#it's burts of activity for me

[laertive]

spent the whole day in bed sick amen

[warrioreowynofrohan]

I’ve thought a bit more about the interactions on Severance. I think we’ve seen different patterns for each of the four main characters/duos.

Helena tells Helly “I am a person; you are not”. The relationship is actively adversarial. Helena’s attitude is “you are a tool, and you will obey me”.

This is not the same as Mark Scout. Mark Scout’s feelings are, I think, more “we are the same person with different parts of my memories; in retrospect I would hate to be trapped in Lumon; I trapped you in Lumon like Lumon trapped my wife there, and I was wrong.” I don’t think his apology is insincere. But because he regards Marks S as more restricted element of himself, he gets frustrated by Mark S’s insistence that they are two different people with different desires and goals.

Dylan, in contrast, does not regard Dylan G as being basically himself; the very fact that he is upset and angry about his wife kissing him shows that he regards him as a different individual. But this means that, despite conflict with him, he end up treating him as an equal and separate person. This is despite the fact that he and Dylan G are more similar to each other than the two Marks, at least insofar as they love the same person while the two Marks love different ones.

Irving and Burt have something different going on, where they regard their innies either better (Burt) or more fulfilled (Irving) versions of themselves. Their outside selves don’t feel anything for each other, but both of them are going “my innie loved you and for the sake of that I will help you/trust you”.

[athetos]

Some thoughts from severance s2e3, and the season in general:

I 100% assumed the reason the goat people were asking to see their bellies was to see if they had belly buttons. Since the prevailing theory is that the goats are for cloning purposes, i figured they wanted to make sure they weren’t clones (clones not having belly buttons because they weren’t birthed/have need for an umbilical cord). If we take the pouches line at face value, I’d guess that they were told a rumor that MDR had pouches, to sow division and fear between the departments (like the fake uprising told to MDR about O&D, and vice versa).

The Export Floor. The fact that O&D used to deliver things there themselves, but then a courier was used. My theory is that someone saw something there they shouldn’t have. I don’t know how o!Irving knows about it, but I’m not here to discuss that right now. What I want to talk about is the name. The obvious one is exporting goods (or even ideas) to other countries, and this could simply mean it’s where stuff made by O&D gets sent up to the ‘outtie’ world. But there’s another possibility - export as in transferring data to another software/format. I think it’s this meaning that is critical, and has big implications for Gemma/Ms. Casey. They could be transferring the data MDR has refined to her chip, or in some way or another, working on “Cold Harbor.”

I am very firmly in the ‘that’s Helena’ camp now. I don’t think this is in character for Helly, as the extremely awkward conversation in the hall with Mark as well as telling Irving they ‘got him’ sealed it for me. I’m fairly certain that management knows it’s Helena; after all, they don’t activate her chip, although I won’t rule out she paid someone off/threatened them to do it. That said, I like to believe she compromised with the board to go down as herself, instead of as Helly. This would also mean that she can encourage Mark to go places that Lumon specifically wants him to see, instead of ones that are much more confidential. However, I think she’ll end up siding with the innies by the end, simply because the connections she will forge with them will be the only genuine and loving relationships in her life.

I didn’t mention this before, but i’m pretty sure Irving knows that Helena/Helly is lying, because he was the only innie who spent enough time outside to know that it was winter and she couldn’t have been gardening. He distrusts her, that’s why he only told Dylan about Burt.

Upon immediately seeing Dylan’s wife I assumed she was a hired actress. However it genuinely appears to be her (granted, I’m faceblind, but the voice sounded the same when she was with his outtie later in the episode). Lumon clearly thinks that this perk will keep i!Dylan in line, but I think it might backfire spectacularly, or at least cause significant drama - his wife is going to fall in love with his innie. Think about it, if their marriage is going through a rough patch, and she gets to spend time with a version of her husband who lacks all of the assumptions/grudges he has against her - basically starting all over… yeah, it’s gonna get strange. The way she talked about it to o!Dylan was like she was hiding it from him, almost like it’s the beginning of a potential affair…

(I also am still of the mind that either she or one of their children is terminally ill in some way, hence the benefits/insurance that Dylan is always looking after. He also complained a few times about having sore arms and jokes he works out. I feel this might be related somehow? But not sure…)

I stand by my theory that the board is actually the motherboard and is Kier’s (and his successors?) consciousness, or something of that ilk. The board was referred to as “it” in this episode (also “they”, but I believe that was meant as in plural, including Natalie). So I think we actually don’t have any proof that it’s multiple people or even people period. It will be like the export double meaning I mentioned earlier. Again, the board is hot on Mark staying and working because it wants him to finish Cold Harbor so it can begin the revival of Kier’s family (the rotation could potentially mean their minds being uploaded. Or something of that nature.)

No big theories or details to chew on here, but things that got big reactions from me: the Black Kier portraits I was expecting but still not prepared for. I desperately want to see Natalie’s portraits that she received; were they all biracial, all women, or both? The idea of genderbent biracial Kier family is killing me. This is like Hamilton (I think). Cobel definitely was going to die if she went into the building, she made the right call, I was terrified that her car might explode as she left. Phew. Next episode is going to be a roller coaster, I can tell. Shocked that he’s starting reintegration so soon but I’m here for it. Worried that Devon is going to get murdered. And I’m waiting for Cobel to get hunted down by Mark or for her to willingly seek him out as she realizes this is her only chance left to… do whatever the fuck it is she wants to do.

[aw-tysm]

I, as an autistic person -

have time blindness

poor time management

am always late

struggles to tell lefts from rights

really bad with directions and following them

easily distracted

finds it hard to focus

bad executive functioning. like bad bad

needs to do things in short burts or it's too much

need clear directions

needs someone to help guide me through tasks or they don't get done

cant sit alone or distracted

cant sit with others or distracted

last minute queen/king

procrastination station

needs someone else to keep track of my appointments/activities

can not participate in activities that involve staying still and listening for too long or else starts to fall asleep (hour max is my limit)

says things immediately on my mind

outta sight, outta mind

am finishing this list here bcus mind drifting and losing focus

am not ADHD. Still things Autistics can experience. And ususally reasoning behind symptoms can be different to how they present for ADHD. Sometimes it's just the one thing. Or maybe I'll eventually learn these are from another thing that's not ADHD or Autism. But again, autistics can experience without being ADHD.

[kestrel-of-herran]

Do you think Mark and Helena can work?Reintegration isn’t guranteed to work but I am expecting it to kick in at some point.They did some teasing for it in after season press as well.What I am asking is do you seem the work out in romantic context?Like I get markhelly but outie Mark isn’t a particularly empathetic or loving person.I don’t see him sympathising with Helena even if he knew what she’s been through.Also “love transcends severance”isn’t something I am going for here.Look at burving,Irving likes Burt on the outside as well alongside the feeling that carried over.So I am having trouble picturing him ever understanding Helena let alone feeling something for her.

ohohohooo am i glad you asked me this because i do have thoughts on the matter, and most of them have to do with the nature of narrative.

in short, i think mark and helena aren't suitable for a lasting relationship in this place of the story (end of s2), because they will develop into becoming the kind of couple that are compatible and endgame in the long run.

think of mark s and helly r in the first scene of s1 e1: do they seem like they would ever work out? she's determined to get out of lumon and his biggest concern is his first day as department chief going in the worst way possible. they had to go through a lot of development -- helly learning there is a reason to want to stay in lumon through forging connections with mark and the mdr team, and mark opening up to rebelling against the system through helly's influence -- that transformed them into the kind of people who can and do have an enduring romantic relationship. but if we go back to s1 e1 and freeze them there, how could we have predicted the amount of development they'd undergo? how could the kiss at the end of the first season have prepared us for the intensity of the love scenes and their emotional development in s2? or if we look at mark s and helena eagan at the start of s2, how could we have predicted they would fall for each other? the lumon heiress and an innie?

likelihood depends only on the amount and direction of development characters will undergo, and that in turn depends on the writer's interest in making something happen, and imho markhellyna is about to happen in every iteration because the characters will grow and change together in a way that brings them closer to each other. mark scout and helena eagan falling in love can never happen solely because of love transcending, as this is a cop-out for mark scout -- he can't surrender all the work of growing to his innie and then just absorb the result, he needs to be actively participating in the story and changing through it, the same way helena was when she opened up to mark s and tried so hard to make him laugh and shared her most vulnerable truth with him.

but it's in this first meeting that we've frozen mark scout and helena eagan right now, a place in the story from which all development will start but which can only give us subtle clues about their natural compatibility without telling us anything about how moving through the story will change them. and we've already seen they share the same basic characteristics that pushed mark s and helly r closer in the first episodes -- a dark sense of humor, mark matching hellyna's boldness beat for beat. outside of this interaction, we've also seen they share a jadedness with the world, a tendency for harshness just because they can be mean. but this is only their starting line. the magic happens through the journey.

[burr-ell]

A Not-Necessarily-Exhaustive List of Good Moments from C1 1-27:

"I have an intelligence of 6, I know what I'm doing"

"We're here to right wrongs, and right lefts—" "And write comment cards"

Tiberius Kraghammer

Clarota

"We'll explain later. You're on the roof of Osama bin Laden's house"

"We'll be taking your weapons, your armor, and I believe your pride"

Percy making the first trick arrows for Vex after a shopkeep was a dick to her about arrows, which is canonically when she began to fall for him

Keyleth killing that one duergar from the TLOVM flashback

"I encourage violence"

Lady Kima being freed and then pulverizing the corpse of the duergar who'd been torturing her

Matt's fucked up body horror monsters

Scanlan taking a dump on a bed for the first time

Pike's crisis of faith when she slits a duergar's throat with her mace and her holy symbol breaks

When the limited T-shirt run went live and then sold out before Marisha could finish reading the announcement

Vax getting his foot burned off in lava

Scanlan the Kingslayer

"Can I use my Luck feat for this?" "You don't have any feet left"

Kima and Keyleth's argument (it was good, haters eat my shorts)

The origin of The Cube

"I'm Vax that's Vex ->" "I'm Vex that's Vax <-"

"Screw you, I want my final words with you to be indignant and irritated!"

"He has three-quarters cover" "I ignore three-quarters cover :)" "...then fuckin' fire!"

"Some people have no sense of fucking honor!"

Travis's notes that just say "I don't trust Clarota I don't trust Clarota I don't trust Clarota"

Percy reacting to the Briarwoods being namedropped during a council meeting

Meeting Gilmore on-stream for the first time

The Belt of Dwarvenkind and Grog's obsessive attempts to grow a beard

Scanlan's blue-shit-scrying potion

Grog "Philip" Strongjaw vs Kern

Vax giving Minxie!Keyleth a belly rub

The hydra fight and the beef with the Slayer's Take

Episodes 18 and 19, in their entirety, but specifically:

Zahra and Vex's initial rivalry-turned-friendship-turned-"I have a crush on Zahra"

Lyra. She's just. so much. idk of what but she is it

"I'm wearing the pajamas with the buttflap and the buttflap is down. The buttflap is DOWN"

Scanlan introducing himself to Rimefang as Burt Reynolds and then Matt, in his scary dragon voice, calling him "Burt"

"I'm sorry, I'm a genius, I'm sorry! Oh, god I'm clever!"

