#they aren’t like gallavich where they can come back to each other

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

no this is how i feel. it’s kind of like mickey’s advice to ian, she needs to work on loving herself before she can be able to love somebody else that way. she’s still very much hurt from everything that’s happened to her in her life and i don’t think she can be in a relationship. she seeks out relationships with people who she, to some degree, knows will hurt her, and then they do hurt her and she falls deeper into her hatred for herself/abandonment issues. i love her and she deserves love but sometimes it’s better to be alone for a bit and work on yourself.

Oof. This might be controversial to say amongst other Debbie fans, but I don’t ship Debbie with anyone. Yes, not even with Sandy.

To me, it seemed like Debbie only ever got into relationships with people out of a fear of being alone not because she felt a genuine connection with them. And, to me, a lot of them just felt very forced and awkward. It just felt as though the writers had no idea what to do with Debbie on her lonesome, so they just shoved her in some relationships (whether they were romantic and/or sexual) so they wouldn’t have to push themselves to discover how to write Debbie by herself. Is any of what I’m saying makes sense?

[ange1sang]

kinktober d.3: gallavich + oral fixation

minors + under 18s pls do not interact ty

gallavich (ian x mickey); 2k words, smut, college au, crushes, blowjobs, oral fixation

a/n: this one's an au but i swear it's good so pls give it a chance!! <3

Mickey’s never been one to stare. He knows how to mind his own business, fuck you very much, and on top of that he doesn’t find most people all that interesting. Some of them are hot, some of them are boring, but most of them land somewhere in the middle that warrants a few glances at most before he makes a move or leaves them alone. He’s a direct person, for better or worse, and doesn’t find much fun in the whole playing footsie under the table and biting your lip at each other. If he’s into someone he’ll come out and say it, so no, he doesn’t spend much of his time staring at people. But this one ginger fuck — well, he’s an exception.

Mickey sees him for the first time in his Entrepreneurship class. This shouldn’t mean anything, really, because there are at least three hundred people crammed into the lecture hall, but the redhead is hot and sitting a row down just to Mickey’s right so that he’s got a good view of him. He’s hot enough that Mickey considers asking if he’ll be at the student bar later, but instead he finds himself watching him the whole class. In particular, he finds him watching his mouth.

The whole class, the redhead has something between his lips. At first he’s chewing gum, which he neatly folds away in a piece of scrap paper ten minutes into the lecture and replaces with the end of his pen. At first he’s just running it back and forth across his lips, almost like he’s flirting subconsciously with someone, but eventually he starts chewing on the plastic, teeth digging into little grooves already formed there. Even during the break when he’s chatting idly with the person sat next to him he runs his tongue along his bottom lip between sentences, bites at his top lip so that it’s slick with spit when he starts to speak again. Mickey’s captivated, and by the time he’s packing his notebook away he realises he didn’t learn much of anything from the lecture.

Next lecture, he looks around for the ginger head of hair and sits behind him again. He tells himself this time he’ll ask where he’s staying, find something to talk about that makes it clear he wants to hang out, but then the redhead unwraps a lollipop and all of those thoughts vanish. It’d be one thing if he just sucked on it like a normal person, but every few minutes he grabs a hold of the stick and rubs it back and forth over his lips like he’s applying gloss. Once again, an hour and forty five minutes are lost to watching this guy’s mouth. Watching how he leaves his lips shiny with sugar for a second or two before licking it away, over and over until the lollipop is gone. Even then he keeps the stick in his mouth, moving it up and down then side to side with his tongue. Mickey’s glad the pull up desk is close enough to his lap that no one can see the boner he spends all class willing away.

This happens again, and again, until Mickey feels like he’s going insane. He hasn’t mapped out anybody’s face this well, couldn’t tell you if his flatmate had any beauty marks, but he’s got the freckles on this guy’s face committed to memory. And his mouth. He has an embarrassing amount of daydreams (and real dreams) about his fucking mouth. It’s a nightmare. Every time he checks his timetable and sees Entrepreneurship his stomach does a little flip-flop of anticipation. And if Mickey’s never been one for staring, he’s definitely never been one for stomach flip-flops.

It’s the eighth lecture when he gets to class and doesn’t spot the redhead there, which unnerves him slightly because he’s always weirdly early. But whatever. The lectures aren’t mandatory and with the amount of people in the class it’d be impossible to see the same people every time. He sits down towards the back and pulls out his notebook and pen (free of teeth marks, unlike that redheaded fuck’s). It’s almost like clockwork, what happens next. As soon as the cap on his pen comes off, the seat next to his is being pushed down and— shit.

“Cool if I sit here?” the redhead asks, even though he’s already sat down, pulling out a notebook and his signature chewed up pen.

“Guess so,” Mickey mumbles, and realises far too late that he’s been staring at him. He’s gotten so used to doing it that it’s almost like second nature, but now that the guy’s sitting close enough that he can feel the warmth coming off of his arm it’s painfully obvious that he’s looking at him and his mouth.

They sit in silence until the lecture starts, at which point the redhead leans into him and speaks softly around the pen cap between his lips.

“My name’s Ian,” he whispers. Mickey glances at him and instantly feels a familiar warmth in his stomach when he twists the pen cap back and forth between his lips.

“Mickey,” he whispers back, averting his eyes before he digs himself any further into this hole.

“My friend said you were staring last lecture,” Ian goes on, voice taking on a teasing lilt that has Mickey cussing under his breath. “And the one before that, and the one before?”

He phrases it like a question, like Mickey should say something to defend himself before he jumps to conclusions. There isn’t much to say though, not when the conclusions are probably accurate, so he just shrugs.

“You’ve always got shit in your mouth, man,” he mumbles back, meeting Ian’s eyes for a split second and then looking down at where he’s sucking on his bottom lip for what he hopes is just a split second. “’S fuckin’ weird.”

“Weird?” Ian whispers, breaking off into a giggle just loud enough to make someone in the row ahead of them turn around. Mickey nods, even though he can feel warmth climbing his cheeks to the tips of his ears, watching how the other wipes the spit from his bottom lip with his thumb. “Sure it’s not ‘cause you want to put something else in my mouth?”

If Mickey hadn’t already given himself a Pavlovian reaction to this godforsaken class that sentence alone would definitely be enough to do it.

“Maybe,” he gets out without sounding too embarrassed. He looks at Ian and finds him with the end of his pen between his teeth, tongue running along the bite marks on the end of it. Paired with the knowing smile on his lips it’s enough to give him a semi. “You gonna do somethin’ about it, red?”

“Soon as class is over,” Ian says, grinning like he’s told a joke. Mickey feels like he’s been handed a sentence instead, checking the time on his phone and realising there’s an hour and a half left of class.

.

The second they’re out of the lecture hall Ian’s grinning at him all over again. Mickey chooses to ignore how his cheeks are burning in favour of rummaging around in his bag for his cigarettes.

“Don’t light anything, my place is just across the street,” Ian says, grabbing him by the wrist and tugging him towards the exit. Mickey raises an eyebrow.

“You’re eager,” he comments, which makes Ian snort.

“Like you said, I’ve always got stuff in my mouth,” he replies like it’s nothing.

Ian’s place is a cramped studio, about as disorganised as any college student’s place, but Mickey doesn’t get to look around for more than a couple of seconds before Ian’s reaching for his jeans, deftly unbuttoning and unzipping them without looking. His mouth is centimetres from Mickey’s, and even now he’s got his bottom lip between his teeth, smiling at Mickey as he hooks his fingers beneath the waistband of his boxers.

“Wanna sit on my bed?” he asks, even as he’s pushing Mickey’s jeans down his legs.

“Yeah, whatever,” Mickey shrugs. He couldn’t care less where he’s standing or sitting as long as he finally gets to feel this guy’s fucking mouth on him. He doesn’t have to worry or wait much longer because as soon as he’s siting down Ian’s got his pants around his ankles and leans forward to land an open-mouthed kiss on the head of his dick.

He doesn’t start stroking him to get him hard like Mickey half-expects him to do. Instead he runs his tongue all over him, licking up along one of the veins on the side of his length and swirling his tongue around the head, flicking it against the frenulum and moving his face down to suck on his balls. He barely uses his hands and yet he has Mickey’s dick spit-coated and hard in nearly record time.

“Feel as good as you thought it would?” he asks while he’s rubbing the slit against his lips, smearing precum across them like it’s lip gloss. Mickey’s reminded of him doing the same thing with his lollipop in the second lecture they shared and groans.

“Fuck yeah,” is all he gets out before Ian starts sucking him off in earnest and god fucking damn. All that staring did nothing to prepare Mickey for how the redhead takes him to the hilt like it’s nothing, drooling all over his dick and coming up for air with strings of spit still connecting them. Ian smiles at him with an oddly out of place schoolboy charm, and leans in to suck along the side of his cock.

His tongue is skilled, which Mickey had already figured, but the way it drags along his skin has his brain melting, first the tip tracing along every sensitive spot he can find and then pressed flat against the underside of his dick as he leans down and takes him all the way. Mickey finds himself unable to do much other than swear as Ian stays down for longer than should be possible, nose buried in his pubes as he swallows around his dick.

“Motherfucker,” Mickey grits out through clenched teeth, letting his head fall back when Ian finally comes up to breathe. Even as he catches his breath he doesn’t stop, running his lips and tongue over every inch of him until he’s covered in a thick, sticky layer of saliva. It doesn’t put Ian off either — if anything he’s more excited about lapping up all of the precum and spit on Mickey’s skin.

“Tell me when you’re gonna cum,” he demands suddenly, voice just a little rough, and it’s all Mickey can do not to laugh.

“Any fuckin’ second,” he admits, earning him a grin from the redhead before he’s bobbing his head again. He feels like heaven, Mickey thinks for a split second, and then his tongue is rubbing right against his frenulum and good fucking God. He moans embarrassingly loud and Ian seems to get the cue because he pulls up just in time to catch every spurt of cum on his tongue.

Mickey watches, captivated like he always is by Ian’s mouth, as the redhead used the head of his dick to spread cum evenly over his lips and then licks it all away and swallows.

“Holy shit,” he breathes. “You’re fuckin’ good at that.”

Ian shrugs, sitting back and taking a deep breath. Mickey keeps watching for a moment, notices how for the first time since he’s seen him his mouth stays totally still. No lip licking or biting, no fingertip stuck between his teeth to chew on. He’s surprised — pleasantly or otherwise, he’s not sure.

“How come you’re always putting shit in your mouth anyway?” he asks. The question instantly has Ian’s tongue flicking out to wet his bottom lip.

“It’s an anxiety thing. Nervous tic or something,” he says, looking flustered for the first time. Mickey smirks.

“You stopped doing it for a minute there, y’know,” he states, and watches as his freckled cheeks turn pink.

“Yeah, well don’t get ahead of yourself, we haven’t been on a date or anything,” he says with a smile, getting up and throwing a towel in Mickey’s direction.

Mickey stifles a laugh. At least he knows what he’s asking him next lecture.

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

mickey milkovich x nude, radiohead

i don’t think that anybody can disagree that 1x07 is the episode where we learn the most about mickey milkovich. no, i don’t mean he showed any development or anything like that, but we learned something about him that made him significant for the rest of the show. something that never leaves, something that is important to him. in 1x07, we learn that mickey milkovich is gay, and we learn that he is willing to sleep with ian gallagher (even when his father and sister are in the house).

in 1x06, mickey kind of has an interaction with ian that we later see and are like, “yeah, he’s totally gay”, but back then it wasn’t stated that mickey was gay. mickey steals shit from the kash and grab, and he tells ian, “you know where i live if you have a problem” kind of instigating that ian should come over.

but in 1x07, mickey has stolen the gun from the kash and grab, and ian goes to mickey’s house equipped with a tyre iron, ready to take it back.

the “i want the gun back, mickey” scene needs no introduction or explanation. we all know what happened. we all watched in awe as mickey stood over ian and both of their breaths evened out and they made contact and… bam! they’re getting undressed, just like that.

later on, we are no stranger to gallavich and fighting then fucking. it’s something many people know them for, the fact that they’ll literally beat the shit out of each other and then immediately get on each other. but here, it was supposed to be for shock value because shameless utilizes shock value. to those who didn’t know gallavich was going to happen, watching mickey, the thug who had literally just attempted murder on ian, undress and fuck ian was surprising. later on, we can understand why it happened, but we were supposed to be shocked.

so, here’s where nude by radiohead comes in.

terry wakes up from a nap and goes to take a piss in mickey’s room (there’s a bathroom in there, he isn’t just pissing in it, lol). in there, ian and mickey are naked under mickey’s covers. around them, we see a poster of a woman and we also see a drawing mickey made that says “fuck love”.

so when terry comes out of the bathroom and looks at them both, he doesn’t do what season 3 terry does, he simply says “put some clothes on, you two look like a couple of fags!” and it’s a comical scene because, what the fuck, terry, aren’t you a homophobic murderer? you woke up to grunts and crashes coming from mickey’s room, then when you came in he and another boy are naked in his bed… what do you think they were doing?

so when mickey does put some clothes on, he puts on a radiohead shirt.

the shirt says “you’ll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking” and those are the last lyrics of the radiohead song “nude”.

so for those who haven’t listened to the song, here’s my analysis of why this song is associated with mickey milkovich and how it ends up foreshadowing his entire character for the next four seasons.

“don’t get any big ideas

they’re not gonna happen”

literally this scene. mickey caves and gives ian the gun back because lets be honest, it was really just bait. ian leans in to kiss him, and mickey has a look in his eyes where you can tell he wants to, but he can’t. he built this wall up years ago and he’s already cursing himself for letting it come down. terry instructed him to get dressed, and he puts on this shirt. and he’s trying to put this carefully constructed mask back on but he’s struggling. and so, he pushes ian away, “kiss me and i’ll cut your fucking tounge out”. there’s no malice in his tone, it’s a threat, but it isn’t threatening.

“you paint yourself white

and fill up with noise

but there'll be something missing”

mickey hiding in the closet, marrying svetlana, being a father to yevgeny, trying to act like the perfect son of terry. he still has this mask on and he tries to hide who he is but alas, he can’t. he loves ian too much and when he gets married and pushes him away, he’s still gay and in love.

