#TBD - Chapter 3 - 55

[jtl-fics]

TBD please ! !

10/30/24 WIP Wednesday (CLOSED) | TBD AU

Andrew crosses the remaining distance between them and raises his hand up to Neil’s face, but does not touch him. “So I want you to tell me right now that you don’t want to be with me, that you don’t want to stay, that you want to keep running and you want to be nothing more than a remnant. If you can do that then I will never bring this up again. We can be friends just like we were before.” Andrew promises and his head is pounding along with his heart.

He doesn’t say that it will kill him to hear Neil say ‘no’ because a coerced acceptance isn’t what he wants. He wants Neil’s absolute and enthusiastic ‘yes’ because that is what they’ve always wanted from one another.

But if Neil says ‘no’ then Andrew will have to return the favor of thanking him. For giving Andrew’s life meaning, for the kisses, the sex, the road trips, the souvenirs, for giving him his relationship with his brother, and for never once being like the monsters that haunted Andrew’s past.

He'll thank Neil for everything and for being amazing.

[fiadhaisteach]

Things I’ve Read This Week* - 2021.01.09

Slow week. Doom scrolling ate my brain.

New Stories

The Emberquizzy Chronicles, Yuletide Carols by EmberLeo - Solas/MGIT - 5,089 words, complete

Rereads

⏮️ Maker Take Me to Your Side by bunchesofcats - MGIT/tbd - 25,386 words, WIP

Tumblr (re)Reads

Elegant: One Word Writing Prompt by @noire-pandora - Solas/Female Lavellan

Cows on the Black Market by @luzial - Annabelle & Ven (OFC & OFC)

Subscription Updates

Maker Take Me to Your Side by bunchesofcats - MGIT/tbd (Ch. 10)

Running With The Halla by InArlathan (@in-arlathan) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 5-6)

Sugar Honey Iced Tea by AntlersandFangs (@thededfa), Beckily (@beckily), & Celtic_Lass (@thecelticlass) - Female Adaar/MBIT, Varric/MGIT, Krem/MGIT (Ch. 15)

Borderland Sorrows by SerialChillr (@serial-chillr) - Abelas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 29)

Til It Squeaks: A Modern Girl’s Take on Thedas, The Cutting Room Floor by CrackingLamb (@crackinglamb) - Solas/MGIT (Ch. 29)

Ariwyn and Solas, The Hunt by bubble_bones (@bubble-bones) - Fen’harel|Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 61)

Fen'Harel’s Teeth, The Domesticities by hes5thlazarus (@5lazarus) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 19)

the forest is dark and deep and i’ve seen you here before by victoriousscarf (@victoriousscarf) - Solas/Male Lavellan (Ch. 105-106)

Unwritten by UnrealRomance - Solas/MGIT (Ch. 159-160)

The Tenant of Wolvenhall by hallahart (@hallahart) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 17)

The Feedback System by beepish (@couriersiccs) - MNBIT/tbd (Ch. 10)

Skyhold University AU, Dear Fen'Harel by blarfkey (@blarfkey) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 24)

Maker’s Balls And Then Some by FanForFen (@fanforfen) - Solas/MCIT (Ch. 59)

No Longer A Game by Here_To_Be (@nolongeragameart) - Solas/MGIT (Ch. 43)

Beneath the Veilfire by oxygenforthewicked (@oxygenforthewicked) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 41)

Blacked Out by Sagoberattare - MGIT (Ch. 14)

Hero by Tabikat (@tabikato) - Zevran/Male Mahariel, Alistair/OFC (Ch. 22)

Overgrown by luzial (@luzial) & maerisk (@maerisk-writes) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 11)

Shit… I broke the game by Elenielwen (@elenielwen) - Solas/MGIT (Ch. 48-49)

Dreams, In Waking Dreams by AParisianShakespearean (@a-shakespearean-in-paris) - Cullen/Female Trevelyan (Ch. 55)

Til It Squeaks: A Modern Girl’s Take on Thedas, Twist by CrackingLamb (@crackinglamb) - Solas/MGIT (Ch. 85-86)

Into the Cosmos, Into the Chaos by Pakhet (@shiver-the-tiefling) - Solas/MGIT, MBIT (Ch. 57-58)

Vena Eolas: The Journey of an Elvhen Spirit, Sule Tael Tasalal - Until We Meet Again by faerieavalon (@faerieavalon) - Solas/OFC/Felassan (Ch. 63-64)

Broken, a coward and a failure, Carrion for Crows (Remastered) by Alexis_Trvlyn (@itsalexistrvlyn) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 3)

A Wolf Named Vengeance by CrackingLamb (@crackinglamb) & Iron_Angel (@ir0n-angel) - Fen'Harel|Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 6-7)

Lingrean Rosal'sule'din, Missing Scenes by angelslaugh (@skyerie) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 13)

Ariwyn and Solas, Between the Lines by bubble_bones (@bubble-bones) - Fen’harel|Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 3)

A Whole New World by RogueLioness (@roguelioness) - Solas/MGIT (Ch. 134)

Masters at Their Crafts by LeafAdrift (@sillyleaf) - Female Cadash, MGIT (Ch. 13)

In the face of your light, In the face of your light by noverture (@noverturemusings) - Solas/Male Lavellan (Ch. 51)

The Masks We Wear by Celtic_Lass (@thecelticlass) - Iron Bull/MGIT (Ch. 46)

Tales of the Fade Walker by Rawrzimon (@rawrzimon) - Solas/MGIT, Iron Bull/Female Trevelyan (Ch. 243)

» side note - multiple chapters may mean multiple updates; or might just be me refreshing my memory, reorienting myself in the story, or rereading some for fun. 😊

*TIRTW & can recommend

⏮️ originally read in July 2020, but I missed getting it on my list. It updated last week, but I was confoozled due to said flub, so I reread it in full to make sure I didn’t miss any goodness.

