hearts are wild creatures

Treated him like he mattered. Like he was important. Ian showed Mickey what love is, showed him love can be beautiful. Love can be more than being punched and pistol whipped. Love can be soft touches and light kisses. Tight hugs and sweet words that go straight to your heart.

Ian's love for Mickey made him strong and confident enough to come out infront of his psychotic dad those years ago and that love made Mickey stand up to his father, no fear, no cowardice.

Even Terry went "what happened to you?"

Because he doesn't remember Mickey being this defiant. He remembers the Mickey who used to quiver in his presence and do everything he said. Not the Mickey who pulls a gun on him and doesn't show an ounce of fear.

What happend to Mickey you ask? HE FOUND LOVE BITCH!

A love that made him strong, and confident. A love that made him realise he deserves to look good and feel good. A love that made him realise he deserves all the happiness in the world.

So thank you Ian Gallagher for loving Mickey Milkovich. For bursting into his life and making him realise that he is a fucking gem that deserves to be loved and treasured. For teaching him what love is.

Inception (2010) dir. Christopher Nolan

We saw in that little scene preview that everyone can fake Frank’s signature (we already knew that) including Mickey.

I was thinking, why would Mickey need to be able to forge Frank’s signature?

And Shameless always throws me off because the writers are so lenient with the timeline, but as far as I know, Ian was still only 17 in season 5. So I bet Mickey learned to forge Frank’s signature to get Ian appointments at the clinic and his meds prescriptions and things like that.

Instead of asking Fiona or Lip or like pretty much any other Gallagher to forge signatures for him, Mickey sat down and practiced Frank’s signature until he could forge it well enough to help get Ian to the doctor.

Season 5 Mickey will always be my favorite Mickey because it’s Mickey who suddenly has a Purpose and really, really grows as a character. He’s still the same gruff, aggressive, slightly dumbass, south side shithead we all know and love, but he also really grows comfortable with himself as a person: he’s suddenly willing and able to express himself in a more gentle way. He’s responsible. He’s dedicated. He’s just a pillar of support for Ian. Like, he’s there going with Ian to his appointments, encouraging Ian to take his meds, buying Ian vitamins, trying to navigate how to give Ian space but also be there for him. Season 5 Mickey is so fuckin’ in love, in a way that’s so different from all the other ways we see him in love with Ian. It’s like, this is the season he realized he didn’t give a shit what was going down, all he wanted was to love Ian and see him happy and safe. Like, seasons 3 and 4 he was definitely in love with Ian, but still guarded (obviously), and still very much driven by his own problems and needs and desires and things. In season 5 he just becomes fucking selfless, but not in a way that sacrifices who he is as a person.

I think a lot about the 2 hugs between Ian and Mickey in 5x06. I don’t think hugging is something that’s a big staple of their relationship, but those two hugs are so intense almost purely because they lack any sexuality whatsoever. At the police station, Mickey’s hug is one of relief tinged with worry. It’s like the worry and terror of Ian being gone bleeds away into relief that he’s here in his arms, but there’s still that worry there of how fucked everything is. And the hug in the hospital is grief and worry, but also I think so much fucking dedication and love. Like, something I think about a lot is that I doubt any Gallagher ever asked to go in with Monica. But Mickey is standing there at Ian’s shoulder, asking to go in with him, asking to be there for him and stand beside him to comfort them both.

But this selflessness means I think that his subsequent freakout is so totally understandable. He’s worried, he’s helpless. Like I’ve said before, Mickey’s love language is acts of service, and when Ian was gone, he couldn’t do anything but sit around. And then he got Ian back, and now, yet again, he can’t do anything but sit around. He can’t help Ian when they’re separated by hospital rules and sedatives and the eyes of other patients and stuff like that. But, also, I think he very much already knows that he’s in it for the long haul. The avoiding the Gallagher house once Ian gets out isn’t Mickey second-guessing or not wanting to see Ian. I think it’s Mickey having absolutely no idea what to expect and being absolutely terrified. Mickey’s not great at going into vulnerable situations blind. His avoidance is him trying not to think about how helpless he feels, about how he has no idea what to do or how to help or what is going on.

Which is why, when they finally get a handle on the situation and decide to go to the clinic to get meds, he becomes so fucking dedicated. He’s clinging to the things he can do to help, he’s trying to figure out how to live with all this new shit, and doing things for Ian like forging Frank’s signature to get meds, and buying him vitamins, and getting him gatorade to take his meds with and stuff is all a part of that. And I think part of that is for Ian, is trying to help Ian, but I also think part of it is for Mickey himself. He’s not going to go around like calling Ian ‘babe’ or whatever or even go around kissing Ian on the cheek in public or being super lovey-dovey. At least at this point. So helping out, doing things for him, is also a way that Mickey can express his love.

I just have a lot of feelings about season 5 Mickey, who knows he’s in love, but is really growing and learning about how he can love.