Interstitial: Actual Play (Podcast)

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Jo: This show will have a tonal variance unlike what any program has ever attempted! Because this game is inspired by the Kingdom Hearts franchise, it will have deep and meaningful encounters about friendship and the power of relationships, but we're also—
Wheels: Gonna play characters from anything that Disney owns!
Hazel: We definitely had an in-depth conversation about the logistics of playing Encino Man!

— Conversation from Episode 1, setting the tone for the rest of the series.

Interstitial: Actual Play is an Actual Play podcast designed to play test the Interstitial: Our Hearts Intertwined game system. After the game was successfully kickstarted within twenty four hours, the game's creator Riley Hopkins joined forces with the team from Got It Memorized? and their friends to have an adventure within the world of Kingdom Hearts, which inspired the game.

Season 1, retroactively titled Identity, lasted from July 6 to October 5, 2018. After its conclusion, a series of one-shot Door to Darkness adventures were released. The second season, titled Authority was recorded through the fall of 2018 and began releasing April 5, 2019. Riley, Jo, and Wheels initially announced that there were no further plans on a third season, though Extra Life specials were released in the podcast feed in 2019 and 2020 (and as videos in 2021 and 2022) as a reward for reaching their donation goals for their streams.

A third season, Proximity, was eventually recorded in 2021 and began releasing on January 7, 2022. Though episodes were released on a weekly schedule, those who donated to the now-defunct Got It Memorized? Patreon were able to access the full season early. A fourth season, Infinity, was recorded in 2023 and began releasing on January 26th, 2024. Following the shuttering of the original feed and the Got It Memorized? patreon, it and all future seasons of Interstitial will be released as a part of the Riley Hopkins & their Amazing Friends Podcast.

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Works Featured in the Interstitial Podcast (contains spoilers):

Season 1

Door to Darkness

Season 2 and Extra Life Specials

Season 3

Season 4

This Podcast Contains the Following Tropes:

Season 1: Identity

In a world where the only rule is that people and places are connected to Disney or Final Fantasy, and even then canon is nebulous, these heroes find themselves tearing through all manner of strange and wonderful worlds in the hope of defeating old and new enemies alike and keep a sinister plot from developing. The players for the inaugural season consist of:

Wheels (they/them pronouns) as Criss Angel Mindfreak. A two-bit magician from our world, and a former student of Yen Sid. Technically a Disney property due to his series airing on A&E, which is owned by Disney. Uses the Mystic Playbook.
Jo (they/them) as Roxanne. Originally from A Goofy Movie, this is a version who became a memetic college burnout. Uses the Light Playbook.
Hazel (she/her) as Edith. An original character from our world who was a member of a Cult dedicated to Gadget from Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Upon her world being consumed by darkness she lost her memory and joined with the rest of the party. She lost her memory, but managed to hold on to one of her Gadget toys as a memento to her original world. Uses the Friend Playbook.
Jory (he/him) as Marche Radiuju. A teenager who spent an unknown amount of time in a fantasy world, and returned home only to find himself lost again. Uses the Displaced Playbook.
Riley (they/them): The GM, voicing all the various characters the party comes across.

Tropes for Season 1:

