hey it’s gb

And before people start coming at me saying I’m one of those Dratchet shippers who blames Rodimus for too much and sidelines him, you’re absolutely 100% correct. Enjoy.

Let’s start with Drift and Rodimus’s friendship. It’s strong and endearing, but rooted in a sense of obligation that Drift feels towards Rodimus. It’s something we’ve seen a lot throughout Drift’s arc; he latches onto people. Gasket, Wing, even Megatron for a time.

And I think it comes from that sense of belonging that he’s just never had. As soon as someone gives him the time of day, he throws himself into the relationship with everything.

Then along comes Rodimus with promises of friendship, adventure, salvation; something that Drift can’t say no to, not when Rodimus the only one willing to vouch for him as a former Decepticon.

But even from the start that friendship has this sort of subtextual conditionality, a sort of “look at everything I’ve done for you” dynamic that I can’t stand. Drift writes his speeches, takes his side, takes the fall, and in an early script draft of MTMTE issue 5, we even see that it had been Rodimus who volunteered Drift to go to Delphi.

And we catch a glimpse of the way Rodimus defaults to that line of thinking in the Dark Cybertron prelude.

Now you could certainly make the argument that Rodimus says this for the sake of, well… saying it in front of Thunderclash. But regardless, it’s a pretty inconsiderate way to refer to someone who considers you a friend and ally, not some sort of chaperone (And someone standing right next to you).

It’s a hint of the utilitarian attitude he has toward Drift. Of course we only get to see this interaction after Drift has been banished.

I know people tend to get annoyed when the exile arc comes up, but that’s a HUGE contention point for me. Drift, a former addict, former Decepticon, and all around former loner, after finally finding someone he thinks will be on his side, loses everything.

All the work he’s put into being accepted, changing his ways, into simply finding a place in the universe is taken away. Rodimus finds him guilty of a crime they both know he didn’t commit in front of the entire Lost Light, and exiles him.

All because Rodimus convinced Drift that he needed to be on that ship more than he did.

I’m awfully tired of that entire situation being ignored, I really am. Yes, Rodimus admits his mistakes, yes he learns, and yes he has his own issues.

Having issues is okay. Making other people, people who TRUST you, pay for it is so incredibly not.

Oh yeah, and Rodimus never goes looking for him

And while Drift and Rodimus seem to have a sort of reconciliation once the latter apologizes for his wrongdoings, Drift never says “I forgive you.” And while he probably does forgive Rodimus at least on some level, I don’t think he felt that it was something he could stomach saying out loud. Which is good.

Rodimus has not earned forgiveness. Nor has he earned any of the trust Drift placed on him in the first place.

Now I’m sure by now a lot of you have labeled me as some sort of sociopathic Rodimus-hater, and I’m sure a lot of you won’t believe me when I say I’m not. But the fact is: I'm not.

I think he is absurdly fun and alarmingly relatable at times, and he’s certainly earned his place as the poster child for MTMTE. But there comes a point when you just can’t excuse the amount of hurt that has been bestowed upon a person, especially not to the point where you could somehow assert that they could possibly have a healthy romantic relationship.

While his chronic bad decisions may be at the forefront of his relatableness as a character, he makes an awful lot of them at the expense of others. Making decisions that benefit you but harm others is a toxic trait. It’s harmful. And he does it constantly. Just ask Drift, Chromedome, Ultra Magnus, Megatron…

Now here comes the part about Ratchet, brace yourselves.

Ratchet never poses his relationship with Drift as anything other than what it really is. At first, they’re amicably disagreeing but equally intelligent occupants of the ship, with a shared memory that seems lifetimes ago yet lingers in the space between them constantly.

They have beef with each other, they’re even angry at first. But they’re both trying to come to terms with a universe without war and their role in it.

Ratchet struggles with his diminishing significance, Drift struggles to atone.

There’s this beautiful mixture of very grown-up, very complex emotions and interactions mixed in with the undeniably juvenile tendency to simply bother each other.

And Ratchet is the one who finally takes the initiative to seek him out.

Now I’ve seen it thrown around that people don’t like Dratchet because it was never integrated into the story until later on. I wholeheartedly disagree. You cannot tell me that there is no merit to the “avoiding your feelings by being rude” trope I mean come on, just look at the trend.

They’re two adults who have no false pretense to each other, who have a beautiful dichotomy and a habit of emotionally charged rescues.

So the basis of what I’m trying to get at is that I happen to find Driftrod upsetting from a psychological standpoint. I’m upset that Drift spent so much energy trying to maintain loyalty to a friend who tossed him to the lions so quickly. I love the dynamic they have at times, but sometimes I can’t even reconcile them having a friendship.

I think Ratchet is someone who would actually allow Drift to become who he is, not some sort of tangentially bound sidekick.