“They felt sick.” — Vague.
“They threw up.” — Sometimes, but not always.
Illness isn’t a switch you flip. Fever and nausea creep, spike, ebb, lie to you, then come back worse. They live in the body first, and that’s where your writing should live too.
Below, I've written a lil' cheat sheet for you. Reblog so you can come back later.
THE BODY LANGUAGE OF FEVER & NAUSEA
Skin & Temperature
Skin alternates between clammy and burning
Deep internal warmth
Sudden chills while sweating
Clothes feel wrong, either too heavy, too tight, too warm, not warm enough, etc.
Goosebumps even in a warm room
Face flushed, ears hot, neck damp
Head & Senses
Head feels pressurized or stuffed with cotton
Eyes ache when moving
Nose stuffed (on either one side, or both)
Ears ringing or deaf on one side
Lights are too bright/sharp
Sounds blur together
Food smells gross
Room feels tilted or surreal
Focus slips mid-thought
Food/water has an aftertaste
Stomach & Core
Nausea that comes in waves
Swallowing feels deliberate, effortful
Dry swallowing, dry throat—dry everything
Saliva thickens or pools suddenly
Abdomen tightens
Hunger exists but is nauseating at the same time
Body curls inward without thinking
Mouth & Throat
Tongue feels coated
Taste turns metallic, bitter, or flat
Lips dry; licking them doesn’t help
Gag reflex hair-trigger sensitive
Breathing through the mouth makes it worse
Movement & Posture
Barely any movement
Sitting becomes slouching, then curling
Standing too fast triggers instant nausea/dizziness
Hands brace on thighs, counters, walls
Feet shuffle; balance checked constantly
Body seeks cold surfaces or firm pressure
Voice & Speech
Voice dulls or drops in volume (due to plugged nose and raspy throat)
Words come slower
Sentences trail off unfinished
Irritation spikes easily (even if people are being nice)
Delayed responses
Apologies come out automatically (“Sorry. Sorry.”)
NOT ALL “SICK” FEELS THE SAME
Fever (infection-based):
Comes with chills + heat
Mental fog, slowed reaction time
Body aches feel deep, joint-based
Thirst increases, appetite drops
Sleep is restless, sweaty, unrefreshing
Colds / Flu:
More head pressure, sinus heaviness
Heavy cough, sore throat
Heavy fatigue
Fever may be mild or absent (especially colds)
Chronic Illness Flares:
Pain is familiar but still intense
Less panic, more resigned
Symptoms stack (fatigue + nausea + pain)
Character may ration movement and speech
Recovery expectations are lower
Menstrual Cramps:
Pain pulses rhythmically
Heat helps
Nausea tied to motion and smell
Sensitive emotions (more prone to snapping, saying things they regret)
Body feels heavy
Stress-Induced Nausea:
No fever, no chills
Jaw tension, shallow breathing
Nausea spikes during stillness
Relief when distracted or moving
These differences matter. They change how a character reacts, not just how they feel.
So yeah, hope that helps. You don't need vomiting on the page every time. Sometimes being sick is feeling off-key, or sometimes it's quiet recovery. It varies. The symptoms are one part of your story, the rest is up to characterization and plot. Why is illness relevant to your story? Why is this character sick, and how is it different from another character? You can have a lot of fun with this.
Written by a human with a headache and too much experience lying very still, hoping it passes. If you liked this post, buy me a coffee... or cough medicine. 😔
"Aro/Ace person gets given a love potion" story but instead of them being immune or whatever, it DOES work, and they realize IMMEDIATELY that they've been fed a love potion because this feeling is so wrong and foreign but everyone keeps laughing off the idea of it being a love potion because "they were probably just a late bloomer" or "no, you just finally found the right person!" and it's just a horror story about how no one believes them even though they know, they KNOW this isn't right and they can't stand it.
i tried making a contrapuntal poem for hollanov, which can be read 3 ways: shane’s side alone, ilya’s side alone, or both sides together. inspired by the long game.
The makers of Kinktober 2025 are back again with a brand new list! The graphics are once again created by latte-cucumber. Check out our AO3 collection, or keep reading for more information.
More information
Kinktober is a kinky October prompt challenge that’s been running in one form or another since 2016. There are three prompts for each day in October, and the challenge is to use one (or more!) of the prompts to create something for that day. If you don’t want to use any of the three daily prompts, you can swap them out for the bonus prompts at the bottom of the prompt list.
If you have any questions, check our FAQs. Unfortunately, due to personal commitments, we won't be opening our askbox for questions this year. We've made it as rules-light as possible, though, so if your question is "Can I do this?", the answer is almost certainly yes!
It consists in just looking at people and things as themselves - neither as useful nor moral nor ugly nor anything else; but just as BEING. [...] What happens is that I suddenly feel the extraordinary value and importance of everybody and everything I see. [...] I roam about places - yesterday I did it even in Birmingham! - and sit in trains and see the essential glory and beauty of all the people I meet. I can watch a dirty middle-aged tradesman in a railway-carriage for hours, and love every dirty greasy sulky wrinkle in his weak chin and every button on his spotted unclean waistcoat. I know their states of mind are bad. But I'm so much occupied with their being there at all, that I don't have time to think of that. I tell you that a Birmingham gouty Tariff Reform fifth-rate business man is splendid and immortal and desirable.
Gladys Arnold quoting unknown in correspondence to Hazel
"She had once been a Catholic, but discovering that priests were infinitely more attentive when she was in the process of losing or regaining faith in Mother Church, she maintained an enchantingly wavering attitude."
"For many years he hovered in the background of his family's life, an unassertive figure with a face half-obliterated by lifeless, silky hair, continually occupied in "taking care" of his wife, continually harassed by the idea that he didn't and couldn't understand her."
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izzy806
