#Posts that are about Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

[shinygoku]

Sometimes it's actually less Cringe to be like, "Yeah I love this children's show made for children" than to get so insecure about it you're like "No you don't understand it's SO DAAAARK and SERIOUS and DICTATORSHIP STATE ALLEGORY"

[bruhstation]

man who enjoys every single second he's dedicated to hating to the point it pisses everyone except him off

[theredengineapologist]

Now that you finished the classic era, what are your top ten favorite classic era episodes?

Apologies for this ask taking so long, but I wanted to take the time to answer your question in the detail that it deserves.

Before I begin, I just want to clarify that this is a list of my top 10 favorite episodes. This is not an indicative list of which Thomas episodes I think are necessarily written the best. They are ranked purely based on how much I enjoy them.

Anyway, Top 10 Classic Era Thomas Episodes, Let's GO!

10. S6 Ep15: "James and the Red Balloon"

Kicking off the list with a James episode (because favoritism ALWAYS wins in this house)! There's definitely a nostalgia factor to this episode, as it's one of the few episodes that I actually remember from childhood (I have the "James and the Red Balloon and Other Stories" vhs tape). But also I just love the irony of James getting jealous of another vehicle that is also red.

Also I love his sad face after he saves the balloon.

It's like "Congratulations James! You saved the day!" and then James is just like "But I didn't want to. The balloon's gonna take my job :(". I dunno, I just think it's funny. He's so silly.

Also the ending of James dreaming about flying like the red balloon is very cute.

9. S5 Ep13: "Stepney Gets Lost"

I gotta admit, I do have an interest in Thomas's darker episodes. I know that kids' shows aren't happy/pure/hunky-dory all the time, but it still surprises me when they aren't. Purely because even though I know that, I still don't expect it. And so it's always a pleasant surprise when kids' shows like Thomas and Friends are willing to venture into darker territory. Like, they LITERALLY showed an attempted murder on-screen. I gotta give them props for that.

8. S1 Ep9: "Troublesome Trucks" / "Foolish Freight Cars"

I adore James's whole character arc from the first season, but out of all the episodes from that arc, this one definitely takes the cake for being the best one. I feel like we really get to see all the facets of James' character at their best. Allow me to elaborate.

First of all, for as much flack as James gets for being "the vain one", he takes his mistakes harder than everybody. Look at him here! He's literally crying in the shed! Dude has seen the error of his ways and regrets it so hard. And that's honestly one of the things I love about James's character and that I'm glad stays consistent throughout the show. Yes he has his moments of being a jackass and a showboat. But the moment he sees that he's done something wrong, he will atone for it! He's not afraid to take accountability, and that's something very admirable.

Speaking of atoning for one's actions, I feel like being The Determinator (TvTropes lingo, means a character who never gives up in the face of hardship) is a character trait we more commonly associate with Edward or Thomas. But James sure is one too! No matter how many times the trucks make him stop, James keeps going! I love how encouraging his driver and fireman are being towards him during these moments too. Good to know he has that good support system.

Then we get to the part where James is puffing up Gordon's hill! And he's all like "omg this is so hard. how tall is this hill" and then suddenly it gets easier and he's like "Yippee! Yippee!", not knowing he's left his tail of trucks behind. Any time the engines go about their work smiling and happy unknowing that something bad just did or is about to happen is insanely funny to me.

Now we get to my favorite part of the episode, where James has to go back down for the rest of the trucks. Please excuse my 2x5 shipper brain coming out for this, but I love how Edward has always been a supportive figure throughout James's character arc. He offers to help James with his work. But then James just gives a polite "No thank you". And then Edward continues to support and encourage him to keep going. I love that! I love them!

I don't think it's a coincidence that it was Edward who brought Sir Topham Hatt to see James's triumph. Edward has been with James since his first day working after the accident. And so of course it would be Edward to bring Sir Topham Hatt to see James at his best. Like, this is such a satisfying episode and it's nice to see James win (because let's be real, the majority of his focus episodes going forward is just James taking Ls).

7. S7 Ep7: "James and the Queen of Sodor"

Look I'm gonna be honest, this one's just a really fun watch in my opinion. I love to see James try so hard to be important. Gordon really tried to trick him but James was like, "Nah, fuck you guys! I'm gonna stay ✨shiny and clean✨!" And he did! Up until the very end when Percy sneezed on him. But you know what, a win is a win (and that comes rarely for James as the series goes on).

