Refuge of Wire and Wing

Refuge of Wire and Wing (5018 words) by BloopyBloopz
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Original Work
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Additional Tags: Mechsploitation, Trenchsploitation, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Ableism, Body Dysphoria, Non-Consensual Drug Use
Summary:

A wheelchair-bound engineer, in the midst of the greatest war the planet has ever seen, is offered a chance to fly.

Review from June 2026
I really like this. It doesn't feel like I've read that many mechsplo stories that engage with disability in the way that this one does and I think it offers us a new and meaningful story within the genre. Kanara as a character is interesting from the start but the thing that I really love about this story is what happens after she gets in the mech, what happens once she has got her first taste of flight... It doesn't go well for her. Because of course it doesn't.

At the start you feel like you are getting into a fairly normal story about a wheelchair bound pilot who, in being a pilot, is given some sense of freedom of movement back—that would be the standard version of this tale—but this is mechsplo and there are no happy endings. Kanara ends up just as trapped as any other hound does. The ending is great. It's grim and you are going to be left with things to think about and it makes you feel uncomfortable and for me that aspect really elevates this story to something wonderful. I strongly recommend this one. I think more people should read it.