#The faks

[bbruisesamethyst]

the bear is my roman empire for REAL <3

[thoughtfulchaos773]

Before this moment, Ted Fak mentions he's into filmmaking, and Richie mentions director William Friedkin to Natalie.

This moment feels like the creators and audience share the same awareness that Fak is taking more screen time? Like breaking a fourth wall, so to speak?

Not to mention, episode 9 talks about illusions and lights and cameras. Season 2 discussed sports- this season covers filmmaking and that same sort of passion and vision is the same as opening a restaurant.

Anyway, I just know I was so sick of Fak this season, but happy when Sydney and Carmy distracted him with food a couple of times.

[whateven333]

The Bear season 3- opinion:

Whilst I enjoyed season 3 of The Bear, I did not enjoy it as much as I had the other seasons.

Season 3 felt very much like its sole purpose was transitional, it seemed to have begun to set up interesting conflicts but instead of then delving into those we were subjected to a lot of moody flashes of backstory and whilst these were beautifully done, to have a whole season that was chock full of moments like this really dulled the impact for me as opposed to if these moments had been spread out over a longer season in-between episodes where we were allowed to focus on exploring conflicts etc.

When I got the majority of the way through season 3, I stopped and thought to myself how I couldn't seem to recall many events of note that had occurred thus far and I was also left feeling the same way once I had reached the end of the season.

I want to say the season had a weirdly filler-esque feeling to it -but the thing is, I love filler, but I did not love this season -so it's not exactly that. Also please don't hate me for this I'm sorry i loved them in the other seasons 😭...but I've grown real tired of the Faks this season...their scenes definitely felt like filler but I felt as if the humour wore off pretty quickly... imo the Faks would have been better in small doses as in the previous seasons, their scenes felt especially frustrating further on through this season when it felt like we had so much still left unanswered and unseen of other characters.

Though one part of this season i thought was so well done was Natalie/ (Sugar) going into labour, her scene in the car where she was frantically calling everyone broke my heart but that scene and episode in general I thought was great.

Another part I loved- the scene showing us the meal Syd had from Carmy where he changed the fennel shit to blood orange whatever the fuck (I do not know much about cooking im sorry 🙏🏾💔) anyway, thought that scene was beautiful, very red string of fate type thing -I ate it right up <3

Please do not think that my lack of preference for this season is to do with a lack of SydCarmy, in fact I rather enjoyed their scenes and felt like we have a lot of delicious angst potential set up to explore (fanfic writers I'm looking at U👁👁...) I think I was mostly put off by what felt like an over-abundance of moody flashbacks and montages, these made the season feel like a bit of a drag.

But still overall a solid enough season with a lot of potential left to explore imo.

[fraudstruck]

Another grievance w the bear s3: The Faks. All of them. Unfunny and getting on my last nerve. It seems like the show runner added more of them so that the show would avoid the category fraud allegations. They didn’t make me laugh once. The only one who really does is Richie and I feel like we barely saw him this season. Cool to see John Cena do his thing but like…why here? And then Gary Fak? Who cares??? Shoutout to the actors but beefing up their screen time was a big mistake.

[willemdafinky]

The Fakes have been taking way too much screentime this season and it’s getting really grating, why were they the only characters besides Donna and Pete to appear in the Hospital episode?

[undead-moth]

Okay I thought I could let this go and just leave it at this post I wrote a bit ago but I can't.

Everything about how the Faks were written this season, including how much screentime they got, can be attributed to fatphobia.

The Faks exemplify a really common fatphobic stereotype that gets heavily relied on in comedy shows. I call it The Lovably Childish Fat Man trope, though there's much more to it than that. Some examples are Scully and Hitchcock from Brooklyn 99, Teddy from Bob's Burgers, Andy from Parks and Rec, and Kevin from The Office.

These characters are dopey, incompetent, clumsy, dumb, sloppy, childish and self-unaware. All of these attributes are used for comedic affect within the story. While these characters are lovable, they are lovable in a, "Isn't it just so endearing how dumb and clumsy and gross they are?" way. It is in the most condescending way possible. These are characters who aren't allowed to be serious and are required to play into the comedy of their fatness, often wearing ill-fitting clothes, overeating, or having their weight become an obstacle in a setting. This is how fat characters can still be made into a joke, and not just a joke, but THE joke, without a single comment ever being made about their weight from any of the thin characters in the story.

Now, when it comes to The Bear, Neil Fak was always an example of this trope - but in the first two seasons it wasn't as egregious. Neil was incompetent in general, but when it came to his job as a maintenance man, he was very competent. He was childish in general, but he was allowed to participate in conversations like any other adult without the sole purpose of his presence being that he was going to say something childish or dumb.

