#Back to Earth

[keepingitneutral]

Vaazh House, Thandarai, India,

Vy Architecture Studio

[makingsenseofwhathappened]

just because

no one saw it

doesn’t mean

you imagined it

[psychidelias]

There's something so beautiful about Red Dwarf just as a concept and as a series.

Comedy aside, it has one of the most meaningful messages I think I've ever seen. The whole idea of being hopelessly lost and alone in the infinity of space but still having hope and love is just unbelievable. Dave Lister is just the ultimate guy ever.

He's a loser, a nobody, a complete write-off in terms of his career, a depressed, lonely man who is the last of his species, the only one left, three million years away from home.

Yet he still has hope. He still appreciates beauty in the rockiest places. He still believes in justice and life above all else, so much so that his worst fear is losing his morality. He still goes on.

He's so far away from home that there's no realistic hope of getting back, but he doesn't care. He makes a home out of everything and everyone around him, eternally living in the only way -the best way- he can.

He's created his own Promised Land.

[shaykesqueer]

God I don’t know if anyone actually talks about this anymore but

I like Red Dwarf Back to Earth.

It’s not peak, but it’s not bad.

[dontknowyoulol]

I saw someone repost a youtube poll that asked this on facebook, i thought the answers were really interesting! My answer would be Rimmer (only because i am deeply in love with him, if i wasn’t it would probably be Lister).

[chaotic-super]

Back To Earth - Chapter 1

This is the sequel to 'Back To Krypton'. If you haven't read that yet, the full fic is available on AO3 here!

-

“Not much longer,” Lena announces, her gaze set firmly on Earth as it grows larger. “Probably another hour or so before we meet up with the fleet.”

Kara hums, sliding off the bed to join Lena. She wraps her arm around her waist and leans into her, their heads resting softly against each other. “I’m glad Brainy decided to take this last stretch slow so we can see it like this. It’s beautiful.”

Lena snorts. “We’re hardly going slow; we’re just going slow enough to not need a seatbelt.”

Bumping her hip into Lena’s, Kara giggles. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” Lena sighs. “I do.”

“It’s not usually his style to be sentimental when practicality works so much better though. I wonder why he planned this.”

Lena grimaces. She's the keeper of Brainy’s secrets and she’s already folding before Kara has even pressed for more information. “Yeah, that is...odd.” Her voice wavers the tiniest amount, but it’s enough to give her away.

Kara squints at her. “You know something. Tell me.”

Holding her hands up, Lena makes a futile attempt at getting Kara to drop it. “It’s Brainy’s business.”

“And yours too, since you’re keeping secrets for him. Spill.”

Lena shakes her head, trying to figure out the best way to lay this out without upsetting Kara. “There are a few reasons he decided to slow us down. The main one is that he’s been away from Nia for a long time and he wants to woo her a little. He also wants to check over our device one last time. We’ve both triple-checked it to make sure it’ll do the job we need it for, but since it’s made from the schematics of multiple devices, he’s nervous.”

Kara’s eyes narrow when she stops talking. “And the third reason?”

“He’s worried about you. We all are. You’ve been through a hell of a lot, so we thought that you might appreciate a slow return to Earth. Some time to wrap your head around things before we’re officially back on home turf.”

“So it wasn’t Brainy’s idea. It was yours.” Kara doesn’t sound mad. If anything, she just sounds defeated. “I’m ok, Lena.”

Lena faces her fully, the light reflecting from Earth shining on them both, the planet they’ve sworn to protect watching over them in this vulnerable moment. “I know, but you don’t have to be.”

“I can’t. Not until we’ve stopped Lex.”

“If our plan goes smoothly, the device will be activated as soon as we’re through Earth’s atmosphere. Lex won’t see it coming and everything will be fine. You can breathe, Kara. We both can. We can live.”

Kara sinks into Lena’s arms, her head turned so she can look out over Earth. “It’s so beautiful.”

“It is, and it isn’t,” Lena says, her voice soft, barely more than a whisper. “There’s so much hatred down there, but from up here, it’s nothing but beauty. This is how I think you look at people. You see the good even when they’re capable of such horrors. I love that about you, and I wish I could do the same. You see the best part of people rather than judging and mistrusting them for something they may never do.”

“Your way is smarter.”

“Your way is kinder.” Lena rebuts. “I like to think we balance each other out pretty well.”

“I know we do.”

There’s a knock at the door a second before it slides open, but neither woman turns to look to see who it is.

“God, seeing you two stare at each other like that is worse than walking in on you doing…things.” Alex’s voice is coated in a thick layer of disgust. “Anyway, we’re going to strap in and take the last part faster so Lex doesn’t notice another ship joining the fleet. We’re going to stop by J’onn’s ship first to let him know the good news before we make the last stretch back home.”

Lena traces her fingertips down the length of Kara’s arm before finally looking at Alex. “Sounds good. We’ll be there in just a minute.”

Alex nods, her eyes now fixed on her sister, who is avoiding eye contact with her. “Are you ok, Kara?”

“Yeah, I will be.” She musters up a smile, looking between Alex and Lena. “I have a lot of emotions going on, but I’ll be just fine.”

“Good.” Alex’s face softens. “You will be. We’ll all be with you while you get there.”

“I know.”

