Chris and socialization

Chris, surrounded by family and friends.

Chris is somewhat capable of socializing, despite what one may assume from aspects like his social awkwardness, to the epic failure of his Love Quest. Being a nerd and, as of 2014, a member of the LGBT community, Chris has common interests and values with his friends. Awkwardness arises when Chris attempts to take part in conversations which exceed his limited interests, as his broken social filter and lack of common social etiquette due to his autism can lead to him saying inappropriate things or attempting to steer the topic to cartoons, video games, godhood, or the SLGBTQ.

In real life

The earliest known example of Chris socializing with someone other than Borb were his interactions with Sarah Hammer, who moved in next door to the Chandlers when he was approximately three years old. Chris fondly remembers using her swing set, playing hide and seek among other things , but he, far from a good judge of character even in his younger days, seemed oblivious to that Sarah might have had less than good intentions. At least twice, she could've caused him harm of her own volition, locking him in a crawlspace and convincing him an (allegedly) poisonous flower tasted like honey (both incidents he nonchalantly documented, in stark contrast to what he thinks of perceived wrongdoers).

He stated his formative years also included interactions with "other neighborhood children" (Chris himself noted they were mainly girls), not to mention he befriended Joshua Martinez (who'd eventually troll him) when attending speech therapy.

More notably, in his high school years, he attended classes and ate lunch with a female circle of friends (because he found the males, except for his older friend Joseph Herring, to be immature). However, the only time they were ever known to have spent time with each other outside Manchester High was for his 18th birthday party (and even then, none of the photos show him and even one of the girls near each other). They were never legitimate friends however, as Chris found out about 15 years later. Their attention was paid for by Bob and arranged by the principal in a misguided attempt to socialize Chris.

After high school, and in particular after he was suspended from college, Chris used whatever free time he wasn't using at home to try and socialize more in the open, whether it be for attempting to score sweethearts or otherwise. His most notable socializing endeavors occurred at The GAMe PLACe, where he met Megan Schroeder. The two formed a strong friendship, but Chris failed to pick up how she merely wanted to be just friends with him, even when she told him so numerous times. To make a long story short, things went very rocky, and by 2008 Megan had severed ties with him (and Chris would be banned from the aforementioned GAMe PLACe).

In 2014, Chris began attending Cville Pride and the Impulse Gay Social Club, both of which would gradually become frequent hang-out spots for him. These would serve as stepping stones for Chris to further grow out of his shell, and he soon later began regularly attending other places of that ilk, including LGBT events at University of Virginia. The next year would see him attending The End Games, a card game store he attended before being banned in 2018. There, he met a few adult Pokémon League friends who hung out with him outside of the club.

At Cville Pride.

Eventually, though, Chris regressed back into staying at home, giving up the socialization for his imaginary friends and internet enablers. He would nevertheless continue going to certain places such as conventions, until late 2021.

Over the Internet

The Internet, for decades, has been one of Chris's primary tools for socializing. Chris has regularly used social media websites, dating websites, and some forums as tools to talks with others and hopefully make either some new friends and/or sweethearts.

In 2017, he began attempts to socialize on Twitter with women he sees as potential gal-pals, including voice actresses from some of his favorite shows. His tweets seem to illustrate how he tries to fit into conversations - namely, that he likes to shoehorn in references to cartoons.

Planet Dolan

Main articles: Planet Dolan, DoopieDoOver, and LadyOfTheCosmo

Chris commissioned this from Doopie.

Doopie is a voice actress/animator for the YouTube channel Planet Dolan. Chris discovered the channel in August 2016 and took a liking to Doopie. He began frequently tweeting to her in 2017. His social awkwardness in full display, he has tweeted to her on the subjects of poop, his hatred of online dating, and he has tried to hit on her by quoting his "I’m Done Adulting" My Little Pony T-shirt.

In June 2017, Chris began to pledge on Doopie’s Patreon. A Like on her post, which is hidden behind a paywall, implies that Chris is pledging $25 per month to her. He has also paid her $25 for a commission to serve as a profile picture. Chris began throwing that money at her in the midst of the Financhu Crisis, and he quickly resorted to begging people on Facebook for $50, ostensibly to help him and his mother.

Doopie is fully aware of Chris’s online reputation, and sees him as just another customer, as she explained:

I've been following the "Chris chan" saga since the beginning. I know everything that (s)he's done. And yeah, it's pretty shitty, but what other people have done to him/her as been pretty shitty too. I'm also just not the type of person to turn someone away when they're being nothing but kind to me. It may be a fake, it may be a show, but I'm not emotionally invested in this enough to really care. (S)he's paid me to do a commission, and is a patron on my patreon, and as a woman of business, I'm going to treat him/her as every other commissioner and patron.

On 25 August 2017, Chris tweeted to LadyOfTheCosmo, a close friend of Doopie, on Twitter. He consequently got destroyed by her in an ensuing tweet war.

Conventions

Main article: List of conventions attended by Chris

Looking forward

In August 2021, Chris was arrested after it was revealed he had engaged in incestuous acts with his mother. Chris eventually received an autism disorder deferred disposition after a lengthy court process (that included a stint in Central Virginia Regional Jail, a stay at a psychiatric hospital, and a group home transfer). Due to the deferred disposition program, Chris was released from jail in March 2023 and his case was dismissed in August 2023. Chris gradually returned to social media where he resumed his usual antics.

A mysterious woman nicknamed Flutter by Chris has been routinely spotted hanging out with him in public following the dismissal of his charge; she had reached out to Chris while he was in jail, and her purpose in interacting with him is unknown.

Even after his release, the affair still comes back to haunt him. Chris attempted to resume going to conventions as he had before the incest charge, but quickly found himself banned from at least two - Animate! Raleigh and BABSCon, the latter literally declaring him persona non grata.

See Also

• Chris and kindness
• COVID-19

Sources

    People