On top of that, all of his incompetence and childishness was balanced out by Richie, who was also immature, incompetent, and self-unaware.

But in the third season, a lot changes.

The biggest change is that the restaurant opens, and so now there is no need for a regular maintenance man who is going to take mold seriously, insist on moving the lockers before painting, and figure out that Michael fucked with the fire alert system to prevent it from going off when he tried to burn The Beef down.

Now, instead, Neil becomes a server in the restaurant, which is something he's woefully incapable of doing, and his incompetency in serving is highlighted for comedic affect.

At the same time, Richie has gone through real character development, and he's no longer unprofessionally dressed. He doesn't lack self-awareness. He's not as outspoken or willfully rude. When he is angry or immature, it is not comparable to a teenager's anger, much less a child. He no longer balances Neil out as a thin character with a lot of the same flaws.

What's worse, is that another Fak was introduced as a character, and he's also fat. Ted Fak becomes a regular rather than someone who's made an appearance or two, and his personality is virtually indistinguishable from Neil's. The only real difference that I can tell between them is that Ted's maturity is closer to on par with a thirteen or fourteen-year-old, while this season especially, Neil's maturity was more on par with a nine or ten-year-old.

When I say they're childish, I mean they are literally portrayed like children. They engage in the same conversations you could expect from children. Neil routinely refers to Carmy as his best friend unnecessarily, which is something a child would do, but on top of that the joke is, "Ha ha - can you believe Neil thinks he's Carmy's best friend?" even though Carmy outright admitted that Neil was probably his best friend in season one (which was also intended to be a ha ha funny joke). Ted and Neil also talk about Neil's wall of food critics, and Neil asserts that he would have already been able to tell whether or not one of the food critics had come in, and insists that he's memorized all their faces in a very child-like way. Any time the two of them are engaging in conversation, it's made apparent that the two of them both think they're geniuses exchanging profound wisdom, when in reality everything they say is stupid and uses the logic of children who don't yet understand how complicated everything is.

I really hit my limit when they went to see Claire to tell her Carmy says he's sorry - an act that no two grown ass men would ever decide to do, nor think was appropriate to do, nor helpful to do, nor would they fucking think it's their business, or if they did decide to talk to Claire, they wouldn't bombard the E.R without permission and wander into an operating room in the process. On top of this, they speak too loudly for the indoors, and Neil stammers through saying Carmy is sorry in very simple words, no different than a child saying sorry on the playground, and Claire even responds to them like children, trying to quiet them down, lecturing them about going places they shouldn't, talking them down from apologizing for Carmy because she recognizes it's not as simple as these children think it is, and she even explains it in simple terms to them, while routinely saying, "My love," and, "I love you," and trying to manage their excitement and expectations again - the exact same way you would with a hyper, overly enthusiastic child. With Ted she implies that he gave one of her friends an STD, and gives him a very maternal look and a, "You know what I'm talking about," comment while Ted continues to act obliviously (Ha ha the gross fat man has an std funny joke.)

Literally, you could easily replace these characters with a ten-year-old and a teenager and you wouldn't have to change anything. In fact, it would work better. It would make more sense.

It is possibly the most egregious example of this trope that I have ever seen. It turned a show that was previously actually better than the average TV show when it comes to fatphobia into a show that's actually more fatphobic than most shows I've watched.

And as for why the Faks were so heavily relied on, why they got so much screentime despite there being so many other characters they could have chosen to develop or focus on instead - I think the writers chose to do that because they knew this season was going to be heavier than past seasons.

They knew that the A Plots (Primarily Carmy's worsening behavior in the restaurant, but also Natalie giving birth, and Tina's search for a job after being let go) were all going to be really heavy, serious storylines. But they knew that even if this season was going to be more serious, this show was still a comedy. Not only do they need to keep it in line with its category, but they also had to try to keep the tone consistent with past seasons even though the plots in the past two seasons were not as serious. And particularly with the main storyline, with Carmy's character arc, I don't think Storer wanted to make that comedic at all. Previously, even really heavy moments could be humorous. The humor was dark, sure, but it was there, and so the comedy was threaded seamlessly throughout episodes, and no one character was more responsible for comedy than any other, even in heavy moments. But with this season, it was crucial that Carmy's state of mind feel as serious as it was. It was crucial that the alienation the other characters felt was palpable to us. In order for that to be the case, they couldn't be the ones providing comedic relief. Those moments had to remain incredibly tense, and awkward, and uncomfortable.

So - enter The Faks as Shakespearian-esque Fools.

