#BMW 2000 Break

[nectar-cellar]

can i just say. as a car enthusiast. i hate this fuck ass car from the base game so much. the design just makes me angry.

it's supposed to be an expensive coupe so i am attempting to replace it with fresh prince's 2017 jaguar f-type. i know it's a real car and it's high poly and it breaks the maxis match immersion etc but listen. i just can't stand it!

you would not believe how much trouble this default replacement is giving me but at last i've got it semi-working.

i chose the jag f-type because it's a recent model, it's expensive but not ultra high end, and it's a sporty 2-door coupe like the base game car is. the other jaguars, aston martins, and porsches were either older or too different from the theme.

if i can get this default replacement working, i would also like to replace the base game expensive convertible and the expensive sedan with fp's 2016 porsche boxster gts and 2013 bmw m6.

or if that's too modern, i could narrow all the cars down to models from the 2000s to early 2010s. remember this era?

it would be fun to try to do the fast lane SP cars too but i'm getting ahead of myself.

anyways this is obviously an early wip but i just wanted to share a breakthrough. please let me know your thoughts or if this appeals to anyone else lol, i feel like it might be a pretty niche thing.

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

In celebration of me just picking up a Toyota Altezza Gita/Lexus IS300 Sportcross what are some of your favourite wagons or shooting brakes

yOOOOOO!!!!

Okay now I have to ask, is it actually an imported Toyota or did you add that just for potential clarification?

I should give context for folx out there (apparently folx is a 'more friendly' spelling to some? oh the wild wonders of language): y'all know how Lexus is a brand Toyota founded to move upmarket? Yeah, they didn't need to do that at home because Japan is much better protected from too-good-for-Toyotas-itis: I mean, if the emperor can drive (well, be driven in) Toyotas I am pretty sure you can afford to be seen in one. As a result, until 2005 Japan got Lexus models but not the Lexus brand, receiving them with Toyota branding instead (and different model names too, since the two letter acronyms were a Lexus thing).

To get to your question, though:

SEDANS I LIKE THE WAGON VERSION OF TOO

Toyota Altezza Gita/Lexus IS300 Sportcross (:D)

Indeed, I love your car! The JZ (for the folx: a six cylinder inline engine series widely regarded to be Toyota's best, capable of truly monstrous power with the right hands fiddling under the hood), the sporty, timeless styling, Toyota reliability and Lexus build quality, how no matter the market they refused to use a normal word for wagon, the chrome taillights so iconic they spawned an entire trend in 2000s car styling (especially aftermarket - hell, they still call them Altezza taillights!)... and that gauge cluster oh my GAWD

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII Wagon

I don't think the street equivalent of one of the most legendary rally cars (and certainly, with the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, part of the most legendary rally war) needs any introduction. I just wanted to make sure you knew that between '05 and '07 the closest thing to a rally car a dealer would sell you also came in wagon form. In Japan only, of course. Because if Japan can't keep a cool thing to themselves, they'll make a cooler version to keep to themselves. Always.

Morris Mini Traveller/Austin Mini Countryman/Mini Clubman Estate

How do Mini fans do it, man

Who doesn't love the Mini? Who doesn't love the wagon's funky rear doors?

And who doesn't hate the time they tried to modernize its front end for the 70s? Me.

Like come on guys. You need to find within yourselves the intellectual honesty to admit that this fucks.

I rest my case. Let's move on.

Citroën DS Break/Familiale/Safari/Estate/Station Wagon

How do Citroën fans do it, man

Yes, the steering wheel had a single spoke - and by the way, that's it straight. It was angled like that so that, in a crash, it would guide your your body to the right - because there weren't seatbelts yet in 1955. Yeah. This is a 1955 design. The French are always been and likely always will be hellbent on being weird - and the Citroën DS is a distillation of the good that can come from that. It had pillarless windows! variable height suspension so effective you could only tell you had a flat by sound - and could change that flat by just having the suspension lift it for you! It had rear fenders held on by one bolt! Hell, in 1967, it got directional lights that turned with the wheels!!!!

IN 1967!!!! Few cars have them right now today!!!

Oh, and also, most interesting to us right now, it has the greatest vibe gap between sedan and wagon I have ever seen. Allow me to illustrate (and slightly exacerbate by cherry picking examples).

You get out of this with suit and tie and a watch you change the time of with felt tweezers.

You get out of this with a lab coat, plane goggles, a propeller tophat and a concoction that violates a semester's worth of laws of physics. And, potentially, seven of the biggest freaks the planet could muster, because yes, this could seat up to eight, thanks to a front bench, a middle bench, and trunk seats. "You mean a third row?" HAHA. NO.

Honorable mentions:

Mazda 6, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Corolla KE70, Audi RS4, BMW E30, Fiat 500 Giardinetta, most '60s yankee landyachts that got a wagon, and all the ones that escape me at this moment

WAGONS I LIKE MORE THAN THE SEDAN VERSION

Audi RS6 (second generation)

Here's what happened (presumably): Audi had bought Lamborghini. Great! Now Lamborghinis could use Audi interior bits, a very welcome change because Lamborghini were not exactly the interior controls GOATs. (To stick to a representative example and not be here all day, when set to Fahrenheit the Diablo's digital climate controls changed the temperature by two degree increments except between 63F and 64F and 72F and 73F. And at the extremes it said LOF and HIF because the F did not go away. So yeah.) But this also gave Audi access to Lamborghini parts - and, a couple years in, one of the engineers told the others "Jo [German for "Yo"], there's gotta be something cool we can do with Lamborghini parts!" And the other was like "Maybe we can make the new RS6 [Audian for Real Sporty version of the A6 executive sedan] with a Lambo V10! That'd be a fast fucking sedan." And the first one replied "And a fast fucking wagon too!" And their eyes locked, lighting up with villainous thrill.

I mean, I could wax lyrical about the all wheel drive and super expensy carbon ceramic brakes and the flared fenders et al but if this garbage 5 second clip does not convince you that this busts ass how could I.

Toyota Corolla E110

Well that's quite the jump. How could I possibly be interested in a car like this? If cars were meals this would be a plate of warm water. There is only one way to possibly get excited about a car this boring: personal significance. And sure enough, my Yaris-pursuing father was instead upsold a Corolla exactly like this, discounted to empty the lot in preparation for its facelift - and one day he used it to drive my momma to a hospital, they got out of it in two, and some tribulations later they got back in it in three - third being a hot-off-the-press me. This, then, was the car that was in the driveway through my stumbling infancy - and never hinted at letting us down. We then traded it for an Opel that gave us loads of trouble, the recipient traded it for an Audi that gave him loads of trouble, and on the Corolla kept getting passed on right to wherever it rests today, never letting anyone down - loyalty likely rewarded by a crusher turning it to mush. And I want another shot at doing this car right.

Okay, actually, there's another way to get excited about such a car: find out about the inevitable sick-ass Japan-only version. In this case Toyota figured they'd fit the Sprinter Carib (because Corolla wasn't near a silly enough name for the Japanese market) with a 20V 4A-GE Blacktop and a 6 speed manual, or in less technical terms "one of the greatest non-turbo powertrains of its size to ever graze a production car". Presumably just for the sake of keeping it Japan-only for the sake of annoying me personally.

Well, joke's on them, because my idea goes even harder: replicating the powertrain the hatchback version competed in World Rally Championship with - 4WD and all.

This but wagon, essentially. And then bin it in a tree in 15 seconds like I always do on the rally sim.

Honorable mentions:

1970 Dodge Coronet SW, Nissan Stagea, Volvo 940/960 wagon (which I talked about in another post!), and again all the others that I forgot.

The shooting brakes are gonna need their separate post because otherwise it hits the image limit :/

Links in blue are posts of mine explaining the words in question - if you liked this post, you might like those!

[slytherinqueenrose]

Total bastard |Percy Hynes White|

Pairings: Percy Hynes White x Polish!F!Reader

Warnings: bit of cursing, stereotypes about cars, mentions of Harry Potter, let me know if I missed something. It’s shitty by the way.

Additionally: Y/N - Your name, Y/L/N - your last name, Y/F/N - your friend’s name, Y/C/B - Your car brand/car of your choosing

A/N: Hello! That’s my third writing here on Tumblr and I must apologise for the grammar! I’m Polish so English is not my first language and don’t feel too comfortable using it. I’d be very grateful for any feedback about it because I truly don’t know if it’s even comfortable for you to read 😩

———————————————————

You may be wondering how does working on Wednesday set look like and the only word that comes to my mind and describes it perfectly is MAGICAL.

That was my first - let me call it - serious job. I took part in few other productions as an intern mostly and I played a background character only once before getting the role of Wednesday’s cousin. Coming back to the topic - even though I have some experience in films and I know exactly how everything looks behind the scenes, the set of Wednesday was something totally different and new.

Maybe it’s because most of the cast was young and not too popular (not counting Jenna and some other actors of course). That was the first place where I felt like I belong there.

But I also met somebody who desperately tried to break my heart or so I understood it.

Let’s start with a quick introduction. My name is Y/N, I was born in 2000, in Poland which makes me different from my movie character all the way. I was kind of stressed about joining the cast mostly fearing that I won’t be accepted. I mean, they all have became really good friends and what if I they treat me as an intruder ?

The trip to Romania was excellent even though some turbulences happened during my flight. Firstly I was wondering about driving a car (which would take about 12 hours but I thought of taking some stops in Slovakia and Hungary). I love travelling to new places but I decided that buying flight tickets and rent a car while in Romania definitely will be a better option. I needed some way of transport and I truly hated the public communication.

I did as I said, I rented a car and was heading straight to the hotel. The atmosphere of Romanian forests was just wonderful. So mysterious yet so beautiful. I couldn’t get enough of looking at the surroundings and I took few stops on the way to take pictures of as many views as I could.

After an hour or maybe a little bit longer I finally arrived at the hotel. It was just a simple building, not too pretty nor ugly. Cozy actually. It’s totally fine though. I don’t feel too comfortable in luxury places.

“Shitty drivers.” I muttered while trying to park my car on a parking lot. I have to mention that I’m a pain in the arse if it comes to driving. I always stick to the rules and rarely try to break any which often makes other people go insane. I remember my very first time in the US. I rented a car with my friend and she was laughing her arse off almost every time I drove. The only text a remembered after coming back home was “we’re driving with a very sick Jaguar. Almost dead”. And to make it even funnier, I have been overtaken by a bicycle.

Minute of silence, please.

But coming back to my thoughts.

After seeing this one black BMW parked totally wrong, I got a clever idea. What to do to piss off its driver? I parked my car correctly so there was no option for whoever owned that black car, to get inside. Sorry not sorry. I left the car and took my luggage and just when I was heading to the building, someone called after me.

“What do you think you doing? I can’t get into my car, you daughter of the devil!”

I quickly turned around to see a young man opening the black vehicle with his automatic pilot.

“Fly then.” I said with a grin.

“May you move your shitty Y/C/B so I can leave the parking lot?” He added visibility furious.

“Shitty Y/C/B you say. Well, does your BMW have working indicators or they are to cause a huge explosion if you use them?” I asked and raised my brows at him.

Before you’ll start hating me for this I must explain something. Polish people truly hate BMW drivers. It’s not like we don’t buy those cars - we actually do and they are very popular. However seeing a BMW using indicators is something worth celebrating. Does not happen too often, tho. If you happen to see a BMW with working blinkers, you can be sure it’s police driving it.

I didn’t even wait for his response, expecting it to be rude, and just turned around again and that’s when I noticed a certain boy that was portraying Ajax in the show. He was laughing his arse off while leaning against the hotel entrance.

“Well done, whoever you are. Jake is a total shit and makes everyone go crazy with his behaviour.” He said while extending his hand to me which I gladly accepted. “Georgie Farmer, Ajax Petropolus, call me whatever you want.”

“Nice to meet you, Georgie. I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I’m going to portray Wednesday’s cousin, Verity.” I replied with a smile.

“You have a funny accent. You’re not American for sure, aren’t you? I didn’t mean to offend you, of course.” He added.

“Don’t worry about that. English is not my first language so I’m not a mistress of speaking it. The truth is I usually fail doing so.“

„Stop saying so. You speak very well. I like the Brit or Australian sounding. But what’s your nationality then?”

“I come from Poland. Not too far away from here actually which I’m pretty glad about. At least my flight wasn’t tiring.”

“Woah, is that the country which is famous from pierogis?” He gasped visibly amazed and just when I nodded, he grabbed my hand and pulled me after him inside the hotel. I started giggling like crazy. I was totally over the moon because someone seemed to like me and that felt incredible.

“So I suppose you’re pretty stressed now before meeting the rest of the cast but there’s no need to worry. We are all very friendly and really excited to meet new cast members. Some of us are also pretty insane like Percy for example or Oliver but I’m sure that you’re gonna feel comfortable around them.” He said with a pure excitement, opening one of the doors for me. ”I believe that Emma dreams about giving newbies a hotel tour just like Enid would but what about me being your guide today? She’s rambling too much while showing people around.” He said. Well, isn’t it like he was rambling too?

“As long as you keep smiling and being all excited.” I replied winking at him.

And honestly that was the best beginning of a new friendship in my whole life. We spent around an hour running around the building while he was trying to show me everything. And I mean totally EVERYTHING. He even showed me a secret underground room where he, Percy and Oliver meet from time to time to gossip about what had happened during their day. Boys.

“And so this is the last room of ours. We call it a freak day room because we spend most of our free period here. A lot is happening here everyday so don’t be scared seeing whatever is going on there right now.” He said less enthusiastically.

“I’m prepared to see the worst.” I replied giving him a reassuring nod. I could already hear laughter coming from there and I felt sick from fear. I’ve never used to be too confident, not even mentioning popular. I was just a plain, grey, unknown and the least liked person in my school years. I’ve never had real friends. All of my “friendships” usually come to an end after few months.

“Guys, guys, guys, attention please.” Georgie spoke while entering the room. All the laughter stoped and everyone looked at him at once. “Percy, may you please stop this ungodly singing?” He added. “So I want to introduce a new person to all of you and-“

“You met someone new and didn’t tell us sooner?”

“I’m sorry, Emma but I needed to give her a quick tour and talk a little bit. Whatever. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Y/N, Polish miracle with a funny accent.” Georgie chuckled pulling me into the room. I almost fell noticing all those glances.

“Hiya, nice to meet you!”

Let’s say that the very first day with the whole cast was just amazing. Everyone had a lot of questions, some simple, some weirder. We had a lot to discuss and considering the fact that the boys opened a champagne and then another and another, it resulted in a killer headache on the next day.

But it doesn’t matter.

Percy does.

Since the very first time we laid our eyes on each other, there was a sort of a weird tension between us. I felt pretty shy for no reason and he seemed to judge me. Or so I understood because I usually think that people are gossiping about me which never happens actually.

The thing is that he was acting different in my presence. For example this one time when he was listening to music and singing in a tent, he stopped immediately after I joined him and few other cast members. His face expression made me feel sorry for interrupting their fun time however was it my fault that I was just being curious about what was going on in there? Oh, ok. I’m a bit nosy but IT WAS OUR TENT and I had a full right to go in there.

The second time I felt bad was the Halloween day. Emma and I were simply preparing our costumes in our “freak day room” when Percy came. He just leaned on the doorframe with his arms crossed on his chest and was looking at what the both of us were doing. Then, he chuckled and raised his eyebrows.

“What?” I asked confused.

“Well, don’t get me wrong but wouldn’t it be just enough if you would have gone to the festival right after waking up? You know, all sleepy and messy.” He said with his characteristic grin. What was that supposed to mean?

“I was thinking about that actually.” I replied a bit upset forcing a small smile. Yeah.. He basically thought I was ugly. I can’t say I wasn’t though. At the age of 23 I had a lot of insecurities which may seem to be odd for many people.

“What are you planning to wear, Percy?” Emma asked.

“A beautiful smile and my fave hat. Enough to make all ladies gasp.” He chuckled and then left.

“He’s unbearable.”

That definitely was true. The way he laughed at me made me go insane every time. When I couldn’t hold the arrow properly, there he was, laughing his arse off. Same after all my bloopers. We also had a pretty heated argument scene one day and he couldn’t hold his laughter. I didn’t know what was going on. Was I truly this bad at acting? Not even mentioning the way he used to mock my accent and made me feel sorry that it was more British than American. Well, it’s not my fault! Polish schools ONLY teach British vocabulary and accent. It’s more familiar to all of us and additionally I used to grow up only having British or Irish idols. Who doesn’t remember One Direction for example? I was a number one fan and honestly I wouldn’t make it with my English without them. Before I met Percy I thought that the way I spoke didn’t matter but it clearly did. I truly started to have enough.

I can’t not mention the fact of being a Potterhead which was for some reason too funny for him. He used to walk around pointing at me with his fingers and go with “expelliarmus” or “abra cadabra” which wasn’t even a Harry Potter spell (and he knew that but wanted to see me explaining it to him and getting embarrassed). At this point I was truly frustrated.

“I’m so glad I have a bit more free time today. I was thinking about visiting the nearby shopping centre. What about you, Joy?” I said while eating lunch. That was the first day after a month of shooting when I was needless on the set. The most of my scenes have been recorded already and now it was only Jenna and her serie family time.

“I was there loads of times and I never get bored of going there. I will for sure keep you a company. I need to buy some stuff especially after Georgie ate almost all of my candy!” She laughed with pure happiness on her beautiful face.

“What are we doing today ladies?” Percy asked, putting his hands on Joy’s shoulders.

“We plan on escaping and doing some illegal stuff. Wanna join?” She replied with a smirk knowing just well that he definitely would accompany us if it really meant something illegal. He was overly confident and usually into rebelling.

“Does it mean few hours of shopping in cosmetic stuff which I ain’t understand? Then thanks.”

“We’re definitely planning on robbing a jewellery shop.” I said winking at him.

“Would be such a reward to have some new shiny necklaces, wouldn’t it? I bet it could ease your embarrassment after yesterdays fails on set. I really think you’re shitty sometimes.” He chuckled and made my heart shatter.

“Yeah. You’re right. So what about leaving soon, Joy? I think I’ll go to take my phone and car keys now.” I added not looking at him.

“I need to take a shower before we leave. Give me at least an hour, is that fine?” She asked smiling friendly.

“Sure. Take your time.”

As I said I went to my room and just sat there, looking at the wall. I’m shitty. That’s what he thought. How cool is that?

But no. It wasn’t what made me sob. Just not yet. The real reason of my future tears was much worse.

About a week later, just few days before Christmas, we all decided to have a lovely, friendly free period after work without caring about the job, without rehearsing, basically it was supposed to be just a chill out. Eating, doing nothing, maybe dancing a little, you know just a normal evening with friends. I was heading straight to our day room when I heard something what broke my heart into millions of pieces.

“What about you and your screen lover, artist?” Georgie laughed. Gossiping about me then. Fine. I just stood there behind the door to hear more and that was a mistake I wouldn’t make twice if I could turn back time.

“Y/N is… well, let’s say that I really couldn’t get more fantastic partner.” Percy scoffed, purest sarcasm in his voice. “I thought they’re going to hire a hot Latino chick for this role but then she came and I’m… huh. Can’t get over this. It’s a simple misunderstanding. You see, someone like her and someone like me. Not to mention that she’s one or two years above, isn’t she? Like a mama.”

“Oh yeah, I can totally agree, mate.” Olivier replied chuckling.

With that I didn’t even bother to listen to them anymore. I headed back to my room where I decided to call my bestie via FaceTime to let all of my negative emotions out. I sobbed hard for another half an hour and she was just there, looking at me and simply not talking. She was wonderful. She had no idea what happened but was waiting until my cries died, giving me some time before finally listening to the story and starting comforting me.

„Naprawdę nie wiem, co takiego mu zrobiłam.” („I literally have no clue what I’ve done to him to deserve it.”) I said, wiping the tears out of my face.

„Moje biedactwo. A przedstawiają go jako aniołka. Posłuchaj, siostra. Może i traktuje cię w taki a nie inny sposób, ale czemu to ma dla ciebie takie znaczenie?”

(„Poor little thing. Can’t believe he’s portrayed as such an angelic person. Listen to me, sis. He may be treating you like this but why does it actually matter to you?”) Y/F/N replied but just after that we heard my door being opened. I didn’t turn myself in the sound’s direction because I could clearly see in my phone screen who entered my room.

Percy himself.

But what the fuck did he want? I decided to stay unbothered and show no emotions at all. At last I didn’t want him to know that I was eavesdropping. Happily he does not know my mother language so it wasn’t too difficult to continue my conversation without his suspiciousness.

“Wiesz… Podłapałam małego crusha na tym dzieciaku. Nie wiem czemu. Zazwyczaj zachowuje się jakby się naćpał, ale jest dość uroczy i…”

(„You know… I might have fallen for him a bit. I know it’s ridiculous but he’s usually acting high like shit but he’s cute at the same time…”) I replied and saw a clear disbelief in my bestie’s face expression.

“On ci rujnuje samopoczucie z dnia na dzień coraz mocniej, a ty się w nim zakochujesz. Powinnaś się przebadać.”

(„Can’t believe it. He’s making your self confidence fall more and more everyday and you’re just casually falling in love. You should go and see the doctor real quick.”) She added visibly angry.

As we continued discussing this and that, I felt a movement on my bed. Percy sat cross legged behind me with a faint smile on his face which made me truly uncomfortable.

“Jak on w ogóle może tak o, wparować do twojego pokoju i gościć się w nim jak u siebie? Zwłaszcza po tym co powiedział.”

(„It’s so bold that he’s able just come to your room like nothing happened and simply feel like he’s being at his own place. Especially after what he said.”) Y/F/N said looking him straight in the eye. “Wydaje mi się, czy zaraz rzuci na mnie klątwę? Może Avada Kedavra?” (“Is he trying to hex me right now? Or maybe he’s planning on using Avada Kedavra?”)

„Możemy zmienić temat?”

(“May we stop talking about him?”) I asked with a forced smile.

But then I felt a very delicate tapping on my shoulder so I finally turned around to face Percy.

“You didn’t join us. Something’s wrong?

Yes, Percy. Yes. You happened.

“Powiedz mu co o nim myślisz i daj znać jak poszło.”

(“Tell him what you think about him and let me know how it went.”) My bestie added before ending the call.

“I don’t feel too well today so I just decided to stay here and spend some time alone.”

“Come on, sweet things, I know you’re lying.”

What did you call me?

“No idea what you’re talking about. I have a right to feel bad”.

“Something is clearly bothering you”.

How come that he was able to read my mind?

“Well maybe you wouldn’t need to worry about such a shitty thing if I was a hot Latino chick.” I retorted not daring to look him in the eyes. It took him off guard immediately.

“Wait, what?” He asked confused and then his face dropped. “Y/N, have you heard what I said down there in our day room?”

“Obviously. Look, I’m sorry that I got the role and you have to look at my Polish shitty face. I wish I looked different but I can’t. Also sorry for being shitty on set. And additionally I’m sorry for talking the way I do and I’m extremely sorry for liking what I like. I-“ I was cut.

“It’s a misunderstanding, sweet things. Let me explain, please.” He pleaded taking my hand into his and I just nodded. “I didn’t mean anything bad by saying all that stuff earlier. It might have sounded bad or so but I am very happy to have an honour of working with you. What I said about your acting was just a way to tease you. I like when you get flustered. I’m not laughing at the way you sound. I find it extremely attractive. I have a weakness for girls speaking languages and changing accents. Harry Potter is absolutely fine and I like it too. I mean, I like it a lot and even have a Dark Wand somewhere at my house. And what I said today… Sweet things, it was all positive. You see, I truly couldn’t get any better person to portray my lover. You’re just perfect doing your job. I also didn’t mean anything - I swear - anything bad talking about you and I feel like I wouldn’t be enough for you. So that’s why I told that someone like me couldn’t be with someone like you. You’re just much more mesmerising and too good to ever be mine. I’m so sorry about making you feel bad all this time.” He added with a pure sadness in his eyes.

This time I was taken aback.

“Wait, does it mean that-“

“I like you and truly wish we could start all over again. If you want of course. I get it if you don’t feel like being with someone younger.”

“You know that the age doesn’t really matter?”

“So is that a yes?”

“It doesn’t hurt to try though. But don’t you dare calling me “mama”. Like ever again.”

“Of course not. Never.”

Yeah, he was absolutely going to call me that. Seeing his little grin made me realise he’s not the one to trust at all.

To: Bestie 😈

Percy and I got together.

That might piss her off.

From: Bestie 😈

HAVE YOU GONE NUTS!

_____________________________________

A/N: I really am going to shit myself not knowing your opinion 🥲.

[aiautos]

Ask us stuff! (Asks now open!)

That's right, we've opened up asks for this blog! Ask us stuff about our fictional amphibious racing leagues, car companies, cars, or even just the prompts we used to generate these beauties! Oh, I guess we should probably include lore for this car up above as well, huh?

After the success of the Iso Isetta, Iso decided to break into slightly larger (yet still micro-sized) cars with their all-new ISO 2000 and 2000Va. It was a rear-engine flat-4-powered microcar, with the option of a forward control microvan or a conventional 2+2 microcar. They were produced from 1957-1964, and were produced under license by BMW, VELAM, and Romi, like the original Isetta from 1953. These are re-creations of some of the original preliminary blueprints, drafted by designers Ermenegildo Preti and Pierluigi Raggi in 1956.

[alljamesbondgames]

007 Racing

Original Release: 2000

Developer: Eutechnyx

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Platform: PlayStation

The must surprising thing about 007 Racing is the complete lack of one thing: Racing. This is a vehicle combat game with missions you need to complete. With the game utilising multiple famous Bond cars, you might then expect to be a “greatest hits” of Bond car movements, but this is a new story (a very dull one, mostly in told via walls of texts in briefings) that doesn’t even attempt to justify why these cars are being used.

Developed by Eutechnyx, who are now best known for the infamous Ride to Hell: Retribution, this takes an interesting concept (a vehicle-based Bond game) and butchers it in every way possible.

