#also this is obv an interpretation through a queer lense- it can be interpreted in so many ways

[honeylavendermilktea]

mimi and musetta were in love no i am not just projecting my lesbianism onto others they were in love because

1) rodolfo and marcello were besties therefore these two would prolly spend a lot of time together. marcello and rodolfo also live together and i think mimi lived with them for awhile since she mentioned how she and rodolfo slept in the same bed many nights in act 3 when she’s telling marcello about how she’s dying (also she wouldn’t be telling him all of this unless she was close to him… which implies she was close to musetta too) and even if she didn’t live with them, she lived like right next door so you can assume she came over often to visit rodolfo , and would see musetta there often.

2) this prolly goes without saying but being gay was looked down on in those days so i’m sure mimi and musetta tried to keep their relationship under wraps (especually with musettas reputation)

3) musetta is characterized as a ”maneater“ type. she sleeps around and hangs out with men for money. she does this because she’s trying to avoid getting in a relationship with a man. she also says she hates lovers who act like husbands in act 3. girlboss says this since doesn’t want a husbanddd she doesn’t want to be tied down with a man since shes with mimi and uses her reputation as a maneater to hide her relationship

also there was this article (thanks @rayatii for showing me this!) talking about how mimi didn’t just coincidentally show up at rodolfos door , she was there to get food + fuck. she wasn’t looking for a relationship initially. but eventually, it turned into one since he was nice to her and it was a good way for her to cover up her relationship with musetta.

4) mimi left rodolfo lol. man was a horrible boyfriend. she had her scene where she broke down in front of marcello and told him about how he yelled at her and how he didn’t treat her right. but she came back to see how he was since she liked how kind he was at times, and despite his flaws she missed him. but he wasn’t her main reason for returning. she came back for musetta, and i think she pretended to get back with rodolfo so she’d have excuses to see musetta more. she says she wishes the winter would last forever but i think she meant this in a “i want to live” way, not a “i want to spend the rest of my life with rodolfo” way.

5) how did musetta know when mimi was dying, when she came into the apartment in act 4? cause she has been by her side most of the time to take care of her since her boyfriend is busy trying to write poetry and playing around at home 🤨 (also ironic how he claims mimi is his poetic muse but he doesn’t seem to want to spend time with her 😮‍💨) anyways musetta has been taking care of mimi. she sells her earrings to buy medicine for mimi even tho she’s literally aboit to die because she wants her last moments to be comfortable. and glamour and accessories are important to musetta! beauty is very important to her and obv earrings are not cheap in this time. girl is giving up a good deal of money just to ease mimis pain for a few minutes.

if i come up with more reasons i’ll rb this post and add on lol i am thinking so much about this today