#just being frank (frank like honest not like frank gallagher!)

[sillygoofygoobersstuff]

im so sorry for lack of inactivity guys i am i will try harder im so sorry mutuals ily guys pls don’t unfollow me im still here!!!

[acethetically-bway]

hi again i’m back with a part 2 of gallaghers in the sims 4:

mickey and mandy are here!! gallavich took literally 5 seconds to set up, that's the least chaotic thing on this list surprisingly. lip/mandy is more of a slow burn though

i took frank fiona and lip out for a night of drinking and it honest to god felt like a rejected plotline from the show

fiona spent half the night unconscious on the bar floor, frank pissed himself on the sidewalk and then immediately passed out in his own piss, and lip went to school completely wasted because i didn’t realize it was a sunday night when i took them out (whoops)

separately, the fireplace caused a house fire that burnt the TV to a crisp and the insurance assholes only gave us $1000 to replace a $2600 TV, so we have not had TV for at least a week by now

a few days later, while i was having gallavich aggressively flirt with each other, THERE WAS A SECOND GODDAMN FIRE FROM THE SAME FIREPLACE??

fiona hooked up with a girl at a karaoke club and the girl invited fiona to a cafe date the next day. but she spent the entire time talking to other people and then had the fucking AUDACITY to tell fiona not to call her ever again, what a bitch 🙄

ian went to the ancient ruins with a club of teens, and his friend that invited him ended up abandoning him and falling asleep in a bush

monica is actually being a Good Parent to liam now?? like better than fiona or lip it's freaky

i found joints in lip and ian's inventories and i have no idea where they came from, we have no rolling papers and frank’s private stash of pot is a whole different strain so ig they're both just stoners now

carl almost died in fire #2, but at least he somehow has A’s in school even though he has not done his homework once

lip on the other hand is on the verge of dropping a letter grade (anti-canon fr)

debbie also almost died in fire #2, and she's been making friends with frank's clients (which means i've really gotta find her some friends her own age)

on the bright side, frank is making sales!! he’s getting super flirty with his clients though (even kissed a man to seal the deal) and it’s pissing monica tf off. honestly idc though we’re making bank now between this and fiona’s latest promotion/bonus

side note i am SO TEMPTED to make fiona buy either a restaurant or a strip club bc i need her to make more money than she’s making as a fast food worker. but historically i have not been a good business owner and money’s already super tight so i’m nervous

i should also put out there that in addition to basemental and wicked whims, i also have get to work, get together, city living, and dine out installed so if y’all have any ideas for things to do with these or other mod suggestions or anything like that please lmk :)

[elhopper1sm]

I understand people who don't like Fiona because she didn't take Liam with her when she left. But honestly I can't hate her for it. Now Fiona is my favorite character so I'm undoubtedly biased. But in my opinion her decision to become their legal guardian was not one she made under a free and uncoercive environment. Fiona became their legal guardian under threat of what would happen if they were still legally under Frank's care. It's a decision she made because she felt like she had no other choice. Now you can say from a rational perspective that's not the case but then again. It's hard to think rationally when you're under that kind of pressure. And let's be honest here the Chicago Legal System isn't exactly famous for being kind or low income people with Fiona's background. So there's so much added pressure this was also in the early seasons when pretty much all of her identity was formed in being the Gallaghers caretaker and parent. At the end of the day she was their sister who was forced to step up as the parent role. Not their parent. And yes she made that decision. But it's not a decision she made freely without coercion. Also so much of season 9 is spent establishing that the family can (with the exception of Liam) look after themselves you know. Like when they want to find someone to look after Frank and she offers to do all the calling around and the siblings say they have it handled. It was to represent that Fiona has sort of lost her sense of identity in the two things she formed her identity around. 1. Being the family caretaker or the family fixer and 2. Relationships with men since she fell apart and essentially swore off relationships after Ford.

Again this is how I interpret the show others are free to interpret differently. I understand if you disagree it's a TV show. And it's really not that important to be rude to someone if you disagree. I'm just saying I personally don't hold it against Fiona because again it's a decision she made because she felt like she had no other choice.

[something-pithy]

Notes and an Update: Astarion, Tav, and Trauma in Stories

Pictured above: actual footage of trauma response from Astarion (j/k! kinda!) to catch your eye :D

Hey glittercats and cosmic kittens!

So I've definitely been neglecting the updates here, which I'm going to try to do better with.

We're up to Chapter 11 on this bad boy, and I've adjusted the anticipated chapter count to 30 (but honestly it's probably still all lies because I have absolutely no sense of how much writing each point on my outline ends up being loool).

I have a DOPE beta who's fucking amazing both in terms of conventions and idea partnership and I'm telling you right now, this story is so much better for having their hands and eyes on it.

SOME CONTENT WARNING STUFF RE: THIS CHAPTER:

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

.

.

.

MORE DETAILS ON THIS -- SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

So hopefully that's enough room for people who don't want to be spoiled to escape!

So I'm going to copy/paste the end note on the story, and expand on it a little bit.

So, although Tav is a "good drunk," as Frank Gallagher might put it, she is 1000% engaging in pretty serious substance abuse, or to be more specific in this chapter, alcohol use disorder. I'm not going to go into the way this story is going to approach mental and behavioral health disorders and trauma; hopefully it will speak for itself. Suffice it to say substance abuse and trauma are not the central subject of this story, but also, Astarion and Tav as they exist in this little pocket dimension of the BG3 universe have been impacted by the trauma they've each experienced both together and as individuals. In general, the impact of trauma can look and feel a lot of ways. Sometimes it's horrifying, sometimes it's heartbreaking, sometimes it's rage-inducing - but let's be honest, sometimes that shit is funny, too, because humor is such an incredible survival tactic / coping mechanism. Even if sometimes we're laughing at shit that shouldn't be funny. (Maybe especially then.) This story isn't going to be an after-school special or a PSA. It's a story about people, and sometimes people are fucked up (literally and figuratively). Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. If this has activated you, or you have earnest questions or concerns about what's going on in this story / with these characters, or you just want to shoot the shit, hit me up on my tumblr. There might be more notes there on this eventually, but for now, this chapter actually took a lot out of me and I'm still out here with these perpetual COVID symptoms, so... lol NOT TONIGHT. As always, thank y'all for reading, kudosing, and commenting.

OK, so I may have lied about the no notes part... but honestly, in re-reading that note, I think it kind of gets to the point.

But ALSO...

I've been a geek on the internet for a long, long time. I've engaged with different fan-based writing and roleplaying communities (tabletop, chat-based, forum-based, butt-based -- EVERYTHING) for pretty much the entire time.

"The Tragic Backstory" seems like it's been A Whole Thing since people started creating characters whether for roleplay or stories.

I think times have changed somewhat, but back in the day I ran in circles where a lot of thoughts about writing, creating characters, roleplay, etc. coexisted somewhat peacefully, but an old chestnut that consistently (maybe without fail) turned up in any conversation that involved Writers of Quality was a contingent of folks who had deep disdain for The Tragic Backstory.

I'm talkin' some deep, scathing, elitist shit, my beautiful people.

And I'm not gonna lie to you! This is approximately ten thousand years ago (no but seriously, decades), and honestly, I was up in those conversations, too, throwing around my disdain, assured by my fellow elitists that even though I frequently employed some form of Tragic Backstory, it was OK when I did it because it was good.

I mean in retrospect, it's kinda bullshit. There's always gonna somebody who's gonna think your shit's good, and there's also always gonna be somebody who thinks they're a Better Writer Than You who's gonna think your shit is... well, shit.

Not gonna lie, I still have very strong and particular preferences when it comes to the fic I read in general, and that includes backstory.

But over time, I got progressively less insecure (not just about my writing, but in general) and consequently less concerned with judging writing that's not my flavor as "bad" or "shitty" or "juvenile" (looool seriously, I was a dick) and more concerned with finding and creating writing that is my flavor.

However, and I don't think I'm going to apologize for it, some dickish tendencies linger in my soul. I'm going to try and frame these thoughts in terms of what compels me in a story I'm reading and what I do (or try to do) in my own writing.

This is a very long way of saying if something I say (or have already said) makes you feel like I'm coming for your neck, please know that I'm not.

My thoughts and/or opinions may cause you or someone you love to feel Some Type of Way. That is not my intention. I have no desire to:

Yuck anyone's yum

Contribute to or activate the crippling self-doubt that plagues almost every creative I've ever met

Be a dick.

Having said all that, I do have Thoughts on This Matter.

People write for a lot of reasons, but I'm fairly convinced that nobody's doing it with any level of purity. There are tons of incredible, beautiful, moving stories that feature a whole-ass Self-Insert, maybe even the dreaded Mary Sue.

(lol lookin' at you Dante's Inferno, Tyrion Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire, and countless others lol)

People write to explore topics and themes that interest them, that compel them, that they see recurring in the world around them and/or their own lives.

One of those things is trauma.

In my writing, I approach trauma, disordered behaviors, dysfunction, dysregulated emotions, etc. (topics both of great interest to me and, not coincidentally, ones with which I have a great deal of personal experience) from a place of wanting fervently to tell the truth.

And I'm pretty good writing some things that feel true.

But I know that in some ways, I've shied away from harder truths; from using my writing and the characters I create not only as reflections of what I see in the world, but as accurate (rather than idealized) reflections of myself.

Because of this, while I've explored redemption arcs in roleplaying games (where being cheesy or facile or juvenile or fulfilling personal fantasies felt much safer than on a page), I've skirted neatly around it, I think, in my writing (for the most part). Because I absolutely was the girl who wanted to "save" or "fix" the wounded (and emotionally unavailable, and/or abusive, and/or toxic) lover. I wanted stories about it. I wanted to roll around in that narrative, bathe in it, eat it up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

All while occupying the role/perspective of The Good One / The Good Girl whether in a game or in a story I was consuming.

But it's not the truth. Not the whole truth, at least. Not for me, anyway.

My admiration, respect, regard, and all the other good words for the writing and acting in Baldur's Gate 3 cannot be overstated. Each of the "origin" characters (and honestly, any character "Tav" has the opportunity to even have a conversation with, much less spend a significant amount of time with) is thoughtfully and truthfully written. I see this more in some than others, but that depth and breadth of understanding about human beings -- sorry, sentient beings -- shows up all over the place and honestly I almost can't stand how much I love it.

I'm not going to say that there's no character I feel this as deeply with as Astarion, but... idk, sometimes.

But there's no need to quantify this. Astarion is one of a number of characters from the game that I'm low-key obsessed with.

As such, when I decided to take on the story outcome in which, in my opinion, he throws all the growth, all the processing, all the truth and reconciliation I saw him moving toward in the game into a fucking woodchipper, I did not want it to be easy.

I get wanting it to be easy, and there are delicious, delicious fics out there that go this route. I think anybody who writes Ascendant Astarion at least flirts with it.

And it's not a binary; it's not either, "OMG this is completely uncomplicated, I love you I'm your spawn and it's just like if you hadn't ascended except your SUPER EXTRA POWERFUL AND SEXY AND HOT AND WHOOPS THERE GO MY PANTIES" (which, tbh... lool I'm not mad at) or "ASTARION IS IRREDEEMABLE LET ME WRITE OF HIS TRAGIC DEMISE AND TAV'S TRAGIC WITNESS TO IT / ENGINEERING OF IT." Which I'm ALSO not mad at, because THOSE THINGS CAN BE TRUE.

But while I'm subscribed to some stories that follow those paths or ones like them, and when I get that notification it's time to STOP THE PRESSES bc mama needs to READ, for me the challenge of this is if I'm going to continue Astarion and Tav's love story (or rekindle it lol), I want to honor the four years of intense character work Neil Newbon and Stephen Rooney and honestly the whole goddamn BG3 team from soup to nuts have done by considering "What would really happen here" as brutally as possible.

Komo, my incredible thought partner-cum-beta, can tell you about the pages of back and forth between us about "fml, how can we make this story work and maintain fidelity to the integrity* of these characters???? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"

*not personal integrity -- meta shit. The integrity of their arcs, development, personalities, histories, traumas, etc.

SO. Back to trauma.

I said in my end note for chapter 11 that this story is not an after-school special (which looool probably at least some of you are like wtf are you talking about my dude and I'm like looooool omg life before kids were a whole target demographic unto themselves - kind of lol) or a PSA.

Which alludes to the fact that YES, I want to tell the truth about the ugliness of this relationship and the individuals in it with nuance and empathy and sensitivity; that I want to write about the pain and harm and longing and ache and all of it in ways that are neither hyperbolic nor diminishing.

But also, look, my darling motherfuckers, my comrades in fuckery, whoever's made it this far into this rambling monster of a -- whatever the fuck this is lool -- PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRAUMA ALSO HAVE FUN.

SOMETIMES EVEN WHEN THEY ARE ENGAGING IN BEHAVIORS THAT ARE DESTRUCTIVE TO THEMSELVES AND/OR OTHERS.

I don't think I've sufficiently unpacked this part to dig down much deeper into it, but what I will say is that this is not going to be a passion play about Poor Tav or Drugs Are Bad, Mmkay? or anything else.

What this is going to be (or at least, what I passionately want it to be) is -- framed with a delicious little fake-dating muffin of an emotional MacGuffin -- a portrait of some people in all (or lordt jebus please let me achieve at least MOST) of their complexity.

ALL OF IT.

Lordt Baby Jebus, Allah, Milal, Great Spaghetti Monster, ANYBODY

(not Lolth lol)

hear my prayer!

Aight, that's all I've got for today. <3

If you made it this far, PM me and tell me something you want to see in the story! I'll make you a treat.

And if it don't fit in the story, I might be able to make a li'l drabble happen.

COMING SOON to Writing Notes Storytime:

Identity in this story and in stories in general

The Good, the Bad, and the Neutral: Alignment and Astarion (and some other ppl, too!) in BG3, DnD, and This Story lol

Stuff I'm forgetting bc I'm STILL not over this never-ending COVID fuckery

[orbiorbster]

THE GALLAGHERS REVIEW PART 1: FIONA GALLAGHER

(Gonna start this by saying that I have recently finished the show in terms of s1-9 and will include opinions I have on it, but these reviews will only focus on each person in the Gallagher household and their romantic relationships. Part of this is also to kick off discussion so if I missed something or someone lmk!)

This show has one of the strongest plots to a dramedy I think I've ever seen. From its characters to its stories to the way it depicts the struggles of lower class for those in a large city, most of the show worked in a clever format made just for it. Even though Frank is the ambassador of what it's trying to represent, I take Fiona as the most rounded of the family. In fact I believe she is the true main character. Every gallagher is a protagonist but she herself is the center.

Even without her caretaker role in the family, she's one of the few characters I can say consistently grows and develops as a character. Each of her relationships-both good and bad-reflect back to her as a person and where she's at. Her flaws were dimensional and her conflicts with others were justified. Plus she's a damn good older sister character that I feel a lot of people could relate to.

I also feel that the mistakes she makes as a character hit harder than most of the others because of just how much effort she puts into breaking the cycle her parents included them in yet she falls right back into. Progress being nonlinear is a brutal realization she represents greatly.

I would say I have less grievances with her and more with the pacing and time given between her and her relationships, so I'll get into those now-

JIMMY/STEVE

Do I think Jimmy's persistence to be with her was sweet? Not really! Do I believe he was one of the bests to her? Not even close! But do I believe he was one of the bests? Yes

The thing with Fiona's exes is that they either lack compatibility or lack personality, and though he didn't treat Fiona exactly the best or even regarded her needs in certain situations, he is the best in terms of personality. When he left for good his absence was as clear as day because no one had the same charm or screen time. You would consider him a seperate character with his family interconnecting with the Gallaghers. He had such an interesting impact on the show which I enjoyed watching, but don't believe it was good for Fiona.

TONY

Tony was sweet and also a natural integration into how the Gallaghers originally get out of their degenerate crimes. Like of course one of them has a close connection with a cop in order to bail them out of serious shit, and of course that same cop protecting Fiona and her family would be the competitor to the bad boy who wants Fiona regardless. However he felt more like a tool for their plots than a fully rounded person. His family was just offscreen mentions, and he only returned to the picture when something was needed.

He also has a caring affection toward his community, which is surprising considering he's a cop in downtown Chicago. I knew he wasn't any real competition.

ADAM

V was absolutely right he's 100% the discount Jimmy. He's just alright, I forgot he even really existed. I can only give grace because his compatibility was in a means to help strengthen Fiona's conflict. He represented Fiona's struggle to let go of Jimmy and that independence outside of the kids she truly yearns for. Like finally a male character being the support tool for a female lead.

MIKE

Mike has the opposite problem of Jimmy. I don't think he stands out very well compared to the rest of the ex cast, but I'm gonna be honest he's truly the best relationship Fiona ever really had. He wasn't just a symbol for what she wanted or needed either, he actually got along quite well with her. He's a lot better than Adam and I felt their connection was going to mean a lot like FINALLY a real relationship that can fight with Jimmy. Too bad she fucked that up

ROBBIE

Fuck this asshole for being a really good affair arc. I personally don't like affair arcs because their cliche at this point but they threw this one out of the park. He didn't even get a lot of screen time, but here I could tell it was intentional, because his impact was what's really important. He showed Fiona she still wasn't ready for that full independence because it requires accountability that none of the Gallaghers had. He also showed that disastrous cycle of her family she's managed to avoid for years. Just because she was the best caretaker for the rest of the family doesn't mean she still wasn't psychologically impacted by their behavior. From ending things with Mike to the drugs left with Liam her character needed this wakeup call as a way to continue her growth.

GUS

This is when the pacing for her relationships began to stumble a bit. Not to say that Gus was a terrible one, but the contribution he had to Fiona wasn't there. Yes he was meant for Fiona to learn her impulsiveness and accountability still needed time to learn, but how it went about wasn't necessarily amazing or anything. That plus Jimmy felt out of nowhere. Like the scene where she finally lets Jimmy go was amazing, but that seasons story had nothing to do with it, more so the previous ones helping build this up. Also he is written to be antagonistic after, but his actions are a little justified.. Fiona started this and their pettiness is what made it continue. Instead of Gus leaving for tours, or the other characters telling us how to feel about him, they could've taken the time to show how his personality wasn't nearly as great as Fiona expected and her rose tinted glasses needed to be ripped off the right way. That would've helped with the relationship after.

SEAN

I NEEEEED JUSTICE FOR HIM. It irritates me so much how much they built on him just for him to be thrown out like another Jimmy when he's NOT. What about him or his personality showed that he would've abused drugs for that long without telling Fiona? HE ALREADY TOLD FIONA?? Then what showed he would straight up lie about it?? The entire point of him not wanting to be with Fiona in the BEGINNING was his truth in the struggles to stay sober, and yet FIONA grew and maintained herself for him then vice versa. We already had this together. He was (at first) honest all the way about his conflicts and it was Fiona who had to learn to open up and actually communicate instead of wanting to immediately axe what they had.

What I believe should've really happened is, yes, Frank still does continue to ruin the wedding, but either A) let the paid killer actually go through (esp since they REALLY wanted us to consider it, being a cliffhanger and everything) or B) have it just be a LIE to RUIN the wedding and have Fiona's family antics be the ultimate reason a relationship ends. She even says in the first season most men see how her and her family are and can't stand it by a year, yet NONE of the previous exes really show that. Sean also doesn't want his kid to truly interact with all of them, let alone integrate them as family in law? Right here would've worked so perfectly to say that Fiona's attachment and their dynamic had to be changed.

FORD

Quite literally the same problem as Sean except he doesn't even have a personality. He's not even subtle in representing a reflection of Fiona, he's just a lesson for her to learn. The end of their relationship means not a thing. He was as clear as a wine glass he had nothing to do with children. If he had a struggle with his previous wife, what is the point of making more? He slept with a lesbian for what purpose, writers, what purpose. He gets upset at Fiona and her flakiness for what purpose. If the only personality trait you give him is HONEST and RELIANT, him lying about a wife and child he doesn't care about makes NO sense. Again, use this time to give Fiona a chance at reflection, that it is ultimately HER decisions and HER failures that ruin a relationship. If you're not gonna make a dimensional character have them support the real one! That would make her downward spiral more realistic! She can find another tinder date, writers, please!!!

Everyone else I do not feel has the importance of the above. They are either summary of Fiona's character or are not a real relationship.

CONCLUSION

Fiona is an amazing character, but her relationships and their pacing could've used more work if they truly wanted to have them. She had a lot to add on the message and stories they wanted in this show, and her departure of the show was imo the real goodbye.

[milkmaidovich]

ask you anything, huh? alright-

1 - who's YOUR favourite gallagher sibling. and why.

2 - do you think you and above gallagher sibling are most alike? or someone else?

please & thank you 🌾

Ooooh these are good questions!! Thank you!

1. HMMMMMM I think this is a tie between Ian, my sweet cheese, my rotten solider, my good time boy FOREVER and Lip.

Ian because barring a bit in the middle there (which was understandable) he's probably the most optimistic of them all. He can see a better life for himself and he's gonna make it happen and he believes he deserves it! He's adaptable (middle child shit) and has that Gallagher ability to think outside the box. A trait he and Lip share as they become adults that I love dearly is their desire to grow and change and be better, even if means admitting some hard things and taking responsibility for bad choices. I don't love the whole gay Jesus storyline (could have been handled in a way that felt less gimmicky imo) but I did like that Ian wasn't going to not own up to the why of his actions, especially because it shows him putting his needs before those of others, ie his little cult following, because he can't heal from it or begin to make amends if he's not honest. He doesn't want to be Monica, who could never accept her diagnosis and her own culpability in bad decisions AND she didn't let anyone be the support system Ian builds for himself with his siblings and Mickey to help him make the good choices when all his brain wants is the other ones.

Lip has those self-sabotaging tendencies of a person who doesn't believe he belongs, or that he shouldn't get good things, and the added pressure of everyone telling you forever how smart you are and how you're gonna be The One who gets out/makes something of themselves/changes everything for the family/etc and when suddenly shit is hard???? And you feel like you can't say anything because you're The One??? And you feel guilty for not being home and for enjoying being your own individual person for the first time in your entire life???? It broke my heart to see him try to half-ass sobriety in some attempt to keep hold of how he wasn't like Frank, he was better, he was The One, but it was great to see him accept that he the best way to be NOT like Frank was to accept that this was a problem he had and that he needed to do something about it. My feelings on how, in the later seasons, they could have utilized his rocky path to being a better person and embracing the growing emotional intelligence and communication skills that come with doing a 12 step program like AA are MANY (and I have OPINIONS on all how the arcs of all the siblings went real fucking sideways out of nowhere) and I am sad every day we got the set up for something great for him and they leaned into Dumb Shenanigans instead.

2. I have more in common with with Lip than most of the others, in that I had that idea that as the "you're so smart! Everything is so easy for you!" gifted kid I had a really really hard time accepting when shit was no longer easy and also understanding that I could ask for help, because who was I if I wasn't those things and ALSO no one believed me when I did ask, because I was so smart and everything was easy so I just wasn't trying hard enough surely (the adult diagnosis of severe ADHD really put a lot of this into context). I struggle to accept when things change for how I thought I would be and I also have the tendency to not believe I deserve good things, but unlike Lip I've done enough therapy to be able to push back when the brain gremlins come calling. I also looked at the family history of substance abuse and alcoholism and went "nah I don't think I'm gonna drink when I'm stressed, seems like tempting fate" which he didn't do till he had to, but I can absolutely see myself going a different route if the drinking culture I grew up with had been more casual.

Thanks for the ask!! Of course I got real busy as soon as I received it so I'm sorry it took so long

[lovelywetdreamer]

How Shameless Should Have Ended

I have been rewatching the show and realized where the show went off the rail. I love the show don't get me wrong, but the show couldn't been better. I do not own Shameless in any form.

No eleven season. The show will have 4 or 5.

Frank would have died in the first or second season. All the Gallagher kids have to learn that being a Gallagher and not growing up got Frank killed.

Everyone learns serious consequences for never taking the blame. I hate to say this but the characters stop progressing at some point because they all say they're a Gallagher.

Lip actually learns and graduates from college. He becomes a teacher and educates children like him. He doesn't end up with the last girl. He either ends up Molly or Sierra.

Ian would have always ended up with Mickey. To be honest, I think Ian is the only character that stays with good writing. I wouldn't change much about him. I actually would have loved to see him and Mickey adopt Lip's second child as they hinted in the series final. That would have been a good spin-off of Micky and Ian being parents and trying to educate their child not to be like them.

Debbie Carol and Liam would actually learn to be better people. Debbie and Carol would have to leave the show early like Frank. After Fiona went to jail for Liam getting into drugs, she would not be allowed to raise her younger siblings. A rich person actually adopted them and gave them a better life. They are the first set of kids who don't have to face the Gallagher curse. Debbie finally has a girly childhood she always wanted. Carol never joined a gang. Liam actually learns about his black culture.