I do a quick search for author tumblrs (if they’re not posted on their fic, or AO3 profile); then assume they either don’t have one, or don’t want it linked to their fic, if it’s hard to find. So if you are a writer who has a tumblr they want linked to their rec, or know someone who is, just let me know and I’ll fix it.

[fromtheboundlesssea]

Fanfic Master List:

The Hobbit Fandom:

Series: Your Soulmate Will Be The Stranger You Recognize

Family of Choice (213 Chapters/Completed) (Rated T)

In Vain Have I Struggled. It Will Not Do. (One-shot) (Alternate ending to Chapter 39) (Rated M)

I Wish You to Know That You Have Been the Last Dream of My Soul (One-shot) (Continuation of Chapter 43) (Rated G)

Family of Choice (131/213 Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated T)

Series: Daughter of Thief and Guard

Part 1: Fate Led Us to You (8 Chapters/Completed) (Rated T)

Part 2: What We Became (10 Chapters/Completed) (Rated T)

Part 3: The Quest for Ourselves (36 Chapters/Complete) (Rated M)

Part 4: My Heart’s Home is You (12/? Chapters/Ongoing) Rated T)

Shall I Know You? (28/28 Chapters/Completed) (Rated T)

I Wish I’d Done Everything on Earth with You (12/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated M)

Mamamshul-‘ibinê (15/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated T)

Hollowing Souls (9/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated T)

Courtesy is a Lady's Armor (2/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated T)

A Princess That He Would Have Been Betrothed To (One-shot) (Rated G)

I’ll Find You Every Time (One-shot) (Rated G)

The Umbrella Academy Fandom:

Series: The Umbrella Games

Part 1: More Than Just a Piece (10/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated T)

Part 2: TBD

Part 3: TBD

Sherlock Fandom:

Series: The Pirate: Annie Holmes (add sections randomly)

Part 1: Caring is Not an Advantage (Two-shot) (Rated T)

Part 2: The Iceman (One-shot) (Rated G)

Part 3: Patient 23 (One-shot) (Rated G)

Part 4: He’s a Dad (One-shot) (Rated G)

Part 5: Do You Know Where You Are? (One-shot) (Rated G)

Part 6: The Befores and The Afters (One-shot) (Rated G)

The Anniversary (One-shot) (Rated T)

Baby Ours (One-shot) (Rated G)

Game of Thrones Fandom:

Series: The Ones Who Had Loved Her the Most

Part 1: I Loved a Maid as Fair as Summer (12/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated M)

Part 2: I Loved a Maid as Red as Autumn (TBD)

Part 3: I Loved a Maid as White as Winter (TBD)

Part 4: I Loved a Maid as Radiant as Spring (TBD)

Kissed by Fire (One-shot) (Rated G)

Not Some Willowy Creature Who Sits Up in a Tower (One-Shot) (Rated G)

Joanna (One-Shot) (Rated G)

Series: Into the Unknown

Porcelain, Ivory, Steel (47/47 Chapters/BEING REWRITTEN) (Rated M)

Actions Speak Louder (78/78 Chapters/Completed) (Rated M)

Porcelain, Ivory, Steel (38/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated M)

Remembering You (One-Shot) (Rated T)

Found You (One-Shot) (Rated G)

Winterfell is Yours, Your Grace (One-shot) (Rated G)

Wildfire and Blood (24/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated M)

Series: Songs of Fire and Blood

Neither Gods Nor Men (14/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated M)

Series: The Celiaverse

Family, Duty, Honor (220/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated M)

Fault in Our Stars (36 Chapters/Completed) (Rated M)

We are the Shepherds (25 Chapters/Completed) (Rated M)

Beautiful Ghosts (56 Chapters/Completed) (Rated M)

Love’s Not Always Wise (140 Chapters/Completed) (Rated M)

A Choice Not Mine (62 Chapters/Completed) (Rated M)

A Dream of Spring (141 Chapters/Completed) (Rated M)

Tempest Grove (81/? Chapters/ Ongoing) (Rated M)

The Pack Survives (84/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated M)

No King At All (55/? Chapters/Ongoing) (Rated M)

Into the Storm (29 Chapters/Completed) (Rated M)

Your Honor and Mine (One-Shot) (Rated T)

The Pack Survives (85/85 Chapters/Abandoned) (Rated M) (Being Rewritten)

[alexzalben]

Will we get a new episode of Riverdale this week?

Nope! Here’s the rest of the schedule for the season:

4/17 - 3x18, Chapter 53: Jawbreaker4/24 - 3x19, Chapter 54: Fear the Reaper5/1 - 3x20, Chapter 55: Prom Night5/8 - 3x21, Chapter 56: TBD5/15 - 3x22, Chapter 57: TBD *Season 3 finale*

[rannadylin]

Time for a questionnaire meme

Tagged by @fangmich and it’s been a while since I did one of these so…why not!

Also I was just starting to type up my answers to these last night when a crazy thunderstorm hit and the power went out for over four hours. :-( Then this morning the internet was still out for a couple of hours after I got up, more aftereffects of the storm no doubt. So I might be tempting fate by again attempting to answer these but here we go anyway!

