#Chip Level Repairing Course near me

[jobsacademyonline]

JobsAcademy’s Chip Level Repairing Course: In-Depth Training for Aspiring Technicians

Electronic gadgets like tablets, laptops, and smartphones have become indispensable in today’s technologically advanced world. The need for qualified technicians to maintain and repair these devices has increased dramatically as they become more sophisticated. This has created profitable job options for anyone with the necessary knowledge and abilities. One such ability is chip-level repair, a specialist discipline requiring a profound comprehension of the complex mechanisms underlying electronic devices. The Chip Level Repairing Course is the ideal course to start if you’re an aspiring technician hoping to excel in this industry.

So Why Should You Take A Course On Chip Level Repair?

Electronics have become an important part of our lives in this digital age. Technology is everywhere, from cars and home appliances to laptops and smartphones. Because people are more reliant on electronics, there is a greater need for skilled technicians who can figure out and fix complicated electrical problems. You can learn how to bring dead gadgets back to life by taking a Chip Level Repairing Course.

But what does “chip level repair” really mean? It means going into the very heart of electronic products to find and fix problems at the component level. You need to pay close attention to details, know a lot about electronic systems, and have advanced technical skills to do this. Taking a Chip Level Repairing Course will teach you how to fix a lot of different problems, from swapping broken chips to fixing complicated motherboard problems.

Pros of Working as a Chip Level Repairer

Working as a chip level repair technician offers numerous advantages:

High Demand:Because there are more and more electrical devices, there is always a need for skilled repair technicians.

Lucrative Earning Potential: If you know how to fix chip levels, you can get good pay and have a lot of opportunities to make money.

Job Satisfaction: Fixing things that others believe are insurmountable brings immense excitement and satisfaction.

Chances to be an entrepreneur: Being your own boss is possible if you know how to run a business and have the right skills.

Benefits for the Environment: Fixing electronics instead of buying new ones cuts down on electrical waste and saves resources.

How Come JobsAcademy Is the Best Place to Learn How to Fix Chip Levels?

JobsAcademy is the best place to take the Chip Level Repairing Course because it cares so much about its students’ progress. There is no other school like ours that combines theoretical knowledge with hands-on practical training. This will help you really understand the material.

Real-world experience: At JobsAcademy, we believe that experiential learning is the most effective method of learning. Our Chip Level Repairing Course puts a lot of emphasis on hands-on learning, so you can work on real-world projects with the help of skilled teachers. This hands-on method ensures that you learn the skills necessary to correctly fix and handle complicated electronics.

Hybrid Training: We know how important it is to be able to learn in a variety of ways. Our hybrid training plan takes the best parts of both face-to-face classes and online learning and puts them together in one package. With this method, you can learn at your own pace, get help from teachers, and talk to other students.

NSDC-Certified Program: We’re pleased to announce that our Chip Level Repairing Course has earned NSDC certification, ensuring industry-recognized training. This certification validates your expertise and facilitates your recruitment in the competitive electronics repair market.

100% Job Placement Assistance: JobsAcademy wants you to be successful at your job. Our specialised placement cell works hard to put you in touch with the best electronics companies. Take advantage of our large network and get personalized assistance finding a job.

Industry-recognized certification: Successful completion of the Chip Level Repairing Course grants you a prestigious industry-recognized certification. This certification shows that you are an expert in your field and can lead to exciting job possibilities.

Free English and soft skills training: We know that soft skills are just as important for job advancement as technical skills. Our program gives you free English and “soft skills” training to help you communicate and get along with others better.

Career Opportunities After the Course

You’ll be well-equipped to pursue a number of career opportunities after passing the Chip Level Repairing Course. You could:

Participate in a Repair Service Centre: Become a proficient technician at a respectable repair facility.

Establish Your Own Repair Company: Take charge and create a profitable repair business.

Become an Independent Repair Specialist: As a freelancer, offer your services to people and companies.

Employment in the Industry of Electronic Manufacturing: Participate in the manufacturing and inspection of electronic equipment.

Why Select JobsAcademy?

JobsAcademy provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that goes beyond professional training. Our commitment to student progress is evident in the following important ways:

Customized Courses People Want: We carefully crafted our Chip Level Repairing Course to align with the most recent business trends and requirements. You can be sure that companies will want the skills you learn.

Lifetime Access to LMS and Personalized Assistance: To advance in your job, you need to keep learning. Our students can use our Learning Management System (LMS) for as long as they want. It has a lot of helpful tools and materials. Additionally, our specialized helpdesk is available from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. to answer any questions or solve any problems you may be having.

Lifetime Career and 100% Placement Assistance: We care about your long-term success. Our program for lifetime career and placement aid provides ongoing support to ensure that you have the tools you need to build a satisfying career in electronics repair.

Deep-Rooted Corporate Network: Our strong ties with business leaders give you training and job opportunities that you can’t get anywhere else. Thanks to our corporate partnerships, you can get useful knowledge and grow your professional network.

Get materials for self-study and live sessions: We believe in learning in a complete way. Our course has both self-study tools and live sessions led by experts in the field that are very interesting. This blended learning method works for all types of learners and helps people remember what they’ve learned.

Enroll now in the Chip Level Repairing Course.

JobsAcademy’s Chip Level Repairing Course is an ideal place to start if you have a strong interest in technology and want to pursue a lucrative profession in electronics repair. Don’t pass up this chance to acquire in-demand abilities and open up a world of opportunities.

Sign up today to take the first step towards a fulfilling career in chip level repair!

Resource - https://bit.ly/4draaDc

[jobsacademy1234]

JobsAcademy: Your Gateway to Expertise in Smartphone Chip Level Technology

JobsAcademy provides specialized training in smartphone chip-level technology. Gain hands-on experience, learn from industry experts, and elevate your skills to unlock advanced career opportunities in the tech industry.

[thearchivistsjournal]

Day 173,

Author's Note/Content Warning: A more intense nightmare sequence this time around. A long fall, intense pain, and enough simultaneously broken bones to border on body horror. All a dream, yes, but still potentially unsettling.

My throat hurts too much to talk.  Almost even hurts to breathe.  Writing helps take my mind off it.  Lin and Huan told me I was screaming all through the night and they couldn’t wake me.

I hate that I put them through that.  Must have been horrible to watch.

Then again, my night was hardly better.

The mists must have been out yesterday, for I dreamt of the Catacomb Depths once more.  Wakingly vivid and memorable as ever.

Early in the dream my interminable claustrophobic wandering found a break from the norm.  Once more I stepped from a tunnel out onto one chasm-spanning bridge among visible dozens and hidden hundreds.  Two things set this bridge apart from others I’d crossed.  First, it ramped sharply upwards.  I’d long since learned not to let inclines raise my hopes, for it seemed apparent upward bound paths inevitably led deeper down rather than staying level, but still it was a welcome novelty.  The second, more intriguing matter was that it was decrepit.

True, everything in that place had an air of being ineffably old, ancient even, but it was all in good repair, buried and untouched by time.  Worn, yes, chipped and cracked, sometimes, but never crumbling.  Certainly no bridge I’d seen before had outright holes in it like this one.

Even had the bridge gone down instead of up, my curiosity would have compelled me to overcome my dread and cross it.

Just over halfway across, the main walkway of the bridge was fallen away entirely, leaving only the supporting guardrails at either side.  With little trust in my balance, I straddled that connection and pulled myself forward, inches at a time, on my belly.  Of course, it wasn’t the crossing but the dismounting that did me in.

Believing myself to be safe, I shakily stood up from the rail.  As I swung the outer leg over I must have placed my foot on a loose stone, for I tumbled backwards.  Flailing, I found brief, clumsy purchase back on the railing but lacked the strength to overcome my momentum.

I screamed as I fell.  Doubtless the first of the screams of the night that echoed into the waking world.

I know not how long I fell.  I lost track of the bridges I passed on the way down, even the ones I passed close enough by to reach out for in a vain attempt to halt my descent.  They never did more for me than wrench my joints and batter my body with impacts on the way down.  A new scream of pain each time.

Eventually, I landed, with a sickening crunch.  How it didn’t kill me I don’t know.  Nightmare logic perhaps?  Or maybe I was already dead.

At any rate, both of my legs were most certainly broken.  And an arm.  Probably both arms, but one moved enough to drag myself, however painfully.  And drag myself I did, for in that place, even when there’s not the sense of an other that I felt following Bartolome’s funeral, there is always a feeling here that above all else, one must keep moving.

It felt like hours more still that I crawled.  Stopping from the pain every few inches.  I was on the threshold at the bridge’s end when I finally woke.

I fear the next mist night, for the chance that I may find my dreaming body still in that state.

For now, I find myself grateful that my other sleeps are near-dreamless.  I got little rest last night, and though it is barely past noon (or so I am told) I think I’ll try to catch some proper sleep.  I’ll write more when I wake.

<==Previous          Next==>

[masterdinesh2]

Master Dinesh: The Best Around, MacBook Repair near Me

Apple products are reliable, but they're also expensive. The last thing you want is to be without your laptop while it's being repaired! Luckily, there's one company in the area that can help: Master Dinesh provide the best Apple MacBook repairing in Delhi! His technicians can handle any problem with your laptop, whether it's a dented case or a faulty fan. His team has been serving the area for more than a decade, so you know you can count on them to get the job done!

What is a MacBook Repair?

A MacBook Repair is a process where an individual can take their MacBook to a professional to have it repaired. This is often done when the individual cannot fix the issue themselves or does not feel comfortable doing so. The most common problems that are repaired in a MacBook include:

Screen Repair - A MacBook can suffer from any number of problems like the screen going blank or having lines on it. As Apple does not offer screen replacement for individual devices, a professional third-party company will be employed to fix the screen in your MacBook.

Keyboard Repair - One of the most common repairs needed for a MacBook is keyboard repair. Over time, the keys can become worn down and start to stick. Rather than replace the keyboard altogether, you can have it repaired. While this may still cost you money, it is often worth it when compared to fully replacing your keyboard.

Battery Replacement - It is essential to keep your battery charged at all times so

What Solutions are Available for a Broken MacBook?

When your MacBook breaks, it can be a difficult and frustrating experience. You may not know where to turn or what to do next. Luckily, there are a few solutions available for fixing a broken MacBook.

One option is to take your computer to an Apple store or authorized service provider. Apple stores offer Genius Bar appointments where you can get one-on-one help from an Apple expert. They can diagnose the problem and recommend a solution.

If you're comfortable working on your computer, you can try troubleshooting the problem yourself. Several online resources offer step-by-step instructions for fixing common MacBook issues.

Another option is to contact a professional computer repair service like Master Dinesh since they have the best MacBook repair experts in Delhi. We specialize in repairing MacBooks and can provide you with expert advice and service. We're here to help you get your computer back up and running quickly.

How to Prevent Your MacBook from Breaking in the Future

No one wants their MacBook to break, but unfortunately, accidents happen. If you're looking for ways to prevent your MacBook from breaking in the future, here are a few tips:

1. Use a hard case or sleeve.

This will help protect your MacBook from bumps and scratches.

2. Avoid using your MacBook on soft surfaces.

Soft surfaces like beds and couches can cause your MacBook to overheat. Use a hard, flat surface instead.

3. be careful with liquids.

Keep drinks away from your MacBook, and if you do spill something on it, turn it off immediately and dry it off as best you can. Water and other liquids can damage your MacBook beyond repair.

4. Keep food away from your keyboard.

Eating over your MacBook is never a good idea. Crumbs can fall into the keyboard and cause all sorts of problems. If you must eat while using your MacBook, be extra careful not to drop anything on it.

5. Don't use harsh chemicals to clean your screen.

Harsh chemicals can damage the delicate coating on your screen and cause permanent damage. Stick to gentle cleaning solutions or microfiber cloths

Conclusion

If you're looking for the best MacBook repair near you, look no further than Master Dinesh. With years of experience in the industry, Master Dinesh is knowledgeable and skilled in all things Apple. From cracked s

[nagarajseofreelancer]

AK Info Training Institute offers Hi Tech Smartphone Mobile Repairing Classes, Advance Laptop Chip Level Training in Hindi, Online LCD LED TV Repair Course in Delhi Patna Hazipur.

[theeasternempress]

Little Shadow

Summary - Tech couldn’t help but notice how Omega has been silently watching him work for most of the morning. When he finally asks if she’d like to come help him, she gives him a bright smile that sends a warm feeling straight to his heart.

Word count - 3.3k

AO3

Tech started his morning as he always did: checking the ship to make sure everything was functioning properly. Nothing major jumped out at him, but there were always little things that had to be repaired. After years of fixing this ship, Tech prided himself on the skills he’d learned that would make an ordinary mechanic green with jealousy. 

Still, Tech would dedicate as much of today as possible to repairs of the ship and his inhibitor chip scanner. The cooling system wouldn’t take long to clean and fix since there were only three vents that ran throughout the ship, so Tech started on that. 

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done this, so he knew he was in for a mess. He was used to keeping a careful schedule of repairs, but the end of the war and rise of the Empire had ruined that. 

Tech had barely gotten two screws off of the first vent when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Omega silently watching him work. He was used to the ever-inquisitive child watching him do his repairs and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it a little. 

Tech saw his younger self in her and remembered how he longed to have someone teach him how to do repairs and build things with his hands. He’d still managed to learn just fine on his own, but his younger self craved the bond that would have come from a teacher. 

Omega was whisked away a moment later by Hunter with the promise of breakfast, and Tech found himself missing the small girl’s presence. She’s only been on the ship for a few days, but Tech found that she was quickly becoming part of their team. Tech acknowledged that he was initially apprehensive about having a child on the ship but now, he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Tech had just finished cleaning the exterior and interior vent when he noticed that his little shadow had returned. Omega was still watching silently, but Tech knew that a thousand questions were on the tip of her tongue. 

Finally deciding to be the teacher he always wished he could have, Tech turned to invite Omega over only for her to get scared by him catching her staring. She gasped and turned away from him as she began to walk away with her gaze down on the ground.

“Omega, if you’d like to come back, I have some things I could teach you,” Tech spoke, stopping the young girl in her tracks. 

“You’re … you’re not upset that I was watching you?” Omega asked with a nervous tone to her voice. 

Tech shook his head and replied, “Of course not. Why would I be upset with you for being curious? It is expected of someone your age.”

Omega quietly padded across the floor until she stood directly below Tech. He was about to move over to give her some space when she said, “Nala Se didn’t like my curiosity. She said that it would only get me into trouble.” 

Tech wasn’t sure how to reply to Omega's words. He’d figured that Nala Se was overprotective of Omega, but he hadn’t thought of how that would have affected Omega’s young mind. 

“While Nala Se is correct in that curiosity can sometimes lead to trouble, it can also lead to new discoveries. As long as you know when to stop and turn around for your safety, curiosity is welcome aboard this ship,” Tech stated. 

“Thanks, Tech, I like how I can be myself around you all,” Omega replied, her gaze moving from Tech to to the air vents he’d been working on. 

“Ah yes, let’s start working on this,” Tech began, “We first have to unscrew all four screws in each corner of the vent before carefully cleaning it of any dust. Then we’ll remove any dust inside of the vent before closing it back up. It should be a simple but repetitive task.” 

Omega eagerly exclaimed, “Okay, let’s get started!” 

All that was left to do on the first vent was to screw the vent back into the wall. Tech showed Omega the four screws and demonstrated how to use the screwdriver. She watched with wide, unblinking brown eyes as she eagerly took in all of the information Tech was giving her. It seemed like such a simple thing to him, but he could tell it meant the world to Omega. 

Almost immediately, Tech noticed a small problem: Omega was far too short to be able to reach the vents. Tech himself was tall enough that he only had to stretch a little bit to unscrew the vent from the wall, but Omega would never be able to reach it. From the sad look on her face, Tech could tell that she noticed as well. 

A brilliant idea popped in his head as he asked, “How about I screw in the first three screws, then I pick you up to let you do the final one? You can also hand me the screws as I need them.”

Omega’s eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face as she replied, “Okay!”

Tech gave a small smile in return and began fixing the vent back in place. He talked her through putting the screws in again, making sure she was watching him as he carefully lined everything up in its correct place. Even though she was just handing him screws for now, he could tell she was happy. 

Tech finished his three screws in less than a minute, finding that he was working faster than usual in order to give Omega her chance. 

He turned to her and spoke, “Alright, I’m going to pick you up now. Remember, use both hands and a good amount of pressure.”

Omega silently took the screwdriver from Tech’s outstretched hand and he picked her up under the arms, holding her eye level with the vent. 

