Last week, two prominent members of the Fire Emblem YouTube community–Mangs and Chaz Aria LLC–were accused on social media of sexual assault (the former) and sexual coercion (the latter).

Ordinarily, we wouldn’t get involved because, besides our shared passion for the Fire Emblem series, there’s nothing to tie us together. However, events escalated in such a manner that I think it would be wrong for me to stay silent.

Before I get into the details, I want to be clear: sexual harassment and abuse are completely unacceptable, whether you belong to the Fire Emblem community or elsewhere. If anyone has been the subject of sexual harassment/abuse, I believe they should have a safe platform to speak up. Although (judging by how events have unfolded) social media may not be the best place.

In addition, I must emphasise: the contents of this article are solely the opinion of myself. They do not reflect the rest of the Serenes Forest team, nor its community. Everyone should be entitled to their own opinion and I dare not claim to represent everyone. Also, I don’t know the truth behind the events and I probably never will.

Part 1: Mangs

In the public’s eye, the story begins on 8th July, when a female YouTuber named Goosaphone posted an accusation towards Mangs, of sexual assault during their time at Anime North of Summer 2019. Previously, many Internet personalities were being outed for unsavoury sexual behaviour–many from within the Smash Bros. community. So it wasn’t entirely unexpected to see it spread here.

Goosaphone’s accusations were mostly met with sympathy and she was praised for speaking up; many big Fire Emblem YouTubers rallied to support her. Before long, other victims or would-be-victims came to share their experiences of Mangs. Initially, Mangs attempted to deny all wrong-doing, but as the evidence piled higher and higher, he eventually conceded and admitted his guilt.

At this point, it was a harrowing experience for the Fire Emblem community in general, but there was a visible light at the end of the tunnel. People all around could see the immense support provided to Goosaphone and the others who spoke up. It seemed like the community could handle itself maturely when it came to these serious allegations. However, things wouldn’t end quite so nicely…

A little background detail. During the Mangs event, many YouTubers were commended for their handling of the situation and their support. Among them included Chaz Aria LLC. On 9th July, Chaz called out another YouTuber, who I won’t mention because their situation is extremely borderline. While I think people have the right to know these things, I felt like Chaz’s witch-hunting was somewhat unsettling.

Part 2: Chaz Aria LLC

The next major event occurred on 10th July. Another allegation was made, this time against… lo and behold, Chaz Aria LLC. An artist named Indie_Calls claimed that Chaz coerced her into having sex when they met up during March 2019. After seeing Mangs successfully outed, it seemed as though Indie had brought up the courage and was comfortable enough to share her own experience.

What happened next was unprecedented. Multiple influencers, mostly friends of Chaz and even Goosaphone (a victim herself!), outright attempted to shut down Indie’s claims. According to them, Indie had already accused Chaz a year ago, but was unsuccessful–and is making these claims anew to bank off the recent drama. Whether this was true or not is largely besides the point (although I’ll touch on this later).

The way they all tried to silence Indie in public was extremely disturbing for any onlooker. Especially for any potential victim of abuse, who is considering whether to come forward. This came immediately after so many of these same influencers proclaimed that victims should be safe to speak up and should be supported. But their behaviour towards Indie suggested the exact opposite.

Now, these people had their reasons. As mentioned, in their perspective, Indie’s claims had already been “disproven” a year ago. Also, the person being accused was one of their friends. Regardless of the reasons, there was no need to gang up on Indie like that. At the end of the day, only Indie and Chaz can resolve their situation. More importantly, it needlessly created a toxic environment.

Not long afterwards, a user called Monica claimed that Chaz groped her at Anime North 2019. At first glance, this was starting to look like a domino effect. However, this particular accusation was rather peculiar. Chaz quickly claimed that this never happened, providing evidence that the accuser’s screenshots were faked and that their claims didn’t line up with the facts. To my knowledge, Monica never responded, although few seem to dispute Chaz on this occasion.

