Hello,
Came here to ask how to get ahold of Bacillus Subtilis strain MB40 or HU58 because of suspected staph and read a couple studies on it, but then read parts of a probiotics guide on the HumanMicrobiome sub ( https://www.reddit.com/HumanMicrobiome/comments/6k5h9d/guide_to_probiotics/ ) , specifically about very negative effects from spore-forming bacteria. Some of the information was very concerning as I already have severe gut issues and other conditions (bedridden for over 3 years and my body is protesting badly in all kinds of ways after starting physical therapy recently). I had hoped this specific bacteria would likely help me in avoiding further treatments with antibiotics. I am extremely strict with diet, vitamin intake both naturally and additional supplements, stress management, hygiene, etc etc, to help my health recover properly and have been for a long time, but it clearly is not enough as I am once again on the verge of having to resort to antibiotics.
For people who are knowledgeable about probiotics, would you steer clear of this, and potentially take more antibiotics when needed instead, or take another route? I'm at my wits end currently.
Thanks in advance

Hi! Can someone familiar with Costa Rica kindly let me know if the rainy season is that bad? I’m planning a trip to Tamarindo/Liberia/San jose from late May into early June. Is it gonna be really rainy or is that normally for only a short part of the day? ******Can people also refrain from answering if you’re going to just tell me it’s a stupid question and to check the forecast as I already did but I’d rather hear people’s experiences. **** :) Also bonus can somebody tell me how to get from Tamarindo to la fortuna to San Jose without renting a car? Does that sound like a good itinerary/feasible? Thank u!!

Before I start, I will say that I have TEXTBOOK disorganized attachment. I actually posted this elsewhere thinking I had anxious attachment, but after reading it I realized it leans way more towards disorganized.
I met this guy a little over a month ago, and we’re both leaving the country in a year so I told him I am looking for someone to care about/have a connection with but nothing too serious. He tells me he wants the same thing too.
Every time we hang out he aggressively tries to sleep with me, and gets frustrated when I don't let him. I’m okay with a little heavy petting, but I don’t want more. Sometimes I will say no and he will keep going until I physically push away from him. When we first met he would text me and call me sometimes but I wasn’t super responsive, I didn't overly attached until his weird behavior started getting repetitive. He also cancels plans last second (his job involves being on call) so that really sucks. Another issue is that there’s a language barrier (I’d say he’s about fifty percent fluent in English). When I try to get to know him he often shuts me down or doesn’t reciprocate. When I do see him he usually offers me dinner if I show up early enough.
Throughout this process of him becoming more distant and weird, I slowly became more attached, like someone chipping away at limestone. Surprisingly, I actually have cut him off two times already. The first time he was okay with it but then called me 5 days later to tell me about something kind of unimportant. Then I admitted that I missed him, and a few days later he asked me to hang out again. Later on I cut him off again for asking me to leave his house at 1 am.
—
Tangent to explain that situation: initially he offered for me to sleepover, I declined, but by 1 am I was exhausted and asked to stay. He said no and was pretty serious about it. I accused him of just being mad that I didn’t want sex (he was trying to have sex with me and I said no, he kicked me out shortly after). He vehemently denied it and said it was just because he was depressed or anxious or something (he was using broken English).
—
So anyway, that was the reason I dumped him for the second time. The fact that I was able to dump him twice is where my disorganized attachment becomes apparent. But I am more attached to him now. He assumed the break up was because he wasn't texting back enough and said that I text him like crazy (I send him like 2-5 texts a day and obviously it's only more than 2 if he's responding and it's a conversation). I told him that wasn't really it, more so that it seems like he’s looking for a quick fuck and that’s not what I want. He proceeded to call me and assure me that wasn't the case, and he wants to connect too. He also said I am extremely hot and cold and constantly change my mind about him and what I want. After that discussion, we got "back together."
Here's the issue. I started off in this situation pretty confident in the fact that we would never sleep together. But now I feel he's pulling away/punishing me for not wanting sex, or maybe I am too desperate or lost my "shiny new toy" vibes. So I've become more and more open, I even sent him some soft core almost nudes without my face in them. Yesterday I was drunk and I straight up told him we could sleep together this weekend, unprompted. I am doing this because I am scared of him pulling away and I think if I let him sleep with me it will somehow improve things. At this point I think I am even starting to look desperate.
For some reason half of me believes him when he says he does have a genuine interest in me, because when we talk about it he really listens and responds meaningfully. The other half of me obviously does not believe him. Trust me, I KNOW how stupid I sound. Am I crazy? Should I text him and cancel our plans/cut him off? How do I do it when I'm consumed with my thoughts of him? I haven't stopped thinking about him for days. I honestly have the text ready to go I just need to hear other people's thoughts before I do it.
Feel free to ask follow up questions, and sorry if this story is hard to follow.

So here’s the situation. My close friend dislikes Linda because they are both seeing the same man. Linda, however, is completely unaware of this, while my close friend knows everything.
Please don’t ask me why; I’ve tried to convince my close friend to leave this man, but she refuses to listen.
Before any of this drama, Linda and I were just social media acquaintances. We moved in the same social circles and had many mutual friends. Our interactions were casual, consisting mostly of likes and comments on each other’s posts.
Recently, during one of our meetups, my close friend gifted me a book she thought I’d love. Excited and eager to dive into a new read, I posted on social media, "might just start a book club." The response was overwhelming. Several friends expressed interest, including Linda, who was particularly enthusiastic and eager to help. Despite my initial reluctance, I entertained Linda's ideas. She even offered to contribute goodies if we decided to have goody bags, which seemed like a fun addition. She was proper sweet.
Later that day, I talked to my close friend about the book club idea. I expected her to be excited, but instead, she was furious. She reminded me that we had discussed starting a book club together last year, but I wasn’t interested at that time. Now, seeing me plan it with Linda hurt her deeply.
Feeling terrible, I apologised and offered to cancel the whole thing to avoid making her uncomfortable. However, I didn’t want to exclude Linda outright, as it could cause major issues in our shared community and among our overlapping friends. After some thought, my close friend decided she wanted to be one of the founders but laid down two conditions: 1) I must not get close to Linda, and 2) I should only organise the club with her. Desperate to make amends, I agreed.
With that, my close friend threw herself into the project with enthusiasm. She made everything official, bought items for the goody bags, and even contacted companies for support. It seemed like things were finally falling into place.
But then, today I left a comment... Scrolling through social media, I saw a post from Linda wearing this stunning outfit. Without thinking, I left an innocent comment. My close friend saw this and was upset. She sent me messages expressing her frustration:
“I literally gifted you that book and spoke to you about how uncomfortable she made me feel. Yet, you’re starting the book club and inviting her without discussing it with me first.”
&
“I’m not telling you not to be friends with her—that’s your own choice. But if the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t engage with someone who made my close friend uncomfortable. At all.”
I apologised to my close friend again and reassured her that my loyalties lie with her. I explained that I was just being friendly and didn’t mean to cause any hurt.
Now, my close friend has backed out of everything, leaving me to handle the book club alone. I’m stuck in a difficult position. I don’t know what to do—maybe I was the one in the wrong after all.
AITA?

