#but debbie only ever had nice things to say about svetlana

[hayscodings]

debbie is the only character in the entire series who never looked down on svetlana for her work or called her by some derogatory name

[casually-slips-into-coma]

An Essay (sort of) Explaining the Many Grievances I Have With Debbie Gallagher

Once again, Debbie is the fucking worst.

I’ve been wanting to write out my feelings towards her character for a fucking minute now just so that I have a full concise list. Now, I can talk about how Debbie has a constant need for attention, or how her character has become someone unrecognizable in the past few seasons, or how she’s a terrible mother, but what I really want to focus on is the center of my issues with her: her sexuality. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t about to be a homophobic rant or anything. I just think her queer development has been written terribly and that should be addressed.

Too often I see people praising queer characters or relationships based solely on the fact that they are queer, and as a member of the community, I get it. I am also starved for representation. This, however, does not mean I’m going to settle for annoying, poorly written characters.

Why Make Debbie Queer?

The first thing I want to address is why suddenly develop a WLW storyline for her. Given that Debbie started as a little girl on the show, this gives the writers a lot of opportunity to give a character like that interesting storylines because she does not yet have a solid personality. It gives writers the liberty to take her story anywhere they want to without the constraints of established character because she, as a person, is still developing into adulthood. The show runners unfortunately dropped the ball with this.

From season 4 and onwards was when Debbie began showing interest in dating, sex, and romance having just turned the corner to puberty. From then up until season 9, she has shown exclusive interest in men. It isn’t until Alex the welder that Debbie deviates from this path. Alex is portrayed as a stud who confuses Debbie. I am inclined to believe that Debbie was originally attracted to her because she was masculine and therefore close enough to the people Debbie had previous experience with.

This arc was treated very much as Debbie experimenting with her sexuality, something that Alex also ends up realizing after Debbie tells her that having sex with a girl is “not that bad” and “like having sex with yourself” (S9E4). Once this storyline wrapped up (with Debbie shouting “you make me want cock again”) the writers powered through, adamant about Debbie now being a lesbian.

I have two theories as to why they’ve been fighting so hard for her queerness.

1) This was around the time that Cam was leaving Shameless. This obviously didn’t end up happening, but I was under the impression that the writers were freaking out at losing their token gay character and needed to fill that position. When Cam ended up staying, they were stuck with a queer Debbie storyline and decided to just go with it.

2) Shameless was planning on doing a WLW storyline regardless of Cam’s choice to leave and were originally going to give it to Fiona and her lesbian tenant that she had a close relationship and a lot of chemistry with, but Emmy Rossum wanted to move on from Shameless, and so they pivoted and gave the arc to Debbie, a character that was not supposed to be moved in that direction and so her new sexuality seemingly came out of nowhere. Fiona as a bisexual character would have made sense. Debbie still does not.

Shameless’s Awkward Relationship With Bisexuality

One of the biggest issues I have with Debbie is her insistence on being a lesbian. Lesbianism doesn’t come out of nowhere. Bisexuality, however, can. When you grow up being told that you are supposed to feel attraction to men, and you genuinely do feel attraction to men (which Debbie has expressed in past seasons/episodes) it’s easy to ignore your attraction to women and write it off as something that either isn’t a big deal, or something that isn’t there. It’s a lot more confusing than being strictly at one end of the spectrum. It would have been so much more believable if they had simply made Debbie bisexual. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t because the show has a history with bi erasure.

Bisexuality has been treated badly all throughout Shameless, used as a vengeful plot device back in the earlier seasons where Monica was only ever with women when unmedicated. Then in Season 7 when Ian’s boyfriend Caleb cheated on him with a woman (enforcing the stereotype of bisexuals being unfaithful) Ian, possibly acting out of anger or ignorance, said things like “only women are bisexual. When a man says he’s bisexual he’s really just gay”. The only semi positive bisexual representation on the show was Svetlana and Vee when they were in a poly relationship with Kev (though I also think that storyline wasn’t handled as well as it could’ve been).

This fight against the bisexual label in media is not a new one but it is also a harmful stance to take when writing a sexually fluid character. Debbie declaring that she is, in fact, a lesbian after waxing poetic about how Matty had a big dick and Derek had a great body and knew what he was doing is not the way to go. 

You could argue that Debbie, like many other queer women, is an unfortunate victim of compulsory heterosexuality, but frankly I don’t think the writers are well versed enough in queer theory for that to be a possibility.

Debbie as The White Feminist

Debbie is the pinnacle of white feminism. It’s an unfortunate thought that has occurred to me a few times throughout the show. She talks a big game as a man hater and someone after the equal treatment of women but she herself participates in a lot of problematic and anti feminist behavior.

For one, she r*ped Matty back in season 5 when he was blacked out and unconscious. This was a point in the story that was glossed over and one where she suffered no repercussions other than Matty no longer wanting to be around her. It was explained in the show that Debbie didn’t realize what she did was wrong until after she was explicitly told so because she was maybe 14 when it happened (not 100% on the age Shameless is very inconsistent about timelines). It was treated as somewhat of a punchline, something that Shameless has unfortunately done more than once when referring to male sexual assault (Mickey’s r*pe, Liam in season 10 ((i think??)) and in this latest season, Carl) but that is a different topic. 

There was also the time in which she lied to her boyfriend about being on birth control so she could trap him into a relationship with pregnancy (which also counts as r*pe!!) Good on Derek for getting out of that.

Debbie has also been pro-life in the past. Now I understand this was when Fiona was pressuring her into aborting her pregnancy, and as a pro choicer myself, I believe that Debbie was fully in her right to have bodily autonomy and go through with the pregnancy. This isn’t where the issue lies. It’s when Fiona finds out that she too is pregnant and tells Debbie that she wants an abortion that Debbie accuses her of “killing her baby”. Again, her behavior could be explained by her age given that Debbie was still a young teen during this time.

When her actions as a White Feminist become less excusable is mostly in the latest season. Her relationship with Sandy is one that I’m not really happy with because Debbie doesn’t deserve her.

Recently, it has been revealed that Sandy is actually married to a man and has a son. It’s explained that she was basically married off against her will at the age of 15 to a man twice her age. This implies that the product of the marriage, her son, was most likely conceived through dubious consent (or worse) at the hands of an adult when she was just a kid. Just because Debbie thinks that Sandy’s husband “seems nice” does not give her the right to try and make a victim of grooming feel bad about not wanting to be with her abuser. While I understand that Sandy’s son has no fault in how he came into the world, I’m still gonna side with Sandy when it comes to having to take care of a child she didn’t want and who is most likely a source of trauma for her. It’s not difficult to sympathize with Sandy and see that she’s clearly gone through something fucked up and Debbie, despite claiming to love and support her, AND despite her dumb white feminist arc about wanting equal pay and all that jazz, turns her back on the girls supporting girls aspect of feminism.

This isn’t even mentioning how shitty it was to just leave Franny by herself and assume that one of her siblings would take her to school and pick her up and stuff as if they don’t all have separate lives. She talks a lot about being a good mother but decided to “let off some steam” by fucking off to a gay bar to get loaded on coke and fuck a gay man (which wtf thats not a thing that really happens with casual coke but whatever I guess). Once she realized she fucked up, instead of taking responsibility she decided to paint herself as the victim as well as spew offensive bullshit about how she “probably has AIDS now” because of her sexual encounter with a gay man. No lesbian in their right fucking mind would ever say that because as members of the LGBTQ+ community, you are at least a tiny bit informed as to how devastating and tragic the AIDS crisis was for queer people.

(I also have an issue with how Debbie capitalized on her felony as a sex offender and her sexuality to start her Hot Lesbian Convict business but I think that’s enough said.)

Blame the writers

The show got almost an entirely new cast of writers after season 7 which is why the show feels more like a sitcom with low stakes and no consequences rather than a drama, but if there is a queer writer on the team it’s not very evident. Even the better half of the queer relationship story, Ian and Mickey, I don’t feel has really been done justice since the change in writers. It’s just become painfully obvious that the actress is a straight girl playing a gay character (not to mention I have never seen any chemistry between her and all of her female love interests). I don’t fault Emma Kenney (the actress) for this. I actually really like her as a person and I like the videos she makes about the cast and such, and I think she does her best with the script she’s given. My complaints with Debbie are targeted entirely towards the writers.

