#mrs. selvig

[im-not-just-one]

A girl forced into child labor, ripped away from her mother and friends, created a way to separate work from personal life, but wasn't even allowed to be severed nor given credit for its invention.

Harmony Cobel they could never make me hate you.

[weenwyrm]

waiting patiently for the next cobel appearance

[eightw]

what if ms cobel is an innie that got out? like she was originally a severed employee, but proved to be fervently passionate about the company (like irving but 100x more intense) and so they promoted her to manager. that would make sense from lumon's POV - you have someone who has no prior memories and is loyal only to you. if you're worried about keeping secrets, or having someone do the dirty work, she's perfect, because she's already doing it.

some of this is inspired by another post i saw theorizing that the harmony s. in the control room is our ms. cobel; we already know that cobel is her maiden name. which, in my opinion, it would make total sense for her to no longer go by selvig, because in essence she's killed harmony selvig. everything she does on the outside, as wacky old mrs. selvig, is a pantomime of a woman she's only heard about, maybe seen recordings of. a wardrobe that was there the first day on the outside, maybe some old pictures of people she doesn't know. lumon would've given her all the info they had on her outie, but does it matter, when cobel's life is lumon? the shrine in the basement is an effort to bring the order she was used to on the severed floor outside, to make her world continue to make sense. even if she loves the job, that is an inherently miserable existence - not to mention that she knows nothing outside of it. cobel could literally be only ten years old or younger, for all we know.

and maybe harmony s. initially took the job because her husband, like how mark took the job because of gemma's death. but cobel can't remember this husband (or her mother, or family) at all - her obsession with both innie and outie mark comes from that empty space inside of her. a desire to understand what that love and that loss feels like, to understand the thought process of someone who would get severed because of it, and to understand how she feels about it. it would make her experiments on mark s. and miss kacey make total sense. she wants to see if you can make the innie remember.

if you wanted you could even connect her to reintegration - she knows it's possible because either she's looked into it herself or she started experiencing signs of it, after going without a switch for so long.

the theory that helly r. in s1e2 is actually helena is what started me thinking about this. if that's true, then they clearly have a way to alter the procedure somehow and make it so the brain doesn't switch. if they can do it one way, they can most definitely do it the other.

[florencebirdsong]

I need Ms. Cobel to sink her teeth into me and shake me around like a dog with her favourite toy

[spacelessbian]

I wonder where Mrs. Selvig came from. Who did Cobel, who has notably never had neighbors and probably has never met anyone this cheerful in her life, base her coocky alter ego on? Where did she get the name? Where did she get the idea to bake horrible cookies? Were the cookies part of the plan or just an element of roleplay? So many questions!

[imliketheheadofthecompany]

I’m experimenting with chamomile so no hard feelings if you gag.

[ballion]

Patricia Arquette as Ms. Cobel and Mrs. Selvig in "Severance" S01E04

[slayerdurge]

SEVERANCE | SEASON TWO TRAILER

[starbell0]

medium S1 Severance spoilers!!

okay I haven't done anything scrolly though severance because I WILL NOT BE SPOILED

So I cannot say if this is a hot take or not

but it sounds so cool when so say hot take

so, compromise

UNKNOWN TEMPERATURE TAKE:

I don't like when Harmony Cobel screams.

Now don't get me wrong. I love love love when the quiet character cracks and screams. I think it can be done really really well and when executed in a good way, it can really do something important for the story and the character.

But

I find peaceful Cobel so perfectly terrifying. She is this incredibly odd balance of being in fear and being feared. I cannot tell where she stands with the board, and I cannot tell how much of her personality is real.

We see her in so many forms. If we take her primary two, Ms. Cobel the boss and Mrs. Selvig, the odd neighbor. And we know that she is the same person throughout, not having the severed procedure.

Yet. We don't know who she is. Is she more like her boss persona, in command and punishing, or is she closer to her snoopy old lady persona? Or is she someone entirely different that we don't get to see?

