The 15 Fears of The Magnus Archives

[@spookymcg]

Artists in this video: JONATHAN SIMS by sarcasticscribbles: instagram.com/sarcasticscribbles?igsh=MWQyZXBwZHU0NmNnNg== THE STRANGER TAROT by S. T. Hunter: www.artstation.com/sthuntress/albums/2940883 THE ARCHIVAL TEAM by girlcarnivore: girlcarnivore.tumblr.com/post/617328858088243200/the-magnus-archives-is-stressing-me-out-and-im Thanks to sarcasticscribbles for finding the artists for me!

[@scaleonkhan183]

thanks for the links! i liked the art and i was wondering what all the other stuff was

[@theearthboundsatyr]

Something else for The Buried is debt and financial fear. It struck me as really thoughtful that the fears are so diverse within theor own categories.

[@digitalchapel]

I was going to comment this. Buried is so much more than cramped spaces and claustrophobia. The weight of responsibility, the pressure from society or just from others around you, being stuck in a relationship or a situation you can't escape, asphyxiation. I wish there had been more nuance given to Buried as with the other fears because the rest of the video does a great job with that!

[@mcr00kes]

As a side to this, I think The Buried was the only Fear (besides The Extinction) which didn't have an avatar that was heavily focused on. There were some stories that alluded to avatars existing, such as The Warden, but otherwise it was focused more on a thing - The Coffin. The Buried is a far reaching and also mysterious fear in part due to this.

[@noalowenstein6741]

I also thought this! the Buried is less about being literally physically buried imo and more about feeling trapped. Feeling like no matter what you do you'll never be able to change your circumstances. Financial debt fits into that perfectly

[@jessicaclakley3691]

Thank yall for expanding on this! I was thinking along those same lines but more for societal pressures, like the feeling of being forced to conform (a member of the rainbow mafia in a small Southern Baptist town for example) and the anxieties that surround that restriction. It can be suffocating

[@felixrivera895]

The Buried is any circumstance where you are smothered or suffocated. Finances, people, clutter, earth, water, ect.

[@Deceitful_Jester]

I think you missed a key aspect of the flesh - The horror one's body might provoke in oneself. The awful flesh garden in the apocalypse and the bone turner's gym showed us that the flesh also covers things like body dysmorphia and the horrible lengths people will go to in an attempt to soothe it.

[@sunnysundaie5037]

That’s totally a thing that gets me!!! When I bonk my leg on some corner and know I’m going to have a bruise in a bit, I have to take a full 5 minutes to calm myself down.

[@pedroscoponi4905]

_I'm so sorry that you have to have a body_ 🎵

[@chrono4998]

i've been thinking about the fear of your body turning into something against your will. I remember being on the verge of puberty hitting the bits that were starting to stick out and change to force them to *stop* but of course it didn't work. I am horrified by the concept of pregnancy, and the recent political landscape forced me to wrestle with it, because *what if you had no choice*. i have such a strong and visceral reaction to it. I fantasize about getting my uterus taken out if it gets bad and yeah, this is what the flesh exemplifies to me. Because you're not in control of your body, not really. Sure, you can tell your arm to move, flex your fingers, close your eyes. But even closing your eyes is just covering up your retinas, but you always *see*, even if it is just the back of your eyelid. Similarly, you can't tell your body to fight infections, and you never know what it's doing.

[@bramblechaser162]

I appreciate that you talked about the extinction. Because it wasn’t a fully formed fear a lot of people don’t talk about it!

[@empressofkingfishers8656]

Extinction got left out of the cool kids club by the other Fears 😔

[@inkdragon3455]

The Extinction is the new little sibling that gets left out of everything.

[@richardiv385]

He did slightly misrepresent the Extinction, not just the sudden irreversible change that is always happening, but also the twisted, corrupted, strange whatever of what comes next, in our shadow

[@mitcharendt2253]

I feel like the extinction is also about the fear that it's our fault. The ruined environment is clearly man made.

[@marions.3657]

The roast of the umbrella

[@standard-carrier-wo-chan]

"we're all made of meat" if by some ungodly situation someone were to eat me, I hope I'm a 5 star dish instead of some pink sludge.

[@melissaharris3389]

Dr. Lecter will see you now.

[@happylittleloser]

I like this as this is actually touched on in the show! "The only thing worse than knowing all of us are meat... Is knowing that *your* meat is worse." This is why the Flesh can be manifested through body dysmorphia, eating disorders, and self-image issues

[@Cangeltibon]

TMA changed how I view horror, everytime I watch a new scary movie of thriller wonder what Fear is responsible. It’s actually made watching horror a lot more fun. ☺️

[@melissaharris3389]

Yeah. Now I hear about people going missing while exploring caves or hiking, or what not, and I think "The Buried, or The Dark, or The Vast got 'em"

[@MrKillrpig]

Honestly that makes me kinda wanna start watching horror movies, but specifically to try and do this, simply because before TMA i was always a scaredy cat and never watchede anything spooky.

[@teatous7444]

​@melissaharris3389 it's just Simon Fairchild being a little silly again 😌

[@amandapanda5087]

Same, every time I watch/listen to anything horror I wonder what Fear it falls under

[@youssefbencheikh8637]

​@@MrKillrpigIf not for the fact that they're riddled with cheap jumpscares, I would LOVE horror movies

[@transrightsdinosaur]

As someone with severe arachnophobia, thank you for not using a real picture of a spider during The Web section. Respect 🙏

[@spookymcg]

i looked for some good footage, but boy howdy, i think it’s best for the both of us…

[@Trinthegay]

​@@spookymcgI am also extremely grateful for it because I was spending the entire video anxious that I'd get jumpscared by a photo of a spider. So I'm grateful.

