So, Ace Rimmer.

[kronette.livejournal.com]

Do you believe that there was only one originating Ace that broke the dimension barrier, or could several have done it?

Do you believe that there's only one of them at a time, or are there multiple Aces flying around the dimensions, saving people hunting things. The family business?

What would happen if an Ace met another Ace? Interdimensional rift like the one that brought Kochanski to our Red Dwarf? An implosion like a dying star that creates a black hole? Is that where a time dilation field comes from, when one Ace meets another? Or is it just another day in meeting yourself?

What we didn't get to see in Dimension Jump was Ace touching Rimmer, because our Rimmer was a hologram. And because of split screen limitations, we didn't get to see them touch (I don't think) in Stoke Me a Clipper.

And on a purely peeved note, why would Ace have holographic clothes? Did he have to explain to all his lovers that he was a hologram? He went through the trouble of hiding the "H"; why not real clothes?

Comments

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

My personal head canon is that the Ace in "DJ" is human and the "original Ace", but it's more a vague feeling than rooted in logic. In fact, the best reason I can come up with off the top of my head is that I've always thought the character's hair, in-universe, was real, which would explain why it looked natural and the later Ace wigs don't. :p

I've always thought there would only be one at a time, but I'm sure the right fanfic could persuade me otherwise.

Maybe Ace had holographic clothes because they could be replaced instantly if damaged and removed instantly for his numerous liaisons. ;) It would make sense to hide his hologrammatic status from his enemies. Firstly, they'd underestimate him and secondly, they wouldn't know to go for his light bee.

[lordvalerymimes.livejournal.com]

My feelings as well. The Ace in DJ most certainly seems to be human.

Is Ace having holographic clothes canon to the show? I must have missed that somewhere.

[kronette.livejournal.com]

If you haven't seen Stoke Me A Clipper, skip this post as it has a huge spoiler.


I would guess so, because in SMAC, everything vanishes when he dies. I thought it was odd he had a wig, but everything else about him, including hiding the "H", was holographic. Not sure how the remote control would work then, either. Ah, plot holes, how we loathe/love you.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I've just realised there's another reason why "DJ" Ace is human in my head canon - he is in Rob Grant's novel "Backwards" which uses some dialogue from that ep. Of course he has to be or the climax of the book would have much less dramatic tension. ;)

[kronette.livejournal.com]

I think DJ Ace IS human, as we saw him at his first jump. At least that's what I always assumed. Poor Ace's first encounter with another set of duplicates and he meets our Starbug crew. The "Spanners!" he shouts is happy and clearly meant he hadn't seen another Dave Lister before. It's also implied as we saw Ace take off from Mimas, that it was the first trip. I don't think it would have occurred to GNP that Ace had been jumping for centuries/years/whatever, they saw it strictly as Ace meeting Rimmer for the first time and being disgusted by him.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Excellent points about Spanners etc. It seems pretty clear that Doug decided to re-imagine the character as a way of writing Chris out without killing Rimmer off. It's obvious from what Doug says in the doc that he always hoped to lure Chris back for the film if nothing else.

As it turned out, Chris just needed a nice long rest, but the show's mythology was enriched no end. ;)

[lordvalerymimes.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, I've seen every episode so there's no spoiling me. :) I think that the Ace from Stoke Me A Clipper is not the same Ace that they met in DJ. I could be wrong, but does he even mention something in SMAC about not being the same Ace?

My brain never even registered that him disappearing along with his clothes obviously meant that everything was holographic. Makes sense though. Why bother with real clothes when you can just image up whatever outfit you might want? I still say that the original Ace from DJ probably would have worn real clothes though, since he was still a human.

I honestly think that the wig was just written in as an after-thought for humor. I think for the original Ace it was meant to be his own hair. When they were writing SMAC, someone probably just said, "Wouldn't it be funny if we made it a joke in the show, the fact that it's obviously a wig?"

I wonder how many of the consecutive Aces were also human versions of Rimmer and not hologram versions? With multiple realities and universes, it seems reasonable to say that Rimmer wouldn't be a hologram in all of them. However there's also the whole thing with the hard light drive being what makes him indestructible, but the original Ace was a human.

There is SO much inconsistency and so many plot holes, but it makes writing about the show fun because it's so easy to come up with plausible story-lines with such a loosey goosey canon. "This story is totally canon because nothing makes sense anyway!"

[kronette.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in SMAC Ace specially says he's not the original, and neither was the one he got the job from. That's before Lister takes Rimmer to see the Ace graveyard (sniff).

I wonder how many of the consecutive Aces were also human versions of Rimmer and not hologram versions? With multiple realities and universes, it seems reasonable to say that Rimmer wouldn't be a hologram in all of them. However there's also the whole thing with the hard light drive being what makes him indestructible, but the original Ace was a human.

OOOOH, had not thought of running across an alive, human Rimmer. I'd assumed that all of them would be hard light, as a soft light Ace wouldn't be much use. There's a plotbunny that hasn't been unleashed on the world, to my knowledge.

We love inconsistency; it makes it so much fun to correct/fix/fill in the blanks/explain!

[fantasysci5.livejournal.com]

In my mind, there can only be one "Ace" at a time. Just because of the epic awesomeness, and the handing down of the Ace title. But that's just my head cannon.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure there's more than one Ace at a time. Metalkatt and I have some up with various theories and scenarios in our writing discussions just for the hell of it. *G*

[kronette.livejournal.com]

you just want to have a huge orgy with a bunch of Aces all clamoring for Lister's attentions...

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Well, you know, Kahvi and/or Roadstergal wrote something close to that, sort of ...

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

What Vero said. What a lovely thought. ;) I'll be in my bunk. :)

[rosecathy1.livejournal.com]

I lean towards there only being one original Ace and only one at a time, but I don't feel that strongly about it either way.

My headcanon about holographic clothes is that they're both programmable and tangible, but that's the hand-wavy magical sexier explanation...

[missflibble.livejournal.com]

Even as an avid Rimmer-as-Ace writer, I'm undecided! My personal feeling is that there's usually one but, like Doctor Who, if the universe requires it, more than one can be created.

My husband is updating his Kochanski fic that will feature a female Ace (think Arlene trying to become a heroine) and...I love him even more for it.

[derien.livejournal.com]

I'll be excited to read that!