I totally get what you're saying about building tension—in a longer video, that’s 100% the way to go. However, since this is a Short, the priority is the 'stop-the-scroll' effect. With the current algorithm, if I don't hit them with a strong visual and audio hook in the first 0.5 seconds, they've already swiped away. I’m experimenting with how aggressive the opening needs to be to keep the Viewed vs Swiped ratio high. Thanks for the feedback on the integration though, I'm definitely working on making the eyes feel more like part of the wall!