#ship ht

Thank you <3

Xena/Gabrielle

Ship It

What made you ship it?

Man I wonder what the tipping point was when I first watched the show lol... I mean I started out watching for the ship of course, but I think the moment that sold completely me was probably Gabrielle's "By the Gods! You are beautiful!" in Altared States. Just like, 'wow nothing has ever been more real than this.'

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I looooove that they're super fun to watch together, lots of cute episode tags full of flirty banter, lots of chemistry, so much homoeroticism it's impossible to articulate, extreme married vibes, but at the same time there's so much relationship drama to explore too! Like they have overt stuff like the rift arc in season 3 that leads to attempted murder (<3), but they also have more subtle things that never get fully addressed or reconciled, like Xena regularly abandoning Gabrielle and Gabrielle having to fight to stay by her side, or the fact that Gabrielle has to become a killer in order to live a life with Xena and that is very difficult for her to reconcile, or Gabrielle's potential resentment over Eve getting a magical redemption while her evil daughter had to die (lol this show.)

Xena puts Gabrielle through some shit, both actively and just by being the person she is, and I love it.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

It's a bit less popular to prefer later seasons fic with a more mature and experienced (and short-haired) Gabrielle, unforch lol. For a true unpopular opinion... I like that Xena dies and Gabrielle has to live on with her True Love and Soulmate as basically her backstory. I think it's a fitting way for Gabrielle's arc to end. Also I think she should have a lot of gay sex throughout the rest of her life with various amazons and goddesses but never settle down with one person.

Fraser Ray/K

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it?

I wanted to ship it, I watched the show specifically to get into the popular gay ship all the bnfs were writing good fic for back in the day, but I fell for Ray V first and I couldn't make the switch. I also didn't like the writing in season 3+4, I found it harder to connect to and get invested in any of the characters or relationships. It was too ungrounded, too many episodes starting in media res with little explanation (the punch scene that opened an episode really stood out to me as something that made me think 'I don't know why this is even happening' eg), the plots were too big and I missed the smaller scale of the first season, etc. (Many of these problems began in season 2, but they were definitely compounded as the show went on and Fraser, like, started living in his office and Bob became a full time cast member etc.)

What would have made you like it?

I'm not sure lol, I don't think I would've liked it even if I'd started at season 3 the way some people did, due to the writing not working for me. I guess maybe if the show maintained its first season tone and balance of grounded reality/cartoon comedy stuff I probably could've enjoyed Fraser/RayK as a ship. I probably still would've shipped F/V more, but when I first watched due south I was determined not to let the fact that I got into Ray V first stop me from enjoying F/K, so I think I could've gotten past that if I otherwise enjoyed their relationship.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

There are some amazing Fraser/Ray K vids out there, many of which sell the ship better than the show did for me lol. Also like, there is some solid homoeroticism on the show, I appreciate that they were deliberately pandering to the slash fans in 1998 o7

Traphawk

Ship It

What made you ship it?

The first time I watched the show in 2011 I enjoyed their chemistry and the gay jokes and fully watched the show with the understanding that they were fucking offscreen all the time, but didn't get emotionally invested in them as a ship until Welcome to Korea lol, with the kiss and the airport run. That's when I officially started shipping it, I'd say. Trapper left him a kiss!!! That's what motivated Hawkeye to speed to the airport to catch him just in time to... we'll never know, but lbr I can only assume declare his love.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

They are always extremely fun to watch which is important for me in a ship. Great chemistry, fun vibes, excellent double comedy act, impeccable homoeroticism. On a character level I love that Hawkeye's like Ideal Person is someone he can do comedy bits with (judging also from how they established Carlye as someone who used to have that double act vibe with him, and Hawkeye regularly noting a sense of humour as something that turns him on) and I love that Trapper fills that role to a tee. I also love how mutually supportive of each other they are, always having each others' back when one of them has a problem, always together in all kinds of weather, always each others' first friend to turn to.

