#klinger the love of my fucking life

[remyfire]

We can have beautiful Klinger moments too as a treat

[t00thpasteface]

I’m doing a MASH rewatch because I’m mentally well, and I am a Hawcahy lover like all good red blooded Americans, but I was curious if you had any thoughts or opinions on Klinger / Mulcahy? Even from Klinger’s second appearance with the grenade scene I found myself watching for their shared scenes, though it’s clearly significantly less popular if AO3 tags are to be believed.

You can also use this to discuss the various Hawkeye ships (of which there are rightfully many) and any other MASH pairings you enjoy or maybe don’t partake in! I’m always here for more MASH content

they are VERY GOOD AND I LIKE THEM. klinger is a LOT of fun and there's definitely some kind of weird circuitous Recognition Through The Other i get with him as a butch lesbian. my whole life i've always felt like i'm some ugly bony man in drag whenever i dress girly so i feel really vaildated seeing how klinger fucking slayyyyyys in whatever he wears and has a blast wearing it. so naturally anything that makes klinger happy makes me happy!!! 🫡

i think i said it before a loonnnng time ago though but i'm just not really much of a multishipper! never have been... idk what it is but once a ship takes root in my brain i don't really multiship any of the people in it. there are very few exceptions to this. i have NO idea why i'm like this but i'm just Very Particular.

and hawkahy just fucking SEIZED me somehow so it got first dibs. my first exposure to mash was catching some season 7 episodes on retro tv, so when i happened to see hawkeye freaking out in a cave and mulcahy volunteering to be helicopter ballast back-to-back, i latched onto mulcahy first like "omg look at that little guy he's trying so hard" and then secondarily looked at hawkeye like "omg it's a womanizing sleazeball with a heart of gold i love those exact guys!!" and my go-to method of shipping is My Favorite x My Second Favorite, sooo that's how the cookie crumbled... :P

also basically as soon as i told my mom i was watching mash she was like “we need to watch the movie!!” and i was weirdly compelled by hawkeye and mulcahy teaming up to save painless??? mulcahy gets shoved out of the frame by the others when he's introduced but seeks out hawkeye later like hey you're the only one i trust to help me... and then it colored how i watched the show afterwards. i was like hang on. really interesting to see where these freaks can find a common ground between them in their respective approaches to pacifism and sacrifice. also my mom ships them. lulz

i also think traphawk and beejhawk are fun too BUT as a lesbian who does a lot of weird gay shit with her 2 straight roommates (one of whom has a bf) because THEY started it, i also find it VERY funny to just interpret hawkeye and trapper/bj with that angle of out-and-proud queer doing weird gay shit with his arguably straight (or latently bicurious) roommates as a form of entertainment/bonding/hazing. bc it's like [leonardo dicaprio pointing.jpeg] like we call each other pookie and slap each other on the ass so whatever hawkeye is doing to those men is just Normal to me

[thebreakfastgenie]

If the MASH seasons were exactly the same except once per season a character got to say "fuck" where would you place each fuck? If it makes it easier to decide this can instead be a version of MASH where all the writing is the same except one "fuck" per season but also the blood/surgery/gore is a little more explicit.

(Note this is a tongue in cheek ask, I am not proposing the show would be better if people got to say fuck, I just think it's a silly fun thing to think about.)

No the show absolutely would be better if people got to say fuck. Literally my one other note after the blood and gore is I wish they could curse.

This is just off the top of my head and there are entire seasons I haven't rewatched recently so this is not like, the ideal version. Just one set of suggestions. I would very much like to hear others!

Season 1: The Army-Navy Game, "Not only are we pinned down by enemy fire, we just got an unexploded bomb in the middle of the fucking compound."

Season 2: Hot Lips and Empty Arms, "But no. I married the army, and what the fuck have I got to show for it?"

Season 3: Officer of the Day, "I have had it with you fucking fruitcakes!"

Season 4: I think Hawkeye says "I really don't give a shit anymore" in The Interview, it might be "I really don't give a fuck anymore," but either way you can't unbleep that because of the format, so it doesn't count, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due.

Change of command, "No, no, no, no! It's not fair! It's not fair! It's my MASH. It's mine! It's fucking mine! Mine, mine mine!"

I just wanna see Frank say fuck and I think that would drive him to it.

Season 5: Hawkeye Get Your Gun, "You love life that little?" "I hate guns that fucking much."

Season 6: Temporary Duty, "Pierce, I never thought the day would come when I would admit this... but, God, I fucking missed you!"

Season 7: Peace on Us, "People are fucking dying out there! You gotta stop it! You can't wait anymore! You can't!"

Season 8: Lend a Hand, "I can't taste the cheese. All I can taste is the fucking mustard."

Let Alan Alda say fuck to his father.

Season 9: The Red/White Blues, "Klinger, I have one more order for you. Forgive me, please." "That goes for me too." "I'll think it over while I'm resting up from my imaginary fucking disease."

Season 10: That Darn Kid when they're explaining what happened to the payroll Hawkeye says "a fucking goat ate it"

Season 11: Hey Look Me Over, "The O. R. is in a fucking shambles!"

Also I do think Hawkeye would hurl multiple fucks at Sidney in Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen, but it wouldn't work with just one.

It's surprisingly hard to insert these but I think it would have ruled if they were allowed to write them in in the first place.

[captainhunnicutt]

2, 5, and 16 for the MASH asks!!!

HELLO LOVE OF MY LIFE.

2 . what’s a detail that you would consider insignificant but you like?

Probably that BJ's little jar of dirt actually shows up throughout the remainder of the series. It could've easily been forgotten about and never appeared again, but it stayed in the Swamp and showed up all the way through GFA.

5 . do you have a favorite patient? which and why?

Private Schaeffer. The guy that was gunning for a Section 8 and wasn't a real lawyer, but convinced Klinger that he was one. I really appreciated that the writers weren't afraid to show that getting out of the army wasn't just something Klinger was doing - that other men were actively coming up with schemes as well - and doing more elaborate ones than Klinger. It's a really really well done commentary on how people weren't afraid to look "crazy," if it meant getting their asses out of the craziest fucking thing on the planet. War.

16 . you can pick one of the write off characters to stay on the show and develop, the others’ roles don’t change. who are you picking?

Frank Burns. Larry was too good of an actor to let go. I feel like there was a lot that could've still been done with Frank's character that didn't have to involve Margaret - and introducing him to Charles? Even for one season, having the crossover of the two would've been so so good. I'm not sure how the Swamp Rat dynamic would work with four instead of two, and I definitely wouldn't want to be 3 vs 1 - so even if Frank got transferred to the 8063rd and appeared from time to time. Something.

[that-one-anxious-mango]

You + Me = Us (1.5: The Filler)

Summary: The aftermath of what you’ve done hasn’t fully sent in..because just as life happens and things occur that will everything seem dark and silent.

Contents: Brunch. Angst. Crying. Medical Emergency. Friends. Allusions to Abortion 🚨 Flashback scene.

A/N: Hello beautiful humans! Hope you’re all well! I wanna first off give a huge thank you to you all for all the love and support you’ve shown the series. It means the world to me that you guys enjoy my little ole’ stories. So in celebration I thought I’d release this filler installment to get you pumped for the ULTIMATE ANGST that the next and final chapter of YM=US. holds. Happy reading!

P.S feel free to send me a letter about the series or comment how you feel or what you think will happen next! Also comment if you wanna be added to the taglist!

Much love *hugs* 💚

Arie

Taglist: @purejasmine,@wacoshuffle

---

Somehow after reading the letter a hundred times and crying fifty more, you'd still managed to pull yourself to together to get up and get dressed. 

How? You truly don’t freaking know.

But today you'd agreed to go out to brunch with Alana and, Avery, who was a friend from college you'd just reconnected with at the Glamour party awhile back that you'd went to with Austin.

It was just to catch up with each other for a little bit.

And you were still a woman of your word, so you were honoring the plans.

