You can call me Eychan -w-

That includes art, thoughts and just general stuff

So I’ve had to postpone a bunch of projects  because I just, don’t have enough time. But there is a headcanon explored on the Kaia comic that I really wanted to share and talk about with others, so I’m gonna go ahead and just do that XD

I think that the Temples and cults of Akunda and Kimbul on the desert of Vol’dun are not there despite it being a place for criminals, but actually take a function there because of it. Let me explain!

So, for starters, I always found it curious that Akunda was stated to be the Loa of Dreams, but also took away the painful memories of those who asked for it in his temple. Like, how convenient that people that are sent to this place because of their “mistakes” or wrongdoings can just, forget about them.

Then on the Temple of Kimbul you have his teachings written on a visible spot and being very focused on courage, strength of will, not thinking you’re above nature, and just generally very noble values? And I’m assuming those are the ones the followers held when the Temple was inhabited.

And there is their placement on the map. Here I put my character on the entrance of each temple, in front of each Loa, and then compared.

Kaia and her tigress companion, Koa

A rare instance of Kaia being flustered

One of my biggest gripes with this website was that I could not change the account to answer comments, like, if someone commented on my WoW sideblog post and I answered, or if I wanted to comment on a mutual's post, I had to specify I was still Crisas when answering

I thought about making this the main art account and just using the other blogs to reblog, but I feel I'd keep having the same problem :s

Maybe I should just make this the only place I post stuff in, opinions, arts and all, although it doesn't feel completely right

Since Bwomsandi is the one that gave Tyrathan a second chance, maybe that means he could reincarnate, just like trolls do?

Maybe one day his soul and Vol’jin’s will meet again? hopefully the hatred between factions has died down by this time and won’t have to stay separated, they could even grow up together? All the things that they couldn’t do, now they have the chance, and even more.

Or maybe knowing Blizzard the tensions are not placated? yet they are inexplicably drawn to each other because of their connection in their past lives… beyond reason and common sense..

Hmm..I gotta think more about it.

Members of the so-called “alt right” or “manosphere” actually bear very strong similarities to cult members - they become increasingly rigid in their beliefs, they have decreasing tolerance for ambiguity (everything starts to become either right or wrong, with no room for grey areas), they become increasingly preoccupied with “purity” of thought, their beliefs start to become the core of their personal identity, they accept the word of thought leaders without question or critical thinking, their relationships with family and friends deteriorate, and they often experience negative consequences at work or school as a direct result of their beliefs. 

Dealing with a friend or family member who has joined the alt-right is very different from dealing with a family member who is dabbling with the idea of voting Conservative for economic reasons, or dealing with a family member who erroneously believes that Game of Thrones isn’t very good. Reasoned discussion and laying out your point of view will not work here. The tactics that you need to use with him are actually the tactics used to deprogram cult members, which includes things like:

Do not debate him. Never debate a cult member under any circumstances. It’s a complete waste of time for everybody involved, and it only serves to further entrench him in his toxic beliefs. Cult members do not approach debates in good faith - they are not open to having their minds changed, and they have no intention of ever listening to the other side. Cult members use debate as a tool to recruit people with possibly like-minded beliefs, or as a tool to gather evidence that the “other side” is delusional. The more you debate, the harder he will fight to come up with justifications for his beliefs, and the more satisfaction he will get from feeling like he is defending his “side” from attack. Shut down all debate with him. If he tries to start a debate, redirect immediately. If he makes an inflammatory statement at the dinner table, respond with something non-committal ( “hmmmmm”, “is that so?”, “okay” ) and immediately change the subject. Don’t get sucked in. No matter how hard he tries to open up a debate, deflect, shut him down, or walk away. 

