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tuumcleander · 1 month ago

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We understand your perspective and acknowledge that our essay ended up being more emotionally charged than we intended. After some reflection, we recognize that despite our efforts to remain objective, certain harshly worded passages could understandably be misinterpreted.

We stand by our right to express these views and are keeping the post public—all who wish to engage in this discussion remain welcome to do so. We're heartened that it allowed others with similar concerns to voice their perspectives. That said, we now see it was unfair to frame our disappointment as Magpie's failure to meet expectations. While we understand why we felt so strongly initially—we did take the matter more personally than we should have—we should have approached it with greater detachment.

At this point, almost none of us are directly involved with the canon, as we've each moved on to developing our own creative projects or spin-offs—and this is where our focus will remain.

We regret that Magpie took our criticism so hard and that our wording caused additional hurt. In particular, expressing disappointment in a way that implied they owed us something was inappropriate—this was never our project to demand anything from. We'll choose our words more carefully going forward!

Critical review on Carved and Modeled - Wittebane collaborative album - The Owl House by @a-magpie-in-gravesfield

On the day of the premiere, the four horsemen of the apocalypse (that’s me, @lasymit, @tuumcleander and @levshany) sat down with jokes and banter to watch the hour-long musical album. The project is impressively high-quality for fandom work, and the sheer amount of effort put into it commands respect. There were a few songs we especially liked, which deserve special mention.

A Dark Beginning, depicting the execution of Caleb and Philip’s parents, was dark and atmospheric—the music perfectly matched the tone of the narrative.

Witch Hunters, a song about hypocrisy, nailed the emotional weight, particularly the lines about how their parents “lost the game” they’re now forced to play.

I Can Be Your Friend! was also great—it perfectly captured the character’s energy and was dynamic as hell. The concept of Philip meeting the Collector in the in-between realm when he first crosses worlds is genuinely interesting. Too bad their relationship isn’t explored further.

Curse is absolutely magnificent—from the voice acting to the body horror atmosphere, it’s our favorite track.

Disclaimer

First off, we deeply respect Magpie for their dedication, enthusiasm, and the high-quality merch—clearly the result of painstaking work, with carefully chosen materials and lovingly crafted designs. We also appreciate their attentiveness to every customer and the monumental effort poured into this project!

What follows is serious criticism and our raw reactions. If you’re part of the project, loved the album, and are sensitive to critique, please stop reading here. Otherwise, we’re open to discussion—just keep it civil. We’ve done our best to make this critique constructive and not hurtful (we kept some cursing and CAPS for humor, because otherwise it would be a boring long read). Our goal isn’t to offend but to voice our perspective.

We disagree with Magpie’s interpretation and feel it’s important to say so, especially since this project is massive, gaining traction fast, and some fans are calling it "100% canon" and "better than canon". The fandom’s response has been overwhelmingly positive, likely because this is one of the biggest fan projects of its kind, made with contributions from so many people. Philip’s fans are proud that our fandom can produce something this ambitious.

But in our view, much of this fan-made story contradicts canon or works worse than the original series. Below, we’ll break it down.

Analysis

A Dark Beginning – Tragedy for tragedy’s sake. The music nails the vibe, but the uncle character could’ve been anyone—this song exists solely to hang Caleb and Philip’s parents. This plot point only matters until the second song and then vanishes.

Witch Hunters – The song itself works well as a follow-up to the previous track’s buildup. But despite expectations, the brothers’ conflict with society’s beliefs goes nowhere. Caleb briefly mentions being tired of pretending to be a witch hunter, then it’s dropped. This tension could’ve resurfaced when Philip decides to kill all the witches, but his motivation there is shaky too.

Daydreaming – Caleb dreams of a better life. But it’s unclear what’s weighing him down—everything around him looks rosy, romantic, and peaceful. The lyrics spell out his struggles, but visually, he’s just chilling and daydreaming. We don’t feel his pain.

Distance – Caleb tells Evelyn he wants to leave Philip behind… but also loves him. Why not just take the kid with them? Philip, a literal child with no malice or grudge against Evelyn, watches them sadly from afar. What’s the conflict here?

