I wanted to write some JayxKarim fluff and I finally was able to write it! Even if an angst scene with Hassole Jack made me postpone it for a bit.
Here you can find another flashback-like scene, in which Jamison reminisces a fond memory of him and Karim from back when they lived together on Helios. It’s a bittersweet fluff, I have to admit it.
Jamison stood there, on the edge of the broken city of Opportunity, looking at the scenery before him.
Ruins of the city in the lake, the calm and dark waters of the Lake Shining Orizons, the land around filled with debris either from the Helios or scattered by its fall.
In the distance, the husk of what was left of the Helios space station, half hidden by many alien and unsettling plants that grew all around it.
The remainings of the city were fixed or built back, now made only of laboratories and similar buildings, made to study those plants and cure the sickness caused by their pollen.
His mismatched eyes stopped on the silhouette of the destroyed space station, the place where once he worked. Where Karim worked. Where he met him and where he lived with him.
«They made you bring work at home again?» asked Jamison from the kitchen.
«Yeah» sighed Karim from the couch in the living room, keeping typing on his laptop «I need to rewrite some documents that I received and that need to be handed out tomorrow afternoon.»
Jamison grabbed the kettle from the stove and poured the water in two matching mugs, then he opened the cupboard and grabbed the little box containing tea bags.
«What happened? Full of mistakes?»
«I wish!» another sigh left the Artemisan lawyer «It would have been way easier to fix!»
Karim fell back silent and focused again on typing back the papers scattered near him.
The engineer put the two mugs on a tray, together with a plate of chocolate brownies, and carefully took it and walked towards the living room to reach his boyfriend.
Boyfriend. Heh. Thinking that still gives him that warm fuzz inside as if he was a teen at his first love.
Jamison left the tray on the coffee table in front of the couch and started grabbing the discarded papers and putting them together neatly before taking a seat near Karim.
«If it ain’t errors, why you need to rewrite all of them that stress you out so much?»
«Look at los documentos of that cabron» rarely the lawyer let his moter tongue slip in his speech unless he was really stressed out (or with someone close to him). Hyperion doesn’t want people speaking something different.
Jamison picked up the papers he moved on the table and started taking a look at the text on it. He couldn’t understand juridical jargon and a little quizzical expression appeared on his face.
«He is an artist, I guess!» sighed the lawyer stopping typing «An artist that… that uses Comic Sans in legal documents as a creative outlet or something like that!»
Grabs the page that was rewriting «Look! Comic Sans and other random “fancy font”, just throw in some Wingdings too so it’s a perfect shit!»
«Lemme guess: if you let this pass, the blame will be on you?»
«Yes. Because it’s my – and the other’s – duty checking the work of the lower-level lawyers.» sighed, leaning his back on the sofa «And obviously he didn’t give me the digital copy, so I have to rewrite it completely.»
«I thought so. And I feel you: getting blamed for other’s errors is shit.» nodded Jay putting down the legal documents he took from the small table «That sucks, a lot.»
«Say it again for the people in the back, dear» a nervous laugh escaped Karim’s mouth, left hand rubbing his face and then running between his curly dark hair.
«Can I help you in some way?»
Karim sighed «Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. Just...» a grimace appeared on his face when he turned it towards his boyfriend «...I’m sorry that we’ll have to postpone our movie night because of this shit.»
The engineer smiled softly, moving a bit closer to him and gently taking a dark russet hand in his pale one and entwining their fingers.
«Don’t worry about that. The only thing I need is being with you» smiled «And now you need a pause for relaxing a bit or the stress will eat you alive.»
«Aww dear» smiled the other
«I was too cheesy?»
«No, you were darn cute» chuckled Karim.
They both closed the distance and kissed softly, still hand in hand on the couch.
It was a short and sweet kiss and after it they stayed close, forehead to forehead, in silence for some moments until something catches the lawyer’s attention.
«Is it my favourite tea what I’m smelling?»
«And chocolate brownies from the bakery you like.» added the engineer, breaking contact with the other to go grab one of the matching mugs, remove the teabag that has been steeping and handing it to Karim before handing him also a brownie.
«As I said, you need a pause and to relax a bit… then you can go back to rewrite that Comic Sans crap. I won’t disturb you while working, so you can be focused.»
