OOC: All About Tybalt
Since he's kind of from a really obscure source canon (a Hungarian reinterpretation of a French musical based on Romeo and Juliet), this is a handy-dandy general information post detailing everything you should need to know about interacting with Tybalt.
THE SHOW
This particular Tybalt is from Rómeó És Júlia: Szerelem A Gyûlölet Ellen, which premiered in Budapest, Hungary in 2004 and was commercially released on DVD in 2005. The role actually rotates among three actors, as is traditional in most European theater, but this RP account is based on the particular interpretation of Szilveszter Szabó, who's also the Tybalt on the DVD.
Because of the particular changes and atmosphere in this version, I personally tend to separate it from the standard Shakespearean R+J in my head, particularly by calling the heroine Julia (pronounced YOO-lee-ah). This is how Tybalt will refer to her if he mentions her. It's also distinguished by its setting- seriously, God only knows what era it's supposed to be in. I mean, this is what the duel looks like:
The general guesses I've read seem to be the suggestion that this Verona is a bit of a sci-fi universe, though it seems to be lacking any advanced technology, mainly bolstered by how much it looks like the miniseries versions of Gormenghast and Dune. In speaking, Tybalt will be using modern English, not faux-Shakespearean verse.
I'm working on creating a translated document of the show's script (with the assistance of my somewhat Hungarian-speaking roommate and Google Translate, since I don't speak Hungarian at all myself beyond a handful of words and the phrase for "It doesn't matter!"), which I will edit into this post for the curious when it's done, but in the meantime here are some subtitled videos to give an idea of what this world looks and sounds like:
If you actually for some reason want to watch the whole show with subtitles, in order, you can do that here.
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy? Tall, and he kind of tends to look taller thanks to being really narrow and wiry. His build comes off as rather… pointy, for lack of a better word.
2. How old is he? 23.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch? He tends to always look really, really tired. He slouches and leans on things, though when he leans it often involves kind of folding himself up in ways that look even less comfortable than just standing would be.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? His health is… reasonably good, you might say. He never gets quite enough sleep (to the point of having permanent dark circles around his eyes from age fifteen or so onward), and he ignores when he’s sick. On top of that, he had epilepsy back in his own world, but that’s not really an illness and more of a condition.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? He sort of stalks around tensely, though as soon as his game’s been thrown his movements get really jerky.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror? He’s actually quite handsome, though perhaps not as much as he could have been under different circumstances. When it comes to his own perceptions, though, he’d frankly rather forget he has a face at all, thanks to a certain someone back home repeatedly slyly suggesting that he was in fact hideous. That plus Tybalt’s own highly unformed impression of himself lead to a lot of mirror-smashing.
He does unfortunately make this kind of face a lot, though:
And you can usually see his lower set of teeth:
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? Rather dark. He has a few small, thin scars on his face, but those are from brawling, not from the ravages of puberty.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. Dark brown, thick, wavy, reaches his shoulders. This was less of a conscious decision on his part and more just him neglecting to get it cut.
9. What color are his eyes? Also dark brown.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? He, um, bares his teeth. A lot.
11. What are his chief tension centers? …it’s difficult to figure out what the chief ones are.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit? Dark to hide the bloodstains and utilitarian because he doesn’t really get the concept of fashion.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them? They tend to be a bit loose, particularly his shirts, and he’s never comfortable.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences? LOLOL WHAT IS THIS “FREE TIME” THAT YOU SPEAK OF
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? …oh lord I don’t even know what the underwear situation is on average where he comes from.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? It’s not a bad voice, but he’s usually pretty hoarse and hollow-sounding, and while it’s naturally low it tends to rise in pitch when he shouts (see next point).
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate? He has a rather halting, uncomfortable way of speaking even when he’s calm, and when he’s not he gets loud. And hoarse. It’s not pleasant.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? Not really. If the Translation Convention didn’t reign so hard in Mayfield he’d have a pretty damn thick Italian accent.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency? Italian and a little bit of Latin, the latter only gleaned from religious sources.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations? Does switching to angrish count?