Treat him with detached politeness. I know that it is very difficult not to get visibly upset when someone is insulting the very core of who you are as a person and what you believe, but but you have to stay calm and detached here. Do not let him see that he is upsetting you. When he is going on rants about his beliefs, treat him like a child who is explaining the rules to a video game that you don’t particularly care about - have an air of detached boredom, and no matter how hostile he gets, respond only with politeness. Remember, part of the core beliefs he’s being fed is that people outside of the alt-right are “emotional”, and that his beliefs are “triggering” to those people. Give him no evidence to suggest that is true. Stonewall him. Give him nothing but bored stoicism in response to his outbursts. No matter how much he escalates or how horrifying his beliefs get, always act as though you are having a polite conversation about the weather with a stranger at Starbucks. If he tells you that women should should be property and gays should be killed, respond only with a polite “Well, I suppose that’s one perspective”, or “Yes, I believe you have mentioned this before”. Nothing takes the wind out of a cult member’s sails faster than being treated with calm politeness when they are expecting a fight.

Do not insult him or the people who share his beliefs. The glue that holds cults together is a persecution complex. Cults absolutely thrive on being persecuted for their beliefs, and they depend on it to keep members from leaving. “People outside this group hate you and they will treat you much worse than we will” is the message that keeps people from leaving hateful cults, all the way up until the Kool-Aid is served. He is being fed the message by his fellow cult members that he is hated for who he is - a, presumably, straight white man - and that “Liberals” hate him so much that they want to take away the things he is “owed” (money, power, security, etc) and give it away to undeserving minorities who haven’t really “earned” it. Give him no evidence to suggest that this is true. Refrain from insulting him, or insulting the people he views as thought leaders or role models. You can definitely express your political opinions and make it clear that you are not buying into your brother’s worldview, but keep things direct and refrain from personal attacks. If he is gloating about the president to intentionally get a rise out of you, a simple “I disagree with his policies” is all you have to say - launching into attacks about the president’s looks, family, mannerisms or intelligence is fuel for your brother’s hateful beliefs. Remember that when it comes to your brother, you are not acting in the role of a left-wing activist facing off against a dangerous right-wing activist with a platform. You are a concerned family member dealing with a family member who has gotten involved in a cult. 

Ask polite questions, but do not engage directly with his beliefs. Do not read any of the reading material he recommends, listen to any of the podcasts he puts forward or view any of the videos he asks you to watch; it might be tempting to do so just to prove that you are engaging with him in “good faith” and that you have given his views an “honest try”, but this is a mistake. There is no such thing as “good faith” or intellectual honesty when it comes to cults, and there is nothing to gain from engaging in their propaganda. Do not treat anything produced or recommended by a cult as if it has value, because it does not. When he provides you with something he wants to you read, behave as though a young child has just handed you a live earthworm - thank him for the gesture, but decline to accept. Engaging with propaganda just legitimizes it, and gives him more ammunition to hunker down in his beliefs. When you do ask questions of his beliefs, be detached and polite. If he is ranting that all women are whores, ask him what the basis is for that belief. You are not looking to debate him or get a rise out of him - don’t fire back with counter-points, but make a polite, disinterested noise of acknowledgement, or ask for further clarification. You are merely looking for holes in his reasoning, or gaps where he doesn’t have evidence to back up what he says. You don’t need to point these holes out to him - there will be many. When he is unable to be specific, once again, make a polite acknowledgement ( “Interesting.” ) and move on.

Emphasize how much you miss your former relationship with him. Tell your brother that you miss him. Be specific - talk about the things that you used to do together, and the ways that he used to be involved in your life. If he tries to deflect and start talking about his beliefs again, or how he can’t be involved with you anymore because of your own beliefs or identity, don’t engage. Go back to talking about how you miss the relationship you used to have with him. If he insults you, pretend you didn’t hear him and remind him of a happy memory or a fun thing that you used to do together. It can take a really long time to have success with this tactic, but your brother does remember the relationship he used to have with you, and it is possible to remind him of what he is missing out on by continuing with his hateful beliefs. The idea is to take his beliefs out of the equation as much as possible - make him miss the relationship that he used to have. Any attempt at mending the relationship on his end will necessarily require that he get less extreme in his beliefs - it’s difficult to pursue a close relationship with someone and still insult them. 

