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botwstoriesandsuch · 4 years ago

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DEAR FISH FUCKERS, YOU’RE WELCOME

I’ve done what no other has done before (to my knowledge) and found the aging system for the Zora!

Ok so this started as simple research for this ask

See, I misread the phrasing of “best educated guess” to “research for 2 hours and come to a conclusive answer” so anyhow before I indulge you into the answers of the universe allow me to explain the research I’ve come across

[TL;DR at the bottom]

So firstly, we have to look at our conclusive evidence, from which we’ll base our theory/headcanon on, which can mainly be found in the Creating a Champion book, and some dialogue in game. I’ve compiled them all in these bullets here

Zora children are around 20ish years old [as said by dialogue with Finley in her love letter sidequest, I don’t have a screenshot but please just take my word for it]

150ish is considered middle-aged for Zora

Muzu is around 4 centuries old

Curved claws, weathered fins, and worn noses are signs of an older Zora that is more than 3 centuries(ish) old

Zora that were friends with Link must be around 150ish (not just 100), since you need to also account for the 20+ years of growing from a child stage, to the more normal sized form that you see them in the game, ergo, it’s that age plus the 100 years stasis that we determine the “middle age” of around 150

150 is the middle age, double that for the average old age of 300 years, but I say it could go to 400 too for additional reasons I’ll explain later with examples with my final age system. Anyhow, Muzu is around 400 if you take the 100 years for actually growing up from childhood, additional 100+ years of holding a different job as I doubt you just straight out hire a councilman without experience, and then another century for where he first started working in in the council, training Mipha, which would overlap with the period of the pre and post Great Calamity and Link’s return, meaning that’s 3 centuries plus 50ish years if we’re being generous with the overlap. This would help line up with the “for over a century” line as that doesn’t quite mean 2 centuries of working in the council, but Muzu is definitely getting up there to 4 centuries for his age alone

Now, I thought, this was gonna be my breakthrough, this screenshot here, depicting the traits of the older Zora. The elderly Zora are probably around 3 centuries old (since King Dorephan said they were young men around Mipha’s time, 150ish+100 gives us the range of 250-300), so I was like “Oh l can look at the size of their fins and noses and head/tail things and find a more efficient way to find their age” but nOPE. There is very little variation in that ballpark, the Zora either have exaggerated weathered noses or nice and shiny fins and no in between. The size of their head fins are roughly the same, with again, the only exaggerated differences being with the King and Sidon which doesn’t help at all because the Royal Zora already have a bunch of other difference such as their SIZE to name one.

I even went to the part about their curved toes, which initially would line up with some other Zora like Muzu

And let me tell you

I’ve looked at their toes

This is them from a child, a middle-aged, and an elderly. Color doesn’t matter and the curve? Well there’s

BARELY A DIFFERENCE

At least not nearly enough to find an efficient way to find age. Even Muzu’s final model didn’t have the exaggerated curvature as seen in the book.

I looked at their tail tail fins, (not the tail on their head, but their actual small rounded tail fin by their butts) because the book also mentioned how the grown Zora have more pronounced tail fins compared to the kids, but it was the same for the 150s and the 300s sooo not that helpful

So I kept digging. In the book I found that King Dorephan was crowned around 100 years before the game started. In addition I reread the 10 Zora stone monuments and found that he had killed a Guardian with his bare hands and thrown it off a cliff, which he still had a scar from.

[and yes I attempted to find his definitive age by seeing how long it takes for a scar to fade but I gave up cause Zora anatomy is too different to find a conclusive answer]

So I was like, “ok Dorephan had to have been around 150 when he came to the throne, then 50 years later the guardians are excavated giving way to the story about the guardian...” blah blah blahbla I even went to the supposed site where that guardian was, but it all didn’t really give me that much more info than what I already knew. I was researching ways to age the rock monuments from visuals alone which needless to say is pretty impossible, so I gave up on finding Dorephan’s age and I kept digging.

All I wanted was something physical that could properly give way to identifying a Zora’s age was that too much to ask???

Now this is where I had all but given up, it seems that my only answer was this vague note about how their fins move up when they grow

Which, to be fair, held true when I looked at the in-game character models myself, but I can’t exactly pixel measure these things for each Zora.

But THAT’S where the revelation came. I was so focused on finding inconsistencies within the elderly Zora, when I should have been looking at the young baby ones. See, this pictures, literally right next to the page about elderly Zora that I was analyzing for ages, is the key to it all

Now, I was thinking about the rings on a tree, and certain species of banded fish that grow and discard different markings as they grow older, I even counted the neck rings on certain Zora to see if they did that thing where they add a ring for each birthday like some African and Asian cultures do (look it up, that stuff’s pretty interesting!) and that is where it struck me.

Count how many luminescent markings are on their head

The males have 11, the females have 8 (on the one side, the other side has the same number of dots but for simplicity purposes I’m doing one side)

Now let’s count for these Zoras, who are middle aged-ish

The male has 10, the female has 7.

Now let’s look at the oldest Zora that we know of

3 dots above the eye, four on the tail. Muzu that motherfucker has 7 damn dots and I couldn’t be happier.

MY DUDES, GALS, AND PALS THIS IS IT, I’VE CHECKED AND DOUBLE CHECKED WITH NEARLY EVERY ZORA I COULD AND THE NUMBER OF LUMINESCENT MARKINGS ON THEIR HEAD CORRESPONDS WITH THE AMOUNT OF CENTURIES THEY’VE LIVED, LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY DOWN TO THE DOT

First we have Muzu, who as I’ve preciously stated is around 4 centuries old. 11-4? Oh, it’s seven, and that’s the amount of markings he has? OOoo??

How about this Zora Lady who recognized Link from 100 years ago?

Seven dots? 8-7 is 1 so shes just over one century which lines up timeline wise. You can even see how the third dot is slowing shrinking on her head so she’s coming up on 2 centuries

Ok how about the elders?

NINE. 11-9 is 2 centuries, with again, the dot by their head shrinking significantly showing how they’re getting up on 3 centuries.

The part I circled in green there is jewelry, not a marking, however this only goes further to prove my point. What better way to appear youthful than to have jewelry that makes it look like you have more markings than you have, made with luminous stone, no less.

This guy? Seggin? Super close to 4 centuries, those dots are fading away fast. Count your days old timer

Random dude that doesn’t recognize Link but is an new apprentice for sculpture making? 10 dots, a fresh 1 century pal, lookin young

I was a feral child running across the Domain screaming people’s ages in their face like a rude, naive, brat, I was elated to say the least. Especially since this system even works on the King himself

[plus one dot slightly behind the fin here...]