In order to keep the A Plots properly serious, The Faks provided comic relief in between A Plot scenes. They're fools in intermissions. That's all. This works because Ted and Neil aren't supposed to be real characters. They don't have character arcs. They aren't ever going to be developed in any meaningful way, and so Storer can afford to include numerous empty scenes with them that do nothing to complicate them or reveal anything about them - and this isn't true of most other reoccurring characters in the show.

It's also worth noting that relying on this trope, using this trope as a crutch really, provides endless low-hanging fruit. Most people who had problems with The Faks this season had a problem with them in part because even though they were given so much screentime, and even though they were always being used comically - they were never funny.

This is where Storer fucked up - you know, beyond being a huge fatphobe. Storer was relying on the fact that most people find fatphobia hilarious. It is an easy way to get some laughs. It requires almost no thought. And okay - I understand that there are scenes in which something more is clearly meant to be getting through, particularly with the discussions of "the haunt" - but the Faks are so annoying that whatever was meant to get through doesn't anyway, or if it does, we don't fucking care anymore.

I'm not going to argue that The Bear fandom isn't fatphobic, because they very much are - However - That is not the kind of humor that first drew them to The Bear. The humor in this show previously was dry, dark, clever, absurd - many things, but all very sophisticated and often subtle. That is not only the humor we expected to return this season, it's obviously the humor we like! Since we're returning for season three!

But Storer didn't understand this about his own audience, and so he didn't think it would matter if he relied on a fatphobic stereotype for comedic effect. Honestly, I think it was probably a blind-spot for him, because he doesn't even know that's what he was doing - he just genuinely thinks this fatphobic trope is hilarious, and so do the other writers. It didn't occur to them that the audience wouldn't too. As a result, it is possibly the weakest part, and most universally hated parts of this season.

[escapismqueen]

What’s with all the fak slander ? you leave my lovable idiots alone

[unladyboss]

REMEMBER THIS

Season 2 episode 5 Pop

Remember that Kelly says she never meets anyone who is nice.

Remember it because she meets Fak and his brother and likes the brother.

This means, HE IS NOT NICE.

Neither is Neil Fak

[sleepyshygirl-blog]

The Faks feel like a social experiment from the writers, because each of them is weirder than the other, anda I don't know if they're supposed to mean something or if they're just weird because 🤷🏽‍♀️

[nicolacoughlan]

#Get him syd

[thebearer]

nothing in the world belongs to me |carmen berzatto x reader|

prompt: still new in your relationship, you show up to the bear for dinner unexpectedly, surprising carmen and the others.

based off this prompt from the other day :)

contains: fluff lol. really, it's just fluff. established-ish relationship (the others don't know). carmen being a little nervous and possessive but mainly cute <3 language.

“Alright, listen up,” Richie stood next to Sydney, flicking through the piles of tickets that were ringing through by the second. It was normal now, an expected task in their routine. “We need to walk the focaccia to table seven, please.” 

“Yes, Chef!” A chorus of nearly robotic voices rose from the sizzling hiss of the lamb searing in Carmen’s pan, lifting the spatula to tip the meat over, before giving it back to the chef on the line. 

“And for table nine, we’ve got a shellfish allergy, alright? So let’s triple check the cross contamination on that. T, can you handle that one?” Richie moved from his leather bound book of notes back to the ticket. 

“Yes, Chef!” Tina chimed, pulling a freshly washed pan, filling it with the veal stock. 

“Table nine, is that- that’s the senator?” Carmen turned to Richie, tasting the roux bubbling on Victoria’s station, giving her a curt nod of approval. 

“No, that’s table eleven.” Richie hummed, looking back at his notebook. “Nine, is… a birthday. Booked online.” Carmen had already begun to drone him out, mind racing with a million other things as Richie listed the guests name. Until he got to one. 

The name Carmen was sure he was hallucinating. The name no one knew- How would they know? How could they possibly know your name? 

You and Carmen had been seeing each other for a little while. A few weeks that were slowly turning into months. A casual thing that was slowly turning more serious. Dates and meetups are becoming more frequent. You’d even invited him over to your place a few times, he’d spent the night last week. 

Still, Carmen hadn’t managed to tell anyone. Selfishly, he liked that you were all his for now. Privacy was not guaranteed in the Berzatto house, in Carmen’s life still. He knew they meant well, they always did- he knew it wasn’t purposeful, the intrusion that almost always led to a demise. Carmen wasn’t ready for it, not yet, he still wanted you all to himself. 

“Carmen?” Sydney’s voice pulled him out of his panicked trance. “Chef, are you- are you good?” Her voice lilted with that familiar suspicious quip, the one always accompanied with her lifted brows. 

