#writing aids

[itsawritblr]

Finding exactly the right word.

[gwen-tolios]

Genre Word Crawls

For Illinois Novel Quest next month, I built some word crawl games! We're hosting 33 events over November, but I get that not everyone can make evening writing sessions so here are some simple challenges people can play by themselves or with friends.

They're pretty easy - just roll a d6 and take up the challenge of the corresponding number!

If you liked these, consider donating to my Kofi? ☕

[lords-of-mayhem]

Ultimate Omegaverse Questions/Ask Game

Here's a list of tons of omegaverse centered questions with the aim of letting you further explore the universe and build it your own way. Feel free to use this as an ask game, a reference sheet, etc. Please just do not repost without credit. (I also apologize if any of these are rephrased versions of each other <3)

How similar to wolves are they in your world? Can they shift? If so, how much? Is it voluntary or involuntary?

Do betas exist in your world?

If betas exist, what roles do they play? How are they seen by alphas? Omegas? What is expected of them as a whole?

Do betas date alphas, omegas, and/or other betas? Is there any stigma around a beta dating an alpha or omega?

How long do ruts last? Heats? How often are they? Are they debilitating or manageable? Does it depend on the person?

Are people's presentations known at birth or do they have to present?

If they present, when do most people present? Is it easy to tell what someone will be beforehand?

Is there a stigma around alphas? If so, what does it look like? How are they viewed? What's the role they're expected to play?

Is there a stigma around omegas? If so, what does it look like? How are they viewed? What's the role they're expected to play?

Are alphas and omegas discouraged from spending time together? Are they encouraged to?

Are arranged partnerships a thing in your world? Does everyone have one or just certain people? How is the arrangement decided?

Do alphas court their omegas? If so, give an example of what this might look like. Do omegas court their alphas? If so, give an example of what this might look like.

In a beta x alpha/omega pairing, is courting involved? If so, which way does it go? Does that change based on if they're with an omega or alpha?

Do betas have a scent? If so, how strong is it? Does their scent change based on any factors?

Is the "alpha voice" a thing? If so, does it work? Are the results consistent or do they depend? Is it possible for omegas/betas to ignore it? Is it accepted socially or looked down on?

Conversely, does an omega equivalent of this exist?

What is omega anatomy like in your universe? Do omegas have a penis, a vagina, or something else? Does it depend on the omega?

What is alpha anatomy like in your universe? Do female alphas have a penis? Can alphas knot outside of sex? Can they do it outside of rut?

Can omegas get pregnant outside of heat or do they have to be in it?

Are there physical differences between an alpha and an omega? Height, voice, build, etc.?

Who generally makes up a pack? Family, friends, a mate, etc? Does this change throughout a person's life? What's the dynamic usually like? Is one person more "in charge"?

Is preheat/prerut a thing? How long does it last? What are the usual symptoms?

Is it possible to be trans? (A person born an omega who identifies as an alpha, for example.) If so, is it accepted?

Do heat and rut suppressants exist? If so, are they accessible? Is there a stigma around them? Are there any limits to how long someone can use them? Do they have any negative side effects?

Are male omegas able to get pregnant? Impregnate?

Are female alphas able to get pregnant? Impregnate?

Is a person's presentation random or based on genetics? Do certain families have a higher rate of alphas/omegas/etc?

Are alpha x alpha and omega x omega pairings a thing? How common are they? Is this accepted? Is one accepted more than the other?

What roles are associated with being an omega? An alpha?

Is polyamory a thing in your universe? Is it common? Is it stigmatized?

Are people able to have more than one mate over a lifetime? Can a person get "divorced" for instance? Is the process easy or difficult?

Is it expected that pairings will have pups?

What does the mating process look like?

What kind of scents are typically associated with omegas?

What kind of scents are typically associated with alphas?

If betas have a scent, what kind of scents are typically associated with them?

Do soulmates exist in your universe? If so, how are they identified? Does everyone have one? Is it possible to fall in love with someone who isn't your soulmate? If so, how does it work?

Do alphas tend to be more dominant or submissive? What about omegas? Betas?

Do omegas nest? If so, what's usually included in the nest? How often do they do it?

Do alphas or betas nest as well? If so, what's usually included in theirs and how often do they do it?

Do alphas get aggressive with one another? If so, how common is it? Is it looked down on or just accepted as normal? Are there certain things that cause it?

Is it hard for alphas and omegas to ignore their instincts? What do they usually give into the most?

How do the different presentations usually treat one another? Are they condescending? Kind? Are there certain things they expect from the other presentations?

Are mates treated as equals? Is one mate considered more in charge than the other? If so, which one? What does this look like in daily life?

Do omegas have friends who are alphas? Is this normal or looked down on? Does it change once one or both people are in a relationship? Is it more socially accepted for alphas to be friends with omegas or for omegas to be friends with alphas?

