Milunka Savic: The First Lady of Warfare

"Raise your hand, for the lady of the dark

Soldier with no will to kill with a philanthropic heart

Forever break the norm, she's the girl in uniform

Fighting side by side with men, she will fight until the end!"

 

-"Lady of the Dark" performed by Sabaton, 2022

 

            Thanks to gender equality, there are more women currently serving their countries in the armed forces, some of them were war veterans. But back then during the events before and during the first world war, female soldiers were a thing unheard of, women in warfare are mostly served as field nurse, including one certain royal, that being Queen Elisabeth of Bavaria, the wife of King Albert I of Belgium (that is for another time). During that time, this seems to be the norm, until one Serbian woman broke the glass ceiling and went on to become the most decorated female soldier in history. But with all that being said, it seems that everybody outside of Serbia have never heard of this fearless girl, who apparently signed up in place of her brother to fight for her homeland.

 

            Let me introduce you to Milunka Savic (Serbian Cyrillic: Милунка Савић), born in 1888, in the village Koprivinica, Serbia. It is disputed on what date exactly did Milunka was born, some of them suggested it was 10 August, some even said that she was younger, being born on 28 June 1892. Her early live would be described as something of ordinary life, with her village being home to only about 20 people. She lived this ordinary live until 1913, where her brother, Milun Savic was called for conscription to fight at the Balkan War. Milunka saw the papers, and decided to enlist as Milun, effectively taking her brother's place in the military. In order to successfully disguise her true identity, she cut her hair short, bind her chest, and started wearing male clothes. During this time, she was deployed at the Battle of Bregalnica, as part of the Iron Squadron where she earned her first medal and a promotion to corporal. As she fought on the battlefield, she managed to evade injuries to the sensitive area, until a Bulgarian shrapnel buried itself to her chest, leading to the revelation of her true sex while recovering at the hospital. Her commander hated the idea of getting rid of her, as she had proven herself to be the best asset in battle, and a competent soldier. He decided to transfer her to the Nursing Division but was refused. Only after she stood in attention for one full hour, the high command relented and allowed Milunka back to the army. She continued her military career up to the first world war, where she further amassed many accolades along the way, including one story in 1916 where she single-handedly captured 23 Bulgarian soldiers alive, armed with a single grenade. She earned two Karadorde Stars (With Swords) from the campaign, each from different battlefields, one from the Battle of Kolubara, while the other from the battle of the Crna Bend. Her other accolades included the French Legion d'Honneur twice, the Russian Cross of St. George, the British medal of the most Distinguished Order of St Michael, the Serbian Milos Obilic medal, as well as being the only female recipient of the French Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 with the gold palm attribute for her service in World War I. She didn't have much role to play during the second world war, other than set up an infirmary for partisans fighting against the Nazi Germany. Her presence was further solidified when she refused to attend a banquet thrown by Milan Nedic, knowing that the same banquet would also be attended by German generals and officers. She was later arrested and taken to Banjica concentration camp, where she spent ten months of incarceration.

 

            Of course, with that many accolades, one must have been offered with luxuries after the war has ended and the army was demobilized, and that was also happened with Milunka, where she was offered by the French to move to the country, as she was eligible to collect the army pension, but she decided to remain in Serbia, living in Belgrade working as a postal worker. She was married once but divorced after the birth of her first daughter. She was given a state pension, and continue living in Belgrade, in a crumbling house while adopting three more children. In her final years, she was all alone, with no money under her name, and of course, living with neglect. And on 5 October 1973, at the age of 83 Milunka Savic died of a stroke. She was buried in a quiet little ceremony in Belgrade New Cemetery. 

 

            After reading through her heroic deeds during the wars, in comparison to her later days, it has been an anticlimactic story of a female soldier, with all her accolades, ended up living with neglect with zero money. She is also quite unknown for people outside Serbia, with little known source about her life, neither a biography nor a film. But let's not forget that it was the action of Milunka Savic, after being outed as a female, but remained in the army to fight her fights that would inspire countless other girls to take up arms and fight for their own country. And only in recent years, the recognition of her story is being brought to the masses, including various documentaries and songs depicting her bravery and fearlessness in the face of war. And with that in mind, she is truly a hero. 

 

"Don't fear the reaper, don't fear the war

She spared the life of brothers

She'll fight for honor, she'll fight for life

A lady goes to war!"

 

-"Lady of the Dark" performed by Sabaton, 2022

 

The Heart-Wrenching Story of Joe Arridy: The Happiest Man on Death Row

 (Warning: graphic details ahead)

            Let me ask you this one question to open this piece: What is the first thing that came across your mind when you hear the words "true crime story"? Most of you would answer old cases, or maybe a grisly murder went unsolved, or maybe a story of few people banded together to put a stop to a violent shenanigan using deadly force. But what others might not realize, one phrase is also relevant when it comes to these types of stories: a sad story of wrongful conviction. Prepare yourselves, make sure there is a box of tissue ready, because this is probably the saddest story I've ever written. This is a story on how a cognitively impaired man was manipulated into confessing a rape-murder case, and subsequently executed in a gas chamber, without him being aware of what did he had gotten himself into.

 

            Let's turn back the clock to 29 April 1915, in the city of Pueblo, Colorado, USA, where Joe Arridy was born. he came from a non-English-speaking Syrian immigrant family seeking work in the United States, first came into the country in 1909. His father worked for the Colorado Fuel & Iron Works and lived in a small house owned by the company. Along the way, the Arridys, Henry and Mary, welcomed another son and a daughter, but the butt of the problem was seemed to be young Joe, as he was late to start speaking, even if he did manage to speak, it's just sentences in few words. He also struggled to keep up with kids his age, even in school. When push came to shove, by the time he entered second grade, the school opted to send him back to his parents, stating that he couldn't learn. By the age of 10, Joe was admitted to State home and Training School for Mental Defectives in Grand Junction, Colorado, where he spent much of his days until he turned 21. During his stay at the facility, it is revealed that the experts had tested him, and he could only score 46 on his IQ test, couldn't understand colors, spoke slowly, and couldn't understand basic sentence with more than few words. Meaning, what they had accepted to the institution was a 6-year-old child trapped inside the body of a young adult man. He was also a target for coercion, as his innocence often used against him. He was also bullied and mistreated. It is speculated that the familial relationship between his parents, being first cousins contributes to Joe's mental defection. 

