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.
Tim was packing up to head home again and Kon was beginning to feel like he mattered less than Tim's other friend. He hardly saw his best friend now that Mari had moved to Gotham.
“Why can't you stay for a little longer? I thought she had her other best friend with her right now anyway?” Kon complained, pouting a little.
“Yeah, but if I stay away while he settles in, it'll be weird. I already missed them arriving and Mari messaged to say she wanted me to meet him as soon as possible. And he's her other best friend so…”
“So…when do I get to meet your other best friend?” Kon smirked, pushing away his annoyance that what Mari wanted clearly mattered more than spending time with Kon.
“If I can help it, never,” Tim muttered, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “I know what you're like around cute girls, Kon, and she's my best friend. I'm keeping you away from her for my sanity.”
“Sure, that's why,” Kon snarked, getting a head shake for his troubles. But he didn't push it any more than that because if, as he suspected, Tim liked Mari more than as a friend he would end up meeting her eventually. And then maybe they could hang out as a group instead of separate all the time.
_ _ _
When Tim arrived back at the manor, it was nearly 3am, so very minimal movement through the building. Alfred had long since gone to bed and, to be honest, he probably planned to do the same. He was just going to poke his head into Marinette's room to see if she was awake first.
“Hey, didn't expect you to be up,” he said quietly. Marinette looked up at him with a startled glance before turning back to her laptop.
“Some asshole reporter asked an inappropriate, thoughtless question and I'm ready to destroy his career,” Marinette seethed, fingers flying over her keyboard. “He may have thought Adrien was an easy target but I'm going to eviscerate him online. Adrien's fanbase is going to help.”
“He has a fanbase?” Tim blinked, sitting up fully.
“Of course he does, he was a popular model for years and everyone was angry when they found out that Gabriel was Hawkmoth. Thousands of people were outraged and offered him so much support. His friend, Wayhem, was the leader of his fanclub and raised awareness for him too.”
“Uh, who was the reporter that screwed up?” Tim asked, getting an uncomfortable feeling that he already knew. It was too much of a coincidence that Kon had mentioned the conversation he'd overheard between Diana and Clark for it to be someone else.
“His name is Clark Kent and I already told Scar and Chat about it,” she said grimly, making him wince slightly. “I plan on destroying his reputation with the clip of Adrien's reaction to his question.”
“I haven't seen it. What did he ask?”
“He compared him to a puppet,” she hissed, eyes flashing up to him. They were bright and Tim realised she was on the verge of tears. “And asked if I was pulling the strings now. I don't know why he asked that particular question and I don't really care. He hurt Adrien, more than the ones asking outright whether he had worked with Gabriel because we expected those. He's lucky he's in a different city because if I was in Metropolis I would be hunting him down to use as target practice. Instead I have to settle for online attacks.”
“He might not have realised what he was doing,” Tim offered weakly, knowing that was a lie. Clark had mentioned wanting to investigate further into Adrien and doing it as a reporter was a pretty good way of trying.
“I saw his face, he knew,” she growled, turning back to her work. “Scar was upset by it too, she said she followed his work and he's never been malicious before. But she also said he wasn't that dumb so if he asked the question it was for a purpose. I've planned an online interview with a friend of mine, a budding reporter, and she's going to call in a minute. You can stay or go, but if you'll excuse me, I have to go make a scene big enough to make Monsieur Kent regret breathing in Adrien's general direction.”
There was nothing Tim could do as she connected a video call to a woman with dark skin, glasses, and red tinted hair. He hoped Clark was prepared for what was coming for him, because Marinette could be ruthless.
_ _ _
Kon had seen the video of the two Parisian women that destroyed Clark online. It was hard to find someone in the League who hadn't, but he had been pleased to see it and messaged Tim as soon as it went live. It was likely that they would never have done it if they knew that Clark was Superman but it was still fun to watch the fallout.
The black-haired woman in the video was cute and Kon briefly fantasised getting in touch with her to ask for help with a Superman exposé too. He would never, but it was nice to imagine. Scarabella seemed viciously smug whenever he saw her and Kon didn't blame her. She'd been very upset that the Justice League wanted to investigate the blond model so it made sense that seeing someone she believed to be unrelated getting what for because of it would make her gleeful.
