Mamoswine and Golurk Are Eric Silver’s Favorite Pokemon

In honor of Question Keeper Eric’s birthday, the tables are turned on him and he’s talking about his favorite Pokemon. Editor Mischa hosts as they talk about how Golurk fits into Arceus’ religion and where “bust on through with Mamoswine” comes from. And lots of folks say something nice about Eric.


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Credits

- Host, Producer, & Question Keeper: Eric Silver

- Editor & Mixer: Mischa Stanton

- Music by: Jeff Brice

- Art by: Jessica Boyd

- Multitude: multitude.productions


About Us

Games and Feelings is an advice podcast about being human and loving all types of games: video games, tabletop games, party games, laser tag, escape rooms, game streams, and anything else that we play for fun. Join Question Keeper Eric Silver and a revolving cast of guests as they answer your questions at the intersection of fun and humanity, since, you know, you gotta play games with other people. Whether you need a game recommendation, need to sort out a dispute at the table, or decide whether an activity is good for a date, we’re your instruction manual. New episodes drop every other Friday.


Transcript

MISCHA:  Hello trainers. it's Poke time. This is What's Your Favorite Pokemon, And then I say Something Nice About You #WYFPATISSNAY. A podcast where we all get to think about Pokemon for a little while, and nothing else. I'm Mischa Stanton and I like my candies 75% off the day after Valentine's Day, Easter, or Halloween. Eric Silver, welcome to your own podcast!

ERIC:  Oh, no—it's—Eric Silver, this is your life. They're gonna play all these clips of me. No.

MISCHA:  Oh, we have some clips, but those will come later. You see wonderful listeners, today is a special Eric's birthday edition of What's Your Favorite Pokemon, And Then I Say Something Nice About You.

ERIC:  This is so stupid, I like it though.

MISCHA:  This is gonna be great, And everyone's gonna love it.

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  This is gonna be so cute. Eric Silver, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?

ERIC:  Sure. Hey, I'm Eric Silver, I'm usually the host of this podcast.

MISCHA:  Not anymore!

ERIC:  No, not anymore. And you know, I'm also the best DM in podcasting on Join the Party.

MISCHA:  That's true. I've heard that on the internet.

ERIC:  Yeah, yeah. A lot of people are saying it, a lot of people.

MISCHA:  Everyone's saying it.

ERIC:  Yeah. And I'm also the—the co-host on Tell Me About It, which is a wacky game show about people talking about their favorite things. It's like audio taskmaster, which a lot of fun.

MISCHA:  Hell yeah. Incredible. I should really check out some of these podcasts.

ERIC:  Yeah, you should. You should try editing two-thirds of them, cause it's really fun.

MISCHA:  It is. You know what Eric, it is, it is really fun. And that's why I'm so excited to be here with you today. Because I also know that you are a die-hard Poke fan.

ERIC:  I do like the Pokemon. They're good—they're good little guys.

MISCHA:  They're—they truly made a whole, like generation-spanning franchise out of just making cute little guys.

ERIC:  I think about the original 150 and it's like, y'all really just decided to make some dudes. It's just a fucking— it's like yeah, here's Magmar, it's fucking terrible.

MISCHA:  It's got a butt on its forehead.

ERIC:  It's like, oh, you don't like that?

MISCHA:  You'll love it.

ERIC:  How about Jigglypuff? Is that good for you? Put you to sleep.

MISCHA:  It's just Kirby with a microphone.

ERIC:  Yeah. There's like I don't know. The really funny thing is if you look at marketing for like, really early in Pokemon's life cycle, like really introducing Gen 1 to the States. Poliwhirl and Polywrath were really big in the marketing.

MISCHA:  Yeah. I do remember Poliwhirl being on like a lot of like the companion-like guides—

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  —for the game that you could buy at like, you know, not Gamestop because Gamestop wasn't like the monopoly that it is today. But like your local video game store.

ERIC:  Babbage's, Mischa, Babbage's

MISCHA:  Right, of course.

ERIC:  Yeah, it's funny. I saw— I follow a lot of Pokemon on Twitter. And like they showed a bunch of like, I think like on the Pokemon mac and cheese, one of them was Poliwhirl. I think on some guides, as you said, it's also Polliwhirl. They really were pushing it, I've find that deeply funny.

MISCHA:  Is that because Japan loves frogs?

ERIC:  I guess so. I think that they—they decided to put it forward, yeah. I mean, is that— they can't be any water frog, two-footed water frog cannot be more popular than electric mouse, you know what I mean?

MISCHA:  That's true.

ERIC:  Like who know? Who knew?

MISCHA:  Well—Nothing could be electric mouse because electric mouse was the main character of the anime. Like you just—you can't beat that.

ERIC:  No, they— I think they knew that I because that's why Electric is so OP, they're like y'all we got to make sure Pikachu is really powerful. Yeah, that's fine.

MISCHA:  Yeah, absolutely. So Eric, tell us a little bit about your relationship to Pokemon throughout your life.

ERIC:  That’s one of the–

MISCHA:  What was your first Pokemon game?

ERIC:  My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Red. For those you don't know, I am a twin. I have a twin brother. Hi, Tyler, wherever you are, and it's also his birthday. So he's also going to celebrate this birthday.

MISCHA:  Happy Birthday, Tyler!

ERIC:  Good job, Tyler.

MISCHA:  You did, you were born.

ERIC:  Yeah, you were born. So we got a lot of stuff at the same time. Especially Pokemon games. So I had Red and he had Blue.

MISCHA:  Oh yeah.

ERIC:  And we continued that all through the like tra—quote-unquote, “Traditional Gameboy Series” Like we went up to— we had a Gameboy Advance, we had a Gameboy SP. So we went up to Ruby, Sapphire is one that I really remember. And I think about the time we went to high school in college like the 3DS was for kids. And I want to say this as nicely as possible. They were for kids who like were into anime when no one knew what that was.

MISCHA:  Sure.

ERIC:  It's like, hey, it's 2005, I have a sticker of like my otaku on my 3DS, and I'm like that kid is a dork.

MISCHA:  Yup.

ERIC:  So it's like we never got into the 3Ds. He felt like— like the 3DS was decidedly not cool in a way that like the Gameboy Advance, or at least the Gameboy was. It's like, oh, gamers, you can play whatever you want.

MISCHA:  That's true. It's also kind of the first time where I was like, oh, Nintendo people are like, into Nintendo.

ERIC:  Yes.

MISCHA:  Like exclusively like— you ha— like the 3DS was for hardcore Nintendo fans.

ERIC:  Right. Especially because everybody else was playing like Halo, or—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  I'm trying to think of the stuff—we were in a PlayStation household, so I'm trying to think of the stuff on there.

MISCHA:  No one was playing it, because everyone was playing Halo.

ERIC:  Yeah, everyone was playing Halo, that's true. It's like I guess you— if you're a weirdo, you were playing the original God of War series, or like Final Fantasy. But no, everyone was just playing Halo. And we were– we had an Xbox. So we actually—I had a GameCube, but I'd never had a Wii. That was like when my dad and my mom split up when we were 10. And then when my dad had new kids, they had a Wii and a Wii U, because they were younger. So it's like, it was very much like a younger thing. I feel like the— it was like a real family thing. So I didn't really get back—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  —into video games outside of the broey ones, until the Switch, where I bought it in Alpha, and then I got a Gamer PC. And then I got back into playing the Pokemon games with Sword and Shield and then started getting into like the world-building, as you see with the various contents that I have out here.

