#i dont want to create a tag for him

[skitskatdacat63]

Fernando Alonso & His Relationship With Cards

I'm sure we're all familar with the cards on the back of Fernando's Vegas GP helmet by now, but did you know his relationship with cards goes a lot deeper?

I. Magic Tricks

You've probably seen or heard someone at least mention Fernando's propensity for card tricks. As far as I can tell he was doing them(publically) as far back as 2003 all the way to as recently as 2018. Even once performing a card trick, with a condom and a teddy bear(!??!?!??!!), in front of Valentino Rossi who said "How was that possible?"(x)

But how did this start? According to James Allen, "Fernando admits to having been heavily influenced by his grandfather, a mercurial figure, who taught him magic and card tricks, still one of his passions away from the race track."(x) And I'm not sure the validity of this one, because I couldn't find an actual source, but apparently he once said: "My parents are responsible for the two things I like doing most - driving and magic tricks. They bought me my first go-kart and a magician's kit."

In several interviews he described it as his hobby off track, and that he loved learning new tricks and surprising others in the garage with them! So clearly cards are pretty important to him both as a hobby but also to who he is as a person since they've been with him just as long as racing has.

II. Card Symbolism in His Helmets

This is the reason I originally made this post, but I thought I should also explain the origins of his card fascination first. As I said, we probably all remember the cards on the back of his helmet in Vegas, but did you know that wasn't the first time he had cards on the back of his helmet?

From 2008-2013, he used to have a pair of cards on the back of his helmets. The symbolisms of the cards themselves as well as the evolution of their design is really fascinating to me! Even more so with the recent development of the card choice in 2023.

Fernando said he wanted to reference his two titles in some way on the back of his helmet and after his friend sent him several ideas, he decided on having two cards(an ace of clubs and an ace of hearts, sometimes pictured with 05 and 06 on them as well), saying: "I picked the cloverleaf [the ace of clubs - Ed] to give me luck, but the only pity is that it doesn't have four leaves!"(X)

2008.

Here's the very first appearance of the cards! They're displayed flat, with the 05 and 06 clearly visible

2009.

Very similar to 2008, but with a slightly different design, and they're maybe a bit more straight with less shadow?

2010.

This is the first major change! I was sad they didn't have the years on them anymore, but then I realized they're sparkly to match with his signature lightning bolts on the top of the helmet!!

2011.

Honestly I'm still somewhat unsure if this is the actual 2011 helmet? It's pretty difficult to find clear photos of the back of helmets from older seasons. It's easiest to find them on replica sites or auction sites so I'm not 100%? But anyways, I like that this has the championship years on the underside of the cards

2012.

This is when I started getting weirdly emotional about the helmets. Do you see how they've progressed from being a centerpoint to being curled up and sad at the bottom of the helmet? Not listing the year anymore??

2013.

Same thoughts as 2012. And after this season, they cease to exist (just like his ferrari chair in the garage, WOAH CALLBACK), until cards make a reeappearance in his Vegas helmet, albeit in a different form

2013 Monaco(Honorable Mention):

For some reason 2013 helmets were easier to find proper pictures of, so I happened to witness this absolute beauty. The creativity of this helmet genuinely blows me away??? Wanting to keep the card motif, but making sure to incorporate it into the rest of the puzzle piece design?? Mwah! There was another special 2013 helmet but they didn't change the cards at all so I really applaud this one

2023 Las Vegas(The Return of The King):

The magnificent return! But look! The cards are different cards! Instead of being two aces, it's now an ace of hearts, a four of hearts(his driver number of course!) and, the, now iconic, representation of himself as a Joker. I literally could not believe my eyes when this helmet was released and I saw the Joker card, what a fucking silly old man....I really wonder if he felt nostalgic having cards on his helmet again or if he didn't think about it all and was just like, "ah cards because Vegas!!!"

III. Why Does This Matter?

*The rest of the post was factual, this is moreso my personal thoughts on the symbolism of the cards/designs

This post spawned from me recently watching the 2010 Bahrain gp and noticing "hey wait a minute...are those CARDS ON THE BACK OF HIS HELMET!?" It's a really tiny detail that's unfortunately covered up by the HANS device pretty much whenever he's wearing the helmet, so it's really difficult to spot! But I became fascinated with the fact that he had cards on his helmet before that recent helmet, and now here we are!

There's something to me about how the design of the cards evolves over the course of six seasons from the cards being front and center to being smaller, more folded up and closer to the bottom of the helmet. As I said, the 2012-2013 ones genuinely made me depressed because it feels, symbolically, like his hopes for getting another Ace are becoming more and more unlikely and falling away until they eventually fall falt and fade away entirely after 2013 and disappear for basically a decade.

