#duncan x rusty

[sodor-spirit]

Duncan and Rusty in their RWS colours! ❤️🖤

[agirlwholovesspe33d]

So, this post is sort of inspired by @asktrio516 and her post about official ships.

I’m here with some of mine. And just like her, I’m going to put some headcanons about each couple.

(this post is way too long to make a Spanish version in within itself, I’ll do a similar post but in Spanish at a later date)

Thomas x James 💙💖

Quoting what TheUnluckyTug said in his James video. "When Thomas is in-character he's also hot-head, impatient and not very bright. You're basically watching two hot-headed jackasses try to one-up each other".

The perfect date for them would be race to a normally crowded location (The Wharf, Brendam Docks, Knapford, Kirk Ronan, etc) since there would be a large crowd to wave and cheer to the winner. Although they sometimes do race just for fun, similar to Thomas’ races with Bertie.

(Little aside headcanon: Two months before Sodor Day a little singing competition is held. The two finalists have a race to a certain location)

Thomas is capable of redeeming James (he did redeem Diesel and Diesel 10 of all characters) but he just loves seeing James being so self-centered and acting like an idiot that he just lets the fire spread. But if he thinks he goes too far, he does lower James' ego a bit. Even though James doesn't always listens.

Thomas lives in a house at Ffarquhar, whereas James lives in the Tidmouth Workers' Hut. If they ever get married they would probably go live at either Lower Tidmouth or Elsbridge. So they can have access to both the Ffarquhar Branch Line and the Main Line.

Thomas was afraid of telling Jane about their relationship, but one time. Jane entered Thomas' room, and she did so holding her girlfriend's hand (more about that in another post) and she said half the phrase when she saw James and Thomas in the latter's bed. You could say it was a simultaneous realisation.

If James doesn’t complain about pulling a goods train it's either because he knows its important, or because Thomas is there with him the whole way chatting about their life.

Henry x Hiro 💚🖤

Sometimes they cook together and even harvest

Hiro teaches Japanese to Henry

Henry sometimes combs Hiro’s hair

If they both had the time, and/or the money; Hiro would take Henry to explore Japan, but for now. Sodor’s forests like Henry’s, the Whistling Woods, and the Whispering Woods will suffice.

(note: Toby and the Whispering Woods is not canon)

They usually go and chat at a siding in Henry's Forest about their daily life and how things have been on each railway. (Hiro does spend a lot of time on the Mainland after all)

Hiro is conscious about Henry's tragic life before Sodor and on his first days on the railway and is willing to give him therapy. Henry is willing to tell Hiro about his struggles or nightmares.

Emily x Caitlin 💚💖

Emily admired her. But ever since she saved her from falling down Ulfstead Hill, Caitlin admires her.

Caitlin sometimes takes her on tours around Ulfstead Castle with their engines. Other times Emily goes voluntarily just to spend time with her.

Emily has experiences with castles, and loves to share them with Caitlin, like when she played to be ‘Queen Emily’ at Rolf’s Castle, or when she discovered a family of seals near Callan (the Scottish) Castle.

Caitlin actually calls her “Queen Emily” sometimes. Something fitting for Caitlin considering the Earl refers to her as one of his Knights in Shining Armor, along with Connor.

Millie wants to be the flower girl at her wedding. More than anything because she's the closest to Caitlin.

James would probably be Emily's best man.

Caitlin took advantage of a ball that Sir Robert organized at Ulfstead castle to invite Emily to a date on which she proposed to her. Emily jokingly dropped her high heel as she left at midnight. (Which also fits since she's Number 12.)

Douglas x Oliver 🖤💚

Both take advantage of their living on the West Coast to visit the beach on their days off/free time. Often going through quiet walks through the beach.

In fact, in one of those walks, they ended up lying down and kissing in the middle of the wave, and (similar to the scene with the mermaid in Shrek 2) Oliver ended up kissing Donald.

Oliver thought he could start feeling something after Douglas saved his job, but when he broke his knee accidentally, and Douglas carried him in his arms he was like "Yep. I'm in love with him now".

Oliver didn't tell anything about it to Duck, as he thought he would either be against it or his advice wouldn't be much use to him. So he went to Toad for advice. And Toad ended up encouraging Oliver to confess his feelings for Douglas.

