Internet Dream Lounge
Internet Dream Lounge (stylized as Ｉｎｔｅｒｎｅｔ Ｄｒｅａｍ Ｌｏｕｎｇｅ) was a short-lived YouTube podcast series hosted by Danish web artist Merryweather and EDM artist Easy-K.[1] The premise of the podcast was to interview people with a sizable following over the internet. Chris was interviewed twice by the podcast – the first version was scrapped, and the second released on 4 October 2017.
As of August 2020, the channel remains inactive, with all videos privatized.
Background
Despite their chummy relationship during and beyond the recording of the interview, months prior to Internet Dream Lounge, Chris and Merryweather clashed on Twitter after Merry insisted on calling Chris a male.[2]
On 29 August 2017, Merryweather approached Chris on Twitter, asking if he would be interested in doing an interview:
| @CWCSonichu Hi Christine! Are you interested in coming on my podcast for an interview? We promise to be respectful. |
| We want to talk to you about your new block the trolls not the heroes hashtag.[3] |
A short time later, having completely forgotten about their early interactions, Chris was following Merry's Twitter and Patreon. Upon arranging the interview, Merry asked his Patreon supporters for questions to ask Chris.[3]
On 4 September, Chris retweeted Merryweather, who announced that recording for the first interview had been completed for a next week release, and that Chris would be their next guest star. The following day, Merryweather made contact with Kiwi Farms in defense of the interview, upon receiving criticism from users that he was not going to get any new information out of Chris. He revealed to an extent the contents of the interview, notably an "interesting answer" from Chris with regards to the identity of the Magical Man.[4]
Chris stated that he accepted the interview for the following reasons:[5]
- He was not pressed on sensitive issues.
- He was paid.
- Merryweathery agreed to help Chris's Sonichu business as a "social media manager."
A Kiwi Farms user also probed Merry in a private correspondence, learning that Chris may have been motivated to participate in the interview because of Merry's established presence on Patreon:
| I honestly have no idea why Chris responded to me to begin with, but I think it's because he saw I had a fairly big patreon and he seems to hope I can help him earn more on Patreon.
His very first line in our interview after my co-host said he was a fan of sonichu was "DONATE TO MY PATREON" |
Merry also expressed his doubts in his first interview and pondered on recording a second version.[6]
On 9 September, Merry went on to announce the delay of the podcast "to improve the quality of the interview," and was accepting additional questions for the interview. Chris openly encouraged question submissions:[7]
| Bonus follow-up, so most kind questions are accepted. No questions about my Sweetheart or our budding relationship, please. Support is good. |
On 9 October, Internet Dream Lounge published the second interview with Chris, with Kiwi Farms given access a day earlier. According to Merryweather, the interview was recorded on the 4th of October; though, this clashes with a remark Chris made in the interview itself.[8][9]
Following the interview, Merryweather maintained good relations with Chris. In December, he tweeted a gift to @WeWuzMetokur of a drawing of him by Chris, saying that Chris had done it as a favor.[10] Chris later drew an art piece for Merry for his birthday.
Mister Kurmeto
Art for Merryweathery
Interview
| Ｉｎｔｅｒｎｅｔ Ｄｒｅａｍ Ｌｏｕｎｇｅ ＃４ - Chris Chan | |
| Stardate | 4 October 2017 |
| Made By | Internet Dream Lounge |
| TRUE and HONEST Sonichu Fan Videos | |
Transcript
Intro (0:00-1:03)
Merryweather: Welcome to another episode of the Internet Dream Lounge. I'm your host, Merry, and with me as always, my trusty, O faithful co-host, Easy-K. And on this show, we have the honor of presenting to our dear viewers: the eternal hero of love, the defender of autism and the God-Emperor of CWCville. The creator of Sonichu, Christine Weston Chandler.
Chris: Hey, everybody! How y'all doing?
Merryweather: So how are you today, Chris?
Chris: I'm doing good. How are you?
Merryweather: I'm good–doing quite fine. We already did this interview already. Uh, just want to re-record it because the last one was quite boring. Uh, and also, a few times, I slipped up and didn't call you by your proper pronouns. So, what was it you told me to do this time–uh, in ca–like, in order to make sure I don't slip up and call you he instead of she?
Chris: Pretend you're–ru–talking with [Speaking in a high voice] Natalie Portman! Hello, I'm Miss Natalie Portman! Let's have [Merry laughs] fun together[?], all right? [Chris chuckles]
Merryweather: All right.
Easy-K: Dude, is Natalie Portman in the room right now?
Merryweather: Ap–apparently, she is!
Easy-K: Is Natalie Portman here? [Chris laughs]
Heroes and villains (1:03-4:30)
Merryweather: [Chris can be heard joking in the background] Anyway.. um. [Merry laughs] Anyway... uh... well, in order to not–uh–not–uh–mess up the pronouns and call her Christine–uh–she instead of he. I will be pretending it's Natalie Portman, so I hope that helps. Anyway, uh, Chris, I want to get straight into things and see that you have actually started your very own merchandise shop recently.
Chris: Yes.
Merryweather: Good.
Chris: My very own merchandise shop.
Merryweather: [Chris talks over Merry] Yes, we should buy some Christian... uh, Weston Chandler pillows. Uh, the classic ones, the ones with your picture from when you were a guy.
Chris: Yeah, well, something old and then also a bit something new if you wanna go updated.
Merryweather: Absolutely. So, Chris, could you tell us a little bit about Sonichu, your creation? What's the l- the listeners who don't know about that?
Chris: Yes. Sonichu and Rosechu, are the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon in the city of Cwcville, Virginia, United States of America, and- with my help, or rather, with their help if I'm–when I'm in danger, we defend–
Merryweather: Yes.
Chris: –The city of Cwcville from those who want to make true love and feeling and finding it illegal in the United States of America, and around the world.
Merryweather: And of course the people who want to make, uh, true love illegal, well, that would be the, uh, i-i-in the lore of your comics, that would be the jerkops and Slaweel Ryam, who is based on a person who brought a lot of problems into your life. Uh, I've been asked not to mention her real name, um, but a lot of it is based on your real life experiences and your troubles are in your, um, adult life. I believe, a subtext for the comic is the Adult Chronicles of Christian Weston Chandler, or Christine Weston Chandler as it is now.
Chris: Yes. Give or take, but really the main antagonist is actually the embodiment of my loneliness and depressions. The one of which I have given a name based on one of my depressing life events. The infamous spiritual magician, Count Graduon.
Merryweather: Count Graduon. And he's, like, the eternal, kind of, your nemesis in a way in the comic.
Chris: Yes, because apparently he was the one that could never feel love and he never could feel it for his son- for himself, he never could find it, so it- so, back in the medieval centuries, he would attack kingdoms and castles and eventually a knight beheaded him, and yeah, when- we had an archaeologist in England, he gets possessed–He finds the orb that he was encapsulated in and Graduon pur– [struggles to pronounce]. Uh, here's another one for the blooper reel. Graduon possesses him–
Merryweather: [laughing] It's quite alright, Chris. Don't worry.
Chris: Graduon possesses him, and in the–in the body, Graduon guides the guy all the way to America. Or at least to be America. And the Cherokee–and the Cherokee clan recognizes this now spirit and exorcises Graduon from the poor archaeologist, and puts him in a new sphere encapsulation and hides that underground. And then in many years later, he is uncovered and put in a museum, the sphere. And that's where Slaweel and he met... a half witch.
Sonichu's origin (4:30-5:30)
Merryweather: So that's the origin story of the villains. Can we–can we hear a little bit about how you came up with your title character, the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon, Sonichu, and of course, Rosechu?
Chris: Oh yes. Back in uh two th–back in March 17th 2000, from my Computer Graphics class at Manchester High School, we had to do a CD insert and cover, and I wanted to put Sonic and Pikachu on there, but copyrighted characters were not allowed. So I ended up combining the two, and that's how Sonichu was made. From then on, Sonichu and I actually grown closer together – we got to know each other. And then eventually, I made his sweetheart, Rosechu, followed by Blake—Black Sonichu—and then all the other characters that followed over the years.
Merryweather: So these are all hedgehogs and Pokémon? Like, hedgehogs from Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokémon from Pokémon?
Chris: Yeah. Classified as Electric Hedgehog Pokémon.
CWCville politics (5:30-7:31)
Merryweather: Obviously, the comics have been going on for some time now, and throughout your life, you've had some troubles, you've had some struggles. A lot of the characters in the comic–the villains in the comic–they kind of represent people who have brought you trouble in your real life. I mean, since Slaweel and you mentioned Count Graduon, who is not a single person as I understand it. He's more like a manifestation of, I assume your graduation from high school.
