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This is the reason I originally made this post, but I thought I should also explain the origins of his card fascination first.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 :(
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Hi. in addition to HoM, you also drew au by baby Randy & First. can you tell me about her? ( ͒•·̫|
YES absolutely I can. I kind of made up this AU on a whim, but i actually love it sm, i wanna draw more for it so thankyou for this ask!
So, basically, Torn Pages AU is set up inside the Ninjanomicon, where First's soul resides. Something happened on the outside - in the real world - which caused the Ninjanomicon to get damaged so badly it affected everything. First 'awakens' inside to find himself in now chaotic and hostile dimension of what once was his peaceful afterlife, with Plop plop missing, some strange new power in his left eye AND a matching green eye set on a much much younger face of the current Ninja, who doesnt seem to remember First or most of his life.
Confused, disoriented and now with a tiny charge depending on him, First sets out to find out what happened and if it could be fixed from the inside, trapped as they are in the nomicon. On the journey to the heart of the Ninjanomicon, he will encounter ghosts of his past, all the while inevitably bonding with Little Randy through some cute shennanigans and unexpected battles to protect them both.
so ye, basically i want to explore/worldbuild some background for First Ninja and also make him bond with baby!Randy so he would get Dad tm feels ;D
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Also I love how half of the Bad Kids are All-Powerful, Semi-Immortal teenage girls and the other half are Just Some Guy™. Truly the dynamic of all time.
But I also love how these ridiculously ultra powerful girls (AKA the Immortal All-Seeing Elven Oracle, Saint Applebees Creator and Destroyer of Deities and the Spirit of Rebellion, Arch-Devil of Hell, Wizard's Paramore, Fig Faeth) do not give a single flying fuck about their magical responsibilities and duties.
You want the Elven Oracle to actually live with the Elves and foretell the future? Bitch, she doesn't have time for that, she has straight A's, anxiety and she's going to be late for her part-time job if you don't leave her alone with this oracle stuff.
You want Saint Applebees, Creator and Cleric of Cassandra to... pray? Grow her religion? Talk to her God? Mmmmmm.... No. Sorry, but she's a teenaged lesbian with ADHD and trauma. She doesn't have time for, I don't know, that, she's got her own thing going on. Like her breakup, and working out, oh, and did you hear about her campaign for class president??
And you know that the Spirit of Rebellion won't be found living in or, really, doing anything remotely close to ruling over, her domain. She's not even going to pretend to be interested in her duties as Arch-Devil, just like she wouldn't be caught dead actually showing up to class. The only duties Fig actually takes seriously is that of a ✨Wizard's Paramore✨
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Tommy year wrap
All the Tommy designs for the AUs I have. Or the more interesting ones at least lol. Little spoilers sprinkled in.
From left to right:
Hospital gown is from Where, then, do your loyalties lie?
Hoodie is from Fault
Gremlin is from Where do babies come from?
Furry is from Golden Apple (Gilded Atrophy)
Pink hair is from Mandatory Family Reunion
Black cloak is from Lord, what fools these mortals be!
Minecraft cow is from The Lambs Wolves Wear. Oh and I guess the massive demon is too smh.
And a silly interaction page. There’s acronyms for the story names next to each one.
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absolutely love this weird luck or instinct that zoro has, that even if he gets completely lost, or is going in the wrong direction, he ends up where he needs to be (*cough*and usually close to luffy)
in the sabaody archipelago arc, this was really my favorite subplot, of just zoro being lost (enjoying his walk in a completely new place where he can't attack anyone who hurts him or others, and can't draw too much attention to him) but ending up at the place they all were moving towards:
they docked the ship at grove 41 and decide to meet there after finding what they needed to find.
zoro decides to go for a walk
and all he has to remember is the grove's number. easy enough, right? well...
because something in their universe really wants him to end up at a different place, so he sees only #1 instead #41.
later when camie gets kidnapped and then after some time the rest of the strawhats, who are scattered around the island, know the information that she would be at grove #1, zoro still doesn't know that - he just knows he needs to get to grove #1 bc he thinks that's where their ship is.
they're all just separately hurrying to the location, while zoro's asking for directions and then searching for the wrong (right) grove.
and ofc the person that he meets first from their crew is luffy, flying on the fish, about to wreck into the building
(i saw the anime version too, but i really like the fast pace of this part in the manga)
it's just so funny that luffy and zoro met before this building, the grove #1, and luffy yelled at zoro to hold on and they both crashed inside.
zoro still not knowing why he isn't at the place where the sunny should be, but at a completely different location - but still a location that he needed to be at, at the right time right place with this whole crew (and just before things get much worse).
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