Karl Ericsson

[Karl Ericsson]

KARL ERICSSON

”Now, alduce me to introlow myself. I'm sorry. Alself me to myduce introlow.”

”Introme tolose mylow alself. Alme to you introself mylowduce. Excuse me a moment.”


.:-[THE BASICS]-:.
[Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.]

Full Name: Karl Johan Meier Ericsson.
Nickname: Only Karl, mr Ericsson, or the very adorable “dirty, old slob” by one of Old Ripa’s residents. Dirty he can understand and accept, but old? That’s pushing it too far!
Date Of Birth: 18th of April, 2014.
Sex: Male.
Nationality: His father originated from Germany, and his mother from Sweden.
Civil Stat: Single.
Employment/Work: Works as an engine repairer, mechanian and electrician, but will also lend a hand with random handiwork to anyone who needs it.
Residence: In a wonky house in the outer corners of Old Ripa.
Playby: Simon Baker.

.:-[WHAT'S IN THE MIRROR]-:.
[She turned me into a newt! ... but I got better.]

Height: 207 centimeters.
Weight: 88,5 kilos.
Body Shape: Sinewy, proportional in size of feet, arms and hands.
Skin Tone: Caucasian.
Hair Colour: Blonde with featuring grey hairs.
Eye Colour: Grayish blue.
Basic Tone Of Voice: His voice lies in the neutral tone register, with a slight raspy undertone.

Looks
Due to his genes, where an extreme height is the norm among males, he’s probably the first person you set your eyes on in a crowd: being over two meter means it’s quite hard to hide. The size of his hands and feet are proportional to his height, but it means that fists of smaller people disappear in his when shaking hands, and that it’s only reasonable to own one pair of shoes since they have to be customized.

Many years of physical work, combined with times of starvation, has built up a sinewy structure of muscles that might not make him graceful, but it keeps the body going. However, he’s got a weak heart and low blood-pressure, so his strength is first and foremost static.

The shape of his face is in the form of a U: with soft corners and a smooth jaw and chin; but only in the facial lines, since he only shaves every week or so. The tip of his nose is slightly pointed downwards, creating a bigger base but thinner nostrils. His thick hair, filled with un-tamed curls and volume, was once blonde, but now the first lines of grey and silver are starting to sneak in along his smooth-shaped hairline. Wrinkles have also started to appear around the corners of his eyes and mouth; they enchant his wide smiles and thinner out his eyes even further.

Style of Clothing
Karl wears almost the same clothing from day to day, such as an old shirt with the arms rolled up, or perhaps a plain T-shirt depending on weather, together with some torn, blue jeans. Since the possibilities to wash your clothes are close to none in the Wasteland, especially in Old Ripa, his clothing is always stained by dirt and oil. Thus, this un-shaved, un-groomed man matches perfectly together with his clothes; almost as if they were one.

Body Mods and other Distinct Features– Piercings, Tattoos and Scars
His hands are very rough due to work, and his underarms are scarred at random places from various smaller injuries. Smaller cuts here and there can also be found on his legs and upper body, but none of significance.

.:-[THE WINDOW TO THE SOUL]-:.
[Mount Everest: forbiding, aloof, terrifying.
The mountain with the biggest tits in the world.]

Sexual Preference: Heterosexual... Mostly. He doesn’t sleep with men, but can find them just as attractive as females.
Religion: The holy church of women? Seriously though, he’s an atheist (God abandoned these lands long ago), but if a church devoted to women existed, he would probably be a member.
Traits: Humorous, laid back, pre-judging, stubborn, thoughtful, helpful… and a bit perverted.

Personality
Most people that doesn’t know Karl deeper would simply conclude his personality in one word: immature. If it’s not about his childlike sense of humor, which he falls back on in both appropriate and inappropriate times, they’re probably referring to his ability to seemingly do nothing. It’s very true that Karl does only what needs to be done at the moment, or what he’s told, and he doesn’t stress things or trying to accomplish more than is absolutely necessary. Despite this, he’s reliable and helpful, and will complete the task before deadline. You just have to make sure to put one up…

What also speaks for people’s opinion of him as immature is his stubbornness. About certain things, it seems impossible to change his opinion about them, even if he might be logically wrong or has drawn his conclusions before presented with all the facts. To convince him of something he opposes of, you shouldn’t engage in an argument, but rather exploit the fact that he easily catches subliminal messages and believe that those thoughts are his own.

