2024-09-25 21:13:34 ¶ ● ⬀ ⬈

douglysium:

> douglysium:

> > # How it feels spending all my time writing TMA essays while Magnus Protocol is coming out

> An update, I am still working on a large essay for the next Entity. It will be on the Web and it’s looking like it will be about as long as the one on the Eye (over 100 pages). Sorry for the lack of Magnus content recently I’ve been busy with school and reviewing each episode of tmagp, writing the essays, and going to school on top of the other stuff isn’t feasible. I may catch up with my TMAGP quick thoughts when I have the chance or just skipping or grouping episodes together. We will see.

Small snippet if anyone wants a preview (sorry for any grammar mistakes I haven’t had a chance to review it for errors yet)

The Web

In order to fully understand the strands that connect the Web to the rest of the Fears we must first seek to fully understand the Web itself, or as much as we can anyway.

The Web is stated in MAG 111 (Family Business) by Gerard Keay to be the fear of “Being manipulated or puppeted. The worry you’re caught in a trap you can’t see” and Jon identifies it as “…spiders a-and control. Your, your will not being your own.” The wiki also lists the Web as embodying fears like arachnophobia and the fear of being controlled. The funny part about a lot of Entities is a lot of people love to overcomplicate the fears the Entities embody, and while the fears are often very nuanced, there is usually a thematic thread of general fear that can be used to describe most / all of the fears an Entity embodies. In the case of the Web, it can ultimately be described as the fear of being controlled by something or someone. So basically, it’s a fear that revolves around control. Just like with the Beholding, let’s look through each of the fears I mentioned one by one.

The fear of being manipulated, puppeted, or controlled are ones that go without saying. They are all fears that relate to being controlled either partially or completely. According to Merriam-Webster, if you are a “puppet” you are “one whose acts are controlled by an outside force or influence.” Being caught in a trap you can’t see also ties into themes of being manipulated or not being in control. Traps are usually meant to deprive something of options or freedom which in turn makes the target(s) easier to control. When someone / something actively makes a trap the point is usually to control, manipulate, or lock them in a situation that is advantageous for them. Additionally, if you are trapped you may find that you no longer have any control over yourself or a situation in the same way that the puppet I described earlier may not have any free will. Being trapped without your knowledge often overlaps with the fear of plotting and scheming with the idea that someone is trying to manipulate you in a manner you are unaware of. Certain traps can be used to completely deprive someone of the control they have over a given situation. As some may have noticed, all things considered The Web actually seems like it could have some strong synergy with an Entity like the Buried. There is one specific definition of freedom that I think relates to The Web very well: “the power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or necessity.” This ties into what I’ve been talking about in regards to The Web and the fear of not actually being in control of your life or actions. Whether that be because a conscience being is purposefully putting you in such a position or because of some inanimate force or substance (be it drugs, destiny, etc.).

Then there’s arachnophobia. This is an aspect of the Web that gets the most confusion and if I’m to be honest for most people the fear of spiders tends to relate more to other Entities. For example, the Corruption for people who find them gross, the Hunt for people afraid of spiders chasing them, the Slaughter for those who are afraid of the pain they can inflict with their bites, the End if you are afraid of a spider’s poison killing you, the Desolation if you are afraid they will cause you to lose something like a family member, pet, or limb, etc.. So why spiders? A lot of fans make the mistake of writing The Web’s spider theme off as a disguise or something but there’s actually a pretty good reason for all the spiders. The short answer is that it’s symbolic. But if you are reading an article this long I’m going to assume you didn’t come here for the short answer.

