What ever happened to Lisa? Your questions, answered.

Ever since my visual short story went viral on the internet, I’ve been contacted by dozens and dozens of people with questions, a lot of which are pretty much the same. I don’t have a problem responding to curious fans, but with the questions becoming more frequent and my life taking a turn for the busier, I thought it would be a lot easier to create a page where a lot of these questions can be answered. Still, if you don’t see your question here, feel free to contact me and let me know, so I can add it to the list.

Before I start, I will say that there is a book for sale, which not only answers these questions, but also contains bonus material such as a very cool pin-up poster and the otherwise unreleased visual short story “Lisa’s Diary,” which gives a lot of insight into many of the questions that people have about Lisa herself. I will encourage anyone who supports my work to please show your support by purchasing a copy. If you would like a signed copy with a bonus pin, you can go through my Etsy Shop instead.

At last, without further ado, let’s begin the Q’s and A’s.

Q: Who or what is Lisa? Is she a ghost, a demon, or perhaps an alter ego?
A: This question could be best answered by reading “Lisa’s Diary,” which is included in the full color art book as mentioned above. The best I can say without spoiling anything is that Lisa is the ghost, or spirit of a 15-year-old girl who had a very dark life.

Q: Is the story based off of actual events that occurred in your real life?
A: I used to tell people to believe whatever made them more comfortable, but since then, I’ve written more of these visual stories, so it’s become pretty obvious that it’s all a work of fiction, although I did have a second grade teacher named Mrs. Digman.

Q: Why does the journal look so realistic, as though an actual child drew it?
A: Since I’m predominately right-handed, anything done with my left hand tends to come out looking rather childish, so I decided to just write and draw the entire thing with my off-hand.

Q: What inspired you to create such a thing?
A: In short- lack of sleep, a trip to Walmart, and a conveniently placed primary journal next to a box of crayons.

Q: Is it supposed to be implied that Lisa killed Ms. Monroe and the little girl’s father?
A: Yep. And once again (so not advertising my book or anything), “Lisa’s Diary” actually gives a bit of insight into why she feels that certain people should be… shall we say, “taken care of.”

Q: Does the little girl have a name?
A: Nope. I decided to leave that detail out because I wanted readers to be able to put themselves or someone close into her shoes. And it worked! I’ve read through so many comments where plenty of terrified moms would tag their friends and say “What if [my child] did something like this!?”

Q: Why is it called “The Pink Backpack?”
A: The first time I released it on the internet, I posted anonymously in a paranormal forum, claiming that I had found it in a random pink backpack I picked up somewhere. Some time later, unbeknownst to me, the silly thing actually went viral and I found out that people were calling it “The Pink Backpack,” or “Little Pink Backpack.” I figured it had more of a ring to it than “The Story of Lisa,” so I went ahead and adopted the name.

I hope this was helpful. Remember, you are more than welcome to contact me if you have a question that wasn’t answered on this list. I also really appreciate the fans who have used their time and talent to make fan art for me, so if you or someone you know has made one, please do link me so that I can feature it  in my blog.

Last blog.

I don’t have much to say. There isn’t much I can say. I mainly just wanted to say goodbye.

You know, no one believes me, but I didn’t create my story with the intention of it becoming popular. How could I have predicted that? It’s eleven pages of crude crayon drawings.
I have created a lot more noteworthy things that I always hoped people might someday notice, or like. Imagine my surprise when one of the silliest things I made ended up being the thing that went viral.

It was cool for awhile. No one knows this, but my self-esteem is so low that I may as well have none at all. So, hearing that something I did was actually good… Well, I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t feel nice. It did.
There is a common misconception about me. There are several common misconceptions about me, inferred by people who know nothing about me and choose to simply make assumptions instead of finding out for themselves. I’m a nice person, kind of. I’m not one of those stuck-up diva types who ignores messages from fans. I will respond to anyone who says something to me, whether good or bad. So there is no reason that anyone shouldn’t take the time to learn at least one true thing about me before creating their own preconceptions about me, which always turn out to be misconceptions.

The number one most common of these misconceptions is that I am at all interested in fame. To the people who think that: I wish you could walk a mile in my shoes. Just get a taste of what kinds of grief “fame” has brought me. Attacks, harassment, threats, bullying, hacked accounts… People threatening to hurt me, people threatening my family. Do you think for a moment that I ever wanted that? Because I know the kinds of things that fame brings. People are killed by crazed fans. People kill themselves because they can’t handle the pressure.
This is not where I wanted my life to end up.

