This is my third monthly update of my new law practice. See my earlier posts here:
Year Zero
Month 1
Month 2
I am posting on a one-month delay. This post was written on April 30, 2024.

Intakes

This month started slowly but ended great. I had sixteen new cases into my CMS, and many of the pending leads from last month converted to clients. Two of them are hourly clients with retainers currently sitting in my trust account. About 1/2 of the new clients came from a referral/co-counsel agreement with another Plaintiff's lawyer. Today is the first time I've felt "busy" with legal work; I had the thought today, "this is going to work; we're going to make it." Great feeling.
I have twelve active and signed clients (up from four last month) and ten cases pending/under review.
Notable developments case wise:

• I was contacted by a client about a minor property dispute and discovered that he had a very good adverse possession claim which no one, including his real estate lawyer, ever told him about. Ultimately, he did not want to pursue it because of the cost. I sunk a lot of time into this case because I was interested in it, but did not have a fee agreement in place so I did not make any money from it. That is not a good habit to have, but I also know he was very impressed with my work and you never know how that can come back to you.
• On that note, I had taken a case pro bono to help a client resolve a bureaucratic nightmare they were in. That matter is almost resolved and the client is thrilled. Client is eager to leave a positive review, so that work may have been worth it in the end.
• I was reviewing a medmal claim for a potential client before I had a fee agreement in place. I asked her if she was going to have any other lawyers review the matter because I would rather just let the other lawyers take it than spend my time reviewing it only for her to hire someone else. She assured me that she wanted me to review and take the case. Well I did review it and when I followed up with an email for next steps, she told me she'd hired another firm. Great.
• Had another hourly client whom I had spent a fair bit of time on the phone with about their matter before I had a fee agreement (notice the theme. . .). Their matter developed to the point where they needed to sit down with me, so I set up a meeting, sent them the representation agreement, and asked them to bring the retainer to the meeting. Sure enough, just before the meeting they canceled because they did not want to pay the retainer.
• I have a client who only speaks Spanish. I'm learning Spanish, but I'm nowhere near fluent. A college student I know is fluent and is returning to town for the summer, I've hired him to be an ad hoc translator for me. When we have hearings, depos, etc. I'll hire a court certified translator, but this student will be great for when I need to meet with the client or when I need to deliver a message over the phone. I have a lot of automations that hinge on the client completing online forms, and those forms are all in English. I'm going to have the student call the client and walk through the form on the phone.

Networking

I met with a local attorney who contacted me after seeing my first month's post. He and I had lunch and he stressed the importance of networking, which I have been somewhat slow in pursuing. He basically said I need to be having lunch with people five days a week. After reflecting I think I agree with him. I'm trying to target serious injuries that need to be litigated, and there is no way (that I have found) to advertise for those cases effectively: you end up with a lot of low dollar cases which are not what I'm targeting. Instead I think I need to be building my credibility with potential referral sources, and keeping myself in their mind so when they have a client like one I'm looking for, they can send them my way. I've started making lunch appointments with people in the community and I just ordered rack cards that I can bring with me to those lunches that explains why clients hire me. I would love any suggestions from you all on what types of people/professionals I should be reaching out to for lunches.

Paid Marketing

To that end I have stopped all my paid marketing. I simply have not had any returns on it so far and I can't sink funds into it without a return right now. I want to pursue the content strategy I discussed last month, but I want to rethink how to best approach that. I am aware of a prejudice among lawyers against "advertisers" (in fact a lawyer I know made a comment to me regarding the ad I was running). Normally I'd say who cares what people think, BUT I want non-PI lawyers to be sending me cases, so I need to consider my credibility amongst that audience.

Social Media

I am continuing the social media content, but I revised the style again. I found myself posting content that stylistically felt just as cheesy as the ads I was lampooning last month. It just does not give off the impression I am proud of. I built a big set in my basement to shoot the above content campaign and absolutely hated the result. I found that my office works great and instead shot the stuff there.
If you are doing any of this stuff, all I'm using is a GVM light, my Google Pixel on a tripod, and an old SM58 into a digital sound mixer I have and the result is great. Next thing to improve is sound quality. I posted a reflection on this process on LinkedIn and it got quite a bit of traffic, which ties into my next point:

Case Briefs

My new effort this month (and into next month) has been trying to build credibility with long form case breakdowns. These are long form videos wherein I go through recent appellate decisions and explain the background, holding, reasoning, and impact. A full (20min) version goes on YouTube (and the next one will also go on FB) and the website, and a shorter version geared toward lawyers goes on LinkedIn. I've recorded two and posted one so far. The LinkedIn version got quite a bit of traffic again and the YouTube not so much.
However, it is important that my goal be clear: it is not to get a bunch of followers or even to get a bunch of viewers: the goal is for potential clients and referral sources to see that I know what I am talking about. A friend of mine is a realtor and has a regular podcast. He and I were talking about it and he told me, essentially: "Zac, no one listens to the podcast. But every week they see that I've posted a new episode and think I am an authority on the real estate market." Business is booming. That's the idea with these videos.

Coaching

The lawyer I met with above is involved with How To Manage a Small Law Firm and set up a meeting for me with their folks. I'm leery about this type of organization and would appreciate knowing what any of your experiences have been.

ChatGPT

Speaking of coaching, you're going to think I'm crazy by AI is a GREAT sounding board for ideas. ChatGPT has a speech feature (where you can converse with the AI): I gave it a prompt explaining who I was and what I wanted it to do, then I put on headphones and took a walk. The AI and I brainstormed a bunch of new ideas, and honestly it helped me talk through some of the mental blocks I've had for networking. We discussed a bunch of other business ideas too; it is a great tool I'm going to keep using.

Credit Card

Last month I mentioned that my credit card was stolen and so I got a new one. That new one had an 0% APR intro offer, which I was taking advantage of--great to stretch limited resources out 12-18 months. Well I forgot to add a reminder to pay the card and missed it by a day--so I paid interest and forfeited in the intro offer. Boneheaded mistake.
That's all I have for this week; I welcome your thoughts and questions.

I think there is this incel version of me. Like a dual character. Could be cognitive dissonance I'm not sure. But the thing is sometimes observe myself have this subtle aggression towards men and woman who seem to have a good relationship. An envy most likely. I didn't realize this till I read about incels. At first before reading about it I used to find this character within me that would look at pretty woman or pretty guys and say "oh how does it feel to be one the beautiful people in the world" like that beatles song. I see a woman and I just look forward forcefully ignoring them. In a room full of good looking people I used to agresivelt ignore them with an attitude. Now being aware of it its a constant dialogue within myself. The incel instinct (lol) makes me comment negatively and then the side that's aware of it snaps out of it and tries to make sense of the situation and tell myself "you're being an incel" I constantly ask myself why did I end up like this. I had a beautiful girl for a while till I lost her. Then I started feeling maybe it was luck and that I might never experience such a thing called relationship. It's weird man. I swear.

Over a year ago now I caught him cheating through texting multiple women. He said he would never do that again, and I stayed. After he maybe didn’t do so again but he has TikTok, Instagram etc and was constantly looking at pictures & videos of other women on there.
They don’t look anything like me. I’m fat, white, with light hair and skin, and the girls he was looking at were tan, slim, beautiful models..I still cry when I think about it. I mentioned it to him last night and he got angry at me for bringing it up and yelled at me. I feel like total shit.
It’s funny because I’ve gained like 20 lbs since he cheated, don’t do my makeup or even get dressed up at all anymore. I used to be much prettier and would get compliments often..I’m only 27 but look like an old sack of crap. People used to think I was way younger than I was but now I easily look 15 years older.
The time we briefly separated and I went out to the bars I got sooooo many compliments and many men asked for my number and wanted to take me out on nice dates. It was like living in the twilight zone because I was so confused about how people could think I looked attractive. I don’t even go out anymore.
Will I ever get my self esteem back?

Hey Reddit,
I recently had a confusing experience on a date and could really use some insights from both men and women to understand what went wrong and how to move forward. Here’s the scenario:
I’m a 38-year-old male, divorced with 2 kids, and just getting back into the dating scene after a long break. I met this beautiful 40-year-old woman on Tinder. She’s had two very long relationships, so we're both bringing some baggage to the table. We hit it off immediately and the conversation flowed naturally at first.
Here’s where things got weird:
During our conversation about recent relationships, she mentioned dating two guys simultaneously. In what I thought was a light-hearted moment, I sarcastically asked if she had a threesome with them. She didn’t seem annoyed at the time, and we moved on, heading from the bar patio to dinner and then back to the patio.
After about 2 hours of non-confrontational conversation, suddenly, things took a turn. Out of nowhere, she got really direct and serious with me. She accused me of being obsessed with sex and constantly interrupting her. I admit, I might have interrupted her a few times, but the only time I mentioned sex was the threesome joke.
Then she went on to suggest that I probably watch porn all the time, which made me really uncomfortable. She even implied that because of my looks, I could get any girl I wanted (she said this in a more suggestive way) if I just fixed these “issues.”
I didn’t get defensive; I told her that I’m new to dating after a long time, was nervous, and acknowledged that I might not have the best emotional intelligence.
Despite this tense exchange, we ended up going back to the car for a few cigarettes, smoothed things over, made out, and even arranged a second date for the following weekend.
Now I’m left scratching my head and wondering:

1. What did I do wrong? Was my joke that off-base?
2. Why would she suggest I can get as much p***** as I want if I fix my issues, especially when she seemed interested in me?
3. How can I improve my approach to avoid similar situations in the future?

I’m somewhat perplexed by the whole situation. I’ll never fully understand women, but I’d love to hear your psychoanalysis on this one.
Thanks in advance for your insights!

Hi all. Bit of a long one, but here goes.
2 weeks or so ago, my computer started to randomly freeze up every 30 minutes or so. This happened initially while I was in a Zoom meeting (so nothing graphically intense). The following sequence of events would happen.

• The screen would freeze, sort of. Zoom and my webcam froze, but my mouse cursor still moved.
• I could open up the Task Manager, but none of the processes would populate.
• Outside of Zoom, I could type in Slack, but after a few moments my keypresses would stop too.
• Alt+F4 had no seeming effect in closing Zoom or any other program, and the only way to reset was to reset the PC itself.
• This seemed to happen at 30-minute intervals, but it wasn't particularly predicable (happening 6 times in 2 hours, with intervals as short as 10 minutes).

The only initial clue I had was that my iCue theme would seem to reset to default Rainbow Puke, and while I tried a few things, it seemed like uninstalling iCue completely did the trick. For 2 weeks, no problem.
Before this though, I tried a few things. Memtest, Furmark to stress the GPU, /sfc scannow, as well as combing through the Event Log to see if there was anything I could point to. I also did a clean reinstall of my graphics drivers using DDU.
So we fast forward to this morning, where this has started happening again. I thought that it might be a program called Start11, which mostly tries to replace the Win11 taskbar with something more like Win10, but that wasn't it either. In this morning's case, it happened while gaming, so I tried running Furmark again for 30 minutes (no crash/freezing).
So my question:

1. Do these symptoms sound familiar to anyone?
2. How can I troubleshoot this issue?
3. Could my graphics card be faulty? (About a month back, I noticed some strange artifacting on my my screen, which disappeared after a reboot and has never come back.)

These are my PC stats, as well as some of the cards that populate my MB.

• CPU: Ryzen 5600x (stock)
• GPU: ASUS 3060 LHR 12gb (top slot)
• Mobo: Asus B450F
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro (DDR 4 3200 Mhz, 4x8gb)
• A 3 Gbps network card in PCIE x1 slot 1
• A USB expansion card in PCIE x1 slot 3
• A NVME expansion card in PCIE x16 slot 3

(Putting anything in PCIE x16 slot 2 seems to bifurcate slot 1)
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I'll note in the hour or so I've taken to write this, my computer hasn't frozen, so who knows?

I broke no contact my Long distance relationship broke up with me nearly 2 months ago. We have only see us for 4 days but it feelt so good we were together for nearly 6 months i live in in Switzerland and she in France she broke up with me because her mental health was really bad and the realashionship didn’t make it better she told me she loves me and wish me the best and she thinks that maybe it could work again i texted with her but she didn’t wanna talk about it so i went in no contact for nearly 2 months this Tuesday i had my birthday and just hope she graduated me but she didn’t so i reached out at friday i just asked how she doing and she told me first good but said her menarl health didn’t get better and we just texted some around but it didn’t seem like she wants me so i told here what i felt during this no contact time and wish her the best and apologize for a mistake i did and went away she didn’t say bye back just answered on 1 question i asked so now i dont know what to do during no contact i always made myself hope to get her back but what now i never felt so down i dont now what to do i dont know if i fucked up and loose my change but i am just lost in what should i do maybe somebody has a answer for me thank you.

Great to have a space for progressive/left-leaning monarchs! Which makes me wanna ask the question of religion’s role in modern monarchies. I am not religious and I would say religion play an smaller and smaller role in my country of Denmark. With Frederick X ascension to the throne he was criticized by the church especially for leaving religion out of his motto.
Even though tradition is central for a monarchy I can’t help but think that religion might be one of those traditions that I could a sense in disappearing.
I don’t think the idea of monarchs given their role by god anymore makes sense and that was actually also removed from our monarchy. That’s why we have a proclamation, where the power is “given” by the people.
How do you see it? Is religion still important within the monarchy, with close ties and a demand of the monarch to be a faithful Christian and the head of the church?

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH
"Are you really buying GPNVGs? Why are you buying GPNVGs?"
Just a general question as to why distributors never list GPNVG specs on hand on their websites. Is it due to competition? Do they really sell out like that? Are they just tired of replying to the constant messages on GPNVGs? Why is it whenever I ask distributors they just tell me a generalized 2376+ FOM but nothing else? No pictures, and no other specs like SNR, RES, blemishes, etc, just telling me it'll be 2376+ FOM.
I understand that some distributors have to place an order with L3 for GPNVGs but I'm talking about the ones who already have it on hand. Why can't I know the specs before having to call or email them?

A little back story, my girlfriend is currently on a beach holiday with friends from university, to which I was also invited but couldn't go because I couldn't take a holiday due to my job. I was cheated on in my last relationship and she knows about it. Before she went on holiday, she assured me several times that she might go partying with this group of friends, but that it was more about relaxing than partying. Now it has turned out that it is purely a party holiday and the group goes to the club every evening. I don't want to say that she lied to me at this point as she may have misjudged the dynamics of the group in terms of going out partying. But I still feel like I've been taken for a ride because I know for a fact that she only made this statement to reassure me beforehand. Apart from this, let's call it, small lie, she definitely lied to me about another point, which may be important as a fact but the story behind it doesn't really matter. I also have to say that I don't know her like this and our relationship has never been better in 1.5 years. One party night she wrote to me at 2am and asked me if it would be okay for me if she danced with other guys and socialised to get free drinks. And assured me that she was really only interested in the free drinks. Shortly afterwards, she called me and woke me up from my sleep. To ask me the same question again on the phone and get an answer from me. I replied that it was obviously not okay for me and that I didn't think it was fair not only to me but also to the other guys. But she replied that it was all just like that and she just wanted to ask if it was okay for me. I have to say that I find this behaviour absolutely disgusting and I don't even know her like that. I feel really bad about the situation because I now know that she would like to get in touch with other guys in the club and we all know what a guy in the club is really about. Certainly not to spend his money on other girls' drinks and then go home alone in the evening. To my question: is this normal, is it okay, am I just weird? And how should I deal with it? We've already talked about it and she apologised and said she could understand me. But it still bothers me a lot. Thank you for your opinions.