Chris: And the–and the years of loneliness and depression I've had to endure.
Merryweather: Of course. And–But there's of course the presence of trolls within your comic. There's not–there's a long list of trolls that, of course, I won't name. But, I just want to ask you. Because, of course, there was an attempt to crown Billy Mays as the mayor of CWCville, which you quickly shut down very fast. Would you like to tell us a little bit about that?
Chris: Well–I mean, I don't know why people insisted on [unintelligible] Billy Mays, who did the OxiClean commercials. It just seems so random. I never could understand that. But no, he could never be mayor, because he wasn't originally a CWCville resident. But, at least in my absence, did have my [pauses] secretary, who is also quite knowledgeable in the–managing the city—done very well—Miss Allison Amber.
Merryweather: Okay. So, uh–is it possible for someone other than you, to be elected mayor of CWCville?
Chris: Not really. 'Cause my father would have founded the city, and–and he ended up passing it down to me. 'Cause–
Merryweather: [interrupts] Okay–
Chris: –Too much. The origin story of the city of CWCville: My father founded it and built it.
Merryweather: [pauses] Okay.
Chris: And they passed it onto me.
Merryweather: So, it's like a monarchy.
Chris: Bit of a monarchy.
Merryweather: Interesting.
Fan productions (7:31-9:34)
Merryweather: All right. That–that's pretty interesting. Also, of course, there is umm–the Sonichu comics have sort of, ever since their debut in–Uhh... I believe the late 2009? So, when was it that your popularity kind of blew up, Chris? Can you remember that, yeah?
Chris: Yeah. It was more–it was like '09 or '10.
Merryweather: Okay, so around that time. Since then, there's been all sorts of creations of people fascinated by your life. There's been a Sonichu animated series, there's been a documentary, which you have seen, which we will get into later. There's been all sorts of creations, and people have actually come forward during your absence from the comic and created comics of their own. Someone created a comic book – like a web comic called Sonichu–I believe it was Revolution, which kind of told a more dark version. And one of the characters in it, Slaweel, was kind of–because a lot of the fans draw Slaweel as an attractive young blonde woman, I was wondering what you think about that. Because she is quite–in the comics, in the canon comic, she is an old woman. I was wondering what you think about, like reimaginings of the different villains of your comic in ways like that.
Chris: Well, I encourage creativity amongst my fans. But, although, this is [unintelligible] correction. I never really watched any of the created animated series because–
Merryweather: Yeah.
Chris: It just wasn't directly from me, and uh... There just some things lacking in there. But also, I think they definitely got Slaweel's blonde color from her Viking helmet. She wore a Viking helmet. It [voice cuts out on chat] with red horns. She was never a blonde. She was a lot older than that.
Merryweather: I suppose it was kind of a misconception based on early drawings of her then?
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: All right.
The abusive babysitter (9:34-10:44)
Merryweather: Early in your–like... early back in your timeline, like the farthest back you can remember, there was a...an event, which shaped you as a person. It was when your childhood babysitter, who I believe she's called Miss Roach, left you in your room, she locked you in your room, because you were interrupting her phone call. Now, I asked you this question in a private chat between you and I, but I would like to ask you again so you can elaborate on it in our interview: Would you ever consider putting Miss Roach into your comic as a villain?
Chris: Very unlikely. Because, I have very little information or recollection about her past or current appearance, much less her first name. So, that would be a big no.
Merryweather: Okay. Very well. Because a lot–like that's kind of like the ground zero of everything Chris-Chan. Of everything Christory, as it's called. Do you know that term, Christory?
Chris: Yeah, that's ok–yeah that's good.
Merryweather: Yeah [laughs]. All right. That's good. You like that one.
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: Yeah. All right. Wonderful.
Autism (10:44-12:06)
Merryweather: There are several moments in your life that have kind of been shrouded in mystery. Now, you are, of course, an internet legend. You have been documented more than some Presidents of the United States. [Chris chuckles] Your life has been, probably, one of the most documented things in... internet history, because you have put yourself out there. You have told everyone, "Here's my story. Here's all of it. I will not keep anything hidden from any of you."
And some people might say that was a bit stupid, some people might say that's admirable. You're brave, you put yourself out there. More people know about you and your life than most–like what is known about most celebrities. So, when an event like that is described by you, the... The sort of ground zero, the moment your babysitter locked you in your room. You mentioned that a lot, as in the past—correct me if i'm wrong—as having sort of been the cause of your autism.
Chris: I don't know about it being the cause of my autism. It might have been theoretically something in the genetics, or very unlikely, in one of the vaccines. But, it's prett—I would say, it instigated–it brought the autism up that one moment.
Merryweather: Okay. Very well.
Trolls (12:06-16:30)
Merryweather: Has anyone, of the trolls in your life–you've obviously had a long, like history of people who have tried to troll you, and who have tried to mess around with your life. A long list of people pretending to be girlfriends–pretending to be internet girlfriends. There was one time when you drove a long way to meet someone who wasn't actually there, and I believe it was an old black woman who opened the door?
Chris: Yeah...
Merryweather: Could you tell us a little bit about your real life encounters with trolls?
Chris: [sighs] A little bit. A little bit. [thinking] I can–doh–I... I don't have very many upon recounting. There was the one where I met her at Fashion Square Mall—my father was there—and... then we were met with the infamous Guy in the Pickle Suit. Just... [Merryweather sniggers] That was totally random. I don't know why, 'cept from like, you know, Sonichu doesn't like pickles, because he's allergic to pickles and pickle brine. I hadn't mentioned that [sound cuts out] before, but mentioned it later. And, uhh...
Merryweather: So, what was through it? Like, what went through your head when you saw the Man in the Pickle Suit approach you?
Chris: Umm... I was like– [mumbles] This is crazy. Just random. I really did not know what to think or expect at that moment. And then the girl left with the Guy in the Pickle Suit [Merryweather sniggers]
Easy-K: At that point, did you kind of–like put it together in your head, like "Okay, this was maybe like a setup."?
Chris: Yeah. Soon enough, I did piece it together like that.
Easy-K: Probably around the time, like your medallion came up missing?
Chris: Um... No. I would say, just shortly after the actual event.
Merryweather: Oh–
Easy-K: I'm sorry, if I could just interject: So, you did–did you, like notice that your medallion was gone?
Chris: My medallion was not removed from my person at that time.
Easy-K: Oh, it wasn't? After that?
Chris: You might be confusing it with the other theoretical ex who had me send it to her in the mail for safekeeping, and then that's when the original medallion was put in a pickle jar, cut apart, yadda yadda yadda.
Easy-K: I was given misinformation. I thought that–that's how they actually acquired your medallion.
Merryweather: No, no. Like, they–I believe it was someone who was pretending to be a girlfriend of Chris.
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: They asked Chris to send the medallion, and then they absolutely destroyed it and uploaded it to YouTube. Of course, Chris made a new medallion after that.
Easy-K: So, Chris, Natalie, Christine...
Chris: [Chuckles]
Easy-K: [Chuckles] Did–have you ever, 'cause a lot of these things that people do to you. They're just borderline–like illegal, some of them. Like that example right there. That's destruction of property. Like, you know. Yeah, you went–willing sent it to them, but that was your property and they destroyed it – destruction of property. Have you ever considered, like pressing charges against these people? I mean, 'cause really, that seems like it would be the best course of action for a lot of these cases.
Chris: Well, I don't remember the address I sent it to, and... I only know–I only would remember the pseudo-name that the troll was using at that time. So, how could I press charges against somebody I don't know who, he or she, fully is?
Merryweather: Besides, it happened–it happened a long–it happened a long time ago and–
Easy-K: Right.
Merryweather: I don't think–like, as much as the trolls have brought... Horror into your life, Christine, I don't think any of them have ever physically harmed you. Is that correct in saying?
Chris: Uhh... Yeah, not physically, but between their manipulations and blackmail, they did a lot of emotional and mental damage to me.
Merryweather: Okay.
Easy-K: So, you've never considered that? You've never considered, like pressing charges like ever?
Chris: Uhh... Yeah, my father had brought up pressing charges. But, like I said: Another state. Don't know who that person actually is.
Easy-K: Mhmm.
Internet Lumberjack (16:30-18:05)
Merryweather: Are you... Are you familiar about the memes about your father?
Chris: Ah yes, The Internet Lumberjack. [impersonates Bob] I'm gonna cut that internet down!
