#i'll update it as stuff gets added or needs clarified

[pbeltarts]

Hey! I decided it might be helpful to have a reference post for all the details for the AU. I'll update this periodically as new things are revealed or added. - Bec

General Info

This Au is based on Pixie Hollow and the Tinkerbell movies/books! Most of it will lean on the movie lore, but will borrow some lore from the books as well. I also am making up a lot of lore myself to fill in gaps for the storyline or make the translation from MHA easier.

You can learn more about the lore of Pixie Hollow via the wiki!

#MHAPixieHollow

Want to draw or write with the AU and share it? You can use the above hashtag so it'll be connected! I'll try to check this tag regularly so I can share your work! (This should work on tumblr and insta, but I cannot be certain for twitter/bluesky.)

Some General Guidelines:

While my AU has a plot line and is intended to have BKDK as the focus ship, I don't care/mind if you like the designs and want to draw your preferred ship with them! As long as you're nice to others, do what you want! (So even though I'm making this for BKDK, if you like KRBK and like their designs, I don't care if you draw/write that with the AU!)

I do have a storyline for the AU and am working on a fic with that, but! I love seeing others' creativity, so if you want to use the AU for your own writing, feel free! All I ask is that you don't claim anything as "canon" to the AU unless its been stated by me!

Its unlikely I'll be able to design every fairy from 1A or elsewhere, so if I haven't designed them and you want to come up with a design for the AU, do it! I'd love to see it!

If you like any of the art from the AU and want to use it for PFPs/Banners on your social accounts, you're free to do so! I'd prefer credit if you did, thanks!

Most of my work for the AU will be monochrome sketches, so if you want to color them feel free! All I ask is that you properly credit me if you share your coloring.

The Fairies

Izuku aka "Deku" - [design]

Talent: Dust Keeper Alchemy Info: Deku's wings are covered in black veins that creep onto his back and he cannot fly, even with the help of pixie dust. He's given blue pixie dust by All Might and works on alchemy experiments in secret in order to do multiple talents.

Katsuki aka "Kacchan" - [design]

Talent: Fast Flying Info: One of the best fast flyers in Pixie Hollow, he has unique control over the winds. Constantly keeping Deku out of trouble.

Eijirou - [design]

Talent: Animal Talent Info: One of Katsuki's closest friends. He has a best animal friend, a turtle named Boulder, who he visits regularly and takes sun naps on his shell.

Denki - [design]

Talent: Light Talent Info: Playful and excitable, he has a habit of accidentally lighting himself up when excited.

Mina

Talent: Garden Talent Info: Fun-loving and overly social, she loves calling forward a bunch of colorful petals to surprise others.

Kyouka

Talent: Music Talent Info: Likes to play her guitar in various places in pixie hollow for her friends. Momo, the tinker fairy, makes and fixes her instruments.

Hanta

Talent: Scouting Talent Info: Specializes in using vines and ropes to restrain threats. A fairly laid back fairy who likes to bother his friends and laze about when avoiding orders from Hawks, the leader of the Scouting guild.

Ochaco - [design]

Talent: Fast Flying Info: While not the fastest of the flying talents, Ochaco specializes in utilizing winds to create a soft floating affect. She's most useful in helping dandelions find their way to the pixie dust tree or assisting in soft landings.

Shouto - [design]

Talent: Light & Frost Talents Info: Shouto is a unique fairy where two dandelions were growing from the same stalk when it took flight to Pixie Hollow. Because of this, him and his intentional sibling became one when influenced by Pixie dust, making him both a Summer and Winter fairy. Because of this, he can do 2 talents and also survive in both climates for elongated periods of time. However, he cannot stay in one place for a whole year, and regularly has to move between the Summer Glade and the Winter Woods.

Tsuyu

Talent: Water Talent Info: One of the only Water fairies that willingly gets into water, though she doesn't submerge her wings and only stands in shallow ends. She calls Izuku "Izu-chan."

Tenya

Talent: Fast Flying Info: A very structured fairy, he doesn't like deviating from his schedule. He's considered possibly the fastest of the fast flying talents but his wind control is lacking.

Hitoshi

Talent: Dust Keeping Info: Always tired. One of Izuku's closest friends, he'll defend Izuku in his own way from others. Has some unspoken guilt that he maybe somehow was the reason Izuku's wings formed incorrectly.

All Might

Talent: Unknown Info: When acting as king, All Might presents himself in a full-bodied muscled form. But out of the public eye, he presents as a feeble older fairy named Toshinori. The other fairies outside of the Never Council and Fairy Inko don't know that they're the same people, which allows Toshinori to speak comfortably with others and keep an eye on Pixie Hollow from the sidelines. Izuku meets Toshinori and helps him with something, despite the task being far harder without the help of flight, and Toshinori sees how hard Izuku is trying and feels something special about him, so he gives Izuku a supply of blue pixie dust.

More TBA!

Other Characters

Eri

Eri is a human child whose laugh Deku was born from. She lives a difficult life.

Mirio aka "Lemillion"

Mirio is a blonde mouse and Eri's only friend, who attempts to look out for her and make her smile. Eri gave him the nickname "Lemillion" because it sounds like 'lemon' (because of his fur) and how he's 1 in a million.

More TBA!

F.A.Q.

What happened to Deku's wings? Can he not fly?

Deku's wings did not work since his arrival. They look different from others' wings and don't respond to pixie dust, so he cannot take flight. Because he was born from Eri's sorrowful laugh, there was not enough joy in it for him to form correctly. [You can see Deku's Birth comic here!]

What about [insert character name]?

I have plans for most of the main cast from MHA, but not all of them will be fairies. As for other characters, like students from 1B or other NPCs, I don't have solid thoughts for all of them and really only think of them if I plan to insert them into the story so I probably don't have a role for them.

How did Katsuki and Izuku meet?

Katsuki met Izuku on Izuku's arrival day! He was the fairy to see Izuku's dandelion come into Pixie Hollow and aided it to the Pixie Dust Tree. [You can see the comic here!]

Is this a fanfic or comic I can read?

Right now, all that exists are the little snippet comics and drawings I've made. However! I have a storyline in mind for the AU set roughly 6 years after Deku's birth, and I'm going to try to write it! I'll definitely share it when I'm able.

Will there be other ships in the AU other than BKDK?

Probably! But I haven't given it much thought or focus yet.

Can I cosplay your fairy designs?

ABSOLUTELY!! And please show me because I will cry.

Am I allowed to do fanart/write something for the AU?

OF COURSE!!! Please please share it with me too I'd love to see it! You can also use the tag #MHAPixieHollow !

More TBA as needed.

[zombeebunnie]

Trembling Essence Devlog 3:💙Final touch ups to the Afternoon route!💙

Hi and welcome new followers, it doesn't feel like it's been a while month! Here's an update to progress of the game! :]

There will be spoilers if you haven't played through the [Extended Demo], specifically the afternoon route. Click here if you would like to play! :]

*To avoid confusion from my last game development post, please note that game updates about the game will be every two weeks to possibly 1 month(???) this year since I didn't clarify that correctly in devlog 2.