There’s a brief moment of softness between the sisters before Alex ducks out of the room, leaving Kara and Lena in their little bubble of peace.

Lena rests her forehead against Kara’s for a second before brushing her nose against hers. “We’ve got to figure out how to explain to everyone on Earth that we went back in time and fell in love.”

“I’d argue that we were already in love.” Kara grins before pressing her lips firmly against Lena’s.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“I think everyone will be happy for us.”

“Me too.”

They cling to their moment of serenity for a couple more minutes before they regretfully pull away from each other to go and join the others. They’re all waiting for them, strapped into their seats and ready to go when they walk in. They roll their eyes at their team when they cheer at them sarcastically.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Brainy announces. “Hold on, everyone.”

They prepare themselves and close their eyes for the quick blast of speed that sends them shooting through the universe, only slowing as they approach the back of the fleet, manoeuvring through the ships to slide in right beside J’onn’s ship.

“J’onn. Can you hear me?” Brainy speaks aloud, trying to contact J’onn’s ship.

“Loud and clear. How are you all?”

“Tired,” Kara calls out, “and ready to get home.”

“I bet.” J’onn chuckles. “Did you get what you need?”

“We sure did. We’re going to land and activate the device as we pass through the atmosphere. We’ll signal to you when it’s safe for you to bring the fleet down.”

There’s the faint sound of applause from the background of J’onn’s ship. “Good work, team. I’ll see you down there soon enough.”

“We look forward to it,” Brainy says, and Nia leans forward just a touch so she can get a better look at the grin spread across his face. She’s missed him and his dorkiness, and she just can’t get enough of it now that they’re back together again.

Brainy preps the ship for atmospheric entry and then gives everyone a brief warning before he starts their descent, his fingers poised on the switch to their new device so he can flip it on as soon as they’re close enough to the ground to do so.

The moment the device turns on is a little anticlimactic. All it does is light up a little. Nothing else is meant to happen; that’s the point. No exploding ships, just a pretty little blinking light and peace.

“All systems confirm that the device is working and it has deactivated Lex’s weapon,” Lena says, her eyes pinned on the control panel in front of her. “Mission accomplished.”

“Mission accomplished,” Kara whispers to herself with a tiny smile, one that is both genuine and not. She’s thrilled that all of their hard work has paid off. She just wishes that she didn’t lose so much in doing so.

The ship levels off as they come to land in front of the Tower and Kara takes that as enough permission to take off her seatbelt to look at her family. She might have lost one family on Krypton, but she’s gained a whole new one. One that understands her so much more thanks to this mission. That’s something she’ll hold dear for the rest of her life.

“So, I’m thinking pizza.” She announces to the room. “It’s been far too long since we’ve had pizza.”

“And Chinese.” Alex pipes up. “We need potstickers too, and you’re going to share them.” She points an accusing finger at her sister.

“We better order extra then. I want at least a dozen to myself.”

“I’ll get you some, darling.” Lena appears at her side. “I’ll also be getting myself some because listening to you ramble on about them for months has had me craving them like crazy.”

Kara shrugs. “I’m not sorry.”

“That’s not surprising.”

Squinting at Lena playfully, Kara scoffs. “What’s that meant to mean?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Lena plays into it.

“I think I found something to worry about.” Brainy joins in the conversation, his tone clipped.

They all huddle around the control panel where Brainy is working, their eyes peering at his fast-moving fingers before darting to the device as he keeps pressing switches on the side of it.

Lena’s eyebrows furrow as she figures out what’s happening. “Oh, I see.”

“I don’t. Mind filling us in?” Nia questions, her hands resting loosely on Brainy’s shoulders.

Kara figures it out next, quickly followed by Alex.

“Lex is trying to set off the machine now.” Kara starts.

“And every time he does that, the machine is stopping him, but it has to be reset each time it works or else Lex can still make the fleet self-destruct.” Alex finishes. “We need to tell J’onn to keep the fleet where it is until we figure out how to make the device reset itself. If we can’t do that, someone will have to keep resetting it manually each time it goes off until we can stop Lex for good and destroy his device.”

Everyone’s shoulders drop. They might have won the battle, but the war isn’t over. Not while Lex can still try to set off his device.

“Do you think he’ll figure out that we’re stopping him manually, or will he give up?” Kelly asks, her hands twisting in front of her.

Lena struggles to swallow past the growing lump in her throat. “I’d guess that he’ll rage for a while first, and then he’ll look into it to see what’s happening. It’s only a matter of time before he realizes that we have to stop each attempt and tries to use that to his advantage. That or he’ll try to find a way around it.”

“He won’t be able to do that. There’s less than nought point three percent chance that he will find a way.”

Kara’s completely lost her smile. “So we just keep manually stopping him for now?”

Brainy nods solemnly. “Yes. For now, that’s all we can do.”

Kara sighs, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose tightly. “Rao, it never ends.”

Lena’s hand rests on her forearm, gently urging Kara to take her hand away from her face. “Hey, it will. We just have a couple of extra steps. We’re all good though. We can take shifts with the device, which we should probably name so we don’t have to keep calling it ‘the device’, and once we’ve figured out how to spruce it up and make it so it resets itself, we’ll all be peachy.”

Kara stares deeply into emerald eyes. “Since when do you use the word ‘peachy’?”

