Shameless Fic Recs – The List
Click here to listen to the podcast episode
Things that weren’t Shameless Fic that got mentioned during the podcast can all be found at the end of the Fic Recs List. Hope you enjoy!
Etherized Against the Sky by Snarfle
Explicit, 213000 words
“I wish you had gone to juvie.”
There was one of those automated clap-tracks on the television as another contestant got the question correct. Gallagher’s eyes were dark as the blue lights of the television screen threw weird shadows onto his face. Mickey wished, almost idly, that there was more lighting in the Milkovich household, if just so that Gallagher didn’t look so ominous. He picked up the remote and muted the TV.
A canon-divergent story from 1×09, in which Tony Markovich suspected foul play and coerced an unwilling Mickey Milkovich into revealing the truth about Kash Karib.
i’ll stand in the rain and tell you it will be warm again someday by crestfaller
Mature, 8000 words
Ian comes to Mickey’s door, blood on his face and an innocent laugh rolling out of him, and it’s just enough to distract Mickey to everything that’s wrong with this image until it’s too late, and Ian’s in the fucking wind. But fuck all if Mickey won’t find him again.
here’s to hoping i’m not what kills you by crestfaller
Mature, 13000 words
After a confrontation gone bad, Mickey and the Gallaghers get Ian to the hospital. And look, Mickey always knew that if the Gallaghers had a will they’d find a way, but being roped into their schemes himself wasn’t something he’d planned on signing on for. All the Gallaghers need to know is Mickey’s helping out because he’s not pure fucking evil. They don’t need to know Mickey was scared shitless when Ian got knocked unconscious, Jesus, he can barely admit that to himself. Once Mickey knows Ian’s not dead and not dying, he’s out of there. Except he can’t bring himself to leave.
it’d be better if you flayed me alive by crestfaller
Mature, 7000 words
Mickey’s lawyer thinks it’d be a good idea for him to shave his beard. Make him look more like a ‘kid’ for his parole hearing, supposedly stop the Judge from sentencing him to the stratosphere. Mickey thinks it’s fucking stupid, because he’s not some punk kid, and it’s not like him being a minor has ever stopped the Judge before from declaring him some sort of menace to society. Even if Mickey wanted to shave it, he couldn’t. His hands are still fucked up from the damn fight that got him in violation of his parole in the first place. He’s bitching about it all to Ian while working at the Kash and Grab when Ian offers to shave it for him. And if Mickey wasn’t such a goddamn idiot, he would have never agreed to let him. But he does.
all these things I have left to say to you by crestfaller
Mature, 11000 words
Hey Mickey.
Bet you’re wondering what the fuck this is, huh? Well, I’ll tell you.
It’s a tape recorder! Which you’re probably rolling your eyes at me for saying, because, if you’re hearing this, then you can see that, but isn’t it cool? It’s old school. Reminds me of what those detectives use in those old shitty 80’s movies we watched.
It’s got five buttons, and the labels are pretty clear: the red dot is record, the blue square is stop, the two left arrows is rewind, the two right arrows is fast forward, and then there’s play and pause. Simple. Think I’ve got maybe forty-five minutes to an hour? These tapes don’t have a whole lot of storage on them, and one side is screwed up so it won’t record — already tried. So, I gotta use the time wisely!
Some client at the club gave it to me. I think he wanted me to use it to make some sort of sex tape. Or, like, sex ASMR? I don’t know. I could be good at that, maybe. I don’t really want to do that, though.
I want to talk to you.
_______
After all this time that Ian’s been missing, he leaves a tape recorder on Mickey’s pillow. And on it? An hour of pure, unfiltered, Ian audio that is all, apparently, dedicated to him.
Life, or Something by pink_ink
Explicit, 65000
Ian has worked hard on stabilizing after a long period of illness. As he approaches the two year mark, Fiona suggests he get a job. He doesn’t expect it to be a funeral home. Doesn’t expect to meet a hot apprentice. As he draws himself further into that environment, his life begins to change.
Maintenance by devovitsuasartes
Explicit, 21500 words
A colony ship embarks on a 51-year mission with only two conscious passengers: a maintenance worker, and a maintenance android.
Dark Matter by devovitsuasartes
Mature, 4500 words
Eight years into a colony mission, a ship’s maintenance worker and its maintenance android discover an anomaly in space.
A one-shot set in the Maintenance-verse.
Fresh Meat by devovitsuasartes
Mature, 14000 words
Ian really thinks that he and Mickey could be best friends, if he can just persuade Mickey not to eat him.
