#Benjamin Button

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[tswiftupdatess]

Benjamin Button looking stunning while Taylor and Gracie try to put out the fire from Taylor's apartment!

[ejunesblues]

note: i didn’t proofread this so i apologize if there are any spelling errors or mistakes. enjoy!

THERE’S ANOTHER ONE?

pairing: taylor swift x fem!reader

warnings: fluffy, kissing, alcohol intake, tay being upset that her fur babies love you more than her

masterlist

the night had been amazing so far. you and taylor had gone on your first date and everything went perfect. you two went to a nice restaurant and sat in the far back table where you giggled like school girls and gushed about shared interests.

so now as taylor giggles drunkenly, fiddling with her key to open her door, you can’t help but hope this isn’t a one time thing. she finally opens the door and swings it open, sighing in sweet relief. she kicks her shoes off and turns to face you when you close the door behind yourself as you take in the environment.

your eyes lock back on her and you smile girlishly at her soft gaze. you begin to take your shoes off all while maintaining the eye contact, “what?” you simply ask with a small laugh.

taylor bites her lip to contain her smile and shakes her head, “tonight’s been so amazing. i feel invincible right now.”

you grin at her, walking forward until you wrap your arms around the back of her neck, staring up at her with loving eyes. this is rare, for you to feel this in love on the first date. but you can tell taylor feels the same with the way she smiles down and wraps her arms around your waist. it makes you feel less stupid and shameful.

taylor gazes down at you in silence, her eyes heavy with alcohol and exhaustion of the eventful night. nonetheless, she conserves her energy for you, as she doesn’t want this night to end.

“can i kiss you, please?” she asks softly, a bit of her worried she may have misread your pace and signs of the night.

you give her a reassuring nod, “of course.”

she closes the space and just like that sparks fly in the air around you two. her soft lips move against yours slowly and gently, her movements a bit sloppy due to the bottle of wine you two split at the restaurant.

before you have the chance to deepen the kiss you feel something soft and furry move against your leg. you pull away from taylor’s lips and look down, a smile taking over your tingling lips at the sight.

a cat looks up at you with wide eyes, then a small meow escapes it’s mouth. you unhook your grip on taylor’s neck and crouch down to the cat’s level, letting it sniff your hand. taylor watches the interaction with love filled eyes.

“hi baby.” you coo, petting the cat from its neck to it’s tail. you continue the movement and eventually end up sitting criss cross on the floor in front of the door.

the cat climbs onto your lap and you smile in glee as you scratch it with your nails, feeling successful when the cat begins to knead it’s paws into your thighs.

taylor sits in front of you, criss cross as well with a small playful frown. “lucky, meredith never does that with me.”

you glance up at her with raised eyebrows before looking back down to the cat that purrs loudly, nudging her head against your slack hand. “hi meredith.” you whisper and scratch under her chin.

another cat enters the room and freezes once it’s next to taylor. she picks the cat up and places it into her lap, stroking it softly. “this is benjamin button, he’s my baby boy.”

you lean forward slightly and hold your hand out for benjamin to sniff. after a few seconds the cat jumps out of taylor’s lap and climbs onto your other available thigh. you scratch and pet both cats with a smile on your face.

taylor watches with endearment. the urge gets too strong that she impulsively pulls out her phone, snapping a quick photo. you look up with a grin, shaking your head. she shrugs, “had to save the moment. so the kids can see the first time they met you in the future.” she jokes.

it’s a small joke but it makes your stomach flutter. the thought of becoming official with her to be able to call her cat’s yours as well. you blush heavily and lean forward, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

she grins at you with loving eyes before they widen, “oh wait, you still have to meet olivia.”

your eyes widen more than hers as you gasp, “there’s another one?!”

