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Sorry to do this guys… seriously big time TL;DR on the insanity of Rebecca’s predictions going nowhere. I stopped thinking about all this a long time ago but it’s coming back to me in a fever dream…

Remember when Rebecca went to the psychic and then all the signs starting with the green matchbook happened to her? And the signs came during encounters with two previous and one new love interest but these male characters subliminally or subtextually pointed to Ted?

Sam hands her the green matchbook for Ola’s and Rebecca is stroking it intently back and forth just under the letters as she’s trying to “read” the sign and then you realize you can REARRANGE the letters Ola’s -> Las’o?

Which you could maybe shrug off as coincidental except then…

She runs into John Wingsnight and he comes through with the Shite in Nining Armor prediction which calls back to Ted white knighting for Rebecca, but even more subliminally is the fact that John’s Manchester United scarf shows MAN then gets REARRANGED mid scene to show TED and then back again to MAN? (THEY TOOK THE TIME TO REARRANGE THE SCARF, TWICE.) And John who’s literally wearing the sign that Ted is the Man is talking about meeting the right person, his fiancée, a call back to Rebecca breaking up with John because she realizes how she really wants to feel with her right person, safe and trusting?

And the psychic was wearing army green and Rebecca finds in her purse the green soldier that Ted gave her to help her feel protected and safe stuck INSIDE the Ola’s (Lasso) green matchbook?

Is this not unhinged levels of endgame hints?

And then Ted takes out his matchbook from his pocket along with red and blue magnets? So they both still have the matchbook in their purse/pocket, such a personal private space, and each also have another item that also feels really personal and significant? The army man and freakin’ magnets? And there’s all these scenes with Ted and Rebecca with red and blue, like the magnets? And they’re MAGNETS but somehow not sticking together (two magnets in a pocket would definitely find each other) but this shows how they aren’t aware of how they fit yet? How they are soulmates? How they don’t know about their important matching date where they each experienced trauma? And Ted says how he has to bring these magnets back to work, his office, which is where he magnetically connected with Rebecca? She confesses, he forgives, she livens up the place? They hug in an embrace tight as magnets? And they were magnetically drawn to each other in the hallway at work when they each psychically picked up on what was going on for the other one?

And then Rebecca falls into the canal as predicted but is “safe” with the boat guy and he sings Kenny Roger’s just like Ted does? And there a few other parallels with Boat Guy/Ted? And meanwhile Ted is trying to reach her, and clearly misses her, but her phone is in the canal so Ted ends up on a little inner journey with himself and realizes he misses Kansas and his son but also figures out a soccer philosophy which he hopes will help him “win the whole thing” as he promised Rebecca? And when they reunite on the bus at the end they are both grinning ear to ear, maybe for different reasons, but the subtext is that each found their mojo again, their magnetism? And Beard sitting with them with a lightening suit on, matching the prediction from the psychic about thunder and lightening but also Roy telling Rebecca she should expect feeling struck by lightening with a romantic partner? Beard in the lightening suit is clocking what’s happening with Rebecca, that’s she’s been with a man and seems struck by lightening? But boat guy made her feel how Ted makes her feel?! But she was able to loosen up more with stranger guy but she looks at Ted and sings Everything Is Going To Be Alright? But what about the thunder? Is the thunder Ted, because Beard is def silently communicating with his best friend about Rebecca, showing us that Beard thinks Ted needs to pay attention to Rebecca?

To a human on earth lightening seems to come first, then the thunder, because sound travels slower than light. So thunder is still coming…Ted? And you can’t have thunder without lightning? Thunder tells you how close the lightening is. If you don’t hear thunder the lightening is very far away. Why is the thunder missing? Because Ted is still so far away from Rebecca? All of this was so meticulous, don’t tell me the thunder part of the prediction didn’t mean anything? The psychic said Thunder and Lightening and every other thing happened explicitly.

BONUS: And then remember how Ted ends up at Rebecca’s house due to a gas leak the night of the day he told her he was leaving, which leads back to Rebecca’s OWN prediction when she enters the psychic’s office and smells a funny smell? (This happens with psychics, your own latent abilities can turn on.) Plus Ted’s gas leak/fart joke about Beard, and his previous adorable fart song? Heart bent in my apartment because all you left was your fart scent? Gas leak, fart scent, apartment, get it? These are SNL guys remember? Did they seriously make a heartbreak song also about farts? Anyway, Rebecca always thinks Ted is funny? And she is heart bent that he’s leaving? They both are?

And this is just the prediction stuff? NUMEROUS other romcom parallels, signs, clues, tropes, whatever you want to call them, that Ted and Rebecca were going to turn around and see each other ACTUALLY HAPPENED?

And when his mother comes she makes a comment that Ted was FATED to live in England and she fluffs up his apartment with pillows and whatever else to make it more like home. Kansas and BBQ sauce may have been his home but the biscuits he makes for Rebecca reminds her of home, and it’s implied that for Ted, making biscuits for Rebecca and bringing them to her everyday was making Rebecca his home in Richmond. Where do you want to go each day when you are sad and lost and figuring yourself out? Home. So he devises a way to give Rebecca her home feeling while creating a home for himself with her. And his mom seemed to think he belonged there? And she never told him to go back to Kansas, she just said his son misses him? And his son loved visiting, loved soccer, and “has it covered” with training the men while Ted is up in Rebecca’s office and there’s that CRAZY shot of their hands meeting, framed perfectly by the circle of her purse handles as he gives her the biscuits, but anyway back to his son, it’s implied that he has a significant sense of belonging in Richmond, too? And in the last episode Ted ends up in Rebecca’s HOME? Right after the tv announcer says “he should have stayed with Rebecca. Now that was a power couple”? (I know it’s about Rupert but I’m sorry that was about Ted.)

I just like don’t know why they had to do this. This was so unhinged of them. And to say they didn’t enthusiastically consider the ship? You did all this!

@dollsome-does-tumblr @roamwithahungryheart @pinkboxess

@kdbleu

No need to respond just tagging a few of y’all that I’ve seen on here recently

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This gifset and the corresponding Sydney one are awesome and hilarious and I think they deserve even more hearts.

Carmy's facial expression for S3

Carmy talking to the crew how things are going well but they still have to stay focused and drill, it's all about trust. Something sounding akin to "this fucking lil bitch" being said under someone's breath or maybe it's in his head. It's seemingly too low to register to anyone else but him.

Syd chilling wth the crew, joking, laughing and not engaging with him unless it's work-related.

Carmy overhearing Tina joking how Syd's mellow mood might have something to do with Marcus leaving Syd alone with Luca's fine self the other night.

Syd declining another post-work menu workshopping session because she has a "thing" and will just let him know if she comes up with something.

Carmy after another Syd-reduced panic attack.

Syd asking him to try out a new dish she's been working on...

Syd giving him a real smile after what felt like months.. and it feels like just maybe, they're back. They're good.

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It gives off twin flame energy. I think the director was intentional with the Carmy and Syd's mirroring in this episode. They were both wearing dark sweaters with a design on their right side, possibly the same side as their shoulder tattoos, along with the choreography. This is the last time we see Sydney and Carmy's partnership play out smoothly before Claire and Carmy reunite and Emmanuel fills Sydney with doubts. This moment shows us that they are a union and that they're better together than apart- they're equals.

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Love this scene and this post @thoughtfulchaos773 Really noticing how Sydney is behind Carmy in all these frames. Even the first one, by a tiny bit. Maybe highlighting how season 2 will be about his issues holding him back from their twinflameship. Wouldn’t it be an awesome call back if in season 3 they have a similar scene but Syd is in the foreground? And season 3 gives us more of Sydney’s stuff.

The comment in the tags that her sweater has stitches and his has holes! OMG. I always noticed that their sweaters each had a little feature in the same spot but didn’t connect it like opposites. Sydney stitching up Carmy’s holes, Carmy opening up Sydney’s stitched up spots. These two. Credit @tinfishlove

It gives off twin flame energy. I think the director was intentional with the Carmy and Syd's mirroring in this episode. They were both wearing dark sweaters with a design on their right side, possibly the same side as their shoulder tattoos, along with the choreography. This is the last time we see Sydney and Carmy's partnership play out smoothly before Claire and Carmy reunite and Emmanuel fills Sydney with doubts. This moment shows us that they are a union and that they're better together than apart- they're equals.

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Re SPOILERS I’ve seen on here, IMO…

… well maybe not my opinion per se but just my gut (which can be wrong of course) is not so convinced the Carmy-Claire-Richie scene has anything directly to do with the Carmy-Sydney relationship or even with Carmy-Claire?? It may be highlighting the dynamics of those relationships or may be the emotional undertone, but I don’t think that’s what they are explicitly talking about. My guess, whatever it is it has more to do with Richie. I can’t put my finger on it!