And I love the separation, both how gay it is but also the fact that it can be a source of drama. A ship needs that too, if I'm gonna love it.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Idk... I feel like I overall vibe with other hawktrap fans in most ways. I don't think this is necessarily unpopular with hawktrap fans, but overall I think it's a less popular take than the opposite: I don't think Trapper is insecure in his masculinity or has any notable internalized homophobia or repression. I don't think it's ooc to give him a bit more repression and/or internalized homophobia, but the version of Trapper in my head regularly went cruising and to gay bars back in Boston and only really differs from Hawkeye in a) being more careful and less reliant on his sense of comedic timing to keep him out of trouble, and b) being more of a top. Also I guess c) having a wife to cheat on lol, but I don't think that troubles him.

Thank you 💖

Hawkeye/Trapper

Ship It

What made you ship it?

lol SO. Back in uni I started watching MASH after seeing an old website with an extensive (but, I now realize, nowhere near exhaustive) list of slashy quotes from the show. I enjoyed the homeroticism between Hawk and Trap but only casually, I was into it as a sitcom rather than in a fandomy way. The moment I started actually shipping it and went to find some fic was Trapper's proxy kiss in Welcome to Korea and Hawkeye's race to the airport lol, which is probably the worst time to start shipping them because after that there was no more Trapper and the homoeroticism decreased significantly. I only made it to the end of season 6 before losing steam, so when I watched in 2021 I started from season 7 and wrapped back around.

The second time around I shipped Hawkeye/Trap from the start, and they came as a welcome relief after being underwhelmed by Hawkeye/BJ.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Their chemistry! They always feel like they're genuinely having fun together, and really adore each other, like they're both just charmed by each other. I also like that they could've easily met pre-war (and did briefly in the book/movie) and they feel like they would've been friends no matter when or where they met. The fwb vibe is also great, I'm incapable of watching the show without wholeheartedly believing they're fucking between scenes. They're a perfect established relationship kinda ship.

And since Hawkeye is my fave a big reason I like them is because I think Trapper is a good, supportive and caring partner to him - they're both great to each other, but in Hawkeye's other friendships on the show he's mainly stuck in the supportive and caring role without receiving much support back, whereas with HawkTrap it's more even imo.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

idk if it's the most popular take on them but I've seen this take floating around tumblr a lot and I disagree with it: I don't think Trapper is more supportive of Hawkeye than vice versa, or that Trapper supported Hawkeye and then Hawkeye is inspired by or grows from that in order to support BJ, like a baton passing. I think they're both just supportive people and they equally support each other, or would if Trapper got as many emotional plots as Hawkeye does. But on the occasions when he does need emotional support, Hawkeye is right there beside him as a shoulder to lean on.

Hawkeye/Margaret

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it?

I've never shipped male sitcom protag/token female cast member in my life, and I can't imagine starting here lol. I absolutely love their platonic friendship and adding romance would kill everything that makes their relationship unique and enjoyable to me.

I also would never ever ship Hawkeye of all characters in het. I'm watching the gay Hawkeye show, it'd just be a waste of 300 gay jokes.

And finally, they're not compatible people at all to me. They barely ever even have fun together as friends, Hawkeye needs a double act and Margaret could never keep up comedy wise, and they have very opposing ideological values and there's no indication that ever changes (a lot of people seem to think that Margaret gets disillusioned with the army as the show goes on, but I don't see that at all and I'm not sure where it comes from honestly? And in the finale she doesn't quit the army, she just takes an assignment in the US rather than abroad.)

Plus there's an episode all about them being incompatible romantically and deciding to be friends, which made complete sense to me character-wise, and I adore that that's the direction the show went, thank you Mash <3

What would have made you like it?

If Margaret was a man I could definitely see myself being into it in a frenemies hooking up kinda way, assuming Hawkeye hit on him just as much as he does in canon, which seems like a safe assumption lol.

But otherwise nothing's gonna make me interested in rote sitcom het, and genderbending Hawkeye into a woman wouldn't work for me because like 90% of what I like about his character is his subversion of masculinity.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Like I said, I love their friendship a lot, love when they support each other, love the occasions that Margaret is the tough guy to Hawkeye's damsel, and I do often enjoy their flirting on the show despite not shipping it, because a lot of it leans into the aforementioned subversion of masculinity, which is fun. Carry on Hawkeye is one of my favourite episodes. I don't want them to fuck, definitely don't want them to get together romantically, but I do really enjoy the d/s and pegging jokes.