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people.

LAST:

1. Drink: Durance’s tea blend, Magran’s Fire! (Yesterday it was Eder’s Sun God Cider and it would have also been Kana’s Rauatai Sweet Pie but I am almost out of that because it’s so good. I have a reorder of it coming today, if the tracking info is correct…) 2. Phone call: Frontier support to report my internet being out. :-( (Fortunately I got a very nice customer service lady who took care of everything more swiftly than expected, and hey, internet’s back now!)  3. Text message: to my mother telling her I might be visiting her today if the internet didn’t come back on… 4. Song you listened to: Technically the Pillars of Eternity soundtrack while playing the game yesterday, but if we’re not counting that…my local radio station does this thing they call Bluegrass Wednesday where they play I Saw the Light to wake us all up on Wednesday mornings and that was going on while I drove to the grocery store. This week they played two versions and asked callers to vote – David Crowder which they usually use, and the original Hank Williams Sr version. 5. Time you cried: Probably at church? I tear up a lot at certain songs. Although usually not when I’m one of the ones playing them, so it would be one of the Sundays that the youth group worship team led the songs instead of Team Pastor’s Family (i.e. my mom on piano, my sister on drums, me on flute, plus an organist and some singers unrelated to us, plus my dad, the pastor, usually singing also).

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: I have not really dated someone once unless we count going steady in junior high and when you’re too young to actually go out somewhere with the boyfriend, I’m not counting it… 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: I’ve kissed no one, so, nope 8. Been cheated on: This is also beyond my experience 9. Lost someone special: Oh certainly. Two grandparents so far, and a few years ago a very dear friend who wasn’t a teacher, yet was a sort of teaching mentor to me in our state JCL (Latin club!). Here we are getting ready for the annual trip to JCL convention in a week (!!!) and it still hits me once in a while, when I see the state t-shirt from the last convention trip he was here for and so on. 10. Been depressed: I am fortunate to have not had to deal with clinical depression. Life has its ups and downs (getting diagnosed with diabetes five years ago was one of the lows for sure…) but I’ve never felt hopeless, stuck in a low that would never improve. Honestly my faith is a big part of this – God is my hope and comfort when life is overwhelming. 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: Alcohol, like dating, is beyond my experience. This is what life is when you grow up as a pastor’s kid with a pretty much lawful good alignment in RL. :-D

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14: PURPLE AND GOLD! Well, that’s JCL colors, anyway. Purple is one of my favorites, also dark green, and…for a third…well I think I have more handknit socks in the blue range than anything? I am very mardi gras here.

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: Sure! Mind you, I don’t tend to form deep friendships very often but I do form firendly acquaintances pretty easily. I’ve made friends on tumblr and with some Latin teachers I met at the conference I went to last month. 16. Fallen out of love: Not really sure I’ve ever really fallen in; see above re: dating. Crushes and falling out of crushes, certainly. 17. Laughed until you cried: I’m sure I have? Probably at family gatherings. I have goofy relatives. 18. Found out someone was talking about you: Hello, I teach high schoolers? They are always talking about me. I usually assume there’s a base level of complaining about grades or discipline going on (some of which the offended student makes sure I can hear, yay), but I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by people (a fellow teacher as well as friends of current students) in the past year telling me they’ve heard good things about my teaching. (Current students’ friends who said so are taking my class next year, I think…Yay!) 19. Met someone who changed you: Sure. E.g. I’ve grown a lot more confident from hanging out with my very outgoing (and bossy :-D) best friend (and fellow teacher until we both left that school within the last few years… 20. Found out who your friends are: I am not at all sure what this is asking. 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: Nope, see above re: dating

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: I don’t generally make or accept friend requests unless I already know the person. Some are just acquaintances through work or the network of Latin teachers, or former students who were on trips to JCL convention with our group, etc. so I don’t often see them in person, but there’s only a handful I haven’t actually met at some point. 23. Do you have any pets: Alas, no, the apartment complex doesn’t allow pets. I had a cat at my last place but she went to live with my parents and she’s more my Dad’s pet than mine now. 24. Do you want to change your name: In true Anne Shirley fashion? :-) I used to be less content with my name than I am now. Now, I’m like whatever. 25. What did you do for your last Birthday: Taught? Probably? Was it even a weekday? 26. What time did you wake up: Around 7 today, eager to see if the power had come back on (it had!) and also the internet (it hadn’t!) 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Finally asleep by then, I think, after hours of waiting for power to come back on. 28. Name something you can’t wait for: Deadfire (Gotta agree with you on this one, @fangmich!) 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: On the way home from family trip to see Grandma on Monday 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: Not being diabetic would be swell! 31. What are you listening to right now: Silence 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Had a great student by that name years ago. 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: It was the lack of internet but now we’re good. Students interrupting class will ALWAYS get on my nerves though… 34. Most visited website: Definitely tumblr these days.

