if we're not careful i'm gonna start posting about my markiplier ego ocs from 7 years ago like they're real characters and you're all gonna have to live with it
basically, i've been thinking about simon's last name (or lack thereof), and here is a ramble post about how i came to pick a last name for simon. i've hidden most of it under the cut for the sake of your scrolling. disclaimer; this is all headcanon.
firstly, i actually love all of the headcanons and fanons that i've seen about life on eden; including the take that the population of eden is small enough that last names became redundant, and so simon simply doesn't have one.
i also am partial to the idea that eden did away with surnames to further their ideas of brothers-in-arms. without a surname you may have less of a sense of clan within your family. you're all just a first name in a big space of first names, not a small united group. this turning away from a family unit could encourage a wider community bond, the idea that everyone here is your family. your brothers.
alas... this didn't stop me from thinking, what if simon did have a last name? what would it be?
so i brainstormed, and it came to me pretty quickly. because there's another horror movie that iron lung has been tied to by a blood-red string of fate since even before its release. and luckily for me, it's a franchise that i love!
this movie is; the evil dead
now, if you don't care at all for my long winded autistic explanation and you just want to hear the name, i've included a tldr at the end... but on with the autism.
the evil dead is a 1981 indie horror movie, directed by sam raimi and starring bruce campbell. it follows ash (played by campbell) and his friends on their vacation to a secluded cabin in the woods, where they get haunted by deadites; demon/zombie creatures intent on swallowing their souls.
okay, i hear you saying, so they're both low-budget indie horror movies directed by a first-time feature-length director which are both cult acclaimed. but that's hardly a blood-red string of fate?
you would be right. but that's only the beginning of the connections.
there are 4 main points i want to discuss. the characters, the blood, the box office, and the independent movie.
the characters.
simon and ash have a lot in common in their experiences with The Horrors. both of them get trapped in a small isolated space away from any other people, and have to fight tooth and nail for their survival against a supernatural entity that wants to devour them. both of them get covered in copious amounts of blood, and both of them get amputated during these events. disabled bros for the win!
i also told my friend (who convinced me to put this word-vomit onto tumblr, blame him) that i see a parallel between simon's conviction and past as "the butcher", and the reputation that ash earns in his hometown after the events of the evil dead (shown in the ash vs evil dead tv show) as a kid who went crazy and killed all of his friends in a cabin in the woods.
the blood.
you may know that iron lung broke the world record for most fake blood ever used in the making of a movie at approximately 80,000 gallons. the previous record holder, at 50,000 gallons used, was the evil dead. specifically, the 2013 remake evil dead directed by fede álvarez.
the box office.
iron lung released in theaters on january 30th 2026, and its main competitor during the opening weelend at the box office was sam raimi's send help. do you recognise the name sam raimi? that's because he also directed the original evil dead movie and its two sequels. after iron lung broke the blood record, this was a fun continuation of a newfound 'rivalry' between markiplier and sam raimi.
the independent movie.
after iron lung's cinematic release and quick success, bruce campbell (the previously mentioned star of the original evil dead trilogy, as ash) lauded mark's "moxie" in a tweet and even talked about iron lung on several interviews, calling mark "one of [his] favorite guys" and openly rooting for iron lung's success.
this was super cool to see as a fan of both bruce and mark, especially as bruce campbell said he'd never even seen iron lung nor had he met mark. he was just another guy who really likes movies and thought that mark's (and his fanbase's) distribution strategy was smart.
so what the fuck is simon's last name then? (tldr;)
all this rambling to say, my personal headcanon is that the convict's full name is simon williams, as an homage to the several connections between iron lung and the evil dead franchise, which is helmed by main character ash williams.
if you made it this far thank you for reading ^^ i hope you enjoyed my autistic rambling.
I was feeling agitated and artblocked yesterday so I decided to give my brain a rest by watching TV and then the next thing I knew these were in front of me
prguitarman
janainaart
gummygunk
romaincrisis
tangentwithtanner
titsay
baratheonpilled
izzy806