Karim sipped a bit of the steaming tea, moving the laptop on the small table to have some free room of movement, then he took the brownie from Jay’s hand to get a bite of it.
Another sip of tea before adding «Lemme be the cheesy one, now» an amused expression on his face «But it will be difficult focusing on work while having you around».
Jay almost choked on the sip of tea he took from the other mug «Kay!» he exclaimed, blushing and turning back to look at the other «You’re a fucking idiot!» he giggled.
«No, I’m being honest, mi corazon. Take your responsibility.» chuckled, winking at his boyfriend.
The laughs and the warm and fuzzy feeling from that memory were broken by the cold touch of a tear streaming down from Jamison’s good eye, down the cheek and leaving a single drop stain on his jacket.
He sighed, wiped away the tear with his flesh hand and turned his back to the lake and the ruins, returning to walk into the rebuilt part of the city to find his doctor’s new medical office.
Since I saw the "Multiverse Final Form" skins for the BL3 main characters, I started musing about how my OCs would change if their story took a different path from the one I decided (more or less LOL) until now.
So, I ended up making this list of Headcanons for the what-ifs I could imagine for them!
Everyone, at a certain point of their lives, wonder what could have happened if they made different decisions or if their life took a different direction.
J.T.
I guess that JT could be the one with more options of all of my OCs (but maybe it’s bc he’s the main OC?)
if his rebelliousness of his teen years continued, probably he could just have become a bandit. Maybe joining a clan or ending up making his own with time
if his parents would have let him try a more "artistical" route for his studies, probably he could have become a photographer, videographer. Maybe he could have started with "low quality" gigs like being a cameraman in shitty movies, maybe he could have met Timothy in the set of one of those movies where he had to impersonate once again Jack but on a different...light. Maybe after some time he would have more luck and get hired in a little troupe of documentarists, travelling around the universe and documenting the various planets known or maybe following some explorer to document new planets discovered.
if he accepted his parents' will and choose what they wanted after the university... well, probably now he could have been one of the main corporates in Vladof. Or maybe he could have been the one rebuilding Atlas back from scratch, returning the company back to its past glory.
if he didn't mimic Jack to please him and get on his good side, probably JT could have risked to get vented out because of his being aggressive towards the other engineers that didn't listen to him. Or maybe he could have developed a strong personality that in some way amused Jack (let's not forget that Nisha was her gf lol) and could have saved his butt from being fired.
if instead he continued being a mini-Jack, a knock-off copy, and continued letting the man gaslight him and brainwash him...well, he'd never had met Karim and for sure at Jack's death there would be one brainwashed fake-body-double going rampage. The corporate war wouldn't have only Hugo Vasquez and Rhys Strongfork as main people, but even Jay would've been in that. And Jay would have been the one going first to find Nakayama's id chip and getting an implant to have the AI-Jack. He would have followed Jack's instructions without questioning and Hugo, Rhys & the others would have been soon "removed from existence". The robotic skeleton that in TftB Jack wanted to put into Rhys to control him? Well, in this case it wouldn't have been needed. Brainwashed Jay would have done anything he commanded. And if brute forse was needed, well, surely he could have found a way to take over Jay's mind and body. (if you read @heavybreathingcatt ‘s fanfic "Wolf Among Wolves" you may recognize a reference in this last part 👀 if not, GO READ IT NOW)
if he didn't discover about Jack's plan to "fire" Karim among other employees until it was already happened. Well, I think that Jay would have gone feral and tried to kill Jack, ending up being killed by guards or by Jack himself if blinded with rage Jay didn't notice that the one he was attacking was his body-double Timothy.
if he decided to do anything to stay with Daisy, he most probably would have ended up depending heavily on meds to calm down and sedate his flashbacks and visions. While she would have been able to continue with her fantasy of being the good nurse that with her love healed a broken down person.
if he never started being a bounty hunter and didn't accept the mission of eliminating "Chief Dusk Sabre", he would never had the possibility to discover that Karim was still alive and would have continued believing him dead with the fall of Helios.
if he never helped those two rats of siblings that were so out of the world to not know the basics of how to survive on Pandora...probably wouldn't have changed much? Maybe only that if he ended up in the COV, he would not receive any "treatment of favour" for being someone that knows maybe too much of the people behind the Twin Gods persona. He would have been treated as any other random bandit caught by them. Surely soon dead by the leeching power of Tyreen.
and I think that's it lol
KARIM
if the law firm he worked at didn't get forcibly bought by Hyperion, with the years he would have become an important member of the firm and would have gotten the honour of becoming one of the associates of the firm.
if he wasn't able to get the scolarship for the Megaversity or wasn't able to earn enough money to continue studying in general, most probably he would have ended following his father's steps and would have become a bounty hunter. He's gifted with superior skills and this would have helped a lot becoming the best bounty hunter of Artemis and with time - if in this timeline Zane choose the VH life - he would become the Assassin One (otherwise, if Zane took that title, Karim would have become Two).
if he never met Jay, probably his life wouldn't have changed much...except for not being saved from the "firing list". Or maybe, if he never knew JT it would have passed way more time before risking the firing.
Maybe, after the fall of Helios, he would have took anyway his own road and part ways from Vaughn and his Children of Helios. And would have ended up unknowingly making his own bandit clan on Pandora. But without the long and heavy mourning period if he never met JT. Or yes, if he would have found someone else that didn't survive.
if he never met again JT in that failed assassination attempt, Karim would always believe that he died at the implant explosion. And would always regret not having been able to see him at least one last time.
VENOM
if the COV didn't reach her area to convert and recruit, she would have continued being one of those random bandits in the Dust.
Maybe with time she would have ended up getting "sick" as her father was and became one of the random psychos you could find on Pandora.
Or maybe she could have had some luck and after the death of Nisha, she could have tried to get a "normal life" in the nearby Lynchwood.
Mack
if he didn't escape his group, probably he would have ended up killed while being used again as a bait by the others.
if his hitchhicking around Pandora took another direction, he could have ended up joining (willingly or not) one of those groups of Rats.
maybe he could have gotten killed after being found out cheating to win some bet with other travelling bandits. He risked that many times.
or maybe his travelling around could have brought him to meet Ellie. Maybe he could have tried to barter his skills as mechanic for a place where to rest for some days until he would have been able to find someone that would have drove him somewhere else. Maybe Ellie would have noticed his abilities - and so would have Scooter - and offered him to work with her as an assistant or something like that, maybe ending up taking Scooter's place at the garage and working on the vehicles and the catch-a-ride.
CREAM BUN
if they didn't follow their fake friends joining the COV (or if the COVs never reached their area), probably Bun would have ended remaining in the stronghold.
maybe with time Bun would have become the protector of the clan and the others would have finally respected them properly and not treated them as a freak or as a something dangerous.
or maybe Bun could have decided to leave the place and go somewhere else, probably would have ended up going up in the mountains to be alone with the nature they always loved. Maybe Bun, with the years, could have been known as the "gentle giant that lives up in the snow" and that helps travelers that get lost during snow storms.
WEEGIE
probably the one with less options
its being repaired and brought back to life by JT is already a different route of its life
maybe Weegie could have lived for some more time in the timeline where JT would have took Handsome Jacks' place. Or maybe not. Loaders and bots in general are only tools after all, right?
Okay, shitty title but I couldn’t think of anything better. Also, as I stated in a previous post, this is the first time my brain allowed me to complete something... so I’m not sure how it will be. Angsty for sure, but I hope also readable LOL
Enjoy, I guess?
The robotic arm of the bounty hunter creaked and whirred under the left boot of the Chief. He kept the hunter down, right knee planted on the hunter’s torso and the edge of the combat knife’s blade on his throat.
The bounty hunter was panting, almost gasping, as if his lungs were not able to get in enough air to fulfil the body’s needs, even if the Chief did not put all of his weight on his chest: that man did not look like he could be a real threat for him. Whoever chose to hire him, has most probably wasted their money or decided that he was going to fail and get killed: who would ever hire someone that is half-blind and most probably also half-deaf since he did not even notice someone sneaking behind him? Probably they used him as cannon fodder.
Anyway, that wheezing man was still trying to resist and still kept the other arm lifted pointing his old Hyperion branded pistol pointed to the Chief’s head.