I wanted to reach out and see if anyone would be willing to share their experiences being enrolled in any of the Noble schools (specifically high schools). I am asking because I had a horrible experience with them, and I have several friends who also had a bad experience. So I just want people to have a safe space and for others to be aware of what has happened and probably still happening.
I went to Chicago Bulls College Prep, and I was one of the highest achieving students. Not only did they have a strict demerit system, they also had strict policies such as preventing students from using the restroom, forcing students to pay for detentions, publicizing students’ academic information without consent, and racially profiling students. I knew several girls who got UTIs and many of us had to wear super absorbent pads and tampons because we were only allowed to use the restroom a certain amount of times per semester and if we went over that limit we either got demerits or not allowed to go. At one point, one of my classmates had to get a doctors note for the school to allow them to use the restroom when they needed… These are just a few examples, I could honestly go on and on. The only reason why I was able to exceed academically was because I kept my head down and did what they said… I did this because I was being abused at home and I was scared of getting in trouble at school and it would trickle back home. However, a lot of students, including myself, would get demerits for unnecessary things as if the teachers had to make a quota of demerits, if not they would get fired. Once I graduated I realized that the environment we were in felt like a prison and severely lacked necessary resources. For example, we did not have a school nurse so the office people would be in charge of attending to students who were sick and they did not have any medical training. Our lunches were horribly disgusting and inedible, but students were forced to eat it because thats where their main food source was. We were forced to exercise outside in freezing/hot weather in parking lots that had glass and were unsafe areas. Aside from that, I was made to believe that I would succeed in college and I was so unprepared for my classes. I ended up having to switch majors because I was failing my classes and had to find something more suitable because of the lack of education I received in high school. They do prep students for the ACT, but that’s all they care about. No one mentions that most of the students who graduate from these school and get accepted into college, usually drop out because they did not receive a proper education. Is this all still happening or did it get worse?
I wanted to share all of this and hopefully create a space for others to share. It is a shame that students have to suffer at these schools on so many levels, and the city allocates so much money and people offer donations to these schools that are failing thousands of students and families. I know the education system in general sucks, but it’s unfair that this company has taken over.

I am widowed and began dating again about a year ago.
I recently broke up with a man I’d been dating for 2 1/2 months. We grew close quickly and there was definitely chemistry but I started to realize we weren’t the right fit.
He keeps asking “why don’t you want my love?” and is heartbroken. I feel terrible but also a little frustrated that he’s spinning it this way. How do I to respond to a question like that?
I can see he’s feeling rejected and bad about himself (has trauma and abandonment issues that he’s only recently begun to address btw). I feel bad for hurting him, but also upset that I’m being made to feel like a villain, when I simply felt we weren’t compatible and said so in the kindest way I could.

It was last week on 28th May I found my backdoor broken so I decided to investigate the situation and found someone has entered into my house and stole my electric generator plus some groceries on the fridge. So I had to go to the police to report 😒 but they just gave me an assurance that they will keep an eye and investigate further on the matter. Yesterday's after coming back from my work I found my front door broken and a thief has entered in the house and stole my television along with groceries again.
So I decided to ask my neighbours about it, all my neighbours seems like they don't want to cooperate and refuse to answer any my questions. But one neighbours who is a granny gave me a sign that I should help her doing some chores in the house. While chatting the old timer told me about a guy named Jeff, whom used to come by around my house. She believe that the guy is responsible for the burglary.
So I decide to ask some friends about any guy named Jeff around, to my surprise it turns out that Jeff is a cop! What should I do, waiting for him to come again and catch him or directly report him?!
Currently I don't have CCTV cameras or security measures in my house. Just padlocks both on front door and back-door! What should I do to make this stop.