King Dorephan has 7 dots, he’s 400 years old. Which still lines up timeline wise, especially since he’s similar age with Muzu who he has stated is one of his most trusted advisors, beecaaaaaaaause of the years they’ve spent working together the timelines match uppppppp

This system works for almost all Zora, with 2 exceptions. Guards have helmets that cover their markings, so it’s impossible to tell. In addition, Prince Sidon, has sixteen lights on this hammerhead because he’s fancy like that (we already know he’s canonically 2ish centuries old anyhow from the DLC)

EDIT: I WAS WRONG THIS WORKS FOR SIDON TOO. The sixteen markings I was referring to was actually the amount of marking on each side of the head total, however if we look at the markings for only one side, like intended

Ten dots, Sidon’s over 100 years old. I’d say he’s closer to 150 given the timeline

Essentially, the most surefire way to find almost any Zora’s age is to identify a male or female Zora, count the number of lights on the side of their head/tail thing, then subtract from 11 if they’re a male, and from 8 for a female. The number left is how many centuries they’ve lived. You can check to see if their markings are shrinking and fading to get a sense if they’re coming up on the next century anytime soon. Comparing this with the oldest Zora we see in game, we can conclusively say that the Zora lifespan is around 3 to 4 centuries since no Zora has been seen with less than seven markings

Now go and make your Zora ocs with your appropriate number of lights. I’m gonna have a cookie

#botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda botw #loz botw #zora #zora botw #botw theory #botw headcanon #no fuck that this IS canon

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squarefriend · 4 years ago

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Alrighty how about 14 with Mettaton and 9 with Toriel?

This is a long ass post, so buckle up buttercups >:)

So, if you really think about it, Mettaton IS a robot now. He fused with his body, considering he can die in Stabby Stabby/Nuetral routes. Robots can’t absorb alcohol, therefore they can’t get drunk.

Now, the argument could be made that he just absorbs the magic that makes up the drink then sends it to his power core, like an organic body. The that funky drunky flow intoxicates him.... But that also contradicts my personal head cannons on how Metta’s body works.

I’ll make this brief (if that’s possible in a post of this length lMAO), but how I think that MTT gets his power is either through electricity or, in a worst case scenario, gasoline mixed with magic. While I believe he can eat and drink monster food, it’s stored in an internal compartment before being broken down into manageable magic chunks over a series of several days. So, alcoholic beverages would give him at most a buzz over the course of like a couple of days.

That being said, there’s hope!!!

Remember when I said that I headcannon Metta runs on gasoline if he can’t get any electricity? Well, the means he can switch between which tank he’s drawing from. And, there is a type of gasoline made with a base of Ethanol! Which is the compound used to make drinks alcoholic! Therefore, the alcohol would be going to his core at the rate needed to actually get drunk.

Which means, if he wants to be drunk he can just switch into gasoline mode and slip into whatever tipsy needs he has! As long as he’s filled up on ethanol!

Now I’m not saying that this was found out by complete accident with Alphys testing out a new fuel type but.....

That’s exactly what I’m saying.

But!!! Yall didn’t come here to hear about Mettaton’s autonomy, so let’s talk about his drunken habits!!

I like to think he doesn’t drink often, mostly because of the aforementioned not actually realizing he could till he was on the surface. But, some of the best examples of how he is in a drunken state would probably be back when he was a ghost.

It was probably some rough times back then. Shyren’s sister had just fallen down, and it’s inplied the cousins are rather close with the family. Add in a healthy dose of dysphoria and yearning for a greater audience- no, purpose... It must’ve been rough for Metta.

Mabey to cope, the cousins invested in some ghost ale?

I like to think when buzzed, Mettaton is just a (somehow) more confident and showy version of himself. Just with less motor control and a higher chance of making impulsive decisions.

Once we pass into drunk territory... things start getting more emotional. There will be tears. Probably a lot of them. He’s very emotional and can and will state his mind. Heartfelt confessions might happen, rivalries may happen, or he may just tell you what you already know.

If the cousins cracked open a cold one.... Well.... That may of been the first indications (aside from behavior they’d picked up but not said anything about) of what was really on Metta’s mind. About how desperate he was.

Metta didn’t remember it in the morning. Blookie never told him what they talked about. It was never spoken of again.

Ok!! On a slightly higher note: Toriel!

I’ve always seen Toriel as having a very smooth sounding, mezzo soprano voice. It’s nothing remarkable. She doesn’t belt often, she doesn’t have much of a verbrato, she just sounds like your normal 50ish woman who sings abit too much in the car. But, her voice is warm and soft and perfect to fall asleep too, especially when a smile gets in the way of her vowels.

She sings fairly often, probably the most in the main cast (aside Mettaton and MABEY Papyrus). Be it in the car, or when she has too much to drink, or when singing a lullaby to her kids.

I’ll start with lullabies since I believe they’d be the most personal to her.

We don’t know exactly when the monster human war happened, but I’m of the belief that it happened sometime in the Middle Ages, which would place Toriel’s childhood in medieval times. While she wasn’t born there, I also think both Toriel and Asgore’s families hail from Ireland. Her mother would sing to her every night, sometimes mixing in ancient tales of wild beasts and faeries.

It’s a sentiment she’s passed down to her own children.

Albeit, she changed a few lyrics or scenes in the stories to make them less terrifying, besides when she was caring for some of the older souls. There may also be a touch more happy endings than there were in the older days, and mabey a couple more injuries instead of deaths. But for the most part, they stay the same.

The pieces she dare not change though, are the ones she sings in Gaelic.

Frisk hasn’t learned the language (yet), so Toriel finds no need to change any details to such relics. Plus, they have a lot more of an emotional connection than most of her other songs or stories. Her eldest two children were incredibly fond of them

(Also the song I used for these doodles is called Bó na leath-adhairce (One Horned Cow). The woman who sings it (Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh) sounds a lot like how I imagine Toriel sounding. But like. With a lot more vocal training. She still sounds like she’s singing through a smile and I love it)

On a much more fun note, let’s talk about Toriel’s drinking songs!

So, this doesn’t happen often, but if the moods right and Toriel’s had JUST enough to drink.... She might attempt to start up a drinking song with whatever crowd she’s got around her. She doesn’t know many songs, and she only half remembers the rest, but goddamn it if she’s not gonna try it.

It’s awful. Any recognizable lyrics are either slurred, butchered, or in a language no one else can understand.

But she looks like she’s having so much fun, no one ever tries to stop her.

Hell, some people might even join in, if there’s been enough to drink in the house. If that happens, and if she’s feeling confident enough, Tori might even get up and dance a little bit, dragging whomever she pleases in as well. If she’s drunk enough to start singing like this in public, then she’s definitely drunk enough to do some dances.

Mostly though, she just sticks to lullabies.

As for the second part of this prompt, it’s a lot simpler than all of the rest of this post. Toriel enjoys most music, especially the choral verity. She’ll let anything on the radio, so long as it’s appropriate when Frisk’s in the car.

Her favorite genres though, are Classical, Folk, and Celtic. They were the styles she grew up with and remains fond of to this day. They bring back a feeling of Nostalgia without too many memories, just how she likes it. She also quite enjoys Operas, and plans on taking Frisk to see one once she gets the hang of the internet.

She used to adore ballroom music and waltzes but....

Now they just bring back Memories she’d rather not have.

