#maybe it's just the humor

[sentientpaperbag]

Also, Ghost?

Oh boy. Ok lemme explain Ghost, sorry, this is about to be a looooooooooong post lmao but this is my current fixation so:

Ghost is a band. A band with fictional characters, and kind of a story.

The frontman is currently Papa Emeritus IV, or Copia. He's my favorite:

this is him.

Before him, there were three other Papas:

This is the first Papa, or Primo as the fans call him. He debuted around 2010

He is a very grumpy, very old looking man. He was the frontman until the next Papa took over in 2012

--

This is Papa II, or Secondo:

This Papa has his fans, a lot of people do think he's hot. He is also an old looking, grumpy looking individual but he's also been seen without the corpse paint

He kinda looks like Pitbull.

Anyway, the next is Terzo. The third Papa.

He's apparently a few months younger than Secondo but he doesn't look it. Also I learned recently that he's like 4'9 to make of that what you will lmao. He was Papa from 2015 to 2017-18 when he was forcibly removed from stage. I think it was because he started to make it about himself instead of the cause (which since this is a Satanic band, they're trying to spread the word of Satan i guess??)

After that, the current Papa, Papa Emeritus IV or Copia, became Papa. But before he was that, he was Cardinal Copia, and he looked like this:

Now when I first found out about this band, I thought these were all different people, but it turned out, they're all the same guy, and you can kinda tell in some of the pictures that he's wearing a mask. He had several made for the different characters.

This is the man behind the mask, and the band, he's the singer and songwriter. His name's Tobias Forge:

He's a dude from Sweden who came up with this elaborate storyline and band and honestly it's super neat. He kept his real appearance hidden for a while but ultimately due to some drama he finally came forward. He seems like a really cool guy from what I've seen

FUN FACT: Today's his birthday actually :D

But back to the storyline of Ghost, so there's one other Papa aside from the four current frontmen, and he's actually NOT played by Tobias.

Papa Nihil:

Primo, Secondo, and Terzo are his sons (and it's heavily implied that Copia is his son as well)

He's kind of the head Papa of all Papas, kind of a more Pope-like Pope I guess? He's a very grumpy man who doesn't like Copia and really didn't like that Copia got to become Papa, despite Copia being a fun character that the fanbase has ended up loving tremendously.

Also Papa Nihil is dead. Sometimes at concerts they bring his "dead body" out and revive it so he can have a saxophone solo in the instrumental song Miasma.

Then there's Sister Imperator

this is her when she was young, she's older now obviously but they've changed her actress several times. Here's some of her different older looks:

She's basically the real brains behind the operation of the Ghost Project, and she and Papa Nihil were in a relationship when they were younger (however, he fucked that up by being a bit of a player)

It's heavily implied she's Copia's mother, hence why Nihil is implied to be his father. She is the reason Copia became Papa, it was her choice.

Other characters include the ghouls! The bandmates for concerts, they usually have masks covering their faces:

this is their current look. Very steampunk-y.

So TLDR: Ghost is a Satanic themed band made by a Swede who was super into metal growing up and made a whole fictional group of characters in the process. They have videos on their youtube that show Copia becoming Papa and stuff. They actually just released a new vid not too long ago that might be implying something is going to be happening to Papa IV soon, cuz the previous Papas were killed.

It's a lot of fun and I don't take it too seriously cuz it's clear they're having fun with this, and the fanbase seems really cool from what I've seen. I'm leaving a lot out but that's cuz there's just... so much. It's really cool tho I recommend them

Someone once said their music sometimes sounds like Scooby Doo chase music, and yeah... Yeah it does.

Some song recommendations!:

Cirice (spelled exactly like that. this song got them a grammy!)

Year Zero (very heavily Satanic inspired but good God the song goes hard)

Mary on a Cross (classic, "the Tiktok song", also the first song I heard by them)

Hunter's Moon (FUN FACT THIS SONG WAS USED IN THE END CREDITS FOR HALLOWEEN KILLS!)