Explicit, 34000
24 hours of Mickey Milkovich getting some of the things he deserves.
Post season 5 canon (some trace elements and ideas from s6 might be in there, but none of the actual alleged ‘plot’ or ‘character development’).
Mature, 218500 words
AU. Slow burn. The real time accounts of Ian visiting Mickey’s dingy diner and slowly becoming his friend.
Explicit, 16000 words
You’ve been dead for a good long while, that’s for sure. You don’t remember how or when, but you can’t even move without being reminded that, even without the specifics, dead is undoubtedly what you are. The first time you save someone, it’s by accident.
Explicit. Suicide tw. Please consult the notes at the start of the fic for details, if concerned.
Hysterical Light by quietcoast
Teen and Up, 21000 words
There was a house that nobody went into.
It wasn’t haunted. It wasn’t condemned. It wasn’t barred shut.
There were rumors about the house. Whispers about its life before it was a lockbox, about drug debts and jail sentences and families with more magic than they needed, or less, depending on who you asked. There were whispers that the house was cursed, and that the curse would rub off on anyone who got too close.
It has been a long time since anyone has seen Mickey Milkovich, and the neighborhood has all but forgotten him. Mickey’s name may have left the common consciousness, but there is one thing that everybody seems to know: there’s a house on Trumbull Ave. that nobody can go into, and something bad will happen to you if you try.
When strange things begin happening a few blocks away at the Gallagher house, it’s clear that the events have a magical origin. Ian suspects a curse, and looks for answers at the only other cursed location he knows of.
He finds answers. He finds something else, too.
Ian the Friendly Ghost by Ravenheart
Explicit, 21000
based on the prompt by drish (sluttymickey on tumblr): “ghosts au where Mickey thinks the house he moved in is haunted because the doors seem to close on their own and his shit somehow gets neat and tidy and Ian’s just a very polite ghost who’s got a bit of a crush on the adorable grumpy guy who’s just moved in”
weaver of fate (to your will i won’t fold) by Ravenheart
Mature, 52000
Mickey is a seer who gets paid to track down people’s soulmates, and he’s damn good at his job. He’s a little frustrated when this Ian Gallagher guy tries to cancel his appointment on the same day, saying he has no interest in knowing who his soulmate is. They reach an agreement: he’ll perform the reading but won’t tell him the results, just write them down and send him on his way. And, well, fuck Mickey’s life, huh? ‘Cause it turns out he’s Ian Gallagher’s fucking soulmate.
Proof Of What You Want by Squash (JeSuisGourde)
Mature, 7000
Ian’s on his goddamn mind all the time and this isn’t like bruises or near misses with cops or his dad’s fucked up punishments. It doesn’t matter what he does. He’s not thinking of anything else.
You’ve never been like this. Slow and soft and someone asleep at your back. Vulnerable. Ever. There have been very few bright spots in your life: your mother, Mandy, Ian. You try and convince yourself it’s not what you want. It is. It’s what you want.
Teen and Up, 8000 words
“boys like mickey don’t get to have things like this, but that’s not gonna stop him.” or: ian’s away on a camping trip with rotc and mickey goes to find him
life without you has been hard by enbytim
Teen and Up, 2300 words
it’s ian’s birthday and here mickey is…. stuck in prison or: the one where ian visits mickey on his birthday and things maybe aren’t that sad
Mature, 23000
“Fiona’s probably gonna do ninety days.”
“Fuck,” Mickey replies. “Where?”
“Decatur Correctional. Where the hell is that?”
“Three hours out of the city.” Mickey sits with his back to the wall, legs dangling over the side of the bed. Lighting a cigarette would only earn him another lecture, so he slicks back his hair just for something to do with his hands.
“How’d you know that?” Ian asks, smelling chum in the water, the observant little fuck. “Not like your brothers are getting sent to lady prison all that often.”
Mickey thumbs at his lip, trying to find a way out of this conversation. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to distract Ian just by taking of his pants, but he is trying this new thing where he actually tells Ian what’s going on in his head.
“No.” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “It’s my mom.”
The Thing About Living by lalazee
Explicit, 13800
In which Ian Gallagher donates a kidney just to get a date with Mickey Milkovich. That’s it, that’s how it goes. Everyone gets a happy ending.
when you get there you’ll know by biblionerd07
Teen and Up, 18000
Ian gets out of prison 352 days before Mickey does. They do their best to make it through.
we got time (but we’re only human) by sam_writes_fics
Mature, 20000
“What happened?” he asks carefully.
Mickey works his jaw, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, but no sound comes out.
“Hey. It’s okay,” Lip tells him gently. He puts a hand on Mickey’s shoulder, his grip firm. “Just tell me what happened.”
Mickey shakes his head and looks away. “It came out of nowhere.”
Someone to Hold Me Up by westernredcedar
Explicit, 37000
Just beside the shattered front window is a man, lying flat on his back, a pool of blood growing from his left side. Ian shouts to Sue.
The man’s been shot. More than once.
It’s Terry Milkovich.
Night Life by devovitsuasartes
Explicit, 21500
Mickey’s usual full moon plans are derailed when he finds Ian Gallagher crawling out of a fresh grave.
Mickey Mantle vs. the T-Rex by ZoePlacid
Not Rated, 54000
This takes place shortly after the events in 4×12. It’s mainly about Ian, Mickey, and Mandy coming to terms with Ian’s mental illness. (It basically serves as an alternate season five, and was mostly written during the hiatus).
The Garden Song Series
put my faith in this hole in the ground by melwritesthings
Mature, 13000
He stands at the plot for a while before he begins working. This is it. After weeks of internet searches and sketches in his notepad, it’s time to put it all into action. Ian closes his eyes against the afternoon sun, breathes in the smell of dirt and greenery. Thinks about that giver of dreams. Opens them, squeezes the trowel in his hand. He works. He works well. And then: there it is. A goal accomplished. A beginning.
and your labors will be borne when all is done by melwritesthings
Mature, 6500
He bursts inside these days dripping with sweat and sunlight, freckles darkened against pink skin. Laughing without stopping himself, speaking excitedly without tripping over his tongue. They’re coming along, he tells Mickey. Everybody’s doing great. They’re doing great. a fic about hope, healing, and tomatoes.
Teen and Up, 18500
It’s nice for married couples to share interests and experiences. But they didn’t really need their dads to die one after the other like this.
“I’m an orphan.” Ian looks at him like he’s just said something both ridiculous and completely and undeniably true. The corners of Mickey’s mouth twitch.
“Yeah, asshole. You are.”
“We match.”
Your Question Has Been Received by macymacymacy
Explicit, 59000
a tumblr AU with a bit of a twist. A silly, sweet, completely self-indulgent tumblr!au featuring technophobe Mickey and an endearingly petty Ian.
While We’re Making Other (People’s) Plans by kyaticlikestea
Mature, 20000
Mickey snorts. “Fuck off, no,” he says. “I wanted to stick a shiv through my temple after planning my own fuckin’ wedding. I ain’t doing it again.”
Nico looks between Ian and Mickey, and Mickey squeezes Ian’s waist. Ian grins at him, and Mickey takes another swig of beer. He’s starting to feel light-headed, and he doesn’t think it’s the fault of the cheap, shitty alcohol.
“They’re offerin’ $10,000,” says Nico.
Mickey splutters beer out of his nose.
“Fuck you, you waited ‘til I was taking a drink to tell me that part,” he snaps. It’s not like Mickey intends to get roped into planning the celebrity wedding of the century, but hey, shit happens.
Explicit, 148000 words
Ian Gallagher loves his life, finally. He’s happy. He’s happy… but. But there’s something missing. Some itch under his skin that he can’t quite scratch through work or hobbies or family gatherings or casual hookups.
Until he finds himself splurging on a membership to an exclusive BDSM club and meeting the notoriously hard-to-please club veteran, Mikhailo Milkovich.
Explicit, 14600 words
Mickey doesn’t have many happy memories when it comes to physical touch, which is why he avoids it at all costs. Until a rogue neck injury and a pushy sister deliver him straight into the healing hands of Ian Gallagher, that is.
7 Minutes in Heaven by CrossMyDNA
Mature, 2800 words
Two fateful slips of paper find Ian Gallagher stuck in a closet with Mickey Milkovich, who he’s pretty sure hates him. How will they pass the time?
Twenty Strangers by CrossMyDNA
Mature, 5000
Ian may be a realist in most things, but at heart, he’s a hopeless romantic. That’s probably why he agrees to kiss a stranger on camera.
This is the Road to Ruin by bricoleur10
Explicit, 158500 words
The day Ned asks Ian to rob his house the redhead almost says yes – why shouldn’t he, after all? Ned seems nonchalant enough about the whole thing, he’ll get some free expensive shit out of the deal, and if he plays his cards right maybe he can even convince Mickey to be his accomplice – but something stops him from going through with it.
