The Safety Pin Army: Tony Stark

[pirate_anon]

The Safety Pin Army:
Tony Stark

Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man, is a superhero from
Marvel Comics known for his brilliant mind, metal
superpowered suit, and drinking problem.

My first sighting of Draven’s Tony is on March 2, 2015 on
Facebook, when Draven comes out as multiple, again: "I am, in all
absolute and deadly seriousness, what we used to refer to a
decade ago as a 'soulbonder', and what I've seen referred to
online as 'fictionkin'; although if you've known us at all, you
know we haaaaaate those words, because their associations are
horrendous." They explain the quantum reincarnation form of
their multiplicity, and that "I'm just the body meant to facilitate
Purpose" (paragraph 5).

They bring up their history, but reverse the roles of victim
and perpetrators, stating that "I've been on Fandom
Wank(involuntarily)" (paragraph 13) avoiding the inconvenient
detail that Neo dragged his exes on there first. They also bring up
the eight-year-old Seattle Stranger article as “cyberbullying,” with
Neo as the innocent interrogated victim, rather an active
participant who then had his followers attack the newspaper
(ibid). In the comments, Draven also refers to Buffys I and III as
"A NIGHTMARE," (2015 March 3) even though neither of them
have been around in ten, fifteen years, and as far as I know have
made no contact with Draven the entire interim. All in all, they
paint a picture of perfect victimhood, none of which they’re
responsible for.

Draven divides their system into "primaries" and
"floaters." "The primary people 'own' the body, sort of
collectively co-front when needed […] basically, the ones who
front 24/7" (ibid). They list Tony as one of the primaries, and add
that he’s been fronting a great deal (paragraph 24).

Commenters pledge their support, including Draven's
younger brother. "The only time it was ever weird, for me, was
when you were talking about building a religious monastery and
training an army for a post-apocalyptic vampire computer
psychic zombie war," he says (Macabredivinity, 2015 March 4),
but reaffirms his love.

Trinity gets arrested once again a few weeks later on yet
another warrant (citation available upon request). As far as I
know, none of them mention it publicly, but it's a sign of
continued poor times for the household. They become homeless
again in early July (Stark, 2015 July 17), moving into a
Econolodge. Draven takes the opportunity to try and get a hold
of Robert Downey Jr., tweeting, "So... with everything horrible
that's happened to us in the last 10 days, do you think if I tagged
@RobertDowneyJr he'd ever answer me back?" (July 15a). The
next day, they tweet, "Guess not" (July 17).

Unsurprisingly, Trinity reports that the homelessness is
not their fault (2015 October 10). "We got to be this way, not
because we were evicted for non payment, not because we were
destructive or caused property damage, but because our landlord
got foreclosed on, and then the building was condemned," she
states (paragraph 2). Strangely specific denials, seeing as they
were evicted for all of those reasons in the past. In a further
unsettling irony, she also claims that they were evicted "because I
dared to complain about the constant noise of the couple across
the hall from us, who had the local police called on them on a
regular basis for domestic violence" (ibid). The noisy couple
down the hall sound exactly like Anakin and Sidious, or Neo and
Trinity.

Despite the circumstances, the system still has its usual
attitude towards critics. On July 15, the same day he's trying to
reach Robert Downey Jr., Tony gets a Facebook page shut down
for harassment, apparently because they found out about the
Seattle Slog articles and started spreading them around. "Why
the blue and unholy FUCK do I worry about what a handful of
fuckwits [...] who run a relatively tiny fan page on Facebook
think about me and Trin? I'm homeless, waiting on brain
surgery(yeah, nice timing, asswits), and I will still have a
thousand times more fucking class than them," he posts (2015 July
15b, paragraph 14), and in the comments (#3), he adds, “Wait
until I've finished building my suit... And use it to raise awareness
for the ‘not killing each other out of hatred and fear’ concept.”
More on that later.

Within the day, the group is shut down, but Tony’s still
angry. "If I had 'true' DID and was being mocked, it'd be a viral
outrage and some judge would award me half a million dollars,”
he states (paragraph 11), “But because I believe they came from
elsewhere - all for a reason, regardless - it's a joke, eh? Did you
miss the 'yes, I HAVE been evaluated by a psychiatrist(more than
one, quite actually), and they accepted it as a "spiritual belief"
part of the post?'"

It's a peculiar, subtle strain of ableism—to claim that
because he doesn't have a mental illness, he's being harassed more
than if he did. It also doesn't ring true to my experience. Trolls'
behavior hasn't changed much since I was diagnosed; I’m still
considered equally crazy and plenty of people believe DID
doesn’t exist. Regardless, as far as I know, Tony's crusade is
successful. The critics are stomped, publicly anyway, and Tony's
commenters voice their support.

