#to hopefully not get hashtag canceled for it on the off chance someone reads it I guess ghdsjgkhdsklkhk anyways

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

If you already got this from someone and you just haven't answered yet pls ignore, but if no one else asked i want to add klinger+charles for the relationship bingo ask meme

ok I’m getting to this late as FUCK but PLEASE nobody ever hesitate to send me something for an ask game if I get one ask on a topic I will go YIPPEE and if I get 20 asks on the same topic I will go YIIIIIPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Anyhow you're indeed the only one around here who shows outside interest in our rarepair insanity, a boon I will remember as long as I live btw. Mx. Smoking Marlene Dietrich I owe you the WORLD

TRIPLE BINGO because they are EVERYTHING. to me.

It’s funny. This is the one duo where I almost do just want to post the bingo and leave it at that. Part of me wants to tell people about this ship SO bad, to give novel-length explanations and justifications and theses. But the other part of me is like you know what. You either Get It or you don’t.

Anyways there are 10000 things to say about Them but one is: I specifically did not fill in “gay af to have a sworn rival” even though it cost me another bingo because one of the most fascinating things about the interactions between these two is that they actually do not have a mutually adversarial relationship--even though that’s what writers usually do with two characters on diametrically opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. 

I’ve been thinking about this a bit because I’ve seen people say things like, “It’s great what a funny duo they turned into when they started out hating each other, haha.” And I get why one would think like this but IMO it’s actually not the case! Charles acts more familiar with Max over time because he does that with everyone--

(Though he’s racist towards Max throughout, of course. Because Charles’ racism never goes away. You know that right. MASH fandom I am putting my hands on your shoulders and asking: You know that, right? I keep seeing people talk about Charles having a character arc and a redemption arc so I’m just. I’m just making sure.)

--but Max has actually been pretty nice to him right from the start, back when Charles’ relationship with basically every character was antagonistic. As soon as s6e13 he tells Charles how similar they are, how they should work together to try and get away from the war, how they’re “soulmates”. Even after Charles insults him, he straight up says, “I’m on your side, Major”, which I’m pretty sure remains one of the nicest things someone canonically says to Charles, ever. Just one scene, but emblematic of a greater whole, of quite a few future scenes where Max gamely engages with Charles even when it puts him in unpleasant situations.

And of course, the motivation the show usually gives, on those occasions when it thinks about Maxwell’s motivations at all, is a simple throwaway “Well Charles is paying him / giving him some other material benefit, so obviously Klinger will be his kicked dog! You all know how Middle Eastern people are! We are a groundbreakingly progressive show btw.”

But man. Fuck that shit. This is far afield of my original point but the thing is, Max’s interactions with Charles are often the most egregious exempla of every way the later seasons fucked over my girl here. It almost seems useless to try to analyze any of Max’s actions after a certain point from a Watsonian perspective, when the Doylist reading of the show being too racist and stupid to do anything coherent with him is the ultimate explanation, and sometimes the only explanation you can even come up with, because shit just makes NO fucking sense in-universe. 

But unfortunately I’m a stupid cringe ass fanfic writer/reader, and I love this character, and Max already gets so little screentime compared to the main protagonists, and I don’t want to just ignore him because of the decisions of writers who didn’t care about him.

(That’s the entire reason I started shipping this stupid thing in the first place, btw. I just wanted to read some fanfic where Max is the main character and idk if you’ve noticed but if it weren’t for AO3 user stateofintegrity and their ~problematic cringe ship~, the pickings would be pretty fucking slim.)

So I like to pretend there’s a better reason for Maxwell going from “Major Burns I hate you so fucking much I am going to kill us both with this fucking grenade” to the equivalent of a tumblr blog responding to pathetic anon hate with “are we about to have sex”. After all, if you’re going to write Maxwell yourself, get inside his head and all, then you also have to account for why he tolerates all the OTHER characters’ racism towards him in later seasons, too. 

