#I do like The Nurses but I hate the Margaret plot line in it where it turns out she's so upset because they dont talk to her

[youngpettyqueen]

I wish we got more episodes that explored Margaret and the nurses and their relationships that were like. written well

[variousqueerthings]

When i was writing it i also kept think about blindfolded Hawkeye, all evidence really does point towards him loving it...

He really does get lead and pushed around so often, I'd love to see someone's take on how it contrasts with his control and responsibilities as chief surgeon. Even outside of surgery, the contrast of him being with someone and then having a nurse or doctor coming in to ask for help or giving him an update on a patient and how he can swap between both mindsets ect.

I firmly believe that Hawkeye would valiantly try to be had by all of the nurses if given the time and opportunity. And any attention is good attention is the sort of mindset that Hawkeye would take and then promptly act like a terror until he got the attention he wants. I feel like he wouldnt have to do this with bj as much as others but he does anyways just to be a problem.

Margaret's a strange one bc it would make sense considering her personality and Hawkeye's interest but like, idk. I think its too much of a contrast in my head from his refusal to show her respect as a major, their relationship in the later seasons (in my head) hinges so much on their views of each other as equals and i think the power dynamics would be a mess.

Its kind of funny how they have Hawkeye acknowledge how sexist some of his actions were when i feel like i always remember there being more women in those earlier seasons. I might be misremembering but i feel like if theyre going to do that they could at least make female characters more core. Like not every woman has to be plot relevant to be featured.

Aro Hawkeye my beloved <3<3 I get him, he loves his friends so much it hurts and also is so so horny. He deserves to be held gently and then absolutely railed and then held again.

-majoranon

(listen okay sometimes I get worried that an ask is too personal or inappropriate so i hold off sending my name with it but the fact that you knew it was me is so funny. What tipped you of?)

Alright, post the first out of... maybe three (maybe four)! (the others of which will be about women in MASH and much shorter I think + blindfold Hawkeye + some more aro talks beyond this + idk, sometimes you’ve just got to see where the typing takes you)

THE FIRST THING I DO IS APOLOGISE FOR THE RAMBLES AND THE FACT THAT I COULD WRITE THIS BETTER AND MORE SOURCED IF MY BRAIN WAS WORKING AND I HAD TIME... I don’t, I’m sad....

I’d originally put your message into bits and was answering them one at a time, but then everything started being about a few of the same things, SO

trust me this all comes from your message 😂 

This post: aro Hawkeye 🤝 aro Margaret and my actual dream relationship on the show (or, you’ll never guess where this meta/headcanon is going, or maybe you will, idk)

ALSO KNOWN AS: I make the argument that Hawkeye and Margaret are already in an aromantic life-partnership and so her occasionally topping him is really just a part of the benefits for both of them (but also I barely make the latter half of that argument, I’m sorry, I go all over the place with this one)

I think (and I mentioned that in another post) that Hawkeye being chief surgeon and Very Good at his high-stress job is a feature in this entire (somewhat jokey, but also haha kidding... unless... you know?) headcanon -- lots of people with those kinds of jobs want to get to shut off any decision-making/responsibilities outside of that space and we see that a lot with Hawkeye (in a non-sexual sense). He really really hates being in charge when it’s not about the job 

I just rewatched Carry On, Hawkeye and I love how there’s that scene where Margaret is like “I should be in charge now” and Hawkeye basically goes “absolutely, have at it,” but because she’s so used to him being contrarian and bitchy with her, she thinks he’s arguing that she shouldn’t 

and it gives us this interesting line:

and then in the same episode having just given Margaret the reports she needed, if we’re going for the “Hawkeye and strong women/Hawkeye and I’m just a little guy/Hawkeye and putting himself on the table” well...

literally.... on the table....

(Margaret if you’re in charge you have to get used to a lanky weirdo lying about on your desk, that’s just who he is)

and then of course:

S I R (mr alan alda, you cannot tell me this guy has never been topped by a woman (we leave domming out of the discussion for today kids, but youknow.. it’s Margaret, she of the riding crop and vibrator))

Anyway this takes us neatly into “Margaret and Hawkeye” territory... 

