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[warriorslaser]

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[alisonsfics]

his little superstar

pairing: carmy berzatto x reader

summary: you’re a local singer in chicago. the bear crew ends up at one of your shows, and carmy is absolutely speechless the moment he lays eyes on you.

word count: 1.5k

warnings: awkward and bashful carmy that will make you MELT

“Do we really have to go to this thing?” Carmy complained. He had been convinced forced to go out to a bar by his friends. “C’mon, you need to get out. You spend too much in the kitchen screaming at us.” Richie added. So, that was how he ended up in a line outside a bar with Richie, Sydney, Marcus, Natalie, and Pete.

“Isn’t there supposed to be some singer here tonight?” Sydney asked, looking over at Nat.

“Oh, yeah. I think I saw a poster that said that. I saw her here last week. This friend from high school invited me for her birthday. She was really good though. Her songs were great.” Nat started to tell Sydney.

Carmy started to zone out, thinking about all the other places in the world he could be. Once every month, Richie made an effort to drag Carmy to some party or bar. If not, Carmy wouldn’t get out at all. If Carmy had it his way, he’d basically live at the restaurant.

When they finally made it inside the bar, Carmy rushed to the bar to order a drink. He’d barely gotten his drink when Nat and Sydney pulled him over to a high-top table that they found. He was already mentally doing the math on how long he needed to stay before he could leave early.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Nat start cheering. He looked over his shoulder and saw you walk onto the stage. The last thing he was thinking about was leaving early.

He didn’t know what he expected, but you weren’t it. You caught him by surprise, and he felt a smile slowly start to form.

Carmy didn’t realize his mouth was hanging open until Richie elbowed him in the side. “Close your mouth. You’ll catch flies.” Richie teased, noticing the way that Carmy was drooling over you.

“Oh shut up,” Carmy said, rolling his eyes at Richie.

Throughout the show, you made eye contact with Carmy a few times. Every time you met his gaze his cheeks instantly turned bright red.

He stuck out to you.

Most people were drinking and chatting with their friends, blissfully ignoring your presence. Some were silently swaying to the music. Not Carmy. He had his eyes glued to you.

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t playfully bat your eyelashes at him during some of the more flirtatious lyrics you sang.

After you finished your last song, you winked at Carmy before thanking the crowd and leaving the stage.

“Carmy’s got a crush.” Nat said in a singsong voice. Carmy’s cheeks were bright red. Richie slung his arm around Carmy’s shoulders. “Oh, you totally do, cousin,” Richie said, laughing at Carmy’s embarrassment.

“You all are children. I hope you know that.” Carmy said, pulling away from Richie and heading out the front door. He walked outside the bar and pulled out his pack of cigarettes.

He quickly lit one and tried to distract himself from the nagging that was waiting for him when he went back inside.

The stage door beside him swung open, causing him to jump backwards. “Oh, shit. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think anyone would be out here.” The voice quickly apologized.

Carmy looked up and realized it was you. Every coherent thought left his brain. When Carmy realized he hadn’t replied, it was too late to say anything.

You noticed how timid he was. His eyes were glued to the ground, and he hadn’t said a word. “So, did you like the show? I saw you in there.” You asked him, as though he wasn’t overly aware that you’d been watching him all night.

“Oh yeah yeah— it was good. I mean…just wow, you were great.” Carmy said, quickly mumbling through the words.

He was too busy avoiding eye contact to notice the smile on your face. You definitely thought Carmy was cute.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten such a raving review before.” You playfully teased him. Carmy finally looked up at you. He was partly shocked he hadn’t scared you away yet.

“Sorry,” he said, sheepishly. You took a step closer to Carmy, testing the waters. He didn’t move away. “Don’t be. It’s cute,” you said, subconsciously twirling your hair around your finger.

Carmy felt like his skin was on fire. You were looking at him. He felt like all of a sudden he couldn’t remember how to breathe.

“I’m Y/N, by the way,” you said, sticking your hand out. He quickly switched his cigarette into the other hand, so he could shake your hand. “I’m Carmy.” He said, giving you a small smile.

“Oh, shit. You’re the guy. The Bear guy.” You said, remembering seeing his name in a newspaper. If it was possible, he started blushing even more. “Yep, that’s me. Have you been? To the restaurant, I mean,” he asked you.

He started worrying about the possibility of you having already gone to the restaurant and seeing him in one of his arguments with Richie.

“No, I haven’t had the chance yet. I don’t know a lot about food. I feel like I wouldn’t be able to truly appreciate it, but maybe if I had someone to teach me and explain it to me…” you suggested, giving Carmy a smile.

His jaw dropped, and his cigarette almost fell out of his lips. “Wait…me?” He asked, feeling like he was definitely in a dream. You giggled at his shock. “I mean, you are the chef.” You said, nudging him.

“Just to be clear, like a date?” He asked.

“That’s up to you, Romeo,” you said, brushing a piece of his hair behind his ear. You watched him shiver as you touched him.

“Can I umm…get your number?” He nervously asked you. You quickly grabbed a pen out of your purse. “Took you long enough,” you said, giggling at him.

You grabbed his hand and quickly scribbled your number on the back of his hand. He stared at it for a few seconds. Carmy was having trouble processing any of this conversation.

“You’re really pretty.” Carmy said, feeling a bit braver but not a lot.

“Thank you. That’s really sweet. You’re also very pretty.” You said, giving his hand a quick squeeze.

Carmy dropped his cigarette and stomped on it. “I should probably go back in. I don’t want to keep you.” He said, starting to walk back towards the front door.

“Hang on a second, pretty boy,” you called after him, stopping him in his tracks. He turned around to face you, confused and nervous. “You forgot something.” You said, taking a few steps towards him.

He instantly checked his pockets. You grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him in to kiss you. It took him a second to kiss you back, having to process his initial shock. Once he kissed you back, he was still too nervous to touch you.

“I’m not going to break, I promise,” you teased him. You grabbed both his hands and moved them to wrap around your waist. He tightly held onto your waist and didn’t let go. You pulled him back into the kiss, letting your fingers run through his hair. He lightly hummed against the kiss, causing you to smirk.

You pulled out of the kiss. “You better call me.” You jokingly warned him.

“Don’t think I could forget if I tried,” Carmy said, as you headed back inside through the stage door.

He let out a sigh and raked his fingers through his now-messy hair. “She’s perfect,” he mumbled to himself. He took a few deep breaths before heading back inside.

“Ay, he’s back. We were starting to think you left, Carm.” Nat said, as Carmy rejoined their group.

“Holy shit,” Richie said, staring at Carmy in shock. Carmy froze, having no idea what Richie was talking about. “What?” Carmy asked, cluelessly.

Richie just chuckled at Carmy’s clear confusion. “Who were you outside with?” Richie asked, smirking at him. Carmy’s eyes went wide. “What—uhh what do you mean?” Carmy lied.

“So, that’s your own lipstick that you’re wearing?” Richie asked. Carmy realized what he meant and started furiously trying to wipe your lipstick off his lips, causing the whole group to start laughing. “So who was it?” Nat asked. Carmy refused to even look her in the eyes.

Then, Sydney spotted something on his hand as he tried to remove the lipstick. She grabbed his wrist and flipped his hand over. They all saw your name scribbled on his hand next to a phone number.

“Oh, shit. You got yourself your own little superstar, cousin?” Richie said, in shock.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Carmy said, pulling his hand away from Sydney. Carmy knew what teasing awaited him for the rest of the night. “I’m not gonna lie, I’m impressed. I didn’t think you’d be able to pull that off” Nat teased him.

Carmy wasn’t offended. He also was left wondering how he managed to get your phone number.

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[mouseymilkovich]

Speechless | Carmy x Reader | Chapter Five

previous chapter | masterlist | playlist | pinterest board | next chapter

Chapter Summary: A party with a night of fun, a thoughtful gift — some missed texts. Tears, cookies, and nightmares. It's all been leading up to this. It's all about to come undone. | Carmy Berzatto x fem/afab reader (using they/them pronouns)

Content Tags: Mentions of birth control again, drinking, kinda public sex, fingering, m receiving oral, mentions of vomit, mentions of periods

Important Info: when texting pink = reader, green = Sydney, blue = Carmy, purple = Marcus! All party goers are over 21

Chapter Five: Come Undone

Word Count: 3k

BONUS PLAYLIST — experience syd's birthday party along with everybody by listening along <3 **disclaimer i know joyride wouldn't technically be out yet when this is set but i do not care, it is serving cunt

inspo/sleepover req for the beginning of this chapter

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Something you'd decided on was going back on birth control. Carmy nailing you without a condom felt like pure heaven, but you didn't wanna get a plan B pill every freaking morning after. It was a little bit of an adjustment, but you knew it'd be better in the long run.

It was Sydney's birthday, and of course you were going. There was also The Beef staff — including Carmy. Some more of your friends from high school and college all came too, all of you wanting to celebrate Sydney on her day. The club was... really not usually Carmy's scene, it would appear.

As Sydney danced with Tina, you sidled up next to Carmy, sitting awkwardly at the bar.

"You, uh, feeling a little... out of place, Carm?" You laughed softly.

"I don't think I've ever been to a club in my life other than catering a bachelor party with Richie." He muttered in response.

"Let's get a little liquid courage into you then, yeah?" You giggled before ordering a round of drinks.

"I-I dunno, 'm not much of a drinker..." Carmy muttered softly.

"I won't force you, but it is a party, Carm." You said softly with a little smile.

You glanced over your shoulder as Marcus called you to dance, then smiled at Carmy as you pranced away with your drink. Thankfully, Sydney and most of your high school and college friends were all fairly smashed by now so the flirting between you and Carmy went fairly unnoticed.

Carmy relented and downed his shot, then came to join you on the dancefloor. He was dancing like an awkward college boy — which was a mixture of hilarious and a bit embarrassing, but mostly hilarious.

"Do you even know how to dance?" You asked him as Marcus got swept away by one of your drunk friends.

"Not a damn clue." He confessed with an embarrassed laugh.

You laughed loudly, then set down your empty glass. You grabbed Carmy's shoulders, pressing yourself close to him and starting to dance. "Just feel the music!"

Carmy's breath hitched with you so close to him and everybody so nearby, the short length of your skirt was not helping.

"Relax. They're all fucking drunk— even Ebra!" You told him, motioning to Ebra surrounded by various girls... he looked like he was having a great time, at least.

Of course, that's when some good ol' Y2K club vibes began, Shake That blaring over the speakers. Something about the song coming on got you going— in more ways than one.

"Who the fuck requested this?!" You laughed loudly, then earned a cheer from Richie who was also dancing with some of your friends.

You were so unsurprised and unphased by your friends being all over both Ebra and Richie.

Carmy couldn't help chuckling at how excited you got over the song coming on. Then, got a little excited himself by the way you were dancing on him to the song.

"Jesus." He muttered. Thank god the club was dark, and your ass pressed against him could hide how turned on he was.

"What'sa matter, Carm?" You muttered, tipsy and teasing.

"N-Nothing, nothing..." Carmy insisted, clearing his throat.

You smirked a little bit at him, a fun little idea coming to your head. "Hey, you ever done body shots?"

"Wha— no? What in the hell even is a body shot?" He asked, which made you burst into a fit of giggles.

Then, you motioned to the bar, where... Richie had gone, and was doing a body shot off of one of your friends. Huh.

"That, chef, is a body shot." You grinned, nudging Carmy while Richie was cheering.

You weren't sure how you actually roped Carmy into doing it, but he did a body shot off you. And it was fucking electrifying. His face was red, a mixture from the alcohol and embarrassment from having actually doing it.

"Holy shit!" You heard Sydney yell drunkenly with a loud laugh. Thank god she was beyond hammered.

Of course, Carmy doing a body shot off you had your panties drenched. So, the second everybody's backs were turned and you were sure nobody would notice you, you dragged Carmy to whatever bathroom was closest— you really didn't give a shit which one it was, nobody was in there, that's all that mattered.

You pressed Carmy against the locked door, kissing him hungrily.

"What's gotten into you all'a the sudden?" He asked breathlessly between kisses.

"I really don't care that we're in public." You muttered against his lips. "I fucking need you now."

Carmy had you sitting awkwardly on one of the sinks, one hand spreading your thighs and the other finding its way into your underwear.

"Fuck, y're such a slut, huh? All wet f'me." He groaned.

He wasn't easing you in, two fingers were already deep inside you and you were moaning like a damn banshee.

"F-Fuck, Carm!" You cried out.

You had to hand it to the guy, he was an expert with his hands.

A third digit entered your cunt, and you started clenching around him. The smirk on Carmy's face made you blush.

"Gonna cum already? C'mon, make a mess." He purred.

He dragged you through your high, fucking you and teasing you to make it all the more enjoyable. After he pulled his fingers from you, he held them to your lips with an expectant look.

"Clean my fingers. This is your mess."

You, unable to find words, simply parted your lips and let Carmy shove his fingers into your mouth. Once his fingers were clean, he pulled them from your mouth and pulled you in for another deep kiss, wanting to taste your own slick from your mouth.

"At least let me take care of you before we leave the bathroom. You look... sore." You teased, palming his tented bulge which made him hiss.

"Y-Yeah, okay— please." His whine was a total shift from a moment ago, but fuck it sounded good.

You sank to your knees as he undid and lowered the jeans he had on. Your hand gently wrapped around his shaft, and you gave a little kitten lick to his leaking slit.

"Please don't tease me—" Carmy whimpered, one hand gripping at his own curls in desperation.

You giggled a little at the way he sounded — it was oddly adorable. It was a sound you liked, for sure. But, you decided not to tease him— too much more.

Your lips wrapped around his tip, suckling and teasing him for just a moment longer to draw out those whimpers before you took him all the way in— or, rather, as far as you could, given his size.

The dim lights and the angle you were at made it hard to see the obscene look on Carmy's face, but hearing his noises was pure bliss. Before long, you were swallowing his load and wiping drool from your chin.

"Fuck..." Carmy breathed out.

Once you cleaned yourselves up, you inconspicuously left the bathroom one at a time. Just in time for Sydney's cake to come out— thank god you hadn't missed it.

Thankfully, everybody had a little water with only small pieces of cake so nobody would be puking their guts out to follow.

Everything was winding down in the early hours of the morning, you were gonna take Sydney back to your place to both not wake her father, and keep an eye on her in her drunken state. You'd stayed a bit more sober near the end of the night for that reason.

You felt a little bad for not spending the night with Carmy, but you'd already committed to Sydney this time, plus, you owed it to her for her birthday. You also had her gift waiting at your place for the morning.

When she woke up, you'd been awake for an hour— water and Aspirin at the ready for her.

"I feel like I got hit by a bus." Syd groaned as she sat on your couch.

You stifled a laugh, giving her the water and painkillers. "Yeah, you went pretty hard last night. I'm almost impressed."

"Almost?" She asked with mock offense.

You rolled your eyes with a smile, then finally handed her a small giftbox.

"I told you not to get me anything." Syd muttered.

"Well, that's bullshit, cus you're my best friend, so I'm getting you a damn birthday gift." You replied firmly. "Open it!"

Once she opened it, she saw matching friendship bracelets that you'd gotten. Similar to ones you'd made each other at a middle school sleepover— except these were handcrafted from a small jewelery business, not just some plastic beads on a string.

"This is... these are..." She whispered, then hugged you tightly. "Thank you."

"I love you, Syd." You said softly.

"I love you too. So much."

Now, a few days later and Carmy was spending another night at your place, he was making you dinner. Almost the entire time he was complaining about what a disaster your kitchen was. It made you laugh, but man was it ever stressing him out. Finally, you two sat down to dinner and unsurprisingly, it was delicious.

Everything was going well, but unbeknownst to you, your phone had been blowing up all night. You'd had it on silent, you had no idea.

hey!! my dad wanted to take us out for dinner, you in?

...

hello?

...

this isn't like you not to answer, you're freaking me out dude

...

okay, c'mon this isn't funny

...

i'm coming over.

As you settled onto the couch with Carmy, you had no idea that Sydney was basically right outside your building. She came up the stairs, and...

"What the fuck?" Was all you heard as you turned pale. Sydney had a spare key to your place, you had a spare key to hers — you hadn't even heard the door open.

You whipped around, looking at Sydney with pleading eyes. "Syd, I... I can explain."

"This is why you've been so busy, huh?!" She sounded hurt — of course she did, that shouldn't have surprised you.

Ever since that breakfast, other than her birthday, you'd been blowing her off constantly; not on purpose, and not every single time, but most plans just happened to coincide. You didn't want to hurt your best friend, you'd never dream of hurting her. Yet here she was, in the doorway of your apartment, looking as if you'd just driven a knife through her heart.

"Sydney, please, you have to let me explain—"

"Fuck you." She scowled at you, then looked at Carmy and silently shook her head. She whipped around to leave your apartment, and you chased her out, down the hall of your building.

"Syd! C'mon, I didn't mean for you to find out like this!" You pleaded.

"You mean you didn't mean for me to find out at all. We used to tell each other fucking everything!" Sydney snapped back, her voice cracking. It was true, you did tell each other everything...

Your eyes welled with tears, words caught in your throat like a huge lump.

"Do you love him?" She asked quietly.

You looked at her in shock. "What—? Syd, what kind of fucking question is that?! It hasn't been that long—"

"When did it start?" She frowned.

"The... day I was really hungover..." You whispered, looking at the ground. "I didn't mean for it to happen, Syd, you have to understand. I tried to do anything to get him out of my head, but it just happened..."

"I don't even care that you're seeing him! I care that you didn't fucking tell me." Sydney hissed.

"I didn't want you to think he was giving you special treatment cus of me or anything!" You defended, but sounded sort of weak, thinking about it now.

"Fuck you." She spat again. The last thing she did before she turned to leave your building, was shove the bracelet from her birthday back into your hands, then just left you in the hall.

You went back to your apartment after a moment. You'd hoped maybe she would turn around and come back, but no. So, you re-entered your apartment, looking pitiful and sad.

"Is everything okay?" Carmy asked you quietly.

"Of course it's not okay! She's pissed at me!" You whimpered as you crashed down onto the couch, covering your face.

Carmy frowned. "Maybe... she just needs some time to cool down? Maybe try talking to her tomorrow?"

You sighed a little, and nodded. "Yeah... yeah, that's a good idea. Thanks Carm..."

Still, you couldn't fight the tears that came to your eyes. The thought that you might be losing your best friend made you feel absolutely sick to your stomach. You and Syd had gone through just about everything together — first days of school, first crushes, first periods, first serious relationships — every first, every second, everything that followed, you were together. Even when you were apart for college, you spoke every day. You were there when Sheridan Road started, you were there when it failed and fell apart.

This truly was the first time you'd kept anything serious from her... and now, you were paying the price.

That night, while Carmy slept next to you, you laid awake. Wide awake. Replaying everything in your head—

"This is why you've been so busy, huh?!"

"We used to tell each other fucking everything!"

"Do you love him?"

"I don't even care that you're seeing him! I care that you didn't fucking tell me!"

Tears came to your eyes again, hearing the words ringing in your ears, remembering the look on Sydney's face. You were sure you hadn't seen her that upset since Sheridan Road — maybe that's part of what made this hurt so badly.

Before Carmy had to leave for work the next morning, he insisted on making you some breakfast. You repeated how you weren't hungry, but he made you something anyhow.

"Please eat. Please." He pleaded before he had to leave. He gave you a gentle, parting kiss on the forehead, then slipped out the door.

You didn't even wanna know what would be happening at The Beef today.

All day, you'd been staring at your phone. Unsure if you should text Sydney, wanting her to text you, and you ignored every other message that came your way — even Carmy's.

hey, missing you. text me when you can please.

is everything okay? syd seems really upset, she just told me to ask you when i asked.

Tears pricked your eyes again when you read the text from Marcus. Of course, you weren't sure how to respond... how could you even explain everything over text?

Later on, there was a knock at your door. You were expecting it to be Carmy, hoping maybe it was Sydney — instead though, you were surprised to see Marcus, with a plate of fresh baked cookies.

"You can't hide in here forever, yknow." Marcus said as he made his way inside, not really waiting for an invitation.

"I really want to." You muttered softly, shutting the door once Marcus was inside.

You made some hot drinks for both of you to go with the cookies, then sat together on the couch. He looked sympathetic, he knew something was wrong, otherwise he wouldn't be here.

"So, are you gonna tell me what happened?" He asked softly.

You took a deep breath, and started to talk — and once you started, you couldn't stop. It was like word vomit. You'd explained that the moment you met Carmy, he wouldn't leave your brain. You told him how you'd tried so hard to ignore this little school girl crush, for the sake of your sanity, for the sake of your friendship with Sydney. Then when the incident in the office happened, there was no going back. You and Carmy had this secret fling going on under everybody's noses. Then, you had to tell Marcus why exactly that made Sydney so upset. That you'd told each other everything, you had been through all of these ups and downs of your lives together, and this whole secret thing with Carmy broke something there. She wasn't upset that it happened, she was upset that you kept it from her.

After you spilled your guts, you leaned back against the couch and took a deep breath. Everything was out in the open — it felt like a bit of a weight off your chest, despite still being upset.

"That sounds... intense." Marcus commented before taking a sip of his drink. "Um, I'm kinda surprised you're holding up at all."

You sighed, clutching one of the throw pillows on your couch. "Am I a bad person?"

Marcus sort of looked at you funny, but shook his head. "Of course not. You're human. Humans... have feelings, and they rationalize things weirdly. Everybody does it... even if they don't admit it, they do."

You smiled weakly. "Thanks, Marcus. I really appreciate you being here for me... I know how much you like Syd."

"Hey, I'm not gonna pick sides in something I'm not technically involved in—"

"Yeah, that's not what I meant... I mean I've seen the way you look at Syd." You interrupted with a little giggle.

That made Marcus blush. "I-I don't know what you're talking about—"

"Bullshit. I see right through you, dude." You laughed.

"Okay, okay, just... don't tell her. Please." He pleaded.

"Of course not. Secret's safe with me." You smiled softly, holding out your pinky to him.

Marcus eventually had to leave, but he did leave you the cookies, which was nice. You definitely appreciate the kindness he showed you, he really was a sweetheart.

So, you spent the rest of the night indulging in those and watching stupid movies, anything to get your mind off of this. In fact, you ended up just falling asleep on the couch— but that was probably a good thing, if you'd gone to bed, you probably would've opened the floodgates of your thoughts all over again.

At least you were getting some sleep.

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tags ; @maggiesarchives @carmenberzattosgf @buendiabebeta

wanna be tagged in any future speechless trilogy updates? leave 🫢 + an @ to tag in my askbox !

[currymanganese]

Will Carmy leave the culinary world?

I know based on Carmy's current disillusionment with the restaurant world that this is a question that us fans have been asking ourselves, but here are some reasons why I think that Carmy will stay in the food service industry in some capacity, or at least why I'm hoping that he will.

Carmy loves the family restaurant:

First and foremost, Carmy does have a love for his family's business and for cooking, despite the burnout that he has been experiencing he defends the restaurant against his sister's scorn for The Beef and Uncle Jimmy's desire to purchase it in season one. Also, note that in his first onscreen face to face conversation with his sister, Via Chicago by Wilco plays in the background, and the tortured lyrics ultimately end by speaking of searching for home,

-and inter-cut with this scene, Marcus and Richie highlight an effective change Carmy has made to the restaurant (organizing the spice rack). The scene deliberately extends to have Gary tell Fak his REAL NAME while the song in the background says, "printed my name on a back of a leaf and watched it float away..." while Marcus finds a keepsake from Carmy's fine dining days / James Beard Award win that references, "Fairest Creatures", a phrase from Shakespeare's Sonnet 1 which is part of a

series of sonnets which urge a young man to marry and have children so that his legacy will live on. It is almost as if the narrative is telling us that Carmy's real name/identity is being a world class chef, not the harried, downtrodden line cook / small business owner we see him as at the beginning of the pilot, but this identity has temporarily eluded him. It also reinforces what Sydney said about him during her character introduction, when she told him that she knows who he is, "Most excellent CDC at the most excellent restaurant in the entire United States of America".

In a literal sense, the restaurant currently is Carmy's home away from home, even more-so than his sparse apartment, it is also his family legacy, and apart from his love for his family, the restaurant, and cooking by extension, is quite likely his "first love". He outright tells Jimmy that he loves the place in his conversation in Hot Dogs at Nicky's birthday party, and during his business pitch in "Beef" in S2;

"I love this place. I love this city. I wanna start our first business here."

He also doesn't deny it when Richie asserts that he loves the restaurant when Richie has the conversation about purpose with him also in "Beef", he just lets slip that the business is not fun for him presently, but as with many things, that can be subject to change in the future, especially if the restaurant presents him with the opportunity to have a home and a family of his own, and a legacy to give his own child or children someday! Now, don't get me wrong, a major component for Carmy's original love for the restaurant and for cooking was motivated by his love for Mikey, however, I believe that over the course of the series that Carmy may cement his love for the place and for his identity/ vocation as a chef even though he no longer has Mikey as his reference, his North Star. He may very well find even more reasons to love being a chef and to love the place that Nat and Jimmy, and his mom, and even Mikey once found unlovable.

2. Divestment and gifting of belongings, especially belongings that one is emotionally attached to is often a symptom of suicidal depression:

This may be TMI, but I first learned this as a child because my father was suicidal, he also even attempted once, but was thankfully unsuccessful, but one of the things my mother taught me and my siblings to be wary of is when he gives away clothing (he loves clothes). I know that Carmy giving Tina his chef knife in Season 2 is probably not meant to indicate that he is depressed, but I would be concerned if Carmy checks out of the business entirely to the point that he completely gives his stake in the restaurant up to Sydney or something of that nature, since, see point one above, he does love the restaurant, despite the strain that it causes. If Carmy continues giving away stuff that he loves in Season 3 onward I'd be very concerned.

I also believe this mental health symptom of suicidal depression was subtly illustrated in the pilot of Season one "System"; the jacket that Mikey gave Carmy, the one that it is implied that Carmy ended up selling to keep The Beef stocked and afloat, why did Natalie have it if Mikey gave it to Carmy? I believe that Mikey may have let Carmy know that he wanted him to have the jacket before he committed suicide, as in, Mikey divested himself of the jacket, just like in death he ultimately divested himself of the $300,000 from Uncle Jimmy and the restaurant itself. Knowing that, I don't see Carmy having an easy time walking away from the restaurant, regardless of if it is to pursue his artistic passions, even if he wants to...And also, as Carmy expressed in his monologue in Braciole, there's artistry in cooking and it is a subset of art that Carmy has become quite proficient in.

3. Carmy is competitive, but we still haven't seen him at the apex of his talents as a chef onscreen in the show so far:

Carmy was once so competitive in the culinary world that he viewed his coworkers in an antagonistic light to such a degree that he was determined to be so excellent at his craft that he "smoked" them and showed them up by comparison...He essentially becomes a master in his profession, despite his lack of academic /collegiate instruction in the culinary arts, through sheer spite for Mikey (as he expressed in his monologue in Braciole), for making him feel,

"...so rejected, and lame, and shitty, and uncool...."

-and out of spite/disdain for his coworkers. Although he is now far less anti-social and presumably has a healthier attitude towards competition, what would happen to someone with Carmy's competitive mentality if he quits the industry?

What healthy outlet does he have to be competitive to the extent that he can "be the fucking guy" and be the best at what he does, and to quite frankly be (in his own estimation, most importantly) cool? What happens to him (if he quits being a chef) the first time he walks into a restaurant and orders a meal, sits down to eat it and finds the dish shitty? What happens to him when he can't turn off the intuition that he has honed from years of self study where he can figure out how to improve a dish just off of one taste, like he did with Syd's braised Beef Short Ribs? As @thoughtfulchaos773 mentioned to me, we still haven't seen a moment where Carmy is confident and in control AND having fun while he is gelling with the rest of the crew in the kitchen, like Richie had while on expo in the season 2 finale.

If he quits being a chef, when will he get to "be the fucking guy" that Uncle Jimmy has been admonishing him to be? Because on some level he does indeed want to be that guy; he even watches Pasta Grannies in his free time, he doesn't suddenly stop being that kind of guy even if he quits, and I daresay that cooking may actually be some sort of special interest for him, which leads me to my next point:

4. Carmy may have to get into some form of further studies if he wants to pursue visual arts intensively, whether at a tertiary level or through some vocational program or as someone's understudy:

Whether it's visual or performing arts, the arts are quite difficult to get into and be successful in at a high level, and Carmy may have to undergo some retraining in order to have a competitive chance in that field, whether as an independent artist or whether he works under another artist or for a studio or fashion house etc., especially since the business administration aspect of his current job seems to be a challenge for him. However, since Carmy expressed that he had trouble in school and there were also instances where he seemed to struggle with executive dysfunction in season 2, the possibility exists that Carmy has ADHD or some learning disability that may complicate such a prospective career switch. It wouldn't be impossible for him, mind you, but this is a factor that also potentially influenced him, if not outright prevented him from going to college or pursuing another field. He'd need a lot of privilege and support to make such a career shift successfully.

Barring some assistance from connections and friends in high places (a la - his implied friendship with Thom Browne) it is unlikely that his current artistic skill level in sketching/illustration (that we have seen thus far anyway), that is either self-taught or based on his high school education, would be enough to get him very far as a visual artist. From seeing some of my artistically talented relatives struggle to make it as performance and visual artists, the arts can be very cutthroat, nepotistic and stressful industries to break into. The starving/obscure artist is an international stereotype for a reason, one of my grandfathers was even a struggling multi-instrumentalist for example; it can be quite rough out there in the art world!

Which brings me to my next point;

5. If Carmy continues to avoid dealing with the root of his traumas and does not process his grief and address his mental health issues, even if Carmy switches career, the next industry that he's in will still proverbially beat his ass:

As part owner of The Bear, Carmy has the opportunity and freedom to not just realize his own creative vision, but he also has the liberty to make it (along with Syd and Nat's and the entire crew's help) so that the restaurant is, to quote Sydney, "different from all the other places we've been at." He now has the power to make it so that, as much as possible, the restaurant is not the toxic, abusive, soul sucking enterprise that had him vomiting every day before his shift when he worked under the abusive executive chef (implied to be) at EMP. If Carmy cedes his place at The Bear, he is not guaranteed to have the same level of autonomy in another field, even as a visual artist, and the arts (or any other industry he may move on to) are riddled with challenges and injustices and struggles of their own.

While it would probably not be the intent of the creators if they do depict him leaving the culinary industry someday, in a way Carmy quitting being a chef could also be seen as a repudiation of Sydney's conviction that The Beef, now The Bear, doesn't have to be a shitty place to work at. If Syd and Carmy succeed at making it a great place to work at, shouldn't he be able to enjoy that for himself as well?

6. This show is many things, it's a study of the way grief and trauma shapes a person, it's about family, surviving family trauma surrounding addiction, and love, it's very loosely autobiographical, it's a genre bending dramedy, but so far it has also been a love letter to the food service industry and food service workers:

This is just my opinion, but wouldn't it be a somewhat tepid love letter to the food service industry/worker if the protagonist leaves the very industry that has made him who he is thus far, and that has even brought (in my opinion, don't kill me) his soulmate (Sydney) into his life at the end of the story? After the showrunners took the care to have two bottle episodes where supporting cast members gained fresh perspectives on their roles in the food service industry (Marcus in Honeydew and Richie in Forks) - we are even shown Richie (like Sydney with Coach K's "Leading with the Heart") reading and internalizing the book, "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara.

To quote the author's website:

"Today, every business can choose to be in the hospitality industry — and you don't have to be a luxury business to do it. This book of lessons about both service and leadership learned over a career in hospitality celebrates the one principle that will never go out of season: the human desire to be taken care of. In this behind-the-scenes peek at the world of fine dining, Guidara shows us how to find the magic in what we do — for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve."

As a result, I think Marcus and Richie's character arcs in season 2 foreshadowed the possibility of Carmy having a similar transformation on his current outlook on the restaurant and his place and purpose in it. It is also important to note that potential love interests served as mouthpieces to aid Marcus and Richie's perspective shifts in Honeydew and Forks, Luca for Marcus and Jess for Richie; while they weren't there as the sole reasons for Marcus and Richie's renewed appreciation for what they do in the restaurant, they were there to witness and assist with their character development and renewal.

With this in mind, how do you think learning that he prepared the best meal Sydney ever ate in her life, when he was at one of his lowest points mentally / professionally would affect Carmy? Would he really want to walk away from the field and vocation that helped him to win over / woo Sydney before he even met her, when he learns that this is effectively what brought her to his doorstep in the first place, not The Beef, not her Dad, not Mikey, not his prestige as a chef, but him and his cooking? I think that over the course of the show that Carmy has to learn to (to reference the aforementioned books) lead from his heart, and to rediscover the magic in what he does as a chef.

7. One of Carmy's struggles is loneliness and isolation, he may be even lonelier if he leaves The Bear behind:

Realistically speaking, the food service industry is a high stress industry that makes high demands on workers' time, with that in mind, how will he maintain his relationships with those who we have seen become his surrogate family members in the crew if he walks away from The Bear permanently? Let's say he becomes an independent visual artist, being self employed can be a lonesome experience. Also, loneliness itself can also cause dissatisfaction with one's job, does he really no longer think he is cut out for work as a chef, or is his loneliness one of the factors that brought him to a psychological/emotional tipping point at the end of season 2? From my own experience with losing my job at the end of last year, switching careers or leaving behind a job can, in an of itself, be a very isolating experience - especially if you were emotionally attached to your job or befriended your colleagues. If Carmy's loneliness is one of the biggest things he wants to escape, leaving The Bear isn't going to automatically make it possible to form the connections and the work/life balance that he is yearning for deep down inside.

8. If Carmy walks away from the restaurant, what happens to his partnership with Sydney?

After all, he was the one to convince her to partner up with him to start a new place. Worse yet, Carmy is heavily implied to be in love with Sydney, how will he have the opportunity to make something of that fondness for her or maintain a romantic relationship with her if he does start a relationship with her, if he leaves? He won't be there to try to make good on his promise to not let her fail, he won't see the highs and lows of her days BOH, their relationship just would not be the same. The disparity between professions and the high constraints on their time was also one factor that would have made it difficult for Carmy to maintain the relationship with Claire in the long run.

As such, it is common for persons in the food service industry and in other fields where it is common to work long hours, to get around this hurdle to proper work/life balance, by simply having their personal lives heavily intertwined with their work. It's common for persons in the food service industry to meet their spouses and partners at work and to continue to work with them. This is even referenced in season 2 which featured the husband and wife owned and operated restaurant, Kasama, and also with the butcher that mentions that he is in business with his wife to Sydney, after they lost their restaurant due to an untrustworthy partner.

So which will Carmy ultimately be to Sydney, just a partner that ultimately walks away from their shared vision and venture and goes it alone with his own career, even if it is for the sake of his mental health? Or will he be her partner in multiple senses of the word? Does he really "wouldn't even wanna do it without" her in a literal sense or will he walk away from The Bear? I'm hoping that he stays, or that even if he leaves that they leave together, and that they leave to greener pastures. Remember that Carmy told Jimmy that he wanted to open their "first restaurant" there at The Bear, imagine if they yield the restaurant to Tina, Richie and Nat someday and start another venture elsewhere or start publishing cookbooks together or become food television personalities, like Carmy saw himself as in his nightmare in Braciole, but in a positive twist?

Also keep in mind that when asked about the possibility of there being a romance between Syd and Carmy, Christopher Storer has gone on record to cryptically say about the two of them:

"It's a partnership, you'll see......."

9. Carmy is not a one to one analogue for Christopher Storer:

While Christopher Storer left the food service industry and entered the film industry as a writer/producer and director, and Carmy and his family is loosely based on Christopher Storer and his sister's life, there are some deviations from C Storer's life that make Carmy's character and story unique. Carmy is a youngest child, Storer is the eldest child in his family. Apart from having a cigarette addiction, Carmy is sober, but C Storer struggled with alcohol and substance abuse before he met his partner Gillian Jacobs. Storer is currently no contact with his mother who is an addict, but it remains to be seen what decision Carmy will ultimately make concerning his relationship with his mother, Donna. At the very least it seems that Nat wants her to be a part of their life still. This might be superficial, but Carmy is also short and Christopher is tall, here he is standing between Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Lionel Boyce who are roughly, 6' and 6' 3" respectively.

I'd be more confident that Carmy would leave the food service industry if he was more of an author stand-in for Christopher than Jeremy Allen White's depiction of Carmy currently is. Perhaps Carmy will represent the chef that Storer would have liked to work under or become if he remained in the culinary industry. And perhaps Mikey represents the person that Storer saw himself becoming if he did not meet Gillian Jacobs and become sober? Based on the earliest drafts of The Bear I know that Carmy and Sydney were supposed to more closely resemble Storer and his relationship with his sister Courtney, who is still a chef and is a culinary consultant on the show. However, since the story has changed so much after JAW and Ayo's casting, to the point that Carmy and Syd's relationship if rife with romantic subtext, then it'd make sense for me if Carmy remaining a chef is one more area where his life is not just a mimicry of Christopher Storer's.

TL;DR - I don't think Carmy will quit the culinary industry or The Bear, or at least I hope that he won't and here's why:

Carmy loves the restaurant.

Divestment of beloved belongings is sometimes a symptom of suicidal depression.

Carmy is a competitive person, being a chef gives him a healthy outlet to compete and to execute well at a high level, and we have yet to see this side of him/his full potential as a chef onscreen.

Carmy will require retraining to work in another field, even if he wants to do visual arts full time.

If Carmy keeps avoiding dealing with his mental health issues, a job in a different industry will still be a challenge for him.

The show is a love letter to the food service industry, Carmy leaving the industry someday will defeat the purpose of the show in a way, and would mark a departure from the trend of character progression where we've seen the supporting cast find renewed purpose in the industry.

Since Carmy suffers from loneliness, it is likely that he'll be even lonelier if he leaves The Bear.

His partnership with Sydney and his possible desire for a romance with her may suffer or become less likely to occur if he leaves.

And lastly, Carmy is not completely based on Christopher Storer's life, just because Storer left the food industry doesn't mean that he intends for Carmy to do so by series end.

Thanks for reading this through if you've made it to the end, and a big thank you for listening to me jaw on about all of this and convincing me to write it out @thoughtfulchaos773 !

P.S. Happy New Year everyone! 💃🏽

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

A certain mega-narc was noticeably absent from Victoria’s big 50th birthday bash here in London. I wonder if this was a bruise to M’s ego… Any thoughts on this? She basically has paid PR friends who are d-list actresses like herself and its pretty pathetic. I bet Meghan envisioned her life being very different than the sad reality it actually is, as she’s still a massive fraud and a failure, but now on a global scale. I don’t think she will ever get to the crème de la crème of elites that she craves to be like and obsesses over. Even Misha Nonoo married better than poor old Meg. I think Harry is well and truly stuck with her because she will never find anyone as weak or as spineless or as stupid as him. He’s not wealthy enough for her lazy good for nothing ass, but beggars can’t be choosers - and she has been a desperate grifter and beggar all her life. I truly believe this toxic marriage is her ultimate karma and it couldn’t happen to a nicer person.

The Beckhams put a stop to Meghan's PR shenanigans with their family in 2021. The cracks have been there since 2018.

Sometime in late 2017/early 2018, Meghan accused Victoria of leaking about her to the tabloids. Harry called David to confront them about it and there was a row. Supposedly they patched things up and the Beckhams were invited to the wedding. (Revealed in 2022)

Harry asked David to be an ambassador for the Sydney Invictus Games and David agreed. But when the Games were actually taking place, Harry refused to meet, see, or speak to David. It pissed David off and he soured on Harry.

Meghan asked Victoria for free clothes. Victoria declined; she doesn't give freebies. (First revealed in 2019, resurfaced again in 2023.)

Fast forward to 2021 when the Beckhams' son has gotten engaged and they're planning the wedding. Meghan issued several PR stories and a blind item about how the Beckhams are scheduling their son's wedding around the Sussexes' availability.

The 2021 PR manifestation for invites to the Beckham wedding seems to have been the final straw that broke the Beckhams' back. It's pretty plausible, IMO; there haven't been any articles, stories, or blind items about the Sussexes and Beckhams hanging out. In fact, the Beckhams have been pretty solidly aligned with the Waleses since early 2022 and appear to have cut all ties with the Sussexes.

July 2022. David and William do a mental health thing together.

December 2022. David leaves the FIFA Qatar World Cup for a whirlwind trip to Boston to present at Earthshot 2022.

May 2023. David gives King Charles a jar of honey from his bees. (Becks got into beekeeping during the pandemic. It's covered in their documentary.)

July 2023. David and Victoria throw a huge party in Miami to celebrate Messi's first game with the team. All the celebs from LA attend. No Sussexes.

April 2024. Sussexes are in Miami for polo party. No Beckhams. Not even a hint or trace of PR - in the olden days, Meghan would've at least tried to manifest a lunch or cocktails.

And of course, we can't forget David queueing for 12+ hours to pay his respects to The Queen. If that's not a sign to the rest of us that he's exclusively TeamBRF, then I don't know what is.

[moments-on-film]

Moments on Film: The Connection Between Sydney’s Repeating Hair Scarves

This is a continuation of my last post which highlighted the matching costumes worn by Carmen and Sydney in season 2.

Hair scarves are a huge part of Sydney’s costumes as a character. She has many vibrant and beautifully colorful hair scarves that she wears throughout season 1 and 2. However, in the series so far, there are only two scarves that she prominently wears more than once. As with everything on this show, everything is connected, and nothing is wasted. There are so many seeds planted in this show that ultimately bear fruit, including through the costumes.

At the end of episode 1x2 “Hands”, Carmen hires Sydney to formally work at The Beef. In this episode, she’s wearing a blue/yellow/white patterned hair scarf.

Sydney: “Do you want me to uh, come in tomorrow?”

Carmen: “Please. Yeah. You’re hired.”

This is the same hair scarf she will later wear in episode 1x7, “Review”, when she quits.

Carmen: “What’s going on?”

Sydney: “Um, I quit is what’s going on.”

————————————————————————

In episode 1x4, “Dogs”, Sydney has to step up and lead the restaurant in Carmy’s absence (while he caters the birthday party). This is also the episode where Sydney and Tina have their breakthrough. She wears a red and white patterned hair scarf in this entire episode. It should be mentioned that the neckline of her shirt mimics that of her eventual Chef coat, given to her by Carmy.

Tina: “Thank you Jeff—Chef.”

Sydney: Nods in understanding.

She will later wear the same red hair scarf in 2x9, “Omelette”, and more importantly in 2x10, “The Bear”, when Carmy is trapped in the walk in and she again has to take his place, and lead the team (with Richie) in Carmy’s absence.

Sydney: “Carm?”

Carmen: “It’s your ship now, Captain.”

————————————————————————

These two scarves, one blue and one red, have both been worn during times of extreme change for Sydney as a leader in the restaurant and to reflect major turning points for her character.

There is so much to analyze in The Bear. Very much looking forward to analyzing a third season with you all. I hope the strikes lead to better pay and fair contracts for the Writers and the Actors so we can.

[gingerylangylang1979]

If he gets his shit together Carmy could be an amazing husband and father

Currently, Carmy is a hot mess. But I really hope the show doesn’t intend for that to be his end game. Yes, he will always struggle with mental health issues. People aren’t cured of them, it’s a matter of managing life with them. If only mentally healthy people had spouses and children most of us wouldn’t be here and the world would be a lonely place. Unless someone is a danger to themselves and others I hate it when I hear people trying to dictate who should reproduce and who shouldn’t. I don’t even want to get into the mildly hinting at eugenicist implications of such statements.

Carmy has a way to go. Some may say he shouldn’t have had a romantic relationship. Looking back I actually think it was good that he at least tried. At the moment he thinks it was a mistake and he shouldn’t try again. But that will change as he progresses. It was a learning experience. It showed that he is capable of giving his heart, caring for a partner, being romantic, letting loose, being domestic. It also shows that there is a part of him that is unfulfilled without a relationship. It was just bad timing with the wrong person. 

Beyond that I think part of Carmy’s character is a sense of respect and care for women. He speaks up when Richie harasses Sydney and when the guys were being vulgar about Claire at Christmas. He hasn’t really had a role model for chivalry and feminism but he has those values and isn’t afraid of being called “weird”. He doesn’t seem to care about fitting into the Berzatto male paradigm. He actively tries to escape it when it comes to worldview. This is why Richie calls him “woke”. Richie is built different. Mikey is built different. 

Carmy is a product of the best traits of his generation and exposure to different lifestyles. He’s traveled. He’s worked with women as his superiors and equals. He’s not afraid to bring Sydney on as his CDC, Tina on as her Sous, and Natalie as project manager. He has anger issues that are often directed at Sydney but it’s not because she’s a woman. We never see him try to dominate in his relationship with Claire. He also isn’t intimidated that Claire has post-graduate education and may have more long term earning potential than him unless he really becomes a culinary mogul. 

Carmy has paternal instincts. At the kid’s birthday party he knew they would want ketchup, he made the ecto-cooler, he was more concerned than anyone else about them being sedated. He made Tiff probably the best Sprite on the planet. I’m sure when Nat’s baby arrives he will be smitten, even if a fish out of water. I’m curious if he has interacted with Ava. 

With the staff he is nurturing when opportunities arise. He sold off some of his prized denim to keep the place afloat. He still makes the beef even if it’s the wrong cut. He continues service after the toilet explodes because they have to keep it movin. He consoles Marcus when he fucked up service. He also warns him to stay on track but didn’t hold it against him when he actually did go off point. He bails Richie out with their parachute. He sends Marcus to Copenhagen, Tina and Ebra to culinary school, Richie to Chef Terry. He gives Sydney the space to experiment and fail. He keeps everyone on and paid. He fucks up big time and becomes unhinged but he earnestly apologizes. He’s trying. He cares. He knows he needs work. He wants to provide in the best way he’s able at the moment. 

So with time, patience, and consistency, perhaps years from now I can really see him being a great partner and father. Carmy is a survivor. He doesn’t give up, he’s gonna make shit happen, he’s good at pivoting, he stays committed. Please let him have a wife and kid(s) someday if he desires. Thinking he should be alone forever is deeply pessimistic. 

Adding: Carmy is also very attentive. His radar goes off immediately when Sydney is upset. He tries to fix it. He’s struggling now but he wants to put in the work and won’t leave things with them at odds. He’s not too proud to apologize.

[cherrymemorieseventmanagement]

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[snapdragoned]

I've been waiting for this moment for months, but - Sydney also joins the household!

I originally wanted to do this at Samit's birthday party, but I ran into some issues with Sydney's character file that I had to learn how to fix into SimPE first. But finally!

Sydney's been Samit's #1 FWB his entire adult life. They started out as roommates right after Samit graduated college and have hooked up intermittently since then.

Sydney is also infamous in Windflower Bay for generally causing problems, being nosy, inviting herself places she shouldn't be, and slapping people. I am so excited to actually play her!

Aspiration: Romance/Fortune

Traits: Hot-Headed, Loves the Heat, Inappropriate, Charismatic, Rebellious

Personality: 2/8/4/7/4

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[gingergofastboatsmojito]

The Marcusgate

It all started on a lazy Sunday, which was now Carmy's favorite day of the week, and with Syd and Carmy binge-watching Netflix's Blue Ribbon Baking Championship and remembering that Sandra Lee was a regular Bear's customer whenever she was in Chicago, so they pinged Richie to get her number and congratulate her for the show that Sydney was crazy about.

Syd maniacally took notes on all the recipes on the show and came up with variations of each that she planned to run by Marcus the next day. She was overjoyed when one of the bakers used lemon-macerated Concord grapes in his cake, and that excitement was quickly replaced by disappointment when that same baker was the first to leave the competition. And when she saw Sandra Lee in tears over a cheesecake, she knew she had to ask Marcus to add that cheesecake recipe to The Bear's menu as soon as possible, so she asked Carmy to contact Sandra and try to get all the intel.

In time, this led to all four of them starting a Blue Ribbon group chat that included Syd, Carmy, Sandra, and Marcus. They exchanged recipes and talked specifically about logistics to ensure plagiarism wasn't one of the ingredients when Marcus made The Bear's version of those desserts. Not only to avoid any potential legal complications that could affect the restaurant's or Marcus' reputation, but also because both Syd and Carmy knew that plagiarism was the fetish of those who can't, the lowest of crimes that only mediocre criminals commit, and they were way above that, as naturally so was Marcus. They also greeted each other on their respective birthdays and, of course, invited each other to dinner whenever that could be arranged.

One day, over one of those dinners that took place at Casa Sydcarmy, on a Sunday night when Sandra happened to be in town, she pitched an idea to the Michelin Star award-winning chefs: "What do you guys think of joining me as Executive Producers on my next project: Cordon Blue Ribbon?"

"Cordon Blue Ribbon?" Marcus was intrigued.

"You mean the Cordon Bleu version of your show?" Syd quipped.

"Exactly, and only Michelin Star award winner pastry chefs could compete on it and the prize would be a million dollars, instead of just $100K." Sandra's eyes met Marcus and stayed laser-focused on him.

Carmy was still silent and in disbelief when he looked at Marcus with a mix of curiosity and shock on his face, to know what he had to say to that.

"Sounds interesting..." Marcus added as he popped a mini cinnamon churro in his mouth, courtesy of Sandra who knew better than to show up empty-handed to a dinner party thrown by 2 Michelin Star award chefs.

"That's what I told my manager! When she came up with the idea, I was super interested right off the bat. You'll see, I have a 3-year contract with Netflix, and making another Pie Blue Ribbon cooking show wasn't going to cut it. It was more of the same, and innovation is a must in television if you want to stay relevant."

"You should know... having an Emmy under your belt, right?" Syd fangirl had entered the chat.

Sandra laughed and graciously accepted the compliment, meanwhile, Carmy had no idea what the ladies were talking about because he had never watched one of her shows before Syd came into his life, let alone a daytime Emmy award show.

Sandra went on and kept focusing on Marcus.

"So we decided to bring in more award-winning chefs and raise the stakes for this next project. That was the only way we could get the million-dollar prize approved. So... what do you think Marcus? Would you be on board? Would you be interested in competing for a million dollars?"

Marcus looked at Syd and Carmy, like asking for their greenlight and they both smiled and silently agreed.

So it was settled and when the show happened, he was going to be there, front and center. Sandra assured him.

Fast forward 6 months and the pre-production of the contest was being kick-started in Los Angeles.

Syd and Carmy declined the offer Sandra made them to be Associate Executive producers of the show so that Marcus could be a participant and no conflict of interests compromised him. Marcus, in exchange, offered them a cut of the prize if he won and Syd and Carmy agreed to only take credit on social media about being his sponsors and mentors but vehemently declined every penny he offered.

"You owe us nothing, Marcus, this is all you," Syd said.

"What are you talking about? Carmy believed in me when all I knew how to barely make were buns and you pushed me to be better, Sydney, to push myself. I wouldn't have gone to Copenhagen if it weren't for you, guys..."

"But because of your amazing work we also got a Michelin Star, Marcus. That star was a team effort, you're one of us. That's more than enough payback if you ask me." Carmy clarified with a: "Period" tone.

Marcus heard the subtext and was quick to be on the same page "Heard, chef."

Shortly after Marcus was wowing the judges with his creations, all 100% by Marcus Brooks. He took no inspo from the recipes he got from the chat he shared with Sandra, Syd, and Carmy. His only inspiration came from his loved ones, his affections, and people that he had met along the way and that had had a true impact on his life. Including Luca and Michael.

Marcus slayed the competition one killer dessert at a time.

There were 9 rounds and the grand finale. The level of complexity was evergrowing.

Marcus was a serene force of nature on that set.

He bagged the first round with a peach pie served in a sundae dish with a scoop of lemon buttermilk gelato at the base topped with balsamic caramel sauce and a half-moon shaped, fresh peach hand pie. The hand pie was hot, just out of the oven so the contrast between that and the ice cream was what really got the judges. They were amazed by Marcus' talent, from day one and knew he was final-round material from the get-go. There was no doubt about it in their minds because he was not only incredibly skilled but also calm and focused. He didn't falter under pressure.

The second round was also in Marcus' pocket when he served a petite croissant over a brass cooling rack dotted with Pearl sugar and honey filled with a gooey Délice de Bourgogne cheese and finished at the table with black truffle, inspired by Chicago's Kasama. The judges' feedback was amazing. They said it was exquisitely clever to use this as a cheese course. "The technique and execution were exemplary," they assured.

Then it was the turn of the most luxurious and rarest ingredient of them all: Criollo.

For those viewers at home who may have not been too familiar with this ingredient, Sandra gave a brief presentation:

"Criollo is a very rare and precious variety of cacao that was at risk of extinction for many years. It is the cacao of the Mayas and the Aztecs, the cultivation of which has been progressively abandoned owing to its low yield. It is a delicate cacao and makes up just 0.01% of global cacao production. Tonight, our chefs will use it as the primary ingredient to bring us the Wow factor we are looking for and that will earn them immunity in the next round. Let the Criollo games begin!"

With that, Sandra dismissed the participants and allowed them to go to their stations to start working their magic. They only had 50 minutes to make it happen and make it count.

Marcus decided to go with something a little bit different. He crafted his chocolate pyramid with a creamy ball of guava sorbet and a tasty coconut foam. He also crowned it with a thin sugar collar sprinkled with sesame seeds, flecks of red chili, and a little black garlic, providing complementary flavors and a subtle warmth too.

Immunity was his bitch.

For the next round, seeing as he was untouchable he decided to go rogue, he had the liberty to make whatever he wanted so he decided to make what he called: "Dreaming of Lod Chong". The judges were blown away when he served his creation in a small bowl that displayed this square of pandan parfait in a sauce of salted coconut cream. Marcus added specially treated crushed ice as a final flourish, too. Those little ice pieces looked exactly like diamonds. It was an unexpected success, expertly balancing sweet and salty notes. "The ice also added great texture. It was a solid finish.” That was what the judges had to say about it. Again, Marcus blew them away.

He kept advancing to the next rounds till he got to the semi-finals and the judges put the chefs through the wringer like never before.

The assignment was to make the outside of the dessert look like the main ingredient on the inside. The goal was not to sacrifice flavor to achieve uncanny and realistic resemblance, plus never losing sight of creativity and originality.

Most contestants failed the test because they presented obvious desserts that anyone could find in any respected bakery.

But Marcus, Marcus Brooks told a different sweet story with his dessert. And it wasn't even that sweet. It was acid and sweet and perfect.

Mojito Pie.

This was a memorable pie, the judges said. It had a buttery graham cracker crust topped by a very light lime and mint mousse that was dusted in lime powder to resemble an actual lime. This was served with a lime sorbet and spritzed with rum.

"It was adorable to look at and even better to eat," Sandra concluded.

That pie granted him a spot in the final.

Marcus was tense for the first time ever in the competition. He hadn't been that nervous in a long time. It was unlike him to be so high-strung.

Two days later, when the final episode of the show was being shot, Syd and Carmy surprised Marcus and showed up at the studio, along with Chester, for emotional support. The Bear was closed, Marcus was that important to them. The only other time when the restaurant was closed was on the occasion of Ever's funeral service.

Now it was Marcus' turn to be blown away. He was over the moon. And Carmy tried to give him some sort of pep talk but all he managed to say was: "You're already a winner, Marcus, just don't fuck it up and you'll be fine."

Syd dramatically rolled her eyes at Carmy's words and added: "Marcus, don't think about the prize ahead, think about what you've accomplished so far. You got this. And we got you."

Marcus smiled at her kind words and then the little moment Syd and him were having was interrupted by Chester's heavy palm on his back that sounded like a slap but was meant to be supportive and encouraging.

"My man! The million-dollar chef!"

"Not yet, Chester. Not yet!"

"What are you talking about?! That big fat check is yours, Marcus. What show have you been watching? They freaking love you, man. This finale is just paperwork, go get 'em!"

Marcus couldn't help but snort and nod. "Will do, Chest, will do, thanks, man!"

So, when the judges announced it was showtime, Marcus' entire life as a baker flashed before his eyes.

The final assignment was a triple one: They had to come up with a 3 step-sweet menu inspired by their past, present, and future as pastry chefs. And there was a catch: The future had to be a sweet version of a savory dish and look on the outside like its original savory version. They only had 3 hours to complete all 3.

Marcus knew he could pull a trifecta off, but he was afraid that pulling it in only 3 hours was pushing his boundaries as a baker a bit too far.

He went for it anyway.

For the past version of himself as a pastry chef, he decided to make "The Sydney's Donut", which was nothing but a Copenhagen-inspired and elevated version of the donut that Carmy had destroyed like a little bitch. That one was easy but he elevated it by presenting it on an edible marshmallow carved bowl.

Marcus' present at The Bear after winning a Michelin star was far more fancy, so he served the judges a "Turkish Delight, Almond, Manjari, Chocolate, and Rose." This chocolate bar hid a light, creamy chocolate center with a lovely layer of almond panna cotta. Arranged on top were Turkish delights, almonds, crystallized rose petals, and a quenelle of silky smooth almond ice cream. This dessert was currently part of The Bear's menu and it was the most popular choice among its customers with a sophisticated sweet tooth.

For the future, Marcus took inspiration from Syd and Carmy as a whole, and their collective impact on his life. Their love inspired him and so did the invisible string that seemed to connect them long before they met. When Marcus heard the whole story about Sydney's favorite meal and saw the pictures she had taken, he was deeply moved by it because it looked like Carmy had literally put his heart on the plate for her and it was exactly the kind of story that his mom used to love and cherish. So in honor of Syd and Carmy's love story and of his late mom, to whom he was going to dedicate the victory if he took the prize home, Marcus decided to make a fake heart-shaped Paupiette of hamachi with blood orange sauce. For the Paupiette of hamachi, he used molded white chocolate that he wrapped in a fine vanilla crepe and carefully colored with some cinnamon powder for it to look precisely like the original fish. The blood orange sauce was based on its original recipe minus the garlic and the chili flakes and he elegantly topped all that with a thin sweet potato chip sprinkled with sweet chili flakes to replicate the exact aesthetic of the fateful dish that proved to be Sydney's favorite.

The alchemic reaction was epic when the judges tasted that masterpiece. There was no more contest and the other two chefs knew it even before the unanimous verdict was announced.

All 3 of Marcus' works were mindblowing but the Paupiette of hamachi with blood orange sauce was not only flawless, but its appearance was exactly the same as Carmy's dish. There was no way to tell them apart.

To wrap up the award ceremony and his acceptance speech Marcus was asked to say a few words about each dessert on his menu and go over the reason behind each choice. When the time came to explain why he had chosen to make his own version of Paupiette of hamachi with orange sauce he said that Sydney, his mentor, and friend, had confided in him a long time ago that the best meal she had ever had was that dish, by Carmen Berzatto, back in NYC when he was the best CDC in the world and they hadn't even met yet. Marcus went on to mention that Carmy, or "Bear," as he called him, was also his friend and mentor and that without them, he probably wouldn't be there. And that he was forever thankful to both.

Carmy was saucer-eyed, he had no idea that he had made the best meal she had ever had. A dish he instinctively made for her, breaking all the rules and defying his boss' direct orders.

Syd looked at Carmy with that intense yet sweet but never condescending look she reserved for him only and took his hand as she smiled at him and tightened her grip.

Carmy smiled back and then re-directed his attention to Marcus when he elaborated on the background story of his winning dessert when Sandra said: "Wow! That is unbelievable and disarmingly sweet! You're telling me he made the best meal she ever had before they met and now they are husband and wife?!"

"Yes." Marcus smiled and looked at them.

Sandra was beside herself and declared: "That's the most romantic story I ever heard! Did Sydney just tell you one day: 'Oh by the way, Paupiette of Hamachi with blood red orange sauce is my favest and Carmy made it for me before we met in New York when he was the best CDC in the world?' Just like that? Is that a story she just tells everybody to, I don't know, break the ice?"

Marcus was finally loosening up and laughing out loud and he casually said: "No, no, we were having dinner at her place and..."

Carmy didn't hear what Marcus said next, he just looked at Syd as if he had just been shot and was bleeding to death right before her eyes and went: "WAIT, WHAT?!!?"

A/N: This fic was inspired by that Netflix baking show that I just binged entirely in 2 days over the weekend and Marcus' recipes come straight from the Michelin Guide because I can't even make French toast... My meta on the dish is embedded in the first mention of it.

Enjoy! 💋

[fivenightsatfreddysfanfiction]

She Remembers

It's Mike's birthday. Faith and Gregory meet.

--------------------------

.

It was something of a yearly tradition, bittersweet but warm. Faith and ‘Digo would pick up a simple cake at Dapper Goods bakery, meet with Jeremy at his workshop to pick him up and his photo of Mike, and then drive together to Circus Baby’s Pizza and Parties. Mike’s birthday was one of celebration and remembrance, a cozy event for family and colleagues, friends made by their shared opposition to the Aftons and Fazbear Entertainment.

Meera would have the pizzeria closed for the day, eating the cost of skipping a business day in favor of having a private setting for them all. When she first offered her restaurant as a place to host the birthday parties, it had been out of guilt for calling Mike out of retirement to help her foil Elizabeth Afton’s plan to use replicas of the animatronics to harvest Remnant for William Afton. She had explained that if she hadn’t done so, maybe it wouldn’t have caused Mike to realize how dangerously close he was to being like William, already possessing the power to surpass death but not yet losing his connection to his own humanity.

After all, it wasn’t long after they’d foiled the facility’s labyrinth that Mike gave up Six to normalize his lifespan, and then he passed away with Faith’s mom within the year. There had been the hope that perhaps he’d come back to them as a reincarnation, like Faith and ‘Digo and the other Reborn Children and the two senior Guards had done. But year after year passed and there was no sign of him. Faith had to content herself with the idea that her father had gotten his wish of moving on while Jeremy continued holding out hope that Mike would come back in some way.

The guilt Meera felt soothed over time as she got to know Mike’s family and realized they didn’t hold anything against her. Mike was as stubborn as they got, once he made up his mind about something he held to it come hell or high water. He would’ve gotten the idea of what long life would do to him eventually but the risk would’ve been higher that he wouldn’t have caught on until after his Doll passed and he was left still enduring time. No one wanted to think about what that would have done to his mental state.

They arrived at the pizzeria and smiled in greeting at Meera as she waved and opened the door for them. “Everyone else is already inside, so decorations are up and good to go,” she told them, holding open the door so there was clearance for Faith’s cane to pass through, “Would you like me to get one of our wheelchairs for you? Lucian cleaned them this morning so they’re sanitized still.”

“That’d be lovely, thank you. You’d think being the spirit that helped Dad power through injuries would let me get over a silly knee surgery faster but noooo,” Faith trilled with a roll of her eyes while her wife snickered behind her hand.

“I told her to bring the one I bought her but she insisted she was fine,” Jeremy sighed, “Got that stubbornness from Dad.” He folded his jacket over his arm, shaking his shoulders to loosen them up. “So the gang’s all here?”

“Yeah, Alex and Sydney are in the back of house to help with making dinner,” Meera added and gave them a small, strained smile, “Alex still doesn’t want to intrude on the party so he said he’s fine with eating in the break room, and Sydney still doesn’t remember that Mr. Schmidt was the person his past self had targeted before his death but he doesn’t want to leave Alex alone so he’s also staying in the break room.”

Jeremy’s expression scrunched up like he’d bitten into a grapefruit while Faith just tutted at him, flapping her hand at his arm. “At least they’re giving us space,” he acknowledged.

“Also, just to warn you guys, Sydney asked if Vanessa and Gregory could help with preparations so they might be out and about to keep Gregory distracted,” Meera added as Circus Baby arrived with a wheelchair, holding it in place for Faith to ease herself into with a relieved sigh.

“Who’re they?” ‘Digo asked in mild interest, holding the cake in her arms and nodding at Jeremy’s offer to push the wheelchair in her place. The group headed into the pizzeria together, walking under colorful banners and the sound of Mike’s favorite playlist streaming songs through the dining room.

“Remember when a bunch of robbers broke into Freddy’s and hijacked the Fazband?” Faith asked casually and ‘Digo huffed, expression growing annoyed.

“Oh yeah. The lil punk that took control of Foxy from the Fourth Child and the big meathead that kept shooting at every damn thing?” she retorted and one of her eyes twitched, “Don’t tell me they reincarnated too! I thought they were trapped at Freddy’s while the rest of us got reborn!”

“Well, they’re my cousins, and they’re trying not to step on any toes so please no fighting in my pizzeria?” Meera told her with a nervous laugh, “And as for Vanessa and Gregory, they’re both Aftons but they have the name because they had their identities stolen and remade by the Afton Family. Their memories and Remnant were affected so Vincent’s been helping them recover what they can.”

“More families destroyed by that madman’s ambitions and that horrible company,” Faith muttered with a shake of her head, “Still, it’s Dad’s birthday so let’s focus on the party and memorium.”

The table for the party was nicely decorated, Mike’s picture set up at the head with flowers and tea candles placed around it. The cake was set nearby and everyone chatted in lively tones, catching up on each other’s lives over slices of pizza, salads, and lasagna. Not all of the Reborn Children could make it, travelling abroad in their work, but the ones that did shared stories of their past childhoods with Mike while Faith chimed in with stories of him growing up.

They danced and laughed to the more energetic songs in Mike’s playlist, sang Happy Birthday over the cake, then divvied it up for everyone to have a piece as the party began winding down. Circus Baby came out often over the course of the party, refilling drinks, deftly clearing away dirty dishes and replacing them with clean ones, and escorting a blonde woman and a small brown-haired boy to the game corner. As people began saying their goodbyes with hugs and small sniffles, dispersing to return to their own lives, Faith found her attention wandering over to the two strangers playing in the game corner. Circus Baby watched over them, leaning against a pillar in a deceptively casual pose, while the boy stood on a stepping stool to play one of the arcade games, the woman cheering him on.

Those two had to be the Aftons Meera spoke about. With how young they looked Faith wondered if Elizabeth Afton had targeted them for her plans when her attempt at harvesting Guard Remnant failed. She felt a bit bad at the thought; Mike’s success at keeping the Strength to Survive and Jeremy’s Warmth of Life out of Mrs. Afton’s clutches meant other innocent lives were ruined in their place. Maybe the younger Guards would finally be able to put an end to the cycle once they got back inside that dreadful Pizzaplex to find out how deep the rabbit hole went.

“I’m gonna visit the little pirate’s room before we head home,” ‘Digo sighed, stretching her arms over her head, “Jeremy’s already warming up the car for us, so I’ll be back in a flash. You good?”

“Sure, I’ll pack up Dad’s photo and the flowers. We can keep them fresh in the cooler at home and then place them on his and Mom’s gravestone tomorrow,” Faith replied with a smile, “I always come into these birthday parties thinking I’ll just be moping and sad, but they’ve been nice to just catch up with everyone and have a little fun celebrating Dad’s birthday.”

‘Digo hummed, a complicated expression on her face that leaned on the side of rueful as her eyes sought out the photo of the man at the head of the table. “Sometimes I wonder if I should’ve just sucked it up and said sorry to the old man when he helped bail us out of Fazbear’s Fright,” she finally said in a quiet voice, “But I’m not the one that bit him. I’m not Violet. I have her memories, but this life is mine. I was living it without those memories and I’m still living it after they got unburied. Just sucks we never got that sorted out.”

“Small regrets,” Faith mused with a nod, “I don’t think he’d hold it against you, you know? Dad was gruff and could be a jerk, but when it really came down to it, he couldn’t blame you guys for everything. Not once he learned why you guys were so angry and who killed us all.” She huffed then and waved her wife off, “Go pee so we can go; I just want to relax in bed and sleep after all this. Couldn’t even dance because of my damned knee!”

‘Digo smirked at her before pressing a kiss to her temple and then walking off to find the bathrooms. Faith watched her go, then turned her attention back to the Aftons.

The boy had won his game, folding his tickets into a neat stack with a smile while his mother clapped encouragingly. ‘Huh, didn’t think anyone else folded tickets like that,’ Faith mused with a nostalgic smile. Mike did that as a kid to make sure he could keep a tight grip on all his tickets without leaving any loose to get snatched by anyone looking to get some easy tickets. Most of the other kids didn’t really think like that, just gripped them and let them trail like ribbons.

What were their names again? Vanessa and Gregory; Faith watched them have a conversation and then Gregory was walking away to the prize corner while Vanessa pulled her phone out to type on it, probably messaging someone. As the boy approached the counter where the security puppet would pop up to do the prize exchange, Faith narrowed her eyes as a faint suspicion began rearing its head. If the best part about a pizzeria was trading the tickets for prizes, why did Gregory look so annoyed by it?

The puppet rose out of the prize box and leaned over the counter to look at Gregory while the boy glared up at it like he had some personal vendetta against it. Despite herself, Faith giggled a little behind one hand. It was like old times, with the Marionette being a nuisance to Mike and Mike snarking and cracking puns at it to irritate it back. Her smile shrank a little as she considered the scene before her.

Could it..? ..No, it was just a coincidence. Gregory was a victim of Elizabeth Afton and her experiments at the Pizzaplex so it’s no surprise that he wouldn’t like animatronics. Right? Faith scolded herself for thinking otherwise.

The puppet made no motion to collect the tickets Gregory held out, which made Faith tilt her head in confusion. Was it broken? Meera hadn’t made any mention of the puppet having technical issues. How was Gregory going to select his prize then?

Gregory waited a moment before realizing the puppet wasn’t working and scowled in such a way that Faith’s heart twisted painfully. She remembered a glare like that during Mikey’s recovering some months after the Bite, when he couldn’t remember what he liked to do for his birthday and his emotions were a storm as he scowled at his cake, whatever excitement and joy he should have felt swallowed by a haze of pain and frustration and fear of something he couldn’t remember. She blinked rapidly to dismiss the memory and hold back tears, it had been too long since her Dad’s birthday last made her so emotional. Was she starting to see pieces of him in everything and everyone now?

Gregory huffed after a bit and dug into his pocket, bringing something out in his clenched hand, small and shiny. But before he did anything with it, he stiffened and Faith blinked again when his head swiveled over to have him stare at her directly with alarmed eyes. She offered a politely neutral smile to try and reassure him that she meant no harm, noting how quickly he shoved his hand back into his pocket as his gaze flicked up to over her head. Probably noticed the curl of her hair that arced over her head in her signature hook. Faith was always amused by the surprise she elicited from people over it.

He seemed uncertain, glancing over at his mother a few times before taking a few steps in her direction. Faith kept her expression friendly though she couldn’t help but be curious. He didn’t seem very bold, but maybe that was just because she was a stranger to him. He certainly seemed very boisterous when playing those games in the arcade.

“Hello there,” she greeted warmly once he was near, “You look like you took those games to the cleaners!” Gregory huffed a short laugh, mouth twitching into a quick smile before it fell back into that semi-confused scowl that Faith knew so well it was frightening.

“Yeah, I had a lot of practice with those games,” he replied and shrugged, “My name’s Gregory. Is it your birthday today?” His nose wrinkled as he asked that, a dubious tone in his voice.

“Well, Gregory, I’m Faith and today was my Dad’s birthday,” Faith told him, patting the framed photo gently. Gregory leaned over to look and blinked, his eyes going wide.

“Oh, that’s the guy on Mr. Fitzgerald’s desk! His dad, Mr. Schmidt.. he’s your dad too?” he exclaimed in surprise. Faith nodded.

“Jeremy’s my older brother. Dad kind of adopted him and it took a while for our parents to figure out how to make it official,” she replied with a fond sigh, sitting back in her chair as Gregory chewed on that with that same semi-confused scowl.

“But he looks younger than you,” he finally said, squinting at her sharp laugh. Brutally honest and confused by the reaction to it; he really was so much like Mikey had been... No, he couldn’t be him. Gregory had fallen victim to Elizabeth Afton and Mike had evaded them via raw strength. Surely if he reincarnated he wouldn’t have fallen for any trap, right?

“Jeremy’s got a knack for looking young,” she finally said and pointed at the cake, “Would you like a slice? There’s not much left.”

Gregory’s eyes went wide, an obvious want on his face that he then reluctantly tamped down, mouth thinning into a flat line. “I’d better not,” he replied, brows furrowing slightly, “Cake.. cake’s not good today.”

Faith stiffened slightly, a faint chill passing over her. “Oh?” she heard herself say distantly, “Why not today?”

Gregory drummed his fingertips against the tabletop, scowling in frustration at the cake offered to him. “Lines,” he finally replied, struggling to get his thoughts out and Faith could see a different boy standing there at the table, fighting to speak what was on his mind, struggling against memories lost and suppressed because of a bite and her own attempts to keep him alive. “I dunno, I just don’t wanna cross any lines,” Gregory sighed in aggravation, rolling his eyes as he pushed lightly against the table and used the momentum to put distance between himself and Faith, “Cake’s not good today. Sorry, ma’am.”

“No, it’s okay,” Faith murmured shakily, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at the boy with new hope and new anxiety, “I understand. I understand.” Gregory looked up at her sharply and she smiled tremulously; maybe he was in there, maybe she was just reaching, desperate to believe her father’s ghost was back, yet desperate to believe it wasn’t. Because if she was right, then Mike didn’t escape Freddy’s after all. If she was right, Afton hurt her old friend to the point of forgetting himself. “A line you weren’t supposed to cross, but you did and it didn’t go well, so now you know that today you shouldn’t cross lines, and should probably avoid cake.”

“Hey, no making fun, I have amnesia so go easy on me!” Gregory protested, folding his arms over his chest and sulking. Faith laughed again, wet chuckles as she carefully dabbed at her eyes with one of the paper napkins. “Ah, geeze, I’m sorry if I made ya cry, lady!” Gregory exclaimed, alarm on his face as he waved his hands in front of himself, “Can I make it up? Vanessa’s gonna ground me forever if she catches me making old ladies cry!” His eyes widened and his hand dove back into his pocket. “Ah, here! Look, this belonged to your dad, right?” Gregory asked as he pulled out the object he’d hidden from her earlier. His shoulders hiked up in a hunch, his hand slowly opening in that way a kid would when they really didn’t want to share. “You.. you can have it back.. if that’ll make you happy?”

Faith blinked, hand rising shakily to her mouth as she gazed down at Mike’s name tag. That silly cheap plate Byron had provided to him to wear that he had carried for years, until that fateful night it had been ripped off in the frenzy of trying to keep him alive after a second bite from Foxy. She thought it had been well and truly lost, or at least ruined by the passage of time. Yet aside from the pin being bent out of shape and then back into it, it looked as shiny as that final night.

“I cleaned it up some and tried to fix the pin, but it wasn’t too bad when I found it,” Gregory explained nervously, “Guess somebody put it back in his locker for safe keeping? The latch on it, ah, didn’t hold up against time, I guess.”

She just nodded slightly, reaching down to gently pass her fingertip over the name tag as she picked it up. There was a faintly cool feeling radiating from it, her soul shivering in recognition. A small amount of Mike’s Remnant -emotions of determination, frustration, irritation, and grief- was layered onto the metal, soaked from years of exposure. It flickered an outside connection, likely from Six pulling at any item Mike once possessed that now carried Remnant from him to use as a source of strength. He could have just found it. It didn’t have to mean anything. It didn’t prove anything. How would she be able to confirm something no one else had caught any inklings of?

Something that was core to her and her father as Faith and Mike, something so deeply ingrained in them that they’d recognize it on instinct, or close enough.

Faith began humming, a melody she heard so often on the night shift with Mike, when the power went out and time was cutting it close and Freddy stood at the doorway with his internal music box playing the seconds down, a gamble on every failure of whether Mike would escape or not. A melody that had been lost since then, replaced by other music boxes and sounds over the years in many iterations of the pizzeria.

“Hm hm hm-hm hm, hm hm-hm hm hmmmm,” she hummed out and watched as Gregory stiffened, eyes going wide and wild as they darted around in search of something, a faint panicked expression growing on his face. “Do you recognize it?” Faith murmured, settling in as her suspicions were confirmed just with that, a tiny and sad smile on her face.

“Wh-what was that?!” the boy hissed out, shaking himself off once he recognized there were no threats in this pizzeria.

“Afton stole your memories, didn’t she?” Faith asked quietly, “Stole them or destroyed them. They couldn’t fight you, couldn’t win against you, back then, so they came for you when you were like this. How cruel, but unsurprising.” She smiled again, rueful and nostalgic, “But you’ll find some way to win again. You always do. That’s the trick behind your curse.”

Gregory just wrinkled his nose, tilting his head as he looked up at her in confusion, “Huh?” She just laughed and took his hand, opening it to place the name tag back on his palm and then closing his fingers over it.

“Keep it. Belonged to you anyway,” Faith told him, “I think you’ll be needing it more than me.” She tapped her nose, then his, a mischievous smirk on her face. “Bit of advice. Don’t linger on the same camera too long, do a walk around before the time starts if you can manage it so you can have a baseline of rooms to compare with on cameras, sometimes holding still will save you when running doesn’t, and most importantly of all...”

“Gotta conserve power,” Gregory recited in the same breath as her wording. He blinked and Faith grinned.

“Yeah, you got this. I have faith in you,” she said with a giggle, “Beat the Afton Family again, okay? I hope you get your memories back, but if you don’t just know that me and Jeremy will be all right. We’ve had good lives. We’ve had happy times. Don’t worry about us.”

“Ooo-kay?” Gregory replied in a questioning tone and gave her a crooked smile out of nervousness that she immediately clocked as Mike’s grin, the kind he put on when cornered by a situation he couldn’t curse and punch his way out of easily.

“I think your mother’s looking for you. Why don’t you go on and find her?” Faith told him, giving him an out that he eagerly took with a quick expression of relief. She waved as he ran off for the arcade again, straight for the young woman watching them cautiously.

While those two talked, probably to discuss Gregory’s conversation with her, ‘Digo reappeared at Faith’s side to collect the flowers and place them in her lap with Mike’s photo. They left the table together to head to the entrance and get to the car.

“So.. what was that all about?” ‘Digo asked in mild interest, “Anything interesting the Afton kid had to say?”

“Nah, just passing on some advice I learned from Mike about the night shift,” Faith replied, sitting back in the chair with a content sigh, “Thought the kid could use it someday.”

“I suppose since it kept the old fart alive against a bunch of pissed off ghost kids it’s gotta be good for something,” ‘Digo snarked, grinning at Faith erupting into laughter as Jeremy hurried over to open the doors for them at the entrance and then at the car. “Think it’ll do for a kid without a ghost of his own? Those Aftons are messing with Remnant and souls. How’s one punk supposed to deal with that?”

“I don’t think we’ve seen his full potential yet. He’s just a kid still, ‘Digo, give him time to grow into himself,” Faith said and sighed in contentment.

Her father and old friend was there, his memories lost by what Afton had done, but still surviving somehow, still holding on through Gregory. If he surrounds himself with enough of the Remnant Mike left behind on his possessions, and Six realizes his identity too, maybe a miracle could happen? It was a nice idea.

“Good luck, Gregory,” she murmured, “Give ‘em hell for us.”

[drabbles-mc]

Side-Tracked

Sydney Adamu x Richie Jerimovich

Warnings: 18+, language, fluff

With the help of This Prompt List by @creativepromptsforwriting and my trusty Wheel of Names with every character I’ve ever written for, I’m aiming to write a fic in 500 words or less every day of March.

Prompt: flower crown

Word Count: 795

A/N: I KNOOOOOOW i know i know this is way more than 500 words. BUT!!! idk i think it's impressive that i made it till the 24th before i broke that rule. 😂 i just love them. will be thinking about them. cannot be stopped.

She’d promised to show up early to help set up. It was the new house and it was his first time having people over for something like this. If the occasion had been different, maybe he wouldn’t have cared so much, but it was Eva’s birthday and Richie would be damned if he messed it up.

When Syd let herself in the front door, she had been expecting to be met with the usual mess and noise that came with Richie. She was ready to hear him yelling and swearing at Carmy for not hanging streamers up the right way, immediately apologizing to Eva after the fact for yelling on her party day.

Instead she walked in and was met with a fairly quiet house. There was music coming from the living room, a Taylor Swift album that had since been abandoned. Syd walked through the house to get out to the back yard and she could tell before she even got fully outside that it was where Richie had spent the most time setting up.

She adjusted the bag on her shoulder as she made her way out onto the grass. She could hear the sounds of not only Eva’s laughter, but Richie’s too. Syd’s eyes widened and a smile broke out across her face at the sight in front of her. She knew without a doubt that Richie had spent the morning running around like a chicken with his head cut off. She couldn’t blame him—he just wanted things to be perfect. But she also knew that never in a million years could he turn Eva down if she was asking him for something, which Syd knew was how the two of them had ended up sitting on the ground, plastic tablecloths tossed off to the side instead of on the tables where they were supposed to be.

Eva had a flower tucked behind each ear and she’d given one to Richie at one point too, although his was about ready to fall out and back onto the ground. Neither of them noticed that, or even noticed Syd for a moment, as they stayed focused on the task at hand. Syd had no idea how long it had taken the two of them to string together the flower crown that they were just about to finish, but she had a feeling it had taken more time than Richie realized.

She walked over and crouched down next to Richie, who didn’t realize what was happening until Eva erupted in a fit of giggles. Syd gave her a smile and a wave before leaning onto Richie’s shoulder. “It’s not a real birthday party without a flower crown. I’m glad you guys took care of this,” she said.

Richie flinched in surprise, but the shock didn’t keep him from laughing. “Jesus.”

Syd gave his shoulder a light squeeze. “Well? What are you waiting for?” She gestured to Eva. “Give the queen her crown!”

All three of them were laughing as Richie carefully lifted it up and placed it on top of Eva’s head. “I don’t know if that’s gonna stay together so be—”

Eva was already on her feet, slamming Syd with a quick hug before running back towards the house. “I wanna go look at it!”

Richie was shaking his head as he slowly stood back up, fingers dragging across his brow as he watched Eva clamp her hand down on her head to keep the flimsy string of flowers and stems in place. He watched her until she disappeared completely inside the house, and only then did he turn back to Syd.

“Hey,” he said with a laugh as he pulled her into a hug.

She laughed, leaning right into him as she returned the embrace. “Hey. Didn’t realize that crown-maker was on your list of skills.”

He squeezed her a little tighter. “Fuck off.”

Syd laughed, stepping back when he realized the embrace. “I was gonna offer to start cooking, but,” she leaned and grabbed the discarded decorations off the ground, “I see you’re still on tablecloths. Here,” she handed one end to him.

He took it, a relieved smile on his face. “Thanks.” They draped it over one of the picnic tables that were set up in the yard. He saw the smirk on Sydney’s face as she taped it down. “I swear to god if you fuckin—”

“I didn’t say anything!” she said with a laugh, hands up in surrender. “I didn’t say anything.” She paused, nodded in his direction. “The daisy behind your ear, though, she might tell on you a little bit when everyone else gets here.”

He grabbed the next tablecloth for the next table, shaking his head as he laughed. “Snitches. All of you.”

[katelynnwrites]

blurbs:

i love you so

epiphany.

party tricks

so long, london

a good luck kiss a day

birthday girl

series masterlist:

Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ All I Know Is This Could Either Break My Heart (Or Bring It Back To Life) ✧

you say sydney isn’t your girlfriend but just your best friend, yet is that all she is to you? part one of this fic

✧ The Kinda Love That You Only Find Once In A Lifetime (The Kind You Don’t Put Down) ✧

sydney isn’t your girlfriend, she is so much more than that, part two to this fic

✧ Girl Put Your Records On (Tell Me Your Favourite Song) ✧

pasta making and other domestic fluff with your girl

✧ You Kiss Me In A Way (That’s Gonna Screw Me Up Forever) ✧

smut, sydney's kisses are something else and have screwed you up forever

✧ She Was Sunshine (I Was Midnight Rain) ✧

sydney is sunshine and you are midnight rain, you broke her heart cause she was nice, part one of this fic

✧ You Look So Pretty (Pretty Like The Sun) ✧

after making your own name, you realise it's not enough because you are still missing your sunshine, part two of this fic

✧ Tilly ✧

you’re only three fingers old but you can be your tante’s best wingwoman, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ Bath Time And Staying Over ✧

your tante is always at your house now and you really like that, especially because you get to curl up to sleep in the big bed with her and momma, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ One Single Thread Of Gold (Tied Me To You) ✧

sydney lohmann x laura freigang, the invisible string theory is the idea that those who are destined to meet will meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. sydney and laura are two such people.

✧ My Love (She Makes Me Feel Like Nobody Else) ✧

smut, the way your girlfriend makes you feel is indescribable

✧ Flowers, Cuddles And A Hair Bow ✧

little eyes watch, little minds learn, you try to do some of the things Momma does for Tante Syd, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ Sydney's Little Liebe ✧

the very first time your favourite tante meets you, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ There Ain't No Love (Like Our Love) ✧

syd suddenly gets insecure and worried about the age difference in your relationship with her

✧ Little Liebe's Family ✧

Momma has an important talk with you, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ Little Liebe's Family II ✧

you change Tante Syd's name, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ Teeny Tiny But Oh So Protective ✧

you've never had a habit of biting but you are protective enough of your Tante Syd that it draws a first from you, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ All The Things She Did, Just So She Could Call You Hers ✧

Mama Syd wants to be able to officially call you hers, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ All The Things You Did, Just So You Could Call Her Yours ✧

you and Momma do something for your Mama Syd, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

✧ Darling, You’re The One I Want (In Paper Rings, In Picture Frames, In All Dreams) ✧

syd's been asking you to marry her since you were both little, before she ever had a proper ring

✧ Tante Syd's Very Special Pasta ✧

you're a picky eater but it seems that exceptions can be made for your Tante Syd's cooking, part of Sydney's Little Liebe

[patheticbatman]

The 52nd Win A Commission Contest was the film Napoleon (1995)! I wrote it in prose form in conjunction with my drawings (lmk if you think I should add the songs), so if you’d like to see that, please

Once upon a time, there was a golden retriever puppy, who had big dreams, and no idea how to reach them.

His mother had named him Muffin, but one day, he heard humans speak a name – Napoleon! – And knew that had to be his true name. In his soul, he knew his heart beat to a tune that was both more warlike and wild. Often he had even heard the howls of wild dogs. Unfortunately, no one else saw it like that, and his mother insisted on calling him Muffin.

It didn’t help that he was afraid of water. He told himself that while every warrior had his trials, there was no need to be afraid of the humans’ pool; he was bred for swimming. Still, he hesitated.

One day, the small human had a birthday party. Cruelly, but without malice – for many young creatures are oft inconsiderate – the child decided to show off Napoleon's adorable qualities by placing him on a turtle pool floaty. The puppy panicked. Then, in an even worse turn of events, the humans forgot he was there, and soon he floated to the middle of the pool – the stuff of nightmares for both him and his mother.

Thankfully, the floaty eventually made its way to the steps of the pool, and Napoleon rescued himself – though not before a balloon fell on his head.

Irritated, he chewed and slobbered on the various objects the children left by the poolside to assuage his ego.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something new to investigate - a basket, tied to a bunch of helium balloons. He crawled in, much to the chagrin of his mother. She asked him to get out immediately, but embarrassed and overfocused on asserting his bravery, he did not heed her commands. And as she was tied to the dog house, she could do nothing to enforce them.

His wiggling and jiggling as he sniffed all over the basket – it smelled and tasted like a child with a lightly sticky hands had been messing with it – he did not notice that the basket had come untethered. Only when he had righted himself, did he notice that the basket - and thus himself – were in fact, flying.

His mother pleaded with him to jump out, but the balloons rose too fast, and he was soon too high up to tumble out safely. Both parent and puppy were terrified, and she tried to assure her son that he would stuck get in the trees, and to just sit tight.

But through some twisted miracle, he floated into the open sky.

Trying to calm his nerves as his mother’s frantic barking grew fainter and the world underneath grew smaller, he sang a song of adventure. A warrior, a true, wild dog, must of course be able to make the best of bad situations.

Soon he floated out of the suburbs, and into Sydney, seeing the incredibly tall skyscrapers from above for the first time.

And just when he was starting to float down, and his hopes rose – for maybe some human could take him home! – His basket got caught on the front spike of a monorail train.

Speeding through the city, he enjoyed the wind in his face and the rush of people in cars below. Unfortunately, the train came to a stop, and his basket came loose, and once again, he was free - floating right towards the harbor. Water!

Soon, he was over open water, and the weight of the situation settled heavily on his poor heart. A plane passed overhead, but did not hear his pleas for rescue.

But a lost galah named Birdo did. Screeching and curious, but also cautious for the puppy, he encouraged Napoleon to sit more securely and balanced in the basket. However, Birdo was still a bird, and he had a bird-brained idea. As the two floated over a beach, Birdo started popping the balloons in an attempt to gradually lower Napoleon to land.

Bemused, for Napoleon did not quite follow the plan, he watched as the first popped balloon fell to the side of the basket. However, by the second, the basket began to worryingly shudder its way to the ground - and Napoleon was not close. Still, Birdo persisted.

Unfortunately, the fourth popped balloon was one too many, and the basket hurtled to the ground.

Horrified, Birdo screamed for Napoleon to jump out as the basket impacted, and then began bouncing and rolling violently down the windswept cliff. When the basket finally reached the bottom, Birdo feared the worst, for he saw no sign of the puppy.

But it was empty! Napoleon was on a rock ledge. He ridiculed Birdo, and the galah was both irritated at Napoleon's ingratitude, and worried over the puppy’s fate in the wild.

Napoleon, ignoring both his and Birdo’s fears, decided to embrace his situation and go look for wild dogs. He climbed up a different cliff to overlook a vast rainforest. Birdo warned him that house pets don’t survive out in the wild and said he should head home. Hearing the call of a wild dog, Napoleon ignored Birdo’s warnings and descended into the forest.

It was soon dark, but Napoleon wasn’t worried, making his way through the slender moonlit trees. High above him, a tawny frogmouth caught his attention and warned that housepets either died or became something monstrous to survive. Napoleon once again ignored the advice, believing that the frogmouth was merely trying to frighten him.

—

Eventually, Napoleon decided it was time to sleep. He had gone a long way today, and would likely have further to go.

Napoleon ran across a spider and asked her for a good place to sleep. She instead fished for a compliment about her web. Napoleon pointed out a mistake, panicked because it stuck to his nose, ran through the web and ruined some more of it with his tail. The spider was quite displeased.

Unconcerned, the puppy ventured forth, until he came to a great tree, with a tunnel running between its roots. Napoleon sniffed it, hoping that it could be his bed for the night, but found it to be someone’s home. Calling out in the hope of finding someone willing to share for the night, Napoleon did not notice a feral black cat watching him from above.

"Is that a mouse I hear?" the cat said rhetorically, stalking forward. Napoleon entered the tree roots. "Can’t have a mouse in my house." Napoleon munched on something inside. "Furry mouse. Big yellow mouse."

Napoleon thought he heard something but quickly turned back to the food.

"Time to rid my house of the mouse!” the cat said, coming into view.

"Huh? What?" Napoleon said, his wide, dark eyes shining against his pale yellow face.

"The mouse." The cat growled – whether or not in reply to Napoleon, only she would ever know. Her intense, yellow eyes squinted menacingly, her body barely standing out from the dark of the night.

Napoleon laughed nervously, panting. "Good thing I’m not a mouse."

"You can’t fool me with that pitiful disguise!" She crept forward and hissed. "I’ll RIP it off you!"

Napoleon tried to run, but the ribbon the birthday child had wrapped around his neck got caught. The cat growled, and the puppy ripped free, leaving the ribbon behind. She ran after him, in that flat, close to the ground way cats do, far more familiar with the landscape than he was.

He hid, hoping that a lack of movement would protect him from the grimalkin.

Unfortunately, he had hidden right next to a boulder, which was perfect for her to creep up, plan her attack, and then pounce on the unsuspecting Napoleon.

He ran into the forest, the cat catching him occasionally, and even once bowling him over. She chased him onto a log, crossing a small, muddy pond.

He froze when he realized he was stuck over water, and the cat taunted him.

“Listen to me. I am not a mouse. You are a deeply disturbed animal." Napoleon foolishly appealed to her sense of reason.

“Shuddup!” She snarled. Napoleon whimpered. "My job is to destroy all vermin in this house. The mouse must die, now!" She started biting at his face, hoping to knock him into the water.

The tawny frogmouth, who had been observing, took pity on Napoleon, and flew down, knocking the cat into the water.

Only bubbles rose.

The frogmouth scolded Napoleon, but he did not care, and mocked the spot where the cat fell in. Remembering his manners, Napoleon thanked the bird.

"That cat won’t rest until you’re dead,” It said.

"That cat is fishbait by now." The puppy scoffed, and ran away.

The cat rose out of the mud and swore revenge, but by then, Napoleon was far out of earshot.

—

Snuggled at the base of a tree, the sun rose, and Napoleon heard his mother say, "Rise and shine, Muffin. It’s a beautiful morning. Time to get up, Muffin. Wake up."

“Mom? Mommy?” He woke up, expecting his mom to be there, but was dismayed to find himself alone.

Shaking his sadness off, Napoleon scampered through the verdant rainforest, and congratulated himself for surviving his first night away from home. He came upon a waterfall, and sat stymied. Out loud he wondered why he was so afraid of water.

A bunch of rainbow lorikeets started mimicking him. In between taunts, they told him that the wild dogs are on the other side.

Soon, Napoleon’s desire to meet them won over his fear. He found a flat spot to cross, and the lorikeets mocked his progress. But he made it!

He met a much nicer lorikeet who confirmed his intel and sympathized with him over the rudeness of the others … which gave Napoleon an adorably wicked idea.

Crossing back over - for he was slightly distant desensitized to his fear of water by then – he tricked them into calling themselves stupid, and went on his way.

Eventually, he arrived in a less dense forest, and overhearing a suspicious sound, went to investigate.

In the clearing, on a slanted tree, was a koala.

Napoleon tried to growl at the koala, but he was nonplussed. After a little more boasting from Napoleon, the koala climbed down, unconcerned with the puppy’s antics as he followed behind his odd waddle on the ground.

Napoleon tried to goad the koala into climbing up a tree and spotting the wild dogs – for once again, he heard them, but could not seem to find them. The koala turned it back on him, and kept the fact that he couldn’t see farther than a meter in front of himself, until he was away from Napoleon's reach.

The puppy stalked away, irritated. That was when Birdo found him again. Napoleon immediately jumped on the chance of having a lookout, but accidentally insulted the galah instead.

He apologized and then ignored Birdo‘s advice about going home, instead, asking for wilderness survival skills.

Unfortunately, when trying to open up to Birdo, to convince the galah of his mission, Napoleon let slip that the that they called him ‘Muffin’ at home, near a dastardly frog, and the same taunting lorikeets from before, looking for revenge. On the spot, they came up with the whole song about how he should go home. Napoleon tried to bite the frog, but it plopped onto his head. Birdo, being a good friend, kept knocking the lorikeets off their perch, but they kept flying back.

Tail held high, Napoleon walked away from the twittering animals, and found a log floating in the water. Unthinkingly, he walked on, and was surprised when it detached from the shore and floated into a bay. Despite his dismay, he resolved to sit tight, and let it take him to the other shore, where he was headed anyway. Less work!

Of course, it ended up dead in the water.

Birdo, impatient and dedicated to keeping this dog alive if he wasn’t going to go home and save himself, decided to toughen Napoleon up. He swooped down and knocked the puppy into the water, encouraging him to doggy paddle.

Napoleon was surprised to find that he was really good at it – perhaps forgetting that he was literally a golden retriever. He still needed a little instruction on how to get up the bank, but he made it.

—

The first lesson to become a wild dog, Birdo decided, was food. They had reached a rocky area, overlooking mountains. Birdo lead Napoleon to a rocky hill, covered in dry grass. A chorus of rabbits briefly scattered into sight before hiding behind other boulders and grass.

"Do you want me to eat these?" Napoleon said incredulously. All he had ever eaten was his mother’s milk, dog food, and dropped human food.

“You want to eat," Birdo said, with no small amount of vicious glee in his voice, "You’ve got to learn to KILL!"

Napoleon's incredulity did not lift. But somehow, he was convinced to try. He wandered over to where the bunnies were flitting about.

Sadly, they moved so rapidly, Napoleon had trouble focusing on just one to catch. They sang as they escaped, aware that they had the upper paw, but unwilling to show anything other than caution.

Birdo sang in opposition, calling upon Napoleon's bloodlust and hunger to drive the puppy to kill. Napoleon managed to get one alone, and it sat huddled, mostly frozen to its own detriment, as the puppy engaged in rough play with its tremorous body. But the rabbit managed to gather its wits, and after it jumped on top of a rock, Napoleon lost interest.

Birdo scolded Napoleon, but eventually gave up on the bloody venture once the puppy found lichen to eat. It did not stop his complaints.

They moved to drier, flatter land. The next lesson, according to Birdo, was learning to discern whether an animal was dangerous or not.

Napoleon approached a wombat, but as soon as it caught sight of him, it ran away, screaming, "A house pet!"

Next, he found some quokkas, former victims of the cat. They were more friendly, but still shaken from the encounter. One’s ears were quite torn.

Birdo was satisfied, so they traveled onto some snow-topped mountains. Napoleon, who loved using his nose, remarked that snow made smelling more difficult. That did not stop him from smelling something unusual.

Birdo was uninterested. He felt that it was time to learn the third lesson, about the weather. In fact … he felt a huge storm coming.

The snow that sat on the trees shivered and fell. A large rumbling came ever closer. Then Birdo realized his mistake. The rumbling wasn’t a storm. It was brumbies!

"Run!" the bird screamed, and flew away, landing in a far tree.

As the feral horses thundered by, the bird realized with great dismay that he could no longer see his friend. He called out, but if there was an answer, the galah could not hear it.

Once the herd passed, Birdo fluttered down and searched amongst the trampled snow, panic rising. But Napoleon merely had slipped into a snow burrow.

Napoleon yelled at Birdo, for he had at least smelled the horses. Birdo protested, and it only made Napoleon angrier, vowing not to trust Birdos ‘faulty’ advice again, and ran down the mountain. His nose caught something, so the puppy paused for a moment, looking over the land below. "I smell sweets!” – Napoleon followed his nose to a field of what he thought was tall grass. Birdo followed, and tried to warn him what happens to fields of dry sugarcane.

Being a dog, and one irritated at Birdo, Napoleon ignored the warnings and followed his nose instead.

Napoleon ran into a red-bellied black snake, and was nearly drawn into its eyes, but Birdo’s worried screeching pulled him out of it.

The cane around him got hotter and hotter as he pushed further in. Then he smelled smoke. And where there is smoke, there is fire. Terrified, Napoleon trampled through the burning cane, skirting around blazes and coughing, while Birdo guided the puppy out with his voice.

Stumbling out of the cane, the two reunited joyfully, and Napoleon apologized.

Of course, that was when the cat caught up with them. Bird and puppy hurried away, the cat following close behind.

Surprisingly, they stumbled upon Birdo’s flock, whom he had been searching for these last few days. Birdo joyfully flew among his kin, screeching.

This gave enough distraction that the cat, not wanting to miss an opportunity to rid her ‘house’ of vermin, crept up on a tree full of galahs.

Happy for his friend, Napoleon wandered a gulley lined with red dirt, making slight fun of the reunited family as he passed underneath. By chance, Napoleon turned his head and saw the cat creeping up behind some of Birdo‘s cousins.

Napoleon had to yell repeatedly that the cat was behind them, their excitable din nearly causing their own demise. But the galahs noticed the cat and flew away in time.

Birdo didn’t see it that way, and scolded him. He hadn’t seen the cat, and only saw what he thought was Napoleon scaring his family away. He quickly changed his tune when the cat crept up behind him.

Napoleon sauntered away as the cat lay defeated in the tree, looking for Birdo. They soon found each other near a highway. Birdo failed to land on a traffic sign, and Napoleon refrained from commenting beyond a genuine query about his health, as Birdo delicately climbed onto his chosen perch.

"Where does this road go?" Napoleon asked.

"It leads to the shore, where you landed." said Birdo. "It can be one of the most dangerous places out here!"

The puppy shrugged him off, saying, "I know all about roads!"

This was when a tractor trailer truck came into view. Napoleon wisely got to one side, but then noticed a dark colored frilled-neck lizard, laying flat on the road. Desperately, he barked at the lizard, believing it to be asleep. He wanted to go into the road, to nudge it away from the path of danger, but Birdo and some of Napoleon's housepet instincts held him back.

The truck roared by, covering the poor lizard from sight. To Napoleon and Birdo surprise, once the truck passed, they saw the lizard lay unharmed.

Napoleon went forward to make sure that the lizard was all right.

"GO! AWAY!" snarled the lizard, terribly offended at Napoleon's proximity and concern. "THIS IS MY SPACE!" The lizard leapt threateningly into Napoleon’s face. Friendliness made Napoleon a little slow on the uptake, so he didn’t really walk away until the lizard leapt.

"Never expect gratitude from a cold blooded creature. Hah!" Birdo said, landing on the road to walk away with Napoleon.

Soon, they encountered dry shrublands. In between dull green plants with thin leaves, the red earth lay cracked and uneven.

Birdo urged Napoleon to go home, reminding the puppy that his family surely missed him.

Napoleon's eyes shined wetly, but he couldn’t ignore the call of the wild dogs. It was his lifelong dream, after all.

The two debated for a while, but Napoleon held fast, claiming it was a dog thing, and Birdo wouldn’t understand, but that he was grateful for all of Birdo’s help so far. They came to the edge of the desert, and both felt in their hearts that it was time to go their separate ways.

As evening fell, they sang a bittersweet duet of parting, and bid each other goodbye, wishing to meet again. Birdo flew off to rejoin his family, and Napoleon continued on his quest to find the wild dogs.

—

Napoleon followed along a narrow footpath.

A small, spiky animal groaned as it came his way, as if each step hurt. An echidna! Napoleon went over to say hi, but it dismissed him stingily, anticipating jokes about its appearance, and wishing to keep its potential water to itself. Napoleon assured it that he would share any water he found, but that didn’t seem to matter to the echidna. Then he made a poorly-timed pun, and the creature clumsily rolled into a small pit in sheer irritation.

The echidna begin to dig, though its small paws made for slow going. Napoleon helped, and the puppy quickly uncovered some water, and drank first, much to the echidna’s chagrin, complaining about germs.

Napoleon set off again, and found himself in the desert. Red sand laid burning, wind blown into long waves of dune lines, stretching on for desiccated kilometers. The puppy scampered across, as the gait afforded him less time for each paw to touch the scorching ground. Nevertheless, it hurt.

Brown mountains rimmed the stretch of land, and Napoleon kept along until he found a solitary tree, providing precious shade. There he rested among the dead branches bleached white like bones, when he spotted an odd animal.

It stood – as much as a lizard can stand – upon a shrubby hill, and howled and barked in a heart-sinkingly silly voice.

"That’s what I left home for?" The lizard barked some more as Napoleon stared on in disbelief.

Disconcertingly, the thing started approaching Napoleon, making odd gulping noises with each step it took.

"Were the wild dogs I’ve been hearing… that?” Napoleon had to make sure. He ran to the creature and asked.

Pleased with the attention, the goofy looking beast – which he came to realize was a perentie lizard - let out a long, ridiculous howl, ending in a guffaw. Without prompting, the lizard demonstrated his poorly rendered repertoire, which included cow noises.

Napoleon ran away, heartbroken and disillusioned, the lizard’s haunting "Moo. Moo. Moo. Moo. MOO!" echoing in his ears as he climbed up the mountains.

"I am such an idiot. All this time, I’ve been chasing after a barking lizard. There’s no wild dogs anywhere. I’ve been running after something that doesn’t even exist." He whimpered. "Now I’ve got no home. No wild life. I don’t have my mother. I don’t have the instinct to make it out here. I’m a dumb house pet.” He cried for a moment. “Who doesn’t know a retriever from a reptile. I don’t deserve the name Napoleon. Not a crumb like me." Then, with a sob, "I’m just a Muffin after all."

He kept running, racing along ridges, until at last he fell down from exhaustion.

—

When he came to, small creatures - rodents, or marsupials, he wasn’t sure - were running around, hiding in rock cracks and burrows. A few noticed him, and presumed him dead or soon to be. A rain storm loomed ever closer, and promised to sweep all incautious creatures away.

Napoleon got moving. He knew better now than to ignore their warnings. Sure enough, fat drops soon splattered the ground, and currents began to form as the water overtook the earth.

Running into a crevasse, desperately hoping to find himself a cranny or nook to press himself into until the flood was over, Napoleon stumbled into a cave that stretched upwards, away from the coming water.

It was still dry, the red soil still untouched by water that would turn it into a bland tan. Napoleon climbed upward, sniffing excitedly. A safe spot! And then, at the very top, a pale movement. Two other puppies!

"Mother? Is that you?" a sweet voice called out.

"Hello?" Napoleon couldn’t believe his eyes.

"A stranger! Get out, or we’ll attack!" a rougher one said. He knocked his sister down to Napoleon in the guise of a pounce.

They were creamy tan, with ears that were still floppy like his, but looked like they were going to lift up soon, likely into sharp points.

Nancy, for that was the girl puppy’s name, decided Napoleon was fine, and after clearing up that she and Syd (the other puppy) weren’t lost, that this was their home, she tried to play with Napoleon.

But it was not meant to be. A wave rushed into the cave, and soon caught up to where Napoleon and Nancy were standing, washing them away. Syd, safe on a rock shelf, screamed as his sister was thrown about, yelping. Napoleon managed to pull himself to sit on a rock shelf, a larger and stronger swimmer.

Napoleon took charge once he saw that Nancy was still in the water. He instructed her to keep talking, and to hold on.

Nancy disappeared for a moment, the boys’ hearts leaping into their throats. But then she reappeared on a rock, the water still lapping at her feet, threatening to catch her again.

Napoleon could feel his heart racing - all his troubles with water had lead right to this moment. He swam to Nancy’s rock, barely keeping his head above the water as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

But he made it! Too scared to swim, Napoleon coaxed Nancy onto his back. Confidence and a need to save her strengthened his paddles, as he pretended to be a boat, to distract her from panicking. Both stayed above water. He had a little trouble getting her onto the ‘dock’ -the rock shelf where her brother stood - but they managed.

And just as quickly as the rain had come, it stopped. And there, standing at the cave mouth, limned by the tentative sun, was a figure.

