Episode 404 - Bubblegum Shift, chapter 5

Episode 404: Bubblegum Shift, chapter 5

Helping build a better murderbot for a brighter tomorrow

You’d think that when a key member of your secret conspiracy has lost their memory that the best thing to do would be to sit on them and make sure that nobody tries to take advantage of this development. So naturally, Rob and Kathy decide to let Jim “Nightfart” Williams run around on his own, take his helicopter gunship out for a spin and angrily ride his motorcycle off over the horizon with nary a concern. And yet, they both have the gall to be surprised when one of Jim’s many, many enemies essentially kidnaps him and effortlessly cons him into turning against them. Yes, it’s all that you’ve come to expect from this fic only with more rambling author manifestos. So get your best fake Tennessee accent and optional tiger for the final part of Bubblegum Shift. Note: not a conclusion at all.

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

Rebuild of Elmer Studios, year eight

With the conclusion of the eight year of Elmer Studios, we have now completely outlived the original incarnation, both in terms of lifespan in raw time and the episode count. Even allowing for side projects and collaborations, we now have more “modern” Elmer Studios episodes then “classic ones”. And as I type this, we likely have enough material to carry us through to a ninth year.

In this last year we completed twenty-one episodes (well, actually twenty, but Episode 404 is in final edit as I type this. As can be seen from previous years, this sort of pace has become the new normal for us; my goal of two episodes per month has sadly proven to be unrealistic for what is, in essence, a casual hobby project. However, we still did have a number of good episodes in that last year.

It also needs to be said that this last year was the victim of two massive reschedules that also threw off our planning. One of those was a fic that had already not only been entered into the schedule, but also begun work on the riffing; as such, removing it from the schedule changed a lot of other things around. One of the reshuffled fics is still to come; when you read it, you’ll begin to understand why it was moved.

Episode 403 - Bubblegum Shift, chapter 4

Episode 403: Bubblegum Shift, chapter 4

I see nothing that could go wrong with letting a heavily armed masked mercenary vigilante walk around our secret and highly illegal base

James “Darkwind” Williams, immortal shapeshifter, billionaire CEO, member of an ancient conspiracy and recreational helicopter gunship pilot has amnesia. Faced with this terrible development, people stand around and talk about it. And that’s it, really. That’s all that happens in this chapter. Still, we find out that DarkWind was ready to launch a full-scale war for control of MegaTokyo that would have destroyed the city because the good guy and that his secret arsenal of tanks was for purely peaceful purposes, and that’s something, I guess. Not like there’s much else going on, really. So plug into your proprietary charger and blab out all your deepest secrets for the next slab of Bubblegum Shift! It’s got a killer car, or something.

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

Episode 402 - Bubblegum Shift, chapter 3

Episode 402: Bubblegum Shift, chapter 3

You’re an eccentric billionaire CEO. Taking your bike to the track for the weekend is perfectly normal. Hell, you can shoot it into space and be hailed as a genius.

The war between the two near identical shapeshifter conspiracies heats up as those guys send out killer robots to attack those other guys. And if that description seems rather vague and useless, then treasure it as it’s about as good a summary of the plot of this fic as I can actually manage. Having lost his giant office building in a robot attack, Jim moves in with Kathy so he can plot his next move from the comfort of her sofa. Does Kathy get a say in this? Probably not, but it’s not like she’s an actual person anyway, so who cares, right? Meanwhile, we vaguely allude to that one Bubblegum Crisis episode with the car (you know, that one) and have an awkward dinner date and some office politics in the name of slowly edging the plot along in this next chunk of Bubblegum Shift. Now with some guy called Bert!

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

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.