They say you never forget your first, and my first Lexa, Chef Lexa from Quality Ingredients, has been on my mind a lot lately. I think a lot about how she and Clarke's relationship matured, how they live now that they've been together for a long time, what her friends are like, how she is at work now that she's changed so much, and how she treats herself differently now. I like thinking about how she's figured out how to truly be happy, and it took her a long time to believe she deserved it and that it was real.
Sometimes she feels like the clearest and simplest of all of my Lexas, but I think she's actually the most complex. Of all of my Lexas, she's got the most nods to canon happening at the same time. I live in her city, I work in her field, and she crosses my mind at least a few times a day. Hoping to turn some of those strings of thoughts into writing soon.
Happy Moodboard Monday, y'all. I hope you all have great weeks ahead!
@anonymous-red-506 and I are watching old seasons of Food Network Tournament of Champions and REALLY wishing Chef Lexa was involved!
First question: What celeb chef would Lexa fangirl about cooking against?
Second question: How would Chef Lexa react to meeting Guy Fieri?
Third question: Who from QI is most likely to dress up as Guy Fieri for Halloween? 😂
FUN! I love that! I think Lexa would be good at it! I haven't watched that show in a long time, so I'm not 100 percent sure who's on it, but I can do my best.
I don't know that Chef Lexa does fangirl in the typical sense. I think she has a lot of respect for other chefs, and I think a lot of chefs' food excites her, but I don't think she gets any kind of star struck or anything like that. I have always imagined Chef Lexa kind of like a female version of both Voltaggios combined, and all the things they were doing ten years ago, like if Brian and Michael were mushed into one hot woman who had millions of dollars to do anything they wanted. So I think she'd be excited to compete with them.
I think she would treat Guy Fieri the same way she treats everyone, politely and respectfully. She'd get a kick out of his antics, and she'd really appreciate all of the charity work he does and all of the work he does/did for the LGBTQ community. She thinks highlighting small/off the beaten businesses is awesome, and I think she has been a GGG judge at least once. I don't think they have a lot in common, but it's my understanding that he's very nice and a good time, and she'd be into that. They'd know a lot of the same people and they'd be overlapping at the Food Network plenty.
As far as who would dress up as The Mayor Of Flavortown for Halloween, I'm torn between Clarke and Aden. I feel like they're both the type of silly that would commit to the bit in all the right ways, and would be able to stay in character all night. I'm leaning towards Aden, but I do feel like QI Clarke is one of those hot girls who doesn't necessarily dress hot for halloween, and I could see her deciding to be Guy Fieri for halloween, probably before she gets with Lexa.
This was fun!! I hope you're enjoying the shows and getting inspired by some of the wild shit those chefs come up with! I fell almost ready to watch food TV again myself!
My exec chef usually picks the kitchen music, but lately because of the way our schedules have lined up, I am tasked with it. I've been getting so many compliments on my playlists, but no one knows they're all from stories about fictional lesbians. Passing around the playlists again in honor of how funny I think this is.
Quality Ingredients, my oldest fic, and includes chefs playing music in the kitchen, has a couple.
General QI Romcom vibes - If Quality Ingredients was on TV, I always imagined it in one of those weeknight 9pm slots on a network that let them get away with saying "shit" a few times, and had TV friendly sex scenes, and would sound like this.
Food & Wine After Party - Raven is the DJ in the post Food & Wine party chapter, and they all get down to the music of their youth
Lexa Opens The Restaurant - Chef Lexa has a deep love for oldschool hiphop, all hiphop, and pop music, and when she is in charge of the music in the ktichen, it's always upbeat
Chef Lexa and Doctor Griffin have been getting some good love lately, so I brought them out for Moodboard Monday. I think of these two often, their life together, their future, what their day to day is like, and how much good food and drink they get to consume in the Quality Ingredients universe.
Dr. Clarke Griffin from Quality Ingredients didn't expect to develope such an appreciation for high end hotel life, but she let Chef Lexa show her the way.
In honor of their seventh birthday today, I am letting these two relax.
It's my personal Clexaversary today. SEVEN years ago, I posted the very first chapter of Quality Ingredients on AO3. Here's Chef Lexa on a 'day off' to celebrate. I've been trying to find a way to re-embrace this story that started all of this for me, so maybe moods on its birthday will be a start!
Hit me with your QI questions, your head canons, your favorite parts, whatever, on this story's bday.
Quality Ingredients oneshot originally posted here, but updated with images:
“I’m not sick,” Lexa muttered as Clarke took the thermometer out of her mouth. She kept trying to get out of bed, and Clarke kept gently coaxing her back in.
Flu season was in full effect. With her lack of sleep, triple timed work schedule and the general crushing weight of the stress of simply existing in her day to day life, Lexa couldn’t escape. Now that she woke up every morning beside a doctor, denying that she was ill and overworking herself even more was out of the question.
After Clarke caught Lexa out of bed for the third time, she stopped being Lexa’s gentle and kind girlfriend and turned very quickly into Dr. Griffin.
“Well, in my professional opinion,” Clarke snagged her glasses off of the nightstand and squinted at the thermometer. “Yes, you are.”
“Technology is full of lies,” Lexa grumbled. Her nose was stuffed, she couldn’t stop coughing, her skin was damp with fever sweats and every one of her joints ached, but she refused to admit it.
“Okay,” Clarke chuckled and shook her head. “I think that seals it.”
“I’m not sick!” Lexa repeated.
“Lexa, I’m a doctor,” Clarke said flatly.
“You’re not a fluologist,” Lexa taunted in a playground voice.
“I’m not doing this with you,” Clarke said sternly as she tucked the blankets closer around Lexa’s body. “You’re sick, you need to rest and that’s final. I’m going to go downstairs and heat up some soup for you, and you’re going to lay in bed and rest today.”
“But I have to work!” Lexa huffed.
“Not today, you don’t,” Clarke stepped into her slippers and pulled on a sweatshirt. She took Lexa’s phone off of the nightstand and tucked it in her pocket. “I’ll let you have email on your phone at lunchtime after you take a nap.”
“Why don’t you lay in bed with me?” Lexa tried to flirt but broke into a coughing fit.
“When I get in bed with you, you never make resting a priority,” Clarke flirted back and kissed Lexa’s sweaty forehead.
“With a body like that, who could blame me?!” Lexa squawked before a string of sneezes.
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Babe,” Clarke folded her arms over her chest.
“Fine,” Lexa scowled and cleared her throat. Her chest rattled and she coughed again. “But not because I’m sick. Because I CHOOSE to.”
“Right, of course,” Clarke nodded before heading downstairs.
After setting Lexa up with some soup, some water, a glass of juice, a humidifier, her next dose of medicine and one of her favorite shows on her ipad in bed, Clarke made good on her promise and kept busy around the house downstairs so Lexa could rest.
While she was reading and drinking a cup of tea at the dining room table later that morning, Clarke heard one of the top steps creak.
“Get back in that bed!” Clarke shouted sternly over her shoulder without looking up from her novel.
“I’m just going to the bathroom!” Lexa lied and scurried away.
“I’m gonna come up there and check in a little while and you better be in that bed resting!” Clarke sipped her tea.
“I AM resting!” Lexa got out before a sneezing fit.
“Love you!” Clarke called back in a sing song voice and continued on with her day. She put some laundry in, caught up on the dishes and tidied up the living room. While she was putting away the dishes, she heard a tiny little creak from the direction of Lexa’s office.
“I said NO WORK!” Clarke barked without turning around.
“I’m NOT!” Lexa snapped, followed by harried shuffling and coughing. Clarke hurried down the hall to find Lexa in her office red handed with her laptop and a bunch of folders of paperwork in her hands.
She looked like hell.
“Lexa!” Clarke cried.
“I’m important!” Lexa cried back in a stuffed-nose sick voice. “I have things I have to do!”
“You are such a fucking handful sometimes,” Clarke muttered as she took the folders and computer out of Lexa’s hands and put them back on the desk. If she wasn’t so feverish, Lexa would’ve taken a moment to appreciate the honesty. “Upstairs. Right now.”
“But-“
“NOW,” Clarke said firmly. She followed Lexa up and tucked her back into bed. “If you don’t rest and kick this thing, it’s going to be so much worse and make your life hell. The flu has been nuts this year. We’re seeing more and worse than normal cases at the hospital. I don’t want to find you out of this bed unless you have to puke, pee or shower, do we have an understanding, Lexa?”
“You’re kinda hot when you’re bossy,” Lexa grinned up at Clarke.
“You’re kinda hot when you listen to me,” Clarke couldn’t fight grinning back as she put her hand on Lexa’s forehead. “Oh wow. You’re actually really hot.”
“Then why don’t you come heat up these sheets with me, Sexy Thing?” Lexa’s head sunk further into the pillows.
“Oh boy,” Clarke exhaled as she reached for the thermometer again. “This is going to be a very long day.”