 

            By 12 August 1936, he left the facility and began wandering aimlessly across Colorado. Three days later, a gruesome murder-rape took place that would ultimately seal his fate. On that fateful night of 15 August 1936, the Drain household, husband Riley and wife Peggy was shocked when they discovered their two daughters, 15-year-old Dorothy and 12-year-old Barbara covered in blood after being attacked in their sleep. They were bludgeoned using an axe, and Dorothy was raped. Unfortunately, Dorothy succumbed due to her head injury, but Barbara survived. The Colorado Police were in intense pressure to solve the case, armed with the description provided by two women who were also attacked days prior. All those leads seemed pointed to Joe Arridy. At the time of his arrest, he was caught for vagrancy in Cheyenne, Wyoming on 26 August 1936. It was reported that when being questioned, Joe actually confessed to be involved in the murder, which excites county Sheriff George Carroll. By the time he reported his findings to Colorado, he learned that another suspect had also been arrested, named Frank Aguilar, although by his own confession, he never seen or met Arridy, a statement Joe himself repeatedly utter while in custody in Wyoming. Both Arridy and Aguilar were convicted for the rape and murder of Dorothy Drain, but on Joe's case, it was based on false confession, since there was no evidence that would place him at the time of the murder. even the surviving Barbara Drain could identify Aguilar, not Arridy. 

 

            By the time the case went into the trial stages, Arridy's lawyers plead insanity in order to save his life. But the plea went bust, but also acknowledged his mental incapacitation. three state psychiatrists stated their acknowledgments to his mental state, that he was so mentally limited, he was classified as an "imbecile", since he basically had the mind of a 6-year-old. Therefore, he could not distinguish right from wrong. That alone should be clear that he has no mental capabilities to perform any action with a criminal intent. Despite these saddening facts, he was sentenced along with Aguilar to death in a gas chamber. Few appeals then launched to hopefully reduce the sentence to at least life imprisonment, but all they got was a 9-day stay off execution. 

 

            During his appeals process, Joe could be seen inside his death row cell playing a toy train given to him by prison warden Roy Best. By his accounts, Arridy was treated well by guards and inmates alike, even so far as to consider him as his own son, often bringing him gifts. Even when Arridy's execution day came, Best said "He probably didn't even know he was about to die, all he did was happily sit and play with the toy train I had given him." He also said that Joe is basically "the happiest prisoner on death row." When that fateful day came, Joe asked for ice cream as his last meal, but he didn't even finish it, stated that he wanted that ice cream to be refrigerated so he could "finish it later," blissfully unaware that it was his last day living in this world. He did not understand the concept of death, or execution in that matter. He even smiled while being taken to the gas chamber. By the time the chamber door closed, on 6 January 1939, at the young age of 23, Joe Arridy was executed for a crime he did not commit, all because of his mental incapacity, and his coercion into falsely confessing to it. More than seven decades later, in 2011, the late Joe Arridy was given a full and unconditional posthumous pardon by Colorado governor Bill Ritter, stating that although by pardoning Joe cannot undo that tragic even in Colorado history, but it is in the interests of justice and simple decency to restore his good name. I would say that the pardon came 70+ years too late. 

 

            After reading this story, I can't help but feel for Joe Arridy. He was simply a man with the mind of a child, who only wants to explore the world, one step at a time. But one grisly crime that had nothing to do with him claimed his life in a legal debacle. I know there is one or several timelines where this crime never happened, or at least one where Joe was never convicted, but that seems to be a long shot. All I have to say in return is this: Joe Arridy, rest in eternal peace, you pure soul. I hope that you are having the most fun up there, playing with all the toy trains in the world. This shouldn't have happened to you in the first place. 

The Unkillable Soldier: The Story of Adrian Carton de Wiart

 

"Into the fire through trenches and mud,

Son of Belgium and Ireland with war in his blood,

Leading the charge into hostile barrage,

By design, he was made for the frontline!"

-"The Unkillable Soldier" performed by Sabaton, 2022

 

            Imagine being totally insane and war-hungry, even Death would not lay his hands on you until the ripe age of 83. This is what happened when you are a former law student which was also a 5-war veteran, who suffer various injuries from mild like grazed ear to wild like losing his own eye and hand. The latest war time story is centered around this one British soldier, who was actually born in Belgium, carrying Belgian and Irish blood. Some even said that he was the illegitimate son of a certain Belgian king.

 

            The name was Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart. He was born in Brussels on the 5th of May 1880 into a Belgian aristocratic family who practices law, from lawyer Léon Constant Ghislain Carton de Wiart and Ernestine Wenzig, who was Irish. Despite this, some also suggests that young Adrian was the illegitimate son of King Leopold II of the Belgians. He was also had strong connections through his cousins. One was the Prime Minister of Belgium; the other was the Political Secretary to the King. Nevertheless, when his mother passed away sometime between 1886, Léon Carton de Wiart subsequently moved to Cairo, Egypt with young Adrian, so he could practice international law there. During this time, young Adrian had developed a fascination of warfare. Hell, he once stated in his Happy Odyssey autobiography that if the British didn't recruit him by the time of the Second Boer War in 1899, he would still go to South Africa to fight with the Boers instead. He did eventually enlist with the British army for that campaign, but had to do so with fake identity, as he was a foreigner and underage for that matter (he was 20 prior to enlistment, the army requires someone to be at least 25 years of age). 

