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Starlight Express - Blog Posts
i think revival electra and the components all kinda had bad childhoods. except killerwatt. he has his two dads that love him.
bitches be like "god he's so hot" and he looks like this
Hey guys are you doing. Me? Yeah I'm doing great I'm just thinking about how stex very firmly establishes whistling as a romantic gesture. And then ALSO establish that Electra cannot whistle (something something he cannot express true feelings) but you know who can whistle??? Cabooses. So during dinahs disco. You know what happens??? CB WHISTLES AT ELECTRA ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Electra calls out to CB for help in the final race and CB whistles in response. Anyways goodnight I'm going to walk into the ocean
so was anybody going to tell me that in Bochum megamix immediately after "mein spiel" they had "pfeife für mich" with. This interaction.
just let them kiss on stage I'm begging you
original video
Finally went to see Starlight Express last night and I’m obsessed.
Have a lil doodle of my fav lesbian trains
thinking about the theory that all the characters/trains in stex are based off of people control actually knows in real life and they sort of insert themself as rusty in their dream.
pearl is obviously a girl they have a crush on. maybe shes a new neighbour , a new kid at school. maybe if we’re getting sentimental she wears a pearl necklace which gave control the idea of naming her pearl.
greaseball could be controls older sister , maybe shes a little mean to him sometimes , as siblings often are , maybe thats how she manifests as a big bully in their dream.
dinah is controls older sisters girlfriend , she probably thinks hes cute and tells controls older sister to lay off of them and stop being so mean. control probably thinks that dinah is too good for greaseball since shes so nice to them.
the other coaches could be their sister’s girlfriends friends maybe? they come round sometimes to hang out and are often pretty nice to control as well. i like to think their personalities manifest as their own type of train , like yes the irl dinah gives them snacks sometimes so shes a dining car , irl tassita is always telling irl greaseball to shush so hes a quiet coach , the irl belle is always having sleepovers so shes a sleeping car. etc. etc.
electra could be a new kid at school , a bully perhaps , the comps are their little posse. irl killerwatt could be a kid who gets in a lot of fights , irl wrench is someone who is always hanging around the medical bay , irl joule is a misbehaving child who maybe set something on fire once (dynamite truck) , god knows why irl volta is a freezer truck.
the irl freight are just the class clowns. a bit annoying to control but they’re still his friends.
momma obviously represents his mum.
the engines are maybe a couple more bullies , maybe theyre in the year above , control doesnt like them very much. they hang around with their older sister and are always teasing him.
thats just my thoughts on it. i think its a cool theory is all.
Twirling my hair
It's time for my obligatory pokemon au that I make for everything I get into for more than 3 days at a time
Just the coaches for the moment, because I'm a little obsessed with them
Love these silly guys,,,
I love you new trainer Pearl being adopted by 3 losers who just think she and her eevee in the little matching outfits are the cutest thing in the entire world, and new trainer Pearl who thinks they're soooo cool because they all have evolutions of her starter and they're and strong enough that they're always asked to help out with the little championship tournament for the double battle section
LET'S TALK COSTUMES YALL!
I don't completely understand the dislike of the Wembley production too well (It's a non-replica production yall, for what it is it's a lot of fun!) but I have seen that a major point of contention for people seems to be the costumes, so I wanted to create a post discussing why I think they are done very well.
First off, they are wonderfully colorful- one of the things that always concerns me in costuming is a disappearance of color in favor of darker neutral colors, but even the characters that have closer to neutral pallets- Rusty, Momma, the Components- all still have elements of color within their designs, and different textures and shapes to make them visually interesting. As this musical is a dream being had by a little kid, the colors also help reflect this as well- Control is an imaginative child, whose made up world reflects that.
The three main engines (Rusty, Greaseball, Electra) all have very distinct appearances, marking them as principal figures and representative of the three different types of engine we see- diesel, steam, and electric. All three have unique color pallets and silhouettes- the exception being Rusty, who shares similar design elements with Momma (though not quite the same colors). The are the main three racers the story revolves around, and they stand out accordingly.
The thing about the other costumes that interests me, however, is how despite the fact that the rest of the characters in the show are all different colors (with the exception of the Components, whose costumes denote them as a group unique to Electra), there are certain design elements used on the other engines, coaches, and freights that helps denote them as such.
The champion engines are the easiest example here- they all have identical costume elements, just done in different colors. All of them have fin-like hairstyles, and identical plating: shoulder pieces that when an actors hands are at their sides can stretch up to their ears, a rounded breastplate with the symbol of the engine in question, and two pieces for the legs.
The coaches also have this- despite being a myriad of colors and having elements unique to their design, they are a couple through lines- namely a piece around the waist than fans out similar to a skirt, and padding on the shoulders (except for Pearl, but she's got other stuff going on there). They also have more form fitting pieces on their legs- similar more to regular pants or leggings, which makes the detail at the waist and the padding at the shoulders the widest parts of the silhouette.
