#infinity train meta

[jesse-cosay]

Have I told you guys how much I hate this show.

I just realized why we see Jesse's harpoon pack fall when the exit closes. It isn't just a quick way of explaining that stuff from the train can't leave the train. It isn't just to show us "Hey! The harpoon pack didn't really go with him, even though you see him wearing it while inside the exit!"

If that was their point, they could have just made the harpoon pack fall off sooner. They could have had Jesse take it off and throw it at the Apex to make a statement.

And if it was about Lake's escape- or the next episode being off the train or how they were cuffed to one of the flecs- it would be possible to reframe it. They could have had it be something to do with the train car or Alan Dracula. There are a million different ways to get a similar result. But that wasn't what they wanted to do.

No, no, the framing is so important in this scene. The door closes. We watch it drop to the floor.

And I remember seeing this and thinking- why? It isn't necessary. We already understand that "train stuff" doesn't go off the train. It's a two second clip of it falling. It's not needed. Why.

Because the next clip is Lake.

It's a comparison.

Do you see this harpoon pack? This silly, little thing? To the train, Lake is no different. They are just a thing.

An object.

It was just another way to show us how the system and the train viewed Lake. I hate it. I hate it here.

#infinity train #lake infinity train #infinity train lake #infinity train book 2 #infinity train meta #im literally so upset rn abt this yall have no idea #like how did i miss this after so many rewatches #and also its so clever and simple!!! #this show has ruined me #ill never feel happiness again #infinity train book two

[yardsards]

people have pointed out the symbolism of mace repeatedly referring to lake as “girl” and how that plays into the transgender metaphor, how he represents society’s bigotry and bias and whatnot and done really good analysis about that

but i would also like to draw attention to him referring to jesse as lake’s boyfriend while taunting them

and how lake doesn’t really react to that, just disdainfully ignores him

compared to following scenes where lake fiercely defends the validity of their and jesse’s relationship and only ever uses the term “friends”, doesn’t even use ambiguous words like “he loves me”

and idk i just feel like that kind of ties in as like, mace enforcing heteronormativity/amatonormativity onto lake and jesse’s relationship, just like he could be interpreted as forcing a cisnormative gender onto lake, just like he is canonically forcing mirror law onto them.

and i may be projecting as an aroace (just like i may be projecting as a nonbinary, tho the trans metaphor is a lot more blatant) but. idk it just means a lot to me that a friendship can be so fiercely defended and a platonic bond can be strong enough to bend the laws of the universe

(and this isn’t a diss if you headcanon lake and jesse’s relationship as romantic; i myself have even enjoyed romantic content of them. but i think even if they did enter a romantic relationship, it’d be done in a way that rejects amatonormative and heteronormative roles and instead would be done based entirely on their own terms rather than on society’s rules)

#eliot posts #infinity train #intr #infinity train meta #infinity train book 2 #lake infinity train #mace infinity train #jesse cosay #queerplatonic jesslake #aroace #amatonormativity #idk if i even headcanon either of these two as aroace or even anywhere on the aspec but #you don't have to be aspec to have a qpr. a qpr isn't somethin you settle for when you cant feel romance #i also kinda like them as friends rather than explicitly in a qpr cuz a friendship can be your most important relationship #...but i also like them as moirails because homed stuck brainrot and it fits their dynamic SO WELL #i don't mind seeing them as romantic or (in the opposite direction) as a kind of familial bond tho

[fermented-writers-block]

Given the leaked internal memo to Reddit staff, and with the uncertainty of r/InfinityTrain being opened even if the API issues are rolled back, I would like to make a followup post to my original call to action to put together an archive of AMA answers and crew comments.

Particularly, as of now, I am the sole person with access to the subreddit beyond the mods as notified below, and I do not know how long my access will last:

To clarify, this ‘good reason’ of mine is a massive Infinity Train project - utilizing many comments across the internet - I had started several weeks ago and am still currently in the middle of working on due to the scale doubling in length.

Originally, I had planned to keep it as a surprise (and I do still intend to hold a few cards close to my chest) until I finished. But with the position I am now in and the research that I have already done, I will be undertaking the task of archiving as much as I can of the crew comments and information that we know of from Reddit - as well as Owen’s Twitter account - while I still have the opportunity.

As such, please send me your bookmarked links to relevant Twitter threads, Owen interviews, tumblr posts, r/InfinityTrain comments, and others that feature concept art, information about the show’s production process, and or lore to at least some degree. If you have files and crew art, send them my way as well, and if you have screenshots of the more obscure given details that have not gained much attention, they will especially be helpful.

I cannot promise that I will catch everything, but I will do my best to act upon what I am directed to, and I hope my method of organizing will be easy to follow when this task is finished.