Also I love this face Gordon makes when he asks if collecting the Queen of Sodor is important. Dude knows what he's doing and he's trying SO HARD not to be smug about it it's hilarious. XD

6. S1 Ep15: "Tenders and Turntables"

What can I say? I enjoy watching the Big Engines struggle. It's really funny XD I love how James makes fun of Gordon for getting stuck on the turntable only to immediately get spun round and round. The Island of Sodor really does have laser-guided karma, huh? XD

Also as a continuity thing, I like that we get to see how Thomas getting his branchline effects the other engines around him. It makes the events of each episode feel like they have a greater impact, something that I believe gets lost in later seasons.

5. S5 Ep10: "Toby and the Flood"

I don't think I ever mentioned it, but Toby is one of my top five favorite characters in the entire series. Right up there with James, Edward, and Thomas! Any time Toby gets a highlight episode, I know it's gonna be the highlight of the season. But this one, BY FAR, takes the cake as the BEST classic Toby episode.

For me, "Toby and the Flood" was the first episode that really made me think "Oh my god! The trains are in PERIL!" Like, this is a legit scary situation they put Toby in this time around. Not that past incidents like The Flying Kipper crash or James' multiple derailments weren't scary from the engine's perspectives. But train crashes kinda feel par for the course in the silly talking train show. Something about a natural disaster just hits different.

Like when Toby was floating in the water about to go over the waterfall, I was legitimately worried for him. Going into this blind, I had no clue how Toby was gonna get out of this. Logically, I knew they couldn't just kill Toby off. But at the same time, when Harold dropped the rope, I thought they were just gonna pull the driver up and leave Toby there. I was not sure how they were gonna save him but I'm so glad they did.

The Toby-Harold-Percy dynamic is ✨P E A K✨ here by the way. I loved seeing them work together and it's a shame we don't get to see more of it.

Aside from the story itself, the score is amazing as well. Really does a great job of setting the tone for this story.

Oh, and one more thing.

THE SETS ARE GORGEOUS!

Seriously, I think this is one of the best examples of just how GOOD the model series can look. The sets look so realistic. And when the dam broke and the water came spilling out? That was spectacular! I'd give this episode a 10/10 just for the visuals alone.

4. S3 Ep18: "All At Sea"

"All At Sea", in my opinion, is by far the most thought provoking episode in the entire classic series. After watching it for the first time, I was still thinking about it and contemplating its meaning for weeks afterwards. Even to this day, I still find myself going back to think about it from time to time.

For a while I remember I was going back and forth about whether I actually liked this episode or not. The lesson at the end is "sometimes, the best travels are the ones you can only dream about", and I wasn't sure what that meant. Growing up American, we were always taught to go out and chase our dreams, no matter the risk or the cost. But in Duck's case, not only is he not encouraged to go travel and see what's beyond the horizon. He is, in fact, actively discouraged from doing so. From a logical standpoint, it makes sense. What reason would an engine have to go sailing or travel the world. But it still got me thinking. Was it really so wrong for Duck to dream about greater things?

But after talking about it with my sibling (bless their heart for dealing with my incessant prattling on a daily basis), we came to the conclusion that it's not that it was wrong for Duck to have dreams. But instead, "All at Sea" is a story about why it's important to be content with where you are right now. Every one of us is going to have dreams. But the unfortunate reality is that not everyone is going to be able to achieve those dreams. Many of us, in fact, will not even have the opportunity to chase our dreams. And in such cases, perhaps it's best to simply be content with where we are right now. Understand that we still have a purpose in life at the place we are currently.

Dreaming is all fine and good. But understand that where you are right now is just as important and just as worthwhile.

3. S2 Ep13: "Dirty Work" / "Diesel's Devious Deed"

I love Duck's whole arc against Diesel. I think it's great. But if I'm being honest, the reason why the middle episode is my favorite out of the three-parter is because the Big Engines are absolutely ✨ICONIC✨ in this!

We get our very first utterance of "DISGRACEFUL! DISGUSTING! DESPICABLE!" in this episode. Not to mention this iconic roast:

"Duck called me a Galloping Sausage!" "Rusty Red Scrap Iron!" "I'm Old Square Wheels!" "Well Duck?" "I only wish sir, that I had thought of those names myself. If the dome fits!"

