pirate_anon

20 Years, 20 System Members:
Conclusion

Over the course of roughly twenty years and twenty
system members, Draven has bilked followers of thousands of
dollars, abused them in every way imaginable, gotten them
arrested, and left them homeless. Draven themselves have been
arrested and sent to court multiple times over domestic violence
charges, non-payment of rent, obtaining prescription drugs
through fraud, and threatening with weapons. They are not
messiahs, prophets, superheroes, or even decent human beings.
They are parasites, predators, and convicted felons that have
shown no capacity or desire for change.

In the course of writing this history, I have read countless
words by Draven, Trinity, and followers past and present. Draven
uses every setback, obstacle, and cruelty of the world as
justification for their own violence. In contrast, I have seen ex-
followers who despite everything still worry for Draven's health
and Trinity’s safety. Ex-followers have shared with me their guilt
and shame, their feelings that they should've known better, done
better, been better. It is as though they carry the moral burden
and responsibility that Draven refuses to bear for themselves.

When I read Trinity's posts, I see a rapt adoration of
Draven, the heroes, narrators, and writers of the Story. She's
financially supported them, been arrested and jailed for them,
but all the support is one way. When I read Trinity and Smith's
LJs, when I see Christine in the Phantom's videos, it is all about
Draven's goals, Draven's importance, Draven's message.
Meanwhile, all of Draven treat all of Trinity as orbiting objects,
extensions of their own goals and feelings—Trinity as Neo's
devoted second-in-command, Sidious as Anakin’s dom, Christine
as the Phantom's pet star. Angie's miscarriage becomes a mere
footnote to Constantine's romantic angst. I have never once seen
Draven refer to a single goal or hobby of Trinity’s that doesn’t
involve them.

Almost twenty years ago on Usenet, a few intrepid Poppy
Z. Brite fans saw through Draven. One commenter wrote, "This
ng has seen many trolls, although [...] I've never seen anyone who
seems to revel so much in dishing out hatred. You come across as
enjoying hurting the people that you have" (Jayne, 1999). That
awareness and sense of community saved them, and it is that
awareness and sense of community plurals must also build, if
they want to avoid predators like Draven and uproot the existing
ones from our spaces.

On April 18, 2017, one anonymous commenter returned to
that ancient Usenet thread, untouched since 1999. Their
response:

"All of you, every last one of you, were absolutely right."

Afterword: For Prospective,
Current, and Ex-Followers

This paper is a history, not a self-help manual. However, I
would be remiss not to give resources. If you’re in a cult, or have
been in one, or just want to render some psychological firs aid
and vaccination, here are some good places to look:

• Combatting Cult Mind Control, by Steve Hassan. Ignore the
florid title and cover; Hassan is an ex-Moonie and his
book is solid and down-to-earth.

• The Tea Blogger’s reports on the cult activities of Andy
Blake, whose cults are Draven clones. You can read about
them here: http://theteablogger.tumblr.com/

• Abbey Wilson’s blog about her time as the Trinity of
Andy Blake’s cult, along with her escape and recovery:
https://kumquatwriter.wordpress.com/category/thecrazy-train/

• Crash Override Network by Zoe Quinn covers info security,
self-defense, and tactics when under siege by an Internet
hate mob, and how not to be one.

• Why Does He Do That? By Lundy Bancroft is a guide to
abusive tactics from the perspective of straight male
partner-abusers. Not about cults, but there are still tactics
in common.

• Any articles or interviews regarding the late David
Sullivan.

I myself have never been part of a cult; all I’ve experienced
are a few near-misses and hurt feelings. However, after two years
of researching Draven, plus my lesser involvement in my zine
Cultiples #1 and a few years in the Andy Blake awareness arena, I
do feel I can state with some authority what not to do:
Do not try to infiltrate a cult.

Seriously. Don’t do it. Do you think yourself David
Sullivan? You are not David Sullivan. He knew that even with all
his training, research, and knowledge, he had to get in and get
out of a cult within a few days, lest he be hallucinating cult
leader voices like everyone else. Multiple followers of Draven
were recruited because they infiltrated, only to be converted to
the cause. It is the height of stupidity and arrogance to presume
that your intelligence or resilience will triumph. Don’t do it.

If you are tempted to do this, you are already playing by a
cult leader’s rules. Draven’s whole gambit is to make real life seem
like an exciting adventure, an action movie or a comic book.
Whether you join them or try to infiltrate them, you are playing
to the narrative, the Story they create. And at the end of the day,
people like Draven don’t care if they’re the hero or the villain, as
long as they’re the memorable character in the Story.