This is a bit ranty, because I actually had a fight about it with a mutual on twitter lmao I generally see a lot of people saying that keeping Astarion's vampirism "a secret" and having your character find out about it is stupid and doesn't work. I have many thoughts about it.
It's true that Astarion has all the stereotypical vampire characteristics; he's pale, he has red eyes, he has a very distinctive scar on his neck and he has sharp canines. Yet, the game implies that no one knew he was a vampire, even though "it's SO obvious". Here is why:

1. He doesn't burn in the sun! I think it's the most important point. It's a VERY widely known fact that vampires are sensitive to the sun, yet we meet him chilling on a sunny hill, and he never has any problems following you around in sunny areas. As far as I know, there are some variants of DnD lore where vampires that have a steady supply of blood and don't walk around hungry are not sensitive to the sun, but I assume BG3 is not based on these editions, as Cazador (who probably feeds every day) is also sensitive to the sun.
2. He can walk into homes without an invitation from one of the residents. I can admit it is pretty tricky to fit it into act 1, since it's only open space, camps and burnt houses at best. But! He can walk into Ethel's house, and depending on your gameplay, you can do it before finding out he's a vampire. It can also depend on how you define a home; because the druids' quarters might also fit into this criteria, meaning normally just some druid saying "Kagha wants to speak with you" would not allow Astarion to enter. It is not an explicit invitation to enter the quarters, it's just a statement that someone who is there wishes to speak with him.
3. He doesn't get damage from moving water. It would be pretty easy to spot while running around in the wilderness, surrounded by rivers that you probably shower in.

These are all canon things that are very explicitly said in the game, even by Astarion himself. I'm also not counting vampire lore stuff that is not in the game, like being able to climb flat surfaces (which would be hilarious to see Astarion do)
Now the assumptions/headcanons:

1. Pale skin and red eyes don't make one a vampire. And given Astarion's overall appearance; light skin, silvewhite hair (including the eyebrows) and red eyes, he could be assumed to be an albino.
2. The neck scar? People have many scars in fantasy worlds. The scar could be from some vampire attack that Astarion might have gone through in the past, or maybe he got stabbed by a pitchfork by someone. It's not really a definite clue.
3. Sharp teeth? I don't know how often people pay attention to others' teeth, unless there's Seriously something wrong with them. I think it'd be actually pretty hard to spot his teeth, unless you, for whatever reason, pay attention to them. Also, while they do not appear in the game, there are many more mixed races than just half elves. If an elf marries a tiefling, then depending on which lore you assume, their offspring could be a full tiefling (as tiefling genes "override" all other genes), or a mix between the parents. Give it like 3 or 4 generations of the kids marrying only elves, and bam, you could have an elf with infernal ancestry, resulting in sharper teeth (you can throw red eyes into this as well). While it's a theory that your character would have in-game, I think it's cute, considering that apparently Astarion was supposed to be a tiefling. It's also a nice headcanon that Astarion learned to speak in a way not to show his fangs (so he doesn't scare away his marks).
4. Have you seen him? He just looks too perfect. His hair is too well combed, and I know it in my bones he uses an eyeliner. No one who cannot see their reflection can achieve this look. The answer to why Astarion can do it it without a mirror is probably muscle memory after 200 years of having to do it blindly.

So, anyway, while Astarion being a vampire might be "jarringly obvious", it does make perfect sense for the in-game characters to not know. If they have any assumptions that "hey, this guy gives me strong vampire vibes", it's implied they dismiss them, as there is too much hard evidence that Astarion's just some dude (points 1-3).
Anyway, thank you for coming to my needless essay that people for sure had made before. But I just needed to rant.

I've been having issues with uploading them here. They either upload endlessly, or refuse to do so at all. I've tried sharing today's update numerous times, but no dice.
YouTube, however, is another story entirely. You don't have to subscribe, but if you're still interested in following my MK1 posts, I also upload them there without any qualms.
Be on the lookout, every Tuesday @ 11am EST. Hope you're all well. 🫡
https://youtube.com/@jimsgamingcave?si=YbsIS4SpGxy8rymD

