UGHHH SORRY I'M THINKING ABOUT TERZO AGAIN....
earlier today i was thinking about how Terzo is just so fascinating as a phenomenon that could have only ever happened in Era 3, never happened before, and will never happen again.
Era 3 just had this perfect moment where Ghost was Just Right. Papa finally gained the ability to wear pants and had become much more dynamic and lively, Ghost only had 3 albums to create a setlist from, and they were still playing in small venues. what happened with Terzo couldn't be done in Era 1 and 2 because they were still developing the band / the fans / the Ghost concert experience. what happened with Terzo couldn't be done in Era 4 and 5 because by then, Ghost had gotten so popular that the level of intimacy Terzo had with the audience became impossible.
so to me, a lot of interesting moments were created from this specific set of circumstances.
obviously, a huge portion of Terzo's appeal comes from how much he interacted with the audience. he would have the audience participate at his acoustic shows, and he really really loved talking to the crowd.
Terzo's concerts would have between 12.5 to 18 minutes dedicated to just chatting with the audience. for roughly 100-minute concerts, that is A LOT of time to waste on YAPPING.
and Terzo wouldn't just talk to the audience in general! he loved to point out + talk to specific people, like parents with kids, or when he did his Monstrance Clock intro bit, he would try to address one person right in front of him, preferably someone attending a Ghost concert for the first time, and he'd ask them if they were having a good time and if they enjoyed the show. it felt so much more intimate and special than is possible for Ghost now.
like, Papa sitting down and getting comfortable to talk to a specific person in the audience is something that i feel like Ghost might not ever do again. i would be very surprised if they could / would.
and the fact that Terzo's concert chats didn't stick to a very strict script (for a lot of his time as Papa) led to a lot of really interesting character moments. we're able to learn so much about him from his chats because he really just said whatever he felt like saying. he talked about the foods he likes, his politics, his personal views on death and the afterlife, his philosophy for how to live a good life.. he even talked about his family. and it's crazy because we get to learn so much about Terzo but we still know that he hides so much about his "true" self. there's just. so much.
ugh Terzo made me insane and i'm never going to forgive him. i've literally watched at least 1900, possibly up to 2 THOUSAND of his concert videos.
and Terzo literally isn't even my favorite character.. i just think.. he's just a really special guy.
