#cloud computing projects final year

[ultrakey]

Final Year Projects That Impress and Inspire

Stand out with smart, practical final year projects in tech, science, and engineering streams.

[s1rawb3rry]

Cupid’s arrow has struck… the wrong target!

Oh cupid… do you love me, or do you love me not?

synopsis: As a cupid, Y/N's job has always been to make people fall in love– that has been her task for centuries. However, everything goes horribly wrong when Jake accidentally locks eyes with her instead of his intended match. Now, she's stuck with a hopelessly in-love Jake, following her around like a lovesick puppy. The worst part? Cupids aren’t allowed to fall in love…

word count: 10.3k

warnings: fluff fluff fluff, no smut, maybe a little suggestive, absolutely smitten and hopelessly in love jake, he fell first and fell harder, acts of service jake, jake is somewhat yn's boss, magic (???)

genres: office au, cupid au, rom-com, slow burn

pairing: enhypen Jake x reader

featuring: Chungha

a/n: oh my god this took FOREVER but im so glad its done im so happy with it hehe

Taglist: @heestoleurgirl @stariekis @jaehoodies @morganaawriterr @luvashli@kireistrawberryjayla @annovaz @bambieheeseunglee @firstclassjaylee @flowerwinds @veilstqr(comment if you want me to add / remove you from the list <3)

⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯⌯

Cupids don’t wear halos and wings, or float around on fluffy clouds. At least, not anymore. We live among humans, blending in seamlessly, living for the purpose of matchmaking. Year round, we work behind the scenes of every soulmate pairing. This has been my classified, top secret occupation in the world for centuries, that I wouldn't trade for anything. When I'm off the clock, I work at a dull office job– that I love!– but it's boring enough to allow me to keep up with my much more important tasks. 

Seeing my Boss slowly making his way near my desk, I planted my hands on my keyboard and started to type away, pretending to be fully immersed in the spreadsheets that are on my computers. In actuality, my mind was completely preoccupied, I kept eyeing the thin paper folder with the name “J.S.” on it. I was assigned my last assignment before my much-needed “cupid break”. The thought of rest made me giddy enough to move my hips in my office chair and hum an off tune harmony. 

“What's the matter with you?” Chungha asked once she noticed my movement, her desk in front of mine. I smiled like a kid on christmas, well really rest did feel like christmas to me, “i got my final assignment before my break. I just have to find this Jake Sim.” I whispered to her. She smiled, sharing my excitement. Chungha has been one of my, if not the, closest friends for years. She is the person who knows everything about me, she knows me like the back of her hand. She is the one and only person that I could ever trust with this secret job. 

“I swear I heard that name not too long ago… “ she said, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, trying to remember. I jump in my seat, lean forward to reach her desk and hold her hand in mine, “I beg you, tell me who he is so I can go into this break early.” I whisper-yelled, misery clear in my voice.

As she was laughing at my desperation, the clear glass office door swung open with an exaggerated creak. Our Boss strides in like a man who will make the biggest announcement of the decade, again. He always makes this grade entry, makes you feel like he will say something important, only for you to find out it's absolutely nothing. His dramatic flair is only rivaled by his complete lack of self-awareness. I suppress an eye roll and stare back at my spreadsheets, these seem way more interesting in fact. 

“Team!” he calls out, his voice booming as he stands at the front of the office room, making a couple chairs turn around and make multiple people stop talking and clicking their keyboards. “I’d like you all to meet your new supervisor for the upcoming project I already told you about–” he told us about a new project? – “This is Jake Sim, our new project manager. So he will only be here for a couple of months until the deal with the other company is sealed.”

My eyes widened and my ears perked up when I heard that name. I glanced at Chugha who was already looking at me with that same bulging eyes. There he is– Jake, my new assignment. He stood tall in the sharp lines of his suit, his dark hair neatly swept back, and his dark eyes carrying a quiet intensity. As the Boss continued talking, jake gave the group a friendly but reserved smile. As his eyes were scanning the room, as if he's trying to memorise our faces. I tried to follow his gaze to get his perspective on my colleagues. Maybe I can find his pair in the office?

As my eyes look back at him, our eyes lock. He held it for a second before he gave me another polite smile. I returned the smile fast enough before he continued his scan of the room. I perch up on my seat when I notice Jake staring for longer than usual at the other side. My eyes land on a coworker, Mira. Both of them also exchange a polite smile. 

As the boss continued to babble about the new project, that familiar feeling comes to me: when an idea of a couple clicks in my mind. Jake and Mira, they seem perfect together, well on paper they do. I open my Jake’s paper file and quickly read the notes written on him, trying to confirm to myself that he is a perfect match for Mira. Warm personality. Charismatic. Loyal. Energetic… Oh, it’s spot on.

“Alright team, that's all for today. You can get back to your work.” he wrapped up his speech, which dragged on longer than needed, motioned to Jake to follow him. Jake smiled and nodded his head at us one last time before turning his back on us. I clicked my pen and started scribbling some notes about Mira in Jake’s file. I can not waste time on a case like this. I can get in and out quickly out of it, sending them on their merry way. I beamed with excitement, unwrapping a chocolate covered almond from my drawer and popping it in my mouth.

“I remember now where I heard his name,” Chungha whispered to me. I looked up from my notes, paying my attention back to her. “He has been going to the café I always go to after work. I heard the barista always calling his name, that's why it's familiar.” 

“Wait, that's perfect,” I said as the idea sparked in my mind, “if we can get Mira to come with us to the café, I can absolutely do the job there.” I continued with Chungha nodding at me. “Leave it to me, I will ask her.” she said, getting up from her office chair. I watched as she walked over to Mira, starting up a conversation with her. A moment later, her head turns to me, smiling, I smile back and do a little wave to her. 

I pull my eyes from her, when I notice the light of the office in front of us turn on. That office is almost always empty, so my surprise grew when I saw Jake again, standing at the doorstep with a small moving box. He walked over to the desk and placed the box on it. Oh that's his office now. Well, him being right across from us just made my job a whole lot easier. I can monitor the progress of my work firsthand, almost front-row seat to a movie I directed.  

-♥︎-

As the workday wrapped up, the three of us settled on a table in the café, the scent of bitter roasted coffee beans filled the air, making me wrinkle my nose each time the barista made a new espresso. Mira and Chungha were chattering up a storm, drinking their coffee orders while I stirred my strawberry milkshake’s straw absentmindedly, barely registering anything that is being said. My focus was set on the door, waiting for him, in any minute, to come in. Every second that passes is a second closer to my break. I take a sip of my drink, trying to suppress my excitement.

Yet, nature called at the worst moment, “I'll be right back, I need to use the restroom,” I said, sliding out of my seat and leaving my milkshake barely touched. They nod at me before returning to their conversation. 

As I step out a few minutes later, wiping my hands on a paper towel, I pause just outside the restroom door. As if it’s a twist from fate, I find myself standing in a perfect spot to have the perfect shot. Jake was standing, waiting for his coffee, not noticing me. His position is exactly where I need him, flawlessly aligned with Mira. Excitement ran through me, It’s almost too perfect. 

Almost there… One clean shot– quick and easy.

Letting my muscle memory instinctively reach for a cupid arrow, I take a steady breath and discreetly wind up my arrow. My heart bubbles in my chest in anticipation. Just as I’m about to let the arrow fly…

“Hey, did you notice that–” Chungha said, coming from behind me, disturbing the silence.

I gasped, her sudden loud voice making me jump forward and making my heart leap to my throat. My hand jerks, my aim going completely rogue, accidentally hitting Jake. I gasped again, “oh my god, no!” panic sets in my bones as I walk forward to try to recover the arrow.  Before I can even process the rest, my foot catches on a stray chair leg making my world tilt. 

I closed my eyes, bracing my fall before I felt two tight arms around me, steadying me effortlessly. When air got back to my lungs, I opened my eyes to find Jake's face inches away from mine. Oh dear god, please no… “I’m so sorry,” I said, the words left out of my mouth with my mind running much faster. Am I sorry that I fell or that I accidentally struck him? This was not supposed to happen. He was supposed to see Mira, not me. 

His usual polite warmth in his expression softens into something more tender, something deeper. His brows furrow just a little, as if he's suddenly aware of a feeling—a feeling that stirs something in him undeniable. The more I look at his eyes, the more my plan crumbles.

“Are you okay?” Jake asks, his voice low and surprisingly gentle, his gaze lingering a little too long. His grip on me is still tight, my heart and stomach felt twisted in knots, as if they were bound together. This doesn’t feel like love—it feels more like alarms blaring in my mind.

Chungha, my traitor of a best friend, noticed the mistake she just made. Her eyes darted between us, her face painted with realization. I could see her from the side of my eyes trying to come up with a last-minute fallback plan.

“No way!” she exclaimed almost cartoonishly with an exaggerated gasp, practically lunged forward tugging me out of his grip with force, “I—uh—I forgot something at the office! Come on, let’s go!” she lied, turning her heel to the opposite side of the cafe, with my heels right behind her.

With my heart still pounding, I slapped a 20 dollar bill on our table, grabbed my coat and pushed both Mira and Chungha out of the café. I could feel his piercing gaze on me as we were shuffling out of the café. He was still looking at me as I was walking away—like I was the center of his universe. 

-♥︎-

Later that night, I stood in my dimly lit kitchen, surrounded by flour, sugar and butter. My stand mixer whirring loudly with the warm smell of cookies coming from my oven. My hands trembled as I measured out the flour, my mind still reeling from everything that had just happened. I turned off the mixer, slowly adding the flour.

Chungha leaned against the kitchen counter, looking in the oven to see the cookies. Then her eyes landed on the already freshly baked cookies on the counter, still warm. She watched my unsteady movement with a confused expression, her eyes held concern. “This is the batch number…?” she asks, leaving the question for me to finish.  

I exhaled a shaky breath, trying to steady myself and my hands. “Baking calms me down,” I muttered, my voice tense, matching how my muscles felt, “besides, it’s the only thing that doesn’t make my head feel like it’s about to explode.”

“I’m sorry…” she said quietly after a moment passed, her voice full of guilt, referring back to what happened in the café. I sighed in defeat, putting down the mixing bowl. I gave her a weak but genuine smile, “it's not your fault. I'm the one who was impatient,” I said before going back to my bowl, “I never rushed the process of pairing a couple, look where that got me…"I trailed off, scraping the side of the bowl a little too roughly. 

She stayed silent, looking at me, waiting for me to actually explode. My frustration bubbled up again when I dropped my spoon on the floor, even dropping spoons is putting me on edge. I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath to ground myself, “this whole situation is too risky,” I started once Chungha picked up my spoon and started washing it. 

“Men liked me before, but none were under the influence of a Cupid’s arrow. It's just too strong. If this goes wrong, if I fall in love, I will systematically lose my job. I love my job, you know that.” I rambled, pouring out what's in my heart.

Chungha was silent, listening to me, “So… what now?” she asked, uncertainty laced her voice.

I exhaled a shaky breath, turning back to my mixing bowl, “I have one week. A week before the arrow’s effect turns into true feelings.” I said, grabbing a new, clean mixing spoon, not sure if I was trying to focus on the dough or just distract myself from my spiraling thoughts. My hands moved automatically, though my mind raced, “I have a week before this turns into a full-on disaster. If I don’t reverse the arrow in time.”

“That’s not a lot of time.” Chungha commented, taking a cookie. “You're not helping, Chungie,” I grumbled. She laughed, biting into a cookie, “don’t worry, we’re in this mess together.” she said, her hands found my tense shoulders, reassuring me. I just nodded, leaning into her. 

I began to bake again, the nervous energy inside me didn’t dissipate. There was no time to waste. I couldn’t let him genuinely fall in love with me. Not when everything I’d worked for hung in the balance. My hands shook slightly as I carefully scooped the cookie dough onto the tray. I close my eyes for a second. 

Focus. One week. I can reverse the arrow’s effect. I have to reverse it. 

♥︎ DAY 1 ♥︎

I strolled into the office with my heels clicking behind me. I readjusted my purse on my shoulder when I noticed a pink drink sitting beside my keyboard. Condensation beads down the plastic cup, the whipped cream still holding its shape—fresh. 

“You got me a milkshake?” I gasped in awe, turning to Chungha. She appeared from behind her screen, brows knitted together, “I got you a milkshake?” she echoed my question, leaning to the side to see what I’m talking about. 

I blink at her as if she just sprouted another head. "Yes, this!" I said, looking back at the milkshake, squinting at a small sticky note attached to the side of it. I carefully unstick it from the drink, holding it like it’s evidence in a crime scene. 

forgive me for making you leave early yesterday… - Jake

I closed my eyes hoping, wishing, the earth would open up and swallow me. Of course it was him. Chunghun leaned forward to catch the note, squinting. A smile grew on her face, “okay, you gotta admit that this is cute.” I shoot her a glare, “I need to thank him.” I said, placing my purse on my desk and grabbing the milkshake. Chungha’s grin widened at my announcement, “you caused this.” I reminded her playfully before leaving.

Each step I took toward his glass-walled office feels oddly heavy. It’s just a thank-you. Nothing more, not a big deal. Knocking the door twice made Jake turn around. His eyes brightened when he saw me, just like a puppy who was told they will go on a walk.

“Hello, sir,” I greeted, the milkshake suddenly felt a little too heavy in my hands. 

"Good morning," he says, a smile full of warmth and admiration spread across his face. Oh, he got it bad…

I held up the milkshake, "Thanks for this. You really didn’t have to." I said, returning the smile sheepishly. 

His eyes glowed with adoration, "Consider it an apology. Hope I got the right flavor?" he said, motioning to the milkshake. I should be the one apologising.

Then it dawned on me, he did remember the flavor… "Yeah," I say, my voice softer than I mean it to be. "You did."

He opened his mouth to say something, but a sudden interruption from outside the office stopped him, “Team!” our Boss shouted before his voice became muffled to me. Slightly jolting, I gave Jake an apologetic look, “I must go. Thank you again for the milkshake, sir.” I said, watching him walking towards me. 

“Jake,” he said, as if he’s correcting me. His gaze flickering between my eyes.

I stared blankly at him, “I’m sorry?” 

“Please, call me Jake.” 

-♥︎-

Avoiding him was proven to be impossible. It started off small: he held the elevator door open for me even when I was still ten steps away, he would offer to buy me anything and everything the cafeteria offered, even suggesting ordering something. But now it was the worst situation. We had a meeting before we could leave for the day, something about that project the Boss keeps fussing about. Focusing, however, was beyond me.

Between Jake sitting besides me and the lack of sleep last night, my brain was running on fumes. The anxiety of this whole situation tangled itself around me, and that damn milkshake moment kept playing in my head like a broken record. I blinked hard, trying to fight off the weight of exhaustion dragging my eyelids down. My notes in front of me blurred together. The voices in the room became distant, background noise to the quiet battle I was losing against sleep. 

A small piece of folded paper appeared on the table in front of  me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jake's hand retreating back to his side. I tried to decipher his face from the position i was in, but his expression was unreadable. Carefully, without trying to pull attention towards us, I unfolded the note. 

Are you feeling okay?

