Hi! My name is You Chen from Smollab and I’m helping Metanoia fundraise to help her rebuy her whole stock of merch.

During Japan Expo where we share a booth she had HER WHOLE STOCK seized by the French Douane (Duty/customs) with no possibility of recourse. Their reasoning was that fanart is no different than counterfeit stuff. Didn’t matter that she could show videos of her drawing it or anything else. All she could decide was if to pay a fine immediately or if to not pay and risk legal action too (stock was going to be seized and burned anyway).

There was no way to keep her stock and bring it back home (we tried EVERYTHING. No way to reason with them). They went behind our booth, checked all the boxes and trolleys too to get everything (they even took the business cards?!)

We were the first booth to be checked so other artists in the area could be alerted even if we heard someone else got hit but even if our fast alert helped the rest of the community it was a hard hit for her as she brought everything she had for such a big con.

Everything that will be raised will go towards rebuilding her stock and thus her business. Any help you can afford and want to donate will be greatly appreciated