#ttpd references

[veinsglisten]

I Look in People’s Windows

Peter and cardigan are from Wendy’s perspective.

I Look in People’s Windows is from Peter’s perspective.

“North bound I got carried away

As you boarded your train south”

Peter stays in Neverland while Wendy chooses to leave.

The train imagery echoes Wendy’s perspective in cardigan:

“Cause I knew you

Steppin’ on the last train

Marked me like a bloodstain”

“A feather taken by the wind blowing

I’m afflicted by the not knowing”

Peter lives in a carefree way in Neverland, oblivious to Wendy’s whereabouts in the real world.

So when he finally returns to the real world,

he looks in people’s windows in search of Wendy.

Peter is “addicted to the ‘if only’” and “[haunts] all of [Wendy’s] what-ifs”.

Young Peter sees adults having “their friends over to drink nice wine”, hoping grown-up Wendy will look up and meet his eyes one more time.

But little does he know,

she has stopped and tilted her head,

she has stopped waiting for him.

He “tried to change the ending”

but “Peter losing Wendy” has become an inevitable truth.

With the use of the train imagery in the beginning, the poem can be interpreted as

Peter being on board a train and watching the houses pass by,

“attending Christmas parties from outside”,

in search of Wendy’s warmth

but it’s no longer there

because she thinks Peter is “lost to the lost boys chapter of [his] life”.

Sadly, “the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light”.

[mysoftlouis]

ttpd really is the anti-reputation

–––

linking a lil post with some parallels between reputation & the tortured poets department

[ultravioletbrit]

“ball” - Jegulus microfic - @into-the-jeggyverse - 305 words

Regulus is sitting on the couch with one foot tucked under him and James’ feet in his lap and he’s absentmindedly playing with the hem of James’ joggers. He’s reading a fascinating book Pandora got him about the interconnection between Greek philosophy and mythology; James is reading a magazine that Regulus has never heard of. Regulus is getting lost in the moment until he hears Sirius snickering from across the room, he tries to ignore it, but Sirius doesn’t stop.

“What?” Regulus looks up, annoyed.

“You guys are the literal embodiment of ‘you know how to ball, I know Aristotle’.” Sirius chuckles.

“Did you just compare us to a Taylor Swift lyric?” Regulus raises an eyebrow.

“I mean…” Sirius gestures between Regulus and James.

“You mean what?” Regulus narrows his eyes.

“What are you reading?” Sirius asks instead of answering.  

Regulus reluctantly looks at his book about Greek philosophy then just glares at Sirius who cackles in response. “So? James is also reading?” Regulus tries to justify.

“James, what are you reading?” Sirius asks.

Regulus looks at James who’s trying very hard not to giggle when he says, “FourFourTwo.”

“I don’t even know what that is.”

“It’s my football magazine, love.” James tells him with a chuckle.

“Face it, Reggie. Your relationship is a walking, talking Taylor song.” Sirius leans back with a smug smile.

Before Regulus can respond, Barty and Evan walk in the living room and throw themselves on the other couch. “Hey, Sirius? You want to play video games with me and Ev?” Barty asks, unaware of the current conversation.

James and Sirius look at each other and burst out laughing.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Regulus mumbles and rolls his eyes.

“What?” Barty looks between the three of them.

“It’s Taylor’s world, Barty. We’re just living in it.” Sirius tells him.

“Well, obviously.” Barty rolls his eyes.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

Marriage and children on TTPD:

My husband is cheating, I want to kill him / Your wife waters flowers, I want to kill her / At dinner you take my ring off my middle finger and put it on the one people put wedding rings on and that’s the closest I’ve come to my heart exploding / You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died on the altar waiting for the proof / I’m having his baby— no I’m not, but you should see your faces / No, you can’t come to the wedding / Ain't no way I'm gonna screw up now that I know what's at stake, here at the park where we used to sit on children's swings wearing imaginary rings / My friends all smell like weed or little babies / Your cheating husband disappeared, well no one asks any questions here / You and I go from one kiss to getting married / You shit-talked me under the table, talking rings and talking cradles, I wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all / Whether I'm gonna be your wife or gonna smash up your bike, I haven't decided yet but I'm gonna get you back / So if I sell my apartment and you have some kids with an internet starlet, will that make your memory fade from this scarlet maroon like it never happened? / Didn't you hear? They called it all off / Are you gonna marry, kiss, or kill me? It's just a game, but really I'm betting on all three for us two / Way to go tiger, higher and higher, wilder and lighter for you / He said that if the sex was half as good as the conversation was soon they'd be pushing strollers, but soon it was over

[stillgotscars]

i feel so high school every time i look at you, but “look at you, i love you”

[daisyswift3]

So I think I may have cracked the code. Listening to Clara Bow w this context in mind from the 4th, 9th, and 10th 🎃 messages makes the lyrics cut even deeper and explains the purpose of the anthology.