A couple months later, Draven takes on a new diagnosis:
intracranial hypertension (Trinity, 2015 September 2). It is
extremely rare, and the symptoms apparently mimic a brain
tumor, thus its other name of pseudotumori cerebri. It mostly
replaces multiple sclerosis and cancer as the main cause for
Draven's health issues—as far as I know, Draven never mentions
having MS again after this. Tony and Trinity also start a
gofundme campaign to try and break out of their homelessness
(Draven, 2015 September 7), but it's unsuccessful.

After years of refusing public assistance, Draven finally
applies for disability (October 10, paragraph 9). Trinity reports
that he "receives nothing yet, as Social Security still has ninety
days to make their decision," but that’s misleading. The initial
SSDI/SSI decision is usually just the beginning. The majority of
applicants are rejected the first time; they must then appeal the
decision or request a hearing. The exact timeline for how long it
takes to wade through all that ranges highly, but the Social
Security Administration lists average wait times for hearings as
ranging from eleven to twenty-seven months, depending on the
city; when I applied, I was told to expect at least a year. And that
still presumes one fills out the paperwork and makes
appointments in a timely fashion. That is challenging enough
under any circumstances, never mind while homeless and
without reliable transit, and none of Draven are particularly
reliable even in the best of times.

The household has more financial trouble on the way.
Trinity's disability payments aren't enough to keep the household
afloat, and they can't afford their hotel room. While Trinity
panhandles daily (2015 October 10) and despairs that she’s
“lowering myself in the eyes of all of our friends to keep us in a
roof” (2015 December 6), Tony opens up StarkTech Custom Gear
(later Metaverse Cosplay) (2015 November 24a). "Looking for a
prop for your next cosplay or con?" the first post reads. "Want a
weapon, item, logo/coat of arms, plan, or similar item custom
-designed just for you, to fit your unique needs and specifications?
[...] Tired of wishing your stuff actually DID something, instead of
just quietly sitting there pretending it did? [...] Then you've
probably come to the right place."

On the same day, he posts a video of a "fireball-launching
lower exo gauntlet that I built as part of my Iron Man (Mk. II)
series" (2015 November 25b). But it’s not just part of a series; in
his Youtube video description of the flamethrower at work (2015
December 13), he notes that he made it specifically "to see if I
could add actual weapons to my Mk II exo version," that is, the
Iron Man suit. All this while he's supposedly desperately sick
and in need of brain surgery; what exactly does he think he'll be
using the suit for?

It's surreal to see Trinity's desperation mirrored against
Draven's blithe lack of priorities. Building custom gear requires
tools and a workshop—difficult while homeless and sick. Trinity
appears to be doing whatever she can to keep them floating, even
though it keeps leading to her arrest for trespassing, theft, and
bad checks, but Tony's making weaponry that could possibly
burn the hotel down. It’s like he’s so busy playing out his fictional
role as superheroic genius that he can’t see reality in front of him.

Trinity sees what’s coming; she mourns being denied a
Christmas with housing (2015 October 11). She describes
humiliation after humiliation, despair after despair as she
desperately panhandles for money to buy food and medication
for Draven, who is apparently too sick to assist (2015 December
5), despite his work on his Iron Man suit. "Lie to me guys," she
begs (2015 December 3a). "Spin me a pretty tale. I was the
virtuous little girl of the story, I always was. I could do anything,
because I had all the right reasons on my side."

In a moment of utter exhaustion and despair, she
describes succinctly and accurately the power Draven has over
her, why she believes in them so. "I tell myself stories..." she says
(December 3b). "Once there was a dutiful young maid... And
they give me the drive I need, because I repeat them often
enough to myself, they become real. Thus, the power of belief in
the Story. So, if I tell myself… ‘In this glass is the ability to go see
[REDACTED] in New York. We will be there for the big
convention, when it's warmer.... [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]
and [REDACTED] will be there... and I'll wear the Burdened
With Glorious Purpose hoodie I haven't bought yet... […]’ It will
be real. And the glass will have the power of absolute possibility
etched into it."

What is Draven, if not a storyteller? What is the life they
have crafted for Trinity, if not endless reiterations of the Story?
And what is Trinity but a never-ending series of supporting
characters—not just in the real-life Story, but the fictional ones
that inspire Draven so? The Matrix is Neo’s story, not Trinity’s or
Smith’s. Constantine is John’s, not Angie’s or Gabriel’s. One can
argue that Clarice’s story is Silence of the Lambs, but even then,
Hannibal Lecter is the one who gets Hannibal (book, movie, and
TV series), plus Hannibal Rising. If their lives are the Story, then
the system members of Draven are the heroes.

With that framing, Tony's behavior makes perfect sense—
he's acting out the role of a fictional protagonist, and a fictional
protagonist in his favorite stories never stoops to such mundane
mediocrity as panhandling or begging. Like Angel’s painting of
himself on the cross all those years ago, Tony plays the “broken
messiah,” the desperately sick, homeless martyr on the verge of
death, but he also plays the role of the “Prometheus,” the
“Superman” who's creating a fireball-flinging super suit, bringing
fire to humanity and saving the world, both at the same time.

The only problem is, reality does not conform to the
dictates of fiction. Two days after the post about the Story,
Trinity and Draven are evicted (Trinity, 2015 December 6), but
Draven keeps playing their roles. A few days later, they upload
pictures of a rocket that Tyler Durden apparently made for the
Fourth of July (2015 December 9). I don't know where they live
afterward, but they keep posting.

Throughout all of this madness, Trinity has been hosting
her usual complementary headmates to Draven's, namely Pepper
Potts (Draven, 2015 July 4). By May 2016, though, she’s also
hosting Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, and at least one other
guy, all of whom are sexually involved with Tony. How does this
come up? Trinity posts (as quoted by Draven, 2017 May 1), "Due
to our good friend Becky's thoughts on teaching our boys and
men not to rape, Tony and I were having an in-depth discussion
on the subject early this morning."

Tony shows disdain for men who sexually assault, and
Trinity quotes him as saying, "I'm Tony fucking Stark. If I can
learn to curb some of this, anyone can." To which Trinity replies,
"Yes, but you have boyfriends, a fiancee and occassionally [sic] a
Russian assassin sharing your bed. You don't need to look else
where [sic] anymore."

For such a short post, there's a lot tangled up in it. What
exactly does Tony mean by "learning to curb some of this"? Rape
culture? Sexual assault? When, exactly, did he learn? After
Kurt, who tried to play the romantic brooding bad boy for
Tiffani? After Angel, who pined over a Faith role-player who was
in high school? After House, who role-played a spanking scene
with Draven's "adopted son," or after Anakin, who joked about
it? After the Phantom, who like Anakin insisted that his dom be
his metaphysical, literal, in-all-practical-ways parent? I argue that
Tony hasn’t learned, especially since Trinity outright equates his
raping others as infidelity, and that the sole reason he isn't doing
so is because she is fulfilling all of Draven’s sexual needs with an
array of over twenty partners, at least four of which are devoted
to Tony alone. And Tony apparently agrees with this assessment
so much that he reposts the screencaps a year later (2017 May 1)!

Meanwhile, in June 2016, I start working on this write-up.
At the time, I only know of Neo, and I don't know if he’s even
still alive—at least one person thought he might be dead.
Foolishly, I post a little of what I learn about Draven, including a
link to Neo's book, archived on his website by the Wayback
Machine.

At the time, I don't know that Draven still keeps obsessive
track of all mentions of themselves. Furious at being once again
criticized in public, Draven slaps me with a DMCA notice (Lee,
2016 June 8a) to get the book post taken down (despite the fact
that he put the book up under a CCA license). When I post about
the matter, Neo creates a tumblr account, quantumviable (with
the title "Confessions of a Cult LeaderTM"), and sends me some
harassment, all the while claiming that I'm the one stalking him
(Lee, 2016, June 7; June 8b). He claims that "because of my
peculiar mental fucked-upness, I literally cannot just let it go,"
that I'm "quoting it out of context," and that he's "too fucking sick
to deal with alllll this tired drama again," as though this is merely
some high school theatrics and not twenty years of abuse, arrests,
and cults. He warns me, "If I see copyrighted writings, I’ll file a
DMCA complaint. If it looks like you’re trying to encourage your
six followers to bother me, I’ll report you again. Offline, if I have
to. You’re bonkers. I’m not 'active', there’s no 'group', I’m not
anyone’s 'leader'" (Lee, 2016, June 8b) He then tops off that
impressive heap of lies with the claim that he "may need cancer
treatment." I wonder if that is in addition to or instead of
intracranial hypertension, the brain-cancer mimic? He never
mentions it again anywhere, as far as I can tell; it’s purely
something to shame me with.

Neo then goes on a spate of deleting his sources out from
under me. He locks his he_dreams_awake LJ account, and
deletes the for_zion, radio_zero_one, and teachingsofneo. When
in an act of incompetence, I accidentally show that I know of his
Facebook, he purges that too, and then blocks me, even as he
posts on tumblr how immature, illogical, and childish I am for
blocking him (2016 June 8). His IP address checks me every day
for a week, and then leaves.

By Draven’s standards, I get off very easily. Compare Neo’s
few days of tumblr harassment and a week of watching with the
four years Angel pursued Buffy II, or Neo’s Fandom Wank
excoriation of Smith I. However, even though Draven has no dirt
on me, doesn’t know me and thus can’t manipulate me as
effectively, I can state with authority that his tactics are effective.
Even today, looking at the quantumviable posts makes me
anxious. He actually manages to half-convince me he has cancer,
and that he is the innocent victim of my harassment campaign.
For a while, I debate quitting the write-up entirely, questioning
my motives and my morality. A complete stranger on the
Internet, one I know has a history of manipulating and guilt-
tripping others, still manages to manipulate and guilt-trip me!

Fortunately, all of Draven seems to believe that I’m an
incompetent illiterate child. They leave all of their other
accounts unlocked and mostly untouched, and I’m able to work
around the holes in my research. After taking a break, I continue
working, more quietly and sensibly this time.

Draven can't seem to avoid leading groups for long
though, despite his claims. On September 2, 2016, Tony creates a
video, entitled "How Pokémon GO Saved My Life." In it, he
reverts from his cancer claims back to intracranial hypertension,
along with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and spinal damage
(but not multiple sclerosis). He claims that before the game, he
had spent the prior year in bed, but the game inspired him to
finally go outside again.

Within a month, Tony creates a Youtube Channel under
the name Pokémon Trainer Triumphs and two Facebook groups
around Pokémon Go. Pokémon Trainer Triumphs is ostensibly for
disabled people to share their triumphs in the game, but mostly,
Draven uses it to celebrate theirs. In one of his videos, Tony
states, "I really want all of you to share in my journey - it's a lot of
what keeps me going," (2016 October 6) suggesting that he still
sees himself as the hero, everyone else as the audience. The
Youtube channel description reads, "I wanted to [...] share my
adventures, and document the experiences I have... and the
experiences of others like me, who wanted to share," but the
latter part feels like an afterthought tacked on; he certainly
doesn’t post anyone else’s videos on the channel.

Trinity asks for money to float a loan so she can buy Tony
the latest update to Pokémon Go (2016 September 10). Draven
also starts dressing up as Ash Ketchum, including one photo of
them holding a stuffed Pikachu and with a caption reading Ash's
signature catch phrase: "Pikachu, I choose you!" (Trinity, 2016
September 4). I wouldn't be surprised if Ash became a system
member, though I never see an open admission of it.

Ash is certainly among the character types Draven prefers.
Remember the old slogan Demos created for Neo back in the
Constantine days, rehashing song lyrics from Pokémon the Movie
2000? The song “the Power of One” is intended to be about Ash,
who is a literal prophesied Chosen One to help save the world
and bring balance to the legendary bird Pokémon. It’s the same
messianic story that Draven have rehashed, over and over.

But Pokémon Go groups aren’t the only ones Draven starts
in the fall of 2016. In November, there is the presidential election.
Tony will later claim credit for Neo supposedly predicting
Trump's rise to the presidency: "I told you. A dozen fucking
years ago I told you. About unchecked hate, about the triumph
of illusion over objective reality, about bigotry being taught not
inborn, and that we were closing in on apocalyptic loss if people
refused to see it. I cried on the radio. We made videos. We
screamed into the abyss so loud and so long that we lost our
voices" (2017 August 13). Fortunately, the nature of Neo's
apocalypse was so vague in time and scope that it's hard to
disprove.

In the wake of Trump’s rise, Tony creates the Safety Pin
Army. (He also creates public pages to support them,
StandFightAct and ApocalypseNot, but later purges them.)

What is the Safety Pin Army? According to the group's
description, it's "a network to volunteer to be a safe ally or buddy
in an emergency - or any unsafe - situation for anyone who feels
threatened" (Draven, 2016 November 12). Innocent enough on
the surface, but not so much in reality. In the now-deleted
"Stand Fight Act" page, Tony posts that it "was supposed to be a
far-reaching, national, 'militia'-type organization of people whose
info would be added to a hotline and a developed app, so that
anyone who felt unsafe or needed help or accompaniment would
have support one text or click away" (2016 December 10). In the
now-deleted "ApocalypseNot" page, made at the time of the
Safety Pin Army's formation, Tony goes into more detail. He
writes, "There is a (secret) Facebook group to gather people in
one place; you can PM or request to be added. By tonight, there
will also be a Google doc posted in that group to gather people's
information, so that we can start building that database RIGHT
AWAY. And if you know anyone that could help get the word
out - if you have a blog, if you write for an online magazine, etc. -
PLEASE let us know" (2016 November 16). He also sets up a
radio show, which nobody listens to (2016 November 10).

