#and I just really fucking hate the fanon Trapper Complex

[youngpettyqueen]

basically rewriting my own tags here but. AU where The Joker is Wild is a more serious character exploration of BJ set in season 4

this got quite away from me and also long so. under the cut to save ur dashes

the point of the episode here would be to establish BJ more as his own character early on, by directly dealing with the idea of him being jealous of Trapper, and resentful of being compared to him. it also makes for an isolated sort of feel with him- he hasn't built these connections with the rest of the cast yet, and this is a cast who knew Trapper and so far dont really know him. by taking this more seriously it allows for some exploration of BJ's character, some room for him to grow, an opportunity for him and Hawkeye to strengthen their bond, and even some room to drop hints for the anger the bubbles underneath the surface for him

it starts off fairly similarly- BJ pranking Hawkeye and Hawkeye not being particularly impressed, leading to him launching into reminiscing about the "golden days" of him and Trapper's schemes. its implied here that this is something Hawkeye does often; comparing BJ to Trapper, often unfavourably, often bringing up how Trapper did things better and how he misses that. Hawkeye doesnt mean any harm here, he's just trying to reminisce and handling his best friend's departure as best he can, but this understandably still gets under BJ's skin. BJ, clearly unhappy, promises to show Hawkeye he's just as good as Trapper was, maybe even better. Hawkeye, not seeing that BJ is legitimately upset here, doesnt take it too seriously and just wishes him luck

no bet element. nobody else is in on it. BJ is still new to the 4077 and hasn't quite found his footing yet, further cementing his insecurities related to where he stands with everyone. he starts off small, simple, harmless. gag cigars, swapping the salt and the sugar and the like. Hawkeye continues to be unimpressed, goading BJ on, not realizing BJ is genuinely getting more and more upset and therefore not taking him seriously. until finally BJ starts to get outright mean, lashing out more obviously, and Hawkeye realizes something might actually be wrong. still, he doesnt think much of it- he doesnt know BJ, he doesnt know him angry, and he decides to wait until he's cooled down to talk to him about it and see what's up

well, that doesnt happen. Potter sits BJ down in his office at one point and tells him he needs to knock off the childish tantrum and speak up if something's upsetting him. he points out BJ's been lashing out at everyone, acting uncharacteristically mean, and watching Hawkeye be bombarded with a bunch of pranks is exhausting. he warns BJ to stop now before he goes too far. BJ agrees, but then typical sort of TV show dialogue moment- leaves the office and says to himself "after I get him with this one"

one last prank and then he's done. its all harmless, after all, he'll just get this last one out of his system and then this all becomes a funny memory. except that's not what happens. something goes wrong. it was supposed to be harmless, of course it was supposed to be harmless, but something goes wrong and Hawkeye ends up hurt. he was told to stop, he didnt listen, and now his best friend is hurt and its all his fault. nobody will even let him help, and he cant even blame them

once things settle, thats when they lay into him. Potter is the most livid anyone's ever seen him, nearly rips his damn head off because he fucking told him so. Margaret is furious, demanding what the hell's wrong with him, and Mulcahy's right beside her. even Klinger and Radar look ready to kill, Klinger holding Radar by the shoulders while Radar demands how anyone could do something like that to someone like Hawkeye. and BJ's feeling so horrible, so guilty, so angry at himself, it all just rushes out of him. he's so sick of being compared to Trapper, so sick of everyone treating him like he's just Trapper's replacement, all he wanted was to show them that he isn't just a sub-par replacement. he just wanted to be respected as his own person, he just wanted the comparisons to stop, he just wanted to stop being stuck in the shadow of someone he never even met. at this point BJ storms off before they can say anything else, goes to the only place he can go; the Swamp

that doesnt make it right, of course. but that forces some reflection. it makes a bit more sense, now. and the others can reflect on that- its implied they've been doing it, too. comparing BJ to Trapper. they comment on it a bit- Margaret saying she sometimes does it without thinking in OR, Klinger agreeing that he's brought it up when BJ reacts to one of his outfits differently than Trapper did, etc. Potter understands BJ's anger, having struggled with slotting in himself, especially seeing as he's replacing a dead man. everyone's anger softens a bit

meanwhile, BJ finds Frank in the Swamp, the only one that didnt tear him a new one. Frank, for his part, is completely unbothered. says he's on BJ's side, actually. says Hawkeye needed to be humbled. BJ snaps back that that wasn't the point, and Frank asks him what the point of it all was, then. and BJ starts to explain like he did to the others, but it starts to fall apart. and he admits that maybe it became about just taking his anger out on Hawkeye, because he didnt want to talk about it, didnt want to admit how much it hurt. he knows Hawkeye misses Trapper, and he's not mad at him for that, he just wishes Hawkeye would see him for him, see him for a real friend, not just a cookie cutter replacement. Frank makes a remark about how he definitely did their friendship no favours by putting him in the infirmary. BJ, wallowing in his guilt, agrees and makes his exit. one of those instances where frank is unintentionally and obliviously kinda deep?

bit of a time jump. its been a few days. Hawkeye's fine, recovering without a problem- it wasn't anything serious. BJ hasn't gone by, though. things are tense between him and the others, and he feels way too guilty to see Hawkeye. finally, he's eating his lunch in the Swamp, really just avoiding everyone, when Hawkeye comes in with his own tray. he parks himself right beside BJ and asks if he plans on talking to him about it, or just avoiding him forever. BJ tries to say there's nothing to talk about, but Hawkeye doesnt let him off the hook

so, they have a heart to heart. BJ opens up, admits how he hates how much he's compared to Trapper, admits he feels this ridiculous jealousy towards him. explains that he just wants Hawkeye to see him as his own person, as a friend, but he feels like every time Hawkeye looks at him he's just seeing Trapper in his place. he says he's done a lousy job at being the friend he wants to be seen as, and that he's been fucking stupid, and apologizes

Hawkeye, for his part, agrees that BJ's acted stupid. but he goes on to say that he himself was acting stupid, because he didnt see how much he was hurting BJ by constantly comparing him to Trapper. he admits he's struggling with Trapper's departure, and that he misses him a lot, but he also knows thats no excuse for the comparisons. he apologizes for making BJ feel like he was nothing more than Trapper's replacement, and tells him in no uncertain terms that he does like him a lot for who he really is, and values him as a friend. he promises to stop comparing BJ to Trapper, so long as BJ promises to stop with the pranks- at least, the pranks on him. BJ agrees, and they shake on it, both of them smiling now

an undetermined amount of time later, Frank is the victim of a devastating prank by the both of them. while he rages on, Hawkeye and BJ fall into each other laughing hysterically. their friendship has come out of this stronger than ever, and we end on an optimistic note