#TTTE: Sudrian Boys

[theredengineapologist]

*rises from the grave*

WHAT IS UP TTTEBLR? DID YOU MISS ME?

Sorry I went radio silent for, like, months. I got into other things and kinda forgot to log back into Tumblr. But I'm back now and I'm here to bring you ✨J E D✨

I've been meaning to do my own take on Jed for a while ever since Shika posted her Jed. Then Leo made his Jed and, well, better late than never I suppose.

My Jed lore below:

Okay so in my AU (TTTE: Sudrian Boys), the engines learn to shapeshift because they're curious about what human lives are like.

James and Edward are an established relationship, and they've been together for some time. James didn't like taking a human form at first. But over time, he learned how to customize it and having Edward at his side exploring human expression with him helped James regain his confidence.

So for the Jed AU within the AU, I imagine it takes place a little bit after James starts getting used to shifting. He's still adjusting to the new human form, but he's gotten really into customizing it via fashion and accessorizing. He's heard of humans going off to fun places at night, and he's curious to know what it's like.

So James and Edward catch a ride with Connor to the main land. And then they wander into a club.

The music is louder than they care for (they're not used to having the more sensitive ears that humans have). But the beats are nice, and dancing seems fun.

James and Edward dance together, and are lost in each other's company. They feel safe and loved and confident in each other's presence. Until eventually, they quite literally fuse and become one.

Jed's Personality:

As a character, Jed is the personification of how James and Edward perceive each other through their relationship. He's got double the confidence, but is a bit more calm and rational (from Edward's influence). He's also prone to sarcastic quips.

In both engine and human form, he's faster than either James or Edward would be separately.

Whenever James and Edward fuse to become Jed, Jed's outfit uses the combined parts of whatever James and Edward were wearing before.

The unfortunate thing about Jed is that when things go wrong, he's also got double the insecurities from both his parts. He's pretty good at solving other people's/engines' problems. But if he's feeling insulted in some way or is put into an uncomfortable situation that he can't logic his way out of, he's bound to break apart.

[kenora-pizza]

New Sudrian cryptid dropped. OR, Kenora tries to humanize a train for the first time, after not having drawn a human in half a decade

Based on this:

Shoutout to @asktrio516 / @dilemmaart for getting me back into the TTTE fandom after AGES and inspiring me to try and come up with this designs, @viktuurishipper96 for constant support and actually giving me the confidence to try and draw this, and @jammyjams1910 for showing me the appeal of Donnie boi. Love all of your art to bits ✨

[toast-com]

Ok so this is not a dare I am doing this on my own .can you do me and big boy for a self insert:3

Sunset

4014 smiled at 8-bit, who gave him a smile back. The two were watching the sunset, the sinking sun turning the sky red.

"The sunset is beautiful." 8-bit observed with a wistful smile. She blushed as 4014 took her hands.

"Not as beautiful as you." He replied, with a smile.

[shinygoku]

tumger, you silly goose! You can't enforce a 10 image per post limit and then assemble an 18 picture post on my behalf only to refuse to post it prop'ly!!

The post below is Edited to allow it to be seen by others, go to the source posts if ya like whatcha see lmao

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I posted 1,893 times in 2021

205 posts created (11%)

1688 posts reblogged (89%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 8.2 posts.

I added 286 tags in 2021

#writing ref - 76 posts

#art ref - 52 posts

#another aesthetic - 38 posts

#this is ttte - 21 posts

#ttte thomas - 19 posts

#thomas the tank engine - 17 posts

#ref - 17 posts

#laugh rule - 16 posts

#lovely art - 15 posts

#ttte - 15 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#because i had more fun writing and more fun getting feedback with those and the larger project seemingly lost all momentum with me + readers

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I was so inspired by this one picture of a Cat in the late 30′s - whose owner had lovingly written “Our [cat name]” in pen on the photo itself, that I just had to draw a version for a beloved Engine 💙🥺😊

I’m partially copying the expression the cat had, Thomas himself may be midblink or simply not expecting a camera when he looked ahead. I imagine he’d complain about the face he was pulling when he later gets to see the photograph, and yet someone’s kept it, written the captions and put it in a frame...! 😸💖🚂

Flat, colour ver and inspirational Cat below the cut! in original post please click the link!! lol 🐱

47 notes • Posted 2021-11-13 22:18:21 GMT

#4

Redward day!! Redward day with a bit of Fanart for Jobey’s lov-er-ly scene of the two lads~! 💞🚂😸

I had no idea what I wanted to draw for this day, but really didn’t wanna miss it... so while I’m glad I went with the idea, I do wanna revisit this in the future with features like ....rails! and shading and better perspective =w=; Two Engines at an unconventional angle is very tricky ^^;;

This version of their first meeting is yet to be topped and it will always live rent free in my head as the default canon 🥰✨💕

49 notes • Posted 2021-11-09 22:20:05 GMT

#3

Short Stumpy Boy....

