#ultimately enabling their respective gremlins

[turneverybodyintopuppets]

Guess the Side!

- Random outbursts that you can’t help but chuckle at

- Snacks on an inedible compound, much to everyone else’s dismay

- Enthusiastically condones felonies

- Employs wordplay to make dirty jokes

- Has a dapper BFF who is Very Exasperated but accepting of his antics

- Has canonically committed arson

- Temporarily grows big enough to pick up other characters with a single hand

- More specifically, grows into a frog

- It’s Patton, not Remus

- God I love that they’re lowkey very similar

- Let them be chaotic together, Tomathy

[perkynurples]

... May I ask you about the slow excruciating progression from Meng Yao to Jiggy?

also paging @holdmycaffeine and @cadencekismet, who asked me for the very same, and @acutebird-fics, who is my partner in crime deep philosophical discussions about these characters, and a great deal of this messy essay is informed by those

Tl;dr: JGY is a multifaceted character and the author struggles not to lose her mind trying to find the right words to describe that. Literally every single point of this rant is up for discussion, begging for it even, so please don’t hesitate to engage me, but, like... tomorrow, maybe. After I sleep it off.

Meta I used or referenced: THIS ONE explaining how JGS deciding to give him the name GuangYao is all kinds of wrong | THIS ONE talking about the red bindi-like Jin forehead dots, among other things | THIS ONE about his capacity for evil and his own recognition thereof

-

Alright, without any fancy preamble, here goes. Honestly, whenever I think about JGY for more than three seconds, it becomes painfully evident that there are two wolves inside me at all times - one wants to spend tens of thousands of words exploring his narrative, his choices, his abilities and his failings, his capacity for violence as well as his capacity for love...

And the other one just likes to call him a gremlin in chief in a fancy hat, and doesn’t want to go much further than that. I’m going to try and feed them both.

The thing that pisses me off about Meng Yao is just. The fact that he doesn’t stay Meng Yao, and we get to watch it happen in slow motion. You get a tiny little twink-ass kid who suddenly finds himself adopted into the Nie by the Sect Leader himself, and this is Meng Yao, the son of one of Jin Guangshan’s many mistresses, who doesn’t have a whole lot going for him aside from that, at that moment - his cultivation, weak. His opportunities, nonexistent. His dick, small. His political savvy, only just starting to show itself.

And this guy gets the chance of a lifetime presented to him on a Qinghe-silver platter. Like, we can argue about book canon and try and decide if he did anything at all to make NMJ notice him, but show canon makes it all the more hilarious (again, please refer to this gem of a post for a level of humor I’m sorely incapable of) - you’re seventeen, and the Batman of the cultivation world picks you up and elevates your status across swathes of societal norms, to a level you previously could have only dreamed of.

It’s interesting to me to try and imagine if this was the moment that Meant Something - in the grand scope of things, of course it did, because it started MY on the road to JGY, but also to Meng Yao personally, in terms of what he believed he could comfortably achieve. I do not for a second believe he started out wanting to murder people to reach his goal, or that he even had a good goal to begin with - being accepted by his father, maybe. Murdering the (at the time) greatest villain in the world, becoming a renowned spy, landing an incredibly beneficial sworn brotherhood, et cetera et cetera? I mean, the kid has wet dreams, but no way do they reach this far at this point in his life.

But so many things about him are unclear. Show canon changes his timeline, in that he met NMJ before he met Lan Xichen, and even accompanied NHS to the Cloud Recesses. Either way, his stint with the Nie is incredibly personally important to him. I firmly believe he loved and admired them, in his own way. He certainly flourished under NMJ’s tutelage and approval, but in the end, his motivations, his entire raison d’etre, clashed with NMJ’s too much. To Meng Yao, who’d gotten kicked down those infamous Koi Tower stairs for daring to ask for his father’s attention, murdering a guy for slandering him and his mother was a natural outcome of being slandered his entire life, and finally having had enough - to NMJ, it was unforgivable.

But this still isn’t where Meng Yao becomes Jin Guangyao, and it begs the goddamn question - how much of what JGY was perfectly willing and capable of doing to stay in power, had been present in Meng Yao that entire time? You see him make excuses that someone who isn’t NMJ, with his incredibly staunch morals and black-and-white view of the world, might have even accepted, but instinctively, you know - making excuses is just how it’s going to be with this guy.

Because Meng Yao, as well as Jin Guangyao, lies, and he is damn good at it. He is so good at it, that he lies his way to the very top of the Wen, all the way to Wen Ruohan’s side. His lying is what enables him to become Jin Guangyao. And like any good liar, he doesn’t only lie to the people around him - he also lies to himself.

And I can’t blame him, because - been there. Lying to yourself becomes absolutely necessary, when you want to keep everyone else around you believing in a mask you wear. You need to start believing it, at least a little bit, at least sometimes, for it to work.

At this point, you’re probably wondering - but Annie, what about the time he spent a year sheltering Lan Xichen? Did he lie then? Was he not just Meng Yao, a poor but cunning bookkeeper, then? I’m getting there, I swear. Slowly and in a roundabout sort of way, because honestly, I don’t know how I can start talking about the LXC of it all, without it turning into a novel.

Because whichever way you twist it, whatever canon you choose to follow, one constant remains - A-Yao’s feelings for Lan Xichen. I’m deliberately not calling him Meng Yao or Jin Guangyao, because it’s these feelings that divide the two, but also ultimately unify them, fatally so. But we’ll get there.

In one version of events, Meng Yao travels to Cloud Recesses at the behest of NMJ, and falls in love with a statue made of jade there. In another version of events, they meet during something LXC only describes as ‘the shame of a lifetime’. Both of those events lead to Meng Yao sheltering LXC, hiding him, saving his life and those precious Gusu Lan texts.

Whatever version of events you choose to see as the right one, one other truth also remains - Lan Xichen offers freely and without asking that which Meng Yao has had to struggle to attain, that which has been denied to him time and time again, based only on the circumstances of his birth: respect. Lan Xichen never looks down on him, never brings up his origins, and instead extends him respect and dignity in a way only he is capable of - no fucking wonder Meng Yao admires him. No fucking wonder, when this amazing guy, this perfect pristine handsome number one young cultivator, looks at him, smiles at him, and actually sees him, son of a whore or not.

No fucking wonder Meng Yao loves him, and Jin Guangyao continues loving him. No fucking wonder he never means to hurt him, but does so anyway.

But here’s the thing - lying to yourself to make things work only gets you so far. Do I think Meng Yao spends restless nights in cold sweat dreading who he’s becoming, thinking about all the lives he’s taken to further his goals? Absolutely not. Do I think he does good things, often even great things, because it helps him feel better about himself? Do I think he both loves Xichen and keeps him around because it’s beneficial to him, having the Lan Sect Leader in his pocket, but also personally speaking, having someone who so firmly believes in the goodness in him? You bet your overly adorned murderhat I do.

And frankly, reducing Jin Guangyao to one or the other - coldblooded murderer or a man plagued by his own insecurities, helpless and trying to be kind in a world that’s so evidently against him - is doing a character like him a huge disservice. You have to consider all sides, if you want to truly understand him. Hell, I myself am by no means claiming to truly understand him! He pisses me off daily, and I’m writing this stream-consciousness-y thing because he simply won’t shut up in my head.

This kid makes Choices, and here’s the catch - he doesn’t regret a whole lot of them. If anything, I’d like to think he regrets going along with his father’s plans for so fucking long before finally realizing that avenue won’t bring him what he seeks. Killing Jin Guangshan, by the way? Very sexy of him, that I’ll admit. Guy was a pig.