“Since I started dating a dork.” Lena deadpans. “Now, how about we get off this ship and into the Tower?”

Kara nods but then falters. “Hold on, we have to call J’onn.”

“He’s not going to be thrilled by the news,” Alex adds.

“No, he’s not.” Kelly bumps Esme up onto her hip more firmly, having just lifted her up. “But he needs to know.”

Lena leans over to call J’onn back and they all wait impatiently for him to respond.

“Have you arrived down there safely?”

Alex clears her throat, opting to be the one to tell him the bad news. “Yes, we have, but there is something you need to know.”

“Nothing good ever followed those words.”

“I’m inclined to agree.” Alex shuffles her feet as she starts explaining. “The device works and stops Lex from causing all the alien ships to self-destruct. However, we have to manually reset it each time he makes an attempt, so it might be best to keep the fleet off Earth until we have managed to make it repeat its defensive actions without there being room for human error.”

They can practically hear J’onn’s teeth grinding as he processes. “I think a lot less people will be willing to stay up here. There are still a lot of aliens that stayed on Earth anyway, but telling the ones that did leave to stay up here for longer than they already have just won’t work. I can ask, but I will not take away their right to make an informed choice. We will monitor the device in pairs to ensure there will be no errors. We can take shifts.”

“J’onn, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Kara asks.

“No, but we can’t keep these people in limbo indefinitely, and we don’t have the resources to stop them from going anywhere.”

“Ok. Do you want us to tell them?”

“No, you’ve done plenty. This is my burden to carry. I’ll meet you down there soon.”

The call ends with a click, and the whole group just deflates. “I guess we better get inside, then.” Kelly ushers them to the door.

“Nia and I will remain for a little longer to stabilize the device for transit into the Tower.” Briany declares, waving them off, his eyes fixed diligently on the control panel to monitor any need to reset the device once again.

Lena takes Kara’s hand as they walk ahead of Alex, Kelly and Esme. “I’m going to order a boatload of food and have a nice hot shower, then I’m going to put on the softest clothes I own and sleep forever.”

“Rao, that sounds so good.” Kara has to resist moaning at the thought. “I bet we can convince someone else to take the first shift with the device.”

Lena smirks at her devilishly. “I bet we can.”

They pass the H’Rakas, both of them sleeping soundly in the cargo bay. “I can’t wait to see these guys out in the open again. I think they’ve kind of restless being stuck in here.”

“Yeah. We’ll get them out of here as soon as possible.” Lena agrees.

The door opens, and Kara basks in the immediate power surge she gets from being beneath Sol’s rays once again. It’ll take a while for her powers to come back fully, most likely a couple of days, but she already feels stronger.

“Welcome home.” She grips Lena’s hand tighter, taking her first step out of the ship and officially onto Earth.

She crumples.

Lena’s hand is dropped as she falls to her knees, her hands grasping at her head as she cries out in pain.

“Kara?” Lena falls to her side, her hands desperately cupping her face to try and get her attention. “What’s happening? What hurts?”

Kara can’t answer. All she can focus on is the acute pain in her head.

“Kara?” Lena keeps trying to get her to look at her, but with her eyes shut so firmly and her pain drowning out the sound of everything happening around her, Kara is oblivious.

Kelly rushes past them with Esme, the little girl peering over her mom’s shoulder with wide, terrified eyes. She has no idea what’s happening but it’s clear that it’s not good.

Alex and Lena sit on either side of Kara, flipping her onto her back so she’s leaning against Alex, nestled in her sister’s embrace, while they try to figure out what’s happening.

“You’re going to be ok,” Alex whispers to her, her face the epitome of terror because she knows that whatever has caused this, she can’t stop.

Kara’s in a world of her own, her brain on overload as she’s hit by memory after memory that she never lived. Her past is being rewritten, merging with her true memories to create a messy collage of old truths and new truths she can barely differentiate.

It’s all moving so fast that she can’t keep up. All she can do is try not to focus on the stabbing pain in her head and the overload of information hitting her as she’s dragged along for the ride. She can’t stop it; she must simply endure.

It slows eventually, but not before Nia and Brainy come stumbling out of the ship to find them on the floor.

“Oh no, that’s not good,” Brainy says, understanding exactly what is happening. “Her past is changing. I should have accounted for this.”

“What do you mean?” Lena presses for answers. “Why now? We left Krypton days ago.”

“Her return to Earth solidified the timeline. As soon as she stepped foot out of the protection of the time ship, she was exposed to the changes. She’ll be in pain for a while, but it’ll pass.”

Brainy’s relaxed demeanour calms both Alex and Lena, but Alex isn’t completely satisfied. “How long will she be like this?”

He shrugs, careful not to lose track of the device in Nia’s arms as they await a possible need to reset it. “That depends on how much has changed for her. Given her pain threshold and her current reaction, I’d say that some fundamental parts of her life have changed, and that’s something we shall have to thoroughly review when she’s recovered.”

“What do we do in the meantime?” Lena asks, her hands clutching at Kara’s, keeping her from digging her nails into her scalp as she tries to overcome the immense pain she’s in.

“We wait it out.” Brainy is no happier saying it than Alex and Lena are hearing it.

Kara’s eyes fly open. The pain is still strong, but it dipped suddenly enough for her to regain some of her senses.