But when they return? They're not the same cards! Instead of representing Fernando's championships, they now represent him as a person, displaying his driver number and his persona of being a Joker!! Though I do think it's interesting he happened to keep the Ace of Hearts, even though he talked more about the Ace of Clubs before. I'm not sure it's actually this deep in reality, but I like to think that it's him not letting his championships(and the lack thereof) define him, but rather letting who he is as a person shine and be the centerpoint instead! But on a sadder note, as @suzuki-ecstar said to me, maybe the Aces aren't there anymore because he's lost all hope for a chance at a third Ace entirely :(

[satorisoup]

people will think im ordinary until they say one (1) thing about tmnt and all of a sudden im explaining the entire lore starting from the 1990’s movie & why donatello is the best turtle i fear… T^T

tag limit fights me… i must yap… please listen… SOB </3

[lapinposts]

how it feels to read people on this site criticize death of the outsider

[smoshingatut]

I'm kinda tired of dungeon meshi fans blatantly misinterpreting Kabru's goals, motivations, and character so they can ship him with Laios...like obviously it's awesome if you enjoy Laikabu but can you nooot twist Kabru's intentions for involving himself with the guy who constantly triggers his monster trauma and pisses him off so bad he gets brain damage so that he turns into "the guy who wants to suck Laios's dick" as his entire character? I've even seen people cut off Kabru's words to make it seem like he is admiring Laios because it would disrupt that narrative

[lunarharp]

the flash and the flood

[maulfucker]

Yeah yeah jedi Maul au we've all seen him. But what about senator Maul au. Representing Dathomir, a neutral world like Mandalore that is still somewhat hostile to outsiders. Wearing fancy clothes that show a bit too much skin for the cold climate of Coruscant. Falling in hate at first sight with Padmé, the only other senator who brings a gun to the senate floor "just in case". The two of them having a weird rivalry because Maul doesn't trust the Jedi and is neutral in a lot of subjects that Padmé is a vocal defender of.

[astralzeraphias]

undone

bonus doodles below cut :3

[im-gonna-be-weird-about-it]

Me, a casual viewer of BFU: True Crime and Puppet History, clicking on the Making Watcher playlist: Oh, its so nice that the boys got to start their own company :)

Me, 40 minutes later, no longer a causal viewer after seeing Ryan Bergara talk about his anxiety and then almost cry on camera because he is so happy that his friend agreed to work at his new company: 

[lover-of-mine]

I think purposely bad. And made worst. Because Tim didn't expect between episode 4 and 5 that those shippers would create a whole new character that never existed. Or that on the side Lou would financially gain and feed them head canons. So now he's like look... Don't you see he sucks.

I actually truly believe the medal ceremony was supposed to be his last scene of the season, then come back for an Ana style break-up. If you look at it organically, there was no reason for the daddy joke scene, and we know he wasn't supposed to be there. I think it was to create an off-putting scene where if he chooses, he could do an off-screen break up and avoid queer baiting accusations.

Lou has already created too much tension. He could still do a break up within a few episodes, but I'm not sure if Tim wants to have the head aches Lou brings... Closing down his cameo is the only reason I think he could be back for a bit. But if that's the case, then he definitely had a meeting, you know.

Okay, first of all, this may sound mean and not trying to and this isn't targeted to you I just keep seeing queerbaiting allegations and you used the word, but Buck is queer, the queerbaiting ship has sailed, a queer storyline not going the way we expected is not queerbaiting. Whatever they do with Buck's love life, there is no queerbaiting just because it feels unsatisfying to us. They marketed Buck as queer and Buck is bi. Not liking the way it was done doesn't change that.

But on the Lou thing, I agree that they didn't plan on having Lou stick around for the whole season, but the relationship was better accepted than anticipated and they are capitalizing on it. Full conspiracy theory, but I think that with how Oliver refuses to talk about bt, and how Ryan changed his tune after 706, something happened behind the scenes that went against what they were told the beginning of the season, because again, a tv show is a living organism that needs to adapt to the circumstances in which is airing, bt brought audience, keep him around a bit longer. The kink scene was there to remind us of how bad Gerrard is, but we could've had that reminder happen with Chim or Hen, so yeah, he didn't have to be there, but keeping bt alive during the hiatus keeps the numbers up while giving shippers time to cool off. And considering the publicity that came with Buck being bi, if they are planning on eventually getting to buddie, they are probably anticipating a similar level of publicity to come from queer Eddie, so they spaced it out to get the most out of both arcs. Especially because queer Eddie has to mean canon buddie and that would break the internet. I don't blame Lou for trying to capitalize from the ship, it keeps him on the role longer and it is exposure, but obviously, there's controlled chaos brought on by the high of a confirmation that a character is queer and there's *gestures vaguely* whatever is going on. There is a chance T will get the Ali treatment, there's a chance he will get the Ana treatment, but there is also the chance he will get the Taylor treatment and stick around while being a bad match for Buck, we don't know the plan and we don't know if Lou created enough problems for them to want to write him off. T is being shown to us in a very specific way, but they can still turn it around if they chose to, because we don't know enough. He is in the same spot Taylor was during s4 so it will all depend on how he will be handled during s8. Sure fanon T is not the character that exists on the show and Lou's cameos probably were shut down because it was creating a level of expectation they didn't plan on delivering, but at this point it could still go in any direction, we can't say anything for sure.

