Hi! I've been googling like crazy and can't seem to find a direct answer about this. I want to kill my grass and sheet mulching seems to be the best option. But I'm also concerned about having a yard of nothing but wood chips for years before it decomposes enough to plant a ground cover (like clover, or maybe something else, I'm still researching for my region). I have a dog so I don't want him to be stuck in a yard where there's nowhere comfortable to bask in the sun (he loves being out there during the day). But I also am just really antsy to do literally anything to start the process of landscaping and turning my yard into a beneficial habitat for the local critters and pollinators. But It's going to have to happen in increments because I am a poor.
This is my first spring/summer in my new home and I'm already so sick of the lawn mower 😂 But I'm not comfortable letting the grass get too high... But I don't want the grass anymore regardless. The previous owner couldn't care for the garden or anything anymore so I have pretty much a blank slate to start with.
Anyway I digress. My question basically is if I sheet mulch with cardboard and wood chips, how long should it take before I can plant a ground cover? Or is it something where I would eventually have to rake out the wood chippings to expose the soil again? I'm kinda lost. What I can find on sheet mulching seems to only go through how to do it and not what to do afterwards if the goal is "lawn renovation."

Hello! First time poster in sub. We want to put down clover on our 1/3 acre backyard. It is currently a mess of stiltgrass, poison ivy, lesser celandine, garlic mustard, thistle, and other janky invasives. I understand that it might wipe out lots of beneficial life forms, but is there any merit to stripping the uppermost couple inches of topsoil along with the plant matter? Would I need to re-import clean topsoil to make it able to plantable with clover?
I have researched other methods of invasive control. Just not sure if I can commit to hand removal methods over multiple seasons lol. It seems like such a daunting task. We want a part of the yard graded so we’d already have the equipment on site. PA, Zone 7a.

A little back story for this story so everyone understands the stupidity of this boomer.
I have lived in my house for 12 years and done all the renovations myself including replacing the rotten wood fence approximately 70 feet long with corners and a gate. I dug out out roughly 15 posts set in concrete by myself. I replaced the wood fence with a black chain link fence.
New neighbors move in that are boomers that self admitted they used the last of their 401k money because their old neighborhood went downhill.
The neighbors are unable to mow the yard so they hire another boomer to do the job. Lawn mower boomer is one of these guys that uses a commercial mower for small yards so he can do 30 yards a day (bigger is always better).
So mowing boomer mows the neighbors yard smashing downspouts and my chain link fence without much regard for anyone's yard.
I showed my neighbor what Lawn mowing did to his down spouts and my fence and he defends his hired moron.
I told him if he wants to pay this idiot to destroy his yard go ahead but this mowing boomer is not going to destroy my fence.
Neighbor runs into the house to tell his wife (acts like his mom) what I said so she comes outside. She seems to think my complaint is with them or their yard and I explain to her she hired the village idiot to mow their yard.
You can't fix stupid.

Looking for a brake proportioning valve for a 1992 chevy g20. I know it’s a discontinued part and can’t find anything that will work anywhere. The original was leaking, and the shop tried to fix it but boogered up the threads. Really not trying to refigure the hardlines to fit a different model so hoping someone knew a part that could work.. trying junk yards on Monday when they open but would prefer to spend money on a new one that I know is reliable. My wife and I are in a unique situation as I am a traveling carpenter and we live out of our van. Hoping to be able to remedy this situation quickly.

I'm really liking this game. I hear from so many people it's the best in the franchise, so I figured it would be the game to start with (especially since it's a prequel to Automata from what I think I know) it's kinda slow but I don't really mind. I just finished the junk yard stuff qnd I'm excited to see more of Kainé and possibly learn more about Weiss. Wish me luck 😵‍💫

Hey everyone, I currently own a lawn care business that I started around July of 2023. I am a firefighter and maintain the yards on my off days, I am 24 and looking to scale. Right now I have 19 accounts. My monthly revenue is sitting right around 2,000 a month.
Only 4 of them are weekly, I know I should try and convert them into weekly if I want to boost my revenue and profits and I will be working on that now as the grass is really starting to grow.
I have everything paid off as of now while my starting set up was around 15k. I have no problem marketing and getting customers. So I guess my question is, with me being a fireman and not really being able to do a ton of yards myself.
How do I go about getting someone to run the route for me so I can focus on just scaling the business and focusing on the operational aspect and not doing the labor for the business?
I’ve heard it’s hard to find reliable people in this space. I currently have a guy that works with me 1 day a week when I do my bi-weekly’s (15 a day) and pay him $20 an hour cash.
Any thoughts or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Looking for referral codes please for 25% off the following Quest games which will save me money and give you money. (If you own the game, you can generate a referral code)
Nope Powerwash Simulator LawnMower Sumulator Five nights at Freddie's 2 Please dont touch anything housebroken
There's a whole website of referral codes if need be, but I would rather the money go to someone in one of my gayming groups and not a random.
(Never pay full price for Quest games. There is always a 25% off code somewhere that benefits you and somebody else)
Thanks!

Damn this is a long post. 😅 Sorry to whoever reads this I'm a wordy person.
I'm kind of thinking of nachoing. Not because I hate my step daughter but because I really really love her and her relationship is so important to me.
Basically since my fiance and I got serious I have stepped in as a parental figure to my SD who is now a young 5. I love her as much as I could love a kid that I didn't give birth to. She is smart, funny, sweet, energetic, sassy and curious.