This post will be a little all over the place since there was week and a half where I wasn't able to work on the game mixed in with drawing practice. :,]

The cooking scene:

Outside of testing everything, this section won't be tampered with any further! Woohoo!

While I went to clean up this section with new and updated content I unfortunately had really bad writers block and it took a while before I was finally able to adjust. What caused most of this was redoing a lot of the old code and new callbacks. In the [Extended Demo] I didn't specify them correctly and tweaking it with new situations was hard to do. Once completed I went back and did a couple of test runs and there were still issues with Noah's responses. In the end I decided to just keep what I managed to fix and remove the rest. There was left over new content I forgot to take out in certain choices and pushed it further into Day 4+ to keep the pacing balanced. *Callbacks in canon with how Noah reacts to what's added into the soup are still here! :[]

The sewing scene:

Around this section is when the writers block was really getting to me. I really loved what was originally here along with the new content but not being able to go back and continue from where I left off for almost a week and a half was hard to get used to.

At some point while I was working on all of this I lost the new script I created for this scene and I thought I saved over it by accident and would have to start all of it from scratch if I couldn't find it. In very good news, I found it! I accidently saved it in a different folder. :,P For now I decided to combine the new content with the version from the [Extended Demo] which includes quality of life changes to the dialog/scenes/choices etc. This will take some time to go through and I want to be extra careful not to misplace anything this time. :P

Animated scene:

I finally got the chance to add in a animation scene! Yay! :D

I talked about this some time last year about wanting to animate this part of the game to give that immersive view of how bad the storm is outside. Originally I had planned to animate the morning, afternoon, and evening scenes too but after going over it with my play tester we both agreed that it should only be animated during parts of the game when it's genuinely needed.

Weird glitch/bug encounter solved?:

I have no idea how this happened but at some point through testing out the game, 3 CG's turned completely black, specifically CG's where the player(Y/N) would turn out the lights. I didn't catch it at first until I noticed the screen was too dark and you literally couldn't see anything. I went through the images folder and all of them were pitch black. I thought I would have to go back and remake the images but it somehow fixed itself?

More stuff was added behind the scenes BUT I'm not ready to share it just yet and I don't want this update post to be too long. I'm going to take some time out and complete everything else I didn't get the chance to work on and hopefully by the next game development post I'll be working on the morning route! :,D

If you like what I create, please consider supporting what I do on kofi [Here]! All donations and tips help tremendously while I continue to work on the game. Thank you to those that optionally bought the [Extended Demo] on itch.io. :,]

Q&A / Ask box is open:

To know and understand Noah through Asks and random posts about lore, they'll be under #Get to know: Noah ! :]

I had a lot of fun answering recent asks I've been sent!

**Some asks won't be answered if it contains spoilers but I do appreciate what I receive. :]

If you have any questions about Trembling Essence/Noah feel free to ask here or on itch.io please. This makes it easier for me to see and answer accordingly! I enjoy hearing from you guys!

That's all I have to share right now. Thank you everyone for the support and patience! :,]

[mammoth-clangen]

Do you like Clangen and Sabertoothed cats? Great, me too!

My name is Pav and this is my clangen blog! <Start reading here>

Important Things

🧓 Im a '99 bby so please don't DM if you're a minor (actually would prefer no unexpected DMs period tbh, im anxious)

⛏️ I work 12hrs 7 days, week on/week off, meaning I will completely vanish 50% of the time and there's nothing I can do about it

🦘 I'm also an Aussie, so my time zone is weird even when I'm not at work (So if I don't reply, im not ignoring u! ;v;-b )

❔️Asks and Anons are turned on! Please read the FAQ below before asking to avoid repeats c:

😻 I read all the tags and replies even if I don't reply. Tysm everyone saying nice things, it makes my day ;v;

😵‍💫 My focus changes like the weather lately, so while I'm Hoping I'll be able to keep this up, please don't get Life Or Death Invested c':

Tags

#mammothmoon -all chapters are tagged with this

#moon (1/2/3/etc) -each moon is tagged by number, and in-character asks from given moons

#mammothask -asks sent to me (will also tag who asks them)

#mammothfanart -art of my silly sabercats by other blogs, tysm!

#mammothref -character references (or possibly species refs if i make them eventually)

#paleo stuff -anything where I'm nerding about paleo biology etc

#ooc/#Pav chatter -Pav updates about Pav! or asks directed to me

#blood/gore/animal death/etc -tagged straight as is if you need to block them!

FAQ

This will be added to as I get more asks and replies to go off!

How often do you post pages?

I try for at least once every 2 weeks, as I spend 50% of my life in the outback with no ability to draw!

Where/ when is Mammothclan set?

In late pleistocene North America, around 12ka ago, during the Younger Dryas!

What species are the cats?

They're Homotherium serum, a scimitar toothed cat.

How paleo accurate is this setting?

Relatively accurate? There's not going to be any species out of their time and place, but I'm not super bothered by, say, exact plant species and how realistic certain story aspects are.

Can I ask the characters' questions?

You can, but I can't promise to answer all of them!

Are we allowed to include characters as cameos/ draw fanart?

Yes definitely absolutely!!!!

You are also welcome to change them to regular cats if that fits better cx (please don't humanise them though, I find that specifically very uncanny)

What mode are you playing on Clangen/ what toggles?

Expanded mode, mass extinctions on, cheating on, "pregnancy ignores biology" off, unknown second parent pregnancies off (bc in my trial run every queen was constantly spawning kittens at lightspeed, no ty)

How far ahead are you from the pages you've drawn?

Currently 40moons ahead, cause I like playing the long game with foreshadowing >:3c

Where do you download Clangen?

Here!

Could you elaborate on/ explain content of (page/panel/speech bubble) that confused me?

Sure! If something is unclear, but it seems like it should be explained, please ask and I'll make sure to clarify c:

Can you tell me about (character backstory/spoilers/ aspect of lore not touched on in comic yet)?

No! I don't want to spoil those kinds of things, I'd rather they come up naturally in the comic than dump them under an ask.

I'm a firm believer that if it doesn't happen in text, it's not cannon.

