Talk:Raksha

I dunno how appropriate almost all of this is, frankly. Not saying she's not snapped a twig or ten, but really, is it worth dragging shit here? --M Sipher 02:13, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Right, we don't need a page attacking her. All she need is a mention that she ran BotCon '95, and created Nightracer.And about taking interest in a toy line too far, well, I don't think she's spent $4000 on a First Aid recolor. --FortMax 02:29, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Cut out the specifics. Singularity 02:33, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

I think that having an article about Raksha at all is kind of questionable considering how minor her hand in official stuff has been. She's played a much smaller role than, say, Ben Yee, even before he joined with Fun Pub. She even had a smaller role than somebody like Ravestrike who penned an official story. But still, organizing a BotCon and creating Nightracer is technically an official role so I suppose I can accept the article being here. If the article is going to stay, though, I think it still needs to be much less POV than it currently sounds. It's reasonable to mention that she is controversial (although she's also completely irrelevant anymore), but it should be done in a detached way. --Steve-o 03:39, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Word. Raksha hasn't been relevant to the online fandom in years. I think the last high-profile (non-ridiculous drama) thing she did was TF:DD. Incidentally, do we want to include MUSHes and things like that in the fandom category? I'm tending towards 'no', but that is a fairly historical part of the fandom activity... -hx 03:51, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps a single article explaining what they are. I'd avoid mentioning specific ones, though. --M Sipher 03:57, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Edited the article to be more netural and have her as a "former figure". I truly think she's batshit insane, but I'm quite willing to concede to requests to remove the negative parts. Singularity 04:27, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

I think the current revision is fine. Thanks, Singularity. --Steve-o 16:16, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

IIRC, the onyl reasont his article was written was to counterpoint her mention in the Botcon 98 script. -Derik 01:14, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

If Ben Yee's in-canon death goes on his normal page, why does Raksha-the-fan and Raksha-the-Visitations-concept get two separate pages? --Monzo 01:26, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Because Ben Yee explicitly refers to himself, whereas while Rakasha is the name of a wilf in a well-known piece of literature, and thus could (ostencibly) be a reference to a character, not the fan.

(Or at least such is the logic)

Besides, Megatron mistaking Antagony for Raksha is funny. -Derik 01:34, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

I think the Raksha (Decepticon) entry is unneeded. Megatron is obviously referring to the real human in Visitations. Pretending that he's referring to a Decepticon of the same name in an attempt to close off the fourth wall in THAT script, of all things, is absurd. --ItsWalky 01:37, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

MOnzo's revision looks great. As the original article author, i give blessing for Raksha (BW)'s deletion

Just a question, but is Raksha the chick David Kaye mentioned in the interview on the Beast Machines DVD set that was harassing him at a convention? --DrSpengler 18:51, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

IIRC, yeah. --ItsWalky 19:31, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Minor question: Is Flamewar, given the internet name pun and mention of "She holds disdain for the current crop of Decepticon Generals, including Deathsaurus. Flamewar sees them all as pale imitators of Megatron(...)", a nod towards Raksha or am I reading too much into that?--MCRG 06:57, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Ben swears up and down that he didn't have Raksha in mind when he created her. And to be fair, Raksha loved Deathsaurus, because she could make up what he was like. -LV 07:35, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

David Kaye on the BM DVD

Question about this: In an interview on Kid Rhino's Beast Machines DVD set, David Kaye recounts an unpleasant encounter at a Botcon convention with a very obsessed and ill-mannered fangirl with a snake around her neck. That fangirl would happen to be Raksha.

Is this accurate? I had heard rumors to this effect, but after seeing this account of Kaye's comments a while back, it doesn't seem to fit. Did Kaye actually say anything about her being "very obsessed and ill-mannered" or that the encounter was "unpleasant"? --KilMichaelMcC 20:44, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

• Well, here's his quote regarding her entirely. I'll just substitute the trivia out with this:

"I didn't know it was such a huge deal. And there was one fan, she had a snake around her, I found out she was a big G1 fan and she didn't like the new series, and that's fine. But then I found out that, wow, some people really don't like what we do...huh. It kinda deflates you but then you realize it's the fan thing, some people like it, some people don't, whatever." --DrSpengler 21:14, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Legal Name

Is "Raksha" really her legal name? I recall another name as her legal name (first initial J, last initial K). I will refrain from posting it in the case she chooses it not to be mentioned in the Wiki, but the phrase "yes, that is her legal name" might be inaccurate. (Unless she changed it?)