RANDOM INFO:

35. Mole/s: Nope 36. Mark/s: A few stray freckles? 37. Childhood dream: Teacher. Or writer. Went with the first, now I don’t have time to professionally pursue the second! 38. Hair color: Brown and ridiculously curly. Yes, curly is a color. 39. Long or short hair: Long 41. What do you like about yourself: I might actually sound pretty arrogant if I seriously started listing things. I’m just a “look on the bright side” sort of person and I like a lot of things about myself as an active choice. *shrug* Most of the things I’d list have to do with creativity – writing, knitting, fluting. 42. Piercings: None 43. Blood type: You know I should actually know this by now, huh? I know my most recent A1C (6.4, not bad for diabetic) but have no idea my blood type. 44. Nickname: Besides forms of my actual name? Well, students call me Magistra… (Latin for teacher) 45. Relationship status: Confirmed Old Maid :-) 46. Zodiac: Virgo  47. Pronouns: she/her (but actually I’m pretty fond of ipsa, and eadem gives me headaches as it does all Latin students…sorry sorry, I know this question is about gender but I see “pronouns” and I think of grammar and those chapters that throw all of the pronouns at the kids at once so we call it the Death By Pronouns unit...Look y’all, I’m female but also a grammarian. That’s right, my gender is Grammarian.) 48. Favorite TV Show: Don’t have an actual TV so I watch things on the Internet. Does Critical Role count? If not, I’ve also watched Doctor Who recently. 49. Tattoos: None 50. Right or left hand: Right 51. Surgery: Had a pilonidal cyst removed in my teens. 52. Hair dyed in different color: Never. I do not mess with my hair. The curls would take revenge. 53. Sport: Marching Band totally counts and apart from that I am the least sporty of humans. 55. Vacation: Would love to spend it in Italy more often (yay Latin teaching perks) if I can get enough students to go. Otherwise – JCL convention! And other school-related trips… 56. Pair of trainers: Skechers? Does that count? 

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: Like right now? I…had a muffin and yogurt and strawberries for breakfast? Lunch is TBD. 58. Drinking: I am a water drinker (so I guess I don’t write poetry) but also, lots of tea! And recently I have started drinking coffee (gasp!) because Mom has been providing coffee & breakfast for our Sunday School class and I enjoyed the coffee that first Sunday so I guess she has corrupted me now. 59. I’m about to: Catch up on everything I missed (tumblr, the Deadfire Q&A, etc.) while the internet was out.  61. Waiting for: My Adagio tea order with the rest of my Pillars of Eternity tea samples and a reorder of Kana’s and Iselmyr’s delicious blends! 62. Want: A teaching salary that makes it more likely I could afford to actually retire someday?  63. Get married: Used to assume I would, but see above re: Confirmed Old Maid – I’m content with being single, these days. A potential spouse would have to be pretty awesome to outweigh how fond I’ve grown of my solitude. 64. Career: I’m content with classroom teaching, most of the time. Not really interested in administration. Doubtful I could make a living as a writer, especially with my insurance needs nowadays. In my first teaching job, I was certain I’d be there till I retired. Then they had budget cuts and I had to switch schools if I wanted (I did!) to keep teaching Latin. Second job was burnout waiting to happen – after five years I switched to my current school, and once again I could see myself retiring here. If, of course, my deadbeat pancreas and I can afford that.

WHICH IS BETTER:

65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs have a wider appeal, but see above re: dating/kissing status, so I’m not really one to speak to this 66. Lips or eyes: Eyes 67. Shorter or taller: Shorter, I guess, for I am short and am not really as amused by height differences as most of tumblr appears to be? 68. Older or younger: At my age I’m not sure it matters so much 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: WELL you know that post celebrating Aloth’s arms… 71. Sensitive or loud:  Sensitive. Loud would totally fail to outweigh my fondness of solitude. Introvert here needs her quiet time, please. 72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Hesitant, I guess?

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a Stranger: No 75. Drank hard liquor: No 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: In all my years of glasses…probably? Not that I recall? 77. Turned someone down: Yes 78. Sex on the first date: Wouldn’t if given the opportunity 79. Broken someone’s heart: Unlikely 80. Had your heart broken: My heart has generally avoided the risks that would lead to breaking, see above re: Old Maid 81. Been arrested: No 82. Cried when someone died: Of course 83. Fallen for a friend: …Temporarily? Never went anywhere

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: To an extent – I mean, I know my limits. 85. Miracles: Absolutely 86. Love at first sight: Not my style but I’m sure it happens 87. Santa Claus: I like stories but I know they’re stories… 88. Kiss on the first date: Probably not

OTHER:

90. Current best friend name: Amanda! (Which is Latin for She Who Must Be Loved and it’s true) 91. Eye color: I’d like to say Grey but I think they’re more of greyish Blue. 92. Favorite movie: Star Wars. Or The Princess Bride. Or Lord of the Rings.

I’m going to just leave this with an open tag instead of naming anyone. If you want to answer these, go for it and tag me so I can get to know you better too!

[lesliepump]

How I Built an Online DIY Legal Malpractice Defense Playbook

I have been truly honored to attend all three iterations of TBD Law. It has transformed the way I approach my ethics defense practice.  A critical component of my transformation is how TBD Law inspired me to think differently about how to reach one of my target markets: the self-represented lawyer. Here is how I went about creating a completely new product called The Playbook: The California Bar System Practice Guide, based on my TBD Law inspiration and learning.

What I Do

My practice is defending California lawyers facing ethics investigations and prosecutions by the State Bar of California. I have focused on this area since 2009, though I have been a practicing lawyer since ten years before that. I got into ethics work in part because I saw a great need for attorneys representing themselves in the discipline system to have assistance.

Self-Represented Lawyers

Many people will say that representing yourself in an ethics investigation is incredibly foolish, but I have a different view. For some lawyers, it is an entirely rational approach if they can do it with some level of objectivity. Many lawyers do possess the skill and emotional ability to put on an effective defense. For many others, though it is not an ideal choice, it is the only choice.

