez

alias(es)
Desmond/Des (by Reagan)

age
Twenty-two years old

gender
Cisgender Male

sexuality
Pansexual

birthday
November 22nd

faceclaim
Diego Tinoco

personality
Harrison can be better described by the word "wise" than the word "intelligent." He doesn't lack knowledge, and he highly values education and learning, but his knowledge is much more focused on learning as he goes than it is on practical matters. He enjoys thinking about broader concepts, how they can be applied to the world around him, and how contradictions can coexist as situations change. He is comfortable with a lack of answers, but still gets caught up in trying to understand everything. The doubt and the questions can become too much, leading to a total shutdown as he falls into the trap of decision paralysis. He often finds himself getting too invested in his thoughts and head and misses cues and major changes. Still, he is good at connecting with people on an emotional level — even if he does sometimes get sidetracked by analysis — and has an unexpected charisma. He is the kind of person everyone knows they can depend on because even if he doesn't always understand the specifics of what is going on, he knows how to support people. He is very open and welcoming, whether he's just met someone or has known them for years. People are always a priority before achieving a goal, and he would gladly give up what seems like the most "logical" or optimal outcome if that outcome seems like it would harm others. Harrison is unexpectedly clever. He is quick on his feet and his adaptability is aided by his creative and adventurous nature. He is very perceptive and is always looking for new information, another possible answer, a detail he missed, or a new lead to pursue. His fun-loving side can sometimes get lost when he goes down one of the many rabbit holes of his thoughts, but it always comes back at one point or another. Harrison doesn't like conflict. He prefers being honest but has known to beat around the bush to avoid hurting someone. When he is involved in any kind of conflict, he will briefly get stuck before snapping out of it and working towards a solution. He is usually able to admit when he is wrong, even if it's hard, and would rather admit his mistakes than continue to unintentionally cause pain. He feels things very deeply, making him very empathetic and understanding. Even though he is an idealist, he is still very in tuned with the world around him and highly values every lesson he has learned and will continue to learn from the people in his life.

backstory
While Harrison's family and life doesn't follow the stereotypical structure, it's a life he wouldn't trade for anything. Harrison's parents, Lucy and Alissa, met at a concert. Both of them loved The Beatles and went to go see a cover band live but it didn't live up to their (very high) expectations. They ran into each other when they both left the theater early and were heading to the same subway station. As they talked, they found a shared love of music and it wasn't long before they started dating. Three years into their relationship, Lucy's father died and her mother decided to retire, so Lucy and Alissa took over their music store full time and even expanded into selling records and giving music lessons. Many years passed before they considered having children — the fact that they weren't able to get married complicated the situation, as one of them wouldn't have any legal ownership over their kids. Despite this, Lucy went through artificial insemination from a sperm donor and gave birth to Harrison nine months later. Two years later, Lucy was artificially inseminated for the second time and Lennon was born. Because of how they met, Lucy and Alissa gave their kids Beatles-inspired names: their first names came from members of The Beatles while their middle names came from some of their songs. Harrison and Lennon grew up surrounded by music and while they didn't love The Beatles like their parents did, their love of music was heavily encouraged by Lucy and Alissa, as well as their uncle, Manny. Manny never had any kids of his own but loved spending time with Harrison and Lennon. When same-sex marriage was legalized in their state when Harrison was twelve, Manny got ordained and acted as the couple's officiant for their wedding. Two years later, he died from a heart attack just a few weeks before the couple adopted their third child, Starr, and her middle name is from Manny's favorite Beatles song. Harrison was heartbroken by his uncle's passing and when college applications rolled around a few years later, he opted to stay close to home in order to be near his aunts, parents, and sisters. He wanted to be there for his family, just like Manny had always been there for him when he was growing up. He studied Philosophy in college with a minor in English. During school and after graduating, Harrison continued working at his family's music store part time before becoming a full time paranormal investigator. He still is very close with his family, including his aunts, and tries to make himself available to them whenever they need him, no matter what the reason may be.

family
parents | Alissa Neiman (mother, alive), Lucy Nuñez (mother, alive)
siblings | Lennon Jude Neiman-Nuñez (sister, alive), Starr Martha Neiman-Nuñez (sister, alive)
significant extended family | Manuel "Manny" Nuñez (uncle, deceased), Carlota "Carla" Nuñez (aunt, alive), Victoria Neiman (aunt, alive), Lola Nuñez (grandmother, alive)

likes and dislikes
likes | Reading, philosophy, crossword puzzles, cats, horror movies, spring, cinnamon buns, playing guitar, campfires, brownies, carrots, conspiracy theories, road trips, presentations, mystery novels, and libraries.
dislikes | Clowns, blood, the smell of coconut, going anywhere without his uncle's watch, waking up early, chess, camping, celery, the cold, being kept out of the loop, swimming, reading maps, needles, being late, and anchovies.

