inarduisfidelis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
inarduisfidelis) wrote2011-03-04 09:30 pm
inarduisfidelis) wrote2011-03-04 09:30 pm
Entry tags:
Here Be Dragons - ATTENTION SHERLOCK FANDOM.
I cannot hold my peace any longer about this. I've seen a good lot of fandom drama and I'm fine with it as long as it all stays on the internet and the internet alone, but this particular thing - this particular person has gone way beyond everybody's comfort zone and caused drama in many people's REAL lives.
It's time to get the word out so's you all know what you're letting yourselves in for. So here goes:
This post is about![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rakspatel and her comm, Mycrofting. It's long and rather ranty, so, long story short:
DO NOT ENGAGE.
I mean it. This person has caused so many people so much grief it's not even funny. I'm not badmouthing anyone, I am giving you facts. I have been personally involved in all this drama rather heavily and I simply do not want to keep my mouth shut any longer. People need to be aware of these things.
Long story long:
Raks is new to fandom and to the internet in general so she has no idea about netiquette. She made no great effort to learn either, in all the time she was a member of the Baker Street Supper Club forum (one of yours truly's hangouts, which is how our paths crossed).
She has no idea what fandom is all about and, to mine (and several others') perception is trying to use it as a means to "change careers". Possibly because she's had her hours reduced at her job for spending all her work time on the fan sites (we're talking about stuff like the IT department banning her from accessing tumblr, for example).
She was banned from the BSSC for several reasons including:
- harrassment of other BSSC members via email, text and phone. For example, she called someone at seven in the morning over a forum post that had been moved.
- failure to abide by the forum rules - example: she hijacked a thread about asexuality to post about something completely unrelated to that in a very aggressive manner
- misrepresenting the BSSC in front of actors and other official people
She will tell you that all this is completely untrue and that the one reason she got banned is because she doesn't like slash. That's bollocks. There are many reasons for her ban, see above. Also, she is a massive bigot - she will say she considers slash disrespectful to the Canon but as soon as it's fic or art done by her favourite people she's all over it.
Here are a few incidents to give you a bit of a picture.
ETA
She went to the stage door at the NT on the third night of Frankenstein. Look at the way that this is phrased; what I'm saying is that she went to the stage door to get Mr Cumberbatch's picture before she had even seen the play.
He didn't want his picture taken that night at all and she was among those who kept badgering him for a photo.
She was bragging she was going to post that picture a few days later - after he had said at the stage door that night he didn't want the photos posted on the internet.
gozadreams, who witenessed the situation firsthand, describes it as follows:
"My friends and I saw the production on its 3rd preview. We were at the stage door (which was small) that night. Benedict came out looking exhausted (hardly "fresh as a daisy"). We were all delighted that he came out because its clear that neither Naomie Harris or Jonny Lee Miller are stage dooring at all and Benedict isn't actually leaving by the stage door and is only coming out to sign. Making him the loveliest person ever.
We very politely asked for a photo (because don't ask don't get) - he very very very politely said no as he was knackered. We respected that and put our cameras away. We were the ONLY ones that did. And we stood and watched teeth gritted as others raced up and talked him into photos he didn't want to do while he backed towards the door trying to escape. The subject of your post didn't ask him for a photo.
What she did do was take about a billion and one flash photos of him an inch away from his nose until even my friend who is so laid back she is virtually horizontal was coming up with a few choice suggestions for what she could do with her camera. It was disquieting to watch but I put it down to over excitement. I've seen it before - new to fandom, new to meeting actors can result in really socially awkward OTT behaviour with the actors. I was less impressed when she admitted that she hadn't been at the show - I'm always wary of people who "happen" to be at stage doors when they haven't seen the production that evening. I understand people coming back if they were there the previous night and the actors didn't come out but that wasn't the case here."
End of ETA
She has been stalking Mark Gatiss and Benedict Cumberbatch at the stage door and "interacting" (if you can call it that) with them in a manner that is beyond description - not making eye contact, shoving stuff in their faces to sign, being passive-aggressive etc.
She has caused the admins in the forum a great deal of pain both on the internet and in RL and it's time people became aware of this. She is delusional and trying to use fandom for her own personal goals - trying to land "official" interviews with the cast and crew, trying to get "official" articles written and published. She even wants to show her fansite to the BBC once it launches. People have been trying to explain to her that this is the sort of thing that, for copyright (and a myriad other) reasons should not be done, but I'm not sure she is actually seeing sense.
So please, please give her and her comm a nice wide berth, do not post your content there, do not engage. She is a delusional person who cannot draw a line between fact and fiction. I'm serious - she cannot draw a line between internet life and real life at all, she cannot distinguish between an actor and his character(s) and she cannot distinguish between fictional characters and real people on any level. This has caused, and continues to cause, a large number of people a great deal of pain.
