u/Relative_Bluebird841

Genuinely wondering, as an Ibogaine researcher

In the past couple months I’ve made a few posts here about wildfire preparedness, cheatgrass on our foothills, and our emergency alert systems

Because when the Ensign Peak Fire happened near my home in Capitol Hill, my neighbors and I were literally standing outside watching it burn, asking each other if anyone had received an alert and none of us had. I’ve argued ever since that phones in the vicinity of an active wildfire should receive a very specific location-based warning. We absolutely have the technology to do this.

Well, I just got one. My phone just blared like an Amber Alert and told me: Your residence has been placed in a ‘GO’ Status. EVACUATE NOW.”** No location given whatsoever. No fire name. No explanation. I panicked and started trying to figure out whether we needed to evacuate so I just looked it up. Nobody else at my house got this alert but me
Turns out the wildfire and evacuation zone are nowhere near my home like, at all.

I think this is exactly the kind of flaw Utah needs to fix immediately. Not tomorrow, not next week IMMEDIATELY. People near a wildfire need timely alerts and people outside the danger zone should not be told their residence is under immediate evacuation. Both failures COMPLETELY undermine trust in a system we need people to take seriously

EDIT: did more research on why this happened. Still doesn’t make sense. Get it together FEMA

SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED SEASON 2

I’ve rewatched Severance a handful of times now, and I’m honestly not sold either way on this. I mainly just want to throw this out there because I’m curious what everyone else thinks.

Originally, I was convinced Burt was playing Irving. That seemed like the obvious read. But after a few rewatches, I’m starting to wonder if it’s actually Irving who’s playing naive in order to get information from Burt?

The moment that keeps sticking with me is when Irving catches Burt watching him from the payphone. Irving doesn’t walk over like someone who’s confused or flustered. He comes in hot. He’s immediately confrontational. “What are you doing here?” “Why are you following me?” That’s a very different energy than the vulnerable and almost childishly naive innie Irving we usually see, even though we’ve established he’s been having bleed through for some time. We know Irving isn’t exactly afraid of confrontation. He has a military background, he’s been investigating Lumon for who knows how long, the ORTBO, and he’s been putting pieces together long before we meet him. We still have no idea how deep his investigation actually goes.

Then there’s the dinner with Burt and Fields. If you pause that scene, there are so many weird symbolic details in the background. But even just looking at the dialogue, I started wondering whether Irving is intentionally letting them underestimate him.
The timeline stuff. The “Lumon partner” comment. The Attila nickname. Fields saying things that Burt immediately tries to smooth over. It almost feels like Irving is sitting there collecting information while pretending to just be an awkward dinner guest.
I’ve also been wondering if Fields could be more important than he seems. This is pure speculation, but what if he’s functioning (or previously functioned) as Burt’s handler in a similar way that Dr. Mauer functions for Gemma? They even have a similar calm, observant way of carrying themselves that gave me the same feeling.
And then there’s everything after the dinner.
Burt has def told Drummond that Irving is coming over, because Drummond shows up at Irving’s apartment. Later, Burt himself shows up and sends Irving on the “elongated cruise voyage” that Milchick later refers to.
That sequence feels way too coordinated to be coincidence. The thing is…I also desperately want to believe Burt and Irving’s love is real. I’m just starting to wonder if those feelings and his investigation aren’t mutually exclusive? Maybe he knows exactly where this train is headed and is choosing to stay on it because he thinks it’ll get him closer to whatever Lumon is hiding that he’s trying to expose
I don’t know. I’m not married to this theory at all, but after a few rewatches I’m less convinced that Burt is the one manipulating Irving than I was the first time through

EDIT: Because some comments have implied there is no supporting evidence

In S1E1, Irving says, “Back in my day, all you got was a creamer refill and a handshake.” For someone whose innie has supposedly only existed for a few years, it’s a weirdly nostalgic way to talk about Lumon. It’s like he’s remembering a much older version of the company

By the season one finale, outie Irving doesn’t just seem suspicious of Lumon, he’s literally running what looks like a full blown investigation. He has employee addresses, maps, newspaper clippings, organized files, and he’s using a payphone to communicate with someone we still don’t know. That feels like someone who’s been doing this for a long ass time

His repeated paintings of the Testing Floor hallway. He’s painting the elevator from the perspective of someone standing outside watching it descend, not from the perspective of someone riding it. We still don’t know how he knows what that hallway looks like

His sleep deprivation is deliberate. He’s intentionally trying to force memories to bleed across the severance barrier. That’s an incredibly calculated long-term strategy, not something someone just accidentally stumbles into

Then Burt shows up outside the payphone. Irving’s first reaction isn’t fear or excitement it’s confrontation. He immediately demands to know why Burt is following him. He doesn’t volunteer what he’s been doing. Instead, he makes Burt explain himself first

The episode Trojan’s Horse. Most people assume that’s referring to Helena, but it’s interesting that it’s also the episode where Burt quietly enters Irving’s outie life after secretly watching him. So who is actually infiltrating whom

The dinner scene changes a lot on rewatch. Irving actually says very little. Fields is the one who accidentally (or not) reveals that Burt had a Lumon partner decades ago, brings up the Attila nickname, and talks about Burt’s reasons for severing. Burt tries to redirect the conversation, while Irving mostly sits back and lets people keep talking.
The timeline inconsistency is another big one. Irving immediately catches that Fields’ story doesn’t line up with Lumon’s official severance timeline. He’s clearly paying attention to details instead of getting swept up emotionally

