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madcoincidence · 2 months ago

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The Bioengineer's Cybertronian Knight

Ratchet's younger life was a pretty normal one with only a few small ups and downs. Before all the chaos with the Quintessons, he had been the youngest to finish top of his classes and receive his Bioengineering PhD. He was strongly encouraged to further his education and thanks to his roommate at the time, it wasn't long before he returned to do just that. He had almost lost the dumbass when their apartment's designated research room exploded. He never wanted to relive that feeling of helplessness he had while cradling Jackie's bloody shrapnel dusted face in his lap. Only able to wait for help while trying to keep pressure on the gushing wound from Jackie's thigh, it was a real bad time. After that he worked hard to earn the next step up from Bioengineering. He gained a Biomedical Engineering PhD while soaking up the training needed to do field triage. By the time he had finished everything, Jackie had fully recovered and finished building a much larger lab for them as an apology to Ratchet for destroying all their belongings.

"Level four. Bleeding has stopped and a safe neural link disconnection from the mecha is done. Give him oxygen and keep track of how long it takes for him to regain consciousness." Ratchet motions for his team to move in and lift the pilot out to their transport. Ratchet doesn't join his team, stabilizing and disconnecting the pilot from the mecha suit was just step one of twenty-seven. His focus now shifts to shutting down the Mecha to stop the over heated frame and sparking wires from causing an explosion.

While he works his multitasking brain shifts back to thinking over his life choices, ranting and banter has always helped steady his hands. Jackie was a hazard to limbs but still not the worst to be around. No, that could go to Roddy and his meddling. The menace had tried setting him up with many blind dates. Thanks to him there was one blind date that few know of and wouldn't dare bring up if they value their vocal cords. The ones who do know of it have started calling it ‘the one night-’ Ratchet clicks his tongue with a heavy sigh as electricity and hot sparks fly and pop all around him. It laps against his gloved hands and hits his visor with snapping sizzles. Just as good ol’ Jackie promised, the suit is able to withstand whatever a seriously damaged Mecha can dish out. Unless it's an explosive level of damage, the suit can absorb or dispel the electrical current and heat. Ratchet wrangles a handful of the sparking stripped wires that are swaying above his head as he swipes through the smoking control panel. He forces override codes making the suit start the shutdown protocols as he goes.

He drifts back to mentally ranting while the metal frame around him pings and creaks. Nah, compared to both Jackie and Roddy, Jazz and his mecha suit had to be the biggest migraine starter pack. That maniac tests Ratchet's skills almost daily, on and off the field. How many times has he saved Jazz's life? Too many times. Jazz is a devil of chaos in that mecha suit, always doing down right suicidal stunts anytime an opportunity strikes. Ratchet has personally worked with Jackie on Jazz's mecha to make sure the kid wouldn't end up frying himself or slip further into insanity. Still with all the care put into that mecha, Jazz's sanity is still debatable.

Yeah… keeping everyone sane and healthy is something that feeds into Ratchet's sleepless nights. He knows better than to think he can save everyone, he was never that naive. Still the harsh reality of how fragile life is hit hard and fast at the beginning of the Quintesson war. Those memories are buried deep down with the first prototypes of mecha suites. Despite everything, Ratchet still refuses to give up on anyone, he'll do everything in his power to save anyone in his care. The small moments during down time, when he catches people smiling, singing, and laughing with friends thought lost to this war, helps make the nightmares just a bit easier to endure.

Ratchet stands up and swipes broken glass off his knees before grabbing the strap to his satchel. With the Mecha safely disabled Ratchet shrugs the strap over a shoulder and starts climbing out of the cockpit to start scanning the area for any more downed pilots. Being in the mecha had muffled the ear splitting screeches and roars of battle. Outside the mecha, everything echoed and rumbled through the hills and gullies, shaking the ground and trees. The trees where the bulk of the fight is happening have caught fire, turning the sky a hazy gray with a reddish orange hue. The fight has fallen closer to city limits but still hasn't reached what the commanders would call a, ‘panic level threat’ to start evacuation efforts. That, like many things, is not something Ratchet agrees with.

