#ttte fan canon

[panicky-pansexual]

Doodle sheet‼️‼️

[gritsandbrits]

WIP: My first attempt at a thomas the tank oc. Her name is Atta (short for Atalanta). It's hard finding a color scheme but I figured going for a cool mint to show her quiet personality. I also gave her freckles and darker "skin" compared to the rest of the cast. Alternatively i want to go for cherry pink to complement Percy (and hint at her connection to Lady).

Her ref is the Alco s2. In my story her and her siblings name all start with the letter A. Atta got hers from being the fastest and nimble on their fleet. As for her story she serves as a main character in mt rewrite of DOTD, where she arrives on the island and is awkward and shy until she meets Percy. I was searching for goof diesels that aren't too small but aren't giant either and after a while i spotted the Alco S class and thought "yep that's the one!". For her face i combined Nia and Flora the tram, altering and painting as I go along. Background comes from Thomas and Friends.

[meanscarletdeceiver]

what do you think of the "steam team" concept

How do I put this diplomatically...

It's stupid.

[stanfordpines-enbyhusband]

Hey everyone today is my birthday!!!! (I'm 18 now) And I got a drawing that's both traditional and digital I'm actually kind of happy with how it turned out anyway yeah I drew Alex and Gordon because I love them and they make me really happy (also I really like how Alex's hair turned how)

[weirdowithaquill]

ok question how and why was the scrapping of sentence vhecials even allowed in the first place I mean sure irl this isn't that bad but in ttte the mass scrapping of steam engines in the 60s in Britain might as well be considered a genocide did Brittish railways use every loophole and excuse in the book to do this and every other country for that matter

Thank you for your ask! And wow does it open up some cans of worms...

But before we get to in-canon reasons for why BR was able to mass-scrap steam engines, we should probably consider the author's intent behind writing this in - after all, the Reverend W. Awdry was writing a children's book series and went "ah yes, I want this to be a picture children see":

So why does Awdry allow for scrap to happen? Because it happened in real life. Awdry was a massive steam engine fan - he grew up on the Great Western mainline near Box Tunnel listening to engines working up and down the grade, his father was a steam fan, and he himself volunteered on various heritage railways (most notably the Talyllyn in Wales) - this is a man who loves his railways and his steam engines. But in the era he was writing - the 1950s and 1960s - the engines were rapidly withdrawn and scrapped as part of BR's Modernisation Plan. Awdry hated this - Britain was scrapping completely useful engines who had served the country through two global wars for untested, faulty diesels that smelt. If you read through the Forewards from Four Little Engines onwards, you can sometimes find that he is quietly advertising heritage railways by crediting them and telling his audience where the real-live versions of the steam engines in his books are. He does this for the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, the Dartmouth Railway, the Ffestiniog Railway and of course: the Talyllyn and Bluebell Railways.

Awdry's books were as much a love letter to steam as they were a series of children's stories, and he wanted to make a real point about how he disagreed with BR and try to promote heritage railways to help keep steam alive.

Rev. W. Awdry was also a notorious perfectionist. Remember, this is a man who said that Dalby's illustrations of Percy looked like "a green caterpillar with red stripes" (ouch!).

This perfectionism carried over to the books: Awdry is very famous for his views on realism in Thomas - he quite famously disliked the Season 3 episode 'Henry's Forest' because it both broke Rule 55 - which states that engineers need to notify the signalman that their trains are at a stand in order to avoid an accident - and the fact that the trees were too close to the line, which could have caused a fire from sparks from the engine in real life. He placed real railway practice and its constraints at the forefront of his stories, and it shows.

Mixed together, these two parts of Awdry created the situation where he wrote about the scrapping of engines and the existential danger that it posed to steam engines and their livelihoods. This is the authorial reasoning behind scrap and the mass-scrapping of steam engines being so prevalent in his works - and it is prevalent, from as early as the first story where Edward is bullied by the bigger engines for being used so little and the implicit likelihood that he could be withdrawn and cut up.

With the authorial reasons for the mass-scrapping of steam engines having been answered, it is now a question of how to drill down into canon and explain what these views and decisions made by Awdry translate into.

Firstly, we need to separate two things: sentience, and human. Vehicles are not people in this series - they are very much the closest thing in terms of intelligence and speech ability, but they are not human. They are built out of minerals pulled from in the ground and powered by more rocks dug up from underground. Whether or not you see this as making this a society that enslaves the engines or not, the reality is that they are machines and the property of their human owners. This is a lot like horses - horses love us, even though we own them, and we often love them back. But not always. Horses were and are, after all, animals used for jobs - in their heyday, they were the car, bus, tram and train of society. We bought and sold them, and when they were no longer useful, people often put them down. Which is extremely morbid, yes - but it's an unfortunately necessary fact of that era and their lives.

