#simon and grace

[hikaaa-bi]

i just realized how similar Simon from Infinity Train and Catra from SPOP is.

both of them start at a pretty bad place but only gets worse from there. they have anger issues. they support a cult-like environment that fosters animosity and cruelty towards innocent people. they kill people, they are controlling and possessive of their best friend/love interest, and they refuse to take responsibility for their actions.

both of them have gone through some kind of trauma that left them with abandonment and trust issues. both are powerful villains but horrible people. they violate their best friend/love interest's boundaries. their best friend/love interest tries to get them to snap out of it and stop all their evil bs, but they respond to that with bitterness and toxicity. both of them have a mental breakdown at some point. their best friend/love interest would save them in a heartbeat, and they would kill that person in a heartbeat.

the only difference is that:

1. Simon was at least a better friend to Grace before she started to deflect. he seemed to actually care about her. he also had the potential to be redeemed. I would even argue that he starts out slightly better than Grace, because he wasn't as manipulative as she was in the beginning.

2. Simon doesn't get a lazy and rushed redemption arc. he doesn't get his happy ending with Grace. instead, he gets the ending he deserves, even if it was a little brutal. Simon was a sympathetic and insanely complex character, and that is why the creators chose not to redeem him, because it would have ruined his character.

(also the reason why i love Simon and hate Catra)

[bvrnesher]

*sniff, sniff*

i'm so in love with this man (he’s fictional)

[theorist-fox]

Simon makes love to you

Drabble to get me out of the block

Word Count: 1.6k

18+

CW: fluff, smut, contains themes of depression

Simon fucks you hard.

It's an unsaid promise, a sort of bargain. 

You need someone to fuck your head empty, he needs someone who'll let him unload whatever mess is brewing inside of him. 

You like it hard.

He needs it hard.

Mutual agreement. Everything had clicked so easily you two had never even bothered setting ground rules or whatnot. They flowed naturally, as if you knew, and he did as well.

Whenever you wanted, you just knocked. If he was up for it, you'd spend the night in his bed until your throat would go raw and your limbs would turn floppy.

The same happened when he was on the other side of the door.

Independently on who asked, the outcomes rarely changed. If ever.

Yet Simon now finds himself in front of a crossroads, when you knock on his door with bloodshot eyes and a tiredness so horrible that, for a moment, he feels afraid.

That lasts a swift second, though, because the next thing he registers is complete discomfort. Helplessness.

He doesn't think he can fuck that out of you. Not when your eyes are so chock full of tears yet so hollow.

Your lips look cracked and swollen, like you've spent a while nibbling at the flakes of dry skin. He's sure they'd taste of iron if he were to kiss them.

As he takes in your state, he narrowly misses your sniffle, the tremble of your hands. Or the way your voice, so feeble and strained, as if exhausted from the words themselves, whispers:

"Can you make love to me tonight?"

Simon barely reacts as it reaches his ears. On the outside, he's impassive as ever—inside, on the other hand, he's rattled to the bone.

Because he doesn't know how to do that. 

What he does know, is that he could tell you no, and you wouldn't so much as bat an eye. You're not one to push, and neither is he. It's always been such a balanced thing. 

And yet he'd rather gouge his eyes out than watch you tremble any more than you already are.

Which is why he doesn't answer verbally—doesn't trust himself to do that, to sound as kind as you need him to be. He simply curls his hand at the nape of your neck and pulls you in, lips to lips.

And exactly as he thought, taste of iron they do.

Simon's kiss is not devouring. It's hesitant because he's new to it, soft because you asked. There's no tongue yet, simply lips smacking and a gentle hand on your hips. The white lights of the building's hallway flicker overhead—some old place in which neighbours don't ask much about what's happening in the other flats, which is exactly what he needs.

Gently, he guides you inside, closing the door behind you with the flat of his hand. Feels the salt of your tears on his own lips, like he's cried them as well. 

Your hands cradle his neck, fingers dreadfully cold and rough—callouses you've bitten in anxious habit, perhaps to cause pain so the one inside would quell. 

Simon guides your back against his door, as his hand blindly reaches for the lock. It twists smoothly in his fingers. Clicks. You unravel there, like the sound's given you permission to do so.

Simon is used to drinking up your moans, never your sobs. He tries as you hiccup in his mouth, holding you gently yet firmly, grounding you to where it matters.

