Okay, on my QSMP!Philza Hunt Avatar headcannon (specifically in purgatory):
Phil only notices it once he has a moment to properly think but he realizes that he feels stronger now, faster and can think clearer and at first he assumes it might be because he might be dead but then he comes to a realization:
He is feeding
That place, all the fear and paranoia, all the hunting and hunted people, their fear feeds him, makes him stronger.
He is, of course disgusted by this, that whole place disgusts him. But he decides that he will use this to find a way out, to get stronger and at the end overthrow the evil Eye that rules this place.











