#Generators Buffalo NY | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

focsle · 8 months

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have you written anything about tattoos? is that relevant? don't know how your niche lines up with generic "sailor" tradition, but wikipedia simply says on knuckle tats that deckhands may get "HOLD / FAST" as a charm to support their grip on rigging, and i thought that was kind of cute.

I haven't written anything myself, mostly cos if you throw a stick out in the internet you'll find any number of articles about the symbolism of sailor tattoos, like hold fast and pigs and roosters and swallows and all that!

In my narrow window (the middle decades of the 19th century), I don't see tattoos mentioned all too often, compared to late 19th and throughout the 20th century where they became more common. For instance, this register of seaman's protection certificates (which are admittedly limited in the scope of things, since they're only from a few specific ports) from 1796-1871 rarely list tattoos as distinguishing marks, beyond the odd mention of being marked with an inked anchor, eagle, or letters here or there. Here's a neat jstor article (if you have any more of your 100 free monthly articles to read with a google account) that goes into late 18th-early 19th c tattoos that has some tables and visuals. The research was also done using seaman's protection certificates, with the following stat:

"The SPC-A records start in 1796 and include tattooed men born as early as 1746. There were 979 tattooed men out of a total of 9,772 men whose records survive from 1796 through 1818.26 These men were marked with a total of about 2,354 separate designs."

So, not a large number, but also 10% isn't insignificant. The protection certificates while a reliable source, also only describe the man in one specific moment. I'm sure a few of those men who just have their moles and scars and crooked fingers listed eventually picked up a tattoo or two in their time. Most journal keepers perhaps didn't think it important to mention who had tattoos or what of, though the typical motifs of anchors, nautical stars, girls, religious & patriotic imagery, etc. were certainly a part of the visual language at this point. Whaler William Abbe who sailed in the 1850s, devoted considerable attention to describing the physical appearance of some of his shipmates. In one instance, he wrote about the tattoos of one 'Johnny Come Lately' or 'Jack Marlinspike' (Real name, John Hewes of Buffalo NY)

'from beneath this cap his face looms out - while beneath supporting his comical head is a bare neck and breast — hairy + brown —the upper timbers to a stout hull of a boat that boast a pair of arms all covered with India ink tattooings — the figure of American Liberty — Christ on the cross — an American Tar holding a star spangled banner in one hand + a coil of rope in the other — a fancy girl — + anchors, rings, crosses, knots, stars all over his wrists + hands — the memorials of different ports he has visited — for Jack has been in all kinds of vessels from a man of war to a blubber hunter — + has consequently been to many ports.'

From the logbook of another whaler who sailed in the early 1840s, James Moore Ritchie, he had a page of his drawings with prices included. This potentially may have been a tattoo flash sheet for his shipmates:

American whalers also noted the tattoos of indigenous people who had signed on to whaling vessels, particularly in the South Pacific. William B. Whitecar, whaling in the 1850s wrote: "Several New Zealanders in the respective crews of these vessels attracted my attention from the tattooing on their bodies" making mention of "figures on their face and breast".

I'm too sleepy to have a conclusion lol. Tattoos! They existed! Though perhaps not as ubiquitously as the pop culture sailor designs would imply, at least prior to the late 19th c.

#asks #anonymous #awhalin

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stawpny · 11 days

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hcs?? anyone?

-will put on loads of sunscreen on his face and yet still get burnt. His face will literally be white with sunscreen and yet he’ll be red at the end of the day. has to buy a new sunscreen bottle every 3-5 days.

-knows how to ride a horse, as they had to travel on them in the 16-18 hundreds. might (will) steal the southerners horses.

- Massachusetts and New York in the dynamic of : “You know I’m not your father, right?” “I know. But do you?” (my age hcs don’t make any sense)

-had his license revoked because of road rage and ramming it into someone on purpose. Usually either forces someone to drive him or just teleports. (option 3: steal a golf cart, they aren’t real cars, or so he says.)

-will get into a very competitive match of baseball against Mass, usually (always) leading to a huge brawl between them.

MA: “I taught you how to catch! You can only play because of me!”

NY: “Sure, but somehow I still play better than you, old man!”

