#two car: racing sidecar

[thunderstomm]

HWLR: Future AU (Part 2!) ✨

Axle Spoiler, son of now retired former champion Striker Spoiler, has become a racer himself. There are big expectations for him, and often times, he’s not sure if he’s meeting them. While his father is undeniably proud of him, the public seem so critical of each of his performances, and the comparisons seem to endlessly pile up as more races happen. He is also the most socially aware of what is happening, and recognises that his friends are struggling just as much as him, even if the pressure they face could be perceived as “less”. He cares, but can’t resist teasing them a little, treating everything with an “I told you so” mentality.

Bryce “Brights” Hikari is constantly putting her creative mind to good use. Her primary career is to design the race courses for all of Hot Wheels City’s biggest races and tournaments, but she also does photography, and visual design for the cars, working alongside Spark, who handles the mechanical side. Brights is as bubbly and bright as they come, but she’s also self-aware of how lonely things have become, and that everyone else is closer to eachother than they are with her. But she finds it best that she not mention it just yet… everything is so stressful, why add more issues to everyone else’s plates?

Simon “Sidecar” Cotter has always been great at generating hype for other people, and he seems to have embraced that role even further. Working under reporter and announcer Speedy Getaway, Sidecar has quickly become the most popular commentator in Hot Wheels City! The public love his enthusiastic personality, and he seems unbiased, for the most part… until Axle is brought into the picture, as his support and enthusiasm becomes unprofessional.

Feel free to ask questions regarding this AU!

[kimberly-spirits13]

Jason Todd with a Race-Car Driver S/O HC

You’re the only partner that he lets drive

The first time Dick saw this he teased you two relentlessly

You had one hand on the wheel and was holding his hand with the other

“Not my fault I’m the only racer he’s dated”

It’s basically cannon that Jason is into mechanics and all that jazz

If you have to do upgrades or maintenance to any vehicle, you two make it a date

You’re working on the cars, he’s working on the bike

He thinks you’re really, really hot in a uniform

Helmet hair is his favorite

he’s such a flirt about it too, it’s ridiculous

Please wear a red uniform for the boy

He’ll swoon

You’re the only partner of the Batboys that is allowed to drive the Batmobile

When the Batmobile needs work you’re the first person that’s called in

Jason likes to drive you of course but he just thinks it’s fun to ride around with you driving

Alfred never has to chauffeur you two because you’re driving your own swanky ride

Jason will come to all your races

He wants to make sure that you know he supports you

That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t worry about you wreaking during a race

If it ever does happen, he’s jumping the bleachers and fence to get to the tarmac

The first time you took him to the tarmac you neglected to tell him that it was really sticky since you thought it would be funny

It was

He likes to pretend that he never fell face first into the tarmac trying to walk

Jason likes to braid your hair or put it up for your races if you have long hair

You also would probably have matching key chains and no one can argue otherwise with me 🤚

Please take that man for a ride around the track

oh my gosh he’ll cry tears of joy

He just thinks you’re super cool

If you get to test cars he’ll ride with you and give opinions

“Well my boyfriend says your car sucks sooooo”

Sorry Porsche

Your kids are your cars and I’m pretty sure that Jason has named all of them

He’s the type to give a name to everything that he owns

OH MY GOSH IF YOU ADDED A SIDECAR FOR ON A MOTORCYCLE FOR ACE

It would be beautiful

[alexalily]

y’all ever just stop and think about Two Car, the show about motorcycle sidecar racing

it’s pretty good, i swear, it’s fun and actually pretty informative about a very niche motorsport

[aprilbrowines]

Scp Erased Chapter 6: Between a rock and a hardhat

Summary: Scp-173 is against a worthy opponent while Clef and Bright looks for the culprits

It was supposed to be a relaxing day at work, Howie and his worker bees were hired to build a residential building today, nothing too fancy. As he was fixing up some of the floors he heard some scrapping from afar. He thought that one of his worker bees was dragging some rebar on the floor.

He turns around to see nothing but a lone figure from the distance, He squinted his eyes before continuing his job. He heard the scrapping again, this time louder. He turns again to see upon close inspection that it was a statue with its arms out.

“Whoever’s doing this better stop fooling around and get back to work!” He shouts, giving his worker bees an earful before getting back to his job. With one last scrap he turns quickly to face the statue eye to eye. Its arms almost boxing Howie in as he glares at the statue not taking his eyes off.

Both figures were staring at each other, neither one breaking eye contact. The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a steak knife, his face as stony as a mountain while his eyes looked through the statue, almost burning holes in it. Sweat dripped from his brow, time seemed to slow as all focus was on scp-173.