Hey guys.
I self diagnosed. A long time ago. Very stupid. Anyways. I thought initially it was a B12 deficiency. Took tons of B12 sublingually with Folate. Ended up in some pretty bad bad places. Wasn't until I switched it around that I noticed the relief, strength, skin sensation, rigidity, libido, sleep, etc. Okay. B9. Not B12. I also suffer from Post Orgasm Illness which is basically another B9 Deficiency problem. Key word: ACTIVATED B9 problem. Essentially my methylation is bad. Anyways. I for the life of me cannot find a good dosage that lands me in a place that feels right. I'm using Folinic Acid right now for the B9, but I am wondering if I should switch over to methylfolate.
I realize I have no issue with digesting B12 from capsules, and boy, they can work quite effectively I get into some dreamy places with the capsules. I am familiar with the methylation process of activating vitamin b9, it relies on genes and cofactors like B2, B6, and then B12 to fully activate.
I've already taken the fully active version methyltetrahydrofolic acid, and got the relief. Problem is there's a bunch of other important things that happen while activating B9 like converting Serine to Glycine, etc, that taking the final form of B9 cannot go back on and help. So I would like to take a different form. Methyltetrahydrofolate, the second to last form. I don't know. Just doesn't work well for me. I'm pretty lost in all of this. Just experimenting in my room.
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Below is a description of something that happened to me about two years ago. The description of the event is not the point of this though…it’s our reaction to the event I would like some feedback on. What I would like to know is if anyone has ever heard of the, “nothing to see here, go back to what you were doing, no reason to remember this” vibe I got back then and still get when I try to remember details of the event. When I try and remember, it’s like my thoughts just slide away. Is this something that happens often to people who witness such an event? I’m asking here because even the people who know me best and KNOW I should have been jumping up and down like a kid yelling, “Did you see that, did you see that?” don’t seem to think it was odd that I didn’t, which in itself I find strange.
The Event
In the spring of 2022, my son and I (he’s an adult) were in his back yard doing some clean up in mid-afternoon on a clear, sunny day. He was approx. twenty feet away from me working on something when I turned to see what he was doing and caught sight of a UAP moving across my field of vision from left to right… I said something to the effect of “What the fuck?” at which time my son looked up at me then turned to see what I was looking at…it was very similar to the “Mosul Orb” in size and speed of movement…we watched it until it was gone over the horizon and then we both went back to doing whatever it was we were doing. My normal reaction should have been me freaking out and talking about what we just saw in a loud, excited voice… for hours on end. We never spoke of it again…for two years.
Now, I’m the type of guy who would/should have been telling everyone I know and even those I don’t know about “the UFO I saw in the back yard” … and yet I didn’t. Then, after last summer’s congressional hearings, I started getting back into following the UAP news on YouTube and Reddit (I’d been away for years). I saw the “Mosul Orb” video on YouTube in the fall and thought, “Shit, that’s just like what we saw.” That evening, I planned on asking my son if he remembered seeing the orb …meant to ask him…was going to ask him…and didn’t.
It wasn’t until April of 2024 that the topic of UFO’s came up in a discussion one night and I asked him if he remembered the orb. The first words out of his mouth…he practically blurted out, almost defensively, “It wasn’t real high up in the sky it was only about fifty feet above us and it was solid!” Without telling him what I saw, I asked him to tell me what he remembered seeing…to be honest I was trying to prove to myself I wasn’t nuts, and what he described was exactly what I saw. He said it was the only time he ever spoken about it…And we haven’t discussed it since.

So we are still waiting for our return. We received a CP05 in April. We are half way through our 60 day hold however so many have said it’s 120. I have read some people have logged in and uploaded their 1099-Rs without a letter from the IRS stating to do so. How are you doing this? It’s asking for a letter. Or an access code. I’d love to at least try to send them in just in case that’s the hold up.
TIA 🙏🏼

hi, i (24f) have been lifting pretty consistently for over a year now, and every leg day i always get horribly nauseous, a bit dizzy, and feel like puking. it always starts about 30 minutes into the workout and doesn’t subside for another 40ish minutes, and by the end of the workout i usually feel ok. the problem is that i do my heavier lifts at the start, so by the time i feel better i’m already doing my accessories which don’t need as much strength anyway.
i always eat about 1.5-2 hrs before a workout, i take preworkout, i take iron and other vitamins - why does it still happen to me? i’d really appreciate any advice!

Hi all!
I was diagnosed with PCOS a few years ago. So, of course, my hormonal acne is related to that. However, I also came to the realization a few years ago that dairy causes me to have cystic breakouts. It’s very strange because I grew up eating dairy my whole life and never had problems, but after cutting out dairy as an adult my skin cleared up quite a bit.
Long story short, after many years of struggle I’ve found a way to (mostly) manage my acne through management of my PCOS and also by not eating dairy.
But, my skin is still far from perfect, and I’ve been wondering a lot lately about whether or not I might benefit from something like accutane. I still sometimes get cystic breakouts, even if I’m very strict on my diet, (I think maybe depending on where I am in my cycle), but also because it can be hard to always be so strict about avoiding dairy, especially when dining out.
I was wondering if anyone here has been on accutane for hormonal acne and if it worked for them, with lasting effects? Or, does anyone here have PCOS and has tried accutane? I know every body is different and what works for others may not necessarily work for me, but I’m just hoping there’s another option for me because I’m getting tired of constantly fighting my own skin. It feels like I can be doing everything right but will still sometimes get a cystic breakout and it completely tanks my mood. For a while, when I’d get a breakout, I would think “maybe I had dairy without realizing it,” “maybe I used something that irritated my skin,” maybe this, maybe that. Now, after a few years, I’m realizing that I’m doing everything I can, and maybe I just need more help, and maybe something like accutane can do that for me.
So, I’m just wondering if anyone has a similar experience, how you deal with it, if you’ve tried accutane, and if yes, how it worked for you. I would love if it was possible to go on accutane and be able to go back to eating dairy without breakouts 😂 don’t know if that’s possible, but a girl can dream!
(Please don’t recommend me to the PCOS sub, I’ve been on it many times, I personally have not found any help there and also I’m not looking for tips on how to manage PCOS — right now, I have it managed pretty well. I’m just looking for other’s experiences with cystic/hormonal acne and/or accutane).

I made this recipe using Balance. The website indicated this worked with their supplement. I will need to figure out an alternative supplement, which was quite expensive. Let me know if you have a suggestion. What do you think of the Dr. Harvey's Herbal Multi-Vitamin and Mineral Supplement for Dogs? BTW, My dog is 15lbs 8yrs old.
To work with Balance, I did the math to rehydrate the powders into whole foods. I.e. Balance said a quarter cup of spinach is the same as a tbsp of powder reconstituted in water. This plan is much cheaper and more sustainable for my life because there's little risk of expiring ingredients. Please let me know what you think before I invest in this!
Recipe for 1 day, will be divided into two feedings. 3 tbsp whole egg powder + (1/4 cup water) 1 tbsp dried pumpkin powder + (1/4 cup water) 1 tbsp dried spinach powder + (1/4 cup water) 1 tbsp instant oats + (1/4 cup water) 1 tbsp chia seeds + (3/4 cup water) 2 tbsp spirulina powder 4 tsp turmeric powder 1 tbsp coconut oil 1 squirt omega 3 oil 1/4 tsp salt Multivitamin (Total water is 2 cups)
Thank you!

