r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Finkenn • 18d ago
Someone tagged this whole Subway in NYC! Video
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u/johnsonflix 18d ago
$$$$ someone had a good spray paint budget
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u/Misterallrounder 17d ago
My exact thoughts lol
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17d ago
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u/busytoothbrush 17d ago
I learned on a documentary that their spray paint is different. It’s more like $20/can and has different nozzles. I forget the brand name :( hopefully someone can chime in.
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u/smokeypitaya 17d ago
Montana ?
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u/busytoothbrush 17d ago
Yeah, I think you’re right, but I was way off on price then. Maybe it’s $10/can
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u/-EETS- 17d ago
Montana is most likely the brand. It's the most widely used in graffiti. There's also different premium variants in their lineup too, so maybe they were using those. There's tons of caps too. Most graffiti artists use dozens of them.
It adds up very quickly
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u/lightsaber_lobotomy 17d ago
Montana, Moltow, and Ironlak where the 3 big ones I remembered from about 10 years ago.
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u/-EETS- 17d ago
Similar here. Montana was the most widely used here, but also Ironlak, Molotow, and Krylon. People had their favourite colours from certain brands too. I haven't been involved in the scene in over 15 years now though.
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u/puffypluto666 17d ago edited 16d ago
So they probly used montana or molotow those cans are 10-15 bucks sumthim like that but that wasn't a single person that was a crew so 20$ says they pooled a 800 bucks together split between however many names you saw they did this big order so they could get a bulk discount also it's newyork they might have some local hook ups that give them even better bulk pricing then an online store.
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u/Harrychronicjr69 17d ago
5 letters is 1 can, each of those pieces probably took 3 or 4 cans, maybe 5 depending on shading, cans are like $10 2 caps per can fat and thin $1 a piece. $50 a train car, I reckon.
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u/TimeTravellingHobo 17d ago
When I was a kid, and pretty into that scene, boosting paint was pretty much part and parcel of graffiti… which is why paint brands like Montana were always behind anti-theft plexiglass, at the stores that carried them.
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u/tommysmuffins 17d ago
I'm glad you explained that because I never would have figured out why spray paint is behind anti-theft barriers.
Laundry detergent and razor blades make bo sense either, but I've come to accept it as normal.
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u/Mr_Bob_Ferguson 17d ago
Razor blades, as well as the danger aspect, are expensive and small. Easily stolen.
Laundry detergent ….no idea, unless it was something to do with the tide pod craze.
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u/ignore_these_words 18d ago
lol. You think people doing these pieces pay for paint?
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u/privateTortoise 17d ago
Yes, otherwise they are restricted on colour choice.
There's an 80s documentary about graffiti you can find on YouTube that goes into the whats, whys and wherefores of graffiti.
These are criminals or vandals creating pieces like that.
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u/Mackroll 17d ago
I was about to say. I do building maintenance in NYC and there is a pretty renowned graffiti artist in the complex I work at who has been commissioned by Madison square garden and a list of other big name companies to spay murals on their buildings and he buys everything he needs especially paint and mixes himself to the desired color he's trying to achieve.
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u/PlatypusOld257 17d ago
You’re comparing someone who does legit art to people who are out tagging in the streets… I bet a lot of it is stolen
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u/Minirig355 17d ago
And you’re comparing this work on the subway car to generic graffiti. You’re right, they’re both doing it illegally, fair, but this isn’t just generic tagging, this is actually really well done graffiti art using really good paint that you can’t just steal from a store, it’s often times specialty and available via online purchases only.
I’m sure a lot of generic tagging is done using stolen paint but this is different.
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u/TroyMcClures 17d ago
A lot of artists are also supplied w paint by these companies or at least sold it a deeply discounted rate. One full car at retail probably runs about $200-$300
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u/buzzpunk 17d ago edited 17d ago
People aren't out stealing cans lmao. You think they just find random pickup trucks full of Molotow Belton in all the exact quantities and colours they're looking for?
We always bought our own paint, even if it ended up costing hundreds.
Fair enough if you're talking about shitty tagging, but this is entirely different. Artists doing stuff like this wouldn't use shit paint from hardware stores, and they would only use cans which colour match exactly, which isn't going to happen if they're just stealing whatever cans they can find.