MISCHA:  Yeah. So here's my question, follow up to this.

ERIC:  Sure.

MISCHA:  When—I also played the first three generations. Loved Ruby and Sapphire, especially Fire Red and Leaf Green, uh my jam. But specifically, I also didn't have a DS or 3DS and my younger brother had one. So I also saw them as like, not for me–

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  –quite so much. So I pivoted hard to Ruby, Sapphire, ROM hacks. did you ever play any of those?

ERIC:  No, see—we you— like for such a long time, I think my dad wanted to make it seem like he knew the most about computers, you know? He's like—

MISCHA:  Oh, okay.

ERIC:  We had windows and like we had PCs at our house. But like it was never to a point where like, I was downloading stuff. I think my brother was also doing that. We also got into like MMOs at that time. Like we played a lot of Guild Wars at the time, and my brother was the one who like found torrents, and he was the one who—

MISCHA:  Oh, gotcha.

ERIC:  —knew how to do that stuff. So I really didn't.

MISCHA:  Okay.

ERIC:  So no, the—the ro— now I'm into ROM hacks. That's something that I watch all the time. I love watching streamers get into it like I follow on a really, really popular Nuzlocker, who's very talented. And it's fun watching him like take these incredibly difficult ROM hacks apart. So like now I'm into it. No— now I get the strats.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  I'm just like not necessarily doing it. Like I've played Nuzlockes before, but I'm just not as— I get too impatient with the battle system. I just like Pokemon as a whole.

MISCHA:  Yeah, I agree. I've never done a Nuzlocke. Do you have a favorite buddy from your Nuzlocke run?

ERIC:  Oh, man. No, I—I definitely did a Nuzlocke on Sword and Shield at some point.

MISCHA:  Because you were an adult.

ERIC:  Right, because I'm an— I'm an adult. But you know I also— I played Platinum for the first time on— on like OpenEmu, but I was doing it for a podcast and they didn't tell me. And they were like, oh yeah, if you want to come on this podcast, just like play through like, three-quarters of Platinum, so you can come out and talk about one section. And I'm like, oh, I guess I'm gonna have to do this as fast as possible because I already said it. So it's like that—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  I have such a bad taste in my mouth, all that from—from that.

MISCHA:  Geez.

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  Okay. Wow, that's—slam this Pokemon game for my podcast, what an ass.

ERIC:  I know. iI's like yeah, oh, yeah, I assume you've been playing along with us as we've been playing, just hop on and when—as were 5/8 through it. I was also like playing— I was playing Platinum, but they were playing Pearl and they never told me.

MISCHA:  Oh, those are two different games, one comes after the other.

ERIC:  Yeah, yeah.

MISCHA: Isn’t it?

ERIC:  They're—one is much different than the other. I'm like I'm already great. Thank you. Thanks, guys. Thanks.

MISCHA:  Even if you hadn't played like Diamond, it would have been closer.

ERIC:  Yeah. It's like—I feel like I'm coming to Pokemon so much as an adult, like dealing with adult problems. And I try to challenge myself with these artificial stuff. So I feel like I consume a lot of Pokemon content and they talk about it a lot. But playing the games themselves. I mean, listen, I also played Scarlet and Violet like everybody else. But they're always coming to a point in like the late, late game where it just becomes too hard because something I've done in my game constraint— in my team construction doesn't jive directly with the one thing you can do. For those of you who played—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  –Scarlet and Violet is that wild shit at the end of the end game. And the same thing, the final boss fight in Sword and Shield against your final rival. I—my team composition wasn't right for whatever they were trying to do. And it's like you push through the entire game because it's for children.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  And then you come up there and they're like, no, you fucked up. No, no, no, you can't finish this.

MISCHA:  No, there was only one way to play this game, child. Didn't you know that? Didn't you predict that three gyms ago?

ERIC:  You don't have all poisoned types? That's really weird that you don't.

MISCHA:  Oh, you forgot to add a Fire Type in the mid-game when we only provided one on that one route, and its rarity was like 3%, my bad. Get good.

ERIC:  Oh, you have a dragon, but it's only Dragon Type? Oh, I have an ice type that's good for this. Oh, but Ice is bad for everyone else other than the AI? Oh, okay, well that's— you can just go fuck yourself.

MISCHA:  Ice is definitely the computer's favorite Pokemon type for sure.

ERIC:  And it always works for them. It never works for me.

MISCHA:  Yeah. Truly. Eric, you are currently hanging out in the Multitudio.

ERIC:  I am.

MISCHA:  In beautiful Greenpoint, Brooklyn. But do you have, have any Pokemon merch within arm's reach of you right now?

ERIC:  Oh, man. Not within arm's reach of me. I should have prepared for this.

MISCHA:  Okay, we'll open it up to the—the rest of the Multitudio. Is there any Pokemon merch in the Multitudio?

ERIC:  Oh, 100%. Hold on, let me go get it.

MISCHA:  Yeah, go. This is the part of the podcast where Eric fully left to the recording booth so I can tell you how much I love him. And what a joy it is to work for and with him every day. And yeah, okay, he's coming back. And we'll say more nice stuff about him later.

ERIC:  Okay, so I measured it out. We do have a bunch of—

MISCHA:  Okay.

ERIC:  —Pokemon stuff here in the studio. But I think the closest thing is at my desk where I have a— a Snorlax that's made out of—

MISCHA:  Oh yeah.

ERIC:  —Onyx.

MISCHA:  What?!

ERIC:  Or it's a—sorry, it's made out of obsidian.

MISCHA:  That's awesome.

ERIC:  Because as a millennial, I have friends who are into crystals.

MISCHA:  Sure.

ERIC:  And they sent me an Etsy shop that made crystals that were cut into Pokemon. And like I don't necessarily believe in crystals, but it sure is cool having an obsidian Snorlax for— to protect me from negative thoughts.

MISCHA:  That's amazing. Also, like as one of the tenants of your altar, you chose sleep and sleepiness and I really appreciate that.

ERIC:  Yeah. So he just hangs out to me— to me and reminds me to have—to like do belly drum, and have high defense and just like remember—remember to take a rest.

MISCHA:  Belly drum, shockingly good move. Shout out to all of the people who physically are able to do it.

ERIC:  Yo, shout out to belly drum and all my belly drum boys out there.

MISCHA:  Belly drum boys. Alright, Eric, it's that time of the podcast. Who's your favorite Pokemon?

ERIC:  You know, it's funny. I knew this was coming, and I still gave two Pokemon.

MISCHA:  That's okay.

ERIC:  But I truly do not think I love more than the other. Like neither of them are perfect. I feel like I need both of them at the same time. So my two favorite Pokemon are Golurk and Mamoswine.

MISCHA:  Yeah. Good news, Eric, I find both of them.

ERIC:  Hurray. Great. We'll talk about them both roughly, it's fine.

MISCHA:  Okay, great, we can do it. So we're gonna have to double time a little bit through the Pokemon to do two at once, I think a little bit. But tell—why—why do you love these things?

