mickey milkovich x nude, radiohead
i don’t think that anybody can disagree that 1x07 is the episode where we learn the most about mickey milkovich. no, i don’t mean he showed any development or anything like that, but we learned something about him that made him significant for the rest of the show. something that never leaves, something that is important to him. in 1x07, we learn that mickey milkovich is gay, and we learn that he is willing to sleep with ian gallagher (even when his father and sister are in the house).
in 1x06, mickey kind of has an interaction with ian that we later see and are like, “yeah, he’s totally gay”, but back then it wasn’t stated that mickey was gay. mickey steals shit from the kash and grab, and he tells ian, “you know where i live if you have a problem” kind of instigating that ian should come over.
but in 1x07, mickey has stolen the gun from the kash and grab, and ian goes to mickey’s house equipped with a tyre iron, ready to take it back.
the “i want the gun back, mickey” scene needs no introduction or explanation. we all know what happened. we all watched in awe as mickey stood over ian and both of their breaths evened out and they made contact and… bam! they’re getting undressed, just like that.
later on, we are no stranger to gallavich and fighting then fucking. it’s something many people know them for, the fact that they’ll literally beat the shit out of each other and then immediately get on each other. but here, it was supposed to be for shock value because shameless utilizes shock value. to those who didn’t know gallavich was going to happen, watching mickey, the thug who had literally just attempted murder on ian, undress and fuck ian was surprising. later on, we can understand why it happened, but we were supposed to be shocked.
so, here’s where nude by radiohead comes in.
terry wakes up from a nap and goes to take a piss in mickey’s room (there’s a bathroom in there, he isn’t just pissing in it, lol). in there, ian and mickey are naked under mickey’s covers. around them, we see a poster of a woman and we also see a drawing mickey made that says “fuck love”.
so when terry comes out of the bathroom and looks at them both, he doesn’t do what season 3 terry does, he simply says “put some clothes on, you two look like a couple of fags!” and it’s a comical scene because, what the fuck, terry, aren’t you a homophobic murderer? you woke up to grunts and crashes coming from mickey’s room, then when you came in he and another boy are naked in his bed… what do you think they were doing?
so when mickey does put some clothes on, he puts on a radiohead shirt.
the shirt says “you’ll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking” and those are the last lyrics of the radiohead song “nude”.
so for those who haven’t listened to the song, here’s my analysis of why this song is associated with mickey milkovich and how it ends up foreshadowing his entire character for the next four seasons.
“don’t get any big ideas
they’re not gonna happen”
literally this scene. mickey caves and gives ian the gun back because lets be honest, it was really just bait. ian leans in to kiss him, and mickey has a look in his eyes where you can tell he wants to, but he can’t. he built this wall up years ago and he’s already cursing himself for letting it come down. terry instructed him to get dressed, and he puts on this shirt. and he’s trying to put this carefully constructed mask back on but he’s struggling. and so, he pushes ian away, “kiss me and i’ll cut your fucking tounge out”. there’s no malice in his tone, it’s a threat, but it isn’t threatening.
“you paint yourself white
and fill up with noise
but there'll be something missing”
mickey hiding in the closet, marrying svetlana, being a father to yevgeny, trying to act like the perfect son of terry. he still has this mask on and he tries to hide who he is but alas, he can’t. he loves ian too much and when he gets married and pushes him away, he’s still gay and in love.
“now that you found it
it’s gone”
upon being married, he tells ian that they can still bang. maybe being married to a woman makes him feel a bit more secure because although he despises it and it’s crushing him, he can keep his whole “king of the southside” thing. now that he’s married and unhappy, terry’s satisfied, and that’s all that matters- well, at one point it was. so he tells ian that they can still fuck, but suddenly, ian isn’t as eager and easy as he once was, and he leaves. he’s gone.