Careful as ever, his fingers tug at the zipper of your coat, and then helps you out of it. Similarly, your own lift his shirt up and off his head. And then it's a dance he knows by heart, hands tracing the shape of you the more it gets exposed.

Loose clothes on the floor. Your cold hands holding onto him for dear life. His own guiding you to the bed, steering your body where he needs it—where you do.

But differently from previous times, there's so much softness in his fingers that they tremble almost as much as yours, like he's afraid he'd bruise you when he bloody well knows he's held you far more harshly and you never complained once.

And then you're on his bed, on your back with his own body as an anchor to reality. A big arm snakes in the sliver of space between your bodies to reach your sex.

He kisses your cheeks first, as his fingers draw soft circles at your clit to get you wet. Your chest stutters with hiccups to catch your breath, tired hands threaded through his hair—perhaps to keep him closer, perhaps to ground yourself.

Whatever the reason, he lets you. Feels your breath—thick, heavy, wet—brush his skin. Your lips reciprocate his kisses, landing damp and swollen on his shoulder, on his neck.

That night, Simon fucks you softly.

He doesn't thrust into you until you can't breathe but keeps his hips flush to yours instead. He rolls idle circles that sheath him fully inside and cradles your head to keep you still—to keep you comfortable, to give you what you asked.

Can you make love to me tonight?

Simon is not sure he can, doesn't think he has what it takes.

But still, his hands hold you gently, instead of marking you blue. His mouth draws in your breath, like he's trying to even it out when you can't. 

"That's it," he whispers when he feels the stutters in your chest settle down. "That's it—deep breaths. Good girl, y're doing so good." 

Your hands come to hold him like he is you, and then you cum around him breathing hard and burying your face in his neck instead of moaning and clawing at his skin.

"There it is," he tells you quietly when your pussy clenches around him. His voice chokes on itself because you're not the only one affected by this—not by a long shot. "There it is, swee'heart. Jus' like that."

He keeps his focus on you as you come down from it, satisfied when he notices that the trickles down your temples are of sweat and not tears anymore. 

But there's something in your eyes, he thinks. Something that has been torn to shreds so many times you gave up even trying to fix it. A loneliness so fierce it’s burning you to ashes, an exhaustion so deeply engraved you carry it within your bones.

How a man as attentive as him has never noticed is beyond him, but now he finds himself wanting to see it, to try and help you mend it until you're whole again.

"Fuck, you're lovely, yeah?" He murmurs when your hands come to cradle his cheeks and his do the same. "Sight f'sore eyes."

You smile for the first time since you knocked on his door. 

Can you make love to me tonight?

Simon is not sure he can, but he'll be damned if he doesn't try—if it means you smile like that again.

Your hips start moving to meet him, ankles locked at his tailbone. Simon cums inside of you for the first time since you two started seeing each other, rocking his hips as you caress the back of his head.

He’s always tried his damned hardest to avoid leaving strands of any kind that could tie you to him. He's a dangerous man, one you shouldn't be tangled with. 

But if you look so safe in his arms, enough to seek him at your lowest, enough to smile even when your world seems torn asunder, then there's little he can do to fight it. 

To fight you.

He collapses, chest to chest, knocking the breath out of your lungs—a sound so soft it tickles his ear enough to raise goosebumps.

Simon holds onto you something fierce, arms tucked under the hollow of your spine—inked skin, rough and thickened by a harsh life, against the velvet of yours.

Usually, you’d spare a few moments for the two of you to catch a breath, and then you’d leave, or he would, and life would roll on by. Tonight, he senses your hesitation in the tremble of your arms, and how they’re still holding on tight, wrapped like a silk ribbon around his neck.

Simon finds himself at a crossroads again, but this time it’s so much easier to make a choice.

Can you make love to me tonight?

As he nuzzles your skin, Simon realizes he never even had to try.

“Stay,” he whispers into your neck. 

It’s then that you suck in a deep breath, one that bullies its way into his own lungs too. The curve of your cheek presses into his temple, as if you might be smiling. There, something fills him just right.

He wants to look up and see if he’s fixed a few of those shreds, if he’s managed to at least squeeze a thread in there, within the broken seams. 

Perhaps he has, because your voice quivers less, and there’s that golden touch of hope in it, refreshing and bright—somehow louder than the sobs he’s been striving to take from you all night.