Starting off with a mission where you have to cancel the Bond Girl from a courtyard and escape, I was able to adapt the controls – as this lets you use the right analogue stick for acceleration/breaking, I was able to map it to the analogue triggers.

You start the level off with a machine gun, all the other weapons and gadgets (mainly health and shields) are scattered across the map. Your main weapons for stronger targets (like tanks) are hellfire missiles, but these damage your car whenever you fire them, and aiming them is a pain (they alternate what side of your car they fire from, which changes their aiming). Special missiles are required to take down a helicopter – use it wrong and you need to restart.

Next, Bond is in New York and there’s a bomb on his car! You can’t to too slow or else it will blow up, you need to rush around following the Crazy Taxi arrow to collect…things to increase your time, then drive the car into a river. Incidentally, the simplicity of this mission makes it the most enjoyable in the game. The handling isn’t atrocious, but it doesn’t feel very natural or reliable.

This BMW also seems to handle exactly the same as the Austin Martin from the first, and as all weapons are pickups, none of the cars have any identity or special abilities, so the one thing this game might have going for it – the Bond cars – just strips away what makes them Bond cars.

The next level is one where you get ambushed and is in three parts. The first is simple: kill all enemies in a small arena. One thing to note is that foot soldiers never count as important targets, they just whittle down your health. You also can’t run them over, removing another potentially satisfying element from the game.

The second part of this level has forklifts driving at high speed and ramming into you. R (played by John Cleese) tells you to look for a weak point in their armour to exploit – this is a lie. This game has immensely unclear instructions, and you’ll fail many objectives simply because the game never makes it clear what you are supposed to do. The third part has you using an EMP to destroy “computers”. This is a weapon that shoots a little bit our of the right side of your car. I’ll be honest: this mission was so frustrating that I just started using cheats.

The next level has you shooting tires on a truck using lasers that fire out of the sides of the car.

The next three levels are set in the Mexican jungle. The first is fine, trying to keep ahead of a helicopter then hiding the car in a truck. The second has Bond taking on an enemy compound from within, using a device to blow up mines (which the enemy has oddly placed right next to all their artillery – the device to blow them up is just lying around), setting up a laser and escaping (although you have 10 seconds and no direction).

The third is almost a race – Xenia pops up out of nowhere. You need to race her while collecting objects, although the game doesn’t make this clear, so you’ll probably be fighting and then get a cutscene of Xenia escaping with a British parachute attached to her car. If you do beat her, make sure to pick up and use the parachute, or else you’ll just die. When you succeed, Xenia falls to the bottom of the pit and explodes, but obviously is fine by the time of GoldenEye.

The most annoying level is up next: you control a car remotely from warehouse cameras, planting mines. To make it more annoying, the cameras are low quality and fizz every now and then, and there are some tiny thing driving around.

Then you have to collect missiles and destroy a boat driven by Jaws, go close to limos in New York to collect data. The next mission sounds intriguing: take out an underwater base in the Lotus Esprit.

But then the level starts with Bond driving out of water. Using it is the same as all of the rest, and we have another tedious level that doesn’t utilise the car’s unique abilities in any way. R even clumsily explains that many of the underwater features were removed for weapons – but then the weapons are on the map, not on the car, so it still makes no sense.

The final mission is then horrendously designed. It sounds simple: destroy a plane’s engines, destroy the plane and escape off a cliff. The execution, however, is atrocious. You can’t use the car’s gun at this point (no idea why), so you have to ram the engines.

The engines are only vulnerable when they flash (there’s no shielding or reasoning for this), and there’s no consistency when you ram them. If it doesn’t work first time, the plane flies off and you have to start again. You have to do this with all four engines. After this, the plane turns around (very quickly) and rams you. This is where you use the car’s gun, except that instead of the usual method, you have a first person view to manually aim.

Where you start aiming seems completely random, it’s not ahead of you so you have a 50/50 chance of turning to the right direction. You have a few seconds to aim and shoot a little box hovering under the plane, and then very quickly dodge the plane and drive off a cliff (thankfully, you get an arrow for this). It’s by far the worst designed level in the game, and it’s the climax!

There’s also a multiplayer mode for two players. There ate two modes: shoot each other or ram into each other to pass a bomb over. These take place in small areas and aren’t much fun at all. Again, I’m completely baffled by the complete lack of racing.

A vehicle combat James Bond game isn’t a bad idea, even a racing game with classic Bond cars can be done well. This game, however, is just a complete mess that throws away everything unique about Bond’s cars.

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

What a difference 54 years makes juxtaposition of BMW 2000 Break, 1967, by Pichon Parat & BMW 530i Touring, 2021. Though the E34 3rd generation 5-series of 1988 was the first to include a series factory-produced wagon version previously coachbuilders had filled the gap in BMW’s range. The BMW 'New Class’ of the 1960s was the car that established BMW’s reputation as a premium car maker, the 1500/1800/2000 was directly replaced by the first generation E12 5-series in 1972. French coachbuilder Pichon Parat offered a neat conversion based on the Neue Klasse. The high cost of the work limited its popularity and only a few were made  

[freifraufischer]

To be honest, Dvora has always come across to me as kind of a starfucker willing to flatter anyone for access. It’s a real problem with so many of the gymnastics “journalists” (aka bloggers and podcasters) these days - most of them are so unwilling to say anything critical about anyone, including awful coaches, for fear of losing access. I’m glad that Dvora realizes now that some of her work has been problematic, but she should have known that in the first place before she published it.

I think that's not an unfair critique. But it also reminds me of a story Lauren tells (who I would put in the same bucket) about watching Steve Rybacki scream at a journalist who had written a mild critique saying Ohoshi needed to work on her turns. Apparently using words like betrayal given that they'd had access.

It's one of the problems when you have such a closed world where it's difficult to have things to report without access. Even when you put aside the symbiotic relationship between traditional media institutions like NBC/USAG and the BBC/BG the bloggers and podcasters are terrified of losing access because the people in this world will cut them off. And the big boys who have power are often hiring experts within the world that are guiding their coverage.

I've seen arguments that Tim Daggett and Elfi Schlegel were just doing what NBC told them to do. And that Kathy Johnson stopped covering elite because she wasn't willing to play that game. But falling back to my own professional training... if you are an expert and the mainstream media wants to use you you have a responsibility NOT to be used like a puppet. If you allow yourself to be you own the things that come out of your mouth.

I tend to have more sympathy for the small less professional "journalists" in the sport than say... the many newspaper journalists who willingly wrote articles about how the 2000 US Olympic Team would have done better of Bela Karolyi was on the floor. Or the person who decided to write an article about a teenage girl in a court proceeding to be emancipated and imply that she was a spoiled brat and mention the BMW her father "bought" her after the Olympics. Or even more recently in figure skating the people willing to write glowing pieces about the physics of the Eteri girls quads when it didn't take a lot of research to know that their quads were literally breaking their backs and unsustainable after puberty.

I want to say "trust the gymnasts" too but then you have extremely complicated cases where what gymnasts said was used to further evil ends where it is genuinely hard decide when you give grace for their circumstances. Nadia's entire traumatic life until the 1990s makes me inclined to understand her going along with a lot of the rosy narrative simply because she may need that to function mentally. But I also understand why her former team mates find it frustrating that whenever they tell their stories all Nadia can say is she doesn't remember details. Especially when she's wealthy and influential and they are struggling to be heard. I have immense admiration for Tasha Schwikert and I do not blame her in the least for having given quotes to protect herself and am glad that she's now in a position to say things like "No I really was pushing Steve Penny away during that medal ceremony". But it does mean that I am often hesitant to even take gymnasts descriptions of good things as true.

[diie4wang]

things i love asf

manga, soul eater, death note, nana, tokyo revengers, attack on titan, fallen angels,  frank ocean, cocky girl by steve lacy, hayao miyazaki movies, micheal cera, tyler the creator, willow smith, the smith family in general, crack rock by frank ocean, nirvana, striped shirts, jamiroquai, fur hats, being black, sushi, odd future, kento yamazaki, cargo bags, brown doc martens, deez nuts jokes, wolf, in utero, bleach (album), channel orange, box braids, pinterest, thredup, thrifting, drawing, devon aoki, beabadoobee, vinyl, vivienne westwood, red fender strat, bmw m3 e30, nigerian music, nigerian culture, nigerian movies, wearing tons of jewelry, old looking filters, purposeful clutter, volleyball, basketball, pink disposable masks, low rise pants, cross necklaces, koss porta pros, enya umanzor, fletcher and wyatt shears, igor, headphones in general, breaking bad, gloves, earmuffs, may, august and september, the number 11, evil eye necklaces, red, cold spicy sprite, takashi mitsuya, black people with blonde hair or ginger, waistcoats, pride by kendrick, crystal necklaces/rings, wattpad, napoleon dynamite, N.E.R.D, shell shockers, roblox, vr chat, sound cloud, lana del rey unreleased, spotify, shameless, dreads & butterfly locs, pinstripe, shirts with words or graphics on the back, beanies, converse that are written on, wolf cuts, eyeliner, beads, death the kid, 2000s disney, leg warmers, emma sano, skulls, gorillaz, mitski, women who smoke while playing guitar, 4c hair, afros, good kid mad city, do ya like by gambino, adventure time, miso soup, men with eyeliner, playboi carti, ugly crochet hats, cameras, black cats, albino snakes, kurt cobain, connie springer, sasha and niccolo's relationship, low quality memes, ctrl, still over it, matt martians, jazz, helena bonham carter, long mini braids, noodle and russel from gorillaz, christmas candles, text symbols, facetime, red and black nail polish, coryxkenshin, berleezy, speed, vivienne skull necklace, the black stones live action characters, cold nights, manga shelves, kuromi, heart shaped box by nirvana, mullet mitsuya, victorious, laptop videos and pictures, being cold with lots of blankets, buying room decor, finding what you want for cheap and in good quality at the thrift, 7/11, flight (youtuber), anime edits, makoto matsushita, anime trios, the entire ackerman and zenin bloodline, mello, ski mask the slump god, ice cube, r&b, boots, black women, brown & red lip tint, hoodies, smell of gasoline, sharpie and hand sanitizer, cold water, horror movies, brown lip liner, k-dramas, the song love and war by kodak black, pomegranate apple sauce, orange frutopia mixed with sprite, cats in general, blurred pictures, dyed hair, cds, grills and tooth gems, pinkpantheress, bktherula, thanksgiving meals, juno, google docs, naruto, loiter squad, kill bill, edward scissorhands, tarantino & tim burton movies altogether, gifs, amazon, large friend groups. i can go on tbh.

[smolvampiregirl]

I am going to expose myself a bit here. I like that Edward has a Volvo. I know it's a Volvo and that's basic. But if you've read Midnight sun you know it's a Volvo S60 R, now that car looks like this.

Not exactly a basic volvo but still not super stand offish. Now when I read twilight and they just said Volvo I was like WTF a Volvo, why. However this car the S60 R. I would buy it, because from factory it had 300hp which is nearly a much as a BMW M3 which has 325hp. Now to put all this Car and Driver talk into perspective I drive a 2020 Kia Cerato/Forte my car only had around 150hp and my last car which was a 2000 Toyota Corolla a car from around the same era as Edwards only had 113hp. The Volvo is also lighter then the BMW and is all wheel drive. I also believe that we are meant to react as oh it's just a Volvo what a boring car. The Cullens want to blend in so why would they go to school in anything other then a boring volvo that secretly could make an awesome rally car.

The issue with the Volvo for me comes in the movie when they first give him a C30 a car which at top specifations gets 217hp but couldn't fit all his family because it is tiny. This car I will admit is a bit boring. And then in New Moon and Eclipse they give him a freaking XC90 a soccer mum car. In Breaking Dawn however he does finally get a S60 but it isn't an R it's a what looks like a D3 teknik which makes a measly 160hp my base spec Kia makes nearly that much.

In conclusion for Edward car to be good it had to be the one from the books a 2005 Volvo S60 R a car which is better the a WRX at rallysports and has nearly as much horsepower as a 2005 M3. Not the stupid middle age mum cars from the movies.

Tldr: Edwards book car is a beast 300hp and movie cars are middle age mum cars yuck.

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

I have a Mini Cooper Clubman (2013 base model, if you're curious), and I've been dying to know your thoughts on them (especially as they just discontinued the line!)

As you can see from my wagon post, I love the original - and while it took quite a while, I gradually warmed up to the first and second generations of its BMW era too.

And yeah, I like the Clubman! I love how the designers went "You know what's weird? That rotary Mazda with the suicide rear doors that can only be opened after the front ones.

How can we make it weirder? Oh, I know! We put only one of them!

And we also keep the original Clubman's split trunk! And we make the body around the lights open with them! But not the lights themselves! And do that on the front too!"

I love how it's a wagon that retains the coupe's agility and driving fun and arguably has even more character! Sure, that comes at the expense of still not being that big of a car, but I feel that's also faithful to the original! And indeed that's something I like about the first BMW-era Minis, which the current one completely squandered: they retained many of the Mini quirks while still having a distinct visual identity.

You especially see it in the interior: for comparison, here is a Beetle, a Super Beetle, and the New Beetle.

You know how you know it's the New Beetle and not any other 2000s VW? Because you trust me. And now look here:

Look at how distinct the new Mini looks and how much of the original is sprinkled around - the little toggles on the center console, the double lines that make up the dashboard, the elliptical cluster shape reintroduced in the mirrors and pedals, the cluster's original layout recreated with the huge tach completely outside of the line of sight, now so gigantic it contains the radio (I don't like when cars don't have standard radio slots but if you're gonna do something custom at least let it be for the sake of actually doing something creatIS THAT A FUCKING SIDE SUN VISOR?????

I also dig the Mini logo-shaped AC controls - which probably work because of the rest of the design: if the rest of the interior was a New Beetle sort of deal they'd probably feel like a desperate reminder it was meant to be a Mini. Didn't expect such complex opinions on AC controls getting into this, eh.

So yeah. I like it. And also it's great to own one, because if you own it you'll never have to sit in the back and that seems like a very good thing. People complain that its '00s BMW underpinnings will mean it'll break sooner than later and parts will cost BMW prices, but those strike me as words of people who've not considered the original was British. There's an old joke about Lucas, the electronics supplier most British cars of yore used, that goes "Why do Brits drink warm beer? Because Lucas made refrigerators."

Oh also, public plead: stop putting big rims on Minis, people. Chonky sidewalls or bust.

Links in blue are posts of mine explaining the words in question - if you liked this post, you might like those!

[spaceskam]

What a fabulous list! How about #4 for Boy Meets World (loooooooved this show as a kid!)

BMW 4. Character A has a rule of only dating people for two weeks before breaking up with them until they find a bag and decide they are in love with the owner.

"You are… so good at that.”

“You’re not bad either.”

Alex pushed off the couch and quickly started getting dressed. Michael stayed laid out on the couch and it had Alex so thankful he hadn't brought him to his place. As hot as he was, time was up.

"Where are you going? Stay," Michael said, flashing that charming smile and making grabby hands. Alex looked away and buttoned up his jeans.

"Look, you're cool," Alex said, "Super hot 'n all, but I don't know if we're a good match."

Michael shifted on the couch. "You barely know me, Alex. We've only been fucking around for two weeks. Why don't we go on like an actual date? You know, have a conversation before we dive into each other's pants."

"Kinda late on that front, don't you think?" Alex asked, sparing him one last glance as he pulled his shirt over his head. Michael did not look amused.

"So that's it?" he asked. Alex licked his lips and pushed away the thoughts of how he was good in bed and could make him laugh and could cook annoyingly well. Alex Manes did not do relationships and he wasn't about to start just because someone was good at what they did. 

"Sorry."

-

"Oh, god damn it, Alex! I liked that one!"

"Then you date him."

Alex smiled at Maria's middle finger that was unceremoniously shoved in his face. Liz just giggled on the other side of him.

"You know how Alex is. He thinks he's too cool for romance," she said. He scoffed.

"I don't think I'm too cool for romance. I think I'm young and hot and college is the time for exploring your sexuality. And I want to explore all avenues before I settle."

"Okay, exploring is one thing. Banging everything that is down to fuck is something else entirely," Maria teased as they found an empty booth in the back of the student union. They all slipped in only to find a backpack tucked in the corner. 

"I'm just expressing myself and I always have safe sex, so leave me alone. Whose bag is this?" Alex rambled, gesturing towards it with his head as he reached to dig his veggie burger out of the bag Liz had placed on the table since it was her day to buy lunch.

"Don't change the subject," Maria pressed, "Michael was good for you. Nice, smart, and he likes you even when you're a dick."

Alex rolled his eyes and cracked a smile. "Look, he's just not worth settling down for."

"How do you know? I know him better than you do and you were the one sleeping with him," Liz chimed in.

"Oh, not you too!" Alex groaned, still smiling, "Nah, but for real, did you see someone get up from this table?" 

The girls sighed, "No."

Alex took a bite of his burger before pulling the bag onto his lap and unzipping it. 

"What are you doing?" Liz asked.

"Seeing if there's a name anywhere."

"Dude, don't go through it, just bring it to lost and found."

"And walk all the way to campus police? Who do I look like?" he asked. They both rolled their eyes but didn't prod any further so it felt like they were going to let him continue.

He pulled out a thick, labeled binder and tried to flip through it. All the notes were meticulous and impressive to the point he raised his eyebrows, but there wasn't a name. It was just pages upon pages of math and other smart shit. There was even a tab for a coding class which was wild because he thought he knew everyone who was going into coding. Since that provided no answers, he dropped it back in the bag and dug some more.

