#boy I know your marketing strategy

[nicoscheer]

The reel

[lorelune]

regency au jing yuan how you are haunting me.

(continued here!)

a retired general who at the ripe age of thirty five has never taken a wife. never showed any interest in procuring a spouse nor does he entertain any attempts by the mamas of the ton to throw their eligible children at him. he is a polite scoundrel, kind-hearted in a way that makes those with half a mind question how someone with his demeanor could ever be the famed general who's strategies downed Shuhu during the Abundance Upheaval. he doesn't seem to care for his legacy, as much as he has cultivated one. he doesn't mind gossip, but doesn't entertain it much either.

you only meet him due to fortunate circumstances.

lord Luocha, a successful travelling merchant, pledged patronage to you sometime ago. he keeps you in a little cottage on the grounds of his manor where you're allowed to mostly do as you please as long as there's a new painting hung on the lord's wall every few months or so. the lord likes when you play too. he brings back new instruments for you to try, though he never expects mastery. he has an air of mystery to him that, despite all of the time you spend near him, keeps you from understanding him fully. you aren't one to pry about it either.

lord luocha invites jing yuan over to partake in fancy spirits from a country and city you can't ever hope to visit, let alone find on a map. you bring lord luocha your newest work-- (a meticulously completed oil painting. something more abstract, suited to the odd lonely and isolation you feel in your little, cozy cottage, despite all of the comforts you are afforded)-- and happen upon the pair.

lord luocha examines your newest work with pride, and shortly after introduces you. 'his patron' he calls you, but offers jing yuan no title. you--

(do not have one. it was stripped from you a long time ago. you think being an artist suits you better, anyways.)

jing yuan offers you his name, though you already know it. you recognize him based on the prattling of the girls and boys at the market. they swoon over his stature, fawn over his good deeds, and make note of his identifiable red hair ribbon. he has the same soft, sun-colored eyes that you had heard the eligible young of the ton giggle about.

you bow to him politely.

you have no reason to linger, but luocha calls you to anyways. perhaps he is lonely. perhaps you want him to be lonely, so it gives you a reason to stick closer to his side in the rare moments he is home for more than a day or two. the proximity is shared with jing yuan, who regards you with keen eyes and a lazy smile. the attention upon you feels weighted, important, like you're something special.

you savor it, however fleeting.

perhaps, however, you misunderstood jing yuan. or lord luocha's intentions.

because as jing yuan rises to take his leave and you bow once more, he catches your hand, brings it to his lips, and presses a kiss into the soft skin. you're sure you smell of linseed and yarrow oil. he lingers there for a moment before meeting your gaze. there's a light of mischief in them that sends your heart fluttering. your breath catches.

when jing yuan is out of the manor, lord luocha pats your shoulder gently, "quite the man, isn't he?"

"i suppose... he is."

"you may speak freely."

"i am," you mince, and shake your head. you must be careful, entertaining such fanciful thoughts. "he is... kind."

"and handsome."

"lord luocha," you barely keep yourself from whining. "please, do not tease me. or the poor man. from what i hear, he has enough to deal with."

"the mamas do chase after him like foxes to a hen," lord luocha chuckles and studies your painting once more with a curious tilt of his head. "he'll ask to see you again, i'm certain."

"and why do you say that?"

"general jing yuan has never taken the hand of a potential suitor."

your heart feels heavy and warm in your chest, burning. "my lord, you cannot possibly think that this single action indicates that the general will... call upon me? that is highly unorthodox and i don't believe that's... quite allowed."

"jing yuan has never cared for the dances of decorum." lord luocha guides you into your gardens. the peonies are in bloom, full and lush in the humidity of late spring. "and, for the record, i don't believe he'll simply call upon you. court, properly, certainly."

"you're bluffing."

"what reason do i have to lie?"

"to tease me, as you so enjoy doing," you huff.

lord luocha simply hums and pauses near a bush of lilacs. they're fragrant, at the peak of their season. the scent rolls over you.

"if i truly intended to tease you, i simply would abstain from telling you of jing yuan's interest and allow you to be terribly surprised when he arrives and formally asks for you and your time. consider this a warning. i'll walk you to the modiste tomorrow, hm?"

you want to squawk at him. your linen dresses and tunics are fine (albeit smeared and stained with paints and oils over the years. you rarely bother replacing them.)

you want to protest and pry more, but lord luocha strikes you silent when he breaks off a cluster of lilac and tucks it behind your ear. he leaves you with your thoughts, however tortuous. and, perhaps horribly, you find yourself believing him. perhaps the warm-eyed general really was charmed. perhaps, your dresses needed replacing and you should contact your perfumer friend for a fresh vial or two.

perhaps perhaps perhaps, you can still feel where his lips lingered on your skin, like a brand. you never thought you could ache for burning, but in the gardens, you find yourself clutching your hand to your chest, craving the lick of the his sun's heat once more.

[celeste444spacey]

Things we can learn from the Upper East Side- A guide to how our fave tv elites deal with fame, success and attention.

So you're famous now, can you handle it?

What better than to learn the art of fame from none other than our favorite teenage dirtbags involved in scandals, betrayals, well drawn out revenges with constant reputation destroying and restoring... our holy grail : Gossip Girl.

If there's one thing we can learn from these horrible rich kids making way more horrible decisions, it's handling attention and fame.

You might argue and say they were a bunch of teens who were downright horrible to each other, but i'd argue they did handle speculation and rumors way better than we would (questionably at times however).

So here's a few things i observed on the show compiled into a guide, just so you can handle fame well too!

1

They did not let the gossip girl blasts get to them.

This is quite frankly the first observation i'd make. They did not give a damn about the blasts gossip girl made (there were instances that would upset them but it wouldn't take over their life), however they did use it to their advantage.

2

Media is your downfall but it is also your biggest weapon.

As much as they didn't pay much heed to Gossip Girl, they'd leverage it to get their narrative across- wrong or not.

This happens in media as well, magazines and entertainment news sites are not only rumour spreaders, they can be effectively used to control your narrative. So you must be strategic about it. This is pretty much what PR teams do. And this is why celebrities spend millions of dollars on these people. They are strategists.

3

People pleasing is impossible. Stop caring what others think- or say

It's lonely at the top, so it should be obvious that not everyone will understand your position or like that you hold it. But it is how it is, so start living for yourself and YOUR purpose rather than caring what other people think of thing you do.

4

Create a brand. You are unique. Trademark your energy.

Serena Van Der Woodsen: it girl, martinis, gold, paparazzi, free spiritedness, VS energy, glitters and sparkles, nyc at night, dream girl

Blair Waldorf: sleepovers, headbands, satin, cartier, henry bendel, bergdorf, louboutins, schemer, macaroons, audrey hepburn

Nate Archibald: guy next door, blue, old money, prince charming, basketball, kindness, dream guy

Chuck Bass: business, scotch, womanizer, fur coats, i'm chuck bass, scandal, strategist, bad boy, private jets, limos, womanizer

Dan Humphrey: writer, the "good" guy, outcast turned insider, nyu, playwright, chinese take out

I don't gotta explain, you know exactly what i mean.

5

Strategy strategy strategy

Everything is strategy, business, academia, entertainment, sports. EVERYTHING. It's not a day on the upper east side without strategy, so even fame needs strategy on the behind. Marketing and creative needs to be well thought out, the way to rack up sales does, even preparing for your mid terms or scoring a goal or even winning an f1 race. Strategy. Is. Everything.

And that concludes my post. Lemme know what you think!

