#siospe

[littlemissemeritus]

GHUMBLR I AM SO PROUD WITH U RESPITE FUCKING WON!!!!! weve finally got all the votes,, heres the ending poll!!

[wendi-bond-blog]

Ghost Lava Lamp

This is my take on the Ghost lava lamp. 🤘🏻💜🤘🏻

[icanbeyourpizzamancas]

HOW I LOOK SINGING AND DANCING TO MOAC IN FRONT OF MY BATHRROOM MIRROR AT 3AM

[fancassticfiction]

My RHRN record came in! With this, my Ghost collection is almost complete.

[cityofmeliora]

notes / thoughts on the Papas' (lack of) involvement in the songwriting process and their connections to the concepts / themes of their albums

thanks for the kind words and thanks for the ask! these were great questions and really enjoyed writing this response. your questions really made me think! (and when i start thinking i always think too hard and take forever to answer– sorry this took so long!)

i'm putting these questions together because i feel they are closely related. this is a topic i've recently been thinking about a lot, actually.

A Ghoul Writer was first mentioned in that 2010 interview with Primo. the Ghoul Writer is Special Ghoul, the Nameless Ghoul character who gave interviews in Eras 2 and 3. in interviews with him, either he himself or the interviewers would usually mention he's the Writer. i'm not linking anything specific here because you can find this happening in pretty much any Era 2 / 3 interview. (though there's one Era 2 Nameless Ghoul interview that refers to the Writer as a separate character.)

the only Papa who wrote his own music was Nihil. the music video for The Future Is A Foreign Land shows that he and his Nameless Ghouls wrote the song together, and he's credited as a writer on Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic. (pic: back of the SIOSP record)

after Nihil, none of the Papas were involved in the songwriting process. everything after Nihil was written by A Ghoul Writer.

PITCHFORK: On the new album, the songs/lyrics are credited to "A Ghoul Writer." Are you this "Ghoul Writer"? If so, what inspired the words? PAPA EMERITUS: I am not the Ghoul Writer. Pitchfork (April 2013)

Does Papa contribute to the composing process? NAMELESS GHOUL: No, Papa doesn’t contribute to the song-writing. Metal Paths (August 2015)

so the later Papas were interpreters of the music, not writers.

as for the question of whether the Papas embody the sins of society or criticize the sins of society by parodying them, i think it's a bit of both– and i think it depends on which perspective we're looking from.

obviously from a real-world perspective, Ghost as a whole is meant to criticize and parody the issues the music is about, and the personality and characterization of each Papa is closely tied to the themes of his album.

from an in-universe lore perspective, as interpreters of the music, each Papa has his own relationship with the themes of his album. i think the Ghoul Writer writes each album for / about the Papa who's going to perform it. however, this is not necessarily a positive gesture.

here are my notes / thoughts on how each Papa relates to the themes of his album:

(trigger warning for mentions of misogynistic violence / rape / forced pregnancy)

Opus Eponymous and Primo: Primo refuses to comment on his interpretation of Opus Eponymous, but it's pretty clear what he thinks. Primo is a misanthrope who believes humans are “vermin” that have doomed themselves due to their “intellectual decline”. in his eyes, humanity is unworthy of life and will eventually be destroyed. Opus Eponymous has been described as an "orthodox devil-worshipping" album, and it is a very violent album, which is great for Primo because he's an orthodox devil worshiper and he loves violence and murder and wants everyone to die. 'Elizabeth' celebrates an alleged serial killer who is said to have killed hundreds of women / girls. 'Stand By Him' is about a woman being raped by a priest, who then accuses her of witchcraft and has her burned at the stake in order to cover up the assault. and the overall narrative of Opus Eponymous is about a woman being raped and forced to carry + birth the Antichrist, which will eventually kill her. this is something Primo thinks is good and anticipates happening because he believes in the cult very literally and agrees with its message / mission of human extinction. Primo is definitely a villain.

