#but they're still greaseball!!

[gutsofgold]

ily woman greaseball

ily man greaseball

ily greaseball

there's no difference aside from the fact that one of them is a girl and the other is a man. can we keep in mind that they're the same character

they're the same character!!!

[phopollo]

Can we get back stories for the Engines and their family's?

Sure! I don't have quite as much detail on them as I ro for most of the rest of the cast though, as theyre not quite as prominent-- the only one who's backstory comes up is Orange Flash's haha

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle had a very similar start to Greaseball. Built by a former champion racer and getting a start on racing early-- not quite as early as Greaseball, but still early enough that the two of them have spent most of their careers as direct rivals.

Blue Lightning (& Coco)

Blue Lightning got into the racing game as an escalation of a sibling rivalry. She and her sister Coco consider themselves extremely close, but they're also both extremely competitive. Everything's been about who's faster at anything from an extremely young age. At a certain point, it stopped being anout proving who's faster to each other and more about being the fastest ever, but at their cores, they still need to rub it in each others faces

Green Arrow

Green Arrow was built into a family of steamers-- a steamer himself too. Initially, he had no interest in racing beyond simply following it. As he got closer to working age, it became clear to him that more opportunities would be open to him by converting to diesel. After doing so and beginning work on a passenger line, hr was convinced by his coaches to begin participating in races. And got him, from there, the rest is history

Silver Bullet

Silver Bullet was made as part of a factory commission for a handful of racers. He was built specifically to race under a company name. That's kind of it. Still doing what he was built to do

Orange Flash

Orange Flash did not start officially racing until roughly 2 years before the start of the story. Like Green Arrow, tbey were also built as a steamer and converted into diesel-- but their motivations were less work driven. It was ENTIRELY to be more like Greaseball, who was their big inspiration to start racing and who they absolutely idolize. They know their a little late;to the game, but they think all the casual races they've done have been so much fun, and Greaseball is so so cool, and maybe they could be like her and do this professionally.....

[hypotonuseisguud]

i know you've been anxiously waiting (no you haven't)....

FREIGHT GANG HEADCANONS!!

this is honestly gonna be like half funny headcanons and the rest will probably just be me trying to figure out family dynamics and lore so be prepared !

- Momma isn't the biological mother of any of the gang except Rusty. She had adopted Porter and Lumber while they were still trainlets, then she gave birth to Rusty. Once Porter and Lumber were old enough to help themselves more, Momma decided to take in foster children. One of the children she housed was Slick and after hearing about her experiences with the foster care system she adopted her. Slick was around 12 at the time. Then, around 6 months before the events of the musical, Hydra was dropped off at the Troubadour yard and she took him in.

- Currently, Porter is 21, Lumber is 20, Hydra is 19, and Rusty and Slick are 18. This doesn't include their physical ages or manufacturing dates, this is more based on emotional maturity.

- Rusty and Slick are the only two in the family that were born naturally, the rest having been manufactured.

- Porter is the tallest of all of them, not including Momma, the next being Hydra, then Lumber and Rusty, and Slick being the shortest. She is only shorter than Porter by 4 inches or so.

- After the crash with Greaseball and Electra, Slick suffered severe hearing loss and learned British Sign Language. She eventually got hearing aids but still regularly uses BSL. She and Momma taught the boys the basics and they're still learning.

- Rusty has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and I consider his rust to be eczema.

- Hydra's wheels are inlines!! They were originally quads, but once he and Rusty became racing partners he switched to inlines. The main reason he switched, besides thinking they look cool, it so he could be faster to compensate for the size and weight of his tank. He still has his quad foot attachments for workdays where he needs more stability, but he prefers his inlines.

- Porter has ADHD and has severe mood swings and shifts because of it. #manicadhdgang

- Lumber has a weird amount of talents. He's memorized all of the original Cards Against Humanity cards, he is unnaturally good at every online shooter he plays, he can draw, paint, and sculpt beautifully, and so much more. It's because he also has ADHD and he is just really good at everything he fixates on.

- In the freight shed there are two to a room. Momma has her own room, Rusty and Slick share a room, Porter and Lumber share a room, and Hydra is on the couch but Momma lets him keep his stuff in her room. Rusty had originally volunteered to let Hydra take his bed but Hydra and Slick both expressed their distaste towards that idea. Hydra was scared of her and she didn't like him at first.

- Once Porter and Lumber turned 19 and 18, Porter wanted to move out and get a place together to give Momma and their siblings more space, but Momma convinced them to stay so they could save and get a better shed than they were planning. She just didn't want her boys to leave yet :(

- I like to pretend that the way the freight gang were speaking to Rusty about not being able to race was a lot more sarcastic. They weren't actually trying to discourage him, just more of a picking on him as a way of reverse psychology to let him know that they do believe in him. It obviously didn't work out that way.

- Slick can literally take a nap anywhere

- Cuddle piles regularly occur, especially in the summer and winter. Rusty and Momma are their personal space heaters and Hydra is their cooling pack.

[nauticaltrain]

I am brave enough to ask about the symbolism for the Greaseball art piece called "Iron Pony" cause I took, also adore symbolism

heehee okay here goes

There are three main themes in the piece: power, servitude, and artificiality.