I’m not good at being particularly open with many people, but I can be open to an extent/friendly on a basic level. But sometimes I meet people I feel I can open up to that bit more and would like to be closer with (non-romantic, I’m not interested in relationships) and I just don’t know how to do that. Like if someone were to say “open up, tell me what’s bothering you” I can do that to an extent because it’s clear, but I don’t know how to go about fostering closer friendships between others.
Eg at work - I work with some really lovely people who I feel I really trust and we all seem to have eachothers’ best interests and work well together as a great team. I feel I’ve become a lot closer to these people throughout this school year (I work in a school) and it’s really nice to have them around. They’ve been incredibly supportive of me and I’m openly very appreciative of that.
But I feel like there’s boundaries in friendship that I don’t know how to cross if that makes sense? Like I was thinking recently, and I notice a lot of people will go into others’ classrooms and have a chat first thing in the morning, often they’re all chatting and I’m on my own but I don’t know how I can just waltz on in there and say good morning and start a chat without just being awkward and it being like ‘why is she here’ although I know they’d be too nice to say that - I feel like maybe they have important things to catch up on and I don’t? And like today, one of the colleagues I get on well with was talking about a child getting in another’s personal space and demonstrating, nearly used me for the demo but then said something and used someone else instead - I feel like maybe she thinks the closeness would have made me uncomfortable when actually, when I feel comfortable with someone like I do her and the others, I like physical connection. She could very possibly suspect I’m autistic (undiagnosed and don’t talk about it) based on her knowledge from work and things I’ve shared online. But I feel I’m giving off the wrong signals, like maybe implying that I don’t want any more than necessary closeness, like I’m doing something wrong and I don’t know what? I feel like I’ve built up my relationships more with them a lot recently due to a situation where I had to report someone at work, and their unwavering help and support throughout that - but it was easier as it was a very black and white situation and they hold the same opinions that I do and were more than happy to support me.
It’s hard for me to say accurately, as the depression/generalised anxiety disordeOCD (these are diagnosed) have been acting up a lot lately and I don’t think the most recent meds I’m on have been working for me but there’s hurdles to jump before trying something different. But I feel so different and left out even though I think I’m just being unnecessarily sensitive and based on their attitudes towards me I feel like they don’t want me to feel that way at all.
Idk what I’m expecting by posting this. Replies, advice, listening, anything all welcome. Thanks for reading
EDIT: changed wording to clarify