[@krussyarts]

​@@Trinthegay same!! I was peeking through my fingers during the web section

[@k4ky852]

even though he not using it goes against what the mother of puppets represents, if you didn't fear it then it wasn't her

[@mitcharendt2253]

I'm transmasc and love 🦕. Your sn is perfect

[@williams_nuggies1924]

7:00 "sure, an apple full of bugs is disgusting, but you haven't built a life with your apple." Tough line

[@mitcharendt2253]

I'm trans and I've been homeless a lot if my life. Thanks for mentioning what the lonely does to the most vulnerable people

[@bogdancomic2512]

Tf dose being trans have to do somethig with being homeless

[@whomeveriwillbe]

@@bogdancomic2512 you'd be surprised

[@johnsayles8032]

​@@bogdancomic2512 Being poor is enough to make some people treat you terribly, being trans can do the same thing. Combo them together and the world is very lacking in compassion indeed. Straight up, some shelters run by churches will not help you in any way if you're gay or trans. The salvation army gets a lot of flack for this kind of behavior.

[@robloggia]

Hopefully you're not still homeless.

[@raak4070]

​@bogdancomic2512 are you not aware of the amount of people disowned and kicked out because of sexuality? They probably are homeless because their family didn't like that they were trans.

[@hgmercury8273]

There's another part of the Flesh beyond just body horror, it's the fear of your body not being what your mind wants it to be, it's body dysmorphia and the effects that brings, it's gender dysphoria and the fear and pain that goes with it. Jared Hopworth is this section of the Flesh, and his season 5 episode, The Gardener, perfect encapsulates this part of the fear.

[@happylittleloser]

I adore that they added that into it's domain, it made it so much more personal for me, therefore so much more effective!

[@Brightly-Colored_Goth]

Important to note that while the Buried is mainly related to the physical sense, both financial ("crushed with debt"), emotional and many more variants of this have been mentioned as being related to the Buried. On another note, I love how you talk about the extensions of the main 15 fears besides their basic & literal concepts. You have a very cool perspective, thank you for sharing.

[@zarico6157]

14:28 I thought ab this so often on my first listen, to the point i was DEAD certain it was going to be revealed that we, the listeners, were going to be revealed as the eye, constantly demanding more and seeking out secrets, fears, and knowledge as the story progressed. I was wrong obv but i still keep it as a little pet headcanon

[@melissaharris3389]

This is a take that I also have, and have heard other fans express. We, the listeners, are the ultimate voyeur into the characters' lives and trauma. We only get to hear what the tape records. Anything that isn't traumatic, like Jon and Martin's weeks in Scotland or the stay at Upton house, is missing because those experiences don't interest us. We are the Ceaseless Watcher or listeners.

[@rudolfambrozenvtuber]

They are not real. If this is the thematic idea then it fundamentally fails due to that simple difference

[@psyivy9169]

@@rudolfambrozenvtuber something doesn't need to be real to be observed

[@rudolfambrozenvtuber]

@@psyivy9169 It does to be somehow wronged by the act

[@SoFi-qh1tn]

definitely stealing that as a headcanon lol. ive gotten close to that, like when tim (or martin? i dont remember....) was pissed at the tape recorder for always being on, always listening, and he yells at it and he was kinda yelling at us, the audience. idk how ive never thought of this before, especially with how often i thing about tma lmao

[@spookymcg]

I’ve gotten a bunch of comments politely elaborating on concepts attached to certain fears that I missed or represented differently. Thank you to those people! While I feel like I captured the general themes of this topic, it’s undeniable that the show fleshed them out a lot more than I could cover in a 35 minute essay. My hope is that if you watched this video first, my simplified explanation will be enough to get you to listen to the show, which will give you the FULL rundown!

[@sarcasticscribbles]

hii that's my jonathan sims at 0:31

[@spookymcg]

Hi! So sorry i didn’t credit, im still learning about these things- would you like me to link an account of yours in the description??

[@owlish13]

​@@spookymcg best to do that at least, but in the future put the credit in the video too

[@melissaharris3389]

Great work.

[@gh.stb12rd]

​@@spookymcgyou can put a lil text under the image with the social media handle or name of the artist next time!!

[@rulerofjotunheim3160]

It’s funny, as a queer person, I think the rabbit analogy for the hunt DOES regularly apply to how I and a lot of other people feel in the same situation, you very much can be hunted by human beings in the same way a dog hunts a rabbit.

[@alannar6189]

Also being femme presenting out at night

[@alannar6189]

Or out anywhere

[@deinodinosuchus]

yup! this thought went through my mind as well, as a queer and mentally disabled person. same for people of color and just basically any minorities in one way or another, sometimes it really is like The Hunt

[@Omnywrench]

Also victims of stalking or harassment

[@rulerofjotunheim3160]

@@Omnywrench extremely true, had that happen to me last winter, it’s awful.

[@chloemiller657]

I adore this essay! I love you talked about the more metaphorical sides of the Dread Powers like the Corruption and toxic relationships, and how you gave me a new perspective on the Extinction. My only criticism is I do wish the essay touched a bit more in detail about how, like Gerard Keay said, trying to actually categorize the fears and realizing how weaved together they are is what makes them even more terrifying. I dont recall who in TMA said it, but they said something along the lines of "If you kick an ant hill, does the ant realize that the boot, the finger, and the eye is one whole person?"

[@beruni5266]

leitner in ep. 80!

[@chloemiller657]

@@beruni5266 Ty!

[@melissaharris3389]

"Come to us in your wholeness" There's a reason only the Watcher's Crown succeeded.

[@cultiumera]

as the resident extinction appreciator id like to add that the fear of extinction isnt necessarily the death of humanity but the change of humanity into something unrecognizable, hence the nickname "the terrible change" this could fit into SOMA-esc themes of humanity using technoligy to try and survive its own extinction but turning themself into something much more terrifying then even death would have allowed (this is why in my headcanon mag 65# binary is mainly an extinction statement allthough it was intended to be spiral) apart from that the extinction can also refer to death of a culture instead of literal death and the fear that brings, i think thats what many folks get wrong about the extinction cuz it was never about live dying out its about live as we know it today dying out and being replaced with a something that once was us but we wouldnt be able to understand anymore "Technology will strip us of what it means to be human, and leave us something alien and cold. We will press a button that in a moment will destroy everything we have ever been" -Adelard Dekker on the extinction

[@Nemrey]

I actually love the take on MAG 65 having something to do with Extinction, hadn’t considered that before but thinking about it it fits nicely!! Thanks for sharing, as a fellow Extinction liker it’s cool to hear fresh ideas like that :-)

[@cultiumera]

@@Nemrey aww ty, might i also add: mag 5# thrown away the notably cold metal human heart at the end is very symbolic of the extinction aswell (and yknow the entire episode is centered around garbage, thats kind of a dead giveaway)

[@Nemrey]

@cultiumera omg that's a great fit too, was recently relistening to Magnus for the millionth time and still stumped on it but idk why the Extinction didn't occur to me! EXCELLENT takes on where Extinction applies, kinda insane it might've been hinted as early as mag 5 lmao

[@cultiumera]

@@Nemrey fun fact: MAG 5 was supposed to be the flesh however the themes of the flesh weren't fully developed yet at the time, which resulted in an episode that more so resembles the extinction (non intentionally and in retrospect since the extinction wasnt planned to be a thing either yet)

[@melissaharris3389]

Extinction is an emerging fear, so it assimilates and takes on aspects of other fears as it grows into a distinctive entity. Each fear must have gone through a similar process. Dividing and differentiating itself, first from The End (the oldest), then into progressively more complex (as life grew more complex) until humans evolved and really made the entities weird. Making them embody abstract concepts like existential insignificance or the perception of reality.

[@Toolgirl64209]

The slaughter and the flesh are tied together by the concept of the slaughterhouse. But the flesh preys on the mutilation, decades of tearing apart animals, the idea of being nothing but a resource. The slaughter is when you see those torn and mauled, and remember that they are alive. They had families, friends, people who knew their name, even shared a meal with them, and seeing them ripped apart, their face, that once told a joke, torn apart by the grinder.

[@melissaharris3389]

The Slaughter is fear of violence, both experiencing it and witnessing it; while the Flesh is the fear of being an object. Being seen as just parts instead of a whole. Since the Flesh is primarily an animal fear, its more complex aspects tend to reflect psychological issues around the body.

[@harryhansen7980]

Your segment on the Lonely has earned you a subscriber. I love that you chose to use that moment to shine a light on our loneliest population. You explained that helpless, disgusted, guilty feeling so well.

[@marlssa]

I’m so glad that my manager is cool with the homeless man behind our gym. We bring him snacks sometimes and we let him keep his little tarp and grocery cart by our back door. Bro is so awesome and always gives a wave when someone takes out the trash 😭

[@cringelord4208]

oh brother i thought i could just have this as background noise because "most horror talk does nothing to me my phobias are too specific anyway" then you hit me with the descriptive mf apple maggot scenario on minute five. Subscribed (but for real, youre seriously a good narrator, your quiet horror videos already been like an inspiration for me to get off my ass and work on my horror related projects its awesome. really looking forward to see more stuff from you)

[@pinkajou656]

I had to skip that

[@KingKay2019]

The Buried also can relate to financial burdens or familial commitments. All things that bind you, crush you, and hold you hostage but not physically.

[@JohnDoe-rt2um]

That's more the web tho

[@melissaharris3389]

The crushing weight of the world. Be it physically crushing you in Deep Bellow Creation, choking and suffocating, in dirt or debt; or, the burden of existence. It's all the same to To Close I Can Not Breath.

[@glumbortango7182]

I think one of the funnest things I thought about when faced with the horrors of the entities was in trying to think about how certain entities "oppose" each other. There's the obvious ones, the Eye and the Dark, the Buried and the Vast, but with those to go off of I found more poetic oppositions in the chaos. The Desolation would oppose the Corruption, there's no sense in mourning what's ruined to begin with. The Flesh would oppose the Stranger, since the nature of its plastic facade openly contradicts the idea that all is meat. The End cannot coincide with the Hunt, since death is a seamless part of the chase for both the hunter and hunted, and any hunt that ends is no true Hunt. The Lonely and the Slaughter seem to disagree, the frenzy of a battlefield isn't easily found in the Lonely's isolation. And finally, The Spiral and the Web seem strange as opposites given how similar they are, but having thought about it, The Web's games cannot interface directly under the Spiral's cheats and deceptions, and the Spiral cannot easily detach and distance what the web had pliably connected, its influence a thread from within the Spiral's labyrinth. A bit of a leftover connection, but it works out nicely. Shame none of this played out in the story except for the first two, but it does fill out the "color wheel" analogy more specifically. That, and I tried to figure out where on that "Color wheel" the Extinction was born. After thinking it over, my bet was somewhere between the Slaughter, the End, and the Stranger, judging by its appearances. It's a tid bit, but I was really into taxonomizing the Fears when I was listening along, partially to cope with the horrors. Decent odds I would have tried my hand at "Balancing the Entities" if I was a character in fiction, to be honest. Oh well, ramble over.

[@asthejayflies]

I dont have much to say about the other pairings but to me desolation and corruption aren’t mutually exclusive. In my opinion, mag162 (a cosy cabin) is dual type corruption and unconventional desolation. because theres a lot of imagery about rot and the decay of the house, and that it threatens the health of jmart’s relationship, but its also desolation to me because theyve lost so much, and the world has gone to shit, and they only have each other and now theyre terrified of losing that too. which is peak desolation to me. the corrosion of a relationship being caused by the deathly fear of losing each other…. corruption and desolation are surprisingly compatible indeed

[@kspoo10_]

​@asthejayflies I feel like Corruption is closer to being the Lonely's opposite (in all cases except the purple mold)

[@melissaharris3389]

The Desolation and the Web are canonically opposed. It appears the Desolation and the Corruption are also opposed as Arthur Nolan was planning on burning the hive in his building as an offering before it took Jane Prentiss as an avatar. Also, Jordan Kennedy (the exterminator) set Nolan alite unnaturally easily. While The Dark seems to see the Eye (or at least The People's Church of the Devine Host does) as it's antithesis; The Beholding seems more opposed to The Stranger; although, that may have more to do with everyone's favorite evil boss using The Unknowing as busy work/the world's worst group project. I was a little disappointed that more wasn't made of The Dark as the Eye's antithesis; but, it could be because the fear of the Dark is less about the lack of light then what lays in wait within the dark. The Ceaseless Watcher and The Hunt both seem to emerge from the fear of what is waiting and watching from the shadows.

[@glumbortango7182]

​​​@@asthejayflies I can see how you would get to that, just keep in mind that most of this is speculative and that most of these connections are based on the fact that these themes can, given the right context, contradict each other in useful ways. The rot shown in mag162 is on the surface moldy and murky as corruption tends to be, but it's definitely missing the distinctive Itch that the Hive tends to evoke. I personally read it as more along the lines of the Lonely, (definitely some spiral somewhere in there) but that's just if I had to put a pin on the map. It's really not easy to get a concrete answer to most of this.

[@glumbortango7182]

​​@@melissaharris3389 Thanks for mentioning this, the arson attacks against the Hive by followers of the Desolate is one of the things I based that guess off of! Worth noting that for the most part the Web and the Corruption tend to tap into separate fears, but other than that this whole bit is spot on. As for the deal with the Stranger, I have a personal guess that while it's not directly against the Eye, it might prefer the Dark to it when push comes to shove. Something similar to how the Web seems to fair better than the Spiral when put under the Eye's scrutiny, or how the Lonely and the Eye "aren't too far apart". Assuming that the idea of direct opposites also applies here, that would imply similarly that the Flesh prefers the Eye to the Dark, which given the common theme of objectification seems about on the mark. As a similar note, I personally do think that the Eye and the Hunt are also neighboring fears in this way, since it would imply through its opposites that Death is associated with the Dark. Given how that one seems seems almost obvious to justify (Fear of the Unknown + Fear of the End), This seems like a fairly safe bet under the connections I've made. Edit: By the same logic, assuming that there's any "restorative force" which keeps the Entities' power concentrated in roughly opposite positions across long periods of time (there clearly isn't, but it's the only way this theory is consistent long term), My theory on where the Extinction is suggests we should expect some new power along the lines of the Lonely, the Hunt, and the Flesh to spring up as a counterbalance to it some time soon. I don't fully expect this to happen, and to be honest I'm kind of scared of what that implies already, but through my theory I am cursed with knowledge, and now you are too. :) Edit 2: I just remembered that really creepy computer episode really early on (mag65), and aside from having confirmed Spiral ties it seems to fit the bill for this hypothetical power I just made up. Fun! Great! It's definitely a Good Thing to be right about this specifically!

[@arsonmoth4478]

i just recently convinced one of my friends to listen to TMA, cant wait to force them through 200 episodes in 24 hours so i can rewatch this video with them

[@melissaharris3389]

They to create your own Archivist, are you?

[@santipapa6986]

And I will stick to my word, I asked for it and you provided, excellent service 10/10 I'll be giving everything I can

[@KaijuKinnie]

The buried is also about being crushed beneath stress. Being buried under debt, or the suffocating stress of trying to keep up with expectations.

[@nitrisprime8963]

As far as the "political" story that you talked about during the section on the Lonely, I feel like trying to talk about the Fear Entities without talking about the heavier political aspects that went into making the Entities themselves would've been a massive oversight. Sure you can say that the Fear Entities are just meant to be commonly held fears by humans and animals, but I feel like that removes a major aspect of what The Magnus Archives was trying to say on the parts of humanity they represent, especially given what ends up being shown during season 5. It makes it pretty clear, especially in the part of Season 5 that focuses on the Flesh, that there's a lot more to the Fear Entities then just "eww body horror" or "ick worms in my food" or "oh no there's no way out of this cave". So I actually think it's more relevant to bring up a supposedly "political" story like that then one might think.

[@BriAngel476]

the spiral my beloved. i loved the episode in the last season with the mental hospital, the familiarity of it felt like a hug. they understood my experiences in such a way that made me feel comfortable, seen. it was so.. me.

[@ceaseless_spiral_avatar]

exactly ❤❤

[@sol_ARG]

y'know, looking back on Magnus Archives, if there's one thing that really ends up being disappointing it's how hard the Flesh got shafted in terms of deeper symbolism -- it basically just stays as "what if a human body wasn't supposed to look like that" or "what if there was gunk" or "hey do you ever think about how your skin is an organ" for the whole podcast, when IMO what it _should_ be doing is forming a third in a trio of Eye, Web, Flesh of "this one is _especially_ about capitalism." hear me out. all three of these entities/fears are predicated on seeing people as assets -- pawns for the Web, content for the Eye, meat for the Flesh. and this is what the Flesh should lean on; the idea of people not being seen as people, just as meat cogs to feed the machine of industry. does it matter if you're struggling as long as you can show up to your dead-end job and perform normalcy well enough? does it matter if the drugs have deadly side-effects, as long as they work and keep profits low for the company? does it matter that this treatment is untested, that these workplaces are hazardous, that this dehumanization will kill you? of course not. keep working -- you have money to make for someone else. unfortunately TMA and a vast swathe of the fandom seem to have fallen into the same trap as people reading Sinclair's _The Jungle_ when it comes to the Flesh and have been more horrified by But What If The Meat Is Bad than the horrific conditions of people being forced to create The Meats in the first place. kind of a shame but hey whatcha gonna do?