Masterlist here

Celebrity energy series here

[coolprettyleo]

talk of the town - will smith

tw: lowkey cringe. if ur not into it lmk lowk...

wc: 1.4k

will smith x influencer/ d'amelio sister

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dylan couldn't believe the shit day she was having. she had woken up late and missed her pilates class, then she spilt coffee all over her laptop, and right now she was fifteen minutes late to her music class. it was her first ever day of college too.

even though she was having a horrible day, she was still dressed cute. she decided she wanted to start taking her school more seriously. and that meant actually going to class.

the thing about dylan though is that she didn't need school. she had over one hundred million followers on all platforms. she was what someone would call an influencer.

influencers usually didn't continue with school if they didn't need to so when dylan decided to still attend college it was a shock to a lot of people; including her family.

her family were all also influencers and didn't decide to attend college; rather deciding to work on their brand instead. a brand that dylan opted out of, she had decided to enter marketing at boston college.

she entered her music class to find that there was no less than twenty five students inside. thats what happens when you attend a private college! dylans strategy her whole life was to always sit in the back of classes. (it was easier to skip class and just lie to the professor and say you were there)

there was one seat left where three other boys sat. she set her stuff down. the boys giving her an odd look, not thinking anyone was going to take that last seat between them or probably trying to figure out why the hell she looked so familiar. dylan got that look often.

the professor though was deep in lecture about their upcoming assignment and dylan was too busy trying to find a top for her upcoming brand dinner in New York. she was pulled out of her own little world when the professor noticed she was not listening and had missed the introduction part of class and decided to call her out on it.

she felt a tap from the boy next to her getting her attention because it seemed the professor had been calling her.

"oh my gosh im so sorry what" she said removing an AirPod and sheepishly looking at the class who all seemed to be either smiling at her or giving her dirty looks.

"since you decided to grace us with your presence introduce yourself please" she said pointing to a slide that stated what exactly to say.

"uhm... im dylan. im from connecticut but I've been living in LA for the past four years, and im a marketing major" she said awkwardly feeling like everyone was judging her.

"alright thank you miss dylan. I want to see the title slide of the assignment done before I dismiss you guys" she said.

the three boys she sat with seemed to be life long friends and she was feeling a bit left out. she had zoned them out till she heard them whispering to each other.

"ask her"

"no thats weird"

"ill ask"

"your tiktok famous huh"

she looked up to a freckled boy her while the dark haired boy giggled and the blonde haired boy cringed.

"uhm, yeah... I guess" she said awkwardly. she really didn't know what to say.

"nice" he said going back to working on his assignment.

she smiled awkwardly and looked at the other two boys. who looked like they were cringing about their friends actions. the dark haired boy seemed to let it go and work on his assignment while the blonde one spoke up.

"im sorry about him, ryan doesn't know how to talk to girls"

"yes I do! if I didn't how would I of pulled frankie" ryan says.

"she basically pulled you" gabe quipped back.

dylan just giggled along to their battering. they seemed funny.

"he's fine. a lot of people don't realize its me in real life but instead just stare at me trying to figure out why I look so familiar, and thats creepier to me"

"well we knew it was you because everyones been saying you go here" ryan told her.

oh god it was a hot topic?

"people talk about it?" she said grossed out.

"yeah, but like no one ever sees you for some reason"

"I did online classes and lived in LA last semester" she told them. it was true, her family was filming their Hulu show and it didnt make sense for her to leave mid-way through filming.

"do you live on campus?" the blonde one asked her again. he seemed like the quiet and calmer one of the three boys.

hes hot

"no, I live in beacon hill, the city"

"why didnt you dorm" gabe nosily asked.

"I didn't think it would be too fun to share an apartment with random girls at first but now I regret it, because I have no friends here" she honestly told them.

"oh my god! my girlfriend has no friends!" ryan said loudly. which made will, gabe, and the people around them to laugh.

"im telling her you said that" will smiled mischievously at him.

"shutup smitty. we have a game tonight and she usually sits alone or with my parents but they're not coming tonight so she'd probably like the company!" ryan said. he was honestly just trying to do a nice thing. he knew frankie struggled with the fact she had no girl friends; even though she said it was fine, and dylan seemed nice.

"game?" Dylan said confused.

"oh ya! we play hockey" the freckled boy answered.

"oh thats cool!" dylan said. she had attended a couple games recently due to the fact her sister was dating an NHL player.

"im will, thats gabe, and ryan" the blonde one said pointing the dark haired boy and the freckled one.

"im dylan. and what's your girlfriends number, id be down to go" she said to the freckled one.

"here" he said writing it down and handing her a crumpled paper.

"her names frankie by the way"

"okay, ill text her after class" she said smiling getting back to work.

"what's your major?" will asked her. he didn't want the conversation to end for some reason. she was lowkey his celebrity crush since he was like fourteen and they first started getting famous.

"marketing. you?"

"communications"

"your quite the communicator then" she said.

oh my gosh dylan you sound pathetic what the hell even is a communicator?

what didnt help was that will looked clueless and Ryan and gabe seemed to be biting back a smile acting like they weren't listening.

"im sorry?"

"like, you like communications- like the major" dylan said, trying to save herself but digging an even deeper and awkwarder hole, turning as red as a tomato.

"uhm ya, I didn't really know what major to pick coming in" he said smiling at her. a smile that dylan liked to see.

"well what do you want to be?"

"a hockey player."

"oh... too bad hockey isn't a major huh" she said chuckling at her own joke while ryan and gabe gave her funny looks except will of course, who was laughing at the joke like it was the funniest thing ever said. (thats what your supposed to do when your crush tells a joke)

"and what do you want to be"

"honestly, I dont know. I just want to have the degree so I can have more of a say in the brands I deal with, and all that"

"so you want the knowledge" gabe said, since he's been listening.

"yeah, basically" she said. making eye contact with will who looked to be studying her a bit.

he knew she wanted to say more but seemed to be putting up a wall which was understandable seeing as she just met these boys twenty mins ago.

"well im all done." she said closing up her laptop and standing up.

"maybe ill see you guys later!" she said waving to them.

"look for 6" will said to her.

"six what?" she said confused.

"what?" he said equally confused now

"six of what" she said cluelessly.

"like the number six" he said smiling awkwardly.

"oh!! omg I knew that! okay!" she said grabbing her bag and waving bye to them.

gabe and ryan gave each other a knowing look before immediately chirping will.

"you are such a flirt"

"that was painful"

"and he said I dont know how to talk to girls"

"shutup guys" he said packing his stuff away before leaving. hoping to see her in the stands tonight. her personality was even cuter.

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im so sorry for not uploading! I just keep overthinking everything so I end up just deleting it! but thats just a me problem lol. but I hope u guys like this au. I plan to the it all together.