Struggling Light, Only For A Few Days – No real motivation or tension in Caleb’s decision to abandon Philip. Author tries to parallel Caleb and Luz, but it doesn’t work—Philip is a minor, and Caleb is almost an adult responsible for him. Again, why couldn’t they take Philip with them? Even if Caleb’s tired of parenting, we don’t see any emotional breakdown—just whining. Evelyn supports Caleb but doesn’t push back. She’s just… there.

They could’ve had her egg him on, making Philip resent them both, leading Caleb to make a rash, impulsive choice to leave without Philip. Or shown Caleb blaming Philip for all his problems. But none of that happens, so his motivation falls flat.

The Other Side – Caleb feels zero guilt, which is infuriating. He writes letters he never sends and even smiles while doing it! There’s no explanation for why he can’t return. Maybe the portal couldn’t reopen? Not a word about that. It feels less like he’s chasing a dream and more like he’s just oblivious, acting like a selfish ass with no self-awareness.

Were They Right? – Philip’s suffering again, somehow blaming himself. He’s not allowed to show negative traits. Where’s the betrayal brewing if he never saw the note? Why doesn’t he blame Evelyn? He and Caleb don’t even have one conversation in the whole album—not even before their fight.

Now Philip starts believing the witch hunters were right, that Caleb was enchanted… but nothing leads him to this. He just changes his mind over time. No trigger.

If Philip already thinks Caleb was enchanted, why doesn’t he act on it when they meet? Why not grab him and run? Instead, he kills him. Seems like he realizes Caleb wasn’t enchanted after all but keeps lying to himself. Except the lie’s so weak it doesn’t even convince him, so his real resentment spills out, and he kills Caleb. So is the delusion there or not? If it is, why doesn’t it work? If not, why include it?

If he believes in the enchantment, why not attack Evelyn, the supposed enchanter? If he’s just comforting himself, he could’ve picked a better lie. Why even chase Caleb if he doesn’t believe he was taken by force? Why is he so easily swayed that he kills Caleb on sight?

Cover Up – Over a piece of paper, they’re ready to burn him without trial. The story desperately lacks the systemic oppression that would’ve shaped Philip into who he is. The villagers’ vengeance feels half-baked, but at least the momentum’s engaging.

Finally, we get Philip’s motivation to find his brother.

I Can Be Your Friend! – A high-energy, dynamic song that perfectly fits the Collector’s vibe. Nothing concrete happens—it’s just Philip and the Collector vibing in the in-between. Fun stuff. Too bad the Collector disappears afterward.

Where Is Home? – The first murder feels unearned, and Philip has zero reaction. The description calls it an accident—let it be so—but killing someone point-blank over apples? Really?

WHERE DID THAT DOOR COME FROM SO FAST? WHAT DID HE MAKE IT FROM? DID HE JUST FIND A PORTAL IN THE BUSHES?

Has He Forgotten? – Cavelyn ex machina, resentment with no setup. Philip’s moping again. Earlier, he thought "maybe he was enchanted," now he’s suddenly certain it’s magic and leans into the delusion. The lyrics are too on-the-nose, the tone clashes with the visuals, and the pacing’s off. His motivation needed time to develop—this is a pivotal moment, but it’s rushed.

It feels like Philip just pulls out a knife out of nowhere. The song seems to frame it as a crime of passion, but he’s eerily calm when making the decision. Psychopathy fits Philip, but you can’t have it both ways—here he’s cold and calculating, in the next song he’s rage-fueled and impulsive. Which is it?

Murder – Caleb’s "I’ll always be there for you" rings hollow when he never even tried to return. This ties back to Caleb’s weak motivation—he’s completely oblivious to the consequences of his actions. Screw the note! He should’ve known it wouldn’t explain or justify anything, even if Philip read it.

We can’t tell who Philip’s attacking—Evelyn’s not in frame. If it’s Caleb, WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING WITH HIS BACK TURNED? Why stab him? Is he angry? Trying to "break the spell"? Maybe the "spell" is a metaphor for his (unshown) resentment.