*

1. first there’s all this stuff around sexuality and gender and romance and relationships happening between those two -- Margaret and “sir” and incorrect womanhood leading her relationships to not work and being openly sexual (and highly suggested dominating), Hawkeye and calling himself “aunt” and being a motherhen and all the being pregnant jokes, and being stepped on jokes, and “joking” about being married to men, etcetcetc -- 

of course the crux of which is that amazing conversation they have in “Stars and Stripes” in which it’s made textual how similar they are in their ideas about relationships. One of the main reasons I like to hc them as aro is that the way they phrase it is so... vague.... they can’t pinpoint why it never works out for them, time and time again, other than “they can’t change who they are,” and they’re looking for a “custom fit,” but at least with Hawkeye he’s been shown to “fall in love” with people very fast (Erika, Kyung Soon, Inga, etc) and (due to the nature of syndication) get over those relationships again/fall in love with someone new just as fast -- and a note on Erika is that he’s literally suggesting marriage and she’s the one to shut him down (in an also very aro way)

not to mention Carlye whom he proposes to have been in love with for years/never gotten over, but when given the chance for a do-over doesn’t leap at the chance... again because of vague “you choose your job over romantic relationships” reasons (any aromantic who can relate to that reasoning/has literally scoured for historical people who were described that way, raise your hands) 

with Margaret you do get the sense that she’d wanted these relationships/that she invests in them, but that the men can never accept her as she is (which Hawkeye does -- and he doesn’t even do it on purpose, to begin with they’re scratching and clawing at each other as we all know), so you see, she’d love to be in a romantic relationship if only she were a completely different person, but alas she can’t be and so she’ll never be a correct woman (again, any aro who’s felt that connection between brokenness and incorrect gender and aroness raise your hands...) and to stretch that one even further, the imagery in “Dreams” of her in the wedding dress with those bodies of men in her bed and the miscarriage-looking blood-stain, it’s all... very evocative of that same incorrect/broken woman, who will never get those things that society promises are what brings happiness that she won’t have and maybe doesn’t even want, but what’s the alternative being offered here? 

dead bodies and a lifetime of being alone?

*

2.  I think it’s interesting that you said that because Margaret’s and Hawkeye’s later relationship hinges on them being equals that the power dynamics would be a mess, when that respect is actually the very thing that makes me think of them being perfect for each other in this scenario – there’s a lot of trust and vulnerability that goes into that, especially considering aforementioned gendered expectations and the ways they both already fuck around with them, and how well they know each other at that point. And if I’m gonna take “Inga” at face value, Hawkeye isn’t as out about his (in this headcanon) preferences as one might have thought, so being vulnerable with a stranger? Or someone who isn’t as under his skin as Margaret is?  

What I do wonder about is whether later seasons Hawkeye is… all that interested in sex? Overall? Comparatively? Sure, there’s the occasional “Hawkeye has a date” or “Hawkeye does some flirting (with friends),” but – I will go more into this in my next post about women in MASH – when he talks to Marina in opening s10 about how he’s not treated women right in the past + has seen too much to ever be wide-eyed again, it is both good reasons to blow her off, and also something I definitely read at face value.

It also goes into something someone said on a post (I’m sorry I cannot remember where) about how later seasons had less sex, but also less homoeroticism hand-in-hand with that, but also that it’s just that the tone is overall – for Hawkeye more than any other character (he frequently gets The Narrative end of the stick, while everyone else is having a bit of a laugh) – less light-hearted at that point, and also it may have had to do with how they wanted to write the women who did come on the show (again, for next post). My point is that it all adds up to make him seem both Really Really Tired and Much Less Interested In Sex, and then as a consequence gives it a fun read of maybe he's less interested in sex, because he’s so damn tired?

In that scenario is he looking for an occasional fun time with his good friend Margaret Houlihan who maybe would step on him wearing heels (a thing he has canonically lamented her not doing at one point on the show) if he asked nicely and called her sir? Or is it that by the time they become good enough friends that he might trust her and she might trust him with these sexual and gender transgressions, he’s not in a place to try and make anything like this happen at all, because he’s just… tired?

But overall, I do think out of anyone at the 4077th… except for maybe Klinger (and also Sid, if we’re going beyond-but-adjacent), Margaret is the person who might be able to accommodate for Hawkeye the best, and Hawkeye might be able to give Margaret something she doesn’t entirely know how to balance with other men (the one downside is that technically Margaret would wanna be doing something like this with a guy like Trapper – bigger/more traditionally outwardly masculine, but it’s not like she doesn’t find Hawkeye attractive/I don’t think it would be a total dealbreaker – anyway, also smthinsmthin Hawkeye and Margaret are often attracted to the same kinda guy… as for women, I think Hawkeye is pretty broad, while Margaret likes Strong Women (similar to the men))

Meanwhile Margaret, it feels like, has prepared herself for this lifetime of loneliness, except she’s got this family all around her and maybe this guy who’s also not looking for normative relationship structures and is also Not Correct in vague, unspoken (queer) ways. But maybe, again, around the time where it could conceivably be going on, neither of them are in that headspace or maybe they can get each other out of the more tragedy-filled-careening-towards-the-end-of-the-narrative headspace, I can’t say for sure until I’ve finished the show

and speaking of that unknowable space...

