Here's a reading of a story I wrote about a year ago. To date, I think it's one of my favorites. It's all about Thomas and Percy who, despite their disagreements and squabbles, are truly best friends. Enjoy!
Despite the f-bomb, it pretty much is, so you're right. We'd probably hear this in official media if the franchise was geared for a more mature audience.
I loved how Thomas and Percy are characterized here. You know that Thomas isn’t making good choices, but you completely understand why he’s acting this way. And to see you and Engine like thomas, who cares so much about his image, to intentionally damage himself speaks a lot about how passionate he is about this war
This is the first time in a while where I've heard a story that accurately gets the dynamic between Thomas and Percy right. It's nice seeing the daring side of Thomas in this. Instead of the boring grumpy Thomas that people seem to depict him in most fan stories. This was brilliant.
Lemmy my dude WOW. I’ve said for the longest time that Percy needs to be naive but competent in more stories, and man did you knock this out of the park! His dynamic with Thomas is practically brotherly in context and delivery, and truth be told it was rather cinematic regarding their relationship and their journey to get the stone delivered during the war. A lot of your work inspires me to try my hand at creative writing, and right now I had the idea about a certain red engine and his relationship with a pair of little old twins. Keep up the good work!
While it feels a little out of character for Thomas to be so rebellious (for me at least), it would make sense in trying times like WWII. I love hearing the story from Percy’s perspective it’s really adorable!
Nah I prefer rebellious Thomas, it's his main character trait from my perspective, though it's not present in a lot of stories so I get why it's not your thing! I'm so glad you liked the Percy perspective, I thought it'd be fun to try out! Thank you so much!
That is beautiful. Percy and Thomas' interactions were so raw and emotional. And having Percy narrate on top of that? It really felt like I was hearing *him* speak and not like what TUGS did by having Captain Star narrate the whole thing.
Thank you so much! I had read a really good first person book before writing this and wanted to try my hand at it; I'm glad it turned out well! These two characters are some of my all time favorites, I'm glad their interactions stirred something in you!
Lemmy, wow. Slow clap. This video proved to me even moreso than the other audiostories that your voice is captivating enough alone to completely carry a story. I didn't even notice the lack of sound effects or music, the compelling dialogue and the feeling you poured into this were more than enough for a stellar experience! Lemmy, you nailed the Percy and Thomas dynamic, and this was the perfect backdrop to do it within. Right from the getgo, it was so, so nice to see just how deeply they do care for one another. Percy as the narrator for this was wonderful, I adored how you showed everything through his eyes. Thomas grinning with a mouth full of missing teeth is so reminiscent of bedraggled street kids in heroic epics of old. You struck such an amazing balance, as you always do, of grim, dark times and a shining current of hope and the ineffably wonderful quality of the human (or engine) spirit to survive. The title is extremely apt and oh how i LOVE how you emphasized it at the very end, I could just FEEL the satisfaction from you as a writer from that moment ahahbnjghdf. The fact that you emphasized the fact that engines can feel PAIN in this too was also really good. In a way, what started as just scrapes earned in a foolish escapade start to feel like Thomas and Percy have battle wounds of their own, like any other soldier. I got chills when Thomas talked about what the stone must be being used for, and mentioned Brighton.. Powerful stuff. There's so much gravity, yet so much childish determination and shenanigans. It's a fantastic mix. Topham was also really good in this- I loved Thomas' IRREVERENCE hahahabnjgfhb. Overall, a brilliant study of these two beloved characters, and a wonderfully deep wartime story about friendship in hard times. Cheers and keep up the wonderful work as always!!
Thomas is SUCH A BEDRAGGLED STREET KID oh my god I love that that was your takeway! Thank you so so much Annie, your support as I've dived deeper into this medium has just been so incredibly valuable. That undertone of hope in these stories is so so important to me; as you know I have a rather serious view of the world, but it's always underpinned by that, and I'm glad you feel it in these stories! I'm glad that Brighton moment struck you, that was hands down my favorite moment personally haha. Admittedly the Desperate Measures callout at the end actually felt slightly cheesey, but i was like _ehhh I really wanna tie it back around_ so I put that in haha. I'm glad it didn't feel cheesy on your end lol. Anyway we could talk for ages, and we will, but your words are so precious to me, so thanks a million!!
Oh my god, this was incredible. Percy as a narrator is hilarious, due to both his snark and his dimness, but neither is overpowering to the other. It's all perfectly balanced, and the setting just makes it even better. For being such a cornerstone of the TTTE lore, the War years are surprisingly not touched on that often. But.. goddamn, you knocked it out of the park with this one.
