#the fact that these and the ones for ian are completely different scenes because they're both so physically tender towards each other

[shamelessrabbithole]

I don’t think Sheila C said exactly why she left Shameless. Maybe she wanted to focus more on theatre projects but I’m not sure.

When she did lives/periscopes she talked about being a playwright and gave advice to aspiring writers and answered questions about all kinds of things about the show and the production. How the writers room works and how often changes are made to scripts. Things like that. I found it endlessly fascinating. I noticed that her account is now gone so she must have deactivated at some point.

I agree about the sitcom-y vibe in s10 and 11. They changed facts to fit in a joke (and not a good one) instead of just coming up with a better joke. The writing was extremely lazy. And pretending like Yevgeny never existed was so bad too. At times Mickey seemed so out of characters. He was uneducated but he was never dumb and in some scenes they wanted to make him look dumb just for laughs.

Different topic but I have to say that Cameron is on fire atm. Filming Tron, producing and filming his own project and then working on conventions on the weekends. He’s a busy boy. And thanks for providing all the information and pictures. Foxbody looks really exciting. I’m happy for him

I agree about the dumbing down of Mickey being not just ridiculous but completely unfunny. They made him illiterate and a slob and apparently, incestually involved with his gay female cousin on multiple occasions. Never mind how Mickey and Ian's relationship was fueled almost entirely by insane jealousy and a desire for monogamy, but suddenly, once they're married, all that is called into question and they're not sure if they're willing to go a lifetime without sleeping with anyone else. 😩🤢🤮

And, yes, Cam is definitely on fire. Foxbody does look fun and since I made yesterday's post, a few more small tidits have come to light. I noticed that two people who worked on the movie both commented with a tea kettle. Given how surreal the film appears to be (he also called it a fever dream in his post), maybe it refers to a drugged beverage, like a shroom tea?

He also began following Autolux yesterday and the account commented. This is a rock band fronted by Carla Azar (Carla_Carla_Carla on instagram) who is a longtime friend of Cam's and has Eugene Goreshter as a member. Not surprisingly, that would be Isidora's brother. It makes me think that maybe the band will be scoring the film?

Lastly, I noticed that when Nika was driving to the desert, she was bringing fuel tanks 👇🏻 with her. I assumed this was for powering stuff in the desert because it was such a remote place, but now I'm not so sure because the website for Rocky Buttes says electricity is available in the cabin area and it's only four miles from the nearest gas station.

Later on, the movie's choreographer posted this pic ☝🏻and now I'm wondering if the tanks weren't used for an onscreen fire? I don't know if Cam hired a pyrotechnic specialist or anything, but I'm definitely intrigued! 🧐 😜

[loopy777]

In regards to palpatine's sudden attack on the four jedi masters, much has been said about his spinning jump, but my complaint about it is that it looks like he's going to use the momentum from it to cut one guy in half, only to awkwardly stop so he can stab him instead. Thoughts?

My first thought is that the choreography in the prequels (well, more so AotC and RotS than TPM) makes no sense and we shouldn't take it literally. Otherwise, we'd have to explain this. XD

But if we want to give it a try anyway, perhaps the reason why Palpatine and Anakin get along so well is because they're both big believers that spinning is a pretty good trick.

Alternatively, contrary to that post I reblogged, Palpatine frequently skipped leg day and didn't jump far enough to perform the move he wanted to. So he had to stop and start over with a new move, and a stab was the best way to cover the distance.

It's also possible that the jump was just to be really scary and make the Jedi step back while Palpatine cleared the desk, and he actually prefers more classic fighting moves.

But if we want to be meta about it, that whole scene was completely different in the first version that was filmed, with Anakin present and watching the whole confrontation while trying to decide who to side with. Palpatine even steals his lightsaber to fight with rather than having his own up his sleeve! Reshoots and editing removed Anakin from the scene. And then there's the fact that Ian McDiarmid couldn't do all the stunts, so the editing had to cut between the stuntman in his costume and close-ups of his face, and maybe the footage didn't entirely match up and in the end the best way to cover it was stylistic use of discontinuity and jarring cuts.

[librarygf]

love language sets: mickey + physical touch | other love languages 

[gallawitchxx]

the great ship gallavich 🛳

in order to share the great tidings of this blessed ship with a friend, my monster self put together an interactive ditty of 11 seasons of love!!!! which i now share with all of you below the cut! it starts as a story with accompanying clips, but by the end essentially devolves into my most heartfelt opinions of prison boyfriends & silly husbands 🥺😇

please note that it is in no way complete, of course--many i c o n i c scenes are missing--but it is enough to get someone //on board// or to simply enjoy yourself at any point during your love affair with these angsty, sweet, smutty boys.

In short, Ian is a wild ride, Mickey also hops on babe, their love is everlasting, the fandom is alive and well, and who knew that two gay boys from the Southside of Chicago would provide one of the best queer arcs on TV?!

I HOPE YOU LOVE! xx

huge thanks to Gallavich Scenes on youtube for supplying the clips. they do have a playlist of all of the scenes if you're down the rabbit hole and want to fill in the blanks.

⚡️⚡️⚡️

Ian Gallagher is a middle child through and through. Fiona and Lip came before him, after him Debbie, Carl and Liam. Frank and Monica aren't the most attentive parents--Frank's a committed alcoholic, while Monica refuses to medicate for bipolar and has largely ditched the kids for her girlfriend Bob. In fact, Frank's not even Ian's real dad thanks to a brief encounter between Monica and Frank's brother Clayton.That could also account for why he's the only one of the siblings, besides Fiona, to be in ROTC and to work a real job. Well, if you can call stocking shelves at the Kash and Grab a real job. The perks aren't bad though when you're also fucking K*sh, your (older, married) boss. **no need to see any of this gross grooming, ya feel?**

Work has been a bit tough ever since Mandy Milkovich told her brothers that Ian tried to rape her. He didn't of course, just pushed her off when she tried to stick her tongue down his throat. It's not anything against her--he's gay! on the Southside!--but even when she called off the cavalry, her brother Mickey Milkovich (the dirtiest white boy in America **out of chronological order, but so funny**) didn't get the memo. He'd come by the store and terrorize the place, ultimately stealing a gun off of Kash...which Ian went to retrieve... Lord knows what happened in that moment, but it was ON. Things got tense when they were almost caught by Terry, Mickey's violent, homophobic, Nazi father, but in the end, he did get the gun back (plus, a different kind of warning).

So, now, they're hooking up. Like, it's a thing. Until K*sh catches them. **this is quickly becoming ~a theme~** Things got a bit complicated after that, but this should bring you up to speed...

And visit him in juvie he does, and it's the CUTEST FUCKING THING. **also you should know that the hand touching the glass and Mickey's line after were improvised... and also the official script of this scene ends with the stage direction, These two were meant for each other. SWOON!**

Of course, Ian is there when Mickey gets out of juvie and they commence the Summer of Secret Boy Love™️. Ian even gets Mickey a job at the Kash and Grab of all places. A redemption arc/a great excuse to spend more time together. Unfortunately, it's not the most private of places to hook up and Frank catches them, sending Mickey into a rather ~hurtful~ tailspin. He spares Frank, but punches a cop instead and is sent back to juvie. At least in the joint Mickey's safe from the wrath of his homophobic dad, Terry.

Luckily, Ian doesn't have to wait long before Mickey's out again. Well, he didn't really wait.. He's actually been seeing Ned, a much older guy, because has a type (daddy issues). Soon, Mickey's jealous, wondering what Ian sees in that "geriatric viagroid," which leads to their first kiss!!!! And their first sleepover!!!, which feels almost like a first date!!!!

Now BIG TW/CW: Because the gays can never have peace or nice things, Terry comes home early the next morning, catches them fucking and BIGGER TW/CW: beats the shit out of them both, calls a Russian hooker in and makes her r*pe/fuck the gay out of Mickey while Ian watches... This also leads to Mickey beating up Ian when Ian tries to get him to admit that he's gay and in love with him... **again, no need to watch any of this happen, it's fucking awful for everyone**

Also fucking awful, the hooker gets pregnant and Mickey is forced to  m a r r y  h e r. Ian obviously tries to stop things, but Mickey tells him he doesn't really have a choice here. He goes through with the marriage, Ian freaks and decides to steal Lip's ID and enlist in the army. Mickey can't bring himself to ask him not to... and Ian heads out.

The family starts to worry about Ian, and they soon find out that he deserted basic training after stealing and crashing a helicopter (coolcoolcool), and he's now dancing and turning  t r i c k s  at a gay club in Boystown (coolcoolcoolcool). They eventually enlist Mickey's help in finding him and Mickey heads to the club in what is undeniably one of his hottest  l e w k s  of all time. He waits around until the end of Ian's shift, where he finds him drugged and passed out behind the club and takes him home. Mickey's pregnant wife, Svetlana, wants none of whatever this is and kicks Ian out. He goes back to the Gallagher house, saying he'll only go back with Mickey if he promises to please him  ~whenever he wants~ !.

Now, this is where we enter the BOYFRIEND ERA. It's good, it's good, IT'S GOOD. First, the CLUB KISS. Then, "together." Next, THIS FUCKING SCENE. Which leads us to an ultimatum, a big fucking deal of a reveal, this truly incredible scene (**most of which is also improvised by Noel fucking Fisher, aka Mickey, aka the most underrated actor of all time**) and finally, two boyfriends, out and together!!!! The fandom is ~beside themselves~.