Looking at that man felt like looking at a ghost coming from the past.
Or a living nightmare of something that was never forgotten.
Sure to have the bounty hunter stuck to the ground, Dusk Sabre allowed himself to let go his grip on the other’s man collar and lowered his hood and scarves uncovering the face.
«So?» declared, returning to grab the hunter’s shirt collar and keeping the blade on his neck «Who sent you?» asked.
The bounty hunter did not speak, but his eyes widened as if… as if he was surprised or shocked.
«You deaf, cabron?» rebuked the Chief, putting more pressure on the knee on the hunter’s chest. «I asked you who hired you?»
He gasped when his breath was cut off by the pressure of the knee. Eyes still wide and fixated on Sabre’s face. The hunter’s lips trembled and moved to say something, but no words came out.
«I’m giving you a chance, pendejo. I don’t want to kill a sick hijo de puta if he got hired hoping to get money for meds.» added, in a calm but commanding tone «Who? It was again that skagshit of Sharktooth?» asked «Or it was one of the Red Rakks? Or Gold Razor? Ah?»
Again, the hunter tried to say something but no words came out of his mouth. The hand that was still pointing the pistol at the Chief started to shake. Some of the muttered words – finally – became audible.
«…no… no, that’s… that’s not possible…» muttered «I… I can’t… not…not now, not now.» his breath became even more laboured and his eyes started watering. «Not a crisis now… Karim is dead… the Helios… Why…» sobbed, starting to lower the shaky armed hand.
The Chief frowned, confused. He didn’t hear that name in ages.
His old name.
He pressed more the blade on the other man’s throat, a thin red line of blood appearing on the skin. «Who told you that name?» ordered «And who the fuck are you?»
Another gasp shook the man, tears now streaming down his scarred face with days long patchy beard. «…not now… it can’t be him, it can’t be him…» sobbed. Then his eyes widened again «But… maybe…it’s a sign.»
«Qué diablos are you saying?» the Chief was even more confused «Answer me»
The bounty hunter leaned the arm and the weapon on the ground, tears still running down his cheeks, and closed his eyes «Finally my day has come.» sobbed the hunter «Karim…he has come to take me with him.» then he took a raspy breath and started murmuring some words.
Dusk Sabre frowned even more and lowered a bit his head to hear better what the sick bounty hunter started to murmur.
This time it was the Chief’s turn of widening his eyes in shock. «Ho-…how did you know that?!»
«Karim… He told me that before… before we got separated… many years ago»
Sabre felt like being struck by a heavy tactical. This time was having difficulties finding words and stood in silence for a few long instants before murmuring an uncertain «Jamison? Is…is that you?»
The bounty hunter opened again his mismatched eyes and returned to look at the bandit chief «That name…yeah… I am Jamison… or what’s left of him.» replied, «Please, kill me before my crisis ends. Let… let me be killed by Karim, so I can go reach him».
For the first time in maybe ever, the Chief wavered. Only a few of the people in his stronghold knew about Jamison, only the ones that followed him after the fall of Helios. Moreover, none of them could have leaked this info as a way to weaken his defence and kill him: he kept an eye on them and they never broke his trust.
In addition, none of them knew of those words he said to Jamison when they parted. A sort of little code between them, to find each other again. Jay at first thought that it was a silly thing, that they won’t ever need something like that since they’d be separated only for few months. However, Karim insisted: his gut feeling thought that it could be a good idea. The famous “better safe than sorry” of a person easily worried. Karim always hoped that he was wrong. That it would never be needed.
But now he was glad for it. Because he was finally able to smile and say «You already reached him» lifting the blade from Jamison’s neck, moving his knee and his boot from the other so he’d be able to move. «I’m alive, Jay»
Karim, how do you punish dissenters in your ranks? What "laws" does your community have in place?
