mxmajor

[mxmajor]

Post s4 sydcarmy (+others) fics I'm thinking about

Once again, these ideas/prompts/premises are free to write by anyone. Tag me or dm me if you use them so I can support. I might write some but they'll be here, not on a03.

Arcade/gamer au that isnt incelly or physically musty, maybe even like an internet friends situation if not pro gamers or streamers

Donna visits The Bear and gloats that her son made the best meal the head chef has ever had and it becomes a game of telephone throughout the staff and family

Rivals to Lovers Au where Luca and Syd are friends and culinary partners but rivals to Marcus and Carmy, respectively, and may or may not have crushes, respectively lol. Idk the full context tho.

Claire and Carmy come out of his sabbatical deciding to be friends but she helps get him together with Syd

More fics with Richie and Syd as besties and him being friends with her dad lol

AU about Nat & Francie 👀

Sydney's night out with her cousins

TJ visits the bear and says cute funny TJ things (Syd, there's a kid out front who says she's your niece?)

Song fics:

All I Need by Noname (it's not what I wanted, but just ehat I needed)

Love me not by Ravyn Lenae (reuniting at a Ravyn Lenae concert or chicago festival with Chantal there omg??)

Blue by tobi Lou

Looped Up by Tobi Lou

or Darlin by Tobi Lou

(blue for a syd POV, looped up sydcarmy, and carmy on his solo journey or syd keeps running into carmy after he left)

[mxmajor]

I started a Sister Sister sydcarmy au before i got really sick and I want to finish it but

I refuse to sign a03s new terms and conditions lol

I may just post it all here

I leave anonymous kudos on all of your stories

But yeah a03 can miss me with that lol

[mxmajor]

This is a lil comic I decided to make after 2 years of my health being impacted to the point of almost my entire life stopping. I have not been able to maintain employment, relationships, or even basic care of myself but I have received more accurate diagnoses and I'm closer to more consistent treatment. 8 of the 10 pages are below the cut I am currently raising funds for my living expenses and overdue bills for september - november  (my rent is due the 15th, not the first) and I am 65% of the way there. Donate & share if you can. Happy Halloween! 

MxMajor is the character in the comic as well as my mascot. They have brown skin with boxy dark brown hair, a green hoodie, and grey sweatpants. All Images appear on a deep red background below with ALT text.

[mxmajor]

hey look

Do you like these pictures? do you like a show about stressed out ppl in a kitchen?? Well have I got news for you.

I am making and selling stickers, I have been working towards this for a minute and plan to make more themed around my favorite funny moments, a cute characterization case, and something for your favorite chef's kiss.

Specifically these are half page sticker sheets, the one on the left was drawn pre season 2 and I JUST figured out how to color it digitally (because the irl coloring went...lol). And if you don't like the colors I choose, the sheet on the right will be a color your own sticker sheet.

I am making these available to order at the end of October, so If you like what you see, and/or you're interested to see what comes next, I'm setting up a Ko-fi! I'm still figuring out pricing and shipping costs but follow for updates.

Also I am (recently more) disabled and trying to figure out how to pay November rent in addition to medical bills. If you donate I can see if I can just make you a member so you can receive things automatically. But if you could read and share this at the very least I would really appreciate it.

[mxmajor]

FYI: Campaign to Save "The Acolyte" TV show is ongoing.

Link HERE.

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whew am I back?

Someone inaccurately described Wakanda Forever as creating a racist visual in its opening scene

so I watched the first 6 mins on bootleg real quick and

I may come back and finish my AyoxAneka Second in Command first in your Heart fic

also, Attuma's tiddies tiddied so hard when he landed on that boat and deflected those bullets

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"how can you multiship?" well you see honey, when two people love each other very much and neither of them is real...

[mxmajor]

Star Wars: The Acolyte – 1.05: "Night"

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Ppl should follow Nia Ola on tiktok for a multitude of reasons but she forreal shares my feelings abt s3 of the bear and syd & carmy's dynamic, and Richie & Carmy's dynamic!

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also, I may have to come back to this later

if you've seen s3 weigh-in below

Do you trust Adam Shapiro?

Cause I don't and r/bear feels the same way to an extent.

i'm not saying that Syd has to stay I just don't trust the Adam situation to be better.

But also, what if Luca is there to help Adam and he gets to work with Syd?

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i tried to ignore that article but I may have to re-commit to the ship out of spite

because I did not like the way Carmy treated Syd in s2 and it ain't get no better in s3 and i'm here for her.