Yes, she changed her name, legally, about a decade ago. --Thylacine 2000 22:02, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Mainpic

Hey, I found a picture of her in her article at Encyclopedia Dramatica. Is it alright to use it? WARNING WEBSITE VERY NSFW: http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/b/b7/Raksha-avatar.jpg -- Semysane 23:02, 6 October 2009 (EDT)

Also, ED claims that her birth name was Jovanka Kink (spelling not certain). Is that true and/or worth noting in the article? -- Semysane 23:15, 6 October 2009 (EDT)

Seriously, I have a picture and name. Is it okay to use them? Anyone? -- Semysane 00:33, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

"Hey everybody! Who wants to talk about Raksha?" is the problem you're having. Look, I don't know. I've learned to assume that anything I do Re: Raksha will only make her very, very mad. --ItsWalky 00:56, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

Then why don't I just do it so she can get mad at me instead of you. Her anger will only make me more ruthless. I feed upon it. -- Semysane 01:30, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

You know, I'm a few years younger than Walky and didn't have internet during the 90s, so I wasn't around during the ATT days. But even I know not to touch this issue. I'd just leave it alone, if I were you. --FFN 03:14, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

...my word, what an unflattering picture of her!

Isn't Raksha briefly seen on one of the Kid Rhino Botcon montages? Standing in front of that poster of Megatron, Shockwave, Nightbird and... uh... Nightlash(?) at her booth? Thar was both much nicer-looking, and (by virtue of being on an official DVD) nicer-looking!

(I think she's on the DVD... or maybe there's a shot on the DVD of her booth with her not in it, and a photo taken from the same angle with her I've seen...)

Semysane, got an e-mail? (Not all anger is nutritious.) -Derik 03:53, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

Yes, gibbering(underscore)mouther(at)hotmail(dotcom). And yeah, I wasn't part of the online fandom back then either, so maybe I just don't fully appreciate her crazy. -- Semysane 10:48, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

Just a quick note from someone else who wasn't part of internet fandom back then. I came to this page to find out more about this "Raksha" I keep hearing about, but there is very little on here. For example, it is stated that her views on the Decepticons were controversial but not what those views were. From dribs and drabs I've gleaned from all over I THINK I know what they were, but I could be massively wrong. Perhaps the "old timers" (no disrespect meant, I've been a fan since the very beginning - just not on the net) could put in something about this? Khajidha 11:51, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

I think the staff here made it a point not to go into much detail about her views or personality so as to avoid getting ugly and just remain as civil as possible. Raksha was a very..."unbalanced" individual. Her 'controversial' views on the Decepticons were that they were an oppressed minority driven to acts of terrorism by their Autobot oppressors and were, in fact, the actual "good guys" of the fiction. That's all well and good, and a fun viewpoint, but Raksha tended to take it to a fanatical level and could get very bitter and volitile about it in discussions online and in person. She also tended to hate all things Beast Wars, which lead to her harassing voice actors at conventions. David Kaye got it pretty bad, since she hated Beast Wars Megatron more than anything else (her love of G1 Megatron bordered on the...sexually obsessive). And Raksha as a human being? Well, I'll just let you read this thread and come to your own conclusion. Anyhow, she's a rather controversial figure among the fandom and the staff are being rather polite by not including these infamous moments in her article. Nicer than I would've been, anyhow. --DrSpengler 13:21, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

"Her 'controversial' views on the Decepticons were that they were an oppressed minority driven to acts of terrorism by their Autobot oppressors and were, in fact, the actual "good guys" of the fiction." Interesting. And completely not in the article. Shouldn't the opening be rephrased to something like this: "She was controversial due to her view of the Decepticons as the true heroes in the original cartoon and intense dislike for later media, such as Beast Wars." No namecalling, no screeching, just telling people what made her controversial? Khajidha 13:39, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

Dare I point out that Raksha's negative view of overall Autobot policy isn't entirely made up?

That "War Dawn" had the Decepticons raiding food from corrupt (or at least insulated, lazy uninvolved) city-states with incurious citizenry, unconcerned by the problems of the world because they were rich and full of an arrogant assurance that nothing could possibly threaten them?

No? Okay then! (I could go on for some time... pretty much EVERY Transformers backstory the Decepticons as arising at the end of a golden age where rot had set in...) The view itself isn't that crazy, Raksha just isn't necessarily the best spokesman for it. -Derik 00:31, 14 October 2009 (EDT)

I edited that line into the article. -- Dark T Zeratul 14:06, 13 October 2009 (EDT)

Thank you Semysane.

Anyway, as I was saying... it's not like Raksha gets a free pass not to conduct herself like a rational human being... but an awful lot of the crap slung her way back in the day involved people baiting her for her amusing responses. Your suggestions of content to add seemed to evoke a similar somewhat lurid "check out the freakshow" tone that carries negative associations from that baiting. (I know/knew Raksha mildly well from a few mailing lists back in the day, which may color my impression of her.) -Derik 00:18, 14 October 2009 (EDT)

Wow, thanks Derik. Being from after Raksha's time, I've always wondered if this knee-jerk reaction to her behaviour and ideas (and by association, everything else surrounding her or even the ridiculous-slightest associatable with her) was at all justified. Her ideas never sounded that weird to me, nor did her behaviour seem much worse (if at all) than what is nearly common practice around the internet (nowadays). It's good to hear a milder, more objective opinion for once. Geewunling 00:44, 14 October 2009 (EDT)

See, here's the thing about Raksha - back in the heyday of ATT, things were extremely extremely chill by internet standards. Raksha, while an actual fan and genuinely interested in the product, was probably the closest thing the fandom (and in the day, ATT was the fandom) had to a troll for many years - except that she was serious! The combination of her unorthodox interpretation of the material, her dedication to said interpretation, and then the general kookiness that surrounded her made her kind of a quasi-celebrity, but also painted a big fat target on her back because OH HEY IT'S RAKSHA SHE'S CRAZY ABOUT DECEPTICONS HEY RAKSHA I BET YOU'RE REALLY CRAZY TOO DO YOU JERK OFF TO MEGATRON HAW HAW HAW and so, while hell yes she put way too much into a kids' cartoon, a lot of people were kind of dickish to her about it, and by the end of her time in the active fandom, she was generally kind of dickish right back (that is, of course, the Decepticon way). Of course, by that point, nobody much was talking about the stuff she cared about (this was the end of BW/beginning of BM, before the Dreamwave comics, so the well was really dry as far as G1 conversations go) and the really mean stuff got really mean (former friends of hers making some pretty harsh claims about her personal life, etc.) so she just packed up and left, 'cause nothing else was ever going to be like the G1 cartoon, and if nobody wanted to talk about that specific universe and how great it was (again, this was 2000 or so - the big nostalgia boom hadn't hit yet) then she was just going to go back to whatever it was she did outside of TF.

By and large, if you were there then, you're really really over it now. Hooper_X 08:13, 14 October 2009 (EDT)

Thanks a lot everyone, I really appreciate everything you've all told me. I'm starting to really get a feel for this rather interesting character from the Transformers fandom. I think such an influential figure should have lots of information in her article, but I'll see if I can go about making it more neutral and less judgmental. -- Semysane 15:19, 14 October 2009 (EDT)

Er... on that note, the article is fairly neutral and non-judgmental as is, so I'll just stop trying to dig up dirt. -- Semysane 15:26, 14 October 2009 (EDT)

Could still use a picture. Are we good to go on the one listed before or do we need to find another? Khajidha 19:22, 14 October 2009 (EDT)

Just post it and if someone disapproves they can substitute it with one they like more. --DrSpengler 19:38, 14 October 2009 (EDT)

How about we don't care and just leave it alone? --FFN 20:31, 14 October 2009 (EDT)

If we don't care, then why have a non-pic up asking for one? --LBD "Nytetrayn" 08:13, 22 March 2010 (EDT)

I can understand being a fan. We're all fans but this lady sounds nuts. But I guess its true what they say. Whatever floats your boat right.

Website

It looks like her website is down, as the links to her homepage and the "Untransformable" essay are dead. Are they on archive.org, does she have a new URL, or should we just remove the links without replacement?

You know...

It's kind of dimly amusing that after all these years, the official IDW fiction on some level is all about how the Decepticons are the noble working class who were oppressed and beleagued by decadent and corrupt Autobot society. -hx 15:39, 20 August 2013 (EDT)

Also interesting that the idea of character archetypes is becoming more of a thing. Design cues and personzlity traits are ever more wedded to particular names. --Khajidha (talk) 20:22, 11 October 2018 (EDT)

Image

Seeing as to the...less than reputable source website for the image we have now, I'm proposing we replace it with this image: [1] from here. Escargon (talk) 08:09, 13 September 2020 (EDT)

Seconded. -- Cyberlink420 (talk) 11:36, 13 September 2020 (EDT)

Thirded. Prime Radiant (talk) 11:55, 13 September 2020 (EDT)

Fourthed. Voxel (talk) 13:16, 13 September 2020 (EDT)

Done. Escargon (talk) 13:21, 13 September 2020 (EDT)