I stared at his handwriting in black ink, oddly neat, like he had taken his time. I reached for my own red pen, scribbling down how I just didn't sleep well last night. I refolded the paper, sliding it back to him. A few seconds later, his response appeared in front of me.

Close your eyes. I can cover for you.

I almost snorted, exhaustion making everything funny now. What is he even talking about? Hesitating only for a moment, I grabbed my pen and scribbled back something. I straighten my back, trying to wake myself up. Again, his response popped up in front of me. 

Trust me on this one. No one will notice.

I frowned in confusion, but before I could decide on how to respond, he subtly tilted his body, his broad shoulders blocking me from view. All I could see was his back and how everyone else was listening to the meeting.

Slowly, undeniable fatigue took over me, making me shut my eyes. 

-♥︎-

“Hey… Wake up.” 

A hand shook my shoulder gently,  pulling me from the depths of my nap. I stirred, my mind still heavy with exhaustion, before I finally blinked my way back into consciousness. Once my vision focused, I found Chungha standing beside me, casually packing my notepad and pens into my purse. 

“Meeting’s over,” she announced, tilting her head. “I was this close to tucking you in and leaving you here." she laughed, putting my purse on my lap. I groaned, stretching out my arms as I forced myself upright. My body still felt sluggish, my brain foggy from sleep. The conference room was empty now—everyone was gone.

 “Now, come on, let’s go eat something. I’m starving…” she grumbled, heading towards the door. As I stood up and slung my purse over my shoulder, I slipped my hands into my coat pockets out of habit. The sleepiness fog vanished the moment I felt a piece of paper already in my pocket. I pulled it out only to find very similar handwriting in black ink.

Didn’t have the heart to wake you up.

It wasn’t signed, but it didn’t need to be. 

♥︎ DAY 3 ♥︎

I had spent the last two days trying every trick, every strategy, everything and anything in my power to undo this ridiculous mistake. Yet, every desperate attempt led me to a dead end. It was completely hopeless. 

I tried acting uninterested, distant, cold, downright dismissive towards him. Jake would greet me every morning, warm smiles and bright eyes. It took every ounce of willpower not to match his puppy-like energy, to keep my response flat and indifferent. "Morning," I’d say, voice devoid of emotion. But no matter how lifeless I sounded, his grin never wavered. 

I also attempted to make him lose hope by acting like I have a ‘secret office admirer’, Chungha’s idea. We thought, maybe, this would make him give up on me.

“Are you sure this will work?” I whispered, watching her place a vase of flowers– that she picked– onto my desk. She shrugged at me as we eye the soft yellow and white rose bouquet with a small note. It looks legitimate, at least in my eyes. I sighed as I popped a chocolate covered almond in my mouth.

When I felt Jake’s presence coming closer, I started acting as if I just noticed the bouquet, putting on a full play in front of Chungha. His steps slowed as he passed my desk a few steps away, watching me pull out the note that was with the roses. I made sure to read out the note in a loud voice, I cleared my voice, "To the most beautiful woman in the office. I hope these flowers bring you as much joy as your smile brings me, your secret admirer." I read, acting surprised while turning to Chungha, “that is adorable.” she played along, smiling.

His chuckling made me turn my head towards him, “didn’t know there were secret admirers in this office…” he muttered, hands in his pants pockets, his tone dripping with amusement. I glanced at Chungha who’s now completely turned away from us, speaking to another colleague. 

He bent down his head a little to read the note in my hand, his cologne was woody and intoxicating. I could see his slicked back, soft, black strands. His closeness made a fluttering warmth spread through my chest. “What’s funny is that they call themselves an admirer…” he started, his voice snapping me back to reality, “... yet they got your favorite color wrong.” he said, eyeing my outfit, my accessories, my desk decorations– all pink. He looked at me one last time in the eyes before turning his heels, leaving my heart into a wild, nervous rhythm and warmth rising to my face. 

That was not the intended effect, and not on the right person.

Desperate times called for unflattering, repulsive measures. I was standing next to the vending machine after buying myself a Coke. Jake and a couple other colleagues were standing on the other side, chatting away. Perfect position. 

I took a long, fast and exaggerated sip of Coke, stood for a moment when I felt the carbonation bubble up in my chest. I eyed Chungha who was on her phone, slowly sipping her coffee. 

Then, it erupted like a thunderstorm. A loud, unexpected burp that could’ve registered on the Richter scale. Chungha choked on her coffee, the room fell silent, eyes were on me. I stood there, waiting. Surely, this would do it. No one finds that attractive.

Jake burst into laughter, his eyes glistening with adoration, “Impressive," he said, smiling and nodding before turning back to his conversation.

I turned back to Chungha, my jaw to the floor, “oh he didn’t find that disgusting. Quite the opposite.” she whispered to me, smiling in amusement, “I want to throw my Coke at him.”

I told myself that the next time he compliments me, i would be ready to shut it down. I was standing next to the printer, waiting for it to finish printing a paper that the Boss asked me to finalise. Jake passed by me, his eyes shimmered with light when he noticed me. "You look nice today." he said, stopping right dead in his tracks. 

Bingo. I smiled sweetly, itching to put on another play. "Oh, thanks! I haven’t washed my hair in three days." I beamed, brushing my hair with my hands. A normal person would recoil. A sane person would be appalled. But him?

"Still looks stunning," he said easily, tilting his head. "What’s your secret?"

I wanted to scream. Who gave him permission to be this… tantalizing? 

If I couldn’t drive him away with disgust, maybe I could with annoyance, if I just bother him enough to make him lose interest. I thought about barging into his office every hour or so, each time asking for something different but completely useless. I thought that if I just got under his skin, he would get tired of seeing me. I already went in, asking for a stapler, even though both him and I know I have one on my desk. Yet he gave me his without hesitation.

Half an hour later, I stood in front of his office door again, knocking as hard as I could, making sure that even my knocking was irritable to listen to. I opened the door after I heard a faint ‘come in’ from the other side.

I walked into his office as if I owned it. "What are you working on?" I asked him, as if he's not my higher up and could fire me. He looked up from his laptop, amused. "Something very important," he replied, still smiling.

Each time I left, I felt a little more defeated.

Twenty minutes later, I was back at his office. "Still working on something important?" I asked. Oh my god please, any reaction.

This time, he just laughed and shook his head. "You tell me. You seem very interested." he grinned, his arm propped up with his head resting in his hand. I stared at him, searching for a flicker of frustration, anything to indicate he was growing tired of this. But no, he looked at me like I was the one who painted the sky.

Then, I decided to really test how far I could push him. “Hey… uhh…” I squinted at him, tapping my forehead as if I’m really trying to remember something, “What was your name again?” I asked, trying to act casual, pulling out some chocolate covered almonds from my pockets and popping them in my mouth. This reverse the arrow mission will actually get me fired.

He raised an eyebrow, but there was no sign of irritation, only humor. Jake let out a soft laugh, shaking his head in return. Slowly, he pointed to his nameplate that’s on his desk. “Jake Sim,” he said, dragging out his name with a knowing smile.

I stared at him for a second. Was he really going to play along with this? Did he seriously not mind being the target of my ridiculous antics?

♥︎ DAY 5 ♥︎

I was in front of my computer’s screen, the room was filled with the sounds of keyboards clicking and telephones ringing. Focusing on any type of work was impossible, all I could think about was him. I thought to myself that I should still try to set him up with someone else, Just get him interested in someone. I leaned back into my chair, my gaze following Jake who was at the water cooler. He was standing casually, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up just enough to show off his forearms. The way he moved—effortless, composed, yet somehow magnetic—was enough to make my thoughts spin out of control.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I flew up from my chair and headed towards his direction. “Hello, sir,” I said, politely. Oh suddenly I remembered what manners are…

He turned around his signature warm smile appearing the moment our eyes met. “Hey,” he replied, voice as smooth as ever. “Need a refill too?”

“Yeah, just a little,” I replied, but before I could move, he already took another cup. After he filled the other cup, he handed it to me. “Thank you, sir.” 

He huffed a laugh, “you know, the ‘sir’ ages me by a lot.”

“Right, I’m sorry. I forgot.” I said with a soft laugh.

We both stood there, side by side, the silence almost comfortable but the tension between us thickening. Then I broke the silence, “You know, don’t you think Mira is cute?” I asked, trying to sound natural as I fiddled with my paper cup filled with water. “I mean, she’s very elegant. Charming. Professional as well, don’t you think?”

Jake nodded, listening intently, but I noticed him drifting his gaze lower. I froze, my breath catching as I saw his fingers carefully adjust the small cupid bow-and-arrow pendant on my necklace that had somehow gotten tangled. His touch was so gentle, almost like he was afraid to hurt it—or maybe afraid to hurt me. My heart skipped a beat as he carefully set it back in place, and for a moment, everything seemed to slow.

His focus was still on me, his eyes lingered on mine for a heartbeat longer than I expected. And when he spoke, his voice was so sincere, it made my chest tighten. “She’s okay,” he shrugged, “but she’s not what I’m looking for.” His gaze never wavered, locking with mine as if trying to make sure I understood every word, every feeling behind them.

-♥︎-

Later that day, I went to the restroom before heading home for the day. As I was walking towards my desk, I noticed a couple familiar candy wrappers on my desk with a sticky note next to them. They were my chocolate covered almonds, the same brand even. I pulled the sticky note and stared at the neat handwriting, the words so simple, but they made my heart flutter more than it should have. 

It simply read, enjoy. Again, not signed. 

My fingers lingered over the edges of the paper, tracing the strokes of his pen. I stuffed the sticky note into the drawer of my desk, trying to ignore the strange feeling in my chest. But even with it hidden away, the flutter in my chest didn’t go away. If anything, it only grew stronger. I wasn’t supposed to feel this way. I couldn’t let myself feel this way.

♥︎ DAY 7 ♥︎

It was almost the end of Monday, and I felt completely defeated. None of the tricks had worked. Not the cold, distant act, not the jealousy plan, not even trying to be completely gross—nothing. Every strategy I tried to reverse the effects of that damn arrow had failed. It was like Jake just couldn’t be swayed. I was beyond tired, drained in every way. I hadn’t even seen Jake all day, and that should’ve been a relief. but honestly, it instead felt like something was missing. Every time I passed his office, there was a strange ache in my chest.

By the time the clock finally struck five, I gathered my things, shoved them into my bag, and walked out of my office. Today was the last day to reverse the effect, I’m seriously fucked. 

As soon as I stepped outside, the sky opened up, and rain poured down in sheets. The cold wind cut through my jacket, and my already exhausted mind screamed at me to just hurry up and get home. Groaning, I fumbled with my purse, mentally preparing myself for the walk home. 

“don’t tell me you're walking home in this.” a voice called out from behind me, cutting through the sound of the rain.

I turned around, I saw Jake with his bag in one hand and an umbrella in another. His hair was slightly messy, but still looking incredibly soft. His blazer was draped over his arm, leaving him in his button down white shirt. I forced a laughed, “"It’s fine. I don’t live that far," I said, trying to downplay how miserable I felt. "Really, it’ll just take a minute."

His eyes told me didn’t seem convinced, though. “Let me give you a ride home,” he offered in a heartbeat, but I quickly shook my head. “I’m fine, sir. Really, I—”

Before I could finish my sentence, he interrupted, pulling off his jacket and holding it out to me. "Take my jacket at least," he insisted. As I hesitated to say no, he held up his blazer in front of me, the insides of the blazer facing me. I sighed in defeat– more like too exhausted to argue– and slid my arms into it while he held it for me. As I was fixing the collar, he gently pulled my hair out from underneath the blazer. His fingers traced my neck, leaving hot trails behind. I turned around to see strands of hair falling on his forehead. 

"Here, take this too. You will catch a cold." he muttered, handing me his black umbrella. “Thank you, really…” I said, flustered by the gesture. He flashed a warm smile, “anytime.”

without another word, he turned and ran toward his car, the rain pelting his back. As he reached his car, he paused and turned to wave at me. I watched him, feeling an unexpected warmth spread through me. He looked like a soaked puppy—wet, tousled, and far too endearing for his own good. It made my heart give a little thump.

"See you tomorrow!" he shouted, his voice muffled by the rain.

I waved back, an involuntary smile tugging at my lips. As I watched him get into his car and drive off, I had accepted the fact that he was in love with me. But that does not mean I will fall for him. Ever. 

Pulling the jacket tighter around me, the weight of his gesture still warms me. As I was walking in the opposite direction towards my apartment, I instinctively reached out for my phone and put my hands in his blazer’s pockets thinking it was mine. I frowned as I felt small wrapped spheres in the pocket. Pulling it out, I found a familiar sight: my chocolate almonds.

I let out a quiet laugh, shaking my head, despite the growing flutter in my chest. That idiot really was hopeless.

-♥︎-

A few weeks have passed after the arrow’s effect has indefinitely settled in. My cupid duties have been on pause for a while, but not the office job. Our Boss kept on giving me– and it seemed like it was only me– many different tasks to finish for this upcoming project that forced me to stay late, after my usual office hours. 

The office was nearly empty. The usual hum of ringing phones and clicking keyboards had long since faded, leaving only the soft buzz of overhead lights. I leaned in my office chair with a sigh, rubbing my burning eyes from my screen. My documents were scattered around, words blurring together and losing their meaning. 

Despite all my attempts, my mind circles back to Jake. Guilt was eating me alive as I felt like I ruined his life, his love life. He was meant to fall in love with someone who can be with him, someone whose world aligned with his own. The guilt was so unbearable that I started avoiding him. I would turn to the opposite way whenever I sense he's nearby, I would be late for meetings on purpose so I could sit away from him, I would take the stairs so I don’t cross pathways with him in the elevator, I would make it seem like i get an important phone call each time I see him coming my way. I could see that it hurts him, but my remorse was overwhelming. Slowly but surely, his own attempts to speak to me reduced.

Even though his office wasn’t in my line of vision, I could sense his gaze on me from time to time. He was also still in his office, only his desk lamp was on, with him clicking away, very concentrated on his own computer. Whenever I stayed late at the office, Jake seemed to always be there too, leaving only us on our floor. He would never say anything to me, he wouldn't even step inside the shared workspace. He would stay in his office, but I could feel his presence from across the office. 

My eyes scanned over to the clock, 1:12 am. I took a deep breath and returned back to my screen. The sound of a foot creaking open made me stop reading a sentence midway. I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. His footsteps were slow, but purposeful as he made his way to my desk.

“You’re working way too hard.” Jake’s voice was softer than I expected, like he was choosing his words carefully, with his hands in his pockets. I couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh. Before I could shut him down, he continued, “Do Cupids get paid overtime as well?”

My grip on my mouse tightened, my heart stilled. For a split second, I thought I misheard him. Surely the lack of sleep made me a little delirious. My eyes looked up at him before I could stop them, Jake had this knowing expression.

My stomach twisted in knots, my head is spinning, “I think you should head home, sir.” I dismissed, my eyes locking back to my screen with a thumping heart. God please tell me I’m imagining this…

He glanced down at the scattered notes on my desk before his gaze flickered back to me, “It’s funny, isn’t it?” Jake said, his smile not reaching his eyes, “You can make people fall in love… but you don’t know what to do when it happens to you.”