But even the obviously Good Choices he makes? Building those damn watchtowers? Letting Mo Xuanyu stay at Koi Tower? Seating Qin Su by his side at that same throne where his shitty father entertained concubine after concubine? (Frankly, please make up your own mind as to whether he was lying or telling the truth about learning about Qin Su being his sister before or after they’d consummated their marriage, I’m choosing to believe that he hadn’t known.)

How much of it really happens out of the goodness of his own heart, and how much of it happens because he wants to improve his own reputation, kintsugi away the minuscule cracks in his own image until he’s once again a perfect picture of Jin gold? Is he himself even capable of telling the difference, recognizing where his good intentions end and his desire to look out for number one begins? When you spend so much time crafting your own perfect mask, in your own head as well as others’, the lines blur real fast.

I think ultimately, he craves respect as much as he does pity, and those two never mesh well - the cultivation world never truly accepts him, his father certainly never truly accepts him, but Jin Guangyao is not Wei Wuxian, he can’t just look at all of these perceived injustices and slights, all of this gossip and slander, and say ‘Whatever’. No, Meng Yao takes one look at the world standing against him so very vehemently, and decides to fight it, fight tooth and nail for his place in it, until he comes out Jin Guangyao on the other side, gilded and pristine, ascending the stairs of Jinlintai to exact his revenge on anyone who dares not accept him.

The Guanyin Temple, in a way, is a perfect little vignette of his character - we observe him wildly oscillating between seeking out the aforementioned respect and pity, confessing boldly and laughing loudly one second, and pleading on his knees and clutching onto Lan Xichen’s robe the next. To him, that night, and everything leading up to it, is a series of footholds - the ground begins crumbling under his feet when he learns of the letter, and he has to act fast. 

He buys himself time, excuse after excuse, thinking on his feet, and here’s the thing - he’s not necessarily the best at that. Anymore. Up until that point, until the letter and Qin Su and WWX turning up, everything is going according to plan, and his plan at this point is, frankly, correct me if I’m wrong, sitting pretty at the top of his golden tower and making sure the truth about him never comes to light, which... Well, we all know the truth has a nasty way of coming around when it’s least convenient for you. 

And I think Jin Guangyao (not Meng Yao) is, at that point, unused to being inconvenienced. Everything he ever does, he calculates, he twists the public opinion of himself, he twists individual people’s opinions of himself, to suit him - nothing unexpected ever happens anymore, because he’s played the game long enough to foresee most things. Nie Huaisang beats him at that same game, not because he has a huge plan spanning decades of his own, but because he’s good at improvising, kicking the hornet’s nest and then knowing where to direct the fallout - but that is another essay all of its own waiting to happen.

For now, I feel like I need to wrap this up before I lose my mind. Personally (and please feel free to challenge me on this any time), I don’t feel like there’s a single defining moment, or even a handful of them, traumatic or otherwise, that irrevocably turns Meng Yao into Jin Guangyao. Sure, being kicked down the literal stairs leading to a better place for you a handful of times will have you feeling some kind of way. Sure, serving a maniacal warlord while playing an impossibly high-stakes game of spy poker will leave a mark or two. Sure, your sworn brother spitting in your face the very insults you’ve been hearing your whole life and never learned to shake off, will make one more vestige of patience inside you irrevocably crumble to smithereens. But.

Your whole life, you work very, very hard. You know to put your head down and get your hands dirty, but you also know that sometimes, the best way out of a hairy situation is turning on those puppy eyes and appearing just a smidgen weaker, a smidgen more frightened and helpless, than you actually are. And if, when you actually tell the truth and people still don’t believe you, lying becomes easier, becomes, eventually, so easy it feels as natural as breathing? Well. Might as well use that particular skillset to sneak your way through a war, am I right? Might as well use it to build yourself a nest among the very vultures who resent you, and whom you resent, and make sure that they have to respect you.

In the end, to me? Jin Guangyao is the guy who jumps from person to person, from callout to very personal callout, there in the Guanyin Temple, just to stall for time, just to regain some sort of foothold in the situation - he’s the guy who probably views losing an arm as a necessary sacrifice, shakes it off and still gets to work from there.

Meng Yao is the guy who wants to take his mother with, and who asks Lan Xichen the one question he’s dreaded knowing the answer to his entire life - not ‘will you stay and die with me?’, but the one that hides beyond that.

Is this what devotion is? Respect? Love? Is there, at this moment in time, enough of all of those things in your heart that you will, in fact, stay and die with me?

When Lan Xichen says yes, without words but still loudly enough to be understood without a doubt, Meng Yao is relieved, while Jin Guangyao is vindicated.

When Lan Xichen says yes, neither version of A-Yao needs to hear any more than that - the seventeen-year-old boy shooting a shot way above his station and loving a statue made of jade, who wants Lan Xichen to survive, and the man wearing the wrong name and the title of the first Chief Cultivator of his generation, who wants Lan Xichen to live with the weight of all his mistakes and misgivings, are both, for once, in accord. They’re both happy, and they both make that final push to save him.

In conclusion, if there even is one to this jumble of random thoughts... Jin Guangyao and Meng Yao are one and the same. Aspects of one can be found in the other, but neither feels remorse about his choices. Both of them, in turn, are capable of amazing things. Both of them are, in fact, capable of decidedly horrible things. One builds a wall around the other so thick, so impenetrable, you only catch glimpses, and only the ones he allows you to see. One learns very quickly that vulnerability is dangerous, unless employed proactively, and the other one perfects the craft.

Both of them believe they are perfectly justified in their actions. Both of them believe their own line of reasoning, their own excuses. Both of them want to be loved, for very different reasons, or for the very same ones, at the end of the day.

Both of them aspire to greatness, Meng Yao some vague idea of it instilled in him by his mother teaching him to believe his own worth, Jin Guangyao a more concrete vision of it, always one step ahead, one step higher up those gilded stairs. Both of them are willing to excuse a whole lot to reach it, too.

And when Jin Guangyao finally stands in Koi Tower, properly this time, wearing that coveted golden peony, wearing that red zhushazhi and a much nicer version of the hat his mother always told him to wear, but also wearing the wrong fucking name, one that barely gives him a spot in the family he belongs to by blood?

All he needs to do is take one look in the mirror to see Meng Yao staring back, always there with him, always ready to remind him where he came from. He’s seventeen years old, and he just buried his mother, and somewhere out there, the rest of his life awaits. His smile is all dimples, and that, too, they have in common.

Time to get to work, Meng Yao suggests, and Jin Guangyao agrees.

[a-crimson-lion]

My Thoughts On Chapter 257 and Why I Think The Bakudeku Dynamic Is Still Fundamentally Broken

[Spoilers and Bakugo-Bashing ahead. Long post. Avoid if you don't want to see.]

Look, I can kind of see why people enjoy the idea of Izuku and Katsuki making up and being friends again after all the crap Katsuki did. Honestly, if Horikoshi had set it up right, I might have been rooting for them, too. Of course, I don't root for it, because I don't see much improvement in the dynamic, especially on Katsuki's part.

Before I get started, remember: if you like the dynamic between Izuku and Bakugo, that's fine. This post probably isn't for you, and that's fine, too. I'm not writing this post to attack anyone personally, but if you feel offended, feel free to ignore this post and go about your day. I'd like it if we could be respectful of one another's opinions. Sound good? Good.

Now, let's begin...

