#bj adores hawkeye

[skltart]

bathrobe colours <3

[bardengarde]

I JUST COMMISSIONED THIS BEAUTIFUL AND TENDER BEEJHAWK PIECE FROM MY FRIEND @doodlehistory PLEASE BE INSANE ABOUT IT WITH ME

[remyfire]

Today's brainrot is BJ and Hawkeye hearing Charles be a prick to Margaret and silently initiating a challenge to see how many times they can make her laugh in the span of three minutes

[did-you-expect-this]

some self indulgent drawings I did recently of our silly surgeons <3

[quordleona03]

On the surface. which is, I think, how most people engage with BJ (I mean both in-series and also Doyleistically, watching the series) - very, very nice. He's kind, supportive, helpful, and polite. He's married, in love with his wife, and consciously and deliberately faithful to her. (Yes, he lapses - once physically, once emotionally - but clearly doesn't regard either as a light lapse.)

BJ was drafted at a crucial time in his kid's life - whether we go with she was a month old or a year old when he was drafted, whether he's supposed to have spent a year or two years in Korea, he missed a time in his first child's life where she would have been changing rapidly - every week, every day, he should have been there to see the first time she stood up, the first time she used a spoon to feed herself, the first time she walked, the first time she said a coherent sentence - BJ missed all of that, and he'll never, ever get it back - he may see another child of his grow up, but he'll never get to see that with Erin. The most relatable parts of BJ's anger and distress are his missing Erin.

There is als othe less-sympathetic but also relatable fact that he and Peg clearly had a deal - BJ would get through medical school and residency, Peg would work. (This isn't explicit, but I doubt if her job in the cafe or training as a realtor were first-employments.) Then BJ would pass his residency, set up in private practice, make a ton of money, and Peg could quit work and have babies, and they could settle down to living the good life as described by Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique.

But: BJ got drafted. Two years is my decision about how long he spent in Korea - the show is muddled enough about time that it's hard to be clear. But, two years, one year - Peg had to be independent. She had to be a single mother, with allotment checks from a salary lower than BJ would have got in civilian life. She had to support herself, look after her daughter, write BJ regularly, and keep going on her own. And she did. And BJ respects her for doing that, but really, really wishes she didn't have to.

All of the above actually makes BJ still a nice guy, genuinely - in the 1950s a man supporting his SAHW was just how it was.

But:

BJ likes practical jokes. These are (sometimes) quite incredibly cruel, and at best, they're the sort of "joke" where everyone is laughing but the person who's pranked. This isn't something he can blame on how he was in Korea - BJ was a practical joker in college. His best frien til he met Hawkeye is a practical joker. BJ has no mercy and no exceptions on who he plays practical "jokes" on - his best friend, his CO, his subordinates at work. BJ is cruel, and enjoys being cruel. And that lies underneath everything else about how BJ is. He's a cruel guy who tries very hard to be decent and kind and - it leaks out in practical joking.

BJ is also, I think, hellishly competitive. He doesn't quite realise this. But I think all of his life he's easily been the best - golden child, popular in high school, top student at college, popular in his fraternity - and now he's at thr 4077th, and - Hawkeye is the best surgeon, the most experienced surgeon, a natural leader, the Chief Surgeon very casual about his authority but really expecting to be obeyed when he's giving orders in OR or triage, way funnier than BJ - making people laugh without resorting to practical jokes - I think BJ adores and resents and is competitive with Hawkeye, and Hawkeye - without even noticing that BJ thinks there's a contest - keeps casually winning "who's the most popular guy" "the best surgeon" "the funniest joker" - without even trying.

there is something very sad about Peg just wanting to tell BJ about her day to day life, the mundane things in the house that need to be fixed and the funny things that happen to her, all things he would've enjoyed hearing about or would've handled with her if he'd been there, and having absolutely no idea what effect these letters actually have on him

[animnightmare]

Every day I think about how great the mash actors were. Expesually Mike Farrell, all the activism he did (does?). And those photos of Loretta Swit and Alan Alda at protests. And David Ogden Stiers speaking up for people who stutter.

These people mean so much to me. Even without MASH I love every single one of them.

[ankhmutes]

This is beautiful. I love the lines, the style. Adorable! hope to see more. Father Mulcahy? Klinger? Charles? Potter? <3 even Burns..

i have nothing more that i need to say

[tiredandoptimistic]

One of my favorite details about Trapper that I don't think I've seen anyone else comment on is the fact that he's the only lead character whose person back home is his kid. They've all got somebody who's the focal point of their "I wanna go home" scenes, the one they write letters to (other than Frank, who doesn't give a shit about anybody). Potter, BJ, and Henry have their wives, Mulcahy and Charles have their sisters, Margaret and Hawkeye have their dads, Radar has his mom, Klinger has his uncles, and Trapper's got his daughters.