Karim: our clan is mostly made up by people that used to work for Handsome Jack...and working for him had the untold but very know rule of “if you do me one wrong (or I feel like it) I’ll fire or kill you”, so everyone mostly follows the rules we have. We are all used to that and also we are a community. Pero todavia there could still be some problemas, I can’t deny it. [shrugs] The main rules are meant to maintain the community working in peace between each other...y’know colaborando together. So: do not betray the stronghold, do not steal essential goods kept in the communal storage, do not hide anything that could cause harm to us all [rises fingers of the left hand, almost as if counting the rules] another thing is trying to get along, usually if there is some discusión - some arguing or fighting - over something and neither of the two parts agrees, then the problem is brought up to me and I have to act like a judge between the parts. [takes a short pause, thinking, before continuing] Rarely I had to punish someone harshly. Most of the time if you do something wrong, but not something that could harm the clan, you’ll have to face some shunning and you’ll have to do the hardest jobs to...”compensate” the wrong you did and earn back our trust in you. [lets out a slow sigh] but a couple of times it happened. There are people between us that come from other bandit clans and the likes, and a couple of them tried to be the “mole” to pass info to their group to attack us. Or to get some kind of revenge against me. When they got discovered...well, it didn’t go well for them. One that wanted to avenge one of his clan trying to kill me [lowers his scarf to show the scar on his neck] let’s say that ese hombre got it back to him [a little smirk appears on Karim’s face] Another cabron became food for Tamer’s skags, meanwhile another one...heh let’s say that he helped a lot with fertilizing our plants.
Karim, what is the most dangerous situation you've been in as a bandit chief?
Karim: The most dangerous situation? Amigo, a bandit’s life is full of dangers! [chuckles] Anyway I guess I could say that the most dangerous situation was back in the days, when we just settled and actually didn’t think about us being a brand new bandit clan. De las personas that followed me, only an handful of them knew how to survive in the open and another handful barely knew how to properly use a gun... And it was like...a couple of months after setting up the first resemblance of a camp that a group of pendejos noticed us and decided to assault our camp to “mark their territory”. [folds his arms and leans on the wall behind him] Their boss, Skagbone, threatened us. He told us that he’ll be merciful and let us alive if we left, otherwise he would destroy us. [eyes move to the side, while a little smirk appears on his face] It was a small group of cabrones and I guess I had been a little bit impulsive...but, well, that Skagbone instead of an answer he found one of my throwing knives between his eyes. His minions were all caught by surprise and scrambled, some attacking and some running away. [a little pause before continuing] So me and the ones that were able to fight, responded to the fire and took down the hijos de puta that decided to avenge their boss...and then we took down also the ones running away. [shrugs] That was what marked and confirmed our new life as bandits...and was also the first victory of our clan, still unnamed back then.
Karim Lopez / Karim / Kay / Boss / Chief Dusk Sabre
FINALLY you all are able to meet JT’s S/O - and another former Hyperion employee - Karim!
And as always, I’ll try to list all the traits and facets of my characters that will be explored in my fanfiction!
Keep an eye on this because it will updated as soon as I define some other things about him!
Physical Details
183cm (6'0")
Lean and toned body that looks damn good in a suit
5 years older than JT
Left-handed
Dark brown hair, long and curly, usually tied into a low ponytail
Dark russet skin tone
Sharp chocolate-brown eyes
Hook nose
Always shaved to look neater, especially during workdays
After Tales / Fight for Sanctuary events
Switches to dreadlocks as a hairstyle
A scar on the nose, horizontal and long from eye to eye more or less
Another scar on the face goes from jaw to cheekbone on the right side
A thick scar that circles his neck
A bunch of other scars scattered on his body, from blades, bullets and wildlife.
Backstory
From Artemis.
Fourth kid of a family with maybe too many kids.
“Our father hated children and he had plenty of us”
His father was a bounty hunter while his mother had a pub in the settlement where they lived.
Worked his ass off since he was a teen to be able to afford to continue his studies.
Was able to obtain a scholarship to go to Eden-4 Megaversity and get his well-earned degree in Law.
After a couple of internships here and there as an assistant lawyer, he got a job in a private law firm based on Tantalus.
The law firm got bought acquired by Hyperion some years later.
So, Karim became one of the lawyers of Hyperion’s Legal Department.
Didn’t like Tassiter - mostly for how he got his (former) boss to give up and buy them like they were items - but he could deal with it. It’s business. It could happen.
But Jack and his too-questionable methods? His questionable way of dealing with anything? Making his way through legislation loopholes, gaps and grey areas? Karim hated him.
