Snail Knight Quinn

The bus scar is shared by all of the band kids, and scars are made up of multiple aspects of the persons inner trauma, not just the cause of their death. The cause of death is the setting of the scar, and may or may not be a very active participant. The bus isn’t the only example of one scar setting having more than one scar inside of it. Mr Martin and Janet share a scar setting, but do not share a scar.

When Maddie used the watch to go into the fallout shelter, she entered Mr. Martins scar. We are led to believe as an audience that it is Janet’s scar, but later see that Janet does not recognize this version of the scar, and when she enters the fallout shelter *with* Mr Martin, their scars open up as two parts of the same room. (Since both keys are present) So we know that the Skeleton key favors Mr. Martins scar, as that’s the only one Maddie is able to enter. But that could be because it’s both the skeleton key, and Mr martins key. So what does the watch favor for the bus?

I definitely don’t think it’s Quinn’s, because the scar we see lacks anything that ties to them specifically. They also mentioned in season 2, that when they went into their scar for the first time, it was something unexpected. The scar we saw in season 3, I would argue would be pretty expected for Quinn, given that they knew the scar would relate to their death. They also say they found the missing page *inside* the bus, which makes it seem like Quinn’s scar is as much outside the bus as it is inside. But most notably, we know they have trauma outside of the bus crash, so if it was their scar, I assume there would be reference to the strained relationship between them and their family/the other bandmates, as well as their relationship with gender.

So that takes Quinn off the suspect list for me. We don’t know anything about the other kids that would narrow down whose scar we saw, but there is something in the scar that makes it seem like it isn’t just a genetic bus crash that’s not tied to anyone. The scene seems to be just a representation of the crash itself, populated by dead and dying band kids with only one outlier: The random little girl.

It looks like whoever’s scar it is has some sort of relationship with the little girl (likely a sibling) It also seems like this person doesn’t have much trauma besides the cause of their death, which would make sense for it being somewhat empty. The little girl could be someone this person left behind in death that is particularly upsetting.

If I’m gonna be honest, I don’t think it matters whose scar it is. (besides it not being Quinn’s) but I think it being someone who doesn’t necessarily matter, points to the reason why their scar is what we see. I think that whoever’s scar Simon saw, was the first person to die on the bus.

Even disregarding anything Quinn said, one would safely assume that Quinn's scar would include people in a similar manner that Rhonda's or Charlie's does.

Their interpersonal struggles through the series are explicitly about how they feel like they are a burden on others and they mess things up and ruin everything.

This has nothing to do with the bus crash itself. As you said, the location and death are just the device for showing their trauma. So why is this one empty of any of that???

I believe (and I may be misremembering) but when others entered Rhonda's scar, the people were still there, just... Inactive since the subject wasn't there. So Quinn's if it was about people, it would've still had them.

Just adding to that Quinn's words and stuff just makes it even more obvious for me.

There is also the factor that Quinn seems to be very at peace with HOW they died, something that Rhonda or Mr. Martin differ on, which makes it to me less about the bus, and more about something else, again, people.

If he actually talked to people about thinking Quinn might be in there besides “what if they are there?” “Don’t do that” “I’m doing that”. There would be a conversation about “how does the bus scar work?”. Simon probably didn’t even consider that the bus stop scar is the scar of 6 different people. Bro did what he does best and just jumps into things without thinking.

Not only is it the scar of 6 people, one of the people that was there, died in a different place. The scar was created BY a ghost. The scar is right against the edge of the school's barrier reach (just like Mr. Martin's/Janet's) and ALL of the people who were part of it were looping!

The bus scar is shared by all of the band kids, and scars are made up of multiple aspects of the persons inner trauma, not just the cause of their death. The cause of death is the setting of the scar, and may or may not be a very active participant. The bus isn’t the only example of one scar setting having more than one scar inside of it. Mr Martin and Janet share a scar setting, but do not share a scar.

When Maddie used the watch to go into the fallout shelter, she entered Mr. Martins scar. We are led to believe as an audience that it is Janet’s scar, but later see that Janet does not recognize this version of the scar, and when she enters the fallout shelter *with* Mr Martin, their scars open up as two parts of the same room. (Since both keys are present) So we know that the Skeleton key favors Mr. Martins scar, as that’s the only one Maddie is able to enter. But that could be because it’s both the skeleton key, and Mr martins key. So what does the watch favor for the bus?

I definitely don’t think it’s Quinn’s, because the scar we see lacks anything that ties to them specifically. They also mentioned in season 2, that when they went into their scar for the first time, it was something unexpected. The scar we saw in season 3, I would argue would be pretty expected for Quinn, given that they knew the scar would relate to their death. They also say they found the missing page *inside* the bus, which makes it seem like Quinn’s scar is as much outside the bus as it is inside. But most notably, we know they have trauma outside of the bus crash, so if it was their scar, I assume there would be reference to the strained relationship between them and their family/the other bandmates, as well as their relationship with gender.

So that takes Quinn off the suspect list for me. We don’t know anything about the other kids that would narrow down whose scar we saw, but there is something in the scar that makes it seem like it isn’t just a genetic bus crash that’s not tied to anyone. The scene seems to be just a representation of the crash itself, populated by dead and dying band kids with only one outlier: The random little girl.

It looks like whoever’s scar it is has some sort of relationship with the little girl (likely a sibling) It also seems like this person doesn’t have much trauma besides the cause of their death, which would make sense for it being somewhat empty. The little girl could be someone this person left behind in death that is particularly upsetting.