So the big thing in this chapter (257 chapters, dear God...) is that we're finally learning a bit more about the OFA Holders. For starters, we now know the Black Whip user's name: Banjo Daigoro (heads up, the "Go (五)" in Daigoro means "Five," continuing the trend of OFA Holders having their wielder number in their names). We've also learned that Nana's Quirk was "Float" or "Levitation," which makes a lot of sense.

(I mean, Flight is one of the most iconic superpowers besides super strength, and since Nana is Izuku's metaphorical grandmother, it's incredible for her to be using such a by the book super power. Plus, it only compliments her friendship with Gran Torino, another hero with a flight Quirk.)

I'm rambling at this point. As intriguing as the Quirks of the previous holders is, my attention (as well as other readers' attention) was pulled towards Katsuki. Most say that the relationship between Katsuki and Izuku was adorable in this chapter. Others say Katsuki was a gremlin, but they still love him for it.

Well, pardon my pessimism, but if I'm using the phrase right, it looks like I'm gonna be playing devil's advocate.

[Keep in mind, the official translations haven't dropped yet, so this might screw up my analysis a bit.]

There's another meeting about OFA between Izuku, Toshinori, and of course Katsuki. Toshinori talks a bit about how he couldn't find everything for the previous holders, and what does Katsuki say?

If you don't know it then just leave it at that, I'm waisting my precious time on you guys.

There are a handful of other rude/passive-aggressive ways Katsuki could have phrased that. He could have made it sound like "That's nice and all, but could we skip to the important stuff?" But no, even though this information is crucial to Izuku, even though Katsuki has every right to just stay out of the room since the conversation won't benefit him, he says they're wasting his "precious time." Once again, Katsuki is being self-centered, but that isn't anything new.

A little later, Katsuki is taking a loom at the notebook, and he remarks that all the Quirks Izuku got must have been lame. Katsuki is immediately writing the Quirks off just because they aren't upfront with their badassery. Izuku appreciates all Quirks because he wasn't born with one, but Katsuki only appreciates strong Quirks because that's what society and his own self image have taught him up to this point.

Think of it this way: A man with diamonds can't understand why a man is happy with silver, but a man with nothing understands the value of both.

Katsuki's Quirk is admittedly versatile and efficient, and I can respect the work he put into it. However, immediately dissing less flashy Quirk's might be his downfall. Characters like Sir Nighteye don't have "powerful" Quirks, but are still capable adversaries thanks to how they use them in tandem with their other abilities. Foresight might not be a powerful Quirk in a fight, but Nighteye's own strategy, deceivingly ripped physique, and his high-density stamps help round him out as a capable opponent. We've seen Izuku utilize Black Whip in ways which can be definitely declared badass. Even Nana's Quirk can be used in incredible ways, especially considering Izuku's strategy and relentnesses.

Speaking of Nana's Quirk, here comes the part I hate the most...

Lots of readers talk about how Katsuki and Izuku's dynamic has grown a lot since their middle school days. That's not to say the statement isn't true, because there has been some growth, but I feel like most of it is exaggerated. Katsuki and Izuku haven't had an introspection (or at least a meaningful one) on themselves where they've come to grips with their faults and have vowed to change for the better. Izuku doesn't stop to think that maybe Katsuki shouldn't have treated him the way he did since they were kids, because Izuku's more concerned about heroism, mastering OFA, and (ugh) proving to Katsuki that he'll surpass him, being his image of victory. Katsuki hasn't really thought about his actions aside from that one time after the Provisional License Exams that ultimately amounted to nothing. It's been said time and time again by several in the fandom that Katsuki hasn't really changed, and for as much growth (or lack thereof) as he's had throughout the entire course of the series, the statement is not without merit. Case and point: the very first thing Katsuki spits out to Izuku when All Might reveals Nana's Quirk?

I WON!

He's more concerned about his own image and pride then about Izuku's progress. He's already got flight down, so instead of leaving it at that or (highly unlikely) offering to help Izuku figure out the whole flight thing, he decides it's a great thing that Izuku will waste his time learning something Katsuki already knows so Katsuki can make sure he can beat Izuku yet again. He's not adding anything to the conversation, and while Izuku isn't personally bothered, Katsuki's next words are not okay, even if they're relatively tame.

Before you tell me that Katsuki is just trying to encourage Izuku or something like that along those lines, let's take a look at their proceeding dialogue:

T-that's not true! I'll just master it and catch up to you!!

You're just going to panic again! Explode and go to Hell!

Buy I managed to get the gist of Blackwhip, so...

DIE!!

No hesitation...!

...Katsuki is not being encouraging in any way, shape, or form. He's being discouraging; in spite of Izuku's protest, Katsuki insists that Izuku is going to crash and burn once more. Never mind that Izuku isn't bothered by it, what Katsuki is saying is not okay. No one can be the best but him, so no one can improve... including Izuku. Forget about Izuku's previous feats, forget the fact that he learned to use the base Quirk without damaging himself AND a second Quirk in less than a year. As long as Katsuki can pull ahead, stupid Deku won't be able to catch up and he'll prove that he'll forever be the best.

...can you feel my frustration with this character?

And then there are the panels where Izuku looks like he reading the journal, and Katsuki is making a gremlin face while make the "kill" gesture across his neck, and All Might's looking at it like it's something precious. Other people called this scene adorable, but for me, it only proves that Katsuki hasn't changed and WHY he hasn't changed. He still treats Izuku as someone lesser instead of as an equal; he might not be Quirkless anymore, but for Katsuki, Izuku just another extra to surpass. And then Izuku tries to be civil with Katsuki, but... the boy really does not care about him. And then people like All Might don't know the full depth of their relationship and consider this a massive improvement, and see no reason to confront Katsuki or Izuku about their issues.

Seriously, the narrative is so contrived in Katsuki's favor, I'm losing hope that Horikoshi will ever try to fix it properly.

And before you give me Izuku's whole spiel about:

I never thought the day would come where I could speak so naturally with Kacchan.

NARRATORS! CAN! BE! BIASED!!!

Just because Izuku is the protagonist and overall honest does not mean his views/relationship with Katsuki are ultimately well. I'm not saying he's an unreliable narrator, since he hasn't really gone to Delusion City as he's told us the story, but it's very clear that he doesn't give Katsuki's actions too much thought. Him suddenly being able to talk casually with Katsuki is not a major feat: EVERYONE ELSE can casually talk to Katsuki just as well even if his personality is, quoting Denki, "flaming crap mixed with sewage." At this point, I'm just tuning out all the times the narrative tries to claim that Izuku is completely mentally sound, or that Katsuki has made significant progress.

You can keep shouting it from every roof top you want to, but unless you're showing CONSISTENCY, you're not showing substance.

So, TL;DR This chapter continues to push the Bakudeku rival dynamic while instead showing how Katsuki has ultimately barely changed and is continually enabled by other characters and the narrative to continue his behavior because virtually everyone around him has an abnormally high tolerance for his bulls***.

That's all I can write right now. Thank you for reading.

-Crimson Lion (18 January 2020)

[daisanokensha]

i really admire your characterization so i was curious about your take/thoughts on mikoto's ptsd?

OOF SORRY this is late and idk if you still wanna read this anon but... you flatter me haha... i’ll gladly(?) offer my two scents but im warning you it’s been a while

sooooo obviously i agree that mikoto’s extremely depressed but generally speaking i’d say i’m not a fan of takes that claim he developed ptsd from the crater incident. i respect them but i think the crater’s more of an echo of the actual issue considering mikoto revisited the edge of it with his grandpa often enough to make a habit out of going for a swim which reisi thought was very bizarre and tasteless when he saw a dripping wet mikoto emerge out of the water (THIS IS A DISASTER SITE MIKOTO) BUT LIKE that's neither here nor there bc mikoto suoh is a) notoriously disrespectful and b) has no problem wrecking public property. destruction isn’t his issue per se

i personally think the problem lies within his impulse control and/or lack thereof as it becomes a big thing later on in the series. people tend to throw a bunch of buzzwords around but fact still remains that he’s always been a pretty laid-back guy who grew up in an environment that practically enabled him to pick up certain habits (used to work as a bodyguard, lives in a bar etc). i don’t rly expect much from sb who’s never been told no as a child or that he can’t overindulge bc there’s... no such person in his life to take on that role (his parents are dead, his grandpa too). he didn’t develop his bad habits due to his ptsd (re: smoking, drinking, sleeping), his ptsd just amplified them. sure, he can control himself to a certain extent, but the second he’s given an incentive, he’ll take advantage of it.

but like. mikoto’s a good kid (as confirmed by honami). he’s doing well in school and, as honami mentioned, she firmly believes he could become anything  career-wise if he just set his mind on it. he just doesn’t want to. everyone’s got all of these expectations they project onto him while mikoto’s just over here honest to god vibing. yes, he gets into fights, but don't poke the bear and expect it to lie still, y’know? i’d also get sick of constantly dodging people that, seemingly for no reason whatsoever, won’t get off my ass. no, mikoto’s the type to ignore an issue until it goes away, but if it doesn’t, if it persists and gets in the way of his lifestyle or negatively impacts people he cares about etc, he gets violent.

(speaking of friends and people he cares about: i don’t rly think he’s got trouble making friends. he just doesn’t give a shit. people (good And bad) flock to him so effortlessly, but it’s clear that they have to put in the effort to actually stick around bc mikoto certainly doesn’t bother. they come and go, and it’s like he said: if kusanagi suddenly decided that he hated mikoto and/or didn’t wanna hang w him anymore, he wouldn’t resent him for that decision. he gets it.)

and that basically brings us to the actual problem. he’s got money, friends (for the first time in his life!), he’s doing whatever he wants etc etc all this free time to waste and money to blow basically. how does taking all of that away impact his life? extremely negatively. the slate chooses him. he’s suddenly confronted with the fact that he’s got way more responsibility than he can handle when his life has always, always, always consisted of him just doing whatever. he’s got more power than he can handle that, if he’s not careful, can and will kill his friends. people outside of his close circle suddenly look up to him for no reason other than said power that, on top of everything else, is actively destroying his body. he’s taking care of a child at his age that constantly invades his privacy (to a point where she shares his messed up dreams with him) and we know that mikoto’s an extremely private person. it’s bad. he doesn’t like it. he prefers what he’s built with izumo and totsuka. it’s small and intimate, but they understand him. 

it never works out the way he wants.

but yeah. i just think there are so many different factors that ultimately led to his depression and ptsd that weren’t necessarily all “this guy likes to smoke and drink he must be depressed”. the most important thing has always been the absence of freedom (and consequently, his right to decide for himself), so to end this post with a couple of important things:

- mikoto knows he’s got poor impulse control and an easily addictive personality. it’s a Big struggle, but for all the wrong reasons: he doesn’t want to give up his life for the sake of others, but he has to. he feels like he does, too, at this point - people are suddenly telling him what to do? the cops are constantly on his ass? - he can’t go out anymore without attracting some kind of trouble. becoming the next red king directly put a target on his back and put him on the radar (remember, he likes his peace). they’re, by association, painted as the most violent clan. the bad eggs, and there are several, don’t really do anything to improve homra’s image. mikoto accepts it, albeit defiantly. he stays indoors as much as he can. overthinking everything makes him spiral, makes him angry and depressed, so he sleeps - people come to him to join his clan. it’s growing exponentially. the burden’s getting heavier. they’re good people, but a rowdy bunch. it weighs on his shoulders. he’s never been in this position. how can he keep them all safe? why does he have to? he just wants to live - he distances himself. not too much, but some days are unbearable. his bad mood affects them all. they know something’s up, but he can’t explain. doesn’t want to. so he stays away, because it’s easier - lapses of self-control, lack of sleep. the dreams he experiences aren’t his, but they’re vivid and terrible. he’s not there when it unfolds - he comes to once it’s all over, when the dust has barely settled, hands charred, sweating. it’s a reminder that if he gives in and lets it consume him, he will turn into that monster

also it’s not the first time i read this but the poor hygiene part always throws me off bc mikoto showers and styles his hair every morning. anna even tried to document a day in the life, so ??? where’s this coming from??? did i miss smth? who told you guys mikoto’s a nasty little gremlin

[fantabulosogamedev]

Barkwursts and Kickstarter Info!

Hey everyone!  Got a bunch of stuff to talk about in this post, so let’s get rolling!  If you aren’t already on the discord, I’d recommend joining it by clicking this link.  This is by far the best way to get in touch with me and keep track of development.

Barkwursts

Around 2-3 years ago, during The Fantabulous Game’s development, I announced the existence of Spheredogs.  These dogs would serve a similar purpose to Jinjos, giving Capboy a sausage if he collects them all in a level.  Initially made as a reference to the original Le Fantabulous Game, I’ve decided to change that plan.  After all, the new Spheredog design wasn’t even a sphere, but rather more of a sausage with legs!  So, I present to you:  Barkwursts!

(left-to-right: Tico, Cosmo, Jim, Goobert, Eyedog)

Barkwursts are the exact same as Spheredogs were in TFG, just with a new name.  Though they aren’t designed as of right now, Spheredogs will be returning as small, kickable, gremlin-esque Spherefriends -- just as they were back in the very first iteration of Le Fantabulous Game.  The Sausage rewards will be doled out by a new character, interested in collecting Barkwursts to help his own Quest for Sausage...

(fanart by ZackTheNerd)

The first new Capkin design in Fantaria’s history, I present to you: Ecapresu, the Farmer!  Living in Home Sausage, Ecapresu uses Barkwursts to help facilitate his peaceful harvest of Sausages.  To thank Capboy for bringing Barkwursts to him, Ecapresu shares a portion of his harvest with Capboy.  Additionally, Capboy will be able to learn more about his own species from Ecapresu, as well as get information on the Barkwursts that he has brought.

(kickstarter art by Scandre)

The aspect of Barkwursts that I’m the most excited about, however, is their integration into the Kickstarter.  The Barkwursts you see above are actually created by members on the testing team, hence their fantastically varied designs!  Also named by these testers, these fellas will serve as the five Barkwursts found in Fantaria’s demo level.  On that note, I’d like to move on to talk about the Kickstarter’s stretch goals and reward tiers!

Kickstarter Reward Tiers

Fantaria: The Quest for Sausage is going to have a variety of reward tiers, focusing on digital rewards.  Every tier has its own title in the credits, and your name will be listed alongside all of your creations (if you’re okay with it!) in the credits as well.  I won’t be going into incredible depth on all of them here, but here’s a quick lowdown:

$5: Coolfriend. Have your name put in the credits, and receive a wallpaper pack.  Every further tier has the wallpaper pack as well!

$15: Digital copy of the game on release.

Backerfriend title in credits.

$25: Deluxe copy of the game on release.  In addition to the game, this features the soundtrack and access to (potential, not guaranteed!) DLC released in the future.  Every tier beyond this point also has the deluxe edition of the game.

Deluxe Backerfriend title in credits

$60: Design-a-Spherefriend.  Similar to the build-a-spherefriend tool I released many years ago, design a Spherefriend NPC by choosing color, size, name, and customized headwear.  Also, you can name your spherefriend, pick a combat unit archetype, and write a small dialogue blurb to be translated into Spherespeak!  

