Benvolio X Mercutio - Tumblr Posts

Thoughts on Mercutio and Benvolio as a ship versus Benvolio and Jutiet's cousin as a ship (I forgot his name. I know it starts with a T)

OOOH BOY BUCKLE UP MY FRIEND

Before getting into this too deeply for such a small fandom, I don't mean this as hate to any other ships. It's a play from 400 years ago and people can ship whoever they want (unsurprisingly I find incestuous ships iffy but I'm not going to throw internet hands or anything because again, 400 year old fiction).

That said, here are my thoughts:

Upon reading the play, Benvolio and Mercutio are the kind of pair that you look at and think "oh yeah, the internet definitely wants these two to kiss" and it's not my least favorite ship for Benvolio. The Still Star Crossed fandom is going to eat me alive if they see this but I don't really understand Benvolio x Rosaline. I haven't watched the show but from my excursions though the Benvolio tag it looks nicely developed. However, I'm going off of the original play and the musical and I just don't see it. Benvolio and Mercutio have a lot of on stage chemistry together when done right, and I actually like the ship quite a lot! I think that in terms of the story them being in a relationship makes a lot of sense and there's a lot of really beautiful fanfiction and art in the fandom!

Having said that, I personally feel that Mercutio and Romeo have even more chemistry on stage. Benvolio is commonly shown as having to stop both of them from their impulsive ideas that could (and do) get them killed. Subjectively I find the dynamic of two impulsive people in a relationship more appealing than a chaos baby being constantly held back by their partner. I also really like the foils in the play falling in love because of the dynamic. The realist and the idealist. I find that it just works better.

And on to Benvolio and Tybalt. I. Love. This. Ship. To the point where I made a side account for it to fill the content void. This play is full of unstable people and relationships. Pretty much the entire cast need a lot of therapy, including these two. The difference is I think they would balance each other out and complement each other well. It's still an impulsive person and a rational person, but without the parenting dynamic of Bencutio. Because they're on opposite sides, Benvolio isn't holding Tybalt back, Tybalt would hold himself back. And I genuinely believe that he is capable of doing that unlike other characters. Benvolio already doesn't want to fight him, but he's always going to be tasked with babysitting Mercutio and Romeo no matter who is dating who.

In conclusion, I like both but think that Mercutio is a better match for Romeo and Benvolio and Tybalt would complement each other and have more of an equal stance in the relationship. And boy do I love healthy relationships being portrayed. I also think that Romeo is better with Mercutio than Juliet but that's (possibly) a conversation for another day.

Thanks for the ask, I hope my ramblings aren't too nonsensical!