#be a part of this and demand studios archive their games

[soft-lily]

also very very important is the Video Game History Foundation. Set up by Frank Cifaldi, they attempt to gather as much material as possible from games when archiving them (source code, manuals, box art, promo materials, publications, etc). Due to the work of the foundation, they have more material and games archived than the Library of Congress. Let that sink in.

Unlike the film industry, which has a large portion of films and prints at the LoC, the games industry still hasn't seen the value or importance of archiving; which gets more difficult in a mostly digital era. (Check out the documentary 'Not for Resale: a game store documentary' for a more in-depth look about this) Lots of games being online only or playable only in a certain context provides difficulty for archivists. Like how do you go about preserving the game and experience of Pokemon Go? It doesn't come in a box and the context of the game is defined by the social interactions you make while playing.

[toriaaniin]

Part II: What Rebranding Really Means... and Why It’s Risky

When we talk about rebranding, especially in the entertainment industry, we often picture something loud. A haircut. A viral campaign. A new kind of role that screams “I’m not who you thought I was.” But the truth is: the most effective rebrands often whisper before they shout.

And that’s what we’re seeing with Luke.

This isn’t a radical reinvention. It’s a strategic pivot. A slow exit from the “soft romantic lead” persona into something more sculpted, more stylized, and—at least on the surface—more masculine-coded. The grid is darker. The gaze is cooler. The softness is still there, but buried beneath shadows and sharp tailoring.

But here’s the risk:

When you shift your brand, you risk leaving people behind.

Fans who fell in love with the soft, earnest Luke—the man who made self-deprecating jokes, who looked at Nicola like she was made of starlight, who tap danced his way through press tours—don’t always know what to do with this version. The version with the drink in hand and the unreadable stare. The version who posts a cheek kiss without tagging the woman in the photo. The version who archives his history.

It doesn’t mean this version is fake. It just means it’s different. And difference invites interpretation. Especially when your fanbase is this emotionally invested, this observant, and this good at picking up what’s unspoken.

The Male Gaze and Rebranding Masculinity

One of the most overlooked truths about rebranding male actors is this: they’re not just being repositioned for us. They’re also being positioned for each other.

Luke’s new aesthetic doesn’t just appeal to a fashion-forward, film-savvy audience. It appeals to casting directors, studio execs, and brand reps — many of whom are still operating within systems coded by the male gaze. That doesn’t just mean how men look at women. It means how men are conditioned to see themselves. To aspire. To be perceived.

Softness can be charming. But when it comes to anchoring a franchise, fronting a fashion house, or leading a billion-dollar drama series, the industry still leans toward controlled masculinity — the kind that reads as sexy, stoic, and “in demand.”

Take the photo above from this weekend's Gentleman's Magazine as an example:

Controlled Masculinity - Posture: Relaxed, but not vulnerable. His left arm is fully extended, hand planted — it claims space. Meanwhile, his right hand rests across his lap, subtly pulling your eye toward the centre of the frame. This is deliberate spatial command — it says: I own this table. I own this room. - Suiting: Dark and tailored, but unbuttoned at the top — a deliberate contrast of formality and access. He’s not in a tux; he’s in leading man casual — elegant, but dangerous. - Chest hair and necklace: These signal earthiness and sex — a man comfortable with his body, with just enough aesthetic restraint to keep it high fashion. It reads: I’m sensual, but controlled. - Pool table: Deeply symbolic. Cue associations with strategy, competition, dominance, and old-school masculinity. He's not playing the game — he's waiting for you to join, but he's already won.

Luke's shift from boyish to brooding isn't accidental. It's calculated aspirational masculinity — the kind that makes him relatable to the men who want to be like him and palatable to the brands and studios who want to sell him. He’s being made watchable from a distance, rather than lovable up close.

And that’s uncomfortable. Especially for those of us who fell in love with the closeness. The charm. The silliness. The joy.

Rebranding vs Betrayal

This is where the emotional dissonance lives.

To some fans, this isn’t just a shift. It’s a betrayal.

It feels like Luke is walking away from the version of himself we trusted — the one who felt sincere, open, and maybe even in love. And now that he’s carefully sculpting something more controlled, more aesthetic, more leading-man-adjacent… it’s hard not to wonder if we ever knew him at all.

But what if the two versions aren’t incompatible?

What if the joy was real, and the distance is necessary? What if the softness is still there — just beneath a layer of curated fashion and editorial-style shadows?

And what if… he’s still telling us who he is — just in a new language?

When the Image Doesn’t Match the Man

And here’s the part that keeps catching in the throat for so many of us:

This new version of Luke — calculated, stylized, curated — doesn’t feel like the man we’ve come to know. The man who couldn’t hide his emotions during the World Tour. The man who made awkward jokes, let his heart leak through his eyes, and seemed to lose all sense of self when Nicola laughed beside him. The man who wore softness openly, not because it was strategic, but because it seemed to just spill out of him.

So when we see him now — posting sleek portraits, standing beside someone who feels more like a prop than a partner, it creates whiplash. Not just because we miss what was, but because it doesn’t feel true. Or at least, not true to him.

It’s possible that this is growth. It’s possible that this is strategy. But for those of us who have been watching closely, it also feels like he’s playing a part.

And the heartbreak is: he was most magnetic when he wasn’t playing anything at all.

Next: Strategic Separation (or Part III of Rebranding)

We’ve talked about branding. We’ve talked about perceived betrayal. But what if this new version of Luke — the one that looks so far away from Nicola, so calculated and cool — is part of something deeper?

What if the rebrand isn’t just about him… but about them?

In Part III, we’ll look at the growing theory that Luke and Nicola may be separating on the surface to protect something underneath — a tactic of camouflage, distance, and privacy that says more than it hides.

Because sometimes, the act of pulling apart is the clearest sign of trying to keep something whole.

Aaniin Xxx

P.S. Find a listing of this blog post series along with short summaries of each - including those not yet published - here:

[s0fter-sin]

this is a bit of a what if scenario if soap and ghost met before the practice studio and the rest can be found on ao3!

before they ever try and workshop a routine, before their first dance, before johnny ever meets simon, price tells - orders - ghost to sit in on one of gaz’s classes.

“learn his style; see if yours meshes anywhere,” he says, wrist deep in an exploded camera and ignoring ghost’s stink eye from over in the corner. he’s gotten used to it after all these years.

he’ll have to pull out something new after this if price’s decided to sink to this level of petty.

and it is pettiness, no mistake; clearly he’s poked him too much about his boy recently.

“i’ve already seen ‘is style,” he dismisses with a disgusted scoff that’s only half put on. flashy, meaningless; the personification of viral with half the sincerity. it’s a laugh that garrick accuses him of stealing routines as if half his moves aren’t prepackaged and recycled from every plastic clout chaser before him.

“videos don’t live up to an in-person demonstration; you know that,” price chides and ghost rolls his eyes. “i’ve got a client making noises about choreography and if i can’t talk ‘em out of it, you’ll have to learn how to be in the same room without bein’ at each other’s throats.”

“they want a joint routine?” ghost demands, already going tense at just the idea of it.

“they want the best of the best,” price counters. “and unfortunately, that’s you two.”

he pulls out a part, friction-shiny and jagged where it’s rubbed against another piece, and flicks it over his shoulder to be lost in the mess of the garage. “you know, that breakdancer i showed you ‘ill probably be there.”

he raises an eyebrow but ghost doesn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction. wily old man…

he asks about one dancer once and suddenly he’s all price wants to bloody talk about. it was professional interest; just looking into a style out of his wheelhouse and obviously it made sense to look at recent competition winners.

nothing more.

“i’m not asking you to join in,” price finally allows, pulling out a file and tapping off old shavings on the edge of the toolbox. “just watch. live up to that name of yours.”

“i got better things to do than haunt your little protégé,” he scoffs, chafing at the thought of wasting any more time on kyle garrick than he already has.

“and yet here you are, sniffin’ up my ass,” he shoots back wryly and ghost shoves off the wall; ignoring his snickers.

“play nice,” price adds but he’s already out the door.

if he asks later, he can just say he didn’t hear him.

[snoleopard7]

my NAQ "white room" theory

we all know that the white room was the thing that got the demo copies of naq recalled, but what was it? it's only ever mentioned in passing by both NAQtube and plasmapunk2001, and in a very vague matter. the only info we have was that it was "upsetting and ill-suited". so what was in the white room that got the game recalled?

one thing a lot of people bring up is that the recall commercial threatens a max 5 year prison sentence for people who don't get rid of their copies. people assume this is proof that there was like cp on the demo copies or something, but if so, the prison sentence would be much longer, and lightyear games probably would have gotten in some intense legal hot water (which would have likely prevented them from working on naq double trouble). instead, let me bring up something my friend @unorthodoxrocks suggested: the max jail sentence for piracy is 5 years.

let's say that the white room was, say, a glitched unfinished part of a level that allowed you to access the entire game beyond the boundaries of the demo (portal xbox 360 demo style). this could be framed as piracy, since you got the demo game for free and weren’t supposed to have the whole game. since this demo was released about halfway through naq’s development cycle, the rest of the game might even have unfinished content not meant to be seen by anyone that doesn’t work at lightyear games. with all that in mind, you can probably understand why lightyear doesn’t want those random people who won the sweepstakes to own the demo anymore. bouncehouse also likely wants nothing to do with it, due to the massive piracy panic of the early 2000s (you wouldn’t steal a car, etc), hence the recall ad saying that the demo doesn’t reflect bouncehouse or it’s affiliates.

i can tie this into the next point people often bring up: the commercial instructs owners of any demo copies to get rid of their copies rather than giving them back to bouncehouse/lightyear. again, people use this as a way to say "there must have been something mega-illegal on there", but i disagree. i’d hazard a guess that the reason lightyear doesn’t want the copies back is because they already have an archive of the exact version of the game put on the demo copies, so they can just use that to figure out what caused the white room in studio. and as for bouncehouse, what are they gonna do with five illegal ps2 games? so if lightyear didn’t want the copies, I don’t see why bouncehouse would either.

“but snoleopard7, none of this sounds very upsetting and ill-suited, now does it?” and you’re right. being able to bypass demo restrictions isn’t enough to get a game recalled. rather, I think that it may have been something else related to the white room that caused the panic, as well as the piracy stuff.

again, let’s say that within the white room there was, say, a strange asset. something akin to the infamous California Speed billboard placeholder (pictured below). a disturbing placeholder or in-development texture or model of some sort.

i wouldn’t put it past Thomas Snyder to do something like the California Speed billboard. to be honest, it seems rather in-character of him. I can just imagine a detailed model of Celeste’s face hole sitting in a reference pose in the white room, unused in-game. and i’m sure that’d be enough to scare a younger player into telling their mum that they saw something scary on the ps2. and then the mum calls bouncehouse/lightyear in a fit of rage, demanding that the game is banned. and then the recall happens, etc etc.

this theory also works very well when you consider how vigilant the ESRB were in the early 2000s. infamously, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas got it’s rating changed from Mature to Adult Only, because of a scrapped sex mini game that was only accessible through illegally modding the game. so I don’t see why whatever shit Thomas Snyder was cooking up in development would slip under the ESRB’s watchful gaze.

anyway that was my theory. thoughts?

[darling-arent-you-just-wonderful]

“Oh darling aren’t you just wonderful”

╭─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╮

. *₊ ° . *₊ ° . ☆ Introduction ☆ . *₊ ° . *₊ ° .

✩ Name: Grian

✩ Age: 17-23

✩ Pronouns: He/They/Gore

✩ Orientation: Omniromantic, Homosexual/NWLNW/Achillean, Polyamorous

✩ Notable roles: Host for 7+ Years, Higherup

✩ Relationship status: My darling’s Taurtis & Sam [THR Sys]

✩ Source: Sam Gladiators 2012 Yandere Highschool Roleplay + Tokyo Soul

✩ Source Talk: Sure

✩ Identify as Source: Yep

✩ Doubles: Alright with me, I’m part of a fictive heavy sys as a result to ASD making us hyperfixate and become attached to characters so there are multiple Grian RP sources here

✩ Bodily: 18+

✩ Other : ASD, BPD & Physical disabilities + Mixed Race

✩ Proxy/Sign-off: 📚

��─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╯

╭─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╮

. *₊ ° . *₊ ° . ☆ Interaction Adequate ☆ . *₊ ° . *₊ ° .

✩ Check my DNI & Boundaries before interacting

✩ Do not demand for proof of my medical diagnosis, we are strangers on the internet - I don’t know you, you don’t know me and I don’t have to prove anything to you besides I’m not dumb enough to try and get myself doxxed

✩ Don’t throw a fit if I block you, none of that “Wow you blocked me just cause I disagreed with you??” Yes. Yes, exactly. This is a social media site. I come on here to look at pictures of bugs and shit and to shitpost with my friends. This is not a town hall meeting; I am not your elected official. I do not owe you my energy, my space, or my time. You and I are strangers that use the same website. I can block you for literally any reason and that’s okay. Take a deep breath. Block me too. You’ll feel better

✩ Do not try and find my address or any irl information, I don’t know you and that’s a crime

✩ Do not tell me how to live my life or what I should or should not be posting, I don’t know who you think I am but your bitch is not one

✩ Just basic decency, if you wouldn’t do it Irl or wouldn’t want it happening to you then don’t do it to me

✩ Do not threaten me or anyone who interacts me

╰─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╯

╭─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╮

. *₊ ° . *₊ ° . ☆ Content I post ☆ . *₊ ° . *₊ ° .

✩ Me ranting about the shit medical/healthcare system

✩ Memes, jokes and shitposts

✩ Hyperfixations/Rambles & Fandom talk

✩ Philosophy/Psychology

✩ Creative writing/Poetry/Art

✩ Awareness, information, personal experiences

✩ Whatever I’m interested in at the time really

✩ Rants, rambles and mental illness (they’ll have a TW, I will essentially use this as a journal)

✩ Posts by other alters (even though this is my account, I wouldn’t be surprised if others use it)

✩ Love rambles<3

╰─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╯

ⓘ this user needs attention and love

╭─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╮

. *₊ ° . *₊ ° . ☆Brief System Intro☆ . *₊ ° . *₊ ° .

✩ System name: The Broken Hearts Club

✩ Bodies age: 18

✩ Collective pronouns (If pref is not stated): He/They

✩ Collective name: Grian

✩ System tag: 💌🔪

✩ Partner system(s): The Hopeless Romantics & Circus Sys

✩ Hosts: 📚,🌺,🔦,✝️,🪡,🧃

✩ Co-hosts: 🦌,🧵

╰─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╯

╭─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╮

. *₊ ° . *₊ ° . ☆Interests & Fandoms☆ . *₊ ° . *₊ ° .

✩ 2012 MCRP’s

✩ Drawing, Painting, Animating & Writing

✩ Horror (films and games)

✩ Videogames (Example; Minecraft, Splatoon 3, Stardew Valley, etc)

✩ Cooking & Baking

✩ Video essays

✩ Studio ghibli films

✩ Sanrio

✩ 100 day videos

✩ Creating creepy & cute plushies

✩ Poisons, bones, flower pressing, bugs, teeth, mushrooms, dissecting, flowers, taxidermy, Foraging & Scavenging

✩ Fishing

✩ Dollhouse furniture/Rement

╰─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╯

╭─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╮

. *₊ ° . *₊ ° . ☆Tag Archive listings☆ . *₊ ° . *₊ ° .

✩ General Tag:

#Darling aren’t you just wonderful

✩ Doodles:

#artists of tumblr

#digital art

#traditional art

✩ Creative writing:

#short stories

#spilled ink

✩ Source talk:

#yhs grian

#yhs

#tokyo soul

#yhs source talk

#ts source talk

#yhs fictive

#ts fictive

#yhs grian fictive

✩ Rants/Rambles:

#Rambles and rants

✩ Disability (Physical) talk:

#cripple punk

#actually disabled

✩ Disability (Mental/Emotional) talk:

#actually disabled

#actually autistic

#actually bpd

#obsessive love disorder

✩ System talk:

#TBHC Alter intro

#TBHC Sys

#TBHC

#system

#system talk

#alter intros

✩ Lovesick ramblings:

#dear my beloved

#love letters

#bloody letters

#obsessive love

#stalker x stalker

#obsessive love disorder

#dear my beloved TW

✩ Note: bloody love letters an on TW/CW for possible gore/violence, Kidnapping/stalking, obsession/possession, romanticising cannibalism, etc - do not attempt to recreate or glorify anything I say or do, all of these are coping mechanisms and I do not support anything dangerous that may be referenced. OLD is a serious issue and if you find yourself thinking concerning thoughts that could put you or anyone else in harm I urge you to see professional help)

╰─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╯

╭─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╮

. *₊ ° . *₊ ° . ☆Users you should see☆ . *₊ ° . *₊ ° .

✩ My beloved’s accounts:

@samthebunnyboy

@chamomilehoneybunny

@bunn1esandbl00d

@bl33d1ngblu3

✩ Friend & Family

@the-scrotocol-protocol

@love-sick-episode

✩ Alt accounts:

@your-little-night-watcher

@your-pretty-sacrificial-lamb

@little-sacrificial-lamb

@littlelambrants

╰─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╯

╭─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╮

. *₊ ° . *₊ ° . ☆DNI & Boundaries☆ . *₊ ° . *₊ ° .

✩ Flirting: Ask

✩ Teasing: Sure (use tone tags)

✩ Banter: Sure (Use tone tags)

✩ Venting/Ranting: Ask

✩ DM’s: Ask

✩ DNI: proed, thinspo, racism, abelism, maps/pedos, sysmeds, antisemitism, terfs, transmeds, transphobia, homophobia, lgbtqphobia, prolife, other bigots & supporters of any of the above, doxxers/swatters etc

╰─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅───╯

[mostlysignssomeportents]

2021 Daddy-Daughter podcast

Back in 2005, Mark Pesce and I were attending a conference in Montreal and he demanded to know why I wasn't doing a podcast. I said I didn't have time to compose new material for a regular podcast or to find a studio to record in. He pointed out that I could just record readings of my stories and articles with my laptop's mic. He was right. I started podcasting, with a low-fi reading of my novella "After the Siege":

https://craphound.com/podcast/2005/09/26/podcast-after-the-siege-part-01/

Seven (!) years later, I was the father of a four-year-old daughter, Poesy. Fatherhood was (and continues to be) amazing, and challenging, and exhausting, and wonderful. On December 21, 2012, my wife and I managed to miss the fact that the kid's day-care was closing for the holidays, leaving us flat-footed. I brought the kind into my office, where we colored and played games...and recorded a podcast!

https://craphound.com/news/2012/12/21/happy-hols/

That became an annual tradition. Every year since (except for 2016, when my mic died), Poesy and I have sat down for an interview and a sing-along at Christmastime. Last week, I released the 2021 edition:

https://craphound.com/news/2021/12/23/daddy-daughter-podcast-2021-edition/

Listening to these all in a row (they're all linked in the post) was quite an experience for me. Parenting continues to be hard and rewarding and amazing and terrifying, but these annual snapshots remind me of just how far we've come.

Here's a direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive; they'll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_410/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_410_-_Daddy-Daughter_Podcast_2021_Edition.mp3

And here's the RSS for my podcast:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

I continue to post episodes every Sunday (410 so far!), but I don't know if I'll get a podcast episode out this coming Sunday. I'm having my (other) hip replaced on Jan 11 and I've got a *lot* of deadlines between now and then. If not, I'll be back some time in Feb, when I'm healed up.

[duhragonball]

[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (176/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball,  which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation.   This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made  on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: This story takes place about 1000 years before  66 years after the events of Dragon Ball Z.

Because Mike DEMANDED IT... again!  Cell!    

    [9 May, Age 785.   Earth.   Alternate Timeline.]  

"How did you do it, Cell?!   How did you achieve your perfect form?!"

As Trunks asked the question, he transformed into a Super Saiyan, and took a defensive stance.   This moment was supposed to be Trunks' homecoming after his fatal battle in the Cell Games.   But the demon witch Towa had altered history, so that when Trunks returned, there was someone waiting to kill him.   Towa's objective was to erase Trunks from existence, which would eliminate him and the Time Patrol as a threat to her plans.    

But the Time Patrol had discovered her scheme when Trunks' present-self had begun to vanish, and so they sent Luffa back in time to intervene.    So far, Luffa's efforts had been unsuccessful.   She had foiled one attempt on Trunks' life, only to discover that Towa had laid two traps for Trunks.   Luffa had been unable to find the second change in history, until a stranger appeared and offered to send her to the right moment.  

The sight of Cell had come as something of a relief to Luffa.  She had fought the creature before.   And yet, Towa must have taken that into account when she set this trap.   Luffa stayed on guard for any unexpected developments.  

"It's funny you should ask," Cell explained.  "Perhaps you would be interested to know that I have absorbed Cyborgs 17 and 18.   I believe those two caused you a lot of trouble over the years, Trunks.  Well, rest assured that they will never return, for they have now fulfilled their true purpose as part of my perfect design."

"Th-that's impossible!" Trunks said.  "You weren't supposed to be able to find them.   I was going to destroy them as soon as I got back!"

"I will admit, I had expected a long and frustrating search.   Dr. Gero's computer prepared me for that.  17 and 18 don't have normal ki signatures that I can sense, and I needed to absorb energy from Earthlings to build up enough power to subdue them.    I thought it would be years before I found them, but thanks to her, it took no time at all!"

"It was Towa, wasn't it, Cell?" Luffa said.    "She led you to them, didn't she?  Then she used her magic to amplify your power, and gave you a compulsion to kill Trunks.   Right?"

Cell glared at Luffa with his menacing pink eyes.   Suddenly, they flashed with a deep red color, and a purple energy wafted up from his body like smoke.    

"I don't know the lady's name, if that's what you're asking," Cell replied.  "She didn't stick around long enough for us to exchange pleasantries.   To be honest, I don't care who she is.   Why look a gift horse in the mouth?  I'm much more curious about you.    Gero's spy robots fed information about the outside world to the computer that nurtured me," he said.   "Through them, I have knowledge of Trunks.   But you.  I have no data at all for any Saiyan women.   And how do either of you know my name?"

"Because I've already seen how this story ends, Cell," Luffa said.   "It involves you being utterly destroyed by Saiyan hands.   Let me show you."

In truth, Luffa was still very confused about all of it.   She had met Cell further in the past, but she didn't understand his connection with 17 and 18, or why this version of Cell seemed weaker and less familiar with the world than the one she had fought.    But she knew enough to be certain that she could keep him off-balance until she could work out the rest.  

"I was going to kill 17 and 18 today, Cell," Trunks said.   "And then I was going to wait for you to show up and kill you.  But it looks like you've short-circuited my plan.  Well, maybe my father was right.   Fighting your combined form might just be simpler than trying to wipe out you monsters one at a time."

"Fools!" Cell snarled.  "You don't realize what I am!  I am Dr. Gero's ultimate creation.   I am no mere android or cyborg.   My genetic structure contains the traits and fighting styles of the mightiest beings in the universe!   Not just the Saiyan genes of Goku and Vegeta, but of King Piccolo, as well as Frieza and his father!  No mere Saiyan can hope to defeat me!"

"You're wrong, Cell!" Trunks shouted.   "And we'll prove it!"

With that, he charged right after Cell, preparing to attack...

But Luffa outran him, and reached Cell just before he did.    Cell threw a punch, which Luffa leaped over, and as she wrapped her tail around his arm, he tried to counter with his other arm, only for her to bounce off his shoulder and hop away from him.   The maneuver confused Cell, and as he braced himself for Trunks' opening attack, he swung his left arm out to catch any ki blast that Luffa might have tried to use on his flank.  

If it had been the Gallick Gun, or the Kamehameha that Luffa fired, then Cell's defense might have been sufficient.   Instead, Luffa used her own signature attack, the Vengeance Cannon, which fired a tighter beam of ki energy that Cell couldn't block so easily.   A straight line of crimson shot out of her fingertips, and tore through Cell's left arm like a skewer.   After it emerged from his shoulder, the arm exploded dramatically, leaving Cell with a hunk of grey pulp where the limb used to be.    

He was so shocked by the development that Trunks managed to land a knee strike on his chin.    

"Get back!" Luffa shouted.  "I can handle him myself!"

"No you can't!" Trunks insisted.  "You don't know this guy like I do!  I've fought him before.   We have to take him together, before he can self-destruct!"

"He came here to kill you!" Luffa shouted at him.   "I'm here to stop that!  But if you keep getting in the way, he might get a lucky shot off before I can stop it!"

"You want to fight him one-on-one, is that it?!" Trunks shouted back.   "An honorable fight to satisfy your Saiyan pride?   I guess it doesn't matter who you are.   That tail and your transformation tell the whole story.    You're more worried about proving yourself against a strong opponent than you are about defending this planet.  Well I've had enough games!   There's no margin for error this time!  If we don't kill him now, it'll be the end of everything!"

"So for that we have to sacrifice who we are?!" Luffa shouted.   "We give up our honor just to live another day?  I thought I was finally starting to understand you, Trunks, but maybe I had it right the first time!"  

"Children, please!"

They turned to find Cell standing before them, smiling broadly in spite of his missing arm.  

"Surprised?  Did you actually think a wound like this would defeat me?  Well I'm afraid it won't be that easy.  For you see, I possess the Namekian cells of Piccolo in my cellular structure.   Such wonderful genes, for they allow me the power to--urk!"

Luffa fired again, this time using a wider-range blast to destroy Cell's head.  She did not cease firing until she saw his decapitated body collapse.

"There," she muttered.   "It's finished."

"That won't stop him!" Trunks insisted.  

"Yes, it will," she said.   "He told me before that he had a 'nucleus' in his head.  Some trick that lets him regenerate his entire body, as long as it survives.   That's how he came back before, when he killed you in the past."

"How do you know about--?!"  Trunks started to ask, before he remembered the task at hand.    "Look, it won't work.   I saw Goku destroy him from the chest-up, and he still grew back from that.  

"What?" Luffa asked.  She had no idea about that, but this version of Cell provided a demonstration in short order.  The headless body leaped to its feet, then shuddered for a moment as grey, fleshy material expanded from its neck and left shoulder.    Then, finally, a new head and arm popped out, replacing the old parts as if they had never been lost.

"As... I... was... saying..." Cell grumbled.  "My body can regenerate anything.    You two idiots don't have a chance in hell."

"I don't know about that," Luffa said.  "That little stunt of yours cost you some ki.   How many times can you regenerate yourself and continue to put up a fight?   I think I'd like to find out."

"Listen to me!" Trunks pleaded.   "We have to destroy him all at once!  If he gets desperate he might--!"

"Self-destruct?" Cell asked.   "Yes, I think I overheard you saying something about that earlier.  As if I would ever need to resort to such extreme  measures against a pair of no-counts like yourselves."

"You're both crazed," Luffa said.   "He's nowhere near as strong as the one we fought in the Cell Games.  And the only reason he's this strong now is because of Towa's magic enhancing his strength."

"'We fought'?" Trunks asked.

"'Cell Games'?" Cell asked.  "Are you implying there's another one of me?"

Luffa attacked Cell again, darting around him at high speed, before finally unloading with a volley of ki blasts, but he managed to block or avoid them.   But when he tried to fight back, Luffa was able to keep up, dodging his blows and frustrating his efforts to get a clear shot.  

"Graahhhh!   Stand still, you little...!" Cell growled.  

"You're just strong enough to be a problem, Cell," Luffa said.  "From here, it's only a matter of wearing you down.   I'm starting to think Trunks is strong enough to take you.   Now that you've taken a few hits and lost the element of surprise... yeah, I think that's all you've got going for you."

"You're lying!" Cell insisted.   "Dr. Gero's computer told me that I would become invincible once I absorbed 17 and 18.  I can see how you would have been a threat to me in my imperfect form, but I am quite complete!  It is impossible for me to lose to a Saiyan woman!"

"Yeah, the other Cell would say the same kind of stuff," Luffa said.   "But at least that version could hit worth a damn."

In that moment, Cell landed a body blow, and Luffa's body crumpled around his fist.   Her eyes went wide as the breath was driven out of her.  

"That's quite a fanciful imagination you have there," Cell said, now regaining some of his former confidence.  "But there is only one Cell."

"Y-you think that computer of yours would tell you about the others?" Luffa asked.    "You think your precious Dr. Gero cared if you knew the truth?  You're just a weapon to him.  Why wouldn't he build two or three more?   Especially if the first one didn't live up to expectations."

"No... that's impossible!" Cell said.   "17 and 18 are unique!   Their cybernetics could be duplicated, but my design was crafted specifically for their biological--!"

Luffa had wrapped her arms around his arm and swung him through the air, launching him down into the ground.   Trunks intercepted him before he could land, and fired a large, golden ki blast straight up at him.  

She was irritated with him for butting in, but she was impressed with his power.   Compared to his teenage self, he had advanced dramatically.   "If only he'd learn to stay out of my way," she muttered.  

Cell survived Trunks' attack, but he did not come away unscathed.   When the blast subsided, he hung in the air, gasping for breath, still holding his arms downward from when he had been blocking the brunt of the assault.  But his fingers had been ruined, and the edges of the chitinous flanges on his head were gone, along with the lower halves of his wings, and one of his feet.  

"Another defective model," Luffa called to him.   "Maybe the next one will turn out better.   If there is a next one."

He gathered his wits and concentrated for a moment, and then his body sprouted new extremities to replace the old.  Luffa wasted no time in pressing the attack, driving a punch of her own into his gut to repay him for the blow he had given her earlier.  

"You keep telling us," Luffa said when she was close enough to speak into Cell's ear.  "You keep on gloating about how you were engineered from Saiyan genes, Namekian genes.  Frieza's genes.   If your creator could combine such different aliens, how hard would it be to clone a few pairs of Earthlings and turn them into cyborgs?  I mean, I don't know.  I'm just thinking out loud here."

"I... have had... enough!" Cell shouted, and suddenly Luffa was thrown back by a green force field.   It formed a sphere of ki energy around Cell's body, and pushed her further and further away.  

"Some assassin you turned out to be," Luffa shouted to him.  "All you can do now is go on the defensive."

Cell screamed as he summoned as much of his power as he could bring to bear.   Trunks rushed at him to press their advantage, but Luffa intercepted him.  

"Wait," Luffa said.  

"Are you insane?!" Trunks shouted.  

"Maybe I am," Luffa said.   "But I don't want you going near him until I know it's safe."

"What did you mean about fighting him at the Cell Games?" Trunks asked.   "You're a time traveler, aren't you?  You've gone to the past, just like I did!"

"All you need to know is that someone set you up," Luffa said.   "You said you were going to kill 17 and 18, then take out Cell later, right?"

"Yes!" Trunks said.   "In the past, Cell said he would steal my time machine, after I defeated the cyborgs, but instead, he found them first!   Are you saying someone arranged for that to happen?"

"I'm saying they might have arranged a little more than that, Trunks," Luffa said.   "So I'd like you to hang back and stay on guard while I handle this.   My way."

He seemed to appreciate her warnings this time.   Luffa didn't like the idea of revealing so much about her mission, but he seemed to be deducing a lot of it on his own.   Unlike this version of Cell, Trunks was familiar with time travel, so he was more likely to consider it as an explanation of Luffa's actions.  She wondered if this would complicate the Supreme Kai of Time's efforts to repair the timeline.  

"Well, that's her problem," Luffa whispered to herself.   "I'm in deep enough as it is."

At last, Cell finished powering up, and his body had swelled to nearly three times its original size.    Luffa was impressed, but only with his raw power.   His speed was badly curtailed, and when Cell tried to attack Luffa, she dodged his blows as if he were standing still.  

"This was your plan?" Luffa asked.  "Did that computer of yours tell you to do this?  Or are you just confused?"

"I will kill you!" Cell roared.    She was amazed by how poorly he was handling defeat.  It was like fighting a giant, overpowered toddler.

"Calm down!" Luffa shouted at him.   "You won't even be able to punch straight with that kind of attitude!  How are you supposed to win when you can't even focus on what you're doing?!"

She was surprised by her own outburst.  For a moment, she almost felt like a parent training a small Saiyan child in combat.  The last vestiges of her maternal instincts, she supposed.   But it wasn't her son.   This was just a freak of nature, a bioweapon programmed for short-term assassinations.   Cell wasn't designed to lose, or to even think he could lose.  Luffa was beginning to think Cell didn't even know how to win.   Whoever Dr. Gero was, he didn't particularly care about what happened to his creations after the battle was finished.  

With his massive bulk, Cell could only throw clumsy punches and fire aimless ki blasts.  Kicks--or at least effective kicks-- were out of the question.  Seizing on this, Luffa ducked around to Cell's flank and landed repeated elbow strikes to his ribs.  Luffa wasn't sure there were actual ribs underneath Cell's exoskeleton, but she figured there had to be something inside his torso worth damaging.

"Little!   Insect!" Cell screamed as he howled in pain.   He kept trying to fight back, but Luffa outmaneuvered him again, and continued working over his torso.   Soon, his entire mid-section was covered in cracks and craters where she had ruined the shiny chitin that covered his abdomen.   Finally, she drove a deep punch into his gut, and followed up with a knee to his chin.   As she leaped away from him, Cell staggered backward and began to cough.    

Normally, she would have kept up the pressure, but something told her to hold back.   Cell started dry heaving, and something resembling saliva poured from his gaping mouth.   His eyes were unfocused, like he was no longer aware of his surroundings.   For an awkward moment, he simply gurgled and gasped.  

And then he began to vomit.  

Cell had enough wherewithal to cover his mouth, but it wasn't enough to preserve what little dignity he had.    And then, moments later, a humanoid body emerged, and dropped to the ground with an unceremonious thud.  

Luffa had seen her before in the previous leg of the mission.   It was one of the cyborgs: No. 18.  

"You swallowed her whole?" Luffa asked in disbelief.   "How did you even make room for that?"

"I don't believe this!" Trunks exclaimed.   This is just what Gohan did to him at the Cell Games!   Right before he lost his perfect form!"

Luffa was about to ask what he meant, when Cell suddenly began to scream and convulse.    As he howled with agony, his body emitted a strange vapor, and then, he transformed, as his body twisted itself into a new configuration.    

When it was finished, Cell looked very strange to Luffa.   His body coloration was still green, but not the same shades.   His face was less defined, and his nose was gone.  His eyes were blue now, and his wings had vanished.   A small protrusion on his back had now extended, forming the stinger to a long, prehensile "tail".  

It was even more repulsive than his previous form.    

"What have you done to me?" Cell screamed.   Even his voice had changed.  He sounded more brutish and dull.   Luffa couldn't help but attack him, though she now fought out of disdain more than good tactics.    

He was much weaker now, and this time, her blow hurt him even more than she expected.   He stumbled around, and then...

He began to clutch at his mouth again.  

"You've got to be kidding!" Trunks gasped.  

Moments later, Cell vomited up a second figure, and 17 was free of him.    Luffa grimaced with disgust.    

And Cell began to transform again.  Losing 17 was even more dramatic for his body.   His exoskeleton shifted and changed, altering the shape of his head.   His neck became thinner, and his mouth warped into a beak-like structure.   His feet, which resembled boots, now grew into three-toed appendages.    The fingers on his hands merged together, leaving him with only two fingers and a thumb on each arm.   His wings grew back, and his eyes changed again, with narrow slits for irises on pink sclera.    

"N...noooooo..." Cell moaned as he saw the unconscious cyborgs lying at his feet.    He looked at his hands, and then at Luffa, and wailed.  

"Disgusting," Luffa said.  "Then this was what he started out as?  He's pathetic!"

"He wasn't this weak in the past," Trunks said.   "Something must have.... wait, that's it!  He never had time to feed on as many innocent people!"

"He what?" Luffa asked.   "You're telling me he has more people inside him?"

"No," Trunks said.   "He would attack humans and digest them to increase his strength.   That was how he became strong enough in the past to subdue 17... He had to work his way up to that level, gradually."

"But this time he was led straight to 17 and 18," Luffa said.   "And Towa's magic made him strong enough to get the drop on them, I'll bet.    But now... Towa's magic is all he has left."

"No, no no!   You can't do this to me!" Cell screeched.  His voice was rough and sinister, a far cry from the polished, arrogant tone he had used in his perfect state.  "I am the ultimate being!  The computer promised me unlimited power!"

"He's still dangerous!" Trunks warned Luffa.  "You've got to destroy him now!"

"I suppose you're right," Luffa said.   "He's no match for us, but he could still do a lot of damage to the planet in this state."

She raised her arms to her left side and prepared a Gallick Gun.   As the purple energy coalesced in her hands, Cell took a step backward and began to panic.  There was nothing else he could do.  

And as Luffa realized just how helpless she was, she subtly shifted her aim before she fired.   And when the dust and smoke from the Gallick Gun subsided, Cell was unharmed.  

"Wh-what?" Cell sputtered.   Then he looked down, and his inhuman eyes went wide with horror.   "No!" he screamed.  "What have you done?"  

17 and 18 were gone.   In place of their unconscious bodies was a shallow trench of scorched earth, carved out as Luffa's Gallick Gun had angled away from the curvature of the earth and launched into outer space.  

Trunks was almost as surprised as Cell.   "I don't get it!" he said. "Why'd you destroy them first?   They were defenseless."    Then he noticed Luffa looking straight up, and added: "Oh."

Cyborg 18 had managed to avoid the Gallick Gun, thanks to the glowing purple energy that now roiled from her body like an evil fog.   She looked exactly the same as she had in the previous leg of the mission, except that her denim jacket had been destroyed, and her boots were gone... along with her shins.  

In her left hand, she held the severed arm of No. 17.   She had nearly pulled him to safety, but Luffa's attack had destroyed the rest of him.    

"You're going to pay for what you did to him!" 18 shouted.   There was something wrong with her voice, which Luffa supposed was a result of the damage she had sustained.   There was an odd electronic hum that sounded whenever she spoke.    

"No.... no, no, no, no!" Cell moaned.   "You destroyed him.   Destroyed my 17... my perfect form..."  

He was completely despondent.   Luffa doubted that he still had the will to fight, but she kept her eye on him anyway.   The effects of Towa's spell had mostly burned out of his body, and so the only thing left to motivate him was his creator's programming, which was now impossible without a Cyborg 17 to absorb.  

"How did you know?" Trunks asked.  

"I didn't," Luffa said.  "But it seemed too easy.   Cell could have been a serious threat, but he was prepared too hastily, like Towa didn't care if he was at his peak performance or not.  She just wanted him in his perfect form, and then when he puked up 17 and 18, and you told me he had done something like that before..."

She looked up at 18, who was furious, but reluctant to attack on her own.   "Well, I thought maybe Towa was only using Cell as a carrier," Luffa explained.  "She expected us to focus our attention on Cell, but 17 and 18 could sneak up on you later.   You can't sense their presence, so they make a better choice for assassinations.    But now that there's only one of them, and we know she's awake..."

"You think you're so clever, don't you!" 18 shouted.  "Well, you're wrong!      I can still kill you!    I can still--whoa!"

Luffa moved with such great speed that she was directly in front of her before she noticed.   Wasting no further time, Luffa swiped her left hand across 18's neck, decapitating her in a single blow.    

This only made Cell even more upset.   The creature dropped to his knees as he watched 18's severed head bounce off the ground.    

"Nooooo," he moaned, "my babies..."

Luffa then rushed after Cell the same way, and drove the point of her elbow into his forehead, caving it in.   It didn't kill the monster, but it did silence him long enough for Luffa to grab him by the tail, and swing him into the air.   She intended to follow through with a Gallick Gun...

But Trunks fired a ki blast of his own, beating her to the punch.   Cell's body was completely vaporized.   It was over.   Luffa still made sure to do the same to 18's remains, just in case Towa had any other tricks in store.

"I don't believe it," Trunks said.   "It's finally finished.  Or... is it?"

"What do you mean?" Luffa asked.  