 

            When he arrived in South Africa, he was immediately exposed to the chaos of warfare, and subsequently received his first wounds, being shot in the stomach and groin respectively. By his accounts, he described the Boers as a bunch who has "pretty good shots". His shenanigans in South Africa earned the wrath of his father for abandoning his law studies but allowed him to stay in the army. During his first 8 years serving in the army, he remained a Belgian citizen. In September 1907, he finally took his oath of allegiance to King Edward VII, officially making him a British citizen. When the First World War broke out, he was actually en route to British Somaliland for a campaign against Mohammad bin Abdullah, dubbed "Mad Mullah" by the British. During that battle, he was assigned to the Somaliland Camel Corps. During a battle at Shimber Berris, Carton de Wiart was shot in the face not once or twice, but three times. One bullet struck him in his left eye, one grazed his left ear, and another ricochet and buried itself in the same wounded eye. 

 

            When Carton de Wiart actually participated in the Great War itself, he had to sign an agreement to wear a glass eye to replace his destroyed left eye. But he immediately ditched that eye from his taxi, and replaced it with a black eyepatch, creating his well-known signature look. He then took part in the Western Front in 1915. During this campaign, he was wounded seven more times in different places, including losing his left hand in a freak accident when blast struck him. When doctors refuse to amputate his mangled mess of a left hand, he tore off two of his remaining fingers hanging by a skin with no pain at all, just to prove his point. During the battle of Somme, he was shot through his skull and ankle, in Passchendaele, he was shot through the hip, in Cambrai, another wound in his leg, and another shot to the ear in Arras. And during his adventures, he was promoted up to temporary brigadier general by the conclusion of the First World War. 

 

            The war might be over at this point, but not the adventures of Adrian Carton de Wiart. He was sent to Poland on a British-Poland Military Mission, and on this country as well he witnessed the start of the second world war in 1939. He was at the age of 61 when he re-enlisted to fight the conflict. He ended up on the frontline again, this time in Norway. In 1941, he boarded the aircraft bound to Yugoslavia as part of the British-Yugoslavian Military Mission, just in the nick of time as Hitler was prepared to invade the country. But the airplane crashed in Italian-controlled Libya for engine failure. He survived the crash along with many others, but ended up in a Prisoner of War camp, which he managed to escape. His final military mission was when he was appointed as a personal representative of Prime Minister Winston Churchill on his mission to China. It was on this assignment that he reportedly told Chairman Mao Zedong that he hated communism right in his face and was met with laughter by Chairman Mao. 

 

            His final injury didn't come as a result of an armed conflict, but rather a silly incident when he slipped through the stairs, broke several vertebrae, and knocked unconscious. He finally retired from the army at the ripe age of 66 in October 1947 with the honorary rank of lieutenant general. And on the 5th of June 1963, he finally greeted Death as an old friend at the age of 83. During his time in the armed forces, he fought through 5 wars, two of them were world wars, survived two plane crashes, escaped an Italian Prisoner of War Camp, sustained numerous injuries, lost an eye and a hand, and roasted a Communist Party leader right on his face. There are also stories of him being a frequent visitor to a hospital. It has been said that he was being admitted to this hospital so often, the facility actually kept a fresh pair of pajamas EXCLUSIVELY for General Carton de Wiart. Talk about dedication right there. 

 

            Many people talk about people who involved in wars as someone who only wants to serve their own country or someone with no disregard of his own life, but none of those men was like Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart. The man was described as a man too stubborn to die, and it's only fitting to immortalize this mad lad with the title of "The Unkillable Soldier". This man's entire story is that of a First-person shooter protagonist. Imagine yourself being shot multiple times, and suddenly you are back in top shape only by stepping out of harm's way for few minutes. And for that, I salute in admiration to the legend that is Adrian Carton de Wiart.

 

"Frankly, I had enjoyed the war"

-Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, Happy Odyssey: The Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart: 1950

The Attack of the Dead Men: When (literal) Zombies Fought in The Great War

 "Osowiec, then and again

Attack of the dead hundred men

Facing the led once again

Hundred men,

Charge again,

Die again"

 

-"The Attack of the Dead Men" performed by Sabaton, 2019

            

 

            Let's deviate from the chaos that is the 2022 Oscars, when Will Smith, allegedly out of anger slapped the living being out of Chris Rock for an alopecia joke directed at Jada Pinkett-Smith (who contracted the condition herself), and dive into some war time stories. Yes, the subjects of this story are taking the opposite side during this time of war in Ukraine, where Russia is the aggressor. But back then, during the events of the Great War (or the First World War as it's now known), Germany was allied with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while the Russians were at the Allied side.

 

            It is important to stress that the Great War itself was triggered by the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, present day Bosnia-Herzegovina during the summer of 1914. The German Empire, specifically Kaiser Wilhelm II sided with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which at the time, had massive sphere of influence and respect in Europe. There is one counter history scenario where the Archduke was never assassinated, but that is for another time. During the crisis leading up to the war, many diplomatic measures were taken to calm the situation, one of which involving Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and the Kaiser trying to calm things down. Both sides eventually would find themselves on the opposite sides. With the Russians joining the Allies, and Germany forming the central powers with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Turkish Ottomans, and Bulgaria.

 

            The date was 6 August 1915, roughly one year on since the start of the war. The battle took place on the Osowiec Fortress, on present-day Poland. The fortress in question was held by the Russian troops, made of roughly 900 men, 400 of those were militias as their main defense line. The Germans on the other hand, made of 7.000 soldiers strong and heavy artillery tried their desperate efforts to take the fortress to no avail. Thanks to some technological innovations developed during this time, The German army, led by Paul von Hindenburg whipped up perhaps one of the most devastating weapons in modern history: A poisonous concoction made of chlorine and bromine spread in gas form. At this stage, The Germans' attempted advance to Osowiec had been going since July, often times met with heavy artillery bombardment by the Russians. On the morning of August 6, when the wind direction was on their favor, the German unleashed the green smog of gas to unsuspecting Russian troops. There were 30 gas balloon batteries used to carry out the attack. And the result was immediate and deadly in nature. To better explain the scale of damage these poor men have to suffer, the chlorine gas, along with the moisture of the lung created something called hydrochloric acid, in which, starts to dissolve their lung tissue. As a result, there are many Russian troops died coughing blood and bits of their lungs. The bromine itself acted as a respiratory irritant. But the chlorine effects are not restricted to respiratory damages either. Other soft tissues like the skin and eyes were also chemically burned from the gas attack. This, in turn gave the world one of the most horrific sights of death ever witnessed in human history. But for those who were further away have to resort to cover their nose and mouth with wet rags in order to at least minimize the gas effect, but to little result. The gas not only attack the soldiers, but also their entire surroundings. Leaves and flowers turned yellow and black to death, insects and other animals also died due to the inhalation of the deadly gas. food supplies deemed inedible due to contamination.

