back on my soap box screaming about how these Fear Entities aren’t even feeding off of fear.
There seems to be two ways the Fear Entities feed: actively and passively
Actively is when they manifest into the world. Instances of something blatantly supernatural happening. Every statement recorded is an example of the entities actively manifesting and feeding.
These negative emotions that they feed off of are often not even fear. ‘Fear Entities’ is practically a misnomer. As for what each feeds off of, let’s try for a messy quick run-down:
corruption -> disgust
end -> sense of finitude
extinction -> existential dread
vast -> nihilism
buried -> helplessness
desolation -> greif, loss
hunt-> fight or flight reflex. prey instincts.
slaughter-> anger. jump scares; flinch instinct. basically Fear Classic ™.
flesh -> feeling of a lack of (bodily) autonomy, your (physical) body being used in a way you don’t approve of (as opposed to the web, which uses you and your personhood in a way you don’t approve of.)
web -> powerlessness; loss of control, lack of autonomy
spiral -> distrust (in yourself, in others, usually both at once)
magnus archives’ fear entities are so interesting I wish we got to know more about them. 200 whole episodes and we really just don’t know much about any of them and how they work
we see more of what they do (manifest as supernatural occurrences and haunt people) than get any understanding of what they are.
How do they choose who to target? We see them targeting both people with an aversion to the Fear and people with an affinity for the Fear in question. Is it completely random, or is there something specific that draws them to people?
What qualifies as ‘fear’ by their standards? Based on the series as a whole it seems to be more of any negative emotional response rather than the biological chemical release of the hormones we would classify as 'fear’.
What level of sentience or will do the entities themselves have? Do they have enough 'will’ to actively seek out feeding themselves, or is it more of a reflex, like a plant rotating its leaves towards sunlight?
Do they choose their own avatars? We know that not every person affiliated with an entity who has a near-death experience becomes an avatar, and we can’t just dismiss that as them actively choosing to remain human. And if the entities do choose, that would imply more sentience than we’ve previously afforded them.
What’s the line between Avatar and just being affiliated with an entity? Melanie was affiliated strongly enough with the slaughter that she was able to mark Jon, but she wasn’t an avatar. How does that work? How does 'getting marked’ even work? It’s deeply unclear. You’d think you’d need an avatar or an active manifestation to occur to mark someone.
ALSO. Absolutely stupid question, I’m a bit embarrassed to ask, but.
How was Jon marked by the Eye.
Just 'working at the magnus institute’ shouldn’t mark him.And becoming an avatar shouldn’t mark him either. He never had an adverse experience with the eye. he was never haunted or harmed by the eye. All the other marks were from clear adverse experiences. If every person who existed in the vicinity of supernatural things was considered 'marked’ then half of the magnus institute’s employees would have been marked by everything by now.
Jon was validly harmed and haunted by everything else, but the eye never did anything spooky and haunting to him.
magnus archives’ fear entities are so interesting I wish we got to know more about them. 200 whole episodes and we really just don’t know much about any of them and how they work
we see more of what they do (manifest as supernatural occurrences and haunt people) than get any understanding of what they are.
How do they choose who to target? We see them targeting both people with an aversion to the Fear and people with an affinity for the Fear in question. Is it completely random, or is there something specific that draws them to people?
What qualifies as ‘fear’ by their standards? Based on the series as a whole it seems to be more of any negative emotional response rather than the biological chemical release of the hormones we would classify as 'fear’.
What level of sentience or will do the entities themselves have? Do they have enough 'will’ to actively seek out feeding themselves, or is it more of a reflex, like a plant rotating its leaves towards sunlight?
Do they choose their own avatars? We know that not every person affiliated with an entity who has a near-death experience becomes an avatar, and we can’t just dismiss that as them actively choosing to remain human. And if the entities do choose, that would imply more sentience than we’ve previously afforded them.
What’s the line between Avatar and just being affiliated with an entity? Melanie was affiliated strongly enough with the slaughter that she was able to mark Jon, but she wasn’t an avatar. How does that work? How does 'getting marked’ even work? It’s deeply unclear. You’d think you’d need an avatar or an active manifestation to occur to mark someone.
ALSO. Absolutely stupid question, I’m a bit embarrassed to ask, but.
but the people who didn’t care were still targeted, they just managed to survive. Not Caring is a fantastic tactic for surviving (adjacent to Fiona just fainting whenever she dealt with The Horrors), but it doesn’t impact a person’s likelihood of getting targetting in the first place
and re: Jon’s paranoia spiral, I’m pretty sure that was more of the influence of the stranger via NotSasha, giving off a general feeling of something being Off and Wrong
but on the topic of being off and wrong, I know that I probably am. about all this. because I listen to tma in the background and didn’t catch a lot of details until I started interacting with the fandom.
which is why I’m trying to crowdsource answers to my most burning questions now
have the Magnus Archives crew tried to pull a Monsters Inc and see if the Entities could secretly feed off of laughter and joy more effectively than fear
magnus archives’ fear entities are so interesting I wish we got to know more about them. 200 whole episodes and we really just don’t know much about any of them and how they work
we see more of what they do (manifest as supernatural occurrences and haunt people) than get any understanding of what they are.
