Podcast / Ain't Slayed Nobody

Push the roll...

"Ain't Slayed Nobody is a Call of Cthulhu podcast with violent themes and adult language. Listener discretion is advised."

—Cuppycup

Ain't Slayed Nobody is a comedy/horror online Actual Play podcast group with several recurring cast members and scenario writers — including Corbin "Cuppycup" Cupp, Graeme Patrick, Will Baizer, Scott Dorward, and Rina Haenze. The podcast began in 2020, with new episodes being released periodically. While the group mainly plays Call of Cthulhu in its various settings, they have also played other TTRPGs such as Cthulhu Dark, Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game, and Alien: The Roleplaying Game. Ain't Slayed Nobody became part of the Rusty Quill network in October 2022.

In addition to Y'all of Cthulhu and Bleeker Trails, a variety of other series — both original productions and play-throughs of official scenarios and one-shots — are also available for listening on their main website, YouTube channel, Acast, and Patreon.

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Ain't Slayed Nobody Productions:

Y'all of Cthulhu

• Y'all of Cthulhu (January 13, 2020 - August 30, 2021) is a Call of Cthulhu: Down Darker Trails campaign run by cuppycup. It follows Deputy Sheriff Ellie Bishop (Alex McDaniel), Lance Kilkenny (Jay Arnold), Father Flint Westwater (Brandon Wainerdi), and Jeremiah Fensworth (Chuck Lawrence), and Johnny Rhodes (Wes Davis) as they attempt to hunt down the notorious outlaw Colin Brock.
• The Medicine Show (March 25, 2021) is a Call of Cthulhu: Down Darker Trails one-shot run by cuppycup, serving as a prequel centred around Jeremiah Fensworth (Chuck Lawrence) during his days in 1860s Silver City, Idaho. Available exclusively for Patreon supporters.
• Bleeker Trails (March 1, 2022 - February 8, 2023—Part 1) is a Call of Cthulhu: Down Darker Trails campaign run by cuppycup, serving as the sequel and second season. It follows Eli "Arcanum" Malcolm (Chuck Lawrence), "Lady Solar" Moni (Bridgett Jeffries), Patience "The Imp" Cartwright (Rina Haenze), Chester "The Beast" McCoy (Brandon Wainerdi), Julius "Ruff & Tumble" Ruffin (London Carlisle), Silas "Shufflin' Tim" Jacobsen (Wes Davis), and Eldrige Mikaelson (Jay Arnold) as they perform stage acts and paranormal investigation jobs for Professor Otis Bleeker — the manager of an unusual travelling circus.

