#severance s2 e2

[alexjcrowley]

Something so unsettling in how Milchick contradicts himself in the same breath, but he has emotionally wrecked Mark to the point that he doesn't see the blatant contradiction. First he reminds Mark that he accepted this job to escape the grief of his wife's death and saying "and you did it! Innie Mark is happy and totally unaware of your pain", and a second later he says that Innie Mark's solace will "make its way" to Mark.

Esxcuse me sir but those are two contradictory statements. Either Outie Mark and Innie Mark are completely severed, so Innie Mark doesn't know Outi Mark's pain and, viceversa, Outie Mark doesn't know Innie Mark's happiness, OR they're not fully severed. Or emotions and feelings travel from one Mark to another, and if happiness can be shared, so can pain. And we tie back to Petey's "You carry the hurt with you. You feel it down there too".

And all of this was obvious to me through the first watch of the episode and I think it would have been obvious to Mark too if, you know, Mr Milchick didn't interfere with his ability to remain lucid with the "remember the insurmountable amount of grief you always feel?"

[shtrawburrymilk]

Mr Milkshake telling Mark he's found love inside as Mark S, meeting his eyes, fully intending to never bring Helly R back to the severed floor... throwing up

[warblogs17282]

Blitz and self-hatred, plus his self-forgiveness journey.

Aka, watch me try to make sense of the massive lore drops in ghostfuckers. (Long post alert, my first meta post after ghostfuckers dropped)

Section 1: The roots of Blitz's self-hatred.

The circus fire. We know what Blitz's actions were that day, he saw Fizzarolli, and tried to call for help, but then he realized that Tilla was also caught up in the fire, and instantly rushed over to attempt to save her the moment Blitz realized that fact.

We know that Fizzarolli getting severely hurt in that fire affected Blitz very deeply, considering that it was one of the memories in that slideshow.

If you look at this frame by frame, you can see some sort of face in the fire when Blitz is rushing to save Tilla from the fire. The face in that fire looks like a mix of an angry face and a screaming face at the same time. Signaling that Tilla has been consumed by the flames. That she's dead.

There's an interesting detail within the hallucination sequence as well.

"This is your life." The fact that the fire in this sequence starts right at Blitz's hand is really telling. It tells us that Blitz still blames himself for accidentally causing the fire. Blitz blames himself for the fire that severely hurt Fizzarolli, and the fire that killed Tilla. Blitz feels like he hurt Fizzarolli and killed Tilla, his own mother.

Look at Blitz's hand during this memory, you can very clearly see that it's quite badly burned, including some that haven't even fully scarred properly yet, placing this memory very shortly after the fire happened. During this scene, Cash hits Blitz, and it's very clearly a memory that still deeply affects Blitz, a memory that most likely reinforced Blitz's own self hatred, because he's blaming himself for Tilla's death and Fizzarolli's injuries at this point, and his dad is just rubbing that in a lot by getting extremely pissed off with Blitz and hitting him because of the circus fire.

Plus, just look at Blitz's reaction to this memory, look at Blitz flinch, look at Blitz starting to struggle against the chains the moment this memory comes up. Blitz's reaction to this just proves how deeply it affects him to this day, and also proves that Cash hitting Blitz added to Blitz's self-hatred over the circus fire. Also, just how many times did Cash physically abuse Blitz like this over the course of his life so far?

Finally, we have the memory of Cash keeping Blitz from seeing Fizzarolli at the hospital. "But they told me you didn't want to see me.", Cash lied to Blitz and most likely the hospital staff as well considering the 'they' used, saying that Fizzarolli didn't want to see Blitz again, having strong implications to Blitz that Fizzarolli hated him. He also lied to Fizzarolli and said that Blitz never even visited him in the hospital. Further adding to Blitz's self hatred over the circus fire.

Section 2: Everything that has reinforced Blitz's self hatred, and is important on Blitz's self-forgiveness journey.

Let's start with Loona, we see her two times during the memories sequence.

The first having this exchange of dialogue.

Blitzo: Because, I adopted you! And that should mean something!

Loona: Oh, what does it matter?! You're not my real dad! I was almost eighteen!

Blitzo: It still counts!

Loona: Well, it shouldn't! I didn't need you then, asshole! I don't, now!

Notice the word 'need.', it's something that Blitz has internalized by now, Blitz thinks that if the people in his life don't 'need' him, they'll just leave him. Another thing that this shows is that Blitz is worried about if Loona hates him.

