PSA about multiple users [almond, honeyking]

Posted 6 years, 10 months ago (Edited 4 years, 8 months ago) by entropicteacups

Bit of background is necessary for this.

Back in January of this year, I was gifted a plunny by Almond [same username here and on FA. I'd rather not ping because of how ugly things have gotten]. I was also given money by my at the time fiance [Alysthene on FA/MidnightQueen here] to buy a kindling spot - that money came from my account, not anyone else's, though it was gifted to me first. The first one was freely given to me. I have proof of original ownership in screencaps, which I've included below, as well as the updated records page for the designs.

In February Almond moved in with myself and Alysthene. My relationship with Alysthene ended on April 1. Things went sour very quickly and I moved out. I did not think it would be an issue that I was keeping a design that was gifted to me, as it's pretty common knowledge that you can't take back gifts as they are no longer yours. While things had been quite sour between Almond and myself, I had thought things were relatively civil between my ex and myself. When she asked me about giving Apollo back, I said no. You can see that here: http://i65.tinypic.com/16c2tl1.jpg
I have proof of them originally being mine here: https://i.gyazo.com/cacecb9bfc3a33ff5697260ff9d0529f.png and https://i.gyazo.com/6ef464c710ad1dedd766f9edb4952758.png

I was on the forums the species has not too long ago to update the new info I had for Apollo. Earlier I noticed some new members I'd not seen before and decided to see which ones they were on the records page the adopt owner keeps. Imagine my surprise when not only Bound Spirit, but Noble Spirit were listed as having different owners. You can see that here: https://i.gyazo.com/19e4d7782bce0db284cd53b72e19db52.png My ex was listed under Bound Spirit's owner and Almond was listed as Noble Spirit's. I then realized I'd been booted out of the discord server they have when I went to go ask what was going on.

While I don't know the exact details of what was said to HoneyKing [here and FA] and Starprince, the former is upholding Almond's claim to Apollo even though he was gifted to me, citing that legally she still owns him [I disagree with this - a gift once given is no longer the first person's property. I wish to point out that I gifted one to her and could therefore use that logic to revoke her rights to him, though I won't as I find it petty] and that Barrett would belong to MidnightQueen regardless of the fact that the money came from my own account. I do not agree with this. Whether or not my ex gave me money to buy a slot should not matter. The money was in my account and I was the one who paid him. I have since been given a refund for the slot, though this was only accepted as he refused to give me back the rights for the characters in question. You can see the initial communication here: http://oi65.tinypic.com/66hop3.jpg And a note back from him here, in response to my protests: https://i.gyazo.com/92e40e0fe2896cf33e08aeb46a0e6b3f.png I did warn him at this point that I would be making a PSA. There is another note, but this was stressful enough and I have no wish to talk to them further so I've not opened it or been back to that account.

MidnightQueen later sent me an angry email over another situation and said she was unaware of the plunny issue and hadn't had anything to do with it, but if you note the screencap included above - HoneyKing directly contradicts this by stating they'd stated they'd not been able to contact me and had gone to him to gain control of designs they never had a right to - this was a clear lie, as proven by the screencaps of contact I provided earlier.

Due to both MidnightQueen and Almond taking designs that they had no rights to, I cannot recommend doing business with them either as buyer or seller.

I also cannot recommend doing business with HoneyKing as he has proven untrustworthy and I feel this is just bad business practices. Taking a design that was gifted to me and giving it to someone who is known to be a close friend of his [he's acknowledged as much in streams and so has Almond] simply because of a falling out is not right, nor do I think the majority of the adopt community would agree with it. Likewise, taking a design that I paid for from my own account, regardless of where the money originated from, and giving it to my ex is outright theft. Had I not approached and protested I might never have gotten the refund. At the point that it was paid for, we were a couple still and the money was given to me willingly.

I had hoped to avoid a PSA but as things became unpleasant and I could see I would not be able to sway HoneyKing with any sort of appeal regardless of the proof I provided, I felt that a PSA would at least save others from having to deal with this sort of situation with these individuals.

Edit: Since there's been some concern raised, here is an email thread with most of the conversation [it has nothing to do with the plunny situation until the end] and dates provided. http://i68.tinypic.com/j0yvlv.jpg

Akira_Misaki
b u m p
AgentM-Chan

I've heard my fair share of things around honestly but to have proof of any accusations is refreshing as I had planned on buying from both parties in the past. Here's a bump for all your troubles.

Stinkywinkyimove

 bump

xAnonymous

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Titheling

Legally yes it's yours if given as a gift. It doesn't matter if physical or digital or if there's a romantic relationship. We also aren't talking about an engagement ring here and this item was purchased for you there really isn't much of an argument especially with screenshots. I would save them somewhere more permanent than Gyazo though since I know it clears after s number of months. This artist can decide they personally wishes that's how things were legally but if they're doing business in the US that's not actually how things work and would technically not be within anyone's legal right - the artist and everyone involved might do well to look this up before they start slinging 'within their legal right' around.'

SaxyMisty

Honest to god, it's stories like this that's why I don't buy adoptables or accept other peoples characters. Like oh my god. :C

Maggot-Meatsuit

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xAnonymous

Bump

Maggot-Meatsuit

bump