With regards to Indie, Chaz eventually made a statement. Upon analysing the information provided by both sides, it seems both of their claims have a chance of being true. The evidence provided by both sides seem to support each other, but it’s their interpretation of the critical event on 18th March that differs. If you believe Indie, she was pressured into sex. If you believe Chaz, the sex was consensual.

That said, at the very least, Chaz appears to behave extremely manipulatively right before the event happens, going out of his way to get Indie to come alone with him. Even if his story is true, that’s not the kind of behaviour anybody should have, not least towards impressionable fans. Meanwhile, Indie is shown to have enjoyed their sex afterwards, but people have pointed out that this isn’t uncommon behaviour for abuse victims.

Part 3: Behind the Scenes

While all of this was unfolding, somebody thought it would be a clever idea to create an “impartial”, anonymous Twitter account called “FE Truth“. At first, it was used to gather evidence against Mangs and to signal-boost those rallying behind the victims. Once Mangs was out of the picture though, FE Truth suddenly and uncharacteristically became a tool to defend Chaz and deny Indie.

Their behaviour was so brazen that many people guessed it was Chaz himself or a close friend. As it turns out, it was a friend of Chaz, called Rybean. Ironically, their cover was blown by another anonymous Twitter account, but I’ll spare you the details. According to Rybean, Chaz was unaware of FE Truth’s identity and didn’t sanction it, and he had good intentions for creating FE Truth. That I can all believe, but good intentions or not, pretending to be an anonymous “superhero”, yet attacking potential innocents is not the way to go.

After doing some further digging, Indie apparently persuaded Byliyth, a minor who had recently come out about their sexual abuse, to post her accusations against Chaz back in 2019. According to Chaz and those defending him, Indie had taken advantage of Byliyth’s vulnerability and manipulated them into making the claims. Apparently, Byliyth was caught in the crossfire and, due to stress, was forced to take down Indie’s claims.

Looking through the conversation logs between Indie and Byliyth, it’s hard to see any form of direct manipulation. Still, it probably wasn’t a wise decision to use Byliyth as a middleman, although understandably, Indie was scared of putting herself out in the open. Also, I don’t blame Byliyth for pulling out back in 2019, because it’s not really their fight and they were a victim.

At the time of writing, nothing has been conclusively proven regarding the Chaz allegations. But the damage has been severe–and I’m fearful that many will be afraid to speak up, at least for the foreseeable future. A lot of those who sided against Indie have since issued apologies, although some of them seem more like deflections than anything. In that situation, I think they should have taken a step back.

The really scary thing is that Indie’s accusation is probably closer to what most abuse cases are. Whereas Goosaphone had many friends and followers, Indie seems to only have a few. Which is likely the case with many victims. Also, it’s not an open-and-shut case like with Mang’s (and even he took a lot of beating, from multiple accusers, before coming clean).

Also worthy of note, after she apologised, Goosaphone stated that the constant harassment she received for her actions had made her suicidal. While this could be viewed as potentially fishing for sympathy, I think she deserves the benefit of the doubt. Yes, she was wrong for attacking Indie, but she’s still a human being (and a victim) and the harassment against her was uncalled for. Regardless, suicide should never be taken lightly.

In Closing

To finish off, I think an important lesson, if you’re a bystander, is to not be quick to judge. Very often, not all the facts are available at once or they may be cherry-picked. Also, please don’t harass others, regardless of what they’ve done. Not everyone is an irredeemable monster (and, conversely, not everyone is a saint). If you are an influencer, this should count at least 10x, because you’re not just responsible for yourself, but for your community as well.

If you’re interested in further reading or wish to do your own research (which is a very good idea; don’t take my word as the gospel), please check out the following link:

Collection of related links via the FE subreddit

If you’re the unfortunate victim of sexual abuse and wish to share your experience, we’d advise seeking professional help before resorting to social media. For those battling with suicidal thoughts, please don’t keep it to yourself. Also, be kind rather than dismissive of those who claim to be suicidal; it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Below are some links or numbers that may be helpful:

USA: 1-800-656-4673 (RAINN: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)
Canada: My Health Aberta
UK: Support Line
Australia: Reach out
Suicide hotlines via Reddit