[bben-squaredd]

Ben Barnes but Benjamin Button version

[starsdoyoulikedemm]

🫶🏻🫶🏻

[missegyptiana]

happy birthday benji🥹🫶🏻

[kylieswift31]

Repeating history

"Time, doesn't it give some perspective"

"Now we're at the starting line, I did my time"

So much of the marketing that surrounded the release of the lover album centred around Taylor's old diaries that she had combed through to create four editions of the lover journal. These included the lover album, snippets of her own journal and blank pages to encourage others to try journalling for themselves as well. What stands out with these compared to the two reputation magazine variants is the fact that they all have the same front cover. As Taylor's first owned album this combination paired with her own personal memorabilia feels like a defiant statement about where her music originates from: Taylor's past, memories, emotions and experiences. This in combination with a few subtle comments she has made about retelling her story lead me to wonder if she was also rewriting it too.

I have theorised in the past that the Taylor Swift and lover album were supposed to be the first pairs, but all of the Benjamin Button references suggest that she has been going back in time to retell her story without all the limitations she faced while working with her previous label. Going back in time when everyone else assumed Taylor was moving forward has contributed towards blurring the lines between her past muses and would explain why some have picked up on a regression from the outspoken version of Taylor we had grown accustomed to.

TS12->TS1, TS11->TS2, TS10->TS3, TS9->TS4, TS8->TS5, TS7->TS6.

This will be more of a theoretical look at how TS 7-12 may have been intended to provide clarity and a reflection on the associated TS 1-6 eras. I'll also be following the chapters outlined in the 'all too well' short film which are very reminiscent of the plot of the Truman show that I was discussing in my previous post.

"Looking backward might be the only way to move forward"

All too well

Taylor Swift - The Anthology

The women behind the curtain

Although the anthology goes hand in hand with the tortured poets department, I'm inclined to view it as a seperate entity as many of these songs become overshadowed by the original album in the same way that debut gets overlooked because of how young Taylor was when she wrote it. 'The manuscript' paired with 'picture to burn' implies that the real version of Taylor was shielded behind Taylor™ from the very beginning a la the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz story. Everything we've seen play out recently has felt like Taylor is returning to her teenage years where her career in the music industry first started. Whatever comes next (TSTV, rep TV or TS12 as the penultimate album) is likely going to be or precipitate what sets the dominoes cascading in a line. I get the feeling the swifties are on the mark with predicting a 'so high school' themed album is in the works, but the Travis Kelce romance seems to be the final boss level of distraction until this story Taylor's telling is complete.

The first crack in the glass

Fearless - TTPD

The poets departing from each other

There's an undeniable connection between the fairytale versus the heartbreaking reality Taylor has faced within these two albums. The 'fifteen' song and music video was also Taylor's first explicit example of being the narrator in her music too. On the surface this is a song about her best friend Abigail, but it also seems to be laced with truth about Taylor's experience entering the music industry. "You're going to be here for the next four years" correlates to the four albums she had left in her contract with BMR after fearless was released and implies that something changed as her popularity was taking off or after her contract had begun. "When all you wanted was to be wanted. Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now." Add in the Kanye incident in combination with the female rage seen throughout TTPD and it's reasonable to assume that this era created the first crack in the facade of Taylor™ (the Truman show X the delicate stage visuals on the eras tour). The two fifteen music video doors, two cages, two tornadoes, two TTPD desks and many more mirrored imagery imply that the "two graves, one gun" was punishment for more than just Taylor and that this was when Taylor™ became more of a long game plan.

Are you real?

Speak now - Midnights

Honesty versus holding back

"All they keep asking me is if I'm gonna be your bride. The only kinda girl they see is a one night or a wife". Taylor's use of the blurple colour combination throughout these eras and the eras tour feels significant. One represents the lavender haze and the other is the blue glitter she shares with the public. And the blue and purple mirrored cats on the karma website reflect this dichotomy between Taylor versus Taylor™ too. "Lost your balance on a tightrope". Speak now was Taylor's first entirely self written album in an attempt to prove her critics wrong, yet looking back on all the sleepless nights referenced throughout the midnights album the older version of Taylor seems to be ready ready to burn it all down. I want to create a dedicated post to go through this combination of albums in more detail soon as it feels like a large turning point in Taylor's music going forward.