I just LOVE the drama of watching the engines be absolute Mean Girls to each other. You can't tell me that in an AU where Thomas and Friends is a high school show catered to young girls, that Gordon, James, and Henry wouldn't be the equivalent of The Plastics. I nicknamed them "The Railway Heathers" for a reason. XD

2. S1 Ep2: "Edward and Gordon" / "Edward Helps Out"

This was the episode that made me instantly like Edward. He wasn't someone that I really remembered liking or disliking as kid. But after re-watching this episode, he immediately skyrocketed to being my second favorite character.

The story does a great job of establishing exactly who Edward is with only about four minutes and thirty seconds. He's smaller than the others (though surprisingly, I noticed they don't actually mention that he's old until season 2), and is very kind. But he often doesn't get appreciated for all the hard work he does. It makes you really feel for the guy.

Thankfully, Edward gets many more wins later in the series, so it's all good!

1. S2 Ep5: "Old Iron"

Is it really a surprise to literally anyone that this is my favorite classic series episode? Of course not! It's literally the EPITOME Jameward episode.

My shipping preferences aside, I would also like to say that "Old Iron" is a fantastic James episode AND a fantastic Edward episode as well. Both characters are at their best here, and let me tell you why.

Starting with James first (because, say it with me now, favoritism rules in this house!). We all love James being a dumbass. And while he didn't directly cause his own karma this time around, we still get to see him be a little dumb of ass. Like, when he becomes a runaway at first he doesn't even realize there's anything wrong.

He just puffs along, laughing to himself going "What a lark! What a lark!"

Then of course, we gotta have the "Regretti Spaghetti" moment, in which he realizes "Oh shit! I don't have a driver! I can't stop!"

This is James's second time being a runaway. The first time, he was pushed by cars and derailed into a field. Those memories are probably still fresh at this point, except I'd argue this time is even worse because he's completely alone. No driver or fireman to check him over like last time. James is all by himself.

But who comes to save him? It's Edward!

Edward doesn't even hesitates. He's puffing and chuffing as fast as his wheels can carry him because he HAS to save James. He has to!

The chase scene is very intense. Even if you know how it ends, there's still this feeling of tension there that I'd say is palpable.

At last, Edward catches up to James! He's got him! And they're puffing along together.

"So, the Old Iron caught you after all."

Edward isn't even mad about James's insult to him. He just takes it in stride.

Still, we all know that James, for all of his faults, knows when to take accountability. When he knows he's in the wrong, he apologizes for it and makes up for it, no hesitation.

"I'm sorry. Thank you for saving me. You were splendid Edward."

Splendid is a word James usually reserves only for himself. The fact that he's giving it to Edward really means something special.

I love "Old Iron" because it shows James and Edward, my two favorite characters, at their absolute best. All their greatest characteristics are put on display right here. I would say, not only is "Old Iron" my favorite episode in the Classic Era, but it's also one of my favorite episodes of the entire series period. There's only one episode I like in the entire show more than "Old Iron", but we can talk about that another day (though feel free to place your guesses in the Ask Box).

That just about wraps up the countdown! Thank you Anon for this ask! It was so fun getting to go through my favorite episodes and talk about what makes them so great! I hope y'all enjoyed getting to hear my commentary. ❤ Until next time...

CHOO CHOO BITCHES! 🚂💨💨💨

[demonofnowhere]

Time’s Time: Time for Thomas (don’t interrupt him) & Time for Stelle (interrupt me ASAP)

* now, i once had a lovely introduction to this post.  i did, honest.  it discussed how twitter has gotten worse and worse, and how if things went well i will do my best to post more thomas stuff here, and even briefly mentioned what this post is actually about. . .

* then firefox crashed. * being new to tumblr, i had not saved a draft of my post.  in fact, i found out you could save drafts mere minutes before firefox crashed.  i thought to myself “wow! what a nifty feature!”, and then proceeded to not save it.  this almost happened twice actually.  i managed to save it the second time thankfully.  i’m still livid though.

* thank you stelle, you are a really useless idiot.

* therefore, we’re not going to have that nice introduction.  the only things you need to know from that post is that you can find me on Twitter (@DemonOfNowhere) for more of my usual infodumping, and that i’ve ditched my usual typing quirks in favour of making this post readable for you all.  let’s get straight to the point instead. * greetings, i’m stelle, demon of nowhere (name change pending?), and it is unfortunately time for thomas.

