no way did i just see a video that said debbie would vote for trump and mickey would vote for biden… have you seen either of them? debbie would 100% vote for biden and mickey just wouldn’t vote

imo there is something to be said for how Lip is consistently placed in the position of protector/parent. Obviously we see him take care of all his younger siblings, especially Liam. But beyond that from very, very early on in the show we see him have a strong vested interest in protecting kids, like when Karen is going to give the baby up for adoption; "Now, uh, do you check the, uh, families for, you know, um, alcohol and drug abuse? Make sure they have enough income to feed it and stuff?", "But they're still good families right? You make sure they're going to decent parents?"(s2.8)

Or in s3.4 when he convinces Mandy to help him rescue her half-sister, Molly. "She sounded desperate. Let's see if we could get her, let's see if we could help." and "If she ran, it was probably for a good reason, no?"(s3.6). Of course there's the entirety of season 4, where he's not only willing to drop out of college to look after Liam but then is afraid to even let Liam out of his sight for almost the rest of the season. And then, obviously, there's Xan in season 8 & 9, a complete stranger but still a kid in need who he then helps without question. He also gives Xan and her mom ten thousand dollars.

Also in s4 (sorry just a really good Lip season in general), it's Lip who realizes something is wrong with Ian and goes looking for him (s4.5) and then it's Lip who takes care of Fiona after she breaks parole (s4.10). On top of which, the only reason Lip is even going to college, despite vocally saying he doesn't want to numerous times, is because it'll help his family if he gets a good job; "Except the little ones Debbie, and- and Carl, and- and Liam, and, my sister Fiona. I could be there for them but I'm not. You know, 'cause I'm here. 'cause I'm told that, that's something I could do for those kids, in a big way, in a real way.' (s5.8)

This perception that Lip both doesn't care about Fiona (or the rest of his family) and doesn't do anything for them is such a misconception. Obviously, there's everything he does to help in s4, from picking up Fiona in Wisconsin to stealing food and cooking dinner every night, but there's how he does try to help Ian, like in s7.3 when he convinces Ian to take his meds. Or in s9.6 when he does a gig as a sober coach to get Ian money for his commissary account in prison. And, then, of course there's how Lip is the reason Fiona goes to AA in s9, both by convincing V to not enable Fiona, "What kind of friend do you want to be? The kind that sees her drunk at the Alibi every morning?" and also by telling Fiona, "Get to a meeting."(s9.12).

I think it's also worth mentioning that Lip only kicks Fiona out once she starts being a danger to the kids in the house, "I'm not letting you stay here! Not with Franny, and not with Liam. No fucking way."(s9.12) Keep in mind, the previous episode he had to body block Fiona to keep her from yelling around and at Xan.

It's just such a wild misreading of the text that Lip is callous or selfish in regards to his family, and especially in the context of Fiona and their relationship. When people say that Fiona always took care of Lip and he never gave anything in return, or that he pushed her to take care of their whole family and never stepped up, I think they're just willingly choosing which parts of the show to engage with and which to ignore.

Obviously there's the age gap, she's 5 years older, (in s8 Lip says he's 23 and Fiona says she's 28) so I'm not sure how much you guys wanted a 4 year old to pitch in when you bring up what she was doing at 9. But beyond that, when Lip got old enough to help, he did. We see him helping throughout the show, we see him stepping up and caring for everyone including Fiona. And it's not just Fiona he was helping, he did Kev and V's taxes, he was the one who came up for the plan to keep Debbie out of jail in s1 when she stole the baby. He helps JimmySteve throughout season 1-3.

And at the exact same time, Lip ends up having to solve most of his problems on his own or he just never brings them to Fiona in the first place. When she does find out he has something going on, her advice usually boils down to telling him to fix it; "So what are you going to do?"(s2.5) "Make it right with Ian."(s2.6) "You want to piss away every single chance you get, including this job, that's your business but don't drag me into it."(s7.10) It's also interesting how in her big "I was nine" speech in s7.12, Lip is the only one she doesn't mention.