Zahra killing Rimefang

Percy and Vex working together on a history check (it's important To Me)

Wil Wheaton rolling five Nat 1s. In one session

Keyleth and Vax posing as a married couple to get information

Kash insight-checking Thorbir, believing he has to be actively sabotaging them because no one could possibly be that bad at their job (he's not, he really is just that unlucky)

Wil, playing a dwarven fighter, finally rolling a nat 20...for an insight check

The magic carpet losing its enchantment in a pit of acid and Laura's scream of horror from offscreen

"Rakshasaaaaaaa!" -jazz hands-

Kashaw and Keyleth, which was thankfully reworked in TLOVM but was also hilarious

Vex exasperatedly kissing Grog, portrayed by Laura kissing a bewildered Travis

Tyriok the cartographer

Grog, the Vasselheim merchant, and the first and only time Vex started beef with a retailer

Keyleth recounting a vision she had of her own death

The Aramente trial in Pyrah and a cameo from Thordak

Travis getting a medal from a fan for losing to Kern and Matt making it canon

Grog fighting Kern again and winning

Keyleth getting arrested. For the second time in Vasselheim alone

The first appearance of the man. The myth. The Viktor

Kynan's first appearance and Vax's idea of "tough love"

Percy telling his backstory to the party and them immediately affirming their support for him ("You don't have to get involved in this" "Oh, we are SO involved" "You said you wanted 'em dead!") and Taliesin himself being moved to tears over this

Percy creating Diplomacy

Vax and Keyleth bear-sitting Trinket and braiding pink ribbons into his fur

Gilmore finding out Vax wants to see him and teleporting in from half a continent away

Vax shaving half of Grog's beard and Travis breaking a mechanical pencil with one hand

The feast, where Percy actually threatens the Briarwoods to their faces while disguised as Vax

Vax and the Briarwoods. "Gosh you guys are good-looking"

Vax nearly dying and having a vision of the two people he cares about most: Vex and Keyleth

Sylas jumping out the window and doing a perfect 3-point landing...while Delilah blows the athletics check and faceplants in the dirt

"SYLAS"

Vex scoring two crits on Delilah

Tiberius getting Feebleminded

Percy's attack on Desmond. My horrid little skrunkly <3

"YOUR SOUL IS FORFEIT! DIE! DIE!" and Keyleth skipping her turn to just stare at Percy

Vox Moochina

Keyleth taking charge to save the ember roc

Keyleth conjuring a water elemental and Taliesin gargling water to translate her commands to it

And finally, the conversation between Keyleth and Percy where he privately confesses his own worries that he's going dark and that he's afraid of himself, and she expresses her concern for him and promises to be there for him

anyway c1 good

[lesbiancolumbo]

Hi! I saw your posts about the swimmer and how interwined it was with burt’s life at the time, so i qas wondering what books/articles did you read about it?

this is the only essay i've really read on the swimmer (there are lots you can find out and about) and it's a great one - the Thing about burt is his body, his physicality, and this essay really breaks down what it is about him that continues to captivate people.

there's a fascinating snippet on the swimmer from one of david thomson's essays on sweet smell of success, which i won't link (since it's... yknow, about sweet smell of success) but will excerpt here for you.

The case of Burt Lancaster is more complex. He was married three times, and he had five children. But we are past believing that such credentials settle all interests. The best biography on Lancaster, deeply researched and written with care and respect by Kate Buford, does not believe he had an active gay life. That book was published in 2000. On the way to a celebration of its publication at Lincoln Center, I had dinner with an old friend, George Trescher, a man who did nothing to conceal his own homosexuality, and he assured me that in fact Lancaster had led a gay life. Later still, some documents were released from the F.B.I. and the Lancaster family that did not name names but that revealed that Lancaster had often been “depressed,” that he was bisexual, and that he had had several gay relationships, though never on more than a short-term basis. With that in mind, you might look at Lancaster’s strangest film, The Swimmer (1968), directed by Frank Perry and taken from a John Cheever story. It’s a fable about an apparent Connecticut success, Ned Merrill, who takes it into his head to swim home one summer Sunday by way of all the pools owned by his acquaintances. Cheever, who had a tormented gay life, watched the filming with awe and amusement, as Burt, at fifty-five, in simple trunks, made Ned’s way from sunlight to dusk and dismay. Why did they make that movie? you’ll wonder. Because Burt wanted to do it.

(emphasis mine)

i read this excerpt from the thomson article almost six years ago, and it's haunted and vexed me ever since. burt, who was in the midst of a prolonged and complicated divorce with the woman who had been his longest marriage and mother of all his children, who was terrified of the water and did not know how to swim prior to filming, who at the age of fifty-five let his entire body -- his Thing, remember -- hang out in display in a film about how denying the passage of time and denying your inner truth makes you crazy and ruins your life, who was described by the author of the short story as "very sexy and commanding in the girl scenes but half the time he looks as if he were going to cry", who insisted for the rest of his life that out of the entire body of his career, a career that inspired many, many hits and iconic films, that it was the swimmer that was both his best performance and his favorite of his films.

why? i ask myself this a lot. why? i love the swimmer, it's my second favorite of burt's performances and films, but it's such an oddity. thomson calls it the strangest of burt's films, and while i disagree, i think he's not far off. and yet it clearly moved burt in a way that none of us will ever know.

anyway, you didn't ask me to wax poetic about the swimmer, but i find it to be such a hauntingly beautiful piece of art and it always feels so personal. it is. because burt wanted to do it.

[eyesteeth]

loved the severance ending. i'm a massive fan of deeply fucked up endings framed as good ones, and by god did this not disappoint.

like. what even was mark s' fucking plan. there is no reality where he exists and mark scout doesn't. and with the stunt they just pulled, lumon has no qualms about killing them both. both marks fucked up cold harbor, lumon's crowning jewel, and they murdered drummond, a key lumon employee. lumon has every reason to kill them and cover it up as a freak accident, and because gemma's safety was not secured, devon and cobel on the outside have no way to prove it.

and speaking of, cobel was right. it was stated as such in the beginning of the season - mark s would not work without helly r, so they 'gave her to him'. as we know, this was actually helena, but that was because lumon genuinely did not want helly down there - and for good reason, she tried to kill the lumon heiress. if irving hadn't found her out, helena would have stayed down there, pushing mark to complete the file. helly's only purpose in this season was to make mark finish cold harbor, and now that it's completed, they don't need her anymore. jame can easily access helly and her spark of kier from one of his birthing cabins. if someone activates the glasgow block again, that's it, no more helly.

and to make matters worse, gemma is now at risk. there's practically no chance she can make it out of the building without detection. everyone's looking for her, alarms are blaring, and she's not familiar with the layout. the stairwell mark s leaves her at is not on the ground floor. and even if she does miraculously manage to get out of the building, she'll have to find her way to safety from there on foot.

to me, the most likely scenario is this: mark s and helly r are found together. mark, covered in blood, is easily identified as a murderer and the one responsible for gemma escaping. with no more reason to keep him on staff, he is either killed or kept alive to undergo a fate worse than death. helly never wakes up on the severed floor again. if she does wake up, it's to jame eagan leering over her in a birthing cabin. helena is told a lie about mark in the hopes that she'll get over him. if she's pregnant with his child, too fucking bad for her. dylan g is fired, and dylan george has to see if he can truly become the man gretchen fell in love with. irving bailiff finds whatever secret burt sent him to see on that long train ride. gemma is either captured and dragged back to cold harbor, or is forced to play against the odds in an attempt to make it to safety. devon and cobel are left to do what they can to take lumon down. milchick digs a deeper hole for himself or leaves. if any move is made to take lumon down, it happens without mark and helly, and in spite of their choices together.

but hey, at least they got to skip down the hallway together, holding hands. truly, they deserve each other in their selfishness.

[kendrysaneela]

The fact that Lumon is in 206 countries which I assume is every single country in the entire world is so horrifying to me because that means there’s no escape. Like Helena,Gemma,Cobel,Millchick,Natalie,Miss Huang. All the upper management with sensitive information or Gemma who was trapped down there there is no escape for them. Probably to an even higher degree for Helena cause she’s most likely famous worldwide the others they may not have their faces known by anyone outside Lumon (though its fully possible they do) like Cobel is fired and she still has to hide out in the forest with Mark and Devon because they’re watching for her. Like. How can they ever leave? They’re in every corner of every country most likely. We know Helena isn’t allowed to quit, we know Gemma was trapped down there, we know Cobel is watched after being fired. What about Millchick and Natalie? Can they quit? Would they be allowed to leave? Where could they go if they weren’t? Like let’s say Helena has enough and she runs away. Where does she go? There’s no Lumon free country and everyone probably knows her face. Millchick knows so much how do they make sure he won’t tell their secrets? Where would he run to if they wouldn’t let him leave? People outside Lumon may not know his face but where does he go? Or Irving! Burt got him on that train but where is Burt sending him somewhere to people who know how to hide escapees? Like I cant get over it. Natalie! She’s the face of the board!! She probably knows more than anyone in the entire company! Where would she go if she had to escape?? And then there’s the fact that we know from the Lexington Letter that Peg tried to expose Lumon and then she ran away when it didn’t work. And they killed Peg! Because she tried to expose Lumon! And they were going to kill Gemma! Who’s to say they wouldn’t do that to everyone who tried to escape who knew too much?? Even Helena who we know they don’t really care about. Plus there’s other Eagan siblings to replace her with. Is there an escape from Lumon?? Petey legit was living in a GREENHOUSE! And they were actively looking for him! What was their plan if they found him??

[receivedhope]

Burt and Blaine parallels

Dance With Somebody draws a very obvious similarity between Burt and Blaine - mainly, that they both react to Kurt's (at the time) impending leave for NY in the fall by pulling away from him, as if having a dry run for what the next year without Kurt will be like.

This made me curious if there were any other instances where Burt and Blaine share similarities and while I'm unsure how to itemize this list for the easiest understanding, I do want to put forward that a huge chunk of it is moreso speculation and for the main purpose of my own enjoyment lol.

Back to DWS however, since that, I believe, is the biggest example to mention, since it is through having a heart to heart with his dad that Kurt understands where Blaine was coming from.

I believe how one reacts to stressful situations says a lot about them, which makes Burt sharing this kneejerk reaction of avoidance particularly fascinating to me. And as a side note, out of the three of them, I see Kurt being the one most firmly aligned under 'fight'  when having a fight or flight response. While Burt can sorta go either way (and I think the lack of any non-Kurt related examples skew the statistics) he's a pretty mellow guy. In Bash he does say "You could've called the cops…you could've gotten help…" but, again, Kurt-related example and I'm of the opinion that Burt would move the Moon and the stars for his son and Kurt being safe is the utmost priority for him. However, it is a recurring character trait of Blaine that he likes to run away, something he says about himself and even dislikes that he does. Blaine is not very perceptive about himself,  but this is a flaw even he is aware of.

