#lee!carmy

[tickletastic]

A Full Eight Hours

Fandom: The Bear

Ship: Sydney/Carmy (if you squint)

Summary: Carmy falls asleep in the office, nothing out of the usual, but not a habit that can’t be changed. 

Tik. Tik, tik, tik, tik. He doesn’t know the song playing, but in the seconds that have gone by he’s been able to tap along some sort of distorted rhythm. It matches enough to appease him, and he’s satiated for a moment as he tries to discern what’s happening around him.

His forehead is firmly pressed into the desk, and he can feel a slick sheen of sweat on his face. There’s papers over the floor and his spoon sits underneath where his hand now taps on his lap. He moves slow and groggy, trying to regain his composure.

Someone spins the office chair so the back of it is towards the desk, and he blinks once, twice, and a third time before realizing that Sugar is smiling down at him, though her eyes show more worry than she leads on. 

“Mornin’ Carmy,” she says softly, ruffling his hair before settling her hand, softly scratching. 

Carmy shakes his head, but he doesn’t commit to the effort of pulling her hand away. “Sug, if you keep doing that I’ll fall straight back asleep.”

“Oh, I know” she laughs, but she doesn’t stop her movement. 

It’s only now that he is fully aware of his surroundings, the papers and envelopes that had fallen stick to the office’s grimy floor, and the spoon he had been tapping is stained with the soup Sydney had got him to try the night before. He’s in last night’s clothes and it seems that it’s past morning if Richie being in the door is anything to say. Sydney stands next to him, her eyes flicking over to him with disgust every time he moves or makes a look towards her. 

None of them are in uniform or wearing anything particularly formal or professional, reminding him not only that it’s the weekend, but also that they're closed for the time being while he and Sydney decide on colour palettes, seat materials, and napkin sizes. 

From where Sydney stands, he looks incredibly young, like the baby-faced and eager boy that she had always imagined when Richie would describe the Carmy that used to follow Mikey like a puppy, the one that Richie would moan and groan about needing to take care of but would never once hesitate to be there for him. From here, Sydney remembers that Carmy is barely a year older than her.

“What’s going on?” Carmy asks, blue eyes wide and questioning.

“Are you fucking kidding, cousin?” Richie chirps in, “you fuckin’ slept in the office, that’s normal to you?”

“I didn’t sleep in the office, cousin,” Carmy retorts. He glances at the clock above the door. It’s only 11, he couldn’t have been out for any longer than three hours. “It was two fuckin’ hours, that’s not fuckin’ sleep, cousin, it’s a nap.’

Sugar cringes when she hears Carmy’s response, her hand that had stopped with its scratching now returning to his hair, like she’s trying again to lull him into some state of peace. He leans in again in spite of himself, and fights off the drooping of his eyelids with vigour. She scratches a little closer to the back of his ear and he practically loses all fight, his eyes rolling back in his head.

“Bear, there’s no way you’re working today,” Sugar says to him softly, continuing her motions. He reaches up and limply grabs her wrist, barely any force pulling at her arm, just enough to say that he’s trying. 

“No fuckin’ way am I leaving, Sydney and I are-”

“Picking out countertop colours for back-of-the-house, which is like, the least important thing in the world,” Sydney interrupts, shrugging her shoulders.

Carmy shoots her a glare, but it holds no heat with the way his eyes are half-shut and the way that one side of his mouth is quirked up in a small smile.

“I’ve got things to do, Sugar.” Carmy groans, doing the least to wiggle away from his sister.

“Hell no, Carmy, you’re coming back with me, you can stay in the guest room.”

“I have my own place, and I have important shit to do.”

“Carmy-”

“Nat, you’re annoying me.”

“Carm, can’t you just listen for once? Quit being so stubborn.”

“Natalie, just- AH!” Carmy flinches away from her fingers, harder than he had been trying to get away the entire time, and he grabbed her hand firmly. 

Sugar giggles, bringing her other hand up to where the other had been pulled from his neck, “sometimes I forget that Mikey wasn’t exaggerating when he called you Baby Bear.”

“Fuckin’, stohop!” 