Omega lined the final screw up with the vent and asked, “Is this good?”

“Yes, that should be fine,” was Tech’s reply. Omega had a bit of difficulty with getting the screw to go in straight but after a few careful pointers from Tech, the first vent was fixed. 

Tech set Omega back on the ground with an, “Excellent job, Omega. Let’s continue and see how your skills improve.”

Approaching the second vent, Tech asked, “Would you like to try removing these four screws on your own?”

Omega eagerly nodded her head and replied, “Yes, please!”

Again, Tech lifted the girl up so she would be able to work. Omega struggled with initially getting the screws loose, but she eventually managed to start getting screws off. As Omega finished getting the final screw off, the vent came crashing off of the wall and sent a cloud of dust up with it. 

Tech swung Omega around to try to avoid her inhaling a large amount of dust, but the coughing fit coming from the child in his arms indicated otherwise. He carried her a distance away and set her down on the ground.

“Are you alright, Omega? Tech asked, patting her on the back to help with her coughing. Her clothes and hair had clumps of dust in them, which Tech did his best to remove as Omega’s coughing fit died down. 

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m sorry that the vent fell,” Omega replied with sadness in her voice. Tech had noticed that every time she made a mistake, she always became sad and overly apologetic about it. He had his theories as to why, but they were yet to be confirmed. 

“It was a simple mistake, Omega. I should have told you to grab onto the vent when you were almost finished. You can use your mistake to learn for the future,” Tech stated, hoping his words would help ease Omega. He knew that patience would be the best aid to her learning and hoped that she would want to continue. 

Omega stayed silent, looking down at the floor and refusing to meet Tech’s eyes. Tech could tell that she was ashamed and embarrassed from her small mishap, but he didn’t want that to ruin her learning. He could tell her as much as he wanted that it was okay to make mistakes, but that didn’t mean she would accept it. 

That’s when Tech remembered how a few days ago, he’d taken Omega for a walk near a lake and they came across an Arsinari dwarf frog. Omega had been instantly fascinated by the bright red creature, quickly declaring it her new favorite animal because it could live on land and in water. Tech had privately researched the animal and found several reports detailing the frog’s evolution. Maybe if Tech related how the Arsinari dwarf frog learned to evolve to Omega learning from her mistakes, it would put her at ease. 

Tech kneeled down in front of Omega and began, “Omega, I know that you're upset, but mistakes do happen. Do you remember when I took you to the lake a few days ago and we came across the Arsinari dwarf frog? It had to learn from its ancestor’s mistakes. They primarily live in the red clay surrounding the lake, so they needed to evolve to have their skin be the color of the clay in order to camouflage with their environment. You can be more like the Arsinari dwarf frog by learning from your mistakes.”   

“So I just have learn to catch the vent before it falls like how the Arsinari dwarf frog learned to evolve?” Omega asked, the sadness in her voice gone and replaced with her usual curiosity.

“Precisely, Omega. You’re a very fast learner,” Tech complimented. A smile spread across Omega’s face, and Tech knew his idea had been a success. 

Most of the dust that would’ve been removed from the vent came free when Omega dropped the covering, so Tech instead showed her how to clean it up and dump it in the trash bin. Tech knew that it wasn’t much, but the smile on Omega’s face told him that it meant so much more to her. Omega was hesitant to put the screws back in due to her earlier accident, so Tech finished the job. 

“Now, the final vent is in the cockpit,” Tech began, “It’s usually the hardest to clean, but you should be able to stand up on a chair to reach it. Are you ready to move on or do you want a minute to rest?”

“Let’s go, Tech! Can I try to do this one by myself? I promise to be careful!” Omega asked, bouncing in place with excitement. He gave her a nod and she squealed with joy, grabbing his hand and pulling him up to the cockpit. Echo and Hunter were there and gave the pair a confused look as they entered. 

Omega ran over to Hunter's chair and said, “Tech is teaching me how to take care of the vents, and it’s the most amazing thing ever!”

Hunter smiled at the girl and replied, “That sounds like fun, just make sure you’re careful.”

Tech smiled at his older brother’s protectiveness of Omega. Almost as soon as Hunter and Omega had met, they’d formed a bond that Tech had not yet observed from his brother. It didn’t take him long to realize that the role his brother had taken in the girl’s life was one of a father-figure. Of course everyone aboard the ship cared for her, but he’d adopted the main role of ensuring her health and safety.

In turn, Tech didn’t miss how Omega was almost instantly drawn to Hunter. She followed him everywhere, mimicked his movements, and did her best to listen to his instructions. For as adventurous of a child she was, Tech knew it was hard for her to be told to stay in one spot, but she did so if Hunter asked her to. 

Tech was broken from his thoughts by Omega tugging on his hand and dragging him under the air vent. She dropped his hand and stepped onto the chair directly under the vent with Tech’s screwdriver clutched tight in her hand.

Echo and Hunter’s expressions turned to shock at the sight in front of them and Hunter moved forward with his hands out to pluck the girl from the chair, but Tech was quick to cut in, “I have everything under control. She will not fall.”

Echo relaxed while Hunter stayed tense, his eyes never leaving Omega. 

“Okay Tech, I’m ready!” Omega exclaimed, “I’ll do a really good job, I promise. I’ll hand you the screws as I go.” 

Tech moved to stand to the side of Omega and lifted his hand out to allow her to drop the screws into his open hand. She had the same difficulty as before with getting the screws loose and Tech could see Hunter move forward to help, but Tech subtly waved him off with his other hand. 

Even though she still struggled a bit, Tech could tell she had improved since her previous turn. She hadn’t let the vent fall from its place in the wall and had used just the right amount of pressure to remove the screws. 

“Excellent job, Omega. Now, use the cleaning cloth to collect the dust like I taught you,” Tech told the girl. She nodded in reply, swiping the dust from the vent cover and removing all the dust she could from the interior. 

Tech kept a careful eye on her as she worked, jiggling the screws around in his hand to pass the time. He knew that there was nothing dangerous about this step, but Tech feared his oldest brother’s wrath if anything happened to Omega under his watch. Tech himself knew that he could never forgive himself if any bodily harm came to Omega while in his care. 

When Omega was finished removing all of the dust, Tech looked over it to ensure that it was properly cleaned before allowing her to put the screws back in. She did much better at replacing the screws than removing them, and Tech made a mental note to let her try that more in the future. 

Tech offered his hand to Omega, who grabbed it and let Tech help her out of the chair.

“How’d I do, Tech?” Omega asked, clearly hoping he would tell her that she did well.

“You did excellent, Omega. With more practice, I’m sure that your skills will vastly improve,” Tech responded.

Omega smiled brightly and ran over to Hunter to say, “Did you hear that, Hunter? Tech said I did excellent!”

Hunter smiled and ruffled her hair with a, “I sure did, kiddo.” 

Omega giggled and ran off, swiping her trooper doll off of the floor before disappearing out of the cockpit. 

While the repair and cleaning of the vents took longer than Tech originally intended due to the addition of Omega, Tech couldn’t find it in himself to care. If it were anyone else, Tech would have likely gotten annoyed at the extra time spent on such a mundane task but with Omega, he found that not a second of time was wasted with her at his side. 

He knew now that he was beginning to form a soft side for Omega. As nervous as he initially was about having a child on board, there was no denying that she fit in with their team. 

Watching Omega run off to grab her trooper doll and start playing with it, Tech realized just how few belongings Omega had and how everything that she owned she’d acquired on their travels. She made no complaint about it, but Tech knew that a child deserved better than that. 

Tech decided to make her a small toy of some kind, even though his knowledge of children’s toys was very limited. There was still plenty of time in the day, and his work on the inhibitor chip scanner could wait until tonight. 

He thought for a moment before a brilliant idea for a toy popped in his head. With Omega distracted by her trooper doll, Tech began building what he hoped would be the perfect gift. 

-

“Thank you for taking me with you on your walk, Hunter!” Omega said, the images of all of the beautiful wildlife she saw still dancing around in her head. Hunter had wanted to take a walk to clear his head and offered to take Omega with him. The sun had set hours ago, but she still enjoyed getting to see this planet’s nocturnal wildlife. She had searched for the Arsinari dwarf frog but to her disappointment, she couldn’t find it anywhere. 

“You’re welcome, Omega. Get yourself ready for bed now, alright?” Hunter responded, noticing how her adrenaline was the only thing keeping her awake. 

Before climbing up to her room, Omega made her nightly rounds to everyone on the ship to say good night. Wrecker ruffled her hair, Echo patted her on the head and wished her good dreams, and Tech gave her a soft smile. Omega thought it seemed like Tech was trying to hide something from her, but she dismissed the thought as she climbed up to her room. 

As Omega made her way up, she saw something small and red resting on top of her pillow. When she picked it up, she found that it was a little red frog with the numbers “99” painted on its back in addition to a crank on its side. Omega immediately recognized it as the Arsinari dwarf frog that she’d seen with Tech.

She laughed and practically launched herself downstairs, clutching her new toy in her hand. The four Bad Batchers were sitting together talking quietly, but all conversation stopped when Omega rushed in. 

She ran over to where Tech was sitting on a crate and threw her arms around him. She squeezed him tight and a moment later, he wrapped his spare arm around her. 

“Thank you for the frog, Tech! It’s perfect, it even looks like it’s a member of our squad!” Omega said happily, her words slightly mumbled against Tech. 

“You’re very welcome, Omega. Have you tried spinning the crank yet?” Tech asked. 

Omega shook her head and pulled away from Tech to see what he was talking about. Tech plucked the toy from her hand and spun the crank a few times before placing it on the ground. To Omega’s bewilderment, the toy frog began hopping around the ship as if it were real. It gave a few big jumps before coming to a stop at Wrecker’s feet, who was completely frozen in fear of breaking Omega’s new toy. 

She giggled and hugged Tech again, mumbling another thank you to him. 

She pulled away a moment later to plead to Hunter, “Hunter, can I please stay up a little late to play with my frog? I promise I’ll go right to sleep when I’m done!” 

Hunter sighed but smiled, “Alright, you can play for fifteen minutes.” 

Omega laughed as she kneeled on the floor and cranked the toy. Wrecker kneeled down a few feet away from her and the two played together, laughing as the little frog hopped between them. Echo leaned himself against the doorway and watched them with a soft smile on his face. 

Tech felt Hunter pat him on the back and whisper, “Good job, brother.”

Tech nodded to his brother, proud of his work. Maybe someday, Tech would be able to teach his little shadow how to make herself toys. For the time being, Tech enjoyed being able to make her smile with his own inventions. 

[ironmandeficiency]

beach please

pairing: rex / reader / cody

word count: 6166

summary: once the war ended, you retreated to scarif for much-needed time to recenter yourself. rex and cody worry when you don’t answer your comms for days and leave coruscant to find you, fearing the worst. turns out you’ve just been drinking and partying, now sporting two new tattoos.

a/n: the self-created duke of scarif is jimmy buffett & i was inspired by his song “margaritaville” & “beach please” by kevin fowler. 

canon changes: everyone listened to fives abt the chips & palps was discovered to be a sith lord. the clones were given human rights, a generously low locked-in rent if they lived on coruscant, and as much back pay as the republic could afford (not much but better than nothing).

“master y/l/n, there’s still so much to be done-”

“and you can have someone else do it. you must not be capable of recognizing the importance of reevaluating the way we interpret the code, or else this conversation wouldn’t be occurring.”

obi-wan blanched at the barely tamed fury radiating from your force signature. this was the second time in less than a year that he felt something so raging from your force signature, the time before this meeting being the aftermath of umbara. before the nightmare that was the siege on the shadow planet, it had been decades since you were angry enough about something to raise your voice to the council. it took a very great transgression to ignite your anger into something scathing and this meeting was doing exactly that.

the council was meeting to discuss the senate’s plans to have the jedi spearhead efforts to repair the galaxy and quell the revolts in areas that still wanted to continue the war. palpatine was manipulating both sides and if it weren’t for fives and kix, the republic would have been none the wiser when chancellor palpatine executed the order to have the clones murder their jedi.

“how are we going to guide the galaxy through the changing times if we’re unable to reevaluate our own beliefs and how the war impacted them? so many of our padawans were raised in this war, far different than how they should have been brought up.” your mind drifted to ahsoka and late-night conversations spent trying to make sense of the reality of war and how she’d been nothing but a soldier since she left the temple at fourteen. “the senate is not our responsibility nor our lead authority. we were their pawns once and despite seeing the consequences on geonosis, we let ourselves get wrapped in politics. think of what we lost because of it.”

eeth koth was deeply disturbed by your entire demeanor as well as the words spilling from your lips. if there was ever a jedi that made you want to leave the order, he’d be it. douchebag. “our duty is to the galaxy, to maintain peace! you can’t expect us to sit back and do nothing when people are struggling!”

obi-wan shared your sentiment but strived for more unity than polarization within the meeting. “but aren’t we struggling just as much as the rest of the galaxy? time must be allotted for us to heal the wounds of war before we’ll be able to successfully help others that are suffering, if that’s what’s agreed upon.” a few jedi nodded their agreement, masters plo and gallia among them. shaak looks close to being convinced but seems to still be hesitant to comment on her opinion.

“in order to help the galaxy, we must help ourselves. our emotions must be looked into with more than just the intent to throw them away at a moment’s notice. knowing why we feel the things we do can help us with far more than just our connection to the force.”

this was an idea that obi-wan has spent many years struggling with but it took the end of the war to guide him into believing that emotions aren’t the enemy, it’s how they’re utilized that counts. he explained this concept to his fellow council members and it was a sentiment you agreed with immensely.

saese scoffs at the mere idea of doing more with emotions besides dispelling them into the force. “that sounds a lot like allowing your emotions to cloud your judgement, master kenobi, something your lineage is quite popular for-” oh he crossed the line. saese was not about to talk shit about your creche mate and closest friend or his lineage and get away with it.

“no need to pardon my language, master, but it sounds a lot like you’re allowing your own emotional shortcomings and the bantha fodder you call intelligence to cloud your judgement.”

even mace was stunned at the verbal jab that came from your seat. kit had been mid-drink and it took him several seconds to recover from the way he choked on his water. you were normally calm and collected, a voice of reason amid the chaos. this time, however, you were at your limit. this was your cue to leave.

mace spoke up as you neared the door. “y/l/n, where do you think you’re going?”

“i’m going to heal and allow myself to enjoy the peace we gave nearly everything to obtain. if you want to join me, feel free to let me know.”

your robes billowed out behind you as the council meeting dissolved into chaos. you were convinced that if your seat was close enough to master yoda’s that you’d be sporting a few new gimer stick bruises. thank the force for the little things.

later that evening, you boarded your personal ship and set the coordinates for scarif. that was the perfect place to go as a jedi that didn’t want to be found by anyone that they didn’t fully trust. who would think to find a monk on a planet filled with booze, sex, and other carnal pleasures? a few comms were sent telling the recipients that you were going on vacation and to call if you were needed, giving them a new private commlink and vague hints at where you’d be.

scarif, here i come.

“she hasn’t commed us in nearly a week! what reason is there to not worry?”

“rex, she would have called us if there was something wrong.”

“you know as well as i do that there are still radical seppies trying to keep the war going. the kidnapping of a jedi would surely be cause to fight!”

cody sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. he conceded that you ignoring their comms was highly unusual, yes, but you weren’t the type to throw yourself heedlessly into danger like some of the other jetti they knew (cough cough, skywalker and kenobi). “no one in their right mind is going to think to look for a jedi on scarif, the place is too carefree and without a permanent stuck up its shebs.”

rex knew there was a valid point to the statement. he vaguely recollects general kenobi’s mild yet humorous complaints about the “uncivilized, booze-blooded” inhabitants of the beach planet. general skywalker’s only problem with scarif, it seems, was the fact there was sand nearly everywhere, the drunks and constant parties posing no issue to the younger jedi. the reason for his disdain of sand was never expanded upon.

“i’m still going to look for her, feel free to come with.” they were free men who had no one to report to, no one telling them where they could go or when to eat and sleep, so of course rex was going to look for you. with this newfound freedom cody and rex moved into a middle-level apartment together, nothing too fancy but quite a contrast to their former living spaces under the gar.

rex chose to join the police force on coruscant and quickly climbed the ranks, excelling in every task thrown at him. he was a force to be reckoned with, crime rates dropping rapidly within his first month.

cody hasn’t made a new career choice yet, the commander still trying to find his own path. he had tried his hand on the police force but he quickly realized it wasn’t his cup of tea and left rex to it. he’s helping with groceries and other living costs with his back pay despite rex’s protests for him to put it to better use (what better use is there for credits than helping you survive day to day? that’s what they’re made for).

they were given a ship by general skywalker -anakin, rex’s mind supplied; he had corrected them many times about not using the rank- that the man had modified himself because he “wouldn’t want any friends of mine flying around the galaxy in a piece of junk.” apparently any sort of ship/speeder/droid/anything not built and/or modified by the man was inferior in nearly every imaginable way. it was a kind and meaningful gesture that anakin was willing to go to such lengths to protect them, no matter how unnecessary. the war was over after all, there was no need to have blaster attachments on their civilian speeder.