But what most people doesn’t see, or doesn’t notice because it’s behind a silly surface, is that he can actually be very considerate and thoughtful, especially towards troubled people. He won’t stick his nose where it doesn’t belong, but has a strong moral conviction towards to help those in need.

However, the fact that he keeps his nose in appropriate places doesn’t mean he doesn’t stick his hands down the cookie-jar now and then. He’s extremely bad at resisting temptation, and if someone tosses it his way... he’ll take on the challenge.

[/b]
* Mechanics.
* Technology; the little that’s available in the Wasteland.
* Cooking.

Likes
* Lazy days, when he can sit in front of his house and do nothing.
* Alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, or other unusual luxuries that adds a special something.
* To talk. He’s very chatty.
* Company; if you like to talk you need someone to talk to, or people might think you’re crazy.
* Children, though strangely enough, he has never settled and gotten some of his own.
* To cook. Actually, he’s quite the chef, but he hates to cook for only himself.

Dislikes
* The white city; this is the only thing he prefers not to talk about.
* People who do others harm by will.
* Egocentric people.
* Politics; he tries to keep politically neutral.
* Propaganda.
* Things that’s too perfect. Is that why his house looks like rubble?

Fears
* Some might say he’s scared of commitment; actually, this isn’t the whole truth. What he’s terrified of is to lose something near, or dear, to him, and thus he has stayed out from long-term relationships.
[/ul][/blockquote]

.:-[KNOWLEDGE MAKES US WHO WE ARE]-:.
[And now for something completely different.]

Skills: Working with different kinds of engines, may it be motors or generators, to repair broken equipment, making simple yet tasteful dishes out of what resources are available at the moment and carpentry.
Mastered Languages: English, Swedish, and a little German.
Old Places Of Employment or Expertise: He was a sound- and light technician trainee whilst he still lived in Shangrila.
Talents: His working memory can be impressive, especially when thinking about practical problems, but he has started to lose it due to aging.
Hobbies: Sitting inside doing nothing, sitting outside doing nothing, sitting somewhere else and doing nothing. And of course, he cooks sometimes.

.:-[SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT]-:.

Favorite Thing: He’s actually quite fond of his old casted iron pan and pot, which has stood many times over the small fire on his backyard.
Accessories: He got a pair of working gloves and a tool belt he crafted on his own, but he only wears those when working on something.
Important Belongings: When he got tossed out from Shangrila, he was wearing a silver chain necklace. He keeps it safe, but rarely wears it; only sometimes, when he feels sentimental.
Pets and Animals: He loves hens (he says that they remind him of his mother) and dogs, but he has no animals of his own.

.:-[HISTORY SHOWS US WHERE WE HAVE BEEN]-:.
[Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses,
not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.]

Place Of Birth: Eden, Shangrila.
Family: His younger brother, Emerich Meier, and his mother Margaretha Ericsson, who still lives in Shangrila. His father Johan Meier died in his teens.
Old Friends, Lovers and Other Relationships: He left some friends behind in Shangrila, whom of most he have forgotten since they weren’t that deep. However, he’ll probably never be able to forget Sophie since everything begun with her.

Background:
Karl was born in the 2015, four years after his parents Johan Meier and Margaretha Ericsson had been given the opportunity to move to Shangrila for shelter from the war. The unmarried couple was invited mainly due to their connection to the Adler family, both as friends and business partners. Johan Meier worked as a consulting construction engineer for the company for many years, inter alia to establish a facility for Eagle Industries in Sweden, and had befriended the couple with a little help from the fact that his parents originated from Germany. His younger girlfriend Margaretha, whom he had met ten years before the birth of Karl, worked as a day nurse for young children; she might not seem of big importance at the first sight, but in the growing city her education was much needed.

The first six years of Karl’s life was rather uneventful: his father was often busy, and his mother put her son in kindergarten early so that she could both watch over her boy and continue with her work. He was early introduced to Victor Adler, since the fathers had a vision that the boys’ friendship would grow just as tight as theirs. However, even if Karl played it nice and Adler didn’t, the friendship died early, and they only hung out when the parents met and such was expected from them.

