#shameless 4

Fiona is a tough one for me…

I loved her until the back half of season 5. Fiona gets a lot of hate for season 4 and while I get it, I personally don’t agree with it. I’ve actually tried to defend the whole situation with the coke several times but most people say they don’t feel any sympathy for her; but for some reason I still do. She made a TON of mistakes in season 4 that were frustrating, but I feel people forget just how young she is and that she never got to get much of her crazy out because her crazy (while certainly more wild than anything I’ve ever done) was tame compared to what she is surrounded by or what her siblings were capable of doing. Then season 4 comes around and it seems like one thing turns into another and everything snowballs for her until suddenly she’s left coke out on the counter and her baby brother got into it and finally Fiona realizes that she needs to take better care of herself and needs to figure herself out; figure out why her life was capable of spiraling the way it did when she used to be so in control. And I’m all good with that, everyone needs to figure out ways to better themselves. The problem with that though is the way she handled trying to better herself, basically left her siblings out in the cold despite her adopting her siblings. The judge even reminded her that this responsibility would be until Liam reached the age of 18. And her behavior in season 5-7 indicates that she has completely forgotten or has decided to ignore that she legally asked for responsibility of these kids.

Never worry about bothering me. I can give you a 110% guarantee that you, nor anyone else, bothers me by sending me opinions and asking questions. If the day ever comes when I do feel bothered, I will shut down my ask box. (I do NOT see that happening, but just so you know that would be the sign lol)

Moving on to your observation:

YES! That is a HUGE thing about Mickey that he is actually really insecure at his core. He puts on this air that he’s self-assured and doesn’t need anyone’s approval but I argue 100% differently. He knows where he stands on the social ladder, and by most people’s standards he is near the bottom where everyone stares down their nose at him and waits for him to say or do something stupid or savage. He’s genuinely uncomfortable with putting himself out there (something you’ll see in the season finale of season 4) and so he’s definitely waiting for someone to just start shitting on him. He looks around like he’s waiting for someone to look at him the wrong way to make him flip his lid and start swinging; and also that if anyone starts talking shit he’s prepared to go down fighting because that’s the only way he knows how to defend his integrity and dignity.

Noel adds so. fucking. much. to. this. character! It’s so unreal. I will NEVER get over how JW let him go because he was able to turn this character, who was really only supposed to be on for one, maybe two seasons, and made him into a fan favorite. It’s insane. I think it’s beautiful how Noel was able to humanize this thug to make people start considering how “criminals” still have stories, may have reasons for doing the things they do, and show that if we knew some of their stories maybe we wouldn’t be so quick to judge. He did such a beautiful job and I’ll be forever grateful for his performance.

Can’t wait for your next set of observations! Keep sending ‘em! <3

You’re not wrong, anon. What Ian did was absolutely manipulative. Granted, while I do think Ian was mostly kidding when he first proposed Mickey “suck [his] dick whenever[he] want[s],” he still let Mickey go through with it and was being sexually manipulative by accepting a sexual favor (with future promise of more at his discretion) in exchange for giving their relationship another try, taking advantage of how desperate Mickey clearly was to have him stay. It’s good that Mickey did seem okay with it in the end, but it doesn’t lessen how wrong it was by much.

I think that was definitely the point of the scene to show just how desperate Mickey was to have Ian back and keep him even though he wasn’t ready to come out. Up until this point, Mickey avoided doing and saying anything that would be perceived as “gay” and going down on another dude? Super gay xD So this is a huge leap for Mickey to put himself out there and give Ian something he wants as a demonstration that he wants him back and wants to fight for them (which is what I think Ian wanted. I think Ian just wanted to know that Mickey actually wanted him back and was willing to bend a little so they could start working towards a more open relationship, something I think they both want but Mickey never believed he could have).

Thank you for sending in your thoughts! :)

Not at all, love; I promise that you, nor anyone else, is bothering me or ever has bothered me or annoyed me 😙

And don’t feel bad. Some people don’t have the energy to devote to a pairing that at this point may not get a happy ending, and I understand that. It also sounded like there were other things from the show that were wearing on them, then finding out that they aren’t together right now was probably just that final straw, and I get that too. This show is not easy to watch at times.

I know lots of people who can’t watch even from the first episode because Frank rings too true to their own alcoholic/flighty/abusive parent and I understand that, some other people just can’t get over “glorifying” illegal activities to make ends meet, and though I think it limits their moral perspective to what they know and understand, again, I understand.

For those of us that have watched it’s absolutely okay to express our criticism because that’s the only way to make media better. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like the writers receive the criticism well, but that may also be because some of the “criticism” comes across as full-blown attack on social media. It is true, though, that the quality of the writing seriously downgraded between season 5 and 6, and while season 7 was better it still wasn’t on par with what season 4 and season 5 brought, not by a mile!

And season 7 absolutely brought some good moments (especially the Gallavich ones). I try to focus on those more than the negative aspects if only because I think it’s the only way I won’t grow too resentful against the writers or the show. But yeah, Jeep sex, the dock scene, the spiderman kiss, “Never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad I finally found Jesus,” returning to their old routine and dynamic as though nothing had changed... those are all beautiful things and even if the writers tried to pull a few stops/fast ones on us, Noel and Cam absolutely saved it by being true to the characters even when the writers weren’t.

What bothers me is that it’s absolutely not too late to fix Ian’s character and bring Mickey back. They can have Mickey come back despite the risks, have them start back where they left off with Mickey’s legal troubles to drive his plotline for a little while before they figure out what to do with it, and then from there they can have Ian being 110% supportive, and they can bring Gallavich back stronger than ever. Will they do that? I have absolutely no clue. From what I’m seeing from the folks who have been with this fandom for years, my indication is to not get your hopes up and that’s why I definitely understand that person’s decision to stop while things are already getting sad, and hope to hear of Mickey in the future.

Don’t feel guilty that someone decided to stop. I respect that decision as much as I respect your criticism. On one side of the coin, it’s super important to talk about media and especially when media isn’t doing a solid job at telling a quality story or is misrepresenting someone/something; on the other, it’s okay for someone to unplug because life is entirely too short to fret over a fictional world unless that is entirely what you want. That’s another great thing about media, you can choose what media you want to consume (for the most part) and if you don’t like it, shut it off :)