#everyone since either has no windows or the windows are creepy two-way mirrors in private booths in hell

[tlaquetzqui]

At least the Moral Majority type of censorship was coherent. No sex, violence, revealing outfits. You can’t have your thing because they think nobody should have the thing. Sucks if you disagree about the thing but you can understand it.

Modern censorship is just a bundle of hypocrisy. Plenty of sex, violence, and revealing outfits but it’s all exclusively targeted at weird niche demographics. You can’t have your thing but they not only can have their thing, not wanting it because you’re not in that niche demographic is a fucking hate crime.

[yehet-me-up]

Brought To Light

Pairing: Mark Tuan x reader 

Genre: Friends to lovers, fluff

Rating: (PG13) 

Word count: 3,177 

Summary: On a friends weekend to an AirBnB in the woods for a scary movie marathon you end up getting much, much closer to your best friend than you thought possible. 

You stare up at the part-creepy part-charming AirBnB in front of you. ‘This is a terrible idea, Mark.’

Your best friend slings an arm over your shoulder and grins at the ancient Victorian mansion with pride. ‘No way. This is going to be perfect.’

As if it can sense your unease the wind kicks up, swirling the late Autumn leaves around your ankles. ‘We’re all going to die, guaranteed.’

Mark strides forward and you wrap your arms around yourself in the chill. Lifting a brick on the railing he finds a key. ‘You’ll see,’ he says with a grin.

The sound of car doors slamming makes you turn. ‘Hell yes! This is awesome,’ Jackson yells, stoked as always.

You sigh and hitch your duffle bag over your shoulder and follow Mark up the creaking steps. The rest of the group files in around you. When he first proposed the idea of a weekend getaway to binge spooky movies and party in the woods, you were, admittedly, drunk. It sounded like a fantastic idea. Mostly because you’ve been in love with him since, oh, forever.

But now that you’re here, you can feel the distance. To the left is the long, tree-covered lane that lead you to this old house. To the right is a private beach. Even if it wasn’t October it wouldn’t be an appealing place to swim. It’s all jagged rocks and aggressive waves.

‘Fantastic,’ you say to yourself.

Things go surprisingly fine for most of the evening, despite being inside what feels like Amityville Horror house. You all pick rooms. Jackson and Bambam draw the shortest straws and have to share. Fortunately, or unfortunately given your enormous crush on your best friend, the two of you end up in side-by-side rooms in the attic with a bathroom in between.

The owners really did a wonderful job updating the house to rent it out. Enormous flat screen TV, comfortable couches, huge kitchen, modern appliances, and nice decor. From the inside it doesn’t scream ‘you’re going to be woken up by someone with a chainsaw.’

You all make pizzas and settle in for Paranormal Activity. Bambam sprawls out on one of the beanbag chairs on the floor, followed by Yugyeom on the other. While they’re arguing JB claims the plush recliner on the far side of the room by the windows. Jackson lays across the entire sofa with a wink and Youngjae shoves him off, screaming dramatically. Jinyoung rolls his eyes and sits on one end, calmly eating his pizza while the chaos unfolds.

Mark shakes his head and laughs, leaning against the wall that divides the kitchen from the living room. He catches your eyes and shrugs in amusement. A lock of his hair falls across his forehead and you wish you could reach across the room and brush it out of the way. It would be harmless, you think, to make him sit next to you on the couch. You’re always together, anyway. And he’s a huge scaredy cat, so he always clings to you during horror movies.

But just as you’re sitting on the far end, Jackson and Youngjae resolve their fight and sit down next to you. You sigh, watching Mark move to the only open space between Jackson and Jinyoung. He gives you a look and pouts. You might be imagining it, but you would swear that he’s sad about it too, and not in a teasing way.

He chooses the movie and you shove a slice into your mouth to take a big bite. Of course he’s sad. You’re his best friend, that’s all. It doesn’t mean anything.

The sun sets somewhere between Get Out and A Quiet Place. 

The massive bags of popcorn are made and consumed. Youngjae’s stash of Junior Mints is discovered and he reluctantly shares with the rest of the group. He sprawls out on the thick ivory carpet after, hugging a pillow to his chest and complaining of a stomach ache.

JB falls asleep and doesn’t wake up even when Jackson screams his head off when the first monster appears to threaten John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. He jumps on top of Bambam, clinging to him and nearly popping the beanbag chair. 

You look across the now empty expanse of couch between you and Mark at the exact same moment he does. You definitely don’t miss the interest in his look this time and awkwardly push your hair behind your ear, turning away so he won’t see your blush.

Before you can think about moving closer to him or somehowkindofmaybe asking if he wants to move next to you, he takes care of that for you. He cradles the large bowl of popcorn in one arm and slides stealthily into the spot Youngjae had occupied. He gives you a small shy smile in the flickering light from the TV.

You should look away. You should break eye contact, immediately. You should stop having ridiculous thoughts about closing the distance and kissing him. But you don't, and Mark doesn't either. Heat blooms in your chest and you bite your lip to stop from giving him a giddy look.

Luckily, Yugyeom's stomach growls loudly and everyone pauses the movie and starts making their way into the kitchen to pull out the beers and packs of sushi you got from the store and piled into the fridge. Mark laughs quietly to himself and stands up. As always, he holds out a hand to help you up. His fingers normally slip from yours as soon as you're on your feet. Normally, he'd release you and step back before following the group.

Outside the wind picks up, slapping branches from the enormous trees on the back yard against the floor to ceiling windows. The rain starts a moment later, loud and demanding, but still you don't look away from the emotion in Mark's eyes that you can't read. Or maybe you’re just too afraid to let yourself consider what it might mean.

You want to blame it on the house, or on the horror movies, or on the playful atmosphere of the night. But there's no way you can reconcile your sarcastic best friend with the man who keeps you close, who looks down at your lips for a fraction of a second. It's disconcerting in the way seeing a shooting star is thrilling - an unexpected event that knocks you off your center and makes you believe in miracles.

He holds you to him in the empty room for a beat before turning and guiding you into the kitchen. It's only when the two of you round the corner that he removes his hand from yours. You excuse yourself to the bathroom while the guys divvy up the chopsticks and argue about who gets the sashimi.

You can still feel Mark's eyes on you as you shut the door. Leaning forward, you rest your hands on the vanity and groan at your reflection. Not only is your blush incredibly obvious but there's a piece of popcorn in your hair from when Bambam started trying to see how many he could throw onto JB before he woke up. The answer was 27.

With shaking hands you fix your hair and smooth a finger under your eyes to remove any mascara that's strayed over the course of the long day. You straighten your shirt and blow out a big breath, laughing to yourself quietly. You wonder when you started to be so affected by him.

Always, if you're being honest. 

Since the first time you met in ninth grade Biology, you've been friends. Just friends, unfortunately. He never saw you as anything other than a buddy. Someone to play Super Smash Bros with and go to late night Marvel movies and study for exams over bowls of his dad's famous kimchi stew. Your friend groups merged and became a Frankengroup of ten, including Amelia and Bree who had a concert downtown they couldn't miss tonight.

You've always been... just friends. Even in college when you were in Seattle and he stayed in LA, you kept in touch. You'd always thought that the feelings were one-sided and that was that. You've dated and had a boyfriend for the first year after you moved back to California. It wasn't like you were waiting for him or anything, but the question of 'what if?' has always lingered in the back of your mind.

And now he's looking at you like he wants more. You wet your hands and press them to your feverish neck and tell yourself you're imagining things. 

'Don't read into this,' you whisper to yourself sternly in the mirror.

By the time you emerge they've all re-settled on the couches. Mark is where he was when you all got up, guarding an empty spot on the end of the couch next to him. He raises a brow when he sees you hesitate and looks to the spot before looking back at you, as if to dare you to try and sit somewhere else and avoid him.