Accidental Truth: When Riley asks for someone to name any property, Hazel blurts out Twin Peaks before regretfully saying that there's no connection between the show and Disney. Riley quickly corrects her because the show aired on ABC, and thus Mr. C drives into the battlefield and turns his car into a mech suit.
Adaptational Sexuality: Criss Angel and David Blaine are presumably straight in real life, but in the fiction of Interstitial the two of them are ex-boyfriends. By the end they're clarified as gay and bisexual respectively.
A Rare Sentence: Edith telling Doctor K "I don't agree with you! I don't think you're giving Criss Angel enough credit! He's a good guy, he's doing his best!" Which seems pretty mundane, but do remember that this is Edith trying to convince K that Criss Angel should be the black ranger.
- In episode 14, Riley tells the party that "David Blaine has been kidnapped from Criss Angel's heart and is being held captive in the castle".
Arc Symbol: The letter χ, just as in the main Kingdom Hearts games.
Arrow Catch: Marche is able to grab one of Luxord's cards out of the air when it's thrown at him.
Axes at School: Accidentally occurs in the second episode when the party realizes that they've brought all of their weapons (including Edith's tranquilizer gun, which looks exactly like a real gun) to East High.
Back from the Dead: Edith has a move that can accomplish this, and she uses it on Larxene, though we don't see the results until several episodes after her death. This also occurs with Roxanne, as her death leads to her regaining her somebody identity as Ennora.
BFG: DiZ has one that they use to destroy a moon early on, and later fatally fires it at Roxanne.
BFS: Marche gets to wield his Judge Blade.
- Inverted with Tagdegx. They wield the Buster Sword, which is huge for them, but their tiny body means it's only about as big as a dagger for everyone else.
Brilliant, but Lazy: Roxanne has a lot of potential, but she tends to give up or wash out of anything that requires too much effort (like college).
Broken Pedestal: Inverted when Criss admits he wasn't a Keyblade master and actually flunked out of Yen Sid's tutelage. The others are glad he felt comfortable sharing that with them, and Roxanne grows closer to him (symbolized by her Mastery link with him becoming a Heart Link).
Brought Down to Normal: Criss uses a series of successful moves to turn the Smoke Monster back into the Man in Black, who he then kills with a single punch.
Car Fu: Edith and Marche decide to use this in order to defeat a giant Nobody Dragon, sacrificing the Bugatti in the process.
Captain Obvious: When Edith asks Larxene if she's in danger, she points out that last time she talked to the party she got shot. So yes.
Chain Pain: Criss can use his magic to manipulate his chain wallet of varying length and use it as either a weapon or a grappling method.
Chekhov's Gun: The players make links with any character they have a significant encounter with, but usually only hold on to the ones that are thematically important for their development. As such they can get in a dangerous situation and then burn a link that was made several episodes ago and then never elaborated on.
The Chosen One: Ennora, Roxanne's Somebody, is played with The Chosen playbook.
The Conscience: David Blaine is this for Criss Angel. In his backstory during his time as Yen Sid's student, Criss sought out Darkness to become stronger and David tried to save him. Criss banished him, so now David exists inside Criss' heart as the voice that keeps him in the Light..
Collapsing Lair: The Island begins to self destruct the more the party fights off the Organization's forces in the Castle that Never Was.
Cool Car: Criss Angel's Bugatti, which can fly and travel through Gummy Space. It can also deploy a pair of turret drones in a fight.
Damned by Faint Praise: When Merlin thinks the dropout from Yen Sid's class is Edith rather than Criss, Criss defends her by claiming that she doesn't have nearly the potential Yen Sid looks for in a student and would never be taught by him.
- While trying to brag about his companions, Criss gives impressive images of two and then implies the most interesting thing about Marche is that he can drive a car.
Darkest Hour: The climax of episode 15. The Organization has captured and restrained our heroes, Larxene has seemingly rejoined them, and DiZ is readying his weapon that will return everyone to their own worlds forever.
Dawson Casting: In-universe, the High School Musical cast all look like they're in their twenties, which helps Edith and Roxanne blend in.
Defector from Decadence: Larxene clearly didn't like being part of the Organization and happily betrays them when given the chance. Edith easily picks up on the fact that such a betrayal is a long time coming.
Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When Scott tries to defend Edith against Doctor K sniping at her for wanting to leave to other worlds, Edith snaps at Scott, claiming she can handle things herself.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Invoked by the players when discussing how Roxanne and Ennora are separate entities despite their similarities, and referring to the latter with the former's name would be equivalent to deadnaming them.
Dressing as the Enemy: Edith's Costume Change move can also be used to disguise herself as a Dusk and sneak up on Luxord.
11th-Hour Ranger: The party is joined by two additional members in the final few episodes. Larxene completes her Heel–Face Turn to help them take down the Organization, and Roxanne's somebody Ennora is resurrected and rejoins them as well.
Establishing Series Moment: Within the first few minutes the players discuss how the game is both about the relationships between people and creating weird crossovers, though they clarify that they're sticking to things owned by Disney and Square Enix. Then they mention that Encino Man is a valid character. But the true establishing moment is when Wheels announces their player character as Criss Angel.
Jo: How is it so much better and worse than I could've possibly imagined?!
Fair-Weather Mentor: Merlin. He actively causes problems for the party under the guise of helping them find information on the Organization, but when he finally does actually tell them things it's only stuff the party already knew, and him tasking them to go to other worlds and stop the Organization is redundant because that's what they were already doing. The only reason they stopped near him was to get gas.
Fish out of Water: All the characters were taken from their own worlds and lost amongst the Kingdom Hearts worlds. Marche is this several times over, since he spent his game lost in another world and has now become lost in several others .
Flanderization: Steve Rogers is boiled down to two character aspects: an amicable fellow and a plucky fighter.
Foreshadowing: Two moments foreshadow the reveal that Roxanne is actually the Nobody of Ennora.
- Near the start of the series the group jokes that Roxanne must be a Nobody because she has an X in her name. This wasn't meant to be foreshadowing, but afterwords Jo and Riley discussed the idea and worked it into the plot.
- When Larxene tells the group what DiZ is doing gathering people like her, she gestures to Roxanne and says "not like you".
Flying Car: The party's inter-world vessel is a take on the Regalia Type-F from Final Fantasy XV; specifically a Bugatti with airship propellers.
Foregone Conclusion: Riley briefly plays coy when he tells the party about a yellow moon that they can't quite see the shape of before admitting that they obviously all know it's Kingdom Hearts.
Full-Name Ultimatum: While David Blaine taunts Criss Angel, he refers to him as Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos.
Funny Animal: Criss, Edith, and Marche turn into animals when they enter the Sonic World (a bat, a mouse, and a cockatiel respectively). Subverted with Roxanne, who turns into a person. When they find Larxene, she's a hedgehog herself.
Good News, Bad News: Criss does this in episode 12. The good news is that, since he's seen Lost, he knows what the Smoke Monster is. The bad news is that the show never really fleshed it out, so it has no well-defined weaknesses.
Guns Akimbo: Shadow the Hedgehog and Xigbar, naturally.
Hammerspace: Criss' bucket that he has in his Janitor disguise in East High also stores the party's weapons, including the giant Judge Blade.
Healing Shiv: Edith is able to use her gun to also give her teammates buffs by shooting at them.
Heel–Face Turn: Larxene decides to help the party out after DiZ has her assassinated and Edith subsequently keeps her from fading away.
Heroic BSoD: Edith falls into one after Roxanne dies. She's so distraught that not even a talking chipmunk can phase her.
- She falls into another one when Criss lets it slip that her world was consumed by darkness, though this time it's played for laughs.
High-Speed Battle: Occurs in the Sonic world between the heroes in the Bugatti, a fleet of car Heartless ("Cartless"), and Larxene, who's taken the form of a hedgehog and has thus has super speed.
I Callit Vera: Criss Angel's flying Bugatti can spawn a pair of turrets named Sigfried and Roy.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Marche desperately wants to return to normalcy, so as soon as he lands in the High School Musical world he acts like a proper student in an attempt to regain that feeling.
Inn Between the Worlds: The Island from Lost appears as a stand in for Traverse Town, holding the characters from the show alongside Chip and Dale, Mewt Randell, teenage Boba Fett, and Steve Rogers.
It's All My Fault: Edith blames herself for Roxanne's death.
Kick the Dog: Doctor K accuses Edith (who's lost her memory) of abandoning her own world when she tries to get permission to leave the RPM world. It's so harsh that Roxanne jumps to her defense immediately.
Kids Driving Cars: Criss starts teaching Marche how to drive. He's apparently a better driver than Criss is, although part of this is due to Criss' habit of jerking the steering wheel or slamming the brakes to make sure everyone's paying attention.
- Eventually, this leads to the Bugatti being used as a missile.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: Edith can't remember anything about her past, with the only clue being the Gadget toy she held on to after being sucked out of her world.
Little Bit Beastly: Roxanne is almost entirely human, except for her four-fingered hands and slight dog nose.
Meaningful Background Event: The Bugatti being sacrificed to destroy a Nobody Dragon and exploding occurs out-of-focus and in the background of the fight between Criss and Xigbar.