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words? He has trouble with words, period.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? Oh god so inarticulate you get embarrassed just listening to him. I’m not sure this is even capable of changing.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart? In another universe where his parents survived, or even just one where his aunt and uncle expected him to fight but didn’t make that essentially the only thing he did learn, it might have been possible to tell that Tybalt’s actually quite intelligent. He probably would have been fairly deeply involved in highly scholarly pursuits in which he could have showed them off- though only through doing; he’s innately withdrawn and not much of a people person. That’s not something the Capulets did to him. In fact, in this alternate universe in which everything turned out well, it’s not inconceivable that his parents might have produced another son to whom Tybalt would have relinquished his right of inheritance so that Tybalt himself could wall himself up with books and studies, possibly even in a monastery.
What actually happened, though, is that Tybalt was pretty deprived of intellectual stimulation (beyond “human anatomy and how to rend it asunder”) at an age at which that’s extremely crucial. While his actual raw intelligence has stayed unchanged, his ability to use it has been fucked over pretty extremely. He has trouble reading emotional cues, facial expressions and tones of voice, he has trouble deciphering figures of speech. His spelling and writing are still extremely childish. He often fails at stringing sentences together without a lot of hesitation and mental rummaging for exactly the right words, and even a lot of those words tend to come out differently than he expected (and often just kind of awkwardly spat). A modern person might genuinely mistake Tybalt’s state for a form of autism, but autism is innate, and Tybalt’s state is definitely the result of abuse.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate? STAB FIRST HAVE NIGHTMARES AND SELF-LOATHING LATER
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? Tybalt is pretty much cynical beyond all reason, and he doesn’t think much before doing. I guess that’s a form of intuition? I don’t even know.
4. What kind of education has the character had? Mostly the fine art of fighting Montagues, interspersed with some military history (emphasis on the military) and math. He’s actually half-decent at math, or at least the kinds you use in balancing the family finances. If you put a complicated algebraic equation in front of him to solve, he’d probably stare at it for a few minutes before angrily crumpling it up and going outside to do pushups.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about? Do I need to even say what he’s good at by this point in the survey? Honestly?
He’d like to be better at calligraphy (see the monastery point above). He probably won’t ever be.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert? Introvert.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? GEE YOU GUYS THIS IS FREAKING TYBALT EVEN IF HE WEREN’T THIS VERSION WHAT DO YOU THINK HIS TEMPER WOULD BE LIKE- er, I mean, he’s generally pretty melancholy. And tense. And angry. Mostly tense.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? Suspicious and usually trying to figure out how to MacGyver a weapon if necessary. Unless his opponent is a woman, which is where the threats get… weird. And ineffective if the woman doesn’t care that there’s a wild-eyed man shouting, stammering and interspersed with small frustrated groans, that he will sit on her and hack her hair off or ruin her clothes or something.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react? …kind of both.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight? FIGHT until he has a seizure or gets arrested and is pulled off still shouting and leaking blood.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? JOKES WHAT ARE THOSE.
…well, okay, he’s occasionally given to very grim, self-deprecating humor. But that’s pretty rare. Sometimes he’ll make an absolutely awful and vaguely threatening joke about someone else, but be showing SO MANY TEETH when he smiles that the idea that it’s a joke never really hits you.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them? He’s pretty obviously clinically depressed, but everything else he has to put up with is an induced condition from his upbringing.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
14. What does he fear? THAT SOMEONE WILL STAIN JULIA’S VIRTUE whoops too late sorry bub. In all seriousness, though, his biggest fear is being seen as weak, which is a bit ironic, as plenty of people already do back home- or if not necessarily weak, like a spooked animal all the damn time.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations? Hahahaha hope what is that. (I’ll have to update this later, if Mayfield’s actually good for him. Even Mayfield’s got to be better than Verona.)
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents. HIS PARENTS ARE DEEEEEEEAAAAAD *backhand*
Tybalt tries not to think about his parents very often. He only has a dim memory of them having loved him to pieces, and his mother letting him hide behind her skirts when they met strangers for the first time. His father was often busy, but was usually good for piggyback rides.
