[UPDATE 2/11/2022] PSA on Komugitsune/DemonMadness

luparoca I'm sorry that you went through that, and also grateful that you've added more testimony here. Especially with the concerns about Aug's underage/borderline underage (as with you) relationships. That just adds another level of me feeling sick. Before this all came out, I was foolish and bough his "will not excuse underage nsfw" rule in the nr discord, and I can't say whether he even followed that or not because I - ironically to this situation - was not part of the nsfw channel due to worries that, being 30, my presence there specifically would be uncomfortable to the 20somethging adults. Knowing that he was a predator as well as an abuser twists my stomach, and even though I'm not alone in this, I'm appalled again that he was allowed to get away with multiple abusive and frankly criminal relationships for years. And HE was the one who wanted to call the cops on others whenever he wasn't getting his way? REALLY?

Also, his predatory history now REALLY makes the fact that northern-ruins' flagship species (ordivirn) were noted to be "small and childlike" in personality (though many members, myself included, would still make taller and less child-looking ordis anyway) skeevy as hell. Sorry for the unfinished post before, my cat jumped on the couch and jolted my laptop and I hit post.

batalitedish Yeah, I'd brushed it off because it was only stated in one piece of early lore and there were enough official ordis with adult proportions to think that it was discarded or retconned, but... It did still make me worry, I'm gonna be honest.

batalitedish that reminds me of the fact that there's lore you can find in some of the older journals (iirc) that describe humans selectively breeding ordivirn for more desirable traits... and using them as service animals? despite ordivirn being sapient creatures.

at the time, i chalked it up to aug projecting his feelings onto and anthropomorphizing his own service dog and ascribing motives to said dog that aren't actually present in reality, which is a common thing for folks with service animals--to behave as though the animal willingly chose to be your service animal. that's not to say that there's anything wrong with service animal-hood, to be clear; i actually looked into getting one for myself for a while before i realized that having a pet was sufficient for managing my mental illness. but it's something i've sort of noticed generally, and i figured that's why aug added that ordi were sometimes service animals: if he feels kirby is choosing to care for him, it probably doesn't come off as weird to describe ordivirn the same way.

now i'm a bit more disturbed by the implications, though, given what bat has described and the predatory behavior that has come to light.

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Someone asked and no, there is no cutoff date for refunds atm, I just ask that if you need one to please contact me soon. <3

In regards to Ordi being described as childlike, I recall (really early in NR's existence) there was a very strange rule regarding clothing- you couldn't use the outfit your Ordi came with for the ARPG unless you purchased it or other clothing with penya. If you weren't able to do either of those things, you had to draw your Ordi in a plain starter outfit or nude. I remember someone pointed out that this rule was somewhat uncomfortable and unnecessary considering Ordi were supposed to look/act childlike, and Aug got very defensive and angry when others (and by others I mean almost every other mod at the time 😭) agreed with this statement. He later got rid of this rule himself when NR was trying to cut down on / simplify items, but it's still very strange to recall alongside these more recent revelations.

Denri I believe you're misremembering something? The only weird lore about Ordivirns and humans was that humans poached them for their gloves. 

But to be totally honest, Aug lied about Kirby being a service dog. Kirby had no proper service training Aug had mentioned-- but the things Aug did mention in server invalidate that Kirby was ever a genuine service dog. Some examples would be that Kirby ran up to postmen, Kirby had no "ignore other animals and people" training, Kirby was able to be taken care of by Aug's family members for "a few days"... which are all very, very huge red signs that Kirby was not a service animal, but instead simply a comfort animal. While mental illnesses such as anxiety can be debilitating, to lie about having a certified service dog is a step too far.

This wouldn't be such a big issue for me if not for the fact he constantly tried to tutor others on proper service animal etiquette, how to apply for getting a service animal (which when me or Yolk researched on our own, realized he was just talking out of his ass.) and much, much more. He acted as an authority on service animals. The blatant spread of misinformation really pisses me off.

617th ah! thanks for the correction then, i must be misremembering things. (potentially someone's character-specific backstory that entered my braincase at some point and i forgot the context, heh.) appreciate that! i'll leave the inaccurate post as-is for transparency and stuff.

as far as kirby's situation, that somehow doesn't surprise me, but it is unfortunate... comfort animals definitely have their place and are valuable, but calling one a service animal is really unethical, considering service dogs are so heavily scrutinized unfairly and having a comfort animal that's untrained and which you claim to be a service dog further delegitimizes people with actually trained service animals who are frequently badgered about their animals. i didn't know much about kirby's behavior and training personally, having only really seen pictures and brief mentions of him, so i didn't want to speculate much about the exact nature of kirby's service training or status, myself. definitely good to hear more information, even if it's information that is further damning.

really sucks, everything y'all have been through. none of you deserved the abuse that got heaped on your plates, and i feel for everyone aug has affected.

Denri 617th i think denri might be remembering this aspect of the lore? nothing specifically about "breeding for desirability", but there was definitely mentions in the lore of ordis acting as service aids/pets of sorts. its not quite as damning/insidous, but i think its just worth mentioning that it is something existant in the cs lore

moonilymoth ah! there it is! good to know i was at least remembering something that hews reasonably close to what i'd thought... it's slightly less creepy given there's no selective breeding, but i'm still kind of skeeved out by the, uh, human (ordi) trafficking, dependency on humans, and... service aid thing. and talking about them like they need to be given playtime and cared for like a pet or they'll be destructive or sick. that's, uh. weird.

MARIKISHI I'm sorry you had to endure all of that, thank you for sharing your testimony. I don't have much words to show my empathy for it, and don't want to clog up the thread with reassurances when we all know damn well how awful it must have been. Your testimony is helpful, it helps shed light on what we're dealing with is not just someone who underpays his employees, but a predator.

As for Kirby being "unable to do normal PTSD training", if this alludes to him being a reject of PTSD training, that is a lie. I was there when he got Kirby, who was just barely old enough to be adopted out as a normal, purebred corgi. If it is a statement of his breed being unable to perform these tasks, then he should not have gotten a corgi. (I hope this doesn't come across as nitpicking, I want to add onto what you're saying already!)

on the topic of questionable things with characters that are minors- i tried to track down its masterlist entry but am unable to find it (if i somehow just overlooked it, please let me know ! ), but i distinctly remember aug having a dainty character with fully detailed stockings who was explicitly a child. as in, single-digits age. if anyone can find it, the design had dark skin, blue hair, and one blue leg and one white leg, i'm pretty sure

for context for anyone who doesn't know, according to dainty lore the stockings don't fill in until the dainty is 18- this is to try and put some distance between the sexualization of stockings in general + the more risque designs that some dainties have, and minor characters. so, any dainty under the age of 18 should have fully white, plain stockings, to minimize sexualization of minors and to clearly show that the character is a minor

while i'm sure this is not something unique to aug, it is something that always bugged me, but i just. never wanted to deal with bc my method of dealing with him was trying to pretend he didn't exist