#i don’t know him maybe he has a nice personality but girl. girllll

[wearethegladiators]

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? RACHEL EDITION

fc: leighton meester

age: 27 (it’s been very confusing because she’s sometimes born in 1991, sometimes in 1993. I think we made her older so that she could legally inherit from the DCH so let’s make her 27 - or about to be. I see her as more of a end of the year/winter child tbh.)

job: head of dch bitch 

(long post ahead buckle up kids)

Backstory-wise

 Rachel’s back-story is a good 99% inspired by shitty téléfilms but I wouldn’t change most of it, she’s had it and that really defines who she is as a person. (I mean, she definitely did not have a split personality disorder wth? I watched too much Heroes for sure. She may be struggling with an Intermittent Explosive Personality Disorder though, like Liam in TW). The plane crash thingy may be a bit too much, but... I mean, Rachel IS the final girl. I’m used to playing survivor but l’essence même de Rachel c’est d’être une survivante. Ah si, aussi, her father is now called Louis Seymour and no longer Lewis Seyfried (wth did all our characters had such American names???? Lewis’s French, goddamn it). Oh and we’re gonna be talking disability as well.

I couldn’t find her comprehensive back-story so let’s just go with the flow. Aurélia and Louis definitely were not married, they probably did not even have a stable relationship (I mean how could you have a stable relationship with Aurélia). But I can see them dating for a while, Louis may have been touring in the U.S. to show his work and skills, anyway. I don’t think Aurelia ever told him about her pregnancy which DRAMATICALLY parallels Tyler and Rachel’s story (actually I pretty much think she did not tell anyone…). Or maybe she did, years later. Or when she left Rachel at an orphanage somewhere in Canada. So yeah Rachel was abandoned aged 1 J She mostly grew up in that structure, but she had behavioral/anger issues and she was bullied by other kids/did not stay for long with her foster families. So Rachel, a SURVIVOR, ultimately freaking ran away from that orphanage (probably around 10-ish years old) and pretty much… lived in the streets for a while, and walked a lot (boi she’s got so much in common with Lukas yo). She was ultimately found by a family which put an “ad” in the local newspapers and that’s how her maternal grandmother found her. For some reason the maternal grandmother decided not to keep her (she stayed max 1 year with her) and to send her back to her father in France (either in the South or in Normandy). Then they took the plane, let’s say they had no crash and Rachel found her dad and she lived at his place until she was 14 years old (when he was killed by Z) and she was very happy about it. That’s pretty much where she learnt how to ride because bah mdr she probably had never done so before, or only in colo or shit like that; she also learnt at least “French” French (she potentially knew Québecois). I don’t think she ever was a jockey though or that Z and GG shot her horse during a race MDRRR (remember it’s 2019 we have plotlines now). But her father was still killed by Z and euh well… she ended up once again with no parental figure and was supposed to be brought back to foster care/an orphanage, which was not very cool, so guess what? SHE RAN AWAY BITCH. I can see her hitchhiking and pretty much stealing stuff and maybe hanging out with weird people in some squats (but NEVER doing drugs that’s so not Rachel), and ultimately she ended up in Paris where she thought she could “disappear”, maybe find a job or something – anyway, opportunities. She probably had a fake ID that said she was 18 and maybe she was even able to buy a car (but just to sleep in it mdr) (or to drive illegally, I mean, yeah). And I guess one day she found the DCH and asked John and Elodie if she could work there for some money and they took her in and now she’s a star!!

Also there was an interesting aspect to Rachel when I first started playing her (a while, while ago): she had that big accident while riding a horse and was pretty much left disabled by it and did not ride for years until boom, DOOMER bitch. I don’t think she would have been able to survive the way she did with a disability but I kind of like this storyline so I guess maybe she had this “accident” with no big consequences but she was heavily traumatized by it (her horse may still have died in it but that would seriously echo Cassey’s story – I mean that happens but still). So she probably did not ride for a while after that, yeah.

Started from palefrenière ended up CEO BITCH

 Professionally

Well I mean, Rachel’s pretty much at the top of her career… I think she’s pretty big now, people are starting to respect her in the business. It was quite hard being in charge at 18 because no one would take her seriously but she’s proven repeatedly that she’s to be counted with by now. There are probably people coming to the DCH just to learn about their methods. Maybe they are little girls looking up to her. She’s definitely holding Ted-Talk-like conferences btw. Maybe she had her own Ted Ex?

She made the DCH much bigger, they probably have more horses now and they DO have an administrative/business/executive team, YEAH. She also definitely worked on the “social”/”horses heal” aspect, probably extending the procedure Tyler benefited from, maybe opening up séances once or twice a week for people in rehab or neuroatypical people, because that’s the crap she does – Rachel cares, yo.