Sydney’s eyes widen. She’s hardly ever even heard Carmy laugh, barely heard anything from him beyond measured, calculated calmness, let alone heard him giggle. Richie laughs next to her, a sound just as foreign, she picks up something new, maybe even a fondness. 

“How did I forget about this, cousin?” Richie says, finally stepping in to the office, “Mikey used to get you all the time.”

“Richie, no,” Carmy says as he tries to fight off Sugar where she has him blocked in the office chair. He watches as Richie creeps even closer, an evil smile growing on his face. “Richie, no. Richie, fuck off. Cousin you better fuckin’ not.”

Carmy’s pleading means nothing to either of them, and Richie scoops up both wrists without an issue. He can barely budge them once Richie’s pulled them up and above his head. It gives Sugar all the space she needs to have Carmy in shambles within seconds.

She shoots her hands up, under Carmy’s arms and he squeals, trying and failing to kick out against her and Richie. He goes from fighting to hysterical in moments, he’s trying to say something, but none of it makes it past his laughter.

“Jeez, Carmy, forgot how bad you are,” Sugar teases, crawling her fingers down to his stomach. 

Carmy giggles, bright and bubbly, and he almost says something comprehensible before falling back into loud cackles. 

“You can’t even talk,” Sugar responds, either piecing together what her brother had been trying to tell her or making fun of his predicament. Sydney isn’t sure which one it is, she wouldn’t put it past Sugar to understand Carmy’s broken giggles.

When Sugar’s fingers move up to Carmy’s ribs, his laughter goes shrill and goofy, and he slinks down in the chair, only to be pulled right back up by Richie. 

He shakes his head back and forth, seemingly begging to a tune that nobody else can quite understand. 

“Lost for words, Carm?” Richie teases, grabbing both of Carmen’s wrists in one of his hands so he can sporadically poke him in the tummy.

Carmen snorts, struggling harder and getting nowhere, his face turning red as Sugar and Richie keep cooing and teasing.

Sydney suddenly starts to feel like she’s intruding. The moment is domestic, familial, and it almost feels like she should close her eyes, maybe walk away. For once, Carmen actually looks 25, like he smiles like this everyday, and she stores the image in her memory, hopes it doesn’t have to be rare anymore. 

“C’mon, Syd,” Richie calls, “help us ruin the kid.”

Syd smiles, walking over to join Sugar on Carmy’s left side. 

“His ribs are the worst, but his tummy’s pretty bad too,” Sugar exposes, and Carmen can’t even argue with her, can’t even tell her to shut up, all he can do is giggle himself silly, red in the face and embarrassed. 

They tickle him until he’s wheezing, until his smile is splitting his face and tears stream down his cheeks. He recovers in Sugar’s arms, she pets his hair and scratches his head like she was before, and when he’s calmed down, and sleep-pliant once again, she gets Richie to haul him up, put him in the car like he hardly weighs a thing. 

“Feeling like Denny’s?” She asks, looking in Sydney’s direction.

“Gross,” Richie chimes in.

“You’re gross,” the two of them respond in unison.

Sydney turns back towards Sugar as she ruffles Carmy’s hair one last time, softly shutting her passenger door. “We’ll get Bear some food and then I’ll bring him back to mine. Meet us there.”

Sydney smiles, nodding, “I’ll see you there.”

“Can I get a ri-”

“Fuck off, Richie!”

[userparamore]

THE BEAR 02.10 | the bear

+ bonus:

[chefkids]

Writer in the Dark - Lorde x Donna & Carmy

[heardchef]

[xxxbbeee]

THE BERZATTOS

@ita.big.nose IGs, @cooperwehde, @chrisstorer IG

[transjudas]

1.08 / 2.06

[chefbearzatto]

first globes sweep now critics sweep??? AND HOPEFULLY EMMYS SWEEP TOMORROW????? HOW ARE WE FEELING BEAR NATION

[roseferncal]

mommy? sorry. mommy?

bonus:

[thegirlwhowatchedeverything]

Pete Appreciation Post

Pete and Nat:

As her partner, he not only handles but actually and actively loves her family.

He goes to Al-Anon meetings WITH her (1x2).