The third-eldest Gallagher has never been much of a believer in fate or divine intervention or destiny or anything like that – can’t be, with the life he’s led – but he just might have become one, had he only known how that one seemingly insignificant decision had changed the course of his entire life.
He gets it now; why people write songs about this, why they become addicts when they lose it. He gets how it can mess with your whole life, why you’d go to jail to keep someone else safe, why you’d kill to see them happy. He understands it all; every cheesy line in every crappy movie, and all the bad decisions he’s seen his brothers and sister, his mother, make. He gets why people do all of those things. Now that he knows what it feels like, knows for sure, he finally understands.
Love ruins you.
Two of Your Earth Minutes by the_rat_wins
Explicit, 12300 words
Mickey figures he has two options: check them both into the hospital, since they’re suffering from some sort of shared delusion, or believe the guy when he says he’s an alien. The thing is—Mickey believes him.
Good Luck (Not Bad Luck) – Halloween
Mature, 2000 words
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Mickey says, one hand over his eyes.
“Mickey, don’t you get it?” Ian says, sitting up just enough to grab his hands, and tugging him down so he’s leaning over Ian on the bed.
“What’s to get?” Mickey says. “You’re a sexy alien. Same as every other day.”
(A Two of Your Earth Minutes Halloween Special)
Something Kinda Special – Christmas
Explicit, 5000 words
“We, uh”—Mickey pauses, scratching the back of his neck. Shit. Why are humans so fucking embarrassing sometimes? “We have to kiss.”
“Why?” Ian says. Now he looks worried, staring up at the little sprig of green like it’s going to explode. “What happens if we don’t?”
Last Night at the Verona Grand Hotel by the_rat_wins
Explicit, 27000
While working the night shift at an old Hollywood hotel with a reputation for being haunted, Mickey makes a strange connection with one of the guests, aspiring actor Ian Gallagher. Except that the hotel has no record of Ian, and no one other than Mickey ever sees him.
The more time he spends with Ian, the less Mickey is sure what is real and what isn’t. But one thing is true: Mickey is going to find a way for them to be together.
Flyboy and the Gearhead by the_rat_wins
Explicit, 7000 words
“I’ve got a fight tomorrow night. Maybe I’ll come by after?” His eyes are fixed on Mickey’s face. – “Yeah, sure,” Mickey says after a second. “Bring me whatever you’ve got.”
Redheaded Stepchildren by ZebraWallpaper
General, 73000 words
A story about Debbie and Ian’s relationship over the six months following the end of Season 4.
Mature, 207000 words
A Story about Ian and Lip’s relationship. Sequel to ‘Redheaded Stepchildren’ that picks up the story from Lip’s perspective. Canon up to 4×12, not in line with Season 5/6 canon.
Cooperative Gameplay by grayola
Explicit, 422000 words
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. ♥️
Everything else mentioned in this podcast episode
Shameless DVD Commentaris on tumblr
Mayo in the Morning on tumblr
Loftec’s DVD Commentary for None the wiser
Doshi’s Fanart that inspired 7 Minutes in Heaven
Galladrabbles on tumblr
20 Strangers Video on YouTube
All the Other Ghosts & Grey by rainjoy (POD Fic read by klb & mriaow) (Kurt/Blaine)
Pairing Pendragon/Merlin by anonymous (POD Fic read lunchee) (Merlin/Arthur)
27th September 2024 @ 3:22 pm
it’s been a hot minute since I’ve left comments on this website! delightful episode, as always (working my way through S2 of SSR as of now but figured fic recs can never go wrong) – etherized against the sky and touch/starved are such gorgeous fics and your thoughts on them are spot on! read redheaded stepchildren/irish twins after listening to the episode and it’s SOOO good! stayed up until 3am finishing it – worth the sleep deprivation!! I’ve been eying co-operative gameplay for a while (the very high word count scares me) but I will start that next 🙌🙌
1st October 2024 @ 5:07 pm
haha welcome back to our little site! Fic recs are indeed never the wrong choice!! Cooperative Gameplay definitely has a scary word count, so I would recommend maybe giving yourself a couple of nights before diving into it, after your 3am irish twins adventure! hahaha but the chapters are actually a really satisfying length, and don’t generally end on cliff hangers, so they’re a really good, lengthy (but not 3am long) read before bed time, end then actually allow you to go to bed. and also, it’s the best!!!! in our (and everyone else’s) unbiased opionions LOL have fun!!!