reddwarfslash | I have an idea for a project, and I need your opinion

I don't want to rain on your parade, but having read some of the Harry Potter examples, your project may need a different emphasis. A lot of posters here (myself included) are old enough to have seen some of RD when it was originally aired. I can only speak for myself, but I certainly didn't regard the RD crew as role models! More like cool older brothers (Rimmer excepted, of course). ;)

The enjoyment RD gives me is twofold - its sheer funniness, and the fiction it's inspired me to write. I'm not at all ashamed of the nature of that fic, but let's face it, it's not something the cast wants to know about, or should. ;)

I do also enjoy the social nature of this community and the friends I've made, which is probably a safer thing to emphasise. Hope that's of some help. :)

Red Dwarf was a huge part of my childhood and now my adult life that I kind of want to thank the cast and crew. Sure, I wouldn't exactly see the crew as role models but they did help me become who I am. And true, while I wouldn't share my fanfiction or fanart with them, I'd still like to do something.

I suppose this project is more along the lines of thanking the cast/crew for making the show, explaining how/when you found it, and what it means to you personally. Of course it could really be anything, that's just an idea.

I literally came up with this and posted it, I have yet to actually give it a lot of thought. I more or less what to see if the fandom wants to participate if I make something more concrete.

As someone who also watched the show when it originally aired, I have to disagree. Although I love writing fic, and I love the friends I've made here, Red Dwarf means so much more to me than that and, much as you may scoff, the characters and actors really were role models, of a sort, for me at an exceptionally difficult and damaging time in my life.

A lot of what I went through when I was young is similar to Rimmer's early life (although his is somewhat exaggerated for comedic effect, you'd be surprised how little is outside the realms of possibility), in fact I draw on my own experience a lot in my story 'Like a Caged Thing Freed' http://archiveofourown.org/works/339068. I was a lot like Rimmer for a lot of my life (that feels like a big admission, lol). I still am in many ways. And his story, his progression throughout the series which culminates in Ace-hood, that meant a lot to me. Because there was something in him that was redeemable. God, that sounds so wanky and pretentious, but it's true. There are moments of redemption in the books, as well, that also meant a lot to me.

Craig has always been another role model, in many ways but primarily because he's a poet. I remember the first time I was told that, and what a HUGE revelation it was. Because I wrote poetry, too, I still do, and it's... Craig was this person that my family liked, my siblings and my dad, they thought he was cool and relevant, and he WROTE POETRY. It encouraged me to keep going with it, and to this day Craig is still an inspiration to me to keep writing, and to write about uncomfortable things in uncomfortable ways if that's what's in you to write (although stylistically we're VERY dissimilar). This might be the most pathetic thing you've ever heard, but speaking to Craig about poetry at DJ a couple of years back was one of the most treasured moments of my life.

And in general, the show meant so much to me and my siblings. It was on almost constantly at the one semi-safe house we visisted during a fucked up, abusive mess of a childhood, it's one of my precious few happy memories from back then. It made us laugh when we were so fucking miserable that I'd attempted suicide before I was 8 years old, even though we didn't understand it all, even though looking back on it now a lot of it wasn't even that funny. We used to hold hands and hum the theme song when things got bad, when we were scared, when we were on our way back to the decidedly NOT safe house. We just associated it with those brief windows of safety. And I know that could have been any show, but it WAS this show. And I've always wanted to be able to tell the people who made it just what it will always mean to me.

As someone who is proud to call

smaych a good friend, I can vouch for this! I was a bridesmaid at her wedding (another thing that never would have happened if it wasn't for Red Dwarf - well, the wedding, probably, but you see what I mean :p), and I remember telling her in front of her sisters that she was so much like Rimmer, but "in a good way". My gods, their faces. (They are lovely ladies, but more like Rimmer's brothers, in a good way. I am not making this up!) Whenever

smaych tells me about her childhood, part of me is shocked and horrified and sad for her, and yet, unless the story is one of the worse ones, there is a small part of me that thinks "this would be brilliant in a fic". The fact that we can think that, and have that, is a fantastic thing.

Rimmer IS a role model, IMO. Not for the vast majority of his life, but you know, that only lends credence to those few moments - like in Out of Time - when he does overcome his own limitations. And being a role model is perhaps less important than being someone to whom you can relate - which I'll be getting into in my next comment. :)

I'm genuinely sorry to hear that your childhood was so horrible and am glad that RD was an escape for you during it.

I suppose what I was trying to say - clearly not very well - was that IMO, rites of passage shows and films like "Buffy" or "Harry Potter" are more likely to serve this kind of function for kids as they grow up. In your case, and Kahvi's, it was RD. Fine.

I would never scoff at a person for finding solace in fandom or being excited to meet people they admire. :)

If you want to contribute to the project, it's all up and running here: Dear Mr. Lister (http://dearmisterlister.tumblr.com). You don't need to have a tumblr account to submit. If you have any problems, please let me know.

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smaych, I grew up watching Red Dwarf. I'm a wee bit older than her, so I actually saw it when it first aired. I'm Norwegian, but we tend to get BBC shows rather quickly after their release. I do remember having seen it in 1988, at the age of ten.