One-Shots

• Call of Cthulhu:
  • Alone Against the Frost (March 25, 2020) is a is a playthrough of the Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name by Cuppycup. Available exclusively for Patreon supporters.
  • "The Dead Boarder" (March 31, 2020) is a playthrough of the Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name, Kept by Will Baizer. Frankie Strong (cuppycup), Teddy Drake (Chuck Lawrence), Sally Parker (Alex McDaniel), Brett Anika (Wes Davis), and Samwise Elliott (Jay Arnold) are residents of Ma Shanks' Boarding House in Rhode Island who must unravel a mystery when one of the other boarders turns up dead.
  • "An Occurrence at Bonebranch Creek" (April 12, 2020) is a playthrough of an original Call of Cthulhu: Down Darker Trails scenario based on the opening of Y'all of Cthulhu, kept by Graeme Patrick. Aldus Scrimpshaw (Mike Mason), Fielding Graves (Mike Percival-Maxwell), Cecil Hoag (Scott Dorward), and Reverend Vick Baccus (Rina Haenze) are members of a posse gathered to hang Maxwell Posey, a member of Colin Brock's notorious outlaw gang, only to discover that the Brock gang is involved in worse things than theft and murder.
  • "Four Hours to Reno" (July 3, 2020) is a playthrough of the Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name by Cuppycup.
  • The Disintegrator (September 2, 2020) is a playthrough of the Pulp Cthulhu one-shot of the same name, with cuppycup as the Keeper. Anthony Brahms Bromwich (Will Baezer), Gregory (Chuck Lawrence), and Derek (Alex) are hired to investigate a purported superweapon for sale at an auspicious auction. Available exclusively for Patreon supporters.
  • Edge of Darkness (September 14, 2020) is a playthrough of the Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name. Adventurer Archaeologist Dr. Nevada Jones (Rina Haenze), ex-boxer turned professor Louis Shapiro (Mike Diamond), and Allison Wentworth Avery (Eoin) are contacted by Professor Rupert Merryweather, an old friend in the twilight of his life, who calls them to St. Mary's hospital in Arkham for an urgent request.
  • The Murder Shack (September 17, 2020; recut June 13, 2023) is a playthrough of Scott Dorward's Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name, with the man himself serving as the Keeper. Dr. Alex Sharp (Rina Haenze), Paul Biebers (Wes Davis), and Bobby Double (cuppycup) are members of a support group whose loved ones were brutally murdered in a cabin in the woods. Approached by a mysterious young woman, they set out to investigate the cabin only to discover something more sinister than any of them anticipated.
  • Unland (September 22, 2020) is a playthrough of an original scenario written and kept by Scott Dorward for Chaosium's Fear's Sharp Little Needles. Kevin (cuppycup), Jason (Wes Davis), Maxx (Eoghan Falvey), and J0ns3y (Joe Trier) are a quartet of parkour enthusiasts who visit the run-down Funland amusement park looking to film themselves performing cool stunts... only to find themselves ensnared in a web of lies and horror.
  • Max Hammett Mysteries (September 24, 2020 - 2021; recut for Valentine's Day 2023) is a trio of one-shots starring Rina Haenze as Max Hammett, a non-binary private investigator in Chicago. The three episodes consist of playthroughs of the Call of Cthulhu scenarios "Love You To Death", "Hotel Macabre", and "Mask of Desire".
  • The Green Pumpkin (September 24, 2020) is an improv Call of Cthulhu one-shot with Scott Dorward as the Keeper. Pete Wicks (Wes Davis), Dan Spring (Joe Trier), Caroline Summer (Rina Haenze), and Stevie Nicks Gorsky (cuppycup) are citizens of Newcastle, Delaware who find themselves in the middle of an incursion of green pumpkins on Halloween.
  • Alone Against the Flames (September 26, 2020) is a is a playthrough of the Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name by Cuppycup. Available exclusively for Patreon supporters.
  • Catland (October 24 & December 20, 2020) is a scenario written and Kept by Scott Dorward and inspired by the eccentric artwork of Louis Wain. Investigative journalist Stanley "Scoop" Maxx (Cuppycup), industrialist scion / amateur private investigator Ludlow Forsythe (Chuck Lawrence), and Russian aristocrat & master thief Katya Volkova (Rina Haenze) investigate the theft of the Eye of Lamashtu. Available exclusively for Patreon supporters.
  • Mr. Corbitt (October 27, 2020) is a playthrough of the Call of Cthulhu "Mansions of Madness: Volume 1 — Behind Closed Doors" scenario of the same name, kept by Mike Mason. Univeristy student Kermit Green (Cuppycup), parapsychologist Edward London (Will Baizer), and amateur cryptozoologist Moose Wellington (Chuck Lawrence) are employed as ghost-hunters by divorced Bostonian heiress Millicent "Lucky" Davenport (Rina Haenze); and find themselves investigating the seemingly mild-mannered local businessman Bernard Corbitt. Available exclusively for Patreon supporters.
  • Stalker in the Moonlit Mall (March 2, 2021) is a scenario written by Aaron Thatcher, with cuppycup as the Keeper. Reggie Dunlop (Michael Diamond), Cheryl McKinnon (Rina Haenze), and Ben Harris (Mike Percival-Maxwell) have received invitations to the grand inauguration of Brightenfair Mall, only to be trapped inside and hunted by a mysterious stalker.
  • The Meat Trade (April 28, 2021 - ) is a playthrough of Scott Dorward's World War Cthulhu: London scenario of the same name, Kept by Scott Dorward himself. Seeking shelter during the Blitz of London, hairdresser Bert, gangster Davey (cuppycup), journalist Irene (Rina Haenze), and greengrocer Cyril (Graeme Patrick) uncover and investigate a ghoulish conspiracy involving the war-torn city's meat trade. The first episode is available for everyone, but the rest are exclusively for Patreon supporters.
  • "The Necropolis" (June 24, 2021) is a playthrough of the "Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name from Gateways to Terror'', Kept by Rina Haenze. Dr. Thomas Baker (Cuppycup), Lady Pamela (Kat Edmonds), Dr. Illinois Jones (Wes Davis), and Sergeant McCoy (Chuck Lawrence) are members of an archaeological dig at Egypt's Valley of the Kings who venture inside a newly discovered tomb, only to discover the legend of curses more real than they'd believed.
  • "Walter's Final Wish" (June 25, 2021) is a playthrough of the "Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name from Fear's Sharp Little Needles'', Kept by Rina Haenze. Nick Barry (Scott Dorward), Gary (cuppycup), Sam (Kat Edmonds), and Ethel (Hedge) are residents of an old folk's home who discover that the staff are not as benevolent and caring as they might have hoped.