I swallowed hard, trying to stay still, unreadable even though every nerve in my body was on high alert. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Jake raised a brow. “Really? You have no clue what I’m talking about?”

“No clue.”

He let out a quiet exhale, his expression unreadable. A moment has passed of complete silence, I was praying that the earth’s crust would crack open and swallow me. 

“At first, I just had a feeling that something was up...” His voice wasn’t accusing or even angry, just observant. “Miss. Chungha slipped up and said something about how you ‘messed up’ the matchmaking…” the more he spoke, the more my chest tightened itself on my pounding heart. 

“And then,” he continued, watching me carefully, “I saw your open files on your desk a couple of times, with the names of couples you helped.” I winced, I should’ve been more careful.  

The fragile rawness of my soul felt like it was on open display. It felt like he had carefully taken apart every building block of my defense that i had built and was looking at what was is actually underneath.

The feeling of guilt emerges once again when I look at his sincere eyes. I felt like a deceiver and a liar, he had to know at this point, there was nothing left to hide. I sat up straighter than I already was, forcing my voice to stay even and failing miserably, “the love you feel for me isn’t real. I was supposed to matchmake you with someone—”

“I know.” he said it softly, with certainty.

I blinked, “what?”

Jake tilted his head slightly, watching my reaction as if he were giving me a moment to process it, a soft smile on his lips. “I know about the arrow, Y/N.” He said my name so gently it made my chest ache, my heartbeat pounded in my ears. “I’ve known for a while.” 

“However…” he said, leaning on a desk that was near mine, “i think the effect wore off faster than it should have. I think two days later I was feeling normal again.”

I closed my eyes to ease my beating heart, exhaustion and this deranged conversation was a dangerous mix at this hour,  “that’s impossible.” 

“If I had a choice,” he said, making me open my eyes and look up at him again, “I’d still want you.” He held my gaze before looking at my lips and then back into my eyes. 

I could no longer compute rational thoughts, or any thoughts at that. The world was spinning and steady all at once. Jake straightened himself and turned his heels towards the exit, “Don’t stay too late, okay?” his voice called out before he left, without facing him. 

He left me with my heart racing, feeling completely ruined. The weight of it all pressed down on me as tears fell down. I couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was making me cry– Jake finding out my sworn secret? Jake knowing I messed up on said secret job? or the fact that I have been feeling my powers slipping away? The thought of losing everything I had fought for because of my growing feelings was unbearable. My tears unraveled faster than my realisation that I actually fell for him.

-♥︎-

As if my life couldn’t be any harder, our Boss announced an emergency work trip across the country for a couple of client meetings, big ones at that. The kind that could define the next few months of the company’s future. Our trip was a haze for me, I stayed near either Chungha or Mira the entire time. My jake avoidance persisted despite the tension in the air, if i just act like none of this exists, it won’t affect me. 

Before I knew it, we were off the plane and checked into our individual hotel rooms. The hotel lobby had this muted hum of chatter and telephones ringing filling the space. As to not waste time, we were all immediately called down for the first client meeting. As I sat down, my B oss handed me a notepad with a pen, “please, take notes during the meeting.” I just nodded, no energy left in me to argue.

As usual, Jake was running the presentation. Though, this serious and composed attitude was a side of him that I hadn’t seen before. It caught me off guard, the way he stood at the front of the room, the projector illuminating his face as he explained the new project to the clients. His voice was steady, authoritative, and it was clear he was in his element. 

My notepad and pen sat in front of me, waiting to be used. But as the meeting progressed, I found my focus drifting from the content of the presentation to Jake. my eyes kept following his movements, how his hands gesture as he explained the key points, how his fingers occasionally adjusted his tie or brushed his hair back in that absent-minded way. The way his dark hair slightly tousled as he leaned forward, the little crease between his brows that appeared when he was deep in thought. In this room, in front of clients, he was assertive, and maybe even a little intimidating.

This was a stark contrast to the Jake who has been putting almond chocolates on my desk, or the one who always complimented my perfume choice of the day, or the one who leaves endless sticky notes at my desk. He was different, and it was… captivating.

I tried another attempt to focus on the presentation by scribbling down the client’s questions, what Jake was saying. The meeting continued, and Jake seemed to glide through it effortlessly. Every once in a while my mind would wander back to him, how easy it seemed for him to command the room with just his presence, how natural he was at all of this.

Soon enough, the meeting wrapped up. The clients were satisfied, Jake finished his presentation with a final handshake and brief thank-you to the clients. Our team packed up soon after, I raced to leave the suffocatingly hot room. The moment that our Boss gave us the green light that we can leave for the day, I beelined to the elevator, itching to just take off these stifling layers of clothes. 

Once I reached my hotel room, I started a cold shower immediately, letting the icy stream douse over my skin to cool the heat that had been building ever since the meeting. I needed to clear her head, to push away the fluttering thoughts that refused to leave my mind. As I stood under the water, I kept remembering how Jake moved, the sharpness in his gaze and how my body responded to his subtle but undeniable presence. How can someone look like a cute puppy one second then the hottest man alive the next?

After washing my hair and body, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in the hotel’s bathrobe. My skin was still tingling from the cold water, my face still flushed from my racing thoughts. I left the bathroom and tried to find my phone in the pile of mess I left before rushing in the shower. 

Soft knocking was heard from my door, making me stop my search. It must be one of the girls. Another series of knocks made me pick up my pace and rush over to the door. When I opened it, it was, in fact, neither of the girls. I locked eyes with Jake instead. He was only in a light blue button down shirt, the sleeves were rolled up. His hair was a little messy compared to how it looked in the meeting.

It took a moment for the both of us to register the situation, the ‘I’m only in a robe’ situation. Jake stood there, looking just as flustered as I felt, making me tug the robe tighter around my figure. His gaze quickly flicked downward to the floor, clearing his throat, “god, I’m sorry. I will come back lat-” 

“It’s alright, really.”

“I just need your notes of the meeting earlier,” he said, his eyes now looking at me. “Oh shit, I completely forgot,” I pinched the bridge of my nose. 

I went back into my room, trying to find my notepad and my phone now, “I swear I can’t find anything. The plane landing, then the meeting… it was all too fast.” I said as I rummaged from my stuff. Jake held the door open, watching me frankly running around the room. “I’m sorry, this is really unprofessional of me…” I uttered. As if professionalism has been common in my behavior these past months…

Jake stepped in my room, letting out a short laugh because of my state, “take it easy, I’m not in a rush.” he said, letting the door click shut behind him. After moving my sweater to the side, I found the notepad tucked under it. I got up on my feet and handed it to him, “here they are, I'm so sorry again…” 

“No need to apologise, hun,” he chuckled, taking the notes from hands. The nickname made my heart flip. Considering my current state, this was a really bad time for flirting.

Instead of just walking away or leaving the room, Jake comfortably opened them right there, standing at the door. He quickly scanned through them, his brow furrowing as he reread a few lines. He looked the same way he did in the meeting���so serious, so focused. His lips barely moved as he reread the notes, his entire body leaned forward in concentration. Every little thing he did—how his fingers brushed against the paper, the way he chewed the inside of his cheek when he concentrated—it all made my mind scream at me to stop looking, to stop thinking about him this way, but my body betrayed me.

“Your face is burning up,” he asked, his voice soft but laced with genuine worry. “Did you catch something from the plane ride?” 

Before I could react, Jake gently placed his hand on my forehead, then my cheeks, my jaw, his touch surprisingly tender. His hand lingered for a moment, trying to assess if my red face is because of a fever. The warmth of his skin was clashing with my ice cold shower earlier. He came a little closer as his hand cupped my face, still trying to see if I’m sick. 

I looked up at him, I probably looked dazed, “sir…” I finally said something, my voice was barely a whisper. My eyes involuntarily flickered to his pink lips.

“When will you get it that it's ‘Jake’ to you?” he said, his thumb moving from the side of my face to my lips, his touch sent shivers down my spine, his own eyes looking at my lips. The air between us thickened as he leaned in, letting our lips touch. 

His hands found my waist, pulling me closer to him. Each kiss was more urgent than the last. My fingers tangled in his now extremely messy hair, pulling him deeper. His cologne was stronger than ever. If I could memorise this feeling, if I could memorise how he tasted and felt, before it slipped away I would. There was no thought—only the desperation to feel more, as if this is our one and only chance to hold each other. 

I pulled back slightly, catching my breath. His forehead rested against mine, "for a Cupid," he murmured with a chuckle, "you're quite confusing." I couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh, my fingers found the nape of his neck. 

Just as the distance between us closed again, a loud knocking echoed from the hotel door. “Y/N! Why aren’t you picking up your phone?” Chungha’s voice rang through the door, filled with concern and a touch of annoyance.

I froze, panic seizing me in an instant. "Oh no," my eyes wide with realization. "Jake—" I barely whispered, my mind racing as I quickly backed away from him. Jake immediately took a step back, his hand held mine, his face turning to confusion as he caught the urgency in my eyes. “I can’t be seen like this with my Boss,” I whispered to him urgently. 

We scanned the room, finding a hiding spot for him. I ended up grabbing his wrist, leading him to the closet near the door in a hurry. Without protest, I pushed him into the small space as he ducked into the closest with a chuckle, leaving me to try to regain control of the situation.

I rushed to the door and opened it just enough to reveal Chungha’s expectant face. "Hey, what’s going on?" she asked, her eyes darting over me as she stepped inside. I waved my hand frantically, trying to act casual. “Just came out of the shower,” I said, motioning to my robe that I was still wearing, that I was wearing while kissing our Boss.

 “Why didn’t you call me?” I asked, trying to distract her. Chungha raised an eyebrow, “I tried, but you weren’t answering. I wanted to order something, I wanted to see if you wanted anything.” She glanced around, stepping further into the room. Her attention was diverted, I could feel my heart pounding, the sound of Jake shifting in the closet just beyond the thin closet door.

I took a deep breath once Chungha was out of my line of vision, and then hurriedly, without thinking too much about it, shooed Jake out the closet. “Go, go, go!” I whispered urgently.

He smirked, “you’re cute when you panic." he commented, as if this was the right moment to do so. “Oh my god, i will kill you with my bare hands, go!” I whispered, pushing him out the door.  

“I'm hesitating between pizza and sushi. What do you say?” I heard Chungha’s voice call out as I clicked the door shut. I swear my hotel’s door looks like a revolving door.

“I'm fine with both!” I responded, trying to catch my breath. I leaned against the door for a second, pressing my palms to my flushed face, trying to ground myself. My heart was still racing, my skin still burning from his touch, and worst of all—my lips still tingled from the kiss.

What the hell was I doing?

-♥︎-

After many meetings and conferences that we were all forced to sit through, the familiar hum of the office was back—the ringing phones, the clatter of keyboards, the distant murmur of coworkers chatting by the coffee machine. Everything was the same. Except me.

I sat at my desk, blankly staring at my screen. I blinked, trying to focus on the words that are blurring together, but it was no use. I felt like a zombie, just so drained– not just physically, but in a way I couldn’t even describe.

The little magic I once felt at my fingertips was gone. I used to hear it, the universe’s quiet whisper, the way love threaded itself through the world like a melody only I could recognize. But now? Silence.

Jake noticed my changed humor. Of course, he did. He noticed the pile of untouched almonds on my desk that he left on desk, how I poked at my lunch instead of eating it, and how I barely even reacted when Chungha cracked a joke during their break. 

Chungha noticed, but she knew I wanted space, so she didn’t push. Everytime i would space out in my thoughts, she would put her hand in mine, kiss my hand ever so lightly before leaving me to it.

I would catch him staring– his brows drawn together in concern. I would frown back at him, feeling my chest bubbling with unreason frustration. I hate this. I hate the way he looks at me like I am slipping through his fingers, like he wanted to reach out but didn’t know how. And most of all, I hated how much I felt, how much all of this hurts. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to care this much. I wasn’t supposed to lose this part of myself. And yet, here I am. A complete mess without it.

I decided to go home early, my Boss just waved me off while on the phone, muttering a ‘whatever’ under his breath. If I had strength in me, I would have reacted to his rudeness, but I just quietly walked to my desk. Chungha watched me pack my purse, “heading out?” she asks, her eyes sympathetic. 

I weakly smiled back at her, “i will see you on monday, i promise,” 

“Lemme walk you home, you look pale,” she said, standing up from her seat and ready to put on her jacket. “No, stay. I will be fine. Plus, I don't know what’s up the Boss’ ass right now, but he won't appreciate both of us leaving,” 

Her shoulders slumped down, “alright, as you wish.” she said in defeat, pulling me in a tight hug before letting me leave. 

-♥︎-

The knocking at my door stirred me out of my nap. I groaned as I lifted myself off my couch, still in my office clothes. I was so tired that I just collapsed on the couch the moment I walked in. I pulled the thin blanket I used tighter around my shoulders as I made my way to my apartment’s door. 

The knock came again—gentle but insistent. I glanced at the clock on my wall, 11:45pm. No way it's Chungha… she would've come by earlier than this hour. My eyes and heart still feel heavy, the nap was not enough. I caught a glimpse of myself in my small hallway mirror, hair poking from every direction, puffy eyes, red face. With a sigh, I unlocked the door and used all the force I had left to open it.  

The moment it opened, I froze and my throat dried up.

Jake stood there, holding a basket in one hand and some leftover containers in the other. He was no longer in his office suit, instead he was wearing jeans, a simple shirt and a basketball hat, however his heavy signature Rolex is still on his wrist. His brows knitted together in concern the second he saw my face. 

“Hey,” he said, clearing his throat, “I thought you were under the weather, so I made you some beef stew and cookies,” he continued, lifting the leftover containers slightly. I stare at him, and then at the food. 

Then, it just hit me all at once as tears filled my eyes. The fact that he’s here trying to fix something he never caused, or the fact he cared so much he cooked me food and dessert, or the fact that I have been unreasonably angry at him, all just made those tears spill over. 

“I… I can’t—” my voice broke, “I don’t know how to fix this. Any of this.”

Jake’s face shifted from confusion to alarm the moment he saw my tears. “Y/N,” he murmured, his voice softer but laced with concern. “What’s wrong?” he asked, set the food down as I let out a choked sob. The amount of crying I have been doing has been leaving my head pounding against my skull. 

“Everything. I just…” I trailed off, fresh tears spilling down my cheeks. I felt pathetic, to be quite honest. He opened up his arms without hesitation, through my tears, I got closer to him and wrapped my arms around him, steading myself.  

“Oh, love…” he sighed after hearing another sob from me, his voice filled with nothing but warmth. Without a word, he guided me inside, shutting the door behind us. After setting the basket on the kitchen’s counter, his eyes landed on me again. I probably looked like hell, from the work clothes to the unkempt hair to the probably smudged makeup.

“Y/N…” his voice comforting but hesitant. “Talk to me.”

My throat tightened, not allowing me to speak. When he saw new tears threatening to come out, Jake inhaled, with a quiet murmur of, “come here,” he led me toward the couch. I didn’t argue. Didn’t think. All of those actions took too much energy. I just simply followed, letting myself collapse next to him on the couch.

The grief of losing a part of my identity, the exhaustion, the feeling of failure, the weight of everything—it all felt heavier than ever. I shifted slightly, curling up and resting my head on his lap. He didn’t flinch or hesitate, his fingers found my back, running slow, soothing circles on it. 

After a while, the apartment became calmer, the soft hum of the city could be heard outside my apartment window. Jake’s been quiet ever since, every so often you would only hear my sniffling. I let out a breath I have not realized I was holding.

“I’m no longer a Cupid,” I murmured, eyes staring blankly at the side of the small living room, face pressed up against Jake's chest. “And I don’t know what that means for me.”

Jake hummed thoughtfully, his fingers never stopping their soft movements. “Well,” he said, amusement lacing his voice, “you could always be my retired Cupid.”

I huffed out something close to a laugh. “That sounds exhausting.”

“Nah,” he grinned. “Just means you get to sit back and let me do all the chasing. Nothing new.”

I giggled against his chest, hearing his heartbeat again once my laughter faded. “Can I be honest with you?” I asked hesitantly, looking up at him from my position.

“Always.”

I swallowed hard before I spoke up again, “I was… mad at you for a moment,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “For making me fall for you.”

He blinked, surprised, before suddenly laughing. “Wait—that’s why you were avoiding me? Shit, I thought you regretted the kiss.”

“That’s not the case.” I blurted out before I could stop myself. Jake stared down at me, one brow raised and a smile slowly forming on his lips. I opened my mouth to backtrack, to save myself, but all that came out was a flustered, “I—I mean, it was—you were—”

he let out a full, warm laugh. “Oh my god,” I groaned, immediately burying my face back into his chest “I hate you.”

“You enjoyed it,” he repeated, smug now.

“Stop talking.” I whined, my voice muffled against his own laughter. 

-♥︎-

I walked into the office the next morning, my shoulders feeling much lighter. A warm smile spreads across my face as I greet my coworkers, noticing a slight rosiness in my cheeks. The bounce in my steps slowed down when I noticed a large bouquet on my office desk. 

“Always a special delivery for the Miss…” Chungha said, the bouquet completely blocked me from seeing her. I snorted a laugh at her comment before I stepped closer to the bouquet. I ran my fingers ever so slight over the soft petals of the pink roses, my heart doing an embarrassing little flip as I spotted a note tucked between them. Carefully, I unfolded the small card.

For my retired Cupid.

Unsigned. I huffed sharply with a smile, a mix of amusement and something warmer blooming in my chest. Instinctively, my gaze flickered upward—to the glass walls of his office. And, of course, he was already looking at me, probably saw my whole reaction. 

Jake didn’t even pretend to be subtle. His chin rested on his hand, smiling and eyes glistening with that same familiar puppy love. I rolled my eyes, a smile still on my lips, I pulled out my phone.

“For someone no longer under Cupid’s influence, you’re really not acting like it.” - “Me”, Delivered 30 sec ago

[technicallykrispydefendor]

Innovative Cloud Computing Projects for Computer Science Engineering Final Year Students in Trichy

The final year of a Computer Science Engineering (CSE) program is a crucial phase where students transition from academia to the professional world. With the increasing prominence of cloud computing in the tech industry, Final year cloud computing projects for CSE in trichy in this domain not only demonstrate technical proficiency but also provide a competitive edge in the job market. This article explores a selection of innovative cloud computing projects tailored for Computer Science Engineering students in Trichy, empowering them to embrace the future of technology.

Smart Healthcare Management System using Cloud Computing: Develop a cloud-based healthcare management system that efficiently manages patient records, appointments, and medical history. This project could incorporate features like real-time data sharing among healthcare professionals, secure storage of patient information, and the integration of IoT devices for health monitoring.

E-commerce Platform with Cloud-Based Scalability: Design an e-commerce platform leveraging cloud computing for seamless scalability. Focus on features like dynamic resource allocation, auto-scaling, and load balancing to ensure optimal performance during peak times. Integration of secure payment gateways and real-time inventory management adds practicality to the project.

Cloud-Based Intelligent Transportation System: Create an intelligent transportation system using cloud services to optimize traffic flow, reduce congestion, and enhance road safety. Incorporate features such as real-time traffic monitoring, predictive analytics for congestion avoidance, and smart signaling based on traffic conditions.

Secure File Storage and Sharing System: Develop a cloud-based file storage and sharing system with a strong emphasis on security. Implement end-to-end encryption, access controls, and multi-factor authentication to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of stored files. This project could cater to individuals or businesses requiring a secure cloud storage solution.

IoT-enabled Smart Agriculture using Cloud Computing: Combine the power of Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing to create a smart agriculture system. Implement sensors for soil moisture, temperature, and crop health, sending data to the cloud for analysis. The project could include features like automated irrigation and real-time monitoring for efficient crop management.

Cloud-Based Learning Management System (LMS): Design an advanced Learning Management System hosted on the cloud for educational institutions. Include features like virtual classrooms, collaborative document editing, and automated grading. Integration with cloud storage for seamless access to educational resources adds value to the project.

Augmented Reality (AR) Gaming Platform on the Cloud: Create an AR-based gaming platform that utilizes cloud computing for rendering complex graphics and providing a seamless multiplayer experience. This project could involve developing AR games that merge the virtual and physical worlds, offering an immersive gaming experience.

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Conclusion:

These innovative Cloud Computing Projects for PhD in Trichy are tailored to inspire and challenge final year Computer Science Engineering students in Trichy. By engaging in projects that align with the industry trends and demands, students not only gain valuable hands-on experience but also position themselves as tech-savvy professionals ready to contribute to the ever-evolving world of cloud computing. These projects not only showcase technical prowess but also demonstrate the ability to address real-world challenges, providing a solid foundation for a successful career in the tech industry.

Final year cloud computing projects for CSE in trichy

[snakehatepage]

I lost my virginity to ok computer now I hate men, especially Thom York. what dating a man does to a person..

anyways here's loser Ellie hcs bc I miss Ellie tumblr! not edited, I'm still unpacking!

MDNI, no men 😝 smut at the end (DONT look at me it wrote itself) I'll catch up on requests this next week k ily bai

loser Ellie! who actually isn't all that masc she just doesn't like the feeling of make up or frilly clothes, androgyny is just easier and comfier, makes her feel confident!

loser Ellie! who is so good at math, and science, and history. English, however, has come up from the depths of hell and has always been the only class she'll fail.

loser Ellie! who will stare holes in the back of your head during class instead of just asking for your number. or a pencil. or your name. or even saying hi.

loser Ellie! who gets partnered with you for an English project and wants to either jump with joy or end her life when you turn around and smile at her.

loser Ellie! who tries to be smooth when she asks for your phone number, but ends up stuttering and stammering, explaining it's just for the project, how she doesn't want to over step.

loser Ellie! who turns the brightest shade of red when you laugh and hand over your phone to enter her number

loser Ellie! who when you finally agree for a time to meet up at her dorm to start the project, she spends the entire night deep cleaning and hiding anything even remotely embarrassing. Pictures of her and Joel, stuffed animals, game trinkets, space models, the works, they're all shoved into the small closet so you can't see.

loser ellie! who babbles and stammers when you come inside. Offering drinks, food, trying to crack jokes but she's so nervous most of them fall flat. Still, you laugh, and she's on cloud nine.

smut below the cut

loser Ellie who feels like a freak for staring at any bit if exposed skin you show, down to your knees. She ogles you like a 12 year old little boy, stumbles over her words, rambles and and just doesn't stop.

loser Ellie! who's a little bit of a freak, takes a deep breath every time you're close to try and get a wife, of your shampoo, your perfume, anything.

loser Ellie! who's fingers graze against your knee and she feels like she'll cream her pants right then and there

loser Ellie! who's totally and entirely shocked when your lips meet hers!! she's wide eyes and fumbling before she finally returns the kiss

loser Ellie! who's sooooo whiny, clutching at anything she can, her fingers digging into the plush of your thighs, grabbing and pulling you closer, closer, closer

loser Ellie! WHO IS A BOTTOM. SHUT UPPP SHE LIKES TO GET DICKED/FINGERED DOWN!!

loser Ellie! who's cunt just swallows up your fingers, leaking and sopping around them, babbling about how it's just "so good"

loser Ellie! who gets messy when you finally let her at your own folds, slobber and arousal dripping down her chin

loser Ellie! who is the most pussy drunk ever guys. she just needs it so bad!

loser Ellie! who has a girlfriend and an A in her English class now!

okay ilysm baiii

[andthekitchensinkao3]

20 Questions with a Fanfic Author

Thanks for the tag @lavender-tea-fling :D I’m always surprised when someone tags me in these things - keep ‘em comin’!

*cracks knuckles* … *no, not really, because OW*

1. How many works on AO3?

I TOO HAVE 48 WORKS ON AO3! Find them all at this handy-dandy link: andthekitchensink

2. Total AO3 Word Count?

I’m almost embarrassed to tell. 947,443 words. How can there be almost 1 MILLION words on there?!?!?!?!

3. Top 5 Fics by Kudos (disclaimer: I loathe kudos. The hits go up, but the kudos stay at the same “Less than 10%” of hits, and even fewer people leave comments, so I’m left convinced nobody likes my stuff, or are being too polite to be mean in the comments)

Silent Treatment - Detroit: Become Human AU, in which Connor is a human, Selectively Non-Verbal, and there are no androids. Instead there’s a Nefarious Government Project having used children as lab rats. It’s basically a sci-fi thriller.

Great Pretenders - also DBH. Undercover as a Couple, Hankcon. Mutual pining, a convention dedicated to getting the most out of one’s relationship - what could possibly go wrong?

Tapestry of Time - Loki (TV) my first ever Lokius fic, full of Norse mythology. A fix-it fic set after the series finale.

Spa Day - five chapters of Hankcon smut. Gentle dom Connor, greedy sub Hank.

Metamorph - my first ever DBH fic, and also my first ever AO3 fic, uploaded back in 2018. Hankcon, set after the events of the game.

4. What fandoms do you write for?

I have written for FAKE, Yami no Matsuei, The Sentinel (TV), Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Metal Gear Solid, Harry Potter, Final Fantasy VIII, an anime style fighter game I can’t even remember the name of, Tin Man - but those aren’t on AO3. I’m not even sure I still have copies of them. Might have gotten lost in one of my computer crashes. This was before the days of cloud storage, people. Even going so far back as the days of ~dial up modems~. I also stopped writing fanfic altogether because I didn’t fit into fandom spaces, and some interactions with other fans made me think I couldn’t write for shit.

Be kind to your writers, folks. I didn’t write for ten years. Imagine the fics I could’ve written if I’d had more love from my fellow fans.

More recently, since I got my own AO3 account, I’ve written for Detroit: Become Human, Person of Interest, Loki (TV) and Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to always respond to comments, but I have the memory of an empty fishbowl, and I work a fulltime job. So if I’m late to respond, it’s not because I don’t love your comment. It’s Life(™).

6. Angstiest Ending?

I don’t do angsty endings. I do angsty everything leading up to the end, which invariably ends on a happy note.

7. Fic with the Happiest Ending?

All of them, but I am particularly fond of the ending to A Promise Kept, my Lokius fairytale mashup set in the world of Baldur’s Gate 3.

8. Do you get hate?

So, that anime style fighting game I can’t remember the name of? The creator of Manly Guys Doing Manly Things once roasted my fic in the comments for being too stereotypical of the shounen ai genre - ie beefy boys crying, angst galore, so on. My sole claim to fandom fame, I guess. But no outright hate.

9. Do you write smut?

OH YEAH BABY

10. Do you write crossovers?

I want to, but I seldom come up with a neat way of meshing two fandoms and sets of characters together. A Promise Kept is my only finished project thus far. I do write AUs, though.

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. Kids. Don’t steal people’s fics. Write your own.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated

Nope. I suppose I could translate one of my own into Swedish, but… I don’t see the point.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic?

I co-rp’d 200 pages worth of historical romance fanfic with a dear friend once. That was fun.

14. All time favorite ship?

Why you wanna make me choose? Come on. I will say, though, I shipped Kirk/Spock even as a kid, because they were so obviously in wub with each other and I thought they made a cute couple. Ah, Star Trek reruns back in the eighties… 

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a Hankcon/Passengers (movie) AU that I’m not sure I’ll finish. But never say never. Inspiration might strike again!

16. Writing strengths?

I’ve been told I do dialogue well, and that I’m funny. IMHO I think I’m kinda good at plot twists, but I’ll let the reader be the judge of that.

17. Writing Weaknesses?

I am utterly self conscious of Telling too much, versus Showing too little. But I’m working on it.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue?

I do it all the time, when appropriate to a character. Being bi-/multilingual myself, it’s always fun. I’m a language geek at heart.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

FAKE - the anime/manga about two cops in love.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Again with the choices, tut tut. However, I am REALLY fond of How to Create a Monster, in which Connor goes deep undercover to expose a drug kingpin preying on androids.

Tags under the cut!

@ghoulehhh @natendo-art @in-my-loki-feels @kusakichan15

@devilbearingtrouble @impulsemuppet @mirilyawrites @scifikimmi @silentxsymphony

@rin-love-is-green @confetti39x @stillwanderingflame

@insert-witty-user-name-here @blackbirdofasgard @dreamycloud @distracteddream

@mobius-m-mobius @dilfmobius @adorbspotat @lgwilt

 @redheadsramblings @starfleetteddybear @mercars-musings @starrose17 @holyglassbone @genocidalfetus @wolfpup026 @elodiah @lokimobius @thosegayoldmen @kcscribbler @tinygameralec @notyourmamasdeerbat AND anyone else not mentioned 🧡💜💚

[kremlin]

I do computer work but it's not very hard and kind of boring. How do I get to do hard computer work? Do I have to go to grad school?

hi i tend to miss these because of slipshod ublock custom filters im too birdbrained to fix.

i worked for a large american technology company which sold business machines internationally for close to a decade until laid off in successful accounting fraud scheme a few years ago. started as developer, erm, pardon me, i started as

junior developer

which is a role similar to routinely-executed court jester and human meatwave conscript meant to soak up enemy bullets to cause exhaustion of enemy bullet supply and finally guy that comes in big gross truck with a pump and a tank and a big hose used to suck the shit+piss out of portable toilet/malfunctioning sewer etc. this is for when you are 20 years old or so and they hit you with this work to calm your ass down a bit. my case was cloud bullshit on ancient rickety php stack. 5% keystrokes/clicks are php, 95% remainder is jira and other members of the axis of evil. LOT of dick sucking and butt fucking. Going into men's bathroom and making eye contact with cubicle neighbor before entering stall and fearlessly making disgusting noises. microwaving fish lunch thrice daily. you get the idea. meager paycheck but six figures takehome technically

next is staff dev, wait, god damn fucking tumblr, you can't adjust fonts mid-paragraph, and Big Text is just another type of font, in case you wanted Big Specific font. fucking fuck hold on. next step is

staff developer

no effective change besides greatly increased workload (click those motherfucking jira buttons!! suffer coworker's asinine bad-faith code review comments that HE AND HE ALONE must manually accept your responses to, on HIS time, before you are allowed to click the jira buttons that start the human meat sausage factory to get your 20 line maximum change into an RC and then release and then push candidate and then prod push!! pay raise one thousand dollars annually (lol). Emails. Now you deal with project manager too. speculate as to what sorts of grievous head injuries that man must suffer daily to describe his logic. his job is like the guy from office space that brings documents from one desk to another but he randomly reorders the words on the page in-flight. make plausibly-deniable wife fucking jokes about his wife in earshot. you're almost at the top of the suffering function. next is, no fucking cute font this time, senior developer, sounds cool right, lol, lmao, "senior" "developer" is like "tallest" "midgit".