Well there’s a couple of things to keep in mind. To begin with, spiders and webs are heavily associated with manipulation. The term “web of lies” usually relates to a complex set of interconnected lies that are meant to manipulate someone. While someone might argue that lying is more of the Spiral’s thing it’s important to remember that all the Powers overlap and all of them are capable of lying or being truthful if it is conducive to their fear. In MAG 196 (This Old House) Annabelle, an Avatar of The Web and one of the key pieces of its plan to escape into other universes says “[Strained] Because… explaining things, giving answers, like this… it’s not what I am. It’s difficult, against my nature”. Now it’s important for me to stress that while this applies to Annabelle and I think can be insightful to certain aspects of the Web it’s important to remember that this probably isn’t all the Web is and it is clearly capable of being unsubtle or on the nose when it wants to be, such as when it turned Annabelle into a massive spider. However, lying and half-truths are very common tactics in regards to manipulating and controlling others. It also ties into The Web’s domain of the fear of being trapped without your knowledge. Withholding information or giving people false information can be a great way to keep people in the dark as to what’s going on which can in turn make them easier to manipulate.

Additionally, The Web has an association with the fear of planning and schemes and one of the ways someone might describe making a plan is by saying something like “I am weaving a plan.” In fact one of the definitions of the word weave is to “make (a complex story or pattern) from a number of interconnected elements” or “include an element in (a story or pattern).” So here we see how a plan might involve making something complex by connection tons of interconnected elements. Spiders are also a creature that is often associated with extreme patience and planning. Spiders spend all day making traps that can be extremely hard to spot before sitting in wait for something to fall into their trap. Which is at least metaphorically comparable to someone who might make elaborate hard to spot plans or manipulation tactics to “catch” or “trap” their victims. I’ve seen people argue that the Web uses spiders as a cover to disguise itself. This is only true some of the time since we have seen the Web take the form of seemingly unassuming spiders and, as I’ve mentioned earlier, the Web is a fear having to do with manipulation and control. It is not the fear of subtlety even if subtlety can often go hand in hand with manipulation.

It is important to remember a couple of things. First, sometimes the Web is going to need to be a bit unsubtle because just like every other Entity it wants to gather its respective fear. If it’s TOO subtle then there’s a chance that it’s victims will either literally not have enough awareness to feel afraid as they won’t even realize they could be walking into a trap or consider the possibility that they are being manipulated. I’ve also seen people argue that the Web uses spiders to disguise as other Entities but this has a similar problem to the previous point because if the Web is always doing this and it does it to well there’s a decent chance that it might just end up feeding another Entity way more while it itself gets very little fear which doesn’t always seem to be in it’s best interest. Secondly, as I’ve gone over the whole spiders thing is symbolic. This is something literally called out by Jon in MAG 1966 (This Old House) in response to Annabelle claiming Martin came of his own free will when he says “Free will,” she says, as we stand in the middle of her fucking web!” I wouldn’t consider Annabelle turning into a monstrous spider, tricking Martin, and then tying him to a giant web to be exactly subtle. Additionaly the term spider can just mean “form a pattern suggestive of a spider or its web.” So all the Web imagery could just be a metaphorical representation of how complex its plans are.

As I’ve alluded to just now, it’s also clear that at least some (if not most) of the characters we see in TMA associate the spiders with manipulation or the Web. For many this is simply because they realized it’s something the Web likes to manifest as but there are some victims who would not be completely aware of the full scope of the Entities and yet still experience the influence of the Web manipulating them along with spider or web imagery. I’ve seen people argue that spiders might not be associated with manipulation depending on the culture. This is true but let’s not forget that TMA is being written mostly by I bunch of people from a “western” culture that is the UK so that is going to influence their work. On top of that many of the statements we get are from people in either Europe or the U.S. so they might have similar cultural perceptions and symbolic understandings. It’s not like we have a perfectly balanced sample size of statements even within the universe of TMA. Plus, the Powers aren’t always restricted to the lowest common denominator and are very capable of adjusting to a specific person’s fears both before and after the change. The best example I can think of is how the Spiral manifested as storms to torment Michael Crew. Most people wouldn’t associate storms with any sort of confusion, lie, or deception (despite that being the Spiral’s entire thing) but that doesn’t really matter for the specific case of Michael Crew. Just because you might not immediately have a connection between spiders, webs, and manipulation that wouldn’t necessarily mean the characters we see giving statements don’t. When the Web targets people with spiders it may be aware that while it knows not everyone will make the connection the specific person it’s tormenting will.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Powers can manifest as just about anything, so i have no doubt that when encountering different people the Web can and has manifested as things besides spiders but as I’ve mentioned the tapes aren’t necessarily a perfect sample size. We also always need to step back and look at TMA as a story being made. Part of the reason the Entities have strong associates, like eyes for the Beholding, fire for the Desolation, sky for the Vast, etc. is not just for the sake of cultural symbolism but also for the sake of us as the audience. So that we me recognize the Entities when it’s appropriate for the story and only get confused when the story wants to be confusing. So in that way the Web’s association with spiders is not just a metaphorical connection but as a shorthand we can understand as the audience when applicable.