Doesn’t it feel strange to see me type normally? With dignity? With even the slightest amount of respect for myself? Err, ahem, I mean... Thomas! I love Thomas. I love the ending of “Stepney’s Special” for Thomas.

Thomas tries very hard to maintain a very professional profile on his branch line. It’s likely something he picked up from Gordon, if his attempts to imitate him whilst he was younger are anything to go by (note “Thomas’ Train”). If you get in Thomas’s way, he kicks up such a fuss and holds it against you until either one of your gets a taste of Sudrian karma (”you” being Percy in this situation, usually). This all means that when Thomas is shunted to allow Stepney, a newcomer, fly past him with one measely coach while Thomas, Annie, Clarabel and their passengers crossly wait for him to pass, Thomas gets cross.

Really cross. Super cross. He holds it against Stepney and is still fuming by the time the next morning arrives.

Thomas spoils the effect of it very quickly though. Of course he does, he’s Thomas and he’s stupid. All Stepney had to do was give one compliment and next thing he knew, Thomas was telling him EVERYTHING about his branch like an eight-year-old telling their parent all about their cool new toy they got (don’t let Mattel hear about this). Stepney calls Thomas an expert once, and away Thomas goes, not only to stroke his own ego a little, but also just because he’s too happy to ramble about his prized branch line (which Percy and Toby clearly think is hilarious, based on the illustration...). He’s a bit like me in that sense; we like to ramble about things no one cares about, but we can’t stop ourselves. Please help me.

One of my favourite parts of this exchange is the following line: “Ah well,” said Thomas modestly.

“Modestly” is the funniest words ever used to describe Thomas the Tank Engine. You and I of course both know that, despite his good heart, he is anything but modest.

Now, there’s something else I’d like to talk about here too. If you’ve read my ramblings before, you know that I cannot type for five seconds without bringing up something else that I didn’t mean to bring up but brought up anyway. I’m silly like that.

If Thomas got mad at Stepney for interrupting his branch line’s timetable once...

...How would he feel about having a whole train that has to do everything in its power to NOT interrupt the usual services?

In notes of Ffarquhar’s layout, the land cruise enthusaist train is noted to be scheduled in-between regular services, and mustn’t disrupt traffic. This is implied to be more difficult than it ought to be, partially because rail enthusiasts are rail enthusiasts and getting them back into the coaches is a miserable experience for the station’s secretary, and partially due to shunting arrangements at Ffarquhar that are absolutely mind-boggling (a document I wrote up of Ffarquhar’s timetable, according to the Awdry DVD, can be found here!).

The moment the Bloomer, or whoever the enthusiasts’ engine happens to be, arrives, he has to square his fancy saloon coaches away to make room for Thomas, Annie and Clarabel’s next down service. So, imagine for me, what happens when Bloomer indulges the enthusiasts’ interest in him at the platform for a little too long, only for Thomas with his grumpy little face to huff into the station yard and start angrily shouting at Bloomer to Get Out Of His Way Or Else The Fat Controller Will Find Out And You Will Regret That.

Now, we of course know little of Bloomer, but I’ve always thought of him not quite as an old grandpa, but rather a showman who takes a lot of pride in his theatrics on a railway filled mainly of engines still in regular service. Bloomer doesn’t get to appear publicly very often, but when he does, he’s going to make it worthwhile. He’s going to bask in the spotlight for as long as he can, impressing everyone who is lucky enough to draw eyes on him, and he’s certainly no pushover. If Bloomer wants to spend time talking to the enthusiasts about his past life (though he has to keep SOME secrets, of course. Part of the act, a bit of mystery is always fun), then he’s going to spend as much time as he can doing just that -- which he always does.

This drives Thomas insane. A WHOLE TRAIN THAT COULD THROW ALL OF HIS TIMETABLE, ALL THAT HE’S WORKED FOR, OUT THE WINDOW SO EASILY? WHAT. The poor guy. He and Bloomer would be the ultimate enemies, egomanaics for different reasons that will forever butt heads while the other Ffarquhar engines would wish they’d just shut up for two seconds.