JB and Jinyoung are debating between Hush and Midsommar and you weave your way around everyone on the floor and sit defiantly next to Mark. He grins, smug, and hands you a plate and some chopsticks. Eventually they settle on Hush and start the next movie.

When you're both finished he gathers your plates and sets them on the floor, safely out of reach of Youngjae's screaming and flailing limbs. Then, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, he puts an arm around your shoulders. You blink, determined to keep your eyes on the screen. It's too much for your imagination to handle in the moment and you freeze.

'Are you okay? he whispers against your ear in a low voice. 'Is this alright?'

You shake yourself and tell yourself to just enjoy whatever touchy mood has come over him. Why not store up moments like these to remember later on when you're back to being just friends? You nod and follow his lead, tucking your legs up on the couch next to you and leaning more firmly against him. He sighs and relaxes, his arm sliding down to rest gently on your waist.

It's after ten when the credits roll and your eyes are definitely starting to droop from sleepiness. Given the loud snoring from the opposite end of the couch you gather that this time Jinyoung is the one who's fallen asleep. Jackson and Bambam fight over the remote and you groan at the noise, burrowing farther into Mark's chest. You'd swear his hand runs along your hair, but before you have time to examine it further the lights in the house abruptly go out.

The kitchen goes dark along with the lights on the porch and the TV displaying the Netflix menu.

'Oh my god, we're going to die!' Youngjae screams loudly.

‘Calm down,’ JB sighs.

There's a lot of scuffling and groans as people bump into each other before JB finally locates his phone and turns on the flashlight. It swings towards Yugyeom, Youngjae, and Jackson tangled on the floor, over to Jinyoung who lifts a hand against the light, to Bambam who is somehow clutching an umbrella by the door and looking ready to attack.

When JB stands the light flashes across you and Mark and suddenly you’re wide awake. You press your hand to his thigh for balance and try to stand before the guys can see how close the two of you got during the movie. You end up tumbling to the floor. Thankfully the beanbag Bambam vacated softens your fall and you press your hand to your chest and laugh.

More of the guys locate their phones and turn on the flashlights. JB wipes a tired hand down his face and mumbles about looking for the breaker box. Yugyeom and Bambam hold onto each other as though they expect an axe murder to leap out. They scramble after Jinyoung when he says he’s going to check as well.

Youngjae and Jackson sit on the floor with their backs to the couch. ‘We’ll stay here, you know, just in case it comes back on,’ Jackson says with a nervous smile.

You roll your eyes and reach for Mark’s hand, not letting yourself think twice about it. ‘We’re going to go look for some candles.’

He twines his fingers with yours, grasping so his warm palm presses firmly. You hear Yugyeom whining from the attached garage and shake your head.

‘I think he might die of fright before anything else,’ Mark laughs. His voice is close behind you as you feel your way up the stairs in the dim light from his phone.

‘I know, right?’

It feels good to laugh with him. This, at least, is familiar ground. Whatever you were hoping to figure out up here away from the group - that is far less easy to handle.

You find some candles easily on the ledges of the oversized tub in the bathroom you share with Mark. Thankfully, you’d remembered correctly seeing some when unpacking your toiletries. Otherwise he might think you just wanted to get him alone. That would be crazy, right?

A lighter sits on the floating shelves above the toilet and you carefully arrange the candles on the sink and light them. With one hand. Since for some reason the two of you can’t stop touching each other.

When a warm glow fills the space he turns off the light on his phone and slides it into his back pocket. Even the distant noise from your friends isn’t enough to disturb the quiet at the top of the house. He stands close enough that you can feel his breath against your face.

Distracted by the way the candlelight plays with his deep brown irises you forget to feel nervous. It’s almost as if the two of you have always been like this. He always holds your hand. The two of you have always been together, unable to stop looking at each other like your eyes hold the answer to a thousand questions. When he kisses you your eyes always flutter close as you wait for his lips on yours.

Wait - his lips? You open your eyes just as his mouth grazes yours. He pulls back at your surprise.

‘Shit, sorry, I -’ he runs his free hand through his hair and huffs out a laugh. ‘I don’t know what I was thinking.’

