Absolutely Am Going To Do It When I Have The Time !

Tasty

Pupl

I just finished the book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell. It’s about the language that cults will use to essentially brain wash their members (not in the typical brainwash way that you think about). It’s “the technical terms, the redefined words, the shorthand, the clichés, the euphemisms, logical distortions, and so on set members apart from and above their pedestrian neighbors, families, and coworkers". Montell does not necessarily view "cultish" – the "language" she identifies as the set of linguistic tricks cult leaders use to coerce and manipulate members – negatively, but she believes that people should at least be able to recognize it.”

Anyways fucked me up! In the past two days I’m seeing it everywhere, in marketing, in the slogans in my job, in popular work out groups, cliche phrases we all say…… and then i watched the latest episode of severance! I don’t think I’ll watch this show, and more specifically Mr Milchick and other unsevered employees the same.

In this last episode i wanna talk about that acronym ORTBO that they introduced because it’s the most obvious tactic that they used.

“Thought terminating clichés squash independent thinking” -Amanda montell

Episode 4 Spoilers ahead:

O- outdoor

R-retreat

T- team

B- building

O- occurrence

Wtf when have you ever heard this weirdly stated acronym? Well the innies do all the time! So this is normal for them to hear, i mean they are from the MDR department! Macrodata refinement, even with that longer version of the word it still doesn’t feel like a full explanation as to what their job does. But to them because they are introduced to it and taught to not question their bosses for fear of punishment and so they just go with it. Which now mdr has become part of their everyday vocabulary they don’t even question the meaning.

Cut to this episode, our innies are unconesntionally ripped out of their regular office space and put into this isolating harsh environment phrased as a reward. They are told they have been good enough to earn this trip and give it a title, the ORTBO, and they are very lucky to be experiencing this.

Later when they have been walking for a lot time, feeling lost and hungry are a considering eating a literal frozen dead seal because this “reward” isn’t feeling like a reward. Dylan reminds them, they are on an ORTBO and he repeats its vague meaning trying to convince them not to doubt the company. Almost trying to convince himself as well. This is the same Dylan that’s been getting fed incentives of seeing his family on the side and have been told he’s extra special. He has more to loose than anyone else right now and by repeating it is trying to stop everyone from doubting. Aka the orbto is working.

“Creating special language to influence people’s behavior and beliefs is so effective in part simply because speech is the first thing we’re willing to change about ourselves . . . and also the last thing we let go” -Amanda montell

Cults will make up words and introduce them in this way to make a group of people feel connected. Like they have been let into this new group of special workers allowed out side and given a term phrased as a reward to squash any train of thought leading to doubt or questioning. The further they go on this team building occurrence they will understand the reward.

They also use this new group language to make the group feel superior and anyone on the outside intrigued into what people are talking about. Making learning the language feel connecting with others and like you are understanding the deeper meaning. They feel superior and anyone on the outside feels like they are missing something.

Cross fit does this well! They have new work out terms like dms (delayed muscle soreness) so if a CrossFit gym bro is talking to a regular gym bro and uses the term DMS, the regular gym bro feels dumb for not knowing what this is and not keeping track of it. And is now curious as to what CrossFit has that he is missing before he knows it he’s sucked in. (I bet you they will bring back this term later if they can to alienate other employees in other departments)

Um hello even in the way they advertised this episode is using this tactic! They didn’t give us the meaning or context they gave us the word and now we wanna know what this new acronym is in the next episode.

Severance universe has literally created a whole new language to keep certain people in the know and others confused. Watch for it!

It’s not always in acronym form; Sometimes it’s a saying, sometimes it’s just a common word given a double meaning to those in the group and out of the group.

Another day another dollar- something we hear all the time to make us just go to work and endure shit we shouldn’t

Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith- something we would hear all the time growing up as Mormon to stop people from questioning and like it’s bad to have critical thought

Endowment- to people out side Mormonism it means gift people inside it’s a whole secret ritual that you are sworn to secrecy or off yourself before telling another soul

lol my work calls its self a village

Its everywhere! It’s in our marketing! It’s in our gyms! It’s at work! We don’t even notice because it’s working.

