Okay so since Hunter won’t get OUT OF MY HEAD I’m gonna make a general headcanon post about him and some sprinklings of my personal rework:
- the Huntsman family technically now qualifies as a clan, and several generations of Huntsman were heavily encouraged to have children young as they were very often killed at the hands of their Evil Queen if she wasn’t the one killed at the end of the cycle, which only ever happened if she’d already had a child as well.
- Hunter has several cousins because of this, there are multiple branches of the Huntsman family and they’ve branched out all across the world to bring in other great hunters into the family, creating a very mixed and diverse gene pool
- due to this, Hunter is essentially very mixed, the family keeps meticulous records on who’s married out and in on the family, what new names people have taken and routinely check in on those who are ‘outside’ of the family now
- Hunter and Fern’s family line is not the original Huntsman line of succession, and it has changed seven times since the first story, each time because each felled Huntsman ‘failed’ to leave behind a child.
- Huntsman do their best to only have one child, and as the role is almost 100% given to a male heir, if they have a boy first they don’t try again. They try to keep the line of succession ‘clean and tidy’ to avoid siblings pointing fingers at who it should be
- which Hunter is well aware of the implications of his parents suddenly trying again for a child when he was eleven. He tries not the think about it and love on Fern regardless, even if his dad hated that he carried Fern around like a doll and played make believe with her
- became a vegetarian at age twelve. It was the year he first saw an animal die first hand and it was a beloved family pet he’d grown up with. It was a hunting dog, and Airedale hound, and her name was simply Fetcher but he called her Fetchi or when he learned the word, Fettuccine. She was put down due to old age and it was sudden, in the grass, she’s gone, his father standing over her and acting as if one of his only friends wasn’t dead at his feet.
- has always been a sensitive child, would cry for others and would tear up at any sign of suffering. Any attempts from his father to toughen him up just made him more emotional. Didn’t understand why his dad would be mean to him.
- has known both Raven and Cerise since he was young. The Huntsman knowing the Red Riding Hood he’s going to save is expected, but meeting his future Evil Queen so early is a bir different. Raven’s mother ordered their meeting in a secret attempt to get a Huntsman to be actually loyal in the end to an Evil Queen. And hey, it kinda worked out, Hunter is loyal but loyal in the way of an actual friend and someone who understands hating your own destiny.
- due to shaming of not conforming from his own father, it’s hard to shame and rub at Hunter when it comes to aspects of himself, what he can’t handle however is people going after his friends, it pisses him off
- one of his birthdays he got an animal encyclopaedia and he’s been using it as a check list for animal photography
- horse back riding and archery are things he does to get some fresh air and cool off. His horse at home is a thoroughbred he was granted at age nine, he was already named Surefooted. His favourite thing to do when Fern was still small enough was carry her on his lap and ride Surefooted on his favourite trails, lay down a picnic blanket and spend some time with his sister. His fascination with babies and animals isn’t a ‘regular’ Huntsman trait.
- loved having his hair long, and loves practicing braids and buns on Raven, Cerise and Maddie, all the more practice so he can do Fern’s hair and when his hair grows back, his own.
- with him being a vegetarian, he still does eat animal products like milk, cheese, butter, eggs, with how demanding Huntsman training is he does need to get protein wherever he can. As long as it doesn’t hurt an animal he’s fine with it. Along with that, he doesn’t begrudge leather products because the animal is already dead, if he could’ve prevented it he would, but he wasn’t there, a what? Is he just going to let it go to waste? He honours the animal lives he couldn’t save by not letting what was made of them go to waste and serve its new purpose.
- amazing mushroom forager, spent so much time outside the house exploring the woods that he can cobble together a decent meal with just some wood, a pot, some water and some seasonings. Wild garlic and wild onions, fruits, roots, he can really live off the land for a good while before his body would catch up to the change in amount of food he’s eating
- has a very stable physique. His father cannot pick at him for his behaviour all he likes but he can’t argue that Hunter is strong and capable. He’s tall and all the upper body work has made his shoulders proud and wide. Constant walking of odd terrains and forest runs gave him strong legs, being made to haul around sacks of food and more laborious chores has built up his back. Traditionally he’d be expected to have more fat on his body to stave off winters but his diet doesn’t allow for meat fat and sometimes he gets worried about his cholesterol haha.