For me, the appeal lay in Lister. For the first time in my life, I saw a protagonist who was lazy, laid back, sloppy, irreverent and non-conforming, emotional and emotionally driven; basically, he had every personality and behavioral trait I saw in myself. While I was teased and didn't fit in at school, here was Lister - IN FUCKING SPACE. It made me realize that if the protagonist on a show - the hero, if you will - the moral compass of the show and the one everyone else seemed to look to for advice (even if they wanted to or not) could be like me, then I could be anything, and I didn't have to change who I was. Being me was not only OK, it could even be admirable!

That, in turn, made me realize two things:

1: I could be whatever I wanted to, in life.
2: I should take pride in being myself.

Lister has meant so much to me, over the years. He reminds me of who I am, and who I want to be. He makes me think about my own behavior, and my bad sides as well as my good. In a very real sense he IS a role model, but more importantly, a reminder that I should be true to myself. Whenever I feel bad, I try to look to him. And he'll shake his head and grin and offer me a beer, and we'll laugh about whatever - now ridiculous-seeming - thing I was upset about.

Red Dwarf is the reason I met my husband - the convention I met him at, 15 years ago, was showing RD, at a time when there were no DVD's to be ordered online, and no YouTube, and it was the reason I came there. Red Dwarf is the reason I know a significant amount of my closest friends. Red Dwarf is the reason I am writing so much and so prolifically as I am today. Red Dwarf was the reason I met the woman in my icon (wherein she looks fantastic and I look an arse), and if you want me to describe my relationship to

roadstergal, I am going to have to resort to interpretive dance. And it will probably be x-rated.

And now, let me tell you that Red Dwarf is not even that much of a presence in my life. It is one out of many things I enjoy, and it is "simply entertainment". I'm not some crazed fan; I simply like the show. Yet, see how much even that small involvement has brought? I would be hard pressed to find another thing that has brought me as much joy, both IRL and online.

I did say in my original comment that I could only speak for myself. :)

As I said to Smaych, I'm genuinely pleased that there are people who've been so deeply affected by the show. I'm quite new to online RD fandom despite having watched it for over two decades, and have yet to attend a DJ. In a few years' time I could probably contribute more to this kind of project.

Lister's my favourite character too. :)

I LOVE THIS IDEA!

It could be a scrapbook kind of thing, and we all send our entries to you (or someone else ^.^), make a book out of it and send it to the official fanmail address. Everyone who made an entry would be asked to also make a small monetary contribution to help cover the printing costs and shipping.

Let's do this!!

I'm glad. I really want to try this.

I was thinking of making a Tumblr account for this project to help organize it all before any kind of printing.

I'm not sure all of us here have a tumblr account, you might want to also have an LJ post where people can leave stuff, or link to stuff, or simply get the chance to PM you.

Someone in the Cabin Pressure fandom wanted to do a sort of photo album, and it turned into a HUGE project where tons of people participated.

Do you have Twitter? Because there's a lot of people on Twitt-- ah, no use, because then the official people might read about it and that'd spoil the surprise. Never mind. The same, btw, goes for tumblr. If you put it on tumblr, chances are that someone from Dave/GrantNaylor Productions or even one of the actors sees it...

Hm.

I'm pretty sure you can submit to a group Tumblr via Anon so you won't need to have an account. But either way it would be simpler to have those without a Tumblr email me their stuff and I can post it. At least that's an idea.

True LJ has a huge RD community but Tumblr's is slowly growing and for me it's easier. Plus I doubt the cast and crew even know what Tumblr is.

Either way this is just an idea.

I'm sure you'll come up with a good way how this will work! And I'll love to contribute.

Again, this is a fantastic idea!

If you want to contribute to the project, it's all up and running here: Dear Mr. Lister (http://dearmisterlister.tumblr.com). You don't need to have a tumblr account to submit. If you have any problems, please let me know.

Thanks! And good luck with it!!

I like this idea - I'm another person who got through a very tough time in my life because of this show and I did actually consider writing to Doug at one point to express my thanks but never did it. For a series that gets so much criticism - even within the suposed fanbase - I think it would be right to show our appreciation.

I'm glad you'd like to participate. The more people the better. I do think it's healthy to criticize things you love, but it's also nice to show the cast/crew how much they mean to the fans.

If you want to contribute to the project, it's all up and running here: Dear Mr. Lister (http://dearmisterlister.tumblr.com). You don't need to have a tumblr account to submit. If you have any problems, please let me know.

Like I said on Tumblr, I'd love to participate if you did this!

Like a lot of others, Red Dwarf has been a constant in my life since I was tiny and when I was having a rough time, I found comfort in the show and the characters, especially Rimmer. I also met my boyfriend through RD. We've been together for about 5 and a half years now XD

What's your tumblr?

And that's great! I'm setting up the tumblr page now and I'll post it here and on Tumblr when I'm done.

Tinysnubbull :B

Oh! Hi!!! 8D

If you want to contribute to the project, it's all up and running here: Dear Mr. Lister (http://dearmisterlister.tumblr.com). If you have any problems, please let me know.

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