All rolling stock are many times stronger and faster than humans, but where cars' strength is proportional to their size and shape, engines are deceptively strong. They're built to push and pull, all day every day, 24/7, 365 days a year. There's nothing they can't do. But immense ability has its downsides. Engines are always champing at the bit, always raring to go. They hate sitting still. If they could run back and forth from coast to coast forever, they would. There's this exhilarating power inside of them and both the engines and the railroads know that there is nothing an engine couldn't do if they set their mind to it. They have a lot responsibilities, and a lot of restrictions hanging over their heads. They're all on short reins. Real horses get bridles, iron horses get racing helmets.

Greaseball in particular is a fun character to explore these ideas with. A strong, fast, engine who was charismatic and handsome enough to get the company's attention. He raced, he made them richer, he gets to pull the Pacific Daylight. Sure, he is one of the only E units left on the rails and doesn't get to do anything but race and power his special, but, who cares! He's the champion! Union Pacific's Golden Boy! Their extra-special racehorse who they'll never let go of!

And on top of all of this, he's not even a real person! He's just the simulacrum of a human. A plastic horse figurine trooping along with the herd. A model train running on a loop. He can win races and pull his special all he wants but that doesn't change the fact that in the eyes of many, including himself, he's just an imitation, of both man and engine. Not an iron horse anymore, you're an iron show pony.

Also, the stars are there because they looked nice.

[honey-dont]

stex month day 13: flat top!

favorite actors: SO many. ross dawes is my forever fave but i also love delano williamsen, dennis courtney, luuk hartog, todd lester, mark davis, richard mylan, marcel brauneis, and paul treacy! plus whoever played him in tuacahn, i've never been able to find a cast list </3

i think a lot of actors tend to play him pretty one-note so i love when people balance his jerk asshole side with his softer caring side! plus he's always fun comedic relief, shoutout to ross for smacking himself in the face with his own brick. and how can we forget dennistop's goofy helium laugh. love him

favorite songs/scenes: watching him mess around in freight and the blues is SO fun he's so funny <33 the lil spin and suspender snap paul does is adorable, also love him bothering this poor random woman in the audience with his brick. i mentioned ross above but him climbing around on the set like a jungle gym is so so cute!! also tuachan flats getting super excited to see rusty and waving at him!!

love literally all of his and dustin's interactions too, esp when he waves off the rockies for teasing him ough. their little goofy solo in freight!! <3

AND ofc all of his and rusty's interactions! him being a little shit to poppa and rusty jerking him back by his couplers....peak sibling behavior. love him giving rusty his helmet back after he gets beat up, esp how ross does it bc he doesn't tell him to give up!! he still believes in him!! brb exploding

him and poppa/momma are rly fun too, flat top is definitely their least favorite child but they still care about each other <3

honorable mentions to dinah giving him a cheek kiss too it's so cute

OH wait one last thing. when he hears about cb's plan and he looks SO disappointed in greaseball bc that's him finding out that his hero isn't who he thought he was and UGH. it's so good

wait i lied one more. him and rocky messing around during the megamix and throwing the brick to each other <3

favorite costumes: london!! oh my god all the little details are so good like he's quintessentially 80s london punk and it shows. his little socks! the steel toes on the skates!! the bigass frankenstein bolt collar <3 i'm especially fond of his earlier fluffy black & silver wig, it's adorable

i also loooveee the 3d glasses makeup but the bit where he just had graffiti scribbled all over his face is so funny like "hey what should we put on him to show that he's rebellious?" "just write SEX + DRUGS" "ok got it"

also brick on a chain my beloved <3 AND in late london where his belt was made of wood planks to show that he's a flatcar!! so good

i also have a fondness for on ice flats. his stupid nail boots. and tuacahn bc i respect the decision to put him in a crop top and chaps

favorite ships/friendships: flatdust is my train otp i love them i love them i love them <333 they have it all....friends to lovers....sunshine/grumpy....introvert/extrovert....good stuff. their friendship is so sweet to me bc they're total opposites and yet! special shoutout to that one boot where it genuinely looks like they're about to start making out onstage

i love him and rusty too, they're absolutely siblings to me and wind each other up all the time but they still care for each other! also him and cb in a frenemy situation bc cb thinks it's funny to push his buttons

his hero worship on greaseball is also really interesting bc it ties into his whole self-discovery arc imo

headcanons: he's physically the weakest of the freight and he absolutely has a chip on his shoulder about it </3 i hc him as a bulkhead so engines tend to dislike him too due to him being prone to derailing at speed, so he's desperate to prove that is he is cool and strong actually!! he's also like 5'4" without the boots lmao little guy

he's scared of thunderstorms but won't admit to it so dustin will hold his hand and pretend that he's the one who's scared ;-; he also helps dustin out in his garden sometimes but he sucks at it so he just gets to stand there and be moral support. guy who doesn't get the concept of seeds and will just rip up whole flowers for dustin to plant

also very rarely smiles bc he doesn't like his tooth gap :( dustin thinks it's cute tho

unpopular opinion: flat top is such an interesting character bc like. he does NOTHING and yet he has one of the strongest character arcs in the whole show! it's all about him figuring out who he is and where he belongs and it's so fascinating to watch unfold in the background. him racing with rusty in the final would've been such a good culmination of that

also i don't think this is unpopular but on my knees begging him to be punk again like that's his whole point

anyway sorry for writing an entire essay i'm normal about him.

(last two pics are commissions from arachnidal and sparemayonnaise!)

[goodnight-bloodsucker]

Trainfolk: Built or Born? These are my personal headcanons

First off: Trains are not born, they are built.

After they're built, the Starlight Express will give them life. When they first come to life, they are dumb- After all, they've just gained sentience, they won't know anything. They have to be taught by the other Trainfolk in the yard and the Conductors.

Electrics are a little special, they are almost always pre-programmed with skills of their purpose. Example: Wrench didn't actually learn most of her repairing knowledge, she's just always known it.

Typically, a train will be built because the Controller has made a request for one. Sometimes they have specific aesthetics in mind, sometimes they let the engineers design them as they please.

Trainfolk couples can ask for permission to request one for themselves. Since they cannot create life on their own, this is their way of having children. Couples will usually request that the train be built to look like them, to further the idea of it being their child.

Newly built Trainfolk are called "Trainlets".

Trains are built at the size they will always be. They do not "Grow up" in a literal sense, they will always have their adult frames. The only growing up they do is emotionally and intellectually, they have to be taught how to do things like refuel and speak.

Usually, a train will be ready to start fulfilling their purpose in the yard after a year or so. Typically it takes about three years for them to be self sufficient, and they will be no longer considered a Trainlet then. After this, most Trainfolk don't consider their ages much. Trainfolk don't usually die, of course.

Even if genetics aren't a factor, the idea of legacy among Trainfolk is very great. This is why Poppa has the name "McCoy" while most trains don't have last names. Even if Trainlets aren't biological offspring, they are still trained and shaped by the Trainfolk they are raised by. Champions like Greaseball would be heavily encouraged (Or outright forced) to raise a Trainlet or two in hopes of there being more winning Diesels.

The Rockies and Hip Hoppers were built in batches, hence them always being together and having numbered paint and plating.

No train is built with genitalia. Since they can't reproduce, there is no need for it. Trainfolk can request to have it added on later if they want. They also don't have nipples.

[onerockandroiitoomany]

my thoughts after seeing stex wembley :D

I saw the 25/1/25 Matinee!

We had a few swings/understudies on- Scott Hayward as Rusty, Lara Vina Uzcatia as Greaseball, Asher Forth as Electra, Jamie Cruttenden as Lumber, Jessie Angell as Slick, Red as Green Arrow, Charles Butcher as Orange Flash, Sam Gallacher as Killerwatt, Bethany Rose Lythgoe as Wrench and Gary Sheridan as Volta. They all did incredible!

I adore the little remixes they have of cut songs from the show that play in the lobby! I didn't notice them at first but I swear my ears pricked up when I realised I could hear the melody of There's Me! I think the full list of remixes were There's Me, Next Time You Fall in Love, A Lotta Locomotion and Right Place, Right Time (Please tell me if I've missed any!)

This is the first show I've ever been to where there's been a safety briefing beforehand! The staff are all incredibly professional although they aren't miced up, so if you are hard of hearing you may want to grab one beforehand to ask them to run you through everything.

We had a show stop! I was actually pretty hyped about this because I'd heard about them happening a few times and as someone with the tiniest experience running theatre tech I wanted to see how it worked! Everything was fine and it was sorted quickly. The stop happened right at the end of Crazy since the house lights kept flicking on and off.

The show sounds so much better in person! I've listened to the cast recording and seen a few bootlegs and the criticism that it's hard to understand is definitely because people are watching recordings of the show. I have auditory processing issues and was realising what some of the lyrics were mid-song when I was in the theatre!

I was sat trackside in the locomotive seats and I'm so glad I didn't buy a cheaper ticket because I could see the entire track, and so much happened directly in front of me! The crash during race 2 happened right where I was sitting, and Dinah and Porter were cheering for the final race in the aisle. At one point, Lumber skated right into the barrier and when I jumped, he turned around and said "Didn't see you there!" which I thought was so cute!

If you want cast interactions and you're near the track, cheer during the races! clap along to songs! of course, being trackside helps, but simply show how much you're loving the show and it pays off. The cast are absolutely incredible with interacting with the audience mid-show as well as during the megamix, and I was so happy with how many little moments that I got to see so close up! If you're recording the megamix, look up at the performers and not at your phone, too!

The only downside of this is that sometimes your view will be blocked- I missed a bit of one of the songs because Tassita was positioned directly in front of me and I couldn't see past! However, the cast are almost constantly moving, so you'll be alright.

I truly can't recommend the locomotive trackside seats enough- there's never any turning around and craning your neck during the races to see what's going on!

During the races, there are live camera feeds which show up on the screens around the theatre. I didn't notice it for a while, but it's the marshalls with the cameras, and it really makes you feel like you're watching a race!

Speaking of the marshalls, they're absolutely incredible! Some of the tricks they pull off are insane to see, and sometimes I felt like I was cheering for them more than the skate stunts!

There have been a few little tweaks made since the recording of the bootleg that was floated around. They're mostly just a few words changed in lines, but there's still new things to see!

Seeing all the tech live is breathtaking. It's one thing to see a video, but so many moments completely took my breath away, especially I Am the Starlight.