And it's very clear that Blitz is still effected by this exchange in s1 e3, even quite a while later. In s2 e2, we see Loona kick Blitz right in the balls, and just look at Loona's face in this scene, what Blitz sees here is his fear that Loona hates him, which is why it's in the memory sequence, and there's also these pieces of dialogue to consider.

Loona: If I'm so terrible, how about you just grow a pair and replace me?

Blitzo: Okay, well, maybe I- Maybe I might.

Blitzo: Oh, Loona, my sweet baby girl! I'm so sorry, I'll never replace you no matter what you--

Blitz is still concerned that Loona hasn't forgiven him/hates him for saying that he might replace her, hence why he instantly says he'll never replace her the moment Blitz sees her again, and that face and kick in the balls definitely fed into Blitz's fear that Loona hates Blitz.

And this fear that Blitz has about people who he cares about hating him seems to be something that applies to a lot of different people.

We see this fear in Fizzarolli, because this is one of the memories that comes up in that sequence. The malice-filled stare Fizzarolli gave Blitz during Ozzie's, and we all know Cash was the reason why Fizzarolli hated Blitz for so long, because he lied to Fizzarolli and said he started the fire on purpose, and said that he never visited him once. Alongside other things like Cash making Fizzarolli the golden child. So even all those years later, Cash is still contributing to Blitz's fear of the people he cares about hating him.

Don't be mistaken as well, just because they made up in s2 e6 doesn't make this fear of Blitz's go away, doesn't make the pain of the malice-filled stare go away, which this memory being brought up proves.

And, as I've said before, Blitz still blames himself for accidentally causing the fire that severely hurt him, also adding to the fear and self-hatred.

Barbie Wire, we can see this fear play out with her as well.

"I never wanna see you ever!"

Looking at both Blitz's face at the time and the fact that this scene made it into the memories sequence, it just shows us that Blitz has this fear for Barbie Wire as well, just like how he had it for Fizzarolli. The fact that Barbie Wire doesn't even want to see Blitz again just confirms that fear he has, that Barbie Wire hates him, and the memory of it also confirms just how deeply her saying that effected Blitz.

"Are you worried I may have enough of it one day as well?"

Truth Seekers, the fact that this is Blitz's subconscious telling him this is proof of the fact he has this fear that Moxxie will get tired of Blitz's behavior, that Moxxie will hate him and just, leave.

And the sequence with all the dead Millies and her appearance in the memories sequence also confirms that Blitz has this fear when it comes to Millie as well. Plus, the sequence with the dead Millies also tells us quite a few things, but I think the main ones are the insecurities Blitz has that he 'keeps fucking people's lives up' and 'leaving them worse and more broken than he found them', which both add to the fear that the people in Blitz's life who he cares for hates him.

The last person, Stolas.

There's three memories in ghostfuckers of him I'd like to bring up here.

The first being the All 2 U song memory, just look at how angry Stolas looks to Blitz in this specific memory, while singing lines like "'Cause I don't think it meant a thing at all!"

This one, Stolas was literally just crying a moment ago with all the makeup streaming down his face, but Blitz doesn't seem to remember that fact, instead, he's more focused on what Stolas said, more specifically, "You! Why are you here? I don't want you here, go home, please! Let me not feel so sad!"

And the final one, Stolas and the BTB guy. It's not jealousy, it's god damn heartbreak, especially considering the 'I mean you're a fucking prince. How could you ever actually care for an imp... Me? How could anybody?' Which shows us that Blitz thinks Stolas deserves a better partner, and then a guy literally with a shirt named 'Better than Blitzo' came in, with them dancing and enjoying each other, something that Blitz most likely wished he could do.

Plus, it had been around 24 hours since Stolas' confession to Blitz, and to Blitz, Stolas is already with someone else, someone 'better' than him. With the moment of the BTB guy kissing Stolas being all the confirmation Blitz needed, that he'll never be enough for Stolas, that Stolas has found someone better than him. That he's unlovable.

With all these three memories just massively contributing to Blitz's fear that Stolas hates him, and his self-hatred in general.

(Obviously Stolas doesn't hate Blitz, and that the BTB dude is a one night stand at most, but I'm speaking like how Blitz sees things rn)

Something else that's also relevant is this memory of Verosika, and the reason why this is specifically in the reel is because this was the moment that Verosika said "A reckless, heartbreaking freak!", all while Stolas was watching, which is something Blitz very clearly noted in his memories of the event, showing how much this effected him as well.

And to show that even more, this is the exact point that gets Blitz's tears flowing.