First / Previous
The Cold left as Aria’s voice cried out, her scream carrying through the forest trees. Winter’s chill remained, but compared to the biting frost that she’d felt before it was as if a blanket had been draped over her. Newly formed tears washed over the ones frozen to her cheeks, the warmth from them comforting as her sobbing continued. It was not despair that fueled her weeping, however, but rather the rush of… everything that she felt since crying out. Anger, sadness, fear, happiness, determination burned within her, and she had no other outlet, no other way to process it other than the tears that poured from her eyes and the scream that escaped her lips. Through her blurred vision she could see the moons peeking through the canopy of trees above, their glow adding to the comfort that steadily began to take hold.
What felt like an eternity passed before her cries dwindled to reflexive wimpers. Her throat was hoarse, and her body may as well have been made of stone, but there was a lightness to her chest now that made her feel like she was floating. It was only after the rush passed through her that she could fully feel Helbram’s hands on her shoulders, his grip firm, but comforting. He released one of his hands from her and, after shaking off his broken gauntlet, wiped the tears from her face. His hand was roughed and callused, but radiated a warmth that brought color back to Aria’s cheeks. A gentle smile was spread across his face, overtaking the blood that trailed down his face and the frost that clutched at his skin. His blue eyes flared under the moonlight, and for a moment she thought she saw a glint of green wash over them.
Before their light started to fade.
Helbram was still smiling as his hands dropped to his sides, eyes still looking ahead as he collapsed to the ground. Blood dripped from the sword impaled through him, and through the layer of frost that coated his body, his skin started to grow pale. Relief escaped Aria as she looked at him and horror took its place. She fell to her knees in front of him, hands trembling as they reached out to his.
He did not respond.
“Helbram?” A voice said from behind her, its tone weak but alarmed. It was followed by a rush of footsteps as Jahora ran to his side, “Helbram!”
The Mage looked around in a panic, eyes eventually stopping as they fell upon something that was behind Aria. Jahora ran to it, and as the girl’s eyes followed her she saw that the woman pulled Ren from the ground.
“Wake up!” she pleaded, “we don’t have time!”
The Cleric’s eyes fluttered, threatening to close again, but they snapped open in response to the panic in Jahora’s voice. He held himself upright and shook his head, eyes falling upon Helbram as he did so. Any fatigue that may have held Ren down appeared to vanish momentarily as he rushed to Helbram’s side, the symbol on his forehead filled with a golden light as he gripped the sword that was impaled through Helbram’s stomach. The Cleric took in a deep breath and, bracing himself, pulled the sword from Helbram and tossed it to the side. He shifted the unconscious man onto his back and placed his hands on the wound, channeling his golden Aether into it. Jahora joined him soon after.
“I need more Aether,” Ren said through gritted teeth.
The Mage nodded and closed her eyes. Her jaw clenched, and as her body trembled three rings of Aether formed around her head. She placed her hand on the Cleric’s shoulder, channeling a bluish aura onto the Cleric that bled into Ren’s own golden glow. His hands flared with a brighter gilded light, its brilliance enough to push back the panic and shock that had overtaken Aria’s mind.
It only lasted for a moment.
The rings around Jahora’s head flickered before dying out, with Ren’s symbol doing the same. The glow in the Cleric’s hands started to fade, reducing to a dull sheen over his ashen hands.
“No, not now,” Jahora despaired. She clenched her hands so tight and closed her eyes, shaking as a growl slipped through her lips. Her Aetheric rings blinked, sparking to life only to collapse a moment later. The effort drained the Mage even further, and she barely caught herself before yelling in frustration.
“Elly,” she said, a twinge of hope growing in her voice, “Elly!”
Jahora tried to push herself to her feet as she cried out, but failed to find the strength to stand as she collapsed back to the ground.
“ELLY!” she screamed, tears filling her eyes as she started to crawl.
Aria stood still, feeling a chill start to crawl over her. Except… it was not The Cold this time, but instead the bite of fear that nipped at her skin. Fear not for herself, but for Helbram, whose eyes grew more hollow with each passing second. All while she stood there, watching him slowly fade away.
She heard a rustle in the leaves off to the side, but did not take her eyes off of Helbram. Hurried footsteps drummed into her ears, a precursor to Elly’s appearance out of the corner of her vision. The Weaver slid to Helbram’s side and placed one hand on Ren’s shoulder. With the other, she held Helbram’s hand, the one used to wipe away Aria’s tears. Rings of light appeared around Elly’s wrist and ankle, and like Jahora had done before the caster started to channel a soft blue aura into the Cleric. The symbol on Ren’s forehead regained its steady glow, and the light in his hands grew brighter, but he still shook his head.
“This will only keep him stable,” Ren looked at Elly with a grim expression, “And I know you are at your limits as well.”
“I’m fine,” the Weaver asserted. Her grip on Helbram’s hand tightened, “More than fine.”
As if fate were calling her bluff, the rings around her limbs started to fade.
Elly grit her teeth and closed her eyes. Sweat beaded on her brow as she shook, willing her Aetheric Rings to glow brighter as the tide of energy that flowed to Ren grew. Hope took hold of Aria as the light in the Cleric’s hands started to glow.
She knew it was fleeting.
The light was already dimming even as Elly pushed herself, and the desperation on Jahora’s face told Aria what was soon to happen. Helbram was going to die.
And there was nothing she could do about it.
In her despair, the desire to sink back into the Cold reared its head once again. The need to escape the growing pain in her chest grew with each passing moment, but that ethereal chill did not answer her desires. Aria had made her choice, and now she must suffer its consequences. Tears pooled in her eyes once again..
Tears that Helbram would never be able to wipe away again.
The girl fell to her knees as she looked on, all sound around her muting as she looked at the fallen man. Jahora’s screams, Elly’s yells, and Ren’s urging faded, and time itself felt as if it slowed, locking Aria in this torturous moment for what may as well have been an eternity. Her breath stopped at her throat, a barrier to the cries that wanted to escape, and she could feel the dull ache in her chest flare into a dagger that dug into her heart. All she could feel was the pain, the sorrow, the agony as she watched on, the last of the light in Helbram’s eyes draining away.
Through the pain, something prodded the back of her mind. A chill, but not like the one that the Cold possessed. It was… comforting, like a cool breeze in the midst of Summer’s heat. Aria expected a voice to follow its presence, but no words rang through her mind. Instead, the chill traveled through her, flowing throughout her entirety. Frost followed, its misty form pouring from Aria like an aura.
An aura of Aether.
Ren, Elly, and Jahora looked at her with shock, but that soon faded as Elly released Helbram’s hand and held out her own towards Aria.
Ren looked at the Weave in alarm, “You don’t know wh-”
“I don’t care,” Elly interrupted. She looked at the girl with gentle eyes, ones that failed to hide the desperation behind them, “take my hand.”
Aria raised her hand, clutching onto the Weaver’s with a strength that she did not know she possessed. As their hands locked, she felt a pull. Not physical, but rather at the frost that gathered around her. As it flowed from her and into Elly, Aria felt a hollowness in her chest and a dull ache start to form in her head. That was pushed to the side, however, as she saw frost build up across Elly’s arm. Panic stopped the flow of energy between her and Elly.
“It’s alright,” the Weaver said, “we can save him.”
As she spoke, Aria felt another hand on her shoulder. It was Jahora, who grabbed the girl’s free hand.
“Together,” she said, her voice filled with the same comforting tone she held the night they first met.
Aria met Jahora’s gaze, and, pushing aside the fear that gripped her, gave a firm nod. Panic released its grip over her, allowing her frosty aura to flow into both casters as they placed their hands onto Ren’s shoulders. The hands that gripped Aria’s own were coated in ice, but as the girl’s energy flowed through them it shifted into a deeper blue that let Ren’s golden light regain its brilliance. The Cleric pressed his hands firmer against Helbram’s wound, driving the energy into it. Aria could not tell if Ren’s spell was working, but as she looked upon the determined looks of both Jahora and Elly, she let any questions in her mind fade. Helbram needed her all, and she would give it. As if it sensed her will, the chill at the back of her mind grew, and her aura flared with a soft pale light.
It was the last thing she saw before her vision went white.
___
Helbram looked up into the endless expanse of the void. Nothing but blackness greeted his vision, but there was an odd sort of serenity to it all that let him lie still. Even if he possessed the drive to move, he knew it would be an impossible task. Even within the recesses of his own mind did he feel like he was made of lead.
He tried not to think about what that meant for his actual body.
Out of the corner of his sight sat himself, the him who possessed eyes of green. He leaned back in a simple wooden chair, dressed in simple clothes. His gaze drifted upwards, just like Helbam’s had, and he had an empty, almost vacant look on his face.
“Odd, is it not?” his mental self said, “After all that you have been through, the only thing that greets you is the endless space above us.”
Helbram snorted, “Had you not spoken, I would have assumed that I had returned to the Cycle.”
“If this is what awaits us in the Cycle, then death truly would be a fate most foul,” the green-eyed version of him stood up, “but we have not escaped such an outcome, not yet at least,” he sighed.
Helbram tried to move, but his limbs did not respond.
“I suspected as much,” he admitted, “it is not easy to escape death when a sword is driven through your gut.”
“It would be impossible,” his mirror said, “for those without the gifts of an Awoken or spellcaster.”
“Ren must have performed a miracle then… though I imagine things are much more complicated than that.”
The footsteps of his other self thundered around him as he walked right next to Helbram’s head, kneeling down as the echo of himself peered down at him.
“You cannot continue on like this,” he said.
"I know,” Helbram replied.
“If you continue to push yourself to this point, you will break.”
“This is true.”
“...you would do it again.”
“That I would.”
Helbram met the green eyes of his other self, their stares unmoving, “I know you would too.”
His mirror clicked his teeth and looked away, “Without hesitation.”
Helbram snorted, “Then the only thing that we can do is carry on.”
His other self sighed and walked out of his sight, “I suppose so…your companions are going to give us hell for this.”
“Of that I have no doubt. I expect I will be seeing you soon after I wake up.”
The both of them laughed.
“Then we should best get ourselves some rest,” his mirror said. As he spoke, his voice started to sound more distant, and Helbram could feel a heaviness to his eyes.
“I suppose you are right…”
“I shall be here when you need me. Rest well, you did good today.”
“We did good today.”
“Heh… I suppose we did.”
As his other self’s voice faded, sleep took Helbram one again.
___
Leaf sat at the corner of the room, taking in the gathering in front of him. It had been nearly a week since they’d gone after Aria, and though all of them were beaten and broken they had managed to make their way back to Redhaven. The fearful eyes of the townsfolk followed them as they made their way back to The Wandering Fowl, and apparently the image they cut was enough to keep them from disturbing the group as they licked their wounds. Tried as the party did to refuse Ren’s aid, the Cleric was insistent in treating them no matter how much it wore on him. This, paired with Leaf’s natural recovery as an Awoken, meant that he was at least functional after a few days of rest.
Elly and Jahora, however, were not so fortunate.
Both casters sat on a bed on one side of the room, free from wounds but with a hollowness to their features as fatigue continued to wear on them. Aether Sickness, from pushing themselves far beyond their limits. Ren, who sat on the bed opposite to them, suffered from the same, though the seriousness in all three of the casters’ expressions somehow broke through their clearly haggard states. At the far side of the room, directly within Leaf’s line of sight, were the ones that were bound. Cora and Erik had their wrists bound behind their backs by Sealing Cuffs, and their legs were tied together by rope. Neither of the Shade’s were awake, having fallen into a slumber after the battle. Though their wounds were treated by Ren before he felt the effects of Aether Sickness, their unconscious states were no doubt due to the same strain that everyone in the room most likely felt, and with their abilities dampened that only meant their recovery would be slower.
At their side was Leon, whose wrists were constricted with rope, though his arms hung in front of him and his legs were unbound. The Black Cloak was awake and without his armor, but his eyes were downcast to the wooden floor, and were it not for the slight heave of his chest as he breathed Leaf would have suspected the man to be dead. The man had been unconscious for several days after the battle, and though Ren refused to restrain his companion at the party’s urging, the Black Cloak himself bound his wrists and fell into silence upon waking up. For an Awoken of his caliber, the ropes meant little, but Leon had moved little since restricting himself.
It was the least he should have done, given the state of the one not in this room.
“Are you certain about this?” Ren asked.
Jahora gave a firm nod, “Yes. Given how things are… we cannot in good conscience let Aria go with you.”
“If you mean to go against us on this, know that we will be unmoving,” Elly’s eyes narrowed, “Uncompromising, just as your companion was.”
Ren opened his mouth to reply, but as he looked over to Leon, his shoulders slumped and he sighed, “Of that I have no doubt…”
“Do not be mistaken,” Jahora said, “We are beyond grateful for your aid, and we are in debt to your kindness for the past few days, but we can’t trust you with her.”
“Please, you owe me nothing,” Ren said, “Without your assistance we would not have prevailed against these two,” he motioned to Cora and Erik, “and I shudder to think what would have happened had you not stopped Leon.”
He looked up and smiled, “So with this let’s call it square, shall we?” He stood up and stretched, letting out a satisfied groan, “Our mission was the pursuit of these two anyhow, and transporting two Shades is a handful enough as is.”
Leaf let go of a breath that he did not know he was holding. From the sag in their shoulders, his companions no doubt felt the same.
“But we cannot keep her existence hidden,” the Cleric said in a serious tone, “not for long, anyway. I’ve seen many a Shade, and by raw power alone Aria is within a league of her own, and that is something that should not be hidden from my order.”
He sighed, “And yet, though it will certainly earn me quite the lecture, we cannot remove a child from their guardians by force,” he chuckled, “and I would say there are none that fit the description of ‘guardians’ more than you lot.”
Leaf looked to Leon, who did not react to his companion’s words.
“We thank you,” Jahora said, “I know this is not a decision you make lightly.”
“Nor was your decision to take care of her,” Ren said, “And from what I have witnessed she will be in good hands indeed.”
The Cleric clapped his hands, “But I believe that is enough serious discussion for today. Go on, I know you wish to check on Helbram.”
Elly and Jahora both nodded and stood up, making their way to the door. Leaf followed after them, but stopped as he stood in at the doorway. He looked back at Leon and, as if the Black Cloak could feel his gaze, met his eyes.
“Know this,” Leaf said, anger bleeding into his voice “If you try anything, I will not miss the next time.”
Before Leon could respond, he left the room, closing the door behind him as he walked into the hallway of the tavern’s upper floor. He saw Jahora and Elly enter a room further down, near the stairs, and followed after them. He was halted at the doorway by the two women, who had stopped just in front of the room’s entrance. He’d expected to see the sight he’d always seen for the past few days. Helbram would be laying in one bed, his body more bandage than man and Aria would be in the other, the girl having exhausted herself so much that she too fell into a deep slumber for days.
Except, now only one bed was occupied. Helbram remained asleep, but at his side was Aria, the girl having decided to take a seat next to the unconscious man’s bed after having apparently woken up. A state of consciousness that must not have lasted long, for the girl had fallen back to sleep, her hand clutched to Helbrams as she leaned against his bed. Gentle breaths exuded from both, and were it not for Helbram’s wounded state it would be easy to imagine that both were taking an afternoon nap together.
Jahora approached them first, adjusting the girl’s position to a more comfortable one and fixing her hair, but letting their hands stay entwined. Elly followed after the Mage, her attention focused on Helbram as she looked him over. She placed a hand on his forehead, her touch lingering as she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.
Not noticing Helbram’s own eyes fluttering open.
“Your hand…” he said, “is surprisingly warm.”
Elly’s eyes snapped open as Jahora’s gaze turned to the newly awakened man.
“Really? That’s the first thing you say?” her hand didn’t leave his forehead, and there was clear relief in her voice.
“What else did you expect?” Helbram said in a soft tone. He looked down at his hand, and at Aria, who still held onto it. He gave the girl’s hand a squeeze and looked towards Jahora. The Mage’s eyes glistened with tears, ones that brought a sheen to Leaf’s own eyes. As Helbram looked at him, he looked away and wiped the tears away and cleared his throat.
“You are all safe,” Helbram said, “that is good.”
He looked at the window, the pale light of winter’s sun pouring over him, “I must have been asleep for sometime.
“You’re godsdamned right,” Leaf barked, voice cracking as he made his way across the room, “You bloody bastard.”
Helbram did not have time to respond before they all embraced him.
First / Previous
Author's Note: Not gonna lie, writing these "wind down" chapters is probably one of the more challenging tasks since I want things to calm down, but I don't want it to feel like its dragging and be bogged down with too much detail. I think there was a good balance here, especially with all that happened in it, but as always let me know what you think! If you felt like there could have been more or could have been less feel free to speak your mind.
There is one last chapter to round off this arc, so I'll save any major commentary for then. I do find it hilarious though that at the beginning of this arc I said it would be shorter than the last one, when I'm pretty sure its ended up being the exact same length if not even longer lol.
Till next time folks! Have a wonderful week!
If you wish to read ahead and gain access to the audiobook version of this story, consider supporting me on Patreon (https://patreon.com/criticalscribe). If you want to leave a donation, here is my Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/criticalscribe).