- actually has an extensive wardrobe and quite a few old pieces. All of his jewellery pieces were gifted to him by Raven, partially as a thank you for being her only friend but also secretly a back up for money if he ever did act on his plan to just leave. He never will though, he can’t leave Fern.
- Is halfway fluent in another language, taught to him by an aunt by marriage who often babysat him. Something else his dad wasn’t happy about.
- animals used to fear Hunter in the area bc he smelled like his dad for a while, smelled like animal blood. But now, while he’s away at Ever After, they often approach him.
- the Huntsman clan eats mostly deer meet. Their compound neighbours the Evil Queendom, which used to have a different name, historically the land has always been full of deer, which is what attracted the first Huntsman. Antlers above every front door, taxidermies in their main hall where they hold meetings and celebrations and interventions ( Hunter was subject to one the summer before his first year at Ever After)
- the Huntsman compound is very dated by all means. Their main Destiny bloodline being henchmen and all that they aren’t very popular outside of the Queendom. They live in log cabins and building a new one is always a months long effort. Think a combination of American log cabins and Viking long houses. They live in an area where post is hard, so a lot of hand me downs and the Destined Huntsman is usually expected to bring newer and current things to the compound.
- most of his clothes are either bought in the outside world, hand me downs or made by hand. A common past time chore is spinning thread. Hunter doesn’t have a talent for the loom or knitting but he can crochet.
I’ll add more as they come to me
New one literally three minutes later haha:
- Hunter being able to get along with women so easily is partially because of his mother, he attached to her because he was confused by his father’s behaviour. But then also becoming friends with both Raven and Cerise as a young boy, and those two being some of his only socialising outside of his extended family, he learned how to talk with girls much easier, and girls commonly liked what he liked, and disliked what he did as well. They also just understood his feelings better. Found Raven and Cerise far more truthful and easier to trust and bond with.
He really only starts to have trouble when he first met Ashlynn, because while he might’ve grown feelings for Raven, it was kind of expected of him to be attached to her, meeting and developing a crush on Ashlynn was like another rebelling but also so fresh and new. A member of royalty who saw him as a person and not just some hero for hire they expected to snap at the opportunity to ‘prove himself’ like his father’s done Hunter’s whole life.
- summer break before second year activities include
having to tussle for a spot on the grill for his vegetables and halloumi
Heading out to a bigger town to get some good wildlife pics, follow the fauna to a clearing and meet the sweetest Royal he might’ve ever met
Chasing after Fern with the hose while she throws water balloons at him
He gets a message request from Ashlynn. He accepts it.
riding out to a nearby waterfall basin to jump and swim
listening to his family prattle on at celebrations while he watches Fern laugh at Pesky eating nuts like a glutton as if Hunter doesn’t already feed him well
The few times he can head up to get better reception, that girl he spent the day at the nature park with reached out. They keep hexting.
Taking Fern to a clearing on Surefooted, taking sun naps with Surefooted’s head on his body, Fern asleep on his bicep as the wind rustles everything
This Ashlynn can type for the country, and when he hexts her that each hext bubble costs something for his family mirror plan, she even changed how often she broke off strings of words just to save some money
Riding out to the Red Hood settlement and meeting up with Cerise (she notices his hair immediately) ((he pretended not to notice the worried look she was giving him as he rode off the next day))
Camping for the night between his destinations. He and Ashlynn just can’t seem to stop talking.
Riding out even further to the Evil Queendom and find out Raven’s been having a less than stellar time (even less so when she sees his hair)
Stay with Raven for a few days because he’s a good friend and could tell she needed a shoulder to lean on
Head out to their tree, have some time to talk, to vent.
Confessing to Raven that he really likes this girl he met.
She says to go for it, she can always tell when he needs that extra nudge.
“She sounds great Hunter, go for it.”