 

            When the gas finally dissipated, the German troops went to hopefully secure the fortress, expecting little to no resistance. Little did they know, from 900 troops, 100 of them actually survived the initial attack, although still pretty much badly wounded. The remaining 100 soldiers, with all their scarred appearance, heavy breathing with bits and pieces of their lung spitting out, with bloody rags covering their nose and mouth made the final push, along with heavy machine gun firing to dissipate the horrified German army, who started to retreat. This attack was led by sub-lieutenant Vladimir Kotlinksy, who later died from his wounds. The countercharge successfully broke the German line, causing heavy loss, and rendered the gas attack pretty much useless. From the German's perspective, it's like when the dead had risen with vengeance. From horror, panic sets in. As they retreat, they got caught by their own wire traps. It is reported that they suffered moderate to heavy casualties during the Russian counterattack. But the success of the countercharge was short-lived. After threats by the Germans by capturing Kaunas and Novogeorgievsk, the Russians finally evacuated from Osowiec, not before destroying the fortress to rubbles on 18 August. Eventually, the German army failed to seize the asset. This event, and with the reference of the appearance of scarred Russian soldiers, was remembered as "the Attack of the Dead Men".

 

            It is fascinating to think that despite different eras of human history, war seems to be present in all of these eras. From ancient warfare to two world wars (and we might knock the door for a third one), humans find themselves inside many conflicts motivated by race, religion, and ideology. This piece serves as a reminder that war, in any shape or form, cannot be justified. It will only bring struggle, crisis, and turmoil to those who involved. Let there be peace and may those brave souls who have died defending their homeland rest in peace. 

 

 

 

Let peace be upon this world, free of subjugation, prejudices, and discrimination.

-Unknown writer

Chris Chan and the Seven Deadly Sins: A Comprehensive Breakdown

 (Warning: Strong language and graphic description of sexual reference and filth ahead)

 

                        I can't believe that I've returned to this topic. If you think that the previous piece was not enough, well strap yourselves in and hold on to your stomach, because this is probably would turn your intestines inside out for its gross nature. It's been few weeks since I posted the original Chris Chan article, and since then, more and more information about this person keeps popping up, including the (alleged) sexuality of this person, who identifies as a lesbian transwoman. I know I've used masculine and feminine pronouns interchangeably in the previous work, but since I've came to my own conclusion that this is just a stunt for attention, and the fact that the person in question is currently inside the male prison confinement, I'll just stick to the masculine ones for the rest of this piece.

 

            Since there are so many sagas and incidents involving Chris Chan, born Christopher Weston Chandler, formerly Christian Weston Chandler, now known as Christine Weston Chandler, it's hard to pin down the more defining moment that showcase his gullibility and vulnerability towards the wider audience, and his high-functioning autism (in other words, Asperger's syndrome) could only make things even worse from him. As I mentioned before, this person is incapable to distinguish fantasy from reality. He was also enabled by his parents, his "white knights", and few of his trolls, practically preventing him from maturing mentally. I guess the Japanese term Hikikomori (ひきこもり) really suit this person right. 

 

            Then I remembered something. I first wrote about the legend of the Seven Deadly Sins while breaking down the woke culture behavior just shy of two months ago, and I wonder, could this topic still be relevant with the person in question? Thanks to one YouTube video and countless articles on CWCki, it is possible to link those vices with some of Chandler's antics. For simplicity’s sake, I'll be referring to the original order of the sins from the previous article.

 

            Let's start with the sin of Pride. As the sin suggests, it's about putting one's desires and importance above collective efforts. In this case, Chandler is prideful of his own creations, that being his Sonichu comic series, his artistic and musical prowess, and his extensive collection of toys. He is also infamous for his egotistical behavior. This aspect of him shines bright during another saga where another Sonichu rip-off comic were circulating, named Asperchu. The comic in question was created by someone named Alec Benson Leary. The comic itself garnered fans and followers, mainly disgruntled Sonichu fans who were fed up due to its increasingly disturbing content. The namesake character is described as a parody of Chandler, with his striped shirt, his overweighed posture, his glasses, and Sonichu medallion. The name itself is a play of the Asperger's syndrome, which Chandler himself hate, his reasoning being the condition, along with people who suffer from it stole the limelight from real autistic person like him. On one occasion, when Chandler and Leary had a phone conversation, Leary's digitally drawn comic was disapproved by Chandler, who prefers hand-drawn comics. Seriously, Chandler's ego got the best of him by saying that Alec's drawing looks "crappy" compared to his drawings. Even when he's behind bars, he routinely writes letters from incarceration. One of those letters even mention his current predicament being similar to that of Jesus Christ, even claiming himself as Jesus. If that is not self-importance, I don't know what this shit is that's been spewing out of his mouth.

