#hunter ptsd

[deadnamesdead]

Random old lady: you're an old soul

Hunter: Lol, thanks it's the autism and PTSD

[weirdlynotspecific]

Studying Hunter from TOH as a person with PTSD

So as you probably gathered this post is going to be a bit heavy. Tw for: narcissists, PTSD, abuse, Belos being Belos, trauma and it's after effects

Also bare in mind that this is just my opinion. I have PTSD caused by someone similar to Belos and noticed a lot of similarities between Hunter and I. However, I am by no means an authority on this topic and this is just my take on the character.

I will probably come back to this and edit it to add more if I think of anything else.

Also spoilers for The Owl House up until Season 3 Episode 1, Thanks to Them.

Hunter's unwillingness to believe Belos is a bad person

This is something many people with PTSD (especially if the person/people causing the trauma is a narcissist) go through when other people realize something is off.

It can look like denial, grief, anger, and the person being abused can be furious with the person who realized something was wrong.

It's really confusing like in Hunter's case when Belos has been put on a pedestal (literally) his entire life

Belos gave Hunter a purpose. This is love bombing. This can appear as: "Wow you're so special" "I love you so so much". Belos straight up tells Hunter: "You're destined for something" (Hunter brings it up in Hollow Mind I think) and makes him the golden guard. It's a common tactic with manipulators so that their victim has a reason to stay with them.

Belos also isolated him. Hunter never knew what a good caregiver looked like. He wouldn't know what abuse looks like because all of this has been normalized. He wasn't even allowed to leave the castle except on missions on the weekends (I believe that's in season 3 episode 1).

Hunter's signs

Hunter's shaking hands seen in Hollow Mind. This can be an underlying physical disorder but in Hunter's case it's most likely because he is in fight or flight and processing a lot of information at once. The mind can take stress out physically on the body and this is one way this can appear.

Hunter's hypervigilance. Hunter is very easily spooked (once again Hollow Mind this episode is just full of Hunter and Belos making it my best point of reference) and is constantly on edge. Even in the newest episode (S3 E1) he is on edge, although in this case he was right.

Hunter's eyebags. So I think this could be one of 2 things; stress appearing physically on the body again, or more likely a lack of sleep. many with PTSD sleep less, have trouble staying asleep, avoid sleep, and are more prone to nightmares.

Cutting his hair when he thought he looked too much like Belos. This scene hit hard for me because I also changed my hair because of my trauma. It's an example of taking control of what you can, which many abuse victims do when they have a space to. It's also avoidance, Hunter doing what he can to be the furthest thing from Belos. it's a scene that even if it's a little detail, it's extremely important to his character.

Not telling his friends he's a grimwalker. Abuse victims don't want to feel alone. In this case when Hunter is in Fight or Flight he chooses another option, Fawn. It's a people-pleasing method to make sure the victim doesn't get hurt again. It can also result in codependency. Hunter is very careful of what he says to his friends because he doesn't want to be left alone and feel that again.

Causes

Physical injury. Hunter has a scar (now several) on his face. Unwanted permanent change to the body ESPECIALLY through force is never healthy and can be extremely traumatic.

Psychological abuse. Belos is a known liar, it's stated over and over again in the series. Living in a relationship like that is breeding grounds for trauma because you can never be sure if what you are hearing is the truth or not. When Hunter finds out he's a grimwalker that is his entire life flipped over. His life, his identity, was made up by Belos. He is now forced to figure out what is actually his and what was made up.

Sources

https://www.dailyom.com/journal/is-it-love-or-is-it-love-bombing-5-red-flags-to-help-you-spot-the-difference/?aff=91&ad=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PerformanceMax&acct=9358138875&campaign_id=16896613381&gclid=CjwKCAiA5Y6eBhAbEiwA_2ZWIdNpOVzzurt7m4MaXkLRwaaejex6WBv4MaCcMSXZMJrbiVJRj7VVHRoCijQQAvD_BwE

https://atlanticcoastrehab.blog/why-your-hands-tremble

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/related/sleep_problems.asp#:~:text=Loss%20of%20sleep%20time.,loss%20can%20affect%20daily%20life.

https://www.modernintimacy.com/fawn-response-trauma-response-reason-for-people-pleasing-behavior/#:~:text=Fawning%20is%20also%20sometimes%20associated,they%20think%20they%20need%20you.

[deadnamesdead]

Boscha tried to convince Hunter to join her crew. Here's the convo

*in the hexside cafeteria*

Boscha: you know, you have connections. And you don't look terrible, even with the scars. If you drop the half-a-witch crew now, I'm happy to let you come sit with me.

Hunter: Wills told me about you. I'll stay with the people who aren't bubblegum pink trash slugs. Now get out of my way.

Boscha: excuse you!?

Hunter: I started scout training at six and finished top of my year. Move or I will move you. You have 10 seconds before I put your face in the floor

Lol, I love Hunter. He goes to his table when Boscha moves aside and is like "good Titan, I think I would have had a heart attack if I could!"

This is a part of my cannon divergent au like basically all my drawings. It's me projecting onto him yet again. Hunter's brain is not good at staying connected to his body, so anytime he feels too threatened for some reason, he disassociates really hard. Exactly as much of his consciousness stays behind as is needed for most people to not notice. Basically Hunter automatically disassociates and his Golden Guard persona takes over when he feels unsafe. The Hexsquads call his defensive disassociation "Goldie"

[deadnamesdead]

Guess what? I'm doing this! Some I already have ideas, but please comment anything you want to see :3 :D

[deadnamesdead]

I've been drawing a lot of Hunter, have an art dump :D My lore for this HC is under the break. I really like drawing masc shaped Hunter in skirts

This one has dialogue, I just didn't write it on the page. Willow is in the other room. Waffles helps him with his blindness in the right eye.

Hunter: Wills! Can you come give me a hug?! I'd come in there, but Waffles is asleep and I don't want to run into the wall again!

I think the Waffles we got was cute, I just don't really understand why a bird. We saw he felt a connection with wolves throughout season three, and he is a palisman carver, so I think he carved her, so why did he carve a bird. So in my drawings his palisman is a wolf, still named Waffles because I am lazy. I also don't love that from what we see, his scars are just a discoloration and nothing more. That boy is more scars than skin, that should cause more lasting damage, like lasting nerve pain and some level of paralysis. That's not in these drawings but is that in my HC. What is in these drawings is that Hunter is blind in his right eye from the scarring. Waffles is also a service animal kind of situation because of both comforting Hunter with his PTSD and she barks when he's about to run into something because of his lack of depth perception from being blind in one eye.

[deadnamesdead]

Vent post :')

[deadnamesdead]

Hunter isn't okay. He's learning what little space is. Because I'm learning what little space is and that I do it. I love Hunter so much

Edit: oh yeah, and subtle sexually abused Hunter. As a treat :)

[deadnamesdead]

More burnt out line art :3