[colebabey888]

www.M3/gumroad.com

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[andrea-lyn]

I know so many people have shared their own sentiment about the watcher situation and I'm basically jumping into an overfilled pool, but I literally can't stop thinking about this one from the business side of things, so pls have some ramblings. behind a cut bc boy did this get long

All of this is just armchair observations as someone who's been in marketing, optimization, and had my fair share of budget-strapped projects over the years, and who is currently working on strategies to drive growth via marketing:

If it's purely about money - before any of this, they should have exhausted their existing options. Maybe hire a dedicated marketing person to develop a growth and content strategy around Patreon to drive value. Beyond that, use that marketing person to drive awareness campaigns to get people to Patreon with a goal to 5x your Patron count, because there was definitely untapped potential there

If it's about content - every artist has their right to make what they want, but when you start asking people to pay for it, now you have to do your research. Do a survey with a substantive response rate to understand if people even want the shows that you want to produce. Again, you have a right as an artist to produce what you want, but asking your fanbase to pay for things that they don't want is a lot. This is when you need sponsorship help (or seed money and tbh, I'm not ruling out that they don't have some of that behind the scenes). I saw a comment that summed it up really well that when Buzzfeed was paying for Worth It, there was a small thrill of seeing them spend a company's money, but now it's the subscribers money. At that point, if you actually want to be marketable and successful, you need a pulse on what people are willing to pay for vs want for free. If you're spending all your money on high production values for shows that maybe 10% of your audience want, it's wasted resources

I won't speak to the staffing levels because there's likely a lot of nuance there, but I will say that there are probably workflow and resource improvements that could've been done to at least make the staff levels more efficient. This comes down to someone in a process role, which might have been done! Obviously I don't have a peek under the hood and I know they've discussed restructuring before, but this is a matter of scale and goes back to the second point -- there's a lot of 'if we build it, they will come' mentality here, but again, if you're not building what they want ... no, they won't, especially when Dropout and Netflix and Disney+ and other subscribers are building right beside you.

If they were dead-set on this, then should have hired a marketing/PR person to plan this launch for them. Dropout, anecdotally, is an example I go back to. I still remember seeing the stings at the end of videos about it and I remember going 'hey, I'm not going to pay for that' for years. But they were deliberate in their strategy of posting content, they didn't immediately shove behind the paywall, and they built up a catalogue with content that it did then make sense to pay (and a reasonable rate for the value!). The abrupt launch without a content plan to communicate value was an odd choice. I also think that survey I mentioned before should have delved into willingness to pay so they could actually understand where the ceiling kicks in and where no matter how much people want to pay that might not match up with what they're willing to. You'd get your average price there and then you could realistically do a workback schedule to understand the content you can produce, which could have then be used to create a content pipeline

Honestly, I think it all comes down to them wanting to pursue their dreams and more power to them. I love that they have a mission statement to make television quality videos -- but here's the thing, you have an existing audience and given the reaction, it's becoming clear that your mission statement and your audience's core wants of your product don't align, which means that something has to get sacrificed ...and unfortunately, in this case, I think it's the goodwill of a large portion of the audience that gets the knife because I really don't think this one's getting walked back

Like I said earlier, I do have some suspicions that maybe there's seed money or financial backing in this from investors (they solicited this in the past), but they've lacked a clear strategy around growth and marketing to buffer their finances in the past and it doesn't fill me with a lot of optimism that things will change because they're behind a paywall. For those who intend to subscribe, I think it's great and I think that it proves that yes, there is going to be an audience for them -- it's just always a question of numbers and whether that audience is their target to break even. I had suspicions their big announcement was this and I was honestly planning to subscribe too until I saw the price point and the lack of future scheduling news. Unfortunately, given the amount of subscriptions I already have, it didn't make sense, but if it were cheaper and there was a more robust content plan, I probably would be there too.

[flawlessassholes]

i need to hear some of your social media strategy thoughts about the drivers!!!

THANK YEW so this was a discussion with @xoxogossipzoe that essentially breaks down to the fact that without a doubt, hands down, lando has the best social media and pr strategy on the grid.

he clearly has the right people in place to reach the absolute right markets and instead of deriding a base of teenage girls he leans into it, wears friendship bracelets and talks about horoscopes and makes cute merchandise. but he also, somehow, manages to keep a solid base of male fans, which zoë rightly pointed out. he manages to engage with memes and trends that appeal to a range of ages and genders, engages with memes and trends popular in all of them, successfully crosses between them. and his strategy doesn’t feel obvious like it is with other drivers, it just feels natural. example: this reel which plays on the current “x on film” trend. i guarantee you lando took maybe one or two of those pictures at most, the rest were taken by a team and the reel was created by him. but because he has the existing lando.jpg account, it feels natural and not like he’s trend chasing for maximum engagement.

this got long so more under the cut

his sponcon even feels natural - he advertises a lot of video games which makes sense! quadrant! twitch streamer! his appearances are smart — it was a VERY smart choice to go on chicken shop date, and he likely gained far more new fans and engagement than he would have from, say, hot ones — he’s not lewis hamilton with 34 million followers, he’s got 8.8 but he’s online and hip and cool up and comer, like chicken shop date. he wants to feel like the most approachable driver, and he does when he blushes his way through a video that took months of negotiations and contracts behind the scenes.

all of his social media feels natural and boy-next-door in a way that it just doesn’t. the only driver who comes remotely close to achieving this is alex, and even he needs work fine tuning his overall strategy, and he certainly doesn’t have the reach or audience grasp that lando has.

which is fascinating because lando is, ostensibly, one of the drivers with the most established slash unique side hustle in quadrant. clearly lando is a business, but it’s so damn effortless that it doesn’t feel like it.

take the Hungary helmet. that is a masterclass in branding, partner activation, publicity, etc. it’s simple, effective, and the kind of seamless, elegant, intelligent, wholesome pr move that many brands would pay tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars for. it plays on every aspect of the lando norris brand.

his entire strategy and the team behind it are geniuses, which is especially frustrating because he’s so goddamn annoying.

tl;dr:

heartbreaking! the worst person you know has excellent marketing strategy

[lovemkx]

boy i know your marketing strategy

[goldenpinof]

he loves attention, engagement and money. and he loves us (sometimes). <— Haha don’t blame him on the sometimes.

Speaking of, A lot of people take dans ‘hey mutuals slide into the dms’ and stuff of that nature to mean he and Phil either aren’t a thing or aren’t monogamous. And who knows. But Do you think Dan saying stuff like that is just because he does like the attention (which he has said) and wants to be relatable and entertaining? Remember in his book he said he reached out to people online to improve his social life, but when they found out he only wanted to discuss mutual interests and not…other stuff they wanted out? For someone that publicly apparently wants all the hot boys to hit him up in the dms, you’d think he’d be game for more than talking to them about interests but apparently not. So yeah do people think it’s all part of his persona and online branding?

you just literally answered all your questions. and also, with an incredible point about what he said in his book! i don't think anyone ever made it before to me (and i haven't read the book myself to do it).

yes, it is a part of his branding. even more, a part of only his solo "i'm a strong independent Dan" branding. bro is committed to Phil to the last bit. i cannot understand what part of people's brains don't get it. idk, man. grow up, drink some water, go outside and touch some grass (or snow, right now), go to therapy. stop projecting your insecurities on Dan and Phil. forever home, mortgage and the kind of life they have built together are stronger than a piece of paper you sign when you get married. idk what has to happen for people to just stop and let dnp show us what they are comfortable showing. and let Dan fuck around with marketing strategies that harm his career 🖤

[lol-jackles]

Real question that I’d love your expert answer on.

The Winchesters was terribly marketed and from my understanding, that is the role of the producers/showrunner to create the elevator speech and marketing materials for the series, correct?

The way TW was sold to the audience seemed unexciting, unclear and didn’t match up with how the show ended. It’s like they weren’t really sure who the audience was supposed to be so the messages were so general that I don’t think it targeted or resonated with anyone. (My marketing prof always said when you try to target everyone, you appeal to no one.).

Just like the majority of the fandom, the concept was poorly conceived and even more poorly executed.

