An Aspiring Composer @altorebel96 - Tumblr Blog

Simon Iron Lung gives me cuteness aggression

Something about how I can relate everything to greek mythos if I squint hard enough. But YEAH so funny story, after posting this protoframe, had like a couple people going (give him a ryan gosling). And thus the rabbit hole began. I did in fact see both movies and working on the book and played the game (poorly).

Anyway here

charismatic-writer

@idgabuck

Your God AU.

mechanyxx

Simon screenshot redraw hi hi hi

ctrl-shift-alt-9

everyone says that Eden was a cult, and i’m not disagreeing with that, but i just wanna know all the evidence that led people to that conclusion (i’ve watched the movie twice and still didn’t entirely pick up on it, so i might just be slow lol)

(also tysm for the google drive master reference!! super helpful!)

Why Eden is a Cult w/ Evidence

Note: This is speculation, as nothing is directly stated. Nobody says the word "cult", but it is heavily implied.

So, the first step to figuring out if Eden is a cult is by comparing it to real-life cults.

The tell-tale traits of a real-life cult:

The leader is treated as uniquely enlightened or infallible. Their authority is absolute and usually comes from an unverifiable source or "special revelation".

Questioning the leader's actions is treated as a betrayal.

The leader may dictate massive personal life decisions for members.

Newcomers are showered with attention.

The outside world is portrayed as dangerous/evil/doomed, making the cult appear to be the only safe haven.

Now, let's directly compare this to Eden, using transcript lines to back it up:

The leader is treated as enlightened and infallible.

The leader, in this case, is The Father. We watch his words haunt Simon at his worst. These beliefs have been so far ingrained in Simon's head that he is forever traumatized over them, thinking of them even in situations that do not directly trigger the memory:

His words were treated as law; they are framed as law, which makes total sense, because, according to the wiki:

He is their leader.

On top of that, The Father is preaching about mystical "restoration from the dead" doctrine that Simon didn't buy into, but how many other people did? The Father is framed as "enlightened", because... how could he be so sure about this clearly "magical" phrase? These people believe him to be all-knowing enough that the Father is very comfortable with stating illogical things with his full chest:

Questioning the leader is considered betrayal

Simon questions their fanatical actions, led by the Father, who is then immediately met with "oh my god, how could you!?"

The leader dictates massive life decisions

Uh, that's a pretty big command to bestow upon your people. I also think that dictating what happens to their corpses is also pretty massive. Oh, and sending them to bomb a station. Yeah, that's pretty bad.

Newcomers are showered with affection

Simon's mom was convincing Simon into going to Eden, even when Simon was not feeling up for it / was uneasy about it. This is a subtle implication that Eden was most likely in contact with his mother, and telling her all the ways they'd love to have her family join them.

They were lovebombing his mother.

They'd love it there, because they were told that they would.

The outside world is portrayed as doomed

The Father is demonizing all outsiders (the COI) and creating a reliance on himself for information about the outside world.

"They won't tell you but I will!" <- Classic cult manipulation tactic.

I also have one more point of comparison, and it's a big one:

According to International Cultic Studies (ISCA Today), cults may place the cult leader in the role of a parent (the FATHER).

They will also abuse the "family dynamic" in a way that benefits them (in this case, keeping control by emotionally manipulating the populace):

This isn't just Simon saying "sorry brother" in terms of a loose term of endearment, because we get this line later on, which sounds more like a dis-ownership of family:

These are not related people. They are not blood relatives. There is a family dynamic between people on the station, seeded by the Father. Simon isn't just Simon. He has a title, and it isn't the Butcher.

He is Brother Simon. They are religious fanatics worshiping a man who believes he can bring a tree back from the dead, who will go as far as to commit mass atrocities in his name.

Simon was heavily implied to be a cult member.

Thanks for the ask, and I hope this helps clear things up!

stargazeonafullmoonnight

There are also other clues given by other character as to the religiously dogmatic nature of Eden:

Called out directly by C.O.I characters. To be fair, organized religions can also have dogmas, but the disdain given from the C.O.I hint at a Us-vs-Them mentality of exclusivity where the C.O.I is othered. Also that the dogma of Eden is not widespread.

[NO SCREENSHOT AVAILABLE BECAUSE I WAS NOT SET UP FOR IT ON THIS DEVICE

Upon powering up the terminal, Simon can read the following message:

We won't be be returning to the grove, brother."]

