Mightyena Is Bria Davis’s Favorite Pokemon
The rebooted WYFPATISSNAY train is rolling! Bria Davis, Community Director for Blaseball and Eric’s new friend, shares her love for #262, Mightyena. We talk about Pokemon who are just dogs, dark-type trainers are so emo, and why community management is so important in fandom.
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Credits
- Host, Producer, & Question Keeper: Eric Silver
- Editor & Mixer: Mischa Stanton
- Music by: Jeff Brice
- Art by: Jessica Boyd
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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
ERIC: Hello trainers, it's Poké time! This is "What's Your Favorite Pokémon, And then I say something nice about you" #WYFPATISSNAY. Obviously, that's what it is. I shouldn't have—even had to say you—you get it. It's a podcast where we all get to think about Pokémon for a little while and nothing else. I'm Eric Silver, and I like my candies medium, not rare. If you get them well done, you're a monster, and not a Pocket Monster, just a regular monster, and I hate you. Today on the show, we have one of my newest and goodest friends, it is Bria Davis!
BRIA: Yay!
ERIC: Hi, Bria!
BRIA: Hello, it's me!
ERIC: Hooray! The virtual audience is applauding!
BRIA: Yeah, I talk for myself, video is just for us.
ERIC: You did Bubble Beam, and then everyone was like, oh, what a good—what a good thing you did.
BRIA: Yeah, I performed for the contest, everybody cheered–
ERIC: Yes, exactly.
BRIA: It’s all I ever wanted.
ERIC: Well you did– you did put your hair up in three separate bows to look as cute as possible. That was really good.
BRIA: Oh, If only I don't even have one bow.
ERIC: I can't even remember if that's one of the things you can do. And also, Bria, it's a podcast, you can say you're wearing whatever you want.
BRIA: That– that's true.
ERIC: That's the whole point of doing podcasts.
BRIA: I'm gonna be honest.
ERIC: For example, I– I'm wearing one of those NASCAR suits.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Like Jeff Gordon.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: I'm sponsored by Tide, and—but you can see it on my suit.
BRIA: Yeah, it's right—it's right there. It's bright red, which I really appreciate because it's like the red of the Poké Ball. And I am—
ERIC: Wow!
BRIA: –fully dressed up as Batman.
ERIC: Nice!
BRIA: Mask and all. Makeup all over, we love it.
ERIC: Where is your microphone that you can speak so clearly into it?
BRIA: It's right here.
ERIC: Oh, I mean, in your– in your ma—in your mask?
BRIA: Oh, ummm, that’s a trade secret.
ERIC: Bria, did you forget we were the— did you forget that we were in the middle of the show?
BRIA: We were in the fiction now. I got—
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: —I got lost in the sauce. It's like did a good job for my friend, Eric.
ERIC: You are! It's like a professional hazard for you to get lost in the sauce, so I think that's okay.
BRIA: That's true.
ERIC: It's ma— it's truly mandatory. Alright, Bria, I'm gonna ask you some questions about your relationship to Pokémon.
BRIA: Okay.
ERIC: Then we're going to talk about who your favorite Pokémon is, how do you feel about that?
BRIA: I love it. I'm excited. Let's go.
ERIC: Alright. Alright, Batman. I'm Batman.
BRIA: I'm Batman.
ERIC: No, I'm Batman. So hey, Batman, what's your relationship to Pokémon been through your life? Let's just set– set a foundation.
BRIA: Yeah, um, pretty good, big– big Pokémon fan in this house. I would rate our relationship, a 9 out of 10.
ERIC: Good.
BRIA: I– Pokémon is probably the series that I have played the most of, and up until a few years ago, was the only group of games that I'd ever finished like played to completion. Crystal was my first and I still love it to this day. I think Ruby is my favorite, I collected a bunch of cards, never played, only one of them for accolades, and adoration, and jealousy from other kids in the playground.
ERIC: Sure.
BRIA: I had a five-tier organization system, have– I– not in the past. Have— my cards are still organized in a binder downstairs in my living room.
ERIC: Incredible.
BRIA: Like all kids, I dreamed of a future in which I could just run around with big monsters that shoot fire out of their mouths and fly and stuff. And I was like, man, that's it, I love that, give me some more. I watched a lot of the anime, watched a lot of the movies. Love the movies still. They’re terrible.
ERIC: Oh, sure. I feel like I fell off of the movies in the anime. Like after the Kanto Region, you know?
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: It's like, oh, you guys are doing some other stuff. I'm gonna keep play– playing the games a lot, but like I just cannot follow. For my birthday, I actually watched the first Pokémon movie in a theater that I rented out for me and my friends.
BRIA: Oh, what a delight, did you cry?
ERIC: I didn't cry–
BRIA: Wow!
ERIC: –because it was more fun watching Ash get his ass kicked by Mewtwo constantly.
BRIA: That’s fair.
ERIC: It was awesome. It was just awesome.
BRIA: Just bodied by Mewtwo punched into the air.
ERIC: Absolutely like, Mewtwo—Mewtwo in Super Smash Bros was in the Pokémon the first movie.
BRIA: Yes, it's him from Smash Bros.
ERIC: Yeah, It was wild when he came in, he did the screamer on Ash, it was rea— It was wild.
BRIA: Yeah, you got it. It's Mewtwo with a metal chamber! Takes him out!
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: I made it to the–the Latios and Latias movie, I think is as far as I got in the movie series. It was like Celebi–
ERIC: Yes.
BRIA: –and then like Latios and Latias, and then I get—I don't know, I went to college or something, I forgot.
ERIC: That’s fair.
BRIA: I also– I definitely– this is a confession, I'm turning this into a—into a confession. I am—
ERIC: Yeah, have fun.
BRIA: –the Team Rocket of some poor boy out there in the world. When I went to summer camp, there is this kid that I hated, he was very annoying, and one day I did just steal all of his Gameboy games.
ERIC: Woah! That's like gold at summer camp.
BRIA: Yeah, I– I was acting out, I was too good at following rules and I was like, I need to feel something. So I did– if you're out there, Guy, his name was Guy.
ERIC: Oh my God.
BRIA: Sorry for stealing your Pokémon Red, Yellow, Gold. Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Leaf Green, and GameShark. Sorry.
ERIC: Oh, my– that's truly a villain move. Holy shit!
BRIA: Yeah, he deserved it though, I promise.
ERIC: Oh, I– listen, you know, I– I will never underestimate summer camp bullies. But like you burned his house down metaphorically.
BRIA: Yeah, I did.
ERIC: You John Wick it–
BRIA: I did.
ERIC: It was tight.
BRIA: I showed up in a giant Meowth air balloon, and I took his stuff, and I brought it back to Giovanni and I said, “This kid deserved it.”
ERIC: Yeah, and Giovanni is like, “Hey, what are you doing, where is Pikachu?”
BRIA: “I sended the Pikachu to the moon.”
