Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2025-01-26 03:56 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2025-01-26 03:56 pm
What Do You Think This Is, A Carpet Factory?
I've now watched the latest episode of Severance! Here's a whole lot of rambling speculation and theorising.
Poor Dylan! I hadn't really thought about the difficulties you'd have looking for work after leaving severed employment. On top of general prejudice against severed people, you also have to contend with the fact that you have no memory of your past position. What did you learn at Lumon; what skills did you develop there? You have no experience of that work to draw on; from the perspective of a prospective employer, you've essentially been unemployed.
Irving's outie has obviously been doing a lot of research into severance, so he may well know it's possible to activate the innie outside the office. When he came back to his body, he probably realised that his innie had taken it over. And he concealed that from Milchick, which is interesting!
Also interesting: Irving saying on the phone that his innie 'got the message'. What message is this? We haven't seen innie Irving receiving any sort of message from outside.
I previously assumed outie Irving obsessively painted the corridor to the testing floor because his innie had seen it at some point, the memory had filtered through somehow, and it haunted his outie. But are the paintings themselves Irving's attempt to communicate with his innie? Is he constantly compelling himself to focus on the corridor to the testing floor in the hope that that image will filter through to innie Irving?
When Irving falls asleep in the office, he dreams of black paint. Perhaps outie Irving is aware that innies can glean an impression of their outside lives in their dreams, in which case he might intentionally be keeping himself sleep-deprived so his innie is more likely to doze off.
Mark identified Gemma's body? I wasn't expecting that. I originally thought that the car accident was staged and Ms Casey was the real Gemma, but faking her death becomes a lot harder if Mark identified her. Perhaps it would be possible, but it would be difficult, and having Mark identify her would be an unnecessary risk, so you'd expect Lumon to avoid that scenario if at all possible. You might have a better chance of pulling it off if Gemma was willing to go along with the ruse (and that's an interesting thought), but Mark identifying the body definitely makes me think it's more likely that Gemma was actually killed.
Tem's theory about Miss Huang is that she's a clone of Gemma. If that's the case, perhaps Ms Casey could also be a clone? I'm assuming in this scenario that Gemma is the original, but I suppose there could also be the possibility that she was a clone who escaped from Lumon, in which case Lumon might intentionally have caused the car accident.
Oh! If clones are involved, that could explain the goats; maybe they use goats to test the cloning process?
They're prepared to get rid of the rest of the team, but they need Mark specifically on the current project (Cold Harbor). Why? Can certain data only be refined by certain people?
When Helly first found a scary number, Dylan and Irving were able to confirm that it was indeed scary. When Helly was still working to make quota and the others had already finished, though, there was no suggestion that anyone else might be able to help her complete her file; the others just had to stand around the office, tensely hoping that she'd manage it. If Dylan had taken over, would he have been unable to complete it?
Each member of the Macrodata Refinement team corresponds to one of the four Tempers: Mark is Woe, Dylan is Frolic, Helly is Malice. Irving as Dread is a little less obvious; I suppose he struggles with anxiety over his romance with Burt? But the other team member/Temper connections are so apparent that it feels like this has to be intentional.
Just intentional on the part of the writers, as a little thematic touch, or intentional on the part of Lumon? Does Lumon hire for particular Tempers in the Macrodata Refinement team? Is Helly's file something that only a Malice-aligned person could refine, or that a Malice-aligned person would be able to refine faster than any other? Speed is essential; Mark mentions that most of the files expire before they're able to complete them. (What causes a file to expire??)
In any case: they don't just need a Woe temper on Cold Harbor. They need Mark specifically on Cold Harbor; there's no suggestion that they might be able to hire anyone else to do Mark's refining. Everyone else has been replaced, but they need Mark. From the shot at the end of the previous episode, it seems like Cold Harbor has something to do with Gemma; do they need Mark on this project specifically because he knew her?
I am REELING from the fact that Milchick tells Mark his work self has found love. What a thing for Mark to hear! While you're still unable to move on with your life after losing your partner, you hear that the version of yourself without those memories is in a romantic relationship, but you'll never be able to know who it's with. How can you possibly begin to process that?
Does Mark obsess over it? I hope he obsesses over it. I hope he lingers outside Lumon before and after work, watching people go in and out of the building, wondering whether another version of himself is in love with them.
Riona: I need more ideas for Severance fanfiction.
Ginger: You should write a fic where Ms Cobel is banging Mark, and then it turns out to be a fantasy she's having while she's wanking.
Riona: That seems cowardly. I should write about her actually banging Mark.
Rei: You should write a fic where Ms Cobel is banging Mark, and then it turns out to be a fantasy she's having while she's wanking, and then that turns out to be a fantasy he's having while he's wanking.
Riona: I should write a fic where Ms Cobel is wanking, and then it turns out to be a fantasy she's having while she's banging Mark.
