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I feel like we need an actual run-down of Ian and Mickey’s relationship because far too often does their relationship get simplified into this toxic/abusive thing that doesn’t even consider what Ian and Mickey are individually facing, such as an abusive and toxic home and neighborhood environment, and tends to view Mickey as the most horrible person. So here’s some reminders from season one, because I see a lot of people use season one as an excuse to treat Mickey like he’s a piece of shit. 

> Mickey initially went after Ian because he thought that Ian had sexually assaulted his sister. Ian understands that Mandy is behind it, and thus goes to her to beg her to get her brothers off his back. She does. They stop stalking him with the intention of beating the crap out of him after that. 

> Mickey stole the gun from Kash and punched him because he tried to pull it on him over a cup of soup. He didn’t go there with the intention of stealing the gun, but of stealing food. Ian took the matter of getting the gun back into his own hands which he didn’t actually have to do, but he was sick of Kash letting Mickey get away with stealing.

> Ian entered the Milkovich home without permission and held a tire iron at Mickey’s back. Mickey fought him which was an entirely logical response considering that Ian wasn’t invited and went in with a weapon. They fight and end up having sex, the both of them pulling off each other’s clothes. Terry nearly walks in on them, freaking them both out. When they’re dressed, Ian leans in to kiss Mickey and Mickey threatens him with an “if…then” threat telling him he doesn’t want to be kissed and Ian shrugs it off respecting that Mickey does not want to be kissed. 

> Ian and Mickey who are close in age decide on their own terms to have a sexual relationship, not a romantic one. The both of them know this. They have sex when and where they want, and both of them have the capacity to say yes or no. Aside from the sex, Ian becomes best friends with Mandy too and the three of them chill out together which is something that is perfectly normal and healthy for teenagers to do. 

> In distress, Ian runs to Mickey wanting to see him after his mother returns. At first, Mickey says no - his eyes are red rimmed and you can hear Terry yelling in the background clearly indicating that it is not a good time. Mickey tells Ian it’s not a good time. Ian begs him, and Mickey caves. Ian and Mickey have sex at the Kash and Grab, and Ian’s hand covers Mickey’s. Mickey does not protest, and this is a good sign that perhaps Mickey is growing more comfortable with physical affection. Except, this is all interrupted when Kash walks in on them.

> Mickey understandably in that moment of vulnerability, runs out. He comes back to threaten Kash to keep his mouth shut about the incident because he fears more people finding out. His reaction to Terry nearly walking in on them (and calling them fags), not thinking it was a good time to see Ian, and his reaction to Kash walking in on them, all indicate that Mickey lives in a household where expressing his sexuality is unsafe and his father is an abusive person who would not hesitate to harm him. 

> Kash, an adult man who was having sex with Ian (which is statutory rape), uses unnecessary force against Mickey shooting him in the leg, which realistically Mickey could have bled out and died if it hit a major artery and/or it could have left permanent damage. Yet, no charges were held against Kash and he was offered a parade for shooting Mickey. Mickey decided to go to Juvie, and did not press charges against Kash. He could have fought for his case, he didn’t. He went to Juvie to protect himself from his father finding out.

> Ian is understandably stressed out about this whole thing, and takes on some of the blame when he confesses to Lip what happened (“because of me”). What he also does though is out Mickey to Lip which is something that no one should ever do to anyone. Ian knows he can trust Lip, but it’s still problematic to leak that information. Ian also says that Mickey would rather go to Juvie than admit he is gay, which is true, but it is important for the audience to remember that Mickey’s situation is not just based on shame but based on a genuine fear that he will be hurt if he is found out.

> Anyways, Ian asks Mandy how Mickey is doing, and visits Mickey in Juvie. Mickey is injured and surrounded by boys in a heterosexist environment, one of which has already tried to steal from him (and I know it’s played off as humorous, but when you think about it Mickey could be seen as an easy target.) Ian says he misses Mickey, and he does but Ian also doesn’t understand the environment Mickey is in. Mickey gives him another “if…then” threat, and Ian smiles at him. Mickey lightens up and thanks Ian for putting money into his commissary account. Ian tells him that he told Kash that Mickey could still press charges and that’s how he got the money. Mickey shows appreciation, but he wont allow Ian to show him affection while he is locked up.