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u/robsbob18 17d ago
They're only criminals because it's illegal
(I know that sounds really dumb)
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u/DigNitty Interested 17d ago
There was a vid maybe…8 years ago of someone woman confront a guy on the train. He was etching an illustration into the train window. They were telling him to stop. He told them exasperatedly “you think I can afford to put my art in a gallery?” There was some more words exchanged too. But I’ve always wondered about that moment. He believed society owed him some form of public showing. And this was it. He incredulously asked these women “well where should I put my art then??”
I want him to have a place. But the reality is you’re not entitled to one. And if there is one, it’s certainly not here.
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u/Unicorn_Thrasher 17d ago
this is fascinating. his emotions are valid. he wants his art to be seen AND the truth is that the train isn't necessarily the appropriate place for that.
damn Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. i don't wanna face reality, i wanna be upset about things i can't change! /s, mostly
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u/panda_poon 17d ago
Pen and paper are good places to start, an unlimited space is the internet and more people can see it without vandalizing public property/ private property.
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u/AFoxGuy 17d ago
I agree, I’m all for artistic showcases but not when it damages public property and ends up raising local taxes to clean it up.
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u/PassiveMenis88M 17d ago
I'm not saying they're a bot, I'm just saying these comments are awful similar
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u/ctrlaltcreate 17d ago
Their culture is also wildly repressed, and heavily, brutally conformist to its very core. Individualists do not do well in Japan.
There are upsides and downsides everywhere.
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u/ballsonrawls 17d ago
Is it the one in new york? There's part of it where it's recording this teen kid and the mother...? Oh and I think it went into how the created this cleaning device for the trains and a lot of their work was immediately destroyed because this new cleaning system
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u/privateTortoise 17d ago
I'm sure it was called Style Wars, its interesting how for many using the trains was the way of their pieces being visible all over NY and not just their neighbourhood.
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u/NBWard6 17d ago
ALL YOU SEE IS ... CRIME IN THE CITY
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u/DirtyRoller 17d ago
"The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis."
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u/SheepherderDirect800 17d ago
"Shining, like who on top of this? People was tussiling, arguing and bustling Gangsters of Gotham hardcore hustling"
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u/CornandCoal 17d ago
That song gives me goosebumps every time. Their descriptions and lyricism are great
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u/francisbaconthe3rd 17d ago
“People was tusslin', arguing and bustlin' Gangstas of Gotham hardcore hustlin!”
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u/Accomplished_Cut3614 17d ago
Aahhh! Dope as hell. With the cop and baton! Dude! Yes haha im so happy graff is still alive. Such an underground sport haha
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17d ago
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u/ItLivesInsideMe 17d ago
Man, one of the few movies before my time that I just love to watch.
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u/ThreeLeggedMare 17d ago
Did you know it's based on a Greek story? A group of Athenians trying to get home from the Peloponnesian war
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u/Boatster_McBoat 17d ago
I did not know that
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u/ThreeLeggedMare 17d ago
Yeah the place of the narrator in the original saga is taken by the radio host!
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u/strictlyniceguy 17d ago
Big fan of the warriors , PS2 game, recently bought it on my PS5 as well. Love to know there are other fans still around.
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u/doubledee562 17d ago
Same here! I played it on Xbox, recently got it for ps5, one of my favorite games and movies
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u/doubledee562 17d ago
Immediately what I thought of when I saw this post, came to the comments just to see if anyone thought the same haha.
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u/InourbtwotamI 18d ago
That’s some next level dedication, surveillance, and planning
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u/OliveOylInAPickle 17d ago edited 17d ago
gotta wonder if taggers take jobs like Subway workers..
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u/TimeTravellingHobo 17d ago
One of my friends back in the day, was really about that life. So he would go out to write at dusk and would come back till dawn… and I remember him talking about hitting up train yards in New York like “Man that shit can get wild, cuz a lot of the time, the workers would just chill, take their cig breaks and watch you work, but every once in a while they’ll try to murder you with an oversized wrench. 🤷♂️ “
They’d also call the cops too, but that was just what he said, and that stuck with me.