At the exact same time Irving is at dinner, Drummond is searching his apartment. Either Burt successfully distracted him or Irving knowingly accepted the invitation because he suspected Lumon would finally make a move.
When Burt later admits he used to transport people for Lumon, Irving doesn’t seem shocked by the idea. He asks, “Is that what today is?” That line kinda sounds like he’d already considered the possibility that Burt had been sent for him.
I wonder if we’ve been assuming that because Burt knows more about his own Lumon history, he must automatically be the one manipulating Irving. But what I think Irving actually knows far more about Lumon than Burt realizes, and he’s intentionally letting Burt think he has the upper hand?
I’m still not convinced either way. I just think there’s a lot more evidence that outie Irving is playing a very long, very calculated game than people give him credit for

I don’t think Burt disobeyed orders and helped Irving to escape. I think Irving knows exactly where that train goes and even wants to take it to do further investigation. I think they love each other but Burt is still obeying orders

ALSO we know severance is more than just innie/outie

TLDR; My fiance hasn’t worked our entire relationship and I’m starting to become resentful and confused

I’m looking for outside perspectives because I genuinely don’t know if I’m being unfair or if I’ve been making excuses for too long.

My fiancé (39M) and I (30F) have been together for about three years. Early in our relationship I learned he had been dependent on kratom and eventually started treatment with Suboxone. He’s told me that he doesn’t feel capable of holding a full-time job until he’s completely off the medication.
The problem is that I’ve been carrying almost all of the financial responsibility for our relationship for the past three years.

Edit: A few people have asked whether he’s ever held a job. Yes. One thing that attracted me to him in the first place was that he was a licensed counselor and life coach working at a PTSD treatment clinic. He was off medication at the time, full of life, deeply passionate about helping people, and genuinely thriving in that role. He was confident, purposeful, and made huge positive impacts on the people around him. Including me. That’s how we met. I was a client of his. That’s part of why this has been so confusing for me—I know he’s capable of being that person. I just don’t understand what changed or how we got here

I paid for our housing and most of our expenses while we lived together. Earlier this year I moved back to my home state to live with my dad so I could save money and rebuild my career after several difficult years in my life. I’m also a widow. I lost my late husband in a tragic accident. My fiancé eventually moved here too, and he’s currently living with us.

About six months ago, he had a potential HVAC job lined up, but it fell through due to circumstances outside his control. Since then, he hasn’t applied for other jobs or seriously looked for work.
He occasionally DoorDashes using my car, but he’ll work one very long day and then not work again for a week because he’s exhausted afterward. He says he contributes by cooking, doing laundry, and helping around the house, which I appreciate, but it doesn’t solve the financial reality we’re facing.
I’m working hard to rebuild my career and income.

I’m selling my artwork again, taking on opportunities, and trying to save as much money as possible so that eventually we can afford our own place. My plan has always been that we wouldn’t move out until we were both financially contributing.
What has become difficult is that every time I bring this up, he becomes very defensive. He insists he needs to get off Suboxone before he can really work, and that once that’s behind him, everything else will fall into place.

I don’t know enough about recovery to know whether that’s a realistic expectation or whether it’s become an excuse. From what I’ve read, many people are able to work while taking Suboxone, but I also understand everyone’s recovery is different.
He’s also eight years older than I am, which makes me feel even more confused. I feel like I’m carrying the responsibility for planning our future while he seems comfortable waiting for some future point when he’ll feel ready. Another thing is that he uses the excuse that he’s a “Projector” in Human Design and he can’t operate the way I do as a “Manifestor”

I love him very much, and this isn’t about wanting him to be perfect. I just need to know whether I’m enabling him by continuing to wait.
For people who’ve been in similar situations—or who have experience with recovery—is it reasonable for someone to postpone working until they’re completely off Suboxone? And if not, how would you approach this conversation? I don’t know how to get him motivated and I’m beginning to feel resentful

Hi everyone. I’m hoping to ask this respectfully because I’m curious and feel very passionate about the future of Utah

Like many of us, I’ve become more and more concerned about the future of the Great Salt Lake and the proposed Stratos AI data center in Box Elder County. My concerns really aren’t political. They’re about water stewardship, wildlife, and preserving the beauty of this state for future generations…for our children

As I’ve been thinking about it, I keep coming back to the gospel principle of stewardship. Doctrine and Covenants 104:13–14 teaches: “For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings…I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth…and all things therein are mine.”

The Church has taught that the earth is one of God’s creations and that we have a responsibility to care for it. The Great Salt Lake is an incredible part of that creation. It supports millions of migratory birds (they literally depend on it and will go extinct if things continue in this direction), affects our air quality and snowpack, and is part of what makes Utah so unique and beautiful. When the pioneers set out to design and develop Salt Lake City, they did something I really admire, that I didn’t know before researching all of this. They understood that they couldn’t survive here in the desert without respecting the water. So they designed SLC’s layout with irrigation systems and ditches that were woven throughout the community so that water could get to homes, gardens, and farms so they could turn desert land lush. Stewardship of water wasn’t an afterthought, it was part of the foundation of building Utah into what it has become today. My ancestors sacrificed everything to get here, and I personally feel like I would be disrespecting their unimaginable sacrifices and incredible work if I didn’t speak up about this matter

I know the Church is generally really careful about taking positions on political things or specific development projects and I do respect that to a degree. But I personally strongly feel that there are moments when reminding members, and even public LDS leaders about principles of wise stewardship. I think this is one of those moments

For any of you who have served in church leadership or understand how these things work, do you think this is something Church leaders would consider speaking about? I’m asking sincerely because I really believe many of us, regardless of politics, want to leave Utah in better condition for our children and grandchildren. Yes, it’s great for us to pray for rain. To pray for answers. But I also believe there are certain times where it is incredibly important to speak up. As we know…Faith without works, is dead.