“Are you still watching that?” Tim asked, sitting down next to him.
“Are you kidding? I wanna marry that girl, she's fantastic. Do you think if I comment with my number she'd call?” Kon said, waggling his eyebrows.
“I mean, it's the other girl's blog so she'll probably think you're hitting on her,” Tim said, his mouth twisted like he was eating something sour.
Several hours (and innumerable rewatches) later, Kon was still grinning at everything. He got an annoyed look from Clark which only served to brighten said smile exponentially. If someone could bottle this feeling, Kon would probably never be angry again.
Meanwhile, Clark, Bruce, and Diana were having an intense discussion about all the ways this plan had failed. Bruce had been dealing with an angry Marinette for weeks, ever since the first time Clark - as Superman - had suggested Adrien was a suspect. And now Clark the reporter had poked the proverbial bear.
“If you'd told me about your plan I could have warned you against it,” Bruce sighed, reviewing the interview for the sixth time. The women had been professional but absolutely unforgiving as they tore into the mild mannered reporter front that Clark always used. “I think you should look at putting an apology out there. I might be able to get you facetime with Marinette to have a discussion and smooth ruffled feathers that way.”
“It shouldn't have caused that severe a reaction,” Clark grumbled, looking stubbornly to the side. “Besides, I did nothing wrong! I was asking questions, same as any reporter would; this attack was completely out of proportion to-”
“It doesn't matter,” Bruce cut in. “The fact is we have a very angry civilian that is drawing attention to your civilian identity. It's unlikely that it will uncover anything but…an apology would probably go some of the way to resolving this. Though it's my understanding that they have no interest in your viewpoint, only in shredding your reputation.”
“I'll…try,” Clark said with a wince, and Bruce nodded, moving past it.
_ _ _
Marinette was pleased with herself for the outpouring of love the internet had given Adrien. She had been showing him her favourite comments and messages, watching as he perked up more and more as the days passed. It was noticeable to the other Wayne Manor inhabitants too, Dick mentioning it in passing one morning before Adrien woke up.
“He just seems like he's more relaxed now,” he said, smiling. He'd stayed the night before after patrol and, unsurprisingly, was up far earlier than anyone should be. If Marinette didn't think he was so much fun, she'd probably hate him a little bit.
“Right? And he's getting on so well with everyone! I think he and Duke might actually become best friends if they get the chance. Anyway, I have to get some sleep so I'm going to head back to my apartment for the next twenty four hours or so,” she said, dragging herself out of her seat. “If you see Adrien before I get a chance to message him, will you let him know? Thanks!”
It wasn't the first time she'd left Adrien alone at Wayne Manor. No, in the three weeks that he'd been there, Marinette had stayed for the first full week and then a maximum of four other times. She was determined that he get comfortable living there without her for her plan to work. Jason had seemed pretty confident that it didn't take much for Bruce to get that adoption buzz and Adrien deserved to gain a family that chaotically good.
She hadn't intended to sleep from the moment she got home to the next morning, but that's what happened. Thankfully Dick must have passed on her message because she had only a couple of messages, from both Tim and Adrien, saying very little except that she was missed.
Tim's had the added bonus of saying that he was going back to New York soon to visit his friends there and do some ‘work’. His second message was what made her smile, an offer that maybe she could come with him some time, to meet some of his team. Maybe it wouldn't happen, but it was exciting nonetheless.
She was ready to try and find some coffee when her phone started ringing, Alya's face popping up. Frowning, she answered.
“What's up, Als?”
“Girl, I just got the most insincere email from that Kent reporter,” her best friend fumed immediately. “Here, I'm forwarding it to you now. I need you to read it, right now, and tell me I'm not crazy.”
Marinette hummed in agreement, already flipping open her laptop and booting it up. The wait seemed agonisingly long and she sighed with relief when she finally had access to her emails. The relief was short lived and she was outraged by the time she finished it.
“Is he serious? Isn't writing, like, his entire career?” Marinette fumed, scanning the email again as her anger built. “‘Perhaps my wording was less than ideal’? Um, you think? He's not even taking responsibility! ‘As Adrien is a public figure, I'm sure you can appreciate that it's impossible to word things correctly one hundred percent of the-’ oh come on! God, he's so lucky Hawkmoth isn't still at large or I would-”
“I know, believe me,” Alya said darkly. “Nino had to talk me down from something drastic. I haven't told Adrien yet, I'm going to need a cooler head first.”
