#mickey taylor

I don't have a strong grasp on how the exact system works. I should. But I want to put some more research into how these things are genuinely practiced before I get into it. part of this was inspired by a story an old friend told me about how her grandmother had tried magic from the "left-hand path" and saw something so terrible she converted to Catholicism. thats kind of where Im coming from/looking for if you get what I mean?

The Real Story

heres a not-short summary of how the story would sort of go if I ever sat down to write it

A ghost passes through Mickey, not an unusual event. The spirit is curled on the floor and looks like he ought to be holding someone by the way his arms are hanging in the air. after a moment crying softly he notices the change in environment and physicality. Mickey asks (a tad bluntly) who he is and how he died, to which the man sitting beside her answers hesitantly; his name is Leo and he was shot in his own home, late at night. the last thing he remembers is being in his boyfriends arms as he faded away. searching for some sort of magick link she presses what he knows about his assassins, unable to recall a dream about someone bleeding out from bullet wounds recently. when she learns that he does not have any real affairs in the living realm to close she gets especially confused. why would his spirit linger on if there was no wish it needed fulfilled aside from more time? stuck together, the two learn to get along and let down their walls as Mickey reluctantly travels down the West Coast to reunite Leo with Will. at the same time Will begins researching into the occult and its magick to bring back his boyfriend because he misses him :(( story concludes with Leo coming back to life and not really remembering the last few months and others things happen probably.

idk what else to say that's kind of it. the reason why he didn't fully die btw is because Will revives him, therefore he still has to be present in the world in some way. that's the occult link I'm not sure how obvious I was with that

About AU(s)

there is nothing i love more than to put my guys in situations. You refer specifically to my fantasy/oathbreaker au. Its my most recent and most thought-out world. I shall expound below

Mickey is a knight assigned as a personal guard to a princess of the realm (Celeste) and the two slowly fall in love with each other but have much angst and tension because as a knight Mickey has a vow to chastity. Somehow, for some reason, Mickey and Celeste have to flee undercover through the country and back to the capital. Leo is a dragon who is outcast from the land of dragons for a reason I haven't come up with yet and fills his hoard by scamming people in many different ways. He meets Will (also a knight but not working with the crown directly) when the knight breaks up a rigged game he was playing against Mickey and Celeste to capture the dragon. since they are all heading to the city now they decide to have a good old fashion buddy road trip with heavy romcom vibes. uhhh eventually they all break their oaths and live happily ever after I think. maybe they run away wouldn't that be lovely

- Mickey does not have any powers in this au(maybe still the visions I think its really fun) but Leo does have abilities in her stead

- he can shift from a full on dragon to a human appearance with sort of a nice middle spot where he's like human sized but has many dragon-like features (tail, horns, assorted scales, a monsterfuckers dream) he also secretes a pheromone that intoxicates his prey making them more susceptible to his schemes or a meal if he's hungry

- I could make like. a post about this au on its own with all my little mental notes and some scene outlines I have. that would be nice

Other Noteable AUs

-> Western

- Leo specific - garnering an impressive bounty on his head as rustler, Leo is arrested by a local sheriff (Will) after meeting in a saloon. - kind of the same story just different time although he does not die. And Leo does meet his father as an adult in this one (as the judge on his case teehee) - shoots himself in the foot when he meets Will (literally <3)

-> Apocalypse

- Mickey specific - a mysterious and fast acting fungus overtakes the human population and converts them into zombies, complete with the hunger for human flesh - attempting to raid houses since the worlds clearly gone to shit Mickey comes across Celeste and her friend hiding out and the three group together to find safety in numbers - i looooooove final girls when they get angry protective and covered in blood

-> Heist

Starting off with Leo! His broad strokes is that he is an ex-con artist who gets killed after turning a new leaf and then is brought back to life by his boyfriend.

Full Name: Leo Anthony Moore

-> Leo was supposed to be named after his zodiac sign; his mother was very invested in horoscopes and "fortune tellers" throughout her entire life. Leo learns in his teenage years that it is actually just cold reading bullshit and while he can't bring himself to let down something that his mother holds so dearly he festers a deep hatred for anyone using that kind of stuff to take advantage of people. he does use similar methods in his early twenties to make quick cash which he feels. normal. about doing.

