#goop belos

[kaadaart]

Into the fiery pit that is the Wittebane fandom you go-

**throws fanart at you**

Idk I just think he is neat

[hecateisalesbian]

Something about how Luz and Hunter parallel Caleb and Phillip just….

[kiwibirb1]

I CAN'T

I'm reading TOH storyboards and Belo's face in this I can't

[jadeazora]

Watching The Owl House for the first time, just made it to S3, and I love that Belos got run over by a car.

Just kinda imagine him, confused, like, wondering what kinda strange metal carriage it is and why it's making this unholy "BEEEEEEEEE--" racket, when he's smacked at a good 35mph.

[toh-aus-coven]

Philip's Story is an Adoption Story... Here's Why That Matters

A few disclaimers before we dive in...

Binary thinking is discouraged here; adoption and its themes are complicated and nuanced. Multiple truths can exist.

This is one perspective and this analysis comes from being in community with adopted/orphan people, research, and misc experience

"Adoption adjacent" includes adoptees/orphans/foster kids (these three groups often overlap in various ways that will be elaborated on)

Please engage with this post in good faith. I know non-adoptees can experience things listed in this post however, there is a different context that underlies the experience of those adopted/adjacent. And of course, I'm not trying to make generalizations either... It's just that the narrative is more complicated than a lot of people want to admit.

Sound good? Let's proceed. THIS POST IS GOING TO BE A BIT LONG!

At the core of Belos/Philip's story is an 'adoption' story. And it's all because of this particular line:

I know what you're thinking "But isn't being an orphan different from being adopted?" Yes, and within the media in particular, adoptee and orphan stories overlap heavily-- in fact, it's almost a circle (although due to his background and his time-period, he'd probably be taken in by someone given the boys' age of their arrival). It’s about the experience of parental separation which is what connects adoptee and adjacent people. So while Philip is not adopted, he is adoptee adjacent and that still matters. Concerning media and the way adopted/orphaned characters are portrayed, it's often presented in a very binary manner. Most people's knowledge of the subject comes from other people's perception of it rather than adopted/orphaned people themselves. And to a degree that makes sense... These stories are often ABOUT [adoptees/adjacent people ] without INCLUDING them. Adoption themes are incredibly pervasive throughout literature, TV/movies, video games, and other media. It's not inherently wrong to have an adoption-related storyline, plot, or character but most people don't do it in a way that is humanizing and avoids common pitfalls within the storytelling.

There's a quick impulse to call Philip 'evil' and 'irredeemable' without actually understanding his character... and when you view him through an 'adoptee-centered' lens his behavior makes a lot of sense. The fact the show treats this specific fact about the character as a plot device rather than something that could be explored is a tiny bit insulting. They only mention it in the exposition which kind of implies that this detail is meant to explain Philip's deep attachment to his brother. Which yes, it does and TOH leaves us hanging -- or actually they just tell us that this man is evil and call it a day.

Which leads me into one of the biggest pitfalls that the show uses for Philip-- he's framed as just evil. The trope of good/bad adoptee/adjacent character is a pretty common see -- even within the same piece of media. If we're going to use TOH we can look at King's character -- King, a young main protagonist who is the last living son of a god. King is young, cute, 'exceptional', has special abilities, etc (there are issues with King's portrayal as well but this post isn't about him). This is an issue because adoptees/adjacent people are more than a reductive good/bad label. Same with concepts such as 'gratitude' -- being grateful or not grateful when the real answer can be a lot more complex than that. It's a binary question that can be a complicated answer. We're the picture-perfect heroes or the irredeemable villains-- nothing in-between.

Taking this into consideration, when we look at Philip you start to see someone who's not 'evil'; you begin to see a man who is coping with separation trauma and abandonment issues. This is unfortunate to hear but research tells us that adoptees are 4x more at risk to 'self-exit', 2x at risk to have substance abuse issues, and generally more likely to be diagnosed with mental health disorders (obviously every individual is different but when talking about adoption many people tend to ignore these types of statistics in favor of more 'positive' ones). 'Negative' aspects that many adoptees/adjacent people experience or try to talk about are often dismissed or worse, they are gaslighted. When you look at Philip and his characterization you see these behaviors in a different light such as:

His attachment/abandonment issues (Caleb, this one doesn't need any elaboration; EDIT- gonna elaborate anyways lol). To be honest Philip shows a lot of symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. The hallmark of the disorder is a fear of abandonment — and BPD often stems from childhood trauma. Interestingly enough it’s not uncommon for adoptees (in particular women; there is a misogynistic component to this but i digress) to get a BPD diagnosis. And given that the show portrays Philip in a very stigmatizing way… you can see why this isn’t great…

Difficulty regulating his emotions ('the curse' seems to come out when he's emotionally escalated)

'Substance' use (the palismen; he seems physically reliant on them and they don't benefit him in any way besides sustaining his life. also, he looks like he's huffing something when he consumes one Side note: Some people think that Philip deserved to 'be cursed' (which is a side effect[?] of the consumption) since he “cursed himself”... super not great for adoptees/adjacent people we’re already a misunderstood group of people and it's not uncommon to get insulted or blamed when trying to have a nuanced discussion or share experiences.

His sense of self seems unstable... Most of his identity hinges on his brother, not himself (ex. being a witch hunter, the use of the gravesfield coat of arms for the emperor's sigil, the coat he wears, his name-- Philip Wittebane, etc)

There's a bunch of emotional stuff I would have to guess would be true but they'd more fall under theory or headcanon

It's not that he is 'evil' he is in pain and he is blamed for that. Obviously, he doesn't make productive choices and he does bear responsibility for the harm he caused and he is a creation of his environment. He had to hate to survive. This is where 'this and' can come into play... For many adoptees, we have feelings of not belonging -- even more so for transracial adoptees (those adopted/fostered into homes of a different race than their own). Many transracial adoptees are raised in environments that are racially / ethnically homogeneous (from their own race) so it can be harder to 'fit in' and it can also cause someone to have a complex relationship with their racial/ethnic background when one is essentially assimilated into a community that they stick out of.

edit: In mainstream society being adopted or 'orphans' is deemed to be a shameful thing, used as a comedy device, or through very rosed colored glasses... and there's a problem to highlight here: because adoptee/adjacent are often seen as source material for STORIES we often view their experiences through the lens of A STORY rather than someone's lived experience. It is easier to view a particular thing as a story for entertainment when for someone else it is reality. While Philip is a fictional character many aspects of his behavior are very real and deserve understanding and empathy for real adoptees/adjacent people. We deserve to be more than stories with black-and-white roles and deserve to be seen in color. As full complex people.

Here are some resources if you're interested in learning more about adoptee-centered adoption perspectives:

https://adoptionmosaic.com/resources

https://sidebysideproject.com/11-short-films

http://adopteereading.com/overview/

https://harlows-monkey.com/

https://adopteeconsciousness.com/

this tedtalk is good too: https://youtu.be/jL4lnvQ1wVU?si=HpYASjvvOXnY2faX

Edit: https://youtu.be/Rz3ME8K_zW4?si=CpEQarRbe8VAUqAR (this documentary just came out and you may hear a certain basilisk/gem featured!)

[kent-roase]

slowly starting to actually make this character

i don’t really have much about them yet, i’m not even sure if i’ll keep them genderfluid TvT

anyhoo, they’re a clone of Belos that the mighty emperor made of himself before the day of unity in case the draining spell didn’t work (he was getting fed up of his brother constantly “turning” on him, plus he was sure that because he became a witch hunter, so would his blood, blah blah blah idk) Yule is 8 when they emerge from the ground

you know, i took biology honors, but i still don’t know how genes and stuff work that well. for the sake of Yule’s background, Belos’ goopy stuff took ahold of his DNA and basically passed it on to them. it gets worse as they age but the “curse” doesn’t start until they’re about 10. not fun. they are around 14 in those drawings

that little locket they wear holds random things. sometimes they’ll find a small leaf on the floor that Willow might like and they gift it to her. it is often filled with feathers for Hunter that he is delighted to keep (they all go into a jar that he shows Flapjack’s grave). sometimes it’s a broken piece of a snail. who knows? they like trinkets.

also, no matter what gender they end up being, Yule always loves dresses. feeling pretty is important to them. that horrible hair has nothing to do with being pretty, by the way. they cannot, for the life of them, keep it nice

i won’t say any more because some of it is secret!! i’ll post more about them soon. and more beta au!!! i’m a bit busy because i’m trying to lock in for semester grades and get better in track but i love drawing too much hehe

[crimeronan]

i finally seem to have achieved the appropriate amount of being weird about belos on main: ALL my recommended blogs right now are belos x OC and belos x camila bloggers.

this is a slightly off-kilter recommendation for me for obvious reasons, but i DO believe in their beliefs. i'm so glad the belos fuckers are still this impassioned in august 2024. keep redeeming and/or being villainous with that evil old man forever i love you 💕

[wannabemasterofwindintraining]

Sadie dump number uhh 4?

Don't mind the last image it's just a silly idea i might change

[keithbutgay]

nope sorry i hate the collector </3

hes just discord with a whinier voice

aww big sad :// but i do get why people don't like them haha

[sat-in-a-rat-trap]

it just hit me how much amelia and belos' stories line up today and i dont think ill look at either of then the same again

[qcoded]

For the shipping meme: how about Belos x Camila?

anon I am literally begging you to message me. I GENUINELY want to know your reasoning for this ship because what 😭

ion think I need to say why this wouldn't work in canon but like. in other circumstances maybe???????????? I think Belos needs to stop comitting genocide before settling down

[1verre2trop-official]

shake it hella hard hunter

I have caught up to the show

[marymousesoul-commsopen]

I have an awful ship idea...

[anona1-mous]

comic + doodle of goop belos based on that one silly post made by @penny-anna

doodels:

CONTEXT:

[demilypyro]

have your opinions on Belos changed?

I mean he's still just some guy who's got this hate boner for witches for some reason. But also he turned into a big goop monster which I guess was fun?

Eh, not all villains need to have depth.

People kept acting like there was some big twist that makes him super extra horrible and scary but that kinda didn't happen. I mean he cloned and killed his brother a lot I guess? Was that it? Idk, pretty standard villain fare, didn't make him much scarier to me.

[regular-gnome]

Say how would the archivists react how belos treated the collector in the show? Would the collector tell them about it

Depending on the situation of how Collectors reunion went with family, but assuming it was not too tragic and if Belos goop survuved -they usually show little interest in mortal individuals they can't make use of. While the curse might be interesting thing to study, I could see the Collector complaining or venting about him at some point and them seeing it as an insult to their kind. For tricking and using their younger sibling, they wouldn't be above revange. The Curator would ask one of siblings to deal with him in a prolonged manner, ensuring nothing remains of the body. The goal would be to desensitize the Collector and teach them not to care about a 'spider' who wronged them, especially now that they understand death and may have reservations about causing it. In general, they'd try to help in their own way. The Curator and Architect experienced similar situations growing up, so they would empathize. But the coping mechanisms they developed might not be the best lessons for a child