James 'Jimmy' Cohen

NAME: James 'Jimmy' Cohen

NICKNAME(S): 'Jimmy', 'Jim’

AGE: 16

DATE OF BIRTH: 15th October 2005

CLASS: Junior

APPEARANCE: Jimmy's head is host to a mess of sandy blonde hair that often obscures his green eyes. He is 5'11" with a once muscular and athletic figure from engaging in long-distance running (most of his muscle definition has been lost since his health problem first arose) and tanned, almost golden skin. All of this comes from his upbringing in Australia. Since first appearing at Yamaku, he always wears a black hoodie over his uniform, unzipped but with the hood up. The sleeves of the shirt for his uniform are always rolled up to his elbows, showing his forearms and he wears the skinny black tie of his uniform longer than most. When he is not in school uniform, Jimmy usually wears loose T-shirts for one of the many punk or rock bands he enjoys and baggy, usually faded jeans, either dark blue or gray. He wears either colorful or toned down clothing simply depending on his mood that day. He sometimes wears the white and blue shirt for the first soccer team his father played for (Melbourne City FC) with the number 38 and his surname on the back. This is the only connection to his biological father that Jimmy ever shows.

BACKSTORY: Born in Melbourne, Australia to an unlikely family of an overbearing Japanese mother, Azumi, and the once great Australian soccer player, Ray 'The Rocket' Cohen, for a father on the 15th of October 2003, Jimmy grew up in a bilingual household, often switching between Japanese and English throughout conversations with his parents. Once Jimmy reached the age of 6, his parents got divorced. His mother struggled to raise him on her own for 4 years until she could no longer afford to pay the rent on the small flat they were living in. After spending the next few months saving all they could, Jimmy and his mother moved to Tokyo to live with his grandparents. There, he was glad to find a new start, no longer judged for his lack of possessions as his mother quickly found work, and shortly afterwards, new love.

Jimmy was never particularly close to his father. Ray Cohen was focused more on his career than anything else, making his family come second to his love of sport. While this meant that Ray never ended up with a failed career, he let his greed get the better of him and likely fathered children to a few other women outside of Melbourne. He eventually became attached to an Australian model and left his wife and son to start a new life with her. Jimmy has very mixed emotions towards his father, both resenting and loving the man in almost equal parts. On the few occasions Ray was around he was a loving and attentive father, but Jimmy knows his father was a distant and unfeeling husband despite these fond memories. Azumi later told Jimmy that she and his father had only been together for 4 months before she became pregnant, and that he had never truly been ready for marriage. Jimmy struggles to stay objective about this fact, as he now understands the strain that such a situation would have put on his father, but still feels like he knows very little about Ray. Azumi never likes to discuss Ray around her son, which leaves Jimmy feeling as though the father he remembers and the father he hears of are completely different.  

Jimmy's mother remarried 2 years later to a gruff businessman named Hirokazu Hashimoto. Jimmy connected better with Hirokazu than his own father, as Hirokazu never went out of his way to either connect with or avoid Jimmy, simply allowing him to open up and connect at his own pace. Hirokazu is a mature and thoughtful man and is very good at reading emotions and social cues, making him very easy to get along with despite his somewhat hardened and intimidating exterior.

Hirokazu also has a daughter of his own from a previous marriage, Ayuko Hashimoto. The age gap between Jimmy and his stepsister makes him younger by just a few months. Unlike most cases of remarriage, Jimmy actually gets on well with both his stepfather and stepsister. He often thinks of Ayuko as more like a biological sister than a stepsister, the two get on well and they often bicker like any other siblings would. Ayuko is an extremely energetic and positive person with a great sense of humor and a passion for life that Jimmy envies.

Jimmy studied in Tokyo for a few years, meeting his first girlfriend, Hikari there. Hikari was a soft spoken and graceful young woman, who gave off the air of a lady far more mature than her age. She was an extremely talented ballet dancer and Jimmy would show up to her school performances without fail, always sitting in the front row. His long-term relationship with Hikari brought him a clarity and happiness Jimmy had never experienced before.