[stuckinmymind22]

playlists debrief | stay/is it over now? + better man

spoilers for this chapter (its a debrief)

i had too much to say for an a/n so we're making a dedicated post now lol. i have comments on the actual work and the process that need to be purged or they will stick with me too much. this is more rambling than anything but some thoughts are coherent

ace is bi for sure, i just didn't know how to specify that when i was calling him a slut bc i meantion that he doesn't bring girls over for platonic reasons, but boy brings dudes over platonically and i couldn't clarify that w/o it being clunky so i'll say it here

luffy was totally being a wingman bothering sabo like that (he was also genuinely hungry too but that's honestly a given) it was fully intentional for him to pull sabo out of the house

luffy might not understand romance or social conventions but goddamnit he can see when two people like-like each other (his words), it just took him a lil bit here bc he was so excited yk (luffy AuDHD headcanon real here)

Ik i just met sabo/koala (as adults) in dressrosa but i firmly believe that they both can be nosy bitches, but like only when they care to be. That is why i added in the talk w sabo and the bonus texts of him updating koala on what’s going down lol

I had to take out frobin i had to include sabo and koala, i’m sorry (vivi will probably make an appearance for those of you wondering)

i said i was gonna gut this chapter, and i did, but i also added a bunch of stuff to it, like that whole thing with sabo at the end was not supposed to be there, it came to me

as for the things that i cut;

the entire phone convo from the start (was gonna make frobin canon here, just know that it is)

a whole walk in the park

nami was supposed to call while you were sleeping and ace ends up answering (bc you don't wake up) and nami grills him

a whole sequence about leaving, and was debating having ace give up his bed and you spending the night (which would mean i have to rewrite some things already written)

probably something else i forgot idk

Dude you have no i dea how hard it is to not insert my personal taste in music entirely, like you’re gonna get some that’s just how this works but GOD when i get talking about music you gotta stab me to make me stfu really, i will talk your ear off about music if you give me the chance.

I also am struggling with picking songs that are probably gonna be known, im an avid discover weekly listener, a large majority of the artists i listen to are rocking with less than 300k monthly listeners, or its taylor swift. Even as a die hard swiftie i am not gonna use only her music that would drive me insane, there’s too much out there.

I also am struggling to not literally mold the story to the songs, which i never wanted to do in the first place, i want these bitches to have media literacy and understand that there’s a message in the song that they are supposed to be listening to rather than word for word. For ace this isn’t too too hard bc i have a playlist for him already but damn i just want to force everyone to shut up and listen to matilda cole or something omg. Losing track of where im going with this, maybe i;ll rewrite it when i transfer it over if you see this i copied and pasted all my unhinged thoughts so im sorry

pls like & comment! let me know your thoughts | © stuckinmymind22 | dividers by @enchanthings

[jupiter-va]

hi!!!! so ik your focus is on audios (which are absolutely amazing btw) but i was wondering if you could maybe explain how you color/render your artwork? i’m new to digital art and have been struggling a bit. if not that’s totally okay!! i understand <3

Hi! I totally can, though this is gonna get long lol. I tried going in depth? I'm not too great at explaining things so I'm 100% cool with clarifying things if needed. This isn't TLOU art, I was re watching Devilman Crybaby and sketched this out last night. I saw this ask right as I was about to start so the timing was perfect lol

I'm gonna try to go step by step? I haven't rendered digitally in a while, mostly just sketching. Also, this is kinds rushed, it's late, but it explains everything (I hope?)

1.After I do my sketch, I do a fuck ton of blending. It helps me build shadows/depth and I also just like the way it looks. (I also duplicated my sketch in case I mess up and can't go all the way back)

2. Ok, a lot happened, I zoned out, but I swear it's not a lot. I use a grey base on one layer. I clipped color layer to the grey base so that I wouldn't go out of the lines

I changed the line art color to a reddish-brown (which helps me with blending into the skin later) and I added the base color and certain tones.

This character is on the paler side, so a lot of the colors I'm gonna use are cool (blues, greens). And I'm gonna use a ton of red(bc blood flow, and a ton of blush is a stylistic choice for me).

Note: Instead of going straight in with a blending brush, I use transition colors. Blending brushes are good too, I used one for blending the initial sketch, but transitional colors just make everything flow a bit better than just blending two completely different colors. (Color pick between different shades/colors to blend, its tedious but it's what I do)

3. I created a multiply layer and deepened the shadows a bit using the same color as the base skin color, and I made a highlight layer as well (the opacity is pretty low on both the highlight and the shadow layer, you gotta mess around with it)

Has it felt like I've been rendering this entire time?? Absolutely. Have I? No.

I make the initial stages of my drawing all annoying so that when I get to the *checks notes* 8th layer, I can just do the fun stuff. I'm not done at all, but the rendering layer itself is pretty simple, I just add all the stuff that makes the drawing look less dull. Adding more pinkish color on the lips, nose and cheeks. Bringing back a lot of green and blue (that's just a style thing, also there is a 9th layer but thats just the little white highlights)

This definitely isn't the "correct" way to do this (there is no right way), but it's how I do it. I would show how I render hair but:

1.I have no clue what I'm doing when I do it, I just fuck around until it looks decent (even more so than I do with the skin)

and

2.My chair is hurting my butt

All in all, you just gotta practice a bunch and figure out what you like. Using pinterest and Youtube helps me a lot when I'm stuck or need a refresher💕

Again, please let me know if I need to explain something better, I'm not great at teaching stuff like this😅

I might finish this, I probably won't, but if I do, I'll post the full thing.

Update: I finished

[julietasgf]

Juli

I'M BACK (I never left, it just took me a while to respond because I need to think about my answers otherwise I'll ramble on ad infinitum and college beats me eh). I love talking to you so I hope it's not a problem I'll keep asking you stuff about these fascinating characters (The Plinth) and any other topics because I love your ideas and your takes.

About your reply on AO3, I can promise that I will start doing my own HCs on Strabo and Ma and you will be the first person I will show it to when I have written it. I must also say that I agree with you: while ships and romantic relationships are amazing to explore, platonic and familial relationships are just as interesting and deserve to have their fics and hc and analysis within the fandom. (Can we talk about the potential of Lysistrata as a possible friend of Sejanus in canon?)

Before I start with my rant of the movie (it's finally here, another day we will continue with the many other things like the war in Two, First Quarter Quell, etc jsjsjfjs) I come to pass you the link of the fic I mentioned and also to recommend you a new series of fics that recently appeared centered on Baby Sejanus during the war (please tell me what do you think!!!)

1. Bullets Over Two

It is being update I must warn but what is there is for now, is very good!

2. All I Long for is Home (Little Sejanus series)

I really thought it was magical when they sent the link on discord for this series. It has everything we love: Baby Sejanus, studied the dynamics of the Plinth and their experiences during the war!

Speaking of the Plinth. I think its function is both ways: they are clearly the immigrant experience and the difficulties of forced assimilation of coming from another country as identity crises but also USA is a very large nation and as you say, the culture shock within its own territory is enormous and continues to reproduce these dynamics of discrimination.

Ah yes I send you a big hug for the mockery. People really can be cruel. I don't get it, to me it seems like such a nice way to call mothers. 🥺

In my case I'm from the capital but my father is not, he came from a state and has told me a couple of truly traumatic experiences about the problem of fitting in. Ah

But well. The time has come for the rant.

First I would like to clarify that I loved the movie. Great cast, great direction, costumes and cinematography. The soundtrack is a fucking work of art. Iconic enough that I will forgive them for not adapting the snowjanus song from the book. I also think Coriolanus and Lucy Gray had more than satisfying and well done arcs.