We are taught in Doctrine & Covenants 58:26-27 “It is not meet that I should command in all things…men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” The way I interpret that in this context is that we shouldn’t wait to be told what to do. If we believe something is a good cause, we should act. And I think this is a good cause that we all should be anxiously engaged in

I’d love to hear thoughtful perspectives and please keep the discussion respectful!

EDIT: I found out that on June 30, 2026, the Utah Area Presidency, who were Elders Brian K. Taylor, John A. McCune and Jorge T. Becerra, sent a letter to local Church leaders across Utah and it was reported publicly on July 6

They said: “This is not a political issue, but a stewardship issue.” And they called caring for Utah’s water a “sacred responsibility”

The most important piece to me is that they didn’t blame the lake’s decline just on drought. They explicitly said that even though drought and weather changes play roles, the primary cause is that people have diverted and used more water from the lake’s tributaries than what is compatible with maintaining sustainable lake levels

So I’m not asking the Church to become partisan. And I know that they have made efforts to preserve the GSL. I’m asking the church to apply its own teachings. Utah Church leaders have said this is not a political issue but a stewardship issue, that prayer must be accompanied by conservation and sacrifice, and that the lake’s decline is primarily caused by using too much of the water that would otherwise reach it. I firmly believe that a public statement asking state leaders to pause and fully examine Stratos would be totally consistent with, not contrary to, the position that the Church already has taken on this

I desperately want to bring together people who care about the proposed Stratos data center and its impacts on Utah’s water, wildlife, the Great Salt Lake itself, and organize a peaceful gathering at the State Capitol. I know it has been done before but I think we, as Utahn’s, need to keep pushing on this and continue speaking up

It would be amazing if anyone here knows of a few experts that could briefly speak about topics surrounding the proposed project and the impacts it will have on not only us as residents, but also the wildlife, the birds that rely on the GSL, etc beforehand. I’d really like for it to be grounded in facts and more focused on education than politics because I think that’s how our voices can be heard the loudest

I personally don’t, so if anyone here knows people involved with organizations like Elevate Strategies, Alliance for a Better Utah, Grow the Flow, B.E.A.R., wildlife conservationists, bird conservation organizations, ecologists, wetland scientists, agricultural water experts, etc, that would be willing to speak or attend, I think that could make it really powerful

If any of you happen to have connections to any of these groups or know someone who does I would really appreciate if you could share this idea with them so we can organize this in a really solid way

I wanna hear from anyone who would be down in helping organize, volunteer, speak, or attend. The goal would be to have a respectful event that helps educate more of the public about the project and why it could be devastating to the future of Utah, that encourages people to learn more and speak up more, and gives Utahns who care about the issue another opportunity to be heard. Especially now that Kevin O’Leary has been called out for lying about previous protests about the project.

I just have to say that the fact that a Canadian dude who literally was an investor panelist on a TV show is trying to build this massive data center in a desert next to one of the few terminal lakes still existing ON EARTH, is insane to me and should be concerning to everyone. And just to clarify, I love Canadians and I love Canada…I’ve lived in BC and my late husband was Canadian. So no hate on Canada. This whole thing is just beyond insane to me

I also think it would be great if together we can come up with really creative and thought provoking signs that get people talking. Let’s make signs that are bold and impossible to ignore. I’ll drop in some ideas below and I’d love to see your ideas too!! I also don’t know when the best time to do this would be, maybe it could be scheduled around a time when there is a meeting being held about the topic or something. I’m open to any and all ideas!

No Lake. No Snow. No Utah.
Our Water. Our Wildlife. Our Future.
Stop Drying Up Our Future
Birds Can’t Speak Up. We Can.

Edit: Also, does anyone have any knowledge into whether the LDS Church has any meaningful influence over a project like this? I know they’re a major landowner and water-rights holder in Utah but I don’t know how involved they are in decisions like this

I’m going to give some context first. I apologize for the long post.

My husband died about three and a half years ago. I never dream about him. I always hope that I will but I’ve probably only had a couple since he passed. He died the day before my birthday. I was 26. He’d left to run an errand and took our motorcycle. I almost went with him and started layering up because it was winter. But I looked out the window of our high rise apartment in BC and it looked cold so I decided last minute not to go. Our last interaction was me hugging him and giving him a kiss goodbye and I watched him leave out the door. Our front door to our apartment was one of those doors that is industrial with the big metal strip you have to push to open. My husband had probably only been riding the motorcycle up the street for a few minutes before he was struck by a car who didn’t look before turning at a stop sign. He died on impact.