"I mean, the world in the past was saved, and we've defeated the cyborgs and Cell here, in this world, but... you're from another world, aren't you?   You're fighting some other enemy, in a battle across time."

Luffa powered down, and as her glowing yellow hair reverted to black, she let out a sigh of relief.   "I've told you too much already," she said.  

Trunks regarded her for a moment.   "I must be involved in this conflict that you're in," he said.   "Otherwise, you and your enemy wouldn't have come here to fight over my continued existence.   There'd be no point unless I played some part in it."

She turned her head and spat on the ground.  He was too smart for his own good.   Normally, Luffa would have said as much, but she didn't want to confirm what he had figured out on his own.  

"I've got to keep training, then," Trunks said.   "Father was right. I can't be complacent, even if the world is finally at peace.   I have to surpass the Super Saiyan."

"Hah!" she scoffed.  "Surpass that Super Saiyan?" she asked.   "We'll see about that."  

And then the world around her began to fade to white, and she felt herself being drawn back to the Time Nest, leaving Trunks to wonder what she had meant by those words.  

*******

     [10 March, Age 850.  Toki Toki City.]  

When Luffa returned to the Time Vault, she expected to find the Scroll of Eternity restored to its normal appearance.   She hoped that she would see Trunks restored as well.   And she imagined that Bulma and the Supreme Kai of Time would shower her with praise for a job well done.    

Instead, the scroll continued to roil with purple energy, and Trunks was seated at one of the stools that surrounded the large octagonal table in the Time Vault's atrium.   He was no longer fading away, but he looked disoriented and exhausted.    Bulma was holding his hand while he stared down at his own knees, muttering to himself.  

As for Chronoa, the Kai was far from pleased.    "What a mess," she said as she examined the scroll.   "Some days you just can't catch a break..."

"What's wrong?" Luffa asked.    "It worked, didn't it?   I stopped Towa from erasing Trunks, didn't I?"

At the sound of Luffa's voice, Trunks raised his head and stared at her like he had seen a ghost.   "It's you!" he gasped.   "But... no, it can't be! That's not how it happened!   I... I--!"

"Trunks, try to stay calm," Bulma said.   "I'm right here."

"Y-y-you don't understand," Trunks said.  "I had a plan.   Cell was supposed to kill me later... but she changed it... And... 19 wasn't supposed to be there.  He was in the past, wasn't he?"

"What's wrong with him?" Luffa asked.  

"He's suffering from a mild temporal psychosis," Chronoa said.  

"You call this mild?" Luffa asked.  She pointed to Trunks, who was pulling at his hair and trembling.  

"I've seen worse, believe it or not," Chronoa said.   "Let's step over here, Luffa.   Your presence seems to be disturbing him."  

They walked toward the cabinets where the rest of the Scroll of Eternity was stored.   Despite the name, the Scroll appeared to be a multitude of smaller scrolls, a contradiction only Chronoa seemed to truly comprehend.   She still carried the contaminated scroll in her hands as she spoke to Luffa in a low voice.

"You saved him, Luffa," she said.  "He's no longer in danger of being erased from existence, but there's still a lot of changes in the timeline that need to be dealt with."

"Don't you handle that after every mission?" Luffa said.    "I mean, I have no idea what it is you do, but you never had any trouble with it before."

She nodded.   "It's one thing when we send you back in time to help Goku against Frieza," Chronoa said.  "That's a change to the past, but I can correct that without too much trouble.   Towa's interference is much more severe, since she alters people's powers, and tries to have them killed before they're supposed to die.  So it's worth it to send a Time Patroller to counteract those kinds of changes.   Does that make sense?"

"I guess so," Luffa said.   "I mean, it's been working until now, right?"

"The problem this time is that we had to send you into Trunks' past. But you two know each other too well.  And he was very familiar with the nature of time travel, even back then."

"I tried to avoid telling him anything," Luffa said, "but he kept figuring it out on his own."

Chronoa nodded.   "It always complicates things when the Time Patroller is too familiar with the affected locus," she said.   "This is why Trunks needed a partner in the first place.   We were dealing with a lot of incursions on Earth, in and around the same period he lived.  We were reaching the limits of what he could do on his own, but there wasn't anyone else in the Time Patrol qualified to take his place."

"So when he started to fade away," Luffa concluded, "you knew something like this might happen to him.   Even if someone else had gone in my place, they would have known him too, and it would have ended up the same way."

Chronoa looked over at Trunks and Bulma.  "The important thing now is that you prevented his death in the past," she said.  "But right now, he's experiencing multiple versions of the same history.   He still remembers it the way it happened, but he also remembers you rescuing him in Age 783, and the appearance of No. 19.    And he also remembers meeting you for the first time in Age 785, when you helped him defeat Perfect Cell.   And he remembers everything in his life after that time, but now those memories are jumbled by the effects of those three different variations."

"Can we help him?" Luffa asked.  

Chronoa held up the scroll.  "I'll need to work on this.   Once I restore the timeline properly, Trunks will lose those alternate memories, and the psychosis will fade.  He won't remember meeting you in the past, and he'll be back to normal.   But I may need to send other Time Patrollers back to work on some of the damage."

"I can do that," Luffa said.   "Anything you need."

"No," Chronoa said.   "Sending you back there again so soon would only destabilize things.   You stopped Cell from killing Trunks, but we still need to stop Cell from absorbing 17 and 18 in the first place.   And we need to sort out where that other android came from."

"You're right," Luffa said.   "None of it went the way it normally does.  Why didn't you send me to the second change?   If that weird guy hadn't shown up when he did..."

"Who was that person?" Chronoa asked.  "We couldn't see or hear him in the Scroll.   It was like he wasn't even there."

"I don't know," Luffa said.   "He looked like one of Towa's race, but he didn't introduce himself.   He just offered to take me to the change, and since you didn't pull me out of there, I decided I had no choice."

"That's my fault," Chronoa said.  "I wasn't expecting there to be two changes.  When I couldn't find the second one right away, I tried to get around it by giving myself the answer before I found it."

"Huh?" Luffa asked.  

She held up the scroll to illustrate.   "I know where it is now, after the danger to Trunks is already passed.   So I could warp the flow of time and give that information to myself a few minutes earlier, when we actually needed to know.   It's called a predestination paradox."

"You can do things like that?" Luffa asked.  

"Normally I wouldn't risk it," Chronoa said with a nod, "but I was worried about Trunks.   Besides, it didn't work.   I tried to reach into the future to get the information I needed, but I couldn't, because I never found it myself.   I never needed to, because you got where you needed to do without me."

"Then you don't know the man who helped me," Luffa said.   "He sure acted like he knew you.   He wanted me to tell you... that he planned to visit you soon."

Chronoa considered this for a moment, and cupped her hand around her upper lip as she thought it over.    "I have no idea who could have done something like this," she said.  "There's a few remote possibilities... but none of them would have had the opportunity to try.  And how could they even know what Towa was up to?"

"I thought he was working with Towa," Luffa said.  "But he did help me save Trunks, so he may not be the enemy I took him for."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Chronoa said.   "If he's really planning to visit, we'll just have to be ready for anything.   For now, I need to work on this scroll, and Trunks needs to rest."

"I'll get him back to his apartment," Luffa offered.

"No," Chronoa said.   "He'll be much more comfortable here.   In the state he's in, the sights of Toki Toki City might be very disturbing to him."

"All right," Luffa said.   "Then what should I do in the meantime?  You already said I can't help you clean up this scroll."

Chronoa gestured to Bulma.   "I think Bulma could use some company," she said.   "She's been through a lot today, and Trunks will recover more quickly in isolation.   Maybe you can take her mind off of things for a while."

"I'm not very good at hospitality," Luffa said.   "I mean, I still feel like a guest around here myself."

"You'll do fine," Chronoa said.   "Like Bulma said, you're Trunks' ancestor.   So she's your family too, right?"

Luffa had no answer to that.   Even if she knew what to say, she wasn't sure it would matter.

 NEXT: Bulma and Luffa.

[sciatu]

PALAZZO BUTERA - VECCHIO in bianco e nero e NUOVO a colori.

Dicono che per restaurare il Palazzo Butera, Massimo Valsecchi abbia venduto un famoso quadro di Reichter per circa venti milioni di Euro e sembra che questa cifra sia stata appena sufficiente a far tornare il palazzo ai fasti di una volta con in aggiunta opere moderne di indubbio valore. Il Palazzo Butera infatti è sempre stato un palazzo ricco di meravigliosi e leggendari arredi, dalla carrozza d’oro con cui i principi si muovevano nelle occasioni speciali insieme ai re o agli imperatori in visita a Palermo, alle statue, ai dipinti, agli arredi che sono sempre stati i più eleganti che lo stile o la moda del momento chiedevano. Nel palazzo poi sono passate tutte le famiglie nobiliari siciliane più importanti, dai principi di Butera, Primo Rango del regno di Napoli (cioè la famiglia nobiliare più importante dopo quella reale) fino ai Lanza, ai Moncada, ai Ventimiglia. Chi diede il via alla nascita del palazzo fu Ercole Michele Branciforte e Gravina, figlio di Girolamo, e donna Caterina Branciforte e Ventimiglia, figlia di don Nicolò Placido, principe di Butera e duca di Santa Lucia. Il Principe unì diversi caseggiati di sua proprietà con altri palazzi presenti nella Kalsa per realizzare la prima parte del palazzo. Successivamente alla parte iniziale vennero aggiunti altri caseggiati presi dai Principi Moncada e altre di proprietà del Duca della Verdura. Ripeto questi nomi e questi titoli non per amore di genealogia nobiliare, ma per farti capire come i padroni del palazzo possedessero dei feudi tanto vasti da essere probabilmente superiori a quelli del re stesso. Questo spiega la potenza economica dei principi e la spesa affrontata per la realizzazione e l’abbellimento del palazzo e ci fa dire che il palazzo è stato costruito con le risorse di tutta la  Sicilia. Nel Palazzo erano presenti tutte le varie stanze necessarie alla nobiltà: sale da ballo, sale da gioco, sale da studio, biblioteche, archivi, appartamenti vari, stanze dedicate agli ospiti regali, foresterie per quelli di rango inferiore, giardini d’inverno, angoli per la conversazione, terrazze lunghissime per passeggiare vista mare, cantine, magazzini, rimesse per le carrozze. Ora tutto questo, dopo alcuni anni di abbandono, è tornato a risplendere, rammodernato non a rifare scenograficamente il passato ma a contenere nuove opere d’arte delle grandi collezioni di Valsecchi. Questa volta l’obiettivo della rinascita non è stupire o mostrare potere e ricchezza, ma rendere il palazzo un contenitore di arte, sfruttando la sua grandezza ed il fatto che è a Palermo, un luogo che appartiene a diversissime civiltà, che qui trovano l’armonia e la bellezza della convivenza quella da cui l’arte nasce e che è il fine stesso dell’umanità.

They say that to restore Palazzo Butera, Massimo Valsecchi sold a famous painting by Reichter for about twenty million euros and it seems that this figure was just enough to return the palace to its former glory with modern works of undoubted value. . In fact, Palazzo Butera has always been a palace full of marvelous and legendary furnishings, from the golden carriage with which the princes moved on special occasions together with kings or emperors visiting Palermo, to the statues, paintings, furnishings that they have always been the most elegant that the style or fashion of the moment demanded. All the most important Sicilian noble families then passed into the palace, from the princes of Butera, First Rank of the Kingdom of Naples (that is, the most important noble family after the royal one) up to the Lanza, the Moncada, the Ventimiglia. Those who gave way to the birth of the palace were Ercole Michele Branciforte and Gravina, son of Girolamo, and Donna Caterina Branciforte and Ventimiglia, daughter of Don Nicolò Placido, prince of Butera and duke of Santa Lucia. The Prince joined several buildings of his property with other buildings in the Kalsa to create the first part of the building. Subsequently to the initial part other buildings were added taken by the Moncada Princes and others owned by the Duke of Verdura. I repeat these names and titles not for the sake of noble genealogy, but to make you understand how the owners of the palace owned fiefdoms so vast that they were probably superior to those of the king himself. This explains the economic power of the princes and the expense incurred for the construction and embellishment of the building and makes us say that the building was built with the resources of all of Sicily. In the palace there were all the various rooms necessary for the nobility: ballrooms, game rooms, study rooms, libraries, archives, various apartments, rooms dedicated to royal guests, guesthouses for those of lower rank, winter gardens, corners for conversation, very long terraces for strolling overlooking the sea, cellars, warehouses, coach sheds. Now all this, after a few years of neglect, has returned to shine, modernized not to dramatically redo the past but to contain new works of art from the great Valsecchi collections. This time the aim of the rebirth is not to amaze or show power and wealth, but to make the palace a container of art, exploiting its greatness and the fact that it is in Palermo, a place that belongs to very different civilizations, which here find the harmony and the beauty of coexistence  from which art is born and which is the very end of humanity.

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Episode 35 Review: In Which Matt Calls Out Jean Paul

{ Not available on YouTube }

{ Synopses: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

Welcome back to Maljardin, the beautiful tropical “paradise” that is, in reality, a deadly prison for the guests of Jean Paul Desmond and his demonic lookalike ancestor Jacques Eloi des Mondes. Tensions mount as more and more characters realize that the island’s multimillionaire owner god refuses to let them escape and pushes for a séance in order to contact his late wife. One, Reverend Matthew Dawson, ex-minister and current stalker of one Holly Marshall, has reached the breaking point and now dares challenge Jean Paul.

Now, I know that I briefly compared and contrasted Matt with Reverend Trask (specifically, the second Reverend Trask) from Dark Shadows in my Episode 10 review last year. There are a handful of similarities--including both running boarding schools of questionable ethics (which I forgot to list in that review)--but they remain characters with fundamentally different personalities at their cores. In spite of this, Matt does share one of the favorite hobbies of the men of the Trask family: YELLING in an exaggerated Mid-Atlantic accent in long and emotional speeches! That’s what happens for a good portion of the episode, and I can’t deny that I find this sort of soap opera shouting match highly entertaining.

We open with Jean Paul descending the Great Hall’s staircase while wearing the Blue Suit of Sexiness, which he will continue to wear for the next few episodes. He sees Matt staring at the portrait of THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES and asks him if he’s “mesmerized by” him. (How could anyone not be, I wonder, before reminding myself that Matt is straight.)

“It seems everyone is, or at least the evil Raxl fears he’s spreading,” is the Reverend’s response.

“And you?”

“There is evil here, Mr. Desmond, but I don't believe in devils. I attribute it more realistically to a live, active human being.”

And then they exchange pissy faces to dramatic music.

I’ve noted before that I didn’t expect a minister like Matt (especially one who believes in other supernatural phenomena) to admit that he doesn’t believe in devils. Still, even if he did, that’s no guarantee that he would make a distinction between Jean Paul and Jacques or think anything of his sudden switches of personality beyond grief and/or mental illness.

The first shot of the glass-top table set up for the séance. Kind of odd that Jean Paul just happens to have a table with astrological symbols on it just lying around.

Just then, Raxl and Quito enter, and the former announces to Jean Paul, “It is foretold that the Conjure Woman one day will find death on Maljardin!” Jean Paul ignores this and tells Vangie (who also conveniently just entered) that she must hold the séance and he must speak to Erica.

Some Jean Paul crazy eyes. Shades of Gérard “Crazy Eyes” Berner, discussed in this entry.

“Master! In the Temple of the Serpent, the Conjure Woman was told that this séance must not take place! The spirits have spoken!” Raxl protests, but he ignores her. Remember, this is a man who announced three episodes ago that he is willing even to perform blood sacrifices to get his Erica back. He is crazy in love--literally. His obsession with Erica makes Matt’s decision to quit his ministry to stalk Holly seem sane.

“On Maljardin, only I speak!” Jean Paul declares, eyes wide and burning like the blue flames on a gas stove. He uses his “on this island, I am God” tone of voice, but sadly Jacques isn’t cheering him on this time. Speaking of Jacques, he immediately storms over to the portrait and shouts, “I must have contact with my darling!” as though he thinks that Jacques will willingly provide that. Oh, Jean Paul, my sweet summer child, if only you knew that he has no intention of resurrecting your dear, sweet Erica.

Alison arrives just in time to overhear him tell Matt that, as an “undesirable element that would ensure its failure,” he shouldn’t take part in the séance. He starts to ask Alison to join him, but then decides he would rather make a passive-aggressive comment about how Matt probably doesn’t believe in souls (WTF?), which triggers the following argument:

Jean Paul: "And the theologian, not because he believes in the soul, but because..."   Matt: "Because he is tolerant, Mr. Desmond!" Jean Paul: "Tolerant of what? My madness, perhaps?" Matt: "I did not say that!" Jean Paul: "Are you prepared to face the dead?"

He tries to get Vangie to let him choose who will participate in the séance, but she refuses because she understands spiritualist matters better than he does. (Also, she can teleport to and from Maljardin, so it’s not like she’s trapped on the island like the other guests. This means that she can stand up to Jean Paul without the risk of him imprisoning her.)

Raxl brings up the missing notes about Erica. Alison demands to know how she knows about them, and she claims that she knows because of how often she and Dan discussed them. Raxl accuses Alison of trying to hide the notes in the cove (but why would she store them so far from the lab?). Matt has a point when he says the following line:

I am accused of pushing Holly Marshall down the stairs, Dan Forrest is accused of tampering with the cryonics capsule, Mrs. Marshall is accused of trying to kill her own daughter, and you are accused of concealing Dr. Menkin’s notes that might bring Erica Desmond to life again!...Now, a séance. Who knows what new accusations we will hear and against whom, and I wonder who will make them?

Raxl, Vangie, and Quito visit the temple to pray for the protection of everyone during the séance. This is probably the point where Tarasca would have appeared and vanished for the first time in the original draft, but we may never know for sure. Meanwhile, Jean Paul brags both to Jacques’ portrait and to my hysterical laughter that he is now in full control of himself. Sure, Jan Jean.

I really like this shot of Jean Paul with his arms outstretched in front of Jacques' portrait. Taken out of context, it looks like he’s trying to hug Jacques. "Caressing" evil, indeed.

Matt approaches the stairway to the crypt, but Jean Paul stops him. Matt then remembers that he threatened to kill anyone who trespassed into the crypt, which shocks Alison. “Does it upset you that I want to protect your sister’s return?” he asks her, and this triggers a second, much longer argument between Jean Paul and Matt. As usual with long conversations on this show, I will only include the highlights and summarize the rest.

It starts out with Matt repeating that everyone on Maljardin is Jean Paul’s prisoner. He accuses him of making them all suspect each other as a deliberate act of divide-and-conquer. I think that, in order for that to be true, it would require Jean Paul to be both omniscient and omnipotent, neither of which he is. (Even his hidden camera system only covers certain rooms.) Matt also accuses Raxl and Vangie of “seeking guidance for further accusations,” whatever the hell that means.

“Do you fear to face your judgment day?” Jean Paul asks him, which momentarily shuts him up. He stares at Jean Paul, stunned at the thinly-veiled threat.

Meanwhile in the temple, Raxl and Vangie decide who should and shouldn’t attend the séance. In short, neither Holly nor Dan should attend, but Quito should.

When Raxl asks if Jean Paul should attend, Vangie faints onto the temple floor!

When Matt recovers, he makes a whole list of over-the-top accusations against Jean Paul: "Hear me! Be a little god on your insane Island, manipulate our lives, play games with our reason! Be both judge and jailer! Yes, raise the dead, walk on water! That will be next. Crucify yourself, but remember, you, too, will be judged!"

Matt trying to look intimidating.

Jean Paul (thinking): “Please. When I said I was God on this island, I didn’t mean it in that way.”

You know, Jean Paul’s behavior this week reminds me of someone--and no, I’m not referring to whom you probably think I’m going to. I’m thinking instead of Jerry Layton, the show’s co-creator, producer, and “so-called production expert” who apparently shared some notable personality traits with early Jean Paul. According to the show’s floor director, Bob Wilson:

To be honest with you I always thought, and I’m not the only one who thought this, that the Jean Paul Desmond character was really Jerry Layton.  Oh yes.  He was mad.  He was crazy.  He would rant and rave about the simplest thing.  And we would all stand around and wait until he did his little thing.  And it was almost like an actor taking his lines and just running amok with them.  I recall that--it was very easy to be intimidated by this character.   I remember [technical producer André “Andy” Moujean] and I coming away from that dinner and saying to each other--What are we getting ourselves into?[1]

According to StrangeParadise.net, Layton insisted on running the show on next to no budget, which earned him the nickname “Mickey Mouse” among the production team. There’s a hilarious photo on there of Colin Fox with a Mickey Mouse pin pinned on one of Jean Paul’s dressing gowns and a mischievous smile on his face. There’s also this one in the website’s archive of the wall where John Pashley, one of the cameramen, wrote the comment “While my prose will not compare with Proust, thank f.....g Christ for Mickey Mouse.”[2] Notable examples of Layton’s mismanagement of the show include the lack of air conditioning in the studio while filming in August (as noted in this quote on Fox’s IMDb page) and the grueling schedule for the cast and crew, which Wilson also mentioned in his interview:

We all put in horrendous hours, not only in the production, but in getting the thing together.  ...  There were an awful lot of people who stayed [in Chelsea, at Crawley studios] overnight.  I was not one of them, but I can remember the sound guys staying overnight, trying to meet deadlines, with their effects.  I can remember the lighting guys staying overnight, trying to get the right look on a particular scene. [...] The bus would deliver, say, 25 people, and at night, maybe 17 would go back, because the other people were staying overnight to try to make deadlines.[3]

Despite these similarities, however, I doubt that Jean Paul is based on Jerry Layton. First, there is no evidence that Ian Martin actually ever visited the set, despite his position as headwriter. In fact, according to Wilson, he never did:

SRS: I was curious whether you ever met Ian Martin--he was the guy who wrote the first seven or eight weeks.

BW: I did not. To the best of my knowledge, I don’t believe--which is an unbelievable statement to make, but I’m pretty sure I’m right in saying this--I do not believe that any of the writers ever attended a production meeting, when we were at the studio. Now if Ian Martin was there, it would have been fleetingly, and he was the initial writer. The reason I’m even bringing this up is it was the bane of the actors’ existence that this didn’t happen. Many times they would say, “How can this guy continue writing [the show]--he hasn’t even been here to see, to get the feel of the set, of the ambience...”

SRS: He was writing it, but you were taping at that point well in advance of the broadcast--I see on this plan [of the set, which BW had] here, there’s a date--”August 11, ’69, programs number 2 and 3”--I’m taking from this that the original production of the actual show began in August of ’69. I don’t believe it began running on Canadian television until October of ’69.

BW: That would be correct.

SRS: So Mr. Martin is happily writing his scripts, but he’s not viewing any of the episodes... So he’s just spinning it off in his little room.

BW: Which was a sin, because we could feel the way it should have gone, we could feel where it could go--we weren’t writers, and when I say “we” I include cast and crew, because we were a family, we were very much a family.  ... Had any one of the writers, Ian Martin or any one of the writers after that come out and even just spent some time, it would have paid so many dividends. As I say, I stand to be corrected, but to the best of my knowledge, that never took place.[4]

Second, such megalomaniacal types tend not to have a sense of humor regarding their own shortcomings. If Layton had even suspected that Jean Paul was supposed to represent him (assuming that he behaved as Wilson claims he did), I think that he would have insisted on changing his characterization earlier on. Most likely, Jean Paul’s characterization derives from the archetype of the Byronic lord of the manor, an extremely popular character trope in Gothic literature. Examples include Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, Nicholas van Ryn from Dragonwyck, and (eventually) Richard Morgan from Martin’s 1979 novel Shadow Over Seventh Heaven. Despite this, I have to wonder if, when the actors were rehearsing this script, they were thinking of Mickey Mouse and his own so-called production expertise and putting their feelings about him into it.

Some delicious Raxl scenery-chewing in the Not-So-Hidden Temple after Vangie faints. “It is the prophecy,” she recalls in reference to Vangie’s prediction that she will die on Maljardin. “MUST IT BE NOW?”

Returning to our recap, Alison tries to shut Matt up because “Jean Paul is under a strain,” but he won’t have it. He proceeds to criticize Jean Paul to his face, and one has to wonder if some of these lines reminded Dan MacDonald of Mickey Mouse:

Why is it that no one’s feelings are to be considered, only his? There is no one, it seems, in all the world that has ever suffered except Jean Paul Desmond! No one has ever lost a loved one, only Jean Paul Desmond and his unique sorrow for his beloved Erica!

Colin Fox doing some literal backacting.

Jean Paul getting pissy.

We wondered whether we had seen him change into another man, one man one moment, another man the next! Now we are seeing the real man…A man who ignores the suffering of others, who is indifferent to the pain he inflicts upon them, who is willing to imprison them for all their lives for the sake of an impossible experiment in bringing back the dead, in getting what he wants because he suffers, because he is willing to punish the whole world in order to get what he wants out of blind selfishness masquerading as strength, this selfish thing! So great is his love of himself, which he calls love for his dear Erica!

 For the most part, he’s right about Jean Paul, save for the part about him being indifferent to others’ suffering. He’s indifferent to the detained guests’ wishes to escape the island, yes, but not to Alison’s mourning of her sister or Holly’s of her father. He just doesn’t want the tabloid press to find out about the cryonics situation and spread scandalous rumors (or, perhaps, a scandalous truth) about him and Erica. Matt thinks that the whole cryonics experiment is just as blasphemous and ridiculous as Jean Paul’s insistence that he is God on his island.

Jean Paul’s anger is so intense that it’s starting to mess up his shellacked hairdo.

Now it’s Jean Paul’s turn to fling accusations at him: "I did not pursue a young girl in the name of God and good works. I did not beset and harass a mere child out of a sick desire. And I did not strike the girl unseen and secretly fling her down the stairs because she knew, knew what you were!" A reminder: Holly is almost twenty-one, and yet Jean Paul refers to her as not just a child, but a young one. The way the characters keep talking about Holly like she’s seventeen is just baffling. Like I’ve said before, Matt’s attraction to Holly is already creepy enough without those kinds of implications, simply because of the former captor/former captive power dynamics involved.

Just after Jean Paul says that he is responsible for everyone on the island, Quito arrives, carrying Vangie. “Your responsibilities grow,” Matt tells him. “Now you have the soul [line flub for “blood?”] of Evangeline Abbott on your hands.” However, it turns out he spoke too soon, for Vangie soon recovers, albeit with a vision of death!

“Jean Paul, I saw death!” she says upon recovering. “The death I saw was not my own ending. A figure--it wasn’t clear.” And then she points to Jacques’ portrait and shouts, “That man! The Devil!”

This leads Alison to beg Jean Paul to cancel the séance. Jean Paul is surprised that "now the scientist believes in the devil." Jean Paul, being extremely stubborn, insists again on going through with the séance. But what unholy death and destruction will this séance wreak on Maljardin?

Jean Paul sitting down at the séance table during the credits.

Coming up next: The séance and a return to the YouTube episodes. (Am I the only one who’s been missing the ridiculous automatic captions? I hope not.) Shortly after that, the next part of my review of Shadow Over Seventh Heaven, which I would have posted before this one, but I was so much farther along with this one that I decided to post it first.

{<- Previous: Episode 34   ||   Next: Episode 36 ->}

Notes

[1] Bob Wilson, interview with S. R. Shutt, Ottawa, October 15, 2002. Wilson is also the one who called Layton the “so-called production expert,” which reminds me of David Benioff, the “so-called production expert” behind Game of Thrones whose mismanagement of that series is well-documented on the YouTube channel The Dragon Demands. In a sense, Benioff and Weiss wrote it like a soap opera, changing characterizations and “subverting expectations” at will with random plot twists--which is fine until you remember that they were running a high-budget adaptation of an unfinished book series.

[2] Another funny photo of the wall can be found here, On this one, someone dubbed the show “Canada’s own all-American T.V. series!” and used the Mark of Death (from a future storyline--not saying any more about it until later) as an unofficial logo.

[3] Wilson.

[4] Ibid.

[networksload185]

Honda 400ex Carburetor Float Adjustment

The Honda FourTrax 300EX is a small all-terrain vehicle (ATV) that has a lot to offer. This ATV is a cross between a sport quad and a sportsman. The 300cc four-stroke engine produces a lot of power and torque. Only newer FourTrax 300EX models have fuel injectors; earlier model have carburetors. Adjusting a FourTrax. Honda TRX400EX A - SPORTRAX 400EX CARBURETOR Diagram. Catalog; Honda; ATV; 2006; TRX400EX A - SPORTRAX 400EX; CARBURETOR; Check Availability. Select your address # Description Price Qty; 2: NEEDLE SET, JET 16012-HN1-A41. Ships in 2 to 3 days. $19.98 $18.58 Add. 3: FLOAT SET 16013-HN8-003. $32.47 $31.71 Add. 4: TOP SET 16014-HN1. Carburetor Float: A bobber of sorts in the carburetor that determines the amount of fuel into the engine. As noted, any number of reasons impact the amount of fuel in the carb but the most common is improperly adjusting the float height. Think of it like the filler float in the reservoir tank of a toilet.

Hey guy's Having trouble with the Carb adjustments , Just Installed All new Honda Gasket's on the Carb - Ready for tune I added a Picture , Would like to know What each Adjustment Does ? I have them As - Adjustment # 1 & Adjustment # 2 on the Picture. Please Refer to the Adjustment's as #1 or #2 ( No Confusion ) Also would like to know what are the Stock Setting's on Both Adjustment's ? ......................... ................. Their is also a adjustment on the Lower Bowl ( Rear ) - What does it control ? ......................... .................. Any 1 Have a Stock ATC 70 manual ( Small one that comes with ATC ) For Sale ?

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SERVICE AND TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS

Accelerator pumps|Bog|Chokes|Engine not starting |Floats, brass |Floats, cork |Flooding=' mso-spacerun:=''>='mso-spacerun:>

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Hesitation|MarvelAdjustments |Stumble|Throttle body gaskets |Tripowertuning

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2001 Honda 400ex Carburetor

Often the accelerator pumpgets the blame for other problems. It is very easy to test the function of theaccelerator pump. Start the engine, and warm to normal operating temperature.Shut off the engine. Remove the air cleaner. The choke butterfly should befully open, as the engine is warm. Observe the pump jet in the carburetor, andwith your hand, work the carburetor throttle to the wide-open position. Youshould observe a healthy squirt of fuel from the pump jet. A single barrelcarburetor will normally squirt a single stream; while a two or four barrelcarburetor will normally squirt 2 streams. If you see the stream(s) of fuel,the pump is working. It is important to start the engine prior to doing thistest. With modern gasoline, it is quite possible the carburetor will becompletely dry prior to starting. If there is no gasoline in the bowl, the pumpwill not work; and this would give a false result.

Bog, Hesitation, Stumble

This paragraph applies toan instantaneous bog, hesitation, or stumble upon acceleration. Constanthesitation is covered under “surging”. This paragraph also applies torelatively stock engines with the original carburetor. We will discuss twotypes of bog: the first is bog when the vehicle is accelerated from a stop; thesecond is bog when the vehicle is accelerated from cruise. Bog from a stop isvirtually always (and generally erroneously) diagnosed as a faulty acceleratorpump (see the section on “accelerator pumps” for testing). Most moderncarburetors are designed to function with roughly 0.020 (20 thousanths)clearance between the center of the throttle plate edge, and the throttle bodyat a point equidistant from the throttle shaft bearing areas. This clearanceallows for maximum velocity of idle air past the idle ports. Exceptions to thisare GM carburetors with the idle speed air screw, and end carburetors ontripower. Setting the idle for the highest vacuum idle reading will result intoo little clearance of the throttle plate; forcing too much of the idlemixture through the lower idle port and too little through the idle transferslot. This will cause a phenomena called “puddling” where little droplets ofgasoline adhere to the intake manifold runners. When the throttle is opened,there is now sufficient velocity of air to sweep all these droplets into thecylinders, creating a mixture which is too rich to burn, hence the bog. As soonas the overrich mixture is pumped out the tailpipe, and a normal mixture isingested by the cylinders, the bog disappears. A defective advance mechanismcan also cause bog; as can a defective accelerator pump. If bog exists onlyfrom an idle, not when accelerating from a constant speed, the idle adjustmentis probably the culprit.

Bog from a cruise RPM maybe caused by a defective advance mechanism, but on 4 barrel carburetors isoften caused by the secondary side opening too soon. Most original equipment 4barrel carburetors have “on-demand” secondaries (I use this term rather thanvacuum, as some early 4 barrels used vacuum to accuate the secondary, whilemost 4 barrels from about 1960 up used either spring tension or weights tocontrol the secondary). The Carter AFB uses weights, and therefore never goesout of adjustment. Other 4 barrel carburetors such as the Carter AVS, CarterTQ, Rochester 4GC, and Rochester Q-Jet have a tensioned secondary spring. Asthe spring fatigues, the air valve will open too soon, creating aninstantaneous lean condition, and a bog. These units, when rebuilt, shouldvirtually always have the tension spring replaced, and adjusted to factoryspecifications. A defective accelerator pump will rarely cause bog from cruise.

BrassFloats

Many mechanics have been conditioned to ask for a float each time theyrebuild a carburetor, due to the reasonable price of modern, mass-producedfloats, and the propensity of nitrophyl (foam) floats to absorb gasoline aftertime. In dealing with older, NON-CURRENT-PRODUCTION brass floats, neither ofthe above are true, and a mechanic should attempt to 'save' the float if at allpossible.

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The first step is to clean the float and inspect it for obvious damage.Small dings and dents are quite common, even in unused floats, and occurredwhen the manufacturer shipped the floats in bulk. Major dents (generally causedby water freezing in the carburetor) are not generally repairable. If one canhear liquid sloshing around inside the float, skip to the next paragraph. Ifthe float looks to be reasonably damage-free, it should be tested. Testing isaccomplished by grasping the float arm with a pair of needle-nose pliers, andsubmerging the float in very hot water. The hot water will pressurize the airinside the float, and a leaky float will blow a stream of bubbles.

If the float should need repair, it is important to understand how the floatwas originally produced. Virtually all brass float pontoons (the floating part)are composed of two pieces (a few are more) of brass soldered together. Thepieces differ in the seam area, as one piece has a male seam and the other afemale seam. One float piece will also have a small hole for temperatureequilization. This hole will be covered by a small drop of solder, and will beas far from the seam as possible. The manufacturer would solder the two piecestogether, allow the float to cool completely, AND THEN close the equilizationhole. Soldering MUST be done using a soldering 'iron'. Repair should not beattempted using either a torch, or a soldering gun. If you plan on disregardingthis advice, read the next paragraph first! The following procedure works forus (no, we will not repair your float unless we restore the entire carburetor):First, if liquid is present inside the float, find the hole, and remove theliquid by placing the hole down inside the hot water. The pressure will forcethe liquid from the float. If the float has much liquid, it may be necessary toremove the float from the hot water, allow the float to cool, and repeat thehot water dip. Once the liquid has been removed, and the leak has been marked,open the equilization hole by removing the solder. Solder the leak closed usingas little solder as possible. A small piece of tape over the equilization holewill allow the hot water test to be preformed. If there are no leaks, removethe tape, and ALLOW THE FLOAT TO COOL COMPLETELY before closing theequilization hole. A final test, and you have 'saved' a valuable float.='font-size:10.0pt'>

Automatic Chokes

An area of the carburetorgenerally misunderstood is the function of the automatic choke. Automaticchokes use a bimetallic coil to close the choke plate, and vacuum to open thechoke plate. It is important to understand that the bimetallic coil does NOTopen the choke. Automatic chokes are of two types: integral, and divorced (alsocalled remote). The integral choke is an integral part of the carburetor. Thedivorced choke resides on the manifold (divorced or remote from the carburetor)and has an operating rod from the choke to the carburetor. In general,carburetors with divorced chokes use a separate choke-pulloff to open thechoke. Integral chokes have a piston inside the choke housing. In general, thebimetallic coil rotates when cold to close the choke. As the bimetallic coil isheated, it relaxes, and the choke is pulled open by vacuum. In the case of theintegral choke, there will be a tiny vacuum passage from the throttle area(vacuum source) up to the choke housing where vacuum is exerted on the piston.If this tiny passageway is clogged (often), no vacuum is applied to the piston,and the choke does not fully open. A problem with divorced chokes is the use ofan incorrect thickness carburetor to manifold gasket when the carburetor isrebuilt. This will change the required length of the choke operating rod, andmay result in the choke either not closing, or not fully opening.

Setting an automatic chokeis quite simple, even if an aftermarket choke is used. For integral chokes,loosen the retaining screws such that the choke will rotate freely. Adjust thechoke such that the choke plate just touches closed at 68 degrees F. (65~70degrees is close enough). Tighten the retaining screws. For the divorced choke,the same setting applies, but bend the operating rod to set the choke plate.

CORK FLOATS

Many of the less expensive carburetors from the beginning upthrough about 1940 were originally equipped with floats made from cork. Most ofthe floats were coated with orange shellac, and then the finish was baked,creating a finish fairly impervious to the gasoline of the day. A few of the manufacturersdid not coat their floats, and used a cork material that seemed to work fairlywell with the gasoline then being sold.

The gasoline of today cuts orange shellac like a hot knifein butter, and also will permeate the natural cork material!

This poses a severe problem for the restorer. It is noteconomically feasible to attempt to mass produce brass floats to replace thecork floats. Also, the company producing the poly-nitrofill foam floats hasbeen most un-cooperative unless orders of very large magnitude are placed withthem. We are currently machining float pontoons from this substance, to be usedwith the original float arm.

For those who are independently wealthy, individual brassfloats can be made. This also may be a solution for a retired machinist withaccess to a good machine shop. This is a very time-intensive remedy, expensiveif one must pay for the time.

For the rest of us, it becomes imperative to attempt to usea replacement cork (or foam) float, and seal the cork (or foam) against thepermeation of the gasoline. The procedure we at The Carburetor Shop arecurrently using is as follows;

(A)Detach the originalbrass arm from the original cork float.=' font:7.0pt=''>

(B)Clean the arm (weuse a glass beading machine)=' font:7.0pt=''>

(C)Attach the arm tothe polynitraphyl pontoon included with this kit.=' font:7.0pt=''>

(D)Submerge the pontoon,and the portion of the arm in direct contact with the pontoon into a productcalled ‘POR-15’. This product is available from POR-15, Inc, P.O. Box 1235,Morristown, NJ 07962. They have a website at www.por15.com.READ THE DIRECTIONS. ACCORDING TO POR15, ONCE THEIR PRODUCT DRYS, YOU MUST WEAROFF ANY YOU SPILL ON YOU! I BELIEVE IT!=' font:7.0pt=''>

(E)Remove the floatfrom the liquid and slowly rotate to eliminate any bubbles.=' font:7.0pt=''>

(F)Suspend the floatwith a suitable hanger, and allow to air dry for 72 hours prior to use.=' font:7.0pt=''>

This procedure seems to be working with the current mixtureof gasoline.

If anyone comes up with a better procedure, we wouldcertainly wish to be informed!!!

ENGINE NOT STARTING

Thissection is not designed to turn a novice into a professional mechanic, ratherto suggest to the novice a step by step approach to troubleshooting.

Enginenot starting (engine you have PERSONALLY heard run, but has been not startedfor some amount of time).

(1)Compression test (3 percent)

(2)Ignition test (90 + percent)

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(3)Fuel delivery system test (less than 1 percent)

(4)Carburetion test (3 percent)

Enginenot starting (engine you have never personally heard run)

(1)Compression test (3 percent)

(2)Valve timing test (less than 1 percent)

(3)Ignition test (90 + percent)

(4)Fuel delivery system test (less than 1 percent)

Crash bandicoot for mac software download. Red ace squadron full version. (5)Carburetion test (3 percent)

Soif the probability of failure is 90 percent with ignition, why should I do a compressiontest first? The tests are numbered in the order of if the one above is faulty,nothing you do in a subsequent test will fix the problem. If you have badcompression, adding a new carburetor, and/or completely replacing the entireignition system will result ONLY in a thinning of your wallet!