This brings me to my final point. I need them to let Debbie be alone. Her whole thing for the second half of the season has been that she clearly has abandonment issues and is afraid of being alone. It’s why she’s so adamant about keeping the house and fighting with Lip about it (I’m actually on Debbie’s side for that one but that’s besides the point). They had her and Sandy break up which leaves Debbie to spiral further into her loneliness. From a writing point of view, it makes sense to take this opportunity to give her an arc in which she can overcome that and feel comfortable with herself so that she can move on as an adult instead of jumping into a new relationship. This is especially true since this is quite literally the last season ever of the show and any character development needs to be wrapped up. Introducing a new character out of nowhere does not give the viewers enough time to actually get invested in the new relationship. It’s also unfair to Debbie’s character because her arc is going to feel incomplete.

Anyway,,,,,,uuuhhhhh,,,,,feel free to add on if u want lmao

[gallavictorious]

How do you think the conversation went when Mickey slept in Ian’s bed for the first time in s4? Maybe just a late night and Mickey passed out? Or the hard floor was just too uncomfortable. That seemed like a drastic decision because it made Carl instantly ask if it meant Ian and Mickey might be in love. Like Carl went straight to the idea of love so he must have noticed they were in a relationship before seeing Mickey sleeping in Ian’s bed. It kind of confirmed for the gallaghers something was going on between them.

I had such fun thinking about this, nonnie, so thank you so much for this delightful ask! <3 <3 <3 (It also “forced” me to re-watch their season 4 Gallagher house scenes, and that is never, ever a hardship. XD) In the end, this is probably one of those situations where I could see it go any of several ways and I don’t actually have a firm headcanon about it. But as far as possibilities go, I’m reasonably fond of this fairly understated version:

After they suck dick and make up there's no more talk about Ian going back with Mickey to the Milkovich house. They both realize that not sharing a home with Mickey's very pregnant and threatening wife is probably a good idea – plus Ian's siblings might well have a bunch of questions about it if they do and while Ian's ready and willing to answer them, Mickey... is not. So he crashes on the the floor and Lip's not thrilled but no one else gives much of a damn because they're well used to all sorts of people coming and going; friends, relatives, partners, whoever Frank dragged home... It's no biggie. Mickey helps with money and stuff, and is no more annoying than anyone else they know.

Ian and Mickey sneak kisses and blow each other and bang whenever they get the chance, and hang out and chat and banter whenever they don't. At night Ian climbs into his bed, and Mickey gets as comfortable as he can on the floor. They don't talk about Svetlana or the baby or the status of their relationship, but that's okay (for a while). They've been seperated for too long; for now they'll take whatever they can of touches and time together, and be glad of it.

And they are glad; Mickey is, and Ian is, too.

Only...

Only there was that night at the loft party, the one that ended with Ian and Mickey falling asleep next to each other on a pull-out couch because Mickey was drunk enough and tired enough that he didn't protest when Ian said that they should stay because everyone else is, that's how Ryan's parties usually go actually, 'sides it's fucking cold outside, Mick, and look, the couch pulls out, it's really comfortable, I swear, I've slept on it before, c'mon.

It was only the second time they've ever shared a bed, and even though they barely even touched Ian can't quite stop thinking about it; how nice it was, and how he'd like to do it again, and do it properly. (And yeah, of course Mickey's thinking about it too, but he doesn't allow himself to linger on it; he's never been as quick as Ian to entertain notions of what could be and what would be really fucking awesome if.)

But then there's another night, a day or a week or two later. Ian's been working, Mickey's been watching Ian work, and it's late when they stumble through the front door. Liam and Carl are fast asleep in their beds, soundly enough that our boys dare go for a quick, quiet round of rolling in the sheets. (I mean, they obviously had sex at whatever halfway private spot they could find at the club once Ian finished his shift, but they're young and horny and very much in love and that was like half an hour ago, so.)

Once they're done and have taken a moment or two to recover and maybe bask just a little, Mickey sits up, ready to climb out of bed. Ian is still on his back, but his eyes follow Mickey's every move.

On an impulse, he says: ”You don't have to sleep on the floor, you know.”

Mickey's eyesbrows rise dramatically as he glances back at Ian. ”Yeah? What about your siblings, huh? Don't think they gonna fucking wonder if they find us spooning in the morning?”

They already know, Ian doesn’t say, even though it's true. They know, or they suspect – but that’s another thing that can’t be talked about. Plausible deniability. So important to Mickey, still, and Ian can't deny him that, not yet (though there's a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that he's sick and tired of living a fucking lie, and that voice is growing louder by the day).

“They won’t give a fuck,” he says instead, and that too is true. Fiona would have asked once, but now she’s busy with her own shit; Debbie too, and Liam’s too young and Lip already knows. Carl… well, who the fuck knows about Carl. ”If they ask, we'll just tell them you have a bad back.”

It's a shit excuse, and they both know it. But it is an excuse, and maybe that's all that they need; all Mickey needs.

Still, he looks away. ”Your bed's fucking tiny, man.”

Getting up on one elbow, Ian catches his eye; stares him right in it. ”Guess we gonna have to get pretty close then.”

Mickey's lips twist and Ian knows him well enough to know that it's not disgust or reluctance; it's Mickey struggling with the idea of how much he wants this – how good the idea of getting close sounds to him. Also, it's Mickey reacting to the challenge in Ian's voice, because he's always been shit at backing down from those – which Ian damned well knows; it's not like he said what he said by accident.

”Fuck you,” Mickey says at length. He, too, knows what Ian is doing. Still, he doesn't move to get back on the floor; he simply leans down to grab the pillow and his blanket, and then shuffles to lie down next to Ian, on his side and with his back turned towards the other boy.

Because of that, he can't see the way Ian's face lights up with a smile that is equal parts awed and triumphant and soft as he slowly eases back down onto the mattress, shuffling back a little to make room.

Ian doesn't wrap his arms around Mickey; he doesn't press a kiss to his neck; they don't quite spoon. (They won't, not until a night not very far from now, when they're both bloody and broken and so very, very happy.) But they're there, together, sharing space and sharing heat, and though they don't cling to one other, they still touch; the bed really is too small to allow for anything else – and they are both thankful for it.

---

If anyone reading this has other ideas, I would really, really love to hear them, so please don’t be shy about sharing (or about reccing me fic or meta that deal with this issue)!

[loftec]

what do u think about the new episode? because i personally fucking hate it :) i hate shameless, the only thing i care about right now is fic 😔

Same, my friend. I have been thinking about what to say or not to say about this for over a week and every time I've sat down to just type something out, I haven't been able to articulate anything. But I have so much to say, so I will try.

Now, if you (reading this, right now) are one of the lucky peeps who like this season and what it's got going for Ian and Mickey, so far... then maybe skip this rant. I honestly don't want to drag you down with my criticism. It's so ok to peacefully enjoy something without having to listen to people being crabby about the thing you love. Pax vobiscum.

That said.

(Crabby rant under cut.)

But if you're like me, kinda hurt and let down for the very last time, please stay a while. I'll tell you why I'm like this, and why I'm no longer angry, just disappointed.

Here's the thing, the first episode wasn’t any fun for me, but I quite enjoyed the second! It was the kind of low-stakes close-knit family stuff I want from a Shameless episode. Literally all they have to do to keep me happy is cram a bunch of Gallaghers into a kitchen and let them talk to each other for five minutes. I'm very easy to please. I like Sandy, I like what she does for Debbie's character. I like Tami, I like that Lip seems a lot happier. I like Liam, someone please take care of the boy. I like that Carl has a goal, and that he's all grown up. I like that Ian and Mickey are married and that they're a part of this family again. It’s a nice vibe, we’re having a party for Franny and it’s not perfect, but we learned something and we’re having fun. It’s fine.

On the whole, it’s nice. But for someone whose main priority is Ian and his significant other, it’s the same old bullshit all over again.