I'm not really abiding by popularity lol, but for me and what I'm into specifically:

1 - Hawk/Trap

They're just so much fun to watch on screen. They have great chemistry, a very fun vibe, they can combine fluff and angst in very satisfying ways, they're probably less complicated than most of my favourite ships but what they lack in toxicity they make up for in fun.

2 - Hawk/Frank

They're just so much fun to write lol, they're so incredibly funny as a dynamic, and I enjoy trying to make it work as an actual relationship. Also I got a thing for pathetic loser tops.

3 - Hawk/BJ

I'm into the toxicity here, the kind of ship I'm more typically into, ie full of strife and misery, but they don't quite have the intensity of feeling for me to make it last or make me care about them resolving their issues and living happily ever after. I ship them as a fucked up fling.

4 - Hawk/Charles

I just think they could be fun together, though any endgame between them would require a lot of change on Charles' end.

5 - Hawk/Sidney

I'm more into it as Sidney fucking up professional boundaries than as a healthy thing, but I can def be into it.

6 - Any other gay ship with Hawkeye

Unabashedly ranked from Hawkeye bottoming to Hawkeye topping.

7 - Any gay Mash ship that doesn't involve Hawkeye

Mash is the Hawkeye show to me, it's what I'm here for, and I have virtually no vested interest in any ship that doesn't involve him.

8 - Hawkeye/any woman

I enjoy almost no het. If it's endgame it'll drive me away from fic I otherwise would enjoy, if it's just a one night stand I'll read it if I'm really into other aspects of the fic, character stuff or w/e, but I'll be wishing it was gay.

9 - Any het Mash ship that doesn't involve Hawkeye

Very much not for me.

10 - BJ/Peg/Hawkeye

True least fave ship in fandom. In theory I could be into it as a trainwreck that ends in divorce and Hawkeye metaphorically walking away from an explosion lol, but I've never seen that, and harassment from some of the shippers has made me actively hate it as opposed to merely disinterested.

Also Hawkeye/OMCs are surprisingly high, probably right after Hawk/Frank, but I didn't count that as a ship. But I like the idea of Hawkeye with random dudes during the show, or Hawkeye with a guy who's unaffiliated with the Korean war post-canon.

(I mean it miiiiiiight work if BJ was fully gay and Hawkeye figures this out before BJ does and assumes his marriage is sad and doomed anyway, but that's hard to reconcile with Hawk taking BJ's feelings for his wife at face value in canon, and idk what could make Hawk assume BJ wasn't attracted to women at all. He fucks Margaret fling-style with no interest in committing while she's married, but he already knows she's miserable with Donald so it's a different situation.)

Anyway so then I was thinking, maybe it could work with Trapper, like, post canon? They hook back up, and Hawk wants to fuck and even commit but Trapper post war is trying to make his marriage work and Hawkeye ends up seducing and arguing and cajoling etc. And because this is about Hawkeye's bad behaviour he wouldn't win, but Trapper would be miserable in his marriage so it would end unhappily.

#i get why people want 'the big gesture' bc this is a staple of the romcom#but foreva eva love is in the little things#the everyday stuff#piercintyre tag 

I feel this so hard and I really think it’s part of what makes Hawkeye and Trapper so compatible, because Hawkeye at least doesn’t feel like a big gesture guy to me. He’s more into emotional connection and spending time together and talking and openness. He can appreciate a gesture but imo that’s not what he’s here for and the way he expresses love is more like steadfastness and constant casual expressions of love and appreciation.

REPORTER: Would you like to say hello to your own children right now?

TRAPPER JOHN: Not really. Not as just one more picture in our living room. It’s enough they’re seeing me. That’s a big enough kick for all of us.

[...]

TRAPPER JOHN: The doctors. The nurses. The orderlies – Koreans, mostly. Every day kind of bleeds into the next around here – in every sense of the word -the routine gets to be fairly unmemorable. But I have the feeling that years from now I’m gonna remember each and every one of them. And the face that goes with each one. (A PAUSE; THEN TO THE CAMERA) Hi, sweetheart. Hi, Becky. Hi, Cathy. 

[x]