Remind him of normal life outside the cult. People in the alt-right - and other cults - tend to become hyper-focused only on issues that concern the cult, and begin to forget about normal life. Your brother is likely spending a lot of time and focus on things like the “sexual marketplace”, abortion rights, refugees, gay rights, female superhero movies etc. Bring him back to earth as often as you can with reminders of things that are outside the scope of the alt-right, and are minimally politically charged. Start a conversation about a new restaurant that is opening up in your town. Show him a funny cat video. Ask him if he’s seen a minimally controversial movie. Constant reminds of normalcy can gradually help him realize how hyper-focused he has become on a few small issues, and remind him that his worldview and priorities are incredibly skewed.

Protect your own mental health. Living with a cult member is exhausting. The combination of fending off the insults, being bombarded with hate rhetoric and missing the person they used to be is exhausting. Make sure you are protecting your own mental health. Take breaks. Leave the house and spend time with other people. Lean on friends and other family members for support. Take care of yourself. Getting someone out of a cult is a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s important to conserve your energy. It can take up to five years to get someone to fully leave cult beliefs behind. Be patient. 

One of the hard parts about dealing with alt-right family members is that people make the mistake of approaching them as a political movement, when it is more appropriate to address them as a cult. The way that they operate is much more similar to the dynamics of a cult than the dynamics of a mainstream political movement, and deprogramming techniques are your best bet for getting your family member back. I highly recommend that you and your family read up on cults and the tactics used to get people out of them. It is especially helpful to read testimony from people who have escaped cults or successfully been persuaded to leave them - if possible, look for materials from people who have left the alt-right, and try to present this material to your brother. This is an incredibly difficult thing for a family to go through, and I highly recommend that you seek out other families who are dealing with similar situations - you are far from alone here. 

The CCs say: “Hey, I want to cover something important. As some of y'all know, I am deeply engrained in the Deaf culture because I want to be an interpreter, and I have Deaf family. The world is slowly becoming more accessible, and I am proud of our progress.

However, I want to discuss this school. This is the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf. The school will be opening soon, but they do not let their students sign, they discourage it. And now they require masks, which means Lipreading is out the window.

This article [there is an article on screen behind them] points out that even without masks, teachers would often cover their mouths when they spoke. So they couldn’t lip read. Their reasoning? To ensure that their students were “listening with their EARS”. Read that again.

You’re taking away their [Deaf children’s] language, they are not being given Dynamic Equivalence. They have nothing. When are y'all gonna learn that Deaf kids don’t need to be fixed? Please spread for awareness.“

“Does MOSD use sign language?”

The paragraph reads,

“MOSD does not use sign language. Our mission focuses on the oral approach to deaf education. With early identification, early amplification, and early intervention, even the most profoundly deaf children can build the listening and language skills needed to mainstream into kindergarten with their hearing peers.”

And also, their history is fucking bullshit, ‘cause they claim the closest oral school in 1950-whatever was “more than five hours away”, however, not two and a half hours down the road is the Arkansas School for the Deaf in Little Rock that’s been here since before the Civil War in various iterations. 

AND the ASD teaches both oral and ASL, as well as other lessons in just general life skills, which is more than I got in the regular LRSD. 

So fuck that gentrified, ablest bullshit. 

As a hearing person who has had Deaf colleagues whose primary language is ASL and who assisted several Deaf people in my last job

NO IT FUCKING IS NOT

Eviction protections are expiring across the United States and Canada right now, and millions of people are suddenly finding themselves facing eviction with a pandemic still raging and the start of winter just around the corner. 

Not knowing where you’re going to live next month is an unbelievably scary position to be in, and there are a lot of people out there who are facing this for the first time in their lives. It’s okay to be scared. But it’s also important to start taking steps to deal with this as soon as you realize that might be at risk of eviction. 