[snickers]
ERIC: Got 'em all. Alright, I have a next question, but I actually can— I know the answer to this question because I'm watching you in your Batman suit. I—we have a video up on the video call that we're using. What is the closest piece of Pokémon merch that you have to you?
BRIA: I have a number of things.
ERIC: Like what– what is– okay, what's the closest, or is it all behind you?
BRIA: It's all behind me.
ERIC: Okay, okay then.
BRIA: Let me get out of the way. I have a—a weighted Jigglypuff plush in this weird hole in my wall, that's hard to describe for the listeners.
ERIC: It looks so comfortable. It's like a little cubby that you stuffed, like a deflated beanbag chair.
BRIA: Yeah, I sit in there sometimes, my special quiet place.
ERIC: Sure. I also want to emphasize that you are touching the Jigglypuff without getting out of your chair.
BRIA: It's true.
ERIC: With a bare– you're barely, barely arching your back at all.
BRIA: And it is wearing My Chemical Romance hat, which I think adds to the mystique of the sleepy Jigglypuff. And then we have on the other side of my chair, we have a no—a Mudkip plush, there's a Pikachu plush around the corner. And then I have one of those um, did you ever have the Poké Balls that you can zip, and unzip, and there's a Pokémon on the other side?
ERIC: I know what you're talking about. Yeah.
BRIA: Yes, I have one of those plushies, and then I have a few of the like very early Pokémon manga, like comics–
ERIC: Ooooh.
BRIA: –over here.
ERIC: That's so cool.
BRIA: Nebulously in the background. I didn't plan this. I didn't prepare for this, It's just like—
ERIC: No, that's fine. I—Bria, although you're only the second episode of–
BRIA: Wow!
ERIC: —the rebooted with WYFPATISSNAY I will be saying this to all people, so I don't think—
BRIA: Absolutely okay.
ERIC: Though, I do see how I could have told you this and be like, well, I just have all of my Pokémon stuff right here, get fucked, Jasper!
BRIA: Yeah. Here's my Tupperware of mini plastic Pokémon that I used to play with in the shower when I was a child. I brought them just for you, Eric.
ERIC: Oh, sorry, I've been eating onigiri. You know how Brock calls them donut—
BRIA: Jelly donut.
ERIC: —in the—jelly donut in the anime? Yes, exactly!
BRIA: You can't get these at Krispy Kreme.
ERIC: It's because they didn't think American children would know what onigiri was in 1999.
BRIA: And they were right. I never questioned it, I was like, that is a weird jelly donut, I love it.
ERIC: So funny. Okay, perfect. So we—we know what your feelings are? Jigglypuff is there holding you down.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And you will—and you will go into the city to see a marching band with—
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: —Jigglypuff after this?
BRIA: Yes, absolutely.
ERIC: Okay. So now it is time for me to ask you the very important question. Bria—
BRIA: Yes?
ERIC: —Who is your favorite Pokémon?
BRIA: Well, Eric, that's a great question. There are a lot of good Pokémon out there. I find it really hard to narrow down. But I think for today, my favorite is going to be my perfect emo prince, Mightyena.
ERIC: Incredible choice.
BRIA: Thank you.
ERIC: Out of all—you gave me a list of probably 15 Pokémon.
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: And then you gave me a tier of your top three. And I'm so surprised that Mightyena came out on top because you just don't think of it being like because it's just kind of a wolf/hyena/dog?
BRIA: It's kind of a wolf.
ERIC: Yeah. So I'm just– I'm surprised and I really want to get into it, but first and foremost, can– why– why do you like it?
BRIA: He's a funny little guy. He's got some baggage and I'm like, girl me too. Listen, I grew up– I grew up as a wolf girl.
ERIC: Sure.
BRIA: I haven't changed. I love a dog. I love a big dog. I love the concept of Dark-type moves in Pokémon.
ERIC: Yes.
BRIA: Even though they're not always like the best when it comes to like, type matchups. They look cool, and they feel cool, and I respect them.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: You know? It's brave—
ERIC: No!
BRIA: —to pick a Pokémon that isn't the strongest, I think.
ERIC: No, I mean, like but—yeah. I think about this a lot because I—all I do to calm down after looking out at the world, is watch Pokémon Nuzlocke YouTube videos—
BRIA: Yup.
ERIC: —and speed runs. So I'm just like, yeah, absolute—or like, you know, Ironmon that's going on right now?
BRIA: No.
ERIC: The Ironmon series.
BRIA: Oh, what is that?
ERIC: Oh, it's wild. Someone made like a Pokémon randomizer, which randomizes everything about Pokémon.
BRIA: Oh, yes.
ERIC: Like any of you can get any Pokémon at any time, and they have a random set of moves. And any trainer can have any other Pokémon at any time. And you have to do it while only having one Pokémon of your own.
BRIA: Oh my gosh.
ERIC: And that you can swap them out. It's really– it's really, really fun. I'm enjoying GrandPooBear specifically. He puts out a lot of love, and he's really enjoying them. I'll link to them in the episode description. I'll send them to you as well, Bria.
BRIA: Great. Great. Exceptional. I can't wait.
ERIC: They're awesome. So well when I said—I mean Dark type is always known as a really important type to have in Nuzlocke, because they are good against so many Pokémon. And I'm still remembering the first time that like a Pokémon used Crunch on me, and it made me—it made my Pokémon flinch. Like, excuse me?
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: I don't get to go, just because you bit me—
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: —sir?
BRIA: Me a little like teenager, wearing my like Invader Zim hoodie, just spamming bite and crunch over and over again to beat up the people—
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: —on the route, is the greatest joy maybe I've ever felt. That's not true, or is it?
ERIC: It could be. I mean, you're Batman, so you're still dealing with full… you had a lot of trauma.
BRIA: That's true, we have a lot of stuff to work through in this episode. Thanks for having me.
ERIC: Alright, now that we know that Mightyena is your favorite Pokémon, can you describe Mightyena as good as possible—
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: —for the audience? Because this is a audio medium.
BRIA: Yes. Okay, listeners, I would like you to close your eyes, and picture a big dog. It's gray and black. It's got a big black stripe all the way down through its tail. It's got red and yellow eyes. It looks like a dog. It's got big ears. And now I want you to put yourself in the moment where you're staring at this dog. Are you ready, Eric? Do you pic—can you picture the dog?
ERIC: I am. It's beautiful.
BRIA: Quietly through the trees you hear, [sings] where are you, and I'm so sorry. I cannot sleep, I cannot–
ERIC: [sings] I cannot dream tonight.
BRIA: Yeah, and that's– that's my Mightyena for you.
ERIC: Bria, we have to put enough like pop-punk stank on it, so that people can just think it's parody and Fair Use.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: So we could just keep singing, yeah.
BRIA: Yeah, you want me to try it again?
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: You want to take it stankier?
ERIC: Yeah, can you give it to me stankier?
BRIA: Yeah. Let me channel—let me channel the Blink-182, Mightyena energy.
ERIC: You got it.
BRIA: [sings] where are you, and I'm so sorry. Was that good? Is that stank you know?