Infestissumam and Secondo: interestingly, there is actually an instance of Papa telling us about his interpretation of this album. in Secondo's own words, "the new album is about the presence of the Devil. The title, Infestissumam, means 'the biggest threat' and refers literally to the arrival of the Antichrist, but what it is also is about is what man has traditionally regarded as diabolical presence– namely female form and swagger." Infestissumam is about how humanity can connect to the presence of the Devil, both physically and spiritually. i think this theme really shows through Secondo. to him, all the things traditionally regarded as sin –especially sexuality– are good things. to him, Satan is the way to freedom and enlightenment. on the flipside, all the things promoted by christianity –holiness and virtue and repression– are stupid and stifling. Secondo is a jerk and he loves to have sex and party and he just doesn't care. Secondo, more than any other Papa, is dedicated to indulging in sin and saying "fuck you" to christianity.

Meliora and Terzo: it's complicated. i don't want to give a detailed explanation right now because i already have a separate post in my drafts about my analysis of Terzo's relationship with the themes of Meliora (it will be long). for now, this is what i'll say: Meliora is about the absence of god, and it's described as futuristic and "pre-apocalyptic." the title "Meliora" means "for the pursuit of better", but it's meant to be ironic. it's about the mistakes people make / the bad things people do in pursuit of better. so as your ask states, it criticizes ambition, greed, and abuse of power. i think Terzo wants to criticize those sins. but i think that he also embodies them, to a certain extent, and i think Meliora is also criticizing him.

Prequelle and Cardinal Copia: we don't really have any canon material that indicates Cardi's personal opinions on the album, but there is certainly a connection between the character and the concept / themes of the album. Prequelle is described as a "positive" album about the plague. it's an album about society falling apart during the apocalypse. it's also an album about celebration and survival in spite of being faced with the inevitability of death. i think Cardi certainly embodies this. Cardi is surrounded by death. Prequelle Era begins with Papas I, II, and III being murdered in order to promote Cardi's success, and it ends with Papa Nihil dying, which allows Cardi to ascend and become Papa IV. in a way, Cardi is both a plague rat and a survivor. it's not his fault they died. he didn't ask for them to be killed, and he was not their killer. but he is the herald and the carrier of the true killer, the actual driving force behind everything (Sister Imperator). through all this, Cardi is having a good time! he's dancing the night away! he's glad everyone standing in his way has dropped dead! he is a rising star and he feels invincible! and he is certain he will survive this.

IMPERA and Papa Emeritus IV: the main themes of IMPERA are "spiritual annihilation", reactionary sentiment, and regression. it's about how people who fear progress are afraid of losing their sense of meaning / purpose and their place in the world, so they turn to misogyny, violence, religious dogma, and fascism. they cling to the idea of having a cause to fight for. i think Cardi is certainly criticizing these issues. he doesn't agree with any of this at all. however, there's still a connection between the narrative of IMPERA and Cardi's character arc in this Era. narratively, IMPERA is a concentrated / condensed version of the apocalyptic narrative that plays out through the first 4 albums. it's about the cyclical nature of the rise and fall of empires. IMPERA Era begins with Cardi ascending to the title of Papa. but after the feeling of triumph wore off, Cardi became very aware of and very fearful of his own inevitable end. he knew that no matter how great his achievements were, he would be forced to step down so his successor could take his place, just like his predecessors had for him. Rite Here Rite Now is about Cardi struggling to make peace with this idea. as a side note: i really like the irony of the fact that Cardi was never actually the leader of his own empire– he was a puppet emperor who got his marching orders from his mother. it connects to IMPERA's theme of political manipulation.

[slavghoul]

Tbh the siosp event is... boring.

They're definitely milking the fact that moac got popular I'm sorry. It's so, lame. I really hope Tobias has something far more interesting up his sleeve.

May I ask what did you expect instead? Because to me it was exactly what was advertised, no more, no less. Yes, they're undoubtedly milking it while they can. But at least they're trying to make this somewhat interesting and special for the fans? They didn't have to do any this, it could have easily been an online merch drop, but they went through the effort of creating a fun little event that people could attend. Yes, only selected few, but that's life. I think we need to manage our expectations. Because I'm starting to notice a worrying pattern - the band announces something, people come up with the wildest and sometimes absurd theories, none of it happens, people are disappointed cause reality didn't live up to their expectations, rinse, repeat.

