Fanfiction: At Odds With Morning (Transformers Prime)

[nebroadwe]

Title: At Odds With Morning
Fandom: Transformers Prime
Character(s): Ratchet, Optimus Prime, Raf, Miko, Jack, Agent Fowler
Pairing(s): None
Rating: G
Word Count: ~4200
Warnings: Spoilers for the end of season 3 (no spoilers for the series finale).
A/N: When I watched "Deadlock," it was immediately clear to me why Ratchet, of all the Autobots, would

Comments

[bluebirdsoaring]

Beautiful story of redemption for Ratchet - I too was surprised when he opted to stay back on earth - the dialog, both internal and with Prime, is what SHOULD have been there IMO =) He truly needs this. I do hope he is able to at least visit Cybertron someday in peace...But seeing him there with Raf helping each other with their own pain is very special and just what they both need.

Prime always knows what to do...he didn't have any words to make Ratchet feel less guilty - he just gave him the one post to prove his trust....yep, he's the boss bot!!

[nebroadwe]

I do wish season 3 had been 26 episodes rather than 13, because they managed to shoehorn in all the plot beats but had to pull way back on the character development front (rather like season four of Babylon Five). On the other hand, here's what fanfiction is for, to fill in the gaps. And this was a character moment that had all the support it needed in canon - it's just all subtextual. Ratchet's end of this was easy to write: I just had to keep dialing back the drama and let the situation speak for itself. Optimus Prime, as usual, was the character giving me fits. He had to come up with the perfect solution, the one that acknowledged that Ratchet had failed (and was nearly an accessory to genocide!), but also took into account that he had repented and that (in one of those theologically fraught moments in which God seems to be playing Xanatos speed chess rather than dice with the universe) all of his actions, for good and ill, materially contributed to the happy ending. I'm glad the solution I landed on makes sense to you. (

[pockythoughts]

I am a big fan of Prime!Ratchet and was quite dissatisfied with his ending, so this fic was just what the doctor ordered. You've broken my little fangirl heart, but I've also immediately and completely assimilated this into headcanon status.

[nebroadwe]

I hear all Ratchets in the voice of Jeffrey Coombs now. :-) I'm glad my interpretation satisfies you; it seemed obvious to me that Ratchet's decision to stay behind must have had as much to do with his conduct aboard the Nemesis as it did his perception that he was "needed" on Earth. It seemed reasonable that Optimus would recognize both sides of the equation as well and I liked the idea of his performing a little psychological judo on his CMO. You know Ratchet will both grumble constantly about the frustrations of his new job and quietly find satisfaction in service - and someday retire as an enormously respected figure who nevertheless tends to describe his career as an endless series of headaches and takes more pride in the successes of his colleagues and subordinates than his own. [/peers into the far future ...]

[pockythoughts]

Jeffrey Combs is wonderful. I was already a fan of his work, so he was the first thing that drew me into Prime. And then I fell in love with the rest of it.

The future you envision for Ratchet gives me all of the warm fuzzies. It's perfect.

[nebroadwe]

My work here is done. nebroadwe: making the world a better place, one warm fuzzy at a time. :-)