#father mulcahy looks like ME

[good-night-space-kid]

Actors in shows don’t even look real anymore :/

[t00thpasteface]

oh poor thang

[hballegro]

part 1 of drawing the cast as various images from my phone. edition one; fr mulcahy as lore and charles as jesse williams

[mash4077confessions]

[naturalbornlosers]

if i start posting abt MASH im gonna need someone to hit me with a comically large mallet

[variousqueerthings]

where to start, where to start

(starts with “dreams” because I’m still screaming about it and will until time immemorial) 

also was thinking about how one of the big things about this show that I haven’t seen before outside of... deep space nine perhaps... (and not done as well)

is that the way it does continuation is so fascinating, as I’m sure is one of the main things that people go crazy about -- which is the fact that it’s syndication which gives you these long lines of episodes that standalone, but then it keeps referencing back to characters and events

and these self-references for the most part are either subtextual or single lines, but then every once in awhile you’ll be seeing something in a character (ex. BJ and Peggy are irrevocably changed, Margaret is constantly fighting herself in who she is and what she wants and who she’s expected to be, Hawkeye is falling to pieces, etcetc) that’s been growing for awhile and could have just stayed in the background and that would have been fine

but then certain episodes are like “hey, you know those things you’ve been seeing? we’re going to make them Text so that you can stare at a wall for a million years and think about the slowburn of it all”

which you also don’t get from modern TV, because the seasons are so short and the arcs are either so focused on plot, or the character-stuff has to be resolved within a season, so this really really long-form exploration of character psyche is... you know??????????????????????????

and so “dreams”.... and also “war-correspondent” for BJ specifics as an episode that follows on right after dreams and yeahyeah syndication but it fits! 

dreams first (out of order, I cannot remember the orders of the dreamers):

dreams really just took whatever it is the “dear [x]” episodes do and intensified the character exploration beam by a million percent, so that you’re left feeling like you’ve just stared straight into the sun and the afterimage is hurting your retinas and can never be fully explained (does that make sense???)

1. Margaret in the wedding dress with the guy in the bed being taken away from soldiers, then for dying, bleeding soldiers to pile up in her bed, and then for her wedding dress to be covered in blood but!!!! ok how much on purpose was it that the blood could also be read as the aftermath of a miscarriage? it was the first thing that I thought of because of the placement of it (usually when the characters have blood on them it’s spraying across their chest and it’s not in one big patch like that) -- obviously we’ve had a few episodes of Margaret making decisions about who she is and what she wants, but to see it haunting her like this, and (if one does read miscarriage) the death of her dreams of family, of being able to balance all these sides of herself, of the ways the violence of war has also stripped her of the ability to “just be” a woman in the traditionally expected and demanded sense. 

How do you fit into a box like that after what you’ve seen, what you’ve done, what you’ve become??? 

2. Father Mulcahy is a character who always exists juuust a little more on the periphery for me. He’s not got quite as much POV episodes as the others, and  a lot of his inner life episodes are around this idea of what his “use” is (the wondering if he has any use). And so his was so brilliantly done to, yeah, play with that, but there’s more there to to pick apart. I remember the interview, when he talked about how cutting into a body releases warmth, and it felt like it was hearkening back to that as well. 

I need to think more about it, but I’m sure the Mulcahy aficionados have broken it down expertly (AND I wonder if it will be in some way given even more in hindsight, since there’s still 3 seasons left), and will check on what’s been said further about it there -- I don’t know if it’s the religious upbringing in me, but this one also felt like it was the most visceral (ahead of Margaret’s even) in its surrealism. The soldier hanging on Jesus’ cross dripping blood onto his bible???? hello????????? Mulcahy has some feelings about this war, that’s for sure.

3. Potter’s is one that I’ll also talk a bit about in my longer post on him, because he’s really grown on me -- not that I didn’t like him from early-on, but simply that I kept him at arms-length for a few reasons (also to be gone into in that post), but the ongoing arc of age, of nostalgia, of a life well-lived, but with a longing to have been closer to family, of family and friends dying becoming commonplace, of the ways he balances out mourning the death of others’ innocence with his wisdom... and just remembering that he was a little boy once, who loved riding horses (and he still loves to do that)

4. Klinger and Potter gave us the first shots of America? right? like, sure, dreams, but... Potter was in a field in his home, and Klinger was in Toledo. That was... that was something for sure.... somehow terrifying. Something about how you can never go home, even if you return to the same place (which is also a future I predict for Hawkeye -- oh also the lake he’s on... Crabapple Cove?) 

it’s a more straightforward dream than the others (maybe because he’s quite a straightforward guy?). Klinger misses home desperately and is afraid he’ll die in Korea and never see it again. But interesting to see the streets empty like that. 

5. Charles!!! Charles!!!! oh I need to write a post about Charles too, because speaking of “things that were hinted at and even shown, but never as in-your-face,” the pressure to be Charles Who Is A Wondrous Surgeon! the performance of it! the eyes on him! (also Klinger as his sort-of-assistant wearing the earrings??? I will make it homoerotic). 

