#b:apo

[songofpurple-summer]

it’s been years since i’ve even thought about bare: a pop opera but i relistened to the soundtrack recently and genuinely all of us that could relate to Role of a Lifetime and See Me deserve financial compensation

[aaaaaa-musical-trash]

yooooo bare fandom! i’ve got a question

i just wanna know

[whereconfusionisarhyme]

my bapo hot takes/unpopular opinions*

*these might not actually be all that hot or unpopular, it’s been a while since i interacted with the fandom

arguing about whether the characters were “good” or “evil” or “morally grey” is useless and completely misses the whole point of the musical

bare is a great musical, but should never go more mainstream than off-broadway. this ain’t broadway material

i understand trying to find a actor who is both plus size and plays cello may be difficult, but smaller theaters that are putting on bare should put priority on nadia’s actor being fat

sister chantelle’s character is sort of flat and definitely a weaker point in the musical, however it’s not actively harmful to the story at large

plain jane fat ass is better than love, dad from a narrative perspective, but i just personally enjoy love dad more despite that

father flynn’s sexuality is irrelevant to the canon story

peter may be the protagonist, but jason is the main character

feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of these opinions. i purposefully didn’t add much explanation cause i wanted to keep if brief, but i’d love to talk about it. i have a lot of love for this musical and i’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it lmao

[blue-wind-gets-so-bare]

hey just wondering does anyone possibly have a google drive of bare with the LA cast since they got taken off youtube??

[rad-rat-with-a-tophat]

anyone else notice how Jason always holds either Peter of Ivy, like they're usually under his arms??? And closer to the end, instead of having Jason having his hands over Peter's, Peter has his over Jason's???

[februarytodeath]

bare: a pop opera ruined me!!!!!

jupiter by flower face is peter/jason coded idk

[comrade-heather]

ik wrong shakespeare but Matt is so Laertes

[sapphire-rose08]

Bare:A Pop Opera is a such beautiful tragedy. Vote Bare!

[saint-starflicker]

5 Dark Academia Movies That I Don't Find Too Many Other People Posting Very Frequently About

Note my definition of Dark Academia: dark because somebody dies (at a stretch, the darkness can be oppression or abuse from which no one necessarily dies but it still gets pretty dark—or if someone attempts suicide or murder then I count it as dark); academia because they go to uniform school or prepster university (the academia part can be an intense study, discussion, or research of a subject even though they are not at a campus.)

1. The Moth Diaries 2011

The book was better, more detailed, but the movie is still pretty good. The campus is peak neoclassical splendor, the uniforms are on-point aesthetic, and the darkness is gruesomely bloody and also it's on fire. The book is set during the school year of 1970 to 1971, but the movie is set in 2010 thereabouts.

2. "O" 2001

A modern retelling of Othello by William Shakespeare set at a prestigious boarding school. Adapting classical literature in a high school was trendy at the time, trying to capture the magic of Clueless 1995, and in my opinion "O" was the most glammed-up production with the most dark academia atmosphere out of all of them.

3. Educating Rita 1983

A working-class British young woman takes a social enrichment outreach education opportunity to study literature, in hopes that a study in the humanities will give her a better sense of self. Her tutor is a "failed" poet who struggles with substance addiction. Unbeknownst to them, both their lives are at the crux of change. In their consistently non-romantic conversations together, they unpack class discrimination in academia and society, as well as argue about the meaningfulness versus empty pretensions of studying humanities.

Nobody dies, well all right somebody almost dies for pretentious academic reasons...but the conversations leave a lot between the lines.

4. Private Romeo 2011

A modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare set at an all-boys military school. Sure, it's not the Oxbridge-Camford or "Hollywood New England" collegiate aesthetic...but it is very gay, a feature that I hope lends the movie some compensatory merit in this context. Juliet's a boy. Romeo is still a boy. Nurse is a boy. Juliet's mom is a man. Paris is an abstract concept. They are studying Romeo and Juliet at the military school English class at the same time that they are living and speaking the lines in Romeo and Juliet, so it gets surreal and I recommend getting more into the emotion of it than get caught up in what the lines they're saying are supposed to mean.

This should be chaotic academia or frenzy academia, but there's homophobic hazing and bullying so I think that's pretty dark.

5. Bare: a Pop Opera ???? There was supposed to be a movie but I deduce that it's stalled in development purgatory. I have not liked a movie adaptation of a stage musical since Chicago 2002, so I guess I don't really like movie adaptations of stage musicals—but I definitely want my current hyperfixation to be more accessible than a Spotify album oh hey while waiting for this adaptation to happen you can listen to the Spotify album. It's an operetta, so it's sung-through and you won't miss out on any story dialogue unlike with other musicals. Here's my argument for B:APO being Dark Academia.

DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE #5 SPOT ON MY LIST DOES NOT EXIST...WHAT DARK ACADEMIA MOVIES DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE IN THIS SPOT IN THE MEANTIME?

I CAPSLOCK IN ANGUISH THAT THE B:APO MOVIE DOES NOT EXIST YET AND PROBABLY NEVER WILL.

YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS ARE CONSOLATION.

