Episode 182: Fact or Fiction II (with Eric Silver)
/We’re looking for redemption as we play, once again, FACT OR FICTION with Chuck Games aka Eric Silver. Have Amanda and Julia learned anything from doing Spirits for so long? Don’t worry, whoever wins gets all of their bad feelings taken away!
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of inappropriate game show hosts, depression, gender essentialism, dieting/eating disorders, military industrial complex, Catholicism, feces, murder/patricide, and Sea World.
Housekeeping
- Recommendation: This week, Amanda recommends Beach Read by Emily Henry. Julia recommends “A Funny Feeling” from Headgum. Check out our previous book recommendations, guests’ books, and more at spiritspodcast.com/books
- Multitude: Digital merch for all shows, including new Spirits posters and phone wallpapers, are available at http://multitude.productions/merch. Join the MultiCrew for just $5 at http://multicrew.club!
Guest
- Eric Silver is the Dungeon Master of Join the Party, co-host of HORSE, and writer and creator of NEXT STOP. Find him on Twitter @el_silvero!
Sponsors
- Backblaze is an affordable unlimited backup service for Macs and PCs. Sign up for your fully-featured free trial at backblaze.com/spirits
- Zombies, Run! is an app available for iPhone and Android that makes running a fun, hopeful, mission-driven activity. Download the app today to experience their free new series, The Home Front.
- BetterHelp is a secure online counseling service. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/spirits
Find Us Online
If you like Spirits, help us grow by spreading the word! Follow us @SpiritsPodcast on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. You can support us on Patreon (http://patreon.com/spiritspodcast) to unlock bonus Your Urban Legends episodes, director’s commentaries, custom recipe cards, and so much more. We also have lists of our book recommendations and previous guests’ books at http://spiritspodcast.com/books.
Transcript
Amanda: Welcome to Spirits Podcast, a boozy dive into mythology, legends and folklore. Every week we pour a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. I’m Amanda.
Julia: And I’m Julia!
Amanda: And this is Episode 182: Fact or Fiction 2: The Fictional Boogaloo with Eric Silver!
Julia: I do like the Fictional Boogaloo. It’s a great dance, I do it at every wedding.
Amanda: Thank you, and do you know who I drag onto the wedding floor for Electric Slide at every wedding we’re at?
Julia: I bet it’s our new Patrons.
Amanda: Our new Patrons! EssieEcks, Avonlea, Ashelia, Baz, Bee, Carly Allen, MeekSauce, Rebekah, Jiggy T, Sarah, Katie, Torrie, Drunk Beth, Nicole, Caitlin, and The Lovely Loveless.
Julia: And I am always ready to do the Time Warp with our Supporting Producer level Patrons! Mr. Folk, Jen, Tank A Roonie, Hannah, Alicia (Uh lee see uh), Sarah, Landon, Niki, Megan, Debra, Molly, Skyla, Samantha, Sammie, Neal, Jessica, and Phil Fresh.
Amanda: Still incredible Julia. And at like a street fair or something occasionally you get, I don’t know, the Cha Cha Slide and it’s really fun to do! And I would drag my friends along. Our Legend level Patrons. Chelsea, Clara, Stephen, Frances, Brittany, Josie, Kylie, Morgan, Bea Me Up Scotty, Audra, Chris, Mark, Sarah, and Jack Marie.Julia, remind me what we were drinking this episode.
Julia; Well, we were drinking an Eric Silver homemade original which he dubbed the Drunk Pikachu, and what is a Drunk Pikachu? You will have to wait until after the refill to find out, but trust me. I wanna drink them like all the time. During summer? Ugh, yes. Excellent.
Amanda: I know. It’s summer now, if I wanna drink at 4 who’s gonna stop me?
Julia; No one’s gonna stop us.
Amanda: By the way, Julia, we made a joke several episodes ago about the fact that having national park posters for haunted parks would be so fun, and Zoey at DFTBA who we partner with on our merch was like, “Hey, I wanna make these reality.” So, conspirators, we have great news. We have two absolutely gorgeous, original illustrated posters available for pre-order. One is a full skeletal cowboy in a desert national park and the other one is an extremely creepy and lovely ghost in a wonderful haunted forest.
Julia: They are absolutely beautiful. I remember you getting the sketches for the first time. I was like, oh. Everything about this I love. It’s so good.
Amanda: And while you’re there you can check out the digital merch that all of our shows for the most part have available. We have some beautiful wallpapers--like phone backgrounds--that you can download. Potterless, and Next Stop, and Join The Party all have bundles, and it’s something that we’re doing which is super fun. So you don’t have to wait to get a shipment in the mail, it’s something that you can download really affordable and rep the shows that you love. Whether that’s through a ringtone or a desktop wallpaper or a cute little background for your phone. So all of that and our merch as well is at multitude.productions/merch.
Julia: Speaking of gorgeous and beautiful things, Amanda, do you have any recommendations this week?
Amanda: I do! I read an absolutely delicious RomCom, Julia, which you know I love, appropriately titled Beach Read. This is by Emily Henry and it’s about two writers--a sort of masculiane literary fiction writer and a woman who writes “women’s fiction” AKA RomCom books--who are living next door to each other in a summer town. And it is just--it’s a wonderful premise, it has a lot to do with art and life and grief, which is often, I’m finding, a motif that I really appreciate in books likes this, and it just made me want to visit that town which I always appreciate in works of fiction which I wanna feel like I’m escaping a little bit.
Julia: That sounds absolutely beautiful I’ll have to check it out! Amanda, I have also been listening to something very very funny recently.
Amanda: Oh yeah?
Julia: Yeah, it’s called “A Funny Feeling.” It’s a weekly paranormal comedy podcast that’s hosted by these two comedians, Betsy Sodaro and Marcy Jarreau. You’ve seen Betsy in film and television, including Netflix’s “Disjointed” and Marcy is a writer on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” They’re both hilarious.