Designerfriend title in credits.

$120: Design-a-Barkwurst.  With much more freedom than Spherefriend designs, you can have your own Barkwurst design put into the game, along with a name and a bio!  As seen with the example 5 above, Barkwurst designs have a lot of freedom, so this will be your chance to really get creative.

Dogfriend title in credits.

$150: Designer Dogfriend.  Design both a Spherefriend and a Barkwurst!  The next two reward tiers give you these privileges as well.

Designer Dogfriend title in credits.

$300: Design-an-NPC!  This tier will let you get your own unique NPC design into the game, with at least one encounter in one of the games’ levels.  Note that due to the larger universe impact of a proper NPC, some restrictions will apply -- see below.  

Deluxe Designerfriend title in credits

$600: Design-a-boss!  This tier will let you design your own unique boss encounter for Capboy and Friendwoman to face, featuring its own unique fighting style, difficulty, arena, personality, and rewards upon defeat!   Note that due to the larger universe impact of a full bossfight, some restrictions will apply -- see below.  

Ultimate Designerfriend title in credits.

Kickstarter Reward Limitations

To help make sure Fantaria: tQfS is a cohesive experience that fits my vision, there are some limitations on “design-an-x” reward tiers.  Note that these are guidelines, not hard refusals!  If you have a character that you’re concerned will be affected by these limitations, I want you to reach out to me to talk about it!  I’m always willing to work to find a compromise if you’re interested in seeing your character or design in Fantaria..

I reserve the right to have final say on small tweaks of all backer designs

You must legally own the rights to the characters and/or designs you request!  For example, a direct lift of Mario’s outfit on a Spheredog wouldn’t be okay, but a design which clearly falls under parody would be.  This applies more strictly to the higher tiers (see below).

Spherefriends cannot be made super massive, and their headwear shouldn’t be excessively vulgar or otherwise go counter to Fantaria’s aesthetic (i.e. no hyper realistic textures).

Barkwursts must always have the same silhouette, and make the same SFX as each other, to ensure the player can easily identify them despite the varied designs.

NPCs and Bosses have some further restrictions:

No humans.  Friendwoman is the only human presently in Fantaria’s universe, and this is a very key component of the universe.  If you have a human design that you’d like to see, I’d be thrilled to work with you on creating a variation of it that fits into the universe! (i.e. a capkin or PBot version).

No parodies/memes.  Unlike Spherefriends and Barkwursts, which don’t weigh much on the plot or universe, NPCs/bosses should not blatantly be referencing real-life jokes or personalities.  This does not mean that they all have to be serious, they can be wacky and silly!  Just...no ugandan knuckles parody, or trump parody, or other designs like that.

No characters with explicit and consistent ties to adult material.  It’s totally fine if your character is generally slightly lewd or attractive, but if all they’re associated with is porn (either vanilla or fetish), they won’t be a good fit for Fantaria.

I retain final say on the power level of your character in relation to the cast of Fantaria.  This is mostly to make sure that no characters become more important to the plot and events than pre-existing characters like Capboy and Friendwoman...unless, of course, I think the design can fit into such a role!  Naturally, you still have control over your character’s personality and attitude, and I will run any story events they are involved in by you to make sure you’re satisfied with the way they react.

Kickstarter Stretch Goals

Now that that’s out of the way, the final thing I’d like to talk about here are Kickstarter Stretch Goals!  I’ve budgeted these all fairly thoroughly, as I’ll explain in more detail when the KS itself launches.  These are as follows:

$25,000 -- Initial Goal.  This provides me with the living costs needed for the estimated year and some change of remaining development, as well as to commission Scandre and Viv for art and music, respectively.

$30,000 -- Local Deathmatch.  This tier will add a local deathmatch option to the main title, where you can fight with up to three of your friends in brand new arenas inspired by the couch competitions of old!

$35,000 -- More levels. This tier will add four fully-featured secret levels, pushing Capboy to the limit and providing special new rewards.  These levels will each come with a unique ability, melee weapon, and bossfight

$40,000 -- The Fantabulous Arena.  This tier will add a special arena to the game, allowing Capboy to fight endless enemy waves and challenge bosses that he’s already defeated again!  In addition to being able to have fun experiencing these fights, the Arena will have special challenges restricting Capboy to certain weapons, with even more sausages being rewarded for completing them.  Finally, post-release, all bosses will receive an additional Fantabulous version of themselves, unlocking potent new weapon upgrades for Capboy!

$50,000 -- Nightmare Mode. This tier will add a second campaign, inspired by the brutal NG+’s found in oldschool games.  Play as Capboy’s ally Friendwoman, travelling backwards through a distorted and damaged version of the main game’s story.  Face brutal platforming challenges, intense battle arenas, and mindbending puzzles, using with all of the main game’s weapons and unlocks to overcome the odds!  Naturally, this mode will also feature every single Fantabulous boss in place of their standard versions.  Nightmare Mode, if funded, would release as post-release DLC free to all backers of the $15 tier and above.

$60,000 -- Local Co-op.  Friendwoman will be able to join in with Capboy in the main quest, with the game dynamically adjusting challenges and obstacles to adjust for the additional player.  When in multiplayer, bosses will gain new co-op exclusive mechanics, and co-op exclusive puzzles and battle rooms will block the pair’s route.  This will also allow Friendwoman to be played instead of Capboy in the singleplayer main campaign.  If funded, this tier will release alongside the main game, and will likely cause some slight delay to the current predicted release date.

$65,000 -- Nightmare Co-op.  Friendwoman will be able to bring Capboy with her on her quest through the nightmare realm, enabling cooperation against the new threats and challenges of this brutal adventure.  As with the main campaign, new unique co-op oriented challenges will be present when in multiplayer on this campaign!  If funded, Nightmare Mode will have co-op when it is launched post-release.

$80,000 -- Online Multiplayer.  If funded, all multiplayer modes will be able to be played with one another online!  Releasing with the main game, Online Multiplayer will likely result in some further slight delay to the predicted release date if funded.

Whew, that was a lot!  If you bore with me for all of that, you’re a superfan, and it’s great to know that there are people dedicated enough to read through all of that.  As for when the KS and demo will actually launch, my current prediction is July 26th -- ironically, the same date (+4 months) as I wanted to release TFG’s kickstarter last year! Now that I’ve recovered from the issues I discussed in the last post, I’ve been diving deep back into development and making great progress.  As we approach that date, I will continue to evaluate the amount of work remaining and let you guys know if that seems like it’s going to change.

As I said at the beginning, swing by the Discord if you haven’t already and want to talk about this stuff!  I’m very eager to hear feedback on the price points of rewards and stretch goals, and am willing to listen to suggestions on any changes.  See you guys soon with another chunk of progress!

-Fantabuloso

[joly-and-the-satellites]

LEMME TELL U BOUT MY PETS. listen up, i got a shitton, with two dogs and seven cats THATS RIGHT SEVEN. we live in the country so they get to run around all the time. we have our cranky old queen, our fifteen-year-old kitty named Hissy, she gets special wet food and is so lovey and ALWAYS WANTS PETS ALWAYS IT IS NEVER ENOUGH FOR HER. then we got two more standoffish kitties, Pippi and Tiger, one a grey and orange chubb and the other a grey fluff. Pippi is cynical as FUKK and refuses to (TBC)

((I’m adding all of the asks into one post under the cut here!!))

“...let ANYONE pet her except me!! because i am her mother!! and she respects me!! and Tiger hates our dogs so she sticks to our yard border, but she has lovely green eyes, the only cat with green eyes. 