“What?” Carmen blinked, hands buzzing, heart thumping. He could see the window, Richie’s frame blocking most of it. “Sorry, yeah- yeah, I’m good, Chef.” 

Sydney watched him carefully, a slow nod before she continued calling out orders. Carmen could feel Richie’s eyes on him, narrowed with curiosity. Carmen tried to be nonchalant, crossing the kitchen back towards Tina, his eyes cutting carefully, looking out the window. 

There you were. 

Sitting pretty at the middle table, surrounded by friends, some Carmen recognized from your Instagram. He’d actually logged in to the app, looked you up after the first date, consumed every photo of yours in the dark of his room. Cheeks burning with excited heat, stomach fluttering in a way he hadn’t felt since junior high. 

“Alright, walk five salads to nine.” Sydney called out. “Where’s our runners? God, Richie, can you run-” 

“-I got it.” Carmen called, the urgency in his tone making Tina jump behind him. Carmen took the tray before Gary could, his hands shaking as he lifted it. 

“Cousin, I can get it.” Richie frowned. 

“No, I-I got it.” Carmen nodded, swallowing down his fluttering nerves. His eyes cut to your table through the window, heart skipping when he saw you. “I got it. I’ll be- I’ll just be a second.” 

“I don’t- I can’t even handle that one right now.” Sydney sighed in exasperation. “Alright, Chefs. Let’s get back on track.” She announced, shaking her head. Richie frowned, pulling out his phone. 

Sugar’s cell buzzed against the hostess stand, excusing herself to check it. 

From: Richie 

‘Look at table nine.’ 

Sugar huffed. 

To: Richie 

‘Why? Is there something wrong?’ 

She stepped back, casually turning to scan the room, eyes landing on the table. A small group of girls, younger, and amongst them- Carmen? 

To: Richie 

‘Is something wrong with the food? Do I need to comp it?’ 

From: Richie 

‘No. Cousin wanted to go out there.’ 

Sugar frowned, angling her body behind the large plant near the front as casually as she could. She watched through the leaves as Carmen passed out the salads, each girl grinning widely, but their eyes always cut to one on the end. 

Carmen saved your salad for last, hoping the lowlights of the restaurant would hide his boyish blush, setting the bowl in front of you carefully. “Hey,” 

“Hi,” You smiled sheepishly, looking to meet his gaze. “Everything looks so good.” 

“Yeah? Thanks.” Carmen nodded. “I-I didn’t know you were comin’ tonight.” 

“I’m sorry.” You cringed softly, embarrassed heat flooding through your veins. You knew better, knew you shouldn’t have done this- showed up at his restaurant unannounced. 

“I, uh, it’s my friend’s birthday.” You nodded towards Alicia at the end of the table. “And I was telling them about that pasta you made me, and they really wanted to come try it.” Your nerves bubbled, rambling in nervous peals that seemed to pour out before you could stop them.  

“Yeah, no, that’s really nice. Thank you.” Carmen nodded, giving a half smile to your friends, hoping they didn’t see the way he wiped his clammy hands on his apron. “Why didn’t- Why didn’t you just call me? Tell me you were comin’ in.” 

“I didn’t want to bother you.” You muttered softly. “I honestly didn’t think you’d even see us here, I swear. I didn’t mean to bother you or anything-” 

“-You’re not bothering me.” Carmen’s voice dropped to a coo, accompanied with a soft smile that had your head spinning. “Never a bother, but, uh, next time? Bother me, ok? Wanna make sure you get the best seat in the house.” 

Your cheeks flushed with heat, your friends excited giggles only intensifying the rushing heat blanketing over your body. Carmen’s own cheeks heated, tongue rolling on the inside of his cheek to hide his grin. 

“Alright?” Carmen added, and in a complete act of shocking boldness, his hand squeezed your shoulder affectionately. A small gesture on the outside, but for Carmen, it was huge. 

“Alright.” You grinned, leaning into his touch, your hands sliding over his. 

“How’s everything so far?” Carmen turned to the table, nodding at the excited gushes of compliments, not missing the way your friends cut their eyes to you with animated glee. 

“Just let me know if you need anything, ok?” Carmen turned to you.

“I will.” You nodded, starry eyed with love sick affection. 

“Good. I’ll see you before you leave, alright?” Carmen muttered, ducking down towards you. His lips brushed over your cheek, your perfume clouding his senses. “You’re not botherin’ me. ‘M glad you’re here.” 

Your cheek pressed to his, a gentle, affectionate rub before Carmen parted. Both of your features painted with shy delight. 