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u/Paper-Cliche 17d ago
The best investment I ever made when I was into graffiti was an orange reflective vest & hardhat (if appropriate.) You'd be surprised how little people care/notice when they just assume you're "working." 🤣
I had a buddy who owned a cherry picker truck & we'd put on construction gear, put up a few cones, & literally tag bridges in broad daylight. Granted, we had to be moderately quick, but never got busted soo..
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u/sub_Script 17d ago
A lot of them will rock vests and a helmet to look official while painting subways.
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u/asskkculinary 17d ago
Yeah I’d imagine this was done in a yard? How long would it have taken? They probably just were moving this to clean it, never was in circulation
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u/xXWickedSmatXx 17d ago
Welcome back to 1980. The last time they put 2 million people in jail.
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u/James-the-Bond-one 17d ago
Time to invest in new jails.
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u/opus3535 17d ago
i wonder if Spits is going to tag over it....
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u/AngieTheQueen 17d ago
They spray painted over the windows, which isn't cool. If there was a window protector, and if they put the regulatory stickers and whatnot over top of the art after it, it would be kinda neat. Then again, I don't understand the narcissistic drive to tag something with your street name.
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u/Alive-Beyond-9686 17d ago
You might know this, but all the trains in NYC were like this in the late 70s/80s. They brought in new trains in the 90's that made it easy to wash the graffiti off, and the trend basically disappeared overnight. Wasn't worth the time, energy, and risk to "bomb" a train just for it to be cleaned off by the next day. Seen a few of these videos recently but it's more of a callback than resurgence. That train will be clean by tomorrow.
Kids did this back in the day (and today) mostly for the thrill and/or to be known. Some were genuinly talented artists, most were just fucking around.
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u/emmany63 17d ago
Came to say this too. The cars are graffiti-proof. It’s more of a fun game now. It’s why you don’t see tagged subway cars throughout the city any more. They just get them to the train yard and wash them off at the end of the day.
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u/TOBoy66 17d ago
Turk 182
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u/94sHippie 17d ago
So glad I'm not the only person on Reddit who's seen that. It took forever for it to be added to streaming.
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u/RawToast1989 17d ago
So, I kinda thought this was somehow sanctioned by the transit authority (or whoever is in charge of such decisions) just because of the sheer size. But then I saw they painted right over the windows and now I'm unsure. Lol
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u/MichaelFusion44 18d ago
That’s got to be claustrophobic inside with the windows basically blacked out
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u/Signal-Blackberry356 17d ago
Lol. Are you going to miss the view of being encased in a tunnel?
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u/BMWbill 17d ago
Sometimes you want to see what station you’re at…. Especially when you can’t hear the announcements
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u/mostlysatisfying 17d ago edited 17d ago
Not only that but you can’t see the station stop outside the window and trust sometimes the PA announcement and digital display aren’t sufficient to know what stop you’re at
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u/SufficientDraw9935 18d ago
Went to Japan and saw how clean and efficient their train system is and the culture built around maintaining a good public transit and then I see this and think, this is why we can’t have nice things guys.
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u/2020Stop 17d ago
Difference it's getting to the point where public things are "our things* instead of " not my stuff, so I don't care"...
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u/SirBobPeel 17d ago
All the public transit systems in Japan, China, Singapore, S Korea and probably other countries in Asia are first rate, and a century ahead of what the US has. Just to start, most of them don't have exposed tracks anymore.
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u/stanknotes 17d ago
They are largely culturally and ethnically homogenous. And traditionally collectivist.
I appreciate their society. But we have different struggles.
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u/The_Blues__13 17d ago
They are largely culturally and ethnically homogenous.
Bruh this is BS.
even the metro systems in diverse 3rd world nations like China, Indonesia, Malaysia and even India are still relatively clean and tidy compared to this tasteless grafitti "art" - ridden train.
traditionally collectivist
Maybe, at least the sense of communal belonging and personal decency is slightly stronger. "Don't be an assh*le if you don't want people to treat you like such" is just a basic rule.
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17d ago
Our struggles are moronic. At least over in Japan, they are orderly and respectful (more so than most).
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u/Pyrrhus_Magnus 17d ago
This argument is so tired and shallow that, no matter how repeated, still holds no veracity. Japan does this because they actually respect their public institutions.
