notes on terzo and socialism/shepherding || char. study
𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖝𝖙: i'm working on a fic that centers around terzo before, after, and while becoming the next papa. which made me think again about his shift from a frankly capitalist vision of what "the city of meliora" could be, to a disillusioned socialist that has probably never wanted to be a leader the way the clergy expected him to.
I am not going to get too deep into why Papa Terzo was, quite objectively, a true socialist, but I am going to talk a bit about what I think he might have been like as a cardinal.
Here is how Bishop Necropolitus II speaks about Terzo's time in Kraków.
Now, what you need to know about Poland and many other regions that used to be occupied by the Soviet Union: most of them positively lost their minds over the idea of American Capitalism. The atmosphere of the 80s and 90s over there was full of idealising USA, secretely listening to American music, watching Hollywood films, all that jazz. These pro-capitalist sentiments still linger, especially since they have been marketed as synonymous with democracy.
Would it be so surprising for a young, world-curious, cultured young man such as Terzo to find himself under the influence of those ideas? Especially given his close friendship with Necropolitus. Kraków is ancient. It has housed entire generations of dreamers, poets, artists, revolutionaries.
(...) We would sit down to studying exciting Futurist manifestos, sketched the blueprints of utopian metropoles, spiked with shiny skyscrapers stabbing at the heavens belly... Wantonly swollen zeppelins would to carry our gospel of indulgence to the farthest corners of the globe to summon and enslave.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, people scrambled to re-imagine their countries anew. Through trial and error, as you can imagine. And all grand shifts call for blueprints, so I'm not even surprised that Terzo and his bishop gravitated towards the ideas left behind by pre-war visionaries. Of course such influences, especially once twined with inspirations like Metropolis and the Futurist manifestos, would result in Meliora as a concept—a place that rewarded ambition, merit, one's will to survive and create. Glorious individualism, I'd say. Perfectly fitted for the dreams of a young idealist that wanted to believe that most people were naturally good and therefore not eager to abuse their power once placed in a land of opportunities.
So what happened?
The papacy, of course. I think Terzo had always been more or less aware of what the role of Papa would technically ask of him, but he probably also hoped to take one more of a companion-guide role than a cult leader one. People were supposed to distinguish good and bad on their own.
I don't know what exact events might have caused him to become so disillusioned. Was it the realisation that many people don't want to make the effort of bettering themselves and fighting for their own greatness? Or that organised religions tend to abuse the trust of their flock and use it for their own gain? We don't know. But I think that experiencing the behind-the-scenes of how organised religions operate + what the Clergy expected of him probably played a major role in that change.
Going from “The Pinnacle to the Pit” is not the punishment it was meant to be. It is freedom to struggle against injustice, to march with crowns and sceptres. Here in the pit, we are all royalty now.
Papa Emeritus III is not here to lead. His journey is your own. “Majesty” is not the state that only belongs to him. He is merely the mask, the path into the fire where he has already been.
The introduction to Meliora itself states plainly: it is no longer a mission of leading people to Satan (we see you, Peepaw Primo), but an attempt to nudge them towards their own self-discovery and, through it, freedom, despite the rot and challenges of the world. At least that's what I think Terzo would have wanted.
So the original vision of Meliora-the-city-of-those-who-reach-for-greatness remains in fragments, but is no longer so individualistic. "We are all royalty now". I think "THE LIGHT BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE" is one of the most empowering quotes Ghost has given us (and it's a shame that it seems to be barely known?), and it's the very thing that made me realise, "Holy shit, Terzo's an actual socialist".
[ Great post thread on that + what the vision/concept of Meliora as a place might have evolved into, by the way. ]
I don't know if pre-papacy Terzo had ever believed in Lucifer or the Devil as an authentic, supernatural entity—but we do know that Papa Terzo (bitterly) recognised humanity's only true god to be money (ref. the previously linked post). And we do know that he was deeply aware of all types of corruption, especially political and religious.
But he never actually grew resentful of the people (the flock) themselves. Instead, his entire papacy ended up being about encouraging them to survive difficulties, to push through the unfairness of the world as equals, all the while dealing with one's individual struggles. But no longer with some singular solution for everyone, or a world where only the most ambitious and determined individuals win.
Like I've mentioned in the last screenshot, I think becoming the face of the Clergy had forced Terzo to realise that there was only so much one person—no matter how clever, or assertive, or driven—could do or change once faced with entire systems and organisations.
But if the Light belongs to the People, then the solution is to shield and carry and use it as a community.
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