brennanbrown | Reading

soc_puppet posting in

This week's Thursday got a little out of control and slept through posting until Friday 😅

Do you have a rec for this week? Just reply to this post with something queer or queer-adjacent (such as, soap made by a queer person that isn't necessarily queer themed) that you'd, well, recommend. Self-recs are welcome, as are recs for fandom-related content!

Or have you tried something that's been recced here? Do you have your own report to share about it? I'd love to hear about it!

osteophage

Severance employs a fantastical scenario at an imaginary company to depict a phenomenon that’s very real: the systematic alienation of labor. This theme has been widely remarked upon by those familiar with the framework, but not everyone is already familiar, and so it warrants explanation. To that end, this analysis presents a brief introduction to alienation as a concept, an in-depth exploration of how it applies to the characters of Severance, and some observations on how that theme relates to the real world.

Alienation of labor is a term used in political commentary to refer to an experience of estrangement between workers and their work. You might think of it as like wearing a mask, building up walls, or being reduced to a cog in a machine. These experiences arise from the sacrifice of autonomy involved in selling labor to an intermediary (an employer), which, within a given societal system, is necessary for most people in order to purchase what we need to survive.

Alienation of labor is dramatized in Severance at multiple levels of analogy and realism. For severed workers, the outer self is alienated from the work self, and the work self is alienated from the work. These workers are insulated from understanding the nature of their work, they are forced to work, and they are also (supposed to be) estranged from themselves and each other, buying into corporate mythology at their own expense. Together these factors combine to facilitate greater horrors.

Notes:

This analysis contains major spoilers for the first two seasons. Before reading further, I recommend watching the show for yourself.
Content warnings for violence will appear later at the start of a specific section. More generally this analysis deals with themes of workplace abuse, with brief references to suicide.

Crossposted to Pillowfort and my personal site. Note for off-site linking, I recommend using the version on my personal site.

( Read more... )

ysabetwordsmith posting in

followfriday

Got any Follow Friday-related posts to share this week? Comment here with the link(s).

Here's the plan: every Friday, let's recommend some people and/or communities to follow on Dreamwidth. That's it. No complicated rules, no "pass this on to 7.328 friends or your cat will die".

Mood: busy

midnight_heavenly_bodies posting in

addme

Name: C.K. or Chester

Age: 36, nearly 37, growing old mandatory, growing up optional

I mostly post about: Culture Club/Boy George & Jon Moss (my hyperfixation of 22 years and counting), Linkin Park, wrestling (classic SMW/WWF, Jim Cornette, and my deeply cursed WWE 2K25 Universe), my OCs who are realer to me than most people, witchcraft/spirit work/folk healing/moon rituals/grief magic, retro gaming, emotional overshares that read like journal entries from a possessed poet, fanfiction that makes people unwell at 2am, chaos, and the occasional Reddit food rabbit hole

My hobbies are: Writing fic that's 70% emotional breakdown, 20% worldbuilding, and 10% people getting railed in a meaningful way, hexing cults with sigils and sass, collecting music like a religion, drawing OCs, being a haunted glitter goblin with eyeliner and vengeance, building 48-year fanfiction universes with fully documented timelines and named children, going to work like a normal person and coming home a completely different entity I'm currently contemplating doing a vlog on youtube.

My fandoms are: Culture Club (I'm writing a massive AU called Colour By Numbers spanning 1978-2026), Linkin Park (Bennoda forever), wrestling (SMW/WWF/WCW but mainly the universes in my head)

I'm looking for people who: are too weird for Reddit, too raw for Instagram, too smart for Twitter/X, overshare about their OCs like a religion, cry over character development, understand that Jon Moss deserved better, write long posts, and don't find it weird that I've named all the children in my fictional universe including the surprise baby

My posting schedule: Erratic. Sometimes a lot. Sometimes I vanish for three weeks and return with an entire AU timeline and a new OC

Dealbreakers: Racism, ableism, transphobia, homophobia, antisemitism, being a dick, Scientology apologists, anyone who thinks Mike Shinoda is evil because of an Instagram reel, "isn't wrestling fake?", "you still like Linkin Park?", and anti-Zionists/anti-Israel people.

Before adding me: I'm a trans man (he/him, they/them). Autistic and ADHD. I write mpreg unapologetically. I am a Zionist and tired of explaining what that actually means. Pro-AI. I smoke weed. I am extremely defensive of Jon Moss and will write essays about it. My AO3 is CampCornette69 and yes that's a wrestling reference. If you want an even more in-depth about me, click this link for my about post.

Mood: artistic
Music: The Next Thing Will Be Amazing - Culture Club

deadweightat7am posting in

addme

Name: Lauren

Age: 37

I mostly post about: My life, things that are going on for me, I use this thing like a journal. I was super active on LJ from the time was 13 to about 24? I miss the good old days.

My hobbies are: Binging reality TV (Bravo, mostly), reading, photography, thrifting/vintage, shopping and the like

Interest: Concerts, Sleep Token, Sailor Moon (old 90's anime), Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cooking & baking, Fitness, Reality Tv (Bravo), Horror, Halloween, Movies, Reading (mostly Suspense/Mystery/Thrillers)...

I'm looking to meet people who: Who post pretty regularly and like to chat and get to know other people. I miss the connections I once had through LJ with people all over the world. I don't really participate in fandoms, so I don't have much to add in that arena.

My posting schedule tends to be: A couple times a week is what I'm aiming for

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: I don't get along with anyone who says that they hate kids or animals. Totally okay to not have either of those things, or want them, but hating is a hard pass for me.

Before adding me, you should know: I'm at constant odds with loving humanity but being very disappointed in people. Does that make sense?

thispatternismine posting in

addme

Name: The Pattern

Age: 40s

I mostly post about: Videogames I'm playing, cdramas I'm watching, some fandom stuff, my writing (fanfic, though I'd like to work on original stuff). Occasional life stuff, but I'm a private person who prefers to keep her online & offline lives separate so it's vague if I do post something.

My hobbies are: Videogames (PS5 & I got a Switch recently), writing, watching cdramas & reading (mainly cnovels these days), I've been watching some videos about scrapbooking/journalling, & would like to try that out.

My fandoms are: SVSSS, MDZS, cdramas, Devil May Cry

I'm looking to meet people who: Share some of my interests, so I can feel less like I'm talking into the void when I post, & give me something to read on my reading page. Would prefer people somewhat close to me in age.

My posting schedule tends to be: Fairly sporadic. I post if I have something to say, which sometimes works out as weekly, maybe a couple of posts within the space of a week, or I might go a few weeks without posting anything.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: Controversial dealbreaker these days, but I am very much not comfortable with the word 'queer'. I'm bi & I resent it having been made an umbrella term & slung around casually as a cute marketing buzzword, & anyone who has any kind of objection gets shouted down. I have no objection if that's how you choose to identify, but if it's a major part of your vocabulary & is cropping up multiple times in every post, there's a decent chance we may not get along.

Location: UK
Music: They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

aflaminghalo

Absolutely furious today. Got an email yesterday that everyone in our Trust has to revalidate our right to work in the UK. Not everyone, just ours. (Policies just being absorbed into theirs, which fair enough, but it also means they knew this was coming and just decided not to give us a heads up or a reasonable timeframe.) So now my validation is invalid.

Only, I let my passport lapse because I just haven't been out of the country in like 100 years and they want a valid one. Which i can get for £200, but probably not in the week they've given us to get ourselves validated.

And the woman they've named as dealing with this, is obviously not going to get back to me any time soon, because there's 1 of her, and, incredibly, apparently quite lot of us who don't have active passports.

I knew I needed to get this done, but not a) having a new job i needed to get it done for, or b) leaving the country any time soon, I just put it off. And now I need to validate for a job I've been in for almost 4 years. Fuming.

On the upside, the moment another org will take me, I'll have everything ready to be gone gone. The years I spent there basically taught me to never ascribe to oversight what can be ascribed to malice, and there's nothing thats happened over the last few months that's changed my mind on that.

ysabetwordsmith posting in

dw_community_promo

goals_on_dw is a community for people who like goals and goal setting. A key focus is New Year's resolutions, that being among the most popular contexts for such activities. Although the most common time is January 1, "new year" can also refer to other calendars or cultures, whatever works for you. Alternatively, just pick a time that works for you and go for it. You can introduce yourself or make new friends here.

We talk about different goal systems, pros and cons of resolutions, arts and crafts for tracking goals, human psychology, and more. You can share your resolutions or other goals. There are weekly check-in posts in January, and monthly ones in the rest of the year, for folks to talk about their accomplishments. December-January is the most active period, and it starts ramping up in November as lots of people begin thinking about their goals for the next year.

2026 Free Printable Calendars, Planners, and More is the guide post for this years goal-setting activities. For more details on relevant topics, see "Things You Can Talk About Here."

( Read more... )

Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith posting in

dw_community_promo

newcomers is a community for people who are just getting started on Dreamwidth, in the tradition of

twitter_refugees and

reddit_refugees. This community supports former users of other platforms who are moving to Dreamwidth because their previous platform has become untenable or has closed. As such, it will increase activity with each wave of new users, in hopes of helping them get settled in Dreamwidth so they want to stick around. It also serves previous users returning after a long hiatus, people who want to do more with a Dreamwidth blog that was only intermittent, or anyone else who wants help connecting and figuring out how to use this venue.