 

            Let's move to the fire sin that is the sin of Wrath. His autism is the main factor of this sin, as he sometimes loses control of his emotions, particularly while being subjected to relentless trolling. For this case, let's dissect the Clyde Cash saga. It all started when Chandler discovered the Encyclopedia Dramatica page of himself, at first, he tried to beg the Internet to shut the page down. He then tried to edit it himself in what he described as "information overload", but what he did was provided the trolls with more embarrassing information. He then pledged to stop the Sonichu series as long as that page was still up on the Internet. And this is where Clyde Cash made his move. He then messaged Chandler informing that his brother Ryan committed suicide out of heartbreak that Sonichu is stopping publication. Chandler, being the naïve, egotistical ass that he is, made a video that came across as condescending to the grieving Clyde. From sadness, came revenge. Clyde then posed as various characters and personas to troll Chandler, even as far as to impersonate VIPs of the video game industry. This provoked Chandler's anger, posting shout-filled videos while making threats of violence. But this is not the saga that really defines his wrath. In 2011, Chandler and Barbara were arrested for hit-and-run, misdemeanor assault, trespassing, and attacking a police officer by allegedly trying to run over the GAMe PLACe manager Michael Snyder, whom Chandler himself bore intense hatred. To paint this into light, Chandler was once a regular customer at the game place but was permanently banned by Snyder in 2008 due to his inflammatory behaviors. He once sprayed an unfortunate GameStop employee all because of his one-sided complaint over the (then) new Sonic the Hedgehog game titled Sonic Boom. The game itself included a minor change to Sonic's arms, which were blue in accordance with his torso, instead of regular skin color. 

 

            There are few vices that perfectly describes Chandler in its full extent. One of them is Greed. Christorians are very familiar to this one aspect of his life, which is desire to collect material possessions. To Chandler, it's toys, video games, and comic books. Before his arrest, he is known to be that one person who is unemployed, refused to work for his penny, and for the most part, enabled by his surroundings to spend excessive amount of money on materialistic possessions. He was on disability payment and social security, but instead of using the money to sustain himself, he blew those cash for video games, toys, trading cards and lottery tickets. And due to his inability of reason, during the Julie saga, where BlueSpike, under the guise of Max hacked Chandler's PlayStation Network account and made him to choose between his video games and his "sweetheart". He chose Julie, with the assumption that he would also get his account back, but BlueSpike had other ideas. By choosing Julie, he elected to release his PSN account, and to be sold on eBay, something Chandler couldn't comprehend. 

 

            But greed isn't the only sin that is heavily associated with this person. Gluttony is also one of them. By looking at his posture alone, standing at 180.3 cm (5ft 11in) and weight in 92 kg (203 pounds), it is obvious that he is not the healthiest person. His main diet consists of fast food, soda and energy drinks, and microwaveable TV dinner. He alleges himself to be a good cook, making himself some nutritious meals 4 to 5 times a week. But with the state of his kitchen, and the fact that his parents are compulsive hoarders, makes the claim impossible to be true. His awful daily schedule also contributes to his poor eating habits. For one, he almost never has breakfast, due to his sleeping schedule. He is always awake during midnight, and only went to bed at 6 o'clock in the morning, and usually wakes up late during the day. For his lunch, fast food restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King are his go-to spots. He could eat out up to 4 times a day, often with unhealthy portion size and deadly concoctions (French fries doused with soy sauce? Are you kidding me?). For dinner, since by this point, he's already worn out, poorly cooked, microwaveable TV dinner is what he has for dinner. His hydration level is also awfully bad, as he would consume about 1.8 liters of coke every day. That is about 195 grams of sugar, which in turn, makes about 800 calories per day. This alone could spell as a red flag on its own. This, in turn, left Chandler with health problems like obesity, and his inability to control his bowel movements. Coupled with the fact that he rarely (if ever) done some exercise, his poor hygiene habits and the fact that he once sliced his taint open in order to obtain a vagina, subsequently left infected, it's safe to say that Chandler is destroying his own body during that time span. 

 

            After reading some of his failed "love quest" stories, I can safely conclude that Chandler had also engaged with the sin of Envy. This is mainly represented by his "infinitely high boyfriend factor" theory that he believes wholeheartedly. He believes that all girls in general have boyfriends, for his love quest to succeed, he only needs to find himself a "boyfriend-free girl". This is evidently showed during the Liquid Chris saga, where Liquid, real name Christopher Duckworth actually has a girlfriend (now wife) named Kacey. Due to his resentment over this fact, Chandler, at the time was dubbed as Solid Chris, tried to seduce Kacey by pretending to be Liquid who pretended to be him. This backfired on Solid. 

 

            And departing from the love quests gone bad, we arrived at the sin of Lust. He is notorious for his lustful interactions with women who are genuinely close to him. Look at Megan Schroeder. She was constantly subjected to his rude advancements to the point of drawing himself and Megan on one of his Sonichu comics buck naked and having a steamy sex with one another. I can't say that he was an incel, but for most of his love quests, almost all the girls he met were either trolls or conspiring with other trolls to make him do embarrassing things on camera, and subsequently leak the footage to the internet. On one instance, during the early days of the Julie saga, Chandler once performed a sexual intercourse on a sex doll while yelling Julie's name, as per request of BlueSpike. This culminated in Chandler losing his virginity to a sex worker by the name of Mia Hamm. It is also worth noted that the incident he was arrested for was also a byproduct of the sin of Lust, by allegedly having a sexual relationship with Barbara, his own 80-year-old, dementia-ridden mother. 

 

            And to tie this with greed and gluttony, Chandler is known as quite a lazy person, hence the relevance with the sin of Sloth. He is notorious for this aspect, as he is a NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment or Training". His refusal to work mainly stems from his dad who encourage him to stay out of employment, believing that the Social Security Disability Insurance is enough to support him. This effectively enabling him to believe that despite his age, he can live like a child forever. This is only made worse by enablers who subscribed to his Patreon page, knowing full well that the money would not be used to sustain himself, but instead to be spent on video games, toys, and lots of unhealthy food and concoctions. His financial situation doesn't help the case either. Aside from his refusal to work, his own work, that being the Sonichu comics would also go unfinished, and if he managed to finish it, he finished it long after the deadline was supposed to meet, same with his paid commissions. He did (allegedly) hold some real-life jobs at Wendy's and Cutco Cutlery, supposedly the latter is a multi-level marketing specializes in selling overpriced knives. Both jobs didn't last long, with his employment at Wendy's terminated for being rude to the customers, and with the scam filled MLM knives company, according to his accounts, his boss "left at summer's end." Until his arrest, he is adamant that he will not work for a penny for the rest of his life, and for someone who merely suggest that he should get a job would be treated as someone who committed hate speech.