Meaningful Rename: Ennora's Nobody was named Roxanne. Of course, when Ennora is restored, all the others refer to her as such and acknowledge that even though she has many aspects of Roxanne, she is a separate entity.
Mentor Archetype: Criss Angel becomes a mentor to Marche after the latter stumbles into the bubble-world that Criss had to make when he was sucked into Gummy Space.
Mood Whiplash: While Edith sits stunned at the spot where Roxanne died, clutching a genuine gun and numb to anything else around her, Criss suddenly asks: "Where is my car?" It exploded when Edith and Marche drove it at a dragon.
Riley: Smash cut to a smoldering fire, twisted metal everywhere, and a dove flying past.
Morphic Resonance: After morphing into RPM Series Black, Edith's gun changes to look like...herself. It's a shotgun shaped like her unmorphed body where the bullets fire from her mouth.
My Greatest Second Chance: Criss sees Ennora's restoration as a chance to have a genuine friendship with Roxanne rather than an acerbic teacher-mentor relationship. He recognizes she's a different person, but the emotional resonance is still there for him.
Never My Fault: Merlin considers the data replicas of Organization XIII getting released into the Hundred Acre Wood book as a crazy coincidence, even though he blatantly messed up the pages of the book and his notes due to his own clumsiness.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Criss' plan to defeat the Smoke Monster is use his magic to portal away the plug that keeps the island's magic contained. It brings the Smoke Monster back down to normal, but also causes the island to begin to self-destruct.
Not Quite Dead: Two figures pop up on the Lost island that were previously believed dead. First is Ennora, who was presumed destroyed when she became the Nobody Roxanne. Second revealed is David Blaine, previously believed to dead after Criss banished him.
Off the Rails: Partway through episode 3, the party gets split when Criss successfully jumps through the dark portal out of East High after Luxord.
Oh, No... Not Again!: The team realize that one of the Organization Replica's they're fighting is Vexen when he shouts this after Roxanne bisects him with Axel's Chakram.
One-Hit-Point Wonder: The data replicas of the Organization that accidentally get released into the Hundred Acre Wood have two hitpoints each and are easily defeated.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Criss snapping at Mewt after the latter starts fanboying over him shows how much Criss is affected by Roxanne's death.
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Wheels mentions in the first episode that they have to go through a small spiel to get into Criss' proper voice, otherwise it starts to slip into Trump.
Power Armor: When Roxanne uses the X-Keychain, she gets a set of Keyblade armor.
- Mr. C has a suit made out of his car.
Press X to Not Die: Riley envisions Roxanne and Criss' battle against DiZ in the Sonic the Hedgehog World as one of these, where they have to press triangle to bounce off the floating islands and evade his cannon fire.
The Power of Friendship: The links between the characters, both players and NPCs, are an important mechanic in the game.
Reality Warper: Ennora has a move called "Prophesize", which allows them to state one thing that is unequivocally true once in the game. They turn to DiZ and declare "This is where the Organization overthrows you".
Remember the New Guy?: Edith invokes this in episode 2. When Ms. Darbis asks her to introduce herself to the class, she just claims that she's been going to the school for the past four years. Everyone buys it.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Larxene decides to help the party rather than their own associates since they don't like them very much. Not long after that, they get shot by Diz and begin to fade into darkness.
Sealed Evilin A Can: Larxene briefly gets stuck inside one of Luxord's cards. They don't hold very well, so Marche has to keep her trapped by holding the card facedown.
Sequence Breaking: The group gets stuck in the Black Forest from King's Quest V until Salem realizes that, since the world isn't finished being built yet, they don't have to stick to the path.
Shoot the Bullet: Edith is able to shoot some of Luxord's cards out of the air with her darts.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: When DiZ tries to convince Roxanne they would have been stronger had they stayed with him and the rest of the Organization, they just shout back "I hate you!" and start attacking.
- In episode 15, Remedy tries to convince everyone that separating all worlds from one another is a good thing.
Remedy: Once the worlds are closed off everything will work out. Everyone will go back. That is what Xemnas has been helping us achieve.
Criss: But it's so boooring! *deep sigh* Everyone lives their little closed-off lives, no one meets anyone interesting, no one helps each other.
Summon Magic: The move "Light Portal", which allows anyone the player knows to portal in if they're willing. Criss uses one to summon Shadow the Hedgehog in a fight against Xigbar.
Take a Third Option: When having to choose between wielding her Keyblade and steering the Bugatti in a fight against Heartless, Roxanne instead jumps out of the car and into the car-heartless to take control of it instead.
Team Dad: Criss is the designated father figure of the party.
Theme Music Power-Up: The Mind Freak theme begins playing while Criss strides towards Luxord and throws the rest of the party their weapons.
- When Marche manages to block a gunshot from Mr. C with the Captain America shield, a Powerline-style cover of the Captain America theme to start playing.
This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Subverted. Criss tries to save David Blaine on his own in episode 14, but soon realizes he should ask his friends for help—and they gladly join him, since they've been waiting for him to ask for help since the adventure started.
Throw It In!: Several occurances.
- Riley didn't initially realize that the Master Emerald was kept in a place called Angel Island, but once Hazel points it out he takes that info and runs with it.
- In episode 12 Riley describes a stomping sound emerging from the forest. Jo asks if Diz has AT-ATs. Riley only intended to describe the Smoke Monster from Lost, but likes the idea so much they combine the two into a single Nobody that they dub "the Smo-body".
- At the end of the same episode, Riley asks the party to name literally any property. Hazel picks Twin Peaks and so Mr. C appears wearing a suit of Powered Armor made out of his car.
- The reveal that Roxanne was a Nobody of Ennora began as a joke before the players discussed it further off screen and introduced it into the game later on.
Token Evil Teammate: Larxene joins the party later on, though they're not necessarily evil. They're described as "mean, but in an endearing way".
Tragic Keepsake: Edith has a small Gadget toy as the only thing connecting her to her original world. It ends up being the equivalent of a keychain, returning her weapon to its default state.
Tranquilizer Dart: Edith wields a tranquilizer gun, but it looks like a realistic pistol.
Trapped in TV Land: This is the case for Marche, since he came from a world where Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts were games that he played. He only played the first game and Chain of Memories, though.
Twinkle Smile: Steve Rogers has one.
Uncanny Valley: Edith's gun, after attaching a keychain she got from the RPM world, turns into a smaller version of her but still shaped like a gun. It's terrifying, to the point that even the villains are unnerved and run away. It gets worse when they arrive in the Sonic the Hedgehog world and Edith's new keychain is grotesquely human after she's become a mouse.
Unexpected Character: Near the end when it's revealed that the final new member of the Organization is Shaggy, since they're not a Disney property.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The students of East High don't bat an eye at a strange man in a cloak playing card games in their gym while asking them who's the most hateful among them. Even the main characters take a while to notice, since Marche is distracted by the game and Roxanne thinks his aesthetic is normal.
Utopia Justifies the Means: DiZ wants to sever the connections between all worlds, believing that doing so will end the chaos that's always occurring, and allow him to conduct experiments without "cross contamination". Never mind that it will also cause the worlds to stagnate, that no one will ever be exposed to new people or ideas.
Wacky Racing: Robotnik is introduced by pulling up to the Bugatti (in interdimensional space) and racing the team to the Sonic universe.
Waxing Lyrical: In episode 2.
Jo: First things first—
Wheels: I'm the realest.
Riley: I was gonna say "I eat your brains".
- In episode 11, when Edith trudges through the woods.
Hazel: I'm making my way...downtown. Walking...at a moderate pace, faces pass, and I mean, like, in a grander sense, I'm home-bound.
Weaponized Car: Criss' Bugatti, which can transform into "Angel 1" and deploy a pair of high-powered gun-turrets named Siegfried and Roy.
Weird Crossover: The game is this by design. Even with the limitations of only doing Final Fantasy characters, Disney-owned characters, and Kingdom Hearts-style OCs, the first episode ends with Criss Angel, Marche Radiuju, a college burnout version of Roxanne, and a member of a Gadget cult finding their way into High School Musical. It only get stranger from there.
Wham Episode: Episode 7 has Roxanne finally summoning her own keyblade, Purple Reign. It also has the party see an Organization replica that none of the players or characters recognize.
- Episode 10: DiZ shoots Roxanne with his cannon. She dies.
- Episode 12: Roxanne was a Nobody, and her Somebody Ennora is alive again.
Wham Line: After Larxene gets assassinated in episode 9.
Hazel: Can I use "I'm Sorry About The Ice Cream?"
- It happens again in episode 10, with Edith trying to the move on Roxanne. Riley points out that the character has to be willing since it's a player character, and asks Jo.
Riley: Do you accept this?
Jo, the player:...I'm gonna say no. I'm gonna say Roxanne fades away.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Edith tries to invoke this in the hopes that Tagdegx, Gadget's Nobody, will believe in their own existence.
Edith:Being alive? Existing? That's a gift and a half right here. You should fucking own it! I know that it's hard. I know that a lot of people have told you you shouldn't, but goddammit—live!