Now translate it over to locomotives - the iron horses.

Locomotives are built to serve a purpose, and they must be capable of fulfilling their role. They are taking on the position of the horse from the above analogy - and when they are no longer useful, they can either be sold or scrapped. Worse yet, they are the industrial evolution to the horse - the capitalist's beast of burden.

And now I can finally move to answer the question of why the mass-scrapping of engines was legal: there was never any laws to stop them. From the moment the first engine rolled out of the shop, their owners argued loudly and publicly that they were simply an evolution of the horse. If people didn't give horses rights, why give engines rights? They are not human; they are iron beasts of burden. And in the rigid and very xenophobic society of the Victorian era, this worked incredibly well. Engines were trained using the Railway Rulebook to fulfill their job in much the same way you trained anyone and anything to be good at their job, and their culture was dismissed in the same way that Victorians dismissed any non-European culture.

Now, don't misunderstand me - this is not a good thing. This is a laissez-faire system of caring for vehicle rights developed by capitalism to make it cheaper, easier and less objectionable to discard old stock when needed. The government never intervened because doing so would place all the vehicles under their control under scrutiny. Can't have military lorries and tanks suddenly wondering whether or not their roles in war are legal, after all. And it's that worry that led to no nation really looking into vehicle laws until after World War Two - and even then, it was haphazard at best and downright discriminatory at worst. Even today, there are still no solid laws in place to cover the vast majority of vehicles - only those held in museums owned by the government or 'considered to be of cultural or historic importance' are afforded any rights at all - Thomas, Flying Scotsman, Stephenson's Rocket - those engines.

It's not because the engines themselves don't care, but because they simply have no real option to change this. Engines cannot move themselves - the worst they can do is force themselves to break down, and there will almost always be another engine to take their place.

Sorry for how morbid that got, but I hope it helped explain why I think engines were allowed to be mass-scrapped by BR!

[steam-beasts]

A bit of an angst headcanon

So, the Talyllyn railway canonically exists in the ttte universe, because Awdry wanted to promote the railway using the fictional Skarloey engines. You know what this means?

As the Thomas Theorist said, it's REALLY coincidental how the Skarloey and Talyllyn railways have the nearly EXACT same history with the same exact railway (only difference being that the SKR is bigger) with the exact same events.

I've made up this headcanon that the Talyllyn engines all became secretly jealous and envious of the Skarloey engines for them getting their own books based on the events they went through, which were literally what happened to them as well, but this isn't the only reason; the Talyllyn engines all collectively agreed with each other that it just sometimes feels like most people and fans only ever come to see them mainly because they look identical to their twins. They're actually pretty sick of hearing their own siblings' names. ESPECIALLY during those Awdry Extravaganza, just imagine always having to dress up as your twin because they're part of the reason your railway is still in operation.

Another reason is that the Talyllyn fleet all rarely get to do goods work anymore, and the SKR is busy all the time. Talyllyn and Dolgoch specifically, both miss the heavy workloads they got back in the old days. Now all they do is pull passengers, which they're just really bored of doing at this point. I heavily implied it in my Conductor's Popper post, but Talyllyn and Dolgoch were abused in the early years, which led to them becoming envious at how much better their twin brothers' early years were.

[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!

[unpopularvivian]

My Ttte Designs (Percy):

Headcanons:

Friendly, chill, mature, smug and can be a snarker sometimes. His personality was based on the more grumpier Percy that appeared in the classic series.

Caterpillar? Nah, they're a green centipede. Still, don't call them "Dirty Percy".

Is a lot less emotionally intelligent than canon Percy. Good thing when you're trying not to be manipulated and you're trying to stand up for yourself and your friends. Bad thing when your friends need emotional support and you end up giving them shit advice.

Demiboy and questioning. Uses he/him and they/them pronouns. He's trying to figure out what kind of people he's interested in. Girls and boys are off the list but he has a slight attraction to other genders. That being said, if's they're ever in a relationship, it just might be queerplatonic.

Loves analog horror like the Mandela Catalog, the Boiled One Phenomenon, etc. Heck. he ever brought the Boiled One plush.

Also they love ugly/creepy plushies and giving one to somebody means that they care for that person deeply. So if he ever gives you a fucked up plush, don't throw away. It probably means that you're one of his loved ones.

Their human age is 21 while their actual age is unknown since their og engine basis isn't a real one. However, they did get rebuilt into an actual engine basis following their REDACTED. The engine basis that they were rebuilt into is unfortunately unknown as well.

Is a fan of weirdcore and rap music. His favorite artists are Jack Stauber, Eminem and Connor Price.

Is the second oldest sibling between Pluto, Phillip, them and Mavis. Toby and Henrietta are their adopted parents.

Real name is Percival but just likes to be called Percy.

His left eye is blind while his right eye is fine. So his vision ends up looking extremely weird.

They're taller than Toby but is shorter than Emily.

SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT HEADCANONS!!!!

He used to be like his canon counterpart. Extremely naive, kind and gullible. He was Thomas' best friend, was confused about long words and was the sweetest engine in the Steam Team. At that time, Percy was 18, Thomas was 15.

Toby was extremely close to him as well, basically forming a father-son relationship with the saddletank engine.

That all changed when the tank engine suffered a series of accidents to ensure that he will never be the same....

First, in TOTB, Percy gets caught in a landside trying to save James like in the movie. The difference however was that Percy's left arm and right leg got DESTROYED and had to be amputated since they were damaged beyond repair. He was given wooden prosthetics to help him with his work but become extremely irritable and moody afterwards.

This then leads to him growing resentment towards Thomas, James and the others when Belle and Flynn were introduced in DOTD. All of the events from the movie are pretty much the same like Percy being manipulated by Diesel 10 except for two key differences: Diesel 10's plan involves more than taking over the Steamworks and actually wanting to BURN DOWN Sodor and there are some nice diesels like BoCo and Mavis who were roped into Diesel 10's plan, believing that Diesel 10 was advocating for equal treatment for diesels.

At the Steamworks where Diesel 10 was ready to burn it down, Percy gathers all of the steam engines, the nice diesels and Sir Topham Hatt to try and stop the maniacal diesel. This leads to a violent confrontation until Diesel 10 rips the left side of Percy's face OFF, leaving Percy with a half mutilated face. Furious by this, Thomas charges towards Diesel 10, angrily knocking him into the wall.

Above Thomas was the giant mechanical claw used to lift engines up when they were being repaired, came loose and was about to hit Thomas in the head. But in the last moment, Percy pushed Thomas out of the way and got a concussion. Toby, completely devasted, ran to the saddletank engine and started begging him to wake up. Enraged, Sir Topham Hatt banished Diesel 10 to the smelters' yard as punishment and Percy was sent to the Mainland for repairs.

In the Mainland, the workers were able to stich the left side of his face back together and were about to gave Percy new metal prosthetic limbs when they realized that they didn't enough supplies to make them. So in a desperate attempt, they went to the scrapyards of a random railway and used the remains of a gray diesel to make the prosthetics. Percy was stuck in the Mainland for 3 years.

When Percy finally came back to Sodor, everybody were overjoyed to see him okay but something was wrong with the tank engine. He didn't remember anything about Sodor.

It eventually took some time but Percy finally remembered about his old friends and his old home. But he also found a chilling discovery as well...

[master-of-the-railway]

🚂Introductory Post!🚂

Greetings TTTE fandom! You may have seen me around as @electricfied-wolf, but from now on, all of my TTTE related posting/reblogs will be directed here! This is a sideblog, my main account is @the-electric-wolf, and here's some information about me!

First and foremost, I am a minor (Above 14) so if interacting with someone under 18 makes you uncomfortable, feel free to steer clear of me. I won't take it personally! Boundaries are important after all.

You can call me Wolf! My pronouns are they/them

I am fairly new to TTTE, trying to watch it all but my mixed up self has decided I'm just going to watch the episodes in no particular order, so I might get things mixed up here and there. My favorite character atm is Hiro! (If that wasn't obvious enough already lol)

I am a genuine fan of All Engines Go and will not tolerate hateful behavior about it on my blog. You are allowed to have your own opinions about it and are allowed to hate it, but when you enter my personal space and converse with me, you need to at least keep that hatred to yourself. When you go onto the blog of someone who enjoys something you don't just to tell them how much you hate the thing they love, you're just being an asshole. You have your own blog for a reason, post about how much you dislike it there.

Any queerphobia of any kind is also not tolerated on my blog. If you do not accept trans people/aces or aros, and so on and so forth, just block me so that we never have to see each other.

My hyperfixations switch on a dime at times, I am very heavily obsessed with trains and all media containing them at the moment, but I have no idea how long this interest will last. If I post less or not at all, I'm probably just moving onto another interest! But for now the trains are here to stay.

Tags for my ttte AUs!

Life On Sodor- A model/cgi series au which combines the two a bit more seamlessly (and includes the magic railroad!) as well as expands upon the characters and includes ships I am partial to as well as relationship hcs I enjoy. Basically self-indulgent a canon divergent au, or in other words:

Children of Sodor- An All Engines Go au that's similar to LOS, but has a little bit more of Mystery as to where the kids came from and if there will ever be more. Explores the idea of the AEG kiddos being the first machine children to exist, lots of cute family dynamics but definitely also includes some angsty content bc I'm a sucker for tragedy.

On The Horizon- A crossover between TTTE (specifically my own version so ig it's more of a crossover using Life On Sodor) and The Owl House. Luz, King, Hunter, and Willow are all transported to Sodor when they're all very young and end up being raised there, unaware of their birthplaces (except Hunter that is) and just having a good time. Meanwhile, Eda has been in turmoil over her adopted son having disappeared, she has an alliance with Raine and Darius in which they are attempting to dismantle the coven system. Eda wants the emperor dead, convinced that he has King.

Beasts of Sodor- Lady the magical steam engine is infected suddenly by a strange sickness that causes her to take on a beastly form. It's untraceable in origin, but she manages to spread it to Gordon and Diesel 10...and slowly, through various (not always intentional) ways, the disease begins to affect all locomotives.

[margaret-the-sylvia]

I've had this project on the backburner for a while and well, I decided to post it now.

If you want to learn how to draw Asian characters, check out these links out, they were really helpful!

Link

Link

WARNING: Mentions of attempted suicide, suicidal tendencies.

Canon Design by Missd76 (Formerly KD476)

Indiana started out as a original character for a series of TTTE fanfictions known as "On Beyond Sodor" back in 2009. He was going to be the main protagonist (other than Thomas) of a story known as "Wounded Heart". He had a bio, but it is unfortunately lost to time. We don't have much on him, the only information we know is from art drawn by the artist. Indiana comes off as a sad character who has been possibly a victim of severe bullying, causing him to be distrustful of anyone and a little suicidal at some points. He also half blind, due to an accident with a saw blade striking him in the eye. He became more humanoid due to the artist losing interest in TTTE as a whole to the point where he became separate from the TTTE franchise. He has had multiple designs throughout the years.

For this first one, I decided to draw the version of Indi that appears in this art. (I cannot draw engines, I can barely draw humans as it is!) Indiana appears to be very simple in design, with few colours and a white complexion.

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Fanon Design by TTTEFan1

Moving on to the next box, we have another HC design of Indiana made by TTTEFan1. This version of Indiana is possibly more similar to the original personality of Indiana. This version of Indi was made by them for KD476's request but then was placed into their fan story "The Princess of Voice". This version I do really like. It's quite a step up from the original design, and I took some elements from her design into my design for him, like the red eyes and the hairstyle.

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My (Headcanon) Design

And now finally, my design for him. This is the humanoid design I'm sticking with in my little series. I was really inspired by TTTEFan1's design and the design of WBC U-1146 from the anime, "Cells at Work". U-1146's hairstyle really inspired me to give Indi the same hairstyle. I fleshed him out quite a bit with his story. His story is still quite sad, but I turned up the angst notch to 11 for him. Another thing you may notice about my design is he's Asian. I kinda liked the idea of him be Asian (Japanese to be specific), so I decided, why not? I kept some things from the original bits the character owner gave him like his personality, the accident that left him half blind, and his saw staff (from a crossover with Shugo Chara and TTTE).

Took some inspiration from U-1146's outfit and Indi's original jacket and created this. (He has a knife and cargo pants underneath his jacket and stuck with the red and white theme he's known for.) Humans don't exist in my universe, so instead we have robotic humanoids (inspired by D:BH a lot) and felines. I have posted a tiger version of him, but not an updated humanoid version.

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Credits:

Indiana is owned by Missd76

The "Fanon" design of Indiana by: TTTEFan1 on Deviantart

"Canon, Fanon, and Your Design" meme is by SunnyDionysus on twitter

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Background from The Lion Guard by Disney, posted by lionguardkujenga on Deviantart

[starleska]

What your favorite thing about TTTE/ RWS

James the Red Engine, of course!! 🥺 love this vain little prince!

no, honestly, thank you for asking this question because it's such a tough one to quantify when there's so much to enjoy. i've only been in the TTTE fandom for a few weeks (mildly side-tracked by discovering a blorbo from another fandom - sorry train fans 😂) but i am just astonished by the depth of lore and creativity in both the canon and the fandom!!!

the original Railway Series is full of so much heart and originality...beautiful illustrations, lovely little moral lessons, and such fun personalities from the trains. you can tell how much love the Reverend put into the series. the original Thomas the Tank Engine show brings those biting characters to life with simple yet visually stunning models, and it’s so much fun getting to see these trains move and interact with each other!! and finally, i haven’t had much time to explore the newer iterations of TTTE yet, but it all seems very sweet and i’m pleased it’s being brought to a new generation 🥰💖

but i’ll be honest with you - it was absolutely the fandom which sucked me in. i’ve been lurking on the periphery for quite some time, and was drawn in by the sheer passion and talent of people participating in the fandom. all those amazing train humanisations, in-depth theories which take into account the completely mental lore of Sodor and all its real-life equivalent events, how open and fun everyone is about their respective interpretations...it all just looked like a great thing to be a part of, and i wasn’t wrong 🔥🔥

like, honestly, as an autistic person i always knew TTTE would get me one day. trains are cool: there’s so much to learn about them in real life, from their history, to their modernisation, to all the models which exist, all of the lines and tracks and the engineering side of things. bringing a funny, colourful cast of mischievous trains into the mix, ripe for all kinds of fun fannish activities, was the killing move. it’s all so endearing and it makes my heart warm 😊💖

(plus...i’m already a fan of Cars and Choo-Choo Charles. it was inevitable 🤣)

[mystery-wings]

21+ roleplayer here

I am a 2002 baby, 2000s baby and kid, and a 2010s kid. During the early 2000s, I fell in love with a series called Thomas the Tank Engine. When I watched "Hero of  the Rails", I feel in love with the cgi version. Today, I still have a love for the TTTE series.

I am seeking people who would be interested in doing a TTTE roleplay. As I will only be roleplaying as human OC (who is not part of universe), you are welcome to roleplay any and all canon characters. 

I would love to explore the interactions and relationships between the humans and trains and other sentient vehicles more. 

Roleplaying

I can do semi, literate, and novella. Though I make an effort to do novella more.

Correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling are important. If you are in need of help of one more of these things, I will assist you.

 I require communication, and would like to have (a) partner(s) that truly engage and share in the creation of roleplay. Some to fangirl/fan boy/fan with, talk about  aesthetics/pinboards, have detailed roleplay planning and world building, analysis, and more.

Details are something I greatly enjoy, so you are welcome to take all the time you need, and will help.

I would like to include hurt/comfort, angst, action, adventure, dark and disturbing themes and tropes. Imagine if the show had a different target audience, or think about if they were real. 

If you are interested, message me on tumblr with a link to my roleplay post and we will continue from there.

[gritsandbrits]

Okay it's my first attempt at a ttte oc so I'd like to explain the design process and what went into her design :>

Since Atta and Percy are friends I wanted her to complement him so I made her a cool, almost mint green and royal blue to his bright green and red. The cooler palette fits her soft personality & looks pleasing to me. I also made her skin and lips darker since in my lore she is blackcoded and tbh, it looks so good with her livery.

The nameplate contrasts the green and adds a bit of elegance. It also foreshadows her encounter with Lady. Her class basis is the ALCO S-Class. I kept the blue because it works really well with her green paint and adds to her elegance. All I did was darkened it with linear burn. Her freckles represent the 12 NWR engines.

I also made a mockup of Atta working on the magic railroad. It's not great but it gets the point across. As for her face I combined Flora the tram. and Nia. Doing small alterations and painting to make sure she looks different and not just have Nia's face slapped on and calling it a day.

Alright time for story: it pisses me OFF how the diesels were the oppressed class but villainized for fighting back/wanting a better workshop. And of the good diesels Salty and Mavis weren't even main characters. Like the diesels are implied to be too weakwilled to question D10 (who gets woobified ew) and it felt like it justified the Island's poor treatment of them. And the plot is supposed to be about the Diesels but they get overshadowed by the new steam engines. Cuz Steam Good Diesel BAD apparently 😒 So I thought it makes sense for one of the new diesels engine to be in the good guys side, who isn't a prop nor a lackey of Diesel 10. So that's how Atta came to be.

The story I have is Atta is a shy awkward diesel who befriends Percy, she wants to tell Sir Haty about the Dieselworks but doubts herself and is afraid of Diesel 10. When Percy is in danger Atta sets aside her fears to do what's right eventually she gets a spot on the S&R team. She's also a foil for D10: whereas he relies on aggression and brute force she relies on soeed and agility. And where Diesel 10 only cares about his selfish ambitions & threatens his lackeys, Atta genuinely cares for diesels. Her radical kindness saves the day!

Overall I had so much fun designing her. Is it perfect? No. And it doesn't need to be.

[meanscarletdeceiver]

I know you are a fan of FutureRust and It’ s A Splendid Life. I think that AU is great. It makes me wonder how the timeline works if Thomas is never made? Or Edward, Henry, Gordon etc 

What do you think? 

Ooooooohhh. Hmmmmmm.

Okay, first of all, for those who haven't read Splendid Life (shame!) or just need a recap [SPOILERS]: in this fanfic James gets to observe what the NWR would have been like if he'd never been built, and the answer is [AGAIN! SPOILERS! THERE IS NO TURNING BACK AFTER THIS!] the railway failed to expand, faces inevitable bankruptcy, and everyone's miserable.

For what it's worth, I think the logic of A Splendid Life is excellent if FC1 couldn't have bought James or a mechanically similar engine at a knock-down price. However, I do think that realistically FC1 could have found "another James" throughout all the decommissioning the LMS was doing in the '20s and '30s. They would probably have been a little less robust than James but he could have certainly gotten a good mixed-traffic engine for scrap prices. I do think the NWR might have been poorer and not in a position to come out of WWII swinging, and yes I don't think FC1 would have picked up Percy in particular because he wouldn't have been looking at the exact time Percy was on the market, but then that's true of quite a few canon characters that FC1 does buy in Splendid Life anyway.

So, not to ruin the story, but as I think through this I'd argue James's absence has less impact than the absence of many of the others. He'd be, like, middle-of-the-pack in terms of essentialness. This is in no way a knock on Splendid Life; it's still one of my favorite ttte fics.

[END OF SPOILERS]

Let me take the rest of the engines in a different order. Kinda going from easiest to hardest to write about. For "etc." I will throw in Percy and Toby, the other two FC1 engines.

Gordon: I think it's very simple—without Gordon in the timeline, the NWR likely goes bankrupt before we even get to the Depression. That doesn't mean rail on Sodor disappears but I think the system would be absorbed by the LMS. Topham Hatt I might have been kept on as a director and manager but he wouldn't be able to run things in his own way. LMS engines would largely take over the network and the other tender engines would have been scrapped by WWII. Percy and Toby never come to Sodor. Thomas probably lasts the longest, on a Sodor railway that looks quite different. He might have still been promoted to branch line but that would have to be before the LMS takeover. It's also possible that without the revenue from Gordon's services the extension of the Ffarquhar line is not completed and so an engine isn't needed to run it.

Toby: If Toby didn't exist, Thomas might have been fitted with cowcatchers and sideplates and never heard the end of it from most of the other engines. Alternatively (despite what FC1 says offhand when he's on the spot and discouraged), FC1 might have simply acquired a different tank engine. One possibility is outfitting Percy with the kit and replacing him as Tidmouth station pilot earlier (possibly even with Duck! a long shot, but the NWR was nationalised by then...)

Percy: If Percy hadn't been made, I think FC1 simply buys another cheap secondhand industrial engine (but it's unlikely he happens to buy one with Percy's spunk and pluck so that changes the dynamic of the main cast in some ways). I think it's unlikely that FC1 simply would have never found another candidate but it would be very interesting if he couldn't. In that improbable scenario, I don't think FC1 manages to completely break the Strike Trio's action. I think he'd have to continue appeasing them in some sort of ways. At the same time, the issue is never completely resolved one way or another—it just festers. I think FC1 would rely heavily on Edward taking up residence at Tidmouth instead of Wellsworth but operations suffer accordingly and I still don't think Edward could be station pilot full time since he's also basically the rescue engine and banker at this time... This all would honestly set the railway on a fairly toxic path, with the big engines continuing to be unhappy with the ad-hoc situation at Tidmouth, continuing to have power struggles with FC1, and probably continuing with their mean-girls bullshit until there is full-out enmity between them and Edward + Thomas.

Realistically, I think there's plenty of middle ground between canon, where FC1 resolves the situation so quickly, and an AU where he never gets things in order. But I do think if "Trouble in the Sheds" had dragged on for any length of time that the dynamic among the fleet would have been very different and therefore the cast of the Railway Series books is different—if the Thin Clergyman is charmed enough to write it at all.

Edward: On the one hand, I doubt Edward's non-existence leaves a unique hole in the early workforce the way that the others' would—if there hadn't been an Edward I think the NWR would have simply begged, borrowed, or stolen some other Furness engine of similar vintage, maybe a little older, maybe a little less willing, but I think they'd have muddled along in a similar way... in the short term. In the long term, though, I believe Edward's absence would be very telling. In many ways he's really the heart of the (NWR) cast and his influence on the others is subtle but significant. Not in that the cast would be any more foolhardy, the railway would have its same chequered safety record—I really don't think Edward's frequent advice of "be careful!" really helped the others to learn sense any faster... but I do think it's more he influenced the whole joint to be a kinder, warmer, more forgiving sort of place than it would have otherwise been. Without Edward there is no counter to the early-years dynamic of Every Engine For Himself, Zero-Sum Competition. FC1 would have still sent away the worst influences and battered some morals or whatever into the others but, I think, at a slower rate, and the change is all imposed from the top... without Edward there I don't think the fleet becomes a family. It's also quite possible that it never crosses FC1's mind to consider Thomas to run the Ffarquhar branch so There's That.

Thomas: In contrast, Thomas's coming to the island is such a mysterious fluke that there's no "it would have just been another engine." I think this is another situation where the NWR would be missing something vital—certainly its greatest claim to fame, in the long run!—but they wouldn't know it, you know? They wouldn't know what they were missing. In a Jamesless world FC1 might sometimes wistfully say to himself that it would be nice if he had a some real pizzazz and panache on his fleet, and in an world without Edward I think FC1 would be wishing that he could've somehow socialized the engines a bit better, so they were all a little more chill. But Thomas, man. He was a gift from the gods. He was a strike of blessed lightning. Everything about Sodor's vibe would be a little worse without Thomas and they wouldn't even know it. How sad is that?

Okay, getting down to brass tacks. I don't think his impact on the workforce would be so obvious. I think even in their poorest and earliest days the NWR could have scrounged up another shunter somehow and until he was vacuum-fitted and rebuilt Thomas wasn't good for much else, and without Thomas they would have just fit up another of their tank engines for the Ffarquhar line—it might have even been cheaper. I think the community along the Ffarquhar line wouldn't have been so attached to the railway without Thomas's charisma but again, the NWR probably wouldn't notice that. I do wonder if Charles Hatt would have married into the Ffarquhar Quarry owner's family without Thomas's stellar relationship-building to highlight that area of the island or not.

The Thin Clergyman still becomes a friend of the NWR and writes a Railway Series that is a thing for a while, but it doesn't really take off the same way without Thomas and the series probably ends sooner. I do think in this timeline the RWS has enough of a cultural impact that there is still some merch, maybe even a TV series, but I don't think it becomes a franchise in the same way as now; it's more of a trend-setter. I think it would inspire other book/TV series and that one of them would probably eclipse the RWS and become the "Thomas the Tank Engine"-equivalent brand name in-universe.

All this said, it is fascinating how the events of the series really don't hang all that much on Thomas at all. He's so very on the sidelines for most of the "golden era" of the RWS. I don't think the railway would have failed or struggled without him, though I think the Ffarquhar line itself wouldn't be as busy or important.

One big change is that I think, without Thomas, Gordon remains at least 50% more insufferable throughout his whole life. There's something about that cheeky tank engine that humbled him some. I know he puts Thomas in his place in "Thomas and Gordon," but—nevertheless!—Gordon met his match when he was condemned to put up with Thomas the Tank Engine mouthing off to him every day for years on end.

Henry: If Henry is never built? Hmm... how much changes?

I think things do change but he's the hardest to quantify. As far as the fortunes of the railway, honestly in the pre-RWS days they are probably better off. FC1 can spend the money he spent buying Henry on another engine, one that may not be as theoretically powerful but one that is more reliable. No need for Welsh coal, no need for a Flying Kipper rebuild. But I think the railway suffers as far as never really being pushed to develop a higher code of loyalty or understanding. This would be most notable in Gordon and FC1 (and, as they are both huge influences on the railway has a whole, these would make for some big ripple effects).

Without Henry, I think Gordon's character development might not get off the ground until much later. I think it still would have eventually grown up just because he was born with the soul of an elder statesengine, but in this timeline the seeds for his change aren't planted so early so he just remains Insufferable Unapproachable Bigshot for a few decades longer.

As for FC1, I think Henry is probably the catalyst of his character development—I do think the others played into it too but I think Henry had the single biggest impact on us going from the good-for-little-but-plot-device-and-comic-relief person we meet of "The Sad Story of Henry" to The Fat Controller. Before Henry, FC1 was an arrogant and inflexible man. Clever, and enterprising, and his stubbornness was probably key to his career thus far... and I doubt he was devoid of some nicer sentiments... but he is not yet the man he becomes. Getting swindled by Henry's builder was a humbling moment for him. Henry also gave him a dramatic illustration of the limits of just trying to get people (well, engines, but I don't doubt this lesson spilled over to people) to do things by force and authority and shouting. He probably regretted escalating things at once but found himself in a bind and had to learn the hard way that you should not make threats if you don't really want to follow through with them! Henry's pervasive mechanical issues probably also taught FC1 greater patience and understanding, and Henry's triumphant turn-around would have ensured that FC1 committed himself going forward to rather high ideals.

I think FC1 tried so hard to eke a "win" from the Henry situation at least in part for his own ego/reputation—if he gave up on Henry, he had to admit utter defeat in the matter of buying him. But I think by the end of the whole thing FC1 had become a different person. In short, without a Henry I/Henry II saga, I don't think we have a man so committed to saving his engines even in the face of nationalisation (and Edward rattling about like crazy at 55—a perfectly reasonable age to withdraw an engine from service), or a successor who assisted in Henry's triumph of a rebuild and who goes on to defy BR's modernisation plan completely.

Therefore, without Henry, the NWR still survives.

But also? It isn't really our NWR.

(It's probably fully dieselised. And D7101, while not rude to their faces, always considered that steam engines were kinda clapped-out.)

ALL THAT SAID... while writing this I came up with another AU involving Henry. But in this one he proves to be a perfectly reasonable, decently reliable engine who can handle the Express on his own from the beginning. This means he kinda isn't really Henry any more, but. It's hilarious. Because Gordon arrives too. You thought the NWR was boisterous enough with one haughty egoistical Pacific racing along the main line and struggling to live up to their own boasting? Try two of themmmmmmm! And they loathe each other!!!!

(I'm actually dying... it takes Sodor the Unnecessarily Extra Island and makes it 94% MORE EXTRA)

[jackalsprey]

hey, disabilities (canon or head canon) aren't fucking angst fuel for your fan works, asshole

Hooray! My first hater ask! I MADE IT GUYS! I'M A REAL TUMBLR BLOGGER!

Ok, in all seriousness, I need to know: who the hell is this about: Toby? Or Henry?

Listen, if you're the person who made the rant on the ableism in the TTTE fandom regarding Henry then...congratulations. Guess what? You actually touched me. You made me change my mind. But also guess what? My Henry IS a lot more than his PTSD and past issues. And I'm sorry if I haven't made that apparent yet in the stories I've posted. Just today, I made a list of story ideas involving Henry to showcase more of his personality: his badassery, his sharp tongue, his kind nature, of course his love for the forest, and his relationships with all the others in the railyard. I plan to post a lot more in the future, just not now as I am in the middle of a huge personal change in my life.

Now, if this is about Toby...well, here's the thing. TOBY IS ALSO MORE THAN A DISABILITY IN MY WORLD. ALL PEOPLE, REAL AND FICTIONAL, WITH DISABILITIES ARE MORE THAN THEIR DISABILITIES. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT HAVING A DISABILITY IS ALL MY TOBY IS. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO HIM; him being in a wheelchair is a minor part of his character. In the end, it's just he gets around. I have no plans to turn it into a angsty, character arc. Yes, in the post where I discussed Toby's muscular dystrophy, I did phrase it in a way that makes it seem like a big angsty part of him. And I apologize for that. If you'd like, I can even make a whole separate post on this, explaining my headcanons for this wheelchair and how it affects Toby, albeit in the most MINOR of ways. I apologize for the way I depicted Toby's muscular dystrophy in that post, and I have every intention on explaining it more clearly if people want.

Thank you, my dear Anon. I don't know who you are, but thank you for bringing my mistakes to my attention. I will try my hardest to fix them in future posts. But please, do not use any more insulting words to describe me. If there is a serious issue about my character headcanons and AU that is problematic and I do not realize, please let me know in a polite way. But all the same, thank you.

[pxmun]

Ttte fan canon: Before Gordon came to Sodor to work on the Fat Controller's railway, he would be picked on by the ocean liners when he had to go to the docks

Most ocean liners are snubby, proud, and see land vehicles as inferior. While cruise ships are rude, wild, and loud.

Random ocean liner: "You Gordon are small. Small, small, small, teenie weenie weenie. And we are great big liners who know everything, Mwa Ha Ha.