#thought would be her brother five seconds prior to being kissed is just insane. she didn't know about privacy and her future bf taught it

[maddy-ferguson]

El and Will's characters get nothing being in a relationship with Mike. Idk why milvns think El breaking up with Mike and being an independent character would be bad for her when it is like one of the best things that will happen to her character. She is so lucky.

i don't feel like arguing because i'm obviously not gonna convince you of anything but i just wanna say that even if mike was the great boyfriend people thought seasons 1 and 2 set him up to be el still should never have been with him when she was coming out of a year of isolation and twelve years of abuse in the lab. it's literally a horror story like mike being one of the people to socialize her and her main introduction to the outside world is so gross her first boyfriend taught her the concept of privacy like ewww👎👎 it's a good story though. just not in the way mlvns think. and it would be gross even if mike had gone on to sign all his letter love, mike. and mlvn breaking up being good for el isn't even about el being independent in a girlboss she's better off not having a boyfriend ever because girls being single is feminism way it's about her identity being so tied to her relationship with mike because, again, he's the first person she formed an emotional bond with when she got out of the lab where she was abused constantly, and about her growing out of that relationship and having a sense of identity outside of it. it's so insane that people call you a misogynist for suggesting that she should have had other experiences before getting a boyfriend and just go well you can grow as a person while being in a relationship as if el had a normal upbringing when six months into their relationship she didn't even know what she liked! she didn't even know she was allowed to like things!!! besides being a hater what was hopper doing bro

[sylphidstella]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* CHRISTMAS 2020 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Spending Thanksgiving at Gallagher wasn’t an inconvenience for Stella. There were no ties to family traditions or memories of holiday dinner with her sisters; she didn’t feel like she was missing out on anything. Christmas, on the other hand, was entirely different.

Spoiled rotten her entire life, both from having a rich family in a risky business and from being indubitably her father’s favorite growing up, the magic of this time of year played like a movie for the Manchesi family. Generous home with enough bedrooms for her four siblings, guests, and herself were laced in decorations and the tint of sparkling bright lighting throughout. Their Christmas tree, which they decorated as a family however reluctantly by Stella in the past, interchanged themes every year save for the select generational ornaments passed down by grandparents and uncles and family friends. Though too much of a princess in the past to appreciate it, Stella often found herself daydreaming about what the tree looked like this year. 

She imagined the ugly, whitehaired Nutcracker on the kitchen island, and putting her finger in his mouth while Graziella pushed the wooden bar for him to bite. Sabina, meticulously wrapping gifts and refusing any assistance only to complain that no one was assisting her, was now burdened with being the eldest. Lucrece, waking up early to start cooking the entire dinner on her own, and Stella sliding sluggishly into the kitchen, sleepy eyed and hair sparked, to give her a kiss on the cheek just before sneaking a smidge of whatever the older girl was chopping. Marcelo would carry in the firewood, talking miles with her father stomping his boots by the front door. Nowadays, her father carried in the firewood alone. Reminiscing always started off sweet, only to be saddened that the exact sound of her sister’s laughter was no longer something she could conjure up in her head. These traditions had become more prominent after her brother died, and the guilt that she’d left her sisters with one less sibling this year haunted her with all the other ghosts that followed her this semester. 

She couldn’t go abroad with a friend even if it had been an option, instructed by Gallagher upon their recruitment of her that using her passport when her parents might be looking for her wasn’t advised. There was the prospect of spending it alone, the weeks leading up filled with distraction shopping on websites where she’d picked out gifts for all of her family members and purchased none of them. Blair inviting Stella to spend Christmas dinner with their family had softened her; surely she couldn’t feel lonely being around that many people 

The night started magically, Stella expected no less from something with the Sutton name. The sound of so many happy people chatting and laughing at jokes she couldn’t hear created an artificial warmth in her belly, temporary and aided only by the slight anxiety of not knowing where to put her eyes, or her hands, or her body. Everywhere she stood felt forced, like trying to push a key into a lock that wasn’t made to hold it. 

Thirty five minutes. She lasted thirty five minutes before resting her hand on Blair’s upper arm, a light nod and a forced smile as an unspoken I think I’m gonna head out. Seeing other people be happy with their families left her woozy, drunk and scatterbrained off of the realities of the past few months all coming into fruition. Her boiling point manifested in the loud laughter and hug of someone she didn’t recognize. Suddenly there wasn’t a single person in the room she did recognize, herself included.