-> His middle name comes from his fathers given name. I'll get into their relationship later :)

-> Because he often made money in dubiously legal ways Leo often would assume slightly different names. at points he considered using his mothers maiden name but didn't want to associate her name with criminal activity. the same issue never quite occurs to him when he uses his middle name as a given name.

-> when he marries his husband, Will, neither of them take each others names because of assorted preferences/guilt.

Birth date: July 6, 1982

-> "Bee, if Leo was meant to be named after his zodiac why is he a cancer?" because he was supposed to be born on July 29 <3 this was something his mother teased him about often although during his birth this deeply upset her

-> born in Vancouver but his parents moved down the coast to California when he was about six months old. in terms of accent he generally adopted the local tongue but you can hear the Canadian in him from his mother

-> if a bar graph were to be made about how excited he is for birthdays it would be a steady climb up until his 23rd birthday and then levels out with a decline beginning around the time he turns thirty. however after he dies there is a discontinuity where suddenly birthdays become magical again. crazy what dying does to a person.

-> although he may not be excited for his birthday he is always aware of its arrival. even if there isn't a big fuss being made about it he'll still find time to have at least one drink in respect to another year

Death - shot in the chest around early to mid 2020's

-> an act of revenge on behalf of someone he significantly scammed. for something so important in his life I haven't thought of that relationship yet

-> happens late at night after a row between Leo and Will that isn't resolved when the two go to sleep separately. yada yada Leo dies in Wills arms and its pretty sad

-> when Leo is brought back to life via Will meddling with occult magic, the worlds perception shifts to fit his life back in. investigation for murder? no, this was always a missing persons case for a man who faked his death to escape criminal prosecution

-> the change is not a complete one as Leo, Will, and a few close friends remember what actually happened to him -> there would also be a handful of random people who miss the story change. I like the idea of a true crime streamer investigating his case online when he comes back and being completely gaslit by their chat about what crime occured -> because of the change of perception he faces criminal prosecution for his supposed faked death. the subsequent jail time is something I'll talk about another day

-> when Leo is revived he has scars along his chest where the bullets hit him. Recuuringly also develops a pneumothorax in the left lung (which was penetrated by a bullet)

-> what's his second death? not important. nothings better than your first

Relationships

Patricia Rose (Patty) Moore (Madden) - Mother

-> one of the most important people in his life.

->although Leo was a surprise she was his number one from the moment she learned she was pregnant. she begs Anthony to marry her so that their child won't get any bullying and he starts a new job to support their new family. they move to Cali as part of their "honeymoon" and are happy for around two years. when he leaves she denies that he's gone for good until a nine-year old Leo comes home and announces that he knows his dad isn't coming back again. she still never looks to break off the marriage or find a new partner

-> big-time subscriber to the "let your kids play unsupervised until dark" agenda. mostly because she overworks to support and cant afford childcare.

-> terrible chain-smoker but tried to instill a fear of the addiction in Leo. although it led to her death around 2004, he still thinks of her habit fondly whenever he smells cigarette smoke

-> she never learns about Leos cons; if she knew how he was sending her so much extra money he wasn't sure if she'd let him get off scot-free.

-> was definitely the first to see Leo was gay and supported him even when he was trying to hide his boyfriends from her. if she had lived to meet Will she would have loved him

Anthony Lee Moore - Father

-> deadbeat of the century

-> shortly after Leo is born Anthony gets transferred to a California branch of his company and the young couple go south. after a year he takes many more "business trips" back to Canada and then never comes back from one shortly after Leos second birthday.

-> Leo's first memory is playing catch with him in the park. that is the only memory of physically being with his father.

-> deeply resents his father for being absent and generally tries to blame his mistakes for not having the paternal figure

-> since he has a beard in almost every picture Patty kept of him, Leo cannot stand letting his facial hair grow out long enough for fear of looking like Anthony

William (Will) Novak - Boyfriend/Husband

-> the one who didn't let Leo get away

-> like all healthy couples Will and Leo meet face to face when Will shows up at his apartment with a warrant for his arrest. Leo, normally adept at talking his way out of situations finds himself tongue tied before being brought back to the station.