ERIC:  Yeah, listen, they—they feel different places in my heart. I think that if I wa— I want both of them as best friends. They're both big boys. They're both very interesting designs. They're both like, I don't know, fun to be around. And they both have little guys that they evolved from. And I think that that's also part of it of knowing you go from a little dude, into something a big— a big lad. It's something that I love quite a lot. And of course, like, Golurk is the Jewish Gollum Pokemon, but of course—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  —It's the only thing close— is only close to it. And um—

MISCHA:  It's—Honestly, I got some research for it, it's closer than you might think.

ERIC:  It's pretty close, it's pretty close.

MISCHA:  It's pretty close.

ERIC:  And I like where Golurk comes from. And then Mamoswine also is just— is my ice type boy. And both of them are ground type, which I didn't know about myself until I thought about it a litt—I thought about it for a second that I'm a ground-type trainer.

MISCHA:  You are very grounding.

ERIC:  Deep. Thank you.

MISCHA:  It's the time where we say something nice about you.

ERIC:  Earthquake.

MISCHA:  Also, it does make me think about like the fact that ice is bad, and let's see, pair it with ground. Like permafrost is really strong, you know what I'm saying?

ERIC:  I do know what you're saying.

MISCHA:  Like there's something to that.

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  Oh, would you please describe for us your Pokemon as good as possible for the listeners?

ERIC:  Sure. I absolutely. Well, okay, so Mamoswine is a uh—okay, invasion of mammoth.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  Well their eyes like a blue eye mask on. A light blue eye mask on. And the tusks are giant and they come out of the chest.

MISCHA:  They co—oh, they don't come o—now they come out of the chest.

ERIC:  It's like so—it—it—on the body, on the image, it looks like it's coming out of the chest. It's like—

MISCHA:  Okay.

ERIC:  —fully right in the center of—of the entire height.

MISCHA:  There's— I don't know if our audience base is too young to get this reference, but there's Madonna's cone tits and then there's the Mamoswine tusks.

ERIC:  No, that's good. I think people will know what that is.

MISCHA:  You know what I'm saying?

ERIC:  Yeah, that's fine.

MISCHA:  Okay, great. Good.

ERIC:  They're kinda like those, yeah. And Golurk—Golurk looks like a Roman soldier, except it's made out of iron, is 9 feet tall, and it's spooky because it's ghost-type.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  And it has like a big—there's like a big cut around its chest and it has like a— like a weird metallic bandage over it.

MISCHA:  Yeah, like a band of metal.

ERIC:  Yeah, yeah.

MISCHA:  Holding the crack together.

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  Well, when did you decide that these wonderful friends were your favorites?

ERIC:  See, that's a good question because this is where it comes together right? It's like I really love—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  —Mamoswine because one, good boy. Two I've come around on Swinub as well. I think Piloswine look is the most teenage-looking ass Pokemon. It's like Ivysaur and Mamoswine—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  Look like they're trying to do kickflips in a gas station parking lot.

MISCHA:  Yeah, telling their stepdad that they're not the real dad and storming out of the front door. Yeah, for sure.

ERIC:  It's like just because you're dating Mamoswine, doesn't mean you're my dad, Steve. And I just lo—I love the— the whole Tusk thing is so interesting that it's like made out of ice as well. And I just really love that thing.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  Also, I came to find out more about Mamoswine. Speaking of coming to this as an adult and skipping the middle sections, the 3DS sections.

MISCHA:  Skipping the teenage sections, if you will.

ERIC:  Truly, truly. Is that like, I—do you ever watch Griffin McElroy's Nuzlocke runs?

MISCHA:  I have in the past watched Griffin McElroy's content.

ERIC:  Sure. For those who don't know, Griffin McElroy is one of those famous podcasting brothers. But also he was a video producer for Polygon, which is a website that his brother founded.

MISCHA:  Yeah, in addition to being lots of podcast content, Griffin McElroy, also a bunch of video game content.

ERIC:  Yes, a lot of video game content. That was also the time when I was working like my terrible jobs. Like the one that I met Brandon at when we were working at terrible job. Like we were watching a lot of Polygon content. That was like the height of videos coming out of Polygon that were from the McElroys, and McElroy-adjacent people.

MISCHA:  I'm not gonna lie. I friggin love those Amiibo reviews.

ERIC:  I love them, I love them.

MISCHA:  It’s so funny. The part where he could shove him in his mouth every time, got me every time.

ERIC:  Yeah, I like seeing him to have to do comedy by himself or with like a very limited, and not his brother co-host was like, wonderful to me. I loved watching it.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  And it was definitely a part of this like larger internet constellation. And one of these was this Nuzlocke runs that I was super into. And he did a Nuzlocker run of X and Y, which is a game that I never played because it was weird on 3D—on the 3DS. And there was a moment in X and Y where you're transversing some sort of like, icy area because this is where you get the Ice-type Pokemon. And it's like snowy, and there's a moment where you—where it tells you to bust on through with Mamoswine, and then you jump on top of a Mamoswine, and then you have to— the Mamoswine takes you through, like all this snow. And I still remember this moment and how funny it was, and how delightful it looked riding a Mamoswine, but like, I li— I want this. I love to go to there.

MISCHA:  You just want to bust on through.

ERIC:  I want to bust other with Mamoswine. And then for Golurk of course, like I'm—I'm a sucker for the Jewish Golem and everything—and everything about the Golem trope. And knowing that there was actually a Pokemon for it was wonderful. And also Golurk is actually combat-viable with Mamoswine.

MISCHA:  Yes.

ERIC:  And it's kind of really is it.

MISCHA:  Yeah, Golurk it's—it's nice to have a backup favorite that's actually good. You know what I mean?

ERIC:  Yeah, they're really one-and-one. Like I really like Golurk, and I think that I like Golurk more is like a design that is instead of like, oh, just kind of sort of a woolly mammoth what we did something different with it.

MISCHA:  Yup.

ERIC:  Like Golurk was actually trying to like innovate and so like taking and, you know, Pokemon are all just like Japanese yokai when they come down to it. So it's nice being it's come–

MISCHA:  Yeah, it's nice to have a Jewish yokai in there.

ERIC:  Exactly. Golurk is a Jewish yokai, exactly.

MISCHA:  Yeah  100%. I love that. I actually really love that take. I'm gonna take that with me [18:48] the podcasts.

ERIC:  Do it. Everyone deserves their own yokai.

MISCHA:  Yeah, um, do you want to know what inspired you Pokemon? It sounds like you already do know what inspires your Pokemon. But do you want me to tell you anyway?

ERIC:  Yeah, please. I have a good sense, but like I definitely— I would love to talk a little bit more about Golurk, where Golurk comes from for sure.

MISCHA:  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

ERIC:  Like Mamoswine is truly just a mammoth, right?

MISCHA:  Well, no, it's a —it's a woolly mammoth and a wild boar, like an ancient boar.

ERIC:  Ohhh.

MISCHA:  In Japanese its name is—

ERIC:  Sure.

MISCHA:  —Mammoo, which is a cross-up of mammoth and boo, boo, boo, boo, which is Japanese for oink-oink.

