Let's start from the beginning.
Forge World Graia is being invaded by Orks, who at this point have ships in-atmosphere, plus throughout the game are shown to have control of, or at the very least are contesting, anti-air emplacements. And, while in a thunderhawk, Titus makes the decision to put on jump packs, leap through a hurricane of fire, board an enemy ship, and spend the first section of the game just reconvening with his squad. Titus risks the entire "strategically absolute" mission on a gamble, and Leandros calls him out on it. Leandros at first is suggestive and follows along with Titus, but once Titus separates and nearly dies on a crashing ship, Leandros, who also nearly died, is understandably pissed. Even Sergeant Sidonus questions Titus at the beginning, and he's an experienced veteran. Instead of explaining his reasoning, Titus continues to belittle Leandros, openly taunting him while on the thunderhawk (Try to keep up) and then claiming that Leandros interprets the codex narrowly, again, as they land wildly off-course and have to footslog their way back to the objective. There's no "narrow" interpretation, it should be common sense not to run into a firefight and Leandros is absolutely right on the money.
Then, it's Leandros that gets the idea to blow up the macrocannon by planting a melta charge on the shell. This guy, who the community presents as not doing anything unless the Codex explicitly says, is the one who gets the creative idea to destroy the gun battery, by being resourceful and knowledgeable about how to take down a big gun. A lot of people might be tempted to dismiss this because it seems too easy, but that's the point. Leandros taking the simple, effective, and quick solution is not a fault on him, but instead a praise, and Sidonus does just that.Leandros doesn't really take issue again until Titus moves to get the power source. The entire facility collapses, and Titus suddenly rings out that he somehow survived, against the Inquisitor's expectations. Then Drogan reveals that the power source conducts warp energies, and Leandros takes the most aggressive jump by associating it with chaos. Titus and Sidonus, on the other hand, trust the Inquisitor at face value and ignore it, so Leandros once again bites his tongue. The Inquisitor then reveals another test project, which uses the Power Source, and Titus still continues to trust him despite repeated warnings that the weapon could destroy the planet on accident. Considering he was sent here to protect the planet, Titus is weirdly invested in protecting an inquisitor that has already repeatedly kept secrets that impaired their mission, and again, nearly killed a 2nd Company Captain.
Once the daemons emerge, Leandros' first words are "how is this possible?" Then, Titus is once again demonstrated to have warp resistance, in addition to Drogan's puppeteering also emerging. Nemeroth expresses both gratitude to the space marines for helping his plans unfold, and interest in Titus specifically. In addition, its discussed that Drogan was likely killed by chaos agents, and not by orks. So Leandros is led to believe that 1) his captain has overt warp resistance, 2) his captain has a thing for disappearing suddenly by making brash decisions 3) its revealed that Drogan was a highly convincing puppet and 4) chaos has been at work on this planet for some stretch of time, without their knowledge. What was he supposed to think? Chaos changes the game here, and Titus' odd behavior has never been reassuring all the while. If you were playing the game from Leandros' perspective, you would think the game was setting up Titus to be the villain, another puppet or perhaps an agent of chaos that reveals himself a master planner. That this ends up not being the case isn't incompetency on Leandros' part, but is instead simply a bit of dramatic irony. That you happen to play as Titus doesn't excuse the fact that Titus himself is simply not a very inspiring or trustworthy person at this point.
The strike force successfully destroys the orbital spire, and Leandros suggests giving the power source to the inquisition for safekeeping. Titus remarks that the Inquisition has already failed thus far, and suggests destroying it. This isn't Leandros making a bad call per se, but its a deliberate test, seeing as Leandros already suspects Titus of mega-ultra-heresy. If Titus moves to get rid of the power source, it would objectively be a bad call because of Titus' reasons. However, if he tries to keep it, Leandros might think that Titus is up to something. Titus, being reasonable for once, chooses the middle route and suggests safely destroying it once they get back to the chapter, while still carrying out the mission here. Titus passes on the power source to Sidonus, and Leandros falls back in line.
However, just as this occurs, a sizeable force of Chaos marines emerge, and Titus orders Sidonus to make a break for it. And as Leandros is preoccupied elsewhere, Nemeroth suddenly emerges, takes the power source, and kills Sidonus. And yet, despite not being there to confirm the story, Leandros takes Titus' advice and plans to carry out vengeance. He openly protests Titus once again making the genius tactical move to split up to take on a Chaos Lord alone, and calls out that Nemeroth might plan to take advantage of Titus' warp connection. During this conversation, it's noted that Leandros does not openly say that Titus has a connection to Chaos, even though its already been said. Once again, Titus decide to play aggressively with a hypothetical question, and ask if Leandros fears him falling to chaos. Leandros says no, but turns away and imagines another hypothetical wherein Nemeroth takes advantage of Titus, a sort of long-winded way of saying "yes" without actually saying it. Again, Leandros has some very valid concerns at this point, and while its a stretch to think that Titus will directly fall to chaos (which the player picks up on), Titus is not at all reassuring. He's not just ignoring the Codex, he's actively pushing against basic ideas of how not to handle a chaos incursion, written by Bobby G, who wrote the book with every ounce of knowledge he had for preventing Chaos. Titus rejecting the Codex and being so chaotic at such a pivotal moment is where Leandros really ramps up his suspicions.
Nemeroth and Titus then have a facedown, and Nemeroth himself openly believes that Titus is connected to Chaos. Not only does Titus have warp resistance, but Nemeroth calls out how the very specific events that have occurred are entirely in line with the intentions of Chaos. This is a point brought up many times in other books, that one doesn't have to worship Chaos to serve Chaos, and Nemeroth puts it on display. Regardless of what Titus was doing, he was going to end up "serving" Chaos regardless, and his unique connection to the warp was seeming evidence of that.
And finally, at the climax of it all, Titus once again emerges, killing a half-daemon prince after falling through the warp and somehow using the power source to just right himself back into realspace. Titus and Leandros have their last stare down, as Leandros comes to the same conclusion as Nemeroth that Titus is connected to Chaos, and informs the inquisition forces that showed up. Many people have said that Leandros should have gone to the Master of Sanctity, but I disagree. This is the Captain of the 2nd company, who is just now experiencing weird warp-related phenomena, who seemingly keeps popping in and out of reality after going on suicide missions, and whose every action is made in such a way that they either ignore Leandros despite his valid criticisms, or are downright hostile to his loyalty to the codex. Leandros was put on the spot, and had to make a decision, and like any decision, he turned to the Codex for guidance.
Leandros is adamant that the Codex contains the truth, and Titus says that its a set of rules with the test to see what a Space Marine can make with them. This is where Titus honestly loses me. People always like to go on about how the Codex is a set of guidelines and not rules, but honestly I've never seen it that way. It laid out the philosophical groundworks to describe the role of the Adeptus Astartes from galactic conquerors to humanity's defenders, it made explicit strategic organization and developed doctrine and tactics to explain where every unit type fit into the grand picture, it set the precedent for Imperial separation of powers from legions to chapters and Imperial to Navy and Militarum, and it overall served as a historical document that outlines different situations and how soldiers (astartes mainly) should deal with them.
We know that Guilliman himself didn't like how narrow the Imperium viewed the codex, but that often ignores a lot of the context about his opinions. Gman hates that 1) the High Lords abuse codex stipulations to their own end 2) soldiers follow the rules without accounting for the situation. In some cases, as Leandros points out, the Codex does account for the situation, because the Codex was meant to embody the wisdom of a tactical genius in a single document. If Titus was just willing to explain anything at all, Leandros would probably find it reasonable. He could have explained that he would rather protect the Thunderhawk for evac rather than risk it trying to land, he could have explained that he will submit himself to a chaplain once the battle was done, and he could have explained that him being warp resistant was not something wholly the result of Chaos (this is where I think Space Marine just has poor writing, there's nothing in the lore to suggest that the mutated and mad forces of Chaos are immune to the warp and there's plenty to suggest that loyal forces of the Emperor can resist warp powers. People will argue that its Leandros whose at fault for that, but those people are hypocritical to blame Leandros for quoting the codex if the Codex in this game explicitly says "Warp resistance = evil". IIRC Space Marine had no lore input from GW and was given free reign to make up whatever, so this checks out).
Moreover, this is an area I find to be hypocritical of the community. Leandros himself states that he uses the Codex for guidance, but he only references the hard and true facts that the game presents, which are "don't fly into enemy gunfire" and "Resisting the warp is something that heretics do". He has shown, through him going along with Titus' suicide jump and thinking to plant the melta charge, that he's fully capable of not acting directly according to the Codex. So I find it odd, in a community that continuously shits on the Codex Astartes and interpreting it too rigidly, that the community wants Leandros to wait until they get back to the chaplains(as the Codex intended) and not seek out a ranking Inquisitor. To me, I think the community got too wrapped up in playing as Titus that they go along with his "rules for thee but not for me" approach. Given the seriousness of the situation, Leandros had every reason to not want to wait and risk Titus corrupting other people.
One more thing I wanted to mention. People sometimes think that Leandros' original purpose was to show that Titus was right all along, and that throughout the planned sequels it would have shown Leandros coming to his senses. But I feel people are really taking that idea out of context, just because they hate Leandros. In an article by The Escapist, the director for Space Marine revealed his plans for the sequels.