We have 60/40 custody and her mom is involved and HC only with my fiance. Her mom teaches her bad manners (like that it's funny to be mean to people, she doesn't need to say please and thank you, swearing is encouraged etc etc), let's her eat all the junk food and treats she wants, is a little neglectful in the love and comfort area and both of her parents (and both sets of grandparents) baby her and coddle her (she RARELY gets told no from anyone in her life). She has a switch (from dad) and an iPad (from mom) with snapchat and messanger on it (which I get the premise. She can talk to us while at mom's and mom while here) and both her and my fiance call our Xbox her Xbox. I can already see a technology addiction surfacing in her, she's already talking about us getting her a phone, 1000 times a day she's like "I just need to snapchat this" and she spends probably a good hour a day staring at herself with filters on. At our house we only let her have her iPad when we are actively watching her. But I am so concerned over the long term affects this will have on her. My fiance says he is concerned only when I push him on it and sometimes comes back with "yes of course I agree. I can't do anything about it. Her mom got her the iPad".
We are also trying to encourage her to be more independent and help out a bit around the house....things like bringing her plate to the kitchen after supper, putting her shoes away in her cubby, hanging up her towel and hair towel after her bath and filling up her water bottle.
This week has been a very taxing week because my fiance hasn't been home much because of work so I've been home with her 24/7 and everyday has been met with "I don't want to do it I want you to do it for me", "I hate doing things for myself", "I like when you do it", "I can't do it", her throwing her hair towel at me while she is playing her switch and saying "here go hang this up" with a bossy tone or full on temper tantrums. This went on the last time we had her too. She sometimes has had bad days where she throws a tantrum but this week especially it's been multiple times every single day. It is mostly stemming from her not wanting to do things for herself because she's so used to us catering 24 hours a day.
The other dynamic is that she wants everything I have. She loves me and I'm her idol and it's absolutely exhausting. She will happily be playing until she sees me and my fiance holding hands and then she needs to break it up and go in the middle. Or we are holding hands in the car and she tells me to let you of his hand so I can hold hers. I get a new dress why didn't I get her the matching one and she gets upset. My fiance buys me flowers and she complains she didn't get any (last time I got flowers I happened to be in the city and found a cute sticker book I thought she would love.) when she came home I gave her her books and she was happy for 2 minutes until she realized my fiance got me flowers and for the next 24 hours she constantly was like "why did you get SM flowers but not me" "I want flowers too", my best friend made me a painting for my engagement and she kept asking why my best friend made me one and not her. She even talks nonstop about how her dad is gonna buy her a ring like mine (engagement ring) for like a month after my engagement. I don't blame her and I understand that a) she wants to be included and b) she wants to be exactly like me (she has told me as much). But it's exhausting and sometimes when I can't even get a kiss from my fiance without her needing one too it stings. (I don't blame her and I would never expect my fiance to not give her a kiss if she asks for one after I get one)
So like I said this week I have been with her 90% of the time. I've kept up with laundry, housework, yard work, transportation and I usually get up before my fiance to make him coffee and pack his lunch so he can sleep in a bit (it's something I LOVE doing for him so he can sleep in.) she has been a bit of a menace with talking back and arguing, entitlement and tantrums but I've dealt with it and always bounce back and try to stay calm and steady and understanding in the face of her big emotions.
Last night my fiance and I talked about how if we ask her to do something we are not going to be doing it for her.
So flash forward to this morning. I wake up and brush my teeth with SD (she complains nonstop or doesn't do it unless Indo it with her). Go downstairs and my fiance comes down 10 minutes later he gives me a kiss and SD starts asking why I get a kiss and she doesn't so he gave her one as well. Things like that sometimes sting and it did this morning so I went upstairs for 5 minutes to regroup and tell myself it's not a big deal. I can be hurt but no one did anything wrong. Then my fiance was taking SD with him and asked her to get her water bottle and fill it up (he asked her like 5 times). She refused to fill it up so he went to do it and I reminded I'm about our talk last night and he disregarded that and did it anyway.
I texted him and told him that when he brushes me off that way it makes me feel like he doesn't value what we decide on together and it's very important to me that when we ask her to do something she does it and if she refuses to she deals with the natural consequences (ie she chose not to fill her water bottle up she will have to go the car ride without water). He brushed that off and told me he was just not wanting to fight with her about it. And then told me that he felt "unloved when I went upstairs this morning" and so I explained that when I can't get a moment of affection for myself sometimes it really stings and today was one of those days (but that I also don't expect him to refuse to give SD a kiss because that's unfair to her and she deserves affection too) so I went upstairs to regroup and came back down after I had 5 minutes. And he responded with "how unacceptable that a child wants affection from her parent" and that just felt very condescending and cycled into a fight.
Anyways I kind of feel like I am at my limit. I don't feel like my perspective and advice is valued and that response from my fiance really makes me feel icky. There was no kindness and compassion in it.
I'm thinking maybe I should nacho from any parental duties for the time being, still give her love and affection but really prioritize myself and my needs day to day instead of bending over backwards for her and my fiance. Let him deal with his child. And I know the affection thing I'm just gonna have to get over and figure out a way to handle better when it feel like it stings.
Any advice or encouragement or even constructive criticism would be so helpful

Damn this is a long post. 😅 Sorry to whoever reads this I'm a wordy person.
I'm kind of thinking of nachoing. Not because I hate my step daughter but because I really really love her and her relationship is so important to me.
Basically since my fiance and I got serious I have stepped in as a parental figure to my SD who is now a young 5. I love her as much as I could love a kid that I didn't give birth to. She is smart, funny, sweet, energetic, sassy and curious.
