MAD

Humanized Ahsoka for the Melanin Beam Challenge by @creatingblackcharacters!!

Happy birthday, Mrs. CBC, hope it's a wonderful day for you and the excellent people in your life 💙

Notes and full-body under cut:

Cowboy Twins! And the first version from 2024 :D

more forest fire dragons

@creatingblackcharacters's melanin beam challenge feat. the a.b.a arcade mode crew 🗝️

i was recently asked about prints -> i've set up a store HERE. i put up some photos i liked, and also fucked around with making some of my small & cute critters into key chains and stickers.

Submission 1/2 for @creatingblackcharacters 's Melanin Beam Challenge 2026 - Qifrey from Witch Hat Atelier!!

Another favorite manga of mine became the Big Popular Fantasy Anime this year so it's a perfect series to demonstrate how Black characters can look in an anime/manga style as the protagonists!

Qifrey's an excellent teacher and extremely skilled witch, he's also full of Secrets and Mysteries that I will not spoil. He's been through so much and deserves this life he's built with the atelier.

Submission 2/2 for @creatingblackcharacters 's Melanin Beam Challenge 2026 - Olruggio, also from Witch Hat Atelier!

His look is inspired by this cosplay by riverjmv on instagram, they did SUCH a stellar job and the locs work so so well for Olruggio! Please check out River's stuff, he's a great cosplayer.

Olruggio's a very kind person even if he won't admit it. He builds contraptions that bring comfort and joy to people....he also needs a goddamn vacation cuz he's like perpetually exhausted from working all-nighters (which is why a lower maintenance protective style feels like a good fit for him)

-Don’t use “buy now pay later.” The fine print isn’t what it seems.

-The fine print on medical financing, store credit cards, and contactless payment is also not what it seems.

-Payday loans are still predatory, even when offered by your employer

-Rewards programs are an income stream for the companies that run them. The points systems are manipulated so that the house always wins. They depend on people leaving money in rewards accounts and not in interest-bearing traditional bank accounts.

-Electronic payment apps like VenMo are not banks. You don’t earn interest. Your money is not protected.

-Your financial information is not private if your money is not kept in a regulated bank.

-None of this is regulated by the FDIC. Your money is not protected if it is held by a non-bank doing banking business. Our economy is not protected from the collapse of financial institutions that are not banks.

 A third of younger Americans hold their savings on nonbank tech platforms like Venmo

PEOPLE! DO NOT LEAVE YOUR MONEY IN VENMO OR APPLE PAY OR ANY OF THIS SHIT. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GO FIND A REAL BANK OR A CREDIT UNION.

If Venmo were to close tomorrow all your money would vanish. There's no insurance or guarantee on any of these things. I know banks aren't great but legit banks will have the "FDIC insured" logo on their doors and websites, which means if my bank goes under tomorrow I still get my money back. Also I guarantee you there is a credit union somewhere in your town, go find it.

your funds are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC in the event Green Dot Bank fails

In the event Green Dot Bank fails. Meaning the only time your money is protected is if Green Dot goes under. Not if Apple goes under (unlikely, granted). Or if Apple changes its terms (entirely possible). Or if you got scammed. Or if Apple freezes your account because they think you're the one scamming. Or any of the other countless mishaps your money could suffer. Green Dot is insured, but Apple Cash is not.

This is the disclaimer (highlighted) you see before you set up Apple Cash:

For the love of god get an account at a federally insured institution. Look for FDIC (banks) or NCUA (credit unions) insured and regulated financial institution. They are legally required to have this status publicly available and accessible so it's not hard to find.

The FDIC and/or NCUA will insure your accounts up to $250,000 PER AUTHORIZED SIGNER and per account type. These are factors to max your coverage to even higher than $250k but the key point is that if something happens to your bank or accounts there, that first $250k of your money is secured anyway.

Banks are for profit. Credit Unions are exactly what it sounds like: unions. They are not for profit and member owned.

Bigger institutions have more money and resources at their disposal; they have the fancier apps, 24/7 phone banking and more locations. But watch out! They are no different than any other large corporation you've heard of when it comes to ethics. Smaller institutions have more limitations, and lesser size is not an indicator of morality, but it's something to consider when choosing where to keep your money.

These institutions, regardless of what kind you choose, will offer interest bearing accounts. Money Market Savings and Time Accounts (also called Certificates of Deposit,) are popular choices to put the money you already have to work for you. You can earn money just for having your money in an interest bearing account type.

All financial institutions charge fees of one sort or another. They are offering products and services, after all. Nothing is free! They will also disclose options to avoid paying those fees, usually based around meeting specific criteria such as minimum balances or direct deposits.

Second submission for the Melanin Beam Challenge by @creatingblackcharacters with a Black Audrey Horne

I know the ep got posted a small while ago but the decision by Liam O'Brien to use the phrase "defang our play" just has so many layers

There's a top three

Firstly, just the phrase itself is incredible- the way the candescent creed is trying to disarm the minds of dol makjar by taking the fangs out of a play and molding it to their story

Secondly, the fact that Hal's last name is Fang ties in so well to how the candescent creed's "notes" gutted his story like a fish and completely got rid of the heritage that he has as a Runjani

Thirdly, the way it also shows the other Fang, Thjazi, and his rebellion and personality being erased with what was probably a big historical source of hope for him as well as the ways that his story and murder were mirrored in the play being taken out, completing the half of the defanging with his brother just goes down so smooth

The choice to portray both the attempted suppression of Halandil Fang's history and also the effort to take away the tools for rebellion by using a play on words like defang is just so

brennan did mention that orc surnames, because of orcish history under azgra, are similar to chinese surnames where you've got like 5 family names that almost everyone has, unique surnames are rarer - and he listed fang claw and blade as some of those really common names. for a play like this, about orc history in an orc city, that sold out it's 10,000 seat theatre, you can guarantee there would have been more fangs in the audience!

Okay, I want to address the several comments that expressed concern about Lois and want people to treat her with more compassion, because these additional details are funny and also to comfort you that others also are concerned about Lois. One of the neighbors who talked about this on the town Facebook page and who had said they’d called the cops gave basically this caveat: “please don’t tell us to make friends and try to give her attention in a healthier way. We have done this. She doesn’t want healthier attention. She wants to fake injuries to passing motorists.”