Only problem is... You may have caught on to the fact that Ian's been acting a bit... manic.  And what comes up, must come down. Slash the writers HATE GAY PEOPLE BEING HAPPY TOGETHER... So, after Mickey's big coming out, when he's the MOST TENDER, Ian can't get out of bed, which ultimately leads to this heart breaking scene between the Gallaghers and Mickey, in which they realize he could be bipolar... Ian's able to pull it together long enough to give us this cute moment, this *deleted scene*/ s o f t  s e x  /manic ~pixie~ dream, and this playful charade. But then, of course, his bipolar starts running the show again -- he cheats on Mickey, makes a bareback porno for money, and steals Mickey's baby -- and the family has no choice but to commit him to a psych ward. **there are many many tender scenes in this season, so if this is your jam, I'm happy to point you in the right direction, but didn't want to overwhelm/depress** They struggle here, of course, and Mickey almost can't handle it, but he pulls it the fuck together and goes to get his man.

Mickey really becomes a great caretaker, helping Ian to take his meds and not feel bad about some of the less than desirable side effects. Seriously, who knew Mickey Milkovich had it in him?!?! But Ian is unhappy and numb, and tries desperately to reconnect with Mickey the only way they know how: drinking, fighting and fucking. Sadly, their joy is cut short due to a plethora of extremely terrible events **again, can send, but ugh** and Ian ends up breaking up with Mickey.

One of those events lands Mickey in prison/Noel Fisher decides to leave the show maybe due to a financially-fueled feud with the showrunner??? and we say goodbye to Mickey for the majority of 2. Whole. Seasons. Ian dates some dudes, but no one is Mickey, the fandom knows this, the writer's know this, and so FINALLY, Mickey escapes from prison, lures Ian to ~their spot~  where he tells him he's going to Mexico and asks him to come with him. Then, they have this lusty night at the docks, this tender morning after, and Ian, of course, decides to go along for the ride!!!!

Their road trip is full of incredible hijinks, roadside rendezvous, and Taylor Swift references. They ditch Mickey's cellmate and finally do put out that blanket and look at shooting stars (**remember their Secret Summer of Boy Love where Mickey roasts him about being too sappy?**), and then they're  r i g h t  at the border when Ian fucking blows it all to hell. **that's honestly one of my very favorite scenes, especially because a) the kiss is FIRE and b) Mickey's wearing a dress, another thing he swore earlier he wouldn't do, and looks fucking GOOD IN IT**

So, then we're without Mickey again for almost another 2. Whole. Seasons... Ian goes back to Chicago, goes off his meds, starts a movement to stop conversion therapy on queer teens and starts going by  G A Y  J E S U S  **yes, really** before blowing up a van in protest and getting thrown in jail for arson. The good news? His cellmate is really fucking hot. **the kiss was improvised, the Frank Ocean is immaculate, ...just heaven**

Now, we enter the era of PRISON BOYFRIENDS. It's the hottest era if you ask me. They've never looked better. And Noel Fisher signs on again as a series regular, so this is where the fandom gets serviced. We get horny (and frustrated) boys, we get tender talks, we get mutual ILYS, and we get post-prison reunions.

Then, we enter the era of DOMESTIC BITCHES. Also a hot era, but complicated because their shared parole officer ends up dead and Ian and Mickey both think the other did it... So, in the span of just a single episode, we get A PROPOSAL, a CITY HALL KISS BETWEEN FIANCES, a CHANGED MIND, and a BROKEN HEART AND A BROKEN LEG. A true whirlwind. Mickey then pretends to move on, Ian shares some insecurities, and finally we get A REAL PROPOSAL, this fucking hot ass scene in which Mickey stands up to his Dad, many scenes of Bridezilla Mickey (**something we didn't know we needed until we got it**), a tender moment between almost-husbands, and a WEDDING! And before we enter the era of Husbands for real... the SHIP NAME ENTERS CANON. **there are more scenes where all of these storylines are concerned, of course, but I picked you the best ones/the ones that make the most sense without knowing other plot points**

We made it to the final season, the HUSBAND ERA. It's off to an interesting start. The boys negotiate the terms of their marriage, they fight, they have this oddly graphic sex scene that references the Jonas Brothers and then this follow up sex scene to the music of, you guessed it, the Jonas Brothers!, they fight some more, they get put in their places, they try to be a "normal" couple, but realize it's not for them..., they start a security business together, the show decides to cut the only scene in the whole season that shows Mickey being an attentive partner who cares about Ian's mental health..., they steal an ambulance for their new business/pleasure, they help to take care of Terry (Mickey's Dad), who got shot and is paralyzed (but can unfortunately still talk...), they go to a gay orgy (the fandom ~cringed~), they sing Ariana Grande in the bathroom together, they deal with Terry's death (good riddance, motherfucker), they get their own apartment on the *gasp* WEST SIDE where Ian calls Mickey "baby" (the fandom ~rejoiced~), they actually maybe communicate about their feelings???, they wonder if they'll ever be ready to have kids, and they celebrate their first wedding anniversary!!!!