-builds legos. mostly from the botanical collection though (will build some with CA if they are matching)

-pushing NY/LA/FL/TX/CA (pls I need to see more fics of this I beg of you *nf*)

-War HC’s for the OG13

New York: Army

New Jersey: Coast Guard

Massachusetts - Army- General/ Main Commander

Virginia: Army- General

North Carolina: Air Force

South Carolina: Marines

Rhode Island: Navy

Connecticut: Navy

Georgia : Air Force

Delaware - Coast Guard

Maryland: Marines

New Hampshire: Air Force

Pennsylvania: Army - General

(please forgive me for my lack of knowledge on the military 😭 I js see them doing these things, no actual reason behind it but that really)

-I hc NY to have 6 sometimes 7 children: Albany, Long Island, NYC, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls. Niagara is split custody, but NY has her most of the time. (these aren’t in age order btw) also forgive me for my lack of knowledge on NY cities, I js took the main ones. (+ LI)

NY - Vermont

js like:

MA - Maine

they js don’t like each other like ME and MA do

#wttt #welcome to the statehouse #wttsh #wttt new york #wttsh new york #wttsh headcanons #wttt headcanons #wttt og 13 #wttt massachusetts #wttsh massachusetts

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goddess47 · 2 months

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Eclipse from Buffalo, NY. We generally have clear skies 30% of the time on this date, so not expecting much. But thought I'd capture some pictures before, during, and after. This is 12:15 pm Eastern Daylight Time...

The grid is the screen I'm taking pictures through..

#real life #eclipse

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ghostxraven · 10 months

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YOU. FALL OUT BOY SHOW. I NEED DETAILS RN

HI OKAY SO IT WAS INCREDIBLE I CANT BELIEVE I GOT TO SEE SOME OF THE THINGS I SAW TONIGHT.

1. the opening acts were GREAT like i need to listen to Royal and the Serpent and more Bring Me the Horizon the openers were REALLY REALLY GOOD

2. they played DISLOYAL ORDER OF WATER BUFFALOES AND I LITERALLY CLAPPED MY HANDS OVER MY MOUTH. STARTED CRYING. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT WE DID IT THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO WAS MANIFESTING DISLOYAL ORDER FOR ME ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (AND!!! AND ATAVAN HALEN. I WON TONIGHT. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO MANIFESTED THESE FOR ME I LOVE YOUUUUUU)

3. TRAVIE. MCCOY. the medley was BEAUTIFUL and had what a catch and just one yesterday but then PATRICK STARTED PLAYING STEREO HEARTS AND EVERYONE GOT REALLY EXCITED AND CHEERED BUT THEN. TRAVIE CAME OUT ONSTAGE AND DID THE FIRST RAP VERSE OF STEREO HEARTS. WHICH THEN TRANSITIONED INTO CUPID’S CHOKEHOLD!!! AND THE REST OF FOB CAME OUT ON STAGE AND PLAYED ALONG WITH CUPID’S CHOKEHOLD AND I KNOW THIS SOUNDS MADE UP. I KNOW IT LITERALLY SOUNDS LIKE THAT “AND THEN DAN AND PHIL CAME OUT HOLDING THE GAY FLAG” POST BUT IT WAS REAL. I HARDLY BELIEVE IT MYSELF.

*AND THEN HE ANNOUNCED GCH WILL BE RETURNING IN THE FALL.*

and YOU KNOW WHAT. they were PLAYING cupid’s chokehold over the sound system between bring me the horizon’s set and fall out boy coming on and i ACTUALLY THOUGHT TO MYSELF “haha what if this is their way of teasing the fact that travie is going to perform with them tonight” as a JOKE. and then i was RIGHT.

4. patrick made the dog puppet sing along to this ain’t a scene which was CUTE AND FUNNY and pete stuck his head inside the puppet again

5. magic 8 ball was a DOUBLE tonight AGAIN and it was the live debut of i am my own muse and then 27 AGAIN. BRUTAL. when pete said “should we play something really really new that we’ve never played for anyone before?” everyone started screaming

6. THEY PLAYED??? THE FIRST VERSE AND CHORUS OF ENTER SANDMAN BY METALLICA??? INSANE. PETE WAS UP IN THE OWL SETPIECE FOR THAT WHOLE MINI-SONG. IT RULED. I WAS SCREAMING A LOT.

7. SPEAKING OF WHICH. pete did this little “magic trick” where he disappeared behind a curtain he held up on stage and then reappeared at the BACK of the stadium towards the seats where we all were! it was fun and also pretty cool!! he stayed there for a whole song too :)

8. pete had like three wardrobe changes and by that i mean he had 3-4 tops which were a giant snuggie-style oversized hoodie, which he took off at some point to reveal a t-shirt underneath? and then when he was up at the back of the stadium he was in a normal-sized hoodie and THEN at the end of the show he was wearing the iconic mesh-and-roses top. fashionista

9. the PYROTECHNICS. i’ve never been to a show with pyrotechnics but the way they were integrated at this show were SO COOL. FLAME JETS AND FIREWORKS. and of course pete’s flamethrower bass. i yelled a lot during this show and a lot of the yelling was about the flamethrower bass

