This is the first real post I've seen of Simon's mutations where he is scared of them.
I do not fuck with the monster/mermaid Simon trope, but this is going in the correct direction full-swing.
I enjoy the inherent asymmetry of the mutations here; having it in a singular lung is going to suck, making it more punctuated and foreign. He wouldn't be able to use it, because breathing through one set of gills would not negate fluid from going into the other lung and drowning him. It's completely useless aside from being gross. I just freakin' saw you fixed that entire issue via the bronchi being cut off. I still love everything about both of these ideas.
Simon having to rip his own face open in an insanely painful metamorphosis with the teeth is soul-wrenchingly wonderful. Bonus points if he develops arthritic lockjaw from inflammation or some other horrible thing.
I also have to point out the shape and placement of the teeth, all on its own accord, because GODDAMN. You hit that scary mark without making it over-the-top or "look nice". It's ugly. I love it because it's ugly. The teeth have been implied in canon to be bone cancer, so they would not be growing in any direction that makes sense.
I love the scar placement, too. The boils he developed would have caused pitting and divots, which you shaded beautifully here. You remembered to remove his arm in the correct location (transhumeral amputation) and that's just the cherry on the cake, isn't it?
Also, dead eyes Simon. yes. No light in his eyes. Yes, yes, yes.
Fucking well done, G. I'm putting this in the art hall of fame.
grace is a molecular biologist whos also a giant nerd about everything biology , there was surprisingly little begging rocky for an eridian cell to study ,,, asking to watch rocky eat is close enough ig
Oh man I saw a clip of Mark talking about how he hasn’t been keeping up with his Korean because of the movie and it just made me think FUCK!! Is Simon aware he’s Korean?? Does he know anything about being Korean from his mother?? Did she come from Korea to Mars?? Is he just stripped of that culture so distinctly human and earthly and forced to only know about this Christian-esque culture from space???
Damn that’s something so deeply tragic I totally glossed over. There’s a lot of things human that the people of Iron Lung lost during the Quiet Rapture OBVIOUSLY but Simon losing a bit of culture he might not even be aware of to be assimilated to Eden is something also fucked up.
Sorry if this has already been answered, but do we know Simon's life timeline? I've seen many different interpretations for how old he is, how old he was at Filiment, how long he spent in prison, etc. I know he lived on Mars and was alive for the Quiet Rapture, but do we get any ages or amounts of time? If not, what's your interpretation for your writing?
The Big Timeline Post
SPOILER WARNING. This is as accurate as I could possibly get, interpreting from clues derived from the movie, the game, and some behind the scenes resources. This is my personal Iron Lung timeline fully backed with evidence.
We can infer some things based off of the game lore, movie script, and then by stealing Markiplier's age at the time of filming (Simon is Markiplier's evil bizzaro world self-insert, so it's not a huge leap to make.)
So, let's assume Simon is 33, as this is the closest "canon" approximation we have. We can then do a bunch of math, and...
Whoops! This fell out of my back pocket and into the master reference! Oh nooooo~
Okay, I've got you. Here's the whole graphic in text format, with explanations and sources.
0 EIC | 0 IMC | 1992 AD
Epoch of Interplanetary Colonization Begins
The first off-world colony is established on Mars. This officially launches the EIC calendar system based on Earth's rotation.
[...] establishment of the first off-earth colony on mars in 1992 ad (0 eic). - Game Terminal Entry
143 EIC | 76 IMC | 2135 AD
Mars Surpasses Earth Population
Mars becomes the most populated planet in the solar system. The Interstellar Martial Calendar, based on Mars' rotation, is commonplace.
[...] mars was most populated planet in the solar system before 'the quiet rapture' , surpassing earth in 143 eic. - Game Terminal Entry
345 EIC | 184 IMC | 2337 AD
Simon's Birth
Simon is born 214 years after Mars' population boom. Martian society has existed independently for 345 Earth years. From ages 0 to an unverified age, Simon lives on Mars before moving to Eden.
2370 - 33 = 2337
357 EIC | 190 IMC | 2349 AD
The Quiet Rapture
All known habitable planets and stars vanish without warning. Only uninhabitable moons and asteroids remain in the galaxy. The human population is cut to around 787 living individuals. I pulled this number by adding back the population of Filament Station to the total number of living humans stated across all terminal entries.
At age 12, the Quiet Rapture occurs, and Simon joins the Brotherhood of Eden.
[…] in 357 eic, without any prior warning, radio contact with our respective planets was suddenly cut. - Game Terminal Entry
the consolidation of iron, or c.o.i, is a brotherhood of three space stations and two spacecrafts, found on the principle of collectivism and ruled by popular vote of all citizens (numbering 257 at the time of this entry). - Game Terminal Entry
[Eden] has a current population of 468 and has the only known remaining trees in its interior garden. - Game Terminal Entry
(257 + 468) = (725 + 62) = 787
362 EIC | 193 IMC | 2354 AD
Battle of Filament Station
A 9-day conflict erupts between the C.O.I. and Eden over ideological differences. The station's reactor is intentionally breached, destroying it. More than 62 lives are lost, and the population is now 725 individuals.