Door to Darkness

A series of one-shots released and taking place between season 1 and 2.

Touch of Evil: Shego^*Ty, they/them, The Dark playbook and Homura Akemi^*Jo, The Anachronism playbook arrive in Riverdale to find a Princess of Heart.
Reality and Other Falsehoods: Something or someone in the land of Tamriel is stopping people from entering or leaving the world. The only three who can bypass this block are those who have other members of their worlds already present: Tony Hawk^*Riley, The Memory playbook, Papyrus^*Jo, The Prodigy playbook, and Owen Wilson^*Hazel, The Light playbook. Wheels GMs.
A Rush of Sugar to the Head: The Organization has found another Princess of Heart in the world of Sugar Rush, and to retrieve them they send members King Candy^*Chris, he/him, The Dark playbook, Azula^*Livi, she/her, The Connected playbook, Morton Koopa^*Logan, he/him, The Displaced playbook, and Cinder Fall^*Nora, zi/zin, The Hunted playbook.
Lonely Souls: There's a disturbance in town of Twin Peaks. Those who travel there never seem to return. Yen Sid sends the young heroes Calumon^*Riley, The Linksmith playbook and Bright Eyes^*Wheels, The Memory playbook to investigate. Jo GMs.
2 Family 2 Furious: A group of displaced travellers find themselves in a frozen wasteland and are pressed into helping the former wrestling champion Matt Hardy stop the Organization from stealing the heart of his brother. Starring Amelia Earhart^*Wheels, The Displaced playbook, Brian O'Conner^*Chris, The Prodigy playbook, and Caesar Zepelli^*Jo, The Mystic playbook. Jory GMs.

Tropes for Door to Darkness:

Abandon Shipping: Riley shipped Shego/Kim until Ty told them that the former was in her mid-to-late twenties, and Kim's a teenager.
Adaptational Sexuality: In A Touch of Evil, Kim Possible and Betty Cooper are girlfriends.
The Assimilator: Perfect Cell appears in Tamriel having absorbed the Septum, Wes Anderson, and Shrek.
Bad Future: At the beginning of A Touch of Evil, a Homura from the future appears, warns her past self not to speak with Hiram Lodge, and is then dragged back through time by a clawed hand and killed. Homura isn't phased, since it happens to her a lot.
Beware the Silly Ones: Morton Koopa is an absolute goof with a silly voice and consistently cheerful demeanour regardless of his situation. He murders Wreck-It-Ralph with a hammer.
Beyond the Impossible: Shego in A Touch of Evil is able to Nort Archie, even though Archie is a Princess of Heart and shouldn't be able to have any darkness in his heart at all. Shego made him that angry.
Big Damn Heroes: Luke Skywalker appears near the end of A Rush of Sugar to the Head to save Vanellope.
Bittersweet Ending: A Touch of Evil. Shego defeats Kim Possible, kills Betty and leaves Fred to die, and makes Archie so angry that she's able to take control of his Darkness and allow him to be Norted. Archie leaves with the Organization, but shortly after an amnesiac Nobody made from Betty appears and is able to rouse Fred from the brink of death.
- Lonely Souls. The defeat of the Sheriff at Bright Eyes' hands helps dissuade a good portion of the xenophobia they had prior, and the Killjoys remain in Twin Peaks to help continue he healing. However, Bright Eyes and Calumon are separated and alone because Calumon wiped himself from everyone's memory and chose not to restore himself to Bright Eyes.
Black Comedy: Some pretty dark stuff occurs in both A Touch of Evil and A Rush of Sugar to the Head, such as Shego leaving Betty in a burning car to die or Morton Koopa murdering Wreck-It-Ralph with a hammer. It's not surprising because they're both villain episodes, but it's hilarious because of the bizarre crossover context that causes them to happen.
Blood-Splattered Warrior: Morton Koopa after killing Ralph with a hammer.
Cessation of Existence: Tony Hawk makes too many bad rolls and ends up fading from existence and everyone's memory.
Combat Pragmatist: When other villains debate on how best to accomplish a goal, Morton Koopa just goes and does it without thinking.
Composite Character: Chester the Cheetah is revealed to also be M'aiq the Liar.
Cut Himself Shaving: When Jughead starts asking too many questions of Homura and Shego, the two beat him unconscious. When the Southside Tunnel Snakes ask what happen, they fully buy the excuse "he fell".
Downer Ending: Despite the levity of the players (it is a Villain Episode, after all), the end of A Rush of Sugar to the Head is pretty dark. Ralph and Luke Skywalker, along with most residents of Sugar Rush, are dead, and Vanellope is a prisoner of the Organization.
Drunk with Power: Calumon can't not use his ability to manipulate memories whenever confronted with a problem. It's causing a rift to develop between him and his friend Bright Eyes—except, of course, when Calumon makes Bright Eyes forget when they've been manipulated.
Dual Wielding: Archie Andrews is able to wield both his own and his father's Keyblades in A Touch of Evil.
Fake Memories: Calumon can do this as a Linksmith, implanting memories in people he touches to make them believe that they've always been his friend.
Fatal Method Acting: Only barely subverted by Owen Wilson, who spends his entire time in Tamriel, a blatant fantasy world, thinking everything is special effects and every person is a method actor like himself.
Gaslighting: The Linksmith playbook is all about this trope, manipulating people's emotions and memories for one's own purposes. The playbook is used by Calumon in Lonely Souls.
Gone Horribly Right: Calumon tells Sherriff Truman that the town "has always been like this", meaning it's always had people from other worlds passing through. The roll fails, and the move succeeds too well. Truman interprets it as the town has always been in danger from other worlds and needs to be locked down completely.
Hahaha No: Azula's reaction to Vanellope asking to have her medal.
Horse of a Different Color: Cinder rides a Griffin Grimm in the Sugar Rush race.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Defied. Archie is a Princess of Heart and shouldn't have any Darkness within him, but Shego makes him so angry that she's able to get him completely Norted.
I Thought Everyone Could Do That: Owen Wilson thinks everyone he encounters is method acting like himself.
Killed Off for Real: In Reality and Other Falsehoods, Tony Hawk fades away after a series of bad rolls on Riley's part leads to him being forgotten by everyone.
Medium Awareness: Piccolo invites Chester Cheetah to become a constituent heart within himself. However, because Chester is also M'aiq the Liar, this also causes Piccolo to realize that he's inside a video game and everyone around him is either a character or an actor.
Mind Hive: Piccolo is played with The Amalgam playbook and is a combination of Piccolo and Kami.
New Powers as the Plot Demands: During the battle with a Norted Bray Wyatt, Lucky Lindy, Dom Toretto, and Lisa Lisa, Amelia Earhart reveals herself to be an airbender.
Noodle Incident: Calumon and Bright Eyes had an encounter with Tinkerbell before Lonely Souls. Calumon tried to help her by manipulating people's memories, but it didn't work out as planned.
Non-Indicative Name: The term "Princess of Heart" is not treated as a gender-specific trait in the one-shots.
No-Sell: Vanellope tries to set off a fruit gusher to embarrass Azula after the latter's win, but Azula just burns it down.
Off the Rails: This is the name of the game whenever players go to an established setting, though the biggest example is probably Tony Hawk fading from existence, forcing Riley to create a new character in the second episode.They choose Piccolo, and thus Wheels changes the final boss to Perfect Cell.
Playing Against Type: Riley plays Calumon, an adorable and innocent Digimon, using the Linksmith playbook, which is all about manipulating people's memories and emotions and gaslighting them.
Power Armor: Keyblade Master Fred Andrews can summon his own set of Keyblade armor.
Tank Goodness: In the Sugar Rush race, Azula rides a tank that's operated by Lo and Li.
Team Mom: Amelia Earhart becomes this in 2 Family 2 Furious.
Title Drop: The name for 2 Family 2 Furious is determined when trying to figure out the party's name as well.
Villain Episode: Both A Touch of Evil and A Rush of Sugar to the Head focus on villainous characters doing evil things on behalf of the Organization.
Waxing Lyrical: Naturally, when Calumon sees Bright Eyes about to be attacked, he shouts "turn around Bright Eyes!"
Weird Crossover: Now that the limitations of season 1 are gone, things get pretty buck-wild.
- A Touch of Evil: Shego and Homura Akemi fight Kim Possible and keyblade master Fred Andrews in Riverdale in order to kidnap Archie.
- Reality and Other Falsehoods: Tony Hawk, Owen Wilson, and Papyrus Undertale travel to the world of Tamriel to fight Cell.
- A Rush of Sugar to the Head: Azula, Cinder Fall, and Morton Koopa travel to Sugar Rush to help King Candy destroy Vanellope.
- Lonely Souls: Calumon and Bright Eyes (from the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" music video) travel to Twin Peaks to free Mycaruba and Party Poison.
- 2 Family 2 Furious: Amelia Earhart, Brian o'Connor, and Caesar Zepelli must fight against Lucky Lindy and Bray Wyatt to save Matt Hardy and Problem Sleuth from being Norted.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Sheriff Truman is locking up anyone from an outside world who lands in Twin Peaks in order to protect the town, but everyone he's imprisoned so far is innocent and his actions are causing Darkness to grow in his heart.
You Wake Up in a Room: Calumon and Bright Eyes wake up in a jail cell in Twin Peaks without any memory of how they got there. Though it's not a huge mystery—their gummy ship crashed and while they were unconscious they were dragged to the prison.