10. the location was really interesting!! the weather was FANTASTIC and besides that it was a really cool little (“little”) tennis stadium that was in the suburbs of queens NY like LITERALLY tucked in between a bunch of rows of houses :> there were people playing tennis at the tennis club right next door that we could see from our seats! it just REALLY fit the vibe fob seem to have been going for the whole tour + pete talked about how his mom was from queens and his grandmother had graduated from the high school in the neighborhood (forest hills) the stadium was in 🤗 ALSO there was this on one of the pillars which i think illustrates how very fitting to the whole vibe of the album/tour/fall out boy in general the place was:

11. even the parts of the set that were more “standard” like the pink seashell opening the concert and love from the other side and the big classics like sugar we’re going down and thnks fr th mmrs and saturday (SATURDAY. TO END THE SHOW) were just. so incredible. i’ve never been able to see fall out boy live before so it was just such an incredible privilege especially since @movingdayy was so kind as to invite me and erie and gifted me a ticket so that i would be able to see the tour even though i thought all year that i wouldn’t be able to :’) the sets were super incredible and the band interacted with all the setpieces a lot too which made it really unique

12. i handed out a LOT of bracelets and i STILL have a crazy amount. mutuals if you want a fababoi bracelet and are willing to give me your address i will mail you one ❤️

so YEAH that’s my quick overview of the concert it was just insane, incredible, life-changing, etc etc etc etc 🧡 i probably forgot some stuff that i will inevitably kick myself for but those were like. THEE standout moments. i sang along to every song they played and my throat hurts and it’s 2 am and erie and i just swapped drivers for the rest of the way home so i MAY be missing some important things due to being overtired 👍

EDIT: FUCK I CANT BELIEVE I FORGOT. ROB FROM MIDTOWN WAS APPARENTLY IN THE FLOOR SEATS AND PETE SPOTTED HIM WHEN HE WAS COMING BACK TO THE STAGE FROM THE BACK OF THE STADIUM AND WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW HE WISHED ROB COULD COME UP ON STAGE AND THEY COULD PLAY SOME MIDTOWN SONGS. and THEN patrick joked about how he “doesn’t even remember the words to their own songs” (<- paraphrasing) and pete went “not this time…maybe another :)”. jersey shows coming up I Am So Scared

#pi's personal #fall out boy #my show #marz tag 🔮#ty for the interest it was INCREDIBLE i had such an amazing time

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ghoulangerlee · 5 months

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3, 4 and 22 if youd like to :3 i hope work goes by swiftly <3

Thank you!!! We are at the halfway point I feel. So close to the end of the day!

3. Favorite food?

Oh god I love food in general, I don't know if I actually have a favorite 😭 I could eat so many things and never get tired of them. Chicken and broccoli with fried rice is really far up there as a favorite though!

4. Favorite drink?

lmao sweet tea all day long. I am but a simple southerner at heart so I love a good sweet tea. Cold and refreshing, I'm apparently a sweet tea snob bc I have my favorite places to get it from lmao.

22. Best memory you can think of?

This one is kind of a long one, but, not really a secret, I left the state I grew up in to get away from my very abusive aunt. There were already plans in place for me to leave within the next week or so, but, I ended up leaving October 3rd, so early. Because my aunt had sent a friend to the house my sister, bro in law and I lived in (it was her house, the reason we were living there is a longer story I don't need to get into haha) but, that friend came to the house, berated me and yelled at me for not waking up at 6:30am. (Reference, I did rescue transport for my aunt on top of working at Sears. I got home that morning at like 3am or so from driving all the way to Buffalo, NY (I lived in South Carolina) and had to be to work at either 7:30 or 8am). The reason I needed to be up at 6:30am was because I needed to clean the house, take care of the puppies that we were fostering for my aunt's dog rescue and make sure the housemate we were in charge of caring for had been fed. I was tired and not thinking straight, said fuck it, told that friend I was leaving and packed my shit in a duffle bag. Cried a lot and called my manager at Sears and told him I'd be late (he came and picked me up and took me to work). I remember talking to both Kel and Kel's parents that day, got greenlit to make the move early, ordered my bus ticket to Georgia and worked my whole shift before leaving the state in an Uber to make it to the bus stop so I could begin my journey. It was a fucking long and miserable ride 😂 I couldn't talk to my sister because we were scared my aunt would find out where I was going and try to start shit. Anytime my sister messaged me to check in she cleared her message history and told my aunt that she was pissed at me for leaving her behind (she wasn't).