I always imagined the ship being a "I didn't know it was you" after a lot of trials tribulations type situation anyway.

but too many antis are just anti black and motivated by misogynoir

imma still multi-ship, because I have always done that (hey LuSyd) but yeah. they vex me with that "carmy would never want/like/be attracted to someone like her"

[mxmajor]

I'm blowing my little kisses to you baby

1x03 Brigade 3x09 Apologies

@hisgirlfridaygirl yeap- that soundtrack has our back

[mxmajor]

i have cursed storer 3 ways to sunday for making me care so much abt these yt men because I came here to support Syd & Tina's rights and wrongs!

Richie's journey is not over

I've done my fair share of hating on Richie, but @caiusmarciuscoriolanus 's and @post-woke 's meta on him has gotten to me. As a companion piece to this post about Carmy's future in the culinary world here, here's why I think Richie may be the one to actually leave the industry someday, or at least that he may find a fulfilling secondary vocation by the end of the series.

1. Along with Marcus, but to a greater extent, Richie is Carmy's narrative foil, if Carmy stays in the restaurant world, as Carmy's foil, Richie may want to leave someday:

Before the start of the series and in season one, he was the dutiful "son/brother"-figure that stayed in Chicago and stuck it out with Mikey (since Mikey pushed Carmy away) while Carmy globe-trotted and became a master at his craft. He resents Carmy for not coming to Mikey's funeral and for being MIA after his death, and perhaps also for being absent from pitching into the family business even prior to Mikey's death and the business' decline. He also resented the changes Carmy, and by extension, Sydney, made to the restaurant during season one, and by the beginning of season two expresses insecurities about his place in the restaurant, and by extension, his place in Carmy and the Berzattos' life. Hence, in season two Richie goes out of his way to have Carmy's reassurance that he would not be "dropped" and he also apologized to Natalie for some unspecified long-standing slight or slights, and enjoyed a much improved relationship with the surviving Berzatto siblings until his argument with Carmy in "The Bear".

During this war of words, after Richie called Carmy, Donna, Carmy retaliated by claiming that he should've cut Richie off, that Richie wouldn't be able to make a living or support his child without him, and accused him of being a leech with an obsession with the Berzatto family. Regardless of whether Carmy truly believes these things about Richie or not, and regardless of whether they are true or not, the venom behind this outburst may have left Richie questioning his security at The Bear, and the sincerity of Carmy's earlier promise to not abandon him, which has silently been one of Richie's greatest fears since season one, with his admission to Carmy in Braciole that,

"You're all I have left."

Also, keep in mind, season two already began with Richie questioning his purpose and place at The Bear, while Carmy ended the season questioning his vocation and his place at the restaurant,

"Maybe I'm just not cut out for this."

Similarly, their love interests / the women from their pasts are associated with one another, Carmy's (now ex) girlfriend , Claire, and Richie's ex-wife, Tiffany:

"Tiff used to babysit Claire!"

Since both Richie and Carmy reached a turning point professionally and experienced upheavals in their relationship(s) in season two (with each other and with their love interests a la Claire breaking up with Carmy, and Tiff informing Richie that she's moving on and getting married), we'll have to wait until the dust settles in season 3 or beyond to see whether the words Carmy spoke in anger to Richie may push him away, even if only temporarily, to the point that Richie may be moved to "abandon Carmy / The Berzattos / the restaurant before they abandon me", or even to see if he has truly found the answer to his question of what his purpose and vocation is in life, and whether that lies in customer service and working the expo or overseeing the front of house at The Bear, or elsewhere.

It's also interesting to me that the book Richie is shown reading in Season 2, 'Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect', by Will Guidara, apparently stresses the value of imparting a sense of excellence and care for one's customers and peers / working relationships no matter the industry, and highlights that the lessons the author learned in the restaurant/hospitality industry can also be applicable to other fields.

Which leads me to my next point;

2. I believe that Richie serves as an author avatar for Christopher Storer himself on some level, and Storer ultimately left the food service industry to become a writer/ director and work in the film industry, hence it's another reason that it would not come as a surprise to me if Richie ends up leaving The Bear, even if it's only temporarily:

C Storer has expressed before in podcast interviews that Richie's character is based on his older male cousins growing up, with whom he enjoyed spending time with in his teens as an escape from his own dysfunctional home life as a child of divorced parents that lived with a mother struggling with addiction. This explains the "Cousin" moniker and surrogate brother role Richie occupies in Carmy's life clearly enough. However, I also think that Richie and Mikey to some degree, (as Storer also struggled with substance abuse in the past) may be partially based on Storer's own life before he found his vocation and settled into a relationship with his long term partner, Gillian Jacobs, who, interestingly, stars as Richie's ex-wife Tiffany in the show.