You were meeting up at the Upside Down Teapot shop down the way in downtown LA.

Since you felt like you couldn’t really drive you paid the expensive ass uber fee from your condo to downtown to meet the ladies.

Once you arrived you ordered a simple green tea that you were certain you weren’t actually about to touch and ventured out to the patio to find your friends waiting.

They both got up embracing you with greetings and love before you took a seat. 

" So, Y/N. How is everything going? Wedding planning, job, new actor fiancée." Avery giddily asked poking your in shoulder.

Still not taking off the sunglasses you had wore you looked to her nodding,          “ Everything is cool. Work is Work. Got offered a promotion though. Beatrice has been helping with most of the bridal stuff and Austin.” You cleared your throat when it had suddenly become dry, “ Austin’s okay. Working right now per usual...so yeah.” You finished.

Avery’s eyes lit up, “ Woah wait a promotion at the script house. That’s exciting. What is it? “ 

“ Um. Just one of the people who works there is retiring and threw my name into the hat to take their spot..it’s not a big deal.” You lied.

Only it was a big deal. It was actually a huge fucking deal. 

Two weeks Prior:

You were a script writer and worked in a writer's room with a few other folks everyday trying to piece together everyone's individual ideas to make the next best possible Oscar worthy work you guys could. You'd walked into your office today at Simon & Tills expecting the day to go like any other. You even had a killer idea that you had prepped to share for the script the B team was currently working on for a Spike Lee small film.

But once you'd got into the room you immediately noticed the way that all of your colleagues were eyeing you down. Some had looks of encouraging smiles while others glanced once at you and quickly shifted your eyes their eyes back to their computers.

Wrapping the hazel sweater around yourself tighter. You could feel your palms starting to get clammy and eyes began to hurt. You already hadn't been feeling the greatest the last couple of days, so whatever this was you hope that it wasn't that bad.

What was going on? What had you done.

Putting a pep in your step you were just about to reach your desk when the door of Cecelia Klinger, the Editor and Chief, pushed open.

" Y/N, do you mind popping in my office for a brief moment." She called out.

Shit. You'd thought.

Instantly a lump the size of a coconut was beginning to form in your throat while you shook your nodded trudging forward while still trying to ignore the dozen pairs of eyes that followed your every move.

Once you shuffled into the office and both of you were seated you started to mentally brace yourself for what was about to happen.

It would be the first time in your life you'd ever gotten fired and you were about to take it like a champ....maybe.......

It really depended on how stern her voice was going to be.

" So Y/N. " She started, " By the way that you're tensely sitting in the chair across from me I can tell that you probably weren't expecting me to call you into my office this morning. " She spoke.

At her statement you started to move around trying to look less uptight.

It only made it worse.

" Well let me start by saying there's no need to be nervous. In fact, I hope you'll find yourself elated by what I'm about to tell you next. "

" Okay." You replied watching her reach down into her desk drawer and pull out what looked to be the rough draft copy of a script alter you'd submitted to be in the final copy of a part of a script for a upcoming project for sony productions.

You didn't know who was producing or directing cause that hadn't been announced yet but you were given some characters and historical background. From there you researched on your own and wrote what you could. What you felt was right.

" This was turned into me by Calum." She stated referring to the office's Junior Editor, " Now. I have to tell you that rarely does Calum ever personally hand me over a single person's work to read. But he did yours. And I can say that I am more than thoroughly impressed. "

oh-oh damn.

You could feel the pit of your stomach start to feel like hills rolling.

Struggling to contain the look of shock on your face, you thanked her

" This prompted me to take a closer look at your portfolio and I must say I never knew that you were behind some of the work I was seeing. The works I liked. " She emphasized.

" And as you know Calum is retiring to spend more time with his husband and children. And when the topic of his replacement came up. So did your name." She dropped.

Now this facial expression of shock on your face, you couldn't hide. You'd never thought your work was that good. I mean you'd written a few things your were largely proud of. But this was completely unexpected. And as far as Callum went, you didn't know he knew your name.

" The way we feel you approach things and this certain insight that you have to you. Is especially refreshing. You don't write what's expected of you by the book. You write with your imagination and feeling. And I need someone like that to oversee the office. But more importantly I need that aspect for our publishing." She explained.

Still you sat amazed waiting for your alarm clock to ring or Adam Sandler dressed in spandex riding a dragon to pop through the wall. Because this had to be a dream.

" So Y/N. I am formally extending you the position of Junior Editor. It’’ll be more hours and more responsibility of course to take in. You can take the time you need to consider. I will need a answer by the end of the month when Callum fully resigns. Though, I truly hope that you'll choose to fulfil. Because I see a great deal of potential in you young lady. " Cecilia stated.

  ---

“ Y/N that’s amazing! Congratulations!” Avery happily clapped.

“ Thank you but it’s not a huge deal.” You passed it off once again, “ And I haven’t accepted yet. I still have a week to decide.” 

A scoff came from across you, “ Don’t let her be modest with you, Avery. Y/N just got offered the junior editor position at the house if she accepts she’ll be the youngest junior editor ever while being one of the most powerful script editors in California.” Alana gloated on your behalf stunned, “ With that being said. Hun, what’s the hold up. Why haven’t you accepted?” She pressed. 

“ Well Lana there are a-lot of things to consider now. There are things and people this could affect.” You said hoping she’d catch your drift.

Eyes bucking Alana said, “ Woah wait a minute. Y-you’re not actually considering saying no are you? After all the work you’ve done.” 

Shaking your head in discomfort you said, “ I don’t really know just exploring my options as you love to say.” You replied.

“ Bu-” Alana started.

Feeling the table tense Avery quickly interjected with a question to steer the conversation elsewhere, “ But speaking of options. Lana aren’t you suppose to be doing the PR for the Met and Diamond Ball this year. How are you going to do both without outshining the other? “ She asked knowing it would send Alana down a deep black whole of explanation.

And it did giving you a break to just sit and think while looking around.

Were you really about to give up your dreams for a man and a child? 

But not just any man and child, your husband and baby?

Did you wanna have this baby?

Is that the right decision? Had you become that type of woman? 

When you looked over a bit away from you, you seen a small family of three people. A woman and a man who in his lap was holding a baby who could've been more than five or six months old. Her mom was playing around with her trying to feed the babe what looked like mashed fruit.

 But every-time she'd bring the spoon to the child's mouth she turned her head making them both laugh. It was almost as if she thought it was a game. Trying again she put the spoon up to her daughter's mouth only this time the man had tickled the little girl under her chin making her laugh and open her mouth. Sliding the spoon in quickly, you watched as the child ate her food and in return her parents clapped along with the smiling baby before leaning over to kiss one another.

Seeing this scene unfold before made you experience a warm and gooey feeling and you couldn’t help the grin that graced your face.

From the way the man and his wife looked at each other, to the laughter the three of them shared at the small little things happening. It made you feel good inside, like this was something you wanted. You couldn't help the way your imagination ran to instead of the man and woman sitting there with their baby, what if it was you and Austin with yours.

Your baby.

The little chickpea sitting comfortably inside your womb.

Something that was made simply from the way you and Austin looked at each other...okay maybe more than just looked. 

But still the thought of that made your heart swell because you wanted that.

You wanted that. You realized.

And nothing else would matter if you had that.

Feeling light headed all of a sudden at your epiphany, you decided to go to the bathroom and get some air so you could muster up the courage to send a text to your husband telling him that when he got home, you were ready to talk.

Getting up you braced yourself on the back of your chair, " H-hey I think I'm gonna go to the bathroom and get a little bit of air. " You informed looking around at your surroundings that as of recent seemed a little less clear.

From where they were sitting both Alana and Avery took note of your shaky stance and flushed appearance. They were immediately concerned.

" Y/N, boo? You okay? You look a little flush." Avery called out.

" Yeah hun maybe you should sit back down." Alana chimed in.

But still you waved them off moving to take some steps, " I'm fine just need so-mme a-"

You never got to finish your sentence because in that moment the entire world went dark and silent.