“Words are the medium through which belief systems are manufactured, nurtured, and reinforced, their fanaticism fundamentally could not exist without them.”-Amanda Montell

Anyways this book has fucked me up and has made severance even better for me

Thank you for feeding me with this delicious content <333

Severance Fic Recs

Some Mark and Devon sibling stuff, a little Mark/Helly and a lot of Mark/Petey. Mind the tags on some of these. Will update as needed. Here we gooo

ephemeral green by fractions

just another wretched pawn by fauchevalent

Mark never learned how to take care of the plants. It wasn’t really something he’d thought much of. He’d glanced at Gemma spritzing the leaves, and sometimes, he’d been in the room while she trimmed or repotted them when they were ready. To him, she possessed some sort of connection to them that he didn’t understand. She had some mystical knowledge about what they needed and when they needed it. She was a caretaker. He is not. -- Mark tries to take care of Gemma's plants after her death. Pre-main series timline, informed by the events of 2x07.

An Item of Comfort by Honeybee_Bub

In the aftermath of ORTBO, each time Mark leaves work, he has been noticing tremors running through him. It's always brief and stops before the elevator even rises to the main level, so he pushes it off as a side effect of reintegration. Until one day, he finds himself quickly wiping his eyes from tears he never cried before Judd can see when the elevator doors open.

Suddenly, without prompting, Cobel speaks up. “To get in,” she says matter-of-factly, “you’ll have to pretend to be pregnant again. There’s a sweater under your seat, you’ll tuck it under your shirt.” “Are you fucking with me?” Devon asks, breaking out into sharp, surprised laughter. “Our plan is a fucking sitcom plot line? That’s how you’re getting us into the Lumon-branded fucking birthing cabins?”

apropos of the wet snow by wreckageofstars

[By the way: facing the wall, such gentlemen—that is, the “direct” persons and men of action—are genuinely nonplussed. For them a wall is not an evasion, as for us people who think and consequently do nothing; it is not an excuse for turning aside, an excuse for which we are always very glad, though we scarcely believe in it ourselves, as a rule. No, they are nonplussed in all sincerity. The wall has for them something tranquillising, morally soothing, final—maybe even something mysterious ... but of the wall later.]

The Hellebore Tonic by aelizel

Soon after Helly R. regains awareness, she nearly loses her body to a new threat.

Star Child by brilliantly

When Helly fucks around, Helena finds out.

Each Time I Think I’m Close To Knowing by five_rat_lore

“I don’t want to play those stupid, fucking games. I don’t want to list all the shit my outie knows, I don’t even want to think about it.” Dylan can’t remember his kids… but he also can’t forget how to be a father.

what remains is perfectly scattered by Princex_N

Mark is lucky, he knows it. He holds the thought in the center of his mind and tries not to forget it. He is here because he got lucky, because his sister loves him, and things could have been so much worse. Knowing that things could be worse, though, doesn't really change the fact that they're still really fucking hard.

replace/repair by kuragin

“I’m not your new Petey,” Helly says, turning to leave. Mark catches her by the wrist; feels her tense under his grasp. “Hey. Wait.” (or: before the goats, Mark and Helly actually have a real conversation)

Goodbye Party by ReneDherbley

Mark doesn’t really know what it’s supposed to be like, but he guesses his outie’s been to a funeral before, and for some reason he can’t shake off the feeling of wanting to run away. Why did they even have to make such a big deal out of Irving’s dismissal? It’s not like he’s actually dead. Or: Mark realizes what happened to Petey through reintegration sickness

between where we are and we've been by Princex_N

"Hey, kid," Irving says, voice pitched down soft in the dark. "How are you holding up?" A moment between Irving and Mark, after Mark gets out of the break room in Half Loop

april, come she will by passingafternoon

Life finds a way, even on the severed floor. Seasons change and plants grow. Even Lumon can't stop flowers from blooming. (In which Dylan solves a mystery, Mark finds a leaf, Irving falls in love, Helly makes a list, and Petey dreams of spring.)

Don't Swallow The Cap by WhovianB

After Helly attempts to get a message to her Outie, Mark recalls an unpleasant experience. “Hey, Mark? Could you answer a question?” “Sure.” “What the fuck did they do to you?”

Why Are You Saying That Like You Hate It? by EightMinutesToSunrise

Helly asks who she's replacing. No one really wants to answer her.

compress/repress by kuragin

He wished his innie was there so he could choke him to death. Wished he could thank his outie for doing what he could and break his nose for doing it wrong. But it didn’t matter anymore, he realized, because they were both just him. Mark gets reintegrated. There's a lot to catch up on.

Carried Over by Kaeyes

Mark's friendship with Petey gets off to a rocky start.

