#via the snowballing results. and his friends who he had been you know hunting not knowing that huge part of him is like DUDE

[shopcat]

as much as i enjoy conceptually the whole Everyone finds out how zuko got his scar tropey thing bc i agree it's a strange little knowledge gap for them to have to be happily exploited for like, patting him on the head, but i also feel like it's just like. well OBVIOUSLY it's an excuse to throw some love at him which is good and i like it but when people use it as a way to like ... have people tell him it was Wrong and Bad well that's just stupid. the literal entire point of his confrontation with ozai during the eclipse is zuko TELLING his father that himself and then leaving to follow his own path. it's one of his biggest moments as a character and IS his most defining moment of deciding to take a stand against his father. like he knows it was bad he came to that conclusion himself he literally even said it was cruel!!! "how could you possibly justify duelling a child. it was cruel and it was wrong"!!!! he doesn't need people telling him Child Abuse Is Bad Zuko like. he knows. it's kind of part of his whole arc.

#🐾 #it's honestly crazy how people can see a character who spent honestly the vast majority of all 3 seasons coming to terms with EVERYTHING #about his place in the war about his family about his father about who he is as a person and what he needs to do #overcoming the indoctrination. letting go of the need for his fathers Approval. and realising he was wrong BY HIMSELF!! #when he says as well that he had to come to the conclusion ON HIS OWN!! .. WHEN he was banished #and then just be like. we need to tell him #like Oh my god.. he knows ... #the thing about that trope that makes it interesting is how he got his scar is a significant and also defining part of who he is #via the snowballing results. and his friends who he had been you know hunting not knowing that huge part of him is like DUDE #but i honestly kind of like it as well like i dunno that's why it's so interesting #people literlalt lvoe zuko bc of his you know. entire character. it's not just because he's sometimes funny or silly #and you're meant to love his character and his ''redemption arc'' wasn't a true redemption arc or maybe it's just the best one on earth #well it probably is ngl. bc from the very beginning you're meant to be rooting for him #he's set up almost immediately against zhao. he's countered with his sympathetic kindly uncle #we learn and it is INTEGRAL!!! that we learn that he got hurt when he spoke out specifically on the behalf of innocent people #in an act that was ultimately futile bc they were torn up in the war machine. #like i don't know believe me zuko knows Why the war is bad and Why his dad is bad specifically that's the whole damn point #walks away kicking a can #child abuse mention

[itsworn]

Eight-Time Top Fuel Champ, Tony Schumacher’s 1977 Pontiac Trans Am Project

When you’ve been down the quarter in just over 3 seconds, nitromethane exhaust spewing white hot from zoomie headers at more tnan 300mph, what sort of project car doesn’t seem boring? For eight-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher, it’s one that holds just a little bit of nostalgia– and with stiff clutch and nasty big block.

“My first car was an 1986 Trans Am when I was 16,” said Schumacher. “That was what I used to get to the drag strip.”

The car left an impression on him, as it did so many others, thanks to a Burt Reynolds fueled fervor. In fact, after the Trans Am’s short stint on the silver screen in the 1977 hit, Smokey and the Bandit, model sales nearly doubled, beating out the Chevrolet Camaro for the first time.

Teenage years long in the rear-view mirror, and with eight NHRA Top Fuel championships under his belt, an older, wiser, shorter-haired Schumacher, at the bequest of his son, began searching for another Pontiac.

“Years ago, Matco Tools was dropping off a shipment of tools I had ordered,” said Schumacher.  “My oldest son, Anthony, was 10 and he kind of looked at me and said, ‘why do you even have tools? You don’t have any cars.’ I’d never built a car other than race cars! [Anthony] loved Shelby cobras, but for a dad, they just don’t look safe with that little roll bar. I love the look, but I’m not going to put my kid in something like that. We watched Smokey and the Bandit and my son said, ‘that’s the car! That’s the car we’re going to get.’ I said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’”

Completely sold on repurchasing a car from his youth, Schumacher began hunting down the perfect Trans Am. He found it while racing in Denver, Colorado, and pulled the trigger, purchasing a time-capsule of the breed. “Gold leather, 13,000 original miles–it was beautiful, said Schumacher. “I called the guy, he brought it up to Chicago, and I bought it. When I got it home my son said, ‘so when are we gonna’ work on it?’ I said, ‘we can’t, it’s got 13,000 original miles! We can’t touch this thing!’ He looked at me like I had two heads.”