A N D  S C E N E ! ! ! ! They live happily, ever after in fanfic forever.

⚡️⚡️⚡️

[ionicspacemarmot]

Modern Visual Effects and the Ethics of Digitally Revived Actors

Since its earliest days, illusions have been a staple of cinema. Filmmakers like Georges Méliès sought to use the medium to achieve visual spectacles which could never be accomplished in a live setting like theatre.

Over the past century, special effects have advanced to an unprecedented extent. We now live in a world in which just about anything that can be visualized can be translated to the screen, whether through practical or digital means.

When CGI, or Computer Generated Imagery, was first introduced to mainstream cinema, one of the main goals of VFX artists was to perfect photorealistic human beings. In this industry, one of the most difficult tasks is to create a human being detailed enough to fool the audience into believing it's really there. This is an art which only recently has even come close to being achieved.

Why So Complicated?

When a CGI character is present in a film, it's very rarely seamlessly integrated. Many would argue that it still has yet to be perfected. This is generally not for lack of effort or talent on the part of the artists, but rather the fact that human beings have evolved over many years to identify other humans based on the smallest details and microexpressions. We, as a species, are incredibly good at picking up on the slightest inconsistencies. When a character teeters too precariously on the line between realistic and unconvincing, it runs the risk of falling into what is known as the "uncanny valley."

What is the Uncanny Valley?

The uncanny valley refers to our empathetic response to humanoid creations who look real, but not quite real enough to be completely convincing, thus eliciting a discomforting emotional response from the audience. As explained before, we are extraordinarily good at identifying when something doesn't look or behave as it would in real life, as we experience real world textures, lighting, and physics every single day.

This discrepancy is especially true when it comes to identifying flaws in other human creations. The animal part of our brains immediately recognize that what they're looking at resembles another human being, but those slight imperfections trigger something inherently off-putting. (1)

This is why 3D animated films opt for more exaggerated, cartoony character designs. Mr. Incredible does not look like a real person. Homer Simpson is not designed to look as though he exists in the real world. Our brains have a much easier time registering these designs because they are not designed to imitate reality and fool us.

A Very Brief History

In recent years, technology and techniques have evolved within the VFX industry to the point where convincing photorealistic characters are quite possible. This has been the goal of many artists since the introduction of CGI, meaning there is a great deal of research and development behind it.

While Disney is known today, for better or worse, for their recent advancements in 3D human animation, this is something that has been attempted many times over the past twenty or so years, with varying degrees of success.

Even at the time, this movie was criticized for its creepy, imperfect character models who fell deep into the uncanny valley. That being said, this film was still an immense technical achievement unlike anything that had come before, and paved the way for the truly groundbreaking effects of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, released the following year in 2002.

One of the earliest experiments in 3D human animation was the 2001 Japanese-American film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi. This was the first fully motion-captured mainstream film, as well as the first film to utilize "photorealistic" human characters.

The Beginning of De-Aging

The Two Towers introduced audiences to Gollum, a fully computer-animated character who is still praised today for his realism. This film took the technology introduced in Final Fantasy far beyond its limits, taking Andy Serkis's motion-captured performance and taking the time to ensure his character was composited as seamlessly as possible into the live action world of the film.

A wide variety of films followed, all trying to perfect the art of CGI human beings. While some of these projects were well-executed and have aged quite well, such as (some of) the Matrix sequels. Most, however, failed to properly bridge the uncanny valley, notoriously films such as The Polar Express and The Scorpion King.

In 2006, Bryan Singer's X-Men: The Last Stand, introduced a new frontier to this evolving art: Digital de-aging. In this film, a flashback sequence shows off actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, both digitally altered to resemble younger versions of themselves.

Today, of course, the charge in the effort to perfect 3D human animation is led by none other than Disney. Specifically, Marvel Studios.

The Reign of Disney

While a bit jarring by today's standards, this was extremely new and impressive technology for 2006. It was also a technique that would once again be taken on by a number of other filmmakers in subsequent films such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Tron: Legacy (2010).

Tron was Disney's first real foray into the world of digital de-aging technology. While once again, the de-aged Kurt Russell featured in the film is quite unsettling to look at, it paved the way for 2015's Ant-Man. This film opens with a flashback in which actors Michael Douglas and Martin Donovan have been de-aged approximately twenty-five years.