Crying managed to wait until she’d fully left the dinner, but once the crisp air of December hit her cheeks it came all at once. Piano fingers, as her father used to describe them, wiped frantically across her face, tears meeting the back of her wrist, the balls of her knuckles, the cushion of her palm. She shook her arms out, a hop in her step, “Rilassati, Stella.” Just Relax, Stella. She spoke aloud to herself. If she looked crazy to anyone in the distance it wouldn’t be a far off assumption. Falling to sit on a step, she pulled a knee to her chest, thumb gliding over her phone to switch the view of application icons mindlessly. And when she made the phone call, you have to understand, she wasn’t thinking. It must be true what they say, that in desperate moments even as an adult, the first person you call is always your mother.

The phone barely rang before the click, a few seconds of silence, and little did she know her mother hadn’t skipped an unknown call in months. “Pronto?” 

She swallowed, sniffling nose and tears only intensified by the sound of her mom’s voice. They had never been close until their conversation in the kitchen the night she ran away. 

“Tesoro, sei tu?” Honey, is that you?

Her mother’s voice speaking Italian had always sounded so beautiful to her, but now it only made her cry harder, and they continued the conversation in a tongue she constantly craved. “I’m so sorry.”

“Estella?”

“Mamma, I’m so so sorry. You must be so angry with me. I know papà hates me, I feel so sick. I feel so sick all the time. I know that you knew I was leaving, but I-” Rambling with rapid, harsh breaths, she couldn’t find the right words to say. 

“Nobody hates you. Estella, please calm down. It’s so good to hear your voice. Are you safe?” Speaking with urgency, a break in her voice, her mother had never been affectionate. She’d been hardened by the experiences in her youth that made them so similar. 

Hesitation in faint breaths, Stella shook her head, phone pressed against her face, “Yes.” She wasn’t sure if that was the truth. She could hear her mother exhale.

“Will you come home? Everyone is thinking of you.” This is her out, and for a moment it feels simple, but it wasn’t like she ended up at Gallagher for no reason. The thought of going back to her old life, which wasn’t terrible but felt entirely not her own, and to a husband she didn’t love, and a father she couldn’t look in the eye, felt wrong. To leave Gallagher didn’t seem impossible, but she thought about what Martina had said to her weeks prior, that the universe is so small. The people she’d met, the classes she’d been taking, and to see her dead lover again after years in a place she would have never ended up at had she not disappeared. So many things felt unfinished, and going home without a promise that things would be different was a decision she couldn’t make in her state.

“I miss you so much.” She inhaled and held it, “But I’m not ready to come home.”

A lull fell over the conversation. Stella could hear the faint chatter in the background from her family in another room, a panic falling over her chest before her mother’s voice came back in a serious, deliberate hush. “Okay.”

“Okay?” She hadn’t asked for permission, but suddenly felt like she needed it.

“Will you stay in contact with me, so that I know you’re okay?” Her mother had enough secrets and had seen enough things to understand that this wasn’t her decision to make.

The thought alone warmed her. “Okay.”

“I love you.”

“I love you so much, mamma.”

“Merry Christmas, my little bird.” 

A faint laugh left her, hand wiping across her cheek, a weight fluttering off her chest and whipping through her hair like a cool wind. “Merry Christmas, mamma.” 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Basically:

Stella finally calls her mother after running away over the summer and not speaking to her family. She’s now in contact with her mom! This is wonderful for her mental health! It also requires an insane amount of trust that her mom won’t tell her family where she is, and that is a bit stressful for her. Going forward, she talks to her mother at least once a week, which is crazy but really exciting for her. (: 

[the-zodiacs-written-in-the-stars]

Writer’s Month Day 26: Wedding

Three years prior to the main-story, Rick and Lizzy go to New Orleans to attend her sister’s wedding.

“I think this is too early. Is this too early? This is too early.”

Lizzy smiled fondly and rolled her eyes at her boyfriend before she leaned in and kissed his cheek. He was behind the steering wheel, driving them to New Orleans. Ricky was truly adorable.

“We've been dating for a year. You met my parents already”, pointed Lizzy out. “And I have spent countless family dinners with your family by now. Don't be like this.”

“Your parents. But not your siblings”, muttered Rick with a frown.

“Because they're always all over the place”, huffed Lizzy dismissively. “Besides, you do know the woman of the hour. My sister insists on you being at her wedding, so you will be at her wedding.”

Rick grumbled though he did shut up. He did know Laureen personally and he also knew the groom – Doctor Charles Jones, their ME. Him and Mike regularly worked close with him. He was rather grumpy and tended to keep to himself mostly. Himself and the woman he loved.

“Besi—ides, you get a private tour of New Orleans from yours truly”, declared Lizzy.

She grinned at him and winked, making him sigh and nod.