Call Me Little Sunshine (this song is so good holy shit. It almost got a grammy)

Square Hammer (this one has such a cool music video to go along with it tbh)

there's more but I've made this post way too long as it is so I suggest doing some digging by looking at wikis. I'd say look around on tumblr but the Ghost fanbase is kinda horny for the Papas and ghouls so be careful (i'm not kidding the fanbase is very horny for the characters... To be fair, there's lots of sexual humor at the concerts coming directly from Papa Emeritus and the Nameless Ghouls)

oh one last thing!

Copia got to throw the first ball at an MLB game and it's really fucking funny to think about

[scramratz]

Actually I’ll take both if you’re offering

[koipepo]

That omake of little Kabru not being able to show off his howetown sweets because of Misril gets to me a lot so...

Here's a happier Kabru (and Lairu)

[daisywords]

writing is so silly because you have to maintain the understanding that you're not more specialer than anyone else and your work needs improvement and you have more to learn. but also you have to fully believe that your stuff is amazing. mindblowing. masterpiece the likes of which no one has ever seen before. you really have to hold these contradictory beliefs next to each other and force them to play nice. it's like shoving your shoulder angel and devil into a "get-along shirt." It doesn't make any sense. But if you don't, you're not going to get anywhere

You have to pursue what your writing Could Be with dogged determination while unflinchingly perceiving what it Actually Is. You have to accept that you're not more deserving or likely to succeed than any other writer, but you also have to love and honor and cling to your own specific mad genius because no one else is going to do it for you. Writing is really hard and it's also really worth it.

[newttxt]

another comic for “utilities included” skfkskdjsjs

this time for chapter two 😅

masterpost

[most-likely-fandom]

✌️✌️.

[fawn-tongues]

Safe Bet

[nocek]

And this concludes the grand crossover event

(or does it?)

(it does but I was given a great idea for how to solve Gwen's problem :) )

the timeline of previous relevant comics:

[Jeff has a great fashion sense and Peter is the best hooker]

[Jeff is found and fucks are lost]

[bro landed up in the wrong universe and all he got out of it is a lousy bow]

[indieyuugure]

(For those who don’t know, the song is “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails)

This was probably funnier in my head…

(Please excuse my awful handwriting)

[starlitvick]

“Hey bbg I know I just invalidated your feelings over your probably dead dad in front of a bunch of people and mocked you but do you wanna eat dinner with us?”

“Excuse me?”

[greenleaf4stuff]

looking for Adar posts to reblog and stumbling over a Jack Rackham „If you’re going to behave like children then I will be your daddy“ post is pure dashboard magic thank you tumblr and followed tags

[phantomoftheorpheum]

Julie and the Phantoms being one of the most heartwarming and feel good shows I've ever watched, while simultaneously having the most absurdly tragic premise will never not to be funny to me.

[isjasz]

i swear this was funnier in my head

(day 10 for dddaily4sherin KAJSKLJA)

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 195

“Oh. It’s you.” 

The entity that had been summoned practically growled, a cloak like swirling galaxies- or was it swirling galaxies molded into a cloak- shimmering around their form. One pair of arms crossed over a chest where a star pulsed with the heartbeat of universes, alive yet dying as lazarus green eyes glowered down at the league and bats alike. 

“You know you could, fucking call, right?” they whined, aura of terror suddenly broken, unnatural fear torn away and leaving all of them wrong-footed and confused.

Well, apparently all of them except for Ras, who had an honest to fuck grin on his face, one that looks almost carefree, if a little feral. Nope. No thanks. Not this timeline-

“But phones didn’t exist last we spoke, ya ‘amar.” 

[leverage-ot3]

I’ve talked about this before but imagine what it’s like for someone in a country/place where eliot is Top Most Wanted and then your tech guy finds a breakout star baseball player on their visual scanner that looks EXACTLY like spencer. but…there’s no way that’s him, right???

and then the next year it happens again but this time it’s some one hit wonder country singer kenneth crane that has like 78 tween-run fangirl blogs dedicated to him. you see a grainy video of him being chased by a horde of screaming teenage girls and ??? no way Eliot Last Thing You’ll Ever See Spencer is a country singer star just. signing pictures of his face right…?

a few months later your intern shows you footage of an eliot lookalike who is in san lorenzo talking about how there is dog fighting in the presidential palace and you just. sigh. because of course. a scant few days later the political geography of the country changes drastically and damien moreau is imprisoned. …interesting

and then a year of silence goes by. he still shows up as blips on the radar but he must have a good hacker working for him because his tracks on the internet are expertly erased.

every time you ask through interagency channels some random interpol guy talks in (condescending?) riddles at you and it also somehow feels like he’s threatening you

and then your friend who recently got into foreign hockey teams sends you a dropyourgloves video of someone called jacques the bear. you immediately get a headache (and watch some more videos because even you can admit this guy is a good hockey player)

and you know he’s a Bad Guy but it’s been admittedly a bit entertaining seeing what claim to fame he will come upon next. and his most recent actions over the few years make you wonder.

a few months later your phone pings because multiple heads of state evacuated from DC. the reason? eliot spencer was in town. you hear two days later a bioterrorist was taken down by… the report was redacted. your hacker tells you spencer and two teammates were behind the successful operation. which, huh.

not even a full year later it is released that spencer is dead and… you don’t know how to feel.

[flying-fangirls]

As a music, religion, and literature nerd, the Dies Irae has been one of my favorite go-to pieces of trivia for a long time, which means that this line:

Has been driving me batshit BONKERS since part 42! And also as a semi-professional media analysis yapper, I figured I might as well dive into the exact reasons I jumped up and audibly gasped upon first hearing this line and have subsequently lost my mind since then. So!

Here is why I think that the Dies Irae is the perfect analogy for John and Arthur:

Religion

Let's start with the most straightforward meaning: "Dies Irae" is a Latin term, and it translates to the "Day of Wrath." Or otherwise known as the Judgement Day, the foretold second coming in Catholic canon, when Christ will "come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." It's at this Last Judgement where God will wield perfect justice to send the worthy to everlasting peace and the unworthy to everlasting punishment. (everyone say "thank you" to excessive childhood Catholic lessons for burning this into my brain)

There's a kind of irony to the fact that Arthur so vehemently rejects Christianity and religion as a whole, and that John spends much of his arc trying to distance himself from the role/identity of a god, yet both are given this incredibly religious title, effectively restricting them from ever forgetting the presence/influence of religion in their lives.

This title has a couple layers though, because we have to consider why it's the Day of Wrath specifically that represents Arthur and John. Now, I don't think I have to tell you that those two are bursting with anger 80% of the time. But I am going to tell you that those two are not just angry, but moreso "divine fury" incarnate.

The Day of Wrath, the Final Judgment, is the final and eternal judgment of God on all: "For now before the Judge severe / all hidden things must plain appear; / no crime can pass unpunished here." (Dies Irae, Dies Illa). The final Judge, the all-powerful God, can see the objective morality of every single person, and is thus the sole, rightful determiner of fate.

This assumption of their right to perfectly and single-handedly decide others' worthiness shows up over and over, not just John and Arthur's actions, but also in how they describe these judgments.

When Arthur kills the widow on the island, it's not because she was dangerous, but because she was a cultist who "deserved" to be punished.

When John and Arthur need to get rid of Mr. Scratch's stone, John says they should give it to "criminals" who are "deserving of this curse." Even though, just moments before, Arthur refused to give the stone to Oscar because to do so would be to cursing him to a fate of eternal suffering.

And I can't go into every single detail about the entire Larson plotline because this post would double in size, but it obviously needs to be included here. Possibly the strongest tie between this arc and the idea of the Dies Irae is Arthur's conviction through it all. Arthur vows that he is going to kill Larson in divine retribution not because he wants to, but because he has to. He even goes so far as to admit that killing Larson will be a mistake, a cruel and overly-bloodthirsty action that goes against his compassion. But killing Larson isn't a choice to Arthur, it is the unavoidable punishment for Larson's sins and Arthur is simply the enactor of justice. Just like the Final Judgment, there is no sympathy, no hesitancy— the judgment is absolute, divinely ordained, and cannot be stopped no matter how undeniably horrific it is.

If we look at the Catholic Catechism, principle 2302 states that it is sinful to kill out of desire, but that it is "praiseworthy to impose restitution" and use violence to "maintain justic." So even if Arthur has intent to kill, his actions count as divinely sanctioned. He is acting as the hand of God's punishment.

