Hm.

Just off my most recent M*A*S*H watch through, and as the Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen anniversary was not too long ago, I wanted to do my own little tribute.

Charles and Father Mulcahy are characters who are written very differently, but both rely on music (in their own ways) to keep their sanity throughout the war. And in the end, they both lose their connection to it in different ways. After Charles works with the Chinese POW musicians on the Mozart quintet (pictured), and they are killed, the safety of his connection to music is shattered, and all he can think about when listening is the violence and bloodshed. This is explicitly addressed in the finale.

However, Father Mulcahy’s loss is not. Yes, they address his going deaf after the explosion, but throughout the entire show he is shown playing the piano, singing, writing war songs. His connection to music is much less emphasized, but it persists through the entire series, and although he may not be a technical prodigy, it brings him joy. And then he loses it, along with the ability to take confessions, and a number of other facets of his job and life that gave him meaning and brought him comfort. Earlier in the show, during a particularly difficult moment, he is consoled by his colleagues performing Dona Nobis Pacem (also pictured). After he loses his hearing, he begins to question God. “Are you Deaf too?” I think this shaken faith and may have festered into an anger that contributed to his problems after the war (he was shown struggling in AfterMASH).

Anyways! Enjoy my angst fest (also I am VERY open to requests, especially for this show rn)

“Neurons as seen through the microscope of Golgov Klimt” (2025).

Golgi-stained neuron histology slides have always reminded me somehow of Gustav Klimt’s paintings. So here are some neuron’s à la Klimt. Inspiration and reference below

the little mosaic shapes that are a signature of klimt's work are heavily inspired by his interest in microscopy/microbiology. most discussed in scholarship are the ovular cells on danae/the kiss/tree of life/probably more im forgetting, but there's also clear influence of other plant and human cells in much of his other works (there's a neat paper from a few years ago discussing blood cells in 'the kiss').

New art program? Yeah. 4 days too late? Also yeah. Happy belated ween

but then he gets back and it all just seems so... nonsensical. he's been staring death in the face on the daily and now he goes back to all these petty disputes, long, boring talks and parties, appearances for the sake of appearances. He has to go back to being Charles Emerson Winchester junior, in the shadow of his father's expectations, which have now also turned to much more pointed questioning about when he's going to find someone to bear him a Winchester the fourth.

He has nobody to talk to about what happened to him. His parents refer to the whole affair as that unpleasantness and he certainly doesn't want to upset Honoria with any of the thoughts running through his head.