My own spin on the world’s most famous Tank Engine! I’ve seen and enjoyed many, many other takes, and lots of those have really cute ideas. Seems to be a fairly even split between his wearing Work Clothes or Formal Attire, so with my take I tried to do something different, maybe a bit more modern and a lot more casual, but hopefully Trendy! ✨

I absolutely wanna do more down the line... I actually had the coloured sketch done as more a concept than Final Product, but I’ve no idea when I’ll be able to draw a neater version so here he is! Featuring a tiny selection of iconic lines and moments ;3c

49 notes • Posted 2021-06-30 21:01:11 GMT

#2

So, ya’ll know about the Isle of Man having a unique native Cat Breed, the Manx? I’m here to propose there’s a similar situation on Sodor, which I call the Small-Eared Sudrian (Suddies or Small-ees as an affectionate nickname)

A breed of Domestic Cat, Suddies are defined by the physical characteristics of small (but still upright and triangular!) ears and long, fluffy tails. Contrasted with the tailless Manx cat, these look much more like a ‘normal’ moggy, but the Suddies have a unique temperament that causes them to be highly tolerant, if not clearly preferring, the hustle and bustle and the steam and smoke of Sodor’s famous Locomotives.

It’s theorised they were brought in to Engine Sheds to keep mice populations in check, though the claims are disputed by those who swear up and down that the cats just appeared one day, drawn instead to the warmth of the Iron Horses.

The Sudrian cat breed favours noisy environments and high temperatures, hence they are more of a pest in the sheds than the actual mice! Indeed, the difficulty in removing a cat from a prime position draped across footplates and shooing them from a Tank Engine’s bunker has been cited as reason for minor delays.

Very hardy and unlikely to be spooked with wheeshing steam or piercing whistles, some Cat Fanciers have despaired at how their Pedigree Queen insists on getting covered in coal dust. It is advised owners comb the cat to help prevent them swallowing soot that settles in their fluffy tails. More recently, health concerns have lead to attempts to keep the cats more distant from the Engines, but the Cats consistently have other ideas.

The cats are generally placid and can often be heard purring. It appears most of the Engines themselves are interested in the Suddies and get moody if the cats are chased away by human workers. A tender engine who refused to be named was most displeased when a cat was wrenched off from curled around his lamp iron and there was a personnel change shortly afterwards. Engines at rest sometimes compete with each other to coax a cat to sit on them to see who can charm more. The record is rumoured to be anywhere from 7 to 13 (in which a mother cat brought her kittens inside a cab), though this is highly disputed among the NWR fleet.

Suddies do have the sense to stay off the tracks and only build up numbers in sheds and smaller stations. The closest any have brought to an incident was the aforementioned upset engine, and another event where a bunker stowaway was only spotted in between stations on the Ffarquhar line, so the cat was kept in the Guard’s Van for the rest of the journey. The Guard in question took the cat with him upon retirement.

53 notes • Posted 2021-08-15 18:37:54 GMT

#1

THIS is the Ultimate Himbo! SON GOKŪ!!

He’s Kind!

He’s Dumb!

And He IS

BEEFY!!

And he’s The Best~! ✨

82 notes • Posted 2021-06-26 16:32:01 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[mmprviolet]

Anyone remember audrey my ttte oc??

Well I've been thinking of redesigning her to fit the lore more or at least my ✨magical✨ version but she and Thomas are still partners except now it's more like a magical girl/boy detective series where the canon engines are now automaton Cyborgs who fight the bigger threats while the regular humans use magic for small scale. Audrey is one of the normal girls who gets sent to sodor by accident and ends up working with Thomas. At the time he didn't have a partner bc he was very cheeky and mischievous, and bc of her more closed off nature they didn't get along at first. But they become genuine friends! And stop a horrible magical gangster and his goons from getting rid of Sodor's cultural heritage. So the engines still exist but they're just normal trains.

The steam team is only called that because they're all just steam train enthusiasts, their rivals are train enthusiasts who prefer diesel. Literally has nothing to do with lore except just how extremely petty fandoms can be XD

The magic system is based on elements still: water, metal/earth, fire, air, and Golden Dust for aether. But there's also construction magic; there's trinkets such as rods and whistles and even actual trains themselves that serve as vessels for this magic.