A couple of weeks ago, I (25F) attended my 10 year middle school reunion. While I initially didn’t get any indication that I had pissed people off, I have recently received multiple messages from people telling me I was being arrogant and insensitive at the reunion party. I am genuinely unsure whether I did anything wrong, and would really appreciate some input.
For context - I am from a small town in a European country, that while being somewhat picturesque and charming, is for a lack of a better word extremely ‘white trash’. Substance abuse issues are extremely common (especially meth addiction), as is teenage pregnancy, petty crime etc. I lived there up until the end of middle school, when I chose to move cities by myself so that I could attend a university-preparing high school (the schools in my town only offered vocational high school degrees that would have not allowed me to go on to attend university. I loved school and going to university was my absolute dream.) I kept in contact with some of my middle school friends, but since I don’t really use social media I lost contact with most of my childhood friends. In my country, we end middle school at 15/16 and we are now 25, so earlier this year someone from my class invited us all for a 10 year reunion during the Easter holidays. I was going to visit some of the few friends and family I have left in the town around the same time, so I agreed to attend.
The reunion was a good time. A lot of people had already had several kids and gotten married, and it was really sweet seeing pictures of people’s children and hearing about their lives after not having seen them for so long. We also all asked about each other’s work/careers, which I assume is a super common reunion question. Since my town is a bit of a ‘dead end’ place most people had very standard jobs which you don’t need any higher education to do: carpenter, electrician, mechanic, hairdresser etc. While some people had started bachelors degrees, it quickly became clear that I was the only one who had obtained a university degree in the room. A lot of my former classmates were also unemployed, and had clearly had severe struggles with meth abuse, periods of homelessness, incarceration etc. A lot of people still seemed to live in the low-cost social housing complexes where I also grew up.
This is where I might have acted like an asshole. When people asked me what I have been up to since I left, I answered matter-of-factly and honestly. Since moving, I ended up doing very well in high school. Because of my good grades, I was able to get a scholarship and move abroad to attend a very famous elite university (think Harvard, MIT..). I developed a burning passion for my subject and got funding to go to a different (equally famous and elite) university where I did my masters degree and eventually PhD. I was stoked to get my doctorate while still being so young, and am currently doing a postdoc and lecturing at the same university. Additionally, I work part-time for a very famous international organisation (think the World Bank, IMF-type organisation), as an associate researcher. Although I didn’t say all this when people asked me about my life, I very straightforwardly said the names of the university and organisation I work for. I considered not saying it as to not come across as braggy, but ultimately decided that it would be best to just be honest about my life. I am an extremely bad liar and it just seemed too awkward to try and avoid the topic of my career. While no one made negative comments at the time about this, I got some very shocked and loud reactions about this at the time. But my hometown friends are now saying I was rubbing my success in the face of the rest of the class and taking away the spotlight from the mothers in the room that also deserved that kind of attention. They said it was insensitive to be so transparent about my life when I know how difficult life is for most people in my hometown. One friend even accused me of ‘forgetting my roots’.
What makes me even more assholey potentially, is that I also think I subconsciously wanted to let some of my former classmates know how well I was doing in my life due to how they treated me in the past. I came out as a lesbian very young and my classmates treated me like trash for it. I was beat up more than once after school, the other girls stopped inviting me over to their homes, and only two classmates really stayed friends with me (the ones who are still my friends today). The day I moved away, the ‘queen bee’ of my middle school told me that no matter how far I moved she wanted me to remember that I would always be a ‘trailer park d*ke’ no matter what. I think part of the reason why I chose to flaunt my career - and my stunning girlfriend on top of that - is that I wanted to rub it in how wrong she was. When I saw her at the reunion, she had clearly struggled with substance abuse issues and was apparently on her 3rd marriage. I would lie if I said that didn’t give me some level of sick satisfaction. I never brought up my accomplishments without someone asking me first - but now I’m starting to wonder if I should have kept my mouth shut. So, am I the asshole?
(Also - I am typing this on my phone while in a moving car, so sorry for any grammar mistakes and bad language.)

