After a week of decoding clues, hunting for Easter eggs and theorizing about the rerelease of “Reputation,” fans of Taylor Swift could finally relax on Saturday.

To celebrate the Friday release of Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” which the artist revealed to be a “secret double album” with 15 additional tracks, fans packed a rented-out photo studio in downtown L.A. for a listening party.

The event, organized by the SoCal Swifties Club, drew dozens of women of all ages and a handful of men dressed in moody black-and-white ensembles who sipped on themed cocktails, swapped friendship bracelets and speculated whether tracks on the new album were “Joe songs” or “Matty songs,” referring to the singer’s most recent exes, fellow artists Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy.

Taylor Swift fans, known affectionately as Swifties, are an intense group. Some of its rather extreme members are a case study in zealous fandom culture and celebrity worship. Between referencing the pop star as “mother” in conversations and concurring that they couldn’t possibly go see the latest film starring another Swift ex, Jake Gyllenhaal, the fans at Saturday’s event love their star and they are fiercely protective of her.

“Swifties tend to be more defensive of Taylor than other fan groups are, sometimes to a fault,” said Erin Asis, a Swiftie who attended the event with her friend Eirena Ewert.

Asis, who lives east of L.A., hosted Ewert, who drove down for the weekend from the Fresno area to celebrate the album release. The pair agreed that some fans behave in extreme ways, citing that many are clamoring for Swift’s release of the re-recording of “Reputation,” despite the 31-track batch of original music she just dropped.

“I think we are intense, and I’m going to own that,” said Joy Pangilinan, who founded the SoCal Swifties Club in September 2023 after attending the Eras Tour. “I think it’s because we’re passionate. I know we get criticized a lot, but like Taylor says, ‘Forget the haters.’ We’re living as our truest selves.”

Swifties have long been bashed for jumping at anyone who utters a negative word about the singer. Reporter Chris Panella said he received death threats and incessant harassment from so-called fans in June 2023 after writing a piece that gently criticized the Eras Tour. The fans in attendance at Saturday’s listening party agreed that that sect of Swifties is not at all representative of the group they know.

“You can be a Swiftie on different levels — you can connect to her lyrics or you can dedicate your life to her, but people often forget that she’s just a human being,” said Isha Agrawal of Pasadena. “We think that she’s perfect, but she’s not. She has flaws. Haters shouldn’t hate, but I don’t think the Swifties should be attacking people.”

Beyond the rational condemnation of the faction of Swifties who attack others online, the most common and more casual criticism levied against the group of millions is a misunderstanding of the fans’ undying love for the artist.

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