#I love that people still make ocs for this fandom ^^

[nicheshameless]

Niche Shameless: Intro Post

The goal of this account is to share and promote the parts of Shameless US fandom that tend to get less love and focus. Both by hosting events and reblogging creations (art, fic, vids, gifs sets, meta, crafts, etc.).

I want to encourage people to create more things about the niche aspects of Shameless. And, in return, to make those creations easier to find so we can support creators with reblogs, likes, kudos, and comments.

As a bonus, I'm hoping this account makes it easier for followers to find others who love the same character, pairing, sibling duo, etc. There's nothing better than finding people with the same obsession so we can hype each other up!

What do you mean by "niche"?

Currently, that means everything other than Ian/Mickey* as a pairing.

There's a great variety of events in the fandom, but all of them are focused exclusively on Ian/Mickey. It's similar when you look at the fics posted under the Shameless US fandom on AO3: 91.9% are tagged with Ian/Mickey (yes, I did the math).

So, as a result, the "niche" side of fandom becomes everything else. I wanted a place to talk about those aspects of the show where they wouldn't get drowned out.

*This account will still have some Ian and Mickey, but the goal is to focus on them as characters (not as a couple), and on their other relationships. Those relationships can be sexual, romantic, or platonic. They can be canon or not. So if you have fanart you've been dying to share for Mickey/OC Mexican boyfriend, that's welcome here!

Can you give me some examples?

A non-exhaustive list of "niche" topics:

Gen (as in: not focused on a sexual or romantic relationship)

Friendships

Mentor & mentee

Familial relationships (found family included)

Canon ships

Non-canonical ships

Plot-focused works

other? Maybe you really love that rooster mug from the Gallagher's kitchen and want to make a gif set about it? (To be fair, it is very cute.)

Wait, so no Gallavich?

Not here, sorry.

But there's tons of fun events specifically for the pairing sprinkled throughout the year. @gallavichthings has a calendar up in their pinned post for easy access.

And on AO3, there's currently over 18000 fics for the pairing. If that's what you're looking for, there's plenty to enjoy. (Don't forget to leave kudos and a comment!)

I have more questions / something wasn't clear.

If you have questions: great! The ask box is open. Also, I'll try to put together a FAQ in the next week or so.

If anything was unclear, please let me know and I'll see if I can clarify in my answer and/or edit this post to make it easier to understand. Small disclaimer: English isn't my first language. If anything is unclear, or if I use run-on sentences, I'm sorry. I re-read this post at least a dozen times, but grammar was never my strong suit. I'd love if anyone else wanted to contribute to the admin of the blog, even if it's just beta-reading my posts so they're clear to English speakers.

💙 🐓 🥱

If you've read this far, thank you. Here's a cute photo of sleepy-morning-toussled Kev and that rooster mug as a reward.

[soulsmake]

I'm so excited for this event! Making friends in fandom spaces is so hard sometimes and the mods being so open that it's okay not to do anything but have a conversation is so sweet :D

Also mentioning that sonas were allowed?? Even better, I love my sona but I feel weird putting them in events that people never talk about them in. Even if a partner doesn't also have one, sometimes it's just nice to know that they are allowed

We’re really glad to hear you’re excited! I hope you’re able to find a partner who will talk sonas with you, sona stuff is so fun.

I don’t think I’ve told this story in detail yet, but this event was originally run in a small private discord server of about 50 members, a little under half of whom signed up to participate.

The origin of this event was that a lot of the creatives in this server work in pairs or trios, usually preferring the same partner, so the bit this event was founded out of was that we had to swap our normal “emotional support [artist/writer]” and try working with someone new.

It was made for a bunch of people who love making AUs with a friend to have an excuse to work with a different person than they usually do, in whatever capacity they felt up to doing that or in whatever way their schedule allowed them to. Fully a for-fun-and-friendship event, hence the pretty minimal requirements!

As for the OCs: Most people in there were Life Series (specifically renchanting/treebark) fans, but not everyone was still into Life Series, so I opened it to other fandoms and sonas/OCs to allow for those people to participate. I saw no reason not to keep that allowance when making the event public, especially since the range of interests of participants would be even larger!

(Speaking of sonas and OCs: The funniest part of the original run of this event is two of my friends used one of my OCs in their AU, and I think they wrote him better than I do. I don’t think I’ll ever recover from that)

[lutervania]

BULLY OC - C.C. I saw a bunch of these in the fandom and theyre so goated so i made a Bully oc Slash self insert too Yeauhhhh ❤️❤️ Kinda Lengthy Introduction to him below (template by jimothy-hopkins)

Hi this is C.C., or Cici, or or Sissy (via Gary)... Everyone knows his real name from the yearbook but he prefers to just shorten it to his initials.

Literally just a random ass guy. Born in New York, he had a pretty awesome life before coming to Bullworth. He grew up fairly well, but a split in his parent's marriage resulted him in moving to possibly his worst nightmare, a small town.

A really avid thrill seeker, though personality-wise he's very down to earth and doesn't have any real beef with any of the cliques regardless of what they think of him. Thinks the jocks are really annoying though (except Mandy <3). "Life is too short to care about that nonsense!"

Regardless, he does hold grudges if you piss him off even slightly. Cici is extremely particular about understanding people's motivations at first glance, so it can feel like walking on eggshells if he can't become quickly accustomed to how you act, talk, or your reasonings for interacting with him in the first place if he didn't initiate it first.

He won't go out of his way to ruin anyones' lives or whatever over it, but he'll definitely act more distant and "esoteric" than he already is.

Knows a lot about everyone and a lot of people know nothing about him. Not that he's a loner but he had decided that Maybe Bullworth Isn't The Best Place To Make Too Many Friends. ❤️

Considers himself to only be friends with Gary, Christy, Mandy, and Johnny. He'll always talk with anybody in class if possible, though. His archnemesis is boredom.

His red duffle jacket makes people see him from a mile away, so atleast he's known for something unique.

He's from the pre-Jimmy era... Him and Gary were 'close friends' before he eventually dropped out. He still doesn't know if Gary actually liked him or not, but it's was fun as shit anyways.

It was hard to see them not near eachother, their crafty personalities clicked a little too well (as well as their adhd diagnosis')!!! They had to stop hanging out constantly at school because Gary had told him they looked like homosexuals.

Having been around a multitude of greasers and Italian-Americans while growing up, he found himself immediately drawn to them all and they hit it off fairly quickly after he steadily convinced them that he's not as suspicious as many would assume.

He thinks too highly of himself as nobody thought of him as a threat in the first place anyways LOL.

Johnny Vincent specifically reminded him of Al Pacino, so he had an ENORMOUS crush on him that was never pursued.

Would be more friendly with the other factions if they made the effort to get to know eachother, but he honestly prefers to keep his distance from more insanity.

Despite this, he secretly admires like half the cast. He just loves messy people and how distinctive everyone is at this horrendous school. It's for very shallow reasons, though, such as simply liking how they style their hair or the tone of their voice.

This appreciation for others is never publically stated just so he can keep up his self-described "eccentric but unknown" reputation.

He only maintains said image not because he specifically wants people to like him, but to rather gain the benefits of others around him.

He's a free baller. If shit hits the fan and then someone he was chill with starts disliking him he Doesn't exactly care about the fact that they're not a fan of his character anymore. He Does care about losing another lifeline so this is why he prefers to keep the #PEACEANDLOVE.

If he wasn't associated with Gary and the greasers, he'd be considered a nerd more than anything. Really into pop culture all around, especially movies and anime. Makes references literally no one understands all the time.

Fun Facts..... Aka me just talking more Sorryyyy:

He's Colombian and Salvadoran. Does not know a lick of Spanish but he's very intertwined with his culture. (ESPECIALLY THE FOOD!!!!!!)

Biggest Anglophile ever. Without England he would be dead. He basically snatched his entire wardrobe from what he saw in British media.

Into indie/garage rock and digital hardcore (or just edm in general). On the side of Oasis during the Britpop War. Other bands he likes include Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys (their 2004 demos changed his entire life), Bloc Party, The Velvet Underground, The London Suede, etc

Interested in science, specifically biology and psychology, so observing Gary and the rest of the school was crazy entertaining for him. Also very invested in the mafia (which is understandable considering where he grew up).

Artist but doesn't show anybody what he draws even though it's not all that in the first place.

(Playfully) teases the hell out of everyone he knows about the randomest things. You stutter once and it's Over. None of them like it but it Could be worse considering it's Bullworth Academy.

GAMBLING ADDICTION

Outside of that, he practices abstinence. Someone has to be the designated driver even if that someone doesn't have a license. ❤️

He's the bisexual that eats hot chip and lies

Voiceclaim is Julian Casablancas (adjacent) from The Strokes.... Specifically during 2001-2006.....

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR I Hope you enjoy my annoying guy Lol...

[baconcolacan]

this is him!! Also my friend did some simp art of him lmao

OH ZAMN 👁👁 Haha he’s looking good!

[tinyfantasminha]

I don't want to keep clogging my blog with vent posts but uh... I guess this is a more general concern/observation

But it's getting real hard to stay motivated in fandom spaces when there's little compensation, and annoying occurrences are more frequent than good ones.

Mainly there's been less engagement/people showing interest in creators and their art (such as sending asks, making comments and reblogging with tags) and MORE parasocial interactions. This goes for both artists and writers.

Over this year I've noticed a vast disinterest within my public in general. Asks about ocs, my art, or just nice simple comments of ''I love your art'' has been getting more and more scarce. My follower number is bigger than 2-3 years ago sure and I get more likes on my posts but they are feeling more like just numbers and statistics than actual people who supposedly like my stuff.

And while people being parasocial with creators has always been a thing, I feel like it's gotten way worse... in general? People sending personal pictures out of the blue in hopes of being validated, unwanted psychological advice or assumptions about the creator without any established connection first ( <- these happened to me in the same week.) ventdump, just insensitive/lacking of common sense comments in general, unreasonable demands (mostly with writers)... I wondered at first if it was just me, but a handful of mutuals/acquaintances who are artists and writers seems to be going through it as well.

