Episode 401 - Bubblegum Shift, chapter 2

Episode 401: Bubblegum Shift, chapter 2

I mean, he could be illegally flying a heavily armed helicopter gunship around a major metropolis for purely benign reasons.

Given that this is a gripping action story of killer robots, high-tech vigilantes, immortal shapeshifter conspiracies and helicopter gunships, the next chapter of Bubblegum Shift is about exactly what you expect. That’s right, corporate land deals and the associated rezoning disputes. And if that doesn’t thrill you, then I suppose you could go with the idea of a gripping robot battle in which you have to ask why anyone built an office tower with extensive anti-missile defences and a self-destruct system, because to me that sounds like the work of a slightly unhinged mind. So take a seat at your hardwood desk with attendant minigun turrets for the next part of Bubblegum Shift for a thrilling round of saving Sho’s Mother’s life. Whatever her name is.

Riffers: ?, ?, ? and ?
Written by: Zogster and Rick R.

Episode 400 - Bubblegum Shift, chapter 1

Episode 400: Bubblegum Shift, chapter 1

They’re here to kick arse and chew Bubblegum Crisis, and they’re all out of Bubblegum Crisis.

When two sinister immortal shapeshifter conspiracies go to war in the futuristic metropolis of Mega-Tokyo, it’s up to Jim ‘Darkwind’ Williams (yes, this really is his name) to try and make sure that the right sinister immortal shapeshifter conspiracy wins. To this end, he must move subtly and discretely, and by that I mean he’s going to fly around in a heavily armed helicopter gunship blowing stuff up. In the meantime, his partner Kathy is going to infiltrate an elite supertech police force with a threadbare cover for no apparent reason, but this is still all a part of his plan. All this plus killer robots and maybe some guys called the Knight Sabers and you have the first portion of Bubblegum Shift. It’s very nineties in a retro-eighties way!

Riffers: ?, ?, ? and ?
Written by: Zogster and Rick R.

Episode 399 - Fragments of Zero, chapter 8

Episode 399: Fragments of Zero, chapter 8

Besides which, we got our own nukes, with strippers and blackjack.


Having finally begun to get some semblance of motion, Fragments of Zero decides to drop the interstellar bug war in favour of having a beach episode, as one does. Naturally, this features about six dozen supporting characters each mugging each other for camera time as it becomes clear that the fic has no idea how to manage their cast and, potentially, no idea how big said cast actually is. Of course, it’s not all fun and games as Shigeru needs to push along a few vital plot points that would have occurred without him, but he has to make it all about him anyway. And while supporting OC #4691 actively fails at being a bodyguard and the evil transhumanist conspiracy remind us that they exist, the fic judders to a halt without answering one question: what is zero, and why do we have fragments of it?

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

Episode 398 - Fragments of Zero, chapter 7

Episode 398: Fragments of Zero, chapter 7

Rule one, never get into hand to hand combat with something that has more arms than you.

After forty-eight chapters of prelude (and Shigeru being slappably smug) we finally get to the actual plot (and more of Shigeru being slappably smug). And as the obligatory concert is interrupted by the obligatory alien war bug attack, Shigeru gets to literally shoving the canon cast out of the fic. In the meantime, everyone talks about the fact that dances are a thing that exist and how it’s possible to drink a juice box in anger while they probably should actually be dealing with the aforementioned alien war bug attack instead of putting it off for somebody else to handle. But you know, priorities and all that. So grab your animated soda mascot and play a solo round of Hungry Hungry Hippos for the next portion of Fragments of Zero.

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

Episode 397 - Fragments of Zero, chapters 3-6

Episode 397: Fragments of Zero, chapters 3-6

Ma’am, I’m just here to get paid, so... If you’d leave out the sinister innuendos, that would be swell.

In this next portion of Fragments of Zero, Shigeru is an obnoxious, overbearing jackarse and everybody talks him up. Meanwhile, his sister is utterly clueless and wastes precious text while everybody talks her up. On top of that, his mother is completely insane, but everybody talks her up no less. We’re also introduced to even more OCs who doubtless will have people talking them up as well in short order. If you’ve noticed a pattern forming here then you’ve probably begun to figure out how this fanfic works. Throw in some more completely unmemorable and indistinguishable minor videogame characters and possibly an alien bug attack and you’re all set for this chapter. (nondescript plot complicating disease not withstanding)

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

Episode 396 - Fragments of Zero, chapters 1-2

Episode 396: Fragments of Zero, chapters 1-2

How am I supposed to kick-start the Singularity under these conditions? It’s just intolerable.

Meet Generic Shonen Protagonist Shigeru F. Kodo, your basic general purpose hotshot pilot guy. He and his elite team of dating sim characters are here to save Macross Frontier from its canon cast so he can, of course, be the middle of everything. But it’s not just about him, however. I mean, there’s also his OC sister who exists to talk him up as well. And to make matters worse, he has to take time out from needlessly annoying a famous singing star to avoid his insane mother and possibly fight a galaxy-wide alien bug war. I’ll let you guess which one of those is more important to this fic, but if you’ve made it this far you’ve probably already figured it out.

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

Episode 395 - Shadow of a Phoenix, chapters 26-28

Episode 395: Shadow of a Phoenix, chapters 26-28

Alright, all the constant door handle instructions have been leading to this moment!


Seven years. Just keep repeating that figure in your heard as you read through this, the last (but by no means final) part of Shadow of a Phoenix. So what does the fic have to show for itself after so long? Well the answer is not much, really. In this, its dying breaths, we get an uninteresting interview with a corporate executive, an elevator ride and god-awful interior décor. And that’s it. No conclusion, no resolution, no nothing. And yet, this fic being itself, it still takes forever to get nowhere. So it’s time to get your 5mm grid paper and your loot sack then sit in your office alone and drink all day for this, the unepic unconclusion to Shadow of a Phoenix.

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