From his position on the Mecha's chest, Ratchet narrows his eyes to try and see through the smoke better. He spots specks of red light flickering from a gully to his left. It's close enough to him and his team that he can make out a mecha shaped form at the bottom, “Aid! Fix! With me! Everyone else, start hooking this up to the transport!” Ratchet yells above the noise while he climbs down the Mecha and hops off to the ground when close enough. Satisfied that his team immediately starts moving as soon as he gives orders, Ratchet starts jogging with Aid and Fix right behind him. “We need to move fast. I spotted a downed Mecha past that hill. Don't know how long it's been there. Since we haven't seen any mecha close to us while working, I am going to assume it's been a while.” Ratchet grips the strap to his satchel as he picks up the pace. The lights he saw means the mecha is still functional but no movement tells him the pilot is injured or worse.

- - - - - - - - -

As they catch their breath, Ratchet scans the gully to find the best way down, “Ratchet, sir... this is a really steep climb down. Let's find another way. Trying would be way too risky.” Fix rasps out as he wipes his forehead with his sleeve. Aid makes a wheezing noise while hunched over, hands on his knees. The smoke and soot is not doing their lungs any favors.

“This thing stretches for miles. Quickest way is to climb down. Don't like it, stay up here.” Ratchet coughs to clear his throat as he squats down to look over the edge. At the bottom of the gully, laying on its side in murky pink tinted water is the damaged mecha. The lights he had spotted from before are coming from what seems to have been a space ship. From what Ratchet can see of the remains, it doesn't resemble a Quintesson transport vessel. Hard to say though since it's scattered everywhere. Some of the shredded debris is embedded into the walls of the gully. Larger pieces are scattered all around the mecha. Ratchet swings his legs over the edge and start climbing down. He ignores Fix's pleas and calls up to Aid, “Call for the mecha transporter. If the mecha is stable enough to be moved, it might be safer to keep the pilot inside the cockpit.” The two wheeze and mumble above him but he catches the click and static screech of a field radio turning on.

As Ratchet climbs down he glances over his shoulder now and then trying to see what he's working with. He notices a lot of damage to the plating on the mecha's arms, chest, and back. Possible damage to the cockpit has Ratchet taking the risk of using less sturdier holds for his hands and feet. Ratchet notes that the weird pink color in the water is coming from the deep gashes and holes littering the mecha's frame. The larger pieces of debris that Ratchet thought were from the ship turns out to be chunks of Quintessons. Ratchet exhales, steadying his nerves as he continues the climb down. When he deems it close enough, he clears the rest of the way by sliding down into the water with a splash. Thankfully it's only knee deep.

After fixing his strap and giving a dry cough, Ratchet pulls out his infamous wrench from the satchel and takes a step forward. The muddy bottom sucks his boots back down with every step forward, “Kid better be alive.” Ratchet mutters to himself, not wasting any more time he works his way towards the mecha. His breath catches when he sees how detailed the mecha's face is. Its lips are pulled into a tight thin-lined frown and the eyebrows are pinched together, creasing the area between its closed eyes. Like it can feel the wounds while unconscious, so expressive…. Ratchet shakes off that trail of thought before it can get started, “Pilots skipping face shields and visors for their mecha's now? Is this where the money is being wasted? Mecha used for commercials and toys shouldn't be out on the field. Wait till I get you out kid. If all of this was a stupid publicity stunt, you'll wish the Quintessons finished you off.”

He tightens his hold on the wrench as he makes it to the chest plates. His heart is pounding just a little faster but he continues to ignore all the red flags saying something is off about this mecha. If there's a chance there's someone in there, then he needs to try to save them. Besides, he has that gut feeling that he's needed here and that gut feeling has never failed him yet, “hot… but not a, going to blow up right now, kind of hot.” Ratchet mumbles as he slowly, barely, ghosts his gloved fingers tips over where the cockpits emergency release panel should be, “Not helpful kid. How am I supposed to get to you if I can't find the medical override..” He swears he saw a clawed finger twitch inside his peripheral vision. The weird muffled whirling noise coming from its chest picks up.