They drowned when Tybalt was seven.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? No siblings.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand? Since the age of seven, Tybalt lived with his father’s younger sister Diana and her husband Lord Fulgencio Capulet, a wealthy merchant from Verona who also headed one of the city’s biggest clans (the other two being the rival Montagues and the royal house of Della Scala). Capulet raised Tybalt to be… well, look at him now. The self-loathing, brooding, self-harming aspects weren’t intentional, but the bits with being terrifyingly lethal certainly were. On a deep level he can’t bring himself to acknowledge, Tybalt honestly despises his uncle, but he’s bound to him by what Tybalt views as an almost sacred vow of loyalty and gratitude- as Capulet frequently reminded him as a child, had Tybalt not been taken into that household, he would have had to stay with the peasant family that found him washed ashore after the shipwreck and let him stay at their home, providing what food and warmth they could spare. In his first few years at House Capulet, Tybalt frequently found himself wishing that he’d been able to do just that, but by the time he was ten or so, that idea had been replaced by de facto devotion to the Capulet family. If people mention “your father” to him, he thinks of his uncle instead. Capulet also instilled Tybalt with a deeply dysfunctional attitude toward women thanks to forcing him into prostitutes’ beds a few times as a teenager, and since then Tybalt has sought the attentions of prostitutes mostly just because he thinks he has to.
His relationship with his aunt Diana was… confused. Diana never really had the backbone to defy her husband, and the marriage wasn’t a happy one, so she wasn’t very good with the dispensation of things like cuddles or affection either. What she was good at was inviting a very young Tybalt into her room in the mornings so he could help her pick out her jewelry and watch her hair being dressed and her clothes being laced on over her undergarments, which was a small respite from his usual habits. Diana, as trapped as he was, albeit differently, was just glad that someone was paying attention to her, and she frequently asked him how she looked just to hear him solemnly reply, “You’re very beautiful, Aunt Diana.” Diana would usually respond by thanking him with a kiss on the cheek and a response that he was growing up to be “such a handsome young man!”
This lasted until Tybalt was about fifteen and was starting to have disturbing nighttime fantasies about his aunt, which made him awkward around her, and was also starting to look less like an uncommonly solemn child and more like an adult. Thus, these morning visitations came to an abrupt and awkward end. A few hours prior to his arrival in Mayfield, Tybalt tried to kiss his aunt; she firmly pushed him away.
Then there are his extended relatives, a pack of mostly women he thinks of as his cousins despite not sharing any blood with most of them- they’re mainly Lord Capulet’s nieces. He mostly avoids them, though he thinks Rosaline’s got the right idea in joining a convent.
His one blood cousin is also the person most dear to his heart out of anyone and anything else in the world- Lord and Lady Capulet’s daughter Julia. Julia was still an infant when Tybalt was brought to House Capulet, and she has been the secret sun that his whole existence orbits ever since then. When they were both still children themselves- twelve-year-old Tybalt and five-year-old Julia- he would offer to look after her when her nurse and parents were busy. This usually entailed Julia playing the imprisoned princess that Tybalt the knight had to defend against invisible attackers (regardless of how much Julia really wanted to play the dragon anyway, and in a way that game never really ended for Tybalt. He still sees Julia as something fragile and beautiful that’s unable to withstand the outside world or the attentions of men, and it’s largely through Tybalt scaring away pretty much any male presence in her life that she’s remained as sheltered as she has. The fact remains, though, that Tybalt permanently sees her as something doll-like and fragile, always dressed in frills and perfectly behaved, when she’s really grown into a high-spirited, rebellious sixteen-year-old with a tendency to run around the house in just a chemise and a black petticoat, teasing her nurse and mother. Tybalt is certain that there is something sexual and perverse about his longing for Julia- he did wear a locket with her portrait in it right up until his arrival in Mayfield, and was prone to talking to her picture and stroking it with a finger- but he actually has trouble even viewing her as a sexual creature. She’s a perfect unstained virginal fairy princess, god damn it, and if he had to envision a life together with her, it would be that game all over again- Julia in a tower, Tybalt preventing anyone from touching her.