Are there drugs to induce heat/ruts? What are they used for? Are they accessible?

Is it common for friends to help out with heats or ruts? If so, in what ways? Just taking care of them or the sexual part as well?

Are alphas, betas, or omegas better with pups? Are they equally good with them?

Is casual sex/one night stands common? Are they looked down on or are they accepted?

Is there any service to hire an alpha/omega for sex? Is it more common to hire alphas or omegas? Is sex work accepted?

Is there any service to match people for heats/ruts? Is it common? Is it accepted?

Do packs have to approve of the alpha/omega that their packmate is seeing?

Is physical affection common between friends? Is it more common with one presentation than another?

Are alphas and omegas raised differently than each other? If so, how are alphas raised? How are omegas? How are betas?

Can an omega's heat trigger an alpha's rut? Another omega's heat? Can an alpha's rut trigger an omega's heat? Another alpha's rut?

What are the symptoms of a rut?

What are the symptoms of a heat?

What traits/instincts do alphas have?

What traits/instincts do omegas have?

What traits/instincts do betas have?

Can an omega produce slick outside of their heat?

Are there more alphas or omegas? Or an even-ish amount? If there are betas in your universe, how many are there?

Are alphas rare? Are female alphas rare? If so, are female alphas seen as more desirable?

Are omegas rare? Are male omegas rare? If so, are male omegas seen as more desirable?

Does mating (claiming someone as your mate) have to be consensual? If not, how does that work?

How much control does a person have over their mate?

Do different emotions change how someone smells? Does sickness? Pregnancy?

Does a person smell different when they're mated versus when they're single?

Do people's scents mix with their partner's? If so, how long does it take? How long does it take to go away once they break up?

What kind of birth control options are available in your world?

Do omegas' heat cycles sync up? Do alphas' ruts?

Can an omega's heat sync up with an alpha's rut? Does this happen only when the pair are dating/together or does it happen to anyone in close proximity?

Are restrooms/locker rooms based off of presentation or gender?

Do dorms allow alphas and omegas to room together? Do they allow alphas and omegas to room with betas?

Is it common for platonic alphas and omegas to live together?

Are there weddings in your universe? Is a wedding different from a mating? (For example, can a couple be married but not mated?)

[novella-november]

Okay, I've been playing around with the Voice to Text tool built into Windows computers as an accessibility option for those who struggle to physically write or type their works, and it's working pretty decently!

but the second half of this post time actually using voice to text tool. to type it. There's a few small spelling things, but I think there is a way to calibrate it to your speech. Though to be slightly more accurate. I'm just not sure where to find that, because I've only been fiddling with it for a few minutes. Right now, I had auto punctuate turned on and had turned off. Profanity Filter. I am using a pair of generic $10 Bluetooth headphones. They have a microphone belt into them. But if you have a dedicated microphone, that would probably work even better. you can download different language packages to recognize different whereas. in different languages you can type in more than just English. and I am hoping there is a way to add auto correct to certain names. In words so that I can say it how it's pronounced in a different language and have it be spelled correctly in English. such as for "Arsenal, Lupe". "Arsen Lu Pan". which as you can see voice access does not want to spell correctly. or will spell as just random words that sound like his name. LOL. As then, Lupin. Arsene Lupin. It wants me to pronounce his name as "are-sane Loopin" And even then, it does not get it correctly. Most of the time. anyways. So while it is not perfect, this is just like the base thing built into all windows computers. There's probably actual programs that let you train it on your voice that would be even better for dictating your novel, but this is an option anyone with a windows Computer should be able to access for free!

Back to typing by hand: if anyone has any tips, tricks, or guides for using Windows Voice Access for accurate dictation, please feel free to share here!

for those wondering, my favorite Public Domain character's name is spelled "Arsène Lupin" and is pronounced close to "arson" but with an "e" instead of an "o" -- Arsen -- and Lupin is pronounced Lou-pon, not loo-pin, hence why the English language voice access is having trouble parsing it lol.

If anyone knows of how to manually add corrected words and spelling to the Voice Access Dictionary, that would be great for anyone who plans on writing fantasy or scifi novels, or just anyone like me writing about ""our son blue pond"" as speech to text commonly spells it 😭

[ishouldmakethissometime]

I’ve started writing a piece of fiction. We’ll see where it goes. But I’ve encountered some apprehension from my readers who’ve looked at it so far.

I know the maxim “write what you know”. Which for me is the straight, cisgender, white male. So of course my main character is a piece of me in that sense, except he is all about business, while for me, the arts have been my entire life.

But I want my story to have diversity and representation. So I have plans for characters of color, as well queer characters, and folks with disabilities. For all of these supporting characters I want them to be three-dimensional, full human beings, and I want to avoid making them “at the service of” improving my main character.

He is going to have to learn and grow because his arc is the story. But they are more than tools for his development. They have their own lives, struggles, and joys.