But maybe maybe I don’t want to believe it because I don’t want Carmy and Sydney’s vibe to be secretive anymore. To where Claire is calling something out. I need the impetus to clarify the relationship with Sydney be from Carmy himself. Seeing Richie involved again will so annoy and tire me.

If it IS about Carmy-Sydney that would be awesome and Sydcarmy as potential would become canon if his friend that is a girl is getting worked up about it. And intellectually and textually it probably makes sense. Carmy and Sydney were under the table whispering sweet nothings, the same table Claire sat at, the same table where Richie stopped to visit Claire and Claire talked about how much Carmy loves Richie, perhaps an attempt to get Richie to say how much Carmy loves her. They’re all entangled and nutso! Of course that is going to continue!

Whelp I’m not going to solve it by rambling about it lol, here’s to June!

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Emotionally I’m still back with season 1 Edward holding two champagne glasses for himself and Nell (wedding foreshadowing anyone?) and then looking at her like that, like he was just so softly romantically drawn to her… and next thing he’s having sexi with Lexi? Lexi and Edward throwing barbs at each other could have been a running gag, maybe leading up to a platonic* friendship or even some one off sex a bit further down the line where they choose to remain friends, but this was. Abrupt. All that potential Lexi/Edward hilarity is ruined now. It can’t be undone. This show feels a little too earnest in the wrong places. Use your actors wisely! Lexi/Edward could have been comedic gold.

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Sydney lights a fire for Carmy

The first thing that happens in the entire series is the sounds of the stove igniter clicking to start a fire, while Carmy is dreaming.

Sydney brought the heat and fire.

I really do not think they spent that much screen time explaining the fire suppression system to not put it into work.

Tina turning up Sydney's literal heat caused problems between them.

When the pilot light is out, Sydney starts a fire. He was worried about the heat on the stove and the grease trap catching fire right before trying Sydney's dish, then Sydney left and a grease fire breaks out.

When Sydney heard back from Carmy, she almost burned her onions. When Sydney first came to his place, she almost lit his pants on fire. Syd and Carmy have a slow burn. Their fire is increasing. They tried to suppress it and for a while it worked. But the flames are not out and it's going to reignite.

With Claire, he thought there was a genuine spark and some fire, but it was mostly literally fireworks. Artificial, planned, pretty to look at, but ultimately not a practical source of energy that he needs. Fireworks are also not legal in Illinois. He needed a real fire for the restaurant and the fireworks were not going to cut it.

He has an energy problem, which is brought up when he was out with Claire all day. We know Fak fixed some of their electrical problems for the fire suppression by rewiring things at the last minute, but if they now get too much amperage that puts them at risk for electrical fires. I would not be surprised if there's some sort of issue that causes the fire again. Sydney gives Carmy fire, they just have to embrace it and harness it.

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Oh Carmy, the comparsions in your head! He can't help but think of Sydney; I fully believe the writers are suggesting that his mind wandered to Sydney while he had sex with Claire the night before, and so, thinking about that night with Claire led to shame, and it triggered this panic attack.

This panic attack stands out as one where Crmy is almost forcing himself to see the desire for Claire; we hear Mikey praising Claire's new look, drawings of her, and images in rose-colored lenses. He wants to see her as a girlfriend, but he can't bring himself to this, which brings that familiar embarrassment.

When he lets his emotions pass, Carmy begins to feel present and content. The last time he remembers feeling this way was when he was around Sydney. Being in her presence makes Carmy feel good and brings a desire that he doesn't experience when he's around Claire.

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I see it

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Cute. Also this reminds me that I never got over Melissa Scully dying. That really bummed me out. Imagine if she’d been there for her sis all those years, talking about Mulder. (Except we wouldn’t have Christmas Carol and Emily, two of my faves.) It’s why the friendship with Monica Reyes worked, whatever else you want to say about those final seasons, she was a long overdue woo woo sister. Scully and her family story lines did not get enough attention. And All Things? Gillian knew Scully had woo vibes all along. Why else she loved Mulder?

scully, can we merge souls or are u gonna be weird about it

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The ship/anti wars are in bloom post awards season.

Antis like to call shippers delusional. And yes, shippers in turn will often say antis are blind, and biased. It’s a polarity. At least shippers will admit to being delulu sometimes. The self parody on how hard we ship is hilarious and adds to the fun. When does an anti ever admit that maybe they just don’t see or want the same thing? They don’t because they wouldn’t be an anti then.

Anyway but trust me antis, you’re not saying anything new. Your little rants say so much more about you than maybe you’ll ever let yourself realize. Have fun shitting in the sand box!