At age 17, Simon is deployed to Filament Station as an Eden Soldier.
(They could only make Markiplier look so young. I'm doing the best I can here LOL - I'm also a personal subscriber to child soldier Simon, and this timeline makes him just young enough for this to be extra tragic.)
Simon surrenders to the C.O.I. and begins 16 years of indentured labor.
I made this inference from both the game timeline, and the official costume guide, which states that Simon was originally going to be in C.O.I. standard issue uniform:
2370 - 2354 = 16 years between Filament Station and the events of Iron Lung. The last we've heard of Simon was that he had surrendered and was in C.O.I. custody.
Simon was not in prison. They threatened him with prison if he didn't take the AT-5 deal:
Simon was doing labor for the C.O.I. This is one of the reasons why he's so dirty and so beefed up during the events of Iron Lung; he was not rotting away in a cell. This isn't Filament Station soot; this is doing bullshit for the C.O.I. for years:
[...] tensions between the c.o.i. and eden erupted in a 9 day battle on the station. - Game Terminal Entry
the conflict battle ended unresolved when eden troops resorted to sabotaging the station's reactor, resulting in a critical breach. - Game Terminal Entry
At least 62 Filament Station victims confirmed by the movie.
5/378 EIC | 201 IMC | 2370 AD
Deployment of the SM-13 Hemorover
In May, an Eden Brother is sent to Moon AT-5 to investigate its blood ocean. After dying, Simon is sent in his stead, leading to the deaths of almost the entire crew and SM-8 black box recovery. Simon retrieves the SM-8 black box, but Simon dies.
The population is now roughly 721 individuals. I came to this number by removing Ava, Simon, Jack, and the deceased Eden Brother from the population total.
The terminal was last updated on the fifth month of 378 EIC, implying that Iron Lung occurs in May.
381 EIC | 203 IMC | 2373 AD
End of Conviction Realization
Prisoners taken during the Filament Station conflict are expected to finally repay their debts. The C.O.I. expects to integrate them back into society at this time.
[...] prisoners taken during the conflict have been undergoing conviction realization in the years since, with the final ones expected to repay their debts and integrate into c.o.i. society by 381 eic. - Game Terminal Entry
This is my absolute best shot at interpreting and forming a timeline. There's inherent wiggle room on exact numbers regarding the population due to the vague nature of everything, but this is probably the best we're gonna get regarding compiled clues. This is my personal timeline that I subscribe to; feel free to use it!
Highlights from the Project Hail Mary director's commentary:
*SPOILERS!!!*
Grace waking up from the coma was the first shot they filmed for the movie! They wanted Ryan to feel eased into the character, and what better way to do that than have him play a character who can't remember who he is?
The little "GOOD LUCK!" note in sharpie that's written on Grace's sleeping bag was canonically written by the other astronauts on the I.S.S. before the Hail Mary crew got put into the ship. In real life, Phil and Chris wrote one word each. They said it was like "a blessing on the movie."
Ryan's most nerve-wracking day on set was when he had to shoot with the classroom full of children. Most of the kids were made up of the children of the film's crew members.
The scene where Grace looks through Yao and Ilukhina's photos is footage of him looking at and reacting to actual pictures of the actors with their loved ones.
When Grace calls Stratt to tell her that he and Carl figured out how to breed astrophage, Ryan is genuinely calling Sandra on her day off set, and her audio is her genuine reaction to the unexpected line: "Carl and I made a baby!"
"We like showcasing Ryland Grace's social anxiety while having a lot of people staring at him. LOL!"
Their intention for the space funeral scene was to have Grace convey that he was trying to ease his own sadness by making the dead people with him feel better about being dead :(
The markings on Rocky's body convey his mission patch, his rank in the crew, his wedding band, and his family crest.
Grace and Stratt's conversation on the boat is Grace asking her if they're allowed to be close friends, and the response from Stratt is no, they can't. This gets driven home in the karaoke scene. She understands the value of connection, a part of her wants it, but "Her love for people has to be suspended for her to do her job."
Rocky has different forward-facing faces for different thought processes! They named his "satellite dish" face, his "scrunched up thinking face", and his "monobrow face".
Direct quote: "I love how on the spectrum Rocky is." ROCKY AUTISTIC CODED CONFIRMED!
After Rocky recovers from his injuries: "As Rocky returns to the movie, the lights turn on. The warmth returns. It's like the day breaking."
Confirmed that when Grace and Rocky reunite, Rocky says to Grace, "You came back for me, question?"
They throw this out there for two seconds and do NOT expand on it, but according to Andy Weir, Stratt is imprisoned for life but somehow ESCAPES???
The Eridians built Grace an artificial tree in his enclosure because Rocky knew he liked trees
There's so much more they shared about film processes and the people who were behind making certain effects possible. I highly recommend checking out the commentary if you're able!
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