She focuses on the balcony, but she doesn’t see the present. She’s seeing ghosts of memories walking and standing and drinking and hugging, each one overlapping and merging, each false but true. They weren’t, but now they are.

“Kara? Can you hear me?” Lena tries.

The memories fade away until one remains. A kiss on Earth that never happened, one right before they climb aboard the Legion ship with bags that got carried across Krypton. Then, that fades too, taking the pain with it.

“Holy fuck.”

“Kara?” Lena’s eyes glisten with unshed tears.

“I’m ok.” She stumbles over the words but leans up without assistance, proving her statement to be at least somewhat true.

Both Alex and Lena are quick to wrap their arms around her waist to support her weight as she stands, and then they start directing her inside slowly, conscious of keeping their assistance light but stabilizing.

“Let’s get you to a chair,” Alex says, mostly to herself. “You need to sit down.”

“I really am alright. I promise.”

Lena scoffs. “With all due respect, you were just wiped out by some pretty severe pain brought on by your timeline being rewritten, so pardon us if we don’t take your word for it.”

Kara gives in. She can’t argue with that. “That’s fair.”

The pair lower Kara into the nearest chair, their worry and uneasiness evident to everyone who bothers to look. Kara, for the most part, seems to be ok. She’s managed to steady herself again and is now just trying to piece together the memories she lived compared to the memories she gained just a few seconds ago.

“Are you sure you’re feeling ok?” Lena asks, tenderly tucking a wayward lock of blonde hair back behind her ear.

Kara nods slowly. “Yeah, I’m just trying to make sense of things.”

“Brainy?” Alex waves at him to get his attention, leaving Nia to watch the device, the fate of every alien who owns a ship lying in her hands.

“Alex.” He replies.

“Why aren’t we having the same reaction as Kara? Surely a change in her timeline means that there will also be a change in ours.”

Brainy hums and tucks his arms behind his back, his spine straightening. “While that is true, Kara has had a massive shift in her timeline and the change in events leading up to and following the destruction of Krypton will have a much stronger effect on her than any change in events for you. You are correct though. You will experience a few changes; how many is unknown at this time, so you’re likely to experience the merging of memories in one of two ways.”

“Which are?” Alex tries not to sound nervous.

“Either you will gain them when your mind rests, or you will gain them slowly as the days pass, perhaps partnered with a headache or a migraine, depending on the severity of the changes. Kara’s happened so quickly because of her direct impact on the changes and the confirmation of those changes happening when she stepped off the ship.”

“So we’ll either wake up with them or have a headache and get them?” Alex confirms.

“Precisely.”

“Well, that’s just swell.” Lena drones out. “Hey, Kara?”

“Hmm,” Kara hums, leaning her head into Lena’s side as the brunette perches on the arm of the chair she’s sitting in.

Lena wraps her arm around Kara, her fingernails brushing up and down her arm soothingly. “Are there any changes we need to be aware of?"

Kara shrugs helplessly. “I’m still sort of trying to piece together what’s what. I feel like I’ve just watched fifty movies at once, and I’m trying to figure out whether Cindy Lou Who is meant to be in ‘The Grinch’ or ‘Jaws’.”

“That’s...ok.” Lena doesn’t fully understand what that means, but she figures that it’s best to leave it well enough alone for now.

“We kissed though.”

“I’m well aware, darling.”

Kara shakes her head, looking up at the underside of Lena’s jaw. “No, we kissed before Krypton. I saw it.”

Lena’s eyes widen. “We were in a relationship on Earth?”

“Not really. We kissed right before getting on the ship to go on the mission. Rather, you kissed me.”

“Makes sense; you wouldn’t have the balls.” Lena smiles.

Kara’s mouth drops open. “Rude! I was just informing you of the details of our first kiss and you decide to bully me in return.”

“I wouldn’t call it bullying.”

“Oh?”

“Of course not.” Lena leans down to press a kiss to the top of Kara’s head. “I was just telling the truth.”

All Kara can do is roll her eyes at her. “Sure, sure.”

Lena chuckles into Kara’s hair. “If we kissed before we left for Krypton, does that mean that our actions on Krypton changed and, therefore, the future we changed has been changed again?”

“No.” Brainy answers. What happened on Krypton has become a fixed point in time. It’s hard to explain but because you changed a fixed point in time to begin with, it’s like you mixed the pieces of two jigsaw puzzles together. Even if all the pieces fit and lock together smoothly, the picture may never look perfect.”

“So our past is now a little jumbled but our future should be fine, just a little different than we anticipated?” Kara asks.

“Exactly.” Brainy points at the pair. “This is why I told you to limit interactions with people there. You can cause a real mess, just like this one.”

Kara grimaces as she thinks about all of the people she talked to and the lives she may have changed because of her actions. “Yeah, we did  talk to quite a lot of people.”

“You beat one up.” Lena snorts.

Brainy sinks his head into his hands. “That doesn’t shock me. Kara, we don’t know the full extent of the damage yet, but it’s not looking good.”

“I know.” Kara leans back and closes her eyes, her brain flicking through all of the people’s lives she knows she definitely affected in some way, whether it be in big or small ways, it all matters. She keeps getting stuck on one person though. Someone who she now has new memories of.

Astra.

They were never on the rooftop.

Astra didn’t die on the rooftop.