The apprehension however, has been with my early inclusion of a transwoman character. There is potential for romance, they both aligned enough to be compatible but also different enough to be interesting to each other.

I’m not making this into a “how to be an ally” piece. Or diving into her traumas and history. She will face things that can be triggering for her because she exists in the world but that is not this story.

I’ve been cautioned that maybe I should NOT write her at all because I am not trans and I don’t have trans close friends (out anyway, and I have few close friends at all). But I do know trans people, and at least one trans AUTHOR who’s work I really admire. When my story is a little more sketched out I was going to ask for her insights.

I’ve also been told NOT to write from her perspective, which I had been planning to for a short section in an upcoming chapter that explains what’s been going on for her while absent from the central character’s scope of awareness.

I understand the need for sensitivity but if I can only write characters who I can claim full knowledge of their experience I can only write straight, white, cisgender, men. So that’s out. I’m GOING TO ADD my other characters because people from other demographics exist and interact with straight white cisgender men all the time in real life, which is what I’m writing about.

But what about not writing her perspective? Is that completely off limits? I do plan to run this work by trans creators and incorporate their feedback. But a third criticism has been “appropriation” that if a trans story from a trans perspective is to be written at all it must come from a trans creator. Since if my little story were ever to get bought and made into a movie I’d be theoretically benefiting off the trans experience. (Which if that magical thing happened I’d probably donate a percentage to The Marsha P. Johnson Institute anyway.)

So far all of the above pushback has been from cisgender, white, women who are either in my writing club or who I’ve had a chance to show it to. (I’ve JUST started this story and so far all these two characters have done is meet in an airport.)

Appreciate anyone’s thoughts on this.

[itsawritblr]

You do not learn "intuitively." Not unless you're home-schooled by an illiterate. Schools teach you words and their meanings. They teach you grammar and how to form sentences. This is fucking basic.

Wow, I so do not understand your way of thinking.

As a child when I read words I didn't understand I'd look them up in the dictionary. It was fun! I enjoyed discovering new words and their meanings. They added to my vocabulary.

At 10 I read Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth. There were many words and concepts I didn't get. So my Mom and I looked them up. I loved it! It opened new worlds for me.

You can't write coherently or with any art if you choose a word for its "vibe." For writers, real writers, dictionaries and thesauri are well-loved, well-used tools. Read The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald chose every word carefully. It's brilliant because of that. To choose a word because of its "vibe" is like AI writing an English term paper.

"Sometimes words you didn't grow up hearing are used frequently in writing and you aren't going to stop every page or so to find out what it means, as it interrupts the flow." That's what first drafts are for. In the second draft you begin revising and polishing by choosing the words which truly fit what you mean.

"Especially if you didn't happen to have either of those texts handy before the advent of the internet." "Once upon a time there was no dictionary or thesaurus."

Dictionaries and thesauri have been around since forever. An Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionarie, was published in 1580. Shakespeare fucking used it (my Father was a Shakespeare scholar). Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, everyone who ever wrote before the "advent of the internet" used them. Including me. I was writing decades before the internet existed, and yeah, I'd stop writing, reach over and look through my dictionary. Like, why the fuck wouldn't I??

Why the fuck don't you?

What I'm hearing is lazy writing. "Oh, I just want to go with the flow, I don't want have to check to see if what I've written really means what I intend it to." If that's your mindset, your writing will be mediocre, at best. The only people who'll think it's good are people who also can't be buggered to use the two best tools writers have ever had.

I shared this post with my editor (I'm a professional, full-time writer.) She wrote back, "This explains the level of the manuscript submissions I receive." Y'know, all the shit that gets rejected.

After reading the Notes:

Man. I have never seen so many people so proud of being ignorant.

the problem with reading and writing leading to a strong vocabulary is that you tend to know the vibe of words instead of their meanings.

if I used this word in a sentence, would it make sense? absolutely. if you asked me what it meant, could I tell you? absolutely not.

[deoidesign]

A general cane guide for writers and artists (from a cane user, writer, and artist!)

Disclaimer: Though I have been using a cane for 6 years, I am not a doctor, nor am I by any means an expert. This guide is true to my experience, but there are as many ways to use a cane as there are cane users!

This guide will not include: White canes for blindness, crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs as I have no personal experience with these.

This is meant to be a general guide to get you started and avoid some common mishaps/misconceptions in your writing, but you absolutely should continue to do your own research outside of this guide!

This is NOT a medical resource!!! And never tell a real person you think they're using a cane wrong!

The biggest recurring problem I've seen is using the cane on the wrong side. The cane goes on the opposite side of the pain! If your character has even-sided pain or needs it for balance/weakness, then use the cane in the non-dominant hand to keep the dominant hand free. Some cane users also switch sides to give their arm a rest!

