#sorry to smoop and bullshingles but i think yours will have to wait for another night

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

Did anyone ask for Thomas himself for the shipping thing, if not can I ask for him💙

They did not!

Because they were merciful. /j

Aight, here is the Boi of a 1,000 Ships:

💞✨  OTP ✨ 💞:

I waver between:

“Thomas really is superb Ace/Aro-(Does-NOT-Mean-Live-Devoid-Of-Love) representation *heartmelt*”

and

“Thomas/Bertie is a CLASSIC and the Height of Ship and Why Did We All Sleep On This For So Long 💙❤️️💙❤️️💙❤️️💙❤️️”

Other Ships That Are 👌:

Green Arrow—I really love this ship, thanks to @shinygoku’s interpretation with Warren!GreenArrow 💚💙

Jinty—Proposed: Thomas Was Showing Off Due to A Crush And That Led To His Scrape. Annie and Clarabel were appalled because they were Not Ready for their son to have these feelings. The other engines spent the boring parts of the London exhibition teasing the hell out of Thomas for his obviously romance-coded ordeal. (Special shout-out here to Ashima? Who, I think, was way too just Unconvincing a character in many ways for me to really ‘ship’ them. And yet, I thought the writers handled a real, canonical Thomas romance pretty well! They can be hot-blooded and competitive as well as wholesome, Ashima is long-distance and just-out-of-reach, and, most of all, I absolutely believe that the way Thomas would react to a crush is to behave like a total jerk-faced dumbass! So yeah, I think Jinty in RWS and Ashima in TVS are just bizarre astral twins, lol.)

Interesting But Fence 👀:

Oliver! (I don’t know why it should work, but damn they look good together—) Arthur—another pretty classic opposite-attracts dynamic but hey. i also like how they would invert the usual “red oni blue oni” thematic coloring.

Emily—It sounds so stupid (pair the opposite-gender leads!!!!) but they do have some HiT episodes that are just👌 as far as a strong and charged dynamic. An endlessly intriguing if somewhat problematic ship.

Duck—They just have such a cool yin/yang thing going on that you would think it’s possible (tho I admit the chemistry doesn’t exactly jump off the page)

Gordon—With the actual build-date-accurate dynamics, a reinterpretation of their history would be interesting. convincing? who knows, until someone tries it. but interesting, definitely.

James—I’ve said it several times now, but in RWS timeline I absolutely believe Thomas and James had an ill-fated Thing in the early days. And, tbh, I could be open to them re-uniting again after decades of personal growth (and loneliness? since i can see so many of the others pairing off and settling down for good)

Trevor?—Thomas’s unexpected Depth early in the TVS timeline at the end of their episode certainly… gives one something to work with, ya know? I also like the little fission at their first meeting (‘a wut’) but how quickly they get on. Bonus: Trevor already met and got the blessing of all the parents that very day. So, you know, just create some sequel dates between them from there.

Better As Friends 😊: I guess Annie & Clarabel?

HOWEVER…

okay, real talk—and ya gotta scrub the “aunties” voice actors out of your brain completely here—but I feel like the notion of Thomas/Annie/Clarabel just has yet to be fully explored

*ducking, running*

i’m not saying i ship it, i just feel like someone should sketch out what their dynamic and how canon would be if it was Like That okay???

(i wish i could remember which Youtube vid it was where they had Thomas teasing someone and Annie and Clarabel laughing��and egging him on but it was honestly quite cute!)

Meh 😑 / Overrated : Percy. The more I think about it, the more I’m not actually opposed to it? (Now that flirt!Percy lives in my head rent-free.) But more if one plays fast and loose with canon. Their “big brother/little brother” dynamic, especially by the time we get to CGI, I find gets into NOTP territory real quick.

It Happened Once In A Dream 🌑 (or AU 🤔): I honestly find the notion of Donald and Douglas flirtatiously toying with Thomas so funny—

Especially if they’re pulling his pigtails coz they really do think he’s cute…

(And in return, well, who doesn't think Donal and Douggie are heartthrobs? No one is immune to the lads’ charms, seriously!)

If I Had to Put Them in a Polycule 💗: Okay, I’m gonna do the super basic thing where I smash some of my favorite ships together to form a triangle again—but one thing I love about Thomas/Bertie and Thomas/Green Arrow is that I think they could co-exist!!!!!

Thomas and Warren have a long-distance periodic-sweethearts understanding?

And by that point I imagine Bertie and Thomas might have the same understanding—Bertie is probably in some form of preservation or semi-retirement then (if not he’s probably been bought outright by the N.W.R. as a railway bus)—anyway I can imagine he sometimes/usually works different parts of the island as the 20th century goes on—and I think Bertie’s so hot-blooded, a true Wanderer…

So yeah.

Bonus, Bertie would totally deal with meeting Thomas’s summer boyfriend by challenging Warren to a race, and Warren would be allllll about it—

I dunno, I just see tons of hot-blooded competitive adventuresome love going down here 💙💚❤️️ Fun vibes!

NOTP 😤: I get why y’all seem to by reflex say Edward, obviously, and I’m with you.

It’s just funny coz for me my reflex answer (out of a cool dozen engines that could also be in this category!) is Henry.

(I guess just coz they do have this tension sometimes?? A little bit of misfiring crackle? Which makes me all the more quick to say “oh God NOOOOO—”)