As someone who has worked in homelessness and housing advocacy my whole career, here’s what I recommend you do:

Do not leave your home. Many landlords count on their tenants not knowing or understanding their rights, and take advantage of that to try to illegally evict them without following proper procedure. I have seen landlords attempt some flagrantly illegal things during my time working with vulnerable people. Many landlords have been ignoring and violating eviction moratoriums during this pandemic. Don’t fall for it. There is a legal process that has to be followed to evict you, even if your name isn’t on the lease - your landlord cannot simply slip a note under your door ordering you out by the end of the week, no matter what they tell you. Do not leave your home until a judge orders you to do so. You may have a better shot in court than you think you do, and seeing the court process to the very end buys you valuable time to figure out your next move. 

Get a lawyer. Many legal aid societies and law school legal clinics offer free legal assistance for people facing eviction. Having a lawyer can make an enormous difference - one study found that people without lawyers were evicted 65% of the time, compared to just 15% of people who had legal representation. Start calling and contacting legal aid services as soon as your landlord threatens or files eviction - these services often only do intake for new clients on certain days, so it’s a good idea to research these services ahead of time. 

Understand your rights. The protections you have under the law depend on where you live - it’s critical that you take the time to educate yourself about what those protections are. Your area will likely have a Residential Tenancies Act, a Tenant Act, or something along those lines. Look online for information specific to your area. There may also be special protections and procedures in place because of the pandemic. If you live in NYC, for instance, you have a right to free legal counsel if you are facing eviction. Find out what protections you have in your area.

Contact resources in your area. Again, depending on where you live, there are different resources available. There may be a tenant support agency that can connect you to free legal resources directly. You might be eligible for unemployment benefits or emergency income. Your state or city might also have emergency funding or eviction prevention programs in place. NYC, for instance, offers “one shot deal” emergency grants that cover rental arrears for people who are facing eviction due to unexpected crises. You should also look at emergency housing options, community food banks, or other resources that can help you survive this situation. In many cities you can call 211 or 311 to learn more or about resources, or you can go online. 

Attend your eviction hearing. Once you are given a date and time for your eviction hearing, it is critical that you attend. Even if you have not paid rent in several months and you think your case is hopeless, you absolutely must show up for this hearing. If you don’t attend, you will lose by default - if you attend, you may be successful in winning leniency, the opportunity to pay back rent with a payment plan and avoid eviction, or even just a few weeks’ extension on the eviction date so you have more time to come up with a plan. Attend your hearing. 

Have a back-up plan. Even with legal aid resources on your side, you have to prepare for the possibility that you might not be able to fight your eviction. Buy yourself as much time as you can, and use that time to start researching possible options. Is there a cheaper room for rent that you can afford with your unemployment benefits? Do you know anyone you can stay with? Are there any housing non-profits in your area that can help? Do you have any leads on employment in the future? Explore your options, and remember that it’s okay to ask for help right now - people in your life can’t help you unless you tell them that you’re struggling. 

Call your representatives. You are not the only person suffering as a result of expiring COVID protections - your elected officials need to know that letting these programs expire is having serious, dire consequences for real people that they represent. Call everyone. Call the office of your congressman, call your MP, call your state senator, your MLA, your local city counsellors. Tell your story, and make as much noise as you can. It doesn’t guarantee that anything will be done, of course, but it makes the problem harder for your elected officials to ignore.

Important Resources for Americans: LawHelp.org - website for learning more about local laws and finding free legal aid in your area  JustShelter - a database of community resources available to people facing eviction (might not include all emergency pandemic programs) Eviction Moratorium Database - a database showing where evictions have been legally paused or restricted because of the pandemic National Evictions Database - a database where you can look up what the legal eviction process is supposed to look like in your state  Tenant’s Union Resources - a website where you can find information for the tenant’s union or pro-tenant organizations in your area  Legal Services - a federal non-profit that helps connect low-income households to legal resources for fighting eviction 

Fannie Mae Renters Resource Finder - a database that will tell you if your rental unit is federally financed, and show you resources to fight eviction accordingly  Freddie Mac Renters Resource Finder - another website to show you if your rental property is federally backed and connect you to resources