That’s enough about that though. Honestly, if that didn’t convince you that at least in the context of TMA there’s at least two major reasons why the Web is connected to spiders and that it isn’t something just randomly chosen or nonsensical then I don’t know what will convince you… except maybe…

Symbology and Common Manifestations

Well, the two most obvious symbols are webs and spiders, but I feel like I’ve covered those enough for now. The same goes for what the wiki lists as “web patterns” and “weaving” under The Web’s manifestations section.

One thing that The Web commonly manifests as is addiction or addictive substances. This is a pretty important because it ties into one of my earlier points. The Web isn’t just the fear of being manipulated or controlled by another person but just losing control to something else in general, be it person or not. People can be manipulated into addictions but sometimes addictions are more of our own making or due to certain mental / biological factors. There’s not always a person scheming involved in addiction.

Something that the wiki also lists under The Web’s manifestations is marionettes. This actually ties back to what I said in the previous names section. Marionettes are a type of puppet and a puppet can be used to symbolize / refer to someone who is being controlled or manipulated by someone else. Marionetters are particularly famous in regards to how strings are used to control and manipulate them. Which ties into The Web’s whole spider imagery. Since webs are basically sticky string and spider’s silk and string are often compared to each other. Strings are also often associated with control, just like webs. If someone is “pulling the strings” it means they are the ones in control or are otherwise manipulating a situation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marionette#/media/File:Prague-Marionette.jpg

The Web also seems prone to manifesting as reels, tapes, and other kinds of recording strips. There’s the titular tape recorders but in MAG 110 (Creature Feature) it seems connected to some film reels. One line even mentions that “It was dark inside, lit only by what spilled in through the open doorway. I could hear a sound like the turning of an old film reel, but I couldn’t say where from. I stood there, unable to step inside, not because of fear, but because this space inside was threaded all over with film strips. Up and down, one side to the other, wrapping around and through each other. I gingerly reached out and touched one. And as I did, Dexter seemed to emerge from the darkness. At first I thought he was taller than usual, but then I realized that he was suspended ever so slightly by the strips of film, his feet a good couple of inches off the floor.”

This relation to recording strips could simply be because long reel strips vaguely resemble string or rope, and this is emphasized in episodes such as MAG 110 in which Dexter is being held up by film reels, like a puppet or something caught in a web. Reels can also get tangled, so you could get tangled or caught in a long enough reel in a manner analogous to being caught in web, rope, and /r or string. It could also have to do with the idea of not having any free will in the sense that you are trapped in a sort of reel, movie, or story. An even that is already set to play out in a predetermined fashion based on what has been recorded or filmed. Reels also have a connection to stories which could tie into the whole “web of lies” thing. Stories, information, half truths, and lies all being spun and edited / spliced together to create a narrative for a person to knowingly or unknowingly follow. In a way stories can be used to manipulate people, it is not uncommon for someone to falsify events (ie come up with a story) in order to trick someone into behaving a certain way or doing something. It could also simply be that the reels we see in moments such as MAG 110 are just meant to foreshadow or allude to The Web being connected to the tapes.