He doesn't show up to Christmas empty handed (to steal Carmy's words that'd make him an asshole). He continues to be joyful and make small talk while being ripped to shreds for his attempt at a funny, genuinely considerate tuna casserole (2x6).

One of Nat's biggest traumas (flashback to 2x6 of Donna grabbing her by the face while threatening to kill herself) is juxtaposed with her greatest joy - ending the day with Pete on the couch watching TV (2x8).

Everything Pete does and says in 2x10. I don't even know where to start. Him so beyond proud and supportive and excited and happy for Nat. Him trying to convince Donna to come inside by playing to their shared pride of Nat (and Carm). His reaction after the conversation with Donna. Chris Witaske you talented actor and Pete you beautiful, patient, loving, understanding, forgiving man.

Pete and Carmy:

Pete makes such an effort with him (to steal Mikey's words he gives like the biggest fuck). He genuinely embraces Carmy and wants so desperately to be embraced by Carmy in return:

He brushes/laughs off an unexplained past incident involving Carmy (and presumably Michael) that sent him to urgent care. Very bro siblings roughhousing behavior (1x2).

He lets Carmy use his and Nat's freezer even though he knows she'll be mad at him for it. Very brothers ganging up on their sister/two siblings scheming against the third (which I imagine happened between the Berzatto siblings so much and in so many combinations) (1x5).

He was so hype and adorably complimentary about Carmy's homemade ecto cooler and ugh I wish Carm had given more credit there because they are clearly just both big nerds at heart (1x4).

He defends Carmy for being called a loser at the catered party by bringing up his career as one of the most lauded chefs (as I've said before, he and Syd were the two members of the Chef Carmy club). And he does so in front of a large and intimidating assortment of friends and family (to paraphrase Carmy paraphrasing Marcus we see that Pete can throw down huh). Very protective big brother vibes (1x4).

He then individually compliments Carmy's courage for leaving home and making an incredible career for himself. He also makes a point to tell him that Nat is proud of him. Emotionally supportive brother behavior (1x4).

He thanks Carmy for letting him be a part of his family! It's beyond sweet to say that to your in laws, but when your in laws are the Berzattos (1x4)?!

Pete And The Berzattos:

He still gets ribbed more than not, but at the end of the day he's accepted.

Carmy saying I kind of like Pete now (1x5).

Stevie saying his heart was in the right place after the tuna faux pas (2x5).

Fak saying he'll be a great daddy (2x10).

Donna congratulating Pete about the baby thus signaling her approval (2x10).

Pete Is An Only Child:

I've been convinced since S1 and S2 only confirmed.

The genuine love and effort he puts into each family member (blood, extended, and honorary) of the Berzattos not only shows Pete is truly a nice guy, but it speaks to his deep desire to be a part of a family - to belong (see all examples above).

We learned Richie and Sydney are only children (It must have been nice to have Nat and Carm. Yeah, now you do too. *sobs*) so another proof point that all partners to the Berzatto siblings are onlys.

Stevie. In his speech, he says You guys have been so kind to me. You let me hang out with your every holiday. I don't have a family like this and I'm really grateful you make space for me at this table and you make time for me on the holidays. You can imagine an exact speech coming from Pete. And like Pete, Stevie genuinely loves and gets along with each of the Berzattos (2x6). A last parallel between these two: Donna speculates if he's gay and that is totally something I can imagine her, Mikey or Richie saying about Pete at first meeting.

Something about not knowing Pete's last name or anything about him outside of his relationships with the Berzattos signals to me he's not from a big family and/or is not close to them and really just exists in the Berzatto cinematic universe.

Takeaways:

Pete is the MVP of The Bear. We better get more of him in S3.

The Berzattos attract only children and strays like moths to a flame.