  • La Recette (October 14, 2021) is a playthrough of the Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name, kept by Graeme Patrick. Issac (cuppycup), Dr. Diane Cole (Rina Haenze), and Moses "Muddles" Vulpa (Scott Dorward) are en route to Louisiana with the corpse of Zavar Magsi stuffed in the trunk, hoping to petition Voodoo Queen Lady Delassixe to reanimate him long enough to get the answers they need.
  • Totally-Not-A-Cult Gathering (October 28, 2021) is an improv Call of Cthulhu one-shot written and kept by Scott Dorward. Lincoln Duncan (cuppycup), Francis Duncan (Wes Davis), Dusty Duncan (Rina Haenze), and Silas Duncan (Joe Trier) are on a family road-trip through coastal Maine when they come across a mysterious lighthouse operated by a group that is totally not a cult.
  • Here Be Dragons (December 2, 2021) is an original scenario written by Spencer Hall of the Sinful Seven, kept by cuppycup. Hugh Holts (Tyson Whiting), Jack Brown (Spencer Hall), Aymes Franklin (Richard Johnson), and Gabe Wansted (Alex Kirshner), are members of a vigilance committee hired to investigate claims of a dragon rampaging through Noxville, Texas. Available exclusively for Patreon supporters.
  • Of Sorrow and Clay (May 10, 2022) is a playthrough of Graeme Patrick's Call of Cthulhu scenario of the same name, Kept by cuppycup. Blair (Becca Scott), Faith (Cam Collins), and Pistol (Danny Scott) Taft set out in search of their missing father Carson, who disappeared into the Appalachian Mountains, only to discover that blood may not be thicker than water out in the hollers.
  • The Dare (October 10, 2022) is a Call of Cthulhu scenario written by Kevin A. Ross and Kept by cuppycup. Pauline (Becca Scott), Kyle (Ross Bryant), and Charles (Scott Dorward) are a trio of friends who accept a dare to spend a night at the derelict Old Barnaker Place.
  • Safe Space (November 15, 2022) is a playthrough of Rina Haenze's scenario of the same name. Pastor Blake (Chuck Lawrence), Lt. Novak (Wes Davis), Dr. Jimenez (Kat Edmonds), and Prof. Charles (cuppycup) show up for a group therapy session intended to help them overcome trauma from strange events they witnessed, only for the therapy session to prove even more nightmarish than what they witnessed.
  • Dead Light (June 20, 2023) is a playthrough of the official scenario of the same name. The Carfax family — Edward (Ryan Nanni), Henry (Chuck Lawrence), Jacob (Wes Davis), and Rose (Alex McDaniel) — set out on a trip to Arkham that is derailed by a sudden blizzard and a strange encounter with an entity known only as the Dead Light.
  • Blackshade (August 1, 2023) is a playthrough of the Call of Cthulhu one-shot written by Scott Dorward, kept by the man himself. Prim and proper—but promiscuous and bisexual—Moira Westfield (Kat Edmonds), outspoken suffragette Mary Jennings (Camille Brouard), and highly religious Ruth Bennett (Nic Rosenberg)—all residents of the Blackshade sanatorium for women—find their lives turned upside down when new arrival Anna Hackwood suddenly rips the throat out of one of the porters in a feral rage; setting out to uncover the truth of what happened to her and finding that time is not on their side.
  • Eclipse of the Heart (October 17, 2023) is a one-shot playthrough of a scenario written and kept by Rina Haenze. The preppy diva Ashley (Kat Edmonds), drama kid Zephyr (Camille Brouard), slacker Brett (Scott Dorward), and Ashley's jock boyfriend Bryce (Cuppycup) are getting ready for prom when Cupid's arrow strikes and what should have been the night of their lives turns into a ballroom blitz.
  • The Waking Children (October 24, 2023) is a one-shot scenario kept by Harlan Guthrie and set in the same universe as Malevolent. Cecilia (Nic Rosenberg), Walt (Bridgett Jeffries), Albert (Scott Dorward), and Teddy (Cuppycup) witness a surreal suicide and find themselves roped into an unusual investigation when a night watchman at the Arkham morgue claims one of the bodies got up off the slab and walked away into the night.
  • Christmas Stalking (December 12, 2023) is a one-shot Christmas scenario kept by Jared Logan, starring Rebecca Scott as Gina, Scott Dorward as Anne, Rina Haenze as Nancy, and Cuppycup as Kiersten, members of a sorority who get together for one last party before heading home for the holidays, only to find themselves on a Bad Santa's naughty list.
  • The Lengian Job (January 10, 2024) is a one-shot scenario written and kept by Scott Dorward. Show-woman Diamond "The Doozie" (Zach from Pretending to be People), stage magician "Doctor" Ira Clovenger (Luke from Pretending to be People), hitwoman/serial killer Vicki "the Viper" Carter (Rina Haenze), and journalist/architecture enthusiast/professional sidekick Artie Catchem (Cuppycup) apply for membership in the Athenaeum and are tasked by Thomas Major with obtaining a walking mountain from Leng.
• Cthulhu Dark
  • Fairyland (June 23, 2020) is a playthrough of an original scenario written and kept by Scott Dorward. Ol’ MacDonald (Will Baizer), Bill MacDonald (cuppycup), Zeke Mulesworth (Chuck Lawrence), and Mary Mulesworth (Alex McDaniel) move to the Scottish highlands, on the edge of a forest rumored to be haunted by fairies.
  • Last Summer (November 19, 2020) is a recorded play-test of Kat Jenkins' scenario of the same name, kept by Kat herself. A trio of students — Elisabeth Atkins (Rina Haenze), Hayden Atkins (Scott Dorward), and Mark Wright (cuppycup) meet one night at a mall in a New England town to mourn the disappearance of a close mutual friend, only to find themselves hunted by paranormal phenomenon.
  • Ravenous (June 24, 2021) is a recorded play-test of Kat Jenkins' scenario of the same name, kept by Kat herself. Dylon Cherry (London Carlisle), Kai Vane (Rina Haenze), Clinton? (Scott Dorward), and DJ Vane (cuppycup) are a group of teenagers who show up looking for a rave only to come across a mystery involving missing people.
  • What the Trees Remember (June 25, 2021) is a recorded play-test of Kat Jenkins' co-written scenario of the same name, kept by Kat herself. Ash Jordan (Rina Haenze), Derek Brightman (Scott Dorward), Alasdair McKay (Mike Percival Maxwell), and Tom Longacre (cuppycup) are trapped in a forest haunted by the ghosts of those who've committed suicide.
  • Miskatonic Shoreside Conservatory (October 26, 2023 -) is an original scenario written and kept by Bridgett Jeffries. Up-and-coming painter Lucy (Josephine McAdam), socialite dancer Natasha (Nic Rosenberg), and self-taught drummer Buddy (cuppycup) find themselves accepted into the prestigious Miskatonic Shoreside Conservatory, where all their dreams—or nightmares—will come true if they succeed... but the curriculum is murder. Available exclusively for Patreon supporters.