Merryweather: [laughs] If we–in our previous interview, we–I kind of introduced you to the meme about—which you were aware of at the time—the meme about the Internet Lumberjack. We were recording it during your father's birthday.[9] So, there is–I want you to know, that a lot of people actually view him very fondly. Like, I don't think anyone disliked Bob Chandler, and I think people actually were kind of sad when he passed away. So, there's several pieces of fan art, for example, him knocking down the gates to heaven and screaming, "I'm gonna cut that internet down," with a glory over his head. Umm... Do you remember that?
Chris: Yes. Hmmm...
Merryweather: I hope you can appreciate.
Chris: Oh yeah. If anybody wants to hear more about my father, Bob Chandler, go check–enquire over at the General Electric Plant in Charlottesville, Virginia, or between Charlottesville and Ruckersville, up 29 South. Uhh... Just ask about–uhh... Mr. Robert Chandler or "Bobby C" as they like to call him.
Merryweather: Bobby C.
Chris: And they'll tell you about the–uhh... control schematics that he drew up, and some of his awards and phrases in the–in that industry.
Merryweather: All right.
Magical Man (18:05-21:58)
Merryweather: So, Chris. I want go into your–into the umm... We talked a little about meeting trolls in real life. There is one particular moment in, as they call it "Christory"... Uhh... Chris-Chan history, where you uploaded a series of videos, and they featured a mysterious individual that nobody really knows anything about. There's a lot of theories about who this man is. I'll tell you. The video you uploaded—one of them—is called The Magic Potion—something like that–where you drink, you consume a potion, and you turn into this young, kind of attractive guy. And this was like a comedy skit that you made. And there was also another video where you sat down with this man and you were showing him things on your PlayStation. Uhh... Who is this man? Nobody really knows who he is. We can't really–like, nobody can really figure out who this guy is. There's theories that he was a troll, there's theories that he was a family friend. Could you tell us about him?
Chris: Uhh... He was a friend. And also, a friend of another friend of mine, who–I won't be naming her name right now. But I'm–
Merryweather: [Interrupts] One of your high school gal pals?
Chris: Umm... No. One of my later friends.
Merryweather: Okay.
Chris: But anyway, I cannot remember his name, but he has been married since. So, I had lost touch with him, some time ago. But, he was a good person, not a troll.
Merryweather: What did you do with him generally, other than make videos?
Chris: [sighs] Just... kinda hang–just kinda hung out.
Merryweather: How were you introduced to him?
Chris: Yeah. My gal pal introduced–introduced us.
Merryweather: Did she figure you should get a male friend, perhaps? That's why she introduced you to him?
Chris: Uh... Pretty much. Yeah.
Merryweather: Did you at any point figure that he might be aware of your internet presence? Did he mention anything about it?
Chris: Umm... Yeah. He was made aware of my internet presence.
Merryweather: Okay. So, he know about that before meeting you? Or did he–or did you tell him about it?
Chris: Yeah. He had become aware. And, she knew about my internet presence.
Merryweather: Okay. [pauses'] Umm... So, I want to ask you: Do you have any stories you can say[?] about this person, what you did together, anything interesting? Or, is it mainly just what we see in the video?
Chris: Umm... I want to say one thing mainly. What was in that video. But... I do–if I remember correctly, I do believe he recorded that one where I was walking along the downtown mall, that one video.
Merryweather: Was it the one where you were wearing normal clothes, and you kind of like, tried to play a prank on people?
Chris: [light chuckle] I don't know. You might say that. But, I know I was wearing denim vest.
Merryweather: Oh, right. So the denim vest video. Uhh...
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: Was it the one where you were like, trying to play it like you didn't actually have autism, and it was kind of all a prank, and it was all a troll or something like that?
Chris: Umm...
Merryweather: I recall a video like that.
Chris: Okay. Well, I'm going to say, I guess it could be interpreted as that.
Merryweather: Okay. Very well. Other than that, I will ask you: You mentioned, he got married. Uh... How old, about, was he?
Chris: Umm... I don't know. About–Umm... early to mid-thirties.
Merryweather: All right. So, he– his Love Quest came to an end... You could say.
Chris: Pretty much.
Merryweather: That's a happy ending for the Magic Potion Man, I suppose.
Chris: [sniggers] Yeah.
Merryweather: Yeah.
The Man in the Pickle Suit (21:58-22:39)
Merryweather: Did you–did you ever end up meeting the– [vengeful voice] THAT DAMN PICKLE-SUITED MAN again?
Chris: [nonchalantly] No.
Merryweather: No? You mentioned once to me that you met him one more time outside of the pickle suit.
Chris: Oh wait. Yes I did. Umm...
Merryweather: Yeah.
Chris: May have one more time. Uhh... I kinda put it in the back–in the back of memory, I'm afraid. So, that's–I really did not remember until you said something there just now.
Merryweather: Oh, okay. So, can you kind of recall how you met him? Any interesting details?
Chris: Ummm... No, it's hard to recollect right now.
Merryweather: Okay. Uhh... Very well.
Japan (22:39-23:53)
Merryweather: Anyway. So, I suppose we should move on a little bit to some other things. Uh, I'll ask you a quick–uh.... as I call it, a Lightning Round of questions. And then–
Chris: Yes.
Merryweather: –We will play a game of–I'm not sure if you're familiar with it, but it's called Fuck, Marry, Kill – it's very fun. You know the game?
Chris: No.
Merryweather: I'll introduce you to it. All right. Let's just ask you some questions then. Please give relatively short answers to these questions. If you wanna elaborate, you can, but let's keep it, like relatively down. All right. So–
Chris: Yes.
Merryweather: Do you like anime, Chris?
Chris: Yes.
Merryweather: Which anime do you like?
Chris: I like Excel Saga, Steel Angel Kurumi, Cowboy Bebop, Sha–
Merryweather: [interrupts] Which anime would you recommend people watch?
Chris: Oh. Definitely Nana.
Merryweather: Nana?
Chris: The story–yeah, the anime with the two girls who became roommates. Both named Nana.
Merryweather: Interesting. All right. When did you realize you were transgender?
Chris: About uhh... June of... About June of 2014. Late in that month.
Merryweather: Okay.
A-Logs and Jobs (23:53-26:24)
Merryweather: Now, we've talked about the trolls, we've talked about all of the horrible things they've done. There's also a lot of good things the trolls have done. I hope you realize that the trolls display a fondness of you – that's why they kind of–that's why they try to be a part of your life, Chris. They like you, they are interested, they are fascinated in you. So, it's not... Not all trolls are bad, I hope you realize.
Chris: Umm... Yeah, I had the realization of not all people in a bad labelled community are bad individually.
Merryweather: Okay. But, I suppose if you, like the people you call trolls, I suppose, are the ones who would try to harm you. So, I suppose those trolls are bad. That's like, in the community, that's what we called A-Logs. A-...Logs – who try to harm what we call "lolcows", who are people who kind of, like eccentric internet individuals like you, Chris. Ummm... And these people–
Chris: Okay...
Merryweather: –Are looked down upon, because they–because it's seen as a bad thing to try to harm someone, you know?
Chris: Yes.
Merryweather: Yes. So, I hope you realize that communities, they do look down upon [unintelligible] attempt at harming you, Chris. That's not their po–that's not what they want. They want you–I actually think they want you to...To have a good life in the end. I think they want you to take responsibility for yourself, and maybe get a job, and try to make money for yourself, and get a good life and everything like that. I suppose it's hard. We had a talk before, where you mentioned the fact that... If you–like most jobs these days, they google someone's name. And I have a hard time believing that any reasonable job would hire someone after googling "Christian Weston Chandler."
Chris: Ah, yeah. Pretty much. But aside from that, there's other individual, respective... Uhh... This and thats, that just makes it that more difficult to get a job anywhere, pretty much.
Merryweather: Yes. Uh... Chris, you've obviously been through a lot. You do have autism – you are high-functionally autistic. Umm... Have you considered getting a more, like permanent type of therapy... Help, so to say?
Chris: Hmmm... No. I think I'm at a good place in my life, where I wouldn't need constant therapy in regards of my autism.
Merryweather: Of course.
Dose of reality (26:24-27:30)
Merryweather: I just wanted you to know, Chris, that, of course, Sonichu is a franchise, and that can be monetized, as we've talked about before. You can sell merchandise, you can sell the comics.
Merryweather: The likelihood–
Chris: [interrupts] Yes.
