( f a l l e n )

heyo this loser a mess, just like all of my kids.

TW: drug mention, murder mention, general crime mention? all towards the end.

so this is john, or johnny if he likes you enough. he’s the second son of a second son, which basically means he was never expected to amount to much as far as his family was concerned.

his grandfather was still very much the head of their family - a marine that became a lawyer. his grandmother had been every bit the stereotypical housewife and stay at home mom. his uncle had been born first, was clearly the favorite child. his dad had come next, then his aunt.

his father had repeated his grandfather’s mistakes - flaunted his eldest son and his achievements while constantly berating john for not being more like his brother.

unlike his father, john didn’t care about winning the approval of a man that clearly didn’t give a shit, and instead sought out his own path.

he was still a kid the first time he picked a pocket, twelve years old and thrilled to find that it’d gone so well. he was clever, careful, and fast enough to get away if something went a little sideways.

he was fourteen when he came to the attention of a local gang and the rest, as they say, is history.

for the longest time he was pretty content with the low level stuff - he wanted to rise up the ranks, but at the end of the day he was good where he was because there’s no better place to make connections than at the bottom.

he was 19 when he met maryse, living in a small but well loved apartment. he fell hard and fast and never once bothered denying it.

he didn’t hide his work from her - he was good at what he did and it was a big part of his life and he wasn’t about to lie about it.

unfortunately nothing good ever seems to last forever, and when he got the chance to start climbing through the ranks, he took it and didn’t look back - he wanted to be able to give her the world, and having the power that came with running his own criminal organization seemed like a good start.

he did somethings he’d eventually come to regret - namely manipulating maryse into honing her abilities. part of him really did believe it was helping her, but it benefitted his work more than it did her. and then he pushed too far.

he only realized how badly he’d messed up when she vanished without a word, leaving behind her engagement ring. part of him still holds out hope that she’ll forgive him, but he’s not entirely sure he deserves it.

he’d had everything, was finally on top, but losing her hit him hard. he didn’t lose his edge, though - if anything it was sharper.

his organization is a many faceted thing, ranging from stolen goods to drugs to loans to assassinations. they’re good at what they do, good enough that they generally don’t get caught and don’t say a word if they do.

very much a charismatic man, but very few have ever seen what he’s truly like.

loves to cook??? so much??? also enjoys vehicle restorations. used to play the guitar ( and even sing a bit ) but only ever did so around one person.

has a line he won’t cross, though it’s not always clear to outsiders where exactly that line is.