#Undertale #Mettaton #Toriel #Sorry this took so long #It deleted and I had to retype the entire thing lMAO #Also these challenges and analysis are making me grow even more of a fasination with mechanics #First it was trying to figure out how the ruins puzzles functioned #Now it’s MTTs autonomy #Y’all are gonna make me become an engineer instead of a biologist #Anyway #you can rip the head cannon that Toriel (and Asgore) speaks Irish Gaelic from my cold dead hands #askbox

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an-avid-reader · 4 years ago

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Prodigy (Legend #2) - Marie Lu

my rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis of book 1 -

In a world where the Patriots, Colonies, and the Republic are at odds and there’s a plague in the poorer parts of the US, Day is an unstoppable street criminal with good intentions. When his family’s house gets marked by Republic soldiers, Day’s only thought is to steal a cure before his family member dies. June is a top student at Drake University—a prodigy. When her brother, Metias, gets caught in a cross-fire during a mission, June is fast-tracked to becoming a soldier. Her first mission: track down Day. As Day and June come from such opposite backgrounds, is it possible that their paths would’ve crossed otherwise?

Link to Goodreads // Link to review book 1 // Spoilers (book 1+book2) in review below!

I haven’t read a trilogy in what feels like a really long time lmao; I think it’s because I’ve noticed that sometimes, the second book acts like a bridge book aka nothing really happens except for the last 50ish pages, which tbh just sets up book 3 (It’s like that one useless episode in a tv show that literally has nothing to do with the plotline). I’m VERY happy this wasn’t the case for Prodigy - if anything, there was even more action and more character (and world building) than Legend, which I much appreciated. That means that I also have a lot to unpack; buckle up!

I feel like the most natural place to start is from the stuff I didn’t really enjoy from the first book, specifically the world building and all the questions. It was finally explained that the Republic is essentially nonsense propaganda and the civilians are being fed false information--they aren’t winning the war, in fact they are losing! We also learned that the Colonies and the Patriots are two separate uh ‘groups’? And the Colonies fund the Patriots, but the Colonies are straight up left in the dark (and the Patriots were also hired by the Republic, but more on that later). I wanted to also briefly mention that when June and Day crossed into the Colonies territory, it was like a completely different world--maybe not better, just different. We also kind of get a glimpse into the history of the world--how climate change just absolutely obliterated the whole world. Which, tbh, I feel like if an ice cap near Antarctica (or Antarctica itself) were to melt, it would be more than just the edges of the US that would be underwater--it would go up to the Statue of Liberty’s torch :)))))))). Nevertheless, I really appreciated these explanations as it added more depth and also provided context for the setting, which I found was lacking in the first book (which, I get, you don’t want to overwhelm readers, esp in YA, with all the world building right away).

The other thing is that I wanted to know more about the plague, and Lu came through!!! So the plague is being used to try to create people as bioweapons, which makes me wonder if they were trying to clone those who were infected (or maybe just wanted to collect everyone who has a similar profile to Eden). I still have a few questions of the virus--like why did Eden and that other boy on the train go blind? Does the virus affect them on a genomic level?! I also find it hilarious that in LA they were quarantined for rioting--I feel like that pretty much just showed how weak the Republic is and how their power is no longer ominous (idk if that makes sense??).

Next, I want to touch on the characters and the character building (specifically June and Day, but others too!). I wanted to start off by prefacing that I’m not a fan of the love triangle vibes that we got throughout the books (and to be honest, the ending sort of pushed that narrative a bit further, which is not cool :///). So I’m not sure if it was Razor’s plan to cut communication between Day and June (on purpose) to prevent them from messing up the Patriot’s plans/to prevent Anden from becoming suspicious of June, but I found it so FRUSTRATING that they couldn’t communicate at least once before the assination (and I mean talk, not the signal bc that stirred up a lot of confusion with Day). Their separation really tested their relationship, but I also feel like there was a permanent wedge placed due to the lack of trust, and again, the ending just hammered that home. I will say, I really appreciate June and Day being completely transparent with each other when they escaped from the Patriots and got in the cave. It was like a necessary evil, but at least they shared relevant information with each other, which I believe strengthened their partnership, even if it took a toll on their relationship. Part of me hopes that they end up back together in Champion, but I know that it may not be ‘what’s best for them’, especially with that huge piece of information we learned about Day--that’s the one thing I’m mad about. They spill the beans in the cave but he can’t even tell June that he’s dying, instead he breaks up with her and then they end up kissing?? AH!

Now for those…...love triangles…. .-. Let’s start off with Anden and June. I’m not sure how I feel about Anden; Lu paints him to be this kind of heartthrob and well-intentioned guy but he’s also sort of naive? Like I get that his whole plan is to reform the Republic with the help of June and Day so that the civilians are on board, but I hope he realizes that there will always be people who are going to 1) resist him and 2) betray him. I really hope he isn’t as quick to trust people as he was with June (which maybe that was because his judgement was clouded). As for being naive...how did he not see June’s paperclip ring???? And to add onto that - how did the Colonies not realize that ‘Sarah’ is actually June???

I don’t know it just seems very unlikely that he didn’t see it considering that June was fiddling with it during their nice little dinner. And also the fact that he was always itching to see her. I didn’t realize, however, that Anden is only in his early twenties—he also lacks the edge that June and Day have, you can tell that he’s a poised person. While it’s great that he stands his ground on the Republic, I find it hard to believe that he isn’t a pushover (even just a tiny bit). Thus, I don’t really see how Anden and June could be a good match; I also don’t think class should play a role into whether or not you should or shouldn’t be with someone.

That sort of brings me to another point, which is the idea of the Priceps and the Elector itself. I have so many questions about Anden's plans, and they mainly involve him. For example, would there still be an Elector (and Senate) after the Republic is reformed? If so, would his powers be minimized, or would he have the status of President? For Priceps, it wasn’t very clear in the book that she doesn’t have to be married to the Elector, but it almost seemed that it was implied; could Anden have chosen to be married and have a separate Priceps? What if the Elector wasn’t straight? So. Many. Questions!! That whole Priceps thing is one of the reasons I couldn’t give this book a full 5 stars, again, it sort of has to do with the lack of information (or the amount of assumptions I have to make).