2016 would also see an unprecedented use of this evolving technology upon the release of Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Using a miraculously found, highly detailed lifecast of the actors face from the 1984 film Top Secret, the artists at ILM were able to produce an accurate 3D sculpt of the actor's face and composite it onto the motion-tracked performance of Guy Henry. (2)

This effect was remarkably successful and the film continues to be praised for its use of the technology. This technology would again be applied the following year, in Captain America: Civil War, which features a rather convincingly de-aged Robert Downey Jr.

While imperfect, CGI Tarkin was a groundbreaking achievement in terms of technological innovation. However, it did raise a number of ethical discussions. In particular, is it ethical to use this technology to revive deceased actors? And by extension, do actors have a legal right to their physical likeness?

Star Wars Changes the Game

A major element kept secret in the marketing for the film was the prominent role of the character Grand Moff Tarkin, a major character from the original Star Wars in 1977. The immediate issue here is that the actor who originally portrayed the character, Peter Cushing, passed away in 1994.

Ethical Dilemmas

For this film, the immensely talented artists at Industrial Light and Magic were tasked not with de-aging a character, but with bringing a deceased actor back from the dead. This daunting project was achieved by casting a stand-in actor, Guy Henry, who could not only imitate Cushing's voice, but also looked a bit like him.

While Lucasfilm did receive permission from Peter Cushing's estate to use his likeness, this is something they theoretically did not have to do. Legally, it can be quite tricky to protect one's physical likeness. That being said, because they were granted permission by the estate, the studio was not heavily criticized. However, it certainly opened up an interesting ethical discussion. (3)

Again, it begs the question: is this the beginning of a trend? Disney is far from the only studio to attempt something like this. Usually when a deceased actor is revived for a role through special effects, it's for a specific reason. For example, Brandon Lee and Oliver Reed both passed during production of The Crow and Gladiator, respectively. Special effects were used to finish a project they were already heavily involved in. A character like Tarkin is different. (5)

Soon after Rogue One was released, Carrie Fisher tragically passed away before she could film her scenes as Princess Leia Organa in the ninth installment of the main Star Wars saga. Disney released a statement soon after claiming they would not use CGI to recreate her likeness for Episode IX.

As it came to pass, the film ended up utilizing unused footage of Fisher from 2015's The Force Awakens. Writers JJ Abrams and Chris Terrio attempted to write scenes around her pre-existing dialogue to try and fit her into the overarching narrative. Whether or not this worked in the film's favor is besides the point. From a technical standpoint, it's undoubtedly impressive and a testament to how far VFX has come. (4)

One again, however, many questioned the implications of such a practice. Like Peter Cushing's return as Tarkin, Fisher's role in The Rise of Skywalker did not face much scrutiny due to the fact that once again, the production was given the family's blessing to use her likeness in this way. Her daughter, Billie Lourd, actually plays a significant role in the film and shares scenes with her mother's character.

While exciting for hardcore Star Wars fans like myself to see, Tarkin was a character that could have been absent from Rogue One, or at least kept more to the sidelines. However, Edwards chose to make the character a prominent player for the duration of the film, showing him off in great detail quite often. They have essentially used special effects to synthesize an entirely new performance from an actor who has been dead for more than twenty years.

So again, could this be the start of a trend in cinema? Will we see the return of great actors who are no longer with us? Is that a bad thing? Who gets credited and paid? This is entirely new territory that comes with our rapidly growing technological advancements in the film industry. It seems that this is a phenomenon that will continue for the time being. The question remains as to whether or not legal and ethical attitudes change as a result of this ever-evolving medium.

Notes:

Bill Desowitz. "Advanced De-Aging VFX Are Crucial to The Irishman, Gemini Man, and Captain Marvel," Indiewire, October 1, 2019, accessed April 26, 2020.

(2)Bill Desowitz. "Rogue One: How ILM Created CGI Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia," Indiewire, January 9, 2017, accessed May 2, 2020.

Brian Welk. "How Samuel L Jackson’s De-Aging on ‘Captain Marvel’ Cut Shooting Time in Half," The Wrap, March 18, 2019, accessed April 26, 2020.

Carolyn Giardina. "Will Smith, Robert DeNiro and the Rise of the All-Digital Actor," The Hollywood Reporter, August 10, 2019, accessed April 20, 2020.

David Ehrlich. "James Dean Is Just the Beginning: Critics Debate the Future of CGI Acting," Indiewire, November 11, 2019, accessed April 26, 2020.

Erin Winick. "Actors are Digitally Preserving Themselves to Continue Their Careers Beyond the Grave," MIT Technology Review, October 16, 2018, accessed April 20, 2020.

Laura M. Holson. "A C.G.I. James Dean? Some in Hollywood See ‘an Awful Precedent’," New York Times, November 7, 2019, accessed April 20, 2020.

Leon Miller. "14 Actors Resurrected With Crazy CGI (And 6 That Can Never Be)," Screenrant, August 9, 2018, accessed April 26, 2020.

Luke Kemp. "In the age of deepfakes, could virtual actors put humans out of business?" The Guardian, July 8, 2019, accessed April 26, 2020.

(4)Jordan Zakarin. "It Took More CGI Than You Think to Bring Carrie Fisher Into The Rise of Skywalker," Syfy, January 7, 2020.

(3,5)Joseph Waltz. "Rogue One: the CGI resurrection of Peter Cushing is thrilling – but is it right?," The Guardian, December 16, 2016, accessed April 26, 2020.

(1)"VFX Artists React to Resurrected Actors Bad and Great CGI," YouTube video, 13:20, "Corridor Crew," June 1, 2019. https://youtu.be/2ZKPnuUFwOk

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

No matter what your, anyone, thought of the last scene between Stefan and Elena, you have to admit that Paul's and Nina's acting (I heard that Paul said they actually cried in the scene?) were so amazing. Even after all these years, they still have an epic chemistry and they play so so well together. Their chemistry literally slays everything and the feelings in that scene felt so real... no matter what you think of the actual scene. Nina's and Paul's acting really shines when they're together.

I completely agree. As I’ve been browsing through Tumblr and Facebook today to see what people thought of the finale I’ve seen even confessed Delena shippers saying the chemistry between Paul and Nina was electrifying and their scene evoked emotion in them. Paul was cast specifically because of his chemistry with Nina and that chemistry has never gone away, in fact, I’d argue that with time it’s got stronger because Nina and Paul have gotten more experienced as actors and got to know their characters better. Even in seasons 5-8 when Stelena weren’t in a romantic relationship, every single time Paul and Nina have had a scene together (whether it was a Stelena, Steferine or Simara scene) there’s been a natural dynamic between them that just pulls you in. And what I love about it is that it’s not just one type of chemistry they share, it’s every type. They manage to convey a sense of friendship and familiarity that is so pure in scenes such as the one in 5x20 where Stelena are playing charades, their emotional chemistry can be seen in that final scene with Simara in 5x07 and the physical and sexual chemistry in the motel scene between Steferine in 5x14. 

Everything about the way they interact feels completely organic. Just look at their final scene in 8x16. The way their eyes remain locked on each other the whole time, the shining in their eyes, the tears streaming down Elena’s face when Stefan tells her that it’s over for him, the way he just naturally reaches out and wipes away her tears in the most tender way and Elena reaches a point where she’s so overwhelmed at the thought of living in a world without Stefan that she takes a deep breath in and just pulls him into her arms. Even though they haven’t been together for years, Stefan leans into her hair and their bodies are so close and when he tells her he has something to say, he sweeps her hair back over her shoulder and leans into her so closely that his mouth is literally touching her neck and ear. Even when they break from their embrace, they’re holding hands and only let go at the very last second, as though they can’t bear to let go. To say they were supposed to be two characters no longer in love Paul and Nina sure did seem to convey otherwise. 

That chemistry is exactly why the writers delibrately kept Paul and Nina away from each other in the later seasons, because the more Stelena scenes they wrote, the more that natural chemistry would show and the more people would start to question, “Hang on, why is Elena with Damon when she’s got that sort of chemistry with Stefan?” I don’t even necessarily ship Klaroline, but they did exactly the same with Candice and Joseph. Their chemistry is so natural, so much so that the writers didn’t even plan on a Klaroline romance and they’ve ended up being the ship with the biggest fandom across the entire 8 seasons! So what did they do? They put Joseph onto a completely different show and prevented them from having even one scene together. Again, they did this with Kat and Ian, who even admitted themselves that they have great chemistry when they’re acting together. They restricted Bamon scenes consistently (don’t even get me started on the fact that they didn’t have a single scene together in the finale when they’re canonically best friends and Damon promised he’d never leave her again, but that’s a different subject and I’m digressing), because they could see that if they continued to give Kat and Ian scenes together, they’d have great difficulty denying the romantic chemistry. 

To be honest, there were a lot of great couples in terms of chemistry on the show, but the writers never really seemed to maximise on most of them. But Nina and Paul are definitely up there with being one of those pairings with just an incredible amount of chemistry which they’ve proved by the fact that they’ve been able to convincingly tell three different love stories that are all beautiful and tragic in their own right. 

