#melody couldn't be with phoebe so now she's a part of her

[khakirnelm]

i love that even though phoebe never gets to be with melody, never gets to interact with her in many ways, she will now forever do so in every way. phoebe will look up at the sky and see melody in the sun and the stars and the moon, see her in the clouds and the grass and the ceiling. she will bust ghosts with melody's essence etched into the proton pack and carved into her suit. she will simply be and melody will be a part of her. like, melody is now eternally attached to phoebe's foundation.

#like how is that not fucked up #i just love it #melody couldn't be with phoebe so now she's a part of her #phoebe lost a piece of her heart when melody left and now melody is filling it with her essence #that's so romantic #it's a fucking tragedy #melody will forever haunt her #isn't that beautiful? #phoebe will love her through everything she does #and that my dear fellas is so fucking sad and brilliant #phoebe spengler #melody ghostbusters #phelody #phoebe x melody #ghostbusters #frozen empire #ghostbusters frozen empire #checkmatch

[flipside-phoebe]

So about that thing I mentioned earlier...

As per my previous spoiler-free review of Frozen Empire, I mentioned that the film includes something I never expected, and I have complex feelings about it. Well, here it is. Spoilers below, don't read if you haven't watched (I'm serious).

Alright well first of all, PHOEBE SPENGLER IS GAY!!! PHOEBE IS A FUCKING HOMOSEXUAL!!! A LESBIAB!!! WOMEN!!! THERE WAS NO HETEROSEXUAL EXPLANATION FOR THAT. HOW SHE TALKED WITH MELODY THE GHOST. THAT WAS FLIRTING. EVERYONE SHUT UP. PHEOBE OUT-GAYED YOU ALL. SHE HAS TAKEN HER CROWN AS THE QUEEREST GHOSTBUSTER AND THE SIMPSONS PREDICTED IT.

Ok. Ok. I'm fine. I'm calm now. I'm not. I'm fine I swear.

Joking aside, let me talk about this seriously. Phoebe's relationship with Melody was fascinating and a huge surprise to me. I suspected this movie might delve into the ethics of ghost hunting, and there would be a betrayal involved in the story (based on some very grasping-at-straws observations I made that I won't go into here) I was shocked to be right on both accounts, but not in the way I expected.

I loved the direction they took these two characters, and I loved seeing their interactions that read as awkward flirtations. It was beautiful and bittersweet up until the very end. I'm so happy they were able to make up and help each other. Melody was able to move on and Phoebe discovered a part of herself, along with a newfound appreciation for her family.

That being said, this plot element left me an emotional wreck. Once I got over the high of seeing obvious queer coding in a Ghostbusters movie, I crashed hard. The scene were Phoebe separated her own soul just to be close to Melody was upsetting to me. It's almost as self-destructive as suicide. It's in-character considering what Phoebe was going though at the time but still. That along with what happens after was really scary to witness. Also... Up until now I had been clinging to a personal headcanon that Phoebe was aroace like myself. I can't hold on to that idea anymore. Sitting in the theater dressed up as this character that I related to on a personal level for so long, suddenly watching her experience emotions that I never have or ever will... It broke me. I actually couldn't sleep last night because this + personal stuff made my anxiety come back. I had to call in sick today because I can't eat.

I feel horrible about this. It's selfish to want a character to be exactly like me when she was made by someone else. I don't want to be homophobic and I want to support other LGBTQ+ people in our community that can feel represented by this. I am truly happy for them! Even if this wasn't the perfect romance (it's between a living child and a ghost who can't grow up with her) it's still something special! Hopefully later down the line she can have a girlfriend with a pulse, though.

I do worry about what the fan reaction to this will be. Will people hate Phoebe for the mistake she made in trusting Melody? Is this going to be another "Mabel caused Weirdmageddon"? I'm not strong enough to handle that again. On the other hand, now that She's been strongly hinted at being gay and she's a bit older, is her tag going to become nothing but ships? Will everyone abandon all other headcanons/ideas in favor of "Melody stays" AUs (robbing her story of it's impact) or shipping her with OCs? The main tag is already full of romantic shipping and my sad little aro heart can't take it. I may just have to accept that fandom isn't for me and stay away.

I acknowledge that my feelings on this are deeply personal and do not detract from the film at all. I will be OK, I just need time to process this. I have to be mature about it. I still love Phoebe with all my heart. She's my favorite and nothing will change that, even though we are different for many reasons.