It's annoying. It's tough. It's getting exhausting. Creators pour so much of themselves into their work—countless hours, effort, and passion, all to share something meaningful or entertaining with others (and for FREE) The LEAST anyone can do is show respect, even if opinions differ. When a writer posts a fanfic, don't just say ''omg post next chapter!'', when an artist posts a drawing of their favorite character, don't just say ''omg draw (character) next!'' as if they're faceless content machines that are expected to churn out more '''content''' for you without acknowledgment, encouragement, or appreciation.

''I want to support creators but I don't know what to say and I feel intimidated by their talent so I just lurk silently :((('' I swear to you, no creator (at least not the majority) is making up an intimidating persona to discourage you from interacting with them. They WANT your comments. A single ''I love your art/writing/videos'' or even something as silly as ''I want to eat your art'' is enough to keep a creator sighing dreamily for WEEKS. It doesn't have to be deep! It's heartfelt and that's what it matters!! (Just remember to keep it relevant and thoughtful... It takes just a bit of common sense NOT to comment things like ''this looks like (another character)'' or ''this but with (another unrelated ship/character/show)''. No one wants to hear comparisons or unrelated ideas when they’ve poured their soul into something.)

In fact, the ''I like your art but I think you're intimidating'' feels more hurtful than flattering. It makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong, acting wrong. 💀

If you love that fanfic that changed your brain psyche forever and want to gush about it, go tell the writer. If you loved so much a piece of art that you saved it a million times in your phone and can't stop thinking about it, go tell the artist. Push away the ''they probably won't care about my comment/it won't make a difference'' thoughts. DO IT NOW. You won't know when they might go inactive forever or deactivate. You can't know if that is the last piece they will ever post. Make sure you show appreciation to creators NOW, while they are still here. While they're still not being replaced by AI.

[gilly-moon]

20, 25, 30 for the artist ask!

~harley<3

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

HANDS ♡♡♡ i could draw pages and pages of hands i love drawing them. i am the opposite of the 'hands behind their back' artist i have to remind myself when a hand probably wouldn't be visible or doesn't need to be visible cause i just wanna draw them so bad

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

i'm not sure actually 🤔 most of the comparisons i've heard are after i've revealed an interest of mine, and people admitting they picked up on that from my style. i'd be curious to hear from anyone - what does my style remind you of?

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

hmm, probably this one of Comet. most of my posts get exactly the kind of interaction i expect (or more if im lucky!) but i really wish my starry amputee hospital boy had taken off a bit more :')

[forestlovesyou]

I got hit by a huge wave of nostalgia and fell back into the Undertale rabbithole and I just couldn't resist the urge to make a Handplates skeleton lore accurate oc who I am pretty proud of ngl :] adawd

[shattered-eluvian]

man... I love dragon age.

[ninjasmudge]

i know you said previously that you discontinued the bone king au, and fell out of the lmk fandom. does it upset you if others use your AUs? or do you encourage it?

as long as ppl are respectful and dont completely change the core themes of the aus, i dont mind if people want to do art or write or anything for them! a lot of them are still pretty fun concepts so i definalty dont mind

[ismyteadoneyet]

How fortunate am I to have so many Things to love and be excited about, to appreciate and look forward to?

Things I feel so strongly about that they stumble into my mind, univited, at random times of the day? Things that spill into my speech and vocabulary without me noticing? Things that impact my vision to the point where everywhere I look, everywhere I go, I see ghosts of them?

How lucky am I to have so many Things I love and cherish enough for them to reshape my very person, change my beliefs and make me grow? Things that make my own loved ones see the Things out in the wild, and go out of their way to make sure I see them too?

How wonderful is it that I have Things that I love so much that the very act is deemed and dubbed "not normal", making my love for them seem like it's more than they are supposed to recieve? An out-of-the-ordinary and above-the-norm appreciation for the Things that make the people around me shake their heads, call me "silly".

My dear, beloved Things, may I always stay silly for you ❤️

[citrsworld]

Happy birthday ritsuka uenoyama the entirety of given DOSENT DESERVE U AT ALL

[vaniliens]

I havent been looking through the ft tag in a while (Years) bc i swear the only thing in that tag is people talking about what FT couldve been & like thats cool & all but i Am getting kinda tired of seeing exclusively headcanon posts in between people complaining about the same stuff for the 777th time yk

[shadow-travel]

there is a very fine line between pointing out ways nico could be written better/things the books swept under the rug or the fandom gets wrong, and going so overboard with headcanoning, rewriting, overanalysis, and overcorrection in the name of being "right" before he just turns into someone else entirely. you have to be sort of careful

i think some people on here like to project on to him and/or make him into someone he's not. you try so hard not to mischaracterize that you just end up with another mischaracterization, but this time you're also being pretentious and annoying about it so it's like almost a little worse

[kellystar321]

.

[bambiraptorx]

rip to all of my ocs who have been abandoned to the sands of time (never existed outside of my brain so there's nothing to reference about them except my own fallible memory)

[s2pdoktopus]

Omg I hate to say this but I really love Meihua