don't continue if this makes you uncomfortable. otherwise, feel free to proceed.
Y'know, the monster under your bed isn't all that scary.
Sometimes, he's just a clingy friend who wants to protect you.
sauve, debonair, and natural casanova. despite his charm, he hates attention. his confidence knows no bounds to the point he doesn't exactly fear anything. almost.
actually, that's a lie. he regularly has nightmares of leaving traces of himself anywhere, whether it be DNA or an emotional attachment.
it's so bad, he self neutered. condoms aren't enough. yeah. he's that obsessive about it. no, this doesn't have anything to do with leaving DNA, that doesn't prevent it. there's another reason for this.
unfortunately despite this, the moment he finds someone he likes enough he tends to keep coming back to them. you'll know if he likes you if he's keeping sentimental tokens from you. his secret hideout is fill of hoarded junk he considers memoirs.
do you know how hard it is being obsessed with detachment but yet you can't let anyone go?
in short, he's pretty clingy and he hates it. he can't bear to lose someone else who he loves again.
No matter how much I tried to bury the name Jonathan...
He came back to haunt me when I least expected it.
Jonathan grew up a mischievous little boy alongside his younger twin Sébastien, their father Joshua, and their very controlling mother, Francine.
their biological father, Joshua Harley, was a private investigator and detective. Joshua tried very hard to get Sébastien away from Francine, but she would always pull him back.
Jonathan absolutely adored Joshua and wanted to be just like him when he grew up. he got all of his detective skills and keen nature from his father. because of him, Jonathan would rather sit back and observe than interfere. after all, the quieter you are, the more you notice.
Joshua never got to helping the kids, because Francine convinced herself Joshua was cheating on her and hired a hit on him to have him buried when the kids were only ten.
this devastated Jonathan and left a permanent emotional scar. but he wasn't a stupid kid, he learned from the best, after all. after some digging in his teens, he uncovered the fact that Francine was the culprit of their father's death. while Jonathan wanted to tell Sébastien this, he refrained knowing how close he was to his mother.
in his mid teens, Jonathan met a green haired man by the name of Boris. the sketchy middle aged man was involved with La Populace, the shadow mafia that was the bogeyman of the streets. Boris was an informational broker and elite spy for the criminal organization.
of course, Jonathan didn't know this at first but remained skeptical of Boris. because Jonathan was so keen, Boris took a liking to the teenager. seeing how broken and lost he was inside, he adopted him as a sort of nephew.
while Boris left most of his business with La Populace out of their friendship, Jonathan would figure it out very quickly that Boris was involved with the mafia. young Jonathan didn't care, he liked how goofy and fun Boris was to be around and he filled in the gap that Joshua left behind. Boris also had a twin brother by the name of Draco, to which Jonathan related to, having a twin of his own.
upon learning that Jonathan was an aspiring detective who wanted to bring justice despite the restrictive laws of the governing Lunar Church, Boris taught him his ways of epsionage, what to look out for, how to twist the rules to his favor. all Boris wanted was to equip Jonathan with the right tools for what he wanted to do, and boy did he succeed.
said tools included the shadow modus, although Boris was hesitant to involve Jonathan in such sketchy business. regardless, Jonathan was persistent.
Boris had his own agenda, however... and that agenda was to take down La Populace. a lot of the things Boris was going through he kept to himself. when it finally boiled over, Boris was killed in a mysterious explosion, most evidence destroyed.
losing a second father figure destroyed Jonathan, it was one of the darkest moments in his life. he became very introverted, angry, and spiteful.
Boris left behind a silver briefcase tucked away beneath the floorboards of his hideout. it was a very inconspicuous hiding spot, but Jonathan was keen enough to discover it. he learned all the secrets Boris kept, every bit of information on La Populace, all the strings that needed to be pulled to take them down. and that's exactly what Jonathan did down the line.
Tes was that "weird, quiet kid" back in high school who would often be by his twin brother, Sébastien's side like a shadow.
the latter was much more popular and was the head of a clique that pretty much ran the show around school. but Tes? no one knew a thing about him.
nobody truly knew what was going on in Tes' head. he barely ever talked, but when he did he was charismatic and controlled the conversation. usually, others would get the feeling he knew more than he should have about them and the people around them.
he would be found in the dark corners of the building, picking locks to get into places he shouldn't be in. everyone avoided him because getting involved with him spelled trouble.
except one person. that person was Wesley, he was just as crafty and quiet as Tes was. they got into a relationship. that relationship ended in heartbreak when Tes accidentally got Wesley pregnant.
there was discussion on what to do with the child, and the two ultimately decided together in a heartfelt moment that they would keep it. and well... Jonathan always means it when he says he dedicates himself to someone. of course, no matter how quiet they were, there was no hiding something like a baby.