“now that you feel it
you don't
you’ve gone off the rails”
he’s out, he’s with ian, he has ian. things are supposed to be fine- but they’re not. ian’s unstable and has been hospitalized, and mickey breaks. he gets shitfaced and cuts his cheek and cries into ian’s jacket. that wall he once built up? the chest he puffed up, the posters he hung, the tattoos he got, they all mean nothing. it’s all gone. the wall and mask are gone, he’s more fragile than he once was. ian’s broken and it’s simultaneously breaking him too.
“so don't get any big ideas
they're not gonna happen”
this line is so mickey in s5, s6, s7, and s10. ian calling him and mickey running to see ian. he has hope. but no, ian breaks up with him, mickey is arrested, and when ian visits he desperately wants ian back. he tattoos ian’s name on his chest, specifically over his heart, and he practically pleads for ian to stay. then, mickey and ian are fleeing to mexico, and for a second, he has hope again. he fantasizes about he and ian at the beach, ian’s freckled skin being sunburnt, them swimming in the ocean together. for once, he can imagine his dreams being true. but they aren’t. he and ian are getting their marriage license, but ian’s hand wavers over the dotted line and he gives mickey that look and mickey breaks (…ian’s leg. lol). he keeps getting his hopes up and everytime he scolds himself for it because he just ends up hopeless.
then finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for,
“you'll go to hell
for what your dirty mind
is thinking”
it’s in the 1x07 scene i’m talking about. terry instructs mickey to get dressed, he does, and he puts on a shirt that says this. and in that shirt, he seems odd. the confidence we see him have in 1x03 is no longer there. he doesn’t necessarily look vulnerable, but he isn’t the mickey he pretends to be. he caves and returns the gun, which was just bait for ian to come anyway, and he refuses to make eye contact with ian, but when he does, it’s almost coy? he’s ashamed. he’s thinking of things he know would get him killed and he hates himself for it. terry will end him if he finds out, and yes, he has the posters, the reputation, the persona, the tattoos, the guns, etc. but in the end, it’s all an act, and we can see it. the way he licks his lips, the way his eyes won’t focus, his body language says so much.
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thoughts on this parallel?
the presumed last time they'll ever see each other (mexico border) vs. when it all falls back into place (prison reuniting)
i Adore the choice to film behind mickey and capture part of his body to let the audience in on such an intimate moment and experience ian's reaction from his POV.
i watched the show once it was all out on netflix but cannot even begin to comprehend OG gallavich shippers excitement seeing the prison scene and i think it would've been enhanced more with this excellent parallel - tying their 'ending' and new beginning together <3
and not to dive TOO deep but this same angle is used during The breakup scene at the end of s5... i don't know much about film this is all just stuff i'm noticing so i hope it makes sense and you or someone else out there appreciates the thought!
This is a very interesting parallel that I, personally, hadn’t noticed! 💖Thank you for pointing it out!
What do we all think of the choice to film these scenes this way? How does it make us feel as viewers? What are you’re thoughts on these parallels?
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And half the time mickeys not even hiding to only protect himself!!! He's trying to protect Ian too!!!!! But he doesn't realize that to ian the thing that hurts the most is being hidden and ian doesn't realize that to mickey there are so many things that are So Much Worse and that hiding=being safe!!!!!!!!!
Ian and mickey are always trying to protect each other from themselves.
YES. Mickey grew up having to prioritize self-preservation because of the secret of him being gay. When mickey starts to like ian, he's ofc sharing that secret. Ian now needs just as much protection as Mickey does.
I think some of the reasons why mickey was still able to kiss ian so fast after what happened with Terry is because at the wedding, he gets to really realise how much hiding hurts ian. "Not everyone gets to blurt how they fucking feel every minute" mickey knows he lacks something that Ian has and I dont think he really got that before because his mind was so occupied on hiding thoes feelings.
The wedding is also when I think ian gets a first real look at how badly Terry can affect mickey. In s2 when mickey tells ian about how his dad will kill him if he finds out ian pretty confidently him how they have nothing to be ashamed of, worried about but later at the wedding ian sounds pleading almost like he's trying to convince himself as well as mickey that that's still true.