We have 60/40 custody and her mom is involved and HC only with my fiance. Her mom teaches her bad manners (like that it's funny to be mean to people, she doesn't need to say please and thank you, swearing is encouraged etc etc), let's her eat all the junk food and treats she wants, is a little neglectful in the love and comfort area and both of her parents (and both sets of grandparents) baby her and coddle her (she RARELY gets told no from anyone in her life). She has a switch (from dad) and an iPad (from mom) with snapchat and messanger on it (which I get the premise. She can talk to us while at mom's and mom while here) and both her and my fiance call our Xbox her Xbox. I can already see a technology addiction surfacing in her, she's already talking about us getting her a phone, 1000 times a day she's like "I just need to snapchat this" and she spends probably a good hour a day staring at herself with filters on. At our house we only let her have her iPad when we are actively watching her. But I am so concerned over the long term affects this will have on her. My fiance says he is concerned only when I push him on it and sometimes comes back with "yes of course I agree. I can't do anything about it. Her mom got her the iPad".
We are also trying to encourage her to be more independent and help out a bit around the house....things like bringing her plate to the kitchen after supper, putting her shoes away in her cubby, hanging up her towel and hair towel after her bath and filling up her water bottle.
This week has been a very taxing week because my fiance hasn't been home much because of work so I've been home with her 24/7 and everyday has been met with "I don't want to do it I want you to do it for me", "I hate doing things for myself", "I like when you do it", "I can't do it", her throwing her hair towel at me while she is playing her switch and saying "here go hang this up" with a bossy tone or full on temper tantrums. This went on the last time we had her too. She sometimes has had bad days where she throws a tantrum but this week especially it's been multiple times every single day. It is mostly stemming from her not wanting to do things for herself because she's so used to us catering 24 hours a day.
The other dynamic is that she wants everything I have. She loves me and I'm her idol and it's absolutely exhausting. She will happily be playing until she sees me and my fiance holding hands and then she needs to break it up and go in the middle. Or we are holding hands in the car and she tells me to let you of his hand so I can hold hers. I get a new dress why didn't I get her the matching one and she gets upset. My fiance buys me flowers and she complains she didn't get any (last time I got flowers I happened to be in the city and found a cute sticker book I thought she would love.) when she came home I gave her her books and she was happy for 2 minutes until she realized my fiance got me flowers and for the next 24 hours she constantly was like "why did you get SM flowers but not me" "I want flowers too", my best friend made me a painting for my engagement and she kept asking why my best friend made me one and not her. She even talks nonstop about how her dad is gonna buy her a ring like mine (engagement ring) for like a month after my engagement. I don't blame her and I understand that a) she wants to be included and b) she wants to be exactly like me (she has told me as much). But it's exhausting and sometimes when I can't even get a kiss from my fiance without her needing one too it stings. (I don't blame her and I would never expect my fiance to not give her a kiss if she asks for one after I get one)
So like I said this week I have been with her 90% of the time. I've kept up with laundry, housework, yard work, transportation and I usually get up before my fiance to make him coffee and pack his lunch so he can sleep in a bit (it's something I LOVE doing for him so he can sleep in.) she has been a bit of a menace with talking back and arguing, entitlement and tantrums but I've dealt with it and always bounce back and try to stay calm and steady and understanding in the face of her big emotions.
Last night my fiance and I talked about how if we ask her to do something we are not going to be doing it for her.
So flash forward to this morning. I wake up and brush my teeth with SD (she complains nonstop or doesn't do it unless Indo it with her). Go downstairs and my fiance comes down 10 minutes later he gives me a kiss and SD starts asking why I get a kiss and she doesn't so he gave her one as well. Things like that sometimes sting and it did this morning so I went upstairs for 5 minutes to regroup and tell myself it's not a big deal. I can be hurt but no one did anything wrong. Then my fiance was taking SD with him and asked her to get her water bottle and fill it up (he asked her like 5 times). She refused to fill it up so he went to do it and I reminded I'm about our talk last night and he disregarded that and did it anyway.
I texted him and told him that when he brushes me off that way it makes me feel like he doesn't value what we decide on together and it's very important to me that when we ask her to do something she does it and if she refuses to she deals with the natural consequences (ie she chose not to fill her water bottle up she will have to go the car ride without water). He brushed that off and told me he was just not wanting to fight with her about it. And then told me that he felt "unloved when I went upstairs this morning" and so I explained that when I can't get a moment of affection for myself sometimes it really stings and today was one of those days (but that I also don't expect him to refuse to give SD a kiss because that's unfair to her and she deserves affection too) so I went upstairs to regroup and came back down after I had 5 minutes. And he responded with "how unacceptable that a child wants affection from her parent" and that just felt very condescending and cycled into a fight.
Anyways I kind of feel like I am at my limit. I don't feel like my perspective and advice is valued and that response from my fiance really makes me feel icky. There was no kindness and compassion in it.
I'm thinking maybe I should nacho from any parental duties for the time being, still give her love and affection but really prioritize myself and my needs day to day instead of bending over backwards for her and my fiance. Let him deal with his child. And I know the affection thing I'm just gonna have to get over and figure out a way to handle better when it feel like it stings.
Any advice or encouragement or even constructive criticism would be so helpful.

