#and it sucks because for a normal person who generally tries to abide by the law you'd get screwed

[solvicrafts]

Wow, $250 whole dollars!

[arrtemisia]

Hey so... If you could redo cannon Makoto what would you do? How would she change? I'm curious cause out of the main cast she was the only one that I just couldn't get a solid interest in (aside from Ann but that's just cause the idea of her being a fashion model confuses me more than anything I think)

God. So much stuff.

There's a couple big things about her that bug me, and none of them really change at all in her canon vs fanon portrayal, which means it's hard for me to enjoy her even in fanworks. In my opinion, I think her biggest flaw is that she's simply miscast, and her character would have worked much better as a confidant instead of a thief, which would've given her a place of her own to shine and avoid the weird dissonance between different aspects of her character (and this was actually their original plan, so Hifumi would have taken her place which. She would've fit in much better imo bc she's actually suffered under another's will like every single one of the others and she's an actual strategist instead of just """smart,""' but that's a topic for another post), but since we're talking about how I'd personally fix Makoto in the role she currently fills, I'm going to list some of the issues I take with her and potential solutions.

First of all, just to get it out of the way, she needs an actual reason to be here. She doesn't have one, full stop.

The big thing tying the thieves together is that they're all victims of abuse and oppression who rebel against their tormentors and want to prevent anyone else from suffering like they did. I'm not saying Makoto has never struggled, because she has, but it's really, really not the same type of struggle.

This leads to weird moments where everything about Makoto's personality and characterization, such as being a stickler for the rules, idolizing the police, etc mean that she has no in-character reason to stick with the thieves after kaneshiro is dealt with and should maybe even be opposing the thieves' way of doing things, but the plot drags her along anyway because the game really wants her to be a party member. And really, what's up with her awakening? She gets threatened once and then bang-boom-kapow she has a persona? It's weak.

Also before anyone says "well all those things about her personality change when she awakens and she sheds her good girl personality and yada yada," no she doesn't, actually, and I'm getting there I promise

The easiest solution here is also the most drastic. Swap when Makoto and Akechi join. This kills two birds with one stone; Makoto gets an actual reason to awaken through Sae, and Akechi's betrayal hits harder because he's pretending to be with you for longer (although admittedly this is much less needed on Akechi's part ever since royal).

Not only does this give Makoto a much stronger reason to awaken and join in the first place (Sae starts twisting into something horrible and Makoto wants to help both stop and save her), but it also gives her an internally consistent reason to stick around. Before, unlike the others (who all at least have "I want to stop others from feeling like I did," or in Futaba's case, "I wanna find the ppl who killed my mom."), once Kaneshiro is done with, Makoto has no real big personal reason to stick around other than "I'm a thief now and the plot says so ig." Now, of COURSE she'd want to go after Shido because he's the one that was manipulating her sister, and after that of COURSE she'd want to help take down mr divine sippy cup in order to get Shido tried and jailed.

However, if we're not going to shuffle around the order of party members bc that'd nuke the canon plot a little, then we need to rework the entire Kaneshiro arc and/or Makoto's backstory and values as a whole. Yeah this is why the first solution was the easy one.

I'm going to go in-depth about how I feel Makoto's personality and values should be reworked later I'M GETTING THERE, so I'll talk about that then. As for reworking Kaneshiro, I... don't have a whole lot of ideas. The palace itself is fine, it has one of the coolest atmospheres in the game (c'mon, there's got to be a fun bank heist in a game like this), but Makoto's connection with him is very weak. Maybe have it be that he was extorting her for years in secret and she never said anything? Maybe have him be the one that ordered the hit on her father? I'm not sure what would be strong enough to match to the other palace leaders, without feeling forced. I'll have to come up with more ideas for this one.

The second big issue I have with her is less of one specific thing and more of a collection of smaller problems that all come from the same source. She waltzes in, takes over, and starts acting like she's the boss of things. She then names herself the "strategist" and yet only ever states the obvious and, to use a word I hate, mansplains things to you that you already learned two palaces ago. She's constantly condescending and passive agressive to the other team members, especially Ann and Ryuji, berates everyone for not being as naturally book smart as her when all the other characters are smart in their own ways and just not good at academia, all the while everyone around her, even characters that normally wouldn't take that (ryuji, ann) or are too prideful to admit to anyone bring better (mona), are constantly like "You're so cool, Makoto!"