#infinity train #infinity train meta #reddit #infinity train archive

[disregardcanon]

one more thing before i chill about infinity train for a minute:

absolutely VIBRATING thinking about how the creation of the ideology of "nulls" part of the apex doctrine must have happened.

because simon is this frustrated young man with a lot of anger directed at the cat that he's allowed to turn to poison and grace has never really talked to or created a relationship with a denizen of the train. so of course she's down to make these people the group's scapegoat! "one of them" hurt simon! HER simon! when he was just an itty bitty little guy! maybe they're not all like the cat, but she doesn't care enough to look into it.

to grace, "null" is just like, a rando. they cohabit the space on the train. she has some distrust because of simon's experience and she doesn't want humans to "waste their time" on them or get hurt, but she's not, like going out of her way to stomp on butterflies like simon does. because the ideology for her is about the efficiency/function. it gives simon and some of the other kids a channel for their frustrations that isn't the other kids, and those little atrocities that they commit help them keep their numbers high, which is their goal at the apex.

but for simon and probably others, this ideology isn't just an explanation- it's not only permission but a mandate to become the worst version of themselves. to simon, null doesn't mean nothing like a rando, it means something to hurt and hate and exterminate. NOTHING like a curse. if i pour enough of my rage in this direction, then everything will be fine.

but when people expect you to just- just change your thought process, even with evidence? and come to terms with maybe having been wrong? when the people who helped you come to these beliefs look you in the face and say "i was wrong. you were wrong. we need to change now".

"but i'm like this for you? this is what we decided? this is what we believed?" "no, we were wrong. we need to change." and there's this like, tidal wave of judgement and guilt and the options are all bad and laced with embarrassment and hurt. and i'm not saying that makes it justified! but it does make it complicated. because it's hard to be a follower whose leader has changed course, you know? there's a lot to unpack there. that thought-process was a lot more central for simon and how he viewed their core tenants than it was for grace, and she did all her unpacking at a safe distance from him and his rage.

and again, not saying she was wrong to do that! but it's... hard. and complicated. and never was going to work out well for anyone

#infinity train #infinity train meta #grace monroe #simon laurent #cult ideology

[muppet-on-a-spit]

I love that each book of Infinity Train is so rooted in the ages of the protagonists. So much so that it’s almost WHAT the stories are about. Tulip has to learn how to cope with her parents’ divorce and how to ask for help, and 13 or so is a reasonable age to have your eyes opened to all the family BS that used to fly over your head. When you’re 15, you have to assert your personhood. Remind adults and your peers that you deserve respect and autonomy, though it went even deeper for Lake, since they had to directly defy the system (transcoding who? realizing that you’re trans can happen at any time, but sexuality and learning adult gender presentation tend to be a theme of teenagehood). Then Grace and Simon, more than any other protagonists, are forced to look back on their childhood and make some difficult judgements about it. Being an older teen is about biting off more than you can chew and realizing that you're still a kid, because you've never had to take responsibility like this and fuck it's scary. And then Min-Gi and Ryan are on the verge of adulthood. Do you chase your dreams and optimism, or do you follow the path of least resistance? And really, it's hard to even know which path is which. Who are you, now that you get to be your own person, and do you want to discover it alone? Really, I think those last 2 questions apply to every season, and every protagonist.

#infinity train #basically i was thinkin 'yeah i BELIEVE that Tulip is 13' anf this happened #gray speaks #infinity train meta #tulip olsen

[i-am-the-entertainer]

The show knows the train is bad, actually.

So over the years that I’ve been watching Infinity Train, there’s a recurring argument that the train is actually bad. That the process of being picked up by the train is non-consensual, the train essentially violates its passengers’ personal life in the name of making them improve or else, and that the environment of the train could actually make a person worse (just look at Simon).

The thing about this discourse, though, is that it’s arguing something that the show explicitly agrees with.

The Book 2 DVD commentary includes a discussion of this: in the commentary for both “The Past Car” and “The Number Car”, Alex Horab, Madeline Queripel, and Owen Dennis flat out say that “the train’s not really the good guy here” when showing how the train picks up passengers and leaves them unconscious while harvesting memories from them – they even comment on how, despite having been a protagonist in Book One, One-One is an antagonist to Lake’s story, because he represents the system that she is trying to fight against. Owen Dennis even explicitly highlights in his interview for “The Ethics of Fiction: Infinity Train” that this is a viewpoint that was caked into the show from the start, and in numerous interviews and statements he talks about how the unreleased Book Five would have directly highlighted this.

So, some of the armchair moral philosophers out there may be inclined to ask, “If the show knows the train is bad, why doesn’t it just say that outright?”

Simple. The show isn’t about the train.

It’s about the people onboard the train. The train is just a setting for their stories.

That’s what got the show sold in the first place: it’s an intriguing setting for a show, and part of the fun of watching it is slowly understanding more about the setting.

But, once you know more over 2-4 seasons of television, that’s when you realize, “Hey, wait a second. This place isn’t good for the passengers.” And so the seasons go on-and-on, and eventually that’s gonna be addressed (we know Book Five at the very least would have been about this).