Over the course of Season 3 and 4, Arthur's fiery rage dies down to a more gentle simmer, but his conviction only seems to grow, and John follows suit. Despite previously reprimanding Arthur for his unquestioning wrath, John eventually becomes just as convinced that Larson "deserves" to face a wrathful reckoning. The "fact" that Larson is wholly unforgivable and is fated to receive eternal punishment becomes more indisputable in their minds, and they both stop questioning the morality of their intentions, entirely convinced of their judgment.

Throughout the story, Arthur and John insist upon the importance of kindness, compassion, and forgiveness, and say that these are the values that guide their every action. Yet, time and time again, they approach certain people with nothing but wrath and resentment. It's a sharp contrast to the benevolent figures they make themselves out to be, and Arthur and John are often blind to the contradiction because, in their eyes, they are still following those values in every action. And in the moments when they do recognize their horrific words or actions, they still cannot let their judgment go, convinced that it is their "duty" either way.

In Part 35, Arthur says "Just because you can't make the hard decision, doesn't mean it's wrong." This is exactly how John and Arthur view themselves. They know that some of their actions are harsh and violent and painful, but they are don't view that violence as wrong, because they are enacting that violence in justice. They move through life with carefully-selected destruction, culling the world of those they view as unforgivable sinners, and punishing them with divine righteousness. Arthur and John carry righteous fury in their every step, bringing the Day of Wrath down upon the world around them.

Now, there's already a ton of meaning just in this religious allusion alone. However, there's another application of the Dies Irae in modern culture, which brings us to the second side of this title:

Music

Back in the 13th century (sounds like a familiar setting...), friar Thomas of Celano wrote a poem for and about the Dies Irae. The poem was recited at Requiem Mass (church services to honor the dead), and it ended up being set to a Gregorian chant tune.

Over time, this melody has been used by a variety of composers, but the one we're focused on is Hector Berlioz. In 1837, Berlioz used the Dies Irae melody as part of his narrative symphony, Grand Messe de morts, in order to communicate that the main character had died. Then a lot of other composers saw that and said "Hey that's a cool idea!", and started also using this melody to represent death in their music. Nowadays, it's a fairly staple part of modern film and musical storytelling. If you've listened to literally any major soundtrack, then there's a good chance you've heard this motif (or a variation of it) used before. It's often subtle, sometimes loud and obvious, but no matter what, it reveals the inevitable presence of death. (essentially, the Dies Irae=death)

Now, obviously there's something tragically ironic about Arthur being likened to a musical motif when he tries so hard to distance himself from it, and there's something tragically ironic about John being associated with such a dark piece of music when he shows so much fascination and joy toward the art. Again, though, we've got some layers here. Yorick doesn't just compare Arthur and John to the Dies Irae, he literally defines them as the Dies Irae, a full embodiment of it.

Even before the story started, Arthur lost both of his parents, his friend and wife, his daughter, and his best friend.

John, when he was part of the King in Yellow, knew only how to harm and attack. In the Dark World, he falls back on this fearful lashing out with violence, harming even more people.

And throughout the story, John and Arthur seem to bring devastation to everyone else around them: Lilly the buopoth, Oscar, Noel, Collins, Daniel, Larson and Yellow.

The arrival of Dies Irae musical motif in a film always indicates that death is approaching or that is has already struck— a host carrying its blight to spread onto others. Just like the musical motif, the arrival of Arthur and John foretells the near-arrival of death. They play a duet together— John and Arthur, and death— always singing and dancing around and with each other.

These two never succumb to death, always finding a way to slip through its fingers and survive every situation. But they cannot escape death's presence because they are death's partner— singing the melody to death's subtle harmony. They cannot escape death because they are its host— destined to carry and spread devastation to death's victims. From the moment you meet John and Arthur, you know that death is inevitably approaching just a step behind, waiting to strike you down.

Whether it's the religious or musical side, we can see that John and Arthur are the literal embodiment of these allusions. They carry these powers and ideas in their every action and word, in their every step, in their very breath and blood.

Arthur and John. The hands of God's justice. The enactors of divine fury.

Arthur and John. The hosts of blight and destruction. The partner of death's song.

The man himself. The voice inside his head.

The Day of Wrath. The Dies Irae.