Compressiontest - mycompression ratio is a number, and the compression gauge reads pounds, whatgives?????

Thereare mathematical formulae to determine the number from the compression ratio,but they get complicated because of factors such as altitude, etc.; so best tosimply research the suggested maximum cranking values for your engine. If youcannot find your engine, find an engine with an equivalent compression ratio.

Whatyou really are looking for are 3 things: (A) the average should be at least 70percent of the suggested cranking value, (B) no cylinder should deviate fromthe average by more than 15 percent (10 percent would be better), and (C) thevalue read on the first revolution of the engine is at least 80 percent of thefinal reading for that cylinder.

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Valvetiming test - verylow probability of failure, but if you bought someone else's project, you donot know their capabilities, or why they abandoned the project. The distributorCOULD be off 180 degrees (remember in a 4-stroke engine the crankshaft makes 2revolutions for each revolution of the camshaft) OR a timing chain COULD havejumped a tooth. Testing for these items may save you a ton of time down theroad.

Ignitiontest - somany possibilities here. Mac os apk. If you have access to a diagnostic oscilloscope - USEIT! If not, you are looking for a really good spark at each plug at the propertime. Research how to check the various components in the ignition system. Andwhen you finally set the points gap (also known as the dwell angle) and thetiming, SET THE DWELL FIRST! If you set the timing before setting the points(dwell), changing the point gap (dwell) WILL change the timing.

Fueldelivery system test - basically, you are checking to make certain the fuel delivery system isdelivering fuel to the carburetor. Possible items to fail - (A) the sock a.k.a.sending unit filter can clog in the tank, (B) a fuel line may be filled withdirt-daubers, (C) a fuel line fitting may have cracked, allowing air to enterthe system, (D) the flexible hose from the hard line on the frame to the fuelpump may be collapsed, (E) the fuel pump may be defective, the fuel filter maybe clogged.

Ifyou get to this point, the carburetor probably needs to be removed, andrebuilt.

Thesales pitch - ifthe carb needs rebuilding, we can probably help you with a rebuilding kit.

FLOODING(OVERFLOWING)

Fueloverflowing from the carburetor may be caused by a number of issues:

(1) Float/fuel valve incorrectly adjusted

(2) Defective fuel valve

(3) Defective float

(4) Excessive fuel pressure

(A) incorrect or defective fuelpump

(B) clogged or missing tank vent

(5) Cracked housing

Discussingin order:

(1) Make certain that you have the floatadjusted to the manufacturer’s original specifications, and make sure you knowHOW the manufacturer measured the adjustment. Some manufacturers specify thedistance from the float to the casting without the gasket, some with the gasket,some the distance to the fuel level in the bowl at a specified pressure, andRochester was probably the most creative, often measuring to a “dimple” on thefloat itself or the float seam. If you buy an aftermarket rebuilding kit, NEVERrely on the generic specification sheets which come in the kits. Check yourfactory shop manual or the carburetor manufacturer’s manual.

(2) If the fuel valve is defective,replace it.

(3) If the float is brass, check thislink: Brassfloats , if a material other than brass,and there is any doubt, replace the float.

(4) A fuel pressure gauge placed right atthe carburetor will confirm/deny the presence of too much pressure. However,one should consider the clogged or missing vent. The fuel tank MUST be vented,or no fuel can exit the tank. Many older vehicles were vented through thegasoline cap. Vented caps were obsoleted because of smog emissions regulations.If the tank vent is clogged or missing, normal ambient temperature change willcreate either a positive pressure or negative pressure (vacuum) on the tank.Some tanks are located close to the exhaust. As the engine warms the hotexhaust heats the fuel in the tank, and can create excessive pressure in thetank.

(5) Cracked carburetor housings are quiterare; in more than 50 years, I have only seen a hand-full, but the issue CANexist, ESPECIALLY if the “mechanic” feels the necessity of using some form ofTeflon (either tape or paste) on a tapered fuel fitting. Teflon is a fabulouslubricant, and will allow anyone to apply excessive torque to the fittingthreads and crack the casting.

Concerned about the price of gasoline? Beyond our control;however most can make their vehicle use fuel more efficiently, in many casesMUCH more efficiently. All of the following will help your vehicle to use lessfuel per mile traveled.

(1)Clean out the trunk. Weight uses fuel.

(2)Air up the tires, and check the air in the tires periodically.As a general rule, the manufacturer listed tire pressures which will give a“soft ride”. Talk to professionals at your local tire shop to see what theyrecommend. Do NOT exceed the pressure listed as maximum pressure on the tiresidewall. Lower pressures create more rolling resistance. Higher pressures, inaddition to being more fuel-efficient, tend to improve vehicle control, ANDprolong the life of the tire. The figure of a 2 percent reduction for eachpound underinflation should be sufficient incentive to monitor ones tires.

(3)Turn off the cruise control! A good driver should average 10to 20 percent better fuel economy than the cruise control unit.

(4)Pay attention to the condition of the vehicle. A dirty vehiclehas more “drag” in the air; a brake disc or drum which is dragging or a frontend out of alignment causes more rolling resistance. A clean, waxed vehiclereduces drag.

(5)Keep your vehicle’s drivetrain in good condition. Tune theengine, check the transmission and final drive at the recommended intervals inyour owners/operators manual. Spark plug wires are an often-overlooked culprit.(Of course, if you need a carburetor rebuilding kit, we would be pleased tohelp).

(6)Adjust your driving habits. Everyone knows that full throttleacceleration wastes fuel, so we will not discuss this. However, anticipating astop sign and gradual slowing (traffic permitting), will save both fuel andextend the life of your brakes.

(7)Adjust your driving cycles. Take a little time and think;idling in traffic wastes fuel: can I change my route and avoid signals or stopsigns? How about trips to the store; can I pay the water bill, go to the postoffice, and then come by the grocery store instead of making 3 separate trips?

(8)Avoid the use of ethanol (if possible). Ethanol has lessenergy and will thus deliver worse fuel economy. It may also require carburetorre-calibration.

(9)Carpool – the most efficient vehicle is the one unused in yourgarage.

Buying a new vehicle? On the same vehicle, a manualtransmission will result in 10 to 25 percent better fuel economy. However,until the rest of the buying population learns this fact, expect to take abeating when you trade in your vehicle. In fact, a good used second vehiclewith a manual transmission might just pay for itself over your existingvehicle.

FUEL LEAK BY THROTTLESHAFT(S)='font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'>

A common complaint today is fuel dripping out of thethrottle body by the throttle shaft AFTER the engine is switched off. While anumber of issues may cause this problem, by far the most common issue is thevolatility of modern fuel. Mechanical fuel pumps have a check valve whichprevents fuel from moving back to the fuel tank. The problem is as follows:

(1)After the engine is switched off, heat from the engine heatsthe fuel in the fuel line.

(2)The expanding fuel (increased volatility) creates pressure inthe fuel line from the pump to the carburetor.

(3)The check valve prevents the fuel backing up through the fuelpump.

(4)The pressure increases to a point the float/fuel valvecombination in the carburetor cannot withstand the pressure.

(5)An amount of fuel (usually from a teaspoon to a couple oftablespoons) flows into the fuel bowl of the carburetor.

(6)This raises the fuel level in the bowl above the maindischarge nozzle(s).

(7)Fuel flows through the main discharge nozzle(s) and drips ontothe throttle plate(s) which is/are closed, and exits out beside the throttleshaft(s) dripping onto the intake.

Possible solutions:

(1)IF POSSIBLE, AVOID ETHANOL LACED FUEL! Sometimes you can buyreal gasoline at a marina

(2)Buy the lowest octane name-brand fuel that does not ping ordetonate in your engine (the higher grades often have more ethanol)

(3)Install a “vapor return line” (take a look at return linesused on many factory air-conditioned cars)

(4)Learn to live with the issue.

HARD STARTING, COLD

Difficult starting a vehicle that has been allowed to sitfor a number of days (that will then start well the rest of the day) is oftencaused by modern fuel. Modern fuel begins to vaporize (evaporate) at a muchlower temperature than fuel before the 1970’s. Once the engine is shut off, thefuel in the carburetor bowl begins to evaporate through the bowl vent. If thereis no fuel in the carburetor, the engine will not start. Pumping the footfeedduring this time simply prolongs the agony, as the accelerator pump will pumpthe fuel into the engine, but in amounts insufficient for starting. If you havethis problem, try priming the carburetor by using an eyedropper and filling thecarburetor bowl through the bowl vent prior to cranking the engine. If you donot wish to prime the engine, crank the engine for 15 to 20 seconds WITHOUTPUMPING. Then stop cranking, pump the footfeed 3 or 4 times, release it, andthen reattempt to start the engine. Priming eliminates excessive wear on thestarter. Another possible solution is the installation of an electric fuelpump. If an electric pump is installed, check local, state, and federal lawsabout wiring; and pick a pump with pressure not exceeding that of the originalpump.

HARD STARTING, HOT

Difficult starting of a hot vehicle from 5 minutes to anhour after the engine has been operated, can be caused by the volatility ofmodern fuel. If you have this problem; try using the following method to startthe engine: DON’T touch the footfeed (VERY important). Crank the engine overfrom three to 5 seconds (different vehicles will respond to different times);and then GENTLY (so as not to activate the accelerator pump) press the footfeedapproximately 1/3 of its travel. The engine should start, and may run rough.Run the engine at a high idle for about 10 seconds. This issue is caused byvolatility of modern fuel. Once the engine has been shut off, the gasoline isheated by the latent heat of the engine, and percolates the fuel from the bowlinto the throttle area, forming a mixture that is too rich to fire. If you pushthe footfeed to the floor (as has been the traditional method of “unloading” aflooded engine) the gasoline continues to flow into the engine (again due tothe volatility). By not touching the footfeed, you do not open the throttle plates,and the engine will pump the overrich mixture out of the tailpipe. Once theoverrich mixture has been alleviated, gently opening the throttle will allowthe engine to start.

THROTTLE BODY GASKETS

Beginning with the 1957 carburetors, Rochester started usingthrottle body gaskets (the gasket between the throttle body and the bowlassembly)that have slots in thesealing surface, thus not making a complete seal of the two castings ON CERTAINCARBURETORS ONLY! Not all carburetors use them. This is only one of the reasonswe want a tag number when we supply a kit, as our kits are manufactured (by us)to the original Rochester bill-of-material. The correct gasket will be in thekit. The slots were provided to allow pressure in the venturi area to be bled tothe outside of the carburetor during hot city driving thus helping to preventstalling during hot city driving. For all you die-hards (or hardheads) – thereis no vacuum leak! These slots are above the throttle plates!! Are you still adie-hard?Here is a link to areproduction of the original Rochester bulletin introducing the slottedgaskets.ROCHESTER BULLETINHere is another link showing a slottedgasket, a regular gasket (often used for marine carbs) and some other hot idlecompensation devices HOTIDLE DEVICES=' mso-spacerun:=''>

TRIPOWER TUNING TIPS

This section is for use in tuning FACTORY GM tripowers withROCHESTER CARBURETORS. DO NOT ASSUME THAT THIS SECTION WILL HELP IF YOU AREUSING A ‘HOME-BREW’ TRIPOWER, OR ONE USING AFTERMARKET CASTINGS!!! Tripower was used by General Motors on Cadillac (1958-1960); Chevrolet(1958-1961); Oldsmobile (1957, 1958, and 1966); and Pontiac 1957-1966). Moreoften than not, there are more than one tripower per year and make fordifferent engine/transmission configurations. The information below is general.The factory shop manual is an excellent resource when working on thesecarburetors. Get the correct parts!!! With many generic “one kit fits all”, repair kits onthe market; it is difficult for the novice to know what to purchase. Componentsthat one might not consider which can cause issues are: fuel valves,accelerator pumps, gaskets, and power valves. Discussing these components: Fuel valves - I am aware of 4 styles of fuel valves that are being sold: (A)the conventional pointed fuel valve (our second favorite type); (B) thealuminum plunger with a neopreme disk inserted in the plunger that seals on ainverted flare seat (our favorite, but unfortunately, the manufacturer is nowout of business and no new complete units are available); (C) the 2 ball valve(these tend to hold pressure well, but we have had issues for full fuel flow inhigh performance applications, and also have had these flood profusely onvehicles not driven daily – we will not use these valves); and (D) an imitationof the valve (B) where a wafer containing the neopreme disc is placed betweenthe seat and the plunger (we have seen the wafer get stuck causing profuseflooding, we will not use this valve). If, when redoing a setup containingvalve (B), we can include new neopreme discs in our kits. Since the neopremedisc is the only wear item, replacing this disc and cleaning the plunger andseat will restore the unit. Others may have differing opinions of the variousvalves. Accelerator pumps – in the good old days, accelerator pumps were made fromleather. Somewhere along the way it was determined that accelerator pumps couldbe made much cheaper with neopreme, rather than leather skirts. BE (beforeethanol) the neopreme pump would last maybe 3~5 years, while leather will lastindefinitely. Neopreme pumps used with ethanol will fail rather quickly, whilethe leather pump will still last indefinitely. If at all possible, purchasekits with leather pumps. In fact, if your old accelerator pump is leather, trysoaking it in light machine oil rather than replacing it with a modern neopremepump. Gaskets – during the 1957 model year, Rochester began using a slotted throttlebody to bowl gasket ON SOME MODELS ONLY! For the carburetor to functionproperly, it is imperative that the PROPER throttle body gasket is used. Usinga solid gasket on a carburetor designed for the slotted gasket WILL result inhot idle issues. Power valves – Rochester used a number of different calibrations and twodifferent plunger lengths for power valves on tripower carbs along. Using theincorrect valve will create mixture-timing issues. UNLESS YOU HAVE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE, ALWAYS BUILD THE CARBURETORS TO STOCKSPECIFICATIONS. NOW YOU HAVE A BASELINE IF MODIFICATIONS ARE NECESSARY! OK, you rebuilt the carbs using correct parts to stock specs and now you areready to install and tune the carburetors. Unless you are a carburetionspecialist, install the center carburetor ONLY and install blockoff plates toblock off the end carburetors. If you are a carburetion specialist, you alreadyknew that, and I didn’t need to tell you. Adjust the idle. Using a vacuum gauge and setting for the highest vacuum cancause hesitation (see the paragraph on BOG). You cannot adjust the idle unlessthe engine is fully warm. If you blocked off the intake crossover, this couldmean 30 minutes or more. When the engine is warm enough to properly set theidle, the choke butterfly will be in the vertical or wide-open position. It isimportant to understand the idle circuit to properly adjust the idle. Contraryto popular belief, the idle mixture control screws DO NOT adjust the mixture.The mixture delivered by the carburetor is controlled by the idle tubes(gasoline jets), and the idle air bleeds (air jets) in the carburetor. The idlemixture control screws control the VOLUME of the preset mixture. An analogywould be a shower where you first set the temperature and then adjust thepressure. In this analogy the temperature (mixture) would be preset in thecarburetor, and the pressure (volume) is set by the mixture control screws. ForBEST results, the clearance from the throttle plates to the throttle body willbe about 0.020 (20 thousandths) at idle. If the tripower is being used on otherthan the stock engine (455 instead of a 389, or a very radical cam), it may benecessary to modify the idle circuit. There are two common possibilities in themodification of the idle circuit (if others are needed, your engine is tooradical for the scope of this discussion). REMEMBER BEFORE MAKING ANYMODIFICATIONS THAT THEY PROBABLY ARE PERMANENT!!! Idle modifications - the two common modifications are: enrichening the fuelmixture and increasing the idle air supply. Enrichening the fuel mixture MAY benecessary when using ethanol or if the engine has been built to a slightlyhigher tune, or headers have been added. Increasing the idle air supply MAY benecessary if the engine has been built much more radical than stock or if thedisplacement has been significantly increased. The goal of either modificationis a steady idle with the mixture screws from ¾ turn to 1 ½ turn from fullyseated, and about 0.020-inch clearance from the throttle plates to the throttlebore. The idle mixture control screws in these carburetors are the pre-smogshort taper. 1 and ½ turns from lightly seated, and the valves are WIDE OPEN. To enrich the idle mixture, one must first measure the inside diameter of theidle tubes. One can then drill these tubes oversize. We recommend NO MORE than0.005-inch increase in the diameter. The first attempt may be made at plus0.002 inch. If this is not sufficient, then subsequent attempts should be madein 0.001-inch increments not to exceed 0.005 inch total. To increase the idle air supply, one may drill small holes in each of thethrottle plates of the center carburetor. If one observes the throttle plateswhile attached to the throttle shaft, the throttle plate will appear as twohemispheres. For best results, the holes should be drilled in the center of thehemisphere AWAY from the idle mixture control screws. One should start with a0.060-inch hole (60 thousandths). If necessary, the holes may be increased insize, not to exceed 0.125 inch (125 thousandths). This modification does notchange the idle mixture, rather this modification is done to control theclearance of the throttle plate to throttle bore. This clearance is importantto minimize or eliminate bog from a stop. Once the idle circuit has been tuned it is time to direct attention to the mainmetering circuit. IF A MORE RADICAL CAM HAS BEEN INSTALLED, a vacuum gaugeshould be connected, and a reading of idle vacuum obtained. If the idle vacuumis less than 12 inches Hg. then it will be necessary to install a weaker springon the power-valve actuating-valve. A kit with a number of different calibratedsprings is available from The Carburetor Shop LLC. The purpose of changing the springis to allow the power valve to remain closed at high vacuum cruise and open atW.O.T. Once the power valve is operating properly, one can calibrate the mainjetting of the center carburetor. This is best done with one of the portableair fuel ratio meters. Both the main jets and power valve should be calibratedon the center carburetor. Once the idle, main metering, and power circuits have been calibrated on thecenter carburetor, one may install the two end carbs and tune them for W.O.T.Again, this is best accomplished with the use of an air fuel ratio meter. Different applications will have different desires for air/fuel (power oreconomy). These setting will be left to the tuner; but I would highly suggestconsultation with one’s engine builder for suggested ratios. The sales pitch: repair kits with the proper gaskets, leather acceleratorpumps, etc., as well as additional jets, power valves, vacuum spring kits, andother parts may be obtained through The Carburetor Shop LLC. ='mso-special-character:line-break'>

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[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (138/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation.   This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: About 1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z.

[23 November, 233 Before Age. Nagaoka.]

Through his mastery of the alchemical arts, King Rehval III Trismegistus had conquered the universe. The Saiyan had merged his life essense with the Planet Nagoka, making both impervious to any attack. The bulk of the Saiyan species had bound themselves to his will, and any galactic powers who dared to defy him would suffer the wrath of giant earthen creatures that he could control like puppets. The cult of Saiyans who served him had been in high spirits. Their greatest enemy, the Super Saiyan Luffa, had failed to destroy them, and she had fled the Nagaoka System, disgraced and alone.

Then she returned. King Rehval believed she had come back to die in a blaze of glory. For all her power, she was no match for him, or his army of alchemically powered Saiyans. He expected his warriors to hunt her down within a matter of hours.

Eight days later, Luffa was still at large, and the morale among Rehval's followers had declined sharply.

What frustrated everyone was that no one understood Luffa's plan. If she only wanted to die in battle, then there was no need to drag things out. Whatever she was trying to do, she needed at least eight days to make it happen, and in the meantime, Rehval's cult had been powerless to figure out what it was or how to stop it. The two prevailing sentiments among the cultists were:

"Why doesn't Trismegistus do something?"

And:

"Trismegistus has it all under control. Trust the plan."

Because of these contradictory opinions, the growing list of Luffa's victims were viewed both as "heroic martyrs" and "unfaithful losers".

From her lowly position in the cult, Lesseri heard it all. Scrubbing the breeding pits, she would catch parts of a conversation from passers-by. Trimming wicks for the candles, she would overhear idle chatter from the barracks. Disposing of diapers in the nursery, she would see how frightened the children were when they could sense Luffa's ki on the attack. There were a multitude of perspectives, but it boiled down to just two. Either their omnipotent leader couldn't kill Luffa, or he was allowing this terror to continue for unknown reasons.

