asazakura

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Ref Recs for Whump Writers

Violence: A Writer’s Guide:  This is not about writing technique. It is an introduction to the world of violence. To the parts that people don’t understand. The parts that books and movies get wrong. Not just the mechanics, but how people who live in a violent world think and feel about what they do and what they see done.

Hurting Your Characters: HURTING YOUR CHARACTERS discusses the immediate effect of trauma on the body, its physiologic response, including the types of nerve fibers and the sensations they convey, and how injuries feel to the character. This book also presents a simplified overview of the expected recovery times for the injuries discussed in young, otherwise healthy individuals.

Body Trauma: A writer’s guide to wounds and injuries. Body Trauma explains what happens to body organs and bones maimed by accident or intent and the small window of opportunity for emergency treatment. Research what happens in a hospital operating room and the personnel who initiate treatment. Use these facts to bring added realism to your stories and novels.

10 B.S. Medical Tropes that Need to Die TODAY…and What to Do Instead: Written by a paramedic and writer with a decade of experience, 10 BS Medical Tropes covers exactly that: clichéd and inaccurate tropes that not only ruin books, they have the potential to hurt real people in the real world. 

Maim Your Characters: How Injuries Work in Fiction: Increase Realism. Raise the Stakes. Tell Better Stories. Maim Your Characters is the definitive guide to using wounds and injuries to their greatest effect in your story. Learn not only the six critical parts of an injury plot, but more importantly, how to make sure that the injury you’re inflicting matters. 

Blood on the Page: This handy resource is a must-have guide for writers whose characters live on the edge of danger. If you like easy-to-follow tools, expert opinions from someone with firsthand knowledge, and you don’t mind a bit of fictional bodily harm, then you’ll love Samantha Keel’s invaluable handbook

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Volume 35:

narusakusaiyamten is such a fun team and I love them

oh sai, my poor poor bby

nerd saku my love

kk knows saku is the one to ask about things, she’s his fave student for a reason

siiigggggghhhhhh training just for naru? Never seen that before

awwww inosai is so cute (look ino needs a twink okay)

obligatory hot hidan is hot

love the two tails, she’s so fucking cool

saku uses shadow clones to study, nobody can change my mind

tragedy that they didn’t do more w/ chakra elemental natures

how many chakra absorbing weapons does tenten have

where is the rest of team asuma for the mission? Ugh Wasteland thoughts: None rn, prolly most of this can stay, but anko&sasu would prolly have come back w/ team kk

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Volume 34:

ohhhhh fuckkkk I forgot that sai gives them all the anbu members

love narusaku perpetually being shocked by ‘following orders’ being part of the shinobi job description

waaaaaa I love sakura, I love how kind she is (is she nice? No, but she’s kind), how she explains so patiently to sai that he does exist, that he does have feelings, in a way that she thinks he may understand

siggggggghhhh I’m just so immune to ‘this is my bond w/ sasu and he understood me better than anybody (:’ from naru because it gets said so often. If half the manga has to be devoted to us being told that they’re still really friends guys, and naru truly loves him!!! Then maybe naru shouldn’t have to work so hard to convince himself

y’know

I’m just gonna say it. My controversial take is that naru&saku are the ones w/ the power of friendship. Like. Gaara? Part of why he stops is b/c of saku protecting sasu. Sai? Saku talks about his feelings, and then naru talks about building bonds. And yeah, there are examples of this happening w/o saku, but there are also examples of it happening w/o naru (chiyo, for example. Naru was there a bit, but it was so saku that did that one). And saku so often acts as naru’s moral center, and naru so often acts as hers. And together the two of them bring a kindness to the shinobi world.

my hc is that naru just has a really bland bland face that doesn’t have defining features outside his smile&whiskers. You know. Since he reminds everyone he meets of someone close to them. He just has one of those faces, y’know?

okay, okay, I’m coming across harsh against naru, and the truth is, I love naru when the narrative isn’t reminding me that I have to love naru because he’s just the best and so strong and cool and friendship wow. Just shut up and let me like the protagonist on my own damn terms, kishi.

I like sai doing the heel-faced turns right and left, but I wish sai’s intro had been given more time to cook, it’s like a pancake, flip-floppity and not in the fun, who’s side is he on, way, but in the… wow we’re speedrunning a character arc here because… checks notes he’s emo like sasu and naru’s so good at friendship!