In fact there were some changes to the story they made in the movie that seem to me to be great additions or reinterpretations of the text (Example. making Felix the president's son, killing him and having Dr. Gaul use his death to interrupt Reaper's act of direct rebellion -another change that as you can see I am into it-, Tigris serving with that line "You look like your father, Coriolanus", etc).

I don't have a problem with any of that. My big conflict comes down to their portrayal of the Plinth and the Academy students (I'm mostly talking about Clemensia but I didn't limit myself to her). As I said before the absence of the Plinth (Ma and Strabo) seems problematic to me, because they will be the worst crime of Coriolanus. They are the proof of how many limits he is willing to cross to get to power while being the force that is able to allow him to fulfill those ambitions. It's fucked up and very necessary to show in order to understand Snow.

I understand that the time was probably here what contributed to the fact that we only got to see them in a small cameo but gosh I think one scene. One little scene they could have given us. Besides it wouldn't have been a waste, because a lot of information about the Snow's we found out in relation to the Plinth.

What can I say?, I just feel sad every day that we don't have the scene of Coriolanus and Strabo talking in the movie. It's such a short but intense conversation.

With Sejanus my biggest complaint is that because the involvement of his family and family history is almost nonexistent, viewers of the film alone don't know a lot of much needed facts about who he is to see his nuances and there were changes that worked against reflecting his character as well as his situation.

The most extreme example that we have discussed before is the Sandwiches scene. In the movie, the credit is taken away from Sejanus, who was the only one to be concerned about the welfare of the tributes in the book. He was the first to try to approach them not to put on a show like Coriolanus but to try to offer them dignified treatment.

That Sejanus brought so much food. That he did not give up even though at the beginning no tribute wanted to approach and in the end his thing with Marcus will not be settled are actions that speak a lot about who he is. Since such actions don't take place in the film, it leaves an incomplete understanding of the character (which leads people in tiktok to have the worst takes on him in the world).

But this doesn't just happen with poorly executed scenes, it's present even in well done scenes like Sejanus responding to Arachne's bad comments. While it's a scene I adored and establishes well that Sejanus and his fellow academy members live in very different worlds, I don't think it quite captures Sejanus' situation well.

Although inferred, in reality outside of disagreements of opinion there is little in the film that if you don't know the context of the book, tells you very clearly that Sejanus has been harassed and bullied by his classmates for over a decade and the true extent of the hostility of the environment to him.

Which in part doesn't quite capture the reason for his desperation. Equally influential is that Sejanus begins with a higher pitch of protest in the films rather than the escalating spiral he faces in the book.

Now about the Sandwiches scene, I think we can all agree that it is made to make Coriolanus look much better than he acted in that particular situation and ultimately impacts along with other subtle changes in his behavior to make the character a more gentle and selfless version than his book counterpart.

And as you rightly said Juli, Sejanus is not the only character who is prevented from showing his virtues to 100, to favor the image of Coriolanus. This happens in fact with all the students of the academy. Especially with Clemensia.

I wanted to talk about Lysistrata but I feel the same problem with her as with the Plinth: they are practically nonexistent, and it is striking that the other character who genuinely showed concern for her tribute, sought to give him a humane treatment and was not particularly in favor of the games, was almost eliminated.

But I'll go with Festus. Who like other characters in TBOSAS - THG is a greyscale. He'll say wild and clearly poorly thought out things like suggesting the use of capital punishment and brute force to get more people to watch the games but he's also a kid who mourns the death of Arachne, the twins, eats at all hours, is funny, and told Clemensia she was cruel for not wanting to send food to her tribute. And he had a kind of connection with Coral.

According to Coriolanus he was also one of the few people who liked Sejanus more than the average student at the academy. Which says something about his persona, but more importantly in Coryo's own words.

Festus was his best friend and I was quite surprised at the kind of focus they gave him in the movie because not only is there more focus on his flaws but his moments with Coriolanus are more sparse. You wouldn't think they were friends. Again I'm not 100% complaining about that alteration and I can understand where it comes from (it was to give more focus on snowjanus "friendship") but here we have a character who to a lesser extent is reduced to being a mentor who doesn't treat his tribute with gentleness unlike Coriolanus and who seems to not be his friend. Just his classmate.

Which brings us to Clemensia. Who I think is worthy of a place in the "I was close to Coriolanus Snow and he ruined my life" club. I think people underestimate the weight of Coriolanus' actions when he decides to put himself first. When he decides to put her aside to ensure his own survival.

Clemmie is one of Snow's closest friends. And their relationship is the least complex compared to other important relationships in Coryo's life. Which I think is something that promotes the strength of their bond, as Dovecote is genuinely just a friend that Coriolanus spends time with.

It's not as wearing and multi-layered as his love hate Sejanus. Like the conflicts Lucy Gray stirs up and it's nowhere near as torturous as his relationship with Tigris. Coriolanus genuinely cares for her and they seem to understand each other well but this is what I think makes her the first victim.

I can't really say that Coriolanus will act badly in the whole situation. It was Gaul at the end of the day who did most of the damage; demanding that rehearsal from them even when Arachne died, lying to Clemensia to send a message to Snow.... But it is the turning point. Because Coriolanus is faced with a crossroads, what happens with Clemensia forces him to acknowledge what he has always known.

The Capitol does not care about protecting its people. The Capitol is cruel and oppressive. The Capitol subjugates them. He can't rely on institutions or adults to protect him.

And I can't blame him for his reaction, but it is his reaction that makes him complicit. He decides not to protest, not to argue, not to tell and not even to try to take care or to know about Clemensia once she disappears. He does it to ensure his own survival. To take care of his family in theory and other things but it is that point of fall where the debate opens up within him as to why his actions and what he is willing to leave behind in order to survive.

He runs away from her, unable to face the horror of his own inability to act or do anything else for Clemensia and while he awkwardly apologizes, for leaving his friend behind, it was this event that marks this point of who else he is capable of leaving alone as soon as they "become a threat" to his interests.

So I don't understand for the life, why they didn't shoot the scene of her in the hospital with snake scales? Clemensia and Coriolanus' arc IS VITAL. And removing it was a huge mistake, not only that, but changing Clemmie's attitude to make it look like she "deserved" what dr. Gaul did. It was honestly the worst decision. It just doesn't make sense. And I mean that in all seriousness. They didn't even complete her story *scream*.

But well, who I am to complain... On a happier note our beautiful LATAM AU. 🤭 Of course, Sejanus is the one who fights with Strabo every time there is a family reunion. His cousins try to eat at the speed of light before Sejanus starts saying things against the pigs politics who exploit people and Strabo tells him he's a dumb anarchist and stop questioning everything and then they start yelling at each other and have to take the kids somewhere else 😭😭😭

By the way it would be funny if Sejanus, is disinherits by his dad every christmas and he's like "I don't even care about your dirty money" but Coriolanus DOES CARE so he scolds him every time he says that and tries to talk some sense into him although the odds are also very high that he tried to convince Strabo to make him his heir instesd of Sejanus by chatting with him in the yard JAJSJSJSJSIS

Arg Coryo is good because Tigris has an album and a copy of that album with pictures of him dressed as a chick for a dance and other horrors. AND SIIII YOU UNDERSTAND VESTA IS THAT MOTHER WHO CAN DANCE EVERYTHING.