The breaking point

Red - Evermore

The "good girl" persona

Looking back on the red era it's clear how much the media weaponised Taylor's reputation as a "good girl". Despite having some of her most vulnerable songs with 'all too well' (10 minute version) and 'Majorie', the red and evermore eras are some of Taylor's most reserved and secretive in terms of album imagery. Taylor talks about writing proficiently during her time in lockdown after folklore was released, but it feels like she's referring more to the red era and not just that current period of time. Other than the autumnal aesthetic, 'I bet you think about me' and 'cowboy like me' speak to the concealed rebelliousness that underpins these two albums.

The reeling

1989 - Folklore

Into the woods versus out of the city

Despite the city vibes of the original 1989 album and the cabin in the woods scene in the folklore album, both of these two eras contain a multitude of beach imagery. "I had a marvellous time ruining everything". In terms of the Truman show parallels this feels like the point where Taylor amped up her plans by revealing her involvement in the New Romantics by expanding her circle of friends and creating the bad blood music video (that is reminiscent of the squad working together in the hunger games catching fire). She then continued to draw attention to her female friendships and rumoured queerness with the fictional love triangle that implies that Betty is Taylor's muse. In terms of the 'cardigan' and 'willow' music videos continuing the same story, if you look at the story being told in reverse there's a purposeful separation of the twin flames that ties the 'all too well' short film together with the 'forget her/him' style of bearding introduced with the imagery seen in the 'blank space' music video.

The remembering

Reputation - Lover

Call it what you want

I don't want to downplay the enormity of Taylor's masters being sold against her will, but in terms of the many parallels I've found to the Truman show I can't help but wonder if the lost karma era and "are you ready for it?" reputation album were intentionally created so that BMR were forced to play their hand when the lover album was released. The rainbow outfits revealed at the beginning of the reputation era created a bait and switch that allowed her to soft launch by coming out to those who recognised the queer flagging in the lover music videos before pivoting back towards the reputation era aesthetic once more. Blurring the lines between the two eras disguised as a reaction to the masters sale emphasised the duality in the surface level versus underlying aesthetics as well as the intermingled love and pained themes within both albums.

Thirteen years gone

The eras tour - The eras tour 2.0

The story's not mine anymore, it's ____

And to circle back to the Truman show... the aesthetic change during the lover era feels like the point where Truman had 'failed' to escape over the bridge, appeared to be defeated before eventually escaping when everyone least expected it. Taylor has spent the last six years retelling her story in more detail so that the her fanbase (and the general public) can understand what she has experienced, which was again been replicated throughout the eras tour. It's the finality of the eras tour and the tortured poets department that makes me wonder if the end of the story Taylor is telling is drawing nearer. I wouldn't be surprised if Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version) ends up being the final piece of the puzzle that ties everything together so that Taylor can finally move forward without looping through the same story like it's Groundhog Day.

Picture this... you're Taylor's nemesis dreading the day that she gets up on the eras tour stage and reveals to the general public that she's gay. You keep tabs on the live streams over and over again with each new leg of the tour. TTPD eventually gets added to the setlist and then each night the stage floor opens up during the fortnight performance and you just sit there with a white knuckle grip on your phone waiting to see if it's Taylor's lover about to pop unannounced or if it's just Jan Malone yet again! Haha yeah, Karma really is a relaxing thought huh?

"I'm taking my time, taking my time

'cause you took everything from me"

Karma is a catalyst,

Kylie x

P.S. Just wanted to add that it was this interview that originally had me wondering if Taylor was making a statement through more than just her re-records.