In seasons 1-5, I'm pretty sure Ian and Mickey only had like three conversations with each other that weren't plot relevant. But it was fine, it's en ensemble cast and Fiona, Lip and Frank got most of the A plots. Ian and Mickey had a lot of serious stuff going on, so the 5 minutes they got to do something each week had to be used dealing with all the shit they had to deal with. It's fine. This is fine. It's fine. I understand how TV works. We cut in on them in the middle of a conversation about Jean-Claude Van Damme, and I understand that they've spent the whole evening together and that they've talked about other things as well. Silly, inconsequential things, things people talk about when they like each other and want to be close and get to know each other. And when we're dropped in the middle of Ian, Mickey and Svetlana playing house in 5x1, I understand that it has been a period of time since we saw them last, and that things have changed. That they have talked about some things, and not talked about some things. And I happily played along and filled in all the gaps, I did the work; I imagined them together on a good day, on a calm evening lounging on the couch, on a lazy morning sleeping in. Quiet breakfasts, lively dinners. I imagined what they would say to each other, what they would talk about and what they still couldn't talk about. I did the work because it felt like it was worth it, because I knew that the story they were focusing on (Ian's illness and Mickey coming into his own) were worth it. That they needed every second they could get to tell the story of a mentally ill teenager and his abuse survivor boyfriend learning to love and support each other, and get better and grow up on their own terms.

I, the fool, kept thinking that one day. One day it would get better and they would get a break and the show would give them a minute, just a minute here and there, to be happy. Have a conversation that we could get in on. Have one good day for us to witness, and not just imagine.

Instead they broke them up for production reasons, for behind the scenes bullshit, for no reason at all, other than the simple fact that the show runners have never once cared about Ian and Mickey as much as we have. As much as Cam and Noel have. They had no qualms about rewriting a whole season's arc to make no sense in the last minute. They had no issues with throwing a beloved character in prison and leaving him there for a season and a half (which could have been good storytelling... if not every single Gallagher to ever get locked up had some lucky thing happen to spring them out again way before they’ve done their time). They had no problem with letting Ian say and do one thing one minute and then the exact opposite the next.

I think the thing that truly made me give up on the show at that time was the tattoo. We had such precious few things to work from when trying to understand these characters and we did our very best. We took the crumbs and we built a whole castle of cake. And one of the cornerstones, one of the first fucking things we ever knew about Mickey Milkovich, was that he could spell the name "Ian Gallagher". And if they wanted to give him a bad tattoo, they still could have. Maybe he did it himself and got it wrong because of the angle. Maybe there was a miscommunication and whoever did it on him got the name wrong. But no, they had to have him sit there and claim that he didn't know how to spell his boyfriend's name. It was so petty, so mean-spirited, such a massive fuck-you to anyone who dared to care and retain the things they'd previously told us about Mickey, I just had to stop caring about canon. I drew a line for myself around the canon I could understand as emotionally consistent, and ignored anything that landed on the other side of it. Perhaps not the best way to watch a TV show, but then I also stopped watching the show. So it worked out.

Anyway, this wasn't supposed to be about the first five seasons. But I'm obviously still bitter, and I wanted to explain why I'm well past the point of chasing after crumbs. Because it’s still the same bullshit, only now they’ve exchanged important, nuanced storylines about coming out and getting better for... I don’t know. Talking about sex and arguing about money.

Here is an incomplete list of loftec’s crumbs of disappointment, so far:

Ian and Mickey have been married for 6 (?) months, and the writers will have you believe they still have not had a conversation.

Ian is still relegated to C-plots (only now he's sometimes allowed in the background of an A plot, which is fun I guess but still not near what he deserves after all these years).

Meanwhile, Lip got two separate extended scenes detailing how he tricks his girlfriend into spending less money, in the first episode. That’s so much airtime spent on one point. In the second episode, he had a casual conversation with his baby! Ian and Mickey haven't had a casual conversation about anything since fucking never! 

Ian and Mickey have talked about sex and money, so far. Nothing else. Important things, I'm sure. But let's compare this with Lip in the same episode. Lip and Tami wake up together, they get to be sweet to each other, talk about their lives and daily routine, they have a chat about coffee and someone they know who is having a hard time, then they get into the subject of their conflict du jour. Ian and Mickey get a weird allusion to how much sex they're having (so much sex you guys, just believe and it will come true!) and then they're arguing about jobs and money. For two whole episodes. Except that one time where they got derailed and accidentally talked about monogamy instead.

Monogamy. Something they haven’t talked about before. And apparently a word Mickey doesn’t understand, or know how to spell.

And it still feels so petty, because it's just. So specific. They could have chosen any of the magnificent character traits of Mickey's that they teased us with in the first five seasons, and this is the thing they pick? And then turn into a main character trait?? Mickey can't spell. Mickey doesn't understand words. Haha ha. And I'm not purposefully misunderstanding this scene, I promise. I understand what they were trying to do. I most certainly understand what Noel acted his ass off to convey. I am not here freaking out about Mickey wanting to be with other people, or Ian saying this or doing that. I'm not worried about them cheating or getting a divorce. I'm just really disappointed that this is where we are now.

That Mickey, who we all saw through and understood to be smart and loyal, quick on his feet and quippy as anything, has been reduced to this. I'm pretty sure he's had his hand down his pants in half the scenes he's been in so far. I don't know what that means, but it's like... a choice. And I don't like this choice. They could have had an insecure conversation about monogamy and money and we could have gone on this journey with them as they struggle with their inability to communicate and I would have been all for it, if it had been written with something more, anything else, something to break through the plump humor and crass approach to this marriage that Ian spent half of the last season trying to have a conversation about! But never got to, because the writers thought it would be funnier to have Mickey punch Ian in the face and run off with some guy, rather than talk to him!

Also, I know this is getting outrageously long, but the fighting. The fighting is another thing. Who here watched that scene in 3x9 where Ian tries to get Mickey to be honest with him and Mickey kicks him in the face rather than admit he's gay, and thought, hey! Guys being guys, am I right? Who here watched that scene in 5x10 when Ian punched Mickey in the face because he didn't know how to accept care from someone who loves him and wanted to feel a feeling, and thought; oh yes, this is just how they communicate! This is fine! I know I didn't. But sure, why not. It's a choice, I guess. They're just manly men, and manly men fight with their significant others. They beat the shit out of each other, no problem. This is not something we need to have a conversation about, not at all.

This is about writing. They easily could have written Ian and Mickey’s scenes differently. They could have had incidental bits of conversation, hinting at their lives outside of this conflict they’re having. They could have been in the background of someone else’s scene, just a quick gesture of something nice that would help flesh out the bits in between. They could have conversations and storylines about pretty much anything, and still bring up the question of monogamy and Mickey’s residual insecurities about Ian’s past infidelity. They could have been subtle about it, instead of writing a clown scene where Mickey acts like a clown and Ian doesn’t remember that he’s done a lot of shit in their past that they maybe need to talk about. Because they still haven’t talked about it? NOT ONCE? THEY WERE IN THE SAME CELL FOR MONTHS! AND NOT A SINGLE CONVERSATION WAS HAD. THIS IS FINE. I’M FINE.

I get it. This is supposed to be a fun show about whacky characters. It's supposed to be outrageous, the show runners and writers are choosing these things to get a reaction. I get it, and I don't like it and if you think this means that I should stop watching the show and shut up, then I agree with you.

But also, I love these characters and this community, and I want to like this season. Our last season. I want to watch it and still hope that Ian and Mickey will get to have a conversation about nothing special, just because they like each other, before it's over.

And if not, there is always fic. And you know I will be making them talk to each other in NTW until there are no words left.

[koganphrancis]

And Now Shameless Slanders The Littlest Milkovich?  FUCK YOU

My recap of Season H8 Episode H8

They really had Vee refer to Yevgeny as a “little psychopath”, just to retcon every decent Milkovich that ever was.  Completely unnecessary and untrue, and WHERE THE FUCK IS IAN, WHY ISN’T HE IN THIS KID’S LIFE ANYMORE, HE STATED FLAT OUT HE LOVED YEVGENY.  Thank goodness there’s a gif of a Henckel flipping the bird to help me through this trying time.

I’ll try to temper my bitterness for the rest of this, but I make no guarantees.  

That horrific remark about an innocent child aside, this episode had little to get me riled up over-it was one of the most boring episodes they’ve ever done-every week they seem to outdo themselves on that front.  

This piece of shit-pardon me-episode was written by day-to-day showrunner Nancy Pimental and it was either her lame attempt at trying to win Macy that Emmy OR her purposely sabotaging him, because his storyline was the longest and most painfully unfunny this week.  

