Why has no one given Simon wings yet? He’s like, the epitome of bird trapped in a cage. And there’s options, too! For what wings he has and for what happens to them. [I got real exploratory under the cut, see images here]
Angel/Dove wings? Eden’s religious undertones (overtones, really) and the struggle with faith. Purity vs perceived crime. ‘An angle is a warrior of God.’
Bird of Prey wings? Preconceived notions and the assumptions made of prisoners. Butcher implications. Doing what nature requires of you to survive. Emphasis on “I just want to live.”
Owl/Corvid wings? A lack of information is a lack of safety. Simon’s intelligence. “Knowledge and skill fade every year, why wouldn’t they rescue you?”
Bug wings? Seeing certain people as beneath others. Another commentary on prisoner treatment. Ava and David basically see him as a bug anyways.
Wings from a Mythical/Mars related creature? Homesickness for a place to which you can never return. Being othered in your own community (if people on Eden don’t also have similar wing types) or being dragged out of the only community you ever knew. The betrayal hurts even more.
He loses them during Filament? His attachment to Eden. His brothers ‘betrayed him’ and the lack of weight where his wings should be will always be there to remind him of that.
He loses them to the COI’s prisons? The Consolidation’s cruelty. Yet again, commentary on the treatment of prisoners. It makes his desperation to live just that much more tragic; what is left for him? Being stuck on the ground, looking up at dead stars in a dying universe.
He manages to keep them long enough to get inside the Iron Lung, only for the blood to latch onto them? Sacrifices in the face of something bigger than him. Weighing the cost of his life, chunks of himself, full limbs and balance, against the rest of humanity. Losing an arm sucks, yeah, but it’s probably nothing compared to losing a wing or two. It doesn’t matter what type of wings he has for this option, the religious imagery triples when you crucify a man with wings. [The blood in his feathers from all those tumbles he took would also be fun to explore; how would wings break down in the blood ocean?]
He actually keeps them to the end? Blood soaked tenacity. The indomitable human spirit. It doesn’t matter if he lives or dies, he kept his identity intact the entire time despite the massive force outside trying desperately to subsume him. Again, it doesn’t matter what type of wings he has, he’s going to look like a bloody angel standing over salvation.
I’m not really partial to any wing type for canon Simon, but I like the idea that he would have wings in the Iron Lung. What got me thinking about this was my in progress Appalachian AU “Canary in the Depths (Clipped my Fucking Wings).” I can’t have a title like that and not think about Simon with wings. It’ll be a fun mutation idea, he might even get to keep them.