A call back to a place of worship/final repose. The grove is framed like an ideal to attain, the paradise lost that, perhaps, soldiers of Eden must strive for (<- purely speculative on my part). A reward of sort for following the dogma or dying for the Tree -> A promise that can easily be turned toward extremitism.

(spoiler blurred)

This snippet of dialog reinforces how religion was most likely a core value in Eden to the point of being overbearing.

Was highlighted above ad the words of the Father being law -> Cult leadership behavior

But I wanted to also point out the catechism-like nature of this part. It seems to be one of the core tenet of a religious belief about being rewarded at the end of suffering (returning to the grove).

Also, how deeply it must have been hammered into Simon's mind that he could recite it at the right moment when talking about Eden's motivations. This seems to be years of conditioning to me.

spooky-beanz

some doodles and a much needed painting/mock up practice of good ol simon inspired by ps2 silent hill covers lol

jasethegooberton

Mutation

nebulami24

space yaoi

pagerunner-j

Somebody please give the WSDOT social media folks a raise.

hahanothanks

Seriously, they are the best. They keep me informed and entertained.

That is Greg the Geoduck, btw. Official WSDOT representative.

pagerunner-j

Pronounced "gooeyduck," for the uninitiated. They're a type of clam. (Largest burrowing clam in the world!) And yes, they really do look like...that.

They just usually don't have little hats. But Greg's safety-minded. Clearly.

bey

Don’t invite me anywhere last minute I enjoy doing nothing so I need to know ahead of time if my plan to do nothing needs to be changed

bana05

This is legit and people don’t realize it.

noahwyles

“hey what are you doing?” “nothing” “oh great! so you are avaliab-” “no you don’t understand. I’m doing nothing.”

embyrr922

I’m doing nothing. Actively. It’s important.

heroofthreefaces

This is essential nothing I’m doing.

octophat

ditzy-drawz

Grace gets too excited about the science behind Simon’s mutations and forgets what personal space is

supacutiepie

Quietly enamored by the idea of Ryland Grace always wanting a kid of his own but living on the mindset that he barely takes care of himself, let alone his own child. He adores children, but teaching them and raising them is two different worlds. And he's been describing himself as 'unsatisfactory' in the relationship department his entire life. Never able to Romance enough, to Sex enough. It's all Chemistry and Biology to him.

He can break down why people enjoy Sex, why they connect. What hormones happen when, how pheromones interact to make strong bonds. He cannot tell you why he never cared for Valentine's Day, or 50th Anniversaries. Why he shoves his foot so far in his mouth, he's flossing with the Achille's Tendon, when it comes to people's happy announcements.

He doesn't even dislike Sex, or Romance. He loves a good steamy movie! Or book, more rather. It's just, he doesn't connect it to his own brain, his own chemicals, his own biology. It never clicked. Even what feels good, feels more like experimenting and observing.

Not to even touch on his Issues. His anger issues. Emotional regulation issues. He can calm a child, but knows himself well enough to know he'd be so touched out by having one. That he'd breakdown and throw a tantrum right with the kid. He can't regulate himself, how can he hope to raise a functional adult?

VERSUS

'There are literally not enough resources to sustain furthering Human Life, so no one is allowed to Reproduce' Iron Lung. Sex is damn near vilified, it's basically blasphemy to enjoy yourself in the Quiet Rapture times. If you have time for Sex, you have time to be working and maintaining survival. It's frivolous and wasteful and Children are the Bygone End goal of a dead species. Children are sacred. No one can have them. If you do it's an act of God, you cannot keep them, you should not keep them, no one can bare to lose them.

Simon who grew up going from a world that sprung like weeds, children born on foreign planetary soil, to a world where newborns were either deified or demonized. He had siblings, not one by Blood. No one has siblings anymore. Brotherhood is strictly by the water, not the womb, that is shared in sacred sips.

He was what, 14 when Filament happened? 16 years in Prison being reconditioned and shit. The concept of Pleasure, physical or Mental, is the most foreign and almost insulting idea. Why would he waste his energy on that?

He does, because its Human. Because everything about him boils down to 'Humanity is in Our Actions, not Collection'. He's tasted Pleasure and self flagellated for it numerous times. Punished himself for being Human, for having needs, for having wants. Touch is a gift, Pleasure is akin to Sin and everyone wants it but it's so deeply ingrained in them all to live and die in the work they do and nothing else.

The pair of them wanting wanting wanting things and having no map for it. Having no idea how to braid those wants and needs into one solid rope. Only making knots and tangles until it weaves together.