He would’ve quit the job if leaving Hyperion after having to deal with some questionable and top-secret stuff did not mean putting his life at risk. Or his career. Or both.
Jack would never risk having someone around that knows too much and is not working for him.
And Karim liked being alive... and liked having a job that paid the bills, so he had to just suck it up.
Also, he wasn't alone: he befriended a bunch of other Hyperion employees that didn't like working there but just had to deal with it like him.
Having the opportunity to rant about work and whatever with other people that like him didn't like to work for a shitty boss was really nice and helped to let out the stress.
It was during one of these get-togethers with some other employees that first heard about JT...well, actually about "that bootleg copy of Jack that works with the bots".
He heard many assumptions and speculations about this "engineer Jack/mini Jack" from other employees that joined the after-work get-together at one of the pubs in the commercial area of Helios the "World of Shopping". Bad things and...less bad things.
He met him only years later, when the "mini-Jack" himself joined their table without invitation and saying something on the lines of "May I join the shit-talking table too?"
Jay wasn't really bad if you were able to see under that façade of a knock-off copy, but not all the other employees that participated at the get-togethers actually went deeper than the appearances. And he for some time stopped trying to join the get-together or - if he joined - stayed by himself after noticing not being liked by the others.
But Karim still wanted to know more about the Jay under "Jack's mask".
Jay said that was thanks to Karim that he was able to realize that he had a fucked up coping mechanism and that, in reality, HJ was an awful person. A bastard.
Slowly Karim fell in love with Jay and Jay reciprocated.
They started dating and they were happy.
Karim and Jay were living together for a few months when Jay was informed that Karim for unknown reasons was on Jack’s “firings list”.
Obviously, JT decided to do whatever possible to give Karim another chance.
Karim discovered it only when JT received the news about being soon transferred on Pandora, having given up his right to refuse a transfer to save Karim's life&career.
It was something that would have lasted only a handful of months. They could deal with it.
They lost contact only less than a couple of weeks before the incident, Karim was spending his few vacation days visiting his family on Artemis when a problem with the Echo-device signal impeded him to contact Jay.
"In few days I'll be back on Helios and I'll be again able to hear and see him" Karim thought.
But when he was back, everything was stuck into chaos.
Some Hyperion facilities on Pandora were attacked, some destroyed, Handsome Jack was able to open the Vault, the Vault Hunters killed the beast inside the vault and killed Handsome Jack.
Handsome Jack's death left a big dent into the corporation, causing the race for power between the most power-hungry Hyperion corporates. Between them Hugo Vasquez and Rhys Strongfork.
Karim tried everything he could do to find out what had been of Jamison, but never found answers. No one seemed to know what happened on Pandora except for the opening of the Vault and Jack's death.
Some said that everyone in the facilities died "or something like that".
Sadly he hadn't been able to dig further to know the truth: as a part of the Legal Department he had a lot of work because of what happened and what was happening inside of the corporation.
That turbulent and hectic period of "internal corporate war" was like a fever dream for Karim. Had a lot to do, a lot to deal with, not enough time for the things he deemed more important...aka searching for Jay.
And then shit hit the fan.
Karim barely understood what the hell was happening on Helios, but after a frantic and confusing call from Vaughn that tried to explain everything and at the same time alert him, he understood that it was time to flee as soon as possible.
Helios' main source of energy got shut off by Rhys trying to stop Jack and the space station started its destructive fall towards the planet.
Thanks to Vaughn's call he was able to escape before it was too late, but he didn't join his "Children of Helios" and proceeded to leave everything behind him.
Vaults? The possible return of Jack? Nothing was relevant for Karim: now he was free from his "chains" that kept him tied to Hyperion and it was time to go to the Blight Region to search for Jamison.
Some of the other refugees from Helios decided to follow him instead of staying with the other "Children of Helios", but Karim never actually understood why they chose to follow him. Maybe they felt that he could help them more with surviving on Pandora? Maybe they wanted to help him? Who knows?
A small group formed and travelled with him, in a sort of small nomadic clan.
After long and difficult travelling, Karim - and his "clan" - reached the area where Jamison was supposed to work. The places that got blown up by the Vault Hunters and the Raiders.