Another thing I want to quickly mention is that Blitz struggles to understand concepts and such of love, outside of a transactional context. Like, correct me if I'm overthinking this, but the 'unconditional support' card is yet another example of Blitz doing this kind of stuff. Everytime they give Blitz 'unconditional support', Blitz punches a hole in the card, with the one at the end being that Blitz has to leave M&M alone for one date, like, my babygirl, that isn't unconditional.

I also suspect that this has roots with Cash as well, considering that Cash was 100% the type of person to only see their value as 'how much money they can make him', and that the less they make for him, the less that Cash will 'love' them, something that is extremely clear in the difference that Cash treated Blitz and Fizzarolli on multiple occurrences. Like, here for example. Plus, there's also the fact that Blitz was bought by Paimon to be friends with Stolas as a kid.

And well, I think we all know what the biggest example of this kind of relationship has been throughout the show, it being something that only ended a few episodes ago.

Of course, I have to mention "I believe your subconscious is trying to tell you that you simply cannot fathom proper intimacy, but… also crave it as well.", which is something that is extremely intertwined with this subject, and the best example of this is probably s2 e8.

Something else in the memories sequence that this line from truth seekers also heavily applies to are these memories.

It shows us very clearly that Blitz is rather envious of the relationship that Moxxie and Millie have, because Blitz craves proper intimacy, so what Blitz sees is something he wants, but something he feels like he can't obtain.

Finally, the last subject I'd like to talk about is the fact that Blitz, hasn't really been able to see much of the good things he's done for the people he cares about or that he straight up doesn't know, by just being himself.

Blitz saved Moxxie from a life with Crimson and also busted him out of prison, Blitz gave Millie a life, a husband, and a purpose, Blitz gave Loona a home and a loving father, right before she was about to get kicked out the system, and Blitz gave Stolas the courage to stand up to his abuser, to allow him to choose for himself and get that divorce.

But, the sad part is that Blitz doesn't really see much of that.

Section 3: The progress Blitz has made on self-forgiveness journey so far.

S2 E6, the fact that Blitz and Fizzarolli was able to make up after so long removed a huge roadblock in the way of Blitz's self-forgiveness journey. The fact that Fizzarolli no longer hates Blitz. While there are still memories about Fizzarolli that still haunt Blitz, as I've shown in this post, this is still a huge step forward for Blitz being able to repair his relationships.

The first real heart-to-heart Blitz and Millie conversation, a lot gets brought up here, just exactly how Blitz has improved Millie's life for the better, confirmation to Blitz that Millie never hated Blitz and the fact that they're best friends. Of course, there's also Millie's apology to Blitz, with this conversation being something that Blitz desperately needed to hear, and I really hope everyone else eventually tells Blitz just how much he's changed their lives for the better.

And the second conversation between the two, the first thing that Blitz mentions is Millie's best friend comment, and that is huge for Blitz, because it signals the start of Blitz learning that people in his life can care for Blitz unconditionally. That Blitz can just have friends in his life, as the line "I- I've never had a real friend that I didn't want to fuck."

(hit the image limit, so time for timestamps!) Timestamp 24:31

(Timestamp, 24:45) "The bird got to you that bad, huh?", it just means so much to me that Blitz has finally admitted the fact that Blitz has feelings for Stolas, because it shows that Blitz is slowly, but surely starting to open up, and this is gonna be a huge thing for Blitz's relationships, including when Stolitz finally gets back together.

[inflamedrosenkranz]

If I had a mind prone to overinterpretation (oh wait, I do have a mind prone to overinterpretation, actually), I'd say this whole story almost sounds like a mystical wedding.

In E2/S1, Viktor holds Jayce's bracelet in his left hand, which Jayce himself wears on his left wrist.

In E9/S2, Jayce removes the rune from his wrist and places it in Viktor's left hand.

The left hand is where the wedding ring is usually worn; it's also the hand where Ximena lost two fingers, which Mage Viktor didn't heal, probably to condition Jayce's destiny and lead him straight to him.

This rune that they exchange several times in the story, this rune given, worn and received by their left hands, and which they hold in their joined hands at the very end, is thus the very symbol of their union.

An engagement or a wedding ring, it is probably not, at least not in the most trivial sense of the concept. But the crystallization of the highest, purest and strongest form of love and commitment between two soulmates across time and space it is, for sure.

[junefiress]

severance s2 e2 was frankly hilarious because what on earth is burt doing. listen i understand irving is like severed john wick or whatever but at the end of the day outie burt as we know him has NO business stalking that man the way he was. now my rational brain is saying he's suspicious of him or an evil lumon plant or something but my lizard brain is screaming they had one conversation and he decided the chemistry was not worth a however many years long happy marriage. psychosexual obsession with your subordinates is a canon event for lumon department heads

[cerastes]

Was Wisadel's backlash at all comparable to the Chalter incident and do you think it would be enough to make them ignore her for a bit, or do you expect them to give her a skin on the more normal schedule for limiteds? I know there are a lot of complaints that even went beyond gameplay stuff (like being a limited alter of a limited) but I generally shut out the community when it gets super annoying so have no clue how big the stink actually got.

As far as I know, there was no backlash for Wisadel, but I’ve also not had my finger on the Arknights pulse as of late, so maybe I missed it, but, again, as far as I know, there wasn’t anything like with Chung the Hung, which makes sense, all things considered, because Chung didn’t get her backlash due to being overpowered, it was a molotov cocktail of factors which included being overpowered. Wisadel had some complaints, such as what you mentioned — limited alternate of a limited — but nothing much beyond what limiteds get.

Wisadel as a while evades the Chung trappings:

Regardless of your opinion on her actual design, Wisadel’s artwork is of good quality. It’s proportionate, well drawn, stylish, the whole deal. Ch’en the Holungday famously had really awful E2 art.

Wisadel is overpowered, but she’s a character that’s been ingrained in the narrative since day one and this “upgrade” is tied to her actual growth and role in the main story. Ch’en was overpowered, but while you can make an argument her growth is part of it (since it’s offhandedly mentioned in her Files, I guess), it’s tied to an overall filler summer event, has her in a literal swimsuit, firing a jury rigged Super Soaker for more damage than several of her contemporaries could manage combined per shot, all while having three Skills that were all basically the same and S3 being the best one by far, which also used the Ammo mechanic so you could have insane practical upkeep on it. Comparatively, Wisadel actually has three distinct Skills, which leads to the next point:

Wisadel is actually entertaining and satisfying to look at: The bombardment S2, the huge death beam explosion of S3, the graphics, the sound effects, the sprite animations, Wisadel has actual flair. Ch’en the Holungday is painfully boring to play and look at, all Skills have the same animations, the same dull sound effect, no variation or flair. Her skin definitely helped on the flair department, like 3 years later.

Though you could (correctly) argue that Wisadel might also be doing this for limited alts of limiteds, Ch’en was setting a very awful precedent: Overpowered Summer Units, maybe even Overpowered Seasonal Units, a hallmark of trashy gacha design. Hypergryph had tested the waters with other scummy strategies before — the period of time in which Thorns and Surtr, AKA stupid strong characters, among others, were rapid fire releases with no accompanying lore or event to give them a place in the world the way others have, which haunts them to this day as ‘lorelets’ — so Ch’en In A Bikini Godtier didn’t sit well either.

Wisadel wasn’t the only good unit out of her banner; regardless of your personal take on Mizuki as a unit, he was widely agreed to be, and thus, perceived as a nothingburger of a 6*, and La Pluma, who is definitely a good unit but was a new archetype at that time, so people were cautious with her, so there was a clear winning roll and losing roll. Wisadel was joined by 6* Logos, who could easily be the limited 6* in any other banner, and 5* Fang, a highly anticipated character. Overall, the perception of these banners could not have been more different.

The overtuning of Ch’en is but one in a cocktail of complaints people had for her, basically. Any complaints there were over Wisadel were a fraction of what Ch’en got.

[sillyunicorn]

other people have said smart things about wilhelm and sara being protagonists of an A plot and B plot respectively, and it's made me notice several little things they both do or both have happen to them...

Moving in, getting hazed (S1 E1, S2 E1)

An unwanted kiss (S1 E3, S1 E4)

Lighting something on fire (both S2, E1) (both with the Forest Ridge logo, that's fun)

Looking at someone else's phone (both S2, E2)

[reluctantjoe]

ADAM SCOTT | Severance — Inside S2 E2: Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig

[utenaposter]

why is everyone saying helena is reintegrating are u guys okay. theres very obviously an override to the severance floor elevator, thats how helena is going back down there without activating helly. the board doesnt believe in reintegration. the board doesnt acknowledge its existence. the board would do anything to not let this get out, they would never let helena reintegrate especially because then helly r would be out in the real world and that is soooo so dangerous for lumon. as we see in s1 when cobel even mentions the reintegrated chip she gets sooooo fired that even when shes hired back in s2 e2 shes still basically fired. come on guys

[osteoptimist]

Severance S2 spoilers up to episode 2:

After watching S2E1 I was REALLY worried that the show might be nosediving. When Helly R didn't tell the gang that she was an Eagan, my fear was that the writers were so desperate to get the show back to the status quo and create conflict within MDR that they were going to have Helly go from "I'm going to burn your company to the ground" to lying to the team out of fear they'd reject her and she'd lose her developing relationship with Mark S.

