OT? A Fistful of Stus

[typhonblue.livejournal.com]

Since someone else introduced a question that was bugging them, I thought it might be okay to say something that's been bugging me for awhile.

I've been reading Backwards and I just have to get this off my chest.

Ace Rimmer is the Stu to end all Stus.

Thank you. *slinks away.*

Comments

[cyber-moggy.livejournal.com]

Hell, yeah! Actually, I think that's why I find him so damned irritating.

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

Utter agreement.

[erinptah]

Isn't that sort of the point of Ace?

I never liked him, but he's not a Stu because of author ineptitude or arrogance; he's a Stu because it's deliberate.

Of course, I haven't read Backwards, so I don't know if his Stu-ness is actually bad for the plot there.

[typhonblue.livejournal.com]

Is it though?

As for his appearance in Backwards... his Stu-ness was just cringe-inducing, I don't think it actually impeded the plot. Stalled it in places, maybe.

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

He was an over-the-top-intentional Stu in Dimension Jump.

I feel that Rob Grant tried to humanize him in Backwards. That was a problem, as it impeded the over-the-top-ness that made his Stuishness work in the show. IMO. But it still made for lovely slashiness with Spanners.

That being said, Backwards is one of the few books that has made me laugh out loud at multiple points. If you want a good Rob Grant book, read Colony. I think he was a little burnt out on RD when he wrote Backwards.

[typhonblue.livejournal.com]

The problem is... I didn't find the additions humanizing at all. I thought they were rediculous, painful, even.

I also didn't like how Rob seemed to reverse Rimmer's character. In Better then Life, Rimmer is practically hopping out of his skin in happiness that Lister can be saved, and in Backwards he's back to hating him? What gives?

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

I didn't say he succeeded - I said he tried. ;)

You can be very, very annoyed at someone and bitch and whine and resent him and still care for him. I think it's very Rimmer. When Lister is really in danger - like in Confidence and Paranoia - he's upset and frantic. But as long as Lister is not in immediate danger, Rimmer goes back to snark and snipe (like the very next scene in Confidence and Paranoia). So when Lister is dead, Rimmer can let a little of his care through - but once he's not, when he's back and especially when he's being a bit of a surly teen, Rimmer is back to old tricks.

Plus, later, I think Rimmer is madly jealous - on every level - of the affection Ace inspires in Lister.

[typhonblue.livejournal.com]

I just wish Rob could have let a little of that affection seep through. He obviously wanted to add some humanity to the book, dammit! Why not explore the relationship between Lister and Rimmer a bit more.

I mean, at the end, even, Rimmer does nothing to help Lister and Lister doesn't even refer to him as a friend.

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

I tried to address some of those issues in Forwards.

[typhonblue.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to the followup to "Heat". *Looks hopeful*

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

You can be very, very annoyed at someone and bitch and whine and resent him and still care for him.
Agreed. That is the very essence of the Rimmer/Lister relationship IMO. When people go "huh? But they hate eachothers guts" to R/L slash, I counter with "yes, of course they do! But they're also in love." That's how it goes.

[laurenthemself]

I think he was still very much in the RD mindset when he wrote Colony. Not that it wasn't clever at times, but there was a lot of the same vibe to it.

What did you think of Incompetence?

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

It's on my list, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Part of the problem is that I want to shuffle through all of the used bookstores before giving in and Amazon-ing (as I had to do for Last Human, Backwards, and Colony).

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I kinda liked Ace in Backwards, but then again I've always liked Ace. *hides*