Wesley's parents found out and proceeded to force him to get an abortion and repent for his sins, against both his and Jonathan's wills.
Tes had such a freak out over the loss of their child that he decided to dip the relationship and promptly self neutered so such a thing would never happen again. Wesley aborted the child and now has motherly and religious trauma that carried into his adulthood.
it was really an unfortunate situation that neither of them could control.
it would've been the hottest gossip passed around school, but due to Sébastien's influence and his threats towards anyone who dared to talk shit about his brother, no one could just freely do that.
later on during Jonathan and Sébastien's young adult years, Francine became involved with La Populace and had previous relationships with their members. in fact, she dated a man by the name of Henri, who was an important figure among their ranks.
he cheated on her, and being the horrible person she was, she hired a hit on him and had him buried just like she did her previous husband. La Populace wasn't stupid. they knew it was Francine who ordered the hit and sent their own on her.
it was on a night with a full moon when the assassin came to their house and poor twenty year old Sébastien watched as he beheaded her with his katana in their living room. Jonathan hid, being the smart one. but Sébastien? he was covered in his mother's blood as he held her body and wailed the night away until the police came.
after that night, Sébastien was never the same.
the two brothers had to get themselves together; their only parent was dead and they had to move on. Sébastien and Jonathan founded their own private investigation agency together, Penumbra Covert, using their biological father's old office. the two promised that they would get to the bottom of La Populace together. Sébastien for the sake of their mother, and Jonathan for the sake of Sébastien.
in reality, Jonathan knew that Francine was awful and it never sat right how she treated Sébastien, but all he wanted was closure for his twin brother. he would do anything if it meant Sébastien would find peace and move on.
Sébastien began taking some very sketchy requests behind Jonathan's back, being moved by the clients' stories of their affairs and dismays, as though he'd seen himself in them. he would blackmail cheaters and mistresses to literal death for the sake of revenge, not being different from what his mother was.
Jonathan confronted Sébastien and it resulted in a fight between the two twins. Jonathan revealed that Francine was the one who sent the hit on their father, Joshua, which Sébastien did not take well at all.
Sébastien walked away from that conflict and it was the last time Jonathan ever saw him for years. when Jonathan returned to the office and checked their home, Sébastien was nowhere to be seen. he'd taken nearly everything he deemed he owned and went his own way.
heartbroken and mourning for the third time, Jonathan felt as though his family had been irreparably torn apart. the only thing he wanted to do now was move on and forget everyone he knew. this was when Jonathan ditched his name and began his paranoid habit of avoiding every bit of emotional attachment in fear of losing someone he loved again.
Jonathan, now the Nameless Shadow, coped heavily with copious, frivolous sex and began chain smoking. fortunately, his altered biology by shadow corruption meant his health no longer was affected by cigarettes.
this nickname wouldn't last long, as Desmond - his childhood friend who was trying to reconnect with him - tried to refer to him as Jonathan, only to get into a small spat over his name. the private investigator uttered, "don't test me!" and from then on, Desmond began referring to him as Tes. it caught on quickly.
at the age of 23, Tes decided he would finish what Boris couldn't, smashing a car into La Populace's penthouse and shooting down a dozen or two men before wringing out the leader's neck like a towel with his bare hands. that leader, Eugene, died that night with a pair of shadow scissors in his heart.
this left La Populace in ruins, enough for Sébastien's forces to eliminate the rest of La Populace's scattered members.
Tes knew that in a way, he and Sébastien worked together to take down the group that tore their family apart. they'd completed what they set out to do when they started Penumbra Covert, even as the two were apart.
it should have felt satisfying, closing a chapter in their lives that pained them like a festering, aching wound. but it wasn't. Tes was hollow and empty on the inside without Sébastien, who was now dictator and Archbishop of the Lunar Church.
but he couldn't admit that. so he moved on, trying his best not to look up at the full moon. his brother was watching, and he knew everything he was doing under the keen eye of the moon. he would not escape him, no matter how hard he tried.
that was much more painfully obvious when Sébastien shortly after passed a law that all Acolytes of the Void (shadow technicians) should be punished by death. Tes broke down that night hearing the news, sobbing tears he'd kept in for years over a bottle of bourbon. convinced that he was dead to Sébastien, he tried to forget him entirely. but that didn't happen, because Sébastien refused to let Tes go.
eventually Sébastien snapped, his unhinged wrath reaching a breaking point. the only person who could convince him to step down was his brother, but unfortunately Tes was extremely hesistant and violently so.
it's a long, winded story, but the climax ended with Sébastien metaphorically tearing off the skin of the Moon and wearing it, trying to play god. it says something when Sébastien is literally so powerful that his mind overpowered a thing that is supposedly a deity.
