#THE REVELATION THAT CAMILA WAS A TREKKIE THOUGH

[skrunksthatwunk]

just finished toh s3e1!!! i uh. i need to go lie down :,)

[guardianofscrewingup]

So I've seen some people talk about how Belos ruined the human Realm for Hunter by possessing him and killing Flapjack and that's why he was ready to go back to the Demon Realm, but honestly I take a slightly different interpretation.

Having grown up in an abusive home that I managed to escape from the scene rang with extreme familiarity and felt like it was depicting what happens if you reach a turning point and and are able to find the strength to fight back against your abuser. (Which is great to see in kid's media, love it, it's so encouraging wrt to your *right* to think your abuser is jackass.)

I mean at the end of the day, Belos had already "ruined" the Demon Realm, too. It was the place where Hunter was abused and manipulated. People have pointed out in some meta that he talks about "that throne room" the way abuse victims talk about "that house" when talking about where they were abused. Because that throne room was where he emotionally abused and if the implications about physical abuse are right, it's where he was likely physically abused as well, because of the privacy there.

We see the throne room is the private place where Hunter is expected to drop to a knee and bow before him, and to stay mostly still even as Belos nearly strikes his face. It's the place where sometimes it's only Hunter and Belos, where he's free to hurt him all he wants, with words or blows.

That said, I do think the human world was very good for him and definitely a revelation. It was a place where the nearest adult, Camila, was kind and nurturing and willing to take on parenting a whole gaggle of kids, constantly trying to figure out what's best for them (hence the trying to figure out where to find apple blood and their diets, etc).

It was safe for him to take up soft, non-combat hobbies useless to being a Coven guard like sewing (gently taught to him by Camila, a kind adult) to pick up nerdy interests like cosplay and basically being a Trekkie, and to wear comfy sweaters (and crocs!) instead of things with utility or decorum.

The human world being a place without Belos made him feel safe enough to be a normal teen. Openly. Not in secret, talking to online friends on Penstagram on his Scroll where Belos couldn't see (a hugely accurate thing for a lot of abuse victims, online friends being a lifeline).

But unfortunately Belos was there, and alive, and as long as Belos is alive he's going to try to hurt Hunter, his home realm, Hunter's loved ones, and their loved ones.

After Flapjack dies the worst has happened. Belos came after him. Again. He literally controlled his body itself, and bored his way under his skin. Given he was consuming the flesh of animals and how he was back to full size after leaving Hunter, and Hunter was injured in the spots where he was goo, and needed to be healed, he possibly even dissolved and consumed some of his body.

And he killed his first friend - and lbr his best friend. With Hunter's own hands.

But the thing that makes it not just about something bad happening on Earth is that he still clearly loves parts of his home realm. There are things there he's always wanted that he still wants to have and tells Belos as such. Being a normal student at Hexside. Flyer derby with his friends. Learning about wild magic and Palismen-carving. He still calls it "home" probably in part for all the things there that he wanted to have growing up that Belos wouldn't let him. Things he's ready to fight for.

He loves things in both worlds, and Belos is clearly a threat in both worlds - a threat Hunter finally managed to resist. And even though Flapjack died, Hunter's still alive to fight because of his sacrifice.

He's ready to fight to make Belos pay for his deceit, abuse, and forced isolation; for trying to kill his world on the Day of Unity; for attacking his friends; and for his Palisman's murder.

It doesn't seem like he's leaving the human world because it's ruined, it comes off more like he's finally overcome his fear enough to go back to reclaim the world where he was abused because it's the home of his friends and because of all the good in it he always wanted to have. It's time to go home and make it safe enough to be home.

Yes, he looks exhausted, but he's the first one to go through after Belos, which is pretty fearless. It doesn't read like defeat, it reads like he's ready to walk through the portal and send an old man straight to hell.