#Ferneste

[estiebestieban]

Ferneste unfinished wip (because if I think too long about it I go insane)

I started writing this a few days after Fernando announced his switch to AM, and I haven’t looked back since. 1500 words, general rating.

Fernando retires at the end of the 2023 season. 

Esteban knows he’s been lucky to have shared a team with the Spaniard for three years. Knows that he has been living on borrowed time with the other ever since their signatures dried underneath the contract back in 2020. He’s always known that their stint together would come to an end. Some things are simply not meant to be, and a dominance soaked in blue and pink is just another temporary matter in this world.

Friend leaves. Loss of a legend cuts like a knife through the paddock, creates a gaping wound that refuses to close. Fernando pulls him aside, a few hours before he makes the announcement to the press. Palm of the other’s hand burns on the small of his back as Fernando hugs him a bit tighter than usual. Esteban is stuck between wishing that it would have lasted forever, and wishing that Fernando disappeared immediately after speaking those cursed words.

The races after the truth has been placed down at his feet are the hardest to stomach. Esteban is forced to watch Fernando from the corner of his eye. Forced to imagine a world in which he’s standing next to another driver. Fernando pulls him a bit closer than before when they’re seated next to one another on the back of a parading car. The touch of a hand on his knee lingers, even after the palm has long since been removed.

Sometimes he swears he can see it when he stares at his own reflection in the mirror. All the ways Fernando has ever touched him staring back at him in the shape of scars and bleeding red marks. Fingers encircled around his wrist, a grasp on his shoulder. Words of advice have settled around the sprinkled birthmarks, to connect the dots between ignorance and softly cradled skill.

One does not drive with a God like Fernando, only to escape without some lasting marks from the battles fought on and off track.

Esteban watches as they strip the number 14 off the walls of the Alpine factory. Watches as all remains of Fernando are scrubbed away. The new generation comes knocking, and suddenly, he is the more experienced one in the team dynamic. He knows he can never be as good of a mentor as Fernando was to him, he doesn’t have the same kindness resting inside of him. There are no whispers about better inside corners passed on to Oscar. There is no hand resting on Oscar’s shoulder when they’re herded out in front of the masses on race day.

It can never be like it was with Fernando. So Esteban doesn’t even try.

They keep in touch whenever they can. Write texts that don’t really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Fernando congratulates him on race results, and Esteban asks how retirement is going, only to be met with a photo from a random pit lane every time. Not even retirement can keep Fernando out of a car.

Silence seeps through the line at the beginning of the 2025 season. Fernando chases after his triple crown with open hands and a kind of determination Esteban has hardly seen before. He’s busy with the Indy 500, and Esteban himself has the first few races of the season to get through. It gets better with Oscar, but it’s still nowhere close to the same. The Alpine liveries no longer scrap between them, no longer battle for the points.

Engineers bring a miracle, get them a few more sporadic podiums scattered across the 23 races of 2024. A few more first place finishes adding to his resume. Oscar tastes champagne before his first season is out. Esteban tries not to be jealous of it, but he finds himself in foreign airports waiting to go to the factory for some more tests, with something venomous itching underneath the skin of his palms.

He stops talking about Fernando somewhere around Monaco, stares out across the track with his hands in the pockets of his jeans as the team follows him around for his track walk. It’s never quite the same after the tip of his tongue finds comfort in the heavy silence of what could have been. At least he no longer tastes blood when he swallows down another story.

“We’re driving for a championship.” how things have changed. A few years ago they were driving for points, bottom step of the podium at most. Now, with a better engine and an even better car, they’re actually chasing for the title. It’s been weeks since he’s heard from Fernando last. The gaping wound left in his absence has not yet closed. If anything, it has started to fester around the edges, where it still remains raw.

More often than not, Esteban does not drink from the champagne that’s handed to him on the podium. He lowers the bottle down towards the waiting hands of the team. His wins are for them, for the ghost that still lingers in the Alpine garage beyond his reach.

He hopes that Fernando will be proud of him. If the Spaniard is even still watching these days.

2026 comes to a close, and he’s second in the standings. Loses to Charles by a handful of points. It’s bitter. Hard to stomach. Yet he still claps as the boy he grew up with accepts his trophy, surrounded by the thousand flashes of just as many cameras.

FROM Fernando Alonso: Bad luck, conejito. That’s all it is. Bad luck.

He saves the message. Even when he doesn’t know exactly why. Stares at it when restlessness makes a home out of him in a strange hotel in a country he should know by now. China the following year brings fireworks, and in Turkey he extends his lead in the championship even further.

