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free-for-all-fics · 9 months

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Romeo and Juliet Prompts! These are written with the Hungarian musical production in mind, (seriously it slaps and it slaps hard. It’s so dark, gothic, and sexy.) but I guess any adaptation of the play could work. Pls tag me if you’re inspired by any of these ideas and I’d love to read it! 🎭🧡

1. You’re Mercutio’s best friend and are secretly in love with his uncle, Prince Escalus. You know you shouldn’t be and your love is unrequited. He’s so much older than you, and he’s too great and too high above you. He’s a Prince and the leader of Verona, while you’re just a commoner of low birth who comes from nothing. You’re not a woman of noble blood nor do you come from a family of status like the Montagues or Capulets. In your late teens and still unmarried, you’re considered an old maid and undesirable to most men. One or both of your parents may be dead already and you’ve been managing on your own. You’ve only shared a few words with the Prince while visiting Mercutio. His position is an important one and he’s always so busy; Verona is a demanding city to watch over so you doubt he’s ever really noticed you.

You thought you were being discreet and hiding your love for the Prince well, but Mercutio is an observant man. He’s known for years of your love for his uncle, and is sick and tired of watching you pine for him. He encourages you to stop skirting around and finally do something about it. Just walk into Escalus’ study and confess your feelings for him. Mercutio is stubborn and won’t let you leave or run away until you tell his uncle you love him. If he rejects you, at least you’ll know for sure and can move on with your life. You’re terrified you’ll only make a fool of yourself, but Mercutio has a feeling his uncle won’t deny you. The sooner you can start courting officially, the better. Mercutio jokes that at the speed you and his uncle have been going, he’ll be dead before you marry. After his untimely murder by Tybalt, you and Escalus are both deep in grief. You finally decide to marry, posthumously fulfilling Mercutio’s wish.

2. You’re Prince Escalus’ illegitimate daughter, but you’re still able to live comfortably and later achieve a measure of social standing due to your father’s noble blood. You may be a bastard, but you’re the daughter and so far only child to the Prince of Verona, which is nothing to scoff at. When your mother first came to Prince Escalus with news she was with his child, he wasn’t so sure if you were actually of his blood. Due to his demanding position as Prince, they hardly saw each other beyond sharing his bed. For all he knew, your mother could’ve been lying and trying to pass off another man’s child as his for some sort of monetary compensation or other personal gain.

But the moment you were born further confirmed you couldn’t be anyone else’s child but his - You had his eyes. As you grew up, you resembled him more and more in both looks and mannerisms/personality. He tries to be a good father to you, but he’s often absent because to his never-ending duties and the restrictions of the time period. He can’t raise you, but he’ll send you or your mother money or do what he can to support you. When he’s too preoccupied with his obligations, he may send out his servants to keep an eye on you and report back to him so he knows you’re happy and in good health.

As you’ve grown up, you’ve very rarely spent time with or even talked to your father. The only time you’re able to be alone with him is if he summons for you. You’ve only been inside the castle a handful of times, but you’ve cherished each of your father’s visits. You appreciate his efforts to make time for you, knowing it’s near impossible and a rare treat if he can sit down and take a break. As you grow older, you can see the toll the feud between the Capulets and Montagues is taking on your poor father as he tries to keep the peace. You wish there was something you could do to help him and end the feud. After Mercutio and Paris’ untimely deaths, he finally orders the rivaling families to reconcile and make peace. Meanwhile, he wants to marry you off so that he knows you’ll be safe and taken care of after his own inevitable death. He can’t bear to lose more of his kin to the blade or the plague that’s ravishing the country. Your arranged husband is your cousin, Valentine. He’s Mercutio’s brother and one of Escalus’ only surviving kinsman.

