#outflakes

[high-and-away]

FFXIVWrite 2021, Prompt #25: Silver Lining

The irony of a traitor in frumentarius's clothing is not lost on Victoria. Well, a technical traitor. After all, she really had intended to surrender to the next Eorzeans she saw. It was just that she hadn't actually seen any. Not that it matters much now; Garlemald burns and her people roam feral. Then again, she's returning home to rebuild it from the ashes, not conquer it. Maybe she's not a traitor after all. Fuck's sake, Castellus. Less navel-gazing about the moral ambiguity of betraying a fallen homeland and more focusing on how not to get shot out of the saddle, please. At this rate, she'll outflake Wyda. Steel and brass, not anxiety and doubt. If Lee's sister ever reappears, Victoria probably owes her an apology for raiding her wardrobe, though Irene's armored coat languishes on a hook in Victoria's closet. While the additional layer of protection would have been useful, it's too long and too constricting to wear on horseback. The short carbon-and-cermet jacket that came with it fits her well enough, but it's meant to be secondary protection under a heavily-woven outer layer. Victoria opted to forge hers instead.

At first, her reading and observation had been for the sake of her job; if she's to flit around supervising a department's worth of smiths and welders, she probably ought to know what she's doing. Strictly business, of course, but if she's honest with herself, it's taken on a more personal angle for the better part of a year. Maybe she'd made up her mind to do what she's doing without realizing it. Her colleagues had noticed, though. Whether through idle curiosity or exasperation at her lack of subtlety when it came to hovering over their shoulders, a gaggle of them had taken it upon themselves to make sure she learned how things worked without lighting herself on fire. As she stumbled through the basics after working hours, they'd kept parking themselves with sandwiches in hand on any available surface to offer critique and commentary like a Sharlayan chorus. It had worked out in the end. To be fair, forging a cuirass and backplate wasn't exactly the most ambitious project in the world, even with repurposed Garlean steel, but it had worked. Probably. If nothing else, the arcanotechnical research division had earned themselves some very nice Starlight bonuses this year. But no celebrating. Not yet. Not while she's just staring down her rifle's iron sights, dawdling on the shot, and her armor hangs there untested. Funny. She's spent her whole life shooting, and the one time she's apprehensive with her finger on the trigger, it's during neither a competition nor a war. No one else is even there. All she has to hit is a bit of metal she's fucked around with, and yet. Fuck. She really should have just commissioned this. She should've gone to a professional instead of playing blacksmith for moons. It’s ridiculous, she's ridiculous, and of all the things to insist on doing herself out of some stupid fucking sense of pride, it just had to be something she'd undoubtedly fuck up and absolutely has fucked up-- Sod it. Victoria squeezes the trigger, and the round pings off steel and lodges itself somewhere in the dirt. It takes a moment before she can force herself to lower her rifle and step over to check.  No folly, no fuckup, no failure, only the proof mark she'd been seeking in a tiny dent from a close-range shot. Maybe she's learned something after all.

[nourishcookrecipes]

The best breakfast ever! Outflakes, 1 banana, rice or out-milk, walnuts and raspberries. 😋😍 #breakfast #outflakes #walnuts #berrybreakfast #veganfood #veganrecipes #outmilk #ricemilk #happymorning #hellodecember❄️ #nutritious #nourishing #nourishcookrecipes (hier: Bonn, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq2c0fjgoLc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1iycwbkjdo0gi

[gothchurch]

I cannot bee-LEAVE I got outflaked like wtf the only perosn i put consistent effort into communicating with and im getting gradually ghosted i HATE

[fateandglory]