Now, I know that BJ, Potter, and Henry all have kids they love too—hell, Erin and Peg are about equally prominent in BJ's stateside dreams—but the thing that sets Trapper apart is that he doesn't seem to care much for his wife. He talks fondly of her, sure, but he's also cheating on her constantly. Henry cheats too, but there are whole episodes dedicated to how he could never actually love anyone but Lorraine. With Trapper, he's just kinda...distant from his wife. Doesn't really talk about her much. If anything, his behavior is closer to Frank's; the serial adulterer who doesn't spare many thoughts for the woman back home. HOWEVER Trapper is leagues better than Frank in literally every way! Not being wholly in love with his wife doesn't make him a bad guy or a negligent father, it's Frank's many personal failings that are to blame for that. I think that's my point here, that I just think it's neat how Trapper is able to be a relatively more complicated figure because in him the symbols of domesticity (wife and kids) are divided. He doesn't need to be an adoring husband to be a devoted father, he can write home to Cathy and Becky because they're the ones he's really waiting to get back for.

The main cast of MASH has five married characters; Henry, Trapper, Potter, BJ, and Frank. Of that list, Trapper's the only one whose wife I can't name. Conversely, he and BJ are the only ones whose kids I can name. Henry and Potter both have children given names sometimes, but they're not consistent at all because they're not actually important in comparison to Lorraine and Mildred. Nobody gives a fuck about Frank's kids, least of all him. What I'm getting at is that, in general, the wives are the point of consistency, the anchor point representing "home." Not for Trapper though, for him it's his daughters, and I just think that's neat.

So yeah, Trapper McIntyre is dad of the year, even if his marriage might not be the best. This post was brought to you by the scene where he writes a letter home to his daughters and all the times he's cute with local kids in the show.

[quordleona03]

For the ask game, BJ for 2, 7 and 15

Ah, BJ! "BJ Hunnicutt is an enigma with size 13 shoes. In the midst of the most terrific enterprise ever devised to separate a person's brains from his buns BJ goes calmly on. Although there must be a volcano under there somewhere."

2. Favourite canon thing about this character?

BJ organised the Red Party for Hawkeye.

BJ is a very angry man, and a savage practical joker, and inclined to think that being stuck in Korea is far worse for him than it is for anyone else, and - noticing how BJ took the credit for the reunion party for the families of the 4077th when they met in New York, when it was in fact organised by Hawkeye - I suspect a lot of things in BJ's life that he takes credit for, were in fact his idea - but the work was done by someone else.

But BJ tries. He tries not to lose his temper: he tries to act like an officer: he tries to be nice and kind and gentle. BJ organised the Red Party: BJ dragged dozens of white rocks to the upper chopper pad to arrange them to say GOODBYE. BJ deliberately set out to make friends with Margaret. BJ is not, I think, deep down a particularly nice man - I think he has a lot more in common with Leo Bardonaro - but I admire BJ for trying hard and mostly succeeding.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

Although I am a Hawkahy fan through and thriough, I do love BJ in love with Hawkeye. I don't think BJ/Hawkeye would work once they got out of Korea - and I think Hawkeye knows it, even if BJ doesn't - but BJ in love with Hawkeye is adorable.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

Peg. Very boring of me, I know. I like the idea of BJ going back to Peg after the war and both of them finding it difficult - Peg having been a single mother for two years of independence: BJ having gone through two years of war as a surgeon: and both of them working it through and staying married - not without pain and difficulty, but with real love and committment.

Ask meme

[thebreakfastgenie]

beejhawk 👀

LMAO I was just sitting here like "no one even bothers to send me beejhawk anymore" but bless you to the bottom of your pot-stirring heart, anon.

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it? I have several reasons, which I will get into it, but I'm going to start with this one: I like a happy ending. Beejhawk cannot be a happy ending to me. I'm not entirely convinced any Hawkeye/4077th ship being endgame can be a happy ending, even the ones I like. I want to see Hawkeye move on from the war, which is what GFA is setting him up to do. Beejhawk keeps him stuck with the war defining his life. That's depressing to me. In the larger narrative of Hawkeye's life, it's important to me that the war is unimportant. The war being how Hawkeye met the love of his life gives me the ick. It implicitly suggests the war was somehow worth it. I can't think of a single reason why I would ship it. I think the biggest reason is it's simply too OOC for me. I cannot believe that Hawkeye would be in love with BJ. That is not Hawkeye to me. I actually can believe that BJ would be in love with Hawkeye, even though BJ is extremely straight to me, but I can't see Hawkeye reciprocating, ever. I've read some beejhawk fic and a lot of posts, and the way Hawkeye behaves and is characterized doesn't just feel wrong to me, it feels wrong in the way I hate the most. BJ is usually wildly OOC too. The other big reason is the complete lack of chemistry. They have negative romantic chemistry to me. This is a much smaller reason, but the things people get from beejhawk I get from other ships that make more sense to me. For a best friends ship, I have piercentyre. If I want to ship Hawkeye with someone repressed, I have hawnk or houlihawk. Sometimes I joke about this but it's kind of true that I don't need beejhawk because I have hawnk. The Joke Is Wild? Hawnk did it first. I genuinely do not understand why beejhawk is a ship at all, except that they're the two main guys. If I didn't know how slash culture worked, I would have been shocked that it even existed. In the last few seasons, I'm not even convinced they like each other. I found myself asking "do these guys even like each other?" about the alleged best friends more than once, and I had to actively rev up my suspension of disbelief to enjoy their goodbye properly the first time I watched GFA. I very strongly dislike any framing of MASH as a love story, and I have yet to find beejhawk content that doesn't turn it into the Ballad of Hawkeye and BJ. Piercentyre is fun for me, because it really changes the show very little. Beejhawk requires me to rewire the entire show, and I don't want to. A lot of moments that I adore become less meaningful to me if they're shippy. For example, Where There's a Will, There's a War. "When I wake up remind me to give you a kiss" is an expression of BJ's profound relief and a wonderful resolution to the anxiety and guilt he's been feeling for the whole episode. It's hyperbole that only works because they don't normally kiss or want to kiss. It always brings to mind a lyric from a song about WWII: "and I never kissed so many men as on that afternoon." It's not about romance, it's about being glad to be alive. I just like the show better without beejhawk. I started out a little more neutral and my visceral revulsion built through overexposure. There was also an assumption that you shipped beejhawk that I really resented. Especially because of the implications around it being slash. I am gay, I ship gay ships, I ship other gay ships in MASH. I don't ship beejhawk. I'm not required to ship every single gay ship. So all those beejhawk posts about "gay people love this" or "gay people think that" bother me and turn me off even more.

What would have made you like it? Completely different acting/chemistry. Something completely different from what I ever see the fandom do with it. I could probably be sold on unrequited (BJ's side only) or unhappy ending beejhawk in fic if it was really well done. This is your chance to plug! I think a realistic handling of it would help too. The show gives me a BJ who is as far from leaving his family as a man can be. I need to be convinced that something would change that. Meta claiming he's actually close to leaving in the show does not work for me, it directly contradicts what I see. I need writers to dig into it. Actually show me the dissolution of BJ's marriage, the pain and consequences. Show me how he manages to stay in his daughter's life, if he does. Brokeback Mountain does not shy away from how badly Ennis treats his wife and how absent he is to his children. My experience with beejhawk is that much angst is made of the obstacles to their being together, but they're quickly dispatched with. Tell me what Hawkeye sees in BJ, because I don't see it in the show.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it? It inspired me to make these. I've been thinking lately that this lyric fits beejhawk "perhaps we don't fulfill each other's fantasies." If you know me, you know this is something positive from me, because it's from what I think is one of the best songs ever written. There is some interesting potential. Just get out of the true love box! Try something dark, something one-sided (BJ's side), something that ends badly! I do really like their friendship in the first few BJ seasons.

[st33le]

How do you think Charles would’ve gotten along with Trapper, Henry, and Frank?

SHAKES YOU!!! I have so many opinions on Charles interacting them!

I’ll start with Henry because I have the least amount of headcanons about him and Charles.

I do love Henry a lot but to be honest I just think a dynamic between him and Charles would just be a watered down version of what he already has with BJ and Hawk. Or at the very least, just Charles thinking that Henry is a bit incompetent and neglectful of his duties, but like charles already thinks everyone is pretty incompetent so like?? There’s not a lot there. Though I do think that Charles would appreciate the craftsmanship of the desk lmao. If Henry was CO during the time that charles got there I’m sure that charles would take waaaay longer to warm up to camp. Only because he would see Henry as someone who enables the shenanigans.

