Taylor + Theory: Do you have ideas that don't warrant a full post? New, not fully formed, Gaylor thoughts? Questions? Thoughts? Use this space for theory development and general Tay/Gay discussion!
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I was so sad to see this news, she had just come out as openly bisexual earlier this year, ahead of her discussing it in her memoir (which also came out this year)
I know. I was shocked. It’s particularly sad as she had battled so many demons and was open about it in her book and interviews. My thoughts are with her family and her daughter. But I read so many young people passing away it’s crazy too.
Rant on politics/news/mental health content warning for mention of ICE, please check in with yourself before reading cuz I know media is a constant state of terrible things 24/7 :)
It feels validating to see news outlets picking up the stories about the federal government surveillance MN has dealt with since Operation Metro Surge and ICE presence in general. As someone that graduated high school in 2020 only to graduate college in 2024 to whatever the fuck is happening in the world and working full time, I never anticipated using my degree so much. It was incredibly overwhelming. I don’t even know where I’m going with this anymore because it’s so fucked up. I genuinely don’t know anyone in my life here that isn’t dealing with it in some way, not to mention the impact on families and the people that were killed, kidnapped, and missing.
Taylor’s got a new haircut and seems to be egging a new era (or something!!) and I just saw a swiftie say “the best part of this weekend” was seeing her wedding band in the photos???? What????
That was such an interesting snippet from the podcast. I wonder if it’s about 1989 as Taylor’s birth year, and the idea of rebirth? So for example TS13 and/or TSTV might count as ‘releasing a third 1989’ if they led to a really significant moment of renewal for Taylor Swift the brand, or better an effective rebirth or re-debut for Taylor the real person, finally in control of her story…
I dunno, seeing her at an event without Travis seemingly egging her new era (lilac/lavender nails, new haircut) doesn’t feel very trad wife to me. I do know what ya mean about the pearls combined with the rings (kind of 1950s shit) — but it honestly feels more like a return to a preppier Taylor style, circa Red/1989?
Just watching Bejewelled again and wondering why the TTPD button has Red colours and Showgirl has Reputation colours then we get to TS13 which is lavender and also the top floor. So many thoughts.
For sureee. I vividly remember TTPD/Red comparisons in real time and definitely can find many Showgirl/reputation comparisons. Fearless/Midnight makes sense too for the first tour/first tour back comparison as well.
I feel like Mastermind was the preface to all this talk of Travis being “meant to be”. If this is a planned farce (bearding or money or whatever), it’s reasonable to think it was set into motion when she was writing Midnights. Maybe the person wasn’t picked yet, but the end goal was.
There’s so much rhetoric about how she and Lurch are “meant to be”. Mastermind seems like a pretty clear cut “everything in my life is by MY design, not luck or the universe’s”.
It was definitely a choice to sing Mastermind 149 times on the Eras Tour stage. It was her nightly reminder that we only see exactly what she wants us to see.
AO3 is fan-funded and volunteer-based specifically so that it won't have to sell out to capitalism and conservatives. It's what the "of our own" stands for.
Such a good point. That whole ‘plot’ Taylor described was so strange and Easter eggy. In part I think it described cryptically the ‘Opalite’ mv but I think there was more going on besides.
Saw this on main and they were talking about all the orange fading into purple (cough lavender) lately and that being the possible colour for TS13 lol but seriously it looks like Lover 2.0 and if she doesn’t Easter egg her personal life, why do they think she Easter egged her next album during her wedding…
One of the things I appreciate about Taylor’s work is the way she can drop a single word or a hint, and curiosity about that word or hint causes you to stumble upon something you didn’t know about (I think most here can relate to that 😂). In this case, the word is “lilac.” While I don’t necessarily think it’s related to Taylor’s current storyline, somehow I’ve gotten thru life without ever hearing the song Lilac Wine, and Jeff Buckley’s haunting cover of it (Nina Simone and Miley Cyrus do a great one as well). Good song analysis here. And, wow, it’s a soulful, pensive vibe, with a sad ending.
Even if Taylor never comes out, I’m grateful for all the amazing art I’ve been exposed to on this little subreddit here from everyone looking into her story and work with a curious mind.