3. You’re a servant in the Capulet household and Tybalt’s secret lover. Thanks to the seemingly never-ending animosity that exists between these noble families, breaches of the peace have become an all-too-common occurrence on the streets of Verona. You’ve been involved in fights against Montague servants at least twice now, wanting to defend your lover’s family against their sworn enemy. You’d always end up with bruises or cuts, and another servant has had to patch you up. Tybalt would sneak into your bedchamber to check on you after everyone else has retired for the night. He’d scold you for being so reckless and make you swear to him never to involve yourself in a brawl for his sake ever again. He appreciates your show of loyalty to him and his family, but he hates whenever you get caught up in the middle of the violence. He’s been infected with harshness and a cold sense from an early age. His childhood was stolen and thus his life is full of violence. But that doesn’t mean he wants your life to suffer the same fate as his. Seeing your purple eye or the blood seeping through your bandages makes his temper rise. The Montague household dared to lay a violent hand upon you, so he wants the blood of a Montague on his sword for their offense.

Another brawl breaks out but you keep your promise to Tybalt and stay out of it, instead watching as a bystander within the jeering crowd. Once Prince Escalus arrives on the scene to put a stop to the altercation, he warns the street brawlers that they must put down their swords and listen to him, or he will have them tortured. He severely chastises both households for disturbing the peace thrice now and issues an edict: If any member of the Montague or Capulet family disturbs the peace again, they will be put to death.

After Romeo secretly marries Juliet and refuses to fight Tybalt, you try to intervene and dissuade him from drawing his sword, worried that the Prince will have him killed. But Tybalt is too consumed by his anger and hatred of the Montagues, and your efforts are for naught. Unlike you, Tybalt believes the Prince's warning is an idle threat. No one else really believes that he would execute Capulet or Montague.

Desperate to stop the heated duel between Tybalt and Mercutio, you throw yourself between the combatants. It happens so fast that your lover doesn’t have enough time to react or stop himself before he accidentally stabs you instead of Mercutio. You had inadvertently shielded him with your body. Your wound may or may not be fatal. While you’re breathing heavily and trying to stop the bleeding, you can hear the hoof beats of the Prince’s horse fast approaching.

4. Ever after AU: You secretly attend the Capulet ball with your brother Romeo and his friends. While he falls in love with Juliet at first sight, you catch the attention of Tybalt. It’s a masquerade ball and everyone is wearing masks, so he doesn’t know who you are nor do you know who he is. You’re his dancing partner for almost the entire night. In those blissful hours you spend together, you never tell him your name or let him remove your mask. Are you being coy on purpose or do you really not want to tell him your name? He takes you by the hand to somewhere quieter where you can be hidden from the crowd. It’s in this secret place that he kisses you. Just when he takes off his mask and you realize who he is, he sees your brother kiss Juliet. He flies into a rage and storms over to Lord Capulet, while you and Romeo take that as your cue to leave. If you stayed any longer, Tybalt would surely try to kill your brother. When Tybalt realizes you’re gone and he never got your name, he scours Verona in search of you, his mystery maiden.

You’re later sent by Romeo to the Capulet house to deliver a message to Juliet for him, but you’re intercepted in the gardens by Tybalt. You don’t want to betray Romeo by revealing the true reason you’re here, so you make up a lie that you’ve come to see him. He pushes you away, claiming he’s in love with another woman and is preoccupied with searching for her. He’d never want anything to do with the likes of you, a disgusting Montague. He insults you and your family name, not realizing the other woman he speaks so highly of is you. You dress up and meet at more masques, but always slip away before he can see your face. If he persists in his pursuit of you and asks for a name, any name, you may give him a false one.

You accept Tybalt’s invite to attend Prince Escalus’ ball, wanting to tell him the truth yourself. But your secret is cruelly exposed in front of all of Verona by Lady Capulet when she tears your costume and rips your mask off. Tybalt is in denial. Dear God, it can’t be true! He couldn’t have fallen in love with a Montague! Lady Capulet accuses you of being a lying, devious little pretender and orders you to bow in front of Tybalt and tell him the truth, you insolent fraud. This is a nightmare. You’re scared and crying but don’t know what else to do to get him to believe you, so you tearfully kiss him on the lips. When he realizes your kiss is the same as his mystery woman, he steps backwards in shock. You were one and the same all this time.