So, each week on “A Funny Feeling” they bring on a comedian or celebrity guest to tell their own true paranormal experience, and then they listen to the audiences as well. They always have a really funny take on the scary stories, so if you like our Urban Legends episodes, they are a great, great show to check out. They’ve had guests like Mike Mitchell from “The Doughboys” podcast, they’ve had Aubrey Plaza from “Parks and Rec” on there--
Amanda: No big deal.
Julia: --they had Clea Duvall from “Veep” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and Lauren Lapkus--I love Lauren Lapkus so much--plus a bunch of really funny guests. So, if you have a paranormal experience that you would like to share with them and you’d like to hear their funny takes on it, you can email them or send a voice memo to them at funnyfeelingpod@gmail.com., and they release new episodes every Tuesday. You can find them wherever you listen to podcasts on the Headgum podcast network. Check it out, they are hilarious.
Amanda: I’m absolutely going to subscribe to that podcast, it is fabulous. And I should also mention that if you want to learn more about our guest Eric, you can find his twitter in the episode description and the podcasts that he, and Julia, and I work on at Join The Party and Next Stop are both available if you just search ‘multitude’ in your podcast player. They’re both very, very good podcasts if you like great story-telling, if you like to laugh, and also to feel and to see friends working together Join The Party and Next Stop are both great options for you. So without further ado, enjoy Episode 182: Fact or Fiction 2 with Eric Silver.
[Theme music]
Eric Silver: [ad-libbing Game Show Theme style music] It’s time for Bigfoot’s favorite game show! It’s Fake! Or! Folklore! And here’s your host! Chuck Games! Haha, all right I’m Chuck Games and we’re here to play Fake or Folklore ‘79, everyone’s favorite--did you guys ever watch Match Game and eventually when they rebooted it in a later year, they just tacked on the year at the end.
Amanda and Julia: [simultaneously] No.
Eric: Oh, it was very funny.
Amanda: Has Charles the Gamesmen rebranded as “Billion Spon-con?”
Eric: No!
Julia: Chuck Games! I also have important questions, like: what is Bigfoot’s second favorite game show?
Eric: Press Your Luck!
Julia: Oh, okay.
Eric: The one with the whammies.
Julia: Sure. No whammy, no whammy. That’s the only thing I know about that show.
Eric: He loves it when the little cartoon whammy steals everyone’s money.
Julia: Of course, obviously.
Eric: All right, well, we’re back with Fake or Folklore? So glad to have two exciting and entertaining ladies, wink--
Amanda: Oh no..
Eric: Just imagine I have the like, microphone on a stick, too. It’s 1979 and I’m calling everyone ladies.
Julia: Oh no.
Amanda: Uh oh.
Eric: That’s not the energy you wanted to bring to Spirits podcast, a queer and feminist dive into mythology folklore?
Julia: Mmmm, No!
Amanda: No, I don’t think all of the internet savvy gays who are in our audience are gonna appreciate--
Eric: I’m just kidding.
Amanda: --that particular character.
Eric: Well, thanks for welcoming me back to Fake or Folklore? It’s Eric, hello.
Amanda: Oh!
Eric: I told Chuck to go read bell hooks for a while so I’m just gonna run this instead.
Amanda: Smart, smart.
Julia: Cool.
Eric: But we’re back with Fake or Folklore? round dos. I’ve muscled my way in and made you play my silly monster game show.
Amanda: I more just wanna redeem myself after the money tree incident, which I have been thinking about shamefully every time someone brings up Neopets in my presence which is often.
Eric: Well, just so you know, if you win all of your bad feelings go away. That’s something I’ve believed for a long time.
Julia:I’ve heard that’s how it works, that’s how game shows work.
Eric: Yeah, that’s exactly how it works.
Amanda: That explains a lot.
Eric: So we have four rounds of gameplay here and I’m excited to get started!
Amanda: I’m ready!
Eric: All right!
Julia: Let’s do it!
Eric: For those of you who didn’t listen to the first iteration of Fake or Folklore?--you should, ‘cause it was amazing--but if you didn’t and you listen to this and then go back to it, basically this game show is to determine if Julia and Amanda have learned anything from running Spirits for like, 12 years.
Julia: That’s how long we’ve been doing it, yup.
Eric: It might as well be.
Amanda: Yeah, in podcaster years--it’s about double and it speeds up over time.
Julia: Mhmm.
Eric: It goes up 1.25 speed.
Julia: Hate that.
Eric: The premise of Fake or Folklore? is: Julia and Amanda need to figure out if the piece of information that I am telling them is actually from folklore or a fictional thing that I made up because stories and monsters--it’s all part of the human condition, man.
Amanda: That’s what we say!
Eric: So we’re gonna start out with our first game, which I call “Reply Back!” Basically, you need to write a Twitter response back to me as I tell you a piece of information about a particular monster that has a wrong piece of information in it. For those of you who have seen Um, actually… on dropout, it’s a lot like that. So you can just say--
Julia: Or been in the replies of Spirits when we release new episodes.
Amanda: Oh yeah. So we’re doing a little roleplay here, where instead of us being um actually-ed on Twitter, we get to do it back.
Eric: Yes. You get to do it to me. Though, I did pull all of these from Spirits episodes, so these are all from some of the round-up episodes. So you should know, because Julia literally said this out loud.
Amanda: That does not necessarily mean that I know it...
Julia: Doesn’t mean I know it, either, to be honest.
Amanda: Now. In the right now times.
Eric: So I’m going to read this paragraph and when you think you know the answer you buzz in--say ‘buzz’--you need to start out your answer saying “reply to Eric.”
Julia: K.
Amanda: Okay. And I should say we’re competing so at the end of the episode someone’s going to win.
Eric: Oh, 100%. Remember, winning takes the bad feelings away.
Amanda: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just to be clear.
Julia: And the loser is left with bad feelings, more than before!
Amanda: Oh. Oh no.
Eric: You take all the bad feelings and put it in the loser.
Amanda: Oh!
Julia: Oh no…
Amanda: That’s bad.
Eric: Okay, so this one is from the critter round-up. So I am going to read the paragraph, you can buzz in whenever you would like and just reply and point out what I got wrong and correct it, okay?