He cheerfully and dutifully shunts Annie and Clarabel along from the carriage shed... then he sees Bloomer’s ugly mug taking up the platform. “YOU,” Thomas hissed, grounding to a halt, “YOU’RE not supposed to be here.” “Ah,” Bloomer smiled sweetly, “Thomas my boy, I most certainly belong here. It’s part of my act for me to be right here, right now. ‘Tis merely part of my script.” “Right now!?” scoffed Thomas, as Annie and Clarabel chattered quietly behind, “Right now, you and your ugly great houses on wheels are meant to be by the cattle dock! Never mind your ‘act’, my Timetable is much more important! You always talk such nonsense.” “And you always talk ever so much, yet say very little,” mused Bloomer, “A script would do you well, improv is clearly not your strong suit, Thomas my darling. For such a famous little engine, you never seem to respect the life of a shining star. What a waste, what a waste. We Enthusiast Engines have far more than timetables to worry about, boy; we have fans to please.” Thomas wanted to retort, but was interrupted by a shrill, long blast of Bloomer’s whistle. “I hope you all enjoyed the first part of the show!” Bloomer called to his passengers, as he began to back away, “We shall return after our intermission, and I have no doubt you shall all be there to witness the Grand Finale of today’s display! Make sure to be there at 6 o’clock sharp. After all, Time’s Time.” Bloomer winked in Thomas’s direction. Thomas’s face was redder than Bloomer’s paint, and he had practically vanished behind a thick cloud of steam. “What a horrid engine!” he grumbled to Annie and Clarabel when he finally made it to the platform, “He thinks the whole railway revolves about him, and expects everyone to work at HIS pace! The shame of it, the shame of it...” Annie and Clarabel really thought it all rather ironic.

This is all made funnier by the fact that once the enthusiasts’ train leaves Ffarquhar for the junction, it crosses Thomas with Annie and Clarabel going up the line at Elsbridge. Thomas has yet another chance to start bickering with Bloomer, especially when the Ffarquhar secretary likely couldn’t get the stragglers into Bloomer’s coaches in time (and Bloomer of course didn’t help her one bit). Their next rowl shall be exciting stuff for all involved -- except Annie and Clarabel, who have tried reasoning with Thomas the whole time, but haven’t quite been able to get through to their stubborn engine.

Now, realistically, I had planned to do a bit more talking rather than writing a whole scene. However, much like Thomas, improv isn’t my strong suit, and I hadn’t at first planned for this to be a Bloomer discussion, and perhaps this has gone on for long enough. Whoops!

What have we learnt today? Well, personally, I’ve learnt that I probably need to get the hang of writing these posts. This probably hasn’t worked out super well. Those of you who are more familar with this site are probably cringing so hard at me right now, and you’re entirely right to do so. For shame, me, for shame...

Usually, I like to round these off with a nice, poetic conclusion about what we’ve discussed today... but really I didn’t know that this post was going in the direction it went into. I mainly wrote this to get my foot in the door and finally post something of substance here. Apparently my second to most popular post here is talking about how fucking funny Terence the Tractor here. Can we change that please? Terence the Tractor is funny but... I can do better than that...

Well, no, no I can’t.

...

You know, I meant to start using my typing quirks again at the end of the post.

But now we’re here, and it doesn’t feel right for me to start using them.

...

I’m doing an awful job at ending this.

...

Maybe Terence the Tractor IS the best I can do.

Hmm.

[deviousdiesel]

Hey, wanna hear some unnecessary thoughts about Lemon from someone who’s watched Thomas?

Lemon mentions that the Momomon anime airs every Thursday at 9 AM after Thomas airs. But what specific Thomas show and season? I wonder. The short answer? Well, my closest guess is probably Thomas and Friends: Big World Big Adventures (aka “BWBA”) which is the 22nd - 24th seasons of Thomas. But more specifically, it may have been in its 23rd season airing in Japan during 2020.

From what I gather from the film’s adaptation of Lemon, he strikes me as someone who was a fan of the classic series of the model era (early season stuff, series 1-5) and grew up with it.  The CGI era however is complex with its history and he seems more of an on-and-off watcher of it, he still appreciates the Thomas series even if he doesn’t watch the newer series as much as he did as he was younger (and BWBA doesn’t have the same caliber and direction as the previous Thomas series)

In the novel, it’s very clear that Lemon has watched up until s7 of Thomas, which was in its model era in the 2000s. 

I think it tracks because even if it’s the CGI series, which is more modern and has a LOT of differences, I think Lemon would still be interested in watching it to some extent even if the newer stuff doesn’t hit as hard as the classic series he watched.