Also it was directed by Emmy Rossum and she gave herself a shit ton of close ups which I suppose is her prerogative and heaven knows the writer didn’t give her much story to shoot.  

This week opens with the dog Rusty staring at a still in bed Fiona and kicks off the aforementioned close ups.  I still want that dog to be explained-the law isn’t “dogs that have eaten human flesh must be destroyed-unless someone’s willing to take a chance on rescuing them”.  Why is there zero fucking research on this show?

Meanwhile, Franny’s screaming but Debs is too busy in the bathroom taking a half dozen pregnancy tests and acting like the world owes her something-that will be her theme throughout the episode, as it has been for the past few seasons. 

Nancy tries to capture some of that “all the Gallaghers in one place at one time” magic by having everyone crowd around the bathroom and giving Ian his first spoiled toddler line of the ep, “Guess I won’t shower today-gonna get filthy anyway cleaning that shitty building my sister found for homeless kids.”  Whatever that meaningful moment on Ian’s bed was last episode is being forgotten or ignored by this dumbass show.  Will it ever be revisited?  Who knows. 

Lip, who this season is like Mrs. Kravitz on Bewitched and seems to have this compelling need to insert himself into other people’s drama while ignoring his own, volunteers to take Debbie to Planned Parenthood where she again acts like a total bitch who needs a reality check, and where Lip just happens to be there to see Charlie (Snore’s ex) walk in with a very pregnant woman.  Such fortuitous timing!

There’s a gross scene of Carl peeing into a toilet between Kassidi’s legs as she sits on the back of the toilet-good god, Nancy, is that what you think the kids are into these days?  All I’m gonna say about Kassidi is that she’s exactly like Sammi only younger and even more charmless.  Whoever the fuck thought the show needed that vibe back needs to be fired.  And I get that Carl is supposed to be thinking with his self-inflicted deformed dick, but, really?  After seeing his father and Monica over the years, plus living with Sammi for a bit, he wouldn’t know enough to run from that type of chick?

Frank has this totally convoluted “only on Shameless” business venture going where he’s going to smuggle immigrants who feel unsafe in the USA over the Canadian border and bring back his car loaded with prescription drugs.  Sure, Frank.  Anyway, the only scene of note in the many long and boring scenes he got this week is when he’s listing talented Canadians-and when he DOESN’T say “Noel Fisher” we all hear it anyway and laugh at this lame show for letting all that talent go.  Assholes.  

Instead of recycling Mickey’s shirts this week, the show does something even more stupid: they use the VFW hall where Mickey got married as the new youth shelter AND they use the basement where Mickey and Ian banged before his wedding as the food bank Debbie goes to!  Okay, Cam, I gotta say, that’s a version of audacious-reminding us of those classic Mickey moments the show can’t come close to having using any of the characters they’ve kept on.  

Speaking of Mickey (not that the show ever does), Nancy tries to recreate some of that old Mickey magic with having Terror call Ian a “Negative Nellie” when he bitches some more about the new youth shelter.  Pinning nicknames on Ian is a Mickey thing only-why are they constantly reminding us of the gaping holes that losing Noel has left?

Anyway, here’s how Nancy tried to bring some shit talking South Side back into the show: Ian: This place is a dump. Terror (to Geneva): Don’t listen to Negative Nellie he’s still mad about the church. I: (sarcastic) Ye-ah, cuz you got pity fucked by my sister with this building. T: (imitates Ian) Ye-ah-and she was really good.

Side note-can you imagine Ian ever trying to joke with Mickey about him fucking his sister?  Sheesh.

I: I bet-she’s great at getting what she wants and screwing everybody else.

WTF?  Has Nancy ever seen the show?  Fiona always winds up screwing herself over.  I’m not a huge fan of Fiona’s big sister act, but even I can admit she sacrificed a lot for her younger siblings and never did things to screw them while advancing herself.  The thing Ian should be mad about is Fiona’s comments about Mickey-and even then she didn’t screw Mickey or Ian, she just said some stupid shit that Ian didn’t have to listen to.

Anyway, Geneva tells Ian and Terror about the gay conversion church, so now I know taking on organized religion wasn’t what Ian referred to as “larger concerns”.  One of the youths tried to commit suicide after being subjected to it, so Ian and Terror go visit him and the kid holds up his bandaged wrists and asks if they like his hot wristbands and even though it’s canon that Ian witnessed his mother moments after she slit her wrists and Terror spent his prom night in an emergency room because he slit his, neither of them bat an eye or react in any way to the kid’s injuries.  

Emmy throws in a way too long scene of Fiona dancing around in her underwear (after more way too long Frank scenes).  Again it amazes me how this show just recycles the same shit over and over-anyone remember Fiona’s happy dance in the church she went to check out for her and Sean to get married in?  

Ford catches her in the act and entices her to go out and look at Chicago architecture with him-I want the jobs that either of them have where they have all the free time in the world to lollygag.  And why is the show wasting all this time on all this crap in one episode?  Paint drying on those historic buildings would’ve been more interesting to watch than this hour of television.  

At the end of their tour, Ford shows her the inside of a house he’s working on (all by himself, apparently, I guess he doesn’t work with a crew) and asks her to lie down on an improbably placed mattress and she’s a tad hesitant at first, but when she does it, he points out art on the ceiling to her.  She’s impressed with its beauty and then starts making out with Ford in a total recreation of Ian with Faileb and thinking that guys who show any bit of interest in them as people must want to fuck them.  It was stupid with Faileb, it’s stupid with Ford.  

There’s a scene somewhere along the line with Kev and Vee that’s bordering on spousal abuse-I really wish they’d end this “Kev grows some balls” idea immediately. "Big neanderthal man” is not a thinking person’s idea of an ideal partner.  

Ugh, now for more of the Ian crap.  He goes home and asks if they have a Bible laying around.  He finds one, and the next day-THE VERY NEXT DAY-he and Terror go to the gay conversion church and Ian gets into a Bible quoting match with the pastor/minister/whatever he is.  I’m sure Cam was hard as a rock thinking he was coming off like Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, but the movie character I was thinking of was Rain Man-how else could he have memorized several Bible passages overnight unless he’s some sort of idiot savant?  

Terror is basically an Ian accessory in the scene-a backpack or a briefcase or a Trapper Keeper, holding Ian’s Bible for him until he needs it.  And the whole, “We’ll probably be banging again soon” right after Terror calls himself Ian’s ex was stupid-not funny or sexy, which I bet was what good old Nancy was going for. 

Cut to a scene of Snore getting a bit of a story thread that they probably originally kicked around for Mandy, and she has the triggering line that she’ll “run away to Mexico” if her father is released from prison.  Sure, Snore, whatever.  

Then there’s the scene where Kev is trying out his domineering dick act for the second time this ep on Svetlana, and Vee gets turned on and hands Yev over to Svetlana calling him that P word.  Fuck you, bitch.  I hope Svetlana is scheming to fuck Kev and Vee over big time-they have a scene where it looks like Svet’s doing that, but with this show, who knows if it’ll be alluded to again?

In the time it took Ian and Terror and the refugees from the gay conversion church to walk to the youth shelter, a video a person recorded at the church on her phone has been uploaded to You Tube and Geneva tells Ian it has a thousand hits already-cuz, yeah, Nance, that’s how the You Tube works.  Homeless kids working to clean up a dilapidated building have their iPhones turned on to get alerts whenever a video that has anything to do with gays gets posted to YT and they all drop everything and watch it.  

The only other thing I want to mention is the preview for next week-they show a quick clip of Ian and Terror pulling their shirts off that’s a ripoff of Mickey and Ian’s first time, a shot of Ian watching Terror asleep next to him in his bed where he’s awkwardly as fuck touching his face, and then a clip of Ian saying, “Kinda nice-us being a thing again.”  (WHAT HAPPENED TO GET OFF MY PORCH, DICK????  But I digress.)  Terror answers, “Jury’s still out.”  Well, if by jury he means FANS, we handed down our verdict a long time ago.  

I wonder if the show is trying to set up them finding their way to be a “true” couple (GAG), and then “tragedy” will strike and pull them apart when Ian gets arrested and they think  it’ll be poignant and painful for the fans, when actually we’ll be cheering and yelling, “Throw Ian in prison for 15 years, bitches!  Throw away the key and don’t have anyone visit!  Have Terror say it’s too painful for him to see him behind glass like that!!!!”  