[sun-above]

i haven’t seen anyone talk about this yet but has anyone noticed the foils of carmy’s mom and sydney’s dad?

carmy’s mom was in the restaurant business (the beef is a family restaurant) and loves cooking (makes christmas dinner every year, nat, michael, and carmy use her recipes), she fully understands the love of making something. still, she can’t show up for carmy and nat when they open the bear. she has a drinking problem and doesn’t acknowledge it, even after her son dies of addiction/depression, even when her other kids need her.

sydney’s dad has no idea why sydney does what she does; he watches her struggle and is so scared for her because he doesn’t understand why she loves cooking. he’s there opening night though, and catches sydney after to affirm his belief in her. it’s alluded to that he had a drinking problem, and he went sober. (fak brings out the italian sodas they had prepped because sydney’s dad doesn’t drink) he’s the only parent she has left, and he beats the odds to show up for her everytime.

i think this is also giving us a really good picture of who carmy’s dad and sydney’s mom were:

carmy’s dad had a gun in his night stand, donna doesn’t talk about him, she goes out with guys like lee who treat her kids like trash possibly because her husband did too.

sydney’s mom is talked about in hushed tones, seen in pictures, as someone capable and strong, honored every year on her birthday. even though sydney can’t have a relationship with her, sydney feels comfort in hearing stories about her and seeing her dad’s love for her.

[tickletastic]

The fic where Carmy eats the pumpkin soup is everything to my sickfic loving heart 🥺 I know this is a tickle blog but you write tummy ache Carmy so well and I absolutely need more hurt/comfort fics like that and it’s also just so realistic because he would so eat something that doesn’t agree with him just to please someone else 😭 I’m not sure if you take requests but maybe a prequel of sorts would be cute? He alludes to sugar taking care of him so maybe something where he’s younger and has a stomachache or something and sugar (maybe even Mikey too) takes care of him. Either way, I loved that fic sm!

omfg thank you so much! he absolutely WOULD eat something just to make someone else (Sydney, in particular) happy. it was one of the few fics i’ve written that i was almost certain was in character lmao.

I love this prompt, and totally want to write something with Mikey, Sugar, and Carmy, so it is a definite yes to a prequel of sorts. Miley is such a complicated and interesting character to me, and carmy and sugar have such a nuanced relationship, so im excited to write for them 🥺

[gingerylangylang1979]

Remember when Ebra's future at The Bear wasn't certain?

gif courtesy of @heardchef

Remember when this trailer hit and we freaked out?

I was worried about Ebra. I thought he would quit or maybe get fired because he couldn't keep up with the new pace. In season one he was a bit dismayed by all of the components in the chicken piccata. In the moment above there was foreshadowing that he wasn't confident about his place in the future. Things moved forward rapidly. He didn't thrive like Tina in culinary school. In a crueler kitchen he may have been forgotten when he disappeared but he wasn't. He was given space but he wasn't cut loose. People were concerned. Carmy asked about him. Tina reconnected with him. He still had a spot on the team, just one reimagined. I'm glad.

Edwin has high billing despite a small role. He's a legend in Chicago. I honestly think Ebra's the funniest character even though he doesn't get the big goofy, flashy moments. Please let him be funny again! But there is a story of immigration, sadness, and loss for him that is ready to be told. I don't think they will ever give him a big storyline but I do hope he at least gets a monologue to explain the whole thing or it gets revealed in bits and pieces along the way. Also, I think his style doesn't get enough love. He dresses like the older fly African and Caribbean men I see in my Brooklyn neighborhood. Bright colors, bold patterns, boho accessories. It's a vibe. I bet he smells good, too. And he's attractive. If I was his age...

I think Ebra's arc last season says a lot about the show and the people behind it. Carmy could have let Ebra go. There was a lot going on and he could have just saw a rogue element and dropped that ass. But who would Carmy be to judge? He was the most rogue element all season and was the weakest link at Friends & Family. Instead, Carmy still found value in him. Tina could have rubbed in her all star status and promotion but she didn't. She saw a friend struggling, not competition. She had the vision for him in his current position.

Storer saw Edwin in a local play when he was a kid, thought he was the most magical actor he'd seen, remembered him, kept up with his Chicago career, and sought him out for this role. He didn't have to do that. He could have hired a more widely known talent but he gave his childhood favorite actor the opportunity. He remembered and honored him.

I see a lot of how Storer is with his talent in how Carmy is as a leader. Carmy is deeply flawed but he does invest in his people. He could have fired the old crew from day one. But he didn't clean house and hire a bunch of Sydney's (he only needed one). He could have started with an entirely new crew when he decided to rebrand, but he didn't he decided to fast track his found family. Storer wanted people he had worked with to work on The Bear. Jeremy (his award winning lead), Ayo (breakout star, IMO romantic lead, and future director thanks to Chris), Ramy (director), and Molly (romantic interest) are people he worked with in the past, sought out again, and saw how they could build on what he saw in them before.

Anyways, this was partially an ode to Ebra/Edwin and partially me getting warm fuzzies over Storer as a generous show runner and Carmy as a generous anti-hero.

[swiftietartt]

FAIRYTALE OF PHILADELPHIA — THE PHILLY SPECIALS, JASON KELCE, TRAVIS KELCE

[coachbeards]

i think a heartbreaking thing about carmy and mikey, as well as a lot of people with loved ones suffering from addiction, is that carmy didn’t realize he was an addict. but that’s not fully because of his reasoning of “i was never here, i never saw him”, but also because it’s clear carmy didn’t want to believe it. I don’t know how he could’ve sat through that dinner, hearing lee basically accuse mikey of being high and the behavioral changes of mikey, and not realize that there was something going on. it’s easy for carmy, who comes from a family of addicts, to not want to believe that the same thing is happening to his brother. his best friend. so he ignores the obvious, he overlooks the signs during that dinner, presumably during any time he saw mikey recently. he didn’t know mikey was using, but i know he’s retroactively thinking of all the signs he missed or didn’t want to think too much about.

[eroticwound]

I love your thoughts on The Bear. Particularly the Berzatto siblings. I was wondering if you could talk about Mikey. And possibly his relationship with Richie. Outside of the internet when I talk to peers about the show people are quick to demonize or dislike Mikey. They cite his behavior with Lee and his taking part in ganging up on Carmy with Donna as reasons why. Also, how Richie was so desperate to get away from the beef.

I would love to hear your opinion about how this could be someone’s impression of Mikey. And how you would describe Mikey to someone who maybe isn’t seeing the whole picture? Or just how you would describe Mikey as a person in general.

And do you think his relationship with Richie was very one sided? Do you think it was always Mikey in the lead? I’ve read some fic that truly makes Mikey terrible to Richie.

Hi anon. Thanks for this incredibly thought out ask. Cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoy getting questions like this :)

Michael Berzatto is a complicated guy and he’s a guy we don’t get a lot of screen time with. That’s by design. He’s the character haunting this narrative. Mikey is the Laura Palmer of The Bear (I have that disease where I see everything through the prism of Twin Peaks), and as such we get to know him mostly through people’s grief. Through their imperfect memories. We’re left missing him just as much as any other character. And while I would love a feature length movie showing Mikey’s last days a la Fire Walk with Me, I very much doubt we will get that. So we’re left to figure out this complicated character with scraps.

For these reasons, I do get why people don't understand Mikey. As you mention, they are literally not given anything close to a whole picture. In fact the screen time we have most with him is during Fishes, when he is quite literally at his worst. If people only saw scenes where Carmen was yelling at people in the kitchen or where Richie was being sexist to Syd, I'm sure they'd have a poor opinion of them as well (in fact, being in this fandom after the first season, I can confirm that most of tumblr disliked Richie).

The healthiest we see Michael is in the Ceres flashback in season 1. He’s exactly how everyone describes him: loud, brash, funny. Both Carmy and Richie are just having the best time, completely immersed in the story he's telling. Even Nat’s having a great time, though both brothers stop her from adding raisins, which is Donna’s recipe for the dish they're making (side note, I find it so interesting that Nat is the one trying to follow their mom’s recipe. She's still trying to please Donna, to garner favor, whereas the boys, who Donna relies on in the kitchen and emotionally, feel fine deviating from Donna’s recipe). Even beyond the Ceres flashback, we do get flashes of what makes Mikey great in Fishes: the opening is him checking in on Natalie, he's really sweet and engaging with Carmen in the pantry, and even though Carmy doesn't take Mikey and Richie trying to set him up with Claire well, it's still proof that Mikey cares.