The long answer? If you’re a fuckin nerd and want to read I can indulge you.

A lot of this is just purely from my observation and my own take (and this is just silly so I really hope you know that).

Bullet Train started its production in October of 2020 - which I’m going to assume is when and where the movie takes place in because the majority was shot during that time - and incidentally, that same month Mattel had announced that Thomas was getting a brand new reboot called All Engines Go, which is a 2D animated production.

Thomas has a few distinctive mediums on television and it’s divided into the model series, CGI series and AEG, which is its own thing. Lemon obviously is shown to have grown up watching Thomas so he’s more versed in the model series and its characters.

Fun fact: In the novel, he mentions a few more characters who appear not only in early seasons but also season 7.

[jammyjams1910]

Practising tweening in gacha neon with ✨Toad✨

@just-a-douglas-simp-existing @blackwolfflame @darkcaca190 @blockheadhetalian @sxrahwashere

[uselessalexis165]

Who's your favorite Thomas character, if you don't mind me asking?

Henry became one of my favorite characters when I started looking into the series more 💚

[13o7billionyearsinthemaking]

Check this out ttte reddit discovered I existed lmao

[shelli-gator]

I LOVE drawing James with bags under his eyes. Who needs beauty sleep when you look this good and are haunted by how much of a bastard you've been both past present and future.

[transsexualunderground]

so i was allowed to open a few gifts early this fine christmas and i, a fellow who made the foolish mistake (okay maybe not TOTALLY a mistake i love feeling like i can be a little more open about my interests even if it's poked fun at some) of telling my mother about me gettin into ttte of all things.

and so i open this gift

and it's an aeg thomas

knowing my mom's tendency to get me gifts that are particularly silly, i already had a gut feeling this would happen, especially after i opened a gift only for it to be A JAR OF CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY CLAM MAYO

anyways mr. toy of a reboot of a reboot of an adaptation of a book series aka thomas the godforsaken tank engine is here and he's here to stay. he is motorized and he comes with a faceless truck that i have put a battery in because I brought too many batteries to my room. I call it the Singular Battery Special. i don't like the way he looks at me but i think i'll educate him about the rws and actual physics.

i can't just tell you about the Singular Battery Special and Thomas the Godforsaken Tank Engine without showing you, huh?

[bruhstation]

Since we see him every now and then, what is Ryan like in Casa Tidmouth?

ryan works at the harwick branchline with daisy. in the secret of the lost treasure and misty island rescue arcs, ryan is the bystander to thomas' adventures that lead up to his fight with sailor john and skiff, eventually adding to the number of supporting characters that got dragged into both the mystery surrounding the gold dust and the mess thomas has left on sodor. after sailor john got arrested and thomas went missing, ryan helped thomas' friends look for his whereabouts while also being the key witness to sailor john's mad ramblings about "lady of the legend" and his motives for almost blowing up the island. ryan never asked for any of this but because he likes thomas and knows info that other people don't, he just HAS to step in

outside of the plot-heavy stuff, ryan's one of the kinder sudrian railway workers compared to his weirdo coworkers. he considers daisy and thomas to be his closest friends despite the former having the tendency to push her workloads onto him in the past and the latter being a bit standoffish despite ryan's attempts at hospitality.

ryan's extended family, on the other hand...

ryan is connected to the gresleys through his mother. his mother is the daughter of joseph gresley I (the gresleys’ grandfather), so he’s the cousin of gordon, scott, spencer, and mallard. he doesn’t talk to his cousins often ever since he’s a teenager because they’re nutjobs who mostly care about themselves and ryan has self-respect and values his sanity

unlike most his cousins who has the power of hater-ism coursing through their veins, ryan is a perfectly normal man who cares about his friends. he talks about his issues directly instead of letting it simmer. he sometimes have drinks with daisy and thomas after work. he used to have trouble articulating his more “negative” feelings and driving his opinion, but he’s doing better lately. he wants to maintain peace by being kind to others, which makes him prone to being dragged into any weird business his cousins have whenever they have the chance.