no pay increase no workload increase but now manager emails you about extremely, extremely personal issues he's facing and also makes his most difficult problems from his boss your problems. one week will pass and then they will hit you with the "we're considering you for a team lead position". answer:

NO

answer no as this is the prescribed path, you take that role, you are maxxed out in workload, you are dealing with forty employee's worth of bullshit, another one thousand dollarinos a year raise, employer has solved efficiency problem with your sanity and burnout as variables. you're supposed to quit or kill yourself within seconds of hitting 30 y/o. don't fall for tricks. say "NO" in a creative way such as "i have tabulated some data and made it into excel pie chart quantifying diff. departments work output and am considering sending it to whoever Dave is, the guy that is one or two or three report levels over your boss' head, you know, his boss' boss' boss or whatever. or say "you are harassing me sexually, racistly" that kind of shit. make threat clearly.

was worth mentioning before, throughout all of this make as many friends and as much of a splash for yourself as possible as its time to trade on that goodwill, tell your boss you want an open relationship and you're going to fuck and suck other managers, and then find the good one with the good team of old fucking geriatric guys who could never be fooled into working more than a reasonable amount daily and also can kill people with their minds since they have been sitting on the bleeding edge of computing since 1969. their boss will usually be, suspiciously, one report rank higher than everyone else. e.g. their boss has a whole other boss + his reports under him. usually small team. go to their boss, say, hi, look at me, look at my beautiful plumage and captivating mating dance, please hire me, pleassseee. his team will say no, they will say things like "I don't know about that kiddo", "That guy seems like a candy-ass", they will read your papers and look at you in the eyes and say it is not compelling, the boss will kind of hire you anyway. if he doesn't you're fucked. if he does you're now a

STAFF ENGINEER

for fifteen minutes and then

ADVISORY/SENIOR/SPECIAL ENGINEER

and the suffering is over. no code minimal jira + squad of gremlin zerglings under your boss whom you can rank-pull and delegate bullshit to, they will be mostly suckers, take advantage of this. 80% of keystrokes/clicks will be in production of beautiful wonderful lovely .docx and .xlsx's, what a godsend, only in an emergency are you allowed to fuck with your zergling's code, usually in a cool way with bullshit procedure removed.

i worked on high performance computing shit. "what the fuck do you mean 2PB or so in and out a day on flash memory", "what the fuck do you mean special infiniband intel MPI library on CD-R stored in Craig's filing cabinet???". Meetings with company people: webcams off, responses optional, snideness allowed. Meetings with client: you must have your dress shirt starched and white glove the shit out of those motherfuckers. timezones = skill issue. i don't care where germany is, i don't give a shit, wake up at 3am for a 20m meeting i take on the toilet or while eating a boiled lobster complete with cracker + lobster bib. customers countable on one hand, invoices to customers not countable with 32 bits. no fucking mistakes ever allowed except for like whitepaper drafts, you cannot fuck the pumpkin on this one, your actual job relies on your ability to hit a button and suck down a week's worth of compute and millions of dollars, boiling swimming pool's worth of TDP, one mistake that leads result data to being able to be characterized as flawed and your balls are getting ripped off. Quarterly IRL meetings = normiepilled normiemaxxing. Dress sharp. leave at 5pm on the dot, go to bar with Old Fucker coworkers, drink wrecklessly with them, have a blast, let them give you a tour of a lab you are absolutely 100% not allowed to be inside, buildings that have posted weight limits per sq. ft. exceeding 250lbs, such a blast. every paycheck a FORTUNE every dinner a banquet every meeting an email every keystroke life or death. you get to meet /lib/doug mofos too one of whom i wrote a very poor kind of poem thing about. thats about it. hope this helps

[fandom-lover2]

Deep In The Woods, Something Lingers In The Trees

Chapter Seven - Storm Clouds On The Horizon

Word Count - 4419

Chapter Six - Trees Are Taller Than You Think

Chapter Eight - He Is Not Tarzan

I never understood what people meant when they could sense a storm brewing when it came to a person.

I could smell rain, I could see clouds gather, I could feel the wind and hear the thunder.

All my life it was simple. My mom woke up in a bad mood, and without rhyme or reason and so that was the day.

But I understood it now, watching him loom in the corner of his room.

For weeks, things had been building.

Without me having to go to school, I spent every day at his house, hidden away in his room as we went over courses and universities and colleges and online opportunities.

At first, he was eager to help. Now, he barely glanced at the computer screen when I turned it towards him, just staring down at his hands or glaring at the world beyond the window.

Sometimes he fiddled with the multiple projects he had lying around his room, and occasionally I could coerce him into a game of chess, but they never kept his attention long enough to make significant changes.

The final breaking point came from the most normal moment.

Will had finally taken a break from spending weeks locked away in his study working on his father’s condition and had decided to take Caroline and us to the woods for a picnic date.

For being together for 5 years, I was surprised there hadn’t been a wedding yet.

Caesar seemed to like her well enough, and she cared for him. Lord knows she was good for Will, and helped with Charles.

Whatever, wasn’t my place or worry.

Caesar had pulled me away from the ground, depositing me onto the branch that had become my perch in these last weeks since the first time he’d brought me up to his world.

As usual, I had my leg bent and was reading while he surveyed the city, looking every bit like his namesake.

“It’s two years ago today that I meant you down there.” I murmured, turning the page of my book. And it was actually beneath this very tree I’d passed out at the sight out him.

How much both our lives had changed since then.

He made no indication of if he’d even heard me.

This was getting exhausting. But I wasn’t about to start a fight with the only one who could get me out the tree, so I kept on reading.

Below, Caroline’s giggles floated up.

Instinctually, my eyes snapped up to Caesar.

He glanced down at them, watching as his parents basked in one another.

I watched as his shoulders sagged, his eyes going from an observing glare to a downcast sadness.

He was lonely.

And far more than what friendship I could provide him.

I could go there, to the college that was the setting for almost every stupid love story Caroline had us watching on Friday nights. I could gain a man’s attention, and experience that romantic bliss.

He was completely and utterly alone. And would remain that way until the day he died.

I’d overheard Caroline a few times, when she thought I was out of ear shot and above eavesdropping. She was worried about us being left alone together.

Caesar had just turned 8. Male chimps began puberty at about 9.

I wanted to hit her for even thinking something like that, let alone it become a concern. Caesar was my friend, and there was no one on the entire planet I felt safer with.

I knew he would never, ever, try to hurt me intentionally or not. And Will had agreed with me.

But, she was still right. Caesar was at that age where young males began to progress, as start to try find themselves within the troop. They become more violent, fighting to see where they fell in the social hierarchy. They began to understand what it was to have a female’s attention.  

Only, he had no troop. No females to make a fool of himself to impress. No older males to compare himself to.

For once, I truly understood how alone he was.

It was my choice to spend every waking moment with him, and often times spending the night curled up beside him in his tiny bed. I choose to spend weekends, and after school, and school breaks. He had no choice.

I chose him over spending time with boys my age, or making human friends.

I was his only friend. And he could never change that.

He turned to me, not expecting I was watching him, and huffed at my sad face.

“Let’s go.”

“Caesar-”

He grunted, turning his back for me to climb onto, and also attempting to silence me. It was funny how he sometimes forgot that turning his back didn’t silence talking, only sign.

But I wasn’t looking to be stranded in a tree, again, and so stood and stepped up to him and looped my arms around his neck before locking my legs around his hips.

We were getting better at this, the position becoming more comfortable and my confidence in him growing. Last week he’d swung from one branch to another with me.

To feel those moments of freedom, to feel like I could fly, it made me wish not for the first time that I was ape.

He maneuvered us down the tree with practiced ease, dropping down the last 6 feet and landing very close to Will and Caroline, who were lip locked.

His impact sent pine needles and dirt flying, and Will flinched away from his girlfriend, which was probably Caesar’s intention.

I slipped from his back and the ape put on a show, acting like a teenaged boy.

I was still trying to figure out why he acted so different when with me than he did with Will.

It wasn’t much of a change, and when comparing it to a teenaged boy messing around with his dad it didn’t seem that drastic, but he acted more ape around Will.

He swung his arms, his eyes wider and curious. He downplayed his intelligence.

With me, he walked like a human, he studied and analyzed. He made a game of outsmarting me.

‘Dumb female, smart alpha’ maybe. Or he didn’t want Will knowing something.

Whatever it was, I wasn’t going to say anything. It was amusing watching him act like a child at times.

Will and Caroline laughed as he hobbled around them, acting the fool.

“Hi. What’s going on, buddy?” Will greeted, smiling at his son as Caesar made kissy lips and swayed back and forth until Will lent forward and brought their foreheads together.

They did it often with one another, kind of like their version of hugging.

Caesar had adopted the gesture into his daily life, doing it with me at least once a day.

It felt nice, closing my eyes and letting myself sag into him. To close my eyes around him, not only showing him I trusted him entirely, but letting his hand come to rest at the back of my head, it was a show of familiarity, trust, and love.

Because I did love him, every furry inch, with all I had. And no matter what happened in the future, he would remain the being I trusted most in this life. And I knew that no matter what I ended up studying and where, he would be there when I needed.

I stepped forward, bending to take a grape from the spread and popping it into my mouth.

“Are you two ready to go?” Caroline asked, moving to stand.

I glanced to Caesar, still rough housing with Will. Their playfulness had them now rolling in the dirt.

I nodded, biting the grape and chewing through the juiciness, spitting out the seeds into the ground.

Helping Caroline, I helped dust the leaves and dirt from her hair, and then packed up the picnic.

Finally done being boys, Will and Caesar joined us again and shook themselves clean.

Bending down, Will picked up the collar.

I looked away, forcing myself to focus packing up my own backpack.

The arguments between Will and I about making Caesar wear that damn thing were plenty, but finally he tired of fighting with me and threatened to end our playdates if I kept bringing it up, so I shut up. Though not without throwing him a glare every now and then.

Caesar didn’t seem to find anything wrong with it, but because he knew no different. To him, this was normal.

To Will, Caesar was still a chimp, an animal.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had looked at him and seen only an ape. He was so much more. Hell, he was more human and most humans out there.

Collar in place, Will took Caroline’s hand and they headed out the clearing and back towards the path. I walked alongside Caesar, mindlessly humming a song I’d heard on the radio earlier in the day.

I was lost in thought, as I usually got when we were strolling through the trees, that I didn’t hear the other footsteps, or the woman address us.

“Hi.” Will greeted, and I turned to him instead of looking for who he was talking to.

And then something growled, and teeth almost closed around my ankle, if not for Caesar hauling me out of the way.

I stumbled, his hold on my arm the only thing keeping me upright as he put himself between me and the animal.

I looked down to the dog who was pulling against its own leash, barking and baring its teeth.

This was the first time we’d ever come across a dog in all the years we’d been coming here. Other people occasionally, but they usually just stared and kept walking, or walked faster to get away from us sooner.

The dog pulled harder, barking hysterically.

Caesar pushed me further behind him, and I noticed his own leash taunt.

Will kept walking, watching as he tugged Caesar gently, continuously.

The dog tried to lunge again, the woman using both hands and trying to pull it back towards her.

Caesar’s hand reached up to his own collar, his eyes never leaving the dog.

“Come on, Caesar.” Will called, pulling lightly to nudge Caesar along.

The ape turned, putting his hands on my shoulders and turning me, beginning to hobble after Will and Caroline.

The dog continued to bark, still pulling to get to us, to get to him. I had just been in the way, not the target.

Caesar spun, and barked out a sound a mix of a screech and a yell.

The action, sudden and unexpected from him, startled me. The terror only intensified when I saw his teeth, those terrifying canines the size of my finger, bared.

Suddenly, I was the scared little girl from 2 years ago who passed out at the sight of him.

He was Caesar, my friend.

He was Caesar, the chimpanzee.

He was a chimpanzee. How had I forgotten that? How had I gotten so lost in all these moments to lose sight of that?

The dog high tailed it back to the family, now rushing them down the trail faster.

Caesar let out a softer growl, and for a second I thought he’d go after the dog.

“Caesar!” Will called out, yanking on the leash hard. So hard, it jerked Caesar’s head back.

The ape’s hand came up to touch his collar again.

“Come on. It’s alright. Come on.” Will reassured, beginning to walk and again and Caesar followed, twisting to watch the family and their pet leave.

For a solid 5 seconds, I didn’t move. Fear rooted me in place, watching the couple and the ape walk on.

My heart thundered in my chest, my ears ringing. My blood rushed through my veins and felt like ice all at once.

He was still an ape. No matter how many nights we spent reading, and how many times he beat me at chess, and Risk. He was still an ape. Violence, killing, it was his nature.

And I’d let myself play house with him.

No. He was just protecting me. That dog had almost bitten me in its attempts to get to him. He was just protecting me, protecting his family. Any human would have done so. He just had the advantage of big teeth and an animalistic cry.

“Alina!”

I jumped at Caroline’s call, my eyes snapping away from where they had been locked watching the space Caesar had inhabited.

The three had not stopped to wait for me, but she was walking backwards to watch me. “Come on.”

He would not hurt me, he couldn’t. He was incapable of it.

I rushed to catch up with them, sliding in beside Caesar as I always did. Only this time he didn’t turn to acknowledge me, or try begin an argument of what movie we’d watch once we were home.

He kept his eyes down, occasionally reaching up to tug at his collar.

His eyes, they gave it away. He was lost in thought. They showed his mind racing, his brows pinched, his lips turned in a frown.

This lasted the entire walk to the car, and continued as Will lowered the back of his old station wagon.

Usually, we both sat in the back. That way, we could still screw around and not be crammed in the confines of the back seat.

It had been that way long before I joined the family. I had briefly questioned it, but then it rolled with it.

Will opened the back, and I tossed my backpack in, turning and hoisting my ass onto the flatbed. But then I caught Caesar’s scowl and stopped.

Will stepped over, unclipping the leash, and Caesar jerked his chin away from the man as though the action was an annoyance.

Usually he didn’t wait long enough for Will to do it, jumping and I’d take it off.

Will took a step back, giving Caesar space to jump in before closing us in. Only, Caesar didn’t move for a solid 2 seconds. Instead, he breathed, not moving as he formed a thought.

He looked at Will, then to me waiting for him to do something, then to the car.

“Caesar,” Will prompted with a smile, watching. He didn’t seem concerned in the slightest.

Without a word, Caesar reached out and took my hand from my lap, and then pulled me from the bed and guided me to the back seat, opening the door and gesturing for me to climb in.

I did, sliding across and getting settled behind Caroline while he climbed in and shut the door.

This had never happened before.

I turned to Caroline, and saw her confusion as she watched Will for some answer.

Will closed the back, squinting at the setting sun as he approached, and peered at Caesar through the open backseat window.

He knocked on the glass, before leaning down to speak to Caesar. “Everything ok, pal?”