How did he spiral like this? No buildup except one mention in Were They Right?. Philip seemed to want Caleb back, but then he kills him because… he’s mad? Hurt? A fucking idiot? Does he genuinely believe Caleb was enchanted? The framing’s so vague we’re not even sure if we missed hints or if they just weren’t there.

WHERE THE FUCK WAS EVELYN THIS WHOLE TIME?

The lyrics say "SOUL IS TORN APART," but Philip’s face is stone-cold, like everything’s going according to plan. Delusions need REASONS, CONFLICT—they don’t just pop up. The emotional core is missing. Instead, we get "depression in my mind, misery in my behind", with none of the doubt that should be there after KILLING THE PERSON HE LOVED MOST.

The Door – Why doesn’t Evelyn, knowing where Philip is, try to kill him? Why is HE so calm, thinking logically AFTER MURDERING CALEB—the most traumatic event of his life? WHERE’S THE BREAKDOWN? THE SHOCK? THE DESPAIR? This should’ve shattered him—horror, tilt, depression. He should’ve cycled through grief and gotten stuck on denial, fueling his future canon actions.

This needed its own song because the dissonance between event and reaction is jarring. You could argue psychopathy, but even psychopaths aren’t usually this detached. Even for them, core motivation has to come from somewhere emotional.

There’s so much fanart of Philip losing his mind digging up Caleb’s body, but here he’s just… lonely. Sticking to canon here undermines Philip’s motivation, especially for his future arc. It’s flat. Pathetic. Frustrating.

The audience can’t connect Philip’s emotions to his choices because the initial conflict was undercooked. Now the story doesn’t work. Caleb’s role in Philip’s life feels interchangeable—it could’ve been anyone. This breaks the Grimwalkers’ concept—if he just needed someone, why not make it literally anyone else?

Why does he want to kill all witches? Over Caleb? But he seems to give zero shits about Caleb to dedicate 300 years to this crusade.

Canon Hollow Mind pictures don’t fit the narrative and feel illogical. If you’re using them as a foundation, the story should’ve been different.

What Now? – Evelyn leaves him in her world… WHY??? So he can genocide her people? "Let’s lock the maniac who murdered my child’s father in a room with my entire species"—BRILLIANT plan. Her reasoning—"I won’t let you hurt anyone else"—HOW does hiding the portal stop him, dumbass? Why not execute him publicly?

Philip wants to kill all witches so his people will "forgive" him. How he reached this conclusion is unclear. Is it guilt over Caleb’s death (which we never saw)? Who knows.

Later, he claims he’s "protecting" humanity from witches luring them with magic, like Caleb. COOL. Then why the earlier motivation? Why the contradictions? Is this his delusion or bad storytelling? Since it’s not clear at first glance, it feels like the latter.

He does express doubt—saying he’ll "believe the lie" to avoid pain—which is a great angle, but it’s buried under noise (like Evelyn’s portal door).

And, by the way, why didn’t he kill Evelyn? Their conflict has no resolution. He kills Caleb but ignores her, even though he blames her and all witches for this mess.

He wonders if Caleb was enchanted… but he already killed him over it. This doubt should’ve come before the murder.

So he makes Grimwalkers to "prove" Caleb wouldn’t betray him without magic? And because he’s terrified of forgetting Caleb’s face? But earlier, his motives were different. It’s a mess. Does he want revenge? To "save" Caleb? To protect humanity? Too much for one song—pick a lane.

Grimwalkers – He’s not deluding himself anymore. He knows killing Caleb was wrong. So why keep making Grimwalkers? The song implies he’s addicted, afraid to forget Caleb. But without the delusion, where’s the guilt? Why does he regret killing Caleb but not the Grimwalkers?

Again, Philip’s murders are treated with bizarre indifference—no reason, no emotion, in lyrics or visuals.

This song’s motivation isn’t bad, but it clashes with his inconsistent behavior earlier. The overall message still falters.

CURSE – ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS. NO JOKE. WE’VE BEEN REPLAYING THIS ON LOOP. Best song in the album. The visuals sync perfectly with the music—his madness is on full display. THIS is Philip. Deranged, obsessed, desperate, agonizing under crushing guilt.