What he found gave him the horrible evidence that Jamison may have died, as many told him when he started to search for him back on Helios. Maybe that was why he never found proper answers, only guesses, "it's confidential info" and the likes.
Karim was devastated.
Mourned for long, even after the ones that followed him convinced him to try to move on: between firings, venting/vacuuming, experiments, the ones sent into combat for him, the ones in the facilities destroyed, the ones that didn't survive Helios, many died because of Jack.
They travelled again, before finding a place where they stopped and built their settlement.
And not long after their settlement was built, Karim realized that he had become the boss of a "bandit" clan.
Karim became "Chief Dusk Sabre" of the "Fallen Blade" stronghold.
Traits - Positive / Negative
P - Per Aspera ad Astra: hard worker
Karim literally started from nothing and worked his butt off to rise from the dirt and climb to a higher position, earning scholarships and a really good job that paid off all his efforts.
Even if he ended up working for a jackhole, he earned that spot. He could've been let off when the law firm he was working for got bought, but he wasn't.
He is proof that often you only need to work hard and work well to achieve your goals. Karim never needed to buy his way with money or favours. Only plain ol' hard work.
P - Reliable and Trustworthy
Being a hard worker, you can be sure that he'll complete whatever task he has been assigned. Even if he will totally grumble if has too much to work on.
After the fall of Helios he turned on bounty hunting and you can be darn sure that if you want a job done, Karim is the right man for it.
Also he has always been a really level-headed, down-to-earth person and that's probably why many other survivors decided to follow him.
He feels like a person that you can rely on, that he will help you as much as he could and that will direct you on the right way.
Maybe has some leadership skills in him that he never noticed having.
Probably caring of his younger siblings back in the days helped him to create a natural “you can rely on me”-aura that makes people at ease. He doesn’t know.
P/N - The calm before the storm: patience.
Karim is usually a person that has a lot of patience and is able to maintain it even if he’s dealing with the most annoying person ever.
This totally comes from having to deal with many - older and younger - siblings and you know that siblings frequently don’t get along
But don’t think that his patience is endless. Because it isn’t.
If Jay's anger is shouting and aggression, Karim's anger is the polar opposite.
He became even calmer and collected, in a sort of cold calculating way. Sharp words straight to the point said with a cold and controlled tone of the voice. The facial expression became at the same time stern and calm. Controlled movements and body movements.
Too calm. Disturbingly too calm, like that unsettling stillness before a devastating storm.
If you angered him to that point, you'll feel like he's a predator hunting you down and waiting for the right moment to strike and get to your throat.
P - Smart and Highly Learned
Do you think that one could easily get a scholarship and then a place as a lawyer in a private law firm without doing many internships as an assistant like he did?
He studied hard and worked harder and all his efforts were recognized, they saw how much he was worth.
That's also why Hyperion didn't fire him when they bought the firm. Some other lawyers weren't that lucky, but he had an impeccable resume backing him up and his (former) boss always talked well of his work.
He was intelligent enough and learned enough to understand too well what kind of legal loopholes Handsome Jack used to do everything he wanted, hating himself for having to work for such an awful asshole and having to help - with all the other lawyers of Hyperion's Legal Department - covering his doings and filing lawsuits against the ones denouncing HJ.
P - Survival Skills and Adaptability
If you are the son of a bounty hunter you will have at least the basics taught on how to use weapons and how to survive. Even if your father hates kids.
Also, Artemis is more or less an hostile planet like Pandora so survival is a really important thing if you want to grow up to be an adult and get old.
He has worked a bunch of different odd jobs to pay for his studies, from helping his mother in the pub or following his father during some less dangerous "hunts" to many other different things, so he's now able to more or less adapt to any situation he could face.
Maybe he won't be excellent at everything but he will know the basics to get things done
The good thing of having a bounty hunter in your family? Getting taught how to use weapons, how to kill people or beasts, how to properly maintain the weapons in a working state...
Karim discovered being more for melee weapons, to be specific: hunting knives, bayonets...but also machetes, axes and whatever bladed weapon he could put his hands on.
The people that followed him and built the settlement have given him that "bandit name" because of his abilities with blades.