The next love triangle I have major issues with is Tess and Day, which Day is mostly uh turned off by the whole thing (which I can get behind) but Tess is just so stubborn and tbh pretty jealous, which isn’t cute. I really hope that in Champion they end up reconnecting, especially since Day is practically on his deathbed, but as friends. Maybe Tess will understand where Day is coming from with his feelings about June. Part of me wants Tess to end up with Baxter but I also really don’t like him?????? Agh this really sucks! I wish their relationship didn’t end on such a sour note. Like yes Tess, you were always there for Day (especially when he needed medical care) and ever since they got into contact with June (or rather, when June was sent on her mission), everything went downhill—but I mean, at some point Anden’s father would’ve passed, and maybe things would turn out to be in a similar circumstance, except instead of June it could be a different girl? The fact that Day still calls Tess ‘cousin’ and she still went ahead and kissed him just made me feel slightly uncomfortable?? No, they’re not biologically related, but given the amount of time they spent together, they almost could’ve been. To some extent, I feel like Tess had a huge crush on Day, but she never wanted to admit it until they were separated bc she maybe didn’t realize how much he means to her/she wanted that cheesy movie-like feeling where the two best friends realize that they are perfect together but beyond friends?? I do believe that Tess deserves someone great though, I just don’t think that Day is the guy for that :///

The last relationship-thing I want to briefly mention is Thomas and Metias’ relationship. I’m glad that we have some LGBT+ representation here, but at the same time, I can’t help but wonder if it was forced or not (like a checkbox Lu wanted to tick). I don’t remember in Legend when Thomas kissed June, if there was a kind of repulsion/it didn’t feel authentic. To be honest, I really thought that Thomas was into June, but when we learn he is gay (or maybe bi), it just didn’t seem to fit the story at all??? Upon this revelation, June racked her brain for memories of Thomas and Metias when they were young and oh it just happens that Metias never ‘brought back’ anyone/any girls home. Listen, I’m all for diversity, whether that be the character’s race, gender identity and/or sexual preference, I just don’t want it to come off as the author just ‘checking off a box’; I’d rather it be genuine (even though it’s a fictional story!) For all I know, Lu may have planned this, but to me it just came off as an afterthought, that’s all :/ (and @ Thomas, just because you love someone and it shouldn’t be allowed bc of your ranks, it doesn’t mean you have to kill them even if CoMmAnDeR JaMeSoN said to).

I wanted to also talk about characters—more specifically Razor, Commander Jameson, Baxter, and Kaede (rip). So um I guess we’ll start with Razor aka the biggest con man there ever was. Well tbh I kind of found him fishy, just like June did from the get-go, I just didn’t think it was going to be that…bad??? This goes back to Lu’s foreshadowing—which I would say it improved as I wasn’t able to fully guess what was going to happen—she drops p obvious hints left, right, and centre, you just don’t see them until the events unfold; what may seem like a small detail (i.e. Commander Jameson in Razor’s room on the ship and Day (as a disguise) bumping into her) will end up being part of a bigger plan, so to speak. Part of me wishes we had a peek into his mind to see what he thinks like, and if he has more motives, besides just being “hired” by the Senate to assassinate Anden, maybe Razor has a personal vendetta?? I also definitely suspect that Razor and Commander Jameson may or may not be a thing *side eyes*. I’m excited to read Champion to see how he will stand up against the Elector / the Republic, and whether the other Patriots will stand by his side or if they will turn against Razor--especially because right now he’s in jail, but I doubt he will stay there for long! (which can someone explain why Razor and Commander Jameson only got charged with treason??? They almost flipped the Republic on its head).

Speaking of Patriots...there’s Baxter, which I don’t know where he stands. I think he’s definitely jealous of Day / the fact that Tess has feelings for Day even though he doesn’t reciprocate them. Just a dash of jealousy. But he did predict that Day would betray the Patriots, which makes me think that Baxter may have a part in an uprising, but maybe there’s a chance that he’ll see the whole story. Part of me also highly doubts that he’ll be rational; he seems to be someone with a heavy confirmation bias--I wonder if he knew that Razor was hired by the Senate or if it just went over his head. What if he’s the main villain in Champion o.O him + Tess would be interesting, especially Day does a last hurrah. But anyways, Baxter was just so arrogant, and I could feel Day’s own disappointment when he did exactly what Baxter had predicted. Yeap, there’s definitely going to be some tension that needs to be revisited.

Last and certainly not least, Kaede :( I’m a bit annoyed that she’s dead. It’s yet again another thing that could be used against Day (specifically his relationship with June; anything that comes near them dies). We got to learn so much from Kaede, and before we knew it, she got shot. It sucks because I think she seemed like a reasonable person and she always remained level-headed. She’s not one to judge quickly *cough cough Baxter cough cough*. Even in Legend she had her kick-ass moments, but she really saved them from the Colonies and how June and Day can’t really repay her unless they keep on going with their mission. Not cool to just kill her off like that though.

What I loved from this book, besides the character growth and the depth of their relationships with each other (especially on trust, or the therelackof), I liked how this book is just action-packed. I find with the second book in trilogies, we have a plan with a clear end goal (in this case, assassinate the Elector), and that plan just gets adjusted over time as we uncover information until it gets to the end of the book. Here, that main event ended up being smack bang in the middle, which isn’t something we see very often. It left more room for the story to develop and to allow us to really dig deep into the story, which I much appreciated. At some parts, it almost felt like a rush, especially as the story unfolds and with so many characters to consider--it was a page turner! I’m not really sure if I enjoyed Prodigy more than book 1, as I mentioned, I didn’t really like the love triangles and then Anden is just too naive for me to take him seriously. There were also some cliches (I let go of the breath I didn’t know I was holding), and honestly, I was not a fan of the ending! I think that’s the main reason why I can’t rate this higher than Legend to be honest. At least with the first book, there was enough closure that could give us a starting point for book 2. Here is was...let’s break up lmao jk also I’m not going to let June know that I’m dying, peace out.

This review is getting a bit too long lol, and I’m sure there’s something I forgot to mention, but overall I really enjoyed this book. The action, the intensity, the revelation of information and Lu’s foreshadowing make Prodigy a book that’s hard to put down. The characters’ dynamics are all over the place, which just adds to the chaos, but in a good way--it makes the story that much more interesting. I’m patiently waiting for book 3 from overdrive, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to read and review it by next week--I’m itching to know what happens next! [Please, let both of our main characters live p l e a s e]

I’d love to know your thoughts and opinions on Prodigy! Did you enjoy this book, how would you compare it with the rest of the trilogy? Let’s chat =D

Thank you for reading my review, I hope you are having a good day, wherever you are in the world!

~ Cassandra / an-avid-reader

#just one more ~ queue #prodigy #marie lu #book review #books #booklr #reading #bookworm #legend #trilogy

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manleycollins · 5 years ago

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Journal Entry #30 - Let's Talk About The Elephants....Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety, and Depression....What Happened During the Process? And my visions? Part Two

JOURNAL ENTRY #30 Name: Manley M Collins Social Security Number: 5 7 9 - * * - 6 5 4 1 Date of Birth: 06/21 Place of Birth: Washington, District of Columbia Country of Birth: United States of America Date: January 1, 2020

TOPIC: Let's Talk About The Elephants....Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety, and Depression....What Happened During the Process? And my visions?

DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Justice DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Education DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Health DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Transportation DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Labor

Part Two (2)

Guess what? It seems life does not want me to have anything nice or make an independent living especially in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Since I mentioned I am not getting anything for taking everything away or telling right, read this on my brand spanking new Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive. I randomly parked my vehicle throughout Zone 6 where the vehicle is registered from 18th St SE, G St SE, 6th St SE, 4th St SE, 18th St NE, 4th St NE, G St NE, L St NE, 3rd St NE, 3rd St SE, M St NE, etc, the list goes on.