I've seen plenty of shows do this, and it's one of my biggest pet peeves in television writing. Characters lying for silly reasons just so the show has more drama.

BUT! After reading some discussions online, rewatching the episode, and now seeing E2, I'm confident that's not the case and the writers are still doing an awesome job.

In E1, there were a few pieces of evidence in Helly R's behavior that indicated she might actually be Helena, her outie. Her interactions with the team and especially Mark were a little awkward, but it's hard to be sure.

The most compelling piece of evidence was the shot at the end of the episode where they're all sitting back at their desks and she has to feel around for a second to find the switch to turn on her computer. That was a very deliberate shot, easy to miss but super obvious in hindsight, imo. To me, that very clearly indicates that this isn't Helly, who has known almost nothing except this office.

One of the most interesting, though, and one I haven't seen a lot of people talk about, was when Irv was in the bathroom. The group was talking and suddenly she looks up at the ceiling and asks "what happened to that security camera?"

THAT is a big hint to me, and fits with what we've seen of Helena in E2. My guess is in E3 (or maybe E4), we'll learn that Helena refuses to let her innie Helly take over, and comes to a compromise with the company that she'll go down in disguise as Helly, with the chip disabled so she doesn't switch going down the elevator.

That will require her to watch pretty much every moment of Helly's time on the severed floor, so she doesn't make any obvious mistakes.

Ergo, she probably spent a lot of time watching footage from that one (now missing) camera to see the team interacting. Then, when she's down on the severed floor and feeling uncertain, she looks to that camera and notices it's missing.

There's a lot else to unpack about Helena that we saw in S2, especially her watching Helly and Mark kiss at the elevator, but other people have talked about that.

I'm just glad the writers are still cooking, it was on me for not paying close enough attention in my first watch of E1.

I AM still a little worried about Dylan going along with Milkshake and not telling the team about the family visitation room, I'm not sure that follows from what we saw at the end of S1. We know that Dylan has been very concerned about rewards and perks, but I think that's mostly because he didn't have anything else to focus on, and once he met his son that completely changed. Maybe Lumon is making the right move combining those two motivations, I'm just not 100% sure he would buy the "don't tell your coworkers cause they're all single and might get jealous" part.

[moonahstone]

Severance s2 e2 spoliers beneath the break

What are you up to and what are you thinking

To me he just looks really really upset but also why and did they actually talk and if so what about to make him so, he seemed fine when talking to Milcheck. Speaking of, hats of to him for lying through his teeth in an instinct when talking we love a suspicious old man.

At this point its clear Burt and Irving do actually know each other but how? What is there connection AND WHAT THE FUCK IS IRVING DOING

[alexjcrowley]

Another thought on episode 2. How devious is it that severed workers face discrimination during the giving process? It's almost too perfect for Lumon- you're not just trapped with us because you have no idea what we put your Innie through, but even if you did know the job was hell, you will beg us to hire you because no one else will. The severance procedure- we are told- is irreversible. You can't go back, in the eyes of society you can't go back. You're our property now, you made a choice for life. You're a social pariah. The cult of Lumon is the only way, and they can do to you whatever they want. It's not like you would know, but even so, there's no alternative.

[queerfandomtrifecta]

S2 is driving me nuts like anytime I try and find any sort of semblance of a tangible theme it’s just not there.

I thought it was gonna be learning how to heal from trauma correctly, because Ed’s whole Kraken era is a bad coping mechanism and we got what felt like this massive narrative plant in e1 with Frenchie saying there’s a box in his mind where he puts all the awful things and he never opens it.

Nope. Not that. Never addressed and everyone just gets over everything because “not moving on is worse”.

I thought it was gonna be atonement/apology/forgiveness, because of Stede’s “I think I hurt him pretty bad” and Izzy’s “you and me did this to him” and all the messed up ways Ed tortured the crew and everything he did to Izzy.

Nope. Ed forgives Stede after one(1) conversation and watching Buttons turn into a seagull. Influencer non-apology from Ed to the crew is just accepted by most of them. No apology to Izzy that takes accountability, but somehow a massive apology from Izzy, who has a long track record of already apologizing correctly so it’s not an arc, on his deathbed for something that had been resolved several episodes back in multiple ways and was barely even believable to begin with.

Identity in terms of being what you’re expected to be vs being happy was a massive theme in s1 but that was such a mess in s2. Like we sort of have that with Ed but not really. He threw away his leathers, then got them back. Stede is apparently trying to become a more effective captain, and aside from the fact that s1 already established his different way of doing things was what made him that already and that I’d never have known it if I hadn’t read it in an interview, he leaves piracy completely at the end of s2 so that very very forced arc for him doesn’t even play out.