[dreamylyfe-x]

I always enjoy your takes on Shameless episodes, they're so spot on every time. I agree with you that Ian's handling of Mickey's grief in the beginning of the episode makes sense from a character stand point (Mickey might not be emotionally ready to be comforted, Ian didn't want Mickey to stray too far from the fact that Terry was a terrible father and person, etc) but I gotta say that it was a pretty bad choice from just a storytelling perspective. The fact that Mickey's crying didn't have much of an emotional impact on Ian made it so that it didn't have much of an emotional impact on me as a viewer. It was sad and I felt bad, but I think that the scene could have been made so much better by showing Ian as being hurt because his husband was hurt (we got this later in the episode which is why I think that scene worked better), instead of Ian giving Mickey weirded out looks and side-eyes. Idk I think that scene should have been more of a gut punch than it was (not helped by the background music, either). Ian could have set an emotional "example" for the viewer by being less stoic in the face of his husband sobbing. That would have made more sense to me just as a way to tell the story to us. I feel like Shameless still has good stories to tell but the WAY they're being told just falls so short, sometimes.

First of all, thank you for your kind words, anon. I truly do love talking about this show. 

I get your reaction, and it’s made me think a little more about what the show is going for. Like... It’s definitely not the traditional response to a grieving partner, as depicted on television. But neither is Mickey’s. 

I cannot tel you how little I EVER would have guessed that the next time we saw Mickey after his father’s death he’d be sitting on their bed ugly crying and I honestly love that choice so much. SO much. It’s so unusual that a show would let a male character -- particularly an alpha tough guy like Mickey -- be THIS emotional. This isn’t the red eyes while he holds Ian at the police station. It’s not him wiping tears away after Ian tells him he’s going into the army. I find the fact that Mickey is crying so openly and continuously to be as fascinating as it is to have Ian essentially giving him reasons not to cry like this. 

I think a lot of people read it as Ian giving MIckey what he needs and @pathoftheranger and @damngcoffee both made compelling posts about why Ian meets Mickey where he’s at. I am particularly moved by @damngcoffee point that the degree to which Mickey is crying is proof of how safe he feels. (Also shout out to @doodlevich and this post, which I DEEPLY relate to.) 

Looking at it the way you frame it -- where you had the experience of it lessening the scenes impact -- I can completely see what you mean about how it pulls you out of really empathizing with Mickey (which the music arguably wants to do, too) because Ian isn’t comforting him in a way we’re used to. Like beyond the actual characters and story, Ian’s comments are discordant. This isn’t how we usually see this dynamic presented. 

The scene reminded me of a very different scene from Ronan Farrow’s book Catch and Kill where he calls his partner from the back of a cab in despair, pours his heart out, and his partner responds with impatience and says “the only thing that has changed is that you haven’t slept in 24 hours.” -- that kind of brutal logic is absolutely something people do to each other, but it’s SO RARE we see that in fiction, from a character in Ian’s position. What we see is something more gentle and I think it’s so interesting that they didn’t do that. I also think it’s interesting that Cam doesn’t play the hard edge in the dialogue. He keeps his voice soft, even as he’s openly confused by this open display of emotion. Ian reaches out, touches Mickey, and stays in the conversation even after Mickey blames Terry’s murder on Ian. But this is not your normal depiction of grieving. 

Buuuuut. Ian and MIckey don’t do normal. So. 

I do think there’s value in seeing something that is so different from the average and maybe closer to the way couples would talk four days after the death of a nightmare parent (who has tried to murder both of them) but you are absolutely right that this scene isn’t a gut-punch in the way we might expect. We don’t get the moment of raw shock where Ian comforts Mickey -- but from a storytelling POV I think that scene belonged in 11x08. This episode is about grieving the underserving. And if we had more time, I’d want to see so much more of this particular dynamic, which I imagine is rooted in Ian’s concern about Mickey’s mental health. There is of course the echo of what happened to Ian after his mother died and how that undid him so totally, even though she was very much not a great mother to him. It makes sense to me that Ian would have an outsized concern about Mickey getting lost in his grief and wants to help him draw those lines -- Terry was awful. He doesn’t deserve your tears. I don’t want you to be in pain like this. 

None of that is text and this will always be where I get low-key frustrated, because I could watch a whole hour just about Mickey reacting to Terry’s death. Happily. But the show has a bunch of other characters and Frank’s an art thief now, so we aren’t going to get the detail I want. It’s also just very true that Ian isn’t the sort of person to deeply examine his motives. He just feels the discomfort of watching Mickey in pain and reacts. 

I love that he doesn’t back off. I love that Mickey doesn’t tell him to go to hell -- because he sure as hell would if that’s what he wanted. I love Mickey’s weepy “I know!” moments of agreement. I love that Mickey is completely baffled by how upset he is. Mostly I love that, at the end of the episode, when Mickey looks completely drained, Ian has his arm around him while he says his final goodbye to his bad dad. 

But we never, ever get enough Gallavich in these episodes for my taste. And I do wish we’d gotten just one more moment with them in 11x08.  

