this is our passion project.
Strange Company is a story written by LapizSagana and illustrated by her and Erika M. It first started as a what-if in one of their chaotic conversations over Zoom in 2023. After months of slaving away at work to embrace the tragedy that is adult life, they both decided to do something drastic. They bought a domain and created this website (which they initially believed would never see the light of day) and published Strange Company.
While they aim to provide quality content, they are adamant about this passion project remaining something they love. LapizSagana and Erika hope you enjoy this oddity of a creation as much as they do!
lapizsagana
Caffeine-fueled introverted woman in her 20s who wants to try new ways of publishing her stories. Socializing gives her anxiety, and she recharges by hugging her pets. In real life, she really does look like a stressed-out, on-the-brink-of-disease artist with uneven bangs, but she’s a pretty positive person who would go out of her way to give you an encouraging word or two.
Sadly, she didn’t give her penname much thought, and simply combined the first two interesting words that came to mind.
“Lapiz” is from lapiz lazuli, because she likes the color. “Sagana” because she wants to go bungee jumping in Sagana, Africa. You have her permission to call her “Elle” instead.
erika m.
The best friend in her early 30s who had no choice but to do the artwork for this passion project because she needed something to keep her sane while wrestling with the demons of her corporate job. She considers herself an amateur, but she’s practising every day, so there’s that. Oh, and she loves cats (and hates Elle for not incorporating them into the story)!
Erika doesn’t believe in ghosts but likes the idea of them. Her favorite horror story is The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, and she absolutely loves the movie M3GAN because she thinks it’s hilarious. Her ideal life would be a dramatic death before AI takes over the world.
She first created art for Elle’s stories in their teens, and now they both feel ancient.