If Oliver wants to give Douglas something he will usually ask Donald "What would Douglas like on his birthday" and Donald would gladly help him and not tell anything to his twin.

When she started working on the West coast, Daisy thought they were a poli-romantic couple until Donald said they weren't.

The Arlesdale Trio would definitely be their groomsmen at their wedding. (It’s funny to think of Frank as the flower girl XD)

I would totally do a Percy's Seaside Trip cover with them in mind, but I'm not too sure on what the lyrics would be.

Molly x Neville 💛🖤

Neville knows Molly doesn't like swearing. So he tries not to do it if she's around. When someone else does swear in front of her. Neville will personally put them in their place.

Molly helped Dennis on several occasions. And was afraid of telling him about her relationship with Neville, but Dennis understood, and thought Molly wouldn’t like him in a romantic way anyway.

Thomas helped Neville get out of his shell, and that helped him to confess his feelings for Molly. Since he was as shy as her when he first arrived on the railway. (being mistreated by Emily and Thomas didn’t help)

(sidenote: in the episode ‘Thomas and the New Engine’, Neville departs from Cronk towards the bridge that connects with the Peel Godred Branch instead of Abbey, since the latter resembles more a Main Line station)

They both like to eat in each other engine’s cab. They also like reading there.

Just like Dennis is close friends with Molly, Murdoch is close friends with Neville. So they both would probably be each other’s best man at their Wedding.

Just like their themes in each other’s episodes. They enjoy listening to quiet, calm, relaxing music together as they work or dance. (I know Neville doesn’t have a theme, but you could say the theme at the start of Thomas and the New Engine is what he listens to. Or Percy’s S8-12 Theme)

Mavis x Rosie 🖤💖

Rosie had a brief crush on Emily before during a period of time where Thomas and Percy were busy in other parts of the island. Rosie and Stanley took over their jobs on the Ffarquhar Branch. Rosie handled the goods and deliveries to the Quarry. Despite Thomas and Percy returning, Rosie and Stanley stayed a while to help with odd jobs like shunting.

Rosie saw how hard Mavis worked, and being the type of girl that admires people with the ability to handle multiple jobs, (just like she idolized Thomas), she began to admire the diesel driver. This led to Rosie becoming stronger and more determined, just like Mavis.

Mavis noticed this and thought it would be nice if someone was just as strong as she was. So she played along.

In addition, she herself admired Rosie's desire to learn and work. Something that wasn’t present in a certain pair of twin yellow engine drivers.

Mavis eventually began to develop feelings for Rose, she thought that Rosie might simply admire her as a sister figure, so she said nothing. Although one day she kissed her on the cheek and saw her blush at her. She tried to keep sending hints. (Things like "Do you like girls", "What do you like in a girl?") And Rosie soon began to understand them.

Finally, when one is in love, and the other understands the hints. Both agreed to be girlfriends. And they have a relationship quite based on romanticism.

Mavis calls her Pinkie, Rose (I know there are people who write it with a Y). Or ‘my cute little flower’ because she has a flower’s name. Rosie calls her Mavey. (miss Dilemma please don't sue me, I thought it was a cute nickname and it was the first thing that came to mind)

Mavis likes to give flowers (especially Roses) to her.

Rosie currently works at Ulfstead Branch Line (along with 'Arry and Bert from time to time. And being pretty smart, she's one of the few Steamies they respect), so she can go to Ffarquhar Quarry often. So she sees Mavis often.

‘Arry and Bert don’t approve of girls dating other girls, but they do fear what Mavis and/or Rosie could do to them if they say any lesbofobic comment, so they stay quiet.

(the Ulfstead Branch Line is an access for Main Line Engines to come to Ffarquhar Quarry and collect heavy stone trains and take them down the same branch line.)

Elizabeth x Madge 💖💚

Both mother figures on the Skarloey Railway (SR). Although they act more like good cop/bad cop.

Madge always wants Elizabeth to keep her lorry in good condition, (she does work at the Quarries) Elizabeth also wants this so usually resorts to Madge on how to make it look shiny and clean.

Elizabeth loves to work with Madge delivering goods to the villages on the SR.

They like to keep their lorries close to each other and sometimes sleep with the other in one of the lorries

Elizabeth won't comply unless either Rusty uses their charm to convince her or Madge is there to bat her eyelashes.