She went back to class! Remember Rachel never got the Bac because she was fired from high-school mdr? She went back and got it, probably around 2013-2014, Sarah Manning style. And then she did a BTS in accounting to take care of the financial aspect of the DCH (because Jake’s great, and everyone’s great in the new team, but everything Rachel does is obviously greater). I think she even got a Bachelor degree in Management by now! MY GIRLLLL

She stopped her career as a jockey as soon as she found out she was pregnant. Doomer had another jockey for some races but stopped winning mdr so he’s now retired. None of them are running anymore, it was a once-in-a-lifetime thingy. <3

Rachel’s popular but she doesn’t get to play it all funny like Jade and Lucie do. She’s the business women. She has to negotiate and go hard. So she’s definitely not as liked as the jockeys are, and she’s definitely not as famous as they are but she SO strives to be, she’s definitely doing ads for yoghurts and shit yup. She does not get to travel as much as they do either, but… She likes it. Being in charge. And she’s good at it. She’s a workaholic, a girl boss, a fashion icon.

Tries to care on her time to teach stuff but she’s soooo busy. Mais c’est elle qui supervise toutes les formations et tous les programmes et personne a rien à dire hihihi

 Personally

Well, she had a baby… I don’t think 1) this came as a big surprise (she definitely was not on the pill and I don’t know but I can’t picture Tyler and Rachel as extremely careful people smh) and 2) she even questioned keeping it. Like she was already pretty much the mother of Chelsea (who was a baby!!) and Mike, but having a baby of her own is like a totally different thing. Rachel is a survivor first and foremost but she’s also… such a mother??? So nurturing and stuff. Like she never really had a parental figure (or never for more than 3 motherfucking years) and yet I think she was super good at taking care of the Howkins children?? She also had experience as a “single parent”, and she felt she NEEDED that baby to recover (especially if Tyler was presumably dead). So yeah, of course she kept it. She probably learnt about it WEEKS before telling the team btw, just to act surprised and be like “omg, maybe this a bit too late……..” mdr I love her

Honestly even if Tyler isn’t dead I don’t think she would have told him. And see that’s the big difference between Rachel and Cass: she doesn’t run after people. If they leave, they leave. If they drown, they drown. It’s all about survival and she’s not letting anyone take her down, not even her first love. So no, she wouldn’t tell him. And she wouldn’t ask him anything ofc. So yeah mdr, ambiance when he comes back after 2 years hahahaha

Also I think she’s raising a very good, very woke kid. Which is surprising because Rachel is very tolerant but you know, she’s also very closeted, she’s very traditional in some ways, definitely the less likely to vote on the left side… It’d be interesting btw if the kid (who has a cute name like Timothy/Timothée/Titouan) ends up “different” in some way, I don’t know, neuroatypical, autistic, or just gay?? I mean I don’t know but that would be interesting for her character

Also mdr poor kid must be a bit confused about his parents. Josh was there pretty much all the time to help take care of him for the first 2-3 years of his life and maybe he even moved in at some point, for some time. If Tyler never came back the kid would legit have thought that Josh was his dad hahaha

 And I mean Rachel’s a sentimental bitch, she’s into long relationships and she’s very committed and… if Tyler comes back there will always be an attraction and an attachment and they’re definitely still hooking up once in a while… which must be very weird for the kid… because Rachel is sometimes also hooking up with Josh… I mean… (Josh/Rach are pretty endgame I’m sorry but they’re… it’s complicated) (gosh Josh is the Rachel’s Jake mdrrrr)

I think btw Rachel has been in a long-term relationship (like at least a good year) with some guy outside of the DCH and they broke up because…… she cheated on him with Josh, or Ty, or both, maybe for some time mdr. WHAT A MESS I SWEAR my girl just dreamt of being married having kids and living in a little nice farm but I guess dysfunctional people just work… dysfunctional…

Oh I think she REALLY likes Lukas btw. They’re even more similar than Dan/Rachel and that’s a good way of actually appreciating Daniel… without actually appreciating Daniel. Wouldn’t be surprised if they had hooked up too (nothing is okay dans ces écuries), but yeah, probs a good friend, plus she misses one since Jake left (the fact that he helped with the administrative shite?? probably made them even closer tbh, what a good guy)

She really cares about Daniel too, tbh. She definitely can see some pieces of herself in him and… well she doesn’t like that, but still. Actually I think if he was the one to run away she may have run after him… to kick his ass, BUT STILL. Maybe she’s the one taking him to the meetings when Cassey can’t?? :’) I also like to think their relationship has matured – but in a Dan/Rach way. They can tolerate each other but yeah, every freaking meal they yell at each other at some point, but talk in a very normal/casual way two minutes right after. Everyone’s shook but that’s ok for them. They’re kids basically. I like them.