“now that you found it

it’s gone”

upon being married, he tells ian that they can still bang. maybe being married to a woman makes him feel a bit more secure because although he despises it and it’s crushing him, he can keep his whole “king of the southside” thing. now that he’s married and unhappy, terry’s satisfied, and that’s all that matters- well, at one point it was. so he tells ian that they can still fuck, but suddenly, ian isn’t as eager and easy as he once was, and he leaves. he’s gone.

“now that you feel it

you don't

you’ve gone off the rails”

he’s out, he’s with ian, he has ian. things are supposed to be fine- but they’re not. ian’s unstable and has been hospitalized, and mickey breaks. he gets shitfaced and cuts his cheek and cries into ian’s jacket. that wall he once built up? the chest he puffed up, the posters he hung, the tattoos he got, they all mean nothing. it’s all gone. the wall and mask are gone, he’s more fragile than he once was. ian’s broken and it’s simultaneously breaking him too.

“so don't get any big ideas

they're not gonna happen”

this line is so mickey in s5, s6, s7, and s10. ian calling him and mickey running to see ian. he has hope. but no, ian breaks up with him, mickey is arrested, and when ian visits he desperately wants ian back. he tattoos ian’s name on his chest, specifically over his heart, and he practically pleads for ian to stay. then, mickey and ian are fleeing to mexico, and for a second, he has hope again. he fantasizes about he and ian at the beach, ian’s freckled skin being sunburnt, them swimming in the ocean together. for once, he can imagine his dreams being true. but they aren’t. he and ian are getting their marriage license, but ian’s hand wavers over the dotted line and he gives mickey that look and mickey breaks (…ian’s leg. lol). he keeps getting his hopes up and everytime he scolds himself for it because he just ends up hopeless.

then finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for,

“you'll go to hell

for what your dirty mind

is thinking”

it’s in the 1x07 scene i’m talking about. terry instructs mickey to get dressed, he does, and he puts on a shirt that says this. and in that shirt, he seems odd. the confidence we see him have in 1x03 is no longer there. he doesn’t necessarily look vulnerable, but he isn’t the mickey he pretends to be. he caves and returns the gun, which was just bait for ian to come anyway, and he refuses to make eye contact with ian, but when he does, it’s almost coy? he’s ashamed. he’s thinking of things he know would get him killed and he hates himself for it. terry will end him if he finds out, and yes, he has the posters, the reputation, the persona, the tattoos, the guns, etc. but in the end, it’s all an act, and we can see it. the way he licks his lips, the way his eyes won’t focus, his body language says so much.

[thatoneao3author]

randomized fic tag game

fuck it I’m creating a fic brainstorming challenge in an attempt to interact with the fandom ig

so I used this au generator to assign you an au, this fan fiction trope generator to give you a trope/situation/sometimes another au, feel free to keep clicking until you get something that inspires you.

then try to come up with the title, plot, vibe, and details of a fic including whatever the generators gave you. you don’t actually have to write it, just put the concept into the world! this is basically just a thought experiment

for example, here’s mine:

The AU generator gave me: summer camp au 

The trope generator gave me: Your characters are neighbors and hold up notes in their windows across from each other to talk all the time and they're both developing huge crushes.

okay okay I GOT this 

title: i’ll beat your ass in the color war, red

- we got teenage!gallavich, i’m talking season one ian-still-has-freckles little gallavich 

- ian gets a scholarship to the camp via a raffle his school did for kids on the honor role. technically, lip got it, but he handed the voucher off to ian because he’s caught up with karen at the time and wants his brother to have a good summer. that’s why ian’s there. 

- mickey is put into foster care for one reason or another, something with terry, and his foster family sends him. that’s why he’s there. mandy’s around here somewhere, too. 

- all the cabins are really close together, but ian + mickey are placed separately. right next to each other, actually. ian and mickey both happened to take the low bunks next to the windows, which are facing each other. 

- ian recognizes mickey as someone from the south side, like him. he also befriends mandy early on, but he doesn’t really speak to mickey. 

- UNTIL! there’s a power outage on the camp grounds, knocking out the lights in all of the cabins. And Ian sees a flashlight in the window across from his when he’s trying to go to sleep. 

- with the chaos of everything, it doesn’t work, and a generator powers up some of the cabins. for safety reasons, they send those without power to sleepover in the cabins with power so that everyone’s together and warm and guess what?? mickey and ian end up together. sharing a bed because there aren’t enough.

- they bond, but their schedules don’t line up the most and they end up doing the notes-in-the-window thing every night while trying to sleep for a week. they also pass this old notebook back and forth, giving each other doodles and thoughts and questions through the pages. they talk about how weird the experience is, how different the kids are from southsiders. 

- then, they get to pick new classes at the beginning of the following week. for the first time since the power outage, mickey approaches him directly and they pick similar classes

- they keep using the notebook throughout the summer, writing down things that are too hard to say out loud like “you’re pretty, red” and “i think i really like you and i don’t know if that’s a good idea”

- they spend free time together in the field, mickey sitting there while his sister and ian make flower crowns. 

- they do other arts and crafts together. ian makes them matching ‘friendship bracelets’ and mickey claims to think that it’s stupid. but he wears it anyway, just to see him smile

- idk man you get a summer’s worth of them being cute but not actually dating. mickey causes some trouble, they end up kissing at the camp fire, some sneaking around is involved, there’s a color war (which is like, fun team-based games like capture the flag or huge water fights) where they’re on opposite teams, maybe a little pride event at some point since we’re in the summer time. generally just huge summer love vibes

- i imagine there’s some issues near the end of camp bc mickey likes what they have but he isn’t sure if it can continue when they go back to chicago, he only feels safe doing their whole thing bc they’re away from literally everyone they know.

- one possible ending is mickey telling ian how much he cares, but they have to wait until they’re older and he’s away from his dad for good/he’s more comfortable in his sexuality. BAM! possible timeskip sequel, bittersweet ending. the other ending is ian offering him a place in the gallagher home, BAM! domestic vibes, some found family, and it’s more happy. either one could work depending on what i want from the fic

alright alright i’m all done now. don’t feel pressured to try it if you don’t want to, but i’m gonna tag @creepkinginc @softmick @gardenerian @lupeloto and @this-is-estrelya​

[zalrb]

Do you have a personal favorite “toxic” couple or pairing? I hate using that word because it’s so over used lol but I don’t know how else to phrase it. Just like two people who obviously aren’t the healthiest together but they can’t stop themselves and you can’t stop yourself from enjoying their dynamic/scenes together ?

It's only overused because people refer to relationships they don't like as toxic and then try to defend themselves by being like, they had a fight one time so they're obviously toxic and it does my head in to the point that my header on tumblr before this one was this

because i was fucking SICK of anons telling me ships were toxic because there were low points in the relationship.

Toxic relationships when done correctly can be extremely entertaining and fun and compelling, I love watching fictional toxic relationships when the writing is honest, which is why I've always maintained that if Delena was crafted properly I would've at least been entertained by them but they weren't. So, for me, it could go from:

Kelly and Ryan from The Office, which is a thoroughly dysfunctional relationship where they're both terrible people together but also portrayed in a very comedic and lighthearted way

or it can be Cesare and Lucrezia where the very fact that romantic feelings exist at all is in it of itself toxic and it's tearing them both apart but it only gets worse and better at the same time and it's just a constant struggle for them

I end up arguing against Spuffy a lot because Spuffy shippers come into my inbox and start shitting on Bangel and Angel and calling that relationship toxic and I don't ship them as a lasting couple but particularly season 6, as a sort of symptom and embodiment of Buffy's dark psychology at the time, it's a good example of a compelling toxic relationship

I was asked a few years ago about relationships that transition from toxic to healthy and I always went to Gallavich so Gallavich doesn't end up being a toxic relationship but they were when they first started and it's complicated because the toxicity is wrapped up in so many different things

but there was a certain angst that came with it that, like, ruined my life and I was absolutely here for it

Cookie and Lucious was another ship and I remember having to breakdown to an anon why Damon and Elena weren't in the same league as Cookie and Lucious and if any canon ship on the show would be remotely close, it would be Klaroline

From other posts of mine:

The World of the Married is some toxic, awful, terrible, entertaining shit where it’s a husband and wife, the husband carries on an affair while all of their mutual friends know and like have dinners and vacation with him and his mistress she finds out,

they get a divorce and he marries his mistress except that he’s obsessed with his ex wife

 

and even dresses his new wife just like his ex wife and his ex has sex with his best friend to get back at him

and then they have hate sex,

it’s this whole thing and it’s based I think pretty much shot for shot on a British show and it was just so fun to watch.

Tony and Carmela are not an OTP of mine but I’m a big fan of the writing for that marriage and of how Edie and James portrayed that marriage and it is a possessive relationship but an entirely hypocritical one, Tony cheats on Carmela frequently and Carmela is expected to deal with it because that’s the deal she made, she gets to live a luxurious lifestyle and Tony gets to fuck around  but that’s not working out

but when Carmela just flirts with the idea of another man, Tony loses his shit.

First, it was this eroticism with her priest and he slept over one night and Tony was bothered by it

then it was Furio and Furio flees to Italy because he’s in love with Carmela and thought about killing Tony even though the two of them didn’t really do much or spend much time together

and I remember when David Chase said he would’ve changed this line

to infuriate Tony even more to this:

“I remember being on the stage at, like, 2:30 in the morning when [Gandolfini and Falco] did that,” he said. “It was just unbelievable.” But that got him thinking about a way he could have done it differently.

“What she should have said — instead of ‘I have been dreaming and wishing and … about Furio’ —  she should have said, to get [Tony], ‘I have been dreaming and masturbating and blah blah blah,” Chase said. “But it’s too late.”

There are some ships that are portrayed as cute and romantic but are actually really toxic that I do enjoy like Joe and Kathleen from You've Got Mail because the concept of that entire movie is psychotic. Joe is a sociopath.

Like, ma'am, he ran you out of business, continued your online relationship while he knew you were the one he was talking to while you didn't know he was who you were talking to, and then he befriended you irl and tried to get you to hate his online persona so you could like him for him, like WHAT?

I want to like Loustat more than I actually do because, like, there are some great things that happen? Like Lestat sending Louis a record with his lover singing on it as an apology that then riles Louis up so much that he swims across the river, kicks down Antoinette's door, demands she get out of her own apartment so he can have hate sex with Lestat while she listens on the balcony crying? I was like THIS is the type of shit I want from IWTV but it still all somehow very perfunctory like a lot of the show because the emphasis is on the voiceover and dialogue so there are aspects of Loustat where I'm like I want to live in this moment, I don't want to hear about it, I want to see it, which is also why I make vids of them because it's basically taking those moments out and emphasizing them more.

[unbridgeabledistances]

prompt: domestic gallavich/being intimate in a nonsexualway bc there’s like 3 weeks til the next episode 😐

your wish is my command, anon!<3 i decided to tie this into next ep bc i simply cannot HANDLE mickey’s outfit/big gay metamorphosis & i needed to create the scene that inspired it so i wrote this

a one-shot bridging 11x06 and 11x07 in which ian and mickey talk about “gay friends,” ripped jeans, and do a bit of processing along the way

tw for brief mention of homophobia/abuse (bc terry lol)

--

“How come we don’t have any, like, gay friends?”

Ian looked up from where he was laying on the ground, breathing heavily after a series of push-ups, a nightly routine that he was trying to keep intact even though he and Mickey were practically driving the entire circumference of Chicago every day to make weed deliveries from dawn til dusk, leaving them both exhausted. It had been a week since all the shit with Terry, and a month or so since he and Mickey had started the security gig; while months ago their evenings would be spent sitting side by side on the bed in a brittle silence while Ian read or scratched in his notebook and Mickey played games on his phone blasting at full volume in the pajamas he’d been wearing all day, these days the evenings in their bedroom were softer and warmer— like they were settling into the space together, like they were both on the same team instead of constantly clashing and butting heads while trapped in a too-small space. These days, after having dinner in the clamor of the crowded kitchen, he and Mickey would head upstairs and change out of their uniforms, and Ian would work out while Mickey mostly just lounged on the bed, sometimes making commentary and watching him bob up and down with a pensive smirk or scrolling through his phone.

But tonight, Mickey was quiet— his eyes flickered to the curves and edges of Ian’s torso every now and then as Ian broke a sweat, but otherwise he wasn’t playfully poking and prodding like usual.

Mickey had been a lot quieter in general this week, after all the stuff with Terry— Ian knew seeing the source of all of Mickey’s trauma in a wheelchair immobile from the neck down, the most vulnerable Terry could have been, felt worse than someone repeatedly twisting a knife in Mickey’s abdomen. But beyond the initial shock and the almost-murder and lugging him up the stairs, having Terry in a wheelchair twenty feet away did something deeper to Mickey. This whole situation shifted something solid that had been lodged in the pit of Mickey’s stomach for years— Ian could see it, and he fucking hated it. He hated Mickey’s glassy contemplative eyes as he looked out the car window while they drove to a new dropoff location, lost in his head when he thought Ian wasn’t looking. He hated the tightly wound tension between Mickey’s shoulder blades as he slept, curled into himself and twisted in the comforter, facing away from Ian on the other side of the bed. He hated the tight smiles Mickey gave him as he made some offhand joke about Terry when they could hear him cursing and shrieking through the open front windows, smiles that were trying to prove something outwardly but showed the barbed pain stinging at Mickey’s insides. Ian poured out what he could in soft touches, in skims of fingertips at the breakfast table and in an arm over Mickey’s waist while they slept; but he could only give as much as Mickey would take, and for most of the week Mickey had shut everyone out with iron walls.

Ian couldn’t imagine what was stirring in Mickey’s mind; he’d seen some of Mickey’s trauma firsthand, sure, and some of the stories about Terry came slipping through the cracks when Mickey’s guard was down— mostly on those late nights when they both couldn’t sleep and Mickey whispered into the crook of Ian’s neck as they were curled into each other, cradled in the dark silence of their bedroom. But Ian knew there was deeper shit that he hadn’t heard about, and he could see the constant fear of Mickey’s adolescence hanging heavy around his neck all these years later. But Mickey didn’t need anyone to push his walls down— Ian knew he’d open up when he was ready.