PT Boomer is the first season villain; Diesel 10 is the "second" season villain. Other antagonists are the Horrid Lorries, and Audrey's aunt who is pretty abusive and wants to hunt down her missing niece. And all the while Audrey discovers her true family on Sodor and learn about sudrian culture and railway history :>

[theredengineapologist]

Most other TTTEblr users: *makes their Humanized!Thomas have a normal last name like "Awdry" or "Billinton"*

My Thomas: *attempts to make his full legal name be Thomas The Tankengine*

[theredengineapologist]

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! 💙❤

Of course, I had to do something Jameward for the occasion. Even though this meme is literally called "Understand my Ship in 5 Minutes", I still wanted to include some commentary/headcanons because I've been DYING to talk about them forever. So if you're interested, read on under the cut!

(Also, please note that the interpretation of the characters depicted here is specifically for my AU, TTTE: Sudrian Boys)

NAMES: For the sake of making sure their names fit in the boxes, I used the last names they picked for themselves before they got married. When they do eventually get legally married, they'll combine their last names together (a conclusion they got to after much bickering). So respectively, they will be James and Edward Hughes-Pettigrew.

GENDER + SEXUALITY:

James is GAY. GAY GAY HOMOSEXUAL GAY. Sorry not sorry, but there is not a woman-liker bone in his body.

Edward, on the other hand is bi. Part of me thinks he tends to prefer the company of men, but maybe that's just because there's significantly more male engines on Sodor. Also he is nonbinary. This will be something I explore later. But to summarize, Edward never felt entirely male in the strict sense that humans define it. However, he felt the need to be the consistent, steady, "old reliable" his peers saw him as, so he never questioned what others chose to call him. This changed when "The Great Shift" happened (aka, the engines learning to shift into a human-like form). Edward saw an opportunity to experiment with his presentation, and so he had a brief stint where he tried going in the opposite direction, presenting as a woman named Alice. As fun as it was, however, he found that it didn't feel quite right either. To him, "Edward" was where he felt most at home. He's not a man or a woman, he is just "Edward". Edward uses "he/they" pronouns because those feel the most neutral to them.

HORNY LEVEL: I will not be elaborating.

AWKWARDNESS LEVEL: I don't think Edward and James ever really had an "awkward phase". Before they got together, they always felt comfortable with each other as close friends would. They never really had that thing of "oh I want to tell him I like him but I also don't want him to know". Edward always knew he liked James, he just didn't say anything because he didn't think James was interested. And once James admitted to himself that he liked Edward, he confessed and it was all smooth sailing from there. To be honest, not much changed when they moved from "close friends" to "boyfriends". They still act like close friends, just with added kissing privileges.

JEALOUSY LEVEL: At the point where they're at in their relationship right now, both James and Edward are pretty secure, so it's rare for either of them to act jealous.

From Edward's perspective, he knows that James is young (relatively speaking) and very attractive, so it's hardly surprising to see that other people would try to flirt with him. There's a small pang of jealousy that comes from him thinking James would have preferred someone younger or stronger, but that quickly goes away once he sees James return to being on his arm and very proudly proclaiming he's already spoken for.

From James's perspective, he thinks Edward is the real catch between the two of them. Plus, it's not often that other people would try to shoot their shot with the silver fox. So when other people do try to get a little too close for comfort, James would certainly be stewing in jealousy. If the feeling gets to a certain point, he'd probably make himself known. But once they get home, the situation gets explained out, and they're cuddling on the couch with a blanket and some tea, James finds he can let go of the jealous feeling relatively quickly.

BIG SPOON/LITTLE SPOON: Majority of the time, James is the little spoon. He likes to be held and Edward LOVES holding him. James's favorite thing is when Edward keeps their hand on his chest. But occasionally, they do switch places, especially if Edward has a particularly hard day. Sometimes Old Iron wants to be cuddled too.

LENDS/BORROWS CLOTHES: Both of them tend to steal borrow clothes from each other, but under different circumstances.

At home, it's relatively commonplace to see Edward walking around in one of James's pants, shirts, or even his prized red coat. But more often than not, these are cases of Edward just picking them up of his own accord and James just letting him have it.

Outside, it's James who more actively does the borrowing and Edward who does the lending. James likes to go out ✨IN STYLE✨ without taking into consideration pesky things like the weather. So when James (inevitably) gets cold at night, Edward is the one to lend him his jacket.

PET NAMES: They don't use pet names often, but they do use some of the more basic ones on occasion. For James, Edward would sometimes call him "Jamie", "darling", "dear", or his personal favorite, "love". James usually calls Edward by his full name because Edward prefers it, but sometimes he might slip in an "Eddie", "baby", or a "kitten" in there just to make the old man flustered.

AFFECTION THROUGH WORDS/ACTIONS: This one might seem paradoxical, but let me explain.