Burt and Blaine are also just two people who get along really well and I chalk that up to them seeing themselves in each other. A friend of mine has said that Burt and Blaine share the same goals (providing a comfortable life for Kurt and keeping him close) but are not in direct competition, which helps their relationship. And I believe that to be such an apt and great description to illustrate the basis of their mutual like!

I also want to highlight this scene from Glee, Actually - where Burt and Blaine share almost the exact same body language, even when engaging in such mundane activities as watching football. You can see Kurt trying to relate and sit similarly, however he cracks in record time and assumes a much more comfortable position that is inarguably himself - leaning back, crossing his legs to lazily flip through his Vogue magazine. There is no resemblance left with Burt and Blaine after that, however those two keep on mirroring each other (notice them starting to eat popcorn at the very same time).

Something else I also appreciate is that both of them seem to share an understanding that the quickest way to Kurt's heart is giving him gifts. Burt uses an expensive car as a bargaining chip so that Kurt would stop wearing form fitting sweaters that stop at the knee (also note that Kurt does not take this seriously at all, aware of how doting and forgiving Burt is, even though this takes place at the time when the distance between them seemed to be the largest) and has gotten Kurt a Maria bonnet (referenced in Grilled Cheesus) - not to mention that all of Kurt's belongings are supplied financially by Burt. Blaine has gotten Kurt monogrammed towels for his graduation, a Gilmore Girls box set as an apology (which Kurt sends back unopened - cute...) and a whole piano just for Kurt letting him stay in the loft for two days lmao... And based on the box scene, which I believe to be more or less canon since it just ended up on the cutting floor, Blaine also aims to give more thoughtful, sentimental gifts as well.

Kurt is very crow-like, he loves his things and collecting whatever sparks interest. He's also pretty ruthless about what he keeps and needs his stuff to serve a purpose (even if it is just to look good), so I find Burt and Blaine's shared gift giving philosophy pretty endearing. As another side note, while Burt seems to also easily offer Finn football tickets, I'm unsure if Blaine was ever such an enthusiastic gift giver to other people. When he thinks Sam is stealing macaroni because he is poor, he offers him money - much more impersonal and upfront. (Meanwhile Kurt helped Sam out with clothes a few seasons prior.) There is also him making everyone into puppets in Puppet Master and giving it to them, however this is also an unfair comparison - since he is obviously attached to puppet Kurt the most.

I also find myself seeing a bit of similarity between Burt in Laryngitis and Blaine in the break up of Loser Like Me. They can tell when Kurt is unhappy, but have trouble initiating conversation about it so they'd rather pull away entirely and ignore the issue, until Kurt is ready to come out and say what is what. Kurt also easily picks up on other people’s emotions, which is why the accusation in Home/Laryngitis, that Burt deep down does want a son like Finn too, hits the nail on the head and puts Burt on the defensive. I could also imagine that to Burt, this was not a conscious decision or preference and only after Kurt shed a light on it, understood. 

Meanwhile in Tested, Blaine doesn't want to open up about what is bothering him. His first reaction when Kurt accidentally sees his porn tab open isn't that of embarrassment, shame or anger, he wants to talk about it. I believe this was done in an attempt to bait Kurt into having a much needed heart to heart. (And just, who leaves the opening page of a porn site out like that? Especially such a secretive person as Blaine, who only ever admits to his secrets on his own accord, rather than having to be caught.)

Burt in Preggers comes to mind as well, how he seems to be more aware of Kurt's (pathetic attempt of) a lie than Kurt thinks he is. Similarly to how in Laryngitis he even says that he is ready to accept Kurt however he may be. I believe Burt is willing to accept Kurt's word as final when it comes to Kurt himself, and does not see it necessary to pick a fight about it.

Burt is reluctant to call Kurt out on anything. Even in Duets, he only brings up his crush on Finn because Kurt might be making the same mistake - but he does not initiate the conversation at large. He even says that he has been meaning to bring it up, since Carole has told him previously - how long has he been sitting on this information?

I think Blaine is a little similar. In DWS, the Chandler plot's cheating aspect seems to be zeroed in on and while I'm of the opinion it is a pretty shitty thing to do, I hesitate to call it cheating, since Kurt is so passive throughout the whole ordeal. However what is more interesting to me is that the argument seems to mostly be Blaine deflecting, to get to avoid Kurt calling him out about avoiding him, so Blaine does not have to actually talk about the relevant issue at hand: his anxiety about Kurt leaving him and the fear of being replaceable in Kurt's life.

In Grilled Cheesus, Burt tells Kurt “Let’s face it Kurt, if we don’t schedule it, we don't hang out. If we don't hang out, then our lives, they just go right by each other” - which made me think of Kurt’s comment in DWS, about the scheduled make out sessions with Blaine. It just makes me think that the necessity for those scheduled sessions was not because it is a chore they drag themselves through, but because the final word is always Kurt’s and he needs to be approached gently and slowly - otherwise he immediately pulls away and closes himself off, see Home with Burt and Sexy with Blaine. Kurt is able to compromise thought, hence the schedule.

This makes sense, with how comfortably Kurt falls into a routine and prefers them, as well as being an insanely reserved and private person who does not open up easily - apparently not only emotionally, physically, but also when he makes time for someone. I think Burt makes a good reference point to how Kurt acts with the people he loves. He is inarguably the most important person in Kurt’s life but even he has to clarify ahead of time when he wants to spend time with Kurt - this really makes me think the necessity of scheduling make outs was not emphasized by Blaine, but by Kurt.