-> Will cuts him a deal to help in a different investigation and oops they catch feelings. character develops a bit and they move in together before he's killed

-> Will is so distraught at the idea of living without Leo he turns to otherworldly forces to bring him back to life and then the two navigate the fallout of that. but they do get married after that so it cant be that bad

Calvin Idowu- Friend

-> also a police officer, Calvin is buddies/partners with Will and works with him and Leo on the other case. he and Leo connect over a love of watching hockey and growing up in the same neighborhood.

-> there is a part of Leo who wonders if he'd be like Calvin if he'd made different choice in his life. there's no resentment or jealousy behind this one; just a bit of self-loathing

-> if asked would probably be their third

Relations that Exist but I Haven't Fully Fleshed Out

-> Childhood Neighbour Friend

-> lived next door to his mothers apartment -> both loved hockey and would spend hours playing it together in the street -> first crushes without realizing it. at around eight they kissed just to "practice for girls" -> friend moves away shortly after and they lose contact until after Leos death where they meet in a support group

-> high school girlfriend?

-> they both were really into theatre and would sneak into threatres to watch shows from secret spots backstage. sometimes I think about them meeting again later in life that leads to another ramble that really would get me off track

-> Hockey teams

-> the first team Leo joined was when he is about 13. the group was brutally cut throat and with Leo being a bit of a weak link he got picked on relentlessly. he picks up smoking with them after practice before parents come pick them up to gain camaraderie but his season ends just short of playoffs when a malicious puck catches him in the face and results in a last scar just below his right temple -> his second team is one he joins post-prison, a rec group of past convicts gone pro (in a beer league). this is a much more healthier group as they try to hold each other accountable. Leo gets another puck to the face which takes him off the ice before the final game

-> Various Estranged Half-Siblings

-> basically Anthony has a moderately sized family with another woman before and after Leo is born. neither side is completely aware of each others existence until Anthony passes and when going over his will the others learn about Leo and invite him to the funeral. Leo accepts but its awkward as hell. Leo gets fed up with them and nobody bothers to keep contact with him. -> he holds a deep down jealousy towards his new siblings because Anthony was there for them as a parent. the siblings struggle to connect with him because they suddenly have a very uncomfortable explanation for the two years their dad spent working in the states and the occasional arguments their parents had -> Leo is very unlikely to bring them up without coaxing and depending on his age is either flippant or regrets blowing the connection with family -> the others dont speak often of him but when news about his death circles back to them they send condolences to Will. this is the first he learns of them

Too much? That's only one half of my rambling baby because its time to talk about my number one girl 5ever: Mickey!! Her deal is that she is plagued by visions of terrible deaths and acts as a door between life and death.

Full Name: Mikaela Marie Taylor

-> nickname Mickey comes from an old stuffy of hers (named Mickey). she'd carry it everywhere and her fathers started calling them "The Two Mickeys." While the stuffy did not survive the nickname sure did.

-> having a nickname that is traditionally more masculine is a big source of pride for her and a connection to her aunt. if it had not come up she'd probably go by her last name

-> on the other hand, her middle name is a big source of contempt for herself. its too feminine for her taste and would really get riled up whenever her fathers pulled it out in the full name scolding

Birthdate: November 2, 1993

-> birthdays were never that important to her, even as a child. Mickey was never keen to hold the spotlight for too long as a child and the older she gets the more she hates being the centre of attention

-> doesn't really keep track of it and if asked would try to change the subject before pausing to remember. maybe I'll give something related to this or maybe its just a preference. who knows?

Abilities

Visions - recurring dreams where she witness deaths; months or years before they occur

-> the first time she has such visions is something that comes up later :)) its a very important lore moment

-> typically the deaths she witnesses have some sort of a supernatural element to them. this also plays into a later ability she has

-> this is something that plauges her from the tender age of six or something. again lore important thing but her fathers try very nicielys to get her help in any ways but alas

-> since she is (understandably) very uncomfortable with the dreams she has terrible insomnia. sometimes she convinces herself passing out drunk helps. other times she'll swear by just having another body in bed with her helps.

Gateway - body acts as a connection point for deceased spirits with unresolved issues to return to the mortal plane in some way to get closer to closure

-> not something she necessarily has control over. because this plays into her third ability she can technically limit/control how often a spirit crosses through her. however she also heavily depends on the third ability thus bringing more spirits with her

-> having a spirit enter through her is also. not fun. I wont go into crazy detail here (however I am always playing with a short prose of this in my head) but a quick overview below

it begins with the rapid development of cold/flu (ie feeling too hot while shivering, horrible stomach ache, blurry vision and rocking headache). then this pale blue ectoplasm begins to secrete from her skin and eyes, also coating the inside of her mouth, throat, and stoamch. after at minimum half an hour enough of the plasm will have passed out of her body (usually via throwing up once or thrice) and collect into the spirit that has been channeled through her.