[@sol_ARG]

also, more silly hot takes: + the Dark should really have thalassophobia in its repertoire of representations. anything could be down there with any number of horrible spindly limbs or sharp teeth or messed-up hunting techniques. did you know we still know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean? the unknown seeps in again. + we should take the "what if there was a bunch of scary spiders or perhaps one really large scary spider" from the Web and the "what if there was a bunch of gross insects or perhaps one really large gross insect" from the Corruption and turn it into an entity called The Bugs (or the Swarm for an actual thematic name). the Bugs is when there is a critter that has too many legs or perhaps a lot of gross critters of some nature or maybe the creature is very large and you do not like it + (Corruption and Web both get to lean heavier on their metaphors this way and also we can give the Corruption fungus/mold) + the Extinction can be a fully realized fear guys it's fine. we've gone through the cold war, y2k, _and_ this whole BS with "AI-generated" content. i think "fear of being replaced by something you can't understand/fear of the destruction of your way of life" is a pretty common fear at this point

[@rudolfambrozenvtuber]

One of my favorite things about the Entities as a writing conceit is they have a way of preventing "scary thing happened because scary", and kind of push me to focus on one idea, categorize it thus assigning it a certain tone I'm going for, explore it in whatever way feels natural, then be done

[@Faulk425]

Rewatching and being able to link episodes with the fears is so fun. Sorting them into categories like “is this the hunt or the slaughter”. Also if you like the Magnus archives then you will love I am in eskew. It’s really good and if you like the lonely, the flesh or the eye then you will like it!!!! And it’s pretty underrated I think.

[@OneLonelyGhost]

I’m so happy you made a video on TMA! It’s my favorite horror podcast. I love how you tackled all the entities very succinctly and in a unique way! (Personally my absolute favorite is the buried) Can’t wait to see what you do next

[@elfietheespeon9462]

As a follower of The Spinner of Schemes, I approve of this video. May the threads of fate momentarily consider your life worth minutely altering for the better.

[@elfietheespeon9462]

Though a more in-depth analysis of the fellow Fears would have made for a more entertaining experience, I appreciate the craft put in to effectively explain each of the Fears in less than five minutes. If anything, this is the greatest form of dedication to the Mother of Puppets Herself; to divulge too much of Her secrets is to 'give up the gambit', so to speak. The video leaves just enough for the viewer to fixate on, bringing the prey to us. To imply the existence of a spider without displaying its form serves only to highlight just how terrified of it you really are. Before I started this project, I was much like you; too scared to look at the spider for what it is. In a similar way to the character of Annabelle Cane, I too had arachnophobia. The more I learnt of the Web, the more obsessed I became, until I would no longer feel afraid of spiders anymore. It's almost hilarious how my experience with the podcast so eerily mimicked the journey of one Miss Cane, but I cannot deny the irony of it all. Of course, everything I say could be a lie. How much do you really know those you see online? How much do you know of me? Can you tell apart the truth from the fictitious words on your screen? Who's to say it's not both? Or neither? Does it matter, when the result is the same? They don't call it the World-Wide-Web for nothing. Safe searching, 🕷

[@MishaZGreen]

Dropping out early on because I feel like a big aspect of this has been desperately missed right off the bat: the 15 fears aren't proscriptive or intrinsic entities, but rather the continually splitting and shifting shards of an original singular entity that are shaped by the perception of living beings. They are given their discreet forms by our distinction and definition of them rather than being fundamental forms.

[@belasundead]

your loney segment made cry. its one of my favorite entities, and you put it so powerfully and beautifully.

[@IrishMorgenstern]

Was randomly suggested your quiet horror video and your channel has been a delightful intrigue. Looking forward to seeing what you make moving forward!

[@Albinojackrussel]

On of the things I like about the fears is that I think most people have some that terrify them deep in their bones, some that are relatively nuetral, and some that have a peverse attraction. It adds a lot of flesh to the avatars when you can prehaps empathise with why someone might become an avatar.

[@magixazog]

I’m so glad you made this!!!!!! This is my favourite podcast, my most powerful and undefeatable hyperfixation, and I will spread its word like gospel to the masses. THANK YOU AND STATEMENT ENDS!

[@rhiannonbunce4086]

I am also terrified of needles (for pretty much exactly the same reasons you laid out in your last video), adore skeletons (they're so cool) and love the magnus archives, so I really vibe with you. Your videos are super fun! Keep going, you're doing great!

[@ajo3971]

YESSSS IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE SINCE YOU MENTIONED IT

[@quicksilvertaint]

Just binged the entire series and hopped right back to this video

[@andr3theloser]

Wondering if Connor listened to WTNV , i would love if people came back to the fandom , to talk about the impact it had when it comes to this medium

[@julyol119]

Really cool stumbling upon your video. I have just finished TMA a few weeks ago. But I haven't researched it on KZbin in any way. I guess KZbin took my horror preferences and went like "This weirdo definitely loves TMA" 😂

[@etienneporras7252]

This video is incredibly well done! You summarize the Fears beautifully and you draw some great connections to each one. One thing that terrifies me about the Fears sometimes is that they don't HAVE to be connected to True Fear. They can simply exist in the world around you. They might even sometimes define YOU. This is why the Avatars are *especially* terrifying. If you're a child who really enjoys hide-n-seek, that's an aspect of the Hunt. If you're someone who takes comfort in a weighted blanket, that's an aspect of the Buried. I work in a grocery store and the constant shifting of aisles and locations is Spiral, the management and execution is Web, the food preparation is Flesh, and even in a store *filled* with people, the general disconnection is Lonely and Stranger. The Entities don't HAVE to be "Fear" but they're almost always malicious, if inocuous at times. The Entities *are*. And that can sometimes be the most terrifying thing to be: to be.

