Finn Cooper

[ViolentMedic]

Name: Finn Cooper
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: 12th
School: Southwest Red Rock High School
Hobbies and Interests: Cooking, football, city exploration, cars, racing

Appearance: Finn is an Irish-American boy standing at 5’9” and 139 lb. He's on the thinner side, with wiry muscle from spending much of his time outside or playing football. He’s naturally pale and freckly, and prone to sunburn on the face and shoulders when he’s not careful. Finn has reddish-brown hair that’s shoulder-length and shaggy. His face is diamond-shaped with a sharp jaw and chin. He’s got a strong nose that’s slightly bulbous at the end, and thick eyebrows with a scar splitting the left one. His eyes are a vivid green and he has a tendency to stare intensely at whatever’s captured his attention. He’s got perpetual light scruff on his face and a lot of body hair, which helps make him look older than he is. His face tends to rest in a grumpy-looking expression, regardless of mood.

His usual clothes consist of jeans and various unsleeved shirts, and he often wears the same leather jacket over it. He sometimes wears a baseball cap to shield his face from the sun. His shoes are beat-up sneakers that he’ll wear until the soles wear out fully before getting a new set. He has a preference for necklaces and bracelets, usually made of metal and leather.

Biography: Finn’s mother, Deidre Cooper, was seventeen and still in high school when she got pregnant with Finn. Coming from a strict household, and looking for any opportunity to leave it, she waited until it was too late to get an abortion before telling her college boyfriend. The boyfriend immediately broke off all contact. Finn was born on the 7th of April, 2007. Deidre ended up dying as a result of birth complications, which left her newborn son in the care of his grandfather, Donal.

Donal and Finn lived on the edge of Meadowbrook in Las Vegas, in a house that was small but had a large garage due to his grandfather’s car-related hobbies. Since there were no other bedrooms, Finn lives in his mother’s old room and to this day most of the furniture remains the same. There were a few photos of Finn’s mother in photo albums, but Donal emptied and boxed away most of her remaining belongings before Finn was old enough to look at them, and he rarely spoke of her.

From the start, Finn’s relationship with his grandfather was strained at best. Donal was a surly, humourless man with sharp anger issues. He worked as a police captain, usually during the night shift, and expected the same power over his house as he had over the station. He kept Finn primarily due to what he saw as familial obligation. His parenting style was militant when Finn was in front of him, punishing disobedience with harsh shouting and the occasional smack, and distant otherwise, throwing himself into his work and often leaving Finn in the hands of a rotating set of babysitters and neighbours. Finn’s feelings towards Donal were of respect and fear.

While usually quiet and well-behaved, Finn had inherited his grandfather’s temper. He would stay calm for a long stretch of time, but was prone to exploding abruptly at its breaking point. He got into numerous fights as a small child when other children insisted on things being done certain ways, because each child had different rules and Finn found the influx of them stressful. Once these rules started conflicting, Finn’s stress turned into violence and started resulting in shoving, breaking pencils and pushing over chairs.

Finn’s teachers handled his temper swings by sitting him next to well-behaved students. This ended up with him being seated next to a boy named Niall, and their close proximity would result in a friendship forming. When this friendship persisted, Donal started having Finn stay at Niall’s more often in lieu of hiring babysitters. This contact with someone his own age who had patience with him helped Finn ease into school life.

Finn was also pushed towards after-school sports in an attempt to use up his energy. He played several in primary school, but settled on football near the end of elementary school, and would continue to play it as he moved onto later schooling. Though energy wasn’t the cause of his temper tantrums, getting into sports coincided with him making friends with Niall and getting more used to the school environment, and so it was considered a success and allowed to continue.

Once his temper became manageable, Finn made acquaintances easily since he was receptive to listening and being drawn into games, and this was particularly true for teammates. But he had trouble developing friendships, aside from with Niall, due to difficulty expressing affection or interest.

The only times Donal and Finn would get along was when working on cars together. Finn's grandfather had always liked working on cars as his hobby, particularly restoring them, and he had space in his garage for three, two of which were always in rotation and being sold in exchange for other cars to renovate. It was something he did on his own during his time off, and initially he didn’t invite Finn to watch or help. But Finn often would linger near the entrance to the garage and watch, curious about Donal's tinkering, and eventually Donal started getting him to hold things and started explaining what he was doing. By middle school, Finn was helping him more actively.

It was also around this time that Finn gained an interest in cooking. It started off as practical. The Cooper family had always subsisted primarily off frozen food, since Donal’s long-deceased wife had been the cook of the family, and this was doubly true once Finn was old enough not to need babysitters when Donal was at the station. When Finn got older, he would cook for himself and experiment to add variance to whatever ingredients were in the fridge.