THEN HOO BOY LETS TALK DOGS. we got TWO POMSKYS, that means half Pomeranian and half husky and HOO BOY. there's Kida, she is all white (tints of beige) with piercing blue eyes, and she is like a mini, very smart husky. but Baloo (named after the jungle book guy) is dumber than ramen noodles. he's two and STILL IS NOT ALWAYS HOUSETRAINED and he CHEWS UP SO MUCH STUFF and HE NEVER LISTENS because he has a melted pomeranian brain but thank god he's cute as fuck, a big grey fluffball with eyes that kinda go different directions. 

OH MAN BACK TO CATS LETS TALK ABOUT RICKY, NAMED AFTER RICK ASTLEY. this motherfucker is a stone cold badass. he takes no nonsense, gives no fucks. he chases our dogs when he feels like it. he's fatter than an elephant seal but SOMEHOW IS OUR FASTEST CAT?? he's incredible. he chases our dogs, is the ultimate alpha, BUT HE IS SO CUDDLY TO HOOMANS. he is insatiable!! always needs pets. ALWAYS. he will sit on your chest and purr away while slightly suffocating your with his massive bulk. he is oranger than sin and very fluffy. THEN THERE IS MY DARLING ELPHABA, named for her unholy vocals. she does not meow, she SCREAMS when she wants things because she is a brat and i am an enabler. she is my black cat, black all over with big golden eyes andthe cat in pinnochio because they look the same, and fig has the sweetest mewl you will ever hear, and she makes lil bird chirping noises. and she likes to bring in dead bugs she catches to show them off to me, and it is darling. sometimes they are still kinda alive, but i am still proud. I LOVE THEM ALL. AND I REALLY, REALLY WISH YOU TO FEEL BETTER. i hope my pet saga has helped some!! please get feeling better!”

I love hearing about pets so much aaaaa!! 

I currently have a cat, a dog, and a guinea pig!

The cat is named Kiki - she was my little sister’s, but my sister doesn’t play with her/take care of her/pay any attention to her, so I claimed her as my own. She’s very very sweet, and follows me everywhere. She’s generally very quiet, and doesn’t meow much, but she purrs SO LOUD. The only time she’ll meow is if she’s worried about me, or if I’m walking too quickly and she can’t keep up. Sometimes I’ll leave a room while she’s laying down, and I’ll hear quick little pattering paws run up behind me with a really distressed little meow. She’s super trusting of me and very Long, so I’ll hold her on her back above my head and she stretches out like a slinky. 

My dog’s name is Vixen, but I call her Dingo most of the time. She’s just as jumpy and weird as I am; and just as sassy? Which is unfortunate, because she knows when to sigh dramatically, how to roll her eyes, what the silent treatment is, and gives MAD side-eye. It’s awful. She won’t bite but she’ll judge your fashion and it’s honestly brutal. She also tries to act like a badass, but she is n o t. She’ll run towards something that scares her, barking and growling, but the moment you take a STEP towards her, she’s running in the opposite direction with her tail between her legs. She’s also very sneaky. Very good at waking me up. She’ll lay between me and the wall, put her back to my side, place her paws against the wall, and SHOVE ME OUT OF BED. it’s atrocious. someone needs to stop her.

Then my guinea pig, Pippin!! He’s... a Lot. He likes to climb on top of his log and scream into the night sky. He wants to be held at all times, but hates being picked up - sometimes he plays hard to get, so when I reach in to pick him up, he’ll popcorn out of my hands and take a few laps around his crate. He’s good company when I’m typing, though; he’ll lay down in my lap and just chill out for a while. After about an hour, I think he gets restless--he’ll grab my line (I have an insulin pump, and the tube doesn’t always stay tucked into my clothes as it should) like the little asshole he is. He’s chewed through them twice before, it’s awful. He’s a spiteful little gremlin. 

[biofunmy]

By Air, Land and Sea, Travel is Electrifying

The roar of a jet engine, the vroom of a car, the vibration of a moving ship.

These sounds and sensations, commonly associated with travel and motion, share a common source: fossil fuel-powered engines.

But as regulators and businesses around the world try to reduce carbon emissions, airplanes, automobiles and ships are going electric. It’s good for the environment, but it also means travel itself may be changing. Here’s a look at a few of the initiatives that are underway.

Air

Starting later this year, Hawaii’s Mokulele Airlines and its partner Ampaire, a California-based electric airplane startup, will begin testing a hybrid aircraft over Maui on the commuter route between the Kahului and Hana airports.

The flying public won’t be able to buy tickets for those early test flights, but the companies behind the tests say it’s an important step in proving that electric service is viable.

“You uncover a lot of gremlins when you start flying in a true operational cadence,” said Kevin Noertker, Ampaire’s co-founder and chief executive. He added that the current plan is to introduce commercial hybrid service by the end of 2021.

The planes have a range of around 200 miles, but because they are hybrids, test pilots don’t need to worry if their batteries run out of juice midair.

“We’ve designed the system with resilience in mind,” Mr. Noertker said.

Hybrid and fully-electric airplanes can also have lower operating and maintenance costs than traditional fossil-fuel-driven aircraft, because they use less fuel and have fewer moving parts. Those savings may ultimately be passed on to passengers. They also mean that more rural airports could one day see commercial service as the economics of flying to low-population destinations improve.

“Scheduled air service can come back to communities that have lost it in all the consolidation with the airlines,” said Rob McKinney, the president of Pacific operations for Southern Airways Express, which operates as Mokulele Airlines. “Rural communities will have air service again that haven’t had it in 20 or 30 years.”

Nevada has been undergoing a yearslong project to build out its electric vehicle charging infrastructure. It has deemed a stretch of U.S. 95 (the primary route between Las Vegas and Reno, not to be confused with Interstate 95 on the East Coast), along with portions of other major roadways in the state the “Electric Highway,” and is encouraging visitors to see the state by taking an emission-free road trip. Nevada is also home to the Tesla Gigafactory, which in some ways jump-started its electric vehicle efforts.

“We have so many cultural and historical sites that people are interested in and we promote the state through the road trip,” said Chris Moran, a public relations specialist at Travel Nevada. “It’s great to do it in a sustainable and respectful way to the environment.”

In some ways the new technology also allows people to travel in a more old-fashioned style. Because charging takes longer than filling up a gas tank, it means electric vehicle drivers are more likely to spend time and money in small communities along their route.

“If you think of what the interstate highway system is, how it so dramatically changed the nature of road travel and road trip tourism, this is a different way to travel and see places,” said David Bobzien from the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy. “We have a lot of car enthusiasts who love their electric vehicles and they love to drive them, so it’s the road trip and the joy of the road trip that lures them to use the highway.”

Similar infrastructure can be found in many places in the Northeast as well, with Tesla charging stations along the Interstate 91 and 95 corridors.

Hamlet Aguilar relies on those stations as the anchor for his new business, Bound. The car-service, which began earlier this year, shuttles passengers between New York and Boston in Teslas for prices that begin at $99 each way.

“The electric cars allow us to provide a price point that the other transportation companies cannot do,” Mr. Aguilar said. “The high cost of maintaining a fleet and the gas, it was never cost effective. Being able to use these Teslas enables us to offer a very attractive price point.”

Sea

Water and electricity are finally beginning to mix.

Hurtigruten, a Norway-based expedition cruise company, is investing heavily in sustainably powered ships. The company focuses on exploration cruises, with its ships traveling places far from the Caribbean and Mediterranean destinations that most cruise passengers visit.