The statue was perplexed, why was this human not blinking? Why wasn’t he turning his back? Was this what the D-class felt when they stared at it? The paralyzing fear and terror?

It trembled slightly afraid of what this human might do. Suddenly darkness enveloped it as it was contained in a box, Howie blinked as he saw Percy beside him with two other people. “Howie are you okay?” percy asks inspecting his neck.

“I’m fine, I was just doing my job.” He said, “Who are those two?”

Agent Baker was inspecting the box’s stability while Agent Tanner was calling the foundation.

“Temporary associates for a case I'm solving.” She merely said

—

Giovanni was pacing back and forth, his mind racing as crusher tries in vain to calm him. “She hasn’t answered back,” Giovanni said. “What if she’s hurt?!”

“Dude calm down.” Fred said

“She’s probably still at the toy store.”

“I didn’t see her.” Ben replies. “You couldn’t see anything through that Pink Eye you got!” Spike said.

He huffed, putting eye drops in, Don’t dive into a ball pit if you know what’s good for you. They were making assumptions of Molly's whereabouts when they heard a knock at the door. They all peek from the hallway to see what was going on.

“Evening miss, We were wondering if you’ve seen this man anywhere.”

As Crusher’s mom was talking to what was assumed to be a police officer, He saw Molly in the back of the car, eating a kids meal.

“Hey there Beartra—”

He covers Ben’s mouth as they all go back to hiding.

“Oh man what do we do now Boss?” Darkstar asks.

Giovanni chewed his lower lip, thinking of a plan that would get Molly out of there. He needed to be quick and sneaky. With a snap he had an idea!

—

“Thank you for your information ma’am, we appreciate your…help?”

As the last word escaped his lips a nerf dart zoomed between them, hitting the car and transforming it into a clunky motorbike with sidecar—Molly was surprised but safe. A bellow of fog enveloped them as Giovann’s boys scramble out the door. Giovanni grabs her. Car crash starts the truck while they all scramble in driving off.

Dr. Alto blinked in confusion while Bright grabbed his hand, “Come on Ukulele!” He grins

“Let’s ride!”

[k20spock]

[ID: The first image is a full body digital drawing of Marina Ida from Splatoon in a motorcycle racing suit with black boots and gloves. The suit is mostly black with bright mint green accents. There are patches with octopus symbols on the shoulders. There are big zippers on the front of the jacket and sides of the shoes with a cut out eight symbol. She stands with one hand on the back of her head and a motorcycle helmet tucked under her other arm. She tilts her head to the side and grins. The background is white with a horizontal pale green rectangle behind her head. The signature "squidthusiast" is written on the rectangle. To the left is a small headshot drawing of Pearl blushing and staring at Marina with wide eyes going "ouhhh~"

The following two images are screenshots of Tumblr tags that read "Pearl can't see over Marina on the bike so she gets a small side car attachment like in Wallace and Gromet" and "she should have a bike with a sidecar for pearl".

The next image is a digital drawing of Marina on her motorcycle and Pearl sitting in a sidecar attached to it. They are both wearing motorcycle racing suits with the shoulder patches described in the previous drawing. Marina is wearing a helmet with her tentacles poking out from under it, and Pearl is wearing goggles. She is smiling. The drawing is not fully colored, Marina is colored turquoise and Pearl is colored pink while everything else is gray.

The final image is another drawing of the two of them on the motorcycle. Pearl has her fists raised and is excitedly saying, "So cool!" Marina is looking down at her and gripping the handlebar tightly. Behind her is a drawing of herself crying and clutching her face with the words "WHY IS SHE SO CUTE I'M UNWELL" next to her. End ID]

I think we as a society need more Marina in motorcycle gear

[viewer-of-many]

HWLR/Monster High AU: A Wheel Good Time

HWLR/Monster High AU by @thunderstomm

"Look at that car go! This is the race of the century! Newcomer Coop is about to make history in his favorite car, the GT Scorcher!"

The young phoenix had a confident look on his face; this race was his to win!

"You wanna race? Heh, how you like these hot wheels?"

Some of the others tried to block him, but he could get by easily!

"On your left!"

Time for a real show: "It's not the same without the flame!" He activated his car's power, while also opening the window to let his own fire through.

"Look out, here I come! On your right!" He gets his car to do a flip as it approaches a jump point. "Above you! Yeah!" He crosses the finish line, having his car do a spin as he jumps out into a flying flip of his own. "I did it, I'm Camp Champ!" The crowds cheer his name...

"Coop, you're nightdreaming again!"

The real scene reveals itself; Coop is in an elevator with his dad.

"Sorry Dad, I was thinking about how awesome camp will be at..."

The elevator doors open.

"Whoa...the Ultimate Garage!"

The place is huge, and clearly, the sight of it so close up inspired a sense of awe.

"Wow! This place is so cool! Oh! Those must be the other campers!"

There were five of them: a vampire, a werewolf, a sea monster(with a prosthetic right arm), 🟡a simulacrum🟡, and a gargoyle.

"I hope I have what it takes to be a real Hot Wheels racer." "If anyone does, it's you Coop. If you ever have doubts, just remember what you tell me: a Hot Wheels racer always says..." "Challenge Accepted!" They fist bump, and then, the sound of a car can be heard.

"Oh, that's my cue! Gotta go, Dad!"

A green car races into view of the campers, as they watch excitedly. It starts to spin in a big circle around them. "So cool!"

The car opens up, revealing the driver, a Ceryneian Hind. "Hey there campers, I'm..."

"Dash Wheeler! 10 time Hot Wheels 500 champion!" "Leader of the Ultimate Garage!" 🟡"And a big fan of booberry waffles!"🟡

"Well, I guess we can skip my intro. Welcome 🟡Spark🟡, Mac, Brights, Axle, Sidecar, and Coop! You six were chosen because you have what it takes to be the next generation of Hot Wheels racers. We're gonna race Hot Wheels cars, build amazing tracks with the Track Builder, and learn what it means to be a Hot Wheels racer. The one who gets the most points gets to be Camp Champ!"

The campers all cheer at that.

"Buckle up, racing school starts now! Behold, the wonders of the Ultimate Garage! Take it away Squeakers...Squeakers, uh, where's Squeakers?"

"I'm coming, hold on!" Everyone looked around: there was a robot hidden between some boxes. He pushed the boxes out of the way and rolled out toward the crowd, his wheels squeaking the whole time.

"Wow!"

The robot used one of his tools to reveal all the cars that the garage had to offer.

"Whoa! I can't believe my eyes!" "Experimotors, Street Beasts, the full set of Acceleracers!" "It's every car in Hot Wheels City!" "Sure is! It's not called the Ultimate Garage for nothing! Every car has a special power. You'll use these racing gloves to choose one and complete the challenge. Now, go check out the cars, we will begin in one hour! In the meantime, I'm going to get me a booberry waffle."

🟡"The Twinmill, Dash's favorite car! It's won more races than I can count!"🟡 "I wanna find one that gets me big air!" "I like the taco car!" "So many cars! Awesome!" "It doesn't matter which car any of you pick! I'm gonna be Camp Champ!" "Yeah, he's gonna be Camp Champ!" "Don't worry about those two; Dash picked us because we all have a chance to win!" "How about you Coop, is there a car you're pumped for?" Yes, there was, and right then, he saw it. "The GT Scorcher! I've been dreaming of this car forever!" "No way! If anyone's driving the GT Scorcher first, it's gonna be me!" "I don't think so, Axle!" They both flew off toward it, but being less experienced in flying, Axle bumped into Coop, sending them both off course.

🟡"Look out! Dash's Twinmill!"🟡 Coop slammed into the tire as it was being changed, his fiery wings setting it alight as it began to bounce wildly around the city. "Oh no, the tire!" From so high up, the campers could see all the damage the flaming tire was causing. "So, you launched a flaming tire into Hot Wheels City. I'm sure that happens all the time."

"Breaking news: a flaming tire has been launched into Hot Wheels City for the very first time!"

"Don't worry dude, you probably won't get in trouble."

"Whoever caused this crazy chaos can bet they are in big trouble! Oh no, it's coming straight for me!"

"Well, it was nice knowing you...not!" Axle laughs a little, then continues. "No way Dash lets you stay at camp after this!"

"I can't get kicked out on the first night! I need to stop that tire before it wrecks the whole city!" "Well, you're not gonna do it alone." 🟡"Agreed."🟡 "I'll stay here and work the Track Builder!" "And when you fail, Sidecar and I can laugh in your face!" They both begin laughing, perhaps as practice for what they think is going to happen.

"We gotta put the pedal to the metal. Hot Wheels racers, let's get that tire!" They put their gloves on and select their vehicles. "I want a racer fast enough to catch that runaway wheel. I choose: the GT Scorcher!"🟡"I need a car that can bounce that tire back home. I choose: the Rodger Dodger!" 🟡 "And speaking of bouncing, this truck will get me big air! I choose: the Baja Jump Truck!"

With the cars selected, it's time to get in and go. "You can do this!" The cars go up the lift, the track is made..."Let's race!"

Those still at the garage could see everything. "Whoa, that was awesome!" Provided, of course, that they weren't distracted like Dash was. "Now, where are those waffles? What's an Ultimate Garage hero have to do to get some waffles around here?"

"I see the tire!" 🟡"Coop, let's catch it before it gets away!"🟡 "You don't have to tell me twice!" He sped off to try and get to it, but quickly realized..."This was way easier in my nightdream!" He approached a series of loops ending in a ramp. "Now I know how my underwear feels in the washing machine!" The others took a different path to reach him as he landed.

🟡"Are you okay?"🟡 "Yep, just a little spun out." He looked to see where the tire was. "The tire's going to destroy the city!" 🟡"It feels like we're never going to catch that tire."🟡 "We have to try: a Hot Wheels racer always says, Challenge Accepted!" "We won't be Hot Wheels racers if the tire won't stay on the track." 🟡Flashback time: there was never a flaming tire bouncing around the city before, but there was a regular one, and to stop it, the racers used..."The Track Builder, that's it!"🟡

Time for a video call. 🟡"Brights, come in, this is Spark."🟡 "Brights and Squeakers here!" 🟡"We need you to change the configuration of the tracks to keep the tire on it."🟡 "Rodger that, Rodger Dodger! Squeakers and I are on the job!" A few button presses was all it took. "Track Builder, go!" Now, they just needed to find the tire. "There is it Squeakers! Let's catch it before it does any more damage!" Working together, they managed to redirect the tire back toward the others. "We did it, Squeakers!"

"One runaway tire, heading your way!" "Racers, let's roll! Keep your eyes open; Brights should be getting that tire to us any second!" They looked over..."There it is! Okay team, now's our chance!" They raced off after it. "Okay, let's catch that tire Hot Wheels style!" "Oh yeah! Time for some big air!" Mac went up a curved incline, launching his car into the air and bouncing the tire back. "On your left, Spark!" 🟡"Coop, one runaway wheel coming your way!"🟡, she said as she hit the wheel with the front of her car, bouncing it right in front of his. "Got it now!" He approached a hill shaped road, but as he did, the top of it started to disappear!

"Brights, part of the track is missing!" Back at the Ultimate Garage, Axle had managed to take control of the Track Builder away from Brights. "Axle, you're ruining the track! Coop's gonna fall off!" In her nervousness at the situation, Brights began to bite her right arm. "Looks like your time at camp has officially stalled out, Coop!"

🟡"Oh no!"🟡 "He's not gonna make it!" "I'm not gonna make it!" 🟡"There must be something we can do!"🟡 "We tried everything!" "We tried racing..." 🟡"The Track Builder..."🟡 "The power of friendship..." "Wait, power! What did Dash say about power?"

Every car has a special power...

"Every car has a special power! That's it!" As he approached what was now a jump point, he knew what to do. "Ok GT Scorcher, let's see what you got! Super Speed Burst, activate! Go Hot Wheels!" Just like in the nightdream, it was a flip over the jump point that did the trick! The tire fell on it's side, finally stopping. Coop went over to it to put the flames out while everyone except Axle cheered. "I did it!"

Later, back at the Ultimate Garage: "Hold up, explain this to me again, one more time." "Dash, please don't blame Mac and Spark. I knocked the Twinmill's tire off...and set it on fire. If anyone deserves to be kicked out of camp, it's me." "Wait, wait, who said anything about kicking anyone out?" "What?!" "The point is, you made a mistake and you fixed it. You should've seen the stuff I got into when I was a camper." Squeakers, who was replacing the tire, agreed by saying, "No kidding!" "Yeah, there...there were skid marks. Smart move choosing the GT Scorcher; you picked a car fast enough to catch that wacky wheel!" "The key was to never give up!" "Plus, he had help from his super awesome, totally cool new friends!"

"I'm glad to hear it, because if you thought tonight was wild, buckle up! We are just getting started. Who's ready to race?!" Everyone shouted in excitement, ready for whatever comes next!

[lindsaystravelblogs3]

A few of the exhibits at the Piaggio Museum. A tram, two trolley buses (why can't Melbourne rid itself of its ridiculous trams and replace them with this much more sensible alternative?), a fire truck, mobile bookshop, bike and sidecar, postie bike, two racing bikes (both holding land speed records in excess of 250 kph), a tuk-tuk, a tractor, a work utility, a wooden bike and some highly decorated bikes, a couple of cars and a people mover.

[a-titty-ninja]

[oh-those-ocean-eyes]

[thunderstomm]

HWLR- Car Count (with graphs!)

A look at how many times each car is chosen in Hot Wheels Let's Race, both overall and per character! Over the last two days, I did a full-series re-watch, and counted each time every character chooses a car to drive, whether they drove it or not, and if they ever switched cars during the episode (and if so, to what).

While the overall data looks at cars both chosen and driven, individual character data only looks at cars chosen. If a car was driven, but was not chosen originally, it will not be counted for the "cars chosen" category.

The data also goes through how many times a character gets to drive during the series (this is out of 30 possible times), how many cars overall are chosen across the series, how many unique cars are chosen across the series, the top 5 cars overall for the series, and the top 3 cars for each of the six campers.

THE OVERALL COUNT

Across all 30 episodes of Hot Wheels Let's Race, cars are chosen or drove a total of 182 times. The series features 45 unique cars across its run.

The most chosen car across the show is the Baja Jump Truck (13 times), with the Mach Speeder (8 Times) in second, and the GT-Scorcher, Rocketfire and Twin Mill (7 times each) tied for third.

Fourth and fifth place also result in ties, with the Rodger Dodger, Shark Bite, Street Wiener, and Tricera-Truck (6 times each) in fourth, and the Aristo-Rat, Buns of Steel, Gotta Go, Mad Manga, Mountain Mauler, Power Surge, Roller Toaster, Sand-Ivore, Skull Crusher, and Veloci-Racer (5 times each) in fifth.

Individual character data under the cut!

COOP

Coop drives in all 30 episodes of HWLR, being one of two characters to do so. He drives the highest amount of unique cars, being 19. Coop's most-chosen car, surprising no-one, is the GT-Scorcher (7 times), with the Mach Speeder (4 times) in second, and the Rocketfire (3 times) in third.

SPARK

Spark drives in 29 out of 30 episodes, and is tied for the lowest number of unique cars chosen, at 14. Spark's most-chosen car is a tie, between the Rodger Dodger and Tooligan (4 times each), with both second and third also resulting in ties, having the Roller Toaster and Shark Bite (3 times each) in second, and the 2-Tuff, Mach Speeder, Mountain Mauler, Power Surge, and Veloci-Racer (2 times each) in third.

MAC

Mac drives in all 30 episodes of HWLR, being the only character other than Coop to do so. He is tied with Spark for the lowest number of unique cars chosen, at 14. Mac's most-chosen car is the Baja Jump Truck (9 times), with the Sand-Ivore (4 times) in second, and the Gotta Go (3 times) in third. He is the character to have chosen a singular car the most times, having chosen the Baja Jump Truck more times than any other character has chose any other car.

BRIGHTS

Brights drives in 27 out of 30 episodes, and has the second-highest amount of unique cars chosen, at 18. Brights' most-chosen car is a tie, between the Aristo-Rat and Street Wiener (3 times each), with second and third place both also resulting in ties, with the Car-De-Asada, Donut Drifter, Glory Chaser, Power Surge, and Tricera-Truck (2 times each) in second. Due to Brights' high variety of unique chosen cars, but lower driving numbers when compared to other characters, all of the cars in third place were driven a total of one time each.

AXLE

Axle drives in 23 out of 30 episodes, tied with one other character, and has a total of 16 unique cars chosen across the series, also a tie between another character. Axle's most-chosen car is the Skull Crusher (4 times), with the Veloci-Racer (3 times) in second, and a tie between the Glory Chaser, Madfast, and Rocketfire (2 times each) for third.

SIDECAR

Sidecar drives in 23 out of 30 episodes, being tied with Axle. He has a total of 16 unique cars chosen across the series, also tied with Axle. Sidecar's most-chosen car is the Mad Manga (4 times), with the 2-Tuff (3 times) in second, and a tie between the Mountain Mauler, Rip Rod, and Tricera-Truck (2 times each) for third.

HOW OFTEN DO OTHER CHARACTERS DRIVE?

Outside of the main six racers, Dash drives the most times, doing so in 5 out of 30 episodes. Cruise drives in 4 out of 30 episodes, and any other characters counted (Striker Spoiler, Prof. Rearview and the self-driving Bone Shaker) only drive in one.

CONCLUSION

All of this data is subject to change, once season 3 airs (presumably) the last 10 segments, and more data is added to the mix! Maybe I'll update this once it does happen, for a more concrete overall look at the series. If there's anything else you want to know that can reasonably be found using the data I have collected, feel free to ask! I'm also happy to share a read-only copy of all of the spreadsheets I used to collect the information, if you would like to take a look, or gather your own information to add on! As always, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have!

Now... go buy a Baja Jump Truck, it seems like they really want you to.

[otakunews01]

Two Car Blu-ray/DVD vol.1 cover & contents preview

[gwendolyn-of-loxley]

Sonally Fic but 25 Years Later was just a dream...

Sally didn't know why, but her husband was acting very strangely. 

It had started ever since he'd woken up that morning.  He'd had a nightmare; that was nothing new.  Neither of them were at all short on traumas.  But... this time was different.  When she held him (as they often did for one another), he'd been tense.  Even with dreams of her roboticized, he was always very reciprocating in touch.  But he'd been distant at first. Then he started staring.

She'd noticed when he was getting coffee: Sonic never got coffee.  But as he stood in the kitchen, staring out at her on the couch in the living room, she found his gaze uncomfortably focused, and almost accusatory.  It was unlike him, and very uncomfortable.

"Say, babe," he said, making her jump.  "Do you think I look good in black?"

...what?

Sally blinked.  "I... sure," she said, cautiously.  To be fair, everyone looked good in black, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what prompted the question.  "Why do you ask?"

In an uncharacteristically level tone, he said "no reason," shrugged, and walked away.  Not long after, she heard him sputter and cough.  He'd probably tried drinking the coffee.

It happened again around lunch. 

After she'd made herself a sandwich, Sally sat down at the table, only to feel the gaze of her spouse from the nearby doorway.  Pausing as she was about to take a bite, the chuirrel returned the look, raising an eyebrow.  This was starting to get irritating. 

"Is everything okay, Sonic?"

The hedgehog smiled, though not as warmly as would be normal. "Oh, peachy," he shot, finally looking away from her and around the dining room of their house. "Do you ever miss the palace?"

She hadn't expected that question.  She put down her sandwich, thinking about her response.  "As much as anyone misses their childhood home, I think."  She looked at him again.  "There are times when I wish our house had the same echo.  But then it would be too big."

Sonic made a noise.  "Even for the kids?"

"Oh especially for the kids," she said. "Can you imagine Sonia falling down those stairs?  I sure don't want to."

And then he was gone.

It was almost dinnertime.  Sonia and Manic were playing together in the living room, and Sally had tried to relax with a book.  Tried.  Her nerves were high, because Sonic had disappeared, and it was his turn to cook tonight.  She was going to try calling him again when she heard the roar of an engine outside.

It did not sound like one of their cars.

Opening the door, Sally felt her eyes open like spotlights at what sat in front of her.  Sonic stood, leaning up against a jet-black motorcycle.  Sunglasses sat on his head, and he wore a black leather jacket, and... were those rocketshoes??????

Before she could say anything, her two impressionable young children raced out past her legs, excited and cheering.  

"Dad, when did you get a motorcycle," Sonia shouted, already enamored with the chrome pipes.  

Sonic smiled a goofy smile.  He had doubtlessly planned on smirking, but he was in full dad-mode. "Try five minutes ago, kiddo!  I thought I'd skip to you and Manic's punk phases while I was out today.  

Manic threw up his arms. "I CAN'T WAIT TO BE A PUNK!"

It was then that she spotted the sidecar.  

"Honey," she said, trying not to clench her teeth, "I didn't know you could drive a motorcycle."

Sonic shrugged.  "I'm a fast learner, Sal.  Besides, we've all got our wild sides."  As he spoke, he stepped over to the sidecar, patting its chassis.  "Who wants McDonald's?!"

Later that night, as they stood by their bed, Sally couldn't hold it in.

"Alright, spill."

Sonic cocked his eyebrow. "Spill what?"

"Sonic Maurice Hedgehog, you've been acting strange all day," she shot.  "And your behavior has ranged from obnoxious to mean-spirited.  If I've done something to upset you, I'll apologize, but you don't get to be dodgy with me about stuff just because you feel wronged."

The moment she stopped talking, she felt her eyes tear up a bit.  That was surprising. She hadn't fully realized how much this had been bothering her.  But now that she could give her thoughts material, she felt their weight in full.  

As her eyes and attention refocused, she found Sonic standing as the absolute archetype of shame.  His ears bent back, flush with his head.  His viridian pupils avoided her at all costs.  He swallowed.

"You're right, Sal.  I've been immature.  I'm sorry."

While she now suddenly found it very hard to be mad at him, his apparent guilt didn't erase his earlier behavior.  "Well?  What did I do?"

He sighed.  "Nothing, Sally."

"Sonic, now is not the time to bury it in remorse."

Sonic shook his head.  "No, Sal, you literally didn't do anything.  I... had a dream."

That gave her pause.  The nightmare.  "Last night?"

"Yeah," he said.  He still wasn't looking at her.

"What was it about?"