Karl’s younger brother, Emerich, was born in the 2021, which had no immediate changes for the six year old. He liked his baby brother, and enjoyed to play with him when he felt a need for company, as well as he enjoyed bullying him around to prove himself in front of the friends that he brought over. However, Karl saw it as affection: but Emerich didn’t quite share is brother’s opinion in his matter.

In school, Karl never had any problem making and maintaining friends, since he had been socialized at a young age and mostly left unattended by his mother after Emerich’s birth (his father was still a busy man). Despite his capability of social interaction, school went pretty bad: he excelled at his favorite subjects, gymnastics and mathematics, but had trouble passing his courses in English, social- and natural science. His father died from sickness in the year of 2032; which weighted heavier on his brother and mother than it did on him.

Due to his bad grades, Karl barely passed high school, and going to the university was out of the question. He simply decided to give it up and get a work; much to his mother’s horror, who thought her boy was moving out from Eden to the lower districts. Thus, she allowed him to live at home while he started a part-time job at a local pub; first working with cleaning and serving, but eventually moving up to help the people rig the stage. He had interest with electronics and computers, and learned more from the experienced workers to eventually get hired by a private company as a trainee in the beginning of 2037.

Despite what people might believe or say, Karl was never in love with Sophie, and she was never in love with him. They hadn’t known each other for such a long time either: they met on a party, hosted by a mutual friend in the late months of 2036. As Karl, and all the other friends in the clique, she was born in Eden; even though her parents had a hard time getting the economy to go around, and she couldn’t get a job to help them. She often hung around the pub where Karl still worked now and then, and the two exchanged a few words, and might even take a glass in the early hours of the evening before Karl begun working on with the stage.

Since Karl was quite fond of their relationship, and found it relaxing that there was no affectionate tension between them what so ever, he was deeply worried when Sophie completely disappeared in April, 2037. He tried to speak to her parents, who refused to give him any answers on his friend’s whereabouts, and threatened him away, and no other seemed to know where she had gone to.

Saddened, Karl continued with his life until August: the time he met Sophie again. She was on the street, looking as healthy as nothing ever happened, and in the arms of a stranger. Relived to see his old friend, Karl approached to greet her: only to face that she didn’t recognize him, nor behaved as normal. No matter how hard he tried – and how annoyed her company became – did she recall him, and eventually, the boy was pushed out of the way and the couple moved on forward without a backward glance.

Highly disturbed by his experience, Karl desperately tried to find out what had happened to her; but once again, Sophie’s parents rejected him. He tried everywhere else, without result, and his weak efforts would’ve probably gone unnoticed by the state, if someone didn’t tip him off. Who did it remains a mystery to Karl even in these days. But, it might’ve something to do with revenge from someone very close, who didn’t believe that Karl had done him any good… ever.

Karl was arrested by the Anubis, and was – as other people who were suspected for conspiracy or terrorism against the government – put up for execution, even if the 24-year old was unaware of whose industries he had meddled in. He was saved from a shot in the head by his mother, who bought his freedom by the help of family savings (even if his little brother strangely enough seemed to think it was a horrible idea). But since she couldn’t afford to buy his innocence, he was tossed out into the wilderness, where it was simply believed that he would perish by the force of nature.

Even today, Karl is quite amazed how he got so lucky that he walked in the right direction to find a hunter, who in turn led him to the city of Old Ripa. The spoiled young brat was taken under the wing of one of the city elders, a bitter and cynical survivor from the war, who not only taught him a lesson or two, but also taught him the way of simple mechanics and the art of sitting around and looking important. When the old man passed away in 2041, Karl found that not only did he miss him but actually mourned the loss.

Since then, Karl has stayed in the very same house, in the same old town, without any ambition of going somewhere or doing anything with his life. Despite an incident where he accidently hit on the wrong woman (thus earning his loving nickname “dirty, old slob”, and creating the rumor that she chased him through town and kicked him when he accidently tumbled to the ground), life moves slowly forward while the memory of the white city still lingers.

__________________________________________________
Quotes brought to you by Monthy Python.

[Alice Locke]

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