-> the average ghost is one that she dreams about dying. these deaths usually have a supernatural connection to them (old family curse, ex knows an etsy witch, kid messing in occult magick gone wrong etc)

-> the ghosts are not visible to other people and probably cant interact with their surroundings. but I might change my mind idk

-> I haven't really decided what happens to the ghosts after they cross over. either their tied to Mickey which requires rules about radius they can travel away from each other and ways to send them back to where they are meant to be or she can just...abandon them and try to forget about it. tbh I like the implications of both

Walk Between the Veil - slip both body and soul between the living and deceased

-> in the spirit side she can see both the dead and impressions of those alive and has a limited ability to interact with objects/bodies across the veil because her living body is taken with her

-> most enjoyable by a long shot, as it does not make an active drain on her physical health. uses it whenever she needs (or wants) a quick escape from situations

-> if someone were to focus on her as she slips away it would be a short fade out. while its not often she has attention focused on her alone this does mean she'll still try to find a private or overly crowded place to do so

-> she can only hold her place in the spirit realm for about an hour comfortably, after which bad things (that I'll clarify someday) start to arise and force her to return

-> being there also increases the likelihood that spirits will cross to through her when she returns (like I talked about earlier remember!!!!) and the longer/more often she crosses, the more frequently she is used as a bridge

Relationships

Elias Michael (Eli) Taylor - Dad

-> biologically he is technically her uncle. yes, Mickey is pretty aware of that from a young age, no shes never been bothered by it. he always wanted kids, was rather disappointed by accepting that he was gay and had an uphill battle to adopt so when his little sister confided that she was pregnant but didn't want to raise a child he jumped on the chance she gave to be a father

-> mickey is a normal enough child for a while. she is the sort to physically stand up for herself when bullies push her around and easily aligns with more tomboy interests. she does struggle a bit with authority, staying out of places she's told not to go, and taking things that arent hers behind others backs. none of the first few are outright discouraged but Eli is more often the one to be the bad guy about the last two pieces. those lessons never quite rubs off on Mickey

-> however things start getting batty at age 7 when mickey has her first dream-vision: she wakes up in the middle of the night to a huge crash while a huge storm rages and climbs out of bed to go see her fathers room. when she enters the room she sees that a tree has fallen on top of their bed and crushed them to death. obviously disturbs both her and her fathers and it recurs a few nights a week, resulting in lost sleep, an anxious attachment to her parents and a huge fear of thunderstorms

-> Eli is more in the camp that they dont need to find a pathological explanation for her deal and advocates for trying to stop her from dwelling on it. nothing works though and she forever has this dream although the amount it plays varies throughout her teenage years. she sometimes would have a few months where it disappears before coming back for a week straight

-> the spring before her seventeenth birthday Mickey has the dream again. she hears the crash. its dark, rain pours down her window and despite her apprehension she climbs out of bed to check on her dads. sleep still weighs so heavy on her that she doesnt register how loud the rain is by the time she approaches the closed door. she pushes it open and is horrified to see the trunk of a large tree where her dads were sleeping. but the dream doesnt end there. its not a dream anymore.

-> so yeah they're just dead for realsies and ever now :P

Stephan Raffael Anderle - the other Dad

-> met Eli around Mickeys birth because he is a social worker that is assigned to the adoption case. im not familiar with the reality of whether or not this is a situation where social services would necessarily be involved but i guess its my story so who gives a shit?? either way the two men hit it off and start dating a couple months after Mickey is born

-> one thing i do know for sure is that Ontario allows gay couples to adopt their partners children in 1995, two years after Mickeys birth. i did not learn this until after i set the date but isnt that swell? this is important to Mickey on a personal level because she literally lives through the world opening up to supporting her family and her and inspires a passion for social justice. and she is the ring bear at her fathers wedding in 2005, naturally

-> because of his background working with family supports he is the one spearheading that Mickey sees all these specialist and shrinks for her dreams. very worried for his little girl and maybe pushes a little too far when she starts getting fed up with being a basket case

-> tbh i havent come up with much to differentiate the two men yet. not enough time to be weird about their lives

Charlotte Alice (Charlie) Taylor - Aunt

-> biologically yes she is Mickey's mother. at the time she got pregnant (her first year of university) she did not want to give up her opportunities to be a single mother. she considered abortion but did recall how much her older brother had wanted to raise kids when they were younger. offered to let him adopt the baby and bada-bing bada-boom!