At school in Tokyo, Jimmy was quite popular, getting on with many of his fellow students. He fitted in best with the jocks at school due to his sportiness and laidback attitude to his studies. He lived and studied happily in Tokyo until a tragedy befell the school.

The Tragedy:

As a result of the catastrophe, his lung had taken damage it couldn't fully recover from; leaving Jimmy instructed not to increase his heart rate for fear of it increasing lung activity, leading to a risk of another collapse. He always wheels a small metal trolley with a metal oxygen tank on it wherever he goes, in case his condition suddenly worsens. Most cases of lung collapse can make a fully functional return to physical activity. Unfortunately, this is not the case for Jimmy who is disappointed by the lack of sports he can engage in as now, simply walking or speaking too much without his oxygen canister could potentially cause another lung collapse. While another collapse isn't guaranteed to be fatal for Jimmy, it is certainly possible that another lung collapse could kill him.

His friends took to sarcastically calling him 'Iron Lung' during their hospital visits, but the visits stopped altogether after 9 months. He still keeps in touch with his old friends, but he is troubled by the fact that they are slowly drifting away from him.

When Jimmy first heard about Yamaku, he eagerly leapt at the opportunity, no longer wanting to stay in Tokyo for fear of being haunted by his past. To Jimmy, the fact that they could adequately care for him in Yamaku Academy was just a bonus to fresh start. While Jimmy was in the hospital, his neurotic mother paid for him to be tutored to keep up with his education. The tutor already taught him most of the content being covered in his classes at Yamaku now, so his attendance in classes is sketchy at best, only showing up when he feels like there's a gap in his knowledge or if he wants to socialize with his classmates.

PERSONALITY: Jimmy comes off as friendly and laidback, speaking openly about every aspect of his life and his medical condition even to total strangers, provided they ask of course. However, he never speaks of where his condition came from, although he is happy to explain that his lungs are weak and have a potential to collapse at any moment. He is jumpy and becomes distressed at sudden, loud noises.

His optimism can seem forced at times, because as he opens up to those he considers friends, he exposes a darker and more introspective side to his personality. Jimmy will sometimes "space out" as he says, often just staring into the distance and thinking about both everything and nothing in particular. He loves going outside and walking around or laying on the grass. He has tried to find some more relaxed hobbies since his lung weakness became an issue, but hasn't really settled on anything in particular. He most simply enjoys walking around and listening to music. He listens to rock, metal, punk, but secretly enjoys Electronic Dance Music (EDM) and ambient electronic music too. He tries out board games and other potential hobbies with anyone willing to let him join them, but he hasn't set his passion on a particular one just yet.

He enjoys 'bending' the rules of Yamaku a little, occasionally sneaking alcohol into his dorm and as previously stated, often skipping class. He still has a respect for the teachers and other staff at Yamaku, but he prefers to do as he pleases than to listen to every small rule they enforce. Jimmy also has a good sense of humor and tries to be easy to get along with from the beginning, knowing the importance of a good first impression. He has a habit of slipping back into speaking English during conversation due to the sporadic nature of his bilingual household as a child, but is usually quick to correct himself. His Australian accent is very strong when speaking English, but when speaking Japanese he tries to suppress the accent a little so his speech is clearer. This means that people can often tell that he is foreign, but find it difficult to place his accent. Jimmy is also extremely casual in speech and has a tendency to use foul language quite often, so more uptight or formal individuals may not get on so well with him. Overall, Jimmy is a fun-loving and laidback student who tries to stay positive and friendly in spite of the problems he has to face, although his mind has a tendency to wander when he is troubled.

Personal Details: Fine.