I've got so much more appreciation for Pearl and the Freights as characters now. Not that I didn't like them before, but I definitely love them more after the show!

By the end of Act 1, I had already decided I needed to see the show again! I felt like everything could have taken twice as long and I still would have loved it.

In short- if you can see this show please do! It is entertaining, thrilling, and absolutely worth your money no matter where you're sitting!

[acoldghostlypresence]

STEX world building headcanons

Just some shit I've been thinking about, not fully cooked but eh.

The Apollo Victoria was built in the middle of nowhere at the top of a mountain originally to profit off mining operations in the area, when those mineral and coal deposits mostly dried up their financial situation became increasingly precarious. They were only able to stay open as long as they did coasting off the tourism, fame, and funding that came with housing the American National in Poppa and thus regularly hosting the Championships when he won. When Poppa retired it became essential that they find a new champion and fast since their old freight lines couldn't support the station alone, its why Greaseball became the defacto leader of the rolling stock once he won despite how mean he can be (it might also be a contributing factor in why he felt he had to cheat.)

In recent years the station has been looking into applying to become a heritage site due to their importance in train racing history and their preservation of old steamers that most other stations have long since abandoned.

Electra's (as of yet unnamed) station is positioned in the valley just below the Apollo Victoria they've just never needed to actually go up that way until the events of the show. I imagine afterwards they go out of their way to take jobs that let them visit as often as possible to rub how well they're doing in Greaseball's face... no other reason.

All the trains have a built in radio/walkie talkie system but they can only use it to talk to other people within their station, so all the Apollo Victoria trains can talk to each other and all the Components can talk to each other but neither group can talk across those lines (the nationals, being all from different stations, can't talk to anyone. Maybe they have a nationals only group chat set up for races though.) What makes Caboose's radio special is its lack of these limitations, he can talk to whoever whenever so long as they're in range and on a frequency he can access. Because of this he gets all the gossip from all the stations in the area, he's always up to date on what's happening sometimes before even Control is. CB has also illegally modified his radio because of course he has.

I've been imaging there being far more unnamed and unimportant freight and coaches off screen we don't see in the show working at the station.

Regarding Poppa/Momma's many kids, Rusty is their biological (as biologically related as a train can be) grandson while the freight are all foster kids they took in for one reason or another. CB aged out and now lives in his own shed but still visits for tea once a week.

Boxcars come in large batches and them all having identical names is not at all uncommon. The fact that there are only three Rockies at the station is abnormal and its because the rest of their siblings work for different companies far away. They regularly get post cards, letters, and gifts from their siblings and their shed is covered in them.

The fact that the Components belong too and only work with Electra isn't that weird, in fact it's pretty common for trucks and engines to pledge themselves to each other and become exclusive in this way, usually this is done as an emotional commitment between family or lovers. Its alot more high stakes for the trucks involved than the engine though, if something happens to an engine's trucks that's bad obviously but they'll survive, trucks on the other hand generally can't get far physically without an engine to push them so if anything happens to their engine they can become stranded. It's a problem all trucks face but it gets worse when you commit to one person and can no longer ask other engines to pick you up, something I'm sure Dinah was aware of when Greaseball uncoupled her and that Pearl at least briefly considered when trying to make up her heart between Electra and Rusty.

Pearl is trans. You already know this.

[viccyfics]

Tart, not torte!

Greaseball refuses to use autocorrect, so unfortunately for Dinah, her texts are illegible, so when Greaseball wants a sweet treat a little mistake is made

READ ON A03 OR BELOW THE CUT

Greaseball had woken up annoyed, her muscles were aching, her hair was clinging to her face and her neck was sweaty, she was craving something she couldn't quite place and Dinah was nowhere to be seen.

Greaseball glanced over to the clock on the nightstand, it had only just gone past 6 AM, there was no need for Dinah to be up this early, her shift never started until hours after Greaseball. It was Greaseball who always woke up early, kissing her girlfriend awake before heading out for the morning shift, so Dinah being out of bed made so much sense.

Especially considering today was Diesel's day off and Dinah had promised to cuddle her for most of the morning.

Greaseball reached for her phone, swatting away her work one to grab her one, her and Dinah's smiling faces greeting her as she switched it on.

Immediately Greaseball hit Dinah's contact and sent her a text.

"Wher are you"

It didn't take long for the response to come through, and the sound of movement down the hallway just confirmed it.

"I'm in the kitchen, are you alright?"

"Hungry"

Greaseball could hear Dinah's chuckle from the kitchen, a sound the Diesel loved.

"What are you hungry for? I can make breakfast or something to keep in the fridge for you"

Greaseball paused for a moment, she knew she was craving something, but what it was exactly she didn't know, that was until a few minutes of thought she knew exactly what it was, although not actually what it was called, how couldn't she remember something so simple?

"choclate thingy"

"Chocolate thingy? Pain au chocolat?"

Greaseball rolled her eyes, why couldn’t she just remember what it was called, it was right on the tip of her tongue… then it hit her.

"NO cholate tort"

"Oh Chocolate torte, I'll make you one :)"

Yeah, that sounded about right, she knew Dinah would know exactly what she wanted.

Greaseball found herself for most of the morning lazing in bed, watching movies on her laptop and occasionally scrolling through Twitter reading the many, many, thirst posts about herself and Dinah, some of which she liked and retweeted.