“like i’m gonna leave you to your own devices, di’kut. of course i’m going with.”

“you better hurry and pack, i’m planning on leaving no later than 1800.”

sitting in the reclined beach chair with two margaritas, you haven’t enjoyed yourself this much in a long time. the togrutan brother and sister you met soon after your arrival had become dear friends in your two months on scarif, the three of you becoming a trio commonly seen hitting the best parties all over the planet. miek wasn’t as much of a party animal in comparison to his sister briel who was known for her wild drunken antics.

you had been there and lived in your small ship for a total of two days before they offered you a place with them. no one lived alone on scarif, they said, and it would be wrong to let you continue to be deprived of the peace the waters brought when it was lulling you to sleep.

meeting the duke of scarif during your first week planetside was quite an exhilarating experience, to put it briefly. duke buffett was an older man with hair as white as the sands he loved to party on day and night, one hand perpetually occupied by a drink and a guitar strapped to his back. he was known to play and sing during the parties he attended, his carefree attitude evident in his voice.

although no one would have guessed by looking at him, he was a fierce conservationist who would either have his guards fight anyone caught littering or, if drunk enough, would fight them himself. you’ve held him back a time or two when he clearly wasn’t in shape to do said fighting and helped ease the situation back to a fun normal.

now you weren’t a heavy drinker by any means, but your tolerance was better than most because of your connection to the force.  this made you a favorite drinking buddy to many of the planet’s permanent inhabitants and tourists. of these numbers was the duke himself whom you would sometimes humor by opening drinks with your lightsaber. it was a splendid game that won you diplomatic immunity (apparently he can do that) on the planet after two weeks of jedi party tricks and fight-preventing.

time had become even more of a social construct than you had believed it to be before the war. there were parties going on at all hours of the day and night and the concept of solitude was forgotten. everyone here extended a hand to each other, friend or not-yet friend (there were no strangers on scarif, just friends you haven’t made yet). what little pain felt was carried by all until it was so faint that it seemed to heal itself. the waters healed, you had no doubt in your mind.

the sun was high in the sky when the ship landed next to yours behind your current residence. you were, of course, not home to know where it landed but you did see said ship flying overhead as you relaxed on a blanket next to briel and miek. maybe they were lost, but you had confidence that someone on the island would help them in what they need. this was the way of scarif, after all.

you were distracted by the drinks in both of your hands, alternating sips between the two. you were outfitted in a flowy summer dress that had ridden up a smidge too high while you were lounging on a reclined beach chair. briel was rubbing - lotion? sunscreen? - something on your exposed thighs as you relaxed, enjoying the way the breeze felt on the moisturized skin.

this was the best decision you’ve ever made, coming to scarif. eventually you were going to leave, yeah, but that was a problem for future you. for now, you were going to enjoy the endless sunshine and copious amounts of alcohol that aided in your relaxation.

they had seen the docking bay protruding into the sky like a gundark among loth-cats and decided instantly that you weren’t going to be there. you had told them ages ago that the vibes (you used that word a lot to describe force things to them) that came from industrial buildings bothered you terribly. something along the lines of wearing on your psyche, if they remembered correctly. instead, they flew a little lower than they probably should have to search the ground for where you landed your ship.

it took longer than they would have liked it to, but your ship was eventually found behind a medium-sized hut not too far from one of the many beaches. cody found just the right angle to land next to it and not hurt either shuttle, not trusting rex to touch the controls (his vod was a terrible pilot).

both men decided that even if scarif was a peaceful planet, they still didn’t know what to expect, so they equipped themselves with their blasters and lower armor before leaving their ship. first order of business: check to see if you were in your ship. if you weren’t, they could cross that bridge when they got there.

just as they were beginning to open the ramp, a man emerged from the hut and began to storm their way. he was togrutan, with yellow skin and lavender stripes on his lekku and montrals.

“hey! you two! what’s your business with that shuttle?” he sounded like he was ready to fight them about the ship, which worried the brothers, but he slowed his advance when he noticed the two blasters pointed in his direction. good, this guy wasn’t a complete di’kut.

cody was the first to lower his weapon, quick to take the diplomatic approach. rex followed suit but didn’t soften the intimidating stare he threw at the man. there was a reason your ship was there and they were going to stop at nothing to find out why. “we’re looking for a friend of ours, she hasn’t answered our comms in over a week and we were worried, it isn’t like her to not reply. last we talked to her she was here on scarif.”

the togrutan paused for a moment, inspecting the appearances of the men (clones, his mind told him, the telltale armor and near identical faces hiding nothing) in front of him.

the blond had an air of confidence about him, an almost dangerous sort of confidence. his armor was painted with a shade of blue that was pleasantly similar to the waters he just returned from, pieces of it chipped from what he supposed were rough times in battle. his jaw was set, hand hovering above where he holstered his weapon seconds before.

he didn’t appear to be bloodthirsty, just protective; who he wanted to protect, however, was still a mystery. there was a passion in his eyes that wasn’t even mildly held back. he seemed to be skilled in channeling that passion into his every thought, every action. with a note to himself to not get on this man’s bad side, he switched his focus on the blond’s companion.

miek’s gaze shifted to the other clone and quickly decided that he liked this one better. there was an extremely intimidating scar along the side of his face, yet this one seemed far less willing to shoot him on sight. he still has a grit and presence about him that told miek that this one wouldn’t hesitate to fuck your shit up if need be, but he had tact (thank the stars one of the clones had a sense of discretion).

he could tell that this one had some sort of authority over the blond, clearly serving as a high percentage of the other’s common sense. miek’s mind, after analyzing the men thoroughly, gives names for the men before they introduce themselves. “you must be the famed rex and cody! come, i’ll take you to the shoreline!”

he gestured for them to follow him and was genuinely shocked when instead of doing as he suggested, he was tackled to the ground. miek spit away everything that had gotten into his mouth, unable to move when one of the men pinned him down. this was officially miek’s worst day in over a decade.

he caught a glimpse of marigold stripes on leg armor just over his shoulder, confirming the identity of the man on top of him as rex. “how do you know our names?!” rex’s voice sent a shiver down miek’s spine (the blaster against his back also helped in that), and the togrutan reaffirmed his choice in his favorite clone: not rex.

“i’ve heard stories about you two! from y/n! i’m assuming you’re here about y/n, right?” the blaster was removed from his back and a little bit of the weight was taken off him. he must be saying something right. “she’s been staying with my sister and i, and i promise you she’s perfectly safe!” rex moves his weight completely off him now, allowing miek to stand back up but not move more than a few feet away from him.

“where is she?” cody’s voice was hauntingly low, nothing about him betraying his tension except for the hard glare felt like lasers. he had the same desire, same yearning to protect someone - that someone miek now knew was you - and it burned brighter than a hundred suns.

“last i saw her was thirty minutes ago on the shore with briel, my sister. i can take you to them if you would kindly not threaten to shoot me again. my name is miek, and i would say it was a pleasure to meet you both but then i’d be making myself a liar.” he had no idea where that bit of snark at the end came from but it seemed to sway the clones to his favor. why it did, he had no clue, but at least he wasn’t getting shot.

they walked silently for a few minutes, the two troopers beginning to slightly admire the view while keeping eyes on miek. it was a beautiful planet, there was no denying that. you were surely enjoying yourself in the sunshine, always finding a little bit of time to bask in the nature of whatever planet you ended up on during the war.

it was strange to cody, not feeling eyes on him as he walked with rex on the beach. when he would accompany general ke- obi-wan on trips to the temple or into the streets of coruscant, he constantly felt the eyes of many on him. they would be expressing curiosity, shock, disdain, or something in between, and cody could feel every bit of it. here, it seemed, no one cared that he was a clone. no one was leering at him for walking too close to them or for just breathing the same air as them. cody was blissfully able to blend with the people here and he loved it.

he was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice when miek had come to a stop in front of a small cluster of reclinable chairs. a large umbrella provided the area with a patch of shade and a smidge of reprieve from the sun’s blistering heat.

“see? she’s perfectly fine.” miek’s voice broke their precious silence. “i’m assuming you both can find your own way back to your ship, so i’ll be headed off.” miek left them quite quickly and rex guessed (with a bit more amusement than was warranted) that it was because he nearly shot the man on more than one occasion minutes earlier.

“cody! rex! when did you two get here?”

a familiar voice drew their attention and it took them a second longer than it should have for them to realize that yes, you were the one lounging in front of them as if it’s all you’ve ever done in your life. you were extremely relaxed and your posture conveyed your state perfectly, two margaritas perched in loose hands, both half-empty. an ivory summer dress flowed loosely around you, the front hiked a bit too high for the men to keep their imaginations under control. that wasn’t even acknowledging the neckline of your dress (or lack thereof) that made their throats a bit dry and minds slip into the gutter.

rex and cody cleared their heads after indulging the images for a second, the latter clearing his throat before replying, “just a few minutes ago. you haven’t answered our comms in over a week. rex had the idea to come and visit to see how you were doing, so here we are.”

that was really sweet of them to check up on you, you thought with a smile. you felt a bit guilty about not answering their comms. normally you were careful to reply to theirs and every other message you received soon after getting it, but as stated earlier, time has become a social construct that didn’t really matter while on scarif. you gestured for them to sit, and they took the open chair to your left. they didn’t bother laying back, just sitting shoulder to shoulder in the same chair with their eyes on you.

offering them both half-drank margaritas was a subconscious action on your part that surprised you. what shocked you even more was the fact they accepted the drinks with soft, fond smiles. kriff you missed them, how you’ve been able to go this long without seeing them was beyond you.

you smiled warmly as you introduced your boys to briel, who was smirking a bit too widely than would be deemed safe (you didn’t notice this, seeing as you were too busy drinking in the sight of your boys and the way the sunlight made their eyes glow). her eyes drifted to your thighs as she put in very little effort to hide a laugh. dark clone trooper eyes decided to see what was so amusing to the togruta, and they choked on whatever words they were contemplating.

on your thighs were rex and cody, left and right respectively. or, more accurately, on your thighs were six-inch tattoos of rex and cody.

both men were in quite show-offy poses, appearing to have the intent to make them look like pin-ups. the lower half of their armor was equipped but they were shirtless, faint details of scars and sweat appearing to glisten in imaginary sunlight.

cody’s face was set in a smolder the likes of which would send half the women in the galaxy into puddles at the commander’s feet. his dc-15a was held aloft in his right hand while his left arm was holding his helmet in place in the crook of his hip. his left foot was stepping on a small heap of droids which brought his knee up a bit, and he was facing the inked rex on the opposite thigh.

rex’s wild smile could catch the soggiest piece of kindling alight with the allure and charm it held. his eyes were sparkling with a pleasant mirth not often seen in the man. both hands wielded his trusted dc-17’s, the right blaster pointed at the droids under cody’s foot while the left was pointed in the air, blaster bolts coming out of both. his helmet was under his right foot, jaig eyes almost peering into your soul and welding marks visible from his customization of the phase 2 helmet.

commander and captain are both beginning to flush at the art in front of them. they were flattered to see drawings of themselves look so dashing, and seeing it on your body roused feelings they had spent years repressing. their biggest question now was whether their likenesses on your body translated into something more on your end.

“nice to finally meet my friend’s muses,” briel quips, “it’s hard to get her to talk about something that isn’t you two when she’s plastered.” she pauses a moment, thinking of her next words and chuckling to herself. “she’s barely spent three consecutive days completely sober since she got here, which means that you two are almost all she talks about.”

this deepened the heat in their cheeks as you playfully swatted at briel’s shoulder. “that is not true!” a moment of silence. “wait, what day is it? that miiiight make a difference.”

rex chortles at the admission. “glad to see you enjoying yourself, cyare. but kix would be enraged to hear that you’ve been drinking nearly every day for two months, and we can’t exactly blame him.” he grinned as he took an experimental sip of the drink you gave him. it was stronger than he expected, but it had an underlying sweetness not often found in margaritas. he liked it.

sitting up, your dress covered your ink as you expertly drank from the margarita in cody’s hand while he still held it. the commander sent you a soft glare, wondering why you didn’t just get a new drink but enjoying the moment nonetheless. “kix shmix, his face isn’t on my thigh so i don’t really care what he has to say right now.” you lean toward cody and rex before whispering, “you didn’t bring him, did you?”

all three of them guffawed at the question, you joining their laughter solely because of how happy the joy radiating from your boys’ force signatures made you.

calling them your boys had become second nature after mere months of fighting beside them. you spent an inane amount of time with them during planning and actual combat, and were just as much their general as their actual generals were (despite you not carrying the honorific). any free time was spent with one or the other if available, but if they were both occupied you would make your way toward the barracks and join a few games of sabacc.

there were nights you’d spend in the barracks with either battalion (depends on which group you were assigned to at the time) and be welcomed there as if you were a fellow clone. they taught you to play sabacc and you enjoyed playing with them despite the fact you had the most rotten luck with the game.

winning didn’t carry any weight when you were able to spend time with rex and cody, shamelessly basking in the way they always seemed to have some sort of physical contact with you every moment possible. when rex and/or cody returned from whatever responsibilities held them earlier, the men were quick to relinquish them a seat next to you with a sly grin.

their vode noticed the affection shared for the jedi on sabacc night number two and didn’t hesitate to spread word of it around to the rest of their battalions and beyond. on the nights you accompanied them on trips to 79’s, men under rex and cody both (read: fives and boil) made sure that the rest of their brothers and the occasional civvie knew that you three were off-limits to anyone but each other. you were their jetti & they were your captain and commander, no one would get between that even if it wasn’t decided among those in question.

“nah, he’s kept his head in his work. he just got his civvie medical license, started his own private practice on naboo.” rex was extremely happy for his brother, although it was strange to not see him nearly every day. it took a while before he was used to the lack of vode around him at all moments, but cody has been a massive help with that transition.

cody nodded before adding onto his brother’s statement. “and besides, we’re not that cruel, cyar’ika.” you grinned at the endearing tone, choosing that moment to snag another drink from the glass in cody’s hand. he swatted at your hand gently but didn’t put up a fight otherwise, just smiling at how carefree you’d become.

during their comms you did sound at peace, and the times where you’d appear via hologram to him your posture was less rigid than it was during wartime. scarif was good for you, cody knew this. the knowledge of your happiness, however, couldn’t prevent selfish thoughts from returning to the front of his mind. thoughts of you leaving scarif with him and rex, lighting up their apartment better than the sun with nothing but a smile were pipe dreams he indulged in when nightmares of war caught up to him.

“y’know,” you began, “no one would ever tell me what that word really meant.” the men froze, trying to play it off. they were saved only by the fact you kept talking. “none of the men ever gave me a straight answer, just saying that it was something you say to someone you trusted. i even asked duchess satine about it when i was on mandalore. she asked who was using the word and when i told her it was you two, she just grinned like a tooka with a rat tail hanging from its mouth.”

duchess satine was most definitely going to be receiving a gift in the near future.

briel chose that moment to speak for the first time in a while, crossing her arms behind her head. “i’ve never been to mandalore nor heard a lick of what i’m guessing is its native language, but you’d have to be a fool to not guess its meaning by now.” her words were directed at you but they made the men sputter.

“what is that supposed to mean, brie?”

“seriously? please tell me you’re kidding.”

briel was absolutely incredulous. how could a member of the highly revered jedi order, known for the wisdom of its members, not read between the lines? they were giving her plenty to work with in terms of evidence of their affections that they weren’t hiding very well, how did you not know?!

silence followed her words and she came to the startling realization that you were, in fact, not kidding. “look at them, these two adore you! they followed you here like stray tookas when you didn’t comm them enough.” the men didn’t even bother looking offended as they were called out by the togruta. they were scared you’d be disgruntled at the blatant show of care for you but briel wasn’t done. “sithspit y/n, you got tattoos of them because you said you missed them so much!”

hold on, rewind, what did she just say?!