[@tunasalad9693]

Something that I think needs to be discussed with the corruption is disgust with oneself. The avatars. The disgust that a human body can bring. As someone who's delt with lice, infections due to sweat, natural yeast, the smell the oil, the shit the piss the spit the blood the ****vomit.*** It kind of ties into the flesh a bit in that sense. But it's still so specific to the *disgust* of it all. It's not just the outside forces but the disease from within. Idk i relate to the corruption so much man.

[@Iojima]

This essay is amazing tbh, though I feel it missed something of the Lonely: the way it entices its victims. Not just in fiction either, but by making them feel like they’re “better off alone” or such. The way that it’s portrayed with Martin in particular is reminiscent of a deep depression, which makes it so much more insidious, preying on those that are lonely, hurting them or causing them to hurt themselves, and then telling them they’re better off like this, or that they deserve it.

[@SweetWitchNerd]

The Magnus Archives became a special interest of mine about 3 years ago and it changed the way I see fear and I love it for it

[@duck6100]

Not sure if it’s covered in tma but in my head a big part of the Vast is about the concept of infinity. It ties into cosmic horror, something so incomprehensible to a human mind that when faced with it your whole existence becomes pointless. You see infinity and suddenly you have no reason to live anymore and the feeling stays with you through every moment of your life. It’s not a comforting nihilism, it’s the realisation that you’re so infinitely small that dying as soon as possible is the only thing you’ll be able to think about.

[@dairaalmarza1199]

Didnt think you would whip out this video so fast! The descriptions of each fear were very evocative, had a lot of fun watching. One personal thing, though. I would have liked more depth on flesh, how it can include things like EDs or your body changing on unexpected, unpleasant ways. Well, you did say it was one of your least favorites entities, while its one of my faves hehe. Great vid my dude

[@dairaalmarza1199]

Also i noticed that you didnt credit the artist of the fanart pieces you used, very bad!! Next time just add their social media handles on the video or something.

[@trixie7759]

Finally finished This video and its so cool!! TMA will always be one of my absolute favorite medias ever, met some of my closest friends via the Tumblr gc feature in a TMA group chat, and god i love it so much, it's such a good series as a whole, what episodes stuck with yall the most? Mine will always be Lost John's Cave and End of the Tunnel, despite this I'm convinced I'd most likely be haunted by The Stranger or the Spiral

[@cultiumera]

Upon the Stair, Total War, Wonderland along with every extinction statement. Also im still mad that my top 1 and 2 fav fears (extinction and slaughter) got the least amount of statements and avatars, i get it with the extinction cuz its emerging n stuff but cmon give the slaughter some love it only had a single statement in season 5 >:( rly hope that both of those get more love in the magnus protocol spinoff

[@thunderclancat123]

As someone who watched TMA a couple years ago and is now back for The Magnus Protocol (the sequel), I really appreciate this video because I had forgotten a lot of the different fears and what they entailed. Thanks so much

[@mrskarate0513]

The tender is the flesh reference was just 🤌 *chefs kiss*

[@keanusamuelu3838]

Omg, haven't listened to the magnus archives yet, just started, Il'l come back for sure I'm though the first five episodes and I love it. First seson done and this is probably the best podcast I have listened to At episode 199, I am so excited too get started on the magnus protocal

[@keanusamuelu3838]

SAM, GET OFF THE TRAIN!

[@themostsomberofsaturns]

I just finished listening to the entirety of TMA and until The Magnus Protocol comes out I've been searching for video essays and other pieces of content and this video just so happened to pop up in my feed!

[@transrightsdinosaur]

25:25 excellent image choice 😂

[@whyareallmynamestaken1382]

A great example of the page turn for me is from thr manga Blood on the Tracks, we don't see the mothers face, only the reaction of the main characters cousin, a look of pure fear. And then he is pushed off the cliff, and the mother turns around to look at the main character, and we see this serene, calm and intensely unnerving smile

[@VinusseyBeats]

man, i am IN LOVE with your videos. The way you create scenarios to explain the fears is really cool, and i feel hooked up watching. keep it up!

[@gwendolynpeterson5229]

Im SO excited that you made a video about The Magnus Archives!! Its one of my favorite horror media to consume, and still ends up still freaking me out no matter how many times i listen. I also like to try to associate fictional characters i make with the fears just to also figure them out more!

[@sightetsound]

"get his ass, Diogenes" made me immediately subscribe. thanks for this great video!!

[@viridescentfen]

i used to live in boulder and was at a supportive housing complex, and ive seen first hand how bad things are for low income folks in boulder.. the library would turn away anyone who looked homeless who wanted to get water, or use the bathroom, and when the place had to shut down for m3th contamination it justified so many people's cruel looks on the homeless. the drvg issues in boulder aren't caused by the homeless, it's because the homeless have no ways to cope, to survive, to get help, to make life bearable. i was fortunate enough to have a roof over my head but that doesn't take away how traumatic and soul rending it is to not be able to afford being alive. boulder's off the deep end right now with the gap between low income and upper class people.. it's rough. thank you for talking about your experience there, i had to go through similar shit at my old job, and it made me feel sick because everyone seems to forget that they could easily end up homeless too.. we're all human, we shouldn't be left to die because we didn't get where we're "supposed" to be and can't cope in the "correct" ways.

[@causticx-jpeg]

Love the descriptions in this one

[@dazeymazey3516dr]

One thing I love about The Lonely is how often the thing that saves the character being hunted by it is simple human connection. I loved cul-de-sac because of this, how the main lead had almost given in but was brought back just by her connection to her ex-husband calling about a stupid statue.

[@NealaBeala]

I also have a REALLY bad fear of needles and hospitals. I think the best way to describe my fear of them is the web and maybe the spiral, sort of that trapped feeling i get from doctors and hospitals. Makes me panic every time.

