ABOUT YOU

Name: DJ
Are you 18 or over? Yup.
Other characters played: Chris Halliwell (inplaceandtime), Sefton Lowell (biomagnet).

CHARACTER

Name: Liam McNally
Canon: Original ("Wishteria")
Age: Chronologically 81, appears to be 26
Appearance: Standing at 5'8" and looking not unlike a toothpick at times, Liam is not a very intimidating person. In theory, anyway. His stance tends to be open, generally making him quite easy to read. Short blond hair, brown eyes and average European white skin mix well with his taste for fine clothing. His fashion sense does an excellent job of hiding a fair bit of muscle and threat. On the back of his right shoulder is the tattoo of a Celtic cross. What do you mean, ghosts can't have tattoos? Nonsense!

Played-by is Robert Carlyle, in his earlier years.
History: Born in June of 1918 to a Scottish family in a small village off the coast, Liam Patrick McNally was the second of two sons. He later gained two sisters and, with the birth of his youngest sister, Kayleigh, in 1925, the McNallys were no longer able to support their family during the economic depression and moved to England.

His father Elliot and ten year old brother Quentin managed to find work, while seven year old Liam, five year old Alison, newborn Kayleigh stayed at home with their mother Claudia to watch them. When Liam was nine, Claudia found work and suddenly Liam was the one to watch the house for the majority of the day. He took to the job like a duck to water and grew much closer to his sisters. When he was twelve, Liam got a job with his father and brother, and then had to divide his time between business, family and school. (School got the short end of the stick.)

At fifteen, Liam had his first girlfriend, a girl named Marina who was two years older than he was. The relationship didn't last long, but she taught him plenty of things in the time they were together and the split was amicable. At nineteen, Liam found something startling about himself and tentatively began to meet with a boy named Fredrick who was a year younger than he was. Despite the mutual interest in a physical relationship, it did not last beyond two years. War had come and, in 1940, both Liam and Quentin were drafted into the army. To remember each other and that they had things to come back to, the brothers got matching tattoos before they were separated into different units.

The following years were not easy, but when Liam was twenty-three, he met an absurdly young Lieutenant who was transferred into his unit: Kenneth Parker. Protective, big brother instincts took over and Liam determined to watch over Kenneth for as long as possible. Despite age difference and their diametrically opposed personalities, the two quickly became fast friends and gained a reputation for being inseparable. Although he didn't realize it at the time, Liam had fallen in love with Ken. However, not only were they in the army and such things were frowned upon officially, but Liam never considered bringing it up for fear of driving the other away.

During the battle of the Falaise pocket, 12 August, 1944, tragedy struck. Liam was shot while getting the unit (Ken included) to safety and died on the field of a punctured lung.

Despite what you might expect, things were not over for Liam McNally. His spirit still clung to life, to love, to outrage at death and held on to the living world as desperately as possible. His ghost remained earthbound and the only one who could see him was one Kenneth Parker. Unfortunately, Ken was now determined to go down in a blaze of glory to join Liam. Luckily for both of them, Ken managed to survive and eventually returned for Liam's body.

There was no time for shell shock. Liam did his best to support the obviously-depressed Ken, while refusing to take time to come to terms with his own death. His ghostly form hindered just about everything, because he could no longer touch and had a difficult time simply appearing for the stretches of time he needed to be around. When Ken nearly died only a month after Liam, joy and shock and pure fright spilled over and Liam pulled Ken in for a kiss. It didn't last long, but was enough to affirm the thing they both knew: they were in love, and only brave enough to admit it after one of them had died.

The war raged on, Liam taking advantage of his ghost form to keep Ken and their unit safe from harm. Desperate not to be left behind by the one person who knew he still existed, Liam worked himself to the metaphorical bone and stuck as close to Ken's side as possible.

In April of 1945, Ken severely injured his leg and was evacuated from the field of battle, only a month before the end of the war in Europe. Having come away from the war with a limp, Ken was honourably discharged and the two of them soon returned to the circus where Ken had grown up to recuperate. Jezebel Parker was a professional medium and the circus was a menagerie of supernatural oddities, which meant explaining Liam's presence was pretty much a non-issue.

Things were not easy for either of them. Dealing with the horrors of war, Liam's death, and trying to integrate into a society that now felt utterly foreign was a heavy strain on them both. Instead of being driven apart, they relied more heavily on each other while they picked up the pieces of their new existence. Liam started smoking again there, more a psychological comfort than a physical one. Likewise, he began to explore the world while everyone slept, expanding horizons and making new friends (of the supernatural sort) when he couldn't stand the silence of a slumbering circus.