Julia: Okay.
Eric: The axe-handle hound is a critter from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Most stories say that the only thing it eats are the handles of axes that are left unattended. So, it would wander on towards a general store, eat up all the axes handles and then lumber back into the night. This story was almost definitely told to encourage newbies to take care of their possessions.
Amanda: Buzz!
Eric: Amanda.
Amanda: I don’t think the axes in a store would count as unattended--oh sorry, at Eric:
Eric: Thank you.
Amanda: Um, I don’t think that axes in the store would count as unattended, I think it’s about being out in the woods and a shop full of axes doesn’t really get to the spirit of the myth.
Eric: You’re close. Julia, would you like to be more specific here?
Julia: Yeah, buzz, at Eric: specifically it was that it would be within camps. It wouldn’t be at a general store, it would be lumber camps.
Eric: Yes. Ding, ding, ding! Point to Julia.
Julia: At Amanda, at Eric: Actually…
[Laughter]
Amanda: Actually
Julia: Axe?
Amanda: Axe-tually.
Eric: That’s true. The thing that I changed, the thing that I got wrong, was the axe-handle hound would wander into camps, so it was a warning to young lumberjacks to not leave their axes out. It would not go into a general store.
Julia: Sleep with it under your pillow.
Eric: Yes exactly. So, Amanda, you were on the right path, but Julia did get a little bit more specific so I’m gonna give the point to her.
Amanda: That’s okay!
Julia: I think it’s a point for both of us.
Amanda: That’s all right, that’s all right. I’ll try to win on my own merits. Hashtag money tree.
Julia: Okay, okay.
Eric: Listen, Julia has one point here. First question, it’ll all shake out okay? This one is about dragons.
Amanda: Ooh.
Eric: The types of dragons are almost like a math problem. A dragon has six limbs--two wings and four legs-- but a wyvern also has six limbs--two wings, two legs, and two small arms, but a drake has four limb--no wings and four legs. But, in addition to these, you have an amphithere--which has two wings, no legs--and a lindworm--which has no wings, and two legs--and a wyrm--which has no wings and no legs.
Julia: I don’t remember the last three of those.
Amanda: At Eric…
Eric: Yes, Amanda?
Amanda: I think wyrms do have legs...if you’re talking about the w-y-r-m that’s like a dragon predecessor.
Eric: Yes, those actually don’t have legs, the w-y-r-m.
Amanda: Dangit!
Eric: It’s funny that you say that because J.R.R. Tolkien used wyrm interchangeably with drake--
Amanda: Fuck! Fuck this guy! Fuck him so much! The Silmarillion is too long! There’s too much information in it, he messes me all up!
Julia: It’s true.
Amanda: He propagated some problematic stereotypes that bait nerd culture and high fantasy today!
Eric: Hey, did you know that elves are pretty and dwarves are disgusting and gross?
Amanda: Do you know what’s good? Aryan...looking...people only.
Eric: People with blond hair and blue eyes! Ah, ah, ah!
Julia: Oh, boy. At Eric: I think that a wyvern only has four and it’s two legs, two wings.
Eric: That’s correct. Julia gets another point.
Julia: Fuck yeah!
Amanda: Fuck.
Eric: Yes. That was--you guys did a dragon round-up--
Julia: We did.
Eric: --I looked up some of these other ones, but you did specify that a wyvern has two wings and two legs.
Julia: Yes. They can’t grab. They’re like pterodactyls.
Eric: Exactly. This is actually like--Skyrim dragons are actually wyverns. Amanda, in our Masks game, my character’s name is Wyvern and I have explained that it is Wyvern because he has two legs and two wings.
Amanda: Yeah, well, I was distracted by the wyrm.
Eric: Amanda, “Tell me about that wyrm though!”
Julia: What did it say about that wyrm though?
Amanda: It would be pretty suitable if it was called a wyrm but it does in fact have limbs, and I was confused because of fucking Tolkien.
Julia: It wiggle.
Eric: It Tolkien problem.
Amanda: He wiggle.
Eric: It is a Tolkien problem, it’s fine.
Amanda: He wiggle.
Eric: All right, we’re gonna do that last question of the “At Eric” section. This is from the Brazillian myths round-up. Let’s talk about the headless mule!
Amanda: Yeah, uh-huh, good.
Eric: The headless mule is said to be the ghost of a woman who has been cursed by God for sins. In some stories, the sin is that she had sex with a preist inside of a church, in others it’s just that she looked at a married man. She was condemned by God to be turned into a headless mule who has fire spewing out where her head should be. So she gallops across the countryside every Thursday evening from sundown to sunrise the following morning.
Julia: Ooh. There’s two that I think it could be.
Amanda: Me too.
Julia: Buzz, at Eric: it’s not Thursday, it’s Sunday.
Eric: It is Thursday.
Julia: Fuck! All right. Okay.
Eric: You would think it was Sunday, like what is she doing out on a school night?
Amanda: All right. Buzz. At Eric:
Eric: Yes?
Amanda: I don’t think they had sex in the church. I think that’s Fleabag Season 2.
Eric: That is not correct, you are getting closer.
Amanda: I mean, I don’t think that it’s she had sex with a priest. I don’t remember that from the original.
Eric: You know? I’m gonna give this one to Amanda. Amanda got the closest. I said that in other stories she looked at a married man, but she had pre-marital sex.
Amanda: Okay.
Eric: That was the thing that got her condemned.
Julia: It was sex with a priest OR pre-marital sex.
Amanda: I see--
Eric: Those were the two. You were--
Amanda: --okay.
Eric: But you got the closest, because it was about sex.
Amanda: I’ll take it. I’ll take it.
Eric: I’ll give it to Amanda.
Amanda: I’ll take the pity point.
Eric: Listen, we’re functional here!
Julia: You were so close.
Eric: Don’t, uh, don’t talk to Chuck Games, Chuck Games would not have been kind. He would have put his hand on the small of your back--
Julia: Oh no!
Amanda: Why are we making him so lascivious?
Eric: He’s a game show host from 1979!