And the messy problematic reasoning I come up with is that Max is at heart the kindest and also most emotionally intelligent character on the show, and even the liberalized version of the 1950s our story is set in is a systemically bigoted universe that is all he’s ever known and experienced, and he’s certain these are good people, really, when it matters. And being emotionally intelligent, and generally intelligent too for that fucking matter, and observant and insightful, he can tell there’s a big difference between Frank and Charles, and perhaps less of a difference, even, between Charles and Hawkeye. Maybe when you watch things from Hawkeye’s POV, the ideological and moral differences between him and Charles are huge, but maybe if you were in Max’s POV instead there wouldn’t be quite as much of a distinction between them. I don’t know! I don’t know. Just some ideas, I don’t know. 

Of course getting into fucking. internalized racism and such is pretty uncomfy and exhausting shit. And that’s not even touching all the gender stuff my girl has going on. You start to see why nobody wants to get into this character’s head much. But I do :3 And I do honestly think sometimes the most effective way to do that is to look at the Messiest Ship In All Of MASH (TM). As I’ve talked about before from the Charles angle, I love this ship precisely because of its Problems, because they’re problems that exist anyways for both characters, and having the two of them interact makes the problems impossible to ignore, so they maybe finally get to be dealt with. I mean, I just don’t think the optimal resolution to Charles and Max’s racism-laden interactions is that Charles goes back home to a big opulent house and Max struggles to save up to buy a used car in After M*A*S*H. That is not super satisfying. to me. 

This post got derailed to hell but I think what I was trying to say is that Max treats Charles SO much better than that bastard man deserves and I would at least like to see something come of it, for the love of--

[bytheangell]

Support System: Chapter 1

(moodboard courtesy of @kindaresilient <3) 

 When Alec’s favorite show gets cancelled and he takes to messaging customer service repeatedly to show his support, he doesn’t expect to connect so easily with the support representative he keeps getting paired off with. 

(Read on AO3!)  

Alec can’t believe that his favorite show is cancelled. Gone, just like that, with one decision from someone who decided the cost of production wasn’t worth the impact it had on the fans, nevermind the fact that it is easily the most popular show on the network. It’s bullshit, and as much as he tries to be mad over the whole thing he can’t seem to get past sad first. It hurts. It hurts because he saw himself in so much of that show; in the stories being told, the characters telling them, the words they said and the way they laughed and loved and hoped…. it feels like the death of a friend more than the end of a television show.

He goes to bed upset, and sleep comes uneasily that night, uneven and restless. His mind won’t stop, the sadness refuses to lift. And it isn’t until he turns on the computer early the next morning, the scent of freshly brewing coffee floating to mix with the aroma of french toast from the plate beside him, that he sees it: there’s a movement. Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook… it’s everywhere, on every platform, aimed at every company. It’s amazing.

Alec reads for a while, sifting back through the hours of attention the fans generated as he slept, before deciding to do his part as well. His french toast sits forgotten, coffee cold. A tweet here and a tag there turns into sitting in front of his computer for two hours that feel more like 2 minutes, ending with a suggested message to the Customer Support Chat to make sure they are aware that this fandom, his fandom, was nothing to ignore.

Support: You are chatting with Magnus B. Magnus: Hello! What may I assist you with today?

Alec: Hi! I was just writing to say that it sucks you guys cancelled The Hunt, and if there is absolutely any chance of reconsidering, well, that would be great! Alec: I really like that show. No, I love it. It menas so much to me and honestly, not to be dramatic, but I’m a little heartbroken that it’s going to be over so soon. Magnus: I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t have any information on it being picked back up, but I’ll definitely pass along the sentiment. Alec: Thanks! Magnus: Anything else I can help you with? Alec: Uh, no, I guess that’s it. Thanks again. This chat has ended.

Alec’s surprised to find his heart beating faster than usual - why do conversations with strangers have to be so anxiety-inducing? -  but he did it. And he feels better knowing he tried, if nothing else.

As the day continues the stories do, too. People talking about how much the characters mean to them, how they helped them through tough times, or in learning to accept themselves, or about how much inspiration they found there for works of fanart and writing. The hashtags and e-mails and chats continue. Shared screencaps online show people holding entire conversations in them, sharing personal stories, getting real reactions from the people on the other end. Once isn’t enough, Alec decides. Another message couldn't hurt. It's midnight now, but there's a 4 minute wait this time, and Alec smiles knowing what the other people in line before him are there for, too.