ERIC:  Shout out to the fucking onomatopoeias coming out of Japan. Incredible. There's something also like a little bit like Mother Bear about Mamoswine. I know the gender difference. The— the gender split on this particular Pokemon is 50:50, but it feels motherly.

MISCHA:  This is a Pokemon where like when it's depicted in art, it's caring for its young ones.

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  You know like the—there's a few that are like that. Kangaskhan also comes to mind of like Pokemon that are—where one of their primary characteristics is like they are a parent.

ERIC:  Yeah. And like— I kind of like that. I've always liked that about Barrows, as well, which is my favorite animal. But all of the bear Pokemon are boring and stupid, so—

MISCHA:  They're just bears. They're not like fun bear cross-ups or anything

ERIC:  No, nothing makes me more mad than Beartic, which is in, and Cubchoo, which are two of the one grossest, but too boring and our most obvious Pokemon constructions ever so I automatically thrown out.

MISCHA:  I just don't like looking at them.

ERIC:  I—I—

MISCHA:  I truly don't. It's not fun.

ERIC:  It literally makes me nauseous, if I look at a Cubchoo for more than like five seconds.

MISCHA:  Yeah. So let's move on. Do you want to know what inspired Golurk?

ERIC:  Ah, yes, I know. I did a little bit of research because I didn't know which one you were also preparing. But like there's so interesting that like, it's not just the Golem it's like all— there's like a lot of soldier stuff.

MISCHA:  There's a lot of soldier stuff. There's— it looks kind of like a Roman soldier. There's references to like Terracotta soldiers in the Terracotta Army in China. There are also like very specific references to one specific filmic appearance of the Golem of Prague.

ERIC:  That's so tight.

MISCHA:  Did you know about this?

ERIC:  No, I don't.

MISCHA:  Okay, so the crack and the band across the Crack is a direct reference to the 1950s Czech film known in the US as the Emperor and the Golem. Which depict a clay model of the Golem, where that crack and has a bit. Like it was a design choice for that movie, and then it got incorporated into Golem lore.

ERIC:  That is so cool. I actually didn't know about that at all.

MISCHA:  The Golem frog also— I didn't know this. Could summon the spirits of the dead to its aid. That's part also of a Golem?

ERIC:  I did not know that—I did not know that either. That's—co— that's wild. I also think it's so funny that like this was introduced in Unova. I think it was Gen Five, which was ostensibly in New York City. It's like, Yeah, let's put the Jewish shit in New York City place.

MISCHA:  There is—they're just coming to meet us where we're at, Eric.

ERIC:  Yeah, they also—

MISCHA:  As a Jew in New York City, you have to accept that.

ERIC:  Someone— I—I saw a post, and again, this stuff is just on Reddit, where it's like, hey, did you know that like, Jews are the second most popular religious group in New York City? And I'm like, yeah, no, that makes sense. Yeah.

MISCHA:  As a Jew that grew up near New York City, I get surprised when that's not true of other places.

ERIC:  It's fucking true.

MISCHA:  Do you know what I mean?

ERIC:  That's why I'm not leaving New York State ever.

MISCHA:  Yeah, true. So hard to get a good bagel here in LA.

ERIC:  Fucking true. Absolutely true.

MISCHA:  I do also just want to shout out all of the Dex entries that like specifically call out how Golurks were created to protect people and Pokemon in ancient times like they were spe—they were created. They're an artificial Pokemon. They were created as guardians. Others mentioned how it can lose control of itself if the glowing seal on its face is removed. Which is like it's they— they took the time to like really incorporate the— the Golems actual lore, and like, apply it to the Pokemon world. And like all of the Dex entries mentioned that. Ever since its first appearance, like its Dex entries are constantly mentioning these two facets. And it's like bringing— bringing Jewish lore to the world in a way that like, is kind— is like accurate.

ERIC:  Yes. Well, I don't want to step on anything—anything else of the next section about fun facts about the thing, but I have something which is very specific of why I think that is the case.

MISCHA:  Okay.

[theme]

ERIC:  Hey, it's Eric, and I picked up some snacks for Games and Feelings. It's a birthday cake for me. Honestly, I really didn't know that this episode was coming is incredible. Thank you to Mischa and Amanda, and everyone who worked on it, who pulled this whole thing together. I'm feeling really loved. And I really appreciate that. And I'm gonna say that in the mid-roll of this podcast. Please support the wonderful people who work on this, not just me, but Mischa and Amanda, and the wonderful people in Multitude. And join the Patreon for Games and Feelings. We are redoubling our efforts on the Patreon feed for exclusive content. There's over 25 episodes of exclusive pods. Hop on $5 a month, you get your very special, very own questions portal if you join at the $10-month tier. And of course, I get to say your name every single time if you join the producer-level patrons here for only $20 a month. And therefore shout out to producer-level patrons Polly Burrage, Kelsey Duffy, and Peyton who got me even more board games for my birthday. Oh my god, you shouldn't have, thank you. These look so much fun. If you want to be a part of that patreon.com/gamesandfeelings. I think you should listen to the other shows here at the Multitude Podcast Collective, you might really like Pale Bue Pod. Pale Blue Pod is an astronomy podcast for people who are overwhelmed by the universe but wants to be its friend. Astrophysicist Dr. Moiya McTier and comedian Corrine Caputo demystify space, one topic at a time with open eyes, open arms, and open mouths, because they're laughing so much and dropping their jaws at the incredible information. You might not know this, but Moiya and Corinne have the same amount of grad school. It was eight years to be a professional comedian, pretty wild. By the end of each episode, the cosmos will feel a little less odd, too scary, a little more oooh so cool. New episodes every single Monday, wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored by Tavour. Tavour is our favorite place to find craft beer from all over the United States. Tavour does the searching for you. Giving you easy access to a wide range of craft beers from across state lines. All you got to do is download the Tavour app to get access to hard-to-find 100% independent craft beer. Build your own custom box, and the craft beers you love or let them do it for you, if you just enroll in a subscription box and bing bang, boom, they'll help you out. The best part is that they hold all of your beer for you in the warehouse until you're ready to have it shipped all for one flat fee. So you can get a beer two months ago, you can get a beer a week ago, you can get a beer two weeks from now, and they're all be shipped at the same time. They're gonna hold on to that beer, even if you don't remember getting it. So download Tavour, T A V O U R from the Appstore right now. And use code Games and Feelings for $10 off your first order of $25 or more. Tavour where code Games and Feelings will get you $10 off your first order of $25 or more. And now back to the birthday.

[theme]

MISCHA:  Okay, you want to— you want to move on to the fun fact? We can do fun fact.

ERIC:  Sure yeah.

MISCHA:  So you want to do Mamoswine or Golurk facts first?

ERIC:  Let's do Golurk because I— the— the one that I prepared was that Golurk was designed by James Turner.

MISCHA:  Eric. Eric, I appreciate you, but this was your birthday present and you weren't supposed to prep stuff.

ERIC:  I wasn't prepping, I was just looking at the Bulbapedia, it's right there.

MISCHA:  Okay. Okay.

ERIC:  The I—I actually thought this— I was thinking about this. And I have been thinking for a long time. How the hell did Jewish stuff get into Japanese games?