whenever holiday season is around the corner, ryan knows exactly what to expect. scott, his most famous cousin, the only one who still GAF about tightening what’s left of the gresleys together, will ask him to come over for dinner with his cousins (his charisma stat is maxed out). ryan can’t refuse because scott will pull excuses like “it’s just once a year” or “there's a dog” and ryan doesn’t have anything else to do. the family party will start off normal, then when mallard brings out the wine (provocateur!!!) things go south. gordon and spencer would badmouth each other about each other's secrets/fails, they get into a fight, scott tries to calm them down, ryan frowns at the disinterested mallard, sighs, goes outside to the nearest telephone booth to call daisy and ask her to pick him up. at this point it’s comical

ryan’s really the opposite of his cousins, from clothing to backstory. when designing him, I took the key components of his cousins’ designs and invert them. his cousins dress lavishly – big coats and suits, but ryan just rolls up his sleeves and dons a vest. his cousins’ haistyles are combed back, gelled, etc, while ryan’s hair goes everywhere (parted bangs show hairline). most of his cousins have horrific trauma related to death and loss from their childhood, while ryan’s just a city boy who grew up with nothing eventful in his life (except attending his cousins’ funerals). he doesn’t even inherit the gresley surname and is oblivious to most of the gossips surrounding or is inside the gresley family.

ryan is his own person who gets thrown around like a volleyball a lot, but he still has a good heart. one can consider ryan to be what any of his cousins would’ve ended up like if they had normal upbringings. who am I kidding? lol

[kenora-pizza]

FUCK. YES. THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS!

I'm sure once the unlucky tug does a sodors finest video on them half the fandom is gonna wake up and take off their rose tinted glasses on donald and douglas being added back in cgi. As wonderful as it is that they came back at all… they brought back the LAMEST version of them. As entertaining as Love me Tender and Emily in the Middle are (and I love them. They’re some of my favorite cgi episodes) they’re still based off this extremely dumbed down version of donald and douglas.

I guess it's the same principle with Henry, sticking with the annoying status quo of him being a wet paper bag but he still got a moment or two where they actually got him right (Henry gets the Express) but I don't think Donald and Douglas ever got characterized properly after season 6/7.

(in a vacuum, this one moment is kind of metal. There’s something symbolic about these two looking away from each other and directly at what the alternative to not sticking together when they came to the island would have been: scrap.)

The idea of something driving these two apart in such a dramatic way is an awesome concept but you really can’t count on season 6 to get that right 😭 let alone their cgi re-introduction

The "indistinguishable twins who argue and butt heads" is bill and bens thing! I will stand by this! Donald and Douglas are cheeky but also competent and mature and clever. Might I also add their ability to be separate characters that got completely taken away? everything they had just got turned into “they yell at each other and theyre scottish” and I will go ranting to my grave about it

[weirdowithaquill]

Traintober 2024: Day 4 - Great Race

Thomas and Bertie's Race Has Consequences:

Quite famously, Thomas the Tank Engine once raced Bertie the bus up the Ffarquhar branchline from Knapford Junction right the way to the end of the line. Had you only ever read the story, or watched the show, you would be forgiven for thinking that it ended with Thomas winning and the two becoming friends.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Sodor Roadways at the time was separate to the North Western Railway, and so when the two companies both began getting angry passengers complaining about being tossed about like peas in a frying pan, they began to argue. Neither Thomas nor Bertie were aware of what was happening; both had their own services to run, and were extremely busy. Thomas especially was preoccupied with an extension happening up at the quarry, which meant he was never really around to hear the rows between the Fat Controller and Bertie’s owner.

Bertie too was busy; he’d been given a new route for a couple of weeks to cover for his friend Algy, who’d broken down and needed repairs. His new route took him right up into the hills on the north of the island, to the seaside town of Harwick and the then inland all the way to the walled city of Peel Godred, before heading south again to Ulfstead. A different bus covered his usual route, which meant neither Thomas nor Bertie had a chance to speak with one another.

It all came to a head the day that Bertie returned to his usual route. He and Thomas met at the Junction and were just about to greet each other when they were confronted by their respective owners.

“Thomas,” Sir Topham began darkly. “I am extremely disappointed to hear that you got into a race with Bertie. What were you thinking?!” “I… uh… I wasn’t, sir,” admitted Thomas weakly. Bertie’s manager sneered. “Of course you weren’t – why would one of my buses stoop so low as to agree to a race against an outdated steam engine unless provoked.” “Outdated?!” spluttered Thomas indignantly. The Fat Controller rounded on the manager. “How dare you speak to one of my engines like that!” boomed Sir Topham Hatt. The two glared at each other.