“This is something that has been a natural part of the development of the company and driven by a lot of very engaged people,” said Daniel Skjeldam, Hurtigruten’s chief executive. “One of the reasons they have been so proactive on it, since we’ve been sailing in these areas, they’ve been seeing the changes” like glaciers retreating, firsthand.

The company’s efforts include investing in an all-new hybrid-powered cruise ship, which will launch in September. That Alaskan cruise is already sold out.

In the next few years, the company will also convert its older diesel-burning ships to liquid natural gas and biogas-fueled hybrids (biogas is made from organic waste), and will launch a battery-powered hybrid catamaran for expeditions near the Norwegian coast later this year, with more coming into service in 2020. The company is working to develop solar chargers for those vessels.

None of these first-generation ships will be fully electric, but Mr. Skjeldam predicts that in the not-too-distant future, some vessels will be able to sail entirely under battery power for hours at a time.

He also said he thinks his company isn’t too far ahead of industry trends.

“I think we’ll see, to be honest, a revolution on sustainable travel in the next decade. I think a lot more ports worldwide will be much more demanding to the industry on what kind of ships they will accept into ports. The local emissions from a cruise ship are huge if they’re running on heavy fuel oil,” he said, adding that Norway will require ships in its Unesco-designated heritage fjords to be emission-free by 2026.

He admits though, that battery-powered vessels are still technologically limited.

“We don’t think batteries can be the only source for power, but it’s the perfect way to operate ships into sensitive areas.”

Sahred From Source link Travel

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[itsworn]

Mickey Thompson Hits 400, George Barris Builds an Air Car, and Flying Caduceus Launches Bonneville’s Jet Age in 1960

Ancestors

With so much action occurring simultaneously in so many regional hotbeds this year, no single magazine staff could hope to be in all places at all times. Robert E. Petersen’s unique advantage was owning multiple titles, each employing specialists who overlapped into the print equivalent of an automotive internet. Moreover, “Pete” could test the potential of any emerging market quickly and relatively cheaply by utilizing in-house editorial and production people to either start a publication from scratch or spin one off from an established Petersen title, then heavily promote the new project in the others.

This year, go-kart-crazy Car Craft launched an offshoot called Kart, packed with ads. Similarly, Motor Trend soon spawned competition-oriented Sports Car Graphic. Immediate, widespread widespread distribution of anything new was assured by a North American dealer network already profiting from Pete’s established monthlies, plus a steady barrage of thicker, higher-priced, “special edition” Petersen annuals, how-to books, racing compilations, and other recyclings of previously published articles and photography.

As the go-kart craze took off, drag and lakes racer Charles Scott’s muffler and dyno shop diversified into manufacturing pintsized performance parts. Sons George (left) and Billy Scott respectively demonstrated the differences between a conventional quarter-midget roadster and a rebodied, dual-purpose kart. “Billy the Kid” advanced to fuel and gas dragsters as a young teen and, ultimately, to champ cars, finishing 23rd in the 1976 Indy 500.

We’re sharing this ancient history to illustrate how the vast Petersen Publishing Company photo archive came to acquire an incomparable range of subjects. This year’s vehicular variety foretold the unprecedented strangeness of the decade to come. Among other oddities, Pete’s road warriors documented beatniks and bubbletops, a fighter-jet engine on wheels, four V8s on wheels, and a show-winning custom “car” with no engine and no wheels. They covered the first 400-mph American car and driver, tested a new wave of “medium compacts” from all three of the Big Three, and chronicled sleepy Pontiac’s seemingly sudden emergence atop auto racing (the GM division’s reward for three years of discreetly circumventing Detroit’s 1957 agreement to stop sponsoring, supporting, or even promoting high performance).

While those lucky guys enjoyed virtually unrestricted access wherever they flashed a Petersen business card, only a tiny fraction of their photos were published at the time. Whereas anything in print had passed scrutiny from the editors, advertiser-conscious publishers, and all-powerful editorial director Wally Parks, the rest of the story often went unseen and untold due to political, business, personal, or space considerations. It’s these unpublished outtakes that deliver deeper, truer insight into scenes unfolding right in front of staffers’ lenses—but subsequently kept behind the curtain separating us mere mortals, the readers.

Norm Grabowski continued living every young male’s dream life, driving hot rods and acting in B-movies and television shows alongside Hollywood’s hottest honeys. Mamie Van Doren posed for HRM’s Eric Rickman in Norm’s ’25 T to promote a forgettable film with an unforgettable title, Sex Kittens Go to College. Still powered by a flathead here, the red touring soon acquired a hot Chevy V8, landed its own TV series (My Mother the Car), and found a new owner, studio-photographer Kaye Trapp. SoCal drag fans watched it push-start both the Zeuschel, Fuller & Moody AA/Fueler and the MagiCar that Trapp campaigned in partnership with Ron Winkel. (See Aug. 1960 HRM.)

Some of the artists’ faces appear here, frozen in time by mischievous colleagues always armed with cameras. Almost all of them are gone now, nearly six decades after so much of their best 1960 work was developed, dried, sleeved, labeled, filed, and forgotten, forever—or so it must have seemed to our frustrated editorial ancestors. It’s our pleasure to prove them wrong here in the next century.

Motor Trend magazine’s Aug. 1960 Indy 500 coverage bemoaned rain delays during both qualifying weekends that reduced attempts by 66 entries. Soggy fans were effectively repurposing handout copies of an Indianapolis daily when Petersen Publishing Co. (PPC) photo chief Bob D’Olivo happened by. (Kiddies, don’t try this with your smartphones or tablets.)

Imagine a Daytona International Speedway parking lot—or any parking lot, anywhere in America, today—without a single crew-cab pickup or so-called sport utility vehicle as far as the eye can see. Petersen editorial director Wally Parks, also NHRA president, shot the photo during Daytona’s Speed Week, undoubtedly envying NASCAR’s booming popularity. (See Apr. 1960 HRM; Apr. and June 1960 MT; Sept. 2016 HRD.)

Technical editor Barney Navarro helped make Motor Life a respected monthly both before and after parent Quinn Publications was acquired by rival publisher Robert E. Petersen. Navarro broke the story of GMC’s groundbreaking V6 in the May 1960 issue and offered a prescient prediction: “Granted, the new powerplant can be found at this time time only in a pickup truck, but such a unit certainly has possibilities for future passenger-car power.” The same article teased readers with a small factory photo of the 12-cylinder, 610-cubic-inch prototype that GM engineers created by aligning two of these engines inside of a single crankcase and oil pan.

Staff photographer Colin Creitz captured a scene that could have been Anywhere, USA, this season. A similar exposure from the top of this grandstand led off Barney Navarro’s tips for “Stock Car Drag Racing” in the June 1960 Motor Life. If the wall of hay bales seems familiar, the little track situated just over the hill from Hollywood provided a convenient midweek location for automotive-themed films, television shows, and commercials. We recognized the starter on this sunny Sunday as future world champ Jimmy Scott, a recovered street racer who had been unofficially “sentenced” to strip duty by the City of San Fernando’s Judge Morgan, who moonlighted as track manager in the 1950s.

Many of the negatives selected for this series were both composed and processed by the same PPC employee: Pat Brollier. Equally skilled as a photographer and a lab technician, he enjoyed a long career on photographic director Bob D’Olivo’s team.