misc. information
playlist
- "Mr. Know-It-All" Young The Giant
- "Curses" The Crane Wives
- "Jane" Laundry Day
- "Mawce" Everybody's Worried About Owen
- "City Lights" Sig Figs Collective
fun facts
— Harrison bakes when he's stressed and almost always has a steady supply of baked goods waiting in his kitchen. All of his friends and family are very happy to take them off his hands when he makes too many and he also gives them out to the people who live in his apartment building.
— He's known how to play guitar since he was about seven years old. Alissa would always sing him and Lennon to sleep (and did the same for Starr many years later) while playing the guitar and Harrison eventually asked if she could teach him. They would have lessons twice a week and Lucy ended up teaching Reagan how to play drums at the same time, so they'd meet up after their lessons and show each other what they'd learned. Every so often, Harrison comes to teach a class at his family's music store for the intermediate guitar students.
— While Harrison will read just about anything, he particularly loves short stories and plays. For one of his senior papers, he wrote about how Antigone brings up questions surrounding life, death, and the validity of justice. His favorite book is a collection of short stories called Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat.

———

"when you're tossing, when you turn in your sleep, it's because i'm ghosting your dreams" ("ghosting" mother mother)

shared backstory
Harrison and Reagan have known each other for a majority of their lives. They met in first grade when they were put in the same class and instantly clicked, and their budding friendship was encouraged by their parents who had all been friends in college. It wasn't long before they discovered a shared love of the paranormal. Harrison was definitely more interested in it than Reagan, but her interest quickly began to rival his as their friendship grew. The two remained friends all throughout middle and high school and even into college — they attended different universities but went to school in the same city, so it wasn't uncommon for them to meet up on weekends to catch up with one another. While Reagan went on to pursue a master's degree in nursing by taking night classes, Harrison continued working at his family's store and spent his free time pursuing the paranormal. When he wasn't working, he was spending time going into old buildings that were said to be haunted, taking walks through forests in search for vampires or werewolves, and doing research about how to get in contact with spirits who hadn't yet left this plane of existence. It was only a matter of weeks before he (accidentally) stumbled upon his first ghost. Harrison immediately called Reagan and after a lot of convincing, she drove over to see the ghost for herself. Together they were able to communicate with her and, while it took a few tries, help her pass from this world on to the next.

Since then, Reagan and Harrison have been working together as paranormal investigators. It's a hard job to explain to their families, and Reagan still spends three nights a week taking nursing classes, but they really enjoy what they do and the fact that they get to work together. Additionally, the career is a great opportunity for them to do more research in their respective fields of study. Reagan is particularly interested in the physical side of things — how spirits are able to interact with the material world, how tangible things prevent them from passing on, and so forth — and is doing research into what the appearance of a ghost in relation to their demise can tell us about the existence of ghosts. Harrison was a philosophy major in college and spends a lot of time thinking about how philosophies surrounding life and death relate to the paranormal, especially whether or not the existence and stories of ghosts can prove (or disprove) philosophical concepts. They are also interested in seeing if this research can help them assist trapped spirits in passing on and banish spirits that have found ways to stay and wreak havoc. He also thinks the experience could help him if he ever chooses to apply to grad school for philosophy. They only have about a year of experience, but they're not half bad at their job and are eager to tackle even bigger missions — especially because they hope one of their journeys will give them the key to reaching Reagan's dad and Harrison's uncle.

misc. information
playlist
- "Ghosting" Mother Mother
- "Bad Dream Baby" Hippo Campus
- "Moving To New York" The Wombats
- "Magic Dance" David Bowie
- "Come Together" The Beatles

fun facts
— They have matching tattoos on their right ankles inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Reagan has a tattoo of his pipe and Harrison has a tattoo of his hat. It was Harrison's idea to get matching tattoos when they were both eighteen and Reagan is the one who came up with the designs.
— They started calling each other by their middle names when they were eight years old and obsessed with playing spies. They couldn't agree on a theme for their code names and Reagan's mom suggested using their middle names in an effort to get them to stop arguing, so they just went with it. They normally stick to first names now but it's not unlikely for them to call each other by their middle names as a joke.
— Harrison and Reagan constantly bicker over what to play on the radio when they drive. Reagan is always the one driving — partially because she gets nervous when other people drive and partially because Harrison just prefers sitting in the passenger's seat — and claims that means she can listen to her podcasts or NPR, but Harrison thinks it's boring and always insists that they need to play some old fashioned rock and roll to "set the mood" for their ghost hunting.

true forms/character comparisons
— Riz Gukgak (Reagan) and Kristen Applebees (Harrison), Fantasy High
— Rosalind (Reagan) and Celia (Harrison), As You Like It
— Eleanor Shellstrop (Reagan) and Michael (Harrison), The Good Place
— Robin Buckley (Reagan) and Steve Harrington (Harrison), Stranger Things
— Cameron Solomon (Reagan) and Af Flowers (Harrison), Cinderbrush

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