Which is why this random question, the most direct statement Mickey had really made to him all week, caught Ian off guard. He sat up, folding his arms over his legs and staring up at where Mickey was slouching on the bed, propped up by a pillow he’d shoved between his back and the wall. “Gay friends?” he asked, more than a little confused.

Mickey cleared his throat. “Yeah, gay friends, y’know. Like all your youth center queers that came to the wedding or whatever.” He suddenly looked down and picked at a fraying thread on his shirt sleeve, not meeting Ian’s eyes.

Ian raised an eyebrow in curiosity. This was random, sure, but Mickey wouldn’t have brought it up if something wasn’t weighing on him, bubbling up after all the events of this week.

“I don’t know— I guess since the pandemic and stuff, I haven’t really kept in touch with Geneva or any of those guys who came to our wedding. We only really talked after I got out of prison because of all the Gay Jesus publicity bullshit, but after you got out I wasn’t really thinking about that as much.”

Mickey blew out a breath, so quietly Ian barely noticed it. Ian stood, wiping his sweaty forehead and plopping down on the bed next to Mickey, folding his legs so their knees were almost touching— but still giving him space, still letting him breathe.

“Why’re you asking?”

“Don’t know, really. Just thinkin’.” Mickey picked at his shirt sleeve again, then flickered his gaze up to meet Ian’s eyes, two clear pools of glassy blue. “Thinkin’ about what life could’ve been like. If I wasn’t scared shitless of who I was for so long.”

Ian felt something twist in his gut, the same queasy pang of pain that always resurfaced whenever he saw Mickey like this, whenever he was reminded of all the unspeakable agony that Terry had put him through.

“It’s fucked up that you didn’t get to be who you were for so long, Mick,” he breathed, knowing that statement didn’t cover the amount of things that were fucked up about this situation.

Mickey ran his teeth over his bottom lip, like he was concentrating. “Yeah.”

Ian let them sit there for a second. It seemed like Mickey wanted to say more, but something in him was frozen solid. After a moment, Ian tried to break the tension.

“Hey, for the record, I’ve had lots of gay friends and you aren’t missing much. There’s lots of PC bullshit that’s important but took me fucking forever to learn— and even then, I never really felt like I totally belonged.” He gently nudged Mickey’s ribcage. “I guess that’s why I forgot about everyone, between work and getting to be with you all the time— I’d rather eat pizza in the mall food court with you than go to some boujee fucking café with the youth center people any day.”

The corner of Mickey’s mouth ticked upwards slightly. “Yeah. Guess you’re right.” His fingers went slack around the threads on his shirtsleeve he’d been picking at. “You don’t… miss it though? Bein’ around people who’re like us?”

Ian paused for a moment, imagining the youth center crew in the same room as Mickey— it would be fucking comical, like people speaking two different languages, like astronauts trying to communicate with aliens on Mars through gestures and confused looks. But that was just because Mickey didn’t know how to speak that language— he’d been kept shrouded in an abusive household with daily death threats for years, and then stowed away in prison where he didn’t have the chance to go to fucking brunches and clubs and education events like Ian could. Ian got the chance to learn all that shit— it wasn’t Mickey’s fault that he never did, and if it was anyone’s, it was all Terry’s.

Ian’s eyes flickered to Mickey’s face— he looked vulnerable and split open, like he was drifting away in all the possibilities of what could have been. When he answered, Ian spoke softly, carefully.

“I mean… I guess I do. There were nice parts of going out with people, or even those after-parties back when I used to work at the club. There’s something nice about being with your people, where you can make jokes about stuff or talk about deep shit and everyone’s on the same page. It’s hard to find that around here.” Ian tentatively crawled his hand over the blanket, letting it rest on Mickey’s knee. “S’there anything else going on?”

Mickey raised his thumb to his mouth, biting at a hangnail contemplatively. “Dunno, man. Just thinking. How it might be nice, to have friends like us. I used to be scared of hangin’ with other queers, but I think that was just some deep bullshit with Terry.” He looked up to meet Ian’s eyes. “It’d be nice to stop… hating that part of myself, or whatever.”

Ian smiled, reaching to intertwine his fingers with Mickey’s and tracing a pattern with the thumb that was free from their grasp on Mickey’s inner thigh, a soft touch of validation that Ian hoped would soak into Mickey’s skin.

“I think so too.” Ian watched the corner of Mickey’s mouth curve upwards. “I can definitely hit up some of the people I used to hang with, and see if they wanna get coffee or something? With the two of us? Only if you want.”

Mickey nodded— then chuckled a breathy laugh, like he was relieved. “Fuck it. Yeah.”

Ian couldn’t help it; Mickey looked so fucking sweet and so relieved that he had to press a kiss to the top of his head. Mickey squirmed underneath him, bristling like a cat that didn’t want to be pet like he did with most of Ian’s soft touches— but Ian just grinned and doubled down, pressing another slower peck onto Mickey’s temple. Mickey blew out a slow breath.

“Don’t know what I’d fuckin’ wear to a brunch with a bunch of Northside do-gooder gays,” he said after a moment, his voice wavering so slightly that no one except Ian would have noticed.

Ian rolled his eyes fondly, giving Mickey’s hand a quick pulse of a squeeze. “Mickey, are you kidding? Wear whatever the fuck you want. You don’t need to change yourself, that’s kind of the whole point.”

“Yeah. Fuck. Guess it is.” Mickey was quiet for a moment, but still chewing on his bottom lip, like he was building the courage to say something more. Ian could tell— he let the comfortable silence hang between them, knowing that Mickey would break it when he was ready.

“D’you think it’d be stupid if I, like, tried to… jazz up my look a bit?” He darted his eyes nervously to Ian’s face, down to their clasped hands, and then back to the covers again. “Like, uh— I don’t know. Maybe wore some shit that didn’t have holes in it. With patterns, or whatever.”

Ian felt his face split into a grin. Patterns, or whatever— god, he loved his dumbass husband so fucking much. He pressed another kiss to Mickey’s cheek— this time Mickey didn’t flinch away, his only resistance a forced roll of his eyes.

“Mick, I don’t think that’s stupid at all. I think you should dress however makes you feel good.”

“’Kay.” Mickey pursed his lips, like he was still hesitant. Ian rubbed his thumb over the back of Mickey’s hand, their fingers still clasped and hanging limply in Mickey’s lap. The silence was hanging again, and Ian could still feel the tight waves of anxiety bouncing off of Mickey. He took in a breath.

“I could… help you, y’know. If you wanted to dress a certain way. At the very least I could gas you up and tell you how hot you look.” Ian paused, smirking and running his eyes over Mickey’s torso. “But I could also help you pick shit out, or whatever. We could order some stuff online.”

Mickey looked up at him, his eyes oddly relieved and open in a way they hadn’t been in days. “Yeah?”

Ian softly smiled. “Yeah. Only if you want to. You’re you, and you don’t have to pretend to be anyone else. I love the way you look— hell, it drives me crazy, Mick. But— if you feel like you aren’t dressing the way that makes you feel the best, or like you’re putting on an act for other people and you don’t want to anymore— then we can figure this out.”

This time it was Mickey that initiated affection, lifting their clasped hands and pressing a quick ghost of a kiss to Ian’s wrist. Ian smiled in acknowledgement, then playfully raised his eyebrows. “You wanna look online now? I’m done working out and more than happy to help you gay up your look.”

Mickey unclasped their hands, playfully shoving Ian squarely in the chest. “Fuck you.” Then, in an uncharacteristic move from the way Mickey had been flinching away from his touches all week, Mickey leaned in closer to Ian’s chest, nestling his back on Ian’s sternum and reaching for his phone that was discarded on the blanket beside him. “Alright, hot stuff. Where’re we fucking shopping?”

Ian grinned and snapped the waistband of Mickey’s sweatpants playfully, shuffling underneath him and getting comfortable.

“’Kay, let me think. I used to order a bunch of shirts and stuff from Primark when I was going out with the youth center people. They have good denim, too.”

Mickey’s bottom lip was caught between his teeth again while he listened. He hesitated for a moment, his thumb hovering over the phone’s keyboard— then, in an automatic movement, he quickly shoved his phone into Ian’s hand, cheerfully wriggling back into Ian’s chest. Ian smirked and unlocked the phone, happy to take the reins— online shopping for fashion was clearly lightyears out of Mickey’s comfort zone.

Ian navigated over to the Primark homepage, plastered with torsos of toned models wearing striped button ups and ripped jeans. His thumb pressed down onto the “denim” tab, and he started to slowly scroll through the rows of options, holding the phone so Mickey could see.

“I don’t know what you really want, but they’ve got pretty cheap pants and shit that’re good quality…” Ian let his voice trail off, speaking softly to where Mickey was lying on his chest in a voice that he knew was tickling the shell of Mickey’s ear. Mickey almost seemed… nervous, or at the very least paralyzed by the wealth of options. He raised his thumb to his mouth, anxiously biting the hangnail again.

“I guess those ripped ones don’t look too bad.”

Ian clicked on the picture Mickey was referring to. They were black jeans, a dark wash and skinny cut, with patches ripped on both knees. Ian felt something well in his chest, probably an overreaction to a pair of jeans— but these jeans were perfect for Mickey. They weren’t too much, weren’t overly fashionable, but they still felt more clean-cut than the baggy pants Mickey usually threw on. These jeans were badass, and totally aligned with Mickey’s don’t-fuck-with-me vibe, but they were deliberate. Stylish. Like they were saying here the fuck I am.

“Yeah?” Ian knew Mickey could tell he was smiling from his voice.

Mickey smirked, craning his neck and turning to look up at Ian. “Yeah. Think I can pull ‘em off?”

Ian pressed his lips together. “Fuck yeah. You’re gonna look so good.”

Mickey just gave a satisfied smile, and nestled back against Ian’s chest again. “Let’s get ‘em, then.”

[wehangout]

A getting-to-know-me game! I was tagged by @captainjowl, @gallawitchxx, and @smokey-mickey - thanks, friends!

when did you start watching shameless?

Between S4 and S5, so ... I dunno, 2015/16? Like many, I definitely when and watched all the Ian and Mickey stuff first, haha

how did you start getting involved in the gallavich fandom?

I mean, I was already on tumblr, and at least two of my mutuals switched from SPN blogs to I/M, and I just followed lmao. It was a nice change from such a big, messy fandom where you never felt seen, to something smaller and kinder 💜

favourite shameless character? (other than ian & mickey of course)

Mandy and Iggy. And Sandy. Gallaghers, though, probably Carl.

what plotline from the show irked you the most?

I didn’t watch anything from S6 onwards that didn’t have Mickey in it, so I don’t know that I can answer this fairly, haha.

favourite line from the show?

"Knew you’d come” kills me because of all my own feelings about Mickey’s feelings, but let’s be real ... Ian and Mickey have some epic lines both towards each other and about each other. “Together”. “I like how he smells”. “You don’t wanna hang out with me, that’s fine ...” Oof, that one hits hard for some reason.

fanfic(s) you can’t stop thinking about:

I’m currently obsessed with @hornygaythug. So much fun!

The best concert(s) you’ve been to:

I’ve only been to three, and two of those were Hanson. The other was Korn lmao. All three were amazing in their own right and I can’t choose.

comfort movie franchise:

Back to the Future or The Mighty Ducks

piercings/tattoos?:

Usual ear lobes and a daith, plus 17 tattoos

most rewatched tv show

Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls. Veronica and I aren’t friends anymore, though.

pet peeves

Heaps, but the first one that comes to mind is smoking in public places. You wanna smoke? Fine, I’m not gonna judge that, but don’t do it near my kids, man.

random fact about yourself:

I work at a toy library!

Pretty sure everyone’s done this, but I’ll tag @damiaanos @xgoldendays @buffymilkovich and @hubrisandwax ;)

[gallavichthings]

Gift Requests are in!

Here are the requests received for the Gallavich Gift Giving Game 2020!

For artists and writers: read the requests, choose one, and send me a message!

I’ll be updating this post with the “taken” requests as often as possible. Please note that a request being taken doesn’t prevent anyone from getting it again. Requests aren’t exclusive. I’m just marking the ones already chosen to give those not chosen a better chance of being picked.

Also, you can post at any time, just please @ me and the person who you you’re giving your art to (or just their nickname if you don’t have their @). If you want to post on a different website and just link it here, that’s alright too (and if you don’t have a Tumblr, just submit the link and a description to me)

For people requesting: please don’t be upset if your request isn’t immediately chosen. They’ll stay up for grabs indefinitely. 

Please check all the requests after the Read More:

1.(from @filorux​) I would love to get a fic of my favourite trope: Ian is stuck in an abusive relationship with someone else, but Mickey manages to get Ian to come to his senses, leave the dude and be with him instead. Bonus things I would love to see in it if possible:- Mickey and Ian being childhood friends and have secret crush on each other but never acted upon - either because they were scared its not reciprocated and hence ruin their friendship, or just didn’t realise it was a love more than friendship/family - since they knew each other for so long.- high school setting would be great but doesn’t have to be - Bottom!Ian would make my day !- Mickey Mouse plushy involved, somehow 😂

2. (from Mia) fan art in which Ian worship Mickey’s ass (the artist could use her/his imagination and decide how to do it). I don’t want any of them has beard or feminine clothes and accessories.

3. (from Sunny)  I would love a fic with Ian and Mickey (married). I would love for it to include Mpreg Mickey (if you write that) and Mickey is in labour. He and Ian are having a home birth just before Christmas. If you don’t write mpreg could you please write one about Mickey dealing with his and Ian’s adopted 12 year daughter getting her first period. Nothing is a trigger. 

4. (from Ass Scars) fic prompt: Jealous Ian and possessive sex. No mpreg or bottom Ian.

5. (from @yellowcerulean​)  I would love a fic where Mickey is convinced to go to a raucous Halloween screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show and watches Ian perform the Rocky character. What happens from there can be a surprise but smut, humor, and jealousy all welcome! 

6. (from @zutaralesbian​)  My request for the Gallavich gift giving thing: A fic where Ian is a famous actor and Mickey is his bodyguard or head of security. Bonus points if they're already having a secret friends with benefits arrangement but both secretly want more. Lots of mutual pinning.

7. (from Fallfire)  I’ve seen fan fictions where they had Mickey run into Trevor as the ex-boyfriend, but what I’d like to see is Mickey coming back (not breaking out like canon) while Ian’s still dating Trevor (or around the time Trevor says “I’ve got enough friends...”). One of the things that I have yet to see (maybe I’ve missed them) is something dealing with how manipulative Trevor was and I think that Mickey would’ve seen that. Preferred gallavich ending of course. 

8. (from @silvanshadow​)  Ian and Mickey trying to decide what to buy with the Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift card they received as a wedding present.

9. (from @fandomfix8​) the prompt is: "your body is a symphony" (which is a quote from the song The Calendar). I'm looking for some form of body worship basically. To be clear it is NOT a requirement that it be smutty, it could be an ode to mickey's eyes and i'll be happy. the only big requirement i have is that they be together, if you want to write secondary ships, have them be in the PAST

10. (from @thehonorarybeaumont) Ian and Mickey baking together. Cookies, bread, brownies, special brownies, whatever, I just want them to bake - or attempt to bake - together. It works as a fanart or as a one-shot, I’d love either!

11. (from TimoSLAYY on Twitter)  fanart: I wanna see if somebody can do a NSFW, either cowboy or collapsed, lazy doggy. 

12. (from KretikaPillai on Twitter) fic prompt -  love this song so much and i think it describes their relationship from both perspectives, especially mickey’s post season 5, anything based off this would be amazing. i’d love something that covers the intensity and almost cosmic feel of their relationship so far. the way they’ve grown with their relationship, and how they always come back to each other, the “you’re it for me” undertone that has always existed with them. how they’re able to calm each other down and tell what the other person is feeling. it would be a plus if it had the committed relationship type stuff. general domesticity (sizzlers date???). meta of their characters and the thought process behind their actions and having them talk about their feelings & past would be amazing!! ian & mickey bonding individually and as a couple w the other gallaghers is great too, love family time and the early shameless solidarity that the family had. 

[littlespoonevan]

Obviously you don't have to share if you don't want to but I'd really love to hear your thoughts on the porch scene

ok i’m gonna apologise in advance bc this is absolutely going to morph into my thoughts on their story as a whole in the ep vs just the porch scene. also, while i’m very aware of people’s attempts to rationalise the scene, i just wanna say i’m not trying to disprove anyone’s theories about it or anything. these are just my general feelings/frustrations about the situation.

so expanding on what i said yesterday, like s10, this episode very much felt for me like it existed in a universe where s4+5 don’t exist. what i mean by this is, if all i’d ever watched was s1-3 and i saw gallavich’s conflict in this scene/ep, i’d buy it. mickey doesn’t like emotional conversations and always uses bravado to get through it (the “you don’t fuck angie?” scene comes to mind). likewise ian has always been the one spearheading these conversations and sort of nudging mickey in the direction he wants him to go. but well, the difference is: in s1-3 they’re not “officially in a relationship” and mickey is deeply in the closet and clutching at any excuse to say his feelings aren’t real.

and i’m not gonna get into an argument about whether mickey was ooc or not but i do think this episode and the porch scene/bath scene in particular do a complete disservice to his and their development in s4+5. s4+5 were a massive learning curve for mickey where he learned not only how to openly and vocally want ian but also learned how to be sensitive of ian and his feelings. and i just. Don’t Like how he’s portrayed as being so dismissive of ian’s (very valid) money worries. regardless of how mickey is used to dealing w money or whatever, i don’t see him acting like that when he knows how much ian not only craves but needs stability. 

(btw i’m aware it’s been revealed there was a scene cut between the bath scene and porch scene of mickey trying to get a legit job but that basically proves what i’m trying to say here. he wants to provide that stability for ian.)

now the porch scene specifically. i’ll get onto the monogamy thing more deeply in a sec but it really frustrates me that that’s what the porch scene became instead of some kind of - even temporary - resolution to the money issue. it was the perfect time for them to be like “hey yes we have different ideas of how to deal w money and what our goals are but we do need to figure out how to compromise on this bc yes. bills do exist y’know and we’re trying to stay out of jail.”

and as for the monogamy thing. just. why was this even a conversation????????? i take people’s points that mickey’s afraid to admit what he wants bc of the past. but also. didn’t we cover this last season??????? mickey in 10x03 didn’t shock me when he pulled the whole casual thing when ian brought up a relationship outside/long-distance bc mickey in 10x03 had only had ian back for a matter of months in a confined space where he was the best option. i totally get he’d be afraid of losing ian because the events of s5 and 7 would still be very fresh.

however.

you’re gonna tell me nearly a year later, after lack of communication almost ended their relationship, after six months of marriage, mickey still can’t say “yeah i don’t want you to fuck anyone else”?????????? sounds fake but okay. and this is where i go back to s4+5 because mickey made himself say it all when the stakes were high. he said, “what you and i have makes me free.” he choked out “i love you,” on the phone and then again in 5x12 and said they needed to take care of each other. and ok fine maybe you can say ian rejected him so he’s afraid to say it now but again!!!! lack of communication fucked them up last year!!!! they’re literally married and have been for months!!!!!!!!!!! he knows how to say what he feels when he needs to!!!!!!!!!!

i think all that was honestly needed was maybe one scene at the end of the ep where they’re getting ready for bed or something. and they’re not talking and it’s a bit awkward and mickey just sighs and says, “look, don’t worry about it, alright? we’ll figure out the money stuff.” (or jesus, sticking w the monogamy thing, just a huffy, “i obviously wanna be fucking monogamous with you.”) and then a kiss or a hug or some little soft touch. there didn’t need to be a love declaration or even a proper solution - just an acknowledgement of yeah, this is something we need to work through but we will work through it. y’know?

idk if any of this makes sense. again, it’s not really something i want to debate. these are just my general feelings on the whole thing. hope you enjoyed reading lol <3

[livinginsunnyhell]

Ask game for fanfic writers! ⌨️🖊📓📝

1. What fandoms do you write for?

2. What pairings do you write for?

3. What is your most popular fanfic?

4. Do you write original stories as well?

5. What fanfic of yours should everyone have read?

6. What is a fandom you will never write for?

7. What is a ship you will never write for?

8. Archive of Our Own, FanFiction.net, Wattpad, Tumblr, etc. which platform do you prefer?

9. What are your favorite fanfics?

10. How do you stay motivated to finish what you’ve started?

11. What’s your longest fanfic?

12. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

13. What is your planning process?

14. What have others criticized about your fanfic?

15. OCs or no OCs?

16. Do you use sentence starters, writing prompts and/or fandom headcanons for your fanfics?

17. Do you use/follow advice from writing blogs/posts?

18. What is your favorite writing prompt?

19. Dead or overused tropes?

20. Can we get a list of all of your current available fanfics?

21. What’s your shortest fanfic?

22. Do you listen to music during your writing process? What music do you listen to while you’re writing?

23. Long chapters or short chapters?

24. How many WIPs (work-in-progress) do you’ve got?

25. How many WIPs will you finish?

26. First-person-narrative or third-person-narrative?

27. Do you take requests?

28. I will name you three things (drunk Ian — shared bachelor party — Gallavich): write a paragraph or two!

29. What’s more difficult? Fanfics or original work?

30. What writing software do you use?

31. Do you use beta/sensitivity readers?

32. Past or present tense?

33. Do friends and family know that you write fanfics?

34. How did you find the magical world of fanfics?

35. What is your favorite review?

36. Did you ever delete a work of yours?

37. Did your work ever get plagiarized?

38. Do you partake in any fanfic/writing events? (Big bangs, zines, NaNoWriMo, etc?)

39. Collaborations or working solo?

40. Do you have any rituals before uploading a fic?

41. What is something you don’t like about your writing?

42. Rudest review?

43. Guilty pleasure tropes and scenarios?

44. Does fanart of your fanfic exist?

45. Do fanfics of your fanfic exist?

46. Few long essay reviews or many short reviews?

47. What fanfic of yours is truly underrated?

48. What is your favorite sentence that you’ve used in a fanfic?

49. Where do you draw inspiration from?

50. Can we get a teaser for an upcoming chapter?

(Don't feel obligated to answer. Thought if you're into these kinda things, that'd be a nice ask. ;))

Oh this is so nice!! Thanks for sending this @annansmith

I chose a few of them to do. 

1. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, I’m writing for Shameless (Gallavich) but I’ve written for:

Veronica Mars (LoVe), Veep (Amy/Dan), Arrow (Oliver/Felicity), Once Upon A Time (Hook/Emma), The Old Guard (Joe/Nicky), That 70′s show (Hyde/Jackie), Sons of Anarchy (Tara/Jax), Vampire Diaries (Klaroline), Hart of Dixie (Zoe/Wade), Gilmore Girls (Rory/Jess), X-men (Rogue/Pyro), One Tree Hill (Haley/Nathan), and a few others.

2. What pairings do you write for?

Now I write Gallavich. 

But I’d say my top ones I love writing for now (my fanfiction writing has spanned about 14 years) are Dan/Amy, Veronica/Logan, Klaus/Caroline, Mickey/Ian.

3. What is your most popular fanfic?

My most popular fic on Ao3 is The Course of True Love (Arrow) and on FF Of Bloodshed, Babies, and Epic LoVe (Veronica Mars)

4. Do you write original stories as well?

Yes, I do. I’m working on a book, well, two books. But it’s going very slowly. The first is a memoir of my travels from around the world and the second is a vampire urban fantasy one. We’ll see how it goes, but I’d like to finish them by next year and see if I can get them published, but it’s hard so who knows. 

10. How do you stay motivated to finish what you’ve started?

Well, recently I’ve really been trying to finish everything I write. I have a lot of WIPs from years and years ago and even within the the last year, so this answer is pretty new. Basically, I focus on one fic at a time and write a little every day to stay motivated. Now, I try to update once a week on a certain day. I think comments/reviews and kudos and people being genuinely encouraging helps though. It’s also what’s gotten me considering finishing my older fics.

11. What’s your longest fanfic?

Of Bloodshed, Babies, and Epic Love (over 165k)

13. What is your planning process?

Now, it’s different. I have a doc of ideas and I wait to see which one I can’t seem to shake. Then I plan out each chapter with a few sentences and I have a list of things I want to focus on in the story. Usually, each story now has a kind of theme to it and a main focus. I sometimes will just want to write a certain situation/scene/focus and the story is born from there. But what really helps is writing down chapter 1, 2, etc. and having a sentence or two for what I want to happen. It doesn’t always go according to plan, but I never get writers block or forget what happened in previous chapters now.

16. Do you use sentence starters, writing prompts and/or fandom headcanons for your fanfics?

Probably a mixture of fandom (or my personal) headcanons. I don’t start with prompts unless it’s a challenge or sentence starters. Usually, I have a scene I already want to write in my head and then I sit down and write it.

17. Do you use/follow advice from writing blogs/posts?

Yes, I’ve read several books on writing. My undergrad was creative writing too, so I learned a lot there. I also follow writing instagram accounts which are helpful. I take everything I learn with a grain of salt and I see what is best for me. The best advice I heard recently was short sentences and so now I’m experimenting with that.

20. Can we get a list of all of your current available fanfics?

There’s a lot from many different fandoms. I used to be on FF.net as Psyc0gurl0 and now I’m ProstheticLoVe on a03. I like writing on ao3 better cause it’s easier and I love the tagging process. Plus the gallavich fandom on there is unreal. So to think about going back to ff.net to finish my WIPs seems like such a process now. 

Currently though, I’m writing an Ian’s POV 5 chapter fic called Chocolate. It’s not out yet, but it’ll focus on Ian from 1x06 to 1x09 or so and how his feelings for Mickey change and evolve. It’s the second part to a series called Chocolate and Cigarettes. Mickey’s POV was Cigarettes.

22. Do you listen to music during your writing process? What music do you listen to while you’re writing?

Yes, I listen while writing but I need silence while editing. I have a Love (lol) playlist. It’s basically all the love songs that remind me of couples I ship. So for example, The Acid is in there a lot because their music is great, but also Basic Instinct is so haunting. Overall, I like all music except country, so sometimes I’ll listen to my larger playlists while writing. 

23. Long chapters or short chapters?

So this has changed over the years. Initially, I wrote short chapters, then when I got back into fanfiction while writing klaroline they got a lot longer and now it’s just basically where the chapter has a natural ending. So the chapters are between 4 - 10k words depending. I try to get over 4k though. Right now, once I’m done with my current fic, I really want to write something over 100k.

24. How many WIPs (work-in-progress) do you’ve got?

A lot...none in Shameless though. Well, I guess my current one, but I haven’t posted that yet. I’d say I probs have about 10 WIPs spanning different fandoms. I know. But my goal for 2021 is to pick two and finish them. 

25. How many WIPs will you finish?

Not all of them. Some of them are from years and years ago. But I’d like to finish the ones that I still get reviews on. So there’s a SOAs fic I want to finish cause that fandom is so lovely. I also want to finish a klaroline one cause that was fun to write. And my Amy/Dan ones I’d like to finish. I would like to finish my Veronica Mars ones (I have two) but they need a lot more attention, so when people message me about them I tell them the planned ending.

28. I will name you three things (drunk Ian — shared bachelor party — Gallavich): write a paragraph or two!

“Fuck, Mickey, I probably shouldn’t have had the third Hot Toddy,” Ian grimaced as the world around him spun. 

Mickey laughed at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Ian wanted to think his future husband just wanted to pull him closer, but he had a feeling it was to steady him.

“Probably should’ve cut you off earlier,” Mickey said tugging Ian closer. 

Ian wobbled and plopped down on the back steps of the porch. Mickey followed suit a moment letter and they both looked out toward the backyard where the Gallaghers, Balls, and a few of the Milkovich cousins were alternatively huddling around a fire, drinking, and dancing.

“I blame Lip for making us have this stupid shared bachelor party in the first place,” Ian grumbled.

Mickey kissed him on the forehead as Ian lay his head on his shoulder. “It’s Sandy’s fault too.”