I think a good comparison point is the previously-stated metaphor of the show being “Saw for kids” (something Owen Dennis once used in an interview): every Saw movie is about someone who has committed some sort of wrong being put into an unfamiliar, machine-based environment to learn morality. And yet Saw doesn’t shy away from the fact that there’s nothing moral about what these people are being put through, by an uncaring “authority” who claims some sort of judgment over whether a person is good or not (though from a cultural standpoint, I think Saw does a worse job of highlighting that last part than Infinity Train).

There’s this assumption that I think we’re all taught at a young age that there’s always a white and black morality to everything: media, the world, our personal lives. As we grow older we learn that things are often morally grey, that a situation is more complex than saying “this is good” vs. “this is bad.”

But I honestly think that Infinity Train isn’t arguing that the train is good, bad, or grey. It’s focused on the stories of the people onboard the train, and how their experiences on the train affect them. Again, the train is the setting, not necessarily the point. But one of the numerous storytelling opportunities this show could have had if it had been renewed was getting the chance to explore that issue of the train being a negative force.

For now, I guess, we’ll only have the subtext (which I guess is too imperceptible for some people?).

#infinity train #infinity train meta #infinity train spoilers

[they-call-me-haiku]

so something that bothered me about the Infinity Train fandom is how they always seem to be on either of two extreme ends when it comes to judging Simon's character. it's either "Simon is an evil scum who deserved to die" or "Simon is an innocent misunderstood victim". like.. have you guys never heard of complex villains?

the worst take I've seen is people blaming the show writers for killing off Simon because "they're implying that he deserved to die". i just don't know how people jumped to this conclusion, it's a leap for sure. you don't kill off characters in a story because they deserve to die, you do it because that's the way the story goes.

and i agree that certain writers can have controversial ideals that reflect in their writing, but i really don't think that's the case here. Simon's death was never framed as satisfactory or victorious, it was framed as tragic. you don't see Grace and the Apex celebrating his death, you see them mourning it. he tried to kill Grace but she is still heartbroken and traumatized by his death. it's so clear that the narrative wants us to sympathize with him, but also acknowledge the fact that he did some pretty heinous stuff that can't be forgiven.

could Simon have been redeemed? yes. i think any character could be redeemed, regardless of how evil they were because as i've mentioned before, redemption ≠ forgiveness. but did he need to be redeemed? no. the point of this season was to show two characters who start off in the same place and end up in wildly different ones. two characters who are given choices and choose the one that decides their fate.

the truth here is that while Simon is a traumatized character that we can empathize with, he still chose the path that led to his demise. and believe it or not, people sometimes do that. for example, if a person with an alcohol addiction drank and drove, and ended up killing themself in an accident, that is the direct consequence of their actions. does that mean they deserved it? probably not. they may have had an understandable explanation to why they drank. they may have been depressed or peer pressured or trying to escape harsh realities, and none of it is their fault. but people die and sometimes it's a grizzly death. sometimes the nicest people suffer a lot, and it's not a testament to their character.

some fans may have painted Simon as a pure evil but the show certainly didn't, and it's stupid to attack the creators for killing off a character for narrative purpose. like.. is this the first time you've seen a fictional character die? i understand being upset about it, i was upset about it too. but it was the right decision in a narrative sense. Infinity Train has never shied away from touching on brutally realistic topics and this is just part of it.

my point is. sometimes people just die a brutal death. death doesn't have a specific meaning and it's not a testament to people's morality. it's just death.

#i've seen people behave the same way about azula from avatar #like yes we love a good redemption arc #but not everyone can be zuko #anyone can be redeemed but not all characters need to be redeemed #sometimes its interesting to explore what would happen if a character didnt try to redeem themselves #anyway this has been my rant #infinity train #infinity train book 3 #simon infinity train #simon laurent #simon and grace #grace infinity train #grace monroe #infinity train meta #infinity train spoilers #i guess infinity train fabs wanted a catra-style redemption arc where grace is like #“its okay simon i forgive you even though you murdered someone” #fans*

[selenestarmoon]

Grace and Simon, Kreese and Terry: A Destroyed Friendship

What would you think if I told you that this friendship

is similar to this one?

So that you can understand it better, here I will explain the similarities between both friendships and the possible fates of Kreese and Terry if they follow the same route as Grace and Simon:

GRACE MONROE AND JOHN KRESSE - PURPOSE, GUILT AND REDEMPTION

Grace came from a home where she was ignored by her parents and she could only get their attention through standards that they put on her and she got into trouble just to get their attention and the train picks her up and the fact of being in an unknown place without knowing what besides almost dying if it weren't for the fact that the false conductor (Amelia) inadvertently saved her, makes Grace consider that the train belongs to the passengers and that the denizens of the train have no value and are just decorations.