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  Because like, you know, shout-out to all the anime and manga designers who love putting crosses into their shit, just because they think it looks neat. Like, fucking shout-out. But I can see how Japan looks at Christianity is like, look at that weird shit, like Westerners look at, like the fetishization of Asian stuff. So I had no idea why this made sense. But the guy who supposedly designed Golurk was American. His name was James Turner, and he was the first Westerner to design Pokemon. So the reason why, is that this guy actually might have known about a jew.

MISCHA:  Wow.

ERIC:  As opposed to in Japan, where they definitely don't.

MISCHA:  Yeah, that's awesome. I didn't realize that he was like, the first Westerner to be a Pokemon designer.

ERIC:  Yeah, in 2010, he's that—I think when he started—when he designed Pokemon for Black and White, going forward, that's— that's when it started.

MISCHA:  Amazing. My fun fact about Golurk, I have a bunch.

ERIC:  Please.

MISCHA:  Golurk has an interesting relationship to the mechanism that drives it.

ERIC:  Ohh.

MISCHA:  According to Shield, there's a theory that Golurks have perpetual motion machines inside them to g—tomake them go. That like never die and never tire. It can also fly and turn itself into a cannon.

ERIC:  That's so funny.

MISCHA:  I don't know if that's from Jewish lore, but it should be. Did you know The Golem of Prague could also turn into ah—into a cannon?

ERIC:  Yeah. I think maybe people will look like Jews more if they thought we had an Air Force.

MISCHA:  Well—

ERIC:  That's not what I meant. That's not what I meant.

MISCHA:  Okay, moving on. My final fun fact about Golurk is— it's again, I mentioned it before, but it's classified as an artificial Pokemon. Which is like the specific subset of Pokemon that were created by humans in the Pokemon world. People can just make like new Pokemon exist in Pokemon. It also includes Voltorb and Electrode the Porygon line, Mewtwo obviously is a clone of Mew. It also includes Baltoy and Claydol cast form, which was like made in a weather machine.

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  Trubbish and Garbador, Genesect type. No, which I had never heard of until I looked it up on both the PTO. But I love those little niche guys that are like weirdos. You know, like a missing no, but like part of canon?

ERIC:  Yeah, there—there was a point in Pokemon games where all of a sudden, they were like commentaries on man's ability to create. And I'm like, no, no, just use the elemental powers to take over the world, please.

MISCHA:  What if we hard-pivot Pokemon into a Frankenstein adaptation?

ERIC:  True, fucking true. Yeah, absolutely.

MISCHA:  Just so people don't @ me on the internet. Artificial Pokemon also include Banette, Magearna, Varoom, and several paradox Pokemon which I don't know about because I have not played Scarlet and Violet.

ERIC:  Fair. There— it's odd, they're very odd. Can I tell you what my favorite bit of Pokemon lore?

MISCHA:  Yes, please.

ERIC:  Is that do you know anything about the Regi line?

MISCHA:  Uh, they're Regice and the Registeel, and the Regieleki—

ERIC:  Yes, yes.

MISCHA:  Which is my favorite one?

ERIC:  So basically, like there's a bunch of different like, you know, striations of Pokemon Gods.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  Like we're not talking about like, Arceus or—or all of like the Po—the gods of time or space. We're talking about like one level down.

MISCHA:  It's really like a multi-tiered pantheon.

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  That there's like major gods, minor Gods, Demigods. Like just kind of Legends but not really gods.

ERIC:  Right.

MISCHA:  It's— it's very plentiful for something that also has a Christian Jesus in it.

ERIC:  Right. Yes, exactly. And then To—and Tom Bombadil is there as well.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  So the Regis were actually—speaking of like, artificially constructed Pokemon. So Regigigas is created all the other Regis, he built them.

MISCHA:  Okay.

ERIC:  He's just like, oh yeah, we're gonna—we're gonna fucking put you together my man. It's like very much that's like, I guess New Testament sort of like creation myth, you know?

MISCHA:  Oh, yeah.

ERIC:  It's really o— it's really odd. And I just want someone at Game Freak to sit down and be like, what the fuck did we make? It's just like a— it's an exquisite corpse of a worl—of world-building that I just love so much.

MISCHA:  It— if you want to be too Jews, then have a Pokemon podcast. Talking about Golurk. No, let's really talk about it.

ERIC:  Yeah, sure.

MISCHA:  Because, there's something about the Golem myth that says like, the power to create and to protect yourself can be wrought from the earth with your own hands. In a way that the Arceus Smith says creation is my domain.

ERIC:  Right.

MISCHA:  You know what I mean? Like there—there's something that like, really gives power back to the people in a—in a radical way, which is what the Golem myth is all about.

ERIC:  Yeah, there's something really funny about Arceus, especially now that Arceus is like your boy in the Pokemon Legend series. Like Arceus is—

MISCHA:  Oh yeah.

ERIC:  Arceus used to be very like abstract as well as like Giratina and like the really high-up God Pokemon.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  Where it's like they just show up. They're—they're devastating. They're incredibly scary.

MISCHA:  You—you—

ERIC:  You only get there.

MISCHA:  You can only find them in like a special pocket dimension that exists specifically to encounter them.

ERIC:  Right. Exactly. But now Arceus is like— is like what's up my man? I just isekai’d you. I'm also your phone. How's it hanging? Like he turned into Jesus, that like Jesus and Arceus are your friends. And I find that—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  —deeply interesting, alongside the thing you just said of like being able to build Pokemon. Alongside like when you think about intelligent design, and that there is a God that created everything which is Arceus. Is like Arceus was trying to create Magmar to fucking weirdo. Like, that's really wild that like the— if we applied the same idea that like God created humans and everything here and knew what she was doing by creating humans, like was Arceus trying to intentionally allow humans to create Pokemon, or is Arceus is only allowed to create whatever weird guys that Arceus wants?

MISCHA:  I want you to imagine. I'm going to paint you a word picture, ready?

ERIC:  Sure.

MISCHA:  There's a bunch of teens, Pokemon trainers hanging out on a— on a beach in Cinnabar Island. They come across a Magmar, they throw down start roasting it making fun of it's buttface. Arceus comes out of the cl—Arceus comes out of the clouds. It says, “Yo dude, I made him in my image, lay off.”

ERIC:  “Hey, dawg turn the other cheek. Fi—flame thrower.”

MISCHA:  Yo, quit it. would it Let he who has not had butt face, passed the first stone.

ERIC:  Oh, Mischa, that's hilarious. The thing I want to talk about though, is about the Golem myth, because I just talked about—

MISCHA: Yeah.

ERIC:  —this on Spirits lately. And I've been thinking about this a lot in terms of like, what constitutes a Golem. And I think that there's only—there's a few tenants that need to be met. And I don't think that Golurk touches it. But I think it's because Golurk is trying to be everybody's like, artificial protector at the same time. Because a golem has to be one created, so Golurk has that. Two, buy someone to protect, but three to protect a diss in Franchise Group by a powerful majority.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  And although Golurk does that, the third one like ostensibly, and that he protects other Pokemon, Golurk protects trainers who have them.

MISCHA:  Yeah, he sort of protects like abstract than downtrodden.

