Welcome to the Concrit Commune, where you can get bits of your fic looked at… for a small “price.”
For the purposes of this thread, concrit is defined as - pointing out things that could use improvement and also giving suggestions on how to do so. Compliments are always welcome, of course.
The rules:
State your Fandom | Title | Rating | Any Applicable Content Warnings | Link - AO3, FFN, etc. at the top of the comment.
Post a few paragraphs (copy and paste to a comment, please) of your fic, or your plot premise, or your character bio, or your world building, whatever you need help with.
Please post an outside link to underage and extreme-explicit violence/rape content. Pastebin is simple and doesn’t require an account.
If you, the author, are looking for something specific - the phrasing of a particular part or if a character’s reaction is believable - please ask!
If you just want to hand out advice without throwing your own fic in, you’re quite welcome to.
If you post part of your fic you must give concrit to someone else in the thread!
Since we’re all here to give and receive help from other people, a certain level of respect for the author and the work they’ve put into their fic is expected as a baseline courtesy and should be reciprocated.
Tearing into a fic or author without regard for their effort isn’t constructive even if there is decent criticism attached. Moreover, it discourages people from participating if they know that insults await them.
You aren’t expected to treat this thread like the Comment Cooperative, advice and honesty and pointing out flaws is what we’re here for.
Some helpful tips to keep things running smoothly:
Keep your comments helpful to the author, not just smashing out your opinion.
Be polite and civil.
Be kind. At a minimum, showing your peers professional courtesy is expected.
Phrases like “I think” or “I believe” can lighten your tone.
Elaborating on why you think something could be changed is not only more useful to the author but keeps statements from being abrupt.
Hey, everyone! Drop your favorite wlw fic recs down below!
Basically, most of the fandoms that I’m in are dominated by gay ships, so please give me all your favorite if-I-were-stuck-on-a-desert-island-and-could-only-bring-a-printed-copy-of-these-fics sapphic love stories.
I’m not looking for PWP. If the story has porn in it, that’s great. But I’m looking for a storyline of some sort as well. If the fic is more plot-centric, that’s fine too. Trans women are women, so stories with trans women are absolutely welcome.
It would be nice if I could read them fandom-blind (but no worries if your faves aren’t- I read fandom blind pretty often), and I’m looking for completed fics. You can self-rec, but I’m really more searching for the titans of the fandoms, like the stories that every self-respecting pan woman should read.
THE POND IS ALWAYS GROWING, AND WE WANT TO MAKE OUR NEW MEMBERS FEEL WELCOME! HERE’S A LIST OF RECENT ADDITIONS TO OUR FISHY FAMILY ALONG WITH A LINK TO A WORK THEY’VE POSTED!
If you’re into more than just SPN, then this might be the blog for you! Their masterlist is massively multi-fandom, and they have fics for a bunch of SPN characters, too. Sick is a cute drabble where an almost-human Gabriel catches his first cold. Adorable!
Anna’s masterlist is still short, but sweet, and growing every day! If slightly angsty idjits in love is your thing, check out Define Love with Dean. It hurts a bit, but makes it better!
Their masterlist has a little bit of everything, including RPF, drabbles, and series. For an almost crack fic where TFW end up in the movie Jaws, go read Show Me The Way To Go Home!
THAT’S ALL FOR THIS MONTH, FOLKS! (IF WE’RE MISSING ANYONE, LET US KNOW AND WE’LL ADD THEM TO NEXT MONTH’S LIST!) MAKE SURE TO SAY HI TO THE NEWBIES AND LET THEM KNOW YOU ENJOY THEIR STORIES!
With the ending of her contract with the UK Armed Forces, all Claire Beauchamp wants for Christmas is to enjoy a quiet holiday in Scotland with her long-term boyfriend Frank Randall. While visiting with close friends, however, Claire is gifted with a vintage advent calendar that sets her life on a path she never expected… one that leads to
Northern
Badgers star, James Fraser.
Modern Day AU loosely based on the Netflix Christmas movie ‘The Holiday Calendar’. New chapter posted every day!
Day 5: Ice Skates
Claire studied the little ice skates closely. Adorned with hand painted holly and bold red laces, they reminded her of a pair her Uncle Lambert had bought her as a young child. For her 8th or 9th birthday, she thought. More distinctly she remembered her and her uncle staying in a small town somewhere in Western Europe when she had become fascinated with a team of local figure skaters; the way they glided across the ice was surreal, the skaters so confident in their movements. While she never did learn how to figure skate, she had later worn those skates almost every day they were living in Switzerland and then later in Germany, and she had been absolutely devastated when she had eventually grown out of them.