Season 2: Authority

Wheels GMs a new adventure with new heroes, who we first meet after their deaths. Their worlds have been consumed by darkness, but twenty ████ years later they are saved by...something. They are recovered fragments of their worlds and are promised to never fade, never perish, and will be acculturated and conformed to the new world they inhabit.

The other players for this season consist of:

Logan (he/him) as Sans "Undertale" Gaster. An animate skeleton who died after a human invaded his world and destroyed all of his friends, and in the process became unstuck in time. Uses the Anachronism Playbook.
Ty (he/they) as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. A super villain cat burglar from Gotham City. After her death she became connected to a talking cat named Salem who also acts as an extension of her soul. They don't get along. Uses the Familiar Playbook.
Riley (they/them) as Old Man John Cena. In the not-so-distant future, Vince McMahon has destroyed the world, and now his only goal is the destruction of his foe, an aged and partially-roboticized John Cena. Cena must flee from world to world to evade this grisly fate. Uses the Hunted Playbook.
Jo (all pronouns) as Atticus Alabaster. An abandoned OC anime boyfriend Jo created in middle school. Uses the Discarded Playbook.

Tropes for Season 2:

Adaptational Villainy: The Authority has Oprah Winfrey and Batman amongst its members. The Nexus has Steve from Blue's Clues.
Affably Evil: Steve of The Nexus is very friendly and cordial to everyone. In fact The Nexus itself comes off as this with their entire brand. Sure, they're tearing apart dying worlds to take what they want and don't care about anyone else because they're already dead to them, but the way they pitch it comes off as an infomercial about joining a scrappy group of interdimensional misfits.
After the End: Atticus grew up in Babylon, one of the last places left standing. There were legends of how other civilizations fell, but there wasn't really a lot in the world by way of people or things.
An Ice Person: Atticus has ice-control powers.
Anthropomorphic Personification: A portion of Interstitial Season 1 appeared from the remnants of the world after Vince digested it and dubbed itself Identity.
Arch-Enemy: Vince McMahon and Old Man John Cena are this to each other, by way of the mechanics of Cena's The Hunted playbook. He always has a foe pursuing him and thus has to leave when they get close.
Armor-Piercing Question: At the end of episode 6.
Sans: Hey John. How'd you finish Undertale?
Old Man John Cena: I mean...they are monsters...
Sans: Did you kill my brother?
Back from the Dead: At some point between Zak's investigation and the end of the season premier, the player characters are not only brought back from death but promised that from now on they will never perish.
Bad Future: Old Man John Cena and Sans both come from their own, separate bad timelines. Sans comes from a genocide run of Undertale and saw most (if not all) of his friends die. Cena's saw Vince McMahon shed his human skin and become a world-conquering gaseous cloud.
Big Bad Ensemble: Early on there are three threats established: The Authority, The Nexus, and Vince McMahon.
Bigger on the Inside: Atticus' room in the haunted house appears like this.
Blue/Orange Contrast: This is the colour palette of the entire Transformers world.
Bond Creature: Salem is essentially Selina's soul existing outside her body.
Call-Back: When Wheels (through the owl Cedric) announces that the group has to visit the wizard Crispinophur in the King's Quest V world, they joke that it's actually Crispin Glover. Wheels decries that their surprise was guessed again, comparing it to their ''Door to Darkness' one-shot where the players correctly guessed the villain was going to be Emperor Bam Margera Septum.
The Cavalry: The party almost flee from the battle between the Megatrons and Optimuses, but decide they should help out because they don't have much else to do. Still, their return improves the Autobot's morale and helps turn the tide.
Chekhov M.I.A.: Anakin Skywalker from the Clone Wars era. He was supposed to be a member of the party, but somehow he was replaced by Atticus in this timeline.
Clock Punk: The marble spaceships used by the Authority have gears and clockwork running everything inside.
Cool Starship: Oprah's spaceship is shaped like Winged Victory of Samothrace. There's another one used by the Authority that looks like The Aphrodite of Melos.
Cynicism Catalyst: Old Man John Cena became very jaded after Vince McMahon destroyed his world, to the point where he'd rather sacrifice his allies and flee from battle if it means keeping distance between Vince and himself.
Dead to Begin With: All four player characters begin the game as ghosts in a haunted house.
Different World, Different Movies: Old Man John Cena gets on Marty McFly's good side by saying that in his world, the movie starred Eric Stoltz.
The Dreaded: The Nexus, and by extension Vince McMahon. At least they are to Old Man John Cena. After spending a significant amount of time bonding with the party, he's perfectly willing to abandon them all under threat of encountering them again.
Eldritch Abomination: Vince McMahon shed his human skin to become a malevolent cloud.
Enemy Mine: Selina suggests teaming up with The Nexus because they also oppose The Authority. Everyone quickly vetoes that because their methods are just as immoral as The Authority's.
- The party is able to convince The Nexus to team up with them when they realize they're not working with Vince, but simply looting worlds before he arrives and fear him just as much.
Establishing Character Moment: The framing device allows each character to have their own.
- Sans tells a knock-knock joke.
- Catwoman mocks Zak.
- Old Man John Cena bursts through a wall.
- Atticus doesn't even react to Zak, and mopes against a wall while Zak acts like he's being assaulted by spirits.
Equivalent Exchange: The technology on the second Authority ship operates via sacrifice. For example, summoning food in the kitchen requires flesh, and getting information from the database requires someone divulging information.
Fastball Special: Old Man John Cena tries this with Sans, but he nearly whiffs it when he sees that one of the dead Megatrons was part of the Nexus.
- He later succeeds with Housimus Prime, a transformer built out of 13 Dead End Drive, and kills Vince - or at least a portion of him.
Flash Sideways: The events of his version of Undertale let Sans access quicksaves of the party's recent events. This is how he discovers that this is the only timeline that has Atticus instead of Anakin.
Framing Device: Wheels introduces the characters by way of an episode of Ghost Adventures. Because they have no chill.
Genre Savvy: Upon entering the King's Quest world, Sans begins picking up everything he finds because he knows it might be needed for a puzzle later.