All from around gasps of horror and concern could be heard as not only Avery and Alana rushed to you, but others around also.

“ SOMEONE CALL 911.SHE’S NOT RESPONDING. LANA SHE’S BARELY BREATHING.” Avery yelled holding you in her arms. “ Y/N..baby..come on...come on honey.” 

In shock Alana made the call practically screeching into the phone to the operator.

From there everything seemed to move in slow motion. 

They continued to trying to wake you until the paramedics showed up and whisked you up and away onto a gurney.

" Ma'am is there someone we should call as her emergency contact."  The EMT asked Alana while the others prepped you to be placed in the ambulance.

" Ummm...." The thought of telling them Austin's name and number had popped into Alana 's brain first, but when a pang of resentment washed over her, she pushed it aside and went a different direction, " Grace Kildeen. It's her older sister. The number is (469) 388-5670. " She informed.

" Okay we'll have someone give her a call. In the meantime would you like to ride in the ambulance with her, ma'am? "

" Of course. Let me just let our friend know. She's over there talking to the store owner right now." She motioned to where Avery was conversing.

" No problem."

Alana then went to go and talk to a shaken Avery who informed she'd be right behind you and had already made arrangements for the cars and everything else.

And before she knew it Alana was in the back of the ambulance holding your hand.

[rescue-ram]

mash, but if you get that multiple times then i'll also say naruto for the ask meme

MASH

my favorite female character

I mean Margaret is peak, but I really enjoyed the little recurring bits of Ginger and Margie in the earlier seasons.

my favorite male character

Trapurr :3c

my favorite book/season/etc

I mean my toxic trait is that the MASH movie is one of my comfort films, and when I'm craving MASH but feel overwhelmed by the number of episodes I just put on the movie. Of the show, my absolute all time favorite season is the 2nd, SO many good episodes in that season.

my favorite episode (if its a tv show)

OR is my all around favorite, Deal Me Out is my personal favorite, and Five O'Clock Charlie is my favorite silly episode.

my favorite cast member

Alan Alda ❤️

my favorite ship

TrapHawk :3

a character I’d die defending

Trapper again lol, I do not want to HEEEEEEEAR about the mfing note or lack thereof kdkdjj. Of all his many sins his friendship with Hawkeye is not to be numbered among them!

a character I just can’t sympathize with

I feel like the easy answers are Charles and Potter, but honestly because they're 'difficult' characters it's a little more interesting as an intellectual exercise to try and figure out their perspective on things. I honestly find BJ harder to sympathize with in a lot of ways because he's meant to be relatable but kind of embodies values of the past that go unchallenged or unexplained in a way that's kind of off putting.

a character I grew to love

Klinger or Charles. As a kid I remember not really liking Klinger for a while and finding him embarrassing or annoying, but I really liked his moment with Mulcahy in Dear Dad (I saw this after the later seasons when the show looped back around to the start in rerun jxjjxkc). I didn't like Charles until my most recent rewatch as an adult. Sidebar but I also misremembered Frank as being way more actively malicious, he's much funnier than I thought as a kid.

my anti otp

BJHawk

Naruto

my favorite female character

We are not exactly spoiled for riches here (🔪🔪🔪 at Kishimoto) My favorite as a kid was Hinata, but I do really enjoy a lot of Sakura's moments.

my favorite male character

Kakashi big time. I thought Lee had the most epic moments as a kid and really enjoyed him, but in a different way- was always way more interested in Lee canon and Kakashi fanon iykwim

my favorite book/season/etc

IDK if this is still cliche but the Zabuza Arc is one of my all time favorite shonen arcs ever. That was the arc that made me completely feral about this manga for like five years straight kdkdkjd. There are many peak moments afterwards that I like more, but as a coherent story arc from beginning to end the Land of Waves/Zabuza Arc is so tight and so good.

my favorite episode (if its a tv show)

🤔 The one that comes to mind is the Gaara Rock Lee fight which was a peak moment for me and also contains one of the earliest moments that made me ship KakaGai lol

my favorite ship

KakaGai for LIFE baby

a character I’d die defending

Honestly none of them they all must pay for their crimes ❤️

a character I just can’t sympathize with

I did not understand most of what happened with Sasuke and Itachi's stories as a kid and tbh I don't really understand most of the twists now. Also Orochimaru getting a redemption arc of any kind made me apo-fucking-plectic and still does fkkcjcjc

a character I grew to love

🤔 Tsunade... I found her annoying/irresponsible/over sexualized when I was younger, but I find her more interesting now.

my anti otp

KakaIru, one of my very first NOTPs ❤️

[marley-manson]

War of Nerves is a good episode, probably one of the best of season 6, which is kind of damning with faint praise lol, but still.

I love the kid Sidney worked on, love how he stays angry and yells at Sidney every chance he gets. Fully 100% support him, fuck Sid up kid, this is something we as an audience need to see imo. I do quite like that despite the show being on board with the 'throw them back in the deep end' attitude to trauma they do acknowledge here that it fucking sucks for the patient.

Sidney also gets the plotline I want Mulcahy to have, ie sends someone back to the front, they get injured and hate him forever. I mean I'd like the someone to die, honestly, but I guess this is the next best thing. At least someone gets this plot.

Kid is played by the same actor as the kid in Mad Dogs and Servicemen, with the very same affliction, but it's not actually the same patient lol. Despite that they still subtly reference Mad Dogs when Hawkeye instantly understands that the kid had hysterical paralysis after Sidney only says he saw 3 of his friends die. They shoulda just made it a real sequel ep and had him blame Hawkeye too, honestly. Cut the Charles/Margaret shit to make room for that. Oh well. Probably would've made the ep a little too crowded, and required too much explanation for an episodic show. Still, I would've liked it lol.

Not a huge fan of the Mulcahy and Sidney scene ('at least Pierce and Hunnicutt's failures only die, when i lose one i've lost a mind :(' 'when i lose one i've lost a soul :(' shut the fuck up lol) but I LOOOOVE Sidney throwing his fatigues onto the bonfire, in implicit acknowledgement that it's the military forcing these horrible no-win situations he puts kids through. I mean I can split hairs about volunteering lol but I won't here. I love the bonfire, no notes.

What else... Klinger's therapy scene was nice. I love Klinger loving fashion and Sidney functionally associating it with life in defiance of death. Plays into my life/death thematic read perfectly. Thank you Alan Alda for being so consistent on that. Radar's scene was also nice, if obvious. Charles and Margaret's were annoying as hell but at least the actors deliver their lines like champs lol, they're always so funny.

[hawkeyeslaughter]

A / T / U

thank you for the ask beloved mutual majorbaby !!! 🫶🫶🫶

— A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

— ugh , y’all know me i’m such a sucker for hawktrap but honestly i’m also down for the hawkeye/trapper/oliver agenda because i LOVE oliver and i miss him every single day of my life . and i always love a good klinger / henry moment ,, as far as friendships go as MUCH as i give bj a hard time i always love a sweet moment between him and margaret and i can’t wait to see that during my rewatch teehee !!

ships from other fandoms !! —

— mcspirk , broppy ( YES i watch trolls and it’s a better franchise than most of them out there do NOT come for me ) , hilson ( although i do think it’s 🤏 overhyped ) , chase/foreman ( bc why do they lowkey have more chemistry than chase/cameron )

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

— you know i do , but i’ll try to give y’all the just a few

— YES henry has dirty mags he keeps in his office for protection but he’s far more worried about keeping his fishing books and gear protected

— radar was one of those double jointed kids in elementary school who was always doing weird stuff with his joints to gross people out

— trapper worked a stint as a mechanic and is a car guy

— bj swears he loses a year off his life everytime someone asks him “ so how’s the weather up there ? “

— closest charles came to swinging at hawkeye was when hawk asked if he wanted his head polished

— hawkeye ate crayons as a kid

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

anyone who has seen any of my posts can infer henry is my favorite so we’re going with three DIFFERENT fandoms buckle up guys

— bones mccoy , star trek

i think bones was my first ever comfort character and it’s because he’s so real . like , he’s just not afraid to call people stupid and i respect him for that . i also like that he’s inherently someone who loves very deeply and wants to help people in every single way he can but it’s also very subtle … like he cares SO MUCH but it’s not in an over - the - top dramatic “ i would die for you “ way ( which he would , undoubtedly ) but more of a “ i love you and cherish you but you’re fucking stupid “ and that’s always been like ,, funny and sweet to me and shows that caring for someone isn’t always being nice to them sometimes you have to be a little cunty .