But then again, this show is so inconsistent maybe that’s not where they’re headed at all.  Maybe they just think Ian needs the chase to stay interested, and for some misguided reason the writers think that’s what the fans want to see.  

We really, really don’t, though.  

And I can’t say it enough: Fuck this show for that line about little Yev.  It seemed like another very deliberate slap to the face of Mickey Milkovich fans everywhere.  

[multiple-fandomimagines]

Mickey Milkovich Masterlist *updated 2/15/21*

NONE OF THESE ARE MINE!!! I did NOT write any of these! I believe they are amazing fanfics, written by insanely talented people, and deserve to be shared. ALL CREDIT GOES TO THE AUTHORS!!!

Gallavich

I Close My Eyes and Wait for the Echo by milominderbinder(Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich) Five times Mickey protects various members of the Gallagher clan, and one time they all return the favour.

Family Doesn’t End In Blood by psychicdreamsandangelwings (Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich) Mickey loves the Gallaghers, even if he doesn’t show it. He’ll never admit this to anyone, but he’s never felt as good anywhere as he does when he’s surrounded by Gallaghers. They’re loud and obnoxious and so damned annoying Mikey could kill himself, but he can be himself around them. He loves them, there’s no other way to explain it. So when people fuck with them, he takes it as a personal attack against his family. And nobody fucks with Mickey’s family.Or the one where Mickey is overly protective of the Gallaghers and doesn’t take nicely to those who harm them.

Take Me In by MintSauce(Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich) Mickey’s Dad finds out about Mickey being gay and even though Ian’s not there, but he finds the Gallaghers are still willing to take Mickey in

You Feel Like Home by Bex90 (Gallavich) Mickey has a panic attack on a crowded train and Ian’s there to help him through it.

Bullets, Blunts and Baseball by ronandhermy (Gallavich) Ian Gallagher and Mickey Milkovich have been best friends since Little League, everyone on the South Side knew that. They didn’t know that it was bound to become something more.

Once a Gallagher [part one, part two, part three] by merle_p (Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich) Debbie and Lip look at him. Then they look at each other. Then they look back at him. “They said there was a lot of blood when the ambulance came,” Lip finally says. “We didn’t know what had happened. Figured we should stop by and see if you made it.” He shrugs awkwardly. “How you were doing.” “Huh,” Mickey says. He can hear what Lip is saying, and there is probably a world out there where his words make sense. Mickey is pretty certain that this is not that world.

Anywhere Out Of This Place by cantfuckinbelievethis (Gallaghers & Milkovichs)(Gallavich)(AU) When Monica decides to moves her family away from the trouble that could follow another one of Frank’s fuck ups, eleven-year-old Fiona has one condition: the Milkoviches are coming with them. Or an AU where the Milkoviches and Gallaghers grow up together in the same house. 

Is There Somewhere by andchaos (Gallavich)(Soulmate AU) In a universe where everyone has their soulmate’s first words to them on their hip, Mickey is born with no Words at all. He grows up confused, scared, and committed to a life of loveless flings - and then he meets Ian Gallagher, a mute boy that won’t stop getting under his skin.

I’ll Fight For You Tonight by bellafarella (Gallavich) Can you write A fix where in Fiona has A new boyfriend who’s gay, and he knows Ian from the white swallow but waits till their alone to address it. He try to rape Ian and then in the midst of it all Mickey comes in and gets all protective and towards the end their gripping each other like a life line. -Fiona doesn’t know her boyfriend is gay-

I Lost My Voice, You Lost Your Mind by bellafarella (Gallavich)(Mickey & Liam) Ok just something with ian & mickey trying to get liam to talk since the whole episode with him getting into fiona coke. He’s still not talking everyone assumes it’s bcos of the coke.

It’s Going To Be Okay. I’ve Got This. I Promise. by Illyah (Gallavich) “Okay you two, someone needs to tell me exactly what the fuck happened, and I want to know, now.” Lip said, staring between the two, waiting to see who would answer him first. Lip had never seen a serious look on Iggy’s face the entire time they’d known each other, but he looked Lip straight in the eyes and said “Terry.” “Shit, fuck, Jesus, Goddamnit.” Lip cursed under his breath before turning to Amanda’s horrified parents, almost to the door at this point. “Yes, your delicate sensibilities are more fucking important than the half dead teenager on the table. Jesus fucking Christ.” He fumed, shaking his head. “Please, just continue to stand there and look fucking scared.” Then back to Iggy, “Terry did this? Why? I thought you guys were all at Yev’s thing?”

One Milkovich at a Time [part one, part two, part three, part four] by dreamerbydawn (Gallavich)(Ian & Milkovich Family) Iggy Milkovich wants to know what it is about Ian Gallagher that makes his siblings act like they were addicted to him. Maybe he wants to make a friend along the way too.

Queen of Decatur by jaxington(Gallavich) “Fiona’s probably gonna do ninety days.” “Fuck,” Mickey replies. “Where?” “Decatur Correctional. Where the hell is that?” “Three hours out of the city.” Mickey sits with his back to the wall, legs dangling over the side of the bed. Lighting a cigarette would only earn him another lecture, so he slicks back his hair just for something to do with his hands. “How’d you know that?” Ian asks, smelling chum in the water, the observant little fuck. “Not like your brothers are getting sent to lady prison all that often.” Mickey thumbs at his lip, trying to find a way out of this conversation. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to distract Ian just by taking of his pants, but he is trying this new thing where he actually tells Ian what’s going on in his head. “No.” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “It’s my mom.”

Melánia by milominderbinder(Gallavich) A lot’s changed in the two years since Ian and Mandy ran off. Terry’s dead, Svetlana’s moved out, the Kash and Grab has started stocking blue Gatorade – oh, and Mickey’s been raising his brother’s baby ever since Tony went to jail. But when he realizes he might be stuck with the kid for good, Mickey decides to move out of Chicago and actually give her a chance in life. And it’s the couple of familiar faces he finds when he gets to Philly that really set change in motion.

Pimped [part one, part two, part three, part four] by Mrs_Monaghan (Gallavich)(AU) Mickey’s life is pretty good if he does say so himself. He’s living in Evanston Illinois. It’s not exactly that far from Chicago, but it’s far enough. He’s away from his asshole father, and can live the way he wants in this city that no one knows him. He’s been here six years now and has been running a successful pimping business for two of those. He’s got an office, a car and a pretty nice two bedroom apartment where he lives with his sister whom he brought with. Life is the same and a little uneventful. That is until he brings on a new addition Ian Gallagher.

Frank Fucking Gallagher by sleepyfaceandsnark (Sleepyfaceandsnark) (Gallavich) Frank steals Ian’s pills and Mickey finds out.

Fosterviches by cantfuckinbelievethis (Gallavich) A fic surrounding a OFC living in a foster home who accidentally catches Ian and Mickey together and ends up with Ian, Mickey, and Mandy in her life.

Anywhere Out This Place by cantfuckinbelievethis When Monica decides to moves her family away from the trouble that could follow another one of Frank’s fuck ups, eleven-year-old Fiona has one condition: the Milkoviches are coming with them. Or an AU where the Milkoviches and Gallaghers grow up together in the same house.

Does Your Heart Still Burn For Me? by Highwaytoyes Its been 16 years since Ian left Mickey. It had been hard, but mickey managed to move on. When he got out of prison, he made sure that he was the best father he could be. He never forgot the redheaded Gallagher though.When a fire breaks out, and Yevgeny is caught inside, who should come to his rescue but his father’s old flame? When Yev recovers, he vows to join his father and the man that caught his heart again.

No One is Completely Fearless by Fallenstar92 Even if he can shoot a gun or yell at the top of his lungs, Mickey Milkovich isn’t a fan of loud noises. Or, five times Ian sees Mickey react and the one time he knows why.

Barricade by devovitsuasartes(AU) Ian is in Chicago. Mickey is in Mexico. But there’s nothing like the end of the world to bring people closer together. a.k.a.The zombie apocalypse story that no one asked for.

His Fucking Family by orphan_account Fuck it, he’s had enough of this emotional crap for one day. There’s only so much a guy can damn well take. Especially a fucking Milkovich. But dammit, he’s spent enough time wallowing alone in his own misery to know how much it fucking sucksOr, 6 times Mickey Milkovich is there for a Gallagher +1 time they're all there for him.

A Real Family by Dragon_in_Disguise Mickey never had the best family, and he’s fully aware of this fact. With his alcoholic and drunk father, his criminal cousins, his drop-out of an older brother, and his whore of a younger sister, Mickey never got a good hold on what a family was supposed to be like. He never got that experience where you sit together as a family and eat dinner, never could get excited about anything so small like school grades without being called a pussy, and forget ever going to anybody in his family for relationship advice when no one could hold one and the fact he’s completely gay.So when Ian Gallagher comes into his life and tugs him into his own fucked up family, Mickey’s not sure how to take this all in.

I Hate Rapists Too by Dragon_in_Disguise Iggy closes his eyes, sighing heavily. “I’m gonna kill him.”"Huh?"“I’m gonna get Colin, gonna grab my fucking shotgun, and blow his fucking brains out."When Ian tells Iggy what Terry has done to his two youngest siblings, Iggy finally snaps.

and it's alright by biblionerd07  Mickey doesn't know how or when it happened, but at some point he became the guy people turn to for help

Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family

I Close My Eyes and Wait for the Echo by milominderbinder(Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich) Five times Mickey protects various members of the Gallagher clan, and one time they all return the favour.

Family Doesn’t End In Blood by psychicdreamsandangelwings (Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich) Mickey loves the Gallaghers, even if he doesn’t show it. He’ll never admit this to anyone, but he’s never felt as good anywhere as he does when he’s surrounded by Gallaghers. They’re loud and obnoxious and so damned annoying Mikey could kill himself, but he can be himself around them. He loves them, there’s no other way to explain it. So when people fuck with them, he takes it as a personal attack against his family. And nobody fucks with Mickey’s family.Or the one where Mickey is overly protective of the Gallaghers and doesn’t take nicely to those who harm them.

Take Me In by MintSauce(Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich) Mickey’s Dad finds out about Mickey being gay and even though Ian’s not there, but he finds the Gallaghers are still willing to take Mickey in

Once a Gallagher [part one, part two, part three] bymerle_p(Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich) Debbie and Lip look at him. Then they look at each other. Then they look back at him. “They said there was a lot of blood when the ambulance came,” Lip finally says. “We didn’t know what had happened. Figured we should stop by and see if you made it.” He shrugs awkwardly. “How you were doing.” “Huh,” Mickey says. He can hear what Lip is saying, and there is probably a world out there where his words make sense. Mickey is pretty certain that this is not that world.

Anywhere Out Of This Place by cantfuckinbelievethis (Gallaghers & Milkovichs)(Gallavich)(AU) When Monica decides to moves her family away from the trouble that could follow another one of Frank’s fuck ups, eleven-year-old Fiona has one condition: the Milkoviches are coming with them. Or an AU where the Milkoviches and Gallaghers grow up together in the same house.

Glad He’s Family by brave_little_toaster (Mickey & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich) Ian freaks out and has an anxiety attack. Mickey races to his side and comforts his disressed boyfriend, impressing the rest of his guilty family who didn’t know how to help.

I Close My Eyes and Wait for the Echo bymilominderbinder (Mickey Milkovich & Gallagher Family)(Gallavich)Five times Mickey protects various members of the Gallagher clan, and one time they all return the favour.

His Fucking Family by orphan_account Fuck it, he’s had enough of this emotional crap for one day. There’s only so much a guy can damn well take. Especially a fucking Milkovich. But dammit, he’s spent enough time wallowing alone in his own misery to know how much it fucking sucksOr, 6 times Mickey Milkovich is there for a Gallagher +1 time they're all there for him.

A Real Family by Dragon_in_Disguise Mickey never had the best family, and he’s fully aware of this fact. With his alcoholic and drunk father, his criminal cousins, his drop-out of an older brother, and his whore of a younger sister, Mickey never got a good hold on what a family was supposed to be like. He never got that experience where you sit together as a family and eat dinner, never could get excited about anything so small like school grades without being called a pussy, and forget ever going to anybody in his family for relationship advice when no one could hold one and the fact he’s completely gay.So when Ian Gallagher comes into his life and tugs him into his own fucked up family, Mickey’s not sure how to take this all in.

Mickey & Debbie

World War Gallagher by presleyj (Debbie & Mickey) Mickey walks into the Gallagher house one night and right into the middle of a massive fight between Debbie & Carl. Once Carl storms out, Mickey is left with a distraught teenage girl who he has no idea what to do with. Mickey tries to help her in his own way.

You Can Do Better by Fallenstar92 (Mickey & Debbie & Ian) When Debbie's boyfriend breaks up with her, she turns to Mickey and Ian for comfort.

Talk To Me by brokenpromisesandhope (Debbie & Mickey) Debbie and Mickey text each other.

His Favorite Gallagher by MCRmyGeneral (Debbie & Mickey) "Debbie was by far his least favorite Gallagher." Not all the Gallaghers are so welcoming when Mickey shows up for Ian.

Always by bellafarella(Gallavich)(Mickey & Debbie) I was hoping I could ask a prompt where Mickey has a really cute moment with Debbie and does something special for her and Ian sees without Mickey realizing so he does something special for him to thank him without telling him he knew what he did. Or something.

Mickey & Liam

Count on Me by dementorsatemysoup (Mickey Milkovich & Liam Gallagher)  Mickey unintentionally bonds with Liam.

notes on the many different kinds of monsters, and the knights who fight them off by milominderbinder (Mickey Milkovich & Liam Gallagher) When Mickey goes down to the Gallagher kitchen in the middle of the night, he finds Liam, scared and hiding from another nightmare. And he comforts him, because Mickey knows what being scared is like. But Liam’s not the only one fighting monsters that night.

[gotta-save-your-ass-for-a-change]

Who Would Have Thought?: Chapter 12

Chapter Title: Affirmation Fandom: Shameless, Mickey/Ian Rating: M Summary: Mickey and Ian spend some time with Yev and the family. Notes: Remember when I thought this was a one-shot? Ha. There’s another 10,000+ words of this already drafted.

Also, just for reference, since I haven’t been explicit about the timeline, we’re about 8 months from the beginning of the fic at this point. Yev was about two and a half in the very beginning, so at this point he’s a little over three. I don’t know a whole lot about kids younger than 4, to be honest, so I’m going off research (enough research that my phone thinks I want a fucking baby) and my interactions with my cousin’s kids—particularly her oldest daughter, who is admittedly extremely advanced, but whose personality matches the one I’m headcanoning for Yev because of his seemingly quiet nature in the little moments we’ve seen of him in s7. So, hopefully Yevgeny’s characterization makes sense here.

Ao3 Link

Chapter One * Chapter Two * Chapter Three * Chapter Four * Chapter Five * Chapter Six * Chapter Seven * Chapter Eight * Chapter Nine * Chapter Ten * Chapter Eleven * Chapter Twelve * Chapter Thirteen * Chapter Fourteen * Chapter Fifteen

About a month in, Mickey and Ian are back on similar schedules for a couple of weeks,  and Ian’s taken to showing up at the diner when he gets off work to wait for Mickey before heading home. It’s been a bit of a relief for both of them, having the extra time together again as they adjust to married life. Overall, it’s not all that different, really, but the addition of their new home and their attempts at working out a more stable visitation schedule with Yev have left them stretched a little thin.

For the most part, they’re both adjusting to the changes without too much stress, but they also miss one another more than is probably normal when their schedules don’t match up. Ian’s proud of Mickey’s commitment to the job, though, and they’re both excited to have a little extra money to tuck away. It’s nice, really, not having to live paycheck to paycheck the way they once had. Money’s still tight, of course, and they’re working to keep their expenses as low as possible, so they can build a bit of a nest egg, but they’re better off than they’ve ever been in the past.

They’ve even managed​ to finish furnishing the rest of the apartment relatively cheaply. It took time, but Craigslist and nearby moving sales provided most of what they needed for next to nothing, and they finally have the place looking pretty well put together, if a little eclectic.

All in all, they’ve developed a good pattern, they have a home of their own, and they’re both settling in well to married life and fatherhood.

When Ian walks into the diner for the third night in a row and takes up his regular spot at the counter, Mickey already has a hot cup of coffee waiting for him. Mickey’s nowhere to be found, though, and Ian’s curious for a moment about where his husband has disappeared to when he’s obviously waiting on Ian’s arrival. Ian doesn’t have much time to process his confusion, though, when Fiona pops up behind him and gives him a little shove before settling onto the stool at his side.