Lesseri's own thoughts were usually focused on binaries like these. Strength and weakness, acceptance and rejection, good and evil. Of all the cultists, she had actually trained under Luffa during a brief period in her former life. The cult had a dim view of this past association, and Lesseri had been struggling to redeem herself ever since. She found herself awed by their grace, but also frustrated with the way they punished her for something so trivial.

For Luffa, that training camp had been a passing fancy to try to teach other Saiyans her ways. For Lesseri, it was just an opportunity to get close enough to kill her own mother. Vigurd had abandoned Lesseri and her sister in a gestation facility, and Lesseri had been bitter about it ever since. It seemed strange to Lesseri that the cult approved of her ruthless assassination, but not of the way she had manipulated Luffa to achieve it. It wasn't as if Luffa had passed on forbidden knowledge to Lesseri and the others. Mostly, Luffa had nagged them all for not being "Saiyan enough". Lesseri had dismissed Luffa as a hypocrite a long time ago, but the cult still demanded more contrition from her.

But now that Luffa was here, and Lesseri could sense that immense Super Saiyan ki once more, she was reminded of just how deeply Luffa's harsh words had cut. Luffa accused other Saiyans of cowardice. On Nat-Chezz, they had encountered a pair of aliens with the ability to to fool ki senses. They used this power to bluff stronger warriors into surrendering without a fight. Only Luffa had the courage to stand up to them, not because she saw through the deception, but because she alone wanted to fight enemies stronger than herself. The lesson of that incident had been lost on Lesseri that day, but now, Lesseri was experiencing it all over again. Nagaoka was supposed to be an invincible stronghold of power, and yet Luffa had dared to attack it all by herself. Rehval's followers had the advantage, and yet they were still anxious about what would happen to them. None of them were eager to die when they were so close to achieving final victory.

It hurt Lesseri to think about it. She had given herself over, body and soul, to Trismegistus, and yet her old frustrations and doubts still lingered. It had been convenient to blame everything on Luffa, but now she wondered if Luffa's only crime had been to point out the problems that had always been there. And now, she had come to Nagaoka to pass final judgment on them all.

Lesseri didn't know or care who would win in the end. She only knew that, no matter what happened, that Lesseri would surely lose...

*******

The surface of Nagaoka was desolate, but not completely uninhabitable. The persistent cloud cover made the scenery especially gloomy, but enough sunlight made it through to support some vegetation. Most of it was inedible, although Luffa had discovered some roots that were nutritious enough to justify the effort of picking them. Game was scarce. The apex predator in the grasslands of Nagaoka was a small, four-legged dinosaur that chased after rodents. It took patience to catch them, but that was no problem. She needed something to pass the time anyway.

As she chewed on the raw carcass of a fresh kill, she walked back to her latest campsite, which was little more than a small fire and a Saiyan skull she had been using to carry her stone tools. The only other item was her prisoner, a cultist she had captured on one of her raids, three days ago.

"I killed six more," she told him as she slung the carcass by the fire and picked up the skull. "They sent more after me, but it didn't help much. I think Rehval's trying to do a pincer thing this week."

The man lay helpless on the ground, his arms and legs fractured in several places. Luffa had hurt him so badly that he lacked the ki energy to be sensed by his comrades. She estimated that he would die in another day, if not sooner. She kept talking to him anyway.

"Pincer. You know what I mean? Spread out his forces across the planet, then when one group is close enough to engage, some of the others can come in from the other direction and cut off my escape. What he doesn't get is that it just gives me a bigger target to shoot at while I run away."

The man groaned, either from the pain of his injuries, or from hunger, or terror, or delirium, or from all of these. Luffa ignored him and began carving up her kill.

"Funny, that's the same thing Jerk Number Seven said when I killed his six buddies," Luffa said. "You should have seen it. They tried to surround me, but I rushed right into a group of them, like I was trying to slip between them. Then I set off an explosive wave right in the middle of them. The six died right off, but the seventh was far enough away that he just got hurt really bad. He's probably still alive, though. For now."

"Triis... mej... isssss..." the man tried to say.

"He's not here and he's not coming to save you," Luffa said. "You can pray to him all you want, but he doesn't give a damn about you. Idiot. You sold your pride to that fool, and he doesn't even know you're still alive. I doubt he'll bother giving you any medical attention, not after that stunt I pulled on their hospital ward a few days ago. No, he'll want to conserve his supplies for the healthiest troops. The ones who stand a chance of pulling through in time to defend his sorry ass. That won't be you."

She put the bulk of the dinosaur on a spit she had fashioned from a spear she had taken from one of her victims, and carefully positioned it over the fire. "Ahhhh," she said. "This is really gonna hit the spot. It's like the old proverb: hunger is the best seasoning. So how was your day? Anything cool happen while I was gone?"

"Wh-wh-why... are you... doing this?" the man whimpered.

Luffa lay down on the ground, propping her head up on a pile of brush she had gathered. "Really?" she asked. "I mean, we've been over all that, haven't we? I told you all about it. How Rehval's a monarchist fool. How he took my son from me. Twice. He wrecked my marriage-- although I'll take partial responsibility there. And he even showed me that my own species is a worthless band of hooligans that deserves to die. Oh, and he's trying to conquer the universe, which wouldn't bother me so much except for the rotten way he's going about it. Magic potions. Really, what is that?"

"Nooooo..." the man whispered. "Not that... Why...... why... keep me... alive?"

"Oh, that," Luffa said. See, it's actually pretty simple. I learned this when I was a kid. I guess your parents never filled you in on it. See, when you're up against a superior force, you can even the odds with some psychological warfare. Wreck their morale, they start making little mistakes. Before they know it, their advantage starts to fritter away. That's why I hit their medical supplies. I'd like to taint their water supply too, but I haven't planned that out yet. I may not have time to get around to it, actually. Make sure you tell Rehval that when you see them."

"See...?"

"Yeah, they should track down this camp before too much longer. If not, I'll just transform and they'll come running. I'll be long gone when they get here, but they'll find you. And you can tell them everything I've been telling you this whole time. Every last word. Or as much as you can remember. I think the message will get across."

"M-message...?"

"Yeah," Luffa said. "See, I'm not 'keeping you alive'. You'll die eventually, no matter what. But I want the others to see what I've done to you, and hear what I've said to you, and I want them to realize exactly what it is they're dealing with."

She reached into the pockets of her yellow pants and pulled out a wooden stick, about five inches in length. There were several notches cut along its length. As she spoke, she stared intently at it.

"I think a lot of them see me as some sort of ultimate foe, and they get to have this big epic showdown with me, or at least they can die for their master, quick and clean. Makes sense. I'm the Legendary Super Saiyan, and Rehval's taught them all that I'm the devil or something. They want a big dramatic battle, like in a movie. A few of them might get their wish. But not you. No, you get to suffer. And I want them to know that any one of them might get the same treatment as you. Or not. Some of them might luck out and take a Vengeance Cannon through the brain and die painlessly. Some choice, right?"

He shivered, either due to the cold, or the onset of some infection he had contracted, or perhaps simply because Luffa's words horrified him so. Luffa simply did not care. She watched her meal cooking, monitored enemy movements with her ki senses, and then carved another notch on her stick with her thumbnail.

*******

[25 November, 233 Before Age. Nagaoka.]

"The water supply? You're absolutely certain that's what he said?"

The cultists who found Luffa's prisoner bowed low to the ground as they murmured in the affirmative. "He was insistent on this point, Master," said their leader. He rambled like a madman, repeating everything she had said, including many unspeakable insults towards you and your ancestors, but--"

"Enough," Rehval said. "Return to your duties. No, wait. You three." He gestured to the trio of men on the right side of the group. "Go and help the repair efforts on tunnel six. Dismissed."

Normally, he spoke to his followers in more parental tones, closing with words like "Let my triple-blessing be upon you," or "Go with Jindan, my children." But Luffa had been laying siege to his planet for ten days straight. He no longer felt the mood to keep up his role as Trismegistus, the almighty Alchemist Supreme. Even the easy diplomacy of King Rehval seemed to escape him these days. Nearly two thousand of his followers had been killed since Luffa had arrived on Nagaoka, and with each hit-and-run attack, Luffa always found a way to hint that this was only a warm-up act.

"Having trouble, dad?"

He had begun to find a measure of comfort in his daughter, the Princess Seltiss. In his heart of hearts, he had always viewed her as more of an apprentice in statecraft, or a great bridge he had engineered to lead the way to the future. Now that she was back in his life, and now that they were stuck together on this planet, he finally began to appreciate her as family. Of all the Saiyans on the planet, she knew him best, and was never afraid to speak her mind.

"You saw the man they brought in this morning," he grumbled as she walked into his chamber.

"Yeah, I just came from the infirmary. They just pronounced him dead," Seltiss replied. "I came over to tell you. His last words were something about the water resevoir--"

"I already know," Rehval said. "It's bait. It has to be. There's fresh water all over Nagaoka. Even if she does poison our wells, even if she takes out our geothermal stills, it would only be a minor inconvenience."

"Like the spaceport," Seltiss said. "And the medical supplies. And Tunnel Six. She's not interested in striking decisive blows. She's wearing us down, a little bit at a time."

"It's more than that!" he insisted. "She's... building towards something. She threatened to kill us all, even me, when she already knows that's impossible!"

Seltiss shrugged. "She probably thinks that if she kills enough of your followers, then you'll lose the power you took from them, and that'll weaken your connection with the planet," she said. "Could that work?"

"Not well enough to do her any good," Rehval said. "I need the Saiyans. Without them, my work has been in vain. But there are other Saiyans in the galaxy. Weaklings, and not many of them, but enough for me to begin anew. As for this planet, my connection to it is complete."

"Cool beans. Then you have nothing to fear," Seltiss said. "It's like you told us before. Luffa's no threat to you anymore."

"That doesn't matter!" Rehval shouted. He rarely raised his voice. He considered it one of his more admirable qualities. What surprised him more than his outburst was the way he had slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne. Without thinking, he had pulverized it, and sent cracks running down the right side of the seat.

Seltiss had never seen him like this before, and though she tried to mask the shock with cool indifference, he knew better. He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his forehead. "She is the serpent in my garden," he said. "Rebelling, even when there's no possible way for her to win. I have to kill her or control her, or my authority will never be absolute. Her defiance proves that I can never tame the Saiyan heart, no matter how completely I control the others."

"So control her," Seltiss said. "You keeps saying you have the power. Find her, and put an end to this."

"She can mask her ki, and somehow use it at the same time," Rehval said, more despondently than he meant the reply to sound. It was unseemly for him to whine before his own child. "I suspected that she could do something like this, but I didn't realize to what extent. The squads can't find her."

"Then take away her hiding places," Seltiss said. "We know she's living off the land. Like, you keep saying you are the planet now. You can do with it as you please, right? Take the land away from her, and what does she have?"

Throughout this crisis, a thin beard had begun to grow on Rehval's face. He had been too preoccupied to shave. Now, he rubbed the stubble thoughtfully as he considered his daughter's advice.

*******

[30 November, 233 Before Age. Nagaoka.]

Luffa waited for the squad of cultists to fly directly overhead, and then she attacked, transforming into her Super Saiyan form so quickly that none of them had time to react. There were twenty of them in all. The first died instantly, and she used an explosive wave to kill two more, and throw the rest off balance. Then she flew away, leaving the other seventeen to wonder what had gone wrong.

As she flew into the clouds that covered the Nagaokan skies, she took a moment to admire the destruction taking place on the surface. Rehval had finally grown impatient enough to order a carpet bombing of the wilderness. As before, there were groups of twenty or more Saiyans spread out across the planet, but instead of hunting Luffa, they were now scouring the land with ki blasts. This suited her perfectly. With so much Saiyan energy being tossed around all at once, Luffa could fly much more freely across the planet without being detected.

Adjusting her trajectory, she propelled herself directly into the path of another squad two hundred miles away, and powered down so they wouldn't sense her approach until it was too late. Then she transformed again, and tore through them like so much paper. Just as they began to get their bearings, she flew away again, leaving them completely disorganized.

She repeated this trick again and again, picking off targets across the entire planet. It would have been glorious, if she wasn't so furious with them all.

"It's not like it was in the Federation, is it?!" she screamed as she impaled a warrior on his own short spear.

"Boxing me in, forcing me to jump from planet to planet to keep you from hurting innocent people!" she screamed as she broke another's neck three thousand miles to the southeast.

"You thought you could wear me out! Well I'm still standing!" she yelled while blasting four of them with a barrage of energy needles.

"And now you're the ones on the back foot!" she roared. At the equator, one of them managed to get off a decent shot at her, but she pulled one of his teammates into the line of fire.

"You've got nowhere to run!" Her boot slammed into a Saiyan's back at twice the speed of sound, and she grinned at the wet snap she heard on impact. Nearby was Nagaoka's fourth-tallest active volcano.

"This time you're trapped here with me, and I've got nothing and no one to protect!" Near the south magnetic pole, her Vengeance Cannon technique cut through five of them in one shot.

She doubled back to the fourth-tallest active volcano and shoved a woman face-first into a lave floe. "You all move so slow you might as well be standing still!"

She found a beach and decided to stand her ground for a few minutes. This wasn't for sport, but just to remind them that she could. The squad she attacked seemed almost grateful for the chance to try to fight back, but they soon found that their numbers weren't as effective as they'd hoped.

"I've been fighting you clowns for months!" she screeched as she slashed her nails through a Saiyan's throat. As he fell back and clutched his bloody neck, Luffa rolled forward and caught one of his partners with her legs. She flipped him over and sent him crashing down to the surf below, and then fired ki blasts down at him, then towards a third Saiyan who was trying to catch her off-guard.

"All that ganging up you punks do? It doesn't mean anything to me anymore! I've seen all the routines a dozen times! Hah!" She suddenly flung her left hand under her right shoulder and fired backward to catch a Saiyan coming up from behind. "Six? Ten? Twenty? It won't save you!"

One of them had the good sense to focus his ki on protecting his vital organs. Luffa punched him in the forehead and was surprised that he withstood the blow. She kept on punching him, like a jackhammer, until his skull finally gave way.

Before long, she had finished them all off. She sensed reinforcements coming, and by the time they arrived, they found her in a half-squat position, charging her power. Once they were within range, she unleashed it all at once, creating a massive explosion all around them.

"Still alive..." she observed as she flew towards handful of survivors. She rose up into the air above them and swung out her arm at the ground. "Now that's what I like to see!"

Her follow-up fused the sand into glass, but could not penetrate more than a few feet into the ground, thanks to Rehval's mystic power that tied him into the planet. Instead, the energy Luffa released was reflected back upon her targets, and they were helpless to resist the intensity of it. A few survived, and Luffa slaughtered them, lopping off their heads by using the edge of her ki-charged left hand like a knife.

"Enough, Luffa!"

She turned and found a familiar face, and she grinned savagely at the sight of it.

"Well, well," she said. "Look who's finally come out to play."

The ground behind her had swelled up, forming a hill, which gradually shaped itself into the image of a man: King Rehval.

"I'll say this for your stupid alchemy powers," Luffa said, "You've made this planet a lot sturdier than anywhere I've ever been before. I can't destroy it, but that's kind of handy too. It's nice to know I can cut loose while I fight your lackeys, and not have to worry about the whole planet exploding out from under me."

"I command you to stop this immediately!" he shouted.

Luffa responded with a Gallick Gun to his stony face.

"You can't harm me in this form!" he said. Indeed, the attack had left his earthen avatar completely undamaged. Luffa didn't find that very disappointing.

"Don't worry," she said. "That Gallick Gun was just a baby, Rehval. When I'm ready to hurt you, you'll know it."

"Damn you, woman!" he seethed. "You know this is pointless!"

"Sure it is," Luffa said with a grin. "And you came all the way here to remind me, just in case I'd forgotten how pointless this is. Very thoughtful of you."

"If you already know that, then why do you persist in this--?! Arrgh!"

As he had spoken, she gathered her energy and plowed directly into the avatar's body, then released it in a massive explosion. The surrounding area was reduced to charred wasteland, and Luffa alighted near one of the largest fragments of the rock-Rehval she had destroyed. Slowly, it merged with the ground below it, and rose up again to form a new body.

"Will you--! Stop that?!" Rehval seethed.

Luffa laughed again. "What's wrong? If what I'm doing is so pointless, what does it matter whether I do it or not? Don't tell me the almighty god-alchemist, his royal majesty King Revahl the Third is getting flustered over little old me."

"I'm not!" he shouted, and then he attempted to regain his composure. "I just... I don't like when you... when you flout my authority. I wish you would... not do that."

Luffa raised her hand high over her head and extended her middle finger. "And I just don't like you. I don't like your authority much either. I don't think anyone else on this planet likes it much either. I'm just the only one around here with the guts to do something about it."

"I'll kill you," Rehval said. "You won't be able to avoid my forces forever, Luffa. There's only so much habitable land on this planet, and there's less of it each day. Once you run out of hiding places, you'll have no choice but to face the full force of my power."

"It's a date," Luffa said. "You're going to rue the day you first heard my name, Rehval. But right now, I gotta go. See you real soon!"

With that, she shot into the sky like a rocket, just as another squad of Rehval's followers arrived.

"My lord," gasped their leader as she fell prostrate before his earthen likeness. "We came as quickly as we could..."

"The Saiyans who joined us," the rock-Rehval said. "Seltiss's band, the Free Companions. Have they received the Jindan power yet?"

"N-no, Master," the leader said, now rising to an upright position. "There hasn't been time for them to complete the initiation rites, and--"

"I don't care about the rites!" he snapped. Go back and prepare them immediately. I want them as strong as possible, so that I can crush that vile little throwback once and for all!"

The leader was gravely disturbed to hear this, but she was too loyal to question the command. "Yes! It shall be done right away, Great One!"

Then they flew back in the direction of their base. Having no further use for the rock-creature, Rehval allowed it to collapse back into the ground.

From her hiding place in the sky, Luffa saw all of this while she listened in on the comm-link she had stolen from one of Rehval's soldiers. She made a grim smile, then cut another notch in her stick.

*******

[3 December, 233 Before Age.]

As Trismegistus, Rehval had established a lengthy series of rituals and trials for initiates in his cult. He claimed that these were necessary to make the applicant worthy of receiving the potion that granted the Jindan power. In truth, their actual purpose was to brainwash the cultists and erode away their sense of independent thought. Now, as Rehval became more desperate to put an end to Luffa's rampage on Nagaoka, he chose to skip the protocol and dispense his potion to the newest recruits into his fold.

His daughter, Princess Seltiss had assembled a band of independent Saiyans, with the idea of establishing a new Saiyan nation in her father's absence. She had allied this Free Company with Luffa's Federation, but then switched sides, rejoining her father once it became clear that he was unstoppable. Seltiss considered herself a pragmatist above all. In her mind, joining her father in his moment of triumph was completely consistent with turning against him during his apparent madness. The decision was simple. There was no hope in opposing an invincible enemy, one who held every card and offered no weaknesses to exploit. And yet, she still feared for his sanity. The decision to join him had been a simple one, but it was by no means easy for her.

On the other hand, convincing the Free Companions to accept the Jindan potion had turned out to be very simple and easy. Luffa had killed over three thousand Saiyans since she arrived on Nagaoka's surface, and most of these had been Free Companions. The Jindan-empowered cultists were stronger and faster, and while Luffa had killed plenty of them as well, the Free Companions made much easier targets. As much as Luffa despised the cult, she had a real talent for driving Saiyans into Rehval's open arms.

In her quarters, Seltiss contemplated the bottle containing her own dose of the Jindan elixir, the last one. The cultists seemed to trust her to drink it, or perhaps they didn't see her empowerment as a high priority, since Seltiss didn't have a high power level to begin with. There was really no point in anyone checking to make sure she took her medicine. It was a matter of survival now. The curious red liquid might be the only thing that would save Seltiss' life during Luffa's next attack. And even without Luffa rampaging in their midst, she had already resigned herself to drink when she ordered her ship to surrender and land on Nagaoka. Things were happening faster than expected, but the cold equations had not changed. Her continued survival depended on swallowing her father's concoction, and then washing it down with whatever was left of her pride. What was she waiting for? Seltiss herself didn't seem to know.

