#1 UP & ADAM FAN

From Parental Death:

For individuals experiencing traumatic bereavement, even happy memories can be triggers. Sounds crazy, but true.

Traumatized brains like to immediately counter a pleasant memory of the trauma source (that being a dead parent) with the intrusive, horrifying, or painful images. We see this happen repeatedly in the movie when Simon thinks of his mother, and is immediately ripped into thinking about atrocities. His mother's soothing voice is thrown straight in with The Horrors because they are connected. I have a post talking about this exact memory sequence. His mother, the knife, the blood, the holster, his guilt... it's all the same thing in his subconscious.

It's something Simon doesn't even know about. This whole post is going to be full of things Simon wouldn't know about.

That being said, Simon's vice is nostalgia. He's always thinking of better times, chasing the calm he once knew. Simon was hurting himself and mentally "pressing his thumb into the bruise" for some kind of relief, because he was never taught fuck-all about mental health. He doesn't know his lamenting is causing flashbacks.

This often borders on maladaptive daydreaming or an attempt at affect regulation that backfires. Because his only source of comfort (the past) is contaminated by trauma, Simon likely suffers from anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure from things he used to love).

Direct emotional triggers that might make Simon feel uneasy:

Humming or wordless singing, especially in a low/soft female voice

Specific perfumes, soaps, or laundry-detergent smells that might match a memory (from Mars, when things were plentiful)

Being handed something precious to "hold onto" (unfortunately, if gifts in the Iron Lung universe are so rare that this knife meant everything to him, he'd be scared of accepting them.)

Kitchen knives specifically (as opposed to combat knives, which might feel more neutral/functional to him. His mom used to cook for him and this sort of gets connected to the holster-knife memory.)

Holsters, sheaths (He'd be reminiscing on his own similar item after having a look at another).

Being thanked or praised, survivor's guilt (He would be feeling like "No, please don't thank me. I don't deserve that.", then respond with a very, very hesitant and shocked "yeah of course".)

Someone calling him a pet name or term of endearment she had for him unexpectedly

Being comforted physically (worse if it's a woman), push/pull between craving and fearing it (fundamental fear of abandonment)

From Eden Station:

The smell of dirt/compost, the feeling of it under his fingernails

The smell of rot/meat (you never forget the smell of a dead body.)

Crowded spaces/too many people piled on top of each other in a room (he has some apocalypse-based social anxiety in my head. He has to actively notice people's behaviors at all times, for safety purposes, and when there's too many people to keep track of, he starts feeling unsafe).

Hymns/choirs (Dude would immediately think god is coming to smite his ass, or would get thrown back into a flashback where he watched these/participated in them. Maybe not panic but would have a physiological response like getting the sweats.)

The concept of performing autopsies / of skinning/flaying / of field-dressing animals (He'd be deeply uncomfortable after The Incident. Just a personal headcanon of mine!)

The act of digging holes in the soil <- this is a funerary ritual. He doesn't want to be a gardener. He'd be thinking about all the corpses he's seen under the dirt the whole time he's trying to plant things. It's not a good time.

The sight of raw meat in general puts him off. We have no idea what else Eden was using those bodies for...

Gardening tools, shovels, trowels, anything that "digs" (uneasy graveyard type vibes)

Greenhouses or any warm, humid, enclosed plant-smelling space (See this post talking about Simon's unease around plants.)

Religious phrases, chants, call-and-response speech patterns (We see Simon in a PTSD reciting prayers to himself in the movie.)

Candle smoke / incense <- I'd assume they were making this out of tree bark / "human fat candles" maybe? Maple incense is a known thing.

Kneeling postures/being forced to kneel <- HE WOULD HATE THIS. HAAATE IT.

Ceremonial-looking items ("I got a bad feeling about this" type shit. Unless it's his brother's Eden Pendant or other sentimental item).

Worms, insects, or anything moving in soil (I doubt they had anything alive like this on Eden but I think the sight of watching something move under the dirt would be STARTLING and scary for him, because the only thing he can picture under the dirt are dead bodies. "OHHHFUCKFUCKFUCK THEY'RE COMING ALIVE". Simon's a superstitious guy at his core, even if he convinces himself he's not, especially after the Lung...)

