Cracky Chan

About

Cracky-Chan (aka Sky Queen, ScareCrowMaiden) is the name given by Anonymous to pictures of an English schoolgirl with animal ears and badly applied make-up posted on 4chan’s /b/ board in 2005. She defined what 4chan, and further on the rest of the internet, thinks of as camgirls. She has also been the first known queen of that imageboard.

She is extremly important in the history of 4chan’s /b/ board and was considered by many THE original -Chan camgirl. She defined what /b/ thinks today of camgirls and stalking and it was her who first coined the phrase “’sup 4chan” which is now widely used on imageboards and forums.

The levels of obsession and active, irl stalking she inspired in Anonymous were only surpassed four years later by boxxy and many of the techniques for locating and contacting seemingly anonymous camgirls had been honed by Anonymous during the Cracky years.

A long long time ago way back in internet ancient history (early 2005) 4chan’s /b/ was a very different board to the one we know and love/fear. 4chan was virtually unknown to the rest of the internet in 2005 and as a result newer visitors to the site will not have heard of her. boxxy on the other hand arrived in 2009 when the rest of the internet was tuned in to 4chan’s activities but Cracky’s significance and influence upon 4chan should not be underestimated.

Chronological history on 4chan

January 6th 2005. The first Cracky image was posted at 02:17. 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 due to her red nose makeup looking like she had recently been snorting crack. Her real name was unknown until late 2006.

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 stalking 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.)

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.

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:

It was not just in 2005 that 4chan proved for the first time what a terrifying force it can be when directed upon one individual, it was in the years that followed that 4chan proved it doesn’t stop with time and that 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.

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.

The behavior of Crackyfans in the years that followed is similar to that of boxxy fans in recent times. The Cracky “scene” from 2005-2007 was mainly dominated by trying to contact Cracky and constantly discussing her brief appearances which mainly consisted of timestamped photos to prove her identity in an effort to get Cracky boards closed.

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 a 21 year old student) 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 the newly created (2010) fansite:

dear-olivia.com

 

[DECEMBER/2010 WERK IN PROGRESS]