The whole trip I was so fucking scared. I'd never done anything like this—leaving the place I grew up, leaving my sister and brother in law behind to deal with the fallout. I'd never stood up to my aunt like this before. But the absolute relief I felt sitting at a bus stop in Marietta waiting for Kel and his dad to come pick me up like, sits so clearly in my mind to this day. It's been 5 years now since I made the decision and I've literally never looked back since.

It's not a happy memory to begin with, I was so tired and miserable. Crying in front of my bosses, the store manager, the fucking district leader at my Sears as I had to air my dirty laundry to make sure if and when my aunt came to look for me, they knew not to tell her where I was. The fear and anxiety of the bus ride. All of it. But it ended on such a positive note that I'm here all these years later to sit and think back on how I finally got out!

#ask replies

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vyorei · 6 months

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[tried to IM you but tumblr won't let me, oTL]

hey quinn - crengarrion/atomograd here, not sure how to make it message you from my main blog admittedly oTL i just want to let you know that literally minutes local to me, today, a car crashed and. basically literally incinerated itself upon impact at the US-canada border crossing, the rainbow bridge. the whole incident is highly suspect and, already, news outlets reported it as a terrorist attack then revoked that statement, alleged eye witnesses' accounts may be suspect ot unreliable, and initial reports of both vehicle occupants having perished on impact may not be accurate. the FBI jumped on this perhaps weirdly fast even for new york state, but i haven't seen reports of canadian authorities investigating. the airports are not closed but all local US-canada border crossings are, and security is increased everywhere. generally it is believed this was a regular car accident and/or accident tragically caused by EV/autopilot fuckery, but wholly innocuous. many local (buffalo, NY and some in ontario, CA) people are under the assumption this was staged by the FBI and/or the FBI will claim this was an act of terrorism "by hamas" when it wasn't. there are no concrete details

the general vibe right now is huge fear of an even bigger spike of islamophobia. i just wanted to give you a heads-up, in case you see reports of this incident or violence/claims of terrorism stemming from it. dark world we live in. i sincerely hope you're well and that your health isn't too bad - my partner and i are both severely chronically ill and you're in our thoughts often

Jesus that's a lot, are you OK? Thank you for taking the time to inform us, that's absolutely wild, I don't even know what to think of it aside from ⁉️⁉️⁉️

#free gaza #free palestine #gaza strip #irish solidarity with palestine #palestine #gaza #news on gaza #al jazeera #boycott israel #israel #Questions #USA #Canada

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beardedmrbean · 3 months

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The way prosecutors tell it, Joseph Bongiovanni went to work for years with a “little dark secret.”

Behind the veneer of a veteran U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, they alleged, was a turncoat on the take from the Buffalo Mafia, offering an “umbrella of protection” that derailed investigations of his childhood friends, covered for a sex-trafficking strip club and even helped a connected high school English teacher keep his marijuana-growing side hustle.

In a federal trial that began this month, prosecutors portrayed Bongiovanni as a greedy racist who pocketed more than $250,000 in cash-stuffed envelopes over a decade and threw his colleagues off by opening bogus case files and encouraging them to spend less time investigating Italians and more time on Blacks and Hispanics, “n----- and s----” he was alleged to have called them. When authorities finally unmasked him in 2019, he hastily retired and wiped his cellphone clean.

“Sometimes the DEA doesn’t get it right,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi told jurors. “He was able to manipulate everyone because, in law enforcement, there’s a certain amount of trust that’s inherent. He did it under the watch of supervisors who under-supervised him.”

The 59-year-old Bongiovanni has denied the counts of bribery, conspiracy and obstruction of justice that could land him behind bars for life, charges his attorney says are built on lies “so fanciful they don’t just strain credibility, they rip it apart.”

The trial is the latest gut punch to the 4,100-agent DEA, which has seen at least 16 agents brought up on federal charges since 2015, a parade of misconduct that has revealed gaping holes in the agency’s supervision.

The crimes have included child pornography, drug trafficking, leaking intelligence to defense attorneys and selling firearms to cartel associates, an Associated Press analysis found. One carried a “Liberty or Death” flag and flashed his badge outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. Another infiltrated the DEA in Chicago and helped traffickers smuggle thousands of kilos of cocaine from Puerto Rico to New York.

At least three veteran agents are serving prison sentences of a decade or longer, including one who laundered money for cartels in Colombia and spent lavishly on expensive sports cars and Tiffany jewels, and an Arkansas-based agent recorded taking a bribe inside a Las Vegas casino.

The cases, coming amid an epidemic of more than 100,000 fatal drug overdoses a year, often present yearslong headaches for the U.S. Justice Department to determine whether any investigations were tainted when rogue agents betrayed the badge.

