If I See The Ridiculous Argument That WWX Was Bad For Not Giving JC A Choice In The Golden Core Transfer

If I see the ridiculous argument that WWX was bad for not giving JC a choice in the golden core transfer I'm just going to round everyone up and force them to read the novel properly - curing you of your stupidity, clockwork orange style.

JC consented to receiving a new golden core...

There are two ways in which he may have consented, depending on which way you want to believe JC acted, but he very much gave consent either way.

So WWX tells JC he knows where Baoshan Sanren is... You think JC is that DUMB he believes this?! You think the fact WWX knew he had a lifeline the whole time he was starving and fighting for his life on the street, he never once thought - I know, I'll go see Baoshan Sanren, she'll look after me. Or the whole time he was being treated like a lowly servant and whipped for the most insignificant of reasons?! Give me a break!!!

JC either knew this was a total lie and did not ask questions, because he wanted a golden core and he did not want to consider how, who or why. This was consent. WWX fed him a story that was obviously a lie and JC did not point this out - he just took it, because he was desperate to have power once more. He did not give a 💩 where it came from or any real details. THAT'S CONSENT.

And if you think that JC is stupid enough to believe the glaringly obvious lie, then he still consented in taking something from WWX either way. How? Hmmm well JC took the only thing WWXs mother ever left him, her own son, to use if he should need it. He took it with a second thought, without any hesitation for taking something so precious and poignant to WWX. Something that was not his to take. He took it without any humility or grace, without a single word of thanks to WWX. He posed as the very boy his vile mother abused, he posed as the son of the very woman his jealous mother hated - all without any shame. He was greedy and had no thought for WWX. He consented in taking something so precious, it might as well have been his golden core either way.

So either way, WWX received consent from JC.

Cold brewed pine tea is also supposed to be high in vitamin C so can be used to ward off scurvy. And yes it has to be cold, high heat destroys vitamin c.

Alright, so hygiene in a survival setting tends to be something that gets overlooked

In terms of difference between shelter in place/bug out situations, obviously your average person will have any number of hygiene products on hand in their home to keep themselves clean, as long as they can access clean water.

In a long term bug-out situation your options are going to be a little more limited

This is going to sound mildly counter-intuitive but bear with me - avoid washing your hands and body too much. Obviously if you’re treating a wound or preparing food or dealing with communicable illness, wash your hands, but otherwise you really ought to be careful about washing too often as this can actually cause a lot of issues in a survival situation. Arguably the overabundance of antibacterial soaps that we use in our everyday lives have not only weakened our immune systems but also led to superbugs that are resistant to treatment; there is such a thing as too clean. That being said, a quick once over of the, uh, wings and cockpit never hurt, especially if you’re doing a lot of sweating or getting especially dirty. Any skin folds, between your toes, your genitals, rinse your mouth. Keep your feet dry, KEEP YOUR FEET DRY, change your socks daily or if they get wet, KEEP YOUR FEET DRY, change your underwear daily.

Cedar oil, clove oil, and Litsea Cubeba oils all have a place in your kit. All three are anti-septic, anti-viral and anti-bacterial and can be diluted to use to treat cuts and wounds. Clove essential oil is the base of all the highly anti-septic "caines" such as Benzocaine, Novacaine, and Lidocaine. Litsea is an anti-viral used to treat things like COPD and pneumonia. Cedar oil can be used similar to clove oil to disinfect wounds, but it can also be used to mask your scent while hunting.

Evergreens are gold. You’re looking for pines, cedars, junipers or furs. They are green all year for your benefit. You CAN make an anti-viral, anti-septic and anti-bacterial tea from the leaves/needles of any of these.

Not too much or the tannins will have a toxic effect, but used in small doses they are natural sources of germ fighters. If you have access to water and heat, simply make a tea with the needles and wash hands, face or body with it.

This is one of the main reasons to carry a washcloth or several in your kit - disposable wipes can be great in a pinch but they WILL run out.

To make a tea using evergreen needles, use about 1/2 cup of fresh herb or 1/4 of dried to 16oz of water. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, then let cool. You can ingest the tea for an immune booster, use it to wash hands, body and hair, use as a mouth wash or use it to clean clothes. Even if you don’t have access to fire to boil water, you can still rub the less prickly needles on your skin for the oils.

Yucca can be planted (or found wild in some places! Know your area!) and used to make soap, just slice the root and boil it for about ten minutes, use the liquid to wash. It will also soothe eczema!

Check your local area to see what plants grow naturally that are high in saponins - these plants can be used the same as yucca or evergreen to make a makeshift cleanser.

If you have the tools, you can make your own soap - The basic recipe is 3lbs 6oz Lard, 24oz Water and 9.5oz Lye. You must weigh all ingredients. Only use stainless steel or heavy grade plastic for making soap. Lye WILL burn you if you get it on your skin, so be careful or keep white vinegar handy - NOT WATER. We’ve all seen that scene from Fight Club, water will only make it worse. White vinegar neutralizes the lye.

Onions or leeks grow wild in a lot of areas and can make an effective mosquito repellant when crushed and rubbed on your body. It can also be combined with mud for added protection.

Tobacco can be used to stop bleeding, and has strong antiseptic properties.

Willow bush grows commonly in a lot of places as well - know your area!!! - and can be used to clean your teeth. Twigs from trees such as the hazelnut, dogwood, birch, or orange are antimicrobial; you chew the frayed end of it, simple as. A salt water gargle can also increase the PH of your mouth and prevent tooth decay - DO NOT DRINK SALT WATER.