It echoes Transformation from Jekyll & Hyde, taking the best elements we’ve always associated with Philip. The whispering sends chills—his torment crawls under your skin. The vocal delivery masterfully conveys his fractured mind, pulling the audience into the horror. Priceless.

Why does it work? Because it’s a self-contained vibe—no narrative, just atmosphere. And the atmosphere is perfect.

The Titan's Will – Just canon events retold Hollow Mind, with no added depth. This song adds nothing. Cut it, and nothing changes.

Mask Of Gold – The lyrics mention "all the lives that were lost," but no kill besides Caleb’s was justified. Even Caleb’s death felt rushed. Philip rarely seems troubled by any of it—we see hints in CURSE (guilt) and Grimwalkers (doubt).

Which "lives" is he mourning? If it’s Caleb and his own, that’d make sense. But he shows no remorse for anyone else. The tragedy falls flat.

The tone doesn’t match what Philip should feel. The lyrics don’t fit the context.

It’d be more effective to show his melancholy creeping through his imperial routine—how, despite his busyness, intrusive thoughts break through his denial.

What we see—him indulging in sadness—would’ve destroyed him over 400 years. If this happened often, he’d be dead. He survives on hatred and denial, especially before the Day of Unity. He’s too busy to sit around staring at a world he despises.

Conclusion

We need to say why this post exists: It hurts to see Philip treated like this. This character means a lot to us—we’ve spent ages analyzing his motives and psyche. Seeing a project that glosses over both claim canonicity is disheartening.

This was meant to "fix" canon (where everything’s bad), but it fails just as hard by clinging to canon while creating new plotholes.

It ignores historical context that should’ve shaped Philip’s trauma and worldview, flattening his character.

There’s not one scene fully dedicated to his emotional pain—the core of his character. No standout moment focusing on his psychological damage—unlike CURSE, which highlights his physical agony and guilt.

We don’t want this project to become the "definitive" fandom interpretation. Canon left gaps in Philip’s backstory and motives, letting fans theorize and adding depth. But this album’s story leaves no room for interpretation. It offers half-baked "solutions" that raise more questions than they answer.

The attempts to patch canon’s holes clash with character motivations, making them shallow and their actions nonsensical. They’re hard to believe.

To understand their motives, we had to rewatch the album ON MUTE because the songs’ moods often clash with the events, distracting from the story. On first watch, we missed key details—there was no emphasis. We thought there was no improvement over canon. The album wants to tell a story, but its structure gets in the way.

We rewatched it twice and wrote this review to dig deeper. We did find some compelling ideas about Philip’s motivation, but it was as exhausting as dissecting the original show.

Magpie, if you’re reading this, we truly hope this critique doesn’t hurt you. Its goal is to offer constructive feedback on character writing. Whether you take it or leave it is entirely up to you.

Thanks for reading.

#philip wittebane #toh #the owl house belos #the owl house #belos #emperor belos #wittebane #wittebane brothers

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tuumcleander · 1 month ago

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Continuation on Magpie "Carved and Modeled" subject

Okayyy so. Continuing on the subject tho we don't tag Magpie this time as he asked to. There are some people who seems to misunderstood why the review was made, and this post is for them.

Honestly we really toned everything down in this review comparing with our first reaction and tried to make sure what we say is on point. But yeah, sadly our emotions in the conclusion are true. We would actually be very disappointed if Philip’s backstory would be shown in canon this way, without any actually emotionally breaking events. It just didn’t feel like any of the characters cares about what happens around them. The circumstances Magpie placed don't look believable not even from a historical or canonical perspective, but from psychological perspective.

In our review we pointed out problems in narrative and characters' motivation, we didn't say a word about disagreeing with headcanons or how it was animated. We was talking about how the events were shown. And the point of questions we raised was not about how it was or was not in canon. Magpie implied to fix the canon and we described why it was not fixed at all. It was not about headcanons, it was about logic of the narrative.