It's a classic case of show don't tell, and rhe game is obsessed with telling you that Makoto is "smart" and "cool." Once she joins the team, all the characters that were originally shown to be smart in their own ways are never allowed to say anything meaningful ever again bc Makoto is the "smart" one. She never does anything particularly different compared to the other party members, but the game is constantly insisting she's special.

I'm very hesitant to call her a mary sue, because I don't think she is one, and also I disagree with the use of that term at all as these days it's just meant to devalue powerful characters that happen to be girls, but I definitely think she's emblematic of a common writing flaw that can lead to mary sues. The problem with making a character the "smart" one as a personality trait instead of something that just comes naturally is that you have to dumb down everyone else's characterization to make them look smarter or cooler by comparison. It means that the character you're trying to prop up bends everyone else around them, making them act in ways they normally wouldn't in order to make the one character you're trying to look cool seem better by comparison.

This has an easy solution: cut that shit out. Have her slowly find her place on the team naturally instead of forcing her way in as a pseudo-leader. Don't give every single "well, duh" line to her, and cut the scenes where she stands around explaining obvious things you already know in a condescending manner so she looks smarter. Let the other characters actually act like themselves when they're in the same room as her instead of bending around her to prop her up. Have her treat those characters with respect in turn, bc for all intents and purposes when it comes to thief stuff they are her senpai, instead of just having her act like she's better than them, or boss them around, or be passive agressive about the fact that their grades are bad. Show that other characters are smart in other ways instead of acting like Makoto's book smarts are the end-all be-all. And for fuck's sake, stop acting like "smart" and "punches stuff real good" are personality traits, which leads me into my last big point.

Makoto and Queen don't really feel like the same character. Okay, so to explain this, let's walk through her awakening again.

Makoto is a good girl who's a stickler for the rules, sucks up to authority, idolizes the police, is obsessed with her grades and academic performance, and looks down on others who don't do the same. A couple people call her useless and then she gets threatened by a mob boss, after which she decides to live her life for herself and completely shed her good girl lifestyle and rebel against everyone pressuring her.

That is, except for the teensy tiny detail where she doesn't.

Nothing significant about her personality changes all post her awakening and joining the thieves, aside from the part where she sucks up to authority maybe a little less. She's still uptight, her grades (and the grades of those on her team) are still her top priority, she still idolizes the law and those enforcing it.

Y'see, persona has a bit of a common problem with saying one thing about a character, be it making a reveal or saying they're gonna change in some big way, but not fully committing to it. You can see it most in p4 (party members saying they're gonna quit/stop/do whatever and then backtracking in the last two ranks of their social link), but it's rarely so severe that it completely ruins their personality and character arc as a whole. Makoto, I feel, is the main exception.

The writers want Makoto to become this tough, rebellious biker queen who oozes badassery in every move and will never follow anyone's wishes for her ever again, but they also want to keep her old personality of the uptight naive rule-following law-abiding academic. So, instead of altering one to better fit the other, they try to do both... badly.

Instead of integrating the two parts of her personality, it just feels like she swaps between them whenever the plot calls for it which is really, really jarring. She'll be stuttering about following the rules and getting to know her generation one second, and then the next she'll be yelling about mowing down shadows with her motorcyle the next. It feels like Queen and Makoto are two separate uninteresting half-characters, with only a couple personality traits each, instead of one whole well-rounded character.

Either rework Makoto's thief aesthetic to better suit her personality as a whole and give her something other than "I'm totally not a good girl anymore" to make her compelling, or actually commit to Makoto shedding her past life everyone around her had forced on her and change her personality. Have her grades start to slip, have her talk back to Sae, change the way she dresses so it's rougher and less perfect, hell, maybe even have her quit student council. Just, anything to make her more well-rounded as a character.