He found a pack of bandaids, a tiny notebook full of doodles, a broken up protein bar that happened to be Alex's favorite, and a pair of bulky headphones that were attached to an iPod Touch. 

"Oh, Alex, c'mon, let's just bring it to lost and found," Maria sighed the second she spotted his giddy smile.

"It's for research!"

"It’s probably illegal!”

“Shush,” Alex said, swatting them away as he unlocked the iPod that didn’t have a password, “Who even has an iPod touch anymore?”

“Someone whose things you shouldn’t be going through,” Liz said, giving a sweet smile when he glared at her.

Annoyingly enough, the owner didn’t have any pictures of themselves or even any friends on it. The background picture and the lock screen were both just a Jedi sitting on the Iron Throne that was so dorky that it was almost endearing. When he began going through the gallery, Alex was faced with really old memes mixed in with fucking math memes. It wasn’t until he got to one that was mocking a syntax error, though, that he found himself grinning to the point he had to smack his hand over his mouth.

“Oh no,” Alex breathed, his eyes widening. Liz pressed into his side to peer over his shoulder.

“What? What is it?” she wondered.

“His memes,” Alex whispered, heart thudding in his chest, “They’re funny.”

“Oh no.”

“I think I’m in love.”

Maria, ever the pessimist, rolled her eyes. “You can’t be in love with someone you don’t know.”

“Look, Maria, you don’t get it,” he insisted, “Whoever owns this bag not only has good taste in protein bars, fantastic notes, and is a coding whiz, but he has funny memes. We’re basically meant to be.”

“How do you know it’s a guy?” Liz asked, “Could be a girl.”

“Why are you trying to break my heart? I just fell in love and you’re already trying to take him from me,” Alex accused. Both girls laughed and shook their heads at him. It came perfectly in time to Alex opening his iTunes app to see a flood of late-90s/early-2000s pop-punk that caused him to gasp. “Guys, he has Sum 41, Sublime, Blink, Green Day, The Offspring, Paramore, shall I go on?”

“Yes.”

“No,” Maria corrected, giving a shocked laugh towards Liz.

“Oh my God, he listens to fredo disco, I’m sold, I’m genuinely in love. You said I wouldn’t settle down, well, this person has gotten me to settle,” Alex sighed wistfully. Liz and Maria seemed to both think he was simply being dramatic, but he was serious. If anyone was worth his time and effort, it was the owner of this bag. Who else would he find that was this perfect? “I’m serious!”

“That’s completely superficial. They could be a horrible person,” Maria said. Alex groaned, going back to the home page of the iPod looking at the apps. He had sudoku. Further inspection showed that his high score on expert was 8 minutes. What a fucking dreamboat.

“Well, we’ll see. We’ll find out who this belongs to and we’ll see who’s right and you can apologize at my wedding,” Alex decided. 

“Okay, fine,” Maria laughed, “We’ll see.”

-

Before Alex very reluctantly turned the bag into lost and found, he put a piece of paper in it that requested the owner to call him.

Parting with the bag was painful at best, but he didn’t know how else he could figure out the owner unless he turned it in. Besides, if he randomly did run into the owner while still in possession of it, it would be very difficult to explain that he didn’t steal their bag.

That night, Alex dreamed of who the owner could possibly be. He liked to think that he was hot and smart and good in bed. If Michael Guerin sometimes replaced his fantasy then no one needed to know. It was simply who was fresh on his mind. The fact was that in two days tops, Alex would get a call and he would find the love of his life. Simple as that.

Except the call never came.

“It’s been three days! He had to have seen it by now,” Alex grumbled, pouting helplessly as he walked between Liz and Maria.

“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” Maria said, squeezing him in a side-hug even though she was smiling.

“Which is so unfair,” Alex groaned, dragging his feet even more.

“Maybe he’s in one of your coding classes and has your number already and is scared to call you,” Liz offered. Alex furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why would they be scared to call me?”

“Maybe they’re straight. Or a girl. Or not looking for a relationship,” Maria chimed in. Alex pouted.

“I can’t believe I’m already gonna die alone.”

“Such a drama queen.”

As pathetic as he felt, Alex made his way to class and decided to check out every person there. He had taken a picture on his phone of the bag which turned out to be genius since he could easily compare it to everyone in there. Sadly (or maybe not since none of them were his type), the owner wasn’t there.

His last, ridiculous decision was to wait outside the classroom until the next class to see if anyone in that class had the bag. He sat there like a creep, staring a little too intently at each bag that passed. He couldn’t figure out just why he was so fucking desperate. Well, yes he could. There was something about that stupid bag that just felt like it was meant to be. He wanted that damn happy ever after.

How was he supposed to know that he already knew the owner?

Alex felt his stomach drop to the floor as he saw the bag on the back of a very familiar curly head. He ducked behind a stack of books before Michael noticed him waiting and let himself panic for a couple of seconds. Of course. Of fucking course. 

“Code red,” Alex hissed into his phone after calling Maria and Liz in a group call, “Code motherfucking red.”

“What?” Liz asked excitedly.

“I found the owner of the bag,” Alex said, pausing for dramatic effect, “It’s Michael.”

“Ha!” Maria said, “I knew it!”

“You did not!”

“Well, I knew he was good for you. Apparently, you think he’s good for you too, you just were too busy trying not to get to know him that you didn’t notice,” Maria pointed out. Alex let out an annoyed whine, stomping his foot on the ground.

“Well, what do I do now? He probably hates me for being a massive dick.”

“Hate to say I told you so, but…” 

“Could you at least wait until I’m not in the worst situation of my life?”

“Is it really the worst?”

The voice that said that addition was much deeper than both Liz and Maria’s voices and caused Alex to jump, dropping his phone and fumbling to catch it. It was a very, very embarrassing thing that was only made more embarrassing whenever he turned to see Michael standing there.

“Call you, huh?” he asked. Alex slowly lifted the phone back to his ear.

“I’ll call you back,” he said, quickly ending the call as he looked to Michael. He’d never felt so uncomfortable before. But then again he’d never really liked someone before. He’d spent days accidentally fantasizing about Michael while trying to fantasize about backpack guy and two weeks before that sleeping with Michael who had made him laugh like no one else even though he really tried to not get to know him. And now he really, really wanted to get to know him.

“So…” Michael trailed off, pushing up onto his toes.

“You didn’t tell me you were dorky on top of being hot,” Alex said instead of anything clever. Michael snorted.

“Dude, I tried. I tried to get to know you. I liked you a lot and wanted to date you. You pushed me away. And suddenly you find my bag and, instead of giving it to me, you write your number down, stick it to my iPod, and give my bag to lost and found. You might just be the king of mixed signals,” Michael said. It took a lot of Alex not to scream. He was a dumbass.

“I didn’t know it was your bag.”

“You saw it multiple times, Alex. Did you really not pay any attention to me at all?” Michael asked. Alex sighed and pressed the heel of his hand between his eyes.

“You know that MTV show from back in the day called Room Raiders where they would go through people’s rooms and decide who they wanted to date based on that instead of, like, looks or personality. Like, you get an inside view of who they are by the way they keep their space, you know?” Alex explained. Michael didn’t answer, so he continued. “Basically, I got that with your bag. I was being a dick to you because I thought that was easiest, but when I went through your stuff, I‒”

“You went through my stuff?”

“I realized I really want to get to know you,” Alex said a little bit louder. Michael glared at him.

“You’re a real dick.”

“I know.”

“And mean.”

“Yeah.”

“And you totally don’t deserve to go out with me or even talk to me again.”

“Fair.”

“But,” Michael sighed, “I guess I could take you paying for a meal as payment for you going through my shit.”

Alex snapped his head up. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah,” Michaels said, smiling, “Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two.” Alex tried not to be too obvious about how giddy that made him.

“Yeah, maybe. So… Tonight, maybe?” Alex said, trying to sound smooth like he did the first time he asked Michael out. Michael just snorted and turned to walk into class.

“Call me.”

No matter how mocking his voice was, Alex still felt like he won the goddamn lottery.

[aiautos]

1st: 1985 BMW U1 2nd: 1993 BMW U2 3rd: 2000 BMW U3 (and horse) 4th: 2009 BMW U4 5th: 2018 BMW U5 6th: 2025 BMW UX 40th anniversary vehicle

Ah, it looks like the full line of BMW U-series vehicles is finally here and ready for viewing. Starting in 1985, BMW wanted to break into the pickup truck market, so they modified their popular 5 series E12 into a sporty little UTE they dubbed the "U-series" (U standing for UTE in this instance). The large carrying capacity coupled with the performance of a BMW was pretty appealing to the European and Australian market, though not so much in America due to the large amount of pickups already in circulation. BMW would continue to release U-series pickup trucks all the way through the U5, basing the designs loosely off of the concurrently-releasing 5 series cars of the time. The latest model in the series is the 2025 BMW UX, a special one-off anniversary model created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the BMW U series. It features all the modern fixings of a standard pickup of the time, but with styling cues taken from the 80's, where it all began.