Honestly the only character we see actually looking after Lip during his struggles with alcoholism is Debbie throughout s6 and 7. ("I don't want you to end up like Frank" being the reason he goes to rehab, "Do you need us to hide the beer?", "He's trying to get sober Frank!", and of course her confronting him in s7.11 when she finds out he's been drinking and makes sure he's going to a meeting.)

I wanna make it really, really clear that I'm not blaming Fiona or anything other character. I honestly think it's actually really compelling story telling that Lip is the sibling Fiona has a completely different dynamic with and that he's the one she consistently leans on. Not to mention, Lip clearly struggles to accept help and is pretty closed off emotionally. (Almost every big scene we see regarding their family he shuts down and goes silent.) But! I do think there's just this wild misconception with Lip's character that he's ungrateful, selfish, and uncaring towards his family. Yes he's prickly and rude and arrogant, but he's also incredibly caring and that's been a consistent character trait since day 1.

Hii. so i got an ask by @m4ndysk4nkovich but for some reason when i went to reply it disappeared. the ask was what was one of my unpopular opinions on shameless! this was very fun.

v wasnt a great person cause most of the fandom ignores it cause kev and v are more functional than the gallaghers. (are they tho?) i do like veronica but she did some shit.

what i really hate is when she had her BABIES do pageants. and proceeded to pick her "prettier kid". pageants are so horrible and if v counties to do them it would cause so much pain for her kids.

kids doing pageants is insane. pageants in general are kind of sucky but especially kid ones. your kids don't need to be dressed up and judged by grown adults based on their looks.

imagine your mom only wanting your sister to do stuff that is all about getting judged abt how pretty you are? how horrible is that!

so v really needed to back off of Debbie and focus on getting her own kids out of that horrible situation.

she had some trouble bonding with her kids and sometimes got pissy when kev was taking care of them (but that was most likely postpartum. and kev wasn't the best either but that deserves its own post.)

and the whole thing of making kev choose between her and the babies irked me. again, most likely postpartum but just like yeah. i personally don't think they were ready for kids.

on the topic of kids remember when kev wanted more (around s9 i think?) and v hesitantly said yes then made kev get a vasectomy a few days later. like. oh my.

now lets talk about Svetlana. (most popular female manipulator)

yk when svet saved the bar? she wasnt trying to be evil. kev and v would be BROKE broke. lana saved the bar. so v burns all her shit almost gets her deported. SHE CALLED ICE ON HER.

soo did kev and v not realize how horrible ice is, especially to women? or did they just not care? veronica (and kev) willingly separating a mom and kid, a kid they helped raised was insane.

v wanted to be the helpless victim who fell hopelessly in love with the evil Russian with no emotions.

she deff did more stuff i am just lazy.

Honestly this scene is one of the few moments in S9 that I genuinely loved. The last few seasons started to really lack in nice sibling moments (especially between Fiona and Debbie) so it was a breath of fresh air.

Also Debbie’s first instinct in this storyline being to comfort Fiona and her second one being to get revenge on Ford…very based sibling behavior.

"Maya will have a key role this season" three episodes in and she hasn't appeared in any clip. Okay Debbie, whatever you say

an unstoppable force (me not wanting to see maya bc i don’t trust the writers especially when it comes to maya & frida & activism + the plot should focus entirely on anais & her trauma) versus an immovable object (me wanting to see maya again bc i miss her and s9 rewired my brain chemicals and bc as much as i don’t want a season about rape to focus on bg romance, they need to introduce maya/frida soon if they want to sell their endgame soulmatism) 💔💔💔

one thing i do love about debbie is how she gives like.. super good and smart advice to her family members and the people she loves but she just has this awful tunnel vision when it comes to her own life.. like it really is pretty realistic (albeit frustrating to watch) and i wish that was explored more instead of then giving up on her and instead of her basically giving up on any self improvement

love your metas, so can i get your thoughts? i've always felt that personality wise, fiona/ lip are alike, and then ian/ debbie are alike. fiona/ lip are smart but often lost in what they want out of life/ what path to take. they both self sabotage and spiral in response to that. s4/ s9 fiona and s6/ s7 lip had similar arcs. they seem to need to receive romantic "love"/ validation, more than to give it, and can be selfish in that. but they are very giving when it comes to their family. [1/2]