[@DNGNDriver]

I got partway through your "Quiet Horror" video, got hyped by your TMA reference, but had to stop bc i haven't seen Skinimarink and wanted to avoid spoilers. I'm on my third or fourth re-listen, so it's awesome to see you do a full video! Just subscribed.

[@asthejayflies]

same abt the quiet horror vid, i have terminal tma (jmart) brainrot so i was thinking abt tma the entire vid, but i wasnt expecting it to get a shoutout, let alone an entire dedicated section debriefing the concept and giving the sales pitch. When they guy started saying “not a movie or show, not a movie or even a youtube video” i started getting my hopes up higher with every word and when he said “a podcast produced by jonathan sims” i SCREAMED in jubilation. turbo autism mode activated :D

[@heathbenton6201]

Really awesome Video! So happy the algorithm gave me your channel!!

[@WolfHreda]

One thing I'll always be grateful to TMA for is not only introducing me to the word "panopticon," but illustrating it beautifully.

[@jesssam7384]

I always imagined us (the audience) to be The Eye. The way every time the recorder appears and turns on on itself refering that The Eye is "hungry" and wants to know what is happening is a great way of storytelling but it also applies that we ARE The Eye and we're also "hungry" for new stores to listen to.

[@Acedh_]

I WAS THINKING THROUGH OUT THE WHOLE VIDEO THE MUSIC WAS SO GOOD BRO (this was amazing i absolutely loved every description, it was very easy to understand)

[@GraphiteCat]

this is honestly incredible- as someone flesh, eye, and spiral aligned i was kicking my feet happily during those sections :3

[@theoctopus7191]

Studying harder for Magnus protocol than my real classes 💪💪

[@dillpickles5012]

I personally consider a huge aspect of The Flesh is the idea that you *are* your body. You’re stuck inside it- you can’t transcend it, and anything that happens to it happens to you. There’s also the aspects of being reduced to your body- not just in the sense of being edible, but in the sense of being an object- your personhood and experience flat out rejected by something that only takes notice of your existence for the supple flesh of your physical body. (In this way the Flesh and the Spiral are opposites). The Magnus Archives is too well written and tasteful for it to resort to using sexual violence for horror, but there are *extremely* subtle nods towards it in regards to the Flesh- which i think is exactly correct.

[@evijuls]

thank you for this video! I think it's one of the best description of great 14 (15)

[@OpenBiolabsGuy]

It occurs to me that there is another Great Fear that they could have made, but maybe overlooked: The Hurt. The primal fear of pain and injury. In the Magnus Protocols there is a new monster that possibly embodies this fear. The needle man, or the man who is a walking pile of syringe needles. A fear of needles (or razor blades for that matter) is intrinsically a fear of the pain they cause and the damage they can inflict on your person. As old and primal as the fear of death is, so too is the fear of pain and injury. Many people have this deep in grained fear of being physically hurt or physically injured. It's what drives us to not touch the hot stove again. It's what makes some people give up exercise after injuring themselves while working out. Whenever someone has a physically painful experience, especially one that causes them an injury, and especially a permanent injury, that experience creates a fear in them that wasn't there before; a fear associated with whatever caused the pain. Bicycling, driving, walking under a ladder, getting hit by someone you love who turns out abusive, being tortured as a prisoner of war. All these things create fear where there was none. The basis of that fear is pain. The basis of that fear is also the physical damage it causes to our bodies. Damage that is sometimes permanent.

[@sekinixd307]

oh my god, i remember finding this podcast at the begining of it's creation. I didn't get much into it back then but it remained being in my liked since then. Thank you for reminding me of that, i need to get some work done and a podcast might be what i need to distract myself to actually do it

[@Boolklop]

FINALLLYYYY SOMEONE TALKS ABOJT THE MAHNUS ARCHIVES OMGGG

[@heathermackenzie3490]

I'm so glad you covered this podcast. I fell in love with the entire beautifully tragic thing and am now just counting down days till the Magnus Protocol. You did a great job explaining the fears, all 15 of them. Bravo. I can't wait to see what else you're planning!

[@DasKuchenMann]

2:00 the entities don’t feed on our fear, they are our fear! - Jerry Awesome video!

[@thestranger4894]

Tbh the web has always been my least favorite fear because it's the only fear with a clear contemporary metaphor. The connection between spiders and control makes sense, but when compared to other fears it just falters a bit. Especially considering so much of the statements surrounding spiders have little to do with control at all. The web feels more like the disjointed fear of control and spiders.

[@melissaharris3389]

The Mother of Puppets and the web (of control) are better motifs but I see how they got from The Web to the spider in its center. Also, the spider as a spinner of fate can be found in numerous cultures. I loved how it's low key implied that the reason the Institute and Elias is so 'old fashioned' and againt digitization isn't just the classic "spooky stuff breaks technology" trope; but also, the internet (possibly all telecommunications) belong to The Web.

[@thestranger4894]

@@melissaharris3389 “numerous cultures” and it’s mostly Europe. That’s a big irk for me, so much of the Web depends on modern, often English-centric metaphors and sayings like how the internet = web because websites. It’s not universal like the other fears

[@heek8964]

@@thestranger4894 But the English metaphor of internet=web is also very literal, it's a physical web of cables.

[@thestranger4894]

@@heek8964 exactly my point. Fears are supposed to be universal. Relying on an English pun/metaphor is stupid

[@heek8964]

@@thestranger4894 My point is it isn't a pun or metaphor. it's literal.

[@Tinyvalkyrie410]

I also live in Boulder. I was born here and have lived here for well over three decades. Over the years, I have watched it slowly shift from a progressive bastion founded by hippies and slowly transform into a hyper capitalist tech bro playground filled with cops and wealthy NIMBYs that only pretends to be progressive. It is vanishingly rare here for anyone speak about unhoused people like you have, with empathy rather than fear or disgust. It’s so unbelievably disheartening how cruel my city has become towards our most vulnerable. It was a real injection of hope for me to hear someone younger than me talk so passionately and kindly about this issue. There aren’t many of us left. I recently read that students on campus voted not to begin a pro Palestine encampment because they felt campus was uniquely hostile to that kind of public demonstration. That was such a poignant example of how far this city has moved away from its values when I was growing up. I have found you today, and you can believe I will be keeping an eye on everything you do.