• Other:
  • Alien: The Roleplaying Game (June 25, 2021): In a custom scenario mothered by Jon Hook, the crew of the USCS Typhoon—Captain Blake Corman (Chuck Lawrence), Dr. Anderson Suke (Scott Dorward), Ogg Mesa (Graeme Patrick), pilot Ursula Lopez (Kat Edmonds), and security officer Luther Morgan (Cuppycup)—arrives at the Novogorod Station, a research facility, only to discover things have gone horribly wrong due to an outbreak of mutated parasitic fungus.
  • The Witch is Dead (October 28, 2021) is a playthrough of Grant Howitt's scenario of the same name, with Rev from The Crit Show as the game master. Precious the cat (Rina Haenze), Bunny the rabbit (Bridgett Jeffries), and Todd the toad (cuppycup) are a trio of animal familiars living with their mistress, a witch... who is abruptly murdered, setting out to avenge and resurrect her.
  • Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game (December 5, 2022 - March 14, 2023): In a scenario run by Cuppycup, when a Nexus 9 replicant cop is shot dead at a seedy nightclub, hardboiled SFPD detective Willem Novak (Ross Bryant) is partnered with N-9 officers Fenna (Nic Rosenberg) and Percival (Danny Scott) to find out who was responsible, uncovering a conspiracy that reaches from the crime-riddlen underbelly of San Francisco all the way to the top of the less-than-altruistic Wallace Corporation.
  • Lamp Posts in Bloom (March 20, 2023) is a playthrough of the Unknown Armies scenario by Scott Dorward, and kept by the man himself. A backyard barbecue between Natasha Rowle (Becca Scott), Jeremy Rowle (Chuck Lawrence), Richard Ockley (Danny Scott), and Evelyn Ockley (Nic Rosenberg) takes a horrifying turn when unwelcome guest Lenny Trevelyan (cuppycup) crashes it and memories best left buried start coming to the surface.
  • Extraction (July 11, 2023) is a playthrough of the Cosmic Dark scenario by Graham Walmsley, who serves as Keeper. Geologist Riggin (Jared Logan), medical officer Cade (Rina Haenze), mining engineer Lachlan/Lucky (Scott Dorward), and team leader Gary (cuppycup)—employees of the deep-space mining company Extraxtor—are dispatched to survey and mine a strange asteroid, but soon discover that things aren't as crystal-clear as they were led to believe.