[steebharringt0n]

cat’s in the cradle

infant | toddler | child | teenager | young adult

a 5-part story exploring the relationship between billy hargrove and his first-born son, adam

pairing: billy hargrove x you

rating: t

a/n: GUESS WHO’S COMPUTER DELETED THIS ENTIRE STORY OVER THE WEEKEND, THEN CRASHED. LOL. yeah, i was pissed, anyways, the final part will be posted tomorrow, and Sanctuary will be updated later in the week. As always, thank you for your patience and for your support.

---

part 4 - teenager

17-year old Adam Hargrove was fucked.

No scratch that, he was dead where he stood.

Fear slid it’s cool claws over his neck as his eyes gazed over the camaro. He swallowed thickly, his stomach lurching as his eyes landed on the heavily dented front bumper of his father’s precious car.

“Oh my god, dad is going to kill you”

He didn’t even have to turn around to know that his 12-year old little sister was standing behind him. The Hargrove siblings stood outside their driveway, their attention both on the blue camaro in the garage. He twisted his neck to face a smirking Ava, her arms crossed as she carefully walked around the car, analyzing the dented bumper with her own eyes.

“Did you really think taking the camaro out was a good idea?” she questioned.

Adam licked his lips, he felt the sudden urge to vomit his entire dinner but he fought against it, “At the time ... yes ... now ... not so much ... “

His eyes landed on his 2000 Honda Accord parked adjacent to the camaro. His father had gifted him the car when he turned 16. It was a perfectly nice car, there was nothing wrong with it, but he was hanging out with Gina Sanderson and he knew his little green car wouldn’t be nearly as impressive as his father’s 78′ Camaro. He had a reputation to maintain at Sunset Cliff High, all thanks to the myth, the legend that was his father, Billy Hargrove.

It wasn’t that Adam was unpopular. In fact, if you asked anybody at Sunset Cliff about Adam Hargrove, you’d hear good things about him. Adam had lost his baby fat throughout his formative years, his jaw line chiseling out, looking more and more like his father everyday. He had traded his square frames for contacts which made his baby blues shine out more than before. He was the captain of the baseball team, his long hours of training and running had helped sculpt his body into one that the ladies loved to ogle at. And he was an all around good guy, he got straight A’s, got along well with his AP teachers. 

But when word quickly got out that he was Billy Hargrove’s - yes, the Billy Hargrove - son. He knew he had to up the ante just a bit more, and taking the camaro for a joy ride (and inviting the most popular girl at school as well), was just the thing he needed to maintain that high status at school.

It was a last minute impulsive decision. Adam wasn’t really one for impulsive decisions, he was logical, he liked to think things through. He wasn’t big on rule breaking, which was something his parents loved to pride on. But something in him snapped, his rebellious streak made a small appearance tonight and he was highly regretting listening to the devil on his shoulder.

It’s not like he had $500 dollars to spare, or an extra 78′ Camaro bumper lying around as well.

He was sure his parents - more so his father - would be understanding about this, right? It’s not like he was warned his whole life never to touch the camaro, never to be inside the camaro without his father, hell, he wasn’t sure if he was ever allowed to breathe inside the camaro.

Was it worth taking Gina out on a joyride? The Adam from about an hour ago would have told you, absolutely yes. He relished in seeing the way her eyes lit up when he showed up at her house, the way her hair blew wildly in the wind as she loudly sang along to The Killers, Somebody Told Me. And when they arrived at the cliff that overlooked Mission Beach, and how the moonlight struck her, he swore he had never seen something so perfect in his life.

If you asked Adam now, he would probably tell you no. That he hadn’t seen that stupid fire hydrant when he made that sharp left out of Gina’s neighborhood. It was a poor excuse, but hell, it was the truth. That in reality, it wasn’t worth losing his freedom over.

“How much longer until mom and dad get home?” he asked nervously.

Ava shrugged, “You got about less than a hour - mom called about half an hour ago, said they’d be leaving soon”

You and Billy were currently attending a black-tie Gala for the educators in San Diego. You were being honored a prestigious award for your work with at risk youth, a mission that you held very near and dear to your heart ever since you met Billy. You witnessed first hand how abuse could warp and change a person - you remember long nights staying up with Billy, tending to his wounds, letting him cry on your shoulder, and just holding him until his nightmares of Neil would go away.

Never again did you want any child to go through that.

Billy (or now more commonly known as Bill, which weirded you out) still ran the very successful automotive shop, and managed to open up 2 more locations in the surrounding areas. The Hargroves were well off, money wasn’t an issue to them and because Billy was so tight with the dealerships in the area, cars always came and went, but he always had a soft spot for his beloved camero. 

The bright headlights that suddenly pulled up on the driveway broke Adam’s concentration. The 2004 black BMW pulled to a stop on the driveway, the driver of the car wondering why his two children were currently hanging outside in front of the garage.

“Oh this is gonna be good” smirked Ava as she watched her parents step out of the car. Billy was dressed up in a white button-up, a black bow-tie attached at the top near the collar. His hair was neatly cut short, long abandoning the days of his mullet. He looked older, wrinkles donning the corners of his eyes and near his forehead, but even still at almost 40 years old, he looked good. You stepped out next, your figure was delicately clothed in a long black strapless dress, hugging your hips and curves. Your hair was pulled up in a bun, with two curled strands of hair that crowned your face. If you told people you were on your way to turn 40, they probably wouldn’t believe you.

You instantly frowned at the scene in front of you, there’s no reason why both of your children should be out this late. Your eyes gazed over at them, Ava who was looking very amused, and Adam who looked like he was on the verge of tears. Then as your eyes wandered over to the garage, and as you saw the dented camaro, did your stomach instantly dropped.

And you immediately knew the culprit.

“Oh Adam ... “ you muttered.

You looked over at Billy who’s jaw was clenched tight, his nostrils flaring. You could tell he was trying to bite his tongue, trying not to unleash loud explicits in the quiet neighborhood. Over the years Billy had learned how to manage his anger, with a lot of coaxing and learning from you, he wasn’t the same Billy Hargrove that terrorized the halls of Hawkins. But this, this could have easily made him snap back into that.

You quickly walked up to Ava, wrapping your arm around her shoulder.

“This is between your father and Adam ... we don’t need to stay out here” you whispered to her.

Ava’s jaw dropped, “But mooooooom ... “ she whined, following your lead as the both of you quietly walked into the house, leaving both Hargrove men outside in the cool California night.

Adam stayed planted on his feet, his brain was telling him to move, but he couldn’t do it. 

“H-Hi Dad ... “ he weakly spoke.

Billy quickly made large strides up to the garage, walking past an anxious Adam. He walked around the camaro, inspecting it from every side. He then poked his head on the inside, checking the leather, the seats, and even to see if it still turned on. Once he realized everything else worked, and everything else wasn’t broken, or dented, he walked up to the front of the camaro, crouching down and inspecting the dented bumper carefully.

“I-I’m sorry dad, I know I fucked - I mean I messed up, and I’m really sorry. It was so stupid of me, I should have never done it, and I understand if you never want to talk to me again - “

“What’d you hit it with?” he interjected, his tone heavy.

Adam swallowed, “A fire hydrant”

Billy let a deep sigh escape his lips, lowering his head down in disappointment. He then stood up, and in one fluid motion, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his inner coat pocket. He leaned up against the camaro, placing a stick in between his lips. He then offered the carton to Adam,

“Go on, take one, I’m sure this night has been stressful enough for you” he murmured.

Adam blinked blankly. He never knew his father smoked, let alone allow him to smoke after he had damaged his car. He hesitantly reached for one, holding it in his hand as Billy pulled out a zippo lighter, and lit up the stick. Billy took a deep inhale, his eyes staring out into the distance.

“Don’t tell your mother, she’d kill me” he quietly added, tossing him the zippo lighter.

Adam quietly nodded, lighting up the cigarette, inhaling, then going into a crazy coughing fit soon after.

“Easy there, don’t inhale too much ... the first time always suck” Billy said, patting his son’s back.

After Adam had quieted down, there was silence amongst the two. 

“You know, I saved up my own money to buy the camaro ... I worked every day that summer of 83′, my old man wasn’t too happy that I decided to spend my money on a car, hell, he wasn’t happy with a lot of the decisions I made in life, including being with your mother”

Adam stood quiet, Billy rarely ever brought up Neil. It was taboo in the family to ever bring up Neil. Adam didn’t know much, but he knew that he wasn’t a good guy, even his Aunt Max would mention every now and then how terrible Neil used to be to her and his father.

So he never asked, never wondered about his grandfather. 

