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
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I just feel the need to point out here, the final nail in the coffin for me was the other day on the cumberbatch fans comm. Someone posted their positive stage door experience, saying they had a photo with him but obviously weren't going to post it because of his wishes. They also said they'd later seen him come out in his motorbike gear, but because he obviously was trying to keep a low profile and just leave they didn't take any snaps (I respect this person a LOT for this). However, did anyone have any motorbike gear photos from other events that they would be willing to share. At this point, Raks commented saying that she had lots of stage door pictures of him in his gear/on his bike, but of course wasn't willing to share them. After some bribing, she then agreed to send the photos to the OP, as long as they agreed to all her strict conditions. (I'm remembering so this isn't verbatim, I could be wrong about some bits. But that's the general gist.)
This annoys me on two levels. I don't believe in taking pictures of -anyone- like that. It's one thing to ask for a picture with someone, or even to take their picture, it's another thing to take a photo when they're trying to go home and you don't have permission. I would NEVER do this, no matter who it was (not even Colin Firth and getting up the balls to speak to him was really hard). Second, I HATE with a burning passion people who do the whole - well, I have this but I'm not actually going to share, I'm just telling you so that I can show off the fact I have it and you don't. I have seen this more than once, in lots of fandoms. Nearly always with photographs funnily enough, ones that people shouldn't have/be sharing. If you respect someone as a human being, you shouldn't have them to begin with. If you can't do that and you do have them, then don't be a child and wave it in everyones face that you do and you're not going to share.
And woooooow, I'm on a ranty roll tonight!
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However, before having that nice chat with Benedict, me and my sister were also witness to her disgusting behaviour.
And I'll let you know the other side of that conversation between me and raks. Although she sounded pretty strict, she sent the pictures easily enough, and they are just regular stage door pictures of a day when Benedict came outside already kitted out in his biker leathers. Funny thing is that because he's wearing a high-visibility jacket and she had her flash on, the pictures are rubish. LOL Our interaction was friendly enough and that was it.
Her recent posts and comments regarding day-ticketing, however really rubbed me the wrong way, enough for me to make a small post on my LJ complaining of crazies in the comms. Thankfully morelindo was kind enough to send me a heads up. And I totally suport her advice: do not engage (thrusters or otherwise). Sorry, trekkie here. :)