 

            There are endless stories and sagas connected to Chris Chan that can be explore, each with their own twists and turns, but when it comes to the behavior of the person in question, it is clear that his own behavior set him up for failure. It is of course, from these behaviors alone, Chandler ticks all the boxes regarding the Seven Deadly Sins. From failed love quests, rip-off works, fantasy and financial enablers, his own parental failure, and torments from trolls, Christine Weston Chandler would be remembered forever as the most documented person on the Internet, known for his detachment from reality and his excessive indulgence over his own fantasies. Stay safe, get those jabs if necessary, and keep your health as the top priority.

The Nikocado Avocado Saga: From Veganism to a Possible Early Grave

 (Warning: Strong Languages, fat jokes and gross description of filth and sexual references ahead)

 

            For the past few weeks, I've dug into some of the most heinous stories of all time, I almost had no time to pull myself back up to create more light-hearted stories for the readers to enjoy, to be laughed at, or at worst, to be offended. But as I look back on things that I wrote for this past three to four years, almost all subjects of my stories weren't Internet personalities (until that streak was broken by Chris Chan and his demented antics). And today, as the time of the writing, boy do I have a juicy one for you to indulge. This one is about an infamous YouTuber who was once a healthy, aspiring violinist who was sick of his vegan lifestyle, turned into a panzer-sized mess while doing nothing but mukbang videos (and his OnlyFans, this will be relevant later). I am doing this while also researching about that particular troll who ruined Chris Chan's life, aside from being a walking landfill herself. 

 

            Before diving in to the person of the story, many of you might be unfamiliar with what the word "mukbang" (먹방, meokbang) is about. The word itself is a result of two Korean words being fused together, which are 먹는 (meongneun, which means eating) and 방송 (bangsong, which means broadcaster). The practice itself defined as an audio-visual broadcast where a host consumes various quantities of food while interacting with the audience, most cases being a rather large meal instead of one or two dishes. It is said that the mukbang trend started to gain popularity in 2009, being first introduced on real-time internet TV service AfreecaTV. This is due to the fact that Koreans in general have strict culture consists of healthy eating and table manners. One article posted in The Economist contended that the popularity of eating shows can be attributed in part to the widespread anxiety and unhappiness in Koreans due to their country's long-term economic slump. There are few theories on why this type of content is so popular. It is reported that alleviating the feelings of loneliness associated with eating alone may be the primary reason for mukbang's popularity. Another reason for mukbang viewing could be its potential sexual use. There are arguments that supports the statement that mukbangs can be viewed to satisfy fetishes regarding women eating, further emphasizing why many mukbang hosts are traditionally attractive women. Other reason being that individuals who watch mukbang do so for entertainment, as an escape from reality, or to get satisfaction from the ASMR aspects of mukbang such as the eating sounds and sensations. Mukbang contents are also credited for allowing others to eat vicariously through hosts while they are on a diet and in need of satisfying cravings.

 

            The story centers around an internet personality with the name of Nikocado Avocado, real name Nicholas Perry. He was born on the 19th of May 1992 in Ukraine and was adopted shortly thereafter by an American family as an infant, consequently moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. There is very little info about his childhood life, but for one, he learned about his adoption relatively early, and in turn, struggling to cope with that fact. He then started acting out for attention. He received mental health treatment as early as 5 years old, and by the age of 7, was prescribed with antidepressants. He was later diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He attended Lower Dauphin High School and graduated in 2010. He majored in acting in college and is an aspiring violinist with impeccable skills. I have to admit, with my (mostly) limited skills on the guitar and a form of ring rust, he would have smoked me easily if we had a contest. He then moved to New York City in 2013 to pursue a career in music, working as a freelance violinist. By his own admission, despite his musical talent, it is hard to live in a city where competition is always constant. Before he became the famous (or infamous, depending on the angle of the opinion) Internet star we know today, his early days on the platform consists of solely video blogs, violin covers of popular songs, and contents about veganism. He even met his now husband Orlin Home, thanks to a Facebook group for vegan men. The two began communicating intensely before meeting up in New York. By Orlin's accounts, the two started out as friends, but their relationship evolved after their travelling trips together in Central America, subsequently married in 2017.

 

            Nikocado Avocado got his internet name from a video back when he was a vegan. He started posting videos in 2014, and one of those videos which gave the name we all know today was when he single-handedly ate 30 avocadoes in one sitting. He currently has just under 6 million subscribers across 6 YouTube channels, with the combine views of 1.15 million. His turning point was somewhere in 2016, where he posted a video declaring that he was no longer a vegan, citing health reasons and his distaste with the vegan community, which he viewed as "toxic". With his current life trajectory now, I see this as a deadly irony.  After 2016, he started uploading mukbang contents, garnered 50.000 views in a couple of weeks. He became the first ever American man to partake in this trend, as previous contents of this kind are mainly done by women. But the way he gathers his viewers is the one that grinds my gears. When he uploads a video, a melodrama is guaranteed. He can be seen crying, screaming, and losing his temper in front of a heaping pile of food, and once shave his head into a tray of fried noodle topped with eggs. As someone of Asian ethnicity, I must say that it's a cardinal sin to waste food like that, especially if it's a delicious plate of fried noodle. He admitted that his unusual antics and "clickbait" titles generate the highest number of views. 