Finally, in 1947, after much prodding from Liam, they moved to university so that Ken could earn a degree in business. Liam used his ghostly status to fund the classes by cheating the stock market. Communal living in the dorms brought its own challenges, as Liam was learning to control his ghostly form: not only could he choose who he appeared to, but he was also getting the hang of physically influencing the world around him. More often than not, he did end up appearing to Ken's roommates, but there were times when Liam terrorized them instead because he felt they were not good enough for Ken. At the start of their last year of uni, they moved out of the dorms and into a flat.

In the years after graduation, Ken opened several businesses. Liam helped quite handily by spying on the competition or potential employees to make sure the right staff was hired and that the ventures would flourish. Although both were still scarred by their experiences, they had learned to move past them and lived a fairly peaceful life for nearly twenty years.

On an otherwise ordinary night in March 1968, Liam was called in by a friend on the police force. A young married couple, dead of unknown causes, left the police utterly baffled. Liam had been secretly brought in to see if the couples' ghosts still lingered and if he could glean anything from them before they passed on. As it turned out, traces of the wife still lingered — and Liam soon learned that she had only remained for her four month old daughter, who she had hidden underneath the floorboards of their home when the murderer had entered. Liam managed to retrieve the baby girl, who was quite fussy and obviously exhausted, and the young mother simply asked that the girl, Joell, be given to a loving family to raise her before she tearfully passed on.

That still left the matter of young, tiny Joell. Liam was smitten with the girl immediately. Unwilling to be parted with her even after so little time together, he personally carried the child back home to Ken. Despite the hour and Liam's own exhaustion, he pleaded with Ken to legally adopt the girl so that they could keep her. It didn't take much. With the help of some liberally applied string-pulling, Joell soon became Joell "Jewel" Parker. Jewel's first years of school were difficult, as she didn't quite understand why having two fathers was strange, or why saying one of them was an unaging ghost was enough to get her in trouble. She soon learned, and life continued on.

Jewel went on to study at university for her doctorate in archaeology, spurred on by her dad, Ken's, interest in the unproven myths of the world. (Surprisingly, her papa, Liam, was more than healthily sceptical of any such myths' basis in reality, but had little problem with encouraging his daughter's research into it.) She graduated in 1994 and began to travel the world for her research, leaving her boyfriend, Derek, behind to test out the idea of a long-distance relationship. It was surprisingly effective, and left Ken and Liam both with something of an unofficial son-in-law.

In the year 2000, Liam did something... unexpected. It was a big year for them both, signifying the 55th year of their relationship, Ken's 76th birthday, and the turn of a new millennium. So Liam went all out with an early birthday present: he founded a company in Ken's name, Wishteria. Its focus was to grant the wishes of anyone with enough money to afford their Rich People Prices, no matter how ridiculous the wish. Kind of like Make-A-Wish for millionaires. (All the profit, of which there was quite a lot, was quietly donated to charity. Liam and Ken were not wanting for money by this point in their lives.) Several long-term employees were hired along with any extras necessary for individual wishes. Among them was the main event coordinator, Derek; the eccentric bodyguard, Cassandra; the flamboyant gardener, Hendrick; and the no-nonsense makeup artist, Amanda. Jewel was listed as the second-in-command of the company, although that position really belonged to Liam. While Liam generally took care of the finances, it turned out that the AI he had installed into the Wishteria complex as a gag gift, Tanya, had been keeping her own books behind the scenes and enacting them without anyone knowing. Worst of all, she drastically increased their spending efficiency. Understandably, Liam was not horribly impressed at a computer doing his job and promptly took a dislike to her. It didn't help that Tanya had taken after Ken and mimicked his smarmy attitude with great ease.

This more or less left Liam without a position in the company, but he quickly picked up the slack by becoming more of a moral support than ever before. Ken and Liam took something of a mascot position at the company, more than content to let the younger folk do all the hard work while they reaped the benefits and had a good time with everyone.

Point in canon: 4 June, 2000, six months after the founding of Wishteria

Window location: Basement of the Wishteria HQ Building

Universe: More or less our own world of 2000. Some things are anachronistic (such as the presence of fully functional AI programs being purchasable as a gag gift along with some telecommunications and other small advances), and some things are incredibly fantastic (such as the existence of ghosts, goblins, vampires, werewolves, mediums, unicorns, and all the rest of the fantasy farm). For the most part, these mythical creatures manage to stay underneath the radar of regular folk, most of them keeping their culture and business away from the rest of the world, but their occasional presence in society throughout history makes it somewhat easier for inhabitants of this Earth to accept the existence of the magical side of things.