I am 17 years old. I have struggled with ocd all my life and just recently got diagnosed a few months back and have been on many pills trying to help. I have also been very sick off and on since middle school. Missing a lot of school. I’ve had bad stomach pain. I had my appendix taken out in 6th grade. I Have taken every tes and screening under the sun. And recently had my gallbladder removed. My Gi Doctor recently moved me onto a cardiologist because he believes that all my Gi problems are gone and that I may have POTS. On top of all my stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting from my gallbladder I have been having sinking spells. I’ve been very fatigued and tired. Not able to do much physical labor becoming very hot and sweaty. My vision going black and getting close to passing out. I was sent to the cardiologist and he basically just said he doesn’t know for sure if I have POTS but I fall under the spectrum and to try and up my salt intake by double the average and get more excerise. Which really sucked because I haven’t been able to function like a normal human being the last few months. Missing work. But I understand there’s not much you can do for pots besides just lifestyle changes so it will take time. So I just said ok and have been doing all the things he asked of me. But recently I’ve noticed it’s just getting worse and I’m having other symptoms. I’m still having all my stomach pain and nausea from eating. My fatigue very bad. But I’ve also started to have lots of night sweats which isn’t normal for me. And itchy skin. Especially when laying in bed. I washed my sheets thinking maybe it had just been too long (don’t judge I’ve been sick!) but all the symptoms are still there. And just yesterday I noticed a lump in my armpit. Now. With all this. It’s all symptoms of lymphoma. But. Sadly in the past due to my ocd I’m terrified of cancer. I convince myself I have it all of the time. In the past I’ve cried myself to sleep every night thinking that was my last and I was dying of cancer. My parents have went and got my blood drawn and had screenings to make me feel better. They always come out perfectly fine. So even though I’m showing symptoms they don’t really care and don’t want to do any tests. My mom has grown really frustrated with me. And yelled at me today when I told her about how nervous I am. I tried to explain to her that I understand how annoying it is and that it’s not rational. I told her to picture how annoying it was for me. Being so scared and panicked and being genuinely terrified but when I express it to my parents they laugh and make fun of me or yell. I understand how annoying it must be. I get why she yells. But it’s making it worse. I feel like I’m not being heard. I started to think harder about if I’m just having an episode or if this is a genuine concern. A month ago when my gallbladder was removed they also drew my blood. I figure they would find something then and that I’m ok. But then I remember how so many doctors told me I was ok for years to actually find out that I had a genuine problem and my gallbladder wasn’t functioning. Doctors don’t really make me feel heard. They’ve told me my pain is all in my head and it’s just anxiety before. So I think I’m just not the most trusting of doctors. But. I’ve had a cat scan on my stomach recently for my surgery nothing suspicious. And blood work with no suspicious things. So I’m probably just freaking out for no reason. But the symptoms and how they’re worsening just really scares me. I’m just scared that I may have become the girl who cried wolf by my past freak outs. And something is actually wrong. I don’t really want to ask my mom again because I don’t want to get yelled at. Any thoughts or advice would be so helpful. If you think I’m just crazy or maybe something is happening:)
There is a reasonable explanation for a few of my recent symptoms. The swollen lymph node in my armpit. I recently put in all of my ear piercings after not having them in for 8 months. It was a bit of a struggle and the lump showed up right after. So it could be as simple as that. Also. I live in Texas and summer is here. So the night sweats could just be because it’s getting hotter. But I’ve never really sweat that much before but I’m 17 and on hormonal birth control so my hormones are a bit all over the place so it could just be that. My itchy skin I’m really not sure. It could just be anxiety symptom. I’ve been having very bad nightmares the last few months and they make me too anxious to go to sleep. It feels like bugs are crawling all over me right before I’m about to fall asleep and it wakes me up. All those symptoms could definitely be explained. All my stomach problems nausea and puking is obviously due to my gallbladder surgery. It’s not going to get better over night. It’s been a month and a half since. And I probably just need to keep recovering. I’ve been following a low fat diet. And my fatigue is probably just the POTS. I haven’t been on the double salt and double excersise for longer than a week. So I think I maybe just need to give it some time. Thinking as rationally as I can. All of these things make sense. But I am still not able to stop obsessing over the thoughts. I’m scared. I just wish I had someone that understood. I recently had to drop my therapist due to opening up about my intrusive thoughts and her making me feel judged. I don’t think it was her intention but I’ve asked her about it and tried to get over it but it’s left a bad taste in my mouth and I can’t move on. So I’m looking for someone else to try and help me through my ocd and anxiety. I think I wish my parents didn’t laugh when I tell them how scared I am. I have massive panic attacks and cry myself to sleep mostly everyday. And I get it’s funny that I roll out of my room in the morning deciding I have cancer. But it’s genuinely scary for me. And I wish that maybe my mom didn’t yell at me for it. I get how frustrating it is. How annoying it could be. But I need to depend on her. That doesn’t mean I think she should take me right up to the er and get testings done every time I think I’m dying of cancer or something else terminal. Because that’s just enabling my unhealthy behavior. I understand that. I think I wish she talked me through it. Or talked me down from my high. Yelling and laughing makes it worse. My parents have told me if I keep stressing it I’m gonna manifest it into reality and actually get cancer. And I get that it’s just a silly joke. But later when my brain is spiraling I actually convince myself that will happen. Whatever I’m definitely fine. The doctors have done everything under the sun for me. I just need to get over myself. But who knows I could have lymphoma and I’m not nuts. But I think I’d definitely rather just be nuts.

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I asked a question on how to communicate in the nicest way possible to a teacher about her students and how most are struggling to read. I have not worked in the school system in over a decade, and I just started again a few weeks ago.
I got a bunch of comments such as "you need to change professions" to "why do you give a fuck about the teachers feelings? you need to switch careers" to "what is your education?"
It seems like reddit is filled with 80 percent of hostile people ready to argue, dig into your post history, in an attempt to humiliate you for asking anything.
I get tired, and often times get afraid that someone will do some serious detective work to DOX my information or to find out who I am in real life. It's scary, and I feel like I have to move on a tight rope in some subreddit communities.
Can someone explain this?