The only actual arc that happened in s2 was for Izzy. He got a redemption arc, he suffered, he saved everyone, he was accepted seemingly as the leader of his new found family. It was done so well in episodes 1-4 for him. It gets hazy after that and ends in a way that doesn’t even make basic storytelling sense. He had to die for Ed to be truly free?? We wrapped that up multiple episodes ago. Ed hasn’t struggled with the “consequences” of Izzy pushing him to be Blackbeard since the end of s2e3, and we don’t even see that happening anymore in s2 at all. Izzy isn’t “feeding the darkness”. He actively tries to stop it in e1 and DOES in e2. If Jenkins hadn’t said in interviews what Izzy’s death was supposed to represent, it wouldn’t have been interpreted that way at all. And if you’re having to explain it because it’s not clear in the text, you’ve done a bad job conveying your story.

[warblogs17282]

Following Mastermind, there's been a lot of talk regarding Stolas and suicidal ideation/Stolas being passively suicidal, and Stolas' low self-worth, and I also want to discuss this subject, but I want to approach it in an unique way, by using a suicidal ideation risk assessment PDF and see what we can gather from it. Aka, enjoy my messy thoughts about this subject.

Link to PDF here:

Analyzing Stolas through a Suicidal Ideation Risk Assessment sheet:

1: Identify Risk Factors

Factors that may increase the risk of suicide:

Trauma: Current and past physical, sexual, or emotional abuse and/or trauma.

I can think of two examples of trauma that Stolas has, with the first being because of all the physical and emotional abuse that Stolas has suffered from for years upon years at Stella's hand, which is proven by Stolas saying 'your constant insults and cruelty.', basically meaning that Stella was physically and emotionally abusive towards towards during the arranged marriage.

And for sexual abuse and trauma, we have the fact that Stolas is a rape victim, once again, at Stella's hand, because this scene shows us that Stolas was very clearly dissociating during when they were having sex, and people who are dissociating cannot give actual consent, so it's a clear cut case of Stolas being raped by Stella.

Triggering Events: Factors, stressors, or interpersonal triggers, especially those leading to humiliation, shame, despair, or loss.

We can easily pinpoint one trigger that Stolas has, and that's when people around him start to show anger, including other things like showing said anger off physically, among other things like when the other person starts to shout and such.

There's plenty of examples I could show to prove this point, but I think the most obvious example I can give here is this moment in s2 e6, where you can clearly see Stolas hugging himself, because it's clearly something that stresses Stolas out and scares him, which is clear by just looking at him during this scene.

As for another triggering event I can think of, it's probably when Stella threw those parties, and I mainly say this because as seen in s2 e1, Stella uses these parties as a thinly veiled excuse to shit-talk Stolas, which would naturally lead to a bit of humiliation and shame for Stolas.

To be honest, it's probably just Stella shit-talking Stolas in general that's the trigger, but at the same time the parties were used as a thinly veiled excuse to openly shit-talk Stolas to her friends so.

Ideation: Presence, duration, and severity of thinking about death or ending life. These could be current or from the past.

We don't have enough information to make a full explanation of this part so far, but there is a few bits of information we can use to answer this part, that being the fact that the song in s1 e2, 'You Will Be Okay.' reeks of suicidal ideation, it also has lines in it like "When I'm gone, you'll be okay…", so already there's clear signs of Stolas thinking about his own death here.

While I will give Stolas the benefit of doubt here considering that he had no time he think anything of this plan through, and the consequences that would happen if Blitz was executed, it still is really telling about how passively suicidal Stolas is, and how little self-worth he has as well, considering that his first idea was to let himself be executed in Blitz's place, also potentially speaking to Stolas' suicidal ideation as well.

I suppose you could also mention the time in the bathtub where Stolas attempts what I assume is drowning himself, so that could also speak to Stolas' suicidal ideation as well.

Medical Health: Current and past medical health concerns or diagnosis, especially a new diagnosis or worsening symptoms.

The only thing I can think of here is in s2 e4, where Striker managed to badly hurt Stolas, and even to this day Stolas still has a lingering scar from the attack, plus he wore a bandage over that wound for quite a while as well.

Mental Health: Current and past mental health concerns or diagnosis, especially with recent discharge from mental health treatment or hospitalization.