What about after the show then?

*

3. So here’s some stuff I can’t know until I’ve finished it -- I don’t know where Hawkeye ends up and I don’t know where Margaret ends up (or anyone else for that matter), but I do think they’re the two characters who are the most conflicted at this point and likely will be right through to the end 

Margaret has made a choice to not get into a romantic relationship with anyone unless they understand her as she is, and so to all intents and purposes has practically sworn off romantic relationships -- this is also framed as her putting her career first, although not entirely. It’s more like she’s putting herself first, but also… there’s something there that doesn’t quite fit. It’s certainly more possible for her to stick with the military than to conform to a housewife ideal, because she’s been with the military her whole life, but she also no longer idealizes what it is and stands for. I really do wonder where she’ll be by the end and I sort of assume she’ll stay with the military, but I also read that somewhat through the lens of disappointing, but expected romances.

Because she’s changed a lot. I don’t think the military really is her home, but I don’t think she knows of anywhere else to go. So I wouldn’t be surprised if she stays with it – I think it would be in character – I just think it would be bittersweet. Better than a marriage, but also not as good as she could do if she could unpack some more of those vague ideas that niggle in her brain (it’s queerness, but not just that, but this read of her is based around that aromanticism in particular).

And meanwhile Hawkeye is just a mess. Idk, I can’t see that changing. I also can’t see where I’d place him after the war, because I can’t see him as okay in that movie-lotr Frodo Baggins Can Never Go Home way. I can’t see anyone as technically “okay,” but I don’t think he has anyplace where he could go to attempt what people call “resuming a normal life.” Hell, I’m not even entirely sure I could see him continuing as a surgeon (that episode with the surgeon who completely breaks down is uh… well, it’s not there for nothing). Similar to Margaret, but with added PTSD, there’s all that Vagueness niggling at his brain, which maybe angers him, because he already knows he’s a big ol bisexual who falls for married men, so what gives? And he doesn’t even have a fallback like the army. At best he might simply be a surgeon or a general practitioner, but you know… The Horrors. I can’t see him as anything but haunted for the rest of his life

And so thinking of a dream scenario where they both somehow make it and it’s not just “trying to get by (trying to get by in the army, trying to get by back in Maine, trying to remember what “home” is supposed to be)” I’m like… what if they just moved in together and tried to deal with the Vagueness together, same as they’ve done multiple times on the show? 

(And sidenote I maybe should’ve gotten into earlier, it’s so interesting that their romantic travails are shared with one another more than any other character -- Hawkeye is the person who knows the most about what was going on with her and Frank/Don/Sully, and she knows about him and Kyung Soon, and the aforementioned Big Conversation about The Revolving Heart Of Korea, which is said by Margaret, but is really the both of them)

(sidenote: Hawkeye is consistently the person who makes her smile like this the most)

(other other sidenote: “double-solitaire” ought to be codeword for queerplatonic aro partnership?????)

(other other other sidenote: literally just watched “Birthday Girls” in which Margaret rails against getting sympathy, but in this one she accepts it so readily from Hawkeye, and has done multiple times ever since the episode with the dog)

Margaret is the woman (maybe even the person) that Hawkeye knows best/has Hawkeye’s number and has done from very early on (but now she’s incredibly fond of that nr), Hawkeye is at least 10% of Margaret’s perfect man, it would be a great beard for the both of them, and they’d be able to draw a lot of comfort from each other.

And you know... they See Each Other and don’t expect the other person to change the core of themselves to fit, and they could challenge one another to become their most truthful selves better than anyone else could 

*

SO IN CONCLUSION WOULD MARGARET DOM HAWKEYE (is barely the question that’s been answered in this long fucking post): IT DEPENDS 

early seasons Hawkeye would have been SO up for it, but Margaret would not + it wouldn’t have been great for either of them I think? Although, sometimes they got along, even then, so maybe off the back of an episode like that... (but I do think it matters that they never canonically have sex until “Comrade in Arms”)

later seasons Hawkeye may have been too depressed for sexual frolicking and Margaret was going through an identity crisis, so idk, somewhere in between all of that somewhere? 

