Last night I got the worst shipping idea ever

[Little Brown Fox]

AtomxCobalt

Why brain

why

It doesn't want to leave me alone, either /dismay

[AprilSeven]

It's because everyday you see Cobalt slapping his butt!!

Here's a way to extinguish the thought . . . remember, those two don't have anything to "ship" with!

[Little Brown Fox]

Oh, April... It's not that kind of shipping, necessarily...

Oh, well. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. I don't even know how this got started, but rereading "Cobalt" the other night did not help at all.

It's probably more of a brotherly relationship, but since I am a girl, I can't really develop that kind of relationship with my brother. Sure, we played a lot as kids and preteens, but I wouldn't say we were very close back then. Not even now; as we grew older, me and my brother and sister sort of grew apart. Since my sister was already a few years older than me, and when she got friends her age, we grew apart sooner, and I can't really remember whatever sisterly-bond we may have had was like. Plus, we have always been a little contentious. So I can't identify with sibling bonds as well (my general withdrawal in recent years probably hasn't helped any).

Thus, I seem to interpret it in another way...? But I didn't before. Ugh, maybe I just want to ship close individuals... I need to fixate on something else. Like, now.

[Juanita]

At least you didn't ship Atlas with Astro. This exists.
*shivers*

[Little Brown Fox]

I'm sure it does. I'm pretty sure I've seen Japanese fanart of the '03 Atlas and Atom that at least suggests it. Another one is AtomxReno.

Atomx80's Atlas would scare me, though. O_O;

[Juanita]

That's what I talking about :I

[Little Brown Fox]

Kid Atlas or Adult Atlas? Either one is bad, but the idea of Adult!AtlasxAtom shipping seriously scares me.

[F-Man]

What's wrong with Astro x Atlas? They're both kids and not related. Well, except in the 80's series (on both counts).

[Juanita]

I have less of a problem with the 2003 series. At least they're not related.
I just don't think it works. They've never really gotten along very well, so the ship just doesn't make sense to me.
But I'm not very fond of ships so...

[Little Brown Fox]

... Suddenly I think of quadrants. But moving on...

It depends on how you view "robot genetics" whether or not they're related. Nuka and Atom are built from the same blueprints, with slight modifications, but are not considered related; Atlas is the same way, but for some reason, he's considered a relative, even after his "transformation".

2003 Atlas wasn't considered a relative, but could be, since he was built by the same person, while Uran in any incarnation could considered technically unrelated, since she was built by a different person.

Cobalt has only ever had two incarnations, and those were closely related to each other. However, both state different origins for the character. So in his original incarnation, he was not meant to be his "brother", but rather, Atom's successor, should something have happened to him. (Expediting the building process has made him inferior, however.) When they first met, Atom got the impression that they were related, due to their similar appearances, and their ability to call one another. Cobalt, being the naive newborn that he was, latched on to the idea, and they never let go of it.

In Cobalt's second appearance, he was retconned as a failed prototype (although headcanon regards him as only ever being the test model) that came before Atom, but was "shut down" due to his imperfect brain. (He also lacks a lot of his abilities in this version.) However, it is revealed that he wasn't properly shut down, and was, in fact, dumped into the bay along with other assorted experiments and junk in storage. He was regarded immediately as an elder brother, due to his status as a prototype, as well as probably his association with Tenma.