Push the Roll

A series of improv one-shots put together by the crew based on suggestions submitted by Patreon supporters.^note Green Pumpkin and Totally-Not-A-Cult Gathering prefigure the Push the Roll improv series, but are considered to technically be part of it by Cuppycup.

• Dead Man's Tooth (October 28, 2022) — Kept by Scott Dorward — In the year 2022, executive personnel optimization consultant Chet (Chuck Lawrence), director of first impressions Dyck "Richard" Pockyt (cuppycup), Susan Pickwick from H.R. (Rina Haenze), and corporate scion-turned-lazy intern Chad (Wes Davis) — middle management employees of the Graves Corporation — are invited to a corporate retreat at Dead Man's Tooth, with the opportunity to move up the ranks by impressing the company's mysterious shareholders... or die trying.
• Diary of a Stranger (December 23, 2022) — Kept by Scott Dorward — Professional stuntman Junior (Danny Scott), mischievous police officer Alice Powell (Nic Rosenberg), German potato exporter who is totally not a secret agent Hans Tuber (Rina Haenze), and accountant-turned-children's book author Harry Ellis (cuppycup) are a troupe of carollers visiting Badger, Minnesota on Christmas Eve, when they come across a bookstore advertising a book called the Diary of a Stranger and decide to investigate.
• Lost Art (January 25, 2023) — Kept by Scott Dorward — Underwater welders Harvey Daniels (cuppycup) and Billy Ball (Graeme Patrick), environmental consultant Robin Erickson (Rina Haenze), and metalworking artist Alden Tillett (Ross Bryant) are contracted to build a statue paying tribute to the history of Roanoke Island when it mysteriously begins to fall apart; their investigation quickly uncovering an ecological disaster of apocalyptic proportions.
• A Dance With Darkness (April 2, 2023) — Kept by Ross Bryant — In the early 1800s, military veteran Captain John Stone (Scott Dorward), debutante Emma Wentworth (Nic Rosenberg), conwoman Jane Radcliffe (Josephine McAdam), and would-be culinary entrepreneur James Pimm are invited to Budleigh Hall to attend the coming-of-age ceremony of Baron Hugh Budleigh's son Alexander... only to discover that the Budleigh family has some hellish dark secrets.
• Factory Records (April 19, 2023) — In 1986, industrial musicians C.C. Ogre (cuppycup), Bonnie Clive (Rina Haenze), and Blane Curt Patrick (Wes Davis), and their manager Minnie Danvers (Bridgett Jeffries), select a derelict factory to use as a makeshift rehearsal space... only to discover the factory is more than it appears.
• Death Cave (May 8, 2023) — Kept by Ross Bryant — In 1973, wannabe actress Suzanna "Sunny" Sunshine (Nic Rosenberg), nebbish teenager Eugene Theodoropolis (Danny Scott), washed-up British drummer Mick Tanner (Scott Dorward) and retired army pilot turned hippie Fenix (cuppycup) are Seekers passing through Arizona on their way to California when they are sidetracked by the attractive Hazel Jane to the Apache Death Cave, where a run-in with a violent biker gang leads to them discovering there's more truth to the local legends than they believed.
• Ministry of Fear (May 30, 2023) — Kept by Scott Dorward — In 1974, American director Kirby Sullivan (cuppycup), washed-up actor Adrian Turnbull (Ross Bryant), script-writer Rosalind "Riz" Holmes (Nic Rosenberg)—employees of Soho, London's Fathom Films—and tea-boy Ben Christie (Graham Walmsley) are hired by the Minister of the Central Office of Information to create public service announcements by inspiring terror in the people of London.
• Give Me Death (June 27, 2023) — Kept by Ross Bryant — During the American Revolution, four members of General George Washington's Culper Ring—Mercy Knox (Nic Rosenberg), Silas Blackwood (Scott Dorward), John Smith (Danny Scott), and Chandler Bingham (Cuppycup)—bite off more than they can chew when they come across the cursed village of Shiloah and must unravel the riddle of who — or what — is Dandy Jack.
• SCIENCE! (September 13, 2023) — Kept by Scott Dorward — A Victorian Pulp Cthulhu one-shot where parasitologist Rita Lovelace (Josephine McAdam), ethnobotanist Lottie Dester (Nic Rosenberg), phrenologist Vivian Mitchell (Bridgett Jeffries) and mesmerist Charles Darwin (Cuppycup) — members of the Society of London for the Exploration and Development of the Esoteric Sciences — are tasked with finding a missing maid, but quickly find themselves sidetracked by a portal through time.
• She Moves Backwards (November 28, 2023) — Kept by Ross Bryant — Four attendees of a horror film festival at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—librarian Darlene Edwards (Nic Rosenberg), cosplaying as Godzilla; campus police officer Samantha Day (Mary Lou), cosplaying as Beetlejuice; electronic repair shop assistant manager Gary Kaplan (Scott Dorward), cosplaying as Christopher Lee's Dracula; and pest control technician Mel McCoy (cuppycup), cosplaying as The Toxic Avenger—find themselves swept up into a ritual conducted by the Order of Gimghoul.
• Lakeview (March 14, 2024) — Kept by Scott Dorward — A group of travel agents and influencers—Cedric Barlow (Zach Reino), Louise Jordan (Nic Rosenberg), Mac Townsend (Ross Bryant), and Karl Madison (cuppycup)—are invited to assist in the grand reopening of Lakeview resort, only to discover that all that glitters is not gold along the shore where the cloud waves break and twin suns sink beneath the lake...

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Ain't Slayed Nobody has examples of:

• Accidental Murder: In "Eclipse of the Heart", Bryce accidentally kills one of the chess club students by throwing him into a wall... and it turns not the first time this kind of thing has happened, with him having accentally run over someone while drunk.
• Apocalypse How: In Lost Art, the statue liquifies into a metallic eldritch liquid that corrodes through just about anything inorganic and mutates anything organic that it comes into prolonged contact with. Entering the atmosphere, in the epilogue it rapidly begins spreading across the United States — if not the whole world — and mutates everyone exposed to it into entities made of liquid metal.
• Artistic Licence – History: Ain't Slayed Nobody has opted to go the Politically Correct History route when it comes to people of color and LGBTQ+ people, in the interest of not reflecting the real-world prejudices of pre-21st century society.
• Ass Shove: In Episode 1 of Ministry of Fear, Riz displays a fixation with people accidentally having objects up to and including a telephone box going "up the bum". In Episode 3, Kirby ends up skewering himself butt-first on the legs of a tripod.
• Bad Santa: In "Christmas Stalking", several of the pledge members and their boyfriends end up on the naughty list of a serial killer Santa who starts picking them off one by one.
• Botanical Abomination: The green pumpkins from The Green Pumpkin are eldritch vegetation that, once carved, sprout vine-like tendrils that rapidly spread everywhere and can parasitize humans, turning them into pumpkin-headed scarecrow-like figures. They can force those they've infected to write or say "The pumpkin is green." over and over, and are connected to Neil Diamond—who is envisioned as a cosmic entity himself.
• Bungled Hypnotism: In "The Lengian Job", Doctor Ira tries to hypnotize a giant monster using his mind control powers... only for it to backfire as the creature mentally dominates him. He later tries to hypnotize himself and Vicki into waking up to escape Leng, but this causes them to fade away into nothing since they hadn't dreamed themselves there in the first place.
• Came Back Wrong:
  • In SCIENCE!, Lottie Dester tries to use a reanimation serum on the skeleton of a maid who'd been eaten by giant centipedes, but she accidentally uses too much and ends up amalgamating the maid's corpse with the surrounding vegetation and animal matter, turning her into a shambling undead creature with a Mind Hive comprised of the maid and the plants and animals mixed into it.
  • In The Waking Children, a fifteen year-old girl who'd committed suicide after her father gave her newborn baby away for adoption is reanimated by her boyfriend in an attempt to resurrect her, but the ritual goes awry and she attacks him with superhuman strength and ferocity; later hunting him down and mauling him to death.
• The Cameo: The Entity/John from Malevolent cameos at the beginning of "The Waking Children", interrupting and harassing Cuppycup as he tries to get through the introduction.
• Cheerful Child: Maggie from "Fairyland" is an adorable eight-year-old who loves nothing more than to run around having fun and exploring, often in places she shouldn't. This gets her killed when she stumbles across a Mi-Go outpost.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Moira Westfield from Blackshade was sent to the sanatorium for having a threesome with one of the maids and a valet, and gets sidetracked fantasizing about having a threesome with Ruth and Mary. However, she doesn't actually try anything with them other than teasing Ruth's naivity, and is otherwise very protective of them.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: At the end of Dead Man's Tooth, Susan from HR becomes Susan from Corporate by murdering the competition, and frequently sends candidates to be sacrificed to the eldritch entities that form the Board of Directors.
• Creepy Centipedes: In SCIENCE!, once the investigators arrive in the Carboniferous Period they are attacked by a giant centipede implied to be an Arthropleura, which takes a chunk out of them before being electrocuted by Rita Lovelace's invention. It's revealed that the giant centipedes were responsible for the deaths of several of the Society of London for a number of the Exploration and Development of the Esoteric Sciences' missing researchers and cleaning staff, having dragged them through the time-portal and eaten them.
• Cupid's Arrow: In "Eclipse of the Heart", Jamie — heartbroken that Zephyr broke up with her to focus on their acting career — summons a skeletal entity called a Cupid Wraith that possesses her and fires tiny arrows that cause people to madly fall in love with each other... and brutally murder anyone who gets in the way.
• Death of a Child: A common content warning is "Children in Peril" for a reason.
  • In "Fairyland", Maggie is the eight-year-old daughter of Zeke and Mary Mulesworth, and ends up getting her brain scooped by Mi-Go, who replace her with a drone doppelgänger.
  • The protagonists of "The Dare" are all tweens, and Charles is the only one to make it out of the Old Barnaker Place alive—Kyle being eaten alive by vermin and Pauline being eaten by the ghost of the old witch.
  • In "Lamp Posts in Bloom", Simon Ockley was severely injured in a car accident, and Natasha Rowle sacrificed him to resurrect her husband Jeremy. As the spell resurrecting Jeremy starts to wear off, Simon starts to return as an Undead Child.
• Distracted by the Sexy: In "Death Cave", Eugene, Fenix, and even—begrudgingly—Sunny are smitten by the scantily-clad and flirtatious Hazel Jane.
• Eldritch Location: In "Lakeview", the titular resort turns out to be the otherworldly city of Carcosa, which is undergoing a rebranding in the hopes of attracting new visitors and reconfigures itself in ways that don't exactly obey the laws of physics according to the stories told within and about it.
• Eldritch Transformation:
  • The liquid metal substance in "Lost Art" mutates any living thing exposed to it—fish, hermit crabs, and humans alike—into eldritch creatures made of an iridescent metallic substance.
  • In "Blackshade", Anna Hackwood undergoes a transformation into a Hound of Tindalos after being possessed by one as a result of Dr. Cave's Mental Time Travel experiments.
  • In the final episode of "Lakeview", corporate spy Louise Jordan undergoes apotheosis into the Queen in Yellow as a result of Nic Rosenberg rolling an Extreme Success on a Power roll while communing to the eldritch deity that created Carcosa and framing herself as the protagonist of the stories she was telling it, giving her absolute control over the realm and reformatting the others into her vassals.
• The Fair Folk: In "Fairyland", the forest outside the MacDonald estate is rumoured to be haunted by fairies, though it's actually a group of Mi-Go scooping the brains of children to study and replacing them with lookalike drones.
• The Friend Nobody Likes:
  • Harry in Diary of a Stranger claims to be from "Minnysota" and is found to be extremely irritating by the other members of his friend group, who routinely fantasize about killing him just to shut him up.