"It’s a wild dog!" exclaimed Napoleon in wonder.

"Of course it is. It’s our mother!" exclaimed Syd.

She shook the rainwater off, and smiled at the puppies.

"I’ve been with the wild dogs all along!" Napoleon couldn’t believe it.

In a comforting voice, the mother dingo said, "Syd. Nancy. Are you all right?" she panted. "Who is this?"

Shock at his own luck and a sudden drop in adrenaline hit Napoleon like a hammer, and he fainted.

—

He woke up hours later, with Nancy licking his face. After shrugging her off, and spotting her mother, he got straight to the point.

"Can I stay here with you? I want to be a wild dog."

"But what about your mother?" ask the dingo, her kind eyes watching from above.

"I want to live here. In the wild!" The other puppies pleaded his case too.

The mother dingo answered the only way she could: "Of course he can."

"I’m a wild dog. At last!"

All the puppies began to tussle out of sheer happiness.

—

The days passed by. The two dingo puppies played ‘Napoleon’ with the vanishing puddles, taking turns being rescued.

Both Napoleon and the mother watched over their antics. At the beginning, he would sometimes sit out of their games to make sure he did not tumble the other two puppies - being bigger and older, he could hurt them. But as time went on, he grew disillusioned with playing. For the last few days, he had not played at all, and only laid next to the dingo mother.

His new life in the wild didn’t quite satisfy him anymore. The thrill of living with real wild dogs was amazing, of course, but something felt missing. Napoleon thought it was just because they hadn’t started the more bloodthirsty aspects of the life, like fighting and hunting. But the dingo mother knew better, and so as she cuddled with the retriever puppy while he took a big nap, she made a plan.

—

"Wake up, Napoleon. Today is the day." She nudged him awake and led him out of the cave. “Come on, it will just be the two of us." She trotted it across a field of flat rocks, covered in red clay, and baked in the sun. Being unfamiliar with the terrain, Napoleon struggled to keep up, but was buoyed by enthusiasm.

"Tell me child; why did you leave home?" she asked.

"I wanted to go where there were no rules."

"And what did you find?" They crossed onto a plane of white sand.

"Well, I found that there were a lot of rules, about living with other animals, and being on your own."

Now they were walking parallel with the shore, black shells littering the ground. "And what did you want to do out here?"

“I wanted to hunt my food, and kill it!"

"And did you enjoy that?" Her voice continued to be kind.

"No. I ate moss instead." He confessed.

"Anything else you wanted?"

"Well, yeah! I wanted to stay up late and have fun all the time!"

"And did you? Have fun, all the time?" The two laid down, front paws ahead, watching as the sun bowed down to darkness.

“No. Sometimes it was scary. Lots of times I was alone."

"Then why do you want to be out here?"

"I want to be a wild dog! So I can be really brave and fearless!"

"But you’ve been that, all along. You couldn’t have come this far without being fearless. And it was YOUR bravery that saved Syd and Nancy." She paused, and then said, "In your heart, you’ve been a wild dog all along, Napoleon."

Their shadows grew long. "I guess I have!"

"Is there something more you want?".

"Well, yes."

"Tell me."

"I want – " Napoleon paused, for a moment, unsure if he was willing to say it. "I want to go home. I miss my mom."

"What if I told you I had a friend who could take you back?"

"Really?!"

"Come along." The sun‘s last rays lit the two dogs as they went back to the cave one last time.

—

The next day, Napoleon was treated to what was possibly the most inane song in existence as he rode in a red kangaroo’s pouch. Repeatedly, Napoleon was smashed full in the face with tall, bristly bushes and narrowly evaded what should have been easily avoided obstacles, such as trees. He called for help several times, but to no avail, as the kangaroo crooned to her ‘possum’. He tried hiding his face, but it didn’t fit well in the pouch.

As soon as she stopped, Napoleon hurried out and into the forest, to get away from her insanity. Somehow, he ran into the same koala as before.

"Well, well, " the koala drawled.

"Oh no, not him again!" Groaned the puppy.

"If it isn’t my favorite dining companion, the wild dog himself."

"No! I’m Napoleon! Wild house pet! Conqueror of the outback, and the backyard!" Napoleon declared, sure of himself.

“I can run fearless across waterfalls!" he yelled as he did just that.

The lorikeets, who still didn’t have anything better to do, mimicked him. "Little birds suck!" Was all he said, tricking them into insulting themselves once again.

Soon he was back at the beach where he first arrived. "Now what do I do?" he said, clambering over the rocks and pebbles that lined the shore. He could see home! But how was he to get across? Then he spotted his basket, a little worse for the wear, but still floating, and felt triumphant. He went over to the tide pool where it rested, bobbing occasionally with eddies of the waves.

But instead of it being empty, as he had assumed, a New Zealand Adélie penguin popped his head out! It was nearly full grown, but was still small and round.

They argued a bit, but the puppy was able to assert ownership over the basket, and then they fell to talking. As Conan the penguin kept extolling his fierce nature and super–penguin abilities, Napoleon had to laugh; the little bird was exactly like him at the beginning of his journey!

Conan’s speech started to turn dangerous, so Napoleon decided to tell his own story, hoping to help the penguin avoid his own mistakes.

—

By the time he finished, an unconvinced Conan stood watch as Napoleon struggled to climb into the basket – the plan was that he would be carried out into the bay at high tide during midnight. But the penguins' bravado dissolved as soon as he saw his family.

"Pengy!” a raucous voice called out. Conan tried to hide, but as his mother just called out “Pengy!” again, he reluctantly turned to face them. Napoleon laughed at the silly name.

Terribly embarrassed, Conan waddled up a dune to escape, only to find his family already there.

Apologetic, Napoleon convinced the family that he could persuade Conan to go home. He felt bad for making fun of Conan’s name, but still thought it best to try and stop any so-called adventuring – even going so far as to continue to call him Pengy.

Napoleon climbed into the basket before Conan could, annoying the penguin.

"It’s my turn to howl! You’ve had your fun!" said the penguin, who then howled in a goofy manner. Conan began waddling up a hill, continuing to monologue about his future adventures.

There was a low rumble. At first, it sounded like a vicious wind blowing through trees, but it soon transformed into a noise Napoleon knew and dreaded. It came from the hilltop.

"That sounds… Could it be?" Napoleon tilted his head in hopeful confusion. "Hello, is somebody else up here?"

Rocks fell. Napoleon knew it had to be her. "She’s back!" he yelped, voice high with fear.

Lightning illuminated a black figure, stalking downhill. Unconcerned and unaware, Conan carelessly looked for the cat, peering down and making empty threats, as the predator gazed from above. Thunder rolled, and again, the cat growled.

Napoleon scrambled out and up the hill. He couldn’t let that dumb bird die!

"Time to rid my house of the mouse!" the cat announced.

Finally, seeing her, Conan, ignorant of his impending mortality at the claws of the creature above, suavely said, "All right. Come on! Let’s go, hunt down a few."

"But I’ve already found one! An unusual, black and white mouse."

Napoleon finally arrived. "Leave the penguin alone!"

"Well, if it isn’t the Muffin mouse!", she hissed. "The mouse dies!" She lashed out at him, claws outstretched.

Finally getting a clue, Conan waddled away. “Well. There is such a thing as too much adventure!"

“Just you and me, wacko!" Napoleon challenged.

"Seems unfair, nine lives against one," the cat quipped.

Within his head, Napoleon quickly came up with a plan to get her into the water, where the cat seemed much less of a threat. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" he called, while backing closer to the water.

Showing her absolute detachment from reality, she followed his call. As both walked across constantly wave–beaten slippery rocks, one hit her body, and she slipped off the rock, yelling.

"Bull’s-eye!" Napoleon yelled, then gasped as he saw the drenched cat hissing from behind another rock.

"You’ll pay for that!" she vowed.

"Okay, it’s payday!" Napoleon ran up a hill.

The cat shook herself and followed.

"Come on!" he taunted. "Come after me!" Napoleon slipped and loosened some rocks, sending them tumbling at the cat's face.

"No!" she wailed, unable to stop as the rocks underneath her paws became loose and pulled her now towards the edge. "Kill! No!" she hooked a paw on the ledge as more rocks tumbled down, persistent to the last.

"Running out of lives?" Napoleon said unsympathetically.

"I still have many more!" Her paw was slipping. "Come, let me slash you!"

“Happy landings!"

"Slash you with-" She shrieked, falling to the dark depths below.

Napoleon pulled himself to the peak, and looked down at the tumultuous water. "I knew that cat was on the edge." The waves raged on. "Look at that! Guess she used up her lives." Suddenly, he remembered Conan. "But what about that penguin? Hey Pengy, you down there?"

The cat watched the golden figure from behind, hate burning in her eyes. She hissed, and Napoleon sent a glance her way, but he must have not seen her, for she she was able to rush behind and headbutt him off the cliff.

She laughed at the puppy stuck on the ledge below. "That’s it! No more games."

"Games?!" exclaimed Napoleon incredulously.

The cat encouraged the puppy to jump to his blue death; the waves beat mercilessly upon the shore.

He refused and tried to appeal to their common background; after all, weren’t they both just lost house pets?

She hissed and crept her way down to him, telling him to shut up and boxing his ears. It was looking a bit dire.

“Hey, ‘fraidy cat!" called Conan from further down. No way was he going to let some cat hurt his friend!

This distracted the cat just enough for Napoleon to push her off the ledge and into the basket waiting below.

She laughed maniacally as the impact of her fall dislodged the basket from the rocks and pulled her out into the bay.

Conan jeered.

From the ledge, Napoleon heard a howl. Looking up, he saw the spirit of a wild dog; and just as soon as it appeared, it was gone.

"I really am a wild dog, " he murmured in awe. But his awe soon drained; forlornly he watched his way home disappear, yowling into the night.

—

Morning came.

Conan questioned Napoleon's plan to get home, but the puppy had no idea what to do. He was very distraught.

Then Conan spotted something, approaching them from the water. A green sea turtle, with something … on its back?

It was Birdo!

Puppy and galah reunited, Napoleon agreed that his friend was right all along, and Birdo brought good news. He had found Napoleon a way home!

As Napoleon stood on the turtle’s back, letting it take him back to Sydney, he bid his friends goodbye, reminding them to come visit soon.

—

Running, running, running, Napoleon made his way home. His tail wagged like a propeller as he saw a familiar yard.

"Mum! Mum! Mum! Mummy!"

His mother, who had just a moment before had been slumped mournfully, stepped out of her dog house and began a full body wag. “Muffin? Is that you?!" She couldn’t believe her ears.

"Mum! Mummy!"

She scanned the yard, but could not see her baby.

"Mum!"

“Well come here!" she said desperately. "Come here! Let me put my paws around you!"

His little head peeked over the patio wall. "Mum! It's me! I’m back! You wouldn’t believe where I’ve been!" He put his front paws on top of the wall.

She spun around, unable to contain herself, held back by the rope attached to the doghouse. "Come here! You didn’t get hurt, did you? What happened to you!?"

Maddeningly, he came no closer. "What happened? Everything happened to me!"

"Careful! You can’t get over that wall!”

"Are you kidding? Piece of cake!" He leapt down, and ran to his mother, nearly smashing into her face out of sheer exuberance.

They jumped and tumbled and kissed joyfully, relief and love filling their hearts. Mother refused to let son out of her grasp and finally, the world was right again.

"Muffin, I want you to promise me you’ll never run away like that again."

"I won’t. And I want you to promise me something."

His mother laughed. "Anything darling, anything."

"I want you to call me Napoleon."

"From now on, you’re my Napoleon."

—

Nobody noticed the cat peering over the wall. "Ah, not a mouse. A dog! Dog must die!"

Napoleon Explanation

So this was a story that took me a long, long time. It’s definitely my longest adaption of film, tv or podcasts yet - and I hope it stays that way! The adaption ended up a little dry, but I feel that I was able to describe the events effectively, and utilize the dialogue (the hardest part to adapt) sparingly but appropriately. At the beginning of my transcription, I tried to avoid any dialogue at all, but oh well. This covers the entire movie, a movie without any books or scripts to help me avoid typing.

Last summer, 2023, I had the job of Lost Parents. That basically meant I’m the person lost children are brought to if the security guards can’t find their parents right away. Eventually, a security guard brings the guardians, or the guardians come themselves, and pick up the kid(s). Which is all fine and dandy, especially since I don’t have kids for most of the shift. Kids have stayed with me for over two hours, but usually they’re gone within half an hour and I’m rarely brought any in the mornings. So I get projects like these done!

The movie is on youtube (see link), so over several days I slowly worked through it and wrote out all relevant details into a notebook (I find writing easier if I start in a notebook and type it into a document later - if I just start on a document I never finish. Plus I wasn’t really supposed to have my phone out, and switching between apps is annoying). Then I typed it up - often via voice-to-text, unless I was recording dialogue. For some reason, the program does not recognize quotation marks very often. Then I fixed it up and whalla! What you see above is what I wrote!

But I didn’t finish editing it until after that summer, because I was more interested in drawing the pictures. In fact, drawing the title picture was the first thing I did!

To be honest, I often drew the title pictures well before anything else. They were easy.

This title picture was in reference to the old VHS cover I used to have for this movie. It’s an Australian movie, so they speak English, but for some reason they released an American dub and released it over here. So I’ve loved this movie ever since I could remember. But the balloon scenes were iconic, so of course I had to include it. Especially since I decided this adaption would only have four pictures total. As I wanted to save my labor for my more original projects, and because this was a movie, it has less pictures.

The second picture is Napoleon getting chased by the cat. It used to scare me as a kid, so I always had a clear picture of it in my head. Plus, it serves to contrast Napoleon’s bravery in later scenes.

The third picture is Napoleon saving Nancy. I basically just wanted to draw all the puppies and Napoleon being brave. So we ended up with that part!

Last is Napoleon and Pengy/Conan looking up at the wild dog spirit. It’s the least accurate picture, but one I felt fit well. In the movie, Napoleon and Pengy look up to see a wild dog on top of a cliff who gets swept away by mist. But considering that they were still up on the high parts of the cliff at the end of the fight, the timing and location doesn’t quite make sense. And drawing *lineart* of mist is hard with my style, and requires more texture than fits in line with my most recent coloring book drawings. Way back at the beginning, I used to add details like shading, lines of hair and such, but that gets in the way of coloring, so I stopped. As such, I adapted it to fit my needs. Now Napoleon and Pengy/Conan are in the shot (I wanted to include both), and the wild dog spirit is in the clods and stars! I’m decided that the storm went away.

The Pengy vs. Conan thing was something of which I struggled when writing the last part. I support chosen names, especially when the old names totally don’t fit anymore. Hell, Napoleon insists on being Napoleon right to the end! But I decided since this was basically from his viewpoint, he would not call the penguin Conan, not even in his head. For the rest of the movie, after all, he calls the penguin Pengy. So while this choice does not reflect my preferences, I think it does reflect Napoleon’s.

Last thought: the setting of this story is genuinely fantasy. I think the creators wanted to go for a pan-Australian vibe; so many different ecosystems from across the continent are shown in the film. This means, of course, that Napoleon went to a fantasy kind of island across from the city though. There is nowhere in Australia where ALL of those environments are present. If he truly walked the entirety of Australia, a continent, he would have been a grown dog well before the end of the movie. But since he is still a puppy by the end, that just means he went to a fantasy Australia. Which is kind of cool.

Hope you enjoyed, and please check the movie out!