“The second part of his story was to focus on a ‘Titus Unleashed’ plot … basically there were forces arrayed against him that would see his loyalty to the Adeptus Astartes pushed to its limit, and his reaction would be to kind of ‘go rogue,'” van Lierop said. “He would survive, and come back even stronger in the third game, where other Space Marines still loyal to him would rally around him and he’d return to ‘clean house,’ but as the head of a brand new Chapter that we would build around him.”

And this is why I ultimately think, even in the original vision, Leandros was right. Titus shows up, makes brash decisions, can be definitively tied to the Warp and is hinted at being connected to Chaos the entire game. So where does his original story go? He ends up becoming a renegade, and leads a breakaway faction with the forces that were loyal to him while he was captain, all the while doubting the position of the Adeptus Astartes in the Imperium. Goddamn, if that is not the most explicit depiction of a heretic they could have made, and it would have shown that Leandros had every reason to think Titus was a danger to the Imperium. Forget all that defense of Titus by being the main character and therefore we "know" he's innocent, they actively planned to have him give in to everything that he went through. If they had gone through this this original plan, I think I would know the exact reaction the community would have had to Leandros questioning Titus.
There are far more egregious examples of codex worship in the novels, but Leandros is not one of those people. He remains loyal, level headed, and focused while also trying to work out the situation. Titus never really defends his innocence that strongly because it relies on the player to trust Titus, but between Drogan, Nemeroth, and finally Leandros, Titus is up against the wall. Maybe its just poor characterization, but Titus is so bland throughout the game he never really backs up the idea that he's taking this seriously after everything that happens. Leandros might have turned in the player character, but honestly he had every reason to.