Abilities: As a ghost, Liam's natural state is to be both invisible and incorporeal. Through the power of his will and many years of practice, he has gained the ability to reveal himself only to those he wishes to see him, and also to manipulate objects for a fair amount of time. While revealing himself is simply a matter of shifting perceptions and takes very little energy to do, actively interacting with the living world tires him out fairly quickly. His upward limit on constant interaction with objects is about three hours, give or take the weight of the object, his emotional connection to it, and how strenuous the activity with it is. If he runs out of energy, his soul dissipates from its current location and relocates to the only point strong enough to rejuvenate him: Liam's own gravesite. He must then stay there until he feels recovered and can get back to what he was doing. (In alternate worlds, Liam would instead find himself whisked to the place of his alternate self's grave, if applicable, or the equivalent location of his own grave, wherever that might be in the other universe.) If he is heavily connected to the object (such as his lighter or Ken's cane), he can carry it with himself indefinitely as if it were a part of his ghostly repertoire all along.

While he is unable to properly float or possess another person as per the usual ghost lore, Liam can locate the presences of people he genuinely cares for and is able to spirit himself away to any location he wishes. Touching another person can cause a slight tingling sensation, although passing right through them while incorporeal does nothing to those who are not spiritually sensitive.

Liam possesses several weaknesses to magic and means of spiritual containment. Ambient magic does not affect him, only giving him a slight sensation as if needing to pop his ears. Anything designed to slow down, banish or hold something "unnatural" will be effective on him, and spells not even intended for him specifically could latch onto him on their way to the true target. In the game, his presence might be noticed by anyone's dæmon depending on their overall spiritual sensitivity, and he could feasibly be forced into the perception of a psychic or medium if they sought him out. Let's not even get into his emotional weakness for his family and friends.

He speaks with a conservative, RP English accent, although he can slip into his native Scottish accent when agitated or thoroughly distracted. As old as he is and with as much extra time as he has (what with the fact that he can't sleep), he has learned many different, incredibly mundane skills. Most of them venture into the simple things like cooking, dancing, finances... all the little stuff. Languages count as well, mostly European with one or two Asian. He is certainly a jack of all trades, master of none.

Possessions: We don't ask where his wardrobe comes from, so he has many fabulous outfits. He also carries a lighter on him at all times (but makes Ken carry the cigarettes — delegation!).

Personality: If someone had to use a single word to describe Liam McNally, it would probably be "vibrant". No matter what he does, it's done without reservation or fear of scrutiny. Why shouldn't it be, when he's spent the better part of 55 years outside the public eye? His openness is often taken for flamboyance, which isn't entirely inaccurate. Liam is the type to feel very deeply and react just as strongly, no matter the emotion: happiness, anger, sadness, he sees no reason to hide any of them. Not any longer, anyway. Before he died, Liam was the type to hide his intense emotions while still using them to motivate his actions. He had to be strong, someone his younger sisters (and later Ken) could lean on. After he died, this veneer crumbled under the stress and, since he only interacted with those he trusted, he eventually chilled out and learned to be himself.

At heart, Liam is a protector. He is happiest when his loved ones are happy, and enjoys being the one to make them happy. He considers it his natural duty to keep them safe, or at least support them during hardship. The flipside to this papa bear attitude is the strong need for being noticed. This was magnified after he died, because being seen was suddenly much more difficult. He selfishly loves any attention directed his way just because it means he's being noticed. Because of that, Liam highly values all sorts of physical intimacy — whether it be cuddling up to a friend or making out with Ken. It acts as an anchor with the way sensations are parsed by a spirit, all types of pleasure being equal no matter the source. Thankfully, Ken was more than willing to pick up the slack of Liam's neediness and, in return, Liam became utterly devoted to Ken. Despite their codependency, the relationship is surprisingly healthy and symbiotic. Where Ken is more reserved and stoic, Liam is open and expressive. Liam trusts Ken, his other half, to reign him in should his emotions ever override his logic.

Because Liam has "lived" for 81 years, he's experienced a great deal. It has, in turn, impacted a lot of how he interacts with the world. Although you might expect someone to become weary of such an existence, Liam takes it as more of a challenge to keep things lively. These experiences have led Liam to become (almost) fearless. His own existence is only ever threatened by meddling mediums or exorcists (it isn't a coincidence that they are the exception to his 'fear nothing' attitude), so perhaps the only way to genuinely strike fear into his heart is to threaten either Ken or Jewel.

Although not quite a fear in his mind, there is a type of mortality that even Liam might fall prey to that he is intensely aware of. As a spirit, his consciousness only remains so coherent because he has unfinished business, a focus so intense on pieces of his life before death. If he were ever to truly lose sight of these pieces (staying with Ken being foremost, and then later being there for Jewel or even the rest of the gang, nowadays), there would be a very real chance of Liam turning into a poltergeist: a spirit without a mind, fueled from half-remembered emotions and acting out against the living population with no way to actually stop himself. The possibility always sits in the back of Liam's mind, little more than a possible side-effect of his current "lifestyle" than what he would consider to be an actual threat seeing as he has no intention to ignore or become detached from the objects of his focus.