I do love love love the panels of naru&saku’s faces when they hear sasu’s voice for the first time

hint hint hint hint: sasu can see the fox, circling back to it being an uchiha that loosed the fox when naru was born etc etc plus kurama recognizing the uchiha

sigh

wasteland thoughts: timeline: (main cast: kk: 29 gai: 29 or 30 anko: 26 genma: 33 kei: 11 nejileeten: 16 nart&co: 15 tem: 19 kank: 18 gaara: 15 sai: 16 yamato/tenzou: 26)

to keep: sai stuff, kabu still wants to use them to kill akatsuki? (if so, what are his motives for doing so?)

to yeet: all the punkass bitch sasu stuff

to add: make the sai change more gradual, influenced by anko&yam too, not just naru&saku; anko&sasu&yamten&naru&saku&sai team up?, sasu is able to see into the fox now, is worried, big worried, they tell them they fought itachi, but got away

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I like my men how I like my dogs, with a collar a bite history and unexplained trauma that I have to piece together through context clues

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Volume 33

jesus kabuto keeping people alive so orochi can experiment on them again and again is horrifying. The series really didn’t explore enough how absolutely terrifying medical ninjutsu is in the shinobi world

hi yes okay, yamten really should be tied up w/ snakes more frequently. For plot purposes. :)

Papa. Rat. And. His. Baby. Rats. Yes. Good. (I’m really not a sensei’s as parental figures outside of a few select cases BUT yamten as their papa rat is perf, actually.)

I forgot we learn that yamten is a experiment so soon (wasteland thought: anko&yam relationship, re: kei)

first hokage could control biju

ah yes, just knock saku out immediately, thanks kishi’s woman disease orz, something something fox something something naru’s lost control something something hurt the ones you love boooooooo

sasunaru always being in the water is very kh coded

I seriously loooovveee the ghastly way naru is drawn here, the absolute body horror that is unstated and lovely. The way that naru’s body is both a prison and a gate: a connection b/w the spirit and the mortal

saku’s heart consistently be saving people

narusaku friendship is underrated

I do appreciate that despite the fact she doesn’t like sai, saku tried to think the best of him

I love saku trying to protect naru from what happened, and also yamten refusing to ‘coddle’ them or shield them from it

wasteland thoughts: timeline: (main cast: kk: 29 gai: 29 or 30 anko: 26 genma: 33 kei: 11 nejileeten: 16 nart&co: 15 tem: 19 kank: 18 gaara: 15 sai: 16 yamato/tenzou: 26)

w/ orochi dead and kabu in charge of sound (w/ his ragtag children of nightmares), anko&sasu already being in the area… I’m going to have to rework most of this

to keep: sai, yamten, naru losing control & hurting saku, the ‘you are strong enough w/o the fox’ stuff

to be yote: orochi, sasu ‘rescuing’

to add: anko&sasu in the area, fucked ankokabu, sai&sasu meeting (this guy is my replacement on team kk? Really?), curse seal bullshit

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Kankuro be like, "dont look little brother. You are too innocent for this". And Gaara be like, I have sand eyes! You cant stop me! 🤣

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whats that kink called that you get from reading too much fantasy lit as a child that makes you want to be tortured in front of someone who loves you so you can see the pleading desperation in their eyes and hear how much they love you in between the cracks of their voice and really truly believe they would do anything to save you. also you get to look so cool and brave and covered in blood and soooo able to withstand pain haha no just me? ok

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Volume 32

gaara using his sand to help naru hold his hand—what had been an tool of violence and suffering (and protection) becomes the instrument of love it was intended to be ahhhhhh

wheeze, I’m never over gai being unable to slow down for a moment

jesus I need a fic where afab nb deidara just. Smothers tobi to death.