There are also some interesting aspects to Burt's implied change of heart between Wonder-ful and Love, Love, Love, seemingly coming around to Blaine asking for Kurt's hand in marriage. This is another one of Burt and Blaine's shared goal, to keep Kurt tied to Lima in some way. But I also think there is something else there: Burt is a simple guy, recognizing so much of himself in Blaine is comforting and puts his mind at ease. He would rather have someone similar to him anchor Kurt than Kurt potentially throwing himself around, like he does not matter.

"I'm dumb, but I'm not stupid" - while Burt and Blaine may not understand the complexities of Kurt all around, they are the first and biggest two members of the Kurt fanclub.

[sageshouldknowbetter]

not to pooh-pooh your theory but I'd say its more likely the thought process behind Field's encouraging Burt undergoing the severance procedure was "his innie can't get up to mischief" rather than "innies are incapable of sin". I'm just assuming that Burt's checkered past is no more extreme than a wild youth so if he was given a second chance in a controlled environment where no booze or drugs or casual sex was allowed, he would remain on the straight and narrow.

Also you said that their pastor encouraged Burt to get severed and I may be wrong but I don't think they mention that in the episode? I believe Fields says the pastor was giving a sermon on severance and his belief that innies could independently go to heaven (or presumably hell), and that gave Fields the idea for Burt getting severed.

Also I have no proof but I kinda think they were selling Irving a crock of shit and much of the story may be fabricated.

Ahhh you’re so right!! I’m not sure how (the Mandela Effect? fumes from all the drywall Severance has me chewing?), but I for some reason thought the pastor had encouraged Burt to get Severed. And it’s also true that they never said that all innies go to heaven, only that they will be judged separately. Can’t believe I missed that — thank you so much for calling me out! 😭

I’m hoping some parts of my original theory (that the church thinks innies, like animals, are incapable of sin) maybe could still stand, because Christians believe no matter what you do, you will be forgiven if you repent, stop doing it, and ask God for forgiveness. Turning to God after a life of premarital sex, criminal activity, and drug use is a pretty common testimony (you couldn’t throw a rock at Christian summer camp without hitting a camp counselor like that). So whether Burt “turned his life around” or not, getting severed to ensure safety from PAST sins is way overkill and would likely make people (Fields) think he doesn’t trust in God enough to forgive him. Unless, of course… Burt is still doing it.

If Burt is still living the kind of sinful life his “scoundrel” younger self set him on and, for whatever reason, can’t stop… it wouldn’t matter if he asked God for forgiveness, because he would still be sinning. So the only way out is to make a version of himself that isn’t doing whatever he’s doing on the outside that is so terrible.

In this case, it wouldn’t really matter if innies were human enough to be capable of sin. All that matters is some persona of Burt wasn’t possibly involved in early Lumon evils (his “Lumon partner” twenty years ago) and bad enough to have mock blood thrown on him on his way to work (this could just be the WMC being jerks to severed workers, though, as they might not be smart enough to realize outies are also exploited).

[m--rtyr]

Wait, hol’ up… Zenix got the SKs to hold off from killing Kiva, an innocent little girl? Whilst actively kidnapping a man?

Hm.

Maybe it’s just feminism at this point.

And I’m joking when I say that, but like I do find it super interesting how Zenix does have these very moral extremes, often all at once.

Shooting Garroth on a patrol he refused to let Aphmau join because he was worried she’d get hurt. Kidnapping Burt (which he was originally planning on doing, apparently) but telling the other SKs to leave Kiva be.

It’s clear that he has An Agenda, his cruelty is to fit that, only only really that. Right now, his Agenda is killing Garroth, and he Shot him, and now his job is to make sure that sticks. How? By taking out the only available healer in the area. Even with injuring Brendan, you can kind of try and imply that it was some long-set plan, injuring him as a practice (the injuries are EXACTLY the same, apparently), and to use up the very finite resource of Citrus Herb…

Because I do read this as being about Zenix, though obviously it can be ambiguous without more details. Just because he did have Burt when Aph sees him, Vylad doesn’t talk, and Zenix is kind of known for sweet-turned-mean… which all characterise the ‘masked man’ as Kiva describes him. The only inaccurate descriptor is ‘mask’ because it’s a helmet, not a mask, and so it COULD be about Vylad, but I doubt it. I just think it’s Jesson inaccuracy, and also from the recollection of a child.. so…

Small addition, after finishing the episode; he is also fleeing the Nether with a lasso I think it’s pretty obvious it’s him. Even if Jess does bait us with him and Vylad a lot and switch them in certain situations

Quotes, S1Ep18, without the typos:

‘The monsters were trying to use me as a sacrifice… but this masked man told them to hold off’ - Kiva, about her well-being

‘The lord! He was taken by the masked man… the masked man came and saw he was here and said something about “not having to kidnap him, himself”… and took the lord with him… the masked man looked so nice at first… but he was scary.’ - Kiva, about Lord Burt and a ‘masked man’

[burtlancster]

see i don’t think buford actually does come to the conclusion he didn't lead an "active gay life". she never comes to a definitive conclusion about his sexuality in the book probably on purpose—as i believe burt would've appreciated—however, in an interview after the book was released she said, "i think he was probably bisexual. what was interesting to me was i went into this book assuming those were all rumors and that to be straight was the best of all ways to be and came out of it with an entirely different view". she didn't shy away from details in the book (for the most part) and without much editorializing allows the reader to draw their own conclusions based on the facts she’s presented. hers was a pretty well-rounded, unbiased interpretation of the facts and george trescher's maybe peripheral understanding of burt's preferences and many of the stories that've been floating around for decades from other gay men aren't contradicted in her book.

[comradecowplant]

*** weewoo weewoo, Severance rant incoming, avoid or gather 'round depending on your preference, weewoo weewoo***

oofda Severance went from what's gotta be the best episode in the series-- visually, emotionally, character drive, general plot development, etc.-- to probably the weakest. Dgmw, I absolutely adore Patricia Arquette's performance as this sad off-putting woman and was eager for a Cobel check-in, but back-to-back bottleneck episodes leading up the finale was a TERRIBLE pacing choice, just completely missing the mark in a season that has already been plagued with pacing issues-- I'm lookin' at you, beloved by many but meh to me bc I have never been a melly shipper & thought it was a frustrating cut-away from the previous episode's dramatic final moment, Woe's Hollow-- & did not really provide much new information/plot momentum to make up for it-- yeah yeah Cobel lifelong Kier cultist, child labor & mommy issues, groomed & exploited scientific prowess, Lumon ruining anachronistic ether-huffing towns economically & spiritually; didn't really dig deeper or meaningfully build on anything we already know of in a away that needed to be a full break-away episode for, imo. Coulda & shoulda been the b-plot to a Milchick's continued spirit breaking/background to Ms. Huang (which would have very much thematically tied together to each!) -focused episode. And considering how short the episode is compared to the rest, I kind of suspect it might have began production that way but it was changed for some reason further along, but that's purely vibes based speculation.

These pacing issues paired with the knowledge that there are only nine episodes a season in this silly era of television, I am increasingly nervous about the finale, particularly considering ms dipshit mama bear super sibling withOUT a background in neuroscience who thinks she knows better than the scientist who was already digging around inside his noggin Devon followed through and reached Cobel 🤦‍♂️ like, clearly there are cracks in Cobel's Kier worship/Lumon militancy-- I think she has an ego that 1) cannot forgive how tossed away she was, especially with the newest detail of her being the overlooked inventor of the severance technology, & 2) despite the indoctrination, she has enough self-preservation to bridge the cognitive dissonance that rationalizes Lumon's abuses now that it's HER that might get locked away in the mind wipe torture basement-- but you're watching a different show in a different universe if you think we've gotten any evidence to strongly indicate that she is actually trustworthy. As the inventor of the chip she could be the perfect person to help Mark with the final reintegration steps... or, as I suspect will be more along the lines of what will happen, she could activate any of the other "modes" that have so far been only eluded to/cause further brain damage/betray mark & ragbhari to leverage herself into a better position with lumon/whatever will benefit her in her quest for... well, besides survival & credit for her invention, I really can't say for sure what her motivations currently are, but legitimate compassion & concern for Mark/the innies certainly are not among them.

Idk, just overall I think this season has put its hands in too many plot pies, especially now that the other outies have been given more character development time, a choice I've liked overall but that has not been 😏 integrated 😏 well with the rest of the story, largely because (forgive my repeating myself) of the pacing/9 episode limit-- we've gotten the central Mark reintegration plot, then we have melly romance b-plot, dylan emotional affair with his own wife c-plot, outie irv + his relationship to the testing floor & whatever the fuck is going on with burt/his husband d & e-plot, milchick being racially micro-aggressed f-plot, ms huang & the spectre of child labor g-plot, nasty lady helena eagan & her sinister side swept blunt bang h-plot, whatever cobel's deal is i-plot, the general overarching What Evil Mysterious Schemes is Lumon Up To j to whatever plot, and finally, the most pressing plot point to me that has been frustratingly shelved until episode 7, What's Happening to Gemma plot. I don't expect nor want wrapped packages with bows, but satisfying narratives involve give and take, and I simply don't have much confidence in the real estate provided by the 49 remaining minutes of the season that we'll get much of anywhere (except mad over what bad things are likely about to happen to Gemma, that is one thing I have begrudging confidence in 😔)

[volosbelovedcreature]

VOLO'S BELOVED LITTLE DIVINE CREATURE🏛💛💜#Volistic #ParadiseLostShipping

he doesn't love you sorry he loves me! 🏛👁

VOLO'S SOULMATE AND CANON HUSBAND but guess what? I'm offline and I therefore win because i achieved no competition mode with volo. Selfnshipping godmode

Quick very downsized intro to the shitpost that is my soulbond ship with Volo

PARADISELOSTSHIPPING

Our ship tropes and Dynamic:

(Red string of fate)(pet play/sub/dom)(Unhinged unholy union)(Not so Different)(Love at first sight)(Overprotective husband)(Worshipper/Divinity)(Monsterfucker) (Yandere/Tsundere)(Angel/Devil)(Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?)(Sun/Moon)(coke and mentos ship)( Means to an End "full of Love"-Volo)

ship aesthetic:

Void/Occult/Fallen Angelcore/Classical/Celestial/ idk lets say unsettling, ethereal imagery with darker esoteric/hermetic or religious themes, places that makes one uncomfortable yet serene, divine madness with Biblically accurate angels along with classical temples, and or Luciferian motifs. Gloomy Traditional Japanese settings with fog and nature , Golden hour sunsets over oceans and the nightsky at dusk with some clouds, Stargazer Lilies, Bleeding heart, White and red Roses and sunflowers. Golds, whites, indigo, dark purples, reds, black and dark green