POST seasons Hawkeye and Margaret... maybe? depending on where you puttem? if they get to spend time together?

would they at the very least have fantasized about it? Oh yeah, absolutely!

I leave you with this image:

[annalynnaeus]

Queens Play immediate reactions

I finished Queens Play last night.

A few disorganized thoughts before I get going on the Disorderly Knights...

Talking to my IRL friends about Lymond Chronicles has been challenging, because it’s hard to sell ‘250 pages of total confusion followed by 250 pages of *intense melodrama*.’ Even the funniest quotes and lines generally don’t land without the context. 

For example, from Game of Kings, “I wish to God,” said Gideon with mild exasperation, “that you’d talk—just once—in prose like other people.” -- terribly funny, probably the most quoted line from the entire series....but its hard to fully appreciate unless you’ve suffered through 350 pages of Lymond’s obnoxious quotations and literary references.

I prefer Game of Kings to Queens Play. They are equally confusing for the first half, and both have their payoff in the second half, but Game of Kings was somehow more satisfying.

I was a little nonplussed by Margaret Erskine, of all people, being such a major character out of nowhere. Of course Lymond is nonplussed by her for almost exactly the same reason.

Queens Play was definitely funnier. I was giggling through large parts of the second half the book. 

Margaret Lennox is not a...likable character, but she gets some *amazing* lines in Queens Play. 

Another few funny lines that don’t land without context, courtesy of Margaret Lennox and Lymond snarking at each other.

“’ Pray don’t allow the shock of it to confuse you,’ she said. ‘Popular resurrections are a tedious pastime of Francis’s. Had I known he would do this, I need not have played out our particular farce.’“

And then again, later, Lymond to Margaret: 

“’Well. On which aspect of our ill-advised doings are we about to lecture each other? I have very little to say. As I recall, I exhausted the matter on several other occasions.’”

‘I hate your guts, we spent all of Game of Kings trying to destroy each other, but this is Queens Play and we’re not actually at odds in this plot-line...awkward...’.

Or consider Little Queen Mary challenging Oonagh O’Dwyer to a knife fight. Adorable, hilarious, incredible writing...but how can you explain it to people without the entire backstory???

Still, Queens Play was a little more impersonal than Game of Kings. In Game of Kings you have Lymond’s entire family, honor, and country at stake. There’s some really intense scenes in Queens Play, but nothing that can quite compare to the *poetry* of the scene in book 1 where he’s playing mute while being tortured to avoid compromising Christian Stewart, or Richard nursing him back to health so he can stand trial and be executed for treason. 

[onceuponaprincessworld]

CaptainSwan Fanfictions Rec

Hello Beautiful Fandom, here is some of my favorites ONE-SHOTS of our now married couple!!! Some are old, some are new, hope you enjoy!

We Got Us,     lifeinahole

How they got together is mostly a run-of-the-mill story. Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. A strange and complicated courtship followed. All that really matters to either of them is that they're happy. They're in love. They're miles away from anyone who cares if they are in a relationship or not. Which means their peace can't last, of course.

The Morning, and Then Some, of the Day After,   Sambethe

This wasn't exactly the trip he'd had in mind. He'd be an idiot to say he minded in the least. 

Fake Your Death, literatiruinedme

Hospital attendings au.

Access Granded,  Swanandapirate

This is a AU where Emma works for FBI  and Killian is a hacker.

Life with(out) you,   Swanandapirate

Ship It,  lifeinahole

College professors turned secret dating au.

280 Days,  canwetalkaboutcaptainswan

Captain Swan twin pregnancy fic! 

It’s Always Been You (And You Should Know That), alwaysaprilia

Prince Killian of Misthaven was never meant to rule-as the second son, he was content to let the limelight and responsibility fall upon his older brother, the Crown Prince Liam, while he lived a carefree life of adventure, tempting danger at every turn-much to the consternation of his body guard and best friend, Captain Emma Swan.

After Liam’s untimely death, the entire Kingdom is thrown into a tailspin, and none worse than Killian and Emma. Killian must now step up to the role he was never meant to play, and Emma must deal with the consequences of falling in love with her charge, the Prince who would be King.

AND ALL THIS DEVOTION,  stophookingatmeswan

Kiss me, I'm Irish ☘,  startswithhope

Just a little smutty Friends to Lovers (with no pining!)

Friendship Is Nice. Friendship and Lingerie Is Nicer,  goddesswan 

Emma gets some new lingerie and, intending to get approval from her friends, accidentally sends some revealing pictures to the wrong group chat.

