Hi everyone,
I’m here today with some less than great news about an issue that some of you may recall from the summer. I know this post is long, but it’s important and I highly suggest reading through it.
It has been brought to my attention that a problematic individual who was banned from Animethon has had his ban lifted and will now be attending A Taste of Animethon, in addition to hosting a panel.
Matthew Christopher Walcher, also known by his Tumblr URLcharismaticdegenerate, was asked to leave the Albertastuck community in the summer following a number of incidents. The post outlining some of his deeds can be found here. He is known to be aggressive and extremely manipulative.
We suggest that everyone is accompanied by at least one other person at any given time. Do not approach this man, do not go off with him, and if he is making you uncomfortable, don’t be afraid to grab an Athon staff member or a friendleader for backup- though do keep in mind that the friendleaders are not bodyguards or official security, and if a physical threat arises we will not be putting ourselves in harms’ way, but we will do our best to get staff and remove you from the situation.
The Homestucks usually find a spot to gather, and at wherever that gathering spot winds up being, there will always be a friendleader there to supervise. If you’re worried about walking around the con, I am more than willing to accompany anyone who feels uncomfortable. If you feel like you might require assistance, don’t hesitate to drop me an ask so I can give you my cell number. If I’m busy or you’d rather not hang with me for whatever reason, you can also contact Sam! This offer extends to anyone- you don’t have to be cosplaying or hanging out with the Homestucks. If you’re worried about this guy, we will help you.
For the sake of everyone attending ATOA, especially those individuals who have has negative experiences with Matt previously, the Edmontonstuck friendleaders and myself are working closely with Animethon staff to ensure that everyone has a safe con. However, there is a minimum to what we and the Athon staff can do without binding, legal evidence against Matt. That’s where you come in.
I know that some of you have had experiences with Matt that have involved security or even the police. If you have any sort of documentation of the incident, I ask that you contact either myself or the Edmontonstuck friendleaders. We’re looking for anything that has legal backup – a judicial order of protection, emergency protection order, a police report with statements – things along those lines. Essentially, we need more backup than word-of-mouth.
You can also help by reblogging this post and spreading the word. Awareness is going to be our best defense at this con, since we can in no way guarantee that we can prevent Matt from attending.
However, I need to implore that you should not be sending Matt hate. Neither Calgarystuck nor Edmontonstuck condone bullying in any form, and if we find out you have been sending hate, there will be severe consequences. This also extends to the con itself- do not approach him, harass him, call out to him, whatever. We understand that you might be upset or angry, but sending hate is immature and only creates more problems. If you’re upset about the situation, please talk to us instead.
Once again, if you have anything you think could help back us up, PLEASE contact myself or Edmontonstuck before Friday. Any questions, comments or concerns should also be directed towards us.Thank you for your cooperation, and I’ll see you all at Taste.
-Lauren
Tag: signal boost
UPDATE: This petition must get 100,000 signatures by December 24th of this year! Boost this as much as you possibly can and make sure to sign!
In 31 states, rapists are allowed to sue victims they’ve impregnated for custody rights.
There’s a case in Boston, MA right now in which a rapist is taking advantage of this. He pleaded guilty of rape in 2011 and was sentenced to 16 years probation; however, this sentence includes 16 years of family court as well, which the victim must also attend. He’s using this to sue for joint custody of her child and will only withdraw his law suit if he is free from paying any form of child support. This entire sentence seems like much more of a punishment for the victim than it is for the rapist, and for the state to allow such a thing, the victim is suing.
As stated in the court complaint, “Even if the family court ruled in the [victim]’s favor on issues currently in dispute, such as whether the criminal defendant should be granted visitation rights to [her] child, [she] will suffer harm from the constant threat of new issues arising in family court until her child reaches adulthood, including, for example, efforts by the criminal defendant to seek to modify child support orders and enforce his parental rights at the trial court level and on appeal.”
If this woman is forced to attend 16 years of family court with her rapist, she is not only forced to confront a traumatic event that she should never have to deal with again, but she is subjected to the possibility of losing pieces of her child to him over and over again for all of those years. In addition to this constant state of fear and anguish she would face, just by being sent to something considered ‘family’ court—for her and her rapist—she’s being disrespected and her rape undermined by even the suggestion that this is a family situation. By doing this, the law is making felony into family.
In 31 states, rapists are actually given rights instead of having much of anything taken away. In being given these rights, they are being given the chance to further torment the woman and possibly abuse the child. It is not okay to reward rapists and further punish victims, and the ignorance of rape and how our justice system is handling it needs to turn around.
Please sign this petition to ban rapists from being able to sue for custody rights. This issue is so little known, yet so important, and I don’t know any better way of trying to make this change.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/ban-rapists-being-able-sue-their-impregnated-victims-custody-rights/C23pKYgMHOW ARE THERE LESS THAN A HUNDRED SIGNATURES!?!!
There are only 600 signatures. Even if this doesn’t affect anything, at least we can prove that there are people in this world that understand that this is wrong, that regular people know this is unacceptable. Maybe if we show there’s enough of us it’ll mean something to someone, if only cause they want our vote.
yeah locking this down federally would be a really good thing.
As a Canadian I can’t sign.
But I’ll damn well reblog it for all my American followers.
Okay so SOPA is back, guys. This time it’s trying to make streaming copyrighted material a felony. Do you know what that means? It means you can be charged and even do jail time for
- Making fanart
- Covering a song
- If there’s a song on on the background of a video, it still counts
- Writing fanfiction
There’s a petition to stop it from happening, and it still needs 82,000 signatures so please sign it here
THERE’S AN AMBER ALERT IN CALIFORNIA. PLEASE REBLOG SO EVERYONE CAN SEE I DONT CARE WHERE YOU LIVE JUST REBLOG IT
Tumblr, I need your help.
Here’s the story:
I got into one of the most prestigious graduate programs in my field in the world.
That’s great and everything, but I have a huge problem. I, my girlfriend, and our cats have no way of getting there. My parents do not support our relationship and refuse to help pay her way there and are treating her like garbage and are accusing her of being a burden on me and my education.
I was going to sell my car to get the money for our plane tickets, but as the car isn’t in my name, I legally have no right to the money. My parents are refusing to pay for anything even remotely related to my girlfriend or our cats. Now it’s up in the air if my car is even going to be sold at all.
We have already started going through our things to list them on Ebay, Craigslist, and StorEnvy. I don’t know if we can sell enough in time to buy affordable tickets along with all the other travel necessities.
Please, if you can help in any way, we desperately need it. We need to earn at least $5,000 in the next month in order to buy our tickets, vaccinations for our cats, and passports.
I hate doing this sort of thing. I don’t like to beg. This is my education and my future at stake and my parents stand to destroy all of that because of their misplaced prejudice.
If you can, please donate any amount you are able to spare to our Paypal account at junkeemunky(at)yahoo(dot)com.
If you can’t afford to donate, please reblog and signal boost this post. Please.
This all happened out of nowhere, and at the worst possible time. I’m still a bit stunned. We’ve been together for 7 years now. My girlfriend has worked so hard for this opportunity, I cannot believe HER FAMILY OF ALL PEOPLE would want to ruin it for her. Hell, even if you can only spare a dollar and a signal boost, we will happily take it. If you want to know other ways you can help out, here are four:
1. I’m busting my ass doing as many commissions as people are willing to throw my way. Hit me up if you are interested. Mostly drawing, but I’ll also take all the plush commissions I can fit into the next month.
2. I’m about to dump a million handmade things into our shop. http://www.storenvy.com/stores/34994-the-boneyard It’ll be constant throughout the next 2-3 weeks. I do pretty much everything. Sculpting, drawing, painting, repurposed/modified clothing and shoes, jewelry, plushes, stationery, comics, prints, accessories, etc etc etc. I’ll also happily take ideas and suggestions of specific things you’d like to see added.
3. We’ll be selling at SacAnime. For now, we’re planning to sell at the swap meet. We may also be sharing an artist alley table with a good friend. I’ll post an update when it’s 100% confirmed
4. I’ll be selling pretty much everything I own on our shop/ebay soon. Ben Nye and other cosplay makeup, lolita clothing and accessories, video games/consoles, artbooks, fabric, and probably a lot more.
Here are a few good reasons why Claire and Natalie deserve all the help we can offer:
- These girls are some of my favorite human beings. They’ve been through a lot together, and through it all they’ve both been super positive and loving. They’re kind, creative, generous, incredibly hardworking people, and have jumped on the chance to help others when they were able.
- Claire has worked diligently for so many years pursuing an opportunity like this. She’s been rejected from internships in the past, but kept at it, and now it’s finally come to her — except it’s on the other side of the fuckin’ planet. It’s a dream come true for her, but it comes with a very high price.
- Claire and Natalie are both ridiculously talented, and lucky YOU: Natalie is offering plushie commissions to help pay for this all. Her plushies are RIDICULOUS, like professional-grade, blow-your-mind kind of business. So do yourself a favor and see about getting something for yourself.
If you’ve got like a dollar hanging around your Paypal, help these girls out. They’re dear to me, and they deserve it. I’ll also be putting a few of my plushies and other things up for sale in the next few days to help them out, so watch for that, too, if you’re interested!
WHAT FANDOM ITEM WOULD YOU LIKE US TO GIVE AWAY NEXT?
Wow! Our first give away is going AMAZINGLY WELL! So We’re going to have another one as soon as the first one ends! HORAW!
WHAT FANDOM ITEM WOULD YOU LIKE US TO GIVE AWAY NEXT?
Supernatural? Korra? Dagan Roppa? THE SWIMMING ANIME?
LET US KNOW!
ANSWER THIS FOR US 😀
THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, EVERYBODY. This woman is one of my mother’s friends and a member of the parent committee for my sister’s Irish dance class, and she’s always been really nice to me. But last week, she went missing, with her husband claiming to multiple sources that she ran away to “start a new life”. She runs a daycare and has many friends, and with his story being rather flawed (in addition to their relationship being rather rocky lately), everybody is scared.
Please, please reblog this! She’s a mother and a teacher, and her family and friends need to know she’s all right!
signal boost
this needs way more notes seriously
Reblogging cause this was the FIRST one I’ve seen that wasn’t in the states.
[[ ^^^ Reblogging because neighbouring province </3 ]]