#and probably the oldest I will ever post in any capacity to this blog so like enjoy that I guess

[questersrest]

(sorry this is a side blog, dumblr only lets your reply to posts from your main)

anyway, another long infodump ahead (i get possitive responses from my followers when i do this so i will not apologise)

yeah, the room to the left in the quester's rest populates with player's you've tagged (talk to erinn, ask to canvass for guests) up to 6.

once you reach your 7th guest, the barrier is removed from the stairs to access the first floor (second floor for y'all americans) and erinn will explain she had to open it up to make room for more guests. on that floor, you'll find a door and more stairs barred off. the area will populate with another 6 guests.

at your 13th guest, well, first you'll find the whole interior of the quester's rest has been upgraded. but also erinn will have unbarred the door upstairs to make room for another 6 guests.

at your 19th guest, erinn will unbar the stairs to the second floor (third floor). there's another barred door there.

with your 25th guest, the quester's rest interior will upgrade againthe door on the top floor will open and you'll see you finally have room for the whole 30 guests.

if you have more than 30 guests, they start replacing the oldest ones but you can show guests to the royal suit so they never leave (ask erinn to view the guestbook).

when you reach the max capacity of 30, you'll get access to the basement. there's a fountain down there that spawns items, some of the items you find may differ from other players due to a hidden fountain group value in your save file. there are 4 spots where items spawn but a new spot gets added for every 100 players you tag up to 10 additional spots (14 total) at 1000 players. there's also accolades for tagging certain numbers of players up to 1000.

if you ever connected to wifi (ps while ds wifi was discontinued in 2014, there are fan replacement servers you can connect to, ask me about them for more info. otherwise, you can hack this stuff in with the save editor), you probably have the special inn guests from previous games who's rooms you can access from the elevator operator who takes you to the royal suites. they all have 3-5 pieces of gear to give you to dress up as them. they will all have one to give you the first time you talk to them, one to give you on your birthday (birthday in ingame profile settings matches date on your ds), and one to give you when the in is fully expanded. (they may also have one they give you if you talk to them as a certain vocation and/or one after a certain quest. they will also give you birthday cakes and/or party poppers on your birthday, these could only otherwise be obtained from the dqvc - the fan servers do NOT operate dqvc themes that had them. and 1 birthday cake is required for an extra quest so don't go using those up. one extra quest requires dressing as borya; borya will only give you his shoes when the inn is fully expanded. i bought borya's shoes from the dqvc in 2014 instead, the fan servers do NOT run the theme with those either. if you're fine with using a save editor you can hack all this stuff in instead if you want).

in tag mode you can also share a copy of any treasure maps. you can't tag the same player, every save has a uuid (universal unique identifier) so your save will know if it's the same player. but if they've left your inn (either bc you've got more than 30 and they were kicked out, or you manually kicked them from the guest book), you can tag them again. it WON'T count as an additional guest but you can share another map this way.

deleting a save file will delete the uuid so you can reset the save file on another copy over and over, playing through the first 2 hours of the game to reach the quester's rest, then tagging your main copy. this is what i've been doing, it's slow but i'd prefer to avoid hacking my original copy if possible.

EDIT: almost totally forgot i was gonna add a video. if you'd like to see what the inn expansions look like, here's a video. looks like the uploader is enhancing the graphics in an emulator. they also have no actualy guests in the rooms so they probably just unlocked them with the save editor

[3amsnek]

Redraw number 2 of Slime Man and Spite Child (top is now, bottom left is June 2020 and right is ~ late 2017)

Click for better quality

Reblogs > likes, please don’t like this if you’re not going to reblog it

[darkwarriorproject]

Hillo there! I read your blog about "character analysis" and I'm curious on more backstory about Erol. There really isn't alot about him besides the fact he is a commander and he is a champion racer. But how did he get the position of commander and did he learn to race by himself or did his father/other teach him? And i notice in the game at the Underground hide out there is a poster of him in the back. Were him and Torn originally friends perhaps?

Erol was born in Kras (which was still a colony of Haven at the time) and lived there with his single mother until around age 7. While they generally had enough money to cover essentials like rent and food, there was very little to spare for leisure; a lot of their clothes came second-hand and Erol had very few toys or other possessions, and he was often left to amuse himself during his mum's long work hours.