ERIC: Sorry, let me just make it a little stankier.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: [sings] we can be like Jack and Sally if you want.
BRIA: [sings] If you want. Yeah, we cannot Halloween on Christmas.
ERIC: I should have known this was gonna be a pop-punk ass—
BRIA: Yeah, you should prepared.
ERIC: It makes me so ha– It makes me so happy. I wanted it, but like–
BRIA: Good.
ERIC: –it's– it's surprisingly, it's great. I think I have a little bit of an idea for all the songs were singing and your vibes about this. But when did Mightyena become your first Pokémon? Do you remember the moment?
BRIA: Yeah, I think—I mean I think it was when I caught a Poochyena in Ruby? Yes.
ERIC: Yes.
BRIA: That's Ruby. And I was like, wow, this is a little cutie, and then it evolved. And I was like, I love– I love it. I have no questions. I have no comments. Granted every single Pokémon that hits my team, I decide I have a life bond with and would die for. But the Mightyena just really spoke to me.
ERIC: I'm interested in this whole thing because like, they really went hard on Dog Pokémon.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: For the most recent stuff, like behind all the glitches, there were 6 new Dog Pokémon, like a straight-up dog– looking ass dogs.
BRIA: So many cute dogs.
ERIC: And they're cute, but like you know, I always get confused about Pokémon that look like animals. And like I get it because like animals are cute and that's why we're playing Pokémon because we like animals.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: But like I really want to get into like why Mightyena is good specifically, as opposed to just like, dog.
BRIA: Hear me out.
ERIC: Please.
BRIA: All dog, good.
ERIC: No, that's true. Yeah, that's a good point. I don't know why I'm trying to like, on a show called–
BRIA: Eric hates dogs, it’s pretty wild…
ERIC: Oh no, my—my Twitter's blowing up.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: I wonder what happened?
BRIA: Canceled.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: Dog hater.
ERIC: Oh my god. No, I don't know what I'm trying to be like intelligent about this. On a show called, "What's Your Favorite Pokémon, And Then I Say Something Nice About You" like Mightyena is a great choice. I'm just—I want to know like you have two wolves inside of you.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And one of them is Mightyena.
BRIA: Well, I think—I mean it is—it is a little bit the two wolves inside of you. I think Pokémon was something that was really formative for me. And then I think Ruby ended up being my favorite game, because I played it, at the point where I was in that transition between like child and adult, where I felt very—I was able to engage with Pokémon in a way that as a kid, I—had a lot of fun, but wasn't—wasn't able to feel slightly more mature feelings perhaps about the game that I was experiencing and what was going on on it.
ERIC: Sure.
BRIA: And also to have the whole climate change plotline that was relevant—
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: —to a young politically active child. And I think in the peak of my wolf girl phase, emo time, burgeoning on adulthood, this like dark, the cute like lovable Pokémon, that is misunderstood because all of the villains have him. But he's so good, I can have one too. I think that just on a very base level spoke to my teenage instincts. I was like, yeah, this is it. I love—I love this weird little guy.
ERIC: No, that's awesome. I mean, I'm also remembering, like, I think Archie had a really powerful Mightyena.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: The big– the big Team Magma or Team Aqua boss had a really powerful Mightyena on the top of the– that mountain, and it was really hard to beat.
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: Okay, so—okay, I'm getting it, that's a real—real fucking flex.
BRIA: And it looks cool. Who doesn’t love that?
ERIC: Yeah, it does.
BRIA: Not every Pokémon looks cool, that much is true.
ERIC: Now that's fair. I mean, if you came on here and said, “I like Apom. I like a monkey with a hand.” I'd be like, “No, okay, never mind.”
BRIA: Alright, we're gonna end this episode early. I'll see you later.
ERIC: I actually– yeah, the nice thing I can– my mom always told me, if you don't have something nice to say, then don't say it.
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: So this episode of What's Your Favorite Pokémon, And Then I Say Something Nice About You, it's over.
BRIA: Someone rolls up and is like, my favorite Pokémon is Jynx and you're like, “Gotta go…” Mr. Mime, I don't trust like that.
ERIC: Uh no. It's a fancy—I like Mr. Rime because I want Mr. Rime to be even fancier, that's what I want.
BRIA: Yes. Mr. Rime can hang, Mr. Mime can fly.
ERIC: No, I actually– Mr. Mime can get absolutely fucked.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Alright Bria, would you want to know what inspired your Pokémon’s creation?
BRIA: I do.
ERIC: Okay.
BRIA: Can I guess?
ERIC: Please.
BRIA: Is it a type of dog?
ERIC: It is a type of dog, but it's actually a little bit more specific than that.
BRIA: Oooh.
ERIC: So Mightyena's design appears to be based on a hyena, possibly a brown hyena, and share some similarities with wolves. It's not a straight– straight wolf.
BRIA: It's not a straight wolf or straight hyena. I respect that. It's bisexual wolf and hyena.
ERIC: Yeah. Design may also have been influenced by the German Shepherd and the Australian Kelpie, that which are breeds of dogs that are heavily influenced by their owners. Because there's a lot of like–
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: –the Mightyena being incredibly loyal, that's in the Pokédex entries?
BRIA: Yeah, yeah, that's— a Kelpie's are so cute.
ERIC: They are.
BRIA: But associating with German Shepherds every time– every time I see a Mightyena now I'm going to be like, is that gonna get hip problems? Is he doing okay? Cause that's all I think about when I see German Shepherds, the sweet, sweet babies.
ERIC: I just love the idea of you going up to Mightyena on Pokémon and being like, does your Mightyena have hip problems? Is he okay?
BRIA: Are you taking care of your Mightyena's joints?
ERIC: You should go to a Pokémon chiropra– you should go to a Pokémon chiropractor for that.
BRIA: We– we used to take one of our dogs to a chiropractor for her– her hip problem.
ERIC: Oh my god.
BRIA: It seemed to help her, it’s wild.
ERIC: Good.
BRIA: So it could help the sweet, sweet Mightyena with hip dysplasia because of it’s breeding I don't know.
ERIC: I'm like what people are saying. I don't hate dogs, so I think that's a good use of time and money.
BRIA: Excellent.
ERIC: So that's great.
BRIA: Okay.
ERIC: It's good.
BRIA: Despite the rumors that you may have heard.
ERIC: Despite the rumors.
BRIA: Big dog fan, take them to a chiropractor and how their backs adjusted. I love it.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: They think they're ghosts in the bones. It's cool.
ERIC: It's ghosts in the bones?!
BRIA: Yeah. Chiro– the history of like, chiropractor is challenging to dive into.
ERIC: Oh, yes.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Yes. No, that's true. I just didn't know if like an animal chiropractor was more legit, because they were like, just a vet.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Like it's really just a type of vet and you can't be like snake oil salesman for animals, because they don't have any money.
BRIA: They don't have any money. They're poor.
ERIC: You can’t defraud them.
BRIA: Why don't you get a job, you stupid little Mightyena?