What Taylor is essentially saying is that above all else she is proud of her humanity. “Human. Human. Human.” “Flesh and blood.” Unlike some ppl in Hollywood like greedy big suits (cough SB^2 cough Big Machine cough) she’s managed to keep her humanity intact and didn’t let these negative experiences corrupt her or turn her bitter. She was able to find peace and courage in spite of it. And she’s saying I am abt to come out of the closet and while I am hopeful I’m also a little fearful. But isn’t that an amazing thing? Because being fearful, sad, furious, insecure, hopeful—these experiences are unique to humans! “Your heart beats red and hot and furious in your chest.”

“And most importantly, they will know about the human heart.” THIS is the purpose of the anthology. This is why she released 31 (13 backwards) songs for her fans to dissect and decode. Bc she wants them to understand that she’s not a god. She’s a flawed human just like the rest of us.

I think there’s a very good chance that THIS is what her movie is going to be about. Her journey out of the closet and all the hardship that came along w it and helping other ppl to understand the human heart. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a memoir that was released w it—“the professor said to write what you know.” And it makes sense too why the manuscript lyrics match perfectly w the all too well short film. Bc they’re talking abt the exact same thing!! She has a relationship w a much older man, experiences heartbreak, heals, and then writes abt it in a book—the story of us AKA the manuscript.

And this is why 🎃 kept referencing the story of us. I couldn't make sense of it a few months ago but now in hindsight it all makes perfect sense. Message in a bottle was probably a red tv vault track for this reason too. Bc the message in a bottle is the manuscript. The puzzle pieces really do all fall right into place.

[evermoredeluxe]

she’s holding a book with “us” written on it… the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now… and l im thinking about is how tsou is a song about trying to move on, but you see that person everywhere and how that plays into joe and matty being similar and the parallels between her time with both of them

[dykeselfcest]

having been interested in religious themes in taylor's music before, i just was kind of startled after listening to ttpd (minus the anthology) for the first time in a while and realizing she has two very similar sentiments expressed wrt religion in different songs on this album: "you ain't gotta pray for me" in bdilh and "your good lord doesn't need to lift a finger" in i can fix him. they both refer to this same scenario of people disapproving of a romantic partner and the narrator saying "no, actually, your prayers and invocations of god are unnecessary, i've got this under control."

there's almost a sense of being above god, or at least not needing god, which fits with the idea from the prologue of this relationship being a "manic phase." this also possibly represents the natural progression from the religious themes in would've, could've, should've, in which the narrator feels forsaken by god, or like her experiences have made her turn away from god...it kind of makes sense that a person would then progress to "well fuck you, i don't need you anyway."

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

Celtic Design of Interlaced Dogs // The Tortured Poets Department (The Black Dog Variant) – Taylor Swift

[melodyvega1967]

scrapbook i made a few days (weeks?) after ttpd dropped

[veinsglisten]

🕊️🪽 The Albatross x The Alcott 📝✨

I can’t help but spot the similarities between these two songs

📝“have I become one of your problems?”

🕊️the albatross is a burden weighing down the mariner

📝“everything that’s mine is a landmine”

🕊️“I’m the life you chose

and all this terrible danger”

📝“did my love aid and abet you?”

🕊️“spread my wings like a parachute

I’m the albatross

I swept in at the rescue”

however, the phrase “aid and abet” means to support someone to do something wrong

so here it can be interpreted that

the albatross rescues the mariner, which is an act of love that aids and abets the mariner to kill her in turn 🏹🕊️

📝the speaker asking which side her lover’s on

🕊️there’re people warning him of the danger that she brings, and thus making him refrain from loving her

vs her warning him of “jackals [that] raised their hackles”

and him being in the safe shelter of her parachute wings, thus being on her side

📝”landmine” vs “love”