Ian hmmed in response and Mickey knew he was going to fall asleep any moment. He ran his hand up and down Ian’s arm and watched as Debbie bounced over to them.

“Jesus, you aren’t even married yet and you two are like an old married couple. Are you going to come dance or what?” she whined.

Mickey looked down at Ian, whose eyes were already closed, and then back up to Debbie. She was watching them with knowing eyes.

“We’ll dance at the wedding. Go grab Lip, I need his help to get Sleeping Beauty upstairs.”

Debbie turned to go get her eldest brother and Mickey looked back down at Ian. In his sleep, he nuzzled Mickey’s shoulder, breathed deeply, and a gentle smile appeared there. 

3 more days and they’d officially be husbands. 

34. How did you find the magical world of fanfics?

I was about 10 and my cousin used to write a buffy the vampire slayer zine. There was a link to a site called buffyworld.com or something like that. And I found fanfic that way. There was a link on the site to ff.net and that’s how I stumbled across that. I stayed there for many many years until my second time in the veronica mars fandom around 2014 when I was lead to a03 and then I’ve been there ever since. On and off, my writing has fluctuated through the years based on my personal life.

49. Where do you draw inspiration from?

Everywhere! omg. It’s insane. Gallavich I love writing for. There’s so many different facets to them, but truly everywhere I find inspiration. I have a whole doc of gallavich ideas that have stemmed from other fanfics, headcanons from me and other people, rewatching episodes, what’s going to happen in s11, cute moments i’d like to see happen, holidays, and just general life. I saw a pic of WW2 vets who were in a long term relationship and i was like mickey and ian! another idea is born.  

[zutaralesbian]

Prompt meme: gallavich and 15

15. “Aren’t you tired of this?”

Takes place sometime after 10x10. The conversation that I wanted Ian and Mickey to have in canon smh

“So....what made you change your mind?”

“Hmmm?” Ian looked over towards where Mickey was lying naked next to him on the bed. 

The news of Lip moving with Tami and Freddie all the way out to Milwaukee had shaken him. And it was still something that Ian was trying to fully come to terms with. But...having recently just gotten back together and engaged, he and Mickey already had plans before Lip dropped his news. So the two of them had retreated to their room and spent the rest of the evening in bed, making up for lost time. 

He wasn’t entirely sure how to answer Mickey’s question. How to explain that something inside of him had just...snapped when he heard Byron talking all of that shit. How he had realized that even if he didn’t believe himself to be good for Mickey, that he could at least try to be good for him and love him the way he deserves. Which would be miles better than risking the chance of Mickey somehow ending up with someone that didn’t love or understand him at all. 

“I heard Byron saying bad shit about you,” he eventually said. “I guess it just made me realize that you deserve better.” Ian wasn’t sure if better was really him. But he could at least try. It was the least that Mickey deserved. 

Mickey didn’t say anything at first. And for once, Ian couldn’t quite read his expression. 

“I hope you know that it was never you Mick,” Ian quickly added, suddenly scared that Mickey’s silence meant that his explanation wasn’t enough. “It really wasn’t. It was me. I have all this stuff in my head and...I guess I just couldn’t understand why you would want to tie yourself to me like that. Still don’t, really. Sometimes all I can think of asking you is ‘aren’t you tired of this?”

When Mickey continued to be silent, Ian really began to worry. But just when he was about to say something more, Mickey finally spoke, his voice soft. “I know that Ian. But that doesn’t really solve anything does it? You still feel that way.”

Now he understood Mickey’s reaction. He smiled sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“No. Don’t apologize. I just....fuck. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”

Ian didn’t know what he could say in response to that. He wished that too. He didn’t know how exactly Mickey saw him. But it had to be miles better than the image that was constantly in Ian’s head. “It’s fine.”

Mickey reached over, trailing his fingers lightly over Ian’s arm absentmindedly. “That night you came over to Byron’s....you asked me how I know I love you.”

Ian flushed, for some reason feeling embarrassed. “Mickey it’s okay. You don’t have...”

“No, I want to.” Mickey paused briefly, closing his eyes for a few moments before re-opening them, his blue eyes blazed with determination. “Ian, you cared about me from the beginning. Even when I was a shithead that was an asshole to you. Somehow, you saw something in me that was worth giving your time to.”

“You weren’t...” Ian began but Mickey raised a hand and cut him off. “I was a hard person to like. Everyone back then would have agreed except for you. I still am. But you didn’t give up on me. No matter how much shit I threw at you.” Mickey smiled faintly. “And that’s why I love you. Because you’re the most stubborn motherfucker i’ve ever known. And the strongest. And despite all the shit that went down, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Mick...” Ian’s throat clogged up with unexpected emotion. He wanted to say so much back. That Mickey was the best thing that had ever happened to him too. How grateful he was that Mickey always came back to him. That Mickey made his life better. But for some reason, all he could manage at the moment were two single words. “Thank you.”

“Don’t have to thank me, man. It’s just true.”

They moved back towards each other until they were in each other’s arms again, Ian planting a kiss on Mickey’s forehead. “I love you too you know,” he said softly. “Sorry if I ever made you doubt that.”

“I wouldn’t have come back if I did.” Mickey grabbed Ian’s hand, playing with the ring that sat on his finger. “But no more running. For either of us, alright?”

“No Mick. No more running. I promise.”

Ian knew that things likely wouldn’t be perfect. That there would still be days where he had a hard time liking himself. But Mickey’s love for him would always be consistent. He had proven that. And Ian would work every day to give Mickey the love he deserves in return. 

It was more than enough. 

[deanie1987]

My thoughts on 10x8 (LONG and SPOILERY)

Hey how about that episode huh? I have a lot of thoughts about it so this may be...uh pretty long. First off, I really liked the episode (at least the Gallavich parts that’s all I’ve seen so far. I am SO happy that I understand where they both are coming from and I don’t have to head canon anything. That in itself makes this episode much better than I thought it would be. Also, I have been vomiting my opinions all over The Internet so I apologize if I’m repeating myself.

First the good stuff: OPEN AFFECTION AND LOVE AND SMILES! The warmth that their happiness gives me could heat my entire house for a year. It is such a wonderful thing to see. From them arm in arm to holding hands in the diner to that incredible kiss at the courthouse (which has now jumped into my top 3 kisses) it truly is making the season for me. I miss the sex scenes and they don’t get enough screentime, but they feel like lovers to me, not roomates or pals. Finally. I also love that it seems like Mickey is 99% comfortable with it, but there is still that 1% of holding back.

IAN. Oh my god Ian!! *Fiona voice* He is trying so hard. He is doing his best to really communicate with Mickey and maintain a healthy relationship. But it’s hard for him and he’s not good at it and he gets really jumbled and nervous when he’s trying to get his thoughts out (god I relate to Ian so hard sadly.) He is initiating so much of the affection and the declarations and wanting Mickey to know that he loves him. We have been waiting for so long to see it and I’m so thankful.

The acting - Noel and Cam are a gift and they give this mediocre material such depth and emotion. No matter how ridiculous the plot, they know their characters and they take them seriously. I can’t imagine caring about this couple even a fraction as much if they weren’t played by them.

The character consistency (which is an extension of the acting) - Puppy Ian has made a triumphant return but that is tempered by his life experiences. He isn’t naive and idealistic anymore. His confidence and self-worth have taken huge blows over the years and it shows in how he approaches the proposal and then of course in his cold feet (and how desperate he is for advice now as compared to before his diagnosis). It seems perfectly in character for Ian to grab onto an impulsive notion with the best of intentions and then second guess himself and fuck it up the second it really matters. I think he is trying to control his impulses and I DO think that he had the best of intentions with the proposal and the marriage idea, but the self doubt crept in at the last moment like it always does. Having said that, they were fighting and rushed and I don’t blame him for wanting to take a step back to figure things out once circumstances changed. Unfortunately, his impulses once again ended up breaking Mickey’s heart and I appreciate just how good Noel is. The script never once referenced anything other than their current situation, but you could read on his face the toll of years of disappointment and humiliation and anger. My god.

Which leads me to the bad:

The last scene - I know that a lot of people hate the punch and think its out of character for Mickey, but I just don’t. Violence isn’t a first resort for either of them anymore, but it is definitely still in their arsenal. They threw punches in season 5 (Ian being the initiator), Mickey drugged Sammi in order to torture her, they shoved and pushed each other in season 7, Mickey tried to start a fight with one of the cartel guys then as well, he stabbed people in prison for pay, he and Ian both stabbed Chester with no qualms and Ian was prepared to do it again, he and Ian physically fought in 10x3 (they each shoved each other pretty hard), Ian threw punches in season 6 and physically threatened a lot of people as Gay Jesus.  They grew up around casual violence. In the first few seasons they both sported cuts and black eyes all the time. They got hit by their parents, by their siblings, by strangers and by each other. It might not be as frequent as it was when they were young, but it is still a form of communication for them both, for better or for worse. Beyond that, Mickey is an abuse survivor who spent the last few years either in jail, on the run or in a Mexican drug cartel. To act as though violence isn’t part of his life anymore just makes no sense to me. He has grown tremendously and I do think that violence against Ian is something that probably horrifies him, but that punch was YEARS in the making. He tried to remove himself from Ian and the situation but when Ian asked him to communicate how he felt about things, you could just see in his face the disbelief and incredulity that after all his words and his grand gestures, that Ian would STILL somehow not know how he felt. So he walked back up the steps, maybe hoping that he could come up with words that would adequately convey the heartbreak, anger, betrayal, loneliness, humiliation and disappointment that he has felt for years where Ian was concerned. But instead he punched him. I don’t like it but I get it. And Ian seemed more annoyed than scared or genuinely angry, and I will be shocked if a big deal is made of it by anyone in the next episode. The falling down the stairs and leg breaking was an accident obviously and necessitated by Cam’s leg, but it wouldn’t shock me if the writers had something like that in the script beforehand. These are damaged guys who grew up and still live in shitty environment full of poverty, ignorance, crime and casual violence. The Gallaghers may be on the edge of upward mobility but they aren’t all there yet and that probably goes double for Mickey. 

All things Terry and the Milkoviches - I appreciate that Mickey is no longer afraid of his father, but that whole scene sat terribly with me. This is one of the areas where Noel’s 5 year absence from the larger Shameless universe really stands out and it’s clear that trying to pick up where they left off really doesn’t work. The new Milkoviches are bland and dumb as well.

Ian’s jabs - I’m really ready for Ian to knock it off with the digs about Mickey to Lip. I’m glad that Mickey challenged him about murdering people (although again, seriously is really THAT much of a stretch to think that Mickey has been involved in something a little seedier, though you would think that Ian would know by now.) I hope it comes up again and Ian apologizes for thinking that way about him.

Episode as a whole - I didn’t watch the rest of the episode yet (maybe more thoughts on that if anything inspires me) but fast forwarding through the other scenes made the lack of character interaction that much more noticeable. It is ridiculous that Ian has had more scenes with Tami than with Carl. I hate it.

One last negative I guess. Every scene that we have gotten with Mickey and Ian together have been nearly perfect, but it isn’t enough and I really wish that they had started this storyline at the very beginning of the season and not rushed so much of it. I still kind of want a season 11 with them in it, because there is so much stuff that we don’t know. For example, I find it really interesting that in some ways, Mickey and Ian are somewhat back to their earlier selves. In season 4 and 5, Ian sort of devolved into drugs, prostitution and various scams (mostly due to his illness of course) while Mickey tried to be at least a little bit more on the up and up. They sort of met in the middle of the criminality spectrum. But now they seem to be more closely aligned with their seasons 1-3 situations. Obviously, Mickey is out and Ian has been diagnosed with bipolar, so their personalities have definitely changed since that time. But in the years that they were separated, Ian sort of pulled himself back into “normal” society for awhile with a legit job and vaguely middle class aspirations (at least until he went off the deep end and stopped taking his meds). In the meantime, Mickey was sent away to a real prison and worked for a Mexican drug cartel. No middle class aspirations there. For as much as they are in love and as much as I believe that they know each other better than anyone else, they have changed a LOT and experienced things apart that are hugely impactful to their development as adults. They are coming together again, but not as the teenage boys that they once were, but the products of their experiences mostly while they were apart and I really wish that that would be explored more. I know that fanfic can fill a lot of holes, but I have been so impressed with the way that Noel and Cam have played everything so far that I want to see them on my screen as these characters for as long as I can.Finally, next week looks interesting. I think that the majority will be played for laughs but judging from the stills, the emotion is going to knock us on our asses. I can’t wait. 

[koganphrancis]

Ernie & Bert Are Planning A Wedding

OR: My thoughts on Episode 11

Everything just hurts.  Let me start with the “previously on” segment.  Yeah, we finally get an Ian/Mickey intro, but it’s just like so many of the other intros-random characters outside yelling at viewers.  Since there’s been little to none intimacy for this couple this season we couldn’t have caught them in bed?  Or in mid-kiss?  Nope.  Ian can be drinking yet another beer tho.  Pretty sure those meds we saw when Sandy grabbed Mickey’s dick all those episodes ago now was Mickey’s gerd medication.  Ian’s clearly not being written as taking medication at all (yet again).  

But as usual, I digress.  The show starts with a somewhat cute reminder of how the Gallavich house is within running distance of the (now torn down in real life, RIP) Milkovich house.  Unfortunately it’s Terry who reminds us.  Ian’s watching Terry screaming up at the house while Mickey’s...off doing something without Ian.  Seriously, whatever the opposite of “joined at the hip” is, that’s what these epic soulmates are this season :( 

Anyway, Mickey walks downstairs and Ian unhelpfully informs him, “Your dad’s here.”  Mickey says yeah and goes out to see Terry.  Ian gives one more peek thru the curtain but must decide that Mickey’s in no danger, since next we see him, Ian’s sitting in the kitchen casually chatting with Lip about something that’ll never happen (Lip moving to Wisconsin).

Outside, Mickey and Terry draw guns on each other while Terry’s just now (?) trying to figure out where Mickey went “wrong” and turned out gay.  Um, I know Terry’s been busy with prison and running his illegal enterprises (whatever they might be), but he’s just now trying to catch up on what he learned literally years ago when he walked in on Ian and Mickey having sex?  