Many lawyers facing Bar complaints are solos who do not have the funds to hire counsel. It is totally within reason to estimate that a Bar investigation will cost in the neighborhood of $5,000 to defend even if you get the investigation closed without charges being filed. If you take the case all the way to trial, legal fees alone could easily be $50,000, and if discipline is imposed, you may also have to pay costs to the Bar (in California, those costs can approach $20,000). Ironic as it may be, counsel is simply out of reach for many lawyers.

So, my target market of self-represented lawyers is not such a crazy market after all.

Reaching the Market through The Playbook

Before the first TBD Law, I had offered self-help assistance on an hourly basis. I did reach some lawyers this way, and I provided limited scope representation as a consulting attorney for their discipline cases. I even helped clients through trial on a limited scope basis. After the second TBD Law, I began offering flat fee consulting services, trying to steer away from the hourly basis and attract my cost-conscious base with the fixed cost model.

Still, I felt that I wasn’t reaching the segment that really needed help. So, I developed The Playbook:  The California Bar Discipline System Practice Guide. It is an online membership website where self-represented lawyers can access (1) a comprehensive text detailing each stage of the discipline process and how it works, what to expect, pitfalls to avoid, and tips on how to navigate the system, (2) a document library containing dozens of sample documents for State Bar Court filings and State Bar investigations, since these materials are generally difficult to come by despite being technically public, and (3) a forum where members can share information, ideas, concerns, and experiences.

How The Playbook Came to Be

The Idea

The Playbook was born out of the influence of many TBD Law colleagues. I cannot pinpoint precisely when I first got the idea, but it certainly was influenced by listening to Billie Tarascio of Modern Law and Erin Levine of Hello Divorce talk about their online systems for helping self-represented family law litigants. It was also influenced from outside TBD Law by Rachel Rodgers, who had repeatedly told me I should create a digital product for attorneys needing ethics advice. To get metaphorical, the seed planted by Rachel got watered by the ideas at TBD Law, and I began to see how the text of The Playbook could take shape.

The Book

I would love to say that I had this whole project mapped out before I started creating, but that just did not happen. I first thought I would write a book. I outlined all the chapters I thought the book would need and began writing a chapter a day. I got a rough draft completed in a couple of weeks. I handed the book off to a trusted friend to proof, thinking I was done. At that point, I envisioned just the text as the entire project, and I thought I would deliver it as a PDF download on a simple website.

Instead of simple typographical edits, he came back with enormous substantive edits and ideas for more material and a comment that it was a “good start.” Though I was temporarily feeling defeated, I quickly realized the gift my editor had given me. Like the room full of brilliance at TBD Law, a different perspective on my material gave me countless ways to improve it and make it more effective and useful.

It was at TBD Law that I first learned the term “minimally viable product.” Once I embraced my editor’s ideas to dig back in and improve the substance of my text, I struggled to strike a balance between my perfectionist desire to make the book complete and my desire to get it out the door and call it an MVP. Ultimately the concept of MVP helped me choose to deliver my book in the form of a membership website. (More on this later.) While revising and expanding the text, I had an internal fight to keep MVP from being my excuse not to elaborate on relatively minor points, any one of which could be a huge issue for one user of the material, or to skip a chapter that I realized would be of value only to some users and yet would be extremely difficult to write. In the end, I went through many major revisions with my editor and the text I launched is organized differently and is far more comprehensive than my original draft.

Once the text was complete, it felt like I was done, but in truth, it was just one step in the huge process.

The Membership Site

When the text was as complete as I felt was reasonable to make it before launching it, my editor still wanted to tinker with it. He made some really good suggestions, but I kept remembering the concept of MVP. I had no idea yet what users would think of this project, and I could spend a year working on it and adding to it and still not believe it was done. The idea of shipping unchangeable material to users terrified me. Not only did I want to implement my editor’s suggestions, but what if there was an error in the book? Plus, the evolution of the text into such a detailed tome had spawned more ideas on how I could add to the overall offering.

This was when I realized that by allowing access to the material on a membership website, I would always have access to update, edit, revise, fix errors, and add material to the text. This solved so many problems.

The membership site concept also opened the door to delivering so much more for my users. Beyond a static book, I could create other materials I could update and a way to communicate with users and for them to communicate with each other.

The Library

Even though I felt that the text was complete and insanely valuable to the self-represented lawyer, I wanted to give my target market more tools to mount effective defenses. A practice guide is great, and much needed in this area, but I wanted self-represented lawyers to have much more than a book. After all, if a lawyer was wandering into unfamiliar territory in the ethics prosecution world, and was already stressed and did not have extra time or money to spare defending themselves, the book would only help so much. They would still have to craft all the filings from scratch, with no concrete guidance.

From listening to the creative solutions people at TBD Law had come up with for various problems they faced in practice, I began to understand that any hurdle I could see must have a solution. So, I decided to create a document library for The Playbook members so they would have a super practical and incredibly valuable resource to use in conjunction with the book. Plus, since we had decided to make this a membership site, somehow the library must be able to live on the site where users could get to it. Without having a concrete idea of how the library would be delivered to users other than thinking “somehow on the website,” I put together the library’s contents.

First I made a list of all the filings and communications I could think of from each chapter of the text. For example, one chapter is responding to the notice of disciplinary charges. So I went through all the ways you can respond—an answer or one of several variations on a motion to dismiss.

Once I had a list of all the filings and communications a respondent might need to create, I started pulling samples from my files. For filings I did not have on hand, I went to the State Bar Courts in San Francisco and Los Angeles and dug through case files for good examples of publicly filed documents.

Then I began a laborious process of sanitizing all of my samples. By “sanitizing” I mean pulling out all case-specific information from actual filings and making them unidentifiable. Even though most of the filings were public filings, I did not want to have any respondent-specific information reflected in the document library. My goal is to help protect respondent lawyers, and I was not about to have any documents in my library which could be viewed as harming a respondent.

The Playbook has a theme running through it related to Alice in Wonderland, as I describe the State Bar discipline process as Wonderland: it is indeed a place where things are not as they seem, where rules are not as you expect. So, I made all of my sample filings on behalf of fictional lawyer Charles Dodgson, which is Lewis Carroll’s given name.

Keeping the MVP concept in mind, I created a library of 55 sample documents. I had more I would have liked to include, and I will continue to add to the library over time, but I stopped to work on other aspects of the project when I felt I had created a library that would be extremely useful to users. The membership site concept gave me the freedom to stop work on the library, as I knew I could come back and add to it at any time.

The Forum

The last major piece of The Playbook is the forum through which users can connect with each other. I decided to include the forum after getting familiar with Seth Godin (as a result of a quote in the lobby of Filament). Seth Godin talks a lot about tribes, and I certainly feel that I found mine three times over at TBD Law. He talks about the human need for connection, a truth evidenced by the explosion of social media.

I realized that the piece missing from The Playbook was a community. Self-represented lawyers in ethics cases are totally isolated. If they have any interaction at all with other lawyers in the system, it is through very small groups in the Lawyers Assistance Program. Members of those groups are already knee-deep in the discipline system, and they are there because they are members of a subset of the respondents who are suffering from mental health or substance abuse issues. The vast majority of lawyers in the discipline system are not attending the Lawyers Assistance Program meetings, and the few dozen who are attending are scattered geographically. There is no real communal watering hole for respondents.

I did not want to get into the business of providing legal advice through the forum because I do not represent members of The Playbook website. I am not running conflicts or obtaining information about their cases such that I can competently provide legal advice. I wanted people to have others to talk to. By creating the forum, I am giving self-represented lawyers a place to come and commiserate, share ideas, share experiences, and find that they are not alone.

When I had the idea to create the forum, I realized that the earlier decision to make this a membership site was leading to the creation of the community.

The Videos

After thinking I had most of the content done, I listened to a common theme in the self-help materials created by Erin Levine and others: video. I am not a fan of video, as I often lack the patience to watch a video, but my preferences should not guide a project like The Playbook. I needed to think about what my users might prefer.

Making videos is beyond my expertise, but I got advice from the TBD Law community. I had consulted a professional videographer at one point in time, but the cost of using a professional production exceeded the investment I was willing to make in this startup project. So, I toyed around with lighting, microphones, and scripts, and ultimately filmed a handful of video clips. I did these myself and used a video editor I found on Fiverr to clean up the lighting and edit them for final use. In the vein of an MVP, I will redo them at some point in the future, but what I created was sufficient for shipping the product.

The Text

The text was my initial focus, and I knew I needed someone who could do really great work on an interactive PDF. The original text was approaching 200 pages, there were appendices of 800 pages, and with the videos embedded it would be a very large file. I wanted it to be colorful, easy to read, with lots of clickable links to take the user through the book, the appendices, and the sample library. The idea for the user experience was to use the resource on a computer, not to print it out.

It seemed to me like a very tall order for a designer, and I had no idea who the right person might be. I realized that if I entrusted the wrong person with my text, a poor design would prevent the substance of my work from being seen.

I first tried putting the project out to bid on Fiverr and Upwork. I got dozens of responses, but I did not feel like anyone really understood exactly what I was after. My expectations of the project also evolved as I read the responses because designers responded with details that I had never thought about before. I also began to learn a bit of the designer’s lingo by reading their proposals.

Unsatisfied with what I had found on the outsourcing websites, I asked the TBD Law community for recommendations for designers. Matt Homann, the owner of Filament, put me in touch with Jeff Wilson, a designer who has done a lot of work for Filament. After some conversations and back-and-forth on general design ideas, I felt like he understood what I was after and had a lot more ideas to contribute. Hiring Jeff turned out to be the best decision in the whole project.

Jeff highlights an aspect of working with others that bears mentioning. As a solo lawyer, I often hold all of the control over every aspect of what I do. Here, Jeff took ownership of this project and really sank his teeth into it. I admitted there were many things beyond my realm of expertise, and he was able to bring his strengths to the work and make the finished product something I could never have envisioned. Partly because I did not really know what it would ultimately look like and partly because he ran with some great ideas, Jeff ended up creating a finished piece that was far beyond my expectations. (He also spent a significant amount of time over and above what either of us initially anticipated.)

The Website

As with the design for the text, I also knew I needed help building the website. Through TBD Law, I was introduced to website designer Chris Ryan. After the second TBD Law, Chris took my framework for my law firm website and made it come to life, and I immediately knew that he should be the one to build The Playbook’s site.

By the time Chris got involved, the design for the delivery system had grown into something much more than I had initially envisioned. Initially, I thought it would be a simple site using Easy Digital Downloads to download a single PDF of the book. Instead, I pitched Chris the idea of a membership site with access to the text, document library, and forum, plus an email capture with sample chapter download. It seemed like the complexity of the site grew every time I spoke to him.  (This is where a patient designer is critical.)