Like many of his peers, young Erol loved watching the races and dreamed of becoming a champion when he was older, but he never really connected with other kids and didn't have any real friends (he was small for his age and was often bullied; none of the ‘cool kids’ wanted anything to do with him, and he didn't get on with the other bullied kids because he considered himself better than them). Erol's trouble connecting with others in a meaningful and positive way would remain a problem throughout his life, though he definitely got better at faking it as he grew older.

Erol's mum came from a once-wealthy family whose business enterprises had failed in her youth, draining all the family savings; Erol never met any of them, as his mother was completely estranged from her surviving relatives by the time of his birth (largely due to values dissonance, as they didn't approve of her having a child while unmarried). She'd had a brief affair with Baron Praxis around the time of his wife's death, though she was generally circumspect with this information and never told Erol anything about his father. Erol keenly felt the absence of any sort of father figure throughout his early childhood, and when his mother told him he would be shipped off to Haven to live with his father he was absolutely thrilled at the prospect. This was in the early years after Praxis's coup but before the dust had settled; Erol's mother threatened to expose the affair if Praxis didn't comply with her demands (taking care of Erol and paying her). However, Kras was completely cut off from Haven shortly after this, and Erol never saw or heard from his mother again.

Young Erol showed up in Haven and Praxis suddenly found himself saddled with an illegitimate son and a potential scandal he really couldn't afford (there were still plenty of dissenters who wouldn't hesitate to use something like that against him). But even after Kras was cut off, Praxis quickly found that keeping Erol suited his own needs; Erol was desperate to please his newfound father and Praxis realised he could turn this to his advantage, grooming Erol into the perfect subordinate.

Praxis pulled some strings and got Erol enrolled in Haven's private academy, placing him among students from the oldest nobility and wealthiest civillian families in Haven, and overall Erol's quality of life improved drastically from what he'd known back in Kras. However, he still didn't get what he truly wanted; Praxis kept him at arm's length emotionally, and of course Ashelin was still Praxis's only legitimate child and heir– Erol coveted Ashelin's position and began to see her as a rival, feelings that were only compounded by the fact that she barely noticed him (she was a few years older and busy with her own lessons and training). Once again, Erol found that he didn't particularly care for any of his peers; he was thoroughly devoted to pleasing Praxis and felt no desire to make friends his own age.

After a couple years in Haven, Erol started competing in the NYFE Youth Division, entering his first tournament at the youngest age allowed. Of course he had received some basic lessons in zoomer handling (as this was one of the requirements for entry) but racing came easily to him, and he quickly gained public notice after he took first place in his debut tournament. He became a posterchild for both the NYFE and the KG Cadets program, beginning his lifelong career as the KG-sponsored racing champion. Praxis encouraged him to cultivate his newfound popularity among the masses, and Erol became almost addicted to the validation he received from the public. Once official trade resumed between Haven and Kras, Erol began to travel there occasionally as an ambassador of sorts; Kras had changed a lot during the decade of isolation but their obsession with racing had remained consistent, and Erol's skill as a champion earned him a degree of respect few other visiting Havenites received.

Erol met Torn a handful of times during Torn's command of the KG, but their encounters were only ever in an official capacity; Torn was 5-6 years Erol's senior and too busy running the KG to have time for socialising with a teenager, and the two had very little in common (Torn had come from an impoverished family and climbed the ranks by pure merit, while Erol had received the very best education and social opportunities available in Haven). After the fall of Haven's Old Town district Torn was labelled a traitor, and Erol took over as commander of the KG; by this point Erol thoroughly resented Torn, both for his supposed ‘treachery’ and for the comparisons that were inevitably made between the two (Erol was better liked due to his near-celebrity status, but Torn had been well respected as a capable leader and combat veteran while Erol had almost no practical military experience). At first Erol was determined to be the one to bring Torn in, but as time passed it became clear that Torn's effectiveness in the resistance was hampered by poor resources and lack of manpower, and Erol began to focus more on other things– the DWP was under way, and Erol's obsession with Jak rapidly overtook the lingering resentment he felt for Torn.