And then, just as she brought the bottle to her lips, she sensed that terrible ki once more. Luffa was on the move again. Startled, she dropped the bottle, and so great was her dread that she didn't even notice it until the glass shattered on the stone floor. All that remained of the potion was a strange discoloration on the rock, and some maroon stains on her pink Montablanian leather boots.

Seltiss wasn't sure whether to be relieved or afraid. As she sensed the rising powers of her father's followers, she realized that it might not matter how she felt any longer.

*******

There were no names for the places on Nagaoka, and even if there were, Luffa wouldn't have known them. She had chosen a particular location to make her stand, but mostly for aesthetic reasons. It was a dry lakebed surrounded on all sides by buttes and mesas. It reminded her of some of her favorite hunting grounds on Dorlu Prime. More importantly it offered the best of both worlds for a battle: The lakebed was a wide-open space for fighting, while the surrounding topology allowed plenty of nooks and crannies to hide behind for ambushes. Luffa didn't expect any of this to matter, but she had a sentimental reason for choosing her battleground.

She expected it to be her last.

Rehval's forces had destroyed most of the terrestrial life on the planet by now. His hope was to cut off Luffa's supply lines by taking away the flora and fauna that she fed upon in between her hit-and-run attacks. But he had utterly failed to consider the seas, which were abundant in edible wildlife. While his followers had scoured the land in a desperate attempt to flush her out of hiding, she had been diving under glaciers for aquatic mammals. In the lakebed, she now chewed on a piece of blubber while she prepared herself for what came next.

The skies of Nagaoka were perpetually overcast, but on this night there were peals of thunder that hinted at a storm. It was completely dark, save for an occasional faint flicker of distant lightning in the clouds. Luffa took the stick out of her pants pocket and felt the notches that she had made in the wood. Satisfied with the count, she cut one last notch with her fingernail, and then tossed the stick to the ground. The time was right.

She transformed. Since coming to this planet, she remained in her Super Saiyan form only long enough to attack or to outmaneuver an enemy. This time, she stood and waited, letting the yellow glow of her aura illuminate the desiccated ground. She could sense Rehval's minions all over the planet, searching in vain for her. Now that they could sense her power, now that she was staying in one spot, they all began to converge on her position. Within minutes, she was surrounded. Thousands of Saiyans stood on the rocky outcroppings in all directions, all of them dressed in dark red uniforms, and carrying short spears, which seemed to be the signature weapon of the cult. The tips of the spears glowed a pale blue color. Luffa had been dealing with these weapons for some time now, and could only guess that there was some trick to making them work. Every time she had taken one for herself, it only behaved like an ordinary spear.

They all kept their distance. Luffa might have accused them of cowardice, but she couldn't deny that it was the smart play. Anyone who might have broken ranks to rush at her prematurely was probably already dead from all of the previous skirmishes. Those that remained knew that best hope of defeating her was to put their combined might into a single, concentrated force. If they could cut off her escape, if they could keep her surrounded and attack her on all sides, then they would have the power to overwhelm her.

Or so they believed.

At last, King Rehval himself showed up, after a fashion. She could still sense him staying behind at his underground compound on the opposite side of the planet. She had expected as much. He was a coward, above all else. Instead of appearing in person, Rehval used his avatar again. By whatever mystic alchemy he used, he formed a mass of earth and rock to rise up from the ground and assume the shape of his own body, more or less. The eyes of this two-hundred foot tall creature glowed purple as he glared down at her.

"Enough, Luffa. This time, there will be no escape," he announced.

"That's what I was about to say to you," Luffa replied.

"I thought you had some plan," Rehval said. "But I see now that you really did come here to die, after all. You just decided to drag things out for as long as possible. You wanted to kill some of my flock to get a measure of revenge, but now you've run out of hiding places, haven't you? Why else would you stand still and raise your power level? You practically summoned us here to destroy you. You've clearly given up hope."

She turned her head and spat on the ground. "You don't get it, Rehval," she said. "I already gave up hope before I came to this stupid planet. Everything since then has been rage. And patience. The waiting is over, Rehval. I'm ready to kill you all now."

"You don't have the power for that," Rehval said. "And even if you did, you could never kill me, Luffa. I have transcended beyond the mortal realm. I am more than anything you could imagine. I have the power of this entire solar system behind me. What do you have, besides that garish transformation?"

Luffa smiled. "Let me show you," she said.

And then, she began to yell.

Rehval and his forces held back, unsure of what to expect. Luffa's body glowed brightly, and for a moment, some of them expected her to attack, but instead she fired a ki blast straight up into the sky. The energy dissipated into the clouds, and for a moment the thunderheads turned yellow from the light. Then they parted, opening up a hole of clear skies directly above Luffa's head. For the first time in untold centuries, starlight shone down upon the surface of Nagaoka. The hole expanded in diameter, until at last, the clouds had retreated to the horizon, leaving only a panoramic view of outer space.

And there, high above the battlefield, was Nagaoka's moon.

It was full.

Luffa looked straight up to admire it. Her lips curled into a wicked smile, and her green eyes suddenly turned blood red in the moonlight.

"No..." Rehval said quietly as he realized what was happening. Panicked murmurs could be heard among his troops, as the ones who understood explained it to the ones who didn't. Luffa could barely hear them over the pounding of her heart in her chest.

"The tail!" Rehval shouted. "Destroy her tail! Now, before she has a chance to--!"

But it was already too late. Luffa began to laugh, and then a wave of golden energy spread out in all directions. Then another, and another. The Saiyans attacked, firing their own energy in unison, but none of their ki blasts could penetrate through to Luffa herself. They couldn't even see her.

But they could hear. The lakebed echoed with the giddy laughter of a Saiyan woman with nothing left to lose. And they heard this laughter gradually transform into the low, feral growl. Bolts of yellow lightning arced out across the lakebed, dancing from one mesa to the next.

At the epicenter of this terrible disturbance, Luffa continued to stare up at the moon. Her heart beat harder and faster with each passing moment. She let the transformation carry her away, neither knowing nor caring where it would take her. Normally, her body was only sixty-three inches tall. Now, she expanded with each breath, swelling to ten feet, then twenty, then thirty, and more! Her limbs and torso changed proportions as she grew, and a thick coat of fur sprouted from her skin. Her face contorted, warping her nose and mouth into a savage muzzle lined with sharp teeth, and her ears formed slight points on top. Her clothing was ripped to shreds by this awesome change, but this was the furthest thing from Luffa's mind. In that moment, all she cared about was power, and the retribution it would bring.

At last, when the transformation was complete, and her enemy could finally see her clearly, she loomed over them in the form of a giant ape. The Saiyans knew the Oozaru form well, but this was different. For Luffa's Great Ape had glowing yellow fur instead of the usual dark brown. Her blood red eyes glowed with murderous intent, and her bestial lips twisted with fury as she looked down upon them all.

By now, Rehval's followers had been fighting Luffa for some time, and they had allowed themselves to believe that they were used to the idea of what Luffa had become. Now, as each of them felt their blood run cold, they realized that they had no idea what to do. They all stood transfixed at the sight of this new horror, unsure what would happen next.

Luffa threw back her head, and began to pound her fists upon her chest. And then, she made a deafening roar.

NEXT: The Golden Oozaru.

[newfitnessfranchisea]

Fitness Franchise Opportunities Canada

D1- One Of The Best Gym Franchise Opportunities

Franchise Opportunities - Gymguyz

Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Ranking: 20 First financial investment: $107,524 to $722,796 First franchise business cost: $21,000 to $42,500 New systems in 2018: 426 devices (+11.7 percent) Anytime Fitness is a global business that had 2,398 U.S. as well as 1,645 international franchise business at the beginning of 2018, together with 38 company-owned locations. In 2007, the overall variety of locations was simply 455.

World Gym Franchises Become a Global Fitness Franchisee Gym Franchises

( A complete investment in Anytime Fitness Express could run you anywhere from $107,273 to $512,194, as well as an Anytime Fitness Criterion can cost you between $130,753 as well as $722,546.) You can see discover a map of offered places on the company web site. Related: Our Leading 5 Franchises You Can Run From Your Own Home .

As fitness has come to be even more of a lifestyle than a trend as well as individuals are aware concerning getting fit, business owners are making the most of this by purchasing health club as well as health and fitness franchises. Luckily, there are different fitness franchises to select from, with a typical cost of around $319,688. We obtained data on the 10 best-performing gym franchises for you to think about.

Kids Gym Franchise Opportunity - The Little Gym

The market for health and fitness and also fat burning companies is just enlarging as it aims to aid Americans obtain smaller sized. 1. Virtually 70% of Americans are considered overweight, according to data from the Centers for Condition Control as well as Prevention. Of this populace, concerning 36% of U.S. grownups as well as around 17% of kids as well as adolescents (2-19 years of ages) are overweight.

2. A lot of the franchise business that cater to this market are either health and fitness facilities, often with a special particular niche, or diet centers that give nutritional counseling in addition to dishes as well as various other items. There are also health and fitness or sport-related franchises that support business of staying in form as well as those that take part in sports activities.

The USA still ranks as the biggest health and fitness market in the globe. It's house to about 19% of the health and wellness clubs in the world alone, and also generates concerning 1/3 of overall yearly profits for all the fitness clubs on the planet. Health and fitness franchise brand names are anticipated to expand greatly as this market obtains more powerful.

Fitness Franchise Industry Report 2018 FranchiseDirect.com

Gym Franchises For Sale - Franchise Gator

The 50 largest gym represent about 30% of revenue, and also just a few loads companies operate even more than 10 facilities. In enhancement to gym as well as commercial gym, the sector additionally includes: non-profits, such as the YMCA or university facilities, company clubs, aerobics workshops, resort/spas, hotel and also nation clubs.

Females make most of industrial club subscription, so it is not unusual that several health and fitness franchise business cater specifically to ladies. Children's health and fitness franchise business are also increasing in number due to lowerings in physical education and learning programs in institutions and also raising efforts to curb youth weight problems. 6. IBISWorld records that the health and fitness sector will grow at 1.5% via 2022.

Planet Fitness is among the largest and also fastest expanding physical fitness franchises in the U.S. As well as the firm is likewise currently broadening into markets in Canada as well as the Dominican Republic. Franchisees should have an entrepreneurial spirit, however experience in health and fitness franchising isn't a demand. Other than the preliminary franchise business cost, which can vary depending on the amount of devices you mean to open up and your place, the business gathers royalties and marketing fees annually too.

Gym Franchise Opportunity - Fitness Franchise - Müv Fitness Fitness Franchises

The overall first investment can vary from $101,245 to $490,100, with a franchise charge of $37,500. And there are price cuts offered for multi-unit advancements. Anytime Fitness also provides franchisees with training, an online operations guidebook, aid with market option and also more. Curves is a health and fitness franchise business that concentrates on producing an unique and encouraging environment for ladies that wish to obtain fit.

As well as franchisees can operate precede as little as 1,200 to maintain other costs low. Curves additionally supplies training and ongoing support. With greater than half a century of history as well as 720+ health clubs in countries around the globe, With areas around the U.S., Crunch Health And Fitness is among one of the most recognized names in the physical fitness franchise business game.

The company additionally gathers nobilities, and also supplies layout solutions, support and more. FIT 4MOM supplies a couple of different franchise business designs for those thinking about aiding mothers get in form. You can start a FIT 4MOM franchise for as little as $5495, depending on the type of opportunity that fascinates you.

Gym Franchise Opportunity - Fitness Franchise - Müv Fitness Gym Franchises

Fit Body Bootcamp is an organisation that aims to use enjoyable exercises at its franchise locations. Costs to open up a franchise varies by size as well as place. But the firm offers training, support as well as also technology setup solutions, together with safeguarded regions so you recognize you won't need to handle internal competition in the future.

Clearly focused around boxing associated physical fitness activities, Fit Body Boot Camp TITLE currently has greater than 100 health and fitness clubs around the UNITED STATE, with space for growth in much more markets. If you have an interest in the brand-new barre physical fitness trend that features dancing passionate exercises, Pure Barre is a fantastic franchise business alternative. The initial franchise business cost is $46,500.

For franchisees that are more thinking about pilates, Club Pilates offers franchise business chances around the UNITED STATE. The company presently has even more than 350 areas in numerous states, with 360 even more slated to open up in 2017. Club Pilates offers training, website selection support, continuous support as well as even more. Max Muscular tissue is a sporting activities nourishment store that uses franchise chances in different markets.

Fitness Franchises For Sale (Best Gym Opportunities Fitness Franchises

Price can differ relying on your location and other aspects. But the business supplies franchisees with its very own premium quality brand of supplements, together with training as well as assistance. Fitness 1440 deals franchise opportunities that can be personalized to each franchisee. So the in advance prices vary. However the business provides training as well as support to franchisees throughout the setup procedure and past.

The firm flaunts low start-up expenses for franchisees in addition to an one-of-a-kind training approach and also workshop layout. At Component of the popular UFC brand, UFC Fitness Center offers franchise opportunities to enthusiastic companions. To qualify, all companions should have a minimum consolidated well worth of $1 million, with $350,000 in combined liquid properties.

For those interested in possessing an indoor cycling club, Cycle Bar offers franchising possibilities for both solitary as well as multi-unit advancements. Expenses vary based on a variety of different aspects. So the company will certainly deal with franchisees to locate the best fit and area. Kaia FIT is a physical fitness franchise created by females for women.

Gym Franchise Opportunity - Fitness Franchise - Müv Fitness Fitness Franchises

Several states are currently open for brand-new growths. And also the franchise business cost is $10,000, to name a few startup prices. If you're interested in beginning a little bit of a larger operation, Retro Health and fitness could verify to be an interesting chance. The average dimension of a Retro Health And Fitness franchise business place is in between 12,000 as well as 20,000 square feet.

At Orangetheory Physical fitness, we established both our members as well as franchise partners up for success. Our science-based workout is PROVEN to generate outcomes, as well as our tried-and-true development record is evidence of an efficient franchise business formula. With over half a million participants and also numerous locations around the globe, we are just starting in our goal to create a healthier globe.

Last year, less than 0.1% of people that asked had the possibility to franchise. Fortunately is, if you feel your area needs a place, it is most likely there will be one coming soon. Thank you for your continued interest in our brand and we expect seeing you in the studio.

Gym Franchise Archives - Updates, Gym Industry Trends, And Gym Franchises

GYMGUYZ created a new classification within the health and fitness sector: in Home Personal Training. This is one of the reasons our franchise is broadening so swiftly. As this market proceeds to expand, the financial possibility for spending in the GYMGUYZ franchise is just enhancing. Have a look at a few of the financial investment details listed below to find out more concerning what it takes to get started.

Call us at 1-855-GYM-GUYZ to find out more about just how you can end up being a component of our in House Personal Training franchise!.

GYMGUYZ ® supplies the special chance to venture into the untapped house fitness industry as well as come to be a part of the # 1 in Residence Personal Training company. There are many franchise business chances to pick from, yet as a GYMGUYZ fitness franchisee, you're taking a fresh strategy to altering people's lives from the convenience of their very own home.

33 Best Gym/fitness Franchises Of 2020 (Updated Gym Franchises

Our business doesn't require opening a brick-and-mortar room-- you can be open as well as operating in just 8 weeks! No fitness background? No worry. We provide unmatched training as well as assistance for all our owners. Our In-Home Personal Educating franchise business is revolutionizing the health and fitness industry-- as well as we invite you ahead along for the flight.

Fitness Boot Camp Franchise Uk

https://player.vimeo.com/video/351258477

best gym franchise opportunities Fit Body Boot Camp

As individuals are coming to be an increasing number of eco mindful, so also is the typical consumer becoming extra wellness aware in terms of what they do to their bodies as well as what they take into their bodies. Moms and dads are extra knowledgeable about just how their children are growing and what correct workout as well as play can imply for healthy advancement.

With increasingly more people being attracted to healthier way of lives on their own and for liked ones, seeing a rewarding return in starting a physical fitness franchise has never been much easier. Along with the gym franchises and weight loss business opportunities you'll locate at Franchising.com, we likewise have substantial listings and also information on wellness supplements as well as vitamin franchise business that are vital to dispensing experienced suggestions when it comes time to refuel.

Franchise Opportunities - Gymguyz

Franchising.com has swiftly become the # 1 resource of information, pointers and also recommendations for franchisors concerning all types of fitness franchises, consisting of gym franchises, personal training franchise business, weight reduction franchises, ladies's health and fitness franchise business, and also young people health and fitness franchise business as well as numerous various other sorts of franchise organisations. Start searching every one of the kinds of fitness franchises listed below to find the one that's right for you.

Gym franchises are more than simply an area to get buff and look great. Fitness centers as well as health and fitness facilities are destinations to end up being a much healthier individual and get skilled advice and details on just how to lead a more fit, healthier way of living. At Franchising.com, you'll find many styles and offerings of fitness franchises, consisting of gym franchise opportunities.

Franchising.com is your resource for all points franchising, consisting of companies offer for sale in the fitness and health market. Gym franchises offer a special possibility to be an active and positive member of your neighborhood. Gyms and gym advertise healthy living through one-on-one training, nutritional supply as well as advice as well as some also branch off right into physical treatment resources for individuals seeking rehabilitation and assistance.

5 Of The Best Fitness Franchises You Can Buy - Entrepreneur

Why select Franchising.com? Simple. No franchise business site out there has a more comprehensive review of the franchise business possibilities available at any provided minute. We are the franchising sector's trusted news source, in addition to a service provider of beneficial recommendations for franchisors as they make vital profession choices. Begin searching every one of the gym franchise opportunities readily available today with the listings located below.

All of it started with Joe Gold during the magnificence days of "Muscle mass Coastline" in Venice, CA. Joe assisted to build the connection between health and fitness and Hollywood, and blazed a path complied with later by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, as well as extra. His spirit of seriously fun health and fitness survives on today via Globe Gym.

Best Fitness Franchises To Invest In Fit Body Boot Camp

Fit Body Boot Camp's fitness franchise is a much better gym franchise than Planet Fitness and even FIT4MOM with a straight forward business plan and guidance which new franchisee's adhere to to be able to thrive. Fit Body Boot Camp Major Fitness Franchises

Out of all the gym franchise opportunities available, you have the special possibility of becoming a Workout At any moment Franchise-Partner. As you'll see, coming to be a franchise-partner with us is a prominent experience that comes with a host of benefits and advantages. Whether you choose to open a physical fitness franchise a solitary area or multiple places, there are a host of benefits to franchising with us.

10 Fitness Franchises To Invest In According To Franchise Gym Franchises

Our capability to create gyms in these smaller areas aids conserve money for our franchise-partners and pick from prime locations to bring in clients. Value-Priced Memberships Lots of gym franchise opportunities are available, however not all of them understand the value of value-priced subscriptions. We provide our participants a variety of strategies to pick from that permit them accessibility to a vast range of exercise equipment and also features.

[franchisemartin]

How To Start A Gym Franchise Fit Body Boot Camp

Top 11 Profitable Gym Franchise Opportunities in India Gym Franchises

Fitness Franchises For Sale (Best Gym Opportunities Fitness Franchises

Entrepreneur Franchise Business 500 Ranking: 20 Initial financial investment: $107,524 to $722,796 First franchise business fee: $21,000 to $42,500 New systems in 2018: 426 units (+11.7 percent) Anytime Fitness is a worldwide business that had 2,398 U.S. and 1,645 global franchises at the beginning of 2018, together with 38 company-owned locations. In 2007, the overall number of locations was just 455.

Planet Fitness Franchise For Sale - Gym

( A total financial investment in Anytime Fitness Express could run you anywhere from $107,273 to $512,194, and also an Anytime Fitness Standard could cost you in between $130,753 and also $722,546.) You can see discover a map of offered locations on the business site. Associated: Our Top 5 Franchises You Can Run From Your Own House .