A cane takes about 20% of your weight off the opposite leg. It should fit within your natural gait and become something of an extension of your body. If you need more weight off than 20%, then crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair is needed.

Putting more pressure on the cane, using it on the wrong side, or having it at the wrong height can make it less effective, and can cause long term damage to your body from improper pressure and posture. (Hugh Laurie genuinely hurt his body from years of using a cane wrong on House!)

(some people elect to use a cane wrong for their personal situation despite this, everyone is different!)

(an animated GIF of a cane matching the natural walking gait. It turns red when pressure is placed on it.)

When going up and down stairs, there is an ideal standard: You want to use the handrail and the cane at the same time, or prioritize the handrail if it's only on one side. When going up stairs you lead with your good leg and follow with the cane and hurt leg together. When going down stairs you lead with the cane and the bad leg and follow with the good leg!

Realistically though, many people don't move out of the way for cane users to access the railing, many stairs don't have railings, and many are wet, rusty, or generally not ideal to grip.

In these cases, if you have a friend nearby, holding on to them is a good idea. Or, take it one step at a time carefully if you're alone.

Now we come to a very common mistake I see... Using fashion canes for medical use!

(These are 4 broad shapes, but there is INCREDIBLE variation in cane handles. Research heavily what will be best for your character's specific needs!)

The handle is the contact point for all the weight you're putting on your cane, and that pressure is being put onto your hand, wrist, and shoulder. So the shape is very important for long term use!

Knob handles (and very decorative handles) are not used for medical use for this reason. It adds extra stress to the body and can damage your hand to put constant pressure onto these painful shapes.

The weight of a cane is also incredibly important, as a heavier cane will cause wear on your body much faster. When you're using it all day, it gets heavy fast! If your character struggles with weakness, then they won't want a heavy cane if they can help it!

This is also part of why sword canes aren't usually very viable for medical use (along with them usually being knob handles) is that swords are extra weight!

However, a small knife or perhaps a retractable blade hidden within the base might be viable even for weak characters.

Bases have a lot of variability as well, and the modern standard is generally adjustable bases. Adjustable canes are very handy if your character regularly changes shoe height, for instance (gotta keep the height at your hip!)

Canes help on most terrain with their standard base and structure. But for some terrain, you might want a different base, or to forego the cane entirely! This article covers it pretty well.

Many cane users decorate their canes! Stickers are incredibly common, and painting canes is relatively common as well! You'll also see people replacing the standard wrist strap with a personalized one, or even adding a small charm to the ring the strap connects to. (nothing too large, or it gets annoying as the cane is swinging around everywhere)

(my canes, for reference)

If your character uses a cane full time, then they might also have multiple canes that look different aesthetically to match their outfits!

When it comes to practical things outside of the cane, you reasonably only have one hand available while it's being used. Many people will hook their cane onto their arm or let it dangle on the strap (if they have one) while using their cane arm, but it's often significantly less convenient than 2 hands. But, if you need 2 hands, then it's either setting the cane down or letting it hang!

For this reason, optimizing one handed use is ideal! Keeping bags/items on the side of your free hand helps keep your items accessible.

When sitting, the cane either leans against a wall or table, goes under the chair, or hooks onto the back of the chair. (It often falls when hanging off of a chair, in my experience)

When getting up, the user will either use their cane to help them balance/support as they stand, or get up and then grab their cane. This depends on what it's being used for (balance vs pain when walking, for instance!)

That's everything I can think of for now. Thank you for reading my long-but-absolutely-not-comprehensive list of things to keep in mind when writing or drawing a cane user!

Happy disability pride month! Go forth and make more characters use canes!!!

[itsawritblr]

Using Google Earth for your writing.

Probably a lot of you writers already know about this.

@ghoulishly-yours told me it's called Google Earth! Thanks!

Sometimes I need to see what a location or an area looks like before I can describe it.

For my WIP I needed an example of a small town in Michigan. I live a couple states away and can't go there for research. I don't know friends who live there.

So I Google Image searched a road map.

I chose a small town, in this case Brooklyn.

I Googled that small town.

I got an address from that small town and Googled it.

I chose Street View.

And then I "drove" around the town.

You can do this for anywhere in the world Google's driven.

Paris.

Berlin.

The downside is, some of the Google Earth photos are years old. Things may look quite different now. But it at least gives you an idea of the location you want to write about.

For example, I discovered a publishing house's building in London is a lot older than I thought.

And it has a pub next door!

The previous photo is from 2022. But this is it in 2023, covered with scaffolding.

If I wanted to write about this pub, I'd need to find out whether its look was changed. Which is why I prefer to write about fictional places. No one can change things on me that way! ;-)

Anyway, if you haven't tried this already, it's another reference tool. If nothing else, it's a way to see places you might never be able to.

