rachel kates

✳ R A C H E L ✳ K A T E S ✳ twenty-eight. cisgender woman. she/her. bisexual. creator behind amazing amerikim "If it is important enough to you, you will find a way. If it is not, you will find an excuse." —Ryan Blair

[itsrachelkates-blog]

itscaseyjane·:

Casey thinks her favorite thing about this new change in her life is having Rachel as a roommate. They seem to vibe so well, it’s crazy. The other woman is such a delight to be around, Casey can only smile at her and think: thank goodness I took a chance and answered that ad. “Miller it is,” Casey announces with a nod of her head, taking her keys from the bowl by the door. “So, meet back here in like 20?” She suggests. It should be enough time. Who knows how quickly the place churns out pizzas but in case there’s any lag, Casey says, “If I get back first, I’ll just put the beers in fridge and get started on the mugs. I wouldn’t crack one open with you,” she assures with a wink. She is in no business of cracking a cold one without her boys. Or in this case, her roommate. “Go team on 3?” She holds her hand out for Rachel to put hers over so they can do one of those ‘break’ moments she sees usually in sports movies but she feels it’s appropriate for their mission as well.

“I think twenty should be plenty,” Rachel agreed, but nodded her head along as Casey continued to offer to work on the mugs. She laughed at Casey’s playful wink,  and stepped close enough to Casey to put her hand on top of hers. “We’re going to need to brainstorm a team name when we get home, obviously, but yes-- go team on three!” Stacking their hands and pumping them up and down as appropriate for the countdown, Rachel declared, “1! 2! 3! Go team!” And released her hands with a big flourish.

Ushering the other out, Rachel made sure that the door was locked behind them as they headed out and towards the exit of the apartment building. “Do you know where you’re going?” She asked Casey, pulling out her own phone to type the pizza place’s name into Google Maps to double-check that she knew where to go. “I still keep getting lost. Thank god for apps.”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

sethzaher·:

Seth let out a light laugh at the others words, his head shaking a little. He knew it was a little random for him to randomly approach a stranger, but he couldn’t help it when he saw her behavior. “I have no idea what a stranger is,” he joked with a small smile. “I’m Seth,” he told her. “I’d offer to shake your hand, but since you’re sick all, I don’t want to get sick myself. But hey, now I’m not a stranger anymore.”

Rachel’s smile grew as he laughed at her humor, happy to hear it, and so she chuckled in response to his joke. “I’m Rachel,” she said, “I’ll just rain-check you for the handshake.” She shoved her hands pointedly into her jacket pockets. She nodded her head slightly in the direction Seth had come from. “Where are you coming from?”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

caleb-cunningham·:

With how mousy and twitchy she was, Caleb couldn’t be angry at her even if he tried for fear that the poor girl would turn into dust and blow away if he so much as raised his voice an octave. “ It’s really fine – I was just as much at fault. “ He assured her again with a perfect white smile. “ If anything I owe you a coffee and could probably stand to clean up a bit in the restroom. Since she was going back inside anyway, Caleb didn’t feel the need to request her company, his actions forward as always as he met her at her side and placed his hand on the small of her back gently to usher her in the right direction. It was a simple but flirtatious gesture that he couldn’t help but make.

When inside, the warmth was welcome but if he didn’t clean up soon he would be wandering around smelling like a latte. Showing off only slightly, He reached into his wallet to pull out a large note, handing it to her with a carefree smile as he requested that she re-order her drink while he tidied himself. “ And can you order me a double shot espresso con panna and a pumpkin bread if they have it? I’ll only be a minute.” He smiled, even tossing her a wink before heading off in hopes that the excuse was enough to make her linger long enough to talk.

What had she gotten herself into? A large bill in hand, complicated order on the brain, and the burn of a stranger’s hand on the small of her back-- it was even more uncomfortable than the growing cold of coffee on her jeans. However, Rachel was nothing if not a trooper. “Sure thing,” she replied, breezily. “Take your time.” She smiled easily as he walked away, and headed to the counter.