Elizabeth tells Madge to be more stern, something she didn't want to do, but learned it was important ever since the crazy day she had with Duncan in the winter.

-They both like to have a calm, quiet walk through the many forests on the SR.

Since both of them had experiences with Duncan and Rusty, when they heard they started dating they were specially happy and started to make jokes about the Wedding (Duncan and Rusty would probably invite Madge and Elizabeth anyway)

Rusty x Duncan 🧡💛

Duncan wasn't conscious about Rusty being Non-Binary when he first met them. After saying sorry, Rusty explained it to Duncan and he has been respectful with this ever since.

Rusty is the only one that can put Duncan in his place. Hence why Duncan was actually put down by them when they told him not to go to the Mines (Duncan and the Old Mine)

Rusty does try to calm Duncan's grumpiness, but they know changing Duncan isn't that easy of a task. However, Duncan is willing to change if that means making Rusty feel better.

Duncan tries to learn about diesel engines to help Rusty with their locomotive and vice versa.

Peter Sam was unsure about Rusty dating Duncan, considering how rude Duncan was to them. But after the night at the Old Iron Bridge, he saw that Duncan was just stubborn, not an asshole and just went with it. Plus, after the accident at the Slate Mines and the Elephant Statue. Duncan started to give himself up to his couple.

When they both sleep together, Duncan usually steals the blanket.

Daisy x Ryan 💚💜

After Percy’s Predicament, Daisy went back to the Mainland as a completely new woman, although some of the Other Railway Diesel drivers’ attitudes rubbed off on her, she came back during the construction of the Sodor Airport and went back to the Mainland. She only came back permanently when the line to Harwick completed construction and they needed a locomotive to deal with the passengers.

At first, Daisy did have feelings for Ryan but since she hadn’t been on the island for a long time, she thought everyone still held a prejudice against diesels. But she soon learned Diesel, ‘Arry and Bert were literally the only Diesels with that superiority complex. Although she still waited patiently to confess his feelings for the young driver.

Judy and Jerome, as you may guess, would participate in their wedding, if Daisy planned one.

Diesel did disapprove of a Steamie dating a Diesel Engine driver (the fact he also had a crush on Daisy didn’t help) but when he slowly changed his ways after the spring accident, he also slowly accepted Daisy’s relationship, with the latter assuring him that maybe he will find that someone special.

Just like Douglas and Oliver, they like visiting the beaches on the Little Western branch line. And Daisy loves showing Ryan affect in public.

Ryan is another driver of a steam engine that ‘Arry and Bert respect, mainly because Diesel does, and he’s sort of ‘Arry and Bert’s leader. And because Daisy is capable of giving the Ironworks’ Twins a piece of her mind.

If they don’t spend Christmas or New Year at Harwick, most probable thing is that they spend it in the Dieselworks, but still bringing Judy and Jerome’s cranes with them.

Judy and Jerome love to lower their cranes’ hooks with a mistletoe just for them (and for other couples when they were in Knapford Yards)

[str33tydr1ft]

To all the Rusty/Duncan shippers. It's feeding time.

I have made you a snack <3

Enjoy <3

[fartsalot09]

me acting nonchalant after my stomach grumbles in a silent classroom 😕

[sandgambler]

some more ttte ponies yay

[r0seb100d]

Dallas Winston x reader hiding at the abandoned church

A mood board for a short fic I’m working on 🤍

[thefluffyrailway-official]

𝕊𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕜 ℙ𝕖𝕖𝕜!!!

𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚎....

(AU inspo: @steam-beasts <3)

[jessythebunny]

Rusty x Duncan

Two rivals in love

A cheerful diesel x a grumpy engine

Headconons:

🧡💛Rusty is sexually very serious in his decisions and work, and sometimes he thinks about procrastinating, and if he does not procrastinate, he will not be able to rest

🧡💛Since Rusty has an unknown gender and he's a non binary, Duncan uses she/her to tease him and treat him like a girl

🧡💛Rusty tries hard to cheer up Duncan, but every time he does this, his attempts fail

🧡💛Sometimes Duncan bites Rusty's neck and leaves marks on it

🧡💛Rusty likes to flirt with Duncan when he is working. He knows that he is very nervous, so he takes advantage of his nervousness in order to have fun with him