Regardless—- Now that we know how the prequel turned sequel played out, (1) who would you have targeted the message to, and (2) how would you have described the series to make it make sense to that audience.

I’d love to hear how you would have sold it to get people watch it.

While you are correct that producers/showrunner create elevator pitches, the marketing materials are created by an agency outside the studio. The agency hires Promotion Producers to develop campaign strategies and create promotional materials such as trailers and commercials according to set of specifications. Where those specifications come from can be good questions. Ideally, they are from showrunners, but often are from Senior Producer or from the studios' own marketing team.

So in The Winchesters, the Promotion Producers are given scenes from the show's producers with ideas of the show's message. But the Promotion Producers have to work closely with the studios marketing team and often campaign ideas don't sync up. Think back to Supernatural trailers, half the time they are completely misdirects on the instructions by studio's marketing team because they believe it's more interesting that way.

Promotion Producers know there are 4 major demographics called "the quadrant" and realistically they can only target one, maybe two if they're lucky.

Since Supernatural has "males over 25", WB may have been trying to get the "females under 25" with The Winchesters by going the Buffy-lite vibe while also trying to attract "females over 25" with Jensen Ackles's Dean-the-narrator.

"I’d love to hear how you would have sold it to get people watch it."

Well, for starters, even though it's a John and Mary Winchester story don't call it a John and Mary Winchester story because SPN fans already knows that story. Instead do what they did 18 years ago when they promoted Supernatural as X-Files meet Hardy boys. Focus on the spooky atmosphere and the characters searching for monsters in the sewer. This gets audiences asking why these young people are hunting for things that go bump in the night because why would anybody in their right mind do that? That is the hook. Have John mention that hunting monsters and demons is dangerous and ask why would Mary do it. Hint at her motives. Is it for revenge? Does she belong to a secret society? When she mentioned her father in passing, is she from a line of hunters? Show action shots of the 4 young people fighting monsters and make it look like they're losing. Then have an ending shot of one of them looking bloody, triumphant, and mad.

And don't call it a romance story, Supernatural was never about romance. X Files was never about romance either and fans went nuts over the chemistry between Scully and Mulder. If young John and Mary have chemistry, great, let the fans ship them first and then go for the romance.

[littlewestern]

I just thought of something. For your silver and black stories, how did Pilot, Pioneer, and 2903 react when Burlington Northern Santa Fe was created? I mean, their home railroads are now one and the same! (Makes one wonder how preserved trains would feel about their railroads merging out of existence. I imagine 999 has certain feelings about Penn Central and Conrail)

Oh this is a really interesting question!

I think by 1994 all the engines mentioned had come to terms with the fact that rail industry had simply changed so much in the past 60 years that it wasn't worth getting too sentimental over. Since they all were retired by the '70s, I think the more affecting change would have been the CB&Q becoming Burlington Northern.

It's important to note up-top that engines are familiar with change and know well that their entire industry is founded on shifting sand. CB&Q engines and Zephyrs in particular would know this well, and would be more sensitive to the ways in which the Q would adjust their marketing and scheduling strategies based on cost and changing customer expectations. Basically, all engines know going in that things are subject to change, sometimes at a moment's notice, and for the most part they aren't too sentimental about it. It's just the way of things, y'know?

That being said, I do think that the absorption of the Q into Burlington Northern would have been a somewhat sobering moment for Pioneer in particular, which may or may not be surprising depending on how well you know him. It's not like it ruined his day to hear the news or anything, but you have to remember that the Pioneer Zephyr defined the entire look of last third of the CB&Q's lifespan. The Zephyrs got people excited to take the train and set the tone for how every other railway in the country would market their passenger rail service for the next 30-some-odd years. Pioneer wasn't just important to the Q, he was important to the culture. But by the time 1970 rolls around, he's been out of service for a decade, and rail travel looks significantly different to what it once did. Losing the Q to consolidation is a sign of the times and a tacit remark on the then current state of rail travel.

It would have been, at the very least, the end of an era, and that in and of itself deserves a moment of recognition. It's not sad exactly, because change is inevitable, and it's not worrying exactly either, because Pioneer himself was built and born of time of uncertainty - only to eventually become a symbol that the future of travel was brighter than ever! But it is the way of things, and I think it would have at least given Pioneer some pause.

Pilot on the other hand, would have seen this one coming. After all, his retirement marked the end of the Zephyrs outside of the California Zephyr. He would have been familiar with the decline in passenger service quality from the time he was built in 1940 to the day the Zephyr service ended in 1968. Where Pioneer was only watching this change happen gradually from the outside, Pilot would have lived it.

I'm not sure how much loyalty 2903 would have felt to the culture of the AT&SF, given that he was built so late, was part of such a small class, and honestly didn't even work for that long. I do think, like most engines, he would have felt a sense of pride in his heritage and there might have even been some light ribbing in the MSI yard about how at least the Santa Fe was still going strong even as the Q had to forfeit its identity, but I don't know that the creation of BNSF would have inspired anything in him besides some slight annoyance when the teasing was turned back around on him. "Guess you're a Burlington engine now, chief!" Cue eyeroll. 2903 has never really appreciated the Burlington approach.

As for 999, oh boy lol! Don't even get her started. Her feelings on the NYC and Penn could be a whole essay unto themselves. Suffice to say that they are mixed. The best favor NYC ever did her was retire her before they became the Penn so she wouldn't have to share the name of the railway that scrapped nearly every single one of their steam engines.

[fur-claws-and-eyeballs]

The Lost Boys and DnD

First of all, Sam and the Frog brothers are huge freaking nerds. You KNOW they get into DnD at some point. Maybe there's a local group of DnD-ers that use the backroom of the comic store to host their games that gets them into it. Maybe Sam discovers the Players/Monsters/DMs handbooks being sold in the store one day and gets curious.

Maybe the Frog brothers market it as a way for vampire hunters to mentally prepare themselves for the strategies and horror of war. (The Curse of Strahd campaign wasn't released until like 2016, but we can pretend it was released 20 years earlier, lmao...Or it's just a Homebrew campaign, maybe even set in Santa Carla...)

I honestly feel like Edgar would be a really good DM because he would get so into storytelling and character voices. (He also gets frustrated as hell when Sam does something stupid/clever and completely bypasses a big battle or event that he had planned)

They tried having Sam DM, but his campaigns included more puzzles and diplomacy than battle, and having the Frogs just brute force their way through every session was disheartening.

"We clearly need at least one person with a functioning brain in the party," says Sam, retiring from DMing permanently.

But they're only three people so Sam begs Michael to join them. And listen, Michael is VERY aware of how people might perceive him, and he is not about to join his little brother and his dweeb friends in nerdom.

But Lucy, because she's wonderful, lets the boys run their campaign in the kitchen on Saturdays, and Michael, despite his best efforts, finds himself lingering in the doorway. He keeps stopping to look at the board, being drawn into Edgar's storytelling, and Sam's overly complicated plans (plans that fail and inevitably end up with him rolling for bluff, AGAIN), and Alan's insistence that they ignore diplomacy in favor of just killing everyone. (Don't get it twisted though, Alan is a master of the dice, he knows exactly how to stack his advantages and buffs for the maximum amount of damage/success.)

Michael probably can't help but chime in on occasion, "Did it occur to you idiots that the mysterious key that you found in your tavern room has a purpose and that it might go to the padlock that lets you into the Mayor's house?"

"Well, let's see you do better, Mikey!"

So Michael inevitably joins and now it's the four of them. Slaying Vampires and solving mysteries. But then...