ERIC: So that's why I thought it was a little more of a legit, just because of the dog.
BRIA: Maybe. I'm– I'm not qualified to speak on this, only on silly little Pokémon.
ERIC: That's fair. That's fair. Obviously– the name Mightyena, it's kind of a combination of the word mighty and hyena. Just a shout-out to the English translators at Pokémon Corporation. But the Japanese name is Graena, which is a combination of grand, growl, and hyena, which I think is pretty cool.
BRIA: Yeah, that's very cute. I like a– a grand growl.
ERIC: Grand growl. Hello, my name is– is that what do you call your grandfather?
BRIA: My grand growl.
ERIC: Here’s my Meemaw and my Grand Growl.
BRIA: Please, my father was Grand Growl. Call me Growl.
ERIC: Fucking stupid. Alright Bria, can you tell me a fun fact about Mightyena?
BRIA: I can. Yes. You alluded to this a little bit, but Mightyena's historically, in like Pokédex entries are very, very loyal. But more than that, a lot of them note that Mightyena only respects to trainers that they believe are like the most powerful. And what I think that translates to, is that Mightyena's are a poor judge of character.
ERIC: Fair. Fair. Yeah, Team– Team Magma, yeah.
BRIA: There's so– so many Grunts have them.
ERIC: I know.
BRIA: And those Grunts weren’t very powerful because I blasted right through them and Pokémon Ruby, you know?
ERIC: Yeah. I'm convinced that people join Magma and Aqua for the sweatshirts.
BRIA: Yeah, they're cool.
ERIC: They're so cool. Like whatever then people cosplay them or pla— or go as Halloween costumes. I'm like, “Where did you get that?” And then it's always like, “Oh, on Etsy, I spent $500.” And I'm like,” I don't have $500 for a crop top sweatshirt, my guy. I'm sorry.”
BRIA: Are you sure? What if it's a really cool crop top sweatshirt? Let's think about this.
ERIC: Hmm. Hmm, interesting. Interesting.
BRIA: Maybe like $200.
ERIC: Okay, maybe a $200, that’s alright.
BRIA: Alright. Alright.
ERIC: Okay, can I tell you a fun fact about Mightyena?
BRIA: Please.
ERIC: Okay, so I have a few.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And I think that I– I– there's a few things that I need to run by you.
BRIA: Alright.
ERIC: I always prepare a few because I want to make sure I don't have the same one as you, so I have three. Did you know in the Lental Region where new Pokémon Snap is set, you can take a photo of a Mightyena preying on a Furret.
BRIA: No, I did not know that. But I am a we– when you're done with your facts, that you think we need to dig into the idea, that they have canonized that Pokémon eat other Pokémon then, with– with preying and hunting.
ERIC: Yeah, it's weird. They don't really get into it in the other games, where they're really trying to flex on it in the Pokémon Snap series, especially the new one. Where it's like, no, there's a nature documentary. But as I say on the show constantly, Game Freak has not reckoned with any of the world-building choices they've made.
BRIA: None. Zero ramifications for any of their decisions.
ERIC: Zero, like not even– even the breeding program of like imagining different types of Pokémon hooking up, and then making babies.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And they all lay eggs. Excuse me?
BRIA: The eggs doesn't even negate the idea that they do have to hook up at the daycare center. Like that doesn't even answer–
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: It doesn't answer the questions I have, Game Freak!
ERIC: Exactly. It's not like oh, it's not like animal husbandry. First of all, this isn't Civilization IV, shut the fuck up. And this is like helping a cow hook up with another cow–
BRIA: Right.
ERIC: –at your farm. This is like watching Zangoose like hook up with a Squirtle or something. I don't know if they're the same egg type, but you know there– is not even like they're the– it's not like the egg types are so narrow–
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: –that there is not weird.
BRIA: It can– it can get rowdy at the daycare center. I would love–
ERIC: Those little freaks.
BRIA: I would love a game that is just the management of a daycare center.
ERIC: Oh, sure.
BRIA: For like one of the employees, you feel like put out the food in the water and play with the– the Pokémon in the yard. And then also, oh no, oh god.
ERIC: Uh-oh. Oops. Oops. Uh-oh.
BRIA: Gotta go.
ERIC: Get away from there.
BRIA: They're holding hands and they made an egg.
ERIC: Okay, my second fun fact, because I don't want to think about this anymore.
BRIA: Yeah that's fair. Wipe it– wipe it clean.
ERIC: Is that– Is it also Poochyana or is it Poochana?
BRIA: I've always said Poochyena, but I won't correct you either way.
ERIC: No, I just wanted to check. Mischa, take this out so I don't look dumb. Thank you. Alright.
BRIA: Mischa, leave it in. So Eric looks dumb.
ERIC: Nooo! Poochyena and Mightyena are the first pure Dark Pokémon introduced that was not an Eeveelution. Which I always thought was wild. So—
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: We're first time of seeing– so Poochyena, and Mightyena are in Gen 3. In Gen 2, they introduced the Dark-type Pokémon, and dark moves like Bite and Crunch as we were talking about. Here, the Pokémon that were introduced in Gen 2. Umbreon—
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Which is the Eeveelution, was the—the only other straight-up dark type.
BRIA: A classic.
ERIC: And then a Murkrow, which is just a crow.
BRIA: It's just a crow with a weird hat.
ERIC: With a weird hat. Sneasel who– who– is a mouse, I do not want near me at all, any at all times.
BRIA: No.
ERIC: Houndoor and Houndoom which are hellhounds, but Dark um—
BRIA: Fire, right?
ERIC: Yeah, a Dark/Fire.
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: And then Tyranitar, which is understandably tight as hell, but Dark/Ground. So it's like they weren't fully committed to the Dark type yet.
BRIA: It was—it was the—the darkness was part of the character, but not the whole character, and then they made—
ERIC: Right.
BRIA: —Mightyena different. Mightyena and Poochyena are just all darkness. They’re a lot–
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: Yeah. I was gonna make a silly reference. I'm not going to do it. I'm going to breeze right by it.
ERIC: No, do it, make the silly reference.
BRIA: I was going to say that they're like Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way. Who is the protagonist of My Immortal, the fanfiction.
ERIC: Yeah, yeah, that was a silly reference.
BRIA: It was silly.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: I probably shouldn't have done it. I did psychic damage to myself more than anyone else. So it was not worth it.
ERIC: It's okay, I'm gonna pivot really hard into my third fun fact which– I– now that you're on here, we did already think a bunch of pop punk, and you made a My Immortal reference.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: I need to talk to you about Dark type trainers in the Pokémon series.
BRIA: Yes, please.
ERIC: It's—this is related to Mightyena, but it's not the same. You had already said that a lot of– the majority of Dark type Pokémon are through Team Rocket. So there's actually only a few straight up Gym Leaders, and Elite Four members who are Dark type.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And I just need you to look at all of them and see if you notice something similar about all of them. Can you a– can you identify some– some qualities that are similar between Karen from Elite– from the Elite Four of Gen II, Sydney of Gen III, Grimsley of Gen V, Nanu of Gen VII, Marnie and Piers from Gen VIII, and Giacomo from Gen IX. Well, hey, can you– what's similar about all these fucking guys?