Just found a decent deal on a SA Saint Victor for $875 online. Pick it up Monday. I live in apt so this will be like a Doomsday rifle/red dawn situation rifle, and of course a range toy. Being new to rifles, I’m not sure what type of optic to buy. I’m looking at PA or Swampfox lvpo or a red dot/magnifier setup. I figure I’m not in the military and don’t anticipate to use it much past a 100, maybe 200 yards out. What route should I go to stay cost effective? Also what ammo do you recommend should I need to use it in my apt and want to put an intruder down but not have rounds touching my neighbors?

I have an Ego electric mower that does a fine job on my residential .25 acre yard.... As long as it's just the front yard. My back yard grows about twice as fast as the front and gets perfect sun and water from the environment. I've had 3 gas mowers and the electric, all with side chute just clog constantly after about 3 feet of mowing. I need a push mower suggestion that will just cut through any kind of grass and push that stuff out the side chute without a care in the world. Thanks in advance.

I've been living in Jamestown for years now, and it seems like it gets a really bad rep. Not a lot of people moving in, not a lot of people who grew up here staying. What things do you think Jamestown needs to become a place more people would reasonably move to?
My thought is more attractive businesses downtown, easier parking, and maybe some local ordinance to remove junk from people's lawns.

[ [FIRST] [NEXT>]

Season 10 “Days of Fury” - Episode 2 “Visiting Omen”

He had hoped for a boring day. Boring days are good at work, and Santos was already expecting to not have many of them for a while.
The first couple of days were boring, as usual- Blackriver is a small town, and the worst that had happened was Nila and Kessa making a few wellness checks after worried calls from neighbors. A couple of people in denial, a few ashamed at their own violent outbursts and a stern warning to Tamm about painting others’ properties without asking first.
This morning, however, began with an all-hands meeting. There were no meeting rooms in the office, so they made do in the general workspace room, they all stood there at the center while Keya looked them over.
“We have received a report from a neighboring city about a convoy of protestors making its way to Blackriver” she describes without tone. At this point nobody bothers interrupting.
“This convoy is comprised of approximately four hundred and seventy eight individuals of multiple species, primarily human and venlil but with operationally relevant representations of the entire spectrum of size and mobility types” her paws are behind her back, her ears focused directly ahead, her eyes centered to keep the entire team on the core of her focus “They have crossed multiple cities already, generally engaging in verbal sparring with any figure of authority, parading signs and banners denouncing all manners of authorities as well as occasionally engaging in physical altercations with officers.”
“They are also known to engage in vandalism. Though primarily aimed at exterminator and police precincts as well as public offices, they have already caused considerable collateral to others they have identified as ‘collaborators’” there’s a single heartbeat of waiting for breath before she continues “They have, however, not shown to be an incredibly organized group or one with a clear goal and objective. The convoy appears to contain only extremely emotionally charged people with no clear overarching goal.”
“We are incapable of dealing with the situation should they turn aggressive, as such we will be simply maintaining watch and relocating the populace should they become a problem.” Then, she picks up her holopad and passes it to Lunek beside her “They can only follow one path with the entire convoy, the central street, therefore I have divided it into four sectors. One of each will be assigned to a sector.”
First her ears turn to the first target “Lunek, sector one at the entrance. As the most approachable member of the precinct your task is to give an initial image of harmlessness. Do not engage first, do not take initiative against them. Ensure the members of the herd in the area are warned of their approach. If they become aggressive, retreat and focus on the escape of the herd.”
She tilts her head a little bit, turning her ears the other way “Marik, sector two. Mostly the commercial area, your task is ostensive protection to lower the chances of them initiating aggression. Whereas protection of the herd is first priority your second priority is ensuring Tenve’s Hardware Store as well as Sunbreeze Meals and Watchful Café remain capable of providing anyone whose residences become damaged.” suddenly, she turns her head entirely to face Marik “Ostensive protection means dissuasion, ensure that they know they are not under threat and as long as those specific areas are not engaged, do not provoke”
Next in her line of fire is Santos “As our human officer you will be in sector three, nearby the precinct. They are liable to become most agitated in this area and your presence may serve to calm them. You are not to engage, if deemed necessary the precinct’s materials are considered expendable, do not attempt to stop them”
“Sector four, the exit of town, will be with me to ensure that they have fully left Blackriver and will not attempt to turn back” then she tilts her ears again “Aren, you will gear up with a CCG and remain out of view range, your task will be quick emergency response should the need arise.” she then points her tail at the last three officers “Vess, your task will be to inform the herd and ensure a clear path for the convoy while Nila and Kessa will gather all of our medical supplies and set a staging area out of the convoy’s range. Organize ambulance assistance from Striped Hill and Everrain”
Then, she turns her ears around to focus each one in turn “As any attempt at aggression will end only in negative consequences, and in order to reduce the apparent levels of threat you will be unarmed. The estimated time of arrival is a third of a claw, ready yourselves and be at your post in time. Dismissed.”
“Not sure if I like or I don’t that we had the cold bastard right now” Aren says, as soon as Keya had left the room “Maybe we should move in closer when the convoy gets to sector four?”
“Probably a good idea to be nearby” Santos adds with a sigh “They might take umbrage with her demeanor, hopefully they won’t be set off too hard.”
And with silent signs of agreement all of the officers of Blackriver depart for preparations. The first ones to leave the precinct are the ones in charge of support, the two girls set off early to find someone willing to permit usage of their lawn as a possible impromptu field hospital and a little while later Aren leaves with a heavy CCG.
Slowly, the clock ticks to the appointed claw… And soon enough, Lunek can see in the distance the incoming omen of people. At first a distant line in the horizon, slowly the dark mark on the road coalesces into distinct shapes, the shapes of hundreds of vehicles slowly rolling down the road.