You recognize the uncertainty and fierce delight in his eyes because they mirror the feelings in your heart. ‘No, don’t. It’s fine, really.’ Even though your voice is high with nerves your words are steady and sure.

Tightening your grip you lean forward and briefly press your lips to his. It’s not a proper kiss, not by far, but it’s an invitation. You stand strong, composed of reckless hope and a wanting for him that feels explosive in your chest. He pauses, adorably confused.

His brows come together and he presses his lips together in an endearing smile. ‘Do you… want me to kiss you? We’re - I mean - ‘ he laughs. ‘We’re best friends, I don’t want to ruin anything.’

You come closer, fitting your body against his. With your free hand you feel his heartbeat, pressing your palm to his clothed chest. The rhythm is frantic beneath your fingers and you clench the fabric in your fist. He wants you, just as much as you’ve always wanted him.

‘I’m sorry,’ you tease, swallowing a grin. ‘Were you not clear about what I just did? Should I do it again?’

Relief washes over him, turning the vulnerability in his eyes into something much warmer and more determined. ‘I think you should. You know, just for science.’

You laugh, tipping your head back. When you look back to him his arm goes around your waist, holding you close against him. He drops his head and seals his mouth over yours. Though you both tease each other normally, the kiss between you is soft and new.

Someday you might grip his hair and push him against the sink to taste his neck. But for now the two of you stand, holding each other in the middle of the candlelit bathroom. Your clasped hands are trapped between your chests and you know he feels your heart racing for him as well.

The triumphant yelling that comes thundering up the stairs along with the sound of hurried feet lets you know something has changed. It reaches your kiss-drunk mind slowly, as though you were underwater. It would be fair to say you’re drowning in the sensation of Mark’s tongue along yours and honestly you can’t be bothered by the outside world.

But then - 

‘OH SHIT, WHAT?!’ 

‘No friggin’ way!’ 

Someone wolf whistles and you would bet it was Bambam.

You pull back, blinking in the overhead lights, to see the collected group of guys hilariously crammed into the small landing at the top of the stairs. They all gape at you and Mark. His arm around your waist, your hand fisted in his shirt that’s now tugged almost clear off one shoulder. Your hands and his lips red from kissing and oh god.

Mark looks as alarmed as you feel at having your entire friend group know how you feel about him. And before you’d even talked about anything or decided on what the hell this means. You start to panic He doesn’t look at your friends. Instead, Mark lifts the hand around your waist and tucks your hair behind your ear, smiling slightly.

‘I thought you’d never do it. Good job.’ This from JB who calmly leans against the wall, smothering a yawn.

‘What’s he talking about?’ Youngjae asks.

JB starts to answer, a smug twist to his lips. But Mark cuts him off. ‘I finally shot my shot.’

‘Took you long enough,’ Jackson says with a laugh. 

Bambam throws up his hands. ‘God, I swear this took five years off my life, I need snacks. Let’s leave them alone guys.’

He heads off down the stairs and one by one the rest of the guys go after him until you and Mark are alone once more. In the stark light overhead you wonder if this is all some horrible prank.

‘By shooting your shot you mean… you like me too?’

Mark bends against, holding you close and kissing you firmly on the lips. ‘Yes, I do. Have for a long ass time,’ he says against your mouth.

‘But I’ve liked you forever, too.’

He releases your hand to grip your hips. You react on instinct, throwing your arms around his neck. Your face goes into the warmth of his neck and you can’t help but grin.

‘That is excellent news,’ he says. You can feel the ghost of his smile against the skin of your shoulder. ‘Because I’d prefer it if my girlfriend was into me.’ 

You snort and bite a his neck gently. ‘God I can’t believe my boyfriend is such a dork.’