I mean, it’s obvious what the dream is saying, but he doesn’t allow himself to show those emotions (and we’ve seen him fail -- in major ego, with the piano player, in a small way by judging the acupuncture techniques -- and his failures often seem based in the assumption that He Knows What’s Best (also outside of medicine, see Honoria’s marriage), but!!! As we’ve been seeing throughout, it’s not that he simply “wants to know best,” it’s that he’s clinging to what he has -- the order of the world as he understands it, his place in that world, what his worth is -- something interesting there as well about some of the overlaps between him and Hawkeye that neither dares to acknowledge!) 

so to finally allow that to happen -- to be that intimate with him for a moment! 

6. I dunno whether to make BJ his own post, because I’ve mentioned it several times already, and may just keep doing so (so maybe I’ll wait and see what happens Next, because BJ’s journey has been a fascinating knot for me to untie since he was first introduced), but all of these things -- does Peggy still need me, are we still the same people (will we be able to create something new when I return), is anything from my old life still reconcilable with who I am now, should I let Peggy go???

and then -- because again I feel like they belong together -- what is Peggy to me, and that whole life that’s back home... what do I see when I look towards her and Erin and home? Why do I have to do that in order to keep sane?

(the line -- war correspondent -- where he says he has to live for tomorrow because he can’t live for today -- sir! Sir!!! the life-ring that Aggy illustrates around him! Fuck! anyway yeah, it’s whole own post I think or I won’t stop here)

7. And then... you know... Hawkeye Is Not Okay the saga continues -- I’d SEEN an image of that boat with the limbs floating around him!!! I’d seen it on hastily-scrolled-past posts, often also including an image of Hawkeye in a blue dressing gown and I mention it again because I note that in the dream his gown was blissfully still red (which I guess just means worse is yet to come)!  

I mean! I don’t even know you guys! He’s removing his own arms! which have become prosthetics! so he can give them to others!!! so he can no longer be a surgeon!!!!!!!!!!! because he has no arms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so he can’t do anything to help!!!!!!! and they keep coming anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and the boat!? the limbs floating all around him?!! while he’s in the boat?????!!! and he has no arms!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the young boy in class sequence before that????!!!! 

I don’t even. and then in s9 we got “letters” in which a young boy accuses (rightfully) doctors in Korea of being a part of the war machine, which, again, the show has intimated several times, but to just! Say It!! AND in the aftermath of “heal thyself” -- fucking! madness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he can’t be a surgeon if he has no arms you guys... he can’t do the thing that gives him purpose that’s become a monster because now it’s in service of war, because he’s falling to pieces, and maybe he wants that in some way, wants to be unable -- physically unable -- ,so that he’s relieved of the duty of it, but they’ll keep coming regardless, whether or not he has his arms mind

and is the lake crabapple cove?????????

most of them feel like they’re reaching forwards in time as well as backwards (Potter’s the main outlier, but then, he’s not afraid of the future, he’s seen it all). they’re not just about where they are, they’re where they may go? sometimes in a literal sense (Klinger and Toledo), sometimes more abstract, but quite obvious in its questions/fears (Margaret, BJ, Hawkeye), and then the ones that I’m waiting on, because their potential futures feel less defined/like they may still shift (Mulcahy dressed as a... Cardinal? but unable to divorce himself from the violence he’s seen in favour of personal ambition perhaps? Charles performing surgical tricks with growing desperation as he loses his audience)

this episode feels prophetic... 

[zeawesomebirdie]

Yknow its been almost a full day since i saw that episode, but i swear on the Force that scene with Hawkeye and Father Mulcahy singing to each other was just. I love themb. The way they look at each other. I just. Fuck

[teddi-bearly]

I saw a post one time about someone always looking in the background of MASH episodes to try and see Father Mulcahy to see what he’s doing, and now I do it constantly.

It’s just so fun and he’s pretty easy to spot in crowd scenes because of his hat so it’s a fun little game

I do notice pretty much immediately if he’s not in OR though and it always makes me sad cause I’m like “where is he?? where’s the boy??”

This post has no point I just felt like sharing the fact that I essentially play I Spy while I watch MASH but it’s always Father Mulcahy

I also do this with Nurse Kellye

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 5 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Wolfwood

I love him. Man who has no faith in himself or humanity or god with so much blood on his hands, fighting for something he knows he can never see come to fruition in person. He carries his own literal cross and grave marker on his back. Just… he’s so iconic to me.

I'm sure I'm not the first to submit him. But I did it anyway. I hope he wins and I'll do anything in my power to make sure he does

Dude is literally a priest who carries around a giant cross. Yes he uses the cross to murder people but that is besides the point. Also he has a mini church he carries around for on-the-go confession services.

hes literally a priest(hes not a priest in the reboot but he is in the original and thats what matters to Me). he carries around a cross that is actually secretly a gun with guns inside that gun. he runs a church/orphanage. he carries around a portable confession booth and charges people money for it because he is broke as fuck. he dies bleeding out over an alter begging to god for forgiveness he doesnt think he deserves. he is everything to me.

look at this man he's a priest with a cross shaped gun that (spoilers) dies against the side of a church while waxing poetic about life and redemption (/spoilers), this is the Catholic ever.