Another misconception is that I’m a shitty person. Well… okay, that isn’t the misconception; I would actually agree- I am a monster that the world will be much better off without. But the reason for that presumption is the misconception.
People like to say that I am greedy and “entitled.” Greedy, no. Not really at all. If I were greedy I would have sued everyone who ever used my work without permission.
I find it interesting, however, that the word “entitled” gets thrown around like an insult. Why shouldn’t I be entitled to the work that I have created? It’s absurd. And yet, so many people take that work, use it for profit (collectively making more from it than I ever have and ever will), and then attack me when I’m not okay with that.
And they’re somehow not the ones acting like big entitled babies? Great. Fine. Whatever.

I don’t care anymore. It was a mistake to have ever done something creative and unique. It was an even bigger mistake to try to share it with anyone, ever.
It’s over now. I’m done. You can have it. Just take it all. Obviously, everyone is entitled to it but me. So go ahead.

I mentioned that I am a piece of shit. And it’s not for any of the reasons that everyone likes to make it seem.
The truth is, I have always hated myself. I find my face ugly, my body disgusting, and my laughter obnoxious. I hate the way that I am weak and can’t let insults just bounce right off me. I hate that I have been struggling with depression and anxiety since I was in first fucking grade. I hate that I am socially awkward and have trouble making and keeping friends.
I hate how I can’t go more than a couple of months without changing my hair, because I’m an insecure piece of trash and I can’t stand to look the same for very long. It’s disgusting. I’m disgusting. There really is nothing good about me.

So from now on, when you get the itch to slam on me, at least now you know some things about me that are actually true and worth talking smack about.

But don’t bother trying to get a rise out of me anymore, because I’m going. I’m going away now, and I will never hear your many insults ever again. You win, see? You’re getting exactly what you’ve always wanted! I hope it is everything you hoped and dreamed it would be. Because for me, it hasn’t been.

And now, it never will be.
Thank you.

About my copyright.

In the past few months, the amount of people using my work without my permission (some even profiting from it) has skyrocketed.
Here’s what no one understands:
I actually hold a copyright license for the work. When you own a copyright, you have to actually use it, otherwise there’s no point in having it in the first place.
Now, I do realize that a number of people found my work on some “Creepypasta Wikia,” which apparently claimed (or at least led people to believe) that it was public domain.
It is not.
It is my intellectual property- something that I created with my bare hands and I love. The saddest part about everything is how many people have been riding on the success of my work while I sit here with the original art in my hands and no one even knows who the hell I am.
As a point of interest, here is a short story about how I handled the infringement and how I was treated in return:
Most of the infringing material was located on YouTube and was brought to my attention by people who know me and know about my work. Since I am pretty new to YouTube and don’t know much about it (and due to the ridiculous number of videos containing my work), I had a bit of trouble contacting every single violator. So I did the best I could, and issued a copy-pasted warning to as many of them as I could, and it basically consisted of “Hey, you’re using my work without permission, I’ll give you 30 days to clear this up, otherwise I’ll have to take legal action.”
This is perfectly reasonable. After all, it’s my work, not theirs, and I actually took the time to issue a warning rather than just jumping straight to filing copyright complaints. A couple of people actually got back to me and we sorted things out. They got my permission after agreeing to my terms, and everything was dandy.
However, many people continued to ignore my warning, and meanwhile, their fans started coming after me, stalking me across the internet making threats, attacking me, questioning the legitimacy of my work, and just basically being unreasonably mean, immature children.
The stress was a lot to take, and it got to the point where, in order to escape the harassment, I had to exhaust the 30 day warnings early and just put a copyright strike on every video I found that used my work without permission. In addition, I had to disable comments on my own YouTube videos and basically sequester myself until the copyright claims were finalized.
As soon as the strikes were in place, a whole bunch of emails came flooding in from the people I reported. Most of them were apologetic, and some wanted to work things out, which I thought was fine, and I was willing to make things work.
BUT, as it would figure, the people with the most aggressive fans turned out to be the most aggressive people in general, and their emails were very rude and demeaning. I don’t understand how someone can feel entitled to someone else’s work to the point where they’ll feel completely justified in trash talking and belittling the original creator, simply for exercising their creative rights. It’s disgusting.
This is not how I wanted things to turn out. When I wrote the story, I didn’t think much of it- That is to say, I didn’t think that it would gain such an appreciation from people and become as popular as it has. If I’d known, I would have recorded myself drawing it, because apparently the fact that I own the original art, hold a copyright for the original art, and have people who watched me draw the original art isn’t enough to convince people that I own it. It’s not enough to deter people from using it without permission. It’s not enough to keep people from feeling entitled to it.
So I’ve simply done what I’ve had to do, and I will continue to do so. If I see my work being used against my wishes, I will file a copyright complaint. I’m tired of being polite. I’m tired of being trampled on. I’m tired of seeing hundreds of people getting recognized for something that I did.
I think I deserve a little recognition for this monster I have created. And if anyone wants to whine and cry about it, here’s my advice:
Go outside. Get a life. Find your muse and create something of your own to be proud of. If you apply yourself instead of just taking advantage of someone else’s work, maybe you’ll be successful in your own way.
If you want to feature my work, I’m usually cool with it. But you have to agree to my terms which starts with you contacting me and getting my permission.
The simplest Google search will usually take you almost directly to me.
If you enter any of the following words: (Lisa, pink, backpack, ghost, diary, imaginary friend, creepypasta) in pretty much any combination, you’ll probably find me pretty easily. There is no excuse for not taking a couple of minutes to do your research and figure out the true source: me.
And on that note, I’m out of here. If you see someone infringing my rights, do let me know about it.
☼