Realizing it was less about the finished product and more about the build, the hunt resumed for the right canvas to paint the Schumacher family vision of the perfect Trans Am.

“My friend Matt Renz owns Midwest Muscle car in Lake Zurich, Illinois where I lived at the time,” said Schumacher. “Matt’s friend had another Trans Am. It was rough, but the body and the floors were perfect. Anybody that’s ever done a build knows that’s the key.”

Take two: the second Trans Am, a 1977 model, was purchased and went under the knife by Renz’s skillful hand. Getting a host of modifications to update it from late-‘70s spec.

“I made some phone calls, and one thing lead to another,” said Schumacher. “Before I knew it, Dick Maskin from Dart Machine was on the phone saying, ‘I’m going to build you an engine for that Pontiac.’ I said, ‘OK, build me a big aluminum big-block- something absolutely nasty.’”

Maskin delivered in the form of a 565ci low-deck, all-aluminum, big-block Chevy. Those cubes come courtesy of a massive 4.600in bore and relatively short–for a big block– 4.250in stroke. Dart aluminum heads, a gnarly camshaft grind and Holley EFI are also part of the mix. The end result makes good on the “nasty” requirement, and the engine walks the line of street manners. The saving grace is a Tremec T56 Magnum transmission, beefed up by Bowler, that helps make the misbehaved big-block more manageable. A Quartermaster dual-disc clutch is more than up to holding the big block’s 681 horsepower and 693 lb-ft of torque. Behind the transmission is a carbon fiber QA1 driveshaft, and Schumacher admits he’s still getting the hang of the race-derived third dual clutch. “I’ve stalled it, many times,” Schumacher laughs.

Under the body, the Trans Am is a far cry from what rolled off the GM assembly line, with a complete rollcage tucked close to the roofline to stiffen the body and a full independent suspension by Heidts Hot Rods and Muscle Cars.

“Matt Renz walked me into Heidts, which was next door to his shop,” said Schumacher. “We got to talking and it just snowballed from there.”

“Tony and I were talking about one of our favorite movies, Smokey and the Bandit when he remarked he would love to build a tribute to “The Bandit” only with a superior suspension system,” said Heidts owner, Wallace Leyshon.

Heidts had never done a Trans Am, so they used the car to prototype a suspension for the Pontiac based on their proven Pro G suspension system. The front consists of a Heidts Pro G front subframe with adjustable coilovers, tubular control arms, rack-and-pinion steering, and huge Wilwood brakes. Uprated swaybars, also part of the Pro G kit, keep the Trans Am planted during corners.

Outback, is the real pièce de résistance: a fully independent Heidts Pro G rear suspension. The setup uses a 9i-inch Ford style pumpkin, supplied by Currie Enterprises with a Posi unit, inboard Wilwood brakes, adjustable coilovers and double control arms linked to the axle by CV driveshafts. The kit affords the Trans Am mid-corner traction and suspension geometry simply not possible with a solid axle. “There’s 16 shock settings in each corner,” said Schumacher. “I drive dragsters, there’s no adjustment in those suspensions. It’s a whole new world, and it’s so fun!”

Completing the car’s unique look are a set of custom Forgeline wheels and fenders from Year One. The car was sprayed in Standox, Jet Black paint by Brian Ambrosini from P.A.B. Collision Repair Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The mandatory fire chicken on the hood is done in carbon fiber to add a contemporary touch. The interior is a combination of black vinyl and suede, engine-turned aluminum, and Year One is to credit, along with Ahmes performance who provided many of the hard-to-find Pontiac-specific parts.

“Matt said I want to build you the baddest car I can,” said Schumacher. “I really love what they did. I’ll never have anyone else build my stuff now.”

The car’s odometer just clicked past 500mi and so far, it’s solely pulled street duty. “My kids want to be picked up from school every day in it, said Schumacher. “We have a blast. This thing drives a lot like a NASCAR, only more fun and with a way better stereo.”

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