so initially the idea for the fic title came from an unreleased file of ethel cain's, titled "doe hunting". that was the title of the document i think until i finished the first chapter which is usually when things fall into place for me. it was supposed to be a placeholder title and initially i wasn't planning to use the deer/fawn metaphor at all.
the decision to make minho the fawn of the story came when i included this looming story of children and teens going missing near the start of the fic, and explaining the odd aspect of it being a hunting rifle, not a smaller gun or something more practical. it was some other small things like how minho gravitated to monica like a fawn to a doe, how much he resembles his mother, etc.
once that precedent was set, the theme of minho being a fawn beneath the boot of st*ph*n became very natural for me to write. especially with how common hunting is/was in that area (shady grove), it felt like the perfect theme to kind of hang over the fic.