The Kybalion is not a Hermetic text, despite its frequent claiming to be one. It is rather a text representative of New Thought, a New Age movement that arose in the early 1900s. For more information on the history and development of The Kybalion, as well as its connections (or lack thereof) to Hermeticism, please take a look at these articles/podcasts:

• http://www.jwmt.org/v3n24/chapel.html
  
• https://whatmagicisthis.com/2021/08/07/the-kybalion-with-nicholas-chapel/
  
• https://themodernhermeticist.com/2021/12/26/is-the-kybalion-really-hermetic/
  

Despite how much this book loves to call itself Hermetic, The Kybalion is not a Hermetic text. Rather, it is an invention of William Walker Atkinson, a prolific author and an early pioneer of New Thought, an early New Age movement, and who wrote under the pen name “The Three Initiates” (along with his other pen names like “Theron Q. Dumont” and “Yogi Ramacharaka”). Although The Kybalion claims to be based on an ancient book also called “The Kybalion” attributed to Hermēs Trismegistos, no such text has ever been discovered, the doctrines within it do not match with those of either the philosophical or technical Hermetica, the terminology used within it is foreign to classical texts of any kind but rather match cleanly with New Age terminology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries CE, and it generally lacks any notion of theology or theosophy present in the actual Hermetic texts. Although many modern occultists love The Kybalion and despite many people becoming interested in Hermeticism because of The Kybalion, The Kybalion is not a Hermetic text, and is only “Hermetic” in the sense that it has been adopted by many modern Hermeticists and esotericists rather than by any virtue of its own. This isn’t to say that The Kybalion is entirely without worth depending on your perspective (New Thought can be profoundly useful for some people), but the fact remains that it is not Hermetic, and so there’s no need to discuss it in a Hermetic context or as a source of Hermetic doctrine or practice.
If it comes across like people hate or dislike the Kybalion in this subreddit, it's for the principal reason that the Kybalion, as a text, does not belong in collections of Hermetica because it's fundamentally off-topic for this subreddit. That's why the sidebar for the subreddit says:

This subreddit is not for pseudo-Hermetic, Christian Hermetic, Kybalion-related, or Hermetic Kabbalistic content.

There are plenty of other subreddits to discuss Kybalion-related stuff specifically or New Thought and New Age-related stuff more generally, including /Kybalion or /Hermetics.
On the other hand, when it comes to studying Hermeticism, the basics are the fundamentals, and the fundamentals to Hermeticism lie in the classical texts that we can all historically and substantiatively agree are Hermetic. For that reason, it's encouraged to at least familiarize themselves with the classical texts first. For the cheap-and-quick start TL;DR, I would recommend getting these two books first:

• Clement Salaman et al., "Way of Hermes" (contains the Corpus Hermeticum and the Definitions)
• Clement Salaman, "Asclepius" (contains the Asclepius)

If you get these two books (both are pretty cheap but good-quality modern translations of three separate Hermetic texts between them), you'll be well-placed to learning about Hermetic doctrine, practices, beliefs, and the like.
However, if you can, I'd also recommend getting:

• Brian Copenhaver, "Hermetica" (Corpus Hermeticum and Asclepius)
• M. David Litwa, "Hermetica II" (Stobaean Fragments and many other smaller texts)
• A translation of the Nag Hammadi Codices, either the one edited by Meyer or by Robinson
• Hans D. Betz, "The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation"
• Marvin Meyer, "Ancient Christian Magic"

If you get all those, you'll have high-quality translation(s) of all currently-extant classical Hermetic texts with a good few post-classical/medieval ones, complete with plenty of scholarly references, notes, introductions, and appendices for further research and contemplation.
For scholarly and secondary work, I'd also recommend:

• Garth Fowden, "The Egyptian Hermes"
• Christian Bull, "The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus"
• Kevin van Bladel, "The Arabic Hermes"
• Anything by Wouter J. Hanegraaff, but especially "Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination"

You might also find it helpful to check out the /Hermeticism subreddit wiki or to check out the Hermeticism FAQ, too, as well to get a general introduction to Hermeticism, some main topics of the texts and doctrines, and the like.

Hi, everyone!
I'm a neophyte at this, so please forgive any stupid questions (I'm trying to be as thoroughas possiblebefore taking the plunge). I'm considering building my first PC after skating by for a while with a machine I bought at a steep discount. I've listed my use case below along with a parts list that didn't flag anything when I put it into PC picker. I was hoping to get some advice on:

• Does the build I'm proposing make sense given my use-case?
• Does everything I've listed seem compatible?
• Are there different parts folks might recommend given what I'm trying to accomplish?
• Any first-time building wisdom people would care to impart?

Below is my usecase in detail, along with a potential parts list and some itemized questions about those parts. I'm not wedded to anything at this point, so I'd greatly appreciate any recommendations people would be willing to offer.
Use Case: I'm a long-time adobe user (Audition, Photoshop, Premiere, After-Effects, Illustrator, etc.), and as a side-job, a former co-worker is paying me to produce a podcast for them that includes putting together video bumpers and promos for them. Over the first two seasons of the show, I was able to use a mobile workstation I bought used at a steal that's served me well the last few years (specs listed below); however, I started noticing frequent slowdown and occasional freezing, especially during while video editing and trying to juggle putting content together between multiple programs. Now my side-employer is considering a 3rd season of the show with more complicated content, possibly involving me setting up streaming for them while they talk over video and other media.
The lag I'm experiencing, as well as some other minor issues with my present machine have made me think now is a good time to upgrade. At the same time, I thought it might be a cool project to build a machine that I can customize to meet my needs. I've also been grabbing Epic's free games, and it might be an added bonus to play a few of those smoothly (I think Death Stranding is probably the most demanding game that my current machine won't tolerate) So in short, my big use cases are:

• Full Adobe CC suite, being able to juggle multiple programs for a smoother workflow
• Streaming someone's camera feed and audio overtop video content
• Secondary use case as an gaming device so I can make use of an epic (heh) backlog.
• Potentially recording voice over for bumpers and promos, so supporting the integration of a beefier recording setup than a USB mic.

Current machine: Peocessor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4940MX CPU @ 3.10GHz 3.30 GHz RAM: 32.0 GB
Prospective Parts List & Questions:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor -Is this too much for my use case?
CPU Cooler: Lian Li GALAHAD AIO 240 RGB 69.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI MPG B650 EDGE WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard - I noticed this board only has 1 hdmi and 1 dis port. I have two monitors because my current mobile station has a docking attachment with ports for both my screens. I believe the gpu im considering has 3 dis ports of its own I could use. Am I correct, then, that the limited ports here won't be an issue?
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory - The Motherboard I've proposed, I believe, has four RAM slots. Given my case, should I get an extra two sticks now?
Hardrive: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive - Is there any saving I could do here? For instance is there a less "name-brand" 2tb equivalent ssd that would still be decent/compatible with the other parts on my list? (This question is based on something a friend who built a computer told me, but he couldn't give an actual recommendation)
GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card - Is this enough for my use case? I only have a couple 1080p monitors, and don't plan on upgrading soon. - Would a 3060 ti with less memory but more cores better fit the multitasking I'm thinking of? - Would I need to go bigger if the people I'm working with want to try streaming? This is an area I have zero experience with up to this point, so forgive me if this' is a stupid question.
Case: Lian Li Lancool II Mesh C Performance ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: MSI MPG A850G PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Thanks in advance, all, for fielding my many questions; any advice people can offer would be greatly appreciated!

I just recently watched the workshop battle and man did I find Baam cute despite being a man myself.
Is it just me or despite the art development Baam has regressed as a character I mean he used to be quite likeable especially in season 1 ,at least for me .
Now he is this mesh between old viole and Baam Talkative like Baam but cruel like Viole.
Seriously like Baam is no longer that innocent boy which you could feel angry about if something happens to him and show sympathy...
Almost no character can bring out any emotion from me besides Yuri or Gustang or perhaps Urek or Jahad,Rachel used to in the past.
I mean this webtoon will probably have some serious problem making its readers feel something.
I mean we get stories about Hasatcha which are kinda supposed to make you feel something but we feel nothing.
I mean it's kinda hard to relate now with oh my bang is not big enough lool lol
We have Rachel who used to be such a good foil for Baam but barely shows up I mean honestly the author should try to piss us off or something so we can have some kind of reaction. I already forgot why I hate Rachel for instance.Khun and Baam barely feel human anymore and although SIU did redeem White with his final fight w Baam he kinda messed up at the constant comparison with his prime self.I mean SIU made a joke of White after making him such a badass antagonist. I mean haoqin lost to Boro man but it's actually quite a cool story if you look closer at it.I mean a bunch of ragtag regulars manage to seal haoqin for the first time and one of them betrays everyone and we know the story. He shouldn't have messed up White's story by making him a joke .White could have made us feel genuine shock and emotion if he didn't make a joke of him.
I hope Jahad is as much a piece of .... as it's presented in the story and continues to act like that otherwise it could ruin the feeling of him being the big bad. I mean he caused his parents life to be ruined just because of some petty jealousy if we have somehow him being a good guy would such soo much it isn't even true. God forbid the big bad becomes an ally.
Baam is someone who hates people who have no humanity so they shouldn't become good guys.
I mean imagine Hendo who devours his descendants lifespan to survive become an ally of Baam it's kind of disgusting....
I really hope the plot twists don't go so far to present these people like good guys or I will drop it ...

i (f, 22) played melee with my brother (m, 30) because he purchased a gamecube from the electronic bay™️ a of couple weeks ago, and our family was spending the weekend together. we had a gamecube/melee when i was a kid, but i was too young/bad to actually play with my older brothers (the second one was not present this weekend). yesterday, i bested him at a peach ditto !! out of a 5 stock match, he took 2 off me, but hey, i thought i did pretty well. it was super fun to play, and one of the main reasons i’ve had a hankering to play was this podcast so yeah :)

Link to rising video about breaking paxton news.
They said they would "stay on the case" and now we do have quite a bit of "reporting as to what this entails."
Now, not everyone will listen to this 3 hour long presentation of the investigation which substantiated many criminal allegations. (i did, TY u/talyakey)
Allegedly:
AG of Texas ken paxton did some super corrupt shit to cover for nate paul, an Austin real estate developer.
Multiple top people in the AG office that ken handpicked told him not to do a bunch of stuff that he did and then finally became whistleblowers to the FBI. Whistleblowers told ken not to abuse his office to obtain FBI records for the benefit of of nate. Ken did this anyway and tried to help nate rip off the Mitte foundation by interfering and in a settlement that was already reached, claiming to help, but actually just trying to cut that settlement in half. Ken created a made up position and employed an inexperienced lawyer recommended by nate's lawyer that issued 39 subpoenas on behalf of nate. Ken created an informal AG statement for the purpose that a bunch of nate's properties not be foreclosed on and the excuse he came up with is that there should not be more than 10 people together during COVID, so therefore, the foreclosures couldn't take place. Basically, they are going after the ken and nate show.
Ken was cheating on his wife and fucking some woman that was later employed by nate. They were apparently real pals or at least tied up in some real bullshit together.
I'm leaving out a lot, but hearing about it really feels like watching Better Call Saul, just with less charisma and violence. Coincidentally, here is a video from the Mitte foundation that ken was trying to help nate fuck over, featuring their president, an actor from Breaking Bad.
Here are a couple of news clips about nate, if you are looking for more info about ken's buddy: 10/4/20 and 5/26/23.
Here's a link to a times archive about TX gop rifts leading up to the impeachment, if you want to read about that.
p.s. not that anyone should dismiss the parts of this that are objective facts based on the messenger, but I am happy to disclose that a absolutely fucking hate ken. ken is emblematic of all the stupid bullshit i hate from power player social conservative warriors. i mean, i hope his wife votes guilty in the senate and he pays for fucking with people's lives and being a shitty conman lawyer. i've lived in texas too long. there are some great people here but i know and have met too many that hate ken too. i've told him as much in person, to his face in front of his supporters several years ago and i'd happily do it again. i really think it's much more likely he will actually be found guilty in the senate than people think. Partly, because that is what the evidence proves, and partly because the legislators feel something like the way i do.
Would be nice to get a thoughtful update now from K&S.

My name is Bruce and recently a friend of mine, a karate instructor who deals in early childhood education, asked me to help him start a podcast as an extension of his anti-bullying outreach program. We just started and have two episodes under our belts and I wanted to see if we are on the right track. Both my co-host Tim & myself were childhood victims of bullying so this is indeed a very personal issue for us.
My hope is that through the show we can bring discussion and education on bullying, present stories from those who have suffered and learn how they coped and find actionable solutions. Ultimately, we hope to serve as a place where you can be heard. As the weeks progress we will be covering several instances of workplace bullying and harassment, as we strive to cover all aspects of bullying both in and out of the workplace.
Please have a listen and let me know what if you find it to be helpful. If you have suggestions on how to improve it so that it would be more in service to you, I would love to hear it. And definitely let me know if you would like to share your story with us, we really want to talk to anyone who would like to share their experiences with us and if you are a professional or expert in dealing with bullying in the workplace, we would love to have you on to share your insights.
Here are links to the first two episodes:
Episode 1: Defining Bullying on Apple / Spotify / Google
Episode 2: Dance Away from the Hate on Apple/ Spotify/ Google

My name is Bruce and recently a friend of mine, a karate instructor who deals in early childhood education, asked me to help him start a podcast as an extension of his anti-bullying outreach program. We just started and have two episodes under our belts and I wanted to see if we are on the right track. Both my co-host Tim & myself were childhood victims of bullying so this is indeed a very personal issue for us.
My hope is that through the show we can bring discussion and education on bullying, present stories from those who have suffered and learn how they coped and find actionable solutions. Ultimately, we hope to serve as a place where you can be heard. We plan on talking about bullying from the classroom, to the workplace and anywhere else it occurs.
Please have a listen and let me know what if you find it to be helpful. If you have suggestions on how to improve it so that it would be more in service to you, I would love to hear it. And definitely let me know if you would like to share your story with us, we want to help the victims of bullying be heard.
Here are links to the first two episodes:
Episode 1: Defining Bullying on Apple / Spotify / Google
Episode 2: Dance Away from the Hate on Apple / Spotify / Google
Thank you.

Hello there! It is Ryan Verrill from The Disc-Connected. Been a bit since I gave my last update in here and today saw the release of a pretty monumental interview, so no better time than the present!
Recent interviews-
Today, I posted an interview with Stephen Biro of Unearthed Films that you can watch here!. Fair warning, this discussion is full of some... colorful language. Stephen has been around the industry for ages and gives all kinds of insight into Unearthed Films including stories about other companies ripping him off, filming horror films in an AirBnB, and cursing the name of German bootleggers. Stephen hardly ever does interviews, especially ones lasting more than two hours, so hopefully this one is special if you are into Unearthed Films at all!
Another one that I did recently that I really enjoyed is my discussion with Justin Beahm. Justin owns Reverend Entertainment which has completed special features for Scream Factory, Paramount, Vinegar Syndrome, and many more. On top of that, Justin just recently came on as the third member of Terror Vision. He went DEEP into special features production and told lots of memorable stories from his experiences. Stream that one right here!
Amanda Reyes came on the channel recently and she was just amazing to speak with. If you do not recognize the name, Amanda is an author and subject matter expert on Made for TV films. She was recently featured in commentaries for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Second Sight release) and Sorority House Massacre (Scream Factory release). I highly recommend you watch here!.
And Finally... I was able to interview John Campopiano who just won a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for directing Pennywise: The Story of It. He is a documentary filmmaker with some really interesting insight considering his day job with PBS. That one can be found here.
As usual, a little more about me:
I’ve posted here a few times to share things from the Disc-Connected… that’s me! I share boutique announcements on my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Every Thursday, I do a live show called Re-Connected where we go over all of the boutique announcements from the week, sometimes give away free digital codes, do some fun games, and just talk movies. That show is on my YouTube Channel. I also put that out as a podcast here.
Also- if you’re into the show and would enjoy a tight knit community to discuss movies 24/7 with like-minded friends, I started a Patreon that can get you access to more content, our Discord community, and even more. Lots have joined already and I genuinely love the community we’ve made on Discord.
Hope to see you all on the channel!

As you know, the Ultra Deluxe version of The Stanley Parable comes with an option to change the volume of the Narrator independently of the sound and music, even to the point of muting him entirely. That leads me to ponder an interesting question: what if there was no Narrator from the start, and the player is left to figure out the game entirely on their own?
With no voice dictating where the player should go, then the game feels a lot more open, as the player wanders either left or right and explores what's down each direction. We are conditioned to think of the left-door endings as more "canon" to the story and the right-door endings as more "meta" endings, but the player in this thought experiment would see either endings as legitimate paths of progression.
The player isn't given the secret code to access the Mind Control Facility. However, if the player simply waits long enough then the Narrator silently opens the door anyway out of frustration. Thus, the player would assume that is the proper way to unlock the secret passage, and never find out about the keypad.
When the player discovers the Freedom Ending, they would believe themselves to have beaten the game by their own efforts and intuition, rather than following the commands of an outsider. Many of the game's core themes about freewill and choice are lost.
The player would discover some paths are "bad" as they randomly end up dying for seemingly no reason, such as the Museum Ending or the Bomb Ending. The Insanity Ending would look like Stanley is being attacked by some invisible monster, since the screen turns red with scary music and then Stanley is shown dead on the street.
That being said, The Stanley Parable does very well with visual storytelling, and most endings would manage to silently convey the general gist of what that ending is about. But instead of describing the feelings of the Narrator, it conveys the feelings of the game itself. During the Confusion Ending, the game starts randomly opening and closing doors, restarting the game over and over, throwing up the words "You Win!" and restarting the game again, etc., all of which conveys that the game is *confused*.
In the Skip Button Ending, the game opens to a sunny and idyllic paradise filled with memorabilia from the original Stanley Parable, including shrines around the positive reviews of critics. But then the Steam reviews appear, and suddenly the game is a lot gloomier and rainy. And as soon as Cookie9's review sinks into the sea, the game presents you with a fast-forward button. This shows how the world around the game is reacting to these reviews. A similar experience is found in the Games Ending, which starts adding new features and prompting the player to "rate your experience".
What do you think? Have you ever played TSP without the Narrator?

