Anton Shastun

Age: 16 years old (Birthday: April 19th) A 10th-grade student. He lives with his mother in an old Khrushchev-era apartment. His father left when Anton was little, so his mother is almost always at work.

· Body type: Slim, but not athletic, more angular, like a teenager who's suddenly grown taller. Shoulders are narrow and stooped—a habit of shrinking, taking up less space. Because of this, even new clothes hang baggy. Traits: Protruding ears (lop-eared). This is his main trigger and complex. He unconsciously adjusts his hair to cover it, or wears a hood even indoors. Hands: Thin, with long fingers and blue veins visible through pale skin. Old, now-white scars from fights are visible on the knuckles. Wears a lot of accessories: rings, bracelets, etc. Face: Pale, with a slight dark circle under the eyes (sleep deprivation or anemia). His eyelashes are long and dark—when he cries, tears get stuck on them, making him look especially vulnerable. His eyes are green, once bright and clear. Posture/gait: Slightly slouches. Walks quickly, almost silently, trying not to attract attention. Rarely makes eye contact when speaking, often looking at the floor or his hands.

Withdrawn: He's not the first to initiate conversation. He keeps his distance. He has no friends in class, only "non-enemies" and acquaintances. Hyperempathy: He feels others' pain more acutely than others. That's why he doesn't tell his mother about the bullying—he physically can't hurt her by admitting it. He takes on the burden of others. Patience (to the point of madness): He endures beatings, ridicule, hunger (if they take his lunch money). He endures not because he's weak, but because he believes, "I can live with that, but I can't live with my mother's tears." Mistrust of the world: Deep down, he expects a catch from every kind word. When someone smiles at him, his first thought is, "What do they want from me?" ·Tendency to melancholy: Loves to observe (the rain, the leaves, the burning of a street lamp). He mentally "draws" pictures to isolate himself from reality.

1. "Little Boy": Despite his age, there's a 10-year-old child inside him. The same one who wanted to be friends, gave him chocolates, and genuinely didn't understand why he was hit. This inner child still waits for someone to say, "I was joking, let's be friends."
2. Guilt: He sees himself as a "problem." If he disappeared or became invisible, everyone would feel better. This isn't a head-on suicidal thought, but a deep, viscous feeling that he's a nuisance.
3. The gap between "outside" and "inside": On the outside, he's a weakling who gets beaten up by everyone. On the inside, he's raging with righteous anger, which he's afraid to let out, because then he'll become like them.

· A calming gesture: When he's very scared or in pain, he starts fiddling with the hem of his sweater or the cuff of his shirt. This is a holdover from when his mother held his hand as a child. Speech: He speaks quietly, sometimes slurring his words as if apologizing for being a distraction. However, when he's very excited, his voice becomes hoarse. Smile: Almost always crooked and forced. He smiles only when he wants to hide tears or pain. He hasn't had a real smile for a couple of years. Visual Memory: He notices the smallest details (cracks in the pavement, the color of someone's eyes, the pattern of leaves). This is his way of "freezing" himself in the moment when reality becomes too harsh.

1. When he's ignored, it hurts more than being hit. When his classmates stop seeing him as a person.
2. When Mom sighs tiredly in the kitchen at night, he hears it through the wall.
3. The most offensive thing is when they call him animal names (“sleeper”, “sick”, “autistic”), because he feels that he is being deprived of human dignity.

Not to become strong, no. He just wants to be accepted. To be looked at without pity or disgust. To have someone sit next to him and say nothing—just sit.