This is just speculation on my part, but there is something in Richie's dynamic with The Berzattos that may be a reflection of, or at least partially inspired by C Storer and his younger sister, Courtney's, real life surrogate family, the Zuccheros; which is the family that owns Mr. Beef, the Italian sandwich shop that show and The Original Beef of Chicagoland is based on.

According to Joanna Calo in this podcast, see around the 48 minute mark, Chris and Courtney Storer worked at Mr. Beef when they were younger, before Chris left the food industry to become a writer/director and moved to LA. However, Chris Storer has maintained a friendship with the current owner of Mr. Beef, Christopher Zucchero, since kindergarten, and the pilot of The Bear was filmed on location in Mr. Beef, the rest of season one was filmed in a set that was a faithful recreation of Mr. Beef's premises, and Chris Zucchero also had a cameo appearance as ChiChi, Carmy's meat connect that haggled with him in the season one pilot.

As if all this wasn't enough of powerful testament to the bond that the Storers have with the Zuccheros, Chris Zucchero has stated in interviews that Chris Storer used to direct him and their friends to do recreations of movie scenes when they played together as children, and that there was never a doubt in his mind that Storer would've become a film director someday, a level of faith which mirrors Carmy's faith in Richie's people skills and his aptitude for a new role front of house. Chris Storer also promised Chris Zucchero to make a show about Mr. Beef years ago, and The Bear is a fulfillment of that promise.

The former proprietor of Mr. Beef, Chris Zucchero's father, Joseph Zucchero, also seems to have had a fatherly relationship with the Storers (Chris Storer has disclosed that he and his siblings did not have a close relationship with their own father after their parents' divorce), and particularly with Courtney Storer. Chris Zucchero has even joked in interviews that his father loved Courtney more than his own children, and that Zucchero Sr. served as a surrogate father to many in his community.

In my opinion, even if Richie shares no other connection to Chris Storer's life and personality, beyond Richie being an amalgamation of the cousins Chris Storer grew up with; the tight-knit bond of devotion and affection between Richie and Mikey and The Berzattos certainly appears to be somewhat reminiscent of Christopher Storer's own loyalty to his longtime friend, Chris Zucchero's family.

As such, this may be completely off-base, but hear me out;

3. What if Richie's character journey eventually mirrors Christopher Storer's personal career trajectory and takes him on the path of becoming a writer, perhaps even to the point of publishing a heartfelt article about, or story inspired by: his life, his job, Mikey, The Berzattos, The Original Beef and The Bear?

Since we are unfamiliar with much of Richie's backstory and skillset beyond his time in the restaurant, I'm basing this possible career shift on one aspect of Richie's personal interests we are privy to; Richie appears to be surprisingly well-read, and it is generally assumed that excellent authors tend to be avid readers, just as renowned filmmakers tend to be cinephiles themselves.

In the pilot episode - when the creators took time to create character establishing moments for Carmy, and most of the regular cast, despite Richie's initial abrasive interactions with Carmy, Richie is shown to also be affable and well liked, or at least respected, by the staff and prompts them to have an informal icebreaker over Syd's family meal by asking them to express what they are thankful for.

This moment establishes Tina's (at the time hidden) sentimental heart of gold when she answers, "I'm thankful for all y'all mfs! 😜", and Marcus and Ebra's sense of humour and easy rapport with Richie /their irreverence and lack of fear of him when Marcus makes a joke at Richie's expense and Ebra chimes in to mock his body odour. However, when Richie's turn to express what he's thankful for, out of all the possible people or things the writers could've used to telegraph what is important to Richie, and who he is as a person, in this moment Richie says he's thankful for the classic sci-fi author, Philip K. Dick; who famously wrote the dystopian novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' which ultimately served as the inspiration for many sci-fi works, including the Blade Runner films. Even if he intended for his answer to be light-hearted or flippant, it may be a case of "the truth being hidden in jest" that he expressed gratitude, not for his daughter, not for any other relationship or personal possession, but for Mr. Philip K. Dick.

In season one Richie makes another offhand/indirect reference to this sci fi author and his story, by addressing the crew as, "replicants" (a term for lifelike artificial humans from Blade Runner, i.e. robots) when he shows up late to the staff meeting wherein Carmy is about to initiate the brigade system by delegating Syd to lead the crew. Since these are two sci-fi story references that Richie makes within the first 3 episodes of the show, after season one would be forgiven for just thinking that Richie may be a fan of classic sci-fi books or films and nothing else, however, season 2 shifted this understanding of Richie's characterization for me when, again, he references yet another renowned writer/novel in the season 2 pilot.