Astra didn’t die.

“Oh...” Kara breathes. “Oh no.”

“What?” Alex turns to her, dread building up inside of her.

“Um, I might know what one of the changes happens to be.”

That catches everyone’s attention. Everyone except Nia focuses on her, their eyes scanning her face for any hint of a clue as to how bad this is going to be.

Alex squeezes Kara’s hand. “What is it?”

“It’s Astra.”

Alex freezes, the memory of Astra dying in Kara’s arms haunting her as it so often does, not that she often tells anyone that. There’s something different about this recollection though. It’s foggier than usual and a little frayed at the edges.

“She’s alive.” Kara finishes.

Alex’s mouth opens and closes, words sitting on the tip of her tongue but none strong enough to pass her lips. Eventually, she manages to stutter one out. “How?”

Pressing her lips together and rubbing her hands over her thighs, Kara thinks, trying to uncover more pieces to the puzzle. “I’m not totally sure. Something about her not believing in the cause anymore. She disagreed with Non and…” She pauses, hit with a surprising amount of clarity. “She killed Non to protect us. She saved Earth and lived here peacefully with us ever since.”

Kara can’t help it. She knows a massive change in the timeline like this shouldn’t be celebrated. It shouldn’t even be acknowledged really, just something to be dealt with, but this is a good thing. It’s a brilliant thing. Her aunt is alive.

“My aunt is alive.” Kara grins. “She’s alive.”

“Please tell me you’re just randomly celebrating the fact I’ve somehow managed to keep all of us alive as long as I have and not that your aunt Lara is somehow miraculously alive too. She was always a pompous bitch.”

Kara’s head whips around to see Astra leaning up against the doorframe, a startled Kelly at her side and Esme perched on her hip.

“Aunt Astra, you’re really here.” Kara’s voice is filled with wonder. She pushes herself up and walks over to her, stopping just shy of her, too afraid to actually touch her, too scared that this is nothing more than her confused, traumatized mind playing tricks on her.

Astra’s eyebrows pinch together before she hands Esme off to Kelly and closes the gap between them to press the back of her hand to Kara’s forehead. “Kara, are you ill?”

Kara shakes her head. “No. I’m just…” She gives up on trying to formulate words. Instead, she leans into her aunt’s touch before dragging her into a tight hug, her hands clutching at the back of Astra’s shirt so tightly it would rip if her powers had returned.

Everyone appears to be frozen in place as they stare at the scene and Astra catches on to the fact that she’s missing some pretty crucial information very quickly. “So, what have I missed?”

“What do you know?” Kelly probes.

Astra pulls out of the hug but lets her hands trail down Kara’s arms until she finds her hands, holding them securely in hers with no plans on dropping them until she has to. “That you’ve just come back from a mission to Krypton, and I now have the world’s biggest migraine, but this hug is definitely doing wonders to help it. I was hoping Alex would check me over though. I don’t usually get migraines due to my biology, as I’m sure you understand.”  

Brainy sighs, getting ready to recount the same information he already gave everyone when he should be helping Nia monitor the device. Lena saves him though. “I got it, Brainy.”

“Thank you, Lena.”

“You got it.”

Astra looks at Lena expectantly. “So?”

“So, you have a migraine because your timeline is changing in a pretty major way. You’ll be able to remember everything soon.”

“Do you know what the changes are?”

Lena hesitates but nods. “I do.”

“You don’t want to tell me.” Astra gathers from the way Lena’s arms are folded tightly over her chest, and one foot is facing out as though she’s ready to run at a moment’s notice. “Is it really that bad?”

Kara blurts out the truth before Lena can find a tactful way of delivering the news. “You were dead.”

“What?”

“You were dead.”

For early access to the lastest chapters of all my fics and Patreon-only content, take a peek over here!

[evilhorse]

Why, you poor boy, I’m going to help you get back to your Earth.

(Buck Rogers 2430 A.D. Sunday strip)

[galactica7071]

Open up your mind

and let me step inside

Rest your weary head

and let your heart decide

on a more lighthearted note:

[betterdeadthansmeg]

Back to Earth

Part Four

[reddwarfpoll]

Polymorph: The Red Dwarf crew encounters the Polymorph, a genetically engineered space mutant that drains the emotions from humans, that has arrived on-board Red Dwarf.

Back to Earth: It's been a decade since we last saw the crew of Red Dwarf, but while the crew are older they're still none the wiser. When Lister's busy day of annoying Rimmer is interrupted by a monstrous attack, it's pretty much business as usual ­until a shock development throws Rimmer, Lister, Cat and Kryten back to planet Earth.

Photo IDs by @what--the-helliot (also in reblogs)

[miniherodesktales]

Love Cat's steering wheel

[keepingitneutral]

"La Bocatoma," Housing Modules, Rio Blanco, Ecuador,

The architects have collaborated with volunteers from the community for the design and build, with the initiative to foster community tourism and develop shelters that embody the area’s vernacular architecture. 

Across La Bocatoma Housing Modules, the neighboring sector’s prevalent traditional bahareque hut has been reinterpreted, infused with innovative construction expressions.

Prefabricated bahareque panels were developed, reducing execution time and wall thickness while maintaining thermal comfort, while the modules were roofed with paramo straw.

Focus also fell on promoting community work and transferring knowledge to new generations in both academic and community settings.