[sunshineandrosesnoraincamemyway]

I wish there was a website where you could input a character's description (height, weight, sex, medical conditions, etc.) And a situation (car crash, falls, stabbing, etc.) And it would calculate for you from most to least likely the injuries that character would receive, potential complications, and how long it would take recover. This would make writing injuries SO MICH EASIER if I wasn't guessing at everything

[solanaceaeartium]

BARE - NAKED OR UNADORNED

BEAR - CARRYING SOME KIND OF BURDEN; THE ANIMAL

DONNING AND DOFFING MEAN THE ACT OF PUTTING SOMETHING ON AND TAKING SOMETHING OFF RESPECTIVELY. You can't use donning as a synonym for wearing.

KEENING MEANS WAILING OR HOWLING WITH GRIEF. It is not a sexy sound for sexy times - its connotation makes it really jarring when used that way.

CUT AND DRIED, NOT CUT AND DRY. Think of cutting and drying herbs - once they are cut and dried the process is done and over with.

IT’S NOT ‘PEEKED’ MY INTEREST

OR ‘PEAKED’

BUT PIQUED

‘PIQUED MY INTEREST’

THIS HAS BEEN A CAPSLOCK PSA

[cy-cyborg]

Free Manual Wheelchair Reference Models

ID: A banner with grey 3D models of 5 kinds of manual wheelchairs in a line in front of the disability pride flag and text that reads "Manual Wheelchair References" /End ID

For disability pride month, I decided to release a pack of 3D manual wheelchair models.

The pack includes 5 wheelchairs:

2 Active urban-style chairs (one of which includes a smart drive)

1 off-road active chair

1 children's wheelchair

and 1 standard "hospital" wheelchair).

All the wheelchairs are based off either wheelchairs I or friends of mine have used

Downloadable here!

or on the Clip Studio Paint Asset Store (ID 2097442) (there's been an issue with the CSP version, but the models in the download folder can be imported into clip studio paint until I can fix it)

More info about the download contents below:

The first download link includes the original .Blend file with all 5 chairs, as well as individual .obj or .fbx files the chairs (All but 1 have an .obj file, as they're only meshes. The chair with the smart drive is rigged, which is why it has an .Fbx file instead so it will retain that information) as well as a "read me" file that explains in more depth what kind of disability/character/lifestyle each chair is made for (These are just what I had in mind when I designed them, they are usable by other characters who don't fit the suggestions for the most part!) I wanted to include the Read Me contents in the CSP Asset Store listing, but CS said it was too long lol.

Also, as the title says, these files are free to use! While it's not mandatory, I would appreciate credit if you use them (or even just a tag so I can see the cool art you make with them!!)

I actually made these ages ago, the original plan was to use them in a series of posts then release the pack, but I never got around to making the series and so they've just been sitting here. I took a day off from art fight attacks to clean them all up and get them ready to post. If you experience any issues, let me know and I'll try to fix it up.

I had a couple more that were supposed to be in the pack including a sports (basketball/Tennis) wheelchair and some different styles of wheelchair, but I think the files corrupted so once I fix (or remake) them, I'll probably make a second pack.

If you have any issues, please let me know!

[akanemnon]

Shouldn't there be a minotaur in the labyrinth? Who put this goat here? This is not accurate to the mythology! /j

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[mellosdrawings]

I'm a fervent "genuine cane user Azul" believer, just so you know. It just makes sense ? Guy who's got his legs cut from eight to two, who has bones and has to face gravity for the first time in his life, etc.

In the original Little Mermaid story, the mermaid's legs actually hurt her a lot whenever she took a step. Maybe it's not to that point for Azul, but he's explicitly said to have poor balance and stamina. A cane would just be the perfect mobility aid for him in all aspects.

[shard010]

Writing aids

Did I daydream this, or was there a website for writers with like. A ridiculous quantity of descriptive aid. Like I remember clicking on " inside a cinema " or something like that. Then, BAM. Here's a list of smell and sounds. I can't remember it for the life of me, but if someone else can, help a bitch out <3

[keferon]

Guys. Hear me out.

Remember when in Cyberverse everyone got their minds transferred into fake artificial digital simulation of an infinite fucking parade while their bodies were imprisoned? Now. Imagine Shockwave trying to pull that kind of move on First aid.

Under the cut:)

First aid feels wrong.

Which isn't weird, but this kind of wrong is brand new. It's not nausea from drugs or weird withdrawals after neural connection. It also doesn't feel like a concussion.

It feels like he's a lab mouse running through a maze.

There's the cheese. There's the electric shocks. There's no way out and never has been.

He thinks it might be the fault of Pharma's new drug. Or his fucking pilot position is finally eating away at him, or Vortex is finally done playing with him and just broke his brain.

There are people running around him, each of whom definitely knows what their place is and where they need to go. Everyone has a purpose and a position and some important job to do. They hardly even talk to each other, just nod and run on.