Thanks to fans on The Bear's subreddit - it appears that the writing he referenced this time was Haruki Murakami's 'Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Year's of Pilgrimage' as he paraphrases the story, including the main character being deserted by friends because of a lack of a 'life /interest' besides "trains". Richie uses the book to effectively articulate his own feelings of aimlessness, and fear of abandonment to Carmy. This conversation with Carmy where Richie uses the book as a tool to communicate his own anxiety/ need for reassurance to Carmy also ultimately served as a catalyst for Richie being sent on the opportunity to stage at the 3 Michelin star restaurant in season 2 episode seven.

It is during this episode that Richie undergoes some much needed character development, and is shown studiously reading Unreasonable Hospitality in a montage as he undergoes his metamorphosis into the earnest, professional, and essential FOH/BOH team member with renewed confidence that we see him as in episodes 8-10; apologising to Nat, helping her to vet the new FOH potential hires, even taking over the expo on the soft opening night and helping Sydney to avert disaster as she takes over functioning in Carmy's stead in the season finale. When addressing the new FOH staff prior to the soft open he again quotes a novel by a renowned author with existentialist themes, 'Siddhartha' by Herman Hesse as he urges the new staff to, "listen better".

Whether Richie eventually leaves the industry or The Bear or not remains to be seen, but I'm looking forward to seeing where his character development will take him, and I'm looking forward to Season 3 and beyond.

It is now clear to me, underneath all Richie's machismo bluster and bravado lies a surprising level of perceptiveness, a philosophic/existential curiosity and sensitivity that, in addition to his love for reading and gift for gab, may potentially lend itself to him developing a compelling written voice should he ever have the desire to write stories of his own.

Perhaps he may be steered to do so if he seeks out counselling for himself, whether via Al-anon or otherwise; as journalling / writing and tapping into a creative pursuit is often recommended as a coping mechanism for processing trauma/grief?

I also think that, much in the same way that Carmy confessed to seeing his cooking as an art and a means of communication in his Al-anon monologue in Braciole in Season 1; it is telling that Richie repeatedly uses what he has read as a means to express himself and communicate with others in some of the moments that he is most happy, uninhibited, sincere, and/or vulnerable.

P.S. @thoughtfulchaos773 Thanks for the nudge - I dug this out of my drafts because of you - stay wonderful 😊❤️

If you've read this, thanks for reading and feel free to chime in!

[mxmajor]

The Hot Take Machine is up and Running

Back in I believe february someone made a poll asking if the Bear was a white show or not because the majority of the main cast is not white.

Here's the post I wrote essentially breaking down what made it a white show. And after Watching season 3 I feel like what I said is reinforced.

@currymanganese

What is any poc on the shows ethnicity besides Ebra?

We know the berzattos are italian, richie and jimmy are polish, the faks are faks, and we get a bit even if just from richie of them speaking other languages. What is Tina's ethnicity? Beyond sounding like a ny-er. Is Marcus Carribean? He's catholic, or his mom was? Just learned what league Gary played in via a Fak. Do Manny and Angel have last names? if we didn't know anything abt that yt characters ethnicities and cultures, I wouldn't care. But We Do lol. So there.

I didn't even know yt ppl could have this many fictive kin and play cousins, where is anyone else's immediate or extended family and background?

We know Marcus has a younger brother, was that just shared to fill in a larger motif around sibling relationships? I know there is an ongoing theme around going it alone (Donna through child birth, Marcus's mom, Syd's dad, and Richie being alone as a father) so it will echo through diff characters. But black and brown ppl of most ethnicities not having anybody to turn to at all? Not knowing a guy with a job? Not making any meaningful connections until they get to the beef? We know the name of Richie's grandma and his daughter calls Donna auntie DD. But none of the black or brown ppl have grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins.

I know the berzatto family can be like the island of misfit toys but like I do suspend my disbelief because of this lol.

Look at how Syd & Tina are being treated.

I know how the people being booted from the 4 top looked A Way™, but I think its highlighting that outside of Berzatto land, Syd is getting treated in a very wild way. Like ships are cool but I literally only started this show for Syd & Tina and they are used as introspection tools for the Berzatto brothers, or to reassure one. We know they have people that love them and why they are at the beef/bear. But my opinion stands, this is a white show about a large dysfunctional family that happens to have black people in it.

I honestly think the poc not neatly gelling and the extensive Berzatto-Fak-Jerimovich-Kalinowski & Co outset being insular is okay because who wants to be tied up in that? and we see Sydney weighing if she wants to be connected to or apart of it that we don't see any other berzatto +1 get to decide. Because it is warm when it's warm. But it is demoralizing dismissive and defeating when not. And her former hero sometimes is the initiator or amplifier of Syd being treated that way.