I don’t think she’s so close to Bella anymore… Like I said Rach is really not the type to cling onto relationships, if people live far away she’s not gonna make efforts. She doesn’t have time anyway. Still likes her a lot, still would be freaking happy if she came visiting

Jake and Rach are very good friends; Jade and Lucie are like her two big sisters who have literally seen her grow up from her 15 year-old self to her 27-year-old GOSH I’M EMO. One of them definitely is the godmother of her son, maybe both. Jake’s the godfather. Omg family meetings must be so chaotic

I think she really likes Emeline, too, she was kind of a vent de fraîcheur and she appreciates her for that

ADAM. THIS GODDAMN ASSHOLE. Well Adam’s blood. And he’s the only family she’s got (left). So it’s ride or die bitch. I mean Rachel always had a very grayish moral code… so it’s not a big surprise she stuck with her brother whatever shit he did. Definitely kicked his ass every step of the way but… she stayed. Always. Which is surprising for Rachel, but Adam is actual family and I think she really cares about that cause god she never had a family. They’re still in touch. I can see them going in holidays two weeks a year and doing absolute bullshit that could get them in serious trouble. Yeah. She really cares. (I mean, she’s the one he called when he crashed a freaking police car so i hope he cares, too.)

SHE SAW AURELIA. FINALLY. I mean it obviously did not go well, she probably tried to strangle her at some point or something like that but… she did it. Probably when she was pregnant for drama purposes. And they’ve seen each other for a few times, ever since. Maybe Aurélia has even come to the DCH. But Rachel absolutely refuses that she builds a bond with her son. There’s a lot of drama, and Aurélia’s often on the road, but… they’re trying to make things right with their problematic personalities. I honestly think Rachel picked a lot on Aurelia’s side.

Btw, Rachel’s really a family girl and I think she stalked the fuck out of her family whenever she could. So she probably knew that Aurelia had a son and that’s probably how she found out that Adam was her brother. And Aurelia… she definitely freaking stalked her daughter, too.

Hm, what else… I hope Fuadegh is still alright I loved that horse!!!! I hope he has a baby and that baby’s Rachel’s baby. Did that make sense

Yeah the DCH definitely has sort of “farm aisle” where the public does not go. It’s basically la garderie for all the kids mdr

I like to believe the Howkins kids turned out well. I mean maybe Mike had to process more trauma than Chelsea who really was a baby when things were bad. Maybe it’s resurfacing and he’s being a bit difficult at the time. I can see him very close to Josh. We stan Josh, all the kids do.

OH YEAH BIG THING. You know how Rachel has loads of anger issues and stuff… Well she calmed down somehow, but because she had no choice. She got into a very heavy dispute with some other director/jockey/breeder/whatever, a pretty influential one. And she  started threatening him – Rachel style. Le mec a ensuite porté plainte et ça a déclenché une perquisition au Domaine où la police a effectivement découvert que Rachel, that bitch, possédait plusieurs armes de manière totalement illégale hihihi. Elle a été condamnée, petit scandale, une assistante sociale est venue plusieurs fois au Domaine, on a menacé de mettre le DCH sous tutelle et tout c’était la cata. Donc elle s’est un peu calmée. Je pense aussi que Mike/son fils aurait pu avoir des problèmes d’agressivité à l’école, qu’elle se serait dit que ça pouvait venir d’elle, et que du coup elle ESSAYAIT, vraiment, d’être un peu une bombe humaine. (Puis il y a sûrement pas mal de plaintes contre elle, ne serait-ce que venant de Kevin, pour aggravated assault, donc elle a VRAIMENT intérêt à se calmer).

Random

She dyed her hair blond at some point. Everyone was like “Rachel no”, she was like “Rachel yes”, she did it, it did not turn so bad.

She still lives in her teenage bedroom!!! Elle a sûrement fait des putains de travaux sur la façade pour étendre un peu le truc pour quand elle devait dormir avec son bébé mais elle a jamais voulu de cette punaise de chambre. Tbh Jade’s probably the one living in the Howkins’ master bedroom hahahaha

I can see her dating an old business man for some time, probably did not last for too long tho. Can you imagine Lukas and his sugar mommy/daddy and Rachel with her old businessman?? (except she’s rich she doesn’t need a sugar daddy yo)

She’s got a bunch of tattoos. Quotes and very common ones

She’s definitely the one that looked the less traumatized because her whole life has been shit and this wasn’t honestly wasn’t so big of a difference… But I like to believe she’s been to therapy, has seen a psychologist, or maybe is in a full psychanalyse… Maybe she was forced to because of the investigation but it doesn’t matter, I want her to speak and to heal, she deserves that

She makes me think a lot about Malia Tate in how they’re both assumed to be “street-smart”, not exceptionally smart kids, savages actually, but they somehow manage to never fall behind in classes in spite of a very chaotic scolarité. My girl IS smart, she’s just very bad at showing it

#rachel