“What the fuck, asshole,” she teases playfully, “this the only place I’m gonna get to see you now that you got your fairytale ending?”

Ian gives her a little laugh and a lopsided smile. She’s right—it has been a bit since they’ve been to the house to visit. Since the day they picked up the bed for Yev, Ian thinks. “I know, I know,” he concedes, waving her off, “we know we’re due for a visit. We’ve just been settling in to it all. Weird schedules. We’ve been spending all our downtime together or with Yev.”

“Your kid lives two doors down from the house. You couldn’t stop by?” Fiona challenges, and her voice is still mostly playful, but Ian knows there’s a little truth behind her words.

“You’re right,” Ian agrees, as he sips his coffee. He still hasn’t seen Mickey, and Ian has a feeling his husband might be hiding out because he’s been listening to this very same mantra for days.

“Damn right I am,” Fiona insists with a smile. “So when am I gonna see my little brother and my new brother-in-law outside of work, huh?”

Ian thinks for a moment, cataloging their plans for the next few days before an idea hits him. “How about you and Liam come by for lunch at our place Saturday?” he offers with a bright smile. “Mickey and I are both off, and we have Yev. We’ll ask Debs to come by with Franny, too. Get all the kids together and make a day of it.”

Fiona smiles bright at that. She and Debbie still aren’t on the best of terms, but things are getting better, and Ian thinks some time together would do them good. Fiona seems to agree.

“That sounds amazing,” she agrees, her smile never faltering as she gives Ian’s shoulder a little squeeze. “I’m gonna head home and leave you to your man. We’ll see you Saturday. At noon?”

Ian gives a nod in confirmation. “Sounds perfect. We’ll see you then, Fi.”

As soon as she’s out the door, Mickey finally shows his face, giving Ian a punch to the shoulder to grab his attention.

“What the fuck?” Ian exclaims, rubbing at his shoulder and giving his husband a half-hearted glare.

“What the fuck, me? What the fuck, you, Ian! Did you just volunteer us to host a fuckin’ dinner party?” Mickey questions, his voice colored with disbelief as he stares Ian down with wide eyes.

Ian can’t help but laugh at the exaggerated horror on Mickey’s face. “Okay, drama queen,” Ian scoffs, amusement in his tone. “It’s just lunch with the family. Not a fuckin’ formal dinner.”

“I’m not doing shit,” Mickey threatens, raising his eyebrows at Ian in challenge. “Not a fuckin’ thing. It’s my day off, Ian. I’m spending time with my son and my husband. The family can be there, fine, but I’m not fuckin’ making ‘em lunch.”

Ian laughs at that and leans forward to kiss the frustration off Mickey’s face. “We’ll order a pizza, babe. No extra work. Less work than usual, actually.”

When Ian stays close and looks at Mickey expectantly, Mickey can’t help but sigh in defeat. “Fine,” he concedes, shaking his head and pulling back from the counter. “Guess it’d be good for Yev to hang out with the kids. I gotta finish up here. You want anything other than coffee?”

“Nah,” Ian waves him off with a happy, triumphant smile, “I’m good.”

“All right,” Mickey smiles as he tops off Ian's​ coffee before replacing the pot and heading toward the back. “I’ll be done in a bit.”

When Saturday rolls around, Mickey heads over to pick up Yevgeny early, while Ian stays home to get the place set up. There’s not a whole lot to do, really, but he wants to make sure the place is picked up and safe for Franny.

Yev notices Ian’s absence near immediately, and his face falls just a bit when Ian doesn’t appear at Mickey’s side for a hug. He looks up at Mickey in question, giving an exaggerated shrug as he stares at Mickey. “Where daddy Ian?” Yevgeny asks, his eyes big and curious. It makes Mickey’s heart swell with pride that his son is so attached to Ian. Mickey knows this, of course, but seeing it first hand always leaves him feeling happy that they’re legitimately becoming a little family in their own right.

“Daddy’ll be at the house when we get there, bud,” Mickey assures with a smile, as he reaches down to adjust Yev’s hat to make sure it covers his ears before scooping the boy up into his arms. “Your cousin Franny is coming for a visit today, and daddy Ian wanted to make sure everything was safe for her, since she’s still so little.”

“Baby Fanny?” Yev asks curiously, eyeing his father for an answer.

Mickey smiles at Yev. “Yeah, bud,” Mickey tells him, settling the boy more comfortably on his hip. “You remember her from your daddies’ wedding?”

“Yeah,” Yev answers enthusiastically, throwing his hands up in excitement. “Fanny cute baby.”

Mickey laughs at that and gives Yev a little squeeze. “That’s right, buddy. She is a cute baby. Now, how about you say bye to your mommy, and we’ll go see daddy Ian, huh?”

“'k,” Yev nods with a smile, reaching his arms out to hug Svetlana goodbye and giving her a little kiss. “Bye, mama.”

“Bye, Yevgeny,” Svetlana whispers, smiling at the boy before turning to Mickey with a raised brow. “Home by eight.”

“We’ll have him back,” Mickey promises, giving Svetlana a half smile.

Svetlana nods her approval and gives Yev a little wave as Mickey heads off with the toddler in tow.

By the time they get home, Ian’s got the place picked up and ready for their guests, and he’s smiling big when Mickey walks through the door with Yevgeny, the boy’s hand held tight in Mickey’s. Yevgeny’s face lights up immediately when he sees Ian, and he drops Mickey’s hand to run to Ian as fast as his little feet will take him. “Daddy!” he cries in delight, and Mickey can’t help but laugh at the exaggerated look of surprise and excitement that Ian plasters on his face as he kneels down and opens his arms to catch the toddler up in a big hug.

“There’s my little man!” Ian exclaims as he hugs Yev tight and then pulls back to help the boy out of his winter gear, stuffing the mittens and hat into the sleeve of Yev’s jacket for safe keeping before handing it over to Mickey to hang by the front door.

“Boots, please!” Yev requests, grabbing hold of Ian’s shoulder for balance and lifting a foot off the floor for help.

Ian laughs and starts working at the zipper of the little winter boots Yev wears. “Yep, we’ll get ‘em,” Ian agrees. The zipper sticks a little on the first one, so it takes a moment, but Ian manages and the moment the first boot is off, Yevgeny shifts his weight to his other foot. Ian works the other off quickly, and then hands those over to Mickey, too, before turning back to Yev. “All right, kiddo,” he says, patting Yev’s cheeks, “go get your slippers so your feet don’t get cold.”

“Okay, daddy!” Yevgeny agrees, running off to his room to dig out his little elephant slippers.

Mickey laughs after Yevgeny’s retreating form and then leans down over a still kneeling Ian to catch his lips in a kiss, fingers stroking through Ian’s hair. “He was devastated that you weren’t with me to pick him up,” Mickey chastises with a playful smile and an eyebrow raise.

Ian shakes his head with a laugh and pushes up to his full height. “I will never miss a pick up, again,” Ian agrees with a smile as he catches Mickey around the waist and kisses him playfully, turning a moment later at the shuffle of little feet and scooping Yevgeny up into his arms before the three of them settle in the living room.

“We still doing pizza?” Mickey asks curiously as he scans the fridge.

“Yeah,” Ian calls from the living room, where he’s playing with Yev, “Fiona’s picking it up on her way here.”

Mickey nods his approval, even though Ian can’t actually see him from his spot on the floor with their son. “What do you want with your pizza, Yevy?” Mickey asks, shuffling through the vegetable drawer.

“Ice cream!” Yev shouts back excitedly.

Ian laughs, and Mickey shakes his head in amusement. “Ha ha, kid,” he calls back, trying to hide the humor in his voice. “Healthy choices, Yev.”

Yevgeny giggles along with Ian and then answers his dad happily, “Celery.”

Mickey pulls the bunch of celery out of the fridge, and then grabs the bottle of ranch. “You want dip, kiddo?”

“Yes, please, daddy.”

Mickey smiles and sets to work washing and slicing up a couple of celery stalks before grabbing an apple out of the bowl on the counter. “How about an apple, Yev?”

