#do not get me started in bwba.

[edwards-exploit]

I often wonder about the crews of the rws/ttte universe and what they're like and how they handle the shit their engines pull especially in specials where like. Really insane things happen.

For instance. Does Frankie and Hurricane kidnapping Thomas also count as them kidnapping his crew. can the fat controller sue the steelworks and its employees for trapping his employees as well as his engines. Many such cases.

[dragons-and-magic]

What made you ship all of them, lol?

Especially Sonny x Rebecca?💙💛

HOOOOOO BOY. This is gonna be a long one! Lol! Honestly, most of the reasons is just liked them. I saw some fan work of them and they just clicked with me. I don't know. I'm not very complicated when it comes to shipping.😅 But I'm super excited to talk about my ships, so I'll try to give some more thoughts on them than that. Let's get into it!

Sonny x Rebecca: I will admit, I didn't ship these two at first. But, after I saw some fan content of them, I was hooked. I think they would have really good dynamic. We all know it's implied that Sonny has had a very rough and frankly traumatizing life. I feel like Rebecca could be good for him. Her joyful and sweet personality might just be what he needs to heal. Plus, they give me sun and moon vibes.🌚🌞 (P.S. I almost forgot. Watching Gordon take in the fact that his daughter figure/apprentice is now dating this "thieving rapscallion" would be absolutely hilarious.)

Thomas x Ashima: I've been shipping these two for years! I mean, look at the the way they look at each other and talked about each other in a few scenes! And how Thomas really wanted her to stay with him longer? Saving each other in the competition?? Or that one BWBA episode where he fantasized saving her like action hero??? That's so frickin cute!

Another thing! Thomas is used to having to prove he's worthy for all sorts of things. Ashima thinks he's already worthy. She literally looked at him and said, you don't need to change. You're perfect being yourself and I like it.😭💖 I personally feel like they're soulmates! And make a really good team! I really wish they had done more with them in show. I was hopeful when they announced they would be putting her in more episodes. But alas, nothing really happened.

Frankie x Hurricane: I love me a good villain couple, m'kay? Also, the tragedy??? Think about it, since they're working on the mainland, they don't know about steamies and diesels finally getting along. (We do know that things are the mainland didn't change as quickly.) So picture this. Back then, when the mainland engines found out that steamie and diesel had fallen in love, all hell broke loose! So, the poor ostracized couple left to escape the hostility, and went where they could never find them. A big steelworks, in the middle of nowhere... Anyways, they would totally be an awesome Disney level villain couple. I know it.

Emily x Connor: This one has what I call "I take a tiny moment and blow it up into a huge thing!" Lol. Basically, in one episode, Connor very subtly flirted with Emily and I found it interesting. It may or may not have been intentional, but either way I thought that it could be really cute. They give me knight and princess vibes. Also, I love Caitlin and Emily's relationship. (Healthy female friendships! My beloved!) Having her as a wingman (wingwoman???) for Emily and Connor sounds all too adorable. Although admittedly, this ship is definitely not my favorite on the list. I used to like it more when I was younger. Recently I got into Douglas x Emily, which has way more hints than this ship. And that one is slowly creeping up higher on the list. So we'll just have to see with one comes out on top.

Edward x Boco: SUCH A CUTE COUPLE! I didn't ship these two at all, until start reading fic's for them and saw the fanart. Then I realized these two might as well be married! Just two nice old guys, raising three rambunctious children together.🥰 Also, it seems nice that Edward finally has someone tough enough to help him wrangle in the twins when he's feeling worn out. And their personalities fit really nicely together too. Somebody put it better then me, right here. But yeah, these two are adorable! Easily one of my top favorite ttte ships!

Belle x Flynn: Honestly, I have no reason to ship these two, other than I just think it would be cute. No canon event inspired it. No fanart. Nothing. It just popped into my head one day and I decided to roll with it. Lol. I think it would be fun to see.

Daisy x Ryan: I'm not to sure what to say about these two either. Other than they give me vintage movie vibes. (Maybe it's Daisy. She reminds me of a few female movie stars from the old days of Hollywood.) And as a vintage movie fan, I really like that! Also, it's worth mentioning she literally flirted with him in one episode. That was a surprise! It was convince him to do some jobs for her, but whatever. Lol. Also Ryan was almost completely oblivious to it. My poor Gold Retriever Boy. It didn't fully compute. 🤣🤣🤣 Still, I think it could possibly work. Especially in the later seasons.

James x Nia: YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE RARE PAIR!🤩 I've talked about it so much now! But, here's a few more thoughts on them! They actually have a few traits in common. They're both playful, fiery, and outgoing characters. And they both seem to be very loyal as well. Oh, did I mention that their matching color scheme is perfect. And I feel like Nia would help James loosen up a bit and get even more adventurous. So while definitely a rare pair, I think they're neat and should be explored more!❤️🧡

Toby x Henrietta: If Thomas and Ashima are soulmates, Toby and Henrietta are champion soulmates! They're such a husband and wife duo. I loved every episode they had together. The way they talked to other and how much they disliked being separated? Adorable!!!😍🧡🧡 Sometimes they remind me of my own parents.😂 Whoever came up with the idea to finally give Henrietta a voice and an actual face? I salute you. You were a true genius. Now I can hear their realistic husband/wife banter in it's full glory. Lol.

Well, that's my thoughts. I'm not very good at romance anything, so I hope this will suffice.😅 Thanks for the ask!

[littlewestern]

if you’re still taking ship asks, thomas? and if not i understand!💙 ty either way

I sat here looking at this ask for about 45 seconds with a blank expression on my face because my knee-jerk reaction to people asking what I think about about Thomas is usually, "I don't think about him at all <3". This is both rude and not true.

I like Thomas in small doses! I like early season little shit Thomas who makes life harder on everyone around him because he's new and doesn't know anything, and I like later season CGI revisits to little shit Thomas so long as it doesn't get too obnoxious. One of my favorite things about the later seasons of Little Shit Thomas is how faithfully it hews to the source material.

There are two things that remain wholly consistent across the TVS canon Thomas iterations: 1) He hates his snowplow and 2) He has zero game. He gets absolutely no bitches. Negative rizz. Maidenless behavior. The only women who love him unconditionally are his coaches. I think this is one of the funniest things about his character.

Across the board, whenever he meets a girl engine in a serial episode, Thomas immediately starts beefing with them. Emily, Rosie, Ashima, Nia, Cleo. Granted, Thomas will beef with most new engines he meets at first because he's insecure and wasn't raised right, but with the girls it goes on without exception. And it's also funny, as I mentioned.

That said, this is the foundation for what is probably my favorite Thomas ship that NO ONE has ever heard of, of which I am the sole captain and which I will probably go to my grave defending.

GINA:

For what they are, the Italian characters in BWBA are probably some of the most overdeveloped side characters I've ever seen on this show. And for basically no reason, because no one besides DJ and I watched season 23 and paid attention.

That said, you might be surprised to hear that Gina is one of my favorite characters in the entire TVS and no I'm not even joking about this lol.

I love her design, I love how pretty she is, I love that she reads as a little bit older and more experienced without watering her down to something bland. In the episodes she shows up in, she demands all of your attention and I'm happy to give it because she's got this fantastic design and colorful personality I find eminently watchable. That on it's own is enough to make me like her.

But my favorite thing about Gina is that, like all the other female character mentioned above, she frequently gets into little arguments with Thomas. The difference here is that while Emily and Rosie and Nia and Ashima don't really let Thomas's immaturity get under their skin and move on from their arguments with him easily, Gina gets so upset when Thomas argues with her.

Like magic, this transforms the relationship from scanning as "coworkers having a disagreement" to "Gina cares what Thomas thinks about her, and the fact that she cares bothers her so much". It's hard to describe without having seen the episodes, so I do encourage you to watch All Tracks Lead To Rome to see what I mean. It;s fascinating behavior from an engine who, up until the point she starts arguing with Thomas, seems like she has her shit together. Then Thomas says some dumbass shit and she immediately lets it ruin her day.

it's like. You ever develop a crush on someone who is just... Like you can't stand them sometimes? But you still have a crush on them even when you're completely done with their shit? And you're mad at yourself for still thinking their dumb face is adorable and for letting it bother you so much because you can't stop thinking about their dumb adorable face even though you're mad? No? Just me?

Well. It's like that. And that is such a funny and refreshing way to approach a character dynamic, especially in this show where most of the side characters are One Note Nobodies.

tl;dr: Gina is morosexual. Thomas asked her what the Italian word for al dente was and now she dreams of kissing him under the moonlight. And she hates that so much.

Also go watch the Italy episodes of BWBA, they're great.

[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. 😉

[master-of-the-railway]

I became curious about this after looking at your Cleo post and wanted to know; when do you think BWBA takes place? Personally, I think it takes place in 2018, just like the movie and the seasons in 2019-21. But what do you think?