((you can find more context for all of these events in the Haven timeline masterpost))

We also received an ask about Erol's relationships; I think I touched on this pretty well throughout this post but to summarise: Erol struggles to form positive relationships with other people, and instead his interactions with others tend to be grounded in rivalry and competition. Almost from the moment he arrived in Haven, Erol felt like he was competing with Ashelin for Praxis's attention and he was compelled to prove he was a better commander than Torn, and during his visits to Kras he developed a rivaly with Razer that at times turned sexual. And then, his abusive treatment of Jak was largely rooted in a need to project his own insecurities onto an external target so he could make himself feel better. Erol's budding romance with Keira was probably the closest he ever came to a healthy relationship, as they at least shared common interests, but it was still grounded in manipulative behaviour and power plays (Keira must have talked about Jak at some point and there's no way Erol didn't make the connection).

Erol spent his whole life as a pawn in other people's games, and when he attempted to replicate the abuse cycle he ended up spiralling into self-destruction instead.

[sophygurl]

Woot! Tagged by my new we-finished-a-series-at-the-same-time-and-desperately-need-to-talk-about-it book buddy @blackandwhitemotley​! (I seem to collect these - hi @wingedsaboteur​)

1) Name/Nickname: Rosemary is my name. Soph or sophy tends to be a nickname to anyone who met me on the internets first for obvious reasons. I will accept the shortening of my name - Rose - only if I can tell by the way you said it that you know the full name is Rosemary (I can tell okay). I only accept Rosie if my inner child is out because that’s HER name though I accept Rosy , from one friend who asked permission a long time ago (hey @ladynorbert​). I let any and all kids call me me Aunt Rose, not just my nieces and nephew (who is too young yet to call me anything), and my oldest niece still loves to call me by her baby name for me - AuRoo. This was probably a longer thesis on names than the question is meant to be, but that’s me!

2) Gender: Cis genderqueer woman is the best descriptor for my gender and sex. 

3) Star sign: Leo - rawr.

4) Height: 5′3′‘ - just short enough to have short people problems but not quite short enough to be seen as short.

5) Hogwarts House: I’ve had long conversations about this with one of my closest friends @c-l-ford, and we really can’t come up with a true consensus. I think I’m a combo of all four, but I realize that’s a cop-out. 

6) Favourite animal: Felines of any sort, though I’m an all around animal lover (bugs don’t count).

7) Hours of sleep: 8-12, though closer to 8 these days since the Lyrica is helping me to sleep more normally.

8) Dogs or Cats: Cats obvi, but I do love dogs. 

9) Number of blankets: Like, I know this is asking the number of blankets you sleep with on your bed, but the phrasing makes me wanna go around and count all the blankets I own. But okay - I sleep with a light blanket during warmer months, and throw a big comforter over the top during the colder ones. 

10) Dream trip: I’d love to take a cruise through the Mediterranean, taking stops in Sicily, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, etc. 

11) Dream job: At this point, I’d really just love to be working again in any capacity. I miss it so much. I miss feeling like I had a purpose, and knowing I was doing a good job, and working harder the next day, and thinking about getting promoted, and just generally - yea - being my workaholic self. Which makes being too disabled to work for over 15 years now kind of a bummer. 

12) Time: 1:12 pm

13) Birthday: July 29

14) Favourite Bands: I’m never up on new music, so I’m gonna go with some of my classic faves here - Areosmith, Cheap Trick, The Doors, The Indigo Girls, Journey, The Monkees, R.E.M., Queen

15) Favourite Solo Artists: Ani DiFranco, Blondie, Dar Williams, Janis Joplin, Joan Jett, k.d. lang, P!nk, Tori Amos (and yes I added an s to make this one plural too, no fair asking for multiple bands but only one solo artist)

16) Song Stuck In My Head: Lady, by Styx

17) Last Movie I watched: Hidden Figures, though my stupid body fell asleep at the last third or so of the movie, so I’m gonna have to re-watch. (When I woke up, I turned to my friend and said “I missed the ending, did they ever make it to the moon?”)