New Product Line Coming Soon; Volunteers needed

As you know, I’ve been specializing in jewelry, art, and sometimes other accessories like hats and wallets for some time now. While jewelry is great and all, it’s also nice to take a different direction from time to time.

Recently, I’ve been dabbling in body care products such as lotions and creams, but the supplies necessary to make these items are rather costly, so to begin this line of products, it would take a very long time to gather all the necessary materials. That’s why I am extending this offer to you.

For a one time payment of $25, you can participate in a test that will reward you with a brand new item every month for a year. If you are accepted as a participant, you will receive a survey asking about your preferences (ie, what types of products you prefer, what fragrances you like, etc.) which you must fill out and return to me via email so that I can tailor the products you will receive to your specific tastes.
Every month, along with the product, you will also receive a self-addressed and stamped questionnaire card which you need simply fill out and drop in the mailbox. These will allow you to review the item and tell us how well you liked it and if anything could be done differently to enhance the experience.
Due to past experiences with similar studies, you will be asked to sign a contract stating that you agree to send back the comment cards in order to continue receiving your products.

If you are interested in participating in this study, it would be a very big help, so please send an email to ocularfracture@leviviridae.com, and you will receive a response within 24 hours telling you whether or not you’ve been accepted and if you have been, you will be given an email address for paypal where you can send your payment. Once payment has been received, you will receive your survey. You can fill it out and return it at your leisure, but the sooner you do, the sooner I can begin working on your first new product.

Feel free to tell your friends about this offer as well. I will accept up to five participants, so please act quickly. Thanks!

Movie Called Off

Well, as things stand now, I have officially parted ways with BenderStink BenderSpink. Do you want to know why? Let me tell you!

The other day, I emailed the person in charge to share with them how widespread my story has become by sharing an amateur (though very well made) short film that someone in Budapest, Hungary made. (Since that day, I have also received another well made short from someone in Argentina, and someone in El Salvador with over 200,000 YouTube subscribers is currently working on another video.)

The point of me sharing this was to show him that popularity has spread across the world, and therefore it has become much more popular since he first contacted me, making it a bigger asset to all of us. That makes sense, right? Well, his response was that the video was “just ok,” and that he had done all he could and was no longer interested. :I

Let me also explain what he meant by “all he could.”
Basically, their company contacted me in late 2013 expressing great interest in my work and spoke of pitching an idea to New Line, even going as far as to say that it could even be a franchise. They paired me with a screen writer who sat around for months and months, keeping me out of the loop and putting forth zero effort. Finally, in the spring of 2014, he squeezed out some really lame and generic “beat sheet,” as he called it, which wasn’t a screen play as much as a sort of outline. Honestly, I’ve written better things (I have fans who can vouch), and even BenderSpink didn’t like it.
After that, no one did a thing. I had declined some offers from some smaller people because BS contacted me first and I was trying to be loyal to them.
But it turns out that they really are just a bunch of BS.
It wasn’t like I came to them with my stuff. They were the ones who came to me. They kept me in the dark, wasted nearly two years of my life, and blew any chance I had with other people before suddenly shooting me down, simply for trying to show them how popular my work had become! It’s nice to see where loyalty gets you these days.

