As it turns out, Near had another reason for reaching out to me specifically. Like myself, he too has been a long-time victim of online bullying and abuse from the Kiwi Farms and similar circles. He read about me out of curiosity. He saw how people were decontextualizing a minor lying to me about their age to imply horrible things about me. He saw how I had spent two and a half years infiltrating, taking over, and ultimately shutting down the largest nazifur group to help the furry subculture, and how this caused Internet trolls (and grifters alike) to stalk and harass me even more. They said that it was all a lie without evidence and got some very large accounts to assert as much. They even got me fired from my job by harassing my former employer with lies. I think he saw a bit of himself in the treatment I had received. So in addition to both being furries that love video games, we also bonded over being victims of online abuse. Trying to do good things for people leads to a lot of negative attention on the Internet, and Near understood that better than most people.