🧡💛They were always fighting and arguing in front of everyone, until the others got tired of this, and one day they decided to reconcile and each of them confessed his feelings to the other, and they rarely quarreled

🧡💛They like to watch horror movies together, since Duncan is a coward, and if a ghost or something scary appears in one of the scenes, Duncan gets scared and jumps on Rusty and hugs him tightly out of fear

🧡💛since Duncan is quick to anger, he calls Rusty "dumbass" out of anger, but this does not sadden Rusty because he knows that Duncan doesn't mean this

🧡💛 🎵Toxic-Britney Spears🎵

[ask-sentient-vehicles]

Who do the narrow gauge engines think is best pony?

:)

(I kinda hate scrolling through MLP on the internet cuz the fandom's horrible -_-)

so many tags wth

[sodor-spirit]

Just something spicy between this “slap slap to kiss” couple … 🫣

[weirdowithaquill]

I think it's time you consider sharing your Duke and Rheneas ship concept (and the pufflings' sabotage efforts!) with the world 🙏

My memory is that they were too cute to languish forever only in DMs

Your memory is correct! And also really good! This conversation was months ago!

But here goes nothing - how I ended up shipping Rheneas and Duke:

It all begins with a certain @jobey-wan-kenobi and shipping Skarloey and Neil. These two are very important for Dukeas (Rhenuke?) - so let's cover them first.

These two are terrible at flirting. Like, legitimately bad. Neil gets a repaint when he's bought by the Crovan's Gate Mining Company (into SKR red!!) and Skarloey attempts to flirt and be suave to capture Neil's heart. Here's how he does:

"I like seeing you in my colour--" So far so good - but the engines don't really have good metaphors for clothes so it sort of falls apart: "--it would look better on... uh... oh..." Human pickup lines don't really work for engines, do they? Neil is so confused, and Skarloey is dying of embarrassment (the fireman said that it would totally work!)

Rheneas laughs himself sick.

Skarloey - after grumbling about Rheneas laughing at him - swallows his pride and asks his brother for help. (Side note - this is where our conversation started. We were talking about how the SKR is more interesting for family-values in the RWS.)

Rheneas has never had a crush before, and so his best idea is: "Why not ask him to double head a train with you?" Now, those of you who've instantly spotted the problem with narrow gauge Skarloey and standard gauge Neil double heading a train are doing better than these two hopeless idiots.

But Skarloey is not to be deterred! So he builds 'the truck' to pull trains on the standard gauge railway! Ah... but there's not enough traffic for double heading, so none of the managers will allow it.

It's not like Neil is any better though - this is the same boxy engine who saw Skarloey and went "he's so cute, but I'm too ugly for him..." at which point his crew face-palmed. So his crew convinced Neil to invite Skarloey to hang out at the works while he's being repainted into NWR colours (circa 1915). So Skarloey's there when he's sanded down and repainted.

Skarloey gets a nosebleed and passes out.

And Neil thinks that Skarloey just fell asleep! Even as the mechanics at Crovan's Gate are gathering around him to study him because no engine has ever had a nosebleed before, oh my goodness look at our discovery!

These two are disasters.

Peter Sam is no help either. Peter Sam is about as innocent as a three-year-old (Duke was not going to let no dock workers sully His Puffling, thank you very much) so his best advice is to: "Sing to him!" "What song?" "Uh..." Peter Sam doesn't do proper songs, he makes up ditties! What do you mean, wooing the boxy engine involves actually knowing music?

Skarloey just skips over asking Sir Handel for advice. Which is probably for the best, considering Sir Handel's attempt at flirting was to basically stun Gordon by talking his ear off and insulting his own coaches.

Yeah... none of these engines are very good at this.

But yeah, it probably takes until Rusty and Duncan figure themselves out for Skarloey to get some good advice. Cause of all the engines on the SKR, these two are the first to get into an actual relationship (with each other, but it's not Duncan's first, let's be honest). So, here's this centennarian-and-then-some engine that is Skarloey needing his romance to be chaperoned by these two youngsters... AND IT WORKS!

Finally he has the wingengines he needs: a foul-mouthed factory worker and something called a 'diesel'.

And Rheneas is still laughing in the background.

