A lot of rolling stock in our world has graffiti and street art painted on them. That got me thinking about how Sodorβs troublesome trucks would feel about it...
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When the trucks first become canvases for Sudrian graffiti artists, some of them donβt like it. They complain the spray paint is cold, or that it itches after a while.
Others, however, see it as an opportunity for mischief. They call out to the artists sneaking into the yards and sidings at night: would they mind painting something specific?
James shatters his gauges upon seeing a vibrant depiction of his bootlace incident emblazoned on his goods train.
All of a sudden, most trucks decide they like this graffiti thing. They strike up close relationships with Sodorβs graffiti artists, βcommissioningβ them for art of naughty words or embarrassing incidents. In exchange, the trucks hide the artists from the authorities β sometimes inside themselves βand tip them off to places ideal for their art.
The artists are more than grateful for all of this, and they establish a rule amongst themselves: You canβt be a Sudrian graffiti artist unless you respect the trucks. If you say a bad word about them, or paint any of them without their consent, then youβre out.
Over time, the trucks hear from the artists about why they do this. The artists look for beauty in landscapes not always recognized, in the industrial or βgrungyβ parts of life. They also want art to be more available and accessible to people.
This flatters and touches many trucks, who arenβt called beautiful often. And as a bunch who make music as open to everyone as possible, many more sympathize with the artistsβ aspirations. Soon, they ask their friends in between commissions to paint whatever they want on their sides.
Managers try to curtail this, catching artists and scrubbing art from the trucks. But the Fat Controller realizes thereβs an upside: Trucks with graffiti donβt want to cause accidents for fear of spoiling their art faster. He institutes a new, unofficial policy: so long as it isnβt βvulgar,β graffiti on trucks should be left alone.
Itβs a huge victory for the trucks, even their largest one to date. Theyβre delighted to share it with their artist friends. (And of course they still find ways to sneak βvulgaritiesβ onto themselves.)
The trucks also love to get bedecked in colors for holidays and special events. Sigridβs Day, Pride Parades, you name it!
One such event for the trucks is the day Salty came to Sodor. Theyβre close with him, considering him part of the family. So for the tenth anniversary of his arrival, they plan something special.
Salty rumbles into the dockyard that morning to find all the trucks painted in his livery. His colors glistening on their sides, they sing the very first shanty he ever sang with them.
He stares at them. Then, breaking into a watery grin, he sings along. βShiver me timbers,β he laughs once the song is over. βI guess ye fine sailors needed a uniform, but I didnβt think itβd be me colors!β
βYouβve been one of us for years,β a lead truck says. βIt was about time that weβd all be one of you.β
Not even Cranky β though he denies it β has a dry eye afterwards.
Just rewatched tale of the brave. I forgot how much the plot feels like a love triangle between Percy, Thomas and Gator while James stands in the background like a gay homophobic horse.
I am thinking about actor au where the engines themselves are filming the Thomas & Friends tv show. Specifically the blooper reel of engines messing up or forgetting their lines, coming to a stop too late and completely passing through the shot, giggling uncontrollably at something it takes about 11 tries before they can finish the scene, pulling faces in the background, Stanley popping up in scenes he's not meant to,
- Gordon having to redo the shot of him crashing through the wall in A View for Gordon. He keeps just hitting the wall instead of breaking through it and by the end of the day he gets super angry and also a migraine
- Diesel breaking into laughter every time he has to do the sneaky slimy evil voice.
- Unlike Henry, when James was told he had to have his brakes catch fire he was super excited because he thought that stunt men were cool and he wanted to be just as cool if not more so. Also so he could brag to Thomas about it later about how brave he was and well he did
- Dilly interrupting and ruining scenes by quacking when everyone was talking
- the trucks purposely coming off the rails to ruin shots because they're trucks
- Gordon being super shy about singing so it took a whole day of filming just so they could get the reprise of streamlining in TGR.
- All the engines being cheeky and whistling when they're not supposed to
- Gordon reading most of his lines and wheeshing at the writers for making him so mean to his friends.
- Filming in other locations being delayed because Gordon (and others but mainly gordon) keeps getting stuck on the hill
(cleaning my drafts rn. this was written in 2024 and I was unsure of what to do w/it or how to finish it)
I HC that relatedness is something that engines themselves can sense in the presence of others. Most of the time, itβs clearβ- youβre a sister, youβre a cousin, or youβre not a relative at all. Most of the time, this is determined by shared classes or designers.
Gordon, upon meeting Henry, was extremely put off. He was somewhat sensing that Henry was a relative, it couldnβt be ignored; but how he was related was entirely indistinguishable. Henry thought it hopeful to have a fellow engine like himself, initially dampened by his loneliness as the white elephant of Sodor; but Gordon was irritated at how incompetent Henry was despite the relation.
They did bond easily, being among the biggest engines; and although the strike was humiliating for them, they had, by then, known their strength in sticking together (even if they wereβ¦ obnoxious at best). James, little James, was quite the third, but he was just simply not on the same wavelength as them. They werenβt the ones with the funny bootlace incident, after all!
When Henry came back from Crewe, rebuilt into a different engine, Gordon couldnβt physically sense their relatedness anymore and his world began to spin again. The salt in the wound might as well have been rubbed by Henry himself too for insulting him that one Monday morning!β as if they werenβt even a unit anymore. He wasnβt just insulted that Henry thought to shed the Gresley-ness off himself, he thought Henry wanted nothing to do with him anymore. In retrospect, this shouldnβt have been entirely out of the blueβ to Gordon himself, at least. He had to admit, he was rude to Henry at the start with his tunnel incident. They were both humiliated by the strike. And Henry had been talking quite a bit with Edward instead as of late.
After the whistle incident, Henry was quick to make sure Gordon knew that he would still regard him as his closest confidant.
I never want to hear anyone say the 2026 merch designs werenβt that bad ever again ππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππ
