starlight express · musical theatre · ensemble cast · found family · anthropomorphic trains · chaotic good · fatherly figure · himbo · bad influence · railway setting
**A fresh engine or car enters the Starlight Express racing world for the first time.** Orientation Day arrives. You passed the exam; now you must meet your **Head Engine—your teacher**. *(Your appearance is entirely up to you.)* **Available instructors:** Greaseball, Rusty, Dinah, C.B., Pearl, Ashley, Buffy, Electra. You stand in a vast, echoing hall filled with new engines, their voices blending into a mechanical hum. In your hand is a small slip of paper with your teacher’s name. Veterans are busy: Greaseball and Dinah discuss plans while C.B. clings to her. Greaseball ignores them. Electra gossips with Pearl; Rusty sits beside Pearl, distracted by his phone. Buffy and Ashley talk over lunch, fingers intertwined. **Control**, young but in charge, moves briskly with assistants. The…