SteelAtom

SteelAtom is the slash ship between Ray Palmer and Nate Heywood from the Legends of Tomorrow fandom.

Season 3
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD DADS

Nate is working out when Ray walks in and thanks him for searching all of history to save him from a supervillain. Nate says that it was two, Damien and Nora. Ray believes that Nora had a tough life and comes off worse than she actually is. Nate asks if Ray is into Nora, which Ray denies, but Nate reminds him that Nora isn't the sanest person. Ray just believes that there's hope for her. Nate calls him a softie and wants him to look out for his heart.

Fanon
Fans began to ship them after their adventure in the Wild West. They had a more fun adventure than their time in feudal japan. This was also the episode where Ray made Nate's suit. They continued to have their main interactions be with each other over the next couple of episodes. Bonding over their love of nerd culture, as well as them having a softer friendship in the process.

Some fans perefer their friendship over a romantic relationship, but both types of fans enjoy their overall "bro" dynamic. Many tumblr fans will portray them as the guys from "bro posts". Specifically in the "tumblr text post" meme. This lends well to them given that they've said "I love you." to one another and have shared many genuine hugs, and bro hugs.

On AO3 it is the most written ship for Nate and the third most written ship for Ray. It is also the eleventh most written ship in the Legends of Tomorrow tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * Nick Zano (Nate Heywood) hinted that he likes the ship
 * The ship name comes from Nate's codename, Steel, and Ray's codename, The Atom.
 * Both Ray's and Nate's favorite movies were made by George Lucas.

Variations

 * Steelatomwave refers to the ship between the two and Mick Rory