“you… missed us?” rex’s voice was softer than anyone had heard it be in a long time. part of him aches to throw his drink over his shoulder and take you into his arms with no regard to the outside world, yet he restrains himself. this could very well be a trap, an illusion or extremely detailed dream the likes of which he’s never experienced.

then again, how would that explain his mind creating a taste for something he’s never had before?

he concluded that this was indeed real, and he very well could do exactly as his heart desires if he let go for just a moment, just long enough for the contents of his glass to seep into the sand and his calloused hands to roam your exposed skin.

but he also remembers long talks with his ori’vod about their mutual affections for you. how selfish and uncaring it would be for him to try and keep you to himself after spending so many nights lamenting with cody about the way you made them both feel more human. the way you tethered them to sanity when the war threatened to dispose of what little control they had over themselves or their fates, the softness of your fingers intertwined with theirs whenever you had the chance. both men would contemplate the way you’d taste as you downed several shots at 79’s or cups of the contraband moonshine brewed by the men, wondering how much would be the alcohol and how much would be you and wishing that they could find out.

it would be a betrayal far greater and even more despicable than that of palpatine and the republic, and rex didn’t think he could handle losing the respect of his ori’vod no matter what was given in return. not even you.

the togruta woman officially lost the last speck of patience she held for the clueless, lovesick trio, groaning that she gave up as she left them to their own devices.

you were confused. why would you not miss them? did those years of fighting next to them and caring about them and loving them not translate to the idea of missing them when they were gone? yeah you were a little tipsy when you got your tattoos, but that didn’t change the facts as to why you got them: you wanted cody and rex by your side and moments spent without them were moments spent unhappy. they were your boys, the two reasons you kept fighting in that cursed war instead of returning to the temple with your tail between your legs at the first sign of combat.

cody downed his margarita with a solid gulp before taking your right hand in both of his, face twisted almost identically to his brother’s while processing the information you presented. he marveled in the familiar grooves and calluses from battle that were beginning to soften, thoroughly enjoying the fact he didn’t have to hide anything from you or the rest of the galaxy about the love - cody was sure now that this was indeed love - he held for you and you alone.

“is that true, cyar’ika?” cody’s voice was sickeningly hopeful. he’s never allowed himself to hope, knowing that diving too deep into desire could lead to consequences tantamount to death. hearing you stumble over your words as you admitted to loving him, loving him and rex both in the same capacity, cracked the last mask of stoicism he had in his reserves. his mouth was smiling but his eyes were wet, and anyone who didn’t know him would think the man was karking mad.

you weren’t as focused on your boys as you would have been any other moment, too busy trying to figure out what you said for cody to ask about and oh. holy shit, i said all of that out loud. then, a brief moment of clarity. i said every bit of that, but they’re not leaving. they’re instead moving closer, taking my hands in theirs and then- “have i ever lied to either of you?” your heart once again overpowered your brain, taking over your vocal chords and bringing voice to your thoughts.

rex nestled his glass into the sand before going to his knees in front of you, eyes sparkling from both the scarif sun and unshed tears. “you could never, ner’jetti.” he rested his chin on your knee not blocked by cody, his subconscious deciding to nuzzle his head into the hand that had come up to his face.

within seconds, the clunky armor had taken to the sand. they didn’t startle at the sudden exposure to just their bottom blacks because they could feel the soft humming of the force around them, knowing that it was merely you making them more comfortable. you were pulling them toward you and into your reclined chair, rex’s chin in one hand and cody’s hands in the other. they were quick to take a hint, immediately moving to either side of you to lay on their sides, facing their jetti with soft smiles.

rex made quick work of wrapping an arm around your waist, face burying itself into the crook of your neck as best he could. he inhaled your scent, the familiar ozone that came with the force mingling wonderfully with scarif’s ocean water and the tropical drinks you’ve been keeping yourself busy with.

cody tangled one hand into your hair, fingers softly moving as he rested his other arm slightly above his brother’s. the hand touching your waist softly stroked your side as he let his eyes drift closed, the force wrapped around him like a blanket of protection.

no one spoke of love in the hours you spent wrapped in each other’s arms in that uncomfortable-for-three-people chair. the admissions and conveyance of all the love held between the three of you was saved for the privacy of their ship. cody and rex worshiped you and you did the same for them, no one allowing there to be a single doubt as to where your hearts belong.

[nextwarden]

Webtoons are good for the soul [Long post] [but worth it] [hopefully]

Bit of a long one (for a change...), sorry.

I haven’t read that many that’s a lie but here are my favs!

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe [ongoing - every Sunday]

or when Hades met Persephone. It’s a love story, fluffy yet deep and sad at times. Very well told and with incredible art (as you can see from the cover ci-dessus), in a pastel/watercolour fluid style, as is the storytelling. It has compelling characters, character growth, love, funny moments, and basically the best you could ask from a romantic story. And it had enough material to get you through good number of hours of reading before you have to break down every sunday in wait of the following week like the rest of us.

mah-hart-mah-sole/10

Love Advice From the Great Duke of Hell by unfins [ongoing - every Friday]

Paul is in love with a cute girl who works in a café nearby. But Paul is shy and can’t work out how to go ask her out. So Paul does what anyone would do and summons one of the Great Dukes of Hell in order to get better at fumbling his sentences and blushing at beautiful maidens. It’s about discovery of one’s true self and how getting deep into shenanigans will lead you to find so much more. Also, sister. (You’ll understand when you get there.)

It’s funny but also compelling and serious but still incredibly funny. I don’t think I’ve laughed as much reading any other webtoon and yet the story is also really cool. It strikes a perfect balance, or near perfect. The expressions and the action scenes are just incredible too.

chenandeler bong/10

Suitor Armor by Purpah [ongoing - every Friday]

In a land with magic and war between humans and fairies, Lucia is the princess’s lady in waiting and her only goal in life at the moment is to get her Lady to have the wedding she wishes for and deserves. But then she gets a flower from a magic armor and everything changes. Also, she’s a fairy.

It’s well drawn, characters all seem unique, varied and personnality-driven. The art style is beautiful. It’s also deeper than what I expected, with inklings of different types and levels of drama.

Alright, I’ll say it, it feels like a ‘promising new Lore Olympus’. By which I mean not to compare but simply to say I felt as taken by the story as I did with L.O.

Modeus/10

Facing the Sun by ArtbyTesslyn [ongoing]

Aarya reaserches the intricacies of dobotics and artificial intelligence with her companion robot Liza who's expiration is long everdue. Things change with a hardware update. One can’t live without the other, and neither can the other.

It’s dark but beautiful, both in the art and in the story. The sci-fi elements aren’t overwhelming and pieces of lore bring begin to pain a picture over time. It’s a slow burn but oh lord! if it isn’t going to be blazing hot...

I Robot/10

Spellbound by Ronce [ongoing]

Eglantine joins a new highschool midyear and finds herself paired with a refractarian roommate. She does her best to fit in to her new school despite not conforming to all the expectations that others might have of her. Or of her strange but likeable roommate.

It’s a cute and queer little romance, very underrated in my opinion. The art is wonderful, it’s black and white in the beginning and starts having touches of colour here and there before going full blown coloured, and I didn’t even realize it had until many chapters into it... The characters all all diverse and interesting. Also did I forget to say it’s set in France and it’s a wizarding school? Because it is!

conseiller principal d’éducation/10

180 Angel by King Katbird [ongoing]

Chloe is an angel, she lives in Heaven and goes to school in the hopes of becoming a delivery angel one day! However her plan are compromised by her inability to do anything well except halo manipulation. Even flying is not easy for her. But a fateful meeting with a reaper sends her on a trip to Hell and back which changes her. Or is it that she had always been different?

It may not seem much from the banner but I tried it and I got hooke. The art is great and still improves over time, the plot takes a bit of time to set in - I’m still not sure it’s fully set in yet - but it’s worth it, and the characters are visually deep. It sometimes jumps weirdly between scenes or sequences but not so much it completely loses you.

LAMP/10

Letters on the Wall by JaelynGs [ongoing]

Tara comes back fom spain after a five years abroad to find things have changed and others haven’t, to her equal pleasure and dismay. This is how she and her friends deal with these old relatioships that they are now reviving.

Everything doesn’t go smoothly despite each and every character deserving them to. The art is good to begin with and manages to improve over time, as well as the storytelling. Where it might have been a bit hectic before, it smoothes over time. It was for the longest time the only reason I would stalk Webtoons everyday to see if there was any updates. Also each chapter has a colour in the name and that’s just cool!

If Da Yomanville Gang [see below] got me to come to Webtoons, this sealed the deal for me to stay. [And then there was Lore Olympus.]/10

Not So Shoujo Love Story by Curryuku [ongoing - every Tuesday]

Rei Chan-chan loves Hansum, the chin chin chinny goodest looking student, more than she loves her shoujo manga. But gorgeous Hannah is in her way and won’t seem to let her get her way with him. Why is that? Well, gaybe there’s a secret hidden behind her motives? Read it to find out...

It’s funny, it’s cute, and it’s so, so stupid. I love them all. It’s dumb but so much fun to read. There aren’t that many chapters yet but enough to get into it. Also, sisters. (You’ll understand when you get there. Bis) So this is what the spring of youth feels like, huh...

chips/10

Always Human by walkingnorth [completed]

Sunati, a young engineer in training, fan of all those mods you can add to change your appearance, meets Austen, a beautiful yet modless girl who she’s been admiring from afar for a while now. She thinks the girl’s beautiful, but sdly she’s refused when she asks her out on a date, and for rather good reasons.

Now watch as they gravitate around each other and how it influences them both.

It’s a slow-burn quite realistic lesbian sci-fi story about finding love and accepting oneself and others in the midst of life and all it brings upon us. It’s cute, it’s fluffy, and it’s heartwarming despite broaching serious subjects - in a good way -, and it’s finished so you can read the whole thing! (It has enough chapters to give you a few hours of reading)

hay fever sucks/10

Da Yomanville Gang by Jason King [ongoing - every Tuesday]

Layla moved recently, to get away from a dose of angst she didn’t want to have to deal with. She meets new people, fun and friendly people, but it seems the angst can’t quite seem to leave her alone. Alone is what she’s not to deal with it anymore, however.

This is the one, long before Lore Olympus, which brought bme over to Webtoons. It’s not the best drawn, not the most compelling, but the strong point and what made me love it - beyond Layla’s chara design - is the depth of most of the characters, how not all good is good and all bad is bad, and reality often lies in the middle - and how they evolve over the course of the story. Definitely worth a read.

wheelbarrow/10

Love Bot by Chase Keels and Miranda Mundt [ongoing - every Sunday]

In the near future - the year is (Blade Runner) 2049 - technology has advanced enough to creat pseudo-artificial intelligence and thus lovebots. Xada mods and repairs those emotionnaly intelligent robots for a living. What brings this story about is him toying with a less-than-friendly client’s bot so much so that he finds himself in quite a pickle when the bot ‘wakes up’.

It seems to be BL. Let it be BL, please! The art is very nice, the story feels dark but the pitch give way to many interesting possibilities, and, well, the characters are quite nice to look at, I’ll admit... Also, angst. I don’t always enjoy it but when I do, I do.

Not many chapters but it’s getting there.

i’ll let you bot my love/10

Mage & Demon Queen by Color_LES [ongoing - every Thusday]

Malori is the best and the most promising mage student at her school. Aided by Cerik, her best friend and swordsman party member, she attempts to conquer the last floor of the demon tower, reigned over by the ferocious Velverosa, the demon queen, whose defeat will bring glory and richess to those who defeat her. But all is not quite as it seems and, what is that, might it be a crush I see over there? Oh, wait, no, that’s just our protagonist getting squished by the weight of her love...

Once again, it’s fun and stupid (a pattern? noooo) but it’s worth a read.

LES/10

Down to Earth by Pookie Senpai [ongoing - every Tuesday]

Kade live alone and depressed in spite of fleeting relatioships since his big breakup, content with simply going by life while he works in retail. One day, an alien crashes into his backyard. Zaida’s an alien but she’s cute, seems innocent, is unfamiliar with everything, so he agrees to help. Thus begins a slice of life story of them roommating in his appartment until, maybe, one of them crashes into the other’s heart?

It’s cute, heartwarming, and I sort f relate with the main character. Although I don’t know if’d prefer a cute alien, a dragon or a stalking neighbour... [that’s an inside joke, I’ll explain if I ever make a list of the good yamete onii-chan! I’ve been reading] It’s a slow burn with enough depth to hook you up. Some characters are still uncertain in my eyes but that makes me curious.

loner/10

The Remarried Empress by Alphatart / Sumpul [ongoing - every Wednesday and Sunday]

Navier Ellie Trovi is an empress. Perfect and perfectly content in every way with her life until the day a mistress enters her husband’s life. Things sort of go downhill from there. Or do they? For she also learns about herself and what she might actually want out of life to be happy. Breaking the status quo might be the way.

It feels like one of those poor quality isekai comics or manga in which the MC is brought back to a time where she has the power to change her life and decides for emancipation and revenge, but it’s not. It’s more ‘yolo’ and had interesting characters, especially the MC - no pushover - and a slow-burn plot. Don’t expect to see the flash-forward in the first chapter quite yet, but come to experience the whole affaire in detail and in the most satisfying of ways! Also the art is cool!

divorce/10

Muted by Miranda Mundt [ongoing - every Friday]

On her 21st birthday, Camille fails the ritual to become a full-fledged witch and is isolated from what remains of her old and successful family. This leads to her discovering truths about herself and her powers that will change her and those around her.

By the same author as Love Bot. I haven’t read the whole thing yet but the designs are good, the plot is interesting, the characters have depth and personnality, it has witches, magic, romance [I guess, still unsure of the details though], a bit of angst, and it’s set in Louisianna. All good points.

plant magic/10

Cursed Princess Club by LambCat [ongoing - every Monday]

Gwendolyn and her sisters, each a princess in their own right, are set to be betrothed to three princes of a neighbouring country after living all their lives happy and sheltered with their father and brother. Unfortunately, Gwendolyn is not like her sisters - and brother, for that matter - in that her beauty is... less than conventionnal. Devastated by what outsiders think of her she escapes into the forest and meets kindred spirits in the form of the Cursed Princess Club - non-gendered, they also have that one prince there! - and it might just help her grow into the confident woman she is destined to become.

I clicked for the funny hahas ‘because she’s ugly’ and cursed princess trope, I stayed for the genuine laughs and smiles and the heartwarming good nature of most of te characters. Also, haha, funny characters are funny. So, yeah, I started this with a bias - still haven’t caught up yet - and have been seduced by this lesser known webtoon. Don’t let the visuals fool you, it’s really good!

respect wahmen/10

Andy Bass by KenneDuck / Gia [ongoing - every Friday]

Andy Bass is our average highschool girl. Litterally. She’s half human, half fish, a real mermaid but vertically. That leads to less-than-friendly looks and reactions from others. However, the arrival of a new, and frankly very cute, transfer student might change all that.

Haven’t read it all yet, not that there are many chapters out, but it feel fun and promising. Also, physically imperfect characters are best characters. Down with the reign of beauty and up with 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔰𝔪!

Chin Hansum 2.0/10

For the Sake of Sita by Haga [completed]

A medical student passionately falls in love with a fallen goddess during his volunteer abroad in Nepal, and he desperately tries to fight off destiny to save his love. [the actual summary]

Okay, I’ll be honest: I haven’t quite read that one yet. I’m guilty of only having looked at the beginning and the end to see if it seemed worth it and, oh my gorsh! it does. The art is beautiful, the story seems sad yet beautiful too (I had tears reading the last chapters without knowing much of the rest) and it’s short, so jump on it!

[I’ll probably come back to that later when I’ve actually read it completely]/10

Us Right Now by yurineseventeen [ongoing]

Rina's long-term girlfriend, Noa, decides to run away from home. Rina has limited time to find her.

Not much more to say other than it’s sweet and it feels real. I like the beginning, haven’t read the rest yet, but will definitely soon.

keep going/10

New Normal: Class 8 by Youngpaka [ongoing - every Sunday]

Dongwoon has a big head. It does not make life easy. But what if he wasn’t alone being so... different? He discovers it is the case when he joins his new school a special class full of people who are different. Things get weird fast but also better and fun.