The hedgehog sat on the bed. "It was... weird.  It was now, but different.  Wrong."  He finally looked up at her.  "You got married to Shadow."

What the fuck?

If Sally had been drinking anything, she'd surely spit it out.  Her?  And Shadow?  She held no feelings of resentment toward him, but really, they weren't even particularly close.  He and Sonic had some odd corn of brotherhood between them, but that was so unconventional that it rarely led to any sort of quality time.  But her?  And Shadow the Hedgehog?  He'd lost her there.

Sally sat down next to her husband.  At first, she tried to choose her words carefully.  But she was tired, and soon gave up. "Well that certainly is one wild dream.  Of all our friends, Shadow lands very far down the list of people I'd enjoy sharing a home with."

Sonic shrugged.  "Well, you both were there.  And you lived in the palace.  And you didn't have any kids.  And he wears the royal cape really well."  He looked at her. "You're... happy here, right?"

Sally met his eyes with hers.  She'd be the first to admit that her history with the man next to her had been tumultuous. But, in the end, it made what they had stronger.  "When you're not being an ass in a mid-life crisis, yes."  She cupped his face in her hand, and his own came up to cover it.  "I am very happy."  

She took a breath.  "Sonic, there's no part of me that regrets what we have.  You are my closest friend. I decided to marry you, I decided to live outside the palace, and I decided to have kids. If I wanted a 'bad boy,' I'd have tried literally anyone except for you."  

And Ken, she thought, who would probably have run himself over on that bike.  "You are my husband because I decided to say yes.  And I am happy here."

Sonic smiled at her, and for a good while, they sat together, heads leaning against one another as they basked in the soft light of their bedside lamps.  

"Can I keep the motorcycle?"

She thought.  "Only if you take me for a ride."

[wetsteve3]

c1906 Zenith Bi-Car Motorcycle -Zenith Motorcycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer established in London in 1903, which briefly also made cars in 1905 and 1906. The first Zenith motorcycle was the 'BiCar' of 1903, which was based on the Tooley Bi-Car design, purchased by Zenith for its own production. In an era when motorcycles were fundamentally little more than bicycles with engines crudely fitted into the frame, the BiCar was a unique, indeed revolutionary, design. It had a novel frame, with the main tube running from the rear wheel spindle along with the machine, round the front wheel and back again. Under this, on each side, ran a second tube to carry the weight of the rider and the engine, which was hung from joints to eliminate vibration. It had hub centre steering, so there were no front forks as such - the handlebars were connected to the wheel axle by stays. The engine was a centrally mounted air-cooled 3hp 400cc Fafnir (from Germany) with a free-engine clutch and Watawata belt drive to the rear wheel, which had a drum brake. 

The engine featured either a Longuemare or Binks carburettor, trembler coil, a two-speed epicyclic gearbox, a Brooks saddle and sat on Clincher tyres. The Zenith BiCar evolved year-on-year and by 1907 had a saddle supported by its own subframe, with a curved tube and uprights going down to the rear, a larger tubed mainframe, and a larger fuel tank. Zenith evolved its subsequent designs along more conventional lines as the years passed and enjoyed a great deal of competition success, particularly at the Brooklands racetrack. In 1914 the factory moved to larger premises at the old East Moseley Mill near Weybridge, Surrey. In WW1, the factory turned its attention to commercial sidecar outfits, before picking up its racing and endurance trial activities after the war. Precision, Villiers, Bradshaw, Martlett, British Anzani, Fafnir, and JAP engines were all used in various Zenith models until, in 1931, Zenith declared bankruptcy due to the Great Depression. 'Writers of Kennington', a principal Zenith dealer, purchased the name and restarted production at the Hampton Court factory in Surrey but World War II interrupted production again, and Zenith finally ceased production in 1950

[thenichibro]

[oh-those-ocean-eyes]

[ukaiknowsbest]

Review: Two Car

After years of watching just sports anime with boys I've become increasingly bored with every new release. My main problem is that the tropes among animes are just recycled over and over again. Moreover I have developed an aversion to being able to identify male voice actors across different works. Watching animes have sometimes turned into a "guess the voice actor" game with myself and eventually I hated it.

Therefore, since 2021 I have started watching sports anime that feature girls.

Anyhow the first anime I'm reviewing is called Two Car [CONTAINS SPOILERS]

Setup

Highschool girls. I forgot what year they're in. They live on this island where racing is a Thing. Their school is a powerhouse for sidecar racing. And sidecar racing enthusiasts all over japan go there and hang out. Basically their whole island is a sidecar racetrack. Their culture revolves around it. Yuri Miyata and Megumi Meguro are the best highschool racers in their island, and also in japan.