"Hey, Michael, me and the Boys are going to a party at the abandoned cannery on Saturday, you in?" asks David one day.

"I, uh, already have plans with my family on Saturday, man, sorry," answers Michael, desperately trying to keep images of miniatures and dice out of his head.

Except, this is the fifth Saturday in a row that Mikey has begged off of hanging out with the gang, and now they're getting a little suspicious...

...

Anyway, time skip and give me Bard Paul trying to fuck the dragon.

Sam: "It would literally kill you."

Paul: "But what a way to go!"

[my-mt-heart]

Wait, what do you mean with "half of the EPs are misogynistic, ageist assholes"? Have you watched the first eps of TBOC? Also, what makes you think they are doing this marketing mess because of richonne fans? Have they campaigned for Caryl to split or smth? I try to stay away from social media except Tumblr so I dunno what's up, but I'm seein ppl worrying and even considering not watching so I'm getting concerned... One thing about richonne stans... i think some of them (quite a lot actually) deep down wanted michonne to get together with daryl. That is the vibe they constantly give me because why are they always talking about daryl, attending norman's events (i was there), stanning him like a very dedicated fan? never seen them being THAT passionate about andy/rick. I mean they got rick and i believe they love it but daryl is just like that cool bad boy you had a crush on and never got together with, y'know... otherwise why cconstantly being all over our business?

The marketing strategy for TOWL was rooted in competition, positioning the characters as the best while passive aggressively tearing down other characters/ships/actors, and that seems to be spilling into TBOC's strategy as well in order to keep TOWL's fanbase on the hook (the comments on a couple of posts made by official accounts about Caryl's "friendship" were full of Richonne fans mocking Caryl/Caryl fans). It's a short-sighted strategy to bring in more viewers and it'll backfire. They should be focusing on getting all Caryl fans onboard, the ones who are wary because of what happened a couple years ago and the ones who left many years back, and growing that viewership along with drawing viewers who might have an interest in other elements of the show that doesn't directly conflict with the interests of viewers they can rely on the most to invest long-term.

Side note, because I see this coming up a lot too: Yes, Daryl and Carol are friends. It never bothered me when Caryl called the other their best friend in the context of the story because 1) as many have pointed out and as I wholeheartedly believe, the best romantic relationships are rooted in deep friendship 2) it has never been written to exclude the possibility of fans seeing their friendship transition into a full-blown romance 3) I trusted I would see the payoff in the near future. However. When you beat the audience over the head with it in the promotion, when you know your core audience has built up expectations after a prolonged wait, when your showrunner isn't trustworthy, and when you're encouraging other fans to invalidate Caryl fans' experience, I do have a problem with the word "friends." No, they can't spoil what might happen for Daryl and Carol in the show, but that doesn't mean they have to define the relationship at all when they're promoting it. For Example: "Relive the moment this incredible bond took root" (if they want the flower imagery without the alliteration lol) is vague enough to encompass all perspectives until it's explicitly defined in the show, and it should be defined as romantic since, again, that's what the core audience wants.

I don't spend time in the Richonne fandom, so I don't know what the draw is to Daryl's character. People can have a variety of interests for a variety of reasons, but at least from what I can gather, some of it isn't genuine and some of it is about what Daryl's position as a character and Norman's position as an actor can do for them as well as what they don't want it to do for Carol and her fans. That's as far as I want to delve into it right now seeing as though any mention of Richonne from a Caryler is viewed as an attack, which this is not, and I don't have the emotional capacity for unnecessary fighting.

[sniperjade]

Fair Play for a Price

teammates after a win. It filled him with thoughts and impressions that distracted him as he made his way down to the game.

It had been decided, that since the students were wearing the Hogwarts uniform, that the teachers would wear skins. Male teachers with no shirts and female teachers in singlets. This was also a part of Regulus’s marketing strategy, and a way to even up the difficulty a little. All of the teachers would be avoiding those bludgers the best they could because no one wanted to take one to the chest without padding.

The marketing strategy was simple. Regulus had it on quite good authority that he looked exceptional without a shirt on. Countless numbers of widows on the continent had been lured by that exact reason. He had convinced several teachers to participate in a muggle attraction, suggested by Lily, called a “Dunk Tank.” The results would hopefully keep as many people interested as possible.

When he got to the changing rooms, he left Sirius’s Gryffindor jersey inside and walked out at the same time as Harry Potter. Harry’s eyes grew very wide, and a slight blush coloured his cheeks. Regulus smirked. His cousin definitely had a chance with this one.

Harry stammered, “S… Sir. Good luck on the field today.”

Regulus slapped a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “You too, fellow seeker. I won’t go easy on you, you know.”

Harry looked at him with an appalled expression. “Of course not! That wouldn’t be fair.”

Regulus merely chuckled and continued to walk out to the field. He almost stopped dead however when he saw who was waiting ten metres down the path toward the pitch, the place where fans and crushes waited to wish their players good luck. Draco Malfoy stood dressed in fine blue robes looking awkwardly down at his feet. His cheeks were slightly pink, and his hair was being tussled about by the breeze.

Regulus stopped to do up his shoe and let Harry pass him. He peered up from under his lashes as he tried to watch the two boys without them noticing. Draco’s arm was still in the sling, and he shifted uncertainly from foot to foot.

“Potter.” Draco’s voice was unsteady, a tremor undercutting his words.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” Harry sneered. “Come to tell me to fall off my broom?”

“No.” Draco blushed bright red at the admission. He glanced around to check that no one was watching and continued. “I came to wish you good luck.”

“What?” Harry’s voice was full of surprise.

“I came to wish you good luck.” Draco shrugged in a helpless sort of fashion. “We’re on the same side today and I… I really want you to win.”

Harry seemed frozen in shock his mouth opening and closing in a useless sort of fashion. Draco had however used up all stores of courage he possessed because he then turned on his heel and disappeared into the trees. Regulus stood and came to stand by him silently.

“Did Draco Malfoy just come and wish me good luck?” Harry slapped himself in the face. “Did I dream that?”

Regulus grinned. “Does my cousin often star in your dreams?”

Read the rest on Ao3

[survivalistghost]

Top 10 kdrama friendships that had me bawling

#10 - alchemy of souls : mu deok/bo yeon + the boys

the only reason this doesnt get a higher rating is because they just didnt have enough scenes together. it was always pretty secondhanded, like the boys helping her with her servant exam in s1, or scenes between seo yul and mu deok/bo yeon. however, their friendship was amazing, and just adore this show in itself.

#9 - doom at your service : tak dong kyung, na ji na and cha joo ik

okay, they weren't a trio, necessarily, but they had such a great friendship through indirect interaction. joo ik and dong kyung had such a wholesome excited little sister and passive older brother relationship. and dont even get me started on the cuteness that was the friendship between na ji na and tak dong kyung.

#8 - strong girl do bong soon : do bong soon and gyeong shim

i wrote about this in my review of strong girl dbs as well, and the friendship between gyeong shim and dbs was so cool because both women were willing to go to such lengths for each other. one of the lesser-highlighted friendships of kdramas.

#7 - crash course in romance : nam haeng son and kim young joo

it takes a lot to sacrifice your national sports for your friend, and young joo made that sacrifice like a pro. their friendship was so cute, a bit annoying at times, but cute nonetheless. they were there for each through the goods and the bads, and that's all we really ask for.

#6 - lovestruck in the city : lee eun oh, suh rin i and kang geon

why! are! they! not! talked! about! ultimate peak best friendship, no romantic subplots to this gang, absolute delights. everyone should give lovestruck in the city a try.