— elaine benes , seinfeld

— listen it was between her and lorelai gilmore and as much as i love and defend lorelai i love elaine more . y’all the amount of people who have said i’m literally elaine … and it’s a COMPLIMENT because i LOVE HER and you KNOW WHAT ??? i should’ve put her and george on the friends ship list because her and geroge are BESTIES . anyway i love elaine she’s so fucking funny ,, like be mean to jerry yes girl !!!! also she’s so cute i love that she’s so excited and over the top over everything all of the time i love her she’s my baby . is seinfeld even a fandom ? idk but you’re hearing ab it since we’re keeping the older show theme

— james wilson , house md

first of all the FUNNIEST MOTHERFUCKER TO EVER EXIST . second of all he’s MEEEE he’s literally me because i TOO just need people to stay and i also am on the nd meter and no one ever knows what the fuck i’m talking about so !!!!!! he also has the most beautiful big brown puppy eyes i’ve ever seen like okay gorgeous

— SHOUT OUT TO FRANK COLUMBO I LOVE YOU !!!! YOURE ON A GOD TIER YOURE MY FAVORITE EVER THAT JUST GOES WITHOUT SAYINF

[wellntruly]

M*A*S*H - Season 6 misc. notes

Oh my god, this round-up is so unwieldy. Long. Just, had a lot comments. And if you were waiting for my whole manifesto on the ‘Comrades In Arms’ question, have I got that herein!!!!!

— — —

You guys gotta stop re-orchestrating the song, I’m too sensitive to this! This is how far we’ve gotten, listen: these worn-in, mellow guitars & horns of S1, this jangly extended situation

Camera’s getting in closer this season I notice. Do you know what else I noticed: HY AVERBACK. Haven’t seen that name since the change-up, since he was directing seemingly every other episode, since [quiet swallow] Trapper and Henry. Since this show was significantly nuttier and also I miss it like crazy. Hy…hi.

Klinger: “What am I, the only medic in the shop!” BJ: “You’re loved, you fool.” Klinger: “Command me, oh tall one with the Presbyterian features.” It’s like I was just saying—!

Hawkeye: “Where you from, Charlie?” Major Winchester: “Charles.” Me: “So, like the river, then?” Potter, a moment later: “Impressive, Doctor. Harvard Med, Massachusetts General…” Me: “Oh my god, like the river.”

BJ has never gone as Berkeley than when now being confronted with Beacon Hill, and fuck that is Correct. The natural challenger. Maine and the Midwest can contribute but California must put up our champion. Back Bay vs. The Bay: Fight !

Really good papers toss Mike Farrell, that’s not easy

“Creative Consultant”! Alda :)

Margaret & The Boys ‘Silly Mood’ but now it’s Babe! Babe Tell Us What’s Wrong! [Keke Palmer in Nope voice] You Look Pretty :)

Klinger’s sling-armed lawyer…this season is already pleasing me so much

Absolutely obsessed with the moribund injured Dr. Berman, whose entire affect is the part where Cameron wakes up and fixes him with a weird stare and drones “Ferris Bueller you’re my hero.”

Charles: “Colonel I, I think I should tell you that my father knows Harry Truman.” Sure, and my own rich Massachusetts friend’s dad knows Mitt Romney, this is just how this goes (Haha I’m DYING.)

Ahh, nice way to even it out. He’s a very skilled surgeon, and smug about it, but they have a skill-set that he doesn’t: move fast, not pretty, save all the lives you can, don’t fall until you reach your cot.

Ahh and yeah he’s so much smarter than Frank! God this is gonna be great. Not that he can’t be tricked, but he can also trick you. Hey let’s make this interesting, the sixth season says. Let's.

“What’s up, you look down?” is such a smooth joke that the laugh track editors didn’t even notice it

Radar: “Um, well I’m very concerned about something that concerns my life here.” Hawkeye: “What’s the trouble, Andy?” Radar: “Well, I don’t think that this place is turning out to be that great an experience for me. I mean I work under terrible pressures and there’s lots of death and destruction and stuff, but other than that I don’t think I’m getting much out of it.” Heeheehee, heeheehee, okay you know what: this is exactly the energy this show has been missing. I needed this deadpan absurdist commentary.

Radar: “I’m the only one that’s gonna leave this place younger than I was when I came.” ASLDKJFL THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING. HE’S GETTING YOUNGER. Oh lord they're saying it!

They play this reveal well I gasped!

Hawkeye, drunk & maudlin at Rosie’s: “You know that my hands were shaking? I had butterflies. I’ve held people’s hearts in my hand and with him I was nervous. Am I boring you?” BJ, tired: “I’ve heard this four times already, I know how it ends.” Hawkeye: “How does it end, I wasn’t here for the early show.” BJ: “You start crying and sing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’—can we go home?” [hard cut to BJ half-carrying Hawkeye to bed while he warbles: “If funny little bluebirds fly—!”] GOD THIS SEASON IS SO GOOD

Sparkly sparkly sparkly blue-gray eyes, all barely held tears

I think a lot about… There’s a casual detailed realism to Alda and Farrell’s acting with patients. I think what it is is this thing where they’re delivering the light dialogue to reassure, but it’s laid over something still attentive and thoughtful. Underneath the blithe jokes you can see them actually assessing how they’re doing, taking in and gathering information. Here it’s this quick beat amidst quips of Hawkeye bending his own elbow and asking “Can you do that?” and watching as Radar mirrors him.

Wooo I had to pause for a second to feel some feelings!!!!! God Alda I can’t stand that you wrote this, you wrote all this…tearing into your character’s faults and vulnerabilities…god I love you

Father Mulcahy is incensed!! He’s outraged!! </3/3 I’m losing my mind

Hahhhh Margaret like no no no, I pre-DATE you with him, Colonel, I get to yell at him first

I looooooove this episode. I love how unfair it is. It’s so unfair for Radar to be wounded and let down, and to be yelled at for this by this person he relies on, to be yelled at for feeling betrayed by Hawkeye because he loves him. And it’s so unfair for Hawkeye that it’s because he loves Radar that this even happened, that he's only fallen because he was and is so messed up over Radar getting injured. And that it doesn’t matter to the sequence of people now coming to shout at Hawkeye for shouting at Radar for holding him to this higher standard he’s stuck being held to because usually he is strong, but currently feels completely incapable of maintaining because Radar’s hurt and shouting at him. It’s all just so unfair and it’s all because everyone LOVES each other and I love that.

Can’t believe the course my life has taken has resulted in Klinger naming his imaginary camel the one Arabic word I know: Darling

Oh man, wasn’t there an episode where Henry actually pulled rank and was like oh no, you can’t arrest anyone here without going through me? Any time this happens, well I like that.

God, guess whose rampant bisexual behavior is back being tossed around in public. I’m blissful.

Also: “Knock off the didos, Pierce, we’ve got work to do.”

Wowzers

“How would you like to be up to your knees in floor.” Margaret 😂

Hawkeye is So Bothered that this guy got BJ arrested. He’s not letting this one go. He’s already called him a creep—one of the more damning designations from him! This is actually rather rare in their arrangement as has been, that Hawkeye is the one getting worked up protecting BJ—usually it’s swapped. He’s almost a little scarily unforgiving. I’m very interested by this.

Noooo your therapist has a head wound! Terrific dramatic irony, Alda. Please don’t comment on it, make me proud… Aw you make me so proud. And my goodness you love this character.