BRIA: Well, none of them can dress well. That’s the first one.
ERIC: Yeah. No, it's good.
BRIA: They're all very white.
ERIC: They're all very white, that's true. That's true.
BRIA: And their hair is challenging every single step of the way.
ERIC: Yes, you identified the first and third quality together. They all look– they're all pop-punk freaks.
BRIA: They are all pop punk freaks.
BRIA: Marnie– Marnie is the closest to, okay I will allow.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: Nanu is like an old– an old punk that like doesn't consider pop punk part of—
ERIC: No.
BRIA: The like emo sphere, they like, Nanu only listens to like, Green Day and The Offspring.
ERIC: Sure.
BRIA: And Marnie is like All Time Low is the love of my life, they do not agree.
ERIC: Nanu only– only listen to The Pretenders–
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: And The Misfits–
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: –before they were in Hot Topic, and that's why he moved to Hawaii together, because the scene collapsed.
BRIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Grimsley is more like a– like a blood on the dance floor energy, I feel like.
ERIC: Yeah. And Sydney is just a freak.
BRIA: Yeah. Syd—uh we don't talk about Sydney.
ERIC: We’re not gonna.
BRIA: We don't look at Sydney, we don't think about Sydney.
ERIC: And Giacomo is like whatever's happening when Machine Gun Kelly is saying that pop punk is coming back.
BRIA: Yeah. yeah, yeah, yeah.
ERIC: And I don't– listen, pop punk and ska are still around now. That is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about like, who people who were once white rappers–
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: –and now like pop punk. That's truly who Giacomo is.
BRIA: I– I think you're completely correct. I agree and I respect it.
ERIC: Thank you.
BRIA: Respect the claim, not–
ERIC: No, no. He's fine. He's with Megan Fox.
BRIA: Yeah, the emo girl song was fun.
ERIC: They are weird. Yeah.
BRIA: It wasn't good, but it was fun.
ERIC: Yeah, it’s fine. Like he's fine. He– one, devoted to Machine and to Megan Fox. Two, he's like 6'3, he's fine.
BRIA: Okay. Alright. Alright.
ERIC: And he’s so rich.
BRIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's like two Mightyena stacked on top of each other. About three feet tall.
ERIC: Hell yeah.
BRIA: Even though–
ERIC: Oh, what a good doggie. What a good doggie.
BRIA: He's a good pup. He's a good doggo, look at his toe beans.
ERIC: Incredible.
[theme]
ERIC: Hey, it's Eric and I picked up some snacks for the midroll of Games and Feelings. I got wings. Now, I did have them for my Super Bowl party, but not for my board game party. So everyone please wash your hands after you eat the wings, thank you. You should absolutely become a patron of the Games and Feelings Patreon at patreon.com/gamesandfeelings. I have officially told Jasper that the goal is to come to his house and bother him. So it is now a goal on the Patreon website. And Amanda and I are still churning out the replay, the exclusive podcasts on the Patreon feed that is better than ever. We currently have an update, the most recent episode is an update, for a previous episode with surprised surveillance, Mormons and gambling, and you don't want to miss that. Also a special shout out to producer-level patrons Polly Burrage, Kelsey Duffy and Megan Moon, who might watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials, but a respectful of the folks watching the game. If you want to hear your name read every single episode, get the exclusive podcast, go to patreon.com/gamesandfeelings. You should also check out the other shows that are part of the Multitude collective like Head Heart Gut. The exclusive podcast of the MultiCrew. Every month we take an iconic set of three items from pop culture or the world we live in and pit them against each other. The first three weeks, each of our contestants will present their choice, answering the questions on a definitive survey of greatness. And in week four, each contestant participates in a formal structured debate with a Judge. We have decided what is the best fruit. What is the best movie sequel? What's the best thing to do at a theme park? And so much more. Right now the month that is happening right now is what is the best hot beverage. I have argued for espresso, which is much better than coffee because cold brew is the best version of coffee, but espresso specifically and that has been a hoot to talk about. And in March we are doing something extra special. So joining the Multi-Crew is to your benefit right now. Head Heart Gut, as I said is exclusively for members of the Multi-Crew, our membership program that supports all of Multitude. If you want to check out a preview for the show, you can actually search Head Heart Gut in your podcast app, for some sample episodes. You get eight episodes for free. Again, search Head Heart Gut in your podcast player for a Head Heart Gut sample, and see what the MultiCrew has been loving for years. We are sponsored today by Descryb, a very cool company that we ran into at PAX Unplugged. They are an award-winning tabletop role-playing game publisher of descriptive text, immersive sounds, and interactive maps. So if you looking for help to elevate your home game with incredible descriptions, thrilling music, and ambiance, or a map and key, they got you covered. If you get a free membership, you get 600 totally free scenes, and more released every single week. Or you can upgrade to a paid plan to access places, monsters, spells, items, illustrations, and more to make your game extra sick. Get 10% off your first payment with code JOINTHEPARTY at D S C R Y B.com. Use Descryb to level up your gaming experience, and Descryb it even better. See I just made that up. And now back to the games.
[theme]
ERIC: Alright. Bria, I have one more question for you.
BRIA: Yeah?
ERIC: If you and your Pokémon, Mightyena were hanging out in real life, and we're super good buddies, what would you do together?
BRIA: That's a great question. I feel like we just have like a picnic, and have a nice day at the park. Throw a ball around, meet some other dog-themed Pokémon. A Growlithe, a Vulpix, a Houndour. Just like have a nice day, and meet some other dog owners. Sounds nice.
ERIC: I'm sure someone's done this, but like, I mean, you've seen photos of that people have taken out like their doggy daycares.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Where they take like a big photo of all the different types of dogs there.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And I can see like Mightyena making direct eye contact with the camera.
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: Like all the other dogs will yell, like a bunch of Yampers.
BRIA: Yeah. It's a bunch of Yampers, and then– and then Mightyena is Leering at the camera.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: And then like, pet daycare person just start sweating nervously.
ERIC: It's like, oh, my defense is going down. No.
BRIA: Oh, can you imagine Yampers and a Mightyena with the zoomies, just like running back and forth?
ERIC: Oh my god.
BRIA: Some Yampers trying to herd the Mightyena.
ERIC: That's cute.
BRIA: This is a beautiful—you've given me a gift.
ERIC: That's what you get for coming on the show. I'm just here to paint Pokémon world pictures for you.
BRIA: I'm honored. I'm—I'm gracious, and I'm thankful.
ERIC: Alright. Well, that's it, that's it. I– I don't have anything else to do on "What's Your Favorite Pokémon, And Then I Say Something Nice About You" Oh, wait a second!
BRIA: Oh no.
ERIC: Yes I do. Turn reveal.