Hopefully this isn’t downvoted instantly, because I know people seem to get strangely very defensive about Beast’s characterization in this run. I think there is a lot of miscommunication whenever a Beast fan complains about how he was depicted here. Often times people will discount those complaints because they think Beast fans just don’t want him to go bad, when that doesn’t really seem to be the whole truth from what I’ve seen. Ultimately, the complaints I raise and I have seen others raise are more about thinking the writing of his spiral in X-Force 2019 was not done well rather than that said spiral shouldn’t have happened at all. With the Krakoa era coming to an end, and “From the Ashes” having the now-rebooted Beast who is pulled all the way from his time on The Defenders, I don’t see any of the flaws here being addressed beyond characters casually referring to how bad he became. So I wanted to take this time in the in-between, where our new Beast is apparently just chilling on Wonder Man’s couch while the rest of the X-Men fight against Orchis and Nimrod, to once and for all lay out the flaws of Beast’s villainous era, and establish not that it shouldn’t have happened, but that it could have been way better.
Problem 1: A Lack of Pathos:
Most X-Men fans who have been reading for awhile will agree that it’s honestly surprising more mutants haven’t gone down a dark path. Their history is one of striving for acceptance, putting their lives on the line for people who would rather see them dead, and being rewarded with not one but multiple genocides on their population. Some of the most interesting stories can actually come from a formally “upstanding” mutant finally deciding enough is enough. When Cyclops went down his “villainous” path, it made a lot of sense. We’d seen him becoming more disenfranchised with the dream for years. We’d seen his trust in Xavier erode time and time again, and so when he decided to stop asking for acceptance and start demanding it, it was hard to blame him. Even as we saw most of his friends turn against him, that didn’t stop people from declaring “Cyclops Was Right,” because his perspective could easily be understood, and he did achieve results. More recently in X-Men ‘97, we saw Rogue go down a dark path in the wake of Genosha being wiped out, including Magneto and Gambit. Again, this was understood, and it was an interesting direction for her character.
This sort of turn would also make a ton of sense for Hank McCoy. Did you know that back towards the start of the original Uncanny X-Men run, Hank was actually the first X-Men we ever saw to leave the team and say that Magneto was right, after he and Bobby were attacked by an angry mob because Hank used his powers to save a young child? Over the years, one of Hank’s most recurring struggles and arcs is self-loathing and eventual acceptance of his condition. Hank has always been at his darkest when he’s trapped in his spiral of self-loathing, but when he comes out the other side, he tends to be one of the most optimistic mutants when it comes to coexistence with humans. He was out making connections and fighting alongside non-mutants before anyone else. Joining the Avengers and Defenders, speaking on behalf of mutant rights before congress, dating human women who were able to accept his appearance, blue fur and all. Until they weren’t… looking at you, Trish Tilby.
So with all of this in mind, it would honestly be an extremely interesting arc to see Hank, this optimistic mutant who has spent his life building bridges and making connections with humanity, to be slowly beaten down and start to believe peace is not an option. As one of the original X-Men, he has been there through every tragedy that struck the mutant population. And as one of the smartest X-Men, he has usually been at the center of these crises. He has seen advancements in science meant to eradicate the mutants. He has fought against viruses that threaten to drive them extinct. He was there in the wreckage of Genosha. He has seen countless friends killed again and again. He has suffered his own mutation evolving and making him less and less human-looking. He saw the development of a mutant “cure” and was tempted to take it. He has seen it all.
And so that brings us to Krakoa. This is the moment where the mutants as a whole decided enough was enough. If they could not be accepted by humanity, they would pack up and form their own nation, and they would force humanity to accept that they exist by developing life-saving drugs that other nations would have to rely on. And what is one of the first things that happens after the establishment of Krakoa? Hank witnesses assassins infiltrate the island and assassinate Charles Xavier. This right here is honestly the perfect setup for Hank to go darker than he has before. Even after literally segregating the mutant population from humanity, like humanity seemed to want, they still decided to come and kill the man at the forefront of the movement. And Hank, recently placed in charge of mutant black-ops, would likely see that all options are on the table.
Unfortunately, Hank’s actual pathos surrounding the decisions he would go on to make is not explored by the book itself. The book has no interest in detailing Hank’s fall from grace as we saw with Cyclops before him. The book just wants us to accept that Hank has already fallen. And in fact, according to the writing, maybe he never had anywhere to fall from. Any time a character in X-Force tries to ask important questions to understand Hank’s thought process, they are cut off. Usually by Wolverine saying “He’s always been like this.” And then on one occasion, when Wolverine asked Hank why he was doing all this dark shit, Hank said, “Didn’t you read the script? I’ve always been like this.” There is no attempt to examine Hank as a character. We don’t need to know why Hank makes the decisions he does, because this book wants Hank to be a black and white villain and so that’s what he will be. Why? Because he’s always been like this.
Problem 2: Rapid Escalation:
One of the major defenses people have when it comes to Krakoan Hank is that he has apparently been on the road to his villainous self for over a decade. The X-Force run itself loved to have characters spout a list of Hank’s previous “crimes” without any context involved, as justification for why he was acting the way he did in the current run. The problem is, that context is very important. Because it shows the disparity in the Hank of previous stories who made mistakes with good intentions vs the Hank of X-Force who did heinous shit because he wanted to. This was less a plane making a slow descent and more a plane that was slowly descending, but then its engines shut off and it plummeted into a fiery explosion.
To make this case, we need to briefly analyze the previous perceived transgressions of Hank McCoy to show what they actually meant for his character and how they differ from the Bond villain X-Force would present us with. Let’s start with Threnody. Somehow, Threnody became a bit of a buzzword for the beginning of the end for Hank. When people talk about the history of Hank and Threnody, they will usually present it as one of Hank’s worst sins, saying something like “Hank callously handed Threnody over to Mr. Sinister so he could experiment on and abuse her!!!” It kind of makes for some whiplash when you actually read the Threnody story people are talking about. Here is a brief rundown of what actually happens:
Threnody is a young woman who cannot control her powers. It causes her no end of grief, and when we are introduced to her, she is homeless and constantly in danger of hurting herself or others. Beast, Rogue, and Iceman come across Threnody who has been found first by Mr. Sinister. Sinister actually has a vested interest in curing the Legacy Virus, and believes he can help Threnody master her powers, at which point she will prove vital in his efforts to study said Virus. Notably, Threnody wants to go with Sinister here. While Rogue disapproves, Hank does believe that Sinister is actually Threnody’s best option, openly stating Sinister can actually help her gain control and the X-Men cannot, because, as Hank directly says, Sinister is willing to damn parts of his soul in pursuit of scientific enlightenment, and the X-Men are not. A few issues later, when breaking into Sinister’s base, Hank encounters Threnody again. She’s happy. Sinister did indeed help her control her powers, and she has been able to use her abilities to help mutants the world over, while also undermining Sinister’s more evil operations from the inside. Hank expresses relief, saying he was kept up at night by his decision to let her go with Sinister, but Threnody actually thanks him for letting her. And that’s it. That’s Hank’s big “crime” here.
Hank’s other “sins” are also of varying levels of severity. There’s the time “Hank worked with his evil self to cure the Legacy Virus!” when the actual story in question is Hank asserting that he won’t stoop to the levels of Dark Beast and compromise his values in the name of science. There’s the time “Hank sided with the Inhumans against the X-Men!” when the actual story is Storm sending Hank to Attilan to find a way to end the conflict between mutants and inhumans before war broke out. Hank runs out of time to find a cure for the terrigen mist cloud, suggests mutants get off-world in the meantime rather than go to war with the inhumans, is thrown into a cell by the other X-Men for his “betrayal”, and then freed at the conclusion of the war by a repentant Storm when it comes to light that the whole conflict was manipulated by Emma Frost. There’s the time “Hank risked the timestream by bringing the original X-Men to the present day!” A decision that was made on his perceived deathbed with the hopes of bringing his old friend Cyclops back to his side. Hank wants to take the young mutants back right away, but they refuse. And instead of others enforcing that they need to return, we actually see Kitty Pride decide to lead them in the present in memory of Charles Xavier. Notably, Kitty would be one of the many mutants in future issues who would yell at Hank about this.
The point of this post isn’t to absolve Hank of all fault. He has made countless mistakes and bad decisions. Regardless of the culpability of others, the pulling of the O5 to the present was his decision. During Secret Empire, Hank would turn a blind eye to Hydra’s activity simply to keep the mutants under his care safe. During all of this, however, Hank’s character was not compromised. He expressed despair and regret over his worse choices, and struggled with thinking he was a good person any longer. Again, going back to his recurring struggle with self-loathing. He had pathos behind his decisions and how they affected him, and would often reunite with Wonder Man as an opportunity to recenter and declare he would “be better tomorrow than he was yesterday.”
You would think, if the aim of X-Force was to turn Hank into a full-on villain, it would take advantage of the long-form storytelling of comics to chronicle that escalation. Like I said, the assassination of Charles Xavier is a great starting point for Hank to start going darker than he ever has before. The problem is, we don’t get an escalation. Hank starts the run by doing some of the most heinous shit imaginable. Regardless of your thoughts on the severity of Hank’s previous mistakes, none of them compare to his opening volley in this run. Hank uses telefloronics to override and genocide an entire country, leaving various people either completely dead or braindead. We later find out that during this time he also established a space station where he ran unethical experiments on prisoners like Krakoa’s very own Dr. Mengele. He then accuses his old ally Colossus of conspiring with Russia against Krakoa, and calls forth the mutant population to witness as he parades a shamed Colossus through its streets. Then he kills Wolverine and resurrects him as a mindless animal who he uses as an attack dog against his perceived enemies. This isn’t an escalation, this is a different character. And the aforementioned lack of pathos means that we don’t get to see him struggle with these choices. We don’t see his thought process as he becomes darker and darker. Why would we? “He’s always been like this.”
Problem 3: No Personality:
One of the most fun aspects of turning a protagonist into an antagonist is seeing how their personality works with a more villainous mindset. When Cyclops became an “antagonist” to the X-Men, he was still Cyclops. He stuck to his convictions, he was a great leader and tactician, and he was able to turn many mutants to his side because of this. We’ve seen an evil Beast before. The creatively-named Dark Beast is from an alternate future where Beast went down a dark path lacking ethics. The fun of this character, besides comparing his ideologies with our Hank McCoy, is seeing how Hank’s penchant for jokes or quotes now become far more sinister and cutting.
There’s a strange narrative that the jokey Hank is reserved for the Avengers while the Hank with the X-Men is all business and science. This isn’t entirely true. Early on when he was a member of the Defenders, Hank talks about this sort of thing. He essentially says that he wears different hats. While working with the X-Men, he used big words essentially to gain respect from both his teammates and humanity. But with other teams, and in his then-new furry form, he dropped all of that. His speech became more naturalistic and he was much more of a goofball. The thing is, it’s the speech patterns that truly change depending on who Hank is hanging with, not his personality. Hank with the X-Men and Hank with the Avengers are both jovial characters who like to tell jokes and quote philosophy. You can see Hank being a bit of a clown among the X-Men in various runs. So it’s not like it’s a given that Hank is some entirely different dry doctor devoid of any sense of humor when among the X-Men.
But this is how Hank is portrayed in X-Force. Part of why this version of Hank is so hard to reconcile with the rest of his history for fans of the character is that he just doesn’t act like himself, even when he isn’t actively committing war crimes. In one early issue of the run, we get a glimpse at Beast’s journal where he accounts a meeting he had with Forge. Now, Beast has been known to be a very physical character. He is often known to sweep others into a hug, or even plant a big kiss on their face in the case of characters like Wonder Man or Iceman. Meanwhile this one page where we read his thoughts on Forge is clearly pretending this is not the case:

I paid Forge a visit in the Armory – and I must say that he can be, like Logan, rather impossible. There is a certain locker room bravado about him I find perplexing, like a language I only half understand. For instance, he refused to shake my hand but instead dragged me into what he called a “bro hug.” Then he challenged me to a “feat of strength,” asking if I would test out this sappy “muck bomb” he had developed that – or so I gather – glues one in place. He wondered if a “big boy” like me might be able to thrash free of the binding. I refused him and said I very much would prefer to get down to business. He then referred to me as a “bookish peckerwood @#$%” but did so with a friendly laugh and clapped me on the shoulder hard enough to make me stagger. I’m not sure how to process this, honestly. Is he being friendly or cruel? Is it possible to be both?

Needless to say, this doesn’t read like Beast. It reads like an android that has never before felt human emotion. I remember before reading this I was theorizing that Hank had been switched with Dark Beast once more to explain his sudden escalation, but after this I realized that couldn’t be the case. Because this sounds like neither Beast nor Dark Beast. Dark Beast understood how to properly write Hank as a villain. He doesn’t suddenly become your typical made scientist devoid of emotion, humor, or basic human understanding. He still makes jokes that are now cruel. He still quotes literature in a way that paints him as a god among men. Hank going bad can be a fun read, but this run was not.
Problem 4: No One Cares:
Another important angle to consider when writing a story of a good person breaking bad is how it affects those around them. Those who are close friends to the person and find themselves disturbed by their current actions. Again, I return to Cyclops. Regardless of where you stand on if he was right or not, he was very much positioned as an antagonist to the mutants at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Yet we see various friends of Cyclops still caring for him and wanting to pull him back from what they perceive as the dark side. Like I previously said, Beast’s whole reason for messing with the timeline was because he felt he was going to die and wanted to try to appeal to his old friend and bring him back around before he passed on. When someone good goes bad, part of the emotional core is seeing former friends try to appeal to their better nature, and even eventually deciding they’ve gone too far to turn back.
Not so with Hank in X-Force. Like I said, this run posits that this is not any kind of heel turn for Hank. This is how he’s always been. “Hank this isn’t you!” “No, he’s always been like this.” “Hank, turn back before it’s too late!” “Turn back where? He’s always been like this.” None of Hank’s friends give a shit. Hank’s best friend amongst the X-Men is Bobby Drake, Iceman, and we never once see any kind of confrontation there. Cyclops and Angel similarly doesn’t care. Now you could argue this is because X-Force is a secretive organization. Bobby and Scott don’t even know what Hank is doing. There are two issues with this. First, things reach a point where they would know. Hank’s actions become public knowledge, and Wolverine goes off to hunt him down while the rest of the X-Men just kinda look the other way. And second, there is someone with a lot of history with Hank that was a part of X-Force and did see everything that was going on. Jean Grey.
But we never get to see Jean wonder what’s happened to her close friend. Jean who was always incredibly close to Hank. Jean who, it was confirmed during the All-New X-Men era, had mutual feelings for Hank and might have started dating him had things been different. But no, Jean, like every character in this run, accepts that Hank has always been like this. That’s the answer to everything. So instead of some kind of emotional confrontation where she tries to appeal to his better nature, we instead have Jean yell at Hank, use her powers to throw him against a wall, and quit X-Force. And then most recently, we see her tell Firestar without hesitation to throw Hank under the bus for any heat that comes her way from her undercover mission. Because everyone will believe Hank is responsible for all the bad shit. Who the hell cares about Hank? According to this run, no one.
Conclusion:
I hope you can see the larger issue here. When Beast fans complain about his Krakoan era, people assume they just don’t want to see their favorite do bad things. But it’s practically accepted at this point in comics that most heroes will have a villain arc. Hell, Iceman is the only one of the original five X-Men who hasn’t gone down a dark path at this point. The problem is that everything about the writing of Hank during this time was just not done well. There is no exploration of Hank’s descent into villainy, and any questioning down that line is immediately shut down by the assertion that this is just who he’s always been. There isn’t any slow escalation because his first move is genocide. Hank is not even written as himself during this era, but rather as a generic bond villain. And none of Hank’s former close friends even show any emotion about his turn to villainy. An evil Hank story could easily work. We saw it with Dark Beast. A story where the former optimistic member of the X-Men has been beaten down so many times that he takes on a “whatever it takes” mentality could be interesting and emotionally resonant as we both understand what drove him here yet hate the man he’s become. But that isn’t what we got. We got a run that wrote him as a complete stranger and then had all the characters tell the reader that they were wrong for ever thinking he was anyone else.

Oh hey, it's me with more miscellaneous thoughts on Edrogrimshell's Generic Tamer jump. This remains one of my favorite jumps, to this day, it just sets a really, really high bar for generics without any outlandishly powerful perks that make you some ridiculous being. You can go here, and then go to almost any setting in the future and still potentially have a challenge, you're just better equipped to tackle said challenge.
Generic Tamer was actually the first of EGS's jumps that I made an extensive post about. I had a lot to say, and I stand by it all. I think that Generics get some flack for being... pretty OP, which is often warranted, but this particular generic is just a gem. One of the big appeals, to me, of this jump is that it doesn't ever do something that will actually no-sell the threats of other settings.
By coming here you won't gain some sort of super invulnerability or plot armor that makes you essential, but you will gain stuff that just makes you better suited to what seems to be, in the modern world, alternative lifestyles. Perks here make you far more self-sufficient without doing something as strong as making you not need to breathe or something. For example, if you fuse this and a Minecraft jump together this won't make you immune to dying of hunger, but it will give you the ability to more meaningfully interact with various neutral and passive mobs, potentially giving you new ways to get the stuff you want and need to survive, and also doing stuff like letting you tame tamable creatures without expending resources to do so (so every wolf is a buddy, not just the ones you see after you fought a skeleton).
There are a lot of settings that are just neat if you have the means to interact with the monsters present in them beyond fighting them. I think the Metroid jump is a lot more fascinating when you see a critter in the wild and you see a potential friend. I like the ability to tame and befriend Sheegoths and the War Wasps, and I think they make sick friends, especially if you have the perks that let you make them smarter, build unique bonds with them, and even give them human/humanoid forms. The ability to bring an army of wild animals in BOTW is very funny, and the power to give cows autonomy in Minecraft is hilarious.
Going beyond the directly, specifically useful and practical consequences of these perks a good number of them are just fun or handy in ways that transcend the needs of the specific jumpers who'd be most likely to come here. One unusual example is the Breeder perk, which is intended to be used to simplify the breeding process for monsters and animals but can actually allow you to do a good job working as a fertility specialist and someone who helps couples conceive, with the upgraded version of the perk being especially good for same-sex couples or couples that would otherwise struggle to conceive a child that is biologically both of theirs. This is hardly the only perk like this, as both Home Cook and Instructor are incredible perks for cosmic citizen type jumpers; those who either lack a grand purpose or those who just want to relax and experience the wonders of new settings in peace. These perks could serve as the basis for your jumper finding perfectly mundane, solidly high-paying jobs in settings outside of here, or even here if your jumper uses this as a supplement or is otherwise a skilled social figure who can navigate the generic world you've created.
The items here are also really good quality of life items. The Portable Cabin is probably the best early housing option I've seen that isn't something like the Apartment item from Generic Cubicle, with it being a a solidly nice housing option you can place anywhere that can fit the house. This limitation makes it a touch weaker than the Toon-Vehicle and Hole-In-The-Wall options as far as housing options in the same price range go, but both of those are part of Generic Cartoon World, a hilariously powerful jump for an early jumper to go. Feed Bag is also a lot of fun, and it's cheaper than Portable Cabin, though its purpose is different. It's a very nice way to either reward your peeps, if you have something like Home Cook, or to make sure your partners stay alive to help you out, since you can't make something yourself.

Fun Settings To Visit With/After Generic Tamer

So some of the easy settings to think to pair this with are other EGS generics (this pairs hilariously well with Generic Culinary Warrior & Generic Merchant). That said there's plenty of other options as well.
I can imagine this being a fun generic to pair with something like Generic Creepypasta, Generic Castaway, Generic Farming Sim, or even Generic Royal Court Drama, at least with the right perks from here.
This would be very fun to pair with any farming simulator, from Stardew Valley to Harvest Moon. This could also be a lot of fun to mesh with some LOZ jumps (BOTW and Wind Waker both come to mind), Mario, Minecraft (this is my favorite of the EGS's to fuse with Minecraft, taming Hoglins, neutral and passive mobs is always a funny mental image), to any of the DIsney jumps, all the way to the Elder Scrolls. I can think of so many settings that become way more fun if you visit here either before or during a visit to those jumps. I'd love to hear what settings you like to visit from here!

Hi All
As an epileptic person I am prescribed 5mg of folic acid per day. I have been looking at prenatal vitamins and all of them have folic acid, often around 600mcg-1mg.
I’m wondering if both would be too much folic acid - it looks like high doses of folic acid during pregnancy can increase risks of childhood cancer for people with epilepsy.
Alternatively, would taking specific supplements be advisable?

