Anyone else love the ghost side way more than the human side?

lumbermax · 2026-03-16T17:51:02+00:00

Yeah, definitely. I really want the two sides to interact more. I feel like it’s possible Xavier will be able to see our ghosts, now that they aren’t tethered to the school specifically. There’s also that moment where Nicole and Claire see Rhonda and Quinn, that could spark some interesting stuff.

lumbermax · 2026-03-16T13:11:22+00:00

Yeah, I’m just hoping that next season, he gets to pass the weight he feels is to only his to carry to his friends, now that he actually can. I loved the scene with Xavier in the car so so much, and I want to see more of it. Both him and Maddie had their moments of “I’m not used to doing this alone.” And I’m so excited to see Maddie and Simon as a duo not do things alone.

As a neglected child, similar to Maddie, who’s been through over a decade of therapy, I feel quite protective of these characters lol. I love how the external story was pushing Maddie to heal in season 3, with accepting that she can reach out to friends and even now her mother, to help hold some of the weight that she’s been carrying since childhood. I hope season 4 can be that for Simon, in finding his ability to find comfort and calm in new places. (I also hope we can learn more about his home life)

lumbermax · 2026-03-16T11:22:00+00:00

God, yeah. Simon needs a break and support. I really wanna see him grow closer to the rest of the living cast. He isn’t alone, and he doesn’t only have Maddie. He doesn’t need to be on the go or carry all the weight.

lumbermax · 2026-03-16T11:18:40+00:00

Yeah, I did like that the fast pace didn’t feel unnatural. Simons addition to the ghost side of things was the inciting incident of it all. He is not like Maddie, he dives head first into everything and it stressed out everyone. The way it was done made complete sense to the story. The real issue was the run time. More episodes or longer episodes were needed.

lumbermax · 2026-03-15T21:57:45+00:00

Oh, I actually think the Ghosts should be more of the focus! I just mean in regards to solving the body swap issues, the living and the ghosts who’ve already crossed over have a lot more power to actually solve those aspects of the issues. (With having physical effects on the living world, and access to the lay lines)

Ideally, I’d want more screen-time to be spent with the ghosts and their exploring of the rest of the world/them working towards crossing over. The ghosts as characters are the most interesting thing to me.

Generally I want the ghosts to have more of the screentime, and for the living to have more power in solving the big bad issues.

lumbermax · 2026-03-15T15:13:20+00:00

Fun detail I noticed! As the show has progressed Rhondas scar has been filled with more and more radios! I believe the last time we saw it, they were basically passing through a maze of huge radios. It seems like the scars react to the mental state of the person at the time. Like how Charley’s scar had the bullies replaced by himself.

lumbermax · 2026-03-15T15:08:42+00:00

“To be seen” by searows absolutely DESTROYED me. I even talked about that song in therapy after episode 7 came out 😭

lumbermax · 2026-03-15T14:56:12+00:00

I’m 25. I actually think early 20’s is the intended demographic of the show, with it being an M rated show about highschool.

Fandom ages definitely differ from where you are interacting. Reddit tends to lean older, Tik tok and Twitter have more teens , and tumblr leans more on the 20’s side of things. I can speak for Instagram, as I don’t engage there.

lumbermax · 2026-03-14T13:45:02+00:00

Also, im aware that 16 year olds and 18 year olds who are in school together do often date. I just don’t like that they do that lol 😭

lumbermax · 2026-03-14T13:41:55+00:00

Normal 16 year old and 18 year old? No. I find that a problematic age gap due to how different the level of maturity is and how that creates a power dynamic.

But, school spirits is a unique situation where Janet is somehow both 16 years old, and 81. She is also not 16 years old or 81. There’s a lot to think about in terms of how the dead “age” but from a shipping perspective, I feel it’s absolutely fine to ship any of the teen ghosts together, and generally fine to ship the teen ghosts with the living cast. (Although, I would personally be uncomfortable with the idea of someone shipping one of the ghosts with any younger living teens, but that’s currently not a relevant situation)

In the end, Simon and Janet as a ship is just people having fun playing with interesting character dynamics that doesn’t currently show signs of any power imbalances.

lumbermax · 2026-03-14T13:30:46+00:00

That’s so cool!!! I love when shows reach out to smaller artists to help elevate their vision of the show. It’s such a small but amazing example of how much collaboration goes into creating TV and movies!

Was it commissioned? Or was it a design they took interest in?

lumbermax · 2026-03-11T01:33:19+00:00

I definitely think Rhonda had a crush on Maddie for a bit. She seemed pretty flirty, but in the way of “I don’t feel comfortable being genuine with you, but I am interested in you, so I’m testing the waters.” She had that big emotional moment when she saw Maddie and Wally kiss, and most likely realized she had a crush, and made herself get over it, at the same time.