Less than two days before Tybalt’s arrival in Mayfield, life in Verona became a pileup of horrors in its own right as far as he was concerned- Lord Capulet arranged for Julia’s marriage to the Prince’s cousin Count Paris, Julia was allowed to wear an extremely revealing dress to the masquerade ball held in honor of the occasion, and then at the ball Julia was kissed by none other than Romeo Montague, the son of the Capulets’ late archrival and his widow. The next day, rumors were spreading that Julia may have even let Romeo into her bed, an idea so horrifying to Tybalt that he couldn’t even bring himself to fully consider the possibility, and when word got out that the pair had married in secret, Tybalt felt he had no choice but to try to kill Romeo for the sake of Julia’s honor.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them? He would never admit it, but Tybalt is really quite fond of Julia’s nanny and former nursemaid Angelica. Angelica was the only adult in the household who cared when Tybalt cried as a child or did anything to try to soothe him, and while there was only so much she could do without being sacked in disgrace for “coddling” him, she made it clear that in her own way, she loved him very much too. Even once he became a terrifying adult, Angelica still spoke fondly of and to Tybalt, and was pretty much the only person in existence who could actually get away with teasing him.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? He doesn’t really have one.
6. Does he have other close friends? He had a pack of servants who followed him around, though he was not really close with any of them.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people? The latter.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? House Capulet was his life, and he had no friends. Do the math.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once? Single.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? Um, do you count having confusing, uncomfortable hatesex with the Prince’s nephew Mercutio? Because there’s been a hell of a lot of that in his life, though that’s not exactly what one might call “romantic”.
Mercutio was both a sore spot and an addiction. Tybalt loathed him and the effortless way he talked circles around Tybalt, his ease of manners and his unwarranted physical familiarity with everyone he met. Tybalt despised Mercutio for his beauty and charm and ability to make friends and the way that nothing ever seemed to bother him, the way that even seeing him in the street invariably became a physical altercation that lead to Tybalt being humiliatingly chastised by the Prince while Mercutio just got a weary eye-roll from his uncle Escalus, the way that they couldn’t even have the occasional furious, secret fuck without bruising each other both physically and emotionally.
All of these are also reasons why, deep down, Tybalt was almost intoxicated by love for him, and why Tybalt allowed himself to be killed by Romeo Montague after accidentally slaying Mercutio. Mercutio was everything Tybalt wasn’t and could never be, and being with him allowed just a little taste of that, however painful it was.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest? He doesn’t really get crushes in the standard sense, unless you count his aunt as his first and Mercutio and Julia as his last.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner? The idea of romance never really occurs to him.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any? He doesn’t have any, and he doesn’t want any. He thinks he’d fuck them over.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies? Montagues, Mercutio, people who look at him funny, people who want to marry Julia…
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale? I’m honestly not sure where he sits on the Kinsey scale. His orientation is probably basically “biromantic if he ever allowed himself that kind of situation to begin with, 99% homosexual”.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him? He tends to think of it as a really unpleasant and base urge he wishes he could go without.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits? He’s, um, kind of a masochist and doesn’t realize it.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type? He’s a Pisces, which happened basically because I’m sort of respectfully borrowing this character from my best friend, who for some reason decided to give him my birthday. How flattering. Nevertheless, I went and looked up what Pisces men are supposed to be like, and I think it’s essentially true, though it really would have showed more in that alternate universe I mentioned above where he became a monk or librarian or something.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life? He’s Catholic, but feels his devotion to House Capulet outweighs his religious duties.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it? His code was basically “do what you’re told and suck it up”. He’s never been in a situation where this bends much.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? He’s indifferent to most things.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them? Um, well, he’s so deep in the closet he can see Narnia and is probably calling Mr. Tumnus a depraved sodomite. Tybalt’s extremely hateful of his own sexual urges, period, though. He also hates Montagues, but let it not be said that that side hasn’t prolonged the feud too.
THE FOLLOWING SECTION WILL BE FILLED OUT AFTER A MONTH OR SO IN MAYFIELD:
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color?