I have some other nitpicks with her here and there, like the fact that her confidant is actually just Eiko's confidant and doesn't give Makoto herself any development, or the way the game keeps trying to set her up as Joker's waifu or whatever, but those are just that; nitpicks. The three big things I mentioned earlier - her not having a compelling personal reason to be a part of the thieves, the way the writers shove her into the spotlight by putting down everyone around her, and the fact that her characterization is just one badass half and one smart half that don't mesh and have little else in between - are the problems I feel are what's actually holding her character back.

Again, I do think that all of this stems from the fact that she's miscast, but it's too late to fix that now. While I personally really dislike Makoto, I do kind of understand her appeal for others when she's written well, and she's a totally valid character to like. I just wish she was portrayed better.

(Also, if anyone wants to reblog this, feel free I ask that you please don't put this in Makoto's main character tag. I know how much it sucks to get a bunch of negativity in a character's main tags as I am an Edelgard fe3h fan)

[gunmetal-ring]

Here's the thing like I fully understand where people come from when they refer to caryl as mother/son (ageism and misogyny aside)

There have absolutely been moments wherein Daryl is desperate for guidance and comfort and a nurturing person, and Carol has been that person for him. They're fairly intimate moments, too, and it's always clear that she gives him exactly what he needs. There have been a few times when he's been so emotionally stunted and lost that he really does regress to a more childlike state, and during those times, Carol takes on a nurturing role for him.

I don't think anybody really disagrees with that - I think we've all had moments (or at least I have, bc maybe I'm just not well adjusted lol) where we've been so emotionally overwhelmed by some devastating trauma that we regress, and either a friend or family member helps us through it, in a similar way as to when we were kids and our moms hugged us when we got into a fight with a friend or whatever, idk. I've also been that person to plenty of my friends and family members in their times of need.

HOWEVER.

These moments - and they are moments, because Daryl isn't a child who needs a kiss on his boo-boo, and he's greatly emotionally matured over the past 10 seasons, and they're generally instances few and far between anyway - don't define their relationship. There's plenty of give-and-take between them, and plenty of moments when she comforts him in a way that a friend does, as equals. In the "damn, that sucks, hope I can be a shoulder to lean on" rather than a "let me take care of you while you repair your damaged psyche" type of way. And there's plenty of moments where he does the same for her, as equals.

I would also say that Carol's also had some of those moments wherein she regresses, and has that same sort of childlike desperation looking for comfort and guidance and someone to nurture her, and Daryl's tried to be that person for her. I don't think it's nearly as obvious, though, bc she's rejected it time and time again. She doesn't let him comfort her that way, even though in the past, he's let her comfort him that way. I'd say the only time she actually lets him do it is immediately upon finding Henry's head on the pike, tbh, and that's cut extremely short - much shorter than the filmed moments where we see the forehead kisses, etc.

Again, this is a really, really common (and normal, and can actually be healthy with obvious exceptions) dynamic between close, intimate friends, and even lovers, too. It doesn't have to be all-or-nothing - and it frustrates me that people can say caryl has this deep intimate abiding friendship and in the same breath say oh Carol's his mother figure. It's totally dismissing the complexities of what an intimate friendship looks like, and how layered people are.

Obviously a huge part of it is ageism and misogyny (carol has all-gray hair which obv means she's sexless, and daryl is 50 which obv means his romantic interests will be anywhere between 18-40, and Carol is a mother so that's all she's good for, and Daryl is the resident bachelor hottie so he's not going to jump on his best friend) but I also think we need to keep in mind that bc these characters are 10 years old, they're inherently going to be a lot more developed than, say, characters who have only been around for a year or two. So their relationship will be a lot more developed than relationships they have with newer characters.