Savior Ink,  startswithhope

“Every artist has their signature and hers, well it’s cover-ups. Sometimes it’s to mask a now unwanted tat but her favorite is to cover a scar, or as she likes to explain to her clients, honor it. She gets a rush at taking something unwanted and turning into something to cherish.“

Classroom Distractions,  beardetective

Everybody taking one of Professor Killian Jones' lectures knew Mrs. Jones. Or, if they didn't know she was actually his wife, they knew the blonde woman who he called "Swan" and who occasionally snuck into the room and made their professor's always excited grin grow even wider. (NOT StudentxProfessor)

I'm Stuck in Here with You, TryingforTrueGrit

Emma and Killian have a big brother kid sister dynamic. They each have feelings for one another but believe those feelings to be be unrequited. Trapped in Dave's closet, those feelings become harder to suppress.

Not Quite On The Same Page,  Nostalgia_101

Roommates AU where best friends Emma and Killian keep choosing the most inopportune times to confess their deeper feelings to one another.

Rm 6725,  HelloTragic

Emma Swan is having a horrible day, and just when she thinks things might look up, she gets stuck with a very cranky patient, but God is he gorgeous.

Nurse Emma Swan.

Off The Menu,   kissmelikeapirate

The kitchen was too small for two chefs: especially when one was an arrogant flirt who was after HER job.

An Open Book,  hookedonbooks22

Emma Swan moved to Storybrooke in search of the sense of peace she'd always longed for.

She hadn't realized that she might find it between the pages of a book.

Or in the person who wrote it.

Dumbledore Guy,   dameofpowellestate

When Emma was born she was marked with, in her opinion, the worst soulmate mark anyone could ever have. People are born marked with the first words their true love would ever say to them, and Emma's happened to spoil one of the greatest plot twists of all time.                                                             

 A Seasick Crocodile,   nowforruin 

After one too many bad setups, Emma thinks the best way to get out of another blind date is to tell her sister-in-law she already has a boyfriend. But when her brother makes the assumption she's dating Killian Jones, Emma just might need a Christmas miracle to pull it off.

To Repair a Heart ,  Ice_Cube44

In the 1950's Pediatric Cardiology was a fairly new field. But that didn't stop Doctor Killian Jones from accepting that as a challenge. When Emma Swan brings her young son Henry to his office with a rare birth defect that threatens his very life, they will have to fight together in order to save his life. That's all there is - she's his patient's mother and he's her son's doctor. Until that isn't all there is. 

Take a Picture It'll Last Longer,  imhookedonaswan

Emma Swan doesn't want to lie about her relationship with Killian Jones, friend and roommate of her best friend's boyfriend, but she cannot face Mary Margaret's "I told you so" face. The easiest thing to do is just pretend to hate each other.

Unexpected,  Hookedonapirate

“I don’t know how to say this, love, but I think you’re pregnant

Between Brothers,   madjm

Killian never meant to fall for his brother’s girl.

all our friends want us to fall in love,   midwestwind

“I don’t do relationships,” she says as Killian takes a large bite out of his half of the grilled cheese. He raises an eyebrow at the non sequitur.

“Okay,” Killian says, dragging the word out, once his mouth is no longer full.

“I just don’t want you to get any ideas about what this,” she motions between them, “is. I’m not interested in anything more than what we’re doing now.”

(emma swan meets killian jones at a wedding. you know where that leads.)

And Now, Here's Your Host,  cereal

"We need to pick a lane, Emma. We go full on with the internet-friendly bits and schtick, or we give the viewers another reason to watch — our numbers are too dependent on the guests right now, we want everyone tuning in every time." (a 'Tonight Show' AU with Emma as the host and Killian as the new bandleader!)

Civic Duty,  VickyVicarious

After three months of Killian going on about some girl named Swan, Liam gets impatient with waiting for his little brother to introduce him to his girlfriend, and decides to take matters into his own hands. ...In a suitably embarrassing way to punish him for the delay, of course. 

Hat Trick,   bookstoreromantic

When Killian Jones, the Rangers’ star right-winger, breaks his hand after blocking a shot, Emma is tapped to get him healed and back on the ice. 

Holding On For Your Call,   seastarved

A little fic because I have feelings about them growing old together. Inspired by the Underworld phone line in 5x16 and set in some happily ever after where Killian and Emma have the time to build their lives together.

I'll Cover You,   PhiraLovesLoki

A contest radically alters the relationship between Emma Swan and Killian Jones, lead singers of two local bands. Captain Swan Battle of the Bands AU.

It Was Certain,   tnlph

When your best friend insists you marry him for free health insurance, you go with it.