sometimes being a system is so crowded, ur never alone, ur brain always buzzing and swarming with bees
but its also having a moment of ignorance, forgetting ur a system and listening to music only to hear someone right in ur ear say "can you change the fucking song already???" in the most annoyed voice and scare the dog shit outta u
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Individual Expression in Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse and the trilogy's introductions:
So knowing what we do about the other protagonists of the Spider-verse films and the narrative format of characters introducing themselves and other characters, I think BTSV will open with Miles G Morales introducing himself as the Prowler and Earth-42. Not only keeping with the tone of the first film, but also emphasising the theme of "Beyond" the Spider-verse. It only makes sense that we open on a character who isn't Spider-man - even though they should've been.
But what exactly would that opening / introduction look like? Well, first we'd have to examine how our other protagonists have opened the previous films.
When we first meet Miles, he's colouring some stickers, and later, we see one of his hobbies is slapping those stickers around New York. We later learn his dad knows about this and disapproves, so instead, Miles bonds over his artistic expression with his Uncle Aaron. By the end of ITSV, Miles paints a mural for Aaron with his dad but he keeps making stickers, most notably on the clock tower because it's somewhere his dad won't find it (and doesn't know he's Spider-man).
Gwen opens ATSV by drumming and saying she, "didn't join a band to talk about my feelings, I joined a band to hit my feelings with sticks". She also talks about never finding the right band. When she meets Miguel and Jess, her mind flashes to drumming because she thinks she's found her band, and by the end she decides instead of joining a band she just make her own by siding with the people who want to save Miles.
In both films we see this is how these protagonists leave a mark on their environment. It's how they want to live with "no expectations" like ITSV implicates through Miles and Aaron's mural.
Gwen's drumming is a cry to be heard, and her dad quits the police force after listening halfway through her speech.
Miles' stickers are a cry to be seen, and reveals his identity to Rio before showing her his graffitied Spider-man icon (even though it backfires).
It's not just an artistic expression it's also in the way they do their hobbies - Gwen hits her drums, Miles slaps stickers...
So what is Miles G Morales' cry?
Ever since ITSV, Aaron's punching bag has become a subject of interest. When we first see it, Miles is playfully punching it - Aaron even holds it steady for him.
Later on, we see Miles tie up Peter B. Parker on it, and this scene is later paralleled with how Miles G Morales ties up Miles in ATSV. This works because it shows us how like Peter in the first film, Miles is now the Spider-man in the wrong dimension and how the tragedy of this Miles has gone from a likewise bright-eyed, clumsy awkward kid to a hardened but equally lost teenager. Finally, in both scenes, Miles and Peter make an attempt to break free of their bonds.
As unfortunate as it is, I don't think we're going to see an updated version of the 2020 test movement in the next film. Even though it looks amazing, that was a character exploration and not actually supposed to be in the final cut of the film.
Aaron punches the bag when Miles believes he doesn't want to be the Prowler. And that may be true. But either way, Aaron views the Prowler identity as a necessity to the stability and protection of his and Miles G's family.
But Miles doesn't understand that. At least not yet.
For Miles, the Prowler was an unstoppable force of nature that literally hunted him until Aaron unmasked himself and was so entangled in Kingpin's schemes that it got him killed. But in Earth-42, Aaron and Miles G are "the only heroes in that dimension" according to the artbook. Both Miles and Miles G are products of their environment, but that doesn't mean either is more or less heroic than the other. They're just operating on literally different timeframes.
And that's why Aaron punches the bag, and its why Miles G puts his fist near Miles' head because they want Miles to understand that no, the Prowler identity is not a corrupt alternative to the Spider-man identity based on preconceived misconceptions. Without much evidence, we believed Miguel was a "good guy" based on his identity as a Spider-person. Why can't the inverted case be applied to Miles G and Aaron?
This is why I feel like in the next film, Miles G's "Let's do this one last time" will be him training with the punching bag before Miles comes to Earth-42. Not too dissimilar from Jinx's boxing-machine scene from Arcane minus Jinx's psyche, but a scene intersecting with current and past events. Like with Miles and Gwen, Miles G training with the bag is his own cry for "no expectations" of being labelled a hero or villain.
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I also need to say this but Im gonna be a real hater bitch for a moment. But being even vaguely aware about animal welfare + behavioral cues, especially in dogs and reptiles, absolutely ruins every little joy that you once had about animal-focused online spaces. It also hinders your relationships with people in your every day life.
Being a tride and true dog lover is so hard because it just sours everything about the social perception of "dog people" for you. There are so many examples of dog videos going viral where the dog in question is exhibiting severe stress signals... or just the wide spread of misinformation regarding dog breeding or shelters / adopt-dont-shop mindsets. Don't even get me started on viral "first introduction" videos where they just let two animals loose in the same area at the same time 😑
Truly the most Ignorance Is Bliss situation ever.
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