Kreese on the other hand had a hard life: her mother committed suicide and she had to work to survive and her girlfriend Betsy gave her hope for a happy life. Then comes the Vietnam War, Betsy's death and the rejection of both the government and American citizens towards the soldiers who fought in Vietnam and this ends up marking him for life with his ideology: peace is just an illusion, if not you attack first and hard or if you just don't win then they will kill you.

They both had a difficult life and had traumatic events (Grace being saved by the fake driver from almost dying and Kreese because of everything she lived through during the Vietnam War) that shaped their way of thinking (with Grace it is that the passengers are the only ones that have value and the denizens are only accessories and with Kreese it's that if you do not win and attack first they kill you) but you will wonder why they create Apex and Cobra Kai? The answer is simple: they seek to give meaning to their traumatic experiences and, by extension, they seek purpose in the current environment they find themselves in because if their traumas and pain are meaningless then they will have suffered for nothing.

Also during their stays on the train and in Vietnam respectively, they meet Simon Laurent and Terry Silver who will be their closest friends by sharing their trauma and therefore end up sharing their ideology and will spend years spreading their toxic ideologies to their friends (Simon and Terry) and the younger generation. Grace and Kreese think they're helping the younger generation survive when in reality they're harming them with toxic ideologies that will only bring them trouble in society.

Grace and Kreese continue with this way of life until they meet someone who will not have much of an impact at first but as time goes on will start a snowball effect that will make them question their ideologies: Johnny Lawrence and Hazel.

At first Grace and Kreese have a good relationship with Hazel and Johnny and even come to love them like family (Grace loves Hazel like a little sister and Kreese considers Johnny his son) but they constantly let them down to the point of that Hazel and Johnny don't trust them and want nothing to do with them anymore, this makes Grace and Kreese realize that they have ruined their relationship with them to an irreparable level but these aren't the only relationships they ruined to that level because they also failed in their relationships with Simon and Terry by manipulating and lying to them all the time not to mention that they feel displaced by Hazel and Johnny until they (Simon and Terry) get tired of Grace and Kreese, betray them and lock them up in prisons (Grace is locked in a tape with her memories and Kreese is arrested for a crime he didn't commit). All this, plus the guilt they feel for all their mistakes, forces them to recognize that they have failed and that they need to change for the better, Grace recognizing her mistakes and wanting to change not only herself but also the young people she has failed and lied to and Kreese will (possibly) have to do the same thing Grace did if he wants to fix his life and his relationship with Johnny because if he doesn't, Kreese will live miserable and alone for the rest of his life.

SIMON LAURENT AND TERRY SILVER - LOYALTY, DENIAL AND MADNESS

On the other hand, Simon and Terry have followed Grace and Kreese for as long as we've known them, but why are they so loyal to them? That's because Grace and Kreese saved them from dying in the past and Simon and Terry feel indebted to them but Grace and especially Kreese share their views with them and create Apex and Cobra Kai as a result, teaching them a dysfunctional ideology. In addition to taking advantage of Simon and Terry's loyalty by abusing it, manipulating them and (especially Kreese) mistreating them.

Simon and Terry are willing to prove their loyalty to Grace and Kreese to the point that they do horrible things to do it (Simon kills Tuba behind Grace's back and Terry almost kills Johnny) and this makes Grace and Kreese angry and they don't know. This is because Grace and Kreese are inadvertently changing due to their relationship with Hazel and Johnny, and by extension, are doing the opposite of the ideologies that govern their lives and their respective organizations (Kreese has compassion for Johnny and saves him from dying and Grace shows grief and pity for Tuba, a train denizen) so Simon and Terry feel like they were lied to all along and as King said in The Owl House season 2 episode 16 Hollow Mind:

King: No one wants to think they've wasted their life following the wrong person.

And this is what happens with Simon and Terry, they don't want to change because that would imply recognizing that they have been following a flawed ideology, a lie and they don't want to feel that their loyalty was for a lie, was for nothing and they choose to blame Grace and Kreese for betraying what they want to believe is the truth.

Also Simon and Terry realize that Grace and Kreese's change is motivated by Hazel and Johnny and at the same time they feel displaced by them.

All of the above (the constant exploitation and manipulation, feeling cheated and betrayed, not wanting to recognize that their ideology doesn't work, and feeling that they were displaced by someone else) makes Simon and Terry tire of Grace and Kreese, betraying and locking them up while they usurp their positions as leaders of their organizations (Apex and Cobra Kai) and while this is happening Grace and (possibly) Kreese reflect on their mistakes and are willing to change while Simon and Terry continue to refuse to acknowledge their mistakes to the point that this effort for denying the truth and refusing to recognize his mistakes turns into madness, making Simon turn the Apex into a cult himself and wants to kill Grace when he returns and possibly Terry ends up turning Cobra Kai into a cult himself too and wants to kill to Kreese when he gets out of jail. All this leads to Simon's death and if Terry continues with that same way of thinking he could end up like Simon.