Fiona would actually leave the show with a much happier ending. She is completely single. She has finally a goodbye party with all her family and Veronica and Kevin at the bar. She leaves as everyone else leaves their crappy neighborhood. She travels the world and gets to enjoy being by herself after watching all her siblings and friends live out their lives.

Kevin and Veronica become rich. Kevin doesn't stupid later on the show.

The show is still good. These are just the little changes I would have made.

[tryingtowritefanfics]

Yaaay! So what if they're fwb and reader is on an abusive home. She ends up leaving her home in the middle of the night, during winter, in just socks a tank top and shorts after like getting hurt. She ends up running to the Gallagher home and Fiona was up and let her in. Lip could either be coming home from Karen's or whatever and he sees like all of bruises and blood and goes from 0 to 100

👽👽

Thank you so much for your suggestion alien anon! Alianon! 👽💕 I hope you like it!!

TW: mentions of abuse

Tears froze against your cheeks and your wet socks stuck to the concrete with every limp, you had never been this cold. Snow fell gently and muffled the noises of the city at night, it could have been beautiful. Your teeth chattered and your breath fogged around you as you stared down the street with one thought in mind, "I'll be okay if I can just get to the Gallagher's." You had been repeating it in your head ever since you fled your home.

It had never been this bad before, you were only in your tank top and shorts when your step father slammed open the door to your room and stumbled in. Instantly you could smell the whisky. You clambered out of bed and tried to run past him but he caught your arm in a bruising grip. He wouldn't remember what he did to you in the morning.

You could see the house clearly now through the snow and you let out a laugh, "I made it to the Gallagher's house..." it was only a few blocks from your own house but in the dead of winter and with a leg that your step-dad had stomped on, it felt like much further.

You slowly limped up the stairs to the door and knocked, your hand was numb from the cold. The lights were on, but what if no one would be willing to answer the door this late? Freezing tears stung your eyes again and you wiped them away and dabbed at blood on your lip with the edge of your tank top.

Fiona flung open the door with a scowl, ready to cuss out Frank for whatever the fuck he wanted at this hour, but instead she saw you and her expression softened instantly, "Y/n, what happened?" She pulled you in, "Jesus Christ y/n you're frozen!" Fiona pulled you close to her and helped you over to the couch.

Tears of relief started to fall and you hugged her as your shaking body slowly started to adjust to the warmth. She just held you in her warm embrace for a minute before getting up and taking your face into her hands, "I'm getting you some blankets and hot tea, I'll be right back." She took off her own sweater and helped you lift your sore arms into it before quickly going upstairs to find blankets.

You sniffed and hugged yourself into the sweater still warm from Fiona's body. The house was quiet, that was unusual, but then again you'd never been here this late. You slid off your wet socks and pressed your feet into the couch cushions. A noise upstairs made you wonder if Lip was here.

Lip was your friend... with benefits. But nothing more. To be honest you had dreamed about being more sometimes. Sometimes the way Lip held you like he never wanted to let you go made you think he might want more too, but he had never said anything or made any moves to suggest he wanted anything more serious than what you had. And he had Karen too, it was hard to compete with her.

The front door swung open and you flinched. Lip strode in and took off his scarf before he turned and noticed you, "Y/n?" Confusion was all over his face and a fresh hickey from Karen was on his neck. Tonight it hurt more than usual to see. He only took a moment to see the cut on your lip, the bruises on your leg and cheek before he was rushing over to you, he knelt down in front of couch and grabbed your arms. Covered by Fiona's sweater he hadn't seen the bruises from your step father's hands littering your arms. You whimpered and pulled away leaving Lip with an expression you'd never seen on him before, he was hurt.

Instantly you felt guilty, you never wanted to be the reason he looked like that. You quickly tugged up the sweater sleeves and showed him the bruises, "I-I'm sorry for pulling away, it just hurt and I didn't-" he leaned up and kissed you more gently than he ever had before, "Please don't apologize." He stood up as Fiona came down the stairs. She handed you a blanket and went to throw another one in the dryer to get it warm for you.

"Did your fuckin step-dad do this?" Lip asked looking away from you and running a hand through his hair as he began to pace the living room. Fiona sat down beside you and pulled you close to her, "Lip stop, don't upset her. Come sit on her other side." She pulled the sleeves of her sweater back down your arms and tucked the blanket around you.

Lip grabbed the bat by the stairs, you'd never seen him so furious as his eyes darted around and he rubbed a hand over his mouth and his grip on the bat tightened, "This is the last time... I'm not gonna let him hurt you again y/n... gonna fuckin kill him..."

"Lip..." You said meekly and he finally turned to look at you again, his face softened and he came to kneel in front of you again. He took your hand, "Y/n, I want to do this. I need to do this. He can't get away with this." His voice shook as he stared at you, his blue eyes sparkled with emotion and you nodded, "Please be careful?"

Lip stood and kissed the top of your head, "I'm gonna take care of this for you, I'll be back soon." He muttered into your hair and with that he grabbed the bat and left. You stared at the door as Fiona held you and you felt silent tears start to fall again. You never imagined he'd react like this, never thought he'd go out to fight for you.

[imikhailotakeyouian]

Good morning my lovely elisa! Here with my monthly question, again I thought pretty hard about this one and I’ve been seeing so much about Ian and Mickeys wedding recently sooooo my question:

Do you think speeches were given at the Gallavich wedding? Lip was the best man and they almost always give speeches at weddings, what do you think he said in his speech given how close he and Ian are? Was it emotional? Did anyone else give speeches? Ian and Mickey? Did they get emotional too? Debs? Carl? Frank?

If Fiona or Mandy were there do you think they would have given speeches as well?

Sorryyyyyy! I totally forgot to check the inbox ahahah!

I hereby and humbly ask for forgiveness <3

Anyhoo!

To be honest I don't think anyone from the guests gave speeches, sorry to disappoint :( Lip was honestly too out of it, Debs already did her part, Carl is not the type and Frank was making out with the Polish lady ahahah XD

I like to think that Mickey actually gave a speech, especially after the "Perfect" dance, because he saw that Ian was emotional and he got to have him tell him it was because he missed Monica on his wedding day.

So before they leave, Mickey give a speech where he honestly thanked everyone for helping making it happen. Not only the Gallaghers and Sandy, but also the Gay-Jesus-Church-People. And then he moves his attention from the guests to Ian and says something supersweet hiding it with his grumpy manners like.

"Yeah, so, our vows matter and shit, but what I really wanted to say is that I still cant believe you are my husband. I still can't believe that someone in this fucked up world decided that I was worth of love. But you never gave up, Gallagher. Not even when I was a piece of shit and didn't even dare to kiss you. Not even when I threatened to kill your dad -Yeah, hi Frank- you never gave up on me. I guess what I am trying to say is that I still don't know what I did to deserve you, Ian. But sure as fuck I will show you that I deserve your love for the rest of our days. Thank you for being a persistent motherfucker."

If Fiona and Mandy were there, they would have definitely given a speech! Fiona would say something about how Mickey gained her trust -because, Milkovich, in the beginning I couldn't trust you even if I tried- but then she saw how he loved Ian, how he was taking care of him, especially when things were bad, and she knew they were right for each other and couldn't ask for someone better for his sweet SleepyFace.

Mandy would totally sass about the fact that Ian was her boyfriend to begin with and that she is still mad at him for stealing Ian to her. But then she would also say that though this was the only wedding she was hoping to see her brother as the groom, she is still glad that after all the shit they went through they finally made it. That her brother, more than anyone in that fucking room, deserves love. And fuck you Terry, just because.

Hope this pleases you ** this was fun!

[thecoveys]

48. After awhile, do you think people got to Ian and Mickey for relationship advice? (Gallaghers / friends / franny )

49. Gallaghers post canon: Does Lip go back to school/ gets a profession? Do all of them talk to Fiona? What happened with Debbie and Heidi/ Sandy? Franny? Does Carl open the cop bar/ stays a cop? Does Liam live with Lip and Tami? How does he deal with Franks death?

gallavich headcanon questions

48. After awhile, do you think people got to Ian and Mickey for relationship advice?

I think they do. Based on the fact that Ian was the first Gallagher to get married and stay married, and the fact that he got married to Mickey of all people, I think people look at them as a case of actual true love and a successful relationship. They truly have been through hell and made it through to the other side, and I think the people around them recognize this.

Mickey is for sure brutally honest about relationships being hard work, whilst I think Ian sugarcoats it a bit more, especially to younger kids like Franny. It's like Ian will be like "as long as you love each other, everything will be fine" I think Mickey will be like "fuck that, shit's hard. shit's complicated and frustrating and hard fucking work, but if you really love each other all 'a that will be worth it"

They really do give great, honest advice, but they're also the first people to call shit out the way they see it. For example, if Debbie comes to them ranting and being unreasonable about her relationships, whatever they may be, Ian is the first person to call her on her shit. Mickey will straight up be like "Debs, listen, it's not gonna happen" and Ian will just nod and add "yeah, Debs, you're reading way too much into something that isn't there."

49. Gallaghers post canon: Does Lip go back to school/ gets a profession? Do all of them talk to Fiona? What happened with Debbie and Heidi/ Sandy? Franny? Does Carl open the cop bar/ stays a cop? Does Liam live with Lip and Tami? How does he deal with Franks death?

I don't think Lip ever goes back to school full time, but I could see him taking evening classes just because he misses learning. I think he's most content using his hands though, so I could see him being a handyman or doing minor repairs for people.

I think they all keep in contact with Fiona, though some people more than others. I think Lip and Ian both talk to her fairly often, as they were always the closest growing up, but I could also see Debbie getting over her abandonment issues and forgive Fiona for leaving when she did and calling her every once in a while just to catch up. I think Carl texts Fiona a lot, but I don't think he calls as much as the others. I can also see Liam taking a long time to come around to forgiving Fiona for leaving, but eventually texting her and keeping in touch. I also think Liam lives with Lip and Tami and that they end up his legal guardians after Frank's death.

Other than that I don't think I can imagine much more for them, because they're still growing and settling into themselves. They're still so fluid in my mind, and I can't really imagine much more for them. They're just living their lives, y'know.

[plus-size-reader]

Crush

Philip “Lip” Gallagher x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 1726 words

Warnings: none 

Summary: Lip develops a crush on the reader, Fiona’s childhood best friend

——————————————————————————————————

Fiona'd had friends of hers in and out of the house since Lip was a kid, but no one more so than you.

You were arguably her best friend in the entire world and everyone knew it. For the better part of both of your lives, you’d been inseparable and it was only natural that you get close with the rest of her family.

In a way, for them, it was like you were a part of their family, and even Frank spoke highly of you, which in itself was a feat. They just all seemed to love you.

Unfortunately though, as Lip got older, he didn't seem to feel the same way.

It wasn't that he didn't love you, because he did, and you were very important to him. It was just that he didn’t feel the same way for you that the rest of the Gallaghers did.

More than anything, he was in awe of you for everything that you were. You were confident and gentle, with more heart and soul than anyone he’d ever known. You were sweet, and caring, while also being a huge badass.

To Lip, you were everything.

...But he knew the truth.

You saw him as nothing more than your best friend's annoying baby brother, and that was never going to change. What did change though was how Lip wanted you to see him.

He didn’t want to be that in your eyes, not when he could be so much more.

Not that you could ever know that.

Lip was positive that he would die if you ever found out how he really thought about you. Nothing could ever be more embarrassing, especially because he had a pretty good idea of how it would go.

You were the one woman in the world he couldn't be confident around, and it had everything to do with the history you two shared.

You had helped Fiona raise him; and Ian, and Deb, and Carl. Hell, even now, you picked Liam up from daycare three days of the week.

You knew everything about every single one of the Gallaghers and the crush that Lip harbored wasn't going to be anything more than a cute little joke.

What you didn't seem to realize was that Lip was a grown man now.

He didn't need you to take care of him now, not anymore.

You were no longer the girl who came around and bothered him when he tried to hang out by himself, and you certainly weren't the girl who'd found his playboys under his bed and put them back without a word anymore either.

You were attainable, as far as age, feelings, and experience went but that didn't mean that Lip could make you his.

Every member of his family was too invested in all this for him to start going out with you, not to mention that Fiona would never allow it. She would sooner end his life than let him be with you.

So Lip kept quiet.

It was much easier to do than opening that can of worms.

He opened the refrigerator door slowly, his hand lazily falling on the neck of the bottle. It was as if the motion was a habit by now, and he didn't even have to think about it.