For example we pointed out the lack of emotions from Philip's perspective. The story in album was covering his WHOLE LIFE and his most traumatic events where he was on his LOWEST. And like, critique wasn’t about faces and expressions alone it was about the whole picture in a storytelling sense! The story shows a very important part of his life but it seems like Magpie toned everything down, so none of the characters would look bad, and that made them look unbelievable.

We asked question "why Caleb never returned to Philip" not because we wanted him to come back, obviously he had to stay with Eve for the whole story to happen! The problem was in HOW Magpie staged his leave and didn’t show any HEAVY reasons why he couldn’t come back to Philip if he loved him so much. We can't understand the characters in this story, because their motivations are weak. And it's not the problem of different headcanons - it's bad writing.

Like, in reality, the only circumstance where Caleb COULD leave without feeling guilty is if Philip was a grown up person and not a child who Caleb had to take care for. And otherwise his motivation should have been shown to be much more strong.

Time, budged, all the effort Magpie put in the project ARE valid! We are not questioning it, we don’t say he didn’t animated enough or detailed something enough, we understand he was making this all solo. We are talking about his initial PLAN on WHAT and HOW he wanted to show. We didn’t even mention our headcanons in the essay - we only adviced an examples of solutions for the stated problems. We were talking only about what he did show and how it feels in a grand scheme. The issue wasn’t that he didn’t put enough effort, the issue is he made a scenario that doesn’t work and somehow, apparently, he didn’t get any critical feedback for it BEFORE starting to work on it. Because he didn’t ask, probably? To not lose motivation from critique. But that just led to the poor writing with a ton of work on it, which saddened us the most. He put SO MUCH effort and didn’t question himself once if he showed the characters right, if they actually feel alive in the story.

Our issue was that he made A HUGE THING in the fandom for a character we really care about, SPENT TWO YEARS ON IT and didn’t ask anyone for feedback once??? And it's not appropriate for a project that big and important for fandom representation to have such issues with narrative. It's not "just a little fan art" it's a thing that lots of people will see, not only from Philip's fandom. Like it wouldn't be a problem if it was just a comic on tumblr, but Magpie is a BIG creator in the community and because he made a big youtube video, that a lot more people will watch, it's weird how he don’t get how much power he has on his hands. At this moment he is basically our representation as a Belos fan.

And we are sad he didn’t ask anyone, not us, but ANYONE, who knows how to write, for feedback with his script. He didn’t examine it before putting in his effort. This is what disappointed us.

Like, with Philip's expression in the knife after murder, we have no issue with him keeping it in. As well as other frames from the show, we get that he wanted to stay as close to canon as possible but if he wanted to MAKE IT WORK he really had to brainstorm it with someone who also cares about the story, then it wouldn’t fall flat as it did in the end. The frames from the canon didn’t make sense in the narrative he made. And it looks like he doesn't see it for some reason? Lyrics he wrote don't match up with them at all, as well as scenes between the frames like one moment Philip is a menacing figure with BOO expression and in another he's already fine??? It looked like he wanted to PRANK Caleb or something and not like he was dangerous. The connection of the frames could make more sense if puting them in different order or making more context in between. It's just the problems in scenario you see?

Also maybe it would be better if he didn’t post THE WHOLE MUSICAL at once. It wouldn’t be so hard both on us and on him, if we saw all songs separately from each other and didn’t judge it as the BIG THING and one continuous story in the end. And if he got the feedback from fans in songs separately I believe it would be a lot more inspirational for him too. And easier for viewers to consume.

That's always the issue with big projects that you keep under the table for a really long time. To make it actually make sense and not be stuck in your head you need to ask feedback from your friends, and other creators - someone you believe is a good creator and is friendly with you.

And hence Magpie decided to make the story by himself, with such big words like “to cover holes in the canon”, we could not ignore the thing, because it happens to be very subjective. We needed to show our opinion to fandom too. There are much more accurate and viable interpretations of canon events, and we are sad that so much effort was put into weak scenario. That could be avoided, if Magpie collaborated with some experienced writers. But he didn’t. That's why we made a critique review. Someone should have point out the issues. And while he is an animator I think it's not that surprising someone told him he is not the best writer? There are not much people out there who does writing and drawing at the same level, that's why collaboration exist. We gave advices how the writing could have been improved, not only critisised it. And our point was complitelly ignored, the bad writing was called "headcanons" and all. That's it, let it be so, but there are some people who was afraid to say the same things, we described in review. And we made this post also for them to see it.

