SO close to escaping the hyv basement, I believe in him!!!!

dendro men and their little friends

one day, you’ll look up and realise you’re home

One of them has experience taking down his government and it sure wasn't Kaveh lol

Vourukasha Oasis 🌸

. 🦊✨

Wien 1825

RetJ 2019 and Bencutio

Okay, alright, I know, I’m getting a bit boring with my Moscow metas and posts, but… you guys.

Skipping along the bootleg to find a song, YT threw the part where Benvolio talks after La Haine, and Mercutio chimes in to echo his words when he calls him “Bizarre, tourmenteé, completement fou.” (Bizarre, tormented, completely mad.) in my face. I stopped to watch it, as I’d breezed through the bootleg once, but never properly watched it to see the new things.

Now, the dialogue of the scend has changed a little bit since 2010. The staging also. After repeating his words, Mercutio laughs, but stays silent (only mouthing a Moi?/Me? to the other Montagues a little earlier) while Benvolio tells him something I couldn’t understand (as I don’t speak French all that much), but it’s most probably an apology of some sort. And as he speaks, Mercutio descends the stairs and leaves all his devoted admirers of both genders hanging, walking up to Benvolio.

They kept the “Pardon ami. Frère! Frère.” (Sorry, my friend. Brother! Brother.) exchange, but it’s a little different this time. The words being said are actually: “(…) mon ami. Frère! Mais oui, frère!” [(…) my friend. Brother! Oh yes, brother!]. Not too big of a change, and they kept their handshake as well. Well, sort of. And here comes the actual best part.

As Benvolio says the mon ami thing, he does a little bow in front of Mercutio. But the second he does, Mercutio grabs his hand, and pulls him up. He touches his shoulder with his other hand, still not letting go of the other one as he says the “frère” line. Even as they run out of the scene together, Mercutio has an arm around Benvolio. The only thing that has not changed since 2010 are the grins they have on their faces as they exchange these lines. (Though I can only assume Benvolio’s as he’s standing with his back to the camera.)

Of course, the staging conveys a completely different approach than the previous one. In the 2010 pro-shot, the focus is more on Mercutio as a friend, a tease, and above all, a cocky little royal ass. He taunts Benvolio rather boldly, and waits for him to come up the stairs to him, as he knows he will. The way JE delivers his lines, it’s almost like he’s flirting. Which Mercutio most probably is, knowing him. Benvolio stands a couple steps lower and looks up to him while they talk, kind of signifying his lower status. It’s also Mercutio offering his hand for a handshake, as it’s always the one in a higher position taking the lead according to the etiquette. (Yes, I just looked that up. I ain’t that knowledgeable.)

The 2019 bootleg portrays them completely as equals. Mercutio, unlike his dialogues with any other character in the show, stays silent for Benvolio, and actually leaves the people whose attention he was basking in to go to him instead. As (surprise, surprise) he matters more than any of them. He even argues with Romeo several times. The most he goes against Benvolio is shove him away a little once when he runs to help Romeo in the duel scene. He’s never done him wrong, never left him. So when Benvolio wants to bow, and remind Mercutio that he’s supposed to be of a lower position, the latter won’t have any of it, and literally won’t let go of him.

They are, and I can’t stress this enough, soulmates. Opposites, but similars. Two halves of a whole impulsive idiot. And, to quote a beautiful fanfic I’ve read a while ago (which I forgot the name of, but it wasn’t a RetJ fic): “Benvolio cannot stop loving Mercutio, in any way the people think, and Mercutio will not stop loving Benvolio.”

(Sorry this got so long ^^“ Thanks for sticking around!)

Romeo + Juliet (1996) || Hannibal (2013-2015)

Source (couldn’t find the original post to reblog):