Playing out as a What If? Patchwork Fic combination of the 2016 Ratchet & Clank game and the main series, Widget & Clank: Lombax Bebop is an Alternate Universe fanfiction written by Tangent. The fic has the then mysterious female Lombax Rivet- who in this story is known as Widget- taking Ratchet's place as the main protagonist. While the start of the story is similar to the game, this fic quickly develops a life and story of its own, filled with many unpredictable twists and turns. The story can be read here
on FanFiction.Net, here on Sufficient Velocity.com, and here on SpaceBattles.com.
Features examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Lash, Little Tony, Spanner, and Dallas are very much this to Widget, and- in Dallas' case- also to Juanita. It's clear through the narrative so far that Widget and Juanita don't reciprocate the feelings- if anything, Widget hates all of them (while Juanita hates just Dallas), and with good reason.
- Accidental Misnaming: Mr. Micron gets Widget's name wrong twice- first calling her "Wingding" and then, less than two minutes later, "Gidget." Widget calmly corrects him the first time, but gets fired up when he does it again, and loudly spells out her name letter by letter- only for him to whack her on the head with his cane for her trouble.
- Action Girl: Widget gets into plenty of fights throughout the story, and comes out on top. She even charges into battle while still in her pajamas.
- Adaptational Heroism: Dr. Nefarious is not a villain in this story, and in fact is still with the Galactic Rangers. This is due to Qwark being more reasonable and less of a jerkass- as in the 2016 game, it was Qwark's and the other Rangers' mistreatment of Nefarious that caused him to eventually snap and turn to villainy.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Qwark is portrayed as being somewhat more intelligent than his game counterpart, and more open to listening to others' advice.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Qwark and Nefarious, instead of being enemies like they are in the games, are actually able to work together- although this was not always the case.
- Big Brother Instinct: Inverted. While Clank is the younger sibling, that doesn't stop him from defending Widget's honor when Dallas makes offensive sexual comments about her multiple times while on the air.
- Buffet Buffoonery: While there's very little penalty given that it's their own food that they're eating— aside from Bleep possibly denying certain individuals from getting more food (as Widget was concerned about this herself when getting her food)— Qwark, Grimroth, and Felton pile on all the different foods just so that way they don't have to get up to try more. People notice.
- Fantastic Racism: Dr. Frumpus Croid wrote a book that describes Lombaxes, Cazares, and Morobans (the in-story name for Fred's species) as animals rather than sentient beings, which is brought up in chapter 4 when Widget and the other Galactic Rangers go to visit Grim at the hospital only for the Tharpod receptionist to say that "no pets" were allowed.
- For Science!: Nefarious quotes this while working with Clank.
- Fun with Acronyms: Virtually all the devices that serve as the story's "Quick Select" have the acronym "A.S.S." which always stands for some variation of Augmented Storage System.
- Girls with Guns: Widget is very much this, with her arsenal of weapons that is so big that she's putting weapons in slots of her A.S.S. that don't belong there, due to the hammerspace device having pre-designated slot types.
- Government Agency of Fiction: Solana Galactic Intelligence pretty much serves this purpose, given that not only is it a fictional government agency, it is never even mentioned in any of the source material.
- Hammerspace: All members of the Galactic Rangers are issued Alternate Space Storage devices, about the size and shape of a thick credit card, capable of holding improbable amounts of weapons and equipment without encumbering their user with such petty concerns as either bulk or mass. Widget's A.S.S. holds an entire arsenal of weapons that she would otherwise not be able to carry with her. Eventually, she obtains so many weapons that she starts putting them in slots where they don't belong- as said slots are predesignated.
- Happily Adopted: Although Widget did not learn that Grim formally adopted until after being accepted as a Galactic Ranger, she and later Clank come to formally refer to him as their dad as much as each other as brother and sister.
- Interspecies Adoption: Widget is a Lombax, her brother Clank is a defect warbot, and their adoptive father, Grimroth Razz, is a Fongoid.
- Ironic Name: Qwark's Snagglebeast is named Mr. Cuddlewumpus.
- La Résistance: On the story’s SpaceBattles.com thread, Alister Azimuth is stated to lead one consisting of many other Lombaxes that remain to fight against Percival Tachyon’s tyranny.
- Named by the Adaptation: Possibly due to the story having been started prior to the release of the trailer revealing Rivet's name, the female Lombax's name in this story is instead Widget.
- Vulgar Humor: There is a lot of this throughout the story- from Widget losing her shirt during a battle (and not even realizing until it was pointed out to her after she was interviewed on live TV) to this story's version of the Quick Select having multiple models that are named in a way that results in the A.S.S. acronym.
