I Love My Car, Spaceship, Ship, Whatever
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Synonym(s) | Characters Exceedingly Fond of Their Mode of Transport |
| Related tropes/genres | Fantastic Animal Companions |
| See also | Anthropomorfic |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
I Love My Car! (Spaceship, Ship, Whatever) is a trope found in some fandoms where one of the characters displays a very strong attachment to their vehicle (or spaceship or blue box).
Many fanworks in the fandom will remark on the loyalty and love shown to the ship or car, and some may ascribe sentience or feelings to (and being returned by) the vessel or car.
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Doctor Who
Fans have been convinced of The Doctor's warm regard for his time-and-space-traveling vessel the TARDIS for a very long time, going so far as to ship The Doctor/TARDIS[1]well prior to the 2011 episode The Doctor's Wife where the pairing pretty much became canon.
- See the TARDIS page for more background and links to Doctor/TARDIS pairing fics.
Firefly
Fans have paired engineer Kaylee Frye with the Serenity, the Firefly-class cargo-spaceship most of the show and film's action takes place on.
Gundam Wing
The five pilots have relationships with their Gundams of various closeness. The Gundams sometimes show up in fanworks - usually in a gen capacity but there are a few Pilot/Gundam stories[2].
- Coalescence by Edonohana, gen. Quatre has a very close relationship with Sandrock (2007).
Knight Rider
Michael Knight and his car, KITT, were friends as well as partners, in fighting crime.[3][4]
Pirates of the Caribbean
Captain Jack Sparrow is really very fond of his ship, The Black Pearl, isn't he?
- Romance on the Waves by seiberwing - Captain Jack Sparrow is reunited with his one true love.
- Salt by aron_kristina, a Porn Battle fill.
Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Ryu Nakanishi aka The Owl/G5 drives the team's ship, the God Phoenix, and is quite devoted to its well-being. One particular author took it a step further as to actually ship them together, even giving the ship a human form named Naolin.
- Rituals, the fic that started it.
- A 1sentence challenge fic delving further into the pairing.
Star Trek
"She's a beautiful lady, and we love her," is a line from canon, one Captain James T. Kirk seemed to take to heart. Some would say he is more devoted to the U.S.S. Enterprise than to any woman.... [5]
Stargate Atlantis
In SGA fanworks, the city (which flies, so also a spaceship) or the Puddlejumpers may be described as having very strong (warm or possessive) feelings for John Sheppard more often than the other way around. Sheppard has been paired with the city in several fanworks.
- In Coup by rageprufrock, "Rodney and Atlantis trade bodies and a fight for John's luv ensues." Pairings: John/Atlantis, John/Rodney. (2006)
- In The Best Thing by elayna88, Atlantis takes on Rodney's shape and offers John emotional and sexual comfort in his loneliness. (2005)
- See the Sentient Atlantis page for links to more fics featuring a close connection (romantic/sexual, and not) between Sheppard and Atlantis.
Starsky & Hutch
Starsky's love of his car, The Torino, is very clear in canon, leading to a number of fanworks building on it.
Supernatural
Dean Winchester's devotion to his car, The Impala, is obvious in canon[6], leading to the Impala regularly featuring as a character in her own right devoted to Dean and his happiness in gen and slash fanworks, and to the Impala herself being paired with Dean[7] in multiple fanworks.
- See the Dean/Impala page for links to several pairing fics.
References
- ^ The TARDIS has also been paired with Captain Jack Harkness, but since he's been paired with everyone and everything, this does not seem to have negatively affected Doctor/TARDIS OTP-ers.
- ^ Quatre/Sandrock + I know there's Heero/Wing porn but I can't find it.
- ^ Some wonder if perhaps the actor who played Michael Knight, David Hasselhoff, may have had trouble letting go of the concept of KITT's friendship and help with romantic adventures. (Accessed 10 Feb 2012)
- ^ There is (of course) an SGA fusion fic in which John Sheppard plays the role of Michael Knight and Rodney McKay that of his car and friend KITT: Knights Errant by friendshipper. (Accessed 10 Feb 2012)
- ^ there is a older zine fic where the Enterprise actually turns into a woman... anyone remember what it is?
- ^ In the Season Seven episode Slash Fiction, when talking about the Impala, Dean uses the line "nobody puts baby in a corner!" (quoting what Patrick Swayze's character said about his love interest in the film Dirty Dancing). The quote is cited at the Trivia and References section of the Slash Fiction episode page at the Supernatural Wiki. (Accessed 10 Feb 2012)
- ^ Sometimes, though more rarely, the Impala is paired with both Winchester brothers.