1. It was parked on the 400 block of M St NE.....guess what - tags stolen. So I bought anti-theft screws, thanks to Rhode Island Ave AutoZone Auto Parts.

2. It was parked on the 300 block of A St SE....guess what - total loss while parked. Let me tell you the story behind this one. I made sure it stayed in one place until I move since I was doing bicycle. Saturday, November 2, 2019 around 12 NOON, I checked the motorcycle was fine and standing upright, I checked the tires, tags, felt all over it to make sure nothing happened. There are no emergency parking signs posted and everyone else's car is sitting in place. Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at 9 AM, motorbike sitting on its side with the evidence that another vehicle hit it very hard and left no information...the paint was red and white from the other vehicle. I was hot, angry, and upset on how everyone else's vehicle still in place and still no signs posted. Thanks goodness for full coverage GEICO insurance, right? I did call 9-1-1 twice to get a cop out to the scene immediately. The resident of 313 A St SE comes out and she (middle aged, white, plus size woman) says the vehicle was down on its side, Monday morning, November 4, 2019. My memory bank had to search through every action like a 5Ghz computer chip to understand how did this happened to a parked vehicle. The resident of 315 A St SE comes out and he (older close to death, white medium sized man) says a truck hit it and signs were posted, and I should give him my information for anything that happens while he was hopping in another car. The construction crew from across the street comes out and asked what happened. I am submitting the evidence and information on my insurance claim while waiting for towing service. The resident of 311 A St SE saw I was waiting by the motorbike until towing came, she (a 50ish, white brunette lady, slender) tended to her two dogs and paid me no mind. The resident of 309 A St SE saw I was waiting by the motorbike until towing came, he (a younger, white brown-to-black haired dude, medium sized) seem to be heading to work...I was going to talk to him to validate 315's story. Towing arrived....guess who came back at the time of arrival of tow truck?...the resident of 315 A St SE. The resident of 315 A St SE and I had a discussion before about the bike and his car, but did not exchange information. Back story to 300 block A St SE, I stayed one day in October 2019 to due touchups on my vehicle and I saw people rotating and moving their cars around to either escape DC parking enforcement for visitors or provide a different scene for the DC parking attendant. Back to the original story, as I was working with the tow truck driver to move the motorbike on the truck, 315 A St SE resident and I are going back and forth about he did not know if my vehicle was registered or had a residential parking permit (which is posted on front windshield of bike) and also you can check the vehicle tags, and he was trying to validate his story of the truck that came and hit it and it was no way to catch the tags, and I asked him where were the signs. 315 A St SE owns a red mustang permanently parked in front of his residence with a beatup front bumper that seems to ran into many things....so my suspicious lies there because no one from the block can validate his story and neither the cops.

Guess what else happened? As I am doing my claim, Thursday, November 7, 2019, the independent valuation company and GEICO came with estimate $7,173. I financed $12,000 for the vehicle. I wondered why so low. I always had full coverage on all my vehicles and insurance always paid them fully. I went the to dealer and service department. The estimate to repair my vehicle was $7,804, which makes the vehicle a total loss to insurance company. I sat down with the dealer manager and we talked. He said since I did not put anything down and did not have GAP insurance that I am on the hook for remainder of the loan. I am still getting through my mind, they sold me a $7,000 vehicle for $11,000 with full coverage insurance and extended warranty, and he stated I needed GAP insurance because my depreciation did not catch up with my payments on vehicle. I was about to blow a fuse. So if my FULL coverage insurance does not pay this vehicle off, that poor GAP loan money will just have to wait until all depreciation catches up with it because it will not be paid.

Friday, November 8, 2019, I surrendered my tags to the DC DMV and submit paperwork to insurance company.

The insurance company sent me a letter that I had options for my insurance. They actually validated the dealer's story in keeping the vehicle as a salvage vehicle and can have unlimited total losses. I thought decades and ten vehicles later that this knowledge came to me. Anyways, I canceled insurance and let the vehicle go. It was interesting that I did more paperwork for this vehicle than my previous vehicles. For the very first time and remembering what my stepdad did (for our green limo/bus), I am going to participate in an auto auction.

Highest memory of the Suzuki Hayabusa was riding it from Springfield, Virginia to Washington, DC in the HOV lanes...kept up the cars and got the bike up to 110 miles per hour. It was a great adrenaline rush.

Also, for anyone with a motorbike, the best place to play is Dupont Circle on Connecticut Ave NW under the bridge...I got the bike up to 90 miles per hour. Another great adrenaline rush during travels or deliveries.