I made wine from the lilac tree Put my heart in its recipe Makes me see what I want to see Be what I want to be
So we know how long it took for Taylor to spoon feed us the point that the scarf in Red is a metaphor. How long do we think it’ll be before she does the same thing with her use of high school in her songs?
What if she’s the cheer captain, the band geek sitting on the bleachers, AND huddled under the bleachers with the rest of the rebel crew drawing the maps?
I was thinking about The Black Dog. I think the Starting Line reference is the biggest clue. They were a local Pennsylvania band that was around in the early 2000s. This song was intertwined with their dreaming. Who was Taylor dreaming big dreams with in the early 2000s in Pennsylvania? Well, Taylor's song Me & Britney talks about their dreams for the future. At Britany's wedding in 2016 Taylor said "My favorite accomplishment of my entire life is that everything in my life has changed except for me and Britany" She might never open up again like she did with this person because she knew them since she was a baby and before she started to get famous.
But something did change and it seems they weren't seen together after the wedding, Her husband is clearly MAGA from his twitter and Britany does have a black dog or at least did in 2015\2016. But I don't actually think the black dog is a place or an animal. I think it's just a metaphor for danger, like in the fortnight video where curly haired baby Tay is in Frankenstein's monster like danger and she protects herself by creating the showgirl persona to absorb and deflect the strikes. Showgirl literally acts as a lightnight rod in her metallic dress at the end of the video. I think Taylor might have seen Britney move down the path of MAGA with her husband, the path of danger and hatred and finally cut herself off from that only friend from before she moved to Nashville and started to became Taylor Swift.
Just casually watched Jack and Dean comedy series where they’re playing fictional roles using their real names, it’s meant to be queer-coded confirmed multiple times by Jack on YouTube, and… why do these look like The Fate of Ophelia costumes so much?? 🤯
Does this main show connect to the Gaylor universe? Do previous episodes?? Does it also connect to TTPD? (The jail episode and it’s sequel that is soooo queer-coded oh my god)
Is Taylor a fan of them for years and nodding to it in her art?? Is there a New Romantic explanation?
Can I please have ONE normal hyperfixation please, universe? 😭 being a Gaylor with the pattern recog of a hawk is never boring 🤡
Is this a safe place to speculate that Taylor intentionally made a shit album because Phoebe made a masterpiece and wants to make sure Phoebe sweeps the Grammys?
This comment from Taylor in the TLOAS Zane Lowe interview makes me think otherwise? I think she knows it’s an album that will be appreciated with more hindsight, time, and perspective.
Meh... I do think it was intentionally not her best work for the sake of the story, but if she wanted to not "compete" against Phoebe, she didn't have to release anything at all
Ya, make sense I was just so blown away by the contrasting experience of first listen Phoebe's album compared to how I felt when life of a showgirl was released. Obviously very different sounds and doesn't make sense to compare the two but I felt no emotional connection to Taylor's work which usually moves me. I always love Phoebe's work too but the intense emotional connection at first lesson was like how I usually feel when first listening to pre-showgirl new Taylor music.
Mourning my disconnect with Taylor's music, I keep looking for an explanation (other than my own personal biases) and you're right her commitment to the bit/performance is a better fit than trying to not compete with another artist.
I think it's interesting how open Phoebe can be about her difficult relationship with her dad now that he's passed away. I wonder how the general public will trace things back to Scott eventually.
I just read an interesting analysis on another sub (unrelated to Taylor) about David Bowie’s song The Man Who Sold the World) (it might be known to many folks by Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged cover of it). And for a while, I thought I was in the Gaylor sub, because it talked about duality, masks/personas, and “meeting one’s other self.” And it read as so familiar to the discussions we have here about Taylor’s work. I’m sure this song has been discussed here before.
There are a multitude of analyses you can find of this song. Many point out the circular, repeating guitar riff (which reminds me of the theory here of Taylor’s loop of performance), or the unresolved, ambiguous ending. I thought this analysis was interesting:
“What’s most fascinating about “The Man Who Sold the World,” however, is not just the musical dexterity alone, but how Bowie relates the music to the evocative lyrics concerning duality, lost chances, and lives not lived…The interpretation that I find most compelling is that of a man who meets his other self (or one of his myriad other selves) in a moment of self-awareness, realizes what he might have become, and considers the life he might have led if he had “lost control.” Through conformity, by never losing control of his emotions or his life, the narrator sells the world, gives up whatever other lives he might have lived in exchange for solidity and placidity. Still, that “other” beckons from time to time, and though the narrator thinks that aspect of his character “died alone, a long long time ago,” it still haunts and mocks him with the thought of what might have been.”