#Mera's rants #spoilers #gbfe #ghostbusters frozen empire #phoebe spengler #ghostbusters frozen empire spoilers #pouring my heart out here #please don't clown on me #not reblogable but you can talk to me about this if you want #just be civil

[chicknparm]

69 or 98 or 8

69. ivy - Taylor Swift

It wouldn't be right to do one of these without at least one Taylor song, so we got pretty lucky that you picked this number! Nice!

This song gets thrown around by a lot of swifties as an example of how good her songwriting has gotten, and I think it is quite a good example, but not really for the reasons they think. One could easily read the lyrics and dismiss her verbosity as pretentious set-dressing; a cynical shortcut to make herself and her songs appear deeper than they really are. I think the way some fans talk about her lyrics invites this kind of reading, but I promise you that indulging in that line of critique is doing a disservice to both the music and yourself.

The story told in ivy is one of conflict and infidelity; the narrator is having a passionate affair with someone else while her loveless, lifeless marriage gathers dust. The poetic language, instrumentation, and tone of Swift's voice all evoke much older forms of storytelling. Evocative stories are a cornerstone of country music, but have fallen out of favor in recent decades, and ivy seems to want to reach back even farther and remind the listener more of Jane Austen than Loretta Lynn (in fact, ivy wasn't out of place when it was used as a needle-drop in the Dickinson series). The melody is dark and tense, as are the dancing arpeggios on the guitar, as she sings verses about the pair being magnificently cursed; drinking her husband's wine and grieving for the living. The tension gets resolved in the chorus, where the melody warms up and she exclaims with relief (the use of "goddamn" feels more profane here than many of her uses of "fuck") that her "pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand taking mine."

The warmth becomes heat becomes fire when we reach a classic Taylor Swift Bridge where she proclaims "So yeah, it's a fire, it's a goddamn blaze in the dark, and you started it." From there, we never return to the tension of the verses, instead riding out the chorus until the end, with the narrator resigning herself to an imperfect life half-loved, crooning "my house of stone, your ivy grows, and now I'm covered in you" as electric guitar peaks its head out of the background.

This one's pretty good.

98. Psycho Killer- Talking Heads

cw: french

I didn't know he was speaking french in parts of this until I played this song in Rock Band 2. I couldn't understand a lot of the lyrics when my parents played Bruce Springsteen tapes so I didn't think this was that weird. I still don't know what the french sections mean, aside from qu’est-ce que c’est, perhaps we'll never know.

Anyway this song is a classic, obviously. The bassline is rock solid but still has enough movement to keep the rhythm fun and danceable despite the slower tempo. David Byrne is an all-time great vocalist and he gives a great performance. I, too, hate people when they're not polite. This is such an obvious choice that you'd think it would be overdone and cliche to use it in movies, and maybe it is, but I still pop for it every time. It's like using Fortunate Son in Vietnam movies, sometimes the obvious choice is the right one.

8. Savior Complex - Phoebe Bridgers

I liked Phoebe Bridgers' first album, but Punisher was an improvement in basically every way. Savior Complex was a literal jaw-dropper the first time I listened to it, coming at the end of a devastating three song run including Chinese Satellite and Moon Song. Some musicians just have an ear for perfect pop melodies. Call their songwriting sophomoric (and you'd be correct), but power pop writers like Billie Joe Armstrong and Rivers Cuomo have always reminded me a bit of Paul McCartney in their ability to craft memorable, joyous, sometimes anthemic hooks and melodies seemingly in their sleep. Another skill of McCartney's, which far fewer are able to replicate, is his ability to write a melody that plays your heartstrings like a fiddle. Truly skilled musicians can tell a story and take you on an emotional journey without words, and Phoebe proves more than capable of that here. And I don't know if you've heard, but she's pretty fucking good at the "words" bit too.

Savior Complex might be my favorite Phoebe Bridgers song, even though there are plenty of others with stronger lyrics. But that melody, man. Those strings. The guitar nervously walking the bass notes around. The way her voice flutters when the title drops. Her breathy falsetto as she pleads that she's too tired, and a bad liar. Other songs got more attention on this album (and they deserve that attention), but Savior Complex is an understated masterpiece in my opinion. Just a gorgeous, gorgeous song. I love it so much.

#ask meme #mmmmbestie