Wolfwood is liiiiiterally Judas coded in the text. AND his weapon is a massive cross that turns into a machine gun and a LASER. Not to mention his religious trauma. Oh baby. The religious trauma.

Homeboy literally walks around with a giantass 300lb machine gun shaped like a cross called the Punisher. Hes a priest/undertaker depending on what version of trigun you reference. Grew up in a church orphanage. Also literally walks around with a portable confessional box for people to pay to confess to him. Need i say more.

HE IS LITERALLY JUDAS. he is literally leading the jesus allegory to his doom. hes also in love with the jesus allegory (vash). he is also carrying arouns a giant cross rhat is also a gun. hes literally catholic and judas and his tits are perfect. in one piece of official art he's wearing a cross choker. also the catholicism on gunsmoke is about making vash submit. wolfwood looking at that pathetic wet mess of a man oh i can make him submit easily.

He literally carries around a giant cross and is referred to as a priest by multiple characters. also he offers people confessionals

He carries a huge machine gun that is in the shape of a cross that is really heavy (he is strong) and his boobs are huge. So you know hes serving cunt in a god honoring way. Also in trigun 1998 he brings around a small chapel that he uses as a portable confessional and in trigun stampede he holds funeral services as an undertaker which are way overly priced. Also he dies very gayly (basicly confessing his love to his best boy friend forever)

Nick's funny bc he's probably the least Christian acting guy but is literally a preacher. There's a running gag with Vash asking some variation of "what the hell kinda churchman are you?" His gun is a gigantic cross. He rides a shitty motorcycle in the middle of the desert.

ok so thematically the main conflict in trigun is about peace vs violence and its represented by the characters vash and knives respectively. the two aren't /technically/ angels but thematically and through imagery they are and are comparable to michael and lucifer specifically. ANYWAYS. vash and knives are the characters who are constantly pushing and pulling at wolfwood's morality, sort of like a "the devil and god are raging inside of me" kinda deal. his grappling with his morality and faith is a big factor in his character. also he has a giant fucking gun shaped like a cross. and he dies in a church while praying.

Bros an orphan who grew up at a Catholic orphanage and taken away to be trained and genetically changed into a supercharged assassin for interworldly beings that have lots of angel imagery attached. Guy thought he was just going to be taken to become a missonary...instead he got 6 years of religious trauma. He still wears a cross necklace and holds it often. His gun is a literal cross "full of mercy" (its a missile launcher). He never really believed fully in the faith or anything, but the way he interacts with it is FASCINATING. He's jaded by the planet he lives on and his upbringing, and makes him say his most iconic quote: "We're nothing like God. Not only do we have limited powers, but sometimes we're driven to become the devil himself." He prays to a God he doesn't know if he actually believes in, asking for another day— for hope for the human race. The organization hes part of (The Eye of Michael) works for an interdimensional otherworldly being that has an incredible amount of angelic metaphor and imagery attached who intends to purge the planet of humans... and ends up siding with that guy's twin brother who is so Jesus coded it's insane. They are best friends even as Wolfwood is acting under instructions to babysit and watch him for his twin brother. He dies after facing down against his old mentor (named Chapel) and his pseudo brother from the orphanage who was taken into the Eye as well and his Jesus bestie buries him and sticks his cross-gun in the ground after losing his shit crazy style and using his pseudo alien angel Jesus powers to lash out at his brother for being the cause of Wolfwood's death. Rest in peace king

John

he’s a priest. he can punch your lights out. he would never hurt a fly. he has connections in the black market. he gives everything he can to the local orphans. he will not hesitate to play pranks on you. he wants everyone to be happy. he has daddy issues probably. he wants a promotion sososososoooooo bad.

I accidentally submitted the last 5actors name but it’s the same guy

Hey everyone please vote for this man I love him he truely is what we need more of in this world the kindest most relatable character has flaws etc etc. Deserves the world

[francisjohnpatrickmulcahy]

Okay different poll because I'm confused about canon.

This remains my pinned post, so info and a small DNI under the cut

Hi!

My main is @plebeiangoth so you'll probably see that name liking and following you if you see your stuff here. I've been a fan of MASH since my early teens going back about 20 years. I'm really glad that I'm not of the minority that I had assumed myself to be for so long for my favorite MASH character being Mulcahy!

A quick DNI:

Pro-police, war, military, etc. You're probably missing the point of MASH so I don't think you belong here.

TERFs

Pro-Isreal

Christian/white Nationalists, alt right, nazi by any other name

Priests. I hate that I have to say it but I've been on tumblr long enough to have seen too much. I'm just here to participate in racy posts about a very fictional, very pretty priest. I'm also an atheist. Please move along.