Support: You are chatting with Magnus B. Magnus: Hello, is this about The Hunt? Alec: ...you’re getting a lot of this aren’t you? Magnus: You don’t even know the half of it. Alec: Sorry.   Magnus: No, don’t be sorry! I didn’t mean for it to come off that way. It’s the job, after all. Please, let me know what’s on your mind about it! Alec: Probably a lot of the same. This show just means so much to so many of my friends and me. Magnus: So I’ve heard! If the representation is half as good as everyone keeps telling me today, I’m actually a little upset I didn’t watch it myself. Alec: It’s probably twice as good as people are letting on. Honestly. Magnus: Well, if they don’t put us on overtime for all of this, maybe I’ll watch some later. Alec: Hah. Thanks for listening again. Good luck. Magnus: I’ll need it. This chat has ended.

He takes a bit of a break to clean up the apartment and eat a little food before contacting support one last time before bed, though Ragnor F. is a lot less amiable to talk to than the first guy was. He doesn’t think about it again until the next morning when he opened up the chat again at 6:30 am to find a 6 minute wait this time.

Support: You are Chatting with Magnus B. Magnus: I can’t wait to talk with you about The Hunt. Sorry if that isn’t what you’re here for, I’m playing the odds today. Alec: ...I think we spoke yesterday. Magnus: It’s entirely possible, Alec. But with this sort of volume you’ll have to forgive me for not remembering specific interactions. Alec: Oh, yeah, of course not. Alec: Well, you’re right. That is why I’m here. Magnus: You know, the lot of you were so convincing yesterday a bunch of us went back to my place after our shift and watched a few episodes? Alec: What did you think? Magnus: I wasn’t so sure at first, but it was just starting to pick up a bit when we had to call it a night. I almost didn’t want to stop watching, but I knew I’d need my energy to keep up with all the messages today. Just try not to spoil too much for me, I’m only three and a half episodes in but I’m going to watch more later. Alec: Oh my god that’s amazing. I’m glad you like it!   Magnus: I’m not sure I want to get too invested in something I know is cancelled, though. Alec: I mean, hopefully it isn’t! Any word on that yet? Magnus: Sorry, nothing official from the higher ups. Just that they see your interest and note your concerns. Touching, right? Alec: Totally. Well, thanks anyway. This chat has ended.

He has work, a welcome distraction, and then another polite but short conversation with a Catarina L. with the same lack of any new updates during his lunch break at work, but falls asleep early back home. When he jolts awake at 3 am and can’t fall back asleep he decides to give Support another chat, since it couldn’t hurt, and it isn’t like he’s doing anything else at 3 am anyway.

Support: You are Chatting with Magnus B. Magnus: How long is the wait to talk right now? Alec: Only 5 minutes. Also you again? Are you the only person that works here? Magnus: The graveyard shift is a lot less staffed than the others, but you guys are certainly  keeping us on our toes. I haven’t actively spoken to this many people between 1 and 6 am since I started here… Maybe even the entirety of all my shifts combined. Alec: Well, at least you’re more fun to talk to than some of the others. Magnus: Oh dear, have you been sent to Ragnor’s chat? Honestly, I keep telling him he needs to find a new job but the higher-ups appreciate his ‘efficiency’. Alec: I want you to know I literally laughed out loud just now. Magnus: I’m honored.   Alec: Did you get to watch any more episodes? Magnus: YES. I’m halfway through the first season now and if I wasn’t sold before I certainly am now. I figured it had to get better, and it IS. Come back tomorrow night and I’ll likely be through the whole season at this rate. Alec: Well, if I’m going to do this all day to get the show picked back up I can at least make sure to recruit a new Hunter out of it. Magnus: Hunter? Alec: Fandom term, for someone who likes the show. Magnus: Makes sense. I like it. Alec: Guess I’ll talk to you tomorrow, then. Magnus: It’s a date. This chat has ended.

It’s a date? Alec brushes off the words, though there’s a small smile playing on his lips at the idea of Magnus, whoever he was, wherever he was, waiting for his name to pop back up in that chat box the next night. Don’t be silly, he chastises himself. He didn’t mean anything by it. He has to be nice to everyone, it’s his job. Of course it is.  Though something about it feels… more than that, somehow? Which is ridiculous, though it doesn’t stop him from blushing at the realization that he’s actually looking forward to tomorrow night.