Waves by ProfessorTumblesworth

"We're friends. I'm the friend with the least to lose."

inside out, outside in by hiljainen

He can talk to Petey in a way he can’t talk to the others. He can tell Petey just about anything and trust that he’ll get it. Or at least won’t be weird about it. Maybe that does make him Mark’s favourite. That’s okay, though, isn’t it? It’s okay to have a best friend. It’s normal. He’s lucky to have a best friend. ——— A what-if/fix-it-ish canon divergence, where Petey doesn't die.

he ain’t heavy, he’s my brother by cassiandor

”If anything happened to you,” Devon mumbles into his neck, “you know I would just have to invent time travel to bring you back, right?” Mark lets out a watery laugh, his arms tightening around her. “I know you would,” he says. “I know.” Devon and Mark, through the years.

when the sun hits by Anonymous

Devon looks at Mark and, for a moment, she sees a six-year-old sniffling miserably as she carefully cleans his scraped knee; she sees a seven-year-old weeping over the makeshift grave for their dead dog; she sees a ten-year-old proudly showing her the handful of worms he dug up from the front yard. And then she blinks and the world refocuses to the present: adult Mark, wan and motionless on the couch.

incandescent by beamkatanachronicles

"How many Lumon employees does it take to change a lightbulb?"

undying flower by brutalizer

Gemma Scout is alive.

when you met the new you (did someone die inside?) by Princex_N

The bad thing isn't coming for him from somewhere outside of the office, it's already found its way inside of him. The rest of Mark S.'s workday, after the nosebleed stops.

the spins by jam (discojams)

Mark S. opens his eyes and steps out of the elevator onto the severed floor. He cocks his head. The room is slowly, slowly tilting. His stomach is a bit sour, but he feels happy, giddy, warm. He’s excited to see his coworkers, and he suddenly has an overwhelming urge to apologize for being such a dick these past few weeks. He really does like them. Mark Scout knows better than to drive to work drunk. He does it anyways.

remember when you and i would make things up? by Princex_N

His outie, his other self, whatever — he's not a good liar, he wears everything on his sleeve, flaunts it even, and forgets to pay attention to who is over him, watching it all, and what they could do to him. He's not a good liar, but Mark is; it's an important skill, and by now Mark can do it on instinct. Even like this. Especially like this. Mark is fine. He's barely even dizzy, this time. 

open invite by jam (discojams)

Around 11:00AM, Mark clears his throat, stands up, shoves his hands in his pockets, and locks himself in the supply closet. Mark S. gets an erection at work. Petey helps him out.

aftermath by eclipsj

“Mark,” Helly breathes. A wave of revulsion knocks over her, the thought of her body doing things that she wasn't there to witness. “Did you... did she…” She swallows, forcing herself to finish the sentence. “Did you kiss me? When I was her?” Mark finally looks up at her, something straining at his face. His eyes are tinged red, wet. The muscle in his jaw pulls, twitches. He opens his mouth. Closes it. “Worse,” he chokes out. A part of her already knows it's true. "Oh god," Helly says. //after episode 5, Helly and Mark deal with the fallout of him having sex with Helena. Helly tries to reclaim her body in a possibly less-than-healthy way

To Feel Many Other Ways by five_rat_lore

Mark S. experiences the effects of reintegration, haunted by Mark Scout’s memories, suffocated by his outie’s grief and anger. Luckily Helly is there to keep him grounded.

Holy shit this concept is pure gold!!!!!!! And the skill!!!

<33 Would love to draw this

I forgot to post this here. Some ASTV comic I did a while ago!!!

WIP :))

Making an invincible oc for fun :) Kind of a self insert but yea :p I don't have a superhero name yet but I do know her powers! Her temporary name is Jay and she has the ability to control the density of the air around her, so she can turn it solid or liquid (which, now that I'm thinking about it, could also mean she can control water in the atmosphere??). It's still a WIP so yea ^_^ I think she would just be in Teen team or Guardians of the Globe, but no relationships with any character (she definitely would be friends with the team tho).

Im exited to work more on her when I have the time :))

What’s the edit that convinced you to watch a series? Here’s mine:

Gadreel, Angel of War - painting process

FREE brushes and gradients: https://angelarium.gumroad.com/

Gumroad

Subscribe to Peter Mohrbacher on Gumroad

The world’s most beloved fantasy artist and creator of Angelarium.

:0 so cool !!!

Here’s my Amphibia Reverse AU!! Or The Cataclysm Trip!

So Basically is them but evil and a reverse Personality!

Posted a lot of them in my Reddit accounts so I wanted to share

Strange Student by Justin Manuel