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tuumcleander · 1 month ago

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My review for @a-magpie-in-gravesfield 's new project: Masked and Modeled

So after a few other artists started making reviews, I gathered the courage to make my own.

Just as a disclaimer: this is not meant to be or spread hate; this is just my opinion, and if Magpie takes this as something to improve, that's on them.

I didn't go to share my thoughts right away because I was horrified of possible backlash, and I wanted to give Magpie the spotlight because he’s worked so incredibly hard on this project, but now that I've seen others speak up, I thought I should too.

This is meant to be informative, not aggressive.

But I want to speak about the songwriting. It is the entire project and is not perfect, but also not horrible. There are only a few things I want to point out that I feel would make the songs just a bit better.

First off, almost all the songs try so hard to rhyme with every end, and because of that, a lot of the lyrics sounded basic and plain, which is a very common mistake I've seen with other beginner songwriters. Not all lyrics have to rhyme; freestyle does exist and is very common.

Going off that, a lot of words were repeated unnecessarily often. “Play,” “pretend,” and “witch” were the most overused. And those words especially witch are hard to work with lyrics that are trying to rhyme. Mainly in the beginning three songs.

For example, “Left Behind” with the line that Philip talks about the mask, “gaze at the mask” followed by “put on the mask” is dragging it and something that didn't need to be repeated.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that Magpie puts more effort into Belos’ songs than Caleb’s. While I get that the story does follow Belos more, the songs that Caleb has are very lacking, especially when Caleb’s “I want” song doesn't show anything wrong and therefore puts no strength into the lyrics and makes the song overall pointless. Not only that, but a majority of Caleb’s art during those songs looked traced from frames from the show. And it is so easy to tell when Magpie’s very soft art style turns sharper with face shapes and body type. If you are writing a story about the Wittebanes, especially Belos’ upbringing, Caleb is key to that, and how Caleb was written makes Caleb’s death justifiable. And makes Belos’ villain arc lacking drive.

The song “Murder” is incredibly out of place with the lyrics and instrumental. While I do get that it's meant to show Belos’ anger, it makes no sense with the rest of the music and the instruments used in past songs. When it comes to writing a soundtrack, keeping the same instruments is key to keeping it understandable and recognizable. But that was the only song that didn't fit; the rest of the instrumentals are very nicely done.

The song “What now?” “Grimwalkers” and “CURSE” are my favorite, but they also have their issues.

“What now?” didn't have any build-up for the lyrics to be as powerful as they could have been. The notes didn't match what the lyrics ask. Belos questioning what he was doing was for nothing, sounded monotone, and had less power and drive. When he goes forward to make it clear that he needed to go on it has no build-up and seems like it was just being written to end the song.

“Grimwalkers” have a lot of repeated lyrics, but show sympathy and come from nothing, and do nothing to Belos’ character and drive to go on.

“CURSE” beautifully captures the horror and panic that Belos has, and the eerie work with the instruments perfectly follows the notes of the singer. But once again has no buildup and no follow-up to that state of mind.

“The once familiar smile, now frozen into a glare by death” is my favorite line because it sets the room and the atmosphere very well. And also explains Caleb’s change that haunts him.

“Keep in the grief” lacks the panic that makes him struggle to calm down, however. And overall, i feel it should be removed from the song entirely.

The very last song i feel should have been removed entirely. it keeps adding on when it should have ended right there with CURSE. Because the audience already knows what happens after that from the show itself.

But that is all I will write for now, because writing this has me through so much distress that I feel incredibly sick and nauseous. So i might take a bit to gather myself. @calebsrottingcorpse , @azure-blaze92 , and @thatbloodstainfromcaleb know what I'm talking about

Magpie, if you see this, if you want more information from me, just DM me. i do not want this to be a public argument

-thank you

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