The freights also have a very similar construction of their costumes- oversized pants and large vests with shoulder plating, and then smaller pieces for the arms- they all very clearly do the same job, despite being different colors and with different patterns (Hydra is not an exception to this, but there are subtle differences signifying how he differs from the others- the plating on his arms is not as bulky as the others, the colors on his pants are inverted, and the vest comes down to his waist rather than stopping below his ribs, giving a smoother silhouette and less bulky appearance, to name a few examples).
And of course, the Components- all trucks like the freight, but their main job in the show isn't what they carry- it's to make Electra look good. As such, they all very clearly fit Electra's aesthetic in a way that none of the other coaches or freight fit the other engines- complementary silver and white to their blue and silver, with the only personalization their belts and the shape of the protrusions from their plating. (They aren't the focus of the next picture but I love it too much not to put here in some fashion.)
All of this is deliberate attention to detail- as the majority of theatre-goers are not going to be intimately familiar with the characters, and the train types, and the roles, and the story, and- you get the idea. The shapes of a character's costume helps denote them into a group- if nothing else, an audience member can tell you "oh, that's an engine" or "that's freight". It also helps people sitting further away to track the action a little better- costume details and textures will become invisible at a distance, but bright colors, large shapes and consistent silhouettes help everyone have a good time.
So, if you didn't know anything about the musical, what could you tell me about the trains in this picture?
Just some StEx Doodles because I'm bored rn (◍•ᴗ•◍)
Hi Tumblr StEx people I'm back with my oc just a little redraw of her. Another thing she's based on a hello kitty bullet train + solar panel ran. 💫🏁🛼 (ㆁωㆁ)
When it's a bad time to have a hyperfixation about a silly train musical because one of my family members got hit by a train last night. (Disclaimer he's alive dw)
Hyperfixation got to me so I made a Starlight express oc.
(Little update her name has been decided as Ruby)
Petition to get Dustin his own song
Ohhhhh
That's cool!
They are so beautiful and softie))))
First three creatures of my Starlight Express x Rainworld au! They are the main scugs of the story, each having their own little plot line of how they got to Controls domain (control is going to be an iterator)
Up next is Control and the starlight express itself
If tumblr eats the quality istg
OOOHHHH MY GOD, WHY HE IS SO ADORABLE 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
I LOVE THIS! MY FAVORITE MOMENT WITH HIM))))))
C.B monologue animation wip 🚂
Was afraid if I posted this that I wouldn't end up finishing it but let's all hope and pray that I do anyways 🙏 I really wanna lipsync it and draw a cute rail yard bg for it 🥺
Aaaaahhhhhhh
So adorable)))
I love this rusty spot on his face, and his metal collar looks amazing!
And yes, more smoke/steam breathing Rusty!!!
starlice expret design 1/4 — Rusty!!
I saw everyone making cool stex designs so I wanted to add my own! Analysis under the cut:
I saw someone draw him in a hat and I thought it was cool— reminded me a little of a train conductor. Imo the London 2024 costume made him look too shiny and new, so I used more elements from the old performances! I like to think that when he’s upset or angry he exhales smoke— literally steaming mad.
Little sketch of Memphis Belle, because I love this woman
It’s been a long day, he deserves some rest)
You know what? We need more content with Poppa!
This man in his age still totally able to kick the ass of national champions - only for help his son to get the girl to win the race - isn't that badass?
Also, I love his interaction with freights and how he encouraging Rusty during the whole plot - this is absolutely adorable)))
(Aaaaaaand I also kinda believe that Poppa really might pretended to be a voice of Starlight Express for Rusty)
OOOOHHHHHH
They are sooooo pretty ❤️❤️❤️
I love how you draw their expressions! This is fantastic!
Especially Rusty's face
My poor boy 🥺
Something really bad happened to him 🥺🥺🥺
Trying to figure out hair cus I wasn't happy with how I was doing it before
CB!
My beloved lil criminal!
I like that CB canonically shares a bunch of features with Rusty - like hats or facial patterns (they have a kinda bros vibe to me)
Just one of them is sweet young man, and other one is sociopath in disguise 🤣
I also love the fact, that cabooses can whistle
Their whistle usually very high and loud and used as a warning signal. So I hadcanon that CB could use that type of "taxi whistle", to warn people who get in the way (except the times when he just ignored them😈)
Omg, what is that? A new hyperfixation???
I absolutely in love with this silly train musical now, and I adore Rusty so much! He is my sweet sunny boy!
Honestly I wanted to draw just a couple of sketches, but now it’s looks like another character reference, ooops
Ohhhhhhh🥰, I can’t… he is so adorable)
And i love the idea that he literally have a steam breath (already imagine how he exhale a big cloud of steam in Greaseball’s face as an insult 😂)