Ranking the Papal Facial Paints!
this is of course purely subjective but I am right
The Best, the Apex, the Highest of Visual Art:
I have so many feelings about Terzo's design. It is gorgeous. I have referred to him before in a gushing moment as "the art deco masterpiece" and hoo boy is he. Like, legitimately, the marriage of the futurist themes in Meliora with his face design are just *chef kiss*. If you don't believe me, take a look at one of the most famous pieces of art deco art and peep the similarities:
the cheek bone and brow framing shape are just like the goddamn Oscar. Coupled with the nose and eyes for a hint of the original skull design from Papas past and the daring upper lip only lipstick...he's perfect.
Second Place, The World Was Not Ready:
We were robbed. This could have been the eternal Popia look. It was so, so good. This paint job being inspired by the shape of a rat skull has been covered already and ughhh that was such a cool idea. It's in keeping with the skeletal theme but an ambitious change and hearkens back to song lyrics from Cardi's era. We could have had it all, everyone.
Third Place, The Classic:
It looks a bit messy in this shot but it's the first one I could find head on. It...sure is a skull. But Secondo's design is good in the way that a 3 chord song on a guitar is good. Basic in a way that lays the foundations for future greatness. Iconic and a measuring stick that all other designs can be judged by. Also not visible here but in some shots the eye makeup is glittery and that's glorious. This is my middle point on the list despite it being third place out of seven because the next two entries tie and one loses points for...
Fourth Place for Only Being a Glimpse of the Face:
It's...mostly black. And the mask is doing the heavy lifting for the skull motif. It's a very cool look, but this is a paint design contest so he loses points for it not being paint - he'd be above Secondo if I wasn't docking those points. But...these lips. The perfect cupid's bow with the little pointy bits coming off of it. I continue to lose my shit about how wonderful that design for lipstick shape is and if I ever decided to wear makeup again I'd be spending hours in the mirror trying to make those little points happen and probably failing. Though bonus points for the base note being more silver than white. That's neat. It lends an uncanny look under the stage lights at certain angles which really compliments Perpetua's whole Creature thing
Fourth Place For Wasted Potential:
Popia is my second favorite Papa look overall - why then is his paint so low? Because we had number two on the list to compare it to. And number two was glorious. It was inspired and a winking reference and unique. This...without the nose dots, the bold cheek design connecting to the lips just makes it look clownish. Which, okay, creepy clown is a whole aesthetic, but that's not the Ghost aesthetic. It really neutered the design taking away the more ratlike elements. Tragedy.
Secondo did it better. I'm sorry, he did. However I will give that the version we see in the Dance Macabre video is the crowning moment of this look
You really feel in the context of the video's storytelling the Significance of him wearing this paint for the first time.
I'm so sorry Peepaw but you look like a ham steak was dolled up in corpse paint and then run over by a truck. The blurry edges are not doing it any favors. The jagged lines have the potential to be good with better execution but...this just isn't giving. Sorry old man please don't kill me.
