Fanfic Retrospective – Fate of the Children

Fate of the Children wasn’t an early fic for us (Episode 38, so it’s not like we’re green at this point) but was one of those “big deals”. It helped cement our reputation with Evangelion Mary Sue fic, as well as presenting us with a whole mess of situations that would keep reoccurring. Besides, that, there’s no two words about it: FotC was just plain bad. It had an unbearable, over-powered, omnipotent, always-right Mary Sue, one who was never once called on their BS by the others around them. It replaced a canon character with a horrible and inane OC just so that the Sue could sleep with another character. And not just did it crap all over Evangelion’s canon, themes and concepts, but it marginalized the canon to the degree of making them redundant, save for serving as shallow love interests.

It’s also a fic that will not only never see a Rebuild, but I do actually regret MSTing. This might sound odd, but there are a number of genuinely good reasons for this.

Episode 208 – Rebuild of DELTA, part six

Episode 208: Rebuild of DELTA, part six

Why is John special? Why is special John?

Meet John Barren. He’s Special. How is he special? Well, we’re not actually sure, and it’s not like DELTA Invasion makes it clear in any way shape or form. Is he special in that he’s markedly inferior to everyone else in the fic? Is he special in that his backstory changes and contradicts itself within the same chapter? Is he special in that he has previously undiscovered musical talents that perfectly fit Tom’s needs? Or is he special in that his character development consists of other people talking about him? Not much will be revealed in this thrilling, edge of your seat chapter, but if you’re here, you might as well read it anyway!

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

Rebuilding Elmer Studios – Natasha

Natasha was considered to be the “leader” of the B-Team in-world. Why is unclear, but it probably was simply because she was the first to appear, and had a degree of popularity. While she only appeared in five episodes, those five do seem to have left a lasting impression, although that could simply be because she was the first on-scene.

However, Natasha was in a unique situation amongst the B-Team. She’d already been re-tooled not once but twice before the Rebuild of Elmer, which meant that in an interesting way, she required the least amount of work of any character. At the same time, she is the most and least changed.

Episode 207 - Rebuild of DELTA, part five

Episode 207: Rebuild of DELTA, part five

I angry at God I shout!

While gratuitously committing illegal (and arguably treasonous) acts, Tom discovers that NERV has located the 7th Children. Armed with this vital information, he sets about a course of action to make the best use of it: Planning a surprise birthday party for Asuka. Other highlights of this chapter include Tom discovering that his friends have previously unknown musical talents, Tom forming a new band, Tom playing at a high school dance and Tom shouting obscenities into space. That’s right, it’s another of those oddly missable chapters where nothing happens, other than make you think that the author was struggling against an imaginary word and/or chapter count.

Riffers: Dan, Rebecca Bartley, Tsuneo Tataeo and Rick R. Mortis
Written by: Zogster and Rick R

Rebuilding Elmer Studios - The B-Team

The B-Team were born from the initial casting call for the Elmer Studios MSTers. At the time, the pair of us had a reasonably sized crop of characters who we could use for our ‘main’ cast. From that pool, we slimmed it down somewhat to four characters who we decided would be out main cast, but that left us with a not inconsiderable shortlist of ‘also rans’. And while initially we were happy with the main cast, the idea came up to alternate between guest characters on occasion.

Starting from our third (!) episode, we began substituting in characters for others as guest stars. These small-scale substitutions continued for a while, with one of the regulars (Read: Rick) being replaced by whoever we chose to pull out from the character pool that day. Eventually, we developed a small cast of regulars, who became the so-called “B-Team”. For the record, I have no idea when we began using the term, but it clearly fit.

Episode 206 - The Tale of Yurei and Lance

Episode 206: The Tale of Yurei and Lance

If you’re trying to avoid attention then maybe, just maybe, walking around in all black with a sword on your back, a wolf at your side and sitting in the dark corner of a bar while talking to said wolf is not the way to do it.

The first all-new Elmer Studios MSTing! And what better way to celebrate such a momentous occasion then with an incomplete fic based of a long-dead Fandom?

Yeah, I thought so too. Regardless, the Tale of Yurei and Lance is an action-packed tale of stuff! Thrill as our heroes check off RPG clichés as they try to out-enigmatic each other! Laugh as two idiots negotiate! Eat popcorn as the dark secret of Lance Fu-Fu Cuddlypoops’ past might be revealed! Gasp in terror as you realise that not only does the fic have a telepathic wolf, but that it’s also the smartest and most interesting character in the fic! It’s a roller-coaster ride that will leave you hurling!

Riffers: Rebecca Bartley, Natasha Isavia, Matt Simmons and Rick R. Mortis
Written by: Rick R

The Random Delta Invasion Episode Generator

After years of running on an "image", the Random Delta Invasion Episode Generator is back! Updated with a copy of the original source, it is now fully functional and ready for some hot random action. And who knows, it may yet be updated...


At Misato's apartment, Tom and his homies are sleeping. John, Charles and that guy from RaXephon with the bad Kamille Vidan discuss the past and fruit. Meanwhile, at NERV, Kaji and The Baroness are discussing how awesome Tom is. Tom and the gang go out playing Girlfriend of Steel when suddenly the Invador Alert sounds! Thieteen with options for another season Invadors will arrive in drag so the Children arrive in Gendo's Shagin' Wagon. Nerv deploys no EVAs. Tom immediately seeks out the most powerful Invador which has the body of a PIF Donkey, the head of an Ewok, the arms of Boris Yeltsin, the legs of the Abraham Lincon Memorial and lots of tatoos. The Invador attacks Tom with wrestling slashfics. Tom is almost defeated but then he jerks off and destroys the Invador by mashing its pinky. Then he goes and rescues Auska. After the battle, the kids go to have a short holiday in Pyongyang where they discuss how hard the battle was and spend all their yens. At NERV, Ritsuko discovers  Borjarnons burined in a mine.
Up next, Takeshi's Castle!

Rebuilding Elmer Studios – Rebecca

Rebecca was in many ways the “flagship” character of the Elmer Studios MSTings. She appeared in the most episodes (Missing only a few “special event” casting moments) as well as being present for various crossover episodes as the Elmer representative.

Unfortunately, looking back in retrospect, she also needed the most work.

What worked?

At her core, there were a lot of things about Rebecca’s character that worked well. Her ‘I’m smarter then you’ attitude was a great foundation, allowing us to throw in some rather clever riffs at times. She was a great excuse to do things that were obscure and often morel iterate then the usual material we’d use (the “farewell to arms” joke in one episode comes to mind). It made for a fun contrast, especially to Rick and Dan.

As noted before, her history with Dan and their shared antagonisim was great stuff that provided us with a lot of material; the pair of them bickering and playing off each other worked fantastically. Likewise, the sense of menace inherent in her was great stuff, causing a degree of tension and allowing her to get away with a lot more then she should have, though the latter was helped by her position as the ‘token girl’.

Episode 205 - Rebuild of DELTA, part four

Episode 205: Rebuild of DELTA, part four

I swore on my father’s grave that I would not rest until I had won an entirely unrelated fighting tournament.

A dark shadow from Tom’s generic tragic past looms incredibly large over the cast! He’s Jeff Garyn, he’s your worst nightmare (Not mine, by the way, but maybe yours) and he wants No Witnesses! Years ago, he killed Tom’s Uncle and now he’s back to finish the job. How will Tom deal with this new threat? He does what any man would do – enter a martial arts tournament and effortlessly crush one-line generic jobbers (It’s what any man would do). Will Tom win? Will Jeff have No Witnesses? Will we care? Oh, and there’s also something about enigmatic alien Invadors. Maybe. It's hard to tell and sure as heck I'm not bothering to check.

Riffers: Dan, Rebecca Bartley, Tsuneo Tataeo and Rick R. Mortis
Written by: Zogster and Rick R