 

            Consequently, when you engage with mukbang contents, particularly if the food in question is mainly junk food, weight issue became the main focus. To paint this into the light, Perry started doing mukbang weighing somewhere between 72 kg (160 pounds) or lower. Nowadays, his weigh range is somewhere around the 163 kg (350 pounds) to 181 kg (400 pounds) mark, maybe even more. This, in turn, changes the viewers perspective from "my God, he's fucked in the head" to "holy shit, he's eating himself to death". In this stage, only Tammy Slaton, from the TLC series 1.000-pound Sisters who outweighs him, last updated sitting on 240 kg (530 pounds). From obesity, came a slew of health problems associated with it. he once said that his sex life took a toll from his content creating madness citing erectile dysfunction, although there is no scientific evidence to back this up. Other problems including diarrhea (he also has some instance across his videos and social media platforms of defecating himself), gas, bloating, and stomach pains, the latter in particular tent to exacerbate after he gorge on spicy noodle. Current updates revealed that Perry now suffers from sleep apnea and requires to wear oxygen masks to help with his sleep, and apparently broke three of his left ribs from "excessive, forceful coughing", which later confirmed by his medical diagnosis. The disturbing part of this whole ordeal is he used this to further boost his Internet popularity, declaring himself "disabled", and proceeded to upload series of videos under one title: "My New Diet as a Disabled Person" with various thumbnails ranging from funny to total cringe. And this is not limited to his physical health. His mental health reportedly deteriorates whenever he indulges himself to this dangerous part of YouTube, from declaring himself as Jesus (this is fucked up just on its own) to the point of jeopardizing his marriage with Orlin. The couple sometimes collaborated together, but not for a wholesome eating video, but a series of insults and putdowns involving calling each other fat, hitting one another, to some occasions where Orlin intentionally spills food to provoke Perry's wailing and crying. Hell, his mental breakdowns could also serve as meme materials. He also sparked feuds with other mukbang YouTubers, accusing him of being toxic. 

 

            And his online present could only expand to a more disgusting level. In late 2020, he officially set up an OnlyFans account, where he charged US$ 15 (around IDR 214.000) for subscribers to see pornographic materials of himself and Orlin. I won't dive into further details, but from all the information I've gathered, it is considered as the most repulsive OnlyFans the Internet has ever seen. It even birthed the "Nikocado Avocado Ass Pic" meme, used for posts with shock value in it. Seriously, if you have balls of steel, you can spend that huge amount of money to see two men with the size of a hauler truck fucking each other in the ass. But for me? Even if you offer me all of the fortune in the world, I won't trade my sanity for any wealth just to watch Nikocado Avocado flash his black hole of doom in front of the horrified members of the Internet. I might just spew all the contents of my stomach at best or going blind at worst. I said this with no intention of discrediting the LGBT community, consider that Perry and Orlin are members of said community, but even some people inside the spectrum would view this as disgusting materials and should be purged. 

 

            When we look at his condition now, one must have thought, "what a waste of talent". He could have easily made almost the same amount of money in music if he worked just a little bit harder. But instead, he sacrificed his own health and wellbeing as he fell into an endless hole of gluttony, burying himself with unhealthy food while at the same time, horrified the preying eyes of the masses with his other, more disturbing content. One YouTuber said it the best, that Nicholas Perry is eating himself to death. 

 

            I guess this story alone could sums up the reason why I'm not into mukbang contents on any platform. Although I could find it satisfying, people like Nikocado Avocado serves us as a warning of unfortunate implications not just for the physical health aspect, but mental wellness as well. I am genuinely hoping that he would find a much needed and well-deserved help sooner rather than later. Like I said before, I've lost too many people to weight-related issues, and this, quite frankly doesn't help the case at all. In the end, we can't make decisions on behalf of others, all it needs to do is for that person to see the error of his ways and correct it for the sake of his future ahead. Stay safe, get those jabs, and stay alert.

            

The Kyoto Animation Arson Case: From Rejected Ideas to Loss of Life

 I have to make a confession to officially open this piece. I am a total sucker for Japanese culture. From the food, their punctuality, their work ethics, and most importantly, its cultural heritages from dresses to Shinto shrines. But what made Japan well known the most, it's the animation industry. I started watching Japanese anime when I was in elementary school when Naruto first aired roughly around 2005. Since then, I fell into this seemingly endless rabbit hole of the Otaku life, to the extent of attending some events and festivals dedicated to the Japanese pop culture pre-pandemic years. But behind all those cheers, lies one case that one day would be viewed as the darkest days in the history of the Japanese anime industry, if not the history of Japan itself.

 

            By now, almost all anime connoisseurs are familiar with several anime studios currently existing, and one of those located in the city of Uji, just outside of the city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, appropriately named Kyoto Animation (Japanese: 京都アニメーション, Kyōto Animēshon, KyoAni for short). If we take a look inside their catalogue, some of the best anime ever produced came from this studio alone. From slice of life anime like K-ON! to series based on a visual novel like Clannad (not to be confused with the Irish band of the same name) to the more recent works like Violet Evergarden, Kyoto Animation established itself as one of the premier anime studios in Japan. The company itself first founded by a husband-wife team of Hideaki and Yoko Hatta in 1981. It then became a limited company in 1985 and a corporation in 1999. Prior to the company's formation, Yoko-san worked as had worked as a painter at another studio, Mushi Production before moving to Kyoto after marrying Hideaki. Inside the corporate structure of the studio, Hideaki served as president, while Yoko-san as vice president. In 2000, an affiliate company, named Animation Do. Co. Ltd. was established by Hideaki with main purpose to assist production at Kyoto Animation. It was established by the studio's Osaka office, before being incorporated as a limited company in 2000, then a corporation in 2010. During its operation, both companies are run by Hideaki and are run jointly as one. They produce up-and-coming works under the Animation Do label with Kyoto Animation as their main contractor and works where they work as one company alongside Kyoto Animation. They work on most Kyoto Animation projects and many of them have joint signatures. The company itself was fully absorbed by Kyoto Animation on the 16th of September 2020, which included all rights and associated properties.

 

            The studio has an annual Kyoto Animation Awards held every year since 2009. The award itself included three categories: original novels, manga, and scenarios. Some anime produced by the studio had either received an award or at least being included into the studio's honourable mentions. Among those titles included: Tsurune, Beyond The Boundary, Myriad Colors Phantom World, and Violet Evergarden, among others. The studio is regarded as one of the most recognisable studios for their high production values and "sensitivity to the wonders and quandaries of ordinary life". Most anime (at least those that I've watched) always has a "slice of life" element to it. Like Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions, where the story details a high school boy trying to escape his junior high years where he suffer from Chuunibyo (Second Grade Syndrome), where he fantasized himself for having supernatural powers, only to run into a girl with similar syndrome herself, and subsequently fell in love as the story progresses. The studio also known for their example of employee welfare, where the workers are on a salary payroll instead of freelance ones, and are trained in-house. They are also one of many companies that champions diversity and encourage more women to enter the industry. They were served with a Diversity Award by Women in Animation in 2020 for this practice. 