I haven’t read this in a long time, it’s on my list though. But until the moment I stopped at least, it was fun, funny, and interesting. It’s slice-of-life comedy, often ligthearted and stupid, sometimes more serious, but globally a pleasure to read.

sensei/10

The Witch and The Bull by Moonsia [ongoing - every Thursday]

Tan's job as the King's royal advisor has nothing to do with his hatred for witches, but it does make him a prime target for a curse that turns him into a BULL! The only way to undo this hex is to rely on the beautiful witch, Aro. Can her kindness turn his feelings around, and break this spell? [the actual summary]

There are two bulls and they have to ask it questions to know which is the real bull? I dunno, I haven’t read this one... But it’s been recommnded by @berigolote​ so it’s worth a try I guess? She did recommend Lore Olympus to me, so it’s on my list anyway.

to try/10

The Right Knight and Our Days in Lumain by buttersphere [completed & ongoing]

A fun short comic about a play on the ‘knight comes to fight dragon to save princess in her tower’ trope and it’s sequel. The sequel is not finished yet (seems on hiatus) but they are worth the read for cute, funny, fluffy knight and dragon/witch romance and grumpy princesses.

need more/10

NetOL by Forever9Nine [completed]

A slice of life comic about a veeery shy cat-girl (not literally) falling in love with a warm-tempered bookshop employee ( and NOT her colleague), and all the shenanigans that ensue. It’s short, it’s fun, and it’s cute. What more to ask?

oh wow sports/10

Susuhara is a Demon by Soya S. Holm [ongoing]

The usual romance storyof perfectly perfect girl meets absolutely bazongers delinquent and reluctantly carries her unconscious ass to her appartment to help her after witnessing a gang fight between multiple idiots and her (future) idiot and saving her from a knife attack by bashing the last standing dude with a wooden shop sign. Legend says there’s a demon in K-city, I still am unsure of whom it might be.

fun/10

It Stems From Love by Soya S. Holm [competed]

A short story about a girl who loves flowers and finds herself unexpectedly coughing them up dramatically whenever she’s jealous of those around her crush. It’s short, it’s cute, a bit dark at times, but definitely worth a read!

bouquet final/10

Lesbiampires by fabarts [ongoing]

So, yeah, lesbian vampires. Nuffin’ ta add.

Well, anyway, it’s cute, it’s funny, it’s serious too, it makes me root for antihero type characters who actually murder people for fun (but in a fun and respectful way, I swear!) because, well, love./10

Perfect Harmony by bluebloodtanuki [ongoing]

An Overwatch fan-comic about Symmetra and her disaster roommates.

I don’t play Overatch but I like the lore and got dragged into fanfiction and shipping (by myself, mind you), so a fan-comic about similar dynamics AND it’s funny? Gimme.

Roadhog & Junkrat best duo/10

Love Doesn’t Talk by Ann [completed?]

A misunderstanding is fine. Two? Hmmm. Three? Surely that’s fate, no?

A cute love story unfolding before your eyes with no dialogue, only pretty pictures. I’m not actually sure it’s completed but even if it isn’t, the ending doesn’t feel disappointing in the least.

no words/10

AntiSTALKER by VOKIVORMOK [ongoing - every Thursday]

Humans, vampires and werewolves all cohabitate in this freaky highschool, despite tensions between the three races. A bittersweet yet fun love story between a fake stalker and his amnesiac prey...

Eugene wants Kira’s heart, she wants his head.

who?/10

Kiss It Goodbye by Ticcytx [ongoing]

Two lesbians in love recount to their drunk friends the story of how they met. It’s fun and cute, both in story and in art.

delinquent x prim&proper/10

Avril and the Divine Being by Charlie Genmor [ongoing]

Avril is a waitress, Cat is a reccuring client. Feeling blossom before they even exchange words and when they finally do, embarassment ensues.

I got hooked by the art style for this one and I have yet to be disappointed. Not many chapters but keep it close.

sunny/10

Sunflower by EtoileKonijn [ongoing]

Wednesday, an art student, meets Sophie, a friend of a friend. Feelings ensue. It’s beginning to have a good number of chapters (even if they are short) and it feels like it’s actually the slowest burn of them all. Very much worth a read though, for the art style especially.

cute/10

It Takes Two by love_of_pi [ongoing]

Common art style: imperfect but improving. Classic story: normal girl meets famous girl by accident and leave a great first impression. Shenanigans and romance ensue. However the tints of drama, the fun interaction between characters, and the smooth plot make it worth it.

Honolulu latte/10

A Mild Flavor by Ru-rin [ongoing]

A slice of life of different couples. One with a compromised relationship and bittersweet reflections of the past, and the other which is hidden from plain sight, at different times if life. It is not perfect but it managed to worm its way into my heart nonetheless.

tasty/10

The Greenhouse by Viesallon [ongoing]

Another one I haven’t read, but from the extracts I’ve seen the art is compelling, the story seems worth it - definitely deserves the drama tag it seems - and I keep it on my shortlist until I have time to read it.

supernatural/10

My Masochistic Boss by Arisas_Art [ongoing]

Debuting goth writer meets hellish boss of editing company about her new book. Disagreement and tensions ensue. It starts with a slap and might very well end in bed, stay tuned!

This one rebooted recently and the art is soooo beautiful, moreso than before is I may say.

sexy/10

Still Alive by Comic Kat19 [ongoing]

Half-zombie girl meets emo boy, baby ensues.

After the zombie apocalypse, they have to survive, and despite their differences, maybe together is better?

This I classify in the ‘Yuuutsu-kun to Succubus-san‘ category: a somewhat rough art style that I have come to love and enjoy greatly. Also the story is fun.

cat creature/10

The Biggest of Treasures by Aixn [ongoing]

That smile, that damn smile. It’s what got me to try and it got me to stay. The art style is beautiful and the chara designs is too. The plot? Not much to say yet, but cuteness is enough.

bright/10

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

And there you go for now. These are my picks. I haven’t read everything on Webtoon, I haven’t even read everything I’ve subscribed to, but if I had to recommend anything I have tasted, here it is.

Sorry if I missed any you deem worthy; feel free to harass me and mock my lack of culture by flaunting your own.

Maybe more later, in the mean time: keep scrolling, scrub!

PART II

[wallwriterstuff]

It’s A Chore || Whole Guard ||

Summary: I have spent a weekend cleaning my parent’s house top to bottom and am now sick of chores, so it got me thinking about which chores the guard dislike the most! 

Warnings: Felix’s one is perhaps a little dark with mild descriptions of death. 

Alec

Alec is no stranger to hard work (he grew up in a time when he was expected to take on a fair bit of menial work from a young age just to keep his family fed) but that doesn’t mean he enjoys any of it. Alec isn’t one to use his fireplace for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the guard don’t. Both he and Jane had argued that collecting firewood is something they should be exempt from but Aro’s yet to be persuaded by any of Alec’s arguments, his main one being that vampires don’t get cold so lighting a fire is both an unnecessary luxury and a safety hazard that every guard should be independently responsible for. Aro sees it as a sort of exposure therapy. Alec sees it as his own personal form of torture.

They live slap bang in the city centre, so they have to traipse just beyond city limits to gather the wood they need. Most people class it as a day off and a chance to fool around with the group that gets sent out every few weeks to collect enough to keep up stock levels for their floor, but Alec absolutely detests every moment. He can still remember collecting firewood near the village he grew up in and though it’s far easier now with his strength, he can recall exactly how bad swinging that axe made his shoulders and back ache. He can also recall the catcalls from the other village boys tormenting him about letting his devil sister freeze. It’s just not an activity he enjoys, so his solution was very simple.

Employ a human to do it.

Alec’s aversion to collecting firewood has kept one otherwise poor family on his payroll for centuries, and they deliver right to his door for a little extra tip he is always glad to give them. There are rumours amongst the family of course that their employer hasn’t aged a day since great-great-great-great Grandpa was employed by him but so long as Alec keeps paying them to chop the trees when it’s his turn, none of them ever bring it up.

Demetri:

This man has a love hate relationship with chores. He knows poverty, the stink of it clinging to your clothes, the dirt crusting under your nails and coating everything you own simply because your so busy working to live you don’t have time to clean. For that reason, he’s quite happy to do the chores required to keep his room clean and is one of those people who calls out others who aren’t doing their bit to keep the common areas of the castle clean to – he was the one who made the cleaning rota and every lower guard member that has ever complained about it very quickly shuts up when they realise he created and enforces it religiously.

On the flip side, ever since Amun created him he has been pulled out of squalor and living in the lap of luxury. He’s spent a millennium in the finest clothes, his food hand-picked and delivered to him, his quarters giving him more space than he was ever accustomed to before. So why should he do chores? He refuses to live in his own mess, so on one hand he’s happy to do his chores but on the flip side surely they can just pay someone else to do them? He has much more important things to do. While you can catch him dusting, polishing, changing bed sheets etc, one thing he absolutely cannot do is sew.

Now he has plenty of money, wealth is easy to accrue as a vampire, and he’s used it plenty to buy what he deems fashionable, but if there’s one human habit he hasn’t been able to shift in all the years he’s lived it’s the reuse and recycle policy. Why should he buy new clothes when he can reuse old ones? That requires a bit of skill in sewing, and unfortunately Demetri has very little. Consequently, he pays to have clothes repaired…and for sewing lessons. He’s just successfully darned his first pair of socks all by himself and is unjustifiably smug about it, but for everything else he pays a professional – no sense in wasting that ostentatious shirt he bought in the 60’s when it could come back into fashion at ANY moment.

Felix:

Felix is generally very happy with his place on the guard, but there’s one thing that really bugs him sometimes, and that’s the one particular chore he gets called on for a lot. There’s a lot of tourists that come through the castle on a fortnightly basis, and since they don’t leave…how do you get rid of them? With a contingent of lower guard under his command, it’s left for Felix to dispose of the bodies more often than not. The higher-ranking guard members do take turns to chip in and help with the clean-up, but more than one person has started to realise that more often than not Felix is the one left to the task.

He has a bulky frame and he’s exponentially strong, so he can shift a fair amount of bodies in record time once clean up begins. He strips the bodies of valuables, as the last of the blood drips down the drain, and once they’re ready for moving, he can take several at once down to the ovens near the dungeons and start cremating them. He’s good at his job, but he doesn’t like doing it. Burning flesh smells bad and if he’s brutally honest, he doesn’t want to end up looking twice at the people he’s fed from. It’s very obvious they all died in pain and more often than not their faces aren’t peaceful, mouths frozen open mid-scream and glassy eyes staring back at him till he closes them.

He’s made noise once or twice about being put on clean up duty less, but sadly he’s made himself invaluable at this task. He only does it so efficiently because he can’t wait to get the morbid task over with.

Jane:

Jane is…not spoiled per say, but she tends to get what she wants a lot. Her role as a woman in her human life was entirely domestic. She was meant to be a dainty little housewife so it’s really not a big deal for her to do the chores necessary to keep her room clean. There’s something oddly comforting actually, about cleaning her room. It’s one of the few things that makes her feel normal actually and she quite relishes the chance to drop the scary guard act. Hell, sometimes a quiet evening polishing her coin collection (whichever case happens to be on display gets polished once a week like clockwork) actually makes her smile.

What Jane appreciates less is having to clean the common areas. Demetri’s rota is the bane of her existence and she has tried multiple times to sabotage it but Demetri always has spare copies, and no amount of torture so far has gotten him to give up the location of these copies for her to destroy them. As far as Jane is concerned, she is responsible for her mess and her mess alone. Why should she clean up after anyone else? Nobody in the guard regardless of rank is younger than a few decades at best so they are all grown up enough to know to clean up after themselves, especially when they indulge in the secretary without permission and left a horrific blood stain she had to use three different types of Zoflora on to get rid of the smell.

[jancmalandra]

The Shipwreck

On the temptation to return to old ambitions

By mid-May Snufkin and Moomintroll had started mounting occasional expeditions into the wildernesses of Moominvalley for themselves and the children of the village again, as they had done every Spring and Summer since Moomintroll and Snork Maiden's children turned six. They would spread the word of their latest hike a few days before they set out, inviting any child who wished to join them. They would always find a fair number of children waiting for them in front of Moominhouse on the morning that they planned to leave. The children would have their backpacks packed in case the hike lasted more than a day.

Little My never missed these expeditions as they provided excellent opportunities for mischief and excitement. On the twenty-sixth of May Moominvalley was struck by a very powerful storm. The next day Little My immediately suggested to Moomintroll and Snufkin that they mount an expedition to the beach to search for treasures that might have washed up on the shore as soon as possible. The two of them readily agreed and sent Little My to spread the word that they would leave in three days, and then they began to pack for the trip.

The morning of the twenty-ninth came and Moomintroll, Snufkin, Tayberry, Moomin and Little My said goodbye to Snork Maiden, Moominpapa, and Moominmama and stepped out of the front door to see who had joined them. Boyle, Bristol, and Auguste were at the forefront of the small crowd of children as usual. Gerard, Peter, and Martin were right behind them in their finest hunting gear. Hiding behind Gerard was a welcome new addition, Snork and Sniff's adopted son, Snerf. He was clearly doing his best to be brave and ready for adventure and had a determined look on his face. Gerard had clearly made fast friends with the little monster and was acting as his strongest supporter.

Moomintroll and Snufkin looked at each other and silently decided together not to take undue note of Snerf joining them so that he wouldn't feel singled out and uncomfortable.

"Alright everyone!", said Snufkin, "Let's head out for the beach!"

The children and Little My lined up behind him and Moomintroll and they all began marching down the path to the beach, talking cheerily amongst themselves and occasionally striking up a song. When they reached the beach, they saw a very promising sight: there was driftwood and other assorted flotsam everywhere.

Little My was the first to begin inspecting and sorting through the debris and all the children quickly joined her. Gerard and Snerf made their way up the boardwalk to the bathhouse to get a better look at the full expanse of the beach. Snerf climbed to the top of the bathhouse in an instant and looked carefully in all directions. His large, green eyes suddenly widened in surprise and then delight. He forgot to be afraid in his excitement and rushed over to Moomintroll and Snufkin who were observing all the children with contented nostalgia from the top of the beach.

"Mr. Moomintroll, sir!", he said, jumping up and down, "There's been huge rock slide on the cliff just a few miles down the beach! It looks like a really big cave has been opened up! Can we check it out?!"

"Most definitely!", said Moomintroll. Then he called out to Little My and the other children, "Everyone! A new cave has opened up further down the beach! Everyone get into The Adventure and we'll sail there!"

Everyone quickly obeyed Moomintroll's instructions and piled into the boat. Moomintroll untied the mooring rope and he and Snufkin rowed The Adventure away from the bathouse. They raised the sail and the wind, which was a little strong, immediately filled it and they headed towards the cave. As they drew closer, the cave became more and more enticing. The large boulders that once sealed off the cave were strewn here and there in the bay, peaking out just above the level of the surf. Snufkin lowered the sail, and he and Moomintroll took up the oars and rowed around the boulders carefully and into the huge mouth of the cave.

The morning sunlight poured into the cave, making it very easy to see everything in it. The first sight that greeted the crew of The Adventure was a very old pirate ship which had been left at anchor in the middle of the large pool of water that took up most of the cave. Moomintroll and Snufkin rowed around the ship, confirming that the hull was still completely intact and to look for a way to board the ship. They saw a boarding ladder hanging from the deck rail, the bottom of which was hanging just out of their reach. Gerard and Snerf whispered back and forth urgently between themselves for maybe thirty seconds and then Gerard climbed onto Snerf's back and Snerf climbed the mast of The Adventure and leapt onto the boarding ladder. They reached the deck of the pirate ship and let the boarding ladder the rest of the way down. Everyone quickly joined them on the deck and gaped in wonder at the wreck for several minutes.

The ship was a three-masted schooner and it was in amazingly good condition for its age. The masts were broken and the sails were long gone, but that seemed to be the worst of the damage. The paint had almost entirely chipped away from every surface, but all the wood seemed intact and strong. The door to the quarterdeck in the ship's stern swung back and forth with the tide, almost like an invitation to come in. The door to the lower decks was in the middle of the deck and was wide open.

"Well, it would be rude to refuse such a polite invitation!", declared Snufkin as he detached his small camping lantern from his backpack and lit it, "Boyle, Bristol, Auguste, Peter and Martin, let's explore the lower decks! Moomintroll, you take everyone else and explore the quarterdeck!", and with that Snufkin led his group down the steps to the gun deck.

Moomin and Tayberry immediately ran through the door to the captain's quarters in the quarterdeck, and Moomintroll, Little My, Gerard, and Snerf stayed together on the main deck near the helm. Moomintroll fiddled distractedly with the wheel, which was clearly no longer connected to the rudder, staring dreamily at the whole ship. Little My pulled forcefully at his elbow, bringing him back to his senses.

"Oh! Little My!" exclaimed Moomintroll, "I thought that you were with Snufkin! Surely you want to explore the hold and see whether there's still any treasure to be found?"