“We should not expect to see this much crime in one law enforcement agency,” said Rachel Moran, an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. “The common thread I see here is a lack of oversight and accountability.”

The DEA declined to comment. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram is herself the subject of an ongoing Inspector General inquiry examining whether the agency improperly hired some of her past associates.

Like other DEA scandals, the Bongiovanni case underscores recurring questions about the agency’s hiring standards and ability to root out corruption. Background checks didn’t turn up Bongiovanni’s prior drug use and ties to Italian organized crime in his native Buffalo, prosecutors said, and not a single member of law enforcement was on to him until a trafficker paying for Bongiovanni’s protection was arrested by another agency. “He’s got that little dark secret,” Tripi said.

The trial, expected to last two months, is part of a broader sex-trafficking prosecution that has taken sensational turns, including an implicated judge who killed himself after the FBI raided his home, law enforcement dragging a pond in search of an overdose victim and dead rats planted outside the home of a government witness who prosecutors allege was later killed by a fatal dose of fentanyl.

Bongiovanni was raised in a tight-knit Italian American community in North Buffalo and known as a “door kicker” in the DEA, defense attorney Parker MacKay said, “not the type to sit in front of a computer.”

In his high school yearbook, Bongiovanni said he wanted to be a billionaire. But prosecutors said he went through financial struggles during his two-decade career that made him vulnerable to taking bribes.

His protection ranged from providing an “all clear” assuring trafficker friends they were not on law enforcement’s radar to leaking intelligence and opening fictitious cases that made it appear he was investigating them or relying on them as informants, prosecutors said, a sort of catch-and-kill tactic that prevented other law enforcement agencies from pursuing their own cases. This also positioned Bongiovanni to receive notice any time another agency became interested in one of the targets, a process known as deconfliction.

Bongiovanni also is accused of vouching for criminals, filing bogus reports and swiping a sensitive DEA case file on organized crime that he stored in his basement after his abrupt retirement.

Among the rackets Bongiovanni is accused of protecting is Pharoah’s Gentlemen’s Club, a strip club outside Buffalo described by prosecutors as a haven for drug use and sex trafficking. Bongiovanni was childhood friends with the owner, Peter Gerace Jr., who authorities allege has close ties to both the Buffalo Mafia and the notoriously violent Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

Prosecutors said Gerace had the agent on speed dial for advice when he needed to cover up the overdose of a stripper. The evidence includes a voicemail in which Gerace asks Bongiovanni about tracing a drug dealer’s cellphone. “Is there a way to ping it like police do?” he said, according to court records. “I just want to know if you could do that or not.”

Gerace attorney Mark Foti said his client “denies all charges and looks forward to confronting the government’s evidence at his trial.”

The long list of witnesses in the case includes dozens of federal law enforcement officers and a public school teacher of 30 years who admitted running a marijuana-growing operation while receiving confidential information from Bongiovanni.

Prosecutor Tripi said Bongiovanni had two sets of rules, one for cronies lining his pockets and another for everyone else.

“He did just enough legitimate work to avoid detection,” he said. “He almost got away with it.”

#nunyas news

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kcaccamise · 4 months

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Hey everyone! My name is Kyle Caccamise and I am a graduating senior here at St. Bonaventure. Im originally from Hopewell Junction, NY, but have spent most of my summers up in Buffalo visiting my grandfather. Some interesting things about myself are that I love listening to music, all genres, with my favorite either being 90's or 70's rock. I don't have much knowledge on physical art pieces, but tend to think I have a really solid grasp of the art form that is music. I also play baseball at the school, which led me to taking this class as one of my teammates had great things to say about the course. I look forward to spending the semester learning about each other through artistic means, and learning more about art in general.

#Spotify

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jennyeliseprince · 4 months

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Name: Jenny Prince From: Buffalo, NY Bio: Hi, my name is Jenny. I'm an artist and an art history professor from Buffalo, NY. I feel privileged to teach and create with you this semester. I highly value your generation and find you all incredibly inspiring.

My teaching style is based on my art history and studio art background. To truly understand and appreciate art history, one must also create art.

As an educator, I have dedicated time to researching the relationship between art history and shifts in social consciousness, particularly regarding consumerism, pop culture, and technological advancements.

As a studio artist, my experiences significantly impact the assignments I create for you. Ultimately, I want you to feel safe and welcome to celebrate and explore your individuality. Your voice matters, and I look forward to supporting your creative journey this semester.