Kreese and Terry are the toxic versions of Grace and Simon because Kreese is what Grace would have been if she hadn't realized her mistakes and that her way of thinking was wrong and Terry is what Simon would have been if the latter had remained alive and would have returned from the infinity train to the real world.

In conclusion, Grace and possibly Kreese recognize their mistakes and are willing to change, taking a step to redeem themselves while Simon and possibly Terry refuse to change and this only leads them to step into the abyss.

#infinity train #infinity train spoilers #infinity train meta #infinity train analysis #cobra kai #cobra kai spoilers #cobra kai meta #cobra kai analysis #grace monroe #simon laurent #john kreese #terry silver

[demon-of-lemons]

Saw that the color wheel challenge was going around and thought I'd give it a try, I drew one character each day over the course of 8, took me 20 hours in total. Some of these characters barely count but I just wanted an excuse to draw em-

#art #spectacular spider man #peter parker #spider man #lego monkie kid #lmk mk #danganronpa #kazuichi soda #kazuichi souda #infinity train #tulip olsen #scooby doo #fred jones #ace attorney #sebastian debeste #yumihiko ichiyanagi #kirby #meta knight #mob psycho 100 #reigen arataka #color wheel challenge #color wheel trend #i know n won the green poll but eh i just couldn't get it to work-

[artbyblastweave]

In terms of personal questions that seem like a disaster in the making to turn into one of those stock fandom round-robin questions, “What would get you on the Infinity Train” feels roughly analogous to “What would your trigger event be?”

#wildbow #parahumans #worm #thoughts #infinity train #your periodic reminder that my header is an infinity train character #the one made of the arms of his murdered victims #fandom meta #analysis #worm web serial

[linkspooky]

Rengoku and Uzui

The enertainment district arc follows immediately after the Mugen Train arc, with the introduction of another Hashira to mentor Tanjiro and friends immediately after the tragic death of Rengoku. Uzui is presented at first as the complete opposite of noble, selfless to a fault big brother Rengoku as he’s presented as being much more individualistic and obsessed with flashy things. However, if you compare and contrast them they have much more common than it might seem at first, and Uzui turns out to be just what Tanjiro needs after the loss at the end of the Infinity Arc. More underneath the cut. 

1. Two Different Kinds of Mentors

The first comparison drawn between the two of them is that their introductions to the sense squad (Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke, and Zenitsu otherwise known as THE SENSE SQUAD because that’s what I like to call them)  are complete opposites of one another. Rengoku is immediately a model Hashira, not only is he incredibly helpful to them and is introduced defeating a demon easily on the train, he’s also totally willing to take in Tanjiro and the rest as a mentor.

Tengen on the other hand, is introduced literally trying to kidnap the girls at the butterfly estate for a mission. The contrast is immediatelyapparent, Uzui is presented to us as willful and arrogant. Even their chosen disciplines are opposites, Rengoku is a swordsman, and Uzui is a ninja. Rengoku faces his opponents head on, Uzui sneaks around and uses deception. Uzui is also, totally uninterested in Tanjiro and the others at first. 

Unlike Rengoku who immediately steps into the role of mentor, Uzui isn’t really interested in mentoring anyone, he’s not even looking to be accomodating of the fact that Kanao might have different needs and require a more tender hand than Tengen’s forceful one. Rengoku’s number one priority is protecting the people around him, while Uzui seems too focused on the mission. 

Uzui at the beginning almost chafes at the idea of trying to work with these kids. If Rengoku is selfilessness taken to an extreme, on first brush Uzui seems to be made up of nothing but selfishness and egotism. Which shows in his complete lack of cooeprativeness with Tanjiro and the others, his controlling nature, oh and also the fact that he declares himself a god. You know, like they do. 

Even the presentation of the characters is in reverse of one another. Rengoku is seemingly perfect, the model Hashira, he devotes himself entirely to slaying demons and protecting others. His flaws are hidden underneath the surface. Uzui is so obviously flawed. If the kidnapping attempt didn’t clue you in on that. Rengoku doesn’t think too highly of himself despite all of his talent. Uzui looks down on other people as the god of flashiness. Rengoku works with the kids, and Uzui bosses them all around, and the fact that he was willing to kidnap Aoi and force her into the mission leaves a bad impression on his qualities as a mentor. 

2. Ninjas are masters of Deception

The first clue that Rengoku is more than he seems however, is when we learn why Uzui is in such a hurry to complete the mission in the enertainment district. His three wives are already undercover and he’s completely lost contact with them. Though he doesn’t show it in front of the kids necessarily or voice his worries, his actions of completely strongarming and bulldozing everyone begins to make sense.

He also exrpresses genuine concern for Zenitsu when he disappears, and regret for bringing them along on the mission and putting them directly into danger. Uzui isn’t harsh to the sense squad because he’s cruel and uncaring, but because he understands the danger of the mission and is trying to bring them up to his standards. 

