*Bill and Ben do indeed want to watch the world burn*

The funny thing about Thomas disliking Rosie (besides it being only one of MANY times the "Thomas hates the new tank engine" trope appears) is that Rosie's basis (american dock tank) is the engine that actually replaced Thomas's basis (the scrapped E2's). So when viewed through the lens of Thomas potentially resenting rosie for her class basically being responsible for his own class being scrapped, their relationship gets a lot more real.

It seems like when it comes to romance in Thomas the Tank Engine everyone is okay with the idea of it revolving around the humans like Sir Topham Hatt and Lady Hatt. Imagine if they did an episode where Thomas's fireman has a girlfriend then Thomas and his driver plan out a very romantic date for them. It may sound silly, but it's be a sweet gesture.

David Mitton shipping engines ( and boats) is a controversial but hilarious observation. Percy and his smooch, Lillie and Hercules' thing, Daisy's pink buffers...

5:09 Psychiatrist: Chad Percy isn't real, he can't hurt you. Chad Percy :

I guess the engine characters having romantic feelings for each other is itself believable, considering they pretty much have all human emotions, but obviously they are extremely limited on physical abilities, so cannot act on romantic love. Thomas, for example seems to have what looks like a crush on Ashima.

My Rule of thumb on this for me personally is the trains can feel love for each other and maybe be in a relationship, BUT none of them actually kissing and doing inappropriate things like everyone did with them back in 2008. Other than that yes love can exist for an engine in my book on that level I just described

One thing I could add is that it's possible that Emily, despite being portrayed as a sister to most of the engines who is one of the closest friends with Thomas, could have a crush on him on certain episodes as he is one of the engines who has extremely fondness over him. In fandom, she's also one of main characters whom people tend to mostly ship Thomas with.

I haven't seen every take on shipping in ttte fan content, but I believe Victor Tanzig's approach is one of the best in how to approach shipping. Engines are unable to replicate relationships in an exact manner as humans (i.e. physical gestures or affection). Yet like many good relationships, they can form close bonds and dynamics through compatible personalities. This doesn't always mean engines can stay together, with all the complexities of how railways are run. But these engines have some autonomy and if engines can form friendships, it makes sense that some of those bonds can go deeper.

5:07 it’s a sign of admiration, like an engine blushing because they were praised by passengers, drives controllers, ect.

5:10 We really didn’t need to see that 😂😂😂

I feel an engine feeling romantic feelings for another engine isn’t an impossibility, it’s just wouldn’t be the same as how romance is conveyed by people. The engines should definitely not (& just can not) show love physically. No kissing, handholding or anything else I don’t want to think about as they’re bloody locomotives! It’s the idea of the engines doing any of that which is what makes Thomas fans feel weirded out & hate the idea of engines feeling love, and that is very understandable & agreeable. The #1 Rule of a RWS/Thomas Fan: . *If it’s impossible for a real life engine to do it, than they can’t do it.* The only thing that should be allowed is having faces, personalities & talking. But it is undeniable that the engines in the RWS/Thomas do have certain relationships with each other, whether it be platonic working relationships, sibling relationships or close friendships. There are character who hate each other, characters who tolerate each other & characters who are close friends with each other, so the possibilities that perhaps some characters do have stronger romantic feelings isn’t too far fetch of an idea. How it would be conveyed however is where the questions come up. For me, I feel like it would be more akin to the idea of your romantic partner being ‘Your Other Best Friend’ rather than as a ‘smoochy doopey’ couple. Someone that you can rely & trust beyond all others. You could argue that if they’re basically just best friends ‘why not just make them best friends,’ which I do agree with, but I don’t think it would be a direct 1:1 exact same thing. EG: I don’t think Toby & Percy have the same relationship as Toby & Henrietta (the latter 2 especially in the CGI era). Also I guess it’s not impossible for 2 engines to be seen as a couple. If there was for example 2 engines which shared a branch line, weren’t related, was only them, shared a shed and were seen as inseparable by the people who work on the line, would that be seen as an engine couple? Why am I thinking so much & putting so much effort into this?! I don’t even care much about this topic when it comes to Thomas/RWS! WHY???!!!