( Read more... )

Mood: busy

maevedarcy posting in

newcomers

the August 8th cluster from Sense8 lifting Sun in celebration

Are you a tumblr user moving to DW who misses moving images? Are you a seasoned DW user who wants to try their hand in a new medium? Do you have an extensive gif catalog that you'd like to show off? Do you like gifmaking and want to share your knowledge to others? Then this comm might be for you!

We have a post showing you how to embed images on DW as well!

maevedarcy posting in

dw_community_promo

narnialover7 posting in

dw_community_promo

Are there any Yellowstone fans that would like to have a battle?

Go H E R E to sign-up!

ysabetwordsmith posting in

newcomers

maevedarcy has posted a friending meme.

Mood: busy

silvercat17 posting in

justcreate

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth is starting. Could somebody link to the official stuff?

What are you working on? What have you finished? What do you need encouragement on?

Are there any cool events or challenges happening that you want to hype?

What do you just want to talk about?

What have you been watching or reading?

Chores and other not-fun things count!

Remember to encourage other commenters and we have a discord where we can do work-alongs and chat, linked in the sticky.

luckyzukky

k-pop idol gehlee, member of group UNIS, dressed as a princess and posing against a wall with some green foliage in front of her. there is text to the side that says 'flash prompt box', the first word in pink cursive and the latter two in green serif font

( back for 2026 and 3weeks4dw! )

Mood: tired

ysabetwordsmith posting in

newcomers

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth is a celebration of the platform's anniversary, running April 25-May 15. During this time, people post content only visible on Dreamwidth (although it can be reposted elsewhere after the event ends). There's usually a flurry of activity as bloggers share anchor posts, new fiction, icons, banners, questionnaires, friending fests, memes, and other goodies. Community hosts often hold special activities in their communities too. Watch your reading page for more festivities.

Are you posting about your experiences coming into Dreamwidth, or anything useful to newcomers on the platform? You can crosspost those entries here. Are you doing anything for Three Weeks in your blog or other community? Post a comment about that to attract more readers. Follow the Threeweeks feed. See my 2024 Questionnaire and a list of other thematic questionnaires. See the Introduction / Friending Meme for this community's questionnaire about new bloggers, and the Introduction tag.

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Mood: excited

matsushima posting in

newcomers

Colorful image that says 3weeks4dreamwidth friending meme

Mood: hopeful

mossypaws posting in

addme

Name: Leaf

Age: early 40s

I mostly post about: I haven't posted on my journal yet but when I do it'll probably be about books, music, nature and journaling or whatever I'm currently hyperfocused on

My hobbies are: Hiking, longboarding, learning languages (Swedish and Japanese), music, anime and books

My fandoms are: His Dark Materials, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Loveless (the manga)

I'm looking to meet people who: Post about their hobbies, interests, projects or little everyday joys

My posting schedule tends to be: sporadic, I think

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: Transphobia, antisemitism, or any other kind of discrimination. Climate-change-denialism, antivaxxing or similar anti-science BS. Generative AI "content".

Before adding me, you should know: I don't know yet how active I'm going to be :)

Mood: cheerful

ysabetwordsmith posting in

followfriday

Got any Follow Friday-related posts to share this week? Comment here with the link(s).

Here's the plan: every Friday, let's recommend some people and/or communities to follow on Dreamwidth. That's it. No complicated rules, no "pass this on to 7.328 friends or your cat will die".

Mood: busy

soc_puppet posting in

queerly_beloved

Pulling into the station for Thursday Recs!

Do you have a rec for this week? Just reply to this post with something queer or queer-adjacent (such as, soap made by a queer person that isn't necessarily queer themed) that you'd, well, recommend. Self-recs are welcome, as are recs for fandom-related content!

Or have you tried something that's been recced here? Do you have your own report to share about it? I'd love to hear about it!

Profile

Brennan Kenneth Brown

Main Site

Navigation

May 2026

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Page Summary

Style Credit

Base style: Tranquility III by branchandroot
Theme: Rosewood by dancing_serpent

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 08:19 pm

Brennan's Diary & Jottings

Rough Cuts, Spares, Afterthoughts, B-Sides and Experiments

Reading

"Thursday" Recs

Mysterious Work & Alienation of Labor in Severance

Follow Friday 5-1-26

It's been a while since I last posted, so here we go again!

Add Me?

Hi!

(no subject)

New Year's Resolutions and Other Goals

Newcomers

New Community for Gifs

New Community for Gifs

Yellowstone Battle!!

Friending Meme

Just Create - Pattern Edition

2026 flash prompt box!

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Introduction

3weeks4dreamwidth friending meme

(no subject)

Follow Friday 4-24-36

Thursday Recs

Profile

Navigation

May 2026

Links

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags