#my macrodata refinement

[fanfoolishness]

thinking about how I hope in the end that Severance is a treatise on grief and how you cannot run from it, you cannot bury it, you cannot hide from it, you can only in the end accept it.

It's been two years since Gemma "died," and Mark has tried everything but accepting her loss.

Alcoholism? Check. Getting severed to avoid choking on her ghost? Check. Moving to a new house and keeping her memories boxed in the basement? Check. Not even bothering to unpack her ashes and put her in an urn or a cemetery? Check. "She's not dead, she's just not here."

He shoves her in a box in the basement surrounded by boxes of her hobbies. He tears up her photo in little pieces and tapes it back together with whiskey on his breath. He cries in the car before work until snot runs down his face. He spits on other people's grief and wields his own like a weapon, pretending that he isn't bleeding.

It's a core part of him. It's always been there. Maybe it goes far back, to Fern Scout who's been dead so long Mark can't remember the color of her eyes. It's there in Mark S too, ripping up Petey's photo and his map with grim denial. "Irving isn't dead, he's just not here."

Mark can't bear grief in any form. So when scraps of puzzle pieces scream that she's alive, he runs into the maelstrom of reintegration without thought, without care, without telling Devon, self-destructive to the core. Because if he could kill the grief, that monster stalking him in the dark or at the bottom of a bottle, then maybe he'd finally be okay.

But I don't think we'll ever get to see the Gemma he once knew. I think she's lost, a ghost stalking Lumon's halls, never to escape. Or maybe she does escape -- but only as Ms. Casey, someone who never loved him, a different person altogether.

And maybe Severance will say, you have to accept this, or you'll die. Grief isn't an enemy. It's a part of you, like your innie, like your outie. It breaks you apart.

And you can put yourself back together again, if you only face it.

[kelpiegry-art]

When the jazz starts getting a little too defiant....

[mirumeni]

The Severed guys

[melonsharks]

the real MICROdata refinement

[sengiewhy]

MDR my gang

instagram | twitter | inprnt

[dallaswinstons]

[aubryjoi]

He works in Meowcrodata Refinement 💧

[blackcatangel]

Recently finished season 2 UuU

[ghostpuppets]

*turns your mdr workers into little creatures in the computer*

(i did not make the bg, it’s just a screenshot from the show 👍)

[leafas63c]

Macrodats are clever and true!

Commissions are open!

[fanfoolishness]

Mark S is already fading away.

I thought it was so in Woe's Hollow, when he was sharp with Irving, crass with Helena's laughter about the Dieter tale, and distant on the long snowy hike to the falls. But this episode really drove it home.

Reintegration isn't just memories coming back. It's demeanor, it's personality, it's the way you navigate the world with your other self bleeding through the walls that severance created. It goes both ways.

We see that Mark S is starting to affect Mark Scout. Some of his optimism and eagerness are affecting outie Mark -- outie Mark starts the episode in the morning, lit brightly instead of cast in the dark and lonely shadows that usually define his home. His home looks more Lumon-like than usual. We see outie Mark asking Reghabi hopefully when they can keep going, trying to move forward as quickly as he can. This is a man driven forward by his goal, which is mysterious and important.

But conversely, Mark Scout is hemorrhaging into Mark S.

Mark Scout's cynicism, his bitterness, his jadedness, his casual cruelty are leaking through. His wounds are poisoning the secret rebel, the chipper optimist, the leader who said "we're people, not parts of people." It won't be poison in the end -- hopefully, it'll be a real person, full of optimism and pessimism both, able to see both halves of the whole. But for now it's a shock to the system, percolating under the surface and coloring all of Mark S's interactions.

Yes, Mark S has many reasons to be off right now... he's ashamed of not realizing Helly was Helena, he's suddenly uncertain about the separation between outie and innie at all, he's still not sure if Helena or Helly stands before him, Irving is dead (no he's not, he's just not here), he's confused about that flash of Ms. Casey, the list goes on. He wasn't good at mourning Petey, and he's not good at this. Reintegration isn't the only reason he's closed off and in denial.

But it's definitely a reason why Mark S is turning away from his friends and isolating himself. I just hope that he's able to hold onto those parts of himself that yearn for love and connection, and he's able to restore his bonds with Dylan and Helly as he starts becoming someone new.

[hclcnas]

🏢 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 🌿

[ray-green-wicked4good]

*Once Upon A Time, MDR was brought together to do a Team Building Exercise. They were instructed to step into a private alcove one by one and select a beverage from the bar to pour into a blender, and they would all partake of the end result. They were encouraged to explain their choice aloud because 'Lumon is Listening'.*

Mark: Hi, I'm Mark S and wow. Looks like we've got quite a selection here of ciders and spirits amd some other cool stuff but, uh, I'm going to be adding lemonade because I know we've all been really stressed lately, especially Helly, and I think the others will mostly be adding alcohol. Umm. Especially Helly, so. Lemonade.

Irving: I, Irving B, will be adding water just as our great founder Kier would expect. "Kier invites you to drink of his waters. Drink, quoth he. Drink, my children, of the pure waters and thy labors shall rejoin." It's a beautiful passage that many skip over. But yes, water. That life-giving liquid. Should be refreshing for all of us, I think. But also...I'm afraid of what Helly will add.

Dylan: Dylan. And I'm adding all four of these cans of Sprite because you know Helly's gonna fuck shit up. Which, you know, normally I'd add some whiskey or something to contribute but ah, things are getting real. You know? I mean, this chick tried to cut off her fingers just to send a message to her outie. Badass. But you know, that didn't really work out. So. Pretty sure she's gonna wanna make something strong enough that'll give her outie alcohol poisoning or some shit. So. Just a little insurance for the rest of us. *adds fifth can*

Helly: *No Words. Just grabs the Everclear and pours while she glares at the camera*

[daisies89]

i am a person. you are not.

[starspgl]

the work is mysterious and important

[flecker-illustrates]

Lots to think about. Lots to contemplate. I'm gonna go munch on this beautifully crafted finale a while longer. I love them so much, I already miss them <3

I have so much inspiration I physically need to draw more Severance art. Helly and Helena concept, Mark and Gemma piece, I have my eyes on you 🫵🏻