So my advice to anyone who has something that they love and are passionate about is this: If BenderSpink contacts you, tell them to stuff it. Take a look at the list of movies they’ve made. Out of all those movies, only maybe 2 of them were actually good films. And needless to say, they will most likely treat you horribly and waste the time that you could be spending on better things.

As for me, I will continue to push onward. If any other production companies are interested, I am wide open, just as long as you respect me and my work. I don’t appreciate being jerked around by anyone, especially when it comes to something that I am passionate about.

For now, guys, check out my Facebook page, and take a look at some of the really cool videos that people have made. They deserve some praise. 🙂

How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Let me explain what I mean by that title, and I implore you to please read this entry completely.

As some of you may know, and as others may not, for the past eight years, I have attended a convention called Anime Nebraskon every autumn to help raise money. Since we are only a small business, Nebraskon has been a very large part of our annual earnings. I have been loyal to these people since they were a baby convention, just learning to walk, and I am sure that I am a part (even if only a small part) of the reason that they were able to grow into the huge production that they are today.
This year, they denied me a table in the artist room, making this the first year since I have lived here that I will be unable to attend. Because of this, our small and humble business will suffer a great financial loss.
I understand that there are methods to their madness, but having been loyal to them for all these years, even as they continue to raise the prices of their tables and show little regard for their artists, I feel incredibly slighted.
Since Nebraskon will not be an option for us this year, I am counting on internet sales alone to make up the losses. I would like to ask a favor from all of you: Please share this post with everyone you know. You will be helping out a small business which in turn helps out the community. Remember also that Christmas is just around the corner, so it’s a great time to shop for gifts, and what’s better than a gift that was handmade with love?

In addition, anyone who orders from me and mentions that they heard about this offer through my WordPress will get a free gift. Please, and thank you.

One of many of our popular items. Click the photo to visit the shop.

By krazykid7 on DeviantART

I wanted to share a really nice work of art that was inspired by a photo I once took of my brother. I think that the artist who drew this piece is very talented in multiple fields, so if you have a spare moment, please have a look at her gallery.

All aboard the fail boat!

*sigh*
I’m trying to be level-headed about this, and not be too crushed. It just really bites that every time I hold an art contest and offer free stuff, it seems like no one participates because it requires them to actually do something. But when I hold a contest where all anyone has to do is repost something, everyone and their neighbor lines up for it.
I don’t understand… is it just that people automatically assume that their artwork isn’t good enough and they won’t win anyway? Or is it really too much work to draw a picture? Because if it’s the former, then no one is going to win, because no one is entering because no one thinks they’re good enough… That’s a sad way to live.
Have some self-esteem, people! You don’t have to be the very best like no one ever was! You just have to have confidence, man. And confidence is a crucial part of becoming better at what you do.
If you’re afraid that your work isn’t good enough, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t show it off. Practice makes perfect, and if you show off what you do now, you’ll be surprised how many people like it. And what’s more is that when you do start to improve, people will have all your older stuff to look at and see how far you’ve come.
I know it’s probably a little late to be saying this for the contest, since it’s ending in a little more than a week… But the same stuff applies, even when no contest is involved.
Don’t hide your creativity just because you don’t think it’s good enough. Remember: You are your own worst critic.

In other news, there really isn’t any news, except that no one from “nonspecific production company” has said a word to me in two months, and I’m starting to think it’s not going to happen. So, if you’re a *different* production company, and you’re actually *serious* about working with me, do feel free to contact me, because it’s not like I haven’t also tried to make contact with them, only to be ignored. 

Fan Art Contest in the Works

Hello once again, my lovely humans. I bring good news of contests and free swag! (This is the only time you will ever hear me use the word “swag.” Aw, crap, I said it again.)
If you’re into getting free stuff, you should pop on over to my DeviantART journal and fill your eyeballs with information about a 400+ watcher contest that I am hoping to hold within the next week or so. If you don’t have a DeviantART account, you should probably make one, if for no other reason than to participate in the contest. It’s easier for me to hold a contest on a single website, instead of trying to spread it across several of them. And since the contest is centered around the amount of watchers I have acquired, it’s only fitting that it take place on DeviantART, where the watchers exist.

I intend for everyone who participates to receive a small prize of some sort. This might be digital or physical, depending on what people are able to receive (some entrants may be children with protective parents who, for obvious reasons, don’t want them sharing their address with random strangers on the internet).
I will probably pick a first place winner and a second place winner to receive the big prizes, which at this point, I am thinking will involve Lisa Merch and original, one of a kind, signed artwork.
SO GIVETH ME THY FEEDITH BACKITH. AND MAKE HASTE.