When I was ready to hand the project to Chris to work his website magic, there were pieces of it that I could not visualize. For example, the design of the text was nearly complete by this point, but I had a large set of documents for the library and the idea for the forum, but no idea how they would come to exist or what they should look like. Like Jeff, Chris was able to use his expertise to craft solutions to problems I could barely articulate, let alone solve.  He created the template for the document library, and I was blown away by how it looked.  He also created the forum.

The collaboration of Chris and Jeff was critical to getting the final website put together.  Jeff would design the logo and cover, and Chris would integrate them into the site.  There were days near the end of the process where there was nothing for me to do because the experts in their fields were busy making it all come together.

The Testing

My base-level knowledge of website design helped me in testing the final product. I have taught myself enough about building a site to be able to set up a shopping cart with payment settings and test those settings in sandbox mode, and I was able to recruit a few friends and family to “purchase” memberships and log into the site to see if everything worked right.

Testing was a process that I hoped would be quick and easy and confirm that everything was great and working as expected. Instead, it highlighted a series of technical glitches on my end and required Chris and me to spend a lot of time fixing little details. It was critical to have one patient person go back and test and re-test the site. She found things like that once she paid for membership, when she tried to log in, it asked her to pay again. She also found minor inconsistencies that undermined the professionalism of the site. Her contribution to the process was priceless.

The testing process took a few days of great frustration and angst, but ultimately the final product was ready to go.

The Launch

The Playbook went live just recently, and marketing efforts are only just beginning, so the launch itself is not terribly climatic. However, an important piece of it is the timing. As I mentioned above concerning the text, I found that I could work on this project for another year before launching it because there were always more points to make, pieces to add, and edits to make. When the rough draft of the text was complete, I set a launch date and stuck pretty close to it until the site was live.

The total time from starting to draft the text to launching the site was under four months.

Sticking to this timetable required two things. First, I publicly stated that it would be live in August 2017, and I put it out there in places I could not take it back. I stated this on a Lawyerist podcast, and I also said it to many colleagues. To miss my date would have been publicly embarrassing, and I did that on purpose to put the pressure on myself.  I have found public accountability to be a tremendous motivator as a solo lawyer.

Second, it required me to ask everyone working on the project to move mountains to meet our deadlines. I was told by more than one person that I was rushing them, and I was asked point blank why it had to be done quickly. My response was that we could take forever, but there were other things to do too so this one had to get done now. This was a difficult pressure to place on everyone helping, but I felt it was necessary to prevent the project from taking over my work and life and interfering with client service.

Final Word

The final word on The Playbook, for anyone considering undertaking a project like this, is that creating it turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I have done in my career as a solo lawyer.  I learned a tremendous amount by merely writing the text and by working on the design.  I know my practice area inside and out after digging through it in such great detail.  Plus, creating something unique, knowing that nothing like it is out there for self-represented lawyers, gives me a sense of pride and of accomplishment that reinforces my belief in what I am doing in my work.

If you have a project you can envision, even if you don’t know all the details just yet or how exactly it would work, dog it like Walt Disney tells us to do: “Get a good idea and stay with it. Dog it, and work at it until it’s done right.” I can’t imagine being unhappy that you did.

How I Built an Online DIY Legal Malpractice Defense Playbook was originally published on Lawyerist.com.

from Law and Politics https://lawyerist.com/diy-legal-malpractice-playbook-how-to/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[jtl-fics]

TBD please 🙏 😢!!!

11/6/24 WIP Wednesday (CLOSED) | TBD AU

With the first taste after a five year drought Andrew finds himself desperate for more. It’s exactly like Neil’s freshman year all over again except Andrew’s long since grown out of his self-delusion that this was nothing.

He knows without a shadow of a doubt that this is everything because he knows what his life is without it.

He deepens the kiss with Neil and Neil follows suit, just as starved for Andrew as Andrew is for Neil. Andrew’s hands let go of Neil’s and find their way to Neil’s hips. Neil’s breath catches as he pulls apart, “Wher-”

“Anywhere,” Andrew confirms and Neil wraps his arms around Andrew’s neck.

[jtl-fics]

TBD please 🥺🥺🥺

They continue this until Andrew has Neil pressed up against the wall. Andrew wants every last centimeter of Neil. Wants him with every single fiber of his being. Wants to bite his neck and drink his marrow. Wants to rip his chest open and crawl into his rib cage just so that they’d never spend another moment apart ever again-

He wants Neil to fu-

“Andrew Joseph Minyard!” Aaron’s voice fills his home.

He wants Neil to fucking help him kill his brother.

[jtl-fics]

TBD Chapter 1 (Parts 1 - 67)

Andrew Minyard has just signed on with the Atlanta Wolves so that he can support his twin and his twin's wife as they work on residency and get ready to welcome his nieces into the world. He may not give a shit about Exy, but it does pay well.

And Atlanta is paying him well enough to ignore the awkward tension of having to play with one of his college teammates again. Neil Josten has only gotten more interesting since the last time Andrew saw him when he'd graduated from Palmetto State.

Chapter 1: ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 - 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 - 48 - 49 - 50 - 51 - 52 - 53 - 54 - 55 - 56 - 57 - 58 - 59 - 60 - 61 - 62 - 63 - 64 - 65 - 66 - 67 )

NEXT ->

[jtl-fics]

TBD Chapter 2 (Parts 1 - 73)

Andrew Minyard has just signed on with the Atlanta Wolves so that he can support his twin and his twin's wife as they work on residency and get ready to welcome his nieces into the world. He may not give a shit about Exy, but it does pay well.

And Atlanta is paying him well enough to ignore the awkward tension of having to play with one of his college teammates again. Neil Josten has only gotten more interesting since the last time Andrew saw him when he'd graduated from Palmetto State.

<- PREVIOUS (Chapter 1)

Chapter 2: ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 - 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 - 48 - 49 - 50 - 51 - 52 - 53 - 54 - 55 - 56 - 57 - 58 - 59 - 60 - 61 - 62 - 63 - 64 - 65 - 66 - 67 - 68 - 69 - 70 - 71 - 72 - 73 )

NEXT ->

[jtl-fics]

10/30/24 WIP Wednesday Round-Up

Hey everyone, here is everything that requested last week!

Math Nerd - 10 Requests

Banquet: ( 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 )

New Kings - 10 Requests

Ferdinand: ( 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 - 46 ) Withdrawal: ( 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 )

Foxhole Bake - 5 requests

Week 2 Signature Bake: ( 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 ) Week 2 Technical Challenge: ( 1 )

Smalls - 10 Requests

Trial: ( 70 - 71 - 72 - 73 - 74 ) Neil Josten: ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 )

TBD - 15 Requests

Chapter 3: ( 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 - 42 - 43 )

Four Horsemen - 5 Requests

Pestilence: ( 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 )

Total: 55 Requests

[jtl-fics]

10/23/24 WIP Wednesday - Round-up

Sorry for the delay on getting those last three out but here is everything that was requested back on 10/23/24!

Math Nerd - 10 Requests

Banquet: ( 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 )

New Kings - 10 Requests

Withdrawal: ( 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 ) Ferdinand: ( 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 )

Foxhole Bake - 3 Requests

Week 2 Signature Bake: ( 41 - 42 - 43 )

Smalls - 12 Requests

Trial: ( 58 - 59 - 60 - 61 - 62 - 63 - 64 - 65 - 66 - 67 - 68 - 69 )

TBD - 17 Requests

Chapter 3: ( 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 )

Four Horsemen - 3 Requests

Pestilence: ( 20 - 21 - 22 )

Total Requests: 55 Requests

[jtl-fics]

10/2/24 WIP Wednesday - Round-up

Thank you all again! I realized I forgot to get the round up from the 2nd all done so here it all is!

Fluent Freshman FD - 4 Requests

Chapter 47 ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 )

Math Nerd - 12 Requests

Crush ( 48 ) Banquet ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 )

New Kings - 11 Requests

Ferdinand ( 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 ) Withdrawal ( 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 )

Foxhole Bake - 3 Requests

Week 2 Signature Bake ( 38 - 39 - 40 )

Smalls - 10 Requests

Trial ( 48 - 49 - 50 - 51 - 52 - 53 - 54 - 55 - 56 - 57 )

TBD - 16 Requests

Chapter 2 ( 155 - 156 - 157 - 158 - 159 - 160 - 161 - 162 - 163 - 164 - 165 - 166 - 167 - 168 - 169 - 170

Four Horsemen - 6 Requests

Pestilence ( 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 )

Total Requests: 62 Requests

[jtl-fics]

9/4/24 WIP Wednesday Round-Up

I really should just make a graphic or something to riff on "Last Time on Dragon Ball Z" announcer voice but I keep forgetting to do that.

Here's everything ya'll requested for 9/8/24's WIP Wednesday!

Fluent Freshman FD - 1 Request

Chapter 39: ( 1 )

New Kings AU - 13 Requests

Please: ( 43 - 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 - 48 - 49 - 50 - 51 - 52 - 53 - 54 - 55

Surely - 3 Requests (Now onto Final Draft Time)

Vodka - ( 49 - 50 - 51 )

TBD AU - 17 Requests

Chapter 2 - ( 106 - 107 - 108 - 109 - 110 - 111 - 112 - 113 - 114 - 115 - 116 - 117 - 118 - 119 - 120 - 121 - 122

Total Requests: 34 Requests

[jtl-fics]

8/7/24 WIP Wednesday - Round-Up

Hello guys!!

Thanks again for being cool with the limited asks. I'm hopeful that once this work promotion is over I'll be able to uncap it again.

Fluent Freshman FD - 4 Requests

Chapter 31: ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

Math Nerd AU - 9 Requests (I miscounted >_<)

Crush: ( 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19

Smalls AU - 10 Requests

Trial: (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

Surely - 4 Requests

Vodka: ( 24 - 25 - 26 - 27

TBD AU - 16 Requests (had one extra that I decided to allow)

Chapter 2: (49 - 50 - 51 - 52 - 53 - 54 - 55 - 56 - 57 - 58 - 59 - 60 - 61 - 62 - 63 - 64

Total Requests - 43 Requests

[jtl-fics]

6/12/24 WIP Wednesday Round-Up

Hello guys!

Here's everything requested last week for WIP Wednesday!

Fluent Freshman FD - 3 Requests

Chapter 15: (1 - 2 - 3 -

Math Nerd AU - 9 Requests

Glue: (12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20)

New Kings AU - 6 Requests

Mania: (37 - 38) Waiting Game: (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 -

Smalls AU - 8 Requests

HTPXFI: (30) Monsters: (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 -

Foxhole Bake AU - 4 Requests

Week 1 Star Baker: (13 - 14 - 15 - 16 -

Surely - 3 Requests

Ginger Ale: (19 - 20 - 21 -

TBD - 5 Requests

Chapter 1: (52 - 53 - 54 - 55 - 56 -

Total: 38 Requests