“Ratchet move!!” Aid and Fix scream out from above. Ratchet turns his head towards them then to the heavy thwumps and splashes from behind the mecha's frame. Ratchet curses and waves a hand for them to back away from the ledge and stay down. He grips the wrench in both hands and presses his back into the Mecha's chest plating. Very familiar blood chilling, high pitched chitters and low hisses start surrounding him. Tentacles slide around and on the mecha, moving past the frame closer to Ratchet. He doesn't dare breathe as one comes extremely close to touching his foot.

Many things happen in the next few minutes. Sounds of shifting plates and a whirr chur noise comes from behind him. He ends up falling back into the water as the surface he was pressed against moves away way too fast to follow. Ratchet's cool blue eyes dart up to catch sight of a Quintesson with a mecha sized gun down its throat. Ratchet is barely able to register that before being drenched in muddy water and Quintessons blood as it rains down on him. He scrambles to clear his visor as chunks of the alien continues to hit the water.

When he can see again he looks to his sides then up. The mecha is crouched above him, one knee had been very close to squishing him. The mecha tosses the gun to the side and this time the knee blocks Ratchet from the splash. Water with the weird pink liquid drizzles off the mecha as it grabs another Quintesson by the tentacles and yanks it towards them. Ratchet scoots back and stumbles to his feet as the mecha doesn't hesitate to sink it's claws into the Quintesson's head and lower jaw. With a stomach flipping roar, the towering being above him rips the jaw off and throws it aside like it did with the gun. Ratchet yells out as he is soaked once again, his suit is well past being comfortable anymore. Burning red eyes land on Ratchet for a split second before growing staticy, the mechanical being gives a sharp wince. The red static quickly becomes a solid but dimmer red as the mecha turns its upper torso to focus on the next charging Quintesson.

- - - - - - - - -

Ratchet definitely can't ignore the ‘this is not a mecha’ warnings anymore. Weird destroyed spaceship, red flag. Weird pink fluid leaking from the mecha, definitely not oil or lubricant, red flag. Mecha vocalizing through a moving mouth and showing hints of pain, big red flag. The moment the Quintessons are dealt with the, not piloted by a human but very much mecha looking being, falls back onto their side. When the shaking from the large being's fall settles Ratchet had finished processing everything. Right now to Ratchet, the only thing that matters is they're hurt and Ratchet may be able to help them. Ratchet trudges through the water towards the mechanical being as they give a static filled rumble, “Hush, you did enough. Thank you.” Ratchet places his palm on their cheek. He rubs the warm metal as he tries to sooth them. He watches as the eye watching him darts to the edge of the gully where his teammates are yelling at him to be careful, “It's ok kid we're getting you out of here. Focus on me. Only me." The rumbles trickle away as the intense red glow shrinks back onto Ratchet. It flickers a few more times, then slowly dims till it's completely off. A lid slides over the eye closing with a soft click, “I've got you.” Ratchet promises switching the pets to a pat. He starts planning out how he'll fit the mecha into his quarters back at base. Jackie can help him move around his sitting area.

*** *** ***

So I realized I didn't start with how Ratchet and Deadlock met in the TF Mecha Universe. I just hopped straight into the mushy stuff. @keferon 's TF Mecha Universe has given me a spark of creativity again. So thank you Keferon for starting this chaos! It's beautiful. I am looking forward to writing this fanfic, it has quickly stolen all of my attention. Anyways, I hope this was enjoyable to read! Keferon has been overflowing with tons of wonderful asks, so I though I could make it a bit easier on them by figuring out how to post this fanfic on here. Let's see what I can do.

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lord-squiggletits · 2 years ago

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Ratchet expresses more Functionist beliefs on-screen than Pharma ever does send tweet

#squiggposting #pharma apologism #like COME ON ratchet had a whoooole fucking deal about how he has to retire if his hands stop working!!!!#he took pharma's hands and used them as his own after he assumed pharma was dead!#and yet in fanon and fanfic people for some reason saddle PHARMA as being the functionist one #ratchet is right fucking there y'all

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crowbotss · 5 days ago

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Yall aren't gonna believe this.... theres this show, thats kinda like Transformers—insane i know—BUT GET THIS.... its about ponies and friendship and magic..... its really obscure u prolly havent heard of it.....

