#school spirits mina

[batcavescolony]

Now I'm not theater kid expert. But if Maddie told the theater kids that back in 1987 a member of the tech crew was killed by a falling light and she is now forever checking the lights to keep them safe. Mina would get a shrine made to her and flowers at every show.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

having done some more research, Mina's death is absolutely horrifying. It already was, but a conversation I had with a mutual made me do some research into specifics (which I've been meaning to do anyway)

so! here's some things

we have no way of knowing what lights Split River High had in 1987 (the biggest variable is we don't know how old their lights were - they could've been from the 70s or earlier), nor what kind of light fell on her. For example, there's the Patt 253, the Patt S/63 Batten, the Leko 2123, and the Leko 2212 (there are pictures of each of these in that order below the cut). Looking at these fixtures, I'd estimate the weight was anywhere from 15 to 52 pounds.

if the light that fell on Mina was on a fly bar (a batten), then (considering this is a high school) it was probably around 20 feet up. if it was on the catwalk (which is where she haunts so that seems most likely to me), it was probably 35-50 feet up.

so, let's say we have a 50 pound light that is 40 feet in the air. the most likely scenario to me is that they were not using safety cables or a light's safety cable was missing, and it managed to come loose and fall on her. looking at the math (sorry I know this is a lot of numbers), it would fall at about 30-35 miles per hour with an impact force of 200-400 Newtons. If she noticed the light as soon as it started to fall, she'd probably have about 1-1.5 seconds. enough time to scream, basically.

now! Where was she hit? We also don't know. If it was her head, it's possible she died instantly. if it was her torso or legs, it's more likely she bled out, which could've taken several minutes (most likely 2-5 from what I can find).

SO!! after all those numbers xD, here's what I think is most likely.

Mina was on or in front of the stage, possibly alone or possibly during a rehearsal. Maybe she was arguing with a cast member. A light on the catwalk was missing its safety cable, and managed to come loose. Mina heard it start to fall, but only had enough time to look up and scream. She then either died from a brain injury or bled out from the blunt force trauma.

personally I'm gonna believe bleeding out because I find that angstier :). She was killed by something she loved doing but never got any thanks for, and she saw it coming but could do nothing. She was in a lot of pain and registered what happened to her before becoming delirious/confused and cold. If someone was there, they probably tried to get help or comfort her (though the sight would've been pretty horrifying), but no one could help her in time. If not, she died alone in a pool of her own blood.

anyway my poor baby :( <3

(pictures under the cut)

the Patt 253

the Patt S/63 Batten

the Leko 2123

and the Leko 2212

[reading-backstage]

school spirits spoilers

the main message of the show being that you can’t just ignore the past and move on, you have to address it.

the school doing it by changing the mascot from devils to bandits, turning the counselors office into classrooms, turning the chemistry lab into a bunker.

and the ghosts embody it through mr martin’s “guidance”. wally never told anyone he didn’t like football. rhonda never came to terms with her murder. charley never got over emilio. dawn never got reassured. mina never got appreciated. mr martin and janet never told anyone the truth about their deaths.

and mr martin wanted them to just move on. not try to come to terms with their life, just restart and ignore the past.

and maddie forced everything to change because she refused to just ignore her murder. she had to understand her past and her death before she would be okay moving on and starting her afterlife.

and she then caused everything else to do the same. simon and her uncovered mr anderson’s scam, and the mascot switch. simon and maddie realize the counselors office just got turned into classrooms. maddie’s prodding sent charley, rhonda, and wally straight into mr martin, and the schools attempts to ignore the past.

wally opened up to maddie. so did rhonda. charley got closure with emilio. dawn opened up and crossed over! mina was appreciated for the first time. maddie prompts everyone to go through newspapers until they found out the truth about the fire.

maddie is the catalyst for the entire school to address the things they tried to ignore, including her death.