Merryweather: –of it earning you a permanent living. Even if you can like earn a permanent living for a–like, not a permanent living, but, even if you can earn a living salary for a while. It's not likely to keep going. Like, I–for example, my comics: I make comics for Lion Webtoon, which is a South Korean company. Now, they pay me very handsomely, and that's what I'm living off. But, I also know that, even with the best comic, even if–even some of the more famous comics in the world, you're not going to be able to live off them forever. Do you have any long term plan, in case that doesn't–in case Sonichu stops giving money?
Chris: Umm... Not really. Just, I pretty much go with the flow.
Merryweather: Okay. Very well.
Barb (27:30-30:55)
Merryweather: You uploaded about two-three months ago, a video of Barbara Chandler, your mother, your dear mother, asking for donations for food. In this video she was–she looked a bit off, and she kind of stared into the camera in a slight confused way, and I think it made a lot of people concerned that Barbara wasn't doing very well. Could you–is Barbara all right?
Chris: Oh, she's all right. She's just... Old. She just turned 76 years old – day before yesterday.[11]
Merryweather: Okay. Umm... Now I don't want to be mean, and kind of bring troll content to you, Chris. But, I feel like I should mention it, just because it's relevant to what I'm going to ask next. And, don't worry, we'll get back to the fun questions. I just want to make sure I get the right questions also answered, so we can go back to having fun afterwards. I hope that's all right with you, Christine.
Chris: Yes.
Merryweather: Okay. Your mother, Barbara Chandler, back in the day, back in the wacky troll–uhh... Your–back in the days of your epic battles against the trolls. Umm... She was, kind of lovingly, also a little bit jokingly, referred to as "Snorlax", because in a lot of your videos, she was–she was a little bit of a heavyset woman back then. Umm... She's lost a lot of weight since, hasn't she?
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: You've–You've been the doctor and have it checked out?
Chris: Umm... Yes. My mom has been, and she's had–she's been put on a meal replacement milkshake, recently. She's been doing better after that, but... Really we were able to eat better because my late father was able to help us out while he was alive.
Merryweather: Oh... Well... God bless his soul, I supp–
Chris: Yes. Plus, in both of their younger days—both my mom and my dad—did do their share of cooking, and they made pretty good meals now and then.
Merryweather: Uhh... A person I've been talking about a bit—he's been helping me out with some stuff—Uhh... Mister Metokur. He asked me to ask you this question, and it's a question that's been on a lot of people's minds. Umm... If Barbara Chandler, an–and I hope this doesn't happen for a long time, I hope you realize, Chris. If Barbara Chandler would happen to pass away, and you will be alone in your house, what do you have for plans in that case? What's your idea – what happens then?
Chris: I really have none.
Merryweather: No... I hope you realize that's a bit worrying.
Chris: [seemingly unfazed] Well... I worry myself.
Merryweather: Okay. Well, I personally hope that you will get a plan and things will turn out fine. Like, my–my personal Christory dream is for you to live comfortably 'til your day's end. For you to, in ten years, look back upon your epic battles with the trolls, your crazy internet antics, all them memes, and all of the fun that people have had about you, and look at back at that, and not be upset by it, but rather laugh at it, and have fun with it. Because–
Jessica Quinn and DoopieDoOver (30:55-33:11)
Chris: [interrupts] Yeah. Well, I think my life is shaping up, especially with my girlfriend–sweetheart – not going to mention her name right now.
Merryweather: Okay.
Chris: But those who do know, know who she is. But anyway, we have a good thing going on, and... It's just... She–I think she's gonna be a big help to me and my mother... In the longer run.
Merryweather: Very well...
Chris: [interrupts] And I just–I just thank God everyday that she's in my life. I just... Really appreciative of her.
Merryweather: Uh... Your girlfriend, also got a bit upset with you on Facebook, suddenly. Uhh... Can you tell us a bit about what happened there?
Chris: Ah, yeah. That was in referen–in reference to... What happened when... Uh... DoopieDoOver blocked me. And, I was obsessive about that...
Merryweather: So you do agree you were a bit obsessive about DoopieDoOver?
Chris: Ah, yes. I was obsessive, because... I did not like being blocked by others – be it person or place, blocked or banned. [pauses] But, I made a promise, I made a promise to my sweetie that... I would not be obsessive over all that and... Ties with Doopie... You know, stopped following her on YouTube and even Tumblr – I have a Tumblr account, but not tr–it's not in so much popular use right now. But anyway: Disconnected the ties with her and... I'm not obsessing.
Merryweather: Okay. That's good to know.
Chris: So, made the move for the better, because I value my sweetie more than... Th–than... This Planet Dolan actress, who obviously was not liking me so much, and at one point, was a troll herself, but I had forgiven her on that.
Merryweather: Okay. Well, I suppose that's a healthy realization to have, Chris.
Chris: Yes. Thank you.
Merryweather: And that, she did–she was not quite happy.
Sonichu 12 (33:11-35:06)
Merryweather: Umm... Anyway. Uh... Moving on a little bit. There is... Uhh... Sonichu is starting up again now. You've been drawing, I believe it was Episode 12?
Chris: Yeah Book 12.
Merryweather: Book 12. And there's a–there's a Pride Festival in Book 12.
Chris: Yes. I have finished that–I have finished that episode in completion. I'm finishing up the Clip Show episode, where right now, the current clip is where Rosey had gained some weight while in the hospital.
[everyone speaks at once]
Easy-K: Tell us about that.
Merryweather: –Exactly with–with that one?
Chris: Umm... Bit inspired with my sweetie, but definitely in ret–in history, with Sonichu and Rosechu and the city of CWCville, 'cause I have the links. I have the psychic links to my characters and the city. So–
Merryweather: Yes.
Chris: I get the direct streaming in my noggin. I don't call me–call me crazy if you want to, but it's true, it's there – my psychic powers. But anyway, yeah, she had gone to the hospital, after breaking both her legs, she gained some weight. And, after being surprised, Sonichu actually found a fascination in her... Squishy tummy! Heh. So, she kept that up for a while.
Easy-K: Oh.
Chris: And–and, spoiler alert: After a nightmare Sonichu does have and share it with Rosey, she had co–she had come out to him that she had been thinking about it [pauses] for quite a while. And while, she did enjoy her freedom of eating a lot, eating as much as she'd like, and what not, she felt constricted, felt limited, with all that weight weighing her down. So, she was–
Merryweather: Okay.
Chris: So, she had decided where he liked or not to start losing the weight, but she had to tell him first.
Merryweather: [amused] Okay. I see.
Future villains (35:06-36:25)
Merryweather: Anyway, Christine. I just want to move on a little bit and ask some questions. Is that all right?
Chris: Yeah.
'Merryweather: All right. As I mentioned, Sonichus starting up again. A big kind of thing about the Sonichu comic is the villains. Like, I'm–I really like the villains. I like... Uhh... That's the thing I like about watching the Batman movies and reading the Batman comics. I like the villains and their motivations. And, I think one of the more interesting things about the Sonichu comic is, as mentioned, the villains. Uhh... So, do you have any plans for any new, interesting villains, or it mainly just bringing back old villains?
Chris: Uhhh... There act–there will be some new villains, but mainly it's going to be centered around where the leader is Count Graduon. Uh... Currently... In these books rights now, being possessing and repairing the Metal Sonichu body. But, he does find a possessed body that, in amongst the Jerkops, that very closely resembles to how he used to look back when his living days – way back in the 1500s, let's say. The medieval days. So, he swaps ou–he swaps out from the Metal Sonichu, and puts himself into that new body.
Merryweather: Okay. Very well.
BronyCon (36:24-38:03)
Merryweather: Uh... I just want to ask you another question: Could you tell us a bit about BronyCon, Chris?
Chris: [perks up] Oh, yes. It was awesome. I had an awesome weekend. I met so–I met quite a number of fans who actually approach–recognized and approached me.
Merryweather: Okay.
Chris: –Kindly. And it was. And they were very sincere, and I've just–I really appreciate that. It made me feel a whole lot better about myself and everything.
Merryweather: Have you ever considered doing a real life meetup for your fans?
Chris: Uhh... That would be quite a setup, but might be possible. I'd be possible at next year's BronyCon in Baltimare.
Merryweather: Okay. You know, I–I–I could fly over. I have some big black guys to guard you – so nobody messes with you. [Chris laughs]
Merryweather: [laughs] Make sure to break their arms if they try screaming to lay at you. [laughs]
Chris: Uh... I doubt that's necessary because BronyCon, in its strict rule policy, and they have their own guards everywhere.
Merryweather: Okay.
Chris: BronyCon is a safe space.
Merryweather: Are they big black guards? [Easy-K laughs]
Chris: [unamused] No.