ETA:snugglemuffin89 on Raks: Late-night calls and crossposting without crediting
killerweasel linked to their bit of experience with her.
End of ETA
She possibly needs help, but one thing she definitely does not need is enabling.
Feel free to spread the word, but if you do, please link back and drop me a line so I know who else is boosting the signal.
Thank you.
ETA: LINKS
lei_che_sogna has boosted the signal at her journal and linked. Thanks!
baker-street on tumblr has boosted and linked. Thank you
turkfox has signal boosted and added a few extra notes of their own on their journal. Thanks!
orange_pips explains why rakspatel was banned from the BSSC forum over here.
The signal was anonymously boosted at the kink meme. Whoever you are, anon, thank you very much!
sunnyringo has done a writeup of the crazy that's been going down on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
mycrofting for the last couple of weeks over here - with screencaps.
ETA April 11, 2011 Her story has made it to wank_report and FandomWank, so you can find all the information on what she's been up to over there. Suffice it to say that after reading that she gave Benedict Cumberbatch one of the invites to her Frankenstein closing night party, the text in the icon on this post reflects how much I've had of all this.
ETA April 16, 2011:soophelia has created a Very Useful Post as a warning to the Sherlock Holmes fandom at large (ie Holmes fandom outside the following of Sherlock) - important because rakspatel is involved with the Undershaw Preservation Trust and the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Thank you.
rakspatel has been banned from mycrofting and cumberbatchfans now. mycrofting has three new mods and seems to be shaping up nicely as a friendly place for Sherlock fen to chat. ledasdaughter has created the_sign_of_fun as a reaction to the mycrofting drama as well, so I wish them all all the best.
ETA April 21, 2011
You guys, YOU GUYS: Johnny Lee Miller yelled at her on Tuesday night (link goes through to more detailed report) because she shoved one of her "Posh invites" in his face and he told her in so many words how ridiculously offensive to him and the rest of the cast it was. Well done JLM. Also, it would appear that those who need to know have been informed.
ETA April 29, 2011
She's now selling tickets to Frankenstein illegally on eBay
It's time to get the word out so's you all know what you're letting yourselves in for. So here goes:
This post is about
rakspatel and her comm, Mycrofting. It's long and rather ranty, so, long story short:DO NOT ENGAGE.
I mean it. This person has caused so many people so much grief it's not even funny. I'm not badmouthing anyone, I am giving you facts. I have been personally involved in all this drama rather heavily and I simply do not want to keep my mouth shut any longer. People need to be aware of these things.
Long story long:
Raks is new to fandom and to the internet in general so she has no idea about netiquette. She made no great effort to learn either, in all the time she was a member of the Baker Street Supper Club forum (one of yours truly's hangouts, which is how our paths crossed).
She has no idea what fandom is all about and, to mine (and several others') perception is trying to use it as a means to "change careers". Possibly because she's had her hours reduced at her job for spending all her work time on the fan sites (we're talking about stuff like the IT department banning her from accessing tumblr, for example).
She was banned from the BSSC for several reasons including:
- harrassment of other BSSC members via email, text and phone. For example, she called someone at seven in the morning over a forum post that had been moved.
- failure to abide by the forum rules - example: she hijacked a thread about asexuality to post about something completely unrelated to that in a very aggressive manner
- misrepresenting the BSSC in front of actors and other official people
She will tell you that all this is completely untrue and that the one reason she got banned is because she doesn't like slash. That's bollocks. There are many reasons for her ban, see above. Also, she is a massive bigot - she will say she considers slash disrespectful to the Canon but as soon as it's fic or art done by her favourite people she's all over it.
Here are a few incidents to give you a bit of a picture.
ETA
She went to the stage door at the NT on the third night of Frankenstein. Look at the way that this is phrased; what I'm saying is that she went to the stage door to get Mr Cumberbatch's picture before she had even seen the play.
He didn't want his picture taken that night at all and she was among those who kept badgering him for a photo.
She was bragging she was going to post that picture a few days later - after he had said at the stage door that night he didn't want the photos posted on the internet.
gozadreams, who witenessed the situation firsthand, describes it as follows:"My friends and I saw the production on its 3rd preview. We were at the stage door (which was small) that night. Benedict came out looking exhausted (hardly "fresh as a daisy"). We were all delighted that he came out because its clear that neither Naomie Harris or Jonny Lee Miller are stage dooring at all and Benedict isn't actually leaving by the stage door and is only coming out to sign. Making him the loveliest person ever.