Frankly I'd prefer no minors interact as well. Please at least block #DNI-18 if you are. If you send me anything NSFW and you're under 18, I will block you and report if necessary. Will also block anyone under 18 making thirst posts, I don't need to be seeing that.

Okay now I'm done being a buzzkill. As thanks for reading here's my favorite recipe for gluten-free cinnamon rolls. My secret ingredient is a few cranks of a pepper grinder in the cinnamon-sugar filling!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

[saucy-mesothelioma]

I wanted to compile a very short list of some of my favorite M*A*S*H scenes and why I love them so much. It's a long post, so everything will be under the cut

Winchester and the Pianist. Season 8, Episode 19, "Morale Victory":

This was the scene that made me truly fall in love with Charles's character. This was his third season on the show, and in my mind he was still "Frank's cooler replacement"- stuck up but not as insufferable. He had his moments of course, but none of them truly got to me like this scene. Stiers puts the perfect amount of subtle passion that Charles has for the fine arts and uses that to not only connect with Private Sheridan, but with the audience as well. Charles, with all of his haughtiness that was very prevalent in his earliest seasons, went beyond caring for Sheridan's physical injuries but also the blows to his sense of purpose. He sees a man with as much passion for the arts as him, and he's determined to show Private Sheridan how much he really is capable of. He wants to keep that passion alive in the face of hardship, and the look on his face when he sits back and listens to Private Sheridan play says it all. He's done more that repair a man in the literal sense, but he's also done so with a man's hope. It was the turning point that made me see Charles as not just Frank's replacement in matters of minor antagonism and subject of Hawkeye and BJ's antics, but truly as his own character with so much more to him.

Father Mulcahy's Interview. Season 4, Episode 24, "The Interview":

This story was based on something a real army doctor that served in a Korean M*A*S*H unit told the writers, and it's such a visceral picture that even rewatching it I have to just stop and take it all in. And it's just a fragment of the horrible conditions that the doctors, the soldiers, the locals, and pretty much anyone in the line of fire in Korea at the time had to deal with. This show might be a dramady showing some of the antics of a fictionalized army hospital, but this is one of those moments where the show really just pulls you into the stark reminder that not everything they talk about or show in this series is fake. Despite all of the jokes and slapstick, at its core M*A*S*H is an anti-war commentary and it makes no attempts to hide it. This episode just happened to be one of the earlier instances where the majority of the comedy was removed in favor of really highlighting the brutality of war. Scenes like this cut deep, and that's exactly what they're supposed to do.

Sometimes You Hear The Bullet. Season 1, Episode 17, "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet":

I'm not afraid to admit that this scene made me cry. Not a full-out cry, but the kind that hits you so hard that you barely even register the fact that you're crying until you're already doing it. Even now I'm having trouble conveying how this scene makes me feel into words. It's another one of those scenes that holds nothing back when it comes to the message that war is a taker of so many lives, and it doesn't discriminate with its victims. Hawkeye's frustration with his disassociation with the deaths of his patients is just heart-wrenching, especially since it's something he essentially has to do because it's his job: "I've watched guys die almost every day. Why didn't I ever cry for them?". You can tell that it's not only the death of his friend that's affecting him, it's the fact that his job has forced him to distance himself to the idea that the people he operates on every day are people with lives, hopes, and dreams. When he's confronted with the death of a friend who died just as so many soldiers before him, Hawkeye is reminded of the fact that the soldiers suffering from unimaginable injuries that he operates on every day were just like him. It's a realization that I couldn't possibly fathom dealing with, and yet it's one that Hawkeye has to deal with every time he's in the operating room.

Through the Wisecracks. Season 11, Episode 5, "Who Knew?":

This episode is the one that hits me hard the most. I think what gets me about this episode is how it reminds me of the people in war who remain forgotten: the nameless soldiers, locals, surgeons, company clerks, and many others. And I think that's the point. We never see Millie. She is a faceless character who we know little to nothing about, and the people at the 4077th know little to nothing about her either. It's only when Hawkeye puts in the effort to learn about her and to read her diary, that Millie is given substance. We learn as Hawkeye learns, and it hurts for both him and the viewer. She almost went forgotten, just another casualty among a million other causalities, but someone took the time to remember her, and that's more than can be said about so many who died in war. Another thing that gets be about this episode is the same lesson Hawkeye learns: to care about each other and let the people you love know you care, because someday it might be too late for that. Millie was too shy to get close to anyone at the 4077th, so Hawkeye never knew that she cared about him until it was too late. Hawkeye reflects on how he hides behind his jokes, and we can see other examples of characters on the show doing the same thing such as Margaret hiding behind her military correctness and Charles behind his haughtiness. But Hawkeye refuses to hide behind his jokes during this moment and tells his friends just how much he cares for them. He knows that especially in their circumstance, the people that he grew to love in the 4077th could be dead tomorrow. So he decides he won't go a second longer without letting them know how much they mean to him. He ensures that not only Millie won't be forgotten, but neither will his friends.