Lets say my selfship isn't always cupcakes and rainbows so scroll away if you not into that more heavy (but nons*xual) k*nky or weirder side of shipping(monster romancing/interspecies romance) stuff. 😅😬. Also Vol is an overstuffed plushy man and he is soft yet muscular in body. He eats alot and is best pillow to lay on. He has soft torso due to eating alot. BUT HE IS SO SOFT SO HUGGABLE SO WARM AND SQUISHY HHHH PLUS HEART BEAT 💓 💖 ♥️ 💗 💕 ���️ 💓💙💛

Us

volo looking at all of you through your ring doorcam

This is not my downfall this is me becoming a god

I won't die alone (which is old news because i have already accepted that because I'm the youngest in my irl family) because I have the one person who matters by my side! And his name is Volo! Death tried to take me away from him but of course we got eachother wrapped up in the red chain of fate. So cheers to thousand more years and many more lifetimes where my biblically accurate angel ass is being hunted by a fervent merchant. To all who saying I wil die alone then guess what? I don't care cause in the end I won! 5D chess! Volo and I don't need you in our new world! Years ahead you still have a problem then idk what to say

I'm still here and married(soulbound!!) to Volo👁 but volo and I's relationship shenanigans shall be private only to a select few. Mystic cult ftw!

And guess what? VOLO LOVES ME EVEN MORE! For choosing our relationship over clout and online bullshit

He is my radiant King, my God , my stargazer and my Beloved Sun ☀️👼💛

I'm his beloved little devil worm, his fallen star/angel, his Divinity 🌠👹🪽

Name: Mystic/Dream/Moop/ or any of my fictionkin names

Gender: Nonbinary/Gendervoidflux/Novarian

( I seem to be one of Liminality and of the unknown void .The gender is there, but sometimes it is not... It stretches into the formless abyss. For the sake of my sanity, I just but if I had to put a term to it it would be gendervoid or Novarian(Masc Nonbinary)(Preferred Pronouns are He/Him They/Them, it/its but you can use any)

I am Gothic/Voidpunk and an occultist/pagan who loves books, Astronomy, plants, birds, esoteric/hermetic/religious/occult concepts and philosophy

I am otherkin/Alterhuman/therian

I am neurodivergent

INTJ-NT and 5w4

The rest of the information about me is in this digital cesspo . Find it yourself

Follow my other blogs cause this one is ded

Have my theme song

Burt I will follow you through this blog tho since it's apparently my main blog 💀 so if EldritchDreamKing follows you that's me(follow mah self shipping blog thats one I'm most active on)

@onerios-ad-infernum (general aesthetic and shenanigans)

@mystical-sleepy-musings (Witchcraft/pagan)

@sleepy-time-gothic (The Sandman)

@too-many-eyesandwings (therian/otherkin with some self shipping)

@space-h00t (Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel)

@duckygon2(Ducks)

[jojo-schmo]

A Walk Down my Art Memory Lane!

Now that I’m thinking about my childhood Kirby art, I dug through my storage a bit and thought it’d be fun to share a few! Here are some of Baby Jojo’s drawings!

note: I was not active in any online Kirby art communities at the time and I never posted these anywhere so I made these drawings just for my own enjoyment hehehe.

These are probably among my earliest Kirby drawings. Most likely ~2008!! I must’ve been in fifth grade maybe…? The first picture is a very rare example of pre-2022 Dedede sightings in my art. Around 2010 I became embarrassed and frustrated about not being able to figure his shapes out. So I spent the next 12 years avoiding him at all costs and instead sticking to the safer things to draw, like nice round Bronto Burts or Waddle Dees. Who knew it would take me writing an entire comic about him in 2022 to finally learn to draw him in my style!! :P

The second picture speaks for itself lol. I was the girl who googled “maskless meta knight” back when we had no fancy 3D renderings of his face. Just edits of anime screenshots and fanart of him holding his mask/getting his mask stolen and looking at you with the biggest, pearliest, white eyes. JPEG artifacts littered these images like sprinkles on a cupcake. And I would giggle and squee with every one like the baby fangirl of Meta Knight I was. :3

This one was probably ~2009. Very ambitious piece for me at that age. I struggled with the perfect roundness of Kirby haha. I had just gotten these cool alphabet stencils and couldn’t wait to write “Kirby” everywhere with them. This was probably the complete catalogue of Kirby characters I had the ability to draw at that time. It’s funny to think about how Magolor wouldn’t exist for another two years when I drew this.

Hmm. Maybe I should redraw this one day as a fun honor for my younger self.

Triple Waddle Dees!! A rare but precious Sailor Dee sighting, and of course my sweet Bandana Dee. This was probably around 2011 after Return to Dreamland came out and I came to adore Bandee. :3

This is probably around 2012- some time after Mass Attack came out. I had this AU at the time where each of the 10 Kirbies from Mass Attack had their own personality trait from the original Kirby, and a permanent copy ability assigned to them. Hence the Spark Kirby having wings and a halo like in the game- where you get damaged and have to rescue the poor Angel Kirbies before you lose that life!

Also my Poppy Bro Jr OC that I don’t think I named at the time- but I redrew him recently and named him Allegro the Poppy Bro. I loved drawing his hair and his funny teeth :D

Finally, I redrew just a few of the characters from my old drawings tonight. Just doodling for fun, nothing serious. But it’s something my child self would be happy to know I could do.

Guess I’d better draw all the Dededes that Baby Jojo missed out on drawing!! Thank you to anyone who read to this point. I encourage anyone to draw things that would make their younger, baby self proud of you. ….even though I bet they already are proud of you. <3

Remember, as long as you keep drawing, you’ll improve at your pace! Just keep at it! You’ll notice that difference over the years!