She put the figurine up on the mantle with the others, the nostalgic smile lingering on her face long after she completed her morning routine.
When searching tags I’ll come across what writers call a “series”. Usually, these are stories that are set in the same AU the Author created or a couple of companion pieces which are linked somehow. By putting them into a series the reader can easily read all fics related to the first one without any hassle.
I love the system and I don’t mind series at all, but what drives me nuts is when writers think they need to Post. Every. Single. Chapter as a new part in their “Series”.
That isn’t a series, it’s just a way you ensure that more people get eyes on your work. Gotta bump up that hit-rate somehow. If your ‘parts’ follow seamlessly one after the other, they are called chapters and need to be in a single story. You’re just cluttering up a tag artificially to get more hits.
Another extreme of this is when you’re searching through a rare-pair and you find there are 100 stories written for it. Oh joy! Only to learn over 60 of them is part of this 'series’, and it’s essentially just one story.
so uh 👉👈 weird question but one time someone complained on one of my fanfics that the first person pov was too messy and third person was much better and everyone does it and i’m dumb for using first but?? i didn’t know that was a thing :(
if someone can please explain what this means? or the importance of it bc i don’t want to continue writing in first person and accidentally be ignorant 🥺
The comment itself wouldn’t have been that big to anybody since it was just an insult on one of my characters. But seriously, it just hurt my feelings.
I mean I do hate my story now and then but this was like a nail in the coffin to how I really felt about the fic.
Alright, venting over. Go back to your Reddit scrolling.
I wanna hear everyone’s thoughts on the different websites and what they think about each one or what there favorites are? Why they dislike a certain one?
Warnings: Mentions of blood and broken bones, Bullying, Anxiety attacks, Creepy behavior.
A girl covered in blood and dirt howled, scrapping at the concrete slab that had fallen on her leg with cracked nails. Fat tears streamed down her rosy cheeks when it seemed as if no one was coming for her, her once silvery eyes now blood shot from crying. “Papa!” The little girl hyperventilated when she was given no reply, hand shaking as blood pooled underneath the fallen debris, is this how she dies? Barely even ten and crushed by debris caused by a villain? “Momma! Daddy!”
Thousands of questions ran inside her head, shaking her body to the core with the unrelenting fear of death. The small girl croaked out a long cry, tears and snot making her look all the more pathetic as she flutily clawed at the concrete. “Papa! Papa-!” Loud shifting resonated from above, the fallen walls of the large building she was in moving aside to make way for a hulking figure. Whoever it was was framed in an ethereal, golden glow from the setting sun, like an angel sent from heaven to save the ten-year-old.
The bulky figure swiftly tossed away the fallen wall and jumped down into the cavern, flinging the concrete slab like it was a leaf and wrapping the child in his large arms. His muscles tensed at the loud booms above, the villain clearly ruining more of the city, but that did nothing to deter the figure’s bright smile when he looked down. “What’s your name, kid?” His voice will be forever engrained in her memory as an enthusiastic theatrical of hope.
“Aiko.” The little girl meekly replied, curling into his muscular arms for some form of comfort.
“Well Aiko Shonen, everything will be fine. Why? Because I am here, All Might!” The bunny like hairs on his head waved as his smile only grew. Aiko only ever felt so safe around her papa, and this All Might figure made her feel just as safe as she would feel in her papa’s arms.
A deep rumble echoed through the cavern, the hero’s smile faltering the slightest bit, but quickly returned when he crouched down and jumped out of the cavern. Wind rushed through her long white drapes, her doe like eyes glowing from the immense strength the blond possessed. An old man dressed in hero’s wear sped past All Might, the little girl following the yellow blur to what was happening behind her.
That was a mistake.
A deep feeling of dread washed over the entirety of Aiko small frame and made her feel utterly sick. A man clad in a crisp black suit loomed above all else. Red lightning like sparks shooting through the sky as his bulky frame floated above the toppled buildings and skyscrapers. Just how many bodies were under those buildings? And that mask, that terrifying, black, skull-like mask would forever be burned into her memory like a horribly large scar. Under his pristine black shoes were villains and heroes alike, bloodied and broken and dying.
A large hand turned her facing the sunset, a beautiful display of deep purples and bloody reds littered with fluffy stained clouds. “Don’t worry, Aiko Shonen… you are safe now.” All Might’s bright, toothy grin brought her only more discomfort, it felt strained and off, as if he didn’t believe his own words.