Carmen could feel everyone’s eyes, through flickering gazes and lifted brows. Sydney’s gaze lingering over him skeptically, still counting tickets. Fak’s wide grin from the corner, loading trays to take out. 

“Hey, uh, Marcus.” Carmen ignored Richie’s raised brows, a teasing, questioning remark on the tip of his tongue. 

“Yes, Chef?” Marcus muttered, looking up from the cannolis he was garnishing. 

“Table nine has a birthday. I was thinkin’ maybe the chocolate ganache, punch it with the little circle to make it look like a cake. Add a candle?” Carmen muttered, hand rubbing across his face. 

“Yeah, Chef, I can do that.” Marcus nodded. 

“Thank you.” Carmen nodded. “And Chef? Let me know when it’s ready before you walk it.” 

Marcus frowned. “No, it’s not- I just wanna walk it, ok?” Carmen shook his head. 

“Alright.” Marcus nodded slowly. “Heard, Chef.” 

Richie smirked, leaning against the stainless steel table. “So,” Richie hummed. “There a complaint or somethin’? Need me to go talk to ‘em-” 

“-No,” Carmen snapped, the possessiveness in his tone startling the both of them. “Sorry, it’s- No, I-I don’t need you to do that, Chef. Everything’s good.” 

Richie nodded slowly, passing the dishes to Gary with a nod. “You gonna tell me what that was about?” 

“No, Chef.” Carmen clipped, an edge to his tone that was teetering on annoyed. “But, uh, there’s not gonna be a check on table nine.” 

“What?” Richie frowned. “Did you mess somethin’ up? Seriously, Cousin, if something's wrong it’s my job to know-” 

“-No, it’s not-.” Carmen huffed, eyes pinching closed, running a hand over his face in frustration. “Look, that’s… The girl on the end? I-I’ve been kinda seein’ her, ya know?” He muttered. 

Richie gawked, blinking in disbelief. “No shit.” He grinned. “No shit? You-You’re serious?” He turned to look out the window. 

“Don’t fuckin’ look.” Carmen hissed. “Look, it-it’s not a big deal, alright? Just don’t-don’t say anything o-or do anything.” 

Richie swallowed back a teasing remark, a reactive reaction from years of being with Mikey. How the two of them used to tease Carmen endlessly, until they were fighting on the front lawn, Mikey howling with laughter while Carmen was red faced with mortified anger. 

This time, Richie held back. He wasn’t sure why, call it divine intervention, a gut feeling maybe, but it felt different this time. 

“Alright.” Richie nodded slowly. “No ticket for nine. Heard.” 

Carmen’s foot tapped anxiously. “I mean, right? Th-That’s what I should do right?” Carmen looked over his shoulder out the window. “That would be shitty to give her a check? Be a complete jagoff move to charge her?” 

“Yeah,” Richie scoffed lightly. “Jagoff of the fuckin’ year. Makin’ your girl pay to come to your place.” 

Carmen’s heart swelled at the term- your girl. His girl. You were his girl. 

“Walk four Pappardelle to nine. Walk one Pappardelle vegetarian style to nine.” Sydney called. 

Carmen dipped the spoon in the glaze, garnishing the plate before sliding it towards Sydney. “So, you gonna take these out?” He muttered. 

“No,” Carmen huffed. “Gonna wait until the cake.” 

“Yeah, good idea, Cousin.” Richie nodded with a proud smile. “That when you’re gonna tell them no check tonight?” 

“No,” Carmen shook his head. “I don’t- It would feel weird comin’ from me.” He looked up at Richie. “I was gonna let you do it.” 

“Yeah, I can handle that.” Richie smirked. “And I won’t say anything, Cousin.” He stopped Carmen before he could say it. “I got you, Cousin. I won’t fuck it up, alright?” 

Carmen nodded slowly, a strangled thank you on the tip of his tongue. The door swung open behind Richie, and for a second, Carmen caught a glimpse of you. Smiling and laughing, leaned in over the table, no doubt giggling with your friends about him. Carmen’s heart squeezed, but this time, without fear. No, there was no dooming fear that you were mocking him, making fun of him. This time, he felt the content rush of adrenaline filled love. A change in his routine, yes. Unexpected, sure, but he was glad for it. Glad that you were there- here, with him.

[ym523]

Could you do something with Halsin and Astarion 🥹 something spicy or soft or both 😅😅

Spicy it is ♨️

[thoughtfulchaos773]

There is something so sinister about Ted Fak.

[tigerbaulm]

EVERY SECOND COUNTS !!

[animusrox]

The Bear (2022 - ) Season 2 Episode 8 “Bolognese”

[ivebeendressingforrevenge]