[mdemorita]

today, September 13, but in 2019, Seven Inches Of Saganic Panic was released, say happy birthday to SIOSP❕️

On 12 September 2019, Ghost released a music video for "Kiss the Go-Goat", which depicts Papa Nihil performing as frontman of the band at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California, in 1969. The following day, on 13 September 2019, Seven Inches of Satanic Panic was released digitally through Loma Vista Recordings.

It was released vinyl, on 27 September 2019. Seven Inches of Satanic Panic has been described as a two-track EP and as a single. The vinyl release peaked at number 2 on the UK Vinyl Singles Chart, whilst "Kiss the Go-Goat" reached number 4 on the Kerrang.

In July and August 2022, "Mary on a Cross" went viral on TikTok. in response, Ghost released a "Slowed + Reverb" version of the song digitally on 26 August. The original recording then became the band's first to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 when it reached number 90 in September. An official lyric video for the song was released on 14 December. Similar to the video for "Kiss the Go-Goat".

[ink-and-dagger]

I accidentally tripped over today and my debit card just kinda fell out of my pocket and bought a Ghost batwing hoodie all by itself :/

and a SIOSP baseball shirt so weird huh

[forlorn-crows]

Have you done Go-Goat yet?

i havent done EITHER of the songs on SIOSP

go-goat is a bop and i will not hear otherwise. it sucks you in immediately

it aint always what it seems / when you cling on to a dream / it aint always there to please you (pleasse youuu)

honestly the entire pre-chorus is *chefs kiss* SATAN. LUCIFER. OSCULUM OBSCENUM *KISS*

the wooaahhhhhh after kiss the goooaat

hey babbyy / hey hey hey i just love the way the rhythm changes

the instrumental break?? yes. im groovin

do i even have to say the ending? cause i mean come on. *kiss* *kiss* *moan* (aggressive synth) who let tobias do that. kills me every time but im in love with it

[whump-ghoul]

Witch Image: “like a mother would save, her own child from digging a grave.”

I think about this a lot in regards to Copia and Imperator.

I feel like it’s one of those ‘I push you so hard because I want to see you succeed, because I love you.’ situations (and partially because she wants to get back at Nihil for something.)

She saw that the Clergy had her first three killed, and now she’s doing everything in her power to see that Copia lives because that’s her son.

I also think about the phrasing in The Cardinal episode. She says to Nihil: “You’re all out of progeny.”

You’re. You are.

I sort of suspect that I, II and III were all Nihil and someone else’s kids, and Imperator only came onto the scene later for the Ghost Project - to maybe revive it after Nihils failed attempts. I guess it sort of makes sense because young Nihil is still in his 40s, so he’d maybe had kids with a previous Prime Mover.

Maybe Nihil knocked Imperator up just before SIOSP, but he became delusional with the stardom and slept around which ultimately caused the Project’s initial failure.

Idk. I have theories but ofc none of them are true/accurate or even canon lol.

At some point I might write a whole analysis on this, because it’s genuinely very interesting.

(Also, if anyone has any theories/analysis based on the lore/bloodline let me know!)

[gothdaddyissues]

Screenshot from the siosp pop-up yesterday. There were tarot cards all over the place, but this one is an actual spread.

I feel a burning yearning need to try and analyze this, but it's probably just random...right?

Does anyone who went have better pics?

[theladyofskeletons]

what if ghost released more songs of nihil from siosp..... ahhahahah jst kidding........... UNLESS-

[snowingclouds]

How the fuck do I explain to a friend how fucking funny the siosp thing is?!?!?

[sun-3-160]

SA. TAN. LU. CI. FER. OS. CU. LUM. OB. SCENUM.

[vossn]

Now, before we continue this interview I have a few more questions

Sooo,

have you been playing around the magic that is black?

But all the powerful magical mysteries never gave a single thing back??

Have you by chance been daddied by all the dudes who wanna dad???

... and all those dads never gave you the things that you should have had????

[heavenlydreamangelflyhigh]

seriously i can't stand the ghost albums after meliora and i thought that was just me opting for favoritism bc of papa iii but no. the instrumentals along w the lyrics got..shittier to me. there are a ton of fans who enjoy their later albums and i respect that, but i am So, so bummed out, because i would love to go to a concert of theirs still.. i just can't get past. the new music.