As health and fitness has become even more of a way of living than a fad and individuals are conscious regarding getting fit, entrepreneurs are making the most of this by purchasing health club and also health and fitness franchise business. The good news is, there are different health and fitness franchises to select from, with a typical price of around $319,688. We received information on the 10 best-performing gym franchises for you to take into consideration.

Franchise Opportunities - Anytime Fitness

The market for health and fitness and weight management businesses is just enlarging as it aims to assist Americans obtain smaller sized. 1. Virtually 70% of Americans are considered obese, according to information from the Centers for Illness Control and Prevention. Of this population, regarding 36% of UNITED STATE adults and approximately 17% of youngsters as well as adolescents (2-19 years old) are overweight.

2. A lot of the franchise business that cater to this market are either fitness facilities, frequently with an unique niche, or diet centers that provide dietary counseling in addition to dishes as well as other items. There are additionally health and fitness or sport-related franchise business that sustain the service of remaining in shape and also those who participate in athletic activities.

The USA still rates as the biggest fitness market in the globe. It's home to around 19% of the fitness and health clubs worldwide alone, and rakes in concerning 1/3 of overall annual earnings for all the fitness and health clubs worldwide. Health and fitness franchise brand names are anticipated to grow greatly as this market gets more powerful.

Community-Centric, Functional HIIT Fitness Classes Drive the Fitness Franchises

Health & Fitness Franchises - Franchise Opportunities

The 50 biggest gym make up about 30% of earnings, as well as just a few lots companies operate more than 10 centers. In addition to gym and also commercial gym, the market additionally consists of: non-profits, such as the YMCA or college centers, company clubs, aerobics workshops, resort/spas, hotel as well as country clubs.

Females make the majority of business club membership, so it is not unexpected that a number of health and fitness franchises cater specifically to ladies. Kid's fitness franchises are additionally boosting in number because of lessenings in athletics programs in institutions as well as enhancing initiatives to suppress childhood years obesity. 6. IBISWorld records that the physical fitness market will certainly expand at 1.5% through 2022.

Planet Fitness is among the largest and fastest growing fitness franchises in the U.S. As well as the business is additionally currently increasing into markets in Canada as well as the Dominican Republic. Franchisees should have an entrepreneurial spirit, however experience in physical fitness franchising isn't a demand. Aside from the initial franchise cost, which can differ depending upon the amount of systems you plan to open up and also your place, the business accumulates aristocracies and advertising charges every year also.

Gym Franchises For Sale - Franchise Gator

The overall initial investment can differ from $101,245 to $490,100, with a franchise cost of $37,500. And also there are price cuts available for multi-unit advancements. Anytime Fitness also offers franchisees with training, an on-line operations guidebook, aid with market choice and more. Curves is a health and wellness franchise that concentrates on developing a special and supportive environment for ladies that wish to get fit.

As well as franchisees can run in areas as little as 1,200 to maintain other costs reduced. Curves additionally provides training and continuous support. With greater than half a century of history and 720+ fitness centers in nations around the world, With locations around the U.S., Grind Fitness is among one of the most well established names in the fitness franchise business game.

The business likewise accumulates royalties, and also provides layout services, support as well as more. FIT 4MOM uses a couple Fitness Franchises of different franchise business designs for those thinking about aiding mothers get in form. You can start a FIT 4MOM franchise business for as low as $5495, depending upon the type of opportunity that fascinates you.

6 Best Fitness Franchises To Own In 2019 - Franchise.com Blog

Fit Body Boot Camp is a business that intends to use enjoyable workouts at its franchise business locations. Expenses to open up a franchise business differs by dimension as well as area. Yet the firm provides training, assistance and also also technology arrangement services, in addition to safeguarded territories so you recognize you won't need to handle inner competitors in the future.

Undoubtedly concentrated around boxing related health and fitness tasks, TITLE currently has greater than 100 health and fitness clubs around the U.S., with area for development in several even more markets. If you're interested in the brand-new barre fitness fad that features dancing inspired workouts, Pure Barre is a wonderful franchise business option. The first franchise business charge is $46,500.

For franchisees that are more curious about pilates, Club Pilates offers franchise business opportunities around the U.S. The firm currently has greater than 350 areas in various states, with 360 more slated to open up in 2017. Club Pilates offers training, site choice assistance, ongoing assistance and also even more. Max Muscle is a sporting activities nutrition store that provides franchise opportunities in numerous markets.

10 Fitness Franchises To Invest In According To Franchise Gym Franchises

Expense can vary depending upon your location as well as other aspects. Yet the business supplies franchisees with its very own premium quality brand name of supplements, along with training and also assistance. Health And Fitness 1440 deals franchise business chances that can be customized per franchisee. So the upfront costs differ. Yet the business offers training as well as support to franchisees throughout the configuration procedure as well as beyond.

The business flaunts reduced startup costs for franchisees in addition to a special training technique and workshop design. At Part of the prominent UFC brand name, UFC Health Club deals franchise possibilities to passionate companions. To qualify, all companions should have a minimum consolidated well worth of $1 million, with $350,000 in combined liquid assets.

For those interested in owning an interior cycling club, Cycle Bar offers franchising possibilities for both single and also multi-unit advancements. Prices differ based upon a variety of different factors. So the firm will certainly deal with franchisees to discover the appropriate fit and place. Kaia FIT is a fitness franchise designed by females for women.

5 Of The Best Fitness Franchises You Can Buy - Entrepreneur

Several states are presently open for brand-new growths. And the franchise business fee is $10,000, amongst other startup costs. If you're interested in starting a bit of a bigger procedure, Retro Physical fitness can prove to be an intriguing opportunity. The typical size of a Retro Fitness franchise area is between 12,000 and 20,000 square feet.

At Orangetheory Physical fitness, we established both our members and franchise collaborates for success. Our science-based exercise is PROVEN to create outcomes, as well as our reliable advancement record is proof of an effective franchise formula. With even more than half a million members and numerous locations around the world, we are just starting in our goal to produce a healthier globe.

In 2014, much less than 0.1% of individuals that made inquiries had the possibility to franchise. The great news is, if you feel your area requires a place, it is likely there will certainly be one coming quickly. Thanks for your ongoing passion in our brand name and also we look onward to seeing you in the studio.

Gym Franchise Archives - Updates, Gym Industry Trends, And Fitness Franchises

GYMGUYZ created a new category within the fitness industry: in House Personal Training. This is just one of the reasons our franchise business is broadening so swiftly. As this market remains to expand, the economic possibility for buying the GYMGUYZ franchise is just boosting. Have a look at a few of the financial investment info below to get more information about what it takes to begin.

Get in touch with us at 1-855-GYM-GUYZ to get more information about just how you can come to be a part of our in Residence Personal Training franchise!.

GYMGUYZ ® uses the special possibility to venture right into the untapped home health and fitness industry and also come to be a component of the # 1 in Residence Personal Educating business. There are lots of franchise business possibilities to choose from, but as a GYMGUYZ health and fitness franchisee, you're taking a fresh method to transforming people's lives from the convenience of their own residence.

Gym Franchise Loans, Costs And Tips - Finder.com

Our business doesn't need opening a brick-and-mortar room-- you can be open and also operating in as low as 8 weeks! No physical fitness history? Fit Body Boot Camp No worry. We give unparalleled training and also assistance for all our owners. Our In-Home Personal Training franchise is reinventing the physical fitness sector-- as well as we invite you ahead along for the ride.

Fit Body Boot Camp Fitness Boot Camp Franchise

https://player.vimeo.com/video/341620084

gym franchise opportunities Fit Body Boot Camp

As individuals are ending up being a growing number of ecologically mindful, so also is the average consumer ending up being much more health and wellness mindful in terms of what they do to their bodies and what they take into their bodies. Moms and dads are a lot more conscious of how their youngsters are expanding and also what proper exercise as well as play can imply for healthy and balanced advancement.

With increasingly more individuals being attracted to healthier lifestyles for themselves as well as for loved ones, seeing a lucrative return in starting a physical fitness franchise has never ever been easier. Together with the gym franchises as well as weight loss business opportunities you'll locate at Franchising.com, we also have substantial listings as well as information on wellness supplements and also vitamin franchise business that are indispensable to giving experienced suggestions when it comes time to refuel.

5 Of The Best Fitness Franchises You Can Buy - Entrepreneur

Franchising.com has quickly come to be the # 1 resource of news, pointers and also suggestions for franchisors about all kinds of physical fitness franchises, consisting of gym franchises, personal training franchise business, weight management franchises, ladies's fitness franchise business, and also youth physical fitness franchises as well as lots of other kinds of franchise business services. Begin browsing all of the sorts of fitness franchises listed below to locate the one that's right for you.

Gym franchises are a lot more than just an area to get buff as well as look excellent. Gyms and physical fitness centers are destinations to become a much healthier person as well as get expert suggestions and details on how to lead a much more healthy, healthier way of living. At Franchising.com, you'll locate many styles and offerings of health and fitness franchises, consisting of gym franchise opportunities.

Franchising.com is your resource for all things franchising, consisting of organisations offer for sale in the fitness and health market. Gym franchises use an unique opportunity to be an energetic and also positive participant of your area. Health clubs and also gym promote healthy and balanced living through individually training, dietary supply and recommendations and some even branch out into physical treatment resources for individuals looking for rehab and also assistance.

Gym Franchise Archives - Updates, Gym Industry Trends, And Fitness Franchises

Why choose Franchising.com? Simple. No franchise business site out there has a much more comprehensive review of the franchise organisation opportunities offered at any type of given moment. We are the franchising sector's trusted news source, as well as a company of important guidance for franchisors as they make important job choices. Begin browsing all of the gym franchise opportunities available today with the listings situated listed below.

It all began with Joe Gold during the magnificence days of "Muscular tissue Coastline" in Venice, CA. Joe assisted to build the connection between physical fitness and also Hollywood, as well as spearheaded complied with later on by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, and also a lot more. His spirit of seriously enjoyable health and fitness resides on today via Globe Fitness center.

Fit Body Boot Camp Small Fitness Franchises

It's difficult for OrangeTheory Fitness and Curves to strive to compete with Fit Body Boot Camp's simple and easy system and guidance that new entrepreneurs comply with in order to be a success.

Out of all the gym franchise opportunities available, you have the one-of-a-kind opportunity of ending up being a Workout At any moment Franchise-Partner. As you'll see, becoming a franchise-partner with us is a prominent experience that comes with a https://londondailypost.com/how-to-stay-fit-with-home-workouts-during-covid-19-pandemic-wwg1wga/ host of advantages and also advantages. Whether you select to open a health and fitness franchise business a solitary area or numerous locations, there are a host of benefits to franchising with us.

Gym Franchise Opportunities Guide - Franchising.com

Our capability to create gyms in these smaller sized spaces assists in saving cash for our franchise-partners as well as select from prime places to attract clients. Value-Priced Memberships Several gym franchise opportunities are around, but not every one of them recognize the relevance of value-priced memberships. We provide our participants a series of strategies to select from that enable them access to a variety of workout devices as well as features.

[junker-town]

20 sports movies we love that will ease your boredom

WireImage

It may be hard to find real sports to watch right now, but there is an ABUNDANCE of great fictional sports at your fingertips.

Televised sports are on hiatus for the foreseeable future. It’s a tough (but obviously necessary) blow, considering we’re all stuck inside with little to do, and sports would be the perfect diversion right about now.

Thankfully, there are hundreds, or possibly thousands, of sports-centric movies available to wile away the hours. Some might even be convincing enough to get you to yell at your screen, or feel the inimitable catharsis that comes from watching your team (the good team, obviously) win.

Below are some of the SB Nation staff’s go-to sports flicks, with information about where to stream them included. The majority are also available to rent via Amazon, YouTube, Google Play and the like.

Hot Rod (2007)

Available on Netflix, Prime and Pluto.

Insofar as failing to jump over things with a moped is a sport, Hot Rod is about sports. It’s an extremely dumb, pleasant movie with no stakes whatsoever, and it is my number one.

— Seth Rosenthal

Yes, it’s hilarious — but even more importantly, it has the ability to absorb you before you realize it and not let your mind wander out of its grasp. Distraction grade: 10 out of 10

— Will Buikema

Creed (2015)

Available to rent

Too many Rocky sequels to count, but this one really engages with the mythos around the character and who gets to take part in that myth. Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson are two of Hollywood’s brightest stars, and while it’s frustrating they were not awarded like Sylvester Stallone for their performances, all three are terrific here. Also: unlike the original Rocky, this movie recognizes that boxing includes dodging and blocking as well as punching!

— Pete Volk

Goon (2011)

Available on Netflix.

You could probably analyze Goon for commentary about how we glorify violence in hockey, or you could sit back and enjoy a genuinely hilarious movie. It has everything you want in a hockey film. There’s a dim-witted but lovable bouncer who gets a chance at a hockey career in the minors, and a grumpy Quebecois prodigy with a physicality issue. There’s gratuitous blood and gore, and Liev Schreiber getting into fights, and a hint of bromance. There are even cameos from former NHL players, and one from current Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin in the film’s 2017 sequel, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, which is also on Netflix.

If you don’t mind some exaggerated violence and slapstick comedy (and particularly if that’s what you’re into), I highly recommend it. Plus, the soundtrack slaps.

— Sydney Kuntz

Bend it Like Beckham (2002)

Available on demand with Starz and DirecTV

It’s funny, it’s sweet, and the fact that you’ve definitely seen it before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it again. It made Keira Knightley an international star, and Parminder Nagra picked up the FIFA presidential award. Beyond the film, it represented a crucial moment in David Beckham’s relationship with his country. He’d gone from villain in 1998 after that red card against Argentina, to hero in 2001 after that free kick against Greece. Eight months later this came out, and canonized him as a national treasure.

— Andi Thomas

High Flying Bird (2019)

Available on Netflix

What better to watch during a period without basketball than a movie about basketball personnel that takes place during a time of no basketball? High Flying Bird, shot entirely on iPhone by Steven Soderbergh, follows a top rookie and his ambitious agent during an NBA lockout, as they try and change the owner-heavy economic structure of the NBA.

— Pete Volk

Escape to Victory (1981, also just known as Victory)

Available on demand with Cinemax and DirecTV

Sylvester Stallone is an Allied solider in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp. So is Michael Caine. In there with them, for some reason, is Pele, Bobby Moore, Ozzy Ardiles, and half of Ipswich Town’s 1981 UEFA Cup winning squad. And wouldn’t you just know it, they have to play an exhibition against a handpicked German side, for reasons of propaganda. Will they escape … to victory?

— Andi Thomas

Goal of the Dead (2014)

Available on Shudder

”Some kind of a riot. They are burning cars.”

”Given the refereeing, no wonder.”

French football superstar Samuel Lorit faces off against his hometown team in a cup game. His formerly adoring fans now all despise him. And then a tainted steroid injection turns pretty much everybody into zombies, straight from the 28 Days Later school of hard-running mouth-frothers. Good blood-soaked fun, if probably a bit too long. But then all films are too long these days. Return of the King won a million Oscars, and that didn’t have a ‘roid-raging zombie kicking a man’s head off his neck and into the goal.

— Andi Thomas

Fighting with My Family (2019)

Available on Prime and Hulu

Maybe the only worthwhile WWE Studios release ever? I’ll await the flame from fans of The Marine 5: Battleground in the comments. What would have otherwise been yet another vanilla sports inspiration story is elevated by a terrific cast, led by newly Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh.

— Pete Volk

The Damned United (2009)

Available to rent

An adaptation of a brilliant but bleak novel about Brian Clough’s doomed spell at Leeds United, the film dispenses with most of the book’s harrowing existential loneliness and discovers a surprisingly soft-hearted buddy story underneath. Michael Sheen disappears uncannily into his role, absolutely nailing Clough’s astringent self-possession, but Colm Meaney almost steals the film as Clough’s nemesis, Don Revie. A reminder that English football, back in the ‘70s, was a strange, drizzly place full of strange, compelling people.

— Andi Thomas

Hoop Dreams (1994)

Available on HBO, Kanopy and DirecTV

One of the best American documentaries. Also one of the best movies about dreams, who crushes them and how they evolve. It is also one of the best movies about race and poverty in America. All in all, this is one of the best movies about the allure and grace of basketball. A phenomenal film!

— Pete Volk

Horse Feathers (1932)

Available via the Internet Archive

I grew up watching the Marx Brothers with my dad, and I would be remiss not to mention this college football-centric classic. Turns out the “amateur” status of college football players was a joke in the 1930s, too!

— Pete Volk

Minding the Gap (2019)

Available on Hulu

Only tangentially about sports, since the group of kids at this documentary’s focus are skateboarders, but this is one of the great modern American documentaries about growing up, difficult friendships and toxic masculinity. Highly, highly recommend.

— Pete Volk

Starship Troopers (1997)

Available on Showtime, CBS All Access, DirecTV and Vudu

There are several reasons Starship Troopers is memorable — the broadly written anti-nationalist commentary! The exploding bugs! The co-ed showers! That one fight scene soundtracked to Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” for some reason! — but space football is the only one that fits with our theme. In the future, America’s favorite sport is played in high school gymnasiums on old wrestling mats. There are no special teams or roughness penalties. The ball is Nerf’s rough approximation of a baked potato wrapped in foil.

Johnny Rico, our protagonist, wins and is escorted off the field a hero. Roughly 20 minutes of film later, he’s left to die on an alien planet. Shit’s real, yo.

— Christian D’Andrea

Rush (2013)

Available on HBO

If you liked Ford V. Ferrari, you’ll probably love this. Retelling the true story of James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda’s intense Formula 1 rivalry, Rush has fantastic racing scenes and benefits from focusing on the wildly different personalities and approaches of the two rivals.

— Pete Volk

A League of Their Own (1992)

Available on Showtime, and very often randomly on cable

It almost feels redundant to list this classic, which you’ve probably already seen once or dozens of times. But if you have seen it, you know it holds up better than most of the feel-good, strings-swelling-styled sports hagiographies of the 1990s. A more-or-less accurate retelling of a vital and often ignored part of American sports history, conveyed via an all-star cast and too many quotable lines to count. The “hard” may be what makes it great, but there’s nothing hard about watching this iconic and genuinely uplifting movie. (I also wrote more about it here.)

—Natalie Weiner

Speed Racer (2008)

Available to rent

One of my favorite movies of all-time, taking many aesthetic cues from anime and seamlessly bringing them into the live-action world with breathtaking visual effects. Speed Racer is visually explosive and a delight for the senses, with a grounded conflict at its core (a family business getting bought out by a heartless corporation). In my opinion, this is sports + movies in their best balance with each other.

— Pete Volk

The Heart of the Game (2005)

Available to rent

A hardscrabble team works diligently to overcome the odds, with a few twists. The movie centers on a girls basketball team from Roosevelt High School, 10 minutes from where I grew up in Seattle, and the star of the team gets pregnant. Bring tissues.

— Natalie Weiner

Uncut Gems (2019)

Available to rent

No movie better captures the anxiety of being a sports fan, or the bad decisions you make because of your fandom. Also sports luminaries Kevin Garnett and Mike Francesa deliver excellent performances. My favorite 2019 release! Louis wrote more about it here.

— Pete Volk

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)

Available on Starz and DirecTV

This is the height of me on-my-bullshit, but please allow it: Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White are generational action stars, and this entry in the excellent Undisputed series shows their singular talents at their best. White plays an ex-boxer framed for a crime and sent to prison, where he fights for his freedom in an underground MMA ring. Adkins plays the terrifying Yuri Boyka, the reigning prison champ. This is so up my alley it’s not even funny, and hopefully it’s up yours, too!

— Pete Volk

More Than a Game (2008)

Available on Starz

It’s very easy to take LeBron James for granted. After all, he’s been doing otherworldly things in the NBA for almost two decades now. Sometimes it just seems like he’s always existed, like he’ll just be inevitable forever. At a time when we’re (hopefully temporarily) deprived of watching him play basketball, it’s worth revisiting this great documentary about his origin story. Yes, he overcame seemingly insurmountable odds, but the part that sticks with you is the people around him — those who believed in him completely, and who he has been just as loyal to in return.

— Natalie Weiner