The shop was clearly having a small lull, and so Rachel was able to place his order without skipping a beat, as well as her own-- a large coffee, one cream and one sugar, with the addition of a chocolate chip muffin because she deserved it with the way her day was going. After paying with her debit card and being assured that an employee would bring her order over, Rachel sat at a tall table to wait for her companion to return. When he finally did, Rachel offered him another easy smile, and slid his untouched note back to him politely. “They said it should only be a minute. I hope that you don’t mind.” She gestured for him to take the seat across from her. “And I’m Rachel, by the way.”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

itscaseyjane·:

And with that decision, Casey nods. Beer and unpacking are like peanut butter and jelly, it’d be a shame to have them apart. She follows suit, leaving her task in the kitchen to head to the coat rack for her jacket. “Anything as long as there’s no pineapple,” she reveals with a cheeky smile. A risk to admit. Pineapple. A controversial topic when it comes to pizza. “Please tell you’re on team No Pineapple otherwise we might have our first kerfuffle as roommates. And so early too,” she teases. Even if she honestly wouldn’t mind pineapple; she likes their essence on pizza but not their presence. If anyone could understand that. With a chuckle, she slips into her jacket in hopes that’s enough to keep her warm, a moment later fixing her hair so it’s not caught under it before asking, “Do you have a preferred brand? Are you a Miller girl? A Coors girl? …A Budweiser girl?” She even suggests after a beat. There’s no telling and she wants to be as accommodating as possible. Beer is harder to please people with compared to pizza. Anyone would be happy with a pizza. Unless they were monsters.

As she tugged on her jacket, Rachel faked a gasp at Casey’s ‘admission’. “Team No Pineapple? Oh my god! I want you out right now!” Her declaration was betrayed by her smile, and after a moment Rachel said, “J-K, I really couldn’t care less. I’ve never gone out of my way to order pineapple, but I’m not going to riot if it ends up on my slice. Like I said: I’m easy.” After pulling her hood through her jacket, Rachel grabbed her choice of purse that particular week (if Rachel hoarded anything, it was comic books and crappy purses) and checked that she had her wallet and keys inside. After a beat of consideration over whether she’d seem annoying if she said that she didn’t care again-- like did she seem too easygoing, or like she needed harder opinions on things?-- Rachel cheerily replied, “And Miller sounds great to me!”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

magnoliaxsawyer·:

“You know what?” She started, chuckling. “I am willing to spend my money if I am going to stop others from looking at this abomination.” Magnolia humored, shrugging her shoulders. “I can totally see why they are uptight about fires. Who wouldn’t be?”

“Wow, what an upstanding citizen you are-- do you think the mayor might give you a medal for that one?” She lightheartedly teased in response. “You’ve got a good point there-- pyromaniacs maybe?”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

sethzaher·:

Seth wish he had something better to offer her - something cleaner - but he didn’t. A small frown framed his features as he shrugged a little bit at her comment. “I guess not,” he spoke quietly, his eyes glancing away as she went to blow her nose. Hearing her thank him, he turned back to look her and smiled a little. “You’re welcome. You should take a hot shower when you get home - the steam - it helps clear your sinuses.”

Rachel wondered if she was going to have to pretend to sniffle for the duration of her conversation with the stranger to keep of the facade of being full of bacteria rather than bullshit. “I’ll have to consider that,” she replied with a small, grateful smile. She was about to turn away with a quick goodbye, but something about him approaching her with kindness despite Rachel being a stranger in the darkness struck a chord with her. She was still so new to the city, and overwhelmed, and maybe she needed kindness. And so, instead of walking away, she joked, “Did your parents forget teach you about stranger danger too?”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

jamesxhearst·:

“That is absolutely true,” James said, nodding. “I’m glad I discovered someone as nerdy as me. I was worried there for a sec.”

“Oh, you have no idea, neutral boy,” she said with small, self-deprecating laugh. “But nerd to nerd, next time you might want to get the girl’s name before you consider a proposal.” Grinning, she extended her hand. “I’m Rachel.”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

nathan-fox·:

                                           He thought about that for a moment, shoulders sagging before he nodded, “Yeah, I get that actually,” he said, very clearly agreeing with her. Art was strange and weird, and it was personal—- he knew that better than anyone, and there wasn’t a reason why fashion would be any different. “Still though, some of the stuff in clothing stores? Like, not runway stuff, but actual ready-to-wear stuff, right? Fucking crazy—- don’t know anyone who would want to buy it.”

Rachel shrugged; he had her there. She still found a lot of joy in bad clothing-- obviously-- but that was just her style. “Yeah, that’s true. There’s some really and truly terrible stuff out there on the shelves. But I guess in trying to please the billions of people on the planet, sometimes you’ve just got to go wild and put it out there, right? Someone will buy your denim underwear someday.”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

jamesxhearst·:

James looked at her admirably. “Would it be too weird if I ask you to marry me right now?” he asked though he immediately said “No, don’t answer, it is weird. Maybe you could just be my co-pilot on the Falcon then.”

Rachel let out a loud laugh, startled but flattered by his joke. “I’m pretty sure that Chewbacca and Han Solo have just as much of a committed life-long relationship as Han and Leia do. It’s effectively the same question.” 