We very politely asked for a photo (because don't ask don't get) - he very very very politely said no as he was knackered. We respected that and put our cameras away. We were the ONLY ones that did. And we stood and watched teeth gritted as others raced up and talked him into photos he didn't want to do while he backed towards the door trying to escape. The subject of your post didn't ask him for a photo.
What she did do was take about a billion and one flash photos of him an inch away from his nose until even my friend who is so laid back she is virtually horizontal was coming up with a few choice suggestions for what she could do with her camera. It was disquieting to watch but I put it down to over excitement. I've seen it before - new to fandom, new to meeting actors can result in really socially awkward OTT behaviour with the actors. I was less impressed when she admitted that she hadn't been at the show - I'm always wary of people who "happen" to be at stage doors when they haven't seen the production that evening. I understand people coming back if they were there the previous night and the actors didn't come out but that wasn't the case here."
End of ETA
She has been stalking Mark Gatiss and Benedict Cumberbatch at the stage door and "interacting" (if you can call it that) with them in a manner that is beyond description - not making eye contact, shoving stuff in their faces to sign, being passive-aggressive etc.
She has caused the admins in the forum a great deal of pain both on the internet and in RL and it's time people became aware of this. She is delusional and trying to use fandom for her own personal goals - trying to land "official" interviews with the cast and crew, trying to get "official" articles written and published. She even wants to show her fansite to the BBC once it launches. People have been trying to explain to her that this is the sort of thing that, for copyright (and a myriad other) reasons should not be done, but I'm not sure she is actually seeing sense.
So please, please give her and her comm a nice wide berth, do not post your content there, do not engage. She is a delusional person who cannot draw a line between fact and fiction. I'm serious - she cannot draw a line between internet life and real life at all, she cannot distinguish between an actor and his character(s) and she cannot distinguish between fictional characters and real people on any level. This has caused, and continues to cause, a large number of people a great deal of pain.
ETA:
snugglemuffin89 on Raks: Late-night calls and crossposting without creditingkillerweasel linked to their bit of experience with her.End of ETA
She possibly needs help, but one thing she definitely does not need is enabling.
Feel free to spread the word, but if you do, please link back and drop me a line so I know who else is boosting the signal.
Thank you.
ETA: LINKS
lei_che_sogna has boosted the signal at her journal and linked. Thanks!baker-street on tumblr has boosted and linked. Thank you
turkfox has signal boosted and added a few extra notes of their own on their journal. Thanks!orange_pips explains why rakspatel was banned from the BSSC forum over here.The signal was anonymously boosted at the kink meme. Whoever you are, anon, thank you very much!
sunnyringo has done a writeup of the crazy that's been going down on mycrofting for the last couple of weeks over here - with screencaps.ETA April 11, 2011 Her story has made it to wank_report and FandomWank, so you can find all the information on what she's been up to over there. Suffice it to say that after reading that she gave Benedict Cumberbatch one of the invites to her Frankenstein closing night party, the text in the icon on this post reflects how much I've had of all this.
ETA April 16, 2011:
soophelia has created a Very Useful Post as a warning to the Sherlock Holmes fandom at large (ie Holmes fandom outside the following of Sherlock) - important because rakspatel is involved with the Undershaw Preservation Trust and the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Thank you.rakspatel has been banned from mycrofting and cumberbatchfans now. mycrofting has three new mods and seems to be shaping up nicely as a friendly place for Sherlock fen to chat. ledasdaughter has created the_sign_of_fun as a reaction to the mycrofting drama as well, so I wish them all all the best.ETA April 21, 2011
You guys, YOU GUYS: Johnny Lee Miller yelled at her on Tuesday night (link goes through to more detailed report) because she shoved one of her "Posh invites" in his face and he told her in so many words how ridiculously offensive to him and the rest of the cast it was. Well done JLM. Also, it would appear that those who need to know have been informed.
ETA April 29, 2011
She's now selling tickets to Frankenstein illegally on eBay
no subject
Seriously, profound thanks for taking the time to write this and for expressing things in the way that you did.
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..................Okay, so I wrote a lot there. Sorry about that.
I've spent more hours than not today working on my father's first ever CV and my first Management one, and apparently my ability to sensor myself has failed as a result.
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Reposting without some personal information I don't want in a public post.
Most people have mentioned Mycrofting - she sent me an invite which I promptly ignored - because of the non-slash policy. She went on defend this by saying it was just bad wording for what she wanted to be a 'family friendly' community, like the show. I don't even know where to start with that. Firstly, the show has canon homosexual characters, in a civil partnership even, and makes quite a big stand for - even though John and Sherlock aren't having sex, it actually wouldn't be a problem if they were. Secondly, the implicit idea that all homosexuality is not family friendly/safe, where as all heterosexual relationships are. I'm pretty sure that two people of the same sex in a loving, committed relationship is more family friendly than say domestic violence /rant.