For diagnosis, while not confirmed as canon, it's quite a popular theory that Stolas has C-PSTD and Autism. For concerns, I suppose you can list the fact that Stolas appears to be an alcoholic/frequent problem drinker, and the likely overdose (seen in s2 e1, takes three pills instead of two) on Stolas' happy pills as well.

Chemical Health: Current and past substance use disorders, especially with recent discharge from substance use disorder treatment or substance-related hospitalization.

Again, Stolas appears to be an alcoholic/frequent problem drinker, and in s2 e1, appears to abusing the happy pills by taking more than what appears to be the recommended amount/dosage Stolas should actually take.

Substance Use: Any significant change in pattern of use, or current/past use.

Following the trial's conclusion in Mastermind, it's quite likely that Stolas is going to be cut off on the happy pills and alcohol, marking a significant change in the pattern of use.

Although you could make the argument that Stolas stopped taking the happy pills since this scene in s2 e8, but we don't know the answer to that question either way.

Past Suicidal Behavior: Past suicidal thoughts, attempts, failed attempts, or a family history of suicide.

While I have established that Stolas has thought about death before and also likely has suicidal ideation, I cannot prove said suicidal thoughts, although it is likely that he has had them in the past. Suicide attempts and a family history of suicide appear to not have happened at all however.

Self-Injurious Behavior: Current or past injury to self.

Does not appear to apply to Stolas at all.

Trapped: Feeling of inability to escape current situation. Examples could include domestic violence, financial debt, health condition that feels inescapable, etc.

While I cannot entirely be sure about the current situation, although it is likely that Stolas might feel trapped about it in some ways, but in the past this definitely applied to Stolas. Mainly, the arranged marriage, because as I've talked about before, Paimon and by extension, the Goetia family, basically placed a metaphorical gunpoint onto Stolas to have Octavia, and likely to an unknown age of Octavia's life as well.

Especially because of the domestic violence and abuse Stella dished out to Stolas constantly as well, making him feel even more trapped in that arranged marriage for years upon years.

Purposelessness: Presence, duration and severity of feelings of no reason for living or no sense of purpose.

I'd wager that this applies to Stolas at least somewhat, considering how it's already clear that Stolas has very little self-worth combined with the fact that Stolas appears to have a decent amount of suicidal ideation as well, although we don't know the specifics of it at this time, especially after the trial considering that Stolas basically got told he won't be able to see his daughter for the next 100 years by Satan.

There is also his relationship with Blitz to consider as well, but as of right now we don't have enough information to make a fully accurate read on the presence, duration and severity of these feelings.

Hopelessness: Presence, duration, and severity of hopeless feelings.

Again, we don't know the entire specifics of this, but considering the outcome of the trial and the fact that I've mentioned about Stolas being stuck in the arranged marriage for years upon years, I'd reckon that Stolas' feelings of hopelessness are quite high right now.

Withdrawal: Removal from friends, family, and society, isolation, or living alone.

Stolas has always been quite alone, not really having any friends (apart from Blitz, I suppose), family (with the exception of Octavia, but even then she's with Stella on the weekends so) around him most of the time, choosing to generally stay out of society as well, living alone inside of his palace.

Although considering how Mastermind ended, this does look like it's gonna get better, considering that he's living with both Blitz and Loona now.

Anger: Rage, uncontrolled anger, or seeking revenge.

I wouldn't say this applies to Stolas much/at all.

Recklessness: Engaging in risky behavior, seemingly without thinking.

You could make the argument that the whole grimoire arrangement and Stolas' plan to be executed in Blitz's place could fall under recklessness here, although I have talked about the latter a bit in this post as well, so yea.

Mood: Any significant change from baseline, especially when demonstrating increased anxiety, agitation, lack of self-control, or impulsivity.

There are quite a few things you could point to here, especially for the impulsivity side. A few examples could be the whole 'that was the sound of a fucking divorce' line in s2 e1 (although I am happy and glad that Stolas did that, since it was the start of getting out of the abusive arranged marriage, I still feel like it could apply to Stolas being a bit impulsive.), the whole phone argument Stolas had in s2 e2 and Stolas being extremely anxious waiting for Blitz to show up in s2 e8, to give a few examples.

2: Identify Protective Factors

Protective factors buffer individuals from suicidal thoughts and behavior. Protective factors have not been studied as much as risk factors. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention cites the following protective factors:

Effective clinical care for mental, medical, and chemical health.

For medical, this would apply as following Striker's near assassination on Stolas in s2 e4, Stolas did appear to get effective treatment for his injuries. Although for mental and chemical the care definitely wasn't effective as all they appeared to do was give Stolas a prescription for happy pills and nothing else, and well, who knows how long Stolas has been off the happy pills for tbh.

