What exactly is..."the department" and what does it want from us...? (Patreon)

Just last night, Zack and I were talking about how Taylor is really hamming up the idea of this department being an actual DEPARTMENT of some kind - she keeps using the term "file" to refer to the variant editions of the record, and even included a picture of a literal file in the initial Instagram post; we also see files in the background of the pictures on the online store when you go look at the deluxe editions of the variants. She has made mentions to "evidence", as well, which begs the question of....evidence for WHAT? And WHAT are you trying to prove? 

Then I remembered this line in Dear Reader, which I think stands as a natural bridge between the Midnights era and the Tortured Poets Department era. There are A LOT of interesting lines in that song, but this one, considering all these references to files, is particularly interesting. Maybe she just likes the metaphor and that's why she keeps using it, which is most likely. But there's something so interesting about building an entire album theme around the concept of "evidence" and "files"...

Is it that she's started thinking of her life and her truth and her actual story as something she has to prove, because people speculate so much and make up their own stories about her and her life and run with it (Deuxmoi being a great example of this, Gaylorism, the Matty Healy thing, etc etc)? Is it something specifically about Joe? It's also interesting how there's a song on the album called "Fresh Out The Slammer" and case files and evidence tend to specifically refer to a POLICE department. I mean we have to laugh, I fear all we can do at this point is just speculate wildly but I'm having a ball on this bitch doing exactly that. 

I have no idea what the department actually is, if it is really a concept she's actually employing on the album or if she's just using it so it sounds mysterious and builds intrigue, and why the hell she got us all riled up about a DELUXE EDITION of the album with a bonus track. See ya....I wonder if she's going to do that again, by the way, because there is surely at least one more variant that she's set to release. I'm NOT staying up. That's it. 

What do you guys think about all this department and files and evidence talk...does it mean anything, or is it just mysterious?