#no BT nonsense

[isogenderskitty]

this is destroying me rn in so many ways

[bluvlet]

Okay, some of my rambling, first viewing impressions of Stage/Fright below the cut! (spoilers for the show!)

Always returning to that all encompassing obsession of mine when it comes to in9 - grief. The whole stage show is, effectively, a funeral service for in9.

Like 'Plodding On', it provides quick stop references to the history of in9. It's like the show's life is flashing before our eyes (christine, anyone?); off the top of my head, here are some I picked up on:

the first half is a retelling of 'Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room' (which itself is an episode about grief and looking back and catching glimpses of a beloved past).

the kidnapper's sketch is an obvious 'A Quiet Night In' reference with Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto, the outdoor lights gag, Reece + Steve's costuming looking identical to Ray and Eddie, and their briefly mentioned future job stealing a painting. There's a single black, man's shoe ('Diddle Diddle Dumpling') in a wardrobe, which is at one point enigmatically stuffed with people ('Sardines'). I also think Steve's (Len's) performance was very much giving Barry Baggs -- a fun TLOG reference. The guest that night was Dara Ó Briain, and at one point during the sketch the guys actually all broke to laugh at each other, which was hilarious.

The La Terreur De L' Asile segment reminds me a lot of 'The Trolley Problem' and 'The Riddle of The Sphinx', particularly Steve as Vince as Dr. Goudron, playing another predator who drugs and assaults vulnerable women. (I promise I still am working on my Trolley Problem and Sphinx comparison, which deals a lot with the parallels between Blake and Squires, and now probably with a tiny segment for Goudron...)

The inclusion of a horror period piece is also just like in each series of the show.

The segment with the actors of La Terreur De L' Asile was very 'Seance Time' to me: Marcus reminded me a lot of Terry, the vengeful that ghost haunts the cast, and the construction of it to conceal that the Asylum section is staged mirrors how 'Seance Time' was presented.

That section also brought 'Deadline' to mind -- especially the brilliant work with the screen and the camera and all the creeping around back stage (thinking of the camera on Reece's head during ‘Deadline’) Also the metatextual element of (fictional) Reece and Steve disturbing the peace of ghosts who died in show accidents and go on to disrupt in9 in return.

And of course there were tons of other little one-liners that instantly transport you back to an episode, or recurring jokes amongst in9 enthusiasts ('Sheridan Smith', the whole 'one of was dead the whole time' joke Reece makes after Steve dies).

The show ends with the fiction versions of Steve and Reece having died (and another callback to BCDR with their dance number). The stage show is quite literally the death of the in9 versions of the two. I'm sorry I really cannot articulate this point properly yet. The underlying emotional through line is that Steve himself is remembering Reece by imagining him still performing alongside him (another BCDR reversal like in ‘Plodding On’); by having (real) Reece performing all night, us as audience members unknowingly partake in (fictional) Steve's grief. And as it turns out, Reece has been haunting the theatre the entire time. Moreso, they point to the audience at 'laughter is my memory of you.' -- it's a memorial service for us too, from Steve and Reece's perspective. We mourn Reece and Steve as they do us, but it’s all about mourning in9. What is a ghost story if not a love story?

Another thing that strikes me is the metatextuality of it all. The show goes through every length to remind you constantly that it is a show. All of the segments take advantage of the theatre and its history and its capabilities as a space and an art form. I find it all utterly brilliant. Again, the fictional versions of R & S return, and references to Stage/Fright itself as we watch a show within a show within a show (at times) within a show. I don't have any fully formed thoughts about this yet, but I am thinking a lot about Stage/Fright's self awareness.

The whole trip was a very late present for my 19th birthday last summer from my mate, Luke (who has been mentioned on my blog before as the mind behind the interpretation of Blake being from working class roots). He's a very casual in9 fan and mostly just entertains my rantings about it, but after the end of the show he turned to me and said: 'I understand why there's RPF of them now.' I’m not into RPF but I find this genuinely hilarious.

Apologies if I've misremembered anything! I usually need 2-3 watches of things before anything properly sinks in, so you'll have to bear with my single viewing and shoddy memory.

[makahitaki]

[poisonousjk]

This is what I was talking about with AYS they don’t have conversations the way friends would they talk like 2 people in a group that aren’t particularly close. People think I’m just hating on the show but I can not tell you how boring it was watching them talk about food or have conversations like this that don’t go anywhere

[telogreika]

ソ連のお家芸

the unrelenting power of the Christie suspension

[rekindlevn]

BTS we writers like to toss ideas around, provide feedback and just in general help support each other with writing our designated routes to the highest ability we can

but who says we can't be a little silly and tease the boys at the same time?

who do you think we are talking about below?!

[chaotic-neutral-knitter]

so in a couple months is samba just going to post a full kiss or

[clowncloud]

walks into the bar and orders a South Korean singer, songwriter, and member of the South Korean boy band BTS

[deathmentaal]

Is people really asking for suga to leave bts?? Wtf are you????😭😭😭

[bisexualrapline]

don’t ask me for coherent lyrical analysis bc i’m still at only MAYBE like a third grade reading level in korean and also my meds have worn off because it is midnight but. trivia love vibes? trivia love vibes. thank you for coming to rosebowl.tumblr.com

[disaster-j]

Y'all need to remember that the actors are real people with real lives that have nothing to do with the fictional characters they portray actually

[stephaniejuhnay]

Guys, PLEASE

[nachosncheeze]

It is once again that time of year I wonder why they had to make Jane Doe's snatch the scary furnace from Home Alone

[beautifulpersonpeach]

If you're going to come into my inbox talking about jikook then make it make sense. We're four Mondays into 2025, try to do better.

[siryyeet]

Oh spider besides my head in the corner, we're really in it now

[beachboysnatural]

Crooked and Coup d'Etat are good and all but Untitled, 2014 is where it's at