How do they choose who to target? We see them targeting both people with an aversion to the Fear and people with an affinity for the Fear in question. Is it completely random, or is there something specific that draws them to people?
What qualifies as ‘fear’ by their standards? Based on the series as a whole it seems to be more of any negative emotional response rather than the biological chemical release of the hormones we would classify as 'fear’.
What level of sentience or will do the entities themselves have? Do they have enough 'will’ to actively seek out feeding themselves, or is it more of a reflex, like a plant rotating its leaves towards sunlight?
Do they choose their own avatars? We know that not every person affiliated with an entity who has a near-death experience becomes an avatar, and we can’t just dismiss that as them actively choosing to remain human. And if the entities do choose, that would imply more sentience than we’ve previously afforded them.
What’s the line between Avatar and just being affiliated with an entity? Melanie was affiliated strongly enough with the slaughter that she was able to mark Jon, but she wasn’t an avatar. How does that work? How does 'getting marked’ even work? It’s deeply unclear. You’d think you’d need an avatar or an active manifestation to occur to mark someone.
ALSO. Absolutely stupid question, I’m a bit embarrassed to ask, but.
but the people who didn’t care were still targeted, they just managed to survive. Not Caring is a fantastic tactic for surviving (adjacent to Fiona just fainting whenever she dealt with The Horrors), but it doesn’t impact a person’s likelihood of getting targetting in the first place
and re: Jon’s paranoia spiral, I’m pretty sure that was more of the influence of the stranger via NotSasha, giving off a general feeling of something being Off and Wrong
but on the topic of being off and wrong, I know that I probably am. about all this. because I listen to tma in the background and didn’t catch a lot of details until I started interacting with the fandom.
which is why I’m trying to crowdsource answers to my most burning questions now
well, yeah, the targeting is pretty indiscriminate I think, just whoever’s most convenient.
I’m personally of the opinion that notsasha wasn’t actually causing much subliminal offness and Jon’s paranoia was mostly a combination of “holy crud my predecessor got murdered” and “I still constantly feel like I’m being watched”(because he works at rhe magnus institute) and also finally admitting he thinks some of the statements are real. NotSasha probably had some input, sure, but if that was all from her then Tim and Martin should’ve been similarly affected. But yeah, I am leaning more towards “being an avatar of something means you don’t need to be marked by it”
yeah you’re probably right about Being an avatar exempting a person from needing to get marked (for ritual purposes)
all the people in the comments saying that everyone at the magnus institute and/or archives is marked by default– that’s such an unsatisfying answer. that’s so boring. that would imply that it’s deeply easy to get marked– just be in the vicinity of some avatar for a while and tada! marked!
(and on a side note– how does Elias make his magical contracts in the first place. how does he magically bind his employees to himself. that’s not an eye-themed power at all.)
I’m not even satisfied with 'being an avatar exempts you’– I think Jon deserves to have a personalized spooky eye experience. At least Martin and Melanie got Trauma mind-beamed into their heads by an eye avatar. They’re definitely marked. The people Jon took live statements from are probably marked (by the eye, from their encounter with Jon. In addition to whatever entity traumatized them in the first place).
basically tldr, I don’t think Jon is traumatized enough. he needs to be traumatized just a little bit more for the ritual to work. someone’s gotta go mark him with the eye.
first they stole some jewels, now they steal the entire building??
unfortunately I couldn’t steal the louvre because it’s too big to fit in my pockets. this is, of course, the fault of the fashion industry for making women’s pockets non-function at best and non-existent at worst.
spent 3 months now in the magnus archives fandom. took me three whole months. to notice that the only date we have connected to the Watcher’s Crown ritual is my birthday
cordelia could be so interesting if y'all would stop playing her as self-righteous
when she’s self righteous, from a modern viewer it’s almost impossible not to look at her sisters who’re doing their best to get their father to not be a dick, and think of Cordelia as a dick. After all, why would she look down on her sisters for trying her best?
But if she genuinely could not force her heart into her throat, find the words to hyperbolize how much she loves her father, then she reads less as a rude characters, and more a distraught one. She’s not looking down on her sisters for their lies, she’s unable to understand them. Yes, she’s disowned, but he’d resent them regardless, why lie when it’ll only bring more trouble to them?
It’s less of a condescension and more of a genuine warning. Less ‘You better your money where your mouth is’ and 'You will have to deal with him from now on, when I know your words weren’t exactly true. If he did this to me, be careful for what he’ll do to you.’