It’s hard to believe that such great action and from such a rare angle wasn’t published at the time, somewhere, but what we cannot find in our incomplete collection of PPC magazines qualifies for Backstage Past consideration. The surprisingly stock Burkhardt, Brammer & Wilson ’29 on ’32 rails is boiling the biggest balonies like a dragster at Riverside because it ran like one, and then some. NHRA Museum curator Greg Sharp cited 1958 evidence that then-driver Howard Eichenhoffer’s 212.264 mph in the dirt was the best by any dry-lakes car, including streamliners and lakesters. Mike Burns and Don Rackemann also spent time in the seat. A Sept. 1959 HRM feature called it the world’s swiftest drag roadster at 9.81/156.79. Its front-blown, nitro-burning, 341ci DeSoto was backed by a ’39 Lincoln tranny using high gear only.

Alternate angles of this odd setup started appearing this year in Motor Life subscription ads ($3 per year) and also atop Motor Trend’s “Rumors” column. The unidentifiable executives and ad reps pretended to peek at what appears to be a Corvair sedan, wrapped in one of the first car covers we have found on film. The high angle reveals the close proximity of neighbors to the employee parking lot, where countless car features were shot for Petersen publications (at 5959 Hollywood Boulevard).

Bob Petersen’s hiring philosophy favored enthusiasm and wrenching expertise over writing ability. “Pete” got all three in Ray Brock, the HRM tech editor credited with designing and managing the first thrust-powered land-speed car—despite the reality that only wheel-driven vehicles were eligible then to set the unlimited LSR. Still under construction in this late-April photo, the Flying Caduceus would hit the salt in late summer for a series of disappointing shakedown runs. Collapsing air-intake ducts and a scary front-end shimmy restricted recorded speeds to less than half of owner Nathan Ostich’s 500-mph target. (See Apr. and Oct. 1960 HRM; Aug. 1960 R&C; July 1960 MT; Dec. 1960 ML; Jan. 1961 CC.)

Did he or didn’t he? From the empty starting line and serious looks on these faces, we suspect that some discussion ensued. All we know is that the rubber was burned during a big May meet at Inyokern, California, where entries included the pretty Kurtis sport special of record-setting City of Industry, California, councilman Sam Parriott (waiting to run).

A July ’60 MT editorial titled “The Vanishing Mechanic” expressed concern that new-vehicle production was outpacing young technicians entering “the field of auto mechanics.” One promising sign was the record number of schools and students participating in Plymouth’s annual Trouble-Shooting Contests. Since the concept was introduced with a single Los Angeles event in 1954, contests had spread to 16 locations nationwide, involving nearly 1,000 high school, vocational, and community college students in two-person teams. Factory mechanics planted various gremlins in the Plymouth engines (e.g., “Most-overlooked malady was cork in the intake manifold, causing engines to run on four cylinders.”).

HRM Editor Wally Parks commissioned what must have been the first-ever V8 swap into a Comet. This roll of film was processed on June 3, barely three months after the model’s March introduction. We wonder how FoMoCo executives reacted to subsequent articles explaining how modified ’40 Ford Hurst-Campbell mounts enabled a painless conversion (“no cutting needed”) from the weak Ford-Mercury inline-six to a Duntov-equipped 283 Chevy. (See Aug. 1960 HRM and MT.)

The guy running the Chrondeks at Pomona for NHRA’s regional meet couldn’t have imagined the advances coming to timing systems—and “timing towers”—over the next six decades. HRM’s Eric Rickman went backstage to get the shot.

Imagine the look on the face of an unsuspecting tow-truck driver instructed to “get the big spare out of the trunk.” Firestone’s development of 48-inch-diameter rubber specifically for unlimited-LSR attempts greatly enhanced both the safety and speed of “record racing” in the 1960s. This early tire rolled under the Flying Caduceus, mounted on a giant wheel also designed and manufactured by Firestone.

Ed Roth followed up 1959’s revolutionary Excaliber/Outlaw showstopper with the Beatnik Bandit. This time the entire body was one piece, mounted on a shortened ’50 Olds frame. Fritz Voigt, Mickey Thompson’s engine builder, hopped up the Rocket. Rod & Custom contributing artist Joe Henning’s initial illustrations called for a fixed roof, but Henning went back to the drawing board after Roth requested a bubbletop. Less than five months after Bud Lang stopped by the shop this August, the completed Bandit would steal the annual show in San Mateo, California. (See Mar. and May 1961 R&C; May 1961 CC.)

Newly outfitted with four 6-71 GMC blowers beneath two tall “blisters,” front-wheel skirts, and a narrowed tail section, Challenger I returned to the Bonneville Nationals in August and earned Mickey Thompson’s third-consecutive HOT ROD top speed trophy (365.330, one way). The first 400 and fastest single run by an American would wait for a private session on September 9, when M/T hit 406.600 before blowing one Pontiac early into the backup pass. (See Nov. 1960 HRM; Dec. 1960 ML; Jan. 1961 CC.)

Two Petersen-affiliated players who never avoided a spotlight were Car Craft editor Dick Day and frequent PPC contributor George Barris, whose photography and how-to articles were regularly seen by millions in HRM, CC, R&C, even Motor Life and Motor Trend. The customizer is shown accepting one of two awards earned by his XPAK 400 in Detroit during Labor Day weekend. NHRA staged this second National Custom Car Show in conjunction with its National Drag Championships.

After Ed Roth stole his thunder with the groundbreaking Excaliber/Outlaw, kustom king George Barris countered with the XPAK 400 Air Car of the Future. Dual 4hp jet-aircraft-starter motors, remotely controlled by a pushbutton box, spun a large fan that supposedly elevated the Jack Sutton aluminum body above a rippling parachute “on a five-inch cushion of air.” Critics maintained that hidden hydraulic jacks were doing the lifting, but we have seen no underside photos. Barris claimed the metalflake finish to be the first commercial application of a Dow Chemical process involving “a million particles of chromed aluminum.” (See Jan. and Mar. 1961 CC.)

Two youngsters who seemed as if they’d live forever were checked prior to October’s Los Angeles Times-Mirror Grand Prix for Sports Cars. Dan Gurney went on to smash the track record in a mid-engined Lotus and led the USAC event until he was sidelined by a blown head gasket. Carroll Shelby finished Fifth in a Maserati. American Hot Rod Foundation curator Jim Miller recognized the industrial surroundings as Riverside International Raceway’s newly constructed garages, and wonders why these checkups were not performed in the track’s medical center as usual.

Near the end of October, publisher Robert Petersen evidently commandeered a new ’61 Chevy wagon for a hunting expedition. Yes, that’s an unlucky eagle displayed in staffer Neal East’s photo.

We can’t say where or why the exotic CERV-I (Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle I) was parked amongst these late-model Chevys—outdoors, yet—in November, following rare exhibition runs during Riverside’s Grand Prix weekend. Designer Zora Arkus-Duntov, Stirling Moss, and Dan Gurney took turns behind the wheel. Then-exotic goodies included cast-magnesium injector stacks and an aluminum 283 block and cylinder heads (90 pounds lighter than iron), a four-speed case, a water pump, and a starter-motor case. Suspecting the location to be Bill Thomas Race Cars, GM’s southern California skunkworks, we shared the photo with Brian Brennan, who worked there in high school. The longtime Street Rodder editor ruled that out, but the building looked familiar. Brennan suggested that the absent exhaust system might indicate a stop at the nearby Orange County shop of Jess Tyree, a buddy of Bill’s who built headers for some of his projects.

PPC’s Christmas parties in the early years were legendary. This one evidently involved a Roaring ’20s theme for which editorial director Wally Parks, HRM photographer Eric Rickman, and three unidentified accomplices were properly attired.

  The post Mickey Thompson Hits 400, George Barris Builds an Air Car, and Flying Caduceus Launches Bonneville’s Jet Age in 1960 appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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