‘And you don’t automatically reach for the conclusion that you’ve been, like, ripped off or whatever,’ said Kea plaintively to camera, ‘but, yeah, I went and watched the cartoon and I was like… whoa. OK. That’s literally what I said about the heart. So, um, it was confusing, because he wasn’t saying he’d come up with it, you know… she was. And I was thinking, right, OK, he must’ve told her and she’s now claiming it was all her idea. Soooo… yeah, then I watched the whole thing and I’m not gonna lie, it was really, like, um, kind of… disturbing?
‘Because there’s the bird, Magspie, that can talk? Which is something I told Josh about when we were dating, that magpies can learn to talk, which he didn’t know, and again, this Edie Ledwell’s saying it was, like, her idea…
‘And then, OK, the ghost or whatever, the, um, heroine in the cartoon – so this is just crazy to me, but I’ve had several people say, “She looks like you,” and I’m like, um, Josh was always going on about how white I am – I mean, like, pale-skinned – and when I saw the ghost in the cartoon I was like, uh, OK, somebody thinks to be really pale is like a creepy thing or whatever? Like, he had pictures of me, obviously, so has she made the ghost, like, to get at me, or…? So that was kind of creepy…
‘But then, and this was, like, the clincher or whatever… see this picture?’
Turning and kneeling up on the bed, the lovebird still perched on her shoulder, Kea pointed at a pencil drawing on the wall above her. It showed a bird-headed, human-bodied monster, which was casting a long shadow.
‘So, I drew this sketch when I was doing A levels, OK? So… this was literally a nightmare I had, so, like, it’s super-personal? Ouch, Yoko—’
The lovebird had fluttered off her shoulder out of shot, snagging a strand of Kea’s hair as she left.
‘Soooo… yeah,’ said Kea, turning to sit back down on the bed, ‘I showed Josh this picture when we were dating. It’s just a sketch, but it’s, like, the shadow there… yeah. So, um, if you’ve seen the cartoon, the figure of Drek is, like – I mean, it’s literally that shadow, with the kind of no-neck, the beak, that huge pointed beak thing, I mean – oh, I didn’t say: I grew up surrounded with birds – my mum breeds parrots. So I had a dream about this bird-headed monster and then I saw the figure of Drek and I was just like… um… OK, so that looks super-familiar. I mean, I’m not imagining that, am I?
‘So then I’m like, OK, is this, like, four coincidences, or…?
‘Soooo, I guess some people will just say “oh, she’s like the bitter ex-girlfriend” or whatever, but what’s kind of messing with my head is that it isn’t Josh saying “yeah, I like took inspiration from a friend or an ex or whatever”, it’s like, she’s saying she came up with it all independently and I’m… like, if it was one of the things, yeah, maybe, I guess coincidences happen or whatever, but it’s, like, really crazy to me that she’s sitting there saying “yeah, I can’t remember where I got the idea for the heart, it just came to me” or whatever, like, how could you not remember a thing like that? Because it’s a pretty out there idea to most people? So anyway, yeah, that’s basically all I’ve got to say, and I just want to put it out there because, like I say, this is for my self-respect or whatever. I just wanted to, um, say my piece or whatever. Soooo… yeah.’
Kea gave a breathless little giggle, then leaned forward and turned off the camera.
Beneath the video were comments:
Harty Harterson 3 weeks ago
I heard Ledwell ripped a ton of people off and sounds like you were just the first
Nikki 4 weeks ago
the heart thing does sound like they got it from you, I agree. Love your little bird!
Crash Test Dummy 1 year ago
‘They got the idea of a ghost from me being a white girl’ roflmao
Robin sat quite still for a minute, thinking over what she’d just seen, then picked up the office phone and called Allan Yeoman. She was put on hold for a short period, during which an instrumental version of ‘My Heart Will Go On’ played, and then heard the agent’s voice.
‘Yes, hello, Robin?’
‘Hello, Allan. I’ve got a quick question and I wondered whether you could help. Would you happen to know anything about a girl called Kea Niven?’
‘Kea Niven…’ repeated Yeoman slowly. ‘Um… the name rings a bell – sorry, remind me?’
‘An ex-girlfriend of Josh Blay’s, who—’
‘Oh, Kea Niven, yes, of course, of course!’ said Yeoman. ‘The one who claimed she had all the ideas for The Ink Black Heart, and that Edie stole them?’
‘That’s the one,’ said Robin.
‘I should’ve told you about her at lunch,’ said Yeoman. ‘She can’t be Anomie.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Oh, Edie ruled her out entirely. I think because Anomie was present in the game at a time when Edie knew Kea couldn’t be. You knew Edie managed to get into the game at one point?’
‘I did, yes. She said she got banned for asking too many questions about Anomie.’
‘Exactly right.’
‘So this girl, Kea?’
‘Josh ditched her for Edie. I know Anomie hopped on the Kea bandwagon for a while—’
‘Did he? I haven’t found that yet.’
‘Yes, he amplified her plagiarism claims a few years back, but if memory serves, he got bored and moved on – found better ways of getting at Edie.’
‘D’you think Kea genuinely believes Edie and Josh stole her ideas?’
‘Possibly,’ sighed Yeoman. ‘You know, this kind of thing is incredibly common when there’s a hit. It’s usually a case of wishful thinking, or a genuine failure to grasp that similar ideas may come to lots of different people. Amazing how often two films come out at the same time, on the same subject. Nobody’s stolen anything. It’s just there, you know, in the ether. Cyril Scott would have said it was the devas, whispering into the ears of people who’re receptive.’
After she’d thanked Yeoman and rung off, Robin returned to Kea Niven’s Twitter page and began to scroll through it, looking for the interaction between Kea and Anomie. She found it at last back in 2011, dated just a few days after Kea had posted her video.
Anomie
@AnomieGamemaster
Well, well, well. This might explain why Fedwell’s so hazy on how she came up with Harty
Kea Niven @realPaperwhite
The story of Margaret Read’s heart which I told to @realJoshBlay and its odd resemblance to a *certain* cartoon character
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qxGhc4oaBQ
11.16 pm 11 Oct 2011
A few responses down, Robin found a direct exchange between the two.
Kea Niven @realPaperwhite
replying to @AnomieGamemaster
Thanks for sharing 
Anomie @AnomieGamemaster
replying to @realPaperwhite
No problem. Great hair, btw
Kea Niven @realPaperwhite
replying to @AnomieGamemaster
lol thanks ♥
Still more intrigued, Robin scrolled up. This was the first sign of anything resembling flirtation in Anomie’s feed. Indeed, during her careful examination of Anomie’s past tweets she’d started to think of them as a strangely sexless entity, in both senses of the word. There’d been no hint of romantic interest or sexual desire: the only bodily need ever mentioned was hunger.