#the asked and the answered

[significant-narratives]

as a mitch scholar is mitch a mirrorball or a this is me trying?

anon, thank you for your patience!! i have been turning this ask around in my mind since the day i got it... i am so honoured you would come to me of all people for mitch scholarship i hope i was able to do your ask justice 🫡

the tl;dr -- gut reaction is to say 'mirrorball', but ultimately 'this is me trying' is, i think, a better fit for mitch (at least, through my own lens).

more in depth musings below the cut (fair warning a lot of this is just me rambling aimlessly)

i'd start by saying i think that mirrorball and this is me trying (timt) do share a fair amount of overlap in terms of the themes they touch on (identity, abandonment issues, fear of losing your shine/potential, wistful longing), and because of that, i think you could make a strong argument for either song.

you could probably make an argument that mirrorball fits more when mitch was a rookie, to an extent.

for example, if we take the opening verse of mirrorball:

I want you to know I'm a mirrorball I'll show you every version of yourself tonight I'll get you out on the floor Shimmering beautiful And when I break it's in a million pieces

well that's mitchell 'swiss army knife' marner for you... makes his linemates better, makes the pk better, makes our pp look functional. team has a problem? send in the mouse.

but here's where the mirrorball narrative starts to not work quite as well, i think:

I want you to know I'm a mirrorball I can change everything about me to fit in

how do i explain this... this implies a level of persona building that mitch doesn't have, imo? from everything we've seen as fans, and what we've heard from coaches, friends, teammates past and present etc, mitch is very much himself all the time. even when it doesn't necessarily serve him well (see: his relationship w/ the press).

moreover, mirrorball is a song that grapples with this idea of how to keep someone's attention and affections by changing yourself -- 'i've never been a natural'. i would argue that mitch is a natural. he has that inherent starlike quality to him and his game that -- while definitely bolstered by years of hard work -- is also, an inherent part of who he is. he's weaving spells on ice. making magic out of thin air.

i think patty put it best during his leaf to leaf with mitch:

mitch: if there was one piece of advice you'd like me for me to remember for the rest of my career, what would it be? [...] patrick: for you, i would just realize how good you are. i don't know if you realize how good you are, are going to be.

how good you are. are going to be. mitch was always going to be a star, i think. now whether or not he can handle the weight that comes with burning that bright... well.

which brings us to timt:

I've been having a hard time adjusting I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting I didn't know if you'd care if I came back I have a lot of regrets about that Pulled the car off the road to the lookout Could've followed my fears all the way down

mitch was born and raised in toronto, and this city demands a lot from him. he's our hometown hero and somewhere along the way, that stopped being a blessing and turned into a bit of a curse.

there's a lot of pressure on this core to deliver toronto to the promised land. for mitch, this pressure is made worse by the fact that a significant portion of the fanbase is still mad over his last contract (how dare he not take a hometown discount + his contract negotiations were rather... public) + he faces a lot of criticism for his game 'not translating' in the playoffs (despite the fact that. the stats don't support this i don't believe?).

like. he had the shiniest wheels now they're rusting! would you even care if he came back! (also also. 'followed my fears all the way down' ... him sitting in that penalty box trying not to cry as he watched their playoff hopes exploded... yikes yikes yikes)

And my words shoot to kill when I'm mad I have a lot of regrets about that I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere Fell behind on my classmates, and I ended up here

that aries moon babyyy. he's blunt he's got big opinions he is squeaking at the refs and yapping on the bench! honestly crazy to me that mitch's undiganosed-adhd-coded ass ended up with two of the most patient people on earth for teammates.

'i was so ahead of the curve / the curve became a sphere' he was shattering records as a rookie! he was a star prospect! and now the ontario hockey uncles and the media are trying to put shambles in his brain!

And it's hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound It's hard to be anywhere these days when all I want is you You're a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town

this is verse is about 1634. no i won't elaborate.

And I just wanted you to know That this is me trying (And maybe I don't quite know what to say) I just wanted you to know That this is me trying At least I'm trying

and here we are at perhaps the most central part of this song. i want you to know that i'm trying. and this is truly a key part of the mitch marner thesis.

he's always going to give it one more shot. and maybe this time he'll manage to make it right. he can't be any other version of himself but who he is, but he's here. and he's trying. he's wearing his heart on his sleeve. he's hugging carlton the bear during warmups and flipping pucks at kids over the glass. he still wears the pink bracelet hayden gave him. he's drawing smiley faces on his gloves and cellying 'like an idiot [...] like i'm back in juniors'. they hate him for his inherent whimsy and unbreakable spirit but truly where would we be without mitch marner.