Now with Trapper, I actually believe it wouldn’t be too similar to how he treats bj. BJ, to Charles at least, is a decent man, a jokester and annoying especially if he and hawk are up to something, but a kinda of respectable family man when it comes down to it. Oh but trapper! Tapper John is Hawkeye’s perfect mirror and OH what a wall they would drive Charles up. I could go on a 3 hour rant about Trapper and Hawk being the perfect comedic duo on the camp, but this is about Charles. I think Charles would have a hard time merely being in the same room as trapper at times. I think trapper would act way better then Charles to get on his nerves, like act like he knows way more then he does about culture and opera and stuff like that, and that would drive Charles crazy. NOT TO MENTION that they’re both from Boston. Imagine Charles first coming to the 4077th and finding out Trapper was from Boston. Initially I think Charles would try to confide in him only for trap and hawk to pull a prank or something. I know in the early Charles episodes the show likes to laugh at Charles misery but oh well, can’t be helped I suppose. Another note, if they actually interacted in the should I could honestly see myself shipping Charles and trapper for a time. I think their personal dynamic would have been really really fun, trapper being overly flirty and Charles just being like “oh someone help me.” Though I don’t think they would be able to work long term, as trapper imo really likes to be ‘adored’ and taken care of in the relationship, and I don’t see Charles wanting that in someone, and especially cause of their economic difference it would make Charles feel kind of used? Idk. That’s just the Hawkchester part of me going off tho.

Okay okay, now Frank. I think, that this would honestly have been peak comedy for the show. ESPECIALLY if they were the same rank during their screen time together. If Frank was there I think that Charles would have very quickly gotten along with Hawk and BJ, especially if they were doing something to spite Frank. I can definitely see Charles, out of everyone hating Frank the most. I’m sure, it’s been said before, but I think it would be very funny if like Charles have a backhanded insult that frank is just too dumb so he interprets it as a compliment. Only for Hawkeye to add on. I think half of the dynamic between Charles and Frank is just Charles being bewildered by Franks incompetence. But also on a side not I can see him being like a wingman for Margaret like “honey you can do better then that.” Frank would definitely think there was something between Margaret and Charles, and he would get mad over that and ask Hawk and BJ for help only for them to laugh their asses off cause Charles and Margaret are MLM WLW solidarity.

Those are my basic thoughts on them, sorry for taking so long to reply I had to get my thoughts in order.

Also sorry for any spelling mistakes, writing and being coherent is hard lmao.

More asks about mash are always welcome!

[remyfire]

Spice Up Your Sex Life Tip: Torment your roommate together~

[ankhmutes]

4077 musings

I wonder about the reactions of the 4077’s family members watching the interview episodes. Would they be excited to see their family on tv? Proud? Scared? It would be great to see the other side of this for each member of the 4077. I just can see Daniel Pierce smirking once he sees BJ on screen or Father Mulcahy, Margaret, etc—

“so that’s who so and so is, now everything makes sense”

“what, that’s Hawkeye? I figured it would be someone more… cool?”

“that guy replaced me?! No!”

“Frank, that’s Major Houlihan?! You have a lot of explaining to do…”

“I figured John wouldn’t be that skinny, but we have to send him more food, he keeps giving all of his money to the orphans.”

“I’ll have to send Sherman more of my jam, some of his fellas are just too thin. And he’ll need more aspirin, those boys keep giving him headaches.”

and I’ll spare the winchesters, I can’t find their voices well, but I’m sure they’ll have a very interesting commentary…

I just might write this but hey hit me up if you wanna help or whatever I adore cheerleaders.

[youngpettyqueen]

BJ menacing Hawkeye for absolutely no reason in Bottoms Up I can understand but why does everyone act like Hawkeye killed their mother. since when are they all Charles Emerson Winchester III stans. BJ being a bastard is perfectly in character but why is everyone else acting Like That

[majorbaby]

hawkeye, radar and BJ are adorable in "The Nurses" and i think what i like about them so much in it is it's low-stakes for them + it's fun to watch them hang out and be annoying. it's little glimpse of this show if hawkeye + trapper/BJ weren't at the center of all the drama all the time and i like it.

this time it also occurred to me that hawkeye ought to have figured that quarantining mr. guy in margaret's tent would reasonably lead to her bunking with the nurses and margaret even asks 'why not put him in mulcahy's tent' indeed, why not, hawkguy?

[demonaltoid]

wow look at this adorable hawkeye/bj couples pattern i found