Access to a variety of interventions and support, at the least restrictive environment.

The only real support I can actually think of right now that Stolas has is the support of Blitz, Loona and likely Moxxie and Millie as well.

Connectedness to other people such as family, neighbors, community, and even culture.

Neighbors, community and culture are definitely a no-go considering Stolas is a banished prince, and well, almost everyone seems to have it out for Stolas right now, as in they really hate Stolas with a passion following the trial. So again, the only connectedness I can think of that Stolas has is with Blitz, Loona and probably Moxxie and Millie at some point in the near future as well.

Support from ongoing medical, mental and chemical health care relationships.

The only ongoing relationship with health care that Stolas had was in relation to his happy pills prescription, but following the trial I think it's safe to assume that this relationship Stolas had with health care is also gone as well, leaving him with no health care relationships at all at the moment.

Skills in problem solving, conflict resolution, coping, and healing.

This one is kind of a mixed bag, while there have been quite a few times that Stolas has shown problem solving and conflict resolution skills throughout the show, they're definitely nowhere near fully developed, especially when we get to the coping part, because we all know Stolas' unhealthy coping mechanism by now, and that's problem drinking. Although to be fair, Stolas likely won't have easy access to any alcohol now, so it'll be interesting to see how Stolas' coping mechanisms go from this point on.

Cultural and religious beliefs that discourage suicide and support instincts for self-preservation.

I'm pretty confident in saying that this doesn't apply to Stolas at all.

The rest of the PDF doesn't apply to Stolas at all, so let's skip to the table.

Multiple risks factors, few protective factors, and what could be thoughts of death with no plan, intent (the Mastermind thing was a spur of the moment thing that is well and truly over now, so I'm not including that bit here), although behavior is likely on the table considering the fact that Stolas just threw himself head first into the water in the bathtub, and the whole 'You Will Be Okay' song, but other than that I don't really have anything concrete for behavior.

So in conclusion, I'd put Stolas in low tbh.

While I don't think Stolas is at risk of making an actual suicide attempt, I do believe because of the risk factors and general lack of protective factors that Stolas has, that it shows that Stolas does likely have high levels of suicidal ideation and other things like thoughts of death.

[bruhgender]

Severance s2 e2 spoilers

I’m starting to think Irving took the severed job specifically to try to take lumon down from the inside. Which… you know I love Irving, he’s the light of my life, but if that’s true it’s a very stupid idea because he literally can’t remember what he did at work. But obviously the fact that he has a secret trunk filled with addresses of severed employees, and now the fact that he very blatantly lied to Milchik about his evening being perfectly normal makes me think Irving has a plan and it’s all premeditated. Plus he drove to a pay phone to place a shady call???? It’s so interesting to me that the most devoted and pious innie has the most rebellious outie (and vise versa because Helly R is the innie who viscerally hates Lumon more than anyone and her outie is a frickin Eagan).

[amuseoffyre]

Good Omens Locations - S2 E2

This is gonna be a meaty one :D

Edinburgh Castle - it's the west side of the castle, looking towards the crags (in the right place), but keep an eye on that castle. It goes rogue and moves about depending on the angle. They even acknowledged it in the X-ray that castle ends up places it shouldn't be.

The Edinburgh Graveyard - this was one of the locations filmed in Stirling. I have vague recollections that they used the old cemetery, but as is typical, there are a couple of graveyards on either side of Stirling Castle, so I can't be sure I picked the right one since you can't really googlemap a graveyard.

Old Town Edinburgh - For this one, they used Broad Street in Stirling, not far from the castle, then pasted the Edinburgh castle background in place.

Presumably Newington, where Mr Dalrymple works - Most of Newington hadn't been built then but to make it visibly fancier than Broad Street, they're smack dab in the centre of the Georgian New Town of Edinburgh for this one, on Moray Place.

Mr Dalrymple's Library - This is one of the libraries from Hopetoun House near South Queensferry.

Victoria Street, Edinburgh - represented by... Victoria Street, Edinburgh :D In the Old Town and one of the most photographed streets in the city. Please note the castle playing peekaboo.

The Resurrectionist - A mile and a bit away from the place where Aziraphale parks the Bentley, the Resurrectionist is a functioning pub called The Cask and Barrel on West Preston Street. The Resurrectionist is a far better name, methinks.

The only one I can't pin-point is where they filmed the yellow car sequence. I narrowed it down to several options because it's beside what looks like a lake or reservoir with a wind farm close-by and in sight of a main transit road for heavy goods in proximity, but is not a main public road itself due to the lack of road markings on it.