A certain yellow blur knocked Aiko and All Might out of the sky and into the debris of a near by building, a loud boom and an intense vacuum of air brushing past. The larger than life blond shielded her from the fall, sliding down and holding her close to his heaving chest. “Toshinori, watch out! Don’t look away for one second or you’ll give him the advantage!” Scolded the older man, not realizing All Might was carrying a small child in his arms.
“Perfect timing Gran Torino, take Aiko Shonen and get her out of here!” He handed her off to the elder, leaving nothing but dust in his wake as he jumped back into the fight. “Have Nighteye take her somewhere safer!”
Gran Torino swiftly pulled her into his arms and dashed away from the villain. The two made it safely out of the danger zone, a new, slim figure running to Torino. “Take her, T-All Might needs my help against All For One.” His gruff voice reverberated off the fallen walls of what used to be a wealthy district. Once again, she was thrust into the hold of another hero, wincing at her broken leg.
Sir. Nighteye dashed across the debris ridden streets, blood and bodies littering them like trash. Aiko whimpered and curled in on herself, each and every detail of the villain attack being engraved into her brain. Not even a moment later she was given to a random citizen, probably a nurse or doctor from a nearby hospital. The citizen took her somewhere safer, away from the villains and heroes.
Aiko looked back one more time, All For One and All Might clashing against each other like titans or gods fighting for the mortal realm. Maybe that’s what the fight is about, two titans fighting for power over the weak. That’s what it looked like at least, wind pressure from their attacks brought more walls toppling down. She bit her bottom lip, being carried away from the carnage of the clashing gods.
~~~
White hair rushed through the small bedroom, scrambling to find her favorite pencil she must have dropped last night. She ducked under her bedframe, no not there, what about under her desk? Not there either. “Come on!” She whined, shuffling through sketchbooks and notebooks for the fifth time just to find her favorite mechanical pencil. “Oh, thank god!” She exclaimed, grabbing the old pencil, and stuffing it into her bag.
Quickly she collected the rest of her things and rushers out of her room. “Aiko! Hurry up you’re going to be late!” Yelled her mother, a woman with a thin yet pear shaped frame and deep bags under her dull violet eyes. A messy bun made of curly turquoise hair rest upon her head. Her shrill voice echoed through the halls and into her room, drenching the little girl with a new sense of urgency.
“I’m leaving!” She reaffirmed. She dashed through the house to the front door. Slipping off her house shoes she quickly put on her outside shoes before opening the door.
“Oi! Aiko, where’s my goodbye kiss?” Snarled a new figure, large and muscular with deep brown hair and yellow eyes. He tapped a thick finger against his cheek as he leaned closer to his adopted daughter’s form.
Quickly she slipped off her outside shoes, she had quickly learned to never wear them on the floor, and leaned to kiss the man on the cheek. She returned to the front and waved a goodbye as she scurried out of the small house.
The young girl brushed her white hair out of her face, her roller blades now clipped onto the bottom of her shoes. Slinging her backpack securely on her back, she dipped out of the front yard and skated her way to public school.
Wind rushed through long locks of hair, her curly bangs framing her face as she sped through the busy sidewalks. Wide, hopeful, doe-like eyes watched the trees blur past. People and faces smudged by her speed, a grumpy pedestrian yelling at her to slow down. “Sorry sir!” She yelled back.
Aiko sighed at the sight of pink Sakura trees in the distance, indicating how close she was to her school. Skating past the iron gates and into the school, she threw her shoes into her locker and rushed into her homeroom class with only a few seconds to spare.
The skinny teacher glared at her. “You were almost late, again.” His hands fell to his hips in a relaxed pose, eyes boring into the much smaller figure. If you moved his impossibly long blond bangs you would be able to see the orange, slitted eyes he had.
“Sorry Hagake Sensei, I woke up late again.” She scratched the back of her neck and waved an apology.
“You can’t be late if you want to be a hero, Aiko.” He scolded, the thin tail and small cat ears waving disapprovingly. “Anyway, everyone here wants to be a hero so I’ll go ahead and give you all the course selections.” The cat-quirk teacher stalked through the desks, handing out papers that would change everyone’s lives.
“Komori, you were going for UA right? Aiko, you too?” She sheepishly nodded when the orange eyes glanced into her own, taking thick strands of her hair and covering her mouth and cheeks with it. A habit she had developed after the incident. Her ice blue eyes looked over to the other name called, a young yet surprisingly fit boy with an impressive quirk.
