#sentimental constantly overstimulated hawkeye read is the hill i'll... not die on but certainly not be pushed off

[variousqueerthings]

I don’t think that Hawkeye is all that cynical -- he’s got cynicism in him sure, there’s a streak of that, but it’s not his chief motivator by far. 

In fact I’d argue he actively fights cynicism in a way that suggests far more of the idealist, sentimentalist, and even optimist (again, pessimism is a trait of his, and may? even come more naturally than optimism, but he doesn’t let that stop him from assuming he’ll save every patient that comes his way, from getting deeply emotionally involved with others even though it’s not going to last over and over again, or from imagining Crabapple Cove over the horizon).

I feel like the main two reasons he gets called cynical (in-show and out) are the fact that he’s Going Through It mentally in a host of ways, and because of the use of comedy to cover it up, but the comedy isn’t all that cynical either. It often happens in the OR, but it’s not trying to make out that the surgery isn’t important, or that he isn’t feeling deeply about the war. And then there’s the comedy he does specifically to cheer others up, which definitely doesn’t suggest those things.

When he acts out, it’s not (usually) cynicism either, it’s righteousness. He’s the arbiter of what is right and wrong, and who is right and wrong, and how to deal with what is wrong, whether it be by crashing a peace talk, or by bullying a bunkmate whom he sees as representative of what is in some way wrong in the world. 

(He’s also incapable of being alone with his thoughts/of being left out of things/of not being noticed, but that’s also not cynicism, although it may lead to it if in own company for too long).

I think there’s a distinction between a character who’s world-weary and therefore shuts out the world by being pessimistic, and petty, and instead of facing it making (often harmful) jokes about it all, and a character who’s world-weary because he’s entirely incapable of shutting out the world because he’s very sensitive, and so needs to cope as best as he can, either by numbing with alcohol or jokes or disordered eating or constant activity + insomnia, or by leaning into aggressive optimism and idealism and chasing positive deep emotions, for however long they last.

and then every once in awhile all the things that trickle in despite all of his coping mechanisms, build up and up until he does... something, so it’s better to put all of that energy into smaller impulsive activities before it gets that far.