Julia: He would kiss you on the lips as a greeting!
Amanda: Aaah!
Eric: Thank you Julia.
Amanda: Gross.
Eric: All right. That was round one! At the end of “At Eric” which is the new name of the--the new title of the game, because that was pretty fun that we said that--Julia is up 2-1!
Amanda: Okay, okay! Still in this!
Eric: Bang, bang! All right so we are gonna come to the next segment and now just imagine it’s all anime and it’s red and yellow and teal and it’s “Where..Did That...Pokemon...Come From?”
Julia: Oh, my favorite.
Amanda: Yeah!
Eric: So my single favorite thing to do for Spirits is try to get Julia to do as many Pokemon episodes as possible.
Julia: You’ve made me do a lot. 2 is a lot.
Amanda: They’re fun.
Eric: So, I took some Pokemon that you have not identified and I have looked up their origins. Some of them were inspired by mythology, but other of them I just made up. So, both of you are going to be competing, I’m going to read out the Pokemon and I’m going to send you the image of the Pokemon, I’m gonna give you the type, and I’m gonna give you the supposed origin of this Pokemon and you need to tell me if GameFreak decided to make this Pokemon based off of this mythology or it is something I made up as the origin. So our first pokemon is Chandelure.
Julia: I’m assuming ghost-type pokemon.
Eric: Yes, it is a ghost-/fire-type pokemon. For those of you who wanna play along at home, you can look it up, but also it looks like a chandelier with purple flames coming out of its arms and head and has a little ghost face.
Julia: It’s spooky-looking.
Eric: So supposedly, Chandelure comes from Japanese folklore known as hitodama which means human soul. They’re balls of fire that mainly float around in the night. They’re said to be the souls of the dead that have separated from their body. According to one theory, since this came around the time during one of the many wars that Japan had when there were the first iterations of gunpowder, rain water and phosphorus would kind of come together around the body and it would produce light. And since people didn’t have knowledge about science, people decided that the spirit was coming out of the body and that was the hitodama.
Julia: Hmm.
Amanda: Okay. I think this one is legit folklore.
Julia: Yeah, it sounds very similar to like, will-o’-the-wisps and stuff like that, and I know that there are weird floating light spirits in Japanese mythology, so I’m gonna say yeah, folklore.
Eric: All right. Yes, this is a real thing that Pokemon came up with!
Julia: Hell yeah
Eric: All the ghost ones are just so traumatizing.
Julia: They are. They’re real bad.
Eric: They’re real bad. They’re all yokai, it’s beautiful.
Julia: It’s all yokai.
Eric: Another possibility is that they’re just fireflies and people thought that the spirits were fireflies.
Julia: Are there fireflies in Japan?
Eric: Apparently so.
Amanda: Listen. I am scared when I’m in the woods and it’s dark. So I totally get it.
Julia: Cool.
Eric: All right, our second pokemon. We’re gonna do Lunatone.
Amanda: Oh, that big moon!
Julia: Oh, it’s just the moon!
Eric: Moon! Lunatone is a large moon! Look at that big eye and just moon rock body.
Julia: Creepy.
Amanda: He thicc.
Eric: He a thicc--actually it is she is a thicc lad.
Amanda: Okay. I take it back. She thicc!
Eric: Lunatone is rock/psychic and this is based off of the healing properties of moonstones. This also explains why all Lunatone are female and Solrock are male because moonstones are supposed to be a gem for intuition, balance, and wishes that helps you channel one’s feminine side.
Julia: I think this is something that you made up, Eric.
Amanda: Me too. There's not shockingly that much gender essentialism in Pokemon.
Eric: You’d be surprised there’s actually quite a lot of gender essentialism in Pokemon.
Julia: It’s weird. It shouldn't be.
Eric: There are attacks that you can only charm Pokemon if it’s the other gender.
Amanda: I”m sorry, Eric, who is the Pokemaster in this room? Who collected all 400 in Sword and Shield?
Eric: Mmm. I heard that you only collected 399, so…
Amanda: That’s because you haven’t evolved your fucking starter yet!
Julia: Damnit, Eric!
Eric: You’re right, it’s my fault. Yeah, oh yeah, I totally made this up.
Amanda: Yup.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: What if GameFreak just got super into crystals?
Julia: I”m into it.
Eric: Also, Lunatone and Solrock are genderless, actually, it has nothing to do with--they don’t have genders so this totally doesn’t make sense.
Julia: Ah, so you corrected Amanda’s gender...
Amanda: So, I take back my correction! They thicc.
Eric: No, you were right, I was leading--
Julia: He was leading you on, Amanda!
Amanda: I’m sure the audience will love this one.
Eric: You see--
[Laughter]
Eric: --it was a lie! I came up with a lie! All right, Julia is up one, let’s keep going. Let’s talk about our good friend Mawile.
Amanda: I get it, it’s maw because they have a very big mouth.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: So Mawile is a little yellow poke and then there’s just like a giant mouth coming out of its head. Mawile is steel/fairy which you can tell it’s steel from the big chompy mouth.
Julia: It’s steel/fairy? Wild.
Eric: It’s a steel/fairy.
Julia: That’s a wild combo.
Eric: Listen the only--the first one was the only ghost Pokemon you’re getting. All the other ones are very difficult. Mawile is based off of a monster in Japanese myth that is so creepy. Picture a typical woman, and then imagine that behind her hair is a fully formed mouth. This is a futakuchi-onna. It is a cautionary tale against extreme dieting. A woman who barely eats anything will have a second mouth sprouting from it’s skull wanting to eat that good dinner. Now, Amanda. Is Mawile actually based off of this yokai or something I made up?
Amanda: Ugh. I feel like this one is based in reality even though on first glance I thought this was like a venus flytrap style pokemon. I do remember hearing--I think--about this yokai.
Eric: So you think that mawile was based off of the lady with a mouth head yokai?
Amanda: I mean is it an option that this is a real yokai but this is not what this poke is based on?
Eric: It’s either GameFreak did use this as inspiration or they didn’t use this as inspiration.