Green-Eyed Monster: Salem starts getting jealous of Sans because Selina hangs out with him during most of episode 8 while he's stuck with Old Man John Cena.
Grievous Harm with a Body: When Oprah reiterates that she doesn't know anyone named Atticus, Old Man John Cena tries to throw Optimus at her.
Happy Ending Override: The end of episode 12 reveals that one of the worlds Vince consumed was Interstitial Season 1.
Has a Type: Catwoman does, and it's moody boys. When she meets Atticus she isn't attracted to him (he's a teenager and she's an adult), but it does make her start reflecting on that part of herself.
Haunted House: The player characters are haunting a house in End of the World in the first episode.
Hurricane of Puns: The wizard Krispin Kreme helps Sans regain encouragement after telling him that the timeline he's in is the only one where he dies.
Sans: I was just gonna say you’re cool...I'm sorry I'm not funny enough right now oh god!
Krispin: Cool as ice...ing? Oh ho ho ho!
Sans: Okay that's pretty good! Yeah! Great job!
Ty: So bad...
Sans: Doughnut come in here...y'know like you can hang it on a door...
Krispin: Doughnut hesitate to return!
Sans: Doughnut forget to write!
Krispin: It's been a Turkish delight!
Sans: I've never met a crueller person...I'm sorry that was mean.
Atticus: COME ON! God!
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: All episodes are named for song titles, with some lyrics mentioned in the blurb.
I'm Standing Right Here: As Catwoman explains that she wants to go home and doesn't care about Atticus or anyone, Atticus points out that he can also hear the entire conversation.
The Infiltration: While they veto the idea of genuinely joining forces with The Nexus, the party does agree to pretend to do so to get information from them.
Killed Mid-Sentence: All the Starscreams are blasted by all the Optimuses simultaneously when they're all partway through declaring that they are the new rulers of the Decepticons.
The Lost Lenore: Sans lost a lot of his friends in his game, but the thing that hurts the most is his brother.
Medium Awareness: Sans knows he's a character from a video game, and a video game that has multiple endings for that matter.
Me's a Crowd: The Transformers world that the party first visit is populated by many various iterations of Megatron, Star Scream, and Optimus Prime—some of which are from reboots that don't even exist yet.
Newhart Phonecall: Identity ends up in one with The Creative Force. While they're waiting to hear the other side, the rest of the party order drinks.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Old Man John Cena is a cyborg wrestler from the future.
"No. Just… No" Reaction: Everyone has this reaction when Selina suggests teaming up with The Nexus to oppose The Authority, since they're the force that's destroying worlds to begin with.
Of Corpse He's Alive: Old Man John Cena, while in tractor mode, uses his little blades to manipulate a Starscream's body in order to sick the Megatrons on Mark.
Oh, Crap!: Catwoman's reaction when she sees the second Authority ship open up to reveal Bruce Wayne.
Catwoman: Oh, fuck.
- In episode 7, Wheels explains how they're going to set up scenes between the characters, and asks if anyone has any ideas how things will develop. This comes on the heels of Old Man John Cena telling Sans that he killed the monsters in his play through of Undertale.
Logan: I got both of mine ready!
Riley: You ever immediately start sweating?
The Other Marty: Literally - the current captain of The Nexus is Marty McFly played by Eric Stoltz.
Post-Mortem One-Liner: Catwoman after Old Man John Cena throws a house powered by friendship at Vince McMahon: "Retire, bitch".
Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: When Old Man John Cena is about to run over Starscream (as a tractor): "Looks like this is a bad crop".
Rousing Speech: Old Man John Cena channels Young Man John Cena and gives one to Mark Wahlberg.
Old Man John Cena: I coast forward a bit so I'm closer to him—my face the size of he—and I go "Listen here, Mark. You are capable of anything. If you set your mind to it, with hustle, loyalty, and respect, you can do anything! You can take 'em down! You can go out there, and you'll see those Megatrons, and you'll take 'em down!
Running Gag: Selina getting accused of being a cop.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Old Man John Cena, Selina, and Salem all vote to leave the Megatrons and Optimuses to their own fight and avoid the conflict. Cena especially doesn't want to get embroiled in anything that might delay him since he's still fleeing from Vince McMahon.
Strange Minds Think Alike: Riley is a little disconcerted that they and Ty both think of similar ideas repeatedly in episode 2.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: Bruce Wayne certainly doesn't have any reason to be out and about at night.
Sans: Hey is that Batman?
Old Man John Cena: Sans, get away from the window!
Telepathy: The group can communicate with each other telepathically when Selina expands her connection with Salem to the rest of them.
That Poor Cat: Agent Winfrey tries to blast Atticus with magic, and the party hear's the scream of a distant Wahlberg.
Token Evil Teammate: Catwoman for the first four episodes, since she would rather go back to her own world than help the others stand against the Authority. However she ends up siding with them against the Authority after she learns the extent of their plans.
Token Nonhuman: Sans is the only member of the party who is entirely nonhuman, which is unfortunate because he has serious trust issues with humans. He likes Old Man John Cena, though, because of his mechanical parts.
Too Many Belts: Atticus has at least six, some of which are crossed in an X-formation.
Training Montage: Atticus has one in order to level up just before the battle with Vince.
Transforming Mecha: When the party lands in a Transformers world, they all gain the ability to turn into vehicles, and then further into actual large robots.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Authority is rebuilding destroyed worlds, but only the ones with stories they feel are worthwhile.
Wham Line: Two in quick succession at the end of episode 3.
Oprah Winfrey: Okay who the fuck are you? Because on my list, this ship was supposed to contain Selina Kyle/Catwoman from Arkham City, Sans "Undertale" Gaster from the bad route of Undertale, Old Man John Cena from the apocalypse timeline, and Clone Wars era Anakin Skywalker. So unless you've got a goddamn lightsaber in one of those eighy belt loops, I don't think you're a Jedi. So tell me: who the fuck are you?
Jo: Can I - can I strike with intent?
What the Hell, Hero?: Selina calls out Bruce for using the power of The Authority to remake Gotham without the silly villains, but not doing anything to improve people's lives or make Arkham an actual functioning facility.
You ALL Look Familiar: The human population of the first world the group visit is entirely made up of identical Mark Wahlbergs and Megan Foxes.

