acethetically-bway - Tumblr blog

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begging people to stop pitting Fiona and Debbie against each other plssss they are sisters they fight with each other in ways they’ll fight with no one else but they love each other more than anything else that’s what sisters are like

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they’re my big three ❤️

alt versions^

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the need to talk about the characters vs the fear that all of my analysis is just empty prose and surface level understanding

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the “pleasure to have in class” to overly active tumblr user pipeline

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It sucks that most Fiona fans hate Debbie and most Debbie fans hate Fiona because they’ve lowkey become my favorite Gallagher sibling dynamic. Idk. I just love messiness and complexities

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“fiona abandoned liam” y’all do realize the only reason liam didn’t go with her was so liam as a character could stay on the show and not be unnecessarily written off solely bc emmy wanted to leave right? right???

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Favourite character meme • 1/6 scenes: Lazarus

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So you know you're beautiful stunning gorgeous incredible impeccable fic where fiona dearest into a toddler?

How about, how about! She deages into a teen!!!!

And like it's so much worse for them

Because they see the Fiona who always seemed larger than life is actually just a fucking child. Lip wants to turn around and yell only to come to face to face with a child and realise that she shouldn't even be here and that she should be away from all this mess

They all see how smart, how beautiful, how handy she is and they all wanna cry because their big sister could have gone so far had it not been for Monica and frank

OMG this is such a devastating idea!!! putting all my thoughts about this amazing idea under the cut because they got too long lol

the kids seeing fiona at thirteen, tiny and wide-eyed and determined, just a little girl really, off to the first of her three shitty after-school jobs … when at her age they were playing in the pool, hanging out with their friends, crawling into her bed at night when they couldn’t sleep.

fiona at fourteen, when monica came back for a month or two, waking up at five every morning to run for track, acing all her classes, wearing lip gloss that doesn’t suit her and writing in her diary because she’s trying to learn how to be a kid. the kids realizing that she only got to have this for a few short weeks before their parents left and reality set back in.

fiona at sixteen, pale and skinny and exhausted, a high school dropout juggling four jobs to keep the kids fed and warm and cared for. crying in the bathroom for a minute before one of the kids needs her help in the living room so she puts on a brave face and a smile and heads back out.

lip yelling at fiona for something and then freezing when he realizes she’s only a little girl pretending to be brave, wide-eyed and shaking. remembering how she used to be his whole world, all-powerful and braver than anything, when really she was so damn terrified and so damn small.

debbie getting upset when fiona reads her stuff about wanting to lose her virginity without deb’s permission, only to feel sick to her stomach when fiona reveals she’s been having sex with older people since she was a middle schooler, and that everything she saw her big sister do growing up wasn’t meant to be idolized at all, but were the results of a deeply traumatic upbringing.

UGH this is so sad … i must resist the urge to write this as a short spin-off lest it consume me …

thank you so much for the ask!!!

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lip, fiona, and frank: refractions, not reflections

writing this because i think people talk a lot about lip and fiona 'turning into' frank as the seasons go on because they inherit his alcoholism, yet that doesn't really capture the exact nature of their character arcs and isn't entirely fair to them as individuals.

i personally think the fact that they inherit his addiction issues make their stories so interesting because alcoholism doesn't manifest in their characters/story arcs the same way it does in frank's. also, the fact that they actually want to recover (and do!) makes them so fundamentally different from him that it's astounding.

not saying that they don't inherit frank's anger, or his cleverness, or etc., but i don't think their inheritance of his alcoholism is a 1-to-1 comparison and that's narratively important!!! (restricting my english major analysis to under the cut).

frank, notably, drinks and does drugs throughout the show because, as he claims, it’s his way of life; getting out of his mind and partying is what makes him happy. it gives him purpose in life. it numbs the pain. he could recover if he wanted to (like in season one), but his sense of self is so tied up with his addiction that doing so would mean killing the version of himself frank likes best. booze was his first love; he’ll never leave it. and he’s passed it on to his children.

lip

i think lip’s alcoholism arc was so poignant and painfully realistic in the show. him talking about how he started drinking at 12 (influenced by frank, it’s easy to presume) to numb the pain of his fucked up life was just heartbreaking, and him getting drunk with frank in season two when he feels aimless and scared and lost after graduating high school was like a punch to the gut. it’s clear that his addiction comes not just from a place of wanting to fit in and being socialized into thinking it’s normal and fine by his father and neighborhood, but also out of a desire for relief.

the first time he gets help, he treats it like a joke. like his father, he doesn’t believe in aa, pokes fun at the 12-step program, rations his chips so he can continue drinking. he’s in denial about his problem, which is chilling to see.

the scene where he’s in the bar downing vodka in the middle of the day and kev confronts him for dropping out of college by saying “that’s where your father sits every day” is so painful. because frank was in college, too, before his crazy relationship and his addictions and self sabotage derailed his life, and lip could go the exact same way.

and lip is still convinced he’s fine. it’s reminiscent of frank’s assertions that he doesn’t have a problem, that he could stop anytime, that everyone’s making a big deal out of nothing. neither he nor lip are fooling anyone.

but what distinguishes lip's addiction from frank's is that lip doesn’t just drink because he likes it and the person it makes him; he starts to not, actually, like the person it makes him. it's just tgat his life is falling apart around him. he’s stressed from college (where he feels he doesn't belong), from helène (who doesn't want him), from youens (who he desperately wants to please). he gets sloshed at parties to let loose and have fun and just forget about everything for once and escape.