[2/2] so anyways, whereas ian/ debbie very much want to give "love" as much as they want to get it, to the point that they always let any awful person who demands it, have it. kash/ ned/ caleb/ trevor/ matt/ derek/ the s10 2 ladies/ etc were all like that. (mickey being the 1 exception ofc!) they can be manipulated and therefore taken advantage of. but they work hard and take pride in that and know what they want (rotc/ emt and babysitting/ welding). but debs is selfish obviously, and ian isn't

Hiya nonnie! That's some very interesting thoughts right there, and a few I hadn't considered before! Let’s see...

I think you make a great point about Fiona and Lip both being smart but lacking a clear idea of how to translate that into a sustainable lifestyle, and they certainly do have a tendency to self-sabotage. In fairness, fairly often it's things outside of their control that derail them – which I think is a very good illustration of how much harder it is to ”make it” when you come from that sort of background. Even when they aregiven opportunities and try to capitalize on them, there's so very little margain for error; everything is always just one small step from collapsing, there's always something going on with their family that they need to deal with, and when things do go wrong, they mostly lack the resources (mental and financial) to respond in a good way. Their coping mechanisms are maladaptive as all hell, that's for sure, courtesy of their fucked-up upbringing. But yeah, quite apart from all that, I think Lip and Fiona have a habit to fuck things up for themselves by not doing great with stability in general. Rob's an asshole but not entirely wrong when he calls Fiona a chaos junkie, and Lip's issues with authority and alcohol don't exactly make things easier for him.

Additionally, I think that while Lip and Fiona are both capable of hard work – and for a long time they certainly work their assess off to take care of their younger siblings – they also have a tendency to look for quick fixes and easy outs? They're problem solvers and quick thinkers, and they had to be, to deal with the mess Frank and Monica have made of their lives, but I'd argue that this survival tactic has developed into a somewhat problematic predispotion to eschew slowly, steadily working their way towards a goal in favour of leaping on ”smart” deals and opportunities. Which isn't always bad, of course, but it has caused them a fair share of problems; consider, for instance, Fiona and her real estate escapades in season 9 and Lip's highly questionable choices in season 11. (I just watched 11x07 again and GOD do I want kick him in the nuts. I love Lip, but grow the fuck up, man. Tami is a bloody saint for being as patient with him as she is.)

In contrast, Ian and Debbie have a crazy strong work-ethic and are highly goal-oriented. They fix their eyes on the prize and they fucking go for it, putting in the hours and the work without hesitation or complaint. They are far less likely to look for short-cuts or screw themselves over because they get bored with the monotomy. That doesn't mean their path to success is a straight one, of course; Ian's bipolar has wreaked some proper havoc for him, and though she's succeed in both having a kid and a job she trained for, Debbie's narcissm is keeping her from developing the strong bonds (familial and romantic) that she so desperately craves. I think the difference between Ian and Debbie here is that Ian is genuinely looking for a partnership and a real connection (to such a degree that it sometimes leads him into highly unfortunate relationships) whereas Debbie thinks she wants that but isn't prepared to actually be vulnerable and perceptive to the other person's needs to such a degree that a real partnership becomes possible. She never, I feel, actually sees and knows her partners for who they are; she projects onto them her idea of what they should be like, and responds to that, not to them. It hasn't ended well, so far.

And I have to say that while Trevor (of whom I'm fond in spite of his flaws, so you'll find no hate for him on this blog) and (especially) Caleb have their issue I don't think it's fair to compare them to Kash and Ned. As for Matt and Derek, they may not be perfect, but I'd argue that Debbie treated them far worse than they did her. I mean, she did rape both of them. (Out of youthful ignorance, sure: it's still sexual assault. I do find it very interesting and quite encouraging that she obviously recognizes her own guilt in season 11.) By and large, Debbie has treated her partners worse than they have treated her, which is certainly not true of Ian. (Which doesn't mean Ian's a saint. Boy's got plenty of flaws, and he doesn't always treat his lovers perfectly – the cheating comes to mind – but in general he doesn't treat them badly at all; as you say, he is more likely to allow himself to be treated badly by them.)

