#parodical

[marley-manson]

the topic is Trapper and the army as foils, you have three hours, go

In no small part the satire of Mash, particularly in the first half of the show, is tied up with gender performance.

The army represents traditional, stifling and violent masculinity. This is shown through everything from freudian jokes about guns (eg Frank and Margaret's flirtations in The Sniper or The Gun), to Margaret trying to cajole Hawkeye into performing a more traditional standard of masculinity while treating him like a soldier in Comrades in Arms Part 2, to many jokes and comments about (usually) Hawkeye not being a real man in contrast to army standards and various specific army personnel (eg Lyle in Springtime, Flagg in White Gold), to Frank and Margaret's worship of the masculinity of the army ("He's twice the man you'll ever be," re: Flagg and Hawkeye, Margaret's lust for MacArthur, Frank pursuing the sniper in The Sniper in an attempt to be a "real man" in Margaret's eyes, etc) to many jokes positioning the military as a sexually aggressive man pursuing Hawkeye ("Sure, the sun the moon the stars, your high school letterman jacket. Same deal I promised nurse Baker." "A receipt please, and promise you'll go out with other doctors," etc.)

In contrast, the main characters all fail to perform traditional gender in some way, from crossdressing to immaturity to indecisiveness to peacefulness to Margaret's masculinity and Frank's pathetic failure to live up to his own masculine ideals, to just about everything about Hawkeye. His cowardliness, his jokes about not being a real man, his jokes about taking the feminine role in sexual encounters with men and women, even multiple double entendres about his average at best penis size.

Trapper is the most traditionally masculine of the main cast. He still subverts masculinity in some subtle ways here and there, such as the occasional feminizing joke and mentions of not being in great shape, but overall he's the more butch counterpart to Hawkeye's fem. He plays the role of boxer while Hawkeye plays the role of diva in their respective manager/star roleplaying episodes. He's broader and buffer and plays football, often seen playing catch with someone while walking around the compound, while Hawkeye disdains sports and doesn't participate. He reads Field and Stream which Hawkeye derides in Alcoholics Unanimous while making a wry comment about shaving his armpits. A past lover nicknamed him Big John.

And there are many, many jokes about Hawkeye and Trapper being sexual partners. The recurring Uncle Trapper and Aunt Hawkeye gag, if my father sees this you'll have to marry me, for me? only if you put those on, your father and I will tell you what we did to have you, that's when I fell in love with him, etc etc etc. It's constant. In these jokes Hawkeye usually takes the feminine role, though not strictly every time ("Me and the missus," is one exception in As You Were, the dance in Yankee Doodle Doctor is another).

Trapper's masculinity is differentiated from traditional military masculinity in a few ways. Most obviously, Trapper abhors the military's violence. He never uses guns and mocks Frank's obsession with them, he's a healer rather than a soldier, and he's disgusted by the results of military violence on the men on his operating table.

He's also secure in himself. The military's brand of masculinity is strongly characterized by insecurity and overcompensation. Frank is the main representative of this military insecurity - a coward who insists he's brave (The Army Navy Game), a man who clings to a phallic gun to compensate for his sexual and gendered inadequacies (a main theme of The Sniper, perfectly mirrored when the army itself comes in with a vastly disproprotionately powerful automatic machine gun on a helicopter to shoot down one sixteen year old), a homophobe repressing his own attraction to men (As You Were, the original script of George), etc. We also see this in Flagg, who implicitly sublimates sexual urges into violence (seen when he suggestively caresses his gun while describing how he wants to torture a boy in Officer of the Day).

Trapper doesn't need to overcompensate. He's well-endowed physically, he's portrayed as a competent and considerate lover, he's a brave man who doesn't mind being seen as a coward, and he may or may not be attracted to men but either way he's not a homophobe (George) and he doesn't express his sexuality through violence. When Margaret proves herself stronger than him, his response is to be impressed rather than offended (Bombed). When he dances with Hawkeye for a gag, he doesn't mind letting Hawkeye lead.

He's also differentiated in terms of tradition, with the mliitary representing a more propagandic 50s traditionalism, and Trapper representing a 70s, countercultural freedom from tradition. We see this in the way Trapper has plenty of sex despite being married, while adultery is a court-martial offense in the military. It's notable that he's open and carefree about it, while Frank and Margaret are surreptitious and hypocritical in their affair. This lack of traditionalism is also shown in his disrespect for authority, often in direct contrast to Frank and Margaret's worship of it, and his allyship to George who the military would persecute for his sexuality.

