#arnie j

[tobelovedandtohavebeenloved]

Never change, you big fool. Never change.

[amyamckay]

So it turns out I grew up to be Rimmer’s dream girl.

Almost as if I’d spent the last 25 years willing it to happen.

[tobelovedandtohavebeenloved]

For the ask game: Rimmer

(because you were probably expecting him to come up anyways lol)

Thank you for this ask, I really appreciate it ^*^

My main man Arnie J- or as Chris calls him, ‘Smeghead Rimmer’ Spoilers for The Promised Land and everything leading up to it ahead, ye be warned.

This got long, but let’s get into it, shall we?

Favourite thing about them:

From a writing standpoint my favourite thing about Rimmer as a character is how defensive he gets when faced with anything that could be perceived as affection or kindness. It’s a fantastic representation of what growing up in such an abusive situation does to a person, even if his childhood is a running gag they play the effects of it on his self-esteem remarkably straight for a comedy.

From a more personal perspective, I think my favourite thing about Rimmer is when he actually lets his guard down. When we get a shot of him drinking with the guys, or even in the Dave era stuff later on, partaking in games, shenanigans, or celebration of a success with the others while sober. It’s a huge step for someone who’s been taught that feelings are weakness, who again has autistic traits and has learned in his years with Lister and the others that it’s actually not embarrassing to show feelings? No matter how you show them? On a similar note I love how often he has little anxious/nervous stims, like bouncing a leg or tapping his fingers.

Least favourite thing about them:

The way he treats women. I understand why, I get it, this poor man’s so far in the closet he’s forgotten what daylight looks like. He’s never exactly had good role models. He doesn’t know better, and over the series he does learn and grow. Still, I hate to see him go all Incel like in parallel universe.

Favourite line: I can’t pick just one so have four, instead

“I'd trade everything in to be loved and to have been loved.” - 02.03 Thanks For The Memory

“Yes, I admit I'm nothing.  But from what I started with, nothing is up.” - 05.02 The Inquisitor

“But sometimes you live, you die, and then you live again. I know, I’ve done it myself.” - 10.06 The Beginning

“Listy, there’s a moon over here that could use some sunlight.” - The Promised Land

brOTP:

Rimmer and Kryten. Any scene they have in the science room or any of the medscans over the years are fantastic. The chemistry Chris and Robert have is *chef’s kiss*

OTP:

Rimster all the way. Listen. They need each other, and it’s not like I expect them to make out, but they rely so heavily on each other and by later seasons have learned to navigate all of the ins and outs of conversation with each other. The Moonlight scene from The Promised Land comes to mind of course, as well as scenes where Lister crosses a line and knows it, immediately trying to backtrack a la Thanks For The Memory. They’re all they have, and it shows.

nOTP:

Pretty much anything else. There really isn’t any chemistry between him and the other members of the Posse, and most of the characters they meet otherwise are… not vibes.

Random headcanon:

I fully believe that Rimmer is near-sighted and needs glasses. In Polymorph when his bitterness is removed he’s wearing glasses, in Holoship when he’s had the mind patch he’s also wearing glasses. Now, both of these are mostly played for jokes, BUT. in Rimmerworld when he’s had Kryten run a physical on him, there’s a throwaway gag about him cheating on the eye exam. Again, all gags and jokes, but put together the pieces make for a very interesting, ‘let this poor repressed man have glasses’ kind of picture.

I also firmly believe that Rimmer came back from being Ace because he couldn’t understand why being the hero and getting everything he wanted wasn’t satisfying. Being Ace was just more living in someone else’s shadow and doing things you wouldn’t normally, to impress people who don’t matter. I imagine it made him miserable, and he found his way back to the Dwarf as it’s the only place he’s ever felt he was enough.

Unpopular opinion:

I don’t know if this is unpopular, But! Rimmer is I think, one of the best representations of neurodivergency in media I’ve ever seen. He comes across as ASD-coded, but even without that he canonically has an anxiety disorder that affects his physical health as well. It’s often played for a joke, but it’s there and shown in a real and often even sympathetic way.

Song I associate with them: I have a whole Spotify list for him and Lister, but to narrow it down I’d say

Ghosting - Mother Mother or Puppet Loosely Strung - The Correspondents.

Favourite picture of them: Again I couldn’t pick just one, so have a couple. Plus, I absolutely adore Low Power Mode!Rimmer from TPL, but I don’t have any good pictures of him ><

[tobelovedandtohavebeenloved]

Just finished watching the Series VI Deleted Scenes and Oh bOY. Some of the things that are made canon by cut scenes from Rimmerworld- like. We been knew, but damn they Said it??

[tobelovedandtohavebeenloved]

Familiarity - an Arnold Rimmer Fic

Here’s a little Drabble of mine, a stream of consciousness sort of thing about Rimmer, a sort of analysis of his character in a more creative, freeform style.

Setting is nebulous, with references to Legion, Rimmerworld, Stoke Me a Clipper, and whatever happened between Season 8 and Back to Earth. There’s a reference to The Promised Land but only if you squint.