Honorable Mentions:

The History Boys 2006 had one subplot I was bothered by at first and then grew to despise which is really too bad because this movie had racial diversity, directly addressed misogyny in academia, and had canon gays in a love triangle — but it is dark and it doesn't really seem to know that it's dark.

The Children's Hour 1961 "dark academia is mlm while cottagecore is wlw" WRONG watching this movie to consider evidence of dark academia wlw is part of your yuri duty! remember our history!

Never Let Me Go 2010 I can't describe objectively because I read the book at a time in my life that I was having a time at that time. The movie is a faithful adaptation. I re-read it recently and I think it's more Dark Academia than I gave it credit for, but if you're not into Contemplative Dystopia then I completely understand it not being your thing.

Like Minds 2006 — Huh, so 2006 was a busy year for this genre that did not yet exist at the time. Witness the folie à deux of 21st century teenaged Templar Knight kinnies who are also homoerotic serial killers. (Waves to the people that introduced me to this movie, who—contrary to the header of this post—actually do post about it.)

Rope 1948 does have some activity that I've caught recently enough, but I thought maybe it wouldn't be considered Dark Academia right away because it doesn't take place at a school. It takes place at a dinner party where ex-schoolfriends talk to their philosophy professor who they remain well-acquainted with after graduation, an interrogation of putting this professor's morally heinous philosophy into practice. Also there is a corpse at this dinner party. There's your academics and your darkness, so there's your dark academia.

[lovely-blue-galaxy]

AP tests are OVER. I have the SHORTEST week of school next week. Time to DRAW again!

[quasar-concept]

6 + 11! 🌈

Thanks for the ask!!! <3 This is a long one, so I cropped the post :D

questions [here]

6. Recommend a favourite pice of queer media

I will forever be happy to recommend and talk about Bare: A Pop Opera!

B:APO is an amazing show, but contains the following tws: homophobia, religious trauma, drugs, self-image issues, suicide

To get an idea of the musical, I would recommend Auditions and Are You There? as a good taste-test if you're not sure if you want to listen to the whole musical (which you can find on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t-9etLIimU&list=PLAACB872395737496 ) It's a sung-through rock musical centring around Peter, a student at catholic boarding school St Cecelia's, and his struggles not only as a closeted gay man, but with his faith.

Jason is Peter's secret boyfriend, and the golden boy of their year group. He is struggling as a closeted queer man, and with the expectations of the harsh expectations of his parents and community. The plot revolves around the character relationships as they put on a production of Romeo and Juliet and the closing of their time at high school.

It is a truly emotional musical full of grief and hope and love, and it is so wonderful and absolutely heart wrenching. It is my favourite musical of all time, specifically because of how beautifully it handles queerness and faith.

11. Create a crossover with media featuring queer characters

Ok!!! So, I honestly hadn't thought about this before, but an idea that tickled my brain was a Thunderbirds x Red White and Royal Blue crossover

This makes absolutely no sense, time-line wise, but I simply do not care lol.

I think if somehow the Creighton-Wards were involved with the Royal family, and were in support of Henry and Alex's coming-out etc etc.

Also, if we want to keep the timeline sort of in tact, we can make Grandma one of Alex's friends?

I dunno what details would happen here but the vibes are immaculate.

Pushing the Tracy's into the past is probably what would make this crossover make the most sense, especially to make IR Alex and Henry's age.

[lohstandfound]

the you & i scene from the b:apo au lives rent free in my mind

I very much enjoyed writing it I love that fic so much

[rising-above-stars]

hey, i love your art!!! i reblog it all the time with tags along the lines of "this is so pretty" but your art is so lovely and creative and unique and wonderful!!! i love seeing your art on my dash bc it rly is so pretty!!

Oh my god thank you!!!!

I had a mini art renaissance after spending a week interning for a street art festival (b:apo mural me beloved, rest in peace) and it somehow completely changed the course of my art (bringing me back to my roots as a mixed media/printmaking artist minus the printmaking... I desperately need a printing press)

I used to post stuff ages ago on here but decided to share them here (I post them to Instagram and TikTok already but I like tumblr)

I'm glad you like it!! I love doing collages and mixed media and calligraphy and using texts in my art, I still have a couple more scheduled to post- only just started getting into my mythology + plants + hands series

[psychicnightfire]

Just checking in on the B:APO fandom

[elluminis]

Mutuals and other folks who follow me: do not be alarmed. I’ve graduated from the b:apo stained glass window that I’ve had as my profile pic for some 5-ish years into my final form: Gandalf big naturals

[saint-starflicker]

I expanded to dark academia in general, but b:apo remains a favorite 😅 Can I interest you in The Moth Diaries 2011 movie, perhaps? It's October so I'm reading through the book version.

Also watching the 2003 Angels in America miniseries followed by reading Fraternity by Andy Mientus is a ride.

I keep recommending b:apo to people that have read If We Were Villains so I should recommend reading If We Were Villains after watching b:apo.

And Private Romeo also released in 2011.

so i’m just supposed to go on through life after bare: a pop opera ????? after jason said “we whisper i’ll be with you always” what am i supposed to DO.