My biggest concern - other than the fact she has invited me to these things she 'hosts' (this is possibly one of the first things that bugged me, how bloody pretentious she is about essentially picking a time/place for fans to meet) because I went to the Sherlock screening in January - is that she is unescapable, and everywhere. She really is old enough to know better, and to not be acting like a 14 yr old girl, which is what this smacks of. Someone who can't draw a line between the internet and reality, and have realistic expectations of fandom off of the internet, and interactions with actors/creators.
I don't stage door stalk often - I like to appear like a sane, balanced human being most of the time when I'm not on the internet. I'm much more comfortable meeting 'famous' people in organised settings. I like having a behaviour structure, you know what to expect and they know what to expect and it's all good. Sometimes, I do make the exception because I want to express something/say hi and that's the only way, and treat my behaviour accordingly. edited to pull personal stuff from a public post... I greatly resent that people who do just want to say well done, or thank you for an amazing show, etc get lumped in with people like this, and that's what happens. People remember the crazies, sometimes they might remember the sweet people, but it's the crazies that stick out and essentially mean that one day, he'll stop being so generous with him time to fans because of behaviour like that.
If this is how she behaves I don't even know how I can breathe the same air at things like Stage Door's. Let alone witness such appalling behaviour without comment. I certainly do not want to be lumped into the same category as her. I was raised with manners and know how to use them.
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I really want to organise a London meetup but she'll want to go. If people know in advance, they won't go because they'll want to avoid her, and even if they do come she'll ruin it - for me at least - by even being there.
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Wow, that's some serious denseness going on. I don't know what happened with you two, specifically, but if you can have a conversation with someone and still not get it, there's something not right going on there.
I can understand that fear. I've been meaning to try and sort out something where I live, which is easily reached by train from London and now I'm very wary. I want people to have a good time and I honestly don't want to associate on a fannish, or RL, level with someone who acts like this. We need some sort of underground meeting, for people who are sane and understand basic manners and good practice.
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I've been very silent in all this, but very directly involved with all that shit (I'm the person who was waken up at 7am for that damn call for example..)
We have probably met at the Q/A, as at that time, I was co-host of the meet-up (and already regretting it dearly, not because of the fans, but because of her), and then, was still giving her the benefit of the doubt, thinking she could be a friend (Im not one to judge hastily, so I gave it some time before making a decision on her character).
What happened next, all of the above, could have ruined the fandom for me if it wasn't for the awesome other fans around me, including Morelindo, and I'm glad to know that so many great people are a much better positive force than THIS.
I've now dissociated myself from her big time, had no contact with her whatsoever in the past three weeks and I've been avoiding looking at anything she does because it puts me in a furious state. Her attitude and behavior forced me to go into fandom rejection for days, I just couldn't stand just seeing her name anywhere.
I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, seriously.
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I didn't end up at the meeting before the Q&A and I'm sort of glad I didn't, as I like the fact that I'm not really involved in this mess other than putting my opinion on the table. I was supposed to be there, but my friend have to drive to Clapham and we ended up barely having time to eat dinner before the screening started.
Unfortunately, it's the bad apples in life - not just fandom - who tend to make the most lasting and profound impressions on people. It's just human nature, though I have no idea why as it's so incredibly faulty. And this is my issue with people like this, they make an impression on people - in real life and in fandom and they bring us all down, as a collective group of people. When mostly, we don't deserve the attitudes we get tarred with as a result.
Where you at the Study in Sherlock exhibit on Thursday?
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Yes that was me you talked to!
The coincidence is unbelievable :D
I have yet to write my BSSC article, working on it tomorrow morning and was going to send you an email as well to say I hadn't forgotten you!!
But yeah, I agree with everything you said... I'm finally getting out of that sphere of negativiy she brought to my life and I'm still angry I let it affect me that much, but dealing with her antics was a 24/7 job, it was excruciating. And I tried so hard to understand her, and explain to her, so much energy wasted for nothing. Now she's completely convinced I have destroyed her reputation somehow and I'm behind some kind of giant vendetta against her. I guess she'll be disappointed to find out many people decided for themselves long before I even made a strong statement against her. I said ONCE loud enough what I thought of all this, three weeks ago, but by then, things were already in motion with other people who couldn't stand her attitude.
Then again, I guess it's more satisfying for her to think I'm the evil mastermind behind all this. I think it's funny though considering I'm the only one who tried so very hard to give her the benefit of the doubt... We're talking hours and hours of face to face conversation explaining the basis of "how to behave on the internet when you're in a fandom" and other things. Never worked.
So now I just lol in my corner and enjoy my fandom with the right people :) Good times!