#infinity train the docent

[sipping-ambrosia-wine]

huh. just realized how the mind control ties into the docent's designated role. the art gallery car is about abstract art and the exit is finding the door through finding the right angle for the suspension sculpture.

a docent is the tour guide of a museum or gallery, and kez was complaining about the lack of tour and that there wasnt an audio guide- the docent twists your perception makes you see your situation in a harsher, less generous light, guides you to the conclusion it wants you to find.

[youareinacomawakeup]

Seriously? The fuck you mean "three episodes"?

Why is Infinity Train being taken down from fucking everywhere, actually? Where the fuck are you supposed to legally watch this shit? Why is it not allowed to exist?

[sexymonsterotd]

sexy monster of the day: the docent from infinity train

[yourfaveisafearavatar]

The Docent from Infinity Train as an Avatar of the Flesh.

[vaultsixtynine]

tell me of ur fav horror Creatures.... i need to get into Monster Mode

[angstandhappiness]

HOLY SHITE

A Theory about the Docent (infinity train book 4 spoilers

I want to talk about this guy.

(Image ID: A picture of the Docent, from book 4 of infinity train- a tripedal ape-like monster made of knitted-together severed human arms, lurking in an art gallery.)

The Docent was the standout villian of book 4, on all levels. Best design, best dramatic scene, knocked it out of the park in terms of sheer what-the-fuckery.

 But I’ve seen a lot of speculation about what the hell it actually is- what its intended role on the train is, whether it’s native to that car at all, whether it’s something Amelia created or something One made. I’ve been kicking it around a lot, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the Docent may have been intended to explore an aspect of the train that previous seasons touched on with Lake’s story in particular, but didn’t develop in full.

Long, Long analysis under the cut. Largely without pictures! Book 4 is too new for there to be a wealth of screencaps. Sorry about that

Keep reading

[crayolacolor]

:) the docent

send me a character and i'll give you my opinion on them! | accepting

AH YES. the singlemost horrifying aspect of book 4 of infinity train. you thought the GHOMS were scary?? how about a monster that is literally entirely made up out of the SEVERED ARMS OF PASSENGERS.

owen dennis really just. inserted one of the most messed up things in the series into the comedy book, huh? He Really Did That. /pos

i love it. i'm fascinated and horrified at the same time, and i have so many questions. are those passengers, like. DEAD?? or did they just. lose an arm? (owen dennis might have answered this somewhere actually, but if if he did i can't remember the answer)

WHAT POSSESSED ONE-ONE TO MAKE THAT THING??? like sure the like, inciting conflict between passengers thing kind of makes sense. but STEALING THEIR ARMS AND USING THEM AS A BODY??? what the heck. *shaking one-one around* what is wrong with you!!!! ( also /pos )

anyway tl:dr: horrifying, i love it. thank you owen dennis.

[moriparty413]

you can't call yourself a monsterfucker if you wouldn't fuck her

[spirostomum]

I was commissioned by @mmikmmik to draw the docent from infinity train after years of amassing hapless passengers. I really love her idea and am so glad I got the opportunity to draw it!

[mmikmmik2]

In addition to stealing their possessions, One used to force all passengers to wear irremovable boots that the Steward could turn into restraints at will, that would forcefully glue their feet to the ground

The monster in the art gallery is covered in passenger numbers, suggesting that it genuinely used to be passengers and that passengers on the train may be subjected to awful transformations and fates worse than death; when it went after Min-Gi, and also when Jesse started turning into wood way back in S2, that was not "fake difficulty" or a nudge to move on, that was something genuinely terrible and permanent that almost happened to them

One striking a blow for equality by making the train a coercive body horror nightmare for denizens and passengers

[euphreana]

Handses. Lots of handses.

Inspired by @msbadatnamingthings's 'You Never Felt a Winter Quite So Cold'.

[teratocreep]

why is he kinda......

[grovylelover]

Screenshot redraw because WHAT WAS THIS THING?????

[fhwa]

diversity win!

the hand monster attempting to mutilate you inside an art gallery train car is multiracial!

[sunshine-zenith]

“Mind the Docent”

Sound advice, if only the sign was a little more specific as to what the Docent looked like and that this docent won’t so much as guide you as it will mentally manipulate and tackle you with bunch of angry hands

[againwiththeturtles]

The Cat’s Original Car

I have a theory.

Samantha, or The Cat, is known for her refined tastes, stuffy attitude, propensity for swindling, a love of collecting (bordering on obsessive), and flighty tendencies. We also know she switches cars between each season (despite her lack of thumbs) meaning we have no idea where she came from. Her original car could be the one we see in Book 1, but that seems more like something she found and filled with her things, or maybe even forced Amelia to make for her, somehow. However, I suspect that we have already been in Samantha’s original car: The Art Gallery Car.

