(no subject)

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

I searched a way back, but didn't find a post like this, so I guess I'll post and hope I don't incur the wrath of the moderator.

I was watching Love Story a couple of days ago, and comtemplating writing a huge post on Trapper/Hawkeye vs. Hawkeye/BJ (dynamics and pairings). I never got around to it, but it made me think:

What is it that attracts us to different pairings? I'm largely a BJ girl, but the chemistry between Trapper and Hawkeye is palable, fun to play with. BJ/Hawkeye, on the other hand, has huge angst potential.

But what makes you love that one pairing more than any other? Why does Klinger/Winchester inspire you more than Klinger/Radar for example? Why do you love Frank slash pairings?

Curiously a-waiting your replies.

Note: I am not trying to start a shipper war. So far, what I've seen of the M*A*S*H fandom has been calm, civilized and mature, but who knows? ;)

Comments

[kindoftrouble.livejournal.com]

My pairing (and by that I mean my *favourite* pairing) is Trapper/Hawkeye. Why? They're best friends, they have chemistry, they spend almost all of their time together and they're partners in crime. There isn't any rivalry between them, they always worked together rather than apart and I personally see them as better friends that BJ and Hawkeye because of that fact. Trapper is much more easy going as well and from George it's obvious that he has nothing against homosexuality. Plus, he doesn't whine half as much as BJ - which grates on me a bit after a while, especially in the later seasons.

Trapper's character is more fun to play with as well - there is very little known about him because in the first few seasons the characters were never really explored in the way that they were later on - and it's always good when people do explore his character in fic. I love that. T/H fics tend to be fun and lighthearted with a minimum of angst, which again I really like.

And finally, BJ/Hawkeye doesn't seem truly realistic to me, just because BJ is so faithful to his wife. I honestly couldn't see it happenning. Whereas Trapper has no qualms about cheating.

[canpin.livejournal.com]

BJ/Hawkeye doesn't seem truly realistic to me, just because BJ is so faithful to his wife.

that's one of the main reasons why i can't see it. trapper has no qualms about cheating at all, which makes it so much more feasible

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

I like to pair/read pairings between characters i love and that hit it off. Tbh i'm more a hawk/trap fan then a hawk/bj, but who's worried about a lil thing like that?
xx

[ebcahavoc.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of mixed on pairings.
I love anything with Mulcahy, because he's so cute and innocent. Also, something about a preist...
well never mind, haha.
I like Trapper/Hawkeye because i feel like after the war it could go somewhere...I know thats a silly thing, but I always like to imagine long term relationships. I assume this is because I am an idealistic teenager. I like imagining Trapper and Hawkeye in their fifties and together, a sort of quiet inconspicuous couple.
When I think about BJ and Hawkeye its usually in acts of despiration. That is, when I think about WRITING them. I have trouble imagining them in something lasting, because I think of Beej as so devoted to Peg
I love pairings that have the most...potential I guess for interesting takes on characters. That's why I loved ashilleong's "Game 22" so much..or one of the reasons...because it was so amazing with character development. It was so true to each of their characters that it felt believable to me.
I like Winchester/Klinger because it is usually funny, and because their characters are so different and therefore they work so well together.
Winchester/Radar is interesting, because I tend to view it as hero worship.
Hawkeye/Henry I usually envision as right before Henry leaves, something futile and precious.
So I guess what I just rambled on about was this: I love all mash pairings and slash, but for lots of different reasons. Um. I'll go be longwinded somewhere else now.

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

Kinda of funny, but yeah, that's one of the things I love about Hawk/Trapper; I could see them together 20 years after the war. Call me a sucker for the old romance.

[katiemariie.livejournal.com]

I write Frank/Trapper. I have no idea why. I guess, I find them both just so damn attractive that I must put them together. I want Frank with someone becuase he has the most flaws I can explore. Trapper is a man-whore with little to no respect for his partners, but is very welcome to any suggestions. I like how Frank is so needy that he'd take Trapper, but end up being so fed up he'd take on Trapper.

That, and they're both really hot.

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

If this goes through twice please excuse - LJ coughed up a furball right in the middle of this.

I'm so fond of all the characters I'm happy to read just about anything. I never was a one-pairing-only type of girl.

As someone else mentioned, Trapper/Hawkeye is one of the more believeable pairings, and I think it has more chance of real durability than BJ/Hawkeye. Trapper and Hawkeye seem a lot cuddlier together, there's so much physical closeness between those two. I see lots of love between BJ and Hawk but somewhat less of a physical spark. And this is coming from a HUGE BJ fan who would like nothing better than to see him and Hawkeye pair off. I can see BJ and Hawkeye getting together in a moment of desperation but BJ would angst about it later. If we're talking long term, post-war relationships, it's going to take a good writer to convince me that BJ would leave Peg.

Frank/Hawkeye also works for me, if only because Frank's so pathetically grateful for any little bit of affection tossed his way. Plus it'd go well with his hypocrisy.

A friend of mine whom I turned to the MASH side recently (hahhaa) is totally sold on Henry/Radar, and she has plenty of ammo there ;-)

Tangentially, Hawkeye is the only character who really says G-A-Y to me. The others, Trapper included, are all just miles from home and prepared to have a little fun - a "we're at war so anything goes" kind of mentality. Trapper seems a little more fluid than the others but I still read him as more or less straight. But I don't know, Hawkeye's frequent innuendo and the way he glomps his male friends (both old and new) and even the womanising (protesting too much?) *really* spike my ol' gaydar. YMMV.

LOVE your icon, btw ;-)

[that_mireille]

Oooh, excellent points here, and I think that this is something I've been unconsciously assuming without giving it too much thought.

