#(this is subjective but the *I cheated on mildred confession* -- I choose to ignore it... I simply don't think it works/does anything)

[variousqueerthings]

i will simply by virtue of who i am read aromanticism into things, but mash really does make it astonishingly easy for me

#MASH #if we're looking at the romantic relationships id say klinger and soon-lee #have most everyone else beat #if not everyone -- klinger himself is also just (imo) the most romantic character both in terms of how he views romance #and how the narrative offers him to embody romance-as-theme #potter and mildred is very sweet and has that *we've been together for so long we simply know the beats of one another* thing #but is also a relationship in which one of the parties spent several years going to different wars and practising army medicine #(this is subjective but the *I cheated on mildred confession* -- I choose to ignore it... I simply don't think it works/does anything) #(and without that there's already so much to unpack in their relationship to one another) #next in line id say bj and peg and that is... interesting........ he cheats on her once and considers leaving her another time #this could be read many ways but i choose to believe that those situations wouldnt have happened if he hadn't been drafted #but they did happen + the jealousy plots + some of the overbearing ways he treated hawkeye #(again last of those can choose to relate or not to relate to his marriage i choose to relate them) + general lashing out #but i do currently fall in the place of reading that relationship as coming out of love and them trying their best #then we've got henry and trapper who I think like their wives (but to varying degrees also bad-mouth them + cheat on them) #and will also say there that apart from the one scene with flagg there don't seem to be indications that they cheated outside the war either #(i say this -- i could be misremembering -- it seemed like the three-night-stand with trapper lady was before his marriage?) #(anyway we're newish fans here there could be things ive forgotten) #then we've got frank burns and... *i happen to believe in the sanctity of marriage no matter how ugly or disgusting it gets* #(paraphrased but you get the picture) #now for the ones who don't end the narrative with romantic partners: mulcahy charles hawkeye margaret radar #mulcahy is never given a *what if romance were to make you doubt yourself as a priest* narrative and am pretty glad of that #his tension gets to be more complicated without that imo #charles has a couple of romance-ish arcs that are snuffed out (the un-wedding is... very interesting very aromantic vibes) #+ him and his Responsibilities which is about the most unromantic way of looking at it as you can get (also strong ace vibes) #radar is slightly trickier in that he's in that odd space of being considered adolescent but then also not and loses his virginity 100 times #he seems to want a partner but although the conversation with the nurse in his last outing is sweet he's noticeably on that front #not fully *allowed* to just... grow up -- recognises that as a problematic phrasing on purpose because i feel like with radar #sex and romance is often tied to the idea of adulthood... i like seeing him as aroace and the space is there for it for sure! #(redefining adulthood for himself?)