Desmond had to convince Tes to face his younger twin, nearly getting killed in the process by an enraged Tes in his shadow form. Desmond, who also had a younger twin who he dearly loved, told Tes that he understood what it was like, and it wasn't just Sébastien's life at stake, but the entire world's. Tes would soon come back after a cigarette to help take down Sébastien from his power trip.
if it weren't for Tes, the mob would've had Sébastien's head on a pike. can you blame them after all he'd done? but Tes wouldn't let that happen. he disappeared with Sébastien, and that was the last time the general public has ever seen the Archbishop.
All it took to get him to stop was to admit that I was scared.
Turns out, you can't run from your own shadow.
Hey, slick. Wanna see a disappearing act?
Well, you won't! That would defeat the purpose. Heheh.
he can turn into an intangible shadowy mass to morph and impossibly stretch across walls or ceilings. if you shine too much light on him he'll solidify. it's quite funny.
wanna see it in action?
hit that light switch.
has a dual blade by the name of the Soul Cutter. it's basically a giant pair of scissors. it can melt into black goop and be stored inside his body until it's summoned again.
capable of getting into anything, anywhere. there's a lot you can do when you can fit into a pinprick hole as a shadow being.
he can also lockpick extremely well, if you really want him to. this was how he used to break into places before he messed around with shadow magic.
amazing charisma for someone who barely speaks. he will end up controlling the conversation AND you if you're not careful.
he has an amazing amount of control over his shadow magic, which is something necessary to harness it. either you control the shadows or it controls you. his ability to control with sheer confidence also extends to social situations and under the sheets.
if he manages to get your focus, he'll lull you into a trance with his eyes. if you're starting to see spirals in them, you should probably look away. it's basically a hypnosis spell that he needs your full attention for.
he's very flexible. it's come in handy... for certain things.
alcohol and cigarettes have no effect on him because of his weird biology, he just still smokes because it's sexy. his body was damaged by chronic smoking before he got into shadow magic, which is why he occasionally hacks up black goop. it just won't affect him further.
his innards are mostly black goop and are barely there. dissecting him will result in a black ink-like substance spilling everywhere. he does have bones and muscles. his flesh including the inside of his mouth is black/grey.
he mostly eats others' shadows by scooping them up like goop and shoving them in his mouth(s). food barely gives him any nutrition. if he eats too much of a person's shadow, it could potentially knock them out or even kill them. a shadow is basically someone's soul. he'll just take little bites.
the black goop in his body can form limbs from the hole in his chest. he creates shadowy arms most of the time.
his powers work best in the darkness. the new moon invigorates his powers to the point it forces him to transform into shadow form. he has no control over this.
the only keepsake that Jonathan could keep from Boris was his ouroboros bracelet, gifted to him from Boris himself when he vaguely told him he had to move on from his twin brother, Draco. he wears it even to this day on his left wrist. this detail is optional.
he has awful fashion sense. this is because most of his outfits are made up of mementos and hand me downs from his loved ones, whether alive or not.
he's got a nice, slender body and nice hips. it's easy to mistake him or his brother for a woman.
Tes is not his real name. in fact, he doesn't have one at all. "Tes" came from an argument he had with Desmond when Tes refused to be called Jonathan and uttered, "don't test me!"
he speaks very lowly and breathy. it's rather husky and maybe even seductive in nature. you will almost never hear him yelling. his brother is the one who does the yelling.
Tes likes the taste of raw meat and is immune to any pathogens. he doesn't get sick eating it. the only issue is that he barely gains any nutrition.
master of disappearing acts. you won't see him twice if he doesn't think you're interesting.
very high libido; he's hypersexual. it is/was a coping mechanism for being separated from his brother. he feels guilt afterwards and never stays in bed with anyone after sex. don't expect cuddles.
used to play guitar until he had to sell it to pay the bills. he used to strum while his brother, Sébastien, sung. Séb always had the better voice.
tends to come up with nicknames for everyone. if he can't come up with something for you because he doesn't know your name, he'll default to calling you "slick" if he likes you.