it’s 5am , but i looked up the definition of luminary because i got bored —
thinking abt the way grim ( living supermassive black hole btw ) wants to kill all living luminaries , including himself ,,,,, the concept of a black hole ridding the universe of light , only to then drown himself in his own darkness
something about these audric and grim pieces make me feel so ?? at ease ?? I CAN’T FUCKING EXPLAIN IT BUT AUUFJDHFJGJFJ,,, I LITERALLY MADENTHE FIRST ONE MY WALLPAPER AS SOON AS I SAW IT AND IT’S SO . 😢😢😢 do NAWWTTT PERCEIVE ME!!!!!!!
So, I watched Phantom of the Paradise for the first time today and was just now looking at some fan-content, thinking about the faustian bargain between Winslow & Swan and particularly the aspect of Winslow’s wound reopening if Swan were to be terminated.
The aspect of which — since I’ve been thinking about it on-and-off lately — got me thinking about LML and Lazarus Troths . . . which made me realize:
If the goal of a Lazarus Troth is not completed, or rather, is unsuccessful….
WOULD BOTH PARTICIPANTS, TROTHEE AND LUMINARY, GO BACK TO BEING DEAD?????
It’s something I’ve never thought of until now, but it’s something I’ve always wondered. It really does make sense, and I honestly can’t think of anything else now.
There was a line in the original LML webtoon where, following the establishment of their troth, Grim implied that there had been other, previous trothees through which he had tried to accomplish his goal. He calls Audric “the easiest one yet” in this regard, and refers to him truly as his “last hope.”
This is a line that I’ve always been curious about ever since I first read the comic in 2022, but I was never able to make sense of it. It was always more of a “this-is-something-really-interesting-that-I-hope-gets-brought-up-again-in-the-reboot” kinda thing to me, but now that I have this idea of a Winslow/Swan-esque bargain in mind, it only makes more and more sense.
For instance, it would explain Grim’s being in the weird limbo-type place Audric finds himself in after his death, because in all content made taking place post-troth, Grim has been shown to be in a wide range of locations, whether it be the living quarters of various luminaries, in the woods, in the city, and so on.
If Grim was unsuccessful, it would make sense for him to wind up back in that weird limbo location, especially considering that Lazarus Troths themselves are inherently givers of life. They allow the mortal to live again in the real world and the luminary to live in the shadows.
For a luminary both deceased and outside a troth? Where else is there to be but this weird place of limbo? Assuming that Grim was continuously unsuccessful too, his indifferent demeanor in stark contrast to Audric’s stun makes perfect sense if he had been there time and time again.
It would also explain his eagerness to pursue his goal, and maybe even the intensity of it.
ANYHOW, TLDR: Phantom of the Paradise unintentionally caused me to have the most INSANE paradigm shift ever when it comes to my LML thinkings, and I will never say anything bad about that movie again. I’m going to be thinking about this a lot now.