[sanguinesprout]

Thunderstorms and rainbows all around! (Job things, update blah, perfectionism sucks and what even is communication)

Pheeeew! The past month has been a lot more busy and stressful but I’m finally kinda getting myself closer to getting a job! So I actually managed to apply to 6 jobs so far! Six! I mean, to most people that’s probably nothing, but that’s a lot for me that would normally only apply to like... 1 or probably nothing lol @w@” So yay and keep going me! ^^ I’m really thankful to my sis for encouraging me, even though she loses her patience sometimes, but I really am such a weenie baby x.x

1 job rejected my application, 2 jobs I didn’t hear from, 1 I only just applied to (which is actually the same as the very 1st one I applied to last time, hah!) and 2 I did hear from. Those two are ones set by recruitment agencies and are warehouse/factory type jobs where they hire in bulk. They both don’t have any formal interviews or anything like that but they had this registration form filling kind of appointment. I mean, it wasn’t retail like I was aiming for, but maybe this would actually suit me better maybe? Baby steps!

I decided not to do one of the two that I heard from (a warehouse one) because it was too far away and also it sounded too physically demanding for me. The second (factory) I’ve been debating whether to go through with or not for like two weeks since I’ve been accepted because my health problems may make it unsuitable for me, but there’s gonna be an induction day sometime soon hopefully and maybe I can make a good decision then. Travel to the second job is much less a hassle than the one I rejected too, here’s hoping it’ll be okay! And if I never try I won’t know!

The one I applied for today... it’s retail just like the others I unsuccessfully applied for, I wonder if I’ll be successful this time, who knows! I feel it’d be a much better way to grow and learn to face people even better and would definitely be much more varied than the factory job which is just robot-like repetitiveness but that may be more comfortable in regards to predictability. Either way I’m gonna have to start talking to at least co-workers and stuff, ahhh I’m nervous, but I need to get outta my comfort zone! Onwards!

Until then, gotta keep applying and trying, maybe neither of these will be suitable or possible, or maybe I’ll find something even more awesome! It’s both really scary and kinda exciting. I want to finally show some independence, that I’m capable of working and talking to people and most of all help my family some, because right now and well, for ages we have been struggling and there’s alotta stressful stuff happening for them >< C’mon, I can do it!!

In general other stuff, I am almost at the end of my online course thing!! I wouldn’t have expected to get here but it’s all because of my sis helping me out a lot ;w; I can’t help but feel I’m being bad ahhh like I’m a super law abiding kind of person, I feel like I’m cheating! But then again the course material is impossible to complete with only my noob knowledge, it was false advertising! W/e when the course is done I hope I never have to do another like that again!

Uhhh anyways, besides that ball of stress I actually managed to do some more baking with my sis and sewing and it was all kinda last minute stuff, which usually freaks me out! I mean, I kinda got moody and needed some persuading by my sis but I did it!! :D I went shopping a bunch and didn’t feel too anxious except for that ‘oh no, I didn’t buy anything, now the shop people will think I’m stealing’ kind of paranoia... I’m slowly kinda getting over it, it’s just having that open shopping bag clunking around on my shoulder with stuff from a previous shop makes me extra nervous around staff OTL. It’s okay, think more rationally! There’s nothing wrong with not buying anything! Plenty of people do this and are fine!

There were also some important family days, but Idk why... I was really irritable and moody and messed one of them up and had a massive falling out with my sis. She said a lot of harsh things and I was being kind of cold and unresponsive but also critical, there was crying and anger on both sides. I guess my depressive feelings just got too deep and I was getting to cooped up and stressed in my head to be able to think or do anything else... I had been feeling even more low those few days, it was my fault. It’s just so difficult to control sometimes, but I gotta keep trying to stay out of my head, quit overthinking and falling into the negative and keep it that way some more.

Anyways, we managed to reconcile some while later and everything and the rest of the days were good! I bonded with my family with a game of charades, which they were reluctant to play at first, but warmed to it and smiled and laughed a lot! The things I baked and sewed were for them and it made them happy too! It was nice, I was happy too, I hope there will be more times like this more often! c:

In regards to blog stuff and art stuff, it really hasn’t gone anywhere yet still. I’m hoping that when I get the job thing sorted, maybe I will feel less guilty about doing things like that which I consider as leisure stuff. But is this unreasonable? I don’t want to keep pushing it back and delaying it but I just feel too overwhelmed, it’s like I can only focus on one thing at once, but I know I am capable of doing more..! I just need to push myself!

