Toshiaki "Toshi" Endō (遠藤 寿聡 "とし")

NAME: Toshiaki Endō (遠藤 寿聡 Endō Toshiaki) Often addressed as just Toshi (とし), as many people have trouble reading the 聡 "Aki" kanji due to its rarity. Fittingly, 聡 can also be read "Toshi," so the nickname stuck.

AGE: 15 years 10 months

CLASS: Freshman

APPEARANCE: Toshi is of mixed Japanese and European ancestry. At 178 cm (5'10"), he is quite tall by Japanese standards, several cm taller than most adult men. Weighing 68 kg (150 lb), he is thin but muscular, due to years of thorough exercise. He has fair skin and striking deep blue eyes, along with sharp features and a strong chin. Due to his height, muscularity, and features, he appears very physically mature; most are surprised to discover that he is under 16. He wears his thick, straight, dark brown hair spiked up on top and cropped short on the sides. When not wearing his school uniform, he tends to dress in plain, practical clothes: usually jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket; but he dresses very sharply on more formal occasions. He prefers dark, muted colors, especially black, grey, and red.

BACKSTORY: Toshi was born 7 July 2004, in Tsu, Mie Prefecture. He is fluent in both Japanese and English, having grown up around his parents speaking both. Showing exceptional intelligence from a young age, Toshi has been in accelerated classes and academic clubs for years, often participating (and dominating) in academic competitions.

When Toshi was nine, his family was offered a full scholarship for him to study at an elite boarding school in Tōkyō, which his parents accepted after much deliberation. As Toshi was already far ahead of most of his class, the school decided to advance him a year. He began fifth grade at the boarding school in April 2014, allowing him to immerse himself in his studies with little distraction. He has accordingly become very self-reliant, and he is more than capable of taking care of himself. His yearning for knowledge extends to all subjects; as such, he has attained a good knowledge of many different fields, from quantum physics and neurobiology to world history and economic theory. He has also dedicated himself outside of his schoolwork, being quite proficient in playing guitar and practicing Shotokan Karatedo.

MAJOR SPOILER, avoid reading except for administrative purposes only:

For the past few years, Toshi has been living with his paternal grandparents in Shizuoka when not away at boarding school. Having just completed middle school, he is now beginning high school at Yamaku Academy.

The reason Toshi is attending Yamaku is as of yet unclear to the other students, as he appears to have no visible issues, and he does not discuss his past or his condition. The only people that know more about either, besides the administrators and medical staff at Yamaku, are a few very close friends who have known him for years.

PERSONALITY: Quiet and aloof, many first perceive Toshi as cold and unfriendly. In truth, he simply prefers to not waste words, saying only what he feels necessary as clearly as possible. When he does speak, he does so with a surety and lucidity that escape most people. He is unshakeable in his thoughts, words, and actions; if he is ever unsure, he gathers the information he needs to decide as quickly as possible. Despite growing up in Tsu, he does not normally speak with a Kansai accent – preferring the more standard Tokyo style – although he can do so if he wishes.

Years of diligent study have made Toshi knowledgeable in many fields, and he will gladly offer explanation of a situation to those needing it. His passion for knowledge is made clear by his enthusiasm in teaching as well as learning. He is very methodical and logical, eschewing superstition or tradition where he finds them counterproductive. This sometimes leads him into conflict with others, but he is not bothered by it. There are few things that anger him, but those that do will do so quickly. He is as serious and straightforward in condemnation as in praise.

Toshi's matter-of-factness is reflected in the rest of his personality. He wastes no time in his studies, completing his assignments as early and quickly as possible. While this impresses his teachers, he does so more to preserve his own free time. He spends a good portion of this time either working out, practicing karate, or playing guitar. He also appreciates literature and art, often traveling to the libraries and museums in Sendai.

Toshi chooses his friends carefully, opening himself only to those he feels he can trust. In return, he is himself exceptionally loyal. He will go to great lengths to support and defend his friends, and he makes a point of always keeping his promises. While he may not have very many friends, those he does have are good friends indeed.

All in all, Toshi is highly determined and self-driven, stopping at nothing to better himself and achieve his goals.

You've asked whether details you omitted are required information. They are, and we'll have to put this on hold until we can decide on a medium we can agree upon. We have a set rule and definition that has held here since we've started.