I’m not saying that Mickey isn’t abrasive, or that none of his actions are problematic (like how he words things and stealing). However, viewing Mickey as an abusive person based off of his interactions with Ian does overlook all these environmental factors. Again, abuse is about power and control over someone, whereas here Ian and Mickey chose on their own terms when and where to have sex. Mickey trying to protect himself and being afraid of people finding out about his sexuality shouldn’t be overlooked either, nor treated as abusive actions. Furthermore, Ian outing Mickey is problematic but this often gets overlooked. That doesn’t mean that Ian is a bad abusive person though and that’s why reducing Mickey to one is a big problem.

You can acknowledge that Mickey is flawed without reducing him to just an abusive person. You can acknowledge that Ian is flawed while still appreciating him as a character. 

#shameless us #shameless meta #mickey milkovich #ian gallagher #gallavich

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healthy aspects of ian and mickey’s relationship:

they’re close in age, and therefore developmentally similar

they decide on their own terms when and where to have sex

they are actually friends too and…

ian does not treat mickey like a worthless human being and wants good things for mickey

mickey actually does care about ian’s feelings especially when ian’s home life is shitty

ian understood that mickey has problems w/ physical affection

and he respected that mickey needed time

after some time ian told mickey what he wanted (i.e. he wanted a kiss)

and mickey chose to give it to him on his own terms

they can be very protective of one another too

unhealthy aspects of ian and mickey’s relationship:

ian has outed mickey more than once

mickey has beaten up people ian has had sex with

ian actually gets a kick out of mickey beating them up

when faced with a perceived or genuinely life-threatening situation, the both of them can be quite harmful to one another

and they can become self-destructive as well

like in no way can their entire relationship be reduced to these unhealthy aspects, nor can you simply reduce it to a highly abusive/toxic relationship without the risk of completely ignoring all the actually healthy aspects of their relationship that has allowed the both of them to cope with their home life and mature emotionally like these unhealthy aspects are important to acknowledge but so are the other aspects

bye

#shameless meta #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #gallavich #shameless us

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Yooooooo

Am I the only person who finds it odd that we’re half way through the season and there hasn’t been one reference to the fact that Svetlana is pregnant?

I mean we can clearly see she is, but it’s really weird that no one talks about it, in any kind of context. It’s even more odd since Mickey is now in business with Kev and V and they are always talking about their kids coming, and it never once gets brought up that he has one coming too. I’m not expecting long-winded conversations about it obviously, I just thinks it’s weird it never ever has been mentioned at all.

I don’t know y’all seems fishy to me… I’m still thinking there isn’t going to be a Milkovich baby….

There are too many baby story lines and I feel like they are going to drop one, and that one seems like the obvious choice.

#shameless us #shameless meta #mickey milkovich #svetlana milkovich #milkoviches #veronica fisher #kevin ball #kevxvee

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Also, I think, from Carl’s reaction to Frank this episode, that this may be it. We have all been waiting for a point where Carl realizes Frank is shit and gives up on him, and this may be it.  Just like when Frank went to Karen’s parent-teacher conference and they were upset, this is a very similar thing.  This is Frank being a parent to someone when he hasn’t ever been a parent to the people he’s actually legally responsible for.

The last chance to get it right?  When Liam is “3”, Carl is only twelve, and Debbie’s thirteen?  Frank has plenty of chances left to get it right, and Carl knows that.  This may be Carl realizing that no matter how Frank postures, he really doesn’t care about them, and being Sam’s “dad” is easy because he doesn’t have to raise her, just drink beer with her.  Carl knows that.  Carl may be realizing that he and his siblings will never matter to Frank unless he can use them for something.

#shameless meta #shameless us #carl gallagher #frank gallagher

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Ian did not owe Mickey anything.  I’ve been seeing a lot of posts that get angry about how Ian left Mickey in season 3, as if he was somehow in debt to him to stay and fuck him behind closed doors.  As if that offer was a privilege, something to be honored to have been offered.  I understand that Mickey is a victim of a lot of things, and he has a lot of emotional issues, but these are not Ian’s responsibilities.

Ian and Mickey are two very different people.  Mickey has been ashamed of who he is for a long time, and not surprisingly so considering the home life he has.  These are things he needs to work through within himself before he is emotionally ready for a real relationship.  Ian is extremely unashamed of who he is, and he knows this, he knows the kind of person he wants to be.  Ian knows who he is, and knows what he wants.  If Ian wants a real relationship and doesn’t stick around for the offer of ‘we can still bang,’ he should not get shit for that.

And yes, I’m positive that both Ian and Mickey would love to be in a real relationship.  And in a perfect world, I’m sure they would be.  But that’s not what this is.  There are problems to work through with themselves and external forces to overcome before they get there.

If Mickey was not ready to be in a relationship, it was not Ian’s job to stick around and wait it out.  Ian did not owe it to Mickey to stay around and be his dirty little secret and wait for him to work through his issues.

#shameless us #shameless meta #gallavich #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich

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Ian doesn’t look back at Mickey (after the $25 thing) until he says “you need to call your family”. 

I feel that that’s Ian realizing Mickeys not there for any selfish reason. That he’s there because Ian’s family needs Ian and that he’s genuinely looking out for Ian and his family. Not to get a fuck out of him or call him a shithead for leaving him but because his family needs him. (Mickey needs him too but he’s looking out for Ian first I feel)

I’M SORRY I JUST HAVE A LOT OF EMOTIONS ABOUT A 3 SECOND SCENE.

#shameless meta #shameless us #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #gallavich

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Why Mandy should never, under no circumstance, utter those words to Mickey

I realise we haven’t seen 4x07 yet and i really wanted to leave this rant until after the episode, but i’ve seen a lot of ‘why are people hating Mandy’ comments, so i’m posting my answer.

While i in no way hate Mandy (i love Mandy!) there are some very clear issues with Mandy saying what she says to Mickey. 

Firstly, she doesn’t know the circumstances. That’s not an excuse, some people think that’s a justifiable excuse, it’s not. It’s a reason she should not be so judgemental and make accusations. Okay, it’s not her fault that she doesn’t know about her brother being raped at the hands of their father and then being forced into marriage, no one told her, she can’t help that. But she doesn’t know what the fuck she’s talking about, she’s making unfair assumptions. 

Secondly and more importantly, Mickey DOES NOT need to hear that and it makes me so mad that some people think he does. Because Ian leaving IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE Mickey’s fault. It was Ian’s choice to leave, just because those reasons had something to do with Mickey, that does not make him responsible. And honestly, you can tell from that guilt ridden look on his face that he blames himself for Ian leaving, and he very likely blames himself for everything else that went down and he cannot grow as a person or hope to grow his relationship with Ian if he continues to be so self-loathing. He has already hated himself for far too long.

Finally I get that she is doing all this for a good reason. She loves Ian and she loves Mickey and she can kick his ass a little bit and tell him to go, it’s the way she worded it that’s the problem: ‘You’re the reason he left’. She has no comprehension of how detrimental it is to guilt him into doing this. And I hope so much that she follows it up with something supportive or he says something to her and she doesn’t just spout all this nonsense and walk away, leaving him feeling ashamed. 

#shameless us #shameless meta #mandy milkovich #mickey milkovich #ian gallagher #gallavich

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WHY IS EVERYONE IGNORING WHAT MICKEY SAYS? Of all the things he could have told Ian (about their relationship, about his giving a lap dance) he chose to level with him and try to make him reason about what is best for him!! 

"You need to call your family" = "I care about your welfare more than anything else and what’s important here is that you be healthy"

I think that’s what shows the most character development of the whole scene, and I’m in no way implying that walking into a gay bar because of the man he was supposed not to love isn’t huge. But the fact that he tells Ian what’s best and how to start rebuilding his life is so fucking mature of Mickey.

#shameless meta #shameless us #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #gallavich

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For everyone getting pissed at the way Mandy is acting toward Mickey about Ian: Put yourself in her shoes.

Really do it, think of the house they grew up in, the family they were raised in, her image of Mickey is basically a fagbashing thug who yes is her brother, but that’s how they grew up and that’s how he shows himself to most people, including Mandy.

Now you’re seeing it?  Well picture this a little further: She finds out that her best friend loves Mickey, and they have been fucking.  This happens at Mickey’s wedding.  Ian is in quite obvious anguish over it.  And Mickey is showing himself off as perfectly fine.  What the hell do you expect her to draw from that??

And then Ian comes to their house to tell them he’s leaving, she can tell that Ian just wants Mickey to fucking say something, anything, and he can’t really manage it, Ian leaves.  This is all Mandy has seen of these two, so picture your reaction to this if someone had done this to your best friend, then claimed not to care about them at all after they left.  You’d be fucking bitter about it.

#shameless meta #shameless us #mandy milkovich #mickey milkovich #ian gallagher #gallavich

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Thoughts on why I think it was a mistake to kill Jimmy off

First of all, I’d like to say that I didn’t particularly like Jimmy or the ship Jimmy/Fiona. But I do have to acknowledge that the show won’t be the same without him. Not because he was a brillant character (not saying he wasn’t) but because of the role he played in the whole dynamics. 

Tv-shows (as well as a good part of fiction) begin when something changes. It’s not a strict rule, but it’s usually true. Sometimes a character is introduced. Sometimes characters meet. Other times, something else changes. Supernatural begins when Sam leaves his college life behind to go find his father and hunt monsters. Sherlock starts when he meets John. Usually the point of shows is to develop the story of that new element and how it affects the status quo. And shows end (if they’re not cancelled) when that story ends. Scrubs begins when JD starts at the hospital and ends when he gets a job somewhere else. Now back to Shameless. There’s more than one change in the Gallaghers’ life in the first episode. We have Lip meeting (or getting close to) Karen. Ian’s sexuality being reveiled to someone he knows for the first time. But the main turning point is Fiona meeting Steve/Jimmy. That’s the “axis” of the show’s dynamics until season 3. We all knew that even if Fiona was dating 30 guys at a time, she and Jimmy were endgame. Not because they were a particularly good couple, but because it was what the writers subtextually assured us of. That’s why I don’t think the decision to kill him off was the right one. The writers said his arc had come to an end. But Jimmy being the reason why the show begins, the end of his arc should have been at the end of the series.

I guess that’s why season 4 has been a little… unhinged. I’m not saying its episodes aren’t great (in fact e04 was my favorite of the whole series) but the dynamics have changed completely. And I believe that’s partly because things don’t revolt around Steve/Fiona anymore.

It’s not like the show will stop being good. It hasn’t, so far at least. But I believe it’s gonna be more difficult to articulate as a whole.

#shameless meta #jimmy lishman #fiona gallagher #fionaxjimmy #i feel bad reblogging my own meta

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I had this weird thought( I actually think someone mentioned this) the fact that Mickey just wouldn’t go to some place where he wouldn’t be known and just find a guy to have sex with. I mean, yeah, it could be the fact that he was in the bar at the moment and he had to put on an act, but he could have went up north to one of the bars up there and got drunk…and gotten laid.

It makes me wonder if he’s purposefully making sure he doesn’t have sex with other guys. Like, maybe he feels that that would hurt more than him just banging a random chick. That part I kinda toss up with because I always feel that if I had a crush on a guy, I’d rather he be gay so I wouldn’t have to worry about other girls in general because he likes guys but…

Maybe having sex with a guy would feel more like cheating, and maybe the fact that it isn’t Ian would make it feel too real that it’s, you know, not Ian.

Does this make any sense?

#shameless meta #mickey milkovich #gallavich

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I kinda realized why 4x04 Mickey made me giddy

If it wasn’t for Mickey in other seasons otherwise, it shows how different he is from his father.

I remember I made a post about the parallels between Terry and Mickey Milkovich(trivial stuff, like how they sleep). But we’ve obviously seen some major character development from him.

But what he says just kinda hits a certain place, ya know?

Yes, he may make racial slurs and stuff, but he believes in work and getting paid correctly for such.

"My wife’s a hooker, not a slave"

"You deserve better than this"

"That gives them the right to pay them next to nothin’, huh?"

And I don’t really know how to explain it, but it gives us a sense of how much he actually cares for people, if not anyone, at least his family. 

#shameless meta #mickey milkovich #terry milkovich #milkoviches

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My favourite part about the Mickey storyline in 4x04 is that he’s always been the guy  that he has often being perceived (outside of tumblr) as a guy who doesn’t give a shit about anyone and 4x04 just totally obliterated that. 

Mickey being the guy who says he’s ‘fucked for life’, who sees himself as scum and worthless, he most likely thinks that Ian is far too good for someone like him and has shown a lot of self-sabotaging behaviour throughout their relationship. We’ve seen snippets of his caring, loving side, especially in season 3, but there has never been much in the way of solid dialogue. And one of the biggest issues with Mickey haters, is that they only hear the words that come out of his mouth or see his actions at the most primary level. 

4x04 plainly showed a very human, concerned and caring side of Mickey. It wasn’t just about making more money or even just about family, otherwise he just would have found a better opportunity for Svetlana. Mickey legitimately believed that the way these women were being treated was wrong, he knew they deserved more. And that is my favourite thing about Mickey, he believes he deserves nothing, yet he helped people around him because they deserve more. Despite his personal hell, he did something selfless.

And that’s what Terry could not understand when he said Svetlana wasn’t worth any more than she got, because Terry couldn’t possibly understand the struggle that comes from forcing yourself (or having someone else force you) to have sex with someone for the sake of your livelihood and how much pain that can cause. 

#shameless meta #mickey milkovich #gallavich #milkoviches

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The theme emerging this season is killing me. Everyone is blinded by their own happiness or misery (mostly misery) and they are so not a cohesive group anymore.

With more independence comes self-interest comes self-reliance. Debbie and Carl don’t need Fiona two swaddle them, physically or metaphorically, Liam is beyond diapers and feedings, and while Fiona is focusing on herself because of these things, the kids aren’t focusing on her because she is now the working parent, and no one knows what the fuck the others are doing. For a family that lived inside of each other’s ass for years and only worked when they were a solid unit, that’s confusing.

Then we have Lip, who is finding he doesn’t fit in at home being he’s smart or at college because he’s lower class, who wants the easy life he had before of being anything Fiona couldn’t be. He’s apart physically rather than emotionally, and he’s going to come back to a house filled with people who live there, but are hardly working machine anymore.

I think the confrontation of all of these conflicting separatist lives will be when Ian returns, when they see that the shift started well before and no one noticed a very big problem. And it’s not because them growing up, doing better, trying to live in the real world with real people is bad, it’s that these guys can’t live without each other and that is unfortunately what they’ve been doing.

#shameless meta #fiona gallagher #debbie gallagher #carl gallagher #liam gallagher #lip gallagher #ian gallagher

[shameless-meta]

I’ve been thinking of UK Shameless versus US Shameless lately, mostly when it comes to the way the fourth season of the UK Shameless veers away from the Gallaghers are starts focusing more on the Maguires as the Gallaghers disperse.  I’m thinking about whether or not I think the US version will do the same thing in the next season or so.

A lot of UK shows do this, eventually replace their original main characters (Skins, Misfits, UK Shameless, arguably Doctor Who and possibly others).  They do it a lot more than US TV does.  (I know of US Skins, Glee, and Degrassi.  If there are others, let me know.)  I’m thinking it would probably be pretty bad for ratings for them to do that, as many Americans I know get frustrated when their shows do that and tend to think the show has outlived itself.  I could be wrong, but this is my experience.

In addition, from their introduction the Maguires (US Milkoviches) were a much more fleshed out family than they are in the US version.  We know enough about Mickey and Mandy and Terry is our villain, but we don’t even know the names of most of the rest of the family.  And there isn’t really any other family they could start to pay more attention to.

I may be grasping at straws, but what does everyone think?

#shameless meta #shameless us #shameless uk #milkoviches

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Also, also:  Ian looks proud of himself for walking away, for saying “no thanks”.  I adore both of them, but I’m sort of proud of him too.  I’m not proud of him for leaving, but I’m proud of him for realizing that despite the love he has for Mickey and that he knows Mickey has for him, their relationship is no longer what he wants and it’s time for him to stick up for himself.  It hurt like a bitch, but it means that if they reunite, their relationship might be a bit more equal because Ian has found the strength leave.

#shameless meta #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #gallavich

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On the Gallaghers:

They seemed very disjointed in the finale.  Debbie and Fiona fighting struck me as odd because they are so close and Debbie so accomodating and understanding.  Ian didn’t even say goodbye to his family.  Lip listened to Frank when Frank told him to be more like him.  Something about them and the lack of communication that happened this episode makes them seem very splintered, and I think Ian leaving will probably make that worse.  I sort of see the entire family bickering over who’s to blame for not noticing.  My hope is that something happens in the next season that brings them back together, because I think the splintering and drifting apart of the Gallaghers has, to me, been a theme of season 3 and this episode cemented it.

Another thing: Debbie arguing with Fiona, wanting more information and more responsibility really made me happy.  I like how subtly and authentically the Shameless writers are showing her growth through puberty and I sincerely hope they continue on that theme.

#shameless meta #debbie gallagher #fiona gallagher #ian gallagher #frank gallagher #lip gallagher