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
further thought.
with the making-connections thing
it is my main ability. anything else i’m good at or enjoy doing, comes somehow from that, from my affinity for seeing connections and similarities between different things
as someone in Tron fandom, I came to the conclusion that my program-sona is clearly pattern recognition software
but… if I was in TTTE fandom…
what’s the train-sona for someone who joins up trains (of thought) at the switchyard
so shunting is the job where trucks/coaches are pulled or pushed from one track to another, or from a siding to a main line. and then whatever’s getting pulled that day couples up. metaphorically, that’s taking ideas from one line to another and joining them in a larger train of thought?
I’m not an expert but I do know that smaller, more maneuverable engines are used for this job since they can take tighter turns and navigate a busy/crowded yard.