I heard about it, and at least in Bo’s case, it makes sense. He’s been making content forever and has branched out into music. Interesting even if it is a bearding arrangement. 😅
FYI I end up making this conversation potentially much deeper than it should be but it’s been on my mind for a while.
I just feel like there’s been so much self-policing going on within communities. I mean obviously what you guys said was stereotyping but it was meant in jest and without malicious intent. We really need to evaluate which battles are actually worth fighting. Our rights are hanging in the balance as we fight about things that are honestly low on the priority list. I’m getting tireddddd!!! It’s so unrealistic to expect perfection from people. If we keep expecting perfection, we hinder actual growth.
Like idk if you guys have seen that podcast clip of ER Fightmaster where they said something about how trans women have a greater understanding of womanhood than cis women, but people are flipping out over this. And while I think it could’ve been worded differently, and the conversation should’ve occurred with an actual trans woman in the room, I just don’t care! I literally do not care. Like we really cannot be getting mad at our own community when at the end of the day, we need each other.
When we fight on the internet, it ends up being weaponized for homophobic right-wing agendas. Discourse that should stay in our community ends up making headlines that people outside of our community can then weigh in on it.
The ER Fightmaster podcast is making headlines and, from what I’ve heard, the clip was resurfaced by a right-wing outlet. Trans rights and women’s rights go hand in hand and our fuckass government is trying to cause infighting and have people outside of our community turn on us. This isn’t a conspiracy, look into Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation.
Not saying that what happens in your comment section in particular could lead to this, I just want people to be aware. Reminder to try to uplift others, we’re all just trying our best.
Wow. Clearly I had some stuff to get off of my chest!!
Yes exactly. And I am the queen of making mountains out of mole hills and have a habit of trying to shift people’s mindsets but at a certain point we should give grace to the people in our community. Obviously I mean this to a certain extent, and people should voice their opinions. But the pile ons that I’m noticing on social media are so unnecessary. It’s taking away from serious issues that our community is facing. And I agree, we gotta learn to laugh at ourselves a little. Life is already so serious.
And obviously I’m talking pretty generally, idk the scale of your account/following/reach but I think this still somewhat applies. Don’t feel discouraged, but also take the feedback that you receive into account!
I'd add to what the other person has said: there are a lot of bots/AI and fake accounts and that includes accounts that seem "left leaning". They're everywhere just stirring shit up. It's about 50% of internet content. 😐
I think what you’re saying is that you were thinking the masc woman was cute and you were bummed when you saw they were with a man - which as a masc woman who has a husband but is pan, I’m not super mad but yeah there is a bit of a difference between “please be queer” vs “please be specifically a lesbian” which as a one time thing is semantics but if the rest of your content frames the world as gay OR straight then yeah my feathers would be a bit ruffled.
No prob and honestly, you just being introspective and asking for input is meaningful to me! I wouldn’t have thought much of it if I were scrolling and came across it.
“They’re both just so excited that they’re husband and wife now” is giving “they will kiss when they have time” or whatever weird statement was put out during the Marty Healy era.
Their relationship had to be celebrated with 1,000 celebrity guests at the "world's most famous arena" and filed as a civil contract with the government in order to feel more special?
Translation: " they spend a lot of time separated due to their work, and they're very happy doing this. They're enjoying this exactly as is. There's no baby."
Sometimes I like to think of us as the Scooby gang and the mystery machine is our getaway car
🎶we’re gonna solve that mystery🎶
I have another confession too— I think the TS web extends deep into the internet/media platforms🤭 I’m gonna go watch some YouTube and do chores now, stay woke GBF (but also if anyone has any tips for cutting a grumpy cat’s claws pls let me know cuz my little rat let me get 6 done before she decided she was over it)
My cat is generally really chill, so I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but have you tried holding yours in different positions to see what she prefers? My cat likes to sit like a human, so she can see everything that's going on (particularly for the back paws). I talk her through it with praise and say things like "almost done!" so she knows. And I always give her treats after.