I''m delighted to finally get my hands the last comic book on the left! It'll be a few more weeks before I can get issues two and three of soul plumber, but it'll be worth the wait to read the whole series!

So I am a month out from the discard. During this time I dove head first into all of the vids/websites/subs, etc. related to narcissistic abuse. If I have ANY free time, rumination becomes a threat, and if I can't set my brain into the present, I throw on another video/podcast about narcissism/walking away/no contact/ emotional manipulation to get my mind right.
Problem is, it feels like all of this "self help" is starting to take its own toll on me. In a way, the subject itself has taken over my life. In a way, the narc still has control of my time because it's being filled up with information to handle what I experienced with them. The narc basically still has me until I can get beyond this.... where indifference is a reality, not just a practice. Only then can I say I am healed and have moved on.
Am I making any sense here? Can others relate?

It came out on May 25th that he was no longer doing Formula E commentary with immediate effect. No reason was given in the statement. For context, he’s been with Formula E since it started.
He was on BBC F1 Monaco preview podcast on May 25th but then he’s suddenly not present on the qualifying or race review podcast.
Anyone know what’s going on with him??

Este reconhecimento não tem preço! 🙌🏆
Na semana passada, (de 23/05 a 27/05) durante a AgroBrasília 2023, tive o prazer de dividir histórias da minha trajetória como profissional no Podcast Café com Agro.
Quero agradecer ao meu querido colega e parceiro profissional, o engenheiro agrônomo Antônio Queiróz Barreto, presidente da Associação dos Engenheiros Agrônomos do Distrito Federal (AEA-DF), pelas palavras referidas a meu respeito. Todo o resultado atingido pelo Crea-DF é consequência do esforço de uma equipe capacitada que busca sempre se fazer presente, dando o suporte necessário aos profissionais registrados. 👏🔝💪
Obrigada pela confiança!
https://reddit.com/link/13uwp6o/video/ymh8fngmpt2b1/player
#Reconhecimento #Gratidão #AgroBrasília2023 #PodcastCaféComAgro #EngenheiroAgrônomo #AssociaçãoDosEngenheirosAgrônomos #AEA-DF #Crea-DF #EquipeCapacitada #SuporteProfissional #Confiança #Agronegócio #FátimaCó #Engenharia #Agronomia #DF

The Ignyte Awards are organized annually by Fiyah Lit Mag.
Congrats to everyone that got nominated! This year's finalists are:

BEST NOVEL: ADULT

for novel-length work (40k words) Works intended for an Adult audience

• BABEL – R. F. Kuang (Harper Voyager)
• KAIKEYI – Vaishnavi Patel (Redhook)
• SIREN QUEEN – Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
• THE BLOOD TRIALS – N. E. Davenport (Harper Voyager)
• THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER – Simon Jimenez (Del Rey)

BEST NOVEL: YOUNG ADULT

for novel-length (40k+ words) works intended for the young adult audience

• BALLAD & DAGGER – Daniel José Older (Rick Riordan Presents)
• BLOODMARKED – Tracy Deonn (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• BLOOD SCION – Deborah Falaye (HarperTeen)
• LAKELORE – Anna-Marie McLemore (Feiwel & Friends)
• THE KINDRED – Alechia Dow (Inkyard Press)

BEST IN MIDDLE GRADE

for works intended for the middle grade audience

• RUBY FINLEY VS. THE INTERSTELLAR INVASION – K. Tempest Bradford (Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR)
• THE LAST MAPMAKER – Christina Soontornvat (Candlewick Press)
• THE MARVELLERS – Dhonielle Clayton (Henry Holt & Company)
• WITCHLINGS – Claribel Ortega (Scholastic Press)
• YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, DAVID BRAVO! – Mark Oshiro (HarperCollins)

​
A neat addition this year, from L.D. Lewis' twitter:

This year, we've added a slate of judges aged 12-18 to help select the YA and Middle Grade finalists! The philosophy is that kidlit categories should heavily weigh the opinions of the people they're written for. Simple, no?

​

BEST NOVELLA

for speculative works ranging from 17,500-39,999 words

• BISHOP’S OPENING – R.S.A. Garcia (Clarkesworld)
• EMPIRE OF THE FEAST – Bendi Barrett (Neon Hemlock)
• EVEN THOUGHT I KNEW THE END – C. L. Polk (Tordotcom)
• HELPMEET – Naben Ruthnum (Undertow)
• INTO THE RIVERLANDS – Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)

BEST NOVELETTE

for speculative works ranging from 7,500-17,499 words

• IF YOU FIND YOURSELF SPEAKING TO GOD, ADDRESS GOD WITH THE INFORMAL YOU – John Chu ( Uncanny Magazine)
• MEN, WOMEN, & CHAINSAWS – Stephen Graham Jones (Tor.com Originals)
• MURDER BY PIXEL: CRIME AND RESPONSIBILITY IN THE DIGITAL DARKNESS – S. L. Huang (Clarkesworld)
• THE EPIC OF QU-SHITTU – Tobi Ogundiran (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
• TO CARVE HOME IN YOUR BONES – Aigner Loren Wilson (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)

BEST SHORT STORY

for speculative works ranging from 2,000-7,499 words

• GIRL OIL – Grace Fong (Tor.com)
• THE LADY OF THE YELLOW PAINTED LIBRARY – Tobi Ogundiran (Tordotcom)
• THE LOCKED POD – Malka Older (The Sunday Morning Transport)
• THE VOICE OF A THOUSAND YEARS – Fawaz Al-Matrouk (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
• WANDERLUST – LP Kindred (Anathema: Spec From the Margins)

BEST IN SPECULATIVE POETRY

• IN STOCK IMAGES OF THE FUTURE, EVERYTHING IS WHITE – Terese Mason Pierre (Uncanny Magazine)
• I SHALL NOT SURRENDER – Beatrice Winifred Iker (Anathema: Spec From the Margins)
• THE RECIPE FOR TIME TRAVEL – Monique Collins (FIYAH)
• WE SMOKE POLLUTION – Ai Jiang (STAR*LINE)
• YEAR OF THE UNICORN KIDZ – Jason B. Crawford (Sundress Publications)

CRITICS AWARD

for reviews and analysis of the field of speculative literature

• Aigner Loren Wilson
• Bogi Takács
• Charles Payseur
• Christina Orlando
• Nerds of a Feather

BEST FICTION PODCAST

for excellence in audio performance and production for speculative fiction

• Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Black Women Are Scary
• Good Morning Antioch
• PodCastle
• Pseudopod

BEST ARTIST

for contributions in visual speculative storytelling

• Aimee Campbell
• Terri Chieyni
• N’kai DeLauter
• Taj Francis
• Raymond Sebastien

BEST COMICS TEAM

for comics, graphic novels, and sequential storytelling

• Changa And The Jade Obelisk #2 – Matteo Illuminat, Loris Ravina, Massimiliano Veltri & Robert Jeffrey II (MVMedia)
• Squire – Nadia Shammas & Sara Alfageeh (HarperCollins)
• Where Black Stars Rise – Marie Enger & Nadia Shammas (Tor Nightfire)

BEST ANTHOLOGY/COLLECTED WORKS

• Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century – Kim Fu (Tin House Books)
• Night of the Living Rez – Morgan Talty (Tin House Books)
• Reclaim the Stars – Zoraida Córdova, ed. (Wednesday Books)
• The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer – David Pomerico and Kyle Dargan, eds. (Harper Voyager)
• Voodoonauts Presents (Re)Living Mythology – Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, H.D. Hunter & LP Kindred (Android Press)

BEST CREATIVE NONFICTION

for works related to the field of speculative fiction

• Indigeneity in SFF Gaming: The Ongoing Need for Respectful, Native-Centered Storytelling – Chesley Oxendine (SFWA)
• Preliminary Observations From An Incomplete History of African SFF – Wole Talabi (SFWA)
• The H Word: Horror in a Country that Is Not Afraid of Death – Dante Luiz (Nightmare Magazine)
• The Line Between Science Fiction and Fantasy is Blurring and I’m Into It – Joy Sanchez Taylor (Apex Magazine)
• When Black Boys Find Magic – LaDarrion Williams (FIYAH)

THE EMBER AWARD

for unsung contributions to genre

• Afronauts Podcast
• Alex Brown
• Kate Elliott
• Maurice Broaddus
• Ruoxi Chen

THE COMMUNITY AWARD

for Outstanding Efforts in Service of Inclusion and Equitable Practice in Genre

• Carl Brandon Society
• Clarion West
• dave ring
• Flights of Foundry
• Loyalty Bookstore’s Crowdcast

Any other guys go through a seriously alarming stage in the beginning where despite being naturally skinny and not having that much of an increase in appetite you put on a ton of weight? Then started losing it and looking a bit more toned around 6 months?
I’m 5’4. I was 83 lbs when I started. Pre T my average weight fluctuated between 100-110 lbs (I don’t know why but I’ve always put on like 10 extra pounds in the winter then lose them as soon as the weather warms up). I was ultra skinny before because I had just gotten over COVID when I started. For a while I could not stop gaining weight. I looked puffy, my chest got bigger (that was horrible), and my butt and thighs got bigger along with a puffy face. It made me super dysphoric because I felt like T was feminizing me instead of masculinizing me. Presently I’m 113. In the last three weeks I’ve lost about 5 pounds. Thank God.
My boyfriend who is also a trans guy and has been on T nearly 2 years told me this happened to him too and is a common thing and I’d start to see sone of that puffiness go away in about 6-8 months.
I stuck it out because T helps stabilize my emotions to some extent and I didn’t want it to all be for nothing. I’ve been on it roughly 6 months at this point and I think I am starting to lose a teensy bit of weight because my stomach looks a bit flatter, my face a bit thinner, and my pants thankfully a bit looser. I am still hoping my chest goes back to its pre T size so I can get keyhole, but my doctor said it doesn’t look like they’ve gotten bigger, rather that I built up some pectoral muscle beneath them which makes them stick out more. Speaking of muscle, it looks like I gained a lot of it under all the puffiness which I’m just now starting to see.
Anyone else had similar experiences?