[daughter-of-melpomene]

𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗕𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗦

The time has once again come for me to talk about some plot bunnies!! These are some all of the plot bunnies I currently have that I haven’t really talked about much, at least on here - feel free to ask me any questions you might have about them!!

Arabella Larson, Percy Jackson OC, OC + OC ship. Daughter of Aphrodite. Super sweet, sees Grover as a little brother figure and is very protective over him, has amazing fashion sense and is amazing at doing makeup. Girlfriend to an Ares girl named Noelle.

Noelle Perez, Percy Jackson OC, OC + OC ship. Daughter of Ares, Arabella’s girlfriend. More skilled with hand-to-hand combat than weapons. One of the oldest kids in Ares cabin, so she acts as an older sister to everyone. Gets a bit protective over Percy immediately and doesn’t approve of Clarisse bullying him at all.

Lydia Chen, Percy Jackson OC, Percy ship. Daughter of Apollo. A total theatre kid who’s a great singer and actress and wants to be on Broadway one day. Pretty much the only one to try and help Percy in his first week aside from Luke. Has a bit of healing ability, but can only fix minor cuts and scrapes. A bit dramatic, but still a sweetheart.

Eleleth, Supernatural OC, OC + OC ship. Girlfriend for my other Supernatural OC Via Winchester. Young dominion angel who comes to Earth with Castiel to teach Via about her own abilities and her role in the coming fight, and winds up falling in love with her. A bit uptight and doesn’t think much of humans, but she grows right along with Cas. Via considers her name “too fancy” and calls her Elle, with she hates right up until she doesn’t.

Morvant Bellatrix, One Piece live-action OC, Mihawk ship. Former assassin, of the all-female Fatale pirate crew. Known as the Siren of the East Blue because she has a Devil Fruit power that lets her inflict pain on people by singing a specific song (think kind of a dark Rapunzel). Basically unofficially adopts Luffy and the other Straw Hats and goes out of her way to keep bounty hunters and other pirates away from them. Mihawk takes one look at her torturing someone and immediately falls in love. She is cold and calculating but she also can and will kill for the people she cares about.

Yami Corvo, One Piece live-action OC, Shanks ship. One of the most deadly assassins in all four Blues. Has a Devil Fruit power that allows them to manipulate their own blood and make it into weapons (think Marie Moreau from Gen V). Tries and fails to kill Mihawk, but he takes a liking to them and offers to bring them along with him on his travels, which is how they meet Shanks, who takes one look at this feral assassin and instantly gets heart eyes. They are very much a golden retriever/black cat ship and it’s lovely.

Phoebe Mosley, The Magnificent Seven OC, Vasquez ship. Bounty hunter with incredible shooting skills who’s an old friend of Sam’s, so he recruits her to help protect Rose Creek. Closed-off and not receptive to Vasquez and Faraday’s flirting at first, but warms up to everyone on the team eventually and becomes besties with Billy. Name is inspired by Annie Oakley’s real name, Phoebe Ann Mosey.

Santiago “Tiago” Rojas, The Magnificent Seven OC, poly Goody + Billy ship. Outlaw wanted for the murder of a preacher he’d found to be abusing his children who helps Faraday out when he’s approached by the men he owes money to and receives the offer to help Rose Creek along with him. Eventually falls in love with Goody and Billy, but also becomes Spanish-speaking besties with Vasquez and good friends with Jack because they’re both religious. Very good with knives and an axe when he can get his hands on one.

Sophia Ramos, M*A*S*H OC, Father Mulcahy ship. Former USO girl and aspiring Broadway chorus girl who volunteers as a nurse when the army asks for more. A total girly girl who always wears makeup and her nice dresses whenever she doesn’t have to be in uniform. Incredibly cheery and playful, and often entertains the 4077th by singing and dancing to keep morale up. Becomes unexpected besties with Margaret, and just so happens to fall for the company priest along the way.

Anastasia “Ana” Upland, The Hunger Games OC, poly Katniss and Peeta ship. District 3, Career victor of the 72nd Hunger Games. Eagerly volunteered for her Games, but became disillusioned with the Capital after having to kill just to survive and win and sought out the rebellion after Katniss and Peeta’s victory. Gets to know Katniss and Peeta during the Quarter Quell Games and slowly falls in love with both of them as the rebellion progresses. Very closed-off and cold because she’s haunted by the things she’s seen and done, but fiercely loyal and would do anything for the people she cares about. Skilled with a variety of weapons, but best at close hand-to-hand combat.

Delilah “Lila” Wills, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen OC, poly Tom Sawyer + OC ship. Added to the relationship between Tom and my other OC Enola Holmes. Works as a secretary and assistant for Enola’s small detective business in London before she gets recruited by the League, and when the League comes back for another mission in London Enola convinces the other members to make her a part of the group. She and Enola were definitely something more than friends before, but when she sees Enola is with Tom she thinks she has no more chance until all three of them realize they’re all falling in love with each other. She also becomes besties with Skinner because they’re both crafty buggers with Cockney accents and a loose relationship with the law.