“Okay!” Yev responds pleasantly before returning his attention to the blocks in front of him. Ian smiles and presses a kiss to the boy’s head before popping up to meet Mickey in the kitchen.

“Sounds like that’s a ‘yes,’” Ian laughs as he sidles up beside his husband and starts pulling down plates for the rest of the family. “Thank god he hasn’t learned to be picky yet, huh?”

“You’re tellin’ me,” Mickey agrees as he shines a happy smile in Ian’s direction, transferring half the celery sticks and apple slices onto Yev’s plate and the other half onto a plate for Liam. “Just don’t give him any ideas.”

Ian laughs at that. “Wouldn’t dream of it, babe,” Ian agrees as he presses his lips to Mickey’s temple. “They’ll be here in a few.”

Mickey nods at that, cleaning up the cutting board and paring knife and tucking them away. “Sounds good,” he offers to Ian before calling to Yev. “Go get cleaned up for lunch, bud. Aunt Fiona and Aunt Debbie are gonna be here soon with the kids.”

“'k,” Yev answers as he begins packing away his blocks into their little tub, “but pick up first.”

“Good job, Yev,” Ian agrees with a smile, watching the boy as he finishes putting away the blocks before running off to the bathroom to wash up. Ian turns his eyes to Mickey, asking curiously, “How long do you think that’ll last.”

“I don’t know, man,” Mickey laughs, “but let’s enjoy it while we can.”

Once everyone’s there, Ian busies himself preparing the plates for Yevgeny and Liam, making sure that Yev’s pizza has cooled down enough to be safe for him to eat before passing it over to the boy who’s sitting beside Liam. Liam’s always been quiet, but he’s happily chatting with Yevgeny, and Yev’s nodding along like Liam holds the secrets to the universe. Ian ruffles Yevgeny’s hair with a smile, and leaves the two to their own devices as he fixes a plate for himself and one for Mickey and settles in beside his husband. Mickey’s already chatting with Fiona and Debbie, and Franny’s napping nearby in her carrier.

Ian comes in in the middle of the conversation, smiling brightly at the excitement he hears in Fiona’s voice. “What’d I miss?” Ian asks, looking to Fiona expectantly.

She returns his smile and tips the beer bottle she holds to her lips before responding. “I’m working on another real estate deal. Made a good chunk of cash off the last one. Looking for some new opportunities. Think I’m getting good at this shit. Makin’ more money than I ever would have imagined. Can’t fuckin’ believe I’m actually going somewhere with this,” she explains with excitement.

Apparently, it’s contagious, because even Debbie looks happy for her. For his part, Ian’s proud of her, and he can see that Mickey is, too. Fiona’s worked hard her entire life, and it’s about time she caught a break. Ian just hopes she stays smart about it, but he trusts her to make the right choices, and clearly she’s been doing something right so far.

“We’re proud of you,” Mickey offers for the both of them, tipping his bottle to Fiona, and giving her a little smile. Ian nods his agreement, and Fiona looks thrilled at the support. Debbie doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t argue either, and Ian thinks that’s a step in the right direction.

“I’m kind of excited,” Fiona admits, a little timidly. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to think about my own future, you know?”

Ian nods at that, and Debbie looks a little guilty as she drops her eyes away from Fiona. Ian hopes his youngest sister is starting to understand everything Fiona’s given up for them, because it’s a lot.

“Thank you,” Ian tells Fiona honestly, catching her eye even as Fiona tries to avoid his gaze. “I know that sometimes I was an ungrateful little shit, but I really do appreciate everything you did for us. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. If anyone deserves this, Fi, it’s you.”

“All right,” Fiona insists, “enough—”

“He’s right.” Debbie’s voice cuts in, and they all turn surprised eyes on her. “You put your life on hold for us. I don’t always appreciate it the way I should, and I’m sorry for that. But I’m glad you’re doing some stuff for yourself for a change.”

Fiona’s eyes well up a little with tears. It’s been a long time since she and Debbie were on decent terms, and the apology from the girl leaves Fiona overwhelmed. With a smile, Fiona leans over to wrap an arm around Debbie and pull her into a half hug, stroking at Debbie’s hair and then giving her cheek a little pat before letting her go. Debbie rolls her eyes at the display, but she returns the smile Fiona gives her, and Ian thinks the two of them might legitimately be on their way to making things right.

“Okay, okay,” Debbie says, waving off the emotional display and gesturing to Liam and Yevgeny, who are still munching away happily and babbling at each other, the presence of the adults at the table completely escaping their notice, “let’s eat before these two finish and decide to drag us away.”

Ian laughs a little at that as they all return to their food and to lighter conversation, but he’s happy that the family’s in a good place all around.

A little later, Mickey’s sitting on the couch in the living room holding Franny and chatting with an excited Liam as Yevgeny colors at the coffee table. Ian, Debbie, and Fiona are gathered by the breakfast bar watching them. They’ve all been quiet for a moment too long, and Ian’s starting to get a little nervous. After a few more silent minutes pass, Fiona’s quirked eyebrow finally gets the best of him, and he gives an exaggerated sigh. “What?” he questions, and there's​ a touch of amusement playing in his tone.

“Nothing,” Fiona defends, with a little shake of her head and an obvious smirk on her lips. “Nothin’ at all.”

“We are not having more kids,” Ian insists with a little eyeroll directed at his sister.

“Never?” Debbie asks in disbelief, giving Ian a half smirk of her own and raising an eyebrow in question.

For a moment, Ian stares them both down, determined not to give them the satisfaction. In the end, though, he gives in with a sigh and a head shake. “All right, maybe not never, but not anytime soon. Ever since we got married, you people keep running around acting like we’re about to start collecting babies at any second. We’re happy just the three of us.”

“All right,” Fiona concedes, lifting her hands in surrender. “I’m just saying, your husband seems pretty comfortable around the little ones. Maybe it’s worth considering.”

Before Ian has a chance to respond, both Fiona and​ Debbie are wandering away to join Mickey and the kids, and Ian’s left to stare after them in disbelief.

“Fuuuuck. I’m tired,” Mickey complains, falling into Ian’s arms on the couch and cuddling close. They’d just gotten back from dropping Yevgeny off at home, and they’re both exhausted from a day full of entertaining their family.

“My family wear you out?” Ian asks with a little laugh as he strokes his fingers over Mickey’s upper arm.

“Yes. Fuckin’ Christ, man,” Mickey gripes as he buries his face against Ian’s neck. “Three kids is a lot fuckin’ harder than one. Even with a house full of adults. And Debbie.”

Ian laughs big and loud at that, and then rubs softly at Mickey’s shoulder. “Yev’s also just easy right now,” Ian agrees with a smile. “Don’t know how long it’s gonna last, but it’s a lot simpler having Yev for the day than the other kids, you know?”

“Yeah, man,” Mickey nods as he untucks his face and rubs a hand over his eyes. “No babies anytime soon. Tell your fuckin’ sister she can pop one out if she wants one around so much.”

Ian laughs again in surprise. He’d had no idea Fiona had been hounding Mickey about the whole kid thing, too. “She on you about that, too, huh?” Ian asks curiously with a little smile.

“Oh, yeah,” Mickey admits with an eyebrow raise as if he can’t believe Ian wasn’t already aware. “Every time there's​ a damn baby in the diner, she gives me this look. Fuckin’ irritating.”

Ian smiles and kisses Mickey’s forehead. “You said ‘anytime soon,’” Ian murmurs after a moment, watching Mickey’s face carefully.

“What?” Mickey asks in confusion, his brain refusing to keep up with Ian’s train of thought.

“You said ‘no babies anytime soon,’” Ian clarifies with a soft look and a raised brow. “That mean you want a baby eventually?”

Mickey scoffs at that, shaking his head. “I don’t fuckin’ know, man,” Mickey argues with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “I’m too fucking tired for this conversation. No babies. For now. If something changes, we’ll talk about it then.”

“Okay,” Ian agrees happily, eyes fixed on Mickey. For now, they’re both happy where they are, but Ian’s glad to know that Mickey’s open to a change someday down the road.

Chapter One * Chapter Two * Chapter Three * Chapter Four * Chapter Five * Chapter Six * Chapter Seven * Chapter Eight * Chapter Nine * Chapter Ten * Chapter Eleven * Chapter Twelve * Chapter Thirteen * Chapter Fourteen * Chapter Fifteen