On a personal note, I would like to share a little bit about myself. I am hoping for a Bills Super Bowl victory soon! In my free time, I love going to Pilates classes and spending quality time with my loved ones, especially if it involves great conversation over pasta and a glass of wine. I love reality TV. If a Golden Bachelor is searching for love or a Salt Lake City housewife is arguing on a yacht, I am interested.

Website: Jenny Prince (jennifereliseprince.com)

#Spotify

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stawpny · 3 months

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I’m feeling rather generous today /j

so I’ll give you some hc’s plus a 3,000 word fanfic that I wrote in a span of 4 hours

I get bored sometimes

especially when the wttt New York tag is dry on Ao3 and here (guys pls 🤧/ hj)

—

-York and California love to hold hands and do cheesy shit like watching the stars from a rooftop or watching the waves crash on a beach

-let’s say, hypothetically (🤓) CA and NY would get married and them and their children would move in together, I feel that LA and NYC would hate eachothers guts, Sacramento and Albany would be like best friends, and SF and Buffalo would be friends too.

-CA: paper star maker

-NY: paper star receiver

-NY raised Vermont and was like the Massachusetts to his Maine, if you know what I mean. He kept every little think Vermont had made for him when he was a child.

- NY: “Just because Beyoncé made a country song DOESNT MEAN I LIKE COUNTRY MUSIC!” -(quoted from me)

- (HC from @sleepdeprivedsimp234) NY and TX play fight with each other. Like York would playfully punch him in the shoulder and it would just escalate until they just laugh it off.

Ex:

New York: Watch it, big guy, you don’t want to feel my wrath

Texas: Alright tiny, bring it on

—

Anyways, if u want to read this, please do, I spent so long on it 😭 (not forcing!)

A sick, drunk, and emotional New York.

And, it’s the Fourth of July.

How could anything possibly go wrong? 🙀

#wttt #wttt new york #wttsh #welcome to the statehouse #wttsh new york #wttsh headcanons #wttt headcanons #wttt shipping #wttt california #wttt caliyork #:3

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terarosi · 5 months

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I have to do something.

For years now, it's felt like my brain's been trapped inside of a box.

I distinctly remember being an intelligent kid. I wrote out my ideas, and I was constantly creating. Something about the internet fried that part of my personality. In some ways, I believe it made me too self-aware. Anxiety that may have existed in normal doses suddenly spiraled so violently out of control that it transfixed my brain to the screens to watch other people live out their lives instead of continuing my own.

Something about these recent years has me tired of staring at the wall. As I continue my journey in education, I find that curious part of my brain being beckoned out again. I'm curious about myself and about the world.

Here's a brief explanation about how I've been feeling lately:

I used to feel trapped inside of Buffalo, NY. For 8 years I resented having moved during my Sophomore year of high school. Now, only a couple months after having left I realize what a perfect pocket of life it held. I did not know how good I had it in NY.

People are building a community like I've never seen before. There is a place to be a young person in Buffalo. There are friends who care and want the best for their peers. The beautiful social justice movements that emerge out of Buffalo's academic circles create bigger communities for the general public to join. I'm far away now, but I see it every time I open Instagram and watch protests and community events being organized.

Since moving to Vegas, I've been reminded of what life has become for so many people living in this country. Vegas is dirty. Dirty in a way that has turned my soul a darker shade since I arrived. It's built this overwhelming sense of hopelessness in the way this community is impoverished. Poverty exists financially, it also exists in the community here too. There is a sense of mistrust among its people. I feel trapped in the confusing nightlife and rapid consumerism that exists in this city.

There is also poverty in how disconnected this city is from nature. I know Vegas has caused me to miss the forests I explored in NY. However, I also remember how excited I was to explore the desert. Even with how dirty this city is, It's surrounded by the most beautiful mountains. It remains a reminder to me that nature still exists out there.

I'm not sure how I want to go about learning to create again, but this page felt like one of the right places to start. It's been a long time since I've tried recording my thoughts and sharing them with other people, but I'm determined to find a sense of community and purpose again. I know that the only way to do that is to open up.

I hope you stick around to watch my page develop. Thank you for taking the time to exist in this space with me :)

#personal writing #environmentalist

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nedsseveredhead · 2 years

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Hello! My name is Ned, I’m an nb artist from Buffalo, NY! I am opening heavily discounted headshot commissions to help supplement my income so I can pay off some bills. If you’d like a cheap portrait of your DnD character, your Warrior of Light, or even your poor little meow meow from your favorite TV show, I would be happy to provide! My regular commission TOS still apply.

