hey did you guys know i had died the tiniest death, i spied the catch in your breath, out, out, out, out, out, out, northbound i got carried away, as you boarded your train south, south, south, south, south, south, a feather taken by the wind blowing, i'm afflicted by the not knowing, so i look in people's windows, transfixed by rose-golden glows, they have their friends over to drink nice wine, i look in people's windows in case you're at their table, what if your eyes looked up and met mine one more time? you had stopped and tilted your head, i still ponder what it meant, now, now, now, now, now, now, i tried searching faces on streets, what are the chances you'd be downtown, downtown, downtown? does it feel alright to not know me? i'm addicted to the 'if only.' so i look in people's windows like i'm some deranged weirdo, i attend christmas parties from outside, i look in people's windows, in case you're at their table, what if your eyes looked up and met mine one more time?

the title track has me stopped rn. you meet someone in your dark times and your depression understands theirs and everyone around you sees it so it feels just evident. so much so, you don't try. so you take your partner for granted... because you know they see you, you know they see through you. you know they know you. so you don't have to try. and it can feel like freedom, the non-trying... you know you'll always have them. cause who else is gonna see you like this? nobody. but maybe no one should.

"Someone told me there's no such thing as bad thoughts. Only your actions talk."

People have been saying Chloe et al sounds lukewarm cowboy like me

Yeah but that's not what I was talking about. I know the melody of that verse so well but I have no idea where and its not cowboy like me. idk its driving me nuts though

when the autism is being an actual mental health problem instead of making me obsess over fictional characters again:

I really like fictional couples that actually enjoy spending time with each other. It seems like such a simple, mundane thing. But, often, I see fictional couples who are completely enamored and dramatic and willing to die for each other, which is fine. But like… do they enjoy hanging out? Do they have private jokes and would they be friends even if they weren’t in love? It feels like such a basic thing, but it’s something that I actually don’t see that often. And it feels so refreshing and honest compared to these over-dramatic romeo and juliet-esque romances. Just two people who become good friends and because they enjoy each other’s presence so much it grows into a strong attraction. It feels more real and tangible than two attractive people meeting and “falling in love at first sight” - like, of course, you fell in love at first sight! You’re both supermodels! Sorry, can’t relate.

and people will still say that the sales are all because of variants when everyone else does variants too but I don’t see them having 2.61 million first weeks

records set by the tortured poets department:

taylor's 14th billboard 200 no. 1, tying the record for the most-ever among solo artists, and second to the beatles overall

largest-ever streaming week for an an album

second largest total week for an album since streaming/units began to count

1.914m pure sales, marking the third-largest week since 1991 (modern era)

859,000 vinyl sales, setting a single-week record

only artist with seven different albums to sell at least 1 million copies in a single week

the consistency shown in taylor's 1 million+ selling first weeks is SO IMPRESSIVE: 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024

Taylor via Twitter, 4/28/2024

The fact that she sold almost 1M in vinyl alone…..absolutely staggering!

taylor sold more TTPD vinyls than she sold copies (including streaming equivalents) of folklore, which had sixteen variants. chew on THAT.

reminder that you’re allowed to be angry. it wasn’t fair.

i feel like fandom would really benefit from adopting the idea of readings, as in interpretations. anyone can interpret canon as saying anything on even the most tenuous of justifications. if you interpret a detail or moment in a particular way, great! but if someone interprets that thing in another way, even in a way which directly contradicts your interpretation, that’s also okay. multiple readings can exist at once without invalidating any of them

a lot of fandom drama seems to arise from people acting as if their interpretations are True or Factual in some way, when really all anyone can do is speak to their own interpretations & experiences. which is natural! and good! many voices with many interpretations and approaches is healthy and good. the trouble is depicting a reading, which is a very personal thing, as universally true, and then getting frustrated that others don’t interpret events the same way. & i get it, that can be annoying, especially if you think those other interpretations are misunderstanding the canon. but so much of the time it’s just a different reading, taking into account details you might not have noticed or maybe just viewing them in a different light, informed by different life experiences & values & everything else that goes into a personal interpretation of a creative work

by trying to depict One Single Reading of a text as Correct, fandom loses all the nuance of interpretation & also just turns everyone into a bunch of rabid raccoons fighting over different ways to look through the same kaleidoscope

WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT GUY?