#anon i'll be so fr with you i have NO idea what happened here #i wrote this reply in bits and pieces over several days and i think at some point i lost track of where i was going #but i hope that it's at least entertaining #i am always open to peer review / additional thoughts as long as you're decent about it. cheers! #the asked and the answered

[seimei-chsq]

DON'T YOU DIE ON ME! (zaps you with a defibrillator)

skate-the-onion, how does it feel to hold the heart and soul of figure skating fandom in the palm of your hand. how do you bare such a burden.

#SCREAMING at this ask please 😭 #sorry this took me so long to answer… #for context please see the tag below: #figure skating is killing me this season and skate the onion keeps hauling me back to life kicking and screaming #skate-the-onion my beloved <3 #the asked and the answered #figure skating #skatetheonion

[capricorn-ascending]

maybe I’m insane…. but IF charles were to end up at Red Bull, do you think it could actually work out for him? Max already has a WDC (probably 2 by the looks of it given how this year Ferrari has completely thrown it away) so maybe he’d be willing to be the #2 driver for a season and defend the other drivers in order for Charles to win…… I could be so wrong lol. I don’t know a ton about Red Bull or Max but imagine if they did actually work together, they could really be unstoppable

Hi there, anon! Sorry to leave you waiting, but I actually needed a little bit of time to ruminate on this subject to give you a proper reply. I’m not an expert on RedBull as a team either, but here’s what I’ve got:

I think Charles being successful at RedBull would require more than just Max’s cooperation — there would be a lot of internal team politics going on because Max is like… the face of RedBull now, he’s critical to their branding. idk if they’d be willing to mess that up.

Additionally, I don’t think Max is going to curb his ambitions even if he wins another title in the near future. Maybe if he was like… an older driver in the later stages of his career, but he’s only 24. And even then, that still might not be enough of a reason. For some perspective, Lewis didn’t start his winning streak with Mercedes until he was 29.

So, to sum up: I do think Max and Charles could potentially make for an interesting driver pairing, but between internal team dynamics and the fact that I doubt either Max or Charles would be willing to yield to the other (on or off track), I don’t know if that potential would actually translate to real life results.

(but obviously this is all nothing but speculation! ideally though, Charles does manage to win a wdc with Ferrari some day… 🤞)

#i was going to add some thoughts about what could happen if Charles moved to Mercedes but then this would have gotten entirely too long #anon i set aside my energy drink team biases just for you… as a gift 💝 #charles leclerc #the asked and the answered #silly season talks #< future silly season ig

[yamujiburo]

clothes shopping!

#hanamusashipping #hanamusa #jessie #delia ketchum #my art #inspired by my answer to a previous ask

[ineed-to-sleep]

Collection of memes with mostly my tav/astarion to keep myself sane

#I'm not even gonna ask if any of these have already been done the answer is probably yes fjckkckck #does not matter tho I llovve them <33 #bg3 #bg3 tav #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #tavstarion #sleepyscribble #oc.nawen #ship: narion

[bixels]

Baffled.

#personal #not art #like how do you arrive at this conclusion #what beliefs? #the man may be a total grouch but if there’s one thing he HATES it’s Japanese nationalism #Japanese nationalists famously HATE his work especially the wind rises which criticizes imperial Japan and calls out the invasion of China #don’t ask for context on the first part of the tag I’m not answering

[carlyraejepsans]

When I was like 15 I dated this guy named Wes and we would roleplay Soriel so then when we broke up it made me have a vendetta against the ship for a few years. You made me like them again though so thanks. Also I'm a lesbian now.

#answered asks #killcount #I GUESS.

[samble-moved]

post itself

false flags

trans/adjacent tags

accessibility features

tumblr live post (thanks for the link, @problemnyatic)

flashing / strobing / lights

unblockable flashing ad

buying ad free

staff @/macmanx guilt trip

list of staff + more issues

#post nuked bc proshippers started insulting people who rbed this and implied partyjockers attempted to Kill staff? it was getting old so #archive links still under the cut if you want and you can rb this from others if you want the og #hint: if you dislike this post or want to debunk parts of it the way to go about it isn't to call people who've rbed it 'disgusting little #fuck ups' that are 'spreading anti shipper lies' #note: this post is and was Not about ship discourse jesus fucking christ proshippers get a grip #also ace discoursers are here too? this isn't about you either? #edit 2: if you send me an anon regarding this post about how im policing discussion or 'don't really want it' #but then stop replying when i answer your ask #maybe that's. not helping discussion? #i nuked this post as people started making up false accusations to smear people staff sniped. aka accusing someone of IRL ATTEMPTED MURDERS.

[ao3commentoftheday]

do you know where "no beta we die like x" comes from and how it is used?

The term "beta" in this context is short for "beta reader" - a person who reads a fic while it's still in the editing stage and helps the writer get it ready to post. Some betas check grammar. Some check canon compliance. Some are sensitivity readers. There are lots of things that betas can do.