“Don’t wipe your ass with poison plants” ought to be obvious, but definitely don’t do it. A handful of grass, a smooth stone, a dedicated rag or towel even will do, but obviously you need to wash and boil it to keep it clean and don’t mix it up with a towel or rag you might want to use as a bandage - yet another reason making your own soap is actually pretty important. Also another reason why your kit should at minimum have 3 or 4 small face or hand towels.

Women - you especially should be carrying several small rags or towels. You WILL run out of tampons/pads in a survival situation where you do not have access to an abundant supply. A diva cup, or a pair of diva cups, are the most ideal solution to menstruation in a survival situation, as they can be washed and reused, but there’s no reason why you can’t also use several folded rags for the same purpose and the same reason.

Wash your hair. WASH IT. Any of the above methods for washing your body will work to wash your hair - this will prevent a buildup of oil and dead skin cells which can and will harbor bacteria and lead to irritation and possibly infection. An overgrowth of yeast is most common, and it sucks. Keeping your hair clean will also help prevent fleas and allow you to find any ticks that have possibly attached. A little mint or thyme crushed up and rubbed through damp hair will also help repel pests. Garlic, clove, and cedar oil also work.

Fandom Gripes #20: Wei Wuxian is not an alcoholic. I don’t care how he appears in the other adaptations, in the novel, he is not an alcoholic. Drinking alcohol every now and then does not make one an alcoholic. Liking alcohol does not make one an alcoholic. Having a favorite alcohol does not make one an alcoholic. Having an interest in the different types of alcohol does not make one an alcoholic.

If you wanna argue that Wei Wuxian is an alcoholic, you will have to show me where in the novel he is ever shown to be dependent on it, where it plays a major role in his life, and where it is used often enough to impair his thinking and actions. Can you even point out a scene from the story where he’s drunk? Do we see any mention of him always having alcohol on him when he travels, not just having it with some meals? No? Then how did we get here?

Always before my grief with Lan Xichen was his refusal to allow Lan Wangji the dignity of his choices by blaming things on Wei Wuxian, but this is very true. Ok fine, he’s also very much attempting to make Wei Wuxian be the root of the divide in his relationship with his brother after he’s done quite a bit to distance himself without even noticing he was doing it. But all of this goes together.

This is a little random, but during the Nie Mingjue flashbacks, when this part happened:

He knew of people’s likes and dislikes so that he could find suitable solutions; he loved running errands and could do twice the work with half the effort. Thus, Jin GuangYao could be said to be quite a talent at analyzing others’ interests. Nie MingJue was the only person whom Jin GuangYao couldn’t probe out any useful information about.

—Chapt. 49: Guile, exr

…it got me thinking of about what interests he could have possibly found of Lan Xichen’s to exploit. But now that I’ve read a few interactions between Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen, I think what Jin Guangyao exploits is Lan Xichen’s wish to be a good person without having to face any hard decisions and run the risk of being wrong. He is negatively motivated by guilt.

During the time when Nie Mingjue was still alive but after his feelings towards Jin Guangyao had soured, Jin Guangyao spent a lot of time discussing his issues with Lan Xichen in a way he didn’t do with Nie Mingjue even when their relationship was good. He confides in Lan Xichen about his struggles in Koi Tower, his plans for the lookout towers, and Nie Mingjue’s violent hatred of him. (And some of these complaints feel like they are presented in much the same way Nie Huaisang asks for help of Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao in his good-for-nothing act!) But Jin Guangyao never asks for anything too strenuous of Lan Xichen, nothing that would put him in a hard place.

When the Jin contingent turn their ire towards Jin Guangyao, he doesn’t ask Lan Xichen for help or to intercede on his behalf. He only asks that Lan Xichen help him expand the hunting grounds “if it won’t bother him.” He doesn’t seem to ask Lan Xichen to argue in support of the lookout towers for him, only to support him as he makes the leap. He asks that Lan Xichen appeal to Nie Mingjue on his behalf, but Lan Xichen was already doing that. Jin Guangyao keeps Lan Xichen around as background support for his different machinations, which allows him to keep his long-suffering but persistent hero persona while making Lan Xichen feel like he has made a difference by being the shoulder the other man cries on. Nothing materially changes for Jin Guangyao with Lan Xichen’s actions.

However, the moment Lan Xichen begins to doubt Jin Guangyao, such as in the Koi Tower discussion conference when Wei Wuxian discovers Nie Mingjue’s head, Jin Guangyao flips to guilting Lan Xichen. Now, Lan Xichen is no longer Jin Guangyao’s only support in the face of adversity; he is just another man in a long list of people who have forsaken poor, downtrodden Meng Yao for his shameful background. When everyone busts in the Jin treasury room and Wei Wuxian accuses him of harboring Nie Mingjue’s head, Jin Guangyao pivots to Lan Xichen, saying “of course you would assume I was the murderer,” which makes Lan Xichen feel guilty. When definitive proof is found of Jin Guangyao’s involvement in Nie Mingjue’s murder and his jade token is revoked, Jin Guangyao shows up to the Cloud Recesses, personally, to throw it into Lan Xichen’s face that he is abandoning their decades-long friendship for falsehoods (negative motivation) before switching to Lan Xichen’s sense of righteousness, his want to be good (positive motivation) by telling him about the new plans to siege the Burial Mounds again in order to trick him into going back to Koi Tower.

Jin Guangyao dangles this carrot and stick over Lan Xichen head right until his very death.

That elderly couple who volunteers at the soup kitchen after church on Sundays and attends every town hall meeting has done more community direct action than 99% of internet leftists 🤷🏽‍♀️