#hes so deeply traumatized but doesnt have the time to unpack it so he keeps it hidden and let it be lost to time

[notpercieved]

Sometimes i think about the fact that Jing Yuan has no one he can lean onto and be completely vulnerable, you know those situations of "i look for an adult, but it turns out im the adult" situations? Thats him

Im not saying he has no companions, he does, old and new, but there always feels like a gap inbetween them, a bridge no one nor him wants to cross, either its from his fear of losing more people in his life without realizing or his title as a general

His position doesnt help him in that aspect either, because if the people sees their leader waver it would shatter the trust, he always has to be multiple steps ahead all the time and put a front that he knows what hes doing no matter if he does or doesnt

Hes not alone, and yet he keeps everyone at arms length, surely itd get lonely eventually?

[lollytea]

Ugh i so love how they made Hunter still be unable to move from belos influence and how he wasn t able to bring himself to attack him in a final battle. Hope they ll show the gradual change with Hunter still being used to unhealthy behaviour and his need to prove himself and work thru it.

I love how Hunter was handled in the final fight scene with Belos. Like it doesn't sacrifice character for the sake of a cool badass moment. Of course Hunter wouldn't be ready to fight Belos yet. Like. This has been the wildest most traumatic week of this kid's life (Has it been a week since Hollow Mind? Maybe a week and a bit.) and he's barely had a peaceful moment to process everything. His entire life is very abruptly disrupted when he learns the one person in the world he loved and admired and believed loved him in return is a deranged murderer and now apparently wants him dead. So now his only family is his enemy. Thats a lot to take in on its own. But wait there's more! THEN he's homeless and can't even come to terms with the horrors he's experienced and the truth he's learned because now he's a wanted runaway and can't let his guard down for a moment and he's terrified because he doesnt know where to go or what to do and the threat of Belos finding him looms over his head. And oh yeah now its the end of the world and everybody is gonna die so he can't just not be involved in the rebellion because he has to prove his worth somehow and holy fucking shit can Hunter just have a moment to fucking breathe?

So like. YEAH. Hunter is not emotionally stable enough to be a cool action hero in the finale. He's a child who has been severely mistreated and is completely and utterly petrified of that man. The fear is so very real and you don't blame him from hanging back from the fight for even a second.

But also I love this part because it demonstrates just what a brave person Hunter is. Bravery is not synonymous with fearlessness. Bravery is being scared out of your mind but doing the scary thing anyway. So of course he has realistic limitations of what he is physically, mentally and emotionally capable of but honestly? Hunter is the bravest kid ever just by showing up.

He didn't have to. Nobody was forcing him. Luz even made a point to ask if he was sure he wanted to be involved in the Amity rescue (a much more lax mission) but he wanted to. He went to confront Belos with the other kids because as scared as he was, Luz's safety was so deeply important to him. As was the safety of the other kids. This was their time to have their badass action hero moment in the spotlight, while Hunter's biggest priority was protecting them. These kids are all he has right now and the fact that he's even willing to share the same room as Belos just to keep them safe speaks volumes about him.

And like yeah he is absolutely not done yet. His feelings towards this last week and Belos and everything else is still unresolved. He has so much to unpack. And the road to recovery might be messy and bumpy and filled to the brim with his inherent misunderstanding of self worth and the years of programming that were instilled into him. But he's a smart boy, he's a strong brave, kind and even wise boy. It won't be easy but he'll be okay.