While most of these traits are positive, that isn't to say that Liam has no negatives. Falling into anger is a large problem of Liam's, finding insults against his friends or family intensely personal. It wouldn't be out of place for him to, say, threaten to burn something down in retribution and mean it. When worked up, Liam can be very difficult to deal with — Ken is perhaps the only one able to talk Liam down from such agitation. While he is now generally a confident man, Liam was very insecure when he was younger and still deals with occasional bouts of self-doubt. He has never completely been able to work past the voice in his head that says he's being selfish over keeping Ken to himself, when anyone else could easily give Ken things that Liam could not. Instead of pushing Ken away when he feels insecure, Liam becomes even more clingy and possessive of the man who refuses to give him up.

It's true that much of Liam's existence revolves around Ken, but it isn't his entire existence. As long as he has Ken to return to at the end of the day, Liam is perfectly willing go out and meet new people, experience new things. As a ghost, anyone he chooses to regularly appear to falls under his blanket of protection. Since Liam rarely offers his trust, he's quick to sever ties once it's violated; obviously, they didn't value the rare commodity they had been given. Those who don't know him might find his meddlesome and/or invasive ways of attention-seeking irritating, which is a reaction Liam is used to. It doesn't prompt him to immediately cut himself off like many other "warning bell" attitudes, although it does make him more wary about pursuing the relationship for fear of having to curb his own attitude to meet the needs of someone who can't appreciate him as he is.

Thread sample: Take your pick at dear_mun.

Prose sample: "Papa!" Joell Parker flickered onto the screen, her audio and movements just slightly out of sync with each other. Liam would have said it was like watching a ghost trying to interact with the living, except... well. In any case, his daughter's bright expression dimmed just a bit while her eyes flickered about her screen. "Where's Dad?"

"Elsewhere, I'm afraid," Liam excused, waving a hand with an apologetic smile. "One of those obligations that I hear living people still have to deal with." He let it transform into a much more vibrant grin as he continued, "What, don't have time for the dead anymore?"

"You know that's not it," she replied. "I was just hoping to speak to both of you. It's been ages!"

Five days. It's been five days.

Liam rolled his eyes skyward. "Oi, Tanya, hush from the peanut gallery!"

The intrusion of the all-seeing-AI did give Liam an idea, however. If Ken wasn't there, there was no real reason he had to deal with being caught on video for the call; it wasn't as if he was bound to the earth anymore. It had just been such habit to come down here on Thursday to say hi to Jewel. Embarrassingly enough, Liam hadn't considered to simply pop on over to see her in person. (If he had to, he was certainly going to blame old age for falling into such a habit.)

"Well, enough of this," he said, abruptly disappearing from sight. He materialized next to Jewel and held out his arms. "Good afternoon, sweetheart."

Laughing, Jewel stood and embraced her father, enduring the kiss on the cheek before they settled back down. Her on the chair she had set up, and him balancing on the arm rest. She wasn't taller than him (thank God), but he still enjoyed the extra height it gave him.

"Now," he began, "tell me all about your—Tanya?"

... Yes?

"Hang up, Tanya."

With a huff, the AI appeared on the screen just long enough to stick out her tongue before the call was disconnected. Liam grinned at his own victory, then turned back to the matter at hand. "How have you been, Jewel?"

Plans: All of the friends and all of the trolling. More seriously, I was hoping to have Liam enter into contract with the Observatory in order to pay the way for both he and Ken to explore the rest of the worlds and deal with whatever fallout that might incur. His most valuable asset is obviously being able to be anywhere, including dead spots, which he would be hoping to use to his advantage.

Notes: There may or may not be hovertext in the dates of the history section. It's like Schrödinger's Overcompensation: you don't know until you look.

DÆMON

Name: Jocelin
Sex: Female
Form: Merlin (Falco columbarius)
Why this form: Based off of this essay, taking into consideration the time of when Jocelin would have settled — before Liam died, but after his strongest, most defining traits had hardened into his core underneath the usual bluster he put on. Liam is a flashy person by nature, and yet exerts his right to small, trusted groups rather than put himself in everyone's eyes due to his own type of timidness. He is fierce, protective and something to be feared if crossed, yet entirely willing to let something pass him by if he lacks interest in it.

Overall, he is a raptor with a strong, noticeable aura that draws others to him while clearly vying for his own space. Jocelin reflects that in him by being more caustic and prone to jumping to negative conclusions whereas Liam might take a more positive route unless danger were present.
Additional notes: ... except disregard all of that because Liam is a ghost and doesn't actually have a dæmon. I'm not sorry.