Raiden wrote: A lot of people (and by that I mean half the profiles we've ever reviewed) think that the Backstory section just means “Describe your character's disability here”, while in fact, it's a LOT more complicated and detailed than that. Again – this is where most of your efforts should go. Keep in mind – according to the forum rules, you can not bring up anything from your past in-character unless it has been mentioned in the backstory! So saying something like “Oh, yeah, my uncle was a hacker and he taught me a few tricks” while your profile makes no mention of an uncle whatsoever will get you warned, so think your backstory through carefully! It's supposed to be a secret, but we'll overlook some minor inconsistencies as long as your overall story is well-thought out and well-described, so... Make us proud!

Whilst I've been informed it's absolutely necessary, I am willing to parley, that isn't to be taken lightly as I don't under normal circumstances agree to budge. As for why this is so, we're not able to check every roleplaying thread here and this rule is to assure that powerplaying, which would be taking unfair control of a thread to assure a certain outcome is arrived at by any means necessary even if it breaks character is avoided as much as possible. That definition also means that details that were known to the roleplayer and not the character is used to an advantage. Here, we take it one last step further, if a detail wasn't expressly written in the backstory, it couldn't be used in play to avoid abuse.

The rest of the profile is fine, I simply suggest opening a line of continued conversation.

Thanks for getting back to me.

I totally understand the concern with PPing, happens a lot with new RPers. Having a pretty good amount of RP experience myself, I'll have no problem keeping any such urge under control. Of course, me being new here, you have no way of knowing that, and it's only fair that you expect the same from everyone.

The rather unusual setting helps too, I think. At this point, all Toshi's strengths and skills have been laid out; the only secrets are his weaknesses and fears, which will be quite substantial. It's not like these characters have hidden superpowers, as you would see in most RPs. As such, I don't see much potential for PP in this case, without completely abandoning all sense of logic and reason in the story.

In my experience, PP goes both ways – other RPers being able to manipulate someone's character because they know his whole story and exactly what his limits are, when someone in-universe would have no way of doing so, is just as bad; and more often than not, leads to plain lazy writing and lousy interaction. I tend to avoid reading too much into other people's characters, as I would rather let the story play out more naturally.

Furthermore, in a story like this, the entire motivation is to interact with the other characters, to befriend them, to get to know their stories. I feel like if you give everything away from the beginning, you lose that motivation.

Ideally, I would prefer to reveal the deeper parts his past through the context of the story, as any good story does. Beginning with small hints, leading to full discussions as he starts to trust others with his past. There is something to be said for subtlety in good writing, I think.

Allow me to define why we're not able to move too far on this rule even with what has been let known. Other philosophies are welcomed here, yet we do not allow them to influence decisions else what would stop others from utilizing means they had not access to before. Whilst one could certainly prove themselves an exception to a given stereotype, that's exactly what that would that would read as, an exception. I am unable in good faith just disregard what has been a staple since inception without weighing the possible rebound the action could take concerning future matters. I will concede this idea, proffering it in a hope that we can negotiate terms.

Here it is.:

I understand this isn't the most ideal way of having this. However, for what I have been cognizant of, members actually do have your mindset and rarely look at others profiles. It's here more for our knowledge and less so for others. It's in place so that boundaries aren't stepped over.

All right Fox, I've updated it with full backstory, ~800 words.

Approved, please wait for another administrator's opinion before continuing on, 1/2.

Thank you, Fox, for dealing with this efficiently. As we've already said, it would be great to have completely blind roleplays where we actually have to work to find out the disability and inner turmoils of fellow characters, but more often than not it leads to some undesirable situations.

All in all, I'm very happy with the profile. I have but a single question, though: how is his social life? You've mentioned a few close friends, but does Toshi try to make an effort to get close to others, or is the idea of friendship not an important one to him? Not a huge aspect, maybe just a couple of lines on his childhood friends (or lack thereof) would do the trick.

Other than that, we're good to go. If you rectify this small gripe you'll have my approval.

Hi Sub.

No worries about the background issue, I think this will take care of it quite well.

I made a few changes as you requested; is this satisfactory?

Thanks!

Perfect - you have my approval: 2/2. Feel free to roleplay as you wish, and welcome to the forum! Most people start a thread detailing their arrival in the courtyard, but to start wherever you want.