Mabiauhp

Petty Sarcastic King 🤴 + Petty Sarcastic Queen👸🏼, the 2 people who know Lip the best and love him the most. They have a special WhatsApp group just for them dedicated solely to regaling each other with their Lip tales, simultaneously adoring him and absolutely tearing him to shreds in equal measure.

(Plus, they're both vulnerable middle children taken advantage of by adults who are only just starting to come to terms with it. Lip definitely let slip to each about the other without meaning to and after an awkward couple of interactions afterwards, now they're their own support group that no one knows about).

Just... Tami & Ian, secret bffs ❤

(Also, Ian would 100% shell out for a fresh uncontaminated cup of her favourite coffee, just sayin')

Oh, I'm all herefor that, nonnie! Though there's no adoration at first encounter and we don't see them actually interacting much in season 10, we DO have Tami's ”I love Ian” in 10x12, and I don't think there's any reason to doubt her sincerity? Tami might be slightly wary at first – she probably doesn't know much about bipolar disorder and Ian did go to prison for blowing up a van after starting a cult – but once she sees how good he Ian with Freddie and how much of a sweetheart he is (when he's not being a petty sarcastic king), I think she warms right up! Also, Ian is the one of the Gallaghers that has a real interest in the middle-class lifestyle Tami comes from, so I think they might have share a few frames of reference that they others either don't get or don't care about?

Now, there's not a lot in-text to support them being fast friends in season 11, but I'd say it's fairly natural that they might both be busy with their respective partners and lives at that point: Tami with Lip and Freddie in their new house, Ian being somewhat consumed by being married and looking for ways to start his and Mickey's new life? It makes sense to me that they'd maybe wouldn't hang out all that much when they're no longer sharing a kitchen and have lots of other stuff going on. Not for any lack of love, you see, but just.... other priorities.

But! I think there's some excellent potential for them to start hanging out again once Ian and Mickey moves to the West Side! As you say, Ian would totally shell out for her favourite coffee – and in Tami he'd have a friend who enjoys trying all the sweet stuff the West Side has to offer! Coffee shops! Restaurants! Yoga! Maybe even an art gallery at one point!

I mean, Ian wants to do everything with Mickey always because those dumbasses just loves being together that much, but sometimes it's probably nice to go to a new restaurant with someone who's actually excited about it and doesn't need to be bribed into going? So at one point at family dinner at the Gallagher house – which Lip did not actually sell and now they share it with Debbie and Liam while Carl has moved into the Alibi flat, no you will not change my mind on this – Ian mentions this place he's heard about and Tami is immediately interested and they make plans to go and just like that they have regular outings and so much fun!

Talking about Lip would happen a lot, maybe starting with Tami coming to Ian for... well, not advice, but some context about Lip's behavior. Is he alwasy like this? Is it a South Side thing? And yeah, that leads to them starting to trade stories, Ian dragging up stuff from their childhood (both heroic and hilarious) and Tami telling him all about the idiotic and amazing things Lip does now...

Ian sometimes mutters about Mickey but Tami understands instinctively that that's not an invitation for her to trash talk him the same way they do Lip. I just don't think that Ian would be down for anyone else making fun of Mickey (other than Mandy) at this point?

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure that Ian has fully accepted that what happened with Kash and Ned (and at the club) was him being abused and taken advantaged of, so I doubt that's a connection he would be very interested in exploring, even if Lip does mention Tami's experiences to him (mentions them somewhat meaningfully, since Lipcertainly sees the connection). However, I think Tami might latch right onto it, either if Lip lets it slip or if Ian mentions something about his past relationships that has her go oh, yeah, I know what you mean, same thing kind of happened to me. Ian might be defensive at first – no, actually, it wasn't like that at all, this was different – but it might serve as a way for him to slowly approach the reality of what was done to him? Tami would be patient and gentle, since she knows all too well how hard it is to accept that the person you thought truly loved you actually abused you.

"ian didn't deserve mickey"

"they bring out the worst on each other"

Happy pride month to my favorite men