(Gif credit: jackorowan)

The scene at least gives us an iconic Mickey line, “I definitely love one,” but is it too little too late?  It’s enough to send Terry on his way for now, after one last threat.  Mickey calmly goes back inside, says “mornin’” to Ian and Lip, and starts to make himself a bowl of cereal.  I list all that out to stress how non-stressed he seems.  Ian says, “So, how’s your dad?”, and just like the, “Hi, Mr. Milkovich” and “Was Mickey adopted?” conversation Ian had with Terry in S9, so far everything is being written to show how this is just normal family life when it comes to Terry.  But by the next scene the show will want us to buy that something entirely different is going on and I just don’t understand why they can’t find a narrative and stick to it.  In the days since the episode aired, I’ve read so many head canon posts about how understandable it was for Mickey to flip out after seeing Terry, and how that brought all Mickey’s past trauma to the surface and of course it turned him into a groomzilla, but I just can’t agree that that’s what the show either set out to do or accomplished.  Mickey’s been working for Terry, he’s been around him-it’s one of the few things about Mickey’s life the show has shown us since he’s been out of prison.  Everyone in Terry’s world that they’ve shown is perfectly comfortable talking about the fact that yes, some people are in fact gay.  Terry’s peers in prison, Terry’s own relatives-why suddenly in Episode 11 is this “a thing”?  

Anyway, the scene continues after Mickey quips that he doesn’t think Terry will be his best man.  Liam joins the scene and there’s very cute, well executed banter where Ian, Lip, and Mickey tell him they can each forge Frank’s signature.  It’s a tantalizing glimpse of what the season could’ve been if these guys were allowed to all be in scenes together.  

Mainly thanks to Myles’ AV Club review, I know that for whatever reason, the show decided to do a one month time jump between the engagement episode and this one.  WTF?  It doesn’t even make sense-it means somewhere that woman holding Frank captive was feeding him and clothing and bathing him?  That Liam hasn’t been to school in a month because Frank hasn’t been around to sign him in?  As if that wouldn’t have had CPS showing up at the Gallagher house (that has to be red flagged in the system by now)?  Debbie being toyed with by that mother and daughter has been going on for weeks at this point?  The only thing the time jump did that I care about was rob us of seeing Mickey and Ian telling people they were engaged.  We deserved a little scene of Ian and Lip talking about it at least-give Lip the opportunity to ask Ian what changed his mind about marriage and give the audience the opportunity to hear some sort of explanation.  “I heard some guy I know Mickey didn’t care about putting him down and I just knew then and there I had to marry him,” doesn’t quite cut it.  

But so much for what should have been.  In the next scene, Mickey slaps down a pile of wedding magazines and drops the news on Ian (as he hands him a beer) that they’re going to have a “wedding wedding”.  Mickey needs a headcount for the reception venue-clearly money is no problem, so working for Terry all those intervening weeks must’ve been lucrative.  

In a rare instance of the show actually cluing us in on someone’s thought process, Mickey says flat out that he now wants a “real” wedding because his fuckhead dad threatened to murder him-again-cuz he’s gay.  So, see?  AGAIN.  What’s different this time?  It’s like the show NEEDS there to be a reason, a mitigating circumstance, for two men to want to get married.  They can’t just let Mickey and Ian have the natural progression of their relationship leading to a lifetime together.  It’s so offensive.  And again, for viewers that have been invested in this relationship for so long, it just hurts.  Mickey’s doing this as a big FU to his father rather than as a big ILY to Ian.  That’s OOC for sure-Mickey’s always put loving Ian first in his life.  

In planning the wedding, Noel does get some great moments.  Talking about the “little shits that light the candles”, and his choice of wedding song, and confronting the homophobic old bitch at the florist.  And the literal scenery chewing he does at the wedding chairs rental place was, I’m sure, quite fun for Noel as an actor.  BUT-the only moment we get where Ian seems on board/with Mickey in any of it is at the florist before the bitch sets Mickey off.  Otherwise Ian’s like a casual bystander in all this-and that’s just not in character either.  Why can’t they both be into making these decisions?  Why, even if Ian truly couldn’t give a shit about seeing Mickey happy about these little details-why can’t they at least be affectionate with each other?  I don’t expect Schitt’s Creek level adoring looks, but I do expect Gallavich level.  Ian used to look at Mickey with awe even when Mickey was being his Mickey-est.  Why aren’t they allowed to show that anymore?  

I will say, I did love the stargazer lily thing-altho it’s all the more frustrating to realize this week’s writer must’ve watched at least the fan compilation video of Gallavich to know that detail was a very sweet throw back-why couldn’t they also write some kisses and hand holding in too?  But anyway, “Beyond Blue” and Mickey looking touched when Ian said he liked the blue ones-we needed a lot more moments like that this season.  Why everything’s getting crammed into these final, rushed episodes is beyond me.  

Now I have to bitch again about what was wrong with the florist scene.  Yes, I’m sure there are plenty of people like that woman in the world.  But there are also plenty who don’t oppose same sex marriage.  Why is it always such a big deal on Shameless?  Either everything’s gay or nothing is.  They’ve given us an entire squad of fire fighters who are gay.  Debbie clearly can’t walk five feet in any direction since the show decided she was gay without her finding a woman DTF her.  Ian had-what was the ridiculous number?-7 million Instagram followers when he was Gay Jesus.  So ONE homophobic old lady in a flower shop means disaster?  Ian knows how to look shit up on his phone, he proved that looking for wedding statistics.  You mean to tell me he doesn’t know how to check Yelp reviews to somehow find a gay-friendly florist in a city the size of Chicago?  

Mickey did get a couple of funny lines in that scene (killed me when he called her Grandma), but, again the show is throwing too much in the blender.  Is the scene supposed to be that funny?  If Mickey is dealing with past trauma, this is just adding to it.  And Ian, who is supposed to know Mickey better than anyone (including the viewer) isn’t acting worried about him, he’s acting like he’s being dragged all these places against his will.  So where’s the comedy in that?

Next there’s a scene of Mickey walking down the sidewalk and glorious natural light, looking like he’s glowing.  It immediately gets ruined by Ian stopping in front of a store window full of bride mannequins and looking at them and then after Mickey, with the visual implication strongly suggesting that Mickey’s the “woman” in their relationship which is so outdated in 2020 that the show and the network should have to pay a fine.  

Then we get the chairs meltdown, which gives us the truest line, “Why does everything always have to SUCK?”  You’re singing our song, Mickey.  Then the show proves that point for the millionth time by having Mickey call the chairs guy the R word-twice. 

In the next scene, Mickey’s called in the always reliable important character of Mand..um, Sandy because Ian’s of no use to him.  WTF?  Mickey is still talking up grandiose wedding plans and Ian’s still trying to figure it all out.  He tries to ask, “This is still about Terry, right?  You don’t give a shit about weddings...” Mickey interrupts him to ask where his ring is.  Ian has to stop and think and realizes he must’ve left it on the sink.  He runs off before Mickey can tear him a new one.  Mickey throws his pen down and says to Sandy, “I can’t even.”  Sandy replies, “I can see why you called,” but on Twitter fans have pointed out her lips appear to be saying, “Is he even into this at all?”  WHICH IS ANOTHER THING.  After all Ian’s marriage issues, why is Mickey bulldozing ahead and not noticing what Ian seems to be feeling AT ALL.  (Which appears to be that he’s once again regretting this whole marriage thing.)  Why does the show make the two of them so blind to each other’s feelings now?  WHY?  Now that Lip’s living in the RV, do they even share a room anymore?  They act like they never, ever talk now.  There is such a disconnect hanging over the short time they are shown together in every episode.  Not to mention they’ve been desexualized to the point of being a couple of Ken dolls.  John Wells must be so thrilled he doesn’t have to sit thru dailies of them physically touching anymore.  I’m willing to believe he hired someone to Jeff Giloolly Cam’s leg so he could have Mickey and Ian get engaged and married without any love scenes at this point.

In the last scene, Ian and Mickey are at The Alibi and Ian’s (having a beer) making one last attempt to simplify the wedding.  After another “it depends who’s the bride and who’s the groom” eye-rolling moment, Ian asks, “Can’t we just be Ian and Mickey?”  I guess not, when it comes to this show.  In the past Ian would’ve loved Mickey’s tension away for him-letting Mickey find his release in multiple orgasms, not in wedding planning.  Now all he can do is hire some guy with a guitar to show up at the bar and sing Mickey’s wedding song-and “sing” is a very generous term here.  Props to the show for not having an amazing singer just show up out of the blue, but, for the love of my bleeding ears, couldn’t they have found less of a screecher?  

Mickey is, at first, freaked out by this guitar playing weirdo coming near his booth, but when he recognizes the song he asks, “How the fuck did you know that?”  The guitarist replies, “Little bird told me” indicating Ian, and then unfortunately goes back to the song and soon finds himself way out of his range.  Mickey gives Ian a soft look, Ian gives Mickey one of the smiles he only ever has for Mickey, and Silver Tree becomes JW’s favorite director ever by not even letting us see them holding each other’s hands-that’s below the camera line.  For all we can prove, maybe Ian and Mickey were just reaching for the salt shaker at the same time.  Personally, I would’ve ended the episode with Ian and Mickey metaphorically and literally getting on the same page-they go back to the house, their double bed is covered in Mickey’s wedding magazines and color swatches and seating charts and whatever other wedding prep detritus.  Ian, seeing it all laid out like that says softly, “Are you really doing all this for Terry?” and Mickey says, “Course not, it’s all for us.  We deserve it.”  Then they flop down on the bed together and get to kissing, right on top of it all.  

But no, can’t have them intimate or even on the same side of a booth.  So, you’d think that happy-ish ending we did get means Mickey’s out of his Terry-induced panic, but scenes and stills for the season finale will disabuse you of that hope.  

My final thought is: I’m wondering how much, if any, of these wedding details we’ll see.  The show is too cheap now to spend money on a church wedding with those gorgeous stargazer lilies and the little shits that light the candles.  Plus why would you have Living On A Prayer sung again when you used it in this episode?  Will one of them-or both of them-walk down an aisle?  They’ve already got their rings and have been wearing them-I don’t see them wearing multiple rings each.  If the show had any guts at all, it’d have them exchange cock rings at the ceremony ;P  Will we even get to see the wedding part or will they go straight to some sort of brawl/reception?  And, sadly, I’ve felt from the first time I saw pictures of them driving off in the Mercedes that we’re not going to see them get to consummate the marriage.  I hope I’m wrong about all of it, but I won’t be surprised to be let down utterly-either by what they don’t or what they do show :(  See ya on the other side!

[its-a-queer-thing]

In Case You Missed It Pt 7-2x02

When Ian goes to pick Mickey up from juvie, notice Mickey’s eyes don’t stray from Ian basically from the time he notices him.

Of course, he has to play it cool so he can’t show that he’s happy Ian’s there because Mandy still doesn’t know Mickey is gay, but let’s consider something: Maybe, despite all of the effort Ian has put into their arrangement and how hard Ian has clearly been pining after Mickey, *maybe* Mickey is surprised that Ian is there to pick him up. Maybe he really didn’t realize how dedicated this little goof was to him and is genuinely confused as to why his fuck-buddy is there.

 Ian has a backup story (however bad it is) to excuse his desire to see Mickey as soon as possible. Of course, it’s completely silly and Mickey doesn’t buy it for a second.

Allow me a moment to point out a teeny detail regarding Mickey’s attitude towards women. He easily could have accepted Ian’s piss poor excuse, but Mickey will not allow his sister’s capability of defending herself to be insulted. He knows full damn well that young woman can kick major ass and as sweet as it is that Ian risked their secret going to see him, Mickey will not allow this piss poor excuse to belittle Mandy’s ability to defend herself because she is fully capable and she’s a Milkovich.

Now of course we need to talk about Mickey’s slight immaturity because I’m sure this next part irritated some people. 

Let’s keep in mind however that these are not only siblings, but siblings who are close in age. And a lot of people seem to forget Mickey’s age at this point in the show anyway (maybe because Noel is significantly older? I don’t know...) But I’ll clarify for you. Ian is about a year and a half younger than Mickey and Ian probably just turned 15 when the show started so let’s assume that Mickey is a fresh 17 right now. Even though we seem to hold 17 year olds to a high maturity standard in our fiction, a lot of 17 year olds (in particular boys) in our reality are still SUPER immature! And that’s just how the cookie crumbles. I will also argue that for siblings this close in age it’s super easy to fall into immature behavior (such as titty twisters and juvenile bickering).  I personally find this exchange hilarious though some people may find it odd or inappropriate.

Next comes the most beloved and hilarious example of Mickey’s immaturity, his clear disregard for authority.

 This kid has probably never had to answer to any authority figure in his life other than his father and perhaps his mother before his stint in Juvie. We don't know if the Milkovich children have been in the foster system as it's already been established the Gallaghers have, we don't know if they have had to answer to authority figures such as teachers (for all we know they run rampant in school or just never go and of course Terry wouldn’t care one way or the other), we already know that shop owners are not off limits, we see Mickey effectively dodging law enforcement.... So who really has been in Mickey's life to show him a need for respect of authority figures? 

No one before now that we can see. 

He's now had to answer to authority figures in juvie and he likely learned how to get around authority figures in juvie from Iggy so he probably didn’t learn much while in there unfortunately. Other than that, it seems as though the Milkovich family has a habit of laughing at authority because they believe they can get around whatever trouble they find themselves in, in their struggle to survive. 

Obviously because this is fiction, him flipping off authority figures is only funny because it’s fiction. If this were real life it wouldn't be, but as we connect these two situations (reality and fiction) let’s try to learn something from this: keep in mind that we know a lot more about Mickey than we would any random kid flipping off authority figures. We don't know why a lot of thugs don't have respect for authority figures because there can be numerous reasons that many of us will never understand. It could be that they have never had one, it could be that their authority figures taught them to be disrespectful to others and only respect them, it could be their authority figures didn't enforcing anything or prove that authority figures need to be respected and obeyed, for them we don't know if they have been raised to laugh at authority figures and believe that they are in fact above the law as I suspect Mickey has been. 