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On Friday, November 8, 2019, Smoothie King was my final W-2 position in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. The reason for the abrupt ending was to focus on the transition and watching what else does happens when I person stays in place. I also had two total losses of brand new vehicles in one year by no fault of my own under the same insurance company in the same city. However, let me talk about H Street NW Smoothie King. It was a small format red and white. We became an instant family and met the owner's family. It was truly Smoothies with a purpose. Smoothie King was to become apart of the everyone's active and healty lifestyle, and a portion of the profits went to the owner's neighborhood in Ethopia. It is the best recommended store I do not mind being associated with for healthy and performance enchancing smoothies. Of course, the store was located on the strip of all kinds of activity - homeless, oils, singles, alcohol, theft, etc. The store owners were a white male, ethopian lady, and the kids and they had another location in DC. The store had a morning female manager and evening female manager. It had a morning male shift lead - the owner's junior manager. I was a blend employee promoted to mid afternoon shift lead. The original female evening shift manager was doing super big personality and did not care in a way that it was hard to get through the day. The female evening shift manager was combining construction, retail, homeless, and restaurant all at the same time. The original female morning shift manager was very good and it showed from her experience including her structure. However, the morning shift manager had everyone at the store - all her family and phone calls to the store were off the hook - it was funny. The male shift lead from New Orleans was a funny dude with his administrative/office background. He would leave messes for other people to clean up and moved slow as a turtle. He kept twerking and dancing everywhere. Some people liked my extrovert personality because I was the promoter of anything Smoothie King, I ensured about 80% of the customers have that personable experience, or say something to somebody when their message does not get through to the person. My job was handling the front of the house/store, do rotations, do retail, translate/transfer all management messages to the next shift, and talk to the customers. A brother and sister was working in the store. The two siblings had two different personalities. I enjoyed their little sibling disagreements and agreements all at the same time. The girl sibling kept long nails, Diana Ross hair, and always kept talking to family and friends on the phone. The girl hair kept falling in the ice and DC Health customers complained about it. The boy sibling wore pants with a string tied around it and a customer complained for seeing his underwear. After the original female evening manager was fired/terminated, another young lady with dreads was trained to close the store. She had another job during the day. She had all her personal business go haywire in the store with domestic violence spilling over to the store. She and the boy sibling with dreads had this love and hate relationship going that it was funny. She kept telling the boy sibling to do stuff, and he would do the opposite and not listen. She had fun mocking people, and I was unsure if she was talking to herself or someone on the phone. They all knew I spoke to myself silently when stressed or alot pushing through my mind. The Ethopian soccer boy kept flying from the cash register to pouring smoothies in a flash. I thought I was fast, but he kept doing it. He was funny, but kept coming in with his funky Smoothie King shirt. We gave him cologne and throw it in the washer/laundry. He insisted on keep coming smelling like the soccer field he just played on. The Ethopian girl was funny too by coming in messing up operations and the system we (the two morning leads and I) had. The Ethopian girl normally would go to Rhode Island Row and work. She was a messy girl when making smoothies. Powder be everywhere. Juices all over the place. She definitely does some of the cross contamination of products. One African-American girl from Connecticut and student at a college was only working one day a week and hardly to keep working on that day. She would call out at the last minute/one hour before her shift starts. Also, she was giving free cups like water to anyone who asked. Another new black, young girl came from Rhode Island and hired through the Marion Barry program was cool a little, but kept doing Rhode Island stuff at H Street by combining same smoothies in one blender. I know they are disappointed I am gone especially when I was the most flexible person that filled in for most callouts or messed up scheduled times by owner. Smoothie King does provide fresh products, but overprepping does lead to expired product which is still served to the customer. I do like the concept of the clean blends and the no-no list of products not in the smoothie. Smoothie King can get big like Popeyes or Starbucks. Customers sometimes assume we are the former Starbucks that was in the location or Capital One that was also in the same location. Customers did have some funny ways to make a smoothie especially the ones that take everything out of the smoothie, and put a whole bunch of different ingredients knowing they not going to drink it. The scamming professionals - one pretty young lady came in mentioned she spoke to me and the manager that she had a bad experience with a smoothie last week. This pretty young lady had no receipt and no smoothie. We had one young girl on cruthes ordered a drink with everything in it, stated she worked for the company, and she always get the same smoothie all the time. She kept giving us a hard time on the smoothie while the line out the door, then did not have a penny to pay for it. The neighborhood high school kids felt bad and paid for it. Another homeless lady come in and grab retail, head straight to the bathroom to eat the product and leave the evidence, and smelled so bad. A construction latino male came in and kept trying to connect with me stating he is pro-life and needed to roll up his drugs/weed in the bathroom, and he is going to purchase a smoothie. I had to think why he needed to tell me what he is going to do in the restroom. Homeless males were the boldest to panhandle in the store or right at the door. One homeless male kept passing the door back and forth, then came in to talk about owning the block and throwing homophobia slurs and talk. We made customers pay for using the restroom by asking them to make a purchase even it is just a cup of ice or water. The majority of support came from the neighborhood high school kids and the high school sports teams, the neighborhood community college, apartment complex, a major retail store, and neighboring businesses and organizations.

Email went straight back to DC Metropolitan Police Department.

I thought of a new concept for every call on 9-1-1 to follow up with email for credibility.

---------------------------------------------- My November 5, 2019 Physical Report

Unity Healthcare Upper Cardozo Health Center 3020 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20009

Composite Metabolic Panel (Overall Result = normal)

Glucose (Value = 78)(Reference Range = 65-99 mg/dL)

BUN (Value = 17)(Reference Range = 6-24 mg/dL)

Creatinine (Value = 1.05)(Reference Range = 0.76-1.27 mg/dL)

eGFR if NonAfricn Am (Value = 87)(Reference Range = >59 mL/min/1.73)

eGFR if Africn Am (Value = 100)(Reference Range = >59 mL/min/1.73)

BUN/Creatinine Ratio (Value = 16) (Reference Range = 9-20)

Sodium (Value =142)(Reference Range = 134-114 mmol/L)

Potassium (Value = 4.3)(Reference Range = 3.5-5.2 mmol/L)

Chloride (Value =104)(Reference Range = 96-106 mmol/L)

Carbon Dioxide, Total (Value =23)(Reference Range = 20-29 mmol/L)

Calcium (Value =9.3)(Reference Range = 8.7-10.2 mg/dL)

Protein, Total (Value = 7.0)(Reference Range = 6.0-8.5 g/dL)

Albumin (Value = 3.8)(Reference Range = 3.5-5.5 g/dL)

Globulin, Total (Value = 3.2)(Reference Range = 1.5-4.5 g/dL)

A/G Ratio (Value = 1.2)(Reference Range = 1.2-2.2)

Billrubin, Total (Value = 1.2) (Reference Range = 0.0-1.2 mg/dL)

Alkaline Phosphatase (Value = 72) (Reference Range = 39-117 IU/L)

AST (SGOT) (Value = 17)(Reference Range = 0-40 IU/L)

ALT (SGPT) (Value = 12)(Reference Range = 0-44 IU/L)

RPR (Overall result = negative)

RPR (Value = Non Reactive)(Reference Range = Non Reactive)

Trichomonas (Overall result = negative)

Trichomonas vag by NAA (Value = Negative) (Reference Range = Negative)

HIV (Overall result = negative)

HIV Screen 4th Generation wRfx (Value = Non Reactive) (Reference Range = Non Reactive)

CBC without diff (Overall result = wnl)

White Blood Cell (WBC) (Value = 4.3)(Reference Range = 3.4-10.8 x10E3/uL)

Red Blood Cell (RBC) (Value 4.32)(Reference Range = 4.14-5.80 x10E6/uL)

Hemoglobin (Value = 13.7)(Reference Range = 10.0-17.7 (g/dL)

Hematocrit (Value = 40.7)(Reference Range = 37.5-51.0 %)

MCV (Value = 94)(Reference Range = 79-97 fL)

MCH (Value = 31.7)(Reference Range = 26.6-33.0 pg)

MCHC (Value =33.7)(Reference Range = 31.5-35.7 g/dL)

RDW (Value = 11.4 [Low]) (Reference Range = 12.3-15.4 %)

Platelets (Value = 229)(Reference Range = 150-450 x10E3/uL)

QuantiFERON TB Gold Plus (Overall result = negative)

QuantiFERON Incubation (Value = Incubation performed)

QuantiFERON TB Gold Plus (Value = Negative) (Reference Range = Negative)

QuantiFERON Criteria (Value = Comment)(The QuantiFERON TB Gold Plus result is determined by subtracting the Nil value from either TB antigen (Ag) tube. The mitogen tube serves as a control for the test.

QuantiFERON TB1 Ag Value (Value = 0.03) (No reference range in IU/mL)

QuantiFERON TB2 Ag Value (Value = 0.03) (No reference range in IU/mL)

QuantiFERON Nil Value (Value = 0.03) (No reference range in IU/mL)

QuantiFERON Mitogen Value (Value = >10.00) (No reference range in IU/mL)

Chlamydia trachomatis, NAA (Value = Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, NAA (Value = Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

------------------------------------------------- My November 11, 2019 Sexually Transmitted Diseases Report

Whitman Walker 1525 14th St NW Washington, DC 20005

Chlamydia/GC Ampli. Ureth, Cerv, Urine STD Kit Chlamydia trachomatis, NAA (Value = Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, NAA (Value = Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

IH Rapid HIV L-HIV 1/2 ELISA (Value = Non-Reactive/Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

RPR With Reflx to Quanti and Confirmatory FTA RPR (Value = Non-Reactive) (Reference range = Non-Reactive)

Chlamydia/GC NAA, Pharyngeal STD Kit C. trachomatis, NAA, Pharyn (Value = Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

N. gonorrhoeae, NAA, Pharyn (Value = Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

Chlamydia/GC NAA, Rectal STD Kit C. trachomatis, NAA, Rectal (Value = Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

N. gonorrhoeae, NAA, Rectal (Value = Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

Syphillis (Value = Negative) (Reference range = Negative)

-------------------------------------------------

My December 5, 2019 Physical Report

Unity Healthcare Upper Cardozo Health Center 3020 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20009

Blood Pressure 93/43 and 95/45 (low blood pressure)

Heartbeat 67 beats per minute

Weight - 168 lbs to 171 lbs

Psychiatrist suggested two options for me Abilify or increase dosage of olanzapine to 10mg. I told her I would not be able to function at 10mg. She states 2.5mg is not working and it is the dosage of a two (2) year old. Citalopram is sedation too and works great....no comments on taking that one. We discussed all the medications regarding sedation and non-sedation. I enjoyed the sedation part of olanzapine. When I came off olanzapine, that named city 'C' happened with the participation of New York, District of Columbia, and South Carolina. When I researched the side effects of Abilify and that named city 'C' aunt came through so big, yes they f*cked up their own brother (my daddy) to death as nurses. You will have figure a new way to do the son (or nephew) while on olanzapine up and down dosages and he will never speak or see any family until April 3, 2056. Life according to olanzapine and me while taking it everyday works for me until the rest of my life or until all manufacturers stop making it. I am still Superman and Queen Elsa combined (ice, cold, and angry)....life took Princess (Queen) Anna (warmth and care) away April 3, 2016.

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My December 10, 2019 Physical Report

Unity Healthcare Upper Cardozo Health Center 3020 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20009

Blood Pressure 103/56 and 100/53 (low blood pressure)

Heartbeat 55 beats per minute

Weight - 168 lbs to 171 lbs

My last talk with the primary care physician. I told her everything was okay. We went over my numbers and tests. She did confirm that according to my weight that a lipid (cholesterol) test was not necessary. She and I talked about the level of voices that was going in my head...I stated it was residual voices and families. She and I discussed getting more exercise, getting rest, monitoring weight, and eating healthy. She advised of a new app called Insight Mediation for sleep music. She discussed the monitoring of kidneys and liver while on Truvada and so far my kidneys and liver are functioning healthy. She stated all my blood count and numbers are appropriately healthy. She also stated low blood pressure is my normal window for the past several years. I did not tell her about the bike accident that gave me a mild concussion in Washington, DC and almost took out my left arm...saving that examination for South Carolina.

----------------------------------------------------

To cap off the divorce with my birthplace metro area (Washington, DC), I was traveling in the southbound lane of North Capitol St NW on my way to perform a delivery. Guess what happen? An SUV parked on North Capitol St NW in front of GPO building decided to open its door without looking. Cross street is H Street NW. I swerve and hit the door, then slid into the middle lane in which a smaller sedan slammed on brakes hitting me. Thank God my left arm took the brunt of the impact and my bike helmet giving me a slight concussion, temporary blackout, and anger release. Yes, the bike was fine. The same MPD officer showed up that took my first bike accident in the area few months ago. The driver of the Maryland SUV was a black female and had a teenager female passenger. The driver of sedan was black older female and mentioned she had a scratch on the bumper. Everyone (DC MPD and US GPO Officers) kept asked for my driver's license. I guess it was an assumption that I would have a different state/city driver's license. I came to and felt fine. I declined the ambulance because I wanted to get checked out elsewhere and not in Washington, DC. The headache and left arm soreness came the next few days. Poor Maryland SUV girl stated it could have been worse. True, it could have been avoided if she looked out of her driver's mirror to watch for bicyclists. She stated ride on the sidewalk, but DC is a city made with bike lanes. If you are driving any type of vehicle of four wheels or more in any metropolitan city, then you have to watch for pedestrians, bicycles, scooters of two motorized types, skateboarders, segways, uniboarders, etc. I am not pursuing paperwork on any of the drivers' from any of my accidents because DC MPD does not get it right, and I am leaving DC, Virginia, and Maryland for good. Life already stated I am getting nothing out of the situation.

From that moment of recovery, I had to rush through all my talk, memories, and what I sent to the universe for such an accident happen.

Again, biological family of all types, I do not want to see, talk, or speak with you until April 3, 2056. All biological family make sure you have the medical, witness and legal proof to be called "family" after April 3, 2056.

Time to occupy my time with track and field competitions, and gun competitions (did not know this existed). NRA has rifle competitions, but I have no place to store a rifle. NRA, I will stick with pistol competitions and I have plenty of places to store my pistol accompanied with knife. Why all the Glock Sight and Lasers accessories all sold out?

Regarding IAAF (International Amateur Athletic Federation), USATF, and World Athletics, life showed me all the missed opportunities if I would have stuck with that one track and field sport via YouTube. I am slightly angry and pissed. The masters division have similar activities, but not as exciting nor as much television and media coverage.

It is very interesting how Muscle and Fitness, and Men's Health came back into my life through International Federation of Body Building (IFBB) and YouTube. All the celebrity athletes I remembered came back through YouTube on how they developed their bodies. I did want muscle big when I was younger, but I do not want to be that big...I was aiming for power for sprinting. I am going the other direction (slender figure) which means lighter due to running in my age group and very healthy living plus healthy numbers. However, if I can get a Mr. Olympia Physique competition and place first (1st) twice, I would be happy. It hurts like h*ll in losing weight and keeping it off. Everyone remembers a small Marvell and yes, he is going back to small Marvell.

Eventually, I will look for employment.

I visited Shiloh Baptist Church in Shaw neighborhood in DC....it was a wonderful experience with African-Americans again. To experience something different, the entire church did the entire Doxology in sign language. It was good to see. Gallaudet University, if you need a church or watch Shiloh on public television, I recommend it 100%. Greater Mt. Calvary (Edgewood/Brookland neighborhood) and Shiloh (Shaw neighborhood) signs the entire service. I have not been to an African-American church in three years....I almost did not know how to act, but it was fun.

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I was very surprised to be able to gain access to a former consumer technology tool that had my account since 2001.

#suzuki #burgman #yamaha #health #reports #concussion #accidents #xmax #parking #tickets #employer #total loss

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rdgpcg · 5 years ago

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“Trail shoes or road shoes?” This was the question I asked myself after registering for the Run to the Rock 10K in Hamburg. The course would take us mostly over groomed gravel trail and some service roads where my Hoka Arahi’s would be fine but there was a couple miles of trail involved and I was unsure how severe that would be. A young couple emerged from the car next to me also wearing white 10K bibs. They were having the same dilemma but neither had run this course before. He chose trail shoes, she chose road shoes. That didn’t help my decision. In the end, I went with the road shoes. I like them much more than my current trail shoes and decided I’d muddle through the off-road sections.

