A Message for Those Still Holding On

You want to believe in Joel.

Of course, you do.

Because he made you feel like you mattered.

He confided in you.

He told you his struggles, his battles.

He let you in on his frustrations, his triumphs, his clever little wins against his so-called enemies. He painted you a picture—

…one where he was the hero and the world was always conspiring against him.

And you?

You were one of the few who truly understood him.

You were special.

Or so you thought.

But before you believe him—before you let his words shape your understanding of reality—there’s something you need to know.

You Have Been Groomed to Defend Him

Take a step back. Look at the pattern.

• Has Joel ever admitted fault?

• Has he ever told you, "Yeah, I messed up. That one’s on me."

• Has he ever once taken responsibility for the destruction he leaves in his wake?

Or does every story—every conflict—end the same way?

With him as the victim.

With someone else as the aggressor.

With you feeling just a little angrier on his behalf.

He doesn’t ask you to defend him outright.

No, he doesn’t have to.

He guides you there.

He drops a comment, sighs with frustration, plants the seed of injustice.

He lets you do the work of rallying to his side.

He lets you feel like you chose to defend him.

Because if you choose to do it, then he never has to admit that you were manipulated.

The Lies You Haven’t Noticed Yet

Joel is intelligent.

That much is true.

But his intelligence isn’t in the way you think.

It’s not wisdom.

It’s not self-awareness.

It’s not even real insight.

It’s deception.

And the most dangerous part?

He lies in a way that you don’t even realize you’ve been lied to.

He doesn’t say, “This is the absolute truth.”

Instead, he says, “Here’s what they’re saying, but you have to wonder… Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious?”

He plants doubt.

He frames everything so that if you ever see proof against him, your first reaction isn’t, "Wow, that’s clear evidence."

It’s, "That can’t be right. Joel already told me the real story."

He controls the way you interpret reality before you even get the chance to think for yourself.

And if you feel yourself pushing back against these words right now?

That’s him.

That’s his conditioning.

That’s his voice in your head, not yours.

He Is Already Preparing for Your Betrayal

Joel isn’t stupid.

He knows some of you will start questioning him.

He knows some of you will read this and begin to notice things you didn’t before.

And that is why he has already preemptively labeled you as untrustworthy.

• "Some of you will betray me."

• "Some people just love to turn on you when you need them most."

• "I’ve been stabbed in the back before—it always happens when you least expect it."

See what he’s doing?

He is making sure that if you ever leave, if you ever start doubting him, you already fit into the script he wrote for you.

He will not reflect.

He will not consider that maybe, just maybe, the problem is him.

He will not mourn losing you as a person.

He will only mourn losing his control over you.

And when you finally wake up—when you finally see him for what he is—he will erase you from his story like you never existed.

The Hardest Truth You Will Have to Face

Joel Johnson does not love you.

Not in the way you love him.

Not in the way you think.

To him, you are not a person.

You are a function.

• A defender.

• A soldier.

• A pawn in his war against reality.

And when the time comes?

When you are no longer useful?

When you wake up?

You will see exactly what every single person before you has seen.

The moment he turns on you.

The moment he rewrites history.

The moment you realize that the version of him you defended never existed at all.

So before you believe Joel—

Before you defend him—

Before you take up his cause as your own—

Ask yourself one final question.

When he turns on you next… who will believe you?