Courtesy: Cubbil Studio

[smirk-mode]

The true strength of Back to Earth

From rewatching BTE again a few days ago, it’s made me appreciate once again how good this special actually was and I get a bit irritated when so many people in the Red Dwarf fandom deride it simply because it’s not as funny as other installments in the series (spoiler alert – they were purposefully trying something different with BTE – it wasn’t a sitcom. Yes, it was in many ways a Blade Runner parody but it was also more than that, and it was also trying to be more than just a comedy).

For me it’s the storyline with Lister that really makes it worth watching, coupled with how this Despair Squid is far more intelligent and cunning than the one from Back to Reality.

The Squid from back to reality uses simple tactics to try and kill the boys. It makes Cat think he’s a dork, Rimmer a homeless alcoholic with no-one to blame but himself, Kryten a murderer, and Lister a fascist and a mass murderer. Quite quickly they all decide they’d rather be dead than live in that world… But because the illusion this Despair squid created was so thin, they’d probably have twigged they were in an illusion if they’d stuck around any longer.

This second Despair squid is far smarter though. She doesn’t actually want to kill the boys - but she does want them all thoroughly ensnared for a long time so she can escape without a trace. Ultimately, she doesn’t actually care if her victims succumb, so long as by the time everyone does comes round, she’s either legged it, or has made sure she’s not being threatened (which is exactly what happens as they decided to release her at the end of the special).

She’s taken the time to thoroughly psychoanalyse the boys, in particular Lister, and you can view the Bartikovsky, fake Kochanski and other characters as being her avatars through which the boys interact directly with the squid. She starts working on Lister immediately, sensing where he’s at mentally, and what’s on his mind:

Bartikovsky: Adjustment on command structure is essential if one day Lister is to regenerate human race, huh? Lister: Result. You beauty!

As an audience we’re meant to read this at surface-level – Bartikovsky is taking over the ship so that Lister can get laid… But Lister isn’t that a simple character. Rather this comment is a clue to one of the things that’s weighing on his mind – the fact he’s the last human and can do little about it, but still somehow feels responsible.

Elsewhere Bartikovsky sets about tearing strips off Rimmer. This is either because she’s sensed that Rimmer actually kind of enjoys this (he definitely has some sort of punishment kink..), or more likely she's trying to make him realise how badly he's been failing his bunkmate in recent times. It's here that she slips in this line in relation to Lister:

Bartikovsky: It's tragedy. His body lives but inside he is dead.

Again, reading it on a surface level, or with the level of knowledge the audience currently has about the situation at this point, and you could be forgiven for believing that this is a driven career woman trying to understand the habits of an unambitious slob and coming to the conclusion there's something wrong with him... In reality it’s a genuine observation from the squid, who, having recognised how dire Lister’s mental state is, is actually concerned for him (again, this squid’s not actually interested in killing the crew, she just wants to escape by distracting them…).

Having made such a direct observation, she again focuses her attention on Rimmer, angry that the person closest to Lister hasn’t actually noticed his bunkmate’s ongoing mental health crisis.

Bartikovsky: This is your fault. You kill him […] You responsible for his life but you do nothing. You think only of you.

At this point the squid subtly changes tactics. Rather than suddenly being the senior officer so they can somehow find a way to continue the human race, she instead now tells Lister she’s sending him back to Earth to find a mate. She has another go at Rimmer, telling him to get his affairs in order before she essentially nukes him. It’s clear having read the boys minds that she absolutely cannot stand Rimmer!

When they eventually all gather on the deck at Bartikovsky’s order so she can open a portal to Earth, Lister, the eternal optimist, says this:

Lister: Something always goes wrong. I’m not building me hopes up.

If we hadn’t already seen the scene at the memorial, most long-term viewers would flag this up as being out of character, this is Dave “we’re gonna get through this” Lister. He’s the optimist because Rimmer is usually pessimistic enough for everyone!

Moments later the squid enacts the next bit of her plan – she tells everyone that none of them actually appear to exist, helping frame up what’s going to happen when they reach ‘Earth’. This part of her plan is just buying time, but along the way it’s possible to see what her other aim – other than buying time for an escape – was.

(Cue all the nonsense at John Lewis – my least favourite bit of BTE. Incidentally they cut the best scene from this segment!)

At this point though, the squid already has Lister hook, line and sinker. He’s just happy to be back on Earth, and too happy to analyse the situation properly. But this isn’t enough for the squid. She has an ulterior motive that pays off for both her and the Boys – she sends them on a quest to find their creator to plead for more life, while buying more time for herself.

Looking for their creator, the boys now head to a sci-fi store (as you do), where they meet the owner of the shop - another avatar of the squid. This is when the boys find out they have a fan club!

(Also, the inclusion of the bathtub here is rather smart. It lets us know that Kochanski decided to sneak off the ship while Lister was in the bath, which is why he’s in the bath when Kryten tells him that she’s been killed. Lister runs out of the bath to do something (confirm she’s alive or something) and is so distraught when Kryten confirms that she’s dead, that he completely forgets about the bath and spirals into grief and depression… And nine years later the overflowing bathtub destroys Holly).