Season 3: Proximity

A season recorded in secret through 2021 and released in 2022, which was also done to help promote the second edition. Jo (he/they) GMs a group of character brought together to pull off a heist.

Wheels (they/them) as Miles Edgeworth from between the first two Ace Attorney games. Uses the Sleuth Playbook.
Riley (he/they) as Hamato Raphael from after season four of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012). Uses the Paladine Playbook.
Jay (he/they) as Pidge Holt a few years after Voltron: Legendary Defender. Uses the Displaced Playbook.
Blake (they/them) as Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Uses the Prodigy Playbook.

Tropes for Season 3:

Adaptational Gender Identity: Pidge uses "they/them" pronouns and reacts negatively (to say the least) to being called "Mrs. Holt."
Bling of War: "A Day Late And A Dollar Short", the Custom Robo the team create in episode 7 is entirely gold, either because the individual robots used are gold or because the parts were coloured gold.
Body Uploading: While trying to get their Custom Robo out of the simulation and into real life, Pidge accidentally hits "Import" instead of "Export" and gets themself sucked into the computer. While at first they're in the Robo, attempts to get them out send them to the Infinite Highway from The Matrix Reloaded instead. Edgeworth and Mr. Ex ends up getting sucked in to the next episode.
Bond Creature: Cupil, who bonds with Raphael while in Raccoon City.
Breather Episode: Episode 11 starts with the crew escaping from Raccoon City, and the rest of it is them having heart to hearts and relaxing at the Mall before they figure out their next target.
The Caper: The season is composed of several, with a few episodes devoted to each.
Celebrity Paradox: Parodied when the crew infiltrate a fancy party and see Bill Smoke, Thaddeus Valentine, and the Red Skull (all three played by Hugo Weaving) hanging out together.
Composite Character: "A Day Late And A Dollar Short", the Custom Robo out of various mech parts while they're in the Umbrella lab. It has the legs of Knight of Gold from The Five Star Stories, the arms of the Gravezord from Boom! Studios Power Rangers comics (but stylized to also resemble the arms of Omnimon from Digimon), the torso of Yaldabaoth from Xenoblade Chronicles, the head of Lagann from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and the weapon of the titular Steel Samurai - all painted gold, to boot.
Cool Shades: Char has them, just like he did in his home series.
Cutting the Knot: When confronted with an elevator descending slowly while being chased by John Wick and Mr. X, Raph cuts the cord to drop immediately to the basement. As Riley states, Raph is "slam the square peg in the round hole" as hard as possible.
Declaration of Protection: Raphael gives one to Pidge once he realizes that the latter is both bitter towards them for taking their stuff, and working through concerns about where their real home should be.
Raphael: I don't wanna tell you where you feel like home is, I just want you to know that you are always welcome in this mall. And if it comes to the point when the fucking Babadook comes back in here and tries to take this place from us, that this bean bag store will be my last fucking stand because I want you to have a place to come back to.
Despite the Plan: Wheels declares the Raccoon City heist a resounding success because, despite complications, they secured all the things they wanted to steal and all left alive - nevermind that they had to fight zombies, and only got away from Mr. X and John Wick because Raph managed to throw the former into the latter and distract them.
The Determinator: After the first mission, the crew has to worry about John Wick showing up to attack them. After the second job they pick up both Mr. X and Agent Smith. By the time they're infiltrating Casinopolis they have to contend with Galcian.
Char: I know I'm not one to talk, but why is it that every time we go on one of these jobs we meet people who just won't give up.
Does Not Like Guns: Edgeworth isn't fond of guns, they're "rather gauche".
Elevator Failure: Invoked by Raph while he and Pidge are in an elevator to flee from Mr. X and John Wick faster.
"Eureka!" Moment: In episode 1, the party uncovers evidence that someone died in the house they're in and it was hastily cleaned up, and evidence that a case was dug up from the ground that contained, among other things, a gun. Blake and Wheels connect the dots.
Blake: Oh my god, I know where we are.
Wheels: You had us break into John Wick's home?!
Jo: Well, if you're gonna say that, I have to advance the clock all the way to the top.
Faking the Dead: Edgeworth is faking his death to his friends and loved ones until he "finds himself".
Fusion Dance: Agent Smith recognizes the different system he's in when he and Mr. X follow Pidge and Edgeworth into OZ, so he pulls a Love Machine and absorbs Mr. X into his avatar. He does that to a few other accounts over the course of the fight as well.
Gadget Watches: Q has all the watches that he's given to Bond over the course of the franchise, including one that fires a glass-cutting laser.
GMPC: Tails acts as one for Jo.
Grappling-Hook Pistol: Raphael has one in the first episode to break into the rich people's house.
Hat of Power: Raphael encounters Mr. X wearing the Dr. Faust hat from Devil May Cry 5 and steals it from him.
Hollywood Hacking: Pidge manages to recreate the data knife from Titanfall, which lets them hack computers just by stabbing them.
Hypocritical Humor: Pidge calls Agent Smith "four-eyes" when he tries to attack them, followd by Jay pointing out that Pidge also wears glasses.
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: All the episodes take their names from crime and heist films.
MegaCorp: The Umbrella Corporation, naturally. They purchased OZ from Summer Wars basically to advertize their services to the masses (specifically children). Fortunately they've been busy buying up so many things that they seem to have lost track of what they own, so the crew can muck about in their systems for a good while without raising the alarm.
Meet the New Boss: Vyse tells Raphael that Valua was destroyed a few years ago, and then a new royal family moved in to build it back up but never did something about the preexisting injustices.
Mood Whiplash: Raphael and Char have a heart to heart, which includes Raph ensuring Char that he'll protect their crew and he knows Char will as well, and Raph doesn't see a bit of Char's emotional wall come down when he hears Raph's feelings. And then:
Raph: Anyway when I took your gun I also took your wallet, here's that back, it's twenty dollars lighter, I don't know what happened. Bye!
Morph Weapon: Cupil can transform into any weapon Raph needs at the time - usually a sai, since he found him shortly after losing one, but he's also become a giant hammer.
Noodle Incident: Edgeworth has been tazed before, and didn't find it fun.
Obstacle Exposition: When discussing the layout of Raccoon Police Station, Tails points out the security cameras, police presence (or lack thereof), and notes several secret passageways that the team will need to make use of.
One Last Job: When the crew get back from Raccoon city, Edgeworth tells Raphael he plans on retiring after one more job, citing how much he screwed up during the previous debacle. Raphael insists that he's better than he thinks he is, but understands.
One-Steve Limit: Tails and Edgeworth are usually referred to as such, rather than their shared first name Miles.
Pokémon Speak: Cupil. However, Raph doesn't realize that's what it is, so he names him Caracalla.
Politically Incorrect Villain: The first thing Agent Smith does when trying to apprehend Pidge is refer to them as "Mrs. Holt".
Pidge: Wear a seatbelt before you use the wrong pronouns fucknuts!
Running Gag: Raphael keeps getting new gear in episode 3 and 4, while Pidge keeps losing stuff to other people or the environment. It comes to a head at the end of episode 4 where Raphael in a panic grabs Pidge's bayard and throws it at Mr. X.
Sue Donym: Edgeworth' plan to infiltrate RCPD was claim to be Leon S. Kennedy. When he meets Claire and learns that she already knows him, the best he can come up with is "Iles Medgeworth".
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The season takes place in a wacky mashed-up-world where the mall is within a drive from both John Wick's house and Raccoon City, and the concept of a giant talking turtle doesn't surprise the humans. Though that doesn't mean they can't get caught off guard - speaking of Raccoon City, Pidge wonders if there's something wrong with them that they went to a police station expecting a normal police station and not monsters.
Voice with an Internet Connection: Tails the Fox acts as this for the rest of the team.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Raphael tells this to Edgeworth when the latter states his intent to retire after their next job.

