[CW horror/death] Thinking of the SBG season finale again

Also, I don't know. Everything about Tyler, Taylor, and Mariana makes me so, so sad. Because even still, nobody in the group knows what these kids have been through. None of them know that Tyler and Taylor lost their dad at a young age, and it kind of broke their mother. None of them know that they're prioritizing, not the moment, not their interests, but what will get them jobs and success almost immediately out of high school. "Your mechanic club has connections to jobs...", what he said about baseball.

They've spent so much time looking after their mother, trying to keep her mental health at a stable place by distracting her any and every time she thinks too hard about her deceased husband/their dad. They, Tyler especially, probably haven't even had proper time or emotional room to grieve. These two had to grow up so, so, so fast, and it breaks my heart. The delivery of it, too, sprinkling little bits here and there to let us know that he wasn't okay. And then adding in their mom. And then, finally, dropping all of that on the reader while Tyler fell to his potential death. The punch that packed. What am I supposed to do about that except just bawl my eyes out?

And less on the characterization and pacing on those two, more on the foreshadowing, and focusing a little on how Ashlyn probably feels/will feel:

She had a meltdown over the others wanting to change plans suddenly. She went off, and said that she was getting that jeep, that they were not just going to abandon their plans. She felt pretty ashamed of it after, how hateful she was, how upset she got. But...

Tyler initially said he wanted to go back. Then, he said he didn't want to, that maybe staying in the graveyard every night wouldn't be that bad. And he said it last-second, too, with two others--half of the team--on his side.

And Ashlyn is in a position of leadership. But she's an autistic child. She is, at most, 16 (her parents have made comments about 15/16 before, Tyler and Taylor are 15 according to an instagram post, and while they had to speed their plan along by a few months, she did want to wait at least one year. Her birthday is, while it was an arbitrary number made up on the spot, June 3rd. That would put her at probably 16; we can pretty safely assume that the finale takes place in an autumn month, given the bonfire and how the kids are all dressed but I've gone off on a tangent sorry). She never asked or wanted to be a leader for any of them, but she was the one best-suited to step up for the role.

And she made her decision while upset. She wasn't, due to the stress of being stuck there potentially forever, and the sudden change in plans, able to think clearly, or listen to her teammates. While they succeeded in getting the jeep--with her probably getting concussed in the process (and Aiden's ankle getting twisted), in the end, they potentially lost Tyler. And that's going to mess her up, probably. I can't imagine that it won't. The weight of her decision, pressing onward to go through with the plan. The weight of finally starting to accept these guys as a team. The weight of meeting Tyler and Taylor's mom, seeing that something is off about their whole living situation, and then... This. It hurts so bad, and I'm here for it.

And another thing: lilredbeany said that Ashlyn was written to be autistic, but she never really mentioned it because she wanted to do more research first. And that Aiden has ADHD. I think she's exampled these two things--and how they conflict--so, so, so well. Ashlyn stims, she needs to stick to her plans, she doesn't like change, she doesn't (didn't) have friends, she struggles socially--she struggles to understand things socially. She struggles to converse and uphold a conversation. Things feel awkward and messy to her. She's sensitive to sounds (and while part of it is due to the phantoms, it's said in the comic, "I have insanely good hearing", and that being part of the reason that she doesn't have friends)--to the point where, like me, she has to wear earplugs or noise-cancelers constantly. Before I got earplugs, I wanted so bad to wear my noise-cancelers 24/7, but they caused neck pain and from there, headaches, so I couldn't, but this isn't about me that's just a little Existence Thing that I have. She has sensory issues with her hair--this was confirmed when lilredbeany posted a link to a fanfic, saying something akin to "this person hit the nail on the head, I never mentioned it, but Ashlyn keeps her hair in braids due to sensory issues." Aiden needs practically constant stimulation. He takes so many risks, and has so much energy. He also looked kind of tired before the comic started, which doesn't surprise me, since... A lot of people with ADHD have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. She's showcased the difference in socializations, how social/general needs conflict with Ashlyn and Aiden, and it's so cool. It's genuinely so cool. Ashlyn has become, hands-down, my favorite autistic rep because she's so... Similar to me in a dozen and a half ways.

Yeah the autism-adhd paragraph wasn't supposed to get that long. Anyways.

I love the tidbits of foreshadowing that happened with the paper cranes, and Thomas; we see origami cranes on his desk. And that's... Really scary especially when I think more about how he might be a plant by the paper cranes to scout and/or keep an eye on potential rift-openers. Because these are children. Even if he feels bad, that's what he's doing. I don't want that (but I won't be mad if that's what happens)! I want him to be a genuinely loving and caring and wholesome teacher who would do everything and anything to protect those kids. I desperately want that. I want him to parallel Logan in some way, too.

I could keep talking about Ben and Logan, but I've talked so much, and I still need to do a lot of my daily stuff. So I think I'll have to cut it short there, but I just wanna mention that Ben is such an amazing character, too. And Logan, I love his development so much, and I want him to stay soft and kind, even with the influence of phantoms, even as he gets stronger. And he's shown nothing but softness, even as he's gotten sturdier with himself and handling situations that are scary to him. Okay. Well. I'm excluding the phantom-influence from that statement. Because that wasn't entirely him. That was the influence of alternate-dimension demons haunting him, or something, however you wanna phrase that situation. And Ben being so soft and sweet, and... I dunno, I can imagine that him having Aiden tell the others about what happened to him, and his anger issues, and how triggered he can get--I assume that was pretty scary. But he wanted them to know. He trusted them enough to not judge him, to not be cruel or hateful towards him, and he, while he didn't want to relive those memories himself, put his full faith in Aiden telling them--and them receiving it well. And they did. And I love that. I love that so much...