I also have cheaper YCH style commissions available on my KoFi page, where you can also donate if you’re feeling particularly generous! Reblogs would also help immensely as tumblr seems to remove anything with links from the search function :’D

If you’re interested in anything, shoot me a DM and I will respond as fast as possible- thank you so much for your help!

#cryp txt #commission info #commissions #ffxiv #dnd #im trying not to ebeg but i am in a Bit Of A Situation right now so asdf #living is expensive and my paycheck was not as much as i was expecting :'))#i really have to start getting regular commissions again so i can get another source of income cause woof #SO! ill be cutting all my prices down eventually #but im starting just with headshots cause they're quick!

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wookofwallst · 8 months

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Starfield: The game that didn't learn gaming's past failures.

It was 2016 when I first sat on the couch in my first apartment with my then girlfriend to sit down and enjoy a Bethesda title Fallout 4. Now, I had played Skyrim on its original release on Playstation 3. Unfortunately, I was more of an outside kid skateboarding, playing other sports, and generally getting into a whole bunch of shenanigans around town. So Skyrim wasn't really on my list of top things to go out and do.

Playing Fallout 4 seemed so fresh and exciting. Seamlessly going from one outpost to another killing and stealing my way through, I was addicted. Every day, I'd come home and want to play it even though there wasn't really much else to do in the harsh winters of Buffalo, NY. I didn't want to leave the one bedroom cubby I lived in in order to play more and more. I did almost every side quest, every main mission, and talked to each individual I could. Beat it with several play through until later that year when a new game came out.

No Mans Sky was released with more anticipation than any other game in history at the time. I had people who didn't play any video games come over to just watch me play it because they heard how epic it was supposed to be. I went to my local Walmart at 11:55pm and got the physical copy and was playing it by 12:30am as it was installing I started to pace around thr room I couldn't stay still I started cleaning up the house just so time didn't feel so slow.

Finally, it launched. The main loading screen buzzed by me with stars that had yet to be discovered and named the music hummed in, and I could feel the goosebumps on my arm start to burst. I loaded in the game, and I loved my first few hours, fixing the ship and getting basic resources together so I could fly from planet to planet without a single loading screen. Even going from Star System to Star System didn't even feel like it was loading because they made it look like you were just jumping lightspeed to another system.

However, the more I played, the more it became apparent that this game had nothing of pure substance. The lies, the false promises that the developers Hello Games made before its launch were staring me in the face. There were no factions, there was no base building, there was no grand space war the "mysteries" were nothing but going to obelisks and deciphering words on a tablet that were pass fail that also ended up pointless and there was no actual progression.

There was nothing keeping me playing the game, no hook, no intrigue. It was an ocean as deep as a puddle. Once you had been to one of every type of planet, you had seen what the game was offering. Procedurally generated worlds are cool, and 16 quintillion plantes are cool. But since there wasn't a single thing that was hand crafted, since there wasn't a story or naritive pushing me through the game, there was really no reason to keep playing after 20 or so hours.

Now, this being the year of our Lord 2023 No Mans Sky is extremely improved upon the game is "fixed." I wouldn't say it lives up to its pre-released hype, but none the less it is much much improved.

Some time after that, Cyberpunk 2077 would be released with even more hype than NMS. They had BIG actors playing BIG roles in the game. It was supposed to be a perfect rendition of a dystpion future where you play as V a antihero that has Reanu Keves riding shotgun on your bloodthirsty rampage through night city.

Aaaaaaand then it released. Broken, unfinished, glitchy as all hell. I ran my way through the game with a level 1 revolver that did fifteen thousand damage. I three shot the final boss of the game only because he has nessicary animations he has to get through. The dialog and writing of the game were sub-par, and it was a total drag listening to it was exhausting. The combat was atrocious, although it's funny that if you do a certain mission, you can get a vibrating dildo to beat people with.

Once again, just another over hyped game that upon release was just a splash in the pan. It's a game I just wanted to get through and not play, though, if that makes sense. (Except I couldn't actually complete the game because of a glitch that locks out the final mission in Arasaka Tower.)

Bring us to the present day 2023. So fuckin many great games have been released. Baldurs Gate 3, Armored Core 6, Zelda TOTK, Diablo IV , Jedi Survivor and Remanant 2. All of these games are great at something and here comes Starfield.

Another insanely hyped up game now an Xbox exclusive. Promising endless exploration, a main story so original you won't know what hits you side quests and character interactions that were both fun and not chalk full of those pesky fetch quests. I was extremely skeptical. I knew that it wasn't going to be as good as they said, but I still wanted to give it a chance.