Fernando doesn’t win the Indy 500. In his mind, the other was always impossible to defeat. But age must finally be catching up to him, the day which no one thought would ever come has finally arrived, and Fernando steps away from racing for good. The frequency of texts picks up again. Scattered notes left throughout days and nights. When timezones make little sense and the most important thing in the world is a friendship that has refused to wither and die.

It’s good to know that the other still thinks about him. It’s good to know that he’s still wanted in Fernando’s life, even after all these years have gone past.

Esteban needs one more win. One more victory and one more bottle of champagne which will never touch his lips. He always needs one more, just as Fernando did before him. Trembling fingers wrap around the trophy of the Turkish grand prix set aside for the winner, and he knows he’s done it. The child racing on tires his peers threw in the trash raises the newest addition to a collection of victories to the sky, and with such simple movements, claims a title to pin to his chest.

He sees Fernando the moment he leans forward to lower the bottle of champagne. Meets former teammate’s gaze in the same way he’s always envisioned it was to happen in movies.

There is no lightning splitting the sky, no rolling thunder which stops time, and yet, the whole world is shrouded in darkness all the same. Nothing remains. Nothing, except for the wrinkles around Fernando’s eyes and the way his lips are curved up into a smile bright enough to rival the lights around the circuit.

Esteban comes home when he lowers himself from the podium and into the arms of his friend.

He's always wanted too much. Always reached towards the stars with open palms, wishing to be burned by them. Fernando opens his arms, cradles the back of his head with a large hand. Fingertips buried in his hair, a ghost of a stroking thumb against the nape of his neck. Esteban never regretted not drinking the champagne, but he's never been so glad for it as he is at that moment.

It’s not like someone can receive a doctors’ note for a broken heart. It won’t show up on echos and in the results of the wandering hands of health professionals checking him over before every race. A broken heart is one of those few things in life that just is. One of those few things that go by unnoticed, even by Esteban himself, until he rests his cheek against Fernando’s, and he can feel the shattered parts of him slipping back together.

Hands fall, come to rest at the small of his back. Fernando lifts him up as he did when he tasted victory for the first time. Spins him around until there are stars lurking behind his closed eyed and his stomach has been tied up into knots.

Feet leave the ground, and when toes find the steady earth again, he is not the same man he was mere moments before.

“Congratulations.” Fernando kisses his cheeks. First, he places genuine admiration on the left. Next comes something that feels dangerously close to love on the right. “Welcome to the club. Estebanito.”

Esteban has taken a title, and yet, he can’t bring himself to even care about it. Victory would not even have tasted half as sweet as it does now that he gets to share the spoils with Fernando by his side. “There is nowhere I would rather be, Fernanito.”

[no-name-cats]

Fernest from Cult of the lamb

[promiscuousasexual]

lmao lee this was a literal shower thought i had in the middle of the night and since (to my knowledge anyway) you're my only mutual that's both a rosquez girlie (gn) and an este-stan so i knew you would understand

now let me be clear that brocedes is definitely the f1 equivalent of rosquez in terms of lore that makes you go 'what the actual FUCK'

but the actual 'hero worship → competing against each otheer → matching each other's freak → rivals because of matching each other's freak' rosquez dynamic? that's ferneste to a fucking t

LMFAOO HANNAH you are literally my favorite person ever i think you are also my only mutual who is an este-stan and a marc/rosquez girlie (gn)

you are literally so right though like i can’t believe i’ve never thought about it before. in terms of structure and relationship dynamics, this is spot on like you’re 100% correct. the whole never meet your heroes thing is so relevant in both situations akshdge that’s actually so insane😭now i want to them all in a room together just to see what happens

but obviously, as you said, nothing can compare to what actually went down. like that was INSANE. fernando and esteban are still talking and chatting and taking photos together. you will NEVER see that w rosquez, when you go back to old races post-2015, if these two shook hands after a race, you had about 192837 slo-mo replays of it and it would show up on every “previously” cut scene they made.

i’m p sure i saw someone else say this but at least i find brocedes easier to explain?? like it’s heartbreaking and AWFUL but childhood friends who fell out because they became sports rivals is something that i feel like most people would expect (even if there’s definitely more behind the scenes and it is so HEARTWRENCHING) but i can never being to explain what happened w rosquez cause even reading about it i was like “what the fuck” and i learn new things about it everyday. valentino i will show up to your house w a gun just you wait

[doodle-bug-nightmares]

RAE’S BDAY GIFT! @rae-unbeloved

Kmskmskmskmskmskmskmskmskmsdnjkwgbdavcjuhygfvbhjugrfdsgbhtf This is not going to be fun but i’m doing it anyway because I love you /p Happy (late) Birthday Rae <3 (also i’m sorry if this is short asf)

During a standard “Jonah and Max are arguing again” session.

