The Current Thing Trad Losers Are Losing Their Minds Over Is One Singular Dude On Reddit That Refurbished

podcast mutuals posting about john doe. musical theater mutuals posting about jane doe. all is right with the world.

i spent way too long cutting the backgrounds out of these images

You know what’s the saddest part about this? That black queer girls have lost yet another form of representation. Black lightning? Cancelled. Batwoman? Cancelled. Naomi? Cancelled. I know what it’s like to be a young black lesbian and all I see on tv are white gays and feeling like there was no community for me. We shouldn’t have to dig, scrape and pull for representation. As always Black Lesbians deserve better.

starting a collection

been thinking about appearances and stuff

Hmmmm

What she says: I'm fine

What she means: in act 1 Macbeth and his wife are physically apart, they obviously don't hear each other's soliloquies but they always know each other's thoughts, they are quite literal partners in crime (and in greatness), which makes it all the more jarring when in 3.2 they are on stage together, talking to each other, and even assuming each other's language to a point where there's an obvious sense of déjà-vu, and yet their understandings are exactly opposite, marking the beginning of the end and the breakdown of communication between them. In other words arguably what destroys them is the role-reversal that makes each of them too much like the other and leaves them vulnerable to new flaws and fears, which in turn leaves room for the guilt and paranoia to filter in, and just like that the most intimate marriage in all of Shakespeare's theatre is done for. They will never be intimate again. I could just about scream.

I grew up in a judgemental household, and have far too many memories of my mother saying "I just don't understand how/why someone would [insert common human behavior she didn't vibe with]." I heard it so often that my instinctive response to that attitude became--that sounds like a failure of imagination on your part. I may not share a person's preferences/habits/behaviors etc, but that doesn't mean I can't accept that such people exist, or exercise my emotional intelligence a bit to guess why humans might make some of the choices they do.

There is, however, one thing that consistently puzzles me about humanity, and that is how so many people seem to actively dislike spending time alone with themselves? I genuinely struggle to wrap my head around this.

Details about the original resj Tybalt that make me go insane and changed me as a person:

Although he mentions his father told him “women were just objects”, his closest relationships seem to be with women. He does not seem to respect or like Lord Capulet all that much, but listens to Lady Capulet when she tells him to fix the Romeo situation (he says “I’ll clean this up with his blood” and she replies “Go do it”). The other (and the only normal and healthy) close relationship he has is with the Nurse. He even holds he hand at the ball (which is saying something considering he is so gloomy all the time). This makes me wonder: was the Nurse his nurse as a child, or did he just spend a lot of time with her and Juliet? It’s unlikely he grew up with the Nurse, as it was rare for male children to have nurses (though this Anachronistic Dystopian Verona so who knows but) I’m leaning toward the latter explanation.

He treats the older servant rudely in Act II, but this same servant was gesturing/speaking angrily at him when he hears the gossip about Juliet and Romeo, which makes me think Tybalt is not normally that rude to him and even lets him get mad at him. It seems he is rude and aggressive towards the servants in one moment, then kind and respectful to them in the next. I don’t believe this is an inconsistency in the acting - his emotions and ability to communicate with others are just all over the place.

After he dies, the Nurse hugs his body, and has to be dragged away by a servant.

Also after he dies, two servant women (one of whom was the one who Tybalt grabs in Ez a Kéz Utolér) weep over his body during the entire scene. They don’t even stand up and bow like everyone else when the Prince arrives because they are too busy grieving over his body.

It’s unclear to me if Lady Capulet was ordering him to kill Romeo. She mentions his father’s memorial, and says “everyone will be there. We’re counting on you.”. I don’t know the director’s intent, but I think by saying “everyone will be there” she means that there will be no witnesses (ie the prince) when he goes to harm/kill Romeo.

He and Lord Capulet don't seem to get along. In bootlegs, he turns away when Tybalt has a seizure, and just seems annoyed (maybe even ashamed) by him in general. BUT, the expression on his face when he sees Tybalt’s body is utterly heartbroken. This Lord Capulet is probably the least violent, but he actually rushes at the Montagues to fight them after he finds out Tybalt’s dead. Compare this to Lord Capulet’s unfeeling “we were born to die” speech about Tybalt’s death in Shakespeare.

His impulsiveness seems to be a trait that he shares with Lady Capulet and Juliet. He says things like “when a beloved woman loves someone else, the broken heart will take revenge” and calls Romeo Juliet’s “man” despite the fact they’ve only just met. He’s very dramatic about Juliet only kissing Romeo, and jumps to the conclusion that she loves him immediately. To everyone else that would be a leap, but he’s actually 100 percent correct.

He doesn’t smile ONCE (except bitterly).

At one point he gets Paris away from Juliet and goes to ask her to dance, but she doesn’t see him and goes away before he can ask. He turns back to Paris, who claps at him (presumably making fun of him). Then Tybalt dance-slaps (?) him and congas (it’s not conga-ing but let me have this one) out of the room.

He pours something blue in a cup and drinks it during Belem Eget. I still don’t know what that’s supposed to be. Some kind of medicine for his seizure? An alcoholic drink? Poison? I’m not sure, but there must have been a reason the director chose to do that.

I’ve heard it theorized that the doll he keeps in the cabinet where he keeps the locket (so presumably the things that are secret and important to him) is meant to actually be Juliet. I don’t think that’s the case, in part due to the fact that the doll has light blonde hair, while the main Juliet has darker blonde hair, and the alternate has brown. It’s also unlikely that someone got him the doll, because it’s a “girl” toy. If they wanted to, they could easily have made it a stuffed animal or something that was not meant exclusively for girls, but they didn’t, which makes me think it was actually Juliet’s doll. So either he took it, or Juliet gave it to him, which is why he cherishes it (hopefully the latter explanation). Obviously it’s meant to represent the childhood innocence that was stolen for him, but it seems to me it also could imply he was close with Juliet at one point.

He holds the locket all the time. It appears he grabs it when he has a seizure, and in Bélem Égett after he takes it out of the safe (?) he puts it in for safekeeping. After Mercutio taunts him by ripping the locket off, Tybalt reaches for it while Mercutio holds it, and goes to pick it up after he throws it. He wraps it around his left hand before stabbing Mercutio, then goes offstage. When he comes back, he is wearing the locket.

Speaking of, when he comes back when Mercutio is dying, he (and the other Capulets) goes to catch Mercutio when he falls (this is easier to see in another bootleg). After Mercutio dies, Tybalt goes off to the side of the stage and holds the locket he’s wearing again. He still holds it when Romeo rushes at him, and makes a really weak attempt to defend himself before he dies. I think it’s possible his very weak attempt at self-defense is meant to imply that he actually wants to die.

It’s not actually a small detail, but the way he considers not fighting Romeo during the duel is so important (to me at least). This says so much, especially considering he has an extra reason to hate the Montagues (they killed his father).

Romeo has a reputation as a “ladies man”. Tybalt calls him a “heartbreaker” or “Don Juan” or something to that effect. Obviously, his feelings about Romeo stem from jealousy, but also from the fact that he truly believes Romeo is just using Juliet and will break her heart and ruin her reputation.

Please note I’m not trying to excuse his behavior! He has issues and I’m not denying that. I just find these details really interesting.

Mercutio handing Benvolio knives for the better part of a song. (And that last bonus gif where he doesn’t give him the knife and Benvolio looks so annoyed.)