I think David Mitton was already trying to take things further in TATMR. I just always felt there was something between Thomas and Lady, or at least written to seem that way. Calling all Engines even has a bit where Thomas dreams about Lady.

I respect your opinion on romance in Thomas and other kid’s media, but personally, I think it’s sweet seeing two characters get together in Valentine’s Day specials like Rosie is Red. Even though I prefer to be single, but still, it warms my heart seeing a couple getting along together just as long as they’re meant for each other.

In my humble opinion, I don't see a reason why the Thomas characters can't have romantic feelings. My justification for this is through a good example of a romance in the series working, which can be found in the CGI series where we see the relationship between Toby and Henrietta, they have an old married couple feel to them. So therefore if a believable romance can be proven to work then I see no reason why a similar romantic relationship can't take place between some of the other characters. A personal relationship I think would be nice, is one between Thomas and Ashima I chose her because she is the most interesting and believable love interest that has been shown in the series. I like to think she would be the type of companion who would support Thomas in his lowest moments and berate him if he was being unkind and selfish. I also think it would be sweet if Thomas is somewhat protective of her and will severely scold anyone who tries to bully or tease her. This is because he genuinely cares about her because she would have really made a difference in his life and now he is dead set on being there for her. Anyway back to the whole love debate in the series, I guess the bottom line is that in this series, romantic love can be explored, but only in a way that is 100 percent realistic and believable. A thing to remember is to look at the engines as characters with their own personalities, rather than just defining them as railway engines due to their appearance.

I feel that romance should never take centre stage in children's media. The way it was done in Season 5 of Thomas is perfect. It was not in the centre stage and it was something that pre teen kids can relate to.

Even tho I have ships of my own in TTTE and TUGS, I wouldn't forced them to be canon in the actual show. If anything, I think the show is perfect just the way it is.. Like my childhood 💕 Amazing video mate!

When it comes to shipping in Thomas & Friends, I’m personally mixed on it. I allow fans to express their take on character relationships, but I just don’t take part in these weird fanfiction trends. As for the series itself, here’s how I reacted to those two infamous fantasy sequences: Thomas X Rosie (Rosie Is Red) - I didn’t mind the episode itself, but that fantasy sequence is one of the most nauseating things I’ve ever seen (no joke, I felt lightheaded just looking at it). Emily X Edward (Emily’s Best Friend) - Regardless of what I thought of the episode overall, I burst into uncontrollable laughter when that fantasy sequence came up.

10:30 my favorite part of this whole video 🤣🤣🤣👌👌👌

As a kid I always wondered if Rosie and Thomas liked each other and wondered if they'll ever say how they feel later down the line I can't believe kid me was right

I feel AaronCottrell97 wrote some of the relationships he put together in a believable way, especially on how Sir Topham Hatt told them that they would need to do their work first before they could act on those feelings for the rest of that time. Hell, Thomas' rage towards anyone who hurt Emily was quite intense

Well, I think a romantic relationship between engine characters can work, but it would be no more than the two engines bonding on an emotional or spiritual level while working. Like helping them do better when they work together, or hilarious banter between the two. I don't see how they could even do anything apart from that. I mean, how can they kiss? Their buffers prevent them from getting close enough lol. And they're machines that are build in a factory, so they can't feel anything sexual.

This is a video I never would’ve expected

I saw this on Twitter last week and I'm happy to see it on KZfaq!

In the world of Thomas section, I feel like the people like Britt Allcroft and David Mitton and everyone were just focusing on the Railway Series because they knew if they did something like Henry’s Forest they would get ridiculed by Awdry with his sour attitude after the episode, but then they started just going with their gut and having free will prior to Awdry’s death.

The trains could never kiss because of their buffer beams getting in the way LOLOLOLOLOLOL

this was a very nice analysis-type/review video! well done!