It was a day or so after Starfield came out for early access when I finally saw some game play. I'll be honest, i I was enamored with the gamer itch "I NEED TO PLAY THIS." So I stomached up the 100 or so dollars and got to downloading. It took 5ish hours for it to download because Microsoft servers are awful. I finally get in, and I'm floored with boredom.

The first few main quests aren't great. The hook is weak and not very interesting. Sure it's cool that magic sheet metal is giving me some kind of futuristic visions and that I'm not the "chosen one" just some guy in the right place at the right time to obtain these powers.

Then the guy you're digging this sheet metal out for comes by gives you a ship, and you're on your way. He just tells you to go see his buddies in the big city. Don't worry, they're not they aren't dangerous. The game opens up for you fully without any limitations. Except for how far you can travel on one tank of gas. No, you don't have to refill it. You just can only go so far to a star system and then go back to the map and click on where you want to go again. Redundant.

Oh, you wanted to go to that system? Loading screen. You wanted to go on to the planet? Loading screen. Wanted to get up from your cockpit and onto the planets surface? Loading screen. Do you want to just walk into a shop? Loading screen. Oops, you walked into the wrong shop? Loading screen. Loading screens Loading screens. I counted in one single 4 hour session. I hit 137 loading screens. That's 34 loading screens per hour. That's far from seamless and far from "free exploration." You can't even fly your ship on the planets. Only in space.

Speaking of exploration, it's bad. Exploration isn't endless as eventually you'll hit an invisible wall after you hit off the same exact buildings that you saw on the previous 12 planets filled with nondescript "Spacers" or nondescript Ecliptic mercenaries. Anything cool is found in side quests not exploring. Exploration isn't rewarded by finding some secret thing. It's rewarded with more procedurally generated garbage that does nothing for you.

Oh boy, the dialog is so terrible. It's bad. It's unbelievably bad that conversations also feel like a drag to get through. The dialog options are so unbelievable that it's hard to pick an option in some places.

The combat is good. The guns feel snappy, and the impact is hard. But the grenades are completely pointless. Level 22 enemies getting hit with an explosion tickles them, and they keep shooting.

The stat system is good it could use some more user support and a better explanation. Lockpicking is good and the best system so far that I've seen for that "mini game/skill".

The bugs in this game aren't terrible. They are manageable sometimes it's funny, but I haven't seen any game breaking bugs that lock you out of missions, although some people have reported that.

So you might be wondering. Why did I bring up Cyberpunk, Fallout 4, and No Mans Sky? Because I feel that Starfield falls somewhere in the middle of all these. It's Fallout 4 but bigger. Nothing really changed here. There hasn't really been an expansion on the made on the mechanics other than through gun recoil and skill progression. Mainly because they share the exact same game engine.

The freedom and ease of traversal in No Mans Sky is light-years beyond what Starfield has currently. The constant need to load every little thing is a big problem. Although SSD's make it load up in seconds, it's still a loading screen and that kills player immersion.

Where Starfield is better is that there is actually content. There's so much content people who love this game will be playing it for months if not years trying to do everything the game has to offer. I just don't think I'll be one of those people.

They took the worst of No Man's Skys boring, lifeless, procedurally generated planets and made them worse because of loading screens. And once again, there is no benefit for you exploring. You'll run into the same enemies with slight variations to the weapons they carry.

Cyberpunk 2077 being it's closest aligned game in terms of scope and futuristic drama. The dialog/writing and voice acting is much better than that of Starfield. Starfields main story has copied and pasted missions towards the middle and end. The relationship dialog you have with certain characters of Starfield is fucking atrocious. It's so bad you wouldn't see this on mid day soap operas.

Starfield was released in a better state than Cyberpunk. It's actually playable. Sure, bugs and glitches are something that plagues Bethesda titles. But this one in my own personal experiences wasn't so bad.

Overall, this game lands in the middle of the pack. It does somethings well, and other things not so much. It's an interesting game. It doesn't reinvent the Bethesda wheel. It's much too conservative and doesn't go outside its comfort zone. The side missions are stellar and unique, while the main story is a copy pasted mess that I just wanted to get through.

It's playable and less interesting than Cyberpunk. It has the same exact gameplay as Fallout 4 they improved on its foundation and slapped on a completely new coat of paint, and put an expansion on. But it's the same old house. Exploring is an unrewarded chore just as in No Mans Sky, but a multimillion dollar studio made it worse with loading screens and extreme limitations on where you can fly.

I put out my score of 7.2 for Starfield halfway through the game. But then I finished and was extremely disappointed. I wanted to score it better. But I just couldn't do it. It's just an okay game. If I were you and you wanted to buy the game, wait till it's on sale or get a game pass. It's worth it, honestly.

Now on to Lies of P!

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