He's also good as a sharpshooter, even if he prefers assault rifles because often you don't have time to properly aim and you need something that kills quickly.
Likes
Jay
Dates with Jay and simply spending time with him
His brothers and sisters
The stronghold he unknowingly founded
Brownies
Bourbon
Chocolate in general
Mint tea
Reading a good book
Animals (if they don't try to kill him, obv)
Playing the guitar
Melee weapons
But also assault rifles and sniper rifles
Helping others
Hunting
Tailored suits
Ties and socks with silly patterns
The freedom from the Company that he finally achieved
Dislikes
Handsome Jack
Tassiter
Hugo Vasquez
Rhys Strongfork
Snob and rich people
When all of his work/efforts get wasted
Those snobby Business Majors that visited Helios and thought that they were better than any other employee.
But also the power-hungry people that run or work in the corporations
The idea of not being able to say a last goodbye to JT or even seeing him one last time.
Being freed from the ties to the Company only because of its fall
Used to hate being stared down by others when they discovered that he built his career from nothing and wasn’t from wealthy family. But now no one cares, finally.
That fucker that always wrote legal documents in Comic Sans.
I give your OCs 10,000 credits and set them loose at an outdoor swap meet, what do they buy and why? They get a bonus 5,000 credits if they buy gifts for others. Show us the potential chaos *kicks back and sips coffee like a binch*
Okay, to be honest, I had to google “what is an outdoor swap meet” because I genuinely didn’t know what it is and I thought about some kind of shop and the likes. And I saw that is a sort of a bit flea market? Oh boy, I love flea markets!
Here is the chaos you ordered LOL
Venom will surely be using the credits to buy all the weirdest sh*t possible. Neon clothes in 90′s style that she’ll match with something more goth-looking? Kitsch and tacky colored jewellery? A weird decorative knick-knack that no one understands what should represent but looks cool and weird? Bought. Probably would end up buying a kid’s onesie for Mack because “it’s cute af” and thinking that he’ll laugh and like the weird gift...and that what probably he will do.
Mack...you’ll lose it in the crowd and you’ll find it again bargaining with a seller to get some spare vehicle parts at the cheapest price possible. If you want to be sure to find him, you’ll have to check the stands that have vehicle parts, tools and the likes. Also he could be use the opportunity to thrift something that could fit his kid-sized body and some other random things that he knows that could turn into something else. Obviously he’ll stop and get an ugly neon purple plush jacket to give to Venom as a gift because it’s exactly what she’d buy.
Cream Bun with their height and size will be easily spotted even in the crowdest place. They will be hunting down for fairy tales books and recipe books, also for plushies and other stuffed soft things, with the vendors being a bit weirded out by this giant buying an armful of plushies and pillows. Maybe they’ll search for nice pots and vases that could use for their plants instead of old metal boxes and other things they had to repurpose. Would totally buy some little presents to give to the people they consider their friend or for their colleagues in the kitchens. Little things to show that they thought about them. Then after hoarding plushies, fables and gifts, Bun will start their hunt for cool signs and boards for their collection. Being a Goliath is a good thing when you end up buying more than expected.
Weegie can’t go because it most probably will be mistaken as something for sale whole or for spare parts, upsetting heavily the bot.
JT will be searching for spare parts that could fit Weegie or that could be of help if his old Hyperion robotic prosthetic will need something repaired. Mostly searching for cheap spare parts for anything he uses so he’ll be always ready if something will end up breaking because of use and time. If it’s more Borderlands-style and there are vendors that sell used weapons, then he’ll be there searching for spare parts for his old and beated up equip. Loving Jakobs sniper rifles is a good thing because with the years the models could change a bit but will still remain low technology and high damage&accuracy how he likes them, so getting a new old sniper rifle is good as getting a brand new one.
Karim after I answered the ask about secret hobbies, you’d think that he’ll end up buying that weird pair of turquoise socks with dancing avocadoes or the red tie with slices of pepperoni pizza on them, right? Wrong! BL3 Karim will be thrifting things that his “stronghold” needs: that could be anything from tools, to clothing to usable cheap weapons. You would totally find him discuss with a vendor that won’t lower the price on that old bayonet that can only fit old models of Atlas or Dahls rifles.
