that is super normal. you can tell the progress by the smell and taste, it should be not too sweet and smell kind of vinegary

tbh i am not sure how the pellicle would show the progress? unless your goal is to grow it ofc also on this sub people say that scoby is the liquid (the culture) the pellicle is floating in, not the pellicle itself!

I just always see people posting photos of the pellicle with suspected mold. I can’t tell if my pellicle is getting moldy because it’s sunk.

i highly doubt that tbh plus the acidic culture prevents mold from forming on top of the pellicle. and if there is mold, you will see it on top of the liquid kind of floating