James is more receptive to affection through words because he's used to being dismissed. In his worst moments, he can be pretty down on himself as his insecurities eat away at him. At times like these, Edward knows exactly what to say to help James pick himself back up again. It's especially meaningful because Edward absolutely means everything he says. He's not the type to lie just to make James feel better. He's honest and straightforward. If James did something wrong that needs calling out, Edward will tell him (politely of course). So when Edward tells James that he's wonderful or that he's a "really splendid engine", he 100% means it. And you can tell from just the look in his eyes that Edward loves his red boyfriend SO DAMN MUCH.

Conversely, Edward is more receptive to affection through actions. Edward is always the one out caring for everyone else and tends to forget to care for himself too. But at the same time, he's very much the type to never ask for help (even if he needs it). James knows this, so he goes the extra mile to help take some of the load off. If Edward is especially tired one day, James will step up and do Edward's share of the housekeeping without being asked. He'll volunteer to go supervise Bill and Ben so that Edward can take a day off. He'll fix up a warm bath for Edward after a hard day. Anything to make sure Edward is taken care of, James will do it. Not only that, but James is also the one planning most of their dates. ;)

CONFESSING:

Edward NEVER had any plans to confess to James. Romantic relationships are uncommon amongst engines since there's no real use for them. Plus, he didn't think James would be interested in a plain old iron like himself (as he views himself anyway). So Edward was just content to just feel his feelings and never act on them.

James, on the other hand, took several years to both realize and accept that he was in love with Edward. But once he got to that point, he confessed fairly quickly. Sure, there was a normal amount of hesitation and worry that Edward might not feel the same. But he was about 90% sure that Edward loved him back so he didn't end up worrying that much leading up to the confession.

CAN'T DRIVE LOL: Even as engines, they can't drive themselves. Plus, they know trains are the superior way to travel. So if they ever need to go somewhere while shifted into humans, they just catch one of their friends' trains. I don't think they've ever even sat in a car before.

COOKING: Edward loves to cook (especially baking). It was one of the first hobbies he picked up after learning how to shift and he would often make meals to share for the entire Steam Team. James, on the other hand, can cook, but not nearly as well as Edward. He doesn't know as many dishes as Edward. Even the ones they both know, James's, for some reason, aren't as good. The only time James would ever take over cooking is if Edward is feeling too exhausted to do so. There's a mutual acknowledgement between them (and also the rest of the Steam Team) that Edward is the superior chef (and he also enjoys it more). So if he can help it, James prefers to leave the cooking to Edward.

PDA: James absolutely LOVES PDA. He will take literally every opportunity he can to dote on Edward in public so that the entire island knows that they're together, much to Edward's embarrassment. Edward secretly loves the PDA too, and he appreciates how proud James is to be his boyfriend (and later husband). But Edward would never admit it. He tries really hard to at least appear decent in public. That said, when the opportunity arises, Edward does like getting to flip the script and fluster James in front of onlookers.

OVERPROTECTIVE/CHILL GOING: Both are more than reasonably protective over each other, but for different reasons and under different circumstances.

James gets into accidents relatively often, usually as the result of his own dumbassery. So Edward has gotten to a point where he's not too concerned if James winds up in an accident again. He'll still worry a little and warn James to be more careful next time, but Edward knows after a trip to the Steamworks that his boyfriend will be good as new again.

It's when they're shifted into humans when Edward becomes more protective of James.

Because of the way James looks, it's unfortunately not uncommon for James to get harassed while shifted as a human. When this happens, Edward goes into full protective mode to make sure his beloved stays safe. Thankfully, it doesn't happen too often. But it does happen often enough that Edward feels like he has to keep close watch of James while they're traveling after nightfall.

James, on the other hand, always has a bit of worry for Edward at the back of his mind. He knows Edward is capable of handling himself, but he also knows that Edward is old and doesn't recover from accidents as quickly or easily as he does. He worries that if the damage is too great, Edward could be scrapped. So if Edward were to end up in any sort of accident, James would go ballistic. He's puffing over right away to make sure his beloved is okay and may or may not have a fierce word with whoever caused the accident. The same thing goes when they are in human form. If Edward were to end up in some sort of fight, James would put himself in harms way to make sure Edward is protected (even though in human form, Edward is actually physically stronger than James).

RELATIONSHIP EXPERIENCE: Neither of them had any relationship experience before each other, they were each other's firsts. You can maybe argue that Edward has slightly more experience because he's had crushes on other people in the past, but fleeting attraction that is never pursued could hardly count for true experience. Their whole relationship is something that James and Edward are navigating together. It's new and at times a little scary, but there's nobody else James and Edward would rather be with than each other.

[theredengineapologist]

"Here's James!"