So functionally, saying "no beta" means that the writer didn't get this checked by a second person before they posted it. It's a warning that there might be errors or typos etc. It's mostly used when an author has written something quickly and is posting without doing a lot of (or any) edits first.

As for where it comes from? It all started with a bumper sticker.

This image was an internet meme at one point, and it got meme'd on in the form of "no ___ we ___ like men"

Here on tumblr, one of the versions that got really popular was from now-deleted user @grec1a who created this version:

From there, it migrated to AO3 as the "no beta we die like men" tag, and very often the word men is replaced by the name of a character who dies in canon.

#asks and answers

[significant-narratives]

they snatched that hatty away from him so fast XD makin a big deal about 7 on a season just to take it back

offside calls against my team: a deed most foul, a sin that will echo through generations, a clear sign we need to update the rulebook

offside calls in my teams favour: well maybe if your guys could skate properly this wouldn't have happened

#tbh the fact that he's already at? 6 hattys in a season? is crazy on its own #truly the epic highs and lows of maple leafs hockey #the asked and the answered #(also to my other anon from a while ago - im not ignoring you i promise!! #i just haven't found time to Properly Reply. eventually it will happen!!)

[seimei-chsq]

isu!anon, i am working on my reply to your ask as we speak. please forgive me for taking so long, there just isn’t an easy answer to your question lol.

#the asked and the answered #sorry for making you wait so long :(

[evilwizard]

what is the difference between a witch and a wizard

wizards are mathematicians and physicists. witches are chemists and biologists

#evil inbox #my answer is going to keep changing every time y’all ask

[fluffydancer618]

Have you ever partaken in the flesh of another?

#/jjj /lh /nm #the answer is yes obviously btw #i need a tag for ask

[thenon-fictiondays]

lmao he looks so smug about this

#dungeon meshi #btw im not ignoring asks i just don't have the brainspace to answer rn

[deep-space-netwerk]

What do you mean by Venus floating cities?

I'm hoping to write a science fiction story about visiting Venus as part of the space race and I would love your input

Alright so the thing with Venus is that we're all very familiar with her horrible hell-death clouds and 900°F surface temperatures. We all understand the surface of Venus is not a fun place for humans to be.

But, nobody ever talks about the fact that ABOVE the hell-death clouds, Venus is a paradise. The most Earth-like environment we know of in the solar system, beyond Earth itself, is actually in the skies of Venus.

About 30 miles above the surface, the pressure is ~1 atmosphere, and the temperature ranges from 30 - 100°F, which is Happy Human™ standard pressure and temperature.

What's more, a breathable mix of oxygen and nitrogen provides over 60% the lifting power on Venus that helium does on Earth. In other words, a balloon full of human-breathable air would float to the habitable range of Venus's atmosphere. We could float a ship with the very air we breathe.

The other great thing about this is that it avoids one of the big problems with Mars colonization. On Mars, any habitat on the surface full of breathable air is vulnerable to leaks and explosive decompression, a la the Martian.

Floating on Venus, a balloon full of breathable air doesn't have a significant pressure difference between the inside and the outside. Which means, any leaks or tears would be very slow and manageable. You could fix that shit with duct tape!

Similarly, because the environment outside the balloon is so Earth-like, humans living there wouldn't need any big fancy pressurized suits for extravehicular work. We'd need air to breathe, maybe some heat protection, and protection against the acid rain. That's it. 

Venus also provides the tools to keep us fed! It's atmosphere is made primarily of carbon dioxide, even above the dense horrible clouds. What likes carbon dioxide? Plants from Earth!! Lets grow FOOD on FLOATING PLATFORMS in the SKIES of VENUS.

This whole idea actually came out of a NASA effort exploring potential Venus colonization. The program was called HAVOC - the High Altitude Venus Operational Concept.

It hasn't really gone anywhere, and as far as I know there are no real plans to revisit it. Unfortunately, from a practicality standpoint, Mars is a much more viable target for human colonization. Not only is it better poised for outer solar system exploration, being farther away from the sun, but living on Venus would come with too many complicated contingencies. In the event of a major failure on Venus, you'd need to fly to another base, or fuck off all the way to orbit. I understand why people aren't really in a hurry to live somewhere where landing on the surface means certain death.

But that doesn't mean I won't be forever and always enamored by the skies of Venus. Here's one of the artist concepts to come out of HAVOC.

I want to be there.

#venus #nasa #space #space exploration #HAVOC #blimp #spost #venus my beloved #single most underrated planet #asked and answered

[singlethread]

I just learned today that Blorbo is a made up term and NOT the main character in the Hobbit

Anon I’m obsessed with you

#amelia answers asks #also the fact that you came to tell me