ERIC:  Right. Yeah, but it's also kind of like, I don't know if you can have one. You don't get to say like, oh, if you pull the strap off, it freaks out and destroys villages without saying it was protecting that village specifically because it needed it. I feel like we're missing that one specific detail. But I think it's because they kind of touched on a lot of different things. There are so many inspirations that I was digging into like the—the Terracotta soldier you said. The Roman soldier, which I thought was really great. But also because it was New Yo— NewYork City. We're also talking about the Statue of Liberty, which is why it's kind of colored that way.

MISCHA:  Right. Right.

ERIC:  And—

MISCHA:  You said it was made of iron eye because its Statue of Liberty based I thought it was made of copper.

ERIC:  Right. Because well, I think that might have been what they were alluding to, and I don't know if—specifically I just said iron, but—

MISCHA:  Is it—it's made of Poke flesh. Don't worry about it.

ERIC:  It's ma—it's made of weird Poke flesh. But also because it can go at max speeds, we're kind of talking about a Voltron, right?

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  So we also have mecha anime layered on top of it. It's Japanese robot as well.

MISCHA:  Also the orig—Yeah, and the original name for Voltron in Japanese was Golion.

ERIC:  Oh, that's pretty tight.

MISCHA:  So that's Golurk.

ERIC:  There you go! I come to that—like, there's a lot he's try—. I think it’s design is really smart because it's everything to everyone. And the a— a lot of different people can claim that it's their robotic or artificial protector and I really like that.

MISCHA:  That is very, very cool.

ERIC:  And Mamoswine is like a fucking mammoth.

MISCHA:  Yeah you—

ERIC:  That's pretty cool.

MISCHA:  You want a free fun fact about me Mamoswine, just because I thought this was neat.

ERIC:  I do.

MISCHA:  Okay. The fact that Mamoswine is ground type is probably a reference to permafrost, but also, it might be a reference to Russian, where the word mammoth comes from.

ERIC:  Oh, okay.

MISCHA:  Which originally comes from the monsy word, which is indigenous Russians. The monsy words for Earth and horn.

ERIC:  Let's go. Shout out to all my linguists out there. Let's go.

MISCHA:  So that's a fun fact Mamoswine. Yeah, dude, it's a fucking mammoth. It's— it's been encased in ice for 10,000 years, and part of that ice is its tusks, which are affixed to it's just like Madonna.

ERIC:  I love that. There's also something about like, I wonder if they kind of made this Pokemon around specific moves. Like this one—like Golurk specifically has like a punching move, that is like only good for them, and it's like one of the very—there are so many different punching to that. I think it's like, I can't remember what it is. But I'm making my hand like go do—, like bop down at the elbow. But then I think they're like Ice Fang was like made for Mamoswine.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  As like a physical move, it has ice tusks, that's what it's for.

MISCHA:  Well, I—and I love when they do that. Like I—I'm pretty partial to. I know I have an episode What's your Favorite Pokemon, we're talking about Bulbasaur. But I also really love the cute bone Marowak line. And they have bone ring and like that's— only Marowak would have that. So like I love a Pokemon move that only one has.

ERIC:  Yes, no, I agree. I think—also, Bonemerang is awesome.

MISCHA:  It's dope. I could have a whole second episode talking about [37:11] Bonemerang but I won't. Hey, Eric.

ERIC:  Yeah?

MISCHA:  If you, and Golurk and Mamoswine we're in real life and super good buddies, what would you do together?

ERIC:  This is a great question because I have distinct things I would do with both of them. The first is I would ride a Mamoswine around everywhere.

MISCHA:  Just bustin’ on through.

ERIC:  Just truly busting up through with Mamoswine.

MISCHA:  Bust on through the snow, post on through the bank. Bust down through the coffee shop line.

ERIC:  I just busted on through traffic and everyone was easy to get out of the way. But then with Golurk, I would go to space and– because he can go to space.

MISCHA:  Okay.

ERIC:  Honestly I think like Golurk, I would be like a Batman-style vigilante.

MISCHA:  Okay.

ERIC:  I think it'd be fun of being like a little human with like my big— my big lad. Also, Go lurk was in the Detective Pikachu movie. So I do know what it looks like rendered in real life like 60 FPS, so I think it'd be pretty cool. It'd be super spooky.

MISCHA:  I just had a vision of you on its back flying through the sky like Hiro and Baymax from Big Hero Six.

ERIC:  Yes, please.

MISCHA:  Where you're just like on a stag pointing out crime.

ERIC:  Yeah, that's what I would do.

MISCHA:  Incredible.

ERIC:  That's what I would do. Yeah, you nailed it.

MISCHA:  Okay, what would all three of you do together?

ERIC:  Oh, what do we— I— we would have a Ground-Type gym. That's what we do.

MISCHA:  Right. And if you want to know more about Eric's Ground-Type gym, you might just have to listen to the Multi-Crew exclusive podcast, Head Heart Gut.

ERIC:  Now did I spend $100 on a commission? Yes, I did. Does that affect how well I did? No, it doesn't.

MISCHA:  Not even in the slightest.

ERIC:  Not even a little bit. They were just like cool. Fuck off.

MISCHA:  The dice tell a story, Eric.

ERIC:  I know. There is an image of— if you— I mean, it's my—my Twitter image. And I think my image on a lot of— a lot of Discord stuff.

MISCHA:  It's so cool. It's so good.

ERIC:  Is me as a—as a Ground Type gym. We are like the— my gimmick is that you got to play like Mario Kart, which is very fun and you—it's gonna be like double dash style, where you put your Pokemon on your back and they can—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  –you do attacks. But I— yeah, it's—it's a lot of fun. It's really pretty. Shout-out to Bromo Jumbo, wherever you are.

MISCHA:  Thinking of you, wherever you are.

ERIC:  Shout-out to the artist who had some time to draw me with some cool Pokemon.

MISCHA:  And now is the second part of the show.

ERIC:  What?!

MISCHA:  Were we say something nice about you?

ERIC:  What?! What are you talking about?

MISCHA:  Eric, we have gathered—

ERIC:  No.

MISCHA:  It's not just me who's gonna say something nice about you, Eric, it's a bunch of people.

[Eric wheezes]

ERIC:  This is—I had no idea this was gonna happen. Okay.

MISCHA:  Here we go, are you ready?

ERIC:  Oh, Mischa—Mischa's presenting, just showing me audio. Oh, no.

MISCHA:  Eric, welcome to the part where we say something nice about you.

ERIC:  Oh my god.

HATTIE:  My favorite Pokemon Ninetails can be a basic bitch. And—and all the best ways Eric Silver can also be a basic bitch. You know, going to the beach, day drink, have a White Claw, get his toes done. He doesn't like Ranch, but he's always down to have a good time just like Ninetails.

MEGAN:  You're just like Gyardos because Wired's John Mix Meyer and I would describe you as a classic powerhouse.

NORA:  And in an alternate universe, we're friendly podcasters were called Pokemon. IGN would call you one of the most powerful Pokemon ever encountered. Look, Eric's got oddish vibes. I mean he loves frolicking through a field and bathing in the moonlight. And honestly, that's about the extent of my Pokemon knowledge. Thanks to my deeply unsuccessful attempt at playing Pokemon Silver on my Gameboy Color back in the early 2000s. I just couldn't figure out how to cut down that one special, silly little tree blocking my path and I immediately retired. You know who got me out of that struggle? Eric. Because he's real good at helping when you ask, and he's better at cutting down trees.