I've updated James's reference sheet (again)! I only realized after I posted the last updated reference that I forgot to draw his earring, so I decided to go back and re-draw it. And while I was at it, I decided to move his number into a more obvious spot so that he's more recognizable. Hopefully this should be the last update I do for a while ^^;

As with the previous update, I deleted the previous version to avoid confusion. The design changes are pretty minor, so you don't have to worry about missing anything from the old version.

[theredengineapologist]

"Wake up Lazybones! Why don't you work hard like me?"

Finally got around to drawing everyone's favorite cheeky blue tank engine! Not gonna lie, I think he's one of the best designs I've drawn up so far. I'm very happy with him >//w//<

If you've seen my past drawings, you'll notice that I changed up the presentation a little bit this time around. Firstly, I decided to rename these as "concepts" rather than "references". These drawings are actually the first time I'm drawing these characters, and so I'm figuring out how to draw them as I go along. When I do more drawings in the future, there's likely going to be some minor design changes as I get used to drawing the characters consistently. As such, I feel like the term "concept" is more appropriate.

Secondly, I'm no longer including "Engine Skin" as an alternative skintone. At the time I was drawing James and Edward, I was still figuring out how I wanted my humanized!AU to look, if I wanted to look more or less human. As you can probably predict from my past drawings, I've decided on the former. And since I won't be using the "Engine Skins", I decided there's no point in including them anymore.

Thirdly, I decided to keep the alternate versions above the cut this time. I feel like I'm probably gonna draw them without hats more often, so I figured I'll make that one more accessible. And Thomas only has one other alternate aside from that, so it just made sense to keep it above the cut this time.

Also, because inevitably someone will ask, my Humanized!Thomas is an adult. He just looks really young because he's short. 🙃

Anyway, I've been in a Toby-loving mood lately. So I think the next one in line will be our beloved steam tram. 🧡

[theredengineapologist]

"I will do it, I will do it!"

Second in the lineup for my humanized engines, here's Mr. Old Reliable himself, Edward! He's my second favorite character behind James, so I was very excited to get to him. My goal is to eventually draw the entire Steam Team, let's hope I don't lose steam (pun intended) partway through.

Anyway, I'm thinking the next one will most likely be Thomas!

Alternate Version Under the Cut! (Includes Engine Skin Color, Without Hat, and Hair Down + No Glasses)

[theredengineapologist]

Introducing the world of TTTE: Sudrian Boys [TTTE: Sudrian Boys AU Worldbuilding, Pt. 1]

Now that I've worked out exactly what I want from my AU, I believe it is finally time to share the lore with all of you (one month after I initially promised it OOPS).

The lore of this world is a bit HEFTY to explain, so I'm breaking it into multiple parts. This part mainly goes over the history and background for my Humanized!TTTE AU, TTTE: Sudrian Boys. In later parts, I plan to cover things like Sudrian vs Non-Sudrian Engine culture, how the engines differ from humans, and more info about how the shapeshifting works in my AU, so stay tuned!

Also! Information regarding specific characters will be included in separate character sheets I will be posting at a later date. I'm also currently working on some fanfics that I hope will expand my AU further. But feel free to ask me any questions you may have!

This is going to be a VERY long post so read on under the cut!

Before we begin, some key things to keep in mind:

I am still actively catching up with the canon source material at this point in time! Thus, aspects of my AU are subject to change as I read/watch more of the source material and incorporate it into my AU.

This AU is primarily based on TV series canon (both model and CGI), as that is what I am primarily familiar with. Some aspects are also taken from the Railway Series to help estimate an approximate timeline of events.

At this current point in time, BWBA is NOT canon in my AU. This is mainly because I have not watched it yet and have no plans to watch it later (with the exception of the Michael White episodes that everyone says are good). The episode "A Shed for Edward" from Season 21 is also NOT canon in my AU. This is to say that in my AU, Edward and Henry still live in Tidmouth. It's my AU. I do what I want.

On that note, Thomas and the Magic Railroad is partially canon in my AU. I haven't gone back to re-watch the movie yet (I do plan to at a later date), so I'm going purely off of memory and what I hear other people say about it. Because of this, I've decided to basically just take parts that I like and leave behind parts that I don't. In regards to the canonicity of the film itself, I consider it as a dream Thomas had (that may or may not have actually happend. It'll all make sense later).

With the exception of Philip the Diesel Boxcab, ALL of the engines are adults in my AU. Yes, that includes Thomas and Percy.

With that out of the way, let's start at The Beginning:

A long time ago, when humans were designing the first steam engines, a young faerie fell in love with them. Her true name is beyond mortal comprehension, but engines of today refer to her as Lady (or alternatively, the Lady of Legend).