Across the kitchen was you, giggling at whatever was being said over the phone. He didn't know who you were talking or what it was all about; all he knew was that you were having an amazing time.

There was nothing Lip wouldn't do to hear that laugh but he just wished that he could be the one making you act that way.

Knowing that he couldn’t was more than enough to anger the younger male, who slammed his near-empty bottle down on the counter without a word and stormed out.

You hadn’t really been paying attention to him before that, but you couldn’t help but notice that he was gone. It would have been impossible not to but what you didn't know was why?

It certainly couldn’t have had anything to do with you.

You had just been on the phone with your cousins in Jersey. They spent most of the time arguing with one another more than talking to you, but they were also a laugh riot.

...But Lip didn’t know that.

In his mind, you had been laughing and carrying on with the greasy yet somehow charming usher from the theatre who loved you. He hit on you all the time and it wouldn’t have surprised Lip if you’d hooked up with him.

There was no way for him to think about it that didn't make his blood boil.

You were his, you just didn't know it yet.

~ Normally, you would have let Lip be.

Sometimes he could be dramatic and it was possible that he’d just gotten upset about something else and you’d read the room wrong. However, you had a feeling that wasn’t the case.

So, naturally, you went to go check on him.

If you were wrong, you could just move on and go about your business, but if you were right, you might be able to make him feel better.

“Hey kid, what’s going on?” you asked, knocking lightly on his door frame to let him know that you were there. You didn’t want to say anything if he was busy, but he didn’t seem to be.

In fact, he was far from it.

Lip was just sitting there on his bed, his beer bottle long discarded on the floor. It was funny, or perhaps it would have been, if he wasn’t so clearly upset.

“Don’t call me that” he snapped, catching you off guard.

There was something so pointed and aggressive about the way he spoke and it shocked you. Maybe you had done something after all, but you had no idea what it was.

“Okay, sorry. Is there something going on?” you asked, doing your very best to be understanding, even though you were more and more confused with each passing moment.

You were just lost.

Nothing that was happening made any sense at all to you.  

“No, why would there be?” he questioned, that accusatory tone still evident in his voice.

You weren’t even sure why he wouldn’t just tell you what it was, but since you were clearly gonna have to pull it out of him, you sat down.

“Out with it?” you suggested, though you both knew it was more of an order. If he didn’t want you to call him a kid, he’d have to stop acting like one.

Usually, Lip was the most mature of the Gallagher siblings but times like these made you wonder if that was true. It didn’t really make sense that he couldn’t just tell you what was wrong.

He sighed at first, the deep sort of sigh that you’d gotten used to hearing in this house. Someone always had a problem that needed to be worked out, even Lip, apparently.

“I don’t like that you talk to that guy, he’s trash, even more than most of the people around here” he commented finally.

There was a casualness in the way he spoke, though you could see just how hard this was for him in his eyes.

“Who? What are you talking about Lip?” you asked, genuinely confused this time. Clearly he thought you were talking to someone else but you had no idea who it could be.

You haven't been seeing anyone new lately.

“That guy from the theatre, what’s his name-” He huffed, scrambling a little when it came to his name. Lip had always been so focused on how much he hated him that he didn’t pay attention to what he said.

All he knew was the guy was not good enough for you and he was tired of hearing about him.

“I haven’t talked to him in forever. Why do you even care?” you asked, finding it hard not to be offended that he clearly didn’t think very highly of you.

He assumed that you were just going out with whatever guy paid attention to you, and honestly, that hurt. You had never been that kind of girl, but even if you had, it wasn’t really his business.

“Because, you’re way too good for a guy like that” he groaned, going for broke. The cat was out of the bag and there was no getting it back in now.

Gingerly, Lip reached out to take your hand in his own, his fingers brushing over the back of your knuckles slowly. The skin of his hands was noticeably rougher than yours, likely to working construction over the summer, but you didn’t mind.

Instead, you chose to ignore the strange feeling that overtook you at the touch. This was Lip, and the fact that you were even in this position was not alright

You’d known him all your life.

“Lip-” you started, but he stopped you before you could continue.

He knew that as soona s you said what you needed to say, this would be over and he at least had to get out what he was thinking before that happened.

If this ruined any friendship you'd ever had, he had to know that he got it all out there.

“I care because the right guy for you is right here, I always have been” he continued, startling you with his admission but he was far from done. Lip had been sitting on his feelings for so long, it was almost a relief to be honest.

“I know you probably think it’s just some stupid crush but it’s far from that. I’m in love with you”

By the time he’d finished, the male was almost entirely out of breath but neither of you minded. In fact, you were just trying to wrap your mind around what he was saying.

Lip was in love with you? How was that possible?

“I have to go” you decided finally, the walls of the room felt like they were closing in and you could hardly even breathe. It was ridiculous that you were even considering this, but you couldn’t help it.

Was it possible you cared about him in that way? Then, as if you hadn’t been handed enough, you realized something. What happened when Fiona found out?

[tamiettitami]

"Yo," Ian shouts from across the hall of he and his husband's apartment, "the shower is open if you wanna hop in." Ian stalks over to their dresser and grabs a fresh pair of navy blue boxer briefs before dropping his towel. He shimmies into them with ease, turning around once they are halfway up his thighs; all of those years of sneaking around with Mickey has made Ian lightning-fast at hiking up underwear. 

Mickey shakes his head, setting his phone next to him on their bed. "Nah, there's something else I'd rather do," his eyebrows raise twice in quick succession.

"I just got out of the shower, Mick, I don't have have another round left in me—"

"Fuck, Ian, I just wanted to cuddle. My asshole is still on fuckin' fire, anyway,” Mickey scolds, smacking his lips together for dramatic effect. “It's gonna burn like hell tryin’ to take a shit in the morning.”

“Well, in that case,” Mickey pulls back the covers allowing Ian enough room to slip through, grinning wide. Once Ian is situated, Mickey grabs the hem of their quilt and tucks himself as well as Ian in, tangling their legs together beneath the sheets.

Ian props himself up on his side using an elbow to face Mickey head-on. Instinctively, Mickey reaches out a hand to brush the few loose strands of hair out of Ian's eyes. "You're not my mom," Ian chuckles.

"Damn right, I ain't your mom," Mickey rests his palm on Ian's cheek, lightly cradling his husband's face. "You are my husband, though, and we vowed to take care of each other," Leaning down, Mickey softly presses his lips against Ian's forehead letting his mouth ghost the pale skin briefly before pulling away fully.

In his previous relationships, and even with his own family members, Ian has been scared by physical affection. With Mickey, however, it comes so naturally, it's hard to be upset. This is all Ian has ever wanted, to feel loved and appreciated, like all the shit he's been through with Monica, Frank, and the rest of his fucking family doesn't make him broken. Sure, Ian still feels broken with his bipolar disorder (though, he's gotten better at controlling these thoughts after years of taking his medications), but, to Mickey, Ian is... Ian. That's it, he's Ian Gallagher, and Mickey has never expected anything more from him, nor does he now.

"Hey," Mickey's voice is smooth, like a freshly cleaned silk sheet, "What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

"Nothing, I'm okay, just thinking," Ian shakes his head.

"Bullshit."

"It's not bullshit—"

Mickey rolls his eyes, "Yes, it is. Now, tell me what's wrong."

Ian takes a deep breath in, steadying himself by shifting his weight onto his back again. He laces his fingers together and places his hands on his stomach before answering Mickey's question, or more so demand. "I love you," he declares to the ceiling.

"How's that a bad thing, Mr. Milkovich?" Mickey asks, tone teasing.

"And you love me," Ian adds.

Mickey half-heartedly laughs. "That's why we got married, idiot." He can sense the tension practically radiating off Ian's skin, and the thought of his husband being uncomfortable is Mickey's least favourite thought the bare. Consequently, he slugs an arm across Ian's torso where his hands lay, and Ian latches onto Mickey's wrist like its life or death with Mickey as his lifeline.

Ian sighs. "Nobody's ever done this for me before; tucked me in, kissed me goodnight. It's nice."

"What, you think I'm just gonna sleep next to you and not do all of that shit?" Ian scoffs; Mickey always does this during sincere conversations, or at least during conversations that are supposed to be sincere and would be sincere if he wasn't dodging every fucking sentence of raw, honest emotion pouring out of Ian's mouth.

Mickey's eyes flicker over Ian's, and a wave of guilt washes over him, like this isn't the time for his attempted tough guy shit even though Ian believes there's never a time for a Milkovich's mock macho.

"Hey, hey, hey," Mickey tightens his hold on Ian, "I don't do all of this shit because I have to, I do it because I want to; you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Gallagher." Ian grins, the corners of each mouth practically touching their respective ears. "But, if—"

"—I tell anyone you said that, you'll cut my fucking throat, I know, Mick, we've been over this plenty of times," Ian finishes. "For what it's worth, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me, too."

"I fucking love you," Mickey leans in, connecting their lips in a soft, yet passionate, kiss.

"I know," Ian smirks, turning onto his other side this time to wrap himself around Mickey to situate them both in their usual spooning position.

[multifandomfix]

Imagine being Frank’s first love and coming back to the south side.

It had been a while since you’d been back to the south side. It was like a homecoming of sorts for you. You’d had many memories there, good and bad alike. Your trip down memory lane brought you to stand in front of a familiar house. One that belonged to Frank Gallagher. You’d been his first love, or so he said. You wondered if he still lived there.

In answer to your silent question, the man himself stepped out of the house as you watched. "Frank?"

He looked up, seeing you there on the street and he was rendered speechless. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen you. "Can it really be," he asked.

"In the flesh," you replied, confirming your identity.

Soon, all the kids had barreled out of the house, just as shocked to see you. The only one you didn’t know was Liam. Monica had still been pregnant with him when you left. But the rest of them were thrilled to see you. You’d been more of a mom to them than Monica ever had, and you guessed that they still loved you for it.

"Also, now that you’re back in town, are you gonna take up with Frank again," Fiona asked. To be honest, you hadn’t thought about it, but you did look back fondly at all of your time together. "You’d be doing us a huge favor. He’s always better when he’s with you."

"What do you say, Frank? Should we give it a go again?"

"I will if you will," he replied.

"Then it looks like it’s a yes," you said with a smile. God it was good to be back.

For @teehopper

[voidting]

Hi Void ♪

I have stumbled on a new obsession... The TV show "Shameless" (US version) and of course down the rabbit hole of Mickey and Ian. I have so many thoughts on the show to be honest (I looove Carl, he's such a little shit, I wish Lip could get out of south side and though I loved Fiona in the first few seasons, I kinda care less and less 😭, Frank can go die in a dumpster, and of course Mickey and Ian the adorable idiots 🥰), I'm going through season 5 at the moment but I've already spoiled myself with what happens next (I'm just like that) and I AM NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THE ANGST BETWEEN THEM.

So, what did I do? I read a Gallavich AU of course. AND IT WAS SO GOOD. If any of you have other recs, please send them my way 😌. In the meantime!!!, read this one.

COOPERATIVE GAMEPLAY by grayola @gallavichy *

At nineteen years old, Ian Gallagher’s stuck. Stuck in a minimum-wage job he hates. Stuck in the same boring routine--sleep, wake, work, take your meds, Ian!, try not to lose it day after day after day. But after his little brother introduces him to MICK MILK, a frustratingly hot horror gamer he watches on YouTube, Ian's life will never be the same. ♥️

Explicit - Ian/Mickey - 421 889 words

Okay... WHERE TO START.

That's a lot of words I know. But it doesn't feel like so many words, to be honest. The story flowed just perfectly and though it did take me a couple of days to go through it, I didn't feel the need to skip passages like I sometimes do for big fics.

We got, youtube gamer!Mickey (which fucking works to be honest, I freaking love his voice in the show) with groupie turned disillusioned turned crushing!Ian. I reaaaally loved the progression of their feelings and relationship.

Sprinkled with Twitter stans war, Instagram follow tease, cute couple pictures, knowing friends and family (I'm in love with Mo).

The icing on the cake is their mutual loving support, Mickey being able to do more of what he loves, Ian being able to find what he loves to do.

A lot of songs and Spotify playlists (that I listened to while reading, 10/10 setting the ambience tbh).

And really fucking hot smut 🔥🍋.

I laughed, I cried, I cringed, I cooed, this story has it all 👀.

Do yourself a favour, and take the time to read it if you haven't already.