2. Smell?
3. Time of day?
4. Season?
5. Book?
6. Music?
7. Place?
8. Substance?
9. Plant?
10. Animal?
END
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THE SHOW
This particular Tybalt is from Rómeó És Júlia: Szerelem A Gyûlölet Ellen, which premiered in Budapest, Hungary in 2004 and was commercially released on DVD in 2005. The role actually rotates among three actors, as is traditional in most European theater, but this RP account is based on the particular interpretation of Szilveszter Szabó, who's also the Tybalt on the DVD.
Because of the particular changes and atmosphere in this version, I personally tend to separate it from the standard Shakespearean R+J in my head, particularly by calling the heroine Julia (pronounced YOO-lee-ah). This is how Tybalt will refer to her if he mentions her. It's also distinguished by its setting- seriously, God only knows what era it's supposed to be in. I mean, this is what the duel looks like:
The general guesses I've read seem to be the suggestion that this Verona is a bit of a sci-fi universe, though it seems to be lacking any advanced technology, mainly bolstered by how much it looks like the miniseries versions of Gormenghast and Dune. In speaking, Tybalt will be using modern English, not faux-Shakespearean verse.
I'm working on creating a translated document of the show's script (with the assistance of my somewhat Hungarian-speaking roommate and Google Translate, since I don't speak Hungarian at all myself beyond a handful of words and the phrase for "It doesn't matter!"), which I will edit into this post for the curious when it's done, but in the meantime here are some subtitled videos to give an idea of what this world looks and sounds like:
Click to viewIf you actually for some reason want to watch the whole show with subtitles, in order, you can do that here.
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy? Tall, and he kind of tends to look taller thanks to being really narrow and wiry. His build comes off as rather… pointy, for lack of a better word.
2. How old is he? 23.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch? He tends to always look really, really tired. He slouches and leans on things, though when he leans it often involves kind of folding himself up in ways that look even less comfortable than just standing would be.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? His health is… reasonably good, you might say. He never gets quite enough sleep (to the point of having permanent dark circles around his eyes from age fifteen or so onward), and he ignores when he’s sick. On top of that, he had epilepsy back in his own world, but that’s not really an illness and more of a condition.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? He sort of stalks around tensely, though as soon as his game’s been thrown his movements get really jerky.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror? He’s actually quite handsome, though perhaps not as much as he could have been under different circumstances. When it comes to his own perceptions, though, he’d frankly rather forget he has a face at all, thanks to a certain someone back home repeatedly slyly suggesting that he was in fact hideous. That plus Tybalt’s own highly unformed impression of himself lead to a lot of mirror-smashing.
He does unfortunately make this kind of face a lot, though:
And you can usually see his lower set of teeth:
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? Rather dark. He has a few small, thin scars on his face, but those are from brawling, not from the ravages of puberty.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. Dark brown, thick, wavy, reaches his shoulders. This was less of a conscious decision on his part and more just him neglecting to get it cut.
9. What color are his eyes? Also dark brown.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? He, um, bares his teeth. A lot.
11. What are his chief tension centers? …it’s difficult to figure out what the chief ones are.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit? Dark to hide the bloodstains and utilitarian because he doesn’t really get the concept of fashion.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them? They tend to be a bit loose, particularly his shirts, and he’s never comfortable.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences? LOLOL WHAT IS THIS “FREE TIME” THAT YOU SPEAK OF
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? …oh lord I don’t even know what the underwear situation is on average where he comes from.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? It’s not a bad voice, but he’s usually pretty hoarse and hollow-sounding, and while it’s naturally low it tends to rise in pitch when he shouts (see next point).
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate? He has a rather halting, uncomfortable way of speaking even when he’s calm, and when he’s not he gets loud. And hoarse. It’s not pleasant.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? Not really. If the Translation Convention didn’t reign so hard in Mayfield he’d have a pretty damn thick Italian accent.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency? Italian and a little bit of Latin, the latter only gleaned from religious sources.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations? Does switching to angrish count?