You can also read it on Ao3 if you prefer!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32678008

Familiarity comes in different shapes, it can be found in the sting of metal beneath strumming fingers and the bite of lager, or a brightly coloured suit.

Familiarity can be found in the hiss of an iron, or the repetitive creases of freshly cleaned laundry.

The familiarity we are focusing on today is much less obvious than those, much less... domestic.

Today's familiarity is in glass walls that curve above you and refract the starlight, a whole universe beyond your dome that you might never see.

Today's familiarity is in the solutide of oppressive silence, of waiting, listening, to see if anyone is going to come find you.

Today's familiarity is in never knowing if you're even real, or if the world would be any different without you in it.

Today's familiarity is in being able to hear your thoughts, in being three million years into deep space and again finding yourself trapped beneath a bubble, the adventure and praise you've always sought visible and yet just out of reach.

Today's familiarity is in exam results that rhyme with failure.

Familiarity is being millions of years from your home in distance and time alike and still refusing to be yourself because what would they say?

Familiarity is in crisply painted walls and perfectly folded papers, in order and

perfection and a desperate play for control that you so desperately lack. Familiarity rests in feeling small in the vast universe, weak, meaningless.

Familiarity lies in seeing foreign constellations and remembering how little you know of the situation you've wound up in- isn't it your role to know? Isn't it weak not to be aware of everything around you, to be ignorant is to be a disappointment, isn't it?

Familiarity is in stiffening at the sound of footsteps, in bracing yourself at the sound of a voice, no matter how intended.

Familiarity lies in the ability to do so without getting caught- in clenching your jaw only enough to brace for a blow without the action being noticed.

Comfort itself is unfamiliar. A "hey", a "sorry man", a defensive glare at the cat- these things are unfamiliar.

Unfamiliar is dangerous, is unknown, is untrustworthy, it is fear and a shoulder against yours and the smell of cigarettes and leather.

Unfamiliar is a hand on your leg when you start to spiral, the unruly screech of guitar, the smell of curry.

Unfamiliar is the way the smiles remain when you step into a room, the way the laughs don't stop and the music doesn't stop.

Unfamiliar is words, insults even, that aren't meant to draw blood. Unfamiliar is being sought out, unfamiliar is being wanted no matter what you do.

Familiarity is in the urge to reach out once you're capable, desperate as ever for proof of your own presence.

Unfamiliar is the way that he does the same without prompting, the excitement in his eyes, excitement solely to match your own.

Familiarity lies in waiting for five hundred and fifty seven years, clinging to the hope of rescue but knowing, knowing you are unworthy, knowing they won't come.

Unfamiliarity lies in being followed, being rescued, it's in the sympathy in his eyes as they count the tallies.

Unfamiliarity lies in forgiveness.

Familiarity is the way he talks about her, the way he goes on, the endless loops of desperation, the bitterness in your chest as you know you'll never be enough.

Unfamiliar is the ache of loneliness as you become what you've always wanted, as you become the hero, the saviour, as you recieve glory that isn't yours for feats you would never have performed, before.

Familiarity is achievement tinted by expectations, by not meeting the standards set by those before you.

There's comfort, in the familiarity of this failure disguised as success, in this sunless world.

For a while, it's enough.

For a while, you can forget the newly familiar smile your lips learned to draw, the familiar way the chaos smoothes your edges,

For a while you find bitter satisfaction in not being enough.

For a while, you almost convince even yourself this is true.

When you return, she's by his side. When you return he's replaced you.

Familiarity a confession on the tip of your tongue, spurred by this unfamiliar familiarity, what excuse for a heart you have turning to lead in your chest.

When you return, he is unfamiliar. When you return so are you.

When you return, she leaves. When you return, so does your replacement.

Unfamiliar is the way that mere days after you return there is space for you in their midst.

Familiar is the way you turn to him when seeking comfort or recognition without even a thought, always a glutton for punishment.

Unfamiliar is the way he does the same, as though he finds value in your opinion, your view, your mind.

Unfamiliar is the way they speak, as if they were... less, without you. As if they were lost. As if you mattered.

Affection, acceptance, love are unfamiliar, a foreign set of constellations always just beyond your glass bubble.

Familiarity lies in knowing that some day, you might even reach them.

[smegging-apple-bagel-unicorn]

Red Dwarf 30 Day Challenge Day 10 - Ace Rimmer or Arnie J.? Arnie J all the way. He may not be cool, courageous or amazing like Ace, (and sometimes he can be a selfish annoying little smeg head), but he’s amazing to me.

[rimmergazpachosoup]

Arnold Rimmer: Hologram or battery-powered sex aid?

Red Dwarf Re-watch, one scene/joke/moment per episode.

From "Future Echoes", Series I, Episode 2.

[natcrawlers]

Rimmer enjoying his triple fried egg chili chutney sandwich...

... me enjoying something else ♥‿♥