Underneath his loud and flashy behavior on the outside, Uzui is thoughtful and self aware of the dangers present in their lives, and also the consequences for his actions. He starts the arc in a rush, and selfish, but he has a genuine moment of self reflection where he acknowledges his selfishness when he realizes how it’s hurt others. He even tries to take responsiblity for using the Sense Squad the way he has by shouldering everything by himself from now on. Tanjiro believes it’s because he doesn’t trust them but it’s actually the opposite, it’s Uzui showing his selflessness in his own way. 

Uzui is still a prideful and self-centered peron, but those flaws aren’t all he is as a person, and there’s also a positive side to his attitude, he has something positive to teach Tanjiro. 

There’s no shame in this, to survive means victory. Remember what Tanjiro has immediately been through. Not only did he put Rengoku on a pedestal for his selflessness and willingness to help others, he also has survivor’s guilt for the fact that Rengoku sacrificed himself to take down a demon, and not only did it not work,b ut Tanrjio was able to do nothing other than survive at that moment. 

Rengoku even tries to verbalize to Tanjiro that his death isn’t Tanjiro’s fault,t hat the leaders and older members are supposed to protect the younger ones. However that’s not what Tanjiro internalizes. Remember, Tanjiro not only has survivor’s guilt he has a double dose of it, not only wasn’t he able to stop the death of Rengoku, he also wasn’t even there when the rest of his family was picked off by demons, and Nezuko was turned. Tanjiro’s survivor’s guilt tells him these things are his fault, and invites him to feel he should have died alongside him. Tanjiro continually struggles on his own feelings of helplessness, that these situations are somehow his fault, and if he were stronger they wouldn’t happen. 

Tanjiro even assumes afterwards in this scene that Uzui wanting to continue the mission alone from now on must be Uzui looking down on them or thinking of them as useless, not, genuine concern for their safety. However, Uzui ultiamtely believes the same thing that Rengoku does. There’s no shame in Tanjiro’s survival. Tanjiro living another day is a win in it’s own right. 

If Tanjiro internalized the wrong lesson at the end of the Rengoku arc, it’s Uzui’s mentorship that allows Tanjiro to realize that there’s value in his survival to continue to struggle along another day.

Uzui is a character who stresses over and over again that there’s value in everyone else around him living, that they should prioritize their life voer the mission. This even reflects on his background, he started out as a shinobi in a shinobi family, completely unafraid to die to complete an objective, watching all of the rest of his siblings die for the mission as well. 

We have an arc of self-sacrfice, and the immediate follow up emphasizes again and again, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to live and continue living. Rengoku’s flaw is that he burnt out too fast. He was too selfless. The result of his selfless sacrifice is yes, he proected the kids who were under his responsbility, but he also died right in front of them and they suffered from his death. That’s always the dark side to self-sacrifice, it’s never a completely positive actions, especially to the people you leave behind. 

Uzui is selfish, and he tries to encourage others to be selfish because he wants them to take care of themselves. It’s the positive aspect of selfishness. You can still help others, while prioritizing yourself and taking care of yourself.  Uzui is basically telling Tanjiro’s survival guilt as loudly as possible to shut up. 

Most of all, Uzui emphasizes you don’t have to be perfect, or even completely selfless to keep on living. Uzui’s background is as a ruthless ninja. He’s not someone bold and kind like Rengoku. He even thinks that he can never be like Rengoku. 

Yet, Uzui is also someone who survived all of that. He lived on carrying all his sins he committed being born into a ninja family, and is carrying them every day of his life. It’s because Uzui lived and survive for so long that Uzui was able to also grow into a more selfless individual, who is no longer taking others lives, but protecting them. Uzui is like Tanjiro in a way, a survivor who is struggling with his inner weakness. 

By the end of thearc Tanjiro has learned something important from him, that no matter how much he feels he should have died alongside his family, he should have died alongside Rengoku, that both times he should hafe done more, there’s no value to him dying at those moments. This is a lesson he carries with him for the rest of the series, and because of that he’s even able to give helpful cousnel to Giyuu who struggles with the same survivor’s guilt. The same Giyuu who at the beginning of the series lectured Tanjiro that it’s his fault Nezuko was taken by demons, that if he continues to be weak then what happens to him from now on it was also his fault. 

He’s able to counsel Giyuu, because it wasn’t wrong of him to live while Sabito died. Sabito sacrificed his life for Giyuu because he cared for him. He shouldn’t have to feel shame that he continued on living, because not only was that life a gift, Sabito wanted Giyu to survive. 

If there’s worth is sacrificing yourself, and fighting selflessly for the sake of others. There is also worth in protecting yourself, and living on fight another day. The compare and contrast between Uzui and Rengoku is something that shows us this nuance, that selflessness isn’t always a good thing, that selfishness isn’t always a bad thing. People are selfish, people are selfless, but most of all they are just struggling along trying to live in this world. 

#kny meta #kimetsu no yaiba meta #kimetsu no yaiba theory #enertainment district arc #mugen train #infinity train #uzui tengen #tanjiro kamado #rengoku senjuro

[jesse-cosay]

So we've all seen the storyboards where Lake speaks French.