The team is composed of these 2 athletes, 2 technicians and their coach. Before the series started, their coach left them to pursue his dreams of being a pro racer in the Isle of Man in England. He could leave the girls behind coz they were already skilled af and they had a local lady coach who could handle things. Now Yuri and Megumi may be partners but they are also rivals. They want to beat each other guts. Think momoshiro and kaido from prince of tennis. They work quite well together coz they're so competitive with each other.

Now make no mistake, Sidecar Racing is an extreme and dangerous sport. People legit die from this irl. The trust between pairs (a driver and passenger) is important because they need to balance each other AND the vehicle or else they'll steer off-course and crash (and then die).

From what I remember, this 12-episode anime focuses on the national competition in sidecar racing. Therefore the best pairs all over japan have come to the island to be the national champion. 5 other female sidecar pairs are introduced. For some reason, the drivers and the passengers are housed separately, but the pairs train and plan together.

The anime follows the histories and conflicts of each pair as they all practice to get used to the race track. This culminates to the final battle at the end of the series.

My Rating: 3/5 -the plot is pretty meh. I was honestly curious about how it will unfold though. The characters are weird and meta af, combine that with girl power and "female flavor" (for lack of better word), it's a different POV on things honestly.

Art and Animation

It's pretty decent ngl. I enjoyed watching the racing sequences and how the sidecar pairs moved while operating the vehicles. It is smooth and the colors are pretty.

Technicality

I'm not into vehicles but there were technical aspects discussed. Modifications and etc. are often shown and you can see how the characters manipulate the different parts of the vehicle (like clutch and accelerator handling, etc.) Techniques to improve speed and handle curves/bumps are also briefly explained among other stuff. I dont know how realistic or legal some of the stuff they're doing tho so..watch with a grain of salt. XD

Characters

I'd say the characters were interesting. The main characters aren't beginners and are smh treated as pros even in their own island. So you dont get that "dumb beginner idiot with freaky abilities vs loner genius" partnership that is so common and overused in shonen series.

It's refreshing to see adults enjoy the same sport too and they also help the characters.

next part is under cut because [spoilers]

The MC's rivalry is honestly so..uh...petty and icky if you think about it. Both of them got this crush on their coach (help me pls) and they want to defeat each other to become their coach's partner in the sport. It's honestly so childish? but also reminded me of CLAMP/CCS bullsht and if I survived CLAMP then this plot point is basically peanuts.

They have healthy competition tho. Both of them grew up together (childhood friends) and developed love for the sport together because their moms were the og teammates. (yeah their parents participation and love for the sport is a big thing in this series).

The other character pairs are interesting too:

announcers

twins

master-servant

lesbians (like legit sailor neptune and uranus type)

osaka girls

and etc.

Each had their own drama and they resolved it within the series.

Realism

Honestly this show is more meta than sport. Like... it's not for casual viewing. I remember there was some deep psychological issue which the twin pair portrayed. There's a lot of drama okay? HOWEVER!!! I've only been exposed to Shonen type of drama (like the USTs and hero complexes) so whatever Two Car had was unique to me!! Girls are really written differently. It easily reminded me of my interactions with fellow girls (albiet more extreme).

Fanservice

They are always shown to be in the onsen after every practice day but honestly it doesnt count as fanservice. Only their busts are shown.

You'll have to get used to shots of the butt especially in sequences of the passenger manuevering the vehicle tho. I guaranteet that there is no excessive boob action sequences and other sht.

Look I have seen stuff over the years and since this show didn't provide see-through-shirt stuff, Two Car is "fine" in my books.

HOWEVER There is a dream sequence (one of the characters dream stuff up) which is straight up bdsm (i think that's in ep 6). NGL I dropped this show for a while because of that but hah it's honestly just a few dreams for one episode.

I TOLD YOU THIS SHOW IS META ALREADY.

Final Notes

Would I recommend this show? Honestly...no. But watching this was an Experience. Against the highly sanitized world of shonen anime, it's an interesting change of pace.

First of all, in girls sports, there is a lot of casual skinship because it's normal and comfortable. And there is more communication. Maybe it's a writing flaw that conflicts aren't as dragged out but idk, we dont have a lot of decent female sports anime to see what really works. Because I am often frustrated with how slow burn most shonen are, seeing characters resolve conflicts BY TALKING IT OUT is the most rewarding experience.

Honestly I really had fun watching the whole thing. The ending made me want to flip tables tho but the rest was quite enjoyable.

Personally I think ppl have more freedom in writing girls/women. There is just so much you can do with them.

you can see my live reactions in this twitter thread lmao