In conclusion, maybe it's actually best if I don't have more ideas for Severance fanfiction.
Poor Dylan! I hadn't really thought about the difficulties you'd have looking for work after leaving severed employment. On top of general prejudice against severed people, you also have to contend with the fact that you have no memory of your past position. What did you learn at Lumon; what skills did you develop there? You have no experience of that work to draw on; from the perspective of a prospective employer, you've essentially been unemployed.
Irving's outie has obviously been doing a lot of research into severance, so he may well know it's possible to activate the innie outside the office. When he came back to his body, he probably realised that his innie had taken it over. And he concealed that from Milchick, which is interesting!
Also interesting: Irving saying on the phone that his innie 'got the message'. What message is this? We haven't seen innie Irving receiving any sort of message from outside.
I previously assumed outie Irving obsessively painted the corridor to the testing floor because his innie had seen it at some point, the memory had filtered through somehow, and it haunted his outie. But are the paintings themselves Irving's attempt to communicate with his innie? Is he constantly compelling himself to focus on the corridor to the testing floor in the hope that that image will filter through to innie Irving?
When Irving falls asleep in the office, he dreams of black paint. Perhaps outie Irving is aware that innies can glean an impression of their outside lives in their dreams, in which case he might intentionally be keeping himself sleep-deprived so his innie is more likely to doze off.
Mark identified Gemma's body? I wasn't expecting that. I originally thought that the car accident was staged and Ms Casey was the real Gemma, but faking her death becomes a lot harder if Mark identified her. Perhaps it would be possible, but it would be difficult, and having Mark identify her would be an unnecessary risk, so you'd expect Lumon to avoid that scenario if at all possible. You might have a better chance of pulling it off if Gemma was willing to go along with the ruse (and that's an interesting thought), but Mark identifying the body definitely makes me think it's more likely that Gemma was actually killed.
Tem's theory about Miss Huang is that she's a clone of Gemma. If that's the case, perhaps Ms Casey could also be a clone? I'm assuming in this scenario that Gemma is the original, but I suppose there could also be the possibility that she was a clone who escaped from Lumon, in which case Lumon might intentionally have caused the car accident.
Oh! If clones are involved, that could explain the goats; maybe they use goats to test the cloning process?
They're prepared to get rid of the rest of the team, but they need Mark specifically on the current project (Cold Harbor). Why? Can certain data only be refined by certain people?
When Helly first found a scary number, Dylan and Irving were able to confirm that it was indeed scary. When Helly was still working to make quota and the others had already finished, though, there was no suggestion that anyone else might be able to help her complete her file; the others just had to stand around the office, tensely hoping that she'd manage it. If Dylan had taken over, would he have been unable to complete it?
Each member of the Macrodata Refinement team corresponds to one of the four Tempers: Mark is Woe, Dylan is Frolic, Helly is Malice. Irving as Dread is a little less obvious; I suppose he struggles with anxiety over his romance with Burt? But the other team member/Temper connections are so apparent that it feels like this has to be intentional.
Just intentional on the part of the writers, as a little thematic touch, or intentional on the part of Lumon? Does Lumon hire for particular Tempers in the Macrodata Refinement team? Is Helly's file something that only a Malice-aligned person could refine, or that a Malice-aligned person would be able to refine faster than any other? Speed is essential; Mark mentions that most of the files expire before they're able to complete them. (What causes a file to expire??)
In any case: they don't just need a Woe temper on Cold Harbor. They need Mark specifically on Cold Harbor; there's no suggestion that they might be able to hire anyone else to do Mark's refining. Everyone else has been replaced, but they need Mark. From the shot at the end of the previous episode, it seems like Cold Harbor has something to do with Gemma; do they need Mark on this project specifically because he knew her?
I am REELING from the fact that Milchick tells Mark his work self has found love. What a thing for Mark to hear! While you're still unable to move on with your life after losing your partner, you hear that the version of yourself without those memories is in a romantic relationship, but you'll never be able to know who it's with. How can you possibly begin to process that?
Does Mark obsess over it? I hope he obsesses over it. I hope he lingers outside Lumon before and after work, watching people go in and out of the building, wondering whether another version of himself is in love with them.
Riona: I need more ideas for Severance fanfiction.
Ginger: You should write a fic where Ms Cobel is banging Mark, and then it turns out to be a fantasy she's having while she's wanking.
Riona: That seems cowardly. I should write about her actually banging Mark.
Rei: You should write a fic where Ms Cobel is banging Mark, and then it turns out to be a fantasy she's having while she's wanking, and then that turns out to be a fantasy he's having while he's wanking.
Riona: I should write a fic where Ms Cobel is wanking, and then it turns out to be a fantasy she's having while she's banging Mark.
In conclusion, maybe it's actually best if I don't have more ideas for Severance fanfiction.
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