#mars GAVE nobby his nickname?????

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

What about Coppernob ships? (Unless it's a spoiler)

There’s nothing to spoil. So far I have no plans to ever ship Coppernob with anyone. 

And engine relationships do exist in the Bird universe – which is not a given in my fics, lol. But Nobby will never ‘get’ this sort of thing. It’s a character arc for him that he becomes less condemnatory and more understanding about others ‘aping human affections’ (this is similar to all his internalized good-engines-don’t bullshit about naming yourself, too). Some of his attitude is because that’s what he was taught, but I also think he’s slow to move beyond it because he’s naturally the vehicular equivalent of acearo. He loves others deeply; that’s the whole series! Just… not in these kind of ways. 

If this does ever change, it will probably be because when I get around to writing his fiercely explosive relationship with Mars – F.R. 44, ex-W.&.F.J.R. 3 (this was back in the 1860s-1880s) – I find that it just runs away with me and turns into “what’s gayer, being gay or whatever these two have going on.”