Caesar fidgeted with his collar, swaying his head back and forth in annoyance and he tugged the leather circle.

“Am I a-”

And then he made a sign I did not know. Two years in and I was still learning a new sign every day.

“Are you a pet?” Will repeated his question, and my heart dropped.

I didn’t know then why the question set alarms off in my head, and filled me with a sense of impending doom.

“No, you’re not a pet.” Will immediately answered.

“Who is my father?” was Caesar’s follow up question.

“I’m your father.”

I looked to Caroline again, and she glanced over when she saw me looking at her. She was just as confused as I was.

Caesar seemed agitated, making the sign for ‘what’, but not seeming sure what he was questioning.

“What is Caesar?” Will guessed, and got it right, though Caesar’s nod was minuscule.

Will looked to me, then to Caroline.

Then he got in the car and started out the parking lot and headed back to the city in silence.  

The ride home was the longest and most awkward of my entire life. And the most nerve wracking.

I knew I was safe next to Caesar, but he was tense and that made me tense.

Every red light, every asshole cutting us off in traffic, brought me closer to tears.

I wanted to get home, make some stupid excuse to go home, and to hide away in my room.

I’d fucked up. Fucked up so so bad.

I’d let myself get comfortable, and now it was all spiraling out of control. And I was going to be the one getting hurt.

Instead of turning right, Will kept going straight.

“Uhh, home is that way.”

Will glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “There’s somewhere we need to go.”

Sorry Mom, I wasn’t coming home tonight, or ever again. Please don’t miss me too much.

After about another 20 minutes, we pulled up to a lab, Will’s lab. Gen-Sys.

Will pulled the car over to the side of the large circle that allowed cars to move around the large campus, putting it in park.

“Caesar, this is where I work.” Will started.

I glanced over at the ape, and he seemed to be coming out of his haze and finally looked away from his lap and out the window.

“This was where you were born. Your mother was here with other chimpanzees, but she’s not here anymore. So, that’s why I took you home to live with me.”

Caesar looked away from the window, signing to Will through the mirror. He looked absolutely destroyed, and shocked. I mean, 8 years of his life was coming to light.

“My mother is dead?” he asked, and dropped his head with a grunt at Will’s confirmation.

“The thing is, she was given medicine.”

Caroline’s head snapped over to Will. Oh shit. Was I the only other one who knew?

“Like the medicine I give to Charles.” Will kept addressing Caesar through the tiny mirror. “She passed it on to you. That’s why you’re so smart.”

Caroline turned back to look at Caesar and I, and I had just enough sense to fake a look of shock.

Beside me, Caesar began to shake his head, as if that would rattle the words out. He scrunched his nose, huffing and revealing his clenched jaw.

If he went ape-shit, I would leave them all behind.

“Take him home.” Caroline spoke up, making sure it was obvious she was avoiding Will.

Great, an angry ape and a couple’s domestic. I should have stayed home.

Will started the old Jeep up again and began to drive, Caesar turning in his seat to watch as we pulled away from the building.

When we finally, finally, got home, I was opening the backseat door and ready to bolt across the street, but Caroline caught my arm.

“He needs you.” she whispered, the men still getting out the car.

Not men, an ape and a lying man.

I looked to Caesar, his tight shoulders and scowl as he made his way to the front door, not waiting for Will to leash him.

“Caroline, I can’t-”

“He needs you.” she insisted. I looked at her eyes, and she was pleading. Not just as a woman who would be subject to an awkward house, but as a mother worried about her son.

2 years and he had never once so much as looked at me with ill intentions, no matter how much I annoyed him. Why the hell was I being so stupid as to think now he’d changed.

‘Because now he knows he’s an ape.’ a part of my brain told itself.

“Ok.”

Grabbing my backpack, I headed up the stairs and was greeted by Caesar and Will standing in the foyer. Charles must’ve still been napping because he was not in the kitchen as usual.

“Why don’t you two go up and play. Will and I need to talk.”

So I was just the distraction so they could get into it. How lovely.

“Y-yeah. Come on Caesar. I thought of another uni course to look at.”

The ape hardly acknowledged my presence as he began to make his way up to his room, me following behind.

And for the first time in all the years of our friendship, he did not help me up the attic stairs.

Instead, he marched into his room and immediately went to stand at his window, ripping his shirt off like it burned him.

Downstairs, I heard Will and Caroline starting. I couldn’t hear much, them being in his office, but with Caesar’s better hearing I had no doubt he could hear every word.

He shifted his weight, swinging his arms slightly as he swayed. I took a step backwards, closer to the stairs.

“Wanna watch a movie?” I tried, my voice squeaky and small.

He turned to his mirror, and brought his hand up to lightly touch the small patch of white fur on his chest.

A birthmark, I had always assumed. Just a rare fluke. I had a birthmark on my calf of an upside down heart.

It was pretty to look at, and resembled a star, but I had never given it much thought after that.

But he seemed to finally be connecting the dots. The birthmark, the change in his DNA, it ran deeper.  

He shook his head again.

“Look, Caesar I know you’re upset-”

“Humans…” he started to sign, his eyes angry as he looked at himself in the mirror.

“What Will did was wrong, but his reason were right. And we got you from it so-”

“So my mother can die?” he spun to face me.

“That’s not what I meant.”

He huffed, beginning to pace the room.

“Lie.” he signed. Over and over again. “Lie, lie, lie, lie.”

“Will did what he thought was right. They would have killed you too-” I didn’t stop myself until it was too late.

Caesar froze, and looked to me.

Oh fuck.

“Did you know?”

I knew I did not need to answer that question. Hell, even if I did manage to piece together a convincing lie, he already knew the truth.

The hurt on his face broke my heart.

“Why did you come here?” he asked. And I knew what he meant.

Why, 1 year and 363 days ago, had I decided to march right over and knock on the door?

“Because we both needed a friend.” I signed to him.

“You are just like them.” His hands were quick, motions sloppy as he turned away from me.

And I get he was hurting but that was a low blow. And it caused a spark of rage inside me to ignite. “Oh I’m like them? Right. The humans that fear you, and hate you, and want to hurt you. I’m just like them. Damn, guess I left my bat at home today.”

“You did fear me.”

“And then I got to know you!”

“You just wanted to play friends with the monster.”

Is that all I was to him? All these months, everything we’d done together. Sleep overs, and movie nights, and talking till the sun came up. Every board game and school assignment, every race through the woods. All of it just my morbid curiosity?

 I sacrificed years of friendships and boyfriends and basically a life so that we could see each other. I was planning my future around how to still be able to see him every day.

Caesar was my friend, my best friend, my brother, and now I was nothing more than a stupid human to him? A human, just like the rest, who didn’t give a shit about him.

I blinked a few times, trying to clear the tears.

Caesar looked at me, finally, and either he didn’t notice the tears or he didn’t care. “You are no different to all the other humans.”

“Fuck you.” And I didn’t wait a moment more.

Spinning on my heels, I practically jumped from the attic to the level below and charged my way out the house, ignoring Will call out to me.

I slammed the front door closed, wiping my eyes as I didn’t even bother to look before racing across the street and then entered my own house.

My parents were surprised to see me, both throwing questions my way, but I ignored them, running up to my room and throwing myself onto my bed.

My mom came rushing in behind me, taking my open door as an invite to consol me, and joined me on my bed as I sobbed into my pillow.

I didn’t know which hurt more. Knowing this was probably the end of our friendship, or that he thought of me as just some human with a sick sense of humor.

I cried, and screamed, and every time it seemed as though I had control of myself, the tears started again.

I mourned the friend I once had, knowing that I would never have Caesar back. Not the way he once was. That carefree ape who chased me through the forest, and put on puppet shows with, he was gone. I would never make shadow animals against our fort again, have a food fight in the kitchen. I was as alone as he would remain.

My mother stayed by my side for hours, not needing an explanation to know the pain I was going through. This had been the longest we had spent together in years, long before my time with Caesar.

But eventually, dinner needed to be made and she had to prepare for work, and so I was left with a kiss to the forehead and a plate of cold spaghetti.

Finally, hours after the sun had gone down and I was so dehydrated I had no tears left to cry, I pulled myself to sit up. And then almost burst into tears again.

There, across the street, Caesar sat at his window watching me.

I had forgotten to close my bedroom curtains.

I looked at him, eyes puffy and raw, and from this far away I couldn’t tell exactly what he looked like. But I didn’t give a shit.

Think I’m like a normal human, fine! I’ll act the normal human.

Getting off my bed, I marched over to my window and yanked my curtains closed.

Sign language your way through that, monkey.

[whirligig-girl]

The aliens arrived in their toroidal flying saucers--enormous gossamer-like structures big enough to put Jupiter in the hole. They projected bodies down to Earth on long threads, and complained.

"What happened?" they pleaded with our planetary scientists.

An awfully open-ended question, but the planetary scientists threw up their hands and explained the current state of the field, about the theory of planetary aggregation and various hypotheses to explain how each of the planets ended up where they are today. The aliens nodded along skeptically at times, but they seemed especially disappointed by the Lunar geologists.

"Excuse us," their leader said politely, rising into the sky towards geostationary orbit on a great thread.

And so it was for the next few decades that the aliens set to work correcting what they saw as the great mistakes of the solar system's formation. Perhaps Venus never cooled down enough to avoid a runaway greenhouse effect, or maybe something about its specific volatile mass had been off. Either way, it was the first to be treated. By the time it was done, perhaps 20 years in, it was a blue world with brown continents and white clouds. While another saucer had come to work its magic on Mars, the first saucer returned.

"Eh, we'll need you to give planet two a good head start with the whole biosphere thing. We hadn't bargained on life starting up there halfway through the lifespan of the Sun. If it's no trouble, that is."

A new habitable planet provided the space program no shortage of funding!

Mars was finished, just a few years later, a comparatively simpler job. The aliens advised humans not to interfere with this one just yet, to perhaps give it a few hundred megaannum or so for the life to diversify and develop before contaminating it.

But the saucers didn't leave. They seemed to drift throughout the inner solar system. They took some curious expeditions to Europa and Enceladus--robotic NASA spacecrafts recorded deep probing threads piercing the ice--but didn't seem impressed.

They kept returning to the Moon.

At last, the aliens projected down on their long threads to a university. "You're sure that's how it happened?" they said.

The lunar-planetary scientists showed the alien ambassadors rocks from the Apollo and Artemis expeditions, computer simulations of various types of giant impacts, of synestias and hours-long instant formations and debris disks and gas instability, of an oversized iron core and large low-shear-velocity-provinces.

"We think the water on Earth may even have been delivered through a giant impact from a KBO, though there's some concerns about isotopic ratios."

"No, no," said the alien. "The initial coorbital hypothesis is the correct one."

The alien sighed--it had picked up human body language well over the past 35 years--"This just won't do," it said. It left the building, shaking its head. "It just won't do."

The planetary scientists ran after the alien, as it started reeling its thread back. "Wait!" they said. "What are you going to do?"

"This Moon thing of yours just isn't big enough to hold onto an atmosphere. I'm afraid it's not good enough."

The aliens rose into the sky.

Within a few months the Moon had been lost from the sky, and a years later had been relocated to the L4 lagrange point. The aliens came back, apologetically. "Terribly sorry," they said, "We're in the final phases of the plan," they said.

The Earth Emergency Government representative stepped forward. "Final… phases?" he said.

"Theia was always meant to be a trojan of your Earth, you see. Something must have gone wrong when the gas disk dissipated."

"I don't understand," the representative said.

"My apologies," the alien said, "I'm used to dealing with your planetary researchers."

Many masses of threads now fell gracefully from the skies. When they touched down, they effortlessly bored deep holes. The ground shook. The representative's heart rate skyrocketed.

"It's just that we're going to have to repossess the planet Theia now."

[feathernotes]

Hello! My name is Krispy, and I’m the co-creator of the webcomic Ghost Junk Sickness (along with @spacerocketbunny​) It's story time!

GJS is a webcomic published by Hiveworks and features two bounty hunters with an unstable dynamic who are pushed to pursue the deadly bounty dubbed the Ghost The current iteration of GJS is about 9 years old (and wrapping up next year!) It’s been an incredible journey full of ups and downs. We’ve learned SO MUCH creating this comic, and I wanted to share some of it’s origins with you all in hopes of inspiring more folks to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy- and make that comic!

The origin of Ghost Junk Sickness came from our love for Magic Knight Rayearth and Final Fantasy 7. Vahn, the protagonist of GJS, was basically a mash up of Hikaru and Cloud from those two series. The very first version of this story has unfortunately been destroyed, and this map is the only piece I have left of that world. Character art still exists though, and it was pretty funny to see how obvious we were with our inspirations at the time.

The original attempt at the story was called Crew, and my sister Space and I worked on it in 2002-2004. We sort of got lost in our own ideas after that, and weren’t as focus on making the comic (now lost). A few years later, I decided to try my hand at it and it looked like this:

This was all done on low quality paper, whichever I could find at the time and some pencil crayons. This attempt was over 600 pages long and had a pretty random story plot, much like the first version. I could not tell you what it was about haha 😅

My second attempt (then called Divine Ace) I wanted to look more 'traditional manga' and kept with just inks and tried my darndest to tone on the computer (it never worked out). This one lasted over 400 pages, and was more allinged with my liking to edgy action anime and games at the time. It was also Trigger's first appearance!

After experimenting and eventually wanting to change- I started to work with Space again, and we collaborated in full on our first fancomic for TF2 called "Be Efficient, Be Polite." It was a good lesson on how we could coordinate our shared skill sets and plan out who did what as far as the whole process of comics go.

All of these comics (save for the very first lost version) were hosted on DA the day we got our hands on a scanner. It was our first taste on being 'webcomic creators' back in the day, and it was very fun! We didn't much care for readers, only the process of completion at the time, so a page done was always a victory worthy to be celebrated (and back then, we had more time to make pages!)

And so, as the years went by and we decided to move on from our fandom roots, Space and I went back to the Crew/Divine Ace project and redesigned and overhauled the entirety of it. (You can see the full evolution here) We wanted to re-asses what the story, comic, and characters meant to us, and how we could convey some pretty important ideas and concepts to our potential readers. From that, Ghost Junk Sickness was born, and began pre-production in 2013.

Years after, we find ourselves reflecting on how much we've learned from the process of going ahead and diving in head first. There were certainly many iterations and years it took to get where we are today, but realising that it all began that day Space and I decided to scribble some pretty mediocire comics in our homework books and papers. Because that is the beauty of comics- The many skill sets, the hats, and challenges that come along with creating them. And how much we've become better at so many things along the way. So if you read this and feel nervous about diving head first into your first comic, I'm here to re-assure you that things will feel tough, but exciting. Things will feel really hard but amazing when you're getting your story out in front of you with such an incredible medium. Webcomics will always be my favourite because of how accessible it is to any skill set. And know in your heart of hearts that there ARE people out that that LOVE to see growth, they love to see the progression of your journey. So get out there and start creating that comic that's occupied your brain for so long, and start breathing that life into your OCs and your world. The only way is up with webcomics, and the only way to start is just by creating now.

[delta-orionis]

Tuesday Again No Problem 1/14/25

Long time no Tuesdaypost! Again!! Oops!

