Rebuild of Elmer Studios, year fourteen

 The fourteenth year of the Rebuild of Elmer Studios saw us achieve a significant milestone, reaching episode 500. Admittedly we’re not entirely sure if it actually was episode five hundred or if we had 500 episodes previously, but it’s close enough for us. We got a total of fifteen episodes out, which means that we were able to maintain our planned one episode per month release rate during the course of the last year. That schedule is one that we are fully intending to maintain for the foreseeable future.

This last year gave us a rather mixed bag of fics across a number of different fandoms. However, none of them managed to really dominate the year as has happened in past. None the less, there were ones that were memorable for a variety of reasons, and one that is very dear to me for a very, very strange reason.

So let’s take a look back at this last year and see what we had.

Episode 505 - Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Genesis Breakers, chapters 5-8

Episode 505: Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Genesis Breakers, chapters 5-8

She's a special operations space murder cyborg nepo-baby from Mars. Normal is a relative term.

As Gate probes the mysteries of an unknowable alien superintelligence, we are left with a single burning question: who is Thomas Wisette and why do we care enough about him to have an entire chapter dedicated to his backstory? Are we really that invested in his observations of Jupiter, the research he does online or his thesis paper that we had to learn all about it in pointless detail? And most importantly, why are we wasting time on this when Eagle, Simmons and Necessary have basically done nothing to justify their existence? Doesn’t matter, he’s dead now anyway. So get your presidential advisory AI and your whimsical child’s painting of an alien fortress for the next four chapters of Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Genesis Breakers. And how do you drop a submarine from space anyway?

Riffers: Dan, Rebecca Bartley, Tsuneo Tateo and Rick R. Mortis

Written by: Zogster and Rick R.

Episode 504 - Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Genesis Breakers, chapters 1-4

Episode 504: Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Genesis Breakers, chapters 1-4

I have made peace with the bandits by killing all the bandits.

Thirty years after enigmatic aliens conquered the Earth a super cool team (consisting of space murder cyborg, snap-frozen terrorist, that guy, that other guy and a psychic schoolgirl because its anime and you have to have one) are sent to discover who these mysterious space crabs are and what they actually want while also selling new toys. Naturally it all goes bad, but fortunately our hero Gate is here to make sure that everything gets so much worse before its done. So grab your beloved ride armour and your hologram uncle for the first four chapters of Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Genesis Breakers. Strict one chimney limit, bring your own wolf.

Riffers: Dan, Rebecca Bartley, Tsuneo Tateo and Rick R. Mortis

Written by: Zogster and Rick R.

Episode 503 - Bubblegum Force, chapters 6-7

Episode 503: Bubblegum Force, chapters 6-7

The dystopian cyberpunk artisan cheese shop district

After an interminable eternity of faffing around punctuated with awkward silences and school meetings, the plot of Bubblegum Force finally starts in its final section. Evil Genom executive Patrick J. Starfish launches his evil plan to do something evil only to immediately be undercut by everyone around him and then be killed off anyway without accomplishing anything before the fic begrudgingly gives us the robot fight we've been hanging out for. So get your discrete laser-armed space shuttle and your most subtle giant war robot for the final portion of Bubblegum Force, which features a genuinely unexpected twist in as far as Largo doesn't return.

Riffers: ?, ?, ? and ?

Written by: Zogster and Rick R.

Episode 502 - Bubblegum Force, chapters 4-5

Episode 502: Bubblegum Force, chapters 4-5

Oh yeah. Those moon guys are the worst

Dear lavender haired girl. All I was trying to do was inexplicably menace a small child when you walked into my life. You looked so small and dainty in your dress that it was hard for me not to laugh at you despite the fact that I am merely a murderous robot. And yet, I felt so angry at your interruption that I wanted to destroy you there on the spot, my mission utterly forgotten. I took a swing at you, but you caught my hand in yours, without any effort. You looked at me with your curious amber eyes and that mysterious smile as you then effortlessly crushed my hand in yours. But in truth, you crushed the mechanical fuel pump that passes for my heart.

Bubblegum Force, won’t you?

Riffers: ?, ?, ? and ?

Written by: Zogster and Rick R.

Zogster’s Top Five Fics

 

We do fanfics that are bad. That’s the whole point. But there’s different kinds of bad. While I spend a lot of time clenching while reading, there are some fics that stick out because, for whatever strange reason, I genuinely enjoyed them. A lot of them spring from the sincerity in the writing, while others have me more laughing like a maniac trying to make sense of them. Or of course, a fic can do both.

So here’s my top five fics that I sat back and enjoyed, each with their own distinct appeal.

Episode 501 - Bubblegum Force, chapters 2-3

Episode 501: Bubblegum Force, chapters 2-3

I feel safe in your arms, killer robot

In order to maintain a low profile, Lufy joins the ADP as a combat pilot with an obviously fake resume that wouldn't hold up under scrutiny. Naturally everyone accepts this without question, especially after she goes out on an unauthorised mission that results in multiple deaths and more chunks of the city blowing up. Her plan of course was to add even more Gall Force characters to the fic (Shildy, Catty II, whats-her-name and the other one) which won't clutter up this narrative in the slightest. So, light a cigarette as you drive a tanker full of highly explosive fuel through a densely populated residential areas for the second part of Bubblegum Force. And ignore the way that Catty and Sylia are glowering at each other. Nothing going on there at all, no sir.

Riffers: ?, ?, ? and ?

Written by: Zogster and Rick R.