Iron lung worldbuilding headcannons that arenât all doom and gloom except I have no idea what Iâm doing:
I like the idea that Eden had more people while COI had more resources. I think Eden used to actually have more resources, they had plants, tons of plants, but they werenât able to save them. (This also explains how Simon has such a high alcohol tolerance even though alcohol is made with plants. Like they used to have a lot of it and now donât)
The cult formed because people had to cope with having to cull the population as recourses grew more scarce. It wasnât as aggressive at the start.
The formation of the cult, and Edenâs inability to save their plants, perpetuated this stereotype that they were religious fanatics who didnât have the means to use their resources properly. They were too stupid, so the COI never gave them anything, and justified it by saying Eden was already lost, already dead like the stars, already rotting like the plants they couldnât save.
This is only slightly true. Like a self fulfilling prophecy most of Eden did end up becoming religious fanatics, but they also still valued education, they couldnât afford not to. Simon has seen a skeleton which means heâs taken some sort of science or health class, and he can read, and he can do graph calculations, Eden taught kids Math, Science, English, likely more, alongside their religious practices. Science in particular is valued, because it was humans hubris not listening to science that got them punished by god. Botany and biology are valued most.
Because Eden used to have a ton of plants that they now donât have, Eden has a bunch of just-completely empty space. They did their best to fill it of course but Eden was more empty than it was before, there was a surplus of people but it was never cramped.
Because there were too many people with too much space, and because people in hardship tend to party harder, the people of Eden filled the empty space with sound.
Eden people are loud. They talk loudly, and a lot, and they sing a lot. Instruments are rare and special but that doesnât stop Eden people from making music. Itâs common to fall asleep while listening to people have what sounds like a violent argument but is actually a friendly conversation. Or while a party rages on in the same room as you.
The COI is actually more cramped even though there are fewer people, So loudness is frowned upon. You have to be able to give people at least the illusion of space.
Simon was always seen as a particularly quiet kid, but after being taken by the COI he was forced to be even quieter. The COI didnât like loudness and they really didnât like his own expressions of culture. His songs started to be associated with pain more than home. The real nail in the coffin was realizing his brothers abandoned him. Singing stopped being comforting to him after that.
Eden music is pretty similar to itself but there are a few genres: work music tends to sound similar to sea shanties, lullabies to comfort eachother are still lullabies, dancing songs and drinking songs are fast and folksy. And the few fancy instruments left are saved for worship songs. Some songs are used to preserve stories and information. Everyone on Eden has a very good sense of rhythm and harmony.
Dancing, is big. Everyone on Eden knows how to dance, and the dances are sort of insane too, think like the Lindy hop or something. You have to get the feeling of wind in your hair somehow, even in space. (âźď¸BLOODYMARRY ALERTâźď¸Simon tries to teach Grace how to dance, heâs clumsy at it because of the missing arm, but Grace is none the wiser, Grace is actually kind of losing his mind and is dizzy, laughing, and full of adrenaline by the end of it, Simon is about to apologize for not being very good when Grace almost falls over to kiss him like an overexcited drunk girl)
Dancing in the COI is mostly for special events and occasions, but still happens. People in the COI dance close together because theyâre used to not having the room to do otherwise. Slow dancing, Argentine tango kind of stuff.
Itâs very medieval, all the space stations are kind of medieval-not in a primitive way but in the way that when you lose so much youâre sort of forced to go back to basics. Jobs are laborious, people who are experts in something rare usually teach as much as they can but put most of their focus into a singular apprentice, paper is rare so many stories/info is passed down orally. (If you want to make this BloodyMarry that can be comedic because a lot of these super old stories probably got warped in this game of telephone. So Simon will say heâs familiar with something and then mention a part that never happened) one of the only surviving books is the Bible.
theartofmadeline
titsay
andulkaphoto
amandla
origamiaround
turnnoffyourmind