Deòiridh :]: FERN Deòiridh :]: I have a question

Fernest Fern >:3: what

Deòiridh :]: Can I hide in your home tonight

Fernest Fern >:3: Sure, my dad has to work the night shift so you can sleep in the living room if you want

Deòiridh :]: Fuck yeah alr ill go message mum rq

Fernest Fern >:3: hell yeah sleepover

Deòiridh :]: WOOOO

Deo was already at Fern’s house because of a conversation they had earlier in the day. Omar snitched on Fern for not drinking water all day, and Deo threatened to come to his house, which they actually did. They broke in through an open window in the basement (which Fern told her about literal minutes before) and had to stay in the basement for 3 hours because his dad WOULD NOT LEAVE. The basement was filled with boxes, so it looked like Omar hadn’t fully moved in yet, Besides the boxes was a small red sofa and matching ottoman, and a TV on top of a box with “Books” written on it pushed against the wall. It was a pretty simple basement, with carpeted floors, and light fixtures on the ceiling. You could probably rent it out to people as an apartment or something. There was a kitchen, a bathroom, even a closet.

Though Deo wasn’t exactly thrilled to be trapped in their best friend’s basement, they still found a way to enjoy it somewhat. They found a book they liked that was on top of one of the boxes and decided to sit down and read it for a bit, they found a thin piece of cardboard that she used as a bookmark. About a half-hour into this little reading endeavor, Fern texted her.

Fernest Fern >:3: Omar’s coming down with snacks (and water)

Deòiridh :]: thank god please tell me he has Doritos

Fernest Fern >:3: Yes he actually went out of his way to go to the store and buy them Deòiridh :]: yippee!!!!!! 

As if on cue, Omar opened the door to the basement and walked down the stairs. He had way too much stuff in his arms and Deo got up from their spot to help him carry some of it and place it on the carpeted floor. “How long have you been down here?” Omar questioned, picking up the book she was reading and inspecting their makeshift bookmark.

“Like three hours, I was bored and that’s one of my favorite books.”  She snatched the book out of his hand and put it on the couch behind them “Oh wow, I didn’t know you were suddenly a bookworm, do I need to drive you to the library or something?” Omar teased, bumping their shoulder with his own. “Har Har, you do know I have to read for school right? It’s not a rare occurrence to see me reading.” Deo retorted, They were about to speak again but Omar held out the bag of Doritos he bought and she snatched it from him.

They talked for about an hour before Omar remembered that the TV had a game console connected to it so they played Mario Kart until Fern entered the basement with his cat Pigeon in his arms. “God finally, Dad just left for work and Saoirse is sound asleep,” Fern put pigeon down and he immediately went to curl up on the ottoman, “though we should probably keep the basement door open just in case she wakes up.” Fern sat down on the sofa with a sigh.

They continued to play Mario Kart while Fern watched them and gave Deo more help than Omar (because he plays favorites). Eventually, after Deo lost for the sixth time, they yelled, “Oh, I have an idea!!!” Fern and Omar looked at her for a solid minute before she spoke again “We should all wear the Sonic onesies and watch the live-action Sonic movies.” Fern immediately got up to get the onesies with a not-so-quiet “gladly”, and then Omar disconnected the game from the TV to plug in the Xbox that Deo had somehow not seen before, Fern came back down the stairs just as Omar finished setting up the Xbox and turning on Disney+. (let’s just pretend for the sake of Sonic that Disney did NOT take Sonic off of their horrible streaming service) 

Deo got the first pick of the onesies since it was her idea. They of course picked silver. Fern went next. He picked Sonic, which left the Shadow onesie for Omar. They took turns changing in the bathroom and decided to put on a mini fashion show because why not? Their lives were stressful; they needed this, okay? 

The fashion show though small and short was still pretty fun, Fern as Sonic went first and quoted the Sonic snapcube fandubs, Deo went second and pulled out the dress to impress poses, And then Omar went last and just stood there, The two of them cheered as loudly as they could for him without waking up Saoirse. “Okay let’s do this” Omar stated as he flipped through the various movies and TV shows on Disney until he got to the first live-action Sonic movie “Fuck yes I am so excited right now" Deo was practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

Fern pulled the hood of his onesie over his head and quoted the movie every few minutes, Omar hadn’t seen the movie before, and when Deo heard this news she pretended to cough and said “Fake fan”. He did, however, know every single one of Dr. Robotnik’s lines and quoted them with fern. 