Amanda: Okay, so I don’t think they used this as inspiration
Eric: You do not?
Amanda: No.
Eric: Okay.
Julia: They did.
Eric: Oh, Julia is so confident. Are you sure?
Julia: Yes, I am.
Eric: Is it because you’re a Pokemaster?
Julia: It’s also because we did it in our Pokemon episode.
Eric: Yeah, that’s right. Uuuhhhhh...yeah Julia gets a point. Mawile is inspired by the--I was wondering why you knew the pronunciation so well.
Julia: I’m also learning Japanese in Duolingo right now.
Amanda: Well, in my defense I knew that that was a myth we had learned on Spirits.
Julia: That’s good. I’m glad you remember things. Sometimes I don’t.
Eric: All right, the score is 5-3 and Julia’s up by 2. Let’s talk about Whiscash.
Julia: Wiz...cash?
Eric: I dunno...Hwhis-cash.
Julia: Oh! Wiss-cash.
Eric: Wiz-cash. He’s a whiz-kid. He’s also a wizard. Nope, he’s just a cute catfish-lookin’ lad.
Julia: Mhmm.
Eric: Whiscash is water/ground. Whiscash might look silly and just like a catfish who has a silly face, but Whiscash is a variation of the Namazu--a humongous catfish that will start earthquakes just by thrashing around. Julia, what do you think about this pokemon? Is it inspired by this or did I make it up?
Julia: It’s folklore, baby!
Amanda: Same.
Eric: You think it’s folklore?
Julia: Folklore!
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, you’re right. Definitely. You both get the point. Julia did you--knew this one?
Julia: We also covered this in the first episode.
Amanda: Yeah. He’s a large lad.
Julia: They had to fight him once.
Amanda: It’s like one of those quizzes in school where they quiz you about a thing you were quizzed on last time and you’re like, oh, you thought you had to replace all ten spelling words with ten new spelling words, but no, you also had to know that “a lot” is two words, Miss Grota! That’s not fair!
Julia: You can’t just info-dump!
Eric: You know, the Mawile one I knew. I think it’s because I was focusing on this other piece that I learned--in 1855 there was a earthquake that destroyed a really big section of Japan so a lot of people were praying to Namazu to stave off further calamities. So I’m just like, oh, Whiscash is a God--is a deity.
Julia: Fun fact, too, the name is used as a method in which they can predict earthquakes before they happen.
Eric: Oh! I did not know that!
Julia: Yeah!
Eric: Wow! We’re all learning something together.
Julia: We’re all learning something new and exciting together! Yay!
Eric: Wow! Well, we’re on the fifth one. Let’s talk about Cacturne.
Julia: Cacturne? I actually really enjoy this pokemon. I forgot how much I like it.
Amanda: It’s very pretty.
Julia: It is. It kind of reminds me of a digimon. Just the eyes. I don’t know why.
Amanda: Yeah. And the, like, spikiness.
Julia: And there’s definitely a cactus digimon, too, that I feel like one of the girls had. Anyway.
Eric: I wouldn’t know because I have never watched digimon because it’s dumb and bad.
Julia: Okay.
Amanda: Mmm. Digimon have the power.
Eric: I heard they were digital monsters, is that true?
Julia: They are the champions. You can change into digital champions, too, save the digital world.
Eric: Digimon didn’t make any sense, because it was like you fused digimon together and then it just became something else, which is bananas. Like, they didn’t evolve--first of all, they digivolved--and they didn’t evolve like pokemon. You fused them like Yu-Gi-Oh cards.
Julia: I mean, you could do that for some of them. I think they ended up doing that in later seasons, but your digimon--
Amanda: They evolve.
Julia: --yeah. Digivolve.
Amanda: The digolutions don’t always have anything to do with the first one.
Eric: No. Absolutely not.
Julia: Yeah, sometimes you’re just a little flying dog and then you transform into an Angel Man.
Amanda: Like a hot angel.
Eric: Yeah--
Julia: Extremely hot angel.
Eric: You’re like a dad with pants and a gun. Like in a hot way.
Julia: I feel like digimon was just hornier than pokemon is what it comes down to.
Eric: Oh, 100%.
Amanda: Checks out.
Eric: Are there horny pokemon? I guess Haunter’s kind of horny. That’s a big tongue. It depends on the--
Julia: They do have a attack called ‘Lick.’
Eric: Lick?!
Julia: Lickitung: horny.
Eric: Anything that obviously uses a tongue is a horny pokemon.
Amanda: Shellder.
Julia: Mr. Mime, technically horny pokemon, because he is sleeping with Ash’s mom.
Eric: That’s true. 100% true. Confirmed. Did you know there is a Galar version of Mr. Mime called Mr. Rime?
Julia: I hate it.
Eric: Mr. Rime is an ice type but he’s also like a fancy gentleman.
Julia: No.
Amanda: And he just dances continuously, and he’s actually very good in raid battles, but I have to close my eyes when I use him because the dancing is so disturbing to me.
Julia: Good.
Eric: You give him a fancy icy tea cup and he transforms into a fop.
Amanda: I wish.
Eric: All right. We’re at Cacturne. So, Cacturne is grass and dark. Cacturne was actually inspired by the Cactus Cat, which is another creature that you focused on in the critters episode. For those of you who don’t remember, the cactus cat was a bobcat-like creature which was covered in hair-like thorns. The creature was said to use its spines to slash cacti in the night allowing juice to run from the plant, then later that night the creature would climb into the cactus and drink the fermented juice, especially while it was super drunk. The Cacturne is like a cactus cat climbed into the cactus and then turned it into this, like, scarecrow thing with the eyes. So, did GameFreak get inspired by the cactus car or did I make it up? Amanda.
Amanda: Good myth, but you made it up. It was not based on that.
Eric: Julia.
Julia: Definitely made it up, hundo percent.
Eric: Oh no, I even used Spirits things and everything!
Julia: I know, I was like “Wow, GameFreaks inspired by our show? So cool.”
Eric: I don’t think they were inspired by that, but they pull mythology from lots of random places.
