Because Reasons

Check it out at afroindex.org! 💛✨

-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.

The Mino prompt list... out more than a week early...?! A rare sight indeed—and I'm so excited to share the prompts that were chosen for this year!

🍂 Minovember is a weekly prompt challenge for November, all about Ghost Trick! The prompts themselves are four a week for optimal freedom of choice. It’s relaxed, so feel free to pick any prompt (or prompts) for a certain week, skip weeks, make art in advance, etc.

Since I thought the few prompts just below the cut-off line were too fun to leave off, and as a way to celebrate the final Minovember, each week this year will have four rather than three prompts!

As always, thank you all so much for suggesting and voting on prompts, and for making this event what it is! It was so interesting to mix new and old prompts in there, and I'm soooo excited to see how this year's Mino goes :-D

Have a fantastic rest of your October, and happy Almost Minovember!! 🎉

Rules and Prompt list in text form under the read-more

THE BRAVELY DEFAULT GIFT EXCHANGE (Secret Santa) IS OPEN FOR 2025 HOLIDAY SEASON. Spread the word, spread the joy.

Deadlines: 1)  You have until (Sunday) October 19 at 1 AM EST to sign up. I’ll also be posting regular updates so follow bravelysanta at Tumblr/Bluesky.

This is a hard deadline. If you miss it, you miss it! Try again next year!

REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST JOIN THE GROUP ON SNEAKY SANTA - the link will show up after you fill out the form. Email me at fairyglowcharm @ gmail if you forgot to join it.

2) On the afternoon of October 19th, you will receive an email with the name of the person that you’ll be gifting via Sneaky Santa.

I will check-in a couple of times between mid/early-Nov and early-Dec. Please use these check-ins as opportunities to tell me if you need help!

3) Gifts are due anytime between December 22nd - 29th (both Saturdays). If you will not be able to post it during that time, submit/msg me beforehand and I’ll post it for you.

4) If you think you may not meet the deadline, please contact me immediately and no later than December 21st. But please don’t sign up if you know your availability will be iffy in the first place.

5) If signing up as a pinch-hitter, those will be due by Jan 1st.

Guidelines:

1) If you must cancel your application, please notify me immediately either via email (fairyglowcharm @ gmail) or the bravelysanta accounts, preferably before assignments are chosen on Oct 19th. If you find you cannot meet the gifting deadline and need an extension, please also notify me before Dec 21st. 

2) When filling out your name on the Sneaky Santa website, please include your social media handle (either Tumblr or Twitter/Bluesky), so your Gifter knows how to @ you. Example - Koma (bravelykoma). I will also make this form responses visible to everyone so you can specify here, too. 

3) Remember that you are gifting a present to someone, and be prepared to spend at least some time on it. No one likes a last-minute gift!

4) Both fanart and fanfic are accepted as submissions. Giftees, do not specifically request one or the other.

5) No AI generated art or fanfiction is allowed. The point of this is to create something for someone. Everyone of all talent levels is invited to join, to share the love of Bravely.

6) If you know there is a game, character, or ship that you don't wish to create content about, please indicate that in the last question of the form. I will do my best to exclude pairing you up with someone who is requesting a gift regarding those items, but please understand that I can't make promises if wishlists are not filled out. These response will not be made public.

7) Please try to complete your wishlists before Oct 19th for these reasons. Please don't make me hunt you down.

8) When creating your wishlists, please do not specifically request fanart or fanfic (example: do not request specifically fanart of the Crystal Crew as kids, instead of requesting something like “I would love to see the Crystal Crew as kids, doing something cute”). However, you should have more than 1 item on your wishlist. Please try to have 3-5 different items so your Gifter has some freedom! 

9) Specifically requesting shippy gifts is allowed, but no NSFW material, either in wishlists or presents. This is mostly about smut, but also be mindful with gore and graphic violence. 

10) Your wishlist and present MUST include Bravely themes or characters, such as Bravely Default 1 or 2, Bravely Second, Fairy’s Effect, Brilliant Lights, Praying Brage, etc. With the presence of Bravely characters in Octopath: COTC, Octopath characters + Bravely characters is allowed, though please be mindful of spoilers for the Octopath games. Same applies to other Team Asano games. 

11) Please try to keep your assignments private! Talk about them with friends in DM all you want, but if someone can find out that you’re their Gifter on social media, that ruins the surprise!

12) Please tag submissions as #bravelysanta2025 ! (Keeping the name the same as previous years helps people find past submissions easier, sorry.)

Thank you for all the responses to the interest check! With 55% of the votes, I can announce that the next event will be Bravely Week 2025, running from May 29th - June 5th, the release date for the BDFF remaster!

The survey for the prompts can be found here and will run until 19/04 (Saturday)

The seven with the most votes either from the most popular category (Bravely/general) or each category will be this year's prompts. The eighth day will be a general prompt for BDFF to celebrate it's re-release!

Poll results from the interest check are below the cut, if you're interested!

(Please reblog 💞 Shares highly appreciated and are a free way to help a lot! ~)

Hi! I'm Bunnie, a Native/Asian/mixed queer disabled small artist, illustrator & merch designer.

My project for a magical girl anime inspired plushie collection I worked super hard on designing is now live. I'd love to see any many come to life as possible! ;; 💖

As a disabled person, my merch & art is my main income. With my chronic illnesses and severe debilitating chronic pain, this kind of work with a flexible schedule is best for me and my situation right now, so please consider checking my project out & help my shop & work continue to keep afloat 💞