"There's plenty of time for that later! Besides, the pirates almost certainly made off with their treasure after hiding their ship here. I want to have a word with you before Snufkin comes back and tries to stop me. You know very well that you've been dreaming of something like this falling into your lap since you were little! Everyone here is thinking the same thing as you; 'Let's fix up this ship and go on a really big adventure around the world!' If you fail to seize control of this project right now, I'm going to lose any slight respect for you that I might have ever had! Your whole life, you've always given in to what other people wanted from you! If Snufkin hadn't fallen in love with you, you'd never have gone after him, Snork Maiden would have eventually forced you to marry her and forced Snufkin out of your lives and you'd have willingly spent the rest of your life being miserable just to please her! You need to finally stand up for yourself and take this ship for yourself! You know that you've more than earned it!", said Little My angrily, forcing Moomintroll back one step with every sentence.

"First of all, Little My, I know that you know Snork Maiden better than that, and that you don't have such a low opinion of her! Secondly, I thought that you had been plotting for ages before the three of us came together to force us to realize how we really felt about our relationship! Thirdly, all of us here found this ship, not just me, and we all get a say in what we're going to do with it! Lastly, I ended up getting everything I ever dreamed of by NOT forcing my wishes upon those I love!", said Moomintroll just as forcefully as Little My, which took her very much by surprise.

Snufkin and the other children reemerged from below and Moomin and Tayberry exited the captain's quarters at that very moment, breaking up their argument.

"Snufkin!", said Moomintroll eagerly, "How are things down there?"

"It all looks very promising. We should only need to do some basic repairs and repaint the whole ship to get her seaworthy again. Of course, we'll need to find a way to pitch the canons overboard. They're beyond repair to begin with and we're not going to be needing them. Also, the hold is totally empty. Not so much as a doubloon to seen, thank The Booble!", said Snufkin.

"Gather 'round everyone!", said Moomintroll loudly, "I know that you're all thinking what Snufkin and I are: 'Can we repair this ship and take it out on adventures?' It's entirely up to all you children. You found this ship, so what it becomes is your choice. I'll help you only as much as you want me to and we'll only go as fast you like."

The children all cheered joyously and immediately climbed back into The Adventure and began excitedly discussing their plans. Little My was the last to board The Adventure and she sat fuming silently in the stern the entire trip back to the boardwalk leading to the bathhouse. Snufkin and Moomintroll brought up the rear of the group as they all headed back to Moominhouse.

Snufkin put his paw lovingly in Moomintroll's and said, "I'm very proud of how well you handled that. I can guess how hard it was for you to hand over that ship to the children. I can also guess why you and Little My aren't on speaking terms right now. If you want to talk about it, Snork Maiden and I will always be there for you anytime you need us. You know that very well, don't you?"

"Thank you, Snufkin!", said Moomintroll a little tearfully, and he kissed him tenderly, "I really do need to talk about it once we get back to Moominhouse and we have some time to ourselves!"

To Be Continued

[lakesandquarries]

Baby Shoes - Chapter 5

Bubby has been a doctor at Black Mesa for 20 years, living there for 50. He’s been bouncing around from project to project, working on whatever needs most help. He doesn’t have any opinions on his work or his coworkers or anything like that, preferring to keep to himself.

Then he meets Black Mesa’s newest project.

AKA: Bubby is Benrey’s dad au.

title from “Baby Shoes” by Bad Books.

thank u to my friend gordon for beta reading even after i threatened to steal his blood <3 ilu bitch

AO3 Link

Bubby had forgotten about the tinfoil until he walks into Zeki’s office. She’s ripping it off her desk, a few hairs slipping from her careful bun, and Bubby has to hide his smile behind his hand.

“Did you have something to do with this?” she demands, throwing a ball of tinfoil on the floor. 

“I’ve been with the subject all day. You can check the cameras, if you want.”

“I just might,” Zeki warns. She pulls another sheet off her chair and collapses into it. “So. Where are we moving you? The tube is all ready.”

“B-22,” Bubby says. “Near the break room. The L-shaped one.”

“The storage room?”

“It’s been years since it’s stored anything but dust.”

Zeki frowns, ripping the tinfoil off a pen. “You don’t need to do this, you know.”

“You offered, didn’t you? A real scientist is willing to try new things.”

She grits her teeth. “I’ll get it cleared with -”

“Aren’t you the department head?”

There’s a pause. Bubby doesn’t look away from Zeki, pale blue eyes staring into green. 

“Fine,” she spits. “I’ll ask the cleaning crew to clear it out.”

Bubby smiles. “I’ll start packing my things.”

He turns on his heel, leaving Zeki to her paperwork and her tinfoil covered office.

Dekkard’s back in the breakroom, sat in the corner eating his doritos. “They are stale,” he informs Bubby as he sits down across from him.

“Zeki approved the room.”

Dekkard drops the bag. “She did?”

“Very begrudgingly, I might add. Though I think at least some of her frustration was due to the tinfoil covering every available surface.”

Dekkard beams at him. “Today has truly been a wonderful day.”

“I’ll miss you after she kills you.” Bubby reaches across the table, grabbing one of Dekkard’s doritos. They’re stale, and he doesn’t even like chips, but he hasn’t eaten since this morning. Dekkard nudges the bag closer to Bubby, and before he realizes it, the bag is empty. “Alright, well, I have other work to get back to.”

Dekkard frowns. “I think you mean you have lunch to get back to.”

“I don’t have time for that. I need-”

“To take a break.”

Bubby huffs. “I’m not going to let myself be lectured by someone half my age.”

“I’m not lecturing you! I’m just saying, you seem kinda stressed, and I was thinking of heading over to the cafeteria to get something more substantial. I thought maybe you’d wanna come with.”

“To the cafeteria? Absolutely not.”

“It’s not like there’s somewhere else we can get food,”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Come with me.” He doesn’t wait for Dekkard, standing up and leaving, though the sound of footsteps behind him means Dekkard must be following. “You know, cooking is a kind of science.”

“Is it?”

“I’d say so.” He leads Dekkard out of the Biological Research wing, down a flight of stairs. “And I think someone high up agreed with me, once.” The area they’re in was something, once, but now it’s abandoned. The lights burst years ago, the only illumination left coming from the level above.

“Did you bring me out here to kill me?” Dekkard asks, picking his way through the room. 

“If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead. Here, this way.” It takes Bubby a moment to pry the door open, the hinges stiff from disuse. “I have no idea what this used to be, but. No one ever comes here.”

It was likely a lab of some sort - of course it was, that’s what Black Mesa does - but it was surprisingly easy to turn it into a kitchen. There’s a makeshift stove, no source of fire since Bubby can make that himself but just something to hold the flames. Scales and flasks serve as something like measuring cups, and he’s stolen various blades from around the facilities, along with any else he can get his hands on. It’s messy, but it’s serviceable. 

“I try to keep it decently stocked here, but it can be tricky to find ingredients. But I’m sure you’ll find anything we can make down here leagues better than the garbage they serve in the cafeteria.”

“Did you make this?” Dekkard asks, poking at a burner. “Shit, maybe you really are the Ultimate Lifeform or whatever. This is - I’ll admit it, this is clever.”

“I’m glad someone recognizes my genius.” He crosses the room, over to the makeshift freezer and his stolen microwave. “Do not tell anyone about this, though. I will kill you.”

“Secret’s safe with me.” 

“I don’t have the ingredients for anything too complicated. How do you feel about pasta? I’ve got some frozen pasta sauce I can heat up.”

Dekkard has made his way to the table. It was about to be thrown out when Bubby stole and repaired it all on his own. There’s only two chairs, but they at least are in good shape. “That sounds incredible.” He collapses into a chair, laying his head on the table. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve eaten real food? Everything in the cafeteria tastes like cardboard.”

“I’m familiar,” Bubby says, getting out a pot. He lights the burner with a snap of his fingers, enjoying how Dekkard’s eyebrows raise up into his hairline.

He sits down across from Dekkard as he waits for the water to boil, drumming his fingers on the table. Dekkard keeps staring at the pot, then at Bubby.

“Is something wrong? You’re staring.”

“Have you really been here your whole life?” Dekkard asks. Bubby sighs.

“Yes.”

“You’ve never - I mean you’ve been outside, right?”

“Once or twice.”

“Sorry, that - that’s a rude question, huh?”

“A bit, yes.” The water sounds like it’s bubbling, so Bubby takes it as an excuse to get up. Dekkard remains seated. “Is there a reason you’re asking this?”

“Just thinking about - about Benrey.”

Bubby adds the pasta to the pot, stirring it. “Ah.”

“I’m not gonna try and say I get it, exactly, but I think I’ve got an idea of what’s going on here. And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, or anything, but -”

“I know what I’m doing, Dekkard.” He doesn’t have to turn to imagine the look on Dekkard’s face, one eyebrow raised and the other flat. “Yes, I’ll admit, I might be...attached. But I’m not an idiot, alright? I’ve heard all the stories.”

“Zeki tell you about Dr. Tipton?”

“She was trying to scare me. I’ve had my fair share of encounters with him. Whatever Benrey did, I’m sure he deserved it.”

Dekkard’s quiet for a moment. When Bubby turns, he’s staring at the pasta, hand resting on his chin. 

“I can see the gears in your brain trying to work,” Bubby says, turning back.

“You think they’re like you.”

“They are like me.” He continues stirring, directing all his focus into the movements of his arm. “They didn’t even have a name. I can’t - I can do something, here. I can’t just sit by and ignore this when I can do something.”

No one ever did anything for him. He’d spent seventeen years in that god forsaken tube before anyone had even considered letting him out, and it was another twelve after that before he was allowed any scrap of freedom. Even now, his autonomy is challenged constantly, by scientists half his age with a fraction of his knowledge.

Benrey doesn’t even have the luxury of being a valued experiment. Based on what Zeki’s said, Benrey’s only kept around because nothing seems to kill them, and they’re interesting to study. 

If Bubby can do something - anything - then he has to. 

“Hey,” Dekkard says. “Uh. I think the pot is on fire.”

“Oh, motherfucker.” Bubby shuts his eyes, taking a deep breath, willing the flames to die down. “I was...distracted.”

“Can’t help but feel like that was my fault.”

“A little.”

“...sorry.”

It’s nothing unsalvageable, at least. The noodles are a bit too soft, but that’s fine. 

He grabs the jar of sauce out of the freezer, heating it in his hands. He can feel Dekkard watching him as he scoops the noodles into bowls, pouring sauce over each serving. The air’s gone tense.

“Sorry,” Dekkard mumbles again as Bubby passes him a fork. He sighs.

“It’s fine. Nothing I haven’t heard before.”

“But that’s the problem, isn’t it? Look, I might be underqualified, but I’m not stupid. I see how Zeki and all the other guys talk to you. I don’t wanna be like that.”

“I put this area together five years ago,” Bubby says, spinning his noodles around his fork. “You are the first person I’ve ever invited down here.”

“Is this your way of saying we’re friends?”

Bubby purses his lips. “I don’t think I’d go that far.”

Dekkard snorts. “Alright. Acquaintances.”

“Coworkers.”

“Oh, that’s harsh.”

“Shut up and eat your pasta.”

Dekkard does, for once, shut up. He eats like it’s the first meal he’s had in decades, like some kind of rabid animal, and then leans back against his chair.

“That was the best meal I’ve had since I started working here.”

“Well, if you behave, maybe there’ll be more in the future.”

“Can’t believe you’d stoop to bribes.”

It’s...nice, Bubby thinks. Sitting down here, eating and joking with someone. Maybe Dekkard was right when he called them friends.

Still won’t admit it out loud, though. He has some dignity left.

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[architectnews]

"Taking credit for trees planted elsewhere is a whole lot of embodied irony"

Architecture firm Perkins&Will has gone too far with claims that a luxury timber home on a Canadian mountain removes more atmospheric carbon than it emits, argues Fred A Bernstein.

For much of last winter, Perkins&Will, an architecture firm with 25 offices from San Francisco to Singapore to Sao Paulo, used a photo of a wooden house in British Columbia as one of the "hero images" on its website.

The house, which sits alone on a mountaintop overlooking the Soo Valley 90 miles north of Vancouver, is certainly beautiful, but the firm had other reasons for splashing it across its homepage. The 321-square-metre dwelling, known as the SoLo House, is meant to be a model of sustainability.

Entirely off the grid, it is designed to operate with power from 103 solar panels on its south facade, a 96-kilowatt-hour battery pack to store electricity for nights and cloudy days (both of which are frequent in British Columbia), and a hydrogen fuel cell for winter.

With all that equipment, the house may well be able to function without utility hook-ups. But Perkins&Will has made a far more surprising and audacious claim: that the building's structure is "beyond carbon neutral," meaning that it will remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emitted in the first place.

It seemed to be giving its clients permission to build willy-nilly at a time of climate crisis

In a slickly produced video on the firm's website, Perkins&Will architect Alysia Baldwin says the house "proves that buildings can counteract their negative consequences and act as a source of repair."

People listen to Perkins&Will, a firm that has positioned itself as a leader in green building. "For nearly a quarter of a century, we've been at the vanguard of the sustainability movement," its website declares. Journalists have tended to repeat its claims.

But this time it had gone too far. By constructing a showplace of a house on an otherwise pristine mountaintop, and claiming it had helped the environment by doing so, it seemed to be giving its clients permission to build willy-nilly at a time of climate crisis.

Looking at SoLo House, with its cathedral ceilings, its comfortable sectional sofas and its giant picture windows, then listening to Perkins&Will claim that its structure reduces atmospheric carbon, I'm reminded of the old punchline: "Who are you going to believe – me, or your lying eyes?"

Reducing a building's contribution to atmospheric carbon means making it small, keeping it simple, building it near existing infrastructure, avoiding the need for heavy equipment such as batteries and fuel cells and using the lowest-embodied-energy building materials.

Reducing a building's contribution to atmospheric carbon means making it small

Perkins&Will, normally an excellent firm, has done those things on other projects. But with SoLo House, it seems not to have even tried.

According to experts, 40 per cent of atmospheric greenhouse gases come from buildings. Some emissions are attributable to running appliances and systems – so-called operational energy. The rest comes from the power needed to produce the building in the first place, known as embodied energy.

Incredibly, Perkins&Will is claiming there is "no embodied energy" in the house's structure (by which it means the elements that keep the building standing). To its credit, the firm answered requests for information promptly, providing facts, figures and charts prepared by Baldwin and her colleague Cillian Collins, a senior architect.

Here's how Baldwin and Collins arrived at their no-embodied-energy claim: First they estimated the amount of structural wood, steel and concrete in SoLo House. And then they turned to Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings, an app that approximates the amount of energy needed to produce given amounts of each building material and the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere as a result of that energy use.

Athena told them that producing the steel and concrete, harvesting the wood and so on in SoLo House released 122 tonnes of CO2 (sometimes called CO2e, for CO2 and its equivalents) into the atmosphere.

That should have been the beginning – not the end – of the process of calculating the building's embodied energy. There are hundreds of other items that needed to be counted. Start with the roof. The walls. The windows (a massive item, given the need for triple glazing). The solar panels, the batteries, the hydrogen fuel cells. The furniture. The appliances. The plumbing. The heating and cooling systems. Lots and lots of insulation.

The list goes on. Each of those items has significant embodied energy. Transporting all of those materials to a remote mountaintop site adds more.

Perkins&Will failed to account for those sources of embodied energy. Baldwin was clear, in a letter to me, that the calculations were limited to the structure. But why would anyone stop there? According to Baldwin, it's because structure "represents the largest contribution to a typical building's embodied carbon impacts."

It may also be because Athena only applies to structure. (Athena is meant primarily for comparing how the choice of a structural material affects a building's embodied energy. An architect might enter plans for the same building, once with a concrete frame and once with a steel frame, and see how the embodied carbon figures differ.)

Of course, there are other ways to estimate the house's total embodied energy; one method is to use an online tool called Tally, which provides information on the embodied energy of numerous building components. Counting everything isn't easy, but other firms have done it.

Perkins&Will had a way of making it vanish, if not from the atmosphere then from the balance sheet

Even so, according to Athena, the house emitted 122 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. That sounds like a lot of carbon, but Perkins&Will had a way of making it vanish, if not from the atmosphere then from the balance sheet.

Much of SoLo House is made of wood. Wood, like all plants, is produced by photosynthesis from ingredients that include carbon dioxide. Thus trees are said to store (or sequester) carbon. They do, but probably not as much as people think, as I learned by studying the question at length.