So obviously I'm not excusing his disrespect for authority figures or condoning his blatant disrespect for police, but if we look at his background and we understand why he wouldn't have respect for authority figures, I think we can start to get a better picture of why thugs do not respond to law enforcement and do not answer to authority figures the way we in society expect them to.

Then we get a teeny glimpse of more Gallavich development as Ian leads Mickey away from brewing trouble. Notice at first Mickey allows himself to be lead away by Ian, but then remembers himself...

He seems to start accepting the affection before remembering that wall he’s supposed to have up. Remembering that this is not a relationship, it’s a friendship with some fucking involved. We have officially moved past just fucking into friendship territory...

 So now let's move on to the baseball field scene. Here we are really seeing the friendship that Ian and Mickey have, and they have just bounced right back to where they left off, even developing past where they left off really. It’s possible that Ian visited Mickey a couple of times and what would we expect to happen from their actually sitting down and having no other choice BUT to talk to each other? That’s right, when they have no option to take their clothes off and can only talk it stands to reason that they would develop a true friendship. They aren't just fuck buddies anymore... they are actual friends and we didn't really get to see that in the first season. 

But here we see Ian telling Mickey what he's been up to he's taking a lot of classes over the summer and Mickey’s engaging in the conversation, reacting and teasing him and going back and forth with him.

At first glance it may seem as though Mickey is dismissing Ian’s potential for achieving this goal, but here’s what I see. I see Mickey feeling unconcerned by the looming threat of Ian’s goals because Mickey is still in denial that he cares enough about what will happen to Ian some three or four years in the future since Ian is still too young to enlist and Mickey knows it. Because there is still so much time before Ian can enlist and Mickey is a very in the moment kind of guy, he doesn’t even acknowledge his concern for this kid though I’m sure deep down he’s impressed by Ian’s dedication. Of course though as we already mentioned, Mickey has a huge disregard for authority figures so Ian’s aspiring to not only subject himself to a career in which he’s surrounded by authority figures but then to himself become one is likely an irony that is not lost on this little thug. And if there *is* any anxiety that Mickey feels about Ian’s future, of course he’s going to cover it up with a joke because he’s still trying to convince himself that what he feels for Ian is a lot less than what it actually is.

BUT if we are going to talk about Mickey’s apparent disinterest in Ian, we HAVE to pay attention to The Look. Though hopefully this is the point where most Mickey haters even stop arguing that Mickey is disinterested in Ian, I’m going to show this anyway on the slim chance some people missed it.

 Look at him watching every single move Ian makes. Think I’m crazy or that I’m reading too far into it?

There he is still watching him. Laughing with him, drinking him in.

Now here he is trying to act cool and “whatever” about it, but then look at the way he is drinking Ian in...

Look at how they look at each other here... Mickey is trying to act so nonchalant about just wanting to get to the sex, but look at his face! Look at how he is eating Ian up with his eyes and looks genuinely excited to be with him; there is a glitter in his eye that speaks volumes about how he’s actually feeling. And he maintains eye contact with Ian the. Entire. Time! I will scream until my dying breath that this Look says it all about how Mickey really feels about Ian. I think a lot of Mickey haters are missing the little details that Noel Fisher puts into this character to show that yes he is interested, yes he is falling in love just like Ian is (maybe not quite at the same time or the same pace but it is there) and that this is definitely going somewhere. He feels a connection with him, hence the eye contact, he loves the physical connection and chemistry they have, hence how desperately he wants to move on to the sex he’s been denied for a little over a year.

Now we're going to get into the depressing stuff... We're going to look at Mickey’s self-esteem and how he views himself. This is important for Mickey haters to see because how someone views themselves greatly impacts how they treat others and how they interact with others. So, Mickey values his strength and power above basically anything else and I argue he was raised to believe this both directly and through personal experience. He is an intelligent person despite how many jokes are made at Mickey's expense pointing out his lack of education, so when Ian just starts casually doing pull-ups, Mickey automatically jumps on that and tries to one up, and in fact doubles, Ian’s display, and brags that there's nothing else to do in the joint but work out. 

When Ian suggests that Mickey could read (showing Ian’s value for education to reach goals and potential) Mickey scoffs. 

Why? because we learn in season 3 that he has basically a freshman's education, he has not passed a single class in high school which is probably because of his involvement in his dad’s business, he’s now spent a good bit of time in Juvie and I can't imagine Juvie having a very promising education program (I am completely assuming, if someone knows differently, let me know), and even when he was in school he was paying Lip to write his papers for him so the chances of him taking education seriously in the first place is quite slim. So basically, Mickey never even got a chance to see the value in education and has learned that power and brawn is what gets you places, and anything about himself that does not contribute to those things he views as useless.

Now at first this may just seem like Mickey scoffing at the idea of reading because lots of people of all backgrounds dislike reading (OW my English major heart!!!)  BUT what I even missed the first time, and Mickey haters may have missed, was this really sad and really revealing line showing Mickey’s whole outlook on his life.

It isn’t even so much that he doesn’t like to read (though it’s probably safe to assume there’s that too) but what’s the point of him getting an education? His father has trained him to be the perfect thug, to inspire fear in anyone so he can help out in daddy’s little drug ring despite his young age. All of Mickey’s dreams (if he ever had them) are down the toilet to him because even if he wanted to live a law-abiding life and do things the “right way,” he probably doesn’t even know where to start at this point, because he’s never had to do something “the right way” in his life; and besides that, his father would never let him go. Mickey’s been raised to believe the southside mentality, which is what Lip kept chanting to Fiona in season three, “the only way to make it in the southside is to scam it, or steal it.”

So because he has no trust in the system or in his own ability to make it on his own gifts, he has to develop himself in ways that are familiar, and what is familiar is the thug life. He's accustomed to stealing and scamming and threatening his way through survival, and he knows that book smarts are not going to help him with that. 

So now he’s being forced to act as though he gives a shit about going straight in his life because a condition of his probation is to find legitimate employment. And even there, he has no idea where to start. He has a reputation for stealing and menacing so basically any storefront/retail is out, (could we ever see Mickey bussing tables????). His idea of what jobs he’s capable of doing, or expected to do reveals a lot about him and our society. 

For Mickey his only options are the meat-packing plant and tarring roofs or some other form of construction or dangerous work. The fact that I just automatically sighed in pity for this boy due to these options reveals a lot about how our society views these workers. I feel like in media in particular these skilled workers are frequently stereotyped as having a record or being under-qualified (otherwise incapable) for anything else (ex. Law & Order SVU, most released rapists they question work in meat packing districts or construction), but the truth is if we didn’t have these workers, our country would fall apart real quick. Literally. Anyway, that was off-topic but I definitely felt needed to be said. Food for thought, you’re welcome. :)

This conversation also reveals Mickey’s lack of trust in the system. Keep in mind that Mickey is still young, 17, but the system is treating him as an adult despite the fact that he just came out of a juvenile detention center. Mickey is convinced his probation officer is going to find him a job definitely meant for adults and because it is a dangerous job, this reveals a disregard people feel for released criminals (even child aged ones) who are supposed to be getting rehabilitated to become productive members of society. 

In this country it seems, once a criminal always a criminal. Mickey knows the system doesn’t believe in him, his father is going to make him go back to doing the same old shit, and no one cares about that factor, so why should he care? At this point it seems he’s just going to go through the motions until he gets caught doing something else and gets thrown in prison.

Going back to education, we know that Mickey’s smart (despite the many jokes made at his expense) because he's wicked good with numbers as we see in season 4, plus he is smart enough to skirt around the edges of the law (and whether we like to admit that or not it does show some intelligence. It does actually take a capable and intelligent person to get away with crime as much as we don't want to admit that). 

So the heartbreaking thing about this moment is, Ian still has potential and can still make something of himself in a way that will satisfy society’s standards of a “good” citizen... Mickey doesn’t (or at least doesn’t believe he does). Ian also still has some trust in the system and still sees value in education. Ian’s optimism, while heartwarming, is not inspiring to Mickey because Mickey sees the realistic course of his life and has already accepted it.

Next we go back to examining their relationship development. We are seeing little glimpses of their friendship (the shotgunning, the talking, Ian trying to help Mickey with his probation) and this is super important. I don't think Mickey haters quite understand why this matters so much, but it matters because Mickey is participating in this relationship with Ian now. It isn't just having sex and leaving anymore, they talk they listen to each other, try to be an ally for each other, and that's the start of something huge.  

So here we see another boundary set. Though the line has definitely moved as their friendship has developed, Mickey is still trying to keep a distance and in this case it’s by reminding Ian that talking about community college, making plans in this way is too domestic, too settled. These are the conversations that boyfriends have (at least as Mickey understands it). Ian, luckily, accepts this boundary and drops the subject. Ian, however, is still clearly pining after Mickey and wants to spend as much time with him as Mickey is willing to give.

Obviously this is a strange suggestion, but Ian is at least trying to help. At least working at the store Mickey wouldn’t be working a dangerous job where he could get hurt and they would get to spend more time together; a win-win!

Of course though, because it’s Mickey and he’s missed Ian (though he won’t admit to that at this point) he shuts down the more intimate discussion of jobs and the future, they go back to having sex.

So if anyone is honestly wanting to say Mickey isn’t genuinely into him... Look at that smug little smirk and tell me that boy isn’t smitten.

Moving on to Mickey's first shift at the Kash and Grab I want to look at this scene to further develop Mickey's background because I can't see anything controversial about Gallavich in particular. First and foremost, despite Linda automatically assuming Mickey is going to steal from the store (not that I can blame her, really)

Mickey is actually taking this job seriously. First he stops two kids who think they are going to stuff their pockets

And then Frank.

Considering Mickey has zero sense of control in his life and doesn’t believe that he will ever amount to more than a thug, it actually reveals a good deal that he is taking this job seriously and is putting forth even the minimal effort required.

Next, I’d also like to point out that the reason he feels his life will amount to nothing more than street success, if even that, is because of his Dad. It hasn’t been established WHAT exactly his Dad does. What we know at this point in the series is Terry is a jailbird, he and his children have a lack of respect for the cops, and he and his children sometimes do “runs”. In the future however we will hear some hints that Terry deals with a little bit of every genre of illegal activity from illegal weapon sales, drugs, to possibly mercenary work? In this scene we get a hint at the drugs. 

Mickey quickly tries to set up shop for drugs when Lip and Kev are stocking up their ice cream van.

Mickey has been raised for this and probably is expected to help out in the family business, and has a limited conscience for it due to his exposure to this business. I can't prove that this is influenced by Terry, and I can’t prove that Mickey is being forced, but what I do know is that in future episodes I see some evidence that not only is Terry behind this but that Mickey isn’t too fond of the dirty business he’s been dragged into. 

I also want to pay attention to Mickey's face when Kev says no to the hard stuff and Lip starts talking to Ian about his tutoring.

 It could be that I am reading too deep into this... however just the way that the camera zoomed in on Mickey’s face when he was just standing there, and the way he looked away, he looked a little uncomfortable, maybe even a little sad... All of this makes it seem weighted and a deliberate choice which tells me it is in fact an insight to how Mickey is feeling. It makes me think that maybe he hadn't before consciously thought of what he was doing with his dad’s business; this leads me to believe that his role in this drug ring was involuntary and he probably never even thought of the effects that these harder drugs would have on people (especially young people) and this almost contemplative face makes me think that maybe this is the first time he's thinking about that. 

 Then lip tells Ian to keep practicing the geometry theorems. Mickey overhears this as well and I also think that sadness in his face comes from knowing that Ian has a future, Ian has potential and options, Ian can go so much further than Mickey can and maybe in a way Mickey is a little jealous of that. 

So at first he questions why geometry theorems? Halfway through Ian’s explanation, Mickey gets a little distracted...

 Anyway, here we are again with this foil of Ian's future and Mickey's contrasting futures. Mickey is likely doomed to Terry's life. He's being groomed into a mini Terry and let's be honest how many of us honestly want to become our parents, as in full replicas of our parents, whether you have a positive or negative relationship with your parents? Here Mickey is following Terry's footsteps as far as we can see; he has temper, he is in and out of juvie, and he's already started selling drugs for his father.

Ian on the other hand is the exact opposite of his father, which we see right after this conversation. Instead of following Frank's footsteps, Ian sees what happens when you don't chase after your full potential and so then here Ian is chasing after his full potential and doing everything he can to achieve his goals. I think that Mickey recognizes that and is maybe a little jealous that Ian has options that he will never have because he already has a record and already has a reputation that will keep him from achieving everything that he can achieve.

But of course, that reputation can come in handy too...

Mickey’s reputation commands obedience from lots of people in the south side and that’s because that’s how you get what you want in that community: fear and power. Ian is striving after military power and respect but doesn’t command that south side respect that Mickey does. This is something Mickey has over Ian at this point, despite his knowing that in the future, Ian will have the upper hand by far.

For now, Mickey returns to teasing Ian to re-establish their friendship dynamic.

And for a second, Ian brings it back to their constant unspoken conversation on sexuality. For the first time we do get true insight to what Mickey believes this is. He has definitely reduced his sexuality to a kink, though of course deep down he knows he’s genuinely attracted to men (Ian). This is the first time we see Mickey even starting to accept his sexuality and make it clear that his sexuality will not define him.

That’s all I’ve got for 2x02! Let me know if I missed anything or drop me a line to discuss something further! 

Until next time lovelies! <3

Get the full analysis!

[unbridgeabledistances]

so ik we aren’t sure if the camo kiss was cut or not, but i wrote it just in case:) this takes place directly after 11x04!

(also i am still working on prompts after a little break, those will b up soon!<3)

--

Ian stumbled up the front steps of the Gallagher house, trying not to pay too much attention to the heavy metal music and the roar of the bonfire coming from the lot beside the house. He fumbled in the cheap fabric pockets of his military outfit to try and find his housekeys (Frank had started being vigilant about locking the front door since what he was calling the “Great Milkovich Invasion”). Mickey was a couple of steps behind him, stopping to lean over the chain link fence and flipping off one of his more scraggly-looking cousins who had just taken it upon himself to yell “military pussies” as Ian and Mickey walked by- honestly, not the worst insult they could have shouted, considering they’d had all day to brew up new combinations of slurs after seeing Mickey and Ian walk by in their uniforms on their way to Kev and V’s that morning.