Tagging everyone who might be interested in some of these babies: @auxiliarydetective, @luucypevensie, @xoteajays, @themaradwrites, @endless-oc-creations, @starcrossedjedis, @ginevrastilinski-ocs, @oneirataxia-girl.

[t00thpasteface]

just watched the....... second half(?) of the mash movie earlier—i set it up to record so it's fine that i missed part of it—man, i was not expecting THEEEEEE radar o'reilly to show up in it and i was like oh haha short character with glasses that must be radar haha wait wAIT HANG ON A DAMN MINUTE THATS ACTUALLY RADAR O'REILLY WHAT THE FU—

AND THEN I LEARN THAT FUCKING RENÉ AUBERJONOIS PLAYED FATHER MULCAHY?????? AND ROBERT DUVALL WAS FRANK BURNS??????? AND BUD CORT WAS THERE TOO????????????? WHO WASN'T IN THIS DAMN MOVIE HOLY FUCK

honestly i was half expecting alan alda or patrick stewart or idfk harrison ford to show up and be like "hey" and then never be seen again

sorry for dumping all this in your inbox i just wasn't expecting a crossover event in my black comedy film lol

i can't wait to watch the whole thing

SNGJDFNJG radar being the one consistency is so funny. radar is so IMPISH in the movie!!! it definitely shows up in the show too but he's a fucking RASCAL in the movie. he's the one who put the mic under houlihan's bed AND he "found a donor" during a blood shortage by "volunteering" henry for it. also his line about "oh captain pierce just asked major burns a question about anatomy!" explanation to henry right before the Final Frank Freakout is fucking g-o-l-d.

YEAH RENE AUBERJONOIS... I STILL AM LIKE. LOL???? small world man. when mom told me the actors i recognized that name as Odo Star Trek but i had totally forgotten he's ALSO MR. HOUSE? like. i do not think you could get two more polar opposite characters than father "dago red" mulcahy and mister bobby house. and my god he's just so precious in the movie. like, show mulcahy already just sounds like he's on the verge of tears (love him MWAH) but movie mulcahy already LOOKS like he's crying. and movie hawkeye is so much more of a jackass but mulcahy still knows to count on him when he needs to. i could go on. i think i already have gone on in other posts.

i'm insane. do not even breathe the vaguest whisper of father mulcahy to me if you want a response under 100 words. what the fucking hell were we talking about

[mashed4077]

I’ve had a thought nagging at me ever since I first watched ‘Death Takes a Holiday’ and it’s been driving me a little crazy.

My thought is this: when the wounded flood in and the nightmare starts up again, Father Mulcahy, for all his purity and good-naturedness... takes on the role of an angel of death figure.

When Mulcahy tries to do the last rites on the dying soldier in ‘Death Takes a Holiday’, B.J. tells him, “No. You can’t have him yet.” It made me realize that from the doctors’ perspective, if Mulcahy closes in because things are looking dire, that means that they lost. They have to give their patient up. They failed.

It’s not just that episode. It’s also in the way he’s always present in the OR, as crucial a presence as the doctors or nurses, always lingering... in case someone dies. Waiting for someone to die. He’s also there to help if he’s needed for orderly duties, of course, and I’m sure he’s also praying for things to go well - but the main reason he’s there every single time, on hand even when there’s only a few causalities and everyone’s assistance isn’t necessary, is if someone doesn’t make it. He considers that a sacred task, and within his occupation, it is. But for the doctors, his stepping in to do his job means that they failed at theirs, and they lost the life.

On a spiritual level, really, if the healing of the physical body by the doctors fails, then the priest steps in to try to provide benediction to the soul, right? Being a man of faith, Mulcahy believes that’s just as critical, that a soul’s just as if not more important than the body, and it’s a solemn task but one that probably gives him a modicum of consolation, that he’s provided a service that’s essential within his world, and that he was there to provide that to the fallen in their final moments. But none of the surgeons who’d be torn up over losing a patient (aka all of them except Frank) are particularly religious. We don’t know if they believe in a heaven or not. It doesn’t matter to them that Mulcahy’s providing something to the soul, or that the soldier they couldn’t save may be in a better place. At the end of the day, they’ve still got a dead kid on their table, and that weight’s on them.

And it’s not just the last rites. The doctors handle the wounded living; Mulcahy is seemingly the person within the camp who’s in charge of the deceased. In one episode he explicitly mentions serving as the Summary Court Officer for one of the fallen young men: a Summary Court Officer is “a commissioned officer appointed to handle the personal property and effects of deceased personnel.” We see him do this in multiple episodes; Radar and other corpsman usually take care of the living soldier’s belongings (which Mulcahy sometimes assists with), but Mulcahy’s the one we see boxing up the belongings of the deceased to ship them back to their families. He’s often the one who writes the letter that lets them know they’ve lost a son. 