[mxmajor]

Didn't you tell me to be the guy? "I didn't tell you to be an asshole."- Uncle Jimmy

And for Carmy, those are one in the same. And because the show has been so tight on his perspective as the protag, many viewers have joined on the perspective of seeing everyone but Carmy as an asshole even when they aren't (except NY Chef/David Fields, fuck that guy).

In previous seasons we see more of Carmy's interiority (his memories, his ideas, his intrusive thoughts, his vulnerable moments at the thing), but marginally, we are made aware of how his behavior is impacting those around him.

in season 3 , we get a nice long introspective opener in 3x01 that visually lays out the experiences, memories, and thought process carmy's attempting to synthesize into success to overcorrect after friends and family.

He also does all of this alone.

In the following episodes we see more of the real time misunderstandings and failed efforts to establish and reinforce bonds with ppl not immediately in carmy's kin circle.

At first glance, the faks are doing a lot screentime wise, but I think their presence and the window guys, and even Tina's story highlight the lack of reliability that could happen in Carmy's perspective in addition to how spot on he is abt what is fucked up around the beef/berzatto family.

They show us an affection, and familiarity, and warmth with each other in their sophomoric antics and bonds with each other. All of it looks unprofessional and silly, esp when richie is trying to do so many random things not to thwart Carmy but save some of the atmosphere that makes people want to be there. But we see that ppl in other BOH kitchens have that, which Richie knowss. Cause he's experienced it at the Beef and Ever, even if not all the time with the berzatto siblings.

But I feel vindicated abt the old posts I made abt Carmy being an asshole, not because I think he's bad or I want to see him fail, but because I think he can eventually be aware of himself in a positive way and maybe be better in season 4. but he has to own his shit.

Carmy's genius and youngest child syndrome can passively slide him into a role where he is just accepted as complicated and misunderstood. Carmy is Carmy, no one tells him no really. Syd and Richie are the ones that give him the most pushback (which he desperately needs to listen to). But he got nearly a million dollars to do as he wanted off of love and guilt.

he goes inside himself to figure things out, and waits to be noticed dand interpreted but does not assertive in way that helps him engage. He doesn't see clearly that the success, magic, and joy is in the shared experience (with his siblings, coworkers, supervisor, dating) because he has been in that odd man out role and believes he doesn't belong.

So many people think this is his dream and passion but he literally never says that. Most of his relationships happens through projections he doesn't really clear up because he is so focused on the negative projects he assumes ppl will know about him because of his family and past.

He also tends to make things about himself that are not about him. When it is his familiars, it explodes into something, When it is Sydney or the computer it deflates and gets redirected because no one is coming for him like he anxiously/insecurely believes they are.

Carmy: Is that a shot? Computer: I don't understand. Carmy: Are you giving me shit for not calling people back? Ep. 5, Children, 23:33

Why the hell would the Computer (who is a great organizational professional, i need to look into credentialing like his) take time in a serious meeting to take a dig at Carmy????

Sometimes it seems like he only has genuine convos with Syd & Marcus but I think that is because he sees/projects parts of his chef self in them. Moreso Marcus now than Syd, he doesn't want them to experience and make the same mistakes.

I wish he would have asked the chef's he worked under for advice (on camera, in script) but you know, Carmy does not talk, and we wouldn't have a show if he did everything right all of the time.

I think NY chef just eating "the yeah I did the fucked up stuff on purpose, you're welcome" turned everything on its side in Carmy's brain. But I also think he took that exchange well in comparison to his spirals in the past two season finales.

all the core islands and structures in his head he built and rebuilt around being a successful chef topple. Sitting with all of those actual chefs and listening to them are their kitchen experiences foils his belief that people only gain success through being assholes.

SN: Uncle Jimmy, how is Carmy supposed to know what being the man looks like in a non-asshole way if he never got to work with his brother and didn't have consistent male figures growing up? But also, nobody knows how fcked up NY Chef is outside of the industry so how would cicero know either.

Carmy needs to socialize outside of his immediate family that he grew up around. And actually fucking talk to people. Not just stare and say very heavy one liners related to his inner monologue that are narrowly connected to the present topic.

heeey @currymanganese here is a post with initial thoughtsss

[mxmajor]

Jimmy & Syd convos yes, he respects her

but they better not magical negro my girl I will fight storer

[mxmajor]

Faks: Hey Carmy, would you like panic attack fuel for your office?

This definitely reinforces my belief though that people in Carmy's life genuinely think they're helping him when really it's triggering him

but you know carmy doesn't know how to talk about his feelings on top of not being the most effective communicator

but between panic attacks, The Bear is a Comedy.