When the first few get close to the initial buildings of the main street, the entire convoy slows down. Their process of preparation is seemingly laborious, each vehicle houses multiple people at a time, smaller cars full to the brim, flatbeds with more people on their cargo space than can safely be contained, even buses conscripted for the effort. They carry with them signs, flags, a multitude of symbols as they dismount their vehicles and start spreading out to fill the street.
They seem to naturally form two distinct yet highly mixed groups, at its most distinctive is the pack of humans who keep a good distance from each other. But they are not alone in this group as takkan, mazic, yotul, zurulian and even drilvar form this central group. But flowing around them, not avoiding their presence but never infringing in their space is the grey mass of venlil, packed tight together, and mixed in there adding color to the monochromatic flux are krakotl, tilfish, sulean, iftali, sivkit and even a seemingly very confused duerten.
And at the very core of the moving group are their vehicles, which gently start rolling forward again as the group starts moving. Lunek simply waits, silently, by the side of the road, his ears attentively swiveling from one side to the other, expression having given way to function. Before the first of the convoy even arrives close he turns to the side, making a pointing sign with his tail. A woman who had been watching from her yard flicks her right ear and runs back inside.
He continues to wait, scanning around at all times for the presence of… Anything. The street is empty of locals when the first visitors start to alight. The convoy is loud, their symbols carry a loudness of colors and their vehicles make as much noise as they can to draw attention, but those who walk seem content in allowing their tools to speak for them, for now. Lunek tries to make sense of the banners and signs, but the messages are disparate as the group- Some speak of injustices against their people, some speak of anger at invaders, some speak of betrayal.
“Fuck off, fireman!” comes the harsh bark of a human, causing Lunek to flinch. But flinch is all he does, he simply starts walking alongside the moving convoy.
The exterminator’s attention is drawn to the details of the few people he can distinguish amongst the mass. Something tickles at his pattern-recognition but he cannot quite ascertain what for a while, until a lightly limping mazic makes her way to the edge of the mass “Want to finish the job?!” she trumpets, her form towering over his.
“I’m just observing, ma’am.” Though the tremor of his voice is noticeable, he remains stoic. But her proximity makes him notice something about her body, marks in her wrists, neck and feet. Though mazic have powerful wrists and knuckles upon which they support the front half of their weight, her left wrist seems completely incapable of it, giving her a limp particular to a three-point walk. “To make sure there’s no impediment on your path” he notices the leathery skin around her left wrist is deeply blackened.
“Oh, ‘no impediment’ is that it? So everyone that lives here is an impediment?!” her voice booms.
“Ma’am” still, he does not yield nor does he break his pace following the convoy “We have not done anything other than inform our people of your presence…” for a half second all he hears is the sound of his own heart “We can’t do anything else.”
Those words, then, sealed his fate. The first shout to echo in his direction was a yotul howling “Yeah you’re useless!” and soon the avalanche came in multiple voices and languages “Can’t do shit!” “You’re just here to hurt people!” “Useless crap!” “Idiot!” and many more.
With every step and twitch the very average exterminator puts all of his focus on just being there. He lets himself cower a little bit, against the barrage it is difficult not to, but he continues to accompany. A few curious coats step out from their houses to watch, but the front of the convoy seems far too focused on the sole exterminator in view to bother anyone else.
A few steps ahead, an older venlil with a cane has moved the closest to the convoy as any watcher has up to now. Seeing her proximity to the increasingly rowdy crowd causes Lunek to speed up, quickly approaching her “Leva-”
But his words are stalled when she puts a paw on his shoulder, she gently puts her head against his for just a second “You’re doing good pup, keep at it” she mutters to him before breaking contact and turning around to walk back inside. He can spy her grandchildren looking on through the door. Lunek looks back at the still-shouting moving convoy, takes a deep breath, and continues to accompany them forward. A small pawful of them, however, seem to have fallen silent.
Once having reached the limit of his assigned zone, however, Lunek stops. He watches the convoy move forward, past the houses, now noisier than before. The initial hollering at him had turned into disjointed screams at some indistinct foe- Though the herd had been noticed of a foe, it was yet unaware of who, or what, said foe was. So for now it howled at the ineptitude of… Someone. And as the last of the convoy passes beyond the imaginary line of his duty, Lunek lets out a deep sigh and allows himself to sit down on the ground.
He stays there for a moment, without thought, simply letting the tension, confusion and fear permeate his body until a gentle paw touches his arm. He doesn’t need to look to identify it, he lets his lover use her strength to prop him up, raising him to his feet “Keina you shouldn’t-”
“Neighbor’s looking over Tiss” his wife wraps her arms and tail around him “I’m not leaving you alone.” she stays like that for a second, before breaking off “Do you need to go after them?”
“No”
Marik stalks through the sidewalk, moving with energy. His speed outpaces the movement of the convoy, his paws twitch to grasp at something that isn’t there and a deep and intense motion makes his short fur stand on end. He had let the convoy’s head move in front of him, simply standing still as he assessed as many as he could in the mass, and now he had begun to move towards the front again.
As he stalked forward he focused his sight on every member of the convoy that seemed of interest. A human whose clothes seemed suspiciously loose, a venlil whose movements were far too stiff, a gojid who kept his claws behind his back. He stared at each like they were his quarry, analyzing every piece of movement they made for threats, and yet aside from the challenge in the human’s gaze he saw no danger arise.
Tenve had closed his shop, so as the convoy moved forward Marik simply continued to follow along, scanning the crowd for threats. But the next point of interest arrives, and he rushes ahead placing himself in front of the only restaurant of the town. Sunbreeze Meals wasn’t a very common sort of restaurant, Blackriver did not have enough visitors for a normal restaurant to be profitable and was small enough most people had their meals at home, it most often served takeout for those farmers who’d spend so long in the field they would return home without the energy to feed themselves.
Sparing a look inside at the only five tables, Marik couldn’t keep a small thought away from his mind. How most who got their meals from Sunbreeze these days did so because they enjoyed the cooking rather than their need of work, ever since the sunspeck population has been brought under control and the maintenance of the fields had become much smaller. He feels the presence long before he can recognize what led him to feel it and turns to stare at a group of six that approach the entrance: Two humans, a tilfish, two gojids and a takkan had broken off from the convoy and approached the restaurant.
He traces his color band over each in turn, and they all bristle at his stare. One of the humans hesitates before continuing to walk inside, and Marik simply remains by the door with his arms crossed, left ear twisted as far back as he could to listen to the inside.
“What have you got here?”
“W-we mostly ha-have ready ma-made meals to go or- or- Or you can look over the menu”
“There’s no need to stutter, y’know”
“So-sorry-”
“Really, after everything y’all are still with this predator crap?”
The chimes on the door echo for the second time in sequence as Marik makes his way inside. The tilfish had started to lean over the counter while the other five had arrayed themselves behind her. They all turn their attention to him as he enters, including the venlil manning the counter. Marik keeps his gaze directly on the tilfish for a few uncomfortable seconds, before looking at the man behind the counter and making a simple sign with his tail, a short vertical bob with the tip and a slow horizontal swipe. It’s meaning simple: >Safe<.
After a few seconds someone else appears from the kitchen. The tall venlil carries a large stack of plastic boxes in his arms, all of them seemingly designed to attach to themselves so as to be carried with ease. He puts them down with a resounding crash on the counter, and opens up his voice with ice “Farmer’s Pots, good meal when you’re working and can’t go home.” With each word the owner of the restaurant and main cook comes closer and closer to the tilfish, until the last “Ten credits each.”
Nobody moves for a couple of seconds, and then one of the humans steps closer and brings a holopad over to the credit reader. There’s a noise indicating payment, and then the owner raises his head and tilts it to focus his favored eye and both of his ears at the man who paid “Now,” he shifts register in his voice and the language he speaks in “fuck off” he finishes.
With no small amount of surprise the group of six retrieve the stack of packaged meals, carefully walking out and back into the convoy. Marik stays behind for a moment “Didn’t know you spoke human”
“Pup’s enamored with their languages. Of course, first greek words he learns is swearing.”
Outside, Marik stalks further ahead to the next point of interest. He moves faster than the convoy, and has time to move in front of it. For a few meters the street is still clear as he arrives to find a group of people standing in front of the Watchful. Standing there were all of its employees, and even all of its regulars, twenty people total standing there as if they were having the most normal day. If not for their raised ears tracking every noise coming from down the street and their swaying tails swinging about like angry beasts.
One of them simply points his tail at the other side of the street as Marik comes closer, and the hunter doesn’t need a second command to understand the meaning. They have this, he has a less practical but just as important duty. He crosses the street quickly before the convoy starts coming closer, and heads towards the park.
As the regulars of the Watchful had feared, it took little time until a large group had broken off from the convoy. With the town on alert about the convoy they had found themselves bereft of prey and now this group had set out to find some, anyone who might be willing, or not, to listen to their grievances. And what is clearly a place designed for people to congregate looked most appetizing.
Marik shadowed the group as they moved through the park, but they were accompanied by nothing but silence. It wasn’t until they ran into the centerpiece of the park that he took initiative, stepping ahead of the group and simply… Standing there a distance away from the tree of many scions, between it and the group.
“What’s so important over there, fireman?” it was a venlil who asked, but his usage of an english word was not lost on Marik.
“A place you will respect” the exterminator has his arms crossed, the one good portion of his gaze set on the man who asked “This is a grave.”
Though the group that now prowled was large, those who heard were taken aback. One such, however, approaches closer. He was a venlil whose fur shifted between a soft, brownish color and a dirty white “A tradition of the tenets right? One of those family trees?” The man would have been distinctive in any other group due to his missing patches of fur around neck, wrists, even portions around his head. But such signs of long term damage were common in the convoy.
Interest. They had shown true interest, or at least one of them had. “No, but similar… The forgotten tree is a grave for the forgotten.” He felt like these people, at least the ones before him, could probably understand the meaning of this place “It is of no tradition. Someone, a long time ago, wanted to honor someone who was gone but whose name was not meant to be remembered. Someone who had disappeared in the system… So they borrowed on another’s tradition, and added a scion to this tree, with something in their memory. Others have done so similarly, until it became… A grave for the forgotten”
“Didn’t think you’d be worried about this kind of place” it’s a human that speaks up this time
“Our duty is to protect this town, what you think-” but Marik’s words are interrupted by that same venlil who had asked before. His demeanor suddenly shifts, his ears perk up and his entire body shifts forward for a moment. He hesitates, for a second everyone’s focus is on him, and then he runs towards the tree.
Marik follows behind, stopping just by the man’s side as he finds himself at the base of the tree. The man makes a direct line to somewhere, something he had found from the distance, as if it had called him. He finds a thick and heavy branch that had been bent down by the weight of its scions and memories, near its base and speaking of a memory left behind long ago is a braid of fur made of three colors, a dirty white, a soft brown and a dark grey, bound by the braids are two beads.
The man raises up a paw, but does not touch it. As if cradling it, he recites the words engraved in one of the beads “I will cross every star to return home” others have come closer to listen to the man’s hoarse voice “There will always be a home for you” he reads of the second one. The names on the beads have been scratched out. The man falls on his knees “S-she kept her promise and… I couldn’t keep mine…”
Marik steps back as he watches two others come closer to comfort the man. He looks as a few others approach with more caution, looking up at the tree with a bit more reverence than they had before. Then, he turns around and starts heading back towards the main street.
Gazing out as the convoy gains a new flux, some leave it as it passes to move towards the park while others leave the park to rejoin the convoy, Marik simply stays there at the side of the street looking as stern as he could. Though the noise of the convoy remains great, here in this portion it seems to die down a little. A thought crosses his mind as he turns an ear as far back as he can, a thought he can’t help but voice “I wonder how many are looking at their own graves…”
As the convoy progresses, Santos simply stands by the front of the precinct, hands in his pockets. He watches the convoy arrive, heart beating fast, constrained hands the only reason he hasn't started shaking quite yet. He starts tapping his right foot as he watches the first few people cross by without noticing what this place is yet, everyone knows where the precinct is, so aside from the words printed on the sign by the entrance there is no other marker of what this building’s purpose might be.
Of course, it is impossible for nobody to notice. The entire convoy seems to stop as soon as a zurulian riding on the shoulders of a human points a claw at the building and says something. A large group breaks away at the command, all of them holding disparate signs and messages. They turn on the building with enough roars that whatever they are attempting to transmit is lost on him.
Santos is thankful his hearing isn’t nearly as good as his coworkers’, as the cacophony is already overwhelming him. He changes stances slightly, taking his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms. This prompts a small group to turn their looks at him, the focus easily identifiable with the humans in their midst, focus which made the hair in the back of Santos’ neck stand on end. Living in this place had refined his sense of danger, but he didn’t need that to realize what could happen.
It was a group of five that approached, four humans and a venlil. “Didn’t think they’d be letting humans live out here in the boonies” said one of his kin.
Santos just shrugs “Got hired to work here. Honestly, rural folk get a needlessly bad reputation, most of the time they just don’t care as long as you’re not bothering them”
“Really? In my-”
Santos interrupts the man “Cut it out” there are many ways in which humans make themselves obvious, many of which are their eyes. Santos did understand the fear of them and why it was primal, it was not the fear of the eyes but the fear of attention, it was knowing you were under the scrutiny and judgment of another that set off that emotion. It was rarely the eyes that showed this attention for most species, but for humans it was, and the man’s clear gaze on his badge made the entire situation clear to him “Stop beating around the bush and say it already.”
Someone else is who speaks. The tall woman starts not with words, however, but by spitting on Santos’ uniform “You fucking traitor” her voice is both fierce and cold at the same time. A very emotional coldness.
“There we go” he sighs “Just… Move on. We’re not getting anything out of this conversation”
“Why?” It was the venlil in the group that started this time “These people hate you, they hate you for what you are! Why do you work for them?!”
Santos rubs his eyes and sighs “Because someone has to. Change only happens when you make it happen, simple as that”
“Change?!” another one of the humans howls “Do you think those people can change?! You know the truth, those fuckers have never done anything good!”
“You know, if you had read your history books…” Santos stares at the one who had just had their outburst “You’d remember that we once thought the very same about the police” there’s the sound of glass breaking, but he doesn’t reaction “And a lot of us still do”
The human staring him down shifts their gaze slightly at the broken window of the precinct, then back at Santos “A broken window is easy to fix” he shrugs “As I was saying. Same shit.” he crosses his arms again “There’s a role those people play, a role that needs to be played because it’s important. Different name, different problems, still the same shit. Gotta fix this, I’m doing my part” he then stares at the venlil in the group “You do yours. Simple as that.”
“Role?!” the venlil of the group steps closer “What role could they possibly have?! They only exist to hurt people!”
Santos steps back, and raises his eyes a little bit. Of course, the classics had shown themselves in this instance. With as many humans as there are in the crowd there were now quite a few objects in the air, most clearly aimed at the precinct behind him. Though given the failed arc of some of them it was clearly not just the humans indulging in such a tried and true method.
“I used to be a wildlife preserve ranger” Santos then focuses his gaze on the aggravated venlil “This is a frontier town, if you walk in the brushes with shorts you’ll walk out with your ankles numb. The athai out there are rather harmless, but they keep the sunspecks under control.” He takes another step back “Since coming here I’ve been pest control, had to catch an exotic animal set loose, investigated a murder, helped stop a child from taking her own life, stopped large scale fights, helped a dozen people avoid being arrested for self defense and helped break a fucking siege”
Santos cracks his knuckles “There’s roles. Jobs that need done and there is one fucking organization doing it all. That is a problem.” Then, he sighs and takes a few more steps to the side, offering indifference from this point on “There’s nothing I can say that would make you calm down.” he says one final time “Just make sure not to injure yourselves in the process, alright?” His words seemed to be enough to make the small group cease trying to interact, as the convoy had begun moving again. Though the one human who had called him a traitor gets one final parting shot at the precinct “Where the hell did you get an egg in this planet…” Santos says with a raised eyebrow as the projectile impacts the front door.
Keya stands by a large sign, the same one that welcomes you into Blackriver on one side and sees you out at the other, the official limit of the town. Her arms behind her back, her attention directly towards the front of the convoy as they march. Something gains the whole of her attention, the car in the front. Someone draws her focus, a human with a megaphone on top of the car. The man shouts words of encouragement at the people behind him with the megaphone before turning to his holopad, then he bends over downwards to discuss something with the driver.
She simply remains there, waiting for the convoy to pass. But instead of moving on out of the city, here the convoy stops completely. Keya observes as the further end of the convoy starts to slowly compact upon itself, and her ears pick up something “Alright everyone, start getting ready, next town over is more than a claw away, make sure you’ve left nothing behind” the words were not meant for her, nor for anyone too far. They come from the same man she had seen standing on top of the car, but he had now climbed down and was talking with a group of multiple species.
It is clear they have some degree of leadership, though the convoy does not stop cleanly nor does it begin to organize with alacrity they do respond to the group’s organization. So Keya keeps her focus on them as they point, wave and talk between themselves, others and devices. But at least one of them has noticed her attention, a gangly and light-skinned human with fire-red hair, the man that was atop the car. He starts walking in her direction, before turning around for one final set of commands as he walks backwards “And make sure the guys at the back got all the crap! We’re here to be heard, not to trash the city!” he says before turning back again to head towards her. A venlil with pure white fur erupts from inside the car he was riding, quickly dashing to his side as they notice where he was going.
In a few moments both have come up to her, the human looking down at her with the venlil bristles at his side “Saw anything interesting, fireman?”
“What are you doing here?”
“What? Isn’t it obvious?!” it was the venlil that roared a response “You saw all of it! You know what they’ve done to us! What they’ve done to everyone! And you still work for those brahking monsters! It’s like you’re thankful they made you a cripple!”
The human puts a hand on the venlil’s shoulder, calming her demeanor just a little bit “We’re here because honestly, we’re all too tired of being fucking ignored is what. So what the fuck are you gonna do?!”
“I have put the wrong emphasis” Keya says with her lack of tone. She can see the human shiver just a little bit “My task is to ensure the safety of this town. Your convoy is a danger. We have eight field-capable officers, we cannot ensure the safety of the residents against a group like yours. People will take actions for reasons, you have broadcast your reasons clearly. You have chosen this place for a reason which I cannot ascertain.”
She makes sure her ears are trained towards both the human and the venlil, an action which causes the venlil to cower behind her partner “We do not house government agencies. This is a farming town of little note. The local precinct is a simple precinct, we have no regulatory or command authority. The town population is approximately double that of the number of your convoy. We have no individuals of appreciable social or political reach. There is nothing in Blackriver of interest to people attempting to change government policy, nor have there been actions taken here that I can identify as being cause for retaliatory actions within the context of your message.”
“I must ensure this does not happen again and the only way of doing so is minimizing our attractivity as targets. A logical assumption of your choice of quarry would be a town with the presence of politicians, a large city with constant news coverage, cities housing important government agencies or those containing the Regional Firebases”
“So I ask again. What are you doing here?”
The two remain silent for a few seconds, before the human turns around with a mouth noise “Whatever, I don’t need to explain myself to someone that won’t listen. Come on!” he starts to stalk back towards the car, but stops once he notices his venlil companion wasn’t moving.
The snow-white venlil has their focus on Keya, who offers a simple low forward swipe of her tail, a sign to proceed. Still, the venlil seems frozen in place until the human comes back and grabs hold of their paw with a gentle touch. At which point both finally return to the convoy.
Keya remains at the side of the road, watching as the convoy readies itself again to leave. People get back inside cars, they hop on the back of trucks and load themselves into buses. She continues to watch as the convoy takes its time riding out, making their way out of the town.
Once it is finally gone, multiple footsteps sound behind her. When she turns around she meets her officers, having returned from their assigned positions “They have left. I expect your reports of what happened in each sector by the end of your shifts” she states plainly, before looking at Santos “They did not appear to have a specific reason for targeting Blackriver.” The question remains unspoken.
The human officer just shrugs “Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re doing. We’re just a little town, I doubt they even know what exactly they’re angry about.” He looks at the tail end of the convoy as it leaves “Town was probably just a place they felt safe going to.”
“D-do you think we might get more like that” Lunek says, at the back of the group.
“Who knows…” Santos sighs “But if human history applies anywhere here… This is just a sign of worse things to come”
[ [FIRST] [NEXT>]
And thus the omen passes by. Feelings, emotions of all sorts, without a plan or a reason other than just their own rage and distress.
Did any of these even know what they were doing? And how much worse can it be when they do?

Hi both my partner and business partner are introverts. This is fine and I don't mind being the front face of my company or in my private relationship. HOWEVER, one of my biggest pet peeves that I see in introverts is that when you agree on a position to which you both commit to and the invert drops the ball, it makes the extrovert look bad. I will give you a business example, we were setting up charity channels so that our customers can make donations to any of the animal charities on the list. I wrote our commitment to get these charities online by a certain date. My business partner was well aware of the deadline and he didn't do it. So, these charities look to me for failure to make the deadline not him. My partner (fiancé ) is the same way, let's say we borrow our neighbors lawnmower. I am expected to ask to borrow the lawnmower (even though it's my partner that cuts the grass) as he's too shy to ask. I told my partner that our neighbor needs it back by Monday. And, my partner forgets. So, the neighbor calls me asking for the lawn mower. It makes me look bad not them and I'm doing my partner the favour of asking. SO, just be mindful that we extroverts are happy to step in when you can't on public situations but just be mindful that your extrovert partner gets the flack when you don't follow through on your end.