Rip Coryo and his two left feet. He let himself be led but was a very embarrassing companion for someone like Vesta who moves with grace. Sejanus offers to give him lessons so he doesn't make a fool of himself again at parties jsjsjshs

GOD IS CANON. LGB WOULD DEFINITELY GIVE HIM A NASTY POLITICAL CAMPAIGN SHIRT to (make fun of him). Also she has permanently threatened Coriolanus that if he is ever an unacceptable jerk again, she will funar him on social media 💀

STRABO IS THAT KIND OF DAD JSJSJS HE LOVES TELENOVELAS HE JUST REFUSES TO ADMIT IT BUT IT'S SO OBVIOUS. Imagine Sejanus and Coryo discussing telenovela villains and someone gets a fact wrong and Strabo is like "but this actually happened..." and saying he knows because Vesta told him but everyone knows that in his office he watches telenovelas in secret LMAO

About the daddy issues. This the scene

This is getting long already but I think daily about Coriolanus and Strabo's talk and then that time Coriolanus realizes he's acting like Strabo with Sejanus. Damn. I just know that if we would have had a snowjanus + strabo encounter. THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED I SWEAR JSKSLS

😭😭

Coryo: Don't yell Mr. Plinth at Sejanus he is just trying to help...

5 minutes later:

Strabo: But don't give him the order yelling,young Snow, you should know Sejanus is sensible...

3 minutes later:

*both of them yell at Sejanus*

Sejanus: This is normal yes :)

Oh. I forgot my song.

1. New song sejarcus certified and yes it's an accurate portrayal of Strabo's father. Its crazy.

2. European Mexican warning: but I need you to see the video of Rosalia - millionaria + Dio$ nos libre del dinero. It's two songs that share one video and there's something there about Coriolanus and Sejanus and their relationship with money. Ehh

Now I will shut up for the moment.

HIII!!! I absolutely understand and 0 judgements bc I'll spend hours just writing a single answer bc time is needed (specially bc I'm a tad bit slow thinking in english 😭) also, good luck with college!! and aaaaaa I love talking to you, this is really sweet, feel free to ask or say anything, I'll be more than happy 🥹

YESSSSS PLS I'm now anxious to hear your thoughts, can't wait for them!!! I stand by the fact that ships are lovely, but there's a big lack of exploration for platonic dynamics and it's painful (and I say that as a platonic bairdplinth truther, snow can go to hell, let these two bond and be such an iconic duo). and yessssss I love lysistrata sm :( every single time her character appeared, all I could think was "omg why couldn't sejanus get closer to her instead of getting close to coriolanus?". there's just so much POTENTIAL here

YESSSS HERE COMES THE (DESERVED) RANT!! but about the fics: thank you sooooo much for sending the links!!! I bookmarked the first to read later, but the second, I've read the first work of the series when it was posted and it's SO GOOD <333 it's genuinely one of my favorite works that I've read recently, and I love how the author wrote bby sejanus' perspective regarding the war

yessss!! I'm not an usa expert (bc, well, I never lived there), but I've seen some interesting takes from people who are from there, but more specifically, are from the appalachian region; and these people were talking about how there's this whole view of people from that region being "uneducated" and other things (and how important it is that D12 is located in this region; I'm not sure if in the movie lucy gray have an appalachian accent because I SUCK at recognizing accents in english except for the texan one, but I know that when suzanne collins read a passage of the book out loud, someone pointed out that she gave lucy gray an appalachian accent).

(this also hits harder when there's a passage in the book where sejanus says him and lucy gray are very alike regarding this, not being able to fit in anywhere, except she had talent 💔)

thank you, this is really kind 🫶 some people will just be ignorant for no reason, just for the joy of being ignorant. and I'm sorry about the things your father went through :(

but okay, let's go to talk about the movie:

absolutely agree!! the movie is GOOD. straight up good. and as an adaptation, there are a few things I think they actually did better than the book:

the whole game, in general. I think the rythm got much more dynamic than it is in the book. I understand the book's purpose, but as a reader, it's slow. the changes made it more interesting and it worked in movie-form a lot.

the whole scene with reaper and the panem flag not only is gorgeous and strong and impactful, but it's so well-adapted, I just- I was really at a loss of words, because it IS much better than the book, imo.

wovey dying from the snakes instead of lucy gray poisoning her. it was an impactful scene that made me feel hopeless and horrible watching. even though the book is brutal, this death specifically made the movie much more brutal to me. that was a child begging to go home.

as you said, making felix being the one who got killed during the bombs. it just made more sense and it was gaul's perfect excuse. and it also makes us question more things: is it one child's life worth the life of 24 children?

but when it comes to coriolanus... oh boi. I have thoughts.

(before we get into it, it's worth saying tom blyth did an amazing job with the text he got; the forest scene was TERRIFYING, it made me genuinely scared and tense when watching it at the theater. plus, he has this constant look that just unsettles you. it makes you sense that there's something wrong with this boy, even though you can't really put your finger on what exactly. if there's such a thing as a perfect actor for coriolanus, that's tom blyth, no doubt.)

now, this is a feeling I personally have: the movie is an action dystopian movie. it would obviously want to appeal to this public, including people who never read the book in first place. so, to appeal more to the general hollywood public, they adapter coriolanus' character to be more of an underdog who goes through some sort of corruption arc. he's not an indocrinated, bigoted boy who thinks himself to be superior, who grows more and more power hungry, and this leads him to do things that are more and more horrible. in the movie, he's an ambitious boy, yes, but who goes through traumatic things and famine, and who, in the end, chooses himself in order to survive.

now, let's say the writers want to change this character to make him more appealing to the big public; after all, who would like watching someone like coriolanus thinking the things he think, specially about district people? and the way they seemed to do it was by not changing the core story, but omitting and toning down elements that make coriolanus seem much worse.

the plinths are definitely the most problematic of these characters who got omitted or toned down. the end in the film is not near as impactful as in the book. he killed their child. their only son. and then he comes back and acts as if he did nothing. he knew how much sejanus' mom loved him, then he kills her son and proceeds to call that boy's mom MA. he was SO sick for that. stealing someone's life is already bad, but there's so many layers that the more you look into it, the worst it gets. it's essential to understand that atp of the story, there's no turning back, because he isn't able to feel remorse anymore. he just doesn't care, and this is extremely important to know that THIS is the snow we know in the future. this is the snow that do horrible things to children, that mercilessly kills his opponents. that's how far he's willing to go.

I agree with you regarding the time, specially because the movie was already very long, but they could've given us one scene. at least one. if they inserted, for example, ma plinth going to talk to coriolanus abt sejanus being missing, I think it would already add a great impact (of course the scene of sejanus' death screaming for his ma is heartbreaking by itself, but when you know the context, when you see how close they were in the book, it's just MUCH WORSE, MY GOD). or in the end, a little scene with coriolanus and strabo talking abt coriolanus being their heir would already do a lot for the storytelling (I also think that was left a bit ambiguous in the movie).