Komori, a young man with a bat quirk and the physic to make it powerful. He was tall for his age, with a slim yet strong build, the only thing that wasn’t conventionally attractive were the thick glasses on his button nose. But even then he made them look good. He had large ears, long fangs, a thin tail and huge wings draped behind his back. Pale, almost grey skin, with sharp purplish-red eyes complimented his short, yet messy, black hair.
————————————————
Name: Komori Suzuki
Quirk: Bat Mix
Quirk Details: Komori’s quirk is pretty self-explanatory, he is a bat. Wings, tail, ears and fangs, he has both White-Winged Flying Fox (Mother—Kistune Suzuki) and Common Vampire Bat (Father—Kyūkestuki Suzuki). He has the best of both bats at his disposal.
————————————————
He cackled. “Ha! Really? That coward can’t become a hero! Look at her, and her quirk is useless for hero work. The only thing she’s good at is being a housewife!” Waving his leathery wings and kicking his feet up on the desk he continued to laugh at her flustered expression.
Komori could only be described as a misogynistic bastard. Aiko and him used to be friends, but when he was young he started all misogynistic towards her, typically using the housewife card against her. Still, throughout the years the two of them stuck around each other. Maybe it was a sense of familiarity between the two of them?
The girl shrunk into her chair, pulling her hair closer to her face. “I can be a hero….” Her soft tone drifted off until nothing but a pen dropping could be heard.
“Eh? What was that? You want to be a hero to avenge your old man?” He jumped on the desk and leaned down, the pearly fangs flashing dangerously. “There’s no way you’d be able to do that, you can’t to anything for yourself! You’re just a damn damsel in distress, so give up.”
The teacher glared at him and smacked a clawed hand on the back of his neck. “Shut it Komori! You’ll never be a hero with that attitude!” Sensei growled and handed the both of you your papers. “It won’t hurt to try, Aiko.” He reassured with a pat on the girl’s shoulder.
“R-right.” Komori got up from the floor and glared at the teacher comforting the smaller girl. He scoffed and returned to his desk, there was no reason for him to be so mean to her, but he did anyway. Maybe he took a sadistic pleasure in messing with her.
“Anyway, this is due tomorrow,” waved the teacher as he sauntered back up to the front of the rowdy class. “I forgot to give it to you guys on Monday so don’t forget. If you guys don’t turn it in tomorrow you won’t be going to a hero school.” He waited for an answer, his eye twitching when he didn’t get one. “Am I clear?”
“Yes sir!” Yelled the class.
~~~
Aiko leaned on her tippy toes to grab her outside shoes and clip-on roller blades, jumping when a clawed hand slammed beside her locker. She squealed and whipped around, coming face to face with collared shirt. “Wh-What do you want, Komori?”
Glazed over plum eyes glared through thick lenses. “Why do you even want to be a hero? It’s not like you’ll be able to fix what the villain did so you should just give up.” His throat rumbled a growl. “Seriously, you should just leave it to me, I’ll get the job done unlike you.” The violent eyes hardened slightly at her scared expression. “Seriously, Sweetheart, you’ll get your weak-ass self hurt.”
The white haired girl glanced up and shriveled into the locker. “I-I’m still going to try… Sensei said I should.”
Komori opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but was interrupted by a few other delinquents. He scoffed when she dipped past his arms and wings and ran out of the school, struggling to run and clip on her skates. “When are you gonna kiss her Komori? Seriously you’ve been closing in on her from the beginning.” Chattered one friend.
“Oh fuck off, she’s just going to get herself killed.” The aspiring bat hero puffed his chest and flared his wings. “And what type of hero would I be if I didn’t try to save a lady-in-waiting, huh?”
Aiko stumbled past the school gates, recommendation paper in hand. Once she made it far enough she dipped into a dark alleyway and curled onto the ground. Fat yet silent tears streamed down her cheeks as she did her best to calm her anxiety. The girl tightly gripped her hair and shoved it in her face trying to calm herself. “Breathe… breathe… breathe….” She chanted.
Slowly but surely her anxiety levels died down with her calming strategy. She wiped away her tears and sipped on the last of her left over water. “Brrreeeeaaaaatttthhhhheeee….” She tensed at the buzz in her pocket, pulling out her small flip phone to see who texted her.
[Mr. Takahashi] ‘Get some Tokoyaki on the way home.’