18) Last Show I Watched: Madam Secretary (I’m a few eps behind though)

19) When Did I Create My Blog: I wanna say about four years ago??

20) What Do I Post/Reblog: So many. I’m a huge TV nerd, so lots of reblogs of gifsets and meta (and sometimes my own meta or short opinion bit) about lots of shows both past and present. I also dig me a lot of books and some movies, so those show up. Intersectional feminism is a big deal to me, so I signal boost a lot of stuff along those lines. I love memes, puns, cute animal pics, gender queering, and pretty shiny things. I might occasionally post personal stuff. I’m chronically ill and that affects my life to a large degree, so I’m likely to reblog stuff about that if it shows up on my dash. Around May - June, I’m likely to be posting about WisCon, my local feminist SFF con that happens Memorial Weekend each year. And in a couple of days here it’ll be November 1st which is when I let my Christmas nerd out to play, so there’ll be a lot of that then too. 

21) Last Thing I Googled: haha, it was actually the song Lady by Styx because I couldn’t remember who sang it, and because once I realized it was in my head, I wanted to listen to it.

22) Other Blogs: No other tumblrs, though I do (very) occasionally post on my Dreamwidth account - same name as this tumblr. 

23) Do I Get Asks: Not very often, though I love it when I do! I adore interacting with folks, so come at me.

24) Why I Chose My URL: sophy from sophia, the feminine divine aspect of god, and also just wisdom/knowledge in general (I was studying philosophy and religious studies when I came up with the sophygurl handle the first time). Then I added -gurl at the end because it was less likely to conflict with other ppl who wanted to combine sophy and girl together to make a name. lol

25) Following: 267 (this is why I can never catch up even on a good day)

26) Followers: 582 - can that be right? Do I have those reversed? I guess a lot of those are spam accounts. 

27) Lucky Number: 5

28) Favourite instrument: Drums of all kinds.

29) What Am I Wearing: lol a silky nightgown paired with an old comfy sweatshirt over the top and comfy pj pants underneath, and warm socks.

30) Favourite Food: Dark chocolate, broccoli, potatoes, and my family’s recipe spaghetti sauce - which I’m gonna make in a few days for the first time in ages woo!

31) Nationality: USian. 

32) Favourite Song: Imagine, by John Lennon. 

33) Last Book Read: The Root by Na’amen Gobert Tilahun 

34) Top Three Fictional Universes I’d Like To Join: Oh geeze, most of my fave universes to read about/watch are not ones I’d want to personally be involved in, so let me think. Maybe the world in Practical Magic, Starhawk’s The Fifth Sacred Thing but only if I could be part of the Bay Area world and not the LA one, Realm of the Elderlings - preferably in the Rain Wilds over other areas.

Tagging: other than the one who tagged me - if you got tagged in the body of this post for other reasons, consider yourselves tagged to do this! Otherwise - tagging anyone who wants to. Make sure you tag me so I’ll see it when you do it tho! :)

[a-pearl-by-any-other-name-blog]

The Bird And The Tiger

(This is another repost from my old blog.)

The problem with essentially pigeonholing yourself into making a Steven Universe blog comes when you realize you don’t actually have that many subjects to go through during the drought between episodes.

But after some deliberation, I realized I had quite a bit of fun with my Jaspis post, so why not try the same thing twice? Steven Universe is ripe with possible ships waiting to set sail, and even more character interactions that really should be addressed in some form or another.

So for this little rant/analysis, let’s delve into something a bit more on the fringe of the show’s canon. There’s plenty of Jaspis interactions, Lapidot interactions, Pearlmethyst interactions and more that you can find within the canon, but this one involves two Gems that have yet to really share a proper scene together (and as such, no stylish opening image, sadly), yet they seem to be quite tightly connected: Jasper and Pearl!

(This is literally the only scene they appear together!)

At first glance, Jaspearl might almost sound like a crackship. These are two characters who’ve never had any major interactions together, rarely ever mention one another, and just overall have almost nothing to connect one another besides sharing the same TV show.

But as season 3 progressed, and we found out a little bit more about Jasper, there are some curious parallels between the servant and the soldier that make this a very interesting “what-if” relationship to be explored. There’s quite a bit to get through with these two, so like last time, I will try very hard to keep things organized and coherent.

Let’s start with one of the show’s main characters: Pearl.

Pearl does not need much introduction. She is not a very subtle character, despite how nuanced many of her aspects may be. Possibly the oldest surviving member of the Crystal Gems, Pearl seems to be the one to take her role as “mother” to Steven the most seriously. She can be authoritative to the point of bossiness, caring to the point of overbearing, and emotional to the point of being a complete wreck.

There is no denying Pearl carries her emotions on her sleeve, and while she can get easily carried away because of them, they always come from the right place. She can be remarkably patient when she wants to, but also more uptight than a college dean in an 80′s comedy. Pearl has her flaws, but they do come from a very real place.

Rose Quartz was as much of an influence on Pearl when she was alive, as she was when she died. Even ignoring the resentment (big or small) that might have boiled up inside Pearl over the years due to Greg essentially winning the Rosebowl, and even the fact she’s now caring for the son/reincarnation of her former love interest, Pearl’s issues started a long way back, thousands of years before Greg even existed.

As we’ve seen in the show, Pearls in the Gem Homeworld are little more than servants. They’re not depended on anything besides carrying things, opening doors, looking pretty and maybe occasionally singing. There’s likely not a whole lot of respect being thrown around in a Pearl’s direction, or even any kind of validation for their existence outside of being ordered to do something. So we can gather this was most likely Pearl’s life before Rose came into the picture: she was just someone’s lackey, and this was all she knew. But then came the rebellion, and Rose showed her the endless possibilities that lay ahead of Pearl. Everything she wanted to be, she could be, and Pearl clearly took Rose’s words to heart. Maybe a little too much.

It’s made quite clear throughout the show Pearl still has issues properly coming to terms with the concept of “not having an owner”. She was madly loyal to Rose Quartz, which while it can certainly simply be interpreted as nothing more than loyalty out of respect/love, I feel there’s just as many clues to suggest something a bit more complicated. Pearl might still be having difficulties rationalizing her newfound freedom with her instincts of servitude.

Pearl’s mentality of “I’m not strong unless I’m being told what to do” is displayed in a few episodes, probably most prominently during the Sardonyx mini arc. Pearl’s relationship towards Rose, while undoubtedly romantic in nature, suffers greatly from Pearl’s own mentality: it isn’t enough that she loves Rose, but her entire existence is connected to her. Without Rose, Pearl is nothing; without a leader, Pearl is useless.

Rose’s death affected her in ways far deeper than simply grieving over a loved one. It left her practically aimless and without a purpose, all of that strength she had built up over millennia would have been gone in an instant as she was left without someone to tell her that she was still strong.

Now, of course, it could be argued much of what I just said has been rendered moot by season 4, more specifically around “Last One Out Of Beach City” where Pearl seems to finally drop her Rose blues, and jumps back into the dating scene after Mystery Girl.

However, this can be read as yet another example of how Pearl has difficulties letting go of the past, and more specifically, Rose. You really only have to take a look at Mystery Girl to realize it, and the show itself points out her physical similarities to Rose Quartz. For Pearl’s first human crush to be a woman who resembles (vaguely, but still resembles) her long lost leader seems to have hardly been done on accident (although it could very well just have been laziness, but there’s enough speculation in this post already).

This part of Pearl’s character hasn’t been approached again at this time (”Room For Ruby” having been the last episode since this post), so only time will tell where this particular plot point might head in the future, if even at all.

But with Pearl out of the way, it’s time to approach the other big side of this ship:

Jasper is a whole other ball of relationship issues, even if she doesn’t seem like it at first. While the brave Gem soldier started her run in the show as a confident and powerful antagonist, things have changed quite a lot since “The Return”. A big catalyst for that change was Lapis, who I have a whole other post detailing what went down between them there. So to keep things short: Jasper has become a bit obsessed with the concept of fusing.