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In the words of Marcus, you play too much.

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I can’t do it. I can’t take any of this any more. It’s not funny to me. The way this is affecting me.

The sydcarmy allegations have reached them in 4k.

and Ayo was gagged.

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I love me some narrative parallels!

Some Mikey and Sydney Paper Parallels in Season One of The Bear—a few of notes:

Mikey’s death notice and Sydney’s resume both appear in the pilot episode of the series. Mikey’s appear first, informing us of a loss. The bible verse in context refers to a most faithful servant Daniel who is judged ‘innocent’ by God and freed from a lion’s den. The first line of the verse reads “My God hath sent his angel…”

A scene or two later Sydney appears in the kitchen with a resume in hand, effectively a proof of life.

Both Mikey and Sydney leave recipes for Carmy to find. Both of those frames are from the last episode of Season One. Do with that what you will.

The shot of Sydney walking in + the close-up of Carmy’s reaction so purposefully mirrors that flashback of Mikey in the kitchen looking back at Carmy. The latter evokes the idea that this may be Carmy’s last memory of his brother: in the kitchen, a flash of a smile, his back to him. The harsh bright yellow light seems like it might expand any minute and completely envelop this memory until it’s blank and forgotten; maybe this memory is close to fading and the bright light ahead of Mikey has come to take him. Carmy looks a little lost.

Meanwhile, when Sydney walks in the image is clearer—Carmy is clearer and more certain. It is his face that lights up and fills the frame. Set in a kitchen, and met with a similar flash of a smile, here Carmy is seeing a new kind of hope. Sydney returns and brings in the possibility of a future, a salvation from the ruins of his brother and the bones of his life’s work. Again: “My God hath sent his angel…”

As if a little bow to wrap it up, only with Sydney alongside him does Carmy make his and his brother’s dream come to life. The drawing escapes its frame, becomes three-dimensional, it gains a name. The dream becomes real because of Sydney.

P.S. Of course Sydney’s arc and meaning as a character does not revolve around the Berzattos. She has her own histories and pain as seen in these parallels, however thematically she serves as a kind of index to Mikey. Her being new to that kitchen reminds us of what is old, what has passed. Though Mikey kinda lives through her ambition, Sydney lives NOW. She is symbolic of a future. She is *the* future. And because of what she symbolizes, we want Carmy to propel himself forward and join her. Jury’s still out on that.

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Good people, I’m writing a thing on Fishes about Donna, Nat, and how all the women folk are like not able to be there for each other except a few almost imperceptible moments, and every time I leave the draft thinking I’ll come back to it to shorten it and post it, instead it grows and grows and grows. It’s getting so out of hand, Fishes is so fucked, I don’t know what I’m even saying anymore and this is society

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There’s a reason Syd and Donna haven’t met yet. I can’t wait for when they do. Syd should be getting 10000% more credit than she does in the general audience, it drives me BANANAS that she gets ignored, dismissed, and hated on.

Sydney Adamu; Donna's antithesis

THE BIG PARALLEL: THE QUEEN OF THE KITCHEN

Donna's introduction to the audience is in her kitchen, where she is the leader, the center of the action; all orders come from her, and the dynamic in the family is created primarily by her. She has assigned (indirectly or so) the roles of all the family members that keep the family working in the way it does. She is the queen, the leader—a role she was given by nature.

And what is Sydney's job in the kitchen? The CDC, even when she was a sous, she was already taking the responsibilities of the CDC. She is their queen, their leader in their kitchen—a role she was given by choice.

The writers had given Sydney every opportunity to be Donna so they could show us how much of Donna she is not. Here are my favorite examples of it. 

Donna brings guilt, and Sydney brings grace.

Donna created her daughter's nickname after a mistake she made as a kid (probably when Nat was nervous and afraid to fail her), messing up a recipe.

Sydney gave grace to Tina when she messed up the recipe for the mashed potatoes. Sydney could have used that opportunity to get back at Tina for making her look bad in front of Carmy and all the other stuff. Sydney decided to be the bigger person; God, Sydney was not trying to make Tina own or like her. She just decided that is not what she is. She acknowledged that Tina was trying something new and wanted to be available in case Tina needed help. Sydney gave Tina clear expectations, recognized the task's difficulty, and offered help. Later, she was graceful when a mistake was made, and gave positive reinforcement when the job was well done. We learned then that Tinas was terribly afraid of being displaced or not good enough. Sydney is giving Tina all the things Donna should have given Nat.