From Living in Space:

Absolute silence (this means that the life support systems have stopped working! Those machines always make noise or a hum. Simon would FLY into a panic if things got too quiet for too long.)

Vents and air ducts, comforting when humming, terrifying when they stop

The smell of hot metal (astronauts often report that space "smells" like burnt steak. I imagine Simon spent too long wondering what suffocating in space would be like. A la Confined Space Hazards, where he is repeatedly threatened with getting jettisoned out into space)

The sound of an airlock/pressurized door, for the reason above (imagine you're on a plane with a bunch of suicidal nutjobs. Wouldn't you be waiting for one of them to pop the emergency door open mid-flight? It would be so easy to get rid of the Butcher that way.)

Ear popping / pressure changes (the early warning signs of a hull breach or a failing pressurization seal.)

Thin/stale air might make him start reliving memories of space station life. There's a unique tinge to it.

Strobe lights / flashing lights (a common "HEY SOMETHING IS WRONG" warning signal from space stations)

Simon would be VIGILANT about equipment failures. He'd be on-alert for threats such as explosive decompression, flash fires, toxic leaks

He'd have a hard time with sensory deprivation. Living indefinitely in a "tin can" with constant, loud life-support noise, extreme lack of privacy, and an inability to see the sky most of his life would cause some issues there.

From Filament Station:

The sight/smell of burning plastic

Burning hair

Laser-fire / gunpowder / gunshots / firecrackers / explosions <- anything loud and sudden

Klaxon/emergency alarms ("ABANDON STATION" // "ABANDON SHIP" // "EVACUATE")

God forbid a smoke alarm goes off. Holy shit.

Cooking meat (this guy might honestly go vegan after the shit he's seen, but I think passing up protein would be too detrimental to his health, so he'd eat it anyway)

The sight of ash/soot

The smell of an overheating appliance

The smell of spent fuel / starship fuel

The sight of yellow fat / cooking/rendering fat

An inability to map out an exit to a room would have him stressing (this ties into the obvious claustrophobia, but Filament would have fucked with his head more than that).

Violent movies, or graphic imagery depicting combat or disaster.

Unexpected physical contact

Specific dates tied to the incident, such as the anniversary of Filament Station's destruction (especially if this was something he knew about previously, like a planned deployment he had to sit and be anxious about for a long time, again he wouldn't panic but it would be a bout of depression he'd be confused about the origin of at first).

The sound of stomping boots on metal

Simon's own freeze response ("Don't just stand there, do something!" <- This is what causes Simon to have "lash-outs", because "fight" is the easiest way to break out of that, and people died when he froze in the past.)

From Prison/COI:

Very obviously here: screaming/yelling

Slamming/rattling/metal doors

Lack of personal space/invading personal space/his living area

Taking his belongings without asking / theft, even if it's small, like swiping/borrowing a hair tie.

Loss of autonomy, not being able to choose when to sleep, what to wear, when to eat, etc.

Witnessing/hearing violence (this overlaps heavily with everything else...)

Aggressive/negative interactions with authority figures

Soldering irons / hot tools / power tools (both from what they did to him and seeing sparks fly from Jack's welding. Ties into the explosion/fire thing too)

Deadbolts, heavy locks, anything that would tell his brain "YOU ARE TRAPPED"

Empty beds (he witnessed his captured compatriots get dragged out into the Iron Lung never to return. He'd be immediately checking to find this person to make sure they are still there if this is unusual behavior.)

Headcounts, anxiety spikes if a number doesn't match what he expects (someone went missing/didn't come back from the Convict Realization Program/died. This overlaps with Eden's supposed death rate)

Handcuffs, zip ties, rope, any binding material

Being patted down or searched

Small windowless rooms (Obligatory)

Orders given without explanation ("sit," "don't move," "wait here" would PISS HIM OFF)

Surveillance cameras or the feeling of being watched on a monitor. Simon wouldn't like cameras in general.