I also keep being too much of a perfectionist, it was even a big part of the reason I had a falling out with my sis :c I’m so critical of myself all the time and others sometimes, it’s just so frustrating and incomprehensible. I’m so scared of doing things wrong or imperfect, it’s definitely unreasonable and unrealistic of me to keep thinking this way ;^; It’s so hard to just ignore these feelings. It’s really hard to get me to do something in the first place, I’m just giving myself unnecessary grief. 

Failing and flaws are part of learning, I’m setting myself too high expectations, I need to not be so hard on myself. What I’m doing is just fine, as long as I keep going, I’ll keep improving! If something doesn’t go so well this time, then I’ll just do it again next time but better! I’ll try to keep these in mind more!

I haven’t really been interacting with anyone or commenting at all in general other internet-ness which is well, not so good. I hope I can become comfortable enough to do things like commenting and following people and posting soon! Hoping probably isn’t good enough though, it’s all about foregoing the comfort zone again and just doing! I’m too ashamed of myself ahh

Oh! To the lovely person that liked and left a small but kind comment on my last post, even though you probably won’t see this, I want to say thank you!! When I did see it later on, it really made me smile! <3 

I guess this must be how people feel when I gave them comments in the past, it really is motivating! Giving someone a smile is definitely much better than giving in to fear!

I feel really bad because this one online friend that popped up since last time, I made sure not to just ignore them but I’ve kinda been less responsive to them... in the hope they message less frequently at least... gah! Idk... I feel kinda uncomfortable that they tried to speak to me everyday, like I had nothing new to say to them and it made me feel even more anxious. Even more so when they tried to compliment and get closer to me... ack! *sirens blaring*

Though I have had a lot on my plate to do and think about lately and I’ve told them this many times and I have been polite and friendly to them... I’m just scared I’ll come off to them as a jerk but I just kind of want some space and it really just ahhhh idk how to respond? My own awkwardness and inability to just communicate without freaking out is killing me..! Am I being unreasonable here?? T^T;;; OTL OTL OTL

Hm, I think that’s enough of my derpy flailing for today, I’ll stop here but Imma keep goin irl! Yeah, do the stuff!! Go go go! 

After a thunderstorm a rainbow can appear, and one really did the other day!

May everyone see rainbows after their thunderstorms too! Good things can follow times of struggle or great effort!

Let’s go be productive and be good to ourselves! 

Have a great week! ^^

[thralls-for-alls]

1, 4, 5, and 8 for all of them!

1: What does your OC feel is important to be talented at?

🐉 Story-telling is important to Mortus.  As someone who makes up his own stories to escape the harsh conditions of his life, he would find that someone who shares that talent would probably be just as light-hearted as he is.

🥃 To earn the Thrallmother’s respect, one must have a sense of humour.  Someone who can laugh at themselves and live life to the fullest is someone she wants around her.  Her test of getting someone to hop up onto her stage to dance for her is her way of testing for this; which is why she asks just about everyone to do it.

🐅 Since he struggles with it, Rictus values someone that knows how to entertain.  There’s a certain amount of positive energy that goes into it that makes him jealous, but damn he respects it.  A small part of him believes that it will rub off on him, but he also just likes watching someone else be awesome and confident.

🎆 TZ respects anyone who knows how to actually listen.  With his past, most of his peers in the Kingdom of Mike treat him with kid gloves.  He loathes people taking pity on him because of the loss of his squad, so he tries to keep the focus on his stunts.  But that usually just highlights that his stunts usually end in injury.  He appreciates when someone picks up that he’s trying to make a new name for himself and that he wants to be known as a star.

4: How does your OC behave typically under severe stress?

🐉 It would take a lot to push him to that point, but a stressed Mortus turns hard.  Mortus is still very young so his emotions are still just as big as he is, so he ends up having a teenager-grade meltdown, Thrall-style.  He would not be in a talking mood and want to solve whatever problem that’s stressing him out.  He doesn’t sit still and he won’t listen.  He won’t be thinking straight and he won’t be watching his strength.  Eardrums might bleed from his roaring or yelling.  But, there’s tears involved as he is most likely set off by his grief and hurt rather than just anger. Long-term stress would harden him even further; he’d build a mighty wall to protect himself, he’d become less optimistic over time.