[Aiko] 'Yes Sir.’
She bit her bottom lip and furrowed her brows, waiting for a reply, luckily there was none so she relaxed. Taking her leave out of the alleyway, the small girl made her way over to the best Tokoyaki shop nearby.
A loud boom erupted out of the same street the shop was on, Aiko worriedly rushing over to the sound. Smoke covered the skies as more explosions went off. A chattery crowd formed at the street entrance, but Aiko wasn’t worried about what was happening. She quickly pulled out her phone and started texting.
[Aiko] 'I’m sorry, I’m going to be late. The shopping district is under attack by a villain.’
She worriedly waited for a reply, doing her best to shuffle through the crowd to get a good look at the commotion. A blond, skeleton of a man coughed his way next to you, leaning on a lamppost and looking above the crowd. “Sir? What-what is going on?”
The blond slightly jumped in surprise at the delicate voice, looking down and taking in the little girl standing before him. Something about her seemed familiar, though he couldn’t exactly place it. “A villain, nothing to worry about the heroes will take care of it.” In all honesty, he couldn’t exactly see everything that was going on. Between the explosions and smoke, all he could see was the sludge villain he failed to detain.
His deep, sultry voice calmed her, but the intense expression he wore had the opposite effect. Biting her bottom lip, she shuffled her way to the front of the crowd. Pedestrians around her worriedly talking to themselves, every time another explosion went off they would flinch. She would too.
Finally squeezing to the front of the crowd she saw what was happening. An ash-blond, about her age, writhed inside the sludge monster, gasping every time he could get some air. He screamed when his mouth was free, a violent cry for help that no hero seemed to be answering.
Aiko took a step closer, the water hero yelling at her to stay back. “He-He needs help! He’ll die if no one helps him!” She screamed back, staring at the hero with a pleading expression. “You guys need to save him!”
“We can’t, no one here can stop that villain. We are holding off until someone more prepared saves him!”
'He can’t wait that long’, she thought, looking at the frustrated features of the blond middle schooler. But she waited, too afraid to mess up and make things worse. Her quirk would only make things worse.
Anxiously she held her hair to her face, waiting for someone more adapt to the villain to save whoever was trapped. People happily cheered a new hero, Mt. Lady running to the scene. She stopped however, obviously she wouldn’t be able to help with her quirk.
The small female was pushed to the side, another middle schooler, this time with fluffy dark green hair, stared at the scene in front of him. His freckles face contorted to a look of pure horror, a strained voice quietly calling out a name. “Kacchan!”
She watched as his feet controlled his body, taking him into the smoke ridden streets to the sludge monster. She gasped and lunged forward to grab him but missed, the small boy slipping through her fingers.
“Kacchan!” He yelled, tossing his backpack into the villain’s face.
Aiko watched with admiration for the obviously weaker boy who ran in like a true hero. The ash blond also thrashing with strength and aggression she would never have. Unlike Aiko, they looked like they would be fine heroes.
She is a coward, too afraid to even try in fear of ruining everything. It reminded her of what happened six years ago, how helpless she was when all hell broke loose, how she was saved by All Might before loosing everything. She was frustrated, small tears dripping down her face at her pathetic display of bravery.
Wind smacked her long hair in her face, bringing her back to the present. It was him, All Might! The best hero to ever exist rushing to stop the bad guy and save the kids.
With a single punch, her hero saved the day. The once blue skies turning a dark grey and drenching the debris covered streets. Her tears replaced by cold rain as the crowd waited for All Might to make a move.
He raised his fist high, stumbling only Aiko seemed to notice, but remained victorious none the less. The once silent crowd burst into cheers, praises and hallelujahs for the savior of the two middle schoolers.
A ping from her pocket took her away from the heroic sight. With a heavy hand the little girl looked at the messages flooding her texts.
[Mr. Takahashi] 'Hurry up.’
Quickly she replied back.
[Aiko] 'Yes Sir.’
She would have to appreciate All Might and the middle schoolers online once she got back home. Swiftly Aiko squeezed past the crowd and skated over to the nearest Tokoyaki stall.
~~~
Unlocking the front door and balancing the packaged Tokoyaki drained the last of Aiko’s energy. She took off her shoes and plopped the food onto the kitchen counter.
Mrs. Takahashi undid the wrapping, disregarding the younger girl and the paper in her hands. “Go do your homework, Aiko.”
“You have to sign this. It’s for the hero courses I want to sign up for.” A small hand calmly pushed the paper in front of her adopted mother, a delicate smile upon her features.