Now I got something to add because-

Lake specifies that Tulip does not know French despite taking the class intentionally. (Usually there are options when you choose languages, my school only offered Spanish.)

So Tulip chose a class that she retained nothing from. Why take French if it was harder than the alternatives? (Because it was.) Why take a language elective at all if it doesn't interest you? If it will only tank your grades?

Conclusion: Tulip only took the French class for Natalie. Possibly it was the only class they shared, or just another class she could have with her.

And if Lake knew that Tulip had no interest in learning French, but had full access to picking up a hobby/ability that Tulip didn't have? Of course they would take it!

It wasn't just about being bored, but also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be someone else.

#infinity train #lake infinity train #infinity train book 2 #tulip olsen #Yellow's theories #Infinity train meta #Yellow's meta #Infinity train book two #Infinity train lake #storyboards #still thinking abt these sorry guys i love yooouuu

[yardsards]

time for more “projecting my aroace identity onto infinity train because this show makes it so easy to do so” posting

so i already like to headcanon tulip as aroace cuz i see a character i enjoy who has no canonical romantic feelings and say “it’s free real estate”

but i recently rewatched the crystal car episode and i saw a lot of what i personally interpret as aro coding (heh. coding.)

so when we see tulip sing songs that she sees as emotional and enjoys but doesn’t really connect to in a way that’ll open the door, they’re all love songs or breakup songs

when we see her trying to figure out emotional song topics, all of them connect back to love

(there is also familial love and social issues and following dreams mentioned, but none of those ones are ones that the writers chose to show her singing onscreen)

when she realizes the song has to be something *she* connects to, she starts listing things she cares about and none of them are at all romance adjacent

(not bothering with screenshots here bc the lines are all separated) she lists:

“Uhhh Programming is cool and... I like my friends, and, um... onions, and... the first three bites of pancakes, and... I like getting new textbooks at the beginning of the year before I'm sick of school again, and road trips, and... [smiles] Huh. Road trips. Heh.”

The song that makes her emotional and makes the crystal react is about a non-romantic subject and reminds her of fond memories with family

the song she sings then is a real-life song called "word up" by cameo (though she only sings the first verse)

...i was gonna say "the full song has no mention of romance" but i just looked up the lyrics to be sure (cuz it's been A While since i'd heard the song and i never really payed that much attention to the lyrics) and what i found was EVEN BETTER. a verse that appears later in the song says

"We don't have that time

For psychological romance

No romance

No romance

No romance for me mama"

like. come on.

in conclusion: she is aromantic, your honour

#eliot posts #intr #infinity train #infinity train meta #infinity train book 1 #tulip olsen #tulip infinity train #aromantic #aroace #tulip makes a video game call that aro coding

[fermented-writers-block]

So, with the possibility that the subreddit might not reopen, I would like to put out a callout for all Infinity Train fans who see this post to share any archived photos and documentation they have about as many Reddit AMA answers and Owen Dennis comments as possible.

We’re in great need of backing up all that we can in case both the subreddit stays private and the Wayback Machine goes down, so please feel free to share all of the archived Twitter and Instagram QnAs that you have as well.

Photo galleries in this case would be more than a lifesaver, and please spread the word so we can preserve as much as we can for the fandom.

Update: There is an internet archive of every post and comment made between June 2005 and March 2023 on r/DataHoarders at the linked post. I do not know how to utilize the archives listed, but between the two download websites given, make sure you pick the THE-EYE.EU archive. It has a search function that, from what it seems to me, can allow for a data dump of just r/Infinity Train for our purposes:

While this might help with archival efforts, please continue to spread the request for alternate archives and screenshots as a secondary measure while and after people figure out how to use this resource.

#infinity Train #infinity Train meta #infinity train archive

[disregardcanon]

i do appreciate that the season 3 finale makes sure to point out that simon ending up like this wasn't grace's FAULT.

yes, she made bad decisions that led them where they ended up, but grace and simon were both their own people with their own problems that never really tried to understand each other on a deep level. they've been together so long that they thought they didn't NEED to!

but grace was going through her own struggles of how to handle this chinese finger trap situation that she's made for herself and she makes a lot of mistakes that hurt a lot of people! simon being one of them! but he. did not have to make any of the choices that he did, either. he could have looked at the truth in the circumstances. he had every single one of grace's memories at his disposal, but he chose to only focus in on that one individual soundbite without any of the context.

like yes, there were moments where grace could have been kinder, maybe things could have been different, but grace can't shoulder the burden of that or she won't be able to keep going. and i don't think we should expect her or anyone else to do that either

#infinity train #infinity train meta #grace monroe #simon laurent

[the-magnificent-otaku-draws]

What if Korra, Asami, Mako, or Bolin enter the Infinity Train?