Julia: Yeah. Just not usually--
Amanda: Not the US.
Julia: Yeah, not the US. Not US critters.
Eric: They pull a lot from--they have some Native American stuff in there. Like Zapdos is the Native American thunderbird.
Julia: Yeah….yeah.
Eric: Well, you are all meta-gaming, so I’m having a great time. So let’s go on to the last one. Let’s talk about Dragapult! This is a new one Julia.
Julia: Oh. I’m at a disadvantage. I've never seen him before. Oh I have no fucking clue. He looks like he’s a--
Amanda: Miyazaki dragon.
Julia: Yeah. he looks like he’s a salamander mixed with a--
Amanda: A fighter jet!
Julia: --fighter plane, yeah!
Eric: Dragapult was inspired by Japan as a military power. You can see on its head, it has like a B52 stealth bomber, but then it’s like a dragon and also a ghost? So the inspiration for this comes from Japan’s emerging in the 2010s and 2020s as a military power, but it’s inspired and buffeted by the military tradition of Japan. That’s the ghost and spirit. So, remember what distinguishes Japan from other countries is that Japan was ruled by a military class for centuries. The shogun and the samurai were extensions of the military class. Do you think that I made this up or is this GameFreak inspiration, Ghoul-ia.
Julia: This sounds fake.
Amanda: Me too.
Eric: Now why would you say that?
Julia: Why would you say something so hurtful?
Amanda: I’m pretty sure that GameFreak isn’t pro-military industrial complex.
Eric: This dragon has a B52 on its head!
Amanda: It looks just more like arrow pulling if anything. I don’t think it’s modern at all.
Julia: It just seems like a lot. It just seems like a lot.
Eric: Sorry, does a Cubone wearing the skill of it’s mother, is that not a lot?
Julia: It’s sad, but it’s also not like “Oh well if you look at the military industrial complex history of Japan…” That’s where you lost me.
Amanda: Cubone’s also my favorite shot in Pokemon Snap.
Julia: It’s so cute. So cute.
Eric: All right, you got me. I made this up.
Julia: Haha!
Eric: I will say I thought this was pretty on brand. There’s some wild shit that Pokemon comes up with.Also, this is a B52, it is a stealth bomber on its head. That is confirmed.”
Julia: Okay. I trust it.
Amanda: Listen, head cannon is headcanon.
Eric: It’s so goofy. It’s a ghost but also a dragon but also a piece of military equipment?
Julia: Makes no sense. Too complicated. We made too many pokemon now.
Amanda: Well, after that round, I think I need a refill on this drink. Julia, will you join me?
Julia: Yes, of course.
[Theme music]
Amanda: We are sponsored this week by BackBlaze, and I am so, so glad I have the opportunity to talk to you about, genuinely, one of the favorite things in my life which is knowing that no matter what I do, all of my files are backed up securely on the cloud. Some calamity could befall my laptop or the studio computer or my phone and nonetheless all of my files are safe. BackBlaze provides unlimited computer backup for both Macs and PCs for just $6 a month. They back up your documents, music, videos, photos, drawings, projects, all of your data and it’s unlimited. You can restore files from anywhere, so if you are, for example, at home at midnight and you forget to give Julia audio she needs for tomorrow, you can just log onto BackBlaze and download that file instead of having to go out in the middle of the night. You can also restore by mail, so if, for example, you just wanted to have your entire harddrive just overnighted to you, BackBlaze can do that. They’ve restored over 50 billion files for their customers and their mobile apps give you access on the go. You can get a free, fully-featured, no credit card required trial at backblaze.com/spirits. That’s backblaze.com/spirits so that they know that you came from Spirits and continue to support the show. One more time, that’s a fully-featured 15 day free trial at backblaze.com/spirits.
Julia: Seriously. Back up your stuff.
Amanda: It’s very important. You’ve gotta do it.
Julia: Amanda, I have been looking for ways to work out since, you know, we’ve been stuck in our houses quite a bit, and thankfully I have Zombies, Run! So, Zombies, Run! turns your run or your workout into an exciting adventure. It basically combines thrilling audio storytelling with compelling gameplay and it’s a really hopeful story. You would think zombies, a little bit depressing, but no. It is not grim-dark at all. And, what’s great about Zombies, Run! in particular is in response to us all being locked down worldwide, they’ve launched a new series called “Homefront” for people who are staying at home. These include home body weight workouts that are designed for beginners and they combine storytelling and also exercise. Again these are written, recorded, and edited by their team from their own home, so they’re best stay at home life. And it’s completely free! There’s no ads, there’s no limits, it’s just their gift to the people who are staying safe by staying home. So you can download them on iPhone and Android now by just searching “zombies run” and check out their new series “The Homefront.”
Amanda: One more time, that’s “zombies run” in the iPhone or Android app stores. And finally, Julia, we are also sponsored by BetterHelp. This is a way you can get secure counseling online for a affordable price. I have weekly phone calls with my therapist and can message throughout the week which I really appreciate as well. It is a way that you can continue to get help if that is something you’re used to doing, or to reach out for the first time in a way that doesn’t require going somewhere or meeting someone strange, navigating the bizinteen ways that people find and get in touch with therapists. It really is truly very, very easy to do and because BetterHelp is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches, they make it easy and free to change counselors if needed for any reason, which you definitely cannot do otherwise.
Julia: Yeah, better help is there to assess your needs and then match you with your own licensed professional therapist. It’s not a crisis line, it’s not self-help, it’s actual professional counseling that’s done securely online, and you can start communicating in under 24 hours with your counselor. You can log-in to your account any time, you can send them messages, like Amanda said, and the service is available for clients worldwide.
Amanda: It’s also more affordable than traditional offline counselling, and financial aid is available. They really want to help you start living a happier life today. So visit their website and read their testimonials if that is something that you like to do as well. That is at betterhelp.com/reviews, and if you’re ready to sign up, you can go to betterhelp.com/spirits--that’s better, H-E-L-P, .com/spirits--to join the over 8,000 people taking charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional.