The thing is Mikey is mentally ill, like Donna and like Carmen. He’s dealing with some sort of chemical imbalance (depression or bipolar) on top of the severe parentification he got from Donna. I talk about it at length in my unfinished series delving into the partentification of the Berzatto siblings. As I point out in those posts, Mikey is actually the sibling getting the worst of the parentification, which is a form of abuse where there is a role-reversal between parent and child. Nat can't morph herself easily to accommodate Donna's dysfunction (she un-normalizes it), so she gets Donna's ire instead. Carmen was also parentified, especially when Mikey was out of the house growing up (they have such an age gap), but Mikey was the oldest. He has high EQ and can morph himself to accommodate Donna's dysfunction. It has in fact shaped him into the person he is. Which is someone who is trying to avoid all of the bad: bad outbursts from Donna, bad feelings from his siblings, bad reactions from outsiders to their family dynamic. He's also trying very hard to avoid the bad emotions he's feeling. Michael is looking to avoid all of this through any means necessary, which includes using alcohol and drugs. As I mention in that parentification meta series, using substances is quite literally the only way he's managing his distress.

I want to talk about each point you mention people citing as to why they don't like Michael. But first, I want to preface it by pointing out that Michael has been forced to move back in with Donna. His failed business ventures and poor mental health have forced him back into this scenario that is NOT GOOD FOR HIM. That scene where Cousin Michelle says to Carm that it's not good for him to be in this environment? Well, it's not good for any of the Berzatto siblings. And throughout the episode, you can tell how exhausted Mikey is by it. By having to fulfill his role as Donna's pseudo-partner.

So let's start with Michael and Donna ganging up on Carmen in the kitchen. When Donna and Mikey do this they are functioning as a parental unit. This is the perfect example of Mikey's parentification at work, of Michael acting as Donna's partner. It's what he's been trained to do to maintain the delicate ecosystem of that house. Donna's emotional state is given top priority. Everyone else's emotions fall to the wayside in light of what she's feeling, otherwise you get fallout like her crashing her car into the house. Mikey talks to Nat about this at the start of the episode:

What do you think she's at right now? A 4? A 5? She's not at a 6.

The siblings literally have a rating system for Donna's moods. They're all trying to avoid escalation above all else. Michael in particular. So in that scene with Carm in the kitchen, Mikey is trying to keep things from escalating. This is something Carmen knows too—hell, it's the first thing Carmen asks Mikey to do in Fishes:

Hey Mikey can you come inside and be you for a little bit, I don't know how to deal with these people.

Carmy needs Michael to come fill his role of buffer between guests and their family. Carmy, notably, gets Donna duty—a role I'm sure Mikey filled before Carmen came along. I say this based on Donna calling Carmen "Michael" when he's trying to coax her to the dinner table at the end of the episode. She's implying talking to her like this is what Michael does. When the people you know irl cite this moment, unfortunately this is the rebuttal: this is Mikey's role. Donna needs his emotional support. Otherwise she'd be more abusive towards Nat and Carm. Michael is doing it for the greater good.

As for Lee, that's another great example of soooo much being implied. Lee, along with Cicero, were best friends with their father, and it is heavily implied that Lee and Donna had a fling or two after their dad fucks off (whether Mr. Berzatto is dead or a deadbeat, who’s to say?). When Lee is helping Donna clean shit off the floor, Mikey grabs a beer from the fridge and asks if they are "doing this again." Basically, Lee and Donna have been romantic before. This means Lee would have been around erratically growing up. And it's clear Michael and Lee have a historic antagonism because of this. Lee's first interaction with Michael in the episode has him threatening to "lay [Michael] out." This screams to me that Lee stepped into the man of the house role, and that Mikey and him had altercations that got physically violent. That's why Mikey says at the dinner table, "I can throw forks cuz this is my father's house." That feels very much like something a kid would say to a man who is trying to replace a missing father. And it's especially heated, because it is Michael who has had to consistently step into the man of the house role for Donna and for his siblings! Michael couldn't leave like Lee when Donna and him broke up. Living with Donna and keeping his siblings ok is daily life for Michael.