“I drove this camero from California to Indiana. Had a lot of great memories in this camero ... it’s where I took your mother on our first date, where she first told me that she loved me, hell I think you might have been conceived in there” he added that last part in with a chuckle.

Right at that moment Adam had decided to inhale another puff, and ultimately choked on it as Billy finished that last sentence.

“Why are you telling me this? Shouldn’t you be yelling at me? Wanting to rip my head off?” Adam asked.

Billy let out a chuckle, “You know, the old me would have been livid, furious at you.” Billy paused for a second, licking his lips before he took another inhale of the cigarette. “But you’re a good kid Adam, you always have been. Even when you were a little baby your mother and I never had any problems with you. I mean when I was your age I was beating people up, I was awful, I was mean. I honestly don’t know how your mother, or really anyone, put up with me back in the day”

Adam shuffled his feet, kicking a pebble with his foot.

“T-Thanks dad ... but I mean, I messed up your car, you’ve always told me that I wasn’t allowed to drive it, or even touch it”

Billy turned to look over at Adam, “My car? You mean yours”

He then reached into his pocket, pulling out the spare keys of the camaro and placing it into Adam’s shaking hands.

His blue eyes widened in surprise, “Holy shit ... are you serious? What about my Honda Accord?”

Billy shrugged, “Ah, I’ll save it for your sister. We’ve had enough cars come through our garage”

Adam stared at the keys in his hand in awe. He shoved it in his pocket, then threw his cigarette down to the ground and engulfed his father in a hug.

“Thanks dad ... I could’t have been a good kid without having a dad like you” he muttered.

Billy wrapped his arms around his son, closing his eyes and leaning into his embrace. He felt his heart lurch at Adam’s words, tears pricked the corner of his eyes but he quickly wiped them away with the swipe of his hand. Never in a million years did he ever think a child of his would utter those words. 

Billy pulled away from Adam, who’s eyes were still wide with surprise.

“Was the girl cute?” Billy suddenly questioned, his top lip curled into a smirk.

Adam avoided his father’s gaze, his cheeks blushing.

“C’mon, she must have been cute for you to become all Mr. Rebel Without A Cause” Billy pressed on, gently jabbing him in the ribs.

“Yeah, yeah, she’s cute I guess” he finally admitted, a small smile on his face as he recalled kissing her before he dropped her off.

Billy put out his cigarette, stomping it out with his dress shoes as he put his arm around Adam’s shoulder. The two of them started to walk towards the entrance of the house.

“Too bad you won’t see her for awhile, because you’re grounded for a month” he deadpanned.

Adam whipped his head, a look of desperation on his face as they walked through the front door, “Oh, c’mon Dad!”

---

tagged: @the-first-breath-of-autumn-air @justabeautiful-letdown @fab-notfat @tarahell @noodlenerd101 @crazylittlethingcalledobsession @letdecemberburninflames @kake-babe @barbarasbae @delqcour @wearewiththebands @oogachuggaoogaoogachugga @klanceiscannon14 @mrs-hollandstan @gracieadorable 

[shadowron]

The S.R. Power and Chummers Awards for Outstanding Vehicles from Rigger Black Book for Shadowrun (1st Edition)

The Rigger Black Book had four categories of vehicles

Civilian

Security

Drones

Military

Whether those distinctions made a difference to your runner’s ability to acquire one depended upon how generous your GM was feeling with nuyen rewards.

Though this is how most runners spend it.

A note about speed values: The quantity listed in the vehicle description is the speed in units of meters per combat turn (3 seconds), which is useful in game. To convert this to more sensible units:

… divide by 3 to get the speed in meters per second (mps).

… multiply by 1.2 (or 6/5) to get the speed in kilometers per hour (kph).

… multiply by 0.746 (or about 3/4) to get the speed in miles per hour (mph).

Thus the Hyundai Offroader (Bike) has a cruising speed of 60 and a top speed of 180 (written has 60/180) in meters per combat turn, would be 20/60 mps, 72/216 kph, or 45/134 mph.

In the Civilian Vehicle Category, we have…

Best Bike:

BMW Blitzen 2050. Highest speed, highest Armor ratings, highest cost. Never mind the nuyen, it had a hardpoint, so you could mount a minigun on it if you wanted to. And you know you want to.

Worst Bike:

Dodge Scoot. This barely qualifies as it is because it can be run on pedal power. Yes, the Dodge Scoot is a MOPED. Did you know Mopeds would still be a thing in 2050? Can you imagine a more embarrassing ride for your Ork Mercenary than a Dodge Scoot?

Best Sports Car:

Knocking the Eurocar Westwind 2000 from the perch is the Saab “Dynamit” 776TI, with a cruising speed of 96 kph (60 mph) and a top speed of 300 kph (186 mph). That extra bit of speed isn’t cheap, at 250K¥, but it might save your hoop.

Best Family Vehicle:

After your new rigger gets her Blitzen (for solo rides) and Dynamit (for date nights), she will then have to find the right vehicle to carry her whole family: 3 to 5 heavily armed Shadowrunners, one of whom is a troll who always complains about headroom. She also needs to be prepared for anything, and thus needs space for those pop-up remote-controlled hardpoint turrets with dual Vanquisher heavy machine mini-guns.  

The currency for vehicle modifications is CF (construction factor). Every point of CF roughly corresponds to 25 kg of cargo and represents the storage capacity of vehicle. Anything you want to add: extra seating, roll bars, datajack links, and weapons all have a CF cost. Plus, because weapon turrets must be adjacent to the exterior of the vehicle, only 10% of a vehicle’s CF can be used for weapons.

Knowing that she’ll be tweaking it out anyway, she wants a vehicle that serves as a good foundation that won’t break the credstick. For that reason, choose the Volkswagen Superkombi III, Enclosed-Van Variant for 45,000 ¥. Single bucket plus 2 folding benches give base seating for 4, and with 150 CF to play with, there’s plenty of room for both troll friends and machine gun friends.  It has slightly lower body and speed than the Ford-Canada Bison, but has three times the CF and is less than a third of the cost.

[kyogos]

☕ early-mid 2000's F1 things that new fans might not know about (eyeball emoji)

yeet my time to shine

- It’s only since 2010 we’ve had this points systems, from 2003 - 2009 it was only the top 8 that scored point, and not as many - 1st place was 10 points, 2nd was 8 points, 3rd was 6, 4th was 5, 5th was 4, 6th was 3, 7th was 2 and 8th was just one point. (It’s also only since 1991 that all race results have counted towards a championship)

- There was been so many tyre regulation changes I can’t even begin to explain them all. In 2005 tyre changes were banned; meaning tyres had to last the whole race. From 1998 - 2008 slick tyres were also banned, all tyres had to have grooves. Slicks were reintroduced for 2009 with revised aero rules in an attempt to increase overtaking (See, it’s not a new problem)

- I see you all giving Red Bull shit for their driver treatment but please remember that McLaren fired Kevin Magnussen by e-mail on his birthday. McLaren are also known for getting rid of drivers after a season or two, so honestly don’t get attached to them

- Brawn winning the championship in 2009 was the biggest fluke and is unlikely to be repeated any time soon. So little development went into that car throughout the year it’s honestly a miracle they pulled it off; every other team was getting faster and Brawn were making little to no gains (Which is why Jenson went to McLaren)

- Number 2 driver contracts are a thing that exists. Literally some drivers are employed to just be a support to the teams main hopefully. Sure it sucks to see your faves be a number 2, but sometimes it’s literally the contract they signed.    - Break clauses are common, as are contracts without fixed years. (”If you do well this year, then we’ll extended it for another year”)

- Qualifying has changed so much over the years. Between 2003 and 2005, there was “one-shot quali” where drivers set one lap time and one lap time only. Since 2007, qualifying has been split into 3 sections.

- Alonso had a foot in at Ferrari for years before he went there. He’s part of the season Raikkonen left in 2008. (If rumours are to be believed anyway). Never assume a seat is safe. 

- In the last 19 years, 6 teams have won a drivers title - Ferrari (6), Mercedes (5), Red Bull (4), Renault (2), Brawn (1), McLaren (1). Periods of domination have been part of the sport for decades. If you look at the runner ups for the past 19 years, then that list only contains 4 teams - Ferrari (9), McLaren (6), Mercedes (3), and Red Bull (1). 

If you look at teams titles, in the past 21 years, there have been 6 team winners - Ferrari (8), Mercedes (5), Red Bull (5), Renault (2), McLaren (1), and Brawn (1). Okay the runners-up for the same period are slightly more varied - McLaren (7), Ferrari (6), Red Bull (3), Williams (2), Mercedes (1), BMW Sauber (1)*, and BAR-Honda (1). *This is 2007 where McLaren were excluded following spygate, otherwise they would have claimed the runner up spot.

My point is, domination has always been part of the sport and always will be. At least until serious rule changes happen