Stupid question, because what I don't know about distilling and the ignoble military tradition of bootleg stills can fill entire sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica, but what exactly is that swill they keep decanting out of that tiny little still of theirs in the Swamp? They call it 'gin', but IIRC we never see them actually messing with juniper berries. Is there some sort of oil or cheap substitute that you can use for that gin 'flavor' in what is, otherwise, grain-alcohol moonshine?

(I'm taking a detour through a pony variant on the 4077th for my slice-of-life military AU. I'd like to not be writing through my hat.)

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Honestly I don't think they went into that much detail in the show. There were several different versions of the still (it was destroyed twice on the show), and by the latter incarnations I think it was more intended to resemble mad science on purpose (to reflect the ambiance of the Swamp and its inhabitants) than anything intended to function in reality. Thus the 'gin' that the still produced was probably never intended to be any more realistic than the process by which they create it on the show - which in itself is never really explained. Also bear in mind that the still was less intended to reflect the concept of creating moonshine, and more the theme of MASH - meatball everything. Thus it is cobbled together kinda ridiculously from random army parts. It was donated to the Smithsonian if that helps at all to know.

My thoughts are that if you plan to depict the still in a fic, best to keep the concept behind how it functions in the background. It's a minor detail, important only if your story is actually going to focus on that...in which case read how real moonshine works, extrapolate, and make something up from that

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True. Although I'm mostly going to be focusing on just how much I can use various expies of the MASH regulars without getting too blatant. I've been spending a fair amount of time figuring out the mechanics of mid-century military medical waste disposal. Mostly because scatological disasters are always good for a gag.

Oh, btw, I looked it up, and apparently juniper bushes are native to, and edemic in, South Korea. They could literally pick their herbal stock off of the nearest bush.

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You should have been involved in the conversation I had with RobCakeRan about a pony MASH fic, heh. I find 'ponifying' stuff to be much more satisfying than a direct crossover, so it was fun.

I'm sure you could make all sorts of good latrine gags, at least.

So, since 'Ping' (a mildly ponified version of Radar, batpony version, from my ponified version of the 4077th) is shaping up as the protagonist of my sequel to Good Trooper Gilda... yeah. I guess it needs linked.

His role is only going to get bigger. And aside from his status as 'stupid sexy Ping', he's also shaping up to be important in other plot-related ways.