🕊️“the devil that you know

looks now more like an angel”

we can now understand

the duality of the albatross 🕊️🪽

and the dynamic of the relationship

between the sea bird and the mariner,

and between the couple at The Alcott 🤍🩶

[just2bubbly]

ok hear me out, 'The Black Dog' is wolfstar coded and not just because of the literal connection with Sirius Black and his animagus but in general. The Dog is very obviously Sirius and the way she goes on building the first verse of long lost friendship and relationship- "I am someone who until recent events shared your secrets with" and that's easy to tell Sirius and Remus were one half of the Marauders and they were friends, lovers and obviously shared everything with each other. The location is the Marauder's Map and it could possibly be a memory that Sirius can't get out of his head while being in Azkaban that relates closely with Remus who is having the same flashback but at a bar or in a deep emotional capacity when he sees a black dog that reminds him of Siri. "She's too young to know this song" is Tonks (no offence to her but ye) the age gap is there, she was there when Sirius was alive and it was a visual representation of Remus choosing her above him. When Remus steals glances at Sirius when he thinks no one is seeing for 'old habits die screaming' and now he doesn't know what to do with this for he feels Sirius is too lost in despair. Post Azkaban Sirius is "moving through the world heartbroken" and with desires of having a friend in Remus if not a lover. "And it kills me, I don't understand"— is very clearly the chaotic mess inside Siri's head as he takes over his life after 13 years of imprisonment. "Now I wanna sell my house, and set fire to all my clothes," is perhaps the disdain with Grimmauld Palace and his past that he tried so hard to escape haunting him like a full circle. "This tail between your legs, you're leaving" is again his untimely death, too soon and a life too short with great regrets and glorious moments.

You can't tell me this song isn't about Sirius Black

[neverbesokind]

Oh my god it's The Alchemy day I have SO many thoughts about this song so I'm gonna try and condense them.

First of all, the song starts and ends with "This happens once every few lifetimes," which is a statement filled to the BRIM with irony, in my view. The entire album up to this point has been concerned with two romances, both of which Taylor states she felt were destined and fated and "storybook" in their own ways. The entirety of TTPD is exploring how these fated, destined, storybook romances could actually crumble, and with it, her faith and belief in the existence of fate and destiny and storybook love.

But THEN... almost at the end of the standard run of the album, Taylor states that she's getting back from recovering from this tragedy - "I'm back / The hospital was a drag / Worst sleep that I ever had". She gets back from the messy process of healing from the events described on the album, and despite everything finds herself falling in love again.

This is why the title is significant, too. Alchemy is the pseudoscience of making a material into something more valuable. And this reflects the emotional process of Taylor falling in love again - she felt like the past two tragedies took the shine off of everything, killed her belief that love could ever work. But then, despite everything, she falls in love again and the normal, even tragic world she lived in before is transformed into something golden.

And then the first line repeats again, to reflect the cyclical nature of what she has experienced. Obviously, "this" doesn't happen once every few lifetimes, it's happened twice before on the album and is happening again in this song. She's falling in love, she's finding something beautiful and fated, and she can't help but find it gorgeous and meaningful, even if she's been shown again and again that she might be proven wrong in the end. And it feels so special that even if it's obvious that it isn't a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it feels that rare and that precious.

In this song, love is the alchemy, the process of turning normalcy into meaning and beauty, and she can't help it.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

there are so many references to how utterly broken by [redacted] she was in the events leading up to what unfolds on TTPD that I genuinely don't understand how some people don't understand how completely devastated and exhausted she was until she snapped idk

[lovewithoutresin]

TTPD and Substance Use/Abuse References

"I was a functioning alcoholic 'till nobody noticed my new aesthetic" - Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)

"I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary" - Fortnight ft. Post Malone

"You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate" - The Tortured Poets Department

"And my friends all smell like weed or little babies" - Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)

"Florida is one hell of a drug" - Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)

"I got drunk and I dared it to wash me away / Barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine" - Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)

"I'm always drunk on my own tears, isn't that what they all said?" - Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?

"Put narcotics into all of my songs, and that's why you're still singing along" - Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?

"The smoke cloud billows out his mouth like a freight train through a small town" - I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

"The dopamine races through his brain on a six lane Texas highway" - I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

"You tried to buy some pills from a friend of friends of mine" - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

"In public showed me off, then sank in stoned oblivion" - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

"These chemicals hit me like white wine" - The Alchemy

"He jokes that it's heroin but this time with an 'E'" - The Alchemy

"And your friends lift you up over their heads, beer sticking to the floor" - The Alchemy

"Breath of fresh air through smoke rings" - Clara Bow

"Half moonshine, a full eclipse" - Clara Bow

"Six weeks of breathing clean air, I still miss the smoke" - The Black Dog

"Standing at the bar like something's funny, bubbly" - imgonnagetyouback

"Cross your thoughtless heart, only liquor anoints you" - The Albatross

"You needed me, but you needed drugs more, and I couldn't watch it happen" - Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus

"I'll drink what you think, and I'm high from smoking your jokes all damn night" - So High School

"They have their friends over to drink nice wine" - I Look in People's Windows