~*~

Quanna Liddell was a bright woman, her smile was contagious as she pulled Rick into a hug. Her dreadlocks were put up in a high pony-tail, held up with a purple band that matched her dress. She was curvy in build, very different from Elizabeth and Laureen, both her daughters being more on the insanely tall, skinny side, something they may have inherited from their father Dean.

“It's so good to see you again!”, exclaimed Quanna with a smile.

Quanna and Dean had come to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving, spending it with Rick's family after Rick had invited them. With all their kids having moved out by now, they gladly took the invitation to spend their Thanksgiving with at least two of their kids; Doc and Laureen had happily come too (well, Laureen had, Doc had just glared. Until he had gotten to the pumpkin pie Rick's mom had made and Rick swore he had never seen the big grump this happy before in his life).

“You two are going to stay in Lizzy's old bedroom, if you don't mind”, offered Dean.

He smiled and patted Rick on the back. Dean was more the body-type of his daughters. Skinny tall with high cheek-bones. He was so easy going that seeing him always relaxed Rick. Which was a blessing; he had always been afraid of meeting a dad, like an actual over-protective dad type. Dean had just laughed and dismissed him when Rick had first met him and been dreadful of any threats. He had said he trusted his daughter's judgment and if she saw something in him, it must be there.

“Sounds perfect to me”, nodded Rick, relieved he got to share a room with his girlfriend.

“You haven't met our other children yet, have you?”, asked Dean. “Come on in.”

Rick nodded and followed Dean and Quanna inside. So far, from driving through the streets, he had to admit that he really liked this city. The visual of it was great. Inside the house, in what looked like a very lived-in living room (so many decorations – it reminded him of Lizzy and all the small figures and things she collected. Apparently, that ran in the family too), there were already four people. Rick frowned a little confused. He was under the impression that Lizzy and Laureen only had three siblings. He did another head-count. No. There were four.

“Guys!”, exclaimed Lizzy excitedly.

She ran up to them and hugged them one by one. Rick smiled as the tallest man got up to shake hands. “I'm Frank. Lizzy's older brother. And this is my wife Anabel. It's good to finally meet you. Lizzy talks a lot about you.”

Anabel lifted a hand and waved at him. Okay. Frank had moved away from New Orleans ten years ago with his wife, Rick remembered that Lizzy told him that. The second born, being the second one to move out but staying longer at home than Laureen who had moved out at twenty-two, as soon as she had enough money to go and try to live her dream in Los Angeles. That left the two youngest. Henry and Mary. Mary was twenty-one and studying art in... Europe. Somewhere. Rick couldn't remember. Henry was a musician, a singer and guitarist who constantly toured the states, playing at bars and living from day to day (Quanna had spent half of Thanksgiving complaining about that. She worried about her son. Rightfully so, Rick would probably have a meltdown too if he had a kid and that kid would be out there, traveling and living from day to day).

“Mh. Not bad”, commented Mary, her eyebrows raised as she looked at Rick.

She was shorter than her sisters but somehow still on the more lanky side, her hair put up in two knots, one on either side of her head. Henry next to her slowly pulled his headphones off when he noticed the new arrivals and also turned his full attention toward Rick.

“Not bad indeed”, agreed Henry with a grin. “Very pretty.”

“Guys. Stop flirting with my boyfriend, he's taken”, grunted Lizzy possessively.

“It's already late, you must be tired”, sighed Quanna concerned. “You want to go to bed, or eat something first? We did save you some dinner, you know.”

“Ma, I'd never say no to dad's cooking”, stated Lizzy seriously.

Rick grinned as he followed toward the kitchen. The entire family trailed after them too, because apparently late second dinner seemed very tempting. The whole time they ate, Henry and Mary bickered to the point of throwing food to which Dean chuckled and Quanna laughed. It... felt like home. It reminded Rick of family dinners with his own family. So many different personalities.

~*~

The next day was the day of the wedding. Rick had to admit that Laureen looked absolutely breathtaking in her white dress with the soft purple flowers decorating her cleavage and the lower end of the frilly dress. Her bridesmaids were her sisters Lizzy and Mary, as well as her best friend – Sunny Korrapati. Rick had seen Sunny a couple times at the hospital already when visiting injured victims or witnesses, she was one of the top surgeons in New York and, as the nickname suggested, an absolute sunshine personality. She had gone to med school with Charles and met his best friend through him. Now she was the maid of honor at Charles' wedding. That was cute. Rick couldn't wait to have his best friend as his best man at his own wedding. He side-eyed Lizzy and blushed a bit.