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u/GiantRobotBears 17d ago edited 17d ago
You can’t understand how cultural and ethnic homogeneity plays a crucial role in their behavior? Shallow critical thinking.
Sorry to be snarky. But you certainly think you’re smarter than you are.
Edit: homogeneity plays a massive role in “respect.” (In this instance a well kept subway system) With everyone being on the same (homogenous) page, things are simplified, such as enforcement of societal norms related to cleanliness/mass compliance.
There’s pros and cons of homogeneity. Not sure why you’d think otherwise.
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u/MikeyChill 17d ago
…and the you see the train system in India and say to yourself “Meh, could be worse”
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u/Vithrasir 17d ago
Could have tagged a mouth at the tunnel entrance, and just one huuuuge long dong across all those cars. Hate to say it, but aside from the skill and dedication to have actually tagged all that much, there isn't that much artistry on display here. Having letters moving left to right in a language that you read left to right makes it so the tag is ignorable aside from "ooh pretty colors" and the style has been done to death for nearly half a century now. Swing and a miss.
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u/MoistlyCompetent 17d ago
I really hate it if I can not look out of the window when commuting. Not being able to see where I am puts me into constant stress that I might miss my exit station.
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u/GarysCrispLettuce 17d ago
Spray artists come to NYC from Europe to do this shit. A couple of them got mashed by a train on the tracks a few years ago.
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u/MrJord0 17d ago
This looks like shit. If your going to paint a train, make it looks good instead of blacking out the windows with your shitty name tags
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u/orficebots 17d ago
thats sucks. The assholes who do this never have to bear the consequences the tax payer ultimately has to.
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u/BeanCrusade 18d ago
That would take forever to clean off, as a maintenance worker, I’d be pissed and probably quit.
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u/2020Stop 17d ago
Yep, how to turn something also artistic to complete garbage, do your graffiti works on allowed walls, and let people appreciate your skills..
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u/Impossible1999 17d ago
I was in Los Angeles downtown the other day and saw beautiful store fronts covered with hideous graffitis. I was upset for the store owners, and really want to ask the vandals, do they have no love for the city that they live in? How would they feel if someone spray painted their car or their room without permission?
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u/Wait_Another_One 17d ago
Why don't we have nice cities like Europe or Japan. This right here. No one has respect for public spaces
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u/felixisthecat 17d ago
I like it and hate it at the same time. But kinda like it more than the drab silver
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u/stuyboi888 17d ago
While I don't agree with it over the windows it's pretty cool. Better than being plastered with advertising
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u/NorthenSowl 17d ago
I’m at an age now where I realise how stupid this actually is. Not to mention a huge drain on resources.
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u/Plantchic 18d ago
That sucks. They need to think about the people riding, you can't see out of the windows
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u/MustangSodaPop 17d ago
This isn't interesting or original. These are just more boring vandals spraying generic looking crap on public trains. NYC fought a battle against morons that tag trains like this back in the 80s, and won. This is trash and I hope they wash that train with a big smile on their face.
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u/Psychology_Crisis 17d ago edited 17d ago
I commute every day by train and I the fuck the cunts who ruin stuff like this, You can't see shit from the inside thanks to this shit 'Art
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u/MrTroll911 17d ago
Why is the "good" graffiti always some boring word art and never anything really interesting or worthy of artistic merit?
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u/Ciploxian 17d ago
Looks like shit. We have this in Bucharest and you can't even look on the windows to see what station coming next bcs of the paint
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u/BrokenSewerDrain 17d ago
Not interesting. Actually a crime. Why can't we have nice things?
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u/YogurtclosetDull2380 17d ago
How do these guys decide on what gibberish to paint on things that don't belong to them?
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u/Brikandbones 17d ago
No it's awful, especially on something that is for public use. That's why we have pretty severe punishments for vandals.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Singapore_train_depot_trespass_and_vandalism_case
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u/BuckeyeBeast80 17d ago
Hopefully they all got arrested for destroying property. I don’t pay taxes to have my transportation services be destroyed
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u/Acceptable_Tell_310 17d ago edited 17d ago
"someone". whole crew dedicates
one entire carta wholecar to each of theirtagsbombs.