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

Ok but that so called de endgame, what was THAT?Really?? I don't know if it had to do with Nina and Ian's status off screen (i.e. them breaking up, but say they're friends etc) or what it was... but that reunion wasn't much a reunion (not the one the shippers had hoped for) like when they walked down the street, they (especially) Ian couldn't even smile properly like it looked like he wasn't even trying... it was just AWKWARD and if I was a de shipper I would be pretty disappointed tbh

It was definitely because of Nina and Ian’s relationship off-screen and nothing can convince me otherwise. I understand that the media and fans are likely to exaggerate the truth and make up plain lies regarding Nina and Ian and things probably aren’t as bitter or hateful as people try to make out they are, but it’s just a fact of life that when two people break up those two people are likely not going to be the best of friends. And if they have to work together on a day to day basis and play a romantic relationship, it makes it even more strained and awkward. I’ve said it before, but I 100% think Nina’s decision to leave the show was because of Ian. Not because she hated him or because they couldn’t stand to be in the same room together, but because they had broken up and he was married to someone else and she needed a clean break from being around him. It’s only natural to want that when you’ve split from someone you love. You have to hit the reset button and completely cut that person out of your life so as to rediscover who you are and build a new life without that person who you shared everything with. Ian made it clear in the Comic Con interview how he felt about Nina’s return, he was unbelievably sharp and dead set against it. He basically told Julie “I thought we discussed this and it’s not happening” and was so rude to her when she suggested that old cast members might come back for the finale. 

The way Delena played out in the finale just confirmed that the way Ian was in that interview was a clear reflection of his feelings about co-starring alongside Nina again. In every single scene, as you said, his smile was strained and he looked so uneasy. Plus, you could just see that the writers deliberately toned down the Delena scenes as much as possible. I’ve never known an episode of the show to have so little Delena, except maybe some of the episodes in season 1. But since they got together in season 4, every single episode has been Delena heavy and pretty much every scene they’ve ever had has always had a lot of physical intimacy and huge declarations of love. Yet in the finale, when it was probably the most important time for them to have big romantic scenes, there was nothing. After being apart for months and months there was hardly any emotion at all and that kiss was the most pathetic kiss I’ve ever seen. Compare that to their first kiss in 3x19, that had so much build-up and was executed brilliantly in terms of the tension that was built up and how Elena just ran at him and the explosion of music just as their lips collided. Or even in 5x12 when Katherine was a passenger in Elena’s body and Elena managed to fight her way through and ran into Damon’s arms. There was so much more emotion and desperation in that scene than there was in the finale and in 5x12 they’d been apart a day maybe two at the most, but the finale they’d been apart for years. Everything about that reunion was deflating and disappointing. The smile on Ian’s face is a smile you’d give an old lady passing by you in the street, the way they ran to each other was slow and the kiss, don’t even get me started. You could actually tell in one shot that their lips weren’t even touching, Ian’s mouth was at the side of Nina’s and it lasted for literally a second. It was essentially a peck on the lips and even the hug was just as pitiful, the hug between Stelena was so much more intimate and emotional in every sense. And the fact that Damon and Elena are supposed to have spent this happy life together until they died but we saw none of it, just them strolling down the street holding hands with Ian doing his strained smile that looks like he has trapped wind. We didn’t get a single “I love you” or any kind of real payoff for them being endgame. I’m still struggling to understand why the writers even included a Delena endgame that was so unconvincing. They could’ve just had Damon leave town after Stefan’s death because he was grieving and needed to find himself or whatever. They didn’t have to choose a Delena endgame. It’s just kind of weird to me that if they could see Ian and Nina were that awkward filming together why write them as being endgame at all. 

I’m not a Delena shipper, but to me the Delena we saw in the finale were not the Delena we’ve known for the last 8 seasons, they just felt so alien to me. In fact, Elena in general felt alien to me. I don’t know…it just didn’t fit to bring Nina back like that for the finale and have her play Elena and Katherine, it was too rushed and I think after so long without seeing those characters we needed to be eased back into it. The vibe of the show had changed so much from when Elena was in it and for her to just magically wake up and walk right back into it, it was just too strange. In that aspect of things, I do kind of criticism Nina’s acting as much as Ian’s. I don’t think she delivered very strong performances of Katherine or Elena, but that’s a different subject. I do completely agree that if I was a Delena shipper I’d be majorly disappointed. I mean, obviously there’s still going to be a level of happiness because their ship was still endgame and got to essentially have their happily ever after, but I’d imagine there’s probably still a level of annoyance because even I can see that they deserved more than that. But to be honest, so did all of the characters and ships. There just wasn’t enough time to fit in everything that was necessary and it resulted in so much being left out.