Ian slid the key in the lock, and turned around to call to Mickey, who was still hurling insults at his bearded cousin as the moonlight bounced off his face.

“Better watch your fucking back, Gary, ‘cause my window’s right up there above you, and I’d hate to accidentally do some target practice during your little sleepover under the stars out here.”

Ian rolled his eyes. “Hey, sharpshooter, you wanna come inside?”

Mickey cast one more glare at the tattered group of Milkoviches, then reached over the fence to take the can of beer one of them was holding.

“Better sleep with one eye open, assholes.”

Mickey turned and finally ambled up the creaking front steps, ducking under Ian’s arm that was holding the door open into the warm glow of the living room. Mickey kicked off his boots and threw them onto the living room floor, then took a sip of his stolen lukewarm beer and grinned, his defensive facade completely melting away now that they were safely indoors.

“Nice first day, Gallagher. Might have to give you a promotion soon.”

Ian rolled his eyes even more aggressively as he crouched down and untied the shoelaces of his bulky pleather military boots.

“Oh yeah? I don’t remember saying I was interested in being employed on a regular basis.”

Mickey took a final sip of the stolen beer and winced, then crushed the can on the back of the couch. “Well I guess today’s your lucky day then, lover. I ended your job hunt right before it even started.”

Mickey took off the flimsy camo pageboy hat and tossed it on the ground next to his shoes. “You want a beer? That shit was disgusting.”

Ian smirked, pulling off his boots and putting them by the door. “Yeah, sure.”

Mickey strode into the kitchen, while Ian scooped up Mickey’s discarded boots and hung up his hat by the door.

“I still can’t believe they had all that fucking weed just lying around, man!” Mickey called from the kitchen, opening the fridge and making the bottles clang as he fumbled for two beers.

Ian smirked and ambled into the kitchen, settling against the edge of the countertop. Mickey handed him a beer, which Ian opened on the side of the counter and slowly took a sip.

“Yeah. It’s fuckin’ crazy.”

Mickey was standing inches in front of him, twisting off the cap of his own beer and smiling with bright eyes, like he was glowing from this absurdly weird day going exactly as he had planned. Ian had the sudden thought that maybe it had- while Mickey seemed to act like he didn’t want to wear the camo gear that Ian discovered in the back corner of the dingy army supply store, Ian was starting to realize that Mickey getting him to play dress-up all day while they did the security job might have been exactly what Mickey had in mind when he was giving Ian shit at the store. As if confirming Ian’s thoughts, Mickey smiled a half-smile and poked him in the chest, giddy.

“Gallavich security, bitch. No more faking pay stubs for my P.O., the two of us are gonna make a killing just fucking hauling weed around all day.”

Ian barked out a laugh as he set his bottle down on the counter and pulled himself up to sit on the edge. “Gallavich security?”

“Fuck yeah, bitch. We’re going official. The name sounds totally badass anyways, gotta let everyone know what we mean business.”

Ian smirked. “Hm, okay. And since both of our names are in the business title, does that mean I still work for you? Or does it mean that we’re partners now?”

Mickey stepped closer, eyebrows raised and his tone playful. “Well, I don’t know. That depends on how hard you work, how you do in your employee review. You’re the one always talking about work ethic and all that shit.”

Ian rolled his eyes, but reached his arms up to comfortably rest over Mickey’s shoulders. “Oh yeah, boss? And how’d I do today?”

Mickey took a second to respond, leaning in closer now that he was ensnared in Ian’s grasp. His eyes flickered to Ian’s lips, then back up to meet Ian’s eyes with that intoxicated, heavy-lidded look he always had when Ian’s face was inches from his.

“Not sure yet. You gonna work with me again tomorrow?” Mickey retorted, a little more softly.

Ian sighed. “If I say yes, will you get off my fucking back about the fact that you have a job and I don’t?”

Mickey leaned his face in closer, then reached up and pulled Ian’s cheap camo hat off of his head.

“Deal.”

And then they were kissing, and Ian’s arms were pulling Mickey closer and cradling the back of his head in his hands—they were kissing, and for the first time in weeks they weren’t kissing because they had been fighting, or because they wanted a quick fuck and needed to blow off some steam, but because they wanted to be closer to each other, kissing because they were finally on the same team. He and Mickey were wearing matching fucking costumes, and they probably looked fucking ridiculous—but they were actually working together for once, were actually standing hand in hand in front of whoever crossed their path. While the day had begun with Ian reeling in panic that Mickey would do something illegal or stupid or both and end up in prison and away from him again, now Ian couldn’t shake the warmth that overtook him, sitting on the kitchen counter with his legs wrapped around a warm and thrumming Mickey, who had softened the second that Ian decided to get off the couch and be with him all day.

Perching on the kitchen counter, feeling his husband’s hungry lips press against his again and again, Ian couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t the way he’d envisioned wearing camo someday back when he was 16 and in ROTC; hell, he never would have imagined that he would have gone to jail someday when he was 16, or that he would preach in a church to crowds of hundreds of people, or that he would be bipolar— but the most surprising thing of all in his life was the fact that he would actually get to love Mickey Milkovich, that he was married to the dirt-smudged shit-talking teenage boy he’d spent his whole life wanting to be close to. The Gallagher kitchen had undoubtedly seen its fair share of make-out sessions, between him and Trevor or Caleb or whoever—but Ian couldn’t help but think that this moment with Mickey felt like the only kiss that mattered, the only time that Ian wasn’t putting on an act. Mickey was the only person that Ian didn’t have to pretend for, the only one who was his exact brand of crazy— Mickey was the only one Ian could think of who wouldn’t scoff at Ian’s idea of wearing matching outfits to do a security job, and instead got dressed and walked down the street beside him, got giddy at the fact they could spend the day together. Ian had never known where his life would take him, but building a business with the love of his life seemed like a pretty good start.

Ian’s hand slid from the back of Mickey’s head and down his neck, and he let his fingers rest over the camo-printed lapels of Mickey’s shirt, right in the spot he knew Mickey’s tattoo was. Mickey trailed kisses down the side of Ian’s neck, pulling him in closer.

“Love you, love you so fucking much,” Mickey mumbled as he crashed their lips together again.

And as Ian grasped the back of Mickey’s hair once more, breathing him in, he knew that this was exactly where he was supposed to be.

[dreamylyfe-x]

11x04: NIMBY Reactions

Oh my God, that’s the good stuff right there. I’ve been hanging on for the middle of the season, where I have felt pretty certain the tone -- with Gallavich particularly -- might shift and I was NOT disappointed. 

So first thing’s first: though Mickey had barely anything to do with the A Plot (Milkoviches Next Door) I still thought this episode was the best  Mickey-being-Mickey-as-I-know-and-love-him  episode we’ve had yet. (Though fair warning, I thought 11x03 had some quality classic Mickey in it -- just mostly the scenes without Ian.) 

Before we get started on Mickey, though, this is the second episode in a row where I’ve enjoyed the Frank plot? Granted, it was LARGELY Liam that I enjoyed, but I was still watching the Frank plot and that is a major shift from season 10, where I barely bothered. 

But yeah. Ok. Mickey. This episode was such a great Mickey episode from start to finish. One of the things I love about Shameless is the whole thing where normal for kids living in desperate conditions, while very different from most people’s normal, is still normal for THEM. And I really enjoyed Mickey watching the Milkoviches move in while giving the Gallaghers key intel on exactly what they were seeing. And kinda understanding how messed up some of it was in real time. That’s a real experience people have -- being mid-story and suddenly thinking “Yeah. This is way more fucked up than I realized.”  

I also enjoyed the several moments in the episode where Mickey overtly acknowledged that his family is insane, he just doesn’t like the Gallaghers looking down on him. Which: valid. 

Speaking of -- finally we find out the state of the Mickey-Terry relationship. Which is: there isn’t one. Another thing I loved is that Mickey shares the desire to see his family move on, but he’s not going to bother engaging with it. He’s going to work on getting him and Ian out of there, and pay hardly any attention to his family. Love that for him. 

I also love love LOVE that, now that he has a bead on something to do for money that doesn’t fill him with dread, Mickey is taking the same attitude he had when Ian was working and he wasn’t -- which is that he’s going to take care of things. As someone who was baffled at Mickey’s inaction and willingness to let Ian do all the work in the first few episodes, I really loved this. Because it’s consistent and it indicates that his world view just kinda like... Someone has to be taking care of the money part, and that might shift back and forth between him and Ian, but the result of the effort is going to be shared between them. I understand where Ian was coming from -- especially when Mickey kept returning to criminal enterprise -- but it’s nice to see a little more of how Mickey views things. 

Also, I know this is very well observed, so I’m retreading well-worn ground, but the scene with the cereal. Gah. I love it. Ian regressing -- I know they gave us the shot of the bottle of Jamison, but I felt like they were getting their point across with the cereal and the cartoons. And Ian not answering or responding to Mickey right away was extremely evocative of Ian’s history of depressive episodes. I loved how forthright Ian was about how awful the prospect of finding another job was, because it’s covertly agreeing with everything Mickey was saying in the first few episodes, too. 

There are so many little things I like about this scene. Mickey coming down the front stairs instead of the back, like he intuitively knows where Ian is at. Ian watching Harley Quinn cartoons, as both an in-joke AND as a believable cartoon choice. Mickey picking up the bottle, checking it’s weight and then just... moving it a little to the side. Mickey putting himself between Ian the TV. Mickey already having a plan for Ian. Just so much good stuff in there. 

Also, let’s talk about Ian for a minute here. One reason I hesitate to call anything OOC with these two is that the book generally isn’t closed. I really didn’t get the “I’m on my honeymoon” stuff, but after this episode, it folds in a lot better with what is going on with these two. Another thing that folds in better is Ian’s mounting frustration -- which is VERY Ian. He starts out with this forced buoyancy -- we’re going to get out own place, you are going to get a legal job so you can stay out of prison, I am going to make this warehouse gig work, and even though I’m frustrated and losing patience, I’m still trying to talk things out, and touching your hand and trying to ground everything in the fact that we’re together and we love each other -- and then we see that get chipped away at. Ian’s paycheque reveals that he’s being scammed out of a living wage. Mickey takes the road less travelled and immediately brings in more money that he’s every going to be able to get through the jobs he can currently get as a parolee. Mickey isn’t gracious about this, and the tension ramps up and that four episodes later he’s just walking around with a well-established and throughly justified black cloud over his head. 

The Milkovich’s really arrive like they’ve bought a White Trash in a Bag collection from Target. They seem to even have brought mattresses expressly for the front yard. 

OMG, Mickey got a scene with Sandy (and Debbie). But honestly, my favourite beat is the look Franny gives Mickey after he says kids are idiots. I also love how Sandy joins Mickey in just not seeing a point in waging battle against their family.

Lip, this is a little thing, but you aren’t supposed to eat breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. Brunch ideally REDUCES the number of meals you eat. But the key brunch move is to order something you can’t/wouldn’t make at home. Do not pay $14 for eggs and toast. 

So. Ok. I have seen some people very annoyed that Ian is so focused on Mickey not going back to prison, but I can’t see what is wrong with this. He just flat out isn't wrong to worry about it. It would be devastating if that happened. Mickey and Ian are extremely fortunate that he’s out at all. It’s a truly bizarre turn of events and I do not fault Ian for having a lot of concern about anything happening to jeopardize Mickey’s freedom. I also think this is confirmation that Ian just flat out doesn’t want to be without Mickey. I think he’s depressed -- and therefore extremely pessimistic -- in this episode, but there is far more indication that Ian wants Mickey around than that he doesn’t, so of course he’d be extremely focused on this concern. Also Cam puts some tremor onto “get sent back to prison” that really grabs my heart and squeezes. 

Cam in the towel is just good news. Mickey’s adorable with the gun. This scene is cute. 

This is the episode where I gave up on side-eying the Gemma-is-Superior running joke and just accepted it as kinda funny. Something about third-party confirmation. I dunno.

I enjoy the fact that Debbie apparently doesn’t know Sandy lives with them? Also, that feels like an Ian move. Gets boyfriend, moves in with boyfriend. 

The fact that Mickey is low-key playing Ian to get him to join him in this MUCH more promising venture is my absolute favourite. Bless the director for that foreground Mickey shot. Bless Noel for that nuanced facial expression. Bless everyone involved in that moment. It is one of my favourite things ever. 

I love that Ian’s whole reason for these outfits is so that Mickey will LOOK dangerous and not have to defend himself, thus staying out of trouble. That’s deeply, deeply sweet. 

Another sign that something is even more wrong with Frank than usual when he fully forgets the entire trip to visit the Brotherhood. 

I didn’t love V vs. Debbie but I really did enjoy Kev aligns with Frank, and also has a scene with Mickey. And that they weren’t silo’ed off on their own. 

So the eventual reveal we get that the old lady loves having rough sex with Terry was not a surprise to me because a) Shameless, but b) because of Christian’s face. Christian’s facial expressions are among my favourite on the show right now. 

I love this gif set by @sickness-health-all-that-shit.  What can I say except “look! Ian is smiling!” 

Mickey should be a better liar, but you know. He isn’t. 

I do like that, in this moment, the things they both bring to the enterprise come together to create a new possibility. This is pretty much exactly what I HOPED was going to happen and I love to see it. 

I think I’m going to ignore the Tami storyline because it was gross (not bad, but ... gross.) Also @fiona-fififi already wrote something that is much more comprehensive... I get the frustration, but just no part of me thinks Ian would allow himself to go where Tami did in examining what happened to her. Not at this point in his life. Which is sad, but very much in line with how Ian handles himself. 

Um. Yeah. Carl. Glad you’re not fully participating, Carl. But this is untenable. 

Overall, I am all the way in on this storyline for Ian and Mickey -- and pretty into the idea of V getting involved with politics. I think we’re getting all the seeds of where this show is going to leave the characters. And I haven’t loved every moment, but I do feel like the overall show is working for me better than last season. 

That might be faint praise. But I really liked this one. Best yet.