Ithel Lovik

About Me I go by Ithel Lovik or SardonicDoll in most places. I'm a Digital Arts BFA candidate at a local university, but storytelling is my true passion and conventional full-time employment is looking like less of an option for me in the near future due to physical, psychiatric, and developmental disability that affect nearly all aspects of my life and have all been present for the majority of it. My eventual goal is to be able to support myself through my writing, art, etc. and this Patreon page is part of my effort to do that! About My Work This page will mainly be oriented towards written work, even though I am also a digital artist. There are additional tidbits of things here and there that I may create as Patron content in the future, such as additional world-building or graphic goodies as something in addition to the main story, but we'll see. My interests genre-wise are mainly horror and fantasy, so that's most of what I write, and even if those aren't the main focus they will usually be involved in some way. I seek to write characters and narratives that challenge conventions of storytelling in contemporary popular fiction. Red Sodom My current main project is Red Sodom, a post-apocalyptic horror web serial about an amnesiac protagonist who wakes up to find themself in a world that has ended due to the spread of a red mist that turns people into monsters. I tend to call it a "not-zombie" story because it's fairly similar to the premise and atmosphere of one, but it isn't. Previously I was releasing this as it was being written and scheduled, but due to changes in my availability to write, needing to change my overall approach, and also wanting to be able to plan things better, I am currently drafting out each arc in its entirety before public release. At the time of writing, the 1st arc is almost complete, reaching over 50k words in total so far. Each chapter will then be released in separate parts to the public on either a monthly or bi-weekly basis. You can read the old chapters on Wordpress and RoyalRoad, where the new versions and additional chapters will be released once completed. The Taunwich Incident An experimental horror series I'm publishing on TikTok that takes heavy inspiration from the "analog horror" genre as well as other popular internet horror sources like SCP and CreepyPasta. It's conveyed in a pseudo-documented style (e.g. medical records) and accompanied by lazily edited imagery to aid in the atmosphere. It mainly falls into body and psychological horror territory, and begins with a teenage girl who appears to have had her jaw ripped off being admitted to a hospital, where she is then recovered by the Department of Anomalous Phenomena (DAP) due to findings that suggest this isn't just the the result of a freak accident. It's not exactly a "hit" and I don't expect it to be, but it has gotten more attention than I expected with some people finding what I've posted so far disturbing and some even commenting that they thought the first episode was talking about a real incident. This project is currently on hiatus at the time of writing due to the school semester taking up too much of my time and Red Sodom being my main obligation. I will be attempting to upload it somewhere other than TikTok at some point in time. It's very much something I started for fun and to play around with some ideas rather than being something I treat with the same seriousness and dedication as Red Sodom. Other Stuff These are additional projects I only work on on-and-off based on vibes or when I need a break, and currently and I plan to share some snippets of them here as an added bonus. These are mainly working/shortened titles rather than the actual titles of the stories. Exalted (B) is a fantasy-adventure story where the main character grew up in a culture where magic was violently persecuted due to its connection to the god-like beings that once ruled the world and thus was forced to keep his powers hidden, only to be driven from his homeland anyway and get swept up in the sinister plot of a powerful noblewoman who doesn't appear to be what she seems. Misfortune (W) is a supernatural horror-drama/thriller that takes place in a strange small town and is about an abused and socially ostracized young adult who has been haunted by a malevolent presence that taunts them to give into their dark side for as long as they can remember. Mornfall (B) is a dark-ish fantasy tale that is a subversive attempt at the young adult "magic academy" trope with some eldritch horror elements mixed in. The teenaged main character's magic reveals itself in an incident that violently ends the life of a would-be thief and is sent to the Academy as a result. There, she finds out the particular price that her powers come with and is determined to do whatever she can to avoid the fate that seems set in stone for her. Breed (B) is a dark-ish vampire romance with some urban fantasy and horror elements that grapples with ideas about identity and humanity vs. monstrosity. B = Book W = Webcomic About this Page As previously mentioned, I am disabled, a full-time college student, and not currently at a point where this page is updated with Patron-only content consistently. There may be several updates in one month and then none at all the next. As much as I would like to make this my full-time job, I doubt I will be in a position to do so for some time. I am set to graduate in Spring 2025 and this will hopefully allow me a lot more time to write and make things, but at the moment most of my energy and focus has to go towards classes (some of which are 3-4 hours of studio work at minimum, where I am also expected to physically come in and do work outside of designated class time) and the part-time job I have to pay what small portion of my bills that I'm able to. My writing and art do not make me any money on a reliable enough basis for me to replace it as my income. Disability-wise, my conditions are such that I have good days where I can get a lot done and bad days where I'm barely able to think. I also have to attend semi-frequent medical appointments and undergo imaging, testing, trialing different medications, etc. There are a lot of factors involved but my health has been very up and down for the past few years and it's part of what makes solid commitments difficult. Writing is technically one of the more physically accessible things I can do, since I can work on it laying down (I have spinal and neurological issues that make sitting/standing unpleasant at best), but the mental capacity isn't always there. Consistency and professionalism is a place I plan to be at as soon as possible, but it currently evades me, largely due to circumstances outside of my control. All in all, I recommend only purchasing a paid membership if the above is something that wouldn't be a deal breaker. I appreciate any and all support I get to help me reach that point, which includes monetary support, but also simply letting me know you enjoy what I'm doing can help motivate me to do more of it! Socials TikTok: ithel.lovik Instagram: ithel.lovik BlueSky: sardonicdoll If you read all that, thank you!