(ehem, some wingless versions below so you can actually see the pony under all those feathers,,,)

#ignore the fact that Skyfire is in a completely different style than the other ones #i did him a while ago #anywaus be vigilant and prepared for ponies at all times bc i will not stop drawing them #its all i ever do at work regardless #just me ibispaint and my left index finger against the world #transformers #mlp #digital art #skyfire #starscream #optimus prime #orion pax #ratchet #hot rod #why do I only ever post art in the middle of the night?#well you see im too busy being asleep during the day

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singingcicadas · 1 year ago

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idw Ratchet is someone who follows orders and respects authority. He might follow his conscience in spur-of-the-moment decisions that allows him the leeway/initiative to act on his own (e.g. setting up clinic on Dead End, breaking cover to save Verity and Hunter, going to look for Drift, voting against Rodimus in mtmte) but he's never openly defied the orders of an acting leader. Regardless if he doesn't agree with said order and thinks it's stupid. Or wrong.

Even when Ratchet thinks Rodimus' treatment of Drift is unfair, he never speaks up against Rodimus during the actual issue of the exile verdict. He only offers Drift silent support by helping him up on the way out, because Rodimus is the captain and you don't argue with the captain. Yes he thinks Rodimus is a crap captain and acts condesending towards him all the time but when it comes to rank and orders there's no ambiguity.

Voting against Rodimus in the crisis act is a legitimate expression of disapproval, made anonymously in private. He doesn't care about Rodimus knowing his vote, but in public it stays anonymous. He does tell Rodimus off about what he did to Drift, but again, he makes sure it's a private one-on-one appointment. He also doesn't make Rodimus formally revoke Drift's exile or sanction his search, he resigns his position as CMO and quietly leaves to look for Drift himself as a personal commitment.

Common stereotype of what Ratchet is not:

Medic ethics and commitment to patients comes first, factions be damned. I don't care if he's a Decepticon, he's my patient.

No he's not actually like that? When Megatron's in custody he's all lets dissect him awwwww why can't we dissect him why does mass murderers still get rights that's so stupid can't I just torture him a little?

Like he spent the whole war patching up Decepticon-inflicted wounds and witnessing Decepticon-inflicted deaths. He's not a saint. He has as much good reason to hate Megatron and his faction as any other Autobot.

In fact he was pretty eager to ask Optimus about what he's going to decide as Megatron's punishment after he heard about Optimus frying Megatron on the voltage harness.

Optimus has his heart on clemency. Ratchet's the one hoping for execution or something equally nasty. Even though their opinions doesn't line up, Ratchet's still 100% supportive of Optimus' decision.

He repairs Megatron only because of Bumblebee's orders, and makes his unwillingness known.

Later in mtmte Ratchet does save Megatron's life of his own volition and repairs him again, but that's after he's lived with Megatron on the same ship for six months (again something that he considers to be a colossally bad idea but is forced to live with because of orders) and got to know him as a person. Not because of bleeding heart syndrome.

Also Ratchet's not just a grouch all the time. He can be blunt but also knows when to be respectful as appropriate to the occasion. He reprimands Wheeljack for being disrespectful to Bumblebee because leaders should be treated like leaders.

The guy's been CMO since Nominus Prime, essentially the highest-ranking of his profession on the planet; you can't get to that type of position and hold it through consecutive leaders for millions of years without considerable interpersonal skills and knowledge of social protocol.

Prowl does have Ratchet on his little blacklist but the stuff on there really just refers to Ratchet saving Verity and Hunter back in Infilitration. I read it as more of a testament to Prowl's pettiness than Ratchet actually being a problem.