Easy-K: [laughing] You did show [unintelligible]
Chris: There might be some big black guys in there, I don't know. Pfft [chuckles]
Merryweather: Oh, I absolutely love big black guys [Easy laughs]
Chris: Oh, jeez. Why don't you go marry one?
Merryweather: Ohh... [Chris laughs] I would be too much like Milo Yiannopoulos if I did that. [Easy laughs] He's marrying a big black guy. Uhh... [laughs] Okay. As if the gay rumors aren't enough. Anyway... [cannot control laughing] Uhh... I suppose we move on a little bit.
Fuck, Marry, Kill (38:03-42:26)
Merryweather: Uhh... Chris. Let's play a game of Fuck, Marry, Kill. All right. Uh... You–I–it's kind of a party game. So, I–I guess you haven't really had a chance to play it. It's not something you do in high school. Umm... So, Chris. I will mention three people. And, here's the rules: You have to fuck one, you have to marry one, and you have to kill one.
Chris: Uhh... Do I get a brief bio of each of these people?
Merryweather: Uhh... Yeah. But, it'll probably be people you know, to be honest. Umm... So, I'll mention three people, and you'll just let me know, all right?
Chris: Okay.
Merryweather: So. Okay, so. Let's start off with Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Donald J. Trump.
Chris: Oh, there's an–that's an obvious one. I'd... I'd have sex with Hillary Clinton.
Merryweather: Yes.
Chris: Uh... Let's see. Oh. Well, let me swap that. I'd marry Hillary Clinton and, [reluctantly] okay, I'll ffff- [hesitates] I'll flay[?] with Barack Obama, and I would kill Donald Trump.
Merryweather: Okay. Yeah, you don't like Trump very much, do you?
Chris: Yes, I do not.
Merryweather: No. Is it mainly based on things you've heard about him from your friends – your new friends in the LGBT community?
Chris: Uh... More or–but–more or less, I had watched the political debates before the election—all three of them—and, I could saw–see it from a mile away, that he was an obvious... narcissist, or [mumbling] the psycholo–the psychologists have coined a phrase, he is a "malignic [sic] narcissist". And his actions since he came into office have definitely reflected all of that.
Merryweather: I see. All right. Well, let's not get too into politics. Uh... Are you familiar with Anita Sarkeesian?
Chris: No.
Merryweather: No. Okay. Do you remember Gamergate? Remember, I told you about Gamergate?
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: Back in 2014? Umm... Yeah, anyway. Remember, I told you when you made a post about Gamergate. Uhh.. About them harassing people and stuff like that?
Chris: Hmm... I think I remember.
Merryweather: Yeah. Uhhh... Well, you... Like, Anita Sarkeesian is one of the main people who took part in Gamergate. She's a feminist critic. And she claims, allegedly, that people sent her death threats for being a feminist critic. There's also the people on the Gamergate side that believe Anita Sarkeesian's critiques of games are very unfair. Uhh... She will, like... That's a whole thing, but yeah, she–I suggest checking her out. It would be interesting to hear your opinion on her. Uhh... Easy, do we have a Fuck, Marry, Kill list for Chris? I can't really think of any–
Easy-K: Aw, man. You–
Merryweather: I can't bring up the social justice warriors.
Easy-K: You can't bring up the social ju–Uhh... Okay. Uh, let's try this. Let's try – and you can say no to this: Umm... Amy Rose, Rosechu, or uhh–oh, what's her face? Oh, what was the one character? Mary Lee Walsh.
Chris: Oh, jeez. None are–
Merryweather: [interrupts] This is the young version [Chris chuckles]
Easy-K: The young–the young Mary Lee Wal–the young, hot Mary Lee Walsh.
Merryweather: The beautiful.
Easy-K: In her better days.
Merryweather: Yes. [laughs]
Chris: Uhh... Well, I don't wanna take her away from Sonichu, so I'll just have a little fuck around with Rose–with Rosey, I'm sorry. [everyone laughs]
Easy-K: You're so kind, Chris!
Chris: I guess... Okay. Well, and then I guess I'd... Would have a marital crush on Amy Rose.
Easy-K: Okay.
Chris: And... And, yeah, kill off Slaweel Ryam.
Merryweather: Oh... That's a shame.
Easy-K: Oh...
Merryweather: Well... [laughs] I–well I–then again you are stealing her from Sonichu. Uhh... No, I mean Sonic. [Chris laughs raucously]
Easy-K: Yeah.
Merryweather: That's–
Chris: Like I said–like I said, he would marry her.
Merryweather: Then again–
Easy-K: Whoa!
Merryweather: –it's better than killing her, I suppose... [long pause] Amy Rose. [laughs]
Cakefarts (42:26-43:50)
Merryweather: Anyway. Uhh... Let's see. Do we have anything else? Oh, right. Umm... Just a brief moment. Chris, what's your biggest regret?
Chris: Hmm... Biggest regret... Yeah, albeit seemingly minor, I'd have to say my biggest regret was when one of my [mispronounces] theoretical exes told me that she was fascinated with Cakefarts, and I paid $11 for this beautiful chocolate cake from Walmart that I had actually cut and eat a piece out of beforehand. And, well... I sat bare ass on the cake. And, after that, it was remai–not–it was made not edible, and then I end up having to trash the–that remaining cake that I'd sat on.
Merryweather: [shocked] Jeez...
Easy-K: [flabbergasted] Uhh... I mean... [sniggers]
Merryweather: Well that–thats, I'm sorry to hear that. Uh, it seems like–
Easy-K: Sorry about the cake, man. [laughs]
Merryweather: That–that–that's–that's a shame. [contains amusement] Um... Well. Uh, how much did it cost–
Easy-K: R.I.P. that cake [sniggers]. [long pause] Uh, I had some questions.
Merryweather: Chris? Oh, hold on–
Chris: Okay.
Merryweather: –Is Chris still there?
Chris: Yeah, I'm still here.
The Two Donalds (43:50-46:25)
Merryweather: Okay. I suppose Easy has a few questions now. Go ahead, Easy.
Easy-K: Yes! Uh... Yes, Christine. Um... Could you give me your best Donald Duck impersonation?
Chris: [Donald Duck impersonation] I LIKE TO SING, YEAH. TEACH THE WORLD TO SING IN PERFECT HARMONY. BA BA BA. BA-BA BA BA. I'M DAFFY DUCK. I WANT TO [unintelligible]. [normal voice] Sufferin' succotash!
Easy-K: [laughs] Okay... [laughs] That was great. I'm glad you did that. [Chris laughs] Okay. Apparently, I don't know about this – this is just something that somebody told me. But, apparently there's been all these articles saying that you've died. Uh... What's up with that? You're alive, right? I'm pretty sure.
Chris: I'm alive. I'm alive–
Easy-K: Yeah.
Chris: –Kicking, breathing.
Merryweather: It's fake news!
Easy-K: Fake news.
Chris: Fake news!
Easy-K: #FakeNews.
Chris: Fake news, as registered by Donald Trump!
[Merryweather and Easy laugh]
Merryweather: Oh, Chris. Do you know about the people–ah, oh sorry. I'll–like I just need to quickly ask this.
Easy-K: Yeah.
Merryweather: Do you know about the people who like, send a million responses to every single tweet that Donald Trump sends? [Chris guffaws] Like, they sit down and then they write a long chain of responses to Donald Trump. Like, just critiquing everything he says – even the slightest detail.
Chris: Even though, he's like gonna not read any of them.
Easy-K: Yeah...
Merryweather: Pretty much. It's a bit pointless [chuckles]
Chris: You know what? Pretty much, his... Vying for attention, he sure is a lot getting it. He is the ULTIMATE INTERNET, CYBERBULLYING, TROLLING STUPID PRESIDENT that's bringing this country down.
Merryweather: Have you–have you considered making one of those chain responses to–I'm sure everyone would love to vote you to the top, so you will be–you will forever be below the President of the United State in one o–in the United States in one of his tweets. Just a response from Christia–Christine Weston Chandler.
Chris: Huh. Well, I don't know about making a chain response. But, if he did end up tweeting something I really objected, and I did actually make a comment against him about a few...A few set of comics, I don't remember exactly what I said. But, if you wanna go find that, then you can tweet that up to the top.
Merryweather: [Merry and Easy laugh] I see. Well, maybe we can– [laughs] maybe if Donald Trump tweets that Sonichu's arms are blue.
Gaming (46:25-50:58)
Easy-K: I was just about to ask that! I was just to ask about Sonic's arms. Why are Sonic's arms blue and not the color of human skin?