BRIA: Oh no!
ERIC: This time—it's now time for the sec—
BRIA: The dog?
ERIC: It's now time for the second part of the show, where I say something nice about you. Bria, we only met recently at PAX Unplugged, and which was truly, I– it feels like five years ago, but I think it was like literally a month and a half ago.
BRIA: I think it– I think it was five years ago. No, I think you're right. We've been friends for years.
ERIC: For– yeah, we've been friends for years, since high school.
BRIA: And I haven’t been to a PAX in years.
ERIC: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's too– it's too busy. But you know, listen, we vibe right away, and I'm so happy that I get to just bother you on Discord and send you, all of like the Midwestern emo YouTube videos that show up on my– on my feed.
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: Yeah, I don't know, it's like, I feel like because everything shut down because of the pandemic, you know, I kind of stopped making friends, both because I'm old, but also because like, conventions was a really good way to do that.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And I was kind of bummed that I didn't get the chance to do that a lot of having like, people who also kind of sort of work in the same industry that I do. And then like, I got the chance to meet you. And it was so much fun. And immediately, I was like, oh, we're similar.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: We're making jokes about the same thing. I like it. Let's sit down next to each other at this Thai restaurant and just talk for a while.
BRIA: And just like quietly whisper gossip back and forth, while everybody else makes menu decisions, and that's normal conversation.
ERIC: I– listen, that was to my benefit, because I gave Amanda, my responsibility for ordering for me going forward.
BRIA: Yeah, it was amazing, and she did a great job.
ERIC: It's still happening. It's still happening. So for those who don't know, I am so bad at ordering food at restaurants. I always get like something bad from the re– from the menu. It's always like not what I think, what I think it is. Or it's like, always the portions are tiny. Like when you know like when they give you like three scallops instead of like, a giant burger. Like Amanda always orders the burger and I always accidentally order something that's like five bites of food. So I gave my ordering powers over to Amanda. It's been working out incredibly for me.
BRIA: Amanda– Amanda has very good instincts. I trust and I respect them.
ERIC: Yes.
BRIA: And sometimes I fear them.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: And I think that– I think that Amanda would like me.
ERIC: Yeah. I will tell Amanda that you're afraid of her power of choice.
BRIA: Perfect. Thank you. No, I– I agree completely. One of my favorite things in the world, it– well, so I have two– well, I have a lot of favorite things. But two of my favorite things in the world are getting to interact with people who are very passionate and doing the thing that they are passionate about. And then also meeting another person and like realizing you are on the same like vibrational frequency. Like you just talked to someone you're like, oh, comrade, oh we are one. And it was so wonderful. I walked by the Multitude table holding a Blaseball, the card game because I work on Blaseball.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: And I went, “Multitude, like the podcasts?” and you went, “Blaseball, like the game?” so then I went, “Yes!” and just talked for a while. And it was– it was so wonderful and engaging, and filled my heart up right to the top.
ERIC: Oh, well, I appreciate that. And yeah, no, I feel the same way. Which is why I wanted you to come on because you're also– another thing that I like about people, is when they're incredibly good at their jobs, and you are seem to be incredibly– and listen, I've only known you for a few weeks, so I'm still figuring it out if you get canceled, it's not my fault.
BRIA: Yeah, I bamboozled you. I'm actually terrible.
ERIC: Yeah. Is it– you are incredibly good at your job. And it just so happened that your job was on hiatus for a little bit and now you're back in a big way figuring all this shit out. Why don't you say specifically what your job is, and why– why your job is so specifically difficult and interesting?
BRIA: I'll give it my best shot. I am the Community Director for Blaseball, which is an indie, browser-based video game, soon coming to mobile. Oooh.
ERIC: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
BRIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I also do some community management for Young Horses, who make Bugsnax and Octodad, and other stuff here in there with assorted video game people. But Blaseball's the main gig. And it is me and some wonderful folks trying to manage a 30,000-person Discord for sort of long-term sustainability. And what makes it really interesting, and exciting, and also challenging is that, unlike a lot of other Discords, the Blaseball Discord is not just like the place that you go to hang out to talk about a game experience that you already had. The way that like if you played Elden Ring, and you went and talk to your friends about this boss that you beat. The Discord serves as a like supplemental experience space, where people watch games together, and talk strategy, and do the actual gameplay participation in the context of a different platform.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: So we're moderating and building structure around gameplay experiences outside of the context of the site where people are experiencing them. And also we have a fandom, and fandom is cool and passionate, and also the discourse. Oh boy, the discourse.
ERIC: The discourse.
BRIA: Managing so much discourse, of course.
ERIC: There's– just to give people context, because like, I know a lot of folks probably who are listening are in the Multitude Discord, which is so sedate and chill.
BRIA: So chill. It's great there.
ERIC: So chill.
BRIA: I go there to zone out.
ERIC: Because y'all like we– you know, on the Discord, they send their dog pics and talk about food, and like you're listening to the podcast. and you're like, oh, yeah, this thing happened on Games and Feelings. If you didn't want to do that, just join the Multitude Discord. It's free. You can just find it Multitude.
BRIA: It's free, you should join it.
ERIC: You should. It’s kinda wonderful.
BRIA: Do it. Do it.
ERIC: Thank you for letting me take your time to talk about the Multitude Discord instead. But it's like you're responding, you're like, hey, Eric said that funny thing. Oh, lol. That made me remind, that reminded me of blank or Jasper said this, and I also had that experience, blah, blah, blah. But with Blaseball, for those of you don't know, it's like Blaseball is so I guess minimalist is the only word for me to describe it.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: But I– or it's like, it's the framework of a house. And so, so much of the fandom is filling in the house.
BRIA: Yeah, it’s a sketch.
ERIC: And like– yeah, like it's about filling in the sketch. And then like when your sketch bumps up against someone else's sketch because it's all valid because there is no definitive version of what Jessica's telephone actually looks like, then we have problems. And then sometimes someone might do something that's problematic, and then it's a problem.
BRIA: And then it's more– then that's more problems. Yeah.
ERIC: Right. So it's like you're– you're trying to get a undulating mass of creativity and energy to, I guess, draw inside the lines is my best way to describe it, where the line is, like societal expectation.
BRIA: Yeah, it's– it's so interesting, like, one of our biggest goals is facilitating a space that, like people feel welcoming, and feel able to, like, express that creativity in a safe and like exciting, collaborative way. And also, boundaries are good, the setting boundaries are good. And so much of my job, and I think every community manager's job is like, trying to communicate the purpose of a space, like this thing that you're doing, could be good, could be bad. I'm not making a moral judgment. It's just a matter of whether or not it exists in the space. And it's a lot of people who have never been moderated in any capacity. Thinking that boundaries are like moral objections. And then watching people experience the emotions of feeling like they've been told they're a bad person for doing something they love. And like acclimating to a very fast-paced internet space. It's both really rewarding to make that space for people to ha– to be able to have those experiences and sort of grow in their internet participation.
ERIC: Yeah.