He spurns you in front of the entire court and refuses to listen despite your pleadings. He does nothing to help you and abandons you. Prince Escalus looks on in concern as you fall apart and run away from the castle just as it begins to storm. It isn’t until many days later that Tybalt will realize what a horrible mistake he’s made in betraying your trust and throwing you to the wolves. Prince Escalus or someone else may confront him later and call him out on the disastrous scene the Capulets created in the middle of the masque. He or she may express disappointment in Tybalt’s harsh treatment of you. Tybalt has always been his parents’ puppet. They taught him to thirst for blood. What they wanted was burnt into him and he always did without question what their thirst for revenge demanded. Tybalt is told in no uncertain terms that his parents have been dead for a long time, and if he still won’t become his own man or yield in his hatred of your family after this, then he doesn’t deserve you.

Either way, the young Capulet will come to his senses sooner or later. He’ll want to find you and beg your forgiveness. This feud has taken so much from both of your families. So much blood has been shed and lives have been lost on both sides, and for what? Pride? Ego? It all seems so meaningless now. He’s wasted so much time hating your family. When he finds you, he’s going to call you by your real name and kneel before you not as a Capulet, but as a man in love. Could you find it in your heart to forgive him and be his wife?

5. You’re Juliet’s older sister and your parents arrange for you to marry Prince Escalus, even though he’s so much older than you and you barely know him. You’re only a girl, a woman, so your wishes and wants don’t matter. Your parents are unwilling to postpone the wedding, despite your pleadings. You’re reaching an age where being an unmarried woman is unacceptable, and your parents refuse to let you be an old maid. The Prince isn’t getting any younger either and will need an heir. You’re scared of not only marrying a stranger, but living up to the expectations of being Princess of Verona. You lock yourself in your bedchamber and don’t let anyone in to see you, not even Juliet or your Nurse. Tonight you will mourn for the life you wanted but couldn’t have, and tomorrow early you will marry the Prince.

While neither you nor Escalus are overtly enthused at your wedding, your husband does his best to fulfill his marriage duties and take care of you. He knows you’re scared about consummating your marriage, so he’ll be gentle. He wants to make you feel safe and give you pleasure on your wedding night. Don’t pay attention to any witnesses that may be in the room. Just focus on him and only him, and let him help you relax. If you ask him to stop, he will. He knows this isn’t the life you would’ve chosen for yourself, but he wants to make you happy even if you never love him. While he’s your husband by law and you’re now Princess of Verona, he hopes that even if you never fall in love, that you can at least be friends. He hopes you’ll grow fond of each other, in time. You may not love each other now, but if a child is born of your union and love comes later, he’ll be just as elated. As the leaders of Verona, you each have specific obligations to fulfill, but you’ll still try to make the best of it.

6. You’re Romeo’s sister and are arranged to marry Tybalt to bring an end to the feud once and for all. Enough is enough, it’s time to let this long-standing grudge go. The Capulets and Montagues are wealthy and established families, both alike in dignity. So for all practical purposes, they should be allies rather than enemies. Your marriage was one of obligation and convenience, and your new husband doesn't want anything to do with you at first because of your family history. He’s still in love with Juliet and may either consummate your marriage begrudgingly or not at all. After you’re caught in the middle of a random brawl or attacked in the street, he saves you. You thank him but he waves it off, claiming it’s his duty since you’re his wife and he’s your husband.

He doesn’t realize he’s grown to love you until you part ways for a while and he hears false news claiming you succumbed to the Plague. Believing you dead, he mourns for you in private and nearly gets himself killed in his recklessness due to his grief, until you return to Verona and explain that there was a miscommunication and your servant was misinformed. ‘Twas not you who died, but a cousin or friend you were visiting. And it ‘twas not the Plague but childbirth to which she had succumbed. She had a similar hair color and body type to you, so anyone watching her funeral from afar could’ve easily mistaken her body for yours. The babe lived and you were delayed in returning home because you were asked to stay by her grieving widower until a nurse could be found.

7. You were Juliet’s sister who was betrothed to marry Count Paris. You were the city’s most beautiful rose, but you became infected with and later succumbed to the Plague. While spending your final days isolated in quarantine, you knew you were dying and that your chances of surviving were slim to none. In your final lucid moments, you had a mourning ring made for your intended, composed of a lock of your hair under crystal set round with diamonds. Paris purportedly burst into tears upon receiving it. Unbeknownst to you, your cousin, Tybalt, was also in love with you and mourned for you in private. He never dared to confess his unrequited love for you while you were still living. When your body was first interred into the Capulet crypt, neither man could kiss you for fear of infection. So instead they kissed their hands and then bid you a farewell kiss from afar.

