diff --git a/include/ircd/buffer/buffer.h b/include/ircd/buffer/buffer.h
index 023a16f5b..f312625f7 100644
--- a/include/ircd/buffer/buffer.h
+++ b/include/ircd/buffer/buffer.h
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ ircd::buffer::operator<<(std::ostream &s, const buffer<it> &buffer)
 // to ensure cross-platform guarantees the zero'ing doesn't get optimized away.
 #ifndef HAVE_SODIUM_H
 inline size_t
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::zero(const mutable_buffer &buf)
 {
 	std::memset(data(buf), 0x0, size(buf));
@@ -225,12 +226,14 @@ ircd::buffer::zero(const mutable_buffer &buf)
 #endif
 
 inline void
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::reverse(const mutable_buffer &buf)
 {
 	std::reverse(data(buf), data(buf) + size(buf));
 }
 
 inline size_t
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::reverse(const mutable_buffer &dst,
                       const const_buffer &src)
 {
@@ -266,6 +269,7 @@ ircd::buffer::copy(const mutable_buffer &dst,
 }
 
 inline size_t
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::move(const mutable_buffer &dst,
                    const const_buffer &src)
 {
@@ -276,6 +280,7 @@ ircd::buffer::move(const mutable_buffer &dst,
 }
 
 inline size_t
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::copy(const mutable_buffer &dst,
                    const const_buffer &src)
 {
@@ -286,8 +291,8 @@ ircd::buffer::copy(const mutable_buffer &dst,
 }
 
 template<class it>
-it
-__attribute__((stack_protect))
+inline it
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::move(it &dest,
                    const it &stop,
                    const const_buffer &src)
@@ -307,8 +312,8 @@ ircd::buffer::move(it &dest,
 }
 
 template<class it>
-it
-__attribute__((stack_protect))
+inline it
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::copy(it &dest,
                    const it &stop,
                    const const_buffer &src)
@@ -328,7 +333,8 @@ ircd::buffer::copy(it &dest,
 }
 
 template<class it>
-ircd::buffer::buffer<it>
+inline ircd::buffer::buffer<it>
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::operator+(const buffer<it> &buffer,
                         const size_t &bytes)
 {
@@ -344,7 +350,8 @@ ircd::buffer::operator+(const buffer<it> &buffer,
 }
 
 template<class it>
-size_t
+inline size_t
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::consume(buffer<it> &buffer,
                       const size_t &bytes)
 {
@@ -366,14 +373,16 @@ ircd::buffer::aligned(const buffer<it> &buffer,
 }
 
 template<class it>
-const it &
+inline const it &
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::data(const buffer<it> &buffer)
 {
 	return get<0>(buffer);
 }
 
 template<class it>
-size_t
+inline size_t
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::size(const buffer<it> &buffer)
 {
 	assert(get<0>(buffer) <= get<1>(buffer));
diff --git a/include/ircd/buffer/buffer_base.h b/include/ircd/buffer/buffer_base.h
index 2bb8f1e64..2eb326eb6 100644
--- a/include/ircd/buffer/buffer_base.h
+++ b/include/ircd/buffer/buffer_base.h
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 ///
 template<class it>
 struct ircd::buffer::buffer
-:std::tuple<it, it>
+:std::pair<it, it>
 {
 	using iterator = it;
 	using value_type = typename std::remove_pointer<iterator>::type;
@@ -42,23 +42,27 @@ struct ircd::buffer::buffer
 };
 
 template<class it>
+inline __attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::buffer<it>::buffer()
 :buffer{nullptr, nullptr}
 {}
 
 template<class it>
+inline __attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::buffer<it>::buffer(const it &start,
                                  const size_t &size)
 :buffer{start, start + size}
 {}
 
 template<class it>
+inline __attribute__((always_inline, flatten))
 ircd::buffer::buffer<it>::buffer(const it &start,
                                  const it &stop)
-:std::tuple<it, it>{start, stop}
+:std::pair<it, it>{start, stop}
 {}
 