  • Dyck Pockyt from Dead Man's Tooth frequently finds himself being referred to Susan from HR for various infractions, and is generally seen as annoying and unpleasant despite—and because of—his attempts to be affable.
  • Gary from "Extraction" is nominally the team leader, but nobody really likes or respects him—even his childhood friend Lucky.
  • Despite being genuinely affable and helpful, Teddy from The Waking Children is treated with disdain and contempt by the other members of the group and even the NPCs purely because he's played by Cuppycup.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop:
  • In The Green Pumpkin, the investigators discover they're trapped in a time-loop that repeats every time the Green Pumpkin infestation progresses to a certain point, and have already gone through the loop multiple times prior.
  • In Diary of a Stranger, the characters discover that turning to the first page of the titular book resets time to when they first enter the bookstore. The group, in particular Hans, uses this as an excuse to murder each other—especially Harry.
• Humanoid Abomination:
  • In "The Murder Shack", Alice—the young women who directs the investigators to the titular cabin, is revealed to have been manifested by it in order to lure in new prey, and is made of wood and ichor.
  • In "Lost Art" Harvey mutates into an entity made of liquid metal, consuming Alden and Billy. Robin is also infected and transforms at the end of the second episode.
  • In "Give Me Death", the village of Shiloah is haunted by a shadowy humanoid entity called Dandy Jack, who demands a sacrifice of nine individuals and offerings of sweets when it awakens and emerges from its lair, tormenting the villagers' dreams with riddles and taking them if they answer wrong. It's never revealed what Dandy Jack is, but the local reverend believes it to be a demon from Hell and ancient carvings of a goat-monster eating the world in a tunnel leading to its lair imply it to be linked to Shub-Niggurath.
  • In A Dance With Darkness, it's revealed that Alexander Budleigh is the result of an "angel" procreating with a human, though his younger brother is more visibly monstrous—possessing a misshapen body, fangs, and too many too-long fingers with too many joints that he can use to scoop out the brains of his victims and puppeteer their corpses.
  • In Ministry of Fear, the Minister is revealed to be an eldritch entity in the form of a stern-looking middle-aged woman, being capable of manipulating probability and feeding on fear.
  • In The Waking Children, Teddy comes across the body of what looks to be a man encased in metal and bound in tree roots, imprisoned in a shrine underneath the Longdale House orphanage, an eerie voice speaking to him through the statue and demanding he sacrifice the newborn Eli to it. Headmother Anne informs Teddy that he is the Woken Man, an eldritch being who may have once been a human sorcerer with great power over life and death, and whose disembodied spirit haunts the forest surrounding the orphanage.
• Hypno Pendulum:
  • In "SCIENCE!", Charles Darwin has a pendulum suspended from a chain attached to his nipple piercings, which he uses to facilitate his mesmerism.
  • In "The Lengian Job", Doctor Ira has a pocket watch he uses as an aid for his hypnosis.
• The Ingenue: Ruth from Blackshade, owing to her sheltered religious upbringing, is very naive about the ways of the world—responding with a bemused, startled "What?" to Moira's innuendos.
• Inside a Computer System:
  • In "Safe Space", it's revealed that the therepy group is a virtual simulation intended to help the people involved deal with the traumas they suffered.
  • In Diary of a Stranger, it's revealed that the characters are test subjects in a study on human aggression, having been plugged into a virtual reality simulation of a small town at Christmas time, and the shopkeeper is revealed to be the avatar of the beings performing the experiment.
• Mechanical Abomination: In Factory Records, up-and-coming musicians C.C., Bonnie, Blane, and their manager Minnie come across a derelict factory that turns out to be a mechanical eldritch entity powered by jacking into a human host, and is somehow capable mass-producing whatever the people using it want it to make. As the group works to repair the entity, Minnie ends up psychically connected to it and used as a mouthpiece to tell the others what it needs—such as blood and guts for lubricant—before being fed into a nest of wires and cables that burrow into her body to power it, leading to it churning out music albums for the group. Everyone except Bonnie is driven insane and ultimately offer themselves to the machine, and Bonnie subsequently lures in new victims to keep it running and making music.
• Mental Time Travel: In Blackshade, it transpires that Dr. Cave was trying to allow his patients to project their consciousnesses back through time so they could undo the past mistakes that led to them being sent to Blackshade... which backfired horribly with Anna Hackwood, leading to her being possessed by and transformed into a Hound of Tindalos. To escape being eaten by Anna and the Hounds she summons, Moira, Ruth, and Mary project their minds through time — Moira going too far back and ending up in Tindalos, Mary not going back far enough and ending up as one of Doctor Cave's test subjects, and Ruth hijacking Anna Hackwood's body to prevent her from being sent to Blackshade before setting out to kill Dr. Cave to save the others.
• Monstrous Humanoid: In "Death Cave", the Seekers run afoul of the owl-people, humanoid creatures that live in the depths of the Death Cave and are albino-pale, blind, and have clawed fingers and owl-like faces.
• No Body Left Behind: In the final episode of "The Lengian Job", Doctor Ira accidentally causes himself and Vicki to fade from existence by using his hypnotism skill to try to wake them up... forgetting that they hadn't dreamed themselves into Leng to begin with.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: In Ministry of Fear neither the Prime Minister or the Minister are named, though given the time-frame the scenario is set in — 1974 — the Prime Minister is Edward Heath and the Minister is inspired by Margaret Thatcher.
• Reference Overdosed: Particularly in Y'all of Cthulhu, the players make references to pop culture media both while bantering with each other out-of-character and while in-character. The Green Pumpkin is also rife with musical references and puns, particularly relating to Neil Diamond.
• Running Gag:
  • Someone mentioning "femur mist" in reference to Y'all of Cthulhu or "The pumpkin is [not] green." in reference to The Green Pumpkin.
  • Wolves and werewolves being referred to as "woofs" and "werewoofs", which began with a quirk of cuppycup's pronunciation in Y'all of Cthulhu and has continued ever since.
  • cuppycup's characters being treated with disdain and/or brutally murdered—often by Rina Haenze and/or Scott Dorward's characters, a tradition that started with The Murder Shack and has escalated since then.