I love the intro.

this was wonderful. thank you for addressing this topic. you are very underrated, you just got a subscriber

I loved this video so much, you earned a new sub

Certainly an infamous topic in the series, but one I take a keen interest in. Don't know if you've seen any of the Unlucky Tug's content recently, but in his (unlisted) video on explaining Thomas and the Magic Railroad and all the differences between the scripts and final film, he says that in the workprint, after the gold dust is replenished, Thomas says to Lady, "You're quite a lady," to which she replies, "Thank you." I don't know who came up with that line, but I would say it's kind of a happy medium between both ends of the relationship spectrum you touched upon. It's subtler than in 'Rosie is Red,' but probably a bit more gutsy than what you'd see in the RWS. Food for thought, as they say.

Just them feeling love then asking a human what that feeling is then, they don’t know what to do w/ it!

I think the engines having romantic feelings for each other is kind of silly, since it doesn't make much logical sense. The engines are built, not born. But that doesn't mean they can't feel strongly for each other in a platonic sense. They all still have feelings and personalities, and that will give them all unique opinions and views of the world.

When i was little i always thought thomas and emily where in love when i saw the season 8 episode Halloween

Now I love the episodes Thomas and the Birthday Mail and Rosie is Red (Along Lady Hatt's Birthday Party and Happy Ever After), but I respect your opinion.

The CGI series should make an episode called "Thomas's girl got stolen"

I used to be one of those people who shipped Thomas trains back in the day 😂 These were my ships: Thomas X Molly Percy X Emily Toby X Mavis Duck X Rosie Oliver X Lady Boco X Daisy

DeviantArt moment

I too respect your opinion, I think it's kind of interesting to see Thomas characters having romantic connections. Plus, I think Thomas and Rosie are a fitting couple. I'm gonna add that to my favorite main character ship list: Phineas X Isabella (Phineas and Ferb) Randy Cunningham x Theresa Fowler (Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja) Steven X Connie (Steven Universe) Kick X Kendall (Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil) Milo X Amanda (Milo Murphy's Law) Sonic X Amy (Sonic the Hedgehog) Star X Marco (Star Vs the Forces of Evil) Luz X Amity (The Owl House) Aang X Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Dipper X Pacifica (Gravity Falls) Penn X Sashi (Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero) Thomas X Rosie (Thomas & Friends)

Amen

I think the best person that can do romance with Thomas is Victor Tanzig! He does them in a realistic way! I recommend watching his series, it’s amazing! Not just about that, the stories, the characters, the action, etc.

What have we done as a species …

I think how Victor Tanzig handled relationships in his series was the right way to go about.

Phwor! Look at the buffers on her!

It may just be the aro/ace in me, but I like to think of the nonhuman characters as having more queerplatonic relationships. I think Oliver and Toad as well as Toby and Henrietta have something like this. They share a bond that I think is more intimate than friendship but it isn't romantic. They're life-partners but in a completely platonic way. That's how I see their relationships anyway.

@5:09 OH MY GOD THAT IS SO CURSED!! XD

I also have mixed opinions on that subject. But another one that happened is the thing between Gordon and Rebecca which some times looks like ship fuel 💀💀.

"Rosie is Red" is a completely misunderstood episode, and you wouldn't blame me for calling it so. From when the episode came out dubbed in Italian (cuz the episode didn't come out in English until it aired in Australia that same year lol), people took the episode as a "shipping" episode as if Davey Moore, the writer of the episode, took the Thomasshipping concept into an episode, which of course I think everyone complained about the episode by either not watching the episode, or giving the episode a chance, or not giving a shit about looking further into the episode at all. From where I'm coming from. The episode is about Thomas and Rosie being rumored that they are a cute looking couple, which causes Thomas to stand up for her at the Docks after Diesel bullied her at the Docks while Bill and Ben arrived just to see the world get set on fire. After that, Thomas becomes unusually defensive about standing up to Rosie, which makes Rosie cross. Later, the two meet up and talk about the situation in a mature manner despite the both of them feeling nervous. After that, Thomas and Rosie don't have feelings for each other, and are just good friends (of course). Then, Sir Topham Hatt proposes to Lady Hatt with a cat as the episode ends. That episode alone shows not only a good message on how to stick up for your friends, but it does show that just because two people are friends doesn't always mean they would have feelings towards each other. But because the fandom is so stubborn sometimes, they see the episode as this weird shipping one over a fantasy sequence that is obviously all in Thomas' imagination and not in reality and take it like it's an offensively bad episode, which isn't even that bad of an episode at all. It has a lot of good moments like Percy interacting with Edward and saying that every day should be Valentine's Day, Thomas speaking to Henrietta and Toby about Rosie and what happened at the Docks, and Sir Topham Hatt using Thomas and Rosie for a special, but important occasion at Vicarstown Station and the way he handles it is surprisingly good. We hardly see Lady Hatt that much in the show, and I'm happy they did something with her and Sir Topham that same episode.