(I also adore that scene of strabo and coriolanus, it gives us a lot of insight and I would've adored to have it adapted 💔)

sejanus in the book is a complex character that has a lot of nuances, and that's why I like him so much. when you look through coriolanus' lens, you won't really understand how depressing his situation is. coriolanus just looks to the fact that sejanus have money and is financially privileged, but mostly ignores the fact that the capitol is hostile to the plinths (coriolanus himself is hostile to the plinths! he doesn't say it aloud bc, well, he's coriolanus, but it's still there in his narration, and the way he talks about them), and sejanus was relentlessly bullied through his whole childhood growing up. he had no friend and not really a support network besides his ma. he was utterly alone in an environment that hated him, hated where he came from, hated his family. and he still turned out kind. and we see this in details through the book; the sandwich scene is the most significant, as you said, and it PAINS me that they cut it out, bc reading it, it was when it was clear to me that what coriolanus says about sejanus is not really reliable. sejanus brought food not only to marcus, he brought food to ALL the tributes. he wanted ALL of them to have something to eat. and he really didn't need to do it.

another thing that was poorly executed was that they basically got rid of the fact that he was suicidal. in the movie, it seemed like a naive kid thinking dying on that arena would be a good act of protest (which wouldn't be at all, as we all know it wouldn't be broadcasted). in the book, the whole thing regarding it being a form of protest is more secondary, because that boy was straight up trying to kill himself, and if it actually ended as some sort of protest, then it would be just a side thing. sejanus was in so much pain that he really thought that the only way he could make up to marcus was by dying, and then, after this whole thing, (if I remember right, but I may be remembering wrong) he had to be on sedatives because of how stressful and traumatic the situation was. and sejanus says AGAIN later in the book that he was planning to kill himself. it makes the whole rebel plan have much more sense, because OF COURSE sejanus wouldn't care it's dangerous, he doesn't seem to care about his life at all, he would know the risks and do it anyway, while in the movie it just seemed impulsive and (again) naive. and talking about the rebel plan, this is such a tiny details but it drives me insane how they changed the fact that in the book, he KNEW about the guns and he GOT THEM PURPOSELY, and this actually changes a lot how the public can view his character.

and as you said, all these changes lead to people on tiktok having the WORST takes on him, and I can't even judge them 100%, bc in the movie (imo) they DID make him much more spoiled and naive than he is in the book 😭

to wrap up my thoughts regarding sejanus because I talk too much: sejanus' arc is not one easy to the general estadounidense audience relate to unless you went through some similar experience, but when you did go through some similar experience, it hits HARD. and the book worked this very well, where in the movie, I swear some people I know that never read the book didn't even remember that he was district. it was very poorly worked, they toned down his character a lot, and it just doesn't sit right with me.

but now, let's talk about the academy students:

one thing that I find interesting in tbosas is that even though coriolanus is the worse, we can't really blame it on being from the capitol, because we DO see characters from the capitol who have the ability of being selfless and have empathy. and that makes you realize that, yeah, even though coriolanus is a product of his environment... it's still not justifiable, because we see good kids at the academy who aren't bigoted like him.

lysistrata is the BIGGEST of these examples. even though we see coriolanus being nice to lucy gray, we also read his thoughts and he mostly sees her as a possession, a thing to be possessed, not a human being. he barely sees her as equal. and we have lysistrata, who forms a genuine bond with jessup. there's a scene that I find really remarkable in the book. one of the academy students (I'm not really sure who, but I think it was hilarius) comments, in response to lysistrata saying jessup is a protector, that jessup is almost like "a loyal dog". and lysistrata immediately says that no, not like a dog. like a human being. like a protector. and lysistrata was born and raised in the capitol, she probably never got any contact with the districts, her family for sure have a lot of money for her to study in the academy... and she sees jessup as human. not as a possession, but as human. and they got almost completely rid of her character, and it really did make it seem like coriolanus was the only capitol-born kid who wasn't particularly cruel or xenophobic (when it's quite the contrary lol).

we barely see festus in the movie, and when we see, it's just him being kind of a prick (and I don't really understand why focusing on him being a prick specifically; there were other academy characters who would've served this purpose well; why, of all the academy students, pick right the one that was not hostile to sejanus? it genuinely got me confused, like, why, leave him alone 😭). I can absolutely see why they didn't focus on festus and coriolanus' screentime, and I'm also okay with it, but what bothers me is that changing him into just another academy student who's pretty much cold to his tribute removes the nuance of the story (in the book, we see plenty of academy students bonding with their tributes and feeling bad when they die, we see they are indocrinated privileged kids but who can still learn to be better and do better and unlearn all their bigotry; while in the movie, it sounds more like, academy students = bad, coriolanus = good).

clemensia DOES deserve her own small seat at the "coriolanus snow ruined my life" table alongside with sejanus, lucy gray and tigris 😭 I think she's very much forgotten when we talk about the people coriolanus hurt

coriolanus did clemensia so wrong.... of course it's not as bad or complex as he did to lucy gray, but as the book progresses, coriolanus goes down a spiral where the stuff he does to people around him get more and more and more cruel and more nasty and more unjustifiable. clemensia was when that spiral started. he calls her by a nickname, they pretty much grew up together and saw each other around a lot. she probably trusted him. she's a friend, just a friend, not a possession or someone he's straight up jealous of; as you say, it's not as important as the other 3 most important relationships we see in the book (coriolanus and lgb, sejanus and tigris), but it's still a relationship, and if anything, the most innocent and pure one. and also, clemensia DOES have her moments of goodness!!! unlike coriolanus, she's against betting on tributes, and she thinks watching the games is gruesome. of course, compared to all of his victims, clemensia isn't the worst; after all, if anything, dr. gaul is the one to have more guilt here. but he was still wrong for how he reacted to it (she was his friend!!! and he didn't say a thing!!! he puts his survival first and the person he cared about in second), and each victim he makes, the reasons and the motives get less and less justifiable. but overall, I can't really add more thoughts regarding clemensia, because you were pretty much on point, and I agree with EVERYTHING. everything, really.

and also, talking about the movie and how they made her arc incomplete: it really annoys me how they make it implied that she died ("caught a flu" and stuff), but we don't see a funeral, we don't see her friends grieving, we don't see nothing. I don't remember if we even saw her during the games, srsly; I genuinely can't remember, and if she wasn't there, who the hell mentored reaper? they just left him without a mentor and that's it? I can't really remember a case like that in the book, as all the mentors that died also had their tributes dying, so... yeah, clemensia deserved much better, they did her so wrong by making it seem like she deserved it and took profit from coriolanus' work (when in the book, she was actually mad that he wrote the essay because arachne JUST DIED and he's there writing an essay). again, small details, small things, minor characters that are really important to understand how FUCKED UP coriolanus is even to the capitol standards, and they got completely toned down or just changed to make him better and more of an antihero ig.