#Ratchet also doesn't stop Rodimus when he orders Chromedome to inject. even if Chromedome protests #Things ratchet might do if unhappy with someone's leadership:#arrange a private meeting to talk about his concerns like a normal adult #do what he can within what leeway he has without being openly rebellious #act first ask permission later #snark about it #grouch about it #complain about it #then go with it #Things Ratchet will NOT do:#scream at the person in charge in public confrontation #undermine the person in charge by participating in said public confrontation #make a scene #he doesn't do morality lectures either #what is up with that anyway #transformers #maccadam #idw transformers #mtmte #Ratchet #I'm pretty sure other ratchets are like this too? tfp. bayverse. cyberverse #don't know about tfa cant remember most of the stuff in that #wfc trilogy has a different background for his character so. but it's the only Ratchet with a 'I don't care about factions' attitude #idk where all the other stereotypes come from is everyone basing their interpretations on the synth-energon episode in tfp?#yeah he was yelling at Optimus a lot there but it was all about how Optimus should have used MORE violence #and also with the throwing wrentches. why does he throw wrenches?

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midnighticee · 1 month ago

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I don't think i ever actually posted these BUT here are some lil robot guys I've stitched the last two months

#shelby stop ranting #embroidery #ratchet transformers #bumblebee transformers #the lil bee ended up being a patch i added to my jacket for tfcon in november #and ratchet was my sisters Christmas gift lol #tf go go made them look like SUCH little guys i had to make them #maccadam #transformers

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keferon · 6 months ago

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*clasps your shoulders gently and looks you straight in the eye*

Keferon. Please read Ninth by Kyn on AO3. I think you would love it very much. It has a large chapter count, but don't be intimidated, it's very easy to get into. It is currently unfinished, but is being updated regularly.

You are the seventh person that recommended this fic to me so ahahahaha yeah

I’m doing great Help I hate some parts of it but I love the other parts I’m spinning in the blender

…..I made the moodboard….

#chapter 37 #of 120 or something #I must be like 90k words in haha #large word count is not an intimidation. It’s an invitation haha #I love the fics that I can’t read in just one hour:)#I gotta say I don’t enjoy the concept of making robots into organic life #it’s just my preference #seeing them as humans or animals or whatever feels so fucking wrong #the concept itself drives me off #like. Strongly #But at the same time. This fic isn’t about them being ‘haha cute organics’#it’s ‘oh god. I was turned into something I’m not’#instead of teeheee they’re fluffy #it’s please free me from this fucking nightmare. please let me be myself again.#idk how to explain. I resonate I guess #it often feels very disturbing but the characters are also disturbed #So now I’m kind of stuck reading this fic because I just can’t stop lol #just politely skipping the parts that make me too uncomfortable #also #the body horror is….damn. Impressive. I didn’t expect to read about grotesque fleshy creature turning itself inside out #it’s not even aesthetic or symbolic #it literally looks like a fucking nightmare. Which is impressive also.#the flesh is g r o s s #the beginning got me struggling and skipping #but the intermission is currently ruining my sleep schedule #oh fuck….I usually send my posts to the authors of the fics I read…..but I feel like I might offend the author of Ninth if do this……..#there’s a tiny chance they’re following me….if it’s true then I wanna tell I’m sorry pls don’t take this seriously #your fic got me waay out of my comfort zone #huge points for writing Ratchet. Drift in this fic is…the grossest fucking thing I could probably imagine but Ratchet doesn’t even hesitate #he helps him and he cares for him. Which is…..imma be real my first instinct would be to set Drift on fire to end his misery

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blighted-lights · 9 months ago

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let's play a game of how many times can i draw first aid and ravage holding hands before i actually have to sit down and write the fic that justifies them holding hands. hand and paw. servos. whatever.

i've got an entire sketch page of it rn and the only person who has any context for it is @cmofirstaid, its so funny 😭

#blight rambles #transformers #maccadams #maccadam #first aid #tf first aid #ravage #tf ravage #idw ravsge #idw first aid #theyre friends your honor. it may of taken them like eight months to actually get to the point of being friends despite being in constant #contact with each other but theyre friends #the vague context right now is that aid helps ravage a lot with chronic pain/stiffness in his joints because ravage doesnt trust ratchet to #do it and velocity isnt on the lost light until late mtmte. so ravage goes to aid for help. he'd go to megatron but they cant stop arguing #w/ each other so ravage avoids megs out of spite #and then aid and rav end up bonding! slowly. very slowly.