About halfway through the movie, Fern’s “big brother instincts started tingling” so he went to check up on Saoirse, turns out she woke up and Fern decided to put her in a matching onesie with them, “so we’re in theme for the second movie” He argued, if you couldn’t tell by now, the onesie was tails.

Deo almost cried when Fern let them hold her, Saoirse patted Deo’s face with her little hands and they instantly broke. They forced Omar to play the movie so they didn’t break down crying, He played it and Deo held Saoirse throughout the rest of the first movie.

Before they started the Second movie Deo gave Saoirse back to Fern and she fell asleep on his chest within minutes. “Please help me,” Fern laughed as much as he could with a baby on his chest, “I can’t move her or she’ll wake up.” Though he made himself look like he was panicking he definitely wasn’t, He was staring right at her and kissing her forehead whenever he could. 

“Stop acting like this is the worst, you know you love it,” Omar poked him on the shoulder, “Plus you can still see the TV so you’re alright.”

“You’re right, she is adorable when she’s asleep” Fern poked Omar back

“You guys make me sick,” Deo joked. 

“We literally just poked each other you freak” Omar retorted. “But now we should all shut up cause I’m playing the movie”

Fern still quoted Sonic but a lot less because he didn’t want to wake Saoirse, She ended up waking up anyway, and Deo got to hold her again. It was pretty late by the time they finished the movie and Fern had fallen asleep on Deo’s shoulder.

“Thanks for doing this with me,” She said, adjusting Fern’s head so he wasn’t uncomfortable, “I’ve been really down lately, and this helped a lot”

“You can always ask us to hang out, You’re really cool Deo.” Omar moved closer to them and hugged her

“I trust you and Fern a lot more than the others, You guys are like my family, I love you” Deo stated leaning against Fern.

“I think I speak for both of us when I say we love you too Deo” Omar kissed her forehead and squished her face.

Fern woke up 20 minutes later so they decided to put out air mattresses and go to sleep, They stayed up until 2 am just talking about anything and everything, laughing and crying. These people really were Deo’s family.

OH SHIT i’m finally done thank gods i’m so tired right now i’m gonna do die now :3 /silly

[schumigrace]

Since we're doing this (aka I find myself funny)

[oconist]

azda!!! as you can probably tell, i have recently been lured into motogp by marc, valentino, and the fact that rosquez is like the most deliciously fucked up combination of pierresteban, brocedes, sebmark, sebchal, ferneste, etc. (literally shakespearean levels of lore, an actual 1:1 match with othello - i'm not even joking i've done the analysis).

here's the motogp primer i've been using to figure out who's who. i haven't been able to watch any of the races yet due to lack of time (no exams for me now but i'm in the midst of psychiatry residency applications and approaching the end of med school) but i've at least been following the results this season!

best of luck with exams! you got this <3

good luck with ur residency and end of med school !! also thanks for the links, i became aware of rossi n marquez a while now n i could not ignore moto gp

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 8.27

Beer Birthdays

Fred Bowman (1944)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Barbara Bach; actor (1947)

C.S. Forester; English writer (1899)

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel; German philosopher (1770)

Tarzan of the Apes; fictional character (1912)

Jeanette Winterson; English writer (1959)

Famous Birthdays

Patrick J. Adams; Canadian actor (1981)

Andreas Alföldi; Hungarian archaeologist and historian (1895)

Fernest Arceneaux; singer and accordion player (1940)

G.W. Bailey; actor (1944)

Gordon Bashford; English engineer, Range Rover co-creator (1916)

Tim Bogert; singer and bass player (1944)

Carl Bosch; German chemist (1874)

"Downtown" Julie Brown; V.J. (1959)

Sarah Chalke; actor (1976)

Alice Coltrane; pianist and composer (1937)

Jeff Cook; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1949)

Audrey C. Delsanti; French astronomer and biologist (1976)

Daryl "The Captain" Dragon; pop singer, songwriter (1942)

Theodore Dreiser; writer (1871)

Charles Fleischer; comedian and actor (1950)

Tom Ford; fashion designer (1961)

Chuck Girard; singer-songwriter and pianist (1943)

Samuel Goldwyn; film producer (1882)

Jeff Grubb; game designer and author (1957)

Johann Georg Hamann; German philosopher (1730)

Lyndon Baines Johnson; 36th U.S. President (1908)

Tony Kanal; British-American bass player and songwriter (1970)

Tom Lanoye; Belgian author, poet, and playwright (1958)

Ira Levin; writer (1929)

Alex Lifeson; Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (1953)

Norah Lofts; English author (1904)

Glen Matlock; English singer-songwriter and bass player (1956)

Katharine McCormick; biologist (1875)

John Mehler; drummer (1948)

