So hear me out in my opinion, Ratchet for me has been an independent father to me
Or in sam's au, mother/father aka Dadmom is an independent parent figure to me as well.
So right now we'll use cannon Ratch, I've stopped shipping him with anyone as I got Older, to me, he's that grumpy father that is caring deep down. That will do anything for you. And doesn't need a relationship to keep him going, all he cares about is his kids
Please note I don't mind if you ship him with anyone like: ratchet x wheeljack, Ratchet x Optimus, or Ratchet x June and dare I say you x ratchet- I honestly don't mind, but in my opinion I see him as the independent father that he is to me.
I do take note that I've shipped him with wheeljack in the past before, I don't really ship it now. Meanwhile in the past I'm shipping Ratchet x Wheeljack I'm also ship Jaylynn Lycan (an alter) with Wheeljack because I had a huge crush on him- (still do, but it's not that big as it was back then) and why i did, because I was extremely self conscious on how I looked, sense I thought I was cubby I thought that shipping my alter would make it a bit better. Over time I grew enough confidence to ship myself with him and here we are.
But enough about that.
So if you were to ever ask me who my father figure is, it's going to be Ratchet
If you were going to ask me who I shipped him with, here's how I hope it goes:
Someone: "who do you ship Ratchet with if he's your father figure?"
Me: "ah, well, I don't really ship him with anyone, he's just my independent father"
Someone: "oh ok, I ship him with so and so"
Me: "that's ok, I'll respect your opinion as long as you respect mine and don't force me to ship him with anyone"
So yEa, thats all for me