• Awkward - Dance Gavin Dance
• Skeleton Tiger - Tame Impala
• It's Not True Rufus, Don't Listen To The Hat - TTNG
• Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - The Smiths
• Anyone Can Play Guitar - Radiohead
• The Thing with Me - Toehider

With a default expression that is somewhere between daydream and apathy, people are quick to assume Andrzej is disinterested in life. Not that he helps his own cause: Andrzej's interpersonal skills leave much to be desired. He constantly misses subtle social cues, appearing dismissive, even rude at times. Yet after spending any amount of time with him, it becomes obvious that Andrzej is anything but intentionally rude.

Beneath the aloof exterior, Andrzej is a polite, compassionate individual. He goes out of his way to help those in need, though he does so more out of obligation than anything else. Andrzej was, in his words, "raised properly" and wants to let it be known. He has pride - surprising considering how poorly he thinks of himself.

Andrzej's self-esteem has, through years of constant comparisons to his infinitely more successful sister, been eroded to near nothing. He internalised everything said to him, and now openly talks about how lazy, stupid, incompetent he is. As his self-esteem deteriorated, his outlook on life grew bleaker. Andrzej is a pessimist and lacks the motivation to even try and improve his life situation. Yet he has accepted his fate with ease, and appears strikingly relaxed about it.

Born the second son in a middle-class Greylakan family, Andrzej was ready for his life to be as average as it promised to be. And it was average, truth be told: a house with a small garden in the periphery, a decent friend circle, an older sister who did everything in her power to draw attention away from her brother and onto herself... While at the time none would have thought that the relationship between Andrzej and his sister was anything but a sibling rivalry, in retrospect, much of the cynicism and self-deprecation Andrzej would experience later in life stemmed from a childhood of constant comparisons to his sister. Coming from both within and outside himself.

Andrzej's mother suffered from ill health throughout much of her life but her situation deteriorated soon after Andrzej started school and had to permanently move to an assisted living residence. Despite his tender age Andrzej took it well; he still visited her frequently, she sometimes moved back home for weekends. Much of Andrzej's upbringing thus came from his father. But his father worked, so realistically much of his time was spent with an older sister that bullied him - but in a soft, sisterly way not even Andrzej realised was actually quite mean.

Life seemed to pull Andrzej along rather than the other way around. He drifted through school - struggled, but much of it due to laziness - and enjoyed afternoons spent hanging out with friends and, most importantly, pursuing his passion: music. Usually a quiet adolescent who seemed to never quite understand (or care about) what happened around him, as soon as the topic shifted to his guitar it was as if a switch was turned and Andrzej lit up.

He graduated high school. It only went downhill from there.

An adult, Andrzej was faced with the paralysing realisation he had no idea what he wanted to do in life. Music did not even cross his mind: that was a passion, certainly not a career. Moreover, his sister had just started a master's degree after earing a bachelor's in psychology and was also talking about her plans for a phD... He knew it was no competition, but how was Andrzej supposed to match that? And his parents were eager to see him find success. A bit too eager. Under a type of pressure he had never experienced, Andrzej sort of randomly picked law school. He moved to Greylake with his parents' financial help and started university (how he made it in is still a mystery, most believe he got extremely lucky).

He did not last two years. He lasted one and a half before having a crisis and dropping out.

The whole ordeal was dreadful from start to finish. Andrzej felt madly out of place in business school - not to mention he felt he had already fallen behind after the first few days, and past that it became a hopeless attempt to catch up to his peers at first, then to just try and understand the coursework at all.

Dropping out simultaneously felt like the best and worst choice he ever made. His family was disappointed but it was not the usual disappointment that came from comparing Andrzej to his sister who was seemingly perfect in every way, it was a new sort of disappointment, as though his father was starting to doubt Andrzej's very ability to function in society by himself. Even so, Andrzej asked to stay in Greylake (the last thing he wanted was to live with his father after dropping out) and swore to find the means to support himself while figuring out what he wanted to do in life.

He found those means with playing guitar in the subway station - though he still needs some financial support. One thing done, all that is left is for him to figure out what he wants to do in life... But as the years go by, Andrzej grows more cynical and jaded. Plagued by self-doubt, he does not even know how to go about trying to change his situation. So he lives day to day, finding enjoyment in his lifestyle when possible, but ultimately indefinitely postponing any sort of decision-making in regards to his future.

trivia

• Claims not to be superstitious. Is actually superstitious
• His favourite song is Norwegian Wood by The Beatles, and he plays it often
• Tells people to just call him Andrew if they struggle with his name
• Was nicknamed Mushroomhead as a child because of his hair. Andrzej's mother and sister still refer to him as that despite the fact he thinks it sounds uncomfortably drug-related
• Has a tendency to get hurt in every way possible - tripping, walking into doors, hitting his head... the list goes on. At this point people don't know whether Andrzej is extremely clumsy or cursed. Or both
• Of Ashkenazi Jewish and Polish descent, but neither one of his parents are practising and thus Andrzej's knowledge of the religion is basically non-existent

design

• His hair is extremely curly and unruly
• Has a noticeable healed scar on the left side of his mouth
• A tad over 1.9 m but tends to look shorter due to years of poor posture
• Walks with a bit of a hunch

Myranda

Probably the closest friend Andrzej currently has - despite their awkward meeting, with Myranda assuming Andrzej was homeless for weeks before the misunderstanding was cleared up. A part of Andrzej wishes she did not nag him as much as she does, but he ultimately understands she's just trying to motivate him to work harder.