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words? He has trouble with words, period.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? Oh god so inarticulate you get embarrassed just listening to him. I’m not sure this is even capable of changing.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart? In another universe where his parents survived, or even just one where his aunt and uncle expected him to fight but didn’t make that essentially the only thing he did learn, it might have been possible to tell that Tybalt’s actually quite intelligent. He probably would have been fairly deeply involved in highly scholarly pursuits in which he could have showed them off- though only through doing; he’s innately withdrawn and not much of a people person. That’s not something the Capulets did to him. In fact, in this alternate universe in which everything turned out well, it’s not inconceivable that his parents might have produced another son to whom Tybalt would have relinquished his right of inheritance so that Tybalt himself could wall himself up with books and studies, possibly even in a monastery.
What actually happened, though, is that Tybalt was pretty deprived of intellectual stimulation (beyond “human anatomy and how to rend it asunder”) at an age at which that’s extremely crucial. While his actual raw intelligence has stayed unchanged, his ability to use it has been fucked over pretty extremely. He has trouble reading emotional cues, facial expressions and tones of voice, he has trouble deciphering figures of speech. His spelling and writing are still extremely childish. He often fails at stringing sentences together without a lot of hesitation and mental rummaging for exactly the right words, and even a lot of those words tend to come out differently than he expected (and often just kind of awkwardly spat). A modern person might genuinely mistake Tybalt’s state for a form of autism, but autism is innate, and Tybalt’s state is definitely the result of abuse.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate? STAB FIRST HAVE NIGHTMARES AND SELF-LOATHING LATER
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? Tybalt is pretty much cynical beyond all reason, and he doesn’t think much before doing. I guess that’s a form of intuition? I don’t even know.
4. What kind of education has the character had? Mostly the fine art of fighting Montagues, interspersed with some military history (emphasis on the military) and math. He’s actually half-decent at math, or at least the kinds you use in balancing the family finances. If you put a complicated algebraic equation in front of him to solve, he’d probably stare at it for a few minutes before angrily crumpling it up and going outside to do pushups.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about? Do I need to even say what he’s good at by this point in the survey? Honestly?
He’d like to be better at calligraphy (see the monastery point above). He probably won’t ever be.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert? Introvert.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? GEE YOU GUYS THIS IS FREAKING TYBALT EVEN IF HE WEREN’T THIS VERSION WHAT DO YOU THINK HIS TEMPER WOULD BE LIKE- er, I mean, he’s generally pretty melancholy. And tense. And angry. Mostly tense.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? Suspicious and usually trying to figure out how to MacGyver a weapon if necessary. Unless his opponent is a woman, which is where the threats get… weird. And ineffective if the woman doesn’t care that there’s a wild-eyed man shouting, stammering and interspersed with small frustrated groans, that he will sit on her and hack her hair off or ruin her clothes or something.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react? …kind of both.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight? FIGHT until he has a seizure or gets arrested and is pulled off still shouting and leaking blood.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? JOKES WHAT ARE THOSE.
…well, okay, he’s occasionally given to very grim, self-deprecating humor. But that’s pretty rare. Sometimes he’ll make an absolutely awful and vaguely threatening joke about someone else, but be showing SO MANY TEETH when he smiles that the idea that it’s a joke never really hits you.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them? He’s pretty obviously clinically depressed, but everything else he has to put up with is an induced condition from his upbringing.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
14. What does he fear? THAT SOMEONE WILL STAIN JULIA’S VIRTUE whoops too late sorry bub. In all seriousness, though, his biggest fear is being seen as weak, which is a bit ironic, as plenty of people already do back home- or if not necessarily weak, like a spooked animal all the damn time.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations? Hahahaha hope what is that. (I’ll have to update this later, if Mayfield’s actually good for him. Even Mayfield’s got to be better than Verona.)
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents. HIS PARENTS ARE DEEEEEEEAAAAAD *backhand*
Tybalt tries not to think about his parents very often. He only has a dim memory of them having loved him to pieces, and his mother letting him hide behind her skirts when they met strangers for the first time. His father was often busy, but was usually good for piggyback rides.