 

            But on the 18th of July 2019, Kyoto Animation studio 1 in Fushimi, Kyoto Prefecture caught fire, beginning with an explosion at around 10.31 JST. When the fire first started, the perpetrator walked into Studio 1 and set the fire with approximately 40 litres (11 US gallons) of gasoline. The fuel itself was bought 10 km (6.2 miles) from the building, and carried into the scene with a trolley. It was believe that the fuel was planted with the mixture of air, causing the explosion. As the fire spread further, more staff members were trapped inside the building. Along the way, there were 20 bodies found on the stairs from the third floor to the roof, indicating an attempted escape. Associate professor at Disaster Prevention Research Institute of Kyoto University Tomoaki Nishino estimated that the second and third floors were almost filled with smoke within 30 second of the initial explosion. the fire was contained at 3.19 p.m., and was extinguished the next morning at 6.20 a.m. Total confirmed casualties from the fire were 36 dead and 34 injured from approximately 70 people inside Studio 1 and the perpetrator at the time of the incident, with approximately 20 of them were women, one of them was reported as a South Korean citizen. Among the deceased were directors Yasuhiro Takemoto, Futoshi Nishiya  and Yoshiji Kigami, as well as colour designer Naomi Ishida, and among the survivors were animation director Naoko Yamada. Some victims were difficult to identify, due to most of them had burned beyond recognition. Autopsy results released on the 22 July 2019 revealed that majority of the victims' cause of death were burn injuries rather than carbon monoxide poisoning. In addition, the fire destroyed most of the computers and materials , though small portion of keyframes were on exhibition in Tokushima at the time, so the keyframes were spared. On the 29th of July, the studio reported that they successfully recovered some digitalized original drawings from a spared server.

 

            The police then went on a hunt for the arsonist, and subsequently arrested Shinji Aoba, at the time a 41-year-old man. Before the attacks, he had prior criminal record in Ibaraki Prefecture, where robbed a convenience store with a knife, earning him a 3,5 years of incarceration. A day before the time of the incident, witnesses spotted a man resembling Aoba near Studio 1. He also reported to be visiting several places of interest related to the anime Sound! Euphonium around the city days before the attack. Aoba was reportedly shout "DIE!" while committing the attacks, and was one of the injured after fled the scene chased by the employees around 100 meters (330 ft.) from the studio. During his hospital trip, he confessed of starting the fire with revenge in mind, accusing the studio for plagiarizing a scene taken from his work. Hatta initially stated that there is no record of any light novels or other works submitted by Aoba to their writing contest. Further discoveries revealed that Aoba had actually submitted a draft novel, but was cut from the competition at the first stage assessment, later confirmed that the work in question bears no similarities to their other published works. Other revelations being the scene Aoba meant was a stereotypical scene used in Tsurune. The scene in question was included on the 5th episode, aired on the 18th of November 2018, where two characters named Minato and Nanao brought discounted meat in a convenience store. This practice is pretty common in Japan, as some goods might nearing its expiration date, so the store chopped the prices, making said goods a lot cheaper, as it would be consumed on that same day. And scenes like this has been used countless times dating decades and seasons of anime.

 

            After countless treatments included skin graft surgery and rehabilitations in Osaka and back to Kyoto due to the severity of his injuries, on the 16th of December 2020 Aoba then charged with multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, arson, trespassing, and breach of the arms-control law, as unused knifes were discovered to be in his possession. Due to his history of mental illness, he had to undergo psychological evaluations. One article revealed that long before the attack took place, Aoba's relatives, his father, grandfather, and sister had all committed suicide for multitude of reasons. Due to this fact alone, it is speculated that the maximum penalty would decrease from death penalty to life imprisonment. 

 

            In the aftermath of the attacks, some projects were delayed and even cancelled. A month after the attack, most employees returned to work at the other studio owned by KyoAni. As of October 2019, the number of employees decreased from 176 to 137, 27 of the 33 survivors returned while several others decided to take extended breaks to cope with their conditions. Tributes flooded from around the world, from then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to voice actors and actresses like Aki Toyosaki (Yui Hirasawa from K-ON!), and Aya Hirano (Haruhi Suzumiya from The Melacholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), as well as tributes from world leaders like Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister of Canada), and Tsai Ing-wen (President of the Republic of Taiwan). The building in question were subsequently demolished, completed on 28 April 2020, with no major plans for the site revealed. In an earlier interview, Hideaki expressed a plan for a memorial at the Ground Zero of the attack, but the it was the neighbourhood who didn't wish for the memorial to be build fearing the destruction of the peaceful lifestyle of the local residents. 

 

            When the incident took place, I was made aware by some of my fellow hobbyist friends by their social media posts on my timeline. Then my mind spiralled out of control in disbelief on how dare someone had the mind and the audacity to commit such heinous crime, considering that the target was one of the best and established anime studios in Japan, if not the world. During the next weeks after the incident, I made several tributes of my own (unfortunately, those images were lost). Hell, I've even binge-watched all two seasons of K-ON! and Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions out of respect during those times. 

 

            The story of the Kyoto Animation arson attack is quite an unbelievable one. Regarded as one of the premier studios in Japan, they offered aspiring writers to submit their own original stories with the hopes of being adapted as an anime work. Some of them succeeded, some of them missed the mark. But among those who were unfortunate, one of them falsely accused the studio of plagiarism, and set off to burn the studio out of revenge, his past criminal record and mental illness didn't help the case for him either. For now, he is awaiting punishment for his actions. And to close this piece, I want to state my utmost admirations for the men and women working at Kyoto Animation, for all their works over the years. may those souls claimed during the fire rest in peace, and the survivors could find their own peace and move on from this event. Stay safe, get those jabs, and stay out of harm's way.