Circling back to Lip and Fiona, I think you have a point in them craving the way their partners make them feel, but being less interested in having a partner to build a life with, if that makes sense? They aren't really looking for someone to share their lives and struggles with (which might be the resulf of them being used to having no one but each other to rely on for most of their lives); they want that high of being in love and in lust, and when things get a bit too steady and boring, they get restless. Jimmy was, admittedly, a big support for Fiona for a while, but it was quite one-sided: always on her terms. Lip might be coming around on that with Tami, though – possibly because she's assertive enough to push back against him and not let him get bored. Also, Lip (and Fiona) has shown himself to be far more devoted to kids in his care than to his partners, so I'm sure Freddie's existence is a major factor in him sticking it out with Tami even when things are hard. (Not to suggest he doesn't love Tami; I think that she's by far the best match for him on the show.) At the end of the day, I think that Lip and Fiona would enjoy someone properly at their side and in their corner – they just need to understand that that's something they can have, and that for it to work, they need to be in their partner's corner too. As I said, Lip might be on the way, though his unwillingness to solve problems together with Tami is worrisome; who knows what Fiona's up to in Florida; Ian's already got it, and as for Debbie... she knows she wants it, but not how to achieve it. For her, I think, the answer might be to reassess how important having a partner really is to her; does she truly want it, with all the compromises it inevitably entails? Then again, she's young yet; we were, I think, none of us very good at relationships at 20, and Debbie (and her siblings) has had a rougher go of it than most. She has time to learn.

This took... forever, nonnie, so I do hope you see this!. :o Can't say I expect my scattered and tentative musings to have been worth the wait, but I ended up having a lot of fun thinking about this, so here's to you finding something of value in there. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! <3 And as always, if anyone else wants to chime in you're more than welcome to; my ideas on this aren't very fixed, so I'd love to hear other or additional perspectives.

Day 2

1. What has surprised you about the fandom over the years you’ve been reading?

I can only think of negative things. People being so judgemental and downright hypocritical towards different characters. Same goes for fanfiction - I've never (and I mean never) seen people in other fandoms taking fanfiction so seriously in terms of being offended by the plot. -CJ

It surprises me when people don’t like the compelling moments of the show that are negative towards the characters, during the rising action. I don’t exactly want things to end badly for my favorites, but some of the hardships they go through (especially season 1-6) are ultimately my favorite parts of their stories. They grow so much do to them! Also I like angst lol -MMW

2. Are there any canon moments that also surprise you to see aren’t written about more?

The docks scene! Definitely not explored enough.

Ian, being the only character who consistently listens to music when he’s sad, him finding comfort in music in general 🎶 

Ian’s perspective on faith and religion. I know! :D I know that the whole Gay Jesus SL is painful to analyze, but I think it can be tied with Ian's vision of destiny and purpose that seems to be important to him throughout the whole series. -CJ

I also agree with the Gay Jesus. It was a very interesting SL, that I’ve never decided if I like or not. However, as a person with some form of religious background and issues from that, I love to see it explored. Especially along side sexuality due to the nature of them both. -MMW

3. Any headcanons/fanon ideas you wish had been canon?

So many great ideas in the fandom. Mickey picking up Ian’s meds!💊 Family members going to Ian and Mickey for relationship advice. I was very disappointed that Debbie went to Tami in 11x11... Not that she can’t give advice, but she has a brother who’s married to his high school sweetheart right there? Mickey and Ian staying in contact with Mandy. One mention would be enough to show that they're in touch!📞-CJ

