fic: turn out the lights darling turn out the lights [MASH]

This story began life as either a piece of meta or a spitefic, depending. Meta about the fact that I’m rewatching M*A*S*H in a time of bipolar hypomania because Hawkeye Pierce also spends much of his time in a bipolar hypomania and honestly, the show goes out of its way to present him that way. And spitefic, against the part of the fandom that is happy to allow him bipolar disorder, and any number of traumas over and above the one we know about, but not to allow him the other thing. Not to admit that a man with a devastating mental illness, as well as a gift, a vocation, a family, an extraordinary depth and breadth of compassion, and a life that has in its entirety been defined by love, might get better. That aged twenty-eight, you might grow from trauma, you might learn to live with it, you might remain bipolar all your life and still be happy and well-beloved.

(And tolerate your lithium, as well. Fandom in general does not seem to have much understanding of lithium! It's not Like That, half the time. )

[edit: there's another story, other than this one! that one really is about a long, peaceful and happy recovery from mental illness, and while I would write it slightly differently now I'm still proud of it: what is living is fugitive]

Anyway. here's the story.

turn out the lights darling turn out the lights (3183 words) by raven
Fandom: MASH (TV)
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan & Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
Characters: Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Sidney Freedman, Father Francis Mulcahy
Additional Tags: Friendship, Mental Health Issues, Bipolar Disorder, Mania

Hawkeye, always beloved, rapid-cycling.