(To my newer followers, because I have a few: this is a weekly roundup series inspired by @girlfriendsofthegalaxy's post series of the same name)

Listening

I'm going to be honest, I haven't been very adventurous with my listening habits lately. I've mostly been listening to the Rain World soundtrack and the backlog of Well There's Your Problem episodes. Not much to report here.

Watching

Not much to report in the Watching section either... again, a lot of Well There's Your Problem. Though, DankPods put out a video earlier today where he rambles about telescopes for a bit, and I was fully ready to cringe but I was happily surprised to learn that he's actually pretty knowledgeable about them! He even has a few fancy Celestrons!

Playing

Rain World, what else is new. I'm still modding a bunch. Working on my Three Stars Above Clouds mod some more. I have a basic region map figured out:

The blockier rooms are placeholders with nothing in them currently. I am finally at the fun part where I can actually start filling them with Stuff! The process is incredibly lengthy though... more in the Making section.

I'd like to try and play some of the more popular mods this year, too. I have Preservatory, The Seer, and The Gravel Eater in mind currently. Maybe Unparalleled Innocence (to see what other people's iterators are like). I know the Global Hyper Transit System mod links to UI now, so that's a viable option to get there.

Making

I've been working on my TSAC mod a bunch. I also got Rain World and the Rained editor to work on my Linux computer, which I would like to try and use to render levels instead of my poor Windows laptop... it really struggles with mass rendering. The Linux computer has similar specs, but at the very least I can let it render things and put it to the side so I can actually use my normal computer for other things at the same time.

I've also been using Git to keep track of my progress, and it's already saved my ass more than once. Rain World is remarkably easy to crash, and Git makes it easier to trace back your steps or undo big mistakes.

My most recent work was on TSAC's equivalent of the big Memory Conflux room in both Five Pebbles and Looks to the Moon.

I'm trying to dial in how "claustrophobic" I want the rooms to feel. Five Pebbles' rooms are typically very open and wide, while Moon's rooms are much more cramped with lots of crawl spaces and tubes and things. Three Stars Above Clouds is between the two of them in age, so I want their rooms to be somewhere in the middle. It's still a work in progress!

I also updated my ask blog! Responses have been slow, but I want to try and get back into it in 2025. I'm grateful for everyone's patience.

---

I'm certainly Going Through It(TM) at the moment, but I am trying my best to focus on creative pursuits in 2025. I want to work on my ask blog some more, finish some crochet projects, maybe publish that TSAC mod I've been working on...

I also really really want to try and get a new PC this year. I've been saying this for years, but my poor laptop is really yearning for death at this point. I'd like something more powerful than I currently have (and considering my laptop is from ten years ago, that's not saying much). Hopefully new PC acquisition is a goal I will be able to accomplish soon.

See you next week!

[my-plot-thots]

Ff7 time travel plot idea:

After everything happens the planet sends Cloud back in time to prevent things from happening that will kill the planet in the first place. He is warned that he will be the only one to remember this current timeline, as well as the fact he will not be sent to his same body, and that his original self will still be alive. The planet tells him that he found a suitable vessel that is enhanced and matches their purposes. Cloud tries to argue but ends up already ejected to the new timeline.

Cloud wakes up in a small, cramped space, once again surrounded by Mako. He breaks through the glass and finds he is in an old abandoned lab with experiments that have long ago expired despite the fact they are in storage tanks to prevent them from decaying too badly.

Before breaking out, he accesses an old computer that seems to be running the facility. He needs to find out what the timeline looks like and when he ended up awaking.

He comes across a file with the project number on his tank and gets curious and clicks it first. After all, he needs to know a little about his new body’s past to better sell his part moving forward.

The documented case that is described in this folder is about a young woman who came to town just as the first snow storm of the winter was due to arrive. Heavily pregnant, the scientist decided to stay behind for the winter and let the rest of the group he arrived with move ahead while he tidied up for the winter, knowing he wouldn’t be able to leave until the spring thaw. Once the others were out of the way, the subject gave birth to two identical twin boys.

It’s too good of a chance for the scientist to pass up. To learn of the true impact J cells have on a subject by having a baseline as well as an enhanced? Not to mention the connection many people say twins have due to sharing from the livestream when born. And to have such subjects fall into his lap?

He injects the smaller of the two, the one born first, with a syringe that makes it appear dead to the mother. He leaves the other more healthy looking one with the mother, and sets her up with a sturdy but small house at the edge of town where she can raise him and he can stop by to check on the baseline. She is none the wiser, thinking he is a kind and helpful man who pitied her situation.

Once finished, he set up a tank and got to work. He gave the project the name “Cloud2.0” after the brother.

The subject took to the testing well, though Was never awakened from its sleeping state. Eventually, the scientist detected lacking signs of brain activity. He decided to keep the subject alive “even if in body only” so he could track and measure the physical differences between the subject and the baseline one day, even if his theories on twins and j cells couldn’t be tested the way he wanted.

After finishing his reading, and getting to a point where it was obvious the scientist hadn’t done any follow ups in years, he sat back and realized how much Shinra had taken from him, even things he didn’t realize the first time around.

He had a brother. He was a twin. Was that why he felt so empty and disjointed growing up? Like he was missing something? Was that why he had such a hard time connecting to people?

And then he realizes he can sense his other self, his original self, through the connection they have through the life stream. A twin link.

He finally looks at the date and realizes this is the time when he ran to Midgar the first time. To join Shinra. He feels his other self draw closer and realizes that maybe, his obsession with soldier and Shinra and needing to get to the city was more because he felt a connection as well, but just didn’t know what it was.

Cloud2 realizes he doesn’t care what he has to do in this timeline. He will save his brother this time, to make up for the fact that nobody saved the brother whose body he is currently inhabiting in the first place.

Cue him breaking out of the science labs and causing mass panic in order to hunt down his brother and protect Cloud this time like a good big brother should. Cue the Angeal, Sephiroth, Genesis and Zack all being called and alerted to a high level and potentially extremely dangerous test subject on the loose that caused mass damage to the labs and other test subjects as well as structural damage to a lot of the testing chambers and shinra property.

[ultrakey]

Trending Final Year Projects for 2025

Choose from the latest and most in-demand project topics across engineering and technology domains.

[mariacallous]

The Trump administration has scrapped its predecessor’s sweeping export controls for advanced artificial intelligence chips, known as the AI diffusion rule.

“To win the AI race, the Biden AI diffusion rule must go,” posted David Sacks, U.S. President Donald Trump’s top AI advisor, on May 8. Sacks continued his criticism at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum a few days later, arguing that the rule “restricted the diffusion or proliferation of American technology all over the world.”

As the administration decides what comes next, it should raise its sights from merely proposing a “simpler” rule to manage the diffusion of AI chips. Instead, it should seize the opportunity to offer an ambitious vision to promote the broader diffusion of U.S. technology.

After all, the world not only wants the United States’ AI chips, but also its AI applications, data centers, cloud services, satellites, and advanced technology offerings generally. But even as Beijing extends its digital offerings in key emerging markets, U.S. foreign policy has failed to adapt for a global technology competition with era-defining stakes. Whether you agree with the Trump administration or not, its disruption is an opportunity to forge a new model of technology statecraft to help the United States win the race to shape strategic digital infrastructure and technology diffusion across the globe.

To start, Washington must finally learn from its failure in the transition to 4G and 5G telecommunications networks, where Beijing’s state-backed model—and the absence of a compelling U.S.-led alternative—enabled Huawei and ZTE to all but corner emerging markets. Huawei now operates in more than 170 countries worldwide and is the top global provider of telecommunications equipment. But if there is broad consensus among U.S. policymakers that Beijing won that global technology transition, there is little agreement about how to win the next.

They have little time to waste. From Brasília to New Delhi, technology has moved to the center of government ambitions to drive growth, improve governance, and modernize security. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto views the digital sector as essential to diversifying the country’s commodity-reliant economy. Kenyan President William Ruto hopes to boost the country’s “Silicon Savannah” by accelerating cloud migration. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made AI central to his “Vision 2030” framework for the kingdom’s modernization. The result is surging global demand not only for AI data centers, but also for cutting-edge digital infrastructure, services, and skilling more broadly.

In the coming years, foreign capitals and corporate boards will make potentially generational decisions about whether to meet this demand by partnering with the United States and its allies or China. These short-term decisions could have generational consequences. Projects to lay a transcontinental submarine cable or build large-scale data centers, for instance, are mapped in decades.

Even virtual cloud and AI services can have long-term stickiness. Imagine the pain of migrating an entire ministry’s data to a new cloud provider, or switching from an AI model that has been fine-tuned with a company’s sensitive data over time. Consider Beijing’s decade-plus struggle to transition its government computers from Windows. First movers reap powerful advantages.

If the stakes are great in the current round of global technology diffusion, so is the United States’ hand. Unlike the transition to 4G and 5G networks, where Western competitors such as Ericsson and Nokia struggled to match Huawei’s and ZTE’s subsidized offerings in emerging markets, the United States enters this technology transition with formidable advantages.

The United States occupies a commanding position in AI, with leadership or leverage over every part of the stack, ranging from chip design, tooling, and fabrication to model training and testing. U.S. companies hold at least a 70 percent share of the global cloud market. In space, Starlink has launched more satellites than all its competitors combined since 2020. Below the waves, three of the top four companies deploying subsea fiberoptic cables—the internet’s backbone—are from the United States or its close allies: SubCom (U.S.), Alcatel (France), and NEC (Japan). China controls the fourth, HMN Technologies (formerly Huawei Marine), which has deployed a mere 7 percent of the world’s submarine cables.

Despite powerful advantages, U.S. success is far from assured. The lesson of the 4G and 5G race is not to mirror China’s state-driven approach or to leave the private sector to fend for itself against Chinese competitors with powerful state backing. Nor is it to rely solely on export controls and other restrictive measures, however necessary those may be. The answer is to make U.S. foreign policy fit the global technology competition.

Washington can start with reforms in three broad areas.

First, unleash the United States’ strategic investment tools. One of Washington’s most promising but underused tools is the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Created during the first Trump administration, the DFC makes market-driven investments to advance both humanitarian and national security goals, and it has several tools to attract private capital from equity investments to political risk insurance.

As Congress considers DFC reauthorization—its current mandate expires in September—it should raise the existing cap on its lending authority from $60 billion to at least $100 billion and make strategic technologies and digital infrastructure an explicit priority. Congress should also loosen restrictions that can block DFC from supporting digital infrastructure projects that incidentally benefit high-income countries, which has kept it from financing critical subsea cables in the Indo-Pacific that invariably have landing points in Singapore, a major interconnection hub for the region.

The Export-Import Bank (EXIM) also punches below its weight. EXIM helps level the playing firm for U.S. firms competing abroad with a $135 billion lending limit and tools such as direct loans, loan guarantees, and insurance to de-risk purchases of U.S. exports. The United States once led the world in export financing, but China now dominates. In 2022, Chinese export credit agencies provided $11 billion in export support, compared to just $2.7 billion from EXIM.

Under the first Trump administration, EXIM created a new China and Transformational Exports Program (CTEP) to prioritize investments that counter Beijing’s subsidies and support advanced technologies such as AI and semiconductors. EXIM now aims to reserve at least 20 percent of its support for the program.

Despite progress, EXIM remains plagued with issues. To receive CTEP support, at least 51 percent of the exported content must be American-made—far higher than requirements in competitor agencies. Another requirement that EXIM-supported goods travel on U.S.-flagged vessels also hinders participation. Although well-intentioned, EXIM’s mandate to create jobs can deprioritize the export of low-labor digital exports such as AI and cloud services. Compounding the problem, EXIM is also required to limit defaults across its total lending portfolio to less than 2 percent, fueling risk-aversion.

Washington should reform EXIM for the global technology competition by at least doubling the 20 percent allocation for CTEP, relaxing shipping rules, and counting some allied components toward its content requirement. Lawmakers could also loosen the mandate to support U.S. job creation for digital services and double EXIM’s default cap to encourage more risk-taking.

Second, Washington should turbocharge its commercial diplomacy for technology. Between 2016 and 2020, an average of just 900 U.S. personnel from the State and Commerce departments were deployed abroad for commercial diplomacy, and just a fraction focused on technology. Since 2022, the State Department has taken important steps by establishing a new Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, a special envoy for critical and emerging technologies, and a course on cyberspace and digital policy tradecraft.

Despite this progress, few U.S. diplomats—and even fewer ambassadors—have deep technology expertise, which means that front-line opportunities to secure key technology bids and shape emerging AI or data policies can go unnoticed or suffer from inadequate staff or substance to engage effectively.

As the administration reforms the State Department, it should reinforce the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, which has elevated and streamlined technology diplomacy across the government; expand technology training for foreign service officers; and, more ambitiously, launch a dedicated career track within the diplomatic corps for foreign technology officers.

Two smaller and often overlooked arms of the country’s technology diplomacy are the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). The Commercial Service is a roughly 2,200-person global network of trade specialists that helps U.S. businesses identify and navigate foreign markets. But just 225 of its staff deploy abroad across 80 countries, which means that they constantly struggle to meet demand from U.S. technology companies and foreign partners. The USTDA helps identify and mature commercial opportunities abroad to boost U.S. exports. Digital infrastructure is one of the agency’s four priority sectors, but surging interest has far outpaced current resources.

The Trump administration can turbocharge U.S. commercial diplomacy by consolidating USTDA and the Commercial Service, elevating technology and digital infrastructure as a priority, and allocating more resources and personnel.

Finally, the United States should embrace a newly ambitious vision for technology partnerships. Too often, U.S. and allied firms lose one-off bids to subsidized, politically backed Chinese competitors, even if the firms might prefer to align with the high-tech U.S. ecosystem. Washington should explore how to make such an offer without simply imitating Beijing’s state-led model.

For example, Washington could create opportunities for foreign governments to request strategic technology partnerships that match their specific needs—for example, to accelerate AI adoption in government, expand data center capacity, or improve rural connectivity with low earth orbit satellites.

Washington could lay out clear, broadly consistent criteria as a condition for these partnerships—such as robust IP and cybersecurity protections, divestment from China-linked digital infrastructure, purchase commitments for U.S. goods and services, and even investment in the United States. The Trump administration has begun to model such an approach in its recent deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but it could go even further.

If countries meet these conditions, Washington should commit not only to loosening export controls on advanced AI chips, but also to fast-tracking support from the DFC, EXIM, and USTDA; expanding technology trade missions, talent exchange programs, and research collaboration; and facilitating connections with U.S. technology firms. The United States holds the strongest hand in advanced technology and should drive a hard bargain, but it should also be generous when countries agree.

Washington can also do more to align with technology-leading allies on joint investments in strategic emerging markets. For example, Washington could better coordinate with Japan’s Overseas Development Assistance program to boost Open RAN networks across the Indo-Pacific, tap the European Union’s Global Gateway to connect subsea cables to Africa, and support India’s Digital Public Infrastructure to counter China’s “smart city” offerings.

Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds may raise tricky strategic questions as longer-term partners, but there are other, less controversial players that Washington has yet to fully explore—such as Norway, which has both attractive conditions for AI data centers and the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. Washington and its allies may struggle to match Beijing’s subsidies on their own, but they can easily do so together.