I haven't finished Legend of Korra so I'm gonna base this all off the books I did see. I know someone made a really good post about the original ATLA characters on the Infinity Train and how that'd be really hard to write unless you pick a certain character arc for the train to interrupt so I'm just gonna pick Book 1 since that's the one I know the best

KORRA is confident and knows she's an amazing bender for every element but she really struggles with air, spirituality and controlling her impulsiveness. It just eats up at her even if she doesn't say it outright and her dedication to be a good Avatar like her past lives but trying not buckle under pressure is another thing she struggles with in the series. Bc of that I feel like she'd have a HUGE number, like, a full on sleeve and a bit more. She'd think its weird but probably ration it by saying the train made a mistake or it was counting the mistakes of her past lives. At first she'd probably think it's just super fun with all these new worlds to explore after being cooped up with the White Lotus for her whole life and being under Tenzin's strict rules but once things start getting serious and she realizes she could die here and leave the world without an avatar and possible screw up the cycle she tries to rush back home. It'd take a while for her to actually get the train and what it counts as progress bc for her it doesn't make sense. Yeah, she kinda did some damage to the car but the point of the car was to solve the puzzle and get out. She got out so why did her number go up? When things get dire she starts rushing like Tulip but that only makes her number worst and at some point she just breaks down bc its all so stressful. I think she'd really need a denizen like Tuba to help her realize why she's there and how to get home.

BOLIN and MAKO would either enter the train at the same time or the disappearance of one would summon the train a little while after so they wouldn't be separated for long. When it comes to how he'd actually handle the train after the initial 'We HAVE to get home' and 'oh Spirits we could get killed here' shock I think Bolin would be really good at puzzle cars since he's so creative,especially the ones that require more drama like The Musical Car. Plus I think he'd befriend denizens easily so that could help but with how cool and magical all the cars are he might get distracted. After learning the train is all about healing I think Bolin would be so sure his number would be pretty small like Jesse's but is surprised that it's actually in the 100s like Tulip. In canon he's actually pretty insecure but he hides it under this like goofy little brother moments and jokes. He needs to be reassured a lot of times and the fact that his number is so high would mess with his confidence so bad that it would make his number actually get higher like a weird paradox. He still tries to fake a smile but it still gets to him. Having a denizen like Atticus would probably help him a lot.

Now MAKO would have a number in the same range (Maybe a little higher) as Bolin but he'd be in HARD denial. Yeah he had to deal with his parents' death and raising Bolin since he was a kid but he insists that he's used to it so it shouldn't be a problem. He accepts that it is large but it's not his fault in his mind,the train is just being weird. He'd be like Tulip and try to get as home as quickly as possible and try to rush through a lot of cars thinking if they solve enough it'll get their numbers to go down,quantity over quality sort of. He's good at puzzle cars that are more straight to the point like The Mirror Car and cars where you just have to get to the other door but the cars that are more abstract-ish in solutions like The Crystal Car are where he really struggles. He can get along with denizens pretty okay but he's not going out of his way to make friends so he can come off as kind of cold but really he's just scared that the less he understands the train they more likely it is that they might never get home. If he gets his exit first he'd wait until Bolin got his number down before taking it. He probably be adverse to having a denizen for the whole journey but if he meets with younger passengers who are lost and scared he'd try to help as much as he could and maybe take them with him and Bolin if they're like really little like Hazel or Lucy

ASAMI would probably get picked up right after they found out her dad was an equalist and she essentially lost everything but the business. He's the only family she had left after her mom died and it messed with her pretty bad in canon so it'd made sense for the train to find her then and give her number in the three hundreds like Amelia. She'd be fascinated with how the train actually works since her dad essentially made the first automobile and planes. She'd want to explore the cars as thoroughly as possible, really find out how it all ticks and see if she can recreate that or bring some of the tech home. Out of the four she's the most likely to aim straight for the engine and find the conductor, partially to find out how one train can make entire worlds and partially to see if it can get her number down. She wouldn't NOT try to get home but she'd probably try to focus more on exploring to distract herself from what got her on the train in the first place. I could see her making things to protect herself like Amelia's canon and maybe even the mech she used as the false conductor. She'd probably be want to dig into the tapes too and convince herself it'll help with the business back home. She'd also be great at dealing with more hostile denizens, kicking ass when she needs to and even being able to take on the ghoms. She's great at puzzle cars, both creative ones and straightforward ones, but she does tend to get distracted helping denizens and kids that are confused and need help on the train. Overall she handles surviving on train pretty well, puzzles included. Out of the four she'd the most likely to willingly stay on the train the longest both to help other passengers, denizens and also as a distraction to her own emotions

This was really fun,I'd love to do more train headcanons for more characters in other fandoms

#legend of korra #lok #infinity train #infinity train hbo max #infinity train au #alternate universe #meta #bolin #lok bolin #legend of korra bolin #mako #mako legend of korra #mako lok #korra #avatar korra #asami sato #asami legend of korra #asami lok