Cobalt's Lament

[Sporkia]

I think I read somewhere that the Midoro Swamp story where Cobalt was originally killed off happened after like, his fourth appearance in the manga. Tezuka really wanted him to be a short-lived character apparently (until he brought him back, that is).
I'm pretty sure poor Cobalt would be the perfect posterboy for getting the short end of the stick in the Astro Boy universe. :I

[Little Brown Fox]

...

You gaiz

The feeeeeeels

Omg

You have know idea ;-;

Actually, I did this up as a quickie in Notepad. But angst, people! How could poor Coby not feel a little bit upset, always being in his brother's shadow? And there is so much more I could do- so much more! Like, how he failed in his duty as the older brother, to protect Atom and sacrificing himself instead, the conflict between hat and what he already feels... And I have his sort of headcanon, where originally, he wasn't all that bothered by the insults, but then they started to get to him (maybe something happened, like a trigger?), and then Uran teases him at home all the time, and doesn't know or realize when her words start to go too far. And then there's his parents (which will be different in this sort of AU, because I really don't like his other ones), who seem to pay a lot more attention to his other siblings than him, especially Atom. Chi-tan is a baby, so of course he needs more attention. And Uran is a trouble-making tomboy, and the only daughter. And Atom is a hero, obviously.

I'm going to have to figure out a reasonable explanation for how Atom survived his flight into the sun, though- it's a flippin' ball of super-heated plasma, for crying out loud! Any ideas? Also, I haven't actually read that story, so information about Atom's situation, and the character Spica, will be kinda spotty, as it is derived from hearsay, rather than actual knowledge of the events. And I guess Cobalt is older in this AU. And Spica (who strikes me as an excitable type) has moved on from Atom, to his considerably less derpy brother, Cobalt (remember, some time has passed- let's just say that they've all grown a little, perhaps even physically. I'll write up some contrived reason or other- it will involve nanites pretty heavily). Cobalt, being the quiet and reserved person he has become over time, is not happy about her enthusiastic advances. Oh dear, poor wallflower Cobalt.

[AprilSeven]

I never understood why Atom HAD to drive the bomb alllllll the way into the sun. Once it was on a set trajectory - he had moved it off of the asteroid - he could have let it go . . . then travel back until he was in another planet's orbit (Mercury or Venus?), where he could "hang out" in "sleep mode" until a rescue from Earth picked him up? Right? (presuming he could get a message back to Earth)

Annnnd while Astro was away . . . I could totally see Cobalt stepping into the role he was actually created for. Ochanomizu could equip him with jets and lasers . . . but I also picture him being a bit aloof, because he had been "dissed" for so long.

I'm really excited to see what you do!

[Juanita]

You made some very valid points, April.
Interesting.

[Little Brown Fox]

Thank you! ^w^ And that's a very good idea! Although I don't picture him as being very good at it, despite all his trying. And when he starts to get better, Atom shows up again- only, his memory is lost (that is what happened in the manga, right?). So some stuff happens, and he gets it back, and suddenly he's the hero again (sans all those tacky modifications- as cool as they looked, he sticks out like a sore thumb!), and Cobalt has been pushed to the backburner... again. So he's gotten pretty distant, and withdrawn (he was starting to deteriorate even before Atom left, though). And to make matters worse, he has to deal with Atom's old clingon, the "annoying alien android", Spica. He's immensely thankful that she is no longer able to transform, because otherwise, she'd have turned into a tyrannosaurus or a gorilla or something else huge, and sat on him already, so he couldn't get away.

Also, I've been wanting to give him a friend- an original character (or OC), who basically pulls him out from under his depression, and becomes his best (and in his mind, his only) friend. What do you think?

Oh, and the parents are gonna be OCs, too, along the lines of what I said in the "Atom's Parents" thread; I just need to peg down their names, final appearances, and personalities. Oh, and occupations (the mother works for a maid service, before settling down and working for herself, while the dad was built to be a stunt double for a famous actor in a movie, before the actor prematurely passed away, and the film was never completed; he now works as a freelance stuntman, but hopes to maybe be a real actor someday- or a businessman. What do you guys think?). Oh yes, they will have jobs. They will be people, with personalities, and hopefully they will be likable. (And I've obviously been thinking about this way too often ahahahah )

[AprilSeven]

These sound like interesting ideas, LBF - yeah, those original parents really needed some tweaking. I'm not against OCs - actually, ALL characters started out as OCs, didn't they?

Cobalt deserves a best friend who's not connected to Astro . . . I'm very excited about that idea.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

There IS a fan fiction story that take place after Astro drops the package into the sun, he is found partly melted on the MOON. Tezuka explores one possible idea (in the Darkhorse manga volume #22 or #21) where he is rescued by aliens, modified and returned to earth in another time with his memory missing. Tezuka never finished that series though.... Dan Rush had him drift though space and get picked up in the 24th century by the star ship enterprise

Really lots of ways to get around the issue, but I'd like to believe that he missed the sun and was just drifting in orbit with his energy gone until some one or some thing found him.

[Little Brown Fox]

Hm, corrected the trajectory, but flew off course...? And he was low on fuel... and probably ended up taking damage for some reason or other, while drifting in space... found by aliens, revived by them, but with some memory loss... hm, and some stuff happens; but I don't really want to get into the whole story right now. Maybe later, but for now, I'm going for Cobalt-centric. So yeah, ton's of implied headcanon that nobody but us knows about. Wonderful.

[Little Brown Fox]

Uh, you guys...

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9393449/1/27

My collection has been officially started. First up: more angst! I'm sorry, I haven't got anything better for you at the moment...

[Solarcat20]

i've read it, i thought it was very interesting