TYLER:  Like Pikachu, my twin brother Eric bonds well with others, friends, co-workers, and listeners of his podcasts. Eric shares Pikachu's adventurous spirit, as he loves exploring Brooklyn and finding the best beer and food.

ERIC:  Is my brother's favorite Pokemon Pikachu? I didn't know that.

TYLER:  Pikachu’s encounters with legendary Pokemon keeps fans on the edge of their seats. Similarly, Eric is always looking for new creative opportunities and collaborations which make his podcasts engaging and exciting.

MARQUEZ:  Happy birthday, Eric. I think that you're like my favorite Pokemon, Smeargle because you're so artistic. And also, you won't stop painting on the walls. Stop painting on the walls.

ERIC:  Okay, Marquez.

BRANDON:  Hello, it's me, Brandon. You know that my favorite Pokemon is Gengar.

ERIC:  Why does he say Pokeman?

BRANDON:  But true fans know that my other favorite is Marill. The little squishy blue guy who's just the gosh darn cutest. Now you are not a little blue mouse friend, but you do have some things in common with Marill. Marill's ears are sensitive and can detect distant sounds, get it, like podcasting. Marill's tail is flexible and configured to stretch just like how you're able to adapt yourself to all situations and make the best of them. Marill never gets cold after swimming in cold water.

ERIC:  True.

BRANDON:  And you too are always overheated.

ERIC:  True.

BRANDON:  And finally, the bubble at the end of Marill's tail is filled with a lighter-than-water oil that acts as a buoy, just like you are the buoy that keeps us all afloat. You also learn rain dance at level 27.

ERIC:  That's true.

AMANDA RALTS:  Happy birthday, Eric. Happy Taurus season Amanda Ralts here.

MISCHA:  Shout out to Ralts!

AMANDA RALTS:  About my favorite Pokemon Ralts, shocker. I want to share with you an excerpt from a Reddit post titled I hate Ralts. And this excerpt reads, it's been more than one hour, I'm trying to find and capture a female Ralts. And my Torchic is already a combustion from training so much while searching for Ralts. First, I think you have something in common with Ralts because you both like to make Reddit bros angry, and that's delightful.

ERIC:  True.

AMANDA RALTS:  Second, Ralts has a 4% chance of appearing in Route 102 in Hoenn Region, and like Ralts, you are one in 25. No, you know what I mean, I'm just making a joke. But I think that it's really rare and special to find friends who keep me feeling inspired creatively and grateful for the work that we both get to do. I'm constantly in awe of your constant creativity and all the crazy games you make up. It's just delightful to bear witness to your brain working. Finally, the thing that you have in common with Ralts is that you are both weak to poison. Happy Birthday.

JEFF:  Just like my favorite Snowy Fox, you'd like to run with your pack. You have a lot of great friends that you've made over time, and you stay loyal and true to them. And I know all of us appreciate that greatly about you. Plus, you adapt to a lot of different situations and always know how to have a great time, no matter who you're hanging out with or where we are, or what challenges we're facing along the way. You know how to make any time with you exciting, and I think that's pretty neat.

JULIA:  Much like Arcanine you are magnificent, people are enchanted by your main aka your great beard and great hair. And while some people might not consider you a legendary, you are literally a legend it's—Arcanine is the legendary Pokemon. I mean that's its title and you, my friend are legendary.

JASPER:  What's up, Happy Birthday to my good friend Eric Silver. I am going to pick a Pokemon for you, which is a little bit left-field and only really sums up one of your personality traits. But I think it's an important one. So I'm gonna go ahead and say that you remind me of Houndoom. Now I know that probably seems like a bit of a stretch because how is fuzzy, cuddly, amazing, hilarious Eric Silver like Houndoom? Well, let me tell you because Houndoom when I used to play Gold and Silver was the most reliable Pokemon that I had. I mean, this guy I would throw him out in the most dire situations and he would just hang on. He doesn't have a whole lot of weaknesses. He's got quite a few immunities. He is an absolute baller of a Pokemon and was absolutely essential to my survival. And that's the way that I view Eric. He is absolutely essential to my survival as both a person and a creator. Eric is there for me, so reliable, always there with a smile, and willing to offer up in any way that he can. So thank you very much for being there for me. For all this time, and I'm very excited for the next stage of Jasper and Eric's shenanigans.

AMANDA:  Happy birthday, Eric, my husband.

ERIC:  It's Amanda!

AMANDA:  It's Amanda, your wife, I know we're the only ones who podcast together, but I had to get in on this to let you know that you are just like my favorite Pokemon Eevee. You are adaptable and adorable, and sweet and fierce, and the friendliest Pokemon out there, but also one that I would choose to be at my side no matter what life throws at me. You collect great things like my Eevee Pokemon buddy does—

ERIC:  True.

AMANDA:  —in Pokemon GO and you also come through no matter what the situation calls for. I'm so lucky to have you on my side and I would choose nobody else to be my let's go partner without in the world. I love you. Happy birthday.

ERIC:  I just want to point out that it's pretty— it would be pretty cool for twins, because my brother is Pikachu and I'm Eevee, and that works out pretty well. Hey, let's go—

MISCHA:  That's pretty good.

ERIC:  —Let's go. The Let's Go series is my mom birthing us.

MISCHA:  Let's go Pokemon Silver.

ERIC:  There it is.

MISCHA:  Because Silver is your last name.

ERIC:  That's pretty good. Hey, hey, Mischa?

MISCHA:  Yeah?

ERIC:  I was not expecting that at all. That's wild.

MISCHA:  Fucking glad you weren’t.

ERIC:  Oh my god.

MISCHA:  Happy Birthday, Eric.

ERIC:  Thanks, bud. This is so—this so nice. Wait, should we do a list about all the—all of the people who did this?

MISCHA:  Yeah, you want to give a shout-out to all those people who send in stuff real quick? I don't know some of their names.

ERIC:  I would love to give a shout-out to all my friends, Hattie, Megan, Nora, Tyler, Marquez, Brandon, Ralts, Jeff, Julia, Jasper, and Amanda. Pretty nice. Pretty nice and cool.

MISCHA:  Pretty nice. But there is still one person who has yet to say something nice about you.

ERIC:  Griffin McElroy is here?!

MISCHA:  Uh, boy? That's not good impression. And then I'm Shoving Amiibo in my mouth? Ohh.

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  No, it's me. I have to say something nice about you.

ERIC:  Oh, It's Mischa!

MISCHA:  Yeah, Eric, we all know that you are wildly creative. It pours out of you, and you have this love, not just of storytelling in games, but design that merges mechanics with narrative in ways that don't feel overbearing. You are the king of this. And I know that because we literally made a game together where we do that.

ERIC:  That's true.

MISCHA:  Buy Clear Eyes/ Full Hearts now on itch.io.

ERIC:  We'll—we'll put it in the episode description, yeah.