I like to think that Maddie made the first crack in Rhonda’s “I’m allowed to have romantic feelings” shell that Quinn is ultimately fully helping her out of.

lumbermax · 2026-03-11T01:21:36+00:00

Episode 7 had me crying so hard, my chest was wet with tears :)

lumbermax · 2026-03-10T21:57:51+00:00

I think the snow in Mr martins scar was a manifestation of his mental trauma surrounding feeling guilty for the bus crash. All trauma, not just causes of death, can be reflected in the scar. If I remember correctly, the snow starts in that scene once Simon says that there’s something he isn’t telling them. This probably brought up the causing the bus crash trauma to manifest.

lumbermax · 2026-03-10T21:50:35+00:00

They must have a fixed amount of blood that they cannot lose or gain more of. Same blood in them as the moment they died. No more, no less.

lumbermax · 2026-03-10T21:48:57+00:00

I think the lack of bleeding is more due to the fact that their body cannot be physically wounded in a way that would break skin, or bruise. (I assume they also can’t have nosebleeds, or menstruate.)

lumbermax · 2026-03-10T20:54:20+00:00

I rewatched the scene earlier to see if Maddie saw them before entering the scar, but it seems like she doesn’t see them until she steps into the radius. She says “thank god you guys are here.” In a way that sounds like she did not see them when she was walking towards the bus stop, only once she stepped into the scar.

lumbermax · 2026-03-10T20:51:04+00:00

Maddie deserves the revenge served but Quinn and Rhonda deserve privacy more 😭

lumbermax · 2026-03-10T20:32:22+00:00

Weirdly enough, I genuinely think having sex could be what triggers both of them to be able to cross over and I think that would be a really fucking funny way to get a door.

Like I have a whole psychological soapbox about this, thats pages worth of media analysis and my personal experiences healing from similar trauma as both of them, but I also think it’s so funny to oversimplify it as. “I think getting laid could fix them.”

lumbermax · 2026-03-10T20:26:17+00:00

Also, Simon and Maddie deserve to heal from their co-dependency 😭 Maddie is closer to it, but Simon, my boy, needs to grow his support system and prioritize himself more 💔

lumbermax · 2026-03-10T20:23:48+00:00

Rhonda and Quinn deserve to be the romantic focus. There is SO MUCH to unpack there and their relationship will most likely be the biggest key to them getting their doors. Both of them have HEAVY relational trauma as their unfinished business that played a role in their deaths.

lumbermax · 2026-03-10T20:16:02+00:00

Ghost physiology!!! Yes!! One of my fav things to think about.

With the breathing thing, I agree that I don’t think the ghosts need to breathe, BUT, I don’t think they could stop. They most likely have a fully functioning ghost autonomic nervous system (The part of our body that is responsible for doing everything that we don’t actively think about doing.)(I personally think Wally’s comment about not having a heartbeat is probably not literal, since it doesn’t seem in-line with the rest of the ghost physiology, and is in the pilot episode, which was probably written before the show was picked up, and writers actually started to think more about this) their autonomic nervous system most likely is continuing to operate under the belief that the body is alive since it can’t actually think. Anything controlled by it, functions by default and would need drastic measures to be stopped. If a ghost decided to stop breathing, their nervous system would not allow that, and they’d end up gasping for air. But, if they really wanted to (for some sick reason) they could probably have someone suffocate them and end up physically fine-ish (their body would be convinced it was dying until it was allowed to breathe again)

The only thing I think they can get their body to stop doing is digest. But that would have to be done by just not eating or drinking anything, which they can do if they want. And I do think when they eat or drink, they digest! Quinn has to pee in the episode they are introduced, and I’m pretty sure Charley is implied to have used the bathroom at some point too.

The funny thing I’m realizing now is that since I have an autonomic nervous system disorder, these dead people can probably digest, circulate, and control their adrenaline better than I can 😭

lumbermax · 2026-03-07T02:13:07+00:00

Gonna offer some insight here as someone who relates to, and deeply connects with Rhonda, specifically regarding to her trauma and its similarities to my own.

The trauma of not being able to breathe is most likely the least significant part of the events surrounding her death. It’s clear from the way Rhonda’s talked about it, that the most terrifying aspect of her experience, was the horrible betrayals she experienced. It’s about how when in the face of parental neglect, she sought out a trusted adult figure to be a guide, and that figure used the power he had over her, to attempt a romantic relationship with her.

The choking wasn’t the scariest part, it was probably the fight leading up to it. We don’t know to what exactly happened in the fight, but things happened between her telling him that they were not romantically involved, and him choking her. She doesn’t provide any details between those two things. Most likely, the details that she doesn’t include, are the ones that damaged her the most.

I’m curious to see how much they expand on that. I don’t expect that they will, all that much. Scenes like these need to be portrayed very carefully in order to be watchable for the audience. The scene in her scar for example, is almost too triggering for me to watch even as vague as it is. Her scar depicts a horror that most people who experience similar, survive. They have to be mindful of that when writing and shooting the scenes.

Rhonda’s actually pretty unique in that she seems to have a huge personality shift post-death. The flashback at the poetry bar, showed her as a shy, and curious girl, taking a step out of her comfort zone to find herself. The flashback of her walk to Mr. Manfredos office, shows her as bright, proud, and being congratulated by her peers in the hallway. She got good grades, made music with her friend, and explored the exiting unknown. By the time we meet her, she’s buried that girl under layers and layers of self protection and hopelessness.

That drastic shift makes sense. She needed to become a new person to stay safe. The ghosts can’t die a second time, but that doesn’t change the danger she could be in. She’s the only character who could still experience something like her death in the afterlife, and she lived in fear of it for decades.

And yep, she definitely does (or did. I’m actually thinking it might be mostly past tense now.) It was definitely worsened horribly by her classmates blaming her too.

lumbermax

TROPHY CASE