Kenji Miyazawa; Japanese author and poet (1896)

Ann Murray; Irish soprano (1949)

Giuseppe Peano; Italian mathematician and philosopher (1858)

Kim Petras; German singer-songwriter (1992)

Jimmy Pop; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1972)

Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.; physicist (1915)

Man Ray; photographer, artist (1890)

Martha Ray; actor (1916)

Harry Reems; porn actor (1947)

Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens; actor, comedian (1952)

Robert Richardson; cinematographer (1955)

Tommy Sands; pop singer (1937)

Diana Scarwid; actress (1955)

Sonny Sharrock; guitarist (1940)

Reece Shearsmith; English actor, comedian and writer (1969)

Léon Theremin, Russian physicist, engineer, Theremin inventor (1896)

Kay Walsh; English actress and dancer (1911)

Tuesday Weld; actor (1943)

Chandra Wilson; actress (1969)

Lester Young; saxophonist and clarinet player (1909)

[fleshmouth]

emil ☆ any pronouns ☆ autism ☆ freak! still mentally ill about that one time Daniel Ricciardo had braces

Unfortunately a victim of F1 brainrot, it's been my on and off hyperfixation for a few years at this point. I went to the 2024 Las Vegas GP and won't shut up about it. I hardly post / reblog about anything else but don't mind if a miscellaneous post or two slip through.

☆ My F1 sillies are basically just Esteban Ocon and Jack Doohan, so lots of them. I am also a ferneste and maxesteban truther, so I apologize in advance for that.

I am very RPF brained if you don't mess with that. But you should. RPF is rich in nutrients and good for the soul. Feel free to talk to me, I love talking to people. Though If I DO come off as awkward don't take it personally <:) normal DNI, all the basic stuff. Lando fans yall r on thin ice count your days.

find my music blog at @interview2016

[k-ky]

i get a ferneste podium but at the cost of diego costa not even playing and my newly adopted wolves team being bullied to hell

[userblaney]

mwah 💌

you're literally one of the nicest ppl i've met on here

FERNESTE <333

you are incredibly funny and very cool

[estiebestieban]

you are my fellow ferneste truther and i love you dearly. i think you're funny, sweet, a great writer, and an even better friend. kisses (mwah)

Anonymously tell me how you feel about me. I can’t reply, I just have to read it and post it.

[hello-sapphic-mess-here]

The Web just keeps growing and growing

so here's a web diagram(?) i have where i keep track of all driver pairings i have ever seen on the internet

[sincerely-ernest]

Ernest and Larry: start dating while teens-late twenties, mostly out of convenience because they didn’t see any other option. puppy love. as Ernest slowly joined the firestarters, he began to blame Larry for firefighter activities. Larry becomes an easy punching bag, and the relationship slowly becomes Incredibly Toxic. Larry still trusts him despite all instincts. explains the boiling scene and lack of fear in his eyes. guess this would also be where they began to explore BDSM, most likely in not-so-healthy headspaces. Ernest was a Not Good man.

Ernest and Bertrand: in his later twenties/early thirties, possibly overlapping with Beatrice and Bertrand’s marriage. “special friends,” always on the cusp of a relationship. Ernest desperately fell for Bertrand and naively hoped it would work out. Bertrand, obviously, would never let it. Bertrand always thought it was a fun time and that they were on the same page. When Ernest found out about the engagement he was devestated. Helped confirm his beliefs that firefighters are manipulative, but it dampered his feelings of insurgence. He’s tired.

Ernest and Fernald: late 30s/now (early 40s) started as a relationship out of convenience, very off and on given how little time they spend with each other. Fernald is almost 10 years younger than Ernest, and Ernest sees a lot of himself in the man. Over time they grew infatuated. Started incredibly unhealthy as a way to work out their unhappy feelings about the firestarters, but slowly developed into a place of love and support they need. See each other even less regularly than Dewey and Kit seeing as though the hotel is “majority firefighter.” they’re in love but won’t admit it.

au where the denouements start an inn on some remote coast and Fernald and Ernest are happy and also Fiona is there as is Carmelita, ernest’s adopted brat daughter who has slowly been learning how to act like a reasonable being.

[aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaoldretired]

Im gonna say

Fernest should be your fav firefighter ship bc fernest sounds like furnace which is for fires like firefighter Fernald and Ernest so that makes this ship good and right, I’m not taking comments at the moment

[itsroblow-blog]

“ S h i n i n g “

f r o m . . a l b u m . . “ G E N E S I S “

m u s i c . b y . r o b  L O W

V i d e o . b y .  F E R N E S T O

http://roblow.bandcamp.com/