BJ: “You touch his nose, Charles, you’re gonna have to marry him.” GOD we’re back :)) Thanks for seeing me, M*A*S*H

Aw Sidney my dear

Demerit for ending with ��Keep the Home Fires Burning’ though. [pleasant BJ voice] Fuck off, Ivor Novello.

Hawkeye: “Charles, come on, as a friend?” Charles: “Not eeeven as an enemy.” God, tasty. Tasty dialogue.

Why is everything Charles Winchester says so fucking funny. I go to write it down and it’s half just in his delivery—David Ogden Stiers is good stuff.

Hawkeye: “Thank you, thank you, I’d give you a hug but in my condition I might not be able to stop.” Ohoho, nyhaha, ah. The dressy khakis in an apron and splashed all over with plaster of Paris is also unfortunately some kind of look. It’s just novel, but we shouldn't undercount that effect.

Charles: “One of my tent mates is a relatively inoffensive chap named BJ Hunnicutt. Excellent surgeon, in spite of the fact that he was, born, raised, and studied in….California.” What did I say! What did I say!!

The fact that one of BJ’s strength is that everyone thinks he’s a sweetie, and he is, but also he’s sneaking around playing tricks, is delish.

Know that they’re beaming with love & glee while pretending to polish their shoes (BJ’s is a rubber chicken) for this entire exchange: Hawkeye: “You’re a vicious fiend.” BJ: “Worse than you?” Hawkeye: “By far.” BJ: “Nicest thing you ever said to me, thank you.” Hawkeye: “Oh my pleasure.” BJ: “My pleasure.” Hawkeye: “Any time.”

The bit where they just collapse in pure exhaustion and never makes it to their planned romp in Seoul is an oldie but a goodie

The instant I’m looking at scrubs over sweaters, I know I’m going to be enjoying an episode

God they’re all so cute when they’re cold

Charles’ clipped accent keeps making me think he’s saying “Hanukkah” when he’s actually addressing “Hunnicutt”

God they’re all so cute when they’re trying to solve a mystery novel together

Make-out fade to black. Classy.

Mike Farrell’s golden arms.. Reblog if u agree.

What kills me is that the final button of Hawkeye & Margaret is easily 10x as good as the rest of the episode, which I know is a relationship that will be forgotten by the show immediately so could never buy it for a second, but this I’ll buy every day, I’ll take out a subscription, long term. You two!

Potter: “We’ve staggered down this road before. You’ve got a razzle dazzle going.” Klinger: “Wrong sir, respectfully.” Potter: “I’m gonna love this one, it’s got a lot of reverse top-spin.” I love him. I love them.

Why do I so like a tie tucked into a shirt

Wait, so I didn’t spend enough time having a reaction to this when they’ve gotten their pay in the past, but they’re being paid in like, notgeld? What kind of company town is this! How are they paying Rosie??!

I swear Alda is getting greyer and skinnier every time I see him this season. Don’t become an actual ghost, babe.

BJ’s hair is getting longer & fluffier, too

Klinger’s first name is Max?? Well I love it

This sweet baby nurse reminds me of Marcia Strassman—I miss her! Hawkeye’s best girlfriend, in five seasons haven’t met her equal.

Why are you playing cat’s cradle with your own face, he’s right there

Huh, we’re really against tattoos now? Weird hill to die on, but okay

Potter: “Pierce, Hunnicutt, you mind going up against each other as team captains?” Hunnicutt: “What do you say, powder puff?” Pierce, big gay leg cross: “Well it will prove who’s the fairest in the land.” These moments happen and I literally say aloud, “Thank God”

Loretta!….LEGS <3

BJ Hunnicutt, I would like an entire oral history of your choice to wear your pink armband tied around your upper thigh

Watching this historic Olympics footage really makes me feel like we’ve gone too far with athletes

Just, a lot of symbolic-looking yarn winding with Hawkeye and BJ, huh. What threads tie you together, et cetera.

Charles: “Haven’t you ever seen truffles before?” BJ: “Nobody knows the truffles I’ve seen.” [Alda: might actually laugh for real, as this is so goofy and not his usual HAH] Charles: “Here you are, gentlemen.” BJ: “Oh, goody!” Hawkeye: “Mm-mm, chopped liver!” Charles: “It’s pâte de foie gras” BJ, gesturing to his mouth: “I happen to know Paddy De Foie Gras and this definitely isn’t him.” Okay who wrote this one, they get it

I like Potter pointing out Hawkeye’s hypocrisy of “railing against violence and insensitivity, then to prove your point you attack a man.” Many people could stand to hear this I think! Not to be bold!

[reminiscing about some dance hall in Toledo] “I gotta go kid. I’m breaking my heart.” Klingerrrrr <3 <3 <3 Me about the theme song.

I love irritated Potter, he’s so punchy. “Explain to me, why am I here?”

It’s been a while since we’ve had an episode where some random brass is like “I hate Hawkeye!,” and then they watch him do surgery for 48 hours straight, and are like “Never mind, he’s allowed. Also, related, I would like to never be here again.”

The Alda Two-Reveal Slow Camera Pull-Back but it’s adding BJ showering next to him singing his own opera part, then Charles in a robe crossing in front of them combing his hair. Oh and my review of this is: choicechoicechoicechoice

BJ: “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Hawk: “What don’t you do?” BJ: “I’ll think of something.”

Margaret: “HOW CAN A GROWN MAN BE SO MECHANICALLY INCOMPETENT.” Hawkeye: “I take a lot of cabs.”

Oooo I like BJ pacing in his doctor’s coat, fretting, gnawing a nail

[getting out the shrapnel] “There. You wanna look at it?” “Don’t be morbid! Just clean it up and put a dressing on it.” Love that these speakers are not who you might guess they are :)

Margaret to Hawkeye: “Do you know what it feels like to give your heart to somebody? To live just for a glimpse of his handwriting in the mail?” Hm pardon me while I just scoop this up nicely and hold it for a moment, emotionally panicking!

“Oh, I think I should warn you. If you come over here for any reason during the night, announce yourself. I intend to swing this to kill.” I fucking love her sometimes. Alan, this line, Loretta, this delivery. He’s so good at writing for her, and she just takes it and Runs.

Welp, look at that—suddenly need to qualify that last part!! Hey Part 2 what is this???

Y'know the thing is though, I sooooooo support Margaret & Hawkeye boning. Oh do I. But this, is not it! This is supposed happen in an episode where they’re mostly squabbling with each other, this is right. It keeps it part of the way they squabble. If it came out of them being all tenderness, the risk there is that then it feels like it needs to become a real thing, and it won’t work as a real thing. Or not real, this is so real, I mean as like a usual romantic relationship. Their relationship is not romantic, but frankly has always been erotic. It’s sort of the opposite of how Hawkeye has mostly been with BJ, really. (That the biggest mix of both was with Trapper is why I still can’t really talk about that !)

Anyway Hawkeye & Margaret are the horniest characters on this show, and that’s why this should so happen. For both of them, sex is a major part of the way they experience & process the world and other people in it. And with them always sparking as much as they have, absolutely should it come to this someday. And it’s so good to wait until this far in, because at this point they’ve also grown to genuinely respect each other. This can actually be a kind of gesture of mutual respect between them, a meeting as equals (on the sexy field). I mean the set-up here is actually quite good: bickering and stressing under intense fear and danger, but I want it to be a tiny bit more of a decision, again a kind of meeting at the table, not this accidental brush of lips. Maybe we keep the shelling and the shouting but do it simpler, Margaret screams and Hawkeye yells out in the dark "Margaret!" "[sobbing] What?!" "I'm coming over there!" "You'd better!" And then they're just cowering tightly in each other's arms under the blanket, and it becomes clear he has his hand clenched in the back of her hair, and she has hers gripping the open collar of his shirt, and then we just take it from there. Still keeping it simple, maybe: "Hey?," a request, and "Yeah," an acknowledgement of same. Yeah. Take comfort. Take distraction. Both be a little prideful in how good you can do ‘em—a little bit of a competition, where everyone wins. This is what I want.

