Cakeiscoolsblogthing - Now That I'm Here, I Might As Well Be Chaotic

Nearly every time I've rewatched Infinity Train Book 3 since I first saw it in February, I saw more parallels and narrative echos, and infodumping my friends about them isn't enough anymore

I figured I should do a post about this one because I don't think I've seen a post about that specific thing yet, and I love this show's writing, and. idk. I just need to praise it I guess

So, the most obvious part first:

Grace became everything she hated about her parents

When Grace mentions her mother in the Debutante Ball Car, it's made pretty clear she's trying to distance herself from her mother as much as possible, and at this point, we realise retrospectively that Grace's room in the Mall Car in episode one was full of sports clothes - it seems she tries to avoid things reminding her of her life before the train. And of her mother. And yet-

She tries to control everyone and everything around her, and makes people do what she doesn't want to do

And she decides what's cool and what isn't

She makes people kneel in her presence, like her mother towers over her in her mind's eye

Obviously she constantly lies to get what she wants, and her dad does that in her tape

When her younger self looks up, she looks right through adult Grace, and it's actually her parents she's looking at! Her younger self is metaphorically seeing her parents where her adult self is standing!! I still can't get over this shot

Also I feel the need to mention her mother has the same voice actor as her in her tape and even if it might be to cut corners in the budget, that feels significant (and to be fair, sometimes you can cut corners while making meaningful choices at the same time)

Now you might think I'd have nothing to say about Simon on that matter, since we don't see any flashback of his life before the Train, and we know next to nothing about his parents. But I think it's very telling that the only actual backstory we get for him is his backstory with The Cat.

Because-

Simon became everything he hated about The Cat

Ok I never see anyone mentioning this, but hear me out

First, we have no idea if Simon knew The Cat was routinely invading people's privacy through their memory tapes, but he sure has no issue doing the exact same thing

But that doesn't stop there. He also collects things obsessively

And makes kids collect things for him as well, by the way

He thinks he's above others, but he immediately switches to victim mode when it comes back to bite him

HE. ABANDONS. A CHILD. WHO WAS UNDER HIS CARE!!

And. Uh. They both dig their heels instead of trying to change, too

Don't get me wrong, on some level I would have liked to know what Simon's parents were like too. I would have liked that a lot. But there's a good chance it wouldn't change anything, because everything we need to know about his background to understand why he's Like That™ is already in the show

But yeah, Grace and Simon both pretend they found freedom on the Train, and both distance themselves from parental figures who are at the source of their trauma, claiming they're different and better than them - and yet they are both subconsciously repeating patterns that caused at least part of their problems and/or trauma in the first place

And since they decided that making numbers go up was good, as long as they stick to that idea, they are bound to never escape from that self-perpetuating loop of harm and trauma

And I love it

And I hate it

Lost and Found by SheWhoStealsKneecaps is a good fic I read a year ago, but it's unfinished.

Anyone got good MCSM fic recommendations? 🙏

~~~

Exactly. Alternatively, Therapy or Death or Murder: The Show

Infinity Train is wild. Like, you can either face your insecurities or start a cult.

I’m so glad that someone mentioned the humor in this game because the face of sheer disbelief Ivor makes when you choose to take out the Eversource crown/white pumpkin instead of the ender pearl in the Crown Mesa right before getting apprehended is God-tier comedy

~~~

Every day I long to shake roughly 3/4 of the fandom by the shoulders and shout at them that any relationship Bill and Ford had was horrifically abusive

I have read two fics in the last two days where Ford wakes up and his first instinct is to point a gun (specifically at Stan)

CAN I WRITE ONE TOO? And then we'd have multiple feral Stan twins MREHing at each other!

we love the idea of feral ford but even moreso we love the idea that stan mimics him sometimes

like

stan: sorry bud i gotta go through your stuff real quick

ford: *angry cat noise* D:<

stan: don’t ‘mreh’ me

ford: mreh

stan: MrEh

ma there's a weird snowman outside

Every TV show that goes beyond 3 seasons needs to hire a council of autistic peeps from the fandom. Ya know the ones who have said show among their most special interests, who the studio can pay for them to consult w/ the writers for basic “is this new script consistent with everything we’ve already written and put in universe” type shit.

I’m so serious.

The way shows will miss continuity errors across their own characters’ backstories and fumble cannon details across the years is so frustrating to anyone for whom “cannot turn off details tracking” is a brain default. so basically, pay us to help you, Hollywood 😂

(I guarantee every autistic person who loves a messy show right now and is reading this has a mental list uncontrollably running of the exact errors I mean)