"I've seen the worst in people, and I see it everywhere. But I've seen the worst of the worst when I'm alone, with only a mirror and my fleeting thoughts to agonize me. The truth is, I am convinced that this trait people call 'intelligence' is a wretched disease and a burden in my life. It has brought me nothing but pain and suffering, and all the times I was proven right only worsens it."
Jonathan Baranowski is a grumpy man who lives across the street. At first, he seems like a bookish yet snarky nerd with a taste for mint tea, radical politics, and thick books about political theory. However, he has a cynical streak, and tends to see the worst in people, as much as he wishes he doesn't. Jon operates a moderately well-known blog where he writes down his political thought and philosophy. On an unrelated note, Jon is gay and gray ace, but also very sex-repulsed and romance-repulsed, supposedly stemming from a painful relationship with someone. He is also trans, but doesn't want to talk about it too much for some reason.
Jon is pragmatic, rational, and believes strongly in facts and logic. He is very passionate and uncompromising, and will stand up for what he believes to be right. However, he is also painfully snide and sarcastic, and is prone to making biting quips and demeaning insults. So much so that he comes off as egotistical, stubborn, callous, and mean. His frequent positioning of himself as the one who's always right, lack of restraint for his venomous snark, and all-around cynicism just makes him even worse. Jon is also painfully honest and blunt, and makes it clear if he dislikes someone or their actions. Jon sees human behavior differently than most neurotypical people do. Most people don't consciously recognize human rituals and behavior, but Jon does, and he sees and recognizes them all the time.
However, his misanthropic jerk personality is a mask meant to hide who he really is: a hopeless and jaded man who feels disconnected from other people and their interests; who feels like the supposed intelligence people credit him with having is actually just an illness that has brought him nothing but existential suffering; who feels like he just doesn't belong in this world. Deep down, Jon feels alienated and isolated from other people. He is anxious and stressed out about the state of the world, and fears that the island he's stuck in might become dangerous. All this anxiety causes Jon to struggle with insomnia, anxiety, and thoughts of fear and hopelessness. Contrary to what most people assume, Jon treats and criticizes himself as nicely as he treats and criticizes everyone else, and he does not relent at lambasting himself for every little flaw or mistake he makes. But Jon doesn't show it in public, nor does he ever intend to. He himself makes it very clear that he deems personal feelings of anyone's (even his own) to be no one's business.
Jon is a firm materialist and realist who believes that the only thing that exists/matters is what can be proven by science and as a result completely rejects religion, spirituality, and anything supernatural or "unproveable". Furthermore, he is also repulsed by greed and consumerism, and sees capitalism as the root of all society’s ills. Jon is convinced that the world is on the path of destruction due to the excess of capitalism, and that the only way to save it is through overthrowing the system by any means necessary. His jaded general outlook stems from his conviction that the people are too powerless to enact any meaningful change, having seen the frequent news about the worsening state of the world while its leaders aren't doing anything he believes is important to minimize it. He also feels like all his most cynical assumptions are the correct ones. However, deep down, Jon wishes that he can be proven wrong at least once; that things can get better (or at the very least, they won't get worse).
Jon has dark brown hair and blue eyes, and wears glasses. He is 171.7 cm / 5'8" tall, weighs around 55 kg / 120 lb, and is 20 years old, and left-handed. Jon’s right middle and ring fingers are webbed. Due to the potential attention he gets from this, he usually buries his right-hand in his pocket, which has become one of his frequent habits and mannerisms. He occasionally carries a walking stick on his right-hand due to his right leg being permanently weakened. He usually wears a gray sweater, a black unbuttoned blazer, navy blue trousers, and brown worker boots; his preferred color is navy blue.
For Jon's formal attire, he wears a black Mao suit, a black turtleneck, long black trousers, and black work boots.
Credits to all the artists will be given through their Tumblr, Twitter, or Discord usernames.