As well as learning about the fan club, the shop owner gives them a copy of SFX and sends them on the next part of their wild goose chase – on a bus to visit the props guy – also an avatar of the squid – but along the way Lister meets the two kids on the bus… who are also avatars of the squid and are actually the reason for this part of their quest - and not the props guy.

The conversation with the kids is critical for Lister’s character. Absolutely critical. The squid in the guise of the two kids begins to help Lister rebuild himself – cluing him in to the fact that Kochanski is in fact alive, and that he’s “pretty cool” and “quite brave”. But like the rest of the crew, they also thinks he’s “disgusting”. Here the squid also gives him ample reason to change his ways, elaborating that Kochanski couldn’t bear to watch him slowly destroy himself:

Boy: Kryten made it up. Lister: Why would he do that? Girl: You were a mess, falling apart. Boy: Drinking, being daft. Girl: She couldn’t bare to stay and watch you die, and you wouldn’t listen, so she took a Blue Midget and legged it. Lister: …Why would Kryten lie to me? Girl: He was only trying to save your feelings Boy: So you wouldn’t feel like a big, fat loser. You’ve been dumped!

And just after that:

Girl: Next series, try and find her Boy: And kiss her, I would! Lister: There isn’t going to be a next series. I’m a fictional character. I don’t exist. Girl: I think you exist Boy: I do too

After talking to the kids, he has a lot to think about. Are they right? Is Kochanski alive? Did Kryten lie to him? Does he exist? By this point he’s got to be mulling over his life choices. If he’d taken better care of himself, would she have stayed? How could he expect her to stick around if didn’t even care about himself?

At this point Bartikovsky catches back up with them, but the squid knows there’s no further need for this particular character, and gives Rimmer ample reason to kill her off!

Now onwards to Noseworld, and why can Lister read Chinese? Nobody nose! (I'm so sorry)

And now on to Coronation Street, which was included for two main reasons – budget and contracts. This series was funded by Dave which, although owned by the BBC, has other involved commercial partners which include ITV, and for those not in the UK, Coronation Street is an ITV property. Until the 2000s it was extremely uncommon for actors and other celebrities to do work for both the BBC and ITV simultaneously – some people would appear only on the BBC and vice versa. These days it’s much more common for stars to come and go between the two. But even when BTE aired it was still almost unthinkable to see a BBC mainstay visit the cobbles of Coronation Street.

Trivia aside, this scene is also important for Lister (and good on Craig Charles for being a sport here and running with the plotline). Lister meets the actor who plays him, a man who is famous in this reality… and he’s a mess. Lister walks away glad that he’s Lister and not Craig Charles, which makes him feel better about himself!

Also you could say in this scene that this was Craig Charles acting as the Despair Squid acting as Craig Charles!

(and I miss the Lloyd and Steve double act on Corrie)

From here the Squid is starting to run low on stalling tactics, and doesn’t put any other roadblocks in their way to meeting her penultimate avatar – the Creator - but that doesn’t mean there’s no important lines here. Quite the opposite in fact:

Lister: We want more life, smegger Creator: A series cancellation sequence cannot be revised once it is established Lister: What about all the loose ends? Me and Kochanski? Getting back home? Creator: I grew weary of you

There’s a lot in just these few lines. Lister wants to live because he realises he has unfinished business, which includes Kochanski whom he’d previously thought dead. But then there’s the creator’s ‘weary’ comment, which looks to have really upset Lister. Except Lister has just remembered that his life matters, so he’s not so much upset as he is angry…

Creator: You can never win. Accept it and die well. Lister: *nods as if conceding defeat, then lunges forward and attacks the creator, holding both sides of his head* Creator: If you kill me you moron you cease to exist! Haven’t you been following any of this?! Lister: I’ve been dead for ages man, just sitting around, getting old and fat. I never thought I had responsibility to anyone. I never thought there was anyone out there who was on my side, who wanted things to work out. We’ve got a fan club! They’ve even named a TV station after me! I was never alone, I just didn’t realise it. Now I want more life, smegger!

This is one of Lister's most important quotes in the whole series. Lister is openly admitting just how depressed he is. That prior to this squid incident he’s been sitting around waiting to die. But in the last day or so he’s found a reason to live again… and it’s part of the squid’s ultimate plan. She’s led the crew in circles while trying to find a way out of the water tank, but during this time she’s genuinely been concerned by Lister’s state of mind. It’s possible she’d been sensing the crew’s thoughts and feelings the entire time she was aboard ship, but it’s also possible she only read their minds after they came looking for her in the water tank. Either way, while saving herself, she also steps in and tries to help Lister realise he needs to help himself.

But that doesn’t mean that she values Lister’s life over her own, far from it, and that’s where her final avatar comes into play…

Not long after ‘killing’ the creator, the boys finally figure out what Cat’s little origami creations are – they’re little squid. This is all the boys need to figure out their dilemma and work a way out. But while Rimmer, Kryten and the Cat don’t look upset at the realisation, Lister immediately points out that being in this fake world doesn’t make him feel despair – it makes him feel elation. Lister decides that leaving this illusion and returning to the real world means returning to the shell of a person he’s become, and he doesn’t want that.

Lister: In here I’m somebody. It’s made me want to live again.

With her ruse rumbled, the squid knows she can’t keep the boys occupied for much longer, but to ensure her own safety, she decides to keep Lister with her for a little long (probably hoping the boys will be too preoccupied getting him to wake up back in the real world to bother with her).