I do read Trapper as mostly straight. Far from home, and willing to experiment, possibly, but mostly straight. Hawkeye, on the other hand, yeah. The aggressive womanizing may be a 'protesting too much' posture, particularly as he never *really* lets anyone close to him. (When he does, it's for one episode, and it's generally something that's doomed from the outset--I'm thinking of the episode, the title eludes me, where he falls for the Korean woman who then has to leave the area? He's never going to have to *commit* to this person.) And yeah. A lot of innuendo from him, he's very touchy-feely with his male friends....

And sure, Carlye said the reason they'd never have worked out was that Hawkeye's work came first. But he's not cold, he's definitely capable of very deep emotional attachments to people (see how much he really loves his Dad, for example) -- so it's just possible that that mentality of his is an unconscious way of letting him avoid confronting why he *really* doesn't want a permanent relationship with a woman.

Wow, I'm babbling. :) :) :)

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

~sigh~ LJ still doesn't want to play - if you get multiples, I apologise.

He's not cold at all. One of his problems is that he's not cold *enough*. I think that's at least part of the reason why he periodically loses it and the others get Sidney involved, and of course his sailing over the edge in "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" came from his finally, *finally* seeing just one terrible thing too many. I think his heart finally just said "enough".

[that_mireille]

I like BJ, but I'm definitely a Trapper/Hawkeye fan. I have trouble slashing BJ because BJ is so canonically faithful to Peg - it was a huge deal when he did cheat on her once. I'm not saying it can't be written and written well; it's just something that I, personally, have trouble seeing/writing. However, you're right, BJ/Hawkeye does have huge angst potential. :)

Plus, I just really like the way Trapper and Hawkeye interact. It's very comfortable, it's just... it's the kind of interaction that makes me feel that it's possible to weave a slash relationship around it without having to change too much - and without it really being 'noticeable.'

I can *see* Klinger/Winchester, but I'm not terribly interested in reading it; I really don't like Charles very much. I read it when someone posts it to a list I'm on, but I don't seek it out.

Slashing Radar doesn't work for me. Then again, writing het fic with Radar wouldn't work for me. It's *Radar,* and I (again, personal opinion only) don't *want* to think of him as a sexual being. *g*

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

With you on the Trapper/Hawkeye - they'd certinly be pretty comfortable in a sexual relationship. And the whole fact that it wouldn't have to change much at all makes it possibly the most viable pairing.

I love those two to death, anyway ;-)

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

I'm the newbie that lydia_petze referred to earlier (the one with the thing about Henry/Radar - and incidentally, I have a priest thing too...) I haven't seen enough episodes yet to have a single favourite pairing, being currently halfway through season 3, but already I'm sold on Hawkeye/Trapper, Henry/Radar, Hawkeye/Radar, and there are hints of Hawkeye/Frank all over the place. Am looking forward to meeting BJ though, which will probably happen tonight. Season 4 is sitting on my bookshelf patiently waiting for me to get to it. :)

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

Oooh! I'm beginning to get into Henry/Radar-mostly post-Absynnia, 'cause I'm strange like that.

Ooh, season four is good. Though, at the moment, I'm partial to season 3 and 11.

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like that scenario too. Death stories have a way of getting me where I love ;-) I read "Homecoming" by Autumnalis last night and wibbled all over the place!

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've read that (strange, could have sworn I'd read all her stuff. Hm) But yes. Death stories. *sighs*

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

Henry/Radar suits me *anytime*. Most especially during "Crisis". ;)

[vampirespider.livejournal.com]

Haven't actually *seen* Crisis yet, but they're also kinda cute during Ceasefire.

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

Mm, yes. I love all that cuteness. But Abyssinia, Henry definitely takes the cake.

[evila-elf.livejournal.com]

For writing, I prefer Hawkeye/Trapper and Hawkeye/BJ--though it seems BJ's voice always comes out more Trapper-ish.
For reading, pretty much anything with Hawkeye/ in it and in believable character. Favorites are Trap, Beej, Frank (only if he freaks out at first). That one with Father Mulcahy/Hawk/ and later Trapper...wow. That paring squicked me before. I also am finding a strange taste for Chaxie (Charles/Klinger)
Refuse to read (for now):anyone/Radar, anyone/Potter, most stuff if Hawkeye isn't a part of the pairing with exception to Trap/Frank and c/k...
I'm babbling and I don't care...
Trapper vs. BJ..I agree that Trapper seems more willing to 'screw around' than Beej. But Beej fics seem to be more serious, from what I have read. And I love character angst.
Frank vs. anyone...I hate the fics where we find out that he has been secretly in love with a male character or fooling around with them. Too outta character. I love the ones that explore his character some as he slowly starts to fall for someone and freaks out. Personally, if I ever wrote anything with him, it would be non-con....actually, I have started something that goes along those lines...wonder what I did with it.
Too much analyzing/thinking, my brain is tired now lol.

Hawkeye/Mulcahy

[janecarnall.livejournal.com]

I like Hawkeye/Mulcahy.

Though it requires some major juggling to get them together. I do see Trapper/Hawkeye as a pairing while Trapper was in Korea, but I'm fairly certain that Trapper went home and shut down everything he'd done in Korea as irrelevant to his real life back home.

Hawkeye/BJ would be cute, but BJ's too faithful to Peg. It can work, but you have to deal with Peg, and properly, not just "so BJ leaves Peg for Hawkeye and they're happy".

Hawkeye/Mulcahy just interact so well. I love watching both of them together.

And has anyone else noticed - whenever the nurses are gone and the auxillary staff are hauled in to be substitutes, Mulcahy's always paired off with Hawkeye?