I recently got engaged to my current partner. What’s interesting is that my late husband was planning to go do Ibogaine and had made the decision to do it right before he died. At the time I thought it was a medical procedure. After he died and I came out of shock (the first couple months after I just was drowning in paperwork and phone calls with the Canadian government) I completely fell apart. I disappeared into drinking. I didn’t want to be awake. I was barely eating, I didn’t go outside. I just was bed ridden and didn’t want to exist without him. Then one night I went out for some reason I can’t remember. And when I came home, (I have really bad night vision) I was wearing my backpack that I had my phone in and didn’t feel like pulling it out to get my flashlight on and ended up miscalculating the steps I was going down leading to my dads front door where I was staying and fell and broke my ankle. My mom is a doctor so we called her and she ended up telling me about ibogaine and that there was a place I could go to do it. And then I remembered that was the same thing my late husband was going to do. I didn’t realize it was a psychedelic. Anyway, I ended up going to Mexico to do it. This was 6 months after he passed and I ended up doing it again 6 months later a second time.

My late husband came to me the second time in my vision. He told me he didn’t feel any pain when he died. When he came to me it was so vivid it felt real. He was holding my hand. I was just so happy to see him. And he told me about my current partner and that he wanted me to move on and not feel guilty about it. My current partner worked at the ibogaine clinic I went to.

Anyway, this morning I woke up from a dream where I was with my late husband. I recently got engaged and have had to be dealing with residual stuff with the Canadian government and counseling reimbursement and things like that. I’ve been thinking of my late husband a lot. I also recently got back these beautiful glass blown art pieces that I had some of his ashes put in. So in the dream I was living in Illinois for some reason (I’ve never even been there) and I worked at a garden and ecology center. I was giving someone a tour of our gift shop and was telling her that every year I buy Christmas presents for my late husband and put them under the tree (this isn’t something I do in real life.)

Then the girl led me to a door that had a long hallway. It was the same kind of industrial door with the big metal piece. The hallway was lit up a bright white color. I saw my late husband at the end of the hallway. I just was so happy and I ran as fast as I could to him and jumped into his arms. He was a big guy and he just laughed and laughed his big belly laugh that I miss so much. In the dream I knew he was dead. Our interaction was very brief. I just told him I couldn’t believe I was with him. It felt so real. And I told him how much I miss him. He told me he misses me so much and loves me so much. And that he’s okay. He told me it’s fun on the other side and that he gets to hang out with all the hockey idols he looked up to when he was a kid that have passed. He kept telling me he’s right here even if I don’t know that. We were embracing on the right side of the hallway. Then I looked at the other which led to an outside that was full of greenery and I could see my mother in law (whom I’m still very close with and who is living) on the outside of the door and another woman with her that I couldn’t identify. He told me he had to go and I understood. I wasn’t sad. But the dream didn’t end with him leaving out the door. It ended with us still holding each other.

I wasn’t crying or emotional in my dream but I’ve been really emotional ever since I woke up. I’ve journaled about it already and made a voice memo too so I don’t forget it

I’m going to give some context first. I apologize for the long post.

My husband died about three and a half years ago. I never dream about him. I always hope that I will but I’ve probably only had a couple since he passed. He died the day before my birthday. I was 26. He’d left to run an errand and took our motorcycle. I almost went with him and started layering up because it was winter. But I looked out the window of our high rise apartment in BC and it looked cold so I decided last minute not to go. Our last interaction was me hugging him and giving him a kiss goodbye and I watched him leave out the door. Our front door to our apartment was one of those doors that is industrial with the big metal strip you have to push to open. My husband had probably only been riding the motorcycle up the street for a few minutes before he was struck by a car who didn’t look before turning at a stop sign. He died on impact.

I recently got engaged to my current partner. What’s interesting is that my late husband was planning to go do Ibogaine and had made the decision to do it right before he died. At the time I thought it was a medical procedure. After he died and I came out of shock (the first couple months after I just was drowning in paperwork and phone calls with the Canadian government) I completely fell apart. I disappeared into drinking. I didn’t want to be awake. I was barely eating, I didn’t go outside. I just was bed ridden and didn’t want to exist without him. Then one night I went out for some reason I can’t remember. And when I came home, (I have really bad night vision) I was wearing my backpack that I had my phone in and didn’t feel like pulling it out to get my flashlight on and ended up miscalculating the steps I was going down leading to my dads front door where I was staying and fell and broke my ankle. My mom is a doctor so we called her and she ended up telling me about ibogaine and that there was a place I could go to do it. And then I remembered that was the same thing my late husband was going to do. I didn’t realize it was a psychedelic. Anyway, I ended up going to Mexico to do it. This was 6 months after he passed and I ended up doing it again 6 months later a second time.

My late husband came to me the second time in my vision. He told me he didn’t feel any pain when he died. When he came to me it was so vivid it felt real. He was holding my hand. I was just so happy to see him. And he told me about my current partner and that he wanted me to move on and not feel guilty about it. My current partner worked at the ibogaine clinic I went to.

Anyway, this morning I woke up from a dream where I was with my late husband. I recently got engaged and have had to be dealing with residual stuff with the Canadian government and counseling reimbursement and things like that. I’ve been thinking of my late husband a lot. I also recently got back these beautiful glass blown art pieces that I had some of his ashes put in. So in the dream I was living in Illinois for some reason (I’ve never even been there) and I worked at a garden and ecology center. I was giving someone a tour of our gift shop and was telling her that every year I buy Christmas presents for my late husband and put them under the tree (this isn’t something I do in real life.)

Then the girl led me to a door that had a long hallway. It was the same kind of industrial door with the big metal piece. The hallway was lit up a bright white color. I saw my late husband at the end of the hallway. I just was so happy and I ran as fast as I could to him and jumped into his arms. He was a big guy and he just laughed and laughed his big belly laugh that I miss so much. In the dream I knew he was dead. Our interaction was very brief. I just told him I couldn’t believe I was with him. It felt so real. And I told him how much I miss him. He told me he misses me so much and loves me so much. And that he’s okay. He told me it’s fun on the other side and that he gets to hang out with all the hockey idols he looked up to when he was a kid that have passed. He kept telling me he’s right here even if I don’t know that. We were embracing on the right side of the hallway. Then I looked at the other which led to an outside that was full of greenery and I could see my mother in law (whom I’m still very close with and who is living) on the outside of the door and another woman with her that I couldn’t identify. He told me he had to go and I understood. I wasn’t sad. But the dream didn’t end with him leaving out the door. It ended with us still holding each other.

I wasn’t crying or emotional in my dream but I’ve been really emotional ever since I woke up. I’ve journaled about it already and made a voice memo too so I don’t forget it

When the rain stops, I hope for residents take a walk around your neighborhood.
Seriously!

Look at where the water is flowing. Where is it racing downhill? Where does it slow down? Where is it collecting and staying stagnant? Where does it spread out? And most importantly, where does it actually soak into the ground instead of disappearing into a storm drain?

Take a few photos. Make a few notes. And PLEASE share what you find. Why? Because if we want to build a more resilient Salt Lake, one that’s better prepared for drought, wildfire, and a changing climate, it starts with understanding what the design of our neighborhoods are doing with the rain we receive

Every neighborhood is different. Some naturally will hold onto water. Others will send it rushing away within minutes. And those patterns really matter. They can help identify places where native plants could thrive, where rain gardens might work, or where small changes could help the landscape stay greener for longer. I’ve been deeply researching stormwater and wildfire for the past several weeks, and one thing I’ve learned is that before we can design better solutions, we have to start paying attention

Imagine if hundreds of people across Salt Lake spent just twenty minutes after this storm noticing what the water is doing in their own neighborhood. We’d suddenly have observations from all over the valley. We’d be able to determine places where water already wants to slow down, places where it’s being wasted, and places with incredible potential.
I honestly think that kind of community curiosity could become something really valuable!
So if you go for a walk after the rain, I’d love to see what you find. Post a picture. Drop it in the comments. Share what you noticed.
Sometimes the first step toward solving a problem isn’t having the perfect answer but rather simply learning to pay attention 💕

Check out Brad Lancaster’s work for inspiration

EDIT: the more I remember these films, the more I think it may not just be these two. It may be multiple. And the years of each film release could also be a clue but I tried to keep this as condensed as possible

The roundup of compelling clues so far:

Irving = Heat Miser
• Ben Stiller confirmed on the official podcast that Irving’s claymation sequence was intentionally inspired by Heat Miser.
• George S. Irving (Irving’s namesake) was the original voice actor for Heat Miser.
• Irving literally performs Heat Miser’s signature dance with the same theatrical choreography in the claymation video.
• Irving tells Dylan:
“Let’s burn this place to the ground.”
• Heat Miser is passionate, dramatic, artistic, stubborn and refuses to surrender his territory.
• Irving is MDR’s most passionate character:
painter
poet
dancer
musician
romantic
spiritual
• Even after what may have been multiple memory resets, Irving’s subconscious continues “burning through” severance via dreams, paintings and intuition.
• Heat Miser isn’t actually evil—he simply refuses to give up what he believes belongs to him. Irving’s entire story is refusing to surrender his identity.

Cobel = Mother Nature?
• In Season 1, before ANY Heat Miser references exist, Mrs. Selvig randomly says:
“Jack Frost needs some new dandruff shampoo.”
Such an oddly specific Rankin/Bass reference in hindsight.
• Mother Nature isn’t the villain.
Her role is restoring balance between opposing forces.
• Cobel constantly stands between:
innie / outie
Mark / Gemma
Lumon / rebellion
• She repeatedly tests reintegration and memory bleed instead of simply enforcing severance.
• She seems to understand consciousness itself better than anyone else.
• Unlike Lumon, she’s surrounded by:
herbs
candles
shrines
salves
natural imagery
rather than sterile technology.
• Mother Nature eventually forces the brothers to cooperate.
Could Cobel ultimately be trying to reunite innies and outies rather than destroy either?

Could Milchick be Snow Miser?
Snow Miser’s personality:
• orderly
• disciplined
• elegant
• emotionally restrained
• prefers rules over chaos
• likes negotiation before conflict
Which honestly feels… very Milchick.
Supporting clues:
• When Milchick becomes floor manager, his office prominently features the massive iceberg painting.
• He repeatedly stares at that painting during emotional moments.
• He constantly tries to maintain structure, routine and ceremony.
• He choreographs elaborate performances:
Music Dance Experience
marching band
ORTBO festivities
department celebrations
• Like Snow Miser, he seems to genuinely appreciate beauty and presentation.
• He’s rarely impulsive. Almost everything he does is carefully controlled.

EDIT: also why I find this theory compelling is the tension between Irving and Milchick at the ORTBO. It’s intense. And Irving straight up calls out Milchick by his first name when he says “DO IT SETH” which is a name his Innie wouldn’t be familiar with

…but what if they’re ALSO borrowing from
Jack Frost (1979)?
If so…
I actually think Mark S. fits remarkably well.
Supporting clues:
• Jack Frost’s entire story is about wanting to experience being human.
That’s literally Mark S.’s journey.
• Jack Frost falls in love and willingly sacrifices everything because of it.
Mark repeatedly risks everything for love.
• Jack Frost is endlessly curious about ordinary human life.
Mark becomes fascinated with:
friendship
books
music
romance
grief
freedom
• Jack Frost is compassionate almost to a fault.
That’s probably Mark’s defining personality trait.
• Mrs. Selvig’s season 1 Jack Frost reference is directed at Mark, which feels strangely specific on rewatch.
• Jack Frost’s greatest wish isn’t power.
It’s belonging.
That feels like the emotional core of Mark’s story.

Jack Frost’s love interest = Helly?
This one is probably my biggest stretch…
…but Jack Frost gives up everything because he falls in love with a human.
Mark S.’s relationship with Helly becomes the emotional catalyst for his entire transformation.
Without Helly…
Mark probably never rebels.

Other weird parallels
• Kier is almost always depicted as cold, snowy and overcast.
• ORTBO takes place in a frozen wilderness.
• Irving experiences some of his biggest subconscious breakthroughs there.
• Heat Miser rules from a cave.
Kier’s mythology revolves around the “Cave of the Mind.”
• Stop-motion animation itself feels symbolic.
Nothing moves on its own.
Every frame is manipulated by an unseen creator.
Kind of like Lumon’s employees.

I’m definitely not saying these are direct one-to-one character swaps.
But after realizing Irving’s sequence was intentionally based on Heat Miser… I started wondering whether the writers are quietly borrowing the broader archetypes from multiple Rankin/Bass specials rather than making a single visual reference. I also think it’s a fun way for the writers to play with our own subconscious as watchers of the show because at least for me, those movies are deeply embedded in my subconscious.
Curious if anyone else has picked up on more connections that I missed! Just a fun thought!

I wanted to throw a few observations out there because I’m curious what everyone else’s theories are

1. Cobel’s mom changes depending on who she’s talking to.
   At Lumon, Cobel tells Mark that her mother was an atheist. But then later, as Mrs. Selvig, she tells outie Mark that her mother was a devout Catholic.
   I know Cobelvig lies constantly, but with this show I try to never assume dialogue is random. Do people think she’s just making up whatever story suits the situation, or is there a possibility she had multiple maternal figures (adoptive mother, foster mother, Lumon “mother,” etc.)?

2. Cobel tells Mark, “You’re good people.”
   Not “you’re a good person.”
   “You’re good people.”
   On rewatch, that wording jumped out. Like she’s talking about both innie Mark and outie Mark at the same time. It almost felt like one of the few moments where she was acknowledging both versions of him as equally real. Big fan of her

3. Mark taught World War I and Gemma taught Russian literature.
   This feels way too specific for Severance. Idk how I didn’t ever catch that before at the dinnerless dinner party?
   World War I was basically the birth of the modern bureaucratic world and industrialized human suffering.
   Russian literature is filled with themes of divided identity, morality, memory, free will, guilt, and the nature of the self etc.
   It almost feels like their academic backgrounds foreshadow the entire show. Or maybe they were targeted partially because of their educational interests? Has anyone ever dug into why those two subjects were chosen specifically or have theories?

4. Lumon started by making topical salves in the 1800s.
   This one completely slipped by me the first time.
   Is there any deeper lore about this? Was Lumon literally just a pharmaceutical company at first, or do people think the “topical salves” story is mostly corporate mythology hiding what they were actually researching? Knowing what we know by Season 2, it’s hard for me to believe consciousness manipulation only started recently.

5. Devon asks Mark if he’s still seeing “the doctor therapy man with the mustache.”
   Do we know anything at all about this therapist?
   Maybe he’s just an unseen character, but after watching the whole series my first thought was, “does this therapist somehow has Lumon connections too?” If so, who do we think it could have been?
   Has Dan Erickson or anyone ever commented on that?
   Curious what everyone thinks. I swear this show gets better every time I rewatch it. I’m trying to keep a running list of all the little Season 1 clues that hit differently after Season 2.

I don’t even know where else to ask this, but I’m honestly kind of freaking out.
Has anyone here had any experience with Shane Baldwin? From what I know he is an extremist Mormon (I think he was just excommunicated?) and served significant time in prison for fraud and theft related to an alarm company he had?

My extended family is in Utah and some family members from out of town are currently here visiting. Somehow, while they’re here, some of them got connected with him. I think certain members of my family have been involved with him for a few months now. My family was very, very LDS for most of my life, but over the past few years some of them have gone really hard in the opposite direction. Still LDS but leaning extremist. Instead of believing everything the institutional church says, they’re now getting into all these “hidden truths,” end-times, remnant, secret knowledge, weird blessings, deeper “doctrine” kinds of circles.

Some relatives have met with him recently.
I’ve heard from what happened that Shane identified himself as the earthly embodiment of the Holy Ghost? Like wtf. I haven’t personally heard the recording yet, but I’m told there is audio of it.
I know that sounds unbelievable.
The reason I’m so scared isn’t because I think people can’t have unusual religious beliefs. It’s because I personally spent two years trapped in a high-control cult adjacent group recommended to my mom by her bishop. I was under the impression it was a cool therapeutic community and that I’d be working in gardening and growing my own food. That was not what it was at all. I was unable to leave, they locked up my phone, passport, everything and I was completely unable to leave despite multiple attempts. I know what it feels like to slowly watch people get pulled in, become emotionally dependent on a charismatic leader, and stop trusting the people who love them. It took me years to recover from that experience and I wasn’t even there by choice. Also, I understand it is not uncommon from a psychological perspective for LDS people to get easily pulled into delusions of grandeur and essentially experience spiritual psychosis because of some of the church teachings that are so deeply ingrained in them

Then I started reading about Shane Baldwin and realized he has a publicly documented history of securities fraud, served time in prison, and is now leading this movement centered around prophecy, revelation, and special spiritual authority.
I genuinely feel sick to my stomach.

I’m not trying to start a witch hunt. I’m trying to figure out if anyone here has firsthand experience with him or knows someone who got involved.
Did it get worse over time?
Were there red flags you wish you’d recognized earlier?
Is there anything that actually helped someone before they got in too deep?

Please don’t tell me, “They’re adults; they’ll make their own choices.” I know that. I’m asking because these are people I love, and I’ve lived through coercive control before. If there’s something I can do now that actually has a chance of helping, I want to do it before this gets any further.

If you’ve had direct experience with Shane Baldwin or people in his circle, I’d really appreciate hearing about it.
I genuinely don’t know how to handle this and I am willing to do everything in my power to get this man exposed and back behind bars. Please help

I don’t even know where else to ask this, but I’m honestly kind of freaking out.
Has anyone here had any experience with Shane Baldwin? From what I know he is an extremist Mormon (I think he was just excommunicated?) and served significant time in prison for fraud and theft related to an alarm company he had?

My extended family is in Utah and some family members from out of town are currently here visiting. Somehow, while they’re here, some of them got connected with him. I think certain members of my family have been involved with him for a few months now. My family was very, very LDS for most of my life, but over the past few years some of them have gone really hard in the opposite direction. Still LDS but leaning extremist. Instead of believing everything the institutional church says, they’re now getting into all these “hidden truths,” end-times, remnant, secret knowledge, weird blessings, deeper “doctrine” kinds of circles.

Some relatives have met with him recently.
I’ve heard from what happened that Shane identified himself as the earthly embodiment of the Holy Ghost? Like wtf. I haven’t personally heard the recording yet, but I’m told there is audio of it.
I know that sounds unbelievable.
The reason I’m so scared isn’t because I think people can’t have unusual religious beliefs. It’s because I personally spent two years trapped in a high-control cult adjacent group recommended to my mom by her bishop. I was under the impression it was a cool therapeutic community and that I’d be working in gardening and growing my own food. That was not what it was at all. I was unable to leave, they locked up my phone, passport, everything and I was completely unable to leave despite multiple attempts. I know what it feels like to slowly watch people get pulled in, become emotionally dependent on a charismatic leader, and stop trusting the people who love them. It took me years to recover from that experience and I wasn’t even there by choice. Also, I understand it is not uncommon from a psychological perspective for LDS people to get easily pulled into delusions of grandeur and essentially experience spiritual psychosis because of some of the church teachings that are so deeply ingrained in them

Then I started reading about Shane Baldwin and realized he has a publicly documented history of securities fraud, served time in prison, and is now leading this movement centered around prophecy, revelation, and special spiritual authority.
I genuinely feel sick to my stomach.

I’m not trying to start a witch hunt. I’m trying to figure out if anyone here has firsthand experience with him or knows someone who got involved.
Did it get worse over time?
Were there red flags you wish you’d recognized earlier?
Is there anything that actually helped someone before they got in too deep?

Please don’t tell me, “They’re adults; they’ll make their own choices.” I know that. I’m asking because these are people I love, and I’ve lived through coercive control before. If there’s something I can do now that actually has a chance of helping, I want to do it before this gets any further.

If you’ve had direct experience with Shane Baldwin or people in his circle, I’d really appreciate hearing about it.
I genuinely don’t know how to handle this and I am willing to do everything in my power to get this man exposed and back behind bars. Please help

I don’t even know where else to ask this, but I’m honestly kind of freaking out.
Has anyone here had any experience with Shane Baldwin? From what I know he is an extremist Mormon (I think he was just excommunicated?) and served significant time in prison for fraud and theft related to an alarm company he had?

My extended family is in Utah and some family members from out of town are currently here visiting. Somehow, while they’re here, some of them got connected with him. I think certain members of my family have been involved with him for a few months now. My family was very, very LDS for most of my life, but over the past few years some of them have gone really hard in the opposite direction. Still LDS but leaning extremist. Instead of believing everything the institutional church says, they’re now getting into all these “hidden truths,” end-times, remnant, secret knowledge, weird blessings, deeper “doctrine” kinds of circles.

Some relatives have met with him recently.
I’ve heard from what happened that Shane identified himself as the earthly embodiment of the Holy Ghost? Like wtf. I haven’t personally heard the recording yet, but I’m told there is audio of it.
I know that sounds unbelievable.
The reason I’m so scared isn’t because I think people can’t have unusual religious beliefs. It’s because I personally spent two years trapped in a high-control cult adjacent group recommended to my mom by her bishop. I was under the impression it was a cool therapeutic community and that I’d be working in gardening and growing my own food. That was not what it was at all. I was unable to leave, they locked up my phone, passport, everything and I was completely unable to leave despite multiple attempts. I know what it feels like to slowly watch people get pulled in, become emotionally dependent on a charismatic leader, and stop trusting the people who love them. It took me years to recover from that experience and I wasn’t even there by choice. Also, I understand it is not uncommon from a psychological perspective for LDS people to get easily pulled into delusions of grandeur and essentially experience spiritual psychosis because of some of the church teachings that are so deeply ingrained in them

Then I started reading about Shane Baldwin and realized he has a publicly documented history of securities fraud, served time in prison, and is now leading this movement centered around prophecy, revelation, and special spiritual authority.
I genuinely feel sick to my stomach.