So ultimately we can see that while Trapper and the military are both examples of masculine performance, Trapper's masculinity differs from the military's in being more flexible, less violent, less traditional, and more secure. The military's masculinity is far more toxic than Trapper's, particularly in the context of 70s counterculture media, which aligns womanizing with sexual liberation rather than a lack of respect for women, accurately or not.

This contributes to their respective dynamics with Hawkeye.

Hawkeye, we've established, is usually more feminine, and there are a myriad of jokes characterizing Trapper as his sexual partner, as well as the military as a sexual pursuer.

The jokes Hawkeye and Trapper make about their relationship tend towards cozy domesticity. They're Radar's "aunt and uncle," they directly roleplay marriage ("Martha, we're going to have to move, the people upstairs are impossible,") and less directly behave as though married (the bickering in Alcoholics Unanimous, the discussion about naming their pony in Life With Father). Occasionally they're treated as a healthy couple in contrast to Frank and Margaret's toxicity ("While I'm gone, promise you'll go out with other doctors," vs "Touch anyone else and I'll cut off your hands" in Aid Station).

In some instances the jokes lean towards predatory - "If you're trying to get me drunk, it'll work," or "Who is this man in bed with me?" "I followed you home from the movies," but they're always playful, always fond. If Hawkeye takes on a submissive or victimized role in these jokes, it's one he has fun with and discards just as easily in the context of the rest of his relationship with Trapper.

So, it's important to note that Hawkeye and Trapper support each other and look after each other in an equal, enthusiastic friendship. From Trapper ensuring Hawkeye gets to sleep in Doctor Pierce and Mr. Hyde, to Hawkeye supporting Trapper when he wants to adopt a child, to Trapper right at Hawkeye's side as they attempt to procure an incubator, they are there for each other every step of the way. If their relationship is a marriage in some ways, it's a healthy, strong, and non-traditional marriage, an equal and open partnership free of jealousy and insecurities.

Compare that to the military's relationship with Hawkeye. In jokes it's characterized as powerful and predatory, far from an equal partnership. Sometimes it approaches positive - in Carry on Hawkeye, much of the humour is derived from Hawkeye and Margaret's gendered role reversal as she assumes military command of the unit. Hawkeye playfully calls her sir, seductively lies on her desk like a secretary in a porn film, and most notably treats an immunization shot as sexual penetration in a prolonged gag about sexual role reversal. Hawkeye has fun playing a sexually submissive role to a representative of military authority in this episode, but it is a submissive role.

Several of the one-off jokes have a similar sensibility, such as the double entendre of "My bellybutton's been puckering and unpuckering all day," in response to a representative of MacArthur assuming their excitement over the general's arrival to the unit, or Hawkeye's "Okay, take me, I'm yours," to Colonel Flagg. They demonstrate a willingness to play the receptive role on Hawkeye's part, but they also, pointedly, disturb the object of the jokes.

When Hawkeye makes these jokes that sexualize military authority, he's attempting to be provocative as well as defiantly drawing disruptive attention to his own powerlessness as a drafted surgeon. The power dynamic between Hawkeye and the authority of the military only goes one way, and Hawkeye gets a kick out of pointing it out in ways that perturb the representatives of that authority, but it's a power dynamic that takes its toll on him.

Many of Mash's plotlines revolve around Hawkeye rebelling and attempting to seize some scrap of agency back from the military. Adam's Ribs, for example, in which he starts a mild riot over the food he's being fed and spends the episode attempting to procure barbecue ribs from Chicago (which Trapper procures for him), or Back Pay where he tries to charge the military for his forced labour. A particularly notable example is Some 38th Parallels, in which Hawkeye complains about being paid the equivalent of a nickel per operation, and his frustration manifests in impotency until he can perform a gesture of rebellion against the military.

One unfortunate consistency of these episodes is that the army ultimately retains its power. When Hawkeye achieves his goals, it's only in small ways that do little more than satisfy his own need to assert his sense of self. Often, Hawkeye doesn't achieve his goal at all, but is thwarted by the army, such as in For Want of a Boot. In every instance he remains powerless in comparison to the authority of the military.

So the context in which Hawkeye makes these sexualized jokes about the military literally fucking him is one of abject helplessness. In a sense, all he's capable of is pointing out what the military is doing and putting it in his own, audacious terms. He's not capable of preventing it. His jokes usually have an edge of bitterness to them in delivery, and when they don't, that tone is imparted anyway by the greater context.

With Trapper, Hawkeye can play-act a marriage or an assault, but in either case he's an enthusiastically consenting, equal partner. Trapper's performance of masculinity allows for Hawkeye to take any role from victim to wife to husband, and enables Trapper to respond in kind from a position of equality and respect. The military, in its insecure, domineering performance of masculinity, is a dictatorial authority, never allowing Hawkeye perform any role but a feminized, victimized one, and only ever giving him the choice of whether to perform with a wry smile or a sneer.

In short, Trapper is the cool, considerate service top to the military's insecure domineering boyfriend.

I'm tagging everyone who enabled this lol, share the blame. @beansterpie @majorbaby @professormcguire @rescue-ram

[spacemiddenzz]

actually shitting my fucking pants over the newest installation in the twitter users moving to tumblr drama.

“this shit made my skin crawl” bitch that was THE POINT how insane do you actually have to be to think that this was unironic in any shape or form.

everyone please thank @evilmario666 for his utter genius if not for him we’d already be inundated in weirdos

[zeravmeta]

always thinking about goat guda from the molay halloween event and i think very specifically about guda being styled after baphomet who has major associations with/is treated as the devil himself satan and it sticks out to me because we know from mephs skill description in his material book that devils, especially one as famous as him, specifically have the ability to manifest humanitys downfall

and while that may seem out of left field it makes perfect sense: devils typically serve as analogues to tempations, sin, violence, etc. the devil is a creature ultimately meant to tear down humans and have them fail

and what else could guda be analogous to when they've destroyed multiple humanities already

[sallymew4]

falls asleep on the floor

[hanzajesthanza]

i think the witcher books (and the stories to saga transition) are good and fine to be adapted into audiovisual media (e.g., tv/movie), but only if the audience (meaning, an audience previously unfamiliar with the IP) is actually there for what it’s about. and can be encouraged to keep an open mind for what it will be.

because it seems many people get into it from the premise of “mutated monster killer kills monsters” (even though, if you read the short stories closely, they’re not about that at all, that’s only the literal aspect of them, and some aren’t even about monsters at all??). and then become disappointed that geralt isn’t just slaying beasts left and right for five novels (or seasons?) straight

if you want to have an audience that’s there for what the series is, then… just… tell them what they’re sitting down for!

to potential readers and viewers of such an adaptation, it just needs to be better communicated right off the bat what the story is about. and no one can do that except the already existing fans who have read and like the story and know what parts they love the most.

stop selling it on the basis of ‘ooo dark fantasy where people swear sometimes’ and actually look at what it is about (also, beyond that it is fantasy) and you’ll have your answer.

[unopenablebox]

attempt to idly discuss concept of custom wedding vows with 🌸 ground to a halt after the realization that neither of us actually, like, wants to try to figure out what the fuck we'd be promising

can you do custom vows, but instead of vows to do stuff, it's just a list of the superbly good qualities of the other person in order to make it clear why any rational actor would agree that you should obviously plan to keep hanging out with them as long as possible

[kouhaiofcolor]

"....When did we get to the point where natural hair is no longer associated with ...Black People? Black Women?"

Non blacks pls dni.

Have to amplify this woman's valid and articulate short on the relevance of this topic bc, whew smh, I have discussed the same thing here — and am both just as disturbed (and honestly? a little let down?) by Black Women letting go the equity we had in natural hair. Esp just to pick harmful maintenance/norms right back up. I do understand that we, as a race of women all by ourselves, have sooooooo many odds stacked against us regarding what we do with our hair and how we take care of it, but I cannot for the life of me understand what the purpose or benefit is supposed to be in returning to things that actually harm us disproportionately.

For good measure, she also spoke more directly and at length about this issue, it's toxically influential spaces and platforms — as well as the colorism, texturism and misogynoir in general at it's core. So glad I'm not the only Black Woman being transparent about how backwards the nhc/nhm is going.

[kurokrisps]

You've gotta be kidding me...growl growl

[eusuchia]

last week when I was complaining to my dad about being sore from shovelling all the snow he was like 'where are you sore' and I said arms and he said 'well you shouldn't be, you should use your core not your arms' and I was like 'shovels connected to my fucking arms innit' and he basically told me I have yet to grasp the spirit of tai chi

[carsonian]

you don't have to be a dickhead about what people prefer to read in stony fanfics...people can ask for u to write things...u just don't have to accept it. but don't be a dick about it

On record as the SEVENTH ask you've sent me about this. omg.... ok you need bottom!Steve that badly from ME??? he won't be "gay" in your eyes if i don't write him getting fucked??? alright honey! here you go:

Fic Title: Get Fucked | 334 words | E

.

[STEVE lies naked on the bed, arched like a bitch in heat. TONY is braced above him.]

STEVE (with total and utter abandon): Penetrate me, Stark! Make me a gay man.

TONY (penetrating him): Take that monster cock!!!! Take that iron cock, Captain America, and fulfil the highly prescriptive, totally exacting and utterly uniform requirements of being a gay man!

STEVE: Ah!! I’m penetrated. In my BOTTOM!