I would love to see Mickey’s background in Mexico explored more. He lived there from the end of s7-s9 and we don’t get to hear him even attempt Spanish? Or comment on it more? Rude. Also, just wish the show had allowed Ian to miss Mickey noticeably more during season 6. I get Noel left but my tv pet peeve is when a character disappears, all their effects on the show vanish. They could have stretched the SL some even with Noel being absent by just allowing Ian to more naturally be sad over the loss of an important relationship and then eventually (at that point) be more willing to be in another l. I also was so hoping with Tami and Mickey having a similar personality and role, that they could bond more visibly on screen 😔- MMW

🌟 What canon themes would you wanna see in fics more? Which fanon ideas you would've loved to see in canon? And which not? :D Leave a comment or send us an opinion 🌟

Relevant recs:

Map of the World - Ian Gallagher knows a lot of geography. A very interesting canon compliant character study on Ian throughout the whole show.

Postcards From Mexico A combo of both my answers. Angst during Mickey’s time in Mexico told in a unique letter format.

As is often the case in conversation with the magnificent @gallavictorious, I’m left pondering when exactly it all went wrong.

Frank is inarguably, objectively a terrible person. He’s arrogant, entitled, dishonest, manipulative, irresponsible, and selfish. That’s not even mentioning his abysmal parental skills, which are seldom on display because, from the beginning of the show, he simply wasn’t around. And they liked it that way—it meant less chaos in an already mayhem-fueled environment. However, as awful as he is, it’s apparent at various points throughout the series that his kids have loved or felt some form of loyalty/attachment to him as much as they’ve hated him, even if grudgingly so. We know the process by which Debbie and Carl eventually wrote Frank off. We watched that happen in real time and know when he burned his final bridges of meaningful contact with them. We saw them accompany him to assist in various scams, often at his request and sometimes without the intent to use them for anything. They went to him for help, Debbie with babysitting and Carl with school. For as many times as Frank shrugged them off, there were others where he offered a wink and followed along, even if it was motivated by his own self-interest. During his “born again” phase, he stood up to a drug dealer and made sure he knew that coming for his family would not end well for him. His relationship with Liam has been playing out in similar ways, especially in the last two seasons.

This isn’t to say that Frank’s occasional moments of decency or genuine if misguided parenting can ever begin to balance his debt to his children or erase the neglect and outright abuse in some cases. But it makes me wonder...

When did it happen for Fiona, Lip, and Ian? At what point did “just enough” turn into “not enough”?

In s3, Fiona recounted the story of Frank buying drugs and being abandoned with Lip and a very sick Ian to take care of on her own. After Monica died, she reminded him of all the times Monica wasn’t there and how Fiona had to step up because he wouldn’t. But in s4, when Frank was delirious after his transplant, he apologized to “Fiona” for forgetting about her and Lip. He said he’d take her to Claire’s to get her ears pierced with a little waggle of his eyebrows. And it makes me wonder: was that why she was still taking care of him in earlier seasons? Why he was still welcome in the house until he hurt Ian and Jimmy dumped him in Canada? Even why she spent time with him when she was at her lowest in s9? Was the final bridge burned when he called to get the kids taken away from her and scattered into the system? Or did it come sooner and the tenuous tethers of their familial obligations simply held them together during convenient or necessary trials ever since?

Then there’s Lip, who definitely has a complex relationship with Frank similar to Ian’s with Monica. He followed Frank around to taunt him when he left the house; in his own very Lip way, he seemed to write him off without being too concerned about his behavior, except more egregious instances. Even in s2, when Frank and Monica spent the squirrel fund, it wasn’t Frank he seemed to be as angry at—it was Monica, and Fiona by connection since she wasn’t watching. But he still went out and had a good time with Frank when he graduated. He mentioned how he was so devastated when Frank tried to go sober before and let him down. Was that the moment and Lip was simply too irreverent and sarcastic at the time to shut that door with extreme prejudice? Was his version behaving in a superior manner or like he wasn’t worth the effort until Frank made genuine trouble? Was celebrating his graduation a form of reclaiming some of what he never had that time Frank sobered up: a father who was proud of his achievements, even if only for a day?