Even years after you were gone, Paris and Tybalt still mourned for you and what could’ve been. They visited you in the Capulet crypt (sometimes individually, sometimes together) and left flowers for you. Some days they’d stay with your body for hours. Paris was so determined to marry your younger sister, Juliet, because she reminded him of you. His love for her is what kept him going. If it wasn’t for her beauty and spirit so uncannily resembling yours, he feared he would’ve succumbed to his grief and committed self-murder to join you, despite knowing it was illegal and a mortal sin. When Juliet shared a kiss with Romeo at the Capulet ball, Tybalt was so incensed and blinded by his hatred for the Montagues that he later slew Mercutio in the streets of Verona, only to be slain in turn by Romeo’s blade. In your cousin’s dying moments, he prayed to God to reunite with you in heaven.

After Juliet drank the sleeping potion to feign death and evade her arranged marriage to Paris, he returned to the Capulet crypt to mourn for yet another would-be bride. After losing his duel with Romeo, the young Momtague drags Paris's body inside the Capulet tomb and lays him out on the floor beside you, fulfilling Paris's dying wish. He prays for God to have mercy on him and reunite him with you, much in the same manner as Tybalt had done before him.

8. Much Ado About Nothing AU (sort of): You’re the illegitimate daughter of Lord Montague but are unaware of the circumstances surrounding your birth. You grow up with Tybalt in the brothel, raised by your whore mother while his father teaches him to treat women as objects and nothing more. But despite his father’s teachings, you fall in love with him when you become a woman. He treats the other whores as objects to use, crawling into their warm beds but not caring for any of them. Except you. You’re the only woman Tybalt loves, so you and he have a secret affair. At first it was just sex but became much more over time. He opened up to you and you became his confidante, comforting him and listening whenever he needed a shoulder to lean on. You were the only one who could calm his unpredictable temper. You both know you’d never be permitted to marry due to your low breeding, so you conspire to elope. You seek the counsel of Friar Lawrence, and he marries you and Tybalt in secret. For a few days, you live in newly wedded bliss. Consummating your marriage was far from the first time you had been intimate with each other, but your wedding night just felt different, in a good way.

But the servants of the Capulet and Montague households know everything and somehow the truth of your lineage is brought up. The rumors spread, and soon the streets of Verona are abuzz with gossip from the villagers regarding Lord Montague’s bastard daughter and her liaisons with a Capulet. When Tybalt hears you’re technically a Montague, he publicly shames and abandons you despite your pleadings for him to wait. You insist that you really had no idea Lord Montague was your father and implore for Tybalt to listen to you, etc. but he doesn’t. Though illegitimate, you still have Montague blood in your veins and Tybalt is disgusted. Unbeknownst to him, Romeo and Juliet have also secretly wed, so even though he spurned your marriage and left you to the wolves, he’s still related to the Montagues.

Do you later commit self-murder out of grief? Do you conspire with Friar Lawrence to fake your death so Tybalt will learn a very valuable lesson of what life is without you, as well as be shown the destructive results of not having enough faith in his wife? Will Tybalt realize he can’t live without you and ask for your forgiveness, your lineage be damned? Is Tybalt later chastised by Friar Lawrence, Benvolio, or another character for his betrayal of your trust and told to come to his senses and get over himself? If he doesn’t yield in his hatred for the Montagues, then maybe he doesn’t deserve you. Does his hatred of your family and conflicted feelings towards you drive him to later get killed by Romeo’s hand when he challenges him to a duel? What happens next is all up to you.

9. You’re raised in the Capulet household as Juliet’s sister. Your mother, Lady Capulet, is eager to find husbands for both you and Juliet, loving you both equally. Instead of Juliet, you’re the Capulet daughter Count Paris seeks to marry. He had already approached your father early in the morning and asked for his permission to take you in marriage, carrying a large bouquet of beautiful flowers for you. Paris hopes you’ll be his wife and mother to his children.

“I brought flowers for y/n. Please be so kind as to give me permission to marry your lovely daughter! I’m a wealthy man, young and handsome. I want this girl and I’ll get her. I have a house of my own. I don’t need her dowry. I’ll pay. I only want the fair y/n for my wife!”