Chris: I don't know why. That was at the decision of Sega, and their designers when they did the Sonic Boom da–games. It did trigger me back then, but eventually I gotten used to it. So [blows raspberry]. [sighs] Plus–
Easy-K: You had a pretty big issue.
Chris: Yeah, it was a big issue at the time. And, I definitely was very verbal and protesting about it, as I was – no doubt. Um... Actually, you know what. Actually, you know what. I take back my greatest regret about the cakefart, and I wanna swap it out for prote–for this useless protest against Sonic's arms, because it just... It ended up with somebody getting maced, and I ended up getting banned from multiple places.
Merryweather: That's a shame. At least you can still buy, like download games online.
Easy-K: Game shops. They're overrated, man. You got Steam – you're good.
Merryweather: Yeah [chuckles]
Chris: Well. I don't play Steam. So...
Easy-K: [surprised] Really? You don't have a Steam account?
Chris: I have a Steam account. Somebody gifted me uh... Portal. On Steam, I think.
Merryweather: Oh.
Easy-K: Good game.
Chris: But, I nev–but I never actually played it on Steam. I mean, I accessed the account, I redeemed the code, but it's like umm... I don't really–I never actually gotten big into the keyboard control scheme. I mainly prefer the analog controllers.
Merryweather: All right. Uh, so you are more–
Chris: [continues over Merry] And that–and that's–and that's–and that's aside from where I could hook one USB-wise to the laptop.
Merryweather: Okay. So, you're more of a console person. You prefer consoles. You of course, famously destroyed your PlayStation. Can you tell us a bit about that? There was that one time when you decided to destroy your PlayStation.
Chris: Oh, boy. Pffft. Well, first off, let me finish the–my thought on the computer gaming–
Merryweather: All right.
Chris: Because, I've also played Minecraft and that was good. I was able to adept to that fairly well on the computer. And I did try the console version and that kind of was lack–that definitely, aside from it lacking in content. But, the control – that was kind of like hard to get used to compared to the laptop scheme. I know I might sound hypocritical when I don't play most PC games, and yet I can play PC Minecraft better.
Easy-K: It's the better version. It's just the better game.
Chris: It's endless. All right.
Merryweather: Ah, yes. Of course, you're more of a console sort of person, Chris, right? You–
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: You infamously destroyed your PlayStation, I believe it was. Your PlayStation 3. Uh... And–
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: Which resulted in you being spotted in many, like real life location and events. Umm... You decided to be more in real life than in the game. Can you tell us a bit about what happened there? Because, you sort of quit the internet. Uhh... A not a lot of things about you are known about that period.
Chris: Yeah. Okay. Well, lemme–lemme get onto answering the question. Umm... A theoretical ex that I was talking with at the time was like, "Ey, you're [stammers]. There's somebody that actually's gonna pay you to... Pay you like a few hundred bucks to actually destroy this thing. So, why not? Destroy it. See if you get the money."
And obviously I destroyed the console, but I kept the inter–I kept the HDD. So, I could put that the replacement PlayStation 3 I was gonna get, regardless. So, obviously it was a joke thing, but–and obviously I never got paid for destroying the first one. So–
Merryweather: Oh...
Chris: [continues] Whoopity whoa! That– [someone sniggers] that–that was–I backfire. An epic fail. But, I better just be like, "Ey. They won't be able to destroy this thing. Here it go – I destroyed it!"
But I ended up replacing it, because I still was a gamer.
Merryweather: Of course.
Chris: A nerd and a gamer.
Merryweather: We never really quit games, do we Chris?
Following a pedofork on Twitter (50:58-53:08)
Merryweather: Uhh... Anyway. You followed a specific person on Twitter, called Shadman. Can you tell us about why you followed him?
Chris: Ah, shoot. Uh... When was this?
Merryweather: A bit ago, I think. A bit ago.
Chris: Hmm... Shad–ohhh. Ah, I think that was a reference to the Documentary?[12]
Merryweather: It was? Uh... It–like, Shadbase is a person, Shadman. It's an artist. He draws so very edgy, kind of pornographic artwork.
Chris: Oh, wait. Now I 'member. He–it was for a... [stammering] appropriately th–Uh... Thank the artist who drew the original... Fan comic of Days of Our Hogs or Wish You Were Hare – the parody of the Sonichu and Rosechu wedding. Um, but it turns out it wasn't Shadwell. I found the cover that he played off of my Book 0 cover. That–
Merryweather: Okay.
Chris: –Actually was Joe Crayon. So then... So, this–like could be like the one little lying joke after you see the big wedding – the big page of the wedding, where Sonichu and Rosechu are kissing, just like in the piece I did a few years ago. Except now, this little purple-sweatered rabbit in there. Because, there was a purple-sweatered wabbit in this fan comic, that had lost his food, and apparently, Sonichu ge–had this lucky rabbit's foot, and it was that rabbit's foot. And, obviously.
Merryweather: Okay.
Chris: [continues] So then, that's goes to Sonichu saying, "Despite what Joe Crayon would have you believe, no rabbits were ever harmed before, during or after the wedding."
Merryweather: All right. So–so, you followed Shadman because you thought he had drawn, was it someone who told you he had drawn that comic?
Chris: Yeah. It was a response on uh, Twitter after I asked "Who drew this?"
Merryweather: And then people said, "Shadbase."?
Chris: Yeah. Sorry, it was Joe Crayon
Merryweather: [simultaneously with Chris] I think it's quite funny [laughs]
Carlos Chantor (53:08-54:14)
Easy-K: All right, Chris.
Merryweather: Very well. Uh, so...
Easy-K: What–
Merryweather: Just a mistake. All right. Uh, Chris. I want to go into also–uh, oh, quickly. Do you have any questions, Easy?
Easy-K: Yes! All right.
Merryweather: Go ahead.
Easy-K: What can you tell me about Carlos Chantor?
Chris: Oh... Jeez. That was a pitiful–that was a pitiful moment in my life. Just a made up persona, just so I could try to... Try and obviously fail.
Easy-K: Eh.
Chris: [Stress sigh] Put myself out for... Sexual favors.
Easy-K: [tuts] For a–
Chris: That never really panned out.
Easy-K: Never really made it as a gigolo?
Chris: Definitely not. And, I chickened out.
Easy-K: I mean, hey–
Chris: –And only person who actually called me about that.
Easy-K: It's probably for the best. I don't really see you as a avid gigolo. You–
Chris: Definitely not–
Merryweather: Nah.
Easy-K: You're too kind-hearted.
Chris: I'm more kind-hearted and better than that.
Easy-K: Yeah...
What is the attraction? (54:14-58:46)
Merryweather: So, uhhh... Other than that, just want to ask, Chris: You are obviously more and more aware these days that you do have a sort of ironic kind of infamy around you and your comic. Why do you think, people, kind of, are so fascinated by specifically you?
Chris: Umm... I'm never really sure. But, I like to think among which, I actually was a victim of whole bunch of internet trolls and cyberbullies—the real actual bad people—and that I stood against them, the best as I was able to. And, while I was down and out for a while, I definitely made a rebound and came back around. So, I like to think that it's because this is a person, who having a mental handicap—though high-functioning—was actually able to stand up and continue onward, despite all these bullies just picking on tha–on this person.
Merryweather: Okay. So, in a way, you do agree that it is the reactions to the trolls, that is the reason why that kind of separates you from–because now, people like DarksydePhil and Andrew Dobson, who carry the same title as you, within these online communities, which is called "lolcow". Are you aware of that term, Chris?
Chris: Yes. I am aware of lolcow.
Merryweather: Yes. I suppose, a lot of people might be a bit upset at me for kind of breaking the fourth wall in telling you about this, because it's kind of like–uhh... It's kind of like Star Trek, you know. You're not supposed to tell the people– [laughs] like the people that you are serving, you're not supposed to let them know, but there you go. The–There are people who carry this title of lolcows well, who are not... They–people aren't fascinated by them, they hate them. Andrew Dobson, DarksydePhil – people despise these individuals. But, for you, it's more fondness. You are kind of the original lolcow. You are–people don't dislike you. They find sometimes that the things you do might be a bit unfair – the donation requests, Uh... The, kind of the–your Monthly Tugboat. Umm... There–I'm sure you un–like you must understand also why some people might find these things a little bit unfair.
Chris: Yeah. Umm... In a ways. Uh... X number of times, I was meaning to be comical, but then, they remain times, or which I believe was most of the time, I would say that I was trying to be more serious. And–
Merryweather: Yes.
Chris: –I might have been misunderstood, and they made the memes out of me. And, that's where one portion of my misinterpretation of... Uh... Rather, these people are being kind and sincere, or these people are being bullying and sarcastic.