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and the food afterward was delicious. Rick and Lizzy were sitting at the same table as the Liddell-family, of course. And aside from them were the maid of honor and the best man... who was a best woman, who was actually Rick's boss.

“Uhm. Captain Lacroix. Fancy seeing you here, ma'am”, grinned Rick awkwardly.

The captain looked unimpressed at him. “It's no secret Charles and I are close friends. But if you show anyone at the precinct photos of me in a dress, I will personally make you give speeding tickets for the rest of your career, Alfaro.”

“Yes, ma'am”, squeaked Rick and gulped hard.

The captain was really very scary and Rick was absolutely terrified of her on a good day. There was no way he was ever telling anyone about how pretty she could look with princess-curls and in a dress. He had ever only seen her in suits and with her hair up in a messy bun and a glare on her face that would only soften the tiniest bit after about five coffees in the morning.

“Amy, please stop threatening the guests”, requested Laureen with a sigh.

“Not when your guest is one of my punk officers”, grunted Amy sternly.

“But I thought he was a good one. Alfaro, you always talk highly of him”, offered Sunny.

She frowned confused as she sipped her champagne, while Amy growled. “That was a private conversation over Monopoly, Sunny. Respect the game night rules.”

“Game night? With the captain?”, whispered Rick doe-eyed.

“Of course”, grunted Doc and rolled his eyes. “You still don't get that she is my best friend. We're close. And me and my... wife... have regular game nights with our best friends.”

Rick nodded and looked from the darkly glaring Captain Lacroix to the grumpy Doc. Best friends. It figured. He could just picture them braiding each other's hair – well, Doc didn't have hair, but still. In all reality, the two probably spent lunch by sitting together and glaring intensely and that... was bonding. Still, the stark contrast between those two and Sunny and Laureen was incredible. Laureen was a pastel-colored pastry chef and bakery owner, while Sunny in her all pink outfit and with her bright smiles alone lit up the whole room. How... did those four fit together into one game-night...? Rick shook his head amused, before being pulled out of his chair by Lizzy.

“Dance with me instead of bugging people”, demanded Lizzy amused.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and immediately everything around them seemed forgotten as Rick got lost in her dark, warm eyes. Everything about this was surreal to him – he was so used to being the one with the family that welcomed everyone in that it was odd to be on the receiving end of such a thing, then seeing two people he was used to seeing at the workplace and with stern expressions both so... soft now (not that he'd ever call the captain that to her face, but in that dress, with that make-up and hair...? She looked soft)? A large part of him really wanted to get a picture of the captain so he could show it to Mike – he would understand why all of this was so baffling! And the idea of the captain and Doc playing Monopoly was just... out of this universe. Parallel universe maybe? Mh. Maybe they had crossed into one on their drive to New Orleans.

“I love your parents. And your siblings are awesome. And this city is... amazing”, hummed Rick. “I'm... glad you took me as your plus one, Lizabella.”

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her, earning a very pleased look from Lizzy. “Boy, you make for a yummy arm-candy of course did I take you with me. You think I want to show up single on my own sister's wedding? Especially on a count-down wedding like this.”

“Count-down wedding?”, echoed Rick confused.

“Frankie was the first to get married, much to no one's surprise. He had his whole life planned out in precise details. Getting married before he was 30 was one of them. Laureen took it slower, but still she is the firstborn so it figures she'd get married too at some point. See the math? Firstborn, second born... I'm the third born”, elaborated Lizzy with an eyeroll. “Oh, don't look like a startled deer I'm not proposing. But it still looks better to at least have a partner on a wedding.”

“And Mary and Henry?”, asked Rick curiously, looking over her shoulder at the youngest Liddells.

“Mary's too focused on her art-studies and the fact that she's all the way in Paris makes it easy to hide whatever she's got going on in her love-life”, replied Lizzy. “For all I know she could be in a committed relationship. She's never been a fan of relationship gossip. And Henry has a new boyfriend in every city he tours. His life-style doesn't necessarily help with long-term relationships. Besides, they will most definitely wait until I'm getting married before worrying about that.”

“You said not to worry, but I do start to pressured”, noted Rick lightly.

“I mean”, drawled Lizzy with a mischievous smile before she leaned in and kissed him slowly. “You are very cute. Steady income. Lovely family that seems to like me alright too. Keep playing your cards right and who knows where our relationship leads us, pretty boy.”

Rick grinned at that and pulled her some closer, close enough so he could kiss her again. Wedding plans were maybe a little too early, they really had only been dating for a year. But this was maybe the most intense relationship Rick ever had and if he was being honest with himself, the thought of Lizzy in a wedding dress was the opposite of scary for him.