Run to the Rock is part of the Blue Mountain Wildlife Trail Series. Apparently the series has been on-going for the better part of 15 years. I’ve only been a casual trail runner so hadn’t really paid attention but if Saturday’s event was any indication I could do more of these, especially since my wonky right foot has forced my early retirement from the marathon.

I stumbled across Run to the Rock while searching for races Friday evening. I wanted to find a local event but preferred something longer than the ubiquitous 5K. You can’t swing a dead cat in the summertime without hitting a 5K and this includes the Run to the Rock event that also has a 5K and 2.5K. A glance at the course map for the 10K piqued my interest. It was basically a gentle run along the Schuylkill River and New Kernsville Lake in Hamburg, PA. Sure there would be some hairy looking trail sections but how bad could that be?

Author’s Note: There a dam on the Schuylkill River in Hamburg that forms a narrow lake. Who knew? Second Author’s Note: Despite living less than a mile from the river for nearly 30 years, I still can’t spell “Schuylkill” without googling it.

After settling on my normal road shoes I headed out along the Schuylkill River Trail for a brief warm-up. As I ran, I realized how lucky we are to have such awesome trails these days.

Part of the SRT near Hamburg

The SRT is an extensive trail network that makes its way from Pottsville all the way down to Center City Philadelphia. Once just a dream of a small organization, the trail is becoming more and more of a reality each year with new sections being completed and the few remaining gaps quickly filling in. This despite the boom and bust of State and Federal funding that goes on-going changes to the political climate. If you are a runner, walker, or cyclist who enjoys using these trails make sure you support the organizations that make things happen. The Rails To Trails Conservancy is a major player in this space and there are several local organizations that help fund and maintain the SRT.

Overview map of the SRT

After my warm-up, I hovered around the start waiting to race. I looked around and noted the usual mix of serious runners ready to pound out a fast 10K, the fit training runners who were good runners but not necessarily serious racers, and then the casual runners and general public who who walk/jog the event. Some were equipped with extra nutrition and hydration kits. I guess 10K is a long way to some as it once would have been to me. I’m not exactly sure where I fall these days. I guess I am somewhere between the dead-serious racers and the dedicated runners. I’d like to think I’m still fast but know that probably isn’t reality at least at the moment.

A hydration pack may be a little overkill for a 10K.

We had a beautiful morning to run although it was a skosh warmer than expected. Temps hovered in the high 60s or low 70s, and the cottony clouds floated overhead. The wind was supposed to pick up later but was calm at the race start. Considering the near-monsoon state we’ve been enduring, it was a pleasant change.

The 5K and 10K events would share a start and the 2.5K would setoff the opposite direction. The race director got everyone lined up and stood between the groups to give the start commands. Shortly after 9:00am we were off.

The 2018 Start: Everyone is always all smiles at the beginning.

We headed South along the SRT. I had been chatting with the young couple parked next to me and they both were just ahead of me. We had all started near the front. We ran a couple hundred yards South and then around a curve and took a bridge across the river. There were a couple folks at the pointy end of the field who I could tell would be contenders and they, predictably, disappeared in the distance.

My current race paces are only a vague guess so I figured I’d run to effort and hope not to blow up. As usual in these smaller events the field sorted itself out quickly and I found myself following the the female half of the parking lot couple. She was about 50 yards in front of me. We continued along the trail for the first couple miles. The only real position changes for the day came here. A younger, shirtless gentleman clearly started out a bit too fast and faded backward getting passed by the woman in front of me and then by me. I also heard some footsteps behind me and got passed by an older runner who introduced himself later as Donny. I found out later Donny’s full name was Don Mengel and he is a very high-caliber local runner. He didn’t even look like he was working hard when he passed me. I certainly felt like I was working hard. Donny passed passed the girl and then remained just ahead of us the rest of the way. Though I couldn’t catch him I felt pretty good having kept him in sight for the race.

Shortly after Donny passed, the course took a hard right turn and plunged into a green jungle. The race director had warned of rocks, roots, logs, and green briar and this section of the course didn’t disappoint. I had held a 6:50ish pace for the first couple miles but the jungle required slow and steady. It also required ducking under down trees, climbing over logs, bushwhacking through briars and weeds, and fighting off a pack of rampaging orcs with nasty looking iron scimitars. I might be exaggerating a little bit but I do think I saw a Hobbit at one point.

The 10K course features marauding orcs . .

No orcs really but there may have been a hobbit.

I momentarily passed the girl on the trail section. She clearly out classed me on the open trail but ran a bit cautiously through the heavy bush. As we clambered over several down trees I commented that I left my chainsaw in my other running shorts. It was slow-going for a bit including scaling a rocky bank that required hands and feet. I remember seeing a 42 minute time for the winner from the previous year. That’s a respectable 10K on the road let alone with downed trees, Hobbits, and Orcs.

The heavy bush didn’t last terribly long and in short order the young lady was on my heels again. I let her go by at a wide turn knowing she’d be faster on the open trail. Suddenly, a runner was coming back the other way. We were nearly at the Rock.

The Rock, as you can guess, is the main feature of the Run to the Rock 10K. It is a big rocky precipice that overlooks the river at the North end of New Kernsville Lake. Cleverly, the race director stationed a photographer across the river so runners have the opportunity to get a quick photo snapped before turning and heading back toward the finish. I stopped and waited for the lady to get her picture so as not to photo bomb her. When it was my turn, I ascended the rock giving the photographer a big thumbs up. (I don’t anticipate that picture being available at the time of publication but it would be cool if it was!)

From the 2018 event.

After the photo opp, the return course branched off from the trail to the rock so we weren’t going head to head with those still on the way to the rock. In fact, we didn’t have to bushwhack at all on the way home. Once we navigated the muddy trail out of the woods we followed the river trail and service road the whole way back.

For me the most difficult part was revving the engines back up to a fast pace after tip-toeing through the jungle. This is evident from my splits. The first two miles on open trail were both well under 7:00 pace. Mile three included the beginning of the jungle and slowed to 8:17. Mile four was jungle, the hand-over-hand climb, and the stop at the rock for pictures and all that dragged the pace down to 9:58. The last two miles were mostly back on open trail and I was unable to get back to a sub-7:00 pace. It did get hot but it was just difficult to get the feet turning over at a faster pace after the jungle dance.

The real speed killer came at the end. There is a steep slope up to the bridge back across the river. My legs filed a formal protest when we had to climb up that but I pushed ahead anyway. As always at the end of a race, I’m pretty sure they move the finish while we are out on the course just to mess with us. After coming off the bridge it seemed to take forever for the Finish banner to come in sight. I crossed the line with 48:nn something on the clock. Good enough for 2nd place in my age group and definitely near the pointy end of the race.

Runnin’ to the Rock "Trail shoes or road shoes?" This was the question I asked myself after registering for the…

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