Amazing synchronization.

First..Felix feels like a kid lost in the mall.

He has. He has to do something, right? What does he need to do? Fuck. What day is today anyway?

He heads over to the schedule board and stares at it like an idiot for a couple minutes. It's Tuesday. The work day is in full swing. All the shifts are here. But he doesn't recognize the names of the employees. All the pilots are accounted for, but his name isn't on their list.

Must be a mistake?

He turns away from the board and looks around the room once more, this time more carefully. He just needs to find someone to ask. Preferably someone familiar.

He can’t recognise anyone.

The feeling of strangeness doesn't get any less.

The uniforms on the people around him are similar. But not the same.

The badges are all another color.

And he's surprised by this, but at the same time some part of his brain tells him that it's all familiar and he's seen it before.

“.... then I thought, we could do something different, you know?”

Felix flinches as Swindle and Onslaught walk past him. They are clearly in the middle of some sort of discussion and don't notice Felix staring at them.

Swindle is wearing a pilot's suit. Onslaught is wearing one, too.

Screw the weird schedule. THIS is wrong.

Onslaught frowns, but when he opens his mouth there's a strange amused respect in his tone

“You slippery eel.”

Swindle smiles. His smile, Felix notices, is not the same at all. He doesn't look like an actor from a commercial. He looks like a worn-out but proud of himself man.

It's wrong, but he's seen it before, it's strange but it's familiar. He wants to go up to Swindle and ask what's going on. He wants to understand the damn schedule. He wants to...

…

First Aid feels wrong.

Which isn't weird, but this kind of wrong is brand new. It's not the nausea from the drugs or the weird withdrawals after a neural connection. It also doesn't feel like a concussion.

It feels like being a lab mouse running through a maze.

You got the cheese. And here's the electric shocks. No escape. Never has been.

It's all the same.

He's not sure where he's going. Everyone around him seems very busy. Running about their own business, not paying attention to him and--

What is he supposed to do? He can't remember what day of the week it is. Shit. Is it Tuesday? He can't remember.

Does he need to find a schedule?

Everything feels weird.

By the schedule board, he almost crashes into Swindle.

“...You realize, if we can both get out of this shit, we can get others out too.”

Onslaught...still looking strange in his pilot suit instead of his usual uniform. Swindle pokes him in the side with his elbow as they both walk past Felix, completely ignoring him

“You just. Think about it. Even if you can't fire Offy from the pilots, you can at least free him from these disgusting experiments.”

Felix wants to go over and say hello. Politely and unobtrusively. And also kindly ask, “what the hell, boss?”

But you see it every day, his brain tells him. Have you forgotten?

It makes him feel wrong.

Here's the board, here's the schedule, just lift your stupid head up and see what you're supposed to be doing.

He looks at the board. It's Tuesday. It's dumb sheets that don't have his name on them. He wants to go up to Swindle, he should go up to Swindle, right?

…

It's all wrong, but it's a new kind of wrong. It's not from drugs or neural connection. And it's almost certainly not a concussion.

He's feeling.... hell, what day of the week is it? Tuesday right? He looked at the blackboard yesterday.

He stops. And makes a titanic effort to concentrate the jelly his head is now filled with instead of his brain.

Today is Tuesday because?...because yesterday was Tuesday? And the day before that, too? This is some kind of trippy shit, not a broken neural connection….

He's not looking for the schedule. He's seen the schedule a million times and he knows what's gonna be on it.

He's not sure where he's even going. The layout of the base is different. Not much, but enough to confuse him. He's still stubbornly checking out every familiar place he can find.

He doesn't get it, he doesn't get it, he doesn't get it, he doesn't get it, he doesn't.

He still doesn't see a single damn familiar face.

Ambulon's gone, Pharma's disappeared somewhere too. No Tailgate or Wheeljack anywhere to be seen. And the layout is a little different and all the badges are the wrong color and Felix can't even read what's written on them because every time he tries all the letters blend into an indistinguishable blur.

He's trying to talk to someone. Anyone. But everyone either brushes him off or straight up ignores him. It's like he's a ghost or a lunatic or all of the above.

Everything is so familiar, but at the same time it isn't and his brain frantically clings to the last possibly familiar thing.

Vortex. He needs to find Vortex.

Even if it is him who is going insane and not everyone around him. Vortex is insane in his own, unique way, but he won't ignore him. He may get a good laugh, but it's still better than blindly poking around every corner by himself.

First Aid feels wrong.

Which isn't weird, but this kind of wrong is brand new. It's not nausea from drugs or weird withdrawals after neural connection. It also doesn't feel like a concussion....

He snaps at himself. NO. Hell no.

Vortex. He needs to find Vortex.

The hangar looks surprisingly dark. The people look unfamiliar. And another schedule board beckons him to come over and check to see if it really is Tuesday, but he ignores everything and heads straight for his Mech.