If I’m gonna be honest, I don’t think it matters whose scar it is. (besides it not being Quinn’s) but I think it being someone who doesn’t necessarily matter, points to the reason why their scar is what we see. I think that whoever’s scar Simon saw, was the first person to die on the bus.

Even disregarding anything Quinn said, one would safely assume that Quinn's scar would include people in a similar manner that Rhonda's or Charlie's does.

Their interpersonal struggles through the series are explicitly about how they feel like they are a burden on others and they mess things up and ruin everything.

This has nothing to do with the bus crash itself. As you said, the location and death are just the device for showing their trauma. So why is this one empty of any of that???

I believe (and I may be misremembering) but when others entered Rhonda's scar, the people were still there, just... Inactive since the subject wasn't there. So Quinn's if it was about people, it would've still had them.

Just adding to that Quinn's words and stuff just makes it even more obvious for me.

There is also the factor that Quinn seems to be very at peace with HOW they died, something that Rhonda or Mr. Martin differ on, which makes it to me less about the bus, and more about something else, again, people.

How many times have i watched this clip?

But I gotta ask, hey Rhonda, babygirl, what is it with this timing? "The person I like is spiraling, let me ground them by talking about how much they wanted to kiss me" girly you'll have to address those feelings eventually for the shake of Quinn lol

But also only being able to have a space to address complex hard feelings when the mood is so down that you can only elevate them is so real

Like, they were obviously the only reason they were able to decode the journals. But they also probably helped a LOT with keeping the investigation organized by following the blueprints of their favorite TV show. We don’t see it directly being useful for much screentime, but Maddie seems to find the strategy useful throughout the season. The group would’ve been a whole lot less effective without Quinn’s help. They carried markers on them at all times and seemed to be taking notes frequently. It was a level of teamwork and investigation skills that they did not have in season one that would’ve helped A LOT.

They also had a very important role of taking notice of Rhonda’s discomfort and being an empathetic witness for her. The negative reaction of the group when she brought up what she saw between Janet and Mr. Martin, could’ve caused her to isolate like she did in season 1, which led her to “sell out” Maddie for more info. Quinn expressed no judgement for Rhonda’s trouble sharing. Rhonda having a judgement free witness while the rest of her friends weren’t as patient due to being under a lot of distress, was really important for her to be able to be help the whole season.

That last part is only tangentially related to autism. I just got carried away for a sec lmao.

Like, they were obviously the only reason they were able to decode the journals. But they also probably helped a LOT with keeping the investigation organized by following the blueprints of their favorite TV show. We don’t see it directly being useful for much screentime, but Maddie seems to find the strategy useful throughout the season. The group would’ve been a whole lot less effective without Quinn’s help. They carried markers on them at all times and seemed to be taking notes frequently. It was a level of teamwork and investigation skills that they did not have in season one that would’ve helped A LOT.

They also had a very important role of taking notice of Rhonda’s discomfort and being an empathetic witness for her. The negative reaction of the group when she brought up what she saw between Janet and Mr. Martin, could’ve caused her to isolate like she did in season 1, which led her to “sell out” Maddie for more info. Quinn expressed no judgement for Rhonda’s trouble sharing. Rhonda having a judgement free witness while the rest of her friends weren’t as patient due to being under a lot of distress, was really important for her to be able to be help the whole season.

That last part is only tangentially related to autism. I just got carried away for a sec lmao.

The process shown in the show of entering scars, the changing nature of scars, and the way in which someone has to process the parts of the trauma that scars bring up, is very reminiscent of my experience with therapies like EMDR. (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) It’s a therapy focused on re-training the brain to treat trauma like a memory, instead something that bleeds into day to day life with PTSD disorders.

In order for a ghost to get to their door in School Spirits, they must first enter their scar. This is because just like in real psychology, the most effective treatment for trauma is “looking back to move forward”. After entering their scar, a ghost starts to recall the things that may have been avoiding addressing due to the distress it causes. But by doing that, they invite the chance to process the events shown to them, and challenge the negative beliefs that they’ve held on to.

In all the scars we see, none are made up of solely the event of their death. In some, it takes up a bigger space (Like Rhonda’s) and in others, whose death took up less of their mind, their death is the haunting scene that holds the moments that plague their mind the most (like with Wally and Yuri)

But, a death taking up so much of the space is not indicative of it being the only trauma they faced. Such as Rhonda, who’s scar is at first almost completely made up of the long and terrifying build up to her murder. We are told that she gravitated towards Mr Manfredo due to her parents neglecting her. Despite this, they don’t appear in her scar. We see her scar do something that the brain does during the process of EMDR (And something I’ve personally experienced). Each time her scar is shown later on, the scene slowly begins to fill with more and more stacks of glowing red radios.

In psychology, when someone experiences repetitive trauma, the mind cannot hold on to all of it and continue to function normally. So it represses things to make room as more trauma occurs. As traumatic experiences are processed and “cleared” (from the mind or the scar) the things that were repressed, come to the surface. The mind now has the room to hold what was once subconscious.

That’s what I believe is happening with Rhonda’s radios, and why when wallys football field became emptier, made room for the addition of Maddie to Wally’s scar. Mr Manfredo is still extremely present in Rhonda’s scar, unlike the empty football field, but he now seems to take up less of the space. Likely due to Rhonda re learning how to trust and connect with others—something she lost because of the betrayal that led to her death. Whatever the Radios are, is likely something that has started to come to the forefront of her mind as a result of the steps she’s made in healing.