‘Exile ends in 3,2’

The surprise release of the midnights 3am tracks lines up with TS3, just like the 2am TTPD release of the anthology lines up with TS2. It’s interesting that both of these albums were announced at award shows considering what happened in between TS2 and TS3. ✌🏼

[burtonsdoodles]

28/03

#burtonsdailydoodles 8️⃣7️⃣

Inspired by walking around London on World Theatre Day, playing how many theatres can I spot before reaching The Shaftesbury Theatre (our final destination)…

(I again couldn’t decide which I preferred)

INSTAGRAM

[elliotdeflateme]

pristine adam theory

this is part 3 to adam theories, if youve never heard of pristine adam you arent alone.. he is a niche and underground adam that i found searching the deep dark web.

there is not much uncovered lore for pristine adam but after analyzing him for hours i think ive come to a conclusion. In every image of this adam, he earned the 'pristine' name based on his baby butt like skin, soft and youthful. but as i looked at the time these photos are dated to i realized they were decades and even centuries apart but he still hadnt aged..

i think this alternate universe adam found his own 'fountain of youth' or some kind of unique property that kept him young and mogging forever.

comment your thoughts.

[bialvindraper]

benjamin button / gorgeous

[akalizzygraant]

if taylor’s cats wrote speak now they’d call it speak meow

[tswiftupdatess]

Gigi Hadid gifted Taylor Swift a ring of Benjamin!

[filmesbrazil]

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

Benji!!!!!

[saschaishaunted]

Tragically, Taylor hasn’t shown us much of these three wild little beans much lately. SOOOO… I did it for her. Here ya go, @taylorswift (although we still miss them 🥺)

[foxes-that-run]

Can you confirm Benjamin Button was a gift from Harry?

Hi, Taylor adopted Benji on the set or Me! there’s a special BTS just for him.

However, his role/scene is a reference to internet speculation which Taylor has acknowledged that Olivia was a gift from Harry.

Olivia Benson Swift(-Styles?)

Olivia was adopted on 18 June 2014. Harry and Taylor had started dating again after the red backstage haircut, writing Style around Valentine’s Day 2014 and the anatomical heart tattoo. The date is a potential anniversary:

15 June 2011 Taylor had temper trap arm lyrics in St Paul, 1D in America, Harry MIA and on the 17 June she wrote she was blissfully happy in the lover journal.

16 June 2012 Harry got lyrics from the same temper trap song tattooed on that anniversary.

18 June 2014 Taylor adopted Olivia wearing pink. model Steph Smith was there, posted to IG and started following both Harry and Taylor. Harry MIA but seen in Europe the day before and after.

What led to speculation that Olivia was a gift was that Harry can be heard laughing in the first video Taylor posted of Olivia a week later. This TikTok has Harry laughing and this laugh. Harry’s sister Gemma liked this post and later named her own cat Olivia also.

Olivia is a Scottish fold so it’s unlikely she was able to be adopted same day, my guess is the “first roar” where Taylor wears black, Harry laughs and Olivia looks slightly smaller was before she was picked up where Taylor wore pink. That tracks with clothes and how purebred cat adoptions work, famous people probably have options but kittens new all the time “first roar” means first met. This first roar video is still in Taylor’s instagram stories under “Ladies and Benji”

Harry also wrote Olivia the same year and famously said “Is Olivia even a person or is Olivia an emotion” Olivia being something that sounds like “I love ya”, a response to Say don’t go’s “I said I love you and you say nothing back.

Tumblr went with it which Taylor was aware of as keen user of Tumblr then and she has hinted of Harry as Olivia’s dad on the Reputation tabloid, in the End Game video (black/rep cat rather than Olivia) when she sings she doesn’t want to be just another ex-live you don’t wanna see.

And it was seemingly confirmed in the me! When Brendan presents Benji as a gift while Taylor wears a pink dress

(Side note on the Me Video: Brendan wore Harry’s Live on Tour Suits throughout, she called Olivia and Meredith young daughters (in French, Harry was dating Camille) and the paint at the end match’s the unreleased Two Ghosts video)

And finally on his birthday hits from the streets called Harry a cat daddy in 2019, the year Me! Came out. Well he is a Cat daddy in a double meaning, 🍉 and also Olivia’s real father.