(in general, loved your thoughts, they were very well put and I basically agree with everything, it should be kind of a requirement to read the book before watching the movie because I can't stand some takes I see on twitter and on tiktok, specially regarding lgb and sejanus; LEAVE THEM ALONEEEEE)

LATAM AU my beloved <33 STRABO CALLING SEJANUS AN ANARCHIST, I'M SCREAMING because this is actually so on character 😭 the plinth family having to start the christmas dinner much before midnight because if they wait for it, they KNOW there'll be no vibe for it because sejanus and strabo are already at each other's throats. ma tried to ban alcohol once, because she thought that if strabo was sober then he would be more mature and not yell with sejanus, but it's no use because sober or not, him and sejanus WILL fight over politics (and it's even worse when it's election year, poor ma is so tired, SHE JUST WANTS A FUN NIGHT not a civil war inside her own house)

PLSSSSSSS every single year strabo going "I'm NOT going to leave my money to you, I don't know who I'm going to leave it, BUT IT'S NOT YOU", and when sejanus talks back, coriolanus is there next to him "babe <3 don't do that <3 I wanna be rich <3 if you don't, that's up to you <3 but I want that good life <3" but the thought of coriolanus trying to convince strabo to make him his heir is also too funny 😭 because strabo would be there slandering sejanus, but when coriolanus tries to slander sejanus too, strabo immediately glares at him and is like "who said you can talk about my son like that? 🤨"

coriolanus being so embarassed because vesta knows how to dance tango while he does not 😭 and imagine it being like on a party, it was the first time sejanus was introducing him to his parents, and coriolanus wanted so bad to make a good impression, just to make a fool of himself in the worst way possible. sejanus thinks it's cute tho when coriolanus goes to him having to put his pride aside to ask sejanus to teach him how to dance (because sejanus is vesta's son, he KNOWS how to dance too, I just know it).

lucy gray having a whole album on her phone just of pics to post online and expose coriolanus if he dares to be a prick again, I know that's right, if he doesn't want to behave by his will, then it'll be by force ☝️ and plus she's supported by tigris

HIM TRYING TO HIDE IT BUT ATP EVERYONE KNOWS IT 😭 and when he talks to sejanus and coriolanus abt it, the conversation lasts long, and he knows a lot of tiny details (because that man is an insane observer, he'll catch the tiniest details and actually guess the finale much before), and then coriolanus stops and goes... "wait, mr. plinth, how do you know all of these stuff?" and he tries to justify it and say that vesta told him, but these are TOO SPECIFIC details, vesta didn't tell him that

okay, so, I watched the scene, and I'M CACKLINGKSKSKSDKKSDKSDKDS I just KNOW that if we got a scene of these three characters together, it would go pretty much like that 😭 it's even more funnier if this is an au (a modern setting), and sejanus takes coriolanus to meet his father, and just then when he puts coriolanus and strabo side to side he realizes that these two are actually TOO alike and he starts to reconsider most of his life choices

EUROPEAN MEXICAN TRIGGER WARNING (I'll never NOT laugh at it, that's historical reparation 😭) but I watched the clip, and YESSSSS you're so right!!!! and again, coriolanus and sejanus serving as a foil to each other and being on opposite ends (specially because in sejanus' case, that money comes from selling guns that kills people and children, that's blood money, and the lyrics just fit him so well)

but anyway, it was amazing hearing your thoughts, hope to see you soon buddie <3 take care!!

[gh0sttyper]

Hello world

it's 2:30 am and i've just finished crying my eyes out. I'm sorry my first post isn't going to be a happy one but I've decided to create an outlet for myself to let things out and to sort out my thoughts. i don't care who sees this but i also don't want to be known. i just want to do something that'll help bring me mental peace.

so, why have i been crying today? I'm a senior film student at some art college in America and, in order to graduate, i must make a film. A senior project called a capstone. At the beginning of the school year in september, my friend and i had this great but experimental idea that combines mockumentary with whatever you want to call "borat". i was excited and motivated but struggled to get the essential crew (director of photography or "DP", editor, producer, stuff like that). my solution to some of this was to be both director and producer. my friend, we'll refer to as K, is a year below me and doesn't have a lot of experience since they recently changed majors to film but they became my co-producer. i eventually found a dp, editor, and a 1st ad (assistant director). everything up to the end of that quarter went fine. stressful but nothing i'm not used to at this point. 2 weeks before the quarter ended, my dp had to drop. he was over working himself and had to start his own capstone sooner than expected. that's fine, respectable actually. then comes the guy i replaced him with. i was scrambling to finish finals for my first capstone class (we have to take 3, 1 for each stage of filmmaking) that i didn't get a great opportunity to sit down with him. winter break finally comes and i meet with him the first week, tell him the changes that i want done to the shot list, and asked him to look for lenses (i have no clue what to do about camera shit). i explained to him that i was busy working 2 jobs so i told him what i needed/wanted from him right then and there. i gave him all of break to do this. mind you, our winter breaks are a little over a month. he did nothing. a week before class started back up, he messages me saying that he had a better opportunity the weekend i shoot my capstone and had to drop because he "can't afford to miss it". i'd find out later that he just wanted to work on his friends' project instead. he's a sophomore or junior. he told me he'd find a replacement. he would not. he told me that he looked at the shot list. however, didn't do anything to it. when i asked him if he could make the changes before the end of that week, he told me that he was too busy. to clarify, it is the director's job to make the shot list. the shot list was already made but we had added and changed scenes which meant it needed to be updated. again, i was working 2 jobs and just didn't have time so, again, i told him exactly what i wanted and told him the situation. i gave him everything he needed. so begins my constant struggle to simply find a warm body that knows how to use my school's equipment. i'm a transfer student who got the camera class covered by a credit and then school decides not to have a class explain how to use them ever again. i also can't dp since i'm already both director and producer AND actor (K and i are acting as ourselves in this, so less acting and more us being us). i have a lot on my plate as is. i'm messaging and talking to people, contacts that i either find my own or that others have given me. I'll either get 'no im busy that week' or 'no im not interested'. it's been at that point where everyone is already snagged by other projects. then, my 1st ad dropped because she forgot she already made arrangements with another projects before she agreed to come on mine. so now i'm looking for 2 people. weeks go by and now i'm 2 weeks out before we shoot. no dp. no 1st ad. i make a desperate post on the film's Instagram begging for positions to be covered. i get them filled. yay! until 5 days later, i get a message from the new dp saying that she's actually too busy and sent me a guy's discord. i broke down crying for the second time over this film. the first was 6 days ago when i broke down about not finding people and fearing for my future if i can't get this shit done. it's been non-stop mental work for 4 weeks now and if i lose any more crew or this new ad, i don't know what i will do.

but it 3 am now so i think i should just go to sleep

[loveforpreserumsteve]

Part of Me: "ALN" Story (Pre-Serum Omega!Steve and Alpha!Bucky Modern Domestic AU)

Sixteen:

Standing in front of his first two gals, Steve brushed the snow from the top of the tombstones. Just as every other Valentine's Day, he placed a bouquet of pink carnations on each of the granite stones. Hating that he couldn't have them there in person. Especially right now.