you forgot one Emily in "Emily's Best friend" see's herself dating Edward... poor old Edward being chased by Emily, run Edward run like your trying to save James in old iron! but the photobooth scene was a tolerable fantasy sequence.

Every day, we stray further from Awdry

does the same applie to robots that look like and have simularities to humans?

5:51 haha happy.

0:04

I still think Rosie is Red a sweet and funny show.

I'm still waiting for the episode where james puts on a pair of steam engine sized sunglasses and tells Emily how much he likes her "big tender".

Well vehicles in Pixar Cars can have love relationships, Why not trains in the Thomas universe?

9:06 FANDANGO THOMAS!

I'm sorry Sir Shed I hear what you're saying nice video great video but I literally can't stop wheezing in some kind of ecstatic nausea over that piece of Tugs script where Hercules is described as d e l i c i o u s.

My theory is that trains can be romantically involved and they wont show any of that on an anthropomorphic train Rosie can be Thomas' girlfriend just in a different way

That Thomas face ☠️

I will do a review on Rosie is red epsidoe

Here's a thought : What if Thomas and Rosie did end up dating, and then Rosie gets pregnant and gives birth to all engines go Thomas ( dont ask where I come up with this stuff , you're better off not knowing)

Because the Trains are not Siblings?

well if you're a real locomotive you will most likely to break up with your partner due to certain depo allocations that will decrease the chance of meeting your partner again.

For me I ship phillip the diesel with freida the German engine

C62, if you know you know.

mattel is aware of the ships

Remember that CGI isn't cannon to the live action series. It was Mattel's doing after all.

wait so he got 320 subs in 6 days

Rosie wanted to BE like thomas not.. *that*

Mattel gone off the rails

Uh actually in the book Thomas and the school trip a school girl kissed Thomas at the end of the story- wait oh the age gap oh nooo. Anyways nice video

I HATE Rosie is red SO much, all because the fandom ships them (including me lol) doesn't mean you have to make a STUPID BWBA EPISODE ABOUT IT! Steam Engines having romantic feelings for each other is a very inappropriate storyline, ok!

You need more subs downright

Personally, I like to think that engines can only experience romantic attraction, which makes sense as they, unlike people, are not born but built. Romance for an engine would essentially just be a more emotionally intimate friendship, which would build off how platonic relationships in the franchise are shown. It would make decent sense for how a machine would experience love and it would be different from how people experience it. Also come on Gordon called BoCo "the most beautiful sight he had ever seen" you can't tell me they aren't dating.

Chad Percy

So fact is that it wasn’t meant to be in the stories. And machines needent be doing non machine things.

how do they breed. tell me

i cant feel love thats the issue

Would Thomas date Rosie or emily

*Percy is based*

No trains CANNOT have relationships! That’s just stupid!

If trains wreck it would be a train wreck in the community and real world Pun intended

In my AU, many engines are in relationships. These include Thomas & Lady, Henry & Emily, Connor & Caitlin, James & Roise, Gordon & Frieda, etc.

i think the concept of romance for engines is odd. relationships definitely exist for the humans but how does a train do romance. there's not really a way to do so. trains can't kiss, they don't have 'private parts' and something like touching buffers is not like holding hands since pretty much every engine does that to just about anyone and anything for strictly work purposes. the only way trains can act romantic is by uttering like... sweet nothings to other engines? It just doesn't really seem to fit with the concept of sentient engines.

What I think is that the vehicles are aroace and don't really care about relationships with one another, but acknowledge that people have relationships.

Thomas and Gina honestly could be about as close too trains being more than friends.

*DELICOUS*