“Fine, here.” The azure haired woman signed the paper, the man of the household walking up behind the two.
“Hero courses huh? You better sign up for UA and get in, you’d be able to pay for our retirement!” The brown haired man bellowed, taking some of the food Aiko brought home and stuffing it into his mouth. “Seriously, you better get into UA.” He scolded through chewing.
“Yes sir, I was planning on doing that.” Thinking about All Might, the middle schoolers and all the reasons she want to be a hero to begin with, if she had the opportunity she would take it. This was her opportunity and no one would change her mind.
She took her food and went to her room, finishing up her homework and taking a shower. Now with her sleepwear on, all her homework finished, she plopped into her bed.
Aiko’s light blue eyes glanced over to a treasured photo, the moonlight seeping from the closed blinds providing just enough light to illuminate the three of the six figures. She was very young when her family took the picture, her host mother and host father’s smiles bringing a pang of joy through her heart. Her host mother had long, pink hair and a curvaceous body, while her host father was a muscular lean figure with pitch black skin and sharp teeth.
The fifteen year old decided to wear a yellow sundress that day, a big smile knowing her family was standing behind her. She wished they were still here and she wasn’t with Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi… but that was too much to wish for.
She curled in on herself under the thick covers, letting the sweet memories of her past lull her into a dreamless slumber.
Relationship: Barry Berkman/Original Female Character
Summary: Barry decides to seek therapy for his ongoing struggles with depression and other mental health issues. When Barry and his therapist, Laura, fall for one another, they have to navigate the complicated relationship together
I’m bored and normally read m/m stories but I love OT3, threesome/moresomes, poly relationships. So I’m looking for recommendation on everyone’s favorite stories. please long ones, cause I want to be able to read for a couple hours before bed.
My favorites are Hardison/Eliot/Parker (leverage), Duke/Parker/Nathan (Haven), Neal/Peter/Elizabeth (white collar), Walt/Johnny/Sarah (the dead zone, for which I’ve found like 0 :( ), Harry/Draco/Tom (Most Harry/Tom/other or Harry/Draco/other pairing as long as its not an OC), Tony/Bucky/Steve, Bucky/Clint/Loki (not a lot of these either :( ), umm Bruce/Tony/Other (most Avengers mixed in some way haha), Barry/Snart/Rory (The flash), Tommy/Laurel/Oliver (Arrow), Doctor/Rory/Amy (Doctor Who), Kirk/Bones/Spock (star Trek).
These don’t have to be the shows/books/movies you give recs for, but if you know any in these fandoms that would be awesome.
I have a lovely regular reader who comments on all of my chapters and is just genuinely very interactive. They told me that a sci-fi au for a particular ship I write for would be awesome. I’m not very comfortable with writing sci-fi, but I don’t really know how to say no. They aren’t rude or pushy or anything, but that makes me feel even worse saying no.
![The Vintage Calendar [AO3] by @thetranquilteal
With the ending of her contract with the UK Armed Forces, all Claire Beauchamp wants for Christmas is to enjoy a quiet holiday in Scotland with her long-term boyfriend Frank Randall. While visiting with close friends, however, Claire is gifted with a vintage advent calendar that sets her life on a path she never expected… one that leads to
Northern
Badgers star, James Fraser.
Modern Day AU loosely based on the Netflix Christmas movie ‘The Holiday Calendar’. New chapter posted every day!
Day 5: Ice Skates
Claire studied the little ice skates closely. Adorned with hand painted holly and bold red laces, they reminded her of a pair her Uncle Lambert had bought her as a young child. For her 8th or 9th birthday, she thought. More distinctly she remembered her and her uncle staying in a small town somewhere in Western Europe when she had become fascinated with a team of local figure skaters; the way they glided across the ice was surreal, the skaters so confident in their movements. While she never did learn how to figure skate, she had later worn those skates almost every day they were living in Switzerland and then later in Germany, and she had been absolutely devastated when she had eventually grown out of them.
She put the figurine up on the mantle with the others, the nostalgic smile lingering on her face long after she completed her morning routine.
[Continue reading on AO3] #the vintage calendar #outlander#fan fiction#christmas #modern day au #day 5#skates #jamie x claire #rated: hallmark](https://64.media.tumblr.com/44ca880faee1c5f8018a052125935162/048e98c9245c4608-d1/s640x960/2a6892305d731f871bc6b52fd65b6430bdc1e3ef.png)