[cue Winx Club-esque magical girl transformation except it’s just Steve Rogers as Captain America twerking in front of a rainbow-fied flag of the U.S.A.]

TONY (thrusting): You’re gay!!! Steve Rogers is Gay!!!

STEVE (as thoughtfully as one can speak with a dick in their ass): And before this particular act, I was simply a straight man willingly penetrating a dude’s ass on the regular. Oh, I’m so thankful that concern over the legitimacy of my sexuality in one writer's fanfiction was expressed in a series of anonymous asks designed to harass the writer into writing me on the bottom. Oh, but I’m even MORE thankful that I can be properly gay now. Even more gay than you, Tony, perhaps.

TONY (agreeing stoically because he’s on top and tops are obviously the “dominant, less gay man” in the exchange always and without exception): Fanfiction writers need to be consistently held accountable for the disparities in their writing preferences for characters’ sexual positions. Unless you’ve got an even 50-50 split of who’s getting fucked and who’s fucking, don’t consider yourself a proper fan of the ship, or even a sincere member/ally of the LGBTQ+ community. You don't know what REAL gay sex looks like, and not depicting two MCU characters switching in a 3000 word fanfiction does irreparable damage to the community.

STEVE: I’m coming!!!!!! Out of the closet and into these sheets! Oh em gee, untouched too! I just LOVE being fucked that much. Was I even having gay sex before this???

TONY (manfully holding off his own orgasm): And there we have it, folks. Steve has been penetrated, has come to orgasm, and is now verifiably a total homo. (coming) You're welcome.

[END SCENE]

[starlitskvaderart]

Midori One Day One Page 263!

Bunnie!! Not only is she one of my absolute faves... she also joins Sally in having a SatAM design that is absolute peak. The Archie Crew is a pack of cowards for slimming her down and taking away her whiskers and cheek fluff.

Commissions | Ko-fi

[lizbethborden]

I had a creative writing professor who was a prick but could be right sometimes, and he talked about how poetic writing is most effective in contrast with simple and straightforward writing, which is why "purple prose" can become incredibly dull and numbing to read as you go on. This isn't a perfect rule because there are some works that utilize a specific register of writing that feels elevated or poetic throughout, and they're doing it to achieve a specific effect, but it takes a skilled writer to do that and not make it punishing or parodic. But it's always come in handy for me as a thinking tool and I find it tends to hold true in other settings and applications, that the strongest effects are generated by contrasts, and I think that's what the horror genre does as well. A movie about a child who is lost to loneliness and death, thinking she's entered a magical world (Pan's Labyrinth) is effective precisely because of the ironic contrast between the reality we understand she's living in and the reality she perceives, the fate we know she experiences and the fantasy she has of the meaning of her death (and this isn't even talking about the roles of gender and politics in the story). (Coraline could also be argued as an example of this type of story, but it's aimed at children so has a happier ending.) Horror often generates its effects by contrasting the world as it should be and the world as it is in the context of the story, so naturally will have stuff to say and teach about what "the world as it should be" is and means.

[diamondnokouzai]

horror is most effective when the government participates in it. this is the reason that dystopias are so popular.

[troutfur]

So... that ending huh?

[gracelithorizon]

steal this comic

COMIC RATED 21+

♦ ARCHIVE MASTERPOST ♦

♦ start from front cover ♦

searchable tags list in this pinned post's tag bubble! i ain't typing out a bunch of hyperlinks for y'all, ridiculous!

all chapters posted under content warning splash page; mostly this is just conceptual detritus and fanfic tho

"me, i'm proletariat born and raised: neither grandparent could afford a grave."

if i wanted to make money i wouldn't be on tumblr dot com. i gotta assume most people here on a free entertainment webbed site aren't really looking to spend money, either.

steal this comic.

vote local and vote often (policy too not just candidate), that's how i can feel paid. if you donate, don't donate online because you can't actually verify the claims of the panhandlers. donate instead to your locally unhoused. make friends with a disabled or queer person in your town, and offer them rides to appointments.

spam your city's social media trawls with links to PhilosophyTube and CJ the X and Some More News.

and if you would like to effectively fight fascism with me, you have to start with yourself. decolonize yourself, deprogram yourself, climb down from off your own supremacy spike, and look instead forward to where other people are headed.

steal this comic.

stay fed, stay housed, love your friends and ask them to help you help yourself. only attend the therapy if it is secular, and never fear dependency on the medication (we are, after all, dependent on food and water and air too, no?)

-- steal this comic, my friend. my cousin. my fellow groovy multiculturalist.

steal this comic and print it for me

and then share this comic

for the sake of the free

[waugh-bao]

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