As much as all of them hurt for the lives they can’t save, Hawkeye and B.J. get to escape back to the Swamp right after and drown it away with booze, and Radar gets to stare down at a statistic in his report and wonder how a little number could possibly constitute an entire human being - but Mulcahy’s the one shifting through the remnants of a stolen life, trying to find a way to be tactful about something heart-breaking and maybe even life-ruining. He has that burden on him. He’s the one holding the hands of murdered eighteen year olds as they breathe their last breaths, something arguably more personal and intimate than rifling around in anonymous insides like the surgeons do - but that’s not even the end of it. It doesn’t end there. Because afterwards, in his duty to inform the families of their loss, he’s forced to inflict an impossibly painful wound. Can you imagine repeatedly writing letters that, when opened, will bring people to their knees with grief? Worse yet, the depersonalization of it? Especially for someone as people-oriented as Mulcahy. Maybe it’s better, not having to look them in the eye when you tell them, not having to see their initial pain, like a doctor would at a normal hospital after a surgery proved fatal or a person succumbed to a sickness. In both cases, you don’t have to see them after. You tell them the news and you don’t have to stick around to see the years and years of grief.

But there’s a different pain, for the surgeons and for Mulcahy, in how much they care about people, in being forced to do this repeatedly, endlessly, until the causalities all blur, until the deaths don’t even hurt anymore, until forgetting is possible and you realize the family would’ve got the letter last week and you forgot to send a prayer their way. He doesn’t just feel useless - he’s being forced to actively inflict pain. No other priest besides a war chaplain would have that responsibility. As often as a confession goes well and he offers a recovering soldier some peace, does it even balance out? Does a smile and some relief make up for being forced to play ferrymen to the dead?

It’s an impossible task... and it’s never even dwelled on or given focus. He just lives with that. 

Really makes me think about all those times he’s stood in such a way that one of the OR lights lit his head up like a halo.

[marley-manson]

I’ve been going through your mash posts and a lot of what you’ve said has really resonated with me, so I’d like to get your opinion on a couple things;

You’ve made your thoughts on Potter clear, do you like how he was characterised in “Dreams”? Because looking back i think it’s the most negative portrayal of him we see on the show; BJ dreams that he gets interrupted dancing with Peg by Potter handing him surgical tools, causing her to leave him. Klinger dreams that Toledo is deserted and when he pears through a store glass he sees Potter operating on him while motioning for him to come inside. Charles is more subtle (from memory) with Potter being the one to bring in the patient. (There might’ve been something to do with Potter in Father Mulcahy's dream but I can’t remember)

Do you think this should’ve been expanded on more?? Imo it gives a feeling that some of the main cast blame Potter for being in the war/stripped from family/ect. Also I think it really shows how different Henry and Potter are, because if Henry stuck around I cannot imagine that the characters would’ve dreamt of Henry in Potters position.

Also, you’ve mentioned before how B.J. doesn’t seem to like Hawkeye that much but really wants to be liked by Hawkeye, do you think this translates into how B.J. views Hawkeye as a surgeon? Because from the get go the show established that Hawkeye is an incredible surgeon and that even characters that don’t like Hawkeye as a person admire his skills, do you think B.J. is envious of Hawkeyes skill or at least his position as Chief surgeon? Bc imo B.J. has the personality of someone who is used to being the best (e.i. Husband/provider) and so I can imagine him feeling envy of either Hawkeyes ‘ ability and/or his position as chief surgeon.

Anyways I love your writing 💚💚

Thank you so much 💖

YES! Dreams is my favourite episode for Potter, for exactly the reasons you've described. I loooove how sinister he is in BJ, Klinger, and Charles' dreams, especially - and probably most fittingly - Klinger's. (I don't think Potter was in Mulcahy's dream? Not prominently at least, he may have been one of the surgeons in the audience, I don't quite remember.) And yeah, completely agree that Henry would not have been framed like that - he never seemed any more "army" than the draftees, just someone unlucky enough to get stuck with more responsibility.

Potter's own dream is also interesting in how it combines the war with a game at his childhood home, like his identity is irrevocably tied to war, influencing his entire life. It's dark how his dream is the lightest of them all, in a way.

And yeah, I would've loved to see that explored in more episodes. My ideal like, framing of Potter is as an affable villain, or at the very least someone who can occasionally be an antagonist that the draftee characters have to work against at times, who they express some resentment towards, etc. I've mentioned this before but like, even Henry was framed as an antagonist in some episodes, and it's bizarre and disappointing to me that Potter never gets that treatment. The closest he gets is the aforementioned Dreams, and Wheelers and Dealers imo, where he's at least treated as a punchline by the narrative, if not a villain.

It's a shame to me that the show almost always feels like it's laughing with him whenever he eg foils one of Klinger's escape plans, or makes threats to make someone attend a meeting/go to the front/smile more/join a bridge game/etc. Like, in the earlier satirical seasons the fact that the CO can use his authority for petty reasons would itself be a dark joke, but in the later seasons it's just a cute character quirk.