Julia: Yeah, and right now, Spirits listeners are going to get 10% off their first month of betterhelp.com at betterhelp.com/spirits.
Amanda: That’s betterhelp--H-E-L-P--.com/spirits. And now, let’s get back to the show.
Eric: I have a drink for everybody! I’ve prepared it and I’ve banished Chuck Games over away so he can’t have any.
Julia: Good.
Eric: Julia, I took the Limoncello you gave us for your wedding and I added Topochico to it, and Amanda has some preserved lemons, so I also dropped a little bit of that in there so it's just like an Italian delicious Limoncello drink!
Julia: That sounds incredible. Can you share with me? Please?
Eric: Absolutely! It’s called--because this is partially a pokemon episode--it’s called--
Amanda: Zapdos!
Eric: --Drunk Pikachu!
Julia: Love Drunk Pikachu. Cool.
Amanda: Other yellow pokemon.
Eric: The Yellow Pokemon drink!
Julia: I like Drunk Pikachu, personally.
Amanda: It’s so smooth. Too smooth!
Eric: It’s true. You drink it and then you use thunderbolt.
Julia: Mhmm.
Amanda: When you try to plug your phone in--wrong--and get electrocuted.
Eric: Listen, this thing has a real hit, so you will electrocute yourself accidentally.
Amanda: It’s a critical hit!
Eric: Oh no! Hey, let’s go into the third round, “Is This the Name of a Holy Figure or Did I Get This From a God and Goddess Name Generator?”
Julia: Oh boy.
Amanda: Very good.
Julia: Oh boy! I like it.
Eric: Just like last time, but this is gonna be rapid fire, okay? So we’re gonna switch off, one then the other and we’re gonna start off with Julia because she is currently up by two points. Julia, tell me, is this a real holy figure or from a God and Goddess name generator? Ilvadir, the God of teachers and the bad students that hurt them.
Julia: Fake!
Eric: Ilvadir is fake!
Amanda: Oh come on! That was a gimme!
Eric: Was it? Okay.
Amanda: Ilvadir. It sounds like someone’s character they roleplay with--
Julia: Lord of the Rings.
Amanda: --in high fantasy Neopets boards.
Eric: Okay, well I mispronounced it. Eye-vall-deer. Would that have been better?
Julia: Still bad.
Eric: Okay. Good.
Amanda: Slightly more Norse, but yeah, still fake.
Eric: Amanda. You have Nactix, the Goddess of organization and putting your chair in front of a window if you live on the coast.
Amanda: I would know this one if it was real.
Eric: Oh no, it’s fake. Okay. 9-7. Julia, tell me about is this real or not? Saint Barbara, the patron saint of fireworks.
Julia: True.
Eric: True, yes.
Amanda: Burned at the stake. It’s pretty gross.
Eric: Did you guys just know about that?
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Does everyone just have a casual understanding of saints?
Amanda: If you’re Catholic.
Julia: I know a couple.
Eric: Okay, I guess, yeah!
Julia: A few.
Eric: Saint Barbara is also invoked against thunderstorms and then sudden deaths in general, and when you combine them together, that’s fireworks.
Amanda: Oh no!
Julia: Sure, makes sense.
Eric: Four. Amanda, tell me about Saint Phoebus, the patron saint of solving riddles.
Amanda: That sounds pretty real and Latin.
Eric: Oh, Amanda, I’m sorry, I made up Saint Phoebus.
Julia: There probably is a Saint Phoebus, he’s just not a riddle boy.
Amanda: As in Phoebus the pokemon?
Eric: I don’t know. Phoebus was the God of riddles and I changed him into a saint.
Julia: That’s how Christianity does it too!
Eric: You just gotta take people and you turn them into saints.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Five. Julia, tell me about the Aztec Goddess of eating poop. Oh man…
Julia: Listen, you picked Aztec it’s on you.
Eric: Yeah, I shouldn’t have used the Aztec generator. Tlazolteotl.
Julia: I wanna say it’s fake. I don’t want there to be a deity of eating poop.
Eric: Unfortunately, this Goddess is entirely true.
Julia: I imagine she has to have another--
Amanda: There has to be a good reason.
Julia: --thing besides eating poop. That can’t just be her one thing.
Eric: She’s like the goddess of decomposition, like taking dung and turning it into--
Amanda: Okay, so she’s about sustainable agriculture, don’t categorize that as eating poop!
Eric: It’s literally--she’s depicted as eating poop! That’s what her statues look like! There’s poop around her mouth! I will say that she also has a second job of being the Goddess of steam baths.
Julia: Hell yeah! Love that.
Amanda: Those sound related.
Eric: Yeah. Six. Amanda, you have the God of intersections, Kalfu.
Amanda: I hope that’s right. It’s very poetic. I’m gonna say real.
Eric: That is real! Kalfu is the Haitian God of intersections. Pretty much he’s a devil at the crossroads figure. But I like the idea that he’s just also about when you have to take a left turn.
Julia: I’m about it.
Amanda: Very cool. Gotta make that choice! Sliding doors, am I right?
Eric: Absolutely. Julia, you have the God of eternal bacon, Sæhrímnir.
Julia: No, I refuse.
Eric: Ooh! It’s a real thing!
Julia: No! Bullshit!
Eric: I did disguise this a little bit. He’s the Norse pig God of eternal bacon, basically all of--when the Gods needed food, they would get Sæhrímnir who was the best tasting pig in the universe, they would kill him, and eat him, and in the morning the pig would get resurrected.
Julia: Does that make him a God?
Eric: I did say “holy figure” and saints are also not Gods.
Julia; Okay. To be fair you did say the God of eternal bacon or whatever so. I’ll take it, it’s fine. I’ll take the loss.
Eric: If he’s hanging out on the big tree with all the Gods and they eat him and he comes back every single day I think that counts him as at least Godly.
Julia: Okay.
Eric: Amanda, you have the God of seasons except for winter, Amjir.
[Laughter]
Amanda: Just buckwild enough, let’s do it. I’ll say real.
Eric: You think it’s real?
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: No, I made it up!
Amanda: Ah, beans.