So all through the episode, Lee is poking a bear (Mikey Bear to be exact). Lee calls him out about telling the same old stories, embarrasses him in front of everyone by revealing he's borrowed money from Cicero and had to move back in with Donna. Lee has been explicitly disrespecting him. And maybe if Mikey was in a better place, he would have been able to roll with it, but as I mentioned before, Mikey is not in a good place. He's depressed, he's been drinking and taking something (pain pills?) to manage the stress he's under. Him throwing forks is not a lucid reaction. Frankly, if people don't also blame Lee for that outburst, then they really weren't paying attention during the episode.

Finally, onto the Richie portion of your question. Richie’s family is something I would *love* to get more canon info about. All we know is that he's not Italian but Polish, his home life wasn’t great, his dad sucked, and Donna allowed him over so often that he’s practically her fourth child.

Richie and Michael grew up together. They're best friends, practically family. It's why Richie is "cousin." Michael's relationship with Richie is his closest relationship. Everyone says Mikey was their best friend, but Mikey's actual best friend was Richie. Period. And there's some complicated jealousy between Carmen and Richie because of what each is to Michael: Carmy's jealous of Richie and Michael's genuine closeness, and Richie is jealous that Mikey has special regard for Carmen as his actual brother. You see this jealousy in the very first episode of the show during that first walk-in fight: Richie was there for Mikey, buried Mikey and took care of Donna, and yet Mikey left the restaurant to Carmen. Left the money in cans for Carmen, so he could fulfill their dream restaurant together. There's honestly some great fic out there that goes into this jealousy. I'll come back to link it if I can find it.

Bottom line is that Richie was the closest person in Mikey's life. They have the same humor, the same life experiences. They had each other's backs. So when you ask if Richie and Michael's relationship was one-sided, I'm going to answer with a resounding no. They're literally besties. It's just by Fishes, Michael has deteriorated. His depression and drug abuse and failures have shrunk his life. Just compare where they're both at: Michael's moved back in with his mom, is single, and is telling the same old stories from their youth. Richie, on the other hand, might have anxiety (the xanax from Dogs <3), but he's in a stable and loving relationship and has a child on the way. That's why Richie asks Cicero for a job—not to get away from Mikey, but to make more money for his expanding family. And yes, he wants to amount to something more than working at a sandwich shop, but hell, so does Mikey. Neither of them want that for the rest of their lives. It's why Michael tried other business ventures. They fail, so he's stuck at The Beef. But it's a weight around his neck bringing him down. He says as much to Carmen when they're in the pantry:

Yeah but the place is no good, Carmy. It's a fucking nightmare. Like trust me I'm doing you a favor.

He even tries to set it on fire for the insurance money! Only Carmen sees the potential.

As for whether it was always Mikey taking the lead, I do think there's some merit to that. Mikey is talked about as more charming than Richie. You see it in Ceres when the edit compares Mikey telling the Bill Murray story to Richie telling the Bill Murray story to his date. Mikey is loud and funny and can "dial a room." Richie can too, but I think Mikey has more finesse. Still, they rely on each other. They back each other up. Michael would hook people with the stories, and Richie would embellish and inject at the right points or reel Mikey in when needed. They supported each other and worked together. I think any fic you might be reading that's demonizing Michael isn't accurate to his character and is actually falling into a pretty common fic trope: if the focus is Character A, then a fic author will cast Character B as the villain in order to serve whatever they're writing, twisting and embellishing the traits of Character B until they’re barely recognizable. Could Mikey be dismissive and hard to contain? Sure, but I don't think that means he didn't love Richie, or was undemonstrative with his affections. Even when Michael was out of it on drugs, they still had a very close relationship—Richie says so. In fact, everything Richie says about Michael supports this. I see zero support in canon for their relationship being one-sided. I'll say it again, they loved each other.

So this is how I would describe Mikey: loud, funny, obnoxious. He could dial a room. He cared deeply for his family, friends, and employees. He suffered parentification and has some sort of chemical imbalance. In fact, because he was charming and loud and funny, people could ignore his deterioration. Even Richie says, "he was Mikey Bear! I thought he'd come out of it," because he was able to come out of it up to that point. But after decades of not treating the problem, the only solution Michael could see was killing himself. He's a complicated character. He's a tragic character. He's the Laura Palmer of The Bear.

[chefbearzatto]

after the golden globes i’m so excited for the emmy’s i hope the whole bear cast is there again ugh i love them so much