However, whether this is purely from a standpoint of “fusing makes me more powerful” or if there’s something deeper going on, that’s quite up for debate. Jasper has expressed sorrow over both her fusion partners eventually leaving her in the end, and her pleads to Lapis to reform Malachite didn’t seem to be feigned (she blamed and attacked Steven for Lapis’s refusal, as opposed to just going after Lapis to force a fusion after all).

While it’s yet to really be overtly stated, Jasper seems to have developed a necessity to stay fused. Exactly how deep this goes remains to be seen, but it’s quite the fertile ground for speculation. Maybe Jasper is only interested in power, but maybe that’s just what she’s telling herself and fusion is emotionally affecting her more than she’d care to admit.

But that’s not all that’s been haunting Jasper since she returned to Earth, but this one is much simpler. Jasper lost her Diamond to Rose Quartz, and that has affected her very deeply. Jasper clearly felt a strong connection to Pink Diamond, but whether this is considered normal among Gems, or if there was actually a more intimate and personal relationship between Jasper and her Diamond remains to be seen.

It’s also worth to not this quote by Rebecca Sugar herself regarding Jasper, and her refusal to accept help from Steven and the others:

“Jasper is very different than Peridot and Lapis. Unlike them, she has a deep hate for herself because of her origins on Earth. She is determined to never be weak or vulnerable. So at the point when she’s the lowest, there’s no way she’d ever accept help, because she believes she doesn’t deserve it.

Peridot and Lapis both believed they deserved better than what happened to them, but not Jasper. She went back to Earth to face her demons, and she lost. She’s consumed by her own self pity.”

With this, we can see Jasper has a lot more insecurities than the “perfect Quartz” would be expected to have. From her anger towards the loss of her Diamond, her self-flagellation and her growing fusion complex, there’s quite a lot going inside that hard head of hers.

Where exactly this leaves Jasper and Pearl is entirely up for interpretation, obviously, but there’s definitely a lot to work with between the two should they ever get a proper interaction together.

Both Gems lost someone they deeply cared about (to the other’s significant other, no less); both Gems have had their issues regarding fusion (Malachite and Sardonyx) and using it as a way to empower themselves; both Gems have quite deep-seated inferiority complexes, and they generally act upon them in similar ways (shutting themselves out for others, or even manipulating others to feel better about themselves).

Even on a more surface level, the image of a petite, calm and refined element building something between a much larger, cruder and more violent one to help them find their gentler side is a popular story that can be told very well, very easily (”Beauty And The Beast“ has survived long enough to prove this).

What the future holds for Pearl, only the Crewniverse can say. For Jasper, even more so. It would seem like a badly missed opportunity if these two never get to meet one on one in some capacity, but whether that seems likely to you or not depends primarily on how much faith you still have on the writing staff for the show.

[auburnfamilynews]

Finding and reading people’s thoughts and opinions on Auburn’s A-Day isn’t hard. Whether it is beat reporters, professional analysts, Twitter users, or just your favorite sports blogger, the information is plentiful and easy to find. I am sure the message boards and pay-wall sites are filled to capacity with everyone’s thoughts, especially on the hot topic, for which everyone seems to have a hot take. 

It would have been a lot easier to muddle through if coach Malzahn had offered real thoughts on the spring game or in the practices leading up to A-Day. Spring games are often watered down, both in substance and also time, as the second half features a running clock. Yet, this spring seemed odd because the lack of real substance started at the beginning.

Coach Malzahn is notably tight-lipped about everything, and this year his tin-foil hat was tightly pulled down over his visor after scrimmages. In past years, reporters have had to work hard to coax out information about big plays and performances during scrimmages. What the coach has to say is important to fans, who know that these small glimpses into the program were likely the best source of information to be had. 

Coach Malzahn continues to take every precaution to make sure that opposing teams don’t get any glimpses, and if that means that passionate Auburn fans are left speculating wildly after Auburn’s glorified scrimmage, so be it. 

There were some things to take away from Auburn’s spring game other than simply the quarterback battle that will rage on through the summer. Here are some of my thoughts about Saturday’s A-Day game.