Specific phrases used by his captors that resurface in unrelated contexts

The sound of keys jingling (physiological response, again with the locks thing)

Antiseptic or industrial cleaner smell (from coronary clean-up, from getting blasted with it)

Someone standing over him while he's seated or lying down (that's grounds for Simon swinging at the guy)

From the Lung:

Emergency alarms ("HULL BREACH" // "FIRE")

Smell/sight of blood/meat

The texture/sight of orange/brown rust

Radio comms, especially bad when orders are being barked

Scabby textures/stringy red items (things as insignificant or niche as shredded beetroot might make him queasy)

Round porthole windows (he would see monsters in it. He'd see Ava's blind eye in it.)

Floor grates/drains

Tunnels (he'd bitch about this and need a minute, but he'd be able to power through if necessary)

Live wires / sparking (again with the big Venn diagram of explosion/hot imagery)

The Oxygen Meter Sound. The Blipping Noise. That one. Any kind of "click!" or computer blip would have him immediately holding his breath for a second

The amplified sound of his own breathing (e.g., wearing a mask, helmet, visor)

MRI machines, CT scanners, or other tube-like medical equipment (claustrophobia generalization)

The color red in large or unexpected amounts

Reflective or distorted surfaces, "funhouse mirror" visuals, warped metal, even a screen catching light oddly

Being looked at by someone with a cloudy or blind eye (Ava's face HAUNTS him.)

Dripping water sounds

Old plumbing groans

The sensation of something brushing past him in low light

Glass breaking or cracking sounds (from the porthole shattering and threatening to just end his life immediately with the SM-13 flooding, also the immediately guilt-punch of accidentally breaking his brother's pendant would come to mind)

Talk of zombies, ghosts, or coming back from the dead (after having a full conversation with the dead SM-8 crew... yikes. He'd be terrified then, of his victims coming back to "get him")

Connected Triggers

The "Meat, Blood, and Rot" Problem

Connected Sources: Eden Station → Filament Station → Prison -> The Iron Lung

This is Simon's heaviest overlap. The smell of rot/corpses from Eden Station, the rendering fat/cooking meat from the fires of Filament, the literal blood ocean of the Lung, and the death in the COI prisons all feed into one massive aversion to raw meat and blood.

Structural Integrity

Connected Sources: Living in Space → Filament Station → The Iron Lung

Any sound signaling a breach = instant panic. The hyper-vigilance of listening for failing life support in deep space overlaps with Filament's destruction, which then connects directly to the hull breach warnings inside the Lung.

Confined Spaces

Connected Sources: Living in Space → Prison/COI → The Iron Lung

Simon's claustrophobia is a stack of different terrors. The deprivation of living in space connects directly to being locked in windowless COI prison cells, which routes right into the ultimate claustrophobic trap of the hemorover itself.

Hot Metal, Sparks, Live Wires

Connected Sources: Living in Space → Prison/COI → The Iron Lung

The smell of hot metal from space station hazards (the fear of getting jettisoned or suffocating) connects directly to the physical trauma of COI soldering irons/power tools/welding imagery, which then links to the sparking, uninsulated live wires starting fires inside the hemorover... which loops straight back around to suffocating as the fire eats oxygen.

Simon's very anti-fire. Funny, considering Markiplier is a water sign. /j

Abandonment / Missing People

Connected Sources: Parental Death -> Eden Station → Prison/COI

The high death rate on Eden Station links directly to his time in prison, where a mismatched headcount or an empty bed meant someone was most certainly dead. They were in a(n implied) war.

He also has a generalized fear of abandonment from his mother's death. This ties into Simon not being able to shut up when he's stressed, because he needs somebody, anybody.

The overlap here between Parental Death and the Prison/COI headcounting thing is huge. In a prison full of Edenite cultists who are trained to kamikaze, silence means someone vanished or died. In space, absolute silence means something is very wrong. Simon talks because noise equals life, in his head.

If he is talking, he is alive; if someone responds, they are alive. If there's noise, there's people, and things are OK.

Unexpected Physical Contact vs. The Need For It

Connected Sources: Parental Death → Filament Station -> Prison/COI

This creates a really really nasty push-pull scenario. His craving/fear of being physically comforted (stemming from his mother's touch being tangled up with the trauma of her death) intersects with prison, but not only that, his freeze/fight response from the Filament Station disaster.

It's a whole complex "need-hate-need-want-hate-get-away-from-me-please-need" shit-show here. I'm not shocked he developed violent tendencies. This is why earlier, I said that Simon would have an issue about wanting to be near people, but not too close.