Book "La Fumée, Vol. 1 No. 4"

In other words, it's not the engines you covet, but the feeling of freedom they're made to signify for you.

It's the stilted language and overconfident tone that's the real giveaway here. You're almost certainly reading a recycled university essay, one that could probably use some edits.

(Take out your pen.) I'm just going to make a few quick changes...

Armed with your trusty pen, you spend entirely too much time excising meaningless phrases and unsubstantiated claims...

By the time you're finished the original article is nearly illegible.

"You know, most people would just write a letter to the editor..."

"Or even better," he stops to correct himself, "just leave it be."

I can't believe someone actually published this utter tripe. (Shake your head.)

The magazine stares back at you defiantly. It's pretty sure you just don't get it.

This flimsy magazine is right. Deep down you know the only true stakes are life and glory, or death by fiery dismemberment.

Hell yeah, crashes are what get the blood pumping.

You see? One cannot avoid the conclusion that TipTop Tournée is simply the apotheosis of "spectacular" entertainment under capitalism.

Wow, you're right. I really am just in it for the violence!

What's wrong with a good motor crash? They just keep it interesting.

Hang on, who wrote this stuff?

Oddly enough, this article has two bylines: Nasteb Encalada-Bernal and Exilus Bücher.

Just a moment... those names seem awfully familiar.

You're right, because they're most likely anagrams of 'Steban' and 'Ulixes', the student communists.

There's no way those are real names.

Wait, why aren't they real names?

Have you ever met anyone named 'Exilus'? Come on, they're plainly pseudonyms.

More than that, they're likely anagrams.

The TipTop Tournée is an interisolary racing series, mostly known for its high speeds, ludicrous sponsorship deals, and high death toll. In Revachol it's held quadrennially on the prestigious Zéro Carrousel racing circuit.

Read the editor's note.

"Comrade, as you know, this journal takes its name from Mazov's immortal expression 'Du cristal à la fumée.' This was his way of describing the way the rigid, crystalline structures of capitalist ideology turn to smoke under communism..."

"But like the structures of capitalist ideology, we too are at risk of going 'à la fumée.' Unlike many publications which are content to spoonfeed their readers reassuring drivel, La Fumée is committed to telling the radical truth, even when that truth may drive away potential subscribers."

Only four issues in and it sounds like they've already alienated their readership.

Perhaps they've overestimated the market demand for this kind of commentary.

"So please, if you value our radical Mazovian perspective on contemporary politics, culture, and international affairs, please consider subscribing today. Yours in struggle, The Editors."

(Whisper.) "Kim! I think this is a communist magazine."

"What do you expect? It was laying around the office of the Débardeurs' Union. They're probably bankrolling the thing."

Play it cool. Pretend everything's in order.

[Put the magazine away.]

The front of this quarterly journal features a large, satirical portrait of the late King Frissel. From the sides of his head, a pair of white antlers spread to the corners of the cover.

Flip through the pages, see what catches your eye.

To your disappointment, there aren't any full-colour pictures to direct your attention, just column after column of closely set text, interrupted occasionally by little doodles in black and white...

No advertisements, you notice. So who's funding this radical commentary?

After riffling the pages with your thumb several times, you return to the table of contents...

The magazine is divided into several sections: 'International Developments', 'Kunst und Kultur', and 'Local Concerns'. Just inside the cover there's also an editor's note.

Why antlers?

Because white antlers are one of the symbols of communism. They represent a society in accord with the natural world and at the same time above it.

A shameful way to treat a former king, even one as underwhelming as Frissel.

Why Frissel?

Because Frissel was incompetent, foolish, and cruel. In short, the embodiment of everything the communards wished to overthrow. It's satire, you see.