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Donald Trump, as you have certainly heard by now, has been convicted. The verdict is in: Guilty - guilty on all 34 felony counts of running for re-election. Because that, after all, is the actual crime that Trump committed. It’s the one and only reason that this case was ever brought. They prosecuted him for trying to be president again. That’s the actual reality, that’s the real crime - which isn’t a crime, but, you might still be wondering, on paper, what crime was Trump just convicted of? Somehow, a day after the guilty verdict was read, the actual crime he was guilty of is STILL very hard to say.
Now, one possible theory is that the government of New York really doesn’t like it when people overpay their taxes. They’re the first government in the history of the universe that actively punishes its citizens for handing over too much cash. It drives Alvin Bragg absolutely crazy whenever that happens, apparently. If New Yorkers pay the government too much cash, then the full weight of New York’s criminal justice system will come crashing down on them. A jury will convict them in a day and they’ll face several years in prison - this is how desperately New York doesn’t want money from its citizens.
Now, that’s what you have to believe if for some reason you’re still pretending that there was any legitimacy to the show trial of Donald Trump that concluded on Thursday in Manhattan. I’ve been thinking of the best way to illustrate just how unprecedented and disgraceful the trial was—there are so many possibilities to choose from—but I keep coming back to this one point because no one else is really talking about it, and it puts this whole debacle into perspective.
In order to convict Donald Trump, it was not enough to show that he had supposedly falsified a business record; the government also had to show that Trump had falsified those records in furtherance of some other crime, but what was that other crime? The prosecution hadn’t suggested anything. We made it all the way to closing arguments, and still the prosecution had never explained what the CRIME was that the defendant had supposedly committed.
But during those closing arguments this week, a prosecutor named Joshua Steinglass finally offered a theory. He said that Donald Trump had falsified the business records in order to violate a different New York state law that prohibits the use of “unlawful means” to promote any candidate for office. But that still leaves a key question unanswered: What WERE those “unlawful means” that Trump engaged in? So you keep peeling the onion back to find what the hell crime Trump is supposed to have committed, and you continue to come up empty.
So Steinglass didn’t say definitely what the unlawful means were, but he did mention a few possibilities, and one of these possibilities was that Trump had violated New York tax law. Now, when you hear that, you might think, well, they’re alleging that Trump is engaging in tax evasion. But they’re actually alleging the opposite. They’re accusing Trump of NOT evading taxes.
Specifically, Steinglass argued that Trump’s 1099 form was inaccurate because the payment to Michael Cohen was actually a reimbursement, and not compensation as the Trump Organization had reported it. But if that were the case, then the government—under its own theory of how Trump’s team should have filed the paperwork—would be getting less money out of the deal because they’re not owed income tax on reimbursements. They’re only owed income tax on compensation.
Now, I went through the transcripts and found the quote from the prosecutor because when I heard about it I couldn’t believe it was real, but it is. Here’s what he told the jury:

It’s true that the result of this improper accounting is that the taxes would have to be paid that weren’t owed. You don’t have to pay taxes on a reimbursement. … So the result of reporting them as income is more taxes are getting paid than are owed. But, as the Judge will tell you, it’s a crime to prepare false tax documents, regardless, even when doing so does not result in the underpayment of taxes.

I’ll repeat that last line:

It’s a crime to prepare false tax documents, regardless, even when doing so does not result in the underpayment of taxes.

So translation: It’s very possible that the jury just convicted Donald Trump for falsifying business records in order to cover up the fact that he overpaid on his taxes. That is one of three possible “grand conspiracies” that were alleged here: a dastardly scheme to funnel too much money to the government. This is the villainous behavior that we’re supposed to believe is a threat to democracy. That’s what justifies potentially imprisoning the man who is leading every major poll to become the next president of the United States. That’s what supposedly necessitated doing something that has never been done before in American history, by charging a former president with a crime.
Now, kust for good measure, if the jury didn’t buy that theory, the government and the judge gave them a whole menu of other options they could choose from, and one of them related to covering up violations of campaign finance law, while the other was covering up violations of business records laws.
In other words, as Tablet magazine put it, the jury could have found that:

Trump falsified business records to conspire to steal the election by falsifying business records.

Now, which circular, incoherent conspiracy did the jury buy? Who knows? The judge didn’t require them to make that decision unanimously. Each juror could have picked a different crime to convict Trump of committing. We may never know.
So to restate: The upshot is that a former president—and the leading presidential candidate right now—was just convicted of 34 felony charges by a jury of his political opponents during an election year based on a novel legal theory where the underlying alleged crime was never clearly explained and might not even make sense. And on top of that, the jury didn’t even have to reach a unanimous conclusion about it. So 12 members of the jury are walking out of the trial with, potentially, 12 different and opposing ideas about what crime they just convicted a former president of committing.
Now, all that’s to say, there are not enough words in the English language to describe what a travesty of justice this case was. Trials like this are what define the third world. “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime,” as the saying goes. With this trial, Alvin Bragg—who ran for office on the platform of going after Donald Trump—managed to come up with a Frankenstein fake crime for the sole purpose of fulfilling that campaign promise. And it wasn’t just a promise to New Yorkers that Bragg fulfilled, it was a promise to Washington.
And if you don’t believe that Biden’s DOJ had anything to do with this case, I would refer you to the video of Alvin Bragg gloating at a press conference on Thursday, after the verdict was announced.

“I did my job. Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or favor, and that’s exactly what we did here, and what I feel is gratitude to work alongside phenomenal public servants who do that each and every day in matters that you all write about and make the press, and lots of matters that you don’t. I did my job, we did I our job, many voices out there - the only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken.

Now, the man to Alvin Bragg’s right in that video is named Matthew Colangelo. He happens to be a former high-ranking Biden DOJ official who left that job in December of 2022 to work as a senior counsel with Alvin Bragg in the Manhattan D.A.’s office - in fact, he was the number-three guy in the DOJ, before he took a massive demotion to work in a much smaller local prosecutor’s office.
Why would he do that? Is he just really passionate about impartially enforcing bookkeeping laws in Manhattan? Now, the New York Post did some digging on Colangelo, and that doesn’t seem likely. It looks a lot more like Colangelo took the assignment to serve as the Democratic Party’s hatchetman to take out Trump. Quoting from the Post: “The DNC paid Matthew Colangelo $12,000 in January 2018 for ‘political consulting,’ Federal Election Commission filings show.” He was also an Obama donor. And this is the man who went right from Joe Biden’s DOJ to Alvin Bragg’s office - right around the time that Bragg was reportedly waffling about bringing charges against Trump.
Now, you could choose to believe this is all a coincidence - maybe, you’d think, Matthew Colangelo would treat a Democrat in exactly the same way as he treated Trump. If a Democrat supposedly falsified some business records, then Colangelo would be hot on their heels. But that really doesn’t appear to be likely, either.
In 2022, while Colangelo was still at the DOJ, the Clinton campaign and the DNC struck a deal with the F.E.C., after the F.E.C. alleged that they had falsified campaign records. Quoting from the A.P.:

Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee have agreed to pay $113,000 to settle a Federal Election Commission investigation into whether they violated campaign finance law by misreporting spending on research that eventually became the infamous Steele dossier. …The Clinton campaign hired Perkins Coie, which then hired Fusion GPS, a research and intelligence firm, to conduct opposition research on Republican candidate Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. But on F.E.C. forms, the Clinton campaign classified the spending as legal services.

Well, that sounds a lot like what Donald Trump was accused of doing, except much, much, much worse. The Clinton campaign allegedly falsified records to hide their involvement in spreading the Russiagate lie. And that was the lie that dominated the political landscape for, what, six years? It led to thousands of fake news articles and investigations and ruined the lives of several people who worked on the Trump campaign, but NO member of the Clinton campaign was ever hauled before a jury for falsifying records or for doing anything else. Matthew Colangelo never even dreamed of prosecuting them. And of course, neither did Alvin Bragg. The Clinton campaign and the DNC just paid a fine and the matter was resolved, that was it. There was never any criminal prosecution, much less talk of prison time.
But in Trump’s case, the media is now doing everything it can to convince Americans that, according to established legal precedent, Donald Trump must go to prison for this fake crime. That appears to be the next step here.
CNN trotted out several panelists yesterday to make that case:

“…you could home arrest, every option is on the table with a class-E felony like this, but I wanted to just put a perspective for people of what any other defendant, because I worked in the D.A.’s office for about 30 years - I’ve seen hundreds of thousands of cases and sentences, and those are the factors that would have gone into that equation, and absolutely without a doubt, any other defendant who was similarly situated to Donald Trump, who is not going to show remorse, and who, I am sure, will push the bounds of the still remaining gag order after this. We’ll see what happens, but anyone else in that position would get prison.”
…
PANELIST 1: “Here’s what I discovered: that in the most serious FBR cases, a sentence of imprisonment is routinely imposed. This is the most serious falsifying business records case in the history of the state of New York - I think Alvin Bragg is gonna ask for a sentence of incarceration, and I think Judge Mershawn will very seriously waive that…”
PANELIST 2: “So the special, you’re saying, would be if he were NOT given a prison sentence.”
PANELIST 1: “Right.”

If you believe anything that you just heard there, then you are too stupid. You’re too stupid to tie your shoes in the morning, most likely. These panelists want you to believe that Trump is getting special treatment in New York if he doesn’t go to prison - special treatment in a positive way. They’re gonna do him a favor. This is a city where you don’t even go to prison if you pummel old ladies in the street! This is a city that is profoundly reluctant to send ANYONE to prison for ANYTHING, even and especially for actual violent crimes committed against innocent people! But this business records case is on a whole other level, they say - the most serious business records in the history of the state! So serious that they can’t even tell you what the crime was, even now, after he’s been convicted of it! Trump didn’t show remorse for this fake crime, so he needs to go to prison. That’s the logic, as Soviet as it is; we’re supposed to believe that’s the normal outcome in a case like this, but it’s not.
If you look up recent prosecutions in New York for falsifying business records, you’ll find that virtually ALL of them involve allegations of tax fraud or workers’ compensation fraud where the defendant made money. For example, there was New York v. James Garner, a case from November 2021, in which a, “Mental health therapy aide was indicted for allegedly defrauding over $35,000 in workers’ compensation benefits;” there was also the case of New York v. Josue Aguilar Dubon (from October 2022), in which, “A Bronx business owner was indicted for failing to report over $1 million in income, avoiding paying $60,000 in taxes.” Now, on their website, the outlet “Just Security” has tallied many other examples like this, but again, the point is that these people allegedly lied to obtain more money.
In his case, as I said, Trump OVERPAID his taxes, if anything. So his prosecution is highly unusual for that reason alone, and that’s not the only strange aspect of the case, of course, it’s also more than a little odd that the same judge who handled this hush money trial is also handling the criminal case against Steve Bannon AND the criminal case against the Trump Organization. And this judge just so happens to be a Joe Biden donor. Is this normal? The CNN panelists wouldn’t say, but we all know the answer.
They gave EVERY Trump-related case to one single judge, and it just so happens to be a judge who donated to Trump’s political opponent. They aren’t even trying to hide what they’re doing; this is the kind of political corruption you might read about in the Gulag Archipelago. And up until now, you’d read those stories, as I did when I first read the volumes of the Gulag Archipelago several years ago, reading those stories and thinking, “Wow, well, I mean, thank God nothing that absurdly corrupt could ever happen here.” And here we are.
With the Trump trial, the Left has trampled every norm that exists in the criminal justice system. They prosecuted the leading presidential candidate in an election year for a seven-year-old fake crime - they assigned a hack judge to the case who essentially guided the jury to a conviction, and they did it all in front of a jury in one of the most partisan places in the country.
A few weeks ago, one prospective juror who disqualified herself from the trial gave an interview in which she explained that, after meeting the other jurors, they did not seem completely impartial to her:

REPORTER: “This is Kat, she runs a VC fund here in Manhattan for folks that are over 60 years of age - she was just dismissed as a potential juror, what happened, why were you dismissed?”
JUROR: “Because I couldn’t be impartial.”
REPORTER: “You couldn’t be impartial, so when the judge asked at hand, ‘can you be impartial,’ you raised your hand and you said you cannot.”
JUROR: “Exactly.”
REPORTER: “…do you feel like the people that you were speaking with in that jury room that you sat with all day on Tuesday, that they can put together a fair and impartial jury because of that sense of duty, do you think that’s possible?”
JUROR: “I’m not sure about that.”
REPORTER: “Really, why?”
JUROR: “You know, everybody has biases and, you know, you know, stereotypes in the minds, so you have to be a really, you know, deepened, you know, fair person… it was just very hard to do, right? [unintelligible] I hope they do. I mean, this is justice, right?”

Now, there’s some speculation on social media that this woman might have leaned towards acquitting Trump, but we have no idea - the fact she’s speaking to MSNBC would suggest otherwise, but the key point is her first-hand observation of the jury, which is that they might not be impartial in this case, and we all knew that, of course. It was always impossible—quite literally IMPOSSIBLE—that Trump would get an impartial jury. IMPOSSIBLE that he could have a fair trial, impossible! Nobody on Earth is impartial to Donald Trump, and if such a unicorn does exist, they don’t live in New York City.
But this illustrates a key difference between the Left and the Right, which is that in general, the Left is committed to winning at all costs; they’re happy to seat biased jurors and judges to get what they want. Meanwhile, conservatives are preoccupied with “norms” that nobody else in the country cares about.
Republicans could have arrested and charged Hillary Clinton for any number of crimes, at any point in the past decade. They could’ve pursued her for the Steele Dossier F.E.C. charge I mentioned earlier, investigated the Clinton Foundation, prosecuted Clinton’s retention of classified materials (followed by her lie to the FBI during an interview about those materials), but Republicans didn’t do any of that - on the basis that if they do that, then Democrats might return fire. And so Republicans continue to cherish our “norms” while Democrats blow the norms to smithereens with a thousand sticks of dynamite.
Now, the necessary response is obvious, although it won’t be pleasant. Donald Trump should immediately create and publish a list of ten high ranking Democrat criminals who he will have arrested when he takes office. First on the list should be Joe Biden; second should be Joe Biden’s crackhead son.
And in the meantime, Republican AGs all over the country should pursue their own indictments. Border states should charge government officials for deliberately contributing to human trafficking at the southern border. And if Donald Trump’s “hush money” was illegal because it interfered with an election somehow, then so is importing millions of foreign nationals every year; that’s the biggest form of election interference imaginable. Time to empanel a grand jury right away in the reddest city in the reddest state on the map. Better issue a gag order on Joe Biden, too, for good measure. Take corrupt Democrats—corrupt Democrat criminals—put them on trial in front of juries that already hate them before the trial even begins. That’s what needs to happen. Now, does that mean that we are “stooping to their level”? No, it means that we must stop pretending that we live in a country that no longer exists.
Now, will any of this ever come to pass? We’ll see. It’s doubtful. But it’s the only viable option. Right-wing lawfare is what’s necessary to defeat Left-wing lawfare, there is no other way about it. The entire legal system depends on a series of unstated principles - that prosecutors won’t pursue political cases, that juries will be impartial, that crimes must be clearly defined; and once one side violates ALL of these principles, then the principles cease to exist for everyone. They’re gone. They do not exist anymore. And now it’s mutually assured destruction. But that’s a deterrent that only works if there’s a real possibility that it’s actually enforced. And after what just happened in Manhattan, it’s well past time to introduce the Left to what “mutually assured destruction” might look like.
So frankly, I don’t want to hear elected Republicans complaining about this verdict - I don’t need to see their tweets and statements condemning it. They’ve already put out all the statements and all the tweets - I don’t care! None of us care! We’re not impressed with that! If you’re an elected Republican saying, “I oppose this!” and you’re going on Fox News, great! Good for you! The only thing that we want to hear from these people is which Democrats they will have arrested. Don’t tell us that you’re sad about the verdict, we don’t give a damn about your feelings. We want to see corrupt Democrat criminals frog marched on camera in handcuffs. Don’t whine about the double standard, force the Democrats’ own standards on them. Drag them there kicking and screaming. And if you won’t do that, then just shut up.

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