They drowned when Tybalt was seven.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? No siblings.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand? Since the age of seven, Tybalt lived with his father’s younger sister Diana and her husband Lord Fulgencio Capulet, a wealthy merchant from Verona who also headed one of the city’s biggest clans (the other two being the rival Montagues and the royal house of Della Scala). Capulet raised Tybalt to be… well, look at him now. The self-loathing, brooding, self-harming aspects weren’t intentional, but the bits with being terrifyingly lethal certainly were. On a deep level he can’t bring himself to acknowledge, Tybalt honestly despises his uncle, but he’s bound to him by what Tybalt views as an almost sacred vow of loyalty and gratitude- as Capulet frequently reminded him as a child, had Tybalt not been taken into that household, he would have had to stay with the peasant family that found him washed ashore after the shipwreck and let him stay at their home, providing what food and warmth they could spare. In his first few years at House Capulet, Tybalt frequently found himself wishing that he’d been able to do just that, but by the time he was ten or so, that idea had been replaced by de facto devotion to the Capulet family. If people mention “your father” to him, he thinks of his uncle instead. Capulet also instilled Tybalt with a deeply dysfunctional attitude toward women thanks to forcing him into prostitutes’ beds a few times as a teenager, and since then Tybalt has sought the attentions of prostitutes mostly just because he thinks he has to.
His relationship with his aunt Diana was… confused. Diana never really had the backbone to defy her husband, and the marriage wasn’t a happy one, so she wasn’t very good with the dispensation of things like cuddles or affection either. What she was good at was inviting a very young Tybalt into her room in the mornings so he could help her pick out her jewelry and watch her hair being dressed and her clothes being laced on over her undergarments, which was a small respite from his usual habits. Diana, as trapped as he was, albeit differently, was just glad that someone was paying attention to her, and she frequently asked him how she looked just to hear him solemnly reply, “You’re very beautiful, Aunt Diana.” Diana would usually respond by thanking him with a kiss on the cheek and a response that he was growing up to be “such a handsome young man!”
This lasted until Tybalt was about fifteen and was starting to have disturbing nighttime fantasies about his aunt, which made him awkward around her, and was also starting to look less like an uncommonly solemn child and more like an adult. Thus, these morning visitations came to an abrupt and awkward end. A few hours prior to his arrival in Mayfield, Tybalt tried to kiss his aunt; she firmly pushed him away.
Then there are his extended relatives, a pack of mostly women he thinks of as his cousins despite not sharing any blood with most of them- they’re mainly Lord Capulet’s nieces. He mostly avoids them, though he thinks Rosaline’s got the right idea in joining a convent.
His one blood cousin is also the person most dear to his heart out of anyone and anything else in the world- Lord and Lady Capulet’s daughter Julia. Julia was still an infant when Tybalt was brought to House Capulet, and she has been the secret sun that his whole existence orbits ever since then. When they were both still children themselves- twelve-year-old Tybalt and five-year-old Julia- he would offer to look after her when her nurse and parents were busy. This usually entailed Julia playing the imprisoned princess that Tybalt the knight had to defend against invisible attackers (regardless of how much Julia really wanted to play the dragon anyway, and in a way that game never really ended for Tybalt. He still sees Julia as something fragile and beautiful that’s unable to withstand the outside world or the attentions of men, and it’s largely through Tybalt scaring away pretty much any male presence in her life that she’s remained as sheltered as she has. The fact remains, though, that Tybalt permanently sees her as something doll-like and fragile, always dressed in frills and perfectly behaved, when she’s really grown into a high-spirited, rebellious sixteen-year-old with a tendency to run around the house in just a chemise and a black petticoat, teasing her nurse and mother. Tybalt is certain that there is something sexual and perverse about his longing for Julia- he did wear a locket with her portrait in it right up until his arrival in Mayfield, and was prone to talking to her picture and stroking it with a finger- but he actually has trouble even viewing her as a sexual creature. She’s a perfect unstained virginal fairy princess, god damn it, and if he had to envision a life together with her, it would be that game all over again- Julia in a tower, Tybalt preventing anyone from touching her.