It was a perfect morning.

As lunch neared, Dinah slid into the bedroom, her apron still on, patches of flour on her face and in her hair.

"The torte is done, do you want it with lunch or dinner?"

"Dinner," Greaseball chuckled, not paying too much attention to her girlfriend, but to the terrible candid photos of Electra that she had been tagged in.

"Are you being mean online again?" The dining car asked shaking her head, "You're going to get in trouble again."

"It's not my fault they're so stupid-looking" Greaseball continued laughing, turning her phone around to show the photos to Dinah.

"I thought you were friends now?"

"We are, doesn't mean they aren't stupid though."

Dinah couldn't help but laugh at her girlfriend's pouting face as she continued scrolling, "They keep tagging me in things to annoy me."

"Like what?"

"Like this!" With that, Greaseball shoved her phone in Dinah's face, although Dinah didn't get the big deal.

It was the sweetest picture of Rusty she had ever seen, taken by Pearl, His cheeks rosy red and the cutest smile she had ever seen, above the photo, though seemed to be the problem, it read;

"He is the sweetest babygirl to ever babygirl ISTG he needs to win again cause I want rusty merch"

"He isn't babygirl!" Greaseball spat throwing her phone onto the bed, "I want torte now!"

Dinah started to laugh harder, hand clutching her stomach, "You're so dramatic," she wheezed out.

"I'm not dramatic, and Electra does this on purpose! They do it just to annoy me!"

Dinah managed to get her breathing under control after a few minutes, making a mental toll to thank Electra for the good laugh, although she was pretty sure it was Killerwatt who actually ran Electra's social media, since like the Diesel, Electra couldn't be trusted...which meant it must have been Killerwatt tagging Greaseball in that post which caused another round of laughter.

Greaseball rolled her eyes as she pushed past to head to the kitchen, Dinah's laughter following after.

There it was, on the kitchen counter, a chocolate torte, dusted with icing sugar on top.

Dinah's arms wrapped around her waist, "Are you going to have a slice?"

"What is it?" Greaseball asked eyebrows knitted together in confusion, Dinah's face soon mimicked hers.

"Chocolate torte…that's what you asked for."

"No, I asked for-" Greaseball stopped, damn dyslexia, and damn herself for not using autocorrect.

"What did you want?" Dinah had pulled away to stand face to face with her, though luckily she knew Greaseball well enough not to be offended.

"I thought you just said tart really weird," Greaseball started to laugh.

"Tart!" Dinah yelled, hysterical laughing starting up again, "You- You, wanted a tart!"

"That's what I said!"

The kitchen was filled with the laughter of both girls, holding onto each other so they wouldn't fall.

"Okay- okay," Dinah started, a hand to her chest trying to get a hold of her breathing, "Eat the torte and I'll make you a tart for later."

Greaseball nodded her face bright red, shoulders shaking, not even attempting to talk because she knew as soon as she opened her mouth she would just start laughing again.

"I love you so much," Dinah spoke, standing up on her stoppers to kiss Greaseball, "even though you need to use autocorrect."

Yeah, this was the best day off ever.

[bellesdomain]

Updating Starlight in Bochum

So... the German production has had a lot of rewrites over the years. Understatement, but bear with me here... first MAJOR overhaul was in 2002, when the show imported a lot of material from the just-closed original London production.

Next in 2007/2008, the show got tweaked, cut back somewhat, and material from the US/UK Tours was imported. The show was smaller and cheaper to run.

In 2013, the material received another major overhaul and became more cohesive than before - rather than a threadbare attempt to put on a big-scale production, things like the orchestrations were modernised to actually suit a smaller digital band. "I Do" got imported from the UK tour at the same time.

Then, 2018, obviously MASSIVE changes to the show after the 2017 workshops. All that work was done to "fix" the problems with the show as seen in the 2017 "One Night Only" English-language gala.

Since then? Well, the Creative Team have been very busy in 2023/2024 mounting the Wembley revival show, with a lot of new material, new designs, new characters... pretty controversial changes but well received by the public.

2002... 2007-08... 2013.... 2017-18.... see a pattern there? Pretty much every 5 years there's been a major update to the German show. COVID has thrown a spanner in the works, I think they wanted to mount the UK Revival more like 2020, 2021, so there's a delay in the schedule. But I think that 2025 is going to bring major updates to the Bochum show.

But what updates? The Wembley show is "Non-Replica", which means the Direction is by Luke Sheppard not Trevor Nunn (or Arlene Phillips recreating his work). Choreography belongs to Ashley Nottingham not Arlene Phillips. Costume Design is Gabriella Slade's work not John Napier. Arlene Phillips was given the vague title of "Artistic Dramaturg" for the Wembley production, but none of her input under that role is going to specifically BELONG to her, in a legal sense. I assume. Unless there's been some very interesting wording in contracts...

So, how are they going to update the Bochum show? The credit for a Female Greaseball, for example, presumably goes to Director Luke Sheppard. If they change Greaseball's gender in Bochum, they have to credit (and pay!) him for using his work. Gabriella Slade's costume designs being used means Gabriella Slade gets paid for their use - but what is John Napier's contract with the German production? Can they just - STOP using his work and stop paying him for the costumes, while still using his set design? (and obviously, they're not about to stop using that!) Seems likely that he would have a clause in his contract to say that they can't just cut him off - which would explain why he returned in 2018 to design the new characters when he had already decisively retired. But if they do add the new characters, would they get John Napier back to design more? Would a new "Associate Designer" work with him for the show?

Musically the question is simple - Andrew Lloyd Webber has the melodies, Richard Stilgoe has the words. They can add in "Hydrogen" with no difficulty, but the problem lies in who is singing it and why!

But contrary to popular opinion Andrew Lloyd Webber is not the story writer nor the absolute authority on decisions. I believe he has the power to veto decisions, but he doesn't have the power to push things through without the full agreement of the rest of the Creative Team.

So... I have no idea what will ACTUALLY get put onstage in Bochum next year. I expect the Really Useful Group Contract Lawyers are working hard to iron this all out, because it does all boil down to money - who is gonna get paid for their work! Pay Artists fairly! But also boils down to producers wanting to run the show as cheaply as possible to maximise profits, because capitalism.

One thing I am sure of is that we're overdue some significant rewrites to the German show. Keep an eye on casting and the New Kids joining the show in the new year...

[whistlingstarlight]

C.B. is a character I don't talk a lot about bc at his core I don't think he's as deep as some people say, but there's a very specific era of the show in which I think he's at his strongest, and absolutely is a deep character.

And that's when he decides to backstab both Rusty and Greaseball, one after the other.

It's never made much sense to me why during Wide Smile, he promises Electra he'll wreck Rusty in the next race. Electra does not care about Rusty, the two almost never actually interact. The exception to this 80s London, in which they race against each other in the second heat. Obviously in this case, there's actually grounds for Electra wanting Rusty out of the running later down the line. But from Broadway onwards Electra only has one rival, and that's Greaseball.

It does make sense for C.B. to promise Greaseball he'll get Rusty out of the race. Even though Greaseball's newer rival is Electra, he doesn't like Rusty and has never wanted him in the races. His specific reasoning can vary, but however you see it, Greaseball will want Rusty out of the running. Greaseball and C.B. are also already shown to have an alliance, as it's always implied in-show C.B. has something to do with his race partner's wreck in Heat 1, and in There's Me Greaseball shushes him when he says "what a team". It's not really a secret that C.B. isn't as nice as he acts.

Electra, meanwhile, their strongest dynamic is with Greaseball. Rusty isn't a concern to them because they do not care about him. But Greaseball, he's a threat.

C.B. would naturally play on all these different dynamics. Promising Greaseball he'll help him, then instantly going to Electra and promising to wreck Greaseball makes him even more two-faced, and amps up his danger levels by making it clear he does not care about any of these engines.

C.B. pulling the strings of all three main players does still come into play later, granted, but I think it adds something to Wide Smile for his twist to be a much punchier one, where he reveals nobody is safe from him, even the engine we presumed he had an alliance with.

To me at least, one thing better than a twist where a character is revealed to be the bad guy is a villain where the twist is that they're so much worse than we first thought.

C.B.'s on his own side, after all.

[kittyhasskittles]

Starlight Express has completely taken over my hyperfixation currently so I turned the cowboy lesbians Aura and Sigrid into trains. (Sigrid belongs to @cardwolf )

Aura's a dinning/passenger car while Sigrid would be a Steam train (still keeping on the cowboy theme). They're less toxic than Dinah and Greaseball tho hehe.

[green-planets]

StEx Appreciation Month Day 13: Flat Top!

🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱

Face Claim: Mark Davis, Richard Mylan, or Delano Willemsen

Favourite Song/Scenes: I will never recover from Flat Top's intro in the spoof show. Between him almost rolling off the stage after throwing his brick (Rusty catches him and pulls him back), the “C'MON BIG BOY!”, the way he points at the Rockies when Dustin says “They're not rocks, they're aggregates!”, and the hyper aggressive dancing during the ‘Aggregates are Really Great’ segment, it may just be the greatest Flat Top performance ever (thank you Richard Mylan, you're my new favorite Flat Top!)

Okay now that that ramble is out of the way, he's extremely entertaining during Poppa/Momma's blues, I love how he teases and antagonizes Poppa/Momma and Rusty, he's so goofy when he worships Greaseball during Pumping Iron, I love the moment when he realizes that Greaseball isn't a good guy, He looks so torn when the gang is beating Rusty up and when he give Rusty his helmet back!!! Gutwrenching

Favourite Costumes: I've grown extremely fond of Flat Top's London costumes and the detail put into them (brick on a chain should be brought back!!!) I do like the versions with the brighter, more prominent graffiti designs and it's funny when he has random graffiti written on his face. I still like the Broadway/Bochum shoulder boxes better (load that guy up with bricks!!)

Favourite Ships/Friendships: Flat Top x Dustin, Flat Top x Rusty, Flat Top x Zero. Friends with the freight crew (except Lumber and Porter-- he has one-sided beef with them), Rusty, and the coaches. Best friends with Dustin and Ashley. Tried befriending Greaseball's gang but that didn't work out so well

Headcanons: He had so much fun being a little shit with Slick up until she betrayed Rusty (afterwards he's super wary of her). He was also expecting to be booted out of the freight crew's found family after his behavior during the races but they welcomed him back with open arms

Unpopular Opinion: A lot of people say he's unnecessary to the plot (which is true tbh) but the show feels so empty without him :(

🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱

[trainfanz]

Further ramblings on London 2024 as I've now had a chance to listen to it! Below the cut! (I can't send out the audio, sorry.) SPOILERS ABOUND!

ACT ONE

"Stop that boring music!" IS GONE!

There really isn't a lot to separate the additional trains. Their introductions and little pre-race mantras are all "They're fast!"

Al Knott sounds great.

I appreciate they rewrote Crazy to actually make it more of an intro song for Rusty instead of just sticking it there.

Arguing before 'I Am Me' is hard to follow with no visuals!

"Friends!" "Friends!" "More than friends?!" "-just friends." HAHA

"Trucks will identify themselves! Fuel Trucks!" Honey, they're all fuel trucks.

Freight really doesn't get to finish and I don't think I really like that.

Stopping here to say that Hydra is the standout of this new incarnation. Going into his little mantra at every applicable moment and annoying everyone else is hilarious.

AC/DC is... fine. Still prefer the older sound.

New take on Pumping Iron however is pretty good!

I want to see Control offering Pearl a spot to sit so bad.

"Please welcome to the other side of the tracks: Momma McCoy." "HOW WE DOIN?!" That's great.

Shoutout to them for using my preferred little outro ditty for the blues. Hard to explain what I mean.

I get that the 4th qualifying engine isn't integral to the downhill final but to only have 1 winner in Race 2 feels weird.

Surprise El DeBarge Lyrics???

ACT TWO

The Rap is pulling a lot from the first two incarnations - "Race Time" shows up in the megamix but not in the actual song.

Dinah UGLY crying hhhh

Slick gets her own take on Wide Smile. Not sure if I like it but it's definitely unique.

Still think what immediately follows Race 3 ends up being 2 versions of the same scene stuck together, but that's not this production's problem.

It stings that Right Place, Right Time is gone. I get that it doesn't really work with the fuel trucks as apposed to the Rockies but I miss it!

No awkward key change in Starlight Sequence!! (If you've heard the current German version, you know.)

For how integral to the plot he is I expected Hydra to get a little more of his own number, but the "It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when" is the most song he gets and the rest is just talking.

Aaand here's Lord Andy's big twist, Rusty explicitly converts himself to run on hydrogen. More on this in a few lines!

They REALLY get their mileage out of what they got Lord Andy to write for this production.

Ok, I see what people mean by them altering Prusty in 2017 to fit 'I Do' better instead of changing the song again. I get it now. I think.

Even as a sapphic, Greaseball still can't spell.

New lyrics in Light At The End of The Tunnel is WEIRD.

I don't hate that they try to work in a message about clean fuels but at the same time I don't think its necessary? Was the original Starlight really meant to convince the audience that coal is the future in real life? Not really. Especially at the end things feel a bit heavy handed but again, I don't HATE it.

Still amazed I am open to/liking this new take on Starlight as much as I am.

[nauticaltrain]

is the way you interpret the stex characters, are they robots or a mix? since they don't feel pain, but bleed oil etc. what is the lore? are they built at a young age or are they built into adults? (p.s your art is delicious too look at !!)

ohohoho boy, the lore i have for you, strap in

(brief note, this is all my personal interpretation and is definitely not the word of god lol. I genuinely love every interpretation and believe that headcanon variety is vital to a healthy fandom ecosystem)

So, this is something I have thought a lot about and still continue to think about. I'm pretty sure I've nailed it down but it might still be a little nebulous so bear with me.

In the most basic sense, my interpretation of Starlight Express, and all of its characters, is that they are real world pieces of rolling stock that have the ability to shift between a train form (primary configuration) and a human form (secondary configuration). Not an uncommon idea in this fanbase.

However, I'm an overthinking bitch, and I love going in-depth on things like this, so let's expand a little.

There are three main phrases that I use to define my interpretation (headcanon? au? lore?) and to keep myself on track when developing ideas. Sort of layers, if you will. They are as follows:

Fabricated manifestation of psyche - This is rolling stock's appearance in secondary configuration, or what we see in the musical. Their human bodies are a cosmetic representation of their will. A psychological trick. It reflects their personalities, their jobs, their mental age, the demographics of the region they serve. There about a million different factors that go into how they look, and like us, they can't control it. (well, except for CB, but he's another story) It's important to note that this is a manifestation. They are not Transformers. Secondary configuration is not 1:1. There are certain things that get muddled in the changeover. Wheel arrangements being different, missing certain parts, changed color palettes. You could open one up and see parts but not in any sort of similar arrangement to their blueprints. I mean, who can honestly picture every single part of their body in perfect detail and then reinterpret it into a new shape? (this is in part my answer to discrepancies between the real costumes and my lore shh shh)

Counterfeit reflection of humanity - This is their minds. They are our copies. They experience everything we do. They work, play, socialize, fight, fall in love. You could talk to a piece of rolling stock and have a fully human conversation. They are people. However, the longer your conversation goes on for, you may notice certain...oddities. Gaps in their knowledge, speaking in rhythmic sentences, constant repetitive movement. Someone copied humans and didn't do the most perfect job. Like looking at human culture through a lens. Many a train has pondered the simultaneous existence of being machine and being alive.

Physical incarnation of industrialism - Now this, is the origin of all of this. The humans did not create trains to be the way they are. Every piece of rolling stock is designed as they would be in the real world: vehicles to transport people and goods from one place to the next. No one designed Greaseball's slicked back hair or big, studded belt, they designed an EMD E7 built for pulling fast passenger trains. My point is, at the advent of industrialism as we know it, the trains manifested their secondary configurations themselves. They are the offspring of humanity, sired by ingenuity and innovation and birthed from the overturned earth of the Industrial Revolution. No one knows how or why, they just are.

So, in summary, they're sort of robots? Sort of a power of the mind situation? Sort of my own self-reflection on the nature of being alive?

Bonus facts!

Indeed, they do not feel pain. In fact, much of their sense of touch in general is limited. It ranges from same sensitivity as human flesh (hands, face, wheels) to just registers contact (shoulder boxes, hip plating, couplers). I have a diagram of the exact distribution somewhere lol

They bleed? Kind of? If parts are pulled off or damaged, they sort of…leak. Also, if their fleshy bits are "injured", the wounds only heal when the actual machinery is repaired. Also also, if you remove a human part (arm, leg, head, etc.) it will turn back into a train part!

Their temperature resistance is notable too. Comfortable is between -10 F to well over 500 F. Anything above or below that, and they start to complain. Wooden rolling stock have a harder time than steel ones.

They're afraid of deep water and tornados.

In addition to their nails being painted in relevant colors (which I believe is a semi-popular headcanon already), their mouths are the same. Some more unnatural colors include, black, yellow, and blue!

Tall! Generally between 12 and 17 feet. Loosely correlates to their height in primary configuration. Some are the same height, some are taller, some are shorter. Really depends on personality. I contemplated once to have their heights be the length of their primary configurations, but that would result in some pretty awkward height differences and they would be too big for their loading gauge.

They always manifest as adults, or at the very least, late teenagers. They kind of age? Sometimes? Momma started out a bit middle aged, but Rusty has spent like 50+ years looking 25. Really depends on the person, workload, environment, etc.

[phopollo]

Tell us about the other characters in Rusty and GB's photos!

TEEHEE IM SO GLSD YOU ASKED (this is going to be a long post)

Also just for anyone who's curious about the mentioned photos becsuse you may have missed the post, fear not, you can just check it out right here ���

So!! Let's start with Rusty's photo! I think it's pretty clear thst we've got Rusty in the center there, little baby man style, just a little guy-- but of course, he's not the only one there-- so let's talk about Rusty's little parental polycule!

To his left is Momma!

A bit younger than she's appearing in the actual rest of the story, but there she is! Momma is pretty much the same as the musical version-- previous world champion racer, retired in her old age, etc etc

Above Rusty though, is Poppa! That's right, I say both Momma and Poppa rights for Rusty

Poppa is a steam engine switcher like Rusty. He ran a few races back in his younger days, but he never really won any-- and while he's about the age that he really probably should be retiring, he's still working hard!

And then to Rusty's right is Memphis!

Alternatively, the original Belle! I've decided to use just Memphis, since there 2024 Belle already, and I wasn't planning any connection between them, so making them Jr/Sr just didn't feel right. Memphis has a roughly similar story to her canon one as well! She's an old sleeping car who used to race with Momma, and was even her coach for many of Momma's years as champion!

It may not be as obvious because he calls her by name, but Memphis is absolutely also one of Rusty's parents! Unfortunately, they as a family got separated when Poppa and Memphis got assigned to another station/train yard when Rusty was younger-- it's been maybe a whole decade at this point. Rusty will always volunteer to bring something to the other station when they send requests for help though, just for the opportunity to see his other two parents

So then! Now let's talk about Greaseball's family photo!

In case it wasn't entirely clear, because I used the like.... draft version of her wig; on the left is Junior!

This one's our little baby girlball! She is not having a good time :(

On the right is Virtuoso!

Lowkey, kinda just made him up, because Greaseball strikes me as having really complicated family relationships. They're kind of age gap siblings, they never really had anything in common aside from their father's racing desires for them, and admittedly, in what turned out to be a golden child/black sheep situation, Virtuoso was very much the black sheep. He is very much what I'd consider as a "season 2" kind of character-- one mentioned a couple times or that you visually see the photo of some time during season 1 (shortly before the events of the musical through Rusty becoming the champion), but you wouldn't actually hear about or meet him until season 2

And then finally, in the middle, we've got Senior

Everyone say hello Greaseball Senior, who's inspiration came from the very first iteration of Greaseball. He sustained a pretty serious injury pretty early on in his racing career, leaving him unable to get up to speeds to keep up with those around him. And while he could still work, he wasn't satisfied with that-- as a result, he ended uo pushiny his dreams and aspirations of racing on his kids pretty hard

As I mentioned earlier, the family dynamic and relationships are kind of.... rocky, to put it politely. Virtuoso is completely out of the picture at this point, and I definitely wouldn't say Jr and Sr get along. Jr will go out of her way to avoid him, but Sr keeps going out of his way to track her down because of the vicarious glory of being her, the current reigning world champion's, dad. Admittedly, Jr's view of family and what family is supposed to be is a little messed up because of all of this