Eric: It was the god of seasons but then I added except winter because I thought you would get it.
Julia: That’s extremely funny.
Amanda: All right.
Eric: I had to make it tricky. You guys owned me on a bunch of other things.
Julia: We did. We did own him.
Eric: Julia. The God of the embarrassed, Terrir.
Julia: No!
Eric: That’s right, I did get that from a generator. You get a point.
Julia: I can’t figure out what the tradition of origin is, so therefore it has to be fake.
Eric: And finally, Amanda you have a saint, Saint Julian the hospitaller.
Amanda: I’m pretty sure no one is called the hospitaller so I”m gonna say fake even though there is a Saint Julian.
Eric: Saint Julian the hospitaller is real. He opened a hostel for travelers and dedicated his life to hospitality for the sick and needy but only after he killed his parents in a sort of Oedipus sort of thing. He is the patron saint of murderers.
Julia: Um. Okay.
Eric: It’s a real thing. So now the score is 11-8, Julia is up, but we have our final game. “Name This Mythological Creature.” Now, Amanda, I’m gonna play a sound clip and you are going to tell me what mythological creature this is.
Amanda: Okay.
[Sound clip played]
Amanda: I mean...what are our parameters here?
Eric: What mythological creature is this?
Amanda: I have no idea. Bigfoot.
Eric: Unfortunately, this is not bigfoot, no.
Julia: I would’ve guessed Bigfoot.
Eric: Julia, this is number two.
[Sound clip played]
Julia: Chupacabra.
Eric: Now Amanda, would you like to steal, what mythological creature do you think this is?
Amanda: I don’t know, I’m really thinking about birds, like a golden goose situation or like a haunted duck. I have no idea.
Eric: Amanda got closest! I’m gonna give the point to Amanda. All right, we’re gonna go to three. Amanda, what is this mythological creature?
[Sound clip played]
Amanda: Is this some kind of fucked up situation where it’s Goofy, Daffy, and Mickey? Is this a mouse?
Eric: It could be! What kind of mythological creature is this?
Amanda: Yeah, I’ll go with like, mice or rats.
Eric: Just super spooky rats?
Julia: Like a rat-king?
Amanda: Yeah, something like that. Like a den mother mouse or some shit.
Eric: All right. I like that. Julia, would you like to steal? What kind of mythological creature do you think this is?
Julia: Jackalope.
Amanda: That’s a good one!
Eric: I think Amanda was closest, I’ll give Amanda the point. Amanda, you are only down by one. Julia, what mythological creature is this?
[Sound clip played]
Julia: Again, I’m thinking some kind of rodent or lapine creature. I don’t know. I’m gonna say rat-king this time. Why not?
Eric: Now you’re gonna say rat-king? Amanda, would you like to steal?
Amanda: I’m gonna say chipmunks. I’m thinking about cute woodland creatures that this could be taken from, like an early disney film or something.
Eric: Unfortunately, I don’t think either of you got close enough so I cannot give one of you a point, but I will go back to Amanda with the final one! Amanda, what mythological creature is this?
[Sound clip played]
Amanda: So am I doing the crooning or the barking?
Eric: I am unsure from this recording about which is which. I think the barking is a dog from the person who is recording this. There was a dog looking for this mythological creature.
Amanda: Okay, I’m gonna go with Loch Ness monster or Champ. Some kind of big sea creature.
Eric: Okay, Julia. What kind of mythological creature is this?
Julia: I'm gonna go with Skunk Ape.
Eric: All right, I think Julia is closer. All right, so, I got these first four pieces of sound from the Sea World website.
Amanda: Very good.
Eric: The first one was a camel, the second one was a penguin, the third were racoon babies and the fourth was a beluga whale.
Julia: Okay.
Eric: And the fifth one was a recording of Bigfoot.
Julia: Supposedly.
Eric: I went onto one of those Bigfoot websites. This is one of the best sounding recordings of Bigfoot. So for the recordings I took the things that were the most imaginative and kind of sort of the closest to what the animal was. Unfortunately I could not give you any points Amanda, because there was Bigfoot on here, so when you said Bigfoot as the first one I was like, I know what Bigfoot sounds like! It’s not that.
Amanda: I mean I would’ve guessed that was Shamoo at the end so that was just not where I would’ve gone in terms of Bigfoot recordings.
Julia: There you go.
Eric: Neither of you did an aquatic creature for the beluga whale so I couldn’t give either of you points.
Amanda: I got close on the racoon babies, though.
Eric: No! Raccoon babies was very close. I can’t believe penguins sound like that. Which was pretty cool. All right, we have one final question, which is the tie breaker because the final question is three points and Julia’s only up by two. You can buzz in as soon as possible. Just say buzz and you can @ me if you would like. The category here is podcast history. In the podcast Spirits, a boozy dive into myths and legends, what episode is the hero's journey with Mischa Stanton.
Julia: Buzz! Episode 27.
Eric: Amanda would you like to guess as well?
Amanda: I’m gonna say 36.
Eric: The hero's journey with Mischa Stanton, for all of the money and the title of RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Star season 5, is episode 26, Julia gets the three points.
Amanda: Julia! Good job!
Eric: And Julia wins with 15-10! Unfortunately we take all of Julia’s bad feelings, she feels great, but now I have all the sin inside of me.
Amanda: Oh no.
Eric: Don’t worry I’ll give it to Chuck Games later. I hope that you enjoyed Fake or Folklore? part deux. The second round! Electric Boogaloo!
Amanda: Wow! I feel so electrified with knowledge!
Eric: Well, I mean, I pulled a lot of this from Spirits, so hopefully people identified it, because I didn’t pay attention to the Pokemon episode as much as I thought I did.
Julia: Apparently not.
Eric: That’s Eric Silver and I’m signing off for Chuck Games, and as they say in my hometown, stay fake or stay folklore.
Amanda: Oh. Pretty good, pretty good!
Julia: I like it.
Amanda: All right, thanks Chuck but you cannot have the last word. So, listeners, remember…
Julia: Stay creepy.
Amanda: Stay cool.