Hey. Take my hand. I feel like if 4chan can afford to keep running since 2009 despite having an unmarketable shitty userbase then whatever may happen to tumblr will not be our fault.

Okay so 4chan just died

be sure to leave out milk and cookies for brutus tonight

You can leave as many cookies as you want but he’ll only et two

this remains the funniest addition anyone’s made to one of my posts

just remember, one day you're going to open tumblr and the crabs will be raving like they never have before

We will meet here again on that day. This is my sacred promise to you.

Has your name every appeared in the credits of a book, or is it likely to in the near future? Then you should join AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS! Transcript below the cut. A version of this zine formatted for print is available to download on my patreon.

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.

At the vet right now. My cat has been "chronically losing weight" so they are going to do a bit of lab work to see what is going on.

The bill comes out to almost $400. I'm in need of help. My kofi is right here!

DM me for my Paypal as it has my real name attached!

ETA: I'm splitting the bill with a relative. I'm still low on funds, but I'm not freaking out as much.

If anyone wishes to drop even just $15, it'd be a lot of help

Update: Kitty has hyperthyroidism and medication is $30 a month. On top of this, the vet bill, they will also want another two week follow up and more labs.

I am in dire need. Please reblog this post of you can't donate.

Reblogs appreciated!

$181/$500

Making a "perfect" book is overrated; making a uniquely flawed but enjoyable book is difficult. You can pay people (or machines some day…) to print you the most "optimal" chain of errorless sentences, but making art that is flawed in your own way is something only you can do.

#may i ever be granted the grace to write that which has my indelible thumbprint of weakness and frailty superimposed upon it @madamescarlette exactlyyy

File your taxes for free | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)

if you're subscribed to Microsoft word, you probably received an email recently saying they're upping their prices. Like, a lot. ($9.99/month instead of $6.99)

guess what though? you can log into your account, click Cancel Subscription, and get the option to continue your subscription at the same price WITHOUT their bullshit AI.

That's right, the new, higher price is actually a different subscription that includes AI that everyone is being opted into by force! What a cool and fun product that clearly everyone wants.

you can also choose to buy Word 2024 without AI for a single lump sum that will be yours in perpetuity, with no updates, for one computer.

Check your subscription if you need Word for work! Don't get duped into paying for something you might not even want

hope is a skill

hope is a weapon you are trained to wield

favourite additions

You cannot hide this in the tags, bestie. This is too lovely to keep a secret.

Can we add @tenaciouswritingdragon ‘s poem to the list of tumblr poems. Can we illustrate it.

Transcribed for your convenience:

Hope is a weapon

Hope is a skill

Hope is a plant you can care for or kill

Hope is a discipline

Something you choose

Hard to stop looking for

Easy to lose

Hope isn’t something to have or to take

If you can’t find it, it’s something you make

Make it from willpower

Make it from spite

Learn how to weaponize love in a fight

Hope is a shield, and a thing to defend

End in itself, and a means to an end.

Would love to take credit for this, but it was actually @mumblesplash ’s lovely creation. I just took a screenshot of their tags. <3

I want you to remember:

The fascists hate you too and they just will pretend otherwise until after they've killed the rest of us, before they turn on you.

Thanks to whoever tried, but I knew they'd never allow it.

Let's do it the old fashioned way. Spread it far and wide.

Did I spend a few days absolutely delirious with the only prompt in my mind being "biblical symbolism mixed with Art Nouveau aesthetics for Tai and Ikoma"?? Yeah. Yeah I did.

Something ironic, about how Tai nearly deifies Ikoma through the rose-colored glasses he blinds himself behind. Yet at the end of the day- it's Tai who has seemingly been tasked with saving a universe that's never given him anything but pain and grief.

In other news to simplify the hot mess the party is in- last session Tai had a gun pointed at him by who we think is Ikoma. Or it could be the Absence controlling Ikoma. But it might not even be him since the figure hasn't spoken and is wearing armor. Who knows.

(Also small side note- that's not Ikoma's eye color (: )

alright everyone

Letter to Babette

A gothic gay vampire rat comic originally published in Double Digest #3: Hairball

you can follow Pete, see excerpts of his excellent comic, and learn about the other double digests on instagram.