Vortex hasn't changed a bit. Even the radius at which people avoid him is exactly the same.

And looking at him doesn't give Felix that fucking sense of wrongness.

He sees Vortex a lot. He just knows it. The thought is natural, in contrast to the others. That's good, that... It may sound strange, but Vortex is the most normal thing he can perceive right now.

He feels like he's grown little wings. His feet carry him up to the open cockpit and he barely notices the steps beneath him.

Vortex is here and he will understand and even if he doesn't, at least he won't ignore him. Vortex gets bored too quickly so he never minds distractions, no matter how absurd and...weird..they…

Huh…

Felix almost climbs into the cockpit, but freezes, right on the way in.

It's empty.

He crashes into that realization like an invisible wall.

The cockpit.... is clean.

It doesn't smell of chemicals or scrubbing agent. There are no thin streaks of old browned blood in the seams and crevices. There are no dents or stains on the edge of the visor.

The cameras are dead still and the screens are off.

There's no smell of stale blood or decay.

There's no one here.

But the back of his neck still tingles with the sensation of someone else's eyes staring at him.

“The fuck do you think you're doing?“

First Aid flinches startled and turns around.

There is a pilot standing a few feet away from him with a cigarette in his hand.

“..I’m..”

“I wouldn't stand there if I were you” smiles the stranger eying him with a suspiciously bloodthirsty smile “those things are glitchy as fuck. Might chop off something important.”

First Aid continues to stand just under the open visor. Maybe it's surprise or maybe he's too used to the idea that Vortex won't cut him in half. The pilot in front of him looks.... geez, where has he seen him???

Has he ever seen him at all? That green suit looks awfully familiar.

And the voice. There should be more mechanical notes in that voice, First Aid thinks. It should have more static and reverb and squeaks and rumbles and clicks and that quiet hum that sounds when the cockpit systems are turned on...

First Aid jumps off the Mech.

“Vortex...?”

The pilot casts him only a slightly surprised look at first, but a moment later recognition flares in his eyes.

“What the fuck....AID??”

First Aid instantly takes a swing and punches him in the face hard enough to send him wiping the dust on the floor.

“You!!!”

“Ha,” says Vortex from the floor. “Hahahahah ooooh Do it again! ”

First Aid kicks him. Vortex laughs like he's been told the world's happiest joke.

He sounds…alive. Alive and human and there’s no metal in his voice and

“What the fuck?”

Vortex stops laughing, but still doesn't get up off the floor

“What's the last thing you remember?”

First Aid still does nothing but stare at Vortex stunned. The human Vortex. Victor? Shit

“Until Tuesday, you mean?”

Vortex hums

”Till Tuesday.”

What was before Tuesday?

Another Tuesday. And another and another and another and another.

Someone from downstairs bangs loudly on the railing and berates Vortex for a safety violation, ordering him to put his cigarette away.

Vortex points his middle finger down somewhere and throws the cigarette over the railing.

Oh god. Oh shit.

First Aid swallows nervously.

“Shockwave...he used something...to control you-Mech...I mean. He did something, I think. I remember I couldn’t move couldn’t do anything. And now I’m in this hhhhplace? I don’t really recognise it.”

Vortex twitches the corner of his mouth and finally rises from the floor.

“Well I do.”

He looks like he is sick, First Aid thinks. He looks sick and he looks human and he has arms and legs and eyes and that stupid curly strand of dark hair sticking out from under his helmet and the dark eye bags.

“The bastard made up some sort of dumpster to transfer your consciousness in while he does shit to your body.”

First Aid clenches his hands together

“But there were two of us in the neural connection. And it took two of us to transfer here too...”

It suddenly dawns on him

“Wait. This base, these, everything. This is what the Mech project looked like in your time?? And Swindle and Onslaught and the staff is different and...”

Vortex raises his eyebrows smugly.

“...Here you are ...you're a human...” finishes First Aid.

Vortex pulls a crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.

From somewhere below, a loud angry bang is heard again

“Tex, you bastard stop smoking in here.”

“Fuck you, Off,” Vortex yells back.

Then shrugs his shoulders

“I've always been human. No matter how hard Shockwave and his science shithole try to change that.”

He holds out an opened pack to First Aid

“Want some?”

First Aid feels awful. Terrible as if from the drugs, terrible as if from the neural connection. Terrible as if he had a concussion times two.

But Vortex is here and Vortex believes him and even if it turns out they're the ones who are crazy and not the world around them, at least they're crazy together.

First Aid takes a cigarette

“Thanks...”

_______________

Previous

[kazumist]

HANDLE WITH CARE .ᐟ

✩ — in which soshiro hoshina finds himself getting treated by his favorite nurse, you.