Auburn’s defense played well against the run, and while it would be easy to point to some long quarterback keepers that were whistled dead, it is important to remember that the game plan was designed to ignore the QB run and the RPO. What mattered was between the tackles, and Auburn’s defense forced more cracks in the Auburn run game than a lot of people thought were possible. As it was last year, you can largely ignore the stats put up by D. J. Williams, just as you could last year when walk-on C. J. Tolbert was the MVP. If you wanted to see how Auburn’s run game was really doing, you just needed to watch when Boobee Whitlow and Kam Martin were in the game. They looked just as they did last season: not SEC-caliber, every down backs. While this has never been Martin’s calling, Whitlow was essentially forced into the role last season. The issue is that he took the job by default.

Auburn didn’t have a rusher eclipse the 1,000 yard mark in a season for the first time in a long time. Some of that was caused by the offensive line struggles. Some of it was relying on Jarrett Stidham throwing the ball. Some of it was Whitlow’s injuries. However, most of the reason was Auburn’s not recruiting SEC-quality running backs or keeping them on campus.

Auburn’s offensive line did not push the pile against a very talented first and second string defensive line, and a lot of that was due to play calling on both sides. It probably helped the offensive line that the defense couldn’t blitz on passing downs, but it was hard to create running lanes against a talented group of defenders that simply “stayed home” against the run. While it remains to be seen if Auburn’s run game is actually in trouble, technically speaking the offensive line did look better than at any point last season. 

The receivers, despite missing huge pieces in Will Hastings and Anthony Schwartz, did more than “just catch the ball,” which is something they have struggled with under coach Kodi Burns. Under Burns and Malzahn, Auburn’s receivers have been pure talent more than polished players. For the first time, Auburn’s receivers made contested catches without any bonehead drops. Perhaps most importantly, Auburn’s John Samuel Shenker looks like a true inline tight end.

Last, but certainly not least, is the quarterback battle. You can take Cord Sandberg out of the equation. Unless this is a fine job of slow-playing a quarterback, Sandberg wasn’t given any opportunity to separate himself, despite being nearly flawless in his lone appearance against Purdue and again on A-Day. The fact is he never played with Auburn’s first group and was given zero chance to shine in the passing game.

Malik Willis likely lost the job last season when he didn’t show any growth as a player in the 2018 spring game. Fair or not, Willis has had an uphill battle ever since. He was robbed of any chance to showcase himself during games and essentially had to press the issue in this spring game to be noticed.

While Gatewood and Bo Nix were given great play calls and the best players, Willis was not. As a result you could see him forcing plays while Gatewood and Nix seemed effortless in their execution. Yet, Willis DID make plays despite not being given the same opportunity. It appears the coaching staff has moved on from Willis. Could we be surprised? Absolutely. I hope that’s the case. Doesn’t seem like it, however. 

The real battle appears to be down to Gatewood and Nix. However, there are some small nuances that make me believe that Bo Nix is going to end up being Auburn’s starter come November.

Yes, Gatewood is physically gifted. The Cam Newton comparisons are everywhere, but pump the brakes on that, ye of short memory. Jeremy Johnson had those comparisons. So did Woody Barrett. So did Jason Smith. Despite what you believe, the fact remains that Auburn’s offenses since Nick Marshall have been best with NON-Cam Newton-esq players like Sean White and Jarrett Stidham. Bo Nix shares a similar play style with them. 

The most important thing I learned on A-Day came from  listening to the on-camera comments and watching the play calls Gus Malzahn made on the field. The lone bit of trickeration that Malzahn attempted all game was attempting to draw the defense offsides to set up a free play. Gus even called who the pass would go to: Williams up top. He later commented on this on camera, and it was executed perfectly by Bo Nix. It ended in a 38-yard bomb down to the two-yard-line.

Nix tossed two touchdowns after offensive pass interference was called, robbing Shenker of a TD. Nix was unfazed and tossed the ball for a touchdown to Stove on the next play. 

On that drive, Auburn’s offense looked unstoppable. Nix made some great reads on the option. He made some great throws. The most important takeaway was that he was on the same page as his coach and was trusted to make the play. That’s why I think Bo Nix ends up being the starter in November. 

Check back with us  tomorrow when we’ll share our thoughts on the defense’s A-Day performance.

The post Zach’s Thoughts on A-Day: The Offense appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.

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