But it works! Skarloey buys some flowers with his driver's money and asks Neil out - and Neil says yes! (Let's all just headcanon that he was the Crovan's Gate Works engine at this point, okay? Okay.) Rheneas's first words upon hearing this are lost to time, but were either "Oh thank God" or "FINALLY!"

He is very lucky that he is at the works and hears about it there, or else he'd have gotten into a massive argument. But at the same time, he's rather sad, cause he's been using this romantic trainwreck as his entertainment for the last 100 odd years, throwing out slightly bogus suggestions to stir up the drama.

These two are going steady enough in 1965 for Skarloey to tease Neil by calling him "ugly but kind" in front of the Reverend - who accidentally takes it to heart.

We are all very lucky that said Anglican Reverend was out of earshot when Neil shot back a quip about nosebleeds.

But this is Rheneas' life up until 1970 - it's spent doing his job and laughing at his brother's absolutely hilarious and terrible love life. But romance? No, it's not in his cards...

And then Duke arrives.

And Rheneas goes “oh no, he’s hot.”

Rheneas immediately goes to his brother - because they're brothers, and they're supposed to help one another - completely forgetting the past 100 years.

Skarloey bursts into laughter. And then tells Neil, who also laughs. Rheneas is humbled with his own crush on Duke - much to his consternation.

But it’s worse cause Rheneas has to deal with two very overprotective children. See, Sir Handel and Peter Sam don't want to share their Granpuff. Cause they see Rheneas as a friend, not a weird step-grandpa, so stop butting in on our family. These boys have Granpuff-related trauma, and they are not handing over their Granpuff to just any old puffball. Duke for his part thinks Rheneas is cute - but his pufflings just keep calling him "a bad influence" - which is hilariously ironic considering Sir Handel.

Of course, being Peter Sam and Sir Handel, they also do their 'sunshine and thunder thing': "I think it's nice!" "You WOULD." Which naturally evolves into good-cop-bad-cop as Peter Sam is swayed by Sir Handel (and a sniggering Skarloey, but Skarloey's always had the best of intentions, right?)

Rheneas takes his own advice and asks to double head a train (cause at least he's the same gauge!) and Sir Handel slots himself in. Duke thinks it's sweet that Sir Handel is trying to spend more time with him. Rheneas is pulling his metaphorical hair out (oh, he knows - but he's also messing with Rheneas. He also talks to Skarloey).

Can you imagine how ridiculous it would be for everyone? Rheneas is just being interrogated in the background while Duke does a deadpan to some documentary crew like he’s in the Office: “This has been going on for 25 years. I have been dating Rheneas for 20 of those years.”

He has conveniently forgotten to mention this fact to Sir Handel and Peter Sam...

And that should have been that.

Right?

No. Cause then we talked about humanisations - and the story picked back up, only now we have to jump back to the year Duke got together with Rheneas. Now, for some reason or another (I blame the boulder), the entire SKR crew (Neil included) are suddenly turned human. After a few days of figuring out how being human works (cause we take most of three decades before we settle into 'humaning' - these engines are gonna need some help), they begin to act as normally as a bunch of engines-turned-humans can. There was one occasion where Peter Sam bear-walked across the yard because he couldn't figure out how walking worked, and humans have four legs! "Those are hands." "Good enough for walking!"

See, the engines pop into being human with bodies and clothes (this is important) - and for the most part, it's pretty stock standard. Rusty has overalls, Duncan has a few piercings, Sir Handel gets wheelie shoes (for his steamroller wheels!) and Duke has a massive overcoat that makes him look - for lack of a better term - rather chubby.

And he does nothing to dissuade the other engines from this line of thinking. On the surface, it makes sense after all! Duke has his large saddle tank, which translated over.

So it comes as a great surprise to everyone when Duke takes off his overcoat after the engine Duncan (who was pulling them in one of the passenger coaches) derails. Duke is not fat - no, he's been hiding tools in his overcoat... like a crowbar. In fact, Duke randomly takes off his shirt too so he can use said crowbar to lever Duncan back onto the rails all by himself (the shirt was... uh... too constricting?).

Rheneas gets a nosebleed - only none of the engines know how human nosebleeds work and panic. This of course tips Duke off that yes, Rheneas does have a thing for him.