They both have more understanding of each other that day. Ignoring how tragic the whole day is, it does give them a good look at the others' prospective. It's their first "fight" where mickey is giving a little bit of himself to Ian.
Mickeys view on life is definitely more pessimistic thats why I think the sneaking around was "enough" for him. I mean that in the way that he thinks that as good as it will get for him. Ian doesn't have that, he isn't gripped by shame, and it's that that helps mickey see he can have more, too. To mickey, life is being alive, but Ian sees more than that. Ian doesn't want to hide because he knows their more than just being alive, mickey doesn't.
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Fic: i'll stand in the rain and tell you it will be warm again someday
Fandom: Shameless (US)
Length: 8,138
Rating: Mature
Status: Completed
Warnings: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings
Relationship: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe -- Canon Divergence, Bipolar Ian Gallagher, Accidentally Off Meds, Mickey Milkovich Typical Violence, Derogatory Language Used Casually, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending
Summary:
Oh fuck, Mickey knew he should’ve done something.
He should’ve said something. Should’ve grabbed Ian by the collar of his damn jacket and sat him down and told him to stay, like some obedient dog, because he’s got those big puppy eyes and Mickey knows it would have worked for at least long enough for them to figure out what was going on. Should’ve tried to bed him, told Ian he was getting into some new kink because he’s always so fucking amenable to Mickey’s whims because he’s sweet like that, and then handcuffed Ian to the bed and sat on his chest and made Ian talk to him, right then and there.
But he'd ignored the signs of trouble because — because it was Ian and he seemed —
Well, he'd had this laugh.
Okay, maybe it’d be better to start from the beginning.
Read here on ao3. To go to my profile, here.
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When do you think they first privately had thoughts about marriage?
Hiya, nonny!
Huh. Good question. I don’t know that I have a proper opinion on this, but let me shake a few words around and we’ll see what falls out:
I don’t think Mickey ever really considered it before it was suggested as a strategy to stay off the stand. He’s done the whole marriage bit, didn’t care for it, and probably never really dared dream that he would one day actually get to marry for love. It was just never an option for him, and he knows enough about marrying for the wrong reasons to immediately reject the idea of getting hitched to Ian simply to stay out of jail. But of course, once he’s convinced (momentarily) that Ian wants to marry for love, he’s all for it. The idea of – for lack of another word – being claimed by Ian like that? Wanted like that? Fuck yeah, he wants that, and once he starts to consider it a real possibility, nothing less will do. But really, I don’t think it was something he ever really considered before 10x07.
Ian, I think, probably always had some vague dreams about getting married. Not in so many words, perhaps, and no big ideas about the wedding itself. It’s not really about marriage, maybe, but just the idea of having this stable, committed relationship that speaks of normality and respectability; sharing such a connection with someone that you’d want to stand up and promise to spend the rest of their lives together? He’d like that! But then Monica’s genes strike and he finds himself in a position where he doesn’t trust himself to promise anyone anything, and whatever half-cooked dreams he’s harboured seem to go out the window. I think he has probably nursed some wistful thoughts on what a future with Mickey might look like – the very quick ‘fuck no’ in response to Lip’s question about if he’s going to marry Mickey to me suggests that he has thought about it (and I think the immediate rejection doesn’t in any way reflect his feelings about being with Mickey – because we know that Ian wants to be with Mickey! – but is a way to protect himself from dreaming of something he believes he can never have). But then comes the whole insane Paula situation and sure he’ll marry Mickey to protect him, but when it becomes not necessary he starts to have doubts: not because he doubts his feelings for Mickey, but because he’s not sure he can live up to what marriage means to him – and he wouldn’t want to let Mickey down (or end up in a situation he’s not comfortable with, which is very healthy and good of him).
Something like that, I think. As always, feel free to chime in with your own thoughts.
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