Or re-read it. Like I'm about to do... 🌟

* If you'd prefer to not be tagged just let me know! I just saw you had a tumblr 😖

[apolloloki97]

“Back On Solid Ground” Ian Gallagher x Mickey Milkovich

Summary: After Mickey is released early from prison, he is in no rush to go back into the arms of Ian Gallagher. After unsuccessfully trying to win Mickey back, the rest of the Gallagher siblings and a couple of friends try to help out their favourite Southside couple.

Or when Ian's friends and siblings try to get Mickey to talk to Ian after Mickey gets out.

Word Count: 7302

Warning: Swearing, Mentions of Mental Illness

Song I Wrote To: “I Found" by Amber Run

Note: Now, I am not a lawyer and I usually do research for fics, but just go with me on the legal proceedings for this. I love this story a lot and I always wanted more of Mickey's emotions after he was released. I needed this after the show finale as well.

----------

The last thing Mickey wanted to do was drink alone and so he called his favourite cousin.

Sandy was finally back in town after leaving once she got out of juvie for the last time. Iggy had told Mickey that Sandy was trying to go straight, but the younger Milkovich brother knew that the only straight thing about his cousin was her hair.

Regardless, once he was out of prison, she was his first call. Turns out that when the woman who presses charges on you for attempted murder goes insane and is deemed a pathological liar, the justice system becomes much more lenient. Mickey still remembered the moment the warden told him that he was getting out. He thought it had been some kind of sick joke from Terry or one of the other delinquent Milkoviches. Yet, everything was soon in order and Mickey was released with a few strokes of a pen.

That was a week ago and after crashing on Sandy’s couch and wallowing in his own sorrow over losing the man he loved, he finally ventured out into the world to interact with people. Well, only if you consider the lowlifes at the Alibi Room, people.

Mickey sat across from Sandy as she drank her second beer, very happy to be out with him rather than cooped up watching reruns of some horrible sitcom. Sandy was his favourite Milkovich next to Mandy, but Mickey hadn’t seen his sister in some time and he wasn’t even sure where she was. He got a text or a voicemail every couple of months just to let him know she was still alive, but that was it. He missed Mandy, but he knew she needed to get out of the Southside and he was happy for her.

Mickey glanced around the room, the afternoon sun filtering through the windows as it illuminated the day-drinkers. Mickey was itching to do something other than sitting at a dive bar and trying to dodge questions that he knew Kev and V both had. However, he was happy to be with Sandy who grinned at him from across the table.

“What?” Mickey asked, taking a sip from his beer. “You keep staring.”

“I’m just happy you called,” Sandy said with a shrug. Mickey watched her for a second before snorting.

“Who else would I call?”

“I don’t know. Colin?” Sandy paused for a second before looking at him over the rim of her glass. “Ian?”

“Don’t,” Mickey warned, not willing to talk about Ian, especially not to someone who didn’t even know him. Mickey had been hurt when Ian broke up with him on the stoop of the Gallagher house. Mickey had done everything for Ian. He had come out for him, tried to take care of him when he was at his lowest with his bipolar, and even protected him when the handsy old men would try things when Ian was drugged out of his mind on whatever anyone was willing to give him.

“Have you seen him yet?” Sandy asked.

“Nope,” Mickey said with a dismissive look as he sipped on his beer again.

“Mickey…” Sandy tried again.

“Why should I, huh? Bitch never visited me, did he?” Mickey said. It still hurt that as soon as Svetlana stopped asking him to do jobs for the Russian mob, Ian had essentially blocked him out of his life. Ian hadn't even taken calls from Mickey while he was locked up. He knew that Ian had left him, but he never expected the redhead to completely lock him out of his life, not when Mickey needed him the most.

“I thought you loved him,” Sandy said, folding her arms in front of her on the table.

“Didn’t mean much to him, did it?” Mickey said bitterly.

“He was sick, Mickey,” Sandy said, trying to rationalize.

“You don’t think I don’t know that?” he asked. “I was the one that was there for him. I took care of him and he just threw me away while his bitch of a sister…” Mickey trailed off, not wanting to lose his temper. He had been trying to work on that for a while and now was not the time to come undone. Mickey needed to keep calm for his own sake and Sandy's.

“Have you told anyone you’re back?” Sandy asked. “You know, besides Kev and V?”

“No,” Mickey said as he finished off the glass of beer before him.

“So, we’re here because…” Sandy said, gesturing around the bar that was a Southside staple.

“It’s early,” Mickey said. “Gallaghers don’t get day drunk. Well, Frank does, but fuck Frank.”

“Maybe you should tell someone,” Sandy said, trying to be comforting and supportive. This was one of the many reasons why Sandy and Mandy got along so well. They were always getting into other people’s business and especially Mickey’s. If he was being honest with himself, and he always was, he figured that they were the same person at times.

It was terrifying.

Still, she had a point. Some of the time.

“Who would I tell, hmm?” Mickey asked, leaning forward on the table in front of him. Sandy’s eyes flickered from him to the door over Mickey’s shoulder, trying to predict the reaction that she knew was about to happen. However, she didn’t back down. Mickey had been avoiding it all for too long.

“Start with him,” Sandy said, gesturing over Mickey’s shoulder. Confused, Mickey turned around in the booth to see Ian. The third eldest Gallagher sibling had entered the bar with his older brother Lip and Lip’s boss, Brad. Lip and Brad were more focused on the game on the TV above the bar than Ian was. Ian was staring right at Mickey with a surprised expression.

Their eyes were locked together and Mickey felt as if he couldn’t breathe. As soon as Ian took a step forward, Mickey turned back around and shut his eyes tightly. “No, no, no,” Mickey said under his breath, trying to calm his heart rate.

“Mickey, stay calm,” Sandy tried, reaching for her cousin’s hand. Mickey pulled away as if he had been burned. Shaking out his hand, he got to his feet.

“Please don’t,” Mickey breathed out as Sandy watched him clamor out of the booth. From his pocket, Mickey slammed some bills onto the table.

“Mickey…” Sandy said, her tone almost desperate. Mickey ignored her pleas, pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and then headed through the back of the bar, ignoring the ginger-haired Gallagher that waited behind him. Just as he shrugged into the back room, he ran into Veronica. V stared after him in confusion, watching as her friend disappeared up the stairs that led to the old apartment above the bar.

V then turned to Sandy with a question on her lips. Sandy simply nodded towards Ian who was in the same spot as he had been when Mickey had noticed him. V sighed, understanding immediately. She didn’t know every detail about how the relationship had ended, but she knew enough. Most importantly, she knew how much Mickey loved Ian and how much Ian had hurt the man who had done everything to make sure he was okay.

Veronica turned her attention back to the bar, going to restock the Jameson and whatnot. Sandy added her own bills to the pile that Mickey had left before grabbing her bag and hoisting it over her shoulder. Sliding out of the booth, she approached the front door, trying to avoid the Gallagher brothers when Kevin appeared, stepping into the bar with a large black duffle in his arms. Sandy stopped as he went up to her, stopping just shy of Ian.

“This is all I could get before I heard Terry’s asshole cronies coming back up the street,” Kev said, gesturing to the bag. “Iggy had to hurry me out before anything got too ugly.”

“Thanks, man,” Sandy said, relaxing a bit more knowing that Mickey would have some things of his own for a while before he found something more stable.

“I’ll bring this upstairs for him,” Kev said as he moved past Sandy and headed for the back staircase that led to the apartment. Sandy watched after him for a moment before heading back to the front door. However, Ian moved first. He stepped in front of Sandy, set on intercepting her escape.

“Sandy, right?” Ian asked, recognizing her from the many photos Mandy had shown him years before.

“Yeah,” Sandy said simply.

“I’m–”

“I know,” she said, cutting him off. It wasn’t hostile or anything, but Sandy didn’t think she should be talking to him right now. Mickey should have been the one to build back the bridge between the Milkovich and Gallagher family, not her.

“I didn’t know he was out,” Ian said, his eyes on the door that Mickey had escaped through.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when the charges are dropped,” Sandy said. However, she elaborated after a flash of confusion overtook Ian’s face. “Your half-sister had some sort of meltdown in lock up,” Sandy said. “I’m not exactly sure what happened, but it was enough for her to be deemed mentally unstable. The judge figured if she was lying about most things, then she was lying about Mickey trying to kill her,” Sandy said with a shrug. “I picked him up about a week ago.”

“Shit,” Ian said, not surprised that Sammi was unstable, but that the judge had actually approved Mickey’s release.

“Yeah,” she said, just as amused and surprised.

“So, he’s staying here?” Ian asked.

“He can’t go home,” Sandy said with a sigh. “Terry has been on a warpath since Mickey came out. He never got over it and I guess he figured Mickey being in prison was punishment enough. He didn’t like when I came out either so I’m not surprised. Kev and V are letting him stay upstairs until he finds a better place.” Sandy hiked her bag higher up on her shoulder as she shifted on her feet. “Look, I gotta go, but try to talk to him, will ya?”

“It didn’t look like he wanted to talk to me,” Ian said with a frown.

“He’s hurt, Ian,” she said, “but he’s still in love with you. Mickey thought he’d be in there for almost a decade and regardless of who his family is, that isn’t easy. He doesn’t know what to do right now. Please, just give him something to hold onto.”

Ian frowned at that, trying to wrap his head around the fact that Mickey was feeling lost. It wasn’t something he was used to witnessing. Mickey was a rock, his rock and he never thought that something like a quick stint in prison would get to him. Then again, as Sandy said, he had thought he would be locked up for a good chunk of his life and Ian knew how Mickey felt about being isolated.

Mickey needed to be free in every sense of the word and Ian would always try to make that happen for the man who had always loved him unconditionally. However, that meant working through their differences and of course, Ian making up for everything he had said when he was off his medication.

“I’ll try,” he promised Sandy. Satisfied with the answer, Sandy moved past him and shoved out into the warm Southside air, leaving the Alibi behind her.

Lip, who was sipping on a Coke at Ian’s side, moved closer to his younger brother. “Are you going to talk to him?” Lip asked.

Ian sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m going to try,” Ian decided, letting his eyes drift up towards where Mickey was staying, needing to see him.

--------

IAN

Ian waited until the next day before going to speak to Mickey.

He had been up all night trying to figure out what he was going to say. There was a part of him that was angry that Mickey hadn’t called him the second he got out, but he also knew that he had broken up with him and that he didn’t have the right to ask about him anymore. Yet, Ian still loved Mickey with everything he had. He just hoped that Mickey’s feelings hadn’t changed in the short time that he had been locked up.

Even after the few relationships he had been in since Mickey got arrested, none of them would ever compare to Mickey. It didn’t matter who Ian was with or where he was, Mickey was always going to be it. Which is why Ian found himself outside the small apartment above the Alibi just as morning turned to noon. The sound of the old pipes in the cracked walls was only making the rising anxiety in Ian’s chest worse. His hands clenched and flexed at his sides as he forced himself to raise his fist and knock twice on the wooden door.

It was quiet on the other side and Ian was worried that he may have missed him after all. Ian knocked again and then finally heard the sound of footsteps inside the apartment. “Dammit, Kev!” Mickey yelled as he approached the door. “I told you I wasn’t going to bartend for your shitty customers. For fuck’s sa–” Mickey’s sentence cut off as he tore open the door and realized it wasn’t Kev standing in the hallway at all. “Ian,” he said as he stared at the taller man in front of him.

Ian was looking back and he had to take a minute to take Mickey in. He was just as beautiful as the last time Ian had seen him, but he looked stronger. Clearly, Mickey had been taking advantage of the gym in the prison yard. His arms were more defined underneath the long sleeve t-shirt he wore and Ian could even tell that his back and shoulders had more muscle on them than before. Ian couldn’t help but look at Mickey’s chest, knowing the mangled tattoo of his name was just below the thin fabric.

“Hey, Mick,” Ian said, finally finding his voice. He offered Mickey a small smile, but the latter just stared back, breaking out his shock and slipping into a mood that told Ian that something was very wrong.

“The fuck do you want?” Mickey asked. Ian stammered for a second. He knew that Mickey was upset, but they usually always started off as pissed at each other before the reunion turned into a flurry of removing clothes and hands gripping at hair. However, he was realizing that wasn’t how this one was going to go at all.

“You’re out,” Ian observed and Mickey just raised one of his eyebrows at him.

“No shit,” Mickey bit back.

“I just, uh, I wanted to say…” Ian tried, still not sure where he was going with any of it. He had been prepared to speak to Mickey, but he had figured Milkovich was going to be a bit more willing to hear him out. The Mickey before him looked as if he’d rather be throwing his head against a wall than standing in that doorway.

“What?” Mickey asked.

“I don’t know how to put this…” Ian said, the anxious feeling returning to his hands.

“Spit it out, Gallagher,” Mickey said, “I got shit to do. Prison took up a lot of my time.”

“Right,” Ian said. “Well, uh, maybe…”

“Yes?” Mickey urged, shifting on his feet. Ian was looking at him and then he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t say any of the things he had wanted to because Mickey had never looked at him like this. Ian was used to the glares, the smiles, the annoyed little glances whenever Ian would make some dumb joke that Mickey pretended to not find funny. However, now, it was as if Mickey was looking at him, but he had no idea who he was. Ian switched gears quickly.

“Fiona’s gone,” Ian blurted out causing Mickey to narrow his eyes.

“What?”

“Yeah, guess she finally got out of the Southside,” Ian went on. “Looks like she’s one of the lucky few,” Ian said with an attempt at a laugh, but Mickey was not amused. In fact, he seemed even angrier.

“Seriously?” Mickey said with a roll of his eyes. “Damn Gallagher, well I am so glad your life is so fucking interesting,” he said before he slammed the door in Ian’s face. Ian stood there for a second, stunned before he took a few steps back and pushed his hands into his hair.

“Fuck.”

-------

LIP

The next time a Gallagher brother knocked on Mickey’s door, it was not the one that Mickey had been expecting.

“Oh, what the fuck do you want?” Mickey said as he beheld Lip Gallagher at his threshold. Lip was standing there, an unlit cigarette behind his ear which only made Mickey want to punch him even more. He never liked Lip and he had liked him even less after Lip had constantly expressed his dislike of Ian and Mickey’s relationship.

“Ian’s been trying to call you,” Lip said with a pointed look. Mickey knew that and he had been purposely ignoring every call and text for a reason.

“And?” Mickey asked.

“You’re really going to be a dick about this?” Lip challenged.

“About what, Philip?” Mickey asked, using his full name just to annoy him further. “About how I got locked up after trying to stop your crazy bitch of sister with the help of your other crazy bitch of a sister? Who, by the way, never got picked up for helping me shove Sammi in that box. You’re welcome for that considering I could have rolled on her at any moment but I fucking didn’t.”

“You want me to thank you for not ratting out Debbie?” Lip asked, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

“Nah, I don’t want shit from you,” Mickey said. “Your brother dumped me before I got my ass shackled so he and I are nothing and you and I don’t owe each other shit.”

“I never liked you,” Lip said, already hating that he had agreed to go and speak to Mickey after Ian had begged him for two days. The only reason he was even standing in that hallway was because of Ian, but even Lip had his limits when it came to Mickey Milkovich.

“Wow, thanks,” Mickey deadpanned.

“But my brother loves you,” Lip went on. “And you make him happy so I need you to call him because whether or not you see it, you’re probably the only person for him and I think I've known that for a while."

“Right,” Mickey scoffed, “so you never said that Ian could always find someone better?” Mickey challenged.

“He told you about that?” Lip asked, surprised, remembering back to that conversation he had with his brother.

“He did,” said Mickey.

“I didn’t get it back then,” Lip said.

“You clearly don’t get it now.”

“He cares about you for some fucking reason, Mickey,” Lip said, trying again for the man in front of him to see some reason.

“Then maybe he should fucking figure it out,” Mickey shot back. “Now, don’t you have some think tank to go smoke some fancy weed in or some shit? Get the fuck out of here.” Mickey slammed the door in Lip’s face just as he had with Ian.

“Dammit,” Lip muttered as he pulled the cigarette from behind his ear and lit it. Placing it between his teeth, he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Ian letting him know he had hit and missed with Mickey. He didn’t wait for a reply as he headed back downstairs and out into the cool air of Chicago in search of a meeting for the afternoon.

-----------

DEBBIE

Debbie found Mickey a day later playing pool in the Alibi.

He was just finishing up hustling some drunk hipster when Debbie approached him with Franny at her side. Mickey looked up as the two walked up to him. “Jesus,” he said with a look at Franny, “what are you feedin’ that kid?” he asked.

“Kids grow, Mickey. That’s how it works,” Debbie said with a roll of her eyes.

“Whatever,” Mickey said, turning back to the game. Debbie remained where she was, giving him a pointed look as she kept hold of her daughter. “Can I help you?” Mickey asked, turning back towards her, already tired of the Gallagher bullshit. He already had to stop Frank from breaking into the apartment in the early hours of the morning. He didn’t need Fiona Jr. bothering him right now.

“Why won’t you take Ian’s calls?” she asked.

“Jesus Christ,” Mickey swore, running a hand over his face.

“He needs to talk to you,” Debbie said.

“I’m sure he’ll live,” Mickey said, grabbing his beer from the bar behind him and taking a deep drink.

“I don’t know about that,” she said. “He’s pretty upset.” That made Mickey pause. He set his beer down.

“He taking his meds?” he asked her.

“Do you care?” Debbie challenged which was the wrong thing to do. Mickey glared at her.

“Don’t pull that shit with me,” he warned her. “Answer the fucking question.”

“Yes, he’s on his meds, but he’s still upset you’re ignoring him,” she said.

“Well, he ignored me so now he knows what it feels like to go AWOL,” Mickey said.

“Call him,” Debbie urged.

“No.”

“Mickey.”

“Debbie.” Mickey crossed his arms, staring her down. Franny was silent as she stood next to her mother, confused as to why they were talking to the man in front of her. Debbie glared at him for another moment before scoffing.

“I don’t know what he sees in you,” she shot at him before tugging her daughter away. Mickey watched them leave and Debbie’s words remained in the air around him.

“I don’t know either…” Mickey said quietly to himself before returning his attention to the game and his own thoughts.

---------

CARL

Mickey was out in the alley behind the Alibi when Carl Gallagher showed up dressed in a police cadet uniform.

“You’re a fucking cop now?” Mickey asked as he looked up, taking the cigarette he was smoking from his mouth.

“Almost,” Carl said, stopping in front of Mickey. The last time Mickey had even thought about Carl, the kid was going to some fancy military school or something. If he really thought about it, Mickey never really knew what Carl was up to half the time. There was a time that Mickey thought the kid was going to end up in the joint with him rather than trying to get a badge and service glock.

“Weren’t you supposed to grow up to be a serial killer or some shit?” Mickey asked.

“Things change,” Carl said with a shrug. Mickey nodded at that, returning his attention to his smoke. “You talk to Ian?”

“Nope,” Mickey said.

“Are you going to?” Carl asked.

“Nope,” Mickey repeated. Carl nodded, weighing his options before settling on a new tactic.

“If I handcuffed you and dragged you to the house, would you do it then?” Carl asked nonchalantly.

“You try to put those fucking bracelets on me and I’ll break every bone in your hand,” Mickey said without missing a beat. Carl didn’t retort, he just smiled. Mickey never liked when the Gallaghers smiled, it always meant they were up to something or drunk or both. “What?”

“Nothing,” Carl said with a shrug. “I just missed that Milkovich snark.”

“Whatever,” Mickey said dismissively. Suddenly, Carl’s phone chimed, drawing his attention. Seeing who it was, Carl pocketed it again before turning back to Mickey.

“I gotta go,” he said and Mickey just nodded. “Hey, stop being an asshole and call my brother before he runs out of love ballads to annoy us with.” Carl then left Mickey standing there, more confused than ever.

“Love ballads,” Mickey repeated. “What the fuck?”

-------

KEV AND V

The next ambush came when Mickey was sitting at the bar in the Alibi looking over the books for the Southside establishment.

V set a drink in front of him as she wiped off the bar. “Thanks again, Mickey,” V said. “Since Lana left, we’ve needed someone who’s good with numbers.”

“Not a problem,” Mickey said. “Least I can do considering I’m staying here rent-free, right?” Mickey continued to tap away at the calculator, but soon realized he was being stared at. Glancing up, he saw that Kev and V were both looking at him with innocent expressions on their faces. “What?” Mickey asked, already regretting doing so.

“Ian called us,” V said with a grimace as she set down the rag in her hands.

“Of course he did,” Mickey sighed. “Alright, lay it on me. At this point, I’m waiting for fucking Frank or Kermit to show up at my door at the ginger’s request.”

“What about me?” Kermit said, turning away from Tommy.

“Fuck you, Kermit,” Mickey said as he flipped him off. Kermit just frowned and turned back to his friend. Mickey looked back at the Balls and waited.

“I’m not gonna tell you what to do,” Veronica began.

“Good,” said Mickey, picking up his pen again.

“But,” she went on, “he has been going through a lot.”

“Right, like the two boyfriends and the fancy EMT job?” Mickey scoffed. “Yeah real tough.” V frowned.

“You know that he puts on a façade. Always has,” V reminded him.

“Yeah man,” Kev interjected. “Ian may be smiling with those pearly whites of his, but his heart is actually blue beneath that ugly uniform he wears.”

“That was beautiful,” Tommy added as he eavesdropped. Kev nodded to him in thanks.

“Thank you,” he said with gratitude.

“Kevin,” V said, her tone full of warning. Kev then ducked away, leaving his wife alone with his former business partner. V leaned in then, resting her forearms on the bar. “Maybe just hear him out,” she tried.

“I tried that,” Mickey admitted, grateful to have someone to talk to that wasn’t a Gallagher. “He doesn’t seem to know what the fuck he wants.”

“Do you?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Mickey said softly. Veronica gave him a soft smile as she laid her hand on his arm, giving it a firm squeeze.

“Maybe you should figure that out first.”

---------

LIAM

Mickey was tired and all he wanted was a hot shower and then maybe some free beer from downstairs.

However, like always, he never got what he wanted. Opening the door to the apartment, he nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of the youngest Gallagher sibling sitting on the couch in the small living room.

“Jesus,” Mickey swore, trying to catch his breath. “How the fuck you get in here?” Mickey asked as he shut the door behind him and took off his coat.

“Veronica let me in,” Liam said patiently.

“Why?” Mickey asked though he could guess why Liam was there. After the rest of his siblings had shown up, it wasn’t a long shot to figure out he would be next.

“I think we should talk,” Liam said, gesturing for Mickey to sit in the chair across from the couch. Mickey, amused, decided to humor the kid and took the seat Liam was offering even though it was Mickey’s house the kid was invading.

“I can’t remember us ever doing that but go on,” Mickey said as he settled in the frayed cushions. Liam was quiet for a moment before he finally nodded and folded his hands in front of him like a grown man in a kid’s body. Mickey still had no idea how he was related to Frank.

“I remember when Ian was going through the worst of his bipolar,” Liam began. “You looked out for me.” Mickey was surprised to know that Liam actually remembered all the things Mickey had done for him when Fiona was too stressed over Ian to look after her baby brother. Mickey would take Liam to the clinic for checkups, always carried him into the house when the boy was too tired to walk, and even made sure he always had something to eat whenever Lip or Fiona forgot to go grocery shopping. He had a soft spot for the smallest Gallagher sibling and he was never too proud to admit it.

“So?” Mickey asked.

“So,” Liam continued, “I’m going to do the same for you.” Liam seemed proud of himself for being the one to actually want to talk to Mickey rather than at him and the latter appreciated that. Mickey paused, eyeing Liam for a second before furrowing his brow.

“Are you sure you’re Frank’s son?” he asked

“Seem to be,” Liam said with a shrug.

“That’s unfortunate,” Mickey said, leaning his forearms on his knees as he leaned forward a bit.

“It’s not so bad,” Liam said. “I got great brothers and sisters out of it.”

“Right,” said Mickey.

“Ian told me about the time you were shot by his old boss,” Liam said suddenly.

“Kash and Grab?” Mickey asked and Liam nodded. Mickey hadn’t thought about that man in years because if he did, all he felt was rage. Lip and Mickey both knew what Kash had been doing to Ian, essentially grooming him, and they both hated it. If anything, it was the one thing that they agreed on.

“Yeah,” Liam nodded. “He was really worried about you.”

“I think he was just worried about getting fired by his viagroid boyfriend’s pissed-off wife,” Mickey rationalized, but Liam disagreed.

“I don’t think so. Other people he’s dated have been hurt or upset and Ian’s never reacted like that with them,” said Liam.

“How are you so observant?” Mickey asked, trying to gauge where Liam’s head was at.

“It’s a big house,” Liam said with another shrug. “People tend to forget that I’m around most of the time.”

“That’s rough,” Mickey said.

“Rough like being ignored by the person you love?” Liam asked and Mickey’s brows ascended towards his hair.