[seasquared]

"It’s in front of your eyes now”: Direct Address in NCT 127′s “Limitless” MV

“When the movement or attitude of the player is obviously unnatural in turning his face towards the camera, he betrays by the act the fact that he is acting -- that there is someone in front unseen by the spectators to whom the actor is addressing himself. Immediately, the sense of reality is destroyed and the hypnotic illusion that has taken possession of the spectator’s mind, holding him by the power of visual suggestion, is gone.” -- Frank Woods

On January 4, 2017, SM Entertainment released two different versions of NCT 127's "Limitless." One, subtitled "Rough Ver.," featured the group decked out in now-typical SM boyband madness (poodle hair galore, sports jerseys, and loud streetwear) dancing and mugging for the camera in an abandoned industrial space. The video alternates between lo-fi camcorder quality shots of the members chewing gum or practicing their moves, more typical dance sequences, and -- most outrageously -- a mixture of the two:

Since January 4, I've watched this video probably 20 times already, and I still haven't stopped.

"Limitless" is not SM's first foray into the faux arthouse style. Perhaps the most obvious is the promo film for f(x)'s 2nd album, which is smugly titled "Pink Tape Art Film.” "Pink Tape" starts with faceless shots of the members' hands outstretched into a projector, cupped around a lit match, or reaching for something dangling from the ceiling, then segues into a colorful potpourri: the members dancing against projected images of flowers and mosaics, playing with bubbles, trying on clothes, re-enacting Magritte's "The Lovers."

There's an air of art school project meets home video to "Pink Tape" -- it's nostalgic, youthful, and colorful, a summer afternoon you wasted with your friends writing a short movie that you film, complete with bad acting and homemade costumes. The promotional material around "Pink Tape" was just that, a story about the exhilarating feeling of your first crush and the whirlwind emotions of becoming an adult.

That's not what "Limitless" feels like at all. Where "Pink Tape" is nostalgic, "Limitless" is creepy; where "Pink Tape" evokes memories of a simpler, more vibrant time, "Limitless" is confrontational, almost sinister, and one of the most interesting music videos to have come out of kpop in years.

In music videos, especially for kpop, there are two primary kinds of direct interactions with the camera: the "addressing the audience" shot -- the entire group or one member is facing forward into the camera as they lip-sync or dance -- or the "looking cool" shot --  one member (usually the member who's singing) addresses the camera while everyone around them pretends to be going on with their life. If a music video has a storyline, these shots are usually also intercut with more typical movie-esque footage, where there is no direct address of the camera at all. 

For example, take a look at BIG BANG's "Fxxk It": the MV opens on a "looking cool" shot of Taeyang singing into the camera while the rest of his band eats snacks and flips magazines, pretending the camera isn't there, and then transitions into an "addressing the audience" shot for GD's lines, as GD sings directly into the camera while the other band members dance. 

(If you break it down, classic BIG BANG actually has quite a bit of fun with how these two types of direct address shots are interwoven in narrative MVs. "Haru Haru," for instance, has a few typical "addressing the audience" scenes (the band seated on chairs singing into the camera, for example) but actually has its members lipsync the lyrics of the song in lieu of faking dialogue as they act out the narrative scenes. "Lies" throws both kinds of direct address shots into its narrative shots -- the band members, never acknowledged by the main character of the MV, sing at her or into the camera, and sometimes even both: at 2:13, a seated TOP sings into the camera while Daesung looms over the unsuspecting girl emoting at her.)

Direct address in MVs helps mirror what live performance is like: the group members are singing at you as they would if they were on stage and you were in the audience. Just as everything that happens backstage or offstage in a concert is not really part of the concert, there is no sense of the "off-camera" in an MV; that is, everything that exist in the world of the MV exist in front of the camera. A typical MV shot either consists of full immersion like a movie or full "invitation," with a group member looking at you to form a connection. The camera is not an intrusion, but rather the only conduit through which the group members or actors in the MV come alive.

The most unnerving thing about "Limitless" is how thoroughly it rejects this framework. The members of NCT 127 in "Limitless" recognize the presence of the camera, but as a purposeful intruder. Over and over again, the camera functions as a stranger that catches NCT 127 "in the act," and the members freeze, as if to deny us entrance into their inner world.

There's an implication that the camera is not a natural, assumed part of the world, but rather a character within it -- after all, you see the camcorder in the MV in the hands of Haechan and Yuta. The MV implies that some of the shots are the footage they filmed, but overwhelmingly the sense is that you filmed this MV, and without their consent.

Consider the following categories of shots in "Limitless"

All members stand stock still staring into the camera: 

Peering out at you from behind a window, curtain, or column: 

Suddenly noticing your presence and looking at you:

What is it about these shots that are unnerving or odd? It's that they hint at an inner life of the group members within the MV, a private world that we are intruding. In some ways, "Limitless" outright rejects you, the viewer: the members don't want to perform for you, and when they catch you staring, they freeze in place, as if to ask, what are you doing here? It's almost as if NCT 127 isn't ready for you to see them in the "rough" cut of "Limitless" -- just look at Jaehyun who starts to lipsync at 2:54 but loses interest before he finishes his line, choosing to chew his gum instead, and Taeyong who sits, bored, while Yuta practices his dance moves at 1:23. As if to emphasize the glitched existence of this MV, a cut that isn't supposed to exist and isn't finished, you see a "rough" shot of their dance sequences overlaid on the "finished" shot, or a smash cut where a dance move is seen from a different angle, creating dissonance.

Most of the unnerving scenes are shot in the camcorder style, but even in the more polished hi-fi scenes, there are moments of strangeness. Take 2:40, where Doyoung parts Taeil's sleeve to peer at you, or the difference in the group shots at 2:43 (all the members looking at you) and 3:09 (all the members covering their eyes), or 3:50, where Winwin and Taeyong stare at the camera motionless, Winwin's hand over Taeyong's mouth. Even a totally normal "direct address" shot of Taeyong at 3:44 gets weird, when he suddenly turns away from the camera to finish the rest of his line.

Perhaps the most unconventional sequence starts at 2:16, when the group gets up slowly from their seats to get into dance formation. You watch as a few members stretch lightly, sliding reluctantly off their perches but within seconds, a smaller screen pops up right in the middle of the larger one, blocking your view. As even more group members approach the camera from the background, you’re treated to the smaller screen showing you scattered shots of skateboarding, a flashlight pointed at you, and Johnny and Doyoung idly practicing a synchronized dance move before noticing the camera and, of course, freezing in place and lowering their arms. The screen within the screen disappears. NCT 127 take a few preparatory steps, pause, fix their sleeves, and then snap into their routine. 

This scene combines all the uncanny elements mentioned above: the camcorder found footage, the recognition of the camera, the disjointed images, the scene within a scene. But here, even the “normal” MV shot happening in the background is off. The widescreen, high-resolution footage means we’re in the world of the polished MV, but instead of dancing, NCT 127 is just now getting ready. We’ve caught them right as they are putting on their entertainer faces and shuffling into their places. They are in time, but the camera is a few beats too early, ruining the smooth “dance scene - solo scene - dance scene (but from another angle)” transition that we’ve gotten used to.

Girl groups in kpop have their doll imagery; I’d like to propose that “Limitless” is the NCT 127 equivalent. The symbolism of the camera’s gaze in “Limitless” is obvious, sarcastic, and yet still sharply felt: NCT 127 is a product that we consume, sometimes despite the objections of the group members themselves. What we see on camera is just a fragment of their lives, and often the most unnatural fragment. Our gaze interrupts them, freezes them, puts them under scrutiny. When pinned under that scrutiny, they may sing, or dance, or joke around, or even act as if they are disregarding our gaze. But we should never forget that it’s a choice they make to subject themselves to that gaze, and they will never not be aware of that gaze. 

"Limitless" largely ends on a conventional note -- close-up shots of NCT 127′s faces as they mug for the camera in the dark. But even still, NCT 127 has to turn the table on us. Forced to perform, they disappear into underexposed group shots. They put their hand over the camera. They show us their shoes. And, finally, they turn the camera on you, as if to say, now it's our turn.

(Thanks to @k-screencaps for almost all the screencaps.)