Merryweather: Yes. Well, there i–there is, um... I just want to tell you, Chris, that I believe personally, I believe that the reason why you're such a fascinating person is because, we all have a little bit of you inside of us. There is–there–like, inside all of us, there's... There's a Chris-Chan.
Chris: Mmm...
Merryweather: Because, most of us also dislike adult responsibilities. Most of us would prefer to sit and play PlayStation, and relax and enjoy our time, without having to go to school, or go study at the university, or go to work every single day. It's a drag, it's a–like, people would prefer to sit and play with Legos, and people would prefer to make a comic, and kind of draw with crayons, and–like, people loved their childhoods, and a lot of people hate their adults–uhh... Adulthoods. Uhh... And that's why you're fascinating, because you are, sort of, what happened to the average millennial when that person just said, "No. I'm just not gonna–I'm just not gonna grow up."
And that is understandable from your side in a way, because as you've mentioned, you cannot actually get a job that easily, you cannot actually move on that easily.
Jobs (58:46-1:02:19)
Merryweather: You have a limited college degree, from what I understand?
Chris: Umm... More or less. It's a–was a degree in a Bachelor's Certificate for Computer-Aided Drafting and Design. Umm... But also, want to comment that while it may appear, and only appear that I'm–might be shirking responsibilities, and trying to be like a permanent, not growing up type of thing, that is never the case, because, I actually continue to grow up, in my mind and emotionally, despite any–despite what other people may think from, what they might see from me, here and there, might joke around a little bit, yadda yadda yadda.
Merryweather: Of–of course, you–I'm not saying you haven't grown up, Chris. I think most people who have followed you will agree that you have matured in many ways. Umm...
Chris: Yeah. Thank you.
Merryweather: Would you ever–
Chris: But anyway, I did have my own share of responsibilities around the household anyway, between helping my father in his later age, and helping my mother, and doing a whole bunch of heavy lifting and whatnot, here and there in the household. And definitely, more piled upon me after my father passed on. I had a whole lot to do around here, aside from my passion of my book series, and all that.
Merryweather: Of course. It wasn't meant to be a–degradatory, I'm sorry. English is not my first language. It wasn't meant to be rude towards you, that I asked that, Chris. Umm... I do want to follow up and ask: If you were able to get a job, would you?
Chris: Umm...
Merryweather: Would you agree to work, uh... like, at least a few hours a day?
Chris: Umm... I'm gonna say maybe. But I'm not 100% – at least, not right now.
Merryweather: I hope you realize, it's not–like, I only have your best interests in mind, Chris. It's not gonna get easier. You need, like even if you doing Sonichu and your monthly tugboat can kind of carry you towards the end of the month, even if that's the case, you do need a backup. You do need something that you can kind of depend on, other than that, and...
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: I'm not–I'm not the person to pressure on that, Chris. I just want to let you know, and I'm sure you are aware. A lot of people have like told you already.
Chris: Yeah, I am aware. It's just... I don't–I don't know. It's–
Merryweather: It's a bit hard.
Chris: It's just quite–it is quite a real burden to bear.
Merryweather: No–well, yes. Like... I don't like to work either. I worked as a phone salesman for about six months, and I hated a lot of it. I had fun, I had some great moments. Uh... But I also hated a lot of it. I prefer doing my comic job, but... Even the most talented comic artist in the world is not likely gonna be able to live off doing his book series forever, because we're not always gonna have a series, we're not always gonna have a web series, we're not always gonna have projects to work on. These kinds of things are an art, so one must have something else also. Umm...
Chris: Yeah.
Christory Videos (1:02:19-1:06:05)
Merryweather: Anyway. Uh, moving on a little bit. Does–have you–you've–you've obviously watched the documentary and you came out with a long Facebook post about it. Would you like to tell us a little bit about... Uh, what you thought of the Sachumo documentary... About your life?
Chris: Yeah. I thought about when it came to like the first 50-55% of the documentary, where it was more about my... Younger days. Like you know, pre-2004, let's say. And then, it came into–and then they started going into where... Uh... This–where this happened, that happened, where and uh... They mainly put up a... Just put up a bunch of my videos, and I sai–and I said this and that, and... Uh... It just end up being cringeworthy to me.
Merryweather: I see.
Chris: And... I just... It was too much. I could only listen to it. I did not watch it, I listened to it.
Merryweather: So, a lot of the older videos of you, they–you consider them kind of cringeworthy?
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: I suppose that's accurate, a bit. Uh, do you recall the one where you were screaming at people to get them to remove images of your house from the internet?
Chris: Yes, that was part of that. That an–
Merryweather: Right.
Chris: That was... One of my–That was... One of my cringes there, yeah.
Merryweather: Okay. So–well... I hope you–I hope you know that a lot of people find it kind of funny in a–in a light-hearted way, that you were so passionate about it – passionate about getting these things off the internet. But, I suppose it can be cringey, like most people cringe when they look back at old recordings of themselves, I suppose. Yours, while you were kind of battling the trolls, they might be a little bit more cringey for you than the rest of us, who just use to seeing get old – Chris-Chan.
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: Yeah. Anyway, Uhh... Suppose, I–how about the Ben Saint documentary. A man named Ben Saint, who is obviously very learned in facts about your life, he made a full lecture called Sonichu 101.
Chris: Oh yeah. I've watched part of that. I haven't watched the whole thing yet. I started watching it after I finished up watching the Documentary. I, like, watched like the first 15 minutes or so of it. I... Am planning on watching the remainder, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.
Easy-K: Ben Saints – get on the show, we want to talk to you.
Chris: Heh. Yeah, I'm gonna say for–I'm gonna say to Ben: Yeah, from what I've seen so far, it was a good show. And, also like to bring up Sachumo's teacher, who responded after the documentary. I like–I like to say that I liked his take–I liked his responses to the video as well.
Merryweather: Yes. The uhh... The ones that Sachumo put, he put like little segments where he talked to one of his–I believe it was a psychology teacher.
Chris: Umm... Yeah, but I'm talking about the 20 minute length video where it was all about his teacher.
Merryweather: [unintelligible] I didn't see that one.
Easy-K: [simultaneously with Merry] Yeah, it was him and his teacher sitting down and talking about the film.
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: That's pretty interesting. I should watch that one, I suppose.
[Chris and Easy talk at once]
Easy-K: It was mostly talking about the film.
Chris: You're not aware of it! I made you aware of it! [chuckles]
Merryweather: [chuckles] All right.
Sonichu the Animated Series (1:06:05-1:08:09)
Merryweather: Uh, Chris. Before we started this interview, I linked you the song that we want to use for our ending of this episode, which is called the "Sonichu Animated Opening". Have you seen all of it?
Chris: Ah, yes. I've watched the animation and I've listened to the whole song from its original author. I like it, very much. It's awesome.
Merryweather: Did you see the artwork?
Chris: Yes, I liked the artwork too. That was one of my favorite art–art from amongst what I found. [unintellgible] of that comic book segment, I–no, I don't 'member wh–the name of that artist. But, I liked the style. [brief sigh] I thought there was one thing I would correct, I would correct Sonichu's shoes – there's not single white striped, they're the two brown stripes.
Merryweather: Oh, right.
Chris: Aside from that, I di–I did like the–and uh...I did like the dress he put on Rosechu. And again, right there, her chee–she does not have yellow cheeks.
Merryweather: Yeah. Uh, have you–
Chris: [interrupts] Aside from that, I like–I liked his drawing style.
Merryweather: That's good. Yeah, it's actually a very high quality kind of thing. It's a little bit sad about the image quality in some other ways – this animated opening, but it's very high quality. Have you seen any of, uh–we mentioned, of course, the Sonichu Animated Series. You mentioned you haven't seen it.
Chris: Yes.
Merryweather: Have you considered? Because, there's obviously all of this kind of high quality content that was created around the kind of troll culture that where fascination–with fascination of Chris-Chan – your persona online. Have you considered maybe doing like a weekly review of some of the things?
Chris: Umm... That had not come across my mind. I might consider it, but not at this time right now. 'Cause, I got–I got a whole bunch of other things on my plate.
Merryweather: Very well. Uh, I suppose, uhhh... Don't really have much else to ask you.
Liquid Chris (1:08:09-1:10:23)
Merryweather: Uh, Chris. Tell me. Um... Whatever happened to the "Impostor in Brown"?
Chris: Lord knows.
Merryweather: Lord knows. Uh...
Chris: I don't–I don't.
Merryweather: You don't. Well. You–did you ever hear from him after everything that happened?