“I needed time,” he said, unsure of why he was having this conversation with a ten-year-old.

“Did you tell him that?” Liam asked.

“I was pretty clear, kid,” Mickey said, leaning back into the chair and propping his leg up on top of the other.

“That might work for other people, but Ian needs a bit more,” Liam explained. “He’s smart, but he doesn’t always pick up on things like the rest of us.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Mickey said, knowing very well how unobservant Ian could be at times.

“I always knew Ian was gay, you know?” Liam continued on.

“Yeah?” Mickey asked.

“Yeah, I mean by the time I was old enough to realize what was going on, he was already out and telling people. Then when you were together, I just figured it was normal for you to be around, and then… then you weren’t,” Liam said with a small frown.

“I was in prison,” Mickey reminded him.

“No, before that,” Liam said. “You would come and go and then just show back up and Ian would be happy again and I liked that for however long it lasted. I know he feels bad for what happened with Sammi. I know he blames himself.”

“It wasn’t his fault,” Mickey said and he meant it. Ian hadn’t asked Mickey to drug Sammi or lock her up in the crate, he had purely done it to protect Ian.

“To him, it was,” Liam divulged. “You brought back his happiness and then you got taken away because Sammi called the police on Ian for something he did. He got better when he got the new job but there was still something missing.”

“Which was what?” Mickey asked as he tugged on his fingers, trying to ignore the hammering in his chest.

“You, Mickey,” Liam said. “You were missing.” Mickey was silent then, letting Liam’s words crash over him like rolling waves. He had always figured that whenever he was in Ian’s life, it was doing more harm than good. Ian made Mickey’s life better, brighter, but Mickey had never realized what his presence had done for Ian’s. Liam, however, had a pretty good idea of what it looked like.

“How are you so damn wise?” Mickey asked him after another moment of silence.

“Must be a Gallagher thing,” Liam said with yet another shrug. Mickey was starting to think that was his go-to thing when he spoke his mind.

“Gallaghers are wise?” Mickey asked, not buying it.

“When we want to be,” Liam said as he got to his feet. He looked down at Mickey and gave him a tight-lipped smile. “I missed you when you went away,” he admitted. “You were one of the only people who took the time to talk to me and I know that Ian missed you too.” Mickey couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride at that.

“So, you’re saying that I should call him?” Mickey asked.

“No,” Liam said with a shake of his head. “You should go see him. After living with my siblings my whole life and seeing all their failed relationships, I’ve realized that these things are better-said face to face.” Liam then approached Mickey and patted him on the shoulder. “Ian has a late shift tonight so he’ll be home all day tomorrow. I’ll try to make sure nobody else needs to be home so you guys can talk.”

Mickey just stared after Liam as he made his way to the door. Just before he turned the handle, Mickey stopped him. “Liam,” he said, gaining the kid’s attention.

“Yeah?” Liam asked with another patient look on his face.

“I never forget you’re there,” Mickey admitted, letting out a breath. Liam simply smiled at him before leaving the apartment and leaving Mickey to his thoughts.

Sitting back in the chair, Mickey ran his hands over his face. “Ian Gallagher, you sneaky son of a bitch.”

---------

The next day, Ian was finally up after sleeping for most of the morning.

The quiet of the house was a nice change of pace, but that meant he was alone with his thoughts and that was not a comforting thought. Just as he was about to find coffee, there was a knock at the door. Hoping it wasn’t Frank, Ian sauntered over and pulled it open.

“That was low, calling in the little brother,” Mickey said in greeting as he beheld a surprised Ian. “That kid is convincing as fuck.” Ian took a step to the side as Mickey pushed past him and into the Gallagher house. He looked around and was thankful that Liam had come through and nobody else was home.

“I had to try something,” Ian said as he shut the door and followed Mickey into the living room. Mickey turned to look at him, trying to figure out how to start. Ian beat him to it though. “I’m so sorry, Mick,” Ian began. “I just left you alone and I never thought about what that would mean besides just breaking up with you.”

“You can’t…” Mickey paused, trying to keep his emotions in check. “You can’t just play with my feelings like that. You can’t just choose when you want to be in love with me or whether I’m worth it or not,” he said, finally getting the words out that he had been mulling over since he saw Ian walk into the Alibi with Lip and Brad.

“I know,” Ian said.

“Do you?” Mickey asked. “Cause I get it. I was an asshole to you when we were just starting out and fuck, I know I fucked up and did some horrible shit.”

“Which I forgave you for,” Ian reminded him. Mickey knew what he was referring to. All the comments about him not caring about Ian, the “warm mouth” moment in the store, and especially when Mickey had beaten Ian up after Terry’s attempt at forced conversion therapy.

“And we worked through it,” Mickey went on. “I came out, I told you that I loved you, and then…”

“And then I got sick,” Ian finished, but Mickey was shaking his head.

“It wasn’t just that," Mickey said. “I felt like because I was trying, you didn’t want me anymore. It was like you preferred it when I was an asshole to you and only using you for sex.”

“I didn’t,” Ian said, taking a step forward. Mickey took one back.

“I don’t believe you,” Mickey said, his voice cracking slightly as his emotions began to win.

“I remember the exact moment I found out about you marrying Svetlana,” Ian began, shifting gears. “Mandy had casually mentioned it at school one day. She didn’t know about us and I had tried not to react, but it broke me to hear that you were marrying the woman who did...that to you. It made me sick. All I wanted to do was run away and take you with me.”

“That’s not how life works,” Mickey said.

“I know, but I still wanted to try,” said Ian. “I tried everything I could to keep you out of my head the second you had me pinned in your room that day but I couldn’t do it. I tried to be with other men, brush you off when it was too hard to keep my hands off you, but you always roped me back in. The day at Ned’s when you kissed me for the first time… Man, I felt like I was on fire. Then after what happened with your dad, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stay away, but I also knew you were going to shut me out.”

“I had my reasons,” Mickey said, trying to get Ian to understand why he had shut him out.

“I know,” said Ian. “You were doing it to protect me from Terry.” Mickey nodded. “Still, it didn’t stop me from falling in love with you. You never gave up on me even when you wanted nothing to do with me. The night you found me passed outside the Fairytale, on the way home you told me that you’d always be there to pick my ass off the street and you always kept that promise.”

“You remember that?” Mickey asked, surprised Ian could remember anything about his club days. Mickey had said a lot of things in the Uber on the way home, but he didn’t think Ian was even conscious half the time.

“I remember everything you’ve said to me,” Ian said, taking another step and was glad to see that Mickey didn’t retreat this time. “I should have been there when you were locked up.” Mickey nodded, running a hand through his hair.

“I didn’t expect you to fucking live behind that glass wall, but I needed… I needed you and I needed to know if you were okay, Ian,” Mickey admitted, looking at the man in front of him with a near pleading expression. “I had nightmares that you were in a ditch somewhere, out of your mind, while full bottles of pills were still in your room.” Ian grimaced, hating how Mickey had worried about him.

“I didn’t want you to worry, Mick,” he said.

“Tough shit,” Mickey shot back. “That’s what you do when you’re in love.” Ian was startled by that.

“You still love me?” he asked.

“What the fuck do you think?” Mickey asked, incredulously.

“You seemed so angry,” Ian said, reminding him of their last conversation.

“I was,” Mickey said, “and I needed a minute to breathe. Contrary to popular belief, I do care about being in prison and I don’t want to get familiar with those fucking concrete walls. I’d rather not be another frequent flyer Milkovich,” Mickey admitted. “You always say that you need to get your shit together, well it was my turn, Ian.”

“I get that,” Ian said.

“My life ain’t gonna be a carbon copy of Terry’s. I’m gonna be better, I have to be the better man,” Mickey said, unable to stop himself now that he was letting it all out.

“You already are,” Ian said, walking right up to him.

“I can’t go back,” Mickey said, looking up into Ian’s bright and attentive green eyes. “I have to think straight and when I’m with you or not with you… I ain’t gonna survive if you suddenly decide I’m not worth it again.” Ian reached up and took Mickey's face in his hands. Mickey had never outwardly expressed his desire to break the Milkovich mold like this. Ian could hear the fear behind every word and it hurt him to see Mickey like that. He was the strongest man Ian had ever known, but he always admired the strength it took to tell Ian all of this.

“I won’t,” Ian told him. “You are always worth it. Always. I love you, Mickey, and I don’t want to lose you.” Mickey was shaking his head as he placed his hands over Ian’s.

“You never lost me,” Mickey said softly, relaxing under Ian’s touch. “You may have wanted to end things, but I never got rid of us.” He then took Ian’s hand and lowered it to his chest, right on top of the tattoo that remained on Mickey’s heart.

“I’m so sorry,” Ian said again and he was willing to say it as many times as it took for Mickey to hear him. Ian looked into Mickey’s eyes then and saw something that reminded him of something Mandy had once said to him. That look in Mickey’s eyes finally made him relax.

“I’m sorry, too,” Mickey said, reaching up to run his thumb along Ian’s cheekbone.

“For what?” Ian asked, his brow furrowed. Mickey smoothed out the crease between his brows, not letting Ian stress about anything else.

“For not letting you in sooner,” Mickey said. “We could have more, so much more. Fuck, I missed you,” Mickey breathed out as he tugged Ian into him. Their lips met with a warm and firm kiss. Ian threw his arms around Mickey’s pulling him even closer. Mickey savored the feel of Ian Gallagher’s lips on his own as he sighed into the kiss.

Shoving his hands into Ian’s hair, he tugged on it, eliciting a moan from the taller man much to Mickey’s satisfaction. Ian kissed him a few more times before he pulled back, letting his forehead rest against Mickey’s so they could catch their breath. “Tell your family to back off now,” Mickey said with a smile.

“Tell them yourself,” Ian said. “You're moving in with me.”

“Is that so?” Mickey asked as he pushed back a bit so he could see Ian’s face.

“Don’t argue with me, Mr. Milkovich,” Ian said, his fingers playing with the hair at the nape of Mickey’s neck.

“You know I don’t like taking orders. I had enough of that shit in the joint,” Mickey said.

“You never complained before,” Ian said seductively as he ran his hand down Mickey’s stomach and towards his hips. Mickey raised his brows then, leaning into Ian’s hands.

“You are something else, Gallagher,” Mickey said, grateful to be with him once again, “but fuck I love you.”

“Then come here,” Ian urged as he reached for Mickey’s belt. Looking at Ian’s face, his expression filled with not just lust but love as well, Mickey melted beneath Ian’s gaze and finally felt as if he was free for the first time since getting out.

“Fuck it,” he swore as he tugged Ian in close. “Yes, Sir.” Ian grinned as he wrapped himself around Mickey again, letting everything between them solidify as they had found their way back to each other once again.

[gallavictorious]

Gallavich Week Day 5: Fix-It / Rewrite

Right, so fix-its aren’t so much my jam, but there is this one weird, weird, weird thing that I’ve (so far) been unable to meta into any sort of sense. Namely, Mickey looking like that in season 11 while apparently not working out. It’s just… uh… he… what? At one point I hypothesized that he’s been bitten by a radioactive spider or the like, leaving him magically super buff, and to be honest, that’s still the most reasonable explanation I can think of, soooo…

Today I'm back at my nonsense to bring you, everyone and especially our dear @gallavichthings, 2,711 Very Serious words about Mickey being a secret superhero. Well. Except for the hero bit.

Read it below or on AO3.

---

In Which Mickey Milkovich Does Not Save the World

Afterwards, he would always refer to it as the radioactive motherfucker bug from hell, but the truth is that Mickey never saw the thing that got him.

He was going about his business (namely poking around the Gallagher basement for any forgotten shit he could sell for beer money now that all the cash from the wedding had been surreptitiously replaced with I.O.U:s) when he felt a sudden, sharp pain just above his ankle. Cursing up a storm, he desperately waved his foot around and lost his balance and stumbled straight into one of the many piles of boxes that littered the basement. By the time he was back on his feet whatever creature that had dug its nasty little teeth/pincers/claws into his tender flesh had scurried off, leaving Mickey with a throbbing ache and a halfway impressive puncture wound on his left leg.

Muttering darkly about fucking Gallaghers being so used Frank they didn’t know how to keep goddamned monster vermin out of their shitty house Mickey limped up the stairs to pour some Jamison on the wound, and then pour some down his throat because he had the bottle out already so he might as well. He borrowed one of Franny’s colourful pirate-patterned band-aids, and when his nosy as fuck ex-EMT of a husband asked about it later that evening Mickey said he’d dropped a can on his foot, it’s just a scratch, man, no you don’t need to take a look at it, just put your fingers back in my ass, please.

