Had they talked about it? Did her ambivalence and desire for the status quo hurt him? Or reassure him when juxtaposed with his parents' overt homophobia? He was clearly comfortable enough to let her in somewhat, at the end, about what was happening to him. Did he come to her scared and upset about what "Ryan" had been doing to him? Did she tell him to his face she didn't believe him? Or was it quieter, more unspoken than that? She knew not only about the entity but seemed certain it appeared to him as ryan (at least that's what I gather from her blaming ryan for "what you made [hunter] feel").

And then there's the macca of it all. Izzie is dating hunter's friend, someone he plays basketball with and sits by at school. Someone who throws dissected frogs at ryan and conducts hate crimes--but presumably in hunter's name? Is hunter Ryan's victim in their heads? Someone manipulated into what they did together, so they need to hurt ryan over it? Were hunter and macca still friends in the last days of his life between the very public ritual and his death? Where did izzie fit into that dynamic as hunter's sister and macca's girlfriend?

He's so terrified of himself, that he cannot even admit to how he feels about men and can only talk of the violence. The violence from the entity was not something that could stop him from acting on his lust because he had already associated it with fear, long before it was around. It was just a new type of fear, more profound than before. But he definitely did not deserve to die for being gay.

Everyone knows of Ryan Whelan, the pretty boy who hangs out alone. And everyone definitely knows Hunter, the town pastor’s son.

A new kid shows up, which is pretty uncommon because who the fuck moves to Bandee. People find out the guy’s name is Naim—duh fuck kind of name is that—and that he’s really awkward and skittish so no one bothers becoming friends with him. Someone from church lets it slip that his dad had died and that’s why he and his mom moved to their town.

Then one day when Ryan and Hunter aren’t at school, word starts to spread about what happened.

Macca told me they were caught fucking by the pastor.

Is it true they went through like an exorcism?

My mom said she felt a presence in the room when it happened.

Okay but like, there’s no way Hunter is gay, right?

No one fully knows exactly what happened because the rumors are spread by Macca, his friends, and any student whose parent was in attendance during the ritual (but I don’t think the parents would be explicit in telling their children what Ryan and Hunter really experienced).

And then the photo booth attack happens. And the few teenagers who were at the skating rink are quick to tell everyone they know what they saw.

Swear to god, Ryan looked fucking crazy. Maybe he was on drugs or something.

That new kid was also there. He chased him onto the rink and then Ryan yelled in his face.

You think the new kid and Ryan were fucking too?

And then Hunter dies. And that really rocks the school because did someone kill him? Was it because he was gay? That’s fucked up honestly, even if he was a fag.

Some time passes and no one has any new gossip to spread. But then during passing period, Ryan is attacked and news spreads like wildfire.

Someone attacked him in the bathroom, he was all bloody and shit.

In the bathroom? Damn, maybe another guy he was fucking got jealous.

You think it was that name kid?

It’s 50/50 on if people find out about the hate crime Macca and his friends committed against Ryan and Naim but people DEFINITELY find out that the pastor left his family.

I have to talk about this, but the way some people, mainly on Twitter, demonize Hunter too much. Yes, he's a jerk and doesn't justify the shitty behavior with that poor girl in the school scene (and naim. If in the scene that was removed from the movie does it still count as canon?) but many treat him like he's the worst character ever. The point of Hunter's character is his tragedy that homophobia kills people. He never accepted himself and that isolation he felt after being outed. Put yourself in his shoes for a moment: his father was a pastor of the Church and his entire life he was under pressure from his parents to be that model of a good "Christian." Logically, being gay always had that internal battle between being himself and what his parents expected of him. This is demonstrated in his internalized homophobia, as he chooses to deny everything and be in a constant state of denial of who he really is. and the only way I can be with another man is through violence as a form of punishment. When the movie came out and I saw the spoilers and the way people talked about Hunter they made me think he was the worst person possible. Imagine my surprise when I saw the movie and the boy has like 5 minutes on the screen. I just felt bad about his death. As a gay man, I myself relate a lot to his internalized homophobia, I can't understand how people make fun of his death, even Naim had more empathy for him than some people. I don't understand how people hate him so much, his whole life until the end was a tragedy. and people make fun of a death caused by homophobia. Hunter deserved better, but that's the point of his character that homophobia kills. Luckily Naim and Ryan have each other. If they hadn't, I would end up as a hunter. What horrified me most was seeing people from my own community mocking his death. He died thinking that no one loved him, he really died thinking that the real Ryan killed him.

Hunter we know is more in denial of his homosexuality, and quicker to fall victim to hate, as we see with his death.