Ian has to be the most complicated of them all. In the pilot episode, he didn’t seem upset to say Frank hates him, but he did appear somewhat disappointed about it—or, perhaps, disappointed that he didn’t know why. For the most part, with the exception of his open trepidation when Frank turned on him in 1x02, Ian is consistently indifferent to Frank’s presence unless there’s reason to behave otherwise. He didn’t revel in the hijinks about or making fun of him after he returned from Canada, nor was he relieved to discover that he is, in fact, not Frank’s biological son. He joined the toast at the Alibi during Kev and V’s fake wedding, and he joined in the celebration when they successfully convinced those thugs that Frank was dead. He didn’t blow up at Frank’s indiscretions or missteps with the family to the extent that Fiona did, though. In fact, aside from hauling him to the yard or dumpster with Lip, trying to stop Frank and those drunks from going upstairs in s3, or grabbing the beer back in s2, we mostly don’t see him vehemently oppose Frank on his own until much later when he threatened to hit him with a baseball bat if he didn’t get out. (That may have precedence, though, since Frank said he never counts to three.) So, I wonder: did Ian even have the tiny moments with Frank that the rest of his siblings did at any point before the show’s narrative began? Was there ever talk of coming to one of his events at school or getting him a special treat to make up for something? He never really mentions it, which isn’t necessarily evidence one way or another as Ian is a very private person who doesn’t tend to speak a great deal about the past. Perhaps there was and he prefers not to dwell on it. Contrarily, perhaps all he has is a chat in a gay bar and Frank’s quasi-pep talk after he caught Ian with Mickey. And if the latter is true, then why was Ian so different? Fiona said he looks more like Monica than the rest of them, but what if she had it wrong? What if, even though Frank didn’t consciously know about Clayton and Monica, the fact that Ian looked so much like the brother he didn’t talk to anymore had him unconsciously pulling away? In that case, how would Ian feel if that hadn’t been the case—more like Lip or Fiona, or the same as always?

Something I’m very interested to see as we enter s11, especially with some of the summary information, is whether we’ll find out more about Frank’s history with the kids. I don’t expect it to happen and would be pleasantly surprised if it did, just as I don’t anticipate relationships to be fixed: they seem happy with what they have, the ups and the downs and the downright strange. That’s the most important part.

Nothing Frank does will ever make up for what he put his kids through, and I definitely believe that he is incapable of changing on a fundamental level as we’ve seen him try and ultimately fail long-term. Even so, I’m very curious about his relationship with Fiona, Lip, and Ian in particular.

gif set parallel request of these Debbie being a great sister scenes:

1)S8: Debbie confronts lip in the shower saying someone saw him passed out drunk on the L. she says “don’t fucking lie to me Lip” he promises to go to a meeting

2)S9 finale: debbie fights w/Carl. tells him he has to go back to school, then yells at kelly “you broke Carl’s heart”

3)S9 finale: Debbie’s in the house & says something like “I’m getting Liam, he’s coming home now” then goes to Liam’s friends house & convinces him to come home

4)s5: Debbie confronts Mickey about not visiting Ian & pretends to have a mental breakdown to try & get an RX for Ian

5)s9: Debbie finds Fiona all banged up from her hit & run. Takes care of her, tells Lip “I’ll take care of Ford, and does the whole billboard thing

okay well i’m glad i saw this set already posted elsewhere before i spent time making this. i’ve seen this happen a couple of times lately: please don’t send the same request to multiple people, especially if you’re not going to follow up after it gets made. that’s rude! i let you know i’d make it, so it would have been really decent of you to at least let me know someone already did. and they did an amazing job!! please be considerate of people’s time when you make requests.