Another exmaple of this is when Richie and Sydney are shopping for caulk. She just buys the right one; she doesn't rub it in his face or call him stupid or careless. In all their conversation, Sydney tried to understand more, not put more fire into the pile. Richie recognizes that, and I think this is when he starts to respect her, even a little.  

Donna brings chaos, Sydney brings order. 

Both women have the role of being the center (heart) of the kitchen. Only Donna can touch the food in her kitchen, while Sydney delegates the kitchen tasks to the restaurant employees.  

Donna gives the absence of self, and Sydney brings purpose. 

To please their mother, try to win her love, or just survive the household dynamics, the Berzatto siblings had to adopt behaviors/personalities that were not natural to them. Mickey was at least 18 when his father left; he took the provider position by helping her mom run the restaurant. He also took care of his siblings. He was his ultimate ally in helping the family feel like a family, particularly by always being capable of "dialing a room" to make everyone feel entertained, appreciated, have fun, and be a family. For all these reasons, he was Donna's favorite, and the other two siblings were neglected because of it. Neither Nat of Carmy felt really like she was there for them; she probably didn't encourage Carmy to draw or Nat in anything. Nat and Carmy grew up believing their talents/nature were useless because they didn't please their mom. Neither of them recognizes the things they are good at outside the kitchen: Nat diminishes her husband's compliments on her hard work, and Carmy ignores compliments on his drawings. 

Sydney, on the other hand, can encourage Marcus to follow his passion for baking. She supports Tina in her culinary journey to the point of her becoming the third person in charge. She asked Nat to be the project manager because, in the few interactions she had with her, she perceived (or it was intuition) Nat's attention to detail, caring nature, and responsibility. In the climax of the second season, she trusts Richie to do the calling of the orders when she has no reason to believe he can, and he solidifies his purpose. Sydney "nurtured" everybody's natural talents and trusted them to walk independently. That is what a good parent or leader does. It is such a brilliant subtext. Important to note she doesn't do that with Carmy, because Carmy is her equal, her partner-to-be.

Other ones:

There is also to mention the fact that Sydney was a professional driver, and Donna tried to crash a car in her own house. Talking about metaphors. 

Also, Sydney doesn't indulge in any of the toxic behaviors that the Berzattos learned from Donna, neither Carmy nor Richie's bullshit nor the rest of the staff. Little by little, she fought fire with water, and she won, maybe because she is more like a river than a drop. She had a purpose on her own, an identity, a past that she kept to herself, and a desire to move forward. People started to respect her the more they relied on her and the more she didn't give in to the toxic traits that were ruling them before. They saw the good and followed it.

Sydney may not rely on toxic dynamics to lead her kitchen, but she will not let others take advantage of her. She did not pick on Carmy's slack last season for him but despite him. She doesn't believe that is what she is supposed to do, not only as her employee but friend and possible romantic interest. She calls the bad behaviors/tendencies by it's name. And communicates she won't have it, while also saying she belives in him.

I think most of the audience (besides the ones in this fandom) really doesn't understand how extraordinary Sydney is. If she wasn't as well-written as she is, with defects and fears, people would think that she is the "saint woman/magic woman" archetype, making everything previously broken work in her presence. I also think it is because she is a woman, and women are expected to bring magic and be fixers and helpers. There is also the fact that she is a black woman, and everything that comes with that, but I cannot comment on that, so I am not going to. Just saying she is one of the most amazing role models I have seen, decorated with the price of also being one of the most complex female characters on screen. She is not perfect as a person and has not reached her whole potential, and she wants it. I respect and admire her so much. Even when Carmy seems to have a longer path of healing ahead, I want Sydney to win the most, not just heal. I want to know more about her, her intimate desires, and why is her heart broken. Long gone are the days when women lived on screen to make everybody around them better and happier. All the things she is extraordinary for, the ones I talked about, are not just reasons why Carmy had admired her or fallen for her. She is, for me, a champion preparing for live-defining battles. We know who she is, and we get to discover what else she could be, to grow in her self-confidence, her purpose, and what brings pleasure to her soul. She is considered now the show's co-protagonist.

And I hope in s3 we are in for a journey. She made all the difference. Thank you for reading.

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Just reblogging again cuz I was looking back at @thoughtfulchaos773 post on the romcom story beats

The almost ask out has to fit in here—is it a s2 return to the Something is Missing Set Up from s1?

@sydcarmyfan every time I scroll by this post it makes me smile: legend says…lol

Legend says Carmy thinks about this moment at least twice per day