The whole thing seems like a Frankenstein’s monster of
past Draven projects—Neo’s radio show, combined with a more
high-tech version of Angel Investigations' bodyguarding service
and Neo’s aspirations of saving the world. But Tony isn't as
successful as Angel or Neo were. In less than a month, Tony’s
lamenting how big a failure the group has proven to be
(December 10). "Our radio broadcast we worked hard to set up, a
place where your voice matt...ered; we got an average of two
listeners every other day, and maybe three shares. We printed
out safety flyers, made badges, tried to collect and organize, but
it seems as if 80% of people online want to feel as if they're
'rebelling' by telling stories in secret groups, writing 'kind letters',
and your average postage stamp of solidarity... before going back
to their lives. […] Help me. Tell me what you want. Tell me what
I have to do to hold your interest. Tell me where to share things.
[...] Tell me what we're doing wrong."

It's not a hard question to answer: Tony is exactly the kind
of slacktivist he’s ranting about. That he even says "tell me where
to share things" proves that his focus is all wrong—to actually
organize a militia requires working with already existent groups
and causes, the ones with boots on the ground and stronger info
security. But Tony focuses only on Facebook, only on spreading
the word. He seems completely unaware of any other form of
activism, and why should be? It’s all he’s ever done.

And then there’s the question of, if his health is so poor,
how can he be relied on to intervene in an offline emergency, or
organize the vast team of volunteers he hopes for? Indeed, Tony
doesn't even manage the responsibilities he does claim! He never
creates his planned app or hotline, and he doesn't even manage to
update the Google Doc with the less than ten people who do sign
up (citation available upon request). The inaugural broadcast of
the ApocalypseNot radio show has only two people in the chat
and never comes back after its first broadcast (November 10). By
January 2017, Tony’s stopped posting in his own group,
abandoning it.

The following month, Tony solicits donations for 826NYC
and the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company, raising $300 from
5 people by livestreaming a playthrough of Resident Evil 7 (2017
February 17). It is the first hard evidence I’ve seen of any of
Draven successfully contributing to anyone other than
themselves.

In late March, Steve Rogers (channeled by Trinity, as
usual) makes a peculiar post on Facebook, saying, "Tony has
spent the evening doing what Tony does best... Helping to bring
the military into the future by adding advanced AI and robotics
into the mix" (Trinity, 2017 March 29). Most assuredly this is
written to seem far more important or grandiose than it actually
is… but still, is Tony actually assisting the military run by the
government he hoped to organize a citizens’ militia against just a
few months prior? And what exactly is he doing? It's not clear:
"The Navy wanted the help of gamers to come up with ideas to
pair man and technology for the first generation of [the]
Singularity. They make it sound like a game." Like Trinity with
Neo, Steve expresses awe and claims that "this should say
something for his skills crossing over [...] But saying that Tony is
impressive with tech because he's Tony is a little circular."

Strangely, Steve adds, "And as none of this has anything to do
with weapons, Tony doesn't have to break his promise to
himself," which begs the question why the flamethrower gloves
don’t count.

Speaking of those gloves, Tony returns to them in October
2017, claiming that he’s “considering making [them] available as a
self-defense accessory for people who might be walking or
jogging or - particularly - in hostile situations. Lightweight glove
containing a concealable barrel that fires small bursts of flame
upon pressing the button. It'd certainly back up anybody with
hostile intentions, in my opinion" (2017, October 6).

Even by Draven's standards, this is a bad idea. Why on
earth would you embed something that shoots fire into
flammable fabric gloves? Tony doesn’t even put a safety cap on
the things! Fire also does not drop or stop a person; an attacker
set on fire seems more likely to harm everyone and everything
around them in their panicked flailing. And even if everything
did work out as intended, how on earth would that court case
go? Setting someone on fire is a terrifying thing to do, extremely
dangerous, and risks everything around them. It is one of the
worst tactics of self-defense I can imagine.

But isn’t that a perfect emblem of Tony's flaws, and that of
Draven as a whole? The gloves might seem impressive, might
look useful, but in reality, they are all surface and no substance,
achieving nothing but fortifying Tony's self-image as a
technological genius superhero. Not only are they functionally
useless for their intended purpose, but they are in fact actively
dangerous to everyone around them, including the wearer.

I can only be glad that the Safety Pin Army was a failure.
But even as Tony keeps ostensibly doing work for the military,
other system members protest the government, seemingly with
no concern for the dissonance.