Chris: No.
Merryweather: So, the people who don't know what I'm talking about, the "Imposter in Brown" and uh... I–I've been asked by–well he did–he called himself Chris-Chan – like he called himself your name. Um... Which is, he was obviously a troll, of course. Uhh but–
Chris: Yeah.
Merryweather: [continues] And, the kind of recurring joke was that you were Ian Brandon Anderson, and you stole his identity. Can–can you see it was a little bit funny in retrospective? I don't think anyone really believed that Chris.
Chris: Uh, mildly.
Merryweather: Mildly. You have some bad memories of it?
Chris: [interrupts] Uh, just to correct everyone, it's–yeah, the name Ian Brandon Anderson was taken from... Yeah, I was quoting my mother's car's license plate, which that plate read "I.B.A."...
Merryweather: Okay.
Chris: [continues] "IBAWeston". "I be a Weston".
Merryweather: Okay–
Chris: [interrupts] The Weston part was spelt, 'cause you've kind of a character limit, but it's just "I be a..." – "I am a..."
Merryweather: Yes.
Chris: "...Weston."
Merryweather: Okay. Uh... That–that's actually interesting. So, that's kind of where the Ian Brandon Anderson thing came from.
Chris: Yeah – a license plate.
Merryweather: You seem a bit upset by that. They did kind of upset you, still to this day?
Chris: Yeah. I don't–yeah, definitely do not like being addressed by that name, as it is not my name!
Merryweather: Of course not. I hope you realize–
Chris: And there's–and there's so much p–and there's so much better things to address me by than the–a license plate number.
Merryweather: [laughs] Okay, yeah. I can see that. Uh... That–That might–that might be true.
Future comic villains again (1:10:23-1:12:27)
Merryweather: Umm...Anyway, Chris. Uh... I suppose, that's kind of it. To close off, I would like to ask you: Um... Is there anything that people don't know about you? Is there any piece of information that nobody has any idea about?
Chris: Uhh... There's bound to be bunches of pieces that's lodged in my memory–my subconscious—that can only be answered one at at time, as they are thought up or brought up. I mean, it's just I can't really say off the top of my head.
Merryweather: Okay. So, uh, back in the day—just to close off everything—back in the day, you were... You would add troll, as I've mentioned several times, you would add evil characters based on people who brought you trouble in real life. If someone turns out to kind of cause you trouble in real life, in your current adult life, will you add them to the comic, or have you grown past that?
Chris: I've grown past that.
Merryweather: Okay. So, any villains will not be based on real people from now on?
Chris: Pretty much.
Merryweather: Even the–even if trolls or something like that?
Chris: Yeah, even trolls. Although, there is a later story arc pretty much, where Count Graduon actually controls all of the internet trolls and cyberbullies.
Merryweather: Will some of the old–sorry?
Chris: Yeah, everybody regardless, even the people who created like 4chan or Anonymous. And, anybody who was or is an internet troll/cyberbully, they were under the control, even subtly, of Count Graduon.
Merryweather: Interesting. So, we will see some old faces, perhaps?
Chris: Uh... Possibly.
Merryweather: Possibly
Chris: [continues] Out of retrospect.
Merryweather: Maybe, someone with guido hair?
Chris: Uh... I don't know. We'll see.
Merryweather: Okay. We'll see. All right.
Outro (1:12:27-1:16:25)
Merryweather: Well, do you have anything else you want to say, Chris-Chan?
Chris: Mmm... I don't think so. Except, umm... Yeah, I got the new shop open. The older comic books are gonna be–are on Tapas, and I'm still working on Sonichu #12. Support me on Patreon, as I'll be closing in on the special Sonichu 12-9, focusing on my OC pony, Miss Night Star, who has the power to open dimension portals, and see into other dimensions. [assertively] She can watch our YouTube videos. And actually visit those other dimensions.
Merryweather: Wonderful. Thank you for very much for doing the interview again, Chris. I'm very happy. Uh... Please, uh... No matter, whatever happens in your life, Chris, no matter what, you will always be an internet legend.
Chris: Thank you.
Merryweather: The "King of Cows", as they say... [realizes] Oh–
Chris: The "Queen of Cows" [chuckles]
Merryweather: Oh, I'm sorry. Oh–
Chris: Even that sounds like an insult, but it's like, I can mildly laugh at that 'cause I'm making that joke.
Merryweather: [chuckles]
Easy-K: Listen...
Chris: But, I [unintelligible] to other people that we just offended by saying that, I definitely apologize on my part.
Merryweather: Oh... yes.
Chris: But, let's say, I'll tell you what. Um... Let's say, instead of that, I'm the "Queen"... The "Queen of Modern Laughter."
Merryweather: The "Queen of Modern Laughter."
Easy-K: Natalie Portman. Natalie Portman, the Queen of Modern Laughter, ladies and gentleman.
Chris: [guffaws]
Merryweather: Natalie Portman, or Christine Weston Chandler. Thank you very much for joining in. Do you wanna do a little bit, uh... Exit? Our podcast name is Internet Dream Lounge. Do you wanna give us an exit?
Chris: Yes. This has been ze [Sonichu Cartoon theme plays] Internet Dream Lounge. And you have been listening to Miss Christine Weston Chandler [MLG airhorn censors Chris saying Merry's actual name[13]] and Easygoing. Y'all have a great and safe day. Stay safe, well, love, freedom and peace!
Merryweather: Christine, uh, you just doxed me. [laughs]
[Everyone laughs]
Chris: I did?
[Conversion fades out to music]
Analysis
The interview offers insight into Chris's sexual orientation and gender identity. In the second (and published) recording of the interview, Chris adopts the name Natalie Portman as a cue for his hosts to use his preferred gender pronouns.
Merryweather introduces Chris to the game Fuck, Marry, Kill, where the chosen person is given the name of three individuals, and has to decide on whom they would have sex with, marry, and kill. Presented with Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump, Chris is swift to choose Clinton and Trump to marry and kill, respectively. In spite of the nonconsequential nature of the game, Chris is hesitant to straight up say he would "fuck Obama"–opting instead for a tamer verb. Though Chris claims to embrace the LGBT culture, Chris's discomfort may hint a Freudian slip on his attitude towards male homosexuality. In a second round, co-host Easy-K asks Chris to choose between Amy Rose, Rosechu and young Mary Lee Walsh, to which he selects to kill the human.
Chris's ego is prevalent in this interview. Optimistic for his then relationship with Jessica Quinn, Chris's sense of entitlement led him to expect Jessica will look after his ailing mother in addition to himself. Despite little recognition in the Brony community, Chris is confident he can ride the coattails of BronyCon 2018 by hosting a panel, based on the evidence that people approached him during his 2017 attendance. Chris later goes on to describe President Trump as a "narcissist".
In an unintentional throwback to the Father Call, Chris once again claims that he has matured from his previous experiences, despite his life situation remaining relatively the same as it had 8 years prior (and beyond). Merryweather empathizes with Chris' struggle to find a job due to his reputation online; however, Chris still cites his household chores as a plight equivalent to a 9 to 5 job.
Chris also claims in the interview to have a "psychic link" to his fictional characters, confirming that, despite years of opportunity for soul-searching and growth with his newfound transgender identity, he still adheres to his childlike belief that his characters really do exist in a plane of reality reminiscent of Toon Town from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Interestingly, he prefaces this claim by saying "I know this sounds crazy...", acknowledging an awareness that rational people don't think this way about imaginary electric hedgehogs.
See also
- Internet Dream Lounge 4 - Chris Chan (unused version) - the scrapped, original version of the interview
References
- ↑ YouTube page
- ↑ June 2017 tweets#Chris/MLP crossover page
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://kiwifarms.net/threads/9-4-planned-podcast-interview.33946/
- ↑ https://kiwifarms.net/threads/9-4-planned-podcast-interview.33946/
- ↑ September 2017 Patreon posts#Music request
- ↑ https://kiwifarms.net/threads/9-4-planned-podcast-interview.33946/post-2578225
- ↑ September 2017 tweets#The Internet Dream Lounge Podcast
- ↑ https://kiwifarms.net/threads/08-10-cwc-podcast-interview.35059
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Based on this statement, the first interview can be dated on 4 September 2017
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Merryweatherey/status/940976409601826817
- ↑ This would date the interview as 3 October; however, this contradicts Merryweather's given date of 4 October.
- ↑ Chris is likely confusing the name with Sachumo, the creator the 2015 documentary.
- ↑ https://kiwifarms.net/threads/08-10-cwc-podcast-interview.35059/post-2664186
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