“How badly do you think Nino would take it if Multimouse made a visit to Metropolis? Ooooh, I could even do a flyby of Superman while I was there, he'd never know what happened!”
“He already said no,” Alya muttered mulishly. As soon as the words registered through the haze of anger, they made Marinette giggle, which set Alya off as well. It was a solid few minutes before they calmed down enough to talk again and Marinette gave a long sigh before continuing the conversation.
“I shouldn't take this so personally. From everything I researched about him he's not a bad person. And if he was coming after me, it wouldn't even register, you know?” Marinette said, staring at the laptop screen without seeing anything. “But Adrien's already been through too much, and I hate that people think they can take a swing at him without consequences.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Alya said, and Marinette could hear the frown in her voice. “But I don't know what to do about all of this. As much as I would love to blast this email and point out everything wrong with it…it won't change anything. I can't even get the Justice League to listen to me about him, and that's as Scarabella!”
“Have you thought any more about letting Adrien tell them who he is?” Marinette asked carefully. She powered on when Alya didn't object straight away. “Not even the whole League! I was thinking maybe…the Bats? They're a huge team and I'm pretty sure they're considered the most logical and evidence driven of the heroes. Plus, he lives in Gotham so…”
“It's…something to consider. And I have been, I promise. Batman seems less likely to be a problem, honestly, but there's just so many of them. But I promise I'll let you know as soon as I make a decision, okay?”
“Okay,” Marinette agreed readily. The fact that she was on the fence was monumental and she was hardly going to look that gift horse in the mouth. “So…we're going to leave this alone for now? I mean, he waited over a week to get in touch, we can wait at least that long, right?”
“I'm thinking we should leave it at least a month,” Alya laughed, sending Marinette back into giggles. “Thanks, for picking up and not thinking I was crazy with this.”
It's that time again 😁 Here's what I read during May! Thoughts below the cut!
Lone Women:
This book was so refreshingly different! Wow! Set in 1915, the story follows our main character, Adelaide Henry, as she moves to Montana to try to make a fresh start (all by herself) on a homestead. She has a trunk with her the whole time and that's where the horror is. This story has monstrous humans, a haunting past, and a brighter future ahead. Historical fiction, women fiction, horror, this story was super interesting and had me hooked throughout!
1984:
This is another "classic" book that I never read during middle or high school. It's been on my TBR list forever!! So glad I finally made the time for it. It was extremely creepy, unsettling, and horrific. The end had me both screaming with rage and laying in the rain crying. AGH. It's so hard to believe this was wrote in 1949! It hits a little too close to home on multiple occasions and... wow. Just, holy shit. Incredibly disturbing
Make A Scene:
I keep an eye on the audible daily deals and bought this one for $1. It was a cute and entertaining read! It wasn't anything deep, or crazy, or thought provoking haha, but it was entertaining and sometimes I just love those kinds of stories so much!
The Serpent and the Wings of Night:
Book one of the "Crown of Nyaxia" series. A mouthful of a title, I know! But dudes hooooly shit!!! I am OBSESSED with this book! I loved it so so so much and have NO idea why it doesn't get talked about as much as other books. I love the lore. It has brutal vampires, badass women, terrifying Goddess' (Nyaxia? Helloooo she's so scary and awesome!), and an epic story of all of them combined. HIGHLY recommend! Oraya is such a great character with layers of complexity, and Raihn is AHHH, I love him
The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King:
This is the second part of the "Crown of Nyaxia". I loved it as much as the first! Book 3 when!?! I can't flippin wait to read more!
Slaying the Vampire Conqueror:
This is a standalone book in the Crown of Nyaxia universe. With how much I loved the other two I knew I'd like this one also. I ate it up just as quickly! Again, there's brutal vampires, badass women, and you learn more lore about different parts of the world, Goddess', and characters. I'm invested in this world and will be reading any and everything the author puts out for it!!
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Overall it was a great month of books and I recommend all of these!!
I've officially read 24 books so far this year and for me that's AWESOME. Loving it!