[hassianlovebot]

My Palia oc!! Thank you @blighted-elf for the template!!!

[nvathuw]

some design thingy for my AU

[lussterpurge]

WHY IS HE STANDING LIKE THAT. he is such a strange creature I can’t

[somerandomdutchfangirl]

Random headcanon/au thing brought to you directly from my brain:

Swan hybrid Jack Rose

Like mans just straight up has wings (swan wings ofc, they're red with pink tips because i Do Not Care about realism but instead about color schemes and vibes). Little down feathers in his hair. Talons as nails. Perhaps even tail feathers? And definitely feathered ears

Like,,,, imagine the fluff potential y'all.

Or better yet... Imagine the angst potential

[hum-suffer]

Main phek dungi isko aur iski bairi ko kahi se behenchod

[nightofmiracles]

i almost reblogged the anon confession blog but no i'll just write this on my own space

in theory i agree (re: people not actually caring about Clover as its own character and only in relation to Qrow) but i'm also not really sure people like Qrow either. he's generally seen as a prop in his nieces' lives or as the only S/TRQ member in the main cast they can drag info out of re: Summer (and now that Raven seems to be part of the crew for Vacuo, he's even losing that spot) & when Clover was around him, the interest was in them as a couple but when half of it died then it went back to ignoring him again. yeah he fought against his alcoholism and (seems to be) in a better shape mentally but that's enough reason for most to park him out of sight & out of mind

i always felt/feel great disappointment over how Clover gets completely ignored when talking about James' descent in v8 (like man, if only the general was grieving a friend on top of everything else and didn't have anybody to share that with, so he'd just press on and make everything even worse. not like we saw that specifically with Ren and the AOs' emotions. not like Ir/onwood would be having that whole ordeal by himself as well, mirrored by Qrow in his jail cell. wouldn't that be nuts. anyway) or taking Harriet's words, a grieving colleague, as 100% accurate and not biased over how Clover would have handled the order to bomb a whole town

imo there's a lot of shit one could think through when it comes to Clover, but, like Summer, we mostly know him through what others saw in him (a loyal soldier, a lucky Huntsman) and very little is told about what he truly believes in, except in a few flashes he let slip out in some moments

like the last time the AOs saw him alive, it was when he was giving a speech to the main teams that the main focus of their mission was the evacuation of the civillians over the killing of Grimm. he took the time to make that crystal clear. & when talking privately to Qrow in the truck scene a few chapters earlier, he brings up how he believes it's their duty to leave a better world to the next generations. so how do you associate him with being fine over the threat of killing tons of people as a bargaining chip to guilt trip Penny into opening the vault to get the Staff, except by completely ignoring the clues the show gave where, in fact, this would sound like the absolute nonsense it actually is?

so people just don't even bother giving him any grace, which then just goes back to either ignoring him for shipping reasons (like if he is "in the way" of Qrow with someone else) or propping him up also for shipping reasons, thus cutting him off from the rest of the cast

in v9 he was there as a "ghost" that haunted Ruby. in AF he was a firm and kind guide for the main team as a whole. he's a good man that let himself be a cog in the machine that was Atlas and turned his back to his own feelings, for loyalty, not being able to escape the chains that tethered him until it was too late. main problem is seeing his death as the ultimate end of his arc. because that's really, really, really not the case

a character like him has a lot that he can do, a lot that he can learn, a lot that he can teach. connections he can establish again, and new people he can confront and interact with to make the world a better place. because to think that the betterment of Remnant rests only on the shoulders of four (eight, if you count the second team) teens is madness & unattainable. the old guard has to change too. and he's a very good example of how a small drop can cause ripples, that grow into bigger waves, and so on

[hauntingblue]

Justice for jolyne wdym emporio defeated pucci