“Okay,” you breathe. “O-okay, I’ll stay.”

Thing is, you never leave. 

If not once or twice, with Simon in tow, carrying a few boxes in his hands with your initials scribbled on one side.

Until your books are on his shelves, your toothbrush on his sink, and your name on the doorbell, right next to his own.

[atwellfilm]

Angela Bassett's reaction to Hayley listing all the things she stole from the Mission: Impossible set 😅

[strawdool]

guess who remembered infinity train on 2025 <3

[nymphacae]

i was planning on making this a print if people are interested! The Gang's All Here

[ectonuritez]

"I think I tell Megatron what I would do to every Decepticon and Autobot I could find. I think my voice breaks. I think I am broken."

[thelostmoongazer]

yeah he's baby girl or whatever

[johannesviii]

Skate park shenanigans

(I thought it would be fun to draw them at various ages from about 13/14 to 16, hence why they look different from one pic to the next. Grace tends to extend her arms like a ballerina even when she's rollerskating. Simon tends to fall and hurt himself more often if Grace is watching him lol)

[cursed-iris]

this is so old but you bet i'm still going to post it because i think it's funny.

[saccharinescorpion]

it's been three years since Infinity Train Book 3 aired. here's something i made like two years ago and never posted

[hikaaa-bi]

one thing that i love about infinity train is how REAL the characters are, despite being in a fantasy setting, and the narrative of how experiences shape individuals. the way they speak and act are so realistic, their choices are understandable and their arcs are so well-written. all of the characters have glaring flaws they need to work on, but it's also clear that these flaws are the results of some kind of trauma or the way they were treated.

tulip was disillusioned with the world, angry and distant. and this is a direct reaction to her parents' divorce and her inability to cope with it. which is sympathetic, of course, it's a hard thing to go through as a child. the show also reveals that tulip blames herself for her parents' divorce, which can hit close to home for many people.

lake was similarly angry and defiant, even outright hostile in certain situations. again, this comes as a response to the way she was treated in the train, the way she was never granted her freedom and individuality, and how she was trapped in a role she didn't want to play. it's no wonder that many queer people identify so much with lake, because the rules of the train mirrors real life.

jesse has people-pleasing tendencies that reach the point where it actually hurts people. we've all seen protagonists who are people pleasers or eager to appear likeable to people, but usually it only hurts themselves. jesse's case is the prime example of "a friend to all is a friend to none". you can't please everyone, there are people you should oppose or ignore. otherwise, you end up hurting people who actually matters in your life.

simon and grace are straight-up villains, or anti-villains at the very best. grace is manipulative and cunning, playing on people's feelings and insecurities to serve herself. simon is controlling and somewhat egotistic, refusing to change his mindset, regardless of what happens. again, both these characters are shown to have reasons for why they became what they are, even if it doesn't justify their actions. grace grew up in an environment where she was neglected and felt lonely, and found out that her only sure way of making any sort of connection is to manipulate people. simon is implied to have dealt with someone's death before he got on the train, since he seems to have an idea of what funerals are like. that, paired with samantha the cat accidentally leaving him behind in a crucial and dangerous situation, he develops some very intense abandonment issues. again, both these issues can be very relatable to a lot of people, even if we aren't as bad as either of these characters.

min-gi was shown to be insecure and uncertain, but at the same time, arrogant and condescending. the pressure he recieved from his parents has fueled his gifted child syndrome while simultaneously making him depressed and burned out. ryan is probably the closest we have to a "conventional main character", hyperactive and quirky. but he is also not exactly perfect in all other aspects, as he wants to push things forward and refuses to give min-gi some time to think and make a decision. as a child who grew up with lots of other siblings, ryan struggles to prove himself to his family, since they don't seem to pay him much attention. both these scenarios are especially relatable to asians, but of course, anyone who may have trouble pleasing their parents and living up to expectations.

i just gave a character analysis of each protagonist, but my point is that while other cartoon protagonists tend to lean more on the heroic side, the characters in this show doesn't. in most other animated shows i've watched, the flaws a protagonist is allowed to have are either "heroic" flaws such as being too forgiving or being self-sacrificing, or shallow flaws such as clumsiness or being kind of an idiot.

but not in infinity train. the protagonists in this show aren't heroes, they are normal people. they don't have a magical destiny, they don't have to fight for the good of the world, they aren't the "chosen ones". their ultimate goal is to get out of the train (or in simon and grace's case, to be superior to everyone else, to "win").

