◧◧◧ EMERGENCY COMMISSIONS OPEN ◨◨◨

It's difficult for me to ask for help like this because I know so many of us are really going through it these days in some way shape or form, but unfortunately I have to. To keep a long story short, back in January I was dealing with some pretty acute pain and difficulty sleeping. I was diagnosed with a few different chronic pain issues related to my jaw, neck and shoulders and the looming cost of treatment for these things (including the initial visit back in January) is going to put me in a difficult position financially even with me having a proper day job. We're talking both night guards and day guards, nerve blockers and eventual physical therapy and such.

SO that means one of my rare commission openings! Not sure how much interest I'll get so I'm going to keep slots open for an indefinite amount of time unless I get swamped early.

>>> LINK TO GOOGLE FORM HERE <<<

I do quite a wide variety of characters and my traditional art and style is quite versatile! Turnaround will vary depending on what you want, but I will be in contact with you during the process. Please note that I do work a day job so my days I'll be working on commissions are generally limited to one to two days a week or so, so if there is something you want that has a deadline keep that in mind and tell me so we can work out whether I can manage it or not.

I do also have a >> Ko-Fi << you're inclined to donate and can't do a commission right now. All funds I get will be going towards the medical bills.

I can't properly express the amount of appreciation I have for anyone supporting little ol' me with all of what is going on in the world right now, but at least I can repay it with making you some fancy, bespoke traditional art!

Last video before its paintined, added onto the mane for better fur texture/better hiding of the head band etc.

tomorrow it gets painted and eyes added finally before being completely done.

Wanted to show a better video of the detail and how everything looks when moving

Can't Have Nice Things

The Ketamine King Musk has shutdown the IRS's Free Tax Filing system.

Of all the things a government could off, a way to Freely calculate and file your taxes seems like a good one. But the richest man in the world thinks we shouldn't have that.

President Trump’s “special government employee,” Elon Musk, announced on Monday that he had dissolved the Internal Revenue Service’s free file program—suggesting that he effectively fired the staff who worked on the popular program.

The billionaire revealed that he “deleted” the group of individuals who oversaw the system that allows Americans to easily file their taxes for free on the IRS website. The IRS-run free and simplified tax filing option had 76% approval from registered voters based on a 2023 poll by Navigator. [...]

If you have the time to burn, and a bit of financial cushion -

File your taxes by hand. Fill out the forms with a pen. Overpay by about $50. (You will eventually get that back. It is likely to take several months.)

It will take longer to get any refund you're due. But I promise you the entire federal bureaucracy has been cutting as many corners as they can for as many years as they can, and the current set is going to cut even more corners, and...

they don't have the staff on hand to process a huge number of paper claims anymore. They expect everything that came in digitally last year, to continue to be filed digitally. And they expect more digital filings every year. They've planned for that. They've staffed for that.

One of the only acts of protest we have available is "comply, but slowly."

File on paper if you can.

If you have the software to file digitally because doing the math & forms is such a nightmare for you?

If you're up for it: Print the final form, and then fill out a new blank form by hand. With your lousy handwriting. Send it in the post, by mail.

Does that stop them? No, but every bit of sand we can throw in the gears slows them down and pulls resources away from the other horrific rights violations they're trying to codify into law.

You likely still do not have to pay an accountant even if the IRS's Direct File service goes down because Free File will still work.

While Direct File is an IRS-hosted program, there is also Free File, which is government-subsidized and hosted by third parties:

You need to use THESE SPECIFIC LINKS in order to access the Free File programs, fyi - they are hosted by tax preparers who also often order paid services which may have deceptive names like "TurboTax Free" that make them sound like they don't cost anything, so be sure to only use the IRS links. Don't just Google them, you will not find what you're looking for.

Here's an archive link in case they take down the Free File page. (You may have to manually cut out the web.archive.org part of the URL to use the links.)

It is not possible for Elon Musk to access these programs directly because they are not hosted on government servers. You are eligible for Free File for your federal taxes if you make less than $84k, as well as for your state taxes if you make less than $48k, as well as some other situations such as if you are active-duty military or if you live in certain states (for your state return).

If you want to throw sand into the works and file these as paper forms instead of e-filing, you absolutely can do that by printing them out after completing the program, but PLEASE do not pay a tax preparer if you are eligible for Free File!!! It's a ripoff!!!!!!!!

Direct File is a great program that saves the government money (they do not have to pay third parties if they keep the program in-house) and helps protect taxpayer data security, but you DO NOT need to pay an accountant or risk filling out your return incorrectly just because it goes down.

Please also look at your public library! Many libraries offer taxpayer assistance and information - IRS taxpayer volunteers are at my library every year and help me do my taxes for 100% free regardless of my household income.

Here is information on the IRS tax volunteers.

Linocut print by Pamela Leavey