BRIA: And also, oh, boy, everybody has so many feelings. Me too. I have so many feelings, too. We're all just having Games and Feelings in here.
ERIC: Woah, that's the name of the podcast! What?! No! Ahhh!
BRIA: I brought it all back together.
ERIC: [sings] Where are you?
BRIA: [sings] Where are you?
ERIC: [sings] and I'm so sorry.
BRIA: [sings] at Games and Feelings.
ERIC: I think the thing also, because Blaseball is an incredible, truly incredible feat of like game play, and storytelling, and world-building. So I think they're like the people who vibe with the game. If you don't know what it is, go experience. Just throw yourself. Go find the website.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Or just try to like read a– read a Wikipedia– the Wikipedia summary of it, because it makes no sense. And you're like, oh, that seems kind of interesting. And then just stumble, and then you're like, oh, my God, this is wild.
BRIA: Please, just join the Discord and wander into a random chat and say, I'm new. And everyone will give you 800 answers about how to have fun. And the secret is none of us know what's going on, and we're all just here to have a good time.
ERIC: Yeah, it's like you have a Discord for like an experimental art piece.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And that is so– like the type of people who want to be in a Discord for an experimental art piece, which is why I like that, you know what you're talking about in terms of this community management because you need to, because it's important.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: You're good, and you're good at figuring it out.
BRIA: Thank you. It's a– it's a– it's a– it's a cool puzzle, and a big challenge, and I am terrified and honored to hold that space for people at the same time. It's a lot of fun, and everyone's been quite good at it. So I appreciate the validation.
ERIC: You are, you are. I truly, like any—if you spend time interacting and taking the brunt from teenagers, it just like hardens you to the rest of the world, you know?
BRIA: It does.
ERIC: Like I feel that—I feel that way just from one year of high school teaching, where I'm like, hey, a kid wants to threaten to kill me because I told her not to get off of the Warped Tour website, or the Lollapalooza website.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Like I– I don't care about your emails, my guy, like it's fine.
BRIA: Yeah, it all washes over me like ocean waves. I'm just like sitting on the beach, letting it brush over me and I'm like, hmm, I could go for a chocolate chip cookie right now. And it's just like not even– it used to really, really weigh on me, I think you have to like, it's a muscle learning what to take on, and what to let go of.
ERIC: Sure.
BRIA: And those muscles when I started, were not very strong. I would lose sleep over the idea of banning someone from the Discord. Because I was like, this is there, like social space during COVID. Like I'm removing their– their opportunity to like, engage with other people and find community, and I have to take this very seriously and like, yes, I do. But I should also get a full nine hours of sleep when making those decisions, and setting those boundaries, and taking care of the space.
ERIC: In terms of like community management and the stuff that you do. A thing that I try to tell myself a lot is like, there's no such thing as a podcast emergency because it's like–
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: You know, it's– it's a piece of online– I hate saying this, but I mean this like, it's content, right?
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: It's like, it's out there. It's in the digital space. It doesn't need immediate updating, you can update it really quickly. But if there's a problem, no one's going to do it. No one's going to deal with it. Do you sometimes feel like you have an emergency because the Discord is like an undulating real-time community of people that is constantly talking?
BRIA: Yes, it's something that we've worked really hard on the team to curtail, but we say the same thing. Like I say very often, there are no Discord emergencies. Even if the like worst case scenario, someone on one of the dark sites that shall not being named, learns that Blaseball has like a really queer audience, and wants to join the Discord and say a bunch of horrible things, and all of us for some reason are asleep and don't see it for like three hours.
ERIC: Oh, geez.
BRIA: We can wake up and banned all of those accounts, and mass delete all of their messages at you know, like, it's, it would suck, but it's just words. And those words do hurt people. But those people can also close Discord until it's solved. And so–
ERIC: Well, do– do they? I– legitimate question, do they?
BRIA: It depends on the person.
ERIC: Right. Like that's the kind of, that's what I'm trying to like deal reckoned with a little bit.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: It's like, you know, it's not like, oh, I'm going to put down this piece of art for a second and not interact with it, or I'm going to stop this movie or stop playing this game. It's like, oh, in real life, even if it's on digital, someone's being mean to me, and I'm not gonna leave because it's like my real life.
BRIA: Yeah, it's challenging, because I think that we're getting into the sauce now, we're gonna get lost it, Eric.
ERIC: This is the point! It's– this is exactly what I'm talking about. You're responsible for peop– other people's feelings as they interact with something that's not exactly a game.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: It's like a– It's an experience or almost like an experience, that where does the art end, and it's just kind of like the place where you hang out.
BRIA: Yeah. I– what's hard is that all of the platforms that people use to participate in fandom, are intentionally designed to encourage urgency, and to train you to seek for that interaction and engagement. Like whether it was intended or not, it is profitable to build structures that encourage people to engage more regularly. On Twitter, on your phone on– on Discord, because it's instant communication with thousands of people, you can always get that little dopamine thing. And so when we're– when we're thinking about logging off, or disengaging, or stepping away from a piece of media, especially with a younger audience, it's a muscle that we have to help them build whether they want to build it or not. So we– we've set up things, we call it the boys pitch Discord day of play, where every now and again, we just shut off posting for 24 hours, and we say you're off to go home, but you can't stay here like moms are going to sleep, go hang out, I'll see you tomorrow. Tell us what you did.
ERIC: Nice.
BRIA: And so everybody just takes 24 hours off of no posting, and they can go to other spaces, they can do whatever they want. But it means that we're setting that boundary and the expectation that this space is something that we keep open to you and that you're welcome to, but is not something that we are obligated to curate exactly how you want all the time. And as long as you're cool with that, let's hang. We—we really like a short mute too sometimes. Mute too, Mewtwo. Anyway, um. When– when things get tense, like more than– more often than not, the things that we're managing in the Discord are not like fights or like really horrible conflict. It's just two people that are miscommunicating or like talking past each other and getting a little stressed out by it. And just doing it like hey, let's all take a break from this, or you know we have safety tools in the Discord as well so that people are able to self-manage their conversations and call attempt check, which is universal to the server and provides like thick green checkmark, the yellow warning or the red stop sign. And if multiple people mark the red stop sign, that's a sign that this conversation subject needs to change, whether the moderators are there or not. And it's a way for people to sort of passively express discomfort with what's going on in their space. That doesn't work for every space, obviously, there's definitely some bad faith ways for people to use that. But if you have buy-in from the community and the communities interested in using it, it's really valuable to work with people to understand the boundaries that make space comfortable and exciting for everyone.
ERIC: Hell, yeah. See, you're so good at your job.
BRIA: Thank you.
ERIC: See, I told you.
BRIA: Yay!
ERIC: You just proved it by talking about it. Oh my god.
BRIA: I just said a bunch of stuff. I hope you like it.
ERIC: You said a bunch of stuff! People love hearing when other people talk about stuff.
BRIA: I love stuff. That's all podcasts are.
ERIC: Truly yes, everyone loves stuff.
