Cracky Chan

About

Cracky-chan (aka Sky Queen, ScareCrowMaiden) was the first camgirl to be posted on 4chan’s /b/ board way back in 2005. Her nickname “Cracky-chan” was given to her because she looked as if she had “Snorted crack”. She’s extremely important in the internet history of 4chan because she defined what /b/ thinks today of camgirls. It was she who first coined the phrase “’sup 4chan” which is now widely used on imageboards and forums.

Origins

In 2005 photos of an English schoolgirl with animal ears and badly applied make-up appeared on the random board. The first Cracky image was posted at 02:17 on January 6th, 2005. It showed her in a sailor outfit with the phrase “’Sup 4chan” written on her palm. The images were quickly pronounced cute and sweet by Anonymous and she was given the name Cracky-chan.

Chronological history on 4chan

A further 21 images of Cracky appeared in the sailor suit appeared in the next two weeks along with other sets of images such as the “winged” set below. Anonymous’s fascination with her quickly grew, dominating 4chan’s /b/ and spreading to other “underground” imageboard sites and forums.

By February 5th, almost a month later, Cracky obsession had developed such a grip on /b/ that 4chan’s then-Admin W.T.Snacks put a wordfilter over cracky [which has since been lifted] in an effort to discourage cracky discussion. When someone posted the word Cracky it was automatically changed to a random word ending in -cky such as Jacky, Packy, Condracky or something similar.

On March 29th livejournal.com/users/freakygirl/ was discovered. Although no new pictures emerged /b/ believed it had got into contact with the real cracky. Another journal, www.livejournal.com/users/kittycat/ was subsequently discovered but was widely believed to be fake at the time.

On April 3rd it was revealed in a conversation between W.T.Snacks and 4chan moderator Shii that Cracky Chan’s tripcode (4chan posting password) was “#sweet”. This really hurt and confused /b/ as Cracky was consistently referred to as “so f***ing cute and sweet” and it was now being led to believe Cracky was a troll. (It was later discovered that she was not a troll and that she herself had actually posted to 4chan, she was just drunk at the time. Or was she?)

On April 6th/7th Cracky’s own, active livejournal was found [www.livejournal.com/users/scarecrowmaiden] It contained a lot of new pictures and content which was quickly wiped by its owner, but not before Anonymous had looted and distributed the images on 4chan. Some were nude, some disturbing, some both. The new photos drove the Cracky phenomenon from minor meme into that of a mega-meme such as Mudkipz or Shoop da Whoop

Several different sets (30+) gradually appeared such as “The Woods” “The Table” and “7 days”.

By July 6th the Cracky discussion had become so popular that trying to discuss anyting else was quite difficult.(constantly posting cracky images was nicknamed cr*pflooding) In an effort to hold back the tide of “the cr*pflood” posting Cracky pictures became bannable even on /b/. Moderators talk of 4chan’s then-chief moderator W.T.Snacks receiving emails from Cracky requesting this. The ban was gradually lifted but it had already made many Cracky fans migrate to different sites and form new communities (such as 420chan’s /cracky/ board which was later closed in 2006 at her direct request.)

Fansites

Several fan sites were established in the years following Cracky-chan’s images. A site called “Crackypedia” opened in 2005 and contained a collection of fanart and people who dressed up like Cracky. It was taken down later by Cracky’s direct request. Another site called “Bounceme” appeared and stayed around along with several other imageboards dedicated to her.

The behavior of Crackyfans in the years that followed is similar to that of boxxy fans in recent times. The appearances of Cracky from 2005-2007 were usually timestamped photos requesting fan sites to be shut down.

Online Stalking and Her Disappearance

After the livejournal was deleted (presumably by Cracky) no new pictures were posted by “her” but users who raided the livejournal still occasionally distribute “rare” images to this day [see below]. As the once semi-steady drip of Cracky images began to dry up her fans [most of 2005/2006’s /b/] began to turn to more unsavoury methods of obtaining them. Most of Cracky’s on-line accounts were hacked and most images [and one short video] that were found were posted on 4chan and discussed at length. Any images that were not posted became “rarez”. It is said that the alleged emails that W.T.Snacks received were not from Cracky but in fact from her father, in an effort to stop every aspect of his daughters life being observed and probed such as when they called the Blockbuster where she worked.

Cracky’s longevity and the long-term obsession of the Crackyfans means that despite Cracky’s best efforts she continues to be stalked and bugged for more pictures.

In the absence of new Cracky content vast quantities (300+ images exist today with many having been lost to time) of fanart and imitations were (and still are) produced:

Epilogue: Rarez and CrackyFans Today

When [www.livejournal.com/users/scarecrowmaiden] was discovered most pictures were distributed to 4chan, however some were hoarded on lone users computers and were never shared with the wider community. Since there are some Cracky Communities who are completely obsessed/have devoted their lives to Cracky and these photos are highly prized.

In the absence of direct, consistent contact from Cracky in the years that followed (2008-present day) the remaining Cracky fans (or “crackyfags”) pulled together and created on-line communities on a variety of semi-secret sites and group chats (nicknamed the “circle-jerk”) in which they reminisce about the days when Cracky still posted and continue to plot ways to find her as well as indulge in various philosophical and pop culture debates and drama loosely centred around the images created by her way back in 2004/5/6. The community has come to include a wide variety or individuals from all around the world including ex cracky-era camgirls and ex-close personal friends of hers.

While some have learnt to differentiate between the real-life girl (now in her 20’s) and her online Cracky persona (a perpetually 15 year old camgirl) and move on with their lives, many are still desperate to find her.

A good idea of the dedication that Cracky fans still possess can be found in this fansite:

dear-olivia.com