"Wish you were here," Steve told Sarah. Hugging himself, he half-joked, "I could really use some of that Sarah Rogers Wisdom right about now."

Steve tried to imagine what Sarah would have told him. Surely, it would've been exactly what he needed to hear. She had a knack for that stuff. Always knowing exactly what to say exactly when it needed to be heard.

Worrying his lower lip, he admitted, "I don't know what to do. I think I really messed up, mom."

Sniffling, Steve nuzzled further into his scarf as a breeze blew at his exposed cheeks. The past month and a half had been one of the hardest of Steve's life. Mainly because he had no idea how Ollie was doing. Not really, at least. All texts had been ignored and all calls had been declined.

Sure, there had been updates on social media sites about how happy he was and how much he loved his fiancé. But that wasn't enough for Steve. They had always been a close family, and now he didn't even know how his son was doing. Really doing, not just the façade online.

"This wasn't how it was supposed to be," Steve worried his lower lip. Voice hoarse, he continued, "Every day it gets harder. And I miss him so much."

Of course, it wasn't just Steve that was being ignored. Oh no, it was much more than that. Bucky hadn't been able to get into contact with the eighteen year old and neither had their other sons. Steve knew that not supporting this relationship and engagement would have consequences, but he didn't imagine it would ever be like this.

"All I can do is hope that you're keeping an eye on him for us," Steve said. Looking at Flora's grave, Steve added, "You too, sweet girl. Your big brother needs you more now than ever."

Deciding to message his oldest again, he pulled out his phone to wish him a happy Valentine's Day.

Before he could put the phone away though, it started to ring.

For a moment, he had been thinking about declining it since he was so emotional, but then he spotted who the caller was: Kit's school.

"Hello?" Steve answered, making his way back to his minivan.

"Hi, is this Mr. Barnes?" A woman asked from the other end of the line.

"Yes, this is he," Steve confirmed, heading over to his red minivan. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," the woman assured. "Kit is in pre-rut though, so he needs to be picked up."

"Oh!" Steve's brows shot up on his forehead. Climbing into the driver's seat, Steve started the van and said, "I'm on my way."

"I'll tell Kit."

"Thank you," Steve said, pulling out of the cemetery.

After hanging up, Steve rushed over to the junior high. He couldn't believe that Kit was in pre-rut. Had he been like that this morning? Was Steve too distracted with worrying about Ollie to not even recognize the signs? Did Bucky have The Talk with the twelve year old yet?

Pulling into the parking lot, Steve parked in the deserted pick-up drop-off lane. Too preoccupied to find an actual parking spot, and he figured that it'd be better to get Kit out of there before he went into full-blown rut. After all, he didn't want any of the other kids to present because of his fluctuating hormones, and he assumed that the school wouldn't want that frenzy on their hands either.

Entering the school, he made his way to the main office. The receptionist gave him a large grin and greeted, "Hi there. What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to pick up Atticus Barnes," Steve told the handsome beta. Clarifying, "I got a call that he went into pre-rut."

"Oh, okay," the man nodded and picked up the phone. He assured, "He's in the nurse's office, then."

Steve politely smiled and waited as the receptionist talked briefly to the nurse before hanging up. Placing the sign-out sheet closer to Steve, the petite omega quickly filled it out. Half-wondering if he needed to go to the nurse's office to collect Kit, but before he could ask the friendly beta, he got a whiff of pre-rut.

Turning, Steve found Kit with rosy-red cheeks from his heating body and sweat matting his short brown hair to his forehead. Steve thanked the school personnel and guided Kit out of the building.

"How ya feelin', sunshine?" Steve asked, opening the passenger door for him.

Kit shrugged but didn't say anything.

Steve decided not to press any further and made sure that his son was properly in the seat before closing the door. As he went around to his own seat behind the steering wheel, Steve didn't waste any time to get the vehicle started.

It was the quietest that Steve had ever seen Kit, and it worried him. This was the boy who was deemed the class clown. Always the life of the party. So much so that on parents' nights, each teacher mentioned how, while he was a good student, he could be very loud and distract the other students.

"You wanna get lunch?" Steve asked, reaching the strip where most of the restaurants were settled.

Kit shook his head.

Turning down one of the side streets, Steve headed home. Asking, "D'ya want me to run you a bath? That might make you feel better."

Again, Kit mutely shook his head.

Steve knew that it probably had nothing to do with him personally, but it still stung. From Ollie still ignoring him and now Kit rejecting his help, Steve couldn't help but feel more than a little emotional.

Pulling into their garage, Steve asked, "Do you want me to do anything? Get you anything?"

Shaking his head, Kit kept his focus on his hands.

Brows furrowing, Steve asked, "Is everything okay? You know you can come to me for anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Kit assured, voice raspy.

"So," Steve prompted, "Is there any questions? Or anything? I mean, becoming a man is a pretty big change."

"I'm not a man."

Kindly, Steve tried to understand, "What do you mean?"

"I'm not a man," Kit repeated. "I don't feel like a man. But... I also don't feel like a woman either."

"Oh," Steve said. He wasn't sure what to say. Remembering Ian's previous partner, he asked, "You're non-binary? Is that what it's called?"

"I," Kit paused. Nodding, "I think that fits."

"Okay," Steve smiled, reaching over to ruffle their sweaty hair. Wanting to respect his child, Steve asked, "What do you want to go by?"

"I'm still Kit."

"That wasn't what I meant, but good to know," Steve softly chuckled.

"Oh," Kit's brows furrowed before shooting up on their forehead, "How about we just be neutral with everything. That's what Mattie says their parents do."

"Of course," Steve assured with a smile. Wondering, "Who's Mattie?"

"A friend," Kit vaguely answered.

Seeing that the pre-teen was growing more feverish, Steve decided to get them inside. When Kit teetered to the side, Steve quickly wrapped his arm around them to help steady them. It wasn't unusual for heat and rut to make a person woozy, so Steve helped the newly presented kid inside and down to the basement.

Settling them in their bed, Steve casually asked, "Did you invite Mattie to your B'nai Mitzvah?"

"My what?" Kit's brows furrowed deeply when Steve laid them down.

Chuckling under his breath, Steve explained, "It's the more gender neutral of Bar Mitzvah."

"Oh," Kit blinked up at the ceiling. Shivering as their fever grew deeper and hotter the closer they got to full-rut. "Yeah, I invited them. Told 'em it'd be really lame."

Good-naturedly, Steve scoffed, "Why'd you do that?"

"Because it's true," Kit laughed. But assured, "They said they wouldn't miss it though. I think they just want to see me make a fool of myself."

"Well, at least they're a supportive friend," Steve teased.

Yawning, Kit confirmed, "They're the best."

Before they could slip off to sleep, Steve added, "So are you, sunshine."