Especially since you are likely not to accomplish anything.
Making this write-up was the most soul-crushing artistic
endeavor I have ever undertaken, in part because of its futility. I
have no hope of getting Draven’s current followers out of their
situation. My work will not cause Draven to change. The best I
can hope for is that this write-up will serve people who have
already escaped, or prevent bystanders from being taken in at all.

The ethics of reporting this kind of abuse, done to so
many people, still gives me nightmares. I ask myself whether I am
serving anyone, or just digging into other people’s wounds. This
is not a fun game to take down “a bad guy”; that’s the exact same
logic Draven uses to rally hate mobs against critics. Draven’s cults
might seem cartoonish or laughably absurd on the surface, but
they are deadly serious.

If you want to do something useful about the cults in your
community, don’t go to war with them. Instead, be like the
Poppy Z. Brite fans and never let them get a foothold in your
space to begin with. Remember what those fans did:

• They did not let Kurt Draven groom teens in privacy.
When he exposed himself, they made it public and stated
that his behavior was not acceptable from the very
beginning.

• They did not back down when he tried to harangue,
shame, or guilt-trip them into compliance.

• They rallied to the protection of their younger, more
vulnerable members, even when they were like Tiffani,
who was brand-new to the newsgroup.

In other words, they were active, not passive. They didn’t
avert their eyes for the sake of avoiding conflict, or stick their
fingers in their ears and wait for Kurt to change of his own
volition. They cultivated an atmosphere where conflict was
accepted, and therefore dealt with instead of festering into a
huge explosion.

You might notice that this is a lot more complicated and
less exciting than simply punching out an abuser. Instead of a
heroic single strong punch, it’s more like boosting the
psychological immune system of the community. The Poppy Z.
Brite fans likely had no idea what bullets they dodged, because
to them, Kurt Draven was not significant. He was annoying, they
threw him out, and they got on with their lives. That is exactly
the result you want, where you never even have a cult on your
hands to begin with. Is it less exciting, less like an action movie?
Yes. But life should not be an action movie.

This is not an easy process, I know. Building a community
with that strength and social dynamics takes active work, but the
important thing is, it is possible. The Poppy Z. Brite fans (along
with other communities I’ve been a part of, online and off) prove
this. It takes all the members, and most importantly, the people
in charge. Members of a community learn what they can get
away with from the behavior of the mods, whether there are
favorites who can never be criticized or scapegoats who can be
harassed with impunity. If someone is harassed and goes to the
people in charge, only to be completely ignored, then everyone
learns a very bad lesson. The victim learns that there is no point
to appealing to other group members, and goes quiet. The
harasser learns they can get away with hurting others.
Is that what we want members of our communities to
learn?

I believe in plural community. I believe we are better than
this. It is my dearest hope that we build communities like the
Poppy Z. Brite fans, filled with imperfect, flawed people, who
together were able to stave off an abuser without even really
recognizing it. It is my hope that victims like Blackbird, Connor,
Trinity, Seven, Blaze, and all the rest have a place where they can
be safe and happy.

That is what I want to help create, not another miserable
write-up like this one.

Acknowledgments

This essay owes thanks to many people, but most
especially the brave victims of Draven who shared their stories
despite shame, harassment, and violence. Though you are
anonymous or pseudonymous, you are the true heroes of this
story. Without your courage and wisdom, this paper would not
exist. I only wish I could name you to thank you personally.

I would also like to thank Holly, Annie, Elle, and John for
their answering my clueless fandom questions. John was the one
who recognized the Crow. Holly loaned me her knowledge (and
works) of Poppy Z. Brite. Elle answered my X-files queries, and it
was Annie's knowledge of the Buffy: the Vampire Slayer that led
me to Angel's cult. If I deserve friends like you, then I am truly
blessed.

Special thanks go to Root, Spider-Eyes, and an unnamed
friend for transcribing Anakin, Neo, and the Phantom's Youtube
videos. It was an onerous task, and they did it beautifully,
allowing me to utilize sources my hearing impairment made
difficult to access.

And finally, my thanks to the Andy Blake awareness
bloggers, most especially Abbey, Del, and Cap Ameribun. Thank
you for standing up and teaching me. If not for you guys, I never
would've realized exactly why certain people within my
community gave me such an uneasy feeling, and why so many of
my friends and associates were snatched up and abused by them.