[explanation below the cut]

First of all, this car seems to fit her sensibilities. An impeccably clean art gallery, which tend to be managed by the wealthy because you need a lot of money to buy and keep up fine art like that. Plus, art gallery owners are snobby as hell (generally speaking) just like The Cat. Not to mention, she loves collecting things, which would have been a part of her original programming if she started out in an art gallery car. Imagine this: a snooty, white cat in a waistcoat leading you around a silent car, telling you about her art and occasionally snapping at you not to touch it. After all, she did this to One-One way back in Book 1, in “The Cat’s Car,” and immediately apologized, like it was a reflex she couldn’t hold back... almost as if she had been programmed to stop people from touching her collection.

What about the car itself? Well, one of the very first things we see in The Cat’s car is a painting of a white tiger, lounging sensually on a chaise.

Comparing this (rather odd) painting to the types of paintings in the art gallery car, it would fit right in. Remember that portrait of a goat in a suit? An alligator dressed to the nines in a feathered cap? An elephant in a headscarf? Three animals dressed like it’s 1910 reading newpapers on a park bench? Not only does it match The Cat’s art in her new car, it matches her personal clothing style (funky little vests). There are also a lot of landscape paintings in the art gallery car, which look very similar to ones in the cat’s car [The first image is The Cat car’s painting of the shore, and the second is the art gallery’s painting of the shore. They are strikingly similar, but not exactly the same.]

Finally (and this one is major) in the room that Min Gi stalks off to when the Docent made him act out his anger at Ryan, there is a giant abstract painting of a cat. It covers half a wall, and is probably about 8 feet tall. It’s abstract, so the colors are a bit off, but I would bet money on it being of Samantha herself. She certainly is the type to want an enormous painting of herself hanging in her gallery. [ID: 2 screenshots from “The Art Gallery Car,” showing 2 angles of the abstract cat painting. A pillar blocks part of it in both shots. Ft. Min Gi and Kez in the 2nd image.]

Also like... why is this painting covered by a big 'ol pillar?? It’s ugly, and completely unnecessary, when you could have a nice background of a painting. Unless the writers were trying to hide it just a little bit, because it would be too big of a hint otherwise.

Kez’s reaction to the car is also illuminating. The moment she floats in, she demands some service from... somebody. She says they want a tour (a free one!) and spends a good third of the episode tracking down some way of getting a tour of the art, until Ryan and Min distract her with their fight. Like most things Kez does, her desire for a tour guide is funny, and just seems random, but Infinity Train doesn’t really do random, do they? (They don’t have time. Those episodes are short.) But, she was very upset about the whole situation, especially considering Kez acts like a go-with-the-flow kind of gal, most of the time. And, when she was unable to find a tour guide, or any way to get information, she accused the entire car of being a scam. If it were a scam by design, a denizen like Kez wouldn’t be personally offended by it. Perhaps it was a scam, set up by a well known con artist, who has been known to abandon her responsibilities without looking back.

Now, I think I would be remiss not to mention the Docent. “Docent” usually just means museum guide, which is exactly what I’m arguing The Cat used to be. Samantha’s original job was to give a tour, stop the passengers from touching her art, and guide passengers to the exit. And, well, the Docent does one of those things! (2 if you consider mind-control to be “guide” behavior) You will get got if you touch the art! It will kill you, and take your arms for its body. I highly doubt One-One would create a malicious denizen whose entire motivation is to turn passengers against each other, and then kill them. Therefore, my theory is: The Docent Monster emerged in The Cat’s absence. Without a denizen to take care of the art gallery car and guide passengers, the train made due. The train did a bad job, considering it’s supposed to help passengers, but to be fair, denizens aren’t supposed to leave their cars. That’s why none of them are capable of opening the doors. Now, I imagine she originally left with a passenger, then never came back (nowadays, she uses her shuttlecraft). I don’t know if The Cat knew what would happen if she left, but I don’t think she would care, either. She has been shown to be extremely selfish, and solely interested in how she can bend her situation to her advantage. She sure doesn’t care about passengers that much, if her treatment of Simon (and less importantly, Amelia) is any indication.

In The Cat’s appearance in Book 4 is also kind of odd, because Samantha is in disguise. She’s wearing a wig and a dress to blend in with the cowboy car. By the time Tulip gets on the train, she has stopped doing that. And what is difference between Ryan and Min Gi’s stay on the train and Tulip’s? Amelia. When Samantha was in disguise, it was because she had to hide from One-One, who would surely put her back in her car if he found her. I’m guessing Amelia found out The Cat was trying to avoid her duties, she used her leverage as Unhinged Conductor to force her to help her, which is why The Cat is Amelia’s reluctant lackey in Book 1.

TLDR: The Cat’s original car is The Art Gallery Car because it matches her personality, morals, interest etc., and she is exactly the kind of person who would abandon her car. The Docent emerged in her absence, and that’s why that car is so messed up and dangerous. Amelia used The Cat’s desire to continue exploring the train to force her into helping her.