Mickey didn’t make a habit of lying to Ian, but he figured that telling the truth would lead to all sorts of questions about why he was in the basement and having to come up with plausible explanation for that when he should just be focusing on getting railed wasn’t part of his plans for the evening. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to Ian, who’d been getting so worked up over money lately, to distract him with that sort of unimportant stuff while they were banging. Mickey was a considerate spouse.

Thankfully, Ian dropped the subject and proceeded to do his husbandly duty. Mickey went to sleep deeply satisfied.

He was almost as satisfied the next morning when he woke up to realize that the pain in his leg was gone, as were all traces of the wound itself. Mickey had always healed pretty fast, but this was quick enough to have him questioning whether or not he’d really been bitten/stung/whatever at all. Maybe he’d had more beers than he thought and imagined the whole thing… ?

It didn’t really matter, and if that had been the whole of it Mickey was likely to soon have forgotten all about the radioactive motherfucker bug from hell. However, in the next few weeks he started noticing stuff, weird stuff. For instance, it wasn’t just the (possibly imagined) bite/sting that healed far more quickly than normal; it was all the little cuts and scrapes he tended to acquire. A big bruise from running into the table while playing with Franny; faded to nothing the next morning. A cut from the razor; gone within the hour. For the first time he could remember, Mickey looked at his naked body in the mirror and saw not one single wound (though there were still scars aplenty). It wasn’t a bad thing, per se, but it was weird.

Then there was that thing with his muscles. Mickey had been in decent shape for most of his life and whenever he got locked up for extended periods of time he made a habit of hitting the gym on the regular. Really wasn’t much else to do in the joint, and having a decent bulk reminded the other inmates that you weren’t someone they could push around; letting people know that you could beat the shit out of them often meant you didn’t have to actually do it, which saved everyone a lot of time and energy and trips to the prison quack. But on the outside, exercise wasn’t very high on Mickey’s list of priorities, meaning he tended to slim down a bit after a while in freedom.

Not now, though. Almost a year after being out of prison, and he was still as built as ever; if anything he seemed to be developing more muscles, in spite rarely engaging in anything more taxing than vigorous fucking. (Okay, so there was a lot of vigorous fucking, but still. If anyone ought to be building their biceps from the sex they were having, it should be Ian.)

Mickey didn’t mind being inexplicably ripped, though. He felt great, looked great – and Ian seemed to be pretty into it, too. Then again, Ian seemed to be pretty into Mickey whether he wore dirty clothes, sported a beard, sported a dress, or hadn’t showered in a week, so maybe that wasn’t saying a lot.

But even given all that, maybe Mickey still wouldn’t have thought too much about it (he was, after all, very busy being on his honeymoon, which required lots of determined sleep-ins, dedicated beer-drinking, and – obviously – lots and lots of banging) if there hadn’t one day come a knock on the front door. At first he ignored itm in the hopes that someone else would get it, but when it became apparent that a, he was alone in the house, and b, whoever was at the door wasn’t giving up anytime soon, he grabbed the family baseball bat (even big soft ass Larry would react to Mickey opening the door with an extremely illegal gun in hand) and went to answer the insistent knocking.

Outside stood two women, looking an unsettling mix of sober and apprehensive and eager. One of them reminded him vaguely of Angie Zago; the other was taller and darker and quite possibly brooding.

“Can I help you?” he demanded, not quite as rudely as he might have. He didn’t think they were social workers, but one never knew; they’d been checking up on Debbie and Franny ever since Debbie pleaded guilty to statutory rape.

“Mr. Mikhailo Aleksandr Milkovich?” Not-Angie inquired in a polite sort of tremble. 

“Who’s asking?” Mickey demanded, feeling a little thrown by the use of his full name. The only people who pulled that out was law enforcement, and neither of these ladies had that feel about them. Especially since they seemed to be… excited to meet him, which wasn’t a reaction Mickey was used to getting. Particularly not from ladies looking like they ought to be out collecting for the fucking Red Cross.

They better not be asking for donations for the Red Cross.

“I’m Tania and this is Dreamweaver,” Not-Angie said. “Can we come in? It’s really best if we talk in private.”

Mickey didn’t move. “Dreamweaver? You kick your mama too many times in the kidneys before you were born or something?”

The women glanced uncertainly at each other. “Mr. Milkovich,” the one improbably called Dreamweaver began, but Mickey cut her off:

“You with the police?”

They quickly shook their heads. “No, we— “

“You here to give me money?”

“No, you see, it’s— “

“Okay, thank you, bye.” But as he moved to close the door, Tania – displaying more spunk than he’d have given her credit for – took a step forward and blocked the entrance.

“Have you been experiencing any strange body phenomena lately, Mr. Milkovich?” she blurted. “Wounds healing very quickly, perhaps, or increased muscle mass?”

Mickey stilled, eyes darting between the two women. Small, small smiles on their faces now, as if they knew they had him. There was a hint of hunger to those smiles, making Mickey feel uncharacteristically uncomfortable. The urge to push Tania back and slam the door shut was strong, but…

“Fine,” he said at long last. “Come on in.”

They better not be fucking cannibals either.

---

They called themselves The Guardians, and they wanted him to save the world.

Mickey asked what numbers they were talking and, after getting bored of their uncomprehending stares, clarified: “How much is it gonna pay? What’s my cut?”

Dreamweaver frowned. “You mean… money? As in a… salary?”

“Yeah, sure. What’s my salary?”

“Mr. Milkovich, saving the world is a higher calling and a duty, it’s not something that– “

“Uh-huh. So, just to be clear, you’re not gonna pay me?”

They weren’t. Mickey laughed in their faces, stood from the couch, and told them bye and good luck with that and don’t let the door hit ya on the way out.

They reasoned with him. They pleaded. They explained, again and again, that after the evil society USCH destroyed The Guardian’s headquarters in a devastating attack, the two of them–and Mickey–was the only thing standing between the world and utter destruction. Surely, he must understand that it was nothing less than Fate that had brought the one remaining Bestower Bot into the Gallagher basement and his path? Admittedly, injecting Mickey with the bio enhancer might have been the result of a malfunction – Tania and Dreamweaver had found the bot dead down the street a couple of nights ago – but didn’t he see that he had been called to serve as a warrior in the fight against evil?

“Yeah, no thanks,” Mickey told them, and then he picked up the bat and waved it around until they took the hint and left.

When Ian returned home a few hours later, Mickey carefully didn’t mention the curious visit or any of what Tania and Dreamweaver had told him. Ian was pretty into saving people and had all these lame ideas about service and honor, and Mickey found it more likely than not that his husband would both be upset that Mickey, rather than Ian himself, had been called as a warrior (it’d be Lip and West Point all over again, Mickey just knew it), and demand that Mickey answer the call and run off like some loon to get himself killed by evil technomancers.

Mickey didn’t particularly feel like dying and he didn’t like the idea of hurting his husband’s feelings either, so he kept his mouth shut and skillfully derailed all of Ian’s attempts at asking about his day by giving him a blow job, teasing him about being a grunt, and allowing himself to be wrestled to the floor when Ian decided he’d had enough of teasing. It was a good evening.

As he lay in bed that night, back against Ian’s chest and with those strong arms wrapped around him, Mickey wondered if it would be worth risking Ian’s reaction by going public. Okay, Tania and Dreamweaver had mentioned how he’d probably gotten a pretty small dose of the bio-whatever-the-fuck, lending him nothing more exciting than enduring muscle mass and enhanced healing, but that should probably be enough to turn him into a cut above the rest, right? He could hire himself out to the highest bidder and make a fortune doing private security or collections or stuff like that. Fuck, he’d even consider taking on jobs for The Guardians, if they just agreed to pay him.

It was a fun thought to play with, but in the end a long life in the shadows made Mickey wary of putting himself out there like that. Besides, he’d seen enough movies to know that it’d probably wouldn’t be long before he mysteriously disappeared to some secret government facility to be experimented on. He’d had enough of the state’s hospitality to last him a lifetime, so thanks, but no fucking thanks.

And that could have been it. Should have been it, but of course Tania and Dreamweaver wouldn’t leave well enough alone. They started showing up at the Gallagher house at all hours, whenever they knew they could get Mickey alone. They accosted him on the way to the Alibi, they sat down next to him on the L, and they left him pictures of puppies with little notes saying stuff like “Only YOU can SAVE him from BURNING. Have a HEART”.

It was exhausting. Fearing the retribution of the cartel hadn’t anything on fearing seeing Tania and Dreamweaver’s disappointed-yet-still-somehow-hopeful-and-terribly-determined faces appear in a crowd, or round a corner, or on the porch when he went out for his evening smoke.

Mickey began to lose sleep. He’d spend the nights tossing and turning, which led to him staying in bed half the day to catch up on much needed rest, and he was often so tired he couldn’t bring himself to put on proper clothes or go outside the door the whole day. 

Ian was on his ass about getting a job; he didn’t get that Mickey had a job, and that job was not getting lured into sacrificing his life for the greater good. If Ian didn’t like the prospects of being a prison widow, how offensive wouldn’t he find the prospect of being an actual widower, after his husband got blown to bits by some big bad villain?

It got to the point of Ian initiating a sex strike to force Mickey to get “a real job”, which struck Mickey as really fucking unfair, considering how all he was trying to do was make sure Ian even had a husband to refuse to fuck.

Enough was enough. Something had to be done. Fortunately for Mickey – and unfortunately for Tania and Dreamweaver – Mickey had a guy for everything. As annoying as The Guardians were, Mickey didn’t have the heart to see them killed, but he figured that having them kidnapped and shipped off to some sweatshop on the other side of the world would serve the same purpose. He felt a little bad about it, sure, but he had given them plenty of chances to fuck off. Not his fault they couldn’t respect a fucking boundary.

Mickey called Johnny, told him the score, and a few night later Johnny called Mickey to tell him it was done.

It was done. Over. Mickey would finally be able go about his life in peace again, giving all his attention to his husband and doing his outmost to make him the happiest man alive every single day, even when Ian was annoying as hell and started asking pointless fucking questions about how Mickey was in such great shape even though he never did as much as one single curl up.

I see. So… you’re telling me that you have secret superpowers.

Yeah. Except, not actually secret anymore. ‘Cause, you know, you told me we shouldn’t have secrets.

… yeah, that was three months ago.

Guess it must have slipped my mind, huh.

Must have. But let me get this straight: you couldn’t get a real job because you were busy dodging secret agents, and your muscles are the result of you getting bitten by some magic robot—

Radioactive motherfucker bug from hell.

—and not you sneaking down to the basement to do weights and cardio almost every day?

… oh.

Yeah, oh. Carl told me about it, asshole. He noticed you using some of the stuff down there. Don’t get why you’d wanna keep that a secret though?

…

Mick. We have to be honest with each other, remember?

Jesus Christ, I don’t know, okay? I don’t know.

Okay.

Guess the first time was back when you had that dip a couple of months after the wedding. Few times after that, if we had a fight or whatever and I needed to let off some steam. Then you started working and sometimes I got bored watching TV all day but you were all mopey about your shitty job and me not having any and you have this thing about your body—

I don’t have a thing about my body.

­—so I didn’t really wanna rub your face in me having all that time to work out when you could barely squeeze in dozen push-ups in the evening. And I guess I didn’t really want anyone to know that I… cared, or whatever.

Cared? About what? Being healthy? Looking good? Being strong?

Whatever, man, I told I don’t fucking know. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, ‘cause it was a radioactive motherfucker bug from hell that did it.

Of course it was. Come here. Show me what that bio enhanced body of yours can do.

---

Ahahahahahaha, would you look at that. I tried to meta it anyway. 😭😭😭

You might reasonably ask about Mickey’s visit to Kev Fit – how does that fit? WELL, I rather imagine that whatever Mickey does in that basement is enough to keep him fit but still not SUPER hardcore? So when he starts worrying about Ian thinking him weaker than, he decides to take it up a notch and do it properly in a real(ish) gym? And his comment about “not remembering how much working out sucks” is part of the whole “not wanting anyone to know this is something I care to do on the regular”… Yeah, it’s pretty weak. All in all, I’d say the radioactive motherfucker bug from hell is still our best bet. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is probably the last time I have one of them tell the other a story this week, but I make no promises. These little ficlets don’t tend to go as planned. (Ha! She said, as if there was a plan to begin with. Oh, well. I guess it’s working out so far.)