#big thorst

Woter

Woter

WOTER

N E E D. I T

Good morning lovely Anon! 

Among all my Naruto AUs, Hunting Grounds is my favourite so I get all giddy that you're asking about it (thank you so much for your message!!). You ever have a story that you're way too invested into, but don't really produce much content for it so what you got out there doesn't do it justice? <__<;;

For the coming up with it question, I'm not sure if you're asking just for this concept specifically or for AUs in general? But in any case,  for any AUs, break down the character’s story (not just their personality traits and concepts) into their main facets and make sure to keep those in whatever narrative/aesthetic you throw them into. I'm picky when it comes to alternate 'verses because more often than not, you could just replace the name of the characters with new ones and pass it off as original fiction.

Kakuzu without a betrayal from what or who he had put above himself and the paranoia/anger that tags along, without living on the fringe of society, without turning himself somehow more monster than man, without hunting something valuable and ignoring the small stuff isn't Kakuzu for me. 

And you can play a bit on that, like for Kakuzu in this setting, the hearts that he steals and high-priced bounties that he hunts are rolled into one: he hunts down the people that are valuable--in an objective, "greater good" kinda way--like elders, medics, warriors, hunters, etc. They're the hearts of their society, the pillars, and their loss has a great impact on how the town functions.

Also I love Regional Gothic horror because it feels like home. I grew up in one of those small towns full of gossips and hiveminds and nothing is weird AT ALL stop asking, surrounded by forests and lakes and one year the river rose and took 4 people from the same spot on separate nights. I found a clearing once and it was full of moss-covered vertebraes on the ground, like if they’d been planted there as seeds to grow something angry that the forest needed. My own real experiences are often thrown into my art and stories :)