And Lister, unable to cope with his depression in the real world, and presented with the possibility of a fake future with a fake Kochanski, begins to consider choosing fantasy over reality.

Lister: I can get her back again. Kids. Everything I’ve ever wanted. Kryten: But in the real world, sir, you’ll be dying. This isn’t real. Lister: It’ll feel real *cut to Rimmer and the Cat’s genuinely horrified faces* Kryten: Not in your heart Lister: I’ve got no option Krytie. This is the only chance I’ve got of getting her back again.

At this point, Kryten finally reveals the truth – Kochanski isn’t dead, and he concocted the story of her dying thinking it would be better for him to hear (it wasn’t, obviously). But even hearing that the real Kochanski isn’t dead isn’t enough anymore… By this point Lister thinks he’s found the perfect solution – he’ll get Krissie back for a little bit before he dies. He’s still ready to die here. More than ready in fact. This is basically Lister choosing suicide.

Lister: She’s in here somewhere as well, in fact she’s right behind that door and in this world she loves me. In fact in this world she’s going to love me till the moment I die.

At this point Rimmer, the Cat and Kryten’s antibodies kick in and they wake up. And realise that Lister won’t wake up. When Rimmer wakes up he looks at Lister in horror and worry. Probably with Bartikovsky’s comments ringing in his ears.

When Squid Kochanski appears she makes an interesting observation off the bat. Unlike Lister’s comments about having to stay, she’s picked up on the shred of doubt in his mind:

Squid!Kochanski: Seems you're undecided about which reality you wish to live in. Lister: I’m-m mulling it over. Squid!Kochanski: Would you mind if I ask you a question? Lister: Shoot Squid!Kochanski: In your dreams, did you kiss me? Lister nods Squid!Kochanski: Was it good? Lister, crying: I never wanted to wake up Squid!Kochanski: Then don’t

At this point the squid’s giving him two options – to take on board what he should have learned from this experience, and choose to live, or to take a convenient out by dying of thirst while in her illusion. At this point I don’t think she’s fussy which he chooses as I think she’s already realised the crew aren’t actually much of a threat to her, but she's still essentially offering Lister the chance to put himself out of his misery...

While Lister is stlll making up his mind they go for a drive. Kochanski’s dressed differently at this point so it’s probably been a day or two from Lister’s perspective. And it’s at this point he makes his mind up for good. Lister's spent enough time with Squid!Kochanski to mull over everything that's happened over the last couple of days, while also realising that the real Kochanski would never act like this illusory version (it's probably also why she's dressed so differently to the real Kochanski). And having previously said he has to stay in the illusion, he now says he has to leave.

The squid doesn’t want him to leave for obvious reasons, but there’s no real urgency about her actions anymore. Her attempt to make Lister stay is half-hearted, and perhaps still has another layer to it since she’s been secretly trying to show Lister his worth for most of this experience.

Squid!Kochanski: The real me? You’ll never get me, I’m way out of your league!

At this point, Lister finally seems to have absorbed what she’s been trying to tell him throughout the illusion, by responding to her as follows:

Lister: I thought that too, but I was wrong. Squid!Kochanski: You were right Lister: No. I’m pretty cool. I don’t take any smeg, and even though I’m disgusting, sometimes I can be quite brave Squid!Kochanski: You’ll never get me Lister: Yeah, I will!

And when Lister chooses life, squid!Kochanski doesn’t look upset at all.

The next scene is Lister waking up back aboard the ship, visibly upset, but surrounded by the boys. He instantly realises that they care because they stuck around waiting for him rather than leaving him alone.

After this, it’s ultimately Lister who makes the decision to release the squid when they get the chance, perhaps realising, at least a little bit, just what she did for him.

After leaving the cargo deck they discuss their predicament and finish off by breaking the fourth wall a bit more (newsflash: we’re not real!), with Lister having a chuckle alongside the boys… but when the rest of the boys turn to leave, his smile falls a bit. An indicator that he’s still down, but perhaps on the road to a better place.

So yeah…that was a bit of an essay, but I hope it shows how BTE was actually a bit of a high concept two-hander between Lister and the squid.

BTE might not have had as many laughs as other series, but it wasn’t trying to. Instead this was a great character study of Lister, and at last a TV canon exploration of his mental state, which couldn’t possibly be good given his circumstances in life.

I also like to think that after this, Rimmer went away and had a good long look at himself. Rimmer was at his absolutely peak of selfishness and self-absorbedness at the start of this special and he needed the squid’s reality-check (oh the irony). At the very least I hope he gave Lister a hug and told him not to scare him like that again.

[psychidelias]

I think my brain just spontaneously combusted reading this. I have no words. I can't believe I just found this out either.

Season eight could have made a comeback I think. Like genuinely this would have made so much sense plot wise (and would bring back the original Rimmer for BTE)

[the-desolated-quill]

I know Back To Earth isn’t very popular with the fans, but I’d argue it’s still worth watching purely for Lister and his story. It’s such an emotional arc and Craig Charles gives an absolutely amazing performance. That end scene where he walks away from Kochanski and says that he’s actually pretty cool is such a great moment.

[palatinewolfsblog]

The Son of Man. "You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out God hates all the same people you do." Anne Lamott.