“Lord Paris, you’ve taken me by surprise. You’ve seen her, she’s not grown up yet. I’m asking you - shouldn’t you wait a little? Wait a little before you marry her. That’d be the clever thing to do. She’ll be at the ball tonight - Just charm her, ask her to dance. But believe me, just look at her. She’s just a child. Don’t marry her too soon!”

Unbeknownst to everyone except Lady Capulet herself, you’re not actually Lord Capulet’s biological daughter. You’re the result of an extramarital affair she had with another man sometime after Lord Capulet’s desire for her dwindled and he started taking mistresses and having affairs with other women. She slept with her husband just enough so the timing of your birth would still match up and she could successfully pass you off as his blood without leaving room for doubt. While having dresses fitted for both you and your sister for an upcoming masquerade ball, your Nurse tells you and Juliet to just look at your mother and that she can always find consolation if your father isn’t in the mood. Despite your mother’s insistence that she’s never cheated on Lord Capulet and has never been with anybody else, you and Juliet share a knowing glance as if to say, “Of course not, mother. Of course you haven’t.”

She tells you and Juliet, in her own words, that “Your father doesn’t love me the way he used to. On our wedding night his desire reached the sky. I was standing there naked and he went wild. That’s how it was. I used to be so beautiful - even more than either of you. No wonder he wanted only me. But as the years passed, his desire became less and less fierce.”

Yours and Juliet’s dresses for the ball are beautiful but more provocative than your father would like. They’re clearly designed to suit your mother’s taste and catch men’s eyes so you and Juliet can secure husbands. Paris dances with you at the ball for most of the night and woos you, despite Tybalt being overprotective and trying to interfere by keeping Paris away from you. As the Prince’s nephew, he’s a very young, handsome and wealthy man. He has a house of his own and has proven he’s more than capable of providing for you for the rest of your lives, but making you happy is another matter. So he spends more than enough time courting you properly and getting to know you.

Following Tybalt’s untimely death at Romeo’s hand, your father finally gives you away to Paris, hoping you can lean on your new husband and forget your grief. You’re set to marry on Thursday, news which makes your husband-to-be ecstatic. You’re not overly enthused due to Tybalt’s death casting a shadow on your heart. He was your favorite cousin and you’ll miss him terribly. But you’re content with your fate; Paris is a good man who truly loves you, but you just can’t get over Tybalt’s death so quickly despite your parents’ good intentions. You’ll be Paris’ joyful bride like your parents want you to be. You know you’ll be expected to give him children, preferably a son, and you just hope you’ll be a better mother than your own was to you and Juliet. You love your Nurse, but you want to raise your future children yourself. What does the future look like for you?

10. You’re Juliet’s sister. Instead of her, Tybalt and Paris are both in love with you. Paris approached your father, Lord Capulet, and sought his permission to marry you, while holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers for you. While Tybalt’s love for you is unspoken. You’re the only woman your cousin has ever loved, but he keeps his feelings to himself. But ever since Paris came along as a rival suitor, both men have been competing for your love. They both hope to win your father’s favor and secure your hand in marriage. Though Lord Capulet had urged him to wait a few years, Paris was still encouraged to woo you at the Capulet ball. When confronted by Tybalt at the masquerade and asked if it’s true, Paris confirms what he already knew, much to his annoyance and dismay.

“Paris, is it true what I’ve heard?”

Yes, Tybalt! I asked for your lovely cousin’s hand!

“But why in such a hurry?”

“So that another man doesn’t set his eye on her, Tybalt.”

Paris says this with a knowing smile, quickly looking Tybalt up and down, as if sizing him up while Tybalt looks away, before walking away to rejoin the dancing and merriment. Paris steals you away from your current dance partner, grabbing your hand while you’re in the middle of a twirl. He tries to keep you to himself as he kisses your hand and pulls you in for another dance, but Tybalt comes between the two of you and ushers Paris away from you. While Tybalt and Paris are busy constantly cutting in and trying to keep you away from the other, you run off somewhere and get caught up in the crowd of party guests. Which man will win your heart and be your husband? Tybalt? Paris? Neither? It’s up to you.