That's okay, I didn't need my feelings anyway.

I love both sides of this. Listers, because it must've been hard to finally get past all of Rimmers walls and finally, finally maybe be considered something close to a friend, only to have the universe decide that Lister hasn't suffered enough yet, and take Rimmer away, only to replace him with Rimmer as he was before six years past. To take one step forward, six steps back... Frustrating.

Rimmer, well, its not like he asked for any of it. Its not his fault that he missed out on six years of progress, and he won't just catch up in a week or anything. To know that there is a better you out there must be horrible, but not even that, a better you that started out exactly like you did, and improved. Then they left and left you to deal with the aftermath, even though you can't because you don't have the experience to deal with it.

And I'm sorry for ranting like that, I just really liked this story.

~Vithian

Ooh, the raw pain in this story, of the forever-dysfunctional friendship that never really was. Brilliantly done, and perfectly in character the whole time. I love how you've shown Lister's tiredness, and how he actually grew attached to one of the Rimmers. I also appreciate how you wrote Rimmer here, like a kicked puppy that's truly trying to do its best but "knows its place" as insufficient. Poor boys. I'd love to read more from you! :)

I really liked this, especially these lines here:

"Fate certainly knows how to screw a man. Just take away everything he cares about, but don’t stop there… take everything away, then give something back, something back that’s broken."

That's just such an evocative image, really heartbreaking, and I can totally buy it. Your characterisation for both characters here really fits with how I think they'd react to this situation and the things that they would struggle with. Nicely done :)

Gorgeously painful reading on both sides. Thanks for sharing this lovely oneshot. Which community on LJ is this? Don't think I've seen it before - can you drop me a PM if you get a chance? Ta

Oh, beautiful. The heartbreak just builds and builds in all the right ways.