I used to be into men romantically, 100%. However, for quite a long time I haven’t felt any romantic attraction to anyone. Zero attraction. And I’ve met plenty of amazing men.
That’s why I’m questioning my romantic orientation. I was thinking of going on dating apps and seeing if the spark can come back or I’m not into men after all.
Pros: - I would figure out my romantic orientation - I could get a boyfriend, maybe?
Cons: - I’d be happy without a relationship right now. (Not because I want to hook up with people or do casual dating… I’m happy single and alone lol) Dating is not my priority and my mindset is that if I’m not serious about it, I don’t want to date. - I feel like I’d be dragging men along or tricking them if it turns out I don’t feel any romantic attraction towards them. - I don’t know how to use a dating app.
Is it a good idea to try out a dating app for this purpose, or should I avoid it? Thank you!

I’ve been having some really unpleasant experiences with rideshare services like Uber and Lyft lately, and I wanted to see if anyone else has dealt with this. On 13 different rides, the drivers have been playing political radio stations loudly.. It’s made my rides really uncomfortable. I tried asking a couple of drivers to turn it down or switch the station, but I got bad looks, so now I just keep my headphones on and don’t say anything. It’s frustrating because I feel like the rides should be a neutral space where everyone feels comfortable. Has anyone else experienced this? Do you have any tips on how to handle it without getting those unfriendly looks? Should rideshare companies implement a policy about this? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Over the past weekend a close female friend of mine told me her and her boyfriend had broken up. They had been on shaky ground for a while so it wasn’t too much of a surprise, but she was heartbroken all the same. Myself and another friend of ours went to her place to comfort her and we all began drinking. She drank a lot more than us, which was fine given the circumstances. Eventually, our other friend had to leave and that just left the two of us.
We’ve known each other for years, initially meeting through a dating app. But after a few dates she decided it wasn’t right and we left it alone. But a year later or so we reconnected but strictly as friends. Whenever she had met her now ex-boyfriend she made sure I was the first person to meet him so we could explain our brief romantic history and he had no issues. Her and I have never shared any intimate moments or anything since when we first met, and neither of us ever tried anything.
But on this particular night, when it was just the two of us she began coming onto me. At first I didn’t much pay attention to how close she sat to me on the couch. Whenever I got up to get something and she grabbed a blanket I came back and sat farther away and she patted the couch for me to sit beside her, but I didn’t move. On the tv, we had a movie playing and there just happened to be a sex scene on and she kept commenting about how that looked fun. I just chuckled and didn’t respond. She then asked if I was turned on by watching them have sex, and that the real thing was so much better. I threw out a joke about old people having sex didn’t spark the same feeling and she tried to compare us to them. After a few more exchanges she crawled towards me on the couch and told me to lean back while she slid her hand across my thigh. At this point I jump up and go to the kitchen, telling her I was going to grab us some water. She kept calling my name and telling me to hurry up and I took my time on purpose. When I came back she was sitting with her shirt off, revealing her bra. I told her to put her shirt back on and she just laughed. I sat on the far end of the couch, and after throwing some more hints she finally just flat out asked if I we were going to do it or not. I didn’t respond and before I knew it she was passed out.
I stayed there for a little bit until her son got home from work. I carried her to her bed and left, letting him know to check on her. The next day, we texted here and there, mainly just talking about how she felt. We told me she would call later and I was a bit nervous about if the night’s events would come up. Once we got on the phone, she told me that she had no idea that our other friend had left. I was puzzled, reminding her that we all shared a moment of comforting her while she was crying right before our friend left but she didn’t remember. So, I began reviewing our night, seeing if she recalled anything and she didn’t. Initially I thought maybe she was just seeing if I would tell her but it didn’t seem like the case. She said she didn’t remember me carrying her to her room, or how she ended up in just a bra. At that point I thought she would for sure think that something had happened. I simply told her that she said it was hot, and she just responded with “well at least I had a bra on”.
I decided not to tell her about her actions. I have known her for about 6 years now, and we are very close. We know each other’s kids and family and other friends. Her ex-boyfriend and I even became good friends. We’d go to NBA games and such all the time without her, and he’d even come to me at times when things weren’t going well. But I’ve never really looked at her romantically like that, until now. When I was home the next day I thought about it a lot. I figured maybe it was just the sexual desires, and how maybe if she hasn’t been so drunk I would have gone for it. I’ve thought about what that might have done to friendship, good or bad, and if it was worth the risk. One of my friends that knows her has expressed that she thinks she has a thing for me, but I blew her off. My sister said the same thing, and this was after meeting my friend and her now ex-boyfriend, so I called get crazy. I’ve been wrestling with if I should tell eventually and see what she says. There’s like a dozen different thoughts running through my mind and I for once am not sure if this is a one time thing or if that was something related to some much deeper feelings she has for me.

Hey y’all, I just need to rant for a moment and get some feelings off my chest.
Recently, me and a few friends finished up a 9 month horror campaign that was super, super fun. The table had immaculate chemestry and we were able to build a really engaging story all throughout it. I am a writer, and worldbuilding is something that I absolutely adore. So, after the campaign ended, I asked them if they would be interested in doing a longer form, political intrigue campaign. They all were ecstatic, and immediately sent me character ideas.
But, I told them it would take me some time to write. I ended up writing an entire book for them, as it was a custom homebrew setting (I know I’m gonna get some flame for it, but I love writing with my own rules). They all said they wanted the book, and were super excited to receive it. We were just waiting on one person to finish up some work so that we could play, when two of my players ended up having a dispute.
I don’t want to air out all of their dirty laundry without their permission, but the long and short of it is one of them fell for the other, and the other did not reciprocate feelings. They both handled the situation super poorly, and now the book I spent 6 months writing and putting together is practically useless. I don’t really have many friends, let alone friends who want to play DnD, let alone friends who want to read 100 pages to play.
I guess I’m just really upset that people who were so excited to play and so excited to do the longest campaign I’ve ever properly written (Think Star Wars meets Game of Thrones meets Cyberpunk) are just throwing it due to a dispute that should have, and could have, been handled differently.
That’s all. Thank you for reading yall. If there’s any interest, I might see about publishing it in DnDHomebrew.