🥃 The Sinful Bat has safety protocols for when the owner’s pushed over the edge.  Vocatia’s the queen of her realm, but her realm’s under attack by Loyalists, those who hate Thrall, Thrall who think she doesn’t deserve her position, etc. The club’s paint is always fresh and the tables all seem new because she’s more than capable of wrecking the place at will.  Long-term stress would wear her down eventually.  Anger and spite can only take one so far, after all.  There’s a point that she would say “fuck it” and just walk out, abandoning everything she’s ever worked for.  Stress is a destructive process for her, but thankfully she manages herself fairly well.

🐅 He gets hissy and irrational.�� Rictus is his own stress machine, so piling more on would make some of his weirder symptoms worse.  Unlike my other Thrall, he’s not liable to destroy anything around him.  He’s more likely to back away, baring his fangs, rattling his plates and waving all 16 tentacles in threat.  If given the chance to run off, he will.  He’d just find a comfortable place to just lay down and stress nap.  Dealing with that much brain fog and anxiety at once overloads his senses, so he tries to just block it out until it passes.  Long-term stress would result in a Rictus that cannot function at all.  Even simple tasks would become too frustrating.

🎆 Oh TZ… get anything he’s holding out of his hands otherwise it’s going to get eaten.  Or get anything that’s small out of his reach.  He can’t handle much as he’s already pretty stressed (Got to keep that smile and the show must go on).  His stunts become more and more dangerous as well, and the camera might even be off.  He fears being alone at this time, so he would cling to whoever wants to spend time with him.  His normally boisterous voice quiets down as well and he can grow less talkative.

5: What calms your OC down the best under severe stress?

🐉 It’s hard to calm Mortus once he’s over the edge; it means stopping him and well, who can stop a thirteen foot tall Thrall who’s being a dramatic teen?  A barrel of ice cream or a fresh-baked cake or other sweet thing with give him enough of a pause to listen to reason… or at least sit down for a while.  Be prepared for a Thrall head in your lap should you be his shoulder to cry on.

🥃 Let Vocatia tire herself out first.  Trying to stop her would only make you a target and she has a tendency to kick and gore (and punch and bite).  Once she’s stopped and/or sat down from being overwhelmed, take her up to her apartment (or another place she feels comfortable) and let her get comfortable.  Offer blankets, water and stay nearby and let her come to you.  Let her initiate physical contact because she may be repulsed if she’s not expecting it.  Reminders that she is with someone she can trust, is safe, and is doing wonders for the people she helps will help ground her.

🐅 Give him a hug and let him know that he’s okay.  Rictus needs to get grounded so offering him things to feel, smell and see will help him know what’s real and what isn’t.  Talk about anything light so he has something else to focus on. It also helps him feel wanted, which he secretly craves. He’s not exactly used to affection, but it would give him a sense of normalcy he doesn’t usually get. Rictus might cry. though.

🎆 Listen to him, or even just sit with him for a while. Let him direct the conversation or the lack thereof for a while. Let TZ feel like he’s the center of attention. Physical contact can help too, but it may push him to talk about serious and deep stuff that he’d rather keep hidden.

8: What does your OC hate and appreciate on others?

🐉 Mortus cannot abide by someone who uses double-speak or out right lies. He can’t stand unnecessary cruelty as well. These might be common in people, but they grind his gears in particular. He appreciates people who understand that protecting and respecting others is something to strive for. He also appreciates the effort in becoming a better person or at least he can respect if someone’s intentions are good. This can carry someone a long way with him.

🥃 She hates people who think they’re better than another because of their birth (highborn vs. lowborn, species, gender/sex, etc.). It’s a very Jennerit way of thinking and it’s something she outright rejects as truth. She does appreciate people that are accomodating for others. If you own a store that offers product for Thrall of all sizes, she probably adores you. Or if you run a group of people from all walks of life and treat each equally, she also probably adores you.

🐅 Rictus hates negative people. A little ironic for the sulking grump, but he deals with a lot of struggle himself so it’s hard for him to care about people complaining over mundane things. Oh Linda, your husband got you the obsidian necklace instead of the ruby you wanted? Suck it up, Linda, Rictus’ is deeaad. He appreciates anyone who would take the time to get to know him, despite him being a saltmine. He has always been made fun of for his size and now people generally believe that he’s dangerous, infectious, best off dead, etc. so someone just giving him a chance is a huge step in the right direction to getting on his good side.

🎆 TZ hates people who can’t at least respect artist’s work. Of course, this applies to him and his stunts/videos and he doesn’t demand anyone to like them (he’s just very enthusiastic), but it also applies to other’s work too. TZ will like someone less for saying another’s life work is a complete waste of time, shouldn’t exist, or has no value. He does appreciate people who are capable of thriving despite harsh circumstances. TZ tries so hard to make a new name for himself that overshadows what happened with his squad that anyone who manages to do that gets a huge plus in his book. Also, anyone who can take the time to learn how to differentiate between clones is awesome in his eyes, since he tries to stand out from the crowd.

[auburnfamilynews]

Lock him up

We’ve been patient. We’ve tried to forgive. We’ve wanted to move on. Days after November 26, 2010, a man with evil in his heart drove to Auburn and stole something from the Auburn people that had been part of where we gather, what we do, and the welcome mat to our university for almost 100 years of generations.

Time goes by, with our iconic trees being replaced by wires for the 2013 season, and then by two, new permanent oaks at the corner of College and Magnolia. One of the trees has been replaced again. And every time I look at that corner now, I long for a day I’ll never see. A day where those trees don’t look new. A day where that corner feels old again.

The sad part is that the closest I’ll ever come to seeing that corner look and feel old again is going to be if I live another 60 years. And frankly by that point in time I doubt I’d be going to games. No, what I remember as a child, celebrating in 1993, 1995, and in 1997 in Auburn after beating Alabama are memories that I know I can’t quite reach back and connect with the same way ever again. Now part of that is growth, because man has Auburn changed. Another part of that is a Pieology where a bar should be. Pieology should be put out of business and someone should resurrect Bodega immediately. But the main part of it for me are those two new trees.

Which brings me to this...

“What you’re saying today is worse than anything you said on January 27, 2011.” Harvey Updyke called into the @Finebaum Show. Paul let him have it. pic.twitter.com/JQEbooE4Jb

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 9, 2019

The fact that we had been subjected to hurt, insults, having something stolen from us, and had to deal with yet another attempt at stealing our joy from 2010 was hard. It’s enough to make you a little crazy and start thinking Auburn’s the problem sometimes. When people don’t let you, an Auburn person, enjoy a season, a player, trees, traditions, etc. that are uniquely Auburn and especially that year tried to steal all of it from you, it’s hard to know where to direct your frustration sometimes.

Harvey Updyke made the direction of that anger extremely easy. He encompassed the Cam Newton investigation, and everyone who wasn’t us telling us that our moment in the sun after 53 years would be taken away from us. He represented the worst offender in terms of a fanbase. And when the thought that a program that had been robbed of national title opportunities for decades finally kicked down the door, he took matters into his own hands to ensure that “order” could be restored, by reminding us that we should be allowed to have joy.

By doing what he did, Harvey also committed a crime. And owned up to it gleefully. He’s been tried by a jury, and found guilty. He’s been asked to pay restitution. He’s been asked to stay away from athletic events in the state. He’s been spotted at football games, such as the Alabama/LSU National Title game in early 2012. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison for his crimes in 2013, serving a mere 76 days in jail in Lee County.

Beyond the emotion that goes with experiencing theft of something that cannot be replaced or replicated, there is this whole thing of this man managing to avoid justice. Furthermore, this man has thumbed his nose at the law in which he was told to abide by, and has failed to pay restitution, as Harvey has paid less than $7,000 of an $800,000 bill. Harvey has managed to create a level of damage that cannot be restored, and the upheaval at Toomer’s Corner since is his responsibility. This is a man who has not served justice, a man who has not followed judges orders, and a man who seems to enjoy the celebrity that sadly has gone with committing a crime. And now, amidst being in violation of a judge’s orders, Harvey is a man who continues to use a platform given to him for reasons that I will never understand to play the role of a victim...and to insult Auburn.