BRIA: Talking about stuff.
ERIC: Yeah. I think it's– it's really hard sometimes to put words to, like, these unexplainable or unknowable, or like really intangible things that we feel, like feelings and community.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And like games. I mean, we talk about this a lot of like, you know, or I– I think about this a lot, how you won't know if something's fun until you do it. And then it's like, how do I record the fun feeling in myself?
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: That I know that that's really hard for video game developers to figure out, like if something feels good, or if it's fun. And you know, trying to put any sort of words to like how to manage a community nicely is difficult as well, like about making other people feel good and putting rules that everyone needs to follow. So like the fact that you're trying to put, or you do have the words to explain what you're doing is pretty tight, and that's good.
BRIA: Yeah, I feel very fortunate. This is not something that I thought that I would go into when I like studied in college when I was at university. I went into Communications because it by like to talk if you have noticed maybe.
ERIC: Nice.
BRIA: And the program that I was in, did a really great job of sort of breaking down these larger social science concepts in different contexts. So you learn about like, how are friendships built? And then like, how do people form relationships with media characters? And there's like a whole– it’s whole field of study for that stuff. It's bonkers. But I studied that first, and then I got to Community Management, and I was like, Ooooh.
ERIC: Oh, I'm taking theory and I have to apply it. Shit.
BRIA: Yeah. Cerebro on my head and can see everything. Like, I can take it apart and rotate it in my mind like a cube. This is how I think about my job.
ERIC: No, that's funny as hell. Charles Xavier, the first Community Manager.
BRIA: The first Community Manager, that's true. There were a lot of healthy boundaries and community management going on at the school with all the X-Men.
ERIC: Yeah. And we can all learn something. First thing, get a mansion in Westchester County, New York.
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: And then you're set.
BRIA: Step two, psychic power.
ERIC: Yeah, that helps.
BRIA: It does.
ERIC: It certainly helps that you can just go into someone's mind for sure. Is there anything else you want to say about Blaseball? I think before I let you go, I– It's so unknowable, and I don't wanna say confusing, but just like intricate and complex.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Like–
BRIA: The– that's for another podcast, maybe. Blaseball’s a lot of fun, if that if a absurd horror baseball simulator is something that speaks to the audience. We'd love to have you join us in the Discord and ask around. But I'm just happy to be here chatting with you, Eric.
ERIC: Awww. Well, I'm happy to be chatting with you. But unfortunately, we can't chat anymore because the episode is over.
BRIA: We're legally obligated to never speak again, until I get another Google Calendar invite.
ERIC: Again, the only way to make friends is to have them on your podcasts. That's why so many people have them.
BRIA: That's true. That's true. I should start a podcast so I can make friends.
ERIC: No, don't do it, It's a curse. It's like being a werewolf or a vampire.
BRIA: But both of those things are cool and sexy.
ERIC: That's a good point. That's a good point.
BRIA: Wake up America. Think about that.
ERIC: These things—these things are exactly the same. One becoming a werewolf, two becoming a vampire, three starting a podcast.
BRIA: Yes. Four being cool and sexy, but not five cows, cause I can't do that.
ERIC: No, no, no, no. Bria, do you want people to find you on the internet?
BRIA: That's a complicated question. But if folks do want to follow me, they can find me on Twitter @thevoidencore, or on Discord, if you're in the Blaseball Discord. I'm Slugger Crumbs, I'll see you out there, gamers.
ERIC: Yo, shout out to Slugger Crumbs
BRIA: Yes.
ERIC: Slugger Crumbs, that's me.
ERIC: Slugger Crumbs. Listen, I love Blaseball. I love the work that you're doing, and that's— that's awesome. And thank you so much for coming on the show.
BRIA: Thank you for having me. It's been a delight.
ERIC: Absolutely. Well, you can follow me—I want you to find me on Twitter because I don't have any legal obligations to anyone.
BRIA: Eric has no fear.
ERIC: Except being canceled for not liking dogs.
BRIA: Yeah.
ERIC: One fear.
BRIA: Or being cursed to be like an unsexy werewolf or vampire.
ERIC: I can't, I have a podcast.
BRIA: Well, that’s true, you're right. You're right. I take it back.
ERIC: I'm done. I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. You can find me on Twitter @El_silvero. E L _ S I L V E R O. My name if I was a lucha libre wrestler, and listen to the rest of the episodes of Games and Feelings and also Join the Party, the other show, we're starting our—our newest campaign for Join the Party. It's a real fucking humdinger. And I'm the best DM in podcasting. So you just might enjoy that.
BRIA: That's true. That's true. You heard it here first, folks.
ERIC: I made a promise to myself in 2023 that I would just start saying it. Because like, one, I believe it. But two, I really just want to like, do a full heel turn and just start saying it.
BRIA: Yeah. Commit to it. I'm making business cards for a conference that I'm going to and I am making my subtitle, The Bad Boy of Blaseball. So–
ERIC: That's very fun
BRIA: You can be anything you want to be, if you believe.
ERIC: Yeah, you're gonna say– you're gonna say stuff.
BRIA: You're gonna say stuff.
ERIC: A bunch like– is like now, Trixie Mattel was like I'm a skinny legend. And now everyone says it back to her. And that's awesome, and I want that.
BRIA: Yeah, I will– I'll make it happen. I'll support you.
ERIC: Yeah. No one is like challenged me all that much. Only one person challenged me and was like, what about Matt Mercer? I'm like, that guy has a pretty face, so he's on video, but I'm the best in podcasting.
BRIA: Brennan Lee Mulligan is going to show up outside your door with a glove, and slap you across the face with it, and challenge you to a DM-off.
ERIC: He also has video, so I've discounted him. It's fine.
BRIA: Okay.
ERIC: Also, he's so nice, he would never do that.
BRIA: No, he wouldn't. Unless, well, no, it's a competition, that man loves to win. So–
ERIC: It's true.
BRIA: If you make it a competition, you're in for a fight.
ERIC: Listen, I'm gonna have to make that happen. I don't want it to– now I'm like, oh, no, is this gonna get back to Brennan, he's gonna feel bad like I don't want that.
BRIA: No. Brennan, you're so great.
ERIC: You're so nice. You're so nice. We– we can do– we– I'm the best– I'm the best DM in podcasting, but so are you. Like it's fine. Anyway, the point is–
BRIA: You can hold hands, and then you both can share the role. That's beautiful.
ERIC: Yeah, we're skipping over. We're skipping around doing rigorously the whole time. It's that's what I dream about. But yeah, listen to the games– listen to Games and Feelings. Listen to Join the Party. Listen to all the other shows in Multitude. I hope you enjoy it. And once again, thank you so much, Bria. You're the best.
BRIA: You're the best.
ERIC: And I choose you! Friendship.
BRIA: Oh god. I have to go.
[theme]
ERIC: Games and Feelings produced by Eric Silver and edited and mixed by Mischa Stanton. The theme music is “Return to French Toast Castle” by Jeff Brice. 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