Less than two days before Tybalt’s arrival in Mayfield, life in Verona became a pileup of horrors in its own right as far as he was concerned- Lord Capulet arranged for Julia’s marriage to the Prince’s cousin Count Paris, Julia was allowed to wear an extremely revealing dress to the masquerade ball held in honor of the occasion, and then at the ball Julia was kissed by none other than Romeo Montague, the son of the Capulets’ late archrival and his widow. The next day, rumors were spreading that Julia may have even let Romeo into her bed, an idea so horrifying to Tybalt that he couldn’t even bring himself to fully consider the possibility, and when word got out that the pair had married in secret, Tybalt felt he had no choice but to try to kill Romeo for the sake of Julia’s honor.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them? He would never admit it, but Tybalt is really quite fond of Julia’s nanny and former nursemaid Angelica. Angelica was the only adult in the household who cared when Tybalt cried as a child or did anything to try to soothe him, and while there was only so much she could do without being sacked in disgrace for “coddling” him, she made it clear that in her own way, she loved him very much too. Even once he became a terrifying adult, Angelica still spoke fondly of and to Tybalt, and was pretty much the only person in existence who could actually get away with teasing him.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? He doesn’t really have one.
6. Does he have other close friends? He had a pack of servants who followed him around, though he was not really close with any of them.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people? The latter.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? House Capulet was his life, and he had no friends. Do the math.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once? Single.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? Um, do you count having confusing, uncomfortable hatesex with the Prince’s nephew Mercutio? Because there’s been a hell of a lot of that in his life, though that’s not exactly what one might call “romantic”.
Mercutio was both a sore spot and an addiction. Tybalt loathed him and the effortless way he talked circles around Tybalt, his ease of manners and his unwarranted physical familiarity with everyone he met. Tybalt despised Mercutio for his beauty and charm and ability to make friends and the way that nothing ever seemed to bother him, the way that even seeing him in the street invariably became a physical altercation that lead to Tybalt being humiliatingly chastised by the Prince while Mercutio just got a weary eye-roll from his uncle Escalus, the way that they couldn’t even have the occasional furious, secret fuck without bruising each other both physically and emotionally.
All of these are also reasons why, deep down, Tybalt was almost intoxicated by love for him, and why Tybalt allowed himself to be killed by Romeo Montague after accidentally slaying Mercutio. Mercutio was everything Tybalt wasn’t and could never be, and being with him allowed just a little taste of that, however painful it was.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest? He doesn’t really get crushes in the standard sense, unless you count his aunt as his first and Mercutio and Julia as his last.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner? The idea of romance never really occurs to him.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any? He doesn’t have any, and he doesn’t want any. He thinks he’d fuck them over.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies? Montagues, Mercutio, people who look at him funny, people who want to marry Julia…
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale? I’m honestly not sure where he sits on the Kinsey scale. His orientation is probably basically “biromantic if he ever allowed himself that kind of situation to begin with, 99% homosexual”.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him? He tends to think of it as a really unpleasant and base urge he wishes he could go without.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits? He’s, um, kind of a masochist and doesn’t realize it.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type? He’s a Pisces, which happened basically because I’m sort of respectfully borrowing this character from my best friend, who for some reason decided to give him my birthday. How flattering. Nevertheless, I went and looked up what Pisces men are supposed to be like, and I think it’s essentially true, though it really would have showed more in that alternate universe I mentioned above where he became a monk or librarian or something.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life? He’s Catholic, but feels his devotion to House Capulet outweighs his religious duties.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it? His code was basically “do what you’re told and suck it up”. He’s never been in a situation where this bends much.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? He’s indifferent to most things.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them? Um, well, he’s so deep in the closet he can see Narnia and is probably calling Mr. Tumnus a depraved sodomite. Tybalt’s extremely hateful of his own sexual urges, period, though. He also hates Montagues, but let it not be said that that side hasn’t prolonged the feud too.
THE FOLLOWING SECTION WILL BE FILLED OUT AFTER A MONTH OR SO IN MAYFIELD:
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color?
2. Smell?
3. Time of day?
4. Season?
5. Book?
6. Music?
7. Place?
8. Substance?
9. Plant?
10. Animal?
END
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