Harvey Updyke should be in jail. He has willingly missed payments and hearings around this for years. Now, he has the motivated Lee County District Attorney on his tail. He has managed to use his notoriety as a way of getting to games, I’m sure having financial support, and insulting the people he hurt. This stopped being about dead trees in 2013 for Auburn University. What this has been about since the day it happened is justice.

Which leads me to the only game I’m paying close attention to today...

LSU at Alabama

Beat their ass like they stole something from you, LSU. Not because you owe us a favor, but because the only way for Harvey Updyke to feel pain isn’t going to come from the guilt he should feel for what he did, but from his beloved Tide losing a football game. And because those people cheering that embarrassing segment on Finebaum (aired by the SEC Network), don’t think that the man who committed a crime did anything wrong. It’s easy to get defensive at what I’m about to say, but they don’t represent all of them. I refuse to believe there are more people like that in the world than there are with common sense (though this world surprises me more and more each day). But for those specific folks that feed Harvey Updyke’s twisted ego, and for Harvey, a criminal, who has such a warped view of the world that today matters so much to, I want nothing but heartbreak for each and every single one of them. Beat their ass, LSU, and enjoy yourselves, your culture, and your way of living while there today, knowing that it’s all enough. There’s no need to inflict damage on them the way one of theirs did to us. The fact that you, like us, exist while they’re on top and still love who you are is more frustration to that segment of fandom than anything you could destroy over there. So again, beat their ass.

GEAUX TIGERS.

Western Kentucky at Arkansas

Chad Morris is going to be fired this year and Auburn’s name is going to get invoked in a lot of silly season talk because of it. You know why. There’s a lot of rooting interest on one side of the Auburn sphere that will find themselves rooting for Western Kentucky today so that Morris is fired on Sunday and this process picks up steam. For my part I think the train has left the station on us being involved in the talk of silly season, and it’s going to suck. Because it steals from the two biggest games of the year, both in Auburn. For that reason, knowing we’re going to get roped in on a lot of talk in November about Gus and Arkansas, I’d rather do it with the prospect of Arkansas making a coaching change, instead of it being a definite, since, you know, I’d like to enjoy and win the rest of our schedule. For that reason, WOO PIG SOOIE.

This week’s Index is a little condensed, frankly because the SEC sets this weekend up to be about Alabama and LSU every year. It sucks, the game will probably suck, and we’re invest energy into something we have no part in and should want no part of. But it’s a BYE week so cook some chili at the house, let your dog get to enjoy you being a little less scary around the TV, and maybe even use this weekend to get out and enjoy a nice, cool fall day.

With that, here’s my rooting interests (highlighted in bold) for the rest of the SEC games:

Missouri at Georgia - DUH

Appalachian State at South Carolina - Eli Drinkwitz is a guy to keep an eye on in silly season either this year or the next. Plus South Carolina is about as useful to me now as a screen door is on a submarine.

New Mexico State at Ole Miss - Look man I just enjoy watching the world burn. And Rich Rodriguez lose it in a box.

Vandy at Florida - Normally I’d root for Vandy because I feel sorry for them and because to hell with Florida. But on the off chance Mizzou can do the deal today and we finish Georgia off next week, it sure would be nice to see someone else win the SEC East!

Tennessee at Kentucky - Mark Stoops is allegedly a good football coach, so I’m told. So good, that he’s probably the right fit for Florida State. Or he’s fine to probably never have a 10-win season again at Kentucky while not getting fired. Either way, he’s not an Alabama graduate who doesn’t understand vegetables. Tennessee is getting better. Which, yeah, ok that’s fine. They still aren’t getting better quick enough to challenge Alabama year over year. Plus this ain’t basketball. And last year happened, and I’ll never be ok with it.

That’s all I’ve got for this week friends! Feel free to comment below with your rooting interests today and how they may best impact Auburn!

War Eagle!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2019/11/9/20956497/rootability-index-vol-5