MISCHA:  But—

ERIC:  Give us $10

MISCHA:  Give us $10. —but it's the confidence with which you believe in these ideas that really marvel me. Maybe it's just that I hang out with small neurodivergent queer people all day. But whenever they complain to me about the creative ways to talk, oh, maybe my ideas are bad, actually. But whenever you do it, it's always why don't these idiots love my great ideas. And I don't know why they don't Eric, but they should because they're really good.

MISCHA:  That—Mischa, that was fucking tight, that was good. I—like it's just such a pleasure to work with and for you every day, like on the wild shit that you let me do for my job. And I love you very much, and I really hope you have a wonderful, happy birthday.

ERIC:  Thank you, Mischa. I appreciate that. Yeah.

MISCHA:  How you feel, live reactions right now.

ERIC: This—I mean, this is really nice. Isn't it funny, and maybe this is about podcasting, the fact that like I live in New York City, and you live in LA, vaguely, but you don't like work in Hollywood, right? It's like—

MISCHA:  I'm trying, man.

ERIC:  Yeah, definit—I guess it's mandatory if you live out there for sure.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  That it's like, there's a thing where I do— I wasn't anticipating. That like even though we work in like media and creation, and like I don't necessarily say that podcasting is entertainment because then I think we stumbled into the movies category.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  But there's a thing where like, the people who do this stuff are like, quieter. The thing you said right? They're like—

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  —quieter like anxious in a way that like I don't— that is not like me. That I wasn't anticipating coming into this. Because I thought more people are going to be like me, maybe this is like a pre-COVID thing where like, you know, there's a certain level of performance. That's what some of the stuff that we do that I really love and I'd really love to do and I— I like doing and I love doing the live shows at the various places for the various shows that we do. And looks like it does make me feel— it makes me feel like I stand out a lot. In a way that like I thought it was positive to be quick and loud and vans stick to your guns and speak truth to power in a way that I wasn't anticipating, so many people having an issue with and pushing back on.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  That—

MISCHA:  We do—we certainly live in interesting times to try to speak truth to power. I'll say that.

ERIC:  Yeah, I thought that was the point, right? That like—

MISCHA:  I think so too.

ERIC:  —power has never been— power has never been more vulnerable. It's like, you know, the people who are telling me that to be quiet aren't the people in power, they're the people around who don't like someone being loud. And that's what I find deeply confusing about the world, which we live in right now. And I find myself in turning 31 and going to 32. You know, like, I spent so much of my life being like having just such absolute garbage self-esteem, while also doing creative stuff. And now I'm like, what the fuck is everyone else's problem? And—

MISCHA:  That's wild, I didn't know that.

ERIC:  Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. Definitely, like around in college. You know, like, I was setting up like this NYU slam poetry team, and we ended up being like— we ended up winning a bunch of collegiate champions. But I was like, the president and the one putting it all together, I wasn't even like performing necessarily, because there were like—there were people who were like talent, and like, I ended up being like the second alternate, but also I was managing at the same time. And I felt that that's all that I had. Which is also why I like making games for other people is like, I don't need to be the talent necessarily, but at the same time, it's like, I thought we valued this, you know? I thought the only nee—you need a man— you need someone to make the game before you can play the game.

MISCHA:  Yeah. But also, like, you can't help but being the talent, because the talent is just so there. And it's— it bubbles out of you and you have to give it to somebody. You have to give it to people who have you.

ERIC:  Yeah, I know. I just— is—what I'm saying is these are interesting times to be in Eric Silver right now. And it just felt—it felt nice having unmitigated nice things being said to me like this, so I like that.

MISCHA:  Well, I'm— I'm here with you, ‘cause I think your shit is cool and good. And I think the world wants, needs, and deserves it. Eric Silver, tell us where we can find you on the Internet.

ERIC:  Well, you can continue to listen to this podcast and recommend it to other people is what I would suggest. But yeah, just continue to listen to the– my other shows and tell people that I'm good at it. I think honestly, that's what I am asking from listeners. Because also our listeners are quiet people who don't necessarily post about this on social media, which is fine because social media is terrible.

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  But yeah, go out and tell people I'm good at this is when— my birthday present to me in public or in semi-private, you know. Like don't just do it in private, do it in semi-private or public is what I—be a wonderful present to me.

MISCHA:  This is your call to action. Actively tell people, don't just—don't just try to sneak in opportunity. Actively find and seek out opportunities to tell people Eric Silver is good at games and good at podcasting.

ERIC:  Yeah.

MISCHA:  Because he is and more people should know about it.

ERIC:  Thank you. You could find me here at Games and Feelings. You can find me on Join the Party being the best DM in podcasting, or you can find me at Tell Me About It. which all is fucking tight. I love doing Tell Me About It, it's so much fun.

MISCHA:  It's just so wild. But like the— all of the parts of it, like you, don't think they've come together, which is why it's so hard to describe to people, but it really comes together in such a funny way.

ERIC:  I just think there–there are layers to it. I think people were trying to digest all of it at the same time. And I think that like it makes sense if you just like read it in sentences. Is like okay, it's a game show about your favorite things, right? It's like Taskmaster, where a multibillionaire makes people do things. And then the third one is improv legend Adal Rifai, forces people to tell him why their favorite thing is better than the movie Grease.

MISCHA:  Yeah, it's like coming on and having like, a nice conversation with your buds about your favorite thing, only it's mandatory, and there's incredibly high stakes if you don't.

ERIC:  Yeah, exactly. You just get put thrown into the shark pit.

MISCHA:  Yeah. You can find me if you choose to do so—

ERIC:  Do it.

MISCHA:  —on the internet. I'm still on Twitter @mischaetc because you can't figure out where else to go. If somebody wants to tell me where to go, I will probably be there @mischaetc.

ERIC:  Mischa, can I— can I give you a little bit of peace of mind about Twitter?

MISCHA:  Yeah.

ERIC:  I am convinced that Elon Musk is going to sell this by 20 sometime in 2024 Twitter. And I think it's going to come back in at least the way that Tumblr bounced back. I do think—

MISCHA:  Okay.

ERIC:  —it's gonna happen on Twitter. I really do.

MISCHA:  You heard it here first folks. Well, find me there and other places @mischaetc. You can also find me editing this podcast and Pale Blue Pod and Exolore and so many others for the Multitude Constellation podcast.

ERIC:  And Tell Me About It. Co-Crea—

MISCHA:  And Tell Me About It.

ERIC:  —we're co-creators. We co-created it.

MISCHA:  We did. It's our baby together, and I also do all of the wild sound design whenever Adal says something I have to make it real.

ERIC:  It's so funny.

MISCHA:  And he says a lot of stuff.

ERIC:  It's so good though.

MISCHA:  Thank you so much. for joining me here today on your podcast. I—here's the keys back. Sorry, I broke into the office.

ERIC:  No, that's fair.

MISCHA:  Please don't fire me.

ERIC:  No, no, no.

MISCHA:  And as we say at the end of every episode of What's your Favorite Pokemon, and I Say Something Nice About You. I choose you, friendship.

[theme]

ERIC:  Games and Feelings produced by Eric Silver and edited and mixed by Mischa Stanton. The theme music is returned to French Toast Castle by Jeff Bryce and the art was created by Jessica Boyd. Find transcripts for this episode, and all episodes at our website, gamesandfeelings.com. Until next time, press X to enjoy the podcast.

Transcriptionist: KA

Editor: KM

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