Fic Idea: UnReal, Rachel/Adam

So I've been super into UnReal lately, and the way that the show explores how super fucked up relationships can be. From the beginning I've always liked Adam/Rachel, and this ship only grew for me in the second season when he comes back.

They're very clear that Adam has clearly changed and that he does regret leaving Rachel, but I also liked the jab that Rachel made at him for engaging in Voluntourism, which is... yeah. I don't get white people and the savior complex that some of them have. But the important thing is he's trying people. He's trying.

The fic begins at the end of the second season and Rachel feels like time is not a progression forward into change, but rather a circle. Nothing is changing, and things have basically reverted into the same situation that we were introduced into in the first season. Quinn and Chet have started up again, Jeremy is making puppy eyes at her.

She starts getting presents from Adam. They're not anything fancy, just chinzy touristy shit, cheap jewlery, or the occasional candy bar. They're all accompanied by a card that's clearly picked at random (Graduation card, Happy Birthday Card, Get Well Soon) that has a note inside. At the end of each note, he writes "Please quit your job." -Synonym of always, Adam.

The presents serve as a contrast to the trashfire that is her life and remind her of how every time she's wanted better and tried to do better, it always blows up in her face. Rachel is not happy, and her job is a big part of why she's not happy. Though she has the ability to get hired as a producer to another show, she feels an obligation to Everlasting. I'm still toying around with the decision of whether or not I will have Rachel quit her job, because at the core of it, Rachel is a person who enjoys her misery. Possibly because on some level she feels that she deserves it. Adam is a person who, at the end of the day, doesn't really want anything from Rachel. And that's good for her. But this is Rachel Goldberg people. She doesn't like things that are good for her.