I think this ties into my "the ocean is a hive mind of all its victims" theory really well. The fact that the light was molding itself to be more like Simon may reflect that Simon was becoming more like the creatures of the ocean as his body started to fail and mutate. They were simultaneously learning about each other; becoming one another.
The ocean wanted Simon. It wanted him as his whole self, which is why it taunts him by calling him "half-measured." It wanted that angry, fucked-up, violent person he was during his time in the cult. It wanted his hatred...
It didn't want Simon. It wanted his anger along with whatever else he was.
Why would it assimilate someone whose personality had been half-carved out of him by the C.O.I.?
The repeating motif of faces emerging from the blood, mutations, and creatures in the ocean, all call back to one statement: "It's us."
Have you ever seen the original texture of Soul Sand in Minecraft?
If you squint hard enough, you'll see faces. The blood ocean reminds me of this, a bit. If you squint, you'll see faces in the red.
This implies something really messed up: The Ocean isn't just blood, it's people. It's their whole self, as they were, twisted up into their worst moments and spat back out a creature of need. I think this is why the ocean wanted the Butcher specifically. The Butcher as a concept was a creature of need.
The blood (god?) can create life out of this "People Slush," as seen with the Eel. If we look at the Eel closely, it is many people grafted together into something that can swim. But, listening to the Eel speak as if it were human, as if it were a "stranded pilot", tells me that this blood ocean has been collecting SM pilots, and the creature knows that, and is smart enough to utilize that.
The blood ocean can manipulate DNA. It has access to memories and neuronic imprints (is the blood also neurons?) It knows that it is made of bodies. In some way, the blood is most likely sentient, and it freaks me out.
The blood congealing into facial features is no different than honey crystalizing into hexagons.
Outside of writing for the Bleeding Maple and Iron Lung, I'm actually a freelance historical researcher. The left eye motif immediately struck me as interesting because it represents the following:
Moons (ironic given the setting is literally a moon)
Intuition (ironic given no one knows what's going on)
The subconscious mind (mirroring Simon being haunted by his past and future)
Receiving spiritual power (what I personally think the ocean was trying to do for Simon before it realized he wanted to leave. Some messed up version of it, anyway.)
Healing (the entire reason Simon signed up to be a pilot)
Protection (ironic on all accounts)
It's most notably associated and represented by the Egyptian Left Eye of Horus. In some other cultural contexts, it also represents premonitions or inner reflection.
So, what happens to its meaning when its crossed-out or destroyed on these specific characters?
The blood washing over the left eye of the monster is a tell. It means that everything the monster once was has been replaced by red. Everything it once was as a person (people?), any chance to heal, any chance to receive higher power from its god, is gone.
Ava is a mirror to this monster, in some ways. She's obsessed with a higher purpose, and to utilize what she doesn't understand (the same way the monster tries to do with The Light). Of course, it's a futile attempt in every regard.
Not only was this a fantastic visual tell for the audience to catch, but it's the fact that Simon just straight-up does not notice. Why would he notice?
It sucks to know that Simon was so desperate for contact, for comfort, that he subconsciously ignored that the light wasn't even on. Just because he needed it. His mind was in thirty different places, anyway, so, it's not a shock.
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