And yeah re: BJ, I think the idea that BJ loves Hawkeye but doesn't necessarily like him all that much, or at least resents a lot of things about him and/or finds aspects of his personality uncomfortable, isn't necessarily how the writers intended us to see their relationship lol, but I'm into it and I think it's a pretty fair extrapolation from a lot of BJ's behaviour, both early and late.

And I do think it makes sense to read him as at least a little jealous of Hawkeye's surgery skills. Like for the most part I think BJ does admire his skills as a surgeon, but I can think of three episodes off the top of my head where BJ demonstrates insecurity over his career, two of which are in relation to Hawkeye (The Young and the Restless, Stars and Stripes, and Heroes).

Heroes in particular does show BJ acting very jealous of Hawkeye in terms of being a doctor, though it's the attention Hawkeye is getting for treating the famous boxer. And Stars and Stripes is BJ lording being asked to write an article over Hawkeye to a very petty degree that imo also suggests jealousy of Hawkeye, in the way he takes weird smug pride in shutting him out.

I wouldn't say jealousy over Hawkeye's surgical skills specifically is a major aspect of BJ's character, more like a little buried resentment and insecurity that rears its head every now and then, because he's the passive aggressive type and buries his negative feelings about everything until they seep out or explode in weird ways, as pretty explicitly shown and discussed in Wheelers and Dealers.

Like, he was fresh from residency when he came to Korea so it makes more sense for him to respect Hawkeye's skills as someone a little bit senior to him and not be like, all that weird about Hawkeye being better than him. But they aren't that far apart in age - I headcanon about 5 years* between them - and Hawkeye is very notably skilled even as a young surgeon just one or two years into his own career, so it's easy to see BJ being a little intimidated and resentful at times.

Thanks for the ask! This was a lot of fun to answer and I appreciate your interest in my thoughts <3 lmk if there's anything else you want to add!

*my reasoning for their ages is: BJ is 28 in Welcome to Korea, drafted directly from residency with one surgical specialty (general surgery). Hawkeye was drafted from working in a hospital and he has two specialties (chest and general), which means 2 two-year surgical residencies under his belt. Add about a year for the first three seasons and he's at least 4 years older than BJ. Then I add one more to make it two years working in Boston post-residency, because why not? I like him mid-30s.

[syrupsyche]

Went to stalk Facebook for pics of me watching Les Mis when it came to my country and thank GOD for 15 y.o. me taking a pic with the cast list (though it was mainly bc an actor had the same name as me lol) so now I can look back at my very blurry memories and attach faces to the characters.

For starters, it mostly comprised of the cast from the Australian production back in 2016, with the exception of Earl Carpenter as Javert:

and opposite him starred Simon Gleeson as Valjean:

Alas I do not remember much of their performances but I do remember liking Valjean's Soliloquy and Javert's Suicide alot as well as crying at both of their death scenes so pretty sure they did something right lol.

Fantine was played by Patrice Tipoki:

I also do not remember much but I did find her death scene to be extremely haunting. The production I watched had the stage feel really bare so the coldness of it all really seeped in.

Marius and Cosette were played by Paul Wilkins and Emily Langridge:

Again I don't remember much LMAO but looking at Cosette's outfit here, it's extremely pretty! Alas I think by this production, Every Day (Marius and Cosette) had been cut out (or extremely cut down) so I didn't get to hear their rendition of it :(

Éponine at the back was played by Kerrie Anne Greenland:

I was an Éponine girlie at this age so I was really focusing on her parts lmao. She was good from what I can remember! Her On My Own was brilliant and I did cry at her death scene :')

Enjolras was played by Chris Durling:

Slight side track but WOW looking back at these pics, he is quite the quintessential Enjolras. Though Les Amis didn't catch my attention in the movie the first time I watched it, the images that burned into my mind the most from this production were of Enjolras and Les Amis. I know fans aren't too happy with the revolving barricade switch-off (and now that I know of it, I definitely agree the new scene doesn't hold a candle to it) but imagine 15 year old me seeing the guy I've been rooting for unceremoniously dumped in the wheelbarrow alone under a spotlight? It was still chilling, especially when compared to the colours and noise of the movie version. Another scene that haunted me was Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, when the ghosts of Les Amis picked up the candles left behind. THAT was good, I really loved it.

The Thénardiers were played by Cameron Blakely and Helen Walsh:

Hilarious duo lol. My favourite memory comes from Master of the House, when a young girl sitting in front of me asked her father what Mme. Thénardier was doing with the baguette during "...but there's not much there" and what the joke meant. Her father just said she was too young to understand 😭😭

Overall, this production of Les Mis was a changing point in my life. It was my first ever live musical and it expanded my interest for musicals and Les Mis ever since. I had only watched the movie previously just so I could be caught up with the plot, but iirc, this production got me to buy and read The Brick shortly after. And 7 years later, here I am still screaming about it :')

Also I found a rendition of One Day More by the 2015 Australian Cast so y'all can hear roughly what I had experienced back in 2016! Only difference is that Javert is played by Hayden Tee, Marius is played by Euan Doidge, and the Thénardiers were played by Trevor Ashley and Lara Mulcahy. Enjoy!