✩ — includes: soshiro hoshina x gn!reader. fluff. cw: mentions of blood and injuries, inaccurate use of medical terms ?? sorry i just used google uhm. wc: 990. established (secret !!!) relationship. reblogs and feedback are much appreciated !!

✩ — note: i became obsessed with these two that i might just write a part two of reader treating him after the tachikawa base raid arc actually.

soshiro hoshina does not play favorites.

when it comes to his subordinates, at least.

when it comes to the medical team assigned to the tachikawa base, however, that is when he plays favorites (though you would never see the vice captain of the third division actually admit that; he prefers calling it his “preferences”). whenever he finds himself in the base’s infirmary, he will always look for you. and when he’s lucky, which on most occasions he is, then he’ll have you treat his wounds. it’s just something that hoshina has grown accustomed to whenever he finds himself there. nothing more, nothing less (a lie).

you were a special case for the vice captain. there was just something about the way you handled his wounds compared to others. call it picky, but he just prefers the gentle treatment that you give his wounds. (how come hoshina constantly prefers to be treated by you when others would treat him the same? isn't that part of your job in the first place?)

(the answer is simple—it’s simply an act of soshiro hoshina asking for some quality time, even if he’s all bruised and bloody.)

“i’m almost convinced that you do this on purpose sometimes.”

soshiro simply grins at you. you weren’t entirely wrong—but it’s not like hoshina asks himself to get hurt when he goes out on missions in the first place. he could handle himself pretty well; he has the high position of being the vice captain of the third division, for christ’s sake. but perhaps it is inevitable that even the vice captain would come out of a mission unscathed.

“i like the concern from you.”

you give him a lighthearted eyeroll, to which he only grins even wider. "i'm sure you do," yet that grin slowly dissipated as he winced slightly at the feeling of the alcohol touching the wound near his eyebrow. “sorry, did that hurt too much?” you asked him, worried that it might’ve stung too much for his liking. this type of close proximity was normal for you and him. after all, it’s not like this is the first time your face was this close to his—though those are times when hoshina feels rather affectionate with you rather than in pain due to some wound he got.

“nothing i can’t handle, love.” he says, recovering quite fast from the alcohol sting. he was then met with a gentle tap on the lips—hoshina knows it was a warning from you. “watch your words, vice captain.” you say, applying a small gauze pad to his wound and securing it with paper tape.

“can’t really help it when you look so pretty up close, sweetheart.”

you ignored his remark but soshiro could see the smile that tugged on your lips at the petname. you then moved on to his next wound, which is on his left shoulder. his expression softens as he watches you inspect his wound, a small amount of guilt bubbling up inside of him. “this is gonna need a little stitch,” you sighed, grabbing another cotton ball, pouring the right amount of alcohol on it, and preparing to gently dab it on the wound. “and this might hurt a bit again.” you give him a heads up.

“like i said, it’s nothing that i can’t handle,” he reassured. whether it’s you he’s reassuring or himself to convince himself, neither of you really know. he hissed slightly when the cotton ball came into contact with his skin; it was barely even heard that he hissed in the first place. but you noticed it; you always do. you would notice everything about the man before you and he would do the same.

after cleaning his shoulder wound, you proceeded to prepare to stitch it up. there was no one else in the infirmary at the moment; it was now only you and hoshina there. he silently watched you as you quickly arranged the surgical suture. and even when you started the stitching, the deafening silence was still comfortable. 

soshiro gently raised his right arm since it was uninjured and used his hand to smoothly tuck your other strands of hair behind your ear. you looked at him, raising an eyebrow at his gesture. he smiles at you in return. “your hair might get in the way. we don’t want my stitches to have your hair stuck in them now, don't we?”

you quickly finish up the stitch and put gauze on top as well. “i’m sorry.” soshiro’s apology is as genuine as it always is whenever he gets treated in this same room. “i’m starting to feel quite better now, though. couldn’t do it without my favorite nurse.” he continues, as he grabs ahold of your unoccupied hand.

he hears you chuckle at his words as you interlock your fingers together. “avoid arduous training or activities for a good one week and you’ll be good as new.” you said, sighing as now you’re finally done with treating your boyfriend. “eh? no fair. i have to go help the rookies train the day after tomorrow.”

“i’m sure captain ashiro would let you off the hook in the meantime, soshiro.”

“oh, we’re on a first name basis now?” he asks, and this time it was his turn to raise an eyebrow. you bring your other hand up to his cheek, caressing it as your thumb grazes his cheek bone. he leans into your palm as if it were a reflex. “we’ve always been on a first name basis, dummy.” you say.

“maybe all of my pain could go away if you just gave me a little kiss, you know, as your vice captain.”

“now that’s just abuse of authority. do you ask other nurses for a kiss too?” you pouted.

“that’s why your my favorite nurse.” he replies, clearly emphasizing the word “favorite” as he steals a kiss from you.

yeah, vice captain soshiro hoshina definitely does not play favorites.