I am putting this out there just as an informative thing, and because what Lexxy said gave me confidence that this is an all right thing to do. (If it’s not clear, I have a ton of respect for Lexxy, dang what a cool person.)
There is a group of people out there who go by “Athena’s Wink” who have continued to sell Homestuck items despite being asked multiple times to stop; they have been given step by step explanations of why what they’re doing is not okay and they do not seem to care.
I am putting this out there because I have heard from more than one person who was at a convention this weekend that the people involved in Athena’s Wink have been pulling aside those people who are visibly fans of Homestuck and telling them that they can sell them Homestuck merch under the table. This shows extremely clearly that they’re aware what they’re doing is wrong.
Frankly, it doesn’t seem palatable to me to throw the book at a couple of fairly young people who are doing something like this, even though it’s incredibly disrespectful and quite a cut-and-dried legal case. So I’m just going to put this information out there and ask that those of you who come into contact with them simply don’t buy from them.
Please don’t harangue, harass or otherwise be unkind to these people. They don’t deserve that (and more importantly, you shouldn’t make or let yourself be the kind of person who does unkind things like that). Please simply ignore them, do not buy from them, and, if you absolutely must say something, tell them politely that you disagree with the disrespect they show creators.
Thank you.
Oh!!! OH!! These were (some of) the people that I busted in the dealer’s room at Animazement!!!
Yeah on the first day they were selling the items out in the open which prompted me to go to con ops (who were extremely rude and condescending with me) and then to the dealer’s room staff (who were very helpful and gave me a pin for taking the time to point out homestuck merch!!). They definitely were sidling up to people in Homestuck cosplay (myself included) and trying to convince them to buy. The girl who spoke with me sounded very quiet, as though she did, in fact, know better than to speak with me about it on the off chance I would report them (which I did first thing Saturday morning lol).
Yeah honestly though, if you catch someone in say, an Artist’s Alley selling Homestuck merchandise I would STRONGLY (ha) suggest approaching the artist personally. However the Dealer’s Room is serious business and you should ALWAYS go straight to con staff and report the offending booth(s)!
Thank you for making this post, I hope you don’t mind if I reblog it so people can see it and be aware that I’m not just flinging accusations around!
the saga continues