Despite their one common ground in car modification, in middle school Finn started to become frustrated with his home situation. He’d learned from Niall’s family and witnessing the families of his classmates that his situation was not a universal experience. His grandfather’s aggressive yet cold nature had started to eat away at Finn's respect, turning it into resentment. He had no guaranteed privacy, and had found his grandfather checking his room on numerous occasions for anything out of the ordinary. Early in middle school, he finally found the loose floorboard under his bed where his mother had stashed anything she didn’t want Donal to find - pictures of her and her boyfriend, a half-rotten packet of cigarettes, and a USB stick that had some violent or raunchy comics in it. Though this disobedience was minor, it was the impetus for Finn venturing out into his own rule-breaking.

His grandfather was out most often on night shifts, so these became Finn’s hours of freedom. He started leaving the house at night, and wandering further each time he left. As middle school progressed, he started taking the time after school to explore the city, often trying to convince Niall to lie on his behalf and come with him. Though initially he never did anything much except look, and was afraid of Donal catching him, there was a thrill in doing so that fueled further efforts. His nightly wanderings were further boosted when he went through a growth spurt that helped disguise his actual age, making it easier to get away with walking at night without adults realising he shouldn’t be there.

He didn’t stop this exploring during the COVID pandemic and lockdown in 2020, although he kept to himself during it and was more careful to keep out of sight. But the lockdowns and subsequent lack of traffic resulted in an upswing in illegal street racing, and Finn encountered a meet by accident. While he’d already had his interest in cars, both through his grandfather and thinking of having a car as something representative of freedom, witnessing the car races was a thrill a hundred times bigger than just wandering about where he shouldn’t. Finn was immediately captivated. He made contact with a couple of the younger racers and kept track of the meets, even though at the time he couldn’t drive.

It wasn’t hard to persuade Donal to let him get a licence, since cars were their one bonding point and the only thing keeping the relationship cordial. He got his learning licence at 15, and his grandfather taught him how to drive - albeit with little patience. When he was 16, he got his full licence. With the help of a college-aged boy named Jules, who he’d met while watching the racing meets, he got a weekend job at a car junkyard Jules also worked at so he could save up for a car of his own, and learn more about how they ran.

Early in high school, he started venturing into shadier areas of town, including Malone Circle Park. During one of these trips, he encountered a group of delinquents from Red Rock, led by classmate Beelzebub Smith. It wasn’t long before Beelzebub drew him into the gang, pushing Finn towards proper rebellion. Seeing other students both frustrated with the rules and seeking the same thrill-seeking enjoyment he’d started pursuing, Finn joined their gang and often followed along when they ventured out, often skipping football practice to do so.

Once Finn had his full driving licence, and unwilling to wait until he could purchase a car of his own or ask Donal for help, Finn started borrowing one of his grandfather's cars in order to join up with the racing meets whenever his grandfather had long work shifts. He did poorly at racing at first, but enjoyed every second of it even when he came in last. Not even slamming the brakes too hard and banging his face into the wheel, resulting in a scarred eyebrow, deterred him.

However, it did prove to be a step too far for his grandfather not to realise something was happening. Donal didn’t figure out Finn was illegally racing, but Finn’s claim that he had suffered the injury while playing football coincided with the school contacting him about Finn missing multiple football practices. Investigation through talking to the school and neighbours revealed that Finn had been hanging out with known delinquents, and sneaking out of the house - though none of the neighbours had noticed Finn taking the cars out, so Finn's racing activities remained a secret.

Donal put new locks on the doors, windows and cars, and forbade Finn from going out. He increased his searches of Finn's room. But by this point, Finn was determined to do what he wanted. He would break the locks if he had to, and wouldn’t go home some evenings. With this change, Finn and Donal’s relationship has gone from tense to completely hostile. Finn still fears him, but the encouragement of his new friends has driven him to commit to rebellion.

He soon realised that Donal wouldn’t pursue him outside the house, due to not wanting to bring Finn into the police station. Donal fears a hit to his reputation if the station realises he can’t control his grandson. Outside the home, he was safe. But going home, particularly when Donal was in a bad mood, would result in discipline. This could include attempts to restrict him to his room, confiscating anything he had on him, and physical violence if all else failed. Finn learned to listen for how loud Donal’s footsteps were before venturing into the house, knowing that loud meant it would be more likely to turn towards blows. He hasn't told anyone about these feuds.

The only leniency given was that Donal didn't revoke Finn's car licence, despite some suspicion that Finn might be joyriding. This was justified in Donal's mind due to Finn's job at the car junkyard requiring a licence. On an emotional and unacknowledged level, Donal didn't like the idea of taking away anything relating to the only activity he and Finn enjoyed together. But he keeps a close eye on the cars and their mileage for anything that might confirm his suspicions, and Finn is more careful about his rule-breaking regarding Donal's vehicles since he knows his licence is at stake if he gets caught.