I have a bit of an odd way of perceiving the series that I'm not sure if it adds up, but I believe BWBA would be like...

The way I set it up is that the events before HOTR would take place throughout the earlier 1900s (with exceptions for some flashbacks that might have been before then), and it leads up to HOTR which takes place directly in 1950, and then the events afterward (this excludes most Christmas eps bc I don't think they're all super canon) goes beyond that. Equally so I have to suspend some disbelief and say our STH wasn't there from the very beginning, any instances before him would be a different one.

BWBA the MOVIE is easier for me to position, it's the seasons that complicate things, because we get Thomas at the start and end recalling the experiences, so there's no clear indicator on when some events could take place, if they have no post-BWBA movie characters and don't show us Tidmouth, Nia/Rebecca, and perhaps Carly, it could've easily taken place at an earlier time. That's not many eps mind you but it's enough to muddy the waters.

BUT I can confidently say I believe that the marvelous machinery specials and any ep in tune with them would absolutely take place in the 1960s, preferably earlier in the era, matches up with Kenji's creation (though I know the series isn't fond of being realistic lol) and it just feels right to me.

But yeah!! That's basically the gist of how I view it. Even if some events fell in earlier than I thought, the series has openly proved their humans are geniuses when it comes to machinery (but not enough for cell phones ajshdhfh).

[cerenemuxse]

So i finally watched the movie from the trailers that repeatedly played in Disney DVDs, Lady and the Tramp

Including its 2001 sequel, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure, and its 2019 remake of the original 1955 film.

My very useless review of all three Lady and the Tramp movies because I said so

This one isn't going to be thorough because I suck at that. If you've read my BWBA Season 24 review, then expect that here-

Please make your own opinions. Don't be like me (way before this) and base yours off of everyone's else. That's why I put useless, because it is if you hadn't made your own.

I don't use streaming services. Never have, never will. Physical media is better anyways so hopefully I can get my hands on these someday.

Disclaimer: I love dogs. A lot. Probably some bias but that's how it goes lmao

Also sorry to anyone who's here for TTTE. There's steam engines in all three movies, being more prominent in the 2019 remake so I hope that helps. /j

I initially thought that the movie was about Lady being abandoned, with the Lady and Tramp plot line, based on the trailers I saw growing up as a kid. Well, I wasn't too far off.

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Jim-dear and Darling spoiling Lady at the start is so sweet. The introduction is just *mwa* chef's kiss! But it also provides context as to why Lady was in such a poor mood.

There's two layers of how the story is being handled when it comes to scene where Tramp and Lady get into an argument after Lady is brought home from the dog pound. And this has to do with how one is able to understand it and the time the story takes place.

Lady and the Tramp takes place in the near end of the Victorian era, in the 1900s (1900 - 1909). An unwed woman being with a man who is not of the same class and is involved in an inappropiate manner was looked down upon. People were not easy on these women, especially if they fall pregnant.

It's implied that Lady could've fallen pregnant with the way the scene Jock and Trusty offer marriage is written. They could very well have wanted to protect her reputation, something rare at the time, because of her circumstances, and her because of her possible condition. (A dog's gestation period is 3 months, which is enough time for the pups to be where they're at by the end of the movie.)

There's a mature view and a "safer" view to this scene, which I adore. Children understand differently than adults do. It's "family friendly."

Also, there's room for what happened between Lady and Tramp from rescuing Tramp to Christmas (of that same year, presumably), which I kinda wanna explore- oops. <3

Again, I really love this movie. Lady is so sweet and feisty. Tramp is lovely. GOD, i love dogs. <333

But GOD, did I hate that scene with the Siamese cats. Music was extremely out of place, and the way the cats are portrayed is insulting. It was stereotypical, and it doesn't help that the movie was produced AFTER WWII, when the US had camps where they locked away any Japanese person after taking everything away from them.

Also, Disney, i don't think that's how genetics work with pups- Where each one is a carbon copy of one of the parents.

Overall: I absolutely adore this movie.

Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (2001)

Mediocre- It was part of the "direct-to-video" era of Disney.

Scamp and Angel's love-story plot was not that interesting. It was just a gender reverse of Lady and Tramp's relationship in the first movie, but the wants are the opposite. Scamp wants to be a street dog and Angel wants to be a house dog. Would've been more interesting if Lady and Tramp had been more involved and noticed the similarities of his son's relationship with Angel to their own. Maybe. I don't have much to add.

Speaking of Lady, I really wish she had as big of a role as Tramp did, being that she's Scamp's mother and knows what its like to be a house dog. By this point, we can assume Tramp has been a house dog for a year (probably moved in during the summer). Her presence is so small that when Jim-dear addresses Tramp directly, he doesn't address her when she's right there.

The musical aspect didn't go as hard as the first movie did. Also, The Man with the Yellow Hat, is that you?

"It's not a phase, dad!" - Scamp

Speaking of the VAs, I have to give this movie credit where its due for hitting the bullseye with them. On point with the original VAs for Tramp and Lady. Just know that "Ted, The Man with the Yellow Hat" Tramp will live rent free in my head for days. Oh, and Patrick Star is there, too, i guess.

Buster being mad that Tramp ditched him for Lady has me howling. Like damn, ok.

Overall: It's not bad, but its not good either.

Lady and the Tramp (2019)

I love this one. And I usually don't take interest in live-action content (the live-action aspect makes it boring-) but hey, I adore this movie.

The structure is the same but the changes do affect the storyline. Its a what-if version of the 1955 original and its so well done.

mostly-

If you've seen the trailers or the movie AND know when the story takes place, you might've noticed this issue.

The interracial couples.

1900s was not a great time for them. At all. This is the Jim Crow era this happened in. I get that Disney wants (for the money and reputation) to show more diversity in gender, race, and ethnicity, but you got to do it properly with the period being worked with.

The classism between Lady and Tramp is portrayed differently. The scene that implies what they did that evening is different since the dogcatcher finds them. And its the dogcatcher who is the gossip train about their relationship and point of the classism. When he meets with Jim-dear and Darling, he calls out Lady for being involved with Tramp. Again, this can be taken in both ways. Getting romantically involved or being involved with Tramp, a troublemaker, at all.

Scandalous! they would've said if Disney wasn't try-harding their PG movies and not getting canceled.

The gender swapping? I originally didn't like Jock being a girl because of the voice but I warmed up to it as I watched the movie. I don't care much for it lol. It's not being shoved into your face (T&F: BWBA), which is a good thing.

They added more to Lady and Tramp's personalities. They're the same characters but they offer a little more. Know-it-all but actually naive Lady? Yes, please. <3 Tramp being more cautious about the pound but still his cocky self all around? Yes please!

I actually like the change in Lady's owners once the baby arrives. This is the what-if I was talking about. They start to push her away, a natural reaction when a baby arrives. All the attention is put on a small, helpless being, and Lady feels abandoned.

When she's rescued from the pound by her owners in this version, they rekindle with her. They become aware of her behavior and involve her. They would reasonably have been worried that Lady might hurt the baby, intentionally or not, hence why they didn't involve her from the start. Having a baby messes with your thoughts and perceptions about things and people. It happens, and I'm glad we got to see how it played out with Lady.

Also, this movie has one thing the 1955 film didn't achieve. There's more going on between Lady and Tramp. More time to access things. Between Lady being rescued from the pound to Tramp finally visiting her, its been days. Lady is busy rekindling her relationship with her owners and the baby but misses Tramp. Tramp is guilt tripped for not rescuing or even trying to go after Lady once the dogcatcher caught her.

He could've gone after her but keep in mind that this Tramp is aware that if her gets caught, Lady could possible not be free. In this version, Lady's collar was removed at the pet store when they tried fitting on muzzle so there was no guarantee of what would happen to her. He was there when they picked her up. He realized that yes, things turned out okay, so maybe he shouldn't feel guilty.

So if he shouldn't, why does he?

And the conversation? It KILLED me. Tramp states his worth. He's exposing himself and Lady immediately protests, saying that's not true and that he has value to her. She ends the conversation with the line "you deserve love. Im just sorry that it can't be with me." You know, the same energy as "But who's going to watch the baby?" from the original 1955 film. It killed me.

o7 to the nickname Pidge/Pigeon and Tramp's "iconic" scratch. Pidge is such a cute nickname. Why did they leave it out?

Note that Lady almost got Tramp killed by accident when she tried to rescue him and succeeded. They made it more tragic between these two. My cup of tea /hj

Disney live-action remakes have a reputation of automatically being shitty and staying shitty. But Lady and the Tramp did not disappoint. Yes, there was a major historical inaccuracy that is disrespectful to the people who had to suffer during the time period, yet I love the movie the same. If that hadn't happened, I would love the movie more than I do.

Overall: I love it. Would love it more without the historical inaccuracy.

And that's my review! Very illegible, I bet.

I should've seen me being obsessed with a movie about dogs from a mile away. and here we are.

Also, i just rewatched the sequel for the third as I wrote this. Girl, help-

[transsexualunderground]

lemme talk about some TTTE OCS!

So this was a long time coming. I tried to post an OC once before but I chickened out and deleted his post. So, here's some lore rundowns for a bunch of my OCs! And by that I mean all of 'em! And my sona, as a bonus! (and details on my personal canon!!!)

(This took me like 3 attempts to write because Tumblr kept eating the part about Wesley when I accidentally hit ctrl+z because I made a typo on Forsythia's basis :sob:)

Putting a break so I don't clog any tags haha

So, for the third time I am trying to write this (dear god), behold, Wesley the Show Engine (and his tender that I admittedly drew in a rush when I drew it)! Wesley is based on Furness No. 20's original batch of 0-4-0 locomotives, generally based on Furness No. 20 in design but less so in backstory. Canonically, he was made after that batch of locos but his build date is undecided still.

He was made for a Collector, Mr. Titus Lancaster. The two attended engine shows for years, and while Wesley enjoyed it, he was rather isolated from other engines and rolling stock for many years. He admired the railway working life from afar and longed to have it.

Eventually his wish would be granted in both his and his Collector's old age when he donated him to the NWR.

Wesley's a rather interesting character to me in his origins. He's an old engine but very inexperienced with the rails.

Personality-wise, he's kindhearted, hardworking, sincere, passionate, and would rather get along with others, but he can be very gullible (early on) due to his lack of experience, and is imbued with the spirit of Sodor's karmic justice itself. (Read: he's really vengeful at times. If you cross him, he wants to ensure you get your just desserts.)

He's humble and quick to admit to his mistakes and apologize when he messes up (an uncommon trait on the railways LOL), and while he's open-minded, he's also willing to admit he's a bit foolish and unworldly. He mainly works on Edward's Branch Line.

He likes snow and snowploughs (he finds them comfortable in the way a weighted blanket or lead x-ray wear is comfortable), karma, being out and about, any work at all, and bugs.

He dislikes being patronized/infantilized/treated as if he's stupid and incapable, geese (there was an incident), most animals, the sound of babies crying, and almost all trucks. He's open to the idea of there being trucks that aren't troublesome but he doesn't know any yet.

I'd like to highlight a central relationship he has in his stories, that of his relationship with Edward. The two were quick friends and once made eye contact at an engine show YEARS before they properly met (though neither recognized the other). Eventually that friendship became a tendency to want to work together more and more often, and the duo became very close indeed... and then they started being gay as all hell. Gay ol' engines. Good for them! (They get married in a plotline of mine. I'm dead serious. Gay train wedding!!!)

EDIT: Something I forgot to note! While he's also vengeful, he's insists on doing nice things for others who have done nice things for him. Everything is a two-way street. One turn deserves another, good or bad.

For reading all that, here's a Checkpoint Human!Wesley I drew.

Moving right along, we have a narrow gauge duo!

I present to you Forsythia the Rambunctious Engine and Nicolas, her coach. Forsythia was based on the 2-4-0T Rheidol/Talybont/Treze de Maio and a fucked up kiddie ride I saw once.

Yeah, it's a really fucked up kiddie ride.

These two are owned by Ms. Tiffany Lancaster, the niece of Wesley's former Collector (who has passed by the time she obtains these two). They are often loaned to the Skarloey to help out there (until a later event we'll touch on with the next OC).

These two got BWBA'd before I even knew what the hell was going on in BWBA. Except it's much more realistic and boring in execution. Just a lot of boring time on cargo ships with shipping mix-ups! They got to Sodor though, don't worry.

They've got the energy of childhood best friends imo. Also, Forsythia and Wesley consider one another cousins, but like, adoptive cousins specifically.

Forsythia is down to clown and is cheeky and mischievous and a prankster but she is an experienced variety. And she knows when to back off. And she will, if you ask her (and you're not on her list of Those She Is Close Enough To Clown Upon Always And Forever or Those I Hate)! I'd say she's... like... young adult or teenager -coded. She's very energetic and a Large Ham if you know about that trope.

Now, look at Nicolas, her coach. Tell me, when you look at him, do you think he's the serious sort? You'd be wrong there. He's also down to clown! And he's here for the shenanigans as well. He's simply the quiet, observant deadpan to Forsythia's rambunctious large ham.

[EDIT: I never noted that sometimes these two's antics involve collaborating with the Troublesome Trucks. Forsythia's always offended when the inevitable betrayal happens.]

Now for that lore thing I mentioned. I have an adaptation of Toby's Discovery in my AU in which TFC does not manage that part of the railway. Instead he does participate in its restoration but it is ran by none other than Tiffany Lancaster! Forsythia is the Ulfstead Heritage Railway's Engine No. 2! (Engine No. 1 is Bertram; Forsythia would've been No. 1 if some contract things with the Skarloey Railway didn't have to be sorted out first.)

[EDIT: Now that Forsythia and Nicolas are consistently on a railway, they do have a cluster of trucks that won't betray them because of how fun things just tend to be with those two.]

And on that railway, eventually there arrived a BR Class 12 Diesel, but refitted to narrow gauge.

I present my final OC, Sycorax. Sycorax's arc is very dear to me because it has origins in both a random thought I had, a quote Awdry said in a video I watched, and my own opinions on locomotives and Sodor.

The video I've linked here made me have a realization about older diesels.

https://youtu.Be/h-xesjpiqgo?T=189

I can see where Awdry was coming from on this - he witnessed dieselization firsthand! But boy, I think diesels (and electrics!) have their charm and I'm really fond of them actually. I know it's very different as a modern reader who barely has any exposure to locomotives in person anyways due to the infrastructure of the United States just… Sucking sometimes, but nevertheless, my point stands.

Sycorax's arc starts with them in a most dire place: about to be scrapped. But fate saves them and they're refitted and brought to Sodor, where they find that, despite being the new thing, they're envious of steam engines, seeing their charm and the fact that they'll always be in fashion somewhere… And they feel generic and replaceable.

But eventually they start to realize that diesels become obsolete too. Now this is particularly regarding a dash of TVS canon but I like to think that the diesels of Sodor are there because Sodor, is too, a safe haven for them as well as steam engines. That's why absolute assholes stay around sometimes, it's because they've nowhere else to go. Sycorax realizes their envy is unwarranted, and that Sodor is a safehaven for all types of engines who need it, it's just that, at the time, steam engines needed it most. And they're not replaceable. And this is home now.

[EDIT: Forgot to add that they're the UHR (ulfstead heritage railway) No. 3!]

Thank you for reading all that. As a finale, let me briefly touch on my sona, The Secondman himself.

The Secondman is literally a self-insert/sona guy who's a human studying on modern day Sodor. He volunteers on the railways of the island often. He intends to immigrate there properly once he's done with his schooling. He's essentially is to me what the Thin Clergyman was to Awdry. In-universe, he writes my fanbooks, my silly little shitposts about various Engine Incidents, and a whole bunch of other things. And he's having a good time.

I haven't drawn him. But nevertheless!

Thank you SO MUCH for reading this loredump. I hope you enjoyed.

[jobey-wan-kenobi]

I posted 5,224 times in 2022

That's 3,808 more posts than 2021!

75 posts created (1%)

5,149 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@youcandalekmyballs

@moonlightsdreaming

@jobey-wan-kenobi

@quasi-normalcy

@academicgangster

I tagged 3,759 of my posts in 2022

Only 28% of my posts had no tags

#q - 743 posts

#tweets - 185 posts

#revolutionary girl utena - 173 posts

#art - 142 posts

#the good place - 132 posts

#tropes are fun - 132 posts

#pokemon - 124 posts

#dracula daily - 114 posts

#nd - 109 posts

#tumblr moment - 95 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#(turned out this card was completely useless in gameplay tho... took me way too long—and several ass-kickings—to accept this patent fact)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

To continue the Larry=Dennis parallels, of course at some point there were calls for them to just replace the latest bozo pol with Dennis.

Now, this isn't quite as much of a joke as it is in real life, because, you know. The engines can talk and stuff. Isabella once ran for office, Trevor has served as an alderman, etc.

Sudrians have also, of course, been seriously talking about drafting railway vehicles into their government for years. For one thing, they have great name recognition. For another thing, Skarloey, Rheneas, Duke, Edward, and Toby have all been discussed, at various points, as perfectly reasonable candidates for mayors, MPs, etc.

Now, usually this gets no further than (at most) the Thin or Fat Controller feeling the need to make a statement reminding everyone that their respective railways could not possibly spare the potential candidates in question.

Dennis, though. After a memetic press conference photobombed and then taken over by the laziest diesel ever built, the island starts clowning about just replacing Exiting Disgraced Politician with Dennis.

And FC3 is all like, "Yes, we fully support Dennis if he chooses to pursue a career in government service. 🙃 Please. Do it. He'd be great."

27 notes - Posted July 10, 2022

#4

"This engine is a Metropolitan-Vickers diesel-electric type two!"

'... lol I'm being so Normal™ right now.'

40 notes - Posted August 10, 2022

#3

The Engines as Mentors

Okay but I'm eternally salty that TVS in particular—though it was RIGHT to expand the NWR fleet—failed to use the dynamic of the OG characters from the books all functioning as Mentors and Elder Statesmen to the newer and more obscure and younger engines.

It would have been THE way to effectively integrate the newbies (looking especially hard at you, HIT era). Like, some of the best use of the new characters already are when they fall into a mentee dynamic with one of the established characters. But the TVS writers really only ever let this happen with, like, Thomas? To a degree? And Edward? A bit? And then the best and most beloved BWBA episodes (BWBA!) are when Gordon and, again, Edward get more of this sort of material. And then again, in fuckin' AEG, the most popular thing so far seems to be Gordon's whole Grumpy Dad shtick.

But I think canon and fan writers should have done this with all the classic characters. After decades as The Famous Eight—erm, Ten—(but not Eleven—to me Oliver is in that category of newbie that needs looking after. which is what the rest of the Little Western spends most of his one book doing!) they are all  kinda old af and well-qualified and honestly just should be mentoring the diesels and younger steam engines and whatever wide-eyed newcomers are brought to the Island Where Fever Dreams Come True and Culture Shock Is Probably One Hell of a Bitch.

LIKE. Percy. Yes, absolutely Percy! He's inconsistent about standing up for himself or making good decisions in his own working life but honestly his instincts when it comes to others have always been completely on-point. And he never has any hesitation about acting on his instincts so there is a recipe here for big-brother success. He must be so wonderful with uncertain new engines. I think he would have been much better for taking Molly under his wing than Thomas, and he must be a god among many of the newer tank engines. Like the dynamic I tried to paint in my headcanon post about Harvey—Percy gives whiplash as your mentor because he will always support you 100% but sometimes he will suddenly make the most baffling decisions and if you are not, yourself, a natural chaos gremlin, you are just along for the ride and possibly dying of secondhand embarrassment. But again, you also get over it because no one will ever show up for you more consistently than Percy the Caterpillar Engine.

The BWBA era thing where Gordon winds up mentoring Rebecca is... like, fine, I guess. I don't have any complaints about it, but—as I tried to show in my ficlet with him and Derek—I think Gordon's most typical mentorships have two unmistakable characteristics:

it is insanely arbitrary as to whether or not he decides to take you on. if you wind up in his circle of trust you probably weren't trying or even remotely expecting. it is also hard for anyone else to understand why Gordon looked at a new engine and said to himself "Yes. That one." Because the way Gordon makes emotional decisions is utterly impenetrable—this is RWS canon. Why did Gordon one day go from being Pure Unadulterated Jackass Whose Only Thought So Far In His Life Has Been "Me! Me! Meeeee!" to the engine who (evidently? without?? snark???) suggested the Fat Controller let Henry out of the tunnel to take a turn on his train? Honestly we don't know but it remains Gordon's signature style. Why did Gordon do an about-face after James took the express and graciously decide James was his new buddy? Well, to save face of course, but Gordon is also not above a good grudge so it feels like a coin toss. Why did Gordon decide to be super gracious when he rescued Percy and Thomas from their RWS scrapes? No one knows but somehow these moments are so quintessentially him (even though showing up moaning and scolding would have also been quintessentially him). And—most relevantly of all—there is what I regard as his archetypal moment with BoCo. 'My dear engine! You SAVED MY LIFE.' 'I mean, you're welcome for getting rid of them but they were never actually going to kill you.' 'YES THEY WERE. THEY HAD MURDER IN THEIR HEARTS. YOU ARE A GOD AMONG DIESELS, STANDING STRONG AGAINST THE FORCES OF DARKNESS.' '... Sure.' Gordon logic is not the same as earth logic and his reasons for rejecting or accepting others seldom make much sense.

If he does take you on, you may not even notice. Gordon is very stuffy and kind of... emotionally remote. His mentorship style consists of long rambling bouts of relating/boasting about his own experiences and/or advising you, without you able to get much of a word in edgewise—but then, he does this with everyone who is ever stuck with him—and doing extraordinarily nice things for you such as pulling strings to get you the best assignments or upgrades but he'll do it all behind your back, so it might take a while before you realize. (But you'd better, because even though he deliberately decides to do these things in secret, he will also privately feel hurt and hard-done-by if you don't figure it out and thank him. Or at least exclaim happily in his presence and sing the praises of your unknown fairy godfather.)

So yes, mentor!Gordon is a lot like friend!Gordon and worker!Gordon. He is pretty damn high-maintenance but he is also genuinely quite worth it. What his relationships lack in... comprehensibility they make up for in loyalty and generosity. ALTHOUGH. It's worth laughing because I think most of the engines he takes on are decent, polite engines who perhaps have some self-confidence issues. Basically it's like any engine he meets afterwards who is in the Edward mould he is actually magnificent to, which is hysterical considering that one of the keynotes in early canon was Gordon bullying the shit out of Edward. (I still think that wasn't malicious though, and more Gordon did not yet have the remotest understanding of Himself, Theory of Mind, or How to Be a Friend.)

If you have self-confidence issues but you do not win Gordon's capricious favor, never fear! You have James. Who is even more capricious, but that's not to say he's never been the most faaaaaabulous mentor in the world, c'est ne pas? Look. I want to see James as the catalyst for shy newcomers having a glow up. In appearance and attitude. I don't think he does he often but it has definitely happened around twice. I somehow have never actually watched "Rosie is Red" or "The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor" while paying attention but I've been assuming that's exactly how Rosie's Confident Girl Arc went down. Maybe he could be a similar idol for Neville or Flora. Another thing that has happened twice is James just flat-out corrupting a couple of the Good, Buttoned-Down Boys and Girls. I still want to see James take, like, Porter or Arthur and teach 'em anger. Introduce them to the world of (tiny) rebellions. By the time James is done with them, they are starting to Display Behaviors, and Act In Certain Ways.

Henry, I firmly believe (sticking out my tongue at most of the TVS and magazine writing for him), is actually regarded very intimidating. Like Gordon and James are intimidating too, but they are also known jackasses and the universe is known to have slapped them around reliably when they get too far up their own tenders. Also Gordon usually puts on an air of affability—in RWS it's Henry who is the Grumpy One (and meanwhile James, though he has a foul temper, is just too ADHD to be properly intimidating). I suspect Henry's actually always had the reputation for being extremely snobbish. Which is silly because he's only mildly to moderately snobbish, but there you are. He also doesn't put himself out there socially, but of course if you put yourself out there to him he's perfectly friendly. Anyway newcomers and young engines wouldn't know this right away. I think Henry's specialty is mentees in the mold of Bear and my OC Laura and even Rebecca—extroverted, expressive engines who show him respect. In those cases you see his best side, all kindliness and unstinting support. And Henry's support is really valuable, for the usual reasons that all the OGs have a lot of pull on the railway but also because Henry is surprisingly sage and sensible. He doesn't have the reputation for it the way Edward does, due to some of his notoriously poor decision-making in his earlier years and the way he can still sometimes be a bit literal or naive. But even if he's had to learn most things the hard way, he hasn't lied to himself about it and therefore he's developed a very clear-eyed view on things. Refreshingly simple and sound. We see this already in the RWS Super Rescue—he's got Bear and Spamcan pretty well-pegged long before the story ends. He also values engine solidarity in a really consistent, utterly unpretentious way that shows you he doesn't even think about it, it's just become a part of who he is. I love it. And, of course, he's bold as brass. He once hissed steam at his boss and essentially told him to fuck off for no better reason than it was raining and he just wasn't feelin' it. He had the most horrid wreck in the series and after being rebuilt he just got right back on that horse, pulling Flying Kippers again for the next century without the slightest sign of trauma. So if you need him for something, he won't hesitate to move earth and heaven for a friend. He may be a bit of a hypochondriac and likes to predict doom and gloom but he is fundamentally pretty fearless when it comes time for action. (Cut him a break with the elephant thing—he's allowed to have tunnel-related trauma, okay?)

Of course there was one extroverted engine inclined to hero-worship that Henry rejected in canon as a mentee, and that was Philip. Which brings us to Edward, and I fully agree with the fandom consensus that he is the mentor ever, capable of and inclined to look out for, like, everyone. All I'm saying is that I think the others can also step up in this way... Anyway, Edward's specialty of course is engines who are in the mould of Thomas, engines who are excited and eager to work but who talk a lot and might have a streak of mischief and who are definitely considered Too Much by everyone else. Edward likes energetic gremlins. They've always kept him young at heart. And, more importantly, they trust him so completely. Probably because they can tell he's one of the few who genuinely doesn't mind them at what everyone else considers their Most Annoying. He never tells them to hold still or quiet down or make themselves smaller in any way, so they are incredibly receptive to whatever he does tell them.

But what if you're Too Much and you are not eager? If you are not susceptible to admiring Edward's stellar work ethic? I think this is where Thomas shines. Like I think HIT abbreviated and simplified the conflicts with Dennis and Billy too much but it was such a gold mine. Because Thomas, see. You get these little sneaky rotters who don't want to listen to anyone—and at first Thomas seems like the most out-of-touch engine on the rails. Coz Thomas is a tryhard. He also has that whole "corporate positivity" thing going on. Like, the way I resolve the way TVS massacring my boy is by supposing that, after all, Thomas might have really tried to adopt that persona, especially in the '80s when he was inducted into the National Collection and the, well, television series got underway and Thomas becomes damn near the most famous locomotive in the world, certainly he knows he is an icon for children, and he might have figured that, well, this means I have to be a Good Role Model and Teach Children Valuable Lessons. And so he really did try to do this whole pep-talk, moralizing, sugary sweet encouragement thing (and he has a Word of the Day calendar, lol).

And the Dennises and Billies of the world look at that and—understandably, I think—retch a little. But then they double down. And the thing is, when they push Thomas too far, Thomas forgets to be sweetness and light, and just becomes himself. First of all, a foul-mouthed little drill-sergeant wannabe ("Cinders and ashes!!!!" "Who's been late every afternoon this week?!" "You're too fat—you need exercise!" "IF YOU DIE? IF YOU DIE, MOTHERFUCKER? SO WHAT?! I WOULDN'T GIVE A SHIT COZ I'D BE TOO BUSY FINALLY RUNNING MY GODDAMN TRAIN TO TIME." - all direct quotes from Thomas the Tank Engine, ladies and gents) Secondly, an extremely experienced engine who really has done a bit of everything by this point (he even hitched a ride on the Wild Nor'wester that one time, lol) and who is pretty skeptical so he's hard to fool (Percy was the last engine to really ever get one over on him, during the Ghost Train incident, and that's ancient history by this point). If you try to get away with doing a shitty job he's bound to notice and he will be quite acid-tongued if you've pierced his PR Persona. Third, although he can be kinda self-involved and the last to "get" what's going on with newcomers, he is surrounded by his old friends, who are all pretty good about either clocking an engine's whole Deal, getting all the tea like the gossips they are, or both. So while he was still in his amiable-idiot stage of your acquaintance, you, poor rebellious fool, thought you had the run of things but all the while he was getting up to speed on your whole deal. Which means you won't be prepared, should you really commit to ongoing antisocial behavior, for Thomas the Beacon of Children Everywhere to abruptly cast up your entire life story to you and to read it for filth, telling you the merciless truth about yourself in a way that the other engines pieced together but with which they probably never hit you deadass between the eyes.

Of course, this doesn't mean the would-be punks and malcontents who get onto Sodor are instantly cured, lol (though it has gone down that way a few times—my alternate version of Billy's intro story would feature an end where he's just gobsmacked into submission). Sometimes it just means you are going to decide Thomas is your Hated Enemy for Life, but you know what? You will have to step up your game in order to compete with him or even to gain enough clout to try and sabotage him so you're still playing into his hand (if we accept TVS's idea that 'Devious Diesel' did become a part of the Sodor family, I think this is how he was successfully integrated. At some point Thomas unexpectedly read him the riot act and Diesel was like 'who the FUCK are you?? like i know i already had beef with all the main line engines but where the hell did YOU come from???' but then after decades of competition they are essentially frenemies). But mostly the thing is, you are shell-shocked for just long enough, and you'd probably shift to being a bigger asshole than before... but, during that period where you're still burned, you are also looking at all of Sodor and every engine on it with fresh eyes (because if Thomas the Merchandise Engine could ream you out like that, perhaps you underestimated everything about this place). And you are noticing something else. Once Thomas has scalded you with his bitchery, he's also your friend. It's almost his version of sharing his lunch with you on the playground. (Something something salt and vinegar.) For all he rode Henry so hard from some of the earliest days of canon, I bet you he also beat down any 'outsiders' who took shots at him. For all he and Percy squabble, they are the closest of friends (and they weren't! for decades! but the more they squabbled, the closer they got). Getting into a knock-down fistfight is alarmingly close to Thomas's love language, and by the time he's savaged you verbally he is also invested in you. Once he's told you what he really thinks of you, he's also going to start showing up for you genuinely.

And that's when the little shits see the final side of Thomas. The genuine good humor. Obviously it doesn't win over everyone but there is a real groundedness and humility that I am sure Thomas can show (I tried to show this in the fic I made with @shinygoku based off their artwork of Thomas and Daisy) that is hard to resist. He's also fucked up along the way in every way imaginable so even when he side-eyes you, he's not looking down at you. I can just see him showing screw-ups a lot of grace so long as they let down their guard even somewhat because he's been there. Hoo boy, has he been there. That's why kids actually love him (it's not your vocabulary lessons and beaming smile, Thom, though the effort is appreciated), and it's why young engines can wind up loving him too. He doesn't hold what you've done in the past against you; he genuinely believes in second chances (and third, and...). Plus he knows every engine needs some excitement and responsibility in their lives. He has never forgotten the insanity-inducing frustration of being tethered to Vicarstown station.

Basically, once you cut past Thomas's earnest (and bullshit) attempt to be Perfect Kids' Role Model, he's actually always been great at keeping it real. And that's where a genuine respect can often grow.

43 notes - Posted December 14, 2022

#2

us, for ages now: lol ishmael was so gay and autistic, he woulda done numbers on tumblr

ishmael in the year of our lord 2022: doing numbers on tumblr

182 notes - Posted December 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

the absolute contrast between most of the dracula daily content and mina's entries...

renfield and seward: stuck with each other (we're sposed to feel sorry for seward i think? but renfield is just vibing in a damn lunatic asylum and seward is a self-important jackass, so, you know. fuck him. i hope renfield feeds his corpse to some flies.)

captain of the demeter: his men are disappearing and he's facing imminent mutiny

jonathan harker: literally battling the forces of hell for his life and soul

mina: ahhhhh holidaying at the yorkish seaside is so pleasant! 😊 the scenery fulfills the soul! 😊 i tried to get one of the old locals to tell me a spooky story but he preferred to go home for tea haha, so quaint

also mina: i met my darling lucy at the station 😊😊😊 and let me just tell you, diary, that girl of mine looking fine af

594 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

Weird to see you on these protest bandwagons ... you know they don't do anything?

Normally I just delete "asks" along these lines, because I have actual RWS/TTTE goodness in the box to get to, and this thing where people go and tell someone else how they should run their blog is rude as hell.

I'm not 100% sure this falls into that delightful anon ask genre, however. At least there is a question mark in it. Plus, I'm in a docile mood.

So:

1) My boosting and participation in the log-out Post+ protests is considerably more likely to have any effect on the world than my voting in the U.S.'s national or even state elections. Yet I still vote, too.

2) I doomfully suspect tumblr will, in fact, implode in two years. It's gonna suck bad to lose yet another internet home (*vaguely waves around fandom oldie card, a weary vet*) and when it happens I at least want to know I did something, this time around.

I will go so far as to concede that backing up my tumblr content would probably be more practical.

[theflyingkipper]

tell me everything about your interpretations of real life locomotives

i just think they're neat

hello I am so sorry for making you wait months for an answer on this, I hope this is good!!

So I do have some locomotives from real life as part of my headcanons for TTTE characters (for example, Onslaught, Glory, and Greyhound are part of my D10 lore- and in my headcanon Diesel 10 is warship D810 “Cockade”)

But there are a few that don’t exactly relate to TTTE. I’ll be talking specifically about how I characterize them, with some links to past artwork I’ve done and any other informative links

Santa Fe 2926 (or “Santi”)

(2926 is the only one I’ve given a name that’s different from its running number so far, since shes the only one ive officially made into an OC)

Santi had a very short working life when she was still in service, and spent decades as a static display in a park. Oddly enough, shes not so grouchy as most display engines tend to become. I like to think she was in limbo for the most part while on display, kind of like Duke being buried in the shed. (Or like Captain America getting frozen for 75 years) When she woke up during the beginning of her restoration in the early 2000s, she was unaware of how much time had passed- which was very disorienting. Fortunately she’s had the restoration team catch her up on the last 60 years of human history.

Santi as of writing this post hasn’t been on any excursions yet as far as I know, and is still cooped up in the yard. I think she keeps an audio log of how she’s slowly going crazy in there.

“Day 325 - the restoration team fixed my whistle! Its a shame I have no one of my own kind to scream at with it!”

I think Santi and R&N 2102 are pen pals. preserved 4-8-4 besties for life ❤️🚂

they narrate what they want written out loud to their engineers, they both sign off with 0000-00000000-0000, their shared wheel arrangement in text.

~

Denver and Rio Grande K36s

(I want to give them names, and they’d probably all start with the same letter)

9 out of 10 of the K36s are preserved, the 5th one got scrapped. In reality, the group is split across the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Durango & Silverton, but for the sake of this interpretation they’re all together

I found out about the K36s through a video by History in the Dark, he has a series of videos of “10 of the best trains ever”. I cant find the exact episode :(

Imagine the Dieseasel but there’s NINE of bill and ben instead of two. Though they aren’t as mischievous, they’re definitely just as irritating. They’re sort of a strange hive mind of little engines, akin to Ariel’s sisters in the Little Mermaid. Any time something spectacular happens on their railway, they find some way to spiritually communicate the happening to dear #485, their sibling who fell in a turntable and had to be scrapped- her damage was too severe. Though 485 was very much like the rest of them, she sort of becomes their saint- who they leave offerings of coal and water for in her old shed berth like its a medieval icon. Any time one of them misbehaves, one of their siblings is sure to tell them that 485 would be ashamed and she is not smiling on them right now.

Although this strays from their real life history quite a bit (and their gauge, which is 3ft), I think it would be hilarious if Thomas met them in a RWS-ified BWBA. He comes to their little railway and they all go front over wheels about their strange visitor. I also think the dynamic between them would be interesting, since the K36s are 9 out of their original 10, and Thomas is 1 out of the original 10 E2s. However, It’d probably take a while to get to that point in conversation with how supremely creeped out Thomas is by the K36s slightly cultish practices

Also, they’d probably chase him out of their little railway with pitchforks and acetylene torches if he brought up anything about turntables. They’re a bit of a touchy subject .

~

NKP 765

the 765 isn’t hard to find videos of XD Since shes the pride of the Nickel Plate Road and not converted to burn oil like lots of other large preserved engines, she takes pride in her unique status. I like to think she has the attitude of a great aunt or grandma with a gritty sense of humor and a laugh that could shake the walls. She does get puffed up in the smokebox, though, and has a hard time admitting she’s wrong. She has a bit of a parental relationship with the diesels on her railway, some of whom call her “granny”, and other endearments relating to her age.

~

New Zealand V Class

in a very different vein than everyone else, the V class all met the absolutely horrifying fate of being BURIED IN MUD

in my interpretation of them, The V Class have all become eldritch horror abominations, and local engines have kept their ghost stories alive and well. (usually taking the form of wayward vengeful spectres that like to make themselves known in uncomfortable places)

I had an idea where the V class emerges as one giant metal monster festooned with river sediment and garbage and terrorizes the locals but I don’t know enough about New Zealand or its railways to make an effective story.

[daikenkki]

MrDonald09: Since Series 22, what new change has annoyed you the MOST??

tttedrawings: Fantasy sequences and the intro/life lessons outro, they just make the episodes shorter, and most of the time aren't really needed at all.

MrDonald09: Ah yes unfortunately you can only have 4 options on Twitter polls, I’m sure the list would be huge if you could have more.

MasonDey1: To me the whole concept of the Steam Team is just pointless.

MrDonald09: Yeah it limits the characters that are used most of the time.

PSideplates: I voted for bouncing since it's closest to the general "kids show" tone that BWBA takes on. It really is like watching a show you put on for your 3 year old so you can leave the room in peace. It hurts to watch. If we were getting the Brenner era where the engines bounced, had ugly details, went worldwide, and got Nia and Rebecca, I'd be miffed but accept it. But BWBA just claims to be TTTE and acts like a generic preschool show. And I don't wanna be in a position where I'm an adult watching a preschool show.

MrDonald09: Agreed. I feel proud to be a fan when I watch classic era and Brenner era, but if it was like BWBA throughout the whole show I can tell you I would not be supporting it now.

TCKRangeltoon: I blame Chuggington.

PSideplates: I don't. Chuggington ended before they came up with BWBA. If anything, Chuggington made the market for train toys/shows competitive which forced HiT to make good Thomas products, well toys anyway.

ronniethe14xx: Honestly, disagree with the point it's the most general kids show tone. Travelling seems to be the new hip and cool thing to do in kids shows, I'd argue that makes it slightly worse then the bouncing because it's clear Thomas only jumped on that trend to be "hip".

JovanniChavez11: Faster pace and Thomas losing his identity. I don’t mind Thomas going on a trip but that wasn’t the way to handle it.

MrDonald09: Yes. IMO it should have stopped after the BWBA special, I think it should have only been a special.

Bostonthomasfan: Don’t really mind the bouncing but it can be over done at times. For around the world? I wish there were more episodes on Sodor and less around the world. Like 18-8 would be good.

MikeArc31375512: The bouncing. Loathe it with a passion.

ThomasTVNostal1: The thing I hate is constant arguing over opinions.Some people have been told to fuck themselves for disliking an episode of BWBA that the majority of the fandom likes and vice versa. This is unacceptable. As a fandom, we're a team and we help each other out.

ChillerB3: The forced feminism with Nia, Rebecca and the newer Steam Team really rubbed me the wrong way, more than hyper bouncing and worldwide shit did.

MrDonald09: Same, especially how the majority of the audience really doesn’t care about that, having more females, great! but don’t mess with many people’s childhood to make SJWs and toxic feminists happy cuz I guarantee you the people who wanted this change probably don’t even like the show.

ryanburges4472: I didn't read properly and the real thing since Series 22 that has annoyed me the most is the bouncing. I've been more bothered about the steam team without Henry (Just Henry). I'm happy with Edward sleeping at Wellsworth.

MrDonald09: Yeah, I completely agree honestly i’m not mad that Edward isn’t in the Steam Team anymore. It's Henry that annoys me the most.

ryanburges4472: I know! Gordon and James sleeping at Tidmouth without Henry. Edward is best at Wellsworth because he has a branch line which stars from Wellsworth.

CoolCar161: Henry and Edward stopped appearing as much anyway. They haven’t been good characters since series 4, even in the Brenner era they had little to no appearances due to writer's block. Rivets is a nice little detail that makes them seem more real, Thomas always wanted to see the world and the bouncing is hardly that bad.

TheBlueE21: Thomas' world tour. It's so inconsistent. Doesn't tie into the movie that hyped it up, never explains why or for how long Thomas is in each country, 1 ep he's in China, then Brazil etc then Sodor eps act as though he never left due to always being there. Plus most sets aren't great.

halfbakedhex8: For the record, I voted the 'rivets' option because the inclusion of the new detailing runs so counter to what the show is now, that trying to inflict reality onto the now-very-unreal engines feels very confused as to what the show is trying to achieve.

BluebellThEngin: The "bouncing" doesn't bother me much at first, but as time went on, it starts to get a little out of control and it kinda bugs me. I don't have a problem with the added details like the rivets, but they do look a little too big. Shrink them in size and they'll be okay. I'm mixed on Thomas travelling around the world if I'm being honest. The new Steam Team is what bugs me the most out of all of these options. I never liked it to begin with (minus my child self). It makes the other characters look useless. What I love about the Classic Series is we got lots of stories about almost each and every single one of them it makes the series interesting. But with the Steam Team, not only does it focus on the main characters so much, but it also brings them out of character. Especially if it's for the sake of the plots.

fan_ttte: The New Steam Team with Nia and Rebecca is what I don’t like most. I don’t mind the bouncing or rivets, Thomas going worldwide is okay. I don't know, I just feel like it would’ve been better if Nia and Rebecca did join, but also keep the others, for some interesting interactions and episodes.

islandofodor: If Thomas hadn’t gone worldwide, we’d probably still be in the Brenner era. Granted, it’d still be a slight step down but the international episodes barely take advantage of the different setting and opt to use generic plotlines that we’ve already seen on Sodor.

thesaddletank18: Bouncing, rivets and worldwide idea are bad but the new Steam Team is just....why was this done to the show?

Jacob34335638: I liked the new details, I’m mixed on the New Steam Team, and Thomas travelling the world. But the bouncing is what pisses me off the most, it literally makes the show look like Chuggington. The bouncing was at it’s worst in Journey Beyond Sodor and Thomas’ Magical Birthday Wishes.

TWR_Douglas_10: ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!!!!!

DFox1203: Is everything an option?

TheWinnerGuyCJP: Voted worldwide cuz it makes Thomas completely out of character.

SoupyGunzilla: I think a lot of the stories suffer from the shorter time. A lot of them could be better if they had more time.

kofi_milky: The bouncing, more sing alongs, replacing Edward and Henry with Nia and Rebecca. Even Thomas going worldwide. When the Rev. W. Awdry said "Here is your friend Thomas the Tank Engine. He wanted to come out of his station yard and see the world", the world that's he meant is Sodor.

sodordaily: Choosing New Steam Team because I miss the old SO MUCH!

peter_sam_no4: I think for me the bouncing as it’s so unrealistic . A 1 ton lump of metal can not swing all over the place like it has no weight.

Growlithemaste1: I hate the bouncing the most, but the rest are all useless too.

sixteen_dnw: Worst is the New Steam Team, then worldwide, then rivets, and then bouncing. TBH it doesn’t bother me too much.

BearsFlush: It annoys me that Thomas travels the world, as they remove chapters that might be focus on Sodor, and the locations and some engines are not represented correctly on the railroad.

VacentTest: I’m fine with the New Steam Team changing Edward and Henry out for Nia and Rebecca, I’ve always supported it in the beginning because increased feminism is good. Thomas going worldwide, that didn’t annoy me cause I was interested in that, the rivets is minor and nothing to worry about. But the bouncing, annoyed me the most at first but I’m used to it.

SnatchyBoi: The bouncing and the New Steam Team.

GWREngine: The New Steam Team is the most annoying change. It feels like Mattel doesn't care how special Edward, Henry, and Toby are. Plus we don't need to have more than 1 female main character. Emily being the only girl used to make her special. With Nia and Rebecca around, she isn't special anymore.

TurnTable2002: Chris Renshaw's music really annoys me.

MichaelfromNZ1: Bouncing, worldwide and New Steam Team. They represent how far Thomas has fallen since Mattel fully took over.

ArmchairRailway: New Steam Team.

TI4MGP: This is probably the hardest time I’ve had deciding on one of your polls lol. I went with the Steam Team though, but bouncing comes in a REALLY REALLY close second. The other two are less but equal with each other.

jack_bench: TBH, I'm fine with all of them? But I chose bouncing because the rivets are neat, world-tour - while it makes no sense - has a valuable goal (and is kinda fun), and the Steam Team really needed more female representation which we got with two positive role models in Nia and Rebecca. Bouncing is unnecessary, but not horrendous.

Holycro1Michael: Everything!

JosefSnowBall: Rivets was something I actually liked seeing on some engines. Bouncing is something I’m OK with, it’s kind of grown on me. New Steam Team sucks because it gets rid of the 2 best engines, Edward and Henry, and Thomas worldwide sounded like a bad idea to begin with.

TheThomasFan: Probably Thomas going worldwide . The animation is shit and it’s all just recoloured.

TheUnluckyTug: The new Steam Team. I think I'd be a little more accepting of BWBA if Edward and Henry weren't so transparently and obviously thrown to the side and treated as if they don't exist. It was like the biggest "fuck you" to fans ever.

MrDonald09: Yeah, not to mention Nia and Rebecca have such generic personalities they can barely hold a unique episode nowadays. I can understand Edward staying at Wellsworth but they did Henry DIRTY by slapping him at Vicarstown so he can focus on his Mainland duties yet not do any episode focused on this new job.

SteamEn83954980: Ok so ignoring Emily, it was a perfect 1-7 number of characters and now it's just 1, 18, 22, 4, 5, 6 and 12. Like I know it's minor but that fact gets under my skin.

DBlue02: I voted for the bouncing, but yeah, I kinda have to agree with Simon Martin’s opinion on the Steam Team concept, it’s long since overstayed its welcome. I’d prefer a nice balance of the main and side characters getting their share of the spotlight, like in the classic seasons.

TFan512: What if Edward, Henry, Nia and Rebecca were all part of the main cast.

[master-of-the-railway]

Answering @septemberofgenders' ask in a new post bc I deleted the original ask on accident.

(under the cut bc I AM SO NORMAL ABT THIS AU)

The general idea is that Luz, King, Willow, and Hunter all somehow end up on Sodor. Gus, Amity, and Vee all stay in the boiling isles though. Another important note is that the "present day" events for the kids on Sodor takes place during the cgi series. Exactly when I'm not certain, but the current idea is maybe a year or two before the BWBA era would've started. I've also debated on pushing TMR to take place a little closer to the beginning of the cgi series for this au, maybe a few years prior to Hunter's arrival.

Luz and Willow both got there around the same time when they were just a few months old each. Luz ended up being adopted by Sir Topham Hatt as his daughter, and Willow became the adopted daughter of Jenny Packard. Neither of them remember anything from their birthplaces, and they actually have completely new names from their adoptive parents, I just haven't solidly decided on their new names yet. So for now I'll call them by their birth names until their new names get decided. Luz loves Sodor and couldn't imagine living anywhere else. She's fully aware that she is adopted but has no urge to seek out her birth family. Why would she need to? She's got everything she could want right here! She's grown up seeing the engines pretty much every morning, the engines' drivers and firemen think she's a good kid, and Luz considers the steam engines to be her family. She especially likes hanging out with Gordon and Thomas, they're likely her favorites out of the entire group. Willow sometimes wonders if her birth parents miss her but tries not to think about it too much. The construction crew considers her their baby sister and they love her to bits, she does have a crush on Hunter, though the two don't see each other that often due to the odd living situation he has. Luz and Willow are the BEST of friends and they go to the same school, Luz would stand up against kids who tried to bully Willow, and Willow would help Luz understand school assignments she struggled to grasp. They're always there for each other and they especially love hanging out during the summer.

Hunter ended up there at 6 years old, he hadn't become old enough for Belos to start doing major damage to him, so he was incredibly desperate to return back to the boiling isles and his "uncle". Mr. Conductor stumbled across the poor kid and when Hunter explained his situation, the kind man offered to look after him and help him find a way back to his home realm…that is until MC noticed that Hunter displayed obvious signs of having grown up in a less than fantastic household. So, MC gave up the search and convinced Hunter to come back to Shining Time with him. MC made sure he got the poor kid a licensed therapist and lots of love so that he might start to heal. Hunter now lives in his own special room at the Shining Time train station as MC’s younger brother. He remembered that he'd been training to be the Golden Guard, so he gave himself the label of the Golden Conductor as he was now training to be a magical conductor like his older brother. He has his own uniform and supply of gold dust, and he's one of the few who knows about Lady's existence. He's definitely a lot better off than canon Hunter was at his age. Hunter remembered his name just fine, so he's pretty much the only one of the crew who keeps his birth name (again, King, Willow, and Luz's new names are undecided).

King was transported there when he was just a year old. In this au, Eda had found him not long after he'd hatched, and she took him home to raise him as he'd reached out to her just as any baby witch would. Her poor heart just couldn't say no to the little guy. He was her whole world and she'd constantly brag to her friends about her adorable little "demon" son, whom she'd named King, and he made her life so much better. Which is why Eda became a shambled mess when King disappeared and she couldn't find him. She became a rough and closed off witch, doubling down on her criminal acts and hesitating less to attack coven members as she was confident they had taken King from her. Eventually she met with Raine again and the two became allied, slowly re-kindling their relationship…and then Darius crashed in and became the third member of the alliance! Raine and Darius are pretty much two of the only people that Eda trusts nowadays. She's a pretty closed off person and both of her partners (yes they are a polycule in this au, I am not immune okay-) worry about her a lot, but they do their best to help her out with the grief that she just can't seem to let go of. Eda's commonly referred to as "The Owl Witch", as the emperor didn't think "owl lady" was serious enough. She's not just a lady, she's a dangerous wild witch with a curse that turns her into a monster that only two people can control…but Belos has never seen the faces of her two assistants. They're always wearing masks to hide…

King, however, has a very happy and comfortable life on the island of Sodor. While he was a very strange and shocking surprise that Luz brought home one night, King became a welcomed addition to the Hatt family and was treated just as Luz had been: one of their own. He's much more comfortable wearing clothes as Eda had put him in onesies when she had him and the Hatt family kept it up, he's one distinguished little guy! He's pretty close with Topham's grandkids, seeing as they're closer in age than King is to his older sisters and brother, especially considering that Charles and Barbara are both adults and don't live with their parents anymore. He and Luz do know them though! They get along pretty well. *Important Note: King's horn wasn't broken in this au, he very much still has both horns with no damage to either of them.

Amity ended up being the one to find and comfort Gus back in the isles. He clung to her from then on out, and Amity became his protector against bullies. They train together and Gus is a lot less insecure about his illusion magic having Amity at his side, he's the only one that she's soft around, and she's constantly encouraging him to get better and showing him books to improve with. They're pretty inseparable, and the only reason Amity's parents don't disapprove is because Odalia had witnessed Gus' power firsthand once. The kid's got a lot of potential, it just needs to be trained.

[daikenkki]

It feels like it has been suggested from somewhere within the Mattel global branding team to shoehorn Nia and Rebecca as much as possible to get children invested in knowing the Steam Team's two newest members to the point they've now overwritten other characters that would make more sense. But because of course, now, characters should apparently be allowed to 'go anywhere', it doesn't matter if anyone's out of place anyway. Will we start seeing Mavis travelling parallel along the Main Line with Gordon or Timothy taking a train from Vicarstown or Skiff helping shunt in the Yard just to ensure they receive a boost in exposure? No. Because it's all about Rebecca and Nia now. They are now the main faces of this era, just because they are women who came to Sodor. And that forced usage of Nia and Rebecca to play for popularity is very much starting to backfire for me. Outside of Michael White's episodes, how many Sodor-based stories don't seem to have Rebecca or Nia as having a big role in the story? Forgivably, sometimes, because they can work in the story, and, also forgivably because, of course, the team are going to want to cement their new main characters, but it feels heavy-handed and when we're only getting 10 Sodor based episodes this year, there's minimal breathing space from Nia and Rebecca if they're not your cup of tea and you're craving something more true-to-Thomas circa just a couple of years ago. I'm fairly sure she has an episode coming up (although further proving my case, heavily featuring Nia seemingly), but what has Emily really had to do since BWBA came along? She's become a bit forgotten because she's not flavour of the year, and the only reason she has stayed, albeit only seemingly on paper and through cameos, as a Steam Team key player is still, perhaps, the same thing that won her the spot in the first place: tokenism. Much like Nia and Rebecca, Emily only joined the main cast because the feminist brigade complained. She joined the main cast only because she is a woman, designed only to appease the female audiences.

Nicholas

[daikenkki]

The new episode Number One Engine...I just don't know. There really isn't any reason the story had to happen in China. It could have very easily taken place on Sodor. And Thomas learning 'one' in Chinese is dropped once, and not pushed again. There are just so many contradictions. Thomas is made to stop at a red signal, but then chooses to take a different track. Which is it? Do signals and signalboxes matter? The driver does stuff later, so what happened earlier? It's so inconsistent, and lazy. The Rev found clever ways to make the engines sneak around such things. The show is ignoring it's own foundational rules and it just...doesn't work. And then there are some concepts brought up that just don't payoff. It starts that Thomas is late. Okay great. 1. why is he late? Never answered, 2. What will happen because he's late? Nothing. Like that's not even bad for just Thomas, that's just bad writing. There was absolutely no need for that to happen. Then, Hong-Mei mentions something about red meaning good luck in China -- great, but random and just thrown in. I'm not criticising things like that being mentioned, but I think they could be used in more meaningful and dynamic ways to tell a story. It just feels like "See, we did research". Visually, oh boy. As an animation student, I get that animation is a time-consuming process, and that all of the extra stuff in the new series took a huge chunk of time, but it really does show. The animation itself in the way the character faces move just looks really hashed. Which is a shame, because it's been done so well before by Jam Filled Entertainment, a team that knows what they're doing. Beside that though, the engines' speed, jeez. I'm going to take a beat for a second here. The series has just given up so much groundedness, and that's really a loss. Kids are going to notice how unbelieveably fast Thomas and Hong-Mei are going compared to how fast they've seen say, Gordon going (at least before S21). The reason Thomas and Bertie's race worked all the way in S1 is the suspension of disbelief that "this is how fast they go" and then you work from there. If you just keep making them go faster and faster, eventually it's just going to be too fast. I feel this is more on the visual dept. though, as I can imagine they got a note saying "make them go faster" and they went 'lol k'. Last thing that really struck me was, when Thomas, An An and Lin Yong get rescued, they try to pull the same "these are heavy machines etc." stuff with the SFX and shots, which WOULD work--if they hadn't been bobbing and bouncing around the whole time--including right after. It's too bad because there are a lot of things that, if they HAD to do BWBA, could have worked, but are really done not very well. It feels desperate, it feels cheap, and a little insincere. Kids are smart, they know when they're being talked down to. Do better.

Calebtrain

[daikenkki]

TheFlatwagon: If you’re OK with Edward being replaced by Nia, that’s fine. If you’re OK with the engines moving their bodies, that’s fine. If you’re OK with 80% of the character designs in BWBA being recolours, that’s fine. But if you’re OK with Thomas doing a loop-de-loop, please do explain why.

RC_Crusader: To me, that's the "Bridge Jump" of the film.

TheFlatwagon: I'm presuming every special after 2016 will have a 'Bridge Jump Moment'.

RC_Crusader: There isn't a feature-length special next year anyway, so we're being spared by the looks of it :P

TheFlatwagon: Oh.

jerome_spitza: The moment is really stupid and I will admit I don't like it but because it's such a short moment I'm not really gonna complain about it.

TheFlatwagon: It may only last a moment but it’s a big thing - a freaking Loop De Loop!

warshipclass: Oh no 5 seconds will make me hate the entire film!

TheFlatwagon: The whole film is littered with ridiculous scenes.

Ronnie73990657: Name one, other then this one.

Nick_HBS: I don’t think anyone would’ve cared as much if it was a fantasy sequence, but the “Real” scenes are just as outlandish and ridiculous as the fantasy ones.

E2sandclass28s: It ended as quick as it started, no point in getting mad about it really. also for once they didn't use slow mo, at all, so that's a plus.

TheLocoLover: I was fine with most of BWBA, but this was ridiculous.

MichaelfromNZ1: NO..... that's where I draw the line!

Star3553Dakota: Yeah, even with me wanting to give this a chance...this scene is stupid, but it's the only one I feel I really hate so far from not seeing it.

[daikenkki]

Edward & Henry - The most hated characters?

Yes, it’s another Thomas & Friends theory, and this one comes in response to an article posted on the official site about the upcoming reboot Big World! Big Adventures! which as we know, has axed the well-loved Edward and Henry from the main cast to make way for new female engines Nia and Rebecca.

So, with all this and the fact they tended to get less focus than other main characters has prompted me to do this theory. Are Edward and Henry truly hated by the writers and all the higher-ups who work on the modern series? The reason I figured to bring this theory up is that the fans are looking at likely evidence that this is the case.

First piece of evidence is merchandise sales. Mattel have claimed that one reason why Edward and Henry are getting axed is due to them being the worst-selling major characters, and I personally would disagree because they tend to get good-looking models in most of the toy lines. But I can see where that claim may come from, and let’s look at the two personally.

Edward, the #2 engine of the group is another blue engine, with the same colour scheme as Thomas and Gordon. This is where his problem likely comes in, Edward isn’t the small kid like Thomas or the stern big guy like Gordon, and I’m also guessing his wise old guy persona is unappealing to modern kids. So basically, he’s cursed by just being “there” while Thomas and Gordon hog up the screentime.

And then there’s of course the green #3 himself, Henry. He was a character that had quite a story to him, in that Rev. W. Awdry had a disdain for him when he was writing the Railway Series. Awdry got annoyed at an illustrator who drew Henry inconsistently, which made Awdry attempt to write out the character entirely. However, Awdry eventually settled on giving Henry a major redesign and a character development arc dedicated to it. Sadly, the TV series hasn’t given Henry much fair treatment either, such as turning him into a worrisome character who seems to be scared of everything. However, I think the real reason the writers have a disdain towards him was because Henry didn’t really have an established personality from the start, he had arrogant and vain personality traits like James and Gordon, though on the more cynical side, but he also had a kind and soft side like Edward. Another issue is that in the TVS the differences between his original design and his current design are more minor compared to the Railway Series. The only noticeable changes are the shape of his firebox and his current design having green splashers attached under his face. So basically, Mattel probably view him as just a green Gordon clone. For a better view on why Henry might be hated by the writers, here’s a video by a YouTuber named Rob The Green Engine where he does believe this as well.

While Mattel’s reason for axing the two engines was because they wanted to even out the gender quota in the main cast and promote political correctness (since Nia is basically a token black character, cause you know Africa is full of black people), I feel the real reason is because they just don’t know how to handle them properly compared to Thomas, Percy, James, Gordon and Emily. Basically, ever since Hit took over in the 2000′s, Edward and Henry have been shoved into the background more than the others. Only Seasons 1-5 treated them fairly, in that they had a lot of focus episodes in the first two seasons - Henry with five focus episodes in Season 1 and Edward having six in Season 2. Granted, those first two seasons were mostly adapted directly from Railway Series stories, but you can get the point.

The majority of long-time fans and even parents all hate Nia and Rebecca, not just because of their off-putting designs and for being shoehorned into the main cast with no proper buildup, but because they replaced two of Awdry’s first characters, so the new girls are basically cursed from the start as probably being unaccepted by the audience, much like Bliss in The Powerpuff Girls 2016 who was also probably designed for political correctness and promoting people of colour. It’s also a move similar to Marvel Comics changing Tony Stark/Iron Man into a black woman, and other politically correct changes caused the comic sales to fall, so don’t be surprised if BWBA’s ratings turn out in very low numbers. Mattel claims that Edward and Henry will still play “heavy roles” when the cast changes, but in reality they are most likely going to be too lazy to use them, hence the two engines having a very high chance of disappearing completely.

So, does Mattel hate Edward and Henry? Most definitely. If another company does buy Thomas out, I hope they treat these two fairly and bring them back to the main cast.