#5 - twenty five twenty one : the gang

how could i say friendship and not have these people. this gang singlehandedly and platonically had enemies to besties, childhood besties, sunbae besties and just everything. right in the feels.

#4 - weightlifting fairy kim bok joo : the trio + the boys

the 'swag' trio. every time they did the swag thing it made me cringe so bad but they were very cute. the rooftop scene was legit so cute and the addition of the boys was even better. nothing beats these weightlifting girls and we stan.

#3 - extraordinary attorney woo : woo young woo and choi su yeon

this was sosososososo cute. the way su yeon was literally always there for young woo. she couldve easily been a villain, young woo took the guy she had a crush on, was higher in grades and well known. had an influential background. such telltale signs of bad women in kdramas. BUT this amazing person really was so good with young woo and totally spring sunshine su yeon.

#2 - the fabulous - the gang

everyone seems to hate the fabulous. genuinely, come at me. i dont give a shit about cinematic art or marketing strategies or whatever, this is my opinion gonna stick to it. i ADORED the fabulous. their gang was so amazing, the definition of supportive, cute and somehow maintaining that joke around stuff. they had their little pairs in the middle as well, but that didnt take away the overall love. go watch it.

#1 - hospital playlist - the band

im a recent to hosplay bandwagon, but. i fell in love. finished the (almost) entire show in nearly a week, an achievement considering it's my finals rn. we've got the piggies, buddha who is catholic, the guy who knows everybody and his dad. it was the little things with them for me, really. when they called jeong won andrea like that was so cute. when jun wan called seok hyeong ik jun's dad it made me laugh so much. and the fact that they're really not that close when u think about it but they still are? like that is adult friendships and we love.

[niemernuet]

Mentally I've been stuck here ever since I learnt that Dani had to babysit this ⬇️ Odi through his worst hangover during his very first wc finals in 2018:

The head coach is terrifying to approach at the best of times; today, in his current mood, he looks downright menacing as he drives past the entrance to the parking lot. Neither Daniel nor Justin are deterred though, and hurry across the uneven, icy ground as fast as they can. In their back, the long, drawn out lake lies grey and calm at the bottom of the valley.

They begin to talk at the same time.

“Excuse me, I think there has been a misunderstanding,” Daniel says.

“You can’t do this, Coach!” Justin says.

The coach, still half-way hunkered over as he is exiting the car, stops in his tracks, and glares at them. Both Daniel and Justin are wise enough to stop what they are saying. For a few heartbeats they are both quiet as the coach’s frightening glare rests on them. Daniel is the first to read his expression correctly.

“Hello,” he says.

“Hi,” Justin adds quickly, and they both follow the coach as he walks towards the boot of the car.

“Hello, boys,” the coach rumbles. Justin’s mouth is wide open again, though this time, Daniel shoves his elbow in his friend’s ribs, and takes over.

“I’m sorry but I think there has been a misunderstanding with the allocation of the lodgings.”

“It’s the last race week of the season, you can’t do…” Justin begins but again is silenced with a well-placed elbow to the rib cage.

“I’m just not sure there’s a good reason for your decision…though we fully respect it,” Daniel hurries to add. “But we thought that maybe there are some improvements we could do…and it would be beneficial for the whole team. Also…”

The coach raises a finger, and Daniel stops mid-sentence. Again the coach glares at them for the fraction of a moment too long.

“You will not share an apartment,” he eventually says. Daniel and Justin sputter like stalling snowmobiles in his back while he pulls a suitcase out of the car, and puts it on the ground.

Once more he silences them with a raised finger. “Do you want to know the reason?”

“Yes!” they exclaim.

“You!” the coach says, and points his finger at Justin whose expression immediately turns to utter shock.

“What? I didn’t do anything!”

The coach laughs as he pulls out another suitcase. “But you did! Because of you and your idiotic post on smartbook I had to sit not in one but TWO meetings with our organisation’s president and someone from FIS.”

“It’s facebook,” Daniel says softly, his shoulders now slumped at the sudden realisation of their endeavour’s futility.

“Do you know how much I’ve had it with meetings? Up to here!” the coach barks at Justin, and draws a line across his forehead with his extended finger. “So no, you will not share an apartment this week. You received your flatmates, and I told the team everyone who swaps with you will walk to South America next summer.”

“This is retaliation!” Justin cries out.

The coach laughs, and closes the hatch of the car. “I guess you could say so, yes.”

Daniel grabs Justin by the shoulder, and with a little bit of struggling mangages to push him away. “I understand that must have been annoying but I don’t see how that is a reason to punish me for it.”

The coach locks the car, and grabs his suitcases. “You’re not being punished.”

“You put me in the apartment with the rookie!” Daniel almost shouts, his nerves getting more frazzled by the second  as he struggles to keep Justin back.

“This is so unfair!” he throws in over Daniel’s shoulder.

“Listen!” the coach barks, and both straighten their backs. Again the finger lands on Justin.

“I’m giving you a bit of friendly advice, because I’m your coach, and it’s my job: The next time you want to call out FIS’ marketing strategy, I want you to go to a home-trainer, and I want you to pedal until your tongue touches the ground. Because this will be a much smarter use of your energy than anything else you could do.” Justin throws up his hands but the finger wanders over to Daniel, and he gets no chance to rage further.

 “And you are not being punished. He’s a good kid, and I’m sure you will get along just fine. In fact, why don’t you go over and lend him a hand?” 

Daniel and Justin whirl around. They barely register the coach taking off at a brisk pace as they stare at the bus and Gisin that have arrived on the parking lot while they have been busy. 

“I’m sure you’ve already heard of Daniel and Justin from the slalom team. They’re…well, you’ll get used to them,” Marc says to the young man climbing out of the passenger side of the bus. “Laurel, Hardy, this is Marco.” 

Strands of blonde hair peek out from under Marco’s oversized hat and curl around his shoulder, and even though he is quite tall himself he is so lanky that he could disappear entirely behind Gisin’s large frame. He snorts at Marc’s last remark, and bites down on his lip. From the other side of the bus, their service man appears and opens the back.

“This is all your fault,” Daniel hisses to Justin, and walks over to Marco. “Hi, I’m Hardy.”

-----

Their lodgings take up an entire street of long barracks separated into units, a short stretch behind the main street, and just elevated enough to get a glimpse of the lake through the naked birches. Justin and Daniel take off with Marco’s baggage while Gisin keeps Marco back by the shoulder. They have reached the first doors already when he catches up with them.

“It’s all true,” Daniel says.

“What is?” Marco asks. He is skipping along, only a backpack and his jacket dangling from his arms.

“Any warnings he told you about us.”

Marco laughs. “No warnings, he told me the number of his and Beat’s apartments, in case it gets boring with you.”

“That’s even more insulting,” Daniel grumbles, and fishes the key out of his pocket. They shuffle through the door of the tiny apartment, and drop the bags in the small space between the kitchenette and the rickety table. With a sigh, Daniel turns around to face Justin.

“Is this because…” He breaks off when he realises where Marco is heading. “Excuse me, that one’s my room,” he says loudly.

“I thought so,” Marco says, his feet right at the edge of the threshold, and with slumped shoulders stares wistfully towards the window with the breathtaking view over the lake and mountains behind it. “Pity.” 

Daniel waits until he moves on towards the other room facing the back alley to turn back to Justin. “You don’t need to sulk because I said it’s your fault.”

“I am not sulking!” Justin exclaims. “Because it is not my fault!”

“I told you you’d just stir the pot without changing anything!”

“Someone had to finally say what a clown organisation FIS is!”

“Everyone knows that!” Daniel shouts from the other side of the table. They both pause in their yelling to stare at Marco coming back from his room. He shrugged out of the top layer of clothes, and his hair is standing up in all directions from the static of the hat’s synthetic fibers.

“Oh, don’t stop because of me,” he says, and grabs his bags by the handles. “I just need these here….thank you.”

“Yeah but nobody puts any pressure on,” Justin snaps as soon as Marco has disappeared.

Daniel shakes his head. “Is this still because of your DNF in…”

“IT IS NOT! Frankly, I don’t even know why you had to go and complain. Now the coach will…”

“I?” Daniel barks. “I had to go? I did this for us but okay, I guess you prefer Loïc’s company over mine then…”

“You did it because you didn’t want to bunk with the rookie,” Justin shoots back, and crosses his arms in front of his chest while Daniel furiously tries to shush him. An apologetic smile washes over his face when Marco’s head peeks around the corner of the hallway. He is topless now, and a towel is dangling from his shoulder.

“I didn’t say...it like that.”

“It’s okay,” Marco answers light-heartedly. “I’d much rather be with Thomi too, even though he sounds like a chainsaw when he sleeps on his back. At first I thought the coach hates me but now I’m glad to know it’s because of you.”

Daniel blinks. “Oh.”

Marco smiles at him. “Right. Hey, would you mind if I took some of your soap? I’d like to take a shower before dinner but I forgot it at home.”

“You forgot your soap at home?”

“Well…more like my toiletry bag,” Marco explains, and stares at Daniel with his big, brown eyes.

Daniel needs a few seconds before he can answer. “Sure,” he eventually manages.

“Cool, thanks,” Marco laughs, and disappears in the bathroom.

Daniel chuckles when he turns back to Justin. “This is so much worse than I thought. He’s like you! This week will be hell.”

-----

It is not easy to talk with a pair of lips on his own but Daniel is quite practiced.

“No!”

As if he could convince him if he just pressed against him harder, Justin wraps his arms tighter around Daniel’s neck, and kisses him with even more fervour.

“Please,” he begs in Daniel’s mouth, and grinds his hips against Daniel’s just hard enough to make the narrow bed squeak.

“Absolutely not…not when I’m bunking with the rookie.”

Justin whines, and shoves his tongue even further in Daniel’s mouth.

“He’s not here yet,” he mumbles.

Daniel snorts, and pulls his head slightly back. “He better come back soon, he has a race tomorrow.”

“He’s young,” Justin shrugs, and follows Daniel until his head bumps against the wall and he can no longer evade his kisses. “He’ll be fit enough. Please, Poulette…”

“M-mh,” Daniel answers, and shakes his head so that their lips lose contact. He drags his fingers through Justin’s hair, and smiles at him. “I’m sorry, not tonight.”

“We’ll be quick, come on…” Justin begs, and Daniel laughs again.

“I know you will be quick,” he teases, and silences Justin’s outrage with another kiss until he stops fighting, and melts against his chest. Just when Justin tries another angle by putting his hand over the bulge under Daniel’s sweatpants, something heavy crashes against the front door. At once they pull apart. The noise outside just barely reaches Daniel’s room at the other end of the apartment, separated by two doors and heavy insulation but they still hear the breathless, almost shrieking laughter.

“Jesus, are you alright?” Gino yells.

Again something heavy drops against the door. Justin lifts one leg, ready to slip off the bed but Daniel keeps him in place, and shakes his head.

“I’m okay, I’m okay!” Marco’s voice assures. 

“So…do you want to get up again?” Gino asks after a short moment of silence.

“Uh, yeah…as soon as I know which way is up.”

Again Gino’s laughter reverberates through the apartment.

“Silence!” Marco laughs. “I’m with Yule and he’s already sleeping.”

“Sleeping, right,” Gino grunts. “Which one’s your room?”  Something heavy moves over the floor, and then drops against the wall to Daniel’s room.

“Thank you,” Marco says. “This one there. And it’s true. I saw him leave earlier, so we really have to be quiet now or…”

The door springs open and with a loud bang slams against the wall. Light from the kitchen as well as Marco follow right behind, though Gino can catch him at the last moment before he faceplants to the ground again.

“Wait, no, that’s not my room, that’s…ohhh…” Marco’s voice dies down as he takes in the scene on the bed. Then, a big smile spreads over his flushed cheeks and the blonde hair clinging to it, and he waves enthusiastically at the people on the bed. “Hi Daniel, hi Justin!”

Justin chuckles, and waves back. “Hi, Marco.”

“I was twelfth in the downhill today!”

“We saw. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“Okay, let’s get you to your real room,” Gino presses through clenched teeth, and hoists Marco towards the hallway. “Sorry about that, guys.”

“No problem,” Justin says but neither of them is still listening as they shuffle off.

“Told you he’s sleeping alright,” Gino giggles, and another door gets slammed.

Justin chuckles, though he pauses when he looks down at his boyfriend and sees Daniel’s exasperation.

“Come on, he’s endearing,” he says, and kisses him.

“Annoyingly so,” Daniel snorts, and pushes against Justin’s shoulders.

“You used to love it when I did it,” Justin sighs but does not fight as he gets shoved off the bed.

Daniel grabs Justin’s jacket and throws it over his shoulders. “That’s because you used to be much more charming and sexy and handsome and overall breathtaking than him.”

Justin grins and leans in for another kiss. “Used to?”

Daniel smirks, and shoves him towards the door. “Good night, Honey Bear.”

-----

The slats of the bed are groaning almost as shameless as Daniel. His knuckles shine white as he clings to the headrest like a drowning man.

“Fuck, Justin…,” he moans, his legs twitching over the rumpled sheets. “Oh, fuck…”

Justin hums around Daniel’s cock in his mouth, and picks up the pace with his strokes. Daniel does not need more, and with a choked cry comes in spurts down Justin’s throat. He is still riding the wave down from the climax when Justin plops down next to him, and snuggles against his chest.

“See? I told you there’s enough time.”

Daniel laughs softly, still out of breath, and plants a kiss on Justin’s sweat-sheened forehead. 

“Okay, for once you were right.”

“M-hm,” Justin hums with a satisfied grin. For a few moments they lie together in silence before Justin pats Daniel’s chest, and sits up.

“You’re going already?”

Justin snorts, and grabs his trousers from the floor. “I only have the one back with me and I need it in two days…” He pauses, and checks the watch on his phone, “...no, tomorrow. I can’t share this cot with you tonight.”

Daniel sighs, and boxes the pillow under his head a few times. “This week sucks.”

Justin pulls his shirt over his head, and leans down for another kiss. “It’s almost over. Only two more nights with your new best friend.”

Daniel rolls his eyes. “Considering the way he partied yesterday for a twelfth place I’m sure I won’t see him until we’re on the plane after today’s race. Tell Loïc my regards.”

“No, thanks,” Justin laughs, and softly shuts the door.

The party of the sponsor down in the village is still shooting rays of colourful light into the sky but Daniel is tired enough that he feels sleep crawl over him the moment he closes his eyes. He is almost entirely dozed off when his phone starts to vibrate again. For a second he considers ignoring it.

“Missing me already?” he mumbles as he puts it against his ear.

“Uh…no, sorry.”

Daniel shoots up. “Fuck…I mean, hi.”