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myhyperfixationisback · 2 years ago

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Sony please release your cruel and un-creative grip on my autism creature game series. I beg of you. Let them at least start naming the series innuendos again… PLEASE. I’m sorry the Future series ever even got released at this point PLEASE go back to the old ways I beg you‼️

#ratchet and clank #the talkinator 2000 #I say this as someone who’s first game from the series I watched was Tools of Destruction and who’s first game I played was A Crack in Time #if all it led to was the series getting turned into the next ‘plays like it’s a Pixar game’ bullshit #I would have never wanted them 😭#like this SUCKS man. the old ratchet and clank was full of so much personality it feels like the new ones are a corporate PARODY of it #let them name the games stupid dick jokes again. I KNOW it’s sony doing this. PLEASE #STOP MAKING RATCHET SO SERIOUS. ITS SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY #to be clear I’m not saying what makes the old games good is all the dirty jokes.#but I WILL say the dirty jokes prevent the series from taking itself too seriously #which it has started to do.#man at this point I don’t give a shit about the Lombaxes! give me another evil capitalist to throw into the moon!!#and the ‘last of their kind’ trope really is getting milked for all its worth and I’m tired of it!!#clank’s ‘chosen one’ trope story had more creativity man!!#alister was like the one spark of life in the lombax thing and then it went straight to bland again #the main characters don’t NEED this to be interesting. they don’t need greater than themselves destinies.#ratchet and clank and the other characters are interesting and fun without that!!#the thing I always liked is that Ratchet is the gun happy mechanic and Clank is the quipping impulse control with the hero alignment #the hero thing rubs off on Ratchet and he does start being a hero with Clank but it’s not his first instinct lol #also extremely sad that the reboot took away the running joke that Clank is the one getting the glory for their heroics #they don’t have a destiny reason for getting into the hero thing. they just got started and liked it and kept going #a lot of the times neither of them even WANTS to be involved they just get roped in!!#like you can do some background shit for them but throwing out all the rest that makes these characters fun to focus on it isn’t the answer #man I just. miss the fun and weird stuff they used to do with the characters and cast and places #they still do big environments but there isn’t other fun wacky shit to match #it’s just ‘destiny’ and heroism. that was never the point of this series 😭

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navree · 2 years ago

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it's fodder for excellent drama but let's admit it, hush and war games and identity crisis and under the red hood all happening in relatively close succession is insanely funny. just bruce speedrunning the worst fucking 365 days of his life. they should release a compilation book of all four and just title it 'batman and the terrible horrible no good very bad year'

#personal #can you imagine being bruce and having to explain this after the fact to literally anyone #'yeah so an old childhood friend systematically attacked me and left me even more paranoid and damaged my relationship with my gf and kids'#'and also tormented me with a fake version of my murdered son whose death i still grieve and feel responsible for'#'and then my sidekick triggered a gang war but was tortured and murdered in the process and my only mother figure is kinda responsible'#'and my allies have all been alienated from me in gotham and meanwhile my friends in the justice league kinda mindraped me and are lying'#'which is ratcheting up my paranoia and my OTHER sidekick's dad died which i failed to stop'#'oh and that dead son? he came back to life and he fucking hates me and he's a criminal now and wants me to kill his murderer'#'so that's my 2005 wrap up anyway'#also i think under the red hood is immediately followed by yet another fucking crisis event where bludhaven got blown tf up #exploded into complete smithereens which like #goddamn no wonder bruce took a year long vacation after all of this shit worst fucking year of his life probably

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lord-squiggletits · 11 days ago

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I'm not completely opposed to making Pharma a weird guy in general pre-Messatine, the main issue I have with it is that a lot of that type of fandom is less "what if he was just a weird little guy" and more seems to be written with the implication that Pharma went crazy because he was just always a little crazy (or a little evil, or a little heartless, etc). Basically, to me it downplays the fact that Pharma underwent massive trauma for two years straight that other characters barely survived for a few hours/days and instead frames Pharma snapping as some sort of... I don't know, genetic/fated downfall because he was just weird, he was always off, is it really any wonder Pharma ended up Like That because I mean there was always something a little weird about him.

