Together with my dear wife, we created this small piece of art - it became not just a drawing, but a part of Rui's story, inspired by her personal experience. Through this, I wanted to reveal the character's personality more deeply and show that behind the image there is real, lived pain and a path to healing. Rui is a 30-year-old hybrid of a wolf and a dog, a storm woman in whom tenderness and kindness are intertwined with rebellion and audacity. Behind the mask of rudeness, lust and arrogance lies a scarred soul that can forgive, sympathize and love in a way that only those who have been through hell themselves can. She grew up in a conservative family that fell victim to the influence of a totalitarian sect. Parents, stupefied by fears of sin and religious narcissism, broke her childhood. In adolescence, her desire for self-expression met with even harsher resistance. Since her youth, she rebelled, even managed to raise her hand against her own father, which is still a source of pride for her. Searching for herself, she began to appear in underground circles, where she found support and understanding. Later, she created a blog where she shares her thoughts on the value of life, her own body, freedom and various ideas, from feminism to paganism and philosophy.
Now, an eternal struggle lives inside her: between freedom and memories, between hope for the future and grief for the past. Rui sleeps with the TV on, afraid of the dark, but despite such childhood fears, during the day her gaze is prickly and bold, like a knife blade. After many years of shame, she learned to see herself not as a flaw, but as a strength. At least, she tries to believe it.

She wears a leather collar with spikes - an ironic symbol of the submission that is no longer in her. In her bag is a pack of cherry cigarettes with a pink filter, dark red lipstick for constant use, dark blue lipstick for occasional kisses to young guys, Big Tasty, a child's toy from a Happy Meal and an old photo of Jebb - her husband, the only one she allows to see her real self. With him, she forgets to be strong: tears are not hidden, the jacket remains on the hanger, and her voice stops being rough.

With the rest, Rui plays: flirts with 18-19 year olds, pretentiously squeezing her breasts and calling herself "mommy", whispering dirty words, behaving theatrically and excitedly. She listens to rock at full volume, quotes German curses, throws ironic anti-Christian jokes. All this, in fact, is a fight with herself first of all, in order to control the fear that still gnaws at her from within. She is ashamed and scared for this, but there is no other way.
However, in addition to vulgarity and nihilism, she also has a bright side, in which she shows her true traits of virtue. The real Rui is vulnerable, dreaming of a Black Widow motorcycle and creating a shelter for former sectarians.

Rui collects lighters - cheap, strange, with faded prints. Each one reminds her of something: a road, a meeting, a decision. She keeps a diary under her mattress. It contains sketches, poems, simple words about what she feels.
She smells like a mixture of Coca-Cola, cheap perfume with the scent of sweet cherries, and something warm and alive. Rui is the person who found herself alone with pain too early, but found the strength to move on. Even if it sometimes breaks, even if the mask is back in place, there is an unbroken part inside her, quiet and alive, which is learning to be herself without fear every day. And even if confidence is back on her face, there is a fear in her heart that one day she will become useless forever.