Goth Daddy Issues

I chose that picture very deliberately. His quasi-canonical grandma bedroom is SO IMPORTANT TO ME. Quasi-canonical because I think it's from something that never got used? I don't remember the source but that's our lad right there in front of a cat tapestry on a quilt next to bizarre potato dolls reading his paper while dressed up like he escaped the Sergeant Pepper album cover

A thing I truly love about Ghost is that the whimsy goes all the way down. Metalhead types insist that they used to be cool and dark and serious but...look at this man. This is the man who growled "I am Papa...you are not" direct to camera. This is the man who had grucifix doilies on this freaking papal robes. This is the man whose reign included more pop covers than not. A man who sang about shitting and farting and being richly endowed.

Secondo comes off as spooky. He comes off as imposing. And there are times sure where he can lean back in and truly bask in being the mouthpiece of Satan on Earth. But Secondo and I are part of the same polycule because he and I both have an unending commitment: to the bit.

I feel like the spooky tough guy exterior who has an attack dog and the goofus who does silly shimmies on stage at Coachella and speaks Italian in an entire interview despite speaking perfectly good English exist for the same reason that so many people go around hiding the things they love under a layer of irony poisoning. It's a defense mechanism.

Secondo has a soft underbelly (literally, from what we see in Papaganda 2). He gets deep in his feelings. Terzo may have the reputation for Byronic brooding, but that's because he does it noticeably. Secondo never lets anyone see him crack. But he goes up on a roof top at night where no one but father Satan and mother Moonlight can see him, lights up a smoke, and watches the stars and lets himself Feel all the things he has spent all day hiding behind gruffness or humor. In fact that's the very vivid mental image I get when I hear the Ghost cover of Waiting For the Night. Him alone with the stars, basking in the beauty of the night, sunglasses off.

The sunglasses. That's another shield between him and the world. I fucking love that look. I adore Mr. Worldwide Secondo so much. And honestly, I love for him that he is gonna be that big pimpin' g and get all the ladies (and maybe theybies and fellas if the opportunity arises) while he can. You can feel the resignation in him, a sort of fatalistic feeling when he talks about how he's just one in a succession of Papas. "I'm here for a good time not a long time" truly lives and breathes in Secondo. Alongside the defensiveness of it all, that's another reason for his sense of humor. He may keep his quips to himself unless they're precision targeted, or he may be acting in a way that's spooky or offputting to others but absolutely hilarious to him, because fuck it he may as well have fun along the way. His comment in Papaganda about loving a sexy rocking beat is so delightful and it goes so well with being the era that covered ABBA and Crucified - I feel like his taste in music would run wide and shallow (not in a bad way, just that he'd be way more mainstream in his tastes than his brothers). Anything he can party, groove, or fuck to.

That said I have seen people suggest that he's less committed to the Papacy and the Ministry as a result of this attitude and I disagree. We think that because the two immediately adjacent examples are the most devout fanatic the band has ever seen before him in Primo and the impassioned (then jaded) radical reformer in Terzo. Secondo didn't have a grand vision, but he steered the ship steadily through uncharted waters nonetheless. The way he leads a congregation from the stage, you can tell he has care for this flock. If it hadn't been after his time, he could have done an absolutely killer Cirice - from the footage I've seen of him shaking and kissing hands with the people in the front row, the man cherished and fostered that connection. He is a priest who understands that a church is not made of brick and mortar, nor of dogma, nor of the God it follows - but of the people who attend it.

I have seen some fics say that he would be the gruffer brother, if only because of that defensive nature - he guards a tender heart and thus would stick his foot in his mouth a lot when trying to talk feelings - and I like that take. But I feel like he'd also be very devoted to his family, especially Primo and Terzo. This goes for all three of them really but one of the sweetest things to me about the Red Uno Game (until the horror of course) is despite the obvious bitching and bickering...they all showed up. They clearly enjoy each other's company enough to make it a Thing predictable enough that people planning their assassination could count on it as the perfect ambush time. Headcanons aside we have both that and his presence for both peaceful onstage transfers of power in the Ghost lore says a lot.

He's a graceful man. Not just in his movements (which he is, with the exception of poor Terzo Falls-a-Lot all the Papas move like they're made of liquid) but in the dignity he maintains in public. We see that dignity slip when he's being deliberately goofy or in a few candid moments in Papaganda but he carries himself with gravitas. And, though not without bitterness, he accepted his place as the man between other Papas and handled it with aplomb.

After thoughts, some feelings: I love this man as much as I love the other Papas (save Cardi who I love a feral amount and Nihil who I tolerate). I adore Secondo. I don't thirst for him actively the way I do the three younger Papas but I have read some things that made me temporarily want him - and my lack of thirst is due to a very specific sense memory - I had a relative growing up with an intense farmer's tan who would go shirtless when drunk, and that shot in Papaganda 2 where his belly is showing and is ten shades paler than his (mask) face just makes me flash back to that family member and kills any boner I would have had.

But out of all of them save Cardi who is my number one Pookie for a reason, Secondo is the Papa I would most want to hang with. Not for the party side. I want to sit with him on his goofy grandma bed and have drinks and listen to him bitch about stuff. I wanna bop to music with him and learn about his interests. I just think he'd be a fascinating conversation and a pleasant hang. I think we could have a lot of fun "yes and"ing each other.