Here's Perkins&Will's theory: If you cut down a tree and use the wood as a building material, that carbon sequestered in that tree becomes part of the building. Then, if you plant a new tree in place of the one you cut down, the new tree will sequester additional carbon as it grows. Thus the process (cutting down one tree, planting another) results, net-net, in carbon being removed from the atmosphere.

There are so many problems with that theory it's hard to know where to begin. To name a few:

1) You have to be sure a new tree will be planted in place of the one you cut down; will get to be as big as the one you cut down; and will live a long, healthy life. (If a tree burns, or decomposes, as billions of trees do every year, its embodied carbon is released right into the atmosphere.)

2) You can't waste any of the wood. That's a problem because converting a tree into lumber usually turns half the wood into sawdust or chips, which could end up being burnt or allowed to decompose. This problem alone suggests carbon sequestration figures should be cut in half.

3) The wood has to stay in or on the building for a very long time. If the building needs repairs, and lumber is removed, it may be recycled, but it may also be burnt or allowed to decompose. And who'll be watching in 20 or 50 years?

4) Let's be honest: You could have planted the new tree somewhere else, and not cut down the first tree to begin with. For that reason, no number of trees excuses a wasteful building.

5) Even if the new trees do sequester carbon, the process will take decades. Scientists who study global warming warn of tipping points and thresholds, some of which could be reached within the next ten years. If new buildings help push atmospheric carbon levels to a point of no return, the sequestration accomplished by newly planted trees will be too little, too late.

6) It's a logical impossibility. If you really believe SoLo House repairs the atmosphere, all you have to do is build enough SoLo Houses and climate change will go away. Now for our next trick ...

No number of trees excuses a wasteful building

No wonder the theory is highly controversial. A whole lot of things have to happen just right for it to become a reality. As Baldwin wrote in an email: "We acknowledge that not all timber sources perform equally in the realm of embodied carbon reduction."

"Much of the embodied carbon reduction achieved by timber is directly attributed to sustainable forestry management practices that ensure forestry operations are carried out in a way that allows forests to remain healthy and viable for future generations," she added. "These practices include conservation and protection, land use planning, regulation of timber harvesting, establishing practices to ensure forest regrow, and continuous monitoring and reporting to government."

She went on to admit that the tool used to determine the building's sequestered carbon, WoodWorks Carbon Calculator, a product of the Washington-based Wood Products Council, considers "much of this storage to be temporary and therefore [does] not give the building a carbon credit for the carbon dioxide that will eventually be released from this wood some time down the road, through decay or incineration."

But that didn't stop the firm from banking on the theory when it performed its embodied energy calculation. Using the Carbon Calculator, it determined that the amount of lumber in the building would result in the removal – through the planting of new trees – of 145 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere. That's a bit more than the 122 tonnes the firm says the building's timber, concrete, and steel released into the atmosphere.

Converting a tree into lumber usually turns half the wood into sawdust or chips

So in this case, reducing E (embodied carbon) by S (sequestered carbon) produces a negative number – minus 22 tonnes, meaning that building the house decreased the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. (Indeed, the house's owner, Delta Land Development, refers to it as "climate positive.")

Perkins & Will firm produced a chart to make this clear:

As Baldwin puts it, SoLo House "is able to store more carbon in its structure than was released during the production, manufacturing, and construction of the project."

That's a highly suspect statement. Based on everything I've learned, E (embodied energy) may be much greater than Perkins&Will says it is, and S (sequestered carbon) much lower.

In a letter responding to points in this article prior to publication, Perkins&Will wrote the following (the client, Delta Land Development, did not respond to requests for comment):

"Through careful selection of low embodied carbon and locally sourced materials, the project prioritized a mass timber structure. The design team used industry-accepted LCA [life cycle assessment] tools to quantify the carbon sequestration potential of the structure, and the timber structure is modelled to sequester 145 tonnes of CO2e as biogenic carbon."

Reusing/recycling is always the greenest strategy

"Structural elements typically represent the largest embodied carbon profile of [a] project, and as such, the structure was prioritized from an embodied carbon perspective."

"As designers, we rely on reputable industry tools to estimate the impact of projects. We used the Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings to complete this assessment. Athena uses ongoing research by the Athena Institute and complies with ISO 14040 (environmental management, life cycle assessment, and principles and framework) and ISO 14044 (environmental management, life cycle assessment, and requirements and guidelines)."

"Per our previous correspondence, we shared the Athena Institute's definition of biogenic sequestered carbon, which considers the whole life cycle of the material, including extraction, manufacturing, forms of transportation, installation, repair and maintenance, and end of life (assuming reuse of the wood)."

However, if Perkins and Will had really wanted to reduce embodied carbon, it would have thought about some of these strategies:

1) Putting the house in an easily accessible location, thus cutting out hundreds or thousands of trips by delivery people and construction workers. (Perkins&Will points out "that the wood was sourced from within British Columbia, and the building panels were manufactured in Pemberton, BC, which is located 30 minutes from the site.")

2) Renovating an existing house. Reusing/recycling is always the greenest strategy. Renovation typically generates 50 to 75 per cent less atmospheric carbon than new construction.

3) Choosing a site where there are no trees to cut down. According to Perkins&Will, "A clearing was required for a driveway, solar access, and fire protection. It required harvesting 180m³ of second-growth hemlock timber. This wood was put into the BC forestry chain, becoming useful lumber." Taking credit for sequestration by trees that may have been planted elsewhere, while cutting down enough trees on site to fill a five-meter by six-meter by six-meter container, is a whole lot of embodied irony.

4) Making the house a lot smaller. When it comes to saving energy, less is definitely more.

5) Choosing versions of steel and concrete with the lowest embodied energy (a lot of research is being done on ways of making those materials less "carbon-intensive").

Perkins&Will appears not to have done these things — the actual work required to reduce carbon emissions. The danger is that people will believe its claims.

Fred A Bernstein studied architecture at Princeton and law at NYU and writes about both subjects. He has published articles about embodied energy – a significant component of the climate crisis – in Oculus (a primer), in Architect Magazine (an admonition to architecture critics) and in the Architect's Newspaper (a warning that efforts to make buildings resilient are often detrimental from an embodied energy standpoint).

Carbon revolution

This article is part of Dezeen's carbon revolution series, which explores how this miracle material could be removed from the atmosphere and put to use on earth. Read all the content at: www.dezeen.com/carbon.

The sky photograph used in the carbon revolution graphic is by Taylor van Riper via Unsplash.

The post "Taking credit for trees planted elsewhere is a whole lot of embodied irony" appeared first on Dezeen.

[whiskeyworen]

Nothing was right here. It all felt wrong. ALL of it. No matter where she patrolled in the Marches, she always felt like she was being watched (they are watching you.). It was eerie. When she was alone at camp, she could feel it as an itch in her neck. A tingle in her gauntlets. The thorns in them even seemed to bite a bit harder in the cold. (It is the Kodan. They can’t be trusted.) It had to be the Kodan. I mean, these...people...were living in Drakkar’s backyard, possibly only a hundred miles or so from wherever Jormag itself was sleeping. Every time there’s a Dragon nearby, the locals aren’t what they seem to be. It never failed. (They’ve fallen to Jormag. Trust me.) It didn’t help they kept doing weird things. In one single patrol, Sonnya had run into some of the strangest encounters, each one setting her ears back and her skin crawling. All of them featuring those damned Kodan... She’d been crossing the lake (carefully, since Drakkar might have been able to hear her moving), when she found half a dozen Kodan just...sitting there. They were in a kind of circle, but loose, like they’d nearly formed the circle but just gave up. Each one was tiredly looking around, but from what she could see none of them had their eyes open. Actually, scratch that; they couldn’t see at all because their eyes were entirely encrusted in ice, and sealed closed. (They were blinded by their belief in Koda. So Jormag blinded them in turn) They all asked her, one after another, to read from a book. Somehow, they’d all pointed at the same spot in the snow and ice, where sure enough, a rime-crusted book lay. Sonnya picked up the book, reluctantly glancing around at the quiescent, listening Kodan, and opened it. She didn’t recall what she read at all, but when she stopped blinking her weeping, tear-crusted eyes, tears frozen to her cheeks by the wind, all the Kodan were gone. There was no sign they’d ever actually been there. No disturbance in the snow. She could see where she walked up to them, from her own prints...but none of theirs. And the book itself had vanished from her hands. When Sonnya checked her armor’s clock, she found that more than forty minutes had passed. Forty minutes she couldn’t recall. And on top of that, her suit’s heaters had been turned way down. Those damned Kodan did something to her. (of course they did) Messed with her head. Then there was that encounter with the weird carving Kodan in the ruins of that old Ice Ship. Her patrol that day had meant Sonnya had to wander the streets and tunnels of that broken, frozen ruin. That’s when she stumbled upon him in front of a long sheet of ice, in some dark alleyway of the wreck. He had his back to her and was chipping quickly, furtively, at the wall. It didn’t look like he was trying to cut a block out or anything, or repair some damage. When she tried to edge closer, to get a better look, he spun on her, screaming that it wasn’t ready yet, and to just give him some time. Ears back, skin crawling, she did. She couldn’t pass him until he was done anyway; the way he crouched, and how he’d reacted to her even at a distance meant she couldn’t get close to him to pass him. (they’re all tainted) Eventually the sound of ticking and scraping had died away, and the Kodan sighed in relief, stepping back from whatever he’d done. “Okay... It is done. You can see it now. Tell me what you think of it?” So she stepped close to the wall, keeping an eye on him as she did so. He just stood there, smiling pleasantly. He looked exhausted, but happy. Sonnya frowned, and turned her attention to the wall. To her surprise, he hadn’t carved some insignia, or graffiti, or anything. Instead, in tightly packed, extremely hard to read Tyrian, something had been scrimshawed into the ice. It was so unbelievably small and tightly-spaced that she had to lean right in before she could read it properly. I waited for Sonnya Danae to turn her back. And then I tore her throat out... The first line alone was enough to send a shock of ice right down her spine; Sonnya had definitely not told this Kodan her name. She hadn’t even spoken to him. There was absolutely no way this bear, so far from civilization, detached from even its own people, could have learned her name. The second line had her seeing red. In a heartbeat, her weapons were drawn, her implants going to the limits of safety, all defenses up. She would annihilate him if he even attempted to touch her. (Not Strong Enough) He was still behind her, uncomfortably close, as he had been before she read the note. But he still stood there, arms crossed, a blissful glaze in his eyes as he smiled. With a sigh, he admitted that he was inspired by something in the wind. Like the blowing of the wind had woken a thought in his mind, and he simply had to act on it. So he’d carved what it said to him, so he could have someone else read it. Sonnya slowly backed away from the Kodan carver, not saying a thing, even as the polar bear’s euphoria-glazed eyes tracked her until she disappeared around a corner. She immediately went back to base, and asked to be relieved of duty that day. (Not Strong Enough) Now, there was THIS encounter. Sonnya had trudged her way through a blizzard, once again alone on patrol (damn those new recruits, getting lost and dying in the snows) when she came upon... tragedy. There was no other way to describe it. It looked, to her eyes, like an entire village of Kodan had abandoned their shelters, and come out near this rock, on the edge of the lake. There they’d just...stayed, until they collapsed from the cold, or sank to their knees and died. There were a few that seemed to have even just lay down and fallen asleep in the snow. But there was one survivor left. He stood before.... before the focus of whatever had drawn his village out. Alchemy knows what he was seeing, because he talked to it as if it was an old friend, a family member. He even turned to greet her tiredly and ask her to come chat as well. It was an idol of Jormag. The ice it was made of almost glowed with corrupted power, and the basalt pillar it curled around was engraved with glowing, sky-blue runes. Sonnya stared at the idol, feeling the power wafting off it. The eyes of the dragon on it seemed to consider her. Maybe it was a trick of the blurring snow, the chill wind against her eyes making them water, but for a moment, just a moment, it looked like the thing smiled at her. Not an evil leer, or a grimace, but an almost pleasant smile that left her with a moment of warmth....before the Kodan beside her spoke again and she snapped back to reality. She didn’t say anything to him. Instead, she stepped forward, and amping up her implants to a safe, high power level, she swung a right hook into the side of the idol. The sheer force her implants and armor imparted to the strike blew an entire, fist-sized section out of the pillar, and shattered an entire coil of the dragon on it.  Its magic now disrupted, the idol folded in on itself collapsing in a small detonation of light and sound. That last Kodan blinked bleary eyes, looked around, and realized his kinsmen were frozen. Dead. He looked at the Vigil soldier who stood before him, her eyes hard as ice, her fists encased in cold fire, and recognized her displeasure. He beat a swift retreat, as she began to attend to the dead. (Not Strong Enough) She wasn’t strong enough yet. She felt weak still. (Harden your heart. Make it a fortress.) There was work to be done. Emotions couldn’t be allowed to rule her. She told herself this, even as she excavated a hole with her scepter’s power, carving a great furrow in the permafrost for bodies. (Harden it like ice. Ice protects. It fortifies. It LASTS) This place wouldn’t break her. But she didn’t have to like being here. She really didn’t like it at all. Too much was ‘wrong’ here.

[zekethegm]

Campaign Update 2

Update 1

Continuing from where we left off.

The trio head into the hall and Orpheus peers out the window to the front of the building cautiously. “A dozen more in front and the way they have that vehicle backed up I suspect something lies in wait there too.” He says grimly.

Jaylene returns from the other side of the hall. “Can’t get a clear look at the rear alleyway. We would have a nice choke point to mitigate their number back their but it could also be an easy way to get cornered.” She reports.

“Sister Veida, how familiar are you with this Hab pattern?” Orpheus asks.

“The Colossus pattern is quite common, especially in this system.” She responds. “Every ten floors a catwalk should extend to keep stairwells and auto lifts from becoming too congested.”

Orpheus nods. “We could sneak across there and leave completely unnoticed.”

“Or one of us could take position from above and catch the scum in a crossfire.” Jaylene proposes.

“There is also a subterranean parking deck.” Veida adds.

“Yes, but it is protected by electronic locks and we did not register the vehicle to this building to keep evidence of our staying here to a minimum.” Jaylene says.

Veida nods toward Jaylene. “And I’m certain that served well in delaying your discovery. As part of my duties in recording the history and culture of the peoples of this system I have collected and cataloged a number of technomat data scripts. I am confident that this lock will prove little challenge.”

Orpheus gestures to the stairwell. “Lead on then, Sister. We should take the stairs, though. If they begin to sabotage the building a lift could quickly become a coffin.”

The three descend the bleak stairwell of metal and concrete. The buzzing of inferior light fixtures are a constant as the thumping of heavy boots and the clattering sounds of weapons echo endlessly, announcing their descent.

They reach the bottom without interference and come upon a heavy door with a number bad installed into an otherwise featureless surface. “Most locks are not given a custom sequence in fear of the failure of human memory, or being charged with techno heresy. So the vast majority of these locks,” Veida says as she presses a seemingly random number routine, “are still operating under a preset unlocking rite.” The door swings open obediently and the three hurry through the parking deck.

As they come upon the exit ramp to the streets above Orpheus motions for them to slow. “Creep up the ramp just enough that you can see them, let’s not expose ourselves any sooner than we must.” The others nod and Veida takes the lead position.

Veida moves up the ramp until her head just comes up to street level. A purifying stream of burning promethium erupts from the end of her flamer as five gangers meet a painful, screaming end.

The other five man squad have just begun to mount a counteroffensive when Jaylene’s combat shotgun matches Veida’s flamer for kills. The furious burst of shotgun blasts perforated the whole area and Jaylene doesn’t let go until the bolt holds open to an empty chamber. “Last magazine.” She declares as she reloads.

Orpheus strides to street level. “Surrender and throw down your weapons and I will show lenience. This is your only opportunity.” Movement is heard inside the vehicle though no surrender is spoken. “They are unrepentant, Sister.”

Veida storms up the length of the ramp to stand on street level and engulfs the vehicle in flames, the promethium easily pours through holes in the armored windows and flows up through the cracks around doors. The vehicle becomes a howling crematorium as the gangers inside perish.

“Jaylene, ready the car, Veida, give me a hand.” Orpheus orders as he walks to the rear of the vehicle. The rear doors hang open and a heavy stubber, scorched and covered with an ashen corpse, sits at the ready. “It’s still operational, this could come in handy.” Orpheus says as he takes up a grip opposite Veida. The two pull it off its mounting with ease and stow it in the trunk of the undercover Arbites cruiser.

As soon as they get moving Jaylene contacts her precinct. “This is Investigator Jaylene Magall, Safehouse Omnibus has been compromised, over twenty summary judgments performed during the escape. Requesting a secure vehicle bay open at precinct 99.”

“Preparing for your arrival as we speak. We just received a report of two improvised armored vehicles on your vicinity running fast and hot, dispatching backup.”

“Negative.” Jaylene orders into the vox system. “Reinforce the precinct perimeter, they’ll be most desperate when our escape is within reach.”

“Understood. Emperor protects you, Investigator.”

Just as the exchange ends two bulky vehicles with armor sheets bolted and welded on appear from a side street. Dark plumes of exhaust flare up as the oversized engines spur the vehicles on to impressive speeds. The window plating folds down and a crowd of shotgun barrels expose themselves, bristling from every open hatch they unleash relentless fire.

The blasts rip across the cruiser and crack and chip at the armored glass, nearing a complete shatter quickly. “I thought you said this thing was rated against small arms fire!” Orpheus bellows.

“It is! For standard ammunition! They must be loaded with manstoppers!” Jaylene retorts.

Veida leans out and blasts a stream of flame which the vehicle quickly evades by tapping the brakes to stay just out of the burning stream. “Damn them all! Can’t they even die with dignity?”

The other vehicle begins picking up considerable speed and Orpheus activates the vox projection array, broadcasting his voice loudly outside the vehicle. “Good, a little closer and I can slit your throats myself.” He growls. The vehicle backs off with a screech and reveals its own compliment of shotgun wielding criminals, blasting out the rear windshield and putting a handful of holes into the hull.

“I’ve driven worse.” Jaylene reassures them.

One of the vehicles pushes their acceleration and flies past the cruiser, opening its rear doors to reveal a Heavy stubber. “Evasive maneuvers!” Jaylene hollers. “Orpheus, pass me your pistol!” Veida shouts over the chorus of shotgun blasts, engine sounds and screeching tires.

Interrogator Letra holds his bolt pistol out, Veida goes to take it but Orpheus won’t let go. “This weapon was made by some of the most skilled hands in the galaxy. If you drop this weapon, we are stopping to pick it up. Understood?”

Veida nods and takes the weapon, firing a single shot which zips just over the barrel of the heavy stubber causing the gunner to hurriedly duck and lose his aim as the heavy weapon sprays ammunition haphazardly across the street, missing the cruiser entirely.

“Emperor be praised.” Veida says under her breath as Jaylene’s driving is able to soften the impact of the ceaseless barrage of shotgun blasts.

Orpheus activates the vox system once more. “You are firing upon an agent of the Emperor’s Holy Inquisition!”

Immediately the vehicle in the rear breaks off and disappears down a side street. The one in front ceases firing but maintains it’s position, indistinct shouting erupts from within. Orpheus joins the inaudible discussion, “I have seen more than twenty of your comrades slain in the past hour, what makes any of you think you will fare better?”

The vehicle slams it’s rear doors shut and flees expediently.

Veida passes the bolt pistol back to its owner. “You can do quite a lot with a few words, Interrogator.”

“Thank you, Sister. All things being equal I would rather rely on your flames or Jaylene’s shotgun than my words but when only words will do it helps to have the best of them.” He replies.

Jaylene pulls into an awaiting vehicle bay and a pair of servitors begin attending to repairs immediately as the three enter the precinct fortress. Jaylene quickly leads them into a hallway and opens a room where a handful of subordinate officers work at data terminals and sift over pict logs.

“I am commandeering these quarters until further notice, if you wish to contest my actions, my name is Investigator Jaylene Magall, you can take it up with Captain Navick.” Jaylene orders. The working officers gather their supplies, salute and leave without a word.

Once the room is empty Jaylene locks the door and takes a seat. “What’s our next move?” She asks.

“Well,” Orpheus says, taking a deep breath and rubbing his neck. “we know which gang is perpetrating these actions, the Breakwater Bonded, and their territory is known to the local enforcers which you have access to, correct?”

Jaylene nods.

“So we know who is doing it, where they are and who is running this operation.” He says pulling the paper found on one of the gangers earlier. “But, after reading this, it is clear they are just hired muscle. Yes they are guilt of their crimes but they only did it for the payout, even if we were to wipe them all from history their employer would find some other criminal retinue to handle the deed.”

“What about the interrogation? What did you learn?” Veida asks.

“The next target is an Imperial temple in the 8th district, 11th block of this stratum of the Hive. They will suspect their operation was compromised which will mean they will either abandon the target, or if the employer is insistent on this target, they will try to act before we can make use of the information.” Orpheus says, pacing to the wall where a map of the local hive sector is displayed.

“We need to defend the temple.” Veida declares adamantly. “If we attempt to make a move on their territory and neglect one of our flanks for even a moment they could easily sneak a small team by to carry out the bombing and then the interrogation was for nothing anyway.”

Jaylene nods. “Of course if we fail on that we get disintegrated by a small atomic bomb.”

Orpheus notes Vieda’s look and elaborates. “The crime in question is the placing and detonating of small atomic devices. The deepest reaches of Williams Breach are populated by mutant laborers who mine radioactive minerals for the creation of atomic macrocannon shells. Somehow this gang’s employer has gotten a hold on some so these bombs are utilizing military-grade atomic material. Not only have these events eroded the morale and faith of the people, opening the door to heretical practices in their desperation but the sites have been left irradiated resulting in widespread illness and much difficulty in rebuilding and forgetting the attack in the first place.”

“All the more reason to ensure this attack fails.” Veida says with determination.

“We’ll need a safehouse.” Jaylene notes. “I don’t have access to anything in the area, that’s all Ecclesiarchy jurisdiction.”

“Or their chamber militant.” Orpheus adds, looking to Veida. “How close are your ties with the Adeptus Sororitas?”

“The closest I have.” Veida says as she seeks contact through a secure vox communicator in the room.

The vox speaker returns with a very familiar, “This is Sister Elise of the Burning Rose, identify yourself.”

“Sister Veida of the Nomadic Word.”

“Your vox signature is unfamiliar, is everything alright?” Elise asks.

“I am on Confragus, on assignment with a member of the Inquisition. Do you have any authority in the Imperial Temple of Williams Breach, 8th district, 11th block, mining level epsilon.” Veida asks.

The sound of static silence hangs in the air for some time before there is a response. “Yes, we have a Sister-initiate who is on watch there as part of her training.” Elise says.

“Could we receive sleeping accommodations nearby?”

“Nonsense, for you we will have the initiate take up a bed elsewhere, her quarters are yours to use as you see fit.”

“Thank you.” Veida says. “The Emperor provides, and may he reward you for your assistance.”

“To assist in his work is reward enough, Sister.” Elise replies.

Jaylene nods to Veida. “Well, that’s good news.”

“I have more.” Orpheus declares. “I have some contacts in the Astra Militarum and have managed to acquire the advice of a demolitions expert. Jaylene, if you can send a copy of the data script from the temple’s construction to this logis-address.” He scribbles a series of numbers on a nearby piece of paper. “Then we can anticipate where the bomb is most likely to be placed.”

Jaylene takes the paper, looking over it carefully and securing it in a pocket of her armor. “It’s a very good start but how do we actually stop this thing?” She asks.

“I can disguise myself as a member of the Ecclesiarchy. I know all the rites and rituals and bear a degree of authority there anyway.” Veida offers. “It will allow us to get as close as possible to those who enter.

“Your armor is distinct.” Orpheus reminds her.

Veida shrugs. “I will shed it then, my faith will protect me.”

“I don’t like the idea of you going unarmored, looking for someone smuggling in a bomb.” Jaylene says.

Orpheus nods. “Agreed, I will find you some armor that you can wear beneath your robes. I’ll gather some surveillance equipment as well. We can sleep in rotation. Two will stay on watch while one sleeps, working on an 8 hour sleep pattern.”

“Veida walks the crowds in the day with you for the first half and me for the second then when she goes to sleep you wake up and we work the night hours.” Jaylene states.

“I’ll man the surveillance pict-feeds during my shifts, Jaylene, you will monitor the feed for your portion of the day shift and walk the floor at night.” Orpheus says.

A silent agreement passes between the three. “Then it is decided.” Orpheus says.

Tag so you can find this easily @sincerestaffect

[fourohfourrealitynotfound]

Shattered Hopes

Loren became slightly concerned when her timer unexpectedly broke only a a few minutes before she was due to meet her soulmate.

Meanwhile, when Annabelle broke her timer, her hopes and dreams of meeting her soulmate shattered along with it.

-

Based on “Cellphones between soulmates are in the same condition (cracked screens are in the same places)” and “A timer for when they shall first meet�� from the masterlist of soulmate au prompts.

On the subway, Loren distracted herself from the crowded car by examining her timer screen. From the upper left hand quadrant down to the middle of the screen was a surface level scratch. The mark, a result of carelessly putting her timer in her pocket with her apartment keys, wasn’t enough to alter the display. Loren could still clearly see the numbers behind it and the other crack.

She didn’t know what caused the crack in the bottom right corner of her timer’s screen. Sometimes, like when she was stuck in a crowded subway car, Loren would stare at it an imagine how her soulmate caused the crack. Maybe they dropped the timer, or sat on it at an odd angle, or threw it at someone in a fit of anger. There was no limit to the possible soulmates and situations that she could imagine.

Loren was daydreaming about a her soulmate knocking their timer off a table to reach a pizza box when her own timer’s appearance suddenly changed. The screen made an awful crackling noise as the screen split into a web of white lines. The number display was completely unreadable underneath the cracks.

This was rather concerning to Loren. Her first thoughts were about her soulmate: Was this an incident involving clumsiness, or a serious accident in which they were injured? Then, she remembered that when she last checked, her timer had less than an hour remaining. If her timer’s internal mechanisms had been damaged, there would be no way that Loren could identify her soulmate unless they pulled out their timer while she was watching.

A soft ding alerted Loren about her upcoming stop, so she slid the timer in her pocket and rose to exit. Filled with newfound worry, she shook her bangs out her eyes and kept moving through the busy station. Upon leaving the station for the cold streets, she set out in search of a warm beverage to calm her nerves and warm her rapidly chilling body.

-

Annabelle was extremely nervous about meeting her soulmate. She didn’t want to leave the safety of her bed, but the ticking timer forced her to get out of apartment. It took her an hour to settle on ripped skinny jeans and a sweater that didn’t make her feel too ugly. Before she could second-guess her decision again, she left the apartment to find the nearest coffee shop.

The only problem with her plan was that Annabelle had no clue where the nearest coffee shop was. She had only moved to the city a week ago and hadn’t had the chance to explore yet. Google Maps said that there were three coffee shops nearby: two independent cafes and one Starbucks. Annabelle didn’t like the cliche of meeting her soulmate at a Starbucks, so that option was eliminated. Of the other two, one was five minutes away and one was fifteen minutes away. She was supposed to meet her soulmate in ten minutes, so she chose the closer one to avoid having to meet her soulmate in the street and possibly loose them forever.

The walk to the cafe was nerve-wracking. Annabelle kept worrying about how she would meet her soulmate. What if she accidentally spilled hot coffee on them, or got sidetracked and then awkwardly ran into them on the street? As her anxiety about the upcoming meeting increased, she began to obsess over her appearance. Her clothing choice, though fashionable, made Annabelle feel like she looked idiotic for being ill-prepared for the cold weather. She crossed arms tightly to warm her hands in her armpits while attempting to keep her last shreds of confidence.

When the cafe was in sight, Annabelle pulled her timer out of her coat pocket to check it again. She had just registered the time as a little over five minutes when her body jolted forward for no reason. A man in athletic clothing, watching Fitbit instead of his path, had run into her while jogging down the sidewalk. Annabelle tripped forward and reached her hands out to catch herself before her face hit the freezing pavement.

”Sorry!” the man shouted over his shoulder, not bothering to stop and help her up.

After regaining her breath, Annabelle made her way to the cafe’s nearby outdoor seating to examine the damage. Her palms and elbows were a bit scraped up and felt a bit bruised from her sudden meeting of the sidewalk. The thing that made her stomach drop, however, was the status of her timer. Because it was in her hand when she fell, the device’s screen had been against the cement. The display was completely unreadable, and the internal mechanisms may have also been damaged.

Annabelle’s throat clenched and hot tears welled up in her eyes. Of course something like this would happen to her instead of getting to meet her soulmate normally. The timer had been around five minutes when she fell, but she wasn’t exactly sure how much time had passed since then. All she could do was sit at the cafe and wait, hoping that the internal mechanisms of her and her soulmate’s timers had not been damaged by Annabelle’s carelessness. With any luck, the timers would still beep when she met her soulmate, and she wouldn’t loose them forever.

-

Loren knew The Whispering Bean quite well. It was a small and quirky coffee shop on a busy street corner that received a fair share of customers. The interior was warm and cozy with comfy chairs and floor-to-ceiling windows. The best part of all was their mascot: a mysterious green coffee bean wearing a mustache, monocle, and pink fedora.

Entering the heated shop made Loren’s cold face feel funny for a second as she began to warm up. She hesitated in the doorway to pull off her gloves and decide what she wanted to drink. When she shook her head to move her bangs out her face, Loren noticed a girl sitting in at window table near the door. The poor thing was sobbing violently, but nobody in the shop was attempting to console her. Loren abandoned her mission for a warm beverage to do just that.

”Hey, are you ok?” she asked, unsure how to address the girl in a more casual manner.

The girl just nodded unconvincingly through the tears. “Yeah,” she choked out while wiping tears out of her pretty brown eyes with her back of her hand.

Loren sat down across from the girl and grabbed some napkins from the table’s holder to offer as tissues. The girl accepted, wiped up her eyes, and blew her nose while Loren patiently waited for her stop crying. It took a minute but the tears finally began to subside. “Ok, what do you want to drink? I’ll get you some coffee while you collect yourself.”

The girl sheepishly gave her a simple order, seeming to know that Loren wouldn’t take no for an answer. After getting their coffees, she carefully brought them back to their table and managed to gracefully set them down without spilling anything. The girl pushed money towards her to pay for the drink and left it out on the table as an open offer when Loren politely shook her head.

”Thank you. I’m Annabelle, by the way.”

”It’s no problem. Nice to meet you, I’m Loren.”

Together, they sipped their beverages in silence and watched pedestrians on the rainy city streets.

-

”Do you mind telling me what’s wrong?” Loren asked her. “Maybe I can help you somehow.”

The entire situation was so bizarre to Annabelle. She was mostly embarrassed to be seen crying in public to the point that someone felt they needed to come and help her, but she was also extremely grateful. Loren was taking the time out of her day to sit with a complete stranger and calm them down at their one of their lowest moments. That spoke volumes about her character.

Annabelle finally decided to just go ahead and tell her about her problem, since she probably couldn’t embarrass herself any more than she already had. She took a few wavering breaths to collect herself. “I think— I think broke my timer.” At the simple mention of it, her eyes began to well up, but she aggressively wiped the tears away before they could spill over again.

”Broke as in it can’t count down or alert you?”

Annabelle nodded, unable to speak without her voice revealing her despair.

Loren pushed back her bangs and furrowed her brow as if thinking deeply. “That’s definitely a problem. Do you think it’s repairable? Maybe you could take it somewhere to be fixed?”

”Where would you even do that?” Annabelle asked. “At a clock repair? Is there some sort of government section for dealing with soulmate situations?” She hadn’t ever heard of one, but she was desperate for any hope that she could still find her soulmate. Her brain tried to remind her that it was probably too late, but she pushed the negative thoughts aside.

She pulled out her timer from her pocket and studied it. In the time since Annabelle had crushed it against the pavement, its appearance had only gotten worse. The screen was to the point where it looked like pieces might start chipping off, and the entire front half seemed like it might pop off at any moment. Overall, the sight filled Annabelle with a sense of defeat. “It’s probably too late,” she choked out. “I think that I’ve already missed them.”

”Actually, I don’t think you have . . .” Loren trailed off cryptically.

When Annabelle blinked the fresh tears from her eyes, she saw that Loren had pulled her own timer out. It lay on the table beside hers, broken in the exact same way. Unable to believe her eyes, she slowly reached out to trace her fingers over one shattered screen and then the other. Filled with newfound hope, she looked up the meet the sparking eyes of her soulmate.

Loren’s face was set in a light smile, as if to say, “Hi, it’s me.” She reached out a hand either offering to hold hands or give a hand shake; Annabelle wasn’t sure which. Instead, she got up and went around to the other girl’s side of the table, where she was promptly greeted with the desired hug.

Maybe broken her timer hadn’t been a mistake. Though her hopes and dreams had been shattered for a minute, her soulmate came along to piece her back together as the universe intended.