So, Duke basically tortures Rheneas for weeks by volunteering to join the track-workers gang, and wearing a singlet and he has arms, why does he have arm muscles he is a steam engine! (I told someone about this, and they said - and I quote: "It's cause they're always pumping iron!")

Duke also keeps Werther's Originals in his overcoat to distribute to both his Pufflings and the local schoolchildren. Rheneas' heart cannot handle the adorableness.

This of course led to Rheneas confessing to Duke in the rain after the stationmaster's cat got lost. Rheneas had thought Duke would think he was cool if he found said cat first and rushed off... and fell into a ditch and sprained his ankle cause he's a human now, and people don't walk normal, why don't they have wheels - (oh wait, that's what trains are for). Rheneas had saved the cat, and then Duke helped him, asked why Rheneas ran off and didn't stick with the search party - and so Rheneas confessed in the moment. Very cliche romantic, but so am I a bit.

So that's how Duke and Rheneas ended up as a couple. A bit of magic, a whole lot of Duke's family torturing Rheneas and a missing cat.

[str33tydr1ft]

| "Honestly, I'm Happy I'm here with you.." |

Ohmygod what's this??? DEPRESSION???? yes, yes it is,

Anyway this is based off of a random au i made again so- WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO i hope you guys like this!!!!!!!!!!

[traintrainingmontage]

Te's Narrow-Gauge Ships in a Nutshell

Skarloey x Neil (Neilloey):

Starcrossed lovers who decided to call themselves married the night before one of them disappears during the war. Skarloey and Neil had always been close, ever since Skarloey had arrived on Sodor. When WWI broke out, the two decided to be married, with their loving crews tying ropes around their buffers in an approximation of handfasting as Robert Sam officiated their ceremony. They promised each other that they would live through the war, but even though they both did, once the war ended, Neil's whereabouts were unknown. Luckily for both of them, Neil had ended up in the back of an abandoned warehouse, and through a series of connections, is unearthed in the modern day. He's taken by the SR, restored, and finally, FINALLY, Skarloey has his other half back, the only engine other than Rheneas he can be vulnerable around, the one who grounds him when he gets bouncy, the one who feeds into all of his schemes and jokes. Neil is grounding; easy-going; calm, kind, and collected; and just what Skarloey needs when he doesn't need to FIX the problem--just vent about it. Skarloey, for his part, is sprightly, energetic, insightful, and clever, and Neil always appreciates the joy that Skarloey brings to each and every day. His laughter colors Neil's entire world, and being back together gives them both a sense of rightness that they were both deeply missing.

Rheneas x Stepney (Rhenney):

Lovers who could never last. They met in the summer of 1962 when Stepney came to Sodor and Rheneas had gotten back from the works. Stepney had just been entered into preservation and was being paraded as a mascot; Rheneas had just returned to his railway after being overhauled. Both of them feel like fish out of water; for Rheneas, the last time the line was this nice was when it was new, almost 100 years ago, and he's never had permanent co-workers before. He's home, but... home is more crowded than he remembers. Stepney gets that; for Stepney, he's not used to being on such a short line. There's a sense of adjustment that they're both struggling to navigate, and with Stepney being on Sodor, the two of them finding another engine that they can deeply relate to in this way is incredibly meaningful. It's not hard to fall in love with the other, really; they mirror each other, a standard-gauge engine out of place among his fellows, a narrow-gauge engine feeling the same. The right place at the right time. But it could never last, could never be anything more than a sweet summer fling; Stepney can't stay, and Rheneas can't leave. But for that one sweet summer, they have found their other halves, and that summer will remain etched in their minds forever, captured only in the letters that their supportive drivers pen on their behalf. This is the relationship most likely to be queerplatonic versus romantic, but I do rather like the extra layer that the romance adds, particularly if Rheneas only realizes it's love while listening to his driver read Stepney's letters and hearing the adoration buried in between the lines.