Season 4: Infinity

Another season recorded in secret as a playtest of Interstitial 2e, released via the anthology podcast Riley Hopkins & their Amazing Friends. Marn (she/her) GMs a story about five troubled passengers traveling on the Infinity Train together.

Also Starring:

Jay (they/them) as Shigeo Kageyama, a powerful psychic boy better known as Mob. Uses the Friend Playbook.
Emma (any pronouns) as Audrey Jensen from Scream: The TV Series, a brash young woman who may or may not be a slasher villain. Uses the Discarded Playbook.
Riley (he/they) as Shadow The Hedgehog, the rival to Sonic the Hedgehog and the Ultimate Lifeform on a quest for identity. Uses the Other Playbook.
Clowne (she/her) as Trish Una from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, a mafia heiress with a power known as a Stand. Uses the Survivor Playbook.

Tropes for Season 4:

Actionized Sequel: Previous seasons may have had combat, but here the fights are much more prominent and intense, to the point where "Deal Great Harm" may as well be a shared catchphrase.
Anachronism Stew: The Train picks up passengers from all across time, leading to much culture shock. For example, Mob and Shadow are from modern times and are familiar with modern technology, while Trish, picked up from 2001, is only aware of early computers, and Alphonse has never used a computer due to being from a Diesel Punk world.
Composite Character: Per Word of God, Shadow's characterization is a combination of his self-titled game and his modern comic portrayal.
Cool Train: The Infinity Train, of course! Each car is a pocket universe with a set theme, forming an endless multiverse traveling in a straight line, with the explicit purpose of speedrunning our heroes' Character Development.
Extreme Doormat: Mob is heavily implied to have entered the Train because his unwavering trust in Reigen at the expense of everything else stunted his social growth. Boarding the train has not helped this: not only does Reigen still send him messages asking for favors, but Shadow has begun to take advantage of him in the same way.
Fighting Spirit: Trish maintains her Stand Spice Girl from canon.
GMPC: Alphonse Elric may not have a dedicated player, but he's just as much a part of the group as the others.
Invisible to Normals: Stands cannot be seen by non-stand users, but in a world with no stand users, those with internal magic or psychic abilities bypass this rule. For example, Mob and (maybe) Al can see them, but Audrey and Shadow cannot (at least without help).
Mutually Fictional: In Episode 1, it's established that all the works the passengers are from exist in each other's universes, give or take the date they premiered. Case in point, everyone recognizes Shadow immediately, and Audrey knows of the others' anime origins because her friend Noah is a geek.
Shadow: This Guy doesn't even know that he's fictional!
Real Song Theme Tune: This season uses the licensed track "San Cristobal" by indie rock artist Mal Blum as its theme song.
School Uniforms are the New Black: Mob was picked up by the Train while he was coming home from practice with the Body Improvement Club, so he hasn't had time to change out of his School Sport Uniform and wears it throughout his train journey.
Spaghetti and Gondolas: The player party meets Alphonse in the "Straight-up-Italy Car", described as a mashup of different Italian cities and stereotypes, like "the person who made it has only ever seen Italy in internet resources".
The Team Normal: Audrey. Compared to the powers that Shadow, Mob, Trish, and Al have Audrey just has a knife and a violent disposition.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The party may be traveling as a single unit, but they hurl biting insults at each other like it's going out of style.
You All Meet in a Cell: The season formally begins when the main four are arrested for various crimes in the Noir Car, and make their first links with each other inside the jail cell.

Podcast / Interstitial: Actual Play

Works Featured in the Interstitial Podcast (contains spoilers):