[itsrachelkates-blog]

sethzaher·:

Seth didn’t do well when it came to people crying and being upset, but unfortunately, it’s something he’s had to deal with before. Usually he knows how to talk to people who are upset, but it’s been a while since he’s tried to comfort someone. When she told him she was fine, he didn’t believe her but didn’t press the issue. Hearing her ask if he had a tissue, his eyebrows furrowed and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a napkin he had shoved in his pocket from when he ordered lunch. “Will this work?” he asked, offering it to her.

Rachel looked at the procured napkin, pulled from his pocket and rumpled accordingly, and couldn’t help but let out a small, watery laugh. “Beggars can’t be choosers, right?” She asked rhetorically as she accepted the napkin from him. Quickly she blew her nose, turning away from him to do so. “It is flu season, isn’t it? I must be getting sick. Thanks for your dirty pocket tissue.”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

belizedaniels·:

“Oh yeah.” Bel nodded, adjusting her purse strap as she took a closer look at the other femine’s face, recognition in her eyes. “Workshops. What exactly do those consist of?” It was nice to hear the stranger had recently moved into town, it would be nice to know someone– specifically for Bel, someone who was a talented enough artist to be running workshops. “Yeah, I do some tours there.” she added politely, finding herself wishing she was able to be creating something, like this girl. “Well, I’m Belize. What was your name?”

“The ones I run are really just introductory classes on things like line-art and basic geometry,” Rachel explained as she tucked her hair behind an ear. “They’re really aimed at teenagers, but I find I’ve been getting a lot of groups of adults who just like having someone tell them step-by-step how to draw something cool while they snack.” It wasn’t exactly what she pictured herself doing, but it was fun. “You must know a lot about art, then! I haven’t taken any of the tours yet, honestly. I should. I’ll make sure to request you, Belize.” She extended a hand to the girl and smiled. “I’m Rachel.”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

kaiadevereaux·:

“I feel her pain. Even flat shoes for me have a platform of sorts.” Kaia agreed, chuckling. The only time she was ever truly flat on the ground was when she roamed her apartment in socks. “I’m 5′2 and like, a half on a good day? 5′3 when i’m feeling tall.”

Rachel smiled-- she was 5′6, and if anything had wished that she had been slightly shorter than she was. “I’m surprised that you don’t make use of those increments; you know, 5′2 and a half or whatever,” she said with a chuckle. “My mom is adamantly five foot and three-quarters tall.”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

nathan-fox·:

                                   “Well, I think half the things you see on runways look absolutely ridiculous, so…” He shrugged, offering it as his explanation, deciding it was telling enough to let her know just where his expertise lied—- or in this case, didn’t lie.

“Well, that’s because runway shows aren’t always for casual looks or everyday wear, they’re showcasing fashion as an art form,” Rachel calmly defended. “A lot of the looks are really beautiful, if you look at them that way. Or if you care about that at all.”

[ava-allan-deactivated20230928]

“To be honest with you, I’m more of a girl’s girl. I’m much more comfortable being around other girls.” - Jamie Chung

[itsrachelkates-blog]

sethzaher·:

Despite Seth putting his medical career behind him, it didn’t stop him from helping people out here and there, or even getting the impulse to want to help someone. As left Limelight - the karaoke bar he bartends at - he looked over at a random stranger. Maybe something was off with them, or maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to see by missing the part of him that wanted to help and treat patients. “Is everything okay?” he asked, gesturing toward them.

Shit-- was her first thought. Caught, was her second. Her sniffling must have given her away. Straightening up and trying to look like she hadn’t just been having a slight mental breakdown under a streetlight, Rachel discreetly dried her eyes as she answered, “Yeah, totally fine!” As she tugged her coat’s collar up and more firmly around her, Rachel turned to look at the stranger that had confronted her. She mustered a smile. “You wouldn’t happen to have a tissue, though?”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

magnoliaxsawyer·:

Magnolia has never been fond of 90s fashion, she found it very kitschy. “Do you want my honest opinion?” It really didn’t matter if she wanted to hear or not though. “You can’t rock it. Just let me burn this atrocious piece of clothing. It’s hurting my eyes.”

Rachel laughed immediately, agreeing wholeheartedly. “I’m pretty sure if you burn it, you buy it. Retail workers are really uptight about fires, for some reason.”

[itsrachelkates-blog]

jamesxhearst·:

“Neutral boy is more accurate I think,” James said with a smirk. He nodded in agreement with her statement and said, “Exactly. It takes one to know one though so I’m guessing you’re not a stranger to Force yourself.”

“I mean... the series is nearly forty years old, and it’s Star Wars,” she said with a heavy emphasis, “So I don’t think there’s too many people you can find who don’t know about the Force,” Rachel downplayed. “But yeah, I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me.”