When it comes to eyeliners for hooded eyes, it's all about selecting a solution that stays in place. If you're looking for a liquid, gel, or pencil liner, avoid anything overly creamy or prone to smearing. Fabulous Looks is the best online platform where you can explore varieties of the best gel eyeliner pencil in UK. Instead, choose a liner with a matte or satin texture that is long-lasting, water-proof, and smudge-proof. This will help keep your eyeliner in place all day (or night)!
Additionally, quick-drying liners are ideal. This way, you won't have to worry about anything spreading onto the skin above the following application. Let's move on to the three best gel eyeliner pencils in the UK for hooded eyes now that you are more aware of the qualities to seek. We have included liquids, pencils, and gels to ensure that there is something for everyone and for every style you require.
The Top 3 Women's Best Gel Eyeliner Pencils In UK
PRO Tip: Keep your eyes closed while applying liquid liners to enable enough drying time, and use a primer first.
1. Revolution The Liner Revolution Waterproof, Smudge Proof, Felt Tip Eyeliner, Intense Black
Every beauty expert knows that the ideal eyeliners for hooded eyelids are long-wearing, smudge-resistant, water-proof liquid liners. And when it comes to having all of these features and more, one product stands out in my opinion: Revolution The Liner Revolution Waterproof!
It's one of the best products available since it combines simplicity of use with perfect accuracy. The ultra-fine pointed brush tip makes it simple to draw a clean, even line directly along your lash line. It goes without saying that it is essential for women with hooded eyes.
PROS:

• Great versatility—create wings, graphic liners, cat eyes, fake freckles, and more!
• The brush tip is ultrafine for simple, precise application and sketching the minimal lines possible.
• Knowing that your liner will stay in place all day gives you confidence.
• Satin-finished and available in two colors (black or brown).
• Vegan and cruelty-free

2. Maybelline Tattoo Liner Gel Eye Pencil, 900 Deep Onyx
The MAYBELLINE Tattoo Liner Gel Eye Pencil is a perennial favorite for hooded eyelids and a recipient of numerous awards. This liner is ideal for daily use because it is incredibly durable, water-proof, smudge-proof, and transfer-proof.
It has a felt, marker-like tip that is harder than a brush tip like Kat Von D's. Therefore, it is the best choice for beginners who require a little bit more control during application. Use it for any style you like, whether it's simple, thin strokes or stable, thick lines! If you want even more precision and a better tip, consider this by MAYBELLINE.
PROS:

• One of the most highly pigmented alternatives on the market with a satin finish, quick drying time
• Available in various colors including black, brown, grey, green, and blue.
• Safe for those who use contacts and those who have sensitive eyes
• Also a fantastic choice for people who have oily eyelids
• Will not move, feather, smear, or flee
• Cruelty-free

3. L'Oreal Paris Superliner Perfect Slim Liquid Eyeliner Intense Black
Now, this specific eyeliner for hooded eyes presents a design innovation with its slim triangle body shape for simple handling and control. It includes an extra-long, flexible felt tip so you can choose any style you pick, whether dramatic & thick or thin & delicate! This gel-like, long-lasting liquid liner applies smoothly and swiftly dries with rich pigmentation.
PROS:

• Works for all eye shapes
• Available in black and brown (satin finish)
• A highly saturated ink composition that eliminates the need for repeated application
• Won't smudge, fade, or transfer
• Cruelty-free
• Glamorize Your Eyes With Fabulous Looks UK Best Gel Eyeliner Pencil

Fabulous Looks is a high-quality cosmetic and makeup brand in the UK. With 2400+, 100% authentic brands Fabulous Looks offers a well-curated comprehensive selection of makeup, skincare, fragrance, and hair care categories. We offer a significant discount to customers compared to the high street. We can tell you that the top brands are less expensive in the long run. The best gel eyeliner pencil in the UK is available here.
Visit the site: https://fabulouslooks.co.uk

Hey, fellow trail & ultra runners!
I’m super excited to tell you about a project I’ve been working on for the past few months: it’s a free AI running coach called 8020UltraCoach that I designed specifically for trail runners and ultrarunners like us. It’s finally done, and I want you to be the first ones to test it out!
Full disclaimer: This is a fun/passion project, I'm not commercially affiliated with the platform I developed the AI coach on, and I'm not making money nor intending to make money with this.
My background: I’m a trail runner on my journey to becoming an ultra runner, and an AI enthusiast. I got into running in 2018, when I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and decided to change my lifestyle. Since then, I’ve fallen in love with running and everything related to it. I’ve read tons of books, listened to podcasts, and learned from this amazing Reddit community (and a few others). I’ve also been using TrainAsONE to get personalized training plans that suit my trail running, ultra running, and endurance goals. And of course, I’m a data nerd, so I track everything with my Garmin Fenix 6X Pro, Polar H9 heart rate strap, and Stryd power meter.
Anyway, I've poured my passion for running into creating this AI coach that specializes in trail running and ultrarunning. Drawing inspiration from the experiences of renowned coaches and my own research, I've crafted a unique approach that blends the best of science and personal insights. This AI coach has been fine-tuned to optimize your training, pushing you towards your running goals while keeping you injury-free and motivated.
What sets this coach apart is its ability to adapt to your needs and fitness level. Whether you're a seasoned ultrarunner or a road runner curious about trail running, this coach has got you covered. It embraces the principles of 80/20 running, ensuring you strike the right balance between intensity and recovery, so you can make progress without burning out.
In my experience, it's capable of offering concrete advice about training plans, nutritional advice, and to answer very specific questions (some of which were burning in my mind since forever, lol) with sensible facts. But the sky is the limit, try it out and let us know how it goes.
So, fellow runners, whether you're just curious or are looking to step up your game and tap into the power of cutting-edge technology, join me on this running journey with the AI coach. Let's support each other, push our limits, and celebrate the joy of running!
To access the AI 8020UltraCoach you need to use the Poe platform and to register for free there. Then, just visit the following page:
https://poe.com/8020ultracoach
I hope it's useful for you too, and I'd love to hear your feedback. The 8020UltraCoach is a work in progress, so I'm looking forward to improving it further. Cheers!
tl;dr: I've created an AI coach tailored for trail runners called 8020UltraCoach. It's available for free. If you want to try it out and give feedback, comment below.