Appearance: Almost acceptable. It's currently 2022 in our canon and it's been four years since the incident in the profile. There has been more than enough time for muscular degradation to reach a point worse than what has been implied in this section. Unless he was much above average for his age before the incident, there is some doubt as to him having the mass required to still have enough to still seem muscular as of canon year. Noting how it was written, it could simply be reworked to state that he's lost some definition than what he once had without the preceding sentence.

Backstory: (Check detail)

Spelling: Clear

Grammar: One slip where the missing word is in italics, "While Jimmy was in the hospital..."

Detail: Shootings are relatively unheard of in Japan. There's hardly much access to weaponry other than to hunt and usually that weapon would be a shotgun. A strict licensing process is undertaken to even acquire the ability to use a hunting weapon and they have to be in the military.  There's some difficulty in believing that for a school shooting that there was enough access to the black market to acquire a firearm that could cause the damage wrote herein. Thus placing the entire event at jeopardy. [1]

Collapsed lung as was mentioned is usually recovered from. Might I ask that we get some clue as to why he's unable to recover? A botched operation, chronic asthma or chest trauma could all go some way in making more sense of the matter. It is requested that more thought be placed on this.

After this, the other issues are simple omissions such as his life at school and his relations with others. It might be a bother but whenever anyone mentions a person in their profile, there should be some detail about them other than a simple statement of fact. About Hikari, James was her boyfriend and as such should have some more attention than a mere mention. It may come up in play so if anything think of it as a way to say more about her for those moments. Also, not much was said about his biological father other than he was a respected footballer and taught him English through speech. Why is it that James doesn't seem to care that much? Was it a circumstance surrounding the divorce?

Personality: Fine.


After these issues have been addressed, please bump the thread so we can look over it again. We look forward to seeing from you.

The canon detail was a mistake on my part. I was still under the belief that the canon was set in 2020, but I guess that was the starting point for this forum's canon when it first started. I adjusted the year of Jimmy's birth and the incident to reflect my actual intention. Hopefully there's enough on the other characters now, and Jimmy's lack of recovery makes a little more sense. In terms of the shooting, I looked for a way to realistically fit in this ordeal, as it was one of the main building blocks for the way I had planned Jimmy's character. I have some information I can reference if you want to see what made me frame it in this way. If it feels a little too clunky or forced in, I'll come up with a different accident to have a similar outcome.

Thanks.

We do welcome discussion about character profiles here.It is an ever growing wonder of mine as to why few if any ever actually do. It is in our best interests to take a look at these references and see if this is indeed acceptable. I'll make it known to the team and we'll discuss this. I'll give it until mid-afternoon tomorrow before I bump this thread in case I haven't gotten to reach them.

The updates are fine, we'll still need to clarify our position on the incident itself.

Right, just in the hope that it helps the decision on the shooting, here is what I used. I figured it made this idea less of a stretch.

http://yarchive.net/gun/politics/japan_gun.html

[21] Direct quote for easier reference "A small number of craftsmen specialise in converting toy and model guns into working handguns for criminals." I figured a competitive sports shooter may know enough about guns to be able to do a similar thing to an air rifle after extensive research, assuming he was determined and knowledgeable enough. It may be a bit of a stretch, but I hope it works a little better.

Let me know if you still feel like it doesn't work and I'll try and figure a different tragedy to have a similar effect on Jimmy's health and character.

I'd just like to point out an air rifle with the larger caliber rounds could quite easily kill someone (and smaller caliber from a shorter range would damage a lung substantially), so the modifying of the gun actually seems kind of pointless, to me. I'm also a bit on the fence about a high schooler managing to modify a gun, I can only imagine it would require specialist equipment and, probably, years of experience. It's a very interesting idea though, I'll give you that.

The profile, however, is up to standard in every other aspect. Good, in fact. Once this little problem is figured out you'll have my approval.

Right, I made a quick edit removing the part about the gun customization and I changed the statistics of the shooting a little, hopefully it's more in line with the way it should be. Let me know if there are any other changes you'd like me to add before approval.

Approved. 1/2

Approved 2/2. Welcome aboard and happy roleplaying!