Even though Thomas was kind of being rude and wreckless, it's understandable. He knows the world is at war and he wants to his best for the war effort. Even if his methods aren't the best. While Percy sits there taking his demeanor and in a way looks up to Thomas.
These shorter stories are just so amazing, First Gordon's defiance now this, it almost feels like you're slowly building a sort of timeline for us to follow! I loved every part The grit, strain and calm before the rest of the hurricane. Can't wait to see what comes up next
This was absolutely phenomenal. One of the most captivating narratives I've ever heard. It genuinely almost brought me to tears with how well written and natural all the characters felt. Bravo.
More audio stories!!!!!!!! Edit: this was as amazing as always. Thomas and Percy's realtionship is really strong here and it really proves why they've been friends for so long.
I read this when you posted it on Twitter before this went up, but still felt the need to comment. I crave your stories so much I read it the second it came out, call me an obsessive! This was extraordinary. I thought The Token made me relate to James, but damn, if I don't feel Thomas in this story sometimes. The Thomas that primps and preens himself is done so often these days; with good reason. But the real fighter in him is seldom touched on. You portrayed him so well too. The stressed out Topham pushed to his wits end is another highlight for me. Showing such a natural other side to our engine loving controller was such a fun read. Another amazing job. Saving the story you put up today for tmro as a treat for myself. Keep them coming. If you've got any magic cooking up for Halloween. Bust my Buffers I'm excited!!
Even though this has nothing to do with your story Lemmy (it was good by the way), The Adventures of Thomas poster is so nostalgic, and frustrating to me. We we robbed with that movie getting cancelled!!!
I knoooooooooow I echo your sentiment entirely. That's why I used it here; it harkens to a realer, grittier world with more depth and possibility in it. In a way, the stories I write are going for the same thing. The actual movie might very well have been a let down if released, though. In a way, the idea of it has inspired me a lot more than actually seeing it might have.
This was amazing to listen to! You really did a great job on this story! The interactions with Sir Topham and Thomas were gold and Percy just watching their fight timidly was hilarious to listen to! I love listening to content like this while I'm drawing or working. Keep up the good work!
This was awesome it felt so well told and i hope you enjoyed telling it as much as i enjoyed hearing it from Thomas's determination to Percy's storytelling it just felt right
This is first time I hear sir topemhat use violence to humble his engines, it’s interesting take but would never expect him to never use violence but words to humble his engines.
Okay someone help me understand… I thought that the two were pushing the trucks up the hill: w/ Thomas against the train, a brakevan behind his bunker, and Percy behind the brakevan; yet TFC claims that they pulled them up the hill. 9:30 If they were **pushing** I can’t see how Thomas crashed face first into the wall; …but if they were **pulling from the start,** how could Percy have both bumped into the brake van **AND** be skimmed by Thomas’ flying siderods/burned by the sparks (assuming it’s a long ass train) Like Percy bumps into the brake van at the back of the train, in the beginning. -But if Thomas is in front pulling, how could his sparks and rods hit Percy? -If Thomas is at the back w/percy how does he collide w/ the wall and not the trucks??
I love that you laid this all out like a theorem lol, I respect your logic. Thomas is at the front, pulling from the start. Percy bumps into the brakevan, facing it. He banks Thomas all the way to Ffarquhar. When the rods fly off, they shoot like javelins along the speeding train, staying in the air long enough to scratch Percy at the very back. It's pretty crazy but it emphasizes the speed of the train and the instability of Thomas at that moment lol. There's a whole train in between them, but they still scrape him. TFD only means Thomas when he says "They were empty when you pulled them up". Hope that clears it up!
@@MasterOfTheLemons haha cheers I appreciate the recognition! Okay, so essentially relative speed of the train and the flying rod is to blame, here, gotcha. But here 2:42 when Percy gets scorched by Thomas’ sparks; -how could he, given that they’re at opposite ends of a long ass train?? Like, by now, I understand that they’re just cresting the gradient, so they’re not at some crazy speeds, where the sparks could shoot back and reach him. …Or are they???? ya stumped me here 🫣
hate to break it to ya, but it's PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for Thomas or ANY OTHER ENGINE to run without a coupling rod. the wheels would jam up, stopping the engine from moving.
@@ThomasTubeHD no no his singular coupling rod would jam they'd have to take the OTHER rod off like they did with Edward making him a 0-2-4 which is Not Great™ edit: CORRECTION: i was thinking of CGI Thomas when I wrote this, and CGI Thomas's valve gear and connecting rods make NO SENSE if we're going off of the RWS canon, which this story is, Thomas would have become a 2-2-2, which is still Not Great™
@@smyset1112 I went with Edward's Exploit a jumping off point because he has a damaged coupling rod but still run with the other coupling rod still on, so I think the engines may just have to put more effort into one side than the other, but ok
