Choice | Animation Meme | TW: Blood

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“Is it possible to have it all?”

uh oh this animation took me a year…. hahehe
but anyways,

LIMITED CRYMELT PLUSHIE YIP YIP HOORAY!! :D

Used - Callipeg (animation), LumaFusion (edit)

crymelt

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CRYMELT VIDEO ANALYSIS TIME (which is just an excuse to pause on every frame because the art is amazing and gorgeous and i would use every single positive adjective in the world if i could)

0:00 : The title of the animation and the video is "Choice, " and the description reads, "Is it possible to have it all?" I believe we're expected to keep the topic of choice in mind, and the subject of having to choose between things you want will color the rest of the video.

0:01-0:06 : This is the status quo cycle of events. Love is socializing, brain is either some sort of academic schoolwork or study, heart is art (painting in this case), and control is unclear at this point. The pulling on red strings indicates puppetry of some sort, and red strings could have various meanings. They could represent the invisible connection between soulmates/partners, they could be a ward against bad luck, or it could be the string of fate itself. At this point, the current point in this video doesn't have enough context for a proper conclusion.
The final two slides are of the protagonist drinking a cup of something caffeinated, probably coffee, and of her wiping her nose. Based on events later in the video, I think the sequence links the consumption of coffee to something relating to her nose.

0:06-0:09 : Here we repeat the cycle, with three notable departures from the one before. The first difference is that "brain" is absent from the song, and the protagonist has a different pose during that pause. She's now slumped over the desk, defeated, with scratch marks under the desk and band-aids all over her legs. This is a sign that academics is kicking her ass, and perhaps she reacts in self-destructive methods. I'd assume that she's scratching both the desk and herself in frustration.

The next two departures are for "caffeinate" and "you get me going." The "caffeinate" segment now shows the protagonist dumping some sort of liquid into her mouth until it overflows, and I assume this to be coffee due to its dark brownish color and the fact the blood on the next segment is still visibly red.

The "you get me going" part shows the woman turning to the camera with a severe bloody nose. Since she consumed more coffee than last time, it's probably fair to say that the nosebleed has gotten worse as well. This could be a sign of desperation to keep her energy up, or of over-reliance on caffeine to continue to push her, resulting in adverse effects.

0:10-0:14 : Three more segments are different this time. "Love" is absent from the lyrics, and the animation shows the woman in the middle of a bunch of people, no longer affectionately embracing them. I take this to mean that she's sacrificing socializing to focus on schoolwork, though it could also mean that the caffeine didn't give her as much energy as she thought, and thus she has no will to socialize.

Importantly, the "brain" lyric is here now, leading me to believe she's intentionally trying to focus more on academics, but the video still shows the protagonist defeated on the desk, meaning that despite the focus, she has not made progress.

"Caffeinate" now shows an arm and a hand (it's such a well-drawn hand holy shit) and an IV pumping coffee (or blood, hard to tell) into it. This is a drastic escalation from drinking it, and the following segment of "melatonin" shows its efficacy. One the one hand, the art is colorful once again, meaning that the protagonist did get enough energy to feel alive, and she wipes her nose similarly to the first cycle. However, there is now notably much more blood streaming down her face, indicating that her energy does not come without negative side effects.

0:14-0:17 : Now all of the animation segments are different from the first cycle. The protagonist is still isolated, is still struggling with schoolwork, and now that the lyric "heart" is missing, the canvas she paints on is now reaching out for her. This signifies a loss of control, she no longer makes the art, but the art forces her to create.

"Control" is no longer present either. Now we see the other side of the red strings, a lady with red strings attached to her body and red hand prints all over. I take this to be our protagonist being controlled by fate instead of controlling it, perhaps a signifier that she's lost control of her life.

Going off the rails a bit, @mynameismeii noticed that the red strings on the fingers was also present in the "Fighter" animation, and notably, it's also with the lyric of "control?!" Given the theme of that video seemed to be chasing academic success endlessly and projecting the image of being a star student to the point where it feels like you can't be yourself, I feel that the red strings may mean upholding an image of some sort.

I also checked out the "Two Time" and "Animal Cannibal" videos, both of which also show red strings (holy shit crymelt this has layers, you're awesome as fuck).

"Two Time" has the red string contrast the woman asking if someone's okay with the gaping hole in her torso, and I take this to mean that she's trying to help others without caring for herself first. Given the context of keeping up appearances, this continues the running theme of focusing too much on outward actions and ignoring inner turmoil.

"Animal Cannibal" has red strings pinning up pictures of a colorful smile, partially covering up the face of a woman with blood in her nose, mouth, and fingertips. It also has an ending segment where a conspiracy board is drawn with red string, and it all points to the cannibal woman. The first appearance very heavily implies that red strings are related to keeping up an image, while the second is about finding the woman behind the cannibalism, thus ruining the perfect alibi she set (this is a stretch kinda, but I don't have the space for another video's analysis to confirm my reading). There's also a lyric here that says "slap at the face that eats me, " which will become relevant later.

Given all of this, I believe that in "Choice, " the red string instead represents control over the appearance of the protagonist's life, or of her own self-image. She feels like she's falling apart in every aspect of her life despite trying to maintain it all, and feels like she's being controlled by the persona she made, rather than the other way around.

Then, the lyrics say "wake up! (Smack!)" and our protagonist gets slapped. This is where the lyrics in "Animal Cannibal" come in, as the lyrics "slap at the face that eats me" implies that the woman is eating whoever slaps her, which I take to mean that she's eating away at someone's psyche/mental well-being.

Within the confines of this video, this is additional foreshadowing that our protagonist is getting abused by someone, as the red strings in the previous bit are accompanied by hand marks that look like the red marks of getting hit. Now, we're about to see who has been abusing her.

once again the comment is too long so the next part is in the replies lmfao

rainbowdash

i love the different lighting contexts used in this animation. theres such a stark contrast between the soft lit scenes and the stylised lighting scenes which really add to the animation

TVPMLP

I know it’s a long rant that you’ve probably heard before, but the way you conveyed the steady exhaustion and the struggles of being an overachiever is outstanding.

The entrance sequence (0:02-0:06) is such a flawless way of presenting the highs. The group embrace being friends or family or support in general, the steady studying, effortless creativity all summed up with her confidently holding the strings at 0:04, showing how she has control over her own life or mental health.

And then the sequence shifts to a darker tone where her ambition is causing her isolation, academic stress, her creations in which she used to have joy in creating, shaping and controlling her in 0:15. And these red strings that she once pulled herself are pulling her.

I believe the red strings are symbolic of her expectations of herself. Before succeeding, she could pull and control these strings easily. They surrounded her, sure, but there was a disconnect between her view of herself and what she was capable of. After succeeding however, she felt the pressure pulling her around. She had to keep the motion of the sequence even if it started hurting, because that’s what she expected of herself.

The final sequences really struck me. From 0:19, you can see her having a conversation with herself. “Who could you be?” “I am injury, ” with her crumpling to the floor and finally breaking down. She’s so sick of the exhaustion and is associating herself AS the pain. But then at 0:25, she reminds herself that she brought this on herself. She keeps putting this overwhelming pressure on herself. She keeps setting herself up to fail thanks to the expectations she has of herself. Expectations she is struggling to live up to. “No you aren’t. You make the choice to be.” - it’s a reminder to herself that she isn’t a failure. She’s setting herself up to fail.

And this is all solidified at 0:29, where a smaller part of her is holding up her papers, her art and the larder part of her is saying “no”, potentially symbolising how harshly she judges herself. She’s shutting herself down because she’s afraid she’ll never be good enough.

All finalised at 0:32, staring at a blank canvas, too scared, frustrated and internally self harmed to do anything about it.

This animation really connected with me and I’m certain plenty will continue to say the same. You’ve given a wordless struggle such an impactful voice with your art, that using words to convey it isn’t even necessary.

Don’t ever lose faith in yourself 💖

LOLrpop

She finally remembered her youtube password!

Lazidiz

The curse of creativity.

When you have it, you may dwell so deep it becomes self-destructive

But when you don't have it is when you need it, then you feel even worse.

I-Need-A-New-Hobby

I like how for “control” you still use the red strings as symbolism, as you did the same in the fighter animation. Cool to see reoccurring themes

hsirebbig

My take on the lore of this animation:

The girl in the amv first shows the duality of life, with the love and hate, as well as her passions, and her happiness. The red string she pulls at the start symbolizes the control she has over her life, and how she’s content with it. However, as it progresses, it seems that the strings control her instead, as it’s seen multiple red strings are manipulating her like a puppet, the more she sinks into her sadness. This sadness could be because of multiple factors, though I believe it’s this.

The paint brush she holds in her hand most likely symbolizes her love and aspiration for drawing, painting, her artistic talent. In the description, it states “Is it possible to have it all?” I believe this hints to the fact she may have gave it up to keep the other things she holds dear, such as her friends, family, other hobbies, etc, and cutting out this part of her life makes her feel like she’s just a shell of who she used to be. When the child version of herself is shown shoving a canvas towards her, instead of taking it, she refuses, thereby refusing to paint any longer and giving up the hobby fully, as it’s too painful to manage. Even when she tries to paint(shown with her in front of a large, blank canvas), she has no inspiration or strength to muster up to even start it, letting the paintbrush fall from her hand. It might be the fact it was so painful to give up, she would rather not feel the pain of something she lost. It’s obvious she regrets it, as she’s seen facing what seems to be another version of herself(?), which may be the version she decided to be, instead of her true personality. She might wish that she chose differently, as shes then shown breaking down into tears. Her inner self is also furious at her decision to take out the joy(painting) in her life. No matter how hard she suppresses it, the regret she has slips out at points, such with the last tears she sheds at the end.

VexedKdjdkd-yigs

If I were to compare this to other animated versions of "Choice", I would say that this animated meme definitely had the edge over the rest!
The style, the emotions, the drama and the struggle to identify yourself as a person; all of them are absolutely well presented! Great video!

shimicirque

Watching the art style develop over years has been fantastic (so good)
Also, the reoccurring themes (like red control lines) of these videos make my brain tingle :)

znguyen

This maybe a bit of ramble, but I love this animatic! It creates so much story and character depth in such a short time and the fluid transitions between 'shots' are exactly what my dream animations/storyboards in my head would be. Thanks for the vid and I hope you're doing well!!

cripplingbreadsticks

Insanely good, I love how you portray the effects of choosing between different aspects of your life and the backlash it has when you try to do everything and keep it all together.

Frayless

Im literally lost for words. This is such a well-made, smooth animation with absolutely etheral perspectives. Not to mention the artstyle is so pretty aghhhfjds❤❤❤ the expressions, movements, are all smooth like butter ong
Ive literally replayed this sm and i never get sick of it😭🤚it is so addicting to watch

Helen-xtfd

No matter how old this song gets in the animation community it will always have a special place in my heart.

Theoneandonlymark

what an incredible artist. what's so notable to me is the line work seems so intentionally simplified, but you have to be such a well-studied and practiced artist to make it look this good. i commend your hard work, skill, and perseverance. amazing work

Templeandtide

There's so much symbolism in here, but the part that really gets me is at the end, we hear the beginning of the meme starting to loop again. As if she's bracing herself to throw herself back into the same cycle of burnout, all over again.

shale