Emerald Speaks - Tumblr Posts

guys, i think elizabeth got a hold of that "special coal"...

the music in the runnaway sequence in a close shave for duck has no buisness being so chilling. like when duck crashed into the barber shop the synth made me feel damn near like i was one of those poor wooden boards being smashed to smithereens

it is james day

i have also just realized it is james day so happy 5/5 you wonderful fruit of a train. my favourite line from james will always be his “oh mY GOODNESS” from busy going backwards. it never fails to send me to the floor

I GOT FUCKING PEPPER????

here's a random word generator--whatever word it gives you is now the thing you are the deity of

hey uh sorry i dont post much, sometimes i literally forget my blog exists OASDFLSDKFLK i still appreciate all of u tho and i love being part of this community <3

sometimes i think about the “all the hatts are hatless” line from the miller era and idk what it is about it that makes it so funny?? maybe its the completely flat delivery of the line, or the mildly perturbed faces of the hatts, but something about it just sends me. also james and sth were iconic in the miller era idc idc

happy donald day! i would draw something if i wasnt so ill LMAO so instead ill give a headcannon. donald prefers to sleep in births of sheds at the ends, so he can look through the windows and sees the stars. they bring him stablity and comfort, as when he and douglas were shipped off to sodor and their fates were uncertain, the stars were a relieving constant in his life.

since it is spooky month

i present: james douglas and emily are the most chaotic of trios. they go apeshit decorating literally anything, the sheds, the stations, the coaches, whatever. they pull pranks on the others and scare the living daylights out of them. they all have identical costumes (theyre all just wearing bedsheets with holes in them as “ghosts”) and spend the last hours of the night trick or treating, well aware they are far too old for it.

yall can drag nonbinary sonny from my cold, dead hands

you ever get the idea to try and make your own thomas special. my tired ass did last night and honestly? i dont hate the concept for what i came up with (if its a tad cliche)

ok hot take i always loved these!!! theyre so cute!! learning segment engines my beloved <3

fuck you *learning segment cgi-ifies your engines... and harold*

and... as a bonus, have mavis in this ominous white fog.

the nostaligia of the HiT era really does slam into me like a truck like about once every few months. i do not think about it then for a week i cannot be normal and binge the episodes, play the bad flash games, and windowshop on ebay for merch. like objectively the HiT era is painfully mediocre but like also i kinda love it?? yes molly pull those empties <33333 yes emily roast thomas' ass for being an idiot :))))) percy u be such a little guy :>>>>>

hi!! i will also say i have a huuuuge soft spot for the promo-image pics of the characters bc idk if yall experienced the EPICNESS of the thomas stickerbook with over 700 stickers. and all of them were of the shitty promo art designs. and i love them very much <3 even if they messed up the colour of emily's running board <3

hwah

obligatory non ttte post here but it must be known i have fallen down the sally face rabbit hole and i cant find a way out. if anyone else in year of our lord 2024 is still into that forsaken game PLEASE talk to me about it i have been turning these characters over my head like rotisserie chicken for days. the headcanons are festering in my brain, and the fixation is in overdrive. no joke, i spent 7 hours straight yesterday reading sally face fics. god help me

idc if im on the wrong blog for this but i need to know is the wicked smaht a reference to that one losing finalist due (jake? jacob?) from survivor 45 or am i just playing the autism connection game in my brain

After reading your post of who we would most likely like in Adonis AI based on our Blooming Panic faves, how would you correlate NakedToaster to Felix 🧐

lonely

difficulty with being expressive

stuttery in romantic situations

[points] WHITE

wicked smaht

there's some others, but they're too spoilery

Because most of the episodes I watched and had on home video as a kid were from seasons 8 and 9, Emily's bossiness never stuck out to me. Due to how often the cast threw jabs at one another. I only saw her introductory episode maybe 3 times growing up and then forgot about it for over a decade. Her personality change flew right over my head.

Regardless, she quickly became my favorite character. Not only did I really love her spotlight episodes, but her daydreaming resonated a lot with me due to having undiagnosed ADHD at the time. I couldn't put a name to what I was experiencing, but I could recognize it.

i wholeheartedly agree! i grew up with most of the classic series on home video, but the HiT era eps were the ones airing on TV when i was little. so watching, say, season 5 then going to emily's HiT episodes I didn't notice much difference in terms of her behavior. if emily had been around during more of the classic seasons, some of her "bossy" lines would fit seams into them. as awful as the HiT era's writing can be, "oh, i AM sorry, sorry you didn't listen to me!" will forever be iconic. she killed thomas with that one.

i also thought her spotlight eps for the most part were pretty good. snowplow is iconic, emilys new route made her a sympathetic protagonist, halloween is perfect, emily knows best gives her an interesting conflict with toby, emily and the special coaches does the same with diesel, emilys rubbish is hilarious, and excellent emily really nails her more self righteous traits.

and while i myself dont have adhd, i do headcanon emily as some flavor of neurodivergent. she wants to do her jobs only in the way that she sees fit, sort of like duck, who a lot of people agree is autistic. also throwing in projection lol

thank you for this lovely, well thought out ask anon!

What is your opinion on engines potentially getting upgraded/overhauled over the years while on Sodor?

good for them, i suppose? isnt that what happened to henry during season 1? tbh im not really certain what ur asking, sorry :(

this. is. BRILLIANT! i dont mind being tagged at all, this was a joy to read! @mindthegoop i hope YOU dont being tagged because now its your turn! MWUAHAHAHAHHA >:D i agree on all of your points, but something that caught my eye was: "They might not have direct control in this scene but the influence they've had on him obviously affects how he conducts himself, it feels as though he's always thinking about what he is and isn't "allowed" to do. Sonny is called useless throughout the whole special and I think he's internalised that."

While Baz and Bernie as characters on their own aren't all that interesting, what makes them stand out to me is their interactions with Sonny. BWBA was such a sterilized, dumbed down, and "clean" version of the show, but not gonna lie, the way Baz spoke to Sonny was almost reminding me of the classic series. Specifically, some of 'Arry and Bert's dialogue in "Stepney Gets Spooked". Like, when was the last time an engine was seriously threatened to be scrapped? By their human owner no less? It's obvious how damaging being treated like this has been for Sonny, and his interaction at that point with Thomas in particular, it really feels like his social skills had been stifled. And then, when Sonny finally sticks up for himself, Baz and Bernie abandon him for Kenji to get away, who they haven't even met yet. Ouch. It's very easy to interpret that as Sonny having always been replaceable to Baz and Bernie, and it's not hard to imagine that this would have been the killing blow to his self-esteem if he hadn't been allowed to stay on Sodor. Considering Sonny is from the mainland, and I'm assuming Baz and Bernie kept Sonny out of the hands of scrapping because they forced him to be loyal to him, I wonder how he would get on with Oliver? Considering they're both (likely in Sonny's case) rouges who escaped their original railways. I think Oliver's bigger ego about his escape and Sonny's more "I don't want to talk about it" approach could lead to an interesting interaction, or even conflict! While I'm not quite sure how I would exactly go about drafting up a Rosie and Sonny episode, here's my pitch for an introduction! Rosie's doing her job as usual, when Sonny comes sidling up with a good train and internally she's all like "Ugh, not him again." and Sonny, expecting a cold welcome anyhow, says nothing and stays quiet. Almost as if he's trying to get out of her way. From there though...? I'm not sure if it would be more in character for Sonny to continue to try and make himself seen and not heard, or if he would (very anxiously, mind you) try to break the ice and make things up. I think it would depend how far he's gone on working on his self-confidence after Baz and Bernie shattered it. Hope all 3 Sonny fans enjoyed the ramble :P

Ok I had to get this out bc @friendly-emerald-emily (hope u don't mind being tagged) brought up a very good point about Sonny's interactions with Rosie and how people don't tend to touch on that a lot, including myself actually, so what better opportunity to have a little ramble about my fav little guy again *dances*

Rosie is the first engine Sonny interacts with, but they never get to have a closed arc together, which is a shame! In an era where the execs claimed they were working in the best interest of the female characters and giving them the spotlight, the only female character Sonny ever really interacts with... is Rosie... Unless you count Rebecca talking To him (which I don't really), he doesn't even get to interact with Ruth! Like are you kidding, not even Ruth? She clearly holds no animosity towards him, but it's herself and the Earl that Sonny directly affects by helping with Baz and Bernie's plans.

This also marks Rosie's last appearance iirc, it's such a shame because this one interaction with Sonny could have made for a brilliant final episode for her!

...

Anyhow, back to the point

We can break Sonny's character development down into his interactions with three characters, Rosie, Thomas, and Diesel

~

Rosie: The first Sodor engine Sonny interacts with, he is aloof and standoffish, he obviously doesn't know how to interact with other engines and pushes others away. Rosie, knowing her worth, doesn't give him the time of day, she'll see engines come and go all day who she'll never see again given that she works at Vicarstown.

It's important to note Rosie's personality too, she's very friendly and outgoing. Although Extremely brief, she treats Sonny as she would any other engine, it is Sonny who rejects her kindness. More on this later!

(don't mind the crusty screenshot the wiki doesn't have any good screenshots of these two)

Thomas: When Sonny meets Thomas, Baz and Bernie don't have control over him for the first time, this is notably the first instance that Sonny is shown speaking, when he's alone and without their influence. He's lost and confused, kind of frozen up like "what now", and Thomas finds him stopped at some points. Sonny of course, at first, rejects Thomas' help, he seems awkward and like he'd like the conversation to be over with, but he genuinely needs help and Finally opens himself up a little.

Sonny is still obviously fronting for the crooks and protecting them, but it's notable how, for the first time without their direct control, he's shown as being very friendly and approachable, then, he goes right back to not talking once he's back with them. They might not have direct control in this scene but the influence they've had on him obviously affects how he conducts himself, it feels as though he's always thinking about what he is and isn't "allowed" to do. Sonny is called useless throughout the whole special and I think he's internalised that.

Diesel: Finally, the big one, I will try not to rant so much because I've already spoken at length about Diesel and Sonny's relationship, so I'll try to keep it brief.

After the events of the special, Sonny is trying desperately to get in everyone's good graces, we see the true side of him which is friendly, approachable, and selfless, but this goes unappreciated.

Back to Diesel tho, Diesel of course takes advantage of this, but regardless of his intentions, Diesel enjoys spending time with and being Sonny's friend. When Sonny finds out, he's furious, naturally. I think it's notable that Sonny now knows his worth, he's been taken advantage of before and will NOT allow it again, he stands up for himself, as he should.

But what speaks to Sonny's character most is that he's the one to finally give Diesel his second chance. Sonny so desperately yearns for his own, and sees himself in Diesel, giving him the Chance to prove himself. This is basically the first time Diesel apologises on his own accord and admits guilt, though I won't ramble on too much about that as I've already rambled ad nauseam about this being an important part of Diesel's character arc.

~

Anyhow, getting those out of the way, here's my main point. Sonny's interactions with these three show the different stages at which he develops as a character.

It should also be noted how Rosie and Diesel compare as characters. Rosie is friendly, outgoing, and gives everyone a fair chance. Diesel is rude, aloof, and admits as much himself in Springtime For Diesel that he pushes others away due to how he believes them to think of him, and to upkeep this tough guy persona he's so carefully crafted over the years, he won't even give himself a chance at redemption because it's too hard to work towards it. These two are very much opposites!

Sonny, similarly, is the opposite to both characters in both interactions, rude and standoffish to Rosie, then friendly and empathetic towards Diesel. He started out under the control of Baz and Bernie, dictating his life by their perception of him, much like how Diesel conducts himself based on how he believes people see him ("Other engines aren't nice to me so why should I be nice to them?") , now taking control of his own life, and working towards his own happiness and redemption. His interactions with both characters symbolise the start and end of his growth as a character!

Back to Rosie being unfairly treated tho, she deserved so much better. I'm sure she COULD have been worked into Sonny's Second Chance somehow, but, I think I'd have preferred her to have her own episode that focuses on HER, and her relationship with Sonny, it's the least she deserved. No idea if there were any plans for this.

It would have been extremely significant to show Sonny interacting with her again, showing how much he's grown, in contrast to his first interactions with her. It's all well and fine James of all engines apologising to him but they had no established beef, only what we got in SSC, I really would have liked to see Sonny make amends with Rosie, give her a PROPER send off, because how it looks is that she was SO offended and confused by Sonny fuckin growling at her, that she decided to leave indefinitely, lmao?? I'd be confused too!

Anyway, that's a lot to say that I am STILL so upset that Sonny never got more, as stated he really felt like he was supposed to stick around and do More. He's an extremely important character (I am biased), yet one I don't see people give a lot of credit to or acknowledge. TTTE fandom do better I expect a YouTube essay on Sonny on my desk by next week!!

wish we knew more about lady hatt...

cgi emily is so underwhelming because she lost her assertiveness in this essay I will-