Though fae are usually associated with nature, this faerie in particular was fascinated by machines and the ingenuity of mankind. And so she used her magic gold dust to breathe life into the machines that she loved so much.

And thus she became Lady, Goddess of Steam Engines.

For many years, engines and humans lived together in harmony. The engines found purpose in being useful, and humans were able to travel longer distances and distribute supplies amongst each other. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

But then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked dieselization happened.

Lady watched in horror as humanity turned their backs on the steam engines that worked so hard for them. In increasingly larger numbers, engines were getting scrapped for as petty reasons as "not being useful enough". In an effort to protect her beloved machines, Lady imbued them with more powerful magic.

As much as Lady wanted to, the Fae Court wouldn't allow creations of man to be taken in mass to the fae realm. So if she couldn't offer her engines salvation, Lady would at least give them a means of escape.

By around 1960, as steam was getting phased out, Lady blessed her beloved machines with the ability to shapeshift. If an engine ever had a desire to leave the rails, all they had to do was imagine themselves doing so and they could walk the Earth in a human-like form. This would allow them live lives completely independent from mankind. Being "really useful" was no longer a requirement to have a right to live, now they could simply exist and pursue goals of their own choosing just as any human could.

For steam engines all around the world, shapeshifting became a secret and closely guarded practice that they would only discuss amongst each other. Humans were not to be made aware of this under any circumstances.

Unfortunately, even after Lady bestowed the gift of shapeshifting upon her engines, hundreds of them were still killed under the cutter's torch. Steam engines are proud entities after all, and many of them preferred to die upon their rails than to live in hiding as something foreign. And since shapeshifting was such a closely guarded practice, not every engine who may have wanted a way out was able to be taught.

Even so, there were still reports circulating of engines vanishing from scrapyards without a trace, almost as if by magic. These were the engines that managed to escape and are now living secretly amongst humans to this day.

Fast Forward many, many decades later. We return to the Island of Sodor:

It is now the late 2010s to mid 2020s. The entire Island of Sodor basically runs as a giant heritage railway.

The NWR is currently run by Sir Topham Hat III, who is at the strapping young age of 83. (I saw this tweet from someone who asked Christopher Awdry if STH III is still running the railway and he said yes so we're going with that.) STH III loves his engines very much, which is why he has no plans on retiring any time soon. Still, he has STH IV shadow him closely in order to prepare him to take over the railway some day.

Because of the success of both The Railway Series books and the Thomas and Friends TV show, tourists flock from all over the world to get a look at the famous engines. Plus, being one of the few places to still have steam engines in operation (and so many of them in fact), you can count on many of the tourists being train enthusiasts too.

Basically, the engines of Sodor are all treated like celebrities. They are FAMOUS and are generally adored by the public. Whenever they go anywhere, you can count on someone knowing their names.

And because of just how many tourists come to Sodor every year, the economy is thriving and the engines are all very, very busy. Everything is pretty idyllic.

But sometimes, prosperity can get pretty boring.

And now, our story begins:

As with many Sudrian Shenanigans, everything starts with Thomas the Tank Engine.

One night, after Thomas delivers passengers to a carnival, he makes a wish to leave life on the rails, even if only for just one night.

As much as Thomas loves working on his branch line, delivering goods and passengers from place to place, and meeting tourists, doing the same routine for literal DECADES can get a little dull.

While waiting for his driver and fireman to return from a short break, Thomas let his mind wander. He imagined himself as a human person taking part in the festivities with the passengers he just delivered. In doing so, Thomas accidentally activated the dormant shapeshifting magic Lady had blessed him with many years ago.

When Thomas opened his eyes, he was literally much closer to his rails than he had ever been. The station platform was much higher up. And Annie and Clarabel were much bigger than he remembered. Thomas had accidentally turned himself into a small human man, just like he had seen in his imagination.

He freaked out a little at first. When they returned, his driver and fireman didn't recognize him. It was only after Thomas started going off about things that only he would know, details about events that happened decades ago, before they were born and had only heard about in stories, that they realized that this small human figure really was Thomas the Tank Engine.

They called Sir Topham Hatt III at once, explaining the situation. And while baffling and unbelievable, the truth was right before their eyes. They were at a loss for what to do, especially since Thomas didn't know how to turn back yet. They concluded to allow Thomas to enjoy the festival for now, let Edward take the passengers home that night, and have Thomas stay with STH's family until he could figure out how to return to normal.

While scary at first, Thomas did enjoy the festival that night. And he went home with STH in Annie and Clarabel. He got to see the island from a new perspective, and he very much enjoyed that.

STH III made Thomas's driver and fireman promise to keep this a secret for now until they could figure out what happened. But that ultimately didn't matter because Thomas went to say "hello" to Edward that night. By the next sunrise, every engine on the island heard exactly what happened to Thomas. Some told their crew, but most weren't believed. Even some of the engines didn't believe each other. But at the very least, every engine on the island knew something strange was afoot.

The news eventually reached Donald and Douglas, who swiftly made their way to Tidmouth Sheds. Coincidentally, STH was bringing Human!Thomas to Tidmouth to inform the rest of the Steam Team about what had happened.

It is at this moment that Donald and Douglas reveal that they knew about shifting for decades. It was how they managed to get to the island under the guise that there would only be one of them. They would take turns, one traveling as an engine while the other hid in their cab. The reason they both appeared on the island as engines is because they hoped the controller would be kind enough to keep them both (and he was!). If it hadn't worked out, they would have run away together as humans. Since things worked out in their favor, they didn't see a point in shapeshifting again. But now that their secret was out, they needed to keep it safe.

Donald and Douglas taught the Steam Team how to shapeshift, and the engines continued to teach each other until basically every engine on the island knew how to switch between the two forms comfortably. In exchange, however, only a limited number of humans could know about engine shifting. These include STH III, STH IV, and the engines' drivers and firemen. Basically, only those who really needed to know.

Nowadays, STH gives the engines a little extra time off during the day to explore their new forms. The Steam Team also has an apartment where they can live together as humans if they choose. Within a few months, most of the engines have gotten in the habit of shifting back and forth, exploring their world and learning new things about themselves.

Now in a new perspective, the adventures continue. 😉

[theredengineapologist]

GUESS WHO MADE ANOTHER ROUND TRIP AROUND THE SUN!!!!!

That's right, it's me!! Ya boy!! It's my ✨birthday✨ today!

I did have a drawing planned for today, but unfortunately it's not done yet so that will have to wait until later. But I still want to give y'all something special to celebrate the occasion.

So some time later today, I'll be posting the Lore Dump for TTTE: Sudrian Boys! I've taken more time to properly develop my AU and I am excited to share it with all of you.

In the meantime, I'll be celebrating by watching Tale of the Brave for the first time. I'll let you know how I end up liking that one. I've enjoyed every Thomas movie I've seen so far, so I expect this one to be much the same.

Thank you all again for following me up until now.

Happy Birthday to me!🥳

[theredengineapologist]

🚂😈"WELCOME FELLOW TRAIN ENJOYERS" 😈🚂

Finally found time to make myself a proper persona so it's time for a new intro!

Hello y'all! Call me Randy (or Jester)! And welcome to my dedicated TTTE blog! A place for me to shitpost, share my humanized TTTE fanart, and, of course, Trainrot(tm).

As shown here, I am an adult! Which means that some of my posts contain content unsuitable for children! This includes, but is not limited to:

Coarse Language

Horror (Tagged as #tw horror and other relevant tags)

Suggestive content (Nothing explicit (yet), tagged as #suggestive)

I politely ask that y'all use your own discretion before following me.

Also of course, my favorite is JAMES! The ✨SPLENDID✨💋RED💋🚂ENGINE🚂

✨ FOR ALL THINGS REGARDING MY HUMANIZED TTTE AU (TTTE: SUDRIAN BOYS) CLICK HERE! ✨

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN NON-TTTE WORKS, CHECK OUT MY OTHER ART BLOG @jesterartz

TTTE WATCH PROGRESS + TAG GUIDE UNDER THE CUT!

~ RANDY'S TTTE WATCH PROGRESS ~

Key: Blue = Complete, Green = In Progress, Orange = Not Seen

[CLASSIC ERA COMPLETE (SEASON 1-7)]

[HIT ERA (SEASON 8-11): INCOMPLETE (Seen "Henry and the Wishing Tree", "Spic and Span", "Edward the Great", "Saving Edward", "Keeping Up With James", "James the Second Best", "Dirty Work", "Thomas and the Big Bang", and "Edward and the Mail"]

[CGI MILLER ERA (SEASON 12-16): NOT SEEN]

[BRENNER ERA (SEASON 17-21): INCOMPLETE, Partially Seen S17 (Eps 1-4 plus "Henry's Hero", "The Thomas Way", "The Frozen Turntable", "Away from the Sea", "Gone Fishing", and "No More Mr. Nice Engine"), Finished S18 - S20, Seen S21 Eps 1-2]

[BWBA ERA (SEASON 22-24)]: INCOMPLETE (Seen "Hunt the Truck" and "School of Duck")]

[TTTE MOVIES: SEEN "The Adventure Begins", "The Great Race", "Journey Beyond Sodor", "Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure", and "Tale of the Brave"]

~ TAG GUIDE ~

GENERAL TAGS:

#redengineposts = All Posts made by Yours Truly 😈

#redengineart = ❤ My Art ❤

#redenginepolls = Silly Polls that I have Made 🥰

#poll results = The Results of Polls I made

#trains irl = Real life trains/engines/locomotives! In the real world!