Bertie spoke up. “Sir… Thomas didn’t suggest a race. I did.” The controllers, the station master, the passengers and Thomas all stared at Bertie in shock. None of them had thought Bertie would say anything!

“You did?!” hissed the manager. “Why?” “Because I wanted to prove I was faster,” Bertie snapped. “But I wasn’t – Thomas won, and now this entire spectacle is being prolonged by you.” The Sodor Roadways manager was livid! He stepped forward threateningly, his fist raised, only for a firm hand to grab his wrist.

“I think you need to leave,” Sir Topham said, voice dangerously devoid of emotion. The Sodor Roadways manager stalked away, leaving only Sir Topham, his engine, and the bus. The guard blew his whistle, and Thomas was forced to puff away. The last thing he heard as he was leaving was Sir Topham asking, “does your manager often threaten you?”

Thomas never did find out the answer to the Fat Controller’s question, however less than a month later, the North Western Railway quietly took on ownership of the Sodor Roadways company.

In the end, Thomas and Bertie’s race did have far-reaching consequences far beyond what they expected, but it was more importantly how they became firm friends.

Back to the Master Post

[ot3]

hello!!! sorry if I'm wrong, but I remember seeing you do a manfred meta before?

Anonymous asked: or maybe it was not meta but something like people including headcanons into analysis?

this sounds familiar but im not sure if it was one post or anything... i don't think i've had too much to say about mvk i feel like i was just doing a bunch of interconnected bitching one day.

i think the only time i said much on the subject wsd when there was that one person dumping a whole essay about how he was not horribly abusive. my stance was i think even if he had been a perfect person otherwise if you murder someone's dad, and then raise them and let them believe they were responsible for murdering their own dad, and then try and frame them for a another murder so they will go to prison forever or maybe get the death penalty, that's still enough to be pretty damn abusive by my personal standards.

people using their own headcanons as part of character analysis does kind of annoy me depending on the context but i think in this specific instance. i was really pissed because one of this person's talking point was how one of their friends was a manfred von karma kinnie and they werent a threatening person because they had a special interest in thomas the tank engine???? and i was just so thrown by seeing that because. like what the actual fuck are you saying at that point. and this was a grown person too im not bullying teens here i promise.

i think most of my point that i was making during this time was that i feel like people sometimes confuse Antagonistic engagement with a text for Critical engagement with a text. sometimes when a thing presents a character as a massive piece of shit that everyone hates it's because theyre a massive piece of shit and everyone should hate them. in circumstances like this i get the sense that people are trying to outsmart media by refusing to meet a story where it's at in terms of characters who exist to serve a narrative function.

[ushizaki-urumi]

my wife and i sometimes show our daughter thomas the tank engine, i personally never watched it as a kid so this is all new to me and i'm fucking horrified about the implications

among the 10 or so episodes i've seen here's a list of fucked up takeaways I have (in no particular order)

the engines blush red (do they have blood?)

the engines don't seem to be in control of their own bodies??? Several mentions of them not being able to stop or move without a driver

some of them just don't have faces (?) but are still alive

they all live on an island, the mainland is implied to be a dystopia (post-apocalyptic? i'm not sure)

one of the cars was CRUSHED to the point of total destruction, but it was stated that "no one got hurt" all that survived from the crash was their face plate (leading me to believe this is where their consciousness is held)

theyre rewarded for good behavior w physical upkeep that they need to stay alive,,, i think if they're "bad" they're just kind of left to rust?

engines can GET SICK AND FEEL UNWELL, during one incident where thomas had a foreign body in a part of him that causes a buildup of steam. the repair crew put up warning signs around him telling people to stay away (?? i dont know anything about trains, but this made it seem like thomas was at risk to explode (die?))

honestly it seems like they all have serious beef w each other, they often insult their friends

they celebrate christmas? are they religious?

at one point their boss was debating if he should have one of them sent away to be scrapped bc he was unneeded

i'm under the impression that they don't get paid for working what seems like constantly

[transsexualunderground]

is it a ttte rite of passage to make up an extensively detailed headcanon/personal canon thing about a detail that was barely touched on? because now i've made lore about an ulfstead heritage railway that runs near the mine and castle from s5e14 (toby's discovery) and also around ulfstead in general