so it really feels good when one of the characters does choose to do something nice. when tulip chooses to empathize with and help amelia, when lake bonds with alan dracula and jesse. when grace chooses to change for the better and face the consequences of her actions. when ryan chooses to stay with min-go despite getting a door, and when min-gi does the same later on.

i watched this show about a year ago, and it's still one of the best animated shows i've watched. it's so uncomfortably real sometimes, you stop and go "am i like that?" when a character does something wrong, you know that the show addresses it and their actions have consequences. the show doesn't hand out redemption arcs to everyone or sweep things under the rug like some shows *cough* steven universe and she-ra *cough*

there's a reason why a lot of people seem to relate more to villains than heroes, because villains are allowed to be flawed while also being sympathetic. infinity train managed to create a cast of protagonists who are exactly like that. they are more than heroes, they are people.

[funeral]

Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace

[philosophybits]

Monotony is the most beautiful or the most atrocious thing. The most beautiful if it is a reflection of eternity — the most atrocious if it is the sign of an unvarying perpetuity. It is time surpassed or time sterilized. The circle is the symbol of monotony which is beautiful, the swinging of a pendulum of monotony which is atrocious.

Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace

[trauma-express]

I wanted to talk a bit about how actually looking through the series, Grace seems be to doing a lot of them emotional support in her relationship with Simon. Simon seems to rely on that support without offering much in return.

In The Musical Car and the Jungle Car we see Grace trying to cheer Simon up over being separated from the Apex. She tries to joke and give him things to do to keep himself from just worrying. This seems to just come naturally from their differing personalities, but it’s there in the beginning of the Book.

In The Debutante Ball Car she also regrets bringing up the Cat seeing how upset Simon looks at it. She tries to move on with a joke and reassure him that they have time to deal with Tuba.

But in Le Chat Chalet Car when Grace is staring unhappily at her hand, Simon doesn’t seem to notice anything is wrong. He’s just annoyed at Tuba and tries to get Grace’s attention so they can move on.

In their argument later, Grace looks like she regrets her comment about Simon needing her to make decisions for him, though she goes back to being annoyed. She also later apologizes for not acknowledging his feelings. There is also a small moment of her checking in with him before asking The Cat about the snow.

Simon does not realize Grace might also be upset until she lets him know, nor apologize for arguing with her over circumstances she couldn’t control. Still, in this scene he does offer her emotional support over her worries.

Then in The Canyon of the Golden Winged Snake Car, Grace gets angry with Simon when he grabs her. He clearly hasn’t considered that things between them might be tense at the moment after killing Tuba and belittling Hazel’s grief (also if someone says don’t touch them just don’t). But she looks guilty seeing Simon upset, though she stops herself from apologizing, just trying to smile at him to seem like she isn’t actually angry. 

Simon meanwhile, doesn’t think to apologize, reflect on what happened, or ask her what is going on, instead going to the Cat to find some way to deal with her “not acting like she should” and shutting him out.

Then after the truth about Hazel comes out and Simon finds out Grace kept it from him (out of fear for Hazel’s life!), he gets much angrier. He does not care at all how upset Grace is over Hazel leaving, simply feeling jealous and betrayed rather than any sympathy for the person he was so close to for eight years.

Grace meanwhile is upset, but still feels some sympathy for Simon when he expresses anger over the lies. The storyboard even labels this expression as guilty. Even though Simon has rapidly spiraled into cruelty and is currently messing with her mind in a very literal sense, Grace feels guilty. Meanwhile the storyboard says Simon looks disappointed as he leaves Grace.

And we also see that their very first meeting involved Grace comforting Simon and him looking to her for support/answers, feeding into the dynamic they would eventually have

And it ends in their fight in The New Apex, where Grace saves Simon’s life and says that she knows he’s hurting. She also, however, declares that she does not owe him anything and is not responsible for his problems. Simon, meanwhile, tries to kill her multiple times, and feels that she does “owe” him.

Their relationship was definitely shaped by a lack of healthy adult figures, other peers, or boundaries. The way it turned out makes sense with them having no one else to rely on for a long time. However, Grace was willing to change and make other connections, while Simon refused to look at other perspectives and tried to cling to what he knew, alongside the subtext of his romantic interest in her.

[dallasurr]

you know i had to do it for them (original)