Sir Handel x Peter Sam:

Wholesome lovers who are one specific flavor of the grumpy one loves the sunshine trope, but also have depth beyond that. These two are quite sweet together--even as they're teasing each other about their various upgrades, Sir Handel can also be vulnerable around Peter Sam and knows that he can trust him with his life. He can trust Peter Sam with his vulnerabilities and fears. If he's being serious, Peter Sam won't laugh or put him down. He'll just listen and support him. And for Peter Sam, he loves Sir Handel because despite Sir Handel's arrogance and ego getting in his way (even if it eases up later), Peter Sam can see the good in him. The pride that pushes him. The ability to admit and reflect on his mistakes. The willingness to learn from other engines, such as Skarloey. The desire to do well even when he claims he hates working (and frankly, I don't think he does; I do think that as the express engine of the Mid-Sodor, he's fearful of messing up at the beginning and lets his preconceptions about what he should be able to do override the reality of having to navigate a new railway, new coaches, and new coworkers, so because he doesn't want to fail, he claims he doesn't want to work). Peter Sam has seen him become a better engine over the course of their tenure at the Skarloey Railway, and he absolutely loves that about him.

Rusty x Duncan:

Another flavor of grumpy/sunshine, but different from Sir Handel and Peter Sam. Rusty is calm and kind and has a heart of gold, as well as a strong work ethic. Duncan, of course, is rude and brash and prickly. However, once Duncan overcomes his initial distrust of Rusty, I feel that they warm up to each other quite quickly. Rusty makes Duncan feel safe in a way that he's not quite used to, but can't get enough of. He's the odd one out on the Skarloey for multiple reasons, including his factory work and the fact that he's not from Sodor, but being around Rusty makes him think that such things don't really matter nearly as much as he'd thought. He can let his guard down around Rusty; with the little diesel, he can rest. As for Rusty, I think Duncan is their closest friend in a lot of ways. Skarloey and Rheneas have been running the railway by themselves for so long, and are mentor figures to all the younger engines on the railway (including these two). Sir Handel and Peter Sam knew each other long before coming to the SR. Thus, Rusty and Duncan are the two "new engines" on the block, and this brings them closer together. Rusty also loves how fiercely Duncan both loves and lives his life, and while he can certainly be grumpy, Rusty is the only one privileged enough to see his softer side.

Duke x Stanley (Smudger in the TVS):

Another doomed love, with the potential of a redemption arc. I have often imagined that Stanley's attitude toward carelessness and spills concealed worries of inadequacy, but the Mid-Sodor management decided to give a rather draconian punishment for his actions, and he ended up abandoned in a flooded mine. Stanley was remorseful after he lost his wheels and was turned into a pumping engine, and if able to be rescued, I can imagine him trying to repair his relationship with Duke, especially if Duke was initially against him for his apparent carelessness. However, after seeing the Mid-Sodor's punishment for him and seeing how his defiant personality softened into something more genuine and remorseful, Duke decided to try getting along with Stanley and would ask to be parked near the shed so that Stanley would be less alone. After a few years of late-night talks, they became incredibly close, with Duke appreciating Stanley as an equal rather than him being another granchuff like Sir Handel and Peter Sam. It was only after Stanley was put in the mine that Duke realized the extent of his feelings for the other engine, but by then, it was far too late. It was only thanks to fate's meddling that the two were reunited in the 1970s, with Stanley barely able to believe that Duke remembered him, much less petitioned the management of the SR to rescue him. Duke's granchuffs, of course, know full well how much of a stubborn bulldog Duke can be when it comes to not letting go of his loved ones, so really, this is par for the course. But either way, Stanley is mistrustful of the SR and everyone on it at first, butting heads with some of the more fiery personalities, but once it becomes clear that the SR really is as much of a found family as they seem, he finds himself being dragged along by their pace until he feels right at home. What Duke loves about Stanley is that he brings out Duke's less elegant side. With Stanley, he can laugh loudly and let loose in a way that he's not comfortable doing in front of most others. He takes great pride in his knowledge of etiquette and elegance, to the point that it can be hard to bond with others when they want to be more casual, but with Stanley, it feels easy. He's seen the real Stanley, beneath all the bluster, and finds that this is an engine that he can truly be comfortable around. For Stanley, Duke is his confidante, his closest friend, the one who always cared about him even when he was at his worst. He didn't see Stanley's punishment and think that he deserved it; he saw Stanley's punishment and was compassionate instead.

[sandgambler]

Ttte ponies part 2, electric boogaloo

[thisisadriana4evertugsfan]

duncan rusty

[uselessalexis165]

tried making some ttte memes (292)