We don't really know.

But her quietness combined with her constant presence is so alarming.

When she broke into Mark's house, I was caught so off guard (this is also the first time we learn she is not severed) and so unnerved. Please do not get me started when we find out she's watching Mark.

She is so, perfectly, quietly, cruel.

When she first showed up as Devon's (Mark's sister) lactation nurse I was horrified. Because that's just it. We don't know what she will do. She is a poker hand that has yet to be played even when everyone else's hands are face up. Is she going to hurt Devon? What about the baby? Is she just there to gain information on Mark? Or plant something? The uncertainty is what makes me so afraid of her.

I loved. Loved the scene where she threw the coffee at Mark. Because she does it so calmly.

"Do you want me to throw my coffee cup at you?" In the same tone she's been using the whole time. No aggression. No signs of what she will do, or if she is joking.

And then she throws the coffee cup. And tells Mark, in that same, boring tone, that she did not like to do that.

But we don't really know if she liked doing it. Or if it was a tactic.

We. Just. Don't. Know.

She is violent in her calmness.

So making her yell makes her seem almost comical. Her intimidating presence, her unknown, her "what will she do next, let it slide or punish them?". That's her charm. That is her brilliance as a character.

[oldschoolvillageidiot]

I love that the world is starting to discover Severance, a show that 100% would have been canceled on any other streaming service. Thank you, Apple.

[roots-symphony]

So ppl have talked before about how the names ppl know/use for each other on the severed floor are so interesting and how it relates to the dynamics there and even helps to enforce them (all authority is Ms./Mr. Last Name and all the innies are First Name only with just an initial for their last name), which just makes it so interesting to me that Cobel was known as Mrs. Selvig to outie!Mark (and then by extension Devon and Ricken as well)

Like even outside of Lumon’s walls and with the outie version of Mark, she set the boundaries of herself as authority still. And like it probably doesn’t even translate fully or well, but the fact that it does for her specifically and she made the choice is just.. idk, curious? Like, what even is her deal?

[cannibalspicnic]

Nobody:

My brain: "Jack Frost certainly needs some new dandruff shampoo, haha!"

[wipbigbang]

The 2025 WIP Big Bang & WIP Reverse Bang Are Open For Sign-Ups!

Welcome to a new round! We're bringing back the OG WIP Big Bang, which is for finishing fic and getting art to go with it, and introducing the first full round of the WIP Reverse Bang, which is for finishing artwork and getting fic to go with it. All fandoms/ratings/ships are welcome, including original works!

Schedule

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Big Bang/Reverse Bang Sign-ups Begin- April 1st

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FAQ

[ladyorlandodream]

first point: I need people to talk to about Severance second point and others: spoilers from here

so…episode 2x02:

the elevator didn't ring for Helly!! so now it's Helena inside the macrodata and not the innie! but why this?!

what was Burt doing outside Irving's house?!

I really liked the part where Dylan was discriminated against by the Doors guy, not so much for Dylan himself but for how society considers those who have been severed without knowing the reasons why each one made that choice

I love Devon, and Mark was really mean when they talked about Gemma's death, as if she wasn't supposed to feel bad and be affected by that event, don't be selfish, Mark!

"Cobelvig"…please, don't eliminate Harmony! I need her dose of madness during the second season!

[bowyer35]

*Night Before Cold Harbor is to be completed*

"Tomorrow is a special day." Harmony Cobel looks pleased with herself, alarming Devon.

"You mean Cold Harbor??"

"Nooooo, love, we're having a 50% off all bath bombs sale down at the shop."

*Devon, dumbfounded, confused as to why Cobel would reference the Selvig ruse when stakes are so high* "Um-- I..."

"Just let me have this. I didn't judge you about the Senator's wife crush thing." Harmony huffed some more ether.

[strangeite]

[ID: A photo Kermit the frog with his head squished down into his body /end ID]

i approach every cobelvig scene hopeful that i might understand something about her this time and then i leave it like this: