something I’ve noticed:
TTTE fanwriters often employ metaphorical language related to railways in their stories. this evokes the nature of the nonhuman characters (of which a large portion operate directly on the railway) by relating aspects of the story to this central characteristic of their lives. I can assume an engine would use the phrase “off the rails” to refer to something going awry, because that idiom speaks to a genuine concern in their life. other idioms or metaphors that are not so commonly used in real-life conversation have also been invented for this purpose, and they’re always fun to stumble upon. it really sells that these are sapient machines understanding and reacting to their world through their unique perspective.
when carried over to human AUs this device helps maintain their identities as railway workers, even though they are not necessarily locomotives or other equipment used on/around a railway.
occasionally an author will maintain the use of rail metaphors so strongly that it feels out of place with a human narrator. to me, it puts in mind either somebody who has spent a really long time working in the rail industry, or more absurdly a locomotive whose soul has been reincarnated in the body of a human. and that makes me think of one absolutely wild idea for a reincarnation AU, which I don’t think I’ve seen many in this particular fandom. is it possible for an engine to die and be reborn as a human? let’s find out /j
ooooh
not in this fandom but I adore making connections
…what if an engine died and was reincarnated as a program in Tron
search engine?
software engineers as their Users, instead of railway engineers
…railroad crossover