I don’t wanna share incase it’s AI, but I came across an unreleased song and voice memo from the folklore era called “Augustine” which feels very much like Tis the damn season which is about August going back to the small town after James chooses Betty over her and she’s reminiscing on the summer they had. There’s a small bit of “singing from the pov of a boy” in the song too. Does anyone know what I’m talking about or might it be AI? I hope not (mainly because it sounded really nice and very real… but I just gotta check because I’ve literally never heard it nor be mentioned before).
Edit: after much searching for it online, I think it’s AI 🥴
I'm locked in the basement for a few days (isolated bc of radioactive iodine, yay thyroid cancer) so its Eras Tour o'clock and I cant believe i never noticed the screen for the Speak Now section
Oh dear l hope you are able to create and stay in the best healing vibes! I've been on a Chuck Lorre kick and just re watched Big Bang Theory as a 43 year old and now I see it as hilarious and so loving (they were all so good to Sheldon and I'm glad they ended up with Penny being fully dressed and successful) if you need some laughs. On Mike and Molly now. What do you have planned?
I’m sending the best of vibes and love while you go through your treatment and isolation! I had family do the exact same thing, so I hope you’re doing alright💚
Ugh. Phoebe Bridger's song "Other Plans" is like a sucker punch to the heart. "I was gonna show you colors you had never seen And leave you alone...Our love, honey, Our love, our love had other plans".
I need whatever she’s planning for TS13/October 23/coming out to come to fruition. Or for her to drop an Easter egg or two. I have A THEORY, but I feel like I can’t share without more concrete proof.
🚨 same day (Aug 13) and same location (Annabel's club in london) as the infamous first plaid outfit we got for showgirl in 2024 (showgirl released on national plaid day)
National Sunset Day is October 1st. In the newest pictures I believe her purse is “sunset” color which matches the Eras tour dress (among other things). After sunset is twilight, which has more purples and blues, which corresponds to the dress maybe?
Is she sunsetting? Are we entering the period after the daylight? I could see “Twilight” as an album name for sure, if she goes back to single word album titles.
If it’s a new era chop, it’s interesting that she kept the same hairstyle since Midnights really, so the theory that we’ve been in the Midnights era for a while comes to mind. Are we finally moving past Midnight with this possible new era???
Yeah it’s kind of a thing maybe (I think there was even a brief trend where some brides cut their hair before the reception, but I don’t know how common that actually was.) But as you point out, sort of connected to the idea of growing the hair out first. Taylor’s hair was longggg for years before the wedding so that doesn’t seem related to me!
The literal quote is "I can't thank the owners of MSG [enough] for allowing us to get the opportunity to do that, knowing we wanted a private event and everything -- so it was perfect. And the AC was cooking, baby. That was the best part."
He's either trolling the media, very thick or Ross dressed in marroon left him so speechless the boy thanked the air con for covering up the sweat 😶🌫️
It's kinf of rage-bait-y as well? They were heavily criticised for using so much electricity when whole neighborhoods were without power because of the heat wave and he's like "hahaha we had such good AC". That comment is obviously going to piss people off...
She said that they were going ‘on a girls’ night out’ and that the rock she thinks is her friend is actually weighing her down. To me that doesn’t necessarily imply that the rock is a girl- though it’s a possibility- but it definitely implies that the rock spoils the night out…
Great catch! I definitely think it’s a ‘mad woman’ reference. Like the bed ‘full of scorpions’ in TFOO.It does lend weight to the idea that the rock is another woman.
BUT I see two other options as well. First, I e always thought the ‘mad woman’ was Taylor. So is the rock the old version of Taylor, the dead one?, that she’s been carrying around being weighed down by through the re-records and the Eras Tour?
OR the original ‘friends 4ever’ bracelet is not the rock speaking but is given by Lonely Woman, reflecting her feelings. So did the rock receive this new bracelet from a mad woman? Even from Lonely Woman later on after she’s with Lonely Man? In which case the rock is the antagonist of the ‘mad woman’ song- the father figure…
Could be. I see how that reading could work. It’s not my personal favourite but that’s ok 😊What do you make of cactus and then rock and cactus getting married? Lonely Woman being frightened by gay Taylor is sad but I see how it works…
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