I’m not trying to start a witch hunt. I’m trying to figure out if anyone here has firsthand experience with him or knows someone who got involved.
Did it get worse over time?
Were there red flags you wish you’d recognized earlier?
Is there anything that actually helped someone before they got in too deep?

Please don’t tell me, “They’re adults; they’ll make their own choices.” I know that. I’m asking because these are people I love, and I’ve lived through coercive control before. If there’s something I can do now that actually has a chance of helping, I want to do it before this gets any further.

If you’ve had direct experience with Shane Baldwin or people in his circle, I’d really appreciate hearing about it.
I genuinely don’t know how to handle this and I am willing to do everything in my power to get this man exposed and back behind bars. Please help

I’ve done ibogaine twice.

Both experiences were completely different. Both gave me exactly what I needed at the time.

I originally sought it out after a major trauma in my life. Like many people, I wasn’t looking for optimization, biohacking, or a spiritual trophy. I was looking for relief.

I ended up working in neuroscience and had access to quantitative EEG equipment. At the time, there wasn’t much research on how ibogaine affected the brain, so I became curious.

Did it actually change the brain?

I started collecting pre- and post-EEGs on people before and after treatment.

What I found surprised me.

Yes, I saw significant positive changes in many cases. I saw improvements in brain function that were measurable and visible on the scans.
But I also saw something else.

The people who experienced the most dramatic and lasting changes weren’t necessarily the people who had the most intense ibogaine experience.

They were the people who took the 3-month period afterward seriously.

In case after case, that window seemed to matter more than almost anything else.

The people who changed their habits, relationships, routines, thought patterns, sleep, nutrition, and environment often showed remarkable improvements.

The people who went back to doing exactly what they were doing before frequently showed far less change.

My personal opinion is that ibogaine doesn’t “fix” people.

It creates an opportunity.

What happens next is largely up to you.

I’ve been paying attention to the recent conversations about ibogaine becoming more mainstream, including Joe Rogan discussing it publicly and the growing push toward legalization.
I have mixed feelings.

Ibogaine saved my life. I have the utmost respect and love for this medicine. It is sacred. It is intuitive.

But I also don’t love seeing it become commercialized.

I don’t love watching treatment costs climb higher and higher every year.

I don’t love seeing it marketed as the next luxury wellness experience for wealthy people looking to optimize themselves.

This medicine deserves respect.

It’s powerful. It’s demanding. It’s not something to casually check off a bucket list.

And if we’re going to have serious conversations about bringing ibogaine into the mainstream, I think we also need serious conversations about the Bwiti communities who have worked with this medicine for generations.

Their voices should be part of the conversation.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I’m posting this because I genuinely want to open up a thoughtful discussion and hear what other people think.

For those who have worked with ibogaine, studied it, facilitated it, or gone through treatment themselves: what have you seen? What concerns you about where this field is headed? What gives you hope?

I’m just someone who has sat with this medicine twice, spent years studying brain changes afterward, and watched the field evolve from the sidelines.

My biggest takeaway is simple:

Ibogaine may open the door.
What you do in the months afterward determines whether you walk through it.

I’ve been down a bit of a rabbit hole lately and I’m curious how many people here have gone past the usual CES Letter / church history phase and into some of the stranger corners of Mormonism.
I’m talking about things like:

Freemasonry and temple symbolism
Joseph Smith’s involvement with folk magic and occult traditions
The Council of Fifty
The Second Anointing
Esoteric interpretations of LDS theology
Salt Lake City symbolism and architecture
Historical narratives that don’t quite match what we were taught growing up
Things that were dismissed as “anti-Mormon lies” that later turned out to be at least partially true

One thing I’ve noticed since moving back to Salt Lake is that I’ve started looking at the city very differently than I did as a teenager. Not necessarily from a “conspiracy” perspective, but from a historical and symbolic one.

The more I learn, the more I find myself wondering whether there are pieces of the story we’re still missing.
For example, I’ve become fascinated by questions like:
What did Joseph Smith actually believe privately versus publicly?
How much of early Mormonism was influenced by Masonry, Hermeticism, folk magic, alchemy, and other esoteric traditions?
Were there teachings, practices, or worldviews that were later changed, sanitized, or abandoned?
At what point did Mormonism become something fundamentally different from what Joseph originally envisioned?

If you believe Brigham Young altered or redirected the movement, where do you think that happened?
I’ve also become curious about some more unconventional historical theories—not because I necessarily believe them, but because I enjoy exploring possibilities and seeing where the evidence leads.

So I’m curious:
For those of you who have gone REALLY deep down the rabbit hole, what was the most surprising thing you found?

What topic completely changed how you viewed Mormonism, Joseph Smith, Utah, Salt Lake City, church leadership, or the history we were taught?
Not looking for simple church-bashing. I’m genuinely interested in hearing from people who spent years researching and connecting dots.
What rabbit hole do you think more people should know about?