the main difference between them is that escapism; lip doesn't necessarily enjoy being drunk, he just does it to feel good, to party, to just let go and leave his shitty life and choices behind. but notably, he isn't satisfied with escapism or empty fun the way frank is; he wants more. he knows he and the people around him deserve more.

the second time he gets help, it’s because his eyes have been opened to his problem. frank, of all people, calls him out. things with sierra go to shit. and he knows he needs help for real this time. it’s not easy; he struggles, is lost in terms of career and education and relationships for a bit, and he relapses sometimes. but he fights it because he doesn’t want to be like his father.

really, frank led lip down the path of addiction in the first place, and not wanting to continue down that path is what makes him want to get better.

fiona

fiona’s shown drinking pretty regularly throughout the show, as well as doing drugs in s4, but her alcoholism doesn’t hit a peak and come to the forefront of her issues until her life goes to complete shit in s9.

her boyfriend betrays her. she loses her job and her apartment complex. her attempts to make money all go down the drain. her dreams are shattered. no one in her family needs her anymore (something she's built her entire identity on, which leaves her completely unmoored). so she goes to the alibi every night and gets hammered because she’s lost and needs to forget. which is all too familiar...

but what’s interesting is that frank actually confronts her about being a “bad drunk.” he expresses again that he enjoys drinking, has fun with it, takes it slow and has a good time, but accuses fiona of not knowing when to stop. this is true. frank’s alcoholism is his way of life, but fiona’s is a cry for help. it is self destructive at its core.

fiona drinks to forget, sure, but she doesn't drink to have fun or feel good or loosen up enough to party; she's still miserable the entire time she's drunk and intentionally goes far enough to black out every night. she's seeking escape, too, but not just from the world; fiona drinks because she's so deep in her own self-loathing she wants to get away from herself. she wants to destroy herself.

and she's in denial about it, too! she doesn’t realize she has a true problem until she almost gets robbed or potentially hurt by some guys at patsy’s. she doesn’t seek help until lip kicks her out - which is a whole other issue - and it’s then that she realizes she needs help.

but unlike lip, who has support in his recovery from his family and friends, fiona’s alone. her family isn’t understanding; they give up on her in the name of “tough love.” she’s on her own. but she does it.

and it makes her realize she doesn’t have to stick around and feel useless and sad. it's not the person she has to be, not anymore. getting sober made her realize her potential - and what she needed to do to reach it. it made her realize she could leave. getting sober made her free.

in conclusion

it's perfectly fair to say fiona and lip inherit some of frank's qualities due to their abuse/neglect/parentification/etc at his hands, as well as their poor coping mechanisms for their shitshow of a life. but their relationship with alcohol - and recovery - are fundamentally different.

ultimately, the fact that they choose recovery at all is the biggest indicator of their difference from him. because frank only ever recovers for money or for a dare; never for the things that matter, like his health or his children. fiona and lip, however, care about their family and friends and don't want to hurt them. they want to be better individuals. they want to learn how.

their desire to do good, when compared to frank's utter disregard for the world around him, is truly at the crux of their identities and makes them, honestly, leagues better than their father.

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no but when Fiona says “these poor kids” when she’s cleaning up Monica’s blood. poor YOU too Fiona you’re her daughter too

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istg those “they both reached for the gun” edits are gonna be the death of me i just saw one with fiona and lip and the gun was LIAM oh i’m never recovering

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part 3 of shameless in the sims!! so sorry it’s been a minute, the new update wrecked my game for a bit so i got really unmotivated to play but we’re back now!

i played as the milkoviches for a little bit and when i came back to the gallaghers i found frank high out of his mind on pills coke AND weed simultaneously (the coke and weed make sense but i have no idea what kind of pills or where he got them).

monica was also high on coke and xanax (again, not a clue where she got the xanax) and yet still tried to *breastfeed* liam

debbie has slept probably about 4 hours in the last 2 days because she keeps having nightmares and seeing monsters poor girl :(

fiona owns a ✨strip club✨ now woooo and we’re making literally triple what she makes as a fast food worker this is the best decision i’ve ever made

one of frank’s clients is the bartender there which is kinda iconic ngl

ian and frank somehow got trapped UNDER THE STAIRS?

fiona got herself a hookup partner and i’m debating making things messy and seeing if i can hire him to work at the club

monica went on a baking binge while i was at fiona’s club and made 3 separate white cakes all at once

mickey likes to just,,,show up at the gallagher house and then immediately leave every time i try to get ian to do any sort of physical intimacy with him

lip and ian are both doing terribly in school and getting stoned with their friends all the time so that’s super fun

frank got one of his client’s teenage daughters addicted to coke and weed because her mom refused to buy coke when she literally invited frank to her house TO BUY COKE FROM HIM (oh btw frank sells weed now too did i mention that)

honestly not too much to say about carl besides the fact that he’s sad all the time and refuses to go piss or shower unless i force him to. literally he has voluntarily pissed himself twice

part 4 anyone?? also i promise i’ll play as the milkoviches more soon, lately my game has decided to just always load infinitely whenever i try to switch back to the milkovich household and ONLY the milkovich household soooo thanks EA :/

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don’t kill me but fiona gallagher core

(source: @/beesarefluffy on tiktok)

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So I really really wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to write a fic about Fiona and the Al-Anon questionnaire…

It’s multichap which I haven’t done since like 2020 AND I even double posted a prologue and the first actual chapter, so y’all know I’m serious.

Hope you enjoy!!

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when Fiona cries and ACTUALLY cries and there's no music just her sobs and the camera follows her around it just gets a bit too real

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