As the world rushes into an accelerating competition to deploy strategic technologies and digital infrastructure across the globe, the United States has almost everything it needs to prevail—world-leading companies and products, an unrivaled network of technology-leading allies, and an administration eager for reform. What Washington lacks, however, is a vision to harness these strengths in a new model of technology statecraft to help the United States win.

[technicallykrispydefendor]

Innovative Cloud Computing Projects for CSE Final Year Students in Trichy

As the world increasingly relies on cloud technology to store, manage, and process data, computer science engineering (CSE) students in their final year have a unique opportunity to explore and contribute to the ever-evolving field of cloud computing. Trichy, known for its educational institutions and growing tech community, provides an ideal backdrop for students to embark on innovative cloud computing projects. In this article, we will delve into some exciting and cutting-edge cloud computing project ideas tailored for Final year cloud computing projects for CSE in trichy.

Serverless Computing for Resource Optimization:

Serverless computing, offered by platforms like AWS Lambda and Azure Functions, allows developers to build and deploy applications without managing servers. In Trichy's context, consider creating a serverless application that optimizes resource utilization for local businesses, such as restaurants or retail stores, by automatically scaling computing resources based on demand.

Healthcare Data Management on the Cloud:

Healthcare is a critical sector that can greatly benefit from cloud computing. Develop a cloud-based healthcare data management system that securely stores patient records, enables remote consultations, and uses AI for early disease detection. Collaborate with local healthcare providers and institutions in Trichy to make this project impactful.

Agricultural IoT and Cloud Analytics:

Trichy's agricultural community can benefit from cloud-enabled IoT solutions. Create a system that collects data from IoT sensors placed in farms, analyzes it on the cloud, and provides insights to farmers. This project can help improve crop yield and resource management in the region.

Cloud-Based E-Learning Platform:

Given the importance of education in Trichy, design a cloud-based e-learning platform that offers a range of educational resources and tools. This project can facilitate remote learning and bridge the digital divide in education, benefiting students and educators in the area.

Weather Prediction and Disaster Management:

Leverage Cloud Computing Projects for PhD in Trichy resources to develop a weather prediction and disaster management system tailored to Trichy's climate and geographical conditions. This system can provide timely weather forecasts and disaster alerts to residents and local authorities.

E-commerce Recommendation Engine:

With the growth of online shopping in Trichy, build a cloud-based recommendation engine for local e-commerce businesses. This system can analyze user behavior and preferences to suggest products, enhancing the shopping experience and boosting sales for local retailers.

Smart City Solutions:

Collaborate with local government authorities to develop cloud-based solutions that contribute to Trichy's smart city initiatives. Projects can include intelligent traffic management systems, waste management optimization, or energy-efficient street lighting controlled via the cloud.

Financial Fraud Detection:

Implement a cloud-based financial fraud detection system that uses machine learning algorithms to identify unusual transactions or activities. This project can aid local banks and financial institutions in safeguarding customer accounts.

Cloud-Based Healthcare Appointment Scheduling:

Streamline the healthcare appointment scheduling process by creating a cloud-based system that allows patients to book appointments online. This project can enhance healthcare accessibility and convenience for Trichy's residents.

Cultural Heritage Preservation:

Collaborate with local heritage organizations to digitize and preserve Trichy's cultural heritage in the cloud. This could involve creating a digital archive of historical artifacts, documents, and architectural landmarks.

Our Service:-

Base Paper Project center in Trichy

Best Final Year Project

Online Industrial Training

Conclusion

These innovative cloud computing project ideas are tailored to the unique needs and opportunities in Trichy, providing final year CSE students with a chance to make a meaningful impact in their local community while gaining valuable experience in cloud technology. Collaborating with local businesses, institutions, and government authorities can further enhance the relevance and impact of these projects. With determination and creativity, these final year projects can serve as a stepping stone toward a promising career in the dynamic field of cloud computing.

[matherfartin]

Eddie Gluskin x Waylon park - How the groom learned to hate ( Part 2 - Double-edged realization )

_____      _____

Waylon's suspicions about being watched became more than just paranoia. His superiors were waiting for his downfall and lucky for them, he finally slipped up.

The incompetence of his superiors allowed him to view the information he was never meant to see with his own two eyes. Only feel the pain of the fate they forced upon him.

He didn't recognize the difference between luck and misfortune, when he found an object that was both a key for his escape route and a reason he could end up rotting in the core of this asylum.

_____      _____

I didn't even realise how I got to the proccesing room. Suddenly, I was in front of the door. I passed my card through the security screen. The red light on the card reader turned green as the door opened. I walked in and looked around. My gaze landed on a computer processor that was shining with red lights. For being a highly respected institution, they cannot even secure computers that do not break down every week. Hell, they can't even secure a three-ply toilet paper.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," I muttered to myself as I kneeled down to open main procesor. "And I don't mean that horizontally expanded Chris Walker."

Now, I should focus on fixing this damn thing from year one-two. I opened processor and a cloud of smoke overwhelmed me. Smell of burned circuits and cables got into my nose. I dispersed the smoke with my hand and took the soldering iron.

This will be a long night.

 ***

Finally. With sigh I stood up from ground. My knees cracked as I did. Sometimes I regret skipping PE in highschool. I looked around. Everything was shining with bright green light. No red light around. We'll see how long it lasts again, until it breaks down. I was about to leave when a computer monitor lit up. There was only one old monitor on the table in the middle of the room. 

No, I'm not gonna look at it. I saw too many movies to look at the computer screen in a dimly lit room that suddenly lit up.

I looked around. Throught that poor little window on the doors I saw an empty hallway. No one in sight. I was well-raised. My mother taught me some manners. Unlike some entities, regarding which I doubt their mental competence. I have so much common sense and good behavior that I slowly move to the computer. What if it's something important? I can't disappoint my superiors. What kind of person would I be if I left with a clear conscience? I slowly pushed the chair aside and sat down on it. A new incoming email was blinking on the screen. Looks like some of my highly verified co-workes forgot to log out. I clicked at the email icon. My eyes glide over the sender.

Jeremy Blair.

The black-haired jerk with receding hairline. I swear a bus could turn on his corners. My favourite executive vice president for global development at Murkoff Corporation and head of the Walrider project at Mount Massive Asylum. 

I looked behind me if someone wasn't coming in before I turned back to computer. My eyes hurt from high brightness of the screen but I forced myself to read it. 

From: j.blairegossipgirlsfancorp.lu

To: out:peteysmartanagramcorp.lu +10 

Subject: Employee no. 1466

Dear collegues,

Keep an eye on our engineer Park. Something is telling me lying about not skipping gym is not only thing he is lying about. If there are any slightest complications, register him as a patient of Mount Massive. The treatment should continue until his the time of his death. Don't dissapoint me. You know I'm not in good mood when one of my employees is plotting against me behind my back. Either keep an eye on him or I will keep an eye on you. From behind the safety glass while you will be strapped to hospital bed.

All the best,

Jeremy Blair

Murkoff Corp.

I stared at the email for a quite long time. 

It's fine, you haven't done anything compromising. You do not have a reason to be disturbed. You're completely... 

Oh, no. The bloody email in my notebook. 

Yeah, you are completely screwed up. 

I got up from the chair so quickly that it tipped over. No, I have to go back to server room to delete it. I'm 90 per cent sure no one read the mail yet. I still have a time. I just need to go back to the server room... My hand were shaking as I tried to quickly close the mail. As I brutally moved the mouse across the table, I tipped over binder with papers. I cursed in my head and got on my knees to pick it all up. My trembling hands tried to arrange the papers as they were before. Suddenly, a security card fell out of one compartment.

Peter Out, supervising manager Walrider project. 

That balding man even forgot his security card. I don't know if it was from stress or because I was in a hurry, but I shoved Out's card into the pocket of my jacket. I wasn't thinking straight. The only thing I could think about was getting to my office and deleting the email for Miles. And then, as soon as I do that, I will resign and disappear. I will take my family and I will take them on a lifetime vacation. Somewhere by the sea, where I will never have to hear the word Murkoff again.

With the card showed in my pocket i turned off the computer and stormed out of the door. My hand ran through my hair and I took a deep breath. I have to calm down. Nobody has even the slightest idea about the email in my computer. The only suspicious thing here is me. I can imagine I look like someone, who was caught for pedophilia. This is exactly the reason Blair waited on to put me in a straitjacket. And I can imagine Peter wouldn't have major objections. I can't give him that pleasure. I have to-

The sound of two very familiar  voices entered my hearing. I couldn't stop the sigh escaping my lips, when I saw that it was none other than those two loudmouths. I can't believe that these men are actually qualified to be security guards. If there was a variant on the loose, instead of catching him and putting him back into a cell, they would simulate that he bit them just so they don't have to run after him. Those two are so good at faking injury and exhaustion that they got me asking if they weren't professional football players before accepting this job.

Anyway, it's not possible to silence someone, who sounds like he's speaking through a megaphone so I try to make my way through this ear-rape as quickly as my legs allow me to. I would be forever obliged to anyone, who would silence them every time I went through their work place.

''-I helped my daughter with homework yesterday. Did they teach you at school, that ''A letter had been being written'' is a grammatically correct sentence? What are they teaching kids these days?'' I actually agree with him. What kind of sentence is that?

''Even the schools are corrupted now. When I was a student, teachers taught us discipline. I didn't even ask to use the toilet during lessons. That's how disciplined I was-!'' What the hell-

When their banter started to eat my brain cells away, a mysterious noise filled the halls. It sounded like something being dragged across the floor. I stopped right next to the duo as my head whipped around, trying to identify from which direction is the noise coming from.

Between the sound and me was a narrow hallway, and across it was the hall connecting the Morphogenic Engine and cells. I couldn't help but feel anxious, wondering if I should just mind my business and keep walking in the direction of the server room. My mind got flooded with images of what they could be dragging from the Morphogenic engine.

I didn't have to speculate for too long, though, since the cause revealed itself right after those two senior men with ancient thinking finally shut their traps. 

My eyes caught two scientists dragging a body of great size. I couldn't see their faces due to their masks, but the mass that was being dragged behind them? That was no one else than the patient I saw them bring to the Morphogenic engine with my own eyes. Eddie Gluskin. Didn't they damage this man enough already?

I don't think I have any more strength to look at their sour faces and listen to their complaining. Every one of these employees is acting as if they were the ones suffering between these cold walls. Agreeing to do these sickly experiments and calling yourself human afterwards is heartless.

I pity every patient, who has to live through the hands of these monsters. Somehow, I feel responsible for their suffering. I feel especially responsible for the man who is now being dragged into his cell.

Between him and me was a single hall and I still couldn't get myself to do anything. As much as I wanted to pull him out of the devil's claws, I couldn't risk any more missteps on my part. A misstep as bad as sending an email about the shady corporation, you're working for, while still being inside the building, where all the questionable shit is still happening... Yeah it doesn't get worse than that.

When my legs finally decided to obey my brain and make their way to the server room a voice, a very familiar voice, shouted from one of the guard's transmitter.

''Hey ..., could you check the processing room for me? I think I left my security card there.''

Peter Out.

I gulped so hard, it looked as if I was swallowing a ball of yarn. I didn't even notice the two security guards leaving me alone in the corridor. My hand automatically went into my pocket, trying to find the smooth thin surface in the ocean of lint. To my regret, it was still there. Why did I grab it? What if I just throw it on the ground? Or in the trash-? My thought process got interrupted as I made eye-contact with the security camera aimed to look right at me.

It's too late... but I realized that the second I saw the email sent by Jeremy Blair. That prick was waiting for me to screw something up or take my words out of context, taking my life away just as this corporation did to all people, who didn't succumb to their inhumane practices. I just made it easier for him by sending that email.

Grabbing that card wasn't an idiotic mistake, it was me realizing I don't have a choice anymore. When I thought my rationality got thrown out the window, it was unconsciously forming an escape route for me

My eyes flew back to the hall connecting Morphogenic engine and cells for patients. My legs started moving towards it without any second thought.

It was never destined for me to get out of here... at least not if I obeyed them like a dog. I won't let myself fall back into the herd of obedient lambs. They'll soon realize that Murkoff's downfall was never caused by a patient or anemployee. Only by their own carelessness.

[vidumali]

Why I Love Studying at Sabaragamuwa University

🌿 Hey Tumblr fam! I just wanted to take a moment to share something close to my heart — my experience at Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, a place that’s more than just classrooms and assignments. It's where I found peace, passion, and purpose. 💚

🌄 A Hidden Gem in the Hills

Imagine studying on a campus surrounded by misty hills, green forests, and natural waterfalls. Sounds dreamy, right? Well, that’s exactly what SUSL in Belihuloya feels like. The air is fresh, the environment is peaceful, and nature literally whispers encouragement while you study. 😌🍃

📌 Location: Belihuloya, Sri Lanka 🔗 Official Website of SUSL

💻 My Faculty: Computing

As a proud student of the Faculty of Computing, I can honestly say that SUSL is more than qualified when it comes to academic excellence. 💯

Our professors are not just knowledgeable—they actually care. We work on cool projects, explore real-world tech, and even get support for internships and future careers.

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👩‍💻 Tech, Talent & Tenacity

You might be surprised, but SUSL is seriously catching up with the tech world.

Let me break it down for you—our Faculty of Computing is organized into three departments, and each one opens up different futures:

🖥️ Department of Computing and Information Systems (CIS)

A great fit if you're interested in IT infrastructure, system design, software, and business applications

You learn how tech supports and transforms businesses, governments, and society

🛠️ Department of Software Engineering (SE)

Perfect if you love to build software from the ground up

Focuses on software architecture, testing, DevOps, and full development lifecycles

📊 Department of Data Science (DS)

The department of the future! 🌐

Teaches you how to work with big data, machine learning, AI, statistics, and more

If you like solving puzzles with data, this is your world

No matter which path you choose, you’ll get:

Modern course content aligned with global tech trends

Hands-on labs and access to real tools (GitHub, Python, VS Code, cloud platforms, etc.)

Internships with leading IT companies

Final-year projects that are often built with startups or community needs in mind

Some of my seniors are now working at top companies, others are doing research abroad—that’s the kind of transformation this faculty creates. 🙌

For more information: click here

🫶 Why SUSL Feels Like Home

Here’s a little list of what I adore about life here:

Friendly community – always someone to help you out

Calm campus – no traffic noise, just birds and waterfalls

Opportunities – tons of events, workshops, clubs

Affordable – both the university and the area are budget-friendly

Balance – education + mental wellness = perfect combo

🌐 Not Just a University – A Lifestyle

Sabaragamuwa University doesn't just prepare you for a career; it shapes you as a human being. It’s not all books and exams—we grow, we laugh, we support each other.

Whether you’re into tech, social sciences, management, or agriculture, there’s a faculty that fits your vibe.

✨ Learn more about SUSL here

💬 Final Thoughts

If you're thinking about studying in Sri Lanka, or even just curious about a different kind of university experience, I highly recommend checking out Sabaragamuwa University. It changed my life in the best way.

💚 Tag a friend who needs to hear about this gem! 📥 DM me if you want tips about the application process or student life here!