#reblog = Things reblogged from other Tumblrs 🙃

#queue queue b*tches = Things from Le Queue

ART TAGS:

#redengineart = ❤ My Art ❤

#TTTE: Sudrian Boys = All things related to my own TTTE Humanized AU

#Into the Trainverse = Posts crossing over between my humanized TTTE and that of other creators

WRITING TAGS:

#TTTE: Sudrian Boys = All things related to my own TTTE Humanized AU

#randys headcanons = My headcanons relating to TTTE

#randys trainfics = Fanfics I have written for TTTE

#on today's episode of "thinking too hard about trains"... = General thoughts about the Thomas and Friends TV show 🚂

#ttte first impressions = My first impressions of TTTE episodes as I watch them

#ttte episode review = My reviews, discussions, and/or general thoughts about TTTE episodes

[theredengineapologist]

🚂😈"WELCOME FELLOW TRAIN ENJOYERS" 😈🚂

Call me Randy (he/him). I decided to re-watch Thomas and Friends for the first time in 18+ years and now I want a space to Trainrot (tm). Expect shitposts, humanized fanart (drawn by yours truly), fanart reblogs, and the occasional analysis on recent episodes I watched.

Please be aware that I am an adult (23 years old) and that some of my posts contain content unsuitable for children. This includes, but is not limited to:

Coarse language (aka cussing)

Horror art (Tagged appropriately as #tw horror and other relevant tags)

Suggestive content (Nothing explicit tho (yet), and all tagged appropriately)

Please use your own discretion before following me.

Also in case it wasn't obvious, my favorite character is ✨James✨.

~ FOR ALL THINGS REGARDING MY HUMANIZED TTTE AU (TTTE: SUDRIAN BOYS) CLICK HERE! ~

~ RANDY'S TTTE WATCH PROGRESS ~

Key: Blue = Complete, Green = In Progress, Yellow = Not Seen

[CLASSIC ERA COMPLETE (SEASON 1-7)]

[HIT ERA (SEASON 8-11): INCOMPLETE (Seen "Henry and the Wishing Tree", "Spic and Span", "Edward the Great", "Saving Edward", "Keeping Up With James", "James the Second Best", "Dirty Work", "Thomas and the Big Bang", and "Edward and the Mail"]

[CGI MILLER ERA (SEASON 12-16): NOT SEEN]

[BRENNER ERA (SEASON 17-21): INCOMPLETE, Partially Seen S17 (Eps 1-4 plus "Henry's Hero", "The Thomas Way", "The Frozen Turntable", "Away from the Sea", "Gone Fishing", and "No More Mr. Nice Engine"), Finished S18 - S20, Seen S21 Eps 1-2]

[BWBA ERA (SEASON 22-24)]: INCOMPLETE (Seen "Hunt the Truck" and "School of Duck")]

[TTTE MOVIES: SEEN "The Adventure Begins", "The Great Race", "Journey Beyond Sodor", "Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure", and "Tale of the Brave"]

~ TAG GUIDE UNDER THE CUT~

Have a Splendid day ❤

~ TAG GUIDE ~

General Tags:

#redengineposts = All Posts made by Yours Truly 😈

#redengineart = ❤ My Art ❤

#redenginepolls = Silly Polls that I have Made 🥰

#poll results = The Results of Polls I made

#trains irl = Real life trains/engines/locomotives! In the real world!

#reblog = Things reblogged from other Tumblrs 🙃

#queue queue b*tches = Things from Le Queue

Art Tags:

#redengineart = ❤ My Art ❤

#TTTE: Sudrian Boys = All things related to my own TTTE Humanized AU

#Into the Trainverse = Posts crossing over between my humanized TTTE and that of other creators

Writing Tags:

#TTTE: Sudrian Boys = All things related to my own TTTE Humanized AU

#randys headcanons = My headcanons relating to TTTE

#randys trainfics = Fanfics I have written for TTTE

#on today's episode of "thinking too hard about trains"... = General thoughts about the Thomas and Friends TV show 🚂

#ttte first impressions = My first impressions of TTTE episodes as I watch them

#ttte episode review = My reviews, discussions, and/or general thoughts about TTTE episodes

[theredengineapologist]

I want to post more about my Humanized!TTTE AU, but I also want to create a unique tag for it in order to keep everything organized.

(Also for the sake of clarification, the title is a reference to MLP: Equestria Girls)