 template<class it>
+inline __attribute__((always_inline, flatten))
 ircd::buffer::buffer<it>::operator string_view()
 const
 {
diff --git a/include/ircd/buffer/const_buffer.h b/include/ircd/buffer/const_buffer.h
index 5acec1f55..cc83ffb3d 100644
--- a/include/ircd/buffer/const_buffer.h
+++ b/include/ircd/buffer/const_buffer.h
@@ -31,31 +31,37 @@ struct ircd::buffer::const_buffer
 };
 
 inline
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::const_buffer::const_buffer(const buffer<const char *> &b)
 :buffer<const char *>{b}
 {}
 
 inline
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::const_buffer::const_buffer(const buffer<char *> &b)
 :buffer<const char *>{data(b), size(b)}
 {}
 
 inline
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::const_buffer::const_buffer(const mutable_buffer &b)
 :buffer<const char *>{data(b), size(b)}
 {}
 
 inline
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::const_buffer::const_buffer(const string_view &s)
 :buffer<const char *>{data(s), size(s)}
 {}
 
 template<size_t SIZE>
+inline __attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::const_buffer::const_buffer(const char (&buf)[SIZE])
 :buffer<const char *>{buf, SIZE}
 {}
 
 template<size_t SIZE>
+inline __attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::const_buffer::const_buffer(const std::array<char, SIZE> &buf)
 :buffer<const char *>{reinterpret_cast<const char *>(buf.data()), SIZE}
 {}
diff --git a/include/ircd/buffer/mutable_buffer.h b/include/ircd/buffer/mutable_buffer.h
index 226dd894e..aaaca5d1e 100644
--- a/include/ircd/buffer/mutable_buffer.h
+++ b/include/ircd/buffer/mutable_buffer.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ struct ircd::buffer::mutable_buffer
 };
 
 inline
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::mutable_buffer::mutable_buffer(const buffer<char *> &b)
 :buffer<char *>{b}
 {}
@@ -43,22 +44,26 @@ ircd::buffer::mutable_buffer::mutable_buffer(const buffer<char *> &b)
 /// lvalue string reference offered to write through to a std::string as
 /// the buffer. should be hard to bind by accident...
 inline
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::mutable_buffer::mutable_buffer(std::string &buf)
 :mutable_buffer{const_cast<char *>(buf.data()), buf.size()}
 {}
 
 inline
+__attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::mutable_buffer::mutable_buffer(const std::function<void (const mutable_buffer &)> &closure)
 {
 	closure(*this);
 }
 
 template<size_t SIZE>
+inline __attribute__((always_inline, gnu_inline))
 ircd::buffer::mutable_buffer::mutable_buffer(char (&buf)[SIZE])
 :buffer<char *>{buf, SIZE}
 {}
 
 template<size_t SIZE>
+inline __attribute__((always_inline))
 ircd::buffer::mutable_buffer::mutable_buffer(std::array<char, SIZE> &buf)
 :buffer<char *>{buf.data(), SIZE}
 {}
diff --git a/include/ircd/string_view.h b/include/ircd/string_view.h
index 7ad5688fb..46283ea3d 100644
--- a/include/ircd/string_view.h
+++ b/include/ircd/string_view.h
@@ -156,16 +156,18 @@ struct ircd::string_view
 	{}
 
 	// (non-standard) our array based constructor
-	template<size_t SIZE>
-	constexpr string_view(const std::array<char, SIZE> &array)
+	template<size_t SIZE> constexpr
+	__attribute__((always_inline))
+	string_view(const std::array<char, SIZE> &array)
 	:string_view
 	{
 		array.data(), std::find(array.begin(), array.end(), '\0')
 	}{}
 
 	// (non-standard) our buffer based constructor
-	template<size_t SIZE>
-	constexpr string_view(const char (&buf)[SIZE])
+	template<size_t SIZE> constexpr
+	__attribute__((always_inline))
+	string_view(const char (&buf)[SIZE])
 	:string_view
 	{
 		buf, std::find(buf, buf + SIZE, '\0')