It just seems to accidentally imply that Pharma snapping under the pressure of years of torture was some sort of moral failing or sign of him being weak/immoral. You know, Pharma was always kind of a little creepy/insane/evil deep down which is obviously why he killed people. If he were just a normal, not-weird, good person then he would've been mentally strong enough to Not Go Insane. Like uhhhh it just seems kind of fucked up to imply that the reason some people are unable to cope with long-term trauma and have violent/unhealthy coping behaviors is because there's just something innately wrong with them, and then try and look back on their whole life trying to contextualize how they were actually unstable and evil all along instead of just accepting that like. Normal people (tm), yes normal and good people, can be put in situations where they're slowly turned into broken monsters because they had no escape and no good choices.

And also it's equally fucked up to imply that like. Whether or not you can deal with psychological torture without snapping is some sort of function of how innately moral or mentally strong you are. Incredibly victim-blamey to basically go "well the reason Pharma went insane is because he was just always cracked in the head, unlike our good buddy-pal-friend-hero Ratchet who's the perfect doctor and a good Autobot who's never done anything wrong which is why when he's an asshole/hurts people he's not nearly as destructive or Weird About It."

It's not that "Pharma was always kind of crazy" can't be done, because anything can be written well with enough thought. But I think in terms of writing, it's a very difficult and nuanced line to balance and most people literally just can't do it without implying that trauma victims/mentally ill people are evil or something. And Pharma is already unfairly villainized enough as-is, and in canon his trauma was already downplayed in favor of "haha crazy doctor chainsaw go brrr look how weird and quirky and craaaazyyy he is." So it's one of those things where 1. Most people just aren't good enough to write it and 2. "Always a little crazy" Pharma is already oversaturated enough in the fandom anyways and it's enough of a battle to get people to recognize that he's a tragic character and not just an evil asshole.

#squiggposting #pharma apologism #i think this one is especially rambly sorry but it's been on my mind #but like. i just think about it a lot about how like #how well ppl cope with stress/difficulty/trauma without disturbing others or falling apart is often conflated with strength if not goodness #like. it's already a thing mentally ill ppl have to deal with all the time whether it's jsut depression/anxiety #and getting told to suck it up or get tougher or stop inconveniencing others #to ppl with the 'scary'/villainized disorders like idk bipolar or borderline #who are literally seen as inherently dangerous just for existing #so when ppl engage with the idea of 'pharma was always a little Off' it just feels like they're taking his trauma reaction #and going 'oh clearly a Normal Guy and Good Autobot wouldnt do this. he had to have already had something wrong with him'#and so pharma understandably going insane after 2 years spent being blackmailed by the DJD (famous for psychological and physical torture)#is taken from a tragic horror story with tons of factual evidence as to why pharma was trapped and couldn't get out #to basically just 'lmao pharma was always a little kuh razy also he's a psycho ex stalker who's a loser in love with ratchet'#so like what the fuck man you're saying that the reason pharma broke under more psychological pressure than any other victim of the DJD #is bc he was just. what. too weak? his mind was too fragile? he just didn't have strong enough morals?#like god do we really need to be spreading the idea that anyone who snaps due to trauma is just innately weak/evil/weird/creepy #bc i have news for you friends no amount of integrity or innate goodness stops you from breaking when you hit your limit #the no. of ppl who can get through a situtation as horrible as that while doing nothing morally wrong and coming out perfectly sane is 0 #if your standard for morality is 'not snapping under horrific pressure' then most ppl don't pass that standard like #i'm sorry but pharma not being able to cope with someone NO ONE ELSE IN THE SERIES WAS ABLE TO COPE WITH #does not retroactively make him evil bc he then proceeded to make horrible decisions in a situation where he was psychologically compromise #stop trying to retroactively characterize (contradictory to canon might i add) pharma as always being Not Good as an explanation #newsflash buddy lots of good people collapse under pressure and lash out and it's not a sign of their innate evil if the way they collapse #is messy and scary and Unfun and inconvenient and they're the only one who snapped unlike their Actually Good People friends

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