And then here’s what’s not all supposed to happen next: what happens in Part 2! Margaret has always been a character who knows her own mind, knows what she wants, almost to a fault at times, and there’s no way she wants to pursue this as a romance. Even just later this same season, she’s going to think she’s pregnant, and in 1952, be like, I do not want this baby. This does not align with what I want out of this marriage or my career. There is zero way she wants to commit herself to dating Hawkeye, and Hawkeye of course does not want to be dating Margaret, and that should be the miscommunication driver of the next episode: they’re both worried the other is going to think this is a romance now when that is not what this was or is, and in their equivalently nice & awkward handling of each other the next day, are of course absolutely going to think the other is nervously smitten, and be smiling weakly at each other while privately they’re both Wirt dragging his fingers down his face whisper-rasping “Noooooo.” And then finally they manage to get it out, possibly they both start making the same confession at once like they’re Radar and one of his colonels, and then are just collapsing in relief like OH THANK GOD. Listen that was good, but that was just an elevated facet of our existing relationship, it's own weird thing that can stay its own weird thing, and (nice little ‘Aid Station’ call-back, and it’s Margaret this time doing the deliberate reprise): “If you tell this to anyone, I’ll deny it. <3” And Hawkeye’s like, “That’s why I love you :),” and it’s sweet and understood and joshing and cute.

But, all this is not what we get. An error! Well, we do eventually end in a place somewhat akin, an understanding of friendship, and they’ve each had a bit where they like, have ~learned something about themselves~, and each other, but even that part feels a little falsey, and in between, a lot of positively agéd woman-pursues-resistant-man nonsense. But we can FIX IT just call me up with time travel abilities and we’ll get this banged out right, no pun intended.

Okay where were we. Oh, something unexpected!! Well first, this:

Potter: “I hope you’re shaking a leg, Winchester.” Charles: “Colonel, my graceful fingers are dancing o’er the innards of this hapless doughboy, and when I am done, I shall be done.” Potter: “I’m sorry I asked.” Charles: “That’s what I had in mind.” Tasty.

And then: BJ saying he can’t sleep because he keeps expecting Hawkeye to walk through the door. BJ saying he wishes his heart was in the right place, as right now it’s in his mouth. BJ risking life & court martial to get a chopper and find them. BJ singing a welcome back song about how he adores ya, please don't put him through this again. How is BJ ending up being the biggest romantic choice of the Margaret/Hawkeye two-parter, that’s the sort of thing you make up on Tumblr, not the sort of thing that actually happens?? Alan??!

Hawkeye: “How’d you like to save my life again?” BJ: “Sure, you want me to fight her for you? [little committed sigh]” Mike???!

Finally looked up the inflation on 1952 money: you can baaasically just multiple it by 10 for a rough estimate. This will be useful.

Ooo! Been a few years since you’ve identified as female in dialogue, Mother Hawkeye!

“See you for dinner, Beej?” “Our little spot.”

HYANNIS PORT. I CHOKED ON MY WINE. Oh fuck, haha fuck—this is a Kennedys joke isn’t it. GAWD.

Hawkeye just amiably hosing down Nurse Kellye and her pal's outstretched limbs in the heat. You love to see this. This is so domestic.

Maaaargaret, the halter top!! Whew now I’m feeling toasty!

You two are sweating through your shirts but you gotta be close, huh

The way she slides his hand on the line like a piece of laundry, lol. This is the Margaret & Hawkeye I love, thank you. (What went wrong! The rest of this season is so right!)

And we get to see Mulcahy in short sleeves? What doesn’t this episode have

I like the theme that Hawkeye’s boyfriends are always golden gods to his iron-haired slump

The new bit where everyone makes fun of Hawk for being basically a surgical idiot savant who knows shit about fixing anything else is really good.

[Knock knock] “Enter the mausoleum.” “Hello goils, hello.” “What do you two want.” “Love and respect, but we’ll settle for love.” I love everyone in this nurses tent

Hawkeye & Margaret are so cute this episode. Seriously, the two immediately after ‘Comrades In Arms, Part 2’ are both showing up ‘Comrades In Arms, Part 2’ hand over foot

A bit everyone seems to have immediately wanted to keep up, probably because it’s so odd and funny, is Charles for some reason clearly believes Margaret must be cultured, and he’s so thoughtlessly certain of this that absolutely no hilarious thing she replies with immediately proving the contrary seems to register with him.

Deploying his warm, tireless, rail-at-me-if-you-want steadiness to helping a morphine-addicted patient get through withdrawal is SUCH a BJ plot. Amazing we hadn’t done that yet.

“Oh no thanks, when I lose I like to know why.” Sometimes Radar is incredibly profound while he’s making me laugh so much.

I swear the new writers who have come in this season fell for it in those first few years. This show is running long enough that it can start referencing its own eras.

Margaret playing Charles the world’s smallest violin!!!! BABE?

I gotta say, I don’t think you all understand how blood types work. You can give the AB negative kid A, B, or even O, as long as it’s also negative. He could literally only take more blood types if he was AB positive. The one you really want when you’re doing these plots is O negative, because they can only take other O negative, and that’s always gonna be in short supply because it’s the universal blank slate, you can use it for any other type you’re running out of, or if they’ve lost their dog tags and you don’t know their type at all. That's the one you want for this!

Klinger is trying to drag Hawkeye off to bed as BJ sleepily encourages over his protestations: “Don’t ask, just take him.” BJ [chinhands] I have so many thoughts about you

“Come on, if you can’t tell your number one nemesis who can you tell?” Again, this is exactly what I love about you guys. This is, in fact, the best Margaret & Hawkeye season yet, despite my one complaint!

Hawkeye genuinely so excited and sweet, exclaiming that all they see is death and destruction and now here’s life thanks to her. And Margaret going no, no this is not good, I do not want this baby right now. This kinda extremely rules.

Waitaminute. We won’t…we wouldn’t???! Will we??!!

We will not, but I will learn how you did a pregnancy test in the 1950s! Wow!!

Klinger: “Excuse me for saying so—your mail is leaking, Colonel.” Potter: “Honey.” Klinger: “Your mail is leaking, honey.”

Wait I love the Pierce & Mulcahy live show. They’re dueting.

Hawkeye: “What do you say I take you home and put you to bed.” BJ: “Aw you service men are all alike.” It’s giving Trapper era... I’m in a tidal pool of emotions.

Hawkeye: “May your fingers never lose their cunning.” Father Mulcahy: “Ah, see you in church!” Lot going on in the officer’s club tonight

Oh! Hawkeye Pierce is the only child of a widower. In Maine. Yeah, that might make this.

I don’t know why BJ character reveals always feel worth their weight in gold, but: what has him so distressed is the idea that Peggy might not need him any more. He needs to be needed. No wonder you took one look at lorn bedraggled weird Hawkeye Pierce and said, hi, I’m BJ.

If this means this episode we’re going to get BJ alone with Charles going full maniacal to make up for Hawkeye’s absence, I’ll so support it.

“A little to the left, dear”—it begins.

Oh em gee Margaret’s old bestie??! :)) They were such scamps!

Oh em gee, the boys be plotting! The boys being BJ & Charles. Wow Hawk’s gonna come back and not only is Charles going to be like oh thank god, but also he and BJ are going to have An Understanding—this is gonna come up pluses all around.

THIS IS SUCH A GOOD MARGARET EPISODE, MEANWHILE

“They hated me. The doctors, nurses, everybody. Kept telling me I was dull.” You could say a whole lot of things about Captain Pierce, but they managed to find the one thing that would make that other MASH seem completely deranged. They said you were what?

Charles literally exclaiming how much he missed him and grabbing him into a bewildered hug, only for BJ to then happily tackle them both with his long arms—great!!!!

It’s now one year until Potter retires. This whole season has lasted: two months.

Counterpoint, Charles - he has been here: six months. I love this :)

“Look at that brazen hussy over there. And the woman he’s with,” BJ, glowering in sexual jealousy at Hawkeye across the party. “You’re all lunatics,” Margaret, in a cream turtleneck, correctly.

I just love Charles being like PLS, that is so not the tactic I would have taken, you want this angle. The thing is, Frank was always a dumbdumb—and for all his posturing about it, Charles actually is intelligent. He just uses it in ways that displease us. But, once in a blue moon, he can turn around and use it in ways we want, ways to help, and it’s a Thrill. God, when we finally reach the point where Charles unbidden uses his influence & largess to save or protect one of them, easy money’s on Hawkeye but more interesting money is on BJ, it’s all over for us, huh. Meaning our cool.

Gary Burghoff is going next level with this mailbag protection performance and I am hortling

This drop to beneath the table! Great little bit of direction

Hawkeye to Potter, in a way I can’t quite describe but will stick with me a long time: “You could give me a hundred good reasons to leave, and I can’t give you one good reason to stay. Stay anyway.”

Why do you have a whole bottle of amphetamines in stock?

God remember when House drugged Wilson. “I’m on speeeeed!”

“Who wrote that?” “Charles Emerson Winchester, while still in undergraduate.” “It sounded very…collegiate.” FATHER.

“Good night, BJ.” “Good night, Hawkeye.” Together: “Good night, Charles.” Charles, sing-songing: “You promised.”

Marine: “Hey Radar—you and your mouse, are okay.” I’m McLosing it.

That Charles is always reminding us he was almost the head of thoracic surgery is so funny. He wasn’t actually.

Five points to Harry Morgan for how my pulse picked up at the way he asked Hawkeye to close the door because he has something to disclose to them. What is it gonna be!!

Fuck. Yes. The Placebo Plot. Oh what a fun little finale for me, as a weirdo.

— — —

Season Viewguides

These

[majorbaby]

2, 4, 9, 10, 14, 20

2 . what’s a detail that you would consider insignificant but you like ?

i like very much that trapper and hawkeye compete for the privilege of giving oliver a backrub that one time. i think you giffed it.

4 . what’s your favorite line ?

Hawkeye's response to Wendell, the 16 year-old kid who enlisted as his older brother, after Hawkeye goes back on his word and turns him in:

Wendell: I'm never going to forgive you for this, not for the rest of my life Hawkeye: Let's hope it's a long and healthy hate

9 . episode you could genuinely write an entire essay on ?

many, but one I've been turning over in my head recently is how 'Adam's Ribs' portrays the misery our heroes' situation better than any other episode in the series.

10 . least favorite storyline involving your favorite ( or one of your favorites ) ?

for hawkeye: who knew

for klinger: your retention please

14 . you can get rid of one ( 1 ) episode . which one is it ?

either of the above can go, but for a unique answer, commander pierce.

20 . who would win in a fight , the character you deeply love or the character you cannot fucking stand ( this does not have to be a main character ) ( i will be realistic i promise . no bias 😒😒 )

answered!

[persianflaw]

for mash asks, 6 and 8 and also 11: fave klinger outfit + fave margaret hairstyle

tysm! i ended up almost falling asleep on the couch before succession which is why i took a while to answer these, lol

6. Top 3 favorite episodes?

this is tough. number 1 is probably O.R., the other two are less set in stone. i loved "the late captain pierce", which should come as no surprise to anyone who's known me for a while (i love MCD but even better is a character being presumed dead bc you get the drama and tragedy of MCD with the shock and elation and happy ending of finding out your loved one is really alive... oh man the ending where he's on the phone to his dad :') ). number 3... fuck idk. hmm. oh, maybe "carry on hawkeye", i love when hawkeye and margaret get bonding time. or "hawkeye get your gun", for the lines "you love life that little?" "i hate guns that much" which have permanently reshaped my brain.

8. Which character do you relate to the most?

hawkeye. yeah, yeah, yeah, i'm a cliche. sue me. if you hand me a character who is frequently Too Much to the point of having straight-up manic episodes, openly beefs with authority, passionately hates guns and the military and war, has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, is kind of a jackass, and has multiple full-on psychological crises and breakdowns, well, i'm gonna point to that character and

11. favorite klinger outfit + margaret hairstyle

god, it was really hard to pick a favorite klinger outfit! in a recent episode, late s5 i think, he had this terrific black hat with red cherries on it, and i think it had a matching dress, which i loved, but i couldn't find any pictures and i don't feel like trawling the episodes looking for one. it's a little boring, but i really love his old-fashioned nurse uniform with the cape! it's really pretty. the below pic doesn't have the cape and it doesn't even show that much of the outfit but he looks hot in this shot so that's why i picked it lol

honorable mentions go to the plaid skirt and red cardigan combo (specifically with the blue-and-red striped beret he wears to a poker game at least once), the pink dress with the fur coat he wears on patrol, and the yellow dress with the wide-brimmed sunhat.

favorite margaret hairstyle... the pigtails are really cute, but it's hard to beat the classic:

[remyfire]

Breaking my silence: I love him

[thealexandriaarchives]

Klinger is a fascinating character because he exists within the world where M*A*S*H is mostly a true story that was written into a semi-true humourous autobiography by a doctor about a guy he knew during life in the Korean war, then got turned into a blockbuster comedy film where he was a one note gimmick character, then transferred over to the spin-off show where the tone changed again to be mostly a one-note character again, but be popular enough to be upgraded to series main cast by season three where he continues to evolve beyond 'Arabic-american guy from high crime city who really wants out of the Fucking army and cross-dresses and other antics to get out' to become more 'I am coping with this insanity in my own way and everyone else accepts and loves me for that as they have their own methods, I am bringing civilization and beauty to the front in protest of the barbarity of war while I perform the traditionally women's work that is looked down upon below the nurses, not by accident'. Then when Radar was leaving the show and Klinger steps up to fill his role, there's both a large Arabic-American fanbase that has grown for the character and wants to see him lean into more of those elements, and a concern that they don't want to see him reduced to being seen as a joke as the Colonel's 'secretary' or otherwise by his move towards primarily office work, so they focused more on his heritage and background for the last seasons, with him cross-dressing more as a special occasion. I'd definitely say he never loses his swag, though it does shift as he has to grow with the show to stop being just even the two-note character, not the one note character we started with.

In early season 2 a psychiatrist offers Klinger a discharge if he signs paperwork saying he’s a gay transvestite, but despite his apparently sincere desire to get out of the army he unexpectedly refuses, apparently because he’s not gay and just wants a generic “mentally unfit” discharge on his record. This is wild to me because there’s lots of ways to pretend to be crazy that don’t include cross dressing, so you’d think that he’d 1. have done more of those from the beginning, or 2. leaned into them harder after that conversation. But apparently he keeps crossdressing for ages after that episode, which you could take to mean that he’s actually just into it, except apparently later in the show he just stops for no reason? The whole character is incoherent to me. I do want to like him as more than a joke…

[transgayhawkeyepierce]

My takes on M*A*S*H characters' sexualities:

Hawkeye: THEE bisexual king. Preference leaning towards men. Dated mostly women in Korea for safety/privacy reasons but was involved in the gay scene back home. I personally don't headcanon him as nb, but I think his effeminacy is really important to him and how he views his queerness and place in the world.

Trapper: Bisexual with a preference towards women. Was always down with the gays in a chill way, but discovered this side of himself in Korea when his image as a deviant lead to some genuine propositions. Figures he's going to have to leave behind gay sex when he gets back to the "real world" but does eventually start hooking up with guys again after working through some stuff about the war. Hawk and him fucked and YES there were feelings.

BJ: Gay. Even outside of BeejHawk reasons (and I do adore BeejHawk) and gay little outfit reasons, I like this for the themes of his character. I like the idea that BJ was doomed to never have the white picket fence American pie life, and that it never existed in the first place (BJ left before it really could), the way the ideal nuclear family doesn't really exist in real life. It adds another layer to his unhinged fixation on his perfect life back home, and how unnatural it feels. BJ goes to Maine? Okay, I'll raise you BJ gets involved in the leather scene.

Oh, and his name is literally BLOW JOB.

Frank: Gay. Unfortunately.

Margret: Butch Lesbian. I know the comments about her wanting a crew cut and wearing men's underwear were throw away gags but they really do be having me like 👁️👄👁️. I think after the war she is forced confront the implications of the fact the she is not completely comfortable with feminity, and she has to make a deliberate decision to dress in a way that makes her visually an outsider, now that she doesn't get to dress in her masculine uniform. She also explores the fact that she feels the most fulfilling emotional, romantic, and sexual connections with women. She finds a partner that she can be as strong, masculine AND feminine as she wants with. She struggles with the lack of respect society throws at her but she feels like her most authentic self. Her, Hawkeye, BJ, and Charles get together for brunch and joke about how she is more man than all of them put together.

Charles: Gay. For no real reason than 1. I just like the thought, 2. He is so dramatic and over the top, 3. I think it's funny if him and Hawkeye have a wierd little thing going on. He'd have angst about failing to pass down the "Winchester bloodline" but calms down when he finds a snotty little man to be insufferable with. I am also a fan of ace Charles.

Father Mulcahy: Gay. I think Father Mulcahy always found the whole marriage + kids white picket fence life extremely unappealing for reasons he couldn't quite put his finger on, so it felt like a relief to give it all up. He comes to terms with being gay and having a little crush on Hawkeye during his Badass Father Mulcahy phase.

Henry: Bisexual. Literally that one post that's like if you ask Henry if he thinks men are attractive, he responds "Well that James Stewart sure is a guy" and never thinks about it again.

Radar: Straight

Potter: Straight

Klinger: Straight and cis, but loves crossdressing, good for him.

[variousqueerthings]

So I rewatched the scene in period of adjustment and this time I noticed (because I wasn’t too busy gasping out loud) that BJ even says that Trapper built that still with Hawkeye!!

I fully was reading that whole context as subtext, but he fucking says it!!! (and then the camera cuts to a close-up of Hawkeye like this:

(what cannot be seen in a screenshot is how heavily he swallows, but the intensity of the expression? the bruise) 

It’s not until after that BJ says that he’s home too and Hawkeye tells him that he’ll go home, they all will (convincing nobody, including yourself of “going home” without leaving something behind...) 

but this isn’t about Hawkeye in this scene, it’s really just that I missed that whole moment, because I was already agog at the whole thing -- we’re talking about BJ:

(you ever think about how he missed this whole period in his own kid’s life?)

BJ who wants to go home, because that’s his lifeline, which reminds me once again of Trapper (and the way I think BJ will always hate Trapper for being there first -- no other character sits in someone’s shadow like he does, not Potter, not Klinger, not Charles). Both of them try to think of this part of their lives as a blip, after which they can return home to the real world and presumably forget it ever happened, although the way that they exist within the blip itself is different.

(and ok maybe this will be a bit about Hawkeye anyway)

With Hawkeye the feeling is he’ll never “escape,” if that was even something he was capable of trying to do in the first place (every moment is intensely real, welcome to Hawkeye and undiagnosed Brain Chemistry), but also these people all matter so much to him, which is part of the sadness of them having Something Else to return to, knowing that he’s a small part of a larger picture they’d all rather forget (except for Margaret...........??? I assume???)

anyway

BJ’s probably not going to forget, nor is he going to fit back into his old life like he used to (at least, that’s his fear), nor is the war going to leave him, nor is this a blip or an unreality, but he’ll fight it anyway (somethingsomething, my guy you’re so fucked up in ways that Sidney ought to prod at, but you’re waaay better at hiding it behind amiability up until the point you punch your best friend in the face)

Also this callback to BJ cheating on Peggy before (I was warned we hadn’t necessarily seen the last of that!) and Hawkeye being in his corner once more in ways that... aren’t the exact same words to last time, but have a similar sort of tinge to them -- that is, Hawkeye is basically making sure that BJ doesn’t fuck up with her (again). Anyway I wrote a whole post about that back in s4 (Season 4????? what!!)

And then this episode written and directed by Mike Farrell:

BJ: I’m a prisoner of war

BJ: I can’t go from “how do you do” to “I love you” because of the war!

BJ: I have a lifeline. I’m hooked to a little house in Mill Valley where my wife and daughter live. That line gives one tiny element of control in a situation where everything else is beyond my control

BJ: I’ve got to live for tomorrow, because for me there’s no now

I wonder how this attitude is going to serve him once the war actually ends. My guess is “not very well”

I suppose the conclusion to this is: this man is not okay. and he won’t be going home anymore than the rest of them. and the ways the war and the military hold him hostage means he can’t feel the things he may want to feel. and the lifeline he’s so desperately holding onto is fraying by the second (but may not noticeably break until he’s actually back?) and the dissolution of traditional/expected nuclear familial bonds. and Hawkeye built the still with Trapper. 

[johnnys-helmet]

MASH: S10E10 Follies of the Living, Concerns of the Dead

My Thoughts

Seeing everyone gather to help Klinger makes me really warm inside. My favorite thing about this show is the found family and this hits it right on the head.

Klinger hallucinating and talking to a pole while the dog looks on in confusion is so funny

So is him just falling onto the cot

This is one of those episodes where I feel really bad for Father Mulcahy. To feel like the only thing you're needed for is sending off the dead...it must hurt so bad.

I also feel really bad for Weston. I know the implication is that Klinger is hallucinating but I believe in spirits and to see a spirit afraid of leaving the waking world is so powerful to me as someone with a fear of death.

The arbitrary things the doctors argue about while Weston is struggling with being dead and fearing what comes next is so sad and so funny at the same time. The juxtaposition is like getting whiplash over and over again. This show really loves juxtapositions and I love that they do.

Kario Salem does such a fantastic job as Jimmy Weston in this episode. He does a fantastic job at making you feel for this poor kid who deserved to live but had his life torn away from him by a war that none of them wanted to be in.

Getting to posthumously go over your final belongings and remember your life through watching other people discuss them is such an interesting idea to me. Getting to connect with people you never knew and never will know.

As someone that has had a 104 fever I feel for Klinger so bad because I had no idea what the fuck was going on at any given time.

Waking up after being torn up like a piece of paper to find out your best friend is dead is so horrifying. I couldn't imagine this.

"Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?"

Father John Patrick Mulcahy I need you to stop hitting me so hard with religious text that makes me feel things.

Trying desperately to convince your friends not to grieve you is too real.

Klinger: I see dead people vs Potter: Shut the hell up is a very funny moment

I could never imagine being invisible like this. No one being able to hear or see you...it's gotta be so scary and frustrating.

Weston talking about what he'd miss...god.

And Margaret being a badass and him telling her to "go get em slugger" god i will CRY.

"I've written a lot of these letters, son." someone please give potter a hug.

I want so badly to know how I will be remembered. In a way I envy Weston for getting to see that.

Margaret trying to get mad and just stammering god she's so neurodivergent I love her

Winchester, Hawkeye, and BJ drinking together and talking about rats and the plague and playing with clamps are also very neurodivergent and I love their characters so much

Weston starting to drift to the other side and not understanding what's going on while the members of the Swamp toasting to the horrors of war is such a surreal scene.

To Charles!

Hearing the trivial and serious arguments and struggles of the camp only to see Weston passing to the other side is so...whew.

I love that they leave where they're going open-ended. You can believe what you want to believe and they allow that.

I love everyone excitedly greeting Klinger and Klinger just caring about what happened to this kid he never met...I adore Klinger

If people listened to each other more this show would have been over in two episodes.

And that's all for this episode! It's a very memorable one but it's also very hard to watch because it's so sad. (Not nearly on the level of the finale, but sad.) I adore it, and I wish we got to see more surreal stuff like that (like Dreams). They were very good at portraying stuff like this.