[@andrew.m.pantel]

This is a beautiful video that more people should see. I'm sharing this around.

[@biblicallyaccurateangel2476]

YEAH!!!!! MY FAVORITE PODCAST!!!!! this video is so exciting

[@qutille]

this is the video that made me listen to the magnus archives after kinda hating on it from afar for years and damn thank you this shit is good im on season 5 right now

[@86fifty]

0:54 - thank you for introducing me to a powerful new meme - Mads Mikkelsen dissociating over a panini LMAO (do tell me if that's not Mads, but that was my first thought.)

[@leev444]

I love that you talked about I did not buy this ticket! I haven't played through all the routes yet but I love it and it's so beautiful! (also I was born with a fear of needles. like 100%. evil needles...)

[@cassiemoyles4177]

To be part of this community actively is such an honour ♡

[@spookymcg]

You have no idea how much that means to me

[@rue6914]

Sending this to all my tma loving friends~ can't wait to watch the video

[@ArtiesStuckInTheMintContainer]

Dude this is crazy good, thanks for reminding me I need to rewatch the magnus archives

[@Will.O.TheWisps]

[minor spoilers] the eye is also about knowing aswell as watching, the need to know whats going on or why something is the way it is, which is why jon in the series feeds off of statements, because he needs to know what happened and why

[@tomtheblind918]

Pretty great video that summarizes everything pretty well, but I think you accidentally missed something with the Extinction! It isn’t really just the fear of everything being wiped out - it’s moreso about drastic, horrible, and irreversible change. The Extinction isn’t about the apocalypse itself, or the death of all things, instead it’s about the aftermath and repercussions of said changes! The few statements we have of it (I think there’s word-of-god only 5 episodes where we actually see its influence) are either about the consequences of the change we’ve enacted on the world (omens of nuclear destruction, facsimiles of life constructed of garbage) or the horror of said irreversible changes being enacted themselves (the fairground full of emaciated people, the Paris where bodies were mummified where they stood). It isn’t so much about endings or apocalypses as it is about completely twisting and changing the world into something broken and unfixable to the detriment of everything living on it.

[@melissaharris3389]

The Eyepocalypse in a nutshell. It was change that Peter Lukas feared so it's ironic that he was manipulated into helping bring it about.

[@klementine0_O]

Youre from Colorado! Dude same thats awesome! I really like how you did The Hunt, it drastically changes based on environment, and im glad you brought that up!

[@charzmander18]

There's a lot of things in this essay that I never would've thought of, like how toxic relationships relate to the Corruption, or how the Spiral could be related back to learned fear of needles or certain types of people or even certain situations. Being diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic was probably the worst day of my life as I learned that I had to use a needle multiple times a day as someone with a MASSIVE fear of needles, as in while I was in hospital I refused to eat for 2 days because I knew I would have to be near a needle if I ate. I mean 10 years on I've had to learn to deal with it, but back when I was in the hospital they told me I had to use a full-on syringe or I wouldn't be allowed to leave. I can now deal with my tiny little 4mm long needletip, but I still have anxiety attacks before blood tests.

[@abominablemusic]

I've just started The Magnus Archives, great recommendation, i love it!

[@revanne5012]

6:18 one of the things i love about the manga/anime/live action Paraste series is it confronts that. Having just watched Parasyte: The Grey, it is brought up several times by the paradytes that the only thing they had upon their birth as the instinct to parasitise and eat humans. The idea of this is brought to the forefront through a couple of characters, such as one of the parasites that uses a main character's sister as a host, which tells him that it is simply their nature to parasitise humans, regsrdless of what kind of malice he attributes to it. Said parasites also becomes a more involved character throughout the season and even starts developing "human emotions". And the "leader" of the organisation of parasites using humans believes that the idea to take over a host extends to beyond the physical body and into abstract things like organisations.

[@jerrygeho3239]

I know you give a warning about spoilers, but I feel like watching this before finishing helped to clear up what I was experiencing with TMA. I felt like I was grasping at straws to understand (clearly the intention) but having a grip on understanding who our crew is battling helped to ground me a bit. For reference I am on ep 150 rn.

[@razarine]

Thank you so much!! I didn’t understand the difference between a few of these.

[@sparks-of-magic]

I'd also note that the Buried is also about social pressures like rent and stress, and that the Flesh is also about body images and trying to mold that body into something useful (for yourself or for society) Overall this is one of the best and comprehensive overviews ive seen, i'm so glad you did the Desolation justice, as I find that's the least understood fear of them all (most people just think its a fear of fire). Wishing you and your channel luck and success!

[@multovale]

Amazing. Very-well put dissection of the fears. Thanks for making this!

[@OtakuMiku]

I really enjoy that the fears in the magnus archives also arent specific to just humans, The Hunt is one of the oldest fears and while it doesnt affect humans as much in the modern era, it is an ever present fear in most animals and we even see examples in the series of animals being changed by it along with humans

[@fennariley8331]

awesome video man. I'm having to leave without finishing it as the extinction section really gets to me, but this is a really cool, comprehensive overview. I'd also like to thank you for the respect you give to not only homeless people but also to schizophrenic folks, especially the latter, as I don't see that sort of kindness given to schizophrenic people often, unfortunately, and it's really really nice to see it for once.

[@salamandersharp]

one important aspect of the fears i think you missed is how they all overlap and bleed into each other. the 15 categories are just something the characters use to help them understand the frankly mind boggling reality of the fears