I just realized what a weird dynamic the Gallagher house is rn with 2 parolees, Debbie on house arrest and Carl as a cop ?? 🤨🤨😂😂

lol true! i do actually wonder if they’re gonna pretend it’s all peachy, or if they’re gonna pull a carl-learns-about-how-cops-don’t-protect-people-like-his-family, especially liam who’s black and ian who’s mentally ill. i mean i don’t think that would really be particularly useful, but given their repeated clumsy attempts at political commentary that they had with the s9 voting storyline or the rapiest bar storyline or the one with anne and ICE or liam and the lemonade stand, it might happen. i guess we’ll see 😒

why do some people hate debbie’s job as a welder… like i’m genuinely curious she loves that job and is good at it and has found success thru it i don’t get not liking her as a welder

Debbie is so hot tho like

she’s soooo hot like ESPECIALLY in s9.......but also in s10 and 11 like hello <3

Hey how are you. I know its been awhile and you've been on hiatus. Your comments/tags about mental illness hit hard for me. I'm someone with severe anxiety disorders and depression. On top of that I also have ASD level 1 (previously called aspergers). I have a hard time knowing if people genuinely like me let alone if they love me and why they would. Ian's insecurities hit hard. Mickey I think despite the anger/hurt understands. He left the door open for Ian to come back ready to love.

Exactly. When it comes to their relationship, it’s important to really see what Mickey is saying between the lines: 

When you get over this whole "I'm not worthy of love" bullshit, why don't you give me a call? Maybe if Barry hasn't made an honest woman out of me, I'll still be around.

It’s harsh but he’s basically acknowledging Ian’s self-worth issues and stating that he’ll be there when Ian’s ready. Which is not to say that he would wait forever, but Ian wouldn’t let him anyway. He could have said “Go away and don’t come back, I’m tired of your bullshit” if that’s how he felt, Mickey isn’t one to beat around the bush to make his points clear. Instead he said “Why don’t you give me a call when you get over this?”. His tone was sarcastic and he was clearly hurt and he wanted Ian to know he was hurt and he was dismissive but he wasn’t shooting Ian down and definitely wasn’t ending things. The whole time I was thinking about 2x08:

What did I just say to you? Done is done. What, you think we're boyfriend and girlfriend here? You're nothing but a warm mouth to me. 

Here he wants Ian to be sure that there’s nothing between them anymore. He uses hurtful words (and we can argue that he didn’t really mean them but that’s not the point i’m trying to make), he drives the point across and leaves no hope for further discussion. Done is done. It’s over. It’s so over that Ian doesn’t visit him in juvie this time, It’s Mickey that has to take that step and rebuild the bridge, since the center of the issue in this break up was his fear of Terry. 

I’m not, in no way, blaming Mickey for fearing his father, at all! I’m just pointing out that it was up to him reach out that time, just like is up to Ian to reach out this time. But now things are much more complex. They’re not two teenagers hooking up in secret. They’re adults and their goal is to build a life together. So they have to address and work on their issues (Ian mainly) instead of going on like they always do, pretending nothing is/was ever wrong. 

About the mention of Ian’s self-worth issues: God, it’s a long time coming! They could have explored in S6, with his recovery. They could have done it in s7, with him “exploring” his sexuality. They could have done it in S8, connecting the gay Jesus bullshit with his need for validation. They could have done it in S9, while the kids were running around excited about the movement and he wasn’t feeling it anymore. They could have done it earlier this season, when they talked about the parole. But better later than never, I guess. And it hit HARD! I felt that like a punch! Every single word he said crossed my mind at some point of my life. That self-doubt? I’ve been living with it practically my whole life! That need for having someone else telling you what to do because you can’t trust your own decisions (”And Debbie told me to”)? Self-guessing (”I've decided. I'm gonna go do it. (...) You're just gonna let me go?”)? Sign me the fuck up! That’s me! That’s me right there on the screen! I never related to Ian so much like I did this episode. And that’s really fucking sad, when you stop to think about it. But this is out now, there’s no coming back from this. He can’t just pretend he didn’t say these things. So, the only choice now is to work on himself and get better. And feel better and get his man back. 

It might sound crazy, especially with Ian’s defeated face on our minds, but the end of episode feels almost hopeful to me. It’s an open door, like you said! To me, this episode (hell, maybe their whole relationship?) can be summed up in: 1) It’s NOT lack of love but Ian’s damaged self-image that keeps him guarded and 2) Mickey won’t give up on Ian. Even now, that he’s left Ian and is pretending to be with someone else, he’s not letting go of his redhead. And I think that’s beautiful. :)

Your favorite and least favorite season for all of the Gallaghers? (Including Mickey since he is now a Gallagher by marriage)

"Including Mickey since he is now a Gallagher by marriage"

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 (Sorry just had to gush about that first lol)

Frank:

Fave: Probably S1. That was the only time I found his character entertaining tbh

Least fave: Pretty much every season afterwards lmao. But special shout-out to S10. His screentime was especially grating and boring during that season.

Fiona:

Fave: S1. I completely fell in love with Fiona's character at the beginning. She was such a boss and I admired her strength in raising all her siblings on her own so much.

Least fave: S9 which is really sad since it was her last. I hated that a good chunk of her storyline was spiraling over basic ass Ford 😑 She deserved better.

Lip:

Fave: Hmmm.....maybe S7? Lip was one of the few characters who actually had pretty engaging storylines in the later seasons. His plot was sad but I remember it being the only one I was interested in lmao. I only cared about Ian's when Mickey showed up for those two episodes.

Least fave: S2. He was such a self righteous asshole during that season. And that whole storyline with him dropping out of school and being a dick to Fiona for no reason frustrated the fuck out of me.

Mickey:

Fave: S4. His character development during that season was so *chef's kiss*. And we got to finally see him break free from the trap he was forced into by his abusive father.

Least fave: I'm gonna go with S2, just because he was barely in it. Other than the very end of 10x08 Mickey has never really disappointed me as a character.

Ian:

Fave: S1. S1 Ian was a precious child who must be protected. He had such high hopes and dreams :(

Least fave: S8. As much as he pissed me off in S6 his storyline during that season (outside of the Mickey bashing and boring Caleb relationship) was actually pretty good. S8 though was just...a mess. I hated that the writers treated his mental illness like a plot device. And the whole chasing after Trevor shit? Barf.

Debbie:

Fave: S1. Again, S1 Debbie was a precious child who needs to be protected at all costs. (Ohhhhh what did they do to her lol)

Least Fave: Everything after S4 lol. She had her moments in S9 and S10 though.

Carl:

Fave: S7. He was just a sweetheart trying to get his life together. I know a lot of people love S6 Carl but I personally found him really obnoxious during that season even if his storyline was kind of intriguing.

Least fave: S10. Wtf were the writers even doing with him????

Liam:

I'm kind of indifferent to Liam for the most part so I don't really know. I do like that they made him his own character in S10 though.

if they truly are going with anais/sascha (which i don't think) it will be a ship of two cis skinny white girls compared to mayla who at least had one woc. what's the point in introducing new characters of colors (especially a gnc queer woman) like june if they're gonna be background characters? like it's either going to be about hugo/anais (both white skinny and most likely cishet and abled) or sascha/anais (not that diverse)

my fault for genuinely believing in mayla endgame and having a bit of trust in skamfr tbh

i am 1000% positive sascha/anais isn’t happening and that sascha is just supposed to be louise’s replacement (ditzy, “innocent”, blond best friend), and that we’ll actually get sascha & redouane tbh…both of them being very inexperienced in relationships? yeah

i am also 10000% positive that we’ll never see june again or even get a namedrop (that’d involve maya actually having screentime in s10 lmao), which is very frustrating for many many reasons but one of them being that now that’s debbie’s lowkey confirmed no s10 mayla endgame either, i’m pretty sure we’ll see them date other people with absolutely zero buildup (bc ofc, s10 isn’t their seasons). and i’d much rather june/maya be endgame, since they do have some buildup and are well matched, then see maya kiss random nameless background girl #1719202 in the s10 finale and that supposedly be her grand happy ending.

like. new characters are introduced as plot devices just for a single season all the time, but as you said, they’ve specifically introduced multiple qwoc (bc literally every single person maya went on a date with or kissed in s9, minus lola, was a woman of color; that feels deliberate), only to toss all that aside (both the characters and that casting approach) to set up a new squad who are entirely all white. i know redouane’s supposed to join them but it hasn’t happened yet and still lol that’s 1/5, pathetic.