Gino chuckles. Thumping bass music fills the background. “Hi. I’m just calling because I was afraid you wouldn’t see it if I wrote.”

“Okay?”

“It’s stupid but could you maybe check whether Marco’s already home? I was just on the toilet and when I came back they told me he left.”

Daniel silently throws up  his hands and rolls his eyes, though he cannot hide the drawn-out sigh when he answers. “Okay, fine. Though I’m pretty sure he’s not here ye…” He stops abruptly as the front door slams shut.

“What?” Gino asks in the growing silence. “Is he with you?”

“Oh no no no!” Daniel cries out at the terrible sounds coming from outside his bedroom. “I swear if you…” He pulls the door open, and stares at the scene unfolding in the small kitchenette.

“What? Daniel, what’s going on?” Gino yells through the phone.

“Everything’s okay,” Daniel sighs, and slumps against the door frame. “He’s not puking on the floor.”

“He’s puking?” Gino echoes, still loud enough that Daniel does not need his phone to hear him from the village square. 

He walks around the table, and steps to Marco who is hanging over the sink, and throws up another part of his dinner from earlier in the evening.

“Oh yeah, like mad,” Daniel chuckles. “But don’t worry, there can’t be much left inside of him.”

“Okay…” Gino answers, and hesitates for a second. “So…could you maybe…”

Daniel sighs again. “I’ll make sure he won’t asphyxiate on his own vomit…wouldn’t want to lose our junior world champion, right?” He pats Marco on the shoulder and elicits a soft whimper from him.

Whatever Gino says next drowns out in a new song and the DJ shouting, and Daniel takes it as cue to hang up. He leans over Marco’s hunched body, and turns on the faucet. While the ice cold water takes care of the worst mess, Daniel flips through the few cupboards until he finds a plastic mixing bowl. In the faint light from Daniel’s room shining into the rest of the apartment, Marco���s face and hair have the same grey colour. 

“If you feel like there’s something else you need to go over in your head, aim here!” Daniel says, and hands him the bowl.

“Thanks,” Marco mutters, and traipses off towards his bedroom. Daniel turns off the water, and follows him. He finds Marco laying on his stomach on his unmade bed, the plastic bowl next to his head.

“I will fucking delete Justin’s facebook profile,” Daniel mutters as he bends down, and pulls Marco’s shoes off his feet. He does not budge even a little, his breath coming slow and steady, and quietly Daniel slips out of his room. His feet have just warmed up again under the blanket of his own bed, when something heavy crashes from one end of the hallway to the other. With a heavy sigh he listens to the hollow, gurgling noises of Marco throwing up into the toilet. He stays put, and without realising that he has fallen asleep, jolts up a few minutes later when the same happens again. The third time he is wide awake, glaring into the darkness around him, too annoyed even to pick up his phone and write an accusing message for Justin to read in the morning. The fourth time Marco’s journey to the toilet wakes him up he notices that the lights of the party have stopped. The silence is heavier now, without the distant noise, and Daniel’s breath hitches when he hears something else between Marco’s retching. With a few whispered swear words he peels the toasty blanket back, and makes his way towards the only illuminated room in their apartment. The sharp, pungent smell of vomit hangs in the windowless bathroom, though luckily, Marco has managed to only stain the inside of the toilet bowl. Marco bites down on his lower lip when Daniel appears in the door but he cannot stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks.

“Is…everything alright?” Daniel asks even though the answer is apparent.

Marco shrugs, his cheek pressed against the cool porcelain of the toilet. He sniffles, and looks up at Daniel with red-rimmed eyes.

“Am I cool?”

Daniel’s brows fold into a frown as he tries to find something to say. “Like…right now?”

He cringes when Marco closes his eyes, and a new flood of tears rolls down his cheeks and into the matted strands of the hair clinging to them.

“I’m so stupid,” he chokes.

Daniel stares at him for a second before he turns on his heel, and hurries away. When he returns with a glass of water, Marco is still hunched against the toilet.

“Drink this!” Daniel orders. “And then tell me what’s going on.”

Marco takes a small sip. He stares at the ground, mute and deep in his thoughts.

Daniel keeps staring down at him until something occurs to him. “Is there a reason why you left the team at the party?”

Marco’s lip wobbles, and quickly he takes another sip. “I feel like I’ll never stop failing and I’ll never be as good as the others.”

Daniel rolls his eyes with a chuckle. “That’s because you’ve slept three of the last 48 hours and you’ve had two races in that time.”

Marco looks up, and blinks at him.

“Not to mention all the alcohol you’ve been putting away,” Daniel adds. “Well…temporarily, at least. Drink up, go to bed and I promise tomorrow everything will be different.”

He grabs the empty glass from Marco, and fills it again before digging a pill out of his almost depleted toiletry bag. Marco is already face-down on his bed again when he reaches his room.

“Do you think I could ever have the same that you have with Justin?” he mumbles from the depths of his pillow.

“Depends who you want to have it with,” Daniel answers, and puts the glass and the pill on the nightstand.

“Gino…” Marco sighs, and groans slightly as Daniel pulls the blanket out from under his body.

“You’ll have to ask him,” Daniel laughs. 

Marco lifts his head, and scans the room.

“Not now,” Daniel adds hastily. “Tomorrow, when you’ll be sober again…and maybe realise that you have terrible taste.”

Marco’s head drops back into his pillow, and he mumbles something inaudible.

Daniel throws the blanket over Marco’s limp body. “Take the pill here first thing in the morning,” he says, and points at the nightstand, but Marco has already fallen asleep.

“Rookies…” Daniel mutters, and quietly slips out of the room.

-----

The ending of the season two days later is sadder than anticipated, with two cancelled races and stormy weather. The teams disperse, washed away by the rain, and one after the other the rental busses stuffed with skis and other equipment leave for the airport. Daniel is checking the sidepocket of his backpack for his passport when Marco appears by his side. He huddles close to get under the open hatch of the bus. The hair poking out from underneath his hat is dark from the rain, almost as dark as the shadows under his eyes.

“Sorry you couldn’t race,” he begins.

“It’s just my luck,” Daniel says without interrupting his search. “One whole week with you and nothing to show for it. You look terrible by the way.”

“I feel terrible too,” Marco admits. “I think I’m dying.”

“It’s called a hangover. You’ll get over it. Okay, all there.” With a satisfied smile, Daniel closes the zipper of the backpack and puts it back with the rest of his baggage.

Marco shakes his head, and stares out into the rain. “I’m not sure…the only thing I know is that I’ll never drink again.”

Daniel laughs.

“Never ever! I don’t remember a thing from that night.” For a moment, Marco stares out into the rain before he dares to ask the question. “Did I say anything about Gino?”

Daniel frowns, thinks for a second. “Not that I remember, no. Why?”

Marco shakes his head. “Just because…not important.”

Before Daniel can prod further, Marco throws his arms around him.

“At first I really did not look forward to living with you but then it turned out to be quite cool. If you ever switch to giant slalom, I’d love to bunk with you during the season. But don’t tell Thomi.”

Daniel chuckles, and hugs Marco back. “And if you ever tried slalom I would gladly lend you my toothpaste and shampoo.”

Marco laughs, and skips back towards the bus where his service man is waiting. Justin rounds the corner, and joins Daniel under the hatch where they watch the other bus jolt over the gravel toward the road.

“He’s in love with Gino,” Daniel explains, and smiles at Marco who is frantically waving at them.

“Awww, Rookie,” Justin coos. “So endearing.”