-> on-and-off figure in Mickeys early life, but someone little Mickey considers a dear friend and inspiration. her free-spirit, make-life-your-own mindset rubbed off on Mickey a lot

-> when Mickey is around five Charlie takes a job out in some far out country and slowly cuts contact with the family. maybe has some argument/falling out with her fathers idk

-> while its not something she'd put together by herself, this is the first thing to feed into Mickey's belief that everyone she loves leaves or dies

-> tries to get in contact after Mickey finishes high school but learns what happened to Eli and Stephan and that Mickey sort of fell off the face of the earth a few years after

Emily (Esmeralda, Emmy) Hall - Dead Girlfriend

-> high school goth girlfriend and the reason Mickey has most of her powers (there is a lot of story here sorry abt that)

-> Esmeralda is her preferred name because she thinks its more goth than Emily. she doesn't really hold altnerative values though, more of an asshole who wears a lot of dark clothes and makeup

-> they attend the same Catholic high school and are outsiders from main groups (bc butch and goth respectively and anti-social collectively). after meeting in ninth grade they grow co-dependent as their peers exclude or pick-on them

-> Esmeralda would not describe herself as attracted to women (internalized homophobia talking) but is the one who makes the first move at a romantic relationship in grade ten. Their relationship is rocky partially because she refuses to call admit she is bi and likes to play hot and cold with Mickey, who in turn does kind of play around with other people since obviously Esmeralda doesn't treat her seriously

-> Esmeralda also practices occult magick and is okay at it due to a family history of practicing it(I might explain more in the other post?) sometimes it becomes a bit of a sex thing when she does a spell and while Mickey isn't crazy about it or believes in it she just lets it happen. Emmy also tries to interpret Mickey's dream but spits bullshit

-> after her dad's die, Mickey lives with a foster family or two in the GTA but she runs away every time to stay with Esmeralda and when she ages out the two get an apartment together and get really messy

-> after living together for a few years Esmeralda has managed to cut Mickey off from what few friends she has left in favour of helping her prepare her biggest idea yet: cutting open the veil speak with the deceased. not really for Mickeys benefit (five years havent even passed since her parents died) but just kind of generally because its cool

-> because Mickey doesnt want to play along Esmeralda is out out a guinea pig for the ritual and ends up doing it on herself in secret. Mickey comes across it going horribly wrong and tries to push Emmy away from the work as a ghost overtakes Esmeralda's body. this really freaks Mickey out and she, still in the middle of the active ritual, watches as her possessed girlfriend is killed in some really bad way I haven't quite narrowed down. sometimes its also by Mickeys hand but idk

-> after that happens Mickey has no connections to anyone and just starts to wander around Canada from shady gig to outright crime to one week at a minimum wage job back to shady gig

Celeste Brooks - girlfriend who does not die

-> the one who gives her back community, properly

-> the two meet after Mickeys deal with Leo (i will talk about that in the other post) when Mickey is hired by a security company who doesnt do very through background checks to be a body guard for Celeste. the two start off on the wrong foot but Celeste slowly (painfully) gets Mickey to open up again about what bothers her and encourages her to finally accept support and love yay

-> all I want is good things to happen to Mickey. Eventually. I also want terrible horrible things to befall her first <3

Even Vaguer Relationships

-> girl from high school

-> the two werent friends but they were aware of each other. maybe one picked on the other or something but there was lowkey a tension there and when Mickey accidentally meets her five years or so after grad at a cheap bar the two have an on-and-off affiar despite the unnamed being married to a man until she realizes why she hates her life - comphet SUCKS -> google dot com chappell roan femininomenon and good luck, babe! and maybe causal. you see what i mean?

-> grandparents?

-> maybe stephens still keep contact but every concievable blood relation is either dead or completely unreachable by the time her dads die. for the isolation of it all