better-than-life

[better-than-life]

ok so maybe i have the teeny tiniest crush on dave lister. who can blame me?

[better-than-life]

If our characters wrote fanfiction in-universe, which of these would you most like to read? It can be shippy or gen.

[better-than-life]

Forced to say "grinding"

Born to say "up up up the ziggurat lickety split!"

Forced to say "be right back"

Born to say "Stoke me a clipper, I'll be back for Christmas"

Forced to say "stop yapping"

Born to say "STOP YOUR FOUL WHINING YOU FILTHY PIECE OF DISTENDED RECTUM!"

forced to say "I was very lucky to meet you all"

Born to say "I've come to regard you as....people I've met."

[better-than-life]

rewatching red dwarf again

[better-than-life]

I actually think Cat did Rimmer a favour when he caused Mr Rimmer to insult him in BTL...it just wasn't his intention.

So recently I've been hearing about the rise in "grief technology" - companies that are profiting from creating AI versions of deceased people for the benefits of their loved ones - and it's unsettling stuff.

The reasons for people paying for these services are varied, but one reason is that people are looking for closure. They're looking to have the conversations or the forgiveness that wasn't achieved while the deceased was still alive.

However, there is a fear that this technology is addictive, so can you imagine how Rimmer wouldn't have been able to let go of his father if his fantasy of being told "well done" had come to pass?

His grief would've had pushed to the sidelines as he spent more time with his fantasy father, the father he never had. But it's not healthy as his BTL father is not an accurate memory of who Mr Rimmer really was.

The fact is that Rimmer both loved and hated his father. He wanted his love and approval but never truly received it. Living in fantasy may have protected Rimmer from pain but it wouldn't have allowed him to grow as person.

We all know that Rimmer can be selfish and cowardly, but he also grows. In Out Of Time, he's willing to fight back against his future self because he doesn't like what he sees. He could've avoided looking at his older self but he chose not to. Rimmer needed to deal with his grief, of his lost family and his lost childhood. It hurt to deal with, but there are no shortcuts. He came out stronger for it.

BTL aired over 30 years ago, but it's still an important episode. No matter how painful your grief, it's better to deal with it than to avoid it. Grief isn't "better than life" it is life.

[better-than-life]

Red Dwarf is written as if there was once an epic space adventure series with a gripping narrative and compelling external as well as internal conflict with emotionally driven character arcs over many many episodes and it got loads of fanfic and then somebody picked certain fanfics to use as scripts for a new show and that new show is all we get

[better-than-life]

normal about this show

[better-than-life]

Lister and Rimmers

[better-than-life]

Headcannons of how I think red dwarf characters would use social media:

Lister: I think he'd probably just watch like memes and stuff I couldn't imagine him posting too much but he would definitely use it quite a lot I could imagine him being a bit of a doomscroller.

Rimmer: Reddit user and also I could imagine him using YouTube shorts to watch edits of historical figures he probably wouldn't post much also with his track record I could definitely imagine him falling for stupid dating coaches he'd definitely be into alpha male stuff 100% HE READ A BOOK CALLED HOW TO PICK UP GIRLS BY HYPNOSIS FOR GODS SAKE!

Cat: loves ragebaiting everyone if rimmer posted anything he'd have over 100 alt accounts ready to roast I could imagine him doing grwm tiktoks lol

Kryten: wholesome Facebook mum no one can convince me otherwise 😭

[better-than-life]

Anyone who has cats knows that you can't just NOT fuck with them.

Watching Cat lose it over a piece of tape that Lister stuck to the sole of his boot is hours of entertainment. Kryten keeps a stash of loose threads to sneak onto his sleeves. Rimmer had Holly produce a holographic cucumber that the uses ONLY for seeing how high he can make the Cat jump vertically.

[better-than-life]

Not single episode, single scene (in one case, single syllable). They had one chance to make an impact and they took it. Which of these characters did you most want to see more of? Obviously in the cases of Lister and Rimmer, played by the younger actors.

(I reluctantly left out Rat as he's played by Danny and this is a poll to celebrate guest stars.)

[better-than-life]

I'm watching all of red dwarf and I just got to season 7 I've only watched the first 2 episodes but like it just feels kinda weak compared to the other seasons I mean it's not bad but it just feels like it's lost something does anyone else feel like this or know what changed in the show?

[better-than-life]

texts from the dwarf

[better-than-life]

Lister needs you to lock in

[better-than-life]

just watched Dimension Jump. loses my mind three billion times

[better-than-life]

Lister's love of Humanity (and by extension, Rimmer)

It's past midnight so welcome to another case of me reading far too much into Red Dwarf.

This has probably been noted before but the implications of the final shot in particular make me slightly insane.

First is Lister watching George MacIntyre's ashes be 'commended to the stars' in "The End", second is his little glimpse out of the window at the end of "Back to Earth" and third is just after the Moonlight speech (you know the one) in "The Promised Land" when Rimmer decides to plug himself back in.

The framing is either deliberate -- I'm taking it as it is -- or this is just a case of my pattern-recognition pattern-recognition-ing but what's important is that all three have Lister's love for humanity at the heart of them. Or so my addled brain would have you believe.

George's funeral is both a solemn occasion due to his death and a celebration as he almost instantly gets 'revived' (though we can deliberate on that in a little bit) as a hologram. It's both a goodbye and a hello on Lister's part, a death and a rebirth in the same instance, or cycle(?) (hi Ouroboros!). While I'm not about to claim that life and death are exceptionally human traits, they are intrinsic to the human experience.

Lister's arc in BTE is largely about reconnecting with humanity in a healthier way than running after Kochanski. Even though him even being able to is the result of the female despair squid's ink (or hope squid? euphoria squid?), at the end of the episode he is still uplifted by the notion that somewhere out there, humanity still exists, and in some aspect cares for him (and the crew). That the universe, while it is cold and without atmosphere (haha) has warmth and beauty in it too. According to Kryten they've made life "as a consequence of creating them in our hallucinations". Lister's love and yearning for humanity… Begets humanity!

Finally, I'm sure the Moonlight speech has been picked apart already, it's wonderful. But what's important here is that Lister isn't looking out into space, like the first two times; seeing a man who loved the stars be committed to them in an act of love or thinking about the capacity for love that exists in the cosmos.

This time he's looking at Rimmer, which means he's viewing Rimmer with that same devotion!

It's clear he expects him to plug back in, which is why he leaves early but the look back (okay Orpheus) is to make just certain that his words have sunk in. Here Rimmer has a major crisis over his existence, if his humanity is still in-tact now he's dead and comes to the conclusion that he's pointless. Lister is (self-)tasked with showing him how vital he is not just to their crew, but to him.

Right from the very start he has needed Rimmer, it wasn't immediately apparent to him WHY but, as it happens, Rimmer is his closest link to humanity. They are - at a base level - diametrically opposed, as Rimmer states, and that makes them a perfect (if imperfectly perfect) whole together. They both have traits that make up the worst and best of humanity.

Whether their partnership was the stuff of stars, soulmates or a senile computer is sort of irrelevant in this case. They have each other regardless.

Summary: Lister's love of humanity is evident right from the first episode with his appreciation of a fellow human's life and death (and life anew!). Then his love of humans literally creating humanity. Then his love of Rimmer meaning he is able to validate Rimmer's own humanity when he was doubtful of it; impress upon him that he is as essential as a moon is, to a sun, to create moonlight. His smiles after each as recompense for my slop <3

[better-than-life]

White Dave Lister isn't real he can't hurt me. White Dave Lister isn't real he can't hurt me.

White Dave Lister isn't real he can't hurt me. White Dave Lister isn't real he can't hurt me.

WHITE DAVE LISTER ISN'T REAL HE CAN'T HURT ME!!!!!