  • cuppycup's characters being obsessed with Pimm's, which started with Davey in "The Meat Trade" and has been frequently referenced since — most prominently in A Dance With Darkness, where he plays James Pimm himself.
  • Whenever someone bungles a die roll, the other players will tell them to "Push the roll" — a gameplay mechanic that lets a player reroll a failed die roll at the risk of severe consequences should the roll fail a second time — often doing so in a creepy whisper.
  • In Blackshade, the naive and innocent Ruth saying "What?" in a bemused tone every time one of the other ladies makes an innuendo.
  • The characters—most often those played by cuppycup—suggesting they pose as reporters or journalists writing an article for an architecture magazine, which started in "Catland" and has recurred in subsequent series like "The Meat Trade" and The Waking Children.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In "Lakeview", Louise Jordan attempts to make a run for it after encountering the ghost of one of the NPCs who'd arrived at Lakeview alongside the Investigators but who'd wandered off to explore the adjoining city, having been killed by the eldritch entities that lurk in the mist. She very nearly ends up being devoured herself as a result, but her desperate bid to convince the entity not to eat her pays off in dividends when it grants her control of Carcosa itself.
• Shout-Out:
  • Rina Haenze's character in Edge of Darkness (Dr. Nevada Jones) and Wes Davis' character in The Necropolis (Dr. Illinois Jones) are blatant references to Indiana Jones, being Adventurer Archaeologists—the former somehow keeping her job despite barely teaching anything.
  • The Old Barnaker Place from "The Dare" is inspired by 29 Neibolt Street from IT and its miniseries adaptation—being the rotting, derelict ruins of an large 19th century house haunted by a sadistic child-eating Humanoid Abomination.
  • In "The Lengian Job":
    • The moment Artie Catchem—whose last name is a reference to Sam Catchem from Dick Tracy—is introduced the other characters make references to the Pokémon anime's original opening theme.
    • Artie mentions that most of his dreams involve cats with human hands.
    • As soon as they hear about Professor Bernice Surprise, Ira asks if she has a brother named Shia, a reference to Rob Cantor's "Shia LaBeouf" Live.
    • The miniature deep ones in Professor Surprise's lab are a reference to the Sandkings from George R. R. Martin's short story of the same name.
    • When discussing the prospect of shared dreams, drift compatibility is brought up, as is drifting's commonality in Tokyo.
    • After ending up in Leng, Vicki wonders if J. R. R. Tolkien's Spiders of Mirkwood were inspired by the giant spiders of Leng—an anachronism due to The Lengian Job being set in 1934 while The Hobbit wasn't published until 1937 and wasn't available in the United States until 1938.
    • After Dr. Ira tames a shantak and the "Siblengs" arrive at one of the walking mountains, Luke and Rina start singing a parody of Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back".
  • As Karl Maddison tries to bash down a door with a toilet lid after getting locked in one of Lakeview's reconfigured bathrooms, Mac Townsend shouts a long, drawn-out, nagging "Kaaaaaaaaarrrl...!" in reference to the meme from Llamas with Hats.
• The Sociopath:
  • Hans Tuber, a German potato exporter who's totally not a spy, is noted to enjoy killing quite a bit more than is generally acceptable, especially when it comes to Harry.
  • In Dead Man's Tooth, Susan from HR decides that she wants her long-overdue promotion more than she likes her coworkers, and ends up being the Sole Survivor... in a manner of speaking.
  • Riz Holmes, Fathom Studios' script-writer in Ministry of Fear, displays a chilling Lack of Empathy while happily pushing Ben to perform even worse acts of violence in the name of pleasing the Minister, and is all-too eager to take credit for herself when the Minister offers her and Ben a job spreading fear through acts of mass-murder and domestic terrorism. And unlike Ben, who loses all of his sanity over the course of the scenario and is reduced to a broken shell of his former self, Riz barely loses any.
  • Vicki "the Viper" Carter from "The Lengian Job" is a Serial Killer who works as a hitwoman and has to actively resist the impulse to kill the other three members of her team, has a mental rolodex of people she's killed, and takes trophies from her victims. She fully intends to kill the others once the mission to capture a baby mountain has been completed, and become the sole member of the "Siblengs" to join the Athenaeum.
• Sympathetic Adulterer: In "Lamp Posts in Bloom", Evelyn is revealed to have cheated on her husband Richard out of despair at the loss of her son Simon—or at least the sense that something was profoundly wrong due to her sister Natasha having effectively erased Simon's existence to resurrect her husband Jeremy. Unfortunately, the person she has her affair with is Jeremy... who—unbeknownst to her—is undead, and worse she's left pregnant as a result.
• Take That!: In "The Lengian Job", Thomas Major and Professor Bernice Surprise fire shots at H. P. Lovecraft through his Author Avatar Randolf Carter, saying that his writing tends to be dry and mainly consists of him complaining at length about places and people he doesn't like... which is almost everywhere and everyone different from himself.
• They Look Like Us Now: In "The Meat Trade", Barry the Hatchet, an enforcer and hitman for the Shepherd Gang, is revealed to be a ghoul in disguise after being attacked by a would-be monster-slayer.
• Town with a Dark Secret: In "Fairyland", the Scottish village where the MacDonalds and Mulesworths settle on the outskirts of turns out to be near a Mi-Go research outpost, meaning children go missing with alarming regularity and it's something the townsfolk have been largely conditioned to accept.
• Transformation of the Possessed: In Blackshade, it turns out that Dr. Cave's regression therapy — attempting to let people perform Mental Time Travel to undo past mistakes — led to Anna Hackwood being possessed by a Hound of Tindalos, which mutates her body into a multi-limbed monster.
• Trapped in TV Land: Gary Kaplan's fate at the end of "She Moves Backwards" is to be dragged into the low-budget horror movie by the eponymous backwards-walking Humanoid Abomination that emerges from the film.
• The Unsolved Mystery: In SCIENCE! the investigators are tasked with finding out the whereabouts of a missing maid to dissuade her father from slandering the Society of London for the Exploration and Development of the Esoteric Sciences' reputation. Once they discover floating rats and a portal through time to the Carboniferous Period, however, they end up being stranded in the prehistoric past with no way of returning or finding out what happened to the missing maid.

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Shall we ride?

—Cuppycup