saiiii my boiii, not having a name, and trying to figure out smiling

re: sai, autism. Idk. I honestly go back & forth, because on the one hand, hi autism coding, on the other hand. Sai’s responses & understandings of the world are… completely rational & realistic to his upbringing, and his lack of conventional people skills is a result of trauma. OH. CPTSD can manifest in similar ways to autism. That’s what I think I’ll roll w/ w/ him. https://neurodivergentinsights.com/ptsd-and-autism/?srsltid=AfmBOooo-t4Vh42RSBDkRn-wZ9n3NnTYfy5_HGdfyNdFERmI6QN3CHM0

sakura convincing her shishou, love that

at some point, I just get tired of everybody telling me how great naru is, and just want the narrative to let his greatness speak for itself (and his friendships shine through w/o the text telling me over and over again that friendship is his power. Like. Just show him w/ his friends)

anddddddddddd immediately after the ‘naru is great at friendship (:’ it shows him having forgotten shino, like. I know he’s wearing a coat and 3 years and blah blah, but come on

CHOUJI JUST GROWING HIS FIST TO PUNCH NARU OUT, hell yeah

SAI ONLY SITS PUSSY OUT

shika is so fucking cool, I wish we got to see more of his shadow shit

…I know it’s supposed to be haha misogyny (and prolly sai has picked up misogyny as male bonding (tm)) but like. Sai not knowing about gender is actually my fave.

I hate danzo, with the fire of a thousand suns, but in a fun way

INO IS SO PRETTY

ino and sai almost had a fighting meet cute, we were ROBBED

fjkdjfdkfa yamatoooooooo baby

lololololol the english translation calling it the ‘foundation’ like. Also it being dissolved. Lol

I fucking love sai’s intro to the team, just ‘hi, yes, I’m the worst, I’m told you like this (:’

ah yes, the most fascinating part of the series “blah blah blah sasuke blah blah blah bring him back blah blah blah sasuke”

okay but sakura’s FACE after she punches sai, and yama just being like :0

yam: “so help me, I will turn this rescue around, you feral children“

HDIFJSDIOJFSDJFSd his face

ah yes, true naru bonding ‘the men hang out in the hot spring, and sakura goes off by herself’

saku&sai are cute honestly, I wish we saw more of them together, and obvious name symbolism is obvious, but I do love him not titling things because no name

jesus christ. Yam’s mission house. Show off.

see the thing is, I think we as the readers are supposed to disagree w/ sai and think he sucks, but I agree w/ him on a lot of points.

wasteland thoughts: timeline: (main cast: kk: 29 gai: 29 or 30 anko: 26 genma: 33 kei: 11 nejileeten: 16 nart&co: 15 tem: 19 kank: 18 gaara: 15 sai: 16 yamato/tenzou: 26)

ino joins in on the fight and gets a bit of a meetcute w/ sai, as a treat

sai being assigned to their team is espec fraught w/ a non-traitor sasuke, naru&saku are LIVID, yamten has to /really/ work at getting them to chill the fuck out to go the bridge

why go to the bridge? Meet up w/ sasu&anko to give intel about sasori&sound ties and make it to the meeting so they can get more intel on sound (and their plots)

sasu meets karin at this time?

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🏋️‍♂️💪 🏃‍♂️

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characters raised to be tools

Weapons. Trained, tested, forged in steel and fire. Failure is an inevitability that ends in death. Pain should not be felt--it should be recognized, familiar, and inconsequential

Martyrs. In the form of servants and princes, of leaders and underdogs. If blood is necessary, the martyr will lift their hands and offer it all

Shields. Like tempering a sword, but only to bear and not to lash out. Wounds are medals--not symbols of pride, but symbols of worth. A pretty shield is useless; scars mean a job well done

Experiments. Raised on the cold comfort of a lab table. Restraints are only necessary when they're not in their right mind. Is it honorable, to be twisted beyond recognition? Or is it just a necessary evil?

Monsters. Cruelty, caution, and regarding one as a creature beyond reasonable thought is tempering in its own right. But if you keep a leash at the right length, perhaps the massecre won't reach you. One can hope.

Idols. Pretty face, pretty name, pretty hands around their shoulders and throat. There to seduce, manipulate, force any feeling to come to the surface and twist it to their favor. Any genuinity stays locked behind the guilded cage that surrounds their pretty little heart

Trophies. Status and wealth and the traditions that keep someone at their heels, on their knees, to display and serve and decorate one's ballroom.

Sacrifices. Drenched in honorable clothes, prepared and adored and cleansed. The gift of hope at the cost of one's life. Is it taken with no fight? How can you escape the ropes you were born in?

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a handful of hotties

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She

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Cutie

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Solos under cut