Since Finn got his job at the car junkyard, he’s been saving up most of his money for a car of his own - a 2004 Mazda RX-8 that is scraped, dented and barely roadworthy, which Jules is holding for him. Finn paid him some extra under the table in advance to let him come by and work on it, and has spent many afternoons working towards making it run smoother. Since Jules enjoys illegal racing and is a reckless person himself, he's let Finn race the car on occasion in exchange for a small fee, though only at meets that Jules himself is present at.

Finn suspects that once he’s out of high school, or when he hits eighteen, he’ll be jettisoned from the house entirely once Donal’s familial obligation is fulfilled. In the meantime, he’s been leaving some basic belongings with either his friends or his girlfriend, Marcy. He has considered taking initiative and leaving, but ultimately can’t attend school and earn a living wage at the same time, especially with what fixing the Mazda requires, and is trying to hold out until graduation.

Finn is a reckless boy who chases thrills. This often results in him putting himself in dangerous situations, since he’ll do near anything if it comes with excitement attached. He’s not actively suicidal, but he is careless with his own life and believes it has little value.

Finn rarely talks. He saves his words for when he thinks it’s necessary, and prefers to express with actions rather than words. He’s gotten better at expressing himself this way as he's gotten older, often slinging an arm over a friend or being the first to initiate holding his girlfriend’s hand. This extends to anger and annoyance as well, with him having gotten into a few physical fights outside of school. However, many arguments and fights are headed off just by Finn standing up with intent and staring the offending person down.

Finn’s friend circle is largely delinquents, but he doesn’t object to hanging out with others. He doesn’t put much pressure on others into joining him when he’s doing something forbidden, sometimes asking once but dropping it quickly after. He similarly lacks the bullying tendencies of some in his circle, though he also makes no attempt to prevent it. He’s still friends with Niall, who he considers his best friend to this day, but they don’t hang out as much since Niall doesn’t associate with the delinquents.

Because of his circle and his recent rebellious qualities, Finn has a reputation that sometimes makes straight-laced students keep away from him. However, others are drawn to him because his commitment to rebelling and his ironclad certainty and determination in pursuing his interests gives him an unintentional air of quiet, intense confidence. He’s sociable in that he’ll turn up for any event he’s invited to, or any party he hears about, if only so he doesn’t have to go home for a while.

His quiet, intense quality is part of what drew his girlfriend, Marcy Valerio, to him. She joined the delinquent circle at sixteen during a depression owing to injury, and Finn was among those who helped her find a vent for her frustrations over family and the establishment. Finn was also drawn to Marcy due to her loud attitude and tendency to be over-dramatic and affectionate, which he finds endearing and is somewhat envious of, due to his struggle with expressing affection. They started dating properly a year ago, and the relationship is progressing fast.

Before that, Finn’s relationships were relegated to a couple of small hook-ups within the delinquent circle, including with Beelzebub Smith, but these flings were never anything but physical and ceased entirely when Marcy came into the picture. Marcy is the first girl he’s properly fallen for.

Finn’s a decent student, with his grades usually staying in the B range. This is a holdover from him being more studious under Donal’s orders in his earlier years. While his grades have suffered from him often spending the nights exploring instead, and not always having the energy at school to focus, he works hard enough and is bright enough to maintain passing grades. They get poorer when he has to know the concrete method, such as Math, but he gets the occasional A in classes like English. He holds little interest in any of them except Home Economics, since he gets to cook there.

He still plays football in high school, and hasn't skipped practice since doing so got him into trouble with Donal. He makes a decent linebacker, not being as bulky as some players but having an intense tackle, and would likely be a more consistent player in a less sports-focused school. However, the quality of the football team has placed him in a reserve position more often than not.

His only plans after high school are to get his car fixed up, and to go somewhere where he’ll be free of Donal for good. There are idle thoughts about working with cars, but nothing concrete. Outside of that, he plans to stay with Marcy, who he’s finding it difficult to imagine a future without.

Strengths: Finn is strong, and decently fast, due to his strength in football. He has a close social circle of delinquents who might have a higher chance of banding together, including a near-guaranteed ally in the form of his girlfriend, Marcy Valerio.
Weaknesses: Finn is impulsive, thrill-seeking and careless with his life. He might be seen as a danger due to his reputation for delinquency. His delicate temper could cause an explosive incident.

[Gundham]

Good evening, passengers, this is your staffer Gundham speaking; welcome aboard Flight 9110, direct from Las Vegas to (Undisclosed Location). Please fasten your seat belts as we prepare for takeoff.

Finn is looking very good so far, but he could use a few minor tweaks before he can be sent off to frolic with the other kids.

- Finn's appearance could use just a bit more detail. What's his skin tone like? He spends a lot of time outdoors, so presumably he's somewhat tanned, but how does that clash with his (presumably pale) Irish heritage? What's his face shape like?

- What is Finn's birthdate? For him to be in the senior class, he will have to have been born sometime between August 1st, 2006 and July 31st, 2007.

His eyes are a vivid green and he has a tendency to stare intensely at whatever’s captured his attention, which is sometimes found unnerving.

Last bit is a tad awkward. Might be better as something less passive, like, "which others sometimes find unnerving."

Donal and Finn lived on the edge of Meadowbrook

It'd be good to specify that Meadowbrook is in Las Vegas, or at least in Nevada.

He got into numerous fights as a small child when they insisted on things being done certain ways,

"They" is a bit ambiguous in this context, would read less awkwardly as "other kids" or "his classmates".

There was one time that Donal got along somewhat with Finn, and that was when working on cars

"One time" is a bit of an awkward phrasing here, since it reads as "one specific instance" as opposed to "one set of circumstances."

His grandfather’s aggressive yet cold nature had started to eat away at the respect

"The respect" is a strange way of phrasing this. Better as "Finn's respect" or "the respect Finn had for him" something similar.

As middle school progressed, he started taking the time after school to explore the city, skipping practice or trying to convince Niall to lie on his behalf and come with him.

Did skipping practice have any effect on his standing? Skipping multiple practices probably would catch some attention, especially if he was pushed into sports as a way of correcting his behavior. Was this a risk for him?

However, it did prove to be a step too far for his grandfather not to realise something was happening. Donal didn’t figure out Finn was illegally racing, but the faint blood stains in one of his cars and Finn claiming that he had suffered the injury while playing football tipped him off to joyriding occurring.

One note here: https://dmv.nv.gov/nvdlteens.htm

Under Nevada state law, Donal, as the guardian who presumably signed for Finn's license, would have the right to request that Finn's driver's permit be revoked until he's 18. (Donal would probably have strong incentive to do this if he suspected Finn was driving around at night, since Donal would be legally liable for any crashes or fines that occurred if he knowingly allowed Finn to, say, drive out past curfew (which is any time after 10 PM everywhere in Vegas except the strip or downtown), and as a cop he'd definitely know this. Is there a reason Donal wouldn't or shouldn't take this step, if he's already reinforcing locks? If so, how did Finn convince him?

Finn doesn’t often talk.

Awkward phrasing.

He’s gotten better at expressing himself this way as he got older

Tense change, "he got older" should probably be "he's gotten older" or "he gets older."

with him having got into a few physical fights outside of school

Change "got" to "gotten."

-----

And that's all I've got for you for you! It's honestly mostly just little grammar tweaks here and there to improve readability. I generally recommend reading applications out loud to see where the rough spots are when something might need to be rephrased, but overall this is a really strong profile. Just gotta sand off those few rough edges!

Post back here when you've made the edits, and I'll take another look. If anything seems a bit nitpicky or it's not clear what I'm on about, feel free to DM me anytime!

[ViolentMedic]

Edited!

To highlight some of the changes since some affected multiple paragraphs regarding the football and the car crimes I removed the earlier mention of skipping practice and had it coincide with him getting in with the delinquent crowd, which then causes some differences in timing and realisations that mean Donal didn't figure out the eyebrow was a car thing, with some extra justification for why he doesn't remove the licence. (This does also affect some parts of the mazda he's working on.) Just so you know the changes had kind of a ripple effect.

[Gundham]

Sorry for the wait, let's get this flight in gear!

His eyes are a vivid green and he has a tendency to stare intensely at whatever’s captured his attention, which is sometimes found unnerving.

This is still a bit awkward. Who's finding it unnerving? The people he looks at? People who catch him staring at others? It'd be best to find a way to rephrase it.

It was something he did on his own during his time off, and initially he didn’t invite Finn to watch or help. But Finn often would, curious enough to watch,

The second sentence is pretty strange. He would... what?

Early in middle school, he finally found the loose floorboard under his bed where his mother had stashed anything she didn’t want Donal to find. Pictures of her and her boyfriend, a half-rotten packet